Under the Butterfly Moon

Chapter 4

"I was young when I first came through the well. Or was pulled through it, rather, by Mistress Centipede.

"It was my fifteenth birthday, and I was as excited as I could be. I was going to have one of the best birthdays I'd ever had, and I was determined not to let anything get in the way of that. Too bad I didn't anticipate running into any problems before I'd even gotten to school.

"My family has owned the shrine I live on - or lived on, anyway - for as long as I can remember, and there was this old well house that my mother kept closed. My brother and I stayed away from it, for the most part, but that morning, our cat somehow got into it, and I went in to get him, since Souta wouldn’t step foot inside.

"I found him, but something else had found me, and the next thing I know, I'm being pulled into the old well."

The miko paused, and Sesshomaru found that he couldn't decipher whether her cessation was to build the suspense or to collect her thoughts, although he assumed the latter; the former did not seem to fit Kagome's personality. He watched as she twirled the clay cup in her hands, then lifted it and took a sip of her tea.

"I didn't know what was going on, at first," she said, then, seeming to rethink her choice of words, she murmured again. "I didn't know what was going on at all. But I remember thinking that I felt strange, and that I found it odd that I didn't hit the bottom of the well even after a full minute of falling.

"That's when Mistress Centipede decided to show herself. She came to me and told me that I had something that she wanted, even though I didn't know what she was talking about. She said that she would eat me, and I was so afraid of her, of dying, that I unlocked my miko powers. I purified her arms, even though I had no idea what had happened.

"I finally landed after she disappeared, but when I climbed out of the well, I was greeted by trees and grass and peaceful silence, not concrete and stone and car engines. I thought that maybe I was dreaming, and that I would wake up at any moment. I was taken to the nearest village, which just so happens to be this very one, and Kaede, the priestess in charge, took me into her hut and demanded to know who I was and how I had gotten into her village.

"I explained, fully expecting her to call me crazy and throw me out, or kill me, but she seemed thoughtful and revealed to me that I looked a lot like her sister, Kikyo, who had died fifty years earlier, and whose body had been burned with the Shikon no Tama, the sacred jewel Mistress Centipede had declared that I had."

Sesshomaru, now thoroughly interested, watched as the miko shifted position, and, sensing the alteration in her aura, glanced to the half breed, whose face was closed, eyes trained on the floor in front of him. Kagome cleared her throat, and he turned his attention back to her as she spoke again.

"At that moment, someone yelled that the village was being attacked by a demon. Kaede told me to stay put, but then I realized after a while that the demon was coming after me. I left the hut and ran into the forest, knowing that I was the one who had opened the portal and let Mistress Centipede in.

"She chased me, just like I knew she would. After a while, I got to a place in the forest where a large tree sat isolated from the rest, and pinned to the tree was a boy with silver hair." Again, the miko paused, and again, Sesshomaru watched as she sipped her tea. He had always wondered, in some small part of his mind, where the half breed had disappeared to for those fifty years, but hadn't cared enough to search for him.

"Kaede found me then, and she explained as quickly as she could that they boy was Inuyasha, the one who had stolen the Sacred Jewel from Kikyo. Mistress Centipede caught up with us, and attacked me. She bit into my side, and I remember thinking that there was so much blood... But there was also the Shikon no Tama. It had been inside of me the whole time.

"Before I could recover, Mistress Centipede swallowed the Jewel and absorbed it's power, regenerating into her true form. She was stronger, faster, and she wanted me dead. The only solution I saw was Inuyasha.

"But as soon as I ran to free him, Mistress Centipede caught me, wrapped her body around me, and started to squeeze the life out of me. I was pinned with Inuyasha, but I knew that if I could just reach the arrow, I would be safe.

"Kaede warned me not to break the seal holding him there. She told me that he was much too dangerous to risk, but I was determined to live, and I ignored her warnings.

"I managed to free him, but it didn't take long for me to realize why Kaede had warned me."

Kagome shifted again, and Sesshomaru couldn't help but glance over to his brother, who had pulled his aura so far into himself that he was almost nonexistent, his ears flat against his head. Putting the half breed's obvious discomfort to the back of his mind for later use, he turned his attention to his ward, who was watching Kagome aptly, her eyes wide and almost disbelieving.

"He killed Mistress Centipede, and I was able to grab the Jewel at Kaede's instruction. But Inuyasha wanted the Jewel for himself, and he was determined to get it, whether I handed it over or not.

"After I refused to give it to him, he attacked me, and I ran.

"I didn't really get far, and I had just dropped the Jewel pretty much at Inuyasha's feet when Kaede showed up with the subjugation beads. She told me to say a word, any word, and 'sit' came immediately to mind. The beads wrapped themselves around Inuyasha's neck and pulled him down.

"That's how we met. The series of events afterwards are what made us the friends we are." Kagome paused, and Sesshomaru watched the surprised awe on Rin's face as she returned the smile the older woman gave her. "But this isn't really helping you. I should be telling you about who you are."

The tone of the miko's voice piqued Sesshomaru's interest, and he carefully assessed her aura. The frayed edges signified nervousness, he knew, but there was something else swimming in the warmth of her energies, a breeze that split it like a fissure. His beast grumbled in discomfort, the feel of the schism grating against his mind like a blade across stone. Pulling away from it for the time being and concluding that the miko was perhaps becoming ill, he turned his attention back to the immediate predicament.

"After I accidentally shattered the Shikon no Tama, Inuyasha and I, along with a monk and a demon slayer, set out to find every single piece and destroy the threat of Naraku. Along the way, I had the, uh, pleasure, I suppose, of meeting his half brother, Sesshomaru, who, just like everyone I'd met along my journey, tried to kill me, although his attempt was more because I was in his way, not because he wanted the jewel shards I possessed.

"I managed to get away with my life then also, because Inuyasha protected me with the sword he inherited from his father, but Sesshomaru didn't get away completely unharmed; Inuyasha severed his arm and won the fight.

"The next time we saw him, he had you." Sesshomaru had expected the shock on Rin's face, and he had even expected the quick flash of her eyes to his, but he was somewhat surprised at the second glance she gave him, almost as if she wanted him to speak, and her eyes searched his face for an answer, a confirmation of the miko's words.

"We don't know the entire story, because we respected him enough not to ask, but we do know that he protected you as though you were his own daughter. He trusted me once to watch over you, and he came to me once when you fell ill. When we were close to having the final battle with Naraku, he told me to take you to my home. He didn't give me a reason, but I knew well enough not to ask for one, and I took you without hesitation.

"You've been gone for ten years, and even though we don't know why either you or me have been brought back, we all wanted you to know that this is your home. Your true home."

Kagome stopped speaking, but Rin did not look away from Sesshomaru's eyes, and he did not dishonor her by breaking her gaze. He knew his ward, and he would not look away, not until she had gotten the answer she wanted.

He never looked away from her, not when she stood, nor when she traveled across the small hut and knelt beside him. He watched her, reading her every move, re-introducing her scent to his senses, memorizing every curve of her face, every line in the corner of her eye, every pore no human eye could see. And then she smiled, and he knew that Rin was home.

---*---

"Sesshomaru, there's something I need to talk to you about." The inu didn't move from his spot, and Kagome approached him without waiting for an answer, glancing up at him before continuing. "I think Rin is a miko. She's got all the qualities, and she touched a girl earlier and I felt a quickening of something in the air around her."

"She has always been a miko." Sesshomaru's voice was blank, as always, but Kagome suddenly sensed something like pride pulsing in his aura, and she resisted the urge to smirk.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"This Sesshomaru answers to no one, miko," the demon lord stated, the tone of his voice telling her just what he thought of answering to anyone, especially her. Kagome pursed her lips.

"Yeah, but she needs training. Especially since she's back."

"There is no immediate danger."

"I'm not saying that you can't protect her, Sesshomaru," Kagome said, quietly, "but she needs the training. Her powers will get out of control, and she'll start purifying everything within reach." Sesshomaru remained silent, and Kagome sighed lightly, stepping around in front of him. Looking up at him, she was slightly startled by his beauty, the way the afternoon sunlight reflected off of his eyes, and highlighted his high cheekbones, but remembering the task at hand, she shook it off.

"Lord Sesshomaru, I'm asking your permission."

His eyes stared down blankly at her, and, for a moment, she was rewarded with a flash of emotion, although it came and went so quickly that she couldn't figure out what it had been.

"Hn." She smiled then, and bowed.

"Thank you, my lord." As she walked away, the pulse of his aura caused a shiver to run down her back. Pausing, she thought to look over her shoulder, but decided against it, simply nodding and continuing on her way.

---*---

There was something about the miko, something that made Sesshomaru want to kill her. His claws ached with the urge to sink into warm flesh, and his beast prowled in it's cage, a rumble rolling from it's gaping maw.

"Sayuri, what took you so long? I was about to send Inuyasha out after you."

"Feh. Stupid woman probably forgot how to walk."

"I did no such thing!"

Ah, that was it. Her voice was what annoyed him. Unlike Inuyasha's wench, this miko's voice had the quality of a dying animal, a cat, perhaps. With some effort, he resisted the urge, for the fifteenth time, to reach across the space and wrap his claws around her skinny little neck. He knew it would take no work at all to break her spine, or to melt the features of her face into a puddle of acid flesh. She would -

"Lord Sesshomaru, would you like a cup of tea?"

"I’ll take it, Sayuri-chan." He saw Kagome reach across to take the cup, and sensed more than saw her glance at him. "Sesshomaru, can I speak with you outside, please?" Without giving her any indication that he heard her, he stood and walked from the hut, feeling the beginnings of a headache at his temple. The miko joined him moments later, and her scent, once again, floated to his nostrils in pleasing tendrils.

"Do not presume that this Sesshomaru can be told what to do, miko." She smiled lightly, shaking her head and taking a few steps down the road. She folded her hands behind her back, her head tilted up toward the sky, the moonlight playing across the features of her face. Unbidden, he idly thought of how beautiful she was, and then his mind caught up with his beast, and he dismissed it.

"Of course not." She said nothing else, but he knew she had somehow sensed his annoyance, and in the back of his mind, he was grateful for her insight. She began to walk down the street, and he watched her for a moment before turning and going the other way. He wouldn't go back into the hut, not while that woman had the ability to speak.

Besides, there had been something nagging his senses for the past week, and he had been in this village long enough.

---*---

"But Kagome, I'm telling you the truth! The shrine has been abandoned for ten years!" Kagome shook her head again.

"I got here three days before you did. I'm positive that when I left, my mother still owned it, and she still lived in our house." She glanced over at Rin, who shook her head as an answer.

"Kagome, I wouldn't lie about something like that. I promise you; the shrine has been abandoned for years."

"Where is my family then? Why would they have deserted it?"

"I don't know. I walked by it every day on my way to school, and I can swear that I never saw anyone go in or come out. The buildings are falling apart, the stones on the ground are cracked, and the door to the well house had practically - "

"Rin." Inuyasha's voice was a lot softer and more stern than she had heard it in a week, and she clamped her mouth shut before realizing why he had interrupted.

"Kagome, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to - "

"It's fine. 'Yasha, you can finish this, can't you? I have to go check up on Sango."

"Yeah, go ahead." The woman nodded and left the hut silently, her body spewing sadness. Rin turned her gaze to a solemn Inuyasha, feeling extremely guilty.

"I didn't mean to upset her, Inuyasha. I just thought that... That... Well I don't know what I thought but I didn't mean to hurt her feelings." The hanyou nodded, seating himself in Kagome's previous spot before reaching forward and sliding the knife she had been using over to the side in favor of his claws.

"She'll be fine. She just doesn't want to believe what you told her." He made quick work of the rabbit Kagome had been cutting up, and he dropped the meat into the boiling water before sitting back. He didn't look at her, and Rin wondered, briefly, why he always acted so brash if it was possible for him to be more serious and more mature.

"Did she really go check on Sango?" she asked, thinking of the pregnant demon slayer and her monk husband with some fondness. Inuyasha shook his head, a light frown on his features.

"She's going to the well."

"But I thought you said it sealed itself."

"It did. She knows she can't get through."

"Then why is she going?"

"I don't know. Kagome does odd things sometimes."

"Aren't you going to go after her? What if she gets attacked?" Inuyasha scoffed, getting to his feet and looking down at her with an amused glint in his eye.

"She's a twenty-five year old futuristic woman who possesses more pure energy than the previous fifty Shikon mikos put together. I think she can take care of herself, don't you?" He chuckled at her grumble and waved as he left, mumbling something about her being the cook. She sighed and scooted into his spot to watch the stew.

---*---

"You feel it too, don't you?" Kagome didn't turn, and Sesshomaru didn't answer. "I don’t know what it is, but its blocking my way home. I can't get through it." At the last sentence, she turned from the well, leaning on it and looking at him with what she hoped was a bland expression. His hair caught the moonlight, and his eyes glinted an almost red-hot color, sharp in the weak light. Still, he said nothing.

"Its in me too, I know. I felt it when I came through the well, but I can't get rid of it either." She paused, but whether it was because of the knot in her throat or the shift of her silent companion, she didn't know. Pursing her lips, Kagome clenched her jaw and looked down, unable to meet those eyes any longer. "No matter how long I meditate or how much I try to purge it from my body, it just won't go, like it belongs where it is." She paused again, then shook her head.

"Anyway, I've got to get back. I think I'll go talk to Sango." Sesshomaru gave no indication that he had anything to say, and Kagome gave a vague bow before she left, trying to clear her head as she headed back towards the village.

---*---
Author's Note
Okay so this chapter is way late, but I got busy with the last few weeks (or has it been months?) of high school, and then graduation after that. Hopefully though, I'll be able to update a little faster, although the next chapter won't be out for at least a week, because I'm going on vacation with my family, and probably won't have internet access :(

Sugar0o: I think that chapter was a bit better, but now I think I've raised more questions for you lol...Anyway, thanks for your continous reviews; I really appreciate it!