Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

In a New Light	By : Sylean Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Naraku/Kagome Views: 17606 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor do I make any profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
A/N: First off, I apologize for the substantial absence. Long story short, life got hectic and I'm finally finding the time to focus on writing again. I'm writing as much as I'm able given my situation. I will not abandon this story, you can be sure of that.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor do I make any profit from this story.
Warning: There will be lemons in this story, some non-con as well.

Previously:
"I won't let you hurt my MOTHER! Smashing top!" Shippo bellowed, his vibrant green eyes briefly taking on a pinkish tint as he unleashed his smashing top. He bounded in between the combatants, defending the woman he cared so deep for, who took him in and cared for him as if he were her own child. He couldn't live with himself if anything happened to her under his 'protective' watch.
Shippo's honorific for her immediately broke through her rage and fear, leaving only a calming warmth in her soaring heart as everything seemed to slow. The determination on her small kit's face to protect her filled her with adoration for the small boy. He had never called her mother before, always skirting around any titles besides friend, just as she had avoided labeling him as her son out of fear that the deep sentiment was not returned.
She stared, wide-eyed and jaw dropped at her little Shippo, defending her so bravely, impressed at the strength he displayed, not only strength of the body, but of character. The smashing top knocked the brusque man back, causing him to clumsily fall back on his rump beside his sniveling wife. Not giving them any time to retaliate, Shippo pulled a wooden snake toy from his vest and swiftly used his fox magic to transform it into a fearsome, blue-flaming dragon. The sight of the looming beast had the couple scrambling to escape for fear of being devoured alive. In their haste, they not only crashed into each other, but also into their intact produce stand, rendering it kindling. When they were no longer in sight, Shippo retracted his illusions and tucked his toys away safely in his vest.
Kagome had stood, frozen in place, as she watched the events as if she didn't even exist on this plane of reality. Shippo succeeded in driving off the aggressive couple single handedly, all to defend her and the village's children. Speaking of which, were now crowding around the two new-comers, cheering and thanking them for the help. Kagome couldn't help but smile, despite the lingering pain in her arm, at their joyous faces.
"Shippo," her voice was barely an echoey whisper, yet he heard it easily, turning to face her. His spine was stiff, undoubtably realizing just what he said and worried how she would take it. Seeing tears of worry threatening to pour out of his eyes, she knelt down and gave him a loving smile. "Can we talk?" At his silence she added, "Son." His eyes widened, and he smiled brightly, nodding his assent.

Chapter 13: Friendship shattering discoveries.
The two excused themselves from the excited bunch of children, walking in silence as both their minds buzzed frantically. It was Kagome who broke the awkward silence, "About what you said-"
"I'm sorry, Kagome!" Shippo tried desperately to backpedal. He was terrified that Kagome would say he went too far. "I won't do it again. I was just so worried-"
She swiftly scooped him up into her lap as she sat down and hugged him tightly with her one good arm, silencing his fears. Her loving smile put the trembling kit at ease as she spoke her piece, "You know, I've always thought of you as my own child."
He looked up timidly, "Really?" Tears were brimming in his eyes. She nodded, never once looking away. Unable to hold them back any longer, his tears of relief and joy fell, soaking her shirt as he cried against her.
They remained, locked in a sentimental embrace for a several moments before Shippo began to calm. He was still sniffling, and in doing so, scented the drying blood.
"Kagome," he exclaimed worriedly, "your arm. You need to get it bandaged." She glanced down as if just noticing the gash on her arm.
"You're right," she agreed, hoping it wasn't too bad. The stinging pain had receded a bit. "Let's head back. I left my bag at the inn." As they began walking, the tension was still pretty thick, as if now that they had titles for one another, they should act differently. To relieve the awkward silence, Kagome ventured, "Hey, Shippo, have you ever met any other fox demons, other than your father, of course? I mean, I've never heard you say anything about your mother or any other relatives or friends."
"Of course, but... well... Seven years ago, my mom took my two older brothers out to train. That was when we still lived out near the wolf demons in the east. I don't really know what happened, but they never came back..." Shippo trailed off, choking back a sob. "Maybe the training is just really intense," he added hopefully, still unwilling to believe the worst. His father never told him the full story, only said that the area wasn't safe and they needed to find a new home. Shippo always assumed it was because of the territorial wolf demons that his parents always complained about.
Kagome felt such an intense remorse at hearing about Shippo's lost mother, when suddenly a pang of vague recognition struck. Trying not to give away her fears, and struggling to keep her voice even, she asked, "What were they like? With as cute as you are, I bet your mother was beautiful."
Shippo blushed, "My mom was really beautiful, and very clever, kind, loving, and protective. You remind me of her a lot." Now it was Kagome's turn to blush, in spite of her worry. "I also remember she had 5 tails, because she used to always tickle me with them whenever I'd misbehave." Kagome smiled at the visual, but all the while, a nasty bout of dread was creeping into her mind. This was sounding astonishing familiar to something, a foreboding something that made her gut turn and throat clench. She silently prayed for a detail to surface that would put her intuition to rest as Shippo continued to reminisce. "And then my brothers were always playing tricks on me. For being twins, they looked nothing alike, nor did they act it. One looked nearly human and was very well-behaved and skilled with his fox magic, whereas the other looked like a talking fox and was such a troublemaker. They helped me with my magic a lot though."
By now, Kagome was shivering in horror at her realization. She didn't want to believe it; she couldn't believe the facts so obviously displayed to her. Shippo's family, and the trio of foxes the slayers were hired to kill, were one in the same! All the evidence was there, it couldn't be just a coincidence. It was the same time frame, same location, and same description. There was only one question left to ask; she needed to ascertain if the slayers were justified in their motive. The reason for the job had been that the foxes were stealing children, afterall. Kagome took a deep breath and steeled her nerves for the metaphorical killing blow to her investigation, "Growing up, what was your family's opinion of humans?" Shippo looked at her curiously, wondering what she was getting at, so she added with a nonchalant, "Just curious."
He relented, "Well, dad preferred to just avoid them but mom viewed them as perfect subjects to play tricks on. She never hurt them," he added quickly, "only used them for fun and training." Shippo looked back to his deep-in-thought mother, hoping she wasn't disturbed by his words.
When their eyes met, Kagome swiftly unfurrowed her brows and gave the brightest, fake smile she could muster. "Reminds me of how you torment Inuyasha," she commented, trying to calm him. Shippo giggled mischievously and skipped on ahead, kicking a rock along the street. Her grin instantly fell as soon as he turned away. Her conjecture had been spot on when Sango was telling her story, and now she had the evidence to prove it, at least to herself. Naraku was right about the slayers, they did kill demons without sufficient cause. Kagome let out a silent sob, so torn inside by the reality that one of her dearest friend's family killed the family of her precious, adopted son.
"Kagome!" Sango suddenly exclaimed. "What happened to you?" Kagome continued to shake as her pained mind tried to grasp Sango's question. Could she really tell them what she just figured out? It would crush her small makeshift family. Before she could answer, Sango motioned towards Kagome's injured arm, the pain had been all but forgotten, overshadowed by the emotional torment she was fighting with presently.
"Oh," Kagome finally found her tongue, "it's nothing. I just had a disagreement with some villagers is all."
"Who did this to you?" Sango ground out, furious that anyone would hurt what little family she had left.
"It's okay, really," Kagome placated blandly, raising her good hand in a calming manner. "Shippo drove them off for me."
Curiosity sparked in Sango's eyes as she turned to address the little fox, "Really?" Shippo beamed and began recapping the story as Kagome slipped away to tend to her wounds, both physical and emotional. Her body worked robotically, having bandaged many injuries since her arrival. Her mind was elsewhere, struggling to come to terms with her newfound discovery.
By Sango's perspective, she was after Naraku for revenge, but in light of this new discovery, did the slayers really deserve to be avenged? Killing only leads to more killing, because someone is always left behind to mourn and stew in his or her own vile emotions. Did Sango even realize how cruel her people were? Did she ever participate in an unfair execution of some innocent demon herself? Perhaps it was justified that the demon slayers, unjustified in their actions, were eventually slain by the opposition in their racist war, the demons they hunted. The demons could hardly be blamed for defending themselves. But, what did all this mean for her little group. If Shippo ever found out, it would crush him. For his well-being, if nothing else, she would keep this knowledge to herself. It seemed the charges against Naraku were dropping one by one.
Kagome was so deep in thought, she barely felt the nudging of a furry head on her legs as she sat on the inn's steps. The nudging was quickly followed by an endearing purr, belonging to none other than Kilala. The fire cat had sensed Kagome's distress and sought to cheer her up. Her actions readily brought a sweet smile to the girl's face as she lifted and nestled the ever-adorable kitten-sized demon. She lovingly ran her fingers through the silky fur, letting her nails graze the skin beneath to draw out purr after purr.
At the same time, an animated Shippo was still bouncing all around Sango's feet as he bragged about his heroic feats.
"That sounds really brave of you Shippo," Sango agreed, looking around for wherever Kagome got off too. Spotting her petting Kilala, she moved over to make sure the young woman was actually okay. "Kagome," said girl, looked up suddenly, not having noticed Sango's approach, "would you like to go for a dip in the hot springs? It'll relax your sore muscles from the confrontation."
"Sure," Kagome plastered on a false smile, hoping it looked real, "where is it?"
"Just a little ways outside the village, in that patch of forest," Sango explained, pointing in the direction. "The inn keeper told me the villagers never go there because a demon has recently taken up residence in that forest, so we won't have to worry about getting peeked at, especially since its nearly dusk."
"But what if the demon finds us?" Kagome questioned.
Sango shrugged, "Then we'll slay it."
Kagome tried not to show her disdain. 'Sure, slay the demon for defending its territory from trespassers,' she sighed quietly to herself and decided should the demon appear, she would attempt a peaceful solution first.
Kilala mewed in complaint as Kagome set her down and stopped petting her to gather her bathing supplies. This ignited another question in Kagome's mind, 'If the slayers were that quick to judge Shippo's demon family, how did they come to accept Kilala?'
"Hey Sango," Kagome asked, still looking down at the begging feline, "how exactly did Kilala, a demon, become the companion to a demon slayer?"
"I was really young, but my father told me that my mother found her injured and defended her with her life," Sango explained, envisioning her kind, gentle mother courageously warding off some fearsome demon, inevitably giving her own life to save little Kilala. "You see, my mom wasn't born in the slayer village so she wasn't particularly strong. My father met her when he was hired to defend her village and became completely smitten."
Kilala stood at their feet, listening to her own story being told, but with large gaps and ill-informed assumptions. She had no way of correcting them, but that didn't mean she didn't remember it vividly. She had been found by Sango's mother, a generous, delicate woman, during her worst hour. He was injured and broken, both physically and emotionally. You see, she had just returned home from a hunt, to find her litter of kittens cornered by a pack of coyote demons. She fought as furiously as possible, but in the end, she failed them. Next thing she remembered was waking up in a human's hut. She didn't care, her heart was crushed worse than all her bodily injuries combined at the loss of her babies.
The kind human seemed unusually determined that she get better, despite her lack of vigor. Before she regained her strength, however, her caretaker was found out. She finally recognized where she was at as the wrathful humans held her down, the infamous demon slayer village. Even at full strength, these humans would pose a challenge. She had no chance of defending herself and resigned herself to death. When the killing blow never struck, and instead a heavy weight nearly crushed her small form, she turned her attention to her surroundings again. The weight smelled familiar, it was the human woman who had tended her, but the air was also heavy with the scent of blood and death. The woman had shielded her with her own body, forfeiting her life.
The humans were still arguing hours later, throwing accusations at one another, casting blame for the woman's accidental demise. It seemed they had not the time to stop their swing before it struck and killed her as she shielded the small demon. Some wanted to finish the task and eliminate the 'devil feline' but one large man intervened, scooping her up. Kilala remembered his words clearly, "My wife gave her life to save this creature. In honor of her sacrifice, I grant this demon amnesty from sentence unless given proper cause."
It was a few days later that the large man gave her to Sango and the two have been inseparable ever since. Young Sango filled the void left in her heart from her kittens' deaths and Kilala filled the one left in Sango's heart at losing her mother.
'So, it was Sango's mother who rescued Kilala and that was only because she was raised outside the slayers village and didn't learn their ingrained aversion to demons,' Kagome mused, unaware of Kilala's reminiscing. She was beginning to realize that everyone believed their cause to be noble and warranted murder. The slayers were no exception and she had lost nearly all sympathy and respect for them. Realizing she hadn't responded to Sango's story, she supplied with fake glee, "How romantic."

(A/N: I know these last few chapters have been taking awhile when all you really want is to see Naraku again, but relax, the stage is now set for the big Lemon, coming in the next few chapters.)
- 13
- 14
- 15
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In a New Light