Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Dissident Hope	By : inufan625 Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > InuYasha/Kagome Views: 7761 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha and will make no money from this work of fiction. This will apply to all chapters contained within.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Kagome woke at six in the morning. She briefly considered putting on her robes but since they were impractical for the task at hand and because she only wore them at home when she was going to be out on the grounds preforming her duties, she decided against it. Instead she pulled on her favorite blue jeans and a red and white striped shirt with three quarter length sleeves.
Once she had brushed her hair and her teeth, she headed downstairs to make breakfast. Normally she would have made herself an omelet but because InuYasha was coming she decided to make a more traditional breakfast of miso and rice since it would keep better if he arrived hungry. She was just sitting down to eat when someone knocked on the door. It was only seven so if it was InuYasha then he was early.
When she answered the door, he just stared at her for a long moment, so she smiled. “Come in. You’re early so I was just having breakfast, but you are welcome to join me.”
He blinked and cleared his throat. Seeing her in normal clothing had taken him completely by surprise. He had certainly never picture the Great Miko looking like a regular woman, and damn if she wasn’t even more beautiful in a well-worn pair of jeans with her hair hanging loose in inky waves.
“Uh, thanks,” he managed as he stepped inside.
She waited for him as he switched out his shoes for a pair of slippers. He didn’t know why he had expected her to wear her formal robes in her own home. She led the way towards the kitchen and dished him out some miso, rice and pickled vegetables.
“It’s nothing fancy,” she said as she sat down.
He shook his head. “Nah, it’s good. You didn’t have to go to the trouble anyway.”
“It’s no trouble to cook for two instead of one,” she replied. “I did have to eat after all. I have everything we need set up so that we can get started as soon as we’re done.”
They finished up the meal and to Kagome’s surprise InuYasha took her dishes as well as his own and washed them. Once that was done she showed him to the room she had set up specifically for handling the scrolls.
“You know how to use all this stuff?” he asked as he looked at all the equipment in the room.
“I have a degree in anthropology with a focus on historical archaeology and linguistics,” she told as she opened the chest containing the scrolls. “It just made sense considering all the historical records that hadn't been archived yet. I was going to get my Ph.D but then Mama got sick and I had to take on more and more of her duties. I always thought I would have more time before I had to take over for her.”
For some reason he didn't like hearing the sadness in her tone, so he decided to change the subject. “So where do we start.”
She shook herself and then picked up the first scroll in the chest. “I figured we would start at the top and work our way down.” She closed her eyes and concentrated. “I think this was his.”
InuYasha took the paper from her and gave it a sniff. “Yeah, it’s definitely his.”
She nodded and began to unroll the parchment carefully. Once she had it laid out on the table she began trying different lights until she found the spectrum that made the characters appear most clearly. Once she was satisfied that it was as good as it was going get she scanned it into the computer and then began to copy it by hand. She could feel InuYasha watching over her shoulder but she didn't really mind.
“Oi, I think that last one is wrong on yours,” he said quietly. “It’s faint but there’s another line.”
She went back and looked at the last character and realized that he was right. “It’s a good thing you’re here to help.”
She corrected her error and finished transcribing the first section. Once it was done she made a few adjustments between the more archaic version of the language and the modern form. “Okay I think we have it.”
I feel like an idiot writing this, but Kikyou says I need to practice and if I don’t do it then she’ll know. Somehow she always knows. She says it will be a skill I can use to help support us once I am human and she is no longer a miko. I hope she’s right. I hope I don’t manage to ruin her life, both our lives. It seems like madness what is going on between us. We’ve managed to keep it a secret so far, but what if someone finds out before we use the jewel? I hope I can protect her. I promised to protect her.
Kagome read over the words again. “This wasn't written by someone only out to steal the jewel. He says he promised to protect her. Why would he have written that down if he didn't mean it? I knew these scrolls were going to be the key to finding the truth.”
“Let’s keep going,” he said. “There’s two more passages here.”
She nodded and set about transcribing the rest of the characters on the scroll. Twice more he pointed out small errors as she was copying them over. She rubbed her eyes and corrected her mistakes. It was a slow painstaking process. She looked over at the clock and realized that nearly two hours had passed by the time that she was finished checking and rechecking her work.
“Okay,” she said at last. “Here we go.”
More practice. I hope she knows I’m only doing this for her. I don’t know what she thinks I’m ever going to need to write for. I’ll end up toiling in the rice paddies just like all the other men in this village. It will be a completely different life, but it can’t be any worse than the rest of my life and having her and not being alone anymore will be worth it.
She wore the lip dye from my mother’s shell tonight. I could tell she felt silly but she did it for me. We sat together under the stars near the Goshinboku and the bone eaters well and talked of the future. We kissed and she confessed to me that Kaede is her daughter and not her sister that a man had forced himself on her when she was only just more than a child. She feared I would change my mind about becoming human and making her my wife when I found out that she was no longer a maiden, but what do I care about that. I never expected to have a wife and that bastard’s dishonor is not hers. I only wish I knew who he was so I could kill him.
“I think we can safely say that your namesake didn't get close to Kikyou just to steal the jewel,” Kagome said quietly.
“Keh, a woman wouldn't reveal to a man her greatest secret, if she didn't care for him,” he offered. “There is clearly more to this that anyone realized.”
She smiled at him and it took his breath away. He was impressed at how clear it was that she had come into this without bias. He believed now more than ever that she genuinely wanted the truth and not just the one that would make her side look good. While they hadn't found out what had started the war, they had proof that the hanyou of legend had not set out to trick the miko, at least not in the beginning.
“Would you think badly of me if I asked to take a short break and rest my eyes?” she questioned. “So far you've managed to catch my mistakes but I don’t want to make any more.”
“I guess I could use something to drink, if you’re offering,” he replied.
She stood up and nodded. As she moved to walk past him her arm brushed his and for a moment there was spark that passed between them. She felt her face heat and couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye. For his part he didn't seem to want to talk about it either, so she hurried past him and they went to the kitchen. He took the can of juice that she offered him and sipped it while she made herself some tea. He didn't know what the hell had happened between them but he did know it was a very bad idea to get any ideas about something happening between them no matter how beautiful she was. He took another drink and promptly spit it down the front of his shirt as she bent over at the waist to get something from a lower cabinet.
She turned to see if he was all right as he sputtered. “Are you okay?”
He coughed a few more times and set his drink on the table. “Yeah, just went down the wrong way.”
She frowned as she looked at his shirt. “If you want to take that off, it won’t take me but a minute to rinse that juice out so it won’t stain. Then I can throw it in the dryer for a few minutes for you.”
He looked down at his shirt. It was one of his favorites. He sighed and pulled it off over his head and held it out to her. It didn't escape his notice that she was making a real effort not to look at him. She went to the sink and ran cold water over his shirt until she was she was sure that it was clean. Once that was done she tossed it in the dryer.
“Since we have to wait for your shirt to dry I thought I would go make some calls just to check in,” she told him.
“I should probably call Sesshomaru anyway and tell him what we’ve found so far,” he replied, pulling out his cell phone.
“I’ll just be in my office then,” she said.
He nodded and picked up his drink again. She forced herself to turn around and walk away. As she headed for her small office she concealed herself to keep her mind focused on the task at hand. It didn’t matter that he was handsome or that she had never been so instantly attracted to anyone before, or even that he had proven himself to be someone she could count on, the great miko could not let herself get involved with a hanyou. She sat down at her desk and reminded herself that no matter how well it had started out between a miko and a hanyou in the past, somewhere along the way something terrible had happened and it had started a war. If that wasn’t reason enough to school her hormones then she didn’t know what was. As she contemplated who to call first with an update, the phone rang.
“Hello.”
Her eyes widened as Miroku spoke very rapidly. InuYasha appeared in the doorway his expression grim. She realized that he must have gotten a call very similar to the one she was on right now.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she said and then hung up the phone.
“I take it that was about the explosion,” he said.
She nodded. “I have to go. I might be able to help with the search and with the injured.”
“Sesshomaru wants me to head over there too,” he told her. “You can catch a ride with me if you want. My car is in the visitors parking.”
She stood up and hurried over to grab the bag of first aid supplies she always kept stocked and close at hand. She hitched it up onto her shoulder. “Thanks. Let’s go.”
He was a little surprised that she wasn’t going to change though he supposed that he shouldn’t have been. He should have known that she would care much more about getting there so that she could help than about appearances. They were forced to park in a lot that was still several blocks away from the scene of the explosion as the area had been cordoned off. Kagome took the lead as they hurried towards the disaster site. He and Kagome both flashed ID to the police office and hurried towards the center of the area.
Kagome held her hand over her heart as she took in the scene. There was no way that no one had been killed. There was too much fire and rubble not to accept that as fact. She closed her eyes and reached out, hoping to feel someone that could use her help. Beside her she could hear InuYasha breathing deeply and it only took her a moment to realize that he was scenting the air, most likely for clues or survivors. She spun as she felt a youkai run up behind them. Before she could react InuYasha was standing between her and the distraught and filthy woman.
The woman fell to her knees in front of InuYasha and pressed her head against the ground. “Taishou-sama, I beg you, my daughter, please you have to find her.”
InuYasha looked embarrassed as he took the woman by the shoulders and pulled her to her feet. “Of course, I’ll try to find her.”
While he calmed the woman Kagome opened herself up to her power once again. She reached as deeply as she could and cast out all her senses until she felt the barest hint of youki nearby. She opened her eyes and headed towards what she believed was a very badly hurt little youkai girl.
Behind her she heard the girl’s mother scream. “Taishou-sama, don’t let her kill my baby. Please.”
She stopped and turned back with tears in her eyes. What kind of monster did this woman think she was? How had such terrible lies about her been spread so thoroughly among the youkai? She was going to go to the woman wasting precious time and try and reassure her but she found that it was unnecessary.
“Stop,” InuYasha said his voice followed by a push of his youki. Then his tone turned gentle. “She is not what we thought. She is trying to help.” He glanced at her and then back at the woman. “Go, find her.”
Kagome hesitated only for a second and then resumed her path through the rubble. She could feel it a little more strongly now and was certain that the girl was nearby. She bent down and began to move brinks and boards, trying to reach the child.
“InuYasha,” she called. “I need your help. I can’t lift this.”
In a blink he was beside her, moving the heavier debris out of the way and when he did the first thing they saw was a tiny hand. With renewed vigor they cleared the wreckage off of her and Kagome bit back a sob. She felt InuYasha put a hand on her shoulder.
“She’s dying,” he said quietly. “At least you found her.”
Kagome shook her head as she swiped at her tears with the back of her hand. “I’m not going to let her.”
She closed her eyes and focused her power as narrowly as she could. She didn’t know if it was even possible to heal a youkai, but she was going to try. She willed herself to do no harm, and she poured all her light and her love into the little girl. She was only vaguely away of InuYasha throwing himself at the youkai woman as she sought to attack the miko she thought was killing her child. Her hands were shaking and she felt light headed by the time she opened her eyes, but as the girl blinked and asked for her mother it was worth it. Behind her the woman stopped fighting and gasped. Kagome stood on unsteady feet to back away and give her the room she needed to get to her child. She stumbled and braced herself for a hard landing but found herself steadied by InuYasha.
“How the hell did you do that?” he asked.
Her face heated bringing color back into her too pale cheeks as he looked at her with awe. “I don’t know.” Kagome swayed on her feet and once again he steadied her.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she in what she hoped was a reassuring way. “It just took a lot of my energy to heal her.”
“Miko-sama,” the youkai woman said quietly from behind her.
Kagome turned and smiled, hoping to show the woman that she had nothing to fear. The little girls was held tightly in her mother’s arms. Definitely worth it.
“I-I’m sorry for what I thought,” she said quickly. “Thank you for saving her.”
Kagome shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize. You were just afraid for your child. I’m just glad I could help her.”
She looked to InuYasha and bowed as well as she could while holding her daughter. “Taishou-sama, thank you for not letting me do something I would have regretted. Am I permitted to speak of this? Everyone should know that she is not what we thought.”
InuYasha shifted uncomfortably. He hated being treated formally. He was perfectly happy letting his brother receive all the bowing and scraping and Taishou-samas. “Keh, yeah, they should. But you should tell my brother first. Just tell them I sent you when you get there.
She bowed one last time and walked away from them.
“Kagome!”
She looked over to see Miroku heading towards her. “We have a triage area set up and could really use your skills.”
“Of course,” she said. “Lead the way.”
InuYasha didn’t like how pale and unsteady she seemed so he followed her, ignoring the way her monk friend kept giving him dirty looks. Besides this could also be a good chance to talk to some of the survivors and see if he could find out anything more about the explosion than what his nose had already told him.
He wrinkled his nose as they entered the triage area. The scent of suffering was thick in the air, along with that of burnt flesh, blood and other bodily fluids. The monk led Kagome to the worst of them and he watched as she gave of herself to help those she could. He noticed that she was not healing anyone completely as she had the little girl. Instead she was stabilizing them, easing their pain and only healing what she knew others could not. He had to admit it was smart of her to try and ration her power so that she could help as many as possible.
Kagome wiped the sweat from her brow as he moved to the next person. Her head was pounding and she was nauseous, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to keep going. These people needed her and she would endure for their sake. Her next patient was a boy who reminded her of her little brother when they were growing up. He was no more than twelve years old and burns covered one site of his face and it appeared as of something had pierced his right eye. She closed her eyes and did the only thing she could do and returned his sight and his face to him. Her hands gripped the gurney tightly as the edges of her vision went dark. She was nearing the limit of her powers, but there were still so many people left. She took several deep breaths and prayed for the strength to go on just a little longer.
InuYasha watched her move on to the next person and went to find the monk. Someone needed to tell her that enough was enough. He found the man in the least critical area of triage which surprised him. He had expected someone who acted as the Great Miko’s right hand to be one of the more powerful monks.
“Oi, why the hell are you in here when she’s working her ass off to keep people alive?” InuYasha questioned.
Miroku scowled at him and rolled his eyes. “Because I do not have her talent for healing. I have the power and the desire but not the skill. I am helping where I can be of the most use.”
“Well, you had better get in there and convince her that she’s done enough before she hurts herself,” InuYasha said. “She was already unsteady from healing that youkai girl before you found her. She’s going to make herself sick.”
Miroku stopped what he was doing and looked at the hanyou. “What do you mean she healed a youkai girl?”
“Just what it sounds like,” InuYasha snapped. “We found a little girl trapped and dying and Kagome healed her. So are you going to go stop her or what?”
It went against everything he had ever been taught to think a miko could have healed a youkai, but it would serve no purpose to lie about something like that. He would have to speak to Kagome about it and see if she could tell him how she had managed such a feat. He headed towards the critical care area to find her, not bothering to see if the hanyou was following. He looked around the room, but Kagome was nowhere to be found.
“Damn it,” InuYasha growled as he pushed past the monk.
He followed his nose and found Kagome passed out on the floor next to one of the beds. She had a small cut on her forehead from when she had fallen. He lifted her into his arms and turned to find the monk standing right in front of him. He watched as the monk laid his hands on her and closed his eyes. Slowly the cut on her forehead healed.
Once that was done the monk opened his eyes and said, “She has exhausted her powers. I will take her back to the shrine so that she can rest and recover.”
InuYasha wanted to argue as the monk held out his arms to take her, but thought better of it. He needed to go report to Sesshomaru and more than that arguing about who would take her home might cause complications if people got the wrong idea. He passed Kagome into the other man’s arms and then headed to see his brother.

~ * ~

InuYasha entered his brother’s office without knocking, as usual.
Sesshomaru looked up at him as he came in and instead of chastising him about his lack of manners he asked, “Is it true, then? Did the miko heal a youkai child at the site of the explosion?”
InuYasha sat down in one of the chairs across from the desk. “I saw it with my own eyes. She genuinely cares about youkai. The look on her face when that woman thought she was going to hurt her daughter… We really need to find out who has been feeding us this bullshit. I bet at least half the shit we heard about her mother were lies as well.”
“Tsubaki has disappeared, or more likely gone into hiding,” Sesshomaru said. “I think it is a safe bet that she may know who wanted such lies spread among the youkai. I have already ordered a search for her and commanded that she be brought in alive for questioning. Can we trust the great miko to accept that her interrogation is necessary?”
“Only if we tell her that Tsubaki has been our spy for longer than she’s been alive,” InuYasha replied. “She still won’t like it but she will accept it as long as we have a solid reason why.”
Sesshomaru nodded. “Very well. I assume some progress was made on the scrolls before the explosion took you away from working on them.”
“Yeah, we got one done,” he said. “It was one of his and it is more than clear that he didn’t get close to her with the intention of tricking her. He promised to protect her.”
Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows. “You are certain?”
InuYasha leaned his head forward and pressed the heel of his palm against the bridge of his nose for a moment and then look back at his brother. “It seems the miko was having him practice writing, a skill she thought he would be able to use to support them when he used the jewel to become human. It looks like he was writing a journal of sorts while he practiced. It doesn’t make any sense. If she was going to give him the jewel to become human why would he steal it? Why not just wait for her to give it to him?”
“And the Great Miko, what did she have to say about this?” Sesshomaru asked.
“Only that it was obvious that the hanyou cared about the miko and that there has to be more we don’t know,” InuYasha replied. “I’m telling you, she doesn’t care about her side or ours. She cares about the truth.”
Sesshomaru considered his words for a moment. “Are you meeting her tomorrow to resume work?”
“I don’t know,” InuYasha told him. “She exhausted herself and passed out while healing people this afternoon. Her monk friend took her home so she could recover. I just hope he stayed with her since she’s completely vulnerable right now.”
“Perhaps it would be best if you returned to the shrine and kept watch,” Sesshomaru said. “I know you have said it is a sanctuary, but why take the risk when so much is at stake.”
InuYasha nodded, mostly because he had already been planning to go back to the shrine and check up on her and that Sesshomaru wanted it done only made it easier on him. “I call in with an update tomorrow.”
InuYasha considered taking his car, but though it might be better just to run, that way if anyone was watching the shrine they were that much less likely to know he was there. Ha landed lightly in the branches of the sacred tree on the shrine grounds and did a quick scan of the area with his senses and with his youki. He watched as the back door slid open and the monk came outside.
“I know you’re out there,” he said. “It is an impressive youki for a hanyou.”
InuYasha snorted and jumped down from his place in the tree. “I wasn’t hiding.”
Miroku folded his arms. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see how she was and to keep watch,” he replied. “When she is so vulnerable it would be the perfect time for whoever is causing all the trouble to attempt to take her out.”
Miroku arched an eyebrow at him. “And how am I to know that your brother hasn’t sent you here to do just that?”
“Keh, if I had any plans to hurt her then I wouldn’t be standing here now would I?” InuYasha replied. “And I sure as hell wouldn’t have brought it up.”
Miroku knew that Kagome trusted the hanyou for whatever reason and he trusted her, so he supposed it would have to be enough. “Well, you might as well come inside then since I doubt you’d leave even if I asked you to.”
“At least you figured out that much,” InuYasha said as he followed the monk into the house.
It wasn’t a comfortable silence as the two men sat across from each other at the kitchen table. Miroku grudgingly offered InuYasha a cup of tea and they just sat there in silence, taking measure of one another.
InuYasha emptied his cup and set it back down on the table. “So how long have you known her?”
Miroku didn’t see the harm in answering. “Close to her whole life. I was about ten and my father and I were at the central branch when she came in with her mother. She couldn’t have been more than five years old. She walked right up to me, reached up and put her hand on my chest.
“She said, ‘I like your light. It’s so bright but you can’t touch it.’ She was right. My father had nearly given up on training me. The power was there but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t access it, but when she touched me, she fixed something inside me and after that I was able to use my power.
“I could feel the change instantly and she just looked up at me, smiled, and asked me if we could be friends. What choice did I have but to say yes? I owe her a debt that can never be repaid and if you betray her, I will hunt you down myself and kill you.”
Perhaps they had finally found a common ground. Loyalty was in his nature and he could respect that about the monk. Maybe it was time he followed Kagome’s example and showed a little trust in hopes of gaining some for himself.
“We have had a miko spy working for us for close to the last one hundred years,” InuYasha said. “We had begun to suspect her of feeding us false information and my brother asked me to investigate.”
Miroku’s eyes widened. “Tsubaki, that was why you were following her.”
InuYasha nodded. “I’m not sorry I defended myself, but I don’t take pleasure in having caused the deaths of those men. I suspect the real blame lies with Tsubaki. I think she knew we were on to her and led me into an ambush to save her own skin.”
“I must admit we had suspected that you or your brother was to blame for her disappearance,” Miroku told him. “However if what you say is true then it is far more likely that she has gone into hiding.”
“It’s true,” InuYasha said. “Sesshomaru has people looking for her. We now believe that someone has been working behind the scenes a long time to keep this war going and think she might be our best chance at finding out who it is.”
“And when you find her?” Miroku asked.
InuYasha looked the monk square in the eyes. “We’re going to question her. Hopefully with Kagome’s agreement, but Sesshomaru won’t hand her over to you all before, or after.”
“So you do plan on telling her when you find Tsubaki,” Miroku said. “I doubt she will condone your interrogation methods.”
“But she will understand why they are necessary,” InuYasha countered.
Miroku sighed. “I want to disagree with you on principle but I cannot.”
InuYasha cracked a smile. “Don’t worry it was a real kick in the ass for me too, when I realized that she isn’t what we thought at all and that I’ve spent my whole life hating your kind based on lies. You sort of start to get used to it after a while.”
Miroku realized that the hanyou had shared that information with him in an attempt to build at least a small amount of trust between them. He knew Kagome could be disappointed in him if he didn’t at least show that gesture the respect it deserved.
“I counseled her not to negotiate with the youkai,” he admitted. “I think for once I am glad that she didn’t listen.”
“That makes two of us,” InuYasha said.
- 5
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Dissident Hope