#18: Inuyasha (Sesshōmaru & Kagome)
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Everything and everyone went silent as they waited with bated breath. Usually, during this time, Kagome, their dear friend, would say the magical word to subdue the rude hanyou for his scathing remarks and all. They waited, waited and waited. After what seemed like forever, the blue-eyed, raven-haired teenager turned to the golden-eyed inu-hanyou, but, much to their disappointment, she said nothing.
The silence became uncomfortable.
She blinked before taking her yellow backpack and looked at Sango. “Sango-chan, may I borrow Kirara?”
“Sure,” Sango replied immediately. Some time alone for the younger girl might be good for everyone, including Inuyasha, who had noticed Kagome was not her usual self since her recent trip home. For over a week, the girl was spacing out a lot, and no one could get anything out of her. Precisely, no one could when her steel cool eyes focused on them. It seemed something had changed in the girl, but nobody knew what it was.
Inuyasha, who they knew cared about Kagome but was bad at showing it, had been throwing harsh words just to get her reactions, but still, she gave none. She didn’t even sit him no matter how bad he had insulted and compared her to his beloved Kikyō. Day by day, they had started to think she was acting like Inuyasha’s half-brother; cool, impassive and showing no emotions. Much to Inuyasha’s dismay, despite Kagome’s new habit of spacing out, she was not clumsy, she didn’t need rescuing, and the arrows she shot always hit the mark as if she had been doing it all her life, which was something they knew was not the case. Not that they were not grateful for the good change, but the changes were just too much for them to take in.
“I’ll be back in three days,” she said and climbed on transformed Kirara without looking back.
All of them watched the future girl leave with worried eyes.
“Inuyasha, I think you need to stop doing whatever you’re trying to do to Kagome-sama.”
The red-clad hanyou was ready to retort, but Miroku’s hard, violet eyes stopped him. He looked away. “Keh. It’s not my fault the wench is being stupid.”
“Mama is not being stupid. You are!” shouted Shippo, trying to defend his adopted mother’s honour. “Mama is so much better than your Kikyō, Baka!”
“Shut up!” He made his way to hit the kitsune on the head, but the kit was faster and went to Sango for protection.
The tense atmosphere dispersed slightly, but the group still worried for their important friend.
As soon as she saw Kirara off, she sat down on the lip of the well with a year’s worth of sighs. Her backpack, now lighter, was set down by her feet. Closing her eyes, she tried to clear her whirling mind. It was surprising she didn’t get dizzy for thinking too much. She wouldn’t be in this situation if Time didn’t interfere with her life more than it already had.
Just like usual, after a couple of sits from her, Inuyasha finally let her go home to restock their supplies. Aside from that, she had to submit and get her new assignments. It had been two years since she shattered the Shikon Jewel, and they were far from completing the quest. With a small smile, she leaped down the well that sent her back to the future. At least, that was what she thought. She did feel the transition was longer than usual but brushed it off as nothing. Only when she reached the other side that she realised what was wrong as she looked up. Instead of meeting the usual ceiling of the well house, she saw the same clear blue sky. For a moment, she blinked in confusion, thinking she might have been transported back to the past. A seed of worry blossomed in her heart, but she squashed the feeling away.
“No need to panic, girl,” she told herself as she climbed up. She almost fell down the well again when her eyes met with the familiar setting of the shrine ground of her future. Her heart thumbed furiously in her chest while she pinched her cheek to make sure that she was not dreaming. Moments later, she began to see stars when she saw the slowly approaching figure.
‘Sesshōmaru!’ That was her last thought before everything went black.
When she came to, she came face-to-face with... herself. The day was just turning weirder and weirder that she was really convinced that she was dreaming as there was no way that she was seeing herself.
“Just call me Gome to ease your confusion at the moment.” She offered a glass of water. “How are you feeling, Kagome?”
She accepted the glass mutely, still staring at Gome. Staring was rude, but she couldn’t help herself. She had tried to blink a few times to make sure what she saw was real, not some kind of illusion.
“I know that you have a lot of question, and I shall answer some of them.” Gome smiled. “One, you’re not dreaming. Two, I’m your future self, and three, this is the future of the future.”
Eyes widened, she muttered disbelievingly, “Future of the future... how far?”
Gome moved away from her, and that was when she noticed that she was in the same living room of her home in the future but with different furniture. Another thing she noticed was that her older self was wearing a light, peach-coloured haori and hakama. What terrified her was the pentagon designs that frighteningly similar to what she saw on Sesshōmaru’s white haori. There were on the same position, too!
She slowly sat up while Gome sat herself across from her. After taking a deep breath, she gulped down the offered glass of water. When she was done, she gazed at her older self again. Gome looked no older than her mother, so she guessed this was not so far away from her own future.
Too bad, her guess was shot down painfully.
“Currently, you’re close to six hundreds in the future, Kagome.”
If she was drinking, she would have probably choked on her drink now. “S-six hundreds!?”
Gome nodded calmly. “Yes.”
“B-but how? I-I—”
Gome raised a hand. “Calm down. I don’t want you to panic and faint again.”
She could only nod in agreement. Only now she remembered those minutes ago, she saw stars because she forgot to breathe in her shocked state.
“This is just a glimpse of one future, Kagome. Whatever you decided after learning this would not affect this future as we’re not in the same dimension. I have never understood how the well works, but this is my future, not yours. Yours will be decided later on, depending on whom you are going to choose as a mate.”
“A mate...” She would be mated to a demon. “Then... who is your mate?”
An eyebrow rose. “I thought you already know that by now. After all, he was the one who helped you out of the well.”
Her breath hitched. “Sesshōmaru...”
No one spoke for a long while.
“Why?” she whispered. “Why was I sent here?”
Gome shrugged. “To give you an insight?”
“Insight?”
“You have choices in your hands.” Their gazes were locked as she continued, “Never think that you have only one choice, Kagome. There are a lot more demons who can accept you for who you are. Things are not as bleak as you think if you are willing to open your eyes and heart for someone else.”
After a short pause, she quietly asked, “Inuyasha...”
Gome grabbed her hands in hers. “In this future, he’s happily mated to Shiori. They’ve been together after I mated to Sesshōmaru for a couple decades.”
She knew that that was just Gome's way of saying everyone would get their happy endings, not just her own. With this information, she could breathe more easily. But then, she remembered that this was not her future. Her future was not decided yet.
After that, Gome shared her stories regarding her pups and grandpups. From what she saw, Gome looked so happy she almost envied her future self. Who knew that someone like Sesshōmaru could love her, or Gome, so deeply. And then, she was beyond surprised when she found out all of Gome’s pups were full-blooded inus. There was no hanyou born out of their union.
Right now, she didn’t know if she should be grateful or hate Time for doing this to her. Since her last trip, she couldn’t forget the image of her future pups should she choose Sesshōmaru as her mate. Though, at the end of their meeting, Gome did give her a cryptic message.
“He will show you the way.”
What way? she asked herself while frowning. After much thinking, she shook her head and chose to go home for a while. With that, she threw herself down to the well.
Unknown to her, someone was watching. It was none other than Sesshōmaru.
The girl Kagome had been a puzzle to Sesshōmaru ever since their first meeting. He had wanted to know more about her just in case she was a threat. Unfortunately, the more he knew about the girl, the more he saw what his half-brother didn’t see. That stupid fool didn’t even realise what treasure he had in his hands. He, the Lord of Western Territory, was not a stalker, but he often followed the girl. And so, he found the secret of the Bone Eater's well. He had often watched how she leapt through it and disappeared.
Over a week ago, just around the same time, he had followed his guts to stay a bit longer after he made sure she had safely made her way to the well. Of course, he was not disappointed as he met the most befuddlement of his life: his future self. He was sure of this because of his future self’s attire and relaxed posture.
“It's nice to see this again, but I don’t have much time for menial talks, so ask away.”
“This Sesshōmaru doesn’t take order—”
“Even from himself,” he cut in.
Silence.
More silence.
“Why are you here?”
“To make sure you make the right decision, not the best decision.”
An eyebrow rose in askance.
“Centuries ago, I had the same reaction.” Maru shrugged. “Since you take orders from no one, I shall tell you that Naraku cannot be destroyed even after we joined our group with Kagome’s. Our strength alone will not be enough. Gather the other three cardinal lords and then, and only then, will we defeat the dark hanyou.”
“...”
“During your temporary truce, Kagome will undoubtedly draw another lord’s attention. I will not say who, but if you don’t make your choice before the final battle, this lord will make his move, and you will eventually lose Kagome forever.”
“She is nothing but a human, and a miko.”
Maru hummed. “That is what I said as well, but I shall leave you something that has been given from the one before us.”
They did not talk much as his future self needed to return before anyone noticed his absence. What he left was an old journal of the one who did not chose Kagome. Reading pages upon pages, he honestly didn’t know what to think of what was written. What made his gut twist in an uncomfortable way was Kagome’s death during childbirth. It was not because she was weak, but because someone had successfully poisoned her before the birth of her first child. If the one before them had chosen Kagome, as her mate and poison master, she would have not been affected because of his blood in her vein.
He didn’t know what happened to the demon before them, but his last entry was: “The old saying of ‘you don’t know what you have until you lose it’ is true.”
After reading that line, he shut the journal close. Would he follow his future self’s suggestion regarding Kagome? The answer was no. He would choose his own destiny or whatever it was. Of course, he would not be a fool like his half-brother who didn’t realise what he had. He didn't know how long he stood there until he felt the magic of the well. As soon as the light was gone, he stepped forward and waited. It didn't take her long to climb back up again. Surprisingly, she seemed calm enough to face him.
The urge to come back when she just dropped her backpack by the well on the other side was a mystery. She just had this feeling to go back before she opened the door of the well house. She had been standing before the dark depth of the well for minutes. Deciding to follow her heart, she leapt back to the past. Once she reached the other side, she finally understood why she had to return. Keeping her gaze on his, she greeted, "Sesshōmaru-sama."
Sesshōmaru surprised them both by calling her name, "Kagome."
Deciding to use direct approach, she asked, “To what do I owe for this meeting?”
“This Sesshōmaru would like to offer an alliance, for we have a common enemy. This one wishes to end the vile hanyou as soon as possible.”
Right then, she understood Gome’s cryptic message. After staring into his golden eyes, she nodded. “Well, I would be more than happy to accept, but I—”
If Sesshōmaru was not a lord, he would have rolled his eyes. “This one will not provoke Inuyasha into a fight as long as he does the same.”
“Right.” She trusted his words. “So... I guess you already know about this well?”
“Indeed.”
“Would you like to find out more?”
“Future knowledge will be extremely valuable for this one.”
She smirked. It was so Sesshōmaru to answer her that way. “Provided you keep this information to yourself, for now, ask your first question.”
Because of Gome, she couldn’t help but want the same future. She wanted to see the side of Sesshōmaru that Gome loved. Putting Inuyasha to the further back of her mind, she focused her attention on the demon lord. The more she looked at him, the more she felt Sesshōmaru would be the one for her. Of course, in the end, all would depend on Sesshōmaru, but she would try her best to convince him that she was worthy of him.
Unknown to her, Sesshōmaru didn’t need any more convincing because he had already chosen her even before he met his future self.
The End
Thanks for reading.
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