Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was something breathtaking in the first moments of the day, a stillness as the world awakened in the golden light.  A dark-haired woman stood alone in a meadow, her eyes closed as she listened to the song of the birds around her.  Dark brown eyes opened as the woman smiled, the wind causing her long, straight hair to dance.  There was something even more magical about that day, a shimmering quality that she couldn’t quite identify that made it that much brighter, that much… more.  A pale hand rose to touch a light pink jewel that hung around her neck, drawing it over her head to hold in her hand as she considered the faintly glowing pearl.

After today, she would be no more than a normal woman, free from the burdens that had been thrust on her, free to explore the budding feelings she had for the most unlikely of partners.

Inuyasha, the silver haired inu-hanyō. 

Kikyō’s smile turned soft as she thought of him” how they had danced around each other for months, each refusing to attack the other. That in and of itself was unusual; yōkai and mikos were natural enemies. Kikyō had been trained to kill any and all yōkai on sight, lest they get close enough to steal her burden, the Shikon Jewel, but there had been something about Inuyasha that had stayed her bow. 

She had recognized something of herself in him, in his loneliness and isolation.  

From that moment of recognition, a strange truce had formed: one that had begun to slide to friendship, with the chance of something more.  It was a chance to have companionship, to no longer be alone, to be with someone who knew what it was like to feel as if you only had one foot in the world: part of it, but not accepted. 

It had seemed like fate how their desires had aligned; they both sought to belong somewhere, to belong to someone—desires that could be granted by the jewel she wore. He was already half human; a single wish would let him become a human, accepted and protected, and leave her free to explore how the brash, silver-haired man made her feel.

By the end of the day, they would both be free.  

The heavy sound of a footstep was her only warning, her body turning from the unidentified foe.  She felt the claws catch her right shoulder, ripping into her skin through her robes as she fell forward, her hands coming out to try and catch herself, only to collapse through the pain.  Her grip on the Shikon Jewel loosened as she struggled to keep it within her grasp; there were many who sought its power—human and yōkai alike—beings that could not be allowed to get the jewel.  A clawed foot slammed down onto her hand, causing her to cry out, her pain-filled gaze suddenly filled with a familiar red fabric.

“You’re pathetic.” Kikyō’s eyes began to fill as Inuyasha’s voice burned her ears.  “Did you really think I would ever consider becoming human?”

“Inu… Inuyasha!” she gasped, her fingers trying to close around the jewel.

“Feh, I don’t think so.” His sneering voice hurt, exposing her every weakness.  Why had she trusted him... everything inside her knew that a yōkai, even a half yōkai, was nothing more than a trickster, but she had wanted, so desperately, for it to be different.

She watched his left hand draw closer to the jewel, and she waited, seeking the perfect moment…  The moment his claws closed around the jewel she turned her hand to grasp his, letting her reiki course through her, concentrating it on his hand.  The smell of burning flesh assaulted her nose as his hand pulled away with a curse, the jewel still within her reach.  

A sharp pain in her side made her gasp as clawed toes dug into her skin from the force of the kick to her ribs.

“Like that would stop me, idiot,” Inuyasha hissed.  The world began to go gray as Kikyō saw his right hand reaching down to take the jewel. His hair rested over hers as she felt him lean over, the stark difference of the black and silver driving home in that moment just how different they were. “Just for that, I’ll kill everyone in the village—let the jewel soak up their bitter blood and fear.” 

“Inu..yash..a,” she whispered, and the world went dark.

Kikyō had no idea how long she lay there: the wound in her shoulder still seeping, the blood staining her robes.  The scent of smoke and the sound of screams washed over her as she forced herself to stand, lurching towards the village and the billowing smoke that hovered over it like an ill omen.

She dragged herself into the village, her eyes burning from the smoke and from her own tears as she saw the utter destruction around her.  The only structure that had been spared was the hut she shared with her younger sister, the spiritual power of her weapons protecting it from Inuyasha’s wrath.  

She alone could stop this, no matter what the cost.  

She forced her body to lift her bow and arrows, the normally light weight nearly bringing her to her knees.  She could feel her blood flowing down her arm, the back of her white robe matching her hakama as it was stained crimson.  She would deal with it later—if there was a later for her—but first…

First, she had to stop Inuyasha.

A flash of red and silver darted from roof to roof as Kikyō fitted her arrow to the bow.  Her right arm shook from pain as she drew the string back… she would have one chance, and one chance only.  She let her power flow into the arrow until it began to shine bright pink.  She would not be able to purify him—not with the power she had left—but she could seal him, give herself time to recover before purifying him.  She just needed the perfect shot.

Inuyasha leapt towards the Goshinboku, and Kikyō knew that it was time.

“Inuyasha!” Her voice echoed through the village as Inuyasha turned his face to look at her, his golden eyes flashing with confusion just before her arrow struck true, pinning him to the tree, the Shikon Jewel slipping from his grasp.

“Ki...Kikyō…” 

Kikyō stood, watching him, afraid to move closer until she saw his arm drop to his side and his head fall forward.  

“Sister Kikyō?” Kikyō turned to see her sister Kaede behind her, one eye wrapped in bandages, the other filling with tears.

“Go with the others, Kaede. We need to put out the fires; I will deal with Inuyasha,” Kikyō commanded softly, drawing on her reserves of strength as she forced herself towards the tree and the man who had betrayed her.

“Why did you try to take what I would have given freely, Inuyasha… why did it have to end like this?” Kikyō whispered as she stopped in front of the tree, her eyes raking over his slumped figure.  

Even like this, he was beautiful: his silver hair blowing with the breeze, his ears falling forward, his perfect hands at his side, still in a way he never had been.

Kikyō froze.

His perfect hands.

She knew yōkai and hanyō were able to heal fast, but they could not heal reiki burn… Yet there he was, his left hand free of any mark, or burn.

He wasn’t the one that attacked her...

“Kami what have I done?” Kikyō gasped, collapsing to her knees as she stared up in horror at his tortured face.

She had broken one of the primary rules of her order.  She had used her powers, her reiki, on an innocent who had not deserved it.  She was…

She was tainted.

The jewel lay next to her hand—a light, dull purple, a symbol of the failure of its protector.  She was tainted, and therefore, the jewel was now tainted.

“Sister Kikyō…”

“My lady!”

“Thank you, my lady!”

The voices of the villagers blended together as Kikyō reached out for the jewel, holding it in her hands as tears streamed down her face.  She could feel her energy failing, and knew she was not long for the world.  Whatever, whomever it was that had taken Inuyasha’s form, would take her life, but she would not let it take his.  She thanked every kami she knew that she had only sealed him, and that her aim had failed, that the arrow had not pierced his heart.  She had to make it right; she had to do right by him, the man she had allowed herself to betray.

“Please, save Inuyasha’s soul,” she whispered, and felt the lavender jewel pulse in her hand.

“Sister Kikyō, please, we must get you treatment,” Kaede begged, her small hands reaching out for her sister.

“There is no time, Kaede; my journey has been completed.”  Kikyō’s voice was soft as she slumped forward.  “Please, Kaede, I ask that you burn the jewel with my body, do not allow any others to take on this burden.”

“Kikyō…” Kaede sobbed, but her voice sounded far away.

“Promise me. Promise me, Kaede.”

“I...I promise.”

And the body known as Kikyō breathed no more. 

As the body burned, the soul carried its burden forward, merging with the jewel, waiting to be strong enough to fulfil the dying wish of the former miko. Lives came and went, and the soul learned and grew, each teaching the soul a new lesson, helping it grow a little stronger as it slowly evolved, growing brighter with each incarnation until it was time...until it was ready.

The bright soul waited, the cycle of rebirth beginning again as new life was born into the world, a soul that would draw others to it with its capacity to give, to love.  

A child born as a host to the jewel, to finish what its previous holder could not: to right the wrongs that had been done, and to fulfill a destiny beyond any it could imagine.

Chapter Text

Kagome huffed a little as she slammed shut the door to her family’s shrine home. It was her birthday—her 18th birthday—and had her family even thought to get her a real gift? No. Her grandfather had given her what he claimed was a dried kappa’s foot, when she had clearly asked for a new laptop—she would need one for when she started college in the spring. Kagome’s huffs turned to a smile. At least her mother had thought to ask her what kind of special dinner she might like, and if she would want to invite her friends to join them (which, of course she did!). 

That morning, when she had awoken, Kagome had felt...different...somehow. Like she was magically older, or magically changed. But she couldn’t quite put her finger on how, exactly. She had looked herself over in the mirror, trying to figure out if she looked older, taller, more mature. But she was still the same old Kagome: hazel eyes with mixes of blue and green; same button nose; same round face and pinky lips. She’d put on her school uniform, thinking that maybe it would be different, or feel different, but nope. Kagome felt the same.

Exactly the same.

Same clothes, same breakfast, same “I’m off!” to her family as she headed out the door, to the same school. And now, she stepped outside the shrine, the same as every other day. 

Just one day older. That was all.

“Hey, nee-chan!” Sōta, her little brother, was calling her. She sighed, and turned to him. 

“What is it, Sōta?” she asked, putting on her best smile for her little brother.

“I can’t find Buyo anywhere,” Sōta complained, holding out the cat’s food dish. “I wanted to give him his breakfast, but I don’t know where he went. I think that he must have gone into the shed with the old well.”

Kagome paused in her steps, turned, and looked at the well house. It was old, and dilapidated, and Kagome never went in there unless absolutely necessary. The well was called “The Bone Eater’s Well,” and the rumor was that long ago, yōkai bones were buried there. She didn’t really believe those kinds of stories, but just in case...she tried not to go anywhere near the well, anyway.

But now, Kagome frowned as she inspected the shed. It was true; the shed door was slightly open. Perhaps Sōta was right? Perhaps the cat had made his way in there, and was now somehow...stuck?

“Okay,” Kagome said, sighing. “Let’s take a quick look, okay?” She set her backpack down by the door, put both hands on the handle, and yanked as hard as she could. The door opened with a loud creak, and Kagome and Sōta were soon staring into the darkness that was the well shed.

“Do—do you really think Buyo could be in there?” Sōta asked, shivering a little. Kagome looked down at him; she sometimes forgot that he was only eleven and was still just a kid. She smiled encouragingly.

“If he is, then it’s a good thing we found him,” she said, and stepped into the shed, Sōta following after her.

“Buyo?” Kagome called, looking around in the darkness. The well was down a set of steps; Kagome thought she heard a faint meowing coming from the vicinity of the well itself, and nudged Sōta. “Go on,” she whispered. “Down the steps. This was your idea.”

Sōta looked up at her, and Kagome saw that he was shivering. “Um,” he said, “I don’t think that I can. It’s dark down there, nee-chan!”

“Fine,” Kagome huffed. She hopped down the steps to the well itself, then turned and looked around for the cat. “Buyo?” she called. “Are you here?”

A faint meowing drew her attention, and Kagome walked around to the far side of the well. Facing the well’s wall was Buyo; he was hissing at something, but Kagome’s couldn’t quite see what it was.

“Okay, kitty,” she soothed, grunting as she picked him up into her arms. “Come on; breakfast is ready.” She lugged him back around to the front of the well, when she heard a scraping noise that caught her attention. 

A scraping noise...from inside the well?

“Did you hear that, nee-chan?” Sōta called, fear seeping into his voice. “It almost sounded like it was coming from the well!”

Kagome had heard it, too, but wasn’t going to let the sound get to her. She was 18 now, after all—too old for noises from wells to scare her. 

“It’s nothing to be scared of,” she scoffed. “Here, come get the cat so I can get to school.” She held out Buyo to her brother.

“No way!” he shouted. “I’m not going down there. Besides…” But Sōta never finished that sentence; his eyes got big and round and he started to quake with what Kagome thought was fear.

“Besides what, Sōta?” she called up to him.

Then, Kagome heard it too, from behind her. A rattling. A loud rattling that sounded like it was shaking the cover that held the well closed.

That held it sealed.

Before Kagome could act, or scream, or run, the cover on the well burst up into the sky, the wood obliterated. A big, bright light shone straight up out of it—a light that looked like hands. Lots, and lots, and lots of hands. They reached out and grabbed Kagome; she dropped Buyo, and as her brother watched in horror, Kagome was lifted in the air and carried backwards: back down the well, back out of Sōta’s sight.

Kagome screamed, and screamed. The hands turned her gently around, taking hold of her waist, her arms, and her face. She was…

She was face-to-face with a creature. A creature with a woman’s face, and the body of a…

Well, something with a lot of hands, that was for sure.

They fell, deeper and deeper into the well; the wood faded, and was replaced by a starry night sky. A sky that Kagome and the monster (because yup, that’s exactly what it was) were currently falling through. 

Kagome was frozen. While she’d screamed as she was being pulled into the well, she found herself unable to make a sound, now that she was confronted with the weird woman-monster who was caressing her face oddly, the woman holding Kagome close to her breast.

“Ah,” the woman-monster exclaimed, leaning her head back, “such joy! I can feel my strength returning! My body is coming to life again!”

All around Kagome, the bones that she assumed had formerly been in the bottom of the well were flying around them, fusing back together, becoming a body, becoming legs, becoming…

A centipede .

The woman, who had now developed a beautiful, terrible face, and grown long dark hair, grabbed Kagome tightly by her ears and tilted her head back. 

“You have it, don’t you?” the woman hissed. “Don’t you?” Her tongue reached out of her mouth, long and curling, and Kagome recoiled as it licked her face.

“Get away from me!” she shrieked. “You’re disgusting!”

She pushed against the woman-centipede-thing, who jostled Kagome as she struggled. “I said, let me go!” Kagome bellowed as she shoved her hand in the woman-centipede-monster-thing’s face. A white-hot feeling coursed through her body, and a purple glow emanated from her hand, flashing a blinding light and propelling the monster backwards. Kagome watched in shock as the monster fell back, a purple handprint on its face from where Kagome had touched it, and it fell away from her slowly. 

“You little…!” the monster howled as it was enveloped in the darkness. “You won’t get away from me. The Sacred Jewel…”

Kagome continued to fall through the sky, her mind full of what had just happened. She had just been attacked by a weird monster thing, who accused her of having...something...and then Kagome had felt a strange surge of...also something...rip through her body. She had shot bright purple light from her hand, which had repelled the monster, who had said she wouldn’t escape because of the…

“Sacred Jewel?” Kagome wondered aloud, her feet touching down on solid ground at last. She landed lightly, falling gently to her hands and knees, as the world around her became solid again. There was earth beneath her, and she was once again surrounded by the stone walls of the well. Kagome looked up, and saw a faint light some distance above her.

“Am I...inside the well?” she wondered. “Was this...was this a dream?”

She felt a slight tinge of pain in her arm and gripped it as she looked around. To her left, not too far away, she saw an arm from the monster who had attacked her, and she quickly realized that nope, this wasn’t a dream, and she needed to get out, as fast as she could. 

“Sōta!” she called. “Are you there? Can you help me?” Kagome saw some vines on the side of the well, and walked over to them, beginning to pull herself up. Each foothold, each stretching of her arms as she hauled herself upwards, increased her anger at her brother. He had...run away? And left her? How dare he do that? When she had gone down to the well to get the cat for him?

And then Kagome saw a white, shining butterfly, and saw that the vines were lush, and green, and began to wonder just what in the hell was going on.

She reached the top of the well; she hauled herself up and over the lip; she climbed out and looked around. She was...she was..

Wherever she was, it definitely wasn’t the shed on her family’s property anymore.

Kagome was surrounded by a forest. By a beautiful, green forest with plenty of trees and bushes and grass. The well itself was covered in vines—the same ones that Kagome had used to pull herself out of the well. A wave of panic hit her, and she hopped off the edge of the well and began to look around frantically.

“Mama?” she called. “Jii-chan? Sōta? Buyo? Where are you?” 

Where am I?

In a daze, Kagome walked along through the woods, trying to find something, anything, that seemed familiar. But it was all gone: the shed, the shrine, her house, the torii gates...all of it, gone. 

Gone, and…

“There you are!” called out a familiar, terrifying voice, and Kagome froze, turning her head just enough to see the monster crawling out of the well after her. “I want the Jewel!” The woman’s face was terrible; her hundreds of arms waving menacingly at Kagome as her body pulled itself out of the well.

Kagome didn’t have time to answer; she didn’t have time to scream, or to think.

She only had time to run.

Off she went, sprinting through the forest, the centipede monster hurtling after her. She was pretty, fast, but the monster was faster, and was soon close on her heels. Kagome looked around, frantic, trying to figure out where she could go, where she could hide. She felt a pull towards a certain part of the forest; she didn’t know why, but if her body was saying go , that was the direction she was going to run. Her feet pounded the earth; she jumped nimbly over roots and branches and rocks, trying desperately to stay on her feet, and stay ahead of the monster.

Then, Kagome saw it: the Goshinboku. The tree that stood in the shrine courtyard at home. She felt a surge of hope rush through her veins, and she pumped her arms as she ran as fast as she possibly could, towards the tree. 

Towards home.

Instead of home, though, the forest emptied out into a clearing; Kagome stumbled and nearly lost her footing as the ground became smooth. She paused, dropping her hands to her knees as she gasped for breath. She closed her eyes briefly, took a few gulping breaths to calm herself down, and then slowly got to her feet. She looked around; it was definitely a clearing, but still, no sign of the house, the shrine...nothing.

A flash of red on the Goshinboku caught Kagome’s eye. She brought her gaze back to the tree that had drawn her to that part of the forest, and what she saw there made her gasp in shock.

It was...a boy. About her age, or maybe a little older. He was beautiful; maybe the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. He was wrapped up in vines; an arrow protruded out of his chest. He wore clothing that looked to Kagome to be out of the...Sengoku Jidai, perhaps?...and it was a wonderful shade of crimson. His hair was long, and thick, and silver, and floated softly in the breeze, shimmering in the morning light. His face was peaceful and serene, and he was…

He was asleep?

She...she had to know. Kagome felt as though something was calling to her, telling her to go to him, to touch her, to be near him. That they were connected somehow.

Kagome took a step forward, only to jump when she heard a shriek from behind her. She spun around, and saw the centipede monster at the end of the forest, hovering, circling, trying to get in, like she knew something was there—like she knew Kagome was there—but it also seemed to Kagome like the monster couldn’t see her.

Was she...were they...could they be...invisible?

Kagome didn’t want to wait to take that chance.

She rushed forward, towards the boy, and began to climb up the vines to get to him. Each step up made her heart pound: faster, harder, erratic. She felt a heat taking over her body; she felt a need to get up close to him: to see him, to see his lovely face, to touch his hair, to see his…

Kagome let out a delighted squeal; she couldn’t help it.

She had just noticed: the boy had beautiful, shiny, puppy-dog ears on top of his head. Ears that also rustled in the breeze. Ears that Kagome’s fingers were suddenly itching to touch. She reached up, and gave them both a little rub, and felt a shiver shoot through her body. She stayed there for a moment, massaging his ears, giving him a little scratch around the base of each one, and she couldn’t help but feel like he maybe enjoyed that.

Reluctantly, she dropped her hands and rested them on the vines surrounding the boy’s chest. She studied him closely, intently. She didn’t know why, but she felt like, if he were awake, he would protect her. If he were awake, he would know what to do about the weird woman-centipede-monster thing. Kagome frowned and scratched her chin in thought. How did one awaken a handsome boy from a peaceful slumber?

Then she remembered: she had often read fairy tales where princes could wake princesses. So maybe...she could awaken him with a kiss?

Kagome shrugged. “It worked in Snow White,” she commented to absolutely no one in particular, “so, why the hell not?”

She reached up slowly, and softly, sweetly, pressed her lips to his. 

Artwork by MamaBearCat

Chapter Text

Dreams. That’s all Inuyasha had. Never-ending dreams that looped over and over and over. Honestly, the hanyō thought he was in hell. 

Likely was with how the dream ended with a fucking stab to the chest by an arrow launched by his beloved Kikyō.

The dreams played out the same: Three thunks of arrows against the tree next to him, Kikyō demanding he die, him running to the shrine to grab the jewel, launching himself through the roof before the tiny building collapsed on him, running the grounds before STAB. The final arrow pinning him to some godforsaken tree for all eternity. 

Then he fell asleep, barely able to voice her name in the confusion and hurt that swallowed him into oblivion, barely able to comprehend why Kikyō fired an arrow at him, her eyes filled with anger, then horror, then sadness. Only to have to watch the small stretch of events over and over. Never being able to understand.

Nothing on how they met.
Nothing on how it had come to her trying to kill him and kinda succeeding.
Nothing.

Just watching the woman he thought he loved strike him over and over.

To be fair, it wasn’t like he felt anything. No. That would be too giving, right? For him to feel the pain of being betrayed would have been a gift. Nothingness? That was worse.  

But then something distorted the image. A field of purple reiki danced through the image of Kikyō shooting three arrows into the tree. For the first time in… well, since the dreams started. His yōki reached out to it, but it was caught within him. Within the stupid circle of images. 

Something was coming closer—or rather someone. Whoever was emitting the reiki strong enough to chase the nightmares away. Was it Kikyō? Had she forgiven him or decided to release him?

There was a strong tug at his yōki—his soul, even. Whatever was pulling him, it went right down into his very being and demanded he stir from the indefinite slumber he was in. But he was fucking frozen. The scene of Kikyō shooting him was blurry and moving slower and slower, as if his consciousness was finally able to stop looking at what went wrong. 

Dammit. He needed to move! Inuyasha wanted to live again! He needed to get the jewel and get the fuck out of the village once and for all. When he became a demon, he wouldn't have to worry about the trivial emotions anymore that his human heart plagued him with.

Fuckin’ hell. Inuyasha still couldn’t believe he’d nearly agreed to become human. Especially after whatever the fuck that was…

Suddenly, the scent of jasmine and lilies surrounded him and began to saturate the air further, as whoever that was got closer. Inuyasha wanted to yell, wanted to figure out who the fuck smelled so wonderful and enticing and fuck—

Whoever it was—whoever smelled so strongly of intoxicating flowers was climbing on fucking TOP OF HIM! If he could move—he would have. No one had been this close to him before—not even Kikyō. The last person who had been was his late mother. This person obviously didn’t have fuckin’ boundaries and was—

Holy shit. They were touching his ears. Fuckin’ hell. Ugh, if he could move, or voice anything, he’d be melted into whoever the fuck was doing that, whining at how good it actually felt. Fuck. That was Inuyasha’s biggest pet peeve: when little girls wanted to touch his ears!!! Get the fuck off! The only person who was allowed to touch his ears was someone he loved—

Wait. That was fuckin’ stupid! Inuyasha only loved—

No. He didn’t love Kikyō. He had longed to belong somewhere, and was willing to sacrifice his demonic half to do so. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, though, she had betrayed him.

And he didn’t need to jump into that wild field of the unknown again. Especially not when the last person he had thought he was gonna spend his life with pinned him to a goddamn tree. 

But then lips—moist, soft, timid lips—brushed against his own. His eyes shot open, like he was never under a spell before, and he saw a woman!! A woman was kissing him!! Kikyō. Was. Kissing. Him.

“What the fuck!” he shouted, making her gasp and pull away. The girl’s eyes were wide, bright, confused and shocked. Her long black hair spilled from her shoulders and she wore the weirdest navy kosode. “What the hell are you wearing, Kikyō?! Why the fuck are you even on me! Get off!!”

“What?? I’m not Kikyō.” 

Inuyasha studied her, trying to ignore her hands, which were still grasping his shoulders. After a moment, he realized she was telling the truth. Their hair color and facial structure were the only thing they had in common. This girl had wavy unruly locks, her eyes were a piercing hazel, and her reiki—her reiki was purple. It wasn’t pink. At all. And this scent—

Jasmine and lilies. Fuck. It was even more intoxicating now that he was awake staring at her as she shrank back, flushing from the scrutinization he was giving her. 

The oddest thing, the most different thing, that made him realize the woman standing in front of him was not Kikyō, was he didn’t feel… empty. Inuyasha didn’t feel like he was missing something, like he had when he had fallen for Kikyō. This—this woman… He felt whole…

What did that even mean? How could—

No. Inuyasha needed to stop over analyzing this crap because he was better off alone. The last woman he trusted with reiki had fuckin’ shot him to a goddamn tree. Nope. No more human wenches and their neediness or their wanting to be normal or their desire to be with a companion. Fuck. That. 

Inuyasha was stronger than that. The jewel would make him a full demon and he wouldn’t have any need for those feelings, for those dumbass moments of longing, or for the need to bury his face in the woman’s neck to soak up the wonderful enticing scent and feel the incredible pure and warm aura she radiated…

Oh, mother fucker.

“What the fuck is goin’ on?! Who are you??” he growled in annoyance from the whole situation. 

“I uh… I don’t really know,” she stuttered, again, telling the fucking truth. “I just—I—Uh—”

“SPIT IT OUT, WOMAN!” Inuyasha snarled. He needed to know who the fuck she was, how she had woken him up, and why the fuck she had kissed him!?

“Well, you see,” she started, “I, uhm, I was grabbed by this woman centipede thing? I know; I know how crazy that sounds but it’s—!! It’s true, ok?! And dragged down my family’s well and brought here? Like here—not home. I recognized this tree—because it’s on my family’s shrine grounds and you were— uh— And then I felt this pull to you and I knew I needed to wake you up and—”

The wind suddenly shifted and Inuyasha was able to smell the demon the girl was talkin’ about. But why—

The woman clutched onto him and pressed her body closer to his (not that they had that much space between them anyway) while her breathing elevated as her eyes shifted wildly around. Something about her rising panic didn’t feel right. It felt wrong. While it had been some time since he had some water, he still felt like his mouth filled with ash. 

No. Inuyasha didn’t like that at all.

“Your name?” he asked gruffly. Might as well put a name to the face of the girl who was driving him insane.

“Huh?”

“Name. Or do you prefer wench?”

“No! It’s Kagome! Ka-Go-Me!” It was then he felt the barrier that had been in place shatter—pink. It was Kikyō’s barrier. Son of a—

The roar from the distance broke his thoughts and he smirked. It had been awhile since the hanyō had used his claws on anything. And now, the opportunity had presented, itself like a fuckin’ rabbit jumping into the fire and roasting itself for dinner. He reached up to grab the arrow, but felt the underlying power that still kept him locked to his make-shift prison.

“Free me,” he ordered as he tried to figure out where the fuck the centipede bitch was lurking about. She was an older one—a mature one. Her body literally was slivering and clambering about the forest around them.

“What??” Kagome asked.

“Goddamn—do you fuckin’ listen!?! I said: Free me!!”

“But—I—But I did! You’re awake!”

“Does it look like I’m free?? I can’t fuckin’ move!! Pull the arrow out!!”

“Arrow?” Kagome echoed as she looked down between them and finally saw what he was talkin’ about. 

“Yes!! Arrow,” he enunciated. “Pull it—”

Too late. The bitch of a yōkai emerged from the tree branches about them and grabbed Kagome before she could even pull her focus from the arrow in his chest.

Kagome screamed an ear-piercing cry as she struggled to get free from the yōkai who had her in its clutches. It was like time was frozen and on a loop all over again, but this time, this dream frightened him.

Inuyasha didn’t want to admit it. No. He wanted to ignore the pull, the tug, the scent that literally draped over him like a soft warm blanket freshly washed and left out to bask in the sunlight, the reiki that caressed him the way he wanted her body to—and for him to never let go. But—the hanyō couldn’t. 

He realized: Kagome was his fuckin’ soulmate. And she was in trouble. But he was stuck to a goddamn mother-fucking tree.

Her hazel eyes locked with his, swirling with fear and upset. Was she that untrained?? How the fuck did she survive in the real world?! Is that why she kissed him? A hanyō? Without any regret or disgust? Dammit!

“Help me!!!” Kagome cried as the poisonous bitch sank her teeth into his soulmate’s side, making her whimper and yell out in pain. The scent of iron filled the air and Inuyasha started to go fucking crazy. His soulmate—his soulmate who didn’t seem like she had a clue about how the world worked—was being attacked!!!  Inuyasha needed to do something!! He began to struggle against the hold of the arrow embedded in his chest. Honestly, he didn’t give a fuck if it ripped his heart out as long as it meant he could get to Kagome before the centipede could harm her further.

But, fuck his life, the arrow held firm. His ears twitched at the agonizing wail from Kagome as she hit the ground and he felt like his heart stopped. Her body trembled, her face grimaced in complete and utter discomfort, but there, beside her, or rather, between her and Inuyasha, on whom she still kept the focus of her cloudy hazel eyes, was the Shikon Jewel…

Had it been inside her body? Is that what the bitch wanted? Is that why it had grabbed Kagome and brought her to him?

Fucking hell! His hand grabbed the arrow before he could think twice and the energy that had been there only a moment ago felt diminished somehow. Inuyasha didn’t question it as he ripped the weapon from his chest and he felt his yōki fully awaken; he was free.

But therein lay the problem: what was his next move once his power fully returned? Time continued to move slowly, or he was just moving and thinking faster now that he was free. Either way, Inuyasha had a predicament: did he grab his soulmate before the centipede could rip into her lithe form again? Or did he get the jewel before the nasty hag could swallow it whole?

Now… his choice may have seemed selfish, but in all reality, Inuyasha went for the jewel in order to get more strength to protect Kagome. With the Shikon no Tama, he could become a full demon and make sure no one would ever lay a finger on her ever again. While his human heart would vanish, his demonic half would know instinctively who she was to him and would love her with every fiber of his being.

Kagome was the key to everything.

Somersaulting off the tree, he landed just in front of the jewel and grabbed it from the turned up grass. Kagome looked up at him in question and with worry, but there was no time to explain! Inuyasha needed to be stronger, faster, and most importantly, more decisive and calm if he was gonna save his mate.

The jewel glowed within his palm and he just as he opened his mouth, the centipede was bearing down on him, looking for the jewel, looking for him. Fuck; there was no time to waste! Inuyasha tucked the jewel into his robes, punched the centipede in the face, and darted away, trying to keep himself between the yōkai and his mate. 

Protect Kagome. That was the only thing that mattered.

The centipede fucker howled its frustration, then bore down on Inuyasha and Kagome, flying at them at an incredible rate.

There wasn’t any time to think or process what the fuck was happening (funny how he had all the time in the world while he was dreaming the same nightmare over and over, and now that he was actually back in reality, there was no time to do jack shit!), so Inuyasha whisked Kagome up into his arms, as gently as he could, while rushing to get out of the centipede’s attack range.

Kagome winced, and he groaned, knowing he was hurting her, but he had to move her. “Hang on,” he ordered as he leapt up into the tree that had been his makeshift home for… well however long it had been since he was trapped there. “Stay here,” he said as he heard the centipede chuckle beneath them. Her hazel eyes met his, and he saw her complete faith and confidence in him, as well as her pain and anxiety, but that was all he needed to fight for her. He took the jewel from his robes and handed it to Kagome. Then, before he could stop himself, Inuyasha kissed her forehead and took off; he’d have to sort through his feelings and everything later. At that moment, he just needed to know she was safe.

“Dirty half-breed,” the centipede hissed.

“Nasty bitch,” Inuyasha shot back as he leapt forward, cracking his knuckles and unleashing his Sankon Tessō, cutting the yōkai into tiny pieces. When she was finally fully cut up, he heard a tiny squeak of surprise coming from above him, and he realized that he’d just cut a yōkai to bits in front of Kagome. Fuck.

Looking back up the tree for his soulmate, Inuyasha found her eyes gazing down at him with those eerie green-blue orbs. His face softened and he ended up next to her, taking Kagome into his arms and jumping back down onto the forest floor. The hanyō knelt down and leaned her against the tree, then took her face into his hands, studying her, making sure she was truly alright. Her hand reached up to cup his, showing him again how unafraid of his touch she was and how accepting she was of him. Inuyasha didn’t even try to pull away when his lips suddenly found hers. Kagome sighed into the kiss and shifted her body towards his, whimpering from the movement and reminding him she was injured.

Blood. 

The scent reappeared and Inuyasha pulled away, leaving Kagome confused. Fuck. She was adorable. Wait, did he just say she was adorable?

Soulmates definitely changed a man.

The thought was confirmed further when the hanyō found himself sniffing his mate’s stomach and lifting her shirt without permission.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!” she shouted; she was reeking of embarrassment as she tried to grab her weird kosode and push it down.

“Stop moving,” he ordered.

“BOUNDARIES! K-Kissing is one thing—even then! We need to—uh—why—STOP TRYING TO GET OFF MY SHIRT!!”

“WILL YOU HOLD FUCKING STILL?!?”

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOUR NAME AND YOU’RE—OH MY GOD ARE YOU LICKING ME?!?!” she exclaimed so loudly it hurt his ears.

“It’s Inuyasha. Now: Hold. Fucking. Still,” he growled as he began laving the wound, regardless of her indignant worrying and her hands pushing at his head. He needed to fucking heal her. It was a completely baseline need. His yōkai demanded it. His yōki swirled around him and her, trying to soothe her, trying to aid him—man, whatta weird day.

As he was cleaning Kagome, a new scent entered the area, catching Inuyasha’s attention. How had they snuck up on him? Was he really that focused on his soulmate? Ok. Dumb questions. But, the scent was oddly familiar. Heavily aged, but, the hanyō recognized the person. 

Kaede…
Could it be?

Inuyasha didn’t halt in his actions of healing his mate, even though she was still chastising him and demanding he quit it and something about ‘being sterile’, but he did look over with an eye and ear, giving half his attention to the now-old bat, while still studying Kagome’s large gash in her side. 

“Inuyasha!!” Kagome scolded, pushing harder realizing they were being watched. “THERE’S SOMEONE THERE!!!”

“Who gives a fuck!??” Inuyasha shot back. “I’m concerned with you, and your well-being right now, so sit fucking stil!!”

He saw that Kaede was maintaining her distance, which was probably for the best. Inuyasha was unsure how crazy he might get if she did approach closer when Kagome was injured.

“Well, Inuyasha,” Kaede said resignedly, “I see that you have found your soulmate at last.”

Chapter Text

At Kaede’s words, Kagome froze. Had...had she heard the old woman correctly?

Soulmate? What does that even mean? What was the old woman saying?

At the woman’s words, Inuyasha stilled his movements, his eyes still focused on Kagome’s side, but his ears, as Kagome could see, were now twitching towards the old woman. “You...you’re not Kaede,” he said, his face still pressed into Kagome’s side. “You smell like Kaede, but Kaede is...Kaede is…”

“It’s me, Inuyasha,” the old woman said, taking a tentative step into the clearing. “It is Kaede.”

Inuyasha finally ripped his face away from Kagome’s midsection and stared at the old woman, hard. “But,” he said, his voice dropping to a disbelieving whisper, “the Kaede I know is a child, not an…”

“Not an old woman?” Kaede said sadly. “It has been fifty years, Inuyasha, since my sister sealed you away. Fifty long years have passed since that day.”

“Fifty years?” Inuyasha scoffed. “Well, if it’s been fifty years, and you look like that, Kikyō must be pretty old.”

Kaede sighed, and Kagome felt a stirring in his chest. “No, Inuyasha,’ Kaede said sadly. “Kikyō isn’t old. Kikyō died.”

Inuyasha stilled. “Wha—what the fuck do you mean, Kikyō died?” he asked, his voice hollow.

Kaede smiled sadly. “Come,” she said. “Let us not linger here any longer. We shall return to the village, and all will be made clear.” Kaede turned, and began to walk from the clearing. Kagome felt Inuyasha tug her along after him, even though it seemed that the woman...the “Kikyō” woman...he was...sad...that she had died?

“Come on,” he said to her gruffly, “the obaba’ll explain everything to us, I’m sure.” He flashed her a sad smile, and Kagome felt her heartstrings tug at the feel of his hand in hers. 

They walked along the path leading from the clearing and through the woods, Inuyasha following Kaede, his hand still clasped around Kagome’s. She didn’t quite understand why, or what was going on. 

This man...boy?...this...Inuyasha...who was easily the handsomest person she’d ever seen, who she had kissed, who she had awoken from his slumber, who had freed himself from the arrow, who had saved her, who had kissed her in a way that set her body on fire like it had never been before, who she was drawn to in a way she had never been drawn to anyone before…

But there was Kikyō, and it was Kikyō that drew that sad, soft smile on Inuyasha’s face, even as he held her hand tightly, even as she knew that he had kissed her.

Just who was this Kikyō, anyway?

Kaede’s hut was at the base of a long staircase that led up to a beautiful shrine. Kagome couldn’t help but look up at the torii gate fondly, as it reminded her so much of home. As beautiful as the gate and the shrine were, Kaede’s home was simple, and sparse: a square, squat building, with a thatched roof and a bamboo mat for the door, an irori at the center of the room, where fire blazed merrily on the hearth. As Inuyasha and Kagome settled down at the fire’s edge, Kaede hobbled over to a low table built into the wall, and Kagome could see that the old woman was preparing tea. She came over to the irori, took the kettle off its hook, and poured several steaming mugs of tea before setting the kettle down on the ground. She handed one to Kagome, and when she tried to hand one to Inuyasha, he scoffed, but at a quiet, but firm, look from Kagome, he accepted it. Kaede sat down beside them, and for several moments, no one said anything, save the occasional gulp as they sipped their tea.

It set Kagome’s mind at ease. If they could all sit around, and drink tea, surely whatever she had gotten herself into wasn’t so bad…?

“Inuyasha,” Kaede said at last, setting her cup down on the earthen floor, “what are your last memories? That is, before this young lady…”

“Kagome,” Kagome supplied.

“Kagome,” Kaede repeated, nodding at Kagome gently, “before Kagome awakened you. What do you remember?”

Inuyasha set down his tea, tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robes, and closed his eyes. “I remember...flashes of light,” he said slowly, “and arrows, and pain. Then it all went dark.”

“And what is the next thing you remember?” Kaede asked kindly.

Inuyasha snuck a glance at Kagome, and she absolutely knew the next thing that he remembered, and they both blushed. “I...I remember Kagome waking me up,” he said sheepishly, ducking his head. Kagome glared at him, but he said no more.

Kaede sighed. “You have been sealed away by my sister,” she began, “for fifty years.”

“What?” Inuyasha barked. “How the fuck is that even possible? Fifty years? It feels like...like…” He paused. “Like she just shot me with those arrows an hour ago,” he said quietly, and the sudden sadness in his voice made Kagome want to go to him and wrap her arms around him, so tenderly, so gently, and give him all the love in her heart.

“Aye,” said Kaede wisely, “I suspected it might feel as such.” She looked from Kagome, to Inuyasha, and back again. “You are Inuyasha’s soulmate,” Kaede said to Kagome. “Why now? Why did you appear to Inuyasha now? And free him? How did you do it?”

Kagome blushed. She did not want to tell this older woman that she had kissed him, that she had thought him the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, and she had, for one brief, irresponsible moment, imagined herself the heroine of a fairy tale where true love’s kiss would awaken the sleeping prince. 

She hadn’t realized how close to the truth it would be.That she would be kissing...well, maybe not her true love, per se, but her soulmate? What the heck was the old woman even talking about, anyway? 

“How the hell did I get here, anyway, obaba?” Inuyasha was asking Kaede. Kaede simply sipped her tea and shrugged. “Oi!” he shouted in frustration. “You’ve got to know something! Anything!” His hands pressed deeper into his robes and he hung his head. “Please, Kaede,” he said at last, a plaintive whine in his voice. “Please tell me. What happened after Kikyō...after she…” Kagome watched as he struggled for the words, and eventually let them die in his throat.

“After she sealed you?” Kaede asked smoothly. Inuyasha nodded. “She knew she was dying. She asked that the jewel be burned with her body. But I guess that didn’t quite happen?” Kaede and Inuyasha turned to Kagome, who was currently holding the jewel between her thumb and forefinger. Her eyes widened and she blushed as she felt both Inuyasha and Kaede’s eyes fall to her. Inuyasha growled and dragged Kagome closer to him, snarling softly at the older woman.

“I know, Inuyasha,” Kaede said placidly, sipping her tea, “she’s yours.”

Kagome’s breath caught. Even though this Kikyō person was someone Inuyasha had cared for, clearly he was still acting territorial towards her. As though Kagome was still someone he wanted to protect. 

And maybe, someone he cared for?

She considered him again, against the fire, which cast flickering beams of shadow and light across the room. His hair and his eyes, which had seemed so beautiful to her in the daylight of the forest, were glowing now, against the low lights of the fire. His eyes, in particular, were blazing as he held her close into his side. His ears twitched, and he looked down at her; their eyes met, and Kagome blushed and looked away, gripping the jewel even more tightly in his hand now. 

“Do you know who Kagome is to you, Inuyasha?” Kaede asked, still quietly drinking her tea.

Now Kagome noticed a soft blush creeping across the bridge of Inuyasha’s nose. “Y—yeah,” he said softly, gruffly. “She’s my soulmate.”

“Aye,” said Kaede wisely. “Now, why would she be your soulmate, do you think?”

“Because she freed me from Kikyō’s seal?” Inuyasha reasoned, his hand now wrapping more solidly around Kagome’s waist.

“And how did she free you?” Kaede queried. “Do you know?”

Inuyasha and Kagome both blushed at that one, and Inuyasha tossed his head and scoffed.

“I—I—it was me,” Kagome said, her voice no more than a whisper. “I found him in the forest, and I kissed him.”

Kaede’s eyes widened slightly, and a hint of a smile cracked her otherwise calm and serious face. “You—you kissed him?” she said wonderingly.

“Well...yeah.” Kagome had known this was a bad idea. Even if kissing him—twice, now—was the most wonderful thing she had ever experienced in her life. “He was...sleeping...and I needed help...and he looked like maybe...he could help me.”

“But why not pull out the arrow?” Kaede asked interestedly. “Why not just do that?”

“Well...because…” How could Kagome put into words the way she had felt in that moment? How when she had caressed his ears, she felt a shiver shoot through her body? That she had the firm belief that he would protect her? Like she just knew?

It wasn’t quite something one could put into words.

“If Kagome is my soulmate,” Inuyasha interrupted, “and she had the jewel, and she was able to get through Kikyō’s barrier, and break Kikyō’s seal, then that must mean…”

“That Kagome is Kikyō’s reincarnation,” said Kaede smoothly. “Yes, Inuyasha, I had thought of that.”

“So then why...why…” Kagome could tell that he was struggling with his words. She could see him shivering a little, and before she knew what she was doing, she reached up, and pressed her hand to his cheek. He paused, and his great golden eyes turned down to look at her, disbelieving of her forwardness.

“Hey,” she whispered, “it’s okay. Take your time. You’ve just had quite a shock, waking up fifty years in the future with a soulmate.”

She exhaled when she saw his eyes soften, and his lips curl into the hint of a smile. “It’s been a fucking HELL of a day,” he agreed. “But…” his eyes swiveled back up to Kaede, “it still doesn’t explain how Kagome could be my soulmate, but Kikyō was not.”

“I think that it does, actually,” Kaede said simply. “You and Kikyō were drawn to each other, correct?” 

Kagome stiffened a little at Kaede’s words, but Inuyasha’s hand squeezed her waist, and she relaxed. “Yeah,” he said roughly. “Yeah, we were.”

“But you were tricked into betraying each other,” Kaede continued. “Not something that would have been able to happen, if you were truly soulmates.”

“But—” Inuyasha started.

“Think about it, Inuyasha,” Kaede reasoned. “You would have been able to tell , on instinct, whether or not Kikyō was lying to you. And Kikyō would  have been able to tell, on instinct, if it was you, or a false you. But she couldn’t, and you couldn’t. And means that…” Kaede paused. “Kikyō’s soul was not ready to accept you as its soulmate,” Kaede concluded. “That her soul was young, especially compared to yours, and she needed...time. To grow, to mature, to learn. And my guess is that, as this soul passed from body to body, it did just that, until it got to Kagome, and then, the jewel was reborn, a sign that she was ready to be with you, just as you were already ready to be with her.”

“So you mean that Kikyō…wasn’t ready to be my soulmate?” Inuyasha asked.

“If she had been,” Kaede replied gently, “what happened between you? Would never have happened.”

“But...I don’t even have fucking time to mourn Kikyō!” he burst out; Kagome shuddered under his touch, and he immediately quieted. “Just...it feels like it’s happening so fast, is all,” he added quietly, “but it’s been a long fucking time: for you, but not for me.” 

“Fifty years have gone by for me,” Kaede replied gently, “but every day I still think about her. And Kikyō left you the only thing that she could. She left you Kagome—she left you your soulmate. This girl—Kagome—is Kikyō’s present to you, her declaration of her love for you, and her apology for hurting you.”

Inuyasha was silent after this for a long time, staring into the firelight, one arm still wrapped around Kagome. Kaede sat quietly, drinking her tea, and then eventually rose and started to busy herself about the hut. Kagome watched as the older woman began to chop vegetables, and herbs. She hefted a large, cast-iron pot off the table, then over to the water bucket. She filled it with water, then set it on the hook over the fire to begin to boil. At her grunting, Inuyasha seemed to come back to consciousness.

“Ya making a stew, obaba?” he asked her. When Kaede nodded, he let go of Kagome—a feeling that jolted her and made her feel sick with the loss of contact—and jumped to his feet. “I’ll catch us some rabbit for it, yeah?” he said.

Kaede smiled. “Thank you, Inuyasha,” she said. “That is very kind of you.”

Inuyasha nodded, then made for the doorway. He pushed aside the mat, then turned back one more time, his eyes on Kagome. Kaede’s smile got wider.

“Don’t worry, Inuyasha,” Kaede said, a hint of a tease in her voice, “I’ll make sure that nothing happens to her.”

Inuyasha scoffed, then turned softened eyes onto Kagome, before he left the hut.

Kagome’s heart twisted when he left, and she gasped, then turned to Kaede, who had gone back to chopping her vegetables.

“Oh, don’t worry, child,” Kaede said calmly. “He’ll be back. Now that you’re here, I doubt he’ll go very far, at all.”

Chapter Text

Inuyasha sat, staring into the fire again, long after the old woman and his soulmate had gone to sleep.

He’d gone out, hunting for rabbit, because as soon as he’d seen the obaba starting to prep the meal, he felt an inexplicable urge to take care of his mate. He’d already been haunted by the desire to keep her the fuck by his side, and now he wanted to make sure she was fed, too? Honestly, what the fuck.

But now, as he watched her sleep, he couldn’t help but feel like...she was okay. Like she was his soulmate. And sure, he hadn’t been exactly thrilled with the whole fucking thing, but now? Watching her small, soft body breathing gently on the futon? Watching her eyelashes flutter as she dreamed? Hoping it was about him?

Yeah, he was a fucking goner. 

From the moment she’d kissed him and awakened him, he’d been driven by an intense desire to protect her. To keep her safe. In any way he could. Whether that mean saving her from the fucking centipede, or hunting rabbits so she would have a good dinner, Inuyasha simply wanted to...protect her. Protect his soulmate. 

Yes.

And, the more that he watched her, and the more that he thought about protecting her, the more he realized that he needed to be stronger. More powerful. He had been able to take care of the centipede, no problem, but there were bigger and badder yōkai out there, who could be interested in his pretty mate. (Because, he could admit that, yeah: she was fucking beautiful. With a sharp tongue. Oh yeah. He was lucky.) He worried, though, that as a hanyō, he wasn’t gonna be able to take care of her, to fucking protect her, in the way that she needed him to.

So, yes. In order to protect her properly, he needed to make a wish on the jewel. The one that he had started to make before, earlier in the day; the one that he had wanted to make before, with Kikyō, although now he was sure that he was supposed to make this wish to protect Kagome. 

Kagome—not Kikyō —was his fucking soulmate. It was Kagome —not Kikyō—that he needed to protect.

Yes. 

This would...be for her own good.
For their own good.
For their future. 

He needed to take care of her. He needed to protect her.
And to do that, he needed to be as fucking strong and as fucking powerful as he could be.

Slowly, stealthily, Inuyasha got to his feet. He crept around the irori’s stone hearth to the futon where Kagome lay sleeping. She was on her side, her hands tucked up under her chin, her beautiful dark hair, almost glowing blue in the firelight, tumbled all about her. Inuyasha dropped to his knees and took her in, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of her there, asleep, innocent, and vulnerable.

The urge to protect her swelled deep within him, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. The jewel rested on a thin chain about her neck—Kikyō’s chain. The one she had worn when she was the keeper of the Jewel. Kaede had held onto it, for fifty years...a memento of her dear sister. The one who had betrayed Inuyasha.

Just like he had betrayed her.
Would he...would he be betraying Kagome if he…

Fucking stop, he told himself, shaking his head. There was no need for waxing sentimental and getting upset. He had to do what he fucking had to do. That was it.

Leaning forward, Inuyasha caught the jewel neatly in his left hand, holding it delicately in the center of his palm. On his right hand, he flexed his claws, and with a deft swipe, he sliced the chain apart; the jewel rolled in his palm, free of Kagome’s beautiful, slender throat. Inuyasha paused for a moment, and whined at the sight of her body, so perfect and pure before him.

He wanted to keep her that way.
That’s why he had to do what he fucking had to do.

Just as stealthily as he had kneeled, Inuyasha quietly got to his feet. He snuck over to the bamboo mat in the doorframe, and slipped outside, leaving the women asleep in the hut. 

Outside, the moon shone down on the village: nearly full. Inuyasha frowned, and looked up at the moon, then back down at the jewel, now glowing brightly in his palm.

He could do this.
He could fucking do it.

Inuyasha held his hand out; the jewel pulsed in response. He took a deep breath.
Kagome.
He was doing this for Kagome.

“I—” he began, “I wish—I wish—” He paused; the jewel pulsed, again, in his palm. “I—I wish—”

But Inuyasha never got further than “I wish.”

Because, as he spoke, the jewel grew impossibly hot in his hand. Inuyasha howled in pain, and jerked his hand away. The jewel flew up into the air, over his head, and he watched as, with a deafening crash that caused his ears to shrink back, flat against his head, the jewel shattered, the pieces shooting up into the air and scattering in every which way. 

Artwork by MamaBearCat

Inuyasha stood there, staring up at the sky, where the jewel had been, and where the pieces had gone. 

What...what the fuck had happened?

“Inuyasha,” said a tired, raspy voice, and he turned to see Kaede and Kagome standing just outside the door. Kaede was leaning on Kagome, who looked irritated as fuck that she had been woken up. Immediately, Inuyasha dropped to his haunches and snarled softly, trying to seem meaner than he was.

He’d fucked up. 
He knew that he had.
But he had just...wanted to protect Kagome.
What was so wrong about that?

“Did you do something?” Kaede asked. “Did you...maybe...did you make a wish on the jewel?”

Inuyasha nearly flattened himself against the earth. How the fuck did she know that?

“Maybe?” He wasn’t gonna give her the satisfaction of a firm answer.

Kaede sighed again, and Inuyasha suddenly felt like shit. (Why, though? For trying to protect his fucking soulmate? Fuck that!) “Come on,” she said wearily, “let’s go back into the hut. We have much to discuss.” Kaede went back into the hut, and Inuyasha started towards the doorframe, but Kagome stopped him with a gesture of her hand. 

“Do you see that, Inuyasha?” she asked him. He paused, and looked around. “There, on the ground,” she said, pointing. “It’s glowing.”

Inuyasha looked at the ground, a little bit aways from where he was standing, and he could barely make out something twinkling in the moonlight. He got to his feet, forward, and squatted back down. Sure enough, there was something, sharp and shiny, glowing in the night. Inuyasha picked it up, and stared at it, hard.

“What do you think it is?” Kagome asked in a hushed voice as she came to stand beside him.

“I think…” Inuyasha’s voice, for once, was hushed, and slightly reverent. “I think that it’s a piece of the fucking jewel.”

“Oh.” He saw Kagome’s eyes get wide, and then her hand reached up to tug his sleeve. “I think Kaede-san wants us inside,” she said softly. “We should go in.”

“Y—yeah.” He picked up the shard, and allowed her to tug him back into the hut, where Kaede was already waiting for them. 

“Sit down, both of you,” she said, and they instantly obeyed, Inuyasha pulling Kagome close, practically in his lap, and together they sat, and listened, waiting for Kaede to continue.

“I need to tell you more from what I started to say earlier this evening,” Kaede began. “About what happened to you, and to Kikyō. When my sister...when she sealed you,” Kaede added slowly, “she had realized at the last minute that you were not to blame for her injury, and that you had been tricked—that both of you had been tricked.” 

Inuyasha growled softly, gripping Kagome so tightly that she squeaked when his claws pressed into her sides. He immediately let her go, whispering apologies. 

But fuck, he couldn’t help it. They had been fucking tricked, and Kikyō had realized it, and he didn’t even fucking know?

“How.” The word was hard, final.

“Your hands,” Kaede whispered. “Your hands were clean; they were not burned by reiki, which they would have been, had you been the one to wound her.”

Inuyasha snarled. Kikyō was fucking right. He breathed harshly, in and out of his mouth, trying to regain his composure. Kagome’s soft hand on his cheek calmed him, and he tried to remember:

Kagome was Kikyō’s gift ...to him.
Her last gift. Her most precious gift.
And he was not going to let her down.

“So she decided that, instead of killing you, she would seal you, protect you, keep you safe from harm,” Kaede continued. “She made a wish on the jewel to…” Kaede paused, and cleared her throat, as though unsure of how to continue.

“She made a wish to do what, Kaede-san?” Kagome whispered.

“To protect Inuyasha’s soul,” Kaede said finally. Her one good eye settled on Inuyasha, and he snarled again and tugged Kagome closer to him. “The wish was to protect your soul.” Her eye was pointed, and immediately, Inuyasha knew.

Kaede understood what he had wished for. And why it was his fucking fault that the jewel shattered.

“What do I have to do?” he asked quietly, penitently. It was his fucking fault, after all. 

“It’s not what you have to do, Inuyasha,” Kaede said, “it’s what Kagome has to do.”

“Me?” Kagome squeaked, and Inuyasha growled.

“She ain’t gonna do anything, obaba,” he hissed. “She’s my fucking soulmate, and I’m gonna protect her with my life!”

“Of course you are,” said Kaede, agreeing with him far too easily for his own fucking taste. “But thanks to her soulmate, Kagome now has a task ahead of her.”

“A...a task?” Kagome asked. “What...what kind of a task?”

“To go out and collect the jewel shards, and put the jewel back together, of course,” Kaede replied.

“What?!” exclaimed Inuyasha and Kagome together.

“She...she can’t…” Inuyasha was practically frothing at the mouth, he was so angry. How the fuck could his beautiful, tiny, fierce (but again, tiny) soulmate do something like that?

“I...I can’t,” Kagome said faintly. “I’m...I’m…”

“You are a miko, Kagome,” Kaede replied calmly, “and, from what I gather, quite a powerful one. You passed through my sister’s barrier; you freed Inuyasha, and just now? You saw that jewel shard, when even an inu hanyō could not.”

“Watch it, obaba,” Inuyasha growled. 

“I only state the facts, Inuyasha,” Kaede answered. “She can see the shards. The jewel came from her, did it not?” When Kagome nodded, Kaede nodded in return. “Then it is settled. Tomorrow, Kagome begins her journey to find the jewel shards, and begin to put it back together.”

“But why do I have to do that?” Kagome burst out. “What’s the big deal about this jewel?”

“Did ya not almost just get killed by a giant fucking centipede over it?” Inuyasha asked her incredulously. “Every fucking yōkai in the area’s gonna want a piece of it.”

“The jewel will increase a yōkai’s power,” Kaede added. “Even a small piece of the jewel would grant them that additional power. So you must go out, and find the shards, and collect them before other yōkai learn of the jewel’s shattering, and start to hunt for the pieces too.”

“But there were so many!” Kagome exclaimed. “How can just the two of us find them all?”

Inuyasha’s head hung low, his face buried in Kagome’s shoulder. He knew that this was all his fucking fault, and somehow, someway, he had to make it up to her.

“I’ll—I’ll help ya, ‘Gome,” he said, his face in her neck still. “It’s my fucking fault, so I’ll fucking help ya.”

Kagome tucked her palm against his cheek and lifted his face to hers. He froze at the intensity, the softness, shining in her hazel eyes. 

“You—you will?” she asked, and her voice was so tentative, so soft, that how could he do anything else but nuzzle her palm tenderly?

“Y—yeah,” he breathed. “I will.”

They paused for a moment, gazing into each other’s eyes. She was so close. If he just leaned in a little bit further then he could...

“Then it’s settled,” Kaede said briskly, getting to her feet. “You leave at first light.” She walked back to her futon, and lay down. “I suggest you get plenty of sleep,” she added before rolling onto her side, away from them. “You have a long journey ahead. Good night.”

“Good night,” Kagome said, and Inuyasha grunted. She went to follow Kaede, but Inuyasha stopped her, reaching out to take her hand in his. 

He...he couldn’t let her go to fucking bed. Not until he told her…

“Is...what is it?” Kagome’s eyes sought his as the words dropped from her beautiful, sweet lips. 

“Let’s go outside,” he told her. “We need to fucking talk.”

Inuyasha led her back outside, back under the brilliant moon and the twinkling stars. They paused for a moment looking up: Kagome leaning into Inuyasha’s shoulder, Inuyasha dropping her hand and circling her waist, drawing her close.

Fifty years since he had seen the stars.
Fifty years since he had seen the moon. 
Fifty years since…

“The stars...the moon,” Kagome said dreamily, “I’ve never seen them quite like this before.”

“I—What?” he asked. 

“In my time,” she continued, “we have a lot of...what’s called...light pollution? Like we have lights that are sometimes brighter than the night sky, and they outshine the stars.”

“Sounds awful,” Inuyasha commented, looking down at his soulmate.

“It is,” Kagome agreed, but she nuzzled his shoulder and he took a moment to turn and bury his face in her hair. She smelled of jasmine, and lilies, and he immediately relaxed as her scent surrounded him and drew him in. 

He...he had to...

“I need to tell ya,” he said gruffly, his face still buried in her hair. “What I was gonna wish for before the jewel fucking shattered.”

Kagome drew away from him; he whined at the loss of contact. “What you were...wait,” she said, shaking her head. “You were going to make a wish?”

The incredulity in her voice made Inuyasha’s ears droop in shame. “Y—yeah,” he said slowly. “I thought that...I thought…”

The feel of Kagome’s warm hand slipping into his caused him to look up. Her eyes were shining, a mixture of colors swirling under the stars. His breath caught; she was so fucking beautiful. 

The sight of Kagome standing there, in the moonlight, holding his hand, looking up at him so earnestly, both made him terrified and gave him strength. He knew that he needed to be able to tell her the truth, but also...he was afraid of what she would think when he told her.

“I...I thought that...if I was a full yōkai, I’d be able to protect you better,” he said, his ears and head drooping. “And so...I thought that if I...wished on the jewel to become a full yōkai…” He was slowly realizing the idiocy of it all. How fucking stupid it was for him to make that kind of wish. Because now that he knew Kikyō had wished to protect his soul, and the jewel had shattered when he tried to wish to become full yōkai, it could only mean one thing…

Becoming full yōkai would destroy his soul.
And, as his soulmate, it would probably destroy Kagome, too.

Kagome’s squeeze of his hand, her body pressing against his in a desperate, warm hug, brought him back to reality. He could feel her heartbeat against his own chest; he could hear her breathing, feel her breath moving the folds of his robes, ever so gently. 

“Inuyasha.” Her voice was so soft, so sweet, so tender, even as it was muffled by his clothes. “You...you don’t need to be a full yōkai to take care of me.” She pushed away, and looked up into his eyes. He was completely caught up in her gaze, and he found himself holding his breath, waiting for her to finish what she was going to say.

Kagome took a deep breath. “You...how you are…” She paused, unsure of how to continue.

“A fucking hanyō,” he said to her bitterly.

“A wonderful hanyō,” Kagome corrected him gently, “who has cared for me, protected me...who has…” She ducked her head bashfully and so fucking beautifully, “kissed me,” she added softly. 

Inuyasha felt his own cheeks flush. “Well, fuck,” he said awkwardly into her hair. “I guess I fucking did, didn’t I?”

“You did,” she breathed, “and honestly? I...I like you…” Kagome raised her face to meet his, and again her eyes were shining—fuck, her whole wonderful face was shining, “...just as you are.” She took a deep breath, and Inuyasha held his. “I’ve only known you, less than a day,” she continued, “but I can already tell that you are the strongest, bravest man I’ve ever met, and I know that you would do everything you could to protect me.” Kagome paused. “I like you, Inuyasha,” she said, her voice quavering, “and I want you as you , as the man that I kissed to wake up. As the man that saved me. As the man that kissed me.” She paused; Inuyasha was resisting every single urge in his body to take her in his arms and kiss the shit out of her. “I... like you,” Kagome said, her voice no more than a whisper, “as a hanyō. As you.”

Inuyasha’s heart was aching, twisting, soaring, swelling; how was it fucking possible to feel so many emotions at once? But looking down into Kagome’s open, earnest face, he knew, that with her? Being with her? 

He was gonna feel all the feelings: the love, the frustration, the anger, the joy.
But most of all, the love.

He tilted her head up so that their foreheads rested together, for one brief, wonderful moment. “Okay,” he breathed, “I guess I can stay hanyō, for you. Because I like you as you are, Ka-Go-Me.”

She blinked; her beautiful eyes were filling with tears, but Inuyasha could tell that they were tears of joy. As he pressed his lips to hers, as he felt the heat, the electricity, course through his body and soul, he knew that he would never kiss another, that he would never love another, as he kissed Kagome. 

As he loved Kagome.

Was it possible to feel fucking much for one person in one day? To feel like someone who woke him from a fifty-year slumber would be the person he wanted to be near, always? Fuck, he didn’t know. But Inuyasha did know, as his arms went around her, as her fingers wrapped up in his hair, as their bodies intertwined…

He never, ever , wanted to let her go.
And he would follow her to the ends of the earth...to find all the jewel shards, yes, but more importantly…

To keep her safe.