Faithful Guardian and Serious Consequences [Spectrum Challenge -blue]
Title: Faithful Guardian and Serious Consequences
Author: Hairann
Prompt: Spectrum Challenge - Blue
Genre: Friendship, Angst, Comfort
AU/CU: CU/Divergence
Rating: T
Warnings: Set in past tense, violence.
Word Count: 4826
Summary: Kagome returns late from the future.
Full story summary: Sometimes in order to correct the mistakes of the past, you have to start over from the beginning. Sometimes in order to achieve what you wish for most in the world, you have to be willing to give up everything else. Join Kagome as her wish throws her further back in time, to the moment she is needed the most.
Part 5 of Rewriting History.
“Inuyasha, do not argue with me. You know the rules. When I go to visit my family, you have to stay in the village. I have already skipped the last few visits because you did not want to go there, but you have out grown your winter jacket again, we are out of ramen and I am out of medical supplies. We have to stock up, which means you have to put up with the villagers for a little while. They do not know you are really a half-demon, so they should not cause any problems,” I assured him, glaring at the uncooperative, temporarily human, Inuyasha.
“Even when I'm human they still give me dirty looks cause I don't have any parents. The kids make fun of me and the grownups pity me, I hate going there. I don't see why I have to anyways, I can take care of myself. I'm not a baby anymore,” he insisted, reminding me of his rough human age. If I remembered correctly, my mother had said that boys go through a bit of a rebellion around five or six. Apparently it was the same for those that were half human.
“I am not saying you are a baby, Inuyasha, but the rosary still has not been activated, and I will not activate it on your human night. Without out, you can not get through the well and I will not leave you here tonight by yourself. When I get back, we can talk about activating it so next month you can come with me, my mom has been bugging me about bringing you back as it is, but for tonight, you will have to deal with the villagers.
“I am sorry they are giving you so much trouble, but as this is the first time you have told me, I had no way to know. For now, please do not argue with me and just get ready to leave. I will only be gone an hour, at the most, so you will not have to deal with them for long. And after this you will not have to stay with them again, alright? So just go for tonight please deal with it for me and I swear, I will make it up to you tomorrow,” I promised him, having hoped he would finally drop it.
Surprisingly enough he had, through with a few whispered grumbles as he headed over to his toys and began to gather the ones he wanted to take with him to the village. I breathed a sigh of relief that the issue was resolved for now at least before grabbing my empty backpack and waited by the door for him to finish. Soon enough, he was standing beside me, a sour look on his human face. “I know you are not happy, Inuyasha, but I will come back as soon as I can.”
After having assured him of my quick return, I made my way out of our hut, knowing he would be following behind and headed toward the village. Soon enough we had arrived at the leader's hut and after biding Inuyasha a quick goodbye, I continued on toward the well. Not wasting any time, I was soon enough jumping into the well and feeling its magic surrounding me. Once on the other side, I climbed up the old, rotting ladder and made my way into the shrine.
“Welcome home dear, no Inuyasha with you this time either?” my mother greeted me as I walked over the threshold into the house and met her on her way out of the kitchen. “You really outta bring him back at some point, I'm just dying to see him as a child. He must be so adorable right now,” she continued on as she led me back toward the kitchen and began setting up a pot of water for tea before I could even ask.
“He will be coming with me next time, apparently the villagers have been giving him some problems but he did not tell me until after he had transformed tonight. And I believe I have mentioned before, that even though he is wearing the rosary, it hasn't been activated yet so he can't come through the well. If he had said something earlier I could have done so before he became human tonight, but Inuyasha being Inuyasha, waited until it was too late.
“As it is I can not stay long tonight, for an hour at the most, but I will bring him with me tomorrow to make it up to him for having to deal with the villagers' pity tonight. I am just going to grab a bag full of stuff and head back,” I told her before adding with a soft smile, “After tea of course.” As she returned mine with one of her own, my mother made her way over to the whistling tea kettle and began to pour us each a glass of the steamy liquid.
“You mentioned the villagers' pity, why have they been pitying him?” she inquired, blowing the steam from the lid of her mug before taking a careful sip. Before I had the chance to answer her, a large crash had come from the entryway and, after exchanging confused glances with each other, my mother and I made out way toward the front door, only to be met by a sight that had her looking rather faint. My grandfather lay at the bottom of the stairs, books and scrolls scattered around his unconscious body.
It was not hard to understand that he had fallen down the stairs and, completely forgetting about my mother for a moment, I rushed back toward the kitchen to call for an ambulance. The call had ended quickly, as I wished to return to her side before she had the chance to faint and require an ambulance herself. Though the wait was only a few minutes, hours seemed to tick by as we waited for the paramedics to arrive.
After they had loaded him into the back of the ambulance, we followed along behind in my mother's car, with me driving since she did not seem stable enough to do so herself. We traveled in silence, each unable to find anything to say that would not cause the other to feel any better, to worry less. It was not until we had arrived at the hospital and one of the nurses, dressed from head to two in white, informed her that we would have to wait there, that she finally spoke.
And even than, it was to simply yell at the next nurse, who had insisted she filled out paperwork for my grandfather. After assuring her that I would take care of it, I instructed her to go call Souta so he would not return to an empty house and worry. As I got myself as comfortable as I could in one of the hard, waiting room chairs, I began filling out the information about my grandfather, a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I was forgetting about something, though I could not remember what.
***
“He is fine. He has a mild concussion and a sprained wrist, but that is all. He was very lucky. A fall like that could have been much worse. He is a little groggy, but you can go in to see your father if you would like.” I could hear someone telling my mother, most likely my grandfather's doctor, as I felt myself being pulled back into consciousness. As I sat up from the three chairs I had been laying across, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and turned to my mother just as she was finishing thanking the doctor.
“What time is it?” I inquired groggily, hiding a yawn behind my hand, causing my mother to smile gently at me before glancing down to check her watch. When I heard her tell me it was nearly four thirty in the morning, a light went off in my head and all I could say was a screeched, “Dawn!” before jumping out of my seat and crashing into the floor as I realized my legs were asleep. After working my muscles for a few moments so they could wake up, I stood up again, turning back to her.
“Tell grandpa I said hello. Can I borrow your keys?” I inquired only to be met by a confused look as she tried to understand why I wanted to take her car. “Inuyasha,” I explained as if that was enough to make her understand, though apparently it was as she gasped before reaching into her purse and tossing her keys to me. “I'll be back in a few hours,” I assured her, giving her a quick smile before rushing toward the door we had come in the night before.
As I rushed toward the car, I could not help but think that he was going to kill me, even if I managed to make it back before he became a half-demon again. I had assured him that I would only be gone an hour and while the older Inuyasha may have understood my grandfather injuring himself as an excusable reason, some how I doubted the younger one would. He would merely see it as me lying to him, abandoning him.
As I hurried through the city, nothing I passed registered in my mind and far too slowly for my liking, I finally arrived back at the shrine, leaving the keys in the ignition as I rushed toward the well. I only had a few minutes to make my way to the village and get him away from them before they all saw him transform. I had to get there in time, I had to save him from the insults and dirty looks that I knew he would receive. I had to protected him.
But as I jumped into the well and made my way out on the other side, I already knew I was too late. The sun had already begun to rise on the horizon and even from where I was, climbing over the lid of the well, I could hear the screams. My worst fears screaming in my head, I ran. Faster than I could ever remember running, I ran. In between the trees, toward the village, I ran. Just as I broke through the treeline overlooking the village, I spotted a very half-demon Inuyasha running toward me, a mob of screaming villagers close behind.
The moment his eyes found mine, I could see the pain, the betrayal within his golden depths and wondered if he would ever forgive me for this. But even as the fear that he never would ate at the back of my mind, I rushed toward him, arriving just quick enough to throw my body over his as the villagers began throwing rocks at him. “Demon spawn! Abomination! Monster!” they screamed above us, but all I could hear was the tears coming from the child underneath me.
“Enough!” I screeched at the top of my lungs, sounding far louder than I even knew was possible for a human, shocking and shutting the villagers long enough for me to glare up at them, careful not to expose him to them. “What the hell is wrong with you people? You are attacking a child!” I yelled at them, watching in satisfaction as they took a step back away from me, but the feeling did not last long as soon enough they were over their shock and throwing rocks at us once again.
“You dare bring that filth into our village? Pass that abomination off as a human? He ate at the table with my children,” the village head spat at me and I fought against the urge to point out that they would not become a demon simply by eating with one. I knew it would do no good and would simply make getting us away in one piece a lot harder. As I glanced around, trying to figure out our chances if we simply ran, I noticed a few of the villagers were making their way over with weapons far more dangerous than rocks.
I knew I had to do something quick, something powerful enough to strike fear into them so deep they would dare not attack us, giving me time to get him to safety. No matter how much I wanted to teach them that I would not allow them to attack a child, demon or not, he had to be my top priority. My personal feelings, my boiling rage did not matter at that moment. Able to come up with only one thing that villagers in this time might believe, I decided to play the priestess card.
“Cast one more stone at me and the Kami will not take kindly to this village as they have in the past. You are attacking their vessel and I am protected by them. Unless you wish to suffer their wraith, you will allow us to leave unharmed,” I told them in my harshest tone, glaring each in the eyes as I glanced around at the mob surrounding us. Judging by their rising voices and the insults they spat at me, they did not believe me, but for once, luck was on my side.
Just as I began to speak again, it started to rain, pouring chilly water down on all of us. “This is your only warning, the Kami speak if you but listen to them,” I insisted, gesturing toward the rain as I decided to take a risk and began to rise to my feet, covering Inuyasha's body with my arms as best I could. “They scream for you to leave us be, warn of the floods that will destroy all of your crops for generations to come if you harm me further.”
As I spoke, I silently counted the seconds between the thunder and lightning, already a plan beginning to form in my mind. “You do not believe that what I say is true?” I inquired, already knowing the answer. “The Kami shall show you a sign that I speak the truth,” I began just as the thunder boomed above us, and began ticking off the seconds in my mind before continuing, “Show these villagers a sign oh great Kami!” I bellowed out, rising my arms to the sky just as the lightning flashed above us.
Smiling softly to myself as I closed my umber eyes, I whispered to the villagers, just loud enough for them to hear over the rain, “The Kami tell me to walk away. That they will protect me, that they will punish those that try to stop me.” This said, I turned and began walking away, sure to keep my head held high and my steps slow. Inside my chest, my heart was pounding and I began to believe that it would explode.
But soon enough we had crossed the treeline, blocking us from their sight and without a word of warning to Inuyasha, I took off at a run toward our cabin. “I am sorry Inuyasha, I am so very sorry,” I whispered to him, ignoring the way the rain continued to pelt against me, the way my feet slipped in the mud as I ran. Though I could feel the anger rolling off of him, he still gripped onto my shirt tightly and I could not fight the tears that ran down my cheeks, instantly washed away by the rain.
Throwing open the door the instant we made it home, not caring if I broke it or not, I set Inuyasha down in the middle of the room and raised his chin so he was looking me directly in the eyes. “You are mad at me, you may even hate me right now, and I understand. But right now I need you to lay down on the bed, you can scream at me later,” I assured him before stepping back to wait for him to do as instructed only to be met by a confused look.
“I am going to activate the rosary, but it should not hurt as much if you are already lying down on a soft surface. Go lay down,” I instructed again and waited until he had done so before whispering a soft 'sit'. As he was pulled down into the futon, unable to move for a little while, I began gathering up our belongings, packing everything into our bags as best I could. By the time I had finished everything, other than his toys, he had moved to sit up on the futon.
“Gather up your toys, Inuyasha. Soon as you are ready, we will leave,” I told him as I grabbed his bag and began to help him do so before placing it on his back and picking up mine. I took one last glance around our home of the last few years to make sure I had not forgotten anything we would want, then turned toward the door and made my way out. Behind me I could hear Inuyasha following and, taking his hand in mine, I quickened our pace toward the well.
After I made sure no one was in the area, and would see what we were about to do, I leaned down toward him to explain, “Wear this cloth around your face when we jump through. The other side is going to overwhelm you with smells you are not used to and will probably hurt your nose. The cloth will block some of them out and make things easier on you.” Seeing him nod in agreement, I tied the cloth around his face before helping him onto the lip of the well.
Taking his hand in mine once again, I silently counted to three before jumping in and taking him with me. Instantly we were on the other side and Inuyasha ripped his hand from my to cover his nose, the cloth apparently not working well enough. “Come on, we should get you inside, the smells will not be as strong in there,” I promised him as I helped both of us to climb from the well before guiding him to the house.
As we walked inside, it was obvious that my mother had still yet to return, not that I was expecting her to, as the house was dark and quiet, our long cold tea still sitting on the table where we had left it. Figuring he would be hungry, I made my way toward the pantry, grabbing a couple of packages of ramen before putting water on to boil. Behind me, Inuyasha made his way around the kitchen, sniffing and growling at everything he found that he did not recognize.
Trying my best to not laugh at how cute he look, I watched as he stuck his nose up in the air and sniffed a few times before turning back to me. “There is no one here. I thought you said your family lived here,” he told me before making his way out of the kitchen, apparently planning on exploring the rest of the house. After making sure I would have enough time to give him a tour before the water would be ready, I hurried to catch up to him.
“They do, but they are at the hospital right now. My grandfather fell down the stairs last night. He is alright now, but my mom is staying there with him. My younger brother is probably staying over at a friend's house,” I explained and seeing the understanding dawn in his golden eyes, I continued, “Yes that is the reason I was late to pick you up and I am sorry. I can assure you that it will never happen again.”
“Cause you won't make me stay at anymore villages when you come back? You'll bring me with you?” he questioned, pinning me with his 'don't you dare say no' look and wisely I nodded my head before hearing the tea kettle begin to whistle. “I don't see why I had to stay there in the first place,” Inuyasha grumbled under his breath before he followed behind me, climbing up in one of the dinning chairs to watch as I finished preparing the ramen.
“Because I did not wish to have to activate the rosary unless it was necessary. Using it will hurt you and I do not want to cause you pain. Right now, just worry about eating so we can go take a hot bath and warm up,” I instructed, noticing we were still continuing to drip water onto the floor. Figuring I would clean it up after the bath, I quickly finished off my bowl, made another for Inuyasha and began making my way upstairs to start the water.
As I waited for it to fill, I began gathering clothes for us to change into, including some modern ones for Inuyasha, before heading back downstairs to check on him. He had just finished up his ramen when I walk in the door and, sitting the bowl aside, he sat there and stared at me. “If you are ready for your bath, just head upstairs. Follow the sound of water,” I told him with a smile as I began gathering up the dishes and placed them in the sink.
When I turned around to head back upstairs, I found Inuyasha still sitting in his seat, staring at me. “Were you still hungry?” I inquired and he shook his head no. “Thirsty?” Again he shook his head. “You do not want to go upstairs by yourself?” I ventured and this time he remained unmoved, a clear sign that the answer was yes, but that he did not want to admit it. Smiling softly to him, I reached out my hand and waited until he had taken it before leading him up to the bathroom.
***
“You're here, Kagome.” I heard my mother comment as she arrived in the kitchen, startling me. Glancing up from my cup of tea I nodded to her, watching as she looked around the room before turning back toward me with an inquiring expression. Before she even had the chance to voice her question, I already knew what she would ask. “No Inuyasha? I was hoping you would bring him back with you when you came back today.”
As I poured her a cup of tea, sitting it in front of her as she sat down across from me at the table, I answer, “He is here. Inuyasha fell asleep on the couch watching television. Once he figured out it was not going to attack him and stopped growling at it, I could not get him to stop watching.” Silently I waited as my mother stood up and made her way back toward the other end of the house, no doubt to get a quick peek at the slumbering half-demon.
Only a few moments passed before she returned to the kitchen, a large smile adorning her face. “He is so adorable,” she squealed softly, careful not to wake him up as she retook her seat and began sipping on her hot tea. “He seems rather worn out though, he's in such a deep sleep he didn't notice me playing with his ears. What's got him so tired?” she questioned concerned, not used to the older Inuyasha sleeping so deeply when he was in this time.
“I am pretty sure he was up all night waiting for me. I got back too late, the sun had already begun to rise and the villagers caught Inuyasha in his half-demon form. He is a bit upset with me today, as is to be expected, but I figured we would stay here a few days to make them think we are gone completely before heading back to find a new place to live. I will have to start coming after dark, though I will be bringing him with me from now on, but I do not want to chance any of the villagers spotting us.
“The well is safe for now since they believe it to be cursed and will not go anywhere near it, but if they see us going through it, I have no doubt they will try and destroy it. We will still come around the new moon each month, but I think it will be for a day before and after instead of just a few hours that day. I will feel much better if he is here when he is human. How is grandpa doing?” I inquired deciding to switch topics for a while, I was still rather pissed off at the villagers and worried I would raise my voice if I continued speaking of them.
“He is doing good. He's already grumbling about coming home and is annoyed he missed you. But thankfully you will still be here when he returns tomorrow. I'm supposed to pick him up rather earlier tomorrow, you may want to get some sleep while you can,” she warned me with a slight smile and knowing that, between him and Souta, I would be waking up rather early, I nodded my head in agreement before rising to my feet.
“I will take Inuyasha up with me. I do not want him to wake up in a strange house with out me there. If he does happen to wake up before me, do not try to go near him, just have him wake me up or do it yourself if he will not listen. I am sure nothing will happen, but I do not want to take any chances before I have the chance to introduce him to you guys,” I instructed, waiting for her nod before continuing on toward the front room.
Careful not to wake him, I lifted Inuyasha into my arms and quietly walked up the stairs to my old room. Gently placing him on the bed, I climbed in next to him and covered us both up before closing my eyes to sleep. Beside me, I could feel Inuyasha twitching about in his sleep and pulled his flush against me, knowing my warmth and presence would calm down, what was no doubt, a nightmare. Hearing him settle down, I allowed sleep to overtake me as well.
***
“Silence, Jaken,” Sesshoumaru instructed, having heard enough of the shorter demons constant questioning where they were going, who they were going to see, why they were going to see them and so forth. It had only been a couple of weeks since the small, toad-like demon had begun following him and Sesshoumaru had decided to use him in an experiment. The strange priestess that looked after his half-brother claimed to have no problems with demons as long as they did not attack innocent people, but no doubt, her true colors would be seen once she saw this particular demon.
With the exception of his own kind, no other demons could stand his outward appearance and he knew she would be unable to as well. Her innocent act was just that and he was going to prove it. Though judging by the scene before him, as he crossing the threshold into the clearing where her hut was, he would be unable to do as he wished. Before him, the hut burned brightly, charcoal logs all that remained of the one room home she had built with the half-demon.
Having no idea what was going on, Jaken made his way over to warm his hands near the flames before turning back to find the taller demon sniffing the air. Curious, he mimicked his actions but could not smell anything besides the burning wood. “There is no stench of blood,” Sesshoumaru commented before sniffing the air once again, this time seeking out the priestess and his half-brother's scents. “Come,” he instructed as he followed the trail they had left behind the day before, only to find himself confused when they arrived at an old, dry well.
Shrugging his shoulders, Sesshoumaru sat gracefully next to it to wait her return. Still not sure what was going on, but understanding there would be there for a while, Jaken began gather leafy branches, making a small awning from them to sit under and protect himself from most of the rain that continued to fall above them. Seeing his makeshift shelter, Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow before deciding whatever question he had been thinking did not need to be asked, and stared off into the forest as he waited.