Disclaimer: Do not own Inuyasha in any way shape or form except merchandise, and creative license that fanfiction gives me.
I am fully aware that this story belongs to another username with the name of *~*Stylized_Silver_Miko*~*, as this was my username on A Single Spark. But because of years of negligence, and college getting in the way, I forgot my password, and A Single Spark has been archived. Before you go crying to the mods about stolen goods, I've already spoken to them about it. I plan on re-doing most of it, so any fans of the story I had before, I hope you enjoy Watching Over You 2.0, new and improved!
Watching Over You
Kagome walked down the dirt path with her usual crew. Miroku was in front, talking with Sango, who had Kilala on her shoulder. Inuyasha headed them all, grunting about slow ningens. She herself walked behind them all, with Shippou in her bicycle cart. He was fast asleep. They had been tailing Naraku for about two weeks now, with no show of gain or loss, and it was driving them a little insane.
Kagome sighed low enough so that even Inuyasha could not pick up on her distress. Kaede had been teaching her what she could while they stocked up on supplies and rested for the night, and often if one had the inclination, could find her practicing her arrow skills and other miko abilities far into the night, sometimes until right before dawn.
Her miko powers had grown substantially, her arrows materializing in her hands, so she had instant and endless ammo. It was a power that only she, the Shikon Miko possessed, as told by Kaede, for her sister Kikyo had such an ability in her past life. As her powers grew, a pink bow made of a light pink wood with a magical twine had materialized, in a pink strap on her back. It had ancient script on it, which she could barely read, since it was old kanji. It told of a prophecy:
"Ancient bow of earth and purified sword of sky shall clash, merge, and become one. The Shiroi Miko*, the only miko to wield this bow, named a sucessor, a miko of equal strength and purity of heart. Earth and Sky shall become one, to destroy the evil that threatens us all."
Kagome read it over and over, the script in faded gold ink in embossed letters. One day, when fighting Naraku, the bow came out of nowhere, and as her eyes glowed the same color as her miko ki, so did all of her arrows, for which there was no amount to be seen in her quiver. Needless to say, Naraku tried to play it off, but he ran with his tail between his legs when this unforseen event occured. It was a good thing too, they were already tired from a battle that had happened earlier, and was in for some much needed rest.
Shippou was tossing and turning, having a nightmare. Before, all Kagome could do was to stroke his fur and tell him it'd be alright, but she learned a new trick, another of what could only be her aforementioned Shikon powers. She let a soft pink glow cover her fingers, and ran her fingers through the kit's hair. In about a few seconds, he quieted, and fell back into blissful sleep. She looked down at her adopted son with worry. He'd been having nightmares recently, and she hadn't asked him about them because he would have nightmares of his parents' death, but now, she wasn't so sure it was about his parents this time. His fright was more on an...epic level.
Kagome nearly choked on a yawn. "I sense three shards, Inuyasha! They're coming fast!" Inuyasha immediately scented the air, and when a particular scent hit his nose, he snorted in distaste.
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. "Feh.....it's Kouga. Who else would smell like wolf coming this fast?" Inuyasha ran ahead to head him off. Kagome sweatdropped.
"Inuyasha, sit!" the hanyou fell face first in the dirt.
"SHIT......wench, what was that for? I coulda-"
"Not now, Inuyasha. I'll deal with him, this isn't your problem. It's mine."
"Fuck! I am the Alpha in this pack, and-"
"Don't make me say the WORD again, Inuyasha. Besides, he's not in love with you! He's got a thing for me, but honestly, it wouldn't work out."
"Pfeh, thank Kami for that small blessing..." Inuyasha was still face down in the dirt, eating grit.
By then, a large whirlwind tore through the treelines, headed straight for their little group. It stopped about twenty feet from Kagome, and Kouga's visage instantly appeared, his long bound ebony hair settling to the middle of his back.
"Hey, Kagome." Kouga stepped up to her. "Why do you deal with inu-koro here? Why not come back with me?" Kouga sighed as Inuyasha got up, hair all over the place, dirt all over his front, and pissed off.
"She doesn't want to go with you, she's my woman!" Inuyasha shouted. Kouga smirked.
"Nah, she's mine. She saved me, healed me, and took care that you did not kill me. She obviously loves me." Inuyasha was about to protest, when Kagome suddenly went off.
"LOOK, I'm NO ONE"S woman! Inuyasha, I don't know where you even get the idea from. Kouga, just because I saved you does not mean I want to become your mate! I'm sorry, but men are not on my mind right now! We've got shards to look after, shards to collect, evil minions to kill, homework, I'm too busy to have anybody right now. EVEN if I weren't, I couldn't think of either of you that way, only as friends!
Both Kouga and Inuyasha's jaws hit the ground. She smirked, closing her eyes, nodding. "If I want a mate, I'll choose. Someone intellectual, someone a bit taller, and more dignified! I hate it when men fight over me, I'm no one special!" she started. Miroku laughed.
"But Lady Kagome, You are a Miko. You are special." he smiled, and kagome blushed, holding her cheeks. Miroku was about to go up to her to 'ask' her about what was the matter was but Sango held him back, a hand across his chest, blocking his path. She glared at him.
"Don't think so, you lech." she smacked Kagome for him. He blinked. "Hey, I didn't even touch her!" he was going to say 'Yet,' but he stopped himself. Sango glared again.
"I didn't like the way you approached the situation, monk." Sango's voice was laced with sarcasm.
Kagome, still blushing, came up to the two shocked men.
"Can we still be friends, you guys? Having enemies isn't a nice thing." she looked at both of them. Kouga was the first to jump up. He took Kagome's hands and smiled.
"Sure thing Kagome. But if you ever wanna get together, just howl. See you later, Kagome. Bye, Inu-koro, I'll fight you later." Kouga left in a swirl of rushing wind. They all set to walking again.
Kagome shook her head. Inuyasha still hadn't given her an answer. It probably had something to do with her sitting him. It couldn't have been anything she said, right?
Right?
An hour later....at dusk.
"Inuyasha, can we stop for the night?" asked Kagome. Inuyasha sniffed the air. "Yeah, whatever. I swear, you humans are so slow." Inuyasha sat up in a tree. Kagome looked mad. Normally, she could deal with his grouchy behavior, but for some reason, she couldn't now. At least, not tonight.
"Yeah? Then why do you hang around us?" she yelled. Inuyasha popped a vein.
"Because I might need a little backup for the smaller demons. Besides, you can sense the shards, and I want the Shikon No Tama to become a full fledged youkai! You know that!" Inuyasha muttered a 'Feh' and closed his eyes. Kagome was steamed. Tears ran out of here eyes. Her voice was demanding, but since she was crying, it wavered.
"Is that all I am? A shard detector? I'm not even Kagome to you, am I? I'm just some shadow of a great miko that died 50 years ago! You don't even see me for who I am, do you? What I can do doesn't count!!" she nearly screamed. She almost fell to her knees. Kilala kept her standing.
"Well no more. You know as well as I fucking do that the shards wish cannot be used for a selfish purpose. I'm taking it with me, back to my time! You're just like those other demons who want the jewel!" She mounted her bike, and took off. Inuyasha began to chase her, but she uttered the spell.
"SitSitSit! SIT!!!!" she screamed. "owowow! OWWW!!!" howled Inuyasha. He fell unconscious, face first in the dirt. She screamed her final riddance to the wind.
"I hope that dirt tastes really good, you insensitive JERK!"
She kept riding, until she found a hot spring. She decided that she was far enough away from Inuyasha to take a bath. He wouldn't be waking up for a while. She took off her backpack, and undressed herself. Just in case any lesser demons came along, she knew she could handle them. She stepped in the water, sighing as she sat on a warm stone that was perfect height to where she could sit in the water up to shoulder level.
'What am I going to do now? I practically left everyone.....' she sunk in the water, thinking.
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Sesshoumaru patrolled his lands, catching and killing various lesser demons who did not have a right to live in his lands, or decided to cause trouble for his villages, whether they be youkai or human. He patrolled almost every night now, and he was becoming more irritable, or so said the servants in his house. He never told them that he could hear them, the human ones, anyways. He did have a few hanyou in his service.
He finally sat, next to a lake, under an almost full moon. He oddly could never catch Inu-breath's scent on a full moon, and he had yet to find out why. But as for the little group, he'd been watching them recently, especially when the wind was in his favor. His scent would be upwind from Inuyasha, so he could get closer. He watch as the little miko got stronger and stronger.
Sesshoumaru was puzzled. He, Sesshoumaru, did not like to be confused! Every day, the girl's scent became less human, and more of something else. He couldn't pinpoint it, but it definitely did not smell either ningen or hanyou, or even yokai, for that matter. It were as though her scent were clouded. He could tell it were hers but not the origin of the race of which she was. He actually liked her smell however, a smell of midnight jasmine and moonflowers with a light, summer rain. He wondered if dog breath noticed.
Sesshoumaru closed his eyes at the irony. After all, Inuyasha did not seem to be treating the girl very well, even though her loyalty was something Sesshoumaru could admire. Not that he himself showed her respect, but his thinly veiled excuse as human hater seemed to work in his favor. Every time he was there, he was focused on acquiring Inuyasha's sword, Tetsuaiga, and trying to kill him. Unfortunately, the miko stopped him, or Inuyasha did-just barely. He never did understand why father gave him the Tenseiga, a healing sword. No matter. He knew that Inuyasha would go crazy if the sword was taken away from him, and he was attacked. His demon blood would take over, and a piece of his very soul would be lost, forever. He also had a sword to rival it; the Toukijin.
Besides, Sesshoumaru really did not want any further dishonor and embarassment if one of his relatives went nuts and the whole demon society heard about it. He liked his cold, uncaring Daiyoukai position just fine. But he was still concerned about that miko. He wondered if the Tetsuaiga would even work, if Inuyasha did not have Kagome to supposedly protect.
He'd seen her fight with that bow of hers......strangely, every time she used it, it seemed to draw him to her, like he had her on the mind, or something. She reminded him of a goddess, avenging her people, protecting them. Sesshoumaru shook his head. He was thinking about her! How...utterly....utterly...
'Sweet, embarrasing, you pick...' growled his beast. 'But don't ever be disgusted. Even by your standards, she is fit. She's not even human. It's been 3 years since she got here and she still hasn't aged much. You know humans grow and die faster, much faster than you do.'
He, Sesshoumaru had to admit his beast was right. She was fit for him not to be disgusted. Matter of fact, he realized he felt the same way, whether human, or not. She had a certain allure about her, that soothed the souls of whoever she seemed to be near at the time. Even he could admit to himself that his beast was more tolerable whenever in close proximity of the miko.
He got up to patrol again. He could not help the way he had felt about her. It had been years since he'd ever thought to take a mate, but now his beast was considering. Sesshoumaru was stubborn. He did not want to let this thought go, nor did he want to take a mate. He could not understand why he was attracted to her now. It made no sense to him. She was Inuyasha's alpha female, therefore she was to suffer as well. Guilt by association. The wind changed, and his eyes flashed a darker, more sinister golden.
He smirked, walking towards his usual route. Usually, something would be in fear of him when he did, for seconds later, where he was involved, their lives ended. No, this was not a killing smirk, rather....a confident smirk. He would continue watching her. He stopped, sniffing the air slightly.
The scent of flowers and summer rain was near.
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*AN: 'Shiroi Miko' is a 'White Priestess'. A higher level of priestess, if you will.