As the sun began to set, the village came into view at last. Hugging Sesshoumaru a little tighter, Kagome hoped their appearance wouldn’t cause too much of an alarm–here in the youkai-terrorized past, the sight of several powerful, unknown demons hurtling toward them wasn’t exactly a welcome one for the people of Sengoku Jidai.
Sure enough, as they began to descend, a cry rang out, some of the villagers arming themselves with farm implements while others ran for cover. By the time Kagome and her troupe touched down at the outskirts, a small crowd was rushing toward them–luckily with Granny Kaede at the forefront.
“Ningens!” Jakken exclaimed hotly from atop the dragon’s saddle, brandishing his nintoujou at Kagome. “You’ve taken Sesshoumaru-sama to a ningen village!?”
“Can it,” Kagome snapped, though her heart wasn’t really in it. Raising her wounded arm as high as she dared, she hailed Kaede wearily. “Baa-chan, over here!”
Kaede hurried over to her side, squinting up at the younger priestess in the fading light. “Kagome, child, is that ye?”
Somewhat less trusting, a few of the other villagers accompanied the elderly miko, pitchforks poised at Entei. One stamp of the fire horse’s blazing hooves had them dropping their makeshift weapons and bolting back toward Edo in a panic.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Kagome answered, smiling slightly at how crazy this all must look. “Er, you already know Sesshoumaru, I think, but these are his companions: the little girl back there is Rin-chan, the imp’s name is Jakken, and the dragon…um–”
“Their name is Ah-Un!” Rin supplied helpfully.
“And who might this be?” Kaede asked, her one visible eye gazing thoughtfully at Entei.
“Oh, this–this is Entei-san. He’s, uh…he’s my horse,” Kagome finished lamely.
By now, Miroku had broken through the scattering throng. Slower because of her maimed leg, Sango trailed behind him at a distance, Kagome’s heart panging at the sight of her former friend.
“Listen, Baa-chan,” she began again, frowning, “I can explain all this later, but right now Sesshoumaru needs a safe place to rest. He’s been…he’s been poisoned.”
Kagome swallowed, unable to elaborate more than that without breaking down altogether.
Kaede nodded solemnly. “I see. Well, give him here, child.”
As Kagome began to awkwardly lower the daiyoukai down, Miroku came over to help. Between his good left arm and her good right one, they managed to stabilize Sesshoumaru. As his booted feet touched to the ground, his legs straightened, golden eyes cracking open narrowly when Kaede and Miroku each took him up under a shoulder. Injured as he was, Sesshoumaru was still present enough to be discomfited at being handled by two unfamiliar humans. Kagome chose to take that as a good sign.
She watched for a moment as they led him along, feeling strangely bereft now without his weight in her arms. Jakken’s loud obnoxious wail effectively destroyed the moment, as he toppled down from the dragon’s back and chased after his beloved lord. Shaking her head, Kagome was just about to lower herself to the ground when a ball of orange shot up into her lap.
“Kagome-chan!” Shippou cried, his tiny claws digging into the ruin of her shirt. “You’re hurt!”
“Shippou-chan…”
Tears welled in Kagome’s eyes, his tender concern sending her over the edge at last. She cuddled him close to her chest, touching her cheek to his.
“I’m okay, Shippou-chan,” she said softly after a while, dashing a hand across her eyes as she drew back. Smiling, she smoothed her thumb across his little frowning chin. “Why don’t you introduce yourself to Rin-chan over there? Maybe you have a new top you could show her…?”
“Well…” the fox kit hesitated, glancing over at the little girl who was peering at him shyly from behind one of Ah-Un’s scaly legs. “Okay.”
As he bounded over, Kagome dismounted stiffly, cringing at the dull throbbing pain in her left arm–now that she finally had nothing else to distract her from it. Giving Entei a grateful pet on the neck, she circled around him, freezing when she met Sango on his other side. As Kirara and Entei studied one another, the taijiya studied Kagome, her expression unreadable. After a moment, Sango reached inside a pouch at her hip, extracting a small round tin. Kagome accepted it, her brow furrowed in question.
“A salve,” Sango explained shortly, already starting to turn, “for your arm.”
Kagome stared down at the little tin, swallowing thickly. “Sango-chan, wait.”
The taijiya paused.
“Kohaku-kun–I saw him today. He’s alive and…and he’s okay, Sango-chan.”
“Yes!” Rin piped up cheerily from Shippou’s side. “The tentacle-man tried to hurt Kohaku-kun, but Kagome-chan saved him with her arrow!”
Kagome blushed. Sango looked at her abruptly.
“Is that true? Kohaku…is he really…?”
Shoulders hunching, Sango turned away again, raising a trembling hand to her face. Kagome shifted, uncertain whether to comfort her or not. After a moment, Sango’s shoulders straightened. Once more, the taijiya glanced back, her head bowing slightly.
“…Thank you.”
Kagome’s heart lifted. It wasn’t forgiveness, exactly, but it was a start.
She nodded, smiling back. “Don’t mention it.”
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi