One Year Later

“Amari-kun,” Kagome said, stepping lightly over a puddle of simmering, shouki-laced tar, “I don’t have a very good feeling about this place…”

Gliding above the ground beside her, Entei tossed his flickering mane in agreement.

“I know what you mean…” the young samurai replied uneasily, his monkey companion Hiyoshimaru digging all four opposable thumbs into his shoulder. Shaking a smoking bit of pitch off the toe of his sandal, he gazed determinedly ahead. “Surely we don’t have much farther to go.”

Repressing her misgivings, Kagome followed him deeper into the gloom of the swampy wood.

It was times like this, when the atmosphere darkened ominously and the oppressive weight of youki smothered her senses, that she thought most keenly of Sesshoumaru. If she were being honest with herself, scarcely a day went by when she didn’t think of him–but whenever the scent of battle was in the air, it was impossible not to remember how they’d once fought side-by-side. How, when she was with him, she’d felt like they could take on absolutely anything.

It was scary, sometimes, being on her own without him. And this place was most definitely giving her the creeps.

Shivering a little, Kagome rested a hand on the tanto knife at her hip. While not as powerful of a weapon as her bow, it could–and had–proved itself useful in a pinch–and if any situation seemed “pinchy” it was this one.

With a head shake and an inward sigh, the antsy miko asked herself how she always ended up in these situations…

The answer was easily forthcoming. With the Jewel gone and no personal life to speak of, Higurashi Kagome had gone back to doing what she did best–keeping busy.

There was no shortage of activity to be found for a priestess in Feudal Japan. One adventure led into the next, and while she loved the thrill of it all, at times–when the action lulled or even when she’d completed her current quest–she was still struck by a gnawing emptiness. A deep-rooted loneliness that drove her on that much harder, that much fiercer, as if by sheer force of will she could distance herself from her memories and fill the void in her heart.

But no matter how far she traveled, she couldn’t forget. No matter how many new friends she made or people she helped along the way, the sadness remained. A part of Kagome realized that she was spinning her wheels, living for distraction–but what else could she do? Luckily, there was always someone out there who could use a hand or two. And so, when she’d crossed paths with her old friend Nobunaga Amari and he’d told her of his mission to recover his lord’s stolen heirloom, Kagome had offered to aid him without a second thought.

“Well,” she said presently, gazing out over the foul, boggy depression that loomed before them–scattered with busted armor and fresh human bones. “Looks like we’ve found the bandits…or what’s left of them, anyway.”

At her side, Nobunaga nodded grimly, relaxing his hold on the hilt of his katana. “Ah!” he exclaimed after a moment, pointing toward a faint glimmer in the distance. “That’s it!”

Kagome glanced at him in caution. “Amari-kun–”

But it was too late. Forgetting in his excitement that they were standing on the edge of a shallow cliff, the clumsy samurai stepped straight off of it, tumbling down into the bog below. With a gasp, Kagome skidded down after him, Entei snorting lightly as he trailed in her wake.

“Amari-kun!–Are you all right?” she asked, sprinting over to where he lay sprawled on a thankfully dry patch of earth.

With a groan, the young man pushed himself up onto his elbows, Hiyoshimaru still lying dazed on the ground at his side. Clutching his head, he righted himself with a sheepish smile.

“…Forgive me, Kagome-sama. It seems I got carried away again.”

“No worries,” the miko said, frowning as her eyes fell on the glimmering object he’d spotted. “Is that the heirloom?”

“Yes, it must be–Lord Takeda’s prized sake cup.”

“Sake cup?!” Kagome exclaimed. “That’s the item we’re after?”

“Well…” Nobunaga said slowly, as if only now considering the absurdity of his goal, “it is made of solid gold.”

“That’s something, I guess,” the miko conceded with a grumble. “…At any rate, I think we’d better proceed carefully. Whatever stripped the flesh off those bandits could still be lurking–”

Yet once again, her heedless friend was already picking his way across the bone-strewn marsh. The moment his fingers closed around the heirloom cup, the air around them began to tremble and thicken with shadow.

“–around,” Kagome finished flatly.

“Oh no…” the young samurai whispered, retreating from the caustic black tar that began to bubble up from the ground. “…I’ve done it again, haven’t I?”

“This trap was waiting to close on us from the start,” Kagome bit out, swinging up onto Entei’s back before hoisting Nobunaga up by the arm. “Let’s get the heck out of here!”

But as she’d suspected, they’d been caught in a demonic snare, and even as they soared through the trees at breakneck speed, a cage of darkness folded around them. With a shudder of intuition, Kagome realized that it was the forest itself that was after them–or rather, the powerful, malignant spirit that had come to possess it.

As dark miasma closed in on them from all directions, Kagome cast a barrier around them with a rueful sigh.

Sesshoumaru would have seen this coming a mile away…

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi