Kanako’s face scrunched up like she wanted to argue, but at Kagome’s stern look, the waif relented with a frown.

“…Hai, Kagome-sama,” she said as she bowed, and scampered off to do as she was told.

When the bath was drawn and steaming, Kagome stepped behind the changing screen, which was large enough to shield the whole tub from view. It was the only privacy she had in this place—and it wouldn’t last long. If she dawdled, that guard would be on her to ‘hurry it up or else.’

Heart pounding, Kagome willed her nerves to calm. She needed a steady mind for this. Thinking a bit of distraction might help her to clear it, she looked to Kanako, who was dropping in one last heating stone.

“Sing something,” the miko said, shrugging out of her robe.

Kanako’s big round eyes roved over her. “…What would you like to hear?”

Kagome waved as she stepped into the tub. “It doesn’t matter. Anything.”

Kneeling down beside her, Kanako took a deep breath and started crooning:

Let me pass, let me pass
What is this narrow pathway here?

It’s the narrow pathway of the Tenjin shrine

Please allow me to pass through

Those without good reason shall not pass—

“…Gods,” Kagome muttered, sinking down into the water, “what a gloomy choice.” At Kanako’s owlish blink and pause, the miko shook her head. “No, it’s okay—keep going.”

Nodding, the waif resumed:

Let me pass, let me pass

To celebrate this child’s seventh birthday
I’ve come to dedicate my offering

Going in will be fine, fine, but returning will be scary

It’s scary but
Let me pass, let me pass…

As Kanako’s reedy voice sang on, Kagome closed her eyes.

Let me pass…

Let me pass…

The words faded from her consciousness, until there was only the vaguest impression of them, rising and falling in ghostly cadence—suggestions of sound that rippled like waves across the still dark surface of her mind.

The tune became a metronome, echoing through space and time. At its steady haunting rhythm, Kagome felt herself transcend.

Unbounded by her mortal flesh, her soul floated free above it. She could see the reiki barrier that extended over all of Edo, and the waypoints that held it fast. Like drawing back a net of light, she pulled, cinching the barrier in around the town itself—and leaving the new castle and barracks dangerously exposed.

Good, she thought, though she was fast forgetting why she should…

She was remembering other things now, seeing other things—

Images of horror…

White-hot agony tearing down her spine, a pink jewel clasped in her bloodied hand, a poisoned horn goring through her chest, a black blade shearing across her neck, a thousand icy needles lancing into her heart—

Pain. Failure. Loss.

Death upon death upon death…

Bitter fury raged like a tempest within her. What was she still doing here?

What was she still doing in this godforsaken plane?

…Kagome-sama? Kagome-sama!

The sound was watery, indistinct. Someone was calling…calling for her?

Inexorably, the call drew her, pulled her back and in. Gasping, she broke the surface, and was Higurashi Kagome once again.

Candlelight seared into her bleary gaze. Bony fingers bit into her clammy flesh. Kanako’s pale face hovered before her, her grey eyes wide with alarm.

Beneath the sound of heavy bootsteps, the floorboards creaked and groaned.

“What’s going on back there?” the guard called out.

“Nothing—I fell asleep, that’s all.” Wincing, Kagome straightened against the side of the tub. Kanako was staring at her still. “What? Was I really out that long?”

“No,” the waif answered haltingly, “only for a moment, yet…”

“What?”

“You were glowing so brightly, Kagome-sama…even beneath the water, it looked as if…” Chewing at her thin lower lip, the waif pinned her with another anxious look. “…As if you were aflame.”

A shiver ran down Kagome’s spine. Frowning, she glanced away.

“Well, I’m all right, so you can stop staring at me like that.”

Though her muscles burned as if she’d run for miles, Kagome shook off her own misgivings as best she could and rose from the tub. Still shivering, she pulled on a robe as Kanako padded over.

“What now, Kagome-sama?” the waif whispered.

Kagome’s eyes were hard as she drew the cord taut around her waist. “Now we wait for all hell to break loose.”

---

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

The song Kanako is singing here is Toryanse – it’s a beautiful, eerie tune. There are many different translations, but I picked the wikipedia one just because I liked it best lol

<3

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