Carrying One's Own Weight by Smittee

Time on a Plastic Wrapping

I do not own Rumiko Takahashi’s characters. I merely write this for entertainment, and for Dlat. We all appreciate the support of the site by your donation. ^.^ I hope that you may enjoy this story.

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Two years ago from this time, Kagome had decided that she was tired of constantly being in the way in battle. When she was in Sengoku Jidai, she studied under Kaede for her miko powers; and Sango, for hand to hand combat. When at home, her grandfather would help more with the training he knew and she took up in an archery class. Now, she was fully capable of battle. She surprised everyone the first time she took down a demon on her own, and not with the use of her miko strength. She had fashioned herself with a quarterstaff, so that she may fight closer and no longer be the target of a capture. Ever since, she hadn’t gotten captured.

Her adopted son, Shippo, liked that his mother was able to take care of herself. As if following lead, he too began training himself. Hachi had shown up one day, and Shippo got up the nerve to ask him to help train him. Now, his transforming was almost as good as a full adult fox. His Spinning Top was not only an illusion, but  could also cause damage, if the person truly believed in it. His Fox Fire was able to become a wall of defense and could singe more than someone’s fur. His mother was proud of him, though she made sure that he continued to be a kid. He couldn’t refuse the chance to color, even if he wanted to be strong too.

Miroku and Sango had adapted to Kagome’s strength, but one person did not. Even Kirara, who had revealed herself one day of being able to transform into a human self, had accepted Kagome. 'Boy, was that a day to see,' many had thought from time to time.

Inuyasha was the one who would not accept the new Kagome. He wanted to still be her protector. He was her rescuer; her hero! Because of this, Inuyasha became the one 'in the way'. The miko didn’t like it either. How many bouts did she have with the hanyou? Too many to count! She no longer saw him as the man she had a crush on. He was a friend, but an annoying one . There were so many opportunities for her to shorten some of the battles they had had, if only he wouldn’t step in front of her while she was in the middle of an attack! Each one landed her either hurting him or falling over to not hurt him.

There had even been a battle with Naraku that she had the perfect moment! He had been distracted. Kagome had taken out her bow, which she hadn’t in a long time. She just kept pouring her energy into the tip of the bow, until the energy was the size of a beach ball. Bringing back the bow, she shot. As soon as she did though, Inuyasha yelled out her name to try and find her. Naraku spotted her first. Then, he dodged the massive amount of energy. Oh, was Kagome ticked after that battle! And still, her friend hadn’t learned to not get in her way.

Two years now, she tried to teach him that. Two years! She had had enough this time. They were resting again at Kaede’s. Crawling out of her sleeping bag, she got up to dress. No longer did she wear the clothes of a high school girl. Now, she wore loose jeans and a dark green shirt. On top of that would be a leather chest piece and gloves for her hands. After that, she started to store food at Kaede's. While she wasn’t sure that bringing cans of food and the like back to the past was a good idea, she figured that it wouldn’t really hurt anything, since she saw no bad effects when she went back to the future. After she had packed, she woke up her son. He knew what was going on. Actually, everyone did. Everyone, but Inuyasha. She had said her goodbyes quietly to everyone the night before.

Most nights, there would be a grumpy hanyou to have to sneak past. That’s why that night was perfect. That night was the night of the new moon. Inuyasha was human and sleeping soundly inside the hut. Tonight, Kirara would be taking guard. As mother and son left, they waved at Kirara. The demoness smiled and waved back. She motioned to Kagome that she’d take care of Inuyasha, once he woke up. All knew that it would take someone as strong as Kirara to hold him back.

‘It’s too bad it took her so long to gain her strength. In this form, she is much more powerful,’ thought Kagome. ‘That battle to help Midoriko must have been a long one. It’s really sad to think she regrets leaving her, like Midoriko had told her to. Seeing how loyal she is to Sango, I can’t imagine how loyal she was to Midoriko…’

Kagome picked up her son in one arm, while her other held the quarterstaff.

“We’ll have to move fast, Shippo. Otherwise, we may not be far enough from Inuyasha.”

“Okay, mama. But, where are we going?”

“We’re going our own way to search for the jewel shards. Maybe even join up with Kouga’s group. Whatever we do, we’ll stick together.”

With that, Kagome started running as fast as she could.

Rin was quietly looking in the stream underneath her. She was wearing a beautiful white kimono, which had been currently hiked up, so that it would not get too wet. She had grown out of her old dress, and Lord Sesshomaru didn’t want her running around in the old thing anymore anyways. Lord Sesshomaru and Master Jaken were watching her from the ground beside the stream. Catching the fish for dinner wasn’t only just that, but it was some sort of training. She had already caught three fish, but Lord Sesshomaru told her that she should catch four more. It was like that anymore. She didn’t mind though. After the fish were caught and she had cooked them, she knew that Lord Sesshomaru would have her and Master Jaken train.

This was because of what happened a year ago. Rin had gone into a pond to get washed up, when a lizard demon came out of some bushes to attack her. Sesshomaru came to help her, but instead came upon Rin with a pink glow around her and a disintegrated lizard. Since then, Sesshomaru has had Jaken training with her. Though, it wasn’t really the sort of training one would thing. They didn’t battle each other really. Rin wasn’t learning to fight, but to hone her powers. The first time she had done anything after that, she was against a tree. There was a huge hole in the tree and an unconscious Rin. Now, she was able to have her power only push back, only sometimes burning off some clothes.  The only reason she moved on from trees to Master Jaken though, was to get use to a moving target.

Sesshomaru was very proud of Rin. Though, he felt like he just wasn’t training her right. Every time she used her power, it would form around her instead of at one focused point. He remembered how the miko Kagome had focused it into one point on her arrow. Rin’s power seemed to act more like a barrier, and it took a lot out of her when she did finally focus and use it. It seemed to be a great battle for her. Though, he wasn’t sure how else to teach her. He couldn’t put her into a real battle. He saw her as an adopted daughter, a human daughter at that. He wouldn’t do such a thing until she was much older. He had seen enough aftermaths of battles to know children don’t last long during them.

‘Perhaps it is time I find a miko to train her,’ he thought. The only one he could really think of that may be suitable was Kagome. The last time he saw them in battle, she did seem to be a lot better. That had been a short battle though. In the middle of one of his times of testing Inuyasha, some boar demons had tried to attack the group. Of course, Inuyasha decided to turn his back on his brother in battle. Sesshomaru, who had tried so hard to teach his brother to be more focused and not so rash in battle, still failed to sink that lesson into the younger’s head. He watched though as Kagome killed one of the boars, and then almost got killed by another one as Inuyasha distracted her. It had looked like she was no longer a burden to the group, but Inuyasha had become one.

Sesshomaru came out of his thoughts, when he could smell the rain coming.

“Rin that is enough for now. A storm is coming. There’s a cave not far from here. We will take refuge there. Jaken, help Rin with the fish and grab some firewood along the way. We’ll need it for cooking.”

“Yes, Lord Sesshomaru.” Both had said this at once.

As the trio, along with the trustee duel headed dragon beside them came to the cave front, Sesshomaru stopped instantly. He sensed power, and he knew this power. It had been the woman he was thinking of earlier, but he didn’t sense his brother anywhere.

“Lord Sesshomaru, I feel something in the cave,” spoke Rin.

Without hint that he heard her, Sesshomaru stepped forward and narrowed his eyes. There was a barrier before the cave opening. Then, someone stepped towards that barrier.

“Your brother isn’t here. What do you want, Sesshomaru?”

Kagome stood behind the barrier she created, her staff in hand. She knew the barrier wasn’t strong enough to keep out the older dog demon, but it would have been powerful enough to stop someone lesser. As she stood, she waited for an answer. She noted that the young girl was travelling with him, so it probably wasn’t a violent visit. Though, she couldn’t be sure. Sesshomaru was a mysterious being; honorable, but mysterious.

“Miko, a storm is on its way.”

Kagome looked towards the sky outside, seeing it darkening. From the looks of it, it would be a bad storm. She looked back down at Rin. Sighing, she hoped she wouldn’t regret this. Letting down the barrier, she motioned with her staff towards the inside of the cave.

“Come on in. Try not to scare Shippo. He’s napping currently.”

All of them then went inside the cave.

The storm was indeed a brutal one. Kagome had to put up a barrier against just to keep the rain and broken tree branches out. Then, she and Rin made a fire and started cooking. The miko shared some spices and the like with the girl, while she made up enough ramen for everyone. It would be taken out of her supplies, but she supposed she could catch and cook a rabbit one of the days they needed something to eat. Shippo woke up to the smell of food cooking, but became a little nervous after seeing Sesshomaru. He kept on his guard the whole time.

“How did you make that barrier, Kagome? I always wanted to learn how to do that! Lord Sesshomaru has been teaching me to focus my powers, but having it surround me instead of using it to fight has always felt better!”

Kagome’s eyes widened. She had sensed power from the girl, but she wasn’t sure.

“Your powers are in use? I didn’t use mine until my 16th birthday. Although, I guess that’s because I didn’t need them before.”

Rin cocked her head. “Really? How could you not?”

Kagome stared a moment at the girl. Now, how could she explain that?

“Well, Rin. Where I came from, there wasn’t really anything to use them for.  There weren’t a whole lot of demons, and there really wasn’t any wars going on.”

“That sounds impossible, miko. Humans are always at war.”

The woman turned her head towards Sesshomaru.

“First of all, it’s Kagome. I do not enjoy being referred to as ‘miko’. Second of all-“

“Why do you dislike being called an honorable title,” he interrupted.

Kagome’s eyebrow twitched. She did not like to be interrupted.

“After so many years of your brother calling me everything but my name, except when I was endanger, it gets old. I am a person. I should not be defined as a title, but the person behind the title.”

Sesshomaru raised a brow. “You are the title though. You are a powerful miko, and should be considered as such.”

Kagome ground her teeth.  “I thank you for recognizing me as such, but that is NOT all I am. I am a human woman, who is tired of being told what I am and how I should be protected. I know that may be hard for people of this era to understand, but it’s not like that in my time!”

“Your time?”

At Sesshomaru’s question, Kagome knew she slipped. ‘Kagome, baka.’ She yelled at herself. This was not Inuyasha. This is a full fledge demon, who thinks he’s better than everyone. This is not the person who wouldn’t stop getting in your way. Instead of answering, she just went back to cooking.

Now Sesshomaru was a bit irritated. She ignored his question!

“Miko…”

No response.

“Miko.”

Still no response. He almost sighed.

“Kagome.”

“Yes,” she replied.

Finally. “What did you mean by your time?” He waited for a response. Oddly, she picked up a piece of strange wrapping she had had the noodles around and tossed it to him. He caught it and examined it thoroughly.  The wrapping said the year these things were made was 500 years in the future. Even more, it talked about things in the ingredients he never heard of.

“Are these things safe to eat?”

Kagome laughed, and he narrowed his eyes.

“You read everything on there, seem to not be surprised about the year, and ask about the ingredients? It’s safe, don’t worry. All that is really basic ingredients with fancier names. Instead of saying it has salt; it’ll say that it has sodium in it, even though Salt is usually called ‘sodium chloride’.” When she noticed the confusion on many of the people’s faces, she added to it. “It’s um… scientific names. It’s kind of like instead of just calling a sword just that, you call it a wakasashi to better simplify that it is a short sword. Make sense?”

Sesshomaru nodded his head. Sesshomaru would ask more about it, but he wasn’t sure how to. Besides, it just sounded like humans enjoyed complicating things. He found himself noticing he wasn’t really surprised. He had known something was off about her. She acted nothing like women in the time did, nor did she dress that way. So, time travel made sense.

“All that aside, I do have something I want to request of you,” he said instead.

Uh-oh. Kagome didn’t like the sound of that.

“Umm… What is it?”

Sesshomaru looked from Kagome to Rin.

“She is in need of better training. I am not a miko; therefore, I cannot train her right. I have brought her to a point of better control, but as she explained her training isn’t right for her. Her power tries to focus itself defensively, and I have been trying to have her focus for more of an attack. Each time she tries this, it wears her out rather quickly. I am a demon, so our way to focus and use our youkai energy is a lot different than how you miko use yours.”

“…And you want me to train her,” questioned Kagome.

“Indeed.”

“No. No, no, no, no, no. I may have gotten better, but I am NOT worthy of teaching someone. Maybe you should send her to Kaede? She’s who trained me.”

“Is this Kaede as powerful as you are,” asked Sesshomaru.

“Well… not exactly.” Kagome bit her lip a moment. “Actually, she’s a lot older than me. It’s actually taking a lot more energy to do things anymore.”

“Then, you would be the better teacher,” replied Sesshomaru.

Kagome had a stubborn streak though. “Oh? And why’s that? Are you sure you don’t know anyone else? Someone more qualified?”

“Do you insult this Sesshomaru’s choice in your qualifications?”

‘Oh crap, I ticked off a powerful demon lord,’ thought Kagome.

“Please, Kagome,” chided a quieter voice. Rin looked up at Kagome hopefully. “I really need someone to teach me,” added Rin.

Shippo then hopped over to his mother. “Mama, it sounds like a good idea.” He then whispered. “I know we’re stronger now, but don’t we need someone to team up with anyways? We can’t fight Naraku on our own.”

Her son was right. The look on Rin’s face made her heart soften too. She sighed.

“I apologize for upsetting you, Sesshomaru. I will try my best to train Rin. There are a few conditions though. One, you have to be here as much as you can. I need to understand how you’ve been teaching her, and we’ll need someone to keep an eye out when we’re training.  Two, I’m still on a quest to get the final jewel shards and defeat Naraku. I may no longer be travelling with your brother-And please, don’t interrupt. I see it in your eyes that you have a question- It is still my responsibility to stop Naraku. I just need to make sure it’s clear that we try not to get in each other’s way. Your brother wouldn’t get out of mine, so I got out of his. Got it?”

Everything was quiet, while Sesshomaru pondered this. The only reason Jaken didn’t speak up was because a certain dog’s fist was hovering over his head the whole time.

“Your conditions are acceptable,” he replied.

Rin shouted a ‘hurray’, before noticing the fish were ready. So was the ramen. Everyone sat and ate, as the torrent winds based against the barrier.

 

INUYASHA © Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan • Yomiuri TV • Sunrise 2000
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