Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Inuyasha, and it's a terrible tragedy.
AN: I hate Kikyou with a passion of a thousand suns, so I'm really sorry if you like her because there will be tons of bashing. The usual pairs; Inu/Kag and Mir/San. Kind of Sess/Rin, but since she's still a kid, not a lot of fluff moments there. It might end up being Sess/Kagura, but who knows with my cookyness. Please R&R, you can flame if you want, hopefully you won't feel the need to. Also spoilers may occur!!! The title might change too; I don't know how I feel about it, so yea. I hope you enjoy!
Twist of FateChapter 4: Temple talks
The gang walked in silence, unable to look at each other, and unable to erase the gruesome sight from their mind's eye. Inuyasha and Miroku led them, while the rest of followed behind. The silence was tense; you could have cut it with a butter knife, so Hojo took it upon himself to break the silence.
"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Hojo. And you all are?" Hojo spoke after clearing his throat. Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at him strangely since he was smiling like an idiot.
'Leave it Hojo' Kagome thought, and watched as Inuyasha stomped toward the clueless human. Inuyasha glared at the boy with hatred burning in his eyes.
"Shut. Up." Inuyasha growled at him, and continued on his way towards the temple. Kagome gave Hojo an apologetic smile and continued walking after a moment. The others looked from Hojo to Inuyasha, and continued to walk. Miroku lagged behind Inuyasha now, Hojo caught up him and walked beside him for a minute.
"So…what's with him?" Hojo whispered his question to Miroku, a little hesitant to ask. The monk looked him strangely.
"He's upset about the village." Miroku answered, 'he isn't listening to Inuyasha.' Miroku looked ahead at Inuyasha and Kagome, and wondered if Inuyasha had heard Hojo's question. 'He is a strange one. I wonder if he has any idea just how close he was to dying just now.'
The Temple
Keaira watched as the blood flowed away down the stream, her eyes were unfocused rolling, and turning the information that she had just acquired. She submerged herself into the water's depths, hoping to be free of blood on her body, the cold water seemingly biting at her skin, her punishment for interrupting its natural flow. 'How can this be happening? Why am I here? What's the purpose? All I do is cause pain, and make things worse.' The stream whisked away the tears that flowed from her eyes, the water wanting to take away her pain. She surfaced, and looked around her to see if anyone had come upon her while she was underwater. Seeing no one she jumped out of the water, and walked to her clothes, hoping they had enough time to dry sufficiently. 'Nope.' She thought wryly, grimacing she put the clothes on, making a mental note to ask for spare clothes while hers' dried.
Walking into the temple she noticed a set of clothing set out on a low table for her. Silently thanking Mushin, she carried the clothing into a more privet room to change. Unknown to her that as soon as she entered said room, a group of companions entered the main entrance.
With the gang
They entered the temple silently; Hatchi mumbled something about going to find Master Mushin. No one had a clue as to what should be said or done now, and an awkward silence fell upon them. The sound of scurrying feet startled them; a barley audible 'feh' was heard at that. Mushin entered the room then, smiling at them. As he took in their faces, his smile faded, 'so the village must have been worse than I thought.'
"Everyone, please sit down, Hatchi is bringing the tea." Mushin informed them as he sat down, the group following his movements. The blanket of silence fell over them once again, until Hatchi brought the tea.
"Old man, who did it?" Inuyasha asked in his usual harsh way. The old man sighed loudly.
"I don't know his name I'm afraid, but I did see him. As did the young man of course since he was almost attacked by the boy. He was a boy with silver hair, and emotionless, dull eyes. I think he was a demon." The group gave him incredulous stares, and one glare.
"Hojo, you almost got attacked? Are you ok?" Kagome asked him, concerned for his well being. Hojo smiled at her in return.
"Of course Higurashi, thank you for your concern." He responded, and then frowned in thought. "Higurashi, how did you get here? And how do you know these people so well if you only got here, like w-me?" Hojo asked the question that had been on his mind for a while. 'I almost told them about Keaira, Mushin wouldn't have been happy about that. Why doesn't he want them to know about her anyway?' He finally noticed the concerned, thoughtful faces in the room, "What?"
"Just tell him already!" Inuyasha said to Kagome, annoyed beyond all reason at the moment. Kagome's response was to look down at her hands.
"Yes, Kagome, I think we should tell him. He is from you're time, am I correct?" Miroku added to Inuyasha's statement. Kagome nodded her head.
"Kagome? Are you alright?" Sango asked her friend, concerned. 'She's never this quiet, unless she just caught Inuyasha with Kikyou. What's wrong with her?' Shippo walked over to Kagome and sat on her lap, and hugged her.
"What ever is wrong Kagome, it'll be ok." Shippo tried to comfort her. Kagome smiled at him, and hugged him back.
"Thank you Shippo." She grew quiet after that, looking at everyone in the room, then to her tea as it sat discarded on the tatami mat. "Hojo, how did you get here?"
"Uh, well, I was in front of the Sacred Tree at the shrine, I went to see how you were doing, and then a bright blue light swept me up and brought me here. Where is here anyway?" Hojo answered, careful to leave out Keaira's return to the shrine that day.
"The Feudal Era, baka." Inuyasha glared at Hojo. 'I don't like the way this guy is looking at Kagome, she's mine damnit!' Inuyasha began to growl softly, and scooted closer to Kagome still glaring Hojo.
"Hojo, can I trust you?" Kagome asked him, she looked into his eyes at that moment, tears shining in her eyes. "Can we trust you?" She asked more urgently than before.
"I…um…I…of course you can Higurashi." Hojo told her, he was hoping that it had sounded reassuring in his soft voice. Kagome just sat there and it seemed to everyone that she was trying to see into his soul.
"Kagome, are you alright?" Shippo asked as he took his perch on her shoulder. Kagome's gaze didn't falter, and the others looked to Hojo then back to Kagome, and back again. A sigh was heard from the girl as she closed her eyes, and tilted her head towards the ground.
"Wench what the hell is wrong?" Inuyasha's gruff exterior didn't fool anyone, except for Hojo.
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL HIGURASHI THAT!" Hojo yelled at the stunned hanyou. Hojo glared at him from his sudden height from standing up, Inuyasha matched his glare with an even deadlier one. Everyone held their breath; positive Hojo had just sealed his fate. 'Of course he doesn't realize that Kagome is the only one able to yell at Inuyasha, and live to tell about it.' Their thoughts ran along that line.
"What are you going to do about it?" He questioned the pissed off young man in his usual arrogant tone.
"Stop it." The soft whisper immediately froze the two. They looked at Kagome, but she was still staring a hole into the floor. "I didn't know you had such a temper, Hojo." She added, equally soft but with a little more amusement.
"Feh, wench you have more mood swings then there are moods." Inuyasha looked away and tucked his hands into the sleeves of his haori.
"Inuyasha," a calm voice said. The half demon's ears flattened against his head. "SIT!" Bang! Inuyasha had made yet another Inuyasha shaped crater.
"Bitch, what did you do that for?!" Inuyasha growled from his new crater. Kagome didn't answer the angry hanyou; she just sat there, still looking at the floor. 'Something is defiantly wrong if she won't argue with me.' Now more concerned for the miko, he sat down next to her, closer than usual, hoping that his presence would help Kagome in some way.
"Hojo, please call me Kagome. We're friends aren't we? And it seems that we'll be spending a lot more time together." Kagome tried to give her brightest smile to Hojo. 'How can I tell him? He won't understand, and it just feels wrong. So wrong, why couldn't it be Keaira instead of Hojo?' Tears sprung into her eyes, but she quickly bid them away, she had to be normal here, the happy-go-lucky girl her friends knew, and loved. Kagome took a deep breath to calm herself, 'here goes nothing.' So Kagome began the story of how the quest for the Sacred Jewel began, and how their little group came to be.
AN: Thanks to all those who reviewed!! Please review!!