The Day After Tomorrow
AUTHOR: Angelhart
GENRE: romance/hurt/comfort
SETTING: AU post-manga/anime
STORY: continuation
RATING: M/MA
DISCLAIMER: InuYasha ©2000 Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan - Yomiuri TV - Sunrise
All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
The rating of this fic is M. Rated for adult content that will be in later chapters and some violence.
If you are not comfortable with this content, I would advise you to not read.
SUMMARY:
After Naraku's defeat the well doesn't reopen and Kagome finds herself trapped in her own timeline.
Her desire to get back to Inuyasha sets her out on a search to find her demon friends in her own era, for one or more must have survived. She finds Sesshomaru
Both trapped in a world they don't want to be in, they find comfort in each-other's presence.
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Chapter 1
She didn't know how long she had been standing there. But as the sky had now turned a darker color, she knew it had to be a very long time. She had watched the ceremony of a funeral from a distance. It felt like the whole world was continuing without her. Life, death. Except she, she felt frozen in time.
The irony wasn't lost on her that all this could still be one morbid illusion like all the other ones she had suffered and she was indeed still trapped and frozen in time.
Her attention being drawn to the kanji signs on the stone that read 'Higurashi' this could even be her grave.
Now that would truly be morbid.
Without anything else better to do, she knelt down and brushed some of the weeds that covered the grey stone. There had been times her grandfather had annoyed her. As he grew older his memory got weaker and with dementia slowly taking over, he would sometimes tell the same story three times to five a day. Now she longed to hear those stories again, even though she could memorize them by heart. The world had been quite simpler then, when all they were just stories. Nine years ago, she had learned that most of them were actually true.
The relationship with her grandfather had changed, since then.
Now, as she stood by his grave, it felt like another hole had been cut into her heart.
The cruel laughter of a certain demon haunting her forever. Another hole, until there is nothing left.
She raised herself to a standing position, rubbing the dirt off her black skirt, regaining her composure. It didn't do her well to be once again caught by demons of the past, when she was trying to lure a demon that still dwelled in the future.
"I knew if I'd turn enough stones you'd eventually come to find me." She didn't turn around, but knew he was there. Even now after all this time his presence was surrounded with an aura of power. "I knew, after all these years, that there could be a possibility that you might still be alive."
"Might be?"
She smiled due to his emphasis on her assumption. It seemed that even after eons, his ego was still easily offended.
"I came not because you so desired. I came because I was curious."
"Of course," she replied, knowing how the game was meant to be played. Even his voice was still the same. Powerful. Dominant. She knew from experience that he could not be summoned so easily. But she guessed she could peek his curiosity.
She had guessed right.
He stepped closer. And although she wasn't facing him, she could tell he was eying her from top to bottom. She could even hear him sniff, a deep intake of breath, taking in her scent.
"What do you want?"
"I came to find something I lost…" After all these years my heart still longs for that world. I was caught off so unexpectedly.
She turned around. Surprised to actually see him. He even looks the same… A beautiful, chilling, young man. He was even wearing the same outfit. It amused her. Although he had always found himself to be so unlike his half demon brother, the demon was just as stubborn. As the years passed it appeared he even refused to take on a new appearance. The same white hakama, the same black boots, the white kimono, but with a slightly different red Sakura pattern. He was even wearing his bone structured armor. She had always thought of the latter being metal, but after she had seen it up close she had noticed that it was actually bone. Probably made from a demon skeleton, which would explain the object's power of regeneration.
It was odd to see him like that. It was like she was being thrown back into time. Back to those days with Inuyasha. But then again, she found it hard to picture him wearing a modern day suit.
She fought the urge to hug him. It would be utterly silly – dangerous even. But she was so glad to see a familiar face and to have a piece of that wonderful time returned to her. As the years progressed it had almost begun to feel like a dream. Like it never happened.
Her heart had refused to let go. Remembering the facts she had learned during her stay in that time. Real demons age much differently than humans. A hundred years is nothing but a second on their time clock. Their lifespan so much greater. One of them could have survived.
She had searched for Inuyasha first of course. Her heart desired him more than any other. But digging into history and artifacts and all, she found nothing. Absolutely nothing. Like he'd even never existed. It hurt her. It hurt her a lot.
Then a speck of hope as the museum she worked for hot their hands on an ancient artifact. A piece of it. It was supposed to have magic powers. It was fabric. Red. Made from a rodent's fur…
Witnessing it from behind the protective glass her heart had skipped a beat. It was just a piece of it. Like it was torn. But as she saw it, she recognized it instantly. Even then, she could remember the way it felt against her skin. The memory of it imprinted in her own flesh. All the times he gave it to her, surrounded her with it to protect her.
The Fire Rat.
She had wanted to break the glass. Wanted to feel it, hold it so desperately. To smell it. To find out if it still had his own scent on it. To have it here, in her own time line, she knew it hadn't been a dream.
It was all real...
Inuyasha…
That was however all she could find of him.
Then she started her search for Shippou. He was a real demon too. With him being so young still when she met the little kitsune all those years ago, he had to be still here, right? He could have survived. Be in her current timeline?
Nothing. Truth was, she didn't even know where to search. Where to begin.
It had hurt her that he didn't try to search for her. But maybe he was dead. Or five hundred years was enough to make one forget.
When that last thought had entered her mind, it had hurt her even more.
Maybe they had forgotten all about her.
She had been just a mere human after all.
Then something changed.
It happened when she got more involved in the administration of the museum. Filing documents of a purchaser of artifacts when the museum did not have any use for it anymore. A very wealthy man. One with a particular interest in the Feudal Era.
It had been a hunch first, but the more she started digging, the more she suspected it to be possible. That one, one she had not thought of before, was still here in this era. For hidden in the museum's archive where similar documents. And some were even quite old.
She wasn't able to find an address, apparently, he kept it well hidden. Even now she didn't know where he resided. But she had found what appeared to be the contact registration of a liaison. A file with a photo of a young woman that oddly resembled the young girl Rin. Maybe a descendant? However, seeing the woman, Kagome had even the more reasons to hope her intuition was accurate.
After convincing the woman to meet her she had given the woman a note.
"Tell him. Tell him that I want to see him."
The woman had looked at her strangely. Holding the note in her hand
"Who are you?" she had asked.
"Just tell him. My name is Kagome Higurashi."
Before the woman could ask more, she had turned around, already taking her leave.
"He knows me."
He knows me.
And now he had acted on her invitation.
"I have so many questions."
"I'm not here for an inquiry. You wanted to see me, now you have. I have no interest in the world of humans."
"But you live here still. You are trapped in it, aren't you?"
He seemed offended by the audacity of her. The sharp intake of breath telling her that much. He cocked an eyebrow.
"Forced to live amongst humans."
"I had not expected your fragile race to survive. You surprised me." He smirked.
Her eyes were suddenly drawn to his waist. There it was… Together with the other two swords, she had known for him to carry.
Tessaiga…
"That is-!" She gasped. "That is Inuyasha's sword. That is Tessaiga. How did you…? Where did you…? How…? Is he…?"
"So," he said, "You still lust for the half breed? Even now your body reacts to the presence of his sword." He clicked with his tongue. "So that is what you want from me. Information about my half breed brother."
"Yes!" Her heart yearned for the knowledge. What has happened in those five hundred years?
"Truth be told as I watched things progress, I had my eyes on you too. Not from the start, but when I got knowledge of the birth of a woman with your name I had to admit it peeked my interest. Since you disappeared from our world after Naraku's death I was curious what had happened on this time line. It seems that you were stuck." He grinned again. "After the destruction of the Shikon Jewel, you could not return. And that lowlife half breed brother of mine had not the means to get you as well."
"Is… Is he dead?"
"Yes."
She could feel tears burning behind her eyes. Although she had obviously suspected it to be so, now that she heard it, the loss became real. She could never see him again.
He could obviously smell the saltiness in the air. "Do not mourn for him."
"I will!" She yelled at him suddenly. "I will cry for him." She could not stop the tears from escaping her eyes. "We were supposed to be together! You wouldn't understand! I can't believe it turned out like this. Me meeting him was fate! This was not supposed to happen!"
"Fate." He let the word roll of his tongue as if it was an insult. "I've watched humans die for fate. Waiting until they realized it had been theirs to control to begin with. But then it would be too late. You make your own, miko. You should stop your endless search for something that is beyond your reach or you will shrivel and die like all those other humans. It's pointless to cling to something that is not there anymore. Forget. I will not satisfy your curiosity again. Go home. Live your pitiful human life. Find a mate, sprout some brats, grow old and die. That is your fate."
He turned around, but she grabbed his hankimono, forcing him to face her again. "Give it to me. It is of no use to you."
He saw her looking at the Tessaiga and narrowed his eyes.
"I will not give you my father's fang. Go back to your world, miko. Forget the world of demons. That world perished a long time ago."
"It's mine. I drew it from the start. You cannot wield it. Give it to me."
"No." He snarled. His eyes glowed red for just a second. As she reached out to it he grabbed her hand. She looked at it. His claws were pressing threateningly against her skin.
Her hand was, however, persistent. She wanted it. Needed it. She reached for the hilt of the blade even though she could feel and see blood dripping from her wrist where his claws pierced her skin in her movement. He sniffed as the iron scent filled the air.
Then his other hand reached for her throat. He lifted her up by it and her free hand grabbed his wrist in instinct. Her eyes widened in fright.
"Your death wish calls to me. You are weak. Pitiful. Where is that strong miko that destroyed Naraku so long ago?" He tilted his head. "You may be alive but your body already reeks of soil and ashes. You've have visited too many grave sites in your silly quest. What are you looking for? What do you want?"
"I-I don't know…"
It was the truth. She didn't know. She had not found it yet, that she knew. Somehow her mind and heart were still in that world five hundred years ago. Only my body is here. Maybe that is what he scents. That it is already dead for how can it survive when it is just an empty shell?
He dropped her carelessly. She fell onto the grass, grabbing her throat and coughing.
"I will spare your life. Be mindful what you do with it. I will not spare it again. Don't forget what I am. You may think of me trapped in your human world, but I am certainly not. I know your kind. It hungers for death and bloodshed. Your race will die. You don't need demons anymore to kill you. You terminate your own kind. When all the earth's soil has become ashes. As the iron scent of your metal machines of war fills the air, I will walk on your bones as they are scattered on the ground and I will stand in the illuminous light of your dying sun." He turned around once more.
"Wait," she called out to him.
He didn't stop but gave her a final warning just before he disappeared into the shadows of the night: "Don't search for me again."
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A/N This continuation is a challenge I bestowed on me. To create a fanfic of the unusual pairing in an environment where the pairing would be plausible and without making Sesshomaru OOC. The latter quite the challenge I must say.
*this chapter has been revised on January 7, 2018*