Chapter Six

Naraku wasn't one to think of the past, but it seemed now, more and more, that the past was all that he could occupy his mind with. He found that he was steeped in thoughts of what if, and if I had, and he found that he was often times left alone and confused with no answers and a headache caused by trying to untangle the inner workings of insanity.

What would have happened if I had never heard of the Shikon no Tama? An impossibility, to be certain. He would have heard of it – if not when he had, then eventually. Children were weaned on stories of the sacred jewel that could grant all wishes, so it really only a matter of time before the story would have reached his ears.

What would have happened if I had been the one to go to Kikyo the first time, instead of sending that bastard Rasetsu? Well, he had known that Inuyasha had been with Kikyo; he had known that Inuyasha would have protected Kikyo. If he had gone, he would have been prepared for the fight and might have won. But then, it was also possible that he would have died trying instead.

What would have happened if he had warned Rasetsu about Inuyasha? Rasetsu had always been much stronger as Onigumo. Rasetsu would have had a much better chance of winning, especially if he had stormed the village with his band, rather than go by himself. Rasetsu would have had a much higher rate of success, and would have probably succeeded in stealing the Shikon no tama. Then Naraku would not be Naraku, but rather, he would still be Onigumo, the evil bandit with the spider on his back.

What if I hadn't met Kikyou as a wounded man? It was not the first time he had thought it, and it would not be the last, either. What if I had met her as a man of virtue and goodness? Now that was a thought that he rarely let rest long in his head. . . he was never a good man, and he never truly understood the meaning of virtue, so the entire precipice of the thought was irrational.

What if Inuyasha hadn't been in the picture? He didn't like to think on that one too long either, for even though it was one of the few questions that he did know the answer too, he had a sneaking suspicion that if it hadn't been Inuyasha, it just would have been someone else – and he would be exactly where he was today, wondering all the what ifs he could think of.

What if that girl. . . Kagome. . . hadn't awoken Inuyasha? Now that was a question to which he truly had no idea of the answer.

If Kagome hadn't awoken Inuyasha, the jewel would have died with her. No, he didn't believe that. He believed that the jewel, the soul sucking incubus it was, would always find a way to make it's way back to the ones who deserved it the least. If Kagome hadn't awoken Inuyasha, Kikyou couldn't have come back to him. That wasn't true either. It was entirely circumstantial that Urasue had resurrected Kikyou around the time Inuyasha had been awakened. But he might have not heard rumors of her reawakening. Another impossibility. Kikyo was beautiful and powerful, and where ever she went, people spoke of her magnificence for years to come.

If Kagome hadn't awoken Inuyasha. . . nothing would have really changed. Maybe the players, but other than that. . . nothing. He would still be spiteful, Kikyou would still be vengeful, and the jewel would have still ended up in his possession.

The jewel. . . Naraku reached in to his robes, and pulled out a nearly flawless purple sphere. Though it was discolored, Naraku thought it was even more beautiful had it been the untainted pink it was created to be. And it would be even more beautiful once it was finished. . . Naraku ran his thumb over it, and felt the indention where one shard -–one shard – was missing.

Where the last shard was, he had no idea. But he did know that it would be he who found it. . . no one else.

And then he would grant Akago – the small infant he had created to hold Onigumo's heart – his last wish. After all, Naraku reasoned with a masochistic sneer, it was only proper that he grant such a loyal son his final desire.

But what will happen then? Naraku wondered.

Sometimes, Naraku thought as he strode at a fast pace through the dark corridors of his darker citadel, his mind in a state of paradoxal confusion, it is just better to not wonder.

Not entirely used to Kagome being so willing to return with him when he wanted, Inuyasha wasn't sure how to react when she had simply agreed to go with him. But he did know that she was certainly annoying him with how slowly she was getting prepared to journey to the past.

"How long do you think she is going to be?" He asked Kon, and felt a claw scratch at his ankles. Looking down, he saw Kagome's fat cat – what was it's name? Miyu? No. . . – trying to grab his attention. Obligingly, Inuyasha knelt down and picked up the obese feline.

Kon shrugged. "She normally only takes a little while. . . ten minutes, twenty tops." Kon finished rinsing and putting away the dishes that Souta had left out when he had gone over to his friend's house down the street from the shrine to play video games."But then, she'll probably want to take a quick bath –"

"No bath." Inuyasha insisted quickly, knowing how long Kagome liked to linger in the comfort of the warm water.

"-But I think that this time she might forgo it and just wash her face instead." Kon finished, unfettered that Inuyasha had interrupted her.

The tap water turned on in the bathroom, and Inuyasha began to tap his foot erratically against the hard wood floor.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Kon asked, drying her hands on a kitchen towel that matched her apron perfectly. "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? I mean, you normally don't like to waster time, but this is extreme even for you."

Inuyasha twitched a shoulder. "I just don't like being in this house right now." He explained, scratching behind one of Buyo's ears. "That's all." He assured her.

"Why?" Kon asked, taking the kitchen towel to the table to begin dusting that.

Inuyasha thought about ignoring her question, but decided that she had done nothing to deserve his crudeness. "Because it smells like Naraku. . ."

Kon raised on hand to wave away Inuyasha's worries. "Oh, is that all?" Kon asked with a smile. "Bacon and cheap cologne?" She gestured towards the countertop. "That air freshener in there should clear that up in no time, but in the mean time, why don't you go and wait outside for Kagome?" She suggested. "I'm sure that if that daughter of mine knows that you are getting so impatient you can't even wait inside, she'll go faster."

Inuyasha nodded his head, seeing the logic. "Okay then. I'll just go yell at her from outside, then." He said, heading towards the kitchen door.

"Bye Inuyasha!" Kon waved with a smile, before muttering "such a nice boy, really. . ."

But even with his sensitive hearing, Inuyasha couldn't hear Kon over his own yells. "Hurry up, Kagome!" Inuyasha groaned as he picked up her yellow back pack – a sore sight, for sure, and he would have been more than willing to shred it to pieces for her. "We need to get going now!"

Kagome sighed, and finished washing her face. "I'm coming!" She yelled out the window of the bathroom and in to the courtyard were Inuyasha was waiting not so patiently. "Mom!" She cried out, running down the stairs two at a time. "I'm leaving now!" She was about to throw open the door when her mother placed one hand lightly over it. Kagome looked at her, and wasn't surprised when she saw worry in her eyes.

"Kagome, dear." Her mother began quietly, reaching in to the front pocket of her apron to pull out a small trinket. Cradling it in her hands, she continued. "Are you going to be alright?"

Kagome smiled. "I always am, mom." She assured her with a hug. "Don't you worry about me."

Kon sniffed and held out her hand. "This is for you."

Kagome stared in awe at the pretty charmed bracelet, and wrapped it twice around her wrist before tying it off. "Thank you, mother!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her.

Kon shook her head. "Oh no, it wasn't me. Kogajiin gave it to me this morning, he told me to give it to you."

Kagome stared at it in awe, twisting it in the light so that she could examine it more throughly. A glimmer of light caught and held her eyes.

"He said it was called Kongōosooha." Kon explained. "It's supposed to protect you from evil."

"Kongōosōoha?" Kagome repeated the word, trying to remember where she had heard that word before. "What is that stone?" And why would Kogajiin think that I needed protection from evil?

Kon shrugged. "I don't know. But when I went to bed, I saw him making it out of some thread and those jewels. . . I think that they are rhinestones or something."

Kagome stared closer at it. . . are they diamonds? No, that wasn't possible. Where would Kogajiin get unshaped diamonds like that?

"Kagome!" Inuyasha screamed impatiently. "If you don't get out here, I'm gonna make you walk everywhere!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Inuyasha has resorted to threatening me with exercise, so I had better get going."

Kon nodded. "Sure." She said, hugging Kagome on last time. "Promise me that you won't take off that bracelet."

Kagome nodded, understanding her mother's fear for her safety in the ages of warfare and violence. Understanding that her mother needed something to believe in. "I promise." She swore.

"Kagome!"

"Coming!" Kagome called back, giving her mother one last squeeze. "I love you mom."

And then, Kagome was gone, leaving Kon waving goodbye at the door. "Be safe." She whispered, even though she knew that Kagome could no longer hear her.

It was a cold morning in Sengoku Judai, but then again, in a world without central heating, it was cold most mornings. The fact that it was only early March only helped the cold and made it so that the mists took longer to burn off.

But Miroku, who at the time was busy pounding away, trying to fix the roof of a villager who had the grave misfortune of being attacked by demons, felt nothing of the cold, but only the sweat on his back.

He was busy debating the pros and cons of removing his shirt – on the plus side, he would be cooler, but on the con side, he had a much greater chance of getting a splinter or even getting hypothermia. He was trying to remember what herbs helped cure hypothermia when he heard the click click of Sango's geta sandals on the hard dirt ground of the village square. Immediately, he moved to remove his shirt, the pros now far outwighing the cons.

If Kagome hadn't awoken Inuyasha, she would have never had the opportunity to fall in love with him. . . Miroku was struck still as the thought hit him, the thought in a voice that sounded remarkably like Naraku's. His palm, wrapped around the hem of his robes and frozen in the act of removing them, began to burn painfully, the curse in his hell hand recognizing that it's master was near.

Turning his head, he was surprised that the feeling of evil came not from the east, as it normally did, but from the west, where Inuyasha's forest lay. What could be over there that Naraku would want? Miroku wondered. Sesshoumaru's land is there, and Naraku has made it quiet clear that he fears Sesshoumaru.

Suddenly, a thought hit him. Didn't Inuyasha go to get Kagome? He wondered. Remembering Inuyasha mentioning something like that, he suddenly knew exactly what Naraku wanted in the west.

When he scanned the forest near the well, there was no fear in his eyes . . . only blind hatred that the fiend had struck now, when they were at there weakest – Sango was still recovering from the loss of Kohaku, and Inuyasha and Kagome would be caught at unawares if the simply came out of the well now.

Unless he could get there in time to warn them.

"Miroku?" Sango's voice questioned from beneath the hut. "Are you planning on taking off that shirt anytime soon, or are you just planning on torturing those girls forever?" She jabbed her thumb behind her, where a flock of village maidens were gasping and cooing in awe.

Miroku looked to Sango, who was busy tapping her foot impatiently on the ground, and wondered why she didn't feel it. Maybe her spiritual connection with Naraku ended when Naraku killed Kohaku. But now was not the time to be wondering about why or why not the demon slayer could not sense the most powerful demon of all. Miroku hurried to the side of the hut, and jumped as far out as he could to avoid landing on Sango or anyone else who might have been in his blindspot. He landed awkwardly on his ankle, still sore from the recent battle with Byakuya, the ninth detachtment of Naraku, and orgami demon created to replace Kagura after she had outlived her usefulness. Though Miroku hadn't been in a fight with Byakuya, the incarnation had aided a weak demon that Miroku had been in a fight with by creating fog and illusions to confuse Miroku; and by doing so, giving the weak youkai he had been fighting the oppertunity to attack. Miroku had barely leapt out of the way in time to avoid a fatal blow to the gut, but in his haste had twisted his ankle.

Either his face was showing more than he wanted it to or he had begun to favor his sore ankle, because when he went to pull out his shajoku from it's place half buried in the dirt, Sango wrapped her hand around his cursed one, striking him more alert than Naraku ever could.

Miroku immediately tried to recoil, but Sango's grip – the grip of a woman who slew demons – held true. "Miroku?" She asked, trying to read what wasn't in his eyes. Though she wasn't one to normally ask questions, Miroku knew that even he would have been curious if she had been the one to start acting as oddly as he had.

Miroku wrapped his fist more tightly around his shajoku and pulled his hand – and with his hand, his shajoku – out of Sango's hold. "Let's go." He said, and when he didn't hear her footsteps behind him, he gave her one backwards glance. "Naraku is there."

And then they both began to run.