She didn’t have much time left.
Her hair pulled back in a ponytail, the tall woman’s onyx eyes were deadlocked on a small cottage at the end of the boulevard. The street ended in a circle, and the red and white cottage was right in the middle, in plain sight.
The woman smiled to herself as she found the strength to put one foot in front of the other.
“I’m so close; don’t give up now,” the woman found herself thinking. She couldn’t afford to give up, especially with the precious burden she carried.
Her knees wobbled beneath her with fatigue, but she had reached her destination. Three rapid knocks was all it took to summon the owner of the small house.
She smiled with relief as she peered down into a young face so similar to hers. She patiently watched as the dark pupils that mirrored her own went from shock to curiosity to alarm as they observed the weary traveler on her doorstep.
“Big sister!” The young lady at the door moved back so that her sister could enter. “I thought you were traveling the countryside to help heal all of those fallen soldiers, Kikyo?”
“Kaede, there is no time for such questions,” the wounded priestess replied. It wasn’t until after Kikyo had found solace on Kaede’s suede couch did Kaede become aware of the wrapped bundle in her arms.
“What happened to you, big sister?” Kaede asked her, the alarm still evident in her face as she took in the wounds that were now exposed in the low light of the living room. A bloodied bandage was wrapped all the way down Kikyo’s left arm and there were small but deep gashes in the skin that showed through the ragged holes in her sister’s pants.
“A war happened.” Kikyo slowly removed her bow and arrows from her back, trying not to jostle the bundle in her arms. “And I don’t have much time left.”
“What do you mean, not much time?” Kaede asked, a forbidding sense of dread creeping down her spine.
“I mean no time at all. This time is actually borrowed.”
Kaede pondered her sister’s grave words. By borrowed time, she meant-
“You’re dead,” she whispered over the shallow breaths that came out of her hallowed chest.
“Technically speaking, yes, and I almost didn’t make it. The pain is too great and I fear the magic shall run out soon.”
Kikyo watched her sister fight back tears through her dimming orbs. “Kaede, do not cry. Just know that I did not die in vain. I died protecting the jewel and the Great Dog’s greatest legacy.”
“His legacy?” Kaede asked.
Kikyo slowly nodded, pain settling over her features for the first time since she was resurrected. “Yes, Izayoi made me promise her I would before she...”
She couldn’t finish the sentence.
Kaede’s mouth formed a small ‘O’ as she understood what Kikyo implied. “I-I didn’t know.”
Kikyo shook her head. “Neither did I until the Inu no Taishō informed me on the eve of the battle.”
The young woman sat on the arm of her loveseat, still finding it hard to accept that she was talking to a phantom of her beloved sister.
“Sister, who resurrected you?” Kaede asked, knowing that the answer would tell her why Kikyo had come all this way.
Kikyo answered, but she didn’t dare look her sister in the eye. “The sorcerer, Naraku.”
Kaede jumped up in shock. “The half-demon that was born from that petty magician, Onigumo? Why did you seek help from him?!” she demanded to know.
“I did not seek help from him. He lent me his aid of his own free will.” Kikyo stood up, still careful not to shake the bundle in her hands. “He must have heard my final wishes through the connection we’ve shared as I laid on the wake of death.”
Kikyo looked deeply at her sister, upset that she was leaving her only relative all alone once again. “That connection may have been a burden on us for years, but it was a blessing in my darkest hour.”
Kaede eyed her sister with wary. “I still do not trust him.”
Kikyo nodded. “And that’s good. Never trust him. Even with the final message that I bring you in my final hour, I caution you to stay alert of any malicious intent that may possibly reveal itself.”
Kaede took her sister’s warning to heart and readied herself for whatever message she was about to deliver.
“As I’ve told you, I made a promise to Izayoi that I would protect the one thing that was most important to her.” As she talked, Kikyo slowly made her way over to where Kaede was standing. By the time she was finished, the bundle in her arms was uncovered and revealed.
Kaede gasped. “No- no way…” Hesitantly, she reached down and ran her finger across the puffy cheeks of the newborn baby in her sister’s arms. He was quiet all this time, so she never would’ve been able to guess what Kikyo concealed beneath the white blanket.
The baby’s eyes were closed, but its small clawed hand reached out to wrap around one of her stray fingers, and Kaede fell in love. It wasn’t until she saw the two silky, triangular ears at the top of his head did it finally click.
“They were… successful,” Kaede breathed.
Kikyo nodded. “Yes. Izayoi and the Great Dog gave birth to the first hanyou the demon world has seen in ages.”
“B-But you traveled all this way to the human world… how is he to survive in this world with the way he looks?”
Kikyo smiled and transferred the little one over to Kaede. “Well, for one, he will have you as his protector.”
“Me? But I can’t, I-”
“You have to,” Kikyo immediately cut her off. “I only have moments left, so I am entrusting my final quest to you. Protect him until he is old enough to return to the demon world.”
Knowing not to disagree with her big sister again, Kaede slowly nodded.
Satisfied, Kikyo pulled out a string of beads and demon teeth and quickly said a chant. She smiled when the necklace brimmed with her spiritual power. The enchantment in place, she placed the beads around the young hanyou’s neck. The beads immediately shrunk to fit around the hanyou’s neck.
Kaede watched in awe as she witnessed her sister’s power for a final time. “What are the beads for?”
“Just watch,” Kikyo replied, staring intently at the baby. Confused, Kaede looked back down at the little hanyou in her arms. It didn’t take long for her confusion to deepen.
After the beads were resized, they gleamed a soft pink. The warm spiritual power soon spread to encompass the baby hanyou. Kaede watched as he squirmed in her arms, finally opening his eyes to look up at her. Kaede gasped in surprise as she looked down into warm amber eyes, the last time she would see them as the spiritual power changed them into a warm brown. Kaede looked on as his small claws dulled into human nails and his silver dog ears became two regular human ears. After the transformation was complete, the hanyou looked like any normal human baby.
“...How?”
Kikyo looked up at Kaede and smiled softly at the expression on her face. “The beads were given to me by Naraku to help conceal his demon blood until he can return to the demon world.”
Kaede looked back at her sister, not understanding what all was happening. “Return? The human world and the demon world have been separated for centuries, and only the power of special persons such as yourself can unlock the few gates between the two worlds. You are about to die, so who will be able to take him there? I do not have enough spiritual power within me to take him back.”
Kikyo nodded. “I know. I do not expect you to be his guide. I just expect you to raise him like he was your own and make a good life for him until he is ready to discover his roots. However, I must let you know of what will eventually occur.”
Her little sister nodded. “Tell me.”
“The enchantment I have placed, while strong, won’t last forever. The beads will never be a bother to the hanyou. He will grow up thinking that they are an extension of himself and will never try to remove them. It won’t be until he is a man that there will be a breach in my magic due to something beyond my control.”
Kaede listened carefully to her, knowing that this is something that she must never forget.
“As you know, half-demons have a weakness in their regular forms. One night a month, they lose all of their demonic qualities and appear human. In this case, our hanyou will experience a flip in this sensation. Once he hits a certain age, every new moon, instead of becoming human, the enchantment will be broken and he will regain all of his demonic qualities back. You need to prevent other humans from seeing him and explain to him what is happening to him. Once he understands, you will have to work with him to find a way back to the demon world, where the enchantment will completely break down. The beads will then serve a new purpose so as to protect him in his original form. Do you understand?”
“I only have one question… how will I know when the beads will stop working?” Kaede wondered.
“That is a question I cannot answer. It could be in his late teens or early twenties. You just have to be aware of any and all changes he goes through,” Kikyo replied.
“I see. Well, even though all of this is sudden, I will not fail you, big sister. I want you to know this so that you may rest in peace.”
Kikyo frowned. “Thank you. But that brings me to my final request.”
“What is it?”
Reaching down into her quiver, Kikyo pulled out a round jewel that illuminated the room with its calm power.
Kaede’s eyes widened. “The Shikon no Tama! What is it doing here?”
“It’s about to vanish.” Kikyo caught Kaede’s stare and kept it. “You know I have protected the Shikon Jewel my entire life. I need you to burn it with my body after I am gone. That way, it may be possible for it to reappear in my next life and be the guide that the young hanyou needs to get back to his world.”
Kikyo grabbed Kaede’s free hand and wrapped it around the jewel. “My reincarnation should be the key.”
“Your reincarnation?” Kaede whispered. Is it even a possibility?
“I can only hope,” was Kikyo’s solemn reply. She could feel the last of the magic slowly draining from her reanimated body. “After my cremation, bury my ashes in our home village. Can you do that for me, Kaede?”
Kaede’s eyes finally released the tears she had been holding back the entire evening. “Yes, big sister, I can.”
Kikyo weakly smiled. “Thank you.” Her strength escaping her, she laid down on her sister’s couch, waiting for death to claim her. She sensed her little sister sitting next to her on the floor. She didn’t have to wait long until her sister’s hand found hers.
“Kikyo?” she heard her sister whisper.
“Yes, Kaede?”
“What is the young hanyou called?” she heard through the haze.
Kikyo shook her head, surprised that she almost forgot to tell her sister his name.
“Inuyasha,” she softly replied. “His name is Inuyasha.”
His name was the last word she uttered. As her body cooled on her devastated sister’s couch, Inuyasha let forth his first, heartbreaking cry.
*****
The world got a bit dimmer as Kikyo passed on into her final resting place, but it wasn’t long before a bright light re-entered the world.
The world lives in balance, so through death comes new life.
A young, married woman cradles her newborn as a nurse tends to her.
“What will you call her?” the curious nurse asks.
Mrs. Higurashi looks up at her and beams.
“Kagome,” she coos. “Her name is Kagome.”
*****
To Be Continued
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