I Am Me; No One Else

Chapter 19: Traveling to Edo

For the first several miles of travel, the newly formed group was in an awkward silence. Neither side of the group knew how to approach the lingering topics between the other, and so the tension was fairly high and the air was full of heated anticipation waiting to burst. Kagome felt all this in the auras around her, but she realized she could not soothe it as she hoped because they all needed to learn to trust the other.

Edo was another month's worth of travel from the temple itself without the use of the cave system, and while they had not stopped there while she and Sesshoumaru made their way to it because they had started from the well outside of the said village; Kagome knew this was going to be trying. Her body felt tense and her demeanor had taken a sad turn without realizing it.

Sesshoumaru, who had been quiet till now, turned to see her and how tense she was. He walked to her and she fell into step with him.

"Kagome, you are tense and uneasy? Why do you seem so sad if not for the obvious reasons that are already there?" He stated plainly

She nodded, "The tension in the air is driving me mad. I know it takes time for trust to be earned; but, seriously this is going to kill me if it takes too long...I hope this ends soon." She said quietly

Ashura looked contemplative to that before Kagome assumed he was snickering to himself in his mind while she tried not to scowl at the neko for it. Sesshoumaru, however, he had said nothing to this as he knew nothing he could say would help at this point and he was concerned that she was so aware of the tension around her that she was uneasy.

However, he was also grateful for her awareness now too; she would be better prepared for when fights came. He merely nodded to her words and allowed her to take comfort in his arms as they walked in a companionable silence.

This was done as Sango and Miroku were watching the two of them speculatively and were wondering how to react to all this. They also kept watch on the neko who had joined them; though he was a separate issue altogether.

First Kagome was back after three years away, where she then kills Kikyo to gain back her soul portion the corrupted one had stolen from her. Kikiyo's death shattered Inuyasha's control, but instead of trying to reign him in; she then allows Sesshoumaru to kill Inuyasha because of her responsibility to the jewel.

There was a whole mess of things that didn't add up here.

--

When they finally stopped for lunch, Kagome asked Sesshoumaru to find some rabbits or perhaps a deer while she made fire and set-up camp. She also tasked Ashura to gather wood for her fire. They both nodded and vanished as the young woman bustled around gathering brush to go with the fire-wood.

After Ashura had quickly returned; Kagome got her fire started without matches or asking Shippou. She merely snapped her finger and sparks emitted before slowly growing to her campfire she needed.

She then went to the stream they were near and filled her pan from her bag with a little water to rinse it before she then put it on the fire to warm. It was clear she had become far more self-sufficient in her time away, and likely would not need to rely so heavily on all her companions as she had before.

"Kagome..." Sango said hesitantly, "Is there anything I or Miroku can do?" She asked her

Kagome thought about it before she smiled and nodded, "Can you go and find some of these mushrooms that grow this time of year, Sango?" She asked

The demon slayer nodded happily and forwent asking of the new settings she was in while Miroku had been made to find some kind of herbs or another while Shippou and Kirara were playing nearby and Kagome was keeping an eye on them as Ashura sat across from her and kept guard over them all while Sesshoumaru hunted for them.