A Forgotten Myth by Minerva_one

A Forgotten Myth

Kagome sat amongst a large stack of books in the musty back room of the library. With a sigh, she flipped the book in front of her closed, sending a large amount of dust up in her face.

"Eck! Phawwhh!" she murmured, trying to wipe the dirt from her face. "This is hopeless," she thought. "I've looked through every single book on the Feudal Era! Why isn't it here?"

Perhaps she had imagined everything. All of it.

Her shoulders drooped and she laid her head against the desk, willing the tears not to come again. It was too hard to stop them once they came.

. . .

Don't think of his face, Kagome. Don't think his name.

She couldn't help herself. An image of silver hair blowing in the breeze flashed through her mind.

The tears started to fall.

. . .

He stood in the shadows of the books stacks, watching her cry. He had always told himself he would not approach her in this time, and that he would be content to let her life pass him by. He didn't want her to see him for what he was now. Too many centuries had passed for him to be a fearless youkai lord once more.

Now he was a demon wearing the disguise of a human who had nothing else to do in the world except wait. Wait for the sun to rise, wait for death, wait for one last bright spot on his unending life.

The scent of her tears drifted to him, potent even with the dulled senses his spell offered him.

Perhaps he was tired of waiting, and tired of himself.

. . .

Kagome felt someone pull the chair up to her table and sit down. Looking up, her eyes saw the Head Librarian smiling at her from across the table, his blue eyes shining in the fading light.

"Perhaps if you could tell me what you are searching for, I could offer my assistance. Then there would be no need for more tears," he offered in a gentle voice.

Wiping the drops from her eyes, she gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry for making such a fuss. I'm simply frustrated. Please accept my apologies."

He merely chuckled, and began to sort through her books. "It seems you have a fascination with the Feudal Era and the legends of that time," he said. "May I ask what specifically you are searching for?"

"Uh, well, I'm looking for an encyclopedia of legends dealing with youkai. In particular, inuyoukai," Kagome murmured, trying to lower her head so he wouldn't notice the fresh tears in her eyes.

His lips formed a tight line as his breath hitched in his chest. "Ah. Inuyoukai. They were a magnificent race, were they not?" he asked her with another smile.

This time he got a small smile in return. "Yes, yes they were truly magnificent," she said.

"I am afraid I do not have such a book here, but an acquaintance of mine does. He has an extensive library from that era, and should be able to assist you. Let me contact him for you, and I will call you when I have the book," he said as her face lit up.

. . .

The last bright spot in his never-ending life.

. . .

Kagome sat on the bench under the Goshinbuko, reveling in the warmth of the sun on her face. It had been a long winter. The wind picked up, tossing her hair into her face. When she pulled it away, she noticed the Head Librarian was sitting on the bench next to her.

"Oh! You scared me!" she cried out. "I didn't hear you approach!"

He laughed. "My employees say I have a bad habit of sneaking up on people," he said. Kagome couldn't stop staring at his eyes, such a deep blue they were almost violet in color.

He broke her gaze and looked down to the package in his hands. "I brought you a present," he said as he sat the brittle old book in her lap.

Kagome gasped and gently ran a hand over the cover. It was so old, it looked to have been written in the Feudal Era itself. Gingerly opening the front cover, the inside lay covered in rows upon rows of neat, crisp kanji chronicling the inuyoukai clan. They were all there. InuNoTaisho. Sesshoumaru. And even Inuyasha. It was an encyclopedia of inuyoukai.

She gripped the edges of the book tight. This was no library book, this was a family chronicle.

She looked up to catch his blue eyes again, wondering if perhaps . . . perhaps there may be more to this librarian than he let on. "Your friend, the one you said had the extensive library, what did you say his name was?"

The librarian shifted in his seat and looked away from her. "He wishes not to be revealed, but asked that I entrust this book to you for safekeeping," he said.

"Oh," she said quietly. "Then, perhaps, could I know your name?"

He flashed her a brilliant smile. "Of course, how thoughtless of me. I am Hisashi."

. . .

He had hesitated before giving her the book. It was Sesshoumaru's tombstone, and Hishashi's womb. But he had no need of it anymore. He knew every line, every character written in it by heart. It was the last piece of who had once been, and he could think of no one more deserving than the brave miko.

Picking up the ancient encyclopedia, he gently ran his hands along the cover. He didn't like the deception of who he had become, of turning his back on his heritage, and who he used to be.

An inuyoukai.

That demon had died from this world long ago. There were no demons left now, only a dusty encyclopedia of the legend he used to be, and the memory of a modern mortal woman.