For a long while, Kagome remained frozen in shock at the revelation that Inuyasha was already over two hundred years old.
Only after several moments did she finally come back to her senses,but what replaced that shock was an indescribable sense of unease.
She blinked, staring at Inuyasha with a gaze that was equal parts curiosity and something strangely unsettling. Under that stare, even Inuyasha felt his scalp prickle, instinctively shrinking back a little.
Kagetsu paid no attention to Kagome's inner turmoil and continued calmly,
"For Inuyasha, living another five hundred years isn't difficult."
"If your world really is five hundred years in the future, then since he followed you there once, he already knows where you live. If he truly lived that long, how could he not go looking for you?"
As he spoke, he turned toward Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha, as a human, Kagome won't live for five hundred years. When that day comes… will you go to her house to find her?"
"I…"
Inuyasha froze.
His eyes instinctively shifted to Kagome, and the casual expression on his face vanished instantly, replaced by something heavy.
Only now did he truly confront that cruel future.
Kagome would grow old.
And one day… she would die.
Meanwhile, he,half-demon,would continue living alone.
Perhaps her face would gradually blur in his memory…
Perhaps, one day, he might even forget her entirely.
At that thought, his chest tightened painfully.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered, equally shaken.
Struggle, reluctance, and pain flashed through Inuyasha's eyes,before finally hardening into resolve.
"I definitely will!"
Kagetsu smiled faintly and turned back to Kagome.
"Then tell me,have you ever seen him in your world?"
"Not the Inuyasha who traveled through the Bone-Eater's Well… but one who already existed there?"
Kagome froze.
"N-no…" she murmured, shaking her head.
His question struck her like a stone dropped into still water, sending ripples through everything she thought she understood.
Her grip tightened unconsciously around the talisman in her hand.
"Could it be… this really isn't the world from five hundred years ago?"
Seeing her hesitation, Kagetsu continued,
"Of course, there are other explanations."
"Maybe Inuyasha was trapped somewhere… or perhaps he died before reaching that point."
"Five hundred years is a long time. Anything could happen."
Kagome's heart sank at those words.
Whether it was her dying first… or Inuyasha disappearing from the future…
Neither possibility was something she wanted to face.
"So," Kagetsu said evenly, "your not seeing him doesn't prove anything."
Then his tone shifted.
"The real contradiction… lies with you, Kikyo."
"Me?" Kikyo's eyes widened slightly.
Kagome also turned toward him immediately.
"Kikyo, do you remember?" Kagetsu said. "When I tried to use your blood to perform Impure World Reincarnation,it failed."
"Yes," Kikyo nodded slowly. "You said my soul had already reincarnated."
"And when Urasue used your bones and grave soil to create that clay body, she also couldn't summon your soul."
"She came to the same conclusion."
Kikyo's expression grew more serious.
"That's because Kikyo's soul reincarnated as Kagome," Inuyasha interjected. "Later, it was pulled out again. What's the problem?"
"Yeah… what's wrong with that?" Kagome added, though uneasily.
Kagetsu looked at them, a faint smile curling at his lips.
"The problem is… that creates a contradiction."
His gaze sharpened.
"If Kagome comes from five hundred years in the future, and Kikyo's soul came from her…"
"Then Kikyo's soul also comes from the future."
His voice dropped, each word deliberate.
"So tell me…"
"Where is the soul of the Kikyo who died fifty years ago?"
Silence.
Kikyo and Kagome both froze, their minds going blank.
"Inuyasha, what he means is," Kagome quickly explained, her voice tight,
"If I'm from the future, and Kikyo's soul came from me…"
"Then at this point in time, I don't even exist yet!"
"Logically, Kikyo's soul shouldn't have reincarnated yet!"
"Urasue should have been able to summon it directly!"
"Oh… I get it!" Inuyasha nodded suddenly.
Seeing they had caught up, Kagetsu continued,
"I once considered another possibility."
"Maybe Kikyo's soul had already reincarnated,but not as Kagome."
"Perhaps she went through multiple lives over five hundred years, and Kagome is simply the final one."
Kikyo frowned slightly.
"But then… could Kagome still be considered my reincarnation?"
"In five hundred years, there would be several generations. She would just be the last link."
"Exactly!" Kagome nodded, then groaned, "And if that's true… maybe Kikyo is someone else's reincarnation too… This is getting ridiculous…"
"Right," Kagetsu said. "But that's still not the biggest issue."
His gaze turned sharp.
"When Kikyo died fifty years ago… she took the Shikon Jewel with her into the afterlife."
"If her soul truly reincarnated…"
"The Jewel should have reincarnated with it."
Kikyo's pupils shrank.
Understanding dawned in an instant.
"If that's true… then the reincarnated version of me in this era should also carry the Shikon Jewel…"
"And that means,"
"There should be two Shikon Jewels!" Kagome blurted out.
"One from this era,and one I brought from the future!"
Kagetsu nodded.
"And yet… there has only ever been one."
His gaze swept over them, voice low and deliberate.
"Under normal circumstances, the Jewel should have reappeared when the correct reincarnation awakened Inuyasha."
"Not through you traveling back in time."
He paused.
"Unless…"
Kagome slowly lifted her head, finishing his thought:
"Unless… I am the only reincarnation of Kikyo in this era."
"And the Shikon Jewel inside me…"
"…is the only one that exists."