DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha and Kagome do not belong to me. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi and other respective licensed corporations; however, the character Kurokami Kijo belongs to me.
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Kurokami KijoAn Inuyasha Fanfiction
By Irulan
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CHAPTER IThe Kageboushi
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Kurokami removed her inner robe and buried it in a shallow hole she had dug between the roots of a great tree. Moving quickly, she grabbed her outer kimono and scooted up the ancient tree, pausing at a branch where the stench of her prey was strongest. She began rubbing her body against the branch, willing her pale skin to lap up the scent she needed to assume. She did the same with her kimono, and promptly wrapped it around herself. As much as she despised being restricted by it, she did not wish to be exposed for too long in this strange territory. Who knew what could be watching her.
Many years ago, she had discovered the trick of masking her own scent with that of her enemies. It was a dangerous practice, but an effective one; after all, it had kept her alive all these years.
She gave a lonely sigh. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered trying to stay alive. Life gave her nothing but another reason to hide. Kurokami Kijo, the Black-Haired Demoness. That was her name; or rather, it was what the humans referred to her as. Or most humans did, anyway. Her mother's family had nastily called her Kikei, a deformity. She cringed at the name.
Kurokami's mother had given birth to her out of wedlock. Soon after her birth, her grandfather had searched far and wide to find a husband to marry his daughter. It had not been an easy task; in all truth, it had taken close to five years to find a willing suitor. During that time, Kurokami's mother had taught her about her lineage. Of course, she was too young to understand everything. All she knew was that she was the daughter of a powerful inu youkai, or dog demon, of the East. Her father had also rejected her, mostly because she was only a hanyou, a half-demon, but also because of her black hair. According to her father, black hair was fine for a human, but not for a youkai, or even for a hanyou. He too, referred to her as Kikei. In the eyes of her mother's family, Kurokami was not a kikei because of her hair. Indeed, they also had black hair. They taunted her and called her kikei for her deep red eyes and her furry, dog-like ears.
The first two or three years of the marriage between Kurokami's mother and stepfather passed quite pleasantly. Kurokami remembered being awakened by her mother early each morning, so she could put her hair up in a tight knot in order to hide her ears. Her stepfather couldn't know about her background. He believed that Kurokami's mother was a widow.
But one day, he did find out. Kurokami was complaining of earache, and he tried to check her ears for an infection. She fought to prevent him, but her hair knot came loose and fell out. Her stepfather was infuriated and carried her deep into the forest, where he expected either a youkai or a wild animal to kill her. He would not allow a kikei to live under his roof and soil his family's name.
That was eight years ago. Since then, she had been terrorizing humans and hiding from demons, and she'd been doing a good job of it, too. The youkai of the East often referred to her as the Kageboushi, the Silhouette, because of her ability to hide by covering her scent. She liked that name. But she was the most proud of Kurokami Kijo, the name the humans had dubbed her. She only wished she were a true demoness.
"That's why I fight to stay alive," she bitterly muttered to herself. "So I can find a way to become a full youkai, and punish my stepfather and my mother's family for treating me the way they did!"
And Kurokami believed she had finally found a way to do just that. Rumours and stories of a western hanyou named Inuyasha were circulating around the lands of the East. Supposedly, he had in his possession the Shikon no Tama, a mystical jewel that held the power to turn a hanyou into a full youkai. Why Inuyasha hadn't used it yet was beyond Kurokami. But she wasn't interested in technicalities like that. She just wanted the jewel for herself, and vowed that nothing would prevent her from stealing it from Inuyasha. Her trials and ordeals throughout the last few months had only helped to fuel her passion for finding the jewel. Travelling on foot in foreign territory certainly had not been a piece of cake. Many a demon had tried to stop her in her tracks. But none had succeeded. Kurokami was powerful indeed.
If I can defeat youkai, then Inuyasha won't be a problem at all, she smiled to herself.
And now, the moment where she would face Inuyasha was almost here. Kurokami could tell by the strength of the scent that this tree was a place that he frequented. This fact relieved her; she need not worry about his scent wearing off. It was so thick; she could practically wear it as a blanket. Not only that, Inuyasha would feel more comfortable and at ease around this tree. He wouldn't suspect a thing: when Kurokami moved in for the kill, Inuyasha would be dead before he even had a chance to know what hit him.
So Kurokami sat back with a sly smile on her face, and awaited her chance to become a full youkai.
Inuyasha sniffed the air. Someone, or something, was close. And trying to hide. The scent, he felt, was not that of a youkai, yet not that of a human.
"Could it be a hanyou?!" he said to himself.
He was surprised. He had never caught the scent of another half-demon before. Hanyou generally spent their entire lives alone and on the run, rejected by the world. There was nothing on earth more hated and despised than a hanyou.
No wonder he's trying to mask his scent. Inuyasha mused. He doesn't want to be found and become a youkai's dinner.
He sniffed the air again, and followed his nose to the bottom of the sacred Go-shinboku tree, his favourite place to rest. Buried beneath a pile of earth and leaves hid the source of the scent.
Why hasn't he shown his face yet? Inuyasha wondered. He should have leapt out to defend himself by now.
There was a slight rustle in the branches above his head, and Inuyasha snapped his head up in time to see something flying towards him. He had no chance to dodge, and wound up pinned to the floor of his forest.
"Get the hell off me!" he growled, rolling out from under his attacker.
He now had his assailant pinned below him, and was able to get a closer look. The first thing he noticed was that the stranger reeked of Inuyasha's own scent.
That's why I never knew he was up there in the Go-shinboku, he realised.
He looked his captive up and down. He had black, furry ears; long, silky black hair, and eyes that glowed deep, deep red. He was wearing a plain, worn-out, red kimono.
"Nani?! A kimono?!" Inuyasha exclaimed with a start. "You're a female hanyou?"
The girl struggled and squirmed beneath his clawed grip. She could sense Inuyasha's scent wearing off her skin as she fought to break free. Should she manage to escape and run away, she would not be able to lose him. She silently berated herself for underestimating Inuyasha. It must be the Shikon no Tama that makes him this strong, she thought. Even though he hasn't used it to become a true demon yet, it still gives him incredible power.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Inuyasha demanded. She's strong, who ever she is. I don't think I can hold her down for much longer.
"I'm Kurokami Kijo, the Kageboushi," she menaced, her red eyes glowing, "and I've come for the Shikon no Tama."
"Feh!" Inuyasha grunted. "I've never heard of you. And I'm sure as hell not gonna give you the jewel."
"Then you can die, Inuyasha!" Kurokami screamed, gathering all her strength and forcing him off her. She leapt to her feet, extended her paw-like hand, and ran forward, attempting to plunge her claws deep into his neck.
Inuyasha drew his father's sword, the Tetsusaiga. Upon its fang-like transformation, he swung it repeatedly at Kurokami. Kurokami had never seen a sword such as this before. Rarely had she ever been involved in combat that included weaponry; she preferred fighting and killing with her bare hands. It had always been Kurokami's belief that if one needed a weapon to fight, then he or she was weak.
But Inuyasha is not weak, she told herself. He is a lot stronger than I could have ever imagined him to be. It must be because of the Shikon no Tama. Not only has it increased his strength, but it has possessed his sword, too. And if that's the case, then as soon as I get that jewel in my grasp, then Inuyasha will be defenceless against me.
"Give me the Shikon no Tama, Inuyasha!" she cried, dodging another swing of the mighty sword.
"Never!" Inuyasha replied, as he raised the Tetsusaiga one last time and began bringing it down on Kurokami's shoulder.
"OSUWARI!! SIT!" a young female voice screamed from behind the two duelling hanyou.
"Kagome, you idiot!" Inuyasha yelled as he crashed to the ground under his friend's subduing spell. "She'll kill you!"
Especially when she finds out it's you who's carrying the Shikon no Tama, and not me, he thought to himself.
Kurokami merely stood on, staring in shock. This young human, this young human girl, had saved her from certain death by Inuyasha's hand. She hung her head in shame.
The demon laws of the East decreed that should a human save the life of a youkai, then that youkai became the human's servant and protector for Eternity. It was a mark of weakness. Even if the human set the demon free, they were forevermore regarded as a useless failure, and shunned from youkai society. I say that as if I was welcome there already, Kurokami silently said to herself.
Kurokami, reluctantly accepting her defeat, walked over to the oddly dressed girl. What was her name? Kagome? She bowed deeply before her.
"Human, I am your humble servant and protectress," she said.