Every time she returned home, it was like this: she would dive into the comfort of her bed, hoping that the downey sheets would swallow her alive. Adventuring with Inu-Yasha and cramming for exams occupied her every waking moment, but when she fell into those sheets....nothing. Not even a wink. Evey time she came home it was the same, and every time she marvelled. Why? It was so much more comfortable than sleeping on hay, she didn't have to worry about midnight attacks from any goons or monsters, but still - she couldn't sleep. She had been home for a week now, refusing all temptation in a desperate attempt to study for her finals. Lying on her back, Kagome lifted one of her arms to see her hand infront of her face. She could vaguely make it out, black against a deeper blackness. She let the hand drop back to her covers, fingers curled and palms up.
She refused to get out of bed. Unconsciously, as she so often did, Kagome turned her eyes to the window. Somewhere deep inside her she longed to see a familiar silhouette there, perched on the branches that swayed lightly in the wind. That form she knew well from nights passed by the fireside, pretending to be deep in sleep while secretly watching that restless shape. A shape that, through narrowed eyes, she could feel watched her with a heavy gaze through the long hours of night. Outside of the glass, all she could see were black leaves, cut-out impressions set against a white moon and stars.
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Inu-Yasha bolted from sleep, a cry catching in his throat. Beside him Miroku and Shippo lay, curled under blankets by the embers of the fire and blissfully at peace. He wanted very badly to wake them - why should they get to rest while he was cursed to sit there alone in the dark, waiting for the crack of dawn? He stared at Miroku, hoping that the intensity of his gaze would rouse the monk from sleep. He didn't really want to talk; rather, he just wanted to know that there was someone else awake in the dark, as his own thoughts were poor company. Miroku stirred lightly, and turned his back to the fire. Inu-Yasha frowned, resisting the urge to kich that back into wakefulness, and stood up.
Why was this happening? In the distance, he heard the sound of a river and headed towards it. He had been sweating, and the sound and smell of rushing water called him like a siren song. He had been cused to sleep once, and for fifty years could not open his eyes or rouse himself from that swirling blackness. It had been a plague of nightmares, reliving the same awful moment again and again for an eternity; and yet now he was cursed again, but the symptoms were opposite. He could never catch more a than a few furtive moments before visions filled his mind and wrenched him back to the world. Always the same face in his dreams, both beloved and abhorred. He wondered vaguely how long a man could live without sleeping. He laughed silently at himself. Of course, he was not a man. He walked on, a trail of crushed grass in his wake.
Before he knew it, Inu-Yasha stumbled upon the river, clean and sparkling under the moon. He had been lost in thoughts penetrated only by the moist scent of the earth and the heady smell of grass wafting to his nostrils. He began to remove his clothes with earnest. He wanted to plunge into that water, which seemed to be lit from within by a living energy. He had the impression that the river had no bottom, and that its steady current could carry him away if he would let it. He threw his clothes on a convenient branch and stepped in, feeling the second skin that slipped easily around him. It was light and cool, and gave the impression that it could purify anything it touched. Inu-Yasha felt the smooth pebbles inder his tough soles and imagined that, if he picked one up, it would be perfect and round, like a tiny pearl.
Above him, Inu-Yasha could see the stars twinkling and giddy in the sky. He envied them: even they got to rest during the day. After several long minutes, Inu-Yasha began to feel the cold of the water seeping into his body, filtering down to his bones. He could not go back to the fireside, and wait in silence for the morning light to trudge its lazy way along the horizon. Someone was lacking by that hearth; someone who, although he could still not sleep, could calm his nerves and make him feel at peace. That presence which soothed him, which merely had to exist in his world to put his heart at rest. He had waited, patiently for a week; now his nerves where electric, his muscled exhausted and his mind spent. Even if he was not asleep, that one presence was like a salve, a pocket of energy that infused him and could make him feel alive. Inu-yasha sighed - why was it always him who must go to her? He didn't like to think that the answer could possibly be that it was only him who felt this way. He got out of the water, gleaming droplets shaking from his skin like fragments of moonlight. Shoving on red robes, the fabric course against his skin, the dog-demon walked off in a familiar direction.
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Kagome flung off the covers, exhausted from the effort of trying to sleep. What was the matter with her? At the foot of her bed her cat lay, curled up in a warm ball and purring contentedly. She wanted to curl around that cat, to feel the warmth of its body against hers. Maybe, by being so close, she could be infected by the tiredness that seemed to pervade all cats and sleep would wash over her, in thick oil-black waves. Probably not. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and glided each foot into a slipper. Although she would not admit it to herself, she knew where she was heading. Quietly, like night's shadow, she slipped through the darkess of her house and out the front door. It closed fast behind her.
Inside of Kagome's mind, her thoughts had been skirting around a central figure, spiraling like planets around a bright sun. She would not admit to herself that she wanted to see him, but found herself floating, like a waifish ghost in the dark, towards the well. It had been a week, and the ties she felt that bound her to that time had grown taunt with the effort of the last seven days. In her exhausted state, she was reminded more and more frequently of him. She stopped.
Why should I go there? She asked herself. There had been fleeting moments of tenderness between them, meaningful glances and unspoken understandings. But neither of them liked to admit dependancy, the need for each other's presence. Kagome would not admit how much she longed to see Inu-Yasha, especialy in those bleak hours of the night. He had not come to see her either, right? She pointed her feet in the opposite direction, not really aware of an objective to her walking, and sat herself down at the steps leading up to her house.
From her position, Kagome could see the streetlamps stretching off into the distance like a necklace strung of glowing pearls. Beneath each lamp pools of yellow light, hazy and bleak and devoid of shadows, dotted the long street. She traced her finger in a circle on the course rock of the stairs, wondering if how she could ever pass her exams if she kept up like this.The street was so deserted at this time of night, and Kagome felt a shiver go down her spine. She was not afraid: she had encountered enough true terrors that mere darkness and shadows held no power over her any longer. It was just terribly lonely. Perhaps it was because people only passed through the streets that they always seemed so hollow. Even at the summer festival, when there were so many people it seemed like an effort just to blink, it always felt strangely empty to her. Perhaps it was because nobody lived there. Or maybe.....because one certain person did not live there. She wondered loosely if, were she to become lost and alone in that other time, she would feel the same sense of loneliness she had felt lately, seeping from every corner of Tokyo.
"Ahem."
The sound from behind her was so sudden she jumped. There, slightly farther off in the shadows, was a face she knew. She was so happy she wanted to smile, to fling her arms around that neck and bury her face in those long tresses. Yet, she knew she must follow the ritual; she frowned with an effort.
"Inu-Yasha! Don't scare me like that, you jerk!"
"Jerk?" Inu-Yasha stepped forward into the light, his sense of relief supressed into a smirk. He looked around; it had only been since he laid eyes on Kagome that he had realised that it was night in her world, too, and that she was clothed in only a thin nightshirt. "You little idiot. What are you doing outside dressed like that?"
Her face betrayed her: although still the same Kagome, her eyes were dressed with dark rings, like a child's make-up. She was very pale. "I .... was hungry." Hungry? She could have slapped herself, the excuse sounded so lame. He would know the real reason. Inu-Yasha eyed Kagome, lifting an eyebrow in suspended belief. "You were hungry." He jerked a thumb in the vague direction of her house. "Isn't there some food in there? It is a house, isn't it?"
He was trying to catch her in the lie, knowing full well she would never let herself be caught. "No. Yes. I mean, yeah, but I want those noodles they sell at the all-night stand down by the station."
"Were's your money?"
Damn.
"It's...uhhhhh...." She stood there, desperately trying to think of something. "Free! This late at night, they get rid of all the old noodles, it's free." She didn't hesitate. "Wanna come with me?"
Inu-Yasha stared at her, still skeptical. Kagome stood before him in her stocking feet, hair trailing down in soft curls on her shoulders. The street lights shining behind her gave him the impression that she was glowing.
"Sure." He added, "I have nothing better to do, if you're going to go stuff your face." Kagome stuck out her tongue at him, turned and bounced down the stairs.
The two of them walked, side by side, through the abandonned streets of the town. Kagome was amazed; usually, there would be at least one night-owl prowling the streets. Tonight they were perfectly empty, and she was glad. The sky above them seemed to her, not like an infinite expanse of space, but like a box being held down to keep them in place. There was a section of the world cordonned off, containing only two people. Perhaps the rest of the world was asleep. They continued on, basking in each other's presence and speaking very little. Inu-Yasha looked at her occaisionally, between the pools of artificial light, and smiled quietly to himself. He watched her small hands, swaying loosely in time to the rhythm of her walk. He wanted to hold onto them, to keep them between his rough palms. He shook his head, and pulled his hands slightly higher up in his sleeves.
The man at the ramen stand watched them approaching from far away. The night was so quiet it seemed that the whole town had been spirited away. It was like a ghost town, and he had laughed to himself that it would be a poor night for sales, because ghosts generally had small appetites. But he was disquieted all the same, and had been humming airy tuned to himself just to hear sounds which told that life still existed. Then, up the street, he saw them: a pale girl, in bare feet and a white gown, and a boy in medieval robes. No, not a boy - a dog in the shape of a man. He stood, rubbing his eyes in disbelief as they approached, not knowing whether to scream and run or stand his ground, trying to make them disappear with ejaculations of disbelief.
The phantom girl came up to him, beautiful as a vision, and ordered two bowls of pork ramen, with a bottle of Aquarius. He blinked stupidly but complied, afraid of what ravenous ghosts would do if they were made upset. As he filled out the order, the man stared all the while at the boy's ears and wondered if they were as soft as they looked. He would never asked, but wanted to touch them. And then, in an instant, they were walking away, fading into the distance and disappearing behind the light of the streetlamps. He had forgotten to ask for money but figured that the undead were something of a write-off. Clearly and brightly, the man at the noodle stand began to hum again, his eyes fixed on the spot where the visitors had vanished into the darkness. A newspaper blew past, carried by the on the wind.
Kagome heaved a sigh of relief, holding the steaming cup of ramen between her cold hands. She figured the man had thought that they were some kind of bizarre, ritualistic punks, and had given them a free meal rather than go asking for trouble. Whatever the reason, she was glad for the meal in her hands. Beside her, Inu-Yasha slurped noisily. Her feet were getting tired sore from the pavement, and she did not have the grace to eat while walking. At the next street corner she made a right, not signaling the change of direction to her companion.
"Hey!" Inu-Yasha called out to her, his mouth spilling noodles in every direction. "Where are you going?"
She called back to him. "My feet are getting tired. There's a park not too far down this street." She turned and continued walking, smiling at the sound of his pace quickening behind her.
The park was small, a dense collection of greenery and sand. In the middle, facing a rusted swingset and teeter-totter, a small bench was nestled under the braches of an ancient maple. Kagome sat down, stretching her legs and sipping her soup delicately. Inu-Yasha plunked down beside her, a half-finished bottle of Aquarius between his lips. The silence was so complete he had the impression that it hung between the leaves, enfolding them completely in the small oasis. He looked at Kagome, contentedly eating her noodles.
"What?" From the corner of her eye she looked at him suspiciously, wondering what flaw he was examining in her features. Crouched over her bowl, she slurped up another mouthful.
Inu-Yasha looked away, leaning back on the bench and directing his eyes to the sky. He had noticed that there were not many stars in Kagome's time, and those he could spot now between the branches seemed to blink with a half-hearted effort. Maybe they were tired too. He was acutely aware of Kagome's presence beside him, of the feeling it inspired within himself. His belly was full and he could feel his muscles slowly unwinding their tension; he spread his arms across the back of the bench, filling himself with that wonderful feeling. Each limb felt deliciously heavy.
Kagome finished the last of the broth, placing the bowl on the ground, and leaned back. Her head was tilted up, and she could feel the pressure of Inu-Yasha's arm against the curve of her neck. She edged slightly closer to him.
"Do you know anything about stars, Inu-Yasha?" She could already feel her head getting cloudy, and yawned as she spoke.
He turned slightly, examining her profile. "Not really. You see them at night, and they disappear during the day."
She laughed, tilting her head towards him. What a primitive idea. "They shine from billions of miles away, and it takes thousands and thousands of years for their light to get to us. Probably some of the stars we're seeing now died a long time ago. Before I was born - before you were born too." Her eyes closed as she spoke, and she edged even closer to Inu-Yasha. In a moment she leaned her head against his shoulder, slipping quickly away. "It's kind of neat, really. For someone far away, the earth must be a star too..."
Inu-Yasha listened to the sound of her breath, deep and even. It was so soothing, he almost felt as if it could carry him away. He placed his cheek against her hair, timidly taking one of her hands in his own. This thoughts began to swim, loose and disconnected in his brain. It was amazing, he thought; two women with the same face. One who keeps me forever from sleep, and the other....
He smiled, delicately kissing the fragrant black hair.
"Good night, Kagome."
As he drifted slowly out of consciouness, Inu-Yasha thought about stars. How one day, thousands of years from that moment, someone far away would see the light of the earth from that very night. A light composed of the approaching dawn, of the buildings and the streetlamps, and the glow of the waning moon reflected off their skin....
A light which could be fragmented, deconstructed, diluted down to form the image of the two of them together, side by side in an impossibly green place....
Dawn spilled its light over the city, over the concrete and over the trees, into that park were the two of them sat, fast asleep.