Secret Promise
The Sengoku Period of Japan is known as the age of war. Lords fighting for land and power. Betrayal amongst allies as the self-righteous see only their morals fit for the land. It isn't just humans who have been pitted against one another; demons alike battle for land, freedom, and security. Not many villages have a priest or priestess to aid then in times of need, but in a village hidden by the surrounding northeast forest lies a very powerful priestess who protects the Sacred Jewel. The jewel known to intensify demonic powers and is lusted by many demons, but none were ever powerful enough to defeat Kikyo and claim the Jewel for themselves. But as years go on Kikyo knows one day will be her last, but the Sacred Jewel will never have its last; just as it has been passed down to her from her mentor, Kikyo must pass the jewel to her own successor. After months of searching villages for priestess, Kikyo came back to her village who eagerly awaited her return with a small child at her side, her successor of the Sacred Jewel, Kagome.
It took many months before any training could be done with Kikyo's successor. Kikyo did not expect to mentor a young child, but coming across her, Kikyo could feel the potential radiating off little Kagome, but she was still a child after all. Stripped from her family for the greater good, Kagome cried every day and hid from Kikyo. She was only six years after all. A young child who shouldn't bear such responsibilities yet, but too much is at stake with no successor for the Jewel's protection. When Kikyo had come across Kagome in her little village far south of her own village, she could sense the power Kagome held within. After a very long talk with her far from reluctant family Kagome traveled back with Kikyo on a promise to return home one day. A promise Kikyo knew wouldn't be kept.
"Kagome you must focus." Kikyo sighed to the young priestess that sat across from her. Her fingers were laced between one another holding a set of threaded beads, Kagome mirroring her teacher.
Kagome kept her eyes closed as her eyebrows came together in anger. "Lady Kikyo, I cannot! This, this isn't what I want to do." Kagome whined still keeping her posture and eyes closed, missing the disappointing look on Kikyo's face.
"I know that Kagome, but you mustn't only think about yourself. You will protect the Sacred Jewel once I depart from this world. It is your responsibility to keep it safe from the clutches of demons." Kagome dropped her hands and let the beads fall onto her lap. She looked up at her teacher who was also looking back at her.
"But why me? I didn't ask for this." Kagome cried to herself and looked down at the beads in her lap. She heard Kikyo sigh. A usual topic between the two. Kagome suddenly being forced to live a new life with new rules. Kikyo understood how difficult it would be for such a young girl, but war will not heed for one girl's feelings.
"Kagome, it has been two years since you have become my novice. You should have grown up by now and accepted your role as the jewel's protector in the future. It matters not that you do not want to do this. What matters is keeping this out of the hands of-"
"Demons. Yeah I know." Kagome grumbled lowly as she interrupted Kikyo. She was so tired of hearing that. Demons this and demons that. It may have only been two years, but with Kagome's stubbornness she hasn't gotten as far as Kikyo had hoped for.
Kikyo sighed yet again. "If you would like, you may practice this outside in the meadow. There you may be able to concentrate, but after you must practice with your bow. I want no complaints." Kagome lifted her head and smiled as she nodded her head, agreeing to the ultimatum.
"Yes, Lady Kikyo, thank you." Kagome got off from the floor with her beads in hand and went to slip on her sandals and quickly headed outside of the shrine. She walked around the village happy to be outside and frankly away from her mentor. As much as Kagome enjoyed the feeling of the midday sun's warmth around her, she couldn't help but deplore going outside sometimes. When the sun was out that meant so were the village folk. They would bow to her out of respect as their future village priestess and protector of the Sacred Jewel, as awkward as that felt that wasn't what bothered her. It was seeing the village children. She would see them run around and play with one another. They'd play games, games she hadn't been able to play in two years.
'Well there's no sense of crying about it now. I don't live like that anymore. At least I can be by myself and enjoy the sun.' Kagome thought to herself as she passed the fence surrounding the village. The field of flowers wasn't too far from the village, Kagome used to run away there quite a lot when she first got to the village. It brought some sort of comfort knowing she was outside of the village's walls. Kikyo knew how Kagome felt about the calming meadow and let her roam about it sometimes. No demon would knowingly come so close to the village with Kikyo in power, so she deemed the meadow safe for the girl to be unattended.
As she made it to the meadow she walked slowly staring at the flowers and the bees she smiled and sighed deeply making her way to her favorite spot among the flowers where they grew wilder.
—
"Sesshomaru, this hurt, give me a break please!" A white-haired child clad in a tattered single kimono pleaded from the cold dirt floor of the cave he called his home. His lip was bloody, and his right eye was beginning to swell. His canine eared appendages that sat atop of his head flattened down towards his skull in fear as he hid his face with is palms.
"Disgraceful. You are nothing but a puny half-demon Inuyasha." Sesshomaru walked towards the boy on the ground and stood above him watching the boy cower further.
"You bring shame onto our heritage with your disgusting mixed blood. Inuyasha." Sesshomaru seethed his name through his teeth.
"Brother, please." Inuyasha pleaded again looking up at his relative. Pain took over his face as Sesshomaru's foot made contact.
"You are not my brother. I shall never have a half-demon as a member of my family." Sesshomaru turned at his heel and began walking towards the cave's entrance. "I shall return in six days for more of your training. If you don't become strong you won't be able to over power of the priestess Kikyo who holds the Sacred Jewel. That is the only way for you to become a full demon and rid yourself of your vile human blood." He turned to look back at the small half-demon lying on the floor. "Pathetic." Sesshomaru walked out of the cave making his way towards his castle in the west mountains.
Inuyasha stayed on the floor and cried silently to himself. 'I didn't ask for this Sesshomaru. I didn't ask to be a stupid half-demon.' Inuyasha thought bitterly. He sat up and wiped his face with his arm, wincing at the pain on his lips and cheek. He sighed to himself and stood up to exit the cave. Inuyasha flinched at the sudden brightness of the sun high up on the western plains. It was a little after midday and the young half demon had spent his time training with Sesshomaru since the sun rose.
"Stupid Sesshomaru." Inuyasha grumbled as he made his way down the mountainside to reach the forest not far below him. "I hate him."
Inuyasha reached the forest floor looking around for any immediate danger, sensing none, he made his way towards a river that cut through the forest to clean up and find some food. Aside from Sesshomaru's visits, this was the most minacious part of his days. His older brother deciding that it wasn't fit to have a half-demon reside in a demon's castle anymore sent him far up north to survive his days in the wilderness alone and surrounded by potential demons. With only the worn-out kimono robe on his back, he was left to fend for himself.
Inuyasha winced and held back grunts if pain as the water graced his swollen lip. As he finished carefully cleaning his face, he started looking for any fish that dared to swim past him. He swiped at the water hoping to catch his meal fast. It wasn't safe for him to be outside of his cave for too long. His brother may have wanted him out of the family castle, but that doesn't mean Sesshomaru put him somewhere safe.
Solely focusing on his hunger, Inuyasha was unaware of the dangers that encircling him. He walked deeper into the bank of the flowing river, the cool water running past his short legs felt refreshing to the young boy.
"Well, well. What do we have here? So, you're the little half-demon that has been stinking up our territory." Deep voices gurgled around Inuyasha bringing him into an immediate defensive stance.
Inuyasha growled as a first line of defense, "What do you want?" He yelled around him, not knowing exactly where the demons were. The voices laughed in response and grew louder.
"Oh, we just wanted to know what was reeking out mountain side. Turns out it has been a little half-demon all along." Three ogres made themselves known and surrounded Inuyasha, two behind him and one in front from the river's bank. Inuyasha growled again and bent his legs ready to run at any moment.
"Go away! Leave me alone!" Inuyasha yelled at them, his hunger quickly forgotten as he tried to think of a way out of his situation.
"Mmhhh," The ogre in front of him hummed, "I wonder how half-demon tastes like?" he questioned to his brethren behind Inuyasha.
"Yes, that's a good question. Is it like eating a demon and human together in one bite?" One of them behind him laughed and hit his own belly, it waved within itself making Inuyasha grimace in disgust.
'I have to get away!' Inuyasha tried looking for a way out as the demon ogres started to close in on him. 'But I can't go back to my cave or else they'll know where I live.' He growled loudly showing his fangs instinctively to ward off his threat.
The demons laughed and finally simultaneously lunged at Inuyasha who still stood in the river. They may have been large in size, but Inuyasha was faster. Jumping above them the three demon brothers crashed into one another and yelled in pain. Inuyasha landed on one of their heads using it to jump away from his threat, heading north away from his cave.
Inuyasha ran in between trees telling himself to not look behind him. He could hear the three demon brothers roar with rage that shook their surroundings, birds and other small hidden animals ran away in fear.
"Crap. I gotta find somewhere to hide!" He looked around for anything to keep him safe but saw nothing but trees and rocks.
"Dammit, I can still smell them!" Inuyasha cursed to himself and kept running hoping the demons will lose his trail or their interest. After what felt like a lifetime for the young half-demon, he considered himself safe and utterly lost.
"Oh, crap where am I?" Inuyasha gasped for air and sat by a tree as he looked at his new surroundings. It looked no different than the area he was living at. He concentrated on focusing on his other senses again. He closed his eyes, his small chest still heaving from his run. His legs ached and new bruises and scatters cuts began to develop from is run against trees and bushes. His canine eared appendages moved briskly at the new but familiar sounds around him. Inuyasha could hear the soft sounds of rushing water. A river was nearby.
"That must be the same river that I was at. If I follow that back down, I should be able to get back to my cave." He spoke to himself as he headed towards the water source. He arrived shortly and practically dove to the water's edge to quench his dry throat. The young half-demon finished, breathing heavily and held his stomach. He was even hungrier now. He looked into the stream, not many fish were swimming by and the boy wanted to eat immediately. His stomach gurgled loudly.
"Maybe I can find some berries or mushrooms." Inuyasha mumbled. He continued his way north, walking next to the river's edge. Soon he found vibrant red berries, he picked one sniffed it and presumed it safe to eat so he popped one in his mouth. They were sweet to start but Inuyasha snapped his tongue at the bitterness but continued to pick the berries. Soon enough Inuyasha held a large leaf filled with berries, mushrooms and a few lizards that were crawling about.
"I need to make a fire, but I don't see any flint." Inuyasha spoke to himself as the lonely boy usually did. He walked aimlessly around the forest looking at the rocks and collecting twigs here and there. As he walked to a clearing, he saw up ahead his grumbled lowly as he tried to hold everything within his arms.
'Guess I'll eat the lizard later.' Inuyasha thought sourly, mad that the only meat he was able to catch couldn't be cooked. Upon entering the clearing his mood severely changed. It was open and filled with flowers, its colors varied from white to orange and purple to yellow. The scenery was relaxing and brought him to a peaceful state almost immediately.
Inuyasha continued to walk in the meadow enjoying the openness and the sun above him. He finally decided to take a seat in the thick of the meadow and lay out his meal before him and with no hesitation he started to greedily gorge on his food.
When Kagome finally made it to her favorite spot, she couldn't help but notice that her seat was taken. A white-haired boy by the looks of it, a very hungry white-haired boy.
'He's a demon.' Kagome noted to herself the triangular white dog ears on top of his head.
'He hasn't even noticed me yet.' Kagome could only stare at the stranger before her, watching him shove what she could only assume was food into his mouth. She noticed his clawed hand was dyed bright red. It didn't look like blood, but it was awfully familiar to her.
"Umm excuse me, are those berries in your hand? Where did you get them?"
Inuyasha froze, his mouth wide open for the intake of his last handful of berries. There was someone there, and he didn't notice.
'Crap! I was so focused on eating I let my guard down again!' Inuyasha growled lowly and stood up facing the threat before him. His amber eyes grew wide in shock as he faced a human girl, a kid no less.
He stared her down, trying to scare the girl away with a sneer on his face.
"Did you hear me? I asked where you got those berries from." Kagome asked again after getting over her own initial shock of the boys sudden movement.
"Why do you care? I found them, they're mine!" Inuyasha growled at her wanting her to run away.
"Well it's just cause there are some red berries that grow down the river's stream from here. They're not good for you. In large amounts they are known to numb the body bad enough that you can't move for a while." Kagome explained the little fact she knew based off of her own experience with the berries. She had run off from Kikyo's training during her first month of forced training. Kikyo and other village folk had found her by the rivers bank not too far from the meadow unable to move after she consumed too many of those bitter sweet red berries.
Inuyasha looked at the berries that remained in his clawed hand. He looked back at the human girl before him.
"How do I know you're not lying?" He continued to glare at her. 'Why isn't she running away? I'm clearly a demon as far as she can tell.'
Kagome shrugged her shoulders. A simple sound of 'I don't know' hummed from her. Neither of them spoke as the demon boy continued to glare her down. Bored with the stalemate she suddenly kneeled to the position she was previously in when she trained with Kikyo earlier that day. The beads stayed loosely in her fingers as she glanced at the young demon boy whose eyes went from a threatening glare to bewilderment.
"What are you doing just sitting there? I'm a demon! Go away!" Inuyasha growled, having enough of this uninvited human's antics.
"No way! I'm not leaving! This is my good spot. I was here first!" She bickered back at him.
The half-demon remained silent. 'She yelled back at me. This little girl yelled back at a demon! She doesn't even look afraid!' Inuyasha's deep honey eyes stared wildly at the girl. He shut his eyes tightly and spun around and suddenly sat back down where his food was.
'Am I,' Inuyasha stared at his clawed hands. His right one stained red and slightly sticky from the berries he was eating. 'am I that pathetic that I can't even scare away a human girl?'
The silence that grew between them grew too much for Kagome stubbornness. There was finally another kid to talk to and he was ignoring her. She looked back to the boy and noticed his eerie stillness.
"Hey are you okay? Are you feeling numb?" Kagome grew worried. The mysterious demon boy stayed silent.
"I'm Kagome by the way. What are you doing out here? It's not safe to be so close to here." Kagome explained. She glanced at the beads she held lazily in between her fingers. She noticed for the first time that she rolling a few of the beads from the necklace between her finger and thumb.
The demon boy stayed silent and Kagome grew nervous and looked at her lap. "Look, I didn't mean to yell at you. I can share the field. It's big enough for the both of us. I just wasn't expecting anyone." Kagome mumbled her apology and dropped her beads in her lap.
"Why aren't you afraid?"
Kagome looked back towards the boy. "Wha?"
"I said why aren't you afraid?" Inuyasha yelled at her, standing up and facing her. His amber eyes held unfallen tears and his ears laid flat on his head.
"I don't...I don't know! What are you talking about? Why do I need to be scared?" Kagome looked around her due to the boy's sudden outburst of what he had said looking for any dangers but remained on the ground.
"I'm a demon! And you're a human! You're supposed to hate me! So why are you talking to me? Why do you care if I ate those berries? Why-" Inuyasha's bruised legs gave out and he fell to his knees, the rest of his body following quickly. His face hit the flowered ground with a thud.
Kagome has felt the sting of tears come to her eyes from the demon boys rant and she gasped loudly as she saw his body hit the ground.
"Hey! Are you okay?" Kagome quickly got up from her spot and ran to the boy's side, not that it was very far. She kneeled beside him and turned him on his back.
His face was dirty, and his cheek looked oddly bruised just from the fall. A cut on his lip that looked like it began to heal recently began bleeding, and his nose began to bleed from the fall. The tears that were in his eyes while he yelled at her had fallen. She could hear the boy sniffing as more tears began to develop. Shocked at the state of the young demon Kagome could only stare at him. His body was dirty and beaten, she had to something about it.
"Leave me alone." He cried to her as she stared at his face.
"Your nose is bleeding." Kagome reached into her haori and pulled out a small handkerchief. She carefully started to wipe the blood from his nose not wanting to apply too much pressure and to avoid accidentally hurting his lips.
He squeezed his eyes shut as hard as he could. "Why are you helping me?" Inuyasha could barely feel his body. His arms and legs felt detached from him. He could barely feel the warm tears in his face.
"I-" Kagome stuttered, "cause you need help stupid!" She was taken back by his question.
'I know he's a demon, but he's just a kid! I can't leave him all alone! It's terrible to be all alone!' The tears that had gathered to her eyes after looking over the boy began to fall.
Inuyasha strained his eyes to look at the girl who kneeled beside him. 'She's crying? Why the hell is she crying?'
"It's just not fair ya know?" The human girl messily wipes away at her eyes in realization that she started shedding tears. "You didn't know about the berries. You would have been all alone and unable to move! It's scary! I don't like to be left alone."
The two stayed quiet again with only wet sniffs were to be heard. Inuyasha's thoughts were running a mile a minute. This girl was confusing everything he knew about humans.
"How are you alone? You're a human. You have other humans to live with." Inuyasha looked away from the girl. He was exhausted. Training with Sesshomaru, being hunted down, his body going numb and now a human girl was crying next to him for reasons he's not used to. It was all too much for one day.
Kagome adjusted her seating; she hugged her knees and rested her head atop of them facing away from the demon boy.
"Just cause I'm surrounded by people doesn't mean I'm not alone." Kagome sighed. "I'm not with my family anymore. I can't be with them anymore."
More sniffles could be heard.
"I can't play with the other kids anymore. I don't want to be here." Kagome wept onto her knees. The feelings of betrayal and sorrow clung in her heart.
An uncomfortable silence fell against the tattered boy, all he could hear was the crying of the girl beside him and his own rapid heartbeat banging at his chest.
"I'm Inuyasha."
Kagome looked up from her knees to him. While she had fresh hot tears rolling down her face, the boy's dirty face had dried tracks of tears. His bloody nose had stopped, but the blood still lingered under his nostrils, dry and smeared. The blood from his lip slowly dropped off his chin.
She smiled meekly at him. She grabbed her handkerchief again and began to wipe his chin up to his lip.
"Do you have demon friends to play with?"
She removed her hand to allow him to answer. He tried to find the strength to shake his head, but he was so tired. He couldn't.
"No."
Her smile grew a bit more at his response, weary from emotional drain. She began to wipe his busted lip. "Well I don't have any friends either. But you can be my friend, and I can be your friend."
Inuyasha's eye grew wide yet again due to the girl. This was some day. It started off painful and then life-threatening, but now it was just weird. A weird day, all because of her.
"I- ugh" he stuttered. She removed the cloth from his mouth and looked at him. She smiled hoping to encourage him to continue speaking.
He wanted to just get up and run from her. This was all new. This wasn't right. He was a half-demon. Sesshomaru told him no one would want to befriend him. No one would accept him. That's why he needed the Sacred Jewel. But this girl, if she were to find out that he was a half-demon, would she still want to be friends? She's willing to befriend a demon. Would she care?
"I'm not a demon." Inuyasha mumbled. He glanced away from the girl, avoiding her sudden confused expression.
"What do you mean? You have little white ears and your eyes are yellow. It's really cute."
Ignoring her cute comment Inuyasha struggled to say what he was. He was reluctant to tell her, but it wasn't in his nature to lie.
"I'm a half-demon."
"Oh."
For a short time neither of them spoke.
Kagome got up from her spot and walked to the other side of him to look at his face. "So does that mean you don't want to be friends? Because you're a half-demon?"
Inuyasha's face flushed under the dirt and smears of dried blood.
"I mean, no. I just thought you should know the truth." He stammered. This girl was full of surprises. As normal as she looked, she was a very abnormal human to him.
"Okay great." She grinned at him. It was big and honest, showing two of her missing teeth.
"Just cause you're a half-demon doesn't mean we can't be friends. It's not fun to be alone." Kagome chuckled.
He chuckled back.
She chuckled again.
Soon enough they were both laughing. Not bursting with laughter, but with relief. The relief of not having to be completely alone in a world that judged them both. One to be great and one to be worthless. Without letting the rules the world set upon them, the two loneliest children wouldn't have to be alone no longer when they had each other.
The laughter died down and they were quiet again, but it was peaceful. No uncertainty lingered in the air. Although Inuyasha lied on the ground unable to move he was able to finally relax and enjoy the blue sky above them, the smell of the flowers that surrounded them and the comfort Kagome had unknowingly brought him.
"Hey, look at this cloud." Inuyasha nudged his head upward.
"Look at that! I guess the numbing is going to wear off on you soon." Kagome beamed notching he was able to move his head.
"Oh yeah I guess so."
Kagome stood up to lie down next to him and face the sky as he did.
"Which cloud?" Kagome asked looking into the sky, look for any peculiar fluff of cotton.
Inuyasha tried his hardest to raise his hand, it shook with great effort but fell back to his side. He let out a sigh of frustration making Kagome giggle beside him.
"Don't worry, you're doing great. You ate a lot of those berries; I'm surprised you can move as much as you can right now. I remember I had ran away and found a bush of those berries. I ate some and I fell later. I wasn't able to move for a very long time." Kagome cheekily admitted.
Inuyasha smiled back, "It's probably because of my demon blood." It was weird for him to talk so casually about his heritage or to anyone other than his brother for that matter.
Agreeing with his logic Kagome went back to cloud watching. Together they noticed how slowly the untouchable cotton puffs in the sky moved slowly and some thinning out in shape.
"Hey." Inuyasha broke the silence.
Kagome hummed back.
"Why did you run away?" He almost regretted the question when he heard a high pitched inhale come from her, but she soon let out a long deep sigh.
"I was forced to come live here by the village priestess. That's why I don't think it's too safe for you to get any closer to the village. Lady Kikyo doesn't like demons. But I don't care that you're a demon, or even a half demon. You're my friend Inuyasha." She kept her eyes to the sky as she explained having Inuyasha's reaction to completely unnoticed to her.
'Kikyo? Kikyo the priestess? The one Sesshomaru said who holds the Sacred Jewel?'
Inuyasha quickly sat up from the floor, the sudden movement causing him to lay back down again.
"Look at that! You moved even more now! That's great, you'll be back better in no time!" Kagome had sat up as well and gave him a toothy grin. "But take it more slowly or you might hurt some of your muscles."
Ignoring the fact that he was regaining his body movement Inuyasha went back to his internal dilemma at hand.
"Kagome, you said that Kikyo is a priestess, right?"
"Uh huh. But don't worry, I won't let her hurt you. This will be our little secret!" Kagome place single finger to her lips to help insinuate the idea of the secret and the half-demon boy couldn't help but to smirk at.
"Yeah, that's smart." Inuyasha agreed. "But why did she take you?"
Kagome fidgeted slightly from her seat on the ground. She was nervous and it made him nervous as well.
"Umm, I know we just met, but promise you won't get mad. I don't want to lose a friend I just made! The only friend I have." Kagome had suddenly bowed to her demon friend, his stupefy expression going unnoticed to her.
"Lady Kikyo is my mentor. She is teaching me to become a priestess for this village." Her head stayed low but Inuyasha could smell her tears through the thickness of the pollen around him and hear her sniffles.
"I didn't want to do it. But she made me. She spoke to my parents and even to the lord of the castle in the village where I had lived. I didn't get to choose my fate. Please don't be angry! I don't want to hurt demons on purpose!" She looked back up to him, noticing his astounded eyes.
She continued, "All I have to do is protect a jewel from evil demons, but we can still be friends, right? You're not evil so it's okay!" Returning from her bow, she stayed kneeled in front of him, waiting for his response.
He could feel the strength return to his arms and even start to feel the flat earth beneath him; the grass that itched at his bare calves and the small breeze that occasionally blew past them. But still, he was frozen in utter shock as his new friend ushered those words from her mouth. Realizing she had finished talking a while ago and her blue gray eyes grew wet and wide awaiting for his response. The not so lonely anymore half-demon could only stutter.
"I, I'm-I mean…" As often as Sesshomaru had called him names like stupid and moron, Inuyasha had never felt more like an actual idiot at his loss of words, he blushed madly. Slowly he sat up from his spot, ignoring the aches in his arms and back. He continued to look into her eyes as he faced her, his legs still limp and flat on the ground. He reached out his arms and unconsciously embraced his human friend.
The half-demon was in shock at his own action. Why did he hug her? Kagome quickly wrapped her arms around his head. She could hear wet sniffs to her ears, and she smiled fondly.
Why was she hugging back?
'Cause we're friends stupid.' Inuyasha's immediate unconscious thought caused him to choke on air. His clawed fingers carefully held her robes tighter and dug his face deeper into her chest.
"Why are you crying?" She started to lightly rub his head. For a while she just heard him continue to sniff, his grip on her never losing its tension.
After swallowing his tears Inuyasha spoke, his thoughts finally gathered.
"Do you really not think I'm a bad demon?"
Keeping the embrace Kagome smiled again. "Of course not. You haven't done anything bad right? I knew you were a demon when I first saw you cause of your cute little ears." She gave one a quick rub for affect. "But I don't know, I didn't get a sense that you were evil or mean. But I was surprised when you started yelling at me." Kagome chuckled; her breath hit his ear making it flick.
She quickly continued, "But even when you saw that I was just a human, you could have killed me or hurt me. Even now when you found out that I was a priestess in training, you could have done something, but you didn't. Whether you're a half-demon, a full demon or full human doesn't make you good or bad, it's in how you act."
Inuyasha stayed quiet, soaking in all that she said. For years Sesshomaru has flooded his thoughts that he was a worthless half-demon. That his heritage meant nothing to the word, and it was an unwanted defect. That once he would fix it with the Sacred Jewel, he would be accepted as a full demon. But this priestess in training didn't care. She didn't judge him for his heritage, but for his character.
"Kagome!"
Inuyasha quickly lifted up his head and Kagome turned her head to look behind her. Kikyo was calling her.
"Inuyasha, I'm sorry, but you have to go. You can't stay here for too long. Lady Kikyo cannot know that you're here." Kagome held his dirty hands, her eyes frantic looking at him.
"Umm but…" Inuyasha didn't know what to do. After such sweet and uplifting words, she was leaving him.
"Don't worry, I'll come back, and we can play some games. I don't know when, but I get to train here sometimes so if I do better, maybe she'll allow it more. Don't go too far, I'll see if I can back tomorrow." Helping Inuyasha stand to his feet she hugged him tightly, his arms wrapped in her embrace. She smiled sheepishly at him.
"Please, stay away from the red berries. Oh! And don't fish too close to here, the village men leave and hunt close to the village. Go further down." Inuyasha nodded, his mind was telling him to run but his body wouldn't move, and it wasn't because of the berries.
Kagome smiled again. "I'll meet you here again okay. I don't know when, but I'll be right here, in our spot. I'll wait for you okay?" Kagome consoled the half-demon and unknowingly, herself.
He squeezed her hands. "Promise?"
She squeezed back. "Promise."
Nodding again, Inuyasha turned around and began running in the direction he came from. He told himself to not look back, but he couldn't help it. He looked over his shoulder as he ran. Kagome had already sat down, sitting on her legs. The beads she was holding were now laced between her fingers. She was staring at him and she flashed him a full smile. He smiled back; a warm excitement filled him with energy. He ran faster hiding himself well into the receding forest.
"Kagome, there you are." Kikyo gracefully walked towards her trainee. Her long bow held tightly in her grasp and arrows strapped to her back.
Kagome kept her stoic expression as Kikyo approached her. Her fingers perfectly mimicking her earlier training. She opened her eyes and lowly exhaled.
"Oh I am sorry Lady Kikyo. I must have lost track of the time." She smiled warmly to her, a new face Kikyo has yet to see since training a Kagome.
Kikyo couldn't help but to smile back at the child. "And how was your training Kagome?"
Kagome stayed quiet for a bit and closed her eyes. "It was difficult at first. I was a little mad at having to train, but then I realized that it's just something I have to do. And being out here," she paused for a bit and smiled slight to herself, "meditating, showed me how much the world has, and how much I have to offer. There are people that I need to keep safe and I can't protect them by running away."
Kikyo smiled at Kagome and kneeled before her embracing her in a soft hug. "I am so glad that you finally understand Kagome. Your duties will only get harder but with you understanding the need to protect the jewel for the sake of humans."
Kikyo released her embrace, but her deep brown eyes continued to smile down to the girl. Placing a supporting hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Kagome, I know this field has always brought you comfort, and today you were able to finally accept your role as the future jewel protector. You may come here to train on your own, but not every day."
Today was full of surprises for Kagome a new friend and now some new found freedom.
"What about every three days? I can train and try my hardest with you, and then I can come here to practice myself!" Kagome suggested a little too eagerly. Kikyo warmly smiled at her and helped her to her feet.
"We'll see how your training goes, but that sounds fine with me."
The young priestess training couldn't help the gleeful smile on her face. "Oh, thank you Lady Kikyo! I will continue to try my hardest! This meadow has opened my eyes and coming here has helped me see that." Kagome bowed lowly to her elder.
Kikyo chuckled, happy to see her trainee change for the better. "Yes, well I'm glad to hear that. Let's start on your archery as planned. Then we'll get some lunch."
Kagome nodded and together they walked back into the gated village, away from the meadow where a secret promise has been made, and an odd friendship developed between two very lonely children.