Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters, this is purely fan-made
Double take
Chapter One: Look again
Naraku stood hidden in a clump of trees near a field of flowers, pondering the sight before him. A small girl stood in the field, absentmindedly picking flowers, but what surprised him most was how much she resembled him. Her red eyes were glazed over, as though she were lost in thought as the wind danced with the wavy black hair she had tied back.
The girl was also dressed almost exactly like him too, in a pair of dark blue pants and a pattern of fish on her kimono top over which she had a dark blue vest. However where he looked dark, carefree and sinister she looked slightly pale, troubled and weak. It was a small difference but it was enough; no one could mistake her for him.
"Naraku!" Expect of course for Inuyasha.
Foolish half-breed, Naraku thought as the half-dog demon and his friends appeared. Inuyasha had his sword drawn and was rushing at the girl, ready to chop her head off. The girl turned just in time to sidestep him and his sword cut through the air and he tripped.
The girl's face registered neither shock nor surprise at the sudden attack, instead she said, in a soft, clearly uninterested voice, "You must be the half-demon Inuyasha. I was told to expect you."
Naraku's interest in the girl intensified significantly. She is much like Kanna, this girl, he told himself as Inuyasha stood up and looked at her. Now that Inuyasha was standing still, Naraku saw that the girl barely met his waistline, and such a small child as well.
"Oh yeah and who told you to expect me? You don't smell like anyone I know." Inuyasha replied rudely.
"I should think not. I was warned over ten days ago by a passing wolf demon." The girl answered as softly as before.
"A wolf demon?" the demon slayer woman, Sango questioned.
"You don't think it was Koga do you?" a girl in strange garb, Kagome asked Inuyasha who scoffed.
"How did the demon address Inuyasha, little girl?" the monk, Miroku asked sweetly. The girl looked extremely annoyed at being addressed like a three-year-old.
"I believe his words were 'that mutt-faced half-breed runt Inuyasha'." She said and Naraku stifled a laugh while Inuyasha looked ready to blow a gasket.
"That's Koga." The rest of his group said in unison.
"Oh and by the way," Miroku added, a winning smile in place, "would you consider-?" but the girl cut across him.
"Before you finish that sentence- I'm seven years old so the answer is no."
Miroku's face dropped, "Smart kid." Inuyasha muttered as Miroku sighed in disappointment. The girl meanwhile had dropped her handful of flowers into a basket nearby, already filled with different flowers and picked it up.
"What are all those plants for?" Kagome asked.
"Medical herbs." The girl replied then added, "I have a special talent for injuries." Naraku as far as he was, could see the despair and gloom in her eyes as well as how exhausted her frail body seemed.
"You seem tired, perhaps we may assist you with your load?" Miroku asked, taking a corner of the basket.
The girl jerked it away; "I don't need your assistance, my home isn't far, but I thank you for the offer." She said before walking away. Kagome watched her go with a strange look on her face.
"Was she limping?" she muttered, but Naraku and obviously Inuyasha heard it because he said,
"Don't worry about that kid, Kagome. She probably just twisted her ankle or something. Beside I don't know about you but I'm not gonna trust anything that looks like Naraku."
"Oh Inuyasha, she's just a little girl. What could she do?" Kagome asked but followed him into the forest.
What indeed? Perhaps I'll go and see for myself just what this little girl truly is. Naraku thought and slowly walked in the same direction as the girl.
"Oh, not again." the girl moaned as she gazed at the little hut by the stream she called home which was covered in demon wards. She could hear the boys from her village laughing as she just stood there.
"Need a little help, dear?" the girl turned around to see a middle aged woman with long brown hair streaked with gray.
"Lady Sugie, yes please, if it not too much trouble." The girl said and Sugie laughed.
"Oh you're never too much trouble for me Kimochi. It's those boys that are the trouble." Kimochi laughed slightly as she watched the woman tearing the wards off.
"I wish they would stop doing this. It's not the best thing to know that every time I leave the hut I come back to find it covered in demon wards." She said sighing.
"Just be glad they aren't brave enough to go in and break anything." Sugie said.
"I guess that's one thing to be grateful for." Kimochi said, entering the hut after the last ward was ripped off. "Would you like a cup of tea or something, Lady Sugie?" she added, setting down the basket of flowers.
"Mm, a cup of tea now would be lovely, thank you. Oh I see you've added a few new shelves to the place." Sugie said, gazing around the room.
The hut was attached to a wall of earth that several holes had been dug into, creating shelves in which jars, bandages and other medical tools were kept.
"I needed somewhere to keep all those bags of stewing herbs." Kimochi said defensively as she set the water to boil.
"So why bring more herbs in?" Sugie asked as she sat down in front of the fire.
"Restocking. I was running low on a few herbs." She said simply, handing Sugie her tea.
They finished their tea in silence and then after she thanked Kimochi again for the tea, Sugie went on her way. Naraku watched her leave for his perch on Kimochi's roof. So this girl lives alone in this hut. But where are her parents?
Naraku carefully crept across the roof to look in through the open window. Kimochi was pulling a few jars from the earth shelves and bringing them down towards the fire, where she had spread the contents of her basket on a mat.
He watched her as she placed several flowers and herbs in the different jars. There were still a few flowers when she put the jars away, which she then turned into a flower chain and hung by the window.
This girl is so frail, why doesn't she live with that woman?
Naraku heard her sigh as she gazed at the moon then, "Tomorrow's the first full moon and I'll have to stay inside that night and the following day. What a pain and why does my time have to be during the moon's prettiest night? It's not fair."
Naraku suddenly realized what the girl was and why she was living alone. "You're half demon and life is rarely fair to half-breeds."
Kimochi gasped and looked around her wildly to find the owner of the voice that spoke. Naraku, realizing too late that he had spoken aloud, banged his head against a nearby pole of the overhead bridge. Oh stupid, stupid, stupid! Naraku screamed in his head with every bang.
"Um excuse me?" He whirled around to find Kimochi sitting at the edge of the roof, just looking at him. He was thankful that he still had his baboon pelt on because it covered his face and he didn't feel she needed to see a mirror image of herself, at least not yet.
"Um if you are going to talk to me perhaps you would like to do so inside? I can smell rain coming." She said, her slight alarm surfacing in her voice.
Naraku thought from a moment then said, "I suppose."
Kimochi smiled weakly but when she stood to jump down, she nearly lost her balance and fell. However Naraku reached out and suddenly Kimochi was cradled in his arm and clinging to him like an infant. Naraku was surprised at how easily she fitted into his arm and how comforting her hand felt gripping his pelt. Kimochi had the weirdest feeling of warmth and protection as she laid her head on his chest.
Why do I feel so attached to this child? Is it because she looks like me or because she's so frail, even for a half demon? Naraku asked himself as he brought them both safely down and set her on the ground.
"Um…thanks?" Kimochi said. Naraku said nothing but nodded and followed her into the hut. "Tea?" she asked as she placed a log in the fireplace.
"That would be nice." Naraku said, settling himself down against the wall near the fire.
"You're not going to remove that pelt?" Kimochi asked sitting back on her knees.
Naraku smiled, "Later perhaps." Kimochi didn't push the issue and busied herself with the tea. Sitting there, free to watch her actions, Naraku noticed bandages on her hands that he hadn't seen before.
"Where did you get those wounds on your hands?" he asked when she handed him his tea.
"Oh merely the boys in the village voicing their dislike on having a half-breed be part of their village." She said distantly.
"So why don't you leave the village? Go live somewhere else?" Naraku questioned.
Kimochi smiled slightly, "I promised Mother that I wouldn't leave this village unless it was with someone who would understand me and how hard my life is."
"Where is your mother?" he asked taking a sip of tea.
"She was killed."
Naraku choked down an entire mouthful of hot tea, burning his throat. Coughing hard as his throat cooled itself he noticed that Kimochi was watching with a rather emotionless face, she acts just like Kanna. His breathing eased and he looked at Kimochi properly.
She was sitting with her arms wrapped around one of her legs while the other was tucked in behind it, her head resting on her knee. She was looking at him in a way that make him think she was looking through him.
"I'm impressed. When most people hear that they usual spit out what they're drinking or eating. You're the first one to swallow." Kimochi said, a hint of amusement in her voice.
"That was a test?" Naraku demanded.
She smirked then answered, "Of sorts."
Naraku was silent for a moment as he marveled how she acted, something of mix between Kanna, himself, a little of Kagarumaru and a tiny bit of Kaugra. Kimochi giggled softly, "What's so funny?" Naraku asked.
"Oh just a passing thought." She replied getting to her feet. "You are welcome to stay the night if you wish. There is a guest room through that door." She added pointing to a door on the far right.
"Thank you, it's much too late for any travel now." Naraku said.
Kimochi smiled and nodded, "Well good night." She said then entered another room.
"Good night." Naraku muttered back as the door closed and the firewood popped. He waited for several minutes to make sure that she wasn't coming back out, then threw back his pelts hood so that his hair fell down to his waist. He ran a hand through his mass of black waves before standing, his pelt falling to the floor, and walking over to the shelves covered in medical supplies.
Most of them looked recently used especially a nearly empty jar with a creamy solution that Naraku knew treated, covered and numbed the pain of bruises. Why would she need a cream for bruises? The village boys beat her? Does she fight back? Does she know how to? And just where did she learn to mix these creams or what herbs can be stewed?
Thousands of questions about this girl flooded his mind as he walked around the hut. He mental shook himself, why am I so concerned about this girl? So she resembles me, big deal, she's just a little half-breed girl; she's nothing to me. And yet, Naraku sat down before the fire, and yet I don't want to leave her alone here. Not when I know her human period begins tomorrow night.
Naraku watched as the fire died and felt the cold it left. He picked up his pelt and entered the guestroom. It was well sized for such a small hut, the large bed tucked in a corner and there were even more shelves filled with injury treatments.
Jeez how many different treatments does one half-breed need? He thought as he looked through these jars.
They weren't as well used as the others, they were mostly for cuts or bites but there were a few for treating different kinds of poison, there was even one for miasma.
Well-prepared girl, I'll give her that. He thought as he placed the purple jar back on the shelf. He turned back to the rest of the room, noticing a sliding door on the far wall that looked to be part of the wall.
Opening the door quietly he found Kimochi sitting against the wall on the other side, fast asleep in a patch of moonlight. She had changed into a white bed kimono with a blue sash tied around her waist.
Naraku gazed at her for a moment then sighed and gently pulled her into his arms. He very quietly moved across the room to the bed there and set her down.
If a stranger had walked in the room at that moment they would have said it looked like a father tucking his daughter into bed. Naraku had to admit that he felt like a true father as he sat on the bed and watched Kimochi sleep.
Her eyes were gently closed and her breathing was quiet, regular and peaceful. Her hair spilled out around her, framing her pale face in graceful black waves. She looks so at ease when she's asleep. He marveled as he returned to the guestroom, closing the door behind him. Suddenly he found himself extremely tired and climbed gratefully into the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.