Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters, this is purely fan-made however Kimochi is my character! No stealing without permission!
Suddenly he found himself extremely tired and climbed gratefully into the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.
Double take
Chapter Two: A little fun & a story
When he awoke the next day he opened the window in the room and filled the room with sunshine. It has been quite some time since I've awakened to the sun. Naraku mused as he ran his fingers through his hair again.
He opened the door to the main room of the hut and found Kimochi making some breakfast over the fire. She had her back to him so she didn't see him entering the room. Today she was wearing just a white kimono and a pair of black pants, chore clothes.
"Good morning." He said and she jumped slightly.
"Morning." She replied before turning to face him but when she saw him she froze. As she sat there and looked at Naraku, he saw alarm in her eyes then, "Is that why you kept your pelt on last night?" she asked.
"Partly." He said, sitting down next to her as she took in the rest of his appearance. Dressed in a dark kimono, black pants and purple vest with his hair tied back in a formal looking topknot he looked of semi-high rank.
"Breakfast?" she asked offering him some stew.
"Yes, thank you." He said expecting the bowl. Naraku still had half a bowl of stew left when Kimochi stood up and walked to the door.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I have some things to do before sun down," she said, picking up her basket and a tiny bag from a high shelf.
"Business in the village?" Naraku could hear coins clinking in the bag as she pocketed it.
"There are a few thing from the village I'll be needing for the next few days. Bye." She told him as she left the hut and headed for the village. He walked to the door and watched as she carefully climbed up the hill towards the village.
When she had vanished he began to hear the low laughter of young boys and the sound of splashing water. Humans, there are human boys coming this way. Naraku told himself as the laughter grew louder. He looked out the window and saw at least seven young boys approaching the hut, each carrying demon wards and an evil grin on their faces.
Anger swelled in Naraku's chest and he walked out the door to meet the boys. Most of them didn't notice him right away until the one who seemed the youngest gave a cry of alarm. As the others began to notice him, the older ones gritted their teeth in fury, while the younger ones looked scared.
"What are you doing here?" Naraku demanded and all the boys' eyes widened, whether in surprise or fear he wasn't sure.
One of the older boys, apparently the leader of the group, answered him; "We are here to rid our village of the evil demon that has cursed the town with its presence." His tone sounded brave and noble but the effect was ruined slightly by how badly he was shaking.
Naraku chuckled darkly, the noise sending bad chills down the spines of every boy there. "Well you must have the wrong house. The only one who lives here is a harmless half-demon girl, so I suggest you leave now." He said, enjoying the sight of cold sweat running down the boys' faces.
He noticed a few of the younger boys had high tailed it out of there, but the older boys were obviously determined to make Kimochi's life as hard as they possibly could.
Fine, be stubborn, it makes it that much more entertaining. Naraku thought as he closed his eyes and chuckled.
The leader of them suddenly said, "YOU! You're in league with the evil demon that lives here! Get him!" at his last words the remaining group members threw their demon wards at Naraku.
Naraku snapped his eyes opened which were now glowing white and the wards burst into flames and fell into the steam. His hair fanned around him as though in strong wind and his lips formed a very evil-looking smile. His hands were becoming claws and his normal looking teeth became jagged fangs.
This was enough for the boys; they scattered like cockroaches, running as fast as they could in every direction. Naraku's appearance returned to normal and then, making sure that every boy had fled, he burst out laughing.
He laughed so hard he had to support himself on one of the poles of the bridge, banging his fist against the wood as tears rolled down his cheeks. When he finally calmed down he had fallen to the ground and was wiping the tears from his eyes, trying to catch his breath.
He staggered back into the hut, rubbing his side to ease the pain in his ribs. He sat down by the fire to find that his stew was still pretty warm so he was able to enjoy it.
He had just helped himself to a second bowl of stew when the door opened and Kimochi walked in with her basket filled with bread, dried meat and other things.
"Welcome back." Naraku said as she set the basket down.
"You wouldn't have anything to do the fact there aren't any demon wards on the place would you?" she asked him. Naraku looked at her as she waited by the door.
"Maybe, maybe not."
"So nothing happened?" she asked.
"Pretty uneventful." He replied.
She moaned slightly and turned back to the door. "Lady Sugie would you like to come in? I can mix the cream in a few minutes and I'm sure he's not dangerous."
Naraku looked over his shoulder at her, "You're not talking about me, are you?" he asked.
"Maybe, maybe not." She replied as the woman from last night walked through the door.
"Oh my." Sugie gapped when she saw Naraku. "He resembles your father a great deal but he looks as though he's your elder brother." She told Kimochi.
"I don't have an elder sibling, Lady Sugie. Mother told me I was their first and only child." She replied as she pulled a couple of jars off their shelves and began mixing their contests together.
"Perhaps your father was with another woman before meeting your mother." Sugie tried.
"I don't think Father was that old." Kimochi countered, dropping blue flower petals into the bowl's contents and continuing to mix. "And besides the chances of my father have two offspring that look exactly alike but with different mothers are slim to none." She added.
"I completely agree. Besides I was created through a mere mortal's desperation, desire and greed, I have no mother." Naraku said, sipping his stew idly.
"What does that say about you, I wonder?" Sugie muttered as Kimochi poured the creamy potion into a small jar. Naraku ignored her.
"That should do it. Here you go Lady Sugie. Now make sure to have him thoroughly cleaned before applying this cream, and he'll be fine by tomorrow morning." Kimochi said handing the jar to Sugie.
"Oh thank you so much Kimochi. I don't know how I'll be able to thank you but-." She began but Kimochi stopped her.
"Your helping me is thanks enough, Lady Sugie. You don't owe me a thing." She told her. Naraku glanced at them and something squirmed comfortably in his stomach. Why do I feel so comfortable around this girl? Her presence is so calming, but there is something that just doesn't seem right. Naraku thought as Sugie bid them good bye.
"So your name's Kimochi?" he asked as she closed the door behind Sugie.
"It is, but I don't believe I heard your name." She said looking back over her shoulder at him. The last rays of the sun's light shone through the still open window then died. He noticed her eye looked different from a moment ago and her hair seemed to slacken, then realized she had become human.
"Naraku." He finally answered.
Her eye flickered slightly then, "Mm, so you're Naraku. I suppose I should have known. That wolf demon, Koga, said that Naraku usually wore a white baboon pelt that hid his face. I didn't think that I would get to meet my look-a-like, much less have him follow me from the forest. Am I truly that interesting to you?" The way she now spoke reminded him of the priestess Kikyo. It sent a chill down his spine to know how well this girl could faze him.
She giggled childishly as he shook his head hard. "You certainly are more interesting than other demons I've encountered, I'll give you that. You're probably the most patient creature I've ever met demon or not. Not to mention well informed on healing herbs. Where did you learn to mix all these potions and creams anyway?" he asked, looking around the hut.
"From my mother mostly. She was a healer demon that understood the remedies of the earth and how certain plants affected the bodies of both humans and demons. She was highly respected in the village and wandering travelers. Oh god, I miss her." Kimochi sighed and untied her hair.
When it was tied up it fell a little higher than her waist but when let down it fell well past her waist. Naraku also noticed that when she raised her hands to untie her hair, her wrists and forearms were wrapped in heavy bandages. Those bandages can't be there for no good reason; did those village boys do something to her? Did they perhaps injure her? Is that why she keeps so many treatments? Because the village boys hurt her?
"What of your father?" Naraku questioned. She smiled slightly.
"My father was a general for the Western army. He was highly respected by his men and the land he protected. That was before he met my mother. They met in the line of duty as it would turn out."
He and his troops had taking shelter in the village my mother was staying at the time. Many of the troops were wounded and needed treatment so the villagers told the troops of my mother, whom they considered to be a saint in a devil's body. Even though the troops knew she could heal them back to their best health, they were reluctant to ask a demon, a female demon much less, for help."
In the end it was my father to ask for her assistants. My mother gladly tended to the soldiers and was allowed to bear them company, as to over see those she had heal. I think she was mostly interested in the glances my father gave her as she worked."
Eventually he admitted his growing feelings of love for her and asked for her hand. Within a year I was born. However that's when things started to go down hill. His troops could not expect his choice to love a demon, or have a child with said demon. His lord, thankfully, appreciated his honesty and kept him on as general. Then one day he went to battle and was killed."
Her story finished on a rather sad note, which was reflected in her eyes. Naraku looked at her in surprise. "How do you know he died?" he asked.
"You see that sword on the wall?" she asked, pointing to the hardwood wall. He followed her pointing finger to a sword hung carefully on the wall, a white ribbon tied to the hilt.
"That was my father's. He never let it out of his sight. Father's lord brought it here personally. Mother cried for days after words." Kimochi explained.
"So you grew up without a father." Naraku stated.
"It was alright. Most of the men in the village were happy to help my mother, it's just the younger boys who are the pains." she said, smiling.
"So how did she die?" he asked. Kimochi's smile faded and a dark shadow fell over her face.
"We were traveling to a small village near the mountains about a year ago. There had been some bandits attacking the village so we went to see if we could help treat the wounded. It was mostly the men there that were wounded, so we did our best to treat them. But that night bandits attacked again, most of the villagers got away to safety but there was a family that the bandits cornered and killed.
I'd never seen Mother look so scary; it must have been because the bandits were killing for the sheer pleasure of it. She attacked them and killed as many of them as she could but there were just too many of them. They killed her and hacked her to pieces, into so many pieces that I couldn't have given her a decent burial no matter what."
Naraku's pity for the girl crushed down on him in a large wave as the scent of shedding tears fell upon him. Kimochi clenched her fists tightly as tears rolled think and fast down her cheeks. "And all that time I couldn't do a thing, I could only sit and watch as my mother was torn into pieces. I couldn't do anything to help her."
Her voice broke and she ran for her room, but Naraku grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her as she cried silently into his chest. Somehow Naraku found he liked the feeling of her head buried in his neck and her knees pressed against his stomach. Somehow comforting Kimochi comforted himself as he ran his fingers through her hair and she grabbed a fistful of his kimono.
Slowly Kimochi's breathing eased so that she had stopped crying and just sat there clinging to his chest. "Are you alright?" Naraku asked as she buried her face in his chest.
"Yeah I'm alright." She muttered sleepily. Naraku noticed the sleepiness in her voice and smiled warmly at her. Gently he picked her up and carried her into her room. There he pulled the blankets on her bed and very carefully tried to detach her from his kimono. This was proving slightly difficult because she was human now and couldn't be jerked off without getting hurt. In the end he decided to stay with her and climbed into the bed with her still clinging to his kimono.
For being human now she's got a pretty strong grip. Naraku mused as he continued running his fingers through her hair. Her breathing was the same as the night before quiet, regular and peaceful. He noticed that her grip on his kimono was beginning to loosen and gently pulled her hands off, as he did he thought she muttered something like, "I love you Dad." Naraku looked mildly surprised but then smiled slightly.
Okay I'll admit she's pretty cute when she's asleep. But why does she try to act so cheerful, when it's clear that her current lifestyle is slowly killing her like venom? Is it because she's trying to prove something or is that just the way she is? Someone who tries to act so carefree because it bothers her to be troubled in front of other people? All these questions and more plagued Naraku's mind until he finally fell asleep, hugging Kimochi gently as he did.