DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha, Kagome, or Kaede; they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. The character Kurokami Kijo does belong to me.
Kurokami KijoAn Inuyasha Fanfiction
By Irulan
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CHAPTER II*
"Feh," Inuyasha snorted. He didn't trust the strange hanyou in the least. He felt certain that Kurokami had figured out that Kagome carried the Shikon no Tama shards and was only attempting to con her way into gaining Kagome's trust before stealing them. "Try as hard as you like, Kurokami Kijo, but you won't be able to sweet talk your way into getting the jewel, either."
"Stay out of this, Inuyasha!" Kurokami cried in hot fury. "I have every intention of killing you to get the Shikon no Tama, if that's what it takes. All I'm doing is what the Law requires me to do!" She again bowed deeply before her new mistress.
"What is going on here?" Kagome stepped in, wanting to ease the tension and find out exactly why this girl was kneeling before her. "What happened?"
"She attacked me!" Inuyasha cried out indignantly. "I was making sure the way ahead was clear of danger, so everyone else could make it back to Kaede's village in one piece, and she ambushed me!"
Ignoring her friend, Kagome knelt down and met Kurokami's eyes. "You look tired and hungry," she said gently. "Come with us to the village, and we'll feed you, and then we can talk."
Kurokami nodded dejectedly in reply, and stood up. She really had no choice in the matter; she was bound by the Laws to remain in the service of Kagome and her descendants forever. She retrieved her inner robe from the shallow hole she had dug, and loosely held it as she followed a pace behind Kagome. Inuyasha bounded ahead towards the village, and Kurokami wished she were able to do the same thing. Humans are so fucking slow, she thought bitterly to herself. She might as well be weighted down with a ball and chain. The speed, or lack thereof, in which Kagome traveled was agonising to Kurokami, who was more accustomed to deftly leaping from treetop to treetop.
"Why are you walking behind me?" Kagome asked, knowing that the half-demon girl would much rather be running freely.
"Because I am your servant," was Kurokami's quiet reply. "I can't walk ahead of you or beside you." Doesn't she get it?
"But you want to move faster, don't you?"
"Well, yes."
"Then let me travel on your back, and we'll both get to the village faster." Kagome smiled.
Kurokami looked at her in shock. "I've never carried anyone on my back before. If I go too fast, I might drop you."
"Don't worry about it," Kagome assured her. "I'll hold on tight, and I'll give you the directions to the village." She gave Kurokami another reassuring smile, and hopped onto her back.
Kurokami leapt into the air, once again traveling at the speed she enjoyed. She was surprised that she could still move quite fast, even with the weight of a human on her back. It was refreshing to feel the wind whip against her face and through her long hair. And she didn't need Kagome's directions after all; she simply followed Inuyasha's scent to the village.
Upon their arrival, Kagome and Kurokami were greeted by a seething hanyou and an aging miko. Kurokami eyed the miko suspiciously. The mystical priestesses were not known for being friendly to demons, and Kurokami knew that this old woman with the patch over her eye could easily hurt her with her magic if she tried. Kurokami had never been good at defending herself against spells.
The troupe followed the old miko into a hut, where she began serving a hot soup, all the while keeping her eye on the hanyou girl.
"That's her, Kaede," Inuyasha growled to the miko. "The hanyou who wants the Shikon no Tama.
Kaede continued her study of the half-demon girl. "Who are you? And why is it that you seek the jewel?"
"I am Kurokami Kijo," was her reply, "and I come from the lands far to the East. While hunting for food, I heard of a rumour about a hanyou in the West who was looking for a powerful jewel called the Shikon no Tama. Supposedly it holds the power to turn him into a full youkai. Since then, I've hunting for him, so I could steal the jewel and become a youkai myself. And now I've found it, but he's proving to be a stronger adversary than I could have ever imagined."
"And what's this business of you being Kagome's eternal servant?" Inuyasha demanded. "Are you trying to wheedle your way into earning her trust before stealing the jewel?"
"Do you think I want to be in her service for eternity, hanyou?" Kurokami snarled back. "I despise humans for everything they have put me through. But I have respect for the Laws, and because she saved me from your wretched claws, I am bound to serve her for the rest of my life. I can never show my face in my homeland again, thanks to this whole mess." Kurokami paused for a moment. "Why do you follow her around, hanyou? Are you her lover? Or did she save your life, too?" she sneered.
Inuyasha glared at her. "You don't know anything about it!" he growled, leaping up to attack her and spilling his soup.
"Osuwari!" Kagome yelled, and Inuyasha crashed to the floor, muttering obscenities under his breath. "Inuyasha, Kurokami, you two are going to have to learn to get along!" Kagome then turned to Kurokami and again began to speak in the same gentle tone as before.
"Kurokami," she smiled softly, "a terrible thing happened to the Shikon no Tama a few months ago. A crow demon stole it and swallowed it— no, no, he doesn't have it anymore, don't worry. Let me finish. I tried to shoot him down with an arrow, and I succeeded, to a point. But in the process, I also shattered the jewel that was within his body, and its shards are now scattered across the land. Inuyasha and I are trying to find these shards so that we can put the jewel back together, but it's a very hard thing to do, because a single piece of the Shikon no Tama gives someone just as much power as the whole thing would, and demons and humans alike are hunting for the pieces, too."
The hanyou girl stared at Kagome, dumbfounded. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Kurokami had traveled all this way, endured so many hardships, only to find out that the Shikon no Tama she was looking for was scattered in pieces all over the place. She was furious, mostly with herself for not listening to the entire rumour before gallivanting off in search of Inuyasha, but also with Inuyasha for not telling her he didn't have the Shikon no Tama because it was shattered.
"HANYOU!!" she cried, enraged. "Why the hell didn't you tell me you don't have the fucking jewel? Thanks to you, I'm a fucking slave to a human for the rest of my damn life! It honestly didn't cross your mind, during the entire time we were fighting, to tell me that you don't have it and that it's broken?"
"Calm down, Kurokami!" Kagome said firmly.
"It's evident that you are strong, Kurokami Kijo," Kaede interjected. "Inuyasha and Kagome would surely benefit from you joining their search to complete the Shikon no Tama. If you agree to work with them, then we can see about helping you become a full youkai once the jewel is put back together again."
"What are you talking about, old woman?" Inuyasha asked, horrified.
"Relax, Inuyasha," Kaede answered. "Kurokami is not of these lands, and is of even less welcome here than she is in her homeland. Despite the fact that she is now bound to serve Kagome forever, and therefore even more shunned by her people than before, it is still within her best interests to return the East as soon as possible. But the only way for her to be able to return is to become a youkai. She would be killed instantly, otherwise. Once she has gone back, you will never have to worry about her again."
"Feh," Inuyasha grunted. "We should just send her back now and let her get killed. That way I'd never have to worry about her nicking the jewel."
"We are not sending Kurokami back," Kagome said sternly. "What do you say, Kurokami? Will you help us if we will help you?"
Seeing that she did not have much choice, Kurokami agreed.