Here's another chapter! I hope people are reading it and if they are, I doubly hope they are reviewing it because I'll be awfully sad if they don't (makes the cute puppy dog face). Thank you those who did send their comments!
Disclaimer: (Kyuuketsuki-san and her vampire army versus Rumiko Takahashi and her band of loyal…er…characters) 'CHAAAAAAAAAARGE!' as you can probably tell, this would never happen, therefore I come to the following conclusion…I do not own Inuyasha.
Chapter 6: Tormented Dreams
Nanae trudged home, hauling her oversized backpack of freshly laundered clothes along with her. As soon she entered her apartment she threw herself upon the settee, dumping the bag onto the floor with a great sigh of relief.
Just then, Makis emerged from her bedroom looking a little disorientated and more a little untidy. Nanae forced a grin onto her face.
"Feeling better?" she asked, surprised at how hollow her voice sounded. It appeared the words from the night before still stung quite a bit and Nanae felt she wasn't ready to forgive yet.
Makis frowned. She twigged something was up and sat down beside her friend.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly.
Nanae lowered her gaze and stared at her hands. She shook her head. "Nothing."
"I don't believe you." Makis said. She sighed. "It's something I've done, isn't it?"
Nanae lifted her head. She hadn't really expected Makis to grasp at the problem so quickly. Nanae shook her head…then shrugged, but still remained silent.
Makis gently shook the girl's arm. "Come on, Nanae. I'm your best friend…you can tell me."
I'm your best friend.
The words rung inside Nanae's head. A cruel little voice piped up spontaneously. If she's your best friend, why did she disappoint you by calling you a boring person…and behind your back? Should you leave things as they are? Are you that desperate? Resentment rose up inside of her. The voice was right…she always tolerated Makis behaviour and hardly complained, couldn't she have a little consideration at least?
Nanae looked Makis, her eyes blazing, "My best friend! Do you even know the full meaning of those two words! What their significance is!" she asked angrily, balling her hands up into fists. Makis pulled back in surprise.
"Nanae are you okay?" she asked, eyes wide with bewilderment.
Nanae continued, "Best friends are supposed to look out for each other and defend each other, but I suppose several of the principles of friendship may not be as important for some as they are for others." She said bitterly. Makis raised her eyebrows.
"What?" she said in disbelief, looking utterly confused.
Nanae gave a hollow laugh and shook her head. "You don't remember?"
"Don't remember what,Nanae? I seriously have no idea what you're going on about, and this is so unlike you!" Makis said, sounding slightly upset, not to mention a little concerned.
Nanae blinked back her tears and scowled, lowering her gaze to the floor and remembered the event in question. She glanced up at Makis' wide eyed expression and almost felt foolish for getting so offended...she could see her friend clearly hadn't a clue. Nanae stared at her own hands.
"You…told him…you couldn't help having boring friends." Nanae mumbled.
She glimpsed at Makis, half expecting her to look absolutely shocked and try to explain or at least get down on her knees to beg for forgiveness. What she got was completely the opposite. After staring at Nanae for what seemed like forever, Makis burst out laughing causing Nanae to give her a resentful glare.
"What's so funny?"
Makis clutched at her stomach, attempting to control herself. "I'm sorry!" She gasped. Nanae narrowed her eyes slightly and after catching a glimpse of her face, Makis fell back and lapsed into fresh bouts of laughter. Nanae appreciated this reaction very little and she crossed her arms over her chest impatiently, until Makis was finished.
When that eventually happened Nanae uncrossed her arms. "You done?" She asked irritably.
Makis nodded, wiping away a tear. "You don't really think that I meant what I said, do you?" She grinned.
Nanae shrugged. "Maybe."
Makis continued to grin. "Oh, Nanae, you silly moo! I only said that to the guy so he could buzz off already! I'd told him simply 'no' before but he wouldn't accept it." She added.
Nanae was feeling extremely humiliated at that precise moment. It was so typical of her insecure self to get fussed up over the most trivial little thing. Makis nudged her in the ribs.
"So, even you believed it? I think I might just become an actress, it seems to be my calling." She laughed. She suddenly frowned. "I must have been soooo drunk."
Nanae shrunk into the sofa cushions in shame.
Makis sighed. "Girl, you need to give that confidence of yours a boost…you'll suffer later on in life if you don't."
Nanae straightened her back and faced Makis, bowing her head various times in a mocking fashion. "Yes, oh Wise One."
Makis giggled and shoved Nanae to one side playfully. "Shut up!"
Nanae popped up and pushed her back. After a few minutes of the giggles and pushing and shoving, the girls relaxed on the sofa contently. Nanae turned to Makis, suddenly serious.
"Hey…I'm sorry for…y'know…jumping to conclusions. I should have remembered how rock solid our friendship is." She apologised.
Makis shook her head, "No, I'm sorry; I shouldn't have used what I said as an excuse to get rid of some guy."
Nanae hugged her best friend, relieved to be able to put the whole situation behind her. Never again would she think badly of Makis without having good reason for it and she would certainly not jump to conclusions any time soon.
Makis jumped up abruptly. "I'm making lunch!" she exclaimed cheerfully. Nanae cheered, and felt even happier to have made up with her friend, since Makis was the better cook of the two. Nanae was most inept in the kitchen and never failed to reduce even a shred of lettuce to ashes.
OooOooOooOoo
Sesshoumaru paced the living room, contemplating the current situation and attempting to keep his ire under control. Inuyasha flipped over the pack of frozen peas that he had placed over the black eye Sesshoumaru had given him early that morning. He rested his head on the back of the sofa.
"Y'know...you shouldn't kill yerself over this dude. As long as he's in a coma, he'll be no threat to anyone." The hanyou said shortly. Sesshoumaru stopped in his tracks and turned to stare disapprovingly at the back of Inuyasha's head.
"He will always be a threat, coma or not." He remarked icily.
Inuyasha twisted his body around as best he could to face his brother. "Oh come on Sesshoumaru, you really think he'll go all zombie on us and come seeking revenge? Feast on our brains even?" Inuyasha sniggered. Sesshoumaru shot him a fierce glare.
"I can easily give you a companion for that black eye. If you wish to act like a clown, I truly won't hesitate to make you look like one." He hissed.
The smirk dropped from Inuyasha's face immediately and he revolved to his previous sitting position on the sofa, muttering angrily. Sesshoumaru began to pace the room again slowly, his hands clasped behind his back.
"This situation is very serious, Inuyasha…our attitudes greatly influence our actions and we cannot expect to succeed if we treat a matter of great importance as though it were nothing more than a joke." He said monotonously, hardly expressing the concern that he was currently experiencing.
Inuyasha snorted and shifted the bag of peas onto the sorest part of his eye. "You're making it sound like we're on a mission or something." He sneered.
Sesshoumaru paused in mid step and turned his head, glaring at the hanyou from the corner of his eye. "Then so be it." He uttered coldly. He moved towards the front door and grabbed his jacket.
Inuyasha narrowed his good eye and opened his mouth to speak but the slamming of the front door told him that Sesshoumaru had already left. Inuyasha 'keh'ed and shrugged but he still couldn't help feeling just a little uneasy at Sesshoumaru's words. 'This situation is very serious, Inuyasha…our attitudes greatly influence our actions and we cannot expect to succeed if we treat a matter of great importance as though it were nothing more than a joke.' Inuyasha frowned. It was happening all over again and whatever occurred that night ten years ago was only the beginning. Inuyasha could recall only flashes of it and the memories haunted his dreams, transforming them into nightmares filled with screams and darkness…a great deal of darkness. Inuyasha felt a pang of guilt for turning the whole thing into a joke in front of Sesshoumaru, he was the one who could remember every single detail of the occurrence, not that he had ever shared the knowledge of it with anyone. Inuyasha shuddered involuntarily, he wondered what Sesshoumaru dreamt about at night and asked himself if his brother's dreams were similar at all to his own.
Inuyasha suddenly remembered one occasion, several years ago when he was still under Totosai's care, and he was quietly tiptoeing past his elder brother's room on the way to the bathroom. Sesshoumaru must have been sixteen or so at the time…
(Flashback)
Upon hearing a weak moan he stopped dead. He opened the door carefully and peeked inside and found Sesshoumaru thrashing around in his bed, drenched in perspiration and crying out incoherently. Inuyasha looked around hopelessly, wondering if he should wake him or bring Totosai in.
He silently watched his brother desperately try to reach out with his arm for something (or someone) that wasn't there and grasp in vain at thin air. Inuyasha wouldn't ever forget the look of absolute anguish on his sleeping brother's face, an expression Sesshoumaru never before used.
Inuyasha neared himself to the bed anxiously, slowly stretching out an arm to awaken Sesshoumaru from his bad dream. Suddenly the demon's eyes snapped open and grabbing Inuyasha by the throat, Sesshoumaru flung him to the floor and pinned him there. Inuyasha gave a strangled yelp of terror as he hit the ground but the real shock he received was when he gazed upon his brother's features…his eyes were blood red and the stripes running along his cheeks had thickened. His face was contorted into a grimace of rage and the growls he emitted were even more animal like than ever.
Never before had Inuyasha seen him so angry…or terrified, for that matter. Even in that moment, Sesshoumaru's crimson eyes held but a glimmer of fear.
(End Flashback)
Inuyasha furrowed his brow in thought. If Totosai hadn't burst into the room and forced Sesshoumaru to release his grip…Inuyasha shook his head. Sesshoumaru wouldn't have killed him, he knew that but it was still frightening when his own elder brother, who prided himself on controlling his emotions, attempted to murder him in his bedroom. Those dreams must drive him nuts, the hanyou thought. He sighed heavily and removed the bag of frozen peas from his eye. He got up and went to the freezer to take out another colder pack. Once again he was sitting on the sofa and he positioned the fresh bag over his sore eye, wincing slightly.
"Damn him." He muttered. Nightmares or no nightmares his brother was still a bastard and Inuyasha contented himself with imagining a variety of punishments and tortures to submit Sesshoumaru to, some which included Rin and plenty finger paint. Inuyasha chuckled quietly to himself. His thoughts then inexplicably wandered to the raven haired girl at the Laundromat, the one he'd argued with on more than one occasion. How he wished to have been able to win the previous dispute.
Keh! Stupid wench, thinking she's better than me. No human yells at me like that and gets away with it! Inuyasha shifted in his seat. Except maybe Rin. Whatever, she ain't worth my time anyway. What is she…fifteen and already bitchin' around?
Inuyasha leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Well, I ain't gonna be seeing her anytime soon, that's for sure…he sighed, hmm…I wonder what shampoo she uses…it smells so good.
Inuyasha opened his eyes at once and sat up straight, scowling. He smirked and shook his head. Keh! Sesshoumaru must have hit me harder than I thought…my head's all messed up.
He sat back, wondering why he wasn't feeling all too convinced with that explanation.
OooOooOooOoo
That night, Nanae tossed and turned in her bed. Once again the same dream was repeating itself inside her head and her only escape was waking up but her own curiosity prolonged the dream for longer.
(Dream)
"You were right…he has lost all control." Spoke a soft, breathy voice. Nanae stood rooted to the spot, her mind swirling with a mix of confusion and curiosity. She had seen this woman so many times before but not once had she thought of asking her name. The woman's identity was a mystery yet her physical appearance seemed so inexplicably familiar. She looked like a lost soul, tormented and restless but at the same time distant and illusory with her crystal like aura that glimmered around her floating form creating an almost divine appearance. Apart from that, the woman's natural beauty seemed to illuminate the endless darkness within Nanae's subconscious.
Nanae took one tentative step. "Who…are you?" many times this question had been asked and never was it answered. As Nanae expected, the ethereal being didn't reply. Her dreams were always so monotonous in this way, leaving her with the burning desire to discover the meaning of what she had just experienced. The woman glided towards her, a single tear tracing her cheek, and she took Nanae's hands.
"Please promise me you'll do what I had asked of you." She whispered softly. Huh? Nanae thought, this is new.
This was the first time the woman had ever broken out of the regular pattern that was Nanae's dream. 'what I had asked of you…', Nanae frowned…what had she asked? She certainly had no recollection of any previous questions this divine-ish being might have made. So what was she talking about? And who was she?
Nanae pulled out of her grasp. "I don't understand."
The woman made no attempt at wiping away the tears that ran freely from her eyes. Instead she pleaded, "Sister…my sister…without your sacrifice, the goodness of humankind can never hope to prevail…"
She let out a small sob, her appearance beginning to gradually waver and diminish. Nanae gasped. She couldn't leave yet! There were still many questions left unasked and unanswered. Who's, what's, why's and how's spun around inside Nanae's head as she reached out to grab at the now translucent figure but her fingers closed around nothing but air as the woman was consumed by the darkness.
Nanae clenched her outstretched hand into a fist. Damnit! What was her name?
She sighed and looked around sombrely; she was in the middle of nowhere. Everywhere she looked the darkness swept over her vision leaving nothing but a dull gloom that surrounded her like a blanket. She lowered her fist.
Suddenly, a horrible clenching pain squeezed at her lower abdomen, causing her to cried out and such was its intensity that it rendered her to her knees, as she clutched at her stomach. She collapsed onto her side and unconsciously curled up into a foetal position as she clenched her teeth and whimpered. Another searing pain gripped her heart and she gasped hoarsely, staring down at her chest and noticing a small pale pink glow emit from it. She pressed a hand over her heart in vain, for the light got brighter and as it did, the pain in her body intensified.
Nanae attempted to scream but her voice was lost in the suffocating brightness, all she could do was curl up into a tighter position and screw up her eyes in anguish. Miraculously the pain began to subside and the light's intensity gradually decreased, however, the squeezing, wrenching pain in her lower tummy continued to plague her. Nanae started to breathe a little better and she lifted her hand from her heart, now that the burning feeling had receded. She concentrated solely on clutching at her stomach which seemed to be clenching itself up into a tight ball.
Wait a moment…Nanae thought. This feeling is too familiar…
(End dream)
Nanae's eyes snapped open and she released the breath that she had been unconsciously holding. She was sweating something awful and she felt extremely uncomfortable seeing as the cramp in her abdomen lingered. Nanae groaned and slowly got out of bed, sifting through her drawers until she'd found what she was looking for. She trudged to the bathroom in the dim morning light bringing along with her a pair of panties and a tampon.
Nanae relaxed in the lightly fragranced and steaming water and sighed, rubbing her poor, swollen tummy.
Damnit. Why now with school so near? I think my body hates me.
She closed her eyes. She breathed in the soothing lavender scented vapour that rose off the surface of the water. She tried to remember her dream and all of its minor details.
Who was that woman? Where did she come from? Those questions ruled over any other.
Nanae burned with curiosity; she so desperately wanted to discover the identity of the mysterious being that constantly haunted her dreams, the being that had called her 'sister'.
Why sister? And what seemed to be so important that it was worth sacrificing something for?
Nanae's brow furrowed in thought. What if she were a relative of some sort? Of course, she would have to be a dead relative or one capable of astral projections. Nanae thought then of her uncle, he would know of something like this…maybe.
Nanae swirled some of the bubbles around with her finger. She'd ask him about it, when she got the chance and a chance she always had, ever since she was small. As a child she was very curious and she continuously asked her uncle questions about their family. It seemed ever since her mother had died, Nanae had experienced a large void in her being and she was determined to fill at least a part of it up with answers. It almost became something of an obsession during her childhood but she soon grew out of it, much to her uncle's relief. At times, when she was again pestering her uncle with questions, she nearly always detected in him a touch of hesitance before he answered her but she never got round to discovering why. He looked as though he were afraid of revealing something he shouldn't. This happened on many an occasion, especially when they touched the topic of Nanae's mother. However, when it came to her father, Nanae refused to learn anything about him because secretly she considered him dead and not 'away'. At some point she had wanted to know why he had left but another, more contradictive part of her didn't care.
As Nanae lifted herself out of the lukewarm bathwater, she wondered if her uncle would give her the whole truth…hell, he was even welcome to elaborate if need be. What if it were one of those sinister family secrets?...Or perhaps nothing at all impacting.
Nanae wrapped a towel around herself and watched the bubbly, lavender scented water disappear down the plughole.
OooOooOooOoo
The only light in the apartment was the one seeping from beneath Sesshoumaru's closed bedroom door. The said demon was sitting at his desk in silence, his breathing was steady, his posture was perfect but his mind was in turmoil…it had become a place of angry thoughts and flaming accusations. After a few more moments of soundless angst, he pulled open a drawer and took out a clean sheet of white paper and a fine point pen. He stared at the piece of paper with an expression that was equally as blank. He then picked up the pen and held it but a few millimetres off the surface of the sheet, poised as though waiting for something to occur. He began to draw. Sesshoumaru had not the faintest idea of what he was doing, nor did he care…even if there was no fixed image in his head to convey upon the paper he continued determinedly, it was one of the few outlets he had for his compressed anger.
All that could be heard was the slight scratching of the pen as it crossed over the paper, leaving bold, black lines in its wake. After ten minutes, Sesshoumaru put down the pen and held up his work and stared fixatedly at it, trying to fathom its underlying significance.
He saw that it was indeed strange…abstract and angry but oddly meaningful. Although he didn't feel entirely satisfied with his own creation, he placed it in a drawer, above his quick sketch of Rin. He switched off the overhead lamp and moved towards his bed in the dim morning light. He sat down and pulled off his shirt and shoes and remained there, motionless, gazing into the darkness. He thought back to his conversation with Totosai on the phone.
Lost him…How could we have lost him? Now that filthy scum is out there somewhere, his despicable mind most probably plotting his comeback. Is it possible to have gotten so careless? What would father say if he were alive now?
Memories of his childhood popped up in his head, reminding him of his past…of his family, memories that should have been locked away and forgotten. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and lowered his head.
…What should I do father?
OooOooOooOoo
A/N: shorter chapter than usual, but I wanted to get this posted before my exams. Exams are evil. I'm a vampire and even I recognise their malicious intent…TO MAKE LIFE HELL FOR ALL WHO SIT THEM! Ahem, interesting revelation. If only exams could bleeeeeeeed….
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