Hellllloooo readers!
We have an upload that didn't take me more than a month to load! YAY!
Okay! But here's the thing guys, as for the past few weeks, I have been feeling like this-
"Oh my God, I am the worse writer in the world! I will never achieve my dream of becoming an author and even my fanfictions are garbage, and I am garbage, screw me even mentioning about my original stories because I'm just going to die an utter failure, etc, etc."
Now I get, I'm being harsh on myself, but I feel the need to apologize to ya'll about the piece of crap uploads I do, and I sincerely hope that despite the fact that my writing is nowhere near where i wish it to be, that ya'll still enjoy the story. I can tell you that ya'll reviews definitely cheer me up ( sometimes i even get giddy over them like a little school girl who curls up her knees in a chair while kicking her feet screaming "eeeek!" at some of the reviews i read). I'm just having a really hard time enjoying my writing at the moment, so while i will try to do another 'speedy' update (which in my case is still a few weeks) just know it might take longer this time around.
Anyway, here is the next chapter, and as promised, Kikyo is in this one. Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Kikyo's Alive
Perhaps one of the greatest things she enjoyed about doing her work was the green tint that gradually stained her fingertips. There was something about having a literal green thumb when all her life she had had the opposite that made her feel close to a semblance of growing. Sometimes, just to make the green tint more vibrant, she would take a leaf from an herb and squish it between her thumb and forefinger, rubbing it back and forth until the color was extracted like paint. Picking herbs was something she normally enjoyed; the calm and quite work that doubled with solidarity and peace. Today was not one of those days.
Enough was enough! At first, it was sweet, but now it was getting to be too much! Maybe if he would have at least helped, it wouldn't have been so irksome, but right now, all he was doing was annoying her! There was no silence or calm, or any peace at all! While Kagome toiled away picking the herbs they would need for their trip, he just sat on the rock complaining that she was taking too much time and that they didn't need so many herbs. Inuyasha was being a pest.
"How much longer are you going to be Kagome?" He spat, a few pieces of the apple he was eating flying out of his mouth towards her. With a glare, Kagome flicked off the few pieces that had gotten stuck to her cheek; That's the third time he's done that.
"I've already told you, I'll be finished when i'm finished."
"Yeah, we'll would you mind speeding it up. We could've left the village by now and nabbed that random demon."
"You've got to be joking! You're out of your mind if you think we'd leave today, or tomorrow, or even the day after!"
"Huh?! And why the hell not!"
"Well first of all, we have no idea where to go! Second of all, what on earth makes you think we can even take on that demon, especially without Sango and Miroku around to help?!"
"Ha, well that's easy!" He animately said, leaning forward with excitement as he pulled the still sheathed tessaiga out in front of him. "Just let me get one swing at 'em! Tessaiga and I will blow him to bits, no questions asked! There's no demon alive that can withstand my blade!"
"... You're insane." Kagome sighed monotonically, causing Inuyasha to lean back with his arms up defensively as if to guard the pride her words threatened to attack. A moment of silence passed between the two, and as Kagome returned to her work, Inuyasha leaned back to lay on the semi-flat rock he sat on, arms resting at the back of his head. "You know, it'd be nice if you'd help, instead of just sitting there rushing me."
"Keh. As if. It's not like i'm going to need any herbs during our trip. Just hurry it up will ya? I'm getting bored of this place"
Why that little… I knew the only reason he's so eager to go is so that he could fight! Trying to act like a valiant guy in front of Miroku was just an act! All he cares about is fighting someone who could actually force him to use the full strength of his tessaiga! Getting bored of this place- pah!- He's so full of himself.
"Yeah, you might not need them, but there is no way i'm going without some of these healing herbs! If you're not going to help, then why not go to old man Gesai and ask him for some dried meat to take? It'll be going in your stomach too after all." She mumbled the last sentence.
No immediate response came from Inuyasha as he contemplated her question, which elicited a sigh from Kagome, who assumed his silence was an indication of his ignorance at her request.
"Nah!" He immediately blurted out, relaxing further into his laid position as he shifted his shoulders slightly to increase his comfort. He had decided that he was going to stay at her side after all, and her sigh only cemented his determination to an elevated level; he had not thought the situation all the way through. "You can get it later. I'm fine right here."
"So you're not going to help me at all then?! You're just going to sit there while I get everything ready?"
"I'm the one that's already ready to go! You were the one who decided to all this 'preparing' nonsense." He mocked her.
"Ugh! If you're not going to help me, then why hang around here?! Why not just go and sit in a tree all day like you were yesterday!"
"Cause you got pissed off at me yesterday because of that!"
"Oh yeah, well you bothering me is pissing me off today!"
"Keh, why am I not surprised? There's just no winning with you is there Kagome? No matter what I do, you're just going to be pissed. Well too bad, because I've already decided I'm not leaving your side for one second today!"
"Ugh, you are so Infuriating! Can't you see your just making this worse!"
Inuyasha sat up, stubbornness expressed on his serious face while he continued to shout at her childishly. "You're the one who's infuriating, stupid! I'm trying to make up for me being a jerk to you yesterday, so there's no reason for you to go biting my head off! "
Taken aback by his declaration, Kagome became silent as she processed what she had heard. It was remarkable for multiple reasons, ranging from Inuyasha admitting he had been a jerk yesterday, to him then attempting to make it up to her; his annoying presence was brought about by a kind gesture. It was a realization that was as perplexing as it was surprising.
"W-why?" Kagome muttered without a concise thought as to what she was referring to; a question without a prose that spilled from her instinctively.
"Why what?" Inuyasha grunted, asking the million dollar question.
"Just… Why?"
"Gah… I… I felt bad, okay? Happy now."
"Inuyasha…"
They sat in silence, Kagome ogling at Inuyasha with admiration and gratitude, while Inuyasha sat crossed legged with his face set in a gorilla expression turned away. Now understanding the origin of why he was sticking around her like glue today, all the annoyance and bitterness that she had been perceiving suddenly vanished, as though they had been lifted and carried away by the cool, flowing winds. Ashamed of how she had reacted to his form of a kind gesture, Kagome bowed her head low, a sickly feeling brewing in her stomach as she became utterly upset with herself.
"I'm sorry." She said with a murmur, barely audible even to herself.
She felt the gust of wind at his quick approach as his toes became visible within her line of sight beyond the coverage of her bangs. Without looking up she knew how he was positioned, crouched down towards her as he sat on his ankles with his hand firmly placed on his bent knees. Based on the sound of his voice, she knew he was concerned.
"What's wrong?! You're not gonna cry are ya?! Please don't cry, you ai'nt got nothing to be sorry about!"
"No, I'm not going to cry." Kagome whispered, shaking her head slowly.
"If you're not going to cry then why do you look so glum?!"
"Because now I feel bad for yelling at you."
A few long minutes passed, neither saying a word nor moving. It seemed to be something they often did when speaking to each other about something of importance, like an impasse that neither knew how to approach, or whether they even wanted to approach it. Kagome breathed in the silence filled with enormous void of nothingness that surrounded her, an essence born from the impasse that stretched before her like a canyon. There was nothing more to do than to move on, leaving the canyon unexplored and left behind like so many others that her and Inuyasha had avoided before, and her breath was her preparing for that.
But as she steadied herself to move away and continue with her work, the unexpected hand of Inuyasha encased one of her hands within his his own. It startled her, and suddenly the depth of the canyon was before her, and they were instantly making their way down it.
"Don't." It was all he said, but that word was so impactful and filled with such understanding, Kagome had to look up to make sure it was actually Inuyasha who was speaking to her. Looking into his honey eyes, Kagome could feel the large canyon that seemed too large to pass shrink until it was nothing more than a small crack. A crack that instantaneously vanished as Inuyasha unexpectedly placed his lips gingerly against hers. It was a quick, chaste kiss, and one that took a moment for Kagome's mind to register; It wasn't as though Inuyasha kissed her often.
"I'll go get the dried up meat." Inuyasha said without resistance, and walked away quickly, but not before Kagome could glanced at the blush that formed on his cheeks. She sat there for some time, watching him walk away as he mind returned to normalcy. Maybe they would be okay. Inuyasha had just taken a step that she had never witnessed him take before, and if she were willing to do the same, maybe their relationship could grow like she had always wanted to. Sesshomaru… The deep recesses of her mind called out, the hidden part of her that craved for a new romance rather than one that was still suspected to be a failure. She quickly ignored those thoughts, and refocused on what Inuyasha had done, her fingers subconsciously reaching to her lips. He had shown her affection that she had not expected, and though their kisses were bitter-sweet for her, since they never met the expectations her friends description of a kiss had placed in her mind, she was still touched emotionally.
True, she never felt the tingling of fireworks as they sparked from her toes and then shot up to unexplained heights like her friend Yuka said, and she never felt the release of a thousand butterflies finally being set free from her stomach causing her abdomen to tighten as they fluttered up her spine like her friend Eri explained, nor did she ever felt the gentle mixture of her and inuyasha's soul becoming intertwined with each other where their lips met like her ever romantic friend, Ayumi, exclaimed, but a kiss from Inuyasha was a kiss. Kagome simply resigned herself to the fact that maybe she was just the kind of person who wasn't met to feel those magical things. So those few, sparse moments where Inuyasha graced her with a kiss were bitter-sweet, but she would never allow that to diminish the meaning behind the kiss she was given. Inuyasha wanted to try and make their relationship work.
~ • • ~
The bright sun was beginning its descent, calling forth the end of another day as its rays penetrated thick, autumn clouds, creating a vibrant scarlet red hue across the sky, and though it was a beautiful sight, it enticed many to think of it like the color of freshly spilled blood.
Still, much to everyone's surprise, the day had gone without a single incident or commotion. There was no sighting of any demons, or any demonic aura cascading itself across the village, and more importantly, no one, not even Sango or Kagome, had become involved in an all out, excessively loud bout with Inuyasha. Finally, there had been one day of complete peace for the villagers, and the unison sigh of relief from the villagers could be heard by everyone in the vicinity. This made Inuyasha's ear twitch.
"Keh. The jerks. They act like we're just a nuisance to them."
"Well maybe we are. It's not like we're exactly the calmest people in the world."
"As if! The should be bowing down and thanking us for protecting them from any demons all this time!"
"That'll be the day."
The duo had, remarkably, managed to go about their day without entering into a single argument after the brief affection that was shared between them earlier. Though it was through great effort from Kagome's part that they had done so. Either way, they had completed more than she had expected they would, and was now confident that they had sufficient food and supplies to last them for a good while once they started their journey. In fact, she dared to say that they were now ready to leave in the morning. All that was left was to figure out where exactly they were going to go.
This was something that bothered Inuyasha, who was disappointed that there was no sign from the unknown demon to tell him which way they needed to go. And since there was no clear direction, he was stubbornly settling with leaving on whims and guessed conclusion; he just wanted to get out and go already. It was a conversation the two decided to hold off until tomorrow since it was evident that they would not be agreeing today. Thus all that was left to do was to join with the others for dinner at Kaede's hut, where they would most likely discuss the journey ahead. A journey Kagome and Inuyasha would most likely trec alone.
As they came up the hill, following the path that led to Kaede's house, the still transformed demon cat, Kirara, as well as the remainder of their friends came into view. A jolt of worry spasmed through Kagome, and without thought, her feet carried her at a quick pace, leaving Inuyasha behind; she was so certain that Kirara would have calmed down by now, and the fact that she hadn't greatly troubled Kagome.
Coming closer to the group, Kagome became increasingly aware of the loud snarls that escaped Kirara, whose fur rose and descended with each long durated growl. Kirara had not moved from where they had left her, and she continued to stare at the fixed point in the sky that had caught her attention earlier. It was clear she was far beyond her limit, her tired legs shaking beneath her while deep circles had formed beneath her eyes; Kirara was exhausted, but she refused to transform back to her smaller form.
"Sango!" Kagome called out to her friend, who stood beside Kirara, stroking her fur attempting to calm her, but to no avail.
"Hmm… Oh. Hello, Kagome." Sango responded with barely a glance towards Kagome, the majority of her attention fixated on Kirara.
Exhausted by the she reached them, Kagome placed her hands o her knees and panted for air. It was at this time that the young twins decided to clutch onto Kagome's legs, their little heads barely reaching the top of her calfs.
"Aunty Kagome!" They both chimed simultaneously. Aimi stared up at Kagome cheerfully, mouth fallen open in a casual smile, while patches of mud covered her 'cheeks and her pink kimono which was covered in yellow, jointed fan design and had a rose colored sash. Airi kept her face down, so Kagome was unable to see her, and unlike her sister, her mint-green kimono with forest-green, jointed fan designs and same rose colored sash was spotless. Airi was worried, as was obvious, since she did not mimic her sister's cheerful attitude as she normally did, and the fact that she was without a spec of dirt on her meant that she had been so worried that she didn't even play with her sister. It was only during the rare times like these, that the differences between the two twins could be seen; these high strung and stressful times.
"Airi, sweety. What's wrong?" Kagome spoke softly. With a sniffle, Airi replied.
"Is big kitty be okay?"
"Aimi already told you! Big kitty be fine!" Aimi chimed, exaggerating exasperation as she flailed her arms up with a large sigh while also exaggerating every vowel with her mouth. If Kagome wasn't as worried as Airi, she would have found it cute.
"Sango?" Kagome asked, peeking up at her friend from her still bent position. From where she was, Kagome could see that Sango was just as exhausted as Kirara, creases of sad circles formed underneath her eyes. Sango didn't turn to look at her, and the only response Kagome received was the very slow, very short shake of Sango's head; Sango looked close to tears.
"What's going on here?" Inuyasha, who had finally arrived, asked, his voice close to a shout. Indifferent to the scenario playing around him, he kept his arms crossed and his eyes shut.
"It seems we have been unable to help Kirara. Despite all that we've done to try to calm her down, she has not responded. If anything, i'm worried she might have gotten worse."
As if on cue, Kirara release a low growl, a break in the long snarls she had been creating. Kagome couldn't help but notice how wet Kirara's lower jaw had become, a clear indication to what Miroku had said. Kirara had gotten worse.
"Keh. Hey Sango, you sure she doesn't have any rabies or something?"
"Gah!" Sango nearly cursed, her dull eyes becoming fiery with rage as whipped around to view Inuyasha; this was no time to play with her. "Shut up Inuyasha! You think is some kind of game?!"
"Hey, I'm just saying it might make sense, ya know."
"Oh, that's it!"
As Sango trekked towards the frightened Inuyasha who knew he was in for the beating of his life time, Kagome pushed the two young twin gently away to go to their father so that she could stand next to Kirara just as Sango had. Shippo, who hadn't said a thing, jumped onto Kagome's shoulder, his silence reflecting his own worry. He was heavier now, but Kagome didn't mind, knowing he just wanted to check on her friend just as she did. She ran her fingers through Kirara's tensed fur and could feel the vibrations of Kirara's snarls through her fingertips.
Kirara, I wish you could tell was wrong. What has got you so tensed up that you would stay like this all day?
Once more, Kagome followed Kirara's gaze to a fixed point in the sky; all she saw was red clouds that fell over more red clouds and so on. She would have liked to just stare at it in awe and admiration had Kirara not been acting as strange as she was. Attempting to understand why Kirara was so fixated on that point, Kagome continued to stare at the sky as well, hoping something would reveal itself. Around her, she could hear the pleas and fake apologies of Inuyasha, Sango's endless threats, the laughter of the kids and Miroku's calming voice suggesting for peace amongst comrades. Yet nothing came from the sky. Minutes passed, and Kagome was about ready to give up, a sigh ready to be released, until she felt shaking tremors from Shippo vibrating on her shoulder. With fear, he stuttered.
"K-Kagome? Wh-What is that?" He pointed to the same point that Kirara had been focused on.
At first, Kagome didn't see anything, and then it was there; In an instant she felt the accumulated fear that she had felt throughout the time that Naraku existed fall upon her. Cold dread sunk inside her, her chest feeling frozen from the inside out as her breath stilled and her legs became numb. Watery eyes gave way to blurry vision, and her body shook uncontrollably. Miasma had suddenly appeared, escaping slowly from the fixed point in the sky that Kirara had been so fixated on, as if there were a tear in the atmosphere which it leaked out of. It was a sight that shouted of long forgotten nightmares, and it made Kagome violently ill with fear. No… No way… It can't be… Naraku…
Instantly, Kirara let out a loud, vibrating roar, the kind of which that send tremors down the spine of all that are near. Without hesitation, she pulled her lips back to reveal her sharp teeth and readied herself to lunge as soon the creature revealed itself. The group was finally aware of the danger Kirara had been sensing all along, their attention focused on the ever growing miasma. As the swirls of miasma spreaded, forming its own, dark purple cloud just a few feet above from where they stood, everyone that could lunged into fighting position; Inuyasha released tessaiga, the blade ringing with power as it waited to strike; the always prepared Sango released hiraikotsu from its place on her back, and scarcely muttered how she wished she had worn her demon slayer attire today; Miroku pulled out sutras, and although it had no special power anymore, out of habit he grabbed the beads around his right hand as if he still was cursed with the wind tunnel; Even Shippo stood at attention, jumping forward in front of Kagome and Kirara with his arms held out wide with a leaf in each hand. Only Kagome stood petrified, feeling utterly useless without her bow and arrow in sight.
I… I have nothing to fight with… she mentally admitted, her arms shaking with fear as every cell in her body pleaded for her to run. No… I can't run…. Even if I don't have anything to fight with, I can't abandon the others… Still, heart raced inside her chest, each beat echoing in her ears as the seconds dragged on, waiting to see the figure that would appear from the clouds. If it's… Naraku… She couldn't complete the thought. It was too unbelievable. Suddenly, she heard the frightened whimpers of the twins who hid behind their father, and without pause, she shouted:
"Aimi! Airi! Go to Kaede and your brother now! Get out of here!"
But it was too late. At the exact moment Kagome said those words, a heavy sense of jaki fell around them, covering the whole land, it's weight so heavy that it was difficult to breath. With already weakened legs, Kagome felt she would collapse any minute under the weight of the jaki, and she couldn't help but mark how similar this jaki felt from the one from last night. Unwillingly, her mind retreated to thoughts of death, and it was with great force that she forced this thoughts into silence and looked up to see the being before them. She had expected Naraku, for who else could have jaki so foul, but the being who was floating above them, was anything but.
Appearing out from the swirling miasma that curved around itself to form an oval cloud was a demoness whose beauty was unlike anything she had ever seen. Rich red hair fell around her like a flame, accentuating the beauty of her pale, flawless skin. Her body was one to be envied, and her face undeniably perfect, with luscious lips and cool, cosmic eyes surrounded by lilac markings. Even her horns were awe inspiring. And held by the neck at her side, was the naked, beaten and bruised Kikyo, whose body was covered with lacerations and wounds that bleed endlessly.
Then, the demoness smiled.
*smacks my head on keyboard*- even dshgiastiu sounds better than that ending but i'm in a rut guys, i'm sorry!
As mentioned, I will try to upload soon because we have reached that part of the story where things start to get intense, but I currently hate writing so we will see.
Please Favorite-follow-and-review, all of which are greatly appreciated.
untill next time!
Gesai: Meat butcher
