A/N: This story follows the ending of the anime and will differ from the manga, at least for now.
"Grr.. Rrrr" I grit my teeth as I sat up. My sore body begged me to lie back down, but doing so would warrant the wrath of Zen and Kejoro for struggling while they tried to tend to me. Zen fiddled with some medical powders, dipping his feather in them and brushing it along my forearm. Apparently when I collapsed, I scratched up my arms pretty badly. A warm pink light engulfed the area on my arm. It felt good.
"Shouldn't we look at her back first?" inquired Kejoro.
"Right, I said the pain started in my back," I prodded Zen.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to that. Just hold on a minute." Zen stood up. "I'm going to get some more herbs. Stay here," he ordered. "And Kejoro, don't let her move."
"Of course," Kejoro responded pleasantly.
As Zen slid the shoji door open, he almost collided with Kurotabo. Moving aside, Zen let Kurotabo in before continuing on his way to fetch the herbs. As soon as Kejoro noticed Kurotabo she bolted from her seat, "I almost forgot! I have to prepare your dinner. We won't be gone long so you know the rules!" she told Kurotabo and me excitedly and disappeared around the corner. I didn't really know what she meant, but then again, it probably wasn't something I wanted to know.
After she left, everything was quiet. Kurotabo came to sit next to me, placing his staff to the side.
He looked worn out.
"Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?" I asked quietly. My hands clutched the sheets nervously.
"I'm fine," he responded and crossed his arms. "But are you?" It almost seemed like he was accusing me.
"Yeah, I'm good, just a little sore," I answered and stretched the arm Zen used his powers to heal demonstratively.
"Hm," Kurotabo sighed. He wouldn't look at me. Instead he gazed despondently at the bowls of powder.
"Hey… what's up?" I asked him. He seemed upset. I couldn't help but feel guilty. After all, it was partially my fault he and his clan were in this mess.
Kurotabo continued staring at the bowls without any indication of whether he heard me or not. "Kurotabo-" I said a little more forcefully.
"Hm?" he met my gaze and I could see in his eyes that there was definitely something more eating at him. He looked down at my bandaged arms.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Oh, it's just…" I leaned closer to try and understand his mumbling. "It was your back that was hurting you. Wasn't it?"
"Yeah, why? Is it important?"
"Well... I noticed something a while ago, when we first brought you here."
I remembered... when I woke up in the Nura house, Tsurara, or as the others liked to call her, Yuki Onna, made ice bags for me to put on my head. And before that, when Yura attacked me. That was when my powers first manifested. My memory was fuzzy but I faintly recalled a shadow ghosting over my toes before I felt something hard and hollow strike the back of my head. And the feeling of someone carrying me…
I realized my gaze had drifted to my hands and my heart sped up.
"Do you… have a tattoo on your back?" asked Kurotabo shyly.
I was speechless for a few moments, then shouted. "What?! Of course not!" I was shocked he would even ask me that.
"Are you sure?" he asked again. His face was stern and absolutely serious.
"Yeah," my voice hitched. Surely I would have remembered getting a tattoo… But then again, "Why are you asking?"
"The day we first met, I noticed," he hesitated, "there were black markings on the skin of your back."
I glared daggers at him, "I think I would have noticed…" I trailed off.
Where had that pain come from? I felt it the other day when Rikuo fought Junichi, and again when we fought the onmyoji and their dolls after we left Bakenekoya. The pain in both incidents had originated from my back.
"Would you mind letting me take a look?" he asked cautiously.
Honestly, I wasn't sure how to respond. He just didn't strike me as that kind of guy. Not to mention, it was already embarrassing enough having the monk look at it, let alone the rest of the Nura's. "Fine," I breathed.
Turning around slowly, I pulled the white yukata away from my shoulders, letting the soft cotton fall gently down, revealing my back to him. However, I was very careful to hold the cloth covering my chest tightly closed. I heard him gasp faintly behind me. I flinched, surprised at feeling the brush of his finger tips over my skin. Very light, like the wisp of Zen's feather, he pressed his palm to my back.
His hand felt strangely warm and comforting.
Kurotabo gazed with fascination at the ornate black markings. They looked as if made by the stroke of a brush. He followed the pattern with his hand, attempting to take in every detail. His hand stopped at the center where the markings joined, "What… What is this?" thought Kurotabo. There was a small, dark green marble imbedded in the center of my spine. Black ink seemed to flow outward from the stone like ripples on a pond.
Without thinking, he touched it, and we two were thrown swiftly into what appeared to be a strange, dream-like world where radiant mists swirled through the air around us as we faced each other. Though, there seemed to be a fair distance between us. This place felt strangely familiar, like I was just here yesterday, or an hour ago, a moment ago. Neither one of us could form a single coherent thought but that we were once again facing one another and Neither wore any clothes but the fog was so dense it didn't matter. We were propelled towards one another by an unseen force and the next thing we knew, we were back in the bedroom of the Nura house, fully clothed, in a very unfortunate position.
Kurotabo knelt over me with his arms extended on either side of my head. We stared dumbly at each other for a few seconds. "Not the most awkward situation I've ever been in," I thought ironically. "The bath my first night here was much worse."
His hair fell on my shoulders. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something when the shoji doors slid open…
Kejoro's screech echoed throughout the house. Kurotabo's head shot up and I craned my neck to look Kejoro's way. Though she knew there was something going on between the two of us, she never expected Kuro to be so...
Tsurara and Zen stood behind her. A deep red blush rose in Tsurara's pale cheeks and Zen stared dumbfounded.
"THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" howled Kurotabo. He fell over in his attempt to get off me and something fell out of his robes. It hit the floor with a thud.
"Is that my phone?" I asked, still shocked.
Zen caught Kurotabo by the collar and began dragging him out the door, fuming. Now he was in for it…
A/N: Reviewing is fun. Go ahead and try it, I dare you!
Tehe ;3
