.
.
.
Face to Face
Her footsteps stopped at a clearing, the large forest tree's coverage in some distance, vivid green grass smoothing the ground and the birds chirping in the faded hearing distance. She exhaled her inner turmoil, gently closing her eyes and gracefully sitting down on her leg's. How the hell am I going to do this? She internally chuckled with horror induced humor. I can't exactly go about the same way since the circumstances are more than a little different….Kikyo and I don't hold the same opinions, our personalities differ on some aspects an—Forget it, let's do it! Winging it now! Expanding her aura around, her shoulder's subtly relaxed from its stiffness when she felt the familiar hidden aura on a large bushy timber a few meters away. "Inuyasha? Your there, aren't you? Please come down…." She softly said out loud, feeling his aura flinch at the sudden attention. She patiently waited for him to decide whether to come or not, and feeling her lips curve upwards slightly when her ears heard in the distance bushy leaves shuffling in movement.
The aura she expanded faded out back inside her. A soft 'thud' sounded from beside her, the sound of something landing on the ground. Kikyo reopened her eyes and turned her head to the side. Inuyasha sat wearily a meter away from her, his upper body leaned away in vigilance while his head was turned towards her, boyish features intently staring at her with honey hued furrowed eyes. There was distrust, alertness, and a small amount of curiosity that was quickly shielded. "This is the first time we've spoken up close, isn't it." She let out a tiny smile when his body tensed as she spoke and his ears twitched up in attention, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "So. What of it." He stated in a low tone, ears towards her direction and pair of eyes never leaving her slowly decreasing composing features.
"I heard about how you saved my younger sister, Kaede…" "Keh! Oh about that…." She let her composure slide off and smiled openly at the loudly scoffing silver haired male who pivoted his head away right after her sentence. "I am very grateful for that, Inuyasha. Thank you." She genuinely eye smiled at him. His head whipped back startled at the strange contented carefree tone he wasn't accustomed to hearing directed at someone like him, ears rapidly raising in full attention once more.
His widened deer-in-headlights look almost made her laugh out loud. Almost. He stuttered out a response, "A-As if I care! Keh!" And it just wouldn't be Inuyasha without that scoff. She internally chuckled. He swirled his head to the opposite side in indignation afterwards. "I cannot be everywhere at once, so I hope you understand how relieved it made me feel when….you saved her." She bowed her head this time, fully intending on making him understand what she felt. "It's not like I did it for you…..the Shikon no Tama was at stake…." He grumbled out loud, though didn't respond to her statement. Kikyo straightened and chuckled behind her sleeve. His head turned back rapidly as a low growl escaped his lips but the warmth and full emotion now clearly showing in her eyes caused him to avert his own and silently glower at just how strange this priestess was and warily questioning just what she was trying to do by being so…
Time to bring out those deep deep emotions I closed since far back since the beginning….who knows…maybe he can even become my partner in crime secret buddy…heh. "Inuyasha…" Her whisper was heard clearly as Inuyasha's furry appendages twitched. "Keh, what now?" He grunted lowly, glancing suspicious narrowed eyes at the peaceful looking miko beside him with her head raised upwards, eyes gazing absentmindedly at the blue sky. "Inuyasha, how do I look? Does the appearance change at times in your eyes?" She softly inquired, turning her head back to a blinking Inuyasha just radiaiting confusion. "Ahh? What the hell are you talking about?" He leaned back, giving her a strange look.
She let one of her last emotions from the beginning enter through the overflowing thoughts, ending up with a small melancholy smile. She raised her head towards the cloudless blue plane, "I cannot be what I was, yet I should not be what I am now. There is no helping the sense of lost at what I was about to become, but deep regret at what I replaced." She softly spoke, eyes misting from the emotions she went through before locking them all up at the start of this world.
Inuyasha's narrowed eyes stared intently at her face, twitching ears deciphering the strange disconsolate tone in her low words..She was strange. This woman was strange in almost everything of what he could sense from her. He has never met a human so….tche, freaking carefree around a youkai before… What did she think she was doing? Just what the hell was she telling him? He had no idea what her words meant, but could sharply understand from just the tone that what she was saying was of deep worth…Again, what the hell was she doing? He blinked his narrowed eyes at her. She was acting rather…chummy with him, that's for sure. His eyes instantly locked onto her blinking wide-eyed look, concealing the minuscule amusement that sparked at the sight of almost non-visible pink marring the miko's cheek bones.
When she realized that she was confiding in him, that's when decided to definitely save it for a later date. She sighed softly, thanking the heavens that it wouldn't be too long hopefully until she could just freaking tell him the whole truth so they could somehow avoid the most dangers. She lowered her head and turned around to see a blinking Inuyasha staring intently at her. Her eyes lowered and she smiled gently in apology. "I apologize for confiding in you like that, Inuyasha. I do not have the right. Not after shooting my arrows at you."
He blinked stunned wide eyes, narrowing them immediately afterwards and scoffing loudly before abruptly standing up, Kikyo's confused eyes following the movement. "Keh! Why the hell are you apologizing? That hardly makes sense!" He yelled fiercely; 'Why are you apologizing when I tried to kill you!?' rang unsaid; glaring down at her wide-eyed blinking form. Did he just….."Tche, your too..nice," He scowled the word in displeasure, "How the hell have you stayed alive these years…" Grumbling loudly, while glancing narrowed eyes at her blinking figure."Luck?" She suggested with a whisper, smiling warmly when he scoffed at her answer. He abruptly turned around to leave, but her hand instinctively grabbed the edge of his long sleeve that flowed causing him to halt in his steps in shock at the unfamiliar gentle tug and turn his upper body around, gazing down confused at an eye smiling Kikyo. "Thank you for listening to me regardless, Inuyasha."
As she let go of his sleeve, she missed his eyes glancing at his sleeve with inquisitiveness and a non-visible warmer tone on his cheek. She straightened from her position and held her bow in her hand. "Inuyasha." He blinked past his sudden thoughts and intently focused on the softly smiling miko in front of him. "I hope we get more chances like this" Her smile widened at his wide-eyed startled look. "Your presence is calming...I know, very strange." Chuckling openly, Kikyo bowed her head slightly at his frozen figure before turning around, walking back.
Inuyasha stared at her form in deep concentration, rewinding every conversation with the strange miko since they met and how even though he could not smell her emotions, he could hear them truthfully in his heightened appendages.. Even with the abnormal fact that she would wish to spend more time….with a hanyou like him. Before he could realize what he was doing, he called out "Kikyo! Come back here tomorrow!" She paused and tilted her body around, giving Inuyasha a curious expression on her tilted face.
"Tomorrow?" She questioned with expertly hidden small amount of hope. By his twitching ears however, Kikyo just knew he caught onto it, especially when his slightly widened eyes blinked a few times in wonderment shock at the tone and his cheeks dusted an almost non-visible shade darker. He furrowed his eyebrows and turned his head to the side, glancing at a faraway point that was far from her bright face, "I want to give you something." He grumbled out, not changing his expression nor moving to look at her. She blinked. "Besides, didn't you just say you wanted more chances? Feh, Take 'em, like I care." He crossed his arms defensively after snorting through his nose. She smiled warmly at the familiar casual sight. "I will receive what I am given with appreciation then." She chuckled lightly at being able to see the light flush on his cheek's now.
"See you tomorrow, Inuyasha." She eye smiled genuinely, turning back after he nodded curtly with a curious peek at the miko. As she walked away, His eyes stayed intently at her back pondering just what kind of miko was she to be so naturally…friendly with a hanyou. His ears lowered a bit at his thoughts before they raised slowly. She really appeared to…enjoy the short amount of time with him….Maybe…it wouldn't be so bad...
Making sure to check the houses she felt needed another dose of spiritual barrier, Kikyo calmly put her palm on the last house, pushing her spiritual energy around the home making it glow a transparent white. I don't think that went exactly as in the anime….She waited twenty seconds for the barrier to firmly hold, thinking about what just happened a few hours ago. If my memory serves me correctly, then I just fucked up a scene. She blinked in horrified amusement, walking away from the protected home and back towards her hut. Those ears though. Sigh. I can't wait until we are closer. There is no stopping my assault on that fuzziness! She bowed her head at a passing bowing villager. I honestly almost lost myself in my memories that time…She mentally frowned. I do not like the anguish that comes with them…so unless necessary I will not open that can of worms. Kikyo nodded resolutely to herself, visibly relaxing when she saw her hut in the distant.
"Am back, Kaede." She let the straw door slide from her raised hand, gliding inside the warm home. The slow burning fire in the middle lit up the inside with soft orange shades, shadowing where the light couldn't reach. Her azure eyes locked onto a pair of droopy slow blinking brown ones. She chuckled as Kaede nodded inattentive from her laid futon position near the fire.
"Am sorry I took so long." Kikyo placed her weaponry right in its usual corner, smiling softly while leaning down and caressing a sleepy Kaede's head. She only nodded and fell back to her sleep from the repeated gentle caressing on her head. The older miko chuckled beneath her sleeve and gracefully stood up, turning her head towards the large window revealing the tranquil darkness of the night, the familiar song of grasshoppers in the distance ringing in the background. The beads….She sighed non-audibly and rolled her eyes upwards, placing her palm against her cheek. This…oh yes, this will turn into an interesting development later on, She mused to herself.
Glancing back at one of the sealed wooden boxes that she was given as a gift for passing her priestess training, she tried to walk as quietly as she could—the tip of her toe colliding with the back of her other foot—fuck. A startled Kaede immediately sat up at the sudden noise, whipping her alarmed wide eyes everywhere before freezing when they landed on the frozen sprawled out body of her Onee-sama who had a hand covering her face incredulously.
Silence.
Kaede blinked large brown eyes before her lips twitched. Both stayed frozen in the exact same position for a few seconds. "…Onee-sama?" Again? rang silent through the increasing humorous atmosphere. Kaede was more or less used to her Onee-sama's rare occasions of clumsiness at the most strangest moment's. It was a surprisingly cute trait which contrasted greatly to the graceful image her sister usually had. "Where in the world does my training go at these times?" Kikyo sighed into her palm before giving a stifling-her-laughter Kaede a light glaring pout and rose up gracefully, deciding not to use her spiritual power for tiny weak pains. "What were you doing, Onee-sama?" Kaede questioned shakily behind her hand's.
Kikyo huffed out a laugh while finally reaching the small beige wooden box, "I was going for the sealed box my mentor's entrusted me with." She gracefully sat in front of their short wooden table and placed the box, gently lifting the top which glowed white for a second before it allowed itself to unseal. Her pale hand raised a small white cloth containing sphere like marbles and placing it directly in front of her while sliding the closed box near the edge of the low table. "Oh….Ah, those are the Kotodama sutra beads…" Kaede blinked in recognition when she saw the cloth expand and familiar plum colorant bead's rolled between each other, their movements restricted by the white tear looking ones. Kikyo smiled approvingly. "That's correct, Kaede. Maybe our triple training won't be necessary after all." She eye smiled at her frozen younger sister.
Kaede blinked hopeful eyes up at her older sister who just shook her head in silent chuckles. "That's proof that I am learning well." She mumbled, Kikyo glancing back in amusement after blessing the bead in between her index finger and thumb silently. "Onee-sama just likes torturing me, that's why you wish to add more." Kikyo stifled her laughter while succeeding in blessing more beads. "And you never object! That just means that it's true!" Her childish voice wailed through the hut, body plopping down afterwards and facing her older sister's view where she could see her back. Kikyo snorted a short laugh, Kaede's own giggles ensuing.
After a few seconds, peaceful silence wrapped onto the hut only accompanied by the older miko's soft humming and the far away noises of insects nulling the eyelids of a languid Kaede. "Onee-sama….are those Kotodama bead's for Inuyasha?" She drowsily asked, holding off her heavy sleep with a stubborn streak of will. Kikyo tilted her head to the side, not stopping her movements on the beads. "Yes, they are…." The older miko smiled softly, "However not for right now. When it's needed at a further time but not now." The confidence in that sentence managed to make the drowsy Kaede blink a few times to try to make on just why what her Onee-sama just said sounded strange to her ears…Nonetheless, sleepy Kaede was relentless and on a roll. "..When you hum Onee-sama…. it's always the same song…." Kikyo stiffened at the unexpectedly meticulous observation from her younger sister. Ah….I did not pay attention to that small fact…..She forced herself to ease her tense muscles.
Letting her features soften, a small smile curved on her lips from the past memories of that specific song slipping forward. "I am impressed you took notice of such a small thing, Kaede." She heard a small proud chuckle behind her making her close mouth smile widen. "This song…...is called 'Futari No Kimochi'. " Kaede blinked dazedly while remembering the soft tune her sister always has when humming that song. "It sounds so pretty….but also a bit sad.." She mumbled sadly. Kikyo's shoulders slumped slightly, head lowering with a tiny forlorn smile. You have no idea…
Am very glad you guy's are enjoying the story!
Thank you for your reviews as well (It is not obligatory but appreciated nevertheless ^^)
I think everyone who's reading this story (an Inuyasha fan) know's of Futari No Kimochi - by Kaoru Wada
It's lovely c:
Kinku-Senkou: Yes, I will be direct right now (for anyone else who is also curious or may wonder) and say that this is going in an Inuyasha/Kikyo direction, though not quite the same as in canon...