Just like when they first met, putting clothes on Tomoe was not an easy feat. Whatever clothing option Kagome pulled out of her closet for the human fox, all it would get was a shake of the head without a second glance. Tomoe had turned down almost all of the items Kagome had, lowering the teens self-esteam each and every time she shook her head.
And now, all Kagome had left in her closet was an old kimono that didn't fit her anymore. She didn't think about asking Tomoe for her opinion, predicting her answer, but she was shocked when Tomoe reached out to touch the silky fabric.
Tomoe's mind was clouded with forgotten memories of black and white. When she was just a kit, before Tomoe's mother abandoned her in the woods next to the human wheat fields, she remembered embracing someone wearing silky black and white robes.
The memory was hazy, smoke clouding not only her lungs but stung her eyes, making them water as she coughed. Then, she could hear their screams. Pain and sorrow in the high pitched notes making her knees tremble just like how they did back then.
"T-Tomoe? Are you... alright?"
Tomoe blinked out of her thoughts, out of the haze and looked to Kagome. She heard her voice, registered her question, but could not depict what she thought was wrong.
Kagome gasped upon seeing the human fox's expression. She had never seen eyes so full of emotion and had not expected Tomoe to posses such. Colors flared in Tomoe's eyes that hadn't been there before. The icy glare protecting any emotion from seeping through was nothing more than water runned down her pale cheeks now.
"Tomoe, why are you crying?"
Tomoe's ears twitched at her question and she felt her eyebrows knit together slightly. When she touched her hand to her cheek she was surprise about the presence of the liquid that trailed from her eyes.
"Huh?" Tomoe tried wiping them away, but more came rushing down her face to drip off her chin. She had no reason to be so upset that she was brought tears and she had no reason to be shaking with fright. It was just a forgotten memory of a bad dream. She was too young to remember anything before she was abandoned, but old enough to remember a recurring nightmare.
"Tomoe?"
The fox stiffened from the gentle hand Kagome placed on her shoulder and looked up at the human, not surprised to see her face was riddled with concerned for her well-being. Before Kagome could ask anything, Tomoe lifted her hand and pointed at the kimono.
"Put it on me."
Tomoe was a few inches smaller than Kagome making the kimono fit just right. The inner layer of cloth was white as well as the sash that held it altogether while to outer layer of clothing was solid black. Kagome had put it on her once, showed her how to take it off before putting it all back on again and making her try to take it off herself. The only problem with that was Tomoe was easily distracted by the feeling of the silk against her skin whenever she moved. It was irritating at first, to have her movements be restricted so much in a manner of minutes but by the time the sun had dove under the horizon, Tomoe had found the tight embrace of the silk against her skin to be pleasing. The only downside was having to keep her tail hidden from the 'fox hunting humans' Kagome fibbed about.
Now sitting in Kagome's room by herself while the human ate dinner with her family, Tomoe couldn't stop thinking about how worried Rin must be. She had left their side when the sun was at its highest and had promised a quick return, but it was passed sundown now and Tomoe couldn't suppress the immense amount of gilt pushing against her chest, suffocating her lungs. She needed to get back to wherever they were.
Kagome had requested her to stay in her room and to not come out until she came back, but Tomoe could hear her laughing with other humans just paces away. She was talking about an adventure she went on with InuYasha, about how the hunt of more shards was going and who her most recent enemy was. When Tomoe's ears twitched upon hearing Sesshomaru's name enter the conversation, she stood up and fled the room. Her footsteps silent as she followed Kagome's voice and the sound of more laughter. The layout of this hut was not one Tomoe recognized and she suddenly found herself feeling very nervous in the tight walkway.
She entered the room Kagome was seated in, in a blur. Scaring the people before Kagome with her sudden appearance as she stood behind the clueless girl.
"Kagome," Tomoe said dully, making the girl jump and spin around in her seat.
"Tomoe! What are you doing? I told you to stay out of sight or else they'll-"
"Eat me? I think not, human Kagome. The humans before you smell of rice and wheat. None have eaten any form of meat before," Tomoe stated, narrowing her eyes at the girl. The icy glare had returned to be even more intimidating.
"K… Kagome, who is this?" A middle aged female human asked, but Tomoe never took her gaze away from the one in question.
"A-A friend from school!"
"School? What is this… School?" Tomoe asked, narrowing her glare even more.
Kagome made a noise, Tomoe could not comprehend. Though, it seemed as the other humans were also glaring at Kagome, they understood perfectly well what this noise meant. It sounded like a human laugh, but weaker, more quiet as Kagome's nervous scent filled Tomoe's nortel's. She was getting tired of smelling so much of Kagome, it was making her sick. She wanted to get away. She wanted to get back to Rin.
But before Tomoe could demand to go home, the elder female human spoke in a manner that was familiar to the human fox. She was greatly displeased, and disapproving.
"Kagome, what have I told you about bringing things and/or beings into this era?"
The youngest male, who had the same facial structure as Kagome, piped in now, "Yeah! You could create a vortex in the Time/Space Continuum!"
Tomoe didn't pay attention to the younger one's babbling or the human woman's disapproval as she continued her stare at the back of the teen's head, knowing well that she could feel its burn.
"I know, I know!" Kagome threw her hands in the air in a form of defence, and Tomoe instantly growled, thinking she was going to hit her or someone else. Kagome yipped in surprise and put her hands down quickly. "But, Mom, it wasn't my fault! Tomoe fell into the well with me and I couldn't send her back with a jewel shard alone. What if she ate it or something?! Tomoe doesn't have a lot of common sense, she's a fox!" She was quick to cover her mouth after that statement. She had spoken her mind about how she viewed Tomoe right in front of her and had uncovered her identity in front of her family…
"Human," everyone turned to looked at an emotionless Tomoe. No longer staring at Kagome with a venomous glare, she cocked her head to the right in utter confusion. The simple movement made the buns covering her ears come undone and smoothly unravel to her sides. Everyone was instantly awestruck by her beauty. "What is common sense?"
All was quiet before the eldest human man started gushing over the very ground Tomoe walked. He babbled about something foreign to Tomoe, the word cute. And before anyone could think to stop him, he stopped himself with a sharp inhale of breath and turned to the human woman, "Can we keep her?" His hands clasped together with hope lingering in his dulled eyes as his face flushed to a color only Tomoe couldn't understand.
A chill instantly ran up and down the foxes spine as soon as the comment was made. She didn't know why. But she saw the old man as what the human children in the old village she grew up in called all the old people: Creepy; and thought she didn't know the meaning entirely, he was also perverted.
"No," the woman stated dully, making a wave of relief flood Tomoe's shores, "But since it is already so late and there is no point in going back so soon if no one will be there waiting for you, I suppose she can stay for the night."
Kagome made another human nose Tomoe did not fully understand, but her mouth was open, eyebrows raised at her mother as she breathed in sharply. "Really, Mom? Thank you so much!" She wrapped her mother into a tight hug. "She can sleep with me in my room and I'll return her back to her era in the morning. I promise!"
The woman chuckled as the youngest male started to pout about having people over on a 'school night', whatever that was. "It's no problem dear, but how about we give your friend something to eat? I bet she's just skin and bone under that kimono." She turned to Tomoe with a kind smile, Tomoe stared back with her emotionless mask. "What would you like to have for dinner… um…"
"Tomoe," Kagome smiled.
"Tomoe. What a pretty name. So what would you like Tomoe? I can make you anything you want."
"The blood of my enemies," Tomoe answered back, making all of the humans freeze at her dullness. And though she was serious about wanting human blood, she knew they would not supply her with any, so before anyone could say anything, Tomoe said, after a still silence, "Fish would suffice."
Asleep on the floor of Kagome's room, Tomoe's belly was not full from fish. The second the fish was cooked, the human fox would not even look at it and the moment a raw fish was pulled out of the fridge for her, the fox wouldn't even touch it. It did not smell like any fish she new of though it did look similar. It smelt like… she couldn't describe it, but it burned her nose and made her gag. Her stomach was empty, making ghostly noises as Tomoe dreamed.
The Ningen Kitsune (human fox) tribes thrived in the trees. Their homes were high above the ground, away from lurking predators. Bridges linked their homes together, forming a closely knit community of foxes who bore the resemblance to humans and were shunned by their own fox kind.
Tomoe called this place home when she was just a kit. No older than 55 years old. She was missing her top right K-9 and was no taller than the growing grass in their wheat fields below. She had long dark brown hair that went to her knees, the fox ears atop her head and her fox tail in the lower proximities of her back were the same brown color but with black at the tips. It was summer and she was the only fox of her kind with the gene of changing hair color with the seasons.
With this gene still left lingering inside her, everyone thought she was special. It had been years before Tomoe was born since their kind could change so drastically as a form of defence against predators, and everyone was amazed when Tomoe's natural born brunette hair turned snow white one winter. She was the last Ningen Kitsune to have this gene.
She was walking across the main bridge leading towards the heart and soul of her tribe's territory, the library. Tomoe loved reading, she would waste her days away just reading and sitting in the same position with the same scroll she's read over and over again. When she was 45, she had read every scroll in the three story, library.
No fire was ever allowed in the grounds during the summer in fear that a single, licking flame would catch on a piece of dry dark in one of the many huts and burn everything in sight. But, the library didn't need such an element. It had no roof. Natural light from the sun and moon flooded the space with a feeling of freedom, the canopy of tree branches and leaves protected the scrolls from any precipitation the clouds created. This place was like a second hut to Tomoe.
Upon entering the huge wooden, scroll filled room, Tomoe was greated by others of her kind that maintained the scroll's order and kept written documents of who took which scroll. She giggled and smiled back, happy to be back where she felt the most at home. She was not tainted by the feeling of loss back then and was just like any other normal kit in her tribe. Happiness surrounded her everyday.
Walking through the many isles on the second floor, Tomoe stopped when she found what she wanted to read. It was about the heroic tales of this tribe's very own knight-in-shining-armor and they were all true.
A smile spread across her face as she stopped and started to reach for it, but only for her arm to stop short. She was too small to reach the scroll. Who ever put in up there was obviously knew and didn't know about Tomoe's height problems. Standing on her toes didn't work, she was too scared to climb the shelves in fear in would fall on top of her, so there was only one thing left to do. Jump.
Tomoe bent her knees, readying herself for the jump of her life since she was so small and was another shelf away from reaching the scroll. She was a terrible jumper as well. Her legs were so small and weak, she could only jump once before they felt numb with weakness. This jump had to be it or it was a bust.
Suddenly uncoiling the building tension around her bent knees, Tomoe jumped as best she could and reached for the scroll. She got the the bottom of the shelf it was on before she felt gravity pull her back down, but then, something strong swooped under her arms, lifted her higher in the air and brought her back down in one fluid motion when she took the scroll in nimble hands.
When she was back on her feet, Tomoe wasn't surprised to look up to find her best friend Pengi was the one to help her. Pengi was 78 years old, much taller and more mature looking than Tomoe, and was born with not the usual dark brown locks like the others. Most of his genes consisted of aldino fox fur, making his shaggy hair, ears, and tail white and eyes a light purplish grey. Their odd hair color is what made them such close friends. He was wearing a black and white kimono. The sash was white with a black base. And Tomoe was wearing something too, only it wasn't a kimono, more like a vest and a pair of old night sleeping shorts she found in her room.
"Thank you, Penn!" Tomoe giggled as she hugged the scroll to her chest. She could never pronounce his name correctly.
"No problem. So, you're going for the heroic setting today, I see," Penn smirked as they started walking towards an open area to sit. There was no furniture, just an empty space with pillows. The library was also meant for late nights and chilly afternoons.
"Yep! It's my favorite story of them all. Want me to read it to you?" Tomoe smiled as she sat.
Penn only sighed and smiled back, "It would make me the happiest Ningen Kitsune alive if you did so." Penn sat and laid his head on Tomoe's lap, an even bigger smile pulling at his pale lips as her started playing with his hair as she opened the scroll.
But she never got to begin her reading when their was a sudden screaming outside. "FIRE! FIRE! EVERYONE EVACUATE THE LIBRARY!"
Tomoe and Penn sighed as he sat up and she rerolled to scroll. It was just a drill. They did this once every full moon.
"Well, I'll see you later, Penn. After the drill, I'll read to you, okay?" Tomoe asked with a smile as she and Penn started backing away in different directions, the direction their huts were in. In the drills you're supposed to go to your hut and escape into the wheat fields with your family and belongings.
"Promise?" Penn chuckled and Tomoe nodded before they went their separate ways.
She was calm as she walked down the hall, towards the steps, but when she started walking towards the side exit, she was surprised to find herself coughing. There was actual smoke in the library.
"Penn?" Tomoe was starting to get scared as she called out. But her voice only echoed back to her. She knew she'd be downed by the shrinking people outside, who made her heart rate increase so dramatically she could hear it in her ears and feel it hammering against her chest.
She gave a loud, but hoarse shriek when she felt a hand grip her left wrist and spun around. It was Penn. He was panting, wheezing, coughing too from running to find her in the thickening smoke.
"We have to get out of here," he said, breathing fast. "We should be near an exit."
"But what about Miss Yoko? She was putting away scrolls on this floor." Tomoe asked. She was feeling dizzy and weak. She rubbed her eyes. "She was over there." When she pointed up at the aisle towards the entrance, she could see how much thicker the smoke was in that direction.
Penn looked doubtful for a second, but then he nodded. "Okay," he said keeping hold of her wrist as they crouched down and sprinted towards the steps. They took a right when one aisle looked particularly thick with smoke, then found themselves facing a wall of scrolls without a clue on which way to run. The smoke that only a moment ago hovered over their heads now pressed heavily on their shoulders.
Even ducking below it, they were choking. And they couldn't see as much as a few feet n front of them. Making sure to keep a hold on Penn, Tomoe spun around in a circle, suddenly unsure which direction they'd come from. She reached out and felt the hot wood shelf of one of the stacks. She couldn't even make out the letters on the scroll paper. We they in the D section or the O's?
There were no clues to guide them towards Miss Yoko, and no clues to guide them towards an exit, either. Tomoe felt a surge of panic course through her, making it even more difficult to breath.
"She must have already gotten out," Penn coughed, sounding only half convinced. "We have to turn back."
Tomoe bit her lip, erging herself not to cry. This was her home…
She could barely see Pen, who was right in front of her. He was right, but which way was back? Tomoe nodded mutely, and felt his hand tugging hers.
For a long time, she moved without knowing where they were going, but as they ran, the smoke lifted, little by little, until, eventually, she saw the red glow of an emergency exit sign. Tomoe breathed a sigh of relief as Penn fumbled for the handle on the door and finally pushed it open.
They were in a hallway Tomoe had never been before. Penn slammed the door shut behind him. They gasped and filled their lungs with clean air. It tasted so good, Tomoe wanted to sink her teeth into it, to drink a gallon of it, bathe herself in it. She and Penn both coughed the smoke out of their lungs until they started laughing, an uneasy, only half-relieved laugh. They laughed until she was crying. But even when Tomoe finished coughing and crying, her eyes continued to tear.
How could she breathe in this air when she didn't even know what happened to Miss Yoko? If Miss Yoko hadn't made it out - if she was collapsed somewhere inside - then Tomoe had failed a sworn oath her kind take at an early age to protect our own kind no matter the battle we face. If you can in someway help, then go to them.
She wiped her eyes and watched a puff of smoke curl out from underneath the crack at the back of the door. They weren't safe yet. There was another door at the end of this hallway and she knew they would be safe as soon as they reached that door.
She exhaled. In a few moments, they'd be outside, away from these choking fumes.
If they were fast enough, they could go around to the front entrance and make sure Miss Yoka had made it out okay.
"Come on," Penn wheezes to Tomoe, seeing the door too. "We have to keep going."
He straightened up, but Tomoe could see he was really overcome. His face was red, his eyes were wild and wet. She could see it in his eyes, he was thinking about the oath too, only, she was the one he was saving.
A loud cracking sound behind them, made Penn pick up Tomoe in a haste and start running. Tomoe was bouncing on his shoulder roughly, but she could make out the how the once light bark that was the door, was now charcol back as it was eaten by flames and consumed by smoke.
She was suddenly choking, eyes watering again, being held so high, the smoke that was new to this room was burning her lungs and eyes.
Sensing her distress, and knowing she wouldn't be strong enough to stand on her own, Penn held her in his arms like she was his bride and he was her groom. He glanced down at her and they caught each other's gaze. Her green orbs had the word frightened written all over them while his had a secret promise.
Glancing back up to watch was little he could, he coughed and choked out, "If we making it out…" He wheezed and she could see the smoke being suched into his mouth like a vortex. "Marry me, Tomoe."
She already crying eyes blinked with surprise and she gasped but ended up coughing and choking on the thickening smoke. But then, with a loud crash of the door being busted open by Penn's foot colliding with it, there was a rush was frost bitten air that suffocated her at first but brought her back to her senses.
They were heaving. Choking. Gasping. Gagging. Wheezing.
Screams could be heard below them. But it sounded far away.
The wind nipped at her neck. They were outside!
Standing on the small ledge. A flighted of wooden stairs led down to the wheat fields where everyone was… but there only seemed to be more pain filled screams then panicked ones. Glancing down, Tomoe froze upon seeing not only the wheat fields on fire, but all of the huts and trees in the surrounding area. Everything and everyone was going to be reduced to ash soon…
"We need to leave!" Penn yelled over the screams. "No time to -!" But he was cut off by a deafening explosion behind them. The force of the fiery wave launched them forwards, over the railing and swan diving into a sea of fire. As they fell, Tomoe could feel Penn's arms wrapped protectively around her as he shifted himself to hit the ground first.
Nothing happened in slow motion. There was no final good-bye in mid air. As soon as Penn hit the ground head first, Tomoe knew he was gone from the deafening crack produced by his skull. He was dead, but still held onto her with protective care.
For a long moment, her heart throbbed. She'd never known pain as deep and searing as this. She cried into the ash filled sky. She joined the chorus of screams with her family as they during to death.
But then it all became too much and Tomoe surrendered, closing her eyes.
When Tomoe opened her eyes, she was met with the worried gaze of Sesshomaru. His golden eyes had no trace of his emotionless mask. No, that was cased aside, revealing concern, troubled ness, and relief. His face was only inched away from hers and he was all she could see. He seemed to be searched her eyes from something, anything to tell him that she was okay. He had found her unconscious in the well after searching for her high and low all night. It seems she hit her head pretty hard too.
As her mind was suddenly questioning how she got back, she remembered her dream. It was the same nightmare she always had since she was found by human when she was younger, but it never ceased to make her cry. She knew it was just a dream, knew it wasn't real, but it felt real. Like she was really there. At least, that's what she thinks…
As soon as Tomoe's green eyes become flooded with tears, Sesshomaru can't help but watch as emotions flow out of her. He watched as different colors swirled in her eyes before she closed her eyes and nuzzled her face into his chest, her fis clinging tightly to him kimono as she shook with sorrow.
"P-Please. D-Don't leave me, Sesshomaru. D-Don't let me go." It was pitiful to be holding Sesshomaru to such a silly unverbalized promise, but, he didn't dare let go.
He held her tighter.