I' ve been working on this story for the better part of two years, and it's hard to believe it's finally time to share it with the world! This story was initially supposed to be Inuyasha as a big bad demon bound to Kagome, but since Inu is such a dork, it evolved into pure and utter fluff. Ya'll saw that right, this story is pure fluff and trope upon trope! It's also almost completely written. I forced myself to wait until it was mostly done before uploading. All that's left is a few edits and the epilogue! Which means, dear readers, that you will be getting a chapter every week on Fridays!
Without further ado, please enjoy For Better or Worse!
Summery- Kagome, priestess in training, turns her life upside down when she saves the life of the half demon Inuyasha… and accidentally finds herself bound to him via pesky subjugation beads. This is not how she thought her day- or her life- was going to go.
Kagome took in a heaving breath as she slid down the trunk of the tree she was resting against, curling her legs to her chest in an attempt to make herself smaller. The tears had long since stopped pouring down her cheeks, but her breathing was still coming in large gasps. Partially from how long she had been running, and partially from the events of the worst day of her life.
The memories came at her in fragments. How the demon had appeared, over eight feet tall with sharp teeth and a powerful smell. How quickly it had been felled by Him. How they'd turned on him, turned on her when she tried to save him for saving them. Of packing her meager belongings and leaving the only village she'd ever known behind.
Apparently, saving the life of a demon was a fate worse than death.
She was merely weeks away, weeks away from finishing her training and becoming the village priestess. And then a demon had attacked her village, and she'd been banished for daring to defend the demon who had saved her village.
And now she was alone.
Kagome sluggishly slid her bag off her shoulder and hauled it into her lap, looking for something to eat. Besides a small sewing kit, some basic cooking supplies, a knife and a small pot, there was only her bow and arrows and the kimono they'd given her when they stripped her status and took her priestess robes away. For food, they'd given her a small supply of rice and dried meat to last her, along with a few rice balls. Kagome pulled the last of those three rice balls out and ate it slowly, savoring the taste. Who knew when she'd have something decent to eat again?
"Little priestess…" Kagome's entire body stiffened in fear as the demon's voice, barely more than an animalistic snarl, reached her ears. The same demon she'd managed to avoid the entire day.
She wasn't entirely sure what type of demon it was, though it bore remarkable similarities to the demon that had attacked her village… former village.
"Run Run little priestess…" Kagome was on her feet in an instant, the remainder of the rice ball falling from her hands as she tightened her grip on her bag with one hand and her weapon with the other.
Her heart was pounding in her chest and breathing coming out in soft gasps as she stumbled over foliage and rocks, running as fast as her kimono would allow. When she couldn't hear the demon's frightening growls behind her, she stumbled against a tree and stopped, dropping her bag at her feet and swinging an arrow from her quiver and knocking it in one practiced move. She couldn't see the demon, or hear it, but she knew it was there. She could sense it, the brush of dark youki against her spiritual power.
It came crashing through the trees moments later, abandoning the graceful stalking it had been using against her since that morning.
"Nasty priestess BITCH!" It snarled at her, saliva dripping from fangs that looked unnatural against the curved horns that adorned its head. If it were any other time, Kagome would take a good educated guess and say it was a boar demon, but now wasn't the time. The demon lunged at her, hands adorned with thick, blunt fingers aiming directly to capture her and rip her to pieces.
"Hit the mark!" Kagome screamed and fired an arrow, the thin weapon glowing with her spiritual power. At the last second, the demon snarled and threw itself to the side, avoiding her arrow by mere inches.
"No!" Kagome cried, knowing she was doomed and fumbling for an arrow anyways. The arrow slipped from her fingers as the beast gave an inhuman roar, startling the former priestess and making her abandon her training in favor of fear.
"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" Kagome startled as something landed with a thud in front of her, accompanied by the bellows of pain coming from the demon that had been chasing her.
"Can't you idiot bulls just take a hint?! I already chased one of your asses out of here for cryin' out loud!"
The apparent bull demon roared again, followed by an orchestra of sounds that included grunts and cries of pain, the sound of flesh hitting the ground and then the thud of a body. Kagome looked up fearfully from where she was huddled on the ground with her head buried in her arms, weapon a heap beside her.
She was met with a tall figure dressed in a red haori, with silver hair and golden eyes and an oddly charming scowl on his face. The terrified priestess recognized the face immediately- who wouldn't recognize the face of the one who cost you everything?
"Wench," the demon snarled, his clawed hand clutching a ring of purple and white beads around his neck.
"What the hell did you do to me!?"
-0-
For a moment, Kagome could only blink at her savior and jailer all in one. Then a rush of anger came over the overwhelmed priestess.
"I saved your life that's what I did!" She shot to her feet, surprising the demon before her. She thrust her finger in his face, finding her courage (and anger) in everything that had happened to her over the past two days.
"I saved your life and what did I get for it? Banished! Thrown out from my home! All I did was spare your life, but no! All the good I've done, all the people I've helped, it wasn't good enough! Well I'll tell you who's had enough, ME!" By the time her rant was over, the priestess was red faced and the demon was the one startled, eyes wide, cute dog ears pinned back against his skull. He stared at her for a moment before his own features twisted with anger.
"I never asked you to save me damn it! It takes a lot more than a weak human to purify me!" He leaped from her sight with a snarl, disappearing into the green foliage around her like a ghost. Still stunned by his appearance and rapid disappearance, Kagome was quiet for a minute before finally breaking down in sobs, sinking to her knees with her face in her hands.
What am I going to do?
After exhausting herself crying, the seventeen year old crawled over to the base of the nearest tree and huddled beneath it, leaving her bag and weapons nearby, consequences be damned. The priestess fell into a deep, exhausted sleep huddled against the tree, unaware of the golden eyes that peered down at her from said tree.
I know this chapter was short, but all in good faith it will get longer and better! See you next friday!