Dying to Live
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Mayu Takada had been the top student at the Tokyo Junior National Academy of Ikebana all through her secondary school years. Someone might have suggested that having parents as the headmasters of the school had a lot to do with this; yet, anyone who had ever seen Mayu put together an arrangement in one of her public exhibitions knew that she really was that good.
A mastery of ikebana required patient determination, unshakeable focus, and an uncompromising eye for aesthetics. Mayu prided herself on her study of all these and knew that it made her a formidable figure in all things she did. Beyond that, she had always had a profound appreciation for the ability to maintain a sense of calm under situations of extreme pressure. She generally liked to do nothing halfway. In fact, she often had to take pains to eschew perfectionism in all but her flower arrangements. So live and let live was a motto Mayu really made an effort to embrace, often finding as she got older that chaos was far more common than perfection and order.
Even so, with a sense of hardwiring that was set for composure from a young age, if Mayu was being perfectly honest with herself, she hadn't been too prepared to begin the whole omiai process. Fortunately, she found herself somewhat relieved when she saw the first candidate.
Higurashi Souta. They had mutual friends in common, and she had heard good things said. A good student; a family also involved in traditional Japanese culture looked like a plus; and people said he was an all-around nice guy.
And so far, thankfully, the evening had confirmed it. The fact that he didn't mind and even liked that she gamed and played competitive online games like League of Heroes seemed even better. Not to mention, she thought he looked even cuter in person than the formal school portraits in the omiai profile could reflect! It was a good thing that she had been more eager to impress than she previously thought she would be. In fact a few days prior, Mayu agreed to the microperm her mother had been urging her to get for her thick, shoulder length tresses. Then on the day of the omiai dinner, after class, she hurried home and went a few steps further than her daily skincare routine with some videos on new Korean makeup trends.
Well-practiced with her makeup application skills thanks to all her ikebana exhibitions, Mayu soon had a nice even-toned sheen added to her complexion; she had been able to use her "winter season" shade of foundation, which was quite a bit lighter than the one she used in the summer. Her mother nagged her, though mostly only gently, every year during the warmer months, but Mayu still got out in the sun too much to maintain a socially desirable ivory coloring. It was one of her few rebellious tendencies though, so thankfully, her parents allowed it.
After the foundation had set, she added a delicate coating of dark brown mascara to her lashes. She wished she could put in the grey contact lenses she liked to wear on outings with her friends. Knowing her parents would poo-poo that, probably saying they were too edgy for an omiai meeting and making her take them out immediately though, she had quickly skipped that.
Instead, she added a soft but glistening shade of sable-hued creme eyeshadow, which illuminated her natural double eyelids - which though slight, they were there, and Mayu had smiled to herself. As she leaned toward her bedroom mirror thanking the genetic lottery, she went ahead to add some clear lip gloss to her lips that were already quite pink and decently full all on their own. She had always had a bit of a button nose, not like the slender high-bridged looks women asked plastic surgeons for, but she had decided a while ago that at least it was maybe a "cute" nose.
Finally, she had paired a mid-thigh length, light pink, super-soft slouchy sweater dress, complete with matching lace at the collar and sleeve cuffs, with dove grey stockings and light grey suede, heeled-booties. A hair clip of twisted gold springs holding icy pink crystals arranged like sakura blooms, nestled in the permed curls pulled back from her heart-shaped face by her right ear. Most recently, according to her friends anyway, this outfit was Mayu's cutest look. While she considered herself a confident person, she wasn't always exactly overly so. Still, she found herself unusually pleased: she actually looked quite fashionable, even quite pretty.
And just maybe.. even a little bit sexy? However the back of Mayu's neck had got hot at the thought, and she had to remind herself it was not alright to start sweating all over perfect outfit and makeup mere minutes before her date - er, omiai…
So when Souta got up to follow his sister and refill his drink glass, Mayu still had tea in her glass. That was until on second thought, she downed the remaining liquid and asked Mrs. Higurashi how she might get more.
"Oh, Souta's already in there, the kitchen's just down the hall. If it's alright, would you like to go ask him to pour you some more after all?" Mrs. Higurashi offered.
When her own mother gave Mayu a smile of approval as well, the girl got up and went down the hall.
Perhaps it was a little presumptuous of her, since she was going to get to play online with Souta and their friends later that night, but somehow she still wanted a moment with him alone at this first meeting. She knew that their parents had purposely chosen a family dinner at home like this to help reduce the pressure of a first meeting. She and Souta were entering the marriage field rather young - what with Mayu's parents being older than most and the loss of Souta's late father causing succession issues for the family shrine.
On the other hand though, Mayu found herself looking for something a bit special.
Maybe a sign or a spark to tell her whether Souta Higurashi could be the one?
Oh it's definitely dumb, Mayu Takada told herself, as she wondered what exactly she was doing, tracking him down to his family's kitchen.
But tonight, she was looking her best - and so what if her only chance was something so mundane like going in the kitchen to grab some tea, just the two of them?
Is that so bad? Mayu asked herself, as she plucked up the courage that made her do it in the first place. She had to try!
Pausing at the swing door, Mayu observed and figured she must have had the right room. With a push, the door swung back on its hinges, and momentarily distracted with not wanting to get hit by the return swing of the door, she looked down, as she stepped into the room.
Fortunately, her grip on the empty glass was good, as her other hand flew to her chest in immediate surprise.
The back glass door was wide open, letting cool evening air in, but her eyes traveled to the sight on the floor immediately.
She recognized him easily by his lowered, cowlicked dark head of hair. Right there in the middle of the kitchen, Higurashi Souta was in a struggle. Mayu would have been more alarmed, but while Souta blocked most of the other person, the face of the man lying on his back while Souta seemed to be lowering him to the ground was white as a sheet. Definitely not a threat, this stranger looked positively terrible.
"Miroku, are you sure you can't get up to the tabl-," Souta's words died mid sentence at the sound of the door bumping closed in the frame behind Mayu. He halted, apparently registering her slippered, grey-stockinged feet in front of him.
Slowly Souta looked up at her. Then, Mayu watched his expression immediately wiggle into something resembling awkward embarrassment. The words fell out of his mouth haltingly: "Oh hi, Takada-san, uh- um-"
"Is he OK? Should I get help-" Mayu asked, no longer able to hold back, though the question was definitely perfunctory. She set her forgotten glass down on the table in order to focus on the situation obviously brewing on the floor in front of her.
"Please, please do not get Sango," the man lying prone rasped in a voice that sounded like he was dying. His left hand grasped Souta's shirt in entreaty. For the first time, Mayu realized that the stranger's messy hair was unusually long, and he was somewhat surprisingly wrapped in layers of pretty disheveled and also very antiquated, traditional Japanese clothing. Was it typical to wear such dated looking garb when you lived at a shrine? Mayu wasn't really sure.
Souta had only just begun to glance in Mayu's direction, looking like he intended to explain, when the poor man continued. His voice got tighter, more pained, as he spoke. "I only need t-to see Kagome; she s-should be able to h-help -"
Mayu was about to ask again what she could do to help, when suddenly it happened: the prone man's body convulsed.
Explosively, he coughed upward all over his helper in the loudest, most deathly ill display the young woman had ever encountered.
Souta flinched and tried to turn away, but the damage was already done. It had happened without warning. With both of them completely startled, Mayu and Souta's eyes snapped shut.
Mayu and Souta froze, eyelids fluttering, as the moment passed as fast as it came. Then, they stared wide eyed at the man, who was again lying back on the floor. Under the table, Buyo cowered, eyes also equally saucer-like. In the shock of what had happened, silence gripped the kitchen. Only the muffled sound of laughter drifting over from the dining room indicated that somehow the racket in the kitchen had miraculously not yet caught anyone else's attention.
Souta gave a grimacing sigh, and Mayu quickly saw why.
Flecked across his left cheek, neck and chest, he was covered with a mist of blood that had sprayed grossly from the man's cough. Somehow, the sick man did not seem to notice, as he lay with his eyes closed in a heap, trying to catch weak, wheezing breaths. Mayu's hands flew to her mouth in astonished silence before her eyes tore away to look down at herself. In semi-relief, she found that she had been standing out of the way of the spray.
Gathering his attention back to the sick man, a sad look emerged on Souta' s face, as Mayu watched. Finally, he spoke in the man's direction, "Oh man, I think you might be in bad shape, Miroku. I really don't know what Kagome is going to be able to do for you… "
When the man didn't reply or open his eyes, Souta turned his gaze and fixed Mayu with a serious look: "His name is Miroku, and my brother-in-law is his cousin. His wife is Sango, who we were having dinner with. Fortunately, I'm really close with him or this would be…" Souta trailed off, glancing witheringly at some of the blood on his shirt sleeve before continuing. He looked at Mayu, his eyes softening noticeably when he spoke again. "I'm really sorry, but this must be very surprising for you, since I know I wasn't exactly expecting this either."
"No, it's okay!" Mayu exclaimed. "He's clearly sick - nobody plans for that. What can I do to help?" she asked, bravely starting to lean in Souta's direction. This man needed emergency help. Mayu couldn't afford to get hung up on something dumb like her outfit in a situation like this!
"No," Souta Higurashi stopped her firmly with a raised hand before she could get any nearer. "I don't know what's wrong with him, and I don't want you to take any more risk of getting nearer or getting this on you," he gestured generally to the mess that he had all over him.
"Ah sou," she replied, not liking to feel so unhelpful, until she had a thought. "Oh - If you want, I can go get your sister!" she offered.
Mayu was amazed, as despite probably feeling awful from wearing someone else's blood, he managed a small smile. "Yes, that would be great, if you don't mind. And actually Miroku's definitely right: we don't want to alert Sango right away. This'll only scare her, and obviously, in her condition we don't want to do that unless absolutely necessary."
Souta paused, as if to think, before adding, "I would try to explain this to you more, but honestly, I haven't been able to figure out what's happened to him at all. He is burning up though, so I think we may need to hurry."
Mayu had listened quietly, giving her full attention. Souta gazed at her intently. He seemed so embarrassed, as he asked her again: "Are you sure about this? Are you really willing to go up stairs and actually get Kagome from her room? That's probably easiest, and Sis might know better what to do next at least. And before I forget - Takada-san, I'm actually really sorry, but I don't think we'll get to play tonight, though I really wanted to."
Mayu returned Souta's smile, noticing what she thought was a light blush on his cheeks, though it was kind of hard to tell with all the mess... She hadn't known him directly for long, but she was surprised to find she already wanted to tell him to just call her "Mayu". Realizing that could be too forward even under such unique circumstances, she held that part back for the time being though. "Oh definitely, this is more important. We can reschedule - no problem. And totally don't worry! I'll get your sister," she said positively, giving an encouraging thumbs up for emphasis. Souta seconded the motion with a nod that Mayu found actually pretty cool - blood splatters and all.
With that, Mayu Takada turned on her slippered heel to help Souta, whom she was now fairly certain was just as nice and good as everyone had said, and maybe even more so.
Odd as it had been, perhaps she had found that special "spark" she had been seeking after all, so she brushed away all the questions she had for the moment to quietly ascend the stairs to the second floor of the Higurashi family home.