Love and the Soul
Chapter Two
Bibidibobidiboooo
Standard Disclaimers Apply
Tonight was the new moon. She was supposed to meet him hours ago, when the night was still young, so that they could make the most of what little time they had together. But she was afraid to go, and she paced the length of her room back and forth, afraid to meet the man that in the end she knew nothing about.
Finally, she could stand it no longer, and as dawn approached she made her way down to the park, their usual meeting place. She would speak to him, and watch him leave. Then she would follow him and find out his secret. During the entire month, she waited, she worried, and she thought until she grew tired and scared. But she had to do it, even if it killed her, because she had to know.
When she arrived at the park, she found him sitting on a wooden park bench, his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands. He must have heard her approach because his head suddenly shot up and within seconds he was by her side.
"Gods!" he whispered harshly into her ear. "Where have you been?" he exclaimed as he pulled back enough to stare into her face, concern in this dark brown eyes. "When you didn't show up, I was sure that something had happened to you! If only I knew where I could find you!"
She shivered at his words, wondering what he would do if he knew where she lived. Did he really care about her safety?
"Kagome," he said immediately, concern on his face. "Are you alright? You're shaking!" He wrapped his arms around her, trying to warm her with his body, thinking that she was cold.
Abruptly, she pulled away from him, not meeting his worried eyes. "Um, it's nothing."
"Kagome, is something wrong?" he asked, reaching out to touch her again.
"N –no, everything is fine," she said, laughing nervously. Again she moved deftly away from him. Silently she wondered why she even showed up at all. To find out the truth, she reminded herself grimly.
He was silent as he regarded her for a moment.
"Kagome," he said hesitantly. "It's almost dawn. I have to go soon."
"I know," Kagome said, desperately trying to hide the fear in her voice. "I'm sorry I was late," she added quietly.
"It's okay," he replied, smiling at her. "I'm glad that I could at least see you even for a little while."
She nodded silently and stood still as he moved closer to kiss her lightly on the cheek. She closed her eyes and made no move to return his affection. He stiffened slightly at her lack of response, confusion marking his face. He also seemed a little hurt, she thought to herself. She wasn't sure.
"Goodbye, Kagome," he whispered. When she didn't respond, he moved away from her, heading towards the wooded area near the park. She remained there watching him, hesitating for a split second. But as he disappeared from her view, she hurriedly ran after him, trying to keep herself unseen.
She moved as quickly and as silently as possible, never letting her eyes leave his form, for fear of losing the trail, but leaving enough of a distance that he would not detect her. She was concentrating on the task at hand, trying to still the frantic beating of her heart, that she didn't even notice how deeply into the forest she had gone until she saw that he reached a small clearing dead in the center of the forest, an old wooden well in the middle. She hid among the bushes, and peered out from the cracks to see what he was up to.
Just as the first morning light began to filter in through the space between the trees, she watched in bewilderment as he leapt onto the edge of the well. What she saw next made her gasp in surprise, drawing his attention near her at the sound. He was transforming! She was too shocked and frightened to move when he appeared before her suddenly. Before she would move, he grabbed her arm, pulling her roughly from the foliage and heaving her up against him.
"What are you doing here!" he growled at her, the surprise evident despite the snarl on his face
She couldn't stop shaking as she stared at him, not believing what she saw. His normally silky black hair now shone a beautiful silver color in the early morning sun. She stared desperately into the liquid gold of his amber eyes, as though trying to find the gentle man she had once known, even as she struggled in his tight grasp. She stared at the two dog-like ears atop his head, and cringed from the bared fangs and claws.
"Oh my gods," she whispered as she suddenly felt weak. She slumped slightly in his arms, and he held her for a minute before letting her drop to the floor. "What are you?" she whispered as she stared at the floor. She didn't even expect an answer, and instead closed her waiting for the deathblow.
When nothing happened, she looked up. She was surprised to see feelings of hurt and betrayal written across his face, a hint of remorse in his eyes as well.
"You followed me," he said simply, bowing his head so that she couldn't see his face. "You didn't trust me."
She was silent for a moment, feeling guilty because she what he had said was true. "I –I'm sorry, but you –you lied to me!" she said. Her eyes began to well up with tears. "You never told me why you could only see me once a month. And then –then I thought maybe you were a murderer, and that maybe the police were after you!"
Inuyasha didn't say a word, letting her words sink into him. He drew a deep breath, and then suddenly turned on her. "Did you think out time together was all a lie?" he asked quietly. From the tone of his voice, she knew she was treading on thin ice.
"I –I don't know," she finally said. Suddenly he grabbed her, pulling her up, forcing her to stare into his intense gaze.
"What you say is true," he said roughly, making her squeeze her eyes tight in fear. But he shook her until she opened them again. "I am a murderer," he said violently. "I have killed many, many creatures in my life," he continued, making her cry out from fear. "These hands," he said, bringing up his clawed fingers up to her face," are stained red with the blood of a thousand youkai, and will be stained with a thousand more." He spoke with such force, spitting out the words in disgust and he pushed her away from him, making her stumble backwards.
"It's true, I'm a youkai," he began again in a more subdued tone. He faced slightly away from her, and she could see his profile, how his mouth turned down slightly. "A half youkai," he corrected. "Every new moon, I become a man. And for the past couple months, I was the happiest man on this earth, because I met you." He turned to her again, his eyes flashing with pain. "But now, now it's over, and I never want to see you again."
Without looking at her he spoke quietly. "Good bye, Kagome." He paused, his voice thick with emotion. "I loved you, but now I see I was a fool for loving such a person as you."
Everything happened so fast that before she knew it, she was standing alone in the clearing. She didn't even have a chance to beg his forgiveness to cry out for him to wait. Confused and utterly exhausted, she slumped against the side, and began to sob uncontrollably.
'I'm so stupid', she thought to herself miserably. 'I should have trusted him!' She was alone again; she had hurt the one person that did truly love her. And now he was lost to her.
"If you want to find your love, I can help you."
She was startled by the voice and immediately she stood up, wiping her face hurriedly.
"Who's there!" she asked hesitantly. By now the sun was shining full force into the clearing.
A man emerged from among the trees, his long wavy black hair flowing behind him gracefully. He smirked at her, noticing her wet cheeks and bloodshot eyes.
"You love that hanyou, no?" he asked, smiling knowingly.
"Inuyasha? Yes –I do," she said, wondering how he knew such a thing.
"Well," he drawled. "I can help you find him again. You can win him back."
"How!" she said suddenly, not caring really how it was done. She wanted to find Inuyasha right way and try to fix her wrongs.
"Well, nothing is free in this world, is that not true?" he asked. She shivered slightly, but at this point she would sell her soul to the devil.
"What do you want?" she asked.
The man's smile grew wider. "I see, then you understand. I will help you now. But when the time comes, I expect you to help me in return. Is this a deal?"
"Okay, whatever mister! I just need to get moving or else I might not find him!"
"Good," the man said. "As a sign of agreement, I would like you to wear this necklace," he said, producing a beaded necklace from the pocket of his jacket, and handing it to her. "You must never take it off. When the time comes, I will find you. Then when--"
"Um. I'm sorry," Kagome interrupted, fastening the necklace around her neck. "But you could just kind of cut it short? I'm kind of in a hurry," she explained sheepishly.
The man stared at her in wonder, but immediately smiled again. "Of course, my apologies. All you need to do is jump into the well, for his real home lies on the other side. You need not be afraid, you see, the well--"
"Bye!" she called. She was gone before he could say even another word.
The man stood there for a while, musing at how his plan was coming together. "But that girl," he muttered to himself. "She truly is an odd one." But even though she was different from the others he had dealt with before, he believed that he could calculate her reactions, and use her for his plan. Otherwise the shikon no tama would be lost to him forever, and this – this he could not and would not allow.