KOTODAMA

"The soul that resides within words."

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Chapter IX

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"The purest of lights,

Is attracted by love's gravity,

And in the darkness surrounding it, everything is possible."

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The boss's chair began to turn, and there was Kikyo.

He met her years ago, right about the time he came of age, and had felt impressed by her apparent beauty and bearing. One day, she had just appeared and started giving out orders in Naraku's stead, even if the latter would always be prowling in the shadows. Back then InuYasha was already planning his way out of all of this, the one that now still felt eternal, for it wasn't easy for someone like him to carve his way into society, not with a structure as rigid as the Japanese's, and even less after the almost invisible life he'd lived. Kikyo and him weren't friends, never had been, much less a couple despite having kissed, once. She said she had been drunk; he knew it was a lie.

Now, he saw her standing up and begin to circumvent the desk, her heels becoming the only sound in the room, her steps calm, and confident. When doing so, she would expose one of her attributes: she liked to dress well, to be distinct from the rest of women around the place; seldom was she seen walking into the district, for she would mostly arrive by car, and usually from the back passenger's seat. She was tall as well, her movements serene and so elegant she couldn't but stand out, and maybe because of that his gaze followed her figure until she stopped right in front of the desk, and rested her weight against its wooden edge, the end of her long, straight hair brushing its surface. Her clothes, as far as he could see, were meant to show her status, a place only those who were willing to take risk could reach; she was wearing an ivory blouse that ended inside some high-waisted pants which were perfectly ironed, as if she had never sat with them on; and even then, she still stroked them with a hand, erasing an imaginary wrinkle.

"Let's begin." She spoke, her voice warm yet concise, just like usual. "I'm glad everyone is here."

In that moment, her gaze locked with InuYasha's, who immediately looked at the floor, and only ever faced forward once hers was elsewhere.

"The last few weeks we've suffered some losses, commercially." Kikyo began to explain, calmly. Anyone who could see her would think not a feather could float by her without her noticing. "Kaguya Yasei and those who work for her had been expanding their territory, and we need to put an end to that."

Meiyo. InuYasha thought, finally understanding the reason why he was there. Yet, his intention was still to wriggle out of it, to not be considered for the job even if he had to become invisible to do so.

In this world of exploits, corruption, sex and vice, there were certain unwritten rules of honor that kept certain bosses in their place of power, and with them, everyone who worked under their care. That was the idea of Meiyo. If one wanted to keep a place of privilege, one had to show courage and ability through doing something complex and risky; the alternative was to challenge the opposite side to a street fight. InuYasha had already been part of both.

"We have some information about an article that could allow us to get back what we've lost and more. They are the statues of Gozu and Mezu, a representation of the guardians of the underworld, made back in the Kofun period." Kikyo began to explain the context. "It is my understanding that Kaguya has already set her gaze on them, and the one who would do such a job for her would be Abi Boku, who is nicknamed the princess, and who was able to acquire a couple of objects that, despite being minor, were quite challenging to get to."

InuYasha leaned his weight from one foot to another, looking at the tips of the sneakers he was wearing. He didn't want to have anything to do with jobs of this kind anymore, for he could clearly see the flaw in such a system… for how long could they keep that sort of supremacy through stealing high-quality items?

"We have a chance of obtaining something important, and quite valuable in the black market." Kikyo continued. He knew her gaze was on him. "In fact, we already have a buyer."

"I will do it." Bankotsu intervened, practically interrupting Kikyo.

Her gaze fell on him, her behavior unaltered. That was a skill she had polished with time, and by dealing with complex characters in this world.

"Do you think yourself capable? It's an important matter, and we can't have mediocre results." Her voice was delicate, elegant even, yet also stern and clearly intended to corner Bankotsu, whose ego could not fit in the room.

"Of course I can." He retorted, leaning forward, towards her, and even moving half-a-step.

InuYasha watched the scene, lifting his gaze yet not his head, wondering if it was true that which Jakotsu had told him about the furtive encounters between Kikyo and Bankotsu, some time ago. However, what interested him the most was to know if by breathing slowly enough, and with some good measure of luck, he could erase his presence and exit a room full of people around him.

"Can we finish this already? I want my office back." Kagura voiced, crossing the space between the couch and the desk. She passed right in front of InuYasha, her gaze meeting his while veiled by her fan, before settling on the chair presiding the room.

Kikyo ignored her.

"InuYasha?" there was his name, right in the moment the woman turned to look at him. Bankotsu could be heard growling in disagreement in the background.

He observed her, in silence and in thought, pondering to what extend he could refuse.

"I'd prefer not to do it." He hoped that was enough.

A long silence followed, during which Kikyo seemed to be evaluating the refusal, and in her mutism InuYasha saw he still had a chance of being excluded. Despite their seldom interactions, they knew each other to a degree, and in a certain way they were alike, even if their choices were in different directions. As time passed, the silence prevailed, adding weight and expectation to the room's mood, making him quite aware of the way in which the decision was being settled around him, and how everyone were waiting for that thick tension to come to an end.

"I can do it instead of this mutt." Kouga intervened. InuYasha didn't find it strange, given how anyone would offer themselves to the possibility such work represented, that is, a better place of power. Kikyo refused with a gesture, barely lifting her hand and not even bothering to verbalize it.

"Bankotsu, you will do it." She conceded, her gaze still on InuYasha. "Suikotsu, you'll help him."

InuYasha came to the verge of letting out a sigh of relief, but managed to keep it to himself as he waited in silence for the situation to settle once again. Bankotsu was smiling, and stepped closer to Kikyo with that air of arrogance of his, completely convinced of his own worth. InuYasha, however, couldn't care less about it, his only thought to step away once the meeting was regarded as finished, for now only Bankotsu and his helpers were who needed to hear the details about the job.

He waited for a bit more, almost seeing how the rigid mood was beginning to show cracks, and soon the group began to disperse, each to their own. There, he saw his chance to disappear, and stealthy as he was, he turned around without catching anyone's attention. Kouga stood with his back against the wall right by the door, arms crossed, his black jacket letting traces of his biceps be seen beneath the layer of dark grey cloth. As InuYasha got closer, he met the challenging gaze of the man, even more intense beneath the light blue hue of his eyes… yet he also saw something else in them, something that described Kouga as someone far less simple than what he intentionally showed.

He reached the door, and turned the knob to leave the room.

"See you, mutt." Kouga chewed the words out, his tone low, as he observed the group by the desk, who were starting to talk about their job.

"See you never, mangy." Was his answer.

They weren't in good terms, but they weren't in bad terms either; actually, their interactions were closer to something like friendship than anything else.

Once out of the room, and only when the men guarding the door were out of sight, he allowed himself to take a deep breath, and let it out with a certain relief.

Ahead of him, were a series of days full of arduous work, if he wanted to earn enough to cover the expenses being in charge of Shippo meant. He had spent the little he had managed to save, and wanted it back. Even so he preferred to work many hours in minor jobs and earn money, rather than what a major robbery could entail. The long time he had lived in that world, had taught him what it involved, and so, now on his way out, he felt relieved.

"Wait." He heard the voice of one of the guards. He closed his eyes, afraid that the situation wouldn't be so simple after all.

He turned around, and caught sight of Kanna, Kagura's aide, walking towards him, steady, almost ceremoniously so. Once in front of him, her head quite a few centimeters below his own due to her height, she spoke in a melodious and childish voice.

"He wants to see you."

There wasn't much else, and it wasn't necessary. Kanna turned around and went back to the office sºhe had just left, and InuYasha sighed, knowing that nothing was free, after all; he may had wriggled out of a job, yet now, he had to see Naraku.

Such a notion brought back memories, as he went down stairs, memories of other jobs where his heart had to practically come to a stop to be able to pull off every step of the plan, and be successful. He wished he could know what it was like to lead a life without worries, and with a tomorrow full of possibilities; Sometimes, he couldn't but look at the people wandering the streets and wonder, did they have major worries in their lives, or major aspirations?

He liked haikus, calligraphy too, and painting a bit, yet he had never been able to dedicate time to that; reading, maybe, but never to the act of creating something. He also liked to investigate, for he was quite adept at finding out who the killer is in the shows he usually watched with Jakotsu in the club's back room, although he would never think about it too much.

When he reached the inner corridor, the one he had passed on his way in, through his ears came the absurd laughs of a couple of men from inside one of the closed offices, and probably going through the recordings that were made of the rooms on the other side of the club. They appeared to be having a good time, and that led him to think about the illusory sensation of safety some of the people working there had. Occasionally, he would talk to the newcomers, who didn't usually last long, and they seemed to want to climb some pyramid that wouldn't take them to anything else than a pseudo sun, only imitating real light. Besides, in that line of work, there was always someone weaker to step on, InuYasha knew, he had seen it when he was only twelve, when one of the women working at the club was brutally hit by one of the clients. It was a beautiful woman, elegant, so much her mere presence gave prestige to the club. She rebelled against what the man was requesting of her, and even so the next week she had to tend, and give a blowjob, to the same man again. That day, InuYasha understood there was no dignity in this world, only traces of something resembling it.

He crossed the curtain of beads, resolute in getting as far away from the place, and practically flee as to stop having that foreboding feeling of this sort of streak of luck, that allowed him to avoid getting the job, ending. It was a sensation that had been following him since he could remember, a sort of warning of not trusting anything, anyone too much, because life would make sure to show him his mistake.

Before that thought, however, he surmised he needed to sleep. He was tired, and wished he could arrive at the house he was living in with Shippo, and just lay on the mattress he had on the floor. Even so, fate had the tendency of being twisted, or maybe, it just simply liked to play with the designs of that which we call ego, and show us we really control nothing.

He came out of the "public" face of the club, with the idea of crossing the door without looking at anyone. He took a few steps towards that brief freedom and crossed paths with Renkotsu, who in that moment was taking a young woman to the back of the club. There, they would be asked some questions in order to better choose the best job for them, and towards the clients, which could go from just giving conversation, the consume of alcohol, passing through an erotic dance and stripping… to any other activity that supposedly wasn't regulated by the club; InuYasha knew that last part were just empty words written on the license.

The first thing that caught his attentions were the soft curls of hair, dark as the night. His eyes almost fell out of his sockets when he recognized who the woman was.

"Kagome?" He let it slip, half-a-step away from here, not believing it. Could he be hallucinating due to exhaustion? Yet her answer convinced him she was indeed real.

"Hi?" her voice let her own uncertainty be heard.

Kagome had been able to get inside thanks to an offer of a job she didn't have a thought of doing.

"What are you doing here!" There wasn't a question in the sentence, but something more akin to an accusation.

"Well…"

"Out of my way, InuYasha! Go outside get your own girls. I got her, she is pretty and I'm not going to lose money." Renkotsu retorted, holding her arm with more strength than necessary.

"Hey!" Kagome complained, trying to escape from his hold. "You can't touch me."

"I'm sorry, pretty, that only counts outside this place." He made a point of his words by gesturing to the entrance with a hand, which was many meters behind them, as if it were a limit.

She understood quite clearly then, the man thought she couldn't go back on her decision… which wasn't even the one the man believed it to be.

Through the mind of InuYasha, and unknown to Kagome, a string of images made a quick summary of what she would have to do if he were to let Renkotsu take her to the back of the club. Maybe he was assuming too much by thinking he knew what was best for her, yet he didn't stop long enough to reason it before taking action.

"She stays with me." Every word, in his low voice, weighted like an unmovable rock.

Renkotsu grabbed him by the jacket, while with his other hand he held Kagome by her arm. InuYasha's gaze caught her figure, how she held back her breath, frightened, hurt… and felt how something inside him bubbled up in anger, his arm quickly preparing to push him away with a punch.

It was then when Jakotsu appeared.

"Renkotsu, do you remember the thirty thousand yen you owe me?" He commented.

"Why the fuck are you talking about that now?!"

"Oh, because there is always a time and a place for everything." Jakotsu calmly explained. "If you forget about the woman, I'll forget about the money."

The offer hung in the air for an instant, during which Renkotsu seemed to furrow his brow, gradually, his expression hardening into something painfully rigid, before finally relaxing his features, rudely letting go of Kagome.

"Alright, take your whor…"

"Come with me, Renko. I'm sure you could use a drink." Jakotsu interrupted him, placing his arm around the shoulders of his coworker. It was clear he was trying to stop the problem form escalating, and so chasing away their clients.

Kagome felt InuYasha's hand taking hers. She felt the warmth, together with a pleasant sensation of safety that was a stark contrast with her own stupefaction; she had just been traded for thirty thousand yen.

InuYasha began to walk with her towards the door, and looked back for an instant to find Jakotsu's gaze, who nodded in his direction, telling him everything was alright.

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Bibliographic registry

Scroll Nº 26

Discovery 8828, Sengoku

Today, the sun has come out for a short while during the morning, and I've taken Kagome out so that she could warm herself up a bit. The temperature inside the cabin is good for her, but it's too artificial and I wanted her to breathe in some of nature; besides, she has enjoyed the sun. Through out the afternoon, she became more cheerful, and her cough receded slightly. It reminded me of when she was sick in her time, although back then my medicine still worked on her.

Now she is sleeping, she fell into rest early today. Jinenji says that this Spring he should have more of the herbs I've giving her, to help her have a better mood, and rest well at night.

Today, she has smiled a few times, and that has given me peace.

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To be continued.

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A/N

The story grows complex, little by little, and albeit a dear friend tells me it's good to "turn off the brain", to me the phrase sounds like Mandarin xD

Thank you for reading, and keeping me company. I hope to hear your feelings about the story.

A kiss,

Anyara.