Complete the Circle
Chapter Thirty-Two: Dance and Death
Kagome walked down the steps slowly, looking towards Inuyasha's house. It was already Friday, the day of Hojo's party. Inuyasha had never exactly said that he was going to go to the party with her, but she was kind of hoping that he was. She looked towards the direction of his house, but saw no one. She sighed softly. I guess I'll just have to go alone this time…
"Oi, what's with the long face?" someone asked suddenly. Kagome turned around and saw Inuyasha standing next to her. He had been standing the opposite direction of where she had been looking all along.
"What are you doing here?" Kagome blurted out, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Thought we could go to Hojo's together, you know?" he asked, starting to walk in front of her.
"Oh," she said feeling stupid. Well, at least we can go together, Kagome thought to herself as she walked a bit faster to catch up with him.
After crossing a couple streets, they finally arrived at Hojo's house, the music from the party inviting them in.
"Hey! Kagome, Inuyasha!" Sango shouted as she and Miroku caught up to them.
"Hello, Sango-chan. Miroku," Kagome smiled, feeling happy for the two. Suddenly she was shoved rudely to the side.
"Hayashi," someone sneered. Kagome looked up angrily at the person who had shoved her aside. He looked to be about her age and had short black hair. If he hadn't been so rude, Kagome might have said that he was a bit cute. Not cuter than my Inuyasha though. Never cuter than Inuyasha—Why am I thinking about this?! Kagome frowned at him. He looked strangely familiar.
"Hiten," Inuyasha drawled, sounding bored. Kagome was surprised at the name. It was true. The boy in front of her did look incredibly like Hiten of the Sengoku Jidai.
"Kobayashi to you," Hiten said, narrowing his eyes in contempt at Inuyasha.
"What do you want?" Inuyasha yawned, giving Hiten no respect. Kagome was a bit surprised with his actions.
"I can't believe you're going to a ningen party," Hiten said with disdain. "Of course, you're not much better off than them." Kagome felt like beating his face in. Musashino wouldn't do anything about this insult. He wasn't the type.
"I would be careful if I were you, Hiten," Inuyasha said dangerously, his voice cold as ice. Kagome looked in surprise at Inuyasha. She wondered if the person next to her was the new, "nice" Inuyasha that she had known for these past weeks.
"What? You gonna run back crying to your mommy?" Hiten smirked.
"Oh I'll do more than that," Inuyasha said, sounding hauntingly similar to Sesshoumaru. Kagome wondered briefly if having Sesshoumaru as a godfather was a good idea. "When I'm done with you, you'll wish that you were never born."
"You try to kill me?" Hiten laughed. "You couldn't kill a flea demon with your power."
"I won't try to kill you," Inuyasha said, seeming to be tired of him. "What's the fun in killing someone when you can torture them instead?"
Kagome nearly bit her tongue with her surprise. Was this Inuyasha? She noticed that Sango looked shocked with Inuyasha's words too, but Miroku seemed to be taking it calmly.
"Do you take me for a fool?" asked Hiten, trying to sound disdainful, but Kagome picked up a note of concern in his voice. Evidently, Inuyasha did too.
"Didn't your mother recently bear a new child? A boy?" Inuyasha questioned in mock innocence. "I congratulate you on your new brother. Maten is his name, isn't it?"
"What are you trying to get at?" Hiten said, all contempt gone from his voice. Now it was replaced with one of genuine fear, though he tried to mask it.
"What are you trying to suggest?" asked Inuyasha. Hiten sneered weakly at him, then stalked off into the night.
"I'm sorry that took so long," Inuyasha said, suddenly all smiles again. "It usually takes less than five minutes to chase him off." Kagome didn't know how to respond to that. He had done this type of threatening before? Maybe he wasn't exactly the nice guy that she had pictured him as before.
"Let's go, the party has already started," Miroku said, walking in. Kagome pulled him back.
"You go in first, Inuyasha. I have to speak with Miroku for a moment," Kagome said nervously, not quite sure as to how he would react to her weird actions.
"Sure, whatever," Inuyasha said, opening the door and walking in. As soon as the door closed, Kagome turned to Miroku.
"What just happened?" she demanded.
"What?" asked Miroku innocently.
"That innocent act is really getting old," Kagome scowled. "Now tell me what just happened with Hiten."
"Oh, that little incident," Miroku said, shrugging nonchalantly. "That happens a lot. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you."
"What do you mean it happens a lot?" asked Kagome.
"Inuyasha threatening a youkai that can trounce him is normal?" asked Sango, flabbergasted.
"Well, yeah," Miroku said, scratching his head, not quite sure what the girls were trying to suggest.
"Why would he threaten someone if he doesn't even have the power to defeat them, let alone fight!" Kagome hissed, trying to keep her voice low so the other people who were going into the party wouldn't hear her.
"What do you want him to do? Back down and let Hiten walk all over him?" Miroku said, slightly annoyed.
"It's better than getting killed," Kagome retorted.
"You're wrong," Miroku said. "Inuyasha has more at stake than just keeping himself safe. He is the sole heir to the Hayashi family. If he bows down to anyone, it would bring dishonor to the family and probably weaken their power."
"What?! What does Inuyasha being safe have anything to do with power?" Kagome nearly shouted in fury.
"You don't understand youkai politics at all!" Miroku said, getting angry himself. "You show weakness, you lose. And at this point in the game, if the Hayashi family loses, Naraku will get their claims."
"What?!" Kagome and Sango asked in unison.
"Naraku is the second strongest after the Hayashi family," Miroku said. "If they go down, he'll be the one with enough power to swallow up their claims." Sango and Kagome didn't know how to respond to that.
"Ah! Higurashi!" a familiar voice said. The three turned around and saw Hojo there. "Miroku and Sango. What are you doing standing out here? Please, come in."
The three followed him inside, Kagome still feeling uneasy about the incident from before. The house was blaring with music and Kagome wanted to stuff earplugs into her ears. She spotted Inuyasha sitting on the sofa while there were other people dancing in the space cleared out for that purpose.
"May I have this dance?" asked Hojo. Kagome blushed, not really knowing how to respond. Well, it's not like I'm formally with Musashino, right? One little dance won't hurt…
"Sure!" Kagome said as Hojo pulled her to the center of the "dance floor." The fast beat of the song kept Kagome moving, but she saw Miroku and Sango really cutting up the dance floor with their moves. And Sango looked so happy…
I wonder if I'll ever be happy like that…
Why do I even bother to dance with Hojo-kun? I don't even like him. I should be dancing with…with who? "Inuyasha?" She sighed.
"What's the matter?" asked Hojo.
"Hojo-kun, I…" I don't really like you and I could care less about you? That's kind of harsh. What am I supposed to do?
"What is it?"
"Hojo-kun, I'm sorry," Kagome apologized, stopping her dance with him. She really hated to tell him this on his birthday, but she already got the ball moving, so she might as well.
"Sorry for what?" asked Hojo. Kagome felt sorry for him.
"It's just that I…never…um…" Kagome started, not quite sure what to say. "I don't really…err…like you?"
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry! It's just that I've never really liked you in that way. You're a nice person, but I just don't feel that way towards you!" Kagome blurted out in on quick breath. Hojo blinked at the sudden output of information.
"You've never really liked me?" he asked, looking a bit crushed. "Oh well. It's not like we really knew each other that well."
Kagome groaned. He wasn't going to suggest them to start to get to know each other, was he?
"If you don't want to go out with me anymore, that's fine," he continued. "We can still be friends. To tell you the truth, you're a great girl, Kagome, but you can be kind of flaky sometimes."
"Oh," Kagome said.
"So it's for the best, I guess," Hojo said, unfazed.
"Yeah…" Why do I feel like I'm the one who's just been dumped?
"Well, I have to go help my mom serve the cakes now. See ya later, okay?" Kagome nodded absentmindedly as Hojo walked off.
"That went well," Kagome grumbled. She turned to the sofa where Inuyasha was sitting before, but found that it was empty. Where did he go?
"Don't tell me he went off and found himself a new girlfriend too," Kagome grumped. What am I saying? I'm not his girlfriend! Kagome decided that the lack of fresh air was making her woozy and found a sliding glass door that led to the backyard. She quickly stepped out into the night air, inhaling deeply. Finally, she was alone to collect her thoughts.
"What're you doing here?" She nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Kagome asked Inuyasha, who was sitting on a nearby chair.
"I asked you first," Inuyasha said childishly. Kagome sighed in exasperation.
"I came out here for fresh air," Kagome said. "And you?"
"Because I felt like it."
"That's not really a reason!" Kagome said, feeling cheated. What was I hoping he would say? "I came out here because I got jealous of looking at you dancing with Hojo?" As if! That stuff only happens in fairy tales. Of course, it would be kind of nice…
"Fine. Truth is, I can't really dance, and it's kinda annoying watching everyone around me dancing while I'm the only dope sitting on the sofa," Inuyasha said. "It's boring as hell, too."
Well, that was kind of close to what I had in mind, Kagome thought to herself, a bit disappointed that fairy tales weren't true.
"Do you want me to teach you how to dance?" asked Kagome.
"Do you want to have purple toes tomorrow?" asked Inuyasha.
"Oh, come on. I'm not going to get purple toes just by teaching you how to dance," Kagome said. "So try." Kagome pulled Inuyasha to his feet.
"Whatever you say, boss," Inuyasha said.
"Okay, stand in front of me and follow the pattern of my feet. Both of our feet should move at the same time. Are you ready?" asked Kagome. She wasn't quite sure what to do with her hands. In the movies, the guy and girl always held hands, but she wasn't about to grab Inuyasha's hands and start tangoing all over the place.
"Like this?" Inuyasha asked, not really sure of what he was doing.
"Good. Now I'll count and you just follow my feet," Kagome said. This should be easy. I mean, how hard is it to teach someone to follow the pattern that your feet move? Granted this isn't really a real dance, but hey, no one's complaining.
"Okay. One, two—ow!" Kagome said as Inuyasha accidentally stepped on her foot. Good thing she hadn't decided to wear sandals today.
"Sorry," Inuyasha muttered. "Told you I'm not good at this."
"That's why you should learn how to do it right," Kagome said, rubbing her toes. "Now let's try again. One, two, three, one, two, three, one—ouch!" Kagome yelped as Inuyasha stepped on her foot again. "Are you purposely trying to step on my feet?"
"I told you you're going to get purple toes if you try to dance with me," Inuyasha said. "Don't you think I've tried learning how to do this? My mom insisted that I learn how to dance, and she tried to teach me, but after an hour of lessons, she claimed she wasn't going to be able to walk for a week!"
"Ah, well…"
"Let's quit while we're still ahead," Inuyasha said, about to walk away, but Kagome pulled him back.
"How can we be ahead if we haven't even made any progress?" she said angrily. "Now you're going to stand in front of me, and you're going to learn how to dance!" Inuyasha quickly obeyed. Kagome definitely was scary when she was mad.
"Now again! One, two, three, one, two, three…"
An hour later, Kagome was sitting on the chair that Inuyasha was sitting on, an ice pack on her feet.
"Oww…" Kagome groaned. She couldn't believe what a terrible dancer Inuyasha was. How hard was it to not step on someone's feet? She had told him that he could move his feet however he wanted, but then he still managed to step on her.
"Sorry about this," Inuyasha said, getting more ice from inside.
"It's my own fault," Kagome groaned. "I should have listened to your warning."
"Well, let that be a lesson to you," Inuyasha said in a fatherly tone.
"Shut up," Kagome said playfully. "I don't think I can even walk tomorrow."
"Well you better heal quickly because my grandfather just invited you to his birthday party tomorrow," Inuyasha said.
"What?"
"Miroku and Sango were invited too," Inuyasha said.
"Thanks to you, I won't be able to go," Kagome said, feeling a bit left out.
"If it makes you feel any better, you can use this to speed up the healing process," Inuyasha said, taking something from around his neck. It was a black, oval jewel.
"What's this?" Kagome asked.
"Illusion spell." Kagome was about to say something when Inuyasha cut her off. "Don't worry, I don't need it. Okaa-chan just wants me to keep it around as a precaution. You know I don't need it."
Kagome was about to protest when Inuyasha held the jewel by the chain and swung it once over Kagome's feet. The jewel suddenly disappeared and Kagome felt the stinging from her toes leave her.
"Huh?"
"Told ya it works," Inuyasha grinned. Kagome just rolled her eyes at him.
Kagome arrived at Inuyasha's house the next morning wearing a formal dress. She rang the doorbell, and tried not to look too nervous. The door swung open, revealing a respectable woman wearing a kimono.
"You must be Kagome-chan," the woman smiled kindly at her. "Welcome in. I'm Inuyasha's mother, Hayashi-san, as you have probably already guessed."
"Ohayoo gozaimasu," Kagome said, bowing respectfully, remembering the manners her mother taught her.
"Oh ho ho ho. What a polite girl you are," Mrs. Hayashi laughed. "I'm so glad Inuyasha chose right."
"Eh?" asked Kagome, confused.
"Oh, nothing… Please follow me. We're going to have to get you to change into a kimono before we leave," Mrs. Hayashi said. Kagome panicked. She didn't have a kimono!
"Uh…Um… Hayashi-san, I…"
"Don't have a kimono?" Mrs. Hayashi finished off for her. "Don't worry. I've already made you one!"
"Eh?" was all Kagome could respond to the strange woman. Why would she have made a kimono for her?
"It's so pretty, if I do say so myself," Mrs. Hayashi said. "Though the boys don't appreciate it."
They entered Mrs. Hayashi's room and Mrs. Hayashi closed the door behind her.
"Here, I'll help you dress the first time," Mrs. Hayashi said. Kagome suddenly felt self-conscious.
"Um… I can dress myself," Kagome said.
"I know, dear, but you can't possibly know how to put everything together," Mrs. Hayashi said. "Don't be shy. I've done this many times on Rin, so I know what I'm doing."
A few minutes later, Kagome appeared from the room, her hair pinned up, wearing a white silk kimono with blue floral patterns on it. Mrs. Hayashi had said that it brought the blue out of her eyes, and Kagome shyly agreed.
The two of them walked to the living room where sounds of a board game being played could be heard. Kagome entered the room and saw that Inuyasha was playing chess with Miroku, and it looked like Miroku was winning. Everyone in the room was wearing a kimono. The room quieted down with her appearance, and Kagome blushed deeply with all the attention.
"Kagome-chan, you look so beautiful!" Sango said.
"I must agree. You look stunning, Kagome," Miroku said, looking at her with new eyes. Sango glared at him, and he just grinned nervously.
"Thanks," Kagome blushed. She waited for Inuyasha to say something. It never came.
"Musashino!" his mother hissed in a warning tone.
"You look…nice," Inuyasha said. Kagome looked up and tried not to scowl at him. Why couldn't he just compliment her? Why was Inuyasha always difficult when it came to these kinds of things?
"Musashino…" Mrs. Hayashi growled.
"What?" Inuyasha asked.
"I'm going to have to speak with you later, young man," she said.
"Leave him alone, Tamako," Mr. Hayashi said. "He is free to have his own opinions."
"He is not!" Mrs. Hayashi shouted. "I work so hard on it, and he doesn't even compliment on it, then I dress up his girlfriend, and he doesn't even compliment her!"
"Okaa-chan!" Inuyasha protested, turning red. Kagome felt her own cheeks heat up, too. What was Inuyasha's mother assuming?
" 'Okaa-chan' nothing! You're all unappreciative of me! I slave away all day and night for this, and none of you even give me a compliment!"
"Rin told Okaa-chan the kimono was nice," Rin said.
"Thank you, dear, but all the rest of you," she said, turning to her son and husband, "you're going to be so sorry—"
"Fine! Fine! She's more than just nice, all right?" Inuyasha shouted, standing up. "She's more than beautiful. The kimono you made really brings out her inner beauty, and makes her outer beauty shine even more! Are you happy now?"
"I'm not happy if you're not sincere!" Mrs. Hayashi said.
"I AM sincere!" Inuyasha said. "I am so sincere I couldn't be more sincere!"
"You don't seem sincere to me," Mrs. Hayashi said, getting all teary-eyed.
"Okaa-chan, don't cry!" Inuyasha said desperately. "The kimono looks great on her, all right? She's so beautiful, she's like a goddess!"
"You're lying!" Mrs. Hayashi said, sobbing into her hands.
"Augh!" Inuyasha shouted. "Don't cry! What do you want me to say?! You're the best mother in the world! I'm sorry I was unappreciative of you!"
"It's not about me," his mother sobbed. "You've hurt the feelings of women everywhere by refusing to compliment on Kagome-chan. You would think that such a sight would inspire a poem, but nooooo. You brush it off as if it were nothing!"
"What?! What?!" asked Inuyasha exasperatedly.
"Just say a poem, Nii-chan," Rin advised sagely.
"WHAT?! I'm not saying no stinking poem!" Inuyasha shouted. His mother sobbed even more loudly. "Fine… Roses are red, violets are blue…"
"Not that kind of poem! An original poem!" Mrs. Hayashi sobbed. "Oh, how unromantic my son is… This is all your fault!" she said, pointing at her husband.
"What did I do?" he asked. Kagome saw Miroku shake his head at the chaos that was about to ensue between Mr. and Mrs. Hayashi.
"Willows breathe and tulips sigh,
Mountains sing and swallows fly,
She is life and beauty's Queen,
One would think she is a dream."
The entire house fell into deep silence. They all stared at the one who had composed the poem.
"That was…very good, my son," his father said.
"Are you happy now?" Inuyasha asked his mother.
"Yes! I'm so very happy!" his mother said, taking her hands off her face. There was not a trace of tears on it.
"Okaa-chan! You tricked me!" Inuyasha said, very pissed off. His face was burning scarlet.
"Yes, but your poem was so nice, dear," his mother said, "I knew you could compose one of your lovely poems for your girlfriend."
"Stop saying that!" Inuyasha said, turning even redder, if that was possible.
"Kagome-chan, you're so lucky to have such a romantic guy!" Sango squealed, causing Kagome to turn as red as Inuyasha.
"It's not like that!" they both shouted, and flushed crimson when the rest of them started laughing at the two of them for speaking the same thing at the same time.
"They're such a cute couple!" Rin said.
"Rin!" Inuyasha shouted, trying to hide his embarrassment. They just laughed at him again.
They arrived at Inuyasha's grandfather's house, deep in the heart of the mountain's forest sometime in the afternoon. The dojo that Kagome and Sango had gone to the other day was just a temporary home for him, and his real home was here. Inuyasha's grandfather called the house his "humble abode," but in truth, the building was about the size of a castle. In fact, Kagome didn't doubt that the building before her was a castle.
The family and guests were currently situated in a room so large that Kagome didn't even know what to call it. An audience room? A throne room? They were seated in sort of a square, each person having a small table in front of them. They all sat down on the mats, and Kagome was reminded of Japan during the Sengoku Jidai.
Sango and Miroku sat together, obviously, while somehow or other, Mrs. Hayashi had arranged the seats so that Inuyasha ended up sitting next to her, although he was supposed to sit by his grandfather's side. Instead, Rin sat near her grandfather, while Inuyasha's father sat next to his father's other side. Mrs. Hayashi placed herself between her husband and Inuyasha. Originally, Sesshoumaru was supposed to sit next to Mr. Hayashi, but he had apparently decided not to come.
Suddenly, the room hushed down as the last, and probably most important guest entered. His aura of contempt was not easy to miss, and Kagome noticed several youkai straining to constrain themselves as the youkai sat down at his respective seat, the first seat next to the members of the Hayashi family. He brought along a female youkai, undoubtedly his servant, who sat next to him.
"Welcome, Naraku-sama," Inuyasha's grandfather greeted him. "I am glad that you could make it."
"I would never be so disrespectful as to miss Hayashi-sama's birthday," Naraku said, smiling insincerely. Kagome reminded herself that Naraku was a lord now and that she couldn't insult him, or else she would get the Hayashi family in trouble.
"Please, drop the formalities and just have an enjoyable party," Mrs. Hayashi said. She whispered something to a servant's ear and turned back to the guests. "Dinner shall arrive shortly. Meanwhile, we've provided some entertainment for your enjoyment."
A group of musicians and dancers walked out from one of the doors. Kagome noticed that not one of them was human. She wondered if she, Miroku, and Sango were the only ones here that were human. The thought was not comforting.
The performance ended as the servants started serving each one of the guests. Kagome guessed that there must have been at least a hundred people at that room, and wondered how many more youkai had not shown up. She was sort of glad that they hadn't appeared, for the ones that did show up looked at her funny. Some of them frowned when they saw her and Sango, while others just ignored them. They seemed to be too used to Miroku to have any reaction towards him, though.
Suddenly there was a commotion around where Naraku was sitting. The woman that Naraku had brought was holding Miroku's right hand up and away from her. Miroku was trying to twist out of her grip.
"What do you think you're doing?" demanded Inuyasha's grandfather.
"My servant is weak, so is sensitive to the prayer beads on the boy's hands," Naraku said smoothly. "If you had thought beforehand, perhaps you would have remembered that not all youkai are as powerful as you and can stand a monk's wards."
"And if you had watched the youkai in your lands, perhaps this incident could have been prevented," Inuyasha's grandfather growled.
"I am afraid I do not understand you," Naraku said coolly.
"Do not mock me. Know this: my grandson's friend wears those beads only to prevent a curse inflicted by someone in your lands on him from opening," he said, narrowing his eyes at Naraku.
"You proceed to lay perfect blame on me," Naraku said calmly.
"What are you trying to suggest?" questioned Inuyasha's father, getting angry with Naraku's disrespect.
"Would it not be easy for an enemy of mine to frame me by committing a crime on my land?" Naraku asked. "And such strange coincidence brings the victim of the crime to be an acquaintance of my enemy."
"Are you suggesting that Hayashi-sama did this to his own people?!" an angry youkai shouted.
"I am merely suggesting theories," Naraku replied indifferently.
"How dare you show disrespect to Hayashi-sama!" another youkai shouted.
"How dare you show disrespect to Naraku-sama!" the woman shouted.
"Yes, yes, how dare anyone show disrespect to another," a clear voice rang out. "If you ask me, all of you suck."
"Musashino!" his mother gasped, appalled at his lack of manners.
"What? It is obvious to me that Naraku-sama was framed. He is a youkai of honor, so he would never lie," Inuyasha said. "And I know from personal experience that Ojii-sama would not blame another without evidence, and since Naraku-sama was framed, the evidence cannot really be trusted. Therefore, it really is no one's fault. All of you are disputing for nothing. And all of you suck for not realizing this before."
Naraku narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him, seemingly puzzled by his actions while the other youkai reluctantly backed down.
"I apologize for ruining your celebration," Naraku said, standing up. "If it does not bother you, then I shall leave and prevent myself from further embarrassment." He didn't specify whether it was he who felt embarrassed, or if he was trying to keep himself from youkai he considered an embarrassment. The other youkai noticed his choice of words, but said nothing.
"If it pleases you, you may leave," the lord said.
"It never pleases me to do such a thing," Naraku said, smiling that false smile. "We are leaving, Aki."
"Hai, Naraku-sama," the woman said, and followed her lord out. Kagome felt the tension in the air dwindle down to nothing as soon as Naraku left. The youkai started talking amongst themselves and soon the entire room was filled with idle chatter from the people attending the birthday party of their lord.
Inuyasha was sitting outside in the garden when he heard someone approaching him. It was Kagome. The small sliver of a moon illuminated the white silk of her kimono, making her look like she was glowing. She really did look like a goddess descended from the sky.
"What are you doing out here?" her soft voice inquired.
"Nothing," Inuyasha replied, but in truth, he was much troubled. He hoped that what he had said earlier would not have any dire consequences. He knew that by insulting everyone, he would catch their attention, and indeed he did. However, he was afraid that despite insulting everyone to catch their attention, there might have been something that he had accidentally let slip. He hoped that his choice of words had temporarily relieved the tension between Naraku and his grandfather's people. If he had made a mistake, then soon, they would all be at war against each other…
"Huh?"
"I asked you why did you insult everyone today," Kagome repeated. "I mean, you helped things cool down a bit, but did you do that intentionally, or was that just a pleasant side effect?"
"Oh, you mean when I said everyone sucks? Nah, I was just saying what was on my mind," Inuyasha said, winking playfully at her. He knew that his answer only made Kagome more confused, but he didn't want her to know. She didn't have to know that he had always been juggling these forces ever since he was old enough to talk. It really wasn't any of her business and he hated when people pitied him. He remembered how the other youkai used to pity him because he was thrown into youkai politics against his will. They called his five-year-old self a "poor thing" and were always going on about how it was sad that a child had to be born into a time when political instability was common amongst youkai.
"I don't think I believe you," Kagome said, but she didn't question him on that matter any more.
They sat quietly, side by side, listening to the music of the water in the pond.
"Inuyasha, I have to make something clear to you," Kagome said. He turned to her, curious about what she was going to say.
"You know that I loved a person named Inuyasha," she started. He didn't like where this was going. "And you know what the two of us went through. You know what I would have done for him, what I would still do for him. I don't want to play with your feelings, Musashino. That's why I have to tell you this."
"You don't have to," he said quickly. He could feel a sort of panic rise in his heart. He had to get away. He had to get away before she said it.
"Please hear me out," Kagome pleaded. He felt bound to her at that moment, and he knew he couldn't leave, even if he wanted to.
"You and Inuyasha are different," she said. "Inuyasha used to get angry very often. He had a short temper and he was rude and gruff. But he was also kind beneath all those masks. He is like you when you're being nice, except he didn't like to show his good side. From what I gather from you, you're a good person, too. But I don't know you well enough to make any judgments. Sometimes I think you'll act a certain way, but then you surprise me. But that's not the point. I want you to understand what I'm going through.
"I didn't start off liking Inuyasha, but time soon showed me the truth about him. And as we traveled together I fell in love with him. I know this is strange for you to listen to someone talk about their love story, but please bear with me. I don't want to confuse you like I'm confusing myself now. I just ask for your understanding.
"You know that our quest was to complete the Shikon no Tama. We never did. In the battle against Naraku, we lost, and he was killed." Kagome started to cry. "He-he was killed, and I wasn't there for him. I couldn't help him. I couldn't do anything… He was killed because of me, because of my image, because I made him care for me…"
"Don't cry, Kagome," he said, trying to comfort her. "If it hurts, don't talk about it. Don't talk about it."
"It's just that I miss him so much. Every time I look at you, I see him, but even now, his image is disappearing. Your image is becoming just your image. Inuyasha is slowly slipping away, slipping out of my life, into another story, another time… I just… I just wish…"
Don't say it.
Don't say it.
"I just wish that he was still here with me."
No!
"I just want to be with him again. I want to be with the one I love!"
He felt something break loose from him, and he saw swirls of energy rushing towards him, his soul absorbing every burst of energy that came to him and sucking out even more from his surroundings. This time, he knew what was happening. He knew that if he didn't leave now, his family was going to die.
"What's happening?" asked Kagome, her hair becoming undone with the amount of force that was swirling around towards him. "Inu—Musa—wait!"
He ran from her. He ran down the hallways, digging the map of his grandfather's mansion out of the recesses of his mind. He searched frantically for the exit, and while he ran, he heard screams of pain come from the youkai servants that worked under his grandfather. Their youki. He was draining them of their youki.
He slammed open a door so hard that it rebounded from the frame and almost tripped him, but he kept running. The exit was right in front of him. He saw a flash of silver and turned to that direction.
His mother was on the ground, her silver hair laid carelessly around her. Her face was contorted in pain. She wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing. He could do nothing. He ran out of the castle, away from his family. He ran not to save his life, but the lives of others.
But even as he ran, he could still feel bits and pieces of the youkai's youki follow him, entering him, sealing itself in him.
Author's Note: Kobayashi is little forest. It's like Hayashi, except with "little" in front of it.
So, how do you like this chapter? Kind of long, but oh well. I get carried away sometimes. And Inuyasha's poem took me way too long to write! I had to find words that rhymed and I had to make sure the rhythm was right. Such a bother, but it's worth it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because I enjoyed writing it!
Things are going to heat up from this point on. If you think Inuyasha has remembered his past already, you're wrong. Remember, the more youki he sucks, the less he remembers.
Well, see ya later!