DUDE! I -never- expected so many reviews on this fic! Also, expect these
chapters to be kinda short. And this fic won't be very long. It's only
gonna be four chapters tops unless the planed plot gets very thick.
' diary entries '
CuTtInG gAmE
Chapter 2: Bathing Rituals
The mix-matched group of people had been traveling for a day non-stop. Curse words flew. Hands grabbed. Monks were slapped. Hanyous were sat. Kitsunes laughed on the sidelines. Yep, all was normal. ::snort:: Yeah right! Inuyasha and Kagome had had a particularly nasty fight and Kagome was itching for a Bath. That's what she called her therapy sessions with her blade, Baths. She no longer cleaned with Sango, for she had acquired more than a few scars in the three month she had been cutting than she had fighting demons. Besides, she never felt comfortable bathing with the older girl. She just did it because it was polite.
"Inuyasha," Kagome said quietly, "Can we stop and rest for a while? It's getting dark and I'd like a quick bath."
"Another bath? You've been taking one EVER DAY! Sometimes twice even! You're clean, trust me on that!!"
"Come ON, Inuyasha! I just want a bath! We've been walking for hours and I'm sweaty, grimy, and want a bit of time to relax and be alone! Is that so much to ask?!?"
"YES! You can have a bath tomorrow, OK? NOT NOW!"
"Well then, you can just SIT ::thud:: down while I just disobey you and SIT ::thud:: until I some back. Hell, you can just sit, sit, SIT ::thud, thud, thud:: after I come back, too." With that, she started walked towards the spring they'd passed a few minutes ago but stopped short. "Oh, she said as and after thought, "Sit, sit, sit!" A crack was heard as she trotted away, humming.
Miroku and Sango stared as the Inuyasha shaped dent in the earth and then at Kagome's back.
"Well," Miroku stated, "That was......strange." Sango could only nod her head in agreement as she started to try to dig Inuyasha out of the body shaped hole in the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"God," Kagome muttered as she kicked off her shoes, "I'm sweaty, dirty, and aching for a cut. He should just let me be!" She stripped out of the rest of her clothes and waded into the water. "I'll just soak for a bit......"
Kagome grabbed her pocketknife. Then she dunked her head under the chilly water swam into a deeper section of the spring. As she started to loose air, she found a tunnel large enough for her to swim thru.
**Hmm......wonder what this could be.** she thought. Curiosity getting the better of her, she swam thru the tunnel. Her chest was constricting and aching; her air was running out. Suddenly, her head broke the waters surface and she could breath.
"Huh....an air bubble? Neat.....I'll have to come back here again." She doggy-paddled to a ledge and hoisted herself onto it. She opened the knife that she held in her hand and ran it across her thigh. She sighed as a strange tingly feeling ran down her leg. She then brought the blade up to her arm. Cut once, cut twice. Blood lined and L shaped cut on her upper arm. With three more swipes, and I was right next to the L. Then an F.
Kagome smiled a bit, trying to pinpoint the moments of her life that made her happy. Her talks with Sango, when Inuyasha opens up, when Shippo hugs me.....when Souta used to talk to her like he gave a damn. She pressed down hard on her skin.
**Ow** she thought as she looked at the cut on her arm **Time to go back I guess.** She jumped in the water and started her swim towards the shore of the pond so she could wash out all remnants of blood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at camp, Inuyasha was in one of his moods. He was pacing back and forth, muttering nonsense to himself. He snarled and growled at anyone who bothered him and smacked Shippo if he got within a yard of him.
**Where's Kagome?!** thought Inuyasha ** It's been almost and hour......she doesn't usually take so long! What if she comes back smelling like blood again.....what's wrong with her?**
Off to the side, Sango and Miroku were having their own conversation.
"Sango, what do you think is happening with lady Kagome? Don't you always take baths together?"
"I dunno Miroku," Sango said while chewing on her pinky, "She's gotten so silent and distant......she doesn't talk to me much anymore and has smile that says 'I-know-this-smile-is-fake-you-know-this-smile-is-fake-but-no-one- says-anything-anyway'. It's......disturbing, putting it lightly."
Miroku nodded his head, agreeing with her. "And when her fake smile isn't there her eyes and face are either void of all emotion or filled with grief, sadness, and depression. Something is seriously wrong."
"What should we do? She's not gonna tell anyone anything! She's pushing herself away for a reason, whatever it may be, and obviously does NOT want to talk......" Sango and Miroku had a distressed looks on her faces, but Miroku's disintegrated into a small grin.
"Let us say that Kagome just 'happens' to leave her backpack open while she's asleep and we just 'happen' to be hungry for ramen?" Miroku's eyes got a mischievous look. "And lets say she catches and questions us. What do we say? Why, we were looking for a midnight snack!"
"Snooping," Sango gasped, "Why didn't I think of it?" Miroku grinned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome had come home a short while after Sango and Miroku's little chat, and fixed dinner for the group. Everyone slurped his or her ramen quietly. Nervously. Miroku and Sango kept peeking looks at Kagome while Shippo chattered on about some pointless topic. Every so often, Kagome would smile at the kit and say a few words. Inuyasha observed the group with a glare.
**Feh** thought Inuyasha **Good thing Miroku told me about their plan, it might work. They said if they find anything, they would tell me......but what if we find nothing to explain Kagome's......morbidity and falseness. And what if what we find is so horrible......No! Don't think like that! She probably just has PMS. Keh! Stupid wench......** Inuyasha slurped the last of his ramen and put it down. He muttered thanks toward Kagome, not sure if she heard or not, and jumped into a tree. **This snooping better be worth it! She's pretty damn protective of all of her crap. Don't wanna be sat into my grave.......** He snuck a look at Kagome, her face decorated with a small smile **Her baths have been getting longer and she always smells weird after them. There's always a perfume and a faint, hidden scent of blood. I hope Sango and the bozu find out what's wrong with her.**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was nighttime and Kagome and Shippo had turned in for the night. Sango had pretended to get to sleep a little while before Kagome had set up her sleeping bag and Miroku didn't go to sleep at all. After ten minutes of waiting, Inuyasha announced that Kagome's breath had slowed and evened out. She was asleep. To be sure that she was out for the night, they waited another five minutes before crawling toward Kagome gigantic pack.
"OK," whispered Sango, "You look for any random papers and go thru note pads. I'll read thru her diary. I've got the extra key to open the lock. I'll also read thru some of these binder things and folders.....if you find anything strange, tell me."
Miroku nodded in confirmation and then dived into the humongous backpack, Sango digging thru it as well. Notebooks and folders were pilfered and read thru, but nothing useful was found yet. And Sango hadn't found anything weird written in the diary, either. Until she found the entry from three weeks ago, that is.
**Now hold on a minute** Sango thought **What is this!?** Half of the words in the entries she was reading she couldn't explain, but some things were still all too obvious. **Lessee....... 'Mom, Souta, and Jii-chan left for China without me. Without me! They forgot about me......' 'My life sucks! It's not fair......I try so hard to live lives in both times! I really do! And what do I get? A pissy hanyou and a family that hates me. Mom doesn't call me her daughter anymore.' Oh Kagome......she doesn't acknowledge you as her daughter anymore? These pages are stained with tears. Oh Kagome-chan...... Here's the entry from three weeks ago. That's when she started acting weird. 'Mom and Souta hate me. When I come back thru the well, she yells at me and sometimes hits me. Souta just watches our fights, a little smirk on his face......It's all because I missed his twelfth birthday. I know it. It was all Inuyasha's fault. No one cares about me......Not Inuyasha. Not Miroku. Not Sango or Shippo. They can't even give me a thank you. No one loves me. I know what brings me comfort. Cuts and knives. I need a Bath......'**
"Miroku," Sango called out in a wavering voice, "I found su- something......"
"As did I," Miroku replied in a grim voice, "Swap findings?"
Sango nodded her head and they passed each other the papers they found. Sango started crying while she read the papers in her hand. They were notes from Kagome's mother. All of them were cold and emotionless. And all of them signed Asami, not Mom. Miroku read the entries of the diary that Sango did, got up, and walked towards the tree Inuyasha was lounging on.
"Inuyasha," He called out, "Catch!" He tossed the diary up to him. Inuyasha caught it and began to read. Minutes later he jumped down from his perch.
"Well, at least now we know why Kagome's like this," Inuyasha said in a grim tone that changed to a confused one when he asked next, "But why the hell'd she think we hate her? I'd've let her die a long time ago if I hated her, even if she could sense the shards. And what the fuck'd she mean by cuts and knives help her be comforted?! Does anyone get what she meant?"
Miroku spoke, "No, we don't know what she meant by that. But she also mentioned something about baths......"
"She has been taking really long, LONG baths lately......," said Sango.
"I vote someone follows her when she goes to bathe tomorrow. But she must not know that someone's following her," Miroku said.
"And it will NOT be you Bozu!"
"Yea, well, it won't be me either," stated Sango, "I can only be so quiet and she's always on the look out for me following her to the springs. And I agree, NOT Miroku. So that means that it's Inuyasha's job!" Inuyasha started sputtering excuses but Sango cut him off. "No ands, ifs, or buts Inuyasha! You're going!"
Inuyasha growled at them and jumped into his tree. **Kuso......fuck. What've I gotten myself into?**
TBC
Sorry it took so damn long.....hope it's ok! It's six pages..kinda pathetic, I know. But I thought it was ok. I'll try to get another chapter out faster!
' diary entries '
CuTtInG gAmE
Chapter 2: Bathing Rituals
The mix-matched group of people had been traveling for a day non-stop. Curse words flew. Hands grabbed. Monks were slapped. Hanyous were sat. Kitsunes laughed on the sidelines. Yep, all was normal. ::snort:: Yeah right! Inuyasha and Kagome had had a particularly nasty fight and Kagome was itching for a Bath. That's what she called her therapy sessions with her blade, Baths. She no longer cleaned with Sango, for she had acquired more than a few scars in the three month she had been cutting than she had fighting demons. Besides, she never felt comfortable bathing with the older girl. She just did it because it was polite.
"Inuyasha," Kagome said quietly, "Can we stop and rest for a while? It's getting dark and I'd like a quick bath."
"Another bath? You've been taking one EVER DAY! Sometimes twice even! You're clean, trust me on that!!"
"Come ON, Inuyasha! I just want a bath! We've been walking for hours and I'm sweaty, grimy, and want a bit of time to relax and be alone! Is that so much to ask?!?"
"YES! You can have a bath tomorrow, OK? NOT NOW!"
"Well then, you can just SIT ::thud:: down while I just disobey you and SIT ::thud:: until I some back. Hell, you can just sit, sit, SIT ::thud, thud, thud:: after I come back, too." With that, she started walked towards the spring they'd passed a few minutes ago but stopped short. "Oh, she said as and after thought, "Sit, sit, sit!" A crack was heard as she trotted away, humming.
Miroku and Sango stared as the Inuyasha shaped dent in the earth and then at Kagome's back.
"Well," Miroku stated, "That was......strange." Sango could only nod her head in agreement as she started to try to dig Inuyasha out of the body shaped hole in the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"God," Kagome muttered as she kicked off her shoes, "I'm sweaty, dirty, and aching for a cut. He should just let me be!" She stripped out of the rest of her clothes and waded into the water. "I'll just soak for a bit......"
Kagome grabbed her pocketknife. Then she dunked her head under the chilly water swam into a deeper section of the spring. As she started to loose air, she found a tunnel large enough for her to swim thru.
**Hmm......wonder what this could be.** she thought. Curiosity getting the better of her, she swam thru the tunnel. Her chest was constricting and aching; her air was running out. Suddenly, her head broke the waters surface and she could breath.
"Huh....an air bubble? Neat.....I'll have to come back here again." She doggy-paddled to a ledge and hoisted herself onto it. She opened the knife that she held in her hand and ran it across her thigh. She sighed as a strange tingly feeling ran down her leg. She then brought the blade up to her arm. Cut once, cut twice. Blood lined and L shaped cut on her upper arm. With three more swipes, and I was right next to the L. Then an F.
Kagome smiled a bit, trying to pinpoint the moments of her life that made her happy. Her talks with Sango, when Inuyasha opens up, when Shippo hugs me.....when Souta used to talk to her like he gave a damn. She pressed down hard on her skin.
**Ow** she thought as she looked at the cut on her arm **Time to go back I guess.** She jumped in the water and started her swim towards the shore of the pond so she could wash out all remnants of blood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at camp, Inuyasha was in one of his moods. He was pacing back and forth, muttering nonsense to himself. He snarled and growled at anyone who bothered him and smacked Shippo if he got within a yard of him.
**Where's Kagome?!** thought Inuyasha ** It's been almost and hour......she doesn't usually take so long! What if she comes back smelling like blood again.....what's wrong with her?**
Off to the side, Sango and Miroku were having their own conversation.
"Sango, what do you think is happening with lady Kagome? Don't you always take baths together?"
"I dunno Miroku," Sango said while chewing on her pinky, "She's gotten so silent and distant......she doesn't talk to me much anymore and has smile that says 'I-know-this-smile-is-fake-you-know-this-smile-is-fake-but-no-one- says-anything-anyway'. It's......disturbing, putting it lightly."
Miroku nodded his head, agreeing with her. "And when her fake smile isn't there her eyes and face are either void of all emotion or filled with grief, sadness, and depression. Something is seriously wrong."
"What should we do? She's not gonna tell anyone anything! She's pushing herself away for a reason, whatever it may be, and obviously does NOT want to talk......" Sango and Miroku had a distressed looks on her faces, but Miroku's disintegrated into a small grin.
"Let us say that Kagome just 'happens' to leave her backpack open while she's asleep and we just 'happen' to be hungry for ramen?" Miroku's eyes got a mischievous look. "And lets say she catches and questions us. What do we say? Why, we were looking for a midnight snack!"
"Snooping," Sango gasped, "Why didn't I think of it?" Miroku grinned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome had come home a short while after Sango and Miroku's little chat, and fixed dinner for the group. Everyone slurped his or her ramen quietly. Nervously. Miroku and Sango kept peeking looks at Kagome while Shippo chattered on about some pointless topic. Every so often, Kagome would smile at the kit and say a few words. Inuyasha observed the group with a glare.
**Feh** thought Inuyasha **Good thing Miroku told me about their plan, it might work. They said if they find anything, they would tell me......but what if we find nothing to explain Kagome's......morbidity and falseness. And what if what we find is so horrible......No! Don't think like that! She probably just has PMS. Keh! Stupid wench......** Inuyasha slurped the last of his ramen and put it down. He muttered thanks toward Kagome, not sure if she heard or not, and jumped into a tree. **This snooping better be worth it! She's pretty damn protective of all of her crap. Don't wanna be sat into my grave.......** He snuck a look at Kagome, her face decorated with a small smile **Her baths have been getting longer and she always smells weird after them. There's always a perfume and a faint, hidden scent of blood. I hope Sango and the bozu find out what's wrong with her.**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was nighttime and Kagome and Shippo had turned in for the night. Sango had pretended to get to sleep a little while before Kagome had set up her sleeping bag and Miroku didn't go to sleep at all. After ten minutes of waiting, Inuyasha announced that Kagome's breath had slowed and evened out. She was asleep. To be sure that she was out for the night, they waited another five minutes before crawling toward Kagome gigantic pack.
"OK," whispered Sango, "You look for any random papers and go thru note pads. I'll read thru her diary. I've got the extra key to open the lock. I'll also read thru some of these binder things and folders.....if you find anything strange, tell me."
Miroku nodded in confirmation and then dived into the humongous backpack, Sango digging thru it as well. Notebooks and folders were pilfered and read thru, but nothing useful was found yet. And Sango hadn't found anything weird written in the diary, either. Until she found the entry from three weeks ago, that is.
**Now hold on a minute** Sango thought **What is this!?** Half of the words in the entries she was reading she couldn't explain, but some things were still all too obvious. **Lessee....... 'Mom, Souta, and Jii-chan left for China without me. Without me! They forgot about me......' 'My life sucks! It's not fair......I try so hard to live lives in both times! I really do! And what do I get? A pissy hanyou and a family that hates me. Mom doesn't call me her daughter anymore.' Oh Kagome......she doesn't acknowledge you as her daughter anymore? These pages are stained with tears. Oh Kagome-chan...... Here's the entry from three weeks ago. That's when she started acting weird. 'Mom and Souta hate me. When I come back thru the well, she yells at me and sometimes hits me. Souta just watches our fights, a little smirk on his face......It's all because I missed his twelfth birthday. I know it. It was all Inuyasha's fault. No one cares about me......Not Inuyasha. Not Miroku. Not Sango or Shippo. They can't even give me a thank you. No one loves me. I know what brings me comfort. Cuts and knives. I need a Bath......'**
"Miroku," Sango called out in a wavering voice, "I found su- something......"
"As did I," Miroku replied in a grim voice, "Swap findings?"
Sango nodded her head and they passed each other the papers they found. Sango started crying while she read the papers in her hand. They were notes from Kagome's mother. All of them were cold and emotionless. And all of them signed Asami, not Mom. Miroku read the entries of the diary that Sango did, got up, and walked towards the tree Inuyasha was lounging on.
"Inuyasha," He called out, "Catch!" He tossed the diary up to him. Inuyasha caught it and began to read. Minutes later he jumped down from his perch.
"Well, at least now we know why Kagome's like this," Inuyasha said in a grim tone that changed to a confused one when he asked next, "But why the hell'd she think we hate her? I'd've let her die a long time ago if I hated her, even if she could sense the shards. And what the fuck'd she mean by cuts and knives help her be comforted?! Does anyone get what she meant?"
Miroku spoke, "No, we don't know what she meant by that. But she also mentioned something about baths......"
"She has been taking really long, LONG baths lately......," said Sango.
"I vote someone follows her when she goes to bathe tomorrow. But she must not know that someone's following her," Miroku said.
"And it will NOT be you Bozu!"
"Yea, well, it won't be me either," stated Sango, "I can only be so quiet and she's always on the look out for me following her to the springs. And I agree, NOT Miroku. So that means that it's Inuyasha's job!" Inuyasha started sputtering excuses but Sango cut him off. "No ands, ifs, or buts Inuyasha! You're going!"
Inuyasha growled at them and jumped into his tree. **Kuso......fuck. What've I gotten myself into?**
TBC
Sorry it took so damn long.....hope it's ok! It's six pages..kinda pathetic, I know. But I thought it was ok. I'll try to get another chapter out faster!
