Nights in White Satin
Chapter two: A Youkai's Sanity
By Sleepwalking Chicken
Written: June 5, 2004
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It hurt. To feel the small glass ball slip down his throat and get lodged there was beyond painful. Excluding the fact that it's a fairly large ball of glass being shoved down your throat, it was dripping with demon energy, causing a sickening sensation to splash across Inu yasha's body and cause bile to rise in his throat. Finally, the sickening feeling of the shikon no tama in his throat disappeared and instead he was left with the empty feeling one often feels after eating too much or killing something pathetic and weak.
In a final attempt to release the power of the shikon no tama, Inu yasha let out a mighty scream as he constantly punched himself in the stomach, causing his muscular, smooth skin to turn a shade of pink in irritation.
His scream awoke his companions.
Kagome's eyes snapped open and she drew in a large gasp as the agonizing scream filled her ears. Sango, Miroku, Shippou and Kirara awoke as well, looking around with wide eyes. Miroku stood first and helped Sango, Kirara already charging ahead towards the door to Kaede's hut, flames beginning to engulf her. Shippou scurried to Kagome and climbed onto her shoulder as she grabbed her bow and slung the quiver of arrows over her shoulder.
They charged out of the house and were met with the sight of Inu yasha keeling over in a fetal position, grasping his stomach as he feebly punched at it while a dark figure stood above him, a large smirk on his face and a deep, disturbing chuckle erupting from his lips.
"Who are you?" Miroku demanded as he walked forward, taking charge as a monk. He pulled out his charms and brandished them to the supposed youkai. "What is your business here?" It was an absurd question, if the series of events did not demonstrate what was going on. After all, Inu yasha was on the ground, in obvious pain and the unknown figure was blocking their way to the fallen man. "What is your business here?" Miroku said louder when the youkai did not respond.
Kagome drew an arrow and pointed the tip at the youkai. His red eyes focused on her and they flashed with amusement. A small smirk grew on his face. "Ah, so you are the miko…"
Shippou's grip on her shoulder tightened. "Kagome…he smells like Naraku."
Kagome's eyes widened and she readied her bow, firing it quickly. The youkai dodged it easily and it thudded into the tree behind him. Kagome's eyes narrowed as she drew another arrow, mindful of Shippou's position on her left shoulder.
"What have you done to Inu yasha?" Kagome demanded, and she was surprised by her own tone. "Who are you?"
"I am Keanu," the red-eyed youkai said ignoring her first question. With a smirk he observed Kagome like a wolf did a piece of meat. "My, my, my," he murmured mostly to himself before his gaze shifted to Sango, who was wearing her slayer uniform. Miroku subconsciously stepped in front of the woman, blocking her from view, but still allowing her to throw her weapon if necessary. Keanu's eyes rose in amusement. "I am here to avenge my father's death, you could say," he said after a long moment of eyeing the two females in the group.
Inu yasha writhed behind Keanu and he smirked, doing a back kick and knocking the hanyou farther away. "That little scum disposed of my father. Killed him when he was in his prime," Keanu turned to glare at the hanyou but kept a well trained eye on his companions, who were poised to attack at the right moment.
Shippou's voice filled Kagome's ear, "He smells like Naraku!"
Keanu turned his gaze towards the kitsune, who 'eep'ed and hid behind Kagome's back, grasping the back of her shirt.
"A detachment of Naraku?" Sango murmured to the monk who gave a brief nod. There was no question about it; what stood before them was the remainder of an evil youkai, who's soul purpose was to avenge the fallen Naraku and kill the ones responsible for the defeat of the evil hanyou.
It was when Kagome's senses rose in defense that she realized something. She had grown so used to the familiar glow of a shikon shard or, at this particular time, the complete shikon no tama, that she had failed to realize until now that the glowing ball was no longer positioned around her neck but was instead behind Keanu. More specifically, where Inu yasha's body lay, where a right hand continued to bunch at his stomach, which was now bleeding, the skin broken. It was then that she saw the glow of the shikon in Inu yasha's throat. That meant one of two things. Either he was turning human, or something else.
Kagome's eyes narrowed and she drew another arrow, firing it quickly as it lodged into Keanu's arm. "What did you do to Inu yasha?" she screamed as Keanu's arm evaporated into nothing, the arrow's purifying energy preventing him from regenerating said appendage.
Keanu, pleased that his efforts had been recognized, grinned and shrugged with his remaining arm, "I simply did what my Lord Naraku would have wanted."
The others, who were unable to recognize the glow of the shikon, were conscious of the fact Inu yasha was in pain, but were not aware of the position of the jewel.
But they were soon distracted when Keanu began to glow and evaporate; much like his arm had done after Kagome's assault. His chuckles rang through the otherwise silent village as his red eyes focused on each member of their group, lingering the same amount of time, and his smirk growing large every time. "My time has come," he said as he stared at Miroku then to Sango. Kirara positioned herself in front of the humans causing Keanu's laugh to become louder and his smirk to widen. "I have fulfilled my duty and now it is time that I accompany my father," he continued to fade away, looking nothing more than a shadow, his eyes landed on Kagome and stayed there, before his smirk turned into a full blown grin. "Farewell."
Then he was gone, his sickening cackles the only evidence that he'd ever been there at all.
Throwing aside her weapon, Kagome raced towards Inu yasha and threw herself onto him. "Inu yasha!" she whispered into his hair, the silver-white strands slipping over her cheek like satin. She grabbed his shoulders and moved to turn him over, but his whole body tensed and a large growl met Kagome's ears.
It was then that Kagome focused on the shikon no tama, its once pink and pure glow a deep, evil black color, its aura radiating wickedness. At that moment, Kagome felt something overtake her as she sat, leaned against Inu yasha as his body tensed and convulsed beneath her. She closed her eyes tightly and focused all her healing energy towards the jewel, lodged deep within Inu yasha.
As Kagome focused her energy, the shikon no tama was purified for the last time.
Kagome felt the presence of the familiar pink jewel disappear until she could no longer make out the glow of the jewel.
Inu yasha fell still beneath her, yet his body was still tense, a small pool of blood collecting beneath him where he had been beating himself.
Kagome felt the others run up to her as she feebly stood, backing away from Inu yasha, who continued to lay there. The silence was broken when Shippou spoke,
"He smells different."
"How so?" Sango asked softly, as she stared at the still Inu yasha.
"I don't know…" Shippou whimpered. "He just smells different." Kirara mewed in agreement after she took a sniff of the hanyou.
"Does he smell like he was poisoned or injured by Keanu?" Miroku asked as he tried to figure out what was wrong with Inu yasha.
"No, it smells familiar, though. I don't think it has to do with Naraku or Keanu." Shippou hopped closer to Inu yasha and smelled the prone man. He reeled back in shock his eyes wide. "He's-"
But Shippou didn't have time to finish his sentence because Inu yasha was moving. Everyone's attention snapped to the fallen man as he struggled to sit up, using his arms to boost himself up. He coughed lightly and his hair fell over his face. He stood up as tall as he could without irritating his injury and stared at his friends.
The group let in a collected gasp.
The thing that everyone was painfully aware of was the fact that Inu yasha's dog ears were missing. Instead, there were ears on the side of his head. He stared at his friends with a curious gaze before his eyes widened in realization of what had just happened. He spun around, his silver-white hair whipping around him as he tried to locate Keanu, only to discover with a sniff of his nose that he was gone.
Kagome stared at what had once been the hanyou Inu yasha. No, instead she was looking upon an Inu yasha with pointed ears, two jagged, purple lines, one on each cheek, long fangs just barely poking out from his mouth, long, and deadly looking claws on each finger and thumb. But what surprised her the most was not the fact that Inu yasha was in his youkai form, but the fact he was sane in his youkai form.
His eyes.
His beautiful golden eyes still remained; however there was no mistaking the rim of red that surrounded the molten gold, almost invisible unless you truly looked.
But the message was clear:
The shikon had done its damage.
Inu yasha stared at his companions for a long moment before staring at his right hand. He bit his lip and closed his eyes before thrusting his hand into his stomach. Kagome let out a loud screech of surprise before rushing forward and grabbing his hand. "Inu yasha!" she shrieked, causing the said boy to cringe. "Stop it! What are you doing?"
For a brief moment Kagome feared that he would not be able to speak, that perhaps the jewel had done more on the inside instead of just the outside. But soon his voice, smoother and calmer than it had ever been in his human form whispered,
"I have to get it out."
Kagome was puzzled slightly by this. Hadn't Inu yasha always dreamed of being a youkai? But he had refused because of his desire to remain sane, now here he stood as a youkai in his right mind…but he wanted to get it out?
His hand wrenched inside him, searching for the jewel. Kagome suppressed a shriek for the sake of his hearing and grabbed his hand with both of her human ones. Tears collected in her eyes at the self mutilation and she shook her head frantically. "It's gone, Inu yasha, its gone," she whispered to him, knowing he could hear her.
His body tensed and he allowed Kagome to remove his hand. With his eyes turned downward he slowly collapsed to his knees and stared at the grassy fields, then the darkened sky, seeing it all in a new light, seeing it with increased clarity. But at that moment, he would have preferred to be blind.
"No…" he whimpered.
Kagome collapsed next to him and hugged him tightly. "Its gone…"
A sob racked her body, "I'm sorry."
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Kagome stared out past the village, towards the Goshinboku, where Inu yasha was most probably waiting out the day. Ever since his change had overtaken him, two days prior, he had been shunned by the villagers as a monster and a common thief. Thus, he had spent his days in the God Tree, far enough away from the village to keep the people happy, but close enough to ensure that he could protect Kagome if ever the need should arise.
Kagome and the rest of their companions had gone to visit him often, but he had refused to leave the tree he resided in, and Kagome didn't have the heart to 'sit' him for fear of upsetting him even more and setting him down into the hole of depression of which he had found himself sinking deeper and deeper into.
She had explained the situation to Kaede, who in turn had prayed for the youkai -who was no longer a hanyou- and would make the poor soul some food for Kagome to bring to him. At this moment in time, Kagome was awaiting Kaede to finish the food she was preparing for the inu youkai.
Kaede emerged from her hut with a bowl of soup and handed it to Kagome. "Give Inu yasha my regards," she said with her heavy accent as her good eye watched Kagome nod and begin her trek towards the outskirts of the village.
"I will, thank you Kaede-bachan," Kagome said kindly and set out towards Inu yasha.
Meanwhile, Inu yasha was in his tree. With his new heightened senses, he was able to hear the heartbeats of the birds in the branches above him, and the padding of forest creatures as they scurried about. It was all very annoying and hard getting used to. As a hanyou, he'd gone his whole life with senses that were better than a human's, but youkai senses were much better than a hanyou's, not to mention distracting. It was hard to concentrate on your thoughts when you can hear a bird flapping by in the wind.
He sighed sadly as he stared at the sky. He knew what he was. Yet it was so hard to accept. Why was it that he was forced to become a youkai? Not too long ago, he'd be thrilled, but now…now he was immortal. Kagome was mortal. He sighed depressingly. Kagome would outage him, while he would forever more carry the scars she would eventually leave behind.
"Inu yasha?" Her voice filtered through the forest. Funny, he hadn't heard her come up, perhaps he was finally getting used to this superior youkai senses and therefore could concentrate on depressing thoughts instead of those approaching him? He mentally snorted, that couldn't be too good….
"What?" he yelled from his position in his tree, knowing that Kagome didn't have these 'superior senses' he used to brag about but could now see that what he once had was nothing compared to this. He could smell her feelings. That was certainly odd.
"I have food," she yelled back. He knew that. He'd smelled it.
"I'm not hungry," he answered back, not wanting her to see him in his youkai state. It was embarrassing. He was even more of a freak than he used to be. At least as a hanyou he could go to Kagome's time with a simple hat placed over his head. Now he had his fangs poking out of his mouth, his claws dangerously long, his eyes rimmed with red, purple stripes and pointed ears. How was he supposed to hide that? He wasn't, that's what.
Plus, now that the shikon no tama was gone, Kagome couldn't return home, or else she wouldn't be able to return. That thought alone made his heart clench in his chest. He wondered if she knew of the plight they were about to face concerning the time well.
"Please just eat, Inu yasha," Kagome's pleading voice reached him. "You haven't eaten at all since yesterday morning. I'm worried."
"Leave it there, then." Truth be told, he hadn't eaten in ages. The breakfast had been dumped out in a bush, his appetite having left him since that dreadful night. He hadn't wanted to worry Kagome so he had taken the food, but hated having to waste it, and the fact that the smell lingered in the bush for a while, until it had rained yesterday evening.
"Inu yasha…" Her voice was pleading. If she wanted him to eat so bad, why didn't she just sit him? The Gods knew that that's what she always did when she couldn't win her own battles.
"You don't want to look at me," he snapped and crossed his arms, though he knew Kagome couldn't see this gesture.
Then he heard Kagome laugh quietly. "Inu yasha, you should know that I don't care, you should know that you'll always be Inu yasha to me." her voice was soft and gentle. "Come down and eat, please?"
With a defeated sigh he stood in his branch and jumped, descending from the tree and landing beside Kagome, his head down. How could she stand to look at him? He had lost his humanity.
Kagome tenderly touched his shoulder and forced him to sit down, where she handed him the soup, which turned out to be a recreation of ramen, even though it lacked the futuristic touch that his beloved ramen held. He ate it up greedily, conscious of the fact that Kagome was watching him carefully.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in silence between them, both content in the other's presence. Though Inu yasha's mind still weighed with his drastic change and other thoughts that continued to linger in his mind. What was he to do next?