"Higurashi" by Jezunya
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: me no own, you no sue ^-^
Sorry this took so long, mina-san! I had a bad case of Writer's Block -_-; Thank you to all of you wonderful people who reviewed!! (so many reviews….. @.@) And yes, I finally gave in and have titled the chapters. :p
Jeez.. There was a lot of crying in the last chapters, ne? Well, don't worry! Things should be a bit happier from here on out ^-~ (not to mention the plot will actually gets going…)
Narration "Speech" Thoughts
** ** ** ** **
Kagome sank into a deep depression. She rarely spoke, ate little, and spent most of her time either sitting by the well or curled up in Kaede's hut. The old miko claimed that this self-isolation was part of the healing process, though that did little to dispel the worry they all felt.
It was a usual day in the Sengoku Jidai. Or at least, what had become the usual in the last month or so since Inuyasha had carried a sobbing, family-less Kagome back through the well.
Kagome sat with her arms folded on the brim of the well, staring blankly down into it. Mama.. Souta.. Gramps… Why did you die? Why did you leave me here? She watched a tiny sparrow alight on the opposite side of the well. It paused, cocking its head and blinking up at her. She blinked back, her face as devoid of a smile as the bird's. The sparrow ruffled its feathers and hopped along the edge of the well, snatching up a dandelion seed that had drifted onto the wooden frame.
Her eyes followed the bird as it flew up into the blue summer sky and disappeared into the crushing grip of a hulking youkai.
The youkai was huge and black, with leathery skin and the curling horns and cloven hooves of a ram. Its hands were talons, long and sharp, and as it clamped its fist shut around the small bird, there was a crunch of bone and a sickening gurgle. Its cold and intelligent eyes fell on her, and Kagome felt a shudder run through her. She did not move, though.
The black eyes swept over her and a look of surprise and then recognition came into them. Then it looked her straight in the eye and smiled cruelly, revealing long, sharp, black teeth. "Daughter of the Sunset," it breathed, its voice as leathery and dry as its skin. It took a step toward her, one arm arching back for a mighty swing. "You die here."
She looked calmly up as the talons began to descend. Mama.. I'll be joining you soon…
***
Inuyasha loped through the forest, working the stiffness from his limbs. He'd been lounging on his branch all morning, watching over Kagome. When the sun had reached its zenith, he'd slipped to the ground and left on his daily run, as he did everyday. It was almost a tradition now. In the morning Kagome would walk out to the well, and he would follow her. He would hop up onto a tree branch as she settled herself next to the well. They would sit like that all morning, each aware of the other, but lost in their own thoughts. At midday, he would run off for a minute, stop at the village for food, bring it over to the well, and make Kagome eat it. They would reseat themselves and stay there through the afternoon. At dusk he would descend from his tree to pick up the girl and take her back to Kaede's hut.
It was such a perfected tradition, that Inuyasha was almost glad when he caught the scent of a hostile youkai. Almost. He froze and then bolted in the opposite direction he had been going when he realized where the scent was coming from.
The youkai swung its arm down, striking to kill. In a blur of red and white, he leapt at it, snarling in rage as he slashed through its arm. The youkai shrieked in pain and stumbled back, clutching the stump where its arm had once been. Its eyes, clouded with pain, focused on him.
"You…" It stopped, glancing over the dog-demon's shoulder at Kagome. "..And the Daughter of the Sunset… It will never come to pass!!" it shrieked, lunging at Inuyasha.
His first instinct was to dodge, but with Kagome behind him, that was not an option. So he met the attack head-on, grabbing the youkai's wrist in both his hands, twisting it around over his head, and hurling it away from them. It sailed a surprising distance for something so huge, flying across the clearing and smashing into a tree. Its form seemed to blur and flicker for a moment, like an unclear image on a TV screen. Then it was standing and the image was steady again.
It grinned viciously at Inuyasha, showing its black fangs, now smeared red with its own blood. "Do you actually think, Dog, that you can defeat me?" Its grin grew, turning into an almost insane smile. Suddenly, it disappeared.
And reappeared right behind Kagome.
Several things happened almost instantaneously: Inuyasha screamed at Kagome to duck as he drew Tetsusaiga, the youkai pulled back its good arm to take a swing at the girl, Kagome dropped to the ground, missing the monster's talons by a hair's breadth, and Inuyasha threw the Steel-cleaving Fang with all his might.
The youkai fell heavily to the ground, the sword buried up to the hilt in its chest. "Well.." it said, smiling weakly. "It appears you have killed me." Then it sighed and went limp. Its body blurred and then, in its place was a small, black, fox.
Inuyasha stood panting, then walked over to retrieve the Tetsusaiga. He looked over at the girl, who was still kneeling on the ground, staring at the dead kitsune. "Are you alright, Kagome?" he asked, flopping down on the ground next to her.
She turned wide eyes on him. "…You… saved me…" She sounded almost astonished.
"Of course I saved you, baka!" he said, almost angrily. "What were you doing just sitting there?! Are you trying to get yourself killed or something?!"
"…" She wouldn't meet his gaze, looking slightly ashamed.
Inuyasha's face softened. He pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "Don't scare me like that. I didn't protect you from Naraku and all his hell-born minions to lose you to some small-fry youkai," he said softly.
Kagome's eyes widened. That's right, she thought. Inuyasha.. wants me to live… Her eyes began to tear up and a whimper escaped her. "I-I'm sorry," she cried, burying her face in his kimono.
He held her, stroking her hair, until she quieted. She pulled back, smiling through her tears. "Arigatou, Inuyasha." She pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, looking away shyly. "I think I'm gonna be okay now." She climbed to her feet and offered him her hand, smiling again. He looked at it, then glanced up into her face uncertainly. At her encouraging smile, he took her small hand in his and stood up next to her.
They walked back to the village, hand in hand.
***
Inuyasha lay sprawled on the thatch roof of Kaede's hut. The hay was soft and smelled sweet, and the summer sun was at just the right angle to warm him and his perch, and yet not be shining in his eyes. He lay, seemingly at peace with his surroundings, but internally, chaos and confusion reigned. He couldn't focus his thoughts, which may have been caused by the comfortable setting, Kagome's lullaby-like humming coming from the ground below, or that he was completely confused by what he was trying to figure out.
For the most part, he couldn't stop thinking about the events of the last few days. Kagome had been attacked by a youkai. He'd saved her, of course, and the attack had seemed to jerk her out of the pit of despair she'd been wallowing in, much to his and the others' relief. She'd gradually returned to the happy, bubbly girl that had helped them defeat the ultimate evil while still managing to make it into a good high school. And she'd.. let him hold her hand…
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He couldn't be getting caught on minor details, no matter how much of a warm and fuzzy feeling they gave him. It was what the youkai had called Kagome – "Daughter of the Sunset" – that was bothering him.
He rolled over onto his stomach, thinking. He'd heard that before somewhere. Or.. read it, perhaps? Yes, he'd read it in… some kind of old text. A prophecy? No. Some type of political paper, something left by his father.
He felt a small prick on his cheek, and reflexively slapped it. A flattened flea-demon fluttered down into his waiting palm. "Myouga-jiji," he said, a soft growl tainting his voice. If anyone could give him advice on demon-lore it was the old retainer.
"Inuyasha-sama," the flea responded, popping back up. He looked intently at his master's face. "Something is troubling you?"
The hanyou nodded curtly. "That youkai that I fought at the well some days ago. It called Kagome 'Daughter of the Sunset.' That mean anything to you?"
Myouga's insect eyes widened, the lids nearly vanishing completely behind the too-big orbs. He looked thoughtful for a minute, then asked seriously, "What manner of youkai was it?"
"At first it looked like some kind of huge monster," Inuyasha said, remembering. "But it turned out to be a kitsune."
Myouga frowned. "Did you notice anything in particular about it? Like the color of its fur?"
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. Just where was the old geezer going with this? "It was black, not brown like Shippou."
The tiny demon's frown grew, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully with one hand. "Strange, strange.." he mumbled to himself. "There hasn't been any sign of them in these parts since.. since…"
The dog-demon peered at him closely. "Hasn't been any sign of who?"
"Oh! Inuyasha-sama! I f-forgot that… um.." Myouga stuttered, suddenly remembering where he was. "Uh, no, no. I have no idea why the Lady Kagome would be called such a thing," he said hastily. He bounced off his master's palm and was gone.
"HEY!" Inuyasha yelled, jumping up onto his hands and knees. He scanned the area, ignoring the startled villagers. When there was no sign of the cowardly retainer, he laid back down, grumbling to himself. That had gotten him nowhere. He'd just have to figure it out on his own, he decided.
But not right now, he thought sleepily, his eyelids drooping as Kagome's humming, the sun, and the hay finally got to him.
He slept.
***
He hopped through the forest, first going to the Bone-Eater's Well, then setting off in search of the corpse that he knew was close by. He came upon it a little ways into the forest, covered with a small amount of leaves and dirt. Inuyasha apparently didn't know how to properly bury an opponent, especially one who was as worthy as this one had surely been. Which was just as well, since he had hoped to be able to examine it.
The fur was by now caked with mud and beginning to decompose with the rest of the body, but in patches its true color still shown through: a deep, silky black, like the sky at midnight during a storm.
A Kurotsune.
They were appearing again, after nearly ten years. And they thought Kagome-sama was lost Child of Dusk. Which would have been an understandable mistake, as the girl carried impressive miko powers, not to mention her name.. But the Child had died, nearly sixteen years ago. It had to be a mistake, it had to be..
Something stirred in the forest, something magical. Myouga backed away warily. The fox was dead, but there was still much magic contained within its flesh, and he did not want to be there when its comrades came to fetch the body.
***
"Kaaaagooooooomeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The young priestess looked up from the herbs she was sorting just in time for a bawling fox-child to fling himself into her arms. Other village children were likewise rushing to their parents. "Shippou-chan," she coughed, trying to pry him off her neck. "What's wrong..?"
"Wewereplayingoutintheforest,whenthisbigmeanyoukaiattackedusanditalmostateonekidbutIdistracteditwithmyFoxFireandthenitcameaftermeandthenitstartedchasingusallbutitstoppedwhenwegottothevillageandnowit'sjustwaitingoutthereforanyonetoleavethevillageand.. and…" Shippou wailed. He sniffled, calming down slightly. "And it was scary!"
"It's okay, Shippou-chan," Kagome soothed, hugging the kitsune child. "You just stay here. Don't worry, we'll take care of it, won't we?" she said as she glanced up at the dog-demon sunning himself on Kaede's roof.
"Mn..?" Inuyasha mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes. "What is it we're going to take care of?"
"There's a youkai just outside the village, Inuyasha. Don't you think we should do something about it?"
"Yeah… Sure….. Z-z-z-z-z……."
"Inuyasha! Get up! Don't make me say the word!"
Inuyasha jerked up. "Alright, alright, I'm up," he yawned. He looked mournfully at his comfortable spot on the roof, then sighed and leapt to the ground. "So where is this nuisance of a youkai?" he asked, stretching.
"Over by the East road," Shippou said, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Sort of near the well."
Inuyasha nodded and started off in that direction, Kagome close behind him.
***
They met up with Sango and Miroku on their way out, and the four walked purposefully out to the forest, weapons in hand. They got all the way out to the Go Shinboku before there was even the slightest trace of a youkai.
It burst from the forest, swooping down form the branches of the huge trees and screaming like a banshee. It was huge and black like the youkai that had attacked Kagome before, but this one had the form of a sphynx. Its head was that of a human woman, the skin smooth and black like it had been stained with ink. From about the neck down, it had the lean body of a black panther. From its shoulders sprouted two huge bat-wings that were flared above its head as it pounced.
The sphynx attacked quickly, hissing and pawing at Inuyasha. He blocked the strikes easily with Tetsusaiga, but as soon as he tried to attack, it teleported over to the other side of the clearing, by Sango and Miroku. It concentrated on them for a few moments, but, as with Inuyasha, it blipped out of existence as soon as they took the offense.
They watched Kagome, the only one who had not yet been attacked, waiting for the youkai to reappear. An instant later, it did.
Thirty feet above them.
"Daughter of the Sunset," it hissed, its voice sounding like the wind rushing over dry parchment.
Kagome glared up at it, readying her bow. "Why do you keep calling me that?!" she yelled. She let the arrow fly, and the beast narrowly dodged it.
"My Mistress will be pleased to hear that you have at last been found." It smirked. "As I'm sure your father will be as well."
"What?!" Kagome exclaimed, her bow forgotten. My father?!
The sphynx smirked again, and disappeared.
They stared up at the place where the sphynx had been, half expecting it to appear and attack again. Inuyasha's thoughts were wild and confused. The youkai had spoken as if Kagome's father were alive and in this time. But that wasn't possible.. was it? He shook his head. He'd ask her about it later.
***
She sat out on a knoll over-looking the rice fields, watching the sun slowly edge toward the distant horizon. They kept calling her the "Daughter of the Sunset." What did it mean?
Perhaps…
She pulled out the letter. She always kept it close to her, as it was really the only thing she had left to remind her of her moth.. of her mom. She traced a finger over the neat writing on the outside of the envelope: Higurashi Kagome.
It was her name. Both in this time and the one she had grown up in. Higurashi.. "Sunset." I wonder.. Could that have been what the youkai were talking about? Her name?
But why would youkai be after her simply because of her name? It had to have something to do with her family. She rested her chin in her hand, frowning at the red-gold orb in the sky.
** ** ** ** **
Author's stuff: Well, how'd you like this last chapter? Good? Bad?
The "Kurotsune" are my own creations. The name pretty much translates as "black fox," I guess.
In case anyone was wondering, when Shippou's talking [bawling] to Kagome, he says: "'We were playing out in the forest, when this big mean youkai attacked us and it almost ate one kid but I distracted it with my Fox Fire and then it came after me and then it started chasing us all but it stopped when we got to the village and now it's just waiting out there for anyone to leave the village and.. and…' Shippou wailed. He sniffled, calming down slightly. 'And it was scary!'" Hehe.. Shippou-chan wa kawaii, ne? ^-~
Japanese terms you may or may not be familiar with:
Baka - idiot, stupid.
-chan - a name suffix that shows endearment; often used for small children (Shippou-chan), close family/friends (Chocho-chan) or just all-around cuteness (Inu-chan!! ^-^).
Go Shinboku - The "God Tree" that Inuyasha was pinned to for 50 years, which also stands in the Shrine complex in Kagome's time
hanyou - "half youkai," like Inuyasha; usually translated as half-demon.
-jiji - a rude way of saying "old man" or "gramps."
Kitsune - "fox," used to mean a fox spirit/demon with magical powers.
miko - a Shinto priestess.
-sama - a very respectful and honorific name suffix; translates as lord/lady.
Sengoku Jidai - "Warring States Period" or the feudal age in Japan, about 600 to 400 years ago (I think).
Youkai - usually translated simply as "demon," though it is really more of a broad term, referring to any-&-all traditional Japanese monsters ranging from ghosts to oni [ogres].
Don't forget to review!! ^-^