Disclaimer - I don't own Inuyasha. I don't claim to own Inuyasha. I never
will claim to own Inuyasha. So there! ^_^
A/N - Alrighty! Here's the scoop. Before you decide to throw tomatoes at me for taking like years to update, I have an excuse! (And a lovely little compensation to go with it! ^-^) *Takes a deep breath* I've been super super busy with homework and my grandpa and all sorts of stuff, so I've have like no time to get on the computer, and extremely limited time to write. We've been doing a lot of driving around...so I write in the car and such, but I don't write real fast at all. ^ ^;; But! You're gonna love the compensation! ^-^ Guesses, anyone? (Oh for goodness sakes, I'll just tell you...) I've written and posted two chapters for you!! And I've already gotten a little bit done on chapter 9! Happy? ^_^; Oh! One more thing; have I mentioned Inuyasha's age? (I'm talking about in my fan fic, not his real age. ^ ^;) I know I said that Kagome's 16...but I don't think I ever said how old Inuyasha is. So in case you were wondering, he's 18. ^_^ Why 18 and not 17? Because I didn't think it was appropriate for him to have been in love with Kikyo when he was only 16 years old. Well anyway...enjoy! ^_-
With You
Chapter 7
Midnight Memories
Kagome sipped another spoonful of soup as she sat in front of the warm fire in Kaede's hut and finished her account of the happenings of the past few days. "...And that's when you found me on the road." She ended with a weak smile.
"Goodness..." Kaede breathed as she finished bandaging up her companion "You have been through a lot dear. I can imagine that you're exhausted." she smiled gently at her "Would you like to be off to bed now?"
"...Do you think you could tell me how you escaped first?" Kagome requested half eagerly as she wrapped a finger in the cloth of the dress Kaede had given her. It was plain...but it was nice. Besides, she would have really stood out if she were to walk into town with a used-to-be beautiful dress, tattered and muddied and ripped, with a few blood stains here and there. Yep, the she would have fit right in with that.
"Oh, I'd forgotten about it...but yes child, I can tell you." She replied with the same, kind smile; though she seemed a bit saddened... "Now firstly, prior to when you met me, I had been in that same prison cell for only several days before you were brought into the next cell. And from when I was brought in, to when I removed the brick from the wall, I had been working on a spell."
"A spell...?" Kagome wondered aloud, then suddenly an intrigued expression crossed her face "Then that must mean you're a priestess!" she gasped.
Kaede smiled "Yes, princess dear, I am a priestess."
"But..." that wasn't right. This woman couldn't be that Kaede...! "Only women from a royal bloodline can be priestesses." She stated "So Kaede, does that mean that you're..."
"You're thoughts are correct." She affirmed the younger girl "I was once...princess Kaede of the eastern Kingdom." (Wahahaha! Surprise, anyone? ^-^ ::stares at readers:: come on... somebody? ::readers stare back:: ¬_¬ fine then. But anyway, I wanted to get things straight, just incase anybody forgot about who rules over which Kingdom! At the present time, Naraku -as well as Kagura and Kanna- rule over two kingdoms; the north and the east. Kagome's mom is queen over the west kingdom, and I'm not gonna tell you who the ruler of the southern kingdom is! ::sticks tongue out:: you'll just have to wait! ^-^ Guesses anyone?)
Kagome's eyes widened a bit as her jaw slipped a little from its place. That couldn't be right...!! She had heard about the ruckus in the eastern Kingdom about a year ago, but she hadn't been filled in on a lot of details.
She knew the bare facts...like how the King had caught a fatal disease and died a little over a week after, and how his elder daughter Kikyo had become queen, only to commit suicide within two weeks of her reign. Then lord Naraku of the northern kingdom had taken over the eastern lands in their weakened state, and young princess Kaede had fled from the castle. She hadn't heard anything else about the whole situation...but what she did know for a fact was that princess Kaede had been around Souta's age through the incident. She was not a sixty some year old woman.
But then...on what grounds did this woman claim to be the young princess and priestess Kaede?
"I don't understand, Miss Kaede." Kagome furrowed her brow "It isn't possible for you to be princess Kaede; she was a young girl."
She let out a labored sigh "You know of the incident last year, correct?"
Kagome nodded meekly.
"...After I had fled from the castle, I went into this very village." she continued as she ladled Kagome another bowl of soup "I wanted to be entirely away from my kingdom, but I later found out that I was in the northern kingdom, which was also ruled by Naraku. The few people I associated with in this village welcomed me gladly, even though I was no longer a princess of the eastern lands. I had stayed with an older couple for a bit over a week, but on the tenth night a curse was cast on me in my sleep." Kaede handed Kagome her bowl and sat back down "It was a curse of old age." She sighed "That's why I look the way I do now."
"So...you really are still a ten year old girl?" Kagome questioned, trying to straighten her brain out.
Kaede shook her head expressively "No, it's not just in my appearance; I have literally advanced around fifty-five years in my life."
"Wow..." she breathed "I didn't know that a spell like that existed..."
"But about the spell I had been working on," Kaede resumed "Since almost the entirety of my strength was gone, I had very small amount of it to work with. That had not really mattered though, because the spell I was creating was a minuscule one. It consisted of merely weakening a small section of the wall and cracking the plaster around the edges of a certain brick or space in it. It was quite simple, actually."
"Is that when you knocked the brick out?"
"Yes dear, that was it." Kaede nodded "Then later on, when I was removed from that cell, they were planning on keeping me in one of the more local prisons, but at the last minute there was an order from lord Naraku to set me free."
"Just like that?" Kagome frowned and tilted her head. It really surprised her that they'd be so straightforward about it...
"I still don't know why he did so to this day." She shrugged. "The order was simply to set me free. But that's about all of the story there is to tell..."
"So off to bed, huh?" Kagome smiled as she ended for her.
She padded her way across the wooden floorboards and followed Kaede to a small room in the back of the hut "You can sleep in here, child." She said with a quiet grin. "There's a window in the corner if you'd like a little bit of fresh air." They exchanged a bows and Kaede left the room, shutting the door silently behind her and leaving Kagome to herself.
Wasn't something she wanted right then. Because if she was left to herself, she'd have time to think; and guess who would come to mind first?
She still felt like she needed to apologize to him...it was partly her fault. He wasn't in the best of shape either; what if he hadn't gotten any medical attention yet? Plus, she hadn't thanked him for saving her life!! That was so selfish of her...
And if she knew Inuyasha, she knew he was not going to be the first to apologize. Nope, she'd have to do it. But how would she find him? He was probably miles away by now...
Well...those matters could wait; she really needed some sleep first.
~~*~~
Inuyasha lay in the tree, the floodgates of heaven still open, as he glared at the sky through the mesh of bare branches.
He'd wanted to rest for a while; you know - nap, have a siesta, snooze, check for holes in his eyelids - that kind of thing. Just for a few hours of the night he'd wanted to sleep; to take a break from everything. But did that happen?
Nope. He hadn't caught a wink.
Why? He wasn't exactly sure...perhaps it was because of the food they fed him in there? He hadn't gotten to finish it anyway...
The rain, maybe? Actually, he was doubtful of that...he'd fallen asleep in the rain before, and it didn't really bother him.
He sniffed the air lightly, but afterwards he'd wished he hadn't. The scent on his hands... he'd done an okay job of ignoring it for a while... but it was starting to bother him again. The blood scent...all those men's blood. He'd gotten his own claws covered in it, and it was haunting him.
So he hopped out of the tree and trudged his way to a nearby creek. He had to try and get that horrid smell off of him...
The creek water was a kind of icy cold...rather uncomfortable, in his opinion. He waded in quickly anyway, and furiously whipped his hands under the rain-rippled water. Standing there as minutes passed, he repeated the process with growing restlessness.
But the odor wouldn't go away.
He couldn't get it off of his hands...it just wouldn't be removed. There really wasn't anything else he could do about it but wait for it to fade away; which would, most likely, take a while. He didn't want to have to sit with it for so long...he'd never killed anyone before, and losing himself like that and slaughtering that many men was a little overwhelming.
As a result, he just attempted to ignore it some more and stomped back to his tree.
He sighed and repositioned himself again - for the twentieth time. For some reason or another, he kept getting the tiniest little hunch that the reason he couldn't sleep was because of his guilt. Personally, he thought it was quite unfair... What had he done to make his conscience hate him so much? He'd killed those men... and even though he knew that was most likely a great percentage of the emotional burden he was bearing, he knew that wasn't the only thing that was bothering him. She was what he was feeling guilty about, and it was upsetting him. He'd already convinced himself that it wasn't his fault, because it wasn't! It was all her fault for blowing up at him, and no one could tell him different.
And that wasn't the only thing he'd decided.
In the past, he had already made up his mind about this one; he wasn't going to associate with any women. Wasn't gonna stay with them, take charity from them, trust them, be friends with them, and above all; fall in love with them.
But...he'd already failed with that once, hadn't he? He'd let himself fall in love...
...with Kikyo.
Inuyasha shook his head violently; he wasn't going to dwell on the past, and he wasn't going to let it repeat itself with anyone - ever! It would only end in pain...
It had really upset him when the Kagome girl had kept calling him by his name and trying to be nice to him despite how callously he'd acted towards her. She'd blown up at him once or twice...but she hadn't completely loathed his existence - or at least he hadn't though she did. All the other people he'd encountered had hated him...either because of his behavior, or because of who he was. Then again, everyone detested and despised him...
Actually, that wasn't entirely true; not everyone. There had been a couple of people...his mother for one, hadn't hated him at all; she'd loved him. And then there was Kikyo... but with the exception of the two of them, there wasn't anyone who cared. Besides...he didn't want anyone to care anymore. And he wasn't going to care either.
But he'd slipped a little with Kagome, and it angered him now. He'd let himself watch her and think about her. She would often make him think of Kikyo too...she didn't act like her at all; nope, that wasn't their similarity. But Kagome...she looked just like Kikyo.
It wasn't something he'd noticed right away...but when he'd smashed down the wall, and saved her from those idiots, he'd seen the resemblance. It was really creepy for him...it was almost like Kikyo had came back; but she hadn't.
There was that time in the hall, earlier that day, when he'd been carrying Kagome and she'd offered to walk by herself and use him as a 'walking stick'. It had reminded him of that time last year...
~~Flash~~
Inuyasha's ears straightened; something was wrong...he could feel it. He was on his way to meet Kikyo, like he usually did in the afternoon, but he could sense that she was in a bit of trouble... Could it have been a youkai? If it was, it must have been a really powerful one to actually make Kikyo put up a fight.
He bolted off in the direction she was in, and found her in the forest aiming her arrow at a slouching, pink haired demon. (A/N - Sound familiar? It's Jeromaru! [sp?] Ha ha ha ha! Don't worry; he isn't in for a long stay. ^_^ And actually...I'm not going to bring Kageromaru [sp?] out, because then...idk, I just don't want to! I didn't like him... ::glares at a picture of Kageromaru:: he's icky. I'm not saying I liked Jeromaru, he was gross too. And I'm making him just a tidbit easier to defeat. ^ ^; just a bit! Okay, maybe a little more that a bit...) Without saying a word of warning, he ran up to it and swung his claws. "Sankontetsou!" But as the dust cleared, he saw that the demon was gone. "What?"
"Nangh...!" Inuyasha cried was smacked forcefully onto the ground from behind. "What the hell!?" He stood up and spun around, but all he found was one of Kikyo's arrows. He looked over at her quickly as he asked her where the demon had gone. (A/N - And just FYI, Kikyo didn't shoot the arrow at Inuyasha, she shot it at Jeromaru. V_V)
"There!" she answered as she readied another arrow and pointed it towards a patch of bushes near her where the creature resided.
Inuyasha sped to the opposite side of the shrubs that Kikyo was on, and ran a few feet back. The second she fired the arrow and the demon jumped out of the bushes, he dashed up next to it. "Sankontetsou!" he shouted with a second swipe of his claws, crushing it.
He turned to Kikyo with a frown "You okay? You should have just shouted for me, you know."
"I know." She replied as she smiled "Thank you."
"Whatever..." he grumbled as he looked down at the ground. Why did he still have the cold edge about him, even around Kikyo? She knew him; understood him. She could see right through his bad attitude, and interpret his 'whatever' as a 'you're welcome'. So why did he still answer her 'thank you' with a 'whatever'? "Did you get hurt?" he asked ineptly.
"Just a little..." she replied slowly "It's nothing incurable. My knee just twisted a bit..."
Inuyasha leaned back against the tree behind him, still looking at the forest floor. The very least he could do for her right now was to be courteous to her... "...I'll carry you back if you want me to."
Kikyo pursed her lips and shook her head "No...you don't need to do that. Just leaning on your arm would be fine."
He shrugged and walked over next to her, pushing his arm towards her. "I'll bring you straight home" he said as he turned his gaze towards hers "There's someone there who can fix up you leg, right?"
She nodded, still looking at him as she took hold of his arm.
Inuyasha didn't like the pressure he felt when he just looked at her like that, and she just looked back; he was sure she felt that way to. So he was the first one to end the suspense. "It's not far." He stated as he looked forward and broke the spell they seemed to be in. "We'll be there in no time."
Kikyo nodded again as she looked forward as well. But as they started to walk, she realized that her injury was a bit worse than she had predicted. She had to use a lot of her strength just to keep herself standing.
He swept a side glance at Kikyo as she struggled to walk. It looked like her injury wasn't as diminutive as she thought it was. And since he disliked seeing her in pain, he quickly slipped his arm out from hers, letting her fall backward a little, then lifted her up and soared off at a much quicker pace.
She nearly laughed as she looked up at him as they flew through the air. "He knew I couldn't have lasted for much longer, didn't he? I didn't even need to say anything...and he understands me perfectly."
Once they arrived near the castle grounds, Inuyasha set Kikyo down near the border. "I can leave you here, right?"
"All I have to do is yell and someone will come running." Kikyo said as she laughed lightly.
"So..." Inuyasha looked down at his feet. "Will you be okay by tomorrow?"
She copied his action as she answered him quietly "I don't know...it's possible."
He cleared his throat and gazed up at her (Actually, down...she's sitting on the grass...) "Do you want me to come by tomorrow? I can get up to your window without the guards seeing..."
She nodded and briefly looked up (She really is looking up...) "Thank you, Inuyasha."
And with that, he left.
~~Flash~~
The situation hadn't been exactly the same...but it had been similar. It was funny...the more he thought about it, the more he saw how amazingly identical they were. Kagome was a royal servant, Kikyo was a princess. Kagome tried to be nice to him, Kikyo tried -and succeeded- in being nice to him. Not to mention they were nearly identical.
But then...all the same, they were unbelievably different from each other. Kagome was really loud, Kikyo was very quiet. Kagome got angered easily, Kikyo never got angry. And Kikyo was much more mannerly and intelligent than her mirror image, Kagome.
He'd broken a few of his own rules with Kagome as well. He'd accompanied her for a little while, he'd let her be kind to him and he hadn't always refused, and he'd gotten more or less close to being friends with her. That had been bad; he'd let her get to close...
It didn't really matter though; he doubted he'd ever see her again...
~~*~~
"Oof...da..." A very tired Kagome groaned. She'd been laying there for hours, desperately trying to float herself off into dream land. Did she ever get there?
Take a wild guess.
She sighed and walked over to the wooden shutter near the corner of the small room. That fresh air Kaede had mentioned sounded good right about now. It was a little stuffy in there...
She pushed the window opened and smiled as the cool breeze gently lifted some of her hair off of her shoulders. "It's still raining...?" she whispered. Even thought the sky was clouded, there was still a small space in them where the moon could be seen. There was as pretty glow around it, too...
"I wonder..." she thought as she crossed her arms on the small windowsill, placing her hands on her shoulders with her chin on her arms. "How am I going to find Inuyasha tomorrow...? I really don't have any idea as to where he is..." Yeah...it was going to be a difficult task.
Inuyasha was a complete mystery to her. Why was he always so mean? Quite often when she'd try and get along with him, he'd ignored her or shouted at her. And what had happened when his eyes turned red? His conscience must have been bothering him right then...
It made her feel bad, because it was her fault. If she hadn't gotten into trouble in the first place, Inuyasha would have gotten hurt so bad, and he wouldn't have such a horribly guilty conscience. And he'd bothered to carry her and let her lean on him all that time, with all his injuries. He wasn't a bad guy...he was just kind of...well; hard-hearted I guess you could say. But...why?
In some very vague way, Inuyasha kind of reminded her of her father...She had no idea why; they were complete opposites. Her dad had always been kind and gentle, always laughing and playing with her when she was little. And even though her memories of him were limited, she still loved him...
~~Flash~~
"Daddy, daddy!" Kagome piped as she ran up to her father "Is it true?! Is it true?! Is mommy really gonna have a baby?! Does that mean I get a new baby brother or sister?! If he's a boy what are you gonna name him?! And what are you gonna call her if she's a girl?!"
"Whoa whoa..." Mr. Higurashi laughed "Slow down, sugar-puff. Not so many questions at once! Now..." he began as he leaned down to her level "Firstly; yes. Secondly; yes. Thirdly; yes -and it should be here in four months-. Fourthly; yes. Fifthly; Souta. Sixthly; Buyo."
Kagome wrinkled her nose "Buyo, daddy? That's a silly name for a little girl! It sounds like a boy's name..."
"Hmm..." he hummed as he rubbed his chin with his forefingers "Maybe you're right. Okay then, how about we name the new cat Buyo instead?"
"Well that's a better id- A kitty?!!" she squeaked as she jumped in the air. Wow! Lots of good things were happening! "We're getting a kitty, too?!"
He laughed again as he patted her head "Yes, yes, we're going to get a kitty."
"Oh thank you, daddy!!" she squealed and dove into his arms. "I promise I'll take good care of him!"
"Well you better!" he smiled. But all too soon, his dazzling smile turned into a mellow one. "But that's not the only thing I want you to take care of." He told her as he set her down and put his hands on her shoulders. "Daddy has to leave for a while...and I need you to take care of your mother while I'm gone."
"How long are you going to be gone?" she frowned. Okay...maybe not everything that was happening was good... "Will you be here when the baby comes?"
"Yes, I think so..." he pressed his lips together thoughtfully.
"Well...where are you going?" she asked and tilted her head.
"I have to go to a something called a 'war'."
"What do you have to do at the war?"
"I have to fight for our home."
"Huh?"
"You know...our castle, the villages and towns and all the people that live in them." he stretched his arms out expressively and gave her a half-grin "Everybody!"
Kagome blinked in amazement "You're gonna fight for everybody all by yourself?"
"No no..." he chuckled "I couldn't do it all myself. There are lots of people coming to help me. You see, we all come together and fight; we don't do it by ourselves, sugar-puff. We couldn't."
"Ooh...I think I get it now." Of course she didn't...but she had to keep daddy happy, right?
"Good." He nodded "Now, I'll be leaving in about a week, and I'll be pretty busy until then...so why don't we go and play hide and seek while we have the chance?"
She nodded cheerfully and tagged after her father down the stairs.
~~Flash~~
Kagome sighed to herself; that had been the last time...
Something clicked in her head right then. Did Inuyasha have a family? She had Souta and her mother and her grandpa. Even Buyo was like part of her family...
So...who did Inuyasha have?
According to what she'd heard from Kaede, he lived on his own and he would steal from villages and towns. She hadn't thought he was a thief when they'd brought him in... in fact, she hadn't know much about him at all. Just that he was a hanyou, and he had been causing some sort of trouble. But she still didn't know anything about his family.
Had they died, maybe? That could have been the reason he often seemed cold and closed up. He didn't like to say what he was thinking either...
Now she felt really bad... Inuyasha was all alone, with no family or friends, and he just gotten a big bruise to himself emotionally as well as physically. And - as she'd said before - the latter were her fault. She had to find him, then she'd have to apologize to him, then she'd have to thank him for saving her and helping her.
Now there was a tricky 'to do' list.
Kagome shrugged and shut the window, crawling under the blanket Kaede had left for her. She didn't want to get too warm...she just liked sleeping under a blanket.
She closed her eyes and rolled onto her side as she thought silently to herself "Will I ever get back home? I don't know how I would get there...but there must be some way, or some one, that could get me on the correct path, right?" Kagome wandered off to a dreamless sleep with one last thought "Maybe...Inuyasha?"
~~*~~
"Morning already...?" Inuyasha mumbled as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. He stretched his arms out tiredly and looked down at his middle as he put one hand to it. "Yep, completely closed up now." He wasn't fully healed...the wound had just sealed up on the outside, leaving no trace or scar. But wait...when had he fallen asleep anyway?
With a yawn, he sat up from his perch and took a look at his surroundings. It had to have stopped raining only an hour or so ago, because the sun was up and shining and puddles were still lingering on the damp grass.
He hopped down from the tree nimbly "Now," he started as he brushed a stray leaf off his sleeve "For breakfast!" Inuyasha shot up into the air and headed towards the nearest village. He didn't know which village it was...but he was sure he was heading towards one; he could smell it. But as he neared the village, his nose caught another scent...
It was Kagome's.
"Shit..." he cursed under his breath as he landed on a stray log. "I might run into her if I go to this one..."
But if he didn't go to this village, he'd have to travel quite a ways to get to the next one; it was pretty far away ...the scent was very faint. And his stomach was practically barking at him; it had given up growling quite a while ago. He hadn't gotten to finish his meal yesterday afternoon because he'd gotten in an argument with a certain girl...
All the same, if he went to the village that was only about a half a mile away from him, he'd see her. That wasn't something that he wanted to happen...
Inuyasha sighed loudly as his stomach started barking at him again.
That was it. His hunger had just decided for him. He could dodge Kagome... he was stealthy enough!
So he jumped off once again, in the direction of the village.
~~*~~
"Kagome." Kaede roused her "Would you like something to eat?"
She blinked herself awake and sat up wearily "Yes...thank you...just an apple please." She requested.
Kagome fumbled to her feet slowly and shuffled after Kaede into the main room of the hut, accepting the large apple she was given readily. "Are you sure you wouldn't like anything else, dear?" Kaede queried. She shook her head in response and chewed her apple in the most mannerly way she could manage.
They ate in a comfortable silence, and when they finished, Kagome decided to ask Kaede's opinion on looking for Inuyasha. "Miss Kaede...I want to go find Inuyasha." Hey, may as well get straight to the point! "...But I wouldn't really know where to find him."
Kaede smiled; she understood. "I know someone who would be able to help you." She said simply. "But first...do you think you could do me a small favor?"
"Sure"
"Could you run down to the village market and get me a bushel of apples, please?"
"I can do that." She smiled as she received the money Kaede handed her.
"The markets are at the other end of the village... but if you go right once exiting the hut, and walk straight to then end of the road and turn right again, then turn left once you reach the blacksmith shop, you should find them."
"Okay... I'll be back soon!" she chirped and left the hut briskly.
Kagome jogged up the dirt road and looked on either side of her at all the houses and huts she passed. This town was a lot bigger than she though it was...
A/N - You know, there was no point whatsoever to having a cliffy right there, because I typed up another chapter anyway! So you're just gonna know what happened right away...that was futile. *sigh* Anyway, does anybody but me think those flashbacks get a little annoying after a while...? And sorry to anyone who hates Kikyo. ^ ^; I know you all are going to want to strangle me for this...but I don't hate her at all. Actually...I kind of like Kikyo; in some, vague sense. ^ ^;;;; It wasn't her fault that that whole mess with her and Inuyasha happened...I can't blame her for that. And though I was super upset when she kissed Inuyasha and tried to kill Kagome, I don't hate her. ^ ^; Maybe God just gifted me with a lot of compassion for bad characters...? ^ ^; idk... I mean, I don't hate Nakago from Fushigi Yugi. x_x is that weird or what? But with Kikyo and such, I'm NOT saying I'd rather have Kikyo and Inuyasha be the main couple of 'Inuyasha', because I wouldn't want that. Kagome and Inuyasha forever!!! XD I love them as a couple. ^-^ They fit so perfectly together, don't you think? Heh heh... ^_^
~Eternal White~
A/N - Alrighty! Here's the scoop. Before you decide to throw tomatoes at me for taking like years to update, I have an excuse! (And a lovely little compensation to go with it! ^-^) *Takes a deep breath* I've been super super busy with homework and my grandpa and all sorts of stuff, so I've have like no time to get on the computer, and extremely limited time to write. We've been doing a lot of driving around...so I write in the car and such, but I don't write real fast at all. ^ ^;; But! You're gonna love the compensation! ^-^ Guesses, anyone? (Oh for goodness sakes, I'll just tell you...) I've written and posted two chapters for you!! And I've already gotten a little bit done on chapter 9! Happy? ^_^; Oh! One more thing; have I mentioned Inuyasha's age? (I'm talking about in my fan fic, not his real age. ^ ^;) I know I said that Kagome's 16...but I don't think I ever said how old Inuyasha is. So in case you were wondering, he's 18. ^_^ Why 18 and not 17? Because I didn't think it was appropriate for him to have been in love with Kikyo when he was only 16 years old. Well anyway...enjoy! ^_-
With You
Chapter 7
Midnight Memories
Kagome sipped another spoonful of soup as she sat in front of the warm fire in Kaede's hut and finished her account of the happenings of the past few days. "...And that's when you found me on the road." She ended with a weak smile.
"Goodness..." Kaede breathed as she finished bandaging up her companion "You have been through a lot dear. I can imagine that you're exhausted." she smiled gently at her "Would you like to be off to bed now?"
"...Do you think you could tell me how you escaped first?" Kagome requested half eagerly as she wrapped a finger in the cloth of the dress Kaede had given her. It was plain...but it was nice. Besides, she would have really stood out if she were to walk into town with a used-to-be beautiful dress, tattered and muddied and ripped, with a few blood stains here and there. Yep, the she would have fit right in with that.
"Oh, I'd forgotten about it...but yes child, I can tell you." She replied with the same, kind smile; though she seemed a bit saddened... "Now firstly, prior to when you met me, I had been in that same prison cell for only several days before you were brought into the next cell. And from when I was brought in, to when I removed the brick from the wall, I had been working on a spell."
"A spell...?" Kagome wondered aloud, then suddenly an intrigued expression crossed her face "Then that must mean you're a priestess!" she gasped.
Kaede smiled "Yes, princess dear, I am a priestess."
"But..." that wasn't right. This woman couldn't be that Kaede...! "Only women from a royal bloodline can be priestesses." She stated "So Kaede, does that mean that you're..."
"You're thoughts are correct." She affirmed the younger girl "I was once...princess Kaede of the eastern Kingdom." (Wahahaha! Surprise, anyone? ^-^ ::stares at readers:: come on... somebody? ::readers stare back:: ¬_¬ fine then. But anyway, I wanted to get things straight, just incase anybody forgot about who rules over which Kingdom! At the present time, Naraku -as well as Kagura and Kanna- rule over two kingdoms; the north and the east. Kagome's mom is queen over the west kingdom, and I'm not gonna tell you who the ruler of the southern kingdom is! ::sticks tongue out:: you'll just have to wait! ^-^ Guesses anyone?)
Kagome's eyes widened a bit as her jaw slipped a little from its place. That couldn't be right...!! She had heard about the ruckus in the eastern Kingdom about a year ago, but she hadn't been filled in on a lot of details.
She knew the bare facts...like how the King had caught a fatal disease and died a little over a week after, and how his elder daughter Kikyo had become queen, only to commit suicide within two weeks of her reign. Then lord Naraku of the northern kingdom had taken over the eastern lands in their weakened state, and young princess Kaede had fled from the castle. She hadn't heard anything else about the whole situation...but what she did know for a fact was that princess Kaede had been around Souta's age through the incident. She was not a sixty some year old woman.
But then...on what grounds did this woman claim to be the young princess and priestess Kaede?
"I don't understand, Miss Kaede." Kagome furrowed her brow "It isn't possible for you to be princess Kaede; she was a young girl."
She let out a labored sigh "You know of the incident last year, correct?"
Kagome nodded meekly.
"...After I had fled from the castle, I went into this very village." she continued as she ladled Kagome another bowl of soup "I wanted to be entirely away from my kingdom, but I later found out that I was in the northern kingdom, which was also ruled by Naraku. The few people I associated with in this village welcomed me gladly, even though I was no longer a princess of the eastern lands. I had stayed with an older couple for a bit over a week, but on the tenth night a curse was cast on me in my sleep." Kaede handed Kagome her bowl and sat back down "It was a curse of old age." She sighed "That's why I look the way I do now."
"So...you really are still a ten year old girl?" Kagome questioned, trying to straighten her brain out.
Kaede shook her head expressively "No, it's not just in my appearance; I have literally advanced around fifty-five years in my life."
"Wow..." she breathed "I didn't know that a spell like that existed..."
"But about the spell I had been working on," Kaede resumed "Since almost the entirety of my strength was gone, I had very small amount of it to work with. That had not really mattered though, because the spell I was creating was a minuscule one. It consisted of merely weakening a small section of the wall and cracking the plaster around the edges of a certain brick or space in it. It was quite simple, actually."
"Is that when you knocked the brick out?"
"Yes dear, that was it." Kaede nodded "Then later on, when I was removed from that cell, they were planning on keeping me in one of the more local prisons, but at the last minute there was an order from lord Naraku to set me free."
"Just like that?" Kagome frowned and tilted her head. It really surprised her that they'd be so straightforward about it...
"I still don't know why he did so to this day." She shrugged. "The order was simply to set me free. But that's about all of the story there is to tell..."
"So off to bed, huh?" Kagome smiled as she ended for her.
She padded her way across the wooden floorboards and followed Kaede to a small room in the back of the hut "You can sleep in here, child." She said with a quiet grin. "There's a window in the corner if you'd like a little bit of fresh air." They exchanged a bows and Kaede left the room, shutting the door silently behind her and leaving Kagome to herself.
Wasn't something she wanted right then. Because if she was left to herself, she'd have time to think; and guess who would come to mind first?
She still felt like she needed to apologize to him...it was partly her fault. He wasn't in the best of shape either; what if he hadn't gotten any medical attention yet? Plus, she hadn't thanked him for saving her life!! That was so selfish of her...
And if she knew Inuyasha, she knew he was not going to be the first to apologize. Nope, she'd have to do it. But how would she find him? He was probably miles away by now...
Well...those matters could wait; she really needed some sleep first.
~~*~~
Inuyasha lay in the tree, the floodgates of heaven still open, as he glared at the sky through the mesh of bare branches.
He'd wanted to rest for a while; you know - nap, have a siesta, snooze, check for holes in his eyelids - that kind of thing. Just for a few hours of the night he'd wanted to sleep; to take a break from everything. But did that happen?
Nope. He hadn't caught a wink.
Why? He wasn't exactly sure...perhaps it was because of the food they fed him in there? He hadn't gotten to finish it anyway...
The rain, maybe? Actually, he was doubtful of that...he'd fallen asleep in the rain before, and it didn't really bother him.
He sniffed the air lightly, but afterwards he'd wished he hadn't. The scent on his hands... he'd done an okay job of ignoring it for a while... but it was starting to bother him again. The blood scent...all those men's blood. He'd gotten his own claws covered in it, and it was haunting him.
So he hopped out of the tree and trudged his way to a nearby creek. He had to try and get that horrid smell off of him...
The creek water was a kind of icy cold...rather uncomfortable, in his opinion. He waded in quickly anyway, and furiously whipped his hands under the rain-rippled water. Standing there as minutes passed, he repeated the process with growing restlessness.
But the odor wouldn't go away.
He couldn't get it off of his hands...it just wouldn't be removed. There really wasn't anything else he could do about it but wait for it to fade away; which would, most likely, take a while. He didn't want to have to sit with it for so long...he'd never killed anyone before, and losing himself like that and slaughtering that many men was a little overwhelming.
As a result, he just attempted to ignore it some more and stomped back to his tree.
He sighed and repositioned himself again - for the twentieth time. For some reason or another, he kept getting the tiniest little hunch that the reason he couldn't sleep was because of his guilt. Personally, he thought it was quite unfair... What had he done to make his conscience hate him so much? He'd killed those men... and even though he knew that was most likely a great percentage of the emotional burden he was bearing, he knew that wasn't the only thing that was bothering him. She was what he was feeling guilty about, and it was upsetting him. He'd already convinced himself that it wasn't his fault, because it wasn't! It was all her fault for blowing up at him, and no one could tell him different.
And that wasn't the only thing he'd decided.
In the past, he had already made up his mind about this one; he wasn't going to associate with any women. Wasn't gonna stay with them, take charity from them, trust them, be friends with them, and above all; fall in love with them.
But...he'd already failed with that once, hadn't he? He'd let himself fall in love...
...with Kikyo.
Inuyasha shook his head violently; he wasn't going to dwell on the past, and he wasn't going to let it repeat itself with anyone - ever! It would only end in pain...
It had really upset him when the Kagome girl had kept calling him by his name and trying to be nice to him despite how callously he'd acted towards her. She'd blown up at him once or twice...but she hadn't completely loathed his existence - or at least he hadn't though she did. All the other people he'd encountered had hated him...either because of his behavior, or because of who he was. Then again, everyone detested and despised him...
Actually, that wasn't entirely true; not everyone. There had been a couple of people...his mother for one, hadn't hated him at all; she'd loved him. And then there was Kikyo... but with the exception of the two of them, there wasn't anyone who cared. Besides...he didn't want anyone to care anymore. And he wasn't going to care either.
But he'd slipped a little with Kagome, and it angered him now. He'd let himself watch her and think about her. She would often make him think of Kikyo too...she didn't act like her at all; nope, that wasn't their similarity. But Kagome...she looked just like Kikyo.
It wasn't something he'd noticed right away...but when he'd smashed down the wall, and saved her from those idiots, he'd seen the resemblance. It was really creepy for him...it was almost like Kikyo had came back; but she hadn't.
There was that time in the hall, earlier that day, when he'd been carrying Kagome and she'd offered to walk by herself and use him as a 'walking stick'. It had reminded him of that time last year...
~~Flash~~
Inuyasha's ears straightened; something was wrong...he could feel it. He was on his way to meet Kikyo, like he usually did in the afternoon, but he could sense that she was in a bit of trouble... Could it have been a youkai? If it was, it must have been a really powerful one to actually make Kikyo put up a fight.
He bolted off in the direction she was in, and found her in the forest aiming her arrow at a slouching, pink haired demon. (A/N - Sound familiar? It's Jeromaru! [sp?] Ha ha ha ha! Don't worry; he isn't in for a long stay. ^_^ And actually...I'm not going to bring Kageromaru [sp?] out, because then...idk, I just don't want to! I didn't like him... ::glares at a picture of Kageromaru:: he's icky. I'm not saying I liked Jeromaru, he was gross too. And I'm making him just a tidbit easier to defeat. ^ ^; just a bit! Okay, maybe a little more that a bit...) Without saying a word of warning, he ran up to it and swung his claws. "Sankontetsou!" But as the dust cleared, he saw that the demon was gone. "What?"
"Nangh...!" Inuyasha cried was smacked forcefully onto the ground from behind. "What the hell!?" He stood up and spun around, but all he found was one of Kikyo's arrows. He looked over at her quickly as he asked her where the demon had gone. (A/N - And just FYI, Kikyo didn't shoot the arrow at Inuyasha, she shot it at Jeromaru. V_V)
"There!" she answered as she readied another arrow and pointed it towards a patch of bushes near her where the creature resided.
Inuyasha sped to the opposite side of the shrubs that Kikyo was on, and ran a few feet back. The second she fired the arrow and the demon jumped out of the bushes, he dashed up next to it. "Sankontetsou!" he shouted with a second swipe of his claws, crushing it.
He turned to Kikyo with a frown "You okay? You should have just shouted for me, you know."
"I know." She replied as she smiled "Thank you."
"Whatever..." he grumbled as he looked down at the ground. Why did he still have the cold edge about him, even around Kikyo? She knew him; understood him. She could see right through his bad attitude, and interpret his 'whatever' as a 'you're welcome'. So why did he still answer her 'thank you' with a 'whatever'? "Did you get hurt?" he asked ineptly.
"Just a little..." she replied slowly "It's nothing incurable. My knee just twisted a bit..."
Inuyasha leaned back against the tree behind him, still looking at the forest floor. The very least he could do for her right now was to be courteous to her... "...I'll carry you back if you want me to."
Kikyo pursed her lips and shook her head "No...you don't need to do that. Just leaning on your arm would be fine."
He shrugged and walked over next to her, pushing his arm towards her. "I'll bring you straight home" he said as he turned his gaze towards hers "There's someone there who can fix up you leg, right?"
She nodded, still looking at him as she took hold of his arm.
Inuyasha didn't like the pressure he felt when he just looked at her like that, and she just looked back; he was sure she felt that way to. So he was the first one to end the suspense. "It's not far." He stated as he looked forward and broke the spell they seemed to be in. "We'll be there in no time."
Kikyo nodded again as she looked forward as well. But as they started to walk, she realized that her injury was a bit worse than she had predicted. She had to use a lot of her strength just to keep herself standing.
He swept a side glance at Kikyo as she struggled to walk. It looked like her injury wasn't as diminutive as she thought it was. And since he disliked seeing her in pain, he quickly slipped his arm out from hers, letting her fall backward a little, then lifted her up and soared off at a much quicker pace.
She nearly laughed as she looked up at him as they flew through the air. "He knew I couldn't have lasted for much longer, didn't he? I didn't even need to say anything...and he understands me perfectly."
Once they arrived near the castle grounds, Inuyasha set Kikyo down near the border. "I can leave you here, right?"
"All I have to do is yell and someone will come running." Kikyo said as she laughed lightly.
"So..." Inuyasha looked down at his feet. "Will you be okay by tomorrow?"
She copied his action as she answered him quietly "I don't know...it's possible."
He cleared his throat and gazed up at her (Actually, down...she's sitting on the grass...) "Do you want me to come by tomorrow? I can get up to your window without the guards seeing..."
She nodded and briefly looked up (She really is looking up...) "Thank you, Inuyasha."
And with that, he left.
~~Flash~~
The situation hadn't been exactly the same...but it had been similar. It was funny...the more he thought about it, the more he saw how amazingly identical they were. Kagome was a royal servant, Kikyo was a princess. Kagome tried to be nice to him, Kikyo tried -and succeeded- in being nice to him. Not to mention they were nearly identical.
But then...all the same, they were unbelievably different from each other. Kagome was really loud, Kikyo was very quiet. Kagome got angered easily, Kikyo never got angry. And Kikyo was much more mannerly and intelligent than her mirror image, Kagome.
He'd broken a few of his own rules with Kagome as well. He'd accompanied her for a little while, he'd let her be kind to him and he hadn't always refused, and he'd gotten more or less close to being friends with her. That had been bad; he'd let her get to close...
It didn't really matter though; he doubted he'd ever see her again...
~~*~~
"Oof...da..." A very tired Kagome groaned. She'd been laying there for hours, desperately trying to float herself off into dream land. Did she ever get there?
Take a wild guess.
She sighed and walked over to the wooden shutter near the corner of the small room. That fresh air Kaede had mentioned sounded good right about now. It was a little stuffy in there...
She pushed the window opened and smiled as the cool breeze gently lifted some of her hair off of her shoulders. "It's still raining...?" she whispered. Even thought the sky was clouded, there was still a small space in them where the moon could be seen. There was as pretty glow around it, too...
"I wonder..." she thought as she crossed her arms on the small windowsill, placing her hands on her shoulders with her chin on her arms. "How am I going to find Inuyasha tomorrow...? I really don't have any idea as to where he is..." Yeah...it was going to be a difficult task.
Inuyasha was a complete mystery to her. Why was he always so mean? Quite often when she'd try and get along with him, he'd ignored her or shouted at her. And what had happened when his eyes turned red? His conscience must have been bothering him right then...
It made her feel bad, because it was her fault. If she hadn't gotten into trouble in the first place, Inuyasha would have gotten hurt so bad, and he wouldn't have such a horribly guilty conscience. And he'd bothered to carry her and let her lean on him all that time, with all his injuries. He wasn't a bad guy...he was just kind of...well; hard-hearted I guess you could say. But...why?
In some very vague way, Inuyasha kind of reminded her of her father...She had no idea why; they were complete opposites. Her dad had always been kind and gentle, always laughing and playing with her when she was little. And even though her memories of him were limited, she still loved him...
~~Flash~~
"Daddy, daddy!" Kagome piped as she ran up to her father "Is it true?! Is it true?! Is mommy really gonna have a baby?! Does that mean I get a new baby brother or sister?! If he's a boy what are you gonna name him?! And what are you gonna call her if she's a girl?!"
"Whoa whoa..." Mr. Higurashi laughed "Slow down, sugar-puff. Not so many questions at once! Now..." he began as he leaned down to her level "Firstly; yes. Secondly; yes. Thirdly; yes -and it should be here in four months-. Fourthly; yes. Fifthly; Souta. Sixthly; Buyo."
Kagome wrinkled her nose "Buyo, daddy? That's a silly name for a little girl! It sounds like a boy's name..."
"Hmm..." he hummed as he rubbed his chin with his forefingers "Maybe you're right. Okay then, how about we name the new cat Buyo instead?"
"Well that's a better id- A kitty?!!" she squeaked as she jumped in the air. Wow! Lots of good things were happening! "We're getting a kitty, too?!"
He laughed again as he patted her head "Yes, yes, we're going to get a kitty."
"Oh thank you, daddy!!" she squealed and dove into his arms. "I promise I'll take good care of him!"
"Well you better!" he smiled. But all too soon, his dazzling smile turned into a mellow one. "But that's not the only thing I want you to take care of." He told her as he set her down and put his hands on her shoulders. "Daddy has to leave for a while...and I need you to take care of your mother while I'm gone."
"How long are you going to be gone?" she frowned. Okay...maybe not everything that was happening was good... "Will you be here when the baby comes?"
"Yes, I think so..." he pressed his lips together thoughtfully.
"Well...where are you going?" she asked and tilted her head.
"I have to go to a something called a 'war'."
"What do you have to do at the war?"
"I have to fight for our home."
"Huh?"
"You know...our castle, the villages and towns and all the people that live in them." he stretched his arms out expressively and gave her a half-grin "Everybody!"
Kagome blinked in amazement "You're gonna fight for everybody all by yourself?"
"No no..." he chuckled "I couldn't do it all myself. There are lots of people coming to help me. You see, we all come together and fight; we don't do it by ourselves, sugar-puff. We couldn't."
"Ooh...I think I get it now." Of course she didn't...but she had to keep daddy happy, right?
"Good." He nodded "Now, I'll be leaving in about a week, and I'll be pretty busy until then...so why don't we go and play hide and seek while we have the chance?"
She nodded cheerfully and tagged after her father down the stairs.
~~Flash~~
Kagome sighed to herself; that had been the last time...
Something clicked in her head right then. Did Inuyasha have a family? She had Souta and her mother and her grandpa. Even Buyo was like part of her family...
So...who did Inuyasha have?
According to what she'd heard from Kaede, he lived on his own and he would steal from villages and towns. She hadn't thought he was a thief when they'd brought him in... in fact, she hadn't know much about him at all. Just that he was a hanyou, and he had been causing some sort of trouble. But she still didn't know anything about his family.
Had they died, maybe? That could have been the reason he often seemed cold and closed up. He didn't like to say what he was thinking either...
Now she felt really bad... Inuyasha was all alone, with no family or friends, and he just gotten a big bruise to himself emotionally as well as physically. And - as she'd said before - the latter were her fault. She had to find him, then she'd have to apologize to him, then she'd have to thank him for saving her and helping her.
Now there was a tricky 'to do' list.
Kagome shrugged and shut the window, crawling under the blanket Kaede had left for her. She didn't want to get too warm...she just liked sleeping under a blanket.
She closed her eyes and rolled onto her side as she thought silently to herself "Will I ever get back home? I don't know how I would get there...but there must be some way, or some one, that could get me on the correct path, right?" Kagome wandered off to a dreamless sleep with one last thought "Maybe...Inuyasha?"
~~*~~
"Morning already...?" Inuyasha mumbled as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. He stretched his arms out tiredly and looked down at his middle as he put one hand to it. "Yep, completely closed up now." He wasn't fully healed...the wound had just sealed up on the outside, leaving no trace or scar. But wait...when had he fallen asleep anyway?
With a yawn, he sat up from his perch and took a look at his surroundings. It had to have stopped raining only an hour or so ago, because the sun was up and shining and puddles were still lingering on the damp grass.
He hopped down from the tree nimbly "Now," he started as he brushed a stray leaf off his sleeve "For breakfast!" Inuyasha shot up into the air and headed towards the nearest village. He didn't know which village it was...but he was sure he was heading towards one; he could smell it. But as he neared the village, his nose caught another scent...
It was Kagome's.
"Shit..." he cursed under his breath as he landed on a stray log. "I might run into her if I go to this one..."
But if he didn't go to this village, he'd have to travel quite a ways to get to the next one; it was pretty far away ...the scent was very faint. And his stomach was practically barking at him; it had given up growling quite a while ago. He hadn't gotten to finish his meal yesterday afternoon because he'd gotten in an argument with a certain girl...
All the same, if he went to the village that was only about a half a mile away from him, he'd see her. That wasn't something that he wanted to happen...
Inuyasha sighed loudly as his stomach started barking at him again.
That was it. His hunger had just decided for him. He could dodge Kagome... he was stealthy enough!
So he jumped off once again, in the direction of the village.
~~*~~
"Kagome." Kaede roused her "Would you like something to eat?"
She blinked herself awake and sat up wearily "Yes...thank you...just an apple please." She requested.
Kagome fumbled to her feet slowly and shuffled after Kaede into the main room of the hut, accepting the large apple she was given readily. "Are you sure you wouldn't like anything else, dear?" Kaede queried. She shook her head in response and chewed her apple in the most mannerly way she could manage.
They ate in a comfortable silence, and when they finished, Kagome decided to ask Kaede's opinion on looking for Inuyasha. "Miss Kaede...I want to go find Inuyasha." Hey, may as well get straight to the point! "...But I wouldn't really know where to find him."
Kaede smiled; she understood. "I know someone who would be able to help you." She said simply. "But first...do you think you could do me a small favor?"
"Sure"
"Could you run down to the village market and get me a bushel of apples, please?"
"I can do that." She smiled as she received the money Kaede handed her.
"The markets are at the other end of the village... but if you go right once exiting the hut, and walk straight to then end of the road and turn right again, then turn left once you reach the blacksmith shop, you should find them."
"Okay... I'll be back soon!" she chirped and left the hut briskly.
Kagome jogged up the dirt road and looked on either side of her at all the houses and huts she passed. This town was a lot bigger than she though it was...
A/N - You know, there was no point whatsoever to having a cliffy right there, because I typed up another chapter anyway! So you're just gonna know what happened right away...that was futile. *sigh* Anyway, does anybody but me think those flashbacks get a little annoying after a while...? And sorry to anyone who hates Kikyo. ^ ^; I know you all are going to want to strangle me for this...but I don't hate her at all. Actually...I kind of like Kikyo; in some, vague sense. ^ ^;;;; It wasn't her fault that that whole mess with her and Inuyasha happened...I can't blame her for that. And though I was super upset when she kissed Inuyasha and tried to kill Kagome, I don't hate her. ^ ^; Maybe God just gifted me with a lot of compassion for bad characters...? ^ ^; idk... I mean, I don't hate Nakago from Fushigi Yugi. x_x is that weird or what? But with Kikyo and such, I'm NOT saying I'd rather have Kikyo and Inuyasha be the main couple of 'Inuyasha', because I wouldn't want that. Kagome and Inuyasha forever!!! XD I love them as a couple. ^-^ They fit so perfectly together, don't you think? Heh heh... ^_^
~Eternal White~