I walked into Kaede's hut the next morning pretty early.
Spending the night under Inuyasha's tree was as normal as I could manage. Staying in routine might seem stupid for someone that's dead—believe me, I know. But if I ignore the fact that no one speaks to me or acknowledges that I'm around—and pretend that my friends are all truly happy, not just using a façade—then I can almost make myself believe that all this mess was one horrible nightmare. One terrible, awful nightmare.
If I had been visible, I would've interrupted breakfast. Inuyasha would've made a rude comment about late-sleepers; Sango would've whapped him over the head in my defense, and Miroku would've said something to pacify the arguing. Now, however, they just continued on with their eating, talking and smiling.
How wonderful for them to put such effort to being cheerful. I was proud of them.
I came and sat beside Inuyasha, smiling at Shippo who finally seemed to have relinquished his death grip on the hanyou's haori and was eating again. Inuyasha was eating a little, too. I was glad. "Good for you, Inuyasha," I said cheerfully, glancing at the bowl in his hands. I smiled to him as well, feeling truly happy for the first time since......the incident.
CRACK!
"What the—?!" Inuyasha jumped up, wearing the soup and shards of the clay bowl I had glanced at. Sango And Miroku jumped up too, looking around in all directions as though they expected arrows to fly through the walls. I backed away, flabbergasted. I hadn't been trying to do anything.....why in the world.....?
"What was that?" Sango voiced the question everyone must've been wondering, her eyes holding an apprehensive glint. "A poltergeist?"
"Poltergeist?" I repeated indignantly. "Hey, wait a minute!"
"Perhaps," Miroku answered, as though I hadn't spoken, "it was just a mischievous trickster. A kitsune?"
"Nah," Shippo responded, and I was happy to hear him speaking again. "Can't be."
"Well, whatever it was," Inuyasha muttered, "it's got a stupid sense of humor." With that ending note he took one look at his soaked clothes and stalked out of the hut, with me at his heels. Miroku and Sango just watched, along with Shippo. Kilala mewed as we left, maybe saying goodbye.
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," I said to him, jogging alongside to keep up. "I didn't mean to do that to you.....I just......" What was the point of talking to him, anyway? He couldn't hear me. "I was just happy, that's all." The hanyou stared straight ahead. I was almost offended enough to say the 'S- word' before I remembered that he couldn't hear me. I'm dead, after all. It wouldn't be smart to take my anger out on him, and it wouldn't be fair. But the thought struck an idea in me. The S-word. Who's to say it wouldn't still work now? Just because I was invisible didn't mean I didn't exist.
It was worth a try. I mustered all my energy and commanded in my firmest voice, "SIT BOY!"
Inuyasha crashed face first into the dirt, and I just stared at him, intrigued and elated. It had worked! I could still call upon the praise beads! And maybe, if I could use a few more hints, he could piece together that I was still there! Maybe it was stupid to be so deliriously happy, but I couldn't help it. It was a start, at least.
Meanwhile, while I was celebrating, Inuyasha was cursing badly enough to make a sailor wince. He looked bewildered, annoyed, and, even a little bit scared. Scared? My great big protector, Souta's comic-book hero, scared? I laughed then, but I couldn't blame him. I'd be a little freaked in his position, too, as the only person who could command the praise beads to do that was a dead friend.
"What the f—" He stopped himself as a leaf hit him in the face, or the mouth, to be precise. I'd thrown it at him, overjoyed with my new power and confident enough to stop his cursing. His expression showed still more confusion. I know his mind was ticking; I could almost see the gears turning as he thought, 'It's not fall yet.' After a few minutes of struggling with himself, he seemed to come to grips with the fact that freakish things were happening and shrug it off. He continued in the direction he was moving in.
I wondered where we were going. Maybe Inuyasha didn't have a destination in mind; maybe he was just wandering to blow off some steam. It was like him, to go off and brood somewhere. He looked so cute when he was sulking.... Whoa! Where'd THAT come from? I promptly squashed that thought before it could progress further. Maybe I'd been around Miroku a little too long.... Well, no. My condition wasn't THAT bad. Or at least, I like to think so.
Forcing myself to concentrate on the task at hand, I contented myself with watching Inuyasha walk. His strides were long and confident, and stabbing, showing a bit of his anger that he couldn't understand lord-knows-what that was following him around. His silvery hair fluttered behind him, and I was reminded for a moment of Sesshomaru. The two looked quite alike when Inuyasha was in an aloof mood like this. Their amber eyes were the same as well—beautiful, captivating, intense. Inuyasha's eyes were always so intense. I loved that about him. And he was so strong....during the few times he held me, I felt completely safe and warm.....
FOCUS, KAGOME!
Are you focused?
Yeah. Okay. Good. Let's keep it that way.
Finally, we'd arrived somewhere. So, Inuyasha had had a purpose to this wandering, after all. We were standing by a river—the very same that formed the hot springs Sango and I visited in the woods. It was close to Kaede's village; it was the river the villagers used to wash their clothing, and to drink from. I smiled unconsciously, stepping forward.
Inuyasha was getting into the water. He waded in up to his knees stood there, apparently with no intention of doing anything interesting. I'd thought at first he'd come here to get rid of the soup smell, but maybe that wasn't the case. Maybe he just wanted to come to the river.
Suddenly, I had another idea. The sits had worked, hadn't they? I was going to try again. I waded into the water after Inuyasha, standing just a little way behind him. He was standing there, still, watching the clouds as if they might explain something to him. Honestly. If he'd started snoring, I wouldn't have been surprised.
"SIT, Inuyasha!" Obediently, his face flew downwards and met the water with a big SPLASH! Fish went shooting off in every direction possible as Inuyasha sat up, now completely soaked (though without the soup smell) and very angry, cursing loud enough to echo.
While he was still on his knees and hands I took my chance. Summoning all my energy, I stared at the water's surface. Inuyasha's ears pricked—maybe he sensed something. The water began to ripple, like water in a glass somebody's shaking around. And then—plain as day—my face appeared there, behind Inuyasha's reflection. It was like standing in a mirror. Inuyasha's whole body tensed, and he blinked several times as though he wasn't sure of what he was seeing.
"K-kagome? Is that you?" His voice was hopeful, but uncertain. I smiled and automatically began speaking—of course, he couldn't hear anything I was saying. Reflections don't talk, you know. But he could see me mouthing, and he tried desperately to read my lips.
He wasn't very good at it.
"What're you saying?" he asked at last, his voice containing a hint of his old sarcasm.
"I'm saying I can't talk, idiot," I exclaimed to him furiously, pronouncing each syllable with a painful slowness. He watched my reflection.
"You....can't talk," he repeated, and I nodded fervently, looking exasperated. "Kagome....what're you....how are you doing this? Why? Is something wrong?" His tone of voice was worried, and I couldn't tell if it was for me or if he was worried about having another psycho girl friend haunt him and threaten to take him to hell. Don't worry, Inuyasha, I thought. I have no desire to kill you.
"I—" I was going to explain everything—about meeting his mother, about having a second chance at everything, about how I had to get him to see me—but then I felt a sharp pain in my heart. My head was spinning, and my vision doubled, and I fell backwards, making no splash and no sound whatsoever. Inuyasha, apparently, had witnessed this by watching the water; now, he was calling for me anxiously. I tried to reappear in the water for him, to explain, but it wasn't any use. I couldn't muster enough energy.
It was as Inuyasha's mother had said—I was using up my energy. I had to pace myself—I couldn't just do anything I wanted. When I overtaxed myself, this was what would happen. I was frustrated with myself for coming so close to explaining to him, yet I was pleased. I was a step closer to getting him to see me.
Eventually, Inuyasha gave up calling for me and left, presumably to go back to the village. I stood there in the water, imagining that I could feel it, that I could splash in it, and that I was alive again. I would come back, I promised myself. Now that I had a chance, I wasn't going to waste it.
Inuyasha would see me and everything would be fine. As soon as my strength was back, I would appear to him again, and would tell him that all he had to do was see me. He'd work on it, and everything would be fine. Inuyasha would never let me down.
---------------------------
*Yaaaawn* *Glances at the clock* Hmm.... 11:47..... It's.......Ahh. The update's done. ^-^ Sorry it took so long, minna, I've been totally swamped, and my other ficcy, Not Too Late, has reached its climax and it's taken importance over all the others. I'll try to update faster, I promise. But for those of you that haven't yet, go check it out for me, please? I'd appreciate it. ^- ^
Ja ne.
Tailz
Spending the night under Inuyasha's tree was as normal as I could manage. Staying in routine might seem stupid for someone that's dead—believe me, I know. But if I ignore the fact that no one speaks to me or acknowledges that I'm around—and pretend that my friends are all truly happy, not just using a façade—then I can almost make myself believe that all this mess was one horrible nightmare. One terrible, awful nightmare.
If I had been visible, I would've interrupted breakfast. Inuyasha would've made a rude comment about late-sleepers; Sango would've whapped him over the head in my defense, and Miroku would've said something to pacify the arguing. Now, however, they just continued on with their eating, talking and smiling.
How wonderful for them to put such effort to being cheerful. I was proud of them.
I came and sat beside Inuyasha, smiling at Shippo who finally seemed to have relinquished his death grip on the hanyou's haori and was eating again. Inuyasha was eating a little, too. I was glad. "Good for you, Inuyasha," I said cheerfully, glancing at the bowl in his hands. I smiled to him as well, feeling truly happy for the first time since......the incident.
CRACK!
"What the—?!" Inuyasha jumped up, wearing the soup and shards of the clay bowl I had glanced at. Sango And Miroku jumped up too, looking around in all directions as though they expected arrows to fly through the walls. I backed away, flabbergasted. I hadn't been trying to do anything.....why in the world.....?
"What was that?" Sango voiced the question everyone must've been wondering, her eyes holding an apprehensive glint. "A poltergeist?"
"Poltergeist?" I repeated indignantly. "Hey, wait a minute!"
"Perhaps," Miroku answered, as though I hadn't spoken, "it was just a mischievous trickster. A kitsune?"
"Nah," Shippo responded, and I was happy to hear him speaking again. "Can't be."
"Well, whatever it was," Inuyasha muttered, "it's got a stupid sense of humor." With that ending note he took one look at his soaked clothes and stalked out of the hut, with me at his heels. Miroku and Sango just watched, along with Shippo. Kilala mewed as we left, maybe saying goodbye.
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha," I said to him, jogging alongside to keep up. "I didn't mean to do that to you.....I just......" What was the point of talking to him, anyway? He couldn't hear me. "I was just happy, that's all." The hanyou stared straight ahead. I was almost offended enough to say the 'S- word' before I remembered that he couldn't hear me. I'm dead, after all. It wouldn't be smart to take my anger out on him, and it wouldn't be fair. But the thought struck an idea in me. The S-word. Who's to say it wouldn't still work now? Just because I was invisible didn't mean I didn't exist.
It was worth a try. I mustered all my energy and commanded in my firmest voice, "SIT BOY!"
Inuyasha crashed face first into the dirt, and I just stared at him, intrigued and elated. It had worked! I could still call upon the praise beads! And maybe, if I could use a few more hints, he could piece together that I was still there! Maybe it was stupid to be so deliriously happy, but I couldn't help it. It was a start, at least.
Meanwhile, while I was celebrating, Inuyasha was cursing badly enough to make a sailor wince. He looked bewildered, annoyed, and, even a little bit scared. Scared? My great big protector, Souta's comic-book hero, scared? I laughed then, but I couldn't blame him. I'd be a little freaked in his position, too, as the only person who could command the praise beads to do that was a dead friend.
"What the f—" He stopped himself as a leaf hit him in the face, or the mouth, to be precise. I'd thrown it at him, overjoyed with my new power and confident enough to stop his cursing. His expression showed still more confusion. I know his mind was ticking; I could almost see the gears turning as he thought, 'It's not fall yet.' After a few minutes of struggling with himself, he seemed to come to grips with the fact that freakish things were happening and shrug it off. He continued in the direction he was moving in.
I wondered where we were going. Maybe Inuyasha didn't have a destination in mind; maybe he was just wandering to blow off some steam. It was like him, to go off and brood somewhere. He looked so cute when he was sulking.... Whoa! Where'd THAT come from? I promptly squashed that thought before it could progress further. Maybe I'd been around Miroku a little too long.... Well, no. My condition wasn't THAT bad. Or at least, I like to think so.
Forcing myself to concentrate on the task at hand, I contented myself with watching Inuyasha walk. His strides were long and confident, and stabbing, showing a bit of his anger that he couldn't understand lord-knows-what that was following him around. His silvery hair fluttered behind him, and I was reminded for a moment of Sesshomaru. The two looked quite alike when Inuyasha was in an aloof mood like this. Their amber eyes were the same as well—beautiful, captivating, intense. Inuyasha's eyes were always so intense. I loved that about him. And he was so strong....during the few times he held me, I felt completely safe and warm.....
FOCUS, KAGOME!
Are you focused?
Yeah. Okay. Good. Let's keep it that way.
Finally, we'd arrived somewhere. So, Inuyasha had had a purpose to this wandering, after all. We were standing by a river—the very same that formed the hot springs Sango and I visited in the woods. It was close to Kaede's village; it was the river the villagers used to wash their clothing, and to drink from. I smiled unconsciously, stepping forward.
Inuyasha was getting into the water. He waded in up to his knees stood there, apparently with no intention of doing anything interesting. I'd thought at first he'd come here to get rid of the soup smell, but maybe that wasn't the case. Maybe he just wanted to come to the river.
Suddenly, I had another idea. The sits had worked, hadn't they? I was going to try again. I waded into the water after Inuyasha, standing just a little way behind him. He was standing there, still, watching the clouds as if they might explain something to him. Honestly. If he'd started snoring, I wouldn't have been surprised.
"SIT, Inuyasha!" Obediently, his face flew downwards and met the water with a big SPLASH! Fish went shooting off in every direction possible as Inuyasha sat up, now completely soaked (though without the soup smell) and very angry, cursing loud enough to echo.
While he was still on his knees and hands I took my chance. Summoning all my energy, I stared at the water's surface. Inuyasha's ears pricked—maybe he sensed something. The water began to ripple, like water in a glass somebody's shaking around. And then—plain as day—my face appeared there, behind Inuyasha's reflection. It was like standing in a mirror. Inuyasha's whole body tensed, and he blinked several times as though he wasn't sure of what he was seeing.
"K-kagome? Is that you?" His voice was hopeful, but uncertain. I smiled and automatically began speaking—of course, he couldn't hear anything I was saying. Reflections don't talk, you know. But he could see me mouthing, and he tried desperately to read my lips.
He wasn't very good at it.
"What're you saying?" he asked at last, his voice containing a hint of his old sarcasm.
"I'm saying I can't talk, idiot," I exclaimed to him furiously, pronouncing each syllable with a painful slowness. He watched my reflection.
"You....can't talk," he repeated, and I nodded fervently, looking exasperated. "Kagome....what're you....how are you doing this? Why? Is something wrong?" His tone of voice was worried, and I couldn't tell if it was for me or if he was worried about having another psycho girl friend haunt him and threaten to take him to hell. Don't worry, Inuyasha, I thought. I have no desire to kill you.
"I—" I was going to explain everything—about meeting his mother, about having a second chance at everything, about how I had to get him to see me—but then I felt a sharp pain in my heart. My head was spinning, and my vision doubled, and I fell backwards, making no splash and no sound whatsoever. Inuyasha, apparently, had witnessed this by watching the water; now, he was calling for me anxiously. I tried to reappear in the water for him, to explain, but it wasn't any use. I couldn't muster enough energy.
It was as Inuyasha's mother had said—I was using up my energy. I had to pace myself—I couldn't just do anything I wanted. When I overtaxed myself, this was what would happen. I was frustrated with myself for coming so close to explaining to him, yet I was pleased. I was a step closer to getting him to see me.
Eventually, Inuyasha gave up calling for me and left, presumably to go back to the village. I stood there in the water, imagining that I could feel it, that I could splash in it, and that I was alive again. I would come back, I promised myself. Now that I had a chance, I wasn't going to waste it.
Inuyasha would see me and everything would be fine. As soon as my strength was back, I would appear to him again, and would tell him that all he had to do was see me. He'd work on it, and everything would be fine. Inuyasha would never let me down.
---------------------------
*Yaaaawn* *Glances at the clock* Hmm.... 11:47..... It's.......Ahh. The update's done. ^-^ Sorry it took so long, minna, I've been totally swamped, and my other ficcy, Not Too Late, has reached its climax and it's taken importance over all the others. I'll try to update faster, I promise. But for those of you that haven't yet, go check it out for me, please? I'd appreciate it. ^- ^
Ja ne.
Tailz