Faithful
By: Skittlez and OtakuSailorV
Chapter 7:: The Thinking Fate
The castle quickly adjusted to Bankotsu and his men living there, they left during the day. And usually it was Bankotsu dragging Jakotsu by the hair so he wouldn't run back to Inuyasha.
Kyoyume was often seen on the roof or in a room by herself, usually in a contemplative mood. After the scene with Naraku, she hadn't been quite herself, wandering and blushing and mumbling to herself.
Finally, Naraku, tired of Kyoyume's odd behavior, cornered her. "What's up with you?" He asked.
Kyoyume, lost in her own world when he appeared jumped, ears alert, hair standing on end with a small 'yipe' of astonishment. "Oh, Naraku." She said with an awkward smile. "There's nothing the matter...I'm just....thinking..."
"...Really. About?"
Kyoyume shrugged, not really sure if she wanted to tell him or not. "Nothing really important..."
"...Tell me." He demanded.
"Well, I, uh..." Kyoyume stumbled. "I don't want to talk about it."
"...Say it."
"I really don't feel like sharing my contemplation's right now, Naraku-sama." Kyoyume said rather tensely. "It's not really anything to worry about though..."
"Fine, just stop moping about." He snapped, 'You're much cuter smiling.' He added to himself.
Kyoyume smiled softly. "Hai, Naraku-sama."
He smiled a little back and they walked in opposite directions.
Kyoyume looked briefly back over her shoulder at him and smiled. Maybe everything would be okay after all.
"...You really like him don't you?" Jakotsu asked from her left, he was leaning against the wall.
"Huh?" Kyoyume asked, startled again. "Oh, no, it's not that at all..." She said, blushing instantly.
"...I know that look." He told her. "You do like him."
Kyoyume looked at her feet in embarrassment, red extending all the way to the tips of her black ears. "..."
"Bankotsu gets that look too."
Kyoyume quirked a small smile and fiddled with her fingers. "I guess everyone does..." She half-whispered.
"Nah, I'm not that modest...Bankotsu gets it everytime..." he started, his voice trailing off.
She beamed at him. "That's funny, I do the same thing, it's like I can't help it."
Jakotsu laughed. "It's a crazy little thing called love." He said walking away.
"Love..." Kyoyume mumbled to herself after he had gone. "Maybe it is love, but..." She mumbled to herself, leaving the thought incomplete as it hit the wind.
'But?' A voice in her head asked. 'But what?'
'But what if something goes wrong...?' She answered the voice. 'What if he doesn't feel the same. What if that demon Lord comes back, what if we are separated and one of us dies..?'
'What ifs aren't something to be dwelled upon.'
Kyoyume nodded mentally. 'I know, I know. It's just...I keep thinking something horrible is going to happen...'
"Nothing's going to happen." Hakudoshi's voice came from behind her.
She turned around to look at him, eyes a little misty. "Hakudoushi..." She mumbled to herself in a daze. "How...how do you know that nothing bad will happen...?"
"...Because we won't let anything happen." He reassured her.
Kyoyume smiled at him, small tears of happiness touching the corners of her eyes. "Thank you...Hakudoushi..." She said, bowing her head slightly.
He smirked. "Now whether to tell Naraku you're in love with him or not...."
She looked up at him in astonishment. "No!" She said rather loudly. "I mean...I don't know...I just..." She stumbled for the right words.
"I understand."
Kyoyume looked up at him, utterly bewildered. "R-really?" She asked, not used to him not pressuring her into spitting everything out when she was stumbling or lying about something.
"You don't have to say it. I don't even have to read your mind, it's written all over your face!"
"What is?" Kyoyume asked, lowering her voice to an urgent whisper as she touched her face as if the 'writing' would smear right off onto her hands.
"...The fact that your not sure if Naraku loves you!"
"Shh!" Kyoyume said, cupping her hand over his mouth. "You are entirely too loud, Hakudoushi, I don't want anyone to hear..." She said lowly, looking around to see if anyone had heard them.
"No one did. Suikotsu and Renkotsu are out, Naraku's nowhere to be seen, Jakotsu and Bankotsu are...I don't even want to think about that...just me and Entei can hear you."
Kyoyume smirked lightly at him. "You are such a little know-it-all sometimes, Hakudoushi." She joked. "Really, though, keep your voice down, just in case..."
"Feh."
With a sigh, Kyoyume sat down and leaned against a shouji door, ruffling her own hair. "Geez..." She mumbled.
Hakudoshi disappeared, leaving Kyoyume all alone to her thoughts.
After a few minutes, Kyoyume got back on to her feet and stared around at the land. It was the same as it had always been. "Nothing has changed..." She noted out loud. Cocking her head to one side, she let the wind blow through her hair and ears, thinking constantly of everything that had happened to her since her arrival. "I guess it was fate..."
"...Fate." An all-too-familiar voice sneered. "Well, fate has it I'm back." It was Ichiyasha, the tiger Lord.
Kyoyume felt her heart jumped into her throat as he spoke. "No..." Kyoyume gasped, turning to face him, eyes wide in terror.
"Yes."
Kyoyume opened her mouth to scream for help, when his hand clasped over it suddenly. "No screaming." He said slyly. "You're not going to get away so easily this time."
"HOLD IT!" A sharp voice from behind the Demon Lord snapped.
Kyoyume looked at him, eyes still wide as he smirked. "So nice of you to join us." He sneered.
"Didn't I warn you?" Naraku snapped.
Ichiyasha turned, Kyoyume in his arms, one hand still clasped over her mouth. A smirk played across his lips as he looked at Naraku. "I don't remember ever paying attention to the threats of a hanyou like you."
"You might not listen to him. But does Bankotsu, leader of the Shichinintai sound a little more threatening?" A new voice, from the doorway snapped.
Ichiyasha looked at him in contempt. "Hmph, a human." He said, eyes half-lidded.
"Not just any human." He said swinging Banryuu, which was twice the size of him and Ichiyasha, down to point right at the demon's throat.
Ichiyasha smirked wider. "You are fools." He said, disappearing in a flash. But his voice still boomed overhead. "I am a full-fledged demon, not one of you can smite me..."
Naraku glared at the sky where he retreated. "Damnit...again."
"Bastard..." Bankotsu growled, clenching his fist and putting Banryuu back at his side.
Hakudoshi strutted out. "Just to the north of here, his castle." He told them.
Everyone stared at him for a minute as he turned the corner and walked away like nothing had happened.
Jakotsu smirked. "You should be thanking me for that info! I got it from Sesshomaru."
"Sesshoumaru?" Naraku asked quizzically, turning to him.
"Um...yeah."
Naraku rolled his eyes before turning in the general direction of the castle. "North then."
"Well, north 5 miles from Inuyasha's forest to the east another 4 miles and down a long path the first thing you'll see to your...left."
"Right." Naraku said shortly, starting to disappear.
"We'll keep the castle in good order!" Jakotsu cried after him.
With a small nod, Naraku fully disappeared, reappearing just beyond the gates, running at full speed.
"He really loves her don't he Bankotsu?" Jakotsu asked his younger companion nodding.
"It would appear so." Bankotsu said, turning away. "Let's just hope that everything works out."
Jakotsu flung his arm around his friend's shoulder. "Like I love you. Let's go in."
Kyoyume struggled frantically, trying to bite his hand or at least make his grip loosen on her. "Geff ouff." She cried, voice muffled.
He finally found his castle and entered. "What do you think of my humble abode?"
Kyoyume eyed all the tiger related objects with anger and dread filling her gut. "It'sf awfool." She growled, trying to move his hand off her mouth.
"You won't being seeing too much of it. Mainly this room." He sneered throwing her onto a soft bed, but it reeked of him, so she knew it was his.
She gasped as she bounced into the air and hit the soft bed again. Her eyes were wide with fear as he sneered down at her, sitting down by her. "You'll be here with me for the rest of your existence now." He said slyly.
She glared at him. "No I won't."
He smirked, toying with her ears. "But no one will save you, this castle is heavily guarded and hidden, no one will know where to find you, and you'll never be able to escape."
She gritted her teeth. "They'll find me."
He caught one of her hands as she swatted at his clawed fingers on her ears; and shoved her back down as she tried to sit up. "Take a seat and stay a while." He said.
"No!"
"Why not?" He asked coyly. "Do you care for him so much that your worried what he thinks of you?"
She gritted her teeth, still blushing a little. "None of your business."
"It's written all over your face. You're worried what he thinks of you, but you're afraid to tell him what you think of him. Well, what'll happen if I do this?" He asked, grasping part of her kimono roughly.
She hit his hand. Fear laced into her eyes.
He gave a curt laugh and let the hand wander slowly. "Fiesty..."
She pushed him away. "Stop!"
"Stop what?" He asked with a smirk, getting closer to her.
"Stop touching me!"
"I'm too interested in you to stop."
"You don't even know me!"
"Ah, but I want to GET to know you, so why not start?" He asked, letting the hand roam again.
"No! Stop it!"
"No!"
"Then why are you so tense?" He asked, getting closer again.
"Because I don't want YOU near me!"
Ichiyasha laughed again, nearly on top of her now. "Well, that's not really your choice, my dear."
"Its mine." A curt voice snapped.
"Ah, the party crasher." He sneered, getting off and facing Naraku.
"...Your first mistake was setting your eyes on her. Your last one is this." He said putting a sword to the demon Lords throat.
Ichiyasha sneered at his opponent. "You're too late, I've already had my way with her."
"No you haven't."
Ichiyasha drew his brow together and put his hand out, a sword appearing in it. "If you won't leave me be, then you must disappear."
Naraku pressed the blade harder against Ichiyasha's throat. "I'll kill you without a moments hesitation."
Ichiyasha smirked, his eyes still half lidded. "You're too jittery and worried to fight properly."
"Nani?"
Ichiyasha nodded at Kyoyume. "You're too worried about her to fight me properly." He repeated himself.
"I didn't come here for a fight. I came for a kill." He growled slicing through Ichiyasha's throat then walking over to Kyoyume. "We're leaving, he'll be up within the hour."
Kyoyume gasped as he picked her up and strode over the body of the stunned demon. "But where to, he'll find us again..." She said, holding tightly to him and hoping that she didn't smell like the horrible demon again.
"No worries. A castle with two hanyou's, a few demons, a demon slayer zombie and four mercenaries is a force to be reckoned with." He said, holding her a little tighter than intended.
Kyoyume nodded, holding tightly as well. "I'm sorry..." She mumbled, new tears coming to her eyes.
"For what?"
"For being weak, and always causing so much trouble for you..." She said, holding even tighter as small sobs wracked her body.
"...Don't say that." He insisted.
"But it's true." She said. "You wouldn't be hurt all the time, or always chasing people around, or confused so much if I wasn't hanging around all the time..."
"It doesn't matter." He assured her.
"But I don't want you to get hurt." Kyoyume said softly.
"I still don't care about that."
Kyoyume nodded and let the wind whistle in her ears as he carried her swiftly back to the castle.
They got back at nightfall. They just dropped into the bed and fell asleep, Naraku still clutching the cat tightly.
'Never again.' Kyoyume thought, holding tightly to him. 'I never want to see that horrible demon Lord again.'
Naraku sighed and pulled her closer. 'Why did that demon Lord have to...'
'It seemed almost perfect, but he had to...' Naraku growled in his mind, angrily cursing at the demon Lord.
Kyoyume finally fell asleep, head buried comfortably into Naraku's chest.
She woke the next morning in the same position. With a small sigh of relief, she nuzzled closer, not wanting to leave the warm spot.
She didn't realize that someone was watching, and had just slipped back into his own room, smirking.
With a small smile she closed her eyes again.
Naraku was still fast asleep; he was dead tired....
Both asleep again, they stayed that way until Naraku woke at noon, one of Kyoyume's ears laying against his face.
He prodded the young cat hanyou till she woke. "I think we've slept long enough."
With a smile, she nodded, but buried her head again without a word.
He smiled a little. "Yes, the lovers finally awake." Hakudoshi sneered from the door, ready to run if Naraku tried to kill him.
Kyoyume's ears perked in his direction, but she made no move to attack him. "Ah, yes, the nosiest of the nosy has finally appeared." She grumbled.
Hakudoshi gulped and ran.
"Nani?" Kyoyume asked, raising her head and peering at the door quizzically.
Naraku hugged her to him tighter. "Let's go back to sleep." He mumbled.
Laying her head against his chest so that she could hear his heart beat and breathing, Kyoyume gave a small nod of agreement. "Hai..."
"You don't smell like the demon Lord anymore."
Kyoyume felt a small tinge of guilt hit her for a brief moment before she smiled contentedly. "Good..." She sighed.
"You know what you smell like now though?" He asked smirking.
"You." She answered happily.
"Hai."
With another contented sigh, Kyoyume pushed all the memories of Ichiyasha away and wished that she would never have to leave Naraku's side again.
And again, they were asleep.
As they slept, the day wore on, with nothing of importance happening, not even the demon Lord, Ichiyasha appeared to disturb them. It was as if the whole world stood still.
But another Yasha, Inuyasha and his friends appeared that evening, while the castle slept.
"That bastard, Naraku. I'll kill him!" Inuyasha cursed. "Stealing some other demons woman." He growled. "You hear me bastard?!"
Naraku, however, was still asleep. Everyone was, Kohaku, Kanna, Jakotsu and the others, the castle hadn't woken up from the morning.
Kyoyume's ears twitched once, but other than that, no one stirred at the angry hanyou's words.
Until he was charging into the silent castle, waking them up in the process.
"Come out you asshole!! I know you're in here, I can smell you!!" Inuyasha yelled, pulling Tetsusaiga out.
"What do you want?" Naraku asked groggily.
Kyoyume groaned and blinked once, starring blearily around the room, yawning and scratching her ears. "Who...?"
"What do you want?" Naraku repeated yawning.
"I don't know, who was yelling?" Kyoyume answered, rubbing one eye with her fist. "Where the fuck are you?!" Came a yell from not far away.
"Here!" Naraku snapped.
The shouji door blew away suddenly; revealing the hanyou and his companions who all looked quite angry.
"What is it you want?!" Naraku snarled.
Inuyasha opened his mouth to shout, but stopped when he saw Kyoyume. The cat hanyou blinked at him once, drawing back memories of him. 'Aw! The dog-hanyou!' She reminded herself as she looked at them all questioningly.
"...I'm waiting for a reason why you woke us up!" Naraku snapped crossly.
Inuyasha pointed at her dumbly. "'U-us?'" He asked confusedly, the others staring as well.
"...What? Kyoyume, yes."
Still staring, Inuyasha dumbly blinked again. "The cat hanyou from before....but..." His eyes moved from Naraku to Kyoyume, to the forest behind him quizzically. "Hello." Kyoyume said with a small smile and a wave.
"But?"
"But...she was hurt....didn't she die?" Inuyasha asked quizzically, mouth slightly ajar.
"...No." Naraku told the inu-hanyou like he was an idiot.
"And she matches the description that that demon gave us..." Miroku mumbled to himself.
"Demon?" Naraku growled.
Kyoyume went slightly rigid, blinking several times, ears perked forward.
"...What kind of demon exactly?" He asked, his jaw clenched.
"He was hurt kinda bad, but he was a tiger demon." Shippo said, willingly giving up the information.
"...What did he say?"
"He said that someone had stolen his woman, and tried to kill him. And if we should find her to bring her back to him." Sango answered, glaring daggers at the two before her.
"Stole HIS WOMAN?!" Naraku shouted. "It's really the other way around." He pouted.
Kyoyume blushed slightly, her ears perking all the way up in slight embarrassment. "Hmph." Inuyasha snorted, regaining his composure after the shock of seeing someone he had presumed dead.
"Well he's the one that's been running up here trying to steal her from ME." He defended. "I found her first."
Getting steadily redder, Kyoyume felt her heart starting to beat rather fast at everything he was saying. "That's probably a lie." Shippo said, his eyes half-lidded.
"It isn't." Naraku snapped.
Inuyasha smirked. "Well, now you die, even if it isn't a lie." He growled drawing forth Tetsusaiga once again.
"Stop it." Kyoyume finally spoke. "He isn't lying. And don't you dare kill him."
Everyone looked at her in question as she blushed, though her eyes were still hard as she spoke. "Don't touch him." She warned.
"So, she speaks...." Inuyasha sneered. "Are you defending this slime?"
"Yes." Kyoyume said confidently.
"...Why? He stole you from your mate." Kagome jumped in.
Kyoyume shook her head. "That bastard isn't my mate. He's some jerk that's been trying to take me away." Kyoyume growled angrily.
"...Like I've been saying." Naraku added glaring.
"He deserves any wounds he received." She said, shooting her own glare at them.
"...Is she your woman then, Naraku?" Shippo asked innocently.
The cat hanyou's face burned up again almost instantly. The others in the doorway looked from one to the other awaiting an answer of some sort.
"Well?" Shippo pressed.
"Is it really any concern of yours?" Naraku asked drearily.
"Yes. Cause if she's not Ichiyasha-sama's then she must be yours!"
"I'm not an object." Kyoyume growled.
"...I mean that in a good way!" Shippo squeaked.
"Hmph." Kyoyume said, crossing her arms.
"I mean...if you're not Ichiyasha's mate then your Naraku's mate." He said slowly.
"She's no one's mate." Inuyasha said, leaning against one wall. "You can smell it plain as day."
"Does she like Naraku then?"
"Well you can tell that, the poor little kitty gets frazzled whenever someone mentions it." Inuyasha sneered lightly, Kyoyume reacting in just the way he had said, her face lighting up and ears perking forward.
Kagome shook her head. "This is wasting my time." She told them. "Let's leave."
"Yeah, LEAVE." The cat hissed at the dog, hair standing on end.
They took her advice and left the scene.
Awkwardly, the new silence reigned over the two as they sat side by side.
"Stupid people." Naraku muttered after a minute.
Kyoyume nodded her agreement. "Yes, they make very...random appearances, don't they?" She asked with a small smile.
"Yes...and having the nerve to listen to that pathetic excuse for a demon lord...."
"If his wounds were as bad as they made them out to be, he's probably gone by now....but I wonder how these wounds came about in the first place?" Kyoyume mumbled the last part to herself.
"I know how." The childish monotone of Kanna drifted in. "I know how his wounds came to be so great."
Slightly startled, Kyoyume jumped before turning toward the child with her mirror. "How?" She asked.
"He tried to take Kagura away." She muttered.
"Kagura?" Kyoyume asked in astonishment, sensing Naraku's tense body next to her.
"I suspect Sesshomaru took care of him?" He asked stuffily.
"Sesshoumaru attacked relentlessly, nearly killing him. He remains in the forest, his wounds bandaged by Inuyasha's group. His life depends on who encounters him in the time that it takes him to recover." Kanna said lightly, her mirror flashing in the light.
"I wish Sesshoumaru had killed him. Did Sesshoumaru receive any wounds himself?"
"Slight and minor scratches, he caught the demon unawares and beat him until he was unconscious."
Naraku let out a harsh laugh. "How are Kagura and the demon Lord fairing...? Haven't killed each other yet, I know that much."
"They are fine." Kanna answered shortly.
"You're a good child Kanna, now, leave us..."
Kanna bowed and, turning, disappeared through the frame of the wall, leaving the two hanyou's in silence once again.
In the distance a bird sang as the sun sank below the horizon.
Turning her head slightly, Kyoyume watched out the door, as the sky grew pink, then red, growing steadily darker as the night wore on.
"The stars are bright tonight." She observed.
"They are." Naraku agreed with a nod.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Naraku asked.
"Why are the stars brighter tonight?"
Looking at the twinkling dots above him, Naraku shook his head. "It is a mystery."
"Maybe...for every person that dies there is a star...so every time a person is reincarnated the star goes out."
"That could be." He agreed.
"I dunno...cause if that's true...then I would want that star to be my father." She said pointing at a bright star a little to their left.
"Your father?"
"Yep."
"Who was your father?" He asked, sitting closer to her.
"A human man. A human Lord."
"And your mother?"
"A demon woman."
"What happened to them?"
"Dead."
Kyoyume gave a little sigh, and Naraku wondered if he should ask anymore of her past. "How?" He asked tentatively.
"I don't really remember how my mother died...." She admitted. "I was little. But my dad died a long time ago after the village we lived in was destroyed...I think."
"And you lived all by yourself ever since?" He asked, seeing a small form of sadness in her eyes.
"Wandered."
"It must have been lonely."
"Nah."
"You get used it, ya know. At first, I was scared all the time, but as I got older, I got used to being alone all the time. It gave me time to think, it was nice."
"You know...you don't have to be alone anymore." He told her.
{End Chapter}