Faithful By: RecklessAbandon and OtakuSailorV
Chapter 12:: After the Rain
Kyoyume was on the roof of the new structure she had learned to call home, wandering why the sky seemed cloudy again. 'It's been rainy and nasty for a few days now, ick!' She thought, wrinkling her nose at the sky.
Suddenly she was joined by Naraku. "Its been like this for a while, no?" He asked looking skyward as well.
"That's what I was thinking." Kyoyume agreed, her eyes still on the gray, cloudy sky. "Nasty weather." She said bitterly.
"You don't like bad weather?"
"Nope. Can't do anything outside in bad weather." Kyoyume said, looking at the ground, and finding that her vision was adjusting strangely to the sudden change in color.
Naraku sighed. "Hakudoushi still thinks he's injured from his...unfortunate fall." He remarked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Kyoyume, noting the sarcasm, laughed slightly. "Ah, well, he is just a child and may demand sympathy for some time." She answered him with another burst of laughter.
Naraku laughed a little and nodded. "Stupid brat."
Kyoyume sighed with a smile. "He enjoys making you mad, you know that."
"Yup."
"And I'm sure you enjoy abusing him." Kyoyume joked.
"Yep."
Kyoyume laughed at his answer. "Heh, I should have known."
"Of course you should have." He said with a smug grin.
Kyoyume stuck out her tongue as she giggled. "Haha, yeah."
"Yeah."
Kyoyume stopped laughing after a bit, letting her aching diaphragm and cheek muscles rest. Silently, they both listened to the soft noise the clouds made as the rumbles overhead, bringing news of rain and slowly blacking out what remained of the sun. Inwardly and outwardly, Kyoyume groaned as she caught the smell of increasing humidity in the air. "It's going to rain." She pointed out the obvious as she stood.
He smirked as a downpour started, thunder rumbling and lightning crashing.
Kyoyume moaned, as she was drenched, still heading toward cover. "Too late." She gurgled, opening her mouth only to find a flood of water running down her face and into the opening. Spitting the water back out, she walked casually to the nearest window and made ready to climb inside, looking back to see if Naraku was following her.
Naraku, also drenched, followed her inside. And as they got in Hakudoushi was standing there, laughing at their wetness. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE INJURED!" Naraku growled.
"Fooled you, you wet sack!!" Hakudoushi yelled, laughing harder as he saw the hair hanging in their faces and how wet they had gotten in the few seconds they had been out in the rain. "You two look like you nearly drowned!"
"You'll be drowned if you don't go back to pretending you're in pain!"
"But I AM in pain!!" Hakudoushi howled in between spurts of laughter and gasps for air. "I'm dying from laughter!"
Naraku kicked the laughing boy across the hall and trudged down to his room.
Hakudoushi managed to disappear just in time so that he received no real damage but the pain of Naraku's foot on his back. Kyoyume, worried for both of them, followed behind his wet footprints hesitantly.
"Annoying little..." Naraku went on to call Hakudoushi every unprintable name he could think of.
'Ohh...he's angry...' Kyoyume thought as she walked slowly behind him, not even bothering to shake the water droplets that hung from her hair and ears.
Naraku sighed and flopped down on the bed.
Kyoyume stayed outside, leaning against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting with her back to the wall, water dripping in a pool around her. 'He might want to be alone.' She told herself as she sat down.
"You can come in. Just close the door." He told her.
Kyoyume came in, a little embarrassed that he had known she was present outside of the room. Shutting the door behind her, she stood in front of it for a moment before taking a seat on the floor.
"What's wrong?" He asked. "I'm not angry."
Kyoyume looked up at him, wondering what excuse she could use for her weird behavior. "Oh, uh, I just thought you might want to be alone." She mumbled, telling the truth.
"Nah."
"Ohh...." Kyoyume mumbled again, not sure if she should move or not.
He sat up and looked at her. "The cute little kitty and the bad nasty Naraku..." he muttered with a smirk.
"Hm?" She asked, slightly confused. "You're not bad and nasty..."
"Yeah..."
Kyoyume cocked her head to one side, puzzled. "And I'm not little." She informed him with a smile.
"So?"
"So that statement isn't true."
"Okay, the cute cat-hanyou and the mean and nasty me."
Kyoyume came over to him and plopped down at his side. "I said you're not mean or nasty." She replied in a huff.
He smirked a little. "Why do you think Inuyasha and those fools want me dead?"
Kyoyume felt a bit of panic rise in her at the thought. 'Dead?' She smiled at him though. "That's them."
"I guess. I'm not the nicest guy."
"Not to them maybe." She said. 'Please don't ever say dead.' She thought, her heart stinging. 'That words hurts too much.'
He smirked a little. "You're such a nice girl Kyo."
"Hm?" Kyoyume asked. "How so?"
"Well you just seem unfit to be a warrior."
Kyoyume laughed slightly. "Yeah, maybe I am..."
"In a good way."
"Of course." Kyoyume agreed with a smirk.
"And you're all for me."
"Eh?" Kyoyume asked as Naraku knocked one of her hands out from under her so that she fell on top of him.
"You know you love me." He told her with a joking wink.
"Of course I do." She replied with a smile.
"I feel special."
"Well you should." Kyoyume informed him promptly. But gave way to laughter at her own attitude.
He laughed a little too.
"However, you shall not get away with pulling me over with that again." She informed and with a flick of her head, sent a shower of water on his face. "Revenge."
He laughed and shoved her away. "Wet cat smell!"
Kyoyume laughed. "And now your bed shall smell of it too, fool." She smirked.
"Oh well it's your bed too."
"Yes, but I don't mind the smell, you do." She pointed out, smirk widening.
"Not really."
"Then why make such a fuss about it?"
"To bother you."
"It doesn't." Kyoyume said, rolling over as if she were hurt.
"Darn."
"Darn, right."
He sighed. "I want you I need you, you stupid monkey." He sang suddenly.
Kyoyume smiled, rolling back over to face him. "What's that song? I've never heard it before..."
"I just made it up."
"About yourself?" She joked.
"About you."
Kyoyume laughed again. "Thank you. though I've never thought of myself as monkey...."
"Well...Umm...change it to kitty."
Kyoyume giggled. "Okay."
"Okay."
Kyoyume sighed; closing her eyes and letting the whole conversation play back in her mind.
Naraku tinked the cat on the forehead. "Little kitty wakey wakey!"
The cat hanyou wrinkled her nose and furrowed her brow. "Don't wanna." She informed him childishly.
Naraku then began to tickle the cat-hanyou. "Wake-up."
"Hey!" Kyoyume squealed, squirming as he tickled her ribs. "Stop!" She begged, laughing and squirming.
"Nope."
"Why...not?" She asked through bouts of laughter, wriggling and trying to move away from his reach.
"You have to give me something so I'll stop."
"Like...what?" Kyoyume asked, nearly shrieking with laughter.
"Anything."
"How am I supposed to give you something...when you won't stop...?" She asked, laughing between each word.
"Think of something you could give me that would make me stop even if I didn't want to stop."
Kyoyume managed to smirk before she slapped a kiss on his cheek, hoping he would stop.
"Oh so close!" He moaned, still tickling, but not as hard as he had been.
"You're horrible." Kyoyume informed him before kissing him again, this time on the lips.
He stopped tickling her immediately, smirking like he had won an award. "I needed that." He said smugly.
Kyoyume let her poor body rest from all the laughter. "Abuse." She accused.
"Neglect." He retorted pointing to his lips.
"Bah!"
"Hey! You're supposed to love me!"
Kyoyume smirked. "Not when you abuse me to get what you want." She joked.
"I was being playful."
"Playful hurts."
"I'm sorry, where's it hurt?"
"Nuh-uh, ain't showin' you. You'll make it worse."
"No I won't, I promise."
"Right here." Kyoyume pointed to her ribs where he had been tickling her with a grin.
He nodded and promptly bent down and put a small kiss where she had pointed, and looked back at her with a joking smile.
"All better now?" He asked jokingly, upon which Kyoyume nodded. "All better." She said, after getting over the shock of the kiss on her ribs.
"Now, what do I get?" He asked pouting jokingly.
"You get..." Kyoyume mused, looking thoughtful. "You get a kiss in return." She offered.
"Really?" He asked.
"If that's what you want." Kyoyume said.
"Okay!"
With a grin, Kyoyume pressed her lips against his, giving him a light kiss.
Naraku sighed as she pulled away. "Damn...you two, you should kiss more like Jakotsu and Bankotsu when they think no one is looking." Hakudoushi joked from the door.
Kyoyume glared daggers at him without meaning to, ears alert on the top of her head. Naraku, angry again growled at him, his glare already set.
Hakudoushi just scampered away quietly.
"Brat." Naraku mumbled. Kyoyume, noticing that she was scowling, blinked once relieving herself of the glare.
He then smirked. "But maybe he's right." He mused evilly.
Kyoyume blushed slightly, though she had not meant to. "Hehe." She laughed.
"No I was serious."
"And I took you seriously." Kyoyume said with a nod.
"Right."
"So...uh...." Kyoyume stumbled for the right words.
"So?"
Kyoyume stumbled for another few seconds before she just shrugged. "Not sure how to put it."
"Not sure how to put what?"
Kyoyume didn't make direct eye contact. "The kissing thing...uhm..." She mumbled.
"Oh."
"Yeah..."
"Just think for a minute."
"Nani?" She asked.
"Think about what you want to say."
"Well, you said he was right and I thought....maybe he was too?"
"Oh."
Kyoyume gulped and nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed that it had taken her so long to say such a simple thing.
"I guess...."
Kyoyume was silent, thinking that she was supposed to make the first move.
Naraku was silent, thinking to himself.
Above them, they could hear the thunder of the rain as it hit the roof, and the rumbling of the thunder in the sky.
"The rain's nice." Naraku noted.
Kyoyume nodded her agreement, listening to the soothing sound of the rain.
He looked at her and sighed. "This is boring."
Deciding, Kyoyume leaned forward and pressed her lips against his until he reacted.
Naraku's eyebrows disappeared into his hair before he could think of a proper reaction.
Almost instinctively, he felt himself pulling her closer as they kissed, still a bit shocked at the suddenness of the kiss.
She was mentally congratulating herself for taking him by surprise.
He, in turn, was still astounded as she moved next to him.
The sound of applause caught their attention as Hakudoushi was standing at the doorway with the most evil smirk ever, then he promptly ran away.
Kyoyume blushed, a mixture of embarrassment and anger filling her as she spotted the boy before he ran off. Naraku, she could tell, was growling as he stared at the screen door that had been slammed shut behind the boy as he had run.
"Stupid thing." He muttered.
Kyoyume nodded her agreement without thinking.
Naraku sighed and began to have a stare-down with the ceiling.
Kyoyume rolled onto her side and stared at the place where the walls met the floor, her eyes glazed in thought.
"Stupid Hakudoushi ruins everything."
Kyoyume's eyes moved sideways so that she was only barely peeking over her shoulder at him. She didn't say a word, but simply listened to him as he spoke, still thinking to herself.
"What's up?" He asked suddenly.
Kyoyume shrugged, rolling back onto her back and staring at the roof with him. "Ceiling, sky." She said, pointing one arm at the roof above.
"I mean...you're acting strange...."
"I am?" Kyoyume asked, raising one eyebrow curiously. "I never..." Kyoyume dropped off. "I'm not intentionally doing it."
"I know, you're just staring at the wall...and...well it makes it seem like you're upset."
Kyoyume smiled at him. "I'm not, honest."
"Okay."
The room grew silent again, and Kyoyume wondered if he believed her or not. 'I wish I wouldn't be so predictable all the time...' She mused to herself.
Naraku dosed off after a minute or two of silence.
Kyoyume, noting that he was asleep, decided to take the time to view her sword again, and quietly left the room in search of her blade. 'I hope the rain didn't get to it.' The thought suddenly struck her that she might have been careless enough to leave the sword out in the open.
"What'cha looking for?" Hakudoushi asked popping out of Entei's room suddenly.
Kyoyume jumped slightly, looking at the child as she came out of musings. "Oh, ah, my sword..." She mumbled mostly to herself.
"Oh...I think...I dunno." He said shrugging.
"That's ok, I can find it." Kyoyume assured him with a smile before starting off again, trying to recall where she had last had her weapon.
"Okay..."
Kyoyume kept on down the long halls, nose twitching as she recalled her footsteps from previous days, and followed her own scent. 'Around here somewhere...' She thought, peeking around the corner of a hallway to see the room she was looking for. 'In there....'
Her sword wasn't in the first room she looked in, so she kept on looking for it.
Her nose twitched again. 'I was around her somewhere, and my I can feel my swords aura....now where did I...?' She thought as she roamed from room to room.
"What are you looking for?" Bankotsu asked coming out of one of the rooms.
"Oh, uhm, my sword.." Kyoyume mumbled, sticking her head around another corner and looking around. "I'm afraid I've lost it....or it just dropped off the face of the earth..."
"Oh...I dunno, I haven't seen it."
Kyoyume bit her bottom lip and made a face. "Thanks, I'm sure i'll find it, tell me if you see it..." She said, heading back down the hall and trying to retrace her steps again. 'Dammit, this is getting irritating...' She thought to herself, one of her ears twitching in her anger.
"Umm...Kyoyume?" Hakudoushi asked.
"Nani?" Kyoyume asked, turning toward him.
"Your sword is in Naraku's room."
Kyoyume suddenly remember herself that she had laid the sword against the wall on Naraku's side of the room. Sweatdropping, she slapped herself in the face, blushing in embarrassment. "I'm going to forget this ever happened...." She mumbled as she walked back past him.
Naraku tossed a little in his sleep as she entered the room. She was trying to be quiet but the floor was creaking.
Kyoyume winced as her foot a sweet spot, and the floor around her foot sank, creaking. 'Please don't wake him up, idiot...' She cursed herself, tiptoeing as quietly as she could to her sword. 'I can't believe i walked right past the damned thing...' Kyoyume thought as she reached it, only making the floor squeak in a few other places.
Thankfully, she didn't wake Naraku in her quest to get to her sword.
She sighed inwardly, happy that she hadn't woken him, then, she turned back to her sword, and, taking it in both hands, walked as quietly as she could back to the door.
She found a bench to sit down on and took out the sword, it was dirtied with blood and other things that she had been cutting through.
'Ew.' She thought as she looked at it. 'I should clean this thing after every battle, or at least more often...' She thought as she started to clean it with a rag she had found lying around while searching for the weapon.
She smiled proudly to herself when it shined like new. "Better." She mumbled.
Kyoyume looked it over again, and became even prouder when she saw that not one speck of dirt had been missed. "Much better." She agreed with her former thought, with a nod of approval.
Then, with a long catlike yawn she decided to go to sleep. So she walked back inside and curled up next to the already sleeping Naraku.
Scooting the sword away from her, onto the floor, she closed her drooping eyes, her mind and body slowly drifting into her dreams until she was lost in sleep.
A familiar sensation of something dropping into the bed woke the pair the next morning; Kyoyume opened her eyes slowly, only to find herself face-to-face with Hakudoushi.
Startled by the grinning face, she scooted away suddenly, tired and bleary eyes wide in shock. "Haku-kun?!" She gasped, unsure as she rubbed her eyes.
"I just wanted to make sure you two didn't sleep all day."
Kyoyume groaned, yawning and stretching. "What time is it?" She asked, rubbing her eyes again as she heard Naraku growl.
"About noon."
"Ugh..." Kyoyume groaned.
Hakudoushi yawned and snuggled up to Kyoyume. He looked up at her and smiled. "Sleep good?"
"I slept fine." Kyoyume said, putting her chin on his head and closing her eyes again.
"That's good." He said with another yawn as he yanked Naraku over so he could use him as a pillow and then Hakudoushi fell back to sleep.
Kyoyume stared at the walls beyond Naraku and Hakudoushi for a few minutes before her eyes became heavy, and she shut them, mind drifting back into sleep.
As they all slept the day went by slowly, they woke up at dusk.
Naraku immediately noticed the bundle of clothing and hair between him and Kyoyume that was Hakudoushi, his head laying on Naraku's shoulder. Naraku growled at him as his eyes opened.
Hakudoushi snuggled up to him and smiled a little in his sleep, looking innocent.
Naraku glared at him for a moment, but ceased his growling. Making a face, he looked over to see that Kyoyume was still sound asleep, not even her ears twitching.
He sighed a little.
Lying back down, he looked up at the ceiling, not really thinking about anything in particular. He shut his eyes, sighing again, and became unaware of whether he was sleeping, or still lying awake as his mind slipped away again.
Hakudoushi woke up a little bit later. "Hey...what time is it?" He asked groggily.
Kyoyume stirred next to him, one of her ears twitching. "I don't know..." She mumbled dreamily, her eyes still closed.
Hakudoushi sighed. "Dad?" He mumbled poking Naraku.
One of his eyes opened, and he looked sidelong at his son who only focused after a few moments of staring at him. "What?" He asked irritably.
"Just making sure you hadn't died in your sleep or something, jeez!"
Naraku groaned and closed his eyes again, leaving Hakudoushi to fume.
"Why am I so hated?" He muttered.
One of Kyoyume's ears twitched again. "No one hates you...." She half-mumbled half-whispered.
"You're so mean to me!"
"Only because we love you..." Kyoyume whispered.
Hakudoushi's eyes got strangely dewy and he smiled a little. "Really?"
"Truly and honestly." Kyoyume mumbled her famous line. "Love hurts." She added.
"Naraku hurts you too?" He asked in a whisper that only she and himself could hear.
"No...."
"Good."
Kyoyume's eyes started to open, as if she were finally becoming aware that she was holding a conversation with someone. "I thought you would be angry." She joked.
"Nah."
Kyoyume smiled a bit. "That's good...." She sighed.
He smiled a little at her sigh, and mimicked it.
"If you are trying to get on my nerves, your efforts are failing." She informed him with a soft smirk, closing her slitted eyes.
"Why would I do that?"
"Don't pull that, I know you too well."
"Darnit."
"Yes, you're moves are predictable." She giggled softly.
"Nooo."
"Yes."
"Whatever." He muttered.
"Ooh. Don't be upset." She whined with a smile to show she was playing.
He hugged her a little and smiled. "Glad you're my mom." He told her with a smile.
Kyoyume smiled, holding him like he were a child as she smiled. "I'm not." She said sternly, but her playful grin gave away everything.
"Aww..."
Kyoyume smiled at the child's disappointment. She winked at him after opening her eyes. "Just don't tell anyone our secret, k?"
"Ok."
Kyoyume laughed again, and closed her eyes, becoming still and silent for a few moments as Hakudoushi watched her face.
Suddenly someone else entered the room. "HEY GUYS WAKE UP!" Jakotsu yelled. "The castle is being attacked by some...wolf demons!"
"Who?" Kyoyume asked, sitting up, and reaching for her sword with a yawn.
"Wolf demons."
"Ugh, what's that moron doing here?" Hakudoushi asked, getting up and walking by Jakotsu just as Kyoyume stood. "Who?" She echoed again.
"Kouga."
"Oh." Kyoyume said, not knowing who this 'Kouga' was. "What?!" Naraku growled, getting up suddenly, fire in his eyes.
"Kouga and his tribe and I guess another wolf tribe here."
Naraku growled again dangerously, and his dragon armor suddenly appeared on him as if it had always been there. Without a word, he stormed past them all, and headed to the front of the castle, where already the sounds of battle echoed.
They followed quickly. The young leader standing in front. "Damn! We thought Ichiyasha was here." He growled.
"Ichiyasha is dead." Naraku proclaimed with a glare as he descended.
"So you killed him? Why?!"
"I didn't kill him, fool." Naraku smirked. "Though I gladly would have ended him. His death was at the hands of the Lord of the Western Lands."
"What did he do to you? He tried to take our lands."
Naraku smirked wider. "He was in the way, was all." He lied.
Kouga snorted. "Apparently he was moving in on a different kind of Sesshoumaru's territory."
"I could really care less for the circumstances of his death."
"But you should, the wind witch is Sesshoumaru's territory, no? Did Ichiyasha try to get your cat-girl?"
Naraku's cold eyes turned on him suddenly. A glare was set on the wolf warrior as he wondered where he had heard of Kyoyume. "You are obviously mistaken."
"No I'm not, Kagome told me so."
Naraku raised one eyebrow at him, quirking another smirk. "You certainly do have the strangest sources."
"Well she's MY woman so she can tell me ANYTHING she'd never lie to me!"
Naraku chuckled at how enraged the youkai was. "You sound a little insecure."
"Last time I checked that Kagome wench was all over MY Inuyasha." Jakotsu pouted.
Kouga's eyes nearly popped out of his head before he growled at them all. "Shut up!" He roared.
"...What it's true Kouga."
Kouga was furious, and he grit his teeth in anger. "Kagome is MINE. That puppy, Inuyasha, is just a fool!!"
"Did you come here to bug us or something?"
"Yes, you are wasting my time." Naraku agreed.
"...We came here to kill Ichiyasha. So, you're no interest to us right now." Kouga sneered, walking away.
Naraku smirked as he watched them go. "Fools." He commented.
Kyoyume nodded in agreement. "What were they talking about, I wasn't listening..."
Naraku shook his head as his armor disappeared. "Nothing..."
"Tell me." She whined.
Naraku smiled softly at her pleading eyes. "They thought Ichiyasha was here. And were quite upset when they found me instead."
"What else?"
Naraku thought a moment before answering. "...They wanted to know why I had a grudge against Ichiyasha."
"Did you tell them?"
Naraku smirked slightly. "I did not have to, they knew the answer already. It appears that human girl, Kagome, spread news to Kouga."
"I see."
Naraku noted her tone of voice, and turned to see that she looked a bit crestfallen. "What is it?" He asked.
"I dunno...nothing really."
"Are you sure?" He asked, slightly worried.
"Yeah I'm fine." She assured him with a smile.
He smiled back at her. "That's good."
End Chapter