A/N: Thank you to Damia Rose, godoflight, and o-aki-hoshi for the reviews. They really help me keep going on the story. I apologize for the short, seemingly uneventful chapter, but it was needed to progress the story. I promise to have a bit longer chapter next update.
On another note, to avoid any confusion, when I use the word castle, I am talking about feudal japanese castles. A couple pictures of such can be found at http/edtech. and now, on with the story…
Chapter 5: Refle ction
Midori woke after only a couple of hours of sleep. After sleeping all day she found herself to be restless. She looked around the room and realized it seemed unusually bright for how little moonlight made it's way through the window. D eciding it was probably just her imagination acting up she decided to do a bit of digging in the chest she had gotten her current yukata from. Her foot caught in the furs as she moved from the futon and she pitch forward. It took her a moment to realize t hat she was still standing, free from the furs. Naze ka… I should be flat on my face…
She shook herself as she made her way to the chest. The smell of the wood seemed much more potent than it had that morning, and when she opened it, she coul d almost swear she could smell the clothes inside. Maybe I just didn't notice before… She started by carefully shifting through the folded kimonos, marveling at the silky material they were made of and the carefully embroidered designs on them. She paused to look at a deep green one closer, gently pulling it out of the trunk to unfold so she could see the full design.
Embroidered down the back was an intricate dragon of gold, and along the sleeves were delicate gold flames. Suddenly feeling t hat it wasn't her place to even look at such a beautiful kimono, she folded it back up and tucked it back into the chest with the others. She then turned her attention to the side that held the sturdier yukatas, like the one she was wearing. She ruffled through these, not quite so worried about marring them. Near the bottom, she found a green yukata and hakama set that grabbed at her attention. She pulled it out and the strange dream she'd had earlier flashed through her mind. Though much of it was still fuzzy, she was sure this was almost identical to the outfit the one carrying her had been wearing.
The edging of the yukata and tie of the hakama were a soft golden color, the faintest sheen detectable in the fabric. Though it was still sturdy fabric, it was softer than the others in the chest were. A strangely familiar scent caught her attention as she faintly heard the door opening. Still holding the silver yukata in her hands, she turned a bit and her eyes locked with the inu-yokai's, paralyzing her in her kneeling position. He stood in the doorway for several moments, his face perfectly concealing any thoughts and emotions he might have had, before he turned down the hall again, sliding the door shut behind him with a snap.
A shiver ran do wn Midori's back as she listened to his footsteps fade down the hallway. What was that about? I wish he wouldn't be so creepy all the time… She hardly realized that her thoughts where less scared than annoyed at the yokai lord's unpredictability as she folded up the yukata and hakama and placed them on top of the other yukatas. She sat back on her heels, wondering what else she could do to keep herself occupied without getting into trouble.
As she sat, she realized that the lid of the chest was much thicker than the sides or bottom. She leaned forward and, sure enough, found a small half circle cut into the top of an inside panel, just enough to fit a finger to pull open the compartment. She blinked as she was confronted by accessories. The lid compartment was split in two, like the main part of the chest. On the side above the yukatas were shoes and tabi socks. She poked through the shoes, finding both geta and zori of various colors. After taking a short inventory of that compartment, she turned her attention to the next.
She found many hair accessories of varying elegance and she carefully shifted through them, not wanting to break one on accident. Along one side she found several hair ribbons. Her fingers lingered on a silky green one with a simple golden design embroidered on it. She only realized she had been staring at the ribbon when the silence was broken by the sound of a door snapping open. She started and realized that the sound came from the room next to hers when sh e heard the door snapped shut just as forcefully. She sat on her heels watching the wall between the rooms as she heard the yokai lord shuffling around beyond it.
Suddenly, her senses reeled and she had to put a hand to the floor to keep from fallin g over. A wave of exhaustion hit her and she barely managed to crawl back to the futon before collapsing back into sleep…
The first thing to catch Sesshoumaru's attention when he reached his castle was the smell. The girl's scent had change. Granted, it was only a little bit, but it was a noticeable change. He made his way through the halls and pulled the door to her room open. Apparently she had been digging around in the chest, for she was holding a yukata in her lap, kneeling in front of the ches t. After a few moments of searching for any physical changes, of which he found none, he turned and snapped the door shut behind him, heading down the hallway to the library.
This is taking too long. There has to be a way to speed it up. He r eached the library and began digging through the shelves of scrolls for any that might have what he was looking for. After thoroughly disorganizing nearly the entire library, he came to the conclusion that it wasn't there. Annoyed at the failure of the li brary to produce anything helpful, he stalked back to his room. There were no sounds from the girl's room as he paced around, futilely searching through the scrolls and papers scattered about. He had just given up, leaning against the doorframe, when sudden sound and another change in scent from the girl's room caught his attention.
He quickly made his way back to her room, sliding the door open with his usual snap, but then paused in the doorway. She was asleep again. His tense shoulders relaxed a bit as his gaze softened ever so slightly. She looked innocent and peaceful, and hadn't heard his entrance at all. He slid the door shut slowly, returning to his room to debate his situation. Chuuichirou's library would likely have what he needed, but he didn't have any other reason to pay him a visit, and he knew the shinrin yokai already had his own strange suspicions about the girl. There's no reason to encourage him. Still…
He laid down on his futon as he ran through his options. With his baka of a brother hanging about he didn't want to drag the girl around with him until she at least stopped smelling like a human, but wasn't sure how long that was going to be. I hope whoever came up with using seals for protection died a slow and pai nful death… The other problem was that Rin drove Jaken absolutely nuts when they stayed at the castle for too long. Though he couldn't rightfully say it wasn't a bit amusing, Jaken's constant whining about her was more than a little annoying.
He stared passively at the ceiling, continuing to sway back and forth in his mind, and at some point noticed the gradual lightening brought with dawn. Finally deciding to simply see how things played out, he rose from his futon and, after straightening out his clothes, headed to wake the girl up.
Japanese Glossary:
Yukata: simple kimono, usually only one layer over the under garments.
Naze: how
Ka: spoken question mark
Hakama: basically pants, worn over a yukata/k imono and tied at the waist
Tabi socks: socks that split the big toe from the rest
Geta: any sandal with a separate heel
Zori: any Japanese sandal that has a flat bottom
Shinrin yokai: forest demon
Baka: all purpose insult (s tupid, jerk, etc)
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