Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Hoobastank's lyrics.
A/N: A note to all young teens reading this, I don't mean any insult later in this chapter when Koshi and Shisuki are talking and I compare and contrast the14year oldof 2005 with the14 year old of the Feudal era. Let's face it guys, 14 is old in their world, 16 is definite marriage material, so is 14. In one episode I think the Inu-group even meets a 14 year old girl who met Miroku years earlier as a young child and when she meets him a few years later she offers herself up to him saying she is able now to bear his children if he still wants it. I can't remember her name, but Shisuki is that age, she's probably less than a year from actually being married off I would imagine. Sango was probably sought after too before she was made into an orphan by Naraku's plot...but anyway, I mean no insult with that passage, it's just the truth, our industrialized society has created the idea of adolescents. There are 14 year olds in other countries that are marrying right now as we speak...er...type. Anyway, that's all I meant by it, that things could change so drastically. Anyway, the running gag is continuing, now if you didn't get it the first time (and I think everyone did!) you'll certainly get it now! It's like non-stop...hope you enjoy it! We're coming to THE END...I'm actually writing it as you read this likely...I have a snippet at the end for you...there may also be an epilogue if anyone wants it...yes? No? Reivew and tell me guys! You've been wonderful! On with the story!
Possibilities Infinite
"There was a time when our dreams felt so real
Just out of reach but not too far to feel
Together we'd finally make them come true
'Cause anything's possible
When I was with you…"
"I know that your hair will never smell as nice now as it always does after you come through the well, but," Sango sighed, "This will just have to do." She handed Kagome a towel quickly as they stepped out of the hot spring, their bodies steaming with the deliciously warm water. Both girls began drying themselves off, watching around them in turns instinctually for peeping eyes. Traveling with two young men had long since worn in the instinct like a law: watch your back or your modesty just might be compromised. Of course neither Miroku nor Inuyasha would admit to such accusations—but as far as Sango and Kagome were concerned they'd been caught red-handed numerous times. And it seemed almost against Miroku's very character to not peep…
Although of course, the peepers might very well be village boys, or worse and still more likely, a samurai that had followed them to act as sentry and made sure that he was just close enough to see the forbidden fruits. At any rate it ensured that the girls dressed quickly, Kagome slipping on the clean, simple white kimono that Sango had provided her, while the demon slayer herself donned her usual attire, the body suit underneath her sarong-wrap green skirt and her pink kimono. She strapped hiraikotsu to her back the moment Kagome was finished dressing and the two headed back toward the river and the village amiably.
It surprised Sango that Kagome had wanted to hear everything she knew, but she'd obliged the schoolgirl, telling the story carefully, trying to tone down the bits that her friend seemed to have trouble accepting—and there were several. She'd told everything, from Kagome's fall that all of them were sure she couldn't have survived—which was something that seemed to disturb Kagome particularly, so she skimmed as much as she could—to Inuyasha's disappearance and their mourning. It was an especially troublesome subject for Sango as well as Kagome when the story reached the shards—until Kagome had spared her that part of the tale by showing the fragments of the Shikon jewel to her as they stripped their clothing off. Sango decided to leave out their search for the shards then, it was too gruesome. Kagome wouldn't want to hear it as much as Sango didn't want to tell it. Who wanted to hear that their body had to recovered so that an important item could be retrieved? It seemed too much like grave robbing.
Oddly enough Sango realized that Kagome's sense of time was off-kilter. Early in their discussion she'd asked if a week had passed since the pig demon's attack, and Sango had blinked in shock.
"Weeks have passed, Kagome." She'd told her, which seemed to surprise Kagome quite a lot, judging from the blank stare of denial.
"But I don't remember weeks…I only remember waking up a few days ago…"
Even Sango didn't really know everything that Kagome had done as Sakana. There was no way, really, to find out either, unless Kagome remembered at some later date.
By the time they'd crossed the river, their legs freezing from the shock of transition from hot spring to chilled river water, Sango's story was complete—ending with Inuyasha's abduction of her as the perceived, "Red Demon." Kagome seemed to find their fear of him amusing; she blushed as they passed through the rice fields, her old, dirty and wrinkled green kimono in her arms.
"How could they be so afraid of him? Why?" she shook her head, taking quick, fleeting glances of the demon slayer, and as she did the smile died on her face and she stopped where she stood.
Sango, caught by surprise, stilled a few steps later, turning round to look at her friend, "Kagome?" she called, nervous suddenly at the change.
The girl looked up at her, her brown eyes suddenly wary, darkened with some fathomless emotion. She opened her mouth as if to speak and then silenced herself again and looked about the fields around them, alive with fearful villagers like busy ants. Busy ants with poison spray aimed on their nest…Inuyasha hadn't always been like the hanyou she trusted with her life, the one she loved. When she'd first met him he'd tried to kill her without remorse. If she'd handed over the shards of the Shikon chances were he couldn't have cared less about killing her—but it didn't chance the fact that he'd been untamed…she hadn't wanted to believe what Sango had told her before, but now…she looked up and swallowed nervously. "You said Inuyasha thought I was dead and he was crazy with grief when he ran away from you and the others?"
She nodded, her eyes grave now too, realizing that she had forgotten one important note in her story—the murder of the samurais. "Kagome—I didn't tell you at first…uh…" she let her voice fade and die away, unsure abruptly on whether or not to tell the girl the truth.
"He did something, didn't he?" Kagome asked, recapturing Sango's attention, "He did something that made them afraid of him." She paused, her voice catching in her throat at a new thought, "Did he lose control and become a full demon?"
At the sound of her voice and the word demon, several of the villagers looked up, glaring at her with mixtures of fear and disdain. Some were suspicious, others simply filled with instinctual fear at the word alone. Seeing this, Sango rushed back and took Kagome's arm. "Maybe we should talk about this somewhere alone—quietly." She suggested in the girl's ear with a nervous hiss.
Kagome pursed her lips and nodded, "Okay."
As they approached the gate Sango's body stiffened beside Kagome's, and the girl looked up, confused at what could intimidate the otherwise stoic demon slayer…and then saw the same broken, twisted, ugly face of the samurai of before. "Oh no." she mumbled, noticing that Sango was once again trying to obscure her face behind her as they passed…but this time the samurai seemed distracted, he was speaking to the other man acting as sentry. Instinctively they sped up, trying to pass before the samurai could see them…
Without a word they succeeded and both girls sighed heavily in relief. "Oh I wish Inuyasha had killed him last night when he had the chance." Sango chuckled darkly beside the schoolgirl, and her words caught Kagome's attention, making her head snap up instantly.
"Inuyasha was here last night…?" she frowned, confused, "But you said these people are terrified of him! They think he's a demon!"
"Yes, but only because they're uneducated."
"What do you mean? I didn't know about it when I first saw him…" she blinked, realizing what this was implying, "You did, Sango?"
"I might have been forewarned," she shrugged, and Kagome could see the harder lines in her face coming out, straining, as the demon slayer struggled to keep her inner emotions that related to her first meeting of Inuyasha reigned in and controlled, "But even if I hadn't been I would've known, yes."
"How?"
The demon slayer shrugged, "Don't ever tell him this but—Inuyasha's tooshort to be a demon."
"But he still looks like one!" Kagome insisted, getting caught up in their argument.
Sango hissed at her, shushing her as a group of villagers walked past, smelling of fresh stew and soups and spices. And sweat. Kagome scowled at it, wishing that deodorant existed in the Feudal era at that moment. When they'd passed Sango directed Kagome back toward Mijai's hut at the back of the village. As they approached she whispered in her ear, "We'll talk as soon as you're inside and resting. I'm guessing that tonight we make a break for it."
Mijai was outside his hut, working some sort of meat of a skewer that had once been some type of animal. When he heard them coming he looked up and smiled faintly. "Hello Sakana!" he beamed, and when he caught their momentary blank stares in response he fumbled and then blurted, "Well, if she isn't named Sakana, what the hell am I supposed to call her? What's her grandfather's clan name again, did you say, demon slayer?" the healer's voice was gruff, confused. Kagome blinked at him, trying to remember him—after all he'd obviously known her alter ego, the Fish girl. But nothing came to her…except, maybe, a smell of spicy stews, noodles and chicken…
"Higurashi." Sango nodded at Kagome, "Higurashi Kagome. And I believe that we will be taking her back home to her grandfather tonight, Mijai-sama."
The healer made a light grunting noise and looked back to his fire, turning the skewer to expose some of the more raw meat on one side of it to the blaze of the fire, "You'll have to take Koshi with you, of course…" he mumbled, so low that Sango almost didn't catch it as she led Kagome back toward the hut.
"What?" she asked a second later as his words registered.
"Koshi," he frowned and his eyes flew to Kagome, "You know, Higurashi Kagome, the young man is head over heels for you…he's in there right now, probably. Doesn't have much to do with the samurais anymore. I think that when you leave he'll slip off with you." Kagome blushed and her fingers immediately flew to her lips, touching where she remembered he'd kissed her…and suddenly she had an image attack her mind: Kouga and Inuyasha battling each other viciously, snarling like mutts over her, as if she were a piece of meat…
"Oh God!" she groaned, and the tightening of Sango's arm around her waist told her that the demon slayer understood her concern.
Mijai frowned, gesturing at Kagome, "What's the matter with her? Does her head still hurt?"
Sango nodded, "Yes, I'm sure that's it, Mijai-sama…"
"I have some herbs that could help the pain!" he offered as they walked past him and into the hut, but when they didn't answer him and slipped inside he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and turned his attention to the skewer again.
Inside the back of the hut Sango and Kagome were relieved to find that they were in fact alone. Kagome collapsed on the furs of the futon that was, apparently, hers, at least for the time being, and moaned.
Sango sat beside her and added her own sigh to the empty room's silence. "We'll go tonight. I'd bet my life that unless he managed to kill himself between last night and now Inuyasha will come tonight and we will leave…" she frowned, "Koshi will take one look at Inuyasha and run. He'll be so scared of the demon that he won't even remember you."
Kagome blew out a long loud breath from her lips. "You know that little annoying Kisho—"
"Koshi." Sango interrupted with a sudden smirk that made Kagome's hands clench into fists.
"Yea, Kishi, Koshi, Kisho, Kissy-wissy whatever!" she growled, sounding surprisingly similar to someone they both knew who liked to make such noises whether he was frustrated or not, "Whatever his stupid name is he's not coming!" she groaned again and looked up at Sango, "He asked me to marry him this morning—marry him?" she choked just saying the words. "I told him I didn't even know who he was and he still wanted me to marry him!" she dropped her head into her hands, shaking in frustration as Sango started to laugh.
"It's not funny! Ugh!" she growled again, but Sango couldn't stop.
And then—speak of the devil.
Koshi stepped into the room, smiling lightly at Sango's laughter—he hadn't imagined she was one to prone to such outbursts, but here it was nonetheless—and all sounds ceased, except for Sango's nervous throat clearing. "Hello Sa—Kagome." He bowed and then his eyes flicked to Sango's still very reddened face, "And hello to you as well Lady Slayer."
She scowled, "My name is Sango." She reminded him and Koshi half-cringed, half-flinched.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be…" Sango threw Kagome a mischievous glance and then rose to her feet, despite the schoolgirl's squeak of terror. "I need to find my…" she coughed, "Associate, the monk." She stepped beyond where Koshi was standing, hovering briefly at the door and smirked at Kagome knowingly until her mirth was wiped away by Koshi's idle words.
"Oh? Him? The monk is washing clothes with the women at the river…" he chuckled amusedly, "I've never seen anyone as eager to have children as that monk of all people is!"
Now Kagome smirked at Sango's renewed flush of pink skin and the anger blooming in her eyes, as fiery as any rose's red. "I'll get that letch…" she promised, grumbling as she slipped out, leaving Kagome and her not-so-secret-admirer alone…
Koshi started forward and Kagome raised her hands, desperately trying not to quiver. "Kishi—"
"My name is Koshi." He corrected.
Damn it! Stupid me, stupid name! "Koshi." She started again, "I don't want to marry you. I don't want to kiss you. And I don't even know you. I guess we knew each other before…" she blushed as she wondered at a sickening possibility—how well had the other her known this boy? She resisted the urge to ask him such a question and instead cleared her throat nervously, trying to find something else to say, but Koshi spoke first.
"When do you and your grandfather's servants plan to leave?" he asked, nervously. His eyes were focused on his hands, fingers fiddling busily in front of him.
"Um…" what is it with these people and thinking that my grandfather is rich? "Tonight, I think…"
Koshi's head snapped up, his eyes alight, "Can I come with you? Please?"
Kagome grimaced but answered without hesitation. "No."
His gaze was suddenly hard and confused, "Why not?" he asked, and stepped forward, kneeling before her despite her desperate waving to try and get him to stop, "I know you don't remember me right now…" his hands groped and grabbed hold of hers, squeezing tight, "But we could get to know each other. Please, just give me a chance, once chance, and I know that it could work." He raised one hand to her cheek, as if to caress it and for a moment she saw his hair become lighter until it was silver, his eyes lighten into a shimmering gold, and his ears jump to the top of his head…but only for a moment, a very delusional split second…
She slapped his hand away, "Kisho—"
He closed his eyes as he corrected her this time, "Koshi love, my name is Koshi."
She felt as if she might vomit and had to stay silent to make sure she wouldn't. "Koshi…" she sighed, searching for something that would make him see… "Ki—Koshi…the girl you fell in love with isn't me."
He blinked, rather stupidly. He reminded her, perhaps not so strangely as she initially thought, of a cow, staring blandly at the slaughterhouse, never understanding the horrors that awaited it there. Oh no, she realized when the stare continued, I'm going to have to explain that to him…
"Kish—"
"Koshi." He corrected her this time with a slight snap in his eyes. She could see the first signs of irritation in there, and it almost made her smile with relief. If he couldbe irritated with her there was hope. Perhaps he wasn't going to continue being so hopelessly in love with her…?
"Yea, that." She cleared her throat and, slowly, reached for one hand, taking it in her own as if afraid that it might bite her, as if some sort of poison might rub off and get into her bloodstream. Koshi's eyes shone with something that tried to make a lump in her throat, but she forced it down, staring at his hands instead…and noticed that his skin, if she squinted her eyes hard enough, could look as beautifully golden and flawless as the half-demon dressed in red who just happened to haunt both their dreams—albeit in two very different ways.
"Koshi…" she sighed, finding the words, still staring at his hands, "You've got to realize that I don't remember any of what you do about whatever happened between us…"
His hands tightened around hers. "But, don't you see? You could get to know me again, Sakana, you could."
Sadly she smiled, seeing her own truth in his words, unknowingly spilled right out of his mouth. "See, that's what I mean Kisho—"
"Koshi."
She ignored the correction, "You just called me Sakana." She shook her head, "You don't know Kagome, and that's who I am." She looked carefully into his eyes, silently willing him to understand. "Sakana doesn't exist anymore, Kosho."
"Koshi." She could see the sparkle of annoyance in his eyes, growing larger, and prayed that he couldn't also see in her gaze that she was now deliberately forgetting his name.
"Do you understand though?" she asked, shaking his hand within hers, desperately, "I am not Sakana. I don't even remember her. I don't remember anything that happened, only waking up here a few days ago—and even those are really hazy. I still can't believe that it's been more than a week since that pig demon knocked me from the cliff!" she laughed, shivering at her own dim, half-memories that danced through her at the thought.
Koshi was staring at her with a very strange expression in his eye. "But…the slayer and the monk told me that you were abducted by the Red Demon." He blinked, and she knew that she'd made a mistake.
"Never mind." She tried to smile at him, tried to force away his curiosity—besides, all that was not the point—what had she been getting at? She looked down and saw their hands together still, and suddenly it hit her again. Roughly she tore her hands away from his, despite the pain that entered his gaze…and she blurted, "And that's why you can't come—I'm not Sakana, I'm Kagome."
He pursed his lips, determined, and reached for her hands again, longing for her touch, but Sakana—Kagome—sat on them rather than subject them to his desperate touch again, sliding her small, white hands underneath the white kimono she was wearing, under her thighs…that thought momentarily distracted him into frowning before he could force his wandering mind away from sex and back to reality. She wasn't going to marry him, and she didn't even want to know him! Carefully he took several deep breaths that he tried to disguise from her to steady his heart and the emotions that threatened to explode within him, like water from behind a cracked dam.
"I would love to know Kagome too…" he whispered, praying that he reached her with the truth of those words. He had loved Sakana—was Kagome all that much different? He doubted it; the biggest difference that he saw was that Kagome was confident and more prone to smiling, unlike the more timid and shy Sakana who gave small smiles but was always scared and alone on the inside. Perhaps that was why he'd wanted to be with her so much—because like him she was lost, without a family, without a place to belong…
Kagome seemed to think his words over—or at least that was how it appeared to Koshi, when in reality she was seeing Inuyasha spring on the poor, foolish boy, pin him to the ground and threaten to kill him…and since he'd thought she'd died so recently—who was she to say with any authority that Inuyasha might not kill the boy? He was wild and feral by Sango's own admission. She didn't know what exactly had happened that made these villagers so frightened of him—Sango had never gotten a chance to tell her—but she knew it must be something serious. She swallowed nervously and closed her eyes tightly for a moment. I need to break this boy apart. I need to make him not want to come with us somehow…but the only thing that she could think of that would sway him was…Inuyasha…it hit her like a two-ton Toyota truck and she restrained herself from grinning, by coughing abruptly, making Koshi flinch and reach for her—as if to hold her—but she pushed him clear and silenced herself.
"Listen Koshi." She looked him dead in the eye, unblinkingly, "You can't come with us. You can't get to know Kagome." She paused, forcing him to ask why, taking her bait.
"Why?"
"Because," she sat up straighter, wondering how exactly to phrase it the strongest, "I can't ever love you at all as Kagome." She paused, yet again, making him frown and ask his one-liner another time.
"Why?"
"I'm already in love with someone." This time when she paused it wasn't to bait him, it was to let herself blush at the reality of her own words. She'd thought to mush it up, to lie a little, to say she was engaged or some such silliness. But when she'd said the words out loud, hearing them sent little shivers through her. Little rivulets of mixed emotion—longing, love, pain, fear…so many for her to sort through…but in this pause she was unaware of Koshi's staring at her, his careful reading of her face, the look in her eyes, the glow on her cheeks and in her eyes…
"You do love this other man," he sighed, catching her by surprise, "But whoever he is, he doesn't love you the way you want him to."
She was stunned, her breathing stopped. For one so dense when it came to himself and her feelings for him, or rather, her lack of emotions for him, he was shockingly good at reading the situation between herself and another…she blinked at him and slowly smiled sheepishly, one hand coming from the safety of its hiding place beneath her legs to cover her mouth in her astonishment.
"Kishi—"
"Koshi." He sighed, gently, depressingly.
"Oh, yes, Koshi, I'm sorry…" she stared again at him, harder, curiously, "How did—how did you—"
He smiled, gently but sadly, unable to hide his pain, "It's all over you…" he shook his head, looking away ashamedly, "I shouldn't have pressed you so, I'm sorry Kagome." He rose, slowly to go. She stared after him as he went, noticing suddenly, the way he hadn't needed to be corrected when he'd said her name. He'd easily called her Kagome, and not Sakana. Apparently the fact that Kagome clearly loved another made the difference between the two girls real to Koshi, allowing him to see the truth and to leave her…but even so she couldn't help but feel terrible for it…
"Kisho…or uh…Kishi?" she called to him as he reached the door.
With a sigh he turned round and whispered the correction, "It's Koshi."
"I'm sorry…" she tried to cover her blush but failed miserably, "I wish that I could've been the one to help you…I really do. Chances are I'm stupid for turning you away. You seem really nice, really dedicated. Heaven knows that the girl that does get you will be very lucky…probably luckier than me."
Koshi paused; staring at her strangely, and she had to look away, unable to read what his face was saying. "You think that this man you love will never love you back the way you deserve?" he asked, quietly.
When she looked back at him, and saw his fists opening and closing at his side she took a sharp breath in, startled by his ferocity of emotions. "I…he…" she sighed, "It's complicated. He's always been there to protect me, but there are a lot of things that probably just wouldn't work out…" she felt like crying at those words, but knew them to be true. Yea, there are 500 years that won't work out and a dead priestess so that Inuyasha just thinks I'm a copy and not the real thing even though stupid Kikyo is dead!
Koshi now had his back to her, but over one shoulder he was glancing back. Despite the stiffness of his stance his voice was soft and truthful. "If this other man has any sense at all—Kagome—he'll love you back…" he chuckled once, and she didn't fail to note the bitterness in it, "He probably already does…" he disappeared then, leaving her shocked once again by his words. For someone I thought was so dense… she shook her head, never mind. I hope Sango comes back soon. I just want to get out of here, go home…take a bubble bath…vanilla and amber… she lied back on her furs, sighing as her memory supplied the beauty of her favorite smell.
I can't wait to see that well again!
"She said that!" the girl stared at him, stunned, her hand covering her open mouth as if it might catch flies.
Slowly, sadly, he nodded. "She did." He sighed, "But she was right…"
"How can you agree with her!" the girl's dark, straight black hair swung about, caught by both gravity and the wind as she tried to tilt her head far enough forward to see his face—but Koshi had turned it away. He couldn't face the girl's scrutiny. She'd see that he was near tears—tears weren't manly. He was sixteen, the age of manhood, and yet he knew that this girl's younger, obnoxious little brother acted more like a man—more like a samurai…what was her brother's name again? Toka…that'd been his name.
He looked back at Shisuki, sighing, "What she said was just the truth, I could see it in her eyes."
"So she's not Sakana at all?" the girl's eyes seemed brighter, moister than usual, and Koshi smiled at her genuinely, realizing that the girl missed Sakana as much as he did.
"Well, her gestures, her speech…a lot of that is the same. But she smiles more…and she's not lost anymore."
Shisuki nodded, solemnly, but he noted, with a twinge of something that he couldn't recognize within himself, that she wouldn't look him in the eye. Why? Curiously she decided to watch her more carefully—it'd help take his mind away from the pain of losing Sakana…
"Shisuki?" he began, and her eyes jumped straight to him, unafraid. He'd never really taken the time to notice before but—the girl was pretty…when she was Sa—Kagome's age, he guessed, she'd be more than pretty, she'd be beautiful. The men would line up outside her family's hut, offering up themselves as suitors. For a girl so beautiful they wouldn't even care if her family could pay a dowry or not…her obnoxious little brother would have to beat them off of her with a stick! Maybe, when the Red Demon had swooped down to steal a girl away he'd really been aiming not for Sakana, but for 'Suki…he shook his head, perplexed at such thoughts…she's two years younger than I am and happy here in this village with her family, the only thing we have in common is Sakana, and now we've both lost her…
"Yes?" she prompted him when he didn't speak. Koshi blushed and looked away from her, to the ground instead. Unresistingly he let his gaze rest on Namaru's stallion's dung pile with a frown.
They were sitting on the fence around the stables again—right where he could so fondly remember talking to Sakana on the night that the Red Demon had come directly to the village and Namaru had thrown her outside…his fists clenched at the memory. Both at Namaru's absolute cruelty—which had surprised even Koshi, who'd known the cranky, foul-tempered samurai for years now—and at the three arrows he'd shot at the Red Demon, two of which had hit their marks. And neither of which had even so much as stunned or slowed the beast down. He shook his head, unaware that Shisuki was still staring at him, curiously.
"Koshi-sama?" she asked, her timid voice quiet and full of respect. He looked back at her, blinking at his own stupidity for a moment. "What was it you wanted to ask me?" was that a blush on her cheeks? But why?
"Oh, I was going to ask you if that monk that came with the lady demon slayer had asked you to bear his children yet." He laughed lightly at the thought—Shisuki was pretty enough to fit in right alongside the monk. That monk was very handsome, in a strange way…
Shisuki choked and started to giggle, covering her mouth with her hands again, laughing so hard that she wobbled on the fence and Koshi had to reach out and stabilize her. When his hands took hold of the girl's waist he was surprised to feel that she was slightly plumper and warmer somehow to his touch than Sakana or Kagome had ever been. This fourteen-year-old was somehow different from the older girl that they'd rescued from the river, but he couldn't understand exactly how…besides the fact that Kagome had been weakened with her brushes with cold, watery death, why did Shisuki seem as old as Kagome despite the two years that separated them? And seeing Kagome with the demon slayer—the slayer couldn't have been that much older than Kagome, but it just seemed like she was…
He couldn't ever have guessed that in 500 years, girls 'Suki's age would be flittering little things, giggly and eager to experiment with boys and kissing and best friends. And those Kagome's age on the whole had only matured a tad more—Kagome particularly had changed, becoming less like her peers in the 21st century because of her experiences in the Feudal era.
The wind stirred as he and Shisuki locked gazes, and the girl smiled at him, her blush disappearing. "Thank you, Koshi-sama." She breathed, steadying herself on the railing of the fence. But Koshi found, strangely, that her touch wasn't something he didn't like…he paused, reluctant to remove his hands from her waist, which 'Suki noticed with another blush that she tried to hide by turning away.
Seeing that Koshi jerked his grasp away, clearing his throat nervously. "You looked—uh …unsteady." He finished, lamely. Making sure to stare far away from her this time, toward the sunset. "So…" he started, trying to clear his voice of nervousness—nervousness that he shouldn't have been feeling, "Did the monk track you down?"
"Yea…"
"Ask you that strange question?"
"Yea…he said I was gorgeous." Her voice shivered, as if repeating such a message shamed her. Koshi looked back at her, scowling. Why was her head lowered? Her gaze hidden away on the ground where he couldn't see those eyes, black like gorgeous pools of ink…he stopped himself, realizing that, like the perverted monk, he'd used the same word to describe her. No, he thought, blinking, it's a coincidence. Rather than admit his thoughts to her he looked away, his eyes once more landing in the stallion's poop.
"I told him that he was too old for me." her voice whispered behind him, and Koshi scowled, glad that she couldn't see it, how old was the monk? He wanted to ask her but refrained. Instead he leapt away from the fence, stooping to pick up the brush for the horses. If he didn't get them combed and "polished" then Namaru and a few of the others would skewer him and cook him when they left…but I don't want to go with them…I want to go with Sak—he stopped his thought midway, feeling a new and different sort of pain awaken in him, a new realization. You didn't care what happened or why—you just didn't want to go back with the samurais if Hekamino died, and you know it. That's the truth. Without him you have nothing there for you. The Warlord that calls himself your uncle has never given you a second glance. There's no future for you there and you know it. You were looking for escape and Sakana offered it…but now…?
The comb and the hoof-picks felt cold and ugly in his hands, he almost dropped them back to the earth, but at the last minute he pushed the inner voice, the inner truth, away, and clasped them hard, firmly. I will do my job; I will be a man. He rose and reached for the stallion's hoof, cursing it gently when the animal stomped to force his probing fingers away once.
On the fence Shisuki laughed lightly at him, melodiously, and he stopped, remembering that Sakana had done the same…but there hadn't been as much joy in hers, only simple amusement. He dropped the stallion's hoof and looked up at her, smirking. "You think this is easy? Or fun, 'Suki?" the girl looked away, suddenly guilty and afraid to meet his eyes, and Koshi felt a jolt of regret. "I'm only kidding." He amended quickly, smiling warmly.
She risked one small glance at him, admitting his messy but attractive hair, much lighter than the monk's had been, his brown eyes large and full of mirth…she couldn't stop the blush and lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry Koshi-sama." She murmured, like a child…but inside she felt not what she would've felt in such a situation with her father or brother or any other man, young or otherwise, she felt something she didn't recognize…she blinked down into her lap, trying to push the feeling away with a frown.
"Oh c'mon 'Suki," he chuckled, immediately recapturing her attention. He had yet to turn back to the stallion's hooves with his pick, "Don't feel so bad about it, okay? And you know what, if you wanna help me pick horse poop out of this guy's big ugly feet you can most certainly help me—I'd be pleased to have you." He caught himself at those words, rethinking only the last six that'd left his lips. I'd be pleased to have you…he forced the deeper implication away, stifling the threatening blush, and gestured for her to get down into the stall with him.
She came, smiling nervously. "Koshi-sama, what if I hurt the stallion? What if the mean samurai gets mad at me?"
Koshi set down his comb and slowly handed her the pick instead as he stooped and grabbed up the horse's hoof, much to the animal's annoyance. "Don't be afraid of the samurais, 'Suki," he told her, gently, as he placed the horse's hoof into the crook between his knees, one hand still steadying the hoof as the other guided 'Suki's quavering hand with the pick. "If those samurais get mad it'll probably be at me—and at any rate, 'Suki, if it did happen to be you, well then," he chuckled pleasantly as a piece of yellowish-brown grass and hay bound material that could've been just various muck except that Koshi knew better—it was horse poop, he'd bet his life on it—tumbled begrudgingly from the horse's massive hooves. "Then I'd just have to shoot them all with my bow and arrow."
He didn't miss the sharp intake of breath that came from 'Suki. She whispered, "You'd do that for me?"
He let the stallion's hoof slide free of his grip. The animal whinnied ad stamped once, flinging more suspiciously innocent buts of debris this way and that.
Koshi met her dark-eyed gaze sternly and nodded, "Of course I would Shisuki."
"Would you do it for me even if the Red Demon were the one coming for me?" she asked, her voice suddenly trembling.
Slowly, Koshi nodded, "Yes, 'Suki," he assured her, smiling, "I would." And inside he felt a steely new emotion take root within him and harden just as fast. He would keep such a promise to her, he knew he would, if such a need should rise—he would be there. To kill the Red Demon for both Sakana and Shisuki, it would be more than duty—it would be pleasure.
Endnote: Yay! Thanks guys! We're about to break 200 reviews! YAY! THANK YOU GUYS!
Taeniaea First to review! cool-chick-rae well you should feel loved (grins) I hope I've done well by it so far...you'll see next chapter(nods gravely) BeccaPatty haven't heard from you in a while! Great to see you again! You remind me of my good friend from gym class (also named Becca) she's straightforward and I like her attitude with things...I like yours with Koshi (you're not alone with it of course!) Missyblue Thank you! SerenaClearwater Thank you very much! I'm glad to have done well by them and by you! And I LOVE your long reviews (winks) Yami Chikara (snickers) I know I would of slapped him too! Ugh! LOL. sveta89 coming right at ya! (grins) Adema's Haunted Boxers WOW! I LOVE this name you have! (giggles) Simonkal of Inuy Thank you! You're just reading all my work! I'm glad to have you! LukeShaehl Yes, I had wondered about that, I know little to nothing about Japanese (sheepish blush) so that's interesting to know! Thank you! I hope to hear more from you! And I've kept your thoughts of expansion in mind too...so, any ideas for the epilogue? (winks) Unwary Hanyou I love your enthusiasm! Very similar to the hanyou we all know and love (and who you named youself after...(grins)) Mad-4-Manga My Easter was good...(pouts) over too soon though...not enough good candy, my parents went cheap on me this year...But with so many cookies that you give me for my updates I'm sure to get fat! (gasps) But thank you anyway (muches her cookie greddily despite her fears) and I'm so sorry! I probably did miss you...(she's a klutz)...Thank you forsticking with me anyway! toxiclollipop Ah! SweetPoisonous vapors! Sorry, I just love your name, every time I see it I try to imagine what that lollipop looks like...(wants a lollipop suddenly, craves it intensely...) I gotta stop writing these out when I'm starving! Flamesofthemo0n wishy-washy? No No! I Thank you! (bows low) you honor me! All of you! See if you want wishy washy I'll give you my ex-b/f's phone number. He didn't say happy Bday to me even though it was announced over the intercom in school and we have friggin choir class together and my Mom brought in cupcakes...sorry...I got a little carried away there (separates personal life from stories again(calm smile) Thank you again! Absolutely not wishy washy! Lady-Sttar Wow! Poopy-head! I LOVE that! And you're right...he IS a poopy-head...well, poop-for-brains you know...(grins) Pyrinsomniac wow! Thank you! I really enjoyed writing her too...and I really liked the episodes in the anime when she joins, her determination was inspiring. But I keep thinking about what yoiu said about Miroku and there MUST be some other episodes about him that I haven't seen becuase I know less about his deeper aspects (like I know nothing about his mother, I know his father died of his curse of course) and I saw an episode where a snow demon fools Miroku into thinking that he's father to some hundred or so babies and despite his misgivings (and lack of memory of spending "time" with her) he dutifully cares for the babies. I was impressed (I hope Sango was too!) anyway...I'll have to research more thoroughly...my interest has been aroused (grins) fanfiction1 Yes! You're right! And speaking of Hobo, are there episodes where Inuyasha really does that? I have to see them! Gosh...(cries at her lack of IY watching as of late) ...
well that's done: THANK YOU EVERYONE! I suspect that we'll break the 200 marker very soon if we haven't already...I'm so proud! (beams) When I first published this story in the wake of the ever popular "So Much for the hanyou's happy ending" I thought it'd never get this popular. But I'm glad to have kept it going! Whee! Thanks for sticking with me! The end is NEAR! At MOST there will be 2 chapters to go (not counting an epilogue.) More likely there's only ONE chapter left. Just one...Cool Chick Rae, it's gonna be your ending, or very close to it anyway...I have a few things to finish up in it or the epilogue (should there be one? hmm...I'll let YOU guys review and tell me what you think...) Namaru hasnt been forgotten, neither has the theme that I started out with, and not even Inuyasha's crimes against the samurai...Kagome still has to hear about those and forgive him you know...(nods) of course it's gonna help to know that he did it while he was crazy with grief...but anyway, on with the (you guys will HATE me when you read it!) preview:
And then Kagome stretched out one hand, pointing at something that Inuyasha couldn't quite see without turning his head to one far side. She screamed, "Look out Inuyasha!"
He heard it, knew what it was, but couldn't turn fast enough—pain tore through his left side as the arrow met with his flesh and he stumbled, catching himself with one clawed hand some five feet from Kagome and the others. He felt a hot liquid tumble from the side that had been hit, and piercing, breath-stealing pain tore through him. He knew instantly that a vital organ had been pierced…
Okay...that's it for now...until next chapter (probably) THE last one! THANK YOU everyone again! I never dreamed I'd love this story that much but I do! (cries) till next time...