Chapter Five: The Meeting

If anyone hasn't noticed yet, this story is mostly centred on Kikyo and Inuyasha's relationships, but concentrates more on the former. Sorry to mislead those who thought this had to do with Kikyo's story only.


Chapter Five

The days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months. The spring season was already ending, for the temperature was beginning to rise. The climate became more humid as the Sun continued to shine brightly on the village where Kikyo stayed. Countless demons had attempted to steal the Shikon Jewel during mid-spring but had their plans foiled by the sacred arrows of the priestess protector. Inuyasha, the half-demon himself, had also seemed to disappear too.

Kikyo walked through her village, carrying a bow in her arms. The intense heat of the Sun had caused a higher risk in her fellow villagers having heatstroke while tending to the budding fields. With a straw hat placed on her head, the priestess made her way to the top of the hill, where she had last spoken to the hanyou back in early spring.

"Oneesan!" She heard her little sibling call out her name from behind as she climbed the hill. "Are you going to join us?"

"Join you?" Kikyo turned to see her one-eyed sister. "Near the woods?"

Kaede nodded with a smile worn across her face. "We are playing ball over there," she pointed to a small clearing where a few children had already started their game by kicking a wooden ball. "Do you want to join?"

I never played their games before…I wonder how it is played…

The protector of the jewel slowly climbed to the top of the slope with her sister, holding her little hand. As soon as the children had seen her, they halted their fun activities. Instead, they ran to the priestess instead.

"Kikyo-san!" The children shouted her name as they joyfully ran to her. They crowded around her as she came close to them. "How lucky of you to come here! We were just starting!"

These children treat me more equally than the adults…

Kikyo gave a slight smile as she loosened up in front of the young villagers. Slowly, she placed down her bow and arrow sack. The children pulled her hands enthusiastically as she followed them happily.

"Miko-san is willing to play with us?" Some of the children inquired. Kikyo looked back at them happily, showing a rare smile that not even the parents of the children had seen. In between children, she was treated like a normal person. In her relaxed state, the priestess continued to play with the children as they started to have a slow Japanese dance on the grass.

-----------------------------------------------------

Not far from where Kikyo was playing with the young villagers, two white ears twitched as it stuck out from a tiny green bush. Their owner stood up having picked up sounds of humans dancing happily in the afternoon. With his unlimited energy, Inuyasha jumped onto a tree as he jumped from branch to branch, finding the source of the sound.

He soon found the source of the happy voices sounding away. On a grass patch, the priestess herself was playing with the children. His nose sensed the scent of the Shikon Jewel, deep within her hakui top. Lying on the branch of one tree, he quietly observed the mini party that was going on.

If only I could be just like them…

"Look up there!" One of the children exclaimed which startled the dog hanyou. "There is that weird person up there on the tree again." Inuyasha looked down to see that the entire group of children and Kikyo were looking at him from the grass below.

The priestess suddenly felt relieved to see him. After all, he had made himself scarce for the most of the spring season. She was sure that he did not return just for the sake of the jewel hidden inside her top.

"Inuyasha," Kikyo called out to the half-demon. "What are you doing up there?"

"None of your business, priestess."

"Very well," the priestess re-surfaced her cold shell. "Then stay up there." She looked at the children, and showed her inner self back again. "Let's go somewhere," she spoke to them. The children only nodded happily.

------------------------------------------------------------

The Sun had begun to set. The temperature was now cooling as the sky turned from a bright blue to that of a rosy pink. It was already late, and the children had returned home. Even Kaede returned to her hut first, allowing her sister to gain some peace while on the hilltop.

Kikyo sat down as she stared at the setting sun which had turned its glow orange. The wind blew against her, causing her ponytails to flow back. Her bow was on the floor, accompanied by its arrows. The sunset was too beautiful to miss after all. She could sense that someone was nearby.

"Inuyasha," she summoned the person who had seen her hours ago. "I know you are there. Come down." Her summon was to come through as the person came down near her and sat. Inuyasha came down beside her, sitting like a dog with his legs squatted and hands on the grass.

"Nice sunset, isn't it?" Kikyo spoke without looking at him. "It's too bad night will take over soon." There was no answer from the half-demon.

"Give me the jewel," the hanyou ordered suddenly as he continued to be stubborn. "I'm not interested in this sunset!"

"I will only give it to someone who uses it for a good purpose," she retorted calmly. "And I don't think you will fit into this category."

"Just give me the jewel, you bitch!"

"Inuyasha," the priestess turned this time to look at the half-human. "Do I look human to you?" The inu-hanyou stared at her for a while through his amber-coloured eyes. He continued to sit in the same position, the ears continuing to twitch for sounds.

"You're human anyway!" He shouted back the answer, wondering how she could suddenly ask an unrelated question. "Why? Are you an immortal?" He started laughing hysterically.

"Thank you for your answer," she continued to remain stable in her emotions. "Where did you go during these long periods?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Why not?" She responded to his crude remark. "So I guess you were away by the time the saru-youkai was thrown into the bone-eaters well?" There was no reply.

"Sorry," Inuyasha's ears responded as he turned to hear Kikyo's sudden apology. "For being rude to you the other time." There was still no reply from the half-demon although he had heard the apology.

"Bah! I do not deserve an apology from a high and mighty priestess!" Suddenly, a stomach growl came from within Inuyasha's abdomen. He heard a soft giggle from Kikyo, which was hard to come by too.

"I can only release such feelings to such people like you," she spoke softly, continuing to look at the sky. "And I'm sure that you must be feeling hungry too."

"It's none of your business, wench!"

"Very well then," Kikyo got up from her seat on the grass patch, carrying up her weapons. "It's time that I returned to the village." The sky was darkening as the orange had darkened into a dark blue. She quickly got down the hill, leaving a still sitting Inuyasha to stare at her as she got down.

Is this the priestess I know as the cold and calm one…?

--------------------------------------------------------

The night was greeted with another bout of showers from the skies. A little better than the heavier downpours of the early spring, it continued to make sounds that promoted sleep all the better. Kikyo looked at the dark sky, which had covered the crescent moon that was supposed to shine that night. Kaede had fallen asleep from the activities she had in the day.

I wonder…Is he okay out there in the rain?

Kikyo looked at the falling raindrops as they splattered onto the floor outside her hut. Inuyasha could not have probably built a shelter for himself on a tree for it was too unstable for a branch to support one. Remembering how he had humiliated her that time, Kikyo washed her hands of Inuyasha and continued her sleep.

Inuyasha may not have illnesses, but after all he's a hanyou…

This thinking in her head made her woke up. Her conscience was right. Inuyasha had human blood in him, which was right to say that he could be vulnerable to human ailments too. Eager to know how he was for no reason, the priestess took her wooden umbrella and went out with her footgear and without tying her hair.

Kikyo climbed up the hill, with the water trickling down the slope entering her feet and dirtying them. No matter how dark it was, she had the priestess powers to sense things in the dark too. With this power, she could sense that the hanyou was nearby.

"This rain is irritating," she heard some cursing from a bush. "And it's so cold too! God damn it!" She heard more vulgar cursing from the bush. No doubt it was Inuyasha's voice himself, followed by a bout of sneezes and coughs in the bush.

"Stop hiding, Inuyasha," Kikyo spoke to the person in the bush. Two white ears once again emerged from the bush, followed by the full figure of the person. The half-demon had been soaked to the skin, with his silvery hair sticking to his face as well, with only his eyes to serve as light. "I know you could sense me."

"Bitch! Why must you come at this time to disturb me?" He shouted angrily at her. "Can't you see what has happened?"

He must have caught a chill to be unable to sense anything…

The creature before the priestess gave another sneeze, direct at Kikyo herself. Using her hand to block off his sneeze 'attack', she returned to look at the hanyou. "That wasn't very nice," she remarked sarcastically.

"I can sneeze anywhere I want!" He shouted back. Truly, he still had enough energy to continue ranting insults at the priestess to get his goal. "It is still none of your business!"

"Suit youself," said the priestess in response. "But you have caught a chill, and it is no minor problem."

"My body heals quickly," Inuyasha retorted impulsively. "I have no need of ningen stuff to keep myself comfortable."

"Whatever," she sneered back at the half-demon, and grabbed his wet arm suddenly. "You'll need somewhere to rest anyway."

Kikyo walked down the hill slope as she took a cursing Inuyasha back to the village through a spell that prevented him from leaving her grip on his arm. The half-demon however was willingly accepting the priestess' offer deep inside.


Okay done. Sucky chapter anyway, isn't it? Looks like Kikyo got rather OOC. Anyway, until then bye!

Glossary:

Miko-san : Priestess

Ningen : Human