INUYASHA
This is a lovely little story that I jumped around a bit in. It makes sense here, but only with the notes I added in bold. You'll see what I mean when you get there, so don't worry. It explains itself, mostly. Enjoy.
Perfect By Nature
Kouga watched his mistress with trepidation. "Are you sure you should be doing this so close to the departure time!" he demanded as Kikyo let her robes fall to the ground. She climbed up the stairs to the small, yet extremely deep pond on the pedestal, before giving her guard a look over her shoulder.
"Of course I'm sure. It's very important, Kouga. I have something I must do."
With that, she put one foot carefully over the blue water, balancing her weight on it before taking another step. A single ripple drifted away from her each time her foot touched the water's surface, and soon she was standing in the center of the pond. She seated herself slowly, closed her eyes, and went into a trance.
Kouga watched her for a while after that, then leaned against the wall and slid to the ground. He could just see the top of Kikyo's head, and he was thinking about the trip they would have to make to the mainland later. He was frowning at the thought of meeting Inuyasha again when he leaned his head against the wall...
The blue skies that roared over him hadn't a single cloud to distract him. He reached out a hand and ran it over the green grass of the field he was in. He could just hear a stream in the distance, but the sloshing of water wasn't from a stream...
Kouga sat up with a start as something cold and wet hit his outstretched right leg. He pulled it back, looking down to see what it was. Had he fallen asleep? How stupid of him! It was his job to watch Kikyo all the time!
It was water that had hit his leg. It was spread all over the floor, and Kouga had an instant of panic, his thoughts racing, before he calmed himself again. It was just water, after all.
Just water.
...Water...
WATER!
Kouga leapt up, looking around. The only source of water was the pool, and Kikyo never slipped under. She never upset the water.
There shouldn't be water anywhere!
He turned to the pool, and his heart nearly stopped. There, lying at the bottom of the pool, was Kikyo. Her hair drifted around her slowly, and her head was falling to the side. Her arms and legs were lifted up slightly higher than her back or head, but she herself was floating stationary an inch above the bottom.
Kouga immediately slid into the water and hauled her out, throwing her to the floor and bending over her.
Then he realized he had no clue what he was supposed to be doing.
He slid his hand into his pocket and jerked out a cell phone, shaking it in case it was wet. He quickly dialed Kikyo's doctor in.
"Kaede! Kaede-baba! Please, hurry! Something's wrong with Kikyo-hime!"
Inuyasha was in his room when the news reached him. He'd been there for hours, his focus only on lighting and unlighting a candle with his magic, trying to force it to the point that he just had to think about it, when a young, red-haired boy appeared in his doorway.
"S-sir?"
Inuyasha's gaze snapped to the boy. "What is it!" he demanded, irritated. He had to pick up Kikyo at sunset, and he was using every last ounce of his time to practice magic. This boy was wasting that precious time!
"S-s-sorry, s-sir, but...L-lord Miroku wants to s-see you...The Lady Kikyo...she's ill..."
Inuyasha's eyes widened, and he stared at the boy, before turning to look outside and seeing the sun just touching the horizon. He cursed and sped out of the room, knocking the boy over as he passed, not bothering to apologize as he hurried to Miroku's room...
Kagome lifted her head slowly to look around the bush she was behind. Green leaves and twigs scraped her face, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn't make any sounds, or she'd be caught...
Suddenly in front of her was a grinning face. She leapt back, holding her rapidly beating heart and breathing heavily as her brother cried, "Found you!"
"Souta! Don't sneak up on your older sister like that!" she hollered, blushing in embarrassment. He'd found her so easily, and she hadn't made a sound at all!
"Aw, Higurashi, don't be so angry at him," a voice from behind her brother said. She looked around to see her friend Hojo standing there. "After all, the game was your idea."
Kagome crossed her arms and looked away. "Yeah, I know. I'm no good at this stuff anymore."
Hojo smiled at her. "I beg to differ, Kagome. You're very good...your bother's just better."
Souta beamed at him.
Kagome shook her head at Hojo, but she smiled, too. "You would be kissing up to my little brother, wouldn't you? Anyways, why are you here?"
"Why, I was just stopping by to deliver your groceries, Higurashi. Your mother couldn't make it to the store today, and she asked me to bring them over for her. Oh, and she also asked me to tell you that dinner is ready, and you can come inside now." He extended a hand and helped her up.
Kagome smiled at Hojo as they all walked inside. "Thank you, Hojo-kun," she said, then turned to her brother. She grabbed him around the shoulders and pulled him to her, letting one arm slip up under his neck as she moved the other over his head in a fist. Then she proceeded to give him a noogie.
"Ah! Sis, stop, that hurts!" Souta complained, but he was laughing.
Eventually Kagome let him go, but she didn't take her arm off his shoulder as they walked. "You did very good today, Souta. You're getting better and better."
"Thanks, Sis." Souta then turned to Hojo. "Ano, Hojo - "
Kagome gave his shoulder a gentle nudge. "Hojo-san." she corrected in a sisterly fashion.
"Hojo-san," Souta corrected himself without a blink, then continued. "Hojo-san, would you like to stay for dinner?"
Hojo turned and smiled at the little boy. "Thank you for the offer, Souta-kun, but I really must be getting home soon. Mother needs me to help around the store while she cooks dinner. But thank you very much for the offer just the same."
"You know, Hojo-kun, you're always welcome to stay for dinner," Kagome said as they reached the door. "Mother enjoys it when she gets to feed other people, and Souta really enjoys your company. I don't mind having you over, either."
Hojo looked at her for a moment, as if trying to see something else, but then he smiled. "Thank you, Higurashi. I'll keep that in mind." He waved as he left.
"Was that Hojo, dear?" Kagome's mother said from the kitchen as her two children came inside.
"Yeah, Momma," Kagome replied.
"Did you invite him for dinner?"
"Souta did, but he said he needed to get home. I told him he could stay anytime, though." Kagome pulled off her shoes and came into the kitchen.
"Good for you, dear. Are you hungry? I made dinner."
Souta came in then. "Yeah, Hojo told us."
"Hojo-san, Souta," Kagome corrected absently as she sat.
"Hojo-san." Souta's correction was just as lacking in attention. He sat, and they ate.
Somewhere about halfway through dinner Mrs. Higurashi asked her daughter if she was interested in Hojo. Kagome's only response was a blush, but Souta answered for her.
"Of course, Momma. You should see the way she looks at him." Souta grinned and put his hands under his chin, batting his lashes. He pitched his voice up in a childish imitation of his sister.
"Oh, Hojo-kun, thank you so much. We really enjoy your company, especially me. I - "
He was cut off as a cup smacked into his head. Across the table, Kagome sat there looking innocent, her place minus one cup.
"Sis! That wasn't fair! I was only joking!"
Kagome didn't turn to him, fingering the necklace around her neck absently. "So was I."
"You're jokes hurt!"
Mrs. Higurashi sighed.
"What does this mean, Miroku?" Sango asked, turning nervous eyes to the man beside her. He sighed.
"I don't know, Sango." Then he chuckled. "I just know Inuyasha won't be happy about this."
As if on cue, angry footsteps came pounding down the stairs. Inuyasha skipped the last six steps, landing on his feet and continuing towards the two in the center of all the machinery around them.
"What in hell's going on!" Inuyasha demanded before he'd even touched the floor. "What is this I hear about Kikyo!"
Miroku gave his friend a look, hiding his pity with annoyance. She'd broken his heart half a year ago...was it possible he still loved her? "Kikyo's been put into a stasis. No one knows how. Only Kouga and the Dr. Kaede, the woman he called for help, even know about it. Dr. Kaede says she put herself into a coma during a meditation, and she's been chewing Kouga out for the past hour on not noticing that anything was wrong." He grinned at the thought. He didn't like Kouga, Kikyo's guard for when she wasn't on the mainland. No one did, really.
"So what's the emergency, priest!"
Said priest made no attempt to answer Inuyasha's question, so Sango cleared her throat.
"Kikyo was supposed to be here tonight so she could be ready for a ceremony next week - you know that. Anyways, she can't come, but we can't just cancel the ceremony. It's for the aligning of the stars, a once-in-a-lifetime thing, you know all about it."
Miroku nodded his agreement. "So, you have one week." They started to walk away.
"One week for what!" Inuyasha demanded, glaring at their backs.
They both looked over their shoulders simultaneously. "To find a replacement," Miroku replied.
Okay, here's where I stopped. I then skipped to the end and wrote it. In between, Inuyasha somehow finds Kagome and teaches her to act as if she's got Kikyo's power (which is easier than he knows because she really does), and they go through the big ceremony. Just after that, Kikyo comes back to herself. I just now wrote this next part because it's hard to explain unless it's a story, but it's a very important scene.
Kagome was elated. Kikyo was back in health! She could go home, finally!
She ran down the halls, leaving Inuyasha behind in her chamber, and burst into the large room Kikyo was in. She even got to see the great princess in person!
Kikyo was lying in the center of a large, round bed, her head propped up on pillows. She looked pale, and it was hard for Kagome to imagine that she was any better than she had been during her week as a replacement, but then Kikyo opened her eyes. She spotted Kagome standing in the doorway, and smiled.
But something about the smile didn't seem right...Something was off...
Kikyo stood and walked over to Kagome, and Kagome got the sense that Kikyo thought she didn't like her.
'I have nothing but good will in relation to Lady Kikyo. She's a wonderful person. I'm only glad I could help all of these people get through the rough time without her.' Kagome thought, confused. Why wouldn't she like Kikyo?
"Are you feeling all right, M'Lady?" Kagome asked, but she didn't move as Kikyo came closer.
"Yes, I am fine." Kikyo reached out a hand and clasped Kagome's, making full contact.
Kagome could sense all of her emotions, and a blinding flash of light locked her vision, paralyzing her.
Kagome froze, her smile slipping off her face as she realized why Kikyo would think that Kagome hated her, and why the Lady's smile hadn't seemed right.
Kikyo wholly and truly hated her.
All she could feel was the grip of Kikyo's hatred and anger. She couldn't escape it, she couldn't let go, she couldn't move.
She heard Kikyo's voice as if from far away. "I am fine, and you can go home now. I never desire to see you again. You are free."
Kagome didn't know how long after that she remained, paralyzed by the strong feelings she'd felt from the Princess. But when she came to, Kikyo was gone, and Kagome's powers had been awakened. She could sense the aura of the castle, she could taste it on the air. It was suffocating her.
She needed to get out of there.
As the guards came to escort her home, she couldn't help peeking into their souls whenever they looked her in the eye. It was as if she had no choice. This blue-eyed man was worried about his sick wife at home; his heart wasn't in the castle. That green-eyed man was feeling very happy. He loved his job and all its aspects. This man here...
She refrained from looking at anyone's eyes for the rest of the way home. Her own mind was numb from this overload of information, and the first thing she did upon her arrival into her home was to sleep.
I hope that was okay. It was spur-of-the-moment, but it did what I wanted it too, and it wasn't that bad. When she wakes up, she can't help seeing her family's souls, and she doesn't like it. They don't love her as much as she thought. They still care a little for her, but they believed that she found a high-ranking position in the Court of Lady Kikyo, and won't let them in on anything. Only her young brother and aged father care anything truly about her, and even that fades as the feelings of her mother and sisters, her uncle and cousins fill the air with dislike.
Eventually they all hated her.
And then Kikyo shows up again.
I had planned on making this next part the last chapter of the story, and then a prologue for a sequel, but I haven't yet. For crying out loud, I don't even have the middle written!
It was a brilliantly sunny day. Light glittered off the shop windows, reflecting the endlessly blue sky. Everybody was excited and exhilarated, closing their shops early.
The Lady Kikyo was coming through town!
Kagome looked around apathetically. The last shop she needed to go to had just closed. She had nothing to do for the next hour...and Kikyo's merry band of guards was passing through town.
With a sigh, Kagome let the crowds draw her to the center street. She might as well watch, because it was what everyone would be talking about for the next week.
She ended up getting shoved up near the front, with the perfect view of both the direction Kikyo would be coming from and the dias she would stand on to give her speech. The people around her were giving off waves of joy, and her mood lifted a little, before she put a clamp over that. She didn't like being influenced by other people's emotions.
That was when she heard the cheering. It was also when she saw the parade of Kikyo's 'people' coming around the bend.
Her eyes instantly locked on the princess's, but Kikyo didn't really see her. Kagome watched her for a long time, thinking, 'It was only a few days ago when that was me up there.' Her depression mutliplied, and she bit her lip. She really missed it.
She remembered sitting there herself, above the crowds of people. She'd felt so nervous, and she realized now that it had been unnecessary, just like Sango'd said. She'd done fine.
And then there was an ache in her chest, for just then Kikyo had arrived at the dias and her guard was helping her out of the open-topped carriage she rode in on sunny days like this. Once Kagome had spotted Inuyasha, she felt the tears surface in her eyes, but she pushed them back down.
"No, I will not cry..." she murmured to herself. "I will not cry in front of either of them..."
She watched as Inuyasha extended his hand to her, but she didn't notice the distracted look he wore. She only remembered being there, having him watch her intently as he helped her from the carriage, as he gave her that little bit of encouragement, and she bit her lip.
By then Kikyo was speaking, but Kagome found it impossible to focus on her words. She was staring at Inuyasha, willing him to turn to her, yet begging him not to. She wanted him to see her...but she didn't want to know what he thought of her now that she was no longer needed to take Kikyo's place.
She didn't know how long Kikyo had been up there. If pressed later, she wouldn't have recalled anything the Princess had said. She didn't even know how she'd gotten from where she was to the foot of the dias. All she remembered was hearing a cheering all around her and realizing Kikyo wasn't talking anymore, and panic instantly hit. She had to do something!
And then she was standing at the base of the dias, and she'd cried out, "Wait!"
Kikyo turned to her, and Kagome instantly felt the cold fury, the hatred, burried in the princess's chest, even if Her Highness was looking at her kindly. Kagome gulped. No turning back now.
"What is it, Daughter of the Profit?" Kikyo whispered, her voice carrying dispite it's audibility.
"I...I'm lost, Your Highness," Kagome sobbed. She fell to her knees before Kikyo, suddenly loosing herself. "I have no place to go. My family...will not accept as they did. I cannot go back! Please, please help me..."
"Nonsense." Kikyo's voice was still kind, but Kagome could feel her hatred double. "Surely your family will accept you no matter what you do."
Kagome looked into the face of the princess and knew it was for naught. She would get no help from this icicle of a woman.
"B-but..." Kagome sputtered, trying to explain, to change Kikyo's mind, "Th-they accept me...but they expect so much more of me...I cannot keep up with their expectations." She couldn't bring herself to label her family as bad people, and hoped Kikyo would help her.
It was no use.
"Then you must tell them so. Bring the issue forth with your family before consulting me. Those who ask of what they do not need, even help, will not obtain it. I will not help you if you do not need my help. Now return home and tell your family of the problems you have."
'But they won't understand...'
There's more I haven't written yet, but supposedly she speaks with Inuyasha. He decides to help her, and takes her back to the castle with him. He helps her find a place as a maid, and he helps her out. There is, of course, more of a plot, but as I haven't written the first book yet, I can't tell you. I have to put in a whole bunch of little hints, you know. I really would like to write this as a story in it's own right. Please tell me what you think.
