The Mayu Flower
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from InuYasha.
Chapter 6: Truth Revealed
Slow breathing. Light. A thin beeping noise in the background. Kagome's eyes strained to open. Finally pulling them apart, she blinked slowly to try and focus her blurry sight. After a few moments of rest, she looked around. 'Am I...in the hospital?' she thought groggily. Looking down she saw she was tucked up to the neck in white blankets on a bed and she felt the material of a hospital gown with her fingers.Something suddenly made a low grunting noise and she looked to her left to see the familiar head of black hair asleep while leaning on his hand and sitting on a chair. His elbow was propped up on the edge of the bed alongside his other hand. She couldn't help but smile.
"Kinuto..." she said quietly, feeling surprisingly drained of energy. She slowly pulled out one arm from under the covers (it took a surprising amount of energy) and laid her hand upon Kinuto's. His hand felt like fire to her freezing skin.
The head of black hair almost fell off the hand that held it up. He grunted in surprise and awoke. Looking up, he saw Kagome's smiling, if tired, face. He smiled warmly as he spotted Kagome's hand on his. Her skin felt like ice. Using his other hand he brushed away a few stray hairs from Kagome's forehead and then clasped both hands on hers to try and warm it. "You look terrible," he said jokingly.
Kagome laughed a bit, but it was more like a wheeze than anything. She grimanced suddenly. 'Why does my head hurt so much...' she thought. "What happened?" she asked in a weak voice.
"Don't worry about that now. Just concentrate on getting your energy back."
"No...Kinuto, what happened? Please tell me."
Kinuto sighed and diverted his eyes down to their hands. "You passed out this morning. Something around your neck glowed purple and suddenly you fell down and hit your head." Kagome suddenly became aware of the bandages wrapped around her head.
"I...passed out?" she mummbled. Kinuto simply nodded.
"Kagome...you're hiding something from me. I just know it. I knew it before too, but I didn't want to push you into telling me just because I was curious." He let go of her hand and grabbed something that was on the table beside her bed. "Kagome what is this?" he said sternly. In his hand he held the clear glass bottle holding the few pink Shikon Jewel fragments.
Kagome looked at it for a moment and then shifted her gaze to Kinuto. She sighed heavily. "Kinuto I can't--"
"Kagome," he interupted. "This is the reason you passed out. I know it is. The doctors don't believe me and you'll probably deny it but I know it's true. You have to tell me what they are...please...I don't want you to get hurt again just because you need to keep a secret. I don't want you to be in danger."
The young miko watched her teen friend for a long while before she decided. Sighing, she nodded. "All right. I can trust you. But you aren't going to believe what I'm about to tell you. And please...please don't tell a soul about this ever."
Kinuto frowned for a moment but then nodded. "I promise."
Kagome looked back at the jewel shards, wondering how to begin. "I suppose I should start at the beginning...remember the shrine at my house? Well on my fifteenth birthday a demon," she caught his surprised expression, "...yes a demon...came up from the well inside the shrine and grabbed me. It pulled me in and brought me five hundred years into the past. Into Feudal Japan. Should I keep going or is there no point?"
Kinuto shook his head. "I'll decide if I believe it later. Please keep going."
Nodding her head, she continued. "Well while I was there I freed this half dog demon named InuYasha from a spell. We fought demons together and then the Shikon No Tama accidently broke when I shot the demon bird that had it with an arrow. The shards in that bottle are part of it. The shards spread everywhere so we now have to find them before Naraku (a strong evil demon) gets them. We also met Sango the demon-slayer, Miroku the monk, and Shippou the fox demon child. I'm the only one that can sense where the jewel shards are so it's my duty to help them. Usually I need a jewel shard to be able to pass through the well to jump between our time and the Feudal era, but lately the well hasn't been letting me through. I don't know why the shards have been glowing though and I have no idea why I just passed out like that. And...that's it," she ended lamely.
Kinuto remained silent for some time, his eyes cast down at the blankets of the bed, clearly thinking things through. Finally he looked up at her. "What exactly is the Shikon No Tama?"
"Well it's this jewel that was made by a powerful priestess named Midoriko a long time ago. It's very powerful and can do many things like increase a demon's powers or prolong someone's life or heal someone. It's kind of hard to explain..."
Kinuto grunted in understanding and thought for a moment. "You said you don't know why the shards were glowing or why you passed out, but do you have any idea why this well isn't working anymore?"
Kagome blinked and suddenly flushed deeply. She diverted her gaze away to the door and stared at it without truly seeing it. "Erm...well...I don't..." she stammered, her face growing ever more red. Finally she stopped her mutters and sighed. Closing her eyes, she answered in a still tone. "Yes, I have an idea, but I'm not very sure about it and...and it...I don't really know how to explain."
Kinuto frowned slightly. He suggested just dropping the topic, but something kept him going. He had to know, he wanted to make sure that Kagome was in no danger. When she had passed out, he had been more afraid than he remembered.
"You see...I am the reincarnation of a priestess from InuYasha's era. Her...her name is Kikyou and she and InuYasha were in love but then Kikyou died when InuYasha was put under the spell. After I released him we b-became very close. Kikyou's soul was brought back from the dead and put into a clay body by a witch. InuYasha was still in love with her and I just heard...I heard him say that he only cared about me because I resemble Kikyou..." she paused to gulp down the wave of tears that had threatened to burst out. "The leader of the village we usually stay at, Lady Kaede, said that the well might not let me through because I don't entirely want to come back. And then...then InuYasha yelled that I might not want to come back because I met you..."
"Me? But how does he know me? I've never met him before."
Kagome flushed deeper. "He saw us together once when he came here...and, well, he's always been very protective and jealous over me...over Kikyou really...and just shouted it out."
"He came here?"
"Yeah...he's the only one that doesn't need the shards to travel through the well for some reason. I need the jewel shards to do it, but that doesn't seem to work for anyone else."
Kinuto grew silent once more. 'This is all so strange. Travelling between eras through a well? Demons and half-demons? How do I know Kagome is telling the truth?' he thought. Glancing up at Kagome's face, he caught her gaze. Her eyes were a worried chocolate brown, but they were truthful. There were no lies in her eyes. He sighed heavily and slipped the bottle of jewel shards into Kagome's cold fingers. "I believe you, Kagome."
Kagome blinked in surprise. "You...you do?" He nodded. Kagome smiled warmly. 'I knew you would Kinuto...'
"You wouldn't lie to me. Besides, this story seems too strange to be true, but that same thing makes it believable..." He fell silent for a moment before a tiny smile appeared on his face. "Thank you, Kagome," Kinuto said quietly.
"For what?"
"For being open to me. I needed to know what was putting you in danger and you trusted me enough to do so. I really care about you Kagome, I don't want anything to happen to you..." The black-haired boy look at her eyes with much warmth and a hint of a caring smile. What blush that Kagome had managed to fight down returned stronger.
"Kinuto..." she whispered.
"I'm going to stay by your side no matter what, Kagome. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on or you need any help, I'll be right here. I want to take care of you, Kagome..." His smile softened. Suddenly he started to lean towards her. Her face grew more red in embarrassment but she did nothing to stop him. He came closer until he placed his lips upon her forehead in a light kiss. Remaining there for a moment, he pulled back, his own face in an idenical shade as Kagome's.
The miko let out a breath, just realizing she had been holding it in. "Thank you, Kinuto," she whispered with as much warmth in her voice as his had.
Kinuto shook his head. "Now you go to sleep and get some rest. You're family is going to come by in an hour or so to see you. Don't worry, I'll tell them you are all right." He held her hand affectionately for a moment before tucking her arm back under the covers and smoothing the hair from her forehead once more. "Sleep tight, Kagome."
Her final memory was seeing Kinuto's loving expression before she closed her eyes, basking in her new warmth and slipping into a comfortable, dreamless sleep.
Sorry it's so short. Xx I expected it to be a little longer when I planned it out, but apparently it wasn't. Oh well. I hope you enjoy it! I'll probably be too busy in the next few weeks to make the next chapter so you have plently of time to review! -hint hint- lol Anyway, thanks for all your reviews and enjoy!
