I'm so sorry for the delay. On the 4th of July I didn't come home until eight the next morning... out with friends; you know how teenagers are, right? I got grounded for a couple of weeks... xD Sorry.
I love your reviews… you all are so nice to me. :sniffle: Thanks for your note, Kagura-The Living Wind. I'll continue to add little notes to help everyone understand the story better.
Usual disclaimers apply… (Damnit!)
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Kimiko had gone about half a mile before she calmed down, telling herself not to get so worked up. Letting him provoke her like this wasn't helping her cause at all, and the anger left her even more confused than before. She usually just brushed off the remarks made by others, but what Kouhei had said really stung.
"Keh," she said softly, shaking her head. She was just vulnerable because of the shock of earlier that day. Closing her eyes, she ran a finger back through her thick bangs, pressing her palm to her forehead. It was warm and slightly slick. Frowning, she brought her hand down again. What was that sickly sweet, coppery smell...?
With a gasp of shock, her eyes widened, and she brought her other palm up as well. Inside each hand, there were a few drops of drying blood. (A/N; Yes, blood actually smells a little like copper) With a sleeve of the red haori, she wiped it away and found four half-moon cuts that had already closed. Perplexed, she ran a finger over them. How had she gotten...? She stopped dead still, looking at her fingernails.
Dried blood crusted the undersides of the first four fingernails of each hand. Her eyes wide, she flexed them, and found they fit the cuts when she closed her fists. She'd had no idea she was pressing that hard, so hard that she'd cut her palms with her nails. With a sigh, she rubbed them of the dried blood. Then, with a gasp, she stopped walking altogether.
Her usually rounded, somewhat neatly filed nails were now about a fourth again as long as the usually were.
Alarmed, she brought one of her fingers to her mouth, attempting to bite the nail back to a proper size. She had to bite rather hard. It was almost a shock when her teeth severed it with a sharp splintering noise. She spat out the hard, sharp end distastefully, then examined her handiwork. Though a little jagged, it would serve. She wished she had a pair of nail clippers. Thoughtfully she resumed walking through the trees, bringing the next finger to her mouth.
"Ow!"
She pulled back her hand, licking her upper lip, tasting blood from a small nick on it. "What the hell?" she examined her hand again, pushing aside a vine with her other arm. The jagged edge of the nail she'd just bitten off was gone. There was absolutely no evidence of her having bitten the nail off at all. It was as though, in those few seconds, it had grown back.
A chill slipped down her spine.
She shook her head, chasing away the thoughts, and looked closely at both hands. No evidence of any of the nails being bitten. At all. Her heart skipped a beat, but then she scoffed to herself. She was letting her imagination run away with her, with all the crazy stuff happening today. But still, the thoughts toyed with her, teasing the edges of her mind as she kept up her pace.
Finally, she couldn't stand it any longer, and carefully put the same nail she was sure she had bitten off back up to her mouth. With resolve she bit strait through. That same splintering crack came again, and she spat out the end of the nail into her other hand. Then, she critically turned her eyes on the jagged edge of the bitten-off nail.
As though rising to the challenge, it grew before her eyes. Kimiko's heart pounded against her throat, and she swallowed it back down. In the time it took her to complete the swallow, the nail looked just like all the others.
"No way..." she whispered, and opened her other hand, with the bitten-off end of the nail. She held it up next to the complete nail. There was no mistaking that it had grown. "... no fucking way..."
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Kouhei muttered to himself softly, walking along the trail. Women. Why were all the other guys his age so fond of them anyway? They were nothing but trouble. Most of them were weak, too.
No... he sighed, pushing his hand back through his hair, though the more stubborn, shorter strands just fell right back into his eyes again. Negative thoughts... were not good for him. They kept him from staying focused on what needed his attention. He would have mused further, but it was getting dark. He would have to be back to the village soon, or he'd be missed.
With more focus now, he set off in the direction the girl went. The hanyou. It surprised him that she would want to find a village... unless...
He gave a soft curse under his breath. Damnit, why had he let her out of his sight? She could get to the village before he did... well, Kaede-sama would be there, right? He still had time.
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Kimiko knelt next to the stream, staring at her wavering reflection in the water for a moment before cupping some in her hands, splashing it on her face. It was amazing how clear it was. She could see strait through to the bottom. And fish...! There were fish in the river! She'd never seen fish out in nature before... just in tanks and ponds in gardens. All the rivers she'd seen were too polluted to have any sort of life in them. This place was teeming with it.
"Wonder where I am," she murmured softly, staring at her reflection again.
A classic Japanese beauty, Jii-chan had always said. She knew better. Thick, glossy black hair fell down her back, longer than that of most anyone she knew. It grew like mad, too, making it look like she was always in need of a bit of a haircut. Long tufts fell in front of her ears as well, resting over her shoulders and chest. It was almost too thick to tie up for track.
Bangs fell into her peculiar golden eyes, her most striking feature. Those eyes, like glittering amber shot through with the morning sun, were made piercing by a strong, set brow. It made her emotions easy to read, so she often covered them with anger, annoyance or just cockiness in general. She hid her feelings by pretending she didn't have any.
Kimiko was... different.
Her eyes shifted from her reflection to her hands, and her long, sharp nails. Very different.
What's happening to me? Why am I growing claws? Why can I suddenly track someone by smell alone?
Without warning, a scent slammed into her. Speaking of smells… Screwing her face up, she clamped both hands over her nose and mouth. "Ugh... what the hell is THAT...? It smells like rotting meat..." With another noise of displeasure, Kimiko cast her eyes around, trying to find the source of that disgusting smell.
Then she spotted it. A gigantic, ape-like beetle monster. It was staring at her from only a few yards away. As she watched it, eyes wide, trembling in shock, it clicked the pinchers at its mouth, blinking those many inky black eyes unevenly. It seemed to consider her for a moment.
Then, with a screech, it attacked.
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Sorry if you guys hate me for the cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist xD
You know the drill, loves.
Note: The 'gigantic beetle-ape monster' is actually based on the Umber Hulks from Neverwinter Nights... which happens to be one of my favorite computer games. e.e; Sorry if it bothers any of you - :flinches as readers throw things: