Subchapter 01 – A Touch Long Forgotten
Author's Note : This is a subchapter and may be skipped if desired. It is bonus material for interested readers and has nothing to do with the main plot. Subchapters to come may include comedy and romance, or may give background information on the fan fiction. They are also intended to help include the less important characters somewhat.
Miroku stood leaning against a tree. He sighed, "I don't even know why the author would include us if he's not going to use us much, right Sango? I feel so left out; everything is focused on Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru!"
"This isn't labeled as comedy… mentioning the author isn't romantic, nor is it adventure filled…" Sango sighed and closed her eyes. "But I do partially agree, I feel left out of this."
"Suck it up, guys," Kajin sat at the edge of a cliff, "This is a major event in the story. You'll come back in play sooner or later."
"This is a subchapter, a break from the main story, you guys are being written as we speak," Kodoku sat next to Kajin, watching the waves.
"Oh," Kagome sat on a cold rock, wondering what Inuyasha how fared, "I get it."
"But…" Kajin started, "Tough luck for you guys, this subchapter is going to be about me and Kodoku," she looked back and smiled.
"What!" Miroku's vein throbbed on his forehead.
"Mmhmm," she started again, "We are new and need more background."
"Great!" Miroku placed his hands over his face and grunted, "We are being neglected! I say… curse the author!" he raised a fist and shook it under the moonlight, "I say, curse you!" his voice trailed.
"I wouldn't do that…" Shippo drank grape soda from Kagome's backpack, "In this realm, he is like… God… and he will smite you with his mighty words of doom."
"Okay… it's time for the real part of the chapter to start, c'mon Kodoku," Kajin stood and waited for Kodoku.
"Do I have to?" he laid back, his legs hanging off of the ledge.
"This chapter is all about us! Make the most out of it!" Kajin grabbed his wrists and started to drag him across the snow. "Get up damnit!" she kneeled down and tried to hold him up. Kodoku sighed and stood on his own, then looked on himself and wiped off the white snow. "Finally, let's go." Kajin held his hand and led him into the bamboo forest.
Miroku smiled, "Have fun alone together in the dark you two," waving.
SMACK! Sango's hand swept across his face, "Pervert!"
"Hey, I just wanted to have as much fun in this chapter as I could before they shut us out," he scratched the back of his head and tried to laugh, looking at Sango.
"Okay, we are going to have lots of fun together, alone, in the dark," Kajin grinned at Miroku as she entered the shadows of the bamboo forest. She sighed as she disappeared into the darkness, "Kodoku… it's nice to see you again."
"You saw me two weeks ago, didn't you? That's short compared to the time most shinobi take outside of the village," Kodoku looked at her.
"Well, yes. But… but…"
"Is there a reason why you have to see me so much?" Kodoku sighed.
"To tell the truth… I just want to, and Chief Kage didn't order me to either."
"I know, there is no way that old man would send a young girl over that mountain. Our secret shortcut is becoming much too dangerous."
"Hey," she tried to smile at him, "Do you remember how we met?"
"No," he replied coldly.
"Want to hear a story then?" she giggled.
"Whatever…"
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A storm had raged over the shinobi village. However, in this village, children's training would not be canceled unless there was a dangerous youkai lurking around. The children tended to train in groups, since they received similar training, however, then hanyou Kodoku, who was taken in by Chief Kage, preferred to train alone. Kajin, like the other young apprentices, trained in groups, day after day she stared at Kodoku. She always wanted to talk to him, but could never find anything to say, nor could she even approach him without her face flushing red. However, this storm was so horrifying, to her at least, she grew worried enough to finally step up to him.
The children were learning how to throw knives, shuriken, stiletto, and any other mobile projectile weapons. Kajin was on the far left side, close to a river, Kodoku was across the river. At this time, at age seven, she could only throw weapons accurately at a range of ten meters. Kodoku, at age nine, was nearing the hundreds, although most of his exceptional abilities were because he was a hanyou. Most shinobi at age nine can just reach fifty, even the extraordinary ones. She glanced at him whenever she had a chance; he was always so distant, so lonely.
The children followed their own pace, training in some skills more than others, Kajin was poor at vertical running. She left the target range early to the forest that the river ran into. She would only take three steps while vertical running, then have to flip because she lost her balance. Most children her age would be able to take six steps. After she fell for the third time, she noticed Kodoku was running beside her. Kajin was interested, so she counted how many steps he could take before having to fall back down. Tap, tap, tap. His feet were light against the bark of the tree, he ran halfway up, then boosted off and did a flip to land straight. Fourteen steps! Kajin was impressed; he could run vertically as good as some adults.
"H… hey," she finally had the courage to talk to him, "Would you mind…" she closed her eyes in embarrassment, "teaching me how to run up the tree?" Even she knew it was only an excuse to get his attention, she thought he would figure it out easily.
"The mistake that most runners make, even the adults… is…" he finally spoke. Oh my god! He actually said something to me! She squealed in her head.
"What is it?" she tried to act calm.
"Look at how you run on the ground, you push both forward and upward, pushing upward would send you against gravity, then it would pull you back down, allowing you to take another step."
"Ohh, I get it," she tried to smile, but was so nervous it probably looked lecherous. "So what should I do?" she only thought of an excuse to keep talking to him.
"Run at a slim angle, only push forward. Running vertically means the gravity pull is behind you, not beneath you, meaning you can only push one direction, straight forward." He began to walk somewhere else; usually the next station would be swords play. Kajin stayed however, she would not let his advice and efforts go to waste. She concentrated, then sprinted on up the tree, keeping her body at a slim angle. Eight! She cried in happiness as she fell.
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"That was a stupid story…" Kodoku found a rock to lie upon.
Kajin sat beneath him, "It was a wonderful event for me, since then I have felt more at ease when talking to you," she reached up and stroked his face. "I'm cold…" she stood up and sat on the rock next to where he lay.
"What do you want me to do about it?" Kodoku closed his eyes and rested his hands behind his head. She lay over him, wrapping her arms around him, listening to his heart beat. "I know you are a hanyou, so you might no understand… but half of you is still human, so I hope you understand what I'm trying to do…"
"Hmph, neither youkai nor human, I am just nothing."
"Wrong, you are someone. Your mother died trying to save you, your father died gallantly in battle."
"No, my father perished running in fear from a human. My mother threw me to the grounds of our village as a distraction. Chief Kage picking me up and raising me was unintended for her. And I… I am nothing; I serve no purpose in living." She sighed, her breath steaming as the ice-cold winds blew it aside. "Well… at least to me you are someone," her face became red, she felt hot like the moment she first talked to him. "I… I love you."
He opened his eyes and smiled at her. Kodoku slowly crept his arms around her, then pulled her closer. She lifted her head and gazed into his eyes. At most times they were gray, colorless, lifeless, emotionless; now his eyes gave a faint fiery blue glow.