Promise For the Future
A/N: Hello and thank you for reading my new Inuyasha fic! I appreciate it and please review after you are done! Thank you!
Summary: Remembering when her village and her own sister die in the hands of a demon, Kikyo is unable to move on. When she meets a certain hanyou, she soon learns another view of life.
CHAPTER 1:
UNFORGETTABLE PAST
"Kikyo-oneesama! Help me!" Those words rang in Kikyo's head as she sat all alone in the forest with cuts and wounds everywhere. Kikyo held the shikon no tama, the most important thing that she had to protect, in her pockets of her hakama to make sure she had it. Then she remembered what happened today when it was raining and she closed her eyes, remembering the terrible thing that happened that day.
She had just gone up to the shrine, a short distance from the town, to take a rest from all the work she had done. As she was resting, Kaede ran in, all bloody. She fell on the ground and yelled for Kikyo to help her. Kaede slowly told her a demon was in the village after she left and then died in her arms.
Kikyo gently put her on the floor as she ran to the village. By then, everyone was slaughtered and a certain silver haired youkai challenged Kikyo. His eyes were pure gold and pierced through her body. As they were fighting, the youkai suddenly stopped and ran into the woods.
Kikyo opened her eyes again and was back in reality. What went wrong? She asked herself. How could this have all happened? Her wounds were beginning to sting and she winced as she felt the cold rain hit her skin. I…have to get shelter…
Kikyo staggered into an abandoned hut. She began to rip her sleeve and tie it around her arm and leg wounds to stop the bleeding. After everything was patched up, Kikyo rested her head on the wall and closed her eyes, trying to get sleep. But that image of Kaede and the whole village kept appearing in her mind.
Then she recalled something her master told her a long time ago when she was training to be a miko.
"Kikyo. Come here." He said, motioning his hands for the young girl to come. She did as she was told and walked up to her master. "Look at the water. It is very calm and tranquil right now. The water has a lot of power. It can become a flood and destroy a whole village. But it does not abuse its power. It stays calm and quiet. You must be like that. Though you may have power, you must not abuse it when times are tough.
Kikyo took a breath and tried to forget that image of the death of her sister and the villagers. She tried to become calm like the water. Times were becoming tough for her right now but she couldn't just be angry and hateful. She had to be serene. Getting herself in a comfortable state, Kikyo closed her eyes and fell asleep.
The next day, Kikyo could feel her stomach growling. She got up and went outside of the abandoned hut. Her wounds were still stinging but Kikyo could handle it. She decided to go find a small stream of water and properly clean her wounds. Kikyo was lucky because a small stream was not too far ahead of the hut. When she arrived, she got the ripped cloth that was all bloody, and wringed out the blood in the water. Then she soaked it and began to scrub lightly at her wounds.
As she was cleaning her wounds, something suddenly caught Kikyo's attention. Something in the trees were shaking. Kikyo stood up and got in a cautious mode, scolding herself for not bringing her bow and arrows. She had left them in the hut, thinking no youkai would attack.
Then as the tension rose, a 'man' ran out of the trees and fell fainted on the ground. Kikyo stared at him for a moment and then realized that he was bleeding. "Hold on…!" she told the man. She then dragged the man to her hut. Arriving at the hut, Kikyo ripped her sleeve once more and put it around the wound of the man. "Are you alright?" she asked him. Then her eyes widened in shock. It was a man she was treating. It was a hanyou as she could tell from the ears and the demonic aura he did not fully have to be a youkai.
The hanyou groaned. "What am I doing here?" he said, shaking his head. He looked at Kikyo and gasped, sitting a distance from the miko. "Who are you?"
"I am Kikyo." Kikyo introduced herself. "Who are you?"
"Why should I tell you!" the hanyou retorted.
"I told you my name, did I not?" she said back to him.
The hanyou smirked. "I don't care if you told me yours or not." He tried to get up but fell back down from his wounds.
"You should be more careful." Kikyo said, getting up and ripping her sleeve to put it on the hanyou's leg. "I did not mean to intimidate you. I merely wanted to know your name too."
The hanyou shrugged then sighed. "I'm…Inuyasha."
"Inuyasha…" Kikyo mumbled to herself. "An interesting name."
Inuyasha watched as Kikyo gently put the cloth around his leg. "By the way you are dressing, you look like a miko. Or are you just a demon impersonating a miko?"
"No. I am a miko." Kikyo answered.
"Then why are you helping me?" Inuyasha asked as Kikyo finished. "I am a hanyou you know if you think I'm a human."
"I know you are a hanyou."
"Aren't mikos supposed to kill youkais and hanyous?" Inuyasha asked.
Kikyo paused for a moment. "I have no intentions of killing any youkai or hanyou right now."
Inuyasha studied Kikyo for a moment, finally realizing she too was hurt. "Oh, I see."
"If you want, you may stay here for the day." Kikyo said, grabbing her bow and arrows, then checking if she had the shikon no tama. "But I suppose you'd be going."
"Why do you think that eh?" Inuyasha asked.
"Something or someone was obviously chasing you. If you stay here, it will find you." Kikyo explained.
Inuyasha gulped. Oh yeah…he thought to himself. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going…to a village for a while." Kikyo said. I should go give the villagers a proper burial. I also need to get things from the shrine. I'm sure that demon couldn't have went in there for it was protected by a holy seal.
Inuyasha sat on the floor. Kikyo could tell he was thinking. Hm…I should leave. And for safety, I shouldn't tell him about the shikon no tama if he doesn't already know. She went outdoor and started for the village. The image of Kaede and the villager's death returned to her mind. When she got to the village, the village still remained the same with the dead bodies.
Carefully, Kikyo dug a hole and put the villagers in there. It wasn't until the sun setted that she finally finished. Then she went to the place that she dreaded. The shrine where Kaede was.
As she arrived at the shrine, there on the ground was Kaede. Kikyo couldn't hold it in anymore. She broke into tears, unable to stop the agonizing pain inside her as she saw the motionless body of her dear sister, her only family member left and yet she was unable to protect her. "Ka-Kaede-chan…g-gomen…gomeanasai." She cried, picking up the body, and letting the tears drip from her face.
After she was done crying, she picked Kaede and went outside, digging a hole for her sister. She made herself not cry when she put Kaede in the hole. Then she slowly put the dirt on top of her. When she was finished, she put Kaede's favorite flowers on top of the grave.
It was night by now and Kikyo still needed things from the shrine. She went up to the shrine and gathered things for her lonely life that she would be living from now on. The first was a new pair of miko clothes. The next was a water jug, then some more arrows and another bow in case the one she had broke. After she got what she needed, she headed back to the hut.
To her surprise, the hanyou was still there in the hut. He was sleeping peacefully on the floor and Kikyo put down her stuff in the corner. Then she kept her distance from that hanyou, that Inuyasha, and fell asleep.
Inuyasha opened one eye to see if Kikyo was asleep. After he was sure she was asleep, he studied Kikyo once more to make sure she wasn't a demon in disguise. It still surprised him that a miko would help him. Actually it surprised him that anyone would help him.
When he looked at the miko, he noticed that a single tear fell down her cheek. What exactly happened when she went to that 'village'? he asked himself. Tired himself, Inuyasha went back to his spot and fell asleep.
A/N: Okay. This is the end of the first chapter of Promise for the Future. I hope you liked it. Please review and thank you again for reading it.