Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize doesn't belong to me. Anyone you don't, does. Especially Kusaraku Fujii. He's my pride and joy.
Title: Body, Mind, and Soul
Chapter: Eleven – But Look At Him!
Kusaraku had kept running, and had eventually come out of the forest, eventually stopping after he was a few minutes away from it.
He stared up in awe. Stars littered the sky above him, far more than he had ever seen… it was so much clearer than what he was used to. And so much more beautiful. But the strange thing was, he didn't see any 'stars' that you could tell were satellites which he was used to seeing at least a few of.
He had started moving again, but a little later he had stopped to sleep for a little bit by a tree.
And now, a few hours later when he awakened, it was dawn.
Up ahead, he saw a village, and after a moment's indecision, moved to a place where he wouldn't be seen, but where he could comfortably watch the people for a few minutes.
From watching them, he was somehow not surprised at what he was able to figure out.
Finished watching. He set off in a random direction (not the one he came from), and stopped again a bit later so that he could rest, and so that he could think about what he had discovered. The place he stopped at was a lush meadow, the plants of which sparkled in the morning sun with dew, making everything look a little newer, a little fresher than usual.
He wasn't exactly sure how, but he had somehow come to the past… the feudal era, it looked like.
And he had no idea how to get home.
Suddenly, a sound caught his attention, and he turned to see two figures on the other side of the meadow.
One of them was quite short, maybe a foot and a half tall, and most definitely wasn't human. With its bulbous eyes and pebbled green skin, the thing looked rather reptilian, or maybe amphibian. It was dressed in a brown robe and it held a staff that was at least twice as tall as itself, a staff with two heads; a woman's and an old man's.
The other figure was in huge contrast to the first. Tall, with long silvery white hair, gleaming golden eyes, and pointed ears, the figure, though resembling a human, was definitely not. He was (and Kusa was stunned to be thinking this… this was a guy, and so was he!) what could only be called supernaturally beautiful. Dressed in mostly white, he had some sort of fluffy thing over his shoulder, and Kusaraku could see that one of his sleeves hung too limply to contain an arm.
Staring at the figure, meeting his eyes and feeling the power that practically radiated from him, Kusaraku broke into a sweat. With the white hair and golden eyes, he resembled that dog-guy; he wasn't connected to him, was he?
From the way that the taller creature's golden eyes were focused upon him, Kusa could tell immediately that the figure had already seen that he was there, most likely before Kusa had even noticed him.
Just then, however, the shorter creature took notice of him, and gasped, pointing. "My lord! Look! It is that scoundrel, Naraku!"
That name again! Kusaraku thought, considering running, but deciding against it; he had a feeling that if this guy wanted to catch him, he would… and that he was not one to anger.What is with that name? That dog-boy called me that, and so did Kagome when she first met me. Who in hell is this Naraku, and why does he have so many enemies!
Moving just his eyes, the figure glance down at the toady creature, and then back at Kusaraku. He sniffed at the air lightly before speaking, his voice a bit deep with an aristocratic tone to it. "Calm yourself, Jaken. This is not Naraku."
"What!" The one called Jaken's voice was full of disbelief. "But… But Lord Sesshoumaru, look at him! How can you deny that it is him!"
Seeming not to hear his servant, Sesshoumaru approached slowly towards Kusaraku. Kusaraku took a step back, his fear welling up again, and the urge to run became suddenly very hard to fight. "L, look," he stammered, afraid that if this guy, too had a grudge against Naraku, he'd take it out on him. "Just leave me alone. Everyone keeps thinking I'm this Naraku, whoever the hell he is, but I'm not!"
Sesshoumaru stopped when he was just six feet away. Six feet that Kusa knew could be crossed in a millisecond if he wanted.
His golden eyes narrowed, he looked Kusaraku up and down, taking in his now-demonic features (his nails, fangs, etc.) along with his strange, ragged garb. His eyes settled on Kusaraku's, and he spoke once more. "You are not Naraku. Tell this Sesshoumaru who you are. You smell… rather like Inuyasha's woman does, in a way. You carry a scent that only she carries."
Inuyasha's woman? Well, at least he's not attacking me… yet. This Inuyasha… it sounds familiar, somehow. Could he possibly be…? Kusaraku thought before answering, trying to keep his voice from shaking. God, he really wished he could go home. "This… this Inuyasha, does he have hair and eyes kind of like yours? And his woman, what does she look like?"
The little toady dude, Jaken, spoke up. "How disrespectful! You do not answer my lord's question with ones of your own!"
"Hush, Jaken," Sesshoumaru quieted Jaken without taking his eyes off of Kusaraku. "Inuyasha… as much as this Sesshoumaru despises the fact, he is my younger brother and, like me, he shares our father's features. As to his woman… she is dressed in strange garments that are somehow like your own, but are inappropriately revealing. Now answer my question before I lose my patience."
Garments like mine… I think he means Kagome. Kusaraku thoughts to himself, then decided he had better answer Sesshoumaru's question. My name is Kusaraku Fujii… and I think that perhaps the reason I smell like that girl you mentioned is because we are from the same… the same place."
"And why is it that you almost exactly like Naraku?"
Helplessly, Kusaraku shrugged, hoping his answer wouldn't piss the guy off. "Honestly, I don't know anything about Naraku other than that everyone thinks I look like him. I've never seen him, or even heard of him until a few days ago. This is how I've always looked."
For about a full minute Sesshoumaru stared at him, perhaps deciding whether or not to believe him. Finally, he spoke once more. "As you are obviously not Naraku, by both your manner and scent among other things, I will let you go. However, should you ally yourself with Naraku, who has made himself an enemy of my, then this Sesshoumaru shall kill you should we meet again."
And with that he left, the clearing once more, heading in a different direction, and his servant took off after him, calling for him to wait.
A very bewildered, but relieved, Kusaraku was left in the clearing.
QS: Did I capture Sesshou okay? I was really nervous, and I'm not used to writing him, and I didn't know if that outfit he wears is called a kimono. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and be sure to review, please!