Servant By: OtakuSailorV

Chapter 22: Movement of Hearts

Yuhi awoke with a jolt, startled into wakefulness by the touch of a chill hand on her forehead. At first she could see nothing but blurred shapes as her eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room, but her nose picked up a scent that did not sit well with her.

Next to her futon Naraku sat in his usual crouched position watching her with unmoving crimson eyes. She was immediately unnerved and sat herself up on her elbows, edging away from him. Stilling after a moment, she watched him carefully, holding his eyes with her own for as long as she dared before flashing a glance at any single movement he made. She flinched away when he raised his hand and moved it to stroke her cheek, feeling the hairs on her arms rise in fear.

"N-Naraku-dono?" she questioned, sitting straight up now. She had inched away somewhat, but was still within arms length of him.

He made no reply, watching her enigmatically, though she had a feeling he was scrutinizing her intensely. After a moment he stood and, turning his gaze from her, he walked out of the room and disappeared without a single word. Yuhi sat there for a long time, watching the doorway in perplexed thought, not able to understand even for a moment what her Lord was thinking.

Kagura watched the entire scene with a smirk, thrilling in the look of anger that crossed his face briefly when Yuhi moved away from his touch so hurriedly. Had she even seen a touch of sadness in those eyes? Surely not, Naraku couldn't comprehend such emotions as that. Though, she did like the idea of such a weak hanyou bringing the great Naraku to his knees so easily.

It would be interesting to see what developed…

Naraku sat brooding in his compartment, glaring at the paper door that his shoulder rested against in contempt. Onigumo mocked him openly, laughing outright at the way Yuhi had just treated him. Naraku battered Onigumo's fading existence in his anger, but the human kept right on laughing.

Why? Why had she moved away from his touch so quickly? Was he that disgusting of a creature that she would be repulsed by the merest touch? Onigumo howled with laughter at Naraku's angry musings.

'You have ridiculed me so long for having given up my body for Kikyo and yet here you are, spurned by the woman you long for as well,' he howled again, fitfully tossing about in his glee.

Naraku growled at him in warning, "Do not criticize me you insignificant human. I do not 'long' for any woman, I have no such weakness."

'Oh-ho,' Onigumo continued to mock. 'You think she is not your weakness? How pitiful, how pitiful…'

And then he was gone; his voice echoing hollowly in the space his consciousness had previously occupied. Onigumo's presence was still there – he had not by a long shot been driven from Naraku's being – but for the moment he was silent, suppressed. In his dark corner of Naraku's mind, he sniggered at Naraku's seething flare of anger.

No, he had no such weakness; he would not allow it…

Yuhi stumbled, still not feeling quite so stable on her legs. How long had she been asleep? Kagura had said it was a week, hadn't she? Yuhi felt as if she had been lying on that futon for an eternity. Her entire body felt slow and lethargic still.

She put her hand to the wall, walking along slowly, half-blind in the encroaching darkness of Naraku's innermost chambers. She wanted to see the outside, to see the sun again, but she was lost in these corridors. She couldn't even sniff her way out; the air was filled with his heavy miasma that made her stomach churn uneasily. Her eyes were already blurring with stinging tears due to the miasma's effects. She blinked rapidly to cleanse her eyes, but they continued to water in protest against the miasma.

"You're weak, even for a half-demon," Kagura appeared from a side corridor, looking at Yuhi with a mixture of emotions that Yuhi did not recognize in her dazed state.

"I don't care, I don't need to be strong," Yuhi replied sourly.

Her throat seized up in the middle of the night, causing her stomach muscles to bulk against the sour air that threatened to re-enter the lungs. The result was a gagging cough that left Yuhi shaking, she felt nauseous.

Barely awake, she crawled from her bedding, panting for breath though the air that entered only made her more queasy. She tried to flick her ears to see if anyone had come at the sound of her fit, but there was no movement. The muscles did not respond, almost as if they weren't there…

She froze; one of her hands wandered to the side of her head where she discovered two soft, rounded human ears on either side. Her coyote ears had disappeared completely! An attempt to flip her tail proved useless as well. Looking about, she realized that the room had grown completely dark, unlike the other nights she had lain awake. She coughed again as the miasma that flooded the room poisoned her lungs. Her eyes watered from the force of the cough and the sting of the miasma in the air.

Her hair had turned dark brown, nearly black in color and her eyes darkened as well to match the coloring of the other humans native to her land. Her fangs and clawed had retracted, leaving only the rounded nubs of a human's digits and teeth. She had become human in her sleep…

It was that day! The day she turned human, how could she have forgotten? She had not paid attention to the days in a long time, no wonder she had not anticipated this! Usually she tried to busy herself with tasks closer to the outside of the castle during that time, but now that she was in the heart of the castle, where the miasma focused, she could hardly stand it. She could feel her human body weakening with every breath.

Breathing more slowly and at greater intervals, she pushed herself to her feet and clumsily made her way toward the door. She'd have to find her way out somehow…if she didn't she'd…

Yuhi shook her head to try and not think about what would happen if she weren't able to make her way out, but the action only proved to make the room spin. Her equilibrium was beginning to get thrown off and with it her ability to walk in a straight line. She stumbled and clung to the wall, coughing the entire time. A headache drummed at the inside of her skull noisily, breaking her focus.

The screen door opened and she nearly fell out as the wall that she had been clinging came to an abrupt end and she was forced to find and follow a different wall. Clumsily she grasped the wood in her claw-less hands, banging her forehead against the wall before she could stop herself. She groaned and coughed again, wrapping the sleeve of her kimono over her nose to help her breathing somewhat.

She continued on this way for a while, and only seemed to make some progress. With her human nose and senses, she could not tell where she was going or if she was even going in the right direction. For all she knew, she was heading in the complete opposite direction of where she wanted to go. So consumed in her own thoughts, she did not even notice that a shouji door had opened ahead of her until she walked into the person exiting the room.

Knocked back a step or two, Yuhi hurriedly apologized, bowing and holding her breath since she had removed the sleeve from her nose and mouth. Damn this human body that hindered her so only once a month! Her head spun and she clumsily attempted to keep herself upright.

"G-gomen nasai," she looked up to see whom she was addressing and paused, stunned and unsure. Naraku had never seen her in her human form before. "N-Naraku-dono…"

She felt a tremor cross her body as he fixed upon her those red eyes that seemed to see so much. She corrected herself hurriedly, hoping he hadn't noticed her spasm of fright at his appearance.

He said nothing, studying her thoughtfully as she swayed, her eyes drifting and her face quite pale. He grasped the situation instantaneously; her reverted human form could not cope with the demon auras around it or his miasma. Soon she'd be dust and bones like the soldiers that had once guarded his castle perimeter. The only reason she had survived thus long was because of the demon blood that still existed somewhere inside of her.

Onigumo clawed his way out from his hiding place, laughing like a crazed hyena as the smallest pinprick of worry troubled Naraku's mind. "See, she cannot live in your presence, your existence causes her to shake like a leaf! Your weakness is nothing but a meek, trembling human woman now, Naraku. What are you going to do?"

He howled spitefully as Naraku's mind forced his back to the shadows, his eyebrows coming together in a scowl.

Yuhi watched him worriedly, wondering what to do. She needed to get around him, but how could she when there were two of him blocking her way? Er, two…? She blinked, her head bobbing as she fought to keep upright. Had he created a doppelganger? She would have sworn there were two of him a second ago…

Stumbling forward, she moved to go past him. "Please excuse me, I must-," her voice rasped out, but her footing wasn't so sure and on the last word she faltered, tripping over her own feet. She caught herself, though she noticed out of the corner of her eye that his figure had swayed briefly as if to catch her.

Involuntarily, her right hand grasped the arm of his kimono as she passed. Her wounds, though mostly healed, were beginning to burn from the poisonous air and re-open. She hoped that she was not bleeding, though she was sure she would soon. How was she going to make it?

Arms wrapped around her and she was hoisted up, though she struggled and couldn't figure out why. In her nauseated state, she couldn't think clearly and so began to wonder if she had died and her spirit was flying away. Her death had been awful quick, not at all painful like she thought death was. These musings, however, were halted when she investigated her surroundings only to find that she was being carried. The pangs of her headache assured her that she was still alive as well.

She felt herself try to shrink away as noticed that Naraku was carrying her. Where was he taking her? Why? She began to worry, though she could not struggle away from him even if she wanted to. She was far too weak, so all she could do was let him carry her and wonder what he had in store. Dread filled the pit of her stomach, making her anxious and frightened of him. She did not want him holding her…

"You can stop shivering, I'm not going to hurt you," his voice was dull and unemotional, though his words hinted that he was displeased. Yuhi stiffened at the sudden noise and attempted to correct herself, but the fear would not dissipate.

He said he would not hurt her, but she had seen him covered in blood that was not his own before. He was a murderer…He mind suddenly flared awake with images of her youkai form's recent rampage and she winced, sullen. No, she was just like him, she was no better…

"I'm not afraid," she replied quietly, though deep inside she knew she was. She was scared of everything.

Naraku didn't reply.

The emerged into the darkness of the night not long afterward and Yuhi looked at her frail human body with contempt in the moonlight. She could barely move. The effort of keeping herself awake was hard enough. Naraku, sensing this, did not release her but instead sat leaning against the outer wall in his usual position with her still in his arms.

Yuhi's body began to heat up with embarrassment. Why was he doing this? It was unlike her Lord to help her, to hold her…She fidgeted somewhat, drawing his attention.

"Arigato, Naraku-dono, for helping me. I'm sorry to have troubled you…" she tried to sound as polite as she could. His presence made her uneasy…

She sighed when he made no reply, her eyelids growing heavier every moment. She fought to stay awake even a few moments longer. Why? The question poked at the inside of her head until she couldn't contain it anymore. Drowsily, she raised her head, though it wobbled unsteadily as she spoke.

"Why…?" her voice drifted off, unable to voice the rest of the question as she tilted forward, her breathing easing somewhat. Her throat still burned from the miasma.

Naraku sat on the wooden deck, overlooking the desolate land that surrounded his castle with dark red eyes. He was aware of everything that went on inside of his realm and even some of the happenings that came about in the land beyond, and yet he could not answer the question she had posed before nodding off.

Onigumo shrieked with laughter.

Kagome shifted as she sat on the log that was near the group's campfire for the night. She had a weird feeling and a question on her mind that she was dying to voice.

"Do you think that Naraku has another weakness besides his human heart?" she questioned, kicking at the dirt thoughtfully. She'd never heard of a real person having only a single weakness before and it made her wonder if Naraku was hiding another weakness that they had not yet discovered.

Inuyasha scoffed from the tree branch he was lying in, watching the stars. He looked at the half-moon suspiciously as he replied, "Don't be stupid, we'd have figured it out by now if he did."

Sango and Miroku exchanged glances before joining in on the conversation. Kagome bit her bottom lip for a moment as she thought back to their last battle with Naraku. He had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and taken Yuhi away after stopping her rampage, that just seemed too strange to her. No, that had nothing to do with his weakness, but it made her wonder what connection the two had.

"He did take away Yuhi-san," Shippo commented between licks of a lollipop he had received from Kagome. "Maybe she knows his weakness or something. He's never come to stop a subordinate before."

Inuyasha grunted from his tree.

"That is true," Miroku agreed. "But we don't know if Yuhi-san was his subordinate or not. She had Shikon shards, so she might have been a pawn he still found useful."

Sango's expression hardened and her fingers curled into fists at her sides. "Just like Kohaku…" she murmured between her teeth.

Everyone grew silent for a moment in respect, reflecting quietly on Sango's loss. Kohaku was still under the command of Naraku as well.

"Well we'll just have to find Naraku and kill him," Inuyasha scoffed grumpily as he closed his eyes. He was growing irritated with this conversation, though it set even his mind puzzling. What was the connection between Yuhi and Naraku?

Damn this computer. To make a long story short, somehow the 22nd and 23rd chapters got messed up and now I only have the first quarter of the 22nd chapter, which is at the beginning of this chapter. I tacked on the 23rd to make it appear longer, but I have no idea where the rest of the 22nd chapter went. It's just suddenly gone and when I checked my folder for it, there was nothing there but the first 701 words of the chapter. What in God's name happened! This is nuts!I can't even remember what the hell I wrote for the rest of the chapter its been so long! Oh Lord, I'm so stressed right now...

Ok, setting that mishap aside, I must apologize to my readers for this, I'm not quite sure what happened, but here is the end result we shall have to live with. Growl...

At any rate, fanart for this story is up in my DA account, and new fanart shall be available upon my return from Florida (14th or 15th).

Does everyone seem IC? I'm so worried about it and yet whenever I ask everyone assures me that I'm doing a fine job. Le sigh, I'm not so sure. I really want Naraku to stay the same evil ass that he always is even though he loves Yuhi, I really don't want her to be a mary-sue...I twitch and cringe at the thought...

Well,I must be off. I'm in a rather bad mood now andI must resume preparations for my trip. Ja'ne!

Review Please.