Inu-Yasha
A Feudal Fairy Tale
Disclaimer: This episode of Inu-Yasha is of my own creation. I do not own any portion
of Inu-Yasha. "Inu-Yasha"
and all related characters, names, etc. are ©1998-2003 Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. Inu-Yasha is a trademark
of Viz Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
A Change of Heart
Scroll Four:
New Moon
Kikyo stares wide eyed at Inu-Yasha,
who just changed into a human, this being the night of the new moon and all.
"Inu-Yasha," the miko
gasps out, "you...you are human?"
"Only on the night of the new moon," the hanyou
sighs. He can see the questioning look in her eyes and decides to tell her.
"Since I'm a hanyou, there are times when all of
my youkai blood leaves me and I become human. This always
happens on the night of the new moon."
The miko moves a little closer, inspecting the newly
transformed Inu-Yasha. "If this has happened to
you all of your life, then why did you not ever tell me about it when I was
truly alive?" she asks, looking slightly hurt.
"For a while, I...I didn't fully trust you with knowing about my secret. I
never fully trusted anybody, that was how I had lived
up to then. But by the time when I actually began to trust you...when I began
to really love you, you were going to change me into a full human anyway so I
figured that you didn't need to know." He looks up at her, his deep violet
eyes searching her blue-gray ones. "Tell me Kikyo,
do you...do you still wish to take me down to hell?"
The former guardian of the Shikon Jewel is taken back
by the hanyou's question. She herself doesn't truly
know the answer. "I...I am unsure as to that Inu-Yasha.
It is true that a small part of me still desires to die with you and bring our
souls to hell so we can be together, but I also desire more so to stay here
with you. I am having an inner conflict of sorts, but I can feel the small
piece of soul that is still mine wanting to be with you, here and now. While my
soul does admit to the fact that it was not you who deceived me but Onigumo, who then became the hanyou
Naraku, it was still stuck on the spot it was on when
I died." The miko reaches over and places a hand
gently on Inu-Yasha's cheek. "But I have gone
through some changes since then and my true desire now is to have my old body
back with a full soul of my own and to live out the rest of my life with
you."
Inu-Yasha smiles warmly. "I am glad that you
feel that way now Kikyo."
The miko returns the smile. "You need not ever
worry about me trying such a thing ever again Inu-Yasha."
With her hands, she begins to examine his now human body. She runs a hand
through his thick, black hair, marveling at how soft it is and how easily her
hands run through it. "So this is what your appearance would be if you
were a human," she mutters aloud. Kikyo touches
his human ears lightly, then moves down to his arm and looks at his normal
fingernails. She directs her gaze back up to his eyes and stares deep into a
sea of deep violet. She feels herself getting lost in his penetrating gaze.
"Do you...like this human body Kikyo?" the hanyou asks.
Kikyo breaks away from his amazing eyes. "It is
very nice, though it is a pity that I can only see it only one night a
month." She leans in a bit. "I do wonder though," she starts
while still leaning in closer, "if your lips still taste as sweet."
She then leans in the rest of the way and kisses Inu-Yasha
full on the lips.
The hanyou reaches over and places a hand on the miko's waist and pulls her in closer. Without his hanyou abilities, he now cannot smell the grave soil that
is a normal part of her scent. Now to him she seems to be fully human, just
like he is now. 'This is...how it's supposed to be,' he thinks to himself.
'This is how it was always meant to be.'
______
Meanwhile, a few miles from the town Inu-Yasha and Kikyo are resting up in, Kagome and the others, plus Koga,
are sitting around a campfire while waiting for the food, something Kagome
calls 'popcorn' to finish cooking. It took a few hours, but the group is
finally getting used to the fact that Koga and Kagome are mates and that the ookami is now joining them on their hunt for Shikon Jewel shards and to kill the villainous Naraku.
"So how much longer is this food gonna take
Kagome?" Shippô questions, staring impatiently at the strange round, metallic
thing that she's shaking back and forth over the fire. Suddenly, one of
the kernels pops, causing everyone except for Kagome to jump back in surprise.
"Don't worry," the girl from the future giggles, "it's supposed
to do that." Soon, all of the kernels begin to pop and the foil bag slowly
rises, much to almost everyone's amazement. A very
nice smell surrounds them as the bag gets bigger and bigger. After it is
finished, Kagome pulls it away from the fire and places it next to her, careful
as to not get too close and accidentally burn herself.
She reaches inside of her enormous yellow backpack and pulls out a couple of
small packets of butter, like you'd find in a present day restaurant, and salt.
She tears open the foil top and dumps the butter onto the popcorn and lets it
melt in while she sprinkles a little bit of salt over it. 'I'm glad I let mom
put those in,' she thinks to herself. Kagome lets out a satisfied smile as she
finishes. "Okay, it's done! Who wants to try some?"
Koga, who is right next to her, shrugs his shoulders and reaches in and pulls
out a piece. He sniffs it lightly, and instantly likes its scent. The youkai puts it in his mouth and his blue eyes light up as
he tastes it. "Hey, this is really good!"
Soon, almost everybody around the fire is enjoying another of Kagome's food
from the future. Kagome, on the other hand, looks up worriedly at the moonless
sky. 'Please Inu-Yasha,' she thinks to herself, 'please be alright.'
______
The next morning, the sun begins to rise and spreads
its life giving light throughout the land. In a small room, a sleeping couple
rests in each other's arms. Inu-Yasha is lying on his
back and Kikyo is partially lying on top of him. They
are using his red outer haori as a blanket and it is
large enough to cover both of them.
As the sunlight pours through one of the windows, Kikyo
begins to wake up. The first thing she realizes is that she is lying on top of
something very warm. She opens her eyes and gazes happily at Inu-Yasha. He has transformed back into his hanyou form. She places her hands on his chest to push herself up, but pauses as she feels his muscles through his
white inner haori.
Without thinking, she pulls his inner haori open a
bit and examines his finely toned chest. As her fingers lay on his bare skin,
he takes a sharp intake of breath, though he doesn't wake up. The miko suddenly feels embarrassed that she is touching him in
such a way and invading his personal space without his consent, but the woman
inside of her is curious and wants to go further, not ever having gotten so
close to a male before.
Kikyo pulls the haori open
even more and gazes admirably at Inu-Yasha's chest,
noting that he does seem to have a bit more maturing to do. His shoulders still
need to broaden out a bit more and his beautiful face still has a little more
filling in to do. Her chest tightens as she thinks of how he will appear when
he fully matures. 'He will be...so handsome and yet so beautiful at the same
time,' she thinks with a smile.
The former guardian of the sacred Shikon Jewel begins
to rub her hands up and down Inu-Yasha's chest,
relishing in the feel of every muscle her fingers touch. The inu hanyou below her is now
breathing deeply with the pleasurable feelings Kikyo
is giving him by rubbing his chest. He actually woke up a few minutes ago, but
is thoroughly enjoying her touching him like this so he is trying to keep
looking as if he is still sleeping.
Kikyo now pulls the haori
off of his arms, now leaving him without clothing from the waist up. She begins
to rub his arms and feels the muscles there, remembering each and every time he
would embrace her and how she would feel them through his clothing.
Deep inside of her, the miko feels her primal urges
and desires surface and tell her, no, beg her to go further. She has never felt
urges this strong before and it both confuses and frightens her. She does
indeed wish to continue, but knows that it does not quite feel right and it is
not the right time for her yet. Reluctantly, she removes her hands from Inu-Yasha's well-trimmed figure and lies back down on top
of him. She drapes one arm across his chest while the other reaches up and
combs through his thick silver hair.
"I wish you didn't stop," the hanyou says,
startling Kikyo. "That felt really good and I
was really enjoying it." He opens his golden eyes and smirks at her.
"You were...awake the entire
time?" she questions, feeling her face heat up.
"Yes," he replies, all the while not breaking his gaze with hers. He
suddenly begins to sit up slowly to allow Kikyo to
back off of him. He grabs his white inner haori and
puts it on, noting the slightly upset look in the miko's
eyes. He then grabs his red outer haori and puts that
on as well. After he puts on all of his clothes, the hanyou
grabs his mystical sword, the Tetsusaiga, and makes
sure that the sheath it properly fastened to his side. "Let's get
something to eat. After we're done, we'll go out and search for some more jewel
shards."
Kikyo stands up next to him. "Would it be
alright if I were to wash up first? It was been a while since I have done
so."
"Um...okay," Inu-Yasha says while
scratching the back of his head. "I remember seeing a hot spring a little
to the south while I was carrying you here."
"Good, then let us go there." The miko looks
around and grabs a thick towel like cloth before climbing onto the inu hanyou's back.
He jumps away and within a few minutes, they reach the hot spring. "Inu-Yasha," Kikyo begins,
"would you be so kind as to stay near? I rarely
leave myself in such an unguarded position and I would feel much safer if I
knew that you were nearby."
Inu-Yasha feels his face flush up but he nods all the
same. He turns around and walks away a little bit, sitting behind a tree that
blocks his view of the hot spring and Kikyo. His
entire body suddenly tenses up as he hears her begin to undress. As soon as he
hears her last piece of clothing fall to the ground, he hears the soft splash
of her feet in the water with each step she takes deeper into the very warm
water.
Sweat forms on his brow as he hears Kikyo moan
lightly as she lowers herself into the hot spring. Soon, the only sound he
hears is the occasional splash of water as the woman moves around. The hanyou feels his youkai urges
inside of him scream for him to leap into the hot spring and take Kikyo as his. He has never felt his urges so powerful
before, not even around Kagome. Then again, he has never seen Kikyo nude before and he would really like to. In fact, he
hasn't seen Kikyo outside of any type of clothing
besides her miko attire, which makes him want to see
her without them on even more. Kagome always walks around in her revealing
clothing and since he would accidentally walk in on her bathing from time to
time, he has had a good view of her slim form. His curiosity and primal urges
for Kikyo are killing him.
Meanwhile in the very warm and soothing water, Kikyo
has finished washing up her body and decides that it is time to get up. A
devious idea pops into her head and she smiles slyly at the thought of getting
a little mild revenge on Inu-Yasha for earlier.
"Oh Inu-Yasha," she calls. "I am
finished now."
The hanyou stands up and begins to walk towards her,
but instantly turns around at noticing that she is still sitting in the hot
spring. "I thought you said that you're done," he replies, his voice
squeaking at a couple of points.
The miko's smile widens. "I am, but my hair is
very wet and I wish for you to dry it for me." She nearly laughs at seeing
his entire body tense up very tightly. "Inu-Yasha,
please turn around. It will be very difficult for you to dry my hair if you are
not facing me."
Inu-Yasha does so, and immediately feels like he is
going to faint from shock. Kikyo has just stood up
out of the water, giving him his first ever view of her nude form. His gold
eyes soak in every little detail, despite himself. He notices every drop of
water as it cascades down her perfect, trim figure with her long slender legs,
narrow hips and every luscious curve. He knows that Kikyo
is a few years older than Kagome and that, from the looks of things regarding
Kagome is Kikyo's reincarnation, Kagome still has a
little more growing to do. When he realizes what he is thinking, he blushes a
deep crimson.
Kikyo smiles even more at seeing his face go as red
as his outer haori. She slowly walks up to him and
turns around when she is just about a foot from his body. She shivers slightly
both because of the cool air that is nipping at her bare skin and because she
is feeling a strange rush at being completely exposed in front of Inu-Yasha like this. Never before has she exposed herself
to anyone and she is feeling oddly nervous and enticed. It seems like a little
bit of her revenge is playing back onto her.
The hanyou notices her shivering and quickly grabs
the towel like cloth and begins to carefully and gently dry the miko's hair. He feels his urges scream at him to take her
on the spot, but he amazingly keeps his cool and continues to dry Kikyo's long raven hair.
When he finishes, he then wraps the towel around her body so she doesn't get
any colder. "Thank you Inu-Yasha, you did an
admirable job."
He takes this as his cue and walks away so she can put her clothes back on.
When he is hidden from view by some trees and bushes, he sighs deeply. "I
don't think I could've taken any more of that." He suddenly notices a very
small creature hop onto his nose and bite it, sucking up some blood. He slaps
his nose, flattening the creature. "Myôga you
old nomi," Inu-Yasha
begins, "what are you doing here?"
The tiny youkai pops back into his normal,
non-flattened self and jumps onto the hanyou's
shoulder. "After you disappeared last night, I went searching for you. I
must say Lord Inu-Yasha, I am quite surprised to see you here with the miko Lady Kikyo."
"Yeah, well a lot of things have changed in the last couple of days,"
Inu- Yasha huffs out,
closing his eyes and turning his head to the side.
"Lord Inu-Yasha, may I ask why you left us so
suddenly? Lady Kagome has been most worried about your whereabouts." At
the mention of Kagome's name, the hanyou's eyes shoot
open and the old youkai notices a brief flash of pain
go through them. The nomi may be old, but he is not
naïve. "Did she do something to hurt you? I thought you two both cared
deeply for each other?"
Inu-Yasha sighs deeply. "Apparently she doesn't
care for me as much as I cared for her."
"Oh my," comes Myôga's short reply.
The inu hanyou stares
intently at the small 'servant' on his shoulder. "Tell me Myôga, are you going to stay with me or are you going to
travel with Kagome and the others?"
"I will always follow you Lord Inu-Yasha,"
the nomi says proudly. "But tell me, are you not worried about the others? Without you
around, it will be much more dangerous for them to hunt down shards of the
sacred Shikon Jewel."
Inu-Yasha looks up at the bright blue, cloudless sky.
"Don't worry about them, they'll be fine." He sighs inwardly and adds
to himself, 'They've got Koga now.'
______
Kagome and the rest of the group have just eaten and are now traveling to the
north, where the old nomi Myôga
told them of a village pestered by a koumori youkai that is rumored to have in its possession a shard of
the Shikon Jewel. It is still quite strange for the
group to see Kouga leading the way instead of Inu-Yasha. The houshi, taijiya and little kitsune all
knew that the inu hanyou
cared deeply for Kagome, and most likely loved her as well. All three of them
suspect that Inu-Yasha found out about Kagome and
Koga's secret relationship and is probably why he ran off, most likely
heartbroken.
Miroku thinks to earlier when he was upset at Inu-yasha for disappearing all of a sudden. Now he feels
remorse for the hanyou. 'I would most definitely do
the same if a similar occurrence were to happen to my beloved Sango,' he thinks while gazing somberly at the lovely taijiya. The houshi would like
nothing more than to take her in his arms and tell her everything he feels for
her, but there is one thing that is holding him back from doing so, his curse.
He looks down at his cursed right hand, where beneath the purple holy cloth and
rosary beads lies the Kazaana,
a void that sucks in anything and everything around it. He knows that like his
father and grandfather before him, he will eventually be sucked into the
endless void himself if Naraku is not destroyed. A
bit of bitterness and hatred spread across his eyes as he gazes at his right
hand.
'Naraku,' Miroku thinks
darkly, 'one day I will see to it that you are destroyed and all of the
innocent lives your evil has corrupted and destroyed will be avenged. Until
then, I cannot reveal my true feeling to Sango. I do
not wish for her to watch helplessly as I perish some day in the future because
of my cursed right hand. I will not make her suffer such heartache.'
A few steps ahead of him, Sango turns around slightly
to look at the man she secretly harbors strong feelings for. She does not know
exactly when it happened, but the houshi somehow dug
his way into her heart and has held a firm grip on it for quite some time. She
only wishes that he would stop her lecherous hentai
ways, which is one of the reasons she fears to let him know how she feels for
him.
Another reason is exactly what Miroku is staring at
right now, the Kazaana in his right hand. The taijiya knows that if Naraku is
not destroyed, one day in the future the Kazaana will
expand too much and suck the houshi in side of it. Sango's eyes widen as she sees the look of bitterness and
anger in Miroku's eyes. 'He must be thinking of his
cursed right hand as well,' she sadly thinks to herself. 'It must be terrible
for him, to have lived his entire life in fear of a curse put on his family
line that will never end and eventually kill him if one evil youkai is not killed.'
While thinking about Naraku, her mind lingers on
another thing that he has that has some control over her. 'Kohaku,'
Sango thinks while a small tear forms in her eyes.
'One day Kohaku, one day I will free you from Naraku's grasp and we will be together again once more.' A
slight purring next to her ear and something warm and fuzzy nuzzling the same
ear interrupts her thoughts.
The taijiya turns her head slightly to the side and
sees a pair of large red eyes with two small black
slits for pupils. "Kirara," she mumbles
while petting her faithful neko youkai
in between her ears. The tiny neko purrs louder under
her master's comfortable scratching and petting.
Nobody notices the young looking girl in all white nearby watching them with a
mirror in her hands. The youkais cannot sense her in
any way because the young girl is in fact made of nothingness.
______
Far away in a grand castle, the young lord watches what the young girl sees
with her mirror with great interest. "Inu-Yasha
is no longer a part of the group? Interesting."
He stands up and picks up a white baboon pelt and puts it on. "Kanna has done some wonderful spying, but I need to know
for sure if the half-breed has indeed left the group." He begins to walk
off, but pauses at the beautiful young woman with pointed ears and black hair
pulled into a bun who is kneeling by him. She is
wearing a white kimono with purple designs on it. A large fan is resting down
at her knees. A small sneer comes to the man's lips. "Kagura,
come along, we are going to pay a little visit to Inu-Yasha's
former group."
The woman picks up her fan and stands up, revealing her red pupil-less eyes.
"Yes Lord Naraku."
To be continued...
______
Translations (in order of
appearance):
Haori:
a Japanese formal coat
______
Author's notes: Sorry I haven't
updated sooner, but a lot of things have been getting in my way of both writing
and posting. Naraku and his minions will come further
into play next scroll and I will probably bring in Sesshô-
maru, Jaken and Rin in soon -- lighthawkdemon
Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon@yahoo.com