Until Your Heart Falls:
Chapter Five
Woot: Howdy. I've been at a real stand-still in my fics lately, so I hope I can deliver this as well as the last, or as well as all the reviews have told me. I hope it turns out okay. Anyways, ignoring my oddly crappy writing, I want to advertise and corrupt your minds. If you think I have any talent whatsoever and you like my writing please check out and look up my novels/short stories. It's all pretty dark, because I'm pretty dark, but if you like dark stuff, please look me up! I have the same penname and everything. Just a few clicks and it's time to enjoy. Well, that's all, except I got a laptop, so I will be writing mobilely. Score! So here it is, and check out my novels k?
Unclaimer: "Is humanity God's greatest blunder, or vice versa?" Not mine.
Love and burning hope,
-Kurai-Tenshi of Doom
Kagome gnashed her teeth. Annoyance did not begin to explain her feelings at the moment. She was sitting in the well-furnished living room, and across from her was Miroku Takagawa. Kagome thought she'd liked him, but after elongated time in his presence she was willing to laugh at herself for thinking so. It wasn't his fault, really, but Kagome really just wanted to be alone. And the dark haired man managed to literally pop up everywhere, with that mischievous smile; he seemed to get on her already frayed nerves.
The TV was on, but she had a feeling neither of them were watching it. Miroku was pretending well enough, but a sort of tense compatible silence cloaked the room in its blank entirety. Kagome expected him to say something, another joking pick-up line that would make her smile despite pretending not to like his perverted humor. It was the unexpected squeal of Rin that really woke her up. "Kagome-chan!" she cried, jumping on the couch and scaring Kagome out of her wits.
She clutched her chest as Miroku smiled in a brotherly way. He seemed completely oblivious to everything. Almost dense in a way. She ignored him again and let Rin hug her tight. Too tight. "Rin…" she gasped. Rin let go and clapped in excitement. "We're going out today, remember Kagome-chan? All of us, you me, Sango-san, and perhaps Kikyo-sama if she'd like to come!" Kagome smiled at the girl and ruffled her hair. "Of course Rin-chan. Would you like to go right now?" Rin jumped off the couch, face glittering with a child-like blush. "Yes desu!" she cried delicate face flushed in over-excitement. Kagome ignored her politeness.
Ever since they'd moved in, the normally informal girl had become ten-times more timid and polite, addressing only Kagome and her mother with a informal title. For some reason she addressed Sango her sister, whom she loved and was close with, by a more formal honorific. Kagome didn't ask, but when she inquired after Sango, the girl had warned her to act as if she weren't aware. She'd followed it, and Rin had continued keeping the familiarity barrier between her and her sister. "Go try and find Sango, I'll look for Kikyo." She didn't mean to treat Miroku as if he weren't there, but she wanted an excuse to get out of the house.
The night they'd arrived, just two short days ago, had caused two people to become practically invisible. The older brother, Sesshomaru and Sango. She'd come out only once, to have a quick dinner and then retire. Kagome knew she was having their butler Hoshii sneak ramen and sushi upstairs to her. But she kept her word to little Rin, and she stayed in the house. Kagome stood and Rin dashed from the room, a little too happy to be leaving the house.
No one except Gramps and Kagome's mother had seen the brother since he'd come late at night. Kagome liked how Inuyasha seemed oblivious to his brother's presence, and Miroku…well, Miroku was oblivious to everything. Kagome bowed to Miroku who was watching her through almost closed eyes. His smile was sweet, but as Kagome moved to excuse herself, he spoke in a voice that was a deep purr and very unnerving: "Why do you hide yourself away like that, Kagome-san?" Kagome knew her mouth had fallen open, but she didn't bother to fix it. Where had this come from?
"Wh-What do you mean?" she asked, startled into idiotic speech. His eyes opened slowly, eyelids like curtains. His dark eyes were deep pools of rippling ice blue. They made Kagome want to shiver. He had such a jaded feel about him. This was a completely different man from only seconds before. "Don't run Kagome-san." He whispered. It was low and deep, but he could've been on the far side of the room, and Kagome would've heard him perfectly. Her eyes were as wide as saucers she knew it, but before she could question this dark stranger, Miroku smiled and his eyes returned to light pools of laughter. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go harass the help for some food. They never give enough at breakfast." He strode from the room leaving Kagome utterly dumbfounded. And this never happened to her. Shaking her head, she left the room to go find Kikyo.
She found her sprawled across her bed in her room. She knocked on the slightly ajar door and slipped inside. Kikyo looked up to her; one of her hands placed on her flat stomach, which was bare, the other hanging off the side of the bed. Her dim eyes seemed different for a moment, as if they looked remorseful, then they were toughened and the girl asked in a sharp voice: "What?" Kagome took a deep breath.
"Ohaiyo! We usually go out today for dinner or something. Lunch in this case. Would you like to come?" Kagome wanted her to say no, but the older girl seemed to know this so she pulled out her headphones from her ears and sat up. "Give me a few seconds." She said, and Kagome tried not to look too disappointed. She pulled off her pajama shorts and Kagome looked away, slightly envious of Kikyo's chest. She looked down to her own and sighed. Puny. The woman was beautiful. Too bad her attitude reeked.
Kagome let her change and left the room, deep in thought over the odd depth of Miroku. It was one of the best examples of schizophrenia she'd ever seen. And what he'd said…..maybe Rin and Sango weren't the only one with problems….
Borderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborder
Rin stormed her sister's room, throwing her arms around Sango as soon as she saw her. "Sango-san! We're going out now! Come with us desu?" Sango grunted and complied with the girl practically hanging from her neck. Rin let go, and took a step back. Sango eyed her warily, knowing she wanted to ask something, but not sure how to phrase it. After all a sort of wall had separated them since Sango'd fled the house with little Rin. Rin had of course gained amnesia, but as if showing subconsciously her true remembrance she had put up a wall around herself.
She was happy all the time. No one was ever that happy all the time. Rin noticed her sister's expression and cocked her head to one side. "What is it Sango-san?" she asked. Sango looked up to her. Was the girl even aware she was calling her that? The doctors warned she may suffer some severe psychological trauma from all she'd been through. Every time Sango shut her eyes all she saw of Rin was her half-starved curled in a small ball and whimpering over a broken arm and a battered body.
It still made her want to kill herself from guilt, but the anger and feeling of wanting revenge kept her alive now. But it seemed like Rin needed her most, and this was a time she couldn't help her. Sango couldn't reach over that tall barricade she'd built around her heart. All this she wanted to sob out to her beloved little sister, so innocent and naïve, but she merely forced a smile and said too-cheerfully: "Nothing Rin. Nothing at all." Sango followed a skipping Rin out of the room, the guilt in her heart slowly dragging her into a stormy gray depression of which she found it hard to be pulled from.
Borderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborder
As Rin descended down the stairs to wait for Kagome and Sango who was using the bathroom upstairs to do who-knows-what, she hummed a slight tune. There was something wrong with Sango. She'd gotten depressed when she'd asked what she wanted to ask her. There was something her beloved sister wanted to say, but Rin felt poor Sango was withdrawing into herself. Something was killing her inside slowly and painfully something was eating away at her soul and her happiness. Rin wished with all her might she could help.
But then again, if she couldn't remember from three years ago up until a few months ago how could she help her sister? How could she help Sango without first fixing herself? Rin bit her lip as she thought and let herself get carried away in her thoughts. She sat on the stair steps and swung her legs over the edge between the banister. Her legs were only a few inches from the ground. Fidgeting was a problem of hers, so it was natural for her to need to move. She didn't notice the silver-haired man that glided into the front hallway, or the way he stopped, dead still upon seeing her lost in thought…….
Borderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborder
One of the butlers, dear Hoshii as it would turn to be, stopped and asked him what was wrong. "Nothing." Sesshomaru answered finally. It sounded as if he were convincing himself and not Hoshii. The butler was no nincompoop (AN: Haven't used that word yet….) as he observed the dazed way Sesshomaru gazed at little Rin.
He smiled a knowing smile and went on his way to the living room to dust the dust that was never really there. Sesshomaru had found the girl from the gardens. He would of course have never admitted to himself that he was ever looking for her, but he was. And now that he'd found her again and all he wanted to do was stare. Then the demon in him took over and he felt the horrible need to whip the girl up into his arms and take all of her for his own.
He fought back hard against the demon in him, and his golden eyes began to swirl into a crimson color. He dashed across the hall, glad she was too absorbed to take any notice of him. All he could see was her in his mind, the way her small body was curled up, the way her beautiful hazel eyes were reduced to smoldering embers when she was drawn deep into herself, those long legs poking out around the banister…'Focus Sesshomaru! You're acting like a hormone-driven school girl!' he yelled at himself, entering the living room and fully re-gaining control. (AN: I'd pay good money to see Sesshie-san in a girl's uniform…drool…)
If just a long-distance sight of her could make him frenzied like this…in a way he'd never been before….and she was real! He'd been beginning to believe she'd been a product of his lonely mind. A lovely, lovely mirage. He growled lowly, not liking this lack of self-control and the rush of emotions he was feeling. He heard more female voices from on the staircase, and her chirping voice echoed off the walls. He tried to find a place to hide, but the door on the far end of the room was blocked by the one person he wished was a million miles away at this very moment. His damned half-brother.
Inuyasha was smirking, leaning against the door in a sort of triumphant manner. "What's wrong, older brother?" he asked. Sarcasm riddled his voice. Sesshomaru bared his teeth. "You, you insignificant bastard. Get out of the way." He could smell her getting closer. He hoped they would just leave. "Move now." He repeated adamantly to his still smirking half-brother. The authority in his voice would've worked on any other. "I don't know. I think I'd like to see what has my big brother shaking and practically turning into a demon. Nothing usually gets you riled. Not like me." The smirk became a sneaky grin. "Looks like you're not as high and mighty as you thought, eh?"
Sesshomaru barely exerted any power as he crossed the large room in two breaths. Inuyasha didn't flinch as Sesshomaru leaned in at least six inches from his face. He bared lengthening teeth. "Don't. Test. Me." Each word was laced with a strengthening of his demon prowess. Inuyasha gave him a satisfied look as the front door's slam echoed jubilantly through the hall. Sesshomaru let that wake him, and he took a step back from his half-brother. He felt his teeth shortening, canines the only unusually sharp teeth. Much like Inuyasha's. He let his eyes pierce, knowing the power he could inflict. Inuyasha seemed smug still. "I'm not so easy to crack." He whispered.
Inuyasha only grinned wider. "Always making everything about you." Inuyasha said shaking his head. Using the odd exit line, he opened the door not turning his back on his brother and closed it just as cautiously. Sesshomaru tried to rein in his anger, but it was damned hard. Everyone seemed to be after him lately. First the odd mooching cousin, and now his bastard brother. He turned and left the room, his frustration blocking out the girl's hold on him. If only a little.
Borderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborder
Sango refused to look at Kikyo. The girl had at least dressed decently. Kikyo in turn remained stolidly focused on the window and the scenery outside it. She sat in back with Rin. Kagome drove. Rin would try and make small conversation every now and then, but Kikyo was barely responsive. Sango again blamed a subdued Kagome for the brooding presence. What had surprised her even more was that Kikyo had come.
Sango had slight confidence in Rin as a sort of ointment for Kikyo's issues. Then again, maybe the girl was unfixable. For some reason, Sango stopped caring. Not for any hatred of Kikyo, but because her own sister problems were more pressing. She eyed Rin's kind smile as she chattered about how warm the summer was. How could she be so controlled? How could she be so cold? It was as if she hid all her feelings in a drowning sort of happiness. Whoever said happiness was a shallow emotion could've never been more wrong. "Sango." Kagome's soft voice scared her.
She turned to the girl, thinking there was some sort of question she had, or advice was needed. "How'd you like the present I sent to your room a few days ago?" Kagome said it so casually, so nonchalantly; it took a few seconds for what she'd said to sink into Sango's sleep-deprived mind. "WHAT?" she shrieked. Rin looked up curiously, and Kagome burst into laughter. Kikyo still stared out the window, but something like the shadow of a smirk was on her rose-petal lips. "That was you! You conniving, evil, black-hearted wench! I can't believe you!"
So Kagome had tipped off that smirking bastard Miroku's perfectly unnerving, and perfectly timed, arrival just a few days ago! "What is it Sango-san?" Rin asked, small voice chirping in the closed confinements of the car. Somehow managing to laugh her ass off and drive perfectly at the same time, Kagome answered: "I shaved off some of that pride your sister clings to too possessively." Rin cocked her head, still confused, but a small chuckle erupted from Kikyo. Sango suddenly understood. If anything would draw out Kikyo it was humiliation of someone she didn't like. Sango for instance. Kagome was too smart for her age.
Rin smiled, still oblivious, and Sango couldn't help but worry for the girl. Brain damage maybe. She eyed Kagome. "Curl up and die." She hissed, going with it, for the sake of making Kikyo less of a bitch. The pale girl in back was staring dazedly back out the window, but there was now a splotch of color on her ivory cheeks. 'Maybe,' Sango pondered, 'Kikyo was meant to come. Through helping her, we can begin to help ourselves.' It was only a chuckle, but it was a start.
And through that, Sango figured, she could become less childish, she could stop hiding, she could face her demons, Rin would wake up, and Kagome would begin to think about herself for a change. The pale bitch may just be their angel in the end. She rolled her eyes towards heaven. 'Thank Kami for degenerates…'
Borderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborderborder
Woot 2: Seriously, like nothing happened in this chapter. But I warned you it would be bad. It was just to motivate me to write more. I hope I can get a move on with ATS. Read that too if you like CCS. Cuz I sure as hell do. Whatever. Here though, I hope the slight developing of plot outside of romance was evident. This is sorta a soul-finding story. Problems are solved, world peace comes about, world hunger is solved, and heaven and earth are joined in reverence to all religious freedom. Seriously, I think I'll do that. What a twist….
Deny your maker
-Kurai-Tenshi of Doom
P.S. my loves, you must download, whether legally or not, Death Cab for Cutie's song Transatlantication. It will blow your mind.
Smooch smooch.