Okay, this chapter was originally longer, but I had to divide it in half so it wouldn't be so lengthy. It used to be about 16 or more pages long! A little too long. By the way, I went to the BEST concert last night! The Trans-Siberian Orchestra to be exact! Don't let the name fool you . . . they add rock to everything! It was the best! Okay, now that I have that out of my system, here's my chapter 8! Read REVIEW and enjoy!
Mayu Kitsune
A Trip to the Future
Moyuru awoke with a start, "I'm sorry!" she yelled, sitting straight up on the futon. She was breathing heavily and had broken out into a cold sweat.
Everyone's attention had turned to her as she sat there shaking.
She swallowed hard, trying to regain herself, but being unable to do so. She clutched the blankets to herself, still trembling.
"Calm down." Miroku said after a moment.
"Aye, there is no reason to be afraid here." Kaede stated in a reassuring tone.
Moyuru laid back down, curling up on herself and holding the blankets to her in balled up fists, "I'm sorry." she said again, though this time more quietly. She seemed to calm down a bit being wrapped up in the warm folds of the blankets. She retreated into them as a turtle retreats into its shell when it's threatened.
"Moyuru chan? Are you okay?" Naomi asked, moving forward.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. . . don't worry about me." Moyuru replied, calming herself down enough to think straight. She had to be strong for Naomi, Naomi looked up to her, she couldn't let her down. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to uncurl and lie flat on her back, the blankets pulled up to her neck.
That incident in the village had shaken her up, too much. She couldn't let an incident like that happen again, she had to get over it! Flashbacks like that were bound to happen and she couldn't afford to surrender herself to another, no matter how painful or horrifying the memory may be. She had to be strong, had to come to terms with it all.
All the despair, the other half of half truths, the dark secrets she had kept, they all had to come out and now! She had to get it off of her chest, but how was she to do that? She knew all too well that not everyone understood her and if they didn't then they may well believe the accusations and not her side of the story. She couldn't just tell anyone. Sure she had already told Inuyasha, but for some reason it just didn't seem to be enough.
But she had to tell someone! It was hurting her to keep it in. The more she kept in, the higher the chance rose that something like the incident earlier in the day would happen again.
"Moyuru, what exactly happened out there?" Miroku asked, bringing Moyuru out of her distressed thoughts.
She didn't even look to him, "I-I don't know." she lied.
There was an awkward silence between all of them, the only sound to be heard were the crickets chirping outside, playing their nightly song. Moyuru kept her gaze trained on the ceiling to avoid the eyes of the others.
"Are you so sad because of what your chichi did?" Naomi questioned, breaking the silence.
Moyuru's eyes widened as she looked to the girl, sitting back up on the futon, "Who told you?" she asked in a quivering voice. Did Inuyasha break his promise? He promised he wouldn't say anything! Moyuru's thoughts became a jumbled mess, how could he have told her secret to anyone after promising that he wouldn't?
Myoga stepped or, more correctly, hopped forward, "I told them, I couldn't help but to overhear you and Lord Inuyasha's conversation and I thought that the others had a right to know what's going on." The flea stated,
"Then you should know the reason why I shouldn't stay here too much longer." Moyuru said quietly.
"Shouldn't stay here? Why? You can't leave me here! I want to go with you." Naomi said.
"I'm sorry Naomi, but you can't go with me if I decide to leave. It's too dangerous, you could get hurt." Moyuru replied.
Naomi was beginning to reply when Moyuru cut her off.
"I should've left as soon as I was able instead of waiting until the night of the full moon was over. Then I could have died in the place of all of those innocent people. It was my fault. I didn't want to drag anyone else into this. . . I didn't want anyone else to get hurt and they did because of me." she murmured.
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself! We're gonna help you and that's all there is to it!" Inuyasha stated firmly.
Moyuru sent him a glare, "Why help me? All I've done so far is cause problems! I overheard you talking earlier today, I know why Kagome left. If it hadn't have been for me, she would still be here, the village wouldn't have gotten attacked, and people wouldn't have died! It's all my fault!" she retorted.
Her eyes widened and she quickly looked away. What was she saying! She couldn't say that, that wasn't her talking, it was them! All the people who had said those hurtful things to her. . . her father, Suzushi, the villagers. . . she was repeating them! They had her believing that the words that they said, the things that they had said about her, were true.
"What's the matter Moyuru chan?" Naomi asked.
Moyuru didn't answer right away, "I-I didn't mean those things I said. . . you're right, I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and accept your help. . . Now that I think about it, I can't leave here anyway." she said, her speech a bit broken.
"Can't leave?" Miroku asked.
"But you said earlier that you had to leave." Sango said in confusion.
"I can't leave because now Suzushi knows that I care for Naomi. You can't be here all the time and an elderly couple isn't much in the way of protection. Suzushi would try to use her against me and I can't let that happen again, even if it means having to stay here in a village that hates me, I'll do it." Moyuru replied with determination.
She had made up her mind, so long as Naomi and any of her enemies were alive, she would stay there to protect her. She sighed heavily, "What a vexing problem, if only there were a way to keep the village from being attacked."
Myoga cleared his throat, trying to get everyone's attention, "I have something of extreme importance to tell you!" he exclaimed.
Moyuru looked to him in question.
"There's another demon on their way here." he said.
Moyuru looked to be conflicted again. What to do? She fell silent. She had to protect Naomi, but what was the right way to do it? Lead the demons away from the village? It may be suicide and then again, it may not even work. They could still come and try to kidnap her.
Stay and fight them off? Staying and protecting Naomi may help, but how many other villagers could die in the battles that would result from her staying? Even if she managed to kill each one of her attackers, her father would only come after her himself with force. An entire army possibly if it called for it.
If she stayed she would be putting Naomi in danger and if she left she would be putting Naomi in danger. Damned if she did and damned if she didn't. What a perplexing situation she had found herself in
"What if this demon has a jewel shard too?" Shippo asked, having been quietly thinking on it.
"Without Kagome, there's no way of telling where the shard is if they have one." Miroku pointed out, pointedly looking to Inuyasha.
Inuyasha crossed his arms, getting the message. "I'm not going back to get her this time, I already told you that. We can do it on our own." he stated indignantly.
"Now Inuyasha, ye know that Kagome is the only one that can sense them, ye have a slim chance of succeeding without her." Kaede said, stating the facts.
Inuyasha knew that that was true. No matter how much he never wanted to admit it, he needed Kagome and her ability to see the jewel shards no matter where they were. He didn't want to go back there and get her though. How would he confront her about the other night?
It did seem as though she didn't trust him now, it wouldn't matter if he went back to get her anyway! Inuyasha got up, storming out of the hut into the night. The rain had stopped for the moment and he would probably be back in before it started again.
Moyuru watched him leave before going into deep thought about something. She took on a pensive expression, seeming to make up her mind after a moment. She quietly asked for privacy to dress and the others gave it to her. Once dressed in her normal clothing instead of the clothing Kaede had once again put her in, she began for the door.
"Where are you going Moyuru?" Sango asked.
Moyuru paused, having pulled the mat away from the door to exit, "I'm just going to go spend some time alone, I'll be back soon. I just want to get out while it's not raining." she replied.
"But what if the demon attacks?" Myoga asked, jumping up and down on Kirara's back.
Kirara mewed what seemed to be an agreement to Myoga's question.
"They won't." Moyuru assured them.
"What makes you so sure?" Sango questioned.
"All of my cousins come from money and are spoiled rotten, they want a fight not a mud wrestling match. They won't come as long as it promises to rain and it has only stopped momentarily. I know them." Moyuru answered.
"Figures." Shippo commented, "But it's dark outside."
Moyuru shrugged the fact off, "Don't worry, I'll be back." She assured him before vanishing through the doorway.
Unknown to the others, she was following Kagome's scent. She was the reason why Kagome left in the first place and she was going to go and set things right. Kagome's scent was barely detectable, but Moyuru managed to follow it to the well.
She gave the well a puzzled look. She looked questioningly down into the deep hole, finding herself unable to see the bottom in the darkness. She searched around the well for any more traces of Kagome's scent, but the only other trace she found went into it. "That girl's clothing isn't the only thing about her that's strange." Moyuru said to herself.
She sighed heavily, she had said to herself that she was going to bring Kagome back and set things right, and if she had to jump into a well to do it then so be it. "Here goes." She breathed before taking the leap of faith.
"Hey Kagome, when are you planning on going back? You've been here for a day now and it's not even a schoolday." Sota said as they say around the table eating dinner.
"I don't know when I'm going back and what's wrong with staying here all day? Can't I take a break?" Kagome asked a bit indignantly, looking up from her dinner.
"Okay, you don't have to get mad at me." Sota said, holding his hands up in front of him in defense.
"Let's not fight now you two, we don't get to eat together like this often." Mrs. Higurashi interjected in an attempt to quell the rising tensions between her children.
There was a sudden rapping at the front door, it sounded like someone in a hurry. "Who could that be at this hour and in this weather?" Kagome's grandfather questioned.
"I'll get it!" Sota exclaimed, all but jumping from his seat to answer it. He opened the door and there stood Moyuru, wet again. It had been raining even harder in the present than in the past and she had gotten soaked running through it to get to Kagome's house. The dry dirt that had been on her clothes had again turned to mud and she still had quite a few cuts and bruises.
"Woah." Sota commented, "Hey Kagome! I think they're looking for you!" he yelled back into the house. He had already learned that if they were strange beyond all reason, they were probably looking for his older sister.
A few moments later, Kagome came to the door, "Moyuru!" she gasped in surprise, not at all having expected the person at the door to be her. To be honest, she was hoping it was Inuyasha. She had been nearly positive that was who it was when Sota had called for her to come to the door.
"Sorry to bother you. . ." Moyuru said, sniffing at the air delicately, "It does seem as though I have interrupted your meal." she stated, her stomach growling as she took in the tantalizing aroma of food. She inwardly groaned as it did so, but neither Kagome or her little brother seemed to have heard it.
"No, it's okay. . . MOM!" Kagome yelled back towards the kitchen.
Her mother appeared in the doorway only a few seconds later, "Oh you poor thing!" she exclaimed, "Come inside and let's get you cleaned up." She said.
Moyuru blinked a few times, not at all expecting to be welcomed inside the house. Until recently, "hospitality" had been a foreign word to her. For all she knew, Kagome didn't even like her, yet they were welcoming her into their home.
Moyuru looked to her clothing, "I'm fine, I really don't want to get anything dirty. . ." she began.
"Don't worry, I'll clean it up." Mrs. Higurashi replied.
"But I'm fine really, I only came here to talk to Kagome. Besides, I don't want to be a burden to you."
"No, it's no trouble at all." Mrs. Higurashi assured her, leading her inside by her arm. "Kagome, why don't you go and get something for your friend here to wear while we wash her clothes." Mrs. Higurashi suggested as she continued to lead Moyuru off into the house.
Kagome left them to do so. Up until now, she thought that only she and Inuyasha could pass through the well, apparently she had been mistaken. She puzzled over this as she climbed the stairs to her room.
Moyuru stared around at nearly everything in the house having never seen most of it in her lifetime.
Kagome's mother led her to the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet and pulling out a small first aid kit. She set it down on the counter before taking a look at the cut on Moyuru's forehead. "How did you get that? It looks like it could have used stitches." she stated.
"It's fine, really." Moyuru insisted, a bit unnerved by Mrs. Higurashi's closeness.
Kagome's mother drew a cloth and a bottle from the box. She opened the bottle, emptying a bit of the contents onto the rag.
Moyuru's nose wrinkled as the smell hit her. She covered her nose and backed up a step, "What is that stuff?" she asked, looking disgustedly at the cloth from which the acrid scent was coming from.
"It's rubbing alcohol, now hold still, it may sting a bit." she said, stepping towards Moyuru and putting the wet part to the cut.
Moyuru yelped and jerked, stepping back a bit. She hadn't expected it to hurt so badly.
"I know it hurts, but it'll help it heal faster." Mrs. Higurashi stated.
Moyuru reluctantly stood still, wincing as the alcohol dampened cloth came in contact with her forehead again.
The rag was held there and soon it didn't sting anymore. Mrs. Higurashi continued to doctor a few more of her wounds. . . much like Moyuru's own mother.
"You're Kagome's mother right?" Moyuru asked.
Mrs. Higurashi nodded, "Why yes I am."
Moyuru hesitated for a moment before saying, "You kind of remind me of my own haha."
Mrs. Higurashi looked to her, smiling a bit, "Well then, I guess she's good to you." she said.
Moyuru fell silent at this.
"What's wrong?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, her smile turning to a questioning look.
"She died. . . a long time ago. . . when I was five." Moyuru answered quietly.
Kagome's mother gave her a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry." she said. "She used to tend to me when I would get sick or injured. . . I haven't had anyone to treat me like their child since she passed." Moyuru said softly.
Mrs. Higurashi gave her a comforting smile, "Well, I'm glad to help you. now let's get off such a depressing subject and get you cleaned up." she stated, trying to make Moyuru feel a little better by not talking about something that obviously hurt her.
Moyuru paused, looking down at herself and giving a bit of a nervous laugh, "I suppose so." she replied quietly.
Kagome's mother finished tending to her for the moment and walked to the bathtub, turning on the water and beginning to adjust it.
Moyuru stared at the faucet. It didn't look like the kind that were in the castle that pumped water, and you didn't have to pump it! Just a turn of a knob and there it was, streaming out like a mini waterfall!
A few moments later Mrs. Higurashi stopped up the tub, sitting on the edge of it as it began to fill.
Moyuru neared the tub, staring in a child-like fascination. She noticed the steam and the heat rising off of the water. These people had control over the water temperature? She slowly put her hand in, "It's warm. How did you do that?" she asked, still staring at the faucet.
Kagome's mother gave her a blank stare for a moment before remembering, this girl was from 500 years in the past, she's never seen anything like this in her life. Mrs. Higurashi pondered for a moment before answering, "It's complicated"
Moyuru gave her a puzzled look.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll learn what it is later." Kagome's mother added quickly.
Moyuru seemed to let the question go, it was probably too complex to understand anyway. Everything seemed complicated here. Where exactly 'here' anyway? She knew that she was in Kagome's house, but where was that at? Nothing looked familiar here except for the well. . . and that tree outside. Could that have been the same one? But this place was so different than where she came from, how could anything here be the same?
Kagome's mother turned the water off, "That should be good enough." she stated, standing up.
Kagome made her entrance, carrying a bundle of clothing with her. They were a pair of pajamas. And they were pink.
Pink. Moyuru hated the color. Any color but pink would have been fine, green, yellow, blue, anything but pink! Why did it have to be pink? Moyuru was secretly gagging at the color, but decided not to complain. They had been nice enough to her already and they didn't have to be.
"I'll go fix you something to eat while you take a bath, you must be hungry." Mrs. Higurashi stated.
Moyuru shook her head, "I'm not hungry." she lied, her stomach quickly contradicting her letting out a loud growl. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
Mrs. Higurashi just gave her a smile, "I'll start on it now." She stated, leaving Kagome to deal with explaining everything to the perplexed hanyou.
Kagome quickly went through, pointing to everything and telling what it was, "That's shampoo, it's kind of like soap for your hair; that's the soap, the kind you normally use though it might smell different; your towel and washcloth are right there. . ." Kagome went on until she was sure Moyuru had everything that she needed. "Oh yeah, and put your clothes over there." she said, pointing to the counter right next to the door.
Moyuru just nodded, showing that she understood.
"When you're in the tub just let me know so I can reach in and take those to wash them for you." Kagome finished. She looked worriedly at Moyuru's clothing. She could only hope and pray that they were machine washable. "Well. . . I'll just, uh, give you some privacy so you can undress." she said as she walked out the door, closing it behind her.
Moyuru sighed heavily, flinching in pain as she took in too deep a breath. She had noticed before that it hurt to breathe. The pain was coming from the side where she had been kicked, but she didn't remember getting kicked that hard. Then again, she didn't remember too much of anything afterwards.
She began to undress, putting everything as neatly as possible where Kagome had said to place it. She was turning to walk to the tub when she noticed something in the mirror. She paused, taking another look.
Her eyes couldn't be mistaken with a bruise that big! It looked awful! It was nearly black in the middle and ugly shades of purple around the edges. It contrasted badly with her light skin making it look even darker. No wonder the slightest movement of her ribs hurt so badly. The rest of her body looked pretty beat as well. I look like hell warmed over. she thought to herself.
Once Moyuru had bathed, she dressed in the pajamas before heading downstairs, following her stomach more than Kagome's scent considering the aroma that was coming from the kitchen. She decided not to mention the horrendous bruise, if they knew about it they might not let her leave until it was healed and she didn't want to waste any time. She knew that once it stopped raining there would be another attack. She was hoping to stop this one before it got to the village.
She had squeezed as much water as she could out of her hair and was now busy braiding it as she walked. She paused finishing the braid and flipping it behind her so that it trailed down her back, the tip of it nearly dragging the ground as she continued forward, entering the kitchen.
There was a pull at the end of her braid. What did she get it caught on this time? Moyuru had always had long hair, ridiculously long from her brother's opinion. It was a bother sometimes, but she had refused to cut it.
She turned her head to see that Buyou was batting at it. Like most cats, he had found the tassel-like end of the braid fascinating.
She decided to ignore the cat, that is, until it's paw got stuck entangled in her hair. Buyou, alarmed by this, began to pull in an attempt to free his paw but only getting it tangled worse.
"Ow." Moyuru muttered, turning her head to see if there was any way she could get the cat free. Her turning didn't do much but make it pull more.
Buyou hissed at her, not at all pleased about his predicament.
Kagome rushed over to help, "Buyou, you should've known you were going to get tangled up like that." she said disappointedly as she untangled his paw.
Buyou slunk off, still not looking too pleased. He gave the two girls somewhat of a glare as he exited the room, looking for somwhere to lie down. Somewhere where he wouldn't be bothered.
"Sorry about that." Kagome apologized as Moyuru fixed the braid, combing the tangles out with her fingers.
"It's okay." Moyuru answered quietly.
"So, are you still hungry?" Kagome asked.
Moyuru was beginning to answer but her stomach took care of the task for her, growling rather loudly again. Again, Moyuru blushed in embarrassment.
"I thought so." Kagome said with a warm smile, pulling out a chair at the table and motioning for Moyuru to sit down.
Moyuru did so a bit awkwardly, not used to sitting in such chairs.
Mrs. Higurashi sat a plate in front of her, "We have plenty of food, just eat what you want."
Moyuru picked up the chopsticks and popped a piece of chicken into her mouth. She ate slowly, thoroughly enjoying her meal though she ate in silence. She savored the flavor, it was wonderful!
She had never had food like this before. When she had lived in the village, all she could eat was what her father gave her. Even though her father was lord of the southern lands, he only gave her rice and water. Seiya would occasionally sneak out and give her food, he tried to do so every day regardless of his father's wishes.
While meals like this were commonplace to Kagome and her family, it was a real treat to Moyuru. Once she was done eating, she graciously thanked Mrs. Higurashi for the meal, "It was delicious." she commented.
Kagome's mother smiled at her, "Thank you, though it's probably not the best." she said.
"Are you kidding? That's even better than the cooks at the castle." Moyuru blurted out, pausing as she realized what she had just let slip. Her hand went to her mouth and she winced as she hit a cut lip.
Kagome and her mother were giving Moyuru a blank stare, "The castle?" Kagome asked in disbelief.
Moyuru began to fidget before quickly changing the subject, "Um. . . Well . . . I did say that I came here to talk to you. You see, I know why you left. . . You left because you saw me and Inuyasha together. It was nothing really, he was just trying to be comforting. I had some things to get off my chest and they needed to stay secret, so I told him because he's another hanyou like me and I thought I could trust him. I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble." she said apologetically, looking to the ground now and still fidgeting and secretly hoping that her tactic had worked to deter Kagome from her past.
Kagome stared at her a few more moments as Moyuru's explanation sunk in. So that was the only reason why Inuyasha was there with her. He wasn't in love with her, he was just being nice and being a confidant for a fellow hanyou?
"Well, I guess I'm the one that should be sorry for jumping to conclusions." Kagome stated slowly. It really never crossed her mind like that. It was kind of unlike Inuyasha to try and be comforting. She felt like beating herself up. How could she have been so stupid! All this time she had been trying to get Inuyasha to be more considerate for other people's feelings, and when he finally seemed to be heading in that direction, she got mad at him!
Her mother stepped in, adding a lighter note, "Sounds like it was all just a big misunderstanding." she said. Being the optimist, so that's where Kagome got it from.
"But why won't Inuyasha come back to get me?" Kagome asked.
Moyuru sighed heavily, "It wasn't just a misunderstanding on your part, it was on his part too. He thought that you were spying on him when you saw us together and he now thinks that you don't trust him." she replied.
So that was it? That was why Inuyasha wouldn't come to get her? It was really reasonable, anyone could have jumped to those conclusions no matter who they were. So it really was all just a big misunderstanding! Kagome sighed, she now felt loads better that she this was all cleared up.
"I did come home really early. . . I guess I'll rest up tonight and go back tomorrow morning." she thought aloud.
Moyuru seemed to brighten up. She had done it! She had fixed the problem and now Kagome was going back, she would explain it to everyone else and everything would be fine.
Mrs. Higurashi turned to Moyuru, "You can stay the night here too if you like." she offered.
Moyuru blinked, taken aback by the offer. They were offering her a place to stay the night too? First a bath, then washing her clothes for her, then the meal, and now a place to stay the night? These people were too kind! They just kept giving and giving and asking for nothing in return. Moyuru didn't want to take anything else from them.
"Really, I think I've taken enough from you already without taking up space too." she said.
"It's okay, we don't mind at all and I think we have an air mattress somewhere." Kagome replied.
Moyuru looked to her in confusion. An air mattress? What the heck was that? This place was all too confusing.
Kagome turned to her mother, "We do have one somewhere don't we?" she asked.
Her mother thought for a moment, "Now that I think about it, there should be one in the hall closet upstairs." she answered.
"Great! I'll go get it ready and Moyuru can sleep in my room." Kagome stated enthusiastically, going upstairs to start readying the air mattress for sleep.
Moyuru watched her as she disappeared upstairs. What was with this girl? She was enthused about everything. Of course it was so dull to be depressed about everything all the time.
"So, you must be tired, go ahead and take a seat on the couch while Kagome's getting everything ready for you." Mrs. Higurashi offered.
Moyuru gave her a quizzical look, "Couch?" she asked, What was that?
Kagome's mother paused for a moment, having nearly forgotten about where Moyuru was from. She pointed to it.
"Oh." Moyuru said simply, taking her offer and sitting down though she sat on it cross-legged, still finding it awkward to sit in a chair the way one was supposed to.
It was really comfy. Moyuru bounced up and down on it, it was the softest thing she'd ever been on. She settled herself in on it, leaning over to one side to lie down, forgetting about the injury there. She took in a sharp breath, trying not to scream as the pain shot through her from the bruise.
Kagome's mother paused upon hearing Moyuru's pained gasp and looked to her worriedly.
Moyuru was now sitting up, hunched with her arms wrapped around herself though she visibly favored one side.
"Are you okay?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, worried.
Moyuru looked to her, quickly trying to regain herself, "I'm fine." she lied.
"Here, let me take a look at that." Kagome's mother said, sitting down on the couch next to her.
Moyuru shook her head, still clutching the cloth over the injury.
"Come on, let me see it, maybe I can do something for it." Mrs. Higurashi insisted.
Moyuru was hesitant, maybe this woman could do something to help it, but what if she couldn't? Then she could be stuck there until it healed. She had already found any escape attempts to be futile when she was first brought into the village, it probably wouldn't be too much different here. She didn't want to be stuck.
But still, what if there was something she could do for it? The pain from it had been steadily increasing and it wasn't getting any better anytime soon. She wouldn't be of much use to anyone injured either
Moyuru reluctantly unwrapped her arms from around herself after seeming to debate with herself for a moment.
"Now come here so I can take a look at it." Mrs. Higurashi said, patting the couch pillow beside her to indicate where the hanyou was to sit.
Moyuru did so, still hesitant and not speaking.
Mrs. Higurashi carefully began to pull that side of the pajama top up and soon the bruise was very visible, glaring up at her from Moyuru's side. Mrs. Higurashi's eyes widened in shock. It was huge! How could anyone have gotten hurt so badly? Kagome had never come back with any major injuries, at least none that her mother knew of. This was insane! "Oh my. . . how did. . . Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi stuttered, calling Kagome down from her room.
"Yeah Mom? Is there something wrong?" Kagome's voice rang out as she came down, having already gotten ready for bed herself.
"Kagome, do me a favor and get some ice please." her mother requested.
Kagome gained a puzzled expression, "What for?" she asked as she entered.
Her mother already had Moyuru lying on her side on the couch, her injured side exposed to anyone who entered the room. Kagome let out a shocked gasp and her eyes widened as she noticed the reason for her mother's request. "I'll be right back." she stated, hurrying off into the kitchen and coming back only a few moments later with a bag of ice that she had wrapped up in a dish towel.
Her mother took it from her, thanking her before turning back to Moyuru and giving the hanyou's side another troubled look. She tried to place the makeshift ice pack on the bruise as gently as possible, obviously afraid of hurting Moyuru.
Moyuru cringed in pain as soon as the ice pack made contact with the injury. She took in a sharp breath, trying to suppress a cry of pain and only managing to reduce it to a whimper.
"I'm sorry, does it hurt too bad?" Mrs Higurashi asked, afraid that she might have caused her pain.
Moyuru shook her head in response, "No, it's just cold." she lied.
The ice was now resting completely on the bruise, working to numb it a bit and dull the pain of it.
"How'd you get that?" Kagome asked, "I don't remember Suzushi hitting you there." she added in thought.
Moyuru hesitated a moment before speaking, "It wasn't Suzushi," she replied quietly, "It was the villagers."
Kagome looked to her in shock, "The villagers?" she echoed.
Moyuru nodded.
"Why?" Kagome questioned, she had never known of anything like that happening in the village before. Besides, what reason would they have to harm Moyuru, she had never hurt a thing there. The idea of them attacking her like that shocked Kagome.
"Why do you think?" came Moyuru's dejected and quiet reply.
Moyuru winced as Kagome's mother removed the ice pack after it had been sitting there for a while. She gave the bruise another troubled look.
Moyuru's lie from before hadn't pulled the wool over her eyes, it was quite obvious what pain she was in. "You could have something broken there." she stated worriedly.
"It'll be fine. There's nothing anyone can really do for it if it was anyway. . . I've had worse, it'll heal." Moyuru stated, still speaking quietly.
"But it must hurt, maybe we should take a chance and take her to the hospital." Mrs. Higurashi suggested to Kagome.
Kagome wasn't really opposed to the idea, but how would human hospital workers react to a hanyou. It was very unlikely that they had ever seen anything quite like Moyuru with a tail, fox-ears, fangs, and claws.
Moyuru looked to Kagome's mother in apparent confusion at the word "hospital." She repeated the word though it was foreign to her, "What's that?" she asked.
"It's a place people go when they get hurt to get medical attention." Mrs. Higurashi answered.
"Yeah, but nowadays you don't see demons running around regularly." Kagome added, "I don't think that the nurses would react to well to a hanyou or a demon. I mean, it's not 1497 anymore."
Moyuru looked to her even more confused, "It's not?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"No, it's 500 years from then, that's why the well and that tree outside look the same. It's because they're the same ones. The well allows me and Inuyasha to travel back and forth in time. . . after that it gets really confusing." Kagome answered.
Moyuru just stared at her in disbelief. She was 500 years into the future? Moyuru knew she was only half demon, but she briefly wondered if she had a future self that was living well. Maybe even married. . . with kids! A family like she had always wanted! But what if she still weren't happy and didn't have those things? She decided that she was better off not knowing anyway.
She was jolted back from her wondering by a pang of pain as Kagome's mother replaced the ice pack as carefully as she possibly could. Moyuru did her best not to flinch this time, but couldn't keep a small cry of pain from escaping her lips.
Kagome and her mother both seemed to cringe in sympathy pain, "Did it get worse?" Kagome's mother asked worriedly, still worried that she may be hurting her.
Moyuru just shook her head, "No. . . I just wasn't expecting it. Actually, it's kind of numb." she replied truthfully, some of her pain still bleeding through into her voice. It hadn't gotten worse, but only a little better.
The bruise was still sensitive to touch, even the little weight of the ice pack being placed on it caused it to hurt. She closed her eyes, trying to think of something else other than the pain she was in. Anything but the pain.
"Kagome, go get the aspirin out of the medicine cabinet in the bathroom." Mrs. Higurashi ordered, not wanting to leave Moyuru alone in her pain.
Kagome was off in an instant. She hurried to the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet and scanning over the various bottles. Her eyes searched for a moment before settling on what she had been looking for. She snatched the bottle from the shelf on which it had been resting and quickly read the directions.
Now how to get Moyuru to take them, she had never seen a pill in her life! Should she give her the the chewable ones that Sota takes? But they were only children's aspirin, what if they weren't strong enough? Oh man! What to do? She had to hurry, she couldn't keep Moyuru waiting for pain relief forever!
Kagome quickly decided on trying to give her the adult aspirin, emptying out two of the small pills and hurrying to the kitchen for a glass of water.
When she got back to the couch where Moyuru lay, her mother had gotten a chair from the dining room and placed it beside the couch. She had taken a seat in it and was now toying with Moyuru's hair, gently brushing her bangs out of her face with her fingertips. Every time she did so they only fell back into place to be brushed away again.
Mrs. Higurashi looked to Kagome as she entered with the medicine before gently rousing Moyuru enough to take it.
Moyuru groaned a bit before opening her eyes.
"Kagome's got something to help you feel better." Kagome's mother stated, helping Moyuru to sit up.
As soon as she was sitting up, Kagome handed her the glass of water in one hand and the pills in the other. Moyuru looked to them in confusion. That was it? How was something that resembled a small river rock going to help her?
Kagome pointed to them, "Those are pills, it's medicine that you have to swallow whole and drink a cup of water with. It might take a while before they start to work though." she explained.
Moyuru looked to the pills again, a bit skeptically. Swallow them whole? Why? How was that supposed to help? She brought them up to her nose, smelling them. Her face scruched in disgust.
No wonder you didn't chew them! They smelled horrible and they probably tasted that way too. She looked to them skeptically one last time before popping them, chasing them down with the glass of water. Well, if it worked. She let out a sigh as she finished the water off. All she wanted to do now was sleep.
Kagome looked to Moyuru who let out a wide yawn, "The bed's been set up and it's ready for you to sleep on if you want to go to sleep now." Kagome offered.
Moyuru just nodded to her. "Sleep sounds good right about now." she replied, getting up from the couch.
"Well, you two get a good night's sleep and I'll see you in the morning." Kagome's mother said as the girls began up to the bedroom. "Good night Mom." Kagome called back as she continued up the stairs, Moyuru not too far behind.
Alright, there is chapter 8. This one wasn't too eventful, but the next one will be, promise! Please review!
PREVIEW!
Chapter 9: A Painful Memory.
With Moyuru meeting Kagome's mother, it seems to have reminded her a great deal of her own mother as well as someone else that cared for her a lot. These trudged up memories make themselves present in her dreams, something that Kagome's miko powers pick up on and show her too. What happened in Moyuru's past and who was her brother?
well, there it is, until next time!
Mayu Kitsune
