Clutching her wound, Misaki trudged out of Ekaterina's room.
"I bet she's going to make me make some new tatami mats," she mumbled to herself. "The ones in there are ruined beyond repair."
For a moment, everything seemed to swim in front of Misaki's eyes. The walkway tilted at an unnatural angle and she felt dizzy.
"No way." Misaki leaned against a support beam and slowly sank to the floor. She reached up to wipe the sweat from her brow and noticed her hand and wrist were completely covered with blood. "The wound must be deeper than I thought."
Misaki grabbed the rail of the walkway and stood up.
"Gotta take care of this," she said to herself as she stumbled along to her room. "Can't die from . . . from some wound inflicted by . . . some kid."
Breathing hard, Misaki slid the door to her room open, stepped inside, and closed it. She fumbled around with the obi before it untying it along with the various other sashes used to help the kimono stay in place. The ruined furisode kimono slid off quite easily after that. Misaki stared at the wound. It wasn't clotting well and the blood had stained the white under robe red.
"Damn," Misaki mumbled and pressed the obi against the wound.
She had never had a serious wound like this one and didn't know what to do. Misaki closed her eyes and sighed.
I'm not gonna die, she thought. There's no way. I gotta find him first. Gotta find him and apologize for running away.
Misaki suddenly heard muffled voices and the sound of many footsteps running.
"There's a trail of blood leading here!" one voice exclaimed and the door slid open.
"Misaki!"
Misaki opened her eyes and saw Shippo sitting across from her with a horrified look on his face.
"Hey, Shippo," she whispered and patted his head with her other hand. "Sorry. Can't cook . . ."
Everything swirled around Misaki for a moment and suddenly Shippo was sideways. Misaki realized she had fallen to the side before everything went dark.
"Don't look at me like that," Ekaterina said. "The wound wasn't that serious. And Kagome-san is looking after her. She'll be fine."
Seeing that Sango and Miroku wouldn't stop glaring at her anytime soon, Ekaterina sighed.
"What else do you want me to say?" she asked wearily. "I know I misread this whole thing, but it's not like I can turn back time. If I could, I'd still be alive."
Sango looked surprised, but Miroku didn't. He already knew there was something off about the woman.
"Ekaterina-sama, what to does memorial tablets say? Who are those people?" he asked simply.
Ekaterina stood up and pointed to each one as she said their names. "Mikhail, my husband; Penelope, the eldest; Emily, the middle one; Circe, the youngest; and Ekaterina, myself. The spirits of my husband and my three daughters reside here with me."
"Your entire family is dead?" Sango asked.
Ekaterina nodded. "Just like you, Sango-san, I have no kin. Well, not quite. Your younger brother is still around."
Sango stared at her folded hands. She didn't know what to say and only mumbled, "I'm sorry."
"Then you are a spirit, Ekaterina-sama?" Miroku asked.
Ekaterina shook her head. "Not quite. I'm among the living dead, but there's a name for those like myself. We are known as Seraphim."
"'Seraphim'?" Sango asked and turned to Miroku for an explanation.
Miroku merely shrugged. He wasn't familiar with the term.
"This is going to take a very long time, so if you want to do something else, you better get up and do it right now because I will not stop," Ekaterina said as she sat down. "Also, I'm not going to repeat myself, so you better listen carefully."
When neither Sango nor Miroku budged, Ekaterina started with her story.
"There are many types of living things in this world and there are those that are like the living, but posses no souls. These beings are called Homunculi or Seraphim, depending on what name they have. Homunculi are named after the sins of humanity such as envy, lust greed, pride, and sloth. The Seraphim are named after the virtues of humanity such as kindness, chastity, charity, humility, and diligence. Of course, that doesn't mean that they're always kind."
"Which virtue are you named after?" Miroku asked.
Ekaterina laughed. "Surprisingly, I am called Honesty. At the rate I'm going, I may end up turning into a Homunculus myself." Ekaterina stopped laughing. "Now then, Homunculi and Seraphim have different physical traits. Most Homunculi have purple eyes and dark hair, while Seraphim have blue eyes and light hair. There are some exceptions, though. Most of the time, both Seraphim and Homunculi appear human so people don't notice them unless they've done a lot of damage." Ekaterina paused for a moment and then continued. "Both are born when someone does something they shouldn't do. I don't know what it's called here or even if it exists, but it's called alchemy where I'm from. There were rules for alchemy and it was a big part of our world. One of the rules was to never try to create a human using alchemy."
The flames on the oil lamps flickered and one when out at the mention of alchemy.
"The luckiest ones returned to the present world alive and as humans, but with things missing. Some were so cursed that they bleed whenever they try to use alchemy. The beings they create almost always turn out to be Homunculi. Sometimes Seraphim were created and sometimes the human doing the human transmutation became a Seraph himself."
"What factors determine the being that is born?" Sango asked.
"Mostly feelings that the alchemist has within himself at the time of the transmutation. Despite alchemy being a science, it's still a form of art and all art has feelings. If the reason for the transmutation is anger and fear, most likely a Homunculus will be born. Of course, even pure intentions are tainted because alchemy is like that." Ekaterina yawned and stood up. "That's enough alchemy talk today. I'm tired. And, yes, that woman will be back, so don't worry. Except try to keep Misaki indoors when the woman returns. The woman will start talking about Sesshomaru and heaven knows Misaki will follow her to the ends of the Earth to find him."
With that, Ekaterina left the room. Miroku stood up, but Sango didn't. She just stared at the memorial tablets on the altar.
"Sango, aren't you coming?" Miroku asked as he walked towards the door.
"Oh, yes." Sango stood up and walked towards the door. "Miroku, do you think she was telling the truth?"
"The truth about what? The Seraphim and Homunculi truth or---?"
"About her husband and daughters being dead."
Miroku stopped abruptly and stared at her. "Saying that your relatives are dead when they're not is almost always followed by bad luck. Why would she lie about something like that?"
Sango frowned slightly and walked outside. Miroku followed her as they walked down the walkway.
"She didn't seem sad at all," Sango said and her frowned deepened. "It looked as though she didn't care. What kind of person just names off their dead relatives with such ease?"
Miroku put a hand on Sango's shoulder. "If everything she told us is true and she is this being called a Seraph, then she must be older than she looks. She might've gotten over it."
Sango let out a sharp breath and shivered. Whether it was from the cold or everything Ekaterina had told them she wasn't quite sure.
"Sesshikichi, wait for me!" Misaki called.
Sesshomaru ran even faster and laughed. "You can't catch me, Misakichi! You're the slowest demon in the world and you're doomed to be 'it' forever!"
Misaki tripped and fell on the dirt ground. Sesshomaru heard her yowl of pain and turned around.
"Misakichi, what happened?" he asked and knelt in front of her.
Misaki looked up. "I fell!" she said and burst into tears.
"Aw, Misakichi." Sesshomaru tousled her messy blue hair. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
Misaki blinked and rubbed her eyes. "No," she mumbled.
"So why are you crying? Crying is only for when you get hurt or something bad happens or for when you want something."
Misaki sat up. "Have you ever cried, Sesshomaru?"
Sesshomaru grinned. "No way! I never cry."
"If I go away, will you cry?"
Sesshomaru's smile faded and he stared at her with confusion. "Huh? You're not going away, are you?"
Misaki stood up and stared down at Sesshomaru. "Maybe I am."
"What!" Sesshomaru asked with wide eyes.
"I said I'm going away, Sesshikichi. Good-bye."
Misaki started walking away, but Sesshomaru grabbed her hand.
"I'm not gonna let you go away, Misakichi!" he said.
Misaki stuck out her tongue at him and poked him. "You're it, Sesshikichi!" she said with a smile and started running away.
"Wh-what?" It took Sesshomaru a few seconds to figure out what had happened. "That was unfair, Misakichi. Someday, I'm really gonna go away and you're gonna be sorry!"
"Sesshikichi's a loser, Sesshikichi's a loser!" Misaki sang, completely ignoring his threat.
Misaki stopped suddenly when she heard a rumbling sound. The sky turned dark and lightning split the sky. She looked around, but didn't see Sesshomaru anywhere near her. Had she lost him?
"Sesshikichi! Sesshikichi!" Misaki trembled and her voice grew higher as she called for him. "If this is your idea of a joke, I'm going to smack you! I swear it!" When threats didn't bring her dog demon friend, Misaki tried begging. "Sesshikichi, please come out! Come on, please! Please . . ."
The only response she got was an ear-splitting cracking sound as the sky unleashed its fury and let the rain pour down mercilessly on the young cat demon. Misaki screamed as a tree was struck by lightning and fell down inches away from her. She shrank down into a ball and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Sesshikichi," she sobbed. "Sesshikichi . . ."
"Misakichi?" a familiar voice asked.
Misaki opened her eyes and saw a very wet Sesshomaru standing on the broken tree. He jumped off it and asked, "Did you fall again?"
"No, you jerk!" she cried and jumped up. "I thought you went away and left me all alone." Misaki's sobs grow even louder.
Sesshomaru wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"Aw, Misakichi . . ."
"Misaki? Misaki, are you awake?"
Misaki opened her eyes. Slowly, colorful blob came into clearer focus. Kagome smiled at her. "Are you feeling better?" she asked.
Misaki realized she was in her room, safe and sound between many blankets. She wasn't in a rainstorm. No, that rainstorm had already occurred.
"A dream," she whispered.
"You had a dream?" Kagome asked.
Misaki nodded and sat up. She winced when she felt a sharp pain in her side. Kagome grabbed her by the shoulders and made her lie down again.
"Careful," she said. "Don't make the wound open up again."
"Kagome, I've gotta find him," Misaki said.
"You mean Sesshomaru, right?" Kagome asked.
Misaki nodded. "Yeah." She smiled and asked, "Do you think he'll remember me?"
Kagome frowned a little. "Misaki, I don't know what Sesshomaru was like when he was a child, but you may be in for a big surprise."
Misaki glared at Kagome. "What do you mean by that?" she asked testily.
Kagome remained quiet for a moment, trying to figure out what was the best way to tell Misaki that her friend was the polar opposite of kind.
"He tries to kill Inuyasha a lot," she said simply.
"Well, I would, too. He's annoying," Misaki said jokingly and laughed.
Kagome frowned a little. "I know Inuyasha isn't the most polite person in the world, but that's not the reason Sesshomaru wants to kill him. Sesshomaru doesn't like Inuyasha because he's a half-demon."
"I see." Misaki sighed. "Kagome, can I tell you something?"
Kagome nodded. "Sure. What is it?"
"When we were little, I let go of him and he fell down a well."
Kagome's eyes widened. "Sesshomaru fell down a well?" Somehow, she couldn't really picture that. Sesshomaru wouldn't be stupid enough to fall down a well, would he? Then Kagome remembered that Sesshomaru had been a child at the time.
"You look surprised." Misaki smiled sadly. "He wasn't exactly clumsy, but he did get himself into scrapes every now and then. We used to play a lot in this very forest. One day, he jumped onto the edge of a well and fell backwards. I tried to pull him up, but . . ." Misaki trialed off and turned to face the wall instead of Kagome. "He fell down and I ran away. I didn't go home because I was afraid that I would find his father there arguing with my parents."
"Why would his dad be arguing with your parents?" Kagome asked softly.
"I'm a cat demon, Kagome, and Sesshomaru is a dog demon. Cats and dogs aren't supposed to be friends. Our families hated each other and us because of our friendship." Misaki clenched her hands into fists and rubbed her eyes. "So I wandered around this forest for a while before Ekaterina-san found me. She's been taking care of me ever since."
A silence enveloped the room as all of this information sunk into Kagome's brain. She knew demons aged differently than humans, so it didn't make sense for Ekaterina to have been taking care of Misaki all those years.
"I'm telling you this because I don't really trust Ekaterina-san," Misaki said in a hushed voice. "She asked me to tell her everything and I did, but she's never told me a lot about herself. All that I know is that she's clairvoyant and lost her husband and three daughters. She also promised me to help me find Sesshomaru, but I've been here for who know how many years and still have no clue as to his whereabouts."
"You really miss him, don't you?" Kagome asked.
"Yes," Misaki answered, her voice breaking a little. "He was my dearest friend and I betrayed him in an instant. I let my fear of that dark well get in the way of helping the only friend I've ever known."
Kagome sighed and smiled. "I'm sure you'll find him and when you do, he'll forgive you."
Kagome stood up and left the room. She knew she had given Misaki false hope. She doubted that Sesshomaru was the type to forgive something like that.
Poor Misaki. What's going to happen when she actually does meet Sesshomaru?