CHAPTER 8
Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Usou. That can't be right. The hime's name was Higurashi Kagome. You are seriously toying with me." He snarled.
Kagome looked shock. "What? That's absurd." She protested hotly, her distress too heartfelt to be mistaken for a lie. "I realized we shared the same first name, but even the same last name." she trialed off, unable to understand the implication. "It's like she's my ancestor or something. That must be it." It seemed farfetched she herself recognized that, but the other inference was far more mind-boggling to be real.
Inuyasha studied the girl before her. Her story of finding herself in this world all of a sudden lack several facts, facts that might bring to light her unexplainable presence, manners, and the scent. "Tell me, how did you get here?"
Kagome whipped her head towards him. He was unpredictable. One minute he was snarling at her, calling her a liar, and now, he was being gentle, asking her the very question she herself refused to dwell on, looking at her as if he really wanted to know. Transferring her gaze to the grass a number of feet below them, visible beneath the many branches, she began her tale.
"I was tired from rehearsal. Oh, maybe you don't what rehearsal means. Rehearsal is like practice, it's practicing with a group of people who will share the stage with you. Our cultural festival was drawing near and the drama club, that's the name of the club I was a member of, was going to put on a medieval play. Ironically, I was cast to play the part of the hime. It had always been the role they assigned me to play since I started." She gave a dry laugh. "So there I was, gratefully home to rest my tired body before I start on my schoolwork. My mom was thoughtful enough to have the bathwater ready for me knowing how I need to relax. Even my little brother Souta kept to himself. I got into the tub and let the warm water worked their magic on my limbs. It had always been part of my personal exercise to imagine the scene before me, and act out my parts while in the tub. It was no different from any other times I came home from rehearsal. The only difference was the running I heard outside the bathroom door. I thought maybe Souta was hurrying off somewhere, or maybe playing with a friend over. I got out of the tub and faced the mirror to check out if my emoting still need some work when a strange kid burst into the bathroom. That was when I found myself in this strange place." Kagome trailed off. Her eyes trained on the patches of clouds she could see amidst the leaves.
"You must have been shocked.' Inuyasha said thoughtfully. He shifted his weight on the tree branch so he could see her expression a lot easily.
"More than shock, I felt lost, overwhelmed. The maid came rushing in after the boy and kept calling my name. I didn't understand what was happening; I couldn't even have the chance to figure out how I got here. The rest of the day passed by on a blur, until Kaede-obachan talked to me and explained some things. It did make some things clearer, but it still didn't answer the question why. I spent last night pretending to be someone else, more difficult since I didn't have a set of lines to use. I was on my own. I thought it was just a dream and prayed to wake up on my own bed before I slept after speaking with Ou-sama, but it wasn't meant to be. I thought of taking off from the castle, and was worrying about what I could wear that wouldn't slow me down." She glanced down at herself. "It was definitely puzzling. Hime, where I came from, was considered to always be dressed in morning dresses, ball gowns, complete with bustles and gloves. This hime must be the exception since her closet, instead of overflowing with petticoats, drawers and whatnot, I found leather breeches and tunics."
At this, Inuyasha laughed. "Yep. That's the hime's wardrobe alright. Guess she still prefer to wear breeches to dresses."
"Why's that? I always assumed himes are the first to be sent away to safety during times of war." Kagome asked, clearly intrigued about this unusual royalty.
Inuyasha studied her twinkling brown eyes, alight with the eagerness of curiosity. "Well…" he knew the hime's secret, and found himself facing the dilemma of telling this stranger from who knows where all, or just the sketchy facts.
Kagome furrowed her brow and leaned slightly forward. "Well what? Is it something you can't tell me?"
Inuyasha flung his body away from her a bit. It was an ongoing debate on his mind, but having been without conversation with a person for so long ate away at him. "The hime was someone with power. It came from her mother's side of the family, and apparently, she was the strongest of them all. At least that's what the village people used to whisper among themselves. But the hime knew nothing about that. Rather, she thought that dresses were impractical for riding horses, and they hinder her legs from running because of their length. She used to complain to me about the weight of the bustle she had been forced to wear during formal occasions. She was a rowdy kid, a bit too curious for her well-being. Without her father's consent, she would slip away from the guards and the maids with a crudely made bow to the same place in the forest where we first met. She would scour the forest floor for thin branches she could use for arrows. She learned the ways of an archer in that same clearing."
Kagome silently studied him as he talked. It was obvious to her that this person had become fond of the unusual hime, and her sudden disappearance had caused him pain, subjecting him to loneliness. "How did you meet her?" she asked softly.
Inuyasha glanced her way, realizing that he had completely forgotten about her while he was recalling the hime. "Oh… that is… how do I say this? It was a day similar to today I guess. She had escaped the castle guards again with Tenshi and started to teach herself to shoot long-range. She hit me by accident and hurried to see if I was okay. I was actually asleep when her arrow hit me. I thought she would run away in fright when she realizes that I'm a beast man. Instead, she knelt beside me and smiled." Inuyasha shivered involuntarily at the memory. "That was the first time someone smiled at me in such a long time. Since then, she started coming to the forest more frequently, bringing stuff in case I was around. I was suspicious of her at first, but I guess seeing her innocent smile, I think you can figure out the rest." He finished lamely. He hoped she wouldn't ask him what he was doing in the forest. He hadn't told the hime before, and he wouldn't tell this woman as well.
"That must have been so cute. You seem like a dog that had gone through so much to be unable to trust anyone, even a little girl. Somehow, I think I can understand why." Kagome clasped her hands together, "Where I came from, we call that discrimination. It wasn't a good thing there, and it's not a good thing here either. It was actually the root cause of several wars in the past."
"Really? Well, I didn't know there was a word for that." Inuyasha was impressed despite himself. It seemed that this Kagome didn't judge a person based on their race or their looks. In fact, this Kagome reminded him so much of Kagome-hime, although more mature and yet also vulnerable.
"Yeah, and it's not a pretty word either especially if you see it on a day to day basis. Even in school, popular kids bully the nerds because they know they wouldn't fight back. I guess it's one of the things that make me most sad about." Kagome transferred her eyes to the sky overhead.
Before Inuyasha could utter a reply, Kagome spoke up. "It's getting late. I guess it's almost time for me to reprise the role of Kagome-hime for the people of this kingdom." Expertly, she began to climb down, Inuyasha jumping down right next to her to be on hand if ever she slipped.
They reached the ground uneventfully, and Inuyasha guided her back to the clearing and to Tenshi, who had waited patiently for her mistress. Mounting Tenshi, she cast a worried look on Inuyasha. "Will I see you again?"
Inuyasha studied her hopeful face, and answered, "I will just be here in this place whenever you need me." That said, he gave a slap to Tenshi's flank and watch rider and horse disappear from whence they came.