A/N: And here is chapter six. Please enjoy!

Like always, thank you for all the reviews and comments (Sesshomaru is definitely a stalker by my account). They are awesome. This chapter is un-betad, which means small changes might still happen the upcoming view days. Enjoy!

o.O.o

Chapter Six, The Mark

'The scar meant that I was stronger than what had tried to hurt me.' — Anaïs Nin

When the summer finally made place for autumn, the trees remain green until the middle of the next month. Kagome-oneechan visited. She was overly excited to see her little sister back on her feet again and almost cracked a few ribs when she hugged Chiharu. Their group had grown with the addition of Hōshi Miroku. He was weird, cursed by the dangerous Naraku to have a void in his hand that would slowly but progressively kill him. Although, initially, he tried to get near her, but he kept his distance after a murderous glare from Inuyasha. When they left again, promising to look for Sesshomaru — who apparently didn't want to be found — and pressed a phial of jewel shards into Chiharu's hands before she went. After all since her last meeting with a yōkai it became rather obvious they did indeed not sense it on her. The older Higurashi girl was expecting Chiharu to keep it save as her own Miko aura and the hostile aura that Sesshomaru had left on her, hid the shards surprisingly well. She snorted to herself. She doubted anyone could sense anything on her with the amount of hostility that came off of her.

The air became cooler, with a tincture of earthiness and she slowly grew accustomed to the cooler air. The animals were a lot busier, those who hibernated getting themselves ready for the winter. Kaede had her fireplace crackling most of the day while the villagers kept themselves busy with the canning of the late fruits and vegetables. The green splendour of spring, that had started to degenerate when the heatwave had started, degenerated even faster. The ground burned with a mosaic of colours like yellow, orange and red and stones became bare.

She was laying on her mat in Kaede's hut. Feet dangling in the air and her chin cradled in her hands as she read through one of her science books. Just that she wouldn't go home when she felt unwell, didn't mean she couldn't at least read about all the things that she had at home — read learning for school — and would be missing while she was in Sengoku jidai. The mark on her throat began to burn again. She had ignored it before. Had refused to follow the pull back then. Chiharu exhaled loudly and slowly got up from her tatami mat. Her dark hair messily framed her face and slipped out of the hut. Her feet hit the leaf-covered ground in almost silence and she inhaled loudly. Inuyasha and Kagome were not in town. Chiharu wasn't sure when they would be back, but she suspected he wouldn't be here if Inuyasha had been around.

The mark he had left with his teeth felt like acid boring into her flesh. Some days it was bearable, those days were the best because then she could eat, enjoy being outside and even practice archery in the forest near the village.

Reiki extended outward from her fingertips, tingeing her skin with a soft pink glow. The latent Youki hovering in the dark edges of her body, threatening to brush over her Miko powers. They gave her a nasty burning sensation and left her with an empty feeling in her stomach.

She followed the tingling sensation leisurely, wandering past the market place and crossed the clearing towards the woods. A sliver of fear welled up from her brain, her breath catching in her throat when she felt the clear form of his Youki press against her. Chiharu stopped walking, fingers curling into fists and breathing speeding up. The Youki into her blood reacted to it like fire to oxygen, an unknown pain forcing her to her knees.

He forced her to take his Youki, she recognised the feeling. A green mist rising from him like steam and force its way into her petite body. Or at least that is how she imagined it.

Slowly, tiredly, she got up again. She growled angrily and quickened her step, ignoring the ache that had settled into her bones.

He stood against the darkness like a spirit from another world. He looked unearthly, more unearthly then he'd looked all those weeks ago. Sharp angelic features and silvery-white hair. He looked even more beautiful than she could remember. Chiharu didn't think it was fair.

He stared dispassionately at her as she approached him. She didn't know how, but she felt his anger spike. She didn't know what she'd expected. Golden eyes flicked over her face briefly, lingering on the bandaged mark for a moment.

"Miko,"

"Not anymore, am I?" she asked angrily. The amount of hostile Youki inside her meant she wasn't a Miko anymore. Even if she still had the powers of one…

"Come,"

She felt her temper surface, prickling at her senses and flushing her skin. She wanted to protest. She did but as he walked away from her the ache in her bones was far more prominent than it was, she followed his lead. Without a care in the world he lowered himself gracefully to the grass, gazing out over the running water of the river in front of him.

"Why?"

"Why?" he echoed and she finally felt her temper break through her walls.

It took her two steps, two swift steps at that, she moved much faster than they should have, to step in front of him. The slap resonated through the silent forest, even the animals seemed to have quieted and her eyes grew wide.

His eyes bled red and a horrible sort of terror ran through her. She was flung back, hit the ground hard and crumbled to the forest-floor. The slap had left a satisfying tingle into her left hand but as he loomed over her, that satisfaction disappeared. The furious look on his face made the blood in her veins freeze. And then the ache in her body grew stronger.

She glanced up at him through a sheen of tears. He could literally decide the amount of pain she would feel and as her feet started to jerk, he crouched down and traced her cheek with sharp talons. "You are quite foolish,"

"Why?" she hiccuped, "What have I ever done to you?"

"If you want to stop this," he whispered, "You only have to say so."

His lips quirked and she felt her cheeks turn red. She blinked profusely against the tears and she grounded her jaws together. "But you don't do things for leisure, do you?"

He chuckled. The sound low and menacing and the pads of his fingers traced over the red angry mark on her neck. The pain stopped, slight tingles remained but for the first time in days, maybe weeks she could breath again. Chiharu felt her muscles relax and her breath left her in a soft exhale. "I'll release you from this pain if you bring me the Tetsusaiga."

And then he was gone. She waited for the pain, but it didn't come. It took a whole minute before the tremors and the tingles returned in force. She hiccuped again.

I-I. ⌡. Γ┐

It took three days before she felt as good as she had felt before Sesshomaru had deigned her with a visit. Inuyasha and her older sister had yet to return, trying to find pieces of the Shikon-No-Tama and she pushed herself to new limits. Every morning she tried to jog around the village. She practiced her archery until her mark became perfect. She was in pain but the longer you were in pain the more used she got to it. The brief moments there was relief from pain and then when it returned if was far worse. He was patient, that she would have to admit.

Chiharu curled her legs comfortably under her and traced her fingers over the book on the small table in front of her. A teapot steamed on a small mat along with two small cups. Over the last few weeks her senses became stronger. She didn't tell her over-protective sister about the change, did not confide in Kaede-baba, although Chiharu suspected she knew anyway, but couldn't keep it from Inuyasha — 'Your scent has changed,' — who knew everything.

"What does it mean?" One of the villagers asked and Chiharu strained her ears.

"Nothing, it's not important." Another said.

"Not important?" the first asked. "That girl's life—"

"She's no longer a normal girl. You've heard the Hōshi. Miko-Sama is losing her mind."

"She's only a child."

Their voices were coming closer. Chiharu swallowed and quickly tied her obi and carefully glanced outside. Two men, they were still on the other end of the village, but she recognised the clear intent in one of the man's eyes. They were going to try and murder the science project their leader kept in the basement and she inhaled sharply. With fingers that always trembled she swung her holster over her shoulder and moved through the door-flap.

The marketplace was busy, straw and wooden faggots piled in he middle for the evening fire. Chiharu pushed her hands further up her sleeves and lowered her chin to her chest, her eyes hidden by her dark fringe. She had been aware of what they'd called her. Devil's whore to demon slut, they weren't very original, but their comments did hurt. She quickened her pace, crossing the marketplace.

"Isn't that her?"

Chiharu quickened her step and suddenly jumped up, into a tree and hoisted herself up on the branches. Navigating through branches wasn't her specialty, but she had gotten much better at it. Late spring had moved into summer and brought an early drought. Horses stood in pair in the shadows of the first trees and looked up, eyes large and frightened as she jumped from branch to branch and squinted her eyes as the sun filtered in through the leaves.

"What's going on?"

That was Kaede-babaa and Chiharu sat down on a thick large branch. Her scent was familiar. Chiharu snorted. She was starting to familiarising all the different scents and although she wasn't very good at tracking yet, she would be. If she had the time.

"Ah, nothing, Miko-Sama."

"Then why are yeh fully armed?"

"This girl, Miko-Sama." The first man snapped. "She's dangerous."

"They are looking for a solution."

"Yes, and while they do that white-haired monster is abiding his time waiting until he can pull her strings. I've heard the information they have. She might have been fighting, but he'll pull at her strings at some point. She's not human anymore, we should not forget that."

"And killing her was yeh answer?"

Chiharu heard the shuffle of feet quickly coming her way.

"Chiharu-chan?" Her voice was urgently and her breathing fast. Chiharu waited for the older woman to step in the clearing. Kaede spotted her almost immediately.

"There yeh are," her eyes narrowed, "in a tree."

Chiharu nodded, "Yes, I need to leave!"

She glanced around. It was a beautiful early autumn day. The slowly wilting grass moved slowly in the chilly air. A bird chirped from a nearby tree and she shook her head against the slight ringing it left. Chiharu sighed, leaning back against the bark of the tree and puckered her lips.

"I'm so thankful that you helped me, but I have to— I need to figure out what to do with this." She explained pointing her finger at the mark, red and angry against her pale skin. "I can't do that while being here. Being a nuisance—" or a danger apparently — "to all of you…"

"You're not,"

"Not to you, and again, thank you so much. I'm going to find my sister. And I'm going to stop being the victim."

"You are—"

"I'm going to find a way around this." She said.

Kaede smiled. "I see," she whispered, suddenly offering a package, scarf wrapped around it. "Take this with you."

"I—" she furrowed her brows. "What's that?"

"Cups, chopsticks, a scarf and those painkillers your sister brought from your home."

"You knew I was leaving?" Chiharu asked, leaning her weight more comfortable on the thick branch.

"I suspected."

She slowly took the offered package and smiled thankfully, climbing back in the tree and gazing out over the slope in the forest floor and the waterfall cascaded down a series of rocky outcrops before flowing its way, twisting up towards the East towards the sea.

"I will return," Chiharu vowed before leaning over the branch and gazing down. The water tinkled in a laughing sort of way and large rock, slippery as they crossed the stream. The older woman's heartbeat was comfortingly familiar, but she couldn't stay.

She smiled at the older woman one last time. "I'll see you again."

"Good luck, child."

Chiharu exhaled softly, pressing her lips together and suddenly dropped down, down the waterfall and landed on a large grey rock. The sun shone from behind, throwing large shadows over the shore. The wind blew lightly, lifting her large sleeves up and Chiharu crouched down at the slow creeping pain, exhaustion and endless prickles went up her arms. She closed her eyes, inhaling slowly. Scents, so many of them, assaulted her nostrils. Like usual the they were overwhelming and she grounded her teeth together.

She knew how her sister smelled and she knew how Kagome's boyfriend, with whom she only argued, smelled. She could track them down. Another prickle went up her arm and nestled itself under one of the notches of her spine. She needed to be cured. She needed to get out, get away. She needed to be human and not whatever they thought she was. If that meant he needed the sword, than by all means. It would mean betraying the one she loved . It would mean she had to betray her friends to its fullest and she felt bad about it, but she was tired. Weeks of fighting and she didn't think she could continue doing so.

She didn't want to be a pariah anymore.

She inhaled again. She could of course follow the shikon shards as well. Scent and shikon shards should help her find them. That combination was unique. She moved quickly through the forest, sniffing the air languidly and following the twinkle of shards north. She carefully jumped over a fallen tree and as she walked, occupying her mind with several math equations, she soon felt the tingles running up and down her arms and legs reigned in. She felt her eyebrows furrow.

Bloody bastard! Even now he was probably watching her. With his ability to hide his youki and, she sniffed again, his scent she wouldn't know for certain where he was.

She followed the zigzagging form of a gently running river and watched soldiers and travellers pass her. She didn't bother them and as she passed three scabby looking men, they didn't bother her.

I-I. ⌡. Γ┐

After two days of walking she became painfully aware that she hadn't thought her plan over. Inuyasha and Kagome were still miles away and as the sun set the prickles and aches returned. She had no money, no matt to sleep on and now food whatsoever. The food wasn't much of a problem, she still wasn't eating well, but the knowledge that there wasn't any now, made her stomach churn. She supposed she could revert to her old habits, turning to a village, there was one close by, and nick a bit of rice and perhaps look for some berries and mushrooms.

Leaning against the rough bark of a tree, she nodded to herself. It was the best line of action. Ignoring the tingles, she readjusted the knot on her obi and slowly started towards the heavy smell of human. The rice field arounds the villages were large, farmers walking behind wooden constructions pulled by cows and soldiers were standing at the edge, leaning against a wooden fence. Large bags with rice were standing unprotected against a small wooden hut.

She smiled. She could combine it with mushrooms and perhaps even a few blackberries and if she did her best she might even catch a fish — had to look the other way, when killing it. She carefully pushed out her reiki, just in case, and carefully searched for any tendril of hostile energy (ignoring the hostile energy coming from herself). There wasn't. There was someone with holy power, but she didn't think he was a threat.

As the sun sunk even deeper, halfway below the horizon, she inched forward. Large shadows stretched out over the rice fields and the farmers were making haste to finish up on the lands. She easily sneaked up to the large sacks full of rice and took just enough to feed her for two days and packed it away in a linen napkin. Hiding it between her obi and her outer Haori when suddenly a tingle, that was not from pain, ran down her spine.

She carefully turned her head around and slowly backed away, when she realised she had been spotted. They were both wearing the usual Hōshi garbs, both holding a Shakujō staff and both had a quiver full of arrows on their shoulders and a bow.

"Chikushō," she mumbled.

Their faces turned serious and she felt reiki flare. It wasn't especially strong. Not if her reiki didn't even blaze at their proximity. She practically jumped through the bushes and disappeared through the trees. She got a fire running less than an hour later and tiredly slumped to the forest floor watching the fire crackling merrily.

The firelight warmed her pale skin, sending a healthy flash over her cheeks and lent a muted glow to her dark hair, framing her face. The breeze went through he forest, leaves already turning brown ruffling, and lifted her hair. She curled her legs up under her and swallowed the painkillers. There weren't many left, but now that she was moving she realised she could push the pain to the corners of her mind, successfully pushing the pain and aches down. They were still there, but as long as she held her reiki under control she felt good enough. The change of scenery, the fresh air, it all did her good and she thought that if she was kept busy, she could overpower whatever power he kept over her.

Her reiki still rushed through her veins, but the unexpected Miko powers she hadn't been able to always control had to lay dormant. She exhaled softly. Her ears felt slightly cold and from a not so far distance she could hear bushes riffle. She shifted in her seat, leaning her elbow on her left knee and gazed into the darkness. Half of the time she heard something, it was just a fox or a small rabbit, yet, this time the footfalls on the forest floor sounded heavier.

Craning her neck, she got to her feet, wincing slightly as small tingles shot up her limbs and grounded her jaws together, pushing her reiki back until the tingles lay dormant once again.

Suddenly, her spine went rigid when she sensed them, heard them, smelled them. She swallowed down entirely too much air and felt her ears twitch. For once she even immediately recognised the sound of a bowstring being pulled back and suddenly an arrow cut through the air. She spotted it coming to her, almost in slow-motion. Like the two seconds it normally took for an arrow to slice through the air and lodge it self into an enemy stretched out. Something below her skin surged at that. Angry and hostile and, although being angry with the world did little to solve all of her problems, made her skin prickle with something she couldn't name.

Tendrils of reiki unfurled, the hostile youki intertwining with it, she wasn't sure if that was supposed to happen and as the arrow cut through the air, aimed straight at her heart, she caught it, the wood designating the moment the pads of her fingers snapped it in two.

The monk from earlier, old and frizzled, took a slow step back, fear flashing over his face. The youki, which was the most obvious on her, pressed against her, like a blanket, pain and tingles momentarily forgotten, while the magic that was her reiki touched lightly around.

"What is she Hōshi-Sama?"

"I have no idea."

'And yet you thought it to be a good idea to shoot an arrow at me anyway…'

She aimed an arrow of herself so fast, the boy squeaked and shot it at the older monk, pinning him to a tree behind him. The rough bark of the tree frizzled when it started to dissolve and if she wasn't so angry she would likely have realised she wasn't supposed to be able to do that. The man yelped and his young student pulled the arrow out of his clothes.

They took a page out of her book and as she stood there, still angry but just as surprised as the two man, they turned around and ran. It would have been her line of action when she ran into trouble. Someone dangerous and powerful would have sent her running for the hills. As their footsteps and ragged breathing died away the stench of burned flesh wafted to her nostrils.

With a sigh she dropped her bow to the floor and gazed at the fire, leaning back against the rough bark of the pine tree behind her. Adrenaline surged through her veins and she frowned.

She felt something else too, although she couldn't describe it. It pulsed through her and the closest thing she could compare it to, was the echo of her rapidly beating heart. Chiharu slowly lowered herself back on the ground and tried concentrating on the pulse, but as the adrenaline left her system, so did the echo of her heart.

To be continued…

A/N: And no the lack of restraint and control isn't a good sign. This story's update schedule has been changed to once a week (until I'll run out of chapters, or out of the muse): next update upcoming Thursday. Let me know what you all thought of this one.

InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi