He didn't say anything about it when we met up with Rin and Jaken, not that I expected him to. It was still a relief none the less. I hoped to put the night behind me and lock it away as another myth of my mind. I didn't stay long before moving to grab a cloth to use as a towel. I'd picked up on the water vapor that seeped through the air and deducted it to be a hot spring. I headed off into the woods, following the vapor as the air slowly got warmer. I didn't necessarily need the bath, but I could sure use the time to relax and forget my worries for a second.
I let out a sigh of relief as I finally came across the spring. I stripped my body of my kimono and placed the fabric over a rock that bordered the water. I hid next to the rock as I tied my hair into a ponytail before slipping into the water. After settling in the water, I took another deep breath, loosening my muscles and mind. I sat, clearing my mind and body of stress, before moving to wash myself.
I sat for a while longer after my effort to wash myself before turning to get up and retrieve my kimono. Instead of finding the pale blue kimono I'd woken up in earlier, I found a violet kimono with white roses etched into its side. I wasn't surprised to see that the familiar kimono vanished. I seemed to be cursed to lose all clothes I do not receive from Sesshomaru. I humored him, not having a choice, and put on the kimono he offered me. I was in the middle of tying my obi when he decided to pay me another visit. I felt like running, but there was no out running the daiyokai.
"Can I help you? I asked him as I finished my bow before turning it to face my back.
He stared at my bow before reaching out to undo it. I stepped away from and turned to face him with unfazed eyes.
"What do you know of the Meido Zangetsuha?" he asked me.
"What do you want to know about it?" I asked as I sat on the rock the kimono once was to wring the water out of my hair.
"How to complete it."
I blinked. "You know I can't tell you."
He stared at me even longer. I ignored his gaze as I let go of my hair to flip it behind me. I hopped down from my perch and started on my way back to camp. Sesshomaru was at my heels the entire time.
"How far have you gotten?" I asked with a sigh as I stopped, agitated at his silent pestering.
"It is more than three quarters full." He told me.
I thought long and hard on this one, but couldn't remember. I wrapped my left arm around my waist as my right held my chin as I thought. Was that when he got his arm back, after completing the Meido? "I think so, with the lilac hair guy. What was his name? Uh… something about a grudge and Tetsaiga? Maybe? He had an eye patch, right?"
"You speak of Shishinki"
I covered my mouth, wondering if I'd said that aloud.
Sesshomaru took the lead, expecting me to follow behind him. I was a few paces behind him, thinking about whether what I sputtered was right or not. I was getting rusty at my oracle job. I was becoming active character instead of a live audience member. I might as well consider myself a main character.
I ended up returning to camp alone. Sesshomaru went off to do whatever it was that came to his mind, and I was left with nothing to do but return. I was glad I did too. Apparently, Jaken had followed Sesshomaru, leaving Rin alone. Or maybe she scurried away from him to do as her childish hear contents. When she saw me coming, she ran over to me with a handful of flowers.
"Kazumi-san, look what Rin found!"
The small bouquet she'd picked was filled with soft pink and lavender petals.
"It's beautiful." I said flatly, not willing to exaggerate.
She handed a flower to me, smiling as I brought its petals closer to my nose. I lowered my eyes to watch the petals sway to my inhaling. I followed behind Rin as she skipped back to where the campfire must have been for the night. As I walked forward, I unknowingly walked right into Naraku's arms. I didn't realize this until I felt his fist tucked under my ribs. My ears started buzzing, hearing nothing but the high pitched ring of white noise. I curled over his arm, feeling like I'd run into a table, flipped over it, and then busted through a window. My vision blurred before going dark as I slumped over.
When my eyes opened again, they were staring at the paper walls of what I assumed to be of some type of shelter. I looked around and spotted Rin staring at me on the opposite side of the room. She ran over to me and threw her arms around my neck.
"Kazumi-san! You're okay!"
"At this rate, I won't feel pain at all in a couple of days." I stated as I rubbed my sore stomach.
The room returned to silence as Rin sat next to me, silently waiting for Sesshomaru. He would be here shortly, along with Kagome and the others. My gaze shifted to the boy in the corner across from us, holding a sickle and chain as he stared downward blankly. The poor boy had no idea that he was the puppet of a fowl demon. It would take some time for the others to realize that as well. I'm sure that Rin was the first to realize this. You can usually trust the insight of children when it comes to intrinsic values.
The low rumble that rattled the floors told me that an Inu was near. How far they were, I couldn't tell, but they would be here soon enough. I laid my head against the wall behind me and held Rin's hand as the rumbling got louder. Within three minutes, I could hear InuYasha yelling at the bamboo decoy that must have loitered about our temporary dwelling.
Kohaku's sudden standing prompted me to return my gaze to him. I watched him walk over to Rin, take her wrist, and pull her away from me. I let her go, knowing that holding them back would conflict the plot, but did not hesitate to follow. Rin looked back at me, wondering why I did not put up a fight and received a wink from me. Things would hopefully play out nicer for me this way.
I followed the boy to the backdoor of the little house, and would have followed him into the forest. I was interrupted by what I perceived to be a flying snake demon that blocked my way the second I took a step off of the platform that separated the little house from the ground. I was tempted to cower away from the demon, but I bathed my nerves in steel as I grabbed the demon by its body and tossed it out of my way. The second time it happened, I threw the demon to the ground. The third time, I was less kind and grabbed it by its tail. I lammed it against the ground, head first as hard as I could, shivering as I heard something crack. I had it lucky that time, running into three of the same weaker type of demon.
I darted off after Kohaku's trail. My gut was wrenching and the thought of simply leaving Rin like that. As much as I wanted to keep the plot pure, I was inclined to watch out for the child and shield her from unnecessary danger that I ultimately cause, both consciously and unconsciously. When I finally caught up to them, Kohaku was bringing down his weapon on Rin and Sesshomaru was rushing toward him.
"Kohaku!" I yelled, stilling both the boy and Sesshomaru.
I stared at him again, watching his eyes flicker as I slowed my breath. I didn't have to say anything to send the kid running. The sight of Sango coming did that for me. Rin hurried and ran behind Sesshomaru as Sango's shoulders slumped and her straight face grew to hold a small frown. I personally felt that Sango had one of the worst stories in the show. Her encounter with Naraku was because of her trade. There was no filial grudge, no lover's quarral, she lost her family and village because Naraku felt they would be an obstacle.
"Thank you Sesshomaru… for not killing him." Sango said, pained, before turning to rejoin her friends.
I watched the woman disappear in the fog, forgetting that a certain yokai had his eyes trained on me.
"You are not harmed?" Sesshomaru asked.
"I'm fine." I replied as I walked over to those I got used to traveling with. "I'm sure Naraku's gone by now, so there's no sense in going back there." I added after checking Rin for any scrapes and bruises.
When I didn't get a response from him, my gaze turned away from the child and to the man who seemed to be ignoring me. I placed myself in front of him, and watched as his eyes followed me, but without saying a word. I backed away from him, unsure if it was safe to be at such a close distance when he was spaced out like this.
He speaks to his beast. [Beast]
'Goodness I forgot you're here. How do you know?' [Me]
A beast can simply tell. [Beast]
"We are leaving." Sesshomaru voiced before turning to walk in a direction heading away from the small hut Rin and I were stuck in previously.
I gazed at Rin before looking at Sesshomaru for a second. The girl shrugged her shoulders before running to catch up with her lord. I don't know how she did it. Having so much trust in a person, Sesshomaru none the less, was something unheard of for a person like me. But I guess I could take a few pointers from Rin for things like that.
