Little Bird
Disclaimer : Inuyasha is copyright to Rumiko Takahashi and all affiliated distributors.
Kagome's first thought upon entering her grandfather's estate was, 'it's awfully old and gaudy here'.
She withheld the urge to scrunch her face as she walked up the stone steps that seemed to be hundreds of years old, crumbling and falling to pieces around her. Someone really needed to fix that. They went up for what felt like an eternity.
Each step she took burned the left side of her body. Flushing with pain, she winced at every footfall and convinced herself that she deserved every second of it. Her parents' and brother's faces flashed through her minds eye, twisting her chest with a greater pain than the physical one she was still feeling.
The grief was consuming.
She tried distracting herself with the scenery even as her vision blurred with unshed tears. She stared ahead unblinking, eyes beginning to burn as she refused to let them fall. Trees loomed all around her like weeping willows, as tall and as wide as the buildings in Tokyo. She took a shaky breath in, trying to control her emotions. It really was beautiful - if you had a thing for old architecture tucked away in the woods, but she really just wanted to go back to her city... her home.
To the place she'd never see again.
Sweat on her brow and breath coming in deep long gasps, she finally made it to the top. Letting go of her luggage to catch her breath, it slapped the ground loudly, but she ignored that. If only she could just get to bed and sleep.
Then she'd be able to forget, forget everything.
Begrudgingly, she grabbed her things and marched forward, the wheels on her suitcase rolling and bouncing off the pavement with a bothersome racket.
Her family name had been a powerful one in Japan. Her ancestors had been crucial in helping win countless Feudal wars, and they served under one all encompassing daimyo.
A descendant of mighty samurai warriors was Kagome. Fierce, strong, and undefeated: the Higurashi Clan.
So, her grandfather's home rested atop the most elevated land in town. A lush green field covered the hill top with bamboo stalks and trees around it like a canopy. The structure's ancient carved pillars and crimson curved roofs watched over the people like that of a mighty lord. Under each elegantly curved awning spanned shoji screens that wrapped completely around with a polished wooden porch. The setting sun dipped slowly behind it, casting an almost ominous red and orange glow across the land.
If she turned around, she'd be able to see all the farms, dirt roads, and small huddled buildings and homes. It was like a scene from medieval times Japan. She wouldn't be half surprised if the town's folk stepped out to hang lanterns after dark.
Striding up to her new home, Kagome slipped off her shoes, walked up three stone steps, crossed the wooden porch, and slid open the screens.
The cool wood was unwelcoming through her socks, she suppressed a shiver and took a moment to drink everything in. Hand still on the screen, she stared into the dark room.
Shadows crept across the rice paper like spiders, casting long dark shapes with claws for hands. When she was little, this place had always given her the creeps, despite the fond memories she had shared with her countless cousins, aunts, and uncles.
She always felt like something was watching her.
Then a quick memory: Kagome running down a hall, her bare feet tap tap tapping across wooden floors, children's voices laughing and chasing behind her. She would glance behind ever so often, their chubby blurred faces coming in and out of view. Their tiny little hands reached out to her, they were so close.
So she ran faster. A quick left, a sharp right.
At some point, the footsteps cutoff, and she noticed their voices were gone.
Stopping in her tracks, she turned in her little pink and white kimono, looking down the narrow hall that seemed to swallow her. She hesitated, "hello?"
The silence was deafening.
She took a step back, and another. The hall was getting darker, slowly descending upon her like a dark cloud. The wood beneath her feet creaking and making her jump.
Her young mind could make no sense of it. Where had everyone gone?
She felt lost… all alone.
Alone. Alone...
Alone.
Not a second later and the darkness rushed up to her, consuming everything in sight. Her breath hitched, body tensed, tears spilled over juvenile cheeks.
Then eyes, eyes redder than coals materialized in the air and burned into her soul.
"Little bi~rd," the voice sang in an oil slick voice. "Little bi-rd," his mouth materialized out of nowhere. Smirking yellow teeth were condemning, sharp, and cold. A shadow darker than black reached out to her, its claws grasping at her kimono.
"Oh, what have you hiding in that tree?"
Gray eyes dilated and the world rushed back to her at an alarming rate. The entrance of her grandfather's home zoomed into existence. It had gotten darker, everything was turning a deep shade of blue. Worried, she turned nervous eyes across the room, through the far hallways. Where was that old man?
She turned, bending a knee to grab her luggage, then froze.
Her skin prickled with goose flesh.
A hot breath like the depths of hell seized her, fanning over her ear with deadly precision.
"Welcome ho~me, little bird."
She spun with fright, her loose hair slapping across her face. There was no one there. But the laughter… it echoed and echoed.
Her eyes pivoted to and fro, trying to find where it came from. It was everywhere, echoing all around her, before her, behind her, inside her.
Heart running wild, her fight or flight response kicked in, but she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, and she skipped a step, lost her balance, and the world spun.
"Kagome!"
Wrinkled hands pushed against her back weakly, righting her before she wrapped her arms around her older relative, her sore body protesting at the sudden action. "Grandpa!"
She felt the tears sting her eyes, and she squeezed them shut, trying to soak in his warmth.
He rubbed her back slowly, comforting, "welcome home, Kagome dear."
Shocked, she stepped away from him. Staring with wounded eyes.
He smiled sadly and switched on a gas lantern she hadn't seen next to the door. "Come now," he said, walking into the nightmarish home, "it'll get cold soon."
She didn't want to go in. So she stayed rooted as long as she could. Yet he walked on, waiting for her not. Her body refused to move, watching as he turned down a hall, going further and further away until all she could see was the gas light through the shoji screens.
"Little bi~rd," a cold voice echoed behind her.
She jumped, body coming to life as she ran after her grandpa.
Red amber eyes followed, scorching into her back the whole night through. He lived in the walls, in the floorboards, and the old creaking trees... and like it or not, he would continue to haunt his little bird.
For Naraku never stopped until he got
what
he wanted.
(To be continued)