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Itty Bitty Pretty One
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Inuyasha was having an incredibly hard time looking Kagome in the face after his disgraceful side adventure that morning. That was a low point in his life. He'd never had so much trouble dealing with all these insane mood swings before on his human night and now literally every little thing had him bouncing off into the extremes. Kagome had made eggs and it'd made him so upset when she'd stated they were out of ramen that he almost teared up before getting incredibly angry and then laughing it off in a matter of seconds. Kagome was walking on eggshells around him and giving him anxious looks every once in a while where she was clearly questioning his sanity. He'd gone off on her for it one moment then the next he was admitting that he was having trouble controlling his moods at which point he'd clammed up and began scarfing down his eggs - pointedly ignoring her the rest of the meal.
"You feeling alright?" Kagome asked quietly as Inuyasha glared down at his empty plate, "You want to practice your, uh, spiritual powers?"
"No," Inuyasha spat back instantly - glaring at her angrily before his face fell and he turned to stare idly at his hands, "I'm fine. Maybe later."
"Okay," Kagome responded slowly as she reached over to grab his plate to push into the sink, "We can go buy some ramen for you. Would you, uh, like that?"
"Just because I'm human doesn't mean I want to go anywhere with you!" Inuyasha spat out venomously as he did a very good impression of an agitated bird ruffling their feathers before sighing and nodding, "Yeah I'd like ramen. I'll go I guess."
Kagome felt like she was getting whiplash from the rapidly changing emotions being slung her way. He hadn't been that way last night or any time he'd been human in the past. It was like every repressed emotion he'd ever felt was bubbling to the surface in some giant hot mess of raging teenage hormones.
"Okay, well let me go change and we'll go alright?" Kagome cooed as she moved over to place a kiss on his head - taking note of the instense blush that bloomed on his cheeks and his sudden inability to formulate words or look at her. Laughing softly and rolling her eyes, she quickly bounced up the stairs and made it to her room to change. Inuyasha for his part felt like he was on the emotional roller coaster from hell - his moods changing so quickly he was having a hard time keeping track of them himself. Closing his eyes and taking a shaky breath, he rested his face in the crook of his elbow and tried to get ahold of himself. This was miserable. How did humans handle all this? Was this normal? God, he was probably broken or something - doomed to descend into madness. Honestly, all he wanted to do was sleep...and he was starving. He felt like he could eat literally everything in that kitchen but he really didn't want to make Kagome angry with him. This wasn't normal. This was hell.
He didn't know long he sat there like that. It could've been minutes, hours or days. This sucked. Being human sucked. Everything sucked and they were all gunna die eventually so what was the point in anything? All he knew was that in that time he felt like he was spinning out of control until Kagome's gentle hand found its way to his shoulder - making him nearly jump out of his skin but also brought him spiraling down to earth.
"Ready to go?" Kagome whispered softly as she gently removed the hair that'd fallen into his miserable looking face, "Or you could take a nap?"
"No I'll go," Inuyasha sniffled uncharacteristically - hating sounding so weak but utterly depressed that he seemingly had no control over his mind or body, "Just ramen right?"
"You like the barbeque chips," Kagome cooed as she rubbed small circles against his back, "And soda. You like the lime one."
Nodding, Inuyasha cleared his throat and got to his feet before following after her with his hands tucked securely in his sleeves...that is until Kagome managed to find a way to coax his hand into hers.
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It was early still when Emi tried to leave the small hut they'd be given for accommodation. As usual, her appearance and the company of her family was sufficient enough for her to be seen as just a regular girl like any other. As she quietly got up and approached the door, her brother sniffled once before groggily asking her where she was going.
"Just wanted to check the perimeter and clear my head," Emi lied seamlessly as she gave the young man who was the apple of her eye an affectionate grin, "I'll be back in a few hours, alright?"
"Hours?" Kenji groaned as he tried to sit up before giving his sister a knowing and suspicious glare, "You're not gunna try to do anything are ya?"
"Of course not," Emi crooned - hating herself for lying to her brother, "Go back to sleep."
"Alright but Imma be mad at you if you try something," Kenji groaned as he collapsed back onto the futon and snuggled beneath the covers, "I wanna scavenge around here some later so come back soon."
"Of course," Emi whispered - swallowing thickly as the mat covering the door fell back behind her. It wasn't that she wanted to make a habit out of lying to her family. It was just...this solution had fallen at her feet. She'd have to sneak out later tonight to deliver it to them of course but...hopefully Kenji and her grandfather wouldn't notice her absence.
The run to the old woman's house didn't take very long - the sickly sweet scent hitting her nose at a greater distance than it had the day before. It was a strange scent. Demonic in a way but nothing too alarming. The woman herself didn't have any demonic aura. Perhaps it was merely a remnant of her late husband.
"Hey! Old woman," Emi called out when she was within hearing range, "I'm here! I'm sorry I couldn't stop by yesterday afternoon. It took longer than I expected with my grandpa!"
"Oh! No problem child," the elderly woman's voice called back after a few awkward seconds, "I have the potion ready for you."
As Emi burst into the small clearing that held the hut, she grinned at the small package and eagerly reached her hands out.
"Take care child," the old woman warned, "There are six vials. You only need to use a small bit to replenish your youkai if you need it. If ever purified, take two."
"Small bit and two, got it," Emi enthused as she clutched the package to her chest before reaching out and pulling the woman closer, "Thank you so much!"
Sniffing tentatively, Emi had to admit the woman smelled strangely. Not the sickly sweet scent she'd smelled earlier that was mostly gone now but it didn't smell quite right.
"Are you sick old woman?" Emi asked quietly as she pulled back and released the woman, "Your scent isn't quite right."
"Oh child, I'm merely old," the woman laughed in a care free manner, "Old people smell all manner of ways. Don't worry yourself."
"Alright," Emi responded slowly as she chewed the inside of her cheek, "But um, if you want, my grandfather is a trained herbalist. He could, uh, give you something. As payment?"
"Nay child," the old woman comforted her, "Don't concern yourself. Go join your family. I wish you all the luck in the world."
Nodding once, Emi debated with herself whether to bring her grandfather here anyway but decided against it. If she brought attention to the fact that she'd been given the solution, Grandfather would most likely discard it immediately. She needed to fix that boy. She needed to make this right.
"Well, thank you," Emi whispered before bowing once and sprinting into the forest. Once she was out of range, the woman collapsed - immediately decaying onto the forest floor in a bubbling, frothy foam.
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"You did well Kagura," Naraku chuckled as he watched the scene through Kanna's mirror, "No doubt the girl will find a way to deliver that potion unto Inuyasha."
"He's not stupid enough to drink it," Kagura muttered under her breath as she rolled her eyes before whipping out her fan to lightly wave it in front of her face, "This whole thing is a joke."
"To you perhaps but I have confidence in our young friend," Naraku chuckled as the scene in the mirror changed to the well, "How will you feel Inuyasha to be forever trapped in nightmares?"
'So it wasn't poison?' Kagura thought to herself as she furrowed her brow, 'And here I thought Naraku would actually get the balls to kill them. Pathetic.'
"And what if the girl drinks it?" Kagura scoffed as she continued to fan herself, "She'll do it too to prove a point. Stupid girl."
"A sip, nay one full vial will do nothing," Naraku commented with a wicked smirk, "But two? Oh, that will do exactly what it is intended."