"Kagome, come help me move these baskets!"
Kagome rushed to the side of her mother, picking up the woven basket full of damp laundry. She held it on the side of her hip for support, "Do you want to to put them up to dry?"
"If it's not too much trouble," her mother said.
The girl nodded, taking the basket towards the house and setting it down before hanging them up on the line connected from the house to her right to the house to her left.
Once she finished hanging the clothing, she went back over to where her mother was scrubbing more clothing in the river. She set down the basket, "Can I help with anything else?"
"I think I can take care of the rest," her mother said, "could you go watch Sota? He's near the woods."
Kagome then left her mother to go find her younger sibling, who usually played with other village children by the woods. But when she got to their normal spot, there was no one there. She looked around, noticing her brother wasn't even near the trees.
She frowned. He couldn't have went into the woods, could he? There's a chance demons are lurking in the cover of the trees, which is why her mother had told them both to never wander into there. But if her brother could have been in there, she had to go in and find him, right?
She took a deep breath before taking slow steps into the woods. Only after passing a few trees, she regretted not having her bow and arrows with her. Even though she had a horrible aim, she could at least take out a demon with them.
It was too late to go back now. She pressed on, cautiously flicking her eyes about. She noticed from outside of the wooded area that it was dark inside, but the darkness was worse inside. It was very eery, and it gave her chills.
She looked around more, trying to ignore the feeling that she was being watched.
Probably animals… I mean, it's not that far in, demons shouldn't be close to the village, we have sutras up.
She tried to calm herself down and looked up, freezing mid-step as she saw a pair of ominously golden, glowing eyes. Though, once she made eye contact, the eyes widened, and the creature swung up higher into the tree, vanishing from her sight.
Seeing a demon that close to the village was unnerving. She decided to quickly head back, letting out a sigh of relief as she entered her village once more and she felt the sunlight on her skin. It was then she realized her skin was as cold as ice, and she was shaking. That wasn't from seeing a demon, was it?
She shook away her thoughts and walked back into the village, now seeing her brother playing a game with the other village children.
Well, going in the woods was a waste of time.
She then stood nearby watching until the kids decided they were done playing. Sota then ran over to her, and the two of them went home in time to have supper with their small family.
That night, when everyone was settled down for bed, Kagome was up, her mind cluttered with thoughts. Mainly about the demon in the woods.
Now that she was thinking about it, why didn't it attack her? Not only that, it seemed… Afraid? It shouldn't have been afraid, it could probably kill her instantly. But the look in the demon's eyes… Even with such a short amount of eye contact, she could tell it was indeed scared. Was it even a demon? Yes, yes it had to of been. What kind of human has such colored eyes? Golden, which even glowed in the darkness.
Kagome pushed away her thoughts and tried to fall asleep. She eventually did, but those glowing eyes haunted her dreams.
The next day, the village was bustling as usual. A few travelers passed by as usual, and a few asked to stay to rest, which they, of course, agreed to let them stay and gave them food and water.
Kagome was helping a few travelers into a hut made for people passing through to rest. Once they were settled, she left and headed back to her home to help out her mother with gathering herbs and such. Though, she stopped walking when she was passing by the woods. She looked in, but she wasn't able to see anything due to the darkness.
This is probably a stupid idea…
She quickly looked around before slipping into the darkness of the woods, walking towards what she thought was a large, old tree. She looked up and saw the same golden, glowing eyes as before. Though its eyes widened like the day before, it didn't move. Instead, it seemed to tilt its head in curiosity, though its eyes showed confusion.
Kagome's body was tense, still slightly afraid of the demon. Though, it didn't seem to want to attack her…
She soon found herself opening her mouth, "Are… Are you a demon…?"
She noticed it lean back a bit, as if it was afraid of her voice. It took a moment, but it seemed to nod.
She clasped her hands to her chest, "You're not bad, are you?"
It seemed to be confused about the question, like it didn't understand. After a moment, the confusion in its eyes vanished and it shook its head.
Kagome was about to ask something else, but a shout of her name distracted her. She turned her head and then back to the creature, "Will you be here tomorrow?"
Again, it had a confused look in its eyes, but nodded anyways. KAgome smiled and ran off back to the village.
"Kagome, what did I tell you about going in the woods?" Her mother sighed.
"Sorry, I got curious," Kagome said.
"At least you weren't far in," the mother sighed.
Kagome followed her back into the village and to their home, where she helped make supper. Though Sota was excitedly going on about an animal he saw while outside of the village, Kagome was zoning out.
Why did she ask if that demon was going to be there tomorrow? Why did she even go in there in the first place? Her mother would have a fit if she found out she spoke to a demon.
Well, since she had gotten herself into this mess, she might as well go along with it.
And so, the next afternoon, Kagome tried to figure out just why she had wanted to meet the demon again. Was it her curiosity? Maybe it was the fact that she didn't even know what it looked like; monstrous? Or more human? The worst images flashed in her mind of a monster with huge, sharp teeth and those golden eyes.
She shook away the images and thought of what she would do. She got an idea and went into her home to see her mother cooking stew in a pot. She asked Kagome to keep stirring it as she left, leaving her alone in the hut. Kagome took a small wooden box used for the visitor's meals and spooned some of the warm stew into it. She covered the box with a lid before placing a wooden spoon on top and wrapping it with a white cloth. When her mother came in, she got up and left with the box behind her back.
As she walked towards the woods, she wondered if feeding a demon was a good idea. Probably not, but she continued towards the trees. She looked around quickly before entering the foliage, slowly finding her way to the large tree from the day before. And, as expected, she saw the pair of glowing eyes.
She noticed the branch was up quite high, so she wouldn't be able to hand up the box of food. She shifted on her feet, "Can you come down…?"
The demon seemed confused for a moment, then hesitant, but it slowly pushed back and jumped down, landing in a crouch a few feet from her.
She held out the box, waiting for it to come closer and take it. Though, the demon made no move to come closer.
Kagome untied the cloth, moved the spoon, and removed the lid, "It's food."
At that, the demon hesitated before slowly moving towards her, its figure becoming clearer to her. From the silhouette, she could tell it didn't have a monstrous appearance. It had long hair and animal-like ears.
It only got closer enough to take the box from her, staying put as it seemed to sniff at it. It then started to eat it like… Well, like an animal, using only its mouth.
Kagome crouched down as it ate. A question came to mind, "Do you have a name?"
It seemed to freeze, as if the question was something it didn't expect.
"My name is Kagome," she said, hoping telling the demon her name would draw it to say its own.
"... Inuyasha…" it said, its voice low and hoarse.
She then confirmed that the demon was a male, and maybe it hadn't spoken for a while due to the scratchiness of his voice. She gave him a small smile, "I like it."
Inuyasha then set down the box after a moment, seeming to mutter something in a foreign language that Kagome did not know. She tilted her head in confusion.
His ears seemed to flatten slightly, "T-thank you…"
He pushed the box towards her, and she took it, placing the lid on it and wrapping it with the white cloth. She looked up, "Are you here everyday?"
He seemed to ponder the question for a moment before nodded slightly. Kagome smiled at that and stood, "Then I'll try to come again tomorrow!"
She said a quiet farewell before leaving him. She quickly cleaned out the box before going back to home, where her family was getting ready for lunch.
"Where did you go off to?" Her mother asked.
"Just around talking to the villagers," Kagome said, making sure to keep the box hidden in the sleeve of her kimono.
She then sat down to eat with them, her thoughts all about the demon; Inuyasha.
Had she really befriended a demon?