Title: Truce
Author: Yoko-cw
Summary: They Were Never The Type To Let Their Guard Down. Not Until That Night...
InuYasha POV
That day is one I won't forget. Even if I want to, all the details stand out clearly in my mind until I think my heart is breaking all over again. I keep replaying that one day, because it's the day I think our lives started to fall apart. It was the day Kikyo and I had vowed to trust one another. And, thinking back, it hurts. It hurts because I didn't realize it yet. We were young and naieve. We didn't know. We didn't know yet that once you let someone in, they stay there forever. Whether you want them to or not...
*Flashback/Reader POV*
Kikyo couldn't help but furrow her brow; the burn was not life threatening, but it would hurt for the next few days. She forced her features back to their usual blank state, feeding the fire and pointedly ignoring her white-haired companion. Things never seemed to hurt him; he would flip and run and slice through the demons effortlessly while she stayed on the ground, firing arrows and just trying to keep up with him. 'Why do I let him follow?' She'd asked herself that so many times. The Shikkon No Tama was guarded by a powerful seal she herself had placed upon it. The sacred item was safe. ...The fact that InuYasha was here was a mystery. 'I assume wants the jewel...but does not try to take it...' she wondered, staring at his vacant expression with her own face full of suspicious 'He looks like he's sleeping...but he never sleeps. He's just waiting for me to let my guard down...' Kikyo shook her head 'No, that doesn't make sense. Why would he follow me if he had nothing to gain?' The young priestess sighed, poking the roaring fire with a stick for the lack of any other distraction.
"You make too much noise." Immediately, she tensed, and peered over the high flames to look at him. His eyes were reflecting the dancing light, a gold color burning with their own fire. His face bore a small smile; a smirk that Kikyo couldn't bring herself to trust. "Forgive me for being unable to rest," she quipped, "Especially with a half demon in my company." The shoulders tensed. "Keh." Kikyo blinked and watched him roll over to turn his back to her, one arm folded beneath his head for a small comfort, "You aint got nothin' to worry about, miko. There is nothing I want from you."
"Then why do you insist on following me, hanyou?"
A moment passed. The only sound was the fire spitting and crackling. The fish was burning and, mechanically, Kikyo pulled her sleeves back and pulled her dinner off the sticks and onto a large leaf. She watched and chewed, never blinking or letting her posture show relaxation. One golden eye peeked over a shoulder; they locked gazes. "...I don't know, Kikyo." Her chopsticks fell silently onto her lap. Never had he used her name before...at least...not in that tone. Often he called her Priestess, called out to her when she was lagging behind and she would sneer inwardly at that cocky smile. "I really don't know why I keep following you," he sighed, lazily pulling himself to lie on his back with his arms behind his head. He stared for a long moment up at the sky, responding with a question of his own, "Why do you let me follow you, miko?" "..." With a small smile, she sat her dinner down on the ground in front of her.
"Perhaps it is because you amuse me, hanyou. Though I fail to see what you gain from keeping yourself in my presence."
"Maybe I'm waiting to see how long before you die. Especially with the pathetic way you fail to use your own powers-" He bit down on his tongue then; he'd said too much.
"What?" Her brow fell downward, eyes glinting in irritation, "What do you speak of, hanyou?"
"Keh," he pulled himself up, crossed his legs and made sure to hide his eyes behind long bangs, "Nothin'. Forget it." Quietly, he stood, hands hidden in long sleeves. "I won't be far off. Enjoy your dinner. Oh, and try not to sleep in tomorrow, Miko." And with a crack of air, he was gone, leaving Kikyo to contemplate.
*Scene*
Another day passed; another day of fighting alongside and snapping at one another. Kikyo fumed as she left to bathe, trying not to let herself limp in front of her demonic friend. He had taken refuge in a flowering tree, and she was pretending not to notice how he favored his left side. 'Possibly broken ribs' she wondered as she pulled her kimono off and sank into the hot water 'And still he does not stop. He fought on after the demon struck him...' He had insisted the only reason he stayed was to make sure she didn't let anything happen to the jewel he so desired. And she let him stay because it was amusing and he was useful. But the strain of letting a demon stay with her was taking its toll; they slept in shifts, and even then, she never let herself fall too deeply into slumber. All it would take would be one swipe of his claws, and she would lose her life and her duty to the Sacred Jewel.
'Although...if he wanted it that badly, he would have taken it from me by force by now...' She rolled the shining pink gem between her fingers, the blessed chain keeping it securely around her neck at all times. 'Why does he follow me then? What does he want?' She sighed 'Why do I let him follow...?' Kikyo shook her head of the troublesome thoughts, and dove under the steaming water.
When she returned to the clearing, everything was done already. InuYasha sat up in a tree with his arms in his sleeves (as always). A fire was blazing in a quickly made pit, and three fish laid beside a bowl of clear water. "Did you...get dinner for me?" "Keh. Don't be stupid. I caught too many and didn't feel like letting them go to waste." 'So you say, yet you have not eaten yet, hanyou...' She smiled and speared the first of the fish. "InuYasha," she called up, a small smile trying to form on her face, "Please come down here...I want to speak with you." His fire rat kimono ruffled as he rolled from the high distance, landing with his knees slightly bent but otherwise undisturbed. He kept his head tilted downward, glaring at her through dirty white bangs, "What is it?" 'It...can't hurt to try, can it? After all, were he a wicked demon, he would have taken my life by now, wouldn't he? It's ok to trust him...just once...can I trust him?'
Kikyo's smile remained thin, "InuYasha...won't you stay down here with me? Just for a while?" "I can't. The sun will be setting soon." She raised a brow; since when did that matter? With a small sigh, the young woman pulled the white ribbon from her hair, letting it flow like ink down her back. InuYasha snorted, crossing his arms behind his back and leaning against the tree he'd previously occupied. "What's so important you must leave before night falls?" He turned his head away from her, "It's not your concern."
'What is this?' Her lips parted, eyes widened in surprise; this was so unexpected. Vulnerable was not the word (such a term would not dare itself to be attached to InuYasha), but he was acting...civil? Quiet? 'What is different about you this night?' "Hanyou," she muttered, "You will tell me of what ails you." He snorted and stared upward at the sky, which was bleeding red with the rapidly setting sun, "As I said. It is not your concern." Another moment passed.
"Why do you leave when the moon is black?"
"Be quiet."
InuYasha slid down to sit on the tree's roots, a fair distance from his traveling companion who carried what he so desired. His heartbeat was beginning to hurt his ears. He could see her throat move with a nervous swallow. And then slowly, slowly she was moving toward him. "Your hair has lost some of it's brightness," she reached a hesitant hand forward, pulling a lock over his shoulder, "It is not so white anymore." InuYasha tensed, slapped her hand away, "Shut up."
'It's not so white anymore' she says' InuYasha's inner voice sneered 'Some clever way of mocking impurity no doubt. Damned wench.' He clenched his eyes shut and waited for her to turn away so he could leave. Waited for the moment when they would exchange their tense goodbye. "You are a half demon," she whispered, though it held no malice, "And tonight...the moon is black."
'Damn!' "So you figured out my dirty little secret, huh? It makes no difference, priestess. Don't think just because you know my weakness means I'll let you take me life." He slipped his hand into his haori, clutched the dagger he kept there for specific emergencies. His pulse was quickening. 'The sky will be black soon...I should leave'. Slowly, Kikyo pulled away and gave him a small smile, "I have no intention of attacking you."
She paused, staring at the burned fish. Her finger touched the surface of the water they kept, watching the ripples grow. "And I can see that you do not mean to harm me..." she continued, raising her head to meet his fading eyes.
"What I mean to ask is..."
Thump.
"Just for tonight-"
Thump.
"-Will you stay?"
The sun fell. And as the sky darkened, so did his features. Before Kikyo sat a human boy; he was pretty, looking no older than she, with tanned skin and dark hair. His eyes were brown, but held none of the confidence she had grown used to seeing. "Can I trust you to stay with me tonight, InuYasha?"
He swallowed, flipped his long hair over his shoulder in a nervous gesture, "I could ask you the same thing...Kikyo." The two humans sat for a while, neither wanting to appear threatening nor weak. They simply ate overcooked fish and cast each other glances from their short distance apart.
Kikyo smiled softly, "I will not harm you."
InuYasha let go of the dagger, "Nor will I."
That night, they slept.
Just a little peek into the first time InuYasha and Kikyo let themselves trust each other. Both of them would have had to leave guarded lives and I can't see them immediately jumping into a comfortable relationship or alliance. So here's my idea of how that might have happened ^^ REVIEWS LOVED!