Chapter three: A different breed of woman…
The village protector would spend days inside now, the winter wind whipping wildly to blow open straw doors. Most would now layer their doors, four or five layers, the make them heavier and less likely to blow off. Now was the time of the year to only reflect, days spent beside kindling fires and with family. Fur coverings provided little warmth, and the heavier kimonos could only do so much. How could the head Miko answer when people asked why the gods had given them such a cold winter? Such a deathly winter? She had prayed and it seemed some of those were unanswered. She tried to explain, it was not the god's anger that was causing such a hard winter, it was only the earth it self being in a bad mood. Mother Earth had not had a wonderful summer, and now she is in a fit of rage gave us a bitter winter, soon to melt away into a plentiful summer. This seemed to tide over some people, others outraged with such a story prayed in their huts, burning sacred papers.
I sat outside leaning on a tree, breathing in the sweet winter air. This time of year was too cold for me, my skin far to thin. This time enchanted me nonetheless, the small flakes of snow piling gently on one another until they created fluffy masses. I didn't want to move at all; afraid I would move the snowflakes out of their perfect place. Scared I would break the perfect picture before me.
I sat beside her; surprised to see she didn't know I was behind her. Snowflakes fell slowly from the sky and as I looked at her I could clearly see she was in love with the surrounding. Her eyes, however still somewhat sad, seemed lit up as they moved about the small piles of snow. I didn't care much for frozen water.
Not one person was outside, and we were close enough to the village that if only the windows of the huts weren't boarded up, everyone could see us sitting. But the winter kept us safe, safe to talk and confide. "Hello, Inuyasha-kun. What brings you here today?" I asked after a long while of comfortable silence.
"I guess I wanted to see you again," I said without fully realizing the impact of those few words, and the truth behind them. Damn it, winter had a way of making speak the whole truth. She turned to me, eyes lit up, and all sadness gone. Had I done that? Had I make those sad eyes seem happy?
"So forward" I pointed out, my gut doing a happy flip, "I'm glad. I missed you too, Inuyasha-kun. Did you know what I was just thinking about?" I said and he shook his head and I swore I saw blush on his face, the slightest hint of it. "I was thinking about Shinto goddesses and the beauty they possess. Just think, being able to act so graceful without even knowing it, just having it in your blood" I said, my eyes turning from the snow to him.
Her pure white skin would have been impossible to tell apart from the snow if not for the rosy cheeks that brought colour to her face. Did she not know her own grace? That grace that caught my eye, made me stare in awe with how she walked, strung her words and gestures? She curled up beside me then, and my hand found hers, and soon we were so close we would have looked as husband and wife from a view.
I was cold as ice yet didn't want retreat home, not if he was near. I was glad that after I cuddled with him he untied his jacket and put it like a blanket. Then he took his arms out of his sleeves and put those too around me, his arms reaching around and holding me close to him. It was that moment that I hadn't felt any sadness in me, not one little bit.
How could one not consider her a goddess of sorts? She, who had made me the tainted hanyou fall for her while pushing nothing, asking nothing, and always thought of other before her altruistic self. Yet still, she had not seen me in my human skin, and maybe she never will.
Yet, as we sat here, both not saying anything nor needing too, a tear rolled down my cheek and froze mid way. Here we were, happy and content and I knew love was near us, watching us and being in us yet… yet still stood the wall between us. Miko, Hanyou. Then the jewel, which still hung loosely on my neck, and bounded me as a Miko. Never to love, never to lose and never to gain. That's a miko.
--
"Really Inuyasha-kun?" I asked when he shoved a brush into my hands. "Yah, don't make so much of it" He said and didn't look into my eyes. I stared in amazement at the brush with so many needles; it was pure black with a design golden bellflower. "Your always brushing your hair and it use to be my mom's, besides she told me bellflower means Kikyou once, I figure its fate or something" He said and looked at the brush again. I clutched it in my hands and jumped and wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my cheek onto his. "Thank you Inuyasha-kun!" I screamed and I felt so warm when he hugged me back. Both of us didn't move for a while, just stood holding each other until he grew embarrassed, cutely so.
--
Night came fast and I sat alone in the snow-covered tree, my skin, hair, nails, teeth and blood were changing. If I didn't sleep, I could yet live another day. Only when I was fully human did I notice the demon nearing me, laughter in her voice. She had on a robe which must have belong to a Geisha because it was large and overly decorated, her hair was flaring red and long, too long. She was a pretty girl too, looked almost human if not for the tinted red eyes. "You were a hanyou, and here I was waiting, knowing your demon powers were weakening and not till now did I know why" She said, and hovered above the branch I sat on. "I'm going to kill you, half breed" She said and pulled from behind her a long knife, almost a sword but not.
"And, what would you get out of killing a human demon bitch? That's not what a real demon dose, that what a fuckin' coward does" I barked, trying to keep my cool but that knife did make my gut drop. She leaned in close, too close, so that if I moved our lips would touch. "Oh ho, half breed, I am a coward I suppose. See, I hate the hunt yet love the kill" and she moved in, my lips locked for a second with hers. Disgust and hate fill me, and all I could think as I took a swing at her is that I wanted no woman to touch those lips, but Kikyou. She flew back, and sent the knife at me. I had to move and then I fell from the branch that thankfully wasn't too high. I hit the ground with a thud and ran, ran as fast I could to nowhere.
"Inuyasha-kun?" I heard that voice, her voice. "Kikyou!" I screamed, not caring anymore to add 'dono'. She looked up, but too late. The demon girl flew down and that knife I just knew had entered part of Kikyou. I saw red hit the ground before anything else and that's when I lost it. The sharp pain that up my side was begging me to stop moving all together, yet I didn't, not when Kikyou was hurt. I heard her shrill scream and next thing I knew I felt that knife in my hand as I grabbed it. Kikyou flew back, wounded.
I saw him falling from the tree and before a second word could leave my lips, a demon attacked. The knife hit my arm and dug to the bone. Inuyasha grabbed the demon and threw her off of me, but damage had been done. My arm fell limp and I couldn't close my left hand, so using a bow was out of the question. I fell to one knee, pure disappointment in myself. How could I not see that demon's attack coming?
The demon girl showed her fangs and tried to bit down me but I moved just in time. I grabbed the knife from her hand and without caring for my own pain, yanked it out of her grip. Red snow was everywhere around me, my only indication of how much blood was pouring from me.
I stood up as Inuyasha grabbed the knife from her and she was left weaponless, but not defenseless. Her eyes studied us for a second, glazing over me then Inuyasha then back to me, trying to connect. Her mind was not hard to read when it finally clicked. "A miko, a hanyou, together? You…" She turned to me then, a sick smile on her lips, "whore".
How dare she. I didn't think about my next move then, I just did it. I held the knife over my head and next thing I saw was she on the ground, the bloody knife in her head. I cringed and grabbed my side, falling to one knee. Kikyou rushed to me, holding my hand and placing her other arm in a half hug. "Oh, Inuyasha-kun! I'm sorry, next thing I knew you weren't yourself and you stabbed her, I tried to help but" She said all of this fast, scanning me.
It had all happened so suddenly for me, me who battled and killed countless demons. The second she called me a whore, Inuyasha became someone I never saw before. Even when he tried to get the jewel from me and was angry when he failed I never saw his eyes become so blank and cold as they just had. "Get out of here Kikyou" He muttered, still wincing in pain.
How could I know if she had friends, if she hadn't still out some damn signal before she died? Kikyou's arm wasn't fully working because she wasn't so much holding my hand as placing it on top of my hand. She shouldn't even be here, how the hell did she know me? I'm human now!
We sat for a second, silence everywhere. Then I got to think again, how come Inuyasha was human? I asked this but he just told me to go, to leave him for dead. His eyes lids were growing heavier and then without warning they closed and he fell forward, on my hurt arm. I yanked it out for under him and tried to think. My arm was too hurt to even use, and it was mid winter which means its too cold to stay outside. God, all I wanted to do was return to the shrine for a quick after dinner pray and it was because of that I ran into Inuyasha.
I turned him over after about twenty minutes of trying with my one arm and laid him on my lap. The snow fell lightly tonight, and there was no wind meaning that it wasn't too cold. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so unbearable in the winter; my pelt of fur was big enough to keep both of us warm. My hand flowed over his hair which was so wild yet soft. His features seemed different too, and his skin was not longer a pale white but rather a soft tan. He still made my heart beat a little faster, even when he wasn't in his usual skin. I couldn't sleep, but my body begged for it. I knew his rip had snapped on his fall down now, but what if it had cause more damage on the inside then out?
--
My eyes opened and all I could see was black. I jerked my head and saw it was on Kikyou's lap. Blush covered my face as I sat up, and her half open eyes, sleeping while awake. She yawned a little and then opened her eyes fully, confused one second and surprised the next. I was hanyou again and my wound healed over. She sat for only a moment, both of us fully realizing what had happened only a few hours before.
I sighed and suddenly fell forward into his arms. Snow had covered the both of us when I feel asleep so I hoped he wasn't too cold, however it did stop falling. He caught me and my eyes closed on their own accord. Suddenly I was lifted up and I felt something cold touching my lips. When I opened my eyes I saw I was looking at his closed ones.
She had seen me as a human, she had got hurt because of me and still she stayed awake most of the night to make sure I stayed alive. When she toppled over into my arms, I felt this sudden rush. "Kikyou…" I breathed and stared at the few snow flakes caught on her eyelashes. I knew I was in love. I grabbed her and while she was falling to sleep and half awake, brought her lips to mine. That's the only kiss I wanted.
I put what last strength I had to enclosing my arms around him. "Inuyasha…" I whispered, his name was so perfect. The kiss was short yet long enough to savor the moment, and when he hugged me I fell asleep. I didn't want to fall sleep.
She snored only once, right when she fell asleep in my arms this time, and it was cute none the less. I took off my jacket and I felt her warm up. I couldn't dare move her, not until she had gotten enough sleep.
Kikyou was a goddess among humans.
--
Oneesama gave me hope where it could not be found. She had only kind words and sought only to help others. She was sister to me, my mother, my hero and my life. But as she went away to train to be a miko, and upon her return and with the added duty of the shikon-on-tama, she slipped away. Now she was more a miko then human. She was still inhumanly kind but she was also not herself. She walked the village grounds with eyes blank and feelings lost. However a few weeks past and that changed. She took me to him, the feared hanyou.
Some in the village talked of Inuyasha, the hanyou seeking only that of the jewel. But when I saw Oneesama's eyes grew brighter in the past months, I couldn't not meet him. When she told me of Inuyasha and meeting him, I felt my insides quiver. I trusted her too much to object, so I followed. He sat by a frozen lake and didn't smile in the slightest when I neared. I bowed and said with as much courage as I could "Hajimemashite". He seemed very distrusting of every move I made, as if I was going to pull a knife on him at any moment. Food was served and all the while I saw my sister smiling.
This is a formal way to say hello, and also means 'this is the first time we've met'
She seemed so happy, even if he didn't relax in the slightest. He ate the food and after Oneesama said that I made the soup, I heard him mutter thanks. For a second he smiled at me, a warm smile that wasn't forced. Time wore on and he became relaxed, and then I saw he looked at Oneesama in a kind way. His eyes gave way to his feelings and showed he did care about her. When Oneesama and I left, she asked what I thought about him, about them. "Oneesama, he is much kinder then what the villagers say! Oneesama I like him" I said and I hadn't seen her smile as much as she did there in years.
If she loved him, I loved him. If she hated him, I hated him. He made her smile, he tore away that shell of a miko for a few moments and I like him for that. She trusted him, and I trusted him for that. She loved him, and I loved him because of that. Because he brought back my sister, I loved him like family.