Fancy Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not my own.
Warning(s): Brief nudity.
A/N: Houshi-sama means monk.
I. Sacrifice
.-.-.-.
The sound of a crackling fire reached my senses. My body was burning with fever, and I was soaked with sweat. Someone had removed my clothing and covered me with a coarse sheet. I turned my head towards the fire and squinted, trying to get my vision to focus.
"Ah, so you are alive. Rest easy, monk. You are in my hut. My name is Takashi," an old man smiled, continuing to stir a large pot of something.
I lost consciousness before he could really get anything else out. My dreams reflected my weakened state. I dreamt of the last battle with Naraku. I remembered holding Sango in my arms as she died. The feel of her skin on mine was so real that it made me sob in my sleep. I could smell her blood. I was losing her all over again.
When my hellish nightmares receded and my fever calmed, I awoke to the same rickety hut. The cook fire had been put out, and the old man was no where in sight. I sat up on the bed of straw and glanced about my surroundings. It was a small home, but it provided enough shelter from the environment outside.
My clothes had been folded and placed beside the bed, but I didn't get a chance to put them back on. The animal hide serving as the door was pushed aside, and the old man—Takashi—came in.
"Good, you're awake. You need to eat something, and then you should wash the stink off yourself. You should have taken better care of yourself, Houshi-sama," the old man said with a small laugh.
"Yes, I did wear myself too thin," I admitted with an embarrassed smile. "Did you find me, sir?" I let the coarse blanket fall and settle on my lap, leaving my chest bare.
Takashi looked up from his food items and shook his head. Without a word, he began to chop at a large piece of red meat. My dark eyes strayed elsewhere, and I let them reveal a sad undertone. My dreams were still very fresh, and my chest ached with the loss of my friends. Would I always relive that moment? Was there no end to my suffering?
"A demon brought you here. It was unusual. He didn't say what happened; he just asked me to take care of you. He wasn't sweet about it either, I tell you," Takashi frowned.
"A demon?" My stomach grumbled at the smell of the roasting meat.
"Aye. A beast. It had six arms, little tentacles, and this forked tongue!" Takashi stood up and stuck his tongue out, pointing to it.
"Stop scaring him, Father." A figure spoke from the shadows.
"You're no fun. It was a wolf youkai. I'm sure of it," Takashi said as he returned to cooking.
A wolf youkai. I could only imagine one young man—Kouga. During our parting, he barely spoke. He wished me a half-hearted goodbye and limped off into the forest. I assumed it would be our last meeting, but it appeared that I was wrong.
Takashi handed me a wooden bowl filled with rice and meat, and we settled down to a quiet evening meal. When the man's son came forward, my mouth hung open in utter shock. The bit of rice I had been trying to get into my mouth fell onto the floor.
"Nothing to fear, Houshi-sama, it is my son, Katsuyori. He's a good one. He stumbled upon my home, and I've taken care of him since." Takashi put a hand upon the young man's shoulder and gave it a tiny squeeze.
The man's wavy black hair and dark orbs had been seen before. His pale complexion was not unlike the demon from my dreams. I was sitting before a man that bore the same resemblance as Naraku.
"If you're finished, Katsuyori can take you to the stream where you can bathe," Takashi said, collecting my bowl and chopsticks.
"Do I remind you of someone, monk?" Katsuyori asked as he helped me out of the hut.
I pulled away from his touch, forcing my legs to bear my full weight. He carried my folded clothing and my sandals, but he didn't utter a word in protest. I leaned heavily upon my staff, and my forehead was quickly covered in a layer of perspiration.
"I don't remember anything before the time I came upon the old man. Do you know me?" Katsuyori glanced over at me, and it took all my strength not to beat him with my staff.
I glared at the ground, hoping the darkness hid my expression. I told him that I didn't know him, and that I had just been surprised by his presence. Both of us knew it was a lie, but we didn't break the silence that followed.
"Watch your step. The bed of the stream is rather slippery," Katsuyori said before he left me alone to bathe.
As I shed my temporary clothing, I thought only of what Katsuyori had said. He didn't remember a time before being with Takashi. It could mean that Katsuyori was Naraku. He could have been reincarnated. Midoriko could have simply wiped his memory clean. I didn't sense a demonic aura, but something wasn't right about Katsuyori.
I stepped into the cool water and began to scrub at my flesh. The temperature was perfect for a stream, but I didn't take much notice. A rustle in the bushes quickly caught my attention. For a moment, I forgot about all the loss I'd experienced. I smiled.
"You have to be quieter than that to spy on me," I chuckled, moving towards the edge of the stream.
A small animal scurried from within the bushes, and my smile faltered. There was no one to spy on me. Everyone close to me had perished. Kohaku resided with Totosai. Rin remained with the bedridden Kaede. Sesshoumaru was—well, he was Sesshoumaru. Kouga had probably settled with Ayame. It wouldn't have surprised me if they had a litter to call their own.
I sighed and continued scrubbing at my flesh. Red lines covered my arm. I had been scrubbing far too hard.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Author Rant
.-.-.-.-.-.
Takashi is my OC. He's not really important, but he needs love too. Please, adopt an OC today!
Question(s): Is Katsuyori truly Naraku? Maybe; both Miroku and the readers are not really sure.
Reviews are loverly!
Ja ne.