"Are you sure you are okay?" Kagome's voice interrupted my thoughts. There was a tone of curiosity as well as worry wrapped around that gentle voice and then her face came into my vision. For a brief moment, I just watched her, tracing my eyes along the sculpted features of her face. Her brown eyes were upon me, eyebrows etched in worry, and her lips were half parted. I noticed her hair whooshing to the right, a few strands obscuring her vision. "Misuzu?" Tilting her head some, she lifted up a slender milk colored hand and placed it in front of her face, breaking my sight of her. Left and then to right, she waved as if greeting someone.
"A-ah..." I stuttered, breaking out of my momentary daze. With a short smile, I grabbed her hand gently and brought it down to her side. I, too, arched my eyebrow and leaned in closer to her. "I'm fine, Kagome." I assured the woman and she just let out a sigh in return. "Everything is fine." Flickering my eye to the side and past Kagome, I noticed Sango was watching me with Miroku accompanying her. He was probably trying to do something perverted, I assumed, and looked back at the dark haired school girl in front of me.
"You've been in a daze lately, Misuzu." Kagome announced. "Ever since we left the cottage. Are you sure you are alright? Is your neck bothering you?"
"Keh! Quit pestering the girl with questions, Kagome." Inuyasha spat out not a moment after. I turned my head to the side and looked up at him. He was, of course, wearing his usual red kimono and he walked with his eyes closed, arms behind his head. He seemed bored and perhaps that was why he decided to interrupt Kagome and I. With a chuckle, I lifted my own hand that had just made contact with Kagome's and brushed a lock of chocolate colored hair behind my ear. After that, the two began to bicker as always, leaving me to my own thoughts.
We left the cottage at noon like we had planned with no real destination except traveling to another village in hopes of finding any clues about Naraku. To our misfortune, he still seemed hidden away from sight, as if he never really existed in the first place. But, we all knew well that the moment we begin to relax and enjoy ourselves is when he would show up and destroy the happiness we create. In fear of that, we all continued to search endlessly with that one shred of hope. Everyone just wanted to be done with the man once and for all, that was the truth of it entirely.
Closing my eyes as we continued our destination, I couldn't help but feel sad. Just an inch of sorrow bathed my thoughts, gently caressing my beating heart. Although I loved Inuyasha and his group dearly, I couldn't keep my mind from that certain golden eyed, magenta striped demon. It had already been days, perhaps a week, that I had fallen in a slumber to recover, and yet there wasn't a sign of him. It was like he had disappeared from the face of the Earth, along with Naraku and perhaps that crimson eyed demon. Perhaps it was the loneliness I began to fall victim of that really got to me, knowing that he wasn't by my side. Of course, I knew it was just paranoia, but the feelings kept creeping up on me, squeezing my conscious.
Looking ahead of me, Sango and Miroku were in my field of vision. They were a lot closer than the last I traveled with them and there was a sort of aura around the two. Sango eyes bore into his as he spoke, a gentle laughter escaping her feminine lips. She placed a hand over her mouth and continued to heave chuckles whereas Miroku held a shocked expression, though loosened up and placed a masculine hand upon her shoulder. She tensed, ceasing her laugh, and then I spotted the faintest beautiful smile on her mouth. He had returned it, bringing his own vision ahead of him, his staff jingling with movement.
I smiled to myself, an internal one, and envied the two. They were the pure essence of a couple and I found myself unable to look away. For the briefest moment, I could just picture myself standing side by side with Sesshoumaru, taking in his presence and lightening the mood with my smile. Of course, it was yet another daydream that brought me far from reality. I was, once again, lost in another daze as Kagome had noticed moments before.
"I don't think this village was attacked, Inuyasha." Sango's voice broke me from my daydreams, bringing back into the present. We seemed to have covered a lot of ground in the few hours of traveling and up ahead of us was a distant village. There wasn't smoke or any horrid putrid scent of burning flesh, nor was there the crimson pool of blood that had masked many other villages that I'd come across. Standing on the tip of my toes, I tried to get a better look at the distant village, squinting my eyes a bit. At first I didn't understand what Sango meant, but as I concentrated on the area, I realized there wasn't any movement. It was either a village that slept during the day, or it was deserted.
"Shall we proceed anyway?" Miroku asked, slipping a hand on Sango's back. The woman gave Miroku an undecipherable look and then let out a sigh. The two of them turned their attention to Inuyasha and Kagome.
"It wouldn't hurt." Said Kagome.
"Keh, fine. Do what you want, but I'm telling you we aren't going to find anything there." Inuyasha explained to them, pretty confident in his conclusion. "It's untouched."
"Let's go, everyone." Kagome ordered with a stressful sigh, placing a thin finger to her forehead. Inuyasha barked at her frustration, but she seemed to block him out of her thoughts. With that, we all continued to walk, nearing the empty village that lay ahead of us. My neck pulsed after awhile and I figured it was probably all the physical work we were going though. It was too soon to be up and traveling, but I very well couldn't hold the gang back just for me. Lifting up a hand, I touched the wound gently over the bandage material that blanketed it, and winced. It hurt, but it was to be expected. I had yet to really get a glimpse of it raw, but at the same time, I was a little afraid to anyway. The best thing for me, was to hope it wasn't getting infected and was just painful due to recovery.
Upon stepping into the entrance of the village, we concluded that it had been abandoned. There were cottages that surrounded the area, untouched, but the weeds and grass were tall with growth. The greenery was everywhere with wild herbs and plants, even the scent of the place seemed to scream out emptiness. Untouched. I turned my gaze from left to right, taking in the image of one cottage to another. In all, the place looked beautiful should it have still been alive, but there was a sense of loss in the air. It made the onlooker wonder what happened and why there were no people to inhabit it. And then, we all continued, lost in our thoughts and finding clues as to any reasoning.
"That's right..." Miroku let up, planting the end of his staff into the Earth. He placed his other hand on his chin and let out sigh of thought, his dark eyes taking in the village. "I've been here before, but ages ago." Everyone let out a short gasp and he only smirked slightly. "But it was lively back then, I wonder what happened..." His voice trailed and we followed suit in wonder.
We'd entered through half the village when we came upon a burnt down cottage. The lot of us just stood in front of it, inspecting the damage. It looked bad and the houses beside it were also black with burn. "Must have been bad." More than one of us mentioned. In the end, we had decided to just leave and search for another area that might lead us to Naraku. But as soon as we had turned to leave, an aged man blocked our way.
"What business do you have here?" The man demanded, a stern look upon his elderly eyes. He wore tattered clothes, as if they hadn't been washed or changed in a century and his hair was graying at the top. His skin shown ages of hardship and stress, making us pause momentarily. The man looked us all up and down and sighed.
"We are sorry, sir, we were just passing through." Kagome said with a polite bow of acknowledgment and apology. The elder man watched her though narrowed eyes for a long moment, lifting a hand and placing it upon his chin in thought. We all stood tense, awaiting his year long reply. He then tilted his head up to the sky and closed his eyes. At if on cue, I glanced at Kagome whom wore a slightly confused expression. Together, we linked a smile that seemed to say 'I don't know' and then just settled to wait for the elder.
"Come along then," He smiled, showing off his darkened worn out teeth. Reaching out a frail hand, he used the other to point off to the right. "Stay the night, I highly recommend it."
"Thank you, but we-" Kagome started to say.
"I won't hear it, I insist you stay the night. Besides, it's about to rain if I'm correct with my calculations." He interrupted. "Pardon me, my name is Takuma. Welcome to the village."
--
In the end, we were forced to stay the night in Takuma's cottage. He, like a well mannered human, presented us all with food and comfortable beds to sleep in. Takuma admitted that he hadn't seen a human or demon face in quite some time, that it brought back some memories. He also said that the village had been abandoned years ago and he refused to go along with, due to his emotional ties to it. He had been born here and vowed to stay until his last breath escaped his lips. The fact was cold, but he stayed truthful to his origin. Any other questions were denied with a smile and we weren't let on with anymore information. Why was the place abandoned? What happened to that lone cottage? Takuma had left into a secluded room of the home and let us converse with each other in a sign that he was finished telling his tale.
Night came quickly and just as the old man predicted, rain began to patter the cottage roof, splashing puddles outside. We all sat with small talk, mostly lost in our own thoughts, and watched through the entrance opening as that hard crash of water descended to the Earth. Distant thunder roared low, making it's presence heard, and when it was getting to the point where we could hardly see each other, we settled in our own little futons and attempted to fall asleep.
I didn't have a dream that night, unless you call a mixture of colors a dream. I was slightly aware of it, as if my conscious was stuck in the middle of a tornado of paint. Reds, blues, oranges, purples. Most of all, black surrounded the merging blotches of ink. It was like a darkness that one longed to fly away from, to reach out for the light in order for protection. I didn't have a body in my dream, so I was stuck in the void of colors as the darkness crept in on me. The colors were getting smaller and then it was dark. I couldn't see, couldn't touch, couldn't think.
I opened my eyes to a more realistic darkness, the odd dream slipping away from my thoughts. Everyone around me was still lost in a slumber. Tilting my head a bit, I spotted Inuyasha sleeping at the doorway, free from the falling rain and clutching the sword to his body. His silver hair swayed gently, brushing against the smoothness of his face and then falling back to its' original area. He looked peaceful, but would probably awake easily should anything unusual happen. Closing my emerald eyes again, I tried to go back to sleep but was left with a sudden insomnia. Sleep was far from my mind or rather, it refused to take hold of me again, and I wasn't looking forward to being awake for the rest of the night.
So, I sat up, my dark hair brushing against my back with my hands in my lap. I just stared ahead, watching the lone motionless wall stare back at me. The patter of rain filled my ears, making me aware of the gloomy weather, and when my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, I turned my gaze back to the doorway where Inuyasha slept. My eyes took him in again and before I knew it, I had pushed myself up and out of the futon, stretching my legs from stiffness. For a moment, it was like an out of body experience. I watched more than performed as my body gently took one step after another until I was mere inches from the Hanyou. I wanted him to stop me, to force me back to sleep, but he was lost in a slumber as if willing me to leave the cottage.
That was exactly what I did. I walked passed the half demon and stepped foot upon the muddy ground. It felt sticky, making me imagine walking right into a pool of quick sand, it sticking to my skin and riding up the crevice of my toes. Then came the rain that fell atop my body and wetting my skin. One second out in the open and half my kimono was drenched, droplets riding in rivers down my limbs. Even my face was streaked with tear sized trails, dripping south to the ground. The coolness of it brought comfort and I stood there letting the rain caress my skin. The wound on my neck was pounding and I figured it was the discomfort of water. Next came the stinging. No matter, I began to walk again as if I were being pulled along by strings. For now, I was no more than a marionette to a force I didn't understand.
Soon, my feet were covered in mud to the point that I felt like I was dragging them rather than walking. But my destination was nearing, a place that grabbed hold of me and slowly pulled me along. In front of my dull vision was that one blackened cottage which was consumed in flames during an unknown time. I walked closer until I was a foot away from the closest part of the home. That was when I stopped, leaving myself to just gaze at the destruction. My eyes trailed the dark material that was almost invisible due to the weather and time, though was shiny with rain, and then was taken aback with the sudden emotion. I felt sad staring at the broken cottage. Hesitantly, I lifted my own hand and reached out. My fingertips grazed the charred material, it crumbling apart with contact. Sadness... I took a step closer with the intention of entering the home.
A hand gently grabbed my shoulder, breaking me of the spell. Jerking around with fear, I stared wide eyed at the culprit whose hand was touching me. In front of me now was that familiar half demon, his red kimono drenched from the rain.
"Inuyasha...?" I questioned, moving away from the cottage. I lifted my hand to my face and brushed back a couple strands of hair that were plastered to it. "What are you doing here?"
"I could say the same to you." He replied and stepped closer. My heart skipped a beat. Scenarios were rushing through my head. Inuyasha lifted a clawed hand ever so slowly and neared it to my face.
"Kagome..." I began and lost my voice just as his hand cradled my face. I lost my breath and his thumb came in contact with my cheek. A light brush and he broke the contact.
"Kagome...?" He questioned and showed me his thumb. On it was painted black and it was then that I realized I must have marked my skin with the hand that touched the burnt cottage. I heaved a sigh of relief and looked down at my filthy hands.
"Never mind." I tried to hide my embarrassment by turning my attention back at the home. He copied my actions. "I couldn't sleep." I told him next, answering his question.
"I was worried you might have come into danger." Inuyasha answered me at last. We both looked at each other and chuckled. "You'll catch a cold if you stay out here longer. The least we need is for you holding us back longer." The Hanyou said half bitterly with the roll of his golden eyes. His brother flashed in my mind as I stared at him and then I quickly punched Inuyasha in the arm as a result to his words. He only laughed, thinking nothing of my puny attack.
"Come on, Inuyasha. It's been a month. No, it's been more than a month since we last got to travel together. Do you really want to run me off with your attitude?" Arching my eyebrow, I turned to him with a smirk.
"Keh, It wouldn't matter either way."
"Liar."
"What were you about to do awhile ago?" He asked suddenly.
"Huh?"
"You know, before I stopped you."
"I..." I began and lowered my eyes. I asked myself the same question and couldn't find an answer. What was I doing out here? In the rain no less. Breaking and entering a home that I had no business with. What was wrong with me? Shifting aside my internal questioning, I shrugged. "I'm really not that sure."
"Keh, figures." He shook his hand and grabbed my hand. "Come on, we're heading back." Upon pulling me along, I was suddenly overcome with a wave of nausea. It was as if a weight had suddenly dropped in my stomach and I was twirling around over and over. My head felt light, it's contents swirling like a tornado. A dull pain and I forcefully broke away from Inuyasha's hold. He watched me curiously just in time to witness me turn my back to him and hunch over.
I held my stomach as the contents of it spilled out from my mouth. Everything that I had consumed that day crashed down like a waterfall onto the muddy ground, mixing in with the Earth. The smell was revolting, causing more involuntary lurches form in my throat, and finally when I had finished, I felt physically drained. Behind me, Inuyasha clutched my shoulders and helped me stand up. My legs felt like Jello and I leaned against the Hanyou, my breathing labored.
"Misuzu?!" He panicked, turning my face to his. My head felt as if it were splitting. Pain, stinging... It was like a dozen fingers were probing my brain and using their fingernails to scratch right under my skull. I pushed away from Inuyasha and vomited once again.
The time for reunion is near, Misuzu.
I knew it. That sudden voice that echoed in my mind. It was horrid and sadistic, a mocking laughter deep in the tone of his masculine voice. Naraku had invaded my head again and I was suffering. I clutched my temples, my legs threatening to fail on me. I breathed hard, panic rising in my chest. The rain crashed down on the two of us, but each droplet felt like needles to my skin. Reaching out, I grabbed the front of Inuyasha's kimono and stared at him frantically.
"He's!" I began, trying to find the sentence. The Hanyou clutched me tight, listening to me with worry etched on his face. "He's..." I started again. "He's coming..."
"Who?!"
"N-Naraku...!" I lurched again only nothing escaped my stomach. There wasn't anything left and then I felt my strength draining from me completely. I no longer held my balance and my conscious was fading. "Nara..." And I could speak no more.
I apologize for this chapter. It wasn't as well done as my others, I think personally. Anyway, I was writing this with writers block, so cut me some slack lol. Next chapter soon, and much better I assure you. So, stay tuned! Reviews are always welcome.