Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters. I only own my OCs and the plot of this fanfiction.
Chapter 2: The Iris
I walk outside the hut and stare at the sky. It's a dark purple… I've never seen it so beautiful. I often use my time to look at its beauty, it's one of the most calming things you can do. I sigh softly; thinking about how much better looking at the sky would be if my father, or Hotaru, were here. My gaze searches the land for no one in particular, and I spot Inuyasha sitting on the field up ahead. He's looking at the sky, too.
My feet bring me to the hanyou sitting cross-legged in the grass. I take a seat next to him and he looks over at me, face blank. However, he turns his head and continues to look up at the stars. He is sad, I can sense it. "You long for the one named Kikyou," I announce, examining his face when I mention her name. He looks at me, shocked.
"Huh?" He asks, staring into my dark blue eyes. I only smile and squint my eyes, looking back up at the now dark blue sky.
"Kikyou," I say. "You love her very much."
He doesn't reply, just continues to look at me. He's unsure of what to do. Whether or not he denies his love for Kikyou, I will always know how he feels. It's all over him. The sadness he tries so hard to hide is his craving to see her again. "You would do anything to be with her." I put my hands in my lap, sighing. "But there's also another girl." This catches him by surprise. "Kagome," I say. "You feel the need to protect her." I still don't hear a reply from him. Thinking that he does not want to speak to me, I rise to my feet.
"Wait," He stops me, holding out his arm to my legs to stop me from leaving. "Sit with me." I oblige and sit down in my previous seat. "So, you can read minds, too?" He jokes, causing me to chuckle half-heartedly. He eyes me like he did this morning. It's almost as if he's trying to read me, and it's moments like these I'm glad I'm the only aura reader alive. My guess is that my aura is full of nothing but shades of blue, and more green than anybody I've ever witnessed.
"It's obvious. It's all over you." He cocks his head to the side, obviously not understanding what I'm trying to say. I shake my head, silently stating that it would be pointless to explain what I mean, as he would still not understand. I've met Priestess Kikyou before, that's how I know of Inuyasha and their previous relationship. I healed her a while back when Naraku attacked her. Her arm had a gigantic cut and it wouldn't heal fast enough for her to survive it.
She's distant. For reasons I can't even understand.
"You shouldn't have to change yourself for anybody," I inform him, locking eyes with the half-demon. I don't explain myself because I know he knows what I'm talking about. You see, Kikyo wanted him to turn human, that way they could spend the rest of their lives together. "Goodnight, Inuyasha." I say, rising to my feet once again. However, this time he does not stop me, meaning he is actually thinking about what I've just said to him.
- The Limit -
"How long have they been out?" Kaede, the old woman who cares for this village, asks me.
"An hour or two."
"I wonder what is taking them so long. I hope everything's alright."
I continue to wash the kimono she handed to me. I've been helping Kaede for the past hour while the others search for jewel shards. Inuyasha insisted I stay behind until I find an acceptable weapon to defend myself with. I tried to explain to him that I don't like using a weapon, but he just took off, the rest of the group following. Sango told me she'd travel with Kirara to find me a blade, or something of the sort.
"Why didn't you go with them?" Kaede asks me, eyebrows raised.
"I don't have a weapon incase something comes after me."
"Oh, a weapon? Well I have a weapon you can use." She stands up slowly, making sure not to hurt her back. She walks over to a cupboard and she rummages through it before pulling out a small flower. She comes back to me and hands it to me. "If you point this iris at someone, the petals will fold up, and daggers will shoot out of them. And if you throw it, the petals will grow into daggers." She explains. "It's a basic weapon, but very dangerous."
I accept the small flower from Kaede and examine it. It looks like any ordinary flower. I smile at the old woman before sliding the iris into my hair. If a demon attacks me, they definitely will not notice this tiny weapon. It's far too small and insignificant for anybody to. They'll simply think it's decoration.
"Thank you, Kaede-sempai."
"Ouch!" Sango's voice fills my ears. "Would you cut that out?!" The gang enters Kaede's home. "Hey, Reiki. We could use some help," She motions to the cuts all over her arms, and the wounds on the others. I nod at her, putting on a look of determination as I walk over to the group quickly. I put Sango's arm around my neck for support and guide her over to one of the sleeping mats spread out.
"Easy now," I say to her, laying her on her back. "Hang on, let me get some water for you." I stand up and get to the sink in a hurry. I fill a cup of water for the demon slayer and walk back over to her, setting the glass to my side. I sit down and pull up her sleeve, causing her to moan in pain. I set my hands on her left arm and focus. My eyes flutter closed and when I open them the cuts are gone.
"T-Thank you." She says, examining her arm.
I furrow my eyebrows, concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." She smiles at me, sitting up. "It's just a little overwhelming." I hand her the glass of water and she gladly accepts it.
"Hey, Reiki, Kagome could use some healing too." Miroku says to me, bringing my attention over to the future girl. I rise to my feet and bring myself over to them. "It's her leg." He announces. Kagome lays her leg out for me to heal, and I hold my palms against her cut and feel it vanish under my frail fingers.
"Thank you, Reiki." Kagome grins widely at me.
"Reiki!" I hear Shippo call. "Inuyasha needs healing, too." I smile at the fox demon and walk over to him and the half-breed. "I don't need healing, I'm fine." Inuyasha tells me, however the bleeding gash on his chest says otherwise. "Yeah right!" Shippo laughs at Inuyasha, but that only makes the hanyou pick him up and toss him across the room.
"At least let me bandage you up," Inuyasha's attention is put back on me once again, and I rummage through my bag for a cloth and some medicinal herbs. Araca… Hawthorn… My eyes widen. I don't have any chamomile flowers! "Shippo, could you come here for a second?" The fox demon scurries over.
"Could you please go find me some chamomile flowers? I saw dozens of them welcoming newcomers to the village."
"Oh, sure!" And with that he's off. I smile at the sight of a child as determined as Shippo. I then begin to dab the cloth into a bowl of water, making it damp before pressing it lightly to Inuyasha's wounds. "Ow," He whimpers, tugging away.
"If you don't clean it out, it could get infected." I explain, watching as he contemplates with himself, but sure enough, he hands himself back over to me with a sigh. "Thank you, Inuyasha." His ears twitch at the sound of his name. I begin to clean his wound, dabbing all the bloody spots and dipping it back into water every so often.
"Hey, Reiki?" He says to me, causing me to tear my gaze away from his cuts and place it on his eyes.
"Yes?" I reply, sitting down with my hands by my side.
He thinks to himself for a moment, and then shakes his head. "Never mind." I chuckle at him, causing his cheeks to turn the lightest shade of pink. Before I have the chance to say anything, Shippo comes running back into the building.
"Are these them, Reiki?" He questions, holding out the correct flower.
"That's right, Shippo. Thank you." He seems proud of himself. He hands the medicinal herb over to me and I smile my thanks. I turn back to Inuyasha and continue to clean out his wound until no more blood remains. I then rip a petal of the chamomile flower off and hold it to the cut.
Inuyasha waits patiently until I'm finished. I take into notice that the others have now left the house. Unsure of where they're headed, I turn to Inuyasha. "Where did they go?" He shrugs and watches me rip off another petal and replace the one I'm currently using.
"What does that do?" He questions.
"It prevents infection." I reply.
He waits a moment before asking another question. "Do you like palm healing?"
"It's alright, I suppose. But I was born into it, so I guess it's a must." I pause. "Do you like being a hanyou?"
He thinks about it, obviously putting some thought into his answer. "Eh, it's okay. I'd much rather be a full fledged demon, though."
I grow confused. "Why?" I ask.
"Being stuck in the middle isn't all that great."
I offer him a warm smile before parting my lips to reply. "I think you're pretty great." His eyes widen and I see heat rush to his cheeks. He quickly turns his head to the side, not comfortable with me seeing him blushing. I chuckle lightly. "You're something," I tell him, earning a 'huh?' from the half-breed. "Never mind."
It's silent again, but it's beyond comfortable. This hanyou is starting to grow on me. Pulling me out of my thoughts, Inuyasha turns back to me and gives me a smile before saying, "You're something, too."
A/N: End of chapter two! It's just a filler chapter, really. I promise the next few chapters will be more exciting! Now that Reiki finally has a weapon, she shall begin traveling (for real) with the Inuyasha gang. I hope you liked this chapter, I sure enjoyed writing it! Don't forget to review! Thanks for reading!
~ Elle