Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters. I only own Amaterasu Reiki and the plot of this fanfiction.
Chapter 3: Numb
Do it, Reiki. You're in danger, what else are you supposed to do?
As the demon closes in on me I grab the iris placed in my hair, remembering what Kaede had said. I hold it out towards the demon, away from me, and squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to see the damage it causes. I hear several sharp daggers pop out of the flower and the cries of the demon chasing me. I then hear it fall on the ground with a loud thud!
I did it. I killed. I'm no better than Naruku. "Reiki!" Sango's screams can be heard from miles away; they echo throughout the forest and are nearly as loud as the heart beating in my chest. "Reiki, are you okay?" Sango is not badly injured, for there is just a tiny mark above her forehead. So she had been attacked as well.
We had been walking. Sango was exploring with me as I searched for useful herbs and flowers with special healing abilities; however, large monsters that looked like mutations of different insects suddenly attacked us. The monsters expressed a dark purple aura: evil. Sango and I rushed to our fighting positions, when I was hit to the side by the giant creature. That is when I had to use my iris.
After gathering the herbs we planned on obtaining, we head back for Kaede's village to greet the others. This marks the beginning of our travelling together. Miroku, Inuyasha, Shippo, and Kagome are all waiting for us in Kaede's home, so as soon as Sango and I arrive we are rushed on the road.
We walk for hours before coming across an unconscious boy in the middle of the dirt road. "Oh my God, that poor boy." Kagome says, dropping her bag to go and help the boy who has seemingly collapsed. I stop walking. Inuyasha glances at me, a questioning look under his gaze as my eyes search the empty area we have come across. "Reiki, what are you doing? Come help this kid."
The child's aura is a dark purple, hues of blue and even some green. I have a strange sense of familiarity to this same aura. "I can't help his kind." Everybody looks to me, annoyed and confused. "That child is no human." Kagome is knocked over to the side of the road immediately after I speak; a large demon emerges from the young boy and makes an attack on the time traveller. It's a disgusting looking demon, one of the same Sango and I encountered hours before. Inuyasha yells for Kagome, and I take the liberty to help her walk somewhere for shelter.
I set Kagome down in my lap, her head resting against the fabric of my kimino. As Inuyasha fights the demon I rip off a petal from the chamomile in my rucksack. "Here," I tell Kagome, raising the small herb to her forehead. "This should help the throbbing." She gazes up at me, the oddest look settling in her eyes before she nods, replacing my hand with her own.
The demon refuses to die. It seems to grow stronger every time Inuyasha uses the tessaiga on it. This demon is the most peculiar. I've never seen something so odd. Its aura is so obviously evil; that much is easy to tell, but I can't place where I've met this interesting sense of familiarity. "Reiki, watch out!" I'm snapped out of my thoughts and raise my eyes from Kagome's resting and to the giant spider leg reaching out to me.
It is then I remembered.
As this demon grabs me, ripping Kagome from my grasp and dropping her to the ground, I remember where this aura is from. The demon brings a tight grip to my neck, and I desperately try to remove its teasing hold. I can just barely breathe under the fingertips of one of Naraku's demons.
"Big sister, I'm scared."
"We'll be all right, Hotaru, I promise to get you home safe."
My teeth clench at the memory of my dear baby sister. "Y-You foul d-demon!" I shriek, my fingers attempting to pry off the furry leg groping my neck. "R-Release m-me at o-once!" I can hear the awful sound of Inuyasha cutting off the multiple legs on the creature, but for some reason, cannot see him. My eyes scan the area for a clue as to what is happening. My eyes widen from fear—the demon is creating a force field around us. All I can see is darkness.
"Big sister!" The sound of Hotaru's voice fills my ears and I feel my eyes begin to water. My body grows into a cold stillness and my eyelids begin to feel heavy. My body is dropped to the ground in an instant, and it feels as though I am falling for hours before slamming into the dirt road. The oxygen I have been in such need for reclaimes its spot in my lungs.
A soft hand rubs my back and I cough. My eyes open and I meet Kagome's large eyes. My new comrades are all surrounding me, worried looks in their eyes. And in the distance, miles away, I spot a young girl, dressed in a light blue kimono. "Hotaru." The word flies from my lips in the tiniest of whispers. But when I blink she Hotaru vanishes.
"Hotaru?" Miroku asks. "Who is this 'Hotaru'?"
All eyes are on me. I focus on steadying my breathing, ignoring Miroku's question completely, but nobody seems too bothered. "Are you okay, Reiki?" Kagome questions. "I have no idea why that demon grabbed you and totally ignored me. It's strange…" She places a finger on her chin, as if deep in thought. "It's almost like it knew you."
Dirt is scattered along the fabric of my kimono, so I dust myself off and rise. "I have encountered that demon before. A very long time ago."
Everyone seems intrigued. "What?"
"It is a long story." I sigh, putting a hand on my neck where there are sure to be red marks from nearly being killed. "Please," a small grin makes it's way on my lips, and my eyes squint sweetly, "do not worry for me." None of my friends press the subject, and for that I am grateful.
We begin walking again, but Kagome has to hold my arm over her shoulder because I'm so weak and my legs took damage from the drop to the ground. "We should find shelter, it's getting dark." Miroku declares, glancing up at the sky in a thoughtful fashion. "However, I don't think there is a village for miles. We'll just have to camp out."
"All right. Sounds good to me, I could use a rest." Sango replies, and we then start to look for nice ground to sleep. During our scavenging, we find a hot springs. "Oh boy! It's our lucky day. I need a bath." Kagome states, smiling at me before helping me sit down by a tree. "I say we stay right here. Doesn't that sound nice, Reiki?" I nod at the teenager and smile kindly.
"You ladies bathe on this side, Inuyasha, and I will bathe in the spring opposite this rock." Miroku says, laying a heavy hand on a huge rock dividing two separate hot springs. "Bye, now." As soon as the boys leave Kagome and Sango begin to strip, as do I.
As we all settle into the water, Sango giggles contently. "This is so relaxing. My legs are aching from all the walking we did today." I sit in the corner of the spring, resting my arm against a small rock and digging my back into another. "So, Reiki, tell us more about yourself. We've been traveling together for a number of days but barely know anything about you." Kagome asks, a small grin on his pink lips as she suggests the simple idea.
"What do you want to know?"
"Well, where are you from?"
"I come from an ordinary village. My family was the only palm healing family."
"You mentioned your mother passing, but what about your father?"
"He is no longer alive, either."
"I'm so sorry… I couldn't imagine not having a family."
I shrug, the smile falling from my face at the mention of my loss. "I've learned to live with it." Mother… Father… Hotaru…
"If it's not too personal, can I ask why you left your village? Why did you begin traveling by yourself in the first place?"
Nobody trusted me anymore. After the fire, after the death of my father and Hotaru, nobody wanted anything to do with me. I was banished. Forced to pack up, move out, to hit the road, at only fifteen years old. "I wanted to share my gift with the world and help those in need. The death of my family made me stronger."
"You are an inspiration."
Sango joins our conversation, nodding her head and offering me a sympathetic smile. "Truly."
"Enough about me. I hate talking about myself."
"Kagome, why don't you tell Reiki about your world? I'm sure she'd love to hear about it." Sango senses my discomfort and suggests a new topic to discuss. I nod my head eagerly at Kagome, and she begins to speak of ninja food and school and her friends. I stop listening because I hear something shuffle in a bush.
I feel something nearby. Suddenly it is gone. Moments pass and I feel nothing. I soon rise from my position, stepping out of the spring to get dressed. "I am going for a walk." I announce, pulling on my kimono. "Please excuse me."
The cold air guides me through the forest and toward the moving aura. When it comes to a stop, a large distance away from our campsite, I freeze and take a seat against the stump of a tree. "Lady Kikyou, it's been so long."
"Reiki," Kikyou's voice fills my ears, and she emerges from the shrubs of green. My eyes dance along her figure. Kikyou has a hand raised to her left shoulder, blood staining her pale hands and white kimono. "Kikyou! What's happened?"
"I-I" Kikyou's words came to a pause and she falls to her side, weak. I shush her and rummage through my pockets, hoping to find some spare herbs. I undress her shoulders and press my palms to the bloody skin. The scent of her fresh blood lingers in the air and on my hands. It takes moments before I'm sure the wound has lessened in producing blood.
I am quiet as I work at her shoulder. My palms lie flat across her skin and I feel the strength. Within seconds I am sure it's finished, but when I open my eyes, the wound still remains. Of course, there has been a small amount of progression; the cut has shrunk. My eyebrows furrow and I try again, but simply cannot heal Lady Kikyou's injury completely.
Instead, I ripped a sleeve of my white kimono and wrapped it tightly around Kikyou's shoulder, shushing her quiet whimpers. The blood is seeping through the fabric but it should at least stop the bleeding completely. "R-Reiki," she says, drawing a tired hand over her shoulder.
For the next few minutes Kikyou lies with her head in my lap. We watch the stars and listen to the breeze flow through the trees, waiting for Kikyou to regain her strength.
"I had my soul collectors search for you." Her voice is frail, quiet. It's as if she is about to fall asleep. "My body does not take hits like before."
"You have to be more careful."
"I apologize for asking for your help, Reiki."
"Please don't apologize."
In the distance I can hear the shouting of my name. "Reiki!" Inuyasha's voice is clear. I look to Kikyou to see she hasn't moved at all. "I must go, priestess. Please, take care of yourself." I help Kikyou to her feet and she smiles kindly at me. She disappears in a curtain of her soul collectors. A grin plays at my thin lips.
Inuyasha comes running at me. "Where were you? We thought you got—" his speaking pauses. I watch as his eyebrows furrow, his nose pointed to the sky, Kikyou's scent in the air. He glances at the blood on my hands. Moments pass before I feel him dart closer to me, curling his fingers around my thin neck and slamming me into a large tree. "Where is she?!" He shouts. My breathing shortens and my eyes squint into small slits.
"Where is she?!"
"Big sister!"
"Inuyasha, sit boy!" Kagome shouts, and Inuyasha releases my neck, slamming to the floor with a loud THUD! I gasp for air and replace the redness on my neck with my own fingers, as if to confirm I am no longer being choked. "What is going on here?!" I fall to my knees and attempt to steady my breathing.
"Inuyasha, what were you thinking?!" Kagome growls, running to me to help me to my feet. The blood on my hands transfers to Kagome's own palms. I glance at the hanyou slammed into the surface of dirt. "Reiki, are you all right? Where's all this blood coming from?"
A part of me prays for Kikyou to reappear, to explain what had happened so it didn't look like I had done her harm. I rub my red fingers against the cloth of my kimono, but the blood has tried and it will not come off.
Had the miko planned it to be like this?
a/n
ok hi its been more than a year im so sorry omg
uhh this is super late. im still here? school is a thing? i am awful at updating? these are not good excuses but it's the truth
leave this a review if ya want and follow it i guess? some people are following this story and tbh if you are reading this ur amazing. ok bye