A Distant Promise – Mini-Chapter # 42

"Wait for me!"

As he followed her down the stairs and out of the hotel, toward the serving area where he was staying, Inuyasha could not help but feel completely befuddled. Mako-chan was an acquaintance – no, a good friend – at the inn. The entire time that Inuyasha had known her, the girl had been rather quiet and shy. But she had always been willing to talk to him, and she often seemed to appear wherever he was. They had gone out a few times, and he had enjoyed spending time with her. He thought…

Well, he didn't know what to think! A best friend of the opposite gender – it was sort of like having Kagome around, in the beginning of their relationship. After all, when he first met Kagome, the hanyou had been unable to believe that anyone would spend time with him or get to know him as a person. But Kagome had forcibly inserted herself into his life. And Makoto had made this effort too.

Why were women always so difficult to comprehend? Just when he thought he was getting the hang of it, Inuyasha found himself lost and confused, all over again. Mako-chan, she acted timid, but not scared of anything! Yet a few moments ago, when she saw him with Kagome, the girl had burst into tears and run off crying.

Without knowing what to think, Inuyasha had pursued her. Something terrible must have occurred to make the girl so upset. Ironically, it felt a bit like those times he knew that Kagome knew that he had visited Kikyou in the forest.

Argh! Guilt was the last thing that he wanted to feel, right now! Nothing happened between himself and Makoto. Even if they spent lots of time together, he shouldn't feel guilty about kissing Kagome, simply because Mako-chan saw this. Should he?

In any case, Kagome could wait for a few minutes, while he checked on his friend. The priestess had always been good about waiting. No matter how many times he left to chase Kikyou, there had always been a smile waiting for him at the end of the road, when he returned to Kagome. She would understand, once he explained.

Finally, he caught up to her, behind the hotel. They were on the outside of the rear-wall, which separated the onsen from the nearby woods. "Makoto?" called Inuyasha tentatively as he walked toward her.

"Go away," muttered the girl, refusing to face him. Her hair was completely blue – and it was a bright color like the evening sky, not a subdued, navy glow. And her skin looked… slightly greenish.

What was she, a seahorse youkai, or something? Thinking that it would not go well, if he asked this, Inuyasha bit his tongue. "Are you okay?" he inquired.

"M'fine," Makoto mumbled, curling into herself against the wall to block his view of her skin and hair. "G'way."

Quickly, he ran through all the youkai that he ever encountered in his head, trying to identify the unbelievable change in his friend's appearance. Hmm… no, definitely some type of youkai. Well, fuck. That was… It meant…

Wide-eyed, Inuyasha slid down the wooden wall to crouch on the ground, suddenly needing the extra support. He had been friends with her for months and months, and he had never even guessed. But just like his brother and the kitsune, it seemed that the girl he had known was only a façade. Mako-chan had a concealment spell around her, altering her appearance to look like a normal human.

And she was trying to hide it from him!

A spark of fury lit within his chest. Ever since coming to the future, fragments of his heart missed being a hanyou. Sometimes, no matter how hard he tried to suppress it, he regretted becoming a human. Out of all the people in the world that Makoto might have to fear – he was not one of them!

But in the end, they were in the same position. She didn't know his past, not fully. Apparently, he didn't know hers either. Not really.

And it had to end, today. Somehow, they would work through this. The sight of one of his newest, sweetest friends huddling in terror – because she was special – it made him sick! It was completely unacceptable!

"No, I'm not going away!" Inuyasha sputtered, frustration licking at his voice like flame. "What the fuck are ya doing, down there, anyway? I like blue hair."

It wasn't the most elaborate or erudite comment, but it conveyed his message clearly enough. She hadn't escaped his notice, and he wasn't horrified by shockingly electric-blue locks, and she was still considered a friend. Now, if he could only leech the anger out of his tone. Mako-chan wasn't someone toward whom he felt angry.

When she looked at him, at last, tears were dribbling over her cheeks and over her chin. If Inuyasha had been in his hanyou form, his ears would have flattened and he would have taken a step backward. But instead, he simply stayed put, as though his feet were rooted to the ground.

Well, damn. She shouldn't be crying this much, simply because her transformation spell failed. The blue-haired, olive skinned girl had tiny scales running over her nose, and she looked overwhelmingly hurt.

"You…" mouthed Makoto in shock, evidently unable to believe his comment. Her voice trailed out in a whisper. "You… know I'm a half-demon? But…"

Rubbing one hand on the back of his head, Inuyasha felt sheepish. "No," he admitted, "Not before now. That's a pretty good disguise. Usually. But you don't need it around me. Okay?"

Unfortunately, rather than improving the situation, this remark only made things worse. Tiny tears began to leak over her chin once more. Perhaps he had never given her enough time to get them under control? And this time, Mako-chan began to laugh too.

Laughing and crying at the same time, that was bad for the health, right?

"Why is it," hiccuped his companion, as Inuyasha's hands fluttered uselessly at her side, "That the perfect guy… You're not supposed to say things that make me like you more, when you…"

Inuyasha held his breath, before he built up the courage to sit by her side. Strangely enough, he could understand what she said. Learning that one of his best friends was, in fact, an extremely cute hanyou… it made him like her more. And it was distressing to realize that he liked her more, on the very day that he made up with Kagome.

Tilting his head back, he stared at the top of the wooden barrier between the onsen and the forest. Inside the hotel, the priestess would wonder where he had gone. Of course, she would. They had waited so long to talk, after he left the shrine. And he had spent the whole day trying to impress her – to make Kagome think that he was awe-inspiring, kind, and happily employed – so that she would stay with him, this time.

But then, the moment that Mako-chan appeared, he had departed. In that instant, it became more protect his newest friend from whatever distress she suffered, than it was to stand beside Kagome. This had happened before, with Kikyou. He knew it. He had hurt the women that he loved, unable to decide between them.

It could not be allowed to happen again. He had to make a choice and stick with it. Yet he thought he had…

Until Makoto started crying, and he discovered that she was a hanyou, and he realized that he wanted to know her better. He wanted to tell her that he had been a half-demon too. He wanted to say that he understood what she was going through, even if he didn't, because suddenly, reassuring her became the most imperative task in his existence.

Maybe… that was the choice? Oh, damn it. Maybe he had already made a choice, without even realizing it. With a sigh, Inuyasha gave Makoto a one-sided hug, letting her cry on his shoulder. Kagome would wait a few more minutes. She always did. And if not…

...he would worry about that later.