KOTODAMA

"The soul that resides within words."

Chapter III

Fifteen meters were between him and the door of the building where she lived, the woman whose purse he was now carrying. Since Shippo handed it to him, he hadn't been able to let go of it and was now having a hard time defining what his motivation was. Little less than half-an-hour ago he finished his shift, and realized he was quite close to this place. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about who was the person who drew the drawings inside the purse. He knew it was that unfavorable curiosity that had posted him in this place, and if someone were to notice his presence and were to call the police about a man surveying a building, he would surely have a problem.

His attention abandoned his worries once he saw the light from one of the apartments on the third floor go out, and an instant later a door giving to an external ladder opened up and gave way to two girls that were soon on their way down. InuYasha felt his heart starting a frenetic race inside his chest, like the ones the greyhounds ran in one of those clandestine races he saw a few times, many years ago. He had a sort of certainty in his chest he didn't know where to steer, nor why it was there; however, he knew it as soon as he saw the woman. He had no issue identifying her as much as because of the picture in her documents, which didn't do her justice, and because of the pressure that suddenly found place within his chest.

He kept himself hidden by the entrance to the garden right in front of the building, admiring the light that the girl seemed to emanate only by standing, waiting for her companion to check something in her phone. He stopped to observe the detail on the folds of the green dress she wore, and of the way in which they moved, with grace, when she swayed her hips slightly. He delighted himself, thinking such a gesture seemed to have something seductive to him, in a way that only those deep emotions do when they are yet to be discovered.

When the girls finally decided to continue on their way, he kept staring at the folds of her green dress as they danced at the rhythm of her steps. He sighed, and didn't quite catch the moment when he began following her, he just did and found himself walking slowly behind her, always near the buildings to blend in and hide if necessary.

InuYasha wasn't one to follow his impulses, for it had been long since he learned to be cautious, and avoid exposure, life whipped it into him. He would never forget the way in which he had to make some distance between him and one of his friends during childhood. The kid's name was Bunza, they'd met on the street, and would often wander far from any adult's sight; InuYasha because he'd constantly run away, and Bunza because his father was still in prison, and was in his grandfather's custody. One day, after they'd been hanging around for about two months, InuYasha had the idea of going inside a grocery store to snatch a couple of ice creams, and given that he was the oldest, he wanted to give example and went out right in front of the saleswoman in charge of the shop, not without sending her a smile full of victory, feeling even more smug about his villainy. Once he crossed the door outside, he ran a few meters and turned around, shouting: Did you see how easy it was? But to his surprise, and later regret, Bunza had been caught, and a man with the shop's uniform had him by the arm as another started his way. InuYasha felt his chest shrinking, he was only a year older than his friend but he knew such a thing meant he'd be taken to a youth center, and the stories he'd heard of such places weren't good. That day, fear beat him and spurred him into running away. Never again did he try something so obvious, and since then every single action was always under calculated caution.

For that very reason he kept himself as hidden as he could from the woman in the green dress and her companion. He even doubled his efforts when she joined a group of youths. He observed her interacting and could read her gestures that there was something she didn't quite like about how one of the men, who got closer, was treating her. Something moved inside him, InuYasha noticed it reverberating withing his chest like a wild creature that had been deeply asleep. He felt the impulse of making his way through the crowd inside the narrow street, and that right now served him as cover, to help that woman out of the situation. However, he held back, in the same way he always did in front of an event. From experience he'd learnt the skill of observing and calculate his movements, as if every moment of his life were strategically planned on a board, and he had to think carefully about his next step.

When he perceived the group beginning to get inside the izakaya, in his mind he pondered whether to wait or just leave. The latter was the logical choice, yet there was a certain intent he still wanted to confer to the thought, and that intent was asking him to stay. For a moment, he found himself wishing for her to see him, for the gaze of that woman to be cast on him, and in that way to exist inside her world. His surprise was even more pronounced when her eyes, which he could barely make out and that, despite it, his mind was illuminating them in endless hints of chestnut brown, observed him until his heart began to shake. He had to admit that scared him, and triggered his half-cooked escape.

He began to walk away, not wanting to look back to make sure he'd made some distance; however, he was escaping without running away, not fully, keeping a pace that would allow him to see the woman in case she decided to turn around. He looked back, hidden by the hood of his red sweater, which made him as visible and as ordinary to everyone else. He turned at a less crowded side-street, one that would allow him to sneak away through the gardens or the shadows created by the low light. He was one step away from the new street, and probably from getting fully away from her, when he experienced a striking sensation of ancient loss, of abandonment and the ghost of a shadow covering everything. He stopped, turned around to look at her directly, albeit still sideways, as if fearing that facing her fully may allow her to steal something from him.

They were close, not enough to hear what the woman was muttering, but enough for him to see it. Her green dress was a shade darker due to the street light right behind her, highlighting her figure delicately and creating an aura that invited him to sigh with the same softness with which she brough a hand to her chest, as if holding a feeling.

What was that insurmountable feeling of being before a unique instant, and one fragmented throughout time all at once?

He didn't have a name for that. He didn't know one.

He chose to keep going then, there was no logical sense for this trance, he didn't know her, today being the first day he ever caught glimpse of her. He turned around to continue on his road, and to avoid repeating today's path as much as possible. Yet she stopped him. Wait, was the only thing she said, and managed to force his whole body to halt his steps as if she'd just evoked the most powerful of spells. He couldn't stop, he shouldn't, mustn't look at her again.

My purse. He heard a second attempt.

That's right, if he were to return the purse, everything would end.

His hand found the belt crossing his chest, and made the attempt to take it off, only to realize his reticence before the idea of that thin and intimate link he had with that woman, ending. InuYasha wanted something, and was having a hard time knowing what it was. He smiled, it was ironic for him to be this indecisive, he wanted to see her again. His gaze set on hers once again, and shook his head before being on his way.

He turned around the corner and rested his back against the immediate wall, his ears focused on the sound coming behind him, just in case the woman insisted on her pursuit. A part of him found himself wishing for it, to stop her against the wall he was resting against.

He was scared, he had to admit he'd just lived one of the strangest situations of his life, and even so he still felt eager to see her again.

.

To recreate the images inside her mind was what Kagome could do best. When she looked at something, she could capture size, color, texture, depth, and if she were asked for more, she could even give intention to that which she was observing, a person or a vase it didn't matter. However, she had spent a number of days trying to reproduce the gaze of that man in the red hood, trying to capture the soul she'd seen in it, yet to no avail. The strange part, she was trying to portray a sensation, something she read in his heart more than in his eyes. No amount of detail was enough, not in the tracing of the iris, nor the way in which she felt the thoughts of the young man deepened; despite getting the color and expression right, something was lacking, and she knew it to be her fault for being unable to portray it, she knew it was something hard to tell. She had the feeling of having witnessed one of those marvelous things that happen in one's life, and that are often kept in secret, only for oneself, because nobody else would be able to understand it.

Kagome stood up then, the room was starting to get cold at that hour of the night, and observed with detachment the drawings on her desk. There were so many versions of those eyes in the sheets of paper covering the surface she couldn't believe none of them matched what was in her mind. She closed her eyes, and sought all the traits that at a glance, she would usually be able to get a hold of.

She let a couple of minutes pass, insisting in her memories, to then sigh as her eyes opened again. She focused on her window next, and on the moon, casting light now almost full. She had to see him again, and knew it was absurd to wish it so, for it was out of her hands.

.

"You haven't touched your coffee." She heard Ayumi's voice.

She looked at her for an instant, as if her voice and the routine engraved in her question had to mean something to her. It was strange for her to feel so out of her own life, of her thoughts, of what until a few days ago was normal and even treasured to her. It simply seemed as if her soul had taken a long moment of rest, leaving her to live among shadows.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to be late." She apologized. It was the truth, and also a good excuse for her distraction. A certain degree of guilt nagged at her, seeing her friend's efforts. "I haven't forgotten about the bentō. Yesterday's lunch was great."

She wanted to thank her, as she put on her jacked.

"Well, you eat your food at least." She smiled. "I'll come back late today; I have to go home."

Kagome nodded before that reminder. Her friend worked as a saleswoman at a store, and because of their different working hours, she would usually leave after her, and return late as well. On top of that, one day every week she would usually also visit her parents.

"I'll wait for you." She announced her, and received a smile as reply.

Her steps took her towards the metro station as usual. She reprimanded herself on the way for not bringing an umbrella with her, for the sky was announcing rain, and given her luck of late, it would probably catch her on her way back. She hoped to find a store near the station where she could buy one, and felt thankful for being able to focus on questions as mundane as that.

The way by train went as usual. Ever since her purse was stolen, she began to leave her drawings at home, and if she had some idea, she would then sketch it on the tablet to then create a few drafts on paper. It was more work, yet due to her lack of inspiration lately it didn't make much of a difference.

Her morning labor went alright, Izumo sensei had considered favorably everything she presented until now, and she felt well with that, for at least that part of her life seemed to function well. It was strange, the days after that encounter she had with the man in the red hood passed, and the events, and every single thing she had to do, had come out alright, yet she felt static, halted in a moment; in that moment.

During lunch break she found a cold afternoon that made her ponder about the place where she should take that break; it didn't seem like a good idea to stay at the park, waiting for the sky to pour it down on her. Master Izumo had told her she could use the same study room, yet Kagome needed some fresh air, move her body a bit, and unstuck her mind from her workplace. Under those consideration her decision wasn't hard to make. The bentō ended up staying back in the study, while she went out for a walk.

After wandering for a while, she found herself admiring the way in which the tree leaves were falling. Autumn was in full effect, and had brought with it the melancholy of that which is left behind. Kagome perceived, for the first time in days, the voice of her character in her head.

I don't want to lose my days with you.

He sounded sad, as she had never heard him before. The phrase seemed something out of a moment further along the story in her head. Many times she would see images of him, of her character that right now she was having a hard time naming, during instants that didn't seem chronological to her. It made sense, for stories not always flowed in order. Sometimes, she thought time wasn't really lineal; her thoughts created the present and anchored it through her emotions. An event from the past was her present if she still harbored feelings from that moment, and in the same way she could imagine her future in eagerness. She believed so, at least.

"I wouldn't be able to let that happen." She brought forth the answer, maybe to the place, to the air, to the emotion contained in the life of the character inside her mind.

She appreciated the way in which the leaves were falling, and touched others already on the ground, or flew with the wind as if reading lines she was unable to see. She wondered if there were lines linking people without they being aware. She wondered if the boy she'd seen some nights ago, was seeing her too through stories inside his mind.

To be continued.

N/A

I share with you a new chapter of this story that has me very excited, and I hope it has you too.

Thank you for reading, commenting, and keeping me company in this adventure that is to create.

Anyara.

This text is possible thanks to the translation of: Dezart