KOTODAMA
"The soul that resides within words."
.
Chapter XIV
.
"Love is a constant that only the undemanding soul is able to decipher."
.
Once outside the hotel, InuYasha seemed to become extremely aware of all movements around him, something Kagome noted due to having seen it, twice before, in their past visits to that district. Despite that tension she could perceive from him, they went on their way, walking through alleys while keeping a certain sense of normalcy; it seemed, Kagome further observed, that he felt much more comfortable when in places where he couldn't be seen, not easily at least. She didn't know how it was possible for him to be invisible given his physical characteristics.
InuYasha appeared destined to stand out wherever he went.
"Just a few more streets." She heard him say, right before meeting his gaze, briefly, over his shoulder.
Kagome nodded, releasing a sound of agreement, to then distract herself for a moment, observing the small balconies and back-stairs of the buildings around. On one of them, she saw a woman smoking, leaning to one side as her hips were against the handrail. What caught her attention the most, were her clothes; a coat of something resembling mottled wool, which let one glimpse the slip underneath, which she was wearing as a long dress. To her mind, it seemed the very image of decadence, as if she were looking at someone who once had been gorgeous. The woman caught her unblinking gaze, then winked at her right before saying:
"What are you looking at, hāfu?
Her voice echoed, magnified by the closed-up space they were in, calling InuYasha's attention. He looked up, saw the woman, then reached out with his hand to take Kagome's and pull her close, as to not leave doubt that she was under his care.
After walking a few steps, Kagome gathered her courage to inquire about it, almost in a whisper, "why did she say that to me? I'm not mestizo."
InuYasha smiled, yet in the gesture there was pure irony.
"She didn't mean your race, but rather your social class." He tried to clarify.
"Social class?" She repeated, not understanding.
Their hands were still linked, a touch Kagome was fully conscious of, as she was of how natural it seemed to them. To her mind came a string of moments where the character inside her head would take the hand of the girl with him, yet she soon chased them away, focusing on what InuYasha was saying.
"Yeah, it's easy to see you are not from here." He further explained.
"How is it easy?" She pondered out loud, obliviously.
InuYasha looked back at her, his smile shedding the irony and showing pure entertainment.
"Do you look at the mirror in the morning?" He voiced, his tone playful in a way Kagome sensed as sweet.
"Yes." Was the only syllable she managed to answer.
InuYasha only laughed, without adding anything else.
"Don't laugh at me, I'm not weird…" Kagome retorted, examining her clothes. The flare of her skirt, made of Scottish fabric, reached right above her knee, while her dark jacket covered her blouse and sweater.
"In here, you are." He stated, yet his voice was sweet, and kind.
They continued on their way, leaving behind that particular woman.
"We are almost there." She heard him explain. She couldn't answer anything, however, for the greater part of her attention was on their hands, linked.
Kagome had the need of closing her fingers around his, yet the action seemed too intimate, and she was afraid of ending that beautiful touch due to her own impatience. She sighed, as quietly as she could, hoping InuYasha wouldn't hear her.
It didn't take them too long before they stood in front of an izakaya that seemed to scream from every corner that it was a run-down place. On both sides of an old, wooden frame, there were two worn-out signs, as much as in color as in their material, with a list of dishes that to Kagome seemed to be pure fat, and which made her wonder if there even was something edible in that place. InuYasha pulled at her hand, gently, leading her inside and through a short corridor, where he let go. The fading touch distracted her for a moment, yet the racket inside brought her back; everything in there seemed much brighter than what one would expect from the entrance.
The place was relatively small, with lines of tables grouped together on each side, forming a sort of corridor that led straight to the kitchen, the latter indicated by a noren of two parts where Kagome could read what she assumed was the name of the place; kusuri.
"Medicine?" Kagome wondered out loud, referring to the inscription.
"Yes. Kaede's motto is that food heals us both, our bodies and souls." InuYasha seemed to smile as he gave that answer, she noted.
As they neared the kitchen, Kagome stepped to the side to stand a meter away from the noren, while InuYasha lifted one of the small curtains and spoke inside.
"Is Kaede here?"
"Who's asking?"
Kagome caught sight of InuYasha's smile again.
"Dog-boy." Was his answer, evoking a strange sensation in her, between surprise and comprehension. She had never heard anyone refer to someone else like that, yet the description itself resounded with some corner of her mind.
Soon after, she caught sight of a dwarfish figure, that despite their height, had a strong physical constitution. Kagome glimpsed she was a woman when her face peeked out of the kitchen, around fifty to sixty years old and with a dark, grey eyepatch that greatly differed from the kind, wide smile that filled her cheeks as soon as she saw InuYasha.
"You've been away too long, dog-boy." She heard her say, then saw her lift a hand and palm InuYasha on the shoulder.
"Well, you see. That's the life of an adult." He replied, a hint of entertainment never leaving his features. Kagome became conscious of her own wish of seeing that serene happiness on him, always.
Kaede made a speculative sound that Kagome interpreted as the woman's own way of accepting InuYasha's excuse. After that, her one eyed-gaze settled on her. For a moment, she felt Kaede could read her aura, or even her soul, if she so wanted. She was strong, Kagome comprehended then, and realized she would not dare to call her elderly.
"You've come with company?" The woman asked, just to answer herself before InuYasha could add a word, "hi, I'm Kaede." She introduced herself, and Kagome answered with the proper bow of courtesy.
"She is Kagome." InuYasha intervened; it wasn't his first time introducing someone to Kaede, yet he found himself caring for what the woman may say about her.
"Kagome." She repeated the name, as if looking for something in its sound. "What are you doing with dog-boy?" The question came as even funny, yet Kagome noted a genuine interest in her answer, and that made her glad, for it meant that InuYasha seemed to have someone who cared about him.
"I'm drawing him." She replied, lifting the folder under her arm slightly.
"Drawing him?" Kaede emphasized her surprise, "and why would you do that?"
Kagome's gaze dropped before the question, for she suddenly realized how hard it was for her to say what she liked about InuYasha out loud.
"Give it a rest, granny, you are going to chase her away before she has something to eat. And her stomach is loud enough already." InuYasha interjected.
"How do you know that?" Kaede shifted her attention, and one eye, to him.
"I've got good ears, remember?" He smiled, and so did the woman. They seemed to be sharing a memory.
Kagome blinked twice, startled, after looking at the top of InuYasha's head. If she didn't know it was impossible to begin with, she could have sworn to have seen a couple of furry, pointy ears on each side.
From inside the kitchen came a voice, calling for Kaede, who turned around briefly. "I'll be there in a moment!" She replied, then returned her gaze to InuYasha and her. "C'mon. Get comfortable and order anything you want." She invited, gesturing to a table by one side of the kitchen, and visibly put aside from the rest in the line.
Kagome observed how InuYasha gently bowed in reverence to the woman, and how she palmed his arm in a caring gesture, again close to the shoulder. After waving her to sit, Kaede disappeared behind the kitchen's curtains.
"What do you want to order?" InuYasha asked, skimming through the laminated menu.
"Well…"
She began to look through what was offered, and given how cold it was and the time, she quickly chose a bowl of ramen.
"Today it's my turn to pay." She stated then, as InuYasha left his own menu aside. "Did you pick anything?"
"I did." He mentioned, calmly. "But I'll pay."
Kagome felt worried, not knowing how to bring up the man's financial situation, for it wasn't her problem, not really. Her lips parted as she hesitated, once, twice, her mind looking for the right words.
"Don't worry. Kaede and I have a deal." InuYasha clarified, his gaze settling on hers for but an infinitesimal instant.
Why did he seem to be evading her?
"Oh." She let out, managing to make him look at her for a tad longer than before.
"You want to know what is it." He guessed. It wasn't a question, far from it. Maybe, InuYasha was more used to being under someone else's judgement than he showed.
Kagome nodded a couple of times, softly, so that he could understand it was pure curiosity what was driving her.
"She feeds me, and I help her with some jobs at the restaurant. Nothing complicated." He shrugged as he replied, then lifted a hand to signal one of the waiters. Once the boy, who probably had barely reached the age majority, took their order, InuYasha dedicated her a long, intense, decisive look before adding, "what did you think?"
What did she think?
Nothing, actually. For an instant, she pondered how hard it had to be for InuYasha to bear the people's judgment and not be beaten by inaction. She herself didn't know if she would be able to realize her dreams before such a barrier in her life; it was true that her mother hadn't been supportive of her idea of studying art, since it was her mind a career in administration, economics or computing would make it easier to find a well-paying job. However, the obstacles her mother had put in her way had always been manageable. She guessed such hadn't been the case for InuYasha. In fact, she realized she was assuming too many aspects of his life, and knew actually little.
"What do you like to do?" She let out the question, not thinking about it too much. Kagome needed to focus the chaos that was her mind.
InuYasha looked at her, amazed. Nobody had ever cared about what he liked, and the feeling became so overwhelming he fell back, defeated.
"What does it matter?" He deviated his gaze to anywhere in the izakaya.
"Of course it matters!" Kagome expressed vehemently, returning InuYasha's gaze to her. "The things you like are defining you."
InuYasha's brow furrowed slightly.
"Do I need to be defined?" It didn't seem strange to him, thinking that for a girl like Kagome, it must be hard to bear something without a label.
"You do and you don't, I guess." She hesitated. "It can be important to you, so you can bring forth the utmost potential of what you are."
His heart quickened, InuYasha noted, before those words. A part of him felt capable of understanding what Kagome meant, and to even accept the fresh and idealistic vision she had of life; yet he also knew that the only way he had ever shown his potential, were in matters that were of little satisfaction for a girl like her.
"I guess." He said, simply, his voice throaty and slightly weak. Then, he felt Kagome's hand over his, as she squeezed it.
"It is so, InuYasha. We all have something to give." She stated, confident. It made him believe, it made him see the strength behind that conviction; if felt as if Kagome had been supporting him all his life, despite knowing such a thing was impossible.
Silence filled the space between them, amidst the boiling conversations and laughter around them. To look at each other, straight in the eyes, became something easy, a gesture that lasted a long and short instant at the same time. An instant that was interrupted by the waiter bringing their food.
"Enjoy." InuYasha said, the sticks in his hands as he waited for Kagome to start eating so he could as well.
"Itadakimasu." Kagome replied with a smile, showing her own appreciation for the food.
They slurped the noodles at the same time, and that made them laugh with their mouths full.
"They are delicious." Kagome complimented.
"I know. Kaede is an incredible cook." InuYasha concorded.
"You've known her long?" She asked, despite knowing his reticence to answer personal questions.
She could always try, however.
"Yeah, well… fifteen years, I believe?" He shrugged, then slurped some more.
"That's a long time." She added.
Then, she looked behind him, to the noren, thinking that in there, there was someone who knew InuYasha since he was a child. Her gaze returned to her bowl then, pondering if it made sense to feel so much for someone who a few weeks prior was a complete stranger. To her mind came the memory of her drawings, and the realization than she had knowing him all her life, after all.
"Something wrong?" He sought to know. Kagome looked at him, smiled, then shook her head.
"I think I know of another place where we could go, so I can draw you." She said. InuYasha seemed slightly surprised at the notion.
.
.
Bibliographic Registry
Scroll Nº 17
Discovery 8828, Sengoku
The days are getting rougher. This cycle's winter has been harsh, harsher than the one I remember after my mother's death. Kagome has spent the whole day in bed, covered by layers and layers of blankets, aside from the lit hearth; it forced me go out, to stay clear of the suffocating heat, even if for a moment. However, just a while ago, she turned around in the futon, looked at me, then smiled.
I think I can still hope.
.
To be continued.
.
A/N
Noren: curtains used to separate rooms.
I hope you are enjoying this story that is arriving little by little, but that is moving forward nonetheless, with InuYasha and Kagome walking by the hand.
Thank you for reading, commenting, and joining me.
Kisses,
Anyara
This text is possible thanks to the translation of: Dezart