KOTODAMA

"The soul that resides within words."

.

Chapter XVI

.

It was the first part of the morning when InuYasha arrived to that particular zone of Kabukicho, the zone around which Kaguya Yasei's people moved. The establishments were already closing, he surveyed, ass he recalled how that woman was Naraku's direct competition; she had been for some time now, really, yet recently, it had become obvious. There, he identified some men in her employ, among which were Hiten and Manten, a presence that made him furrow his brow, recalling Shippo and the many times he warned the boy about that particular family. The boy was in love, however, that much was clear, and InuYasha could do little more about it.

With a shook of his head, he put those thoughts aside, knowing he needed to fully focus on his assignment; to deliver the envelope Naraku had given him, to Muso Zanyo. Against the light, it hadn't taken him long to recognize an SD card inside, and albeit he could infer many ideas about what could be stored there, he was also aware it was best for him to not know what it was about.

That was his job, a job he knew well enough to understand when to stop wondering.

There, he was able to see one more member of the group going out; Yura. He decided to bide his time, just in case there was someone else inside the building; it was Kaguya's main establishment, one where, every night, she would take a great number of the important clients in the circle inside, a fact that annoyed Naraku and that InuYasha knew from the conversations he had happened to hear, here and there.

Next, a young boy came out, one who seemed to be just another apprentice. He lit a cigarette for Yura, an act that took InuYasha to recall when he met her, a few years back. She had seemed a delicate woman, back then, one who needed someone's help. InuYasha, a teenager during those days who would follow Naraku's orders to the letter, had thought about taking her to the Kyomu, where she may find a way to work, but he didn't have it in his heart to push a new girl to live that life, so he took her to Kaede instead, where the old woman put her to serve the tables. Yura didn't last two weeks there before leaving, stealing some money from the izakaya and leaving a superficial cut on Kaede's left shoulder on the way.

After that, he never tried to help anyone again.

Back in the present, he left as soon as he could, and went to Kaede's izakaya; he still owed her for the dinner Kagome and he had shared, and it seemed as good a time as any to repay that debt. A weak smile curved his lips then, as he thought about that girl, a girl he had promised to call but had yet to do so, even after the many days since then. He didn't know her much, but he could bet that she was angry at him, and that said anger could mutate into a blossoming emotion he wasn't prepare to face. Maybe that was why he couldn't call her, nor go to her, despite not being able to stop thinking about it.

And every day was but a drop adding to that wish.

He sighed when he was but a few steps away from the back door to the izakaya, which then opened before he could even knock.

"Well, look what we have here!" Kaede shouted, dragging a trash can behind, "Have you come back to the back door, dog-boy?"

InuYasha smiled, dearly, despite hearing that hateful nickname. It was Kaede saying it, however, so it was fine. He took the trash can from her hands, then emptied it in the right container, a few steps away. As soon as he finished, he neared the woman and finally spoke, "done, I've paid for that dinner." He smiled, humorous.

"Not even close! You eat a lot, and so does your girl," the woman complained.

InuYasha's eyes widened before that reference to Kagome.

"Don't be silly!" The retort escaped him.

"Are you blushing?" Kaede wondered.

He could feel his own reddened cheeks, but he wasn't about to admit it, "just your imagination." He shrugged, dropping his gaze to the ground, and on the verge he came of pulling his hood down to further impede the woman's scrutiny.

"Look boy, I may lack an eye, but I'm not blind. You've blushed," she assured, turning around, towards the izakaya. "Come in, I'm going to have breakfast."

InuYasha smiled, still slightly embarrassed, and followed behind.

.

.

Kagome was already used to how InuYasha could disappear for days at a time, and despite knowing it part of who he was, she couldn't come to terms with it. Her mood was terrible, worse with every passing day, so much she could see it in her own lines as she drew. Her character, the InuYasha that had been with her for as long as she could remember, seemed now darker, and that's how she pictured him, his presence wild, even demonic. Kagome had the feeling such change happened when her character sent her, or more accurately, sent the Kagome in her story, back through the well that had connected them to begin with. She, as the omniscient creator of it all, could understand the reasons behind the main character's actions, yet even so she felt annoyed by them. InuYasha wanted to protect Kagome, yet he wasn't considering what she may want to do, nor the risk she was willing to take.

"Kagome?" She heard her friend, Ayumi, speak from the door to her room, "can you hear me?"

She turned around, then looked straight at her. She was right there, but a few meters away, how could she not hear her?

"Of course," she said.

"I've called you three times," her friend retorted.

"Really?" It surprised her, "I'm sorry, I was focused," she made a gesture to the papers she had on her desk, "Is it dinner? Is it my turn?" She inquired, trying to clear her mind and fully focus on what her friend may need. Ayumi was one of those sweet persons that one could not live without, but that on occasions they could be neglected precisely due to that kindness and unwavering love they could give.

"No, yes. No," her friend hesitated, "there is a man at the door, asking for you."

Kagome's heart knew immediately who that man was, yet her next thought came in the way, one born from reason and the layers of armor her mind was used to place in order to keep disappointment away.

Even so, she remained hopeful.

She stood up and looked through the window, confirming that it was night, and that it was still raining outside. Then, she walked to the door, checking her own appearance on the way; long, loose pants made of cotton, socks and a sweater so big it could belong to her older brother, if she had one. That didn't matter, not really, she thought, yet she also couldn't help wondering where her terrible mood had gone.

Yet she avoided the answer, scared of the implications.

"Is he outside?" She asked Ayumi, who was following her, silent.

"He didn't want to come in," she clarified. Kagome nodded, without adding anything, "How do you know who he is?" Ayumi seemed still in disbelief.

"A hunch," Kagome's voice was clear and concise, not leaving room to doubt.

Then, her mind erased from her perception anything that wasn't what was behind that door, outside, in the inner corridor of that building. When her hand touched the knob, the cold inside the metal creeped up her arm, all the way to her now restless heart. Kagome knew that heartbeat was unusual, and it was, even, nothing like the ones she had felt for a boy during her high school days.

Upon opening the door, she found InuYasha's figure highlighted by the artificial light falling from the ceiling, her gaze noting how he was keeping his silvery hair almost completely hidden inside his red hoody, and how his eyes were on her as if absence wasn't a word between them.

"I thought I'd never see you again," she commented, as a greeting.

"You owe me money." He shrugged, a smile playing on his features, too shy to be wide enough.

"Oh, that's right," she concorded, playing along that game InuYasha seemed to bring. Both of them knew of it, of that thin yet strong bond driving them towards the other, even if they were no where near ready to mention it, nor discovering it. "You'll have to come in if you want me to pay you."

InuYasha's gaze dropped on the floor, his hands still in his pockets as the water darkened a part of his clothes.

"Besides, you are soaking wet," she further argued.

"When I arrived, it wasn't raining." She saw him shrugging, as if looking to defend something they hadn't even mentioned.

"That's not an excuse… wait. How long have you been outside?" Kagome understood then what his words meant. He shrugged again, his gaze now looking elsewhere upon seeing himself found out. She smiled, however, slightly more confident. "You should know that, contrary to what some may think, staking someone isn't a romantic gesture."

"I'm sure, and I wasn't expecting to make this a romantic gesture," he clarified.

"Well, I'm quite sure of that last thing at least," Kagome tried to joke about, in order to hide how she herself had walked into a swamp of her own making. "Come in, it's cold out here."

She pressed, opening the door but without stepping in, in case InuYasha ended up running away again. There, she watched him straighten his back, as if doing so could infuse him with courage… however, this time he moved forward, unlike the last time they saw each other. He crossed inside, and Kagome followed.

"You can leave your shoes here, and if you need slippers, there are some there," Kagome pointed to a low cabinet to the side, "give me your hoody, I'll hang it to dry."

"Thanks," was his simple answer, as he slid the hood down.

"Incredible," Ayumi expressed then, a few steps away, "your hair is just like Kagome's cha…"

"InuYasha, this is Ayumi, my friend," Kagome interrupted her.

"Oh… right." Was his simple answer, this time with a gesture of his hand as a way of greetings.

"Ayumi, this is InuYasha," Kagome finished the introductions.

Her friend opened her mouth, as if to say something, yet Kagome's gaze was all she needed to put down that idea.

"Hi, InuYasha," was all she added.

"We have some miso left, right?" Kagome wondered then, walking by Ayumi to hang InuYasha's hoody near the heater.

"Yes, there is…" She answered, understanding the question as the request it was, her steps soon leading her to the small kitchen, not far from the entrance.

InuYasha began to take off his shoes, as his gaze wandered through the place, noting the room and its square meters, thinking it may be less than what Shippo and he had back in that abandoned house they shared. Kagome seemed at ease with him, and her friend appeared affable, despite the alarms and doubts that had to be ringing inside her head, sparking like small fireflies made of neon. He couldn't blame her, for he was but a stranger that had suddenly invaded her home.

"Come inside, take a seat." Kagome invited him with a gesture towards the table, a few steps from the kitchen.

InuYasha accepted, still not adding anything further to the conversation.

"Tell me, what have you been doing these days?" She wondered.

InuYasha observed her, hesitating. What was he supposed to tell her?

I've been with Naraku. I haven't told you about him, but he is my boss, much to my dismay, who gets around the yakuza world. I've got a job from him in the bag you gave me, and I haven't been able to deliver it. Oh, right, almost forgot; I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, where the words that flowed through his mind, and that got caught in his throat.

"Not much." Was all he could finally say.

"Oh, I see," Kagome's gaze left him, to settle on her own hands, as if looking for something else to say, only to then dart to her friend. InuYasha understood talking to him wasn't easy, not with all that he wouldn't say.

"Kaede told me to say hello if I see you," he managed to comment. It wasn't a lie, albeit it wasn't all the old woman had said; she had also told him to stop being an idiot, and bid him to spend more time with Kagome.

She looks like a good girl, maybe you can learn something from her, she had said.

"Oh, really?" Kagome's gaze seemed to spark when it met his eyes again, "I'd love to visit her again."

"We'll go back," he assured her, confident.

"We could take Ayumi with us," Kagome smiled to her friend.

"O-of course," to InuYasha, however, three people felt like too much of a crowd, yet he didn't add anything else.

Not long after, a bowl of ramen came to rest in front of each of them, and as they had dinner, Ayumi began to ask a few questions that Kagome answered without an issue… or at least, until her friend lost her politeness.

"So, InuYasha, are you two going out or something?" The question fell with a deaf thud, right at the center of the table.

"Ayumi!" Kagome shouted, scandalized. Her friend didn't look at her.

"Not really," was InuYasha's answer.

It was the truth, nothing but the truth, yet even then silence came into the room as if it were a fourth to their group of three, its weight filling the air. Kagome felt annoyed all of a sudden, not knowing why, as if that reality that she knew all too well had been thrown to her face. What was this? Was she misplacing her platonic feelings for her character, on that man by her side?

She already had an answer, one that was crystal clear, yet her mind seemed to shrink before even daring to give it shape.

"Kagome comforts me," InuYasha added then. Kagome looked at him. That wasn't a confession, nothing even near one, yet that didn't stop her chest from swelling with emotion, nor did stop it from losing her breath for two long seconds, when InuYasha's gaze found hers, all too briefly.

"And we have a business agreement," Kagome added, trying to squirm away from that strange and improper mood.

"Business?" Ayumi wondered.

"Indeed. He allows me to draw him, and I pay him," a forced smile arched Kagome's mouth.

"Well, technically, you have yet to pay me," InuYasha interceded, as a way to deviate the conversation.

Kagome returned her gaze to him, and as if understanding he was giving her a way out, she leaned backwards, in a gesture to stand up.

"You are right," she concorded, "and we should solve that right now, "she stood up. "Come with me." She started through the short corridor, leading to her room.

"Right," InuYasha stood up as well, then gave Ayumi a light bow. "Thank you for the food."

Ayumi looked at him for an instant, her expression clearly showing just how perplexed she still was with everything.

"Don't worry about it." She accepted his thanks, as she watched him follow her friend.

When Kagome entered her room, she let out a sigh. She had practically ran away from a conversation as soon as it became awkward, yet she also knew that her reaction was exaggerated; her relationship with InuYasha was nothing more than what they had explained, yet she also couldn't help wanting to keep it between them, away from everyone else. When she heard his steps, all too near, she forced herself to face the present, and to skim through her room to check its state. There wasn't much to tidy up, since she usually kept everything organized anyway, except for her desk. She started that way, and tried to bring some relative order to her sheets where she had been drawing, when InuYasha appeared. She looked back, and there he was, standing by the doorframe. For some reason, Kagome felt such a picture all too familiar, given that it was the first time InuYasha was there… yet most curious to her was to see him breathing in the air, as if sensing an scent, taking it in deeply, just to speak at the end of that gesture.

"It smells like you."

.

To be continued.

.

A/N

I like how this story is going. I feel like its alive, intense, delicate… despite the glimpses of something else, there in the background.

I LOVE writing.

I hope you are enjoying it, and that you tell me in the comments.

Kisses!

Anyara

This text is possible thanks to the translation of: Dezart