KAWAAKARI
"The river that glows amidst the darkness."
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Part I
Chapter I
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InuYasha's steps were leading him up, through the dark and imposing stairs connecting the lower floor of the huge house he lived in, with the dungeons. The light coming from the torches danced, gently, creating phantom forms on the walls made of the same material as the stairs, granting the structure a strong foundation. With every step taken, his wool pants, delicately woven, would adjust to the shape of his body and waist, without losing the perfect line of ironing down the leg. It was a perfect piece of cloth, despite the many bloodstains spread around the thighs and the front; probably, those pants would no be able to return to his closet, just like his sweater and white shirt, whose sleeves were marked by a few drops of red, despite having pulled them up.
But when his blood, boiling in his veins, demanded a prey, little else mattered.
Yet such were the consequences, he thought as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and watched how the white cotton thread became redder and redder as he cleaned his fingers and palms. He sighed; he'd need to throw it away too.
Setting aside that obsession of getting rid of the blood and the viscera on his hands, He instead focused on getting to the end of the stairs, where he was welcomed by the artificial light coming from a few oil lamps in the hallway connecting the main room with the rest of the house. From there, he started towards his own room, his steady steps muffled by the vermillion rug covering the hallway's length, as he wondered, like many times in the past, if there was any real need to occidentalize everything. Old, traditional Japanese houses seemed to him just as comfortable, albeit, maybe, slightly less private. In a shelter made of stone and wood like the western houses, with barely a window to look outside, everything happening inside remained safe for those living in them, or for those who were invited in.
It was useful, and tiring.
Sometimes, InuYasha felt like he could throw away the plethora of things he had, like the place he lived in, the clothes he wore, even the skin hiding his deeper and horrendous being. Occasionally, he would even wish he could just break away from everything, and exist through his most basic instinct. A roar vibrated in his chest then, much more intense than what he intended, startling the two maids that were trying to walk by him without being noticed, which caused him to stare at them, his golden eyes flashing curses. An instant later, he pushed open the double doors leading to his room with one hand, ripping a piece of wood from the lock he didn't bother with.
"Hot water!" He shouted, as soon as he stood in the first part of his room, knowing his voice would be heard by any who was close, probably the same two women who had just crossed his path.
He began to undress then, a sort of interlude between the outburst he went through back at the dungeons, and the cleanse waiting for him in the form of freestanding bathtub, which was the common sight given the house's decoration. Soon, every piece of cloth ended up on the floor, from the scarf he was wearing, like a tie, to his long cotton underwear.
"Is it ready?" He asked, standing naked by the door's frame.
The women, carefully preparing the bath, kept their gaze on their task at hand, one of them later nodding twice once the water's temperature was regulated. InuYasha didn't like it too hot, for his own body temperature was already high, yet he needed a certain number of degrees to feel truly clean.
"You can go now." He absolved them of their task of helping him bathe, as he usually did most of the time, for he himself was enough. He had done it since he was but a child, bathing under a waterfall, or by a river's bank.
The women walked by him with their gaze on the floor, and not uttering a word, yet even then InuYasha knew that one of them, the youngest, stole a glance at him when she thought he wouldn't notice. He also heard how the other one reprimanded her.
"Burn those clothes." He ordered, not leaving room for doubt nor question.
Stepping towards the bathtub, which was already spreading a thin line of steam against the cold of the night, he felt the lingering tension in his muscles from the violent moment he lived a few moments ago. He drank the sake directly from the bottle, despite the glass right by it, for he had little to no interest in delicate details like those right now; then he went inside the water, immediately feeling the heat. He sunk to the bottom, submerging his head as his flexed legs made his knees stand above the water's surface, and remained there, observing the air bubbles ascend and break, one by one, the same way weak beings usually did.
There was an appreciated calm in the deadened silence, he thought. For some reason, it helped him find something resembling peace. It couldn't last eternally, he knew, for nothing could.
He knew that too.
Tomorrow, he would make a trip to the city. Maybe, a new prey may appear before him, one where he might find a true opponent, one that could sate his bloodlust.
Then, he lifted his head, and filled his lungs with that much demanded mouthful of oxygen.
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There, further inside the shop, there was a dress that, to Kagome's eyes, seemed to outshine any of the ones exposed on the front window. The small blue ruffles elegantly decorating the neck, were beautifully finished by an embroidery of the same color. The only detail with a different hue was at the end of the skirt, of a bright pearled gray. The bodice was rigid as well, she noted, thinking how it would lift the chest suggestively, exposing the skin of that zone with a certain provocative intensity, one that would no go unnoticed by those in the usual gatherings. Kagome imagined herself inside that dress, a blush gently settling on her cheeks before the idea; such vestments weren't her usual choice, although maybe for that particular event, it could be.
"How do I look in this one?" Her friend, Sango, appeared from behind the curtain of the dressing room. She was wearing a pale-yellow dress, with white details, which highlighted her figure, while the neckline traced a long curve from her shoulders to her chest, giving it an elegant tint.
"You look great." She accepted.
Her friend turned around, showing her the backside, which stood out thanks to the ruffles decorating it.
"I like it too, but I'm not sure." Sango voiced, as she looked herself in the full-body mirror.
Kagome knew her friend liked little to stand out, but the gathering was at her house; the excuse, her brother's birthday, to which she couldn't refuse with her usual ploys to not join other events.
"This is so hard, Kagome! How many has it been already?" Her friend shouted.
"Three." Kagome helped her, seeing how the pressure of being the eldest daughter, and to have to please the lords coming to the party, began to weight on her dropping shoulders.
"Just three?" She expressed. "Feels like a hundred."
Kagome smiled at her, then stretched one tail of the ruffles, so that Sango could see it.
"I liked the previous one better, the pink one. It didn't have such a generous cloth exposition on the backside." She smiled again, and her friend, this time, smiled back.
"The pink one?" She inquired, unsure.
"Indeed. It isn't the typical sweet pink, or the pale pink some girls wear to pretend being kind. It's an intense pink, strong, and in a way, the perfect pink for you." When it came to helping others, Kagome was usually quite keen, yet such criteria usually eluded her when it was about herself.
To show confidence, and to pick the choices that were good for her, was a hard task. Maybe that was why she felt so close to Sango; she would always push her forward.
"The pink one, then." Her friend agreed, then gestured to the clerk, who was near and waiting for her decision. "And you? Has anything caught your attention?" She curiously asked.
"Oh, no, nothing. Any of the ones I already have will do." Kagome denied, feeling slightly bashful.
"Which one do you mean? The lemon green, or the pale pink one?" Her friend wondered, not holding back the mockery in her voice.
"I used the green one for that last gathering at Hojō's house, and the pink one…" She didn't feel comfortable with that color anymore.
"Hojō will be there. You know he's taken a liking to you. Maybe you should think about it a bit more." Sango mentioned, looking back at her friend, imaging her wearing that blue dress that reminded her so much of the ocean waves at night. "What about that one?" She sought to cheer her friend up. "It's blue, but leans to a different tone…"
Kagome didn't want to pay attention to that comment, and turned half-way to observe the dress her friend spoke of. To her surprise, it was precisely the one she was analyzing a moment ago.
"Green." Was her answer.
"Please, try it on!" Sango insisted, placing both hands on her arm. Kagome shook her head, slowly, fighting against the smile dancing on her lips. "I want to see how it looks on you."
"It's not for me." Her smile widened, spurred by that little adventure.
"Please, we are already here. It'll be fun!" Sango insisted further, breaking finally Kagome's feeble resistance.
To try it would do her no harm, she thought. Most probably, it wouldn't even suit her, and so Sango would relent.
"Alright, but I'm not taking it with me." She said ahead of time, not knowing the surprise that the dress would bring her, nor all of the implications she could not have even imagined.
A moment later, Sango was waiting for her while already wearing the pale-yellow dress she had arrived to the shop in. She was brushing her hair in front of a mirror when the clerk opened to curtain, and Kagome stepped from behind it. Sango couldn't hide her joy upon seeing her wearing that blue dress, almost as if tailored for her.
"You look gorgeous!" Was the compliment she couldn't hold back, believing it true. The sincere esteem for her friend mixed in her words, drew a bashful smile out of Kagome.
"You are just saying that…" She expressed, with keen reserve. Kagome believed herself to be fairly easy on the eyes, yet such perception was far from the gushy one her friend seemed to have.
"Have you looked in a mirror?" Her friend retorted, then grabbed her by the upper-arms, turning her around so she stood facing the full-body mirror to their side.
Kagome observed herself, surprised, as her own heartbeat began to quicken. There was a sort of foreboding feeling in what she was seeing in front of her. The dress beautifully traced her figure, tight around the torso, while delicately by her waist, allowing the cloth to fall slightly more loosely at her hips, further highlighting her shape. Her chest, just like she expected when she saw the dress for the first time, was emphasized, yet never to the point of looking obscene. There, she observed the gentle way the dress' cleavage opened, allowing her shoulders to be seen, all of it finishing in an embroidery of the same color as the rest of the dress, the end of the skirt being the sole exception, with its clear, pearled gray that seemed to brighten everything else.
"You look stunning." Sango sighed, her breath taken away.
She caught sight of her friend catching her long, dark curls, then gathering them to most probably tie them into an updo.
"You have to take it with you." She declared, softly, yet convinced.
Kagome met her gaze through the mirror, noting the honesty in the eyes of her friend and feeling, maybe, guided by them. The dress had to be hers, she thought, because she could perceive something through seeing herself in it.
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Both friends came out of the shop when the light of the sun was already fading on the horizon. They had spent hours in that place, choosing the right dress, and now they both seemed content with what they had obtained. They still needed to come back a few days later, to try them on again, for such garments still needed a few adjustments to really shine.
They crossed the street, Kagome being the first to enter a soft run to avoid an approaching jinrikisha, one of the many typical vehicles pulled by men.
"I'm glad you ended up choosing that dress, Kagome." Sango expressed, letting a certain air of complicity hang between them as she took her friend by the arm, once they were both at the other side of the street.
"The one you got looks great on you." She tried to keep the center of attention away from herself.
"Yes, I do believe it a good decision." Sango accepted. "But don't change the topic."
Both laughed, briefly however, for soon their joy was replaced with curiosity and caution.
"What's happening there?" Sango inquired.
The reason for her question was in front of her, on the edge of one of the many waterways leading to the bay. There was a group of people there, their shapes blurry due to the dimming light, yet by them there were two men in charge of keeping order… which meant a possible crime.
To Sango's thoughts, came her father, who should be there.
"Let's go!" She urged, practically pulling Kagome along.
They made their way through the crowd, almost twenty, until they reached the front; Sango first. Just like she thought, they found her father there; Tsuyoi Taijiya was considered one of the best yokiri, a rank in the police that was created as the country began occidentalizing, a few years ago. He could have been a machi bugyō, in the same way as other samurais did, yet from what Sango had told her, her father liked to be on the streets instead, and be in charge of keeping order. Her father also had said there were many old things, ancient things that were unknown to them, a warning he had repeated more than once.
"What's that?" Kagome asked, her voice thin. A sort of foreboding feeling came to her then, the same kind she had grew up with. There, she watched how one of the men, by the side of Mr. Taijiya, was pulling an object submerged in the waterway. It was something no larger than thirty or forty centimeters, and that reminded her of a cane.
Her wonder was answered soon enough; it was a human arm. And it didn't seem to be the only one. She felt her blood running cold, knowing such things did indeed happen around the old Edo streets, yet she never thought she would witness the aftermath of one.
She closed her hand into a fist, trying to keep her uncertainty under control, and it was in that instant when she felt her intuition telling her something, warning her. Her gaze skimmed through her surroundings, seeing many figures hidden by the retreating semidarkness before the street's lights. Then, she saw him for the first time, half-hidden beneath a building's shadow; a man of silver hair, taller than most men she knew, impeccably dressed and looking directly at her, through some strange glasses. To her mind came a word she had never heard, one she thought could be a name; InuYasha.
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To be continued.
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A/N
I hope that this story is starting to take shape for you, and that you tell me your thoughts in your comments.
Thanks for reading, and keeping me company.
Anyara
This text is possible thanks to the translation of: Dezart