KAWAAKARI

"The river that glows amidst the darkness"

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Part II

Chapter XIV

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"I never thought dawn to be beautiful, until one day, upon seeing one, I wished to share it with you."

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Kagome slid the shōji softly open, her gaze lowered throughout the motion, needing a certain protection from the force of her intuition. She took a step inside, steadily closing the door behind her; wanting to take as long as possible before having to face the people in that room, practically hoping that such a time may be able to help her get past her own restlessness. All it did, however, was intensify it once she set her gaze on those seating before the low table, in the middle of the place. The air wasn't entering her lungs, not as it should. She had no memory of ever having felt like that throughout her life… and the reason for that unease, was the man of silver hair and golden eyes, who was looking at her with feigned seriousness.

InuYasha Taisho had sent a letter, days ago, asking for permission to visit her family's house, yet Kagome had no news since. Her mother, who had received the letter, said no more about the matter, and so it left Kagome's most present thoughts. Maybe, it had been out of a need for self-preservation, before the anxiety it filled her with. However, now she could guess the matter had been shared with her grandfather, for he too was present in the room.

"Kagome-chan, welcome. Come in and sit." Her grandfather addressed her, with the same joviality that was so like him, despite his years. Her mother, meanwhile, was serving the tea with ceremonial care.

"Ojisan," she named the one voicing that invitation, as a gesture of understanding and obedience.

Kagome closed the shōji door, conscious at all times of the people inside that room. She was unable to tear away her senses from the place InuYasha Taisho was sitting at, nor the way he was, probably, observing her. In that moment she cursed innerly at herself, for not heeding Hanae's insistent advice upon seeing her with her current garments.

She moved forward then, her gaze fixed low, and a step ahead of her white tabi, until she reached the center of the room. When she sought to look at InuYasha to greet him as it was due, he stood up with a gesture that impacted her as vertiginous and elegant. It surprised her, her body arching back so she could meet that man's gaze, tall as he was; taller than her by a head. Despite the lack of any meaningful gesture in his features, Kagome had the feeling he was laughing at her.

"Be welcomed," was all she managed to say, as she recovered her balance to give him a delicate, and educated reverence; worthy of a temple's heir.

"It seems I've come in between some activity of yours," he mentioned, a light joy coming through his voice. Kagome looked him in the eyes again, directly this time.

"Why do you say that?" She didn't expect the coarse way in which she shot her voice; almost as if willing to enter an argument with that man in front of her, and who she supposedly didn't know. She made another small reverence, before her mother, or her grandfather could reprimand her.

"I was just surprised by your vestments, that is all," InuYasha seemed to own the situation effortlessly, as he did the role she played in it. Kagome limited herself to smile lightly, so that nobody could note the fire that was starting to burn her stomach and throat.

Her emotions were starting to give warnings of unease.

"I was practicing kyudo." She went back to the delicate tone that was expected of a family's maiden.

"I see." It was then when InuYasha gave her a meaningful reverence, to then add a verbal greeting, "I am glad to see you, Ms. Higurashi."

Kagome noted the way her cheeks began flaring up, and tried to calm the sensation by taking a deep breath. Her grandfather let out a feigned cough, then she watched him stand up.

"Mr. Taisho has interest in visiting our temple," the elderly man intervened, "I believe you would be the ideal person to guide him, Kagome-chan."

She was unable to hide her surprise before his words, and upon observing her mother's expression, she ascertained she was experiencing that very same sensation as well.

"I do not doubt ojisan's judgement, however, I must say that he would probably be a better guide than me," Kagome attempted a desperate escape through some kind words and mindful tone. She wasn't prepared for this.

Her grandfather approached her, and placed a hand on her forearm, tapping it twice before speaking.

"You shouldn't be so modest. Besides, I'm sure Mr. Taisho will enjoy your light steps far more than the weight of my old bones." The man smiled upon uttering those last words, and freed his granddaughter from his touch, before going back to his place by the table.

It was then when InuYasha spoke.

"I would be equally glad to receive your knowledge about this place," he addressed the elderly man, who kept his kind smile on.

"I'm sure," he accepted his words, then addressed his granddaughter," Kagome-chan, make sure that Mr. Taisho gets to visit all the sacred places in the temple."

Kagome nodded, looking at her grandfather. After that, she closed her eyes in one long blink, with which she sought the calm she would need to look at InuYasha again.

"Would you join me?" She asked then.

The ceremony of opening the shoji doors was made in the same way as she did before, when entering the room. This time, however, Kagome had to wait for her companion to leave before closing them. Once that was done, she moved ahead a couple of steps, and when she heard the whisper of the western clothes Mr. Taisho was wearing, she dared to let out a small sigh.

"You seem tense, Ms. Higurashi," she heard him say, quite close to her.

Kagome didn't need to look at him, to know him smiling; his tone of voice was just that obvious.

"I will not say anything yet," she sought to clarify, noting the cold of the afternoon on her arms next, something that made her adjust the kosode she wore above her kyudo clothes, a bit tighter.

"When will you, then?" InuYasha insisted.

"At the first place I am going to show you." Kagome tried to keep a neutral tone, despite the many contradicting sensations filling her.

In that manner, she took him through the shortest route to the immediate outdoors of the family residence, before approaching the temizuya that welcomed visitors to the sacred zone inside the temple.

InuYasha observed the way in which Kagome performed the purification ritual. Those kinds of practices weren't exactly pleasant; the residual energy that were left on him, were usually uncomfortable, and sometimes, even painful. Even so, it was attractive to witness how she pulled up the sleeves of her kosode, to then take a wooden bowl, held by a long stick, to then pour water over her forearms and hands. The moment when he watched her drink from the bowl, was particularly enticing; there was a delicate care in the way she settled her lips on the wood, allowing a mouthful of water inside. Once she finished the ritual, he asked her a question.

"Will you speak, finally?" InuYasha was standing by Kagome's side, slightly closer than what honor would demand. It mattered little, to him, for her aroma was rapturing, and he had no desire to offer any resistance.

Realizing his appearance in the Higurashi Temple had taken him longer than he had expected, and during that time, he had recreated more than one way to make that woman submit; she, who he had marked as his victim when he found out his will was not enough to attract her.

"You need to purify yourself." Kagome stepped past him, and gestured with a hand towards the wooden bowl he had to bring inside the fountain, to fill it with sacred water.

InuYasha considered refusing to do so, however, he believed such a detail wouldn't be missed by Ms. Higurashi, even if he had never regarded highly those of her species.

The first thing he needed to do, to act as she requested, was to take off side of the cape he was wearing, to then do the same with his jacket. Kagome stopped him right when she noted that intention.

"Do not, please. It's not necessary."

He looked at her, seeking in her expression some sort of hint about her mood. InuYasha didn't want to ponder too deeply about why he could be so obsessed with Ms. Higurashi's actions, and the reason behind them. He didn't wish to, however, his instinct demanded of him to be a predator, and a predator would not miss a detail of the prey they were stalking.

He took the bowl by the stick, filled it with water before pouring it over his arms. He noted the sting of the sacred water, taking a deep breath to somehow placate the pain as Kagome observed his hands, and the way he was executing the task. The worst part was when he had to wash his mouth. The sacred water burned his tongue for an instant, much like a log of wood on fire would. He spit the water in the place assigned for it, while Kagome started towards a path, which was framed by many white stones.

"Follow me; through here," were her words, and InuYasha perceived annoyance and disappointment before the disdain with which she was treating him. He wanted far more from Kagome Higurashi, and he was here for that very reason.

He walked a few steps by her side, keeping a silence that seemed to be an unavoidable companion during this stroll. However, InuYasha was not willing to keep the distance the human woman seemed bent on putting between them. Days, had he been planning the way in which he would make her submit to the dark shapes living inside her, and that he had managed to glimpse during that last time they had been together.

The family residence was starting to be left behind, and with it, the people wandering the place. They walked far enough to find a desolate and intimate place, that he would use for his own sake.

"Are you skilled at kyudo, Ms. Higurashi?" InuYasha inquired, attempting to cross the distance she had made between them.

He noted how she took a bit longer than necessary to answer, and in that lapse of time, her breathing rhythm changed. InuYasha had perceived such details since the woman had opened the shoji door to the room where he had been with the other members of her family. That made him wonder quite the puzzling question; was Kagome Higurashi able to, somehow, sense his presence?

"I believe I fare acceptably." He saw her turn her body slightly, to address that inquiry whose relevance had been left behind. However, InuYasha tried to pull from that string of conversation, now that she seemed to be on the way of letting her guard down.

"What does the man teaching you, say?"

"Woman." The correction barely seemed a modest observation, however, InuYasha was able to hear the tension in Kagome's voice, despite her attempt at hiding it. "She is exceedingly cautious when voicing her thoughts."

"That must mean that you are able to meet what is expected of you." The confidence in his comment captured her attention completely, her steps halting as she turned fully towards him, putting their stroll on hold.

"What do you mean?" She inquired. It felt as if all of her attention were focused on the next words he were to say next. That fact put him in a sort of alert, one he couldn't recall having felt before; or maybe, he had; back when the world still possessed a shred of mystery. He found himself surprised before the subtlety that Ms. Higurashi was able to note in someone's words.

"Simple; your master must think you an adequate disciple." He played with his words further, upon discovering the tension in the woman, as she waited for his words; and once they were said, the light pink color of her cheeks, flared into a more intense red.

"Of course, adequate." He watched Kagome as she, ever so slightly, lifted her chin up, as if wishing to imbue herself with a sort of forced dignity.

InuYasha believed then, to have found the crevice of light in the emotion she was expressing, and so sought to open a path to explore that darkness. He held back a smile that threatened to curl his mouth, in the moment he imagined that such may become the crack that would deliver him that woman's will.

"What am I perceiving in you? I do not dare to think it envy." He placed the question before her in the same way one lets fall a white rose. He witnessed the way she tensed up, and was quite conscious of how her heart began to beat faster. The red on her cheeks became even redder, and Kagome parted her lips, just slightly, to fill her lungs faster, stronger. "I hope you do not misunderstand me. I refer to that envy that exist before someone else's achievements, the kind some may consider healthy," he added.

His eyes followed her soft gesture, as she cocked her head to one side, the kind of movements someone would do to try to listen to someone more clearly, although in that moment, the words had already been said.

"There is no such a thing. Envy is just envy, one of the darkest emotions surrounding human souls."

InuYasha listened attentively, not losing sight of the fissure that had appeared in the middle of Kagome's will.

"So, how would you call that which you are feeling, in this matter?" He spurred her, with his words, and with the short step he took towards her. He could sense the need to corner her, and perceive the life inhabiting her in the same way one feels the fluttering of a firefly inside one's palm.

Kagome fell silent for a moment, her eyes fixed on his. InuYasha understood she was seeking an honest response to give him.

"Admiration," she replied, "yes, I would call it admiration," she confirmed.

InuYasha nodded once; it was a show of comprehension before the way Ms. Higurashi was trying to convince herself of the benevolence she possessed. The crack in her light was still vivid to him, however; not that he wanted to pry it open just yet, so that darkness overflowed everything, without rest. It was far more enjoyable to tease and scratch its edges.

InuYasha stepped a bit more closely, not letting go of her gaze as it remained on his. This time, the silence that fell between them was with both their consent, and could almost be said to be sweet. A gust of wind swayed the branches of the tree they were standing under, his senses capturing how Kagome's skin bristled on end before the cold of the snow yet to melt.

He untied his cloak, and in an act he wanted to think just mere part of his plans of seduction, he placed it behind Kagome, before it came to rest on her shoulders. He heard her retort, something he silenced by meeting her gaze again, or so it seemed. His eyes darted to her lips then, slightly parted, moist and enticing; lighting the desire to know their inner taste. He leaned enough to make his intention clear, and contrary to what he believed would happen, Kagome Higurashi didn't recoil. He remained there for an instant, close enough for her to notice his body heat, as he himself felt the blaze on his lips, the fluttering of his blood as it filled them even before touching hers. He was still, unmoving, his hands still resting on her shoulders, and yearning for her.

"It seems you are leaving your fear behind, Ms. Higurashi." Upon uttering those words, his voice came out confident and firm, however, InuYasha could feel something making him uneasy…

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To be continued.

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A/N

Hi, those who are passing through here.

As I write this story, I feel that the events are happening way too slowly, with too many details, and despite it, I still go on. However, once I have the chapter ready for correction, and come back to it, I feel it's fine just like that, and that time and detail are essential. This is a story I could label as "gothic", and as such, its overloaded and intense, and that makes me love it.

I would love if you were to see the portraits my friend LEN has drawn of the InuKag of this story; you can find them in my socials.

Kisses, and read you later,

Anyara

This text is possible thanks to the translation of: Dezart