InuYasha Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Mors Mortis Miko ❯ Misery ( Chapter 13 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Hakkai kept his word. He was the perfect gentleman. He even slept upside down with his head at the foot of the bed to avoid awkward positions. Yet, it wasn’t fear of molestation that kept Kagome awoke that night.
With recent events and revelations, Kagome wasn’t surprised to find herself awake into the late hours of the night, though it didn’t help to have people stalking outside their room all night. She lay quietly in bed and watched the shadows that appeared under the door. They came in sessions; sometimes in large groups and sometimes solo. It began a while after Hakkai had fallen asleep and continued into the late hours of the night. The shadows never spoke and the only reason she knew they were there was because of the creaking floor boards.
Slipping from under the covers, Kagome got out of bed and padded softly to the door. The shadows were still there and hadn’t heard, or cared about, her getting out of bed. Trying to be as discreet as possible, Kagome grabbed the door handle and turned the knob. She waited a moment to gauge whether they heard her or not, and when they made no move to leave, she snatched it open and gave the snoopers a deadpan stare.
It was the lady who had called them over and the man from behind the desk. By looking at them, Kagome placed them as husband and wife in her head, and as she stared she saw that they were surprised by her sudden appearance and were looking embarrassed.
“Oh.” the lady called out in fright. “We…were just…uh, patrolling the uh…halls?”
Kagome continued to stare at them.
“We always do it. Make sure the…guests, are not in need of any help.”
“Are you a zombie?” the husband interrupted with an anxious whisper.
“Harold!” the wife reprimanded him.
“You get many zombie patrons?” Kagome asked without humor. “Causing you problems, are they?”
“No, no.” the husband answered her hurriedly. “It’s just that you…um, we can’t…or don’t…uh.”
“What he’s trying to say is; we can never be too cautious. We think we had a vampire the other evening.”
“You’re lying.” Kagome told her through narrowed eyes.
“Yes I am.” the woman answered her immediately. “About the vampire, but not about being cautious. We just need to know.”
Kagome was silent a moment before thrusting her hand out into their faces. They jumped back as she did so, but she stood still and ignored the movement.
“Check my wrist. Last I checked I had a pulse.”
The couple glanced at each other nervously before the wife placed her middle and forefinger across Kagome’s exposed wrist. After a few seconds she glanced to her husband and an unseen communication went through the two.
“Okay. Sorry to bother you ma’am.” the husband told her as he draped an arm around his wife and hurried away.
“They didn’t seem too reassured with your living status.” a voice spoke up from behind her.
“Hell, neither am I.” glancing across the hall, Kagome saw the door to the boys room’s cracked with two heads sticking out of it.
“What was that all about?” Gojyo asked her sleepily.
“Just the second time I’ve been accused of being a zombie, that’s all.”
“Is he shirtless?” Goku asked suddenly looking past her shoulder.
“Goodnight boys.” Kagome called out as she closed the door.
Turning around she came face to naked chest with a half sleep Hakkai. She tried taking a step back but the door wouldn’t let her go anywhere. Hakkai, yawning and stretching, didn’t move.
“Did they knock just to ask you if were a zombie?” he asked her.
“No.” she answered him, looking off into empty space. “They were snooping around the door all night, so I confronted them.”
“These are truly a strange people.”
Kagome turned back to stare at Hakkai. After making eye contact and holding it, she placed her hand on his chest and pushed.
“I’m going to sleep.” she told him as she walked passed.
“Of course.” Hakkai said as he stood silent by the door as Kagome got back into bed.

~_____~
Kagome awoke with laughter on her lips. It wasn’t the laugh of madness that she and those associated with her were accustomed to. It was the pure and genuine laughter of a girl turning over in her sleep and finding a foot in her face.
Her laughter also woke Hakkai, and when his horribly bed ridden head of hair popped from under the covers and stared around confusedly, Kagome laughed the harder. And so with a light spirit she started her day.
She was just putting on her shoes when the door slammed open to reveal a very energized and suspicious looking Goku.
“Good morning Kagome!” he said pleasantly, but as he entered the room his eyes roamed around it for evidence of something only his mind would decipher. “Where’s Hakkai? Did he touch you? Do I need to do something?”
“He’s in the shower.” she answered him. “Were you this creepy when I met you?”
“No. This is new to all of us.” Sanzo said as he pushed his way past Goku to sit on the couch.
“Hey!” Gojyo blurted as he too entered their room and shut the door behind him. “What was with that meeting in the hall?”
With an attentive Goku sitting next to her, Kagome smiled up at Gojyo. “They were asking whether I was a zombie or not.”
“Oh.” Goku murmured. “Now I get that zombie thing.”
“And here we just thought you were crazy.” Gojyo added unnecessarily, while Sanzo nodded in agreement.
“You’re just jealous because my hair is better than yours.” Kagome retorted.
“No it's not.”
“Damn, you’re probably right.”
“Trust me, I am.”
“Anyway, what’s on the agenda today pops?”
“I can just smack you.” Sanzo muttered under his breath, not bothering to look at her.
“Well I can kiss you too, but I think Goku would explode.” to prove her point, she turned to glance back at Goku and saw him looking distress. “Don’t worry; you’re way cuter than that old grumpy geezer.” Delivering a kiss to the boy’s cheek, she effectively relieved him of his stress and eased his tension.
“Hakkai!” Sanzo yelled angrily. “Hurry up so we can get the hell out of here?”
As Kagome was busy laughing at Sanzo’s expense, Hakkai exited the bathroom, fully dressed and towel drying his hair.
“Why do you suppose they think you’re a zombie?” Hakkai asked as he tossed the damp towel onto the bed.
“That’s right, we were talking about that?” Goku exclaimed, to which Sanzo snorted something incomprehensible.
“I guess they just sensed the death that constantly surrounds my life and soul.”
“That’s a bit morbid for so early in the morning, don’t you think?” Gojyo suggested.
“Just calling them like I see them, Waist.”
“You’re kind of twisted for a girl.”
“You’re a tramp.”
“Your dad!”
“Children!” Sanzo snapped at them, and then more quietly to Hakkai, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

~_____~
As Sanzo and Hakkai were busy taking care of the room fees, Gojyo, Kagome, and Goku wandered outside. The three were stretching and enjoying the warmth of the sun, ignoring the way most eyes were trained on Kagome and the wide berth they were giving her.
“Today…feels like it’s going to be a good day.”
“Why do you say that?” Goku asked her.
“Have no idea!” she answered him truthfully as she snatched him into a hug. “It just feels good.”
“Yes it does.” Goku mumbled from the depths of her hug.
“Hey what’s going on over there?” Gojyo called out, ignoring them as he stared down the road.
Releasing the young man from his euphoric hug, Kagome looked the way Gojyo was staring and saw a commotion heading their way.
Whatever it was, it was huge. She saw things rise and fall, there were large masses of figures and it was moving at a steady speed. As it approached, more and more of the villagers came out onto the street until there was a large crowd surrounding them.
Confused, Kagome didn’t notice the music until she felt her body moving, and with excitement she jumped into the air.
“It’s a parade, Waist!” she yelled over the noise as the parade finally arrived in their area.
Now that they could tell what it was, they saw that the parade wasn’t much of a parade at all. If it was to be called one, it would be a mangy parade.
The participants weren’t really matching; most of the horses were work horses and were very slow and tired; the decorations consisted of what was clearly very colorful clothes draped around the carts and animals. The performances were poor and clumsy; looking as if they were just thrown together.
“This is sad.” Gojyo grimaced.
“You can say that again.” Goku commented.
When the two looked to Kagome for confirmation, they found her bobbing and swaying to the semi-nonexistent music.
“The hell is you doing? This parade sucks.”
But by this time the parade had advanced to the point where the only organized section had their attention. It was a group of what looked like temple guards who were pulverizing drums with a quick tempo beat which the remaining guards were marching to with young maidens and temple boys dancing amongst them.
The beat and sporadic movement, Kagome thought, was infectious and she soon was giddy with excitement to be just like them.
“Dance with me!” she called out as she spun on her heel and clasped Gojyo’s hand.
Goyjo didn’t know what to say as Kagome tried to drag him amongst the parade dancers.
“Come on.” She urged him as she forced him to take a step closer.
“I don’t think we’re allowed to dance with them.” Goku said, for once more embarrassed about being a part of the debacle of a parade than jealous about Kagome’s attention.
Sane enough to recognize Gojyo’s discomfort, and care about it, Kagome released the grateful man with a pout. Once she had let him go, a pair of strong hands clasped her around the middle and lifted her into the air with a flourish as she was brought into the celebration by the temple dancers.
Laughing with delight, Kagome joined right in once she was put down and twirled and danced with a mixed variety of partners. Amongst the dancers, the drums sounded louder and beat her body into sync with it. The captivating rhythm seemed to flow through her veins until her life was nothing but a haze of drum beats and colors.
“Kagome!”
The sound of her name snapped her out of the state of dancing bliss she inhabited. The call originated from the crowd, on the opposite side of that which Goku and Gojyo stood. It only took her a moment to realize that she had heard the voice before. It was the voice that belonged to the caller in the desert. The voice that didn’t belong to her friends…but was of an otherness like ‘Death’. It was the voice of the hunter. Someone that wanted her…and she wanted to meet them.
She tried to escape the throng of dancers but they kept on dancing and pushed her along. She called for help, but the drums smothered her voice. She hopped into the air waving her hands, hoping someone of the Sanzo-party would come to her aid, but as she hopped, the dancers hoisted her higher and spun her before plopping her back down.
As the parade got further along, she was assaulted by two burly temple guards who held her in the air by her arms. And as the parade got further along; it began to dissipate. The crowd, which had grown out of proportion, began to return to their homes, sending glances her way, the participants of the mangy parade began to thin out as they all headed in different directions. It wasn’t until they were the only two left on the street that Gojyo and Goku looked at each other.
“Uhh…hm.” Gojyo murmured in confusion.
“Come on, let’s go.” Sanzo grumbled as he and Hakkai joined them on the street.
“Where’s Kagome?” Hakkai was the first to ask as he looked around the empty street. Behind them, the innkeepers shut and locked their door.
“Um…yeah.” Gojyo answered slowly through the haze of confusion and shock. “I think…a parade just kidnapped her.”
“What?” Sanzo asked with a growl.
“Yeah.” Goku added just as slowly. “They…just…stole her.”

~____~
Being hijacked by a parade made Kagome forget about the hunter in the crowd. As she was hauled through alleys and back roads, she remained just as silent as her two captors. It wasn’t until they started going up eighty-thousands, she counted, steps did she figure out where they were going.
“Well duh.” She berated herself, making the guardsmen flinch. “Oh if that made you jump, just wait until we make eye contact.”
They deposited her off at the top of the steps and quickly released her. And just as she suspected, they had brought her to the temple.
Waiting at the temple doors, a pleasant looking old man stood, but the eyes he laid on Kagome were of pure nervousness. With a quick nod from the man, the guards quickly departed, but not before whispering on how creepy she was, leaving her alone with the old man.
What followed was a moment of awkwardness for both Kagome and her captor.
“I can take you, you know.” Kagome said just as the old man pronounced, “So it is true.”
“What did you say?” they both asked simultaneously.
Kagome growled at him and the man jumped back in fright. “What the hell do you want, because I don’t have time for creepy old men?”
“Please! I’m sorry, it’s just that the town has been talking about you and I thought that…”
“What do you mean they’ve been talking about me? They’ve been avoiding me like the plague!”
“They’re just afraid.”
“How do they know to be?” she asked the man, making him flinch once she made eye contact.
“Please.” The man begged as he opened the temple doors. “If you would just follow me, I’ll explain everything.”
Kagome made no move to follow him. She could leave now and he could do nothing to stop her. If he sent for the guards she would tear them down, and if the entire village stood in her way, she would bring them to their knees. She could do all this and leave with the Sanzo-party and never look back. Or she could follow the old man into the dark temple. He didn’t smell malevolent, but he did reek of fear and confusion. But those who were scared and dumb could be the most vicious.
She smiled his way and his face became strained.
“Okay. Let’s talk.”
She followed him in and saw that the temple was windowless with only torches to light its innards. As the man began talking he lead her further into the temple.
“Our town is composed of telepaths.”
“And?”
“Yes, well.” The man stuttered, caught off guard by Kagome’s aloofness to their special skills. “We, as telepaths, we communicate without the use of vocal language, and we maintain a peaceful and pleasant town by being able to weed out those visitors who would wish us, or others, harm.”
“And no one can read me?” Kagome asked, jumping ahead to the problem.
“Yes. And…we’ve never encountered anyone such as you before. Only ones we cannot read are the dead and animals. And since you are supposedly neither, we fear that there may be others like you who are not as…”
“Nice?” she offered.
“In a way, yes.”
“What makes you think I’m nice?”
“We don’t. We figured, from what we’ve gotten from your companions, that no one knows your intentions. This is why we’ve brought you here. Here we hold the strongest of our people, the one from whom our powers are channeled.”
“So that he can read me and let your minds at ease.”
“If you would allow it.” the man added quickly as he stopped by a set of wide open doors.
Kagome didn’t acknowledge him as she looked into the room. At the one from whom all their powers were channeled. The supreme being of the town. The person whose power far surpassed their own.
“It’s a child.” She muttered as her eyes fell upon the bald child sitting at the end of the room.
She made after him before anyone could stop her. The guards, who she hadn’t noticed, made a move to stop her, but with a wave from the old man they backed off.
“Yes, this is the old master.” The man introduced as he hurried to catch up with her.
Up close Kagome saw that the boy, from whom all their powers were channeled, was trapped in a child's body, yet wrinkles and age clung to him. And when he looked up at her, she flinched at the depths of sadness and attrition that his eyes exposed.
“You poor creature.” She muttered with sympathy. “Who gave you these powers?”
“The Butterfly Man.” The old man answered her excitedly for the old master. “He came generations ago and granted the master these powers. And from him we developed our own powers. Ours barely compare to his, yet all those born of this village are gifted with a fraction of his power.”
“And you want him…to see what’s on my mind? Then what; he‘s going to tell you what makes me so unreadable?”
“No…he hasn’t spoken in years. When he probes you, he'll know, and then we’ll know.”
The man seemed so happy and carefree about the situation, yet the old, young man was just as melancholy as always, yet he stretched his hand out for her to touch it.
As she stared at the hand, she didn’t know what compelled her to touch him. Maybe it was the compatible loneliness that they both shared? Sympathy for the poor boy’s soul? Or could it have been a morbid curiosity to see what the boy would see? Whatever the reason, she regretted it.
Upon contact with the old master’s hand, her mind was opened to the entire town. She saw the boy's eyes change from his misery to hers. They widened in horror and sympathy, and then brimmed with tears. Yet, she also felt and heard the town’s reaction. Fear, disgust, a cry of MONSTER!
The word hit her like a physical blow! She reeled back and away from his touch, but their words still burned in her ears.
Abomination! Devil! Shouldn’t be around humans! Be gone! Monster! Murderer! Evil! Away! Leave! Witch! Demon! Death! Die! Get out! Leave us alone! Away from us!
“Get out of my head!” she screamed in agony over their accusations.
“You shouldn’t be here!” the old man yelled in fear as he and the guards surrounded the young master.
Kagome barely heard him over the commotion going on in her head. She could barely hear herself think over the cacophony of voices from the villagers’ and the past. The noise was so horrible and confusing that all she could set herself to do was get away from it. So she took off running.
What the hell was she thinking? She knew she shouldn’t be around people. She should have just hunted Sango down when she had the chance and be done with it. She didn’t need to rest. She didn’t need to eat. She didn’t have to act humane. She didn’t need to pretend as if she was normal; like everyone else. She wasn’t. She was a monster, and she didn’t deserve to have companions. So she ran. She ran out the temple and practically flew down the long steps and into the town proper.
She ran as a desperate attempt to escape her misery. The terrible world that was her life. She cursed the heavens for her lack of tears. Oh how she wished she could cry. Cry to vent her anguish; to loosen her feelings. Without them her high emotions rubbed her raw. Creating friction, static electricity that just powered her to run faster. Run faster to escape the feelings she couldn’t properly release.
With her energy building she let out a howl. A wolf’s howl that held nothing of the joys of the hunt. Her howl was the howl of a wolf in pain. At one point she thought she heard her name being called. She figured she had either run across the Sanzo-party, or the voices in her head were still taunting her. She had thought that the farther away she got from the old master the sooner the voices would leave. Yet, they still plagued her, and so with a mighty yell of frustration she left the village and ventured onto the winding road that spiraled the mountain.
“Why the hell are we always chasing you?”
Risking a look back, Kagome was angered to find the Sanzo-Party in hot pursuit in the jeep. Gojyo and Goku were precariously perched in the back, looking as if they were ready to leap upon her if the need came.
“Kagome, stop! Tell us what happened!” Goku yelled desperately from behind her as she tried to outrun them, but Hakkai was only a heel’s inch away from practically running her down.
“I’m tired of chasing you down!” Gojyo yelled angrily, brandishing his fist. “Get your dysfunctional ass in this jeep, now!”
“How the hell are you running so fast? We’re almost going 80?” This came from Sanzo who was looking just as grumpy as always.
“Leave me alone!” she yelled over her shoulder.
“Make up your damn mind! First it’s don’t leave me alone, now it’s leave me alone! Quit playing games!”
“Kagome, just talk to us!” Goku yelled.
Growling viciously, Kagome slowed down abruptly and forced the jeep to hit her. As she rolled on top of the jeep, she shot to her feet and stood threateningly over them while giving off the fiercest look she could muster.
Considering her state, she figured it was enough when they shut up and sat back in their seats.
“Those eyes.” Hakkai muttered breathily as he found he couldn’t look away from the terrifying sight.
“Why won’t you leave me alone? Can’t you take a hint? I don’t want to be around you freaks!” Using as much force as she could, Kagome kicked out with her foot and nailed Hakkai in the side of the head, and just because he looked at her wrong, she punched Sanzo before leaping from the jeep and down the slanted and untamed side of the mountain.
As she ran, her nice, simple, blue dress, which had grounded her so much, became snagged and torn from the wild bushes and trees. Her brown loafers, which had made her so happy and genuine, were shit when it came to running down mountains, and they soon became filthy and ruined. Then her matching ribbon, which had made her feel so much like her old self and humble, was snatched from her head and lost to the forest. None of these mattered to her as she continued to run. Her destination; anywhere the Sanzo-party couldn’t reach her.
She didn’t consider their stubborn persistence.
“Do not make me chase you down this mountain?” Gojyo yelled unnecessarily as he did indeed chase her down the mountain.
She didn’t even try to give him a warning as she snatched a log from the ground and hurled it at him all in one fluid motion and yet never hindering her run. He went down and came to a skidding stop like she had hoped, but Goku catapulted himself over his fallen comrade and kept up the pursuit.
“Just tell me what happened!” Goku yelled desperately, trying to figure out what was wrong.
“What’s wrong?” he voiced after he saw that she wouldn’t answer.
“I don’t want you around!” she yelled as she stopped abruptly and threw her hand out, forcing Goku to clothesline himself along her arm. “Why can’t you comprehend that?”
“Because something’s wrong and you don’t mean it!” Gojyo argued as he came from behind her and trapped her within his arms.
“Don’t make me hurt you!” she threatened just as she threw her head back, colliding with Gojyo’s nose and making him loosen his hold. When she gained her slack, she elbowed him in the ribs and used the distraction to grab his arm and toss him over her shoulder and onto the recuperating Goku.
She had to admit, that fighting the boys was using up some of the pent up emotions that her tears couldn’t release, yet as her name was bellowed through her head, it only reawakened her rage and forced her to flee again.
She felt that she had finally lost the boys, yet it wasn’t this feeling that forced her to stop. It was the drop-off that forced her to finally cease her plight. She had managed to stop a few feet from the cliff, and far below was a shallow stream that would surely kill the normal person if they so happened to fall from such a height.
As she was admiring the view, her ears were assaulted by the arrival of unwanted guest, and by the sound of it, all of them were there. She didn’t even turn their way.
“Why?” she finally asked, as a silence passed between them. They were being quiet so as not to push her into leaping, while she had remained quiet so as to gauge their steps.
“Why?” she asked again. “WHY THE HELL WON’T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!”
“Why do you want to be left alone?” Hakkai asked as he took a step towards her, but as he moved foreword, she moved closer to the cliff’s edge, making the man stop in his tracks and back up. “Why all of a sudden?”
“You don’t know me!” she muttered. “Everything I’ve told you is a lie!”
“We lie to each other all the time.” Gojyo told her. “Now come back from the edge.”
“I’m a terrible person.”
“So is Sanzo.”
“I’ve done terrible things! Awful things!”
“We’ve all made mistakes.” Hakkai said.
“You don’t know what I’ve done!” she yelled angrily. “I’m a monster! That whole damn village knows! Because of their Benjamin Button that got locked in that damn temple, that whole village saw me for the monster that I am! I’m not even human anymore! I’ve killed the humanity in me! I pretend…I try to pretend that I’m like others! I try, but the damn monster lurks beneath the surface! People see it in my eyes! That’s why no one can look at me without flinching! I’m a demon in human clothing! I should be alone…but you bastards can’t take a hint and leave me alone!”
“I don’t think you’re a monster.” Goku coaxed her. “And even if you were one, why would we let you be alone?”
“Because…” she laughed bitterly as she stepped closer to the edge, with one of her heels no longer on the terrain. “…you don’t know. No one alive does.”
“I shoot her knee out and you grab her.” Sanzo muttered aloud, not caring that Kagome could hear her.
“I don’t deserve fri…”
“Lady Kagome!” a new voice called out. A voice she had heard in the crowd in the village. A voice that had called out her name in the desert. And a voice she thought she’d never hear again.
As Miroku stepped into view with a gentle smile upon his face, happiness, joy, and wonderment were not the emotions that Kagome felt at his appearance. Instead; pure dread and fear seized her heart and she stepped away from him and over the cliff’s edge. The last thing the boys saw of her was her dread filled face and her desperately clasping hands as they searched for any form of leverage.
“Well, that didn’t go the way I had planned.” Miroku murmured as he watched the redheaded fellow fling his chain after the fallen Kagome. He knew he had been successful at it when the chain went taut and he skidded across the ground a few feet.
“Who the hell are you?” Sanzo asked the newcomer as they all watched Gojyo struggle to pull Kagome back up.
“I’m with her.” Miroku told him briefly as Kagome finally surfaced. As he approached her she frightfully clung to Gojyo and stared at him with wide eyes.
“Kagome.” He said gently as he knelt down next to her. “It’s okay.”
“Can you see him?” she whispered into Gojyo’s ear.
“Yeah.” He answered her softly as he gently stood up, sheltering her from the man that was causing her stress.
“Damn.” She cursed fearfully. “Go away!”
“I can’t do that.” He whispered sadly. “I’m here because of you.”
“I don’t think she wants you around, pal.” Gojyo told him as he gallantly escorted Kagome away from the man.
Miroku said nothing as he watched them pile into a jeep, the guys glaring him down while Kagome clung to her rescuer like a life support.
“See.” Goku said as they pulled away. “I told you, you didn’t mean any of that you said.”
“Yeah,” Kagome laughed feebly from Gojyo's chest. “I lie a lot.”