InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Single Wish ❯ Scroll Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A Single Wish

By: OtakuSailorV

*~* Scroll Three - Difficulty with Spiders *~*

The Higurashi's had dinner at the same time as they had always had before, eating the food that Mrs. Higurashi had prepared. It was, as Jii-chan always commented, delicious, as if God Himself had concocted it. This always pleased Mrs. Higurashi and the children always agreed. The woman's cooking was very good.

When the meal was over and everyone was dismissed after helping wash the dishes, Kagome walked back to her room, making sure Souta was preoccupied with his video games before she opened the door to her room.

Surprisingly, she found that everything was in tact. It looked as if Naraku, who she assumed was still locked inside of her closet, had not tried to break out, as she knew Inuyasha would have. The inu hanyou would have splintered the door in half if he had had to. And would have busted her door down and taken off in search of her. His nose would have twitched irritably when he found her and he would yell until she had forced a few repeated `Osuwari's' on him.

This fact made her nervous though. It was all too still in the room for her liking. She had not suspected this to happen. She had thought he would at least be in the room, waiting for her patiently, ready to strangle her when she reappeared. That was his way, or so she had presumed. She was frightened to go near her closet now, to go anywhere near where she knew he was contained. Maybe, if she could just keep her closet door locked for. . . She sighed wearily. No, that was no good either.

Wetting her lips nervously, she opened the door slowly, peering inside in a careful way.

Red eyes immediately gleamed in the dim light that had appeared in the dingy closet from underneath a pile of clothes. Her dirty laundry hamper lay on its side, it's contents strewn around. Her nice kimono was intact and still on it's hanger, but everything else was half-off, lying around, or on top of his head, obscuring everything but those deadly crimson eyes that glared at her evilly.

She snapped the door back closed and this time did not lock it.

Kagome sighed as she leaned against the door, her shoulders heaving into it powerfully. What was she gonna do now. . . ?

A powerful force suddenly slid the door back. Kagome stumbled and awkwardly moved with the door. When it had opened fully, she found herself leaning against the adjacent door and looking to her left to spot Naraku emerging, odd clothing items hanging all over him.

The dark Lord looked quite peeved; his eyes were narrowed angrily as he stared across the room at the wall. A sock lay on the top of his head, and a random assortment of towels, shirts, pants and whatnot clung still to his own billowy clothing. One eyebrow seemed to twitch as he irritably picked the sock off of his head and dropped it on the floor as if it were contaminated. He turned his head toward Kagome just as it made a soft `thud' sound on the floor.

He regarded her with that same agitated look, she could tell he was resisting the urge to kill her on the spot. She blinked in return, still plastered to the door.

“Would you mind explaining what that was all about?” He had meant it to be more of a question, but it came out as a tight growl.

She looked frightened, but she soon masked it expertly. He smirked at that. She might be able to hide her facial expressions well enough from her own kind, but it was all too plain to him what her reactions were. Her aura was continually pulsating; it's music soaring through the air.

“Like I was about to let my family know you're here.” She snapped at him irritably, though there was a quavering fear behind her words. She seemed to have somehow convinced herself that she was indeed not afraid of him, thus making her tone stronger and her eyes sharper with her anger.

“And what did you do to Jii-chan's tree?” She suddenly demanded. Her tone was sharp and derisive. She knew how much her grandfather cared for the God Tree; it was the pride of the family and the shrine to be caretakers of the ancient wood.

He stared at her blankly for a moment, not sure what to make of this. She was giving him a rather dirty look still.

“I would not be so impertinent if I were in your position, miko.”

Her eyes flared, and her aura's little music flew into an outraged crescendo, sparking and snapping at him as if intending to frighten him. It only proved more humorous though it was a little startling how much she dared yell at him. He, the one who could snap her neck without much of an effort.

“In my position?” She bristled. “You're the one that came barging into my home! If anyone is in a bad position here, it's you!”

Naraku smirked at her in a way that made her fall instantly silent, though there was still that rebellious air around her. “I am in a bad position?” He inquired lightly.

“Yes, you!” Kagome retaliated.

“How so?” Naraku asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed, acting as if he were interested. Kagome's temper flared again, she seemed to be trying to control herself for fear of something. His gaze lingered to her bedroom door, which had been shut and he knew what it was. She didn't want to raise her voice too much, knowing her family would hear her.

“How is it that I am in a bad position, yet you are not?” He went on when she did not immediately reply. “Must I remind you of who I am?”

Kagome gave him a stern look; she opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off before she could take charge again.

“And why is it that I am in the bad position when it is just you here, miko? I do not see your dog-eared mutt with you, nor your frivolous monk, nor that silly woman that claimed to know how to slay youkai.” He said, touching on the old wound from before. Kagome visibly winced at his comments and he smirked, pleased with this reaction.

Kagome took in a deep breath and held it, staring at him with a look that spoke of deep loathing. She hated him; she would do anything to get rid of him right then. But then again, he was living, breathing truth that all her `adventures' had not been just a simple dream. And she wondered now how she had ever come to think of them as that. True they were far too fantastical to ever be considered legitimate, but there was no denying it.

“Shut up.” She hissed at him defiantly, bowing her head to hold back tears that needed to be shed. They had been held up too long, and with the realization that everything was true, she felt sadness wash over, despair so great she wanted to die to rid herself of it. “Shut up, you have no right to say those things.”

Her fists shook at her sides, and he watched as she trembled, holding down sobs and trying to act as if everything were all right so as not to appear weak in front of him. He smirked at her again.

Kagome lifted her head after a moment, her eyes still swimming behind a veil of tears that had not left her yet. Her bottom lip trembled slightly and there was a knot in her throat, whenever she drew a breath to speak she felt the tears start to leak, forbidding her access to words.

“Well, miko? Where are your beloved hanyou and your friends? Surely they would have sensed my presence by now, and I know them not to abstain from fighting me at any opportune moment. And they would not want you to be harmed, of all people.” He continued mockingly.

Kagome blanked, he really had no idea did he? He had no idea that they were stuck in the future, that he was in the twenty-first century, hundreds of years after her travels in the Sengoku Jidaii.

She still managed to glare and raise an eyebrow at him at the same time. In one of her rapid mood changes that she felt she often had, she rubbed her hand into her forehead, blinking back the tears and sniffling a little at this new problem. “What am I gonna do?” She mumbled to herself.

Without another word she strode from the room, slightly angry and very frustrated. He got up, making an attempt to follow her, but she turned on her heel when she heard him following. She gave him a warning look, and he just stared at her, furrowing his brow in anger. “You can't follow me.” She informed him in a tight tone.

Naraku's eyebrows raised and he turned his eyes down the hall, spotting the wet marks on the floor where he had walked. His gaze found a partially open door where a wan light shown out and noises from inside directed his attention. He could smell the scent of her sibling and her family from all directions. Of course she didn't want him to find them. . . “I do not follow orders from anyone, miko.”

“Stay here.” Kagome ordered, trying to get her hand on the door handle. She knew it would do little good, he could easily break the door if he wanted to. But still she couldn't have him following her everywhere.

He pushed passed her with a glare. “I will do as I please.”

Kagome sighed, glaring at his back. Her eyes fell on the floor at that moment and she gaped at the water that was everywhere. It was easy to tell someone had been out in the rain, someone larger than Souta.

Hurriedly she went to get a towel from out of her room, and when she returned, she found that Naraku was peering into her brother's room. She gasped and charged at him, pushing him away roughly, though it took some effort since he was planted firmly in place.

The dark hanyou did not take kindly to this treatment and turned on her icily as she closed her brother's door. He hadn't even noticed the ruckus outside of his room.

Angrily, Kagome slammed the towel on the ground and placed her foot on top, dragging it around over the watermarks and making them disappear immediately. “What do you think you're doing?” She hissed at him angrily, vexed.

He glared daggers at her, what he wouldn't give to snap her neck for her insolence, but he knew his youkai powers had all but diminished by then and he dared not touch her, knowing that what little he had left would leave him. He had to save the power for a later time. “You would do well to remember your place, miko.” He said testily, just about growling at her.

Kagome wished he would keep his voice low. “My place?” She hissed again, growing very angry with him. “My place? You are the one intruding in my home!”

“I can do what I please, I do not need to ask permission of anyone.”

“You are impossible! You can't be seen here, do you understand that? Just listen for once!” She felt as if she was arguing with Inuyasha, and she winced at the thought. She never thought she would argue with Naraku in anywhere near the same way she had with the silver haired hanyou.

“Kagome? Do you have a friend with you?” Her mother's voice came from the bottom of the steps and Kagome's heart nearly stopped. She felt frazzled, and wished none of this had ever happened to her.

“No, mom.” She called back; it was a half-truth. Naraku wasn't her friend, but she knew what her mother had meant in that inquiry. She had wanted to know who had dragged the water around the house, and whom her daughter was quarreling with in a hushed tone.

“Are you sure? I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

“No, mom, it's nothing.” Kagome replied in the same smiling tone. Naraku was frowning at her performance.

When she heard her mom walk away, her heels clicking in a simple rhythm, fading in the distance. Her grandfather's wheezing voice was heard calling for her mother and she strayed even farther.

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and turned on Naraku, glaring. What could she do? She couldn't send him anywhere, he wouldn't listen, but she couldn't have him waltzing all over the place either. It would be easier if her family wasn't home. For the first time, she wished she were alone. All alone.

“Look, you stay in my room. Are you hungry or something?” She couldn't believe she was saying that. She sounded like she was trying to be friendly with him. And she definitely did not want to sound like she was trying to be his friend.

He was still frowning, though he did finally turn and walk back to her room on soft, padded feet. Perplexed by his sudden change, she watched the doorway for a while before knocking on her brother's door.

Souta came out right away and beamed up at her, though he was raising his eyebrows in puzzlement. “What's the matter, Sis? You look angry.”

Kagome sent a withering, suspicious glance toward her doorway, just waiting for Naraku to pop up suddenly. “I, uh, need you to help me with something, Souta.” She said absentmindedly before ushering her brother down the steps before her. Like Hell she was going to leave him alone in the upstairs while Naraku was loose in the house.

She couldn't guarantee that he'd stay in her room, but she wanted to make sure her family was well enough away from the place if he did happen to wander back out again. She hoped for the first time in her life that Naraku would stay put until she came back.

* * *

Naraku waited until the sound of the miko and her younger sibling were a decent distance away before reemerging from her compartment. It was annoying to have that human ordering him around all the time, but there was nothing to be done, his powers were dissipating quickly; he couldn't kill her or anyone here unless he got his youkai powers back first.

He could still investigate though, for it seemed that Kagome wasn't going to tell him one thing about what was going on around here.

The dark hanyou stopped as something caught his eye. A picture, hanging on the wall, shielded by that rare entity that was known as `glass' was spotted. A slight glare on the glass caused it to shine, and as he passed, he saw it flash out of the corner of his eye.

He had not noticed it before, when he had been preoccupied with the wench and her insatiable need to boss him around. But now it stood out from the wall hung on a nail. He wondered over how acute the painting was, for he could tell it was no regular painting. This one depicted the entire family seated together, smiling. It was so lifelike, so well done, he was taken aback immediately by it, but the closer he inspected it the more he could tell it was no painting at all. This- this- this whatever it was, was something far better than any painting! But how had this been done? And the frame that held it, so ornate, such deft handiwork. It would take a human hand ages to form such a beautiful piece!

His brows furrowed as he leaned back from the hanging masterpiece. Something was definitely amiss here; just how much time had elapsed since the miko had pinned him to that blasted tree?

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