InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Single Wish ❯ Scroll Four ( Chapter 4 )

A Single Wish

 

By: OtakuSailorV

 

*~* Scroll Four - Onigiri *~*

 

Kagome kept looked distractedly over her shoulder as she ushered her younger brother into the kitchen and searched for something to occupy him with. Souta was watching her with raised eyebrows, questioningly staring up at his elder sibling who was pushing him hurriedly through the rooms while nervously looking around her.

 

“Are you feeling ok, Onee-chan?” He asked, worried.

 

Kagome looked down at him and gave him a big smile which had formed under the anxious pressure that had built up, and not from glee of any kind. “I'm fine, Souta. Will you help me uhm,” she looked around uselessly.

 

Her eyes fell on the rice cooker and she immediately brightened as she saw it was on. “Make rice balls?” She said, brightening as she found the perfect diversion.

 

His sister's strange behavior made Souta watch her carefully and quizzically for a moment, but he couldn't figure out anything that might be causing her to act this way. He had never known her to get jumpy during a thunderstorm, so it couldn't be the rain, which was still rattling angrily outside.

 

“Uh. . .ok.” Coming over beside his sister, who had already begun the task of making rice balls, he continued to watch her out of the corner of his eye as he began as well.

 

* * *

 

Naraku wandered through the halls, trying to found some indication of how much time had elapsed, maybe even a current date if he was lucky! He stayed well enough away from the rooms where he had human goings on, so as not to cause a scene with any of the family.

 

It was not a matter of appeasing the miko wench, but for his own sake. He did not need to be interrupted at such a crucial time over something as trivial as confusion on a silly human's part.

 

Crimson glowed in the dark hallways, the reflection of water running down window pans highlighting his features at times, giving him an almost eerie countenance as he passed through one dingy room to the next.

 

The lights were out, so Naraku did not spy the electric sun yet, but he was already quite disturbed with the amount of glass in the house, and the number of those strangely accurate `paintings' hanging on the walls with their ornate carved frames. He couldn't figure out for the life of him how many years had gone by. Whatever all of this was, it was quite advanced and it disturbed him to some extent, though he would never admit it.

 

Lightening flashed and a moment later, a loud rumble of thunder was heard, making the ground rock gently in motion with it's deep guttural roar. Naraku wondered at that too. The floor was different as well; there were rugs and even a rather large one extending throughout an entire room in some areas. Unlike his castle which had had barely any of the ornate weavings, and only simple wooden floors. And even those were not the same, these seemed polished, slick and slippery compared to the ones that had been in his castle.

 

He stopped as he found himself in what appeared was a room designed as a sort of study. There were books, some with words in an entirely different language written under the Japanese characters. None of the titles were one he had ever heard of, but one particular one caught his eye.

 

The character for `world' caught his eye, it was big and bold, standing out against the other books quite nicely in it's rich binding and rather thick spine. He immediately went to it and picked it off the shelf, flipping through feverishly as he took a seat.

 

Naraku was used to dim light, so he didn't need to squint to see the tiny characters scrawled across each page.

 

His mind buzzed, and he read faster and faster as he found that the events and years described were at least three hundred years ahead of when he had been sealed in the tree.

 

Steam boats, trains, radio, television, all of these strange phenomenon's. . .just what how many years had he been locked away?!

 

He came to the last page, the year 199X was inscribed on the top, and the last few words at the bottom suggested that perhaps even more time had elapsed since then. Flipping back, he wondered at more of the wonderfully accurate paintings, which he now understood to be called `photographs.' They all featured something he had never seen before.

 

There were even pictures of foreign countries, detailed maps in rich colors as well. He had never seen anything like it.

 

Strange people, their skin pale, their eyes gleaming colors that were unusual for the humans he was used to dealing with. Their hair was different colors as well, instead of dark brown or black, like the humans around him; these had lighter colored hair. Their teeth gleamed unusually white like demons, and they wore things over their eyes that made them look as if they had bug eyes. What were they? Humans as well?

 

He smacked the book closed decisively, frowning. So this was what she was hiding. She was not from his time at all. There was the possibility that she had gained eternal youth, but he would have known if that were true.

 

Standing, Naraku decided he would search out other books as well before confronting Kagome on these things. It was most bothersome that she was so bull-headed and stubborn.

 

There was a crunching sound as he slid his swiveling chair back away from the desk. It sounded like paper crumbling and he immediately turned to see what he had mangled with the wheels of the chair.

 

A newspaper lay on the floor, his sudden movement had torn the headlining news, and the picture rumpled so that it wasn't distinct any longer.

 

Naraku, leaning down, picked it up and smoothed it out on the desk, glaring at the date that showed at the top.

 

20XX.

 

* * *

 

Kagome smiled at her brother when they had finished the last of the rice, forming it into onigiri. She rolled her eyes as she realized she was gonna have to give Naraku some kind of food if she didn't want him wandering around in search of his own.

 

Souta was watching her with a critical kind of curiosity, his brows furrowed in confusion. “What are you going to do with those now?” He asked as Kagome picked up the tray with the onigiri on it and started to head for the stairs.

 

“They're a snack for while I study.” She lied. She stopped when she was about to turn back away, spying someone moving in the opposite room. A tall, dark figure that looked oddly familiar. `N-Naraku?!'

 

Kagome nearly dropped the platter in shock, her mouth agape. Souta's eyebrows raised at the odd look on his sister's face, and turned to follow her gaze. Noticing, she instantly snapped back to herself and Kagome immediately was at his side, pushing him toward the hallway by the steps, away from the kitchen and Naraku in the empty dining room. “Uh, you better go Souta, I think I heard mom calling you.”

 

“But Onee-chan, mom's outsi-” His voice caught at the death glare his sister had on her face, though it wasn't necessarily directed at him.

 

She loomed over him menacingly as she spoke in an icy tone.

 

“Just go, Souta.”

 

“O-Ok, Onee-chan.”

 

* * *

 

Kagome slammed the sliding doors decisively behind her as she stomped into the next room to confront her enemy. What was he doing downstairs, and in that room? How had she missed him coming down the steps?

 

Naraku sat at the head of the traditional Japanese dining table set up in the room, looking as if he belonged there. He was very calm and composed and looked at her in a manner that infuriated her further. How dare he just sit there as if nothing were the matter!

 

She shut the sliding doors connecting the dining room to the living room and the kitchen and sat down on her legs, glaring at her angrily. “What are you doing?” She demanded.

 

As soon as she had finished speaking, he brought forth a mass of papers, documents, and one large book that Kagome recognized from her father's old library. The newspaper had been crumpled; it was one of the ones her grandfather left lying around the house all the time. “What foolery is this, miko?” He replied, jabbing a clawed finger at the date on the top of the paper.

 

Kagome blinked at it for a moment, a small knot of dread forming in the pit of her stomach, this was what she had been afraid of. What was she going to do now, tell him everything or lie? He would probably catch her at lying though he was no fool. She'd have to tell the truth, well, as much as she was willing to tell that is.

 

“Welcome to the future.” She said with a grim smile at him, glad that she had a bit of an advantage. Would the truth shake him? She hoped so; she wanted to see him frightened. She made a face at the feeling that had just welled up inside of her. That wasn't like her at all, she stuffed it away.

 

A dark look crossed his features, as he seemed to contemplate this. “How long have I been in that blasted tree, miko?” He glared at her in a way that sent shivers up her spine.

 

“I'd say about five-hundred years.” Kagome replied casually, resting her head in her hand nonchalantly and her elbow on the tabletop.

 

Five-hundred?! Well, that would account for the disappearance of all of his enemies so suddenly, but what of this girl. How had she come to look the same all these years? It was as if she had not aged a day since the last time he had seen her.

 

The memory of being sealed inside the tree was still fresh in his mind and he seethed at the fact that so weak a girl had so much power over him. It was because of her that he could not use his youkai powers either, he was sure of it. Something about the house was too pure he couldn't escape it.

 

“What does that make you, little priestess?” He mused, smirking at her. He took pleasure in the fact that her guard immediately went up and she stopped leaning on the wooden table, glaring at him again. “If it's been five-hundred years, all your friends are dead, but what of you? You're no older from that day.”

 

When she made no answer he laughed, having figured it out for himself long ago. She had somehow managed to jump times, hadn't she? He wasn't sure how, but she had managed it. Naraku was positive this was the same girl, yes, it was, she could be no other but that miko wench that had trapped him in the tree all those years ago. But how had she done?

 

“What do you have to say to that, hm?”

 

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