InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Single Wish ❯ Scroll Six ( Chapter 6 )

A Single Wish

 

By: OtakuSailorV

 

*~* Scroll Six - Creepy Crawly *~*

 

It was time, the time she had been dreading since she had sat down to complete her homework. She had finished it, she had even gone as slowly as she could, trying to avoid this moment, hoping maybe it would never come, maybe her problem would solve itself. That was childish thinking though, and she reprimanded herself now for even thinking such silly things.

 

The time had come now, and she uneasily set down her pencil, wondering over and over again what she should say or even do.

 

Naraku was reading some book in her closet, and she sure as hell wasn't about to let him stay there. It was bad enough she had let him stay this long! But what was she supposed to do, and what the heck was he doing?

 

It just didn't make sense, and she was going round and round in circles in her head, wondering what the heck she was supposed to do with him.

 

If she made him leave, and he did by some stroke of luck, then who knew where he would take off to and what kind of trouble he would cause. Kagome was not about to let the sick freak out into her world where it would be harder to battle him than before. At least people had believed in demons back then!

 

Then again, if she made him stay, what would she do tomorrow, and where would she keep him so that her family wouldn't notice? Besides that, what would she do when she went to school tomorrow? It wasn't like this was Inuyasha she was dealing with!

 

She nearly broke her pencil in anxious frustration, what was she going to do?

 

Frowning to herself, she called up as much courage as she could, shooing away the nervousness and fright that threatened to consume her and block out any solid thoughts. Walking over to her closet, she slid the door open and peeked inside. The crimson met her curious gaze almost immediately, sharpening when her eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

 

“What are you doing?” She asked grumpily of him, trying to keep her voice even, which wasn't a hard task if she didn't think about how dangerous this situation really was.

 

“I am catching up on what I have missed in the past 500 years.” He replied in his usual dull tone.

 

Kagome weighed her options; it would all come down on what she said next, whatever it was that she chose to say. She took a deep breath, wondering if what she was about to say was really the right thing to do.

 

“Could you come out here for a second?” She knew she shouldn't be asking, more like demanding. But she was exasperated and it was late, she really wasn't in the mood to deal with something like this, but it had to be done.

 

He studied her for a moment, and she wondered if he would refuse to do as she asked, but eventually he did get up, towering over her for a moment as if to try and intimidate her before going out. The book was still in one hand limply, dangling by its spine as he came out of the dark closet and stood in the middle of her room, watching her expectantly.

 

Another deep breath, oh how she dreaded saying this. Despite her other feelings though, she forced herself to be as strict and overbearing in her tone as she possibly could. If she showed any sign of weakness he was likely to exploit it.

 

“Alright, listen up,” she demanded his attention sharply. “I'm not about to have you running all over the city doing Kami-sama knows what, so for now you'll have to stay here.”

 

His expression didn't falter; his eyes gave no hint to his thoughts. Kagome continued, feeling much more like her old self now. “I can't chance my family seeing you though, so you'll have to stay in the old well house.”

 

“And you expect me to go along with this plan of yours, miko? You think I do not have my own agenda to keep?” When he finally answered Kagome felt her spirit flicker for a moment in doubt before returning in its usual burst of flame.

 

“Yes, I do.” She replied confidently.

 

He smirked in return and seemed about to laugh outright at her, but she kept her ground, keeping her face set in determination. If she were lucky - extremely lucky - she might get him to comply.

 

“Besides,” she continued before he had the chance to speak up again. “I don't have time to argue about this. Now move it!”

 

There, she had done it now. Ordered him like he were her little brother and pushing him toward her open window. He seemed to allow this rough treatment until he reached the windowsill. Naraku stopped and gave her a cold you-don't-know-who-you're-messing-with glare. The only trouble was that Kagome knew very well whom she was dealing with, and couldn't believe herself the idiotic course of actions she was choosing.

 

This was just not right! Keade had said that it was impossible for him to escape, and the Shikon's magic had bound him too! Had it been her wish that had freed him?

 

“Kagome, honey, are you still up? You should be in bed!” Her mother's scolding tone reached up the steps and through her doorway. Panicking, Kagome gave Naraku another hard shove without a second thought. She found it easier to operate if she didn't keep second-guessing and thinking about whom she was pushing around. He held his ground, not budging an inch under her force and continuing to glare at her reproachfully over his shoulder. Giving him another hard shove, his body swayed a bit, but his feet kept perfectly still. Damn! If only she had more brute strength!

 

Calling up her old miko powers, she wondered if she could channel them into her muscles as she gave him one last hard shove, her shoulder connecting with his spine smartly.

 

Naraku stumbled forward, seemingly taken by surprise, though Kagome was sure nothing ever took him by surprise. Maybe she was wrong though, since he really did look surprised when he tumbled on to the roof, the book clattering on the roof tiles behind him, and rolled down over the edge to the ground below. It must have been her imagination though.

 

Kagome gasped when she heard the hard `thump' that he made when he hit the ground below, a small cloud of dirt rising up and settling back down slowly. Oh no, what if her family had heard that?! Idiot! What had compelled her to push Naraku out the window? And where had she gotten the strength to push him anyway? She would have at least have suspected him of defending himself a bit, it was almost like he wasn't a hanyou. . .

 

Kagome looked at her hands for a moment, wondering if her miko powers had any input on her new ability to literally push Naraku around.

 

“Kagome? Kagome, are you alright, dear?” Her mother's footsteps were coming up the steps hurriedly. Kagome swiftly tried to come up with an excuse for the sound of something falling off the roof. . .An experiment with the force of gravity, maybe?

 

* * *

 

Damn the little wench for suddenly gaining so much power! This was the most humiliating thing he had ever undergone so far! How dare she push him out that second-story window?! The nerve of that-

 

Naraku growled as he picked up the book that had landed on the ground beside him. He was angry that he had only just barely managed to jump to his feet before hitting the ground. If he had not lost nearly all of his powers already, he would throttle the girl. As it was, he could barely get near her without receiving what humans might call a `static shock.' Touching her would only result in a sharper sensation that would dull his powers further, and he could not afford that at this point.

 

He was not about to let her think she had the upper hand though, he would keep up the façade as long as possible if need be. He would have to figure out a way to get his powers back though, and soon.

 

Glaring up at the window where Kagome still stood, her back to him now, his red eyes flashed briefly in the dark before he grudgingly turned toward the Goshinboku.

 

* * *

 

It had taken every ounce of her focus to lie to her mother about the strange noise. She could tell her mother was still suspicious, but she couldn't find any proof of her suspicions, whatever they were, and left with a worried glance at the window.

 

Kagome sighed when she was gone, relieved that she had not looked out, and that none of her family had gone outside in search of the maker of the strange sounds. Looking back out, she waited for her eyes to get used to the sudden dark before glancing about fitfully for any sign of Naraku.

 

There wasn't anything though, and she felt her blood run cold. Oh no, she had released him on the world! Idiot, idiot, idiot!

 

Flicking her lights off she cautiously poked her head out her window. It would be best if everyone thought she was asleep.

 

She propped herself up on the sill and carefully tried to get her footing. She was aware that with one small slip she would go crashing down as well, or maybe even cut her foot open on one of the ceramic shingles.

 

Oh come on, she had been through worse than this back in the Sengoku Jidaii and she was not about to let Naraku loose in her world. Even if she wasn't sure how she could exactly stop him from doing anything, she had to at least try.

 

Gingerly, like a cat, she climbed out of the window and eased down it slowly, making sure to feel with her feet before taking a step. Fortunately, the roof wasn't that dangerous at all if she was careful and she made it to the lowest corner of the roof with little trouble at all, though she had to go around all of the windows in complete silence. Lightly she jumped down from the roof, landing awkwardly and painfully on the hard dirt and stone ground. She winced but the fall hadn't hurt too much, just a mild throb in her bones from landing in the wrong position.

 

Quickly she moved away from the house and tried to calm herself, reaching out with her miko powers in search of Naraku's dark shouki. She found it almost immediately and was surprised by how close it was and that it was actually stationary instead of moving swiftly away from her position. She felt a wave of realization and surprise sweep through her as she picked up his aura though; her eyes widened.

 

`Naraku's shouki…why is it…disappearing?'

 

* * *

 

Naraku stiffened as he stood looking at the ruined Goshinboku. Damn this tree; damn it and that blasted wench of Inuyasha's. How could this have happened to him? How could he have allowed himself to become this way? His fangs ground together in frustrated anger, his aura gave a twinge and then settled. He was unable to make it explode with power anymore, it was continually dwindling…Why did everything in this world make him so sick? He could sense corrupt aura's everywhere and yet he was still weakening! This was complete madness! A youkai of his magnitude should have been feeding off of such a mass of shouki, even if he were only hanyou.

 

The miko came up behind him slowly; her aura was pulsating strangely in a way he was not used to. She was frightened, tired, curious and a touch angry. He sniffed to himself derisively; what did she want now?

 

“Naraku…” She said, the hint of repulsed hatred did not go unheard. He could sense it in her whenever she spoke, no matter how she tried to hide such an ugly emotion, it still showed in her. Just like it had in Kikyou…

 

He did not reply to her, simply kept staring at the burned-out wood, scowling at it in hatred, trying to find out where he had gone wrong. He should have killed this girl in the beginning, he was sure of that now. He had been a fool to play with her and her companions, watching them in their puppet-dance; sure that he was always the one pulling the strings.

 

Kagome looked him over; he did not look as if he had fallen…Her eyes found the book still clutched in one of his clawed hands and she felt a small form of rage boiling within her. How dare he have entered her father's old study! Had he no respect for the dead?!

 

There was a long silence, in which the two of them just stood there, reading each other's auras with ease and hating each other all the more every second.

 

“If you have something to say, miko, you should say it and get it over with, I don't have time to deal with you,” Naraku finally said.

 

Kagome felt the ugly beast called rage rear its disgusting head once more in her, as it so often had done before, roaring savagely at her to retaliate. She clenched her fists and her teeth fit together in a snug growl, though she didn't dare provoke him at the moment. Why was his shouki so low? It was still lowering! Keade had said that the God-Tree would purify him, but he wasn't in the God-Tree anymore!

 

She opened her mouth to speak but was stopped when she heard the cawing of crows and other bird's overhead. Looking up, she just barely caught the outline of a mass of birds flying away from the well which glowed ominously. Kagome shimmered as she sensed the shouki that rippled out toward her; she felt the pulse of the well calling to her. Her eyes widened as the ground shook with the ripple; the Goshinboku's aura responded to the shouki by shimmering and seemingly moving of its own will as bells tinkled overhead.

 

Naraku looked at the well house with disdain, watching as the miko before him nervously assessed the situation they were in.

 

“What's going on?” Kagome felt the words run from her mouth before she could stop them. Was this an earthquake? But earthquakes didn't cause the Goshinboku and the well house to react this way…

 

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