InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Dreams ❯ Youkai's Past ( Chapter 12 )

Broken Dreams

 

Chapter 12

 

Youkai's Past

 

Kagome licked her lips and eagerly beset her hunger upon the poor, helpless bowl of stew in her hands. Youkai apparently didn't think chopsticks were needed- he was a youkai, after all. He had offered to find a good pair of small tree branches Kagome could use as substitutes, but the young miko had opted for her hands as opposed to tree branches. Youkai's store of vegetables was running low- he kept them in a dug out cabinet in the cave wall to keep them cool-, so the stew had few carrots in it, and was mostly meat.

 

Not that Kagome was complaining. She had been with Youkai for about a week now, and had only been eating meat for the last two days. The bear tasted a little odd - much like the old saying, it actually did taste like chicken -, and Kagome found herself oddly wishing for the rabbits that Kouga usually hunted. But Youkai had explained his reasons for his choice of prey, and Kagome was not about to ask him to compromise his ethics just to please her taste buds.

 

Youkai was out right now, looking for mushrooms. Mushrooms were pretty much the only vegetable he could find on his own. Kagome was a little worried that he'd accidentally pick some poisonous mushrooms, but figured it wouldn't happen. Youkai had been living here for a while; he must have known what he was doing.

 

Kagome's wounds had begun to finish their healing in the last few days. Youkai had found a sturdy tree branch, and whenever he went out to do whatever it was he did, she took the makeshift crutch and practiced walking. Her ankle still didn't like it, but as Youkai had said, she needed to try. It was pretty much all she had to do, besides counting the hairs on her head. She was up to two hundred thirty nine at last count, before an itch drew her hand away. Kagome was fairly sure she had more then two hundred thirty nine hairs.

 

Kagome was really going stir crazy sitting in the cave all day. As much fun as it was to lie around all day, she needed a little more. Youkai's agenda seem to consist of `eat, do something outside, eat, do something outside, eat, sleep'. Kagome didn't know what he did to keep busy, but she wished he would tell her so she could take part. Youkai frequently came back with various odds and ends, like firewood and any sort of edible plant he found. But other then that, there didn't seem to be much for him to do. Youkai's life was rather low maintenance.

 

“No wonder he decided to take care of me,” Kagome whispered. “I'm probably the most exciting thing that has happened to him in a while.” she chuckled slightly.

 

“What's so funny?” Kagome's head snapped up as Youkai walked in, a sack slung over his shoulder.

 

“Speak of the devil,” Kagome said. Youkai stared - or at least kept his head pointed - at her, then dumped the sack of mushrooms into the makeshift cabinet and flung out the sack. “Youkai, what do you do all day?” Kagome asked. Youkai sighed.

 

“I have ways of keeping myself busy,” he said.

 

“Like what?” Kagome persisted. Youkai was silent for a moment.

 

“I…I…” he stammered. Kagome cocked her head to the side and he started fidgeting. She hadn't seen Youkai fidget before.

 

“Come on,” she coaxed. Youkai sighed and sat down beside her on the bed.

 

“I…I try to remember,” he whispered. Kagome put a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Remember?” she asked. Youkai slowly nodded.

 

“I told you, there's a lot I don't remember. I remember nothing that happened years ago. I remember up to a couple years ago, but before that…I don't even remember how old I am, where I used to live. My family, my real name…nothing.” Youkai clenched his hands, and Kagome reached out to grab his wrist.

 

“I…I have dreams sometimes, but whenever I wake up, I forget them too. Sometimes I feel like I'm starting to remember things. Names and faces. But then something happens, and I forget again. I know there's things I should remember easily, but there's something stopping me.” Kagome bit her lip. It didn't seem right that Youkai could not remember a single thing after more than two years. Kagome frowned as a thought came to her from a psychology class back from her time. Maybe Youkai's memories weren't all that great. Maybe, deep down, he didn't want to remember.

 

“Well isn't there something you remember from after you forgot?” Kagome asked. Youkai shrugged.

 

“I remember wandering around for a long time, looking for help. No one wanted to help me because I was a youkai, but when I came here, the village headmaster helped me. He said his mother had been a friend of a youkai, and knew that not all my kind were bloodthirsty monsters. The villagers didn't like me, but the headmaster took me in. He nursed me back to health, healed my wounds. I stayed with him a few weeks until the villagers demanded I leave. I found this place after the headmaster had me go. I managed to convince the villagers to trade with me, and that was that,” he explained.

 

“Is there anything before the village?” Kagome said. Youkai looked down.

 

“There is something, but…” he trailed off as his hitched.

 

“But what?” Kagome whispered. Youkai stood up and sat down by the bear carcasses, cutting off more meat.

 

“I don't talk about it,” he said simply. “I'll make the food for tonight.” He said. Kagome nodded. Stew again. With the lack of potato chips and various types of instant foods that the last three years had brought, the meals usually consisted of stew, roasted meat, or a sort of salad while she was on the road. She had gotten used to the same type of meal several days in a row.

 

Youkai busied himself with slicing off chucks of bear and tossing them in the pot at his side. Kagome grabbed her crutch from beside the bed and pushed herself onto her feet. Youkai had become used to her practicing her walking, so he paid her little mind as she shuffled around the cave. Kagome had neared the entrance and was turning around when a flash of white caught her eye. Kagome went to the cave wall and examined the white thing.

 

It was an ofuda. The white paper was inscribed with four different kanji and plastered on the cave wall. Kagome figured it must have been the anchor that held the spell that hid Youkai's youki in place. She frowned as she noticed something odd about the ofuda. She'd never seen any ofuda written like it before. Kagome reached out and gingerly brushed her fingertips over the charm. She felt the magic of the ofuda tingle under her touch, but there was something wrong about the ofuda.

 

“Youkai, where do you get these ofudas?” she called. Youkai raised his head.

 

“The village monk gives them to me,” he said. Kagome's eyes widened slightly. That couldn't have been right. The magic that coursed through the ofuda wasn't that of a monk. The one in the village must have been a fake, because there was no type of monk magic enchanting the ofuda. But if the monk hadn't enchanted the ofuda, that could only mean…

 

Youkai had enchanted them himself.