InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Heaven ❯ Youkai Bonds ( Chapter 12 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Dark Heaven
Dreammistress Jade gets a half-cookie for identifying Kurobi Kai as my newest OC. Her name translates to “Black Fire Sea”, for the other half of the cookie. Kurobi will join Raijin and Kagemusha as my Inuyasha OCs (note that this Toga is not the same Toga as in Broken Dreams) and will appear in future stories. Anyway, here we go.
Much like last time, Inuyasha and Kagome will not be in this much. I instead focus more on the OCs I've introduced.
Chapter 12
Youkai Bonds
“I've never eaten grilled cheese before. Sounds like some kind of twisted barbeque,” Kagome mused, looking over the menu of the tiny sidewalk café Inuyasha had taken her too. Inuyasha nodded.
“Well today you can have one, I'm paying. I'll just have the noodle soup.” The waitress nodded and scribbled down their orders and left. “Sorry about last night, I had to go. I don't normally stand people up like that,” Inuyasha explained. Kagome nodded.
“It's okay, really,” She assured him. “Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot,” Inuyasha replied with a wave of his hand.
“Why do you want to date me?” Kagome asked. Inuyasha shrugged.
“You're pretty, that's a plus in my book. You're a good person, I have two sources for that. And besides…there's just something about you.” Inuyasha squinted an eye and waved a finger in the air at Kagome's face. “I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about you.” Kagome laughed awkwardly. He couldn't possibly know, could he?
“Thanks,” She replied. “But look, I want you to understand yourself, I'm not used to this sort of thing. I almost never eat out unless someone treats me, and outside of you, Miroku and the Cryer staff, I don't have many friends. So I just hope you know this sort of thing is new to me.”
“Of course, absolutely,” Inuyasha agreed. “Really, don't worry about it, I don't want to pressure you. I'd just like to see where this goes is all.”
“Same here. Maybe we can both teach each other a little something,” Kagome said. Inuyasha nodded and lifted his glass of water.
“To a new friendship,” He toasted. Kagome smiled and lifted her own glass.
“And who knows, maybe more,” She said, clinking their glasses.
- - - - - - - - - -
“Times changes, people change. Everlasting is the change. And yet I remain. Such is the fate of youkai, such is the circle of life.” Raijin finished his poem as there was a knock on the door. Raijin sighed and folded his notebook of poems shut. Poetry was a favorite pastime of his. It gave him time to collect and organize his thoughts, as well as partake in a form of art that he felt was no longer appreciated by the youkai and human collective.
“I'm getting too old for this world,” Raijin said aloud, chuckling. At barely four hundred and fifty years old, he was fairly young for a youkai. He turned and called. “Come in.” Kurobi opened the door to Raijin's quarters. “Ah, Kurobi, welcome,” Raijin greeted. “Tea? I was about to begin my meditation session if you'd care to join me.”
“Thank you for the tea, but I'll pass on joining you,” Kurobi replied. Raijin nodded and lifted a small teapot to pour Kurobi a serving. “I'd like to ask what your thoughts are concerning Angel.” Raijin raised an eyebrow as he handed Kurobi her drink.
“Oh?” He replied.
“Yes. Do you think she poses a threat to us?” Kurobi asked, sipping the tea. Raijin shrugged and looked out his window. He had asked for one specifically pointing east, and it gave a lovely view of the sunrise early in the day. Now it was shortly after noon, so there was no sun to see, although there certainly was light. “I think that she is a risk that we will assess and deal with if we have to.”
“That's not what I asked,” Kurobi pointed out, tossing a lock of light-blue hair over her shoulder. Raijin shook his head in amusement at being matched in a battle of wits with a young woman roughly two hundred years his junior.
“True, true…well, in my own humble opinion, I do not believe she intends us harm. Anyone who desires to clean up the streets of criminals cannot have malice in their intentions. But she is still a risk. I do hope violence will not be needed, but if it is, I shall stand by the Inu-no-Taisho and support him.” Kurobi nodded.
“Very well,” She said.
“And you?” Raijin replied.
“I consider her a curiosity myself. The rumors say she is neither youkai nor hanyou, yet I don't see how she could possibly be human and still have those magnificent wings,” Kurobi cast a discreet look over her shoulder and down her back. As a koumori-youkai, Kurobi herself bore a set of leathery wings that were white with blue and purple hues at the edges. “The gift of flight is a marvelous thing Raijin, but we youkai are trained since birth to control our gifts. I cannot help but ponder what type of action the humans would take had they our powers but not our control for them.”
“And Angel would indeed seem to be one such human,” Raijin agreed. “I for one am troubled more about Kagemusha myself. The Inu-no-Taisho has sent an Ambassador to track Angel's actions. I suspect that perhaps Kagemusha's convenient vanishing act is a ploy to mask the true purpose of his trip.
“Then you think he is the one the Inu-no-Taisho has sent?” Kurobi asked. Raijin let out a breath. He had never liked Kagemusha. He was Kagemusha's younger by nearly four decades, but considered himself above the ryu-youkai. Kagemusha was a living personification of every selfish, narcissistic deity Raijin had heard of. With his slick hair, slick style and equally slick attitude, he could name three separate occasions when Kagemusha had put his own well-being ahead of the House's. If anyone in the house was a traitor, Raijin had no doubt it would be him.
“I hope not. I trust Kagemusha on very few things, and his tolerance of humans is not one of them,” Raijin explained. “But I have considerably more faith in our leader. The Inu-no-Taisho would not presume to put someone as volatile and violent as Kagemusha. Angel's situation is a delicate one that he would be ill-equipped to deal with.”
“Of all the things he is, Kagemusha is not tolerant of humans,” Kurobi agreed. Even though there had been no war for a century, there were of course several youkai who felt they were above humans. They typically fled to Haven to `cleanse' the planet of the `human scum'. But the Council of Thirteen, the House, and now it would seem Angel easily dealt with them. Kagemusha was one of the so-called `Superists', and did was not at all fond of humans. But he was a member of the House, so he mostly kept his views to himself.
“I am sure the Inu-no-Taisho has made an honorable choice. But given the circumstances regarding the apparent discovery of the Sealed One though, perhaps not. We can only trust his decision and hope we are not wrong to do so,” Raijin said.
“Raijin, I have been meaning to ask you…what is the Sealed One?” Kurobi said lowly. Raijin's eyebrow twitched and he hung his head.
“Evil,” He whispered. “Well…not evil, no. I like to think everyone can be good, but when it comes to the Sealed One, I cannot be sure.”
“Is it a living thing even?” Kurobi asked. Raijin shrugged.
“In a way, I suppose. It really depends on how you define living. It doesn't eat, or breath or anything. But it thinks. It acts. It commands, controls, corrupts. That's why it was sealed in the first place…” Raijin shook his head. “Please, do not bring up the subject. I am one of the youkai who saw firsthand the horrors of the Great War, and it is not a subject I take lightly.”
“Of course, forgive me Raijin,” Kurobi bowed as Raijin stepped to his window.
“If you'll excuse me now, I am behind in my meditation, so if you please…”
“Are these your work?” Raijin turned as Kurobi flipped through his black book of poems. Raijin's eyes went wide. He had never shown anyone else his work, hell, he didn't think anyone even knew he wrote.
“No, I mean, that is…” Raijin stammered, caught off guard. Kurobi smiled as she turned the pages.
“Seriously, Raijin, you have talent. You should consider releasing some of them to the public even, they're beautiful. I've never read anything so lovely.” Raijin shielded his eyes as a ray of light caught him in the face. He had set up a unique display with a window near the top of his chambers by hanging a large chard of glass there. At noon, the light refracted through it to shine his entire chambers. Raijin looked up to glare at the mirror before looking back at Kurobi. And gasped.
Kurobi's hair was normally a light-blue, but with the light shining on it from so many angles, it had taken on a purple glow. Her alabaster skin caught and trapped every ray of light perfectly, and gave an even lighter hue to her already bright blue eyes as they scanned his book.
“You're lovely…” Raijin whispered, not even paying attention to what he was saying. Kurobi raised her head.
“Pardon?” She asked, cocking her head. Raijin did a double take and coughed.
“Excuse me, I'm late,” He said, swiftly walking to his meditation room. Kurobi sets his poems on his desk and frowned, completely confused.
“Did he really just say that?” Kurobi asked herself aloud. She sighed and giggled, shaking her head in amusement as she stepped out of the room to leave Raijin alone.
- - - - - - - - - -
The poison of the nicotine spewed out of his nostrils to float in the air in front of his eyes. Kagemusha took a breath and snorted it away to take another puff from his cigarette.
“Where the fuck is he?” He growled angrily. As if on cue, the door to Naraku's office opened, and Kagemusha spun Naraku's chair around. “It's about time you showed up, jackass. Where the hell have you been?”
“What's wrong, something crawl in your ass and die?” Hunter replied, crossing his arms.
“You were supposed to be here two hours ago, so what the hell happened?” Kagemusha snapped.
“I was busy,” Hunter explained.
“The next time I order you to meet me at a certain time, you will be here at that time,” Kagemusha ordered. “Now, what have you found out about Angel?” Hunter smiled and tossed a lock of silver hair over his shoulder.
“She's interesting, to say the least. I've spoken to her. Let her know I'm watching.”
“You let her know you were here?” Kagemusha roared. “Have you lost your mind?”
“I don't take orders from you Kagemusha, so shove it. I'll handle Angel however I want,” Hunter growled, glaring at the ryu-youkai.
“We're supposed to work together on her. If you aren't going to listen to orders then you can run back to Horai and let me take care of her,” Kagemusha said, snapping to send up a plume of flame in warning
“Work together with you? I don't think so,” Hunter laughed. “Toga sent me here to deal with the Angel threat, he said nothing about working together with you. So just try and stay out of my way while I do what I'm supposed to. I'll take care of Angel, so leave it at that and leave me alone.” Hunter left Naraku's office, and Kagemusha clenched his fist, his cigarette stinging his palm.
“Bastard,” He muttered, opening his hand and looking down at the singed flesh. It crackled as it began to heal, leaving a perfectly smooth palm in a few seconds.