InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kimono ❯ New Beginning ( Chapter 3 )

The world spun fiercely around Mizoshi as her and the demon in black flew through the air. She was in some immense lavender cloud, spinning and twirling. She could see nothing except vague hazy shapes as she twisted and turned in the cyclone, but could feel the man holding her painfully tight. Still, she felt in no real danger. Mizoshi couldn’t explain why. If this half demon wanted to kill her, he could have dropped her minutes ago. Eventually, she felt herself drifting downwards and the winds settling. Moments later, her feet touched the solid earth. Both of their feet found traction again. The half demon’s grip hadn’t loosened. Not once.

Mizoshi couldn’t help noticing the dark buildings in front of her astonished eyes. It was pitch dark. Completely so. No light emanated from within. There was no sign of even one single person in the connecting structures. Not one servant or gardener though it seemed to be a palace of sorts, or some other form of a grand residence. Mizoshi shivered in the coldness seeping from the abode. It had a disturbing aura. Overhead, the gray sky of heavy clouds above them rumbled, yet there was no sign or rain. Indeed, the very ground was parched with drought.

“Enjoying the view of my castle?” the half demon chuckled.

She turned and peered straight into his crimson orbs. “You live here?”

“Of course. What is your name…girl?”

“Mizoshi,” she replied evenly.

He grinned; revealing lethal, pointed teeth. “I am Naraku.”

“You’re a half demon like me?” Mizoshi could contain the question no longer.

He growled as if the words offended him. That was the only way to describe the noise he created from his clenched lips. His eyes flared, and he appeared to be bristled enough to strike her, but chose to restrain himself. “For now,” he spat out. He stared at her a few moments. “You’re a half demon?”

“Yes, Naraku-sama.”

The hanyou appeared shocked that she had addressed him so. He looked longer at the young woman, starting at the top of her shoulder-length sable hair, to her slightly curvy body, and lower yet to her bare feet. “How old are you?” he questioned softly in a low, husky tone.

“I just turned seventeen during the early summer storms,” she answered placidly. It was barely the beginning of autumn now. Three months had transpired since her birthday. Tears misted her vision, but she refused to let them free. It had been a happy day, although money was scarce. Nibori gave her a gently polished seashell he found on the sand, and her other brother Ken bestowed her with a carved wooden fish he whittled himself. It took him an entire month to create. She had strung it on a cord that hung around her wrist now. Her only possession from home.

Naraku grinned. “And you are unmarried?”

“Yes. I lived with my mother and siblings.”

“Where are they now?”

Drawing herself up in an effort to erase her sudden nervousness, she told her tale. “We were discovered. The villages found out we were the children of a demon and accused my mother of collaborating with them. We were chased from our home. I alone escaped into the woods. My life was complicated enough without talk of marriage.”

“Quite odd.” He smirked. “Many girls your age already have a son or daughter on the way.” Naraku, for whatever reason, chose not to comment on her family, however Mizoshi knew what he said was true. Some married as young as fourteen, or as soon as a female’s first blood showed; proving she could provide an heir for husband. Mizoshi was ridiculed for this too. It wasn’t by choice however. She was kept busy taking care of her ailing mother’s home. With no adult male to be the head of the household, it not only wore on her mother, but made life increase in difficulty for all five family members. Also, no suitors had materialized for the occasion. Perhaps she would remain a spinster. Should she be allowed to live that is.

“About your parentage,” he went on. “Was your mother or father a demon?”

“My father was a half demon. I’m mostly human,” she explained matter-of-factly. “I see,” he said dismissively. The conversation had ended. Pleasantries had been exchanged and they were left with silence, not to mention an unknown future. Mizoshi’s own future may have been getting shorter by the second. His red eyes had hardened into rubies; giving the impression that they were glaring into her very soul. It was a predatory, calculating gaze.

“So, what am I to do with you?”

The sentence chilled Mizoshi’s ear. He was violent. Wild. Malicious. Uncontrollable. He was a blaze, ready to burn down everything in his path, smoldering just below the surface. He could do what he pleased with her.

“First,” he continued silkily, “tell me, girl. Why did you crouch down by my fallen form?”

“To help you,” she confessed. “You were wounded. I wanted to clean your face and assist you in reawakening.”

Those eyes glinted disbelievingly. “Why?” Naraku snorted. “Don’t you know who I am?”

“Not until recently.”

He was still staring at her with his head cocked to one side. Lost in thought.

“Are you to kill me, Naraku-sama?” Mizoshi inquired, anxiety tightening her voice.

“I’m considering…”

A bulge had grown in her throat.

“…which room to settle you in,” he finished.

“You’re keeping me here?”

“As a guest.” The menacing red eyes narrowed. “Did you honestly think I would slay you?”

Truthfully, she hadn’t known what to think. Was she to be his servant? His slave? Or as a guest of honor? “You are very kind, Naraku-sama.”

Naraku laughed then; a harsh, bitter sound. “I honestly don’t recall someone ever characterizing me that way. I am not kind, girl. Nor gentle. No, there’s no point in ending your existence. You’re alone in this world. None would miss you, and there’s little reason to hold a ransom. Besides, you amuse me. You’re the first woman who I met who wasn’t cowed by my presence.”

She wasn’t sure if that was something to be proud of.

“Let us go inside where you can eat and bathe,” he purred. “Shall we?”

Mizoshi was powerless to decline.