InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Leiko ❯ The Shikon Jewel ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter One

The Shikon no Tama

 

 

 

The rain fell lightly making a dull, monotonous drumming sound on the roof of the old shrine. Leiko sighed wearily as she watched the drops run down her bedroom window in little rivulets. She hated days like this. With a sigh she turned back to the history book spread out in front of her. How was she suppose to concentrate on homework when the noise the rain was making kept drawing her attention away? Leiko pushed the thick book away from her in irritation.

She rose from her chair and groaned. It'd been quite a while since she'd last moved around. Her stomach rumbled loudly. Leiko glanced at her clock. Six thirty already? She stretched and gave a mighty yawn. Homework was such a bore. It was time for a break anyway. Leiko pushed her door open and slowly trudged down the steps. The house was eerily quiet. Kagome and Inuyasha had taken her little sister, Akira, to the doctor. She'd had a terrible cough and had been very sick for much of the week.

Leiko flicked on the kitchen light as she entered and made her way to the refrigerator. Her violet eyes moved from one item to the next. She slammed the refrigerator shut with a tiny scream of frustration. There was nothing to do and almost all the food had to be cooked. Leiko didn't cook except under great need. She cracked her knuckles as she walked back up to her room. Now she had no other choice but to do her homework. Leiko trudged back up the steps and slowly made her way to her room.

At the door she paused. A tiny noise, like a heart beating, reached her ears. She turned her head in the direction from which she thought the noise had originated. From what she could deduce it was coming from her parents' room. Leiko descended the steps once more and moved towards her parents' room. Just as she'd suspected. The strange noise was coming from their room. Her hand was poised above the door knob in indecision. What if they caught her?

Leiko stood there a while longer. All the while the beating kept getting louder and louder. She tore the door open and stood on the threshold. The room was dark. Her hand went to the light switch. Leiko stopped herself and entered the pitch black room. As she made her way inside she felt her head begin to pound with the rhythm of the strange beating and the drumming of the rain as it hit the roof.

She moved forward slowly to avoid bumping into anything. The pulsing became stronger as she neared the chest at the foot of her parents' bed. Leiko knelt down in front of it and pulled the lid. It moved up only a few inches. The pulsing was now louder than ever. From what little light she received from the hall light Leiko caught sight of a few large items and a very small spherical object that gave off a faint light. She dropped the lid with an exasperated sigh. She should have known her father would lock it.

“Now where's the key?” she asked, as if the darkness could give her the answer she sought.

Leiko sat down to try and think of some way to open it without them knowing. She snapped her fingers as the answer dawned on her. She ran to the her room and dug out a bobby pen. When she was kneeling in front of the chest again she was grateful she'd taught herself to pick locks. The only reason she had taught herself such a skill was because she'd seen someone do it on T. V. and had been fascinated by the little trick. After that day she'd gone to the store and bought every lock there was and forced herself to learn how to open them without their keys. Those lessons were the result of many dents in her wall and door and even a busted window.

She slowly worked the bobby pen inside the lock and jiggled it around a little. Once it was all the way in Leiko turned it slightly to the left and then a quarter to the right. It gave a tiny click and Leiko took it off with a satisfied grin on her face. Getting grounded for two week over the broken window had certainly paid off. She'd have to tell her parents thanks for doing it.

Leiko opened the chest slowly. The hinges gave a squeak as she lifted the lid higher. She looked back into the hallway. The darkness was her only witness. No one else would ever know she'd taken anything from the chest if she kept it hidden well enough. Leiko jumped and spun around at even the tinniest of sounds. She turned back to the chest and reached inside. Her fingers closed around the tiny orb object. It pulsed in her grasp. Leiko stared down at it. A faint pinkish glow surrounded the jewel. For a moment Leiko thought she had some idea of what the jeweled orb could be. She shook her head. There was no way that this was the Shikon no Tama.

Leiko heard the faint click of a lock opening down stairs. Leiko slammed the chest shut and quickly redid the lock she'd picked. She shoved the jewel into her pants' pocket and slipped out of the room without anyone the wiser. As she closed the door she heard her parents and sister enter the living room. Leiko held the jewel tightly in her grasp as it lay hidden in her pocket. Her mother smiled at her.

“Good.” Kagome said. “You're taking a break. I need you to watch Akira while I make dinner.”

Leiko nodded. Her hand closed around the orb and she winced as she realised she'd robbed her own parents. Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow at her. He'd seen her wince.

“I'll do it Kagome.” Inuyasha said. “Leiko has too much work to do. Besides no one can tell the tale of Inusha,Kagma, and the Shikon no Tama like me.”

He took Akira in his arms, carried her up the stairs, and into her room. When he passed Leiko, Inuyasha smiled slightly. Akira gave a fit of hacking coughs and groaned in misery. Leiko's heart dropped as she saw the reddish tint to her sister's face. Akira sighed and lay her head on Inuyasha's shoulder. Her face was buried in his ebony hair so she never saw Leiko wipe a tear from her violet eyes. When the door closed behind them Leiko turned to Kagome.

She bit her lower lip hoping in vain that it would stop her tears from flowing. Much to her disdain hot, salty tears poured forth and rolled down her cheeks. Kagome turned away from her oldest daughter's intense and sorrowful gaze. Leiko didn't need to be told what her baby sister's fate was. It was all too clear on her mother's face.

The door to Akira's room opened and Inuyasha stood there staring at the white wood before him. Leiko turned on her heel and made her way to her sister's room. As she slipped her hand past her father to the door knob and made her way into the dark room, Leiko heard Inuyasha sigh heavily. Leiko closed the door behind her and stood in total darkness again. Akira coughed loudly causing Leiko's heart to wrench. She took a deep breath and made her way to her sister's bedside.

Akira rolled over onto her side and clicked on her lamp. She looked up at Leiko. Her violet eyes held her unspoken pain. Akira tried to smile reassuringly but couldn't manage it. Leiko knelt down at her sister's side and took up her little hand. She was shaking as she held onto Akira. All of their lives Akira had been the only person she'd ever allowed to see her cry. Now, as she held the little girl, she knew deep down that she had to keep herself from doing just that. They sat there in silence for a few moments.

“Sing for me, Leiko.” Akira said in a hoarse whisper.

Leiko was a little reluctant. Then, with a heavy sigh, she began to sing a soft lullaby. At the end Akira yawned. Leiko pulled her covers up and rose to her feet. Akira took her by the hand and pulled her closer. The older girl felt her eyes begin to burn with tears with each passing minute she stayed in the room. All she wanted was to close her eyes and make it all go away.

“Leiko, don't you think it would be fun to be a hanyou like the one in Daddy's story?” Akira asked. “Maybe then I wouldn't be sick.”

She was wearing a big grin of hope. Akira wanted her sister's approval so badly. Leiko gave a ghost of a smile. She gave a slight nod of agreement. Without a word she walked out of her sister's room. When the door closed behind her, Leiko heaved a great sigh. She looked around but didn't see her parents anywhere. The rain was now just a light sprinkle.

Leiko squeezed the jewel in her pocket. She moved towards the front door and slipped outside. Leiko watched the light drizzle for a while. As the falling drops met their siblings in the murky puddles more tears came to Leiko`s eyes. Her heart felt hollow. The pain inside felt so distant that it was hard for her to believe that it was her own. With a sigh she stepped out into the drizzle. Her feet moved of their own accord. She kept her eyes cast downward. Leiko was unaware that she was walking to the old well house that had always been off limits to her. Her eyes swept over the dirty building. It was the one place Inuyasha and Kagome wouldn't look for her. With one final glance over her shoulder, Leiko sidled into the well house.

A dank, moldy smell slapped her in the face when she turned and slid down the door. Out of her pocket she pulled the glowing jewel. In the dim well house the light was much brighter. Leiko held it in her palm and stared at it blankly. She wondered if it really could grant one's most desired wish. Leiko rose to her feet and moved towards the well in the center of the building. Still holding the jewel in front of her she leaned against the side of the well.

As she leaned against it she recalled her own childish wish. She, too, had always dreamed of being a hanyou. Preferably a dog hanyou like the one in her father's story. He'd been wicked awesome. Leiko had always found the hanyou's personality something akin to her father's… and her own. Leiko tossed the jewel into the air and leaned more heavily on the well side. As the jewel spun through the air Leiko smiled to herself.

“I wish I could be a dog hanyou.” she said.

When the jewel landed back in her hand a strange pink light erupted from it. The light came out so abruptly that it startled Leiko. Her full weight pressed against the well and the side gave way. Leiko toppled backwards and fell into the well. As she fell a blue-purple light erupted out of no where. The two lights combined blinded her. To keep from looking at them Leiko shut her eyes as tight as she could. She slammed into the ground harder than she would have liked. Suddenly her world went black.