InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips. ❯ Formerly a Friend. ( Chapter 13 )

A/N: This is a very short chapter, I know, but it's mostly just to introduce new characters and to bring everyone back to the main plot of the story - the tale of Inuyasha and his geisha.

 

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Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips.

 

Chapter Thirteen: Formerly a Friend.

 

He fell suddenly to his knees, grasping the wound in his side. The gash was deep, and it bled harshly, spattering the dirt with deep red. He swallowed hard, blinking rapidly as his vision quickly lost its focus.

 

“Miroku!”

 

The voice was high-pitched and feminine, though she sounded… strong, somehow. He turned his entire body around to face her as she ran to him, dropping to her own knees and skidding toward him. She was clothed in a strange black uniform, and it clung to her skin perfectly, as if it were her very skin.

 

Her eyes were the color of the earth, and they gushed with tears as they looked him over. “Oh, Gods, Miroku-san! You're so pale…” she murmured as he fell into her arms, swallowing the blood that was collecting in his mouth. The copper taste forced him to gag, and she helped him turn to his side to spit it out. When he resumed his former position, lying on his back, he looked up into her sweet face; she was crying much more openly now, her face stained with tears.

 

He reached up slowly, rubbing her chin with his fingertip. “Oh, Sango…” he murmured, fading quickly into black. “My beautiful Sango…”

 

“Miroku!” he heard her scream, though he could no longer see her beautiful, crying face. “Miroku-san, don't go!”

 

Her sobbing continued until it, too, faded away.

 

“Number twenty-nine!”

 

A new voice pierced the darkness, bringing him floating back up to the surface. He opened his eyes slowly, wary of the bright sunlight that filled the crowded soba shop. Standing, he looked around, shoving his thin-framed glasses high up on his nose once again; he made his way slowly through the near-bursting crowd, trying to reach the counter with his numbered ticket in hand. He didn't even notice when one small woman turned and, upon spying his face, her eyes widened. Without paying much attention, he bumped right into her, trying to slide past to reach the counter.

 

“Hey!” he heard suddenly, and it seemed like such a familiar voice - but not nearly as confusingly familiar as the stinging sensation that erupted in his cheek when that same girl slapped him fully across the face. Stunned, he stared down into her chocolate brown eyes as her cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of red, and she hollered, “Hentai!”

 

He blinked down at her, his entire body heating up considerably as the flashbacks overtook him once again. He began to shake, falling forward and gripping the small woman tightly by her shoulders.

 

They stood together at the edge of a clearing, a wooden well not too far from them, as well as a very large, slightly gnarled tree. The sun was setting against the horizon, bathing them in shades of deep ruby and explosive violet. He held onto her - she was much more than a simple memory.

 

She was proof. Proof that it was all real.

 

He blinked, and he was suddenly back in the soba shop, holding the petite woman by the shoulders while being screamed at by her equally small female companion. Still a bit dazed, he managed to rip his eyes from the girl's to look at the one yelling at him; she stopped when he looked at her, recognition lighting up in her green-brown eyes.

 

They are not her, he thought, slowly releasing his grip on her shoulders.

 

“Kagome-sama,” he murmured softly, and she gasped.

 

“Houshi-sama!” she said sharply. “It is you - isn't it?”

 

He gave her a slight smile, stepping back and shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. “In a way, yes,” he answered, his mind still flashing back and forth between coloring her in sunny yellows and whites and in darkening reds and blues and purples. She looked nearly the exact same.

 

Together, forgetting their soba, the trio left the shop, ignoring the strange stares that they had accumulated throughout their torrid reunion.

 

There was so much to discuss…

 

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I ran through the full streets, busy with men and women alike being ushered into military convoys. Every time I laid eyes on a slightly familiar face, I would yell - no, scream at them, “Keiko no Asakusa? Keiko wo sagashite imasu!” Everyone just shook their heads at me sadly, knowing what I was asking for.

 

Finally, Cho appeared in the crowd; she'd worked with Sakura and Keiko at the tea house in Asakusa many, many times before, I knew. I called to her, “Chotto matte kudasai! Tetsudatte kuremasuka? Keiko wo sagashite imasu!”

 

Cho gave me a grim look before pointing further on down the street, whispering, “Asoko.”

 

I turned my head, looking in the direction she was handing to me; then I looked back at her sad face with my own. “Arigatou!” I told her before disappearing back into the crowd. When I turned back, I watched as Cho, one of the finest geisha of Asakusa, was shoved into the back of a convoy with the rest of them, as though they were all trash.

 

I turned and fled down the cobbled road, still looking for my Keiko.

 

As soon as I spotted her, I hurried forward, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her with me. Alarmed, she fought me for a moment, but I shushed her, murmuring, “Watashi to issho ni kite kudasai, Keiko. Watashi to issho ni kite kudasai.”

 

Her eyes met mine, and she nodded. “Hai, Inuyasha-san.”

 

I pulled her behind me to a carriage and loaded her into it, instructing her of what to do the entire time. At one point, she stopped me, throwing me a frightened look and crying out, “Wakarimasen!”

 

Tears filled my eyes as I held her face in my hands, and I switched to English for just long enough to tell her what I didn't want the others around us to hear: “Go to the Sunset Shrine. They will take care of you there.”

 

All she could say was a breathless “Honto?” as she stared at me, obviously shocked by my words. I realized that she was already situated in the carriage seat; I paid the driver quickly, and he was off, Keiko still watching me, open-mouthed, as she was pulled away.

 

“Daisuki desu,” I said gently, knowing that only the wind was listening to me now. I watched her as she disappeared through the gate without any problems, and then I turned to hurry back home.

 

Sesshomaru and I needed to prepare for the oncoming war.

 

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Next Time:

 

Chapter Fourteen: Love is Like Rain…

 

A/N: I was trying to play with another writing style with the last part of this chapter - I think my brain may be rotting from rewatching too much Samurai Champloo here lately. XD Please tell me if it works with or against the flow of the story; here is where feedback is essential. Here are the translations for the Japanese phrases included in the latter part of this chapter:

 

Keiko no Asakusa - Keiko of Asakusa (Asakusa was a geisha district in Tokyo during this period).

 

Keiko wo sagashite imasu - I'm looking for Keiko.

 

Cho - a female name meaning “butterfly”

 

Chotto matte kudasai - One moment please!

 

Tetsudatte kuremasuka - Can you help me?

 

Asoko - There.

 

Arigatou - Thank you!

 

Watashi to issho ni kite kudasai - Come with me.

 

Hai - Yes.

 

-san - Mr./Ms./Mrs.

 

Wakarimasen - I don't understand!

 

Honto? ­- Really?

 

Daisuki desu - a more informal way of saying “I am loving you” or “I love you.”