InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lost World ❯ Chapter Ten ( Chapter 10 )

Lost World

 

By: OtakuSailorV

 

Chapter Ten - Friend

 

Rin stuck her head cautiously around the corner, peering at the congregation of youkai servants with intense curiosity. This was her dream come true! She tried to keep herself from smiling, but she couldn't help her glee at seeing them. Alive! Real! Grandfather had always told her that they were, but no one else had believed, and yet here they were standing before her as alive as she herself was! It was simply amazing! But where were all the humans?

 

“Boo.”

 

Rin nearly jumped out of her skin, her pulse skyrocketed as she heard an amused laugh ring in her ears when she jumped hurriedly away. Unfortunately, her sudden movement had caught the eye of several of the youkai servants and they stared at her with a mixture of curiosity and shock. Rin, however, took no notice of their stares as she grasped at her pounding heart, gasping for breath.

 

There before her stood her supposed attacker: the girl with the fox ears and tail. Rin hadn't even heard her coming! She grinned triumphantly at Rin, hands on her hips, her fangs glistening as she tried to stop herself from smiling.

 

“Got'cha,” she said and stepped forward, curiously bending and poking her head forward at Rin in a very animal-like manner. “I knew you had to be a human, you don't smell like any demon I've ever seen. Hey! You're that human girl that Sesshoumaru-dono caught out in the forest, aren't ya?”

 

Rin panicked. She had been discovered! What to do now? She knew she couldn't outrun them, and besides, where would she run? The fox-eared girl was blocking her path in one direction and in the other a group of servants had detached to come forth and investigate. Her face turned bright red in anxious embarrassment, she fidgeted uneasily, not sure which way to go.

 

“I- uh- well,” she spluttered as she hurriedly pulled herself back together. “I think I'm lost,” she lied.

 

This made the girl cease her chatter immediately and she peered forward, sniffing at Rin thoughtfully in that animal-like way that she had before. “Lost?” She repeated, confused by this idea.

 

The small group of youkai servants had stopped not too far away and were curiously looking from one to the other. After a moment, a short, pudgy woman elbowed her way through and gave those around her a stern glance before starting forward. She had thick black hair that had been pulled into a tight bun at the base of her neck; a handkerchief was wrapped around her head to keep any loose strands from blowing in her face. Her eyes were a deep brown, her ears were pointed sharply and her kimono was a bright orange. She had rolled the long sleeves up so that they would not be in the way while she worked; however, this exposed her large, chubby arms that jiggled whenever she moved them. She reminded Rin of a beastly mother of one of the kids in her class that was always causing trouble for the teachers.

 

“What's all this I hear about someone being lost?” She asked, she had the air of being someone important. Rin flushed a deeper red than could be thought possible as she realized that she would have to lie again.

 

“Oh- uh, that was me,” Rin said, giving her a bashful smile. “I went out for a walk and I don't know my way around so…” she dropped off when she saw the woman leaning toward her, wrinkling her nose as she scrutinized the young human.

 

“She's a human, Mizu-san!” The fox-eared girl finally exploded, smiling excitedly.

 

Mizu straightened and leveled the overly happy girl with a stern glare. She sniffed, crossing her stubby arms over her chest in an official-like manner. “I can see that, Koto-chan, thank you,” she said.

 

Koto's ears and smile both fell, she looked disheartened, but it was only for a moment. She was immediately smiling again when Mizu turned to question Rin again.

 

“So, you're that human girl, are you?” Mizu questioned. Rin opened her mouth to speak, but the portly woman carried on without waiting for an answer from her. “Well, I should say that you shouldn't be wanderin' about out here, could be dangerous for someone like you.”

 

“Aw, c'mon Mizu-san, since when is it dangerous to walk around the castle?” A young youkai man asked, placing a furry, clawed hand on her shoulder and smiling.

 

The man was tall, at least twice the size of Mizu, and he was covered all over in dark brown fur with tan spots showing through in places. His face was curiously pointed like a dog's and he had a scruffy mane of thick brown hair on the top of his head. His ears were like those of dogs, pointed sharply and turning toward every noise they could pick up. He looked calm and peaceful, with a handsome face despite his dog-ish looks.

 

Mizu jerked her shoulder so that his hand no longer rested there and huffed at him angrily. It was apparent that things like this happened rather often; Rin wondered if Mizu was really in charge or if she just liked to boss people around.

 

“Well maybe not for someone like you, Omachi-kun, but she's just a human,” Mizu cried, suddenly defensive.

 

Omachi laughed loudly, prompting laughs from the others gathered around them. “You worry too much, Mizu-san, I think she's fine,” he looked up at Rin suddenly and gave her a warm smile. Rin smiled back more out of habit than out of actual happiness.

 

“So, you're the human everyone's talking about so much,” he said, looking her over approvingly. Rin fidgeted again, she felt like she was under a microscope. “What's your name?”

 

“H-Higurashi…Higurashi Rin,” Rin replied after a moment's awkward thought. It was as if her mind could draw nothing but blanks in front of all these eyes, she was quickly loosing all of her confidence and falling into deep silence. Her reply had been in a small, quiet tone that she knew must be hardly discernible. She hated situations like this; she always lost her nerve so easily and ended up looking like an idiot. Why couldn't she be more confident like her sister?

 

There was a round of awed murmurs at her name. Rin was at first confused by the whispers and fidgeted uneasily again. Omachi grinned wider and Koto looked absolutely ecstatic while Mizu huffed at the general excitement, turning up her nose in derision.

 

“So, you must be a Nobleman's daughter, then,” Koto said, her hands clasped in sheer awe.

 

Rin fidgeted again, making a face at this awkward reception. She wasn't used to all this attention. “Uh, well, no, not really. My family is pretty normal,” she replied.

 

“But you have two names, so you must be important,” Koto protested, not at all hindered by Rin's doubtful reply.

 

“Yes, only Noble's have last names,” Omachi added, the crowd of youkai behind him nodded and murmured their agreement.

 

“I-I'm not a Noble though,” Rin said, her tongue slipping up again in her embarrassment. “Really, where I come from everyone has a last name. Last names don't mean anything really in my world. Er, well, the place where I live that is.”

 

“If you say so, Higurashi-sama, but to us you are a Noble,” he replied, smiling good-humoredly at her nervous jittering.

 

“Oh please, don't call me `Higurashi-sama,' Omachi-san, really, it's not that big of a deal,” Rin waved her hands as she spoke and shook her head twice. It was strange that these creatures so much more powerful than her would give her such an honorific.

 

Omachi and the others simply grinned and chuckled at her before heading back toward the larger group of demon servants still working or watching in silent curiosity. Omachi patted her on the head gently and Koto grabbed her hand, pulling her after them excitedly. She immediately began to introduce herself and name all of the youkai around them; Mizu scolded Koto for yanking Rin around so, but Rin wasn't paying attention to either of them. She had fallen back into her own little world, staring back at the youkai she was passing with the same curiosity that they were watching her with.

 

They were many different shapes and sizes; there were some that looked almost exactly like animals and others that looked human. The only flaw in the more human-looking youkai was that their ears were still pointed and their eyes were all strange colors. Rin didn't mind much though; she actually liked the beautiful shades of purple, red and gold that were the youkai's natural eye color. It was something totally different from what she was used to, and seeing their exotic hair colors was nice as well. It was hard to imagine that anyone's hair and eyes could be those colors naturally. Sure she was used to people dying their hair, but the natural shades were so much better.

 

Finding her voice, she drew the courage to murmur a question to Koto, who was still dragging her along cheerfully. “E-excuse me, I don't mean to be a bother or anything, but uh- are there…well, are there any others like me here?”

 

She wasn't sure how the question would be received by the young youkai-girl; she need not have worried though for Koto only gave her a sad shake of her head. “No, the humans were not allowed to follow us here, that's why it is so strange for you to be here. Oh how wonderful to see a human again! I haven't seen one since I was a little kit; tell me- is the war still going on out there?”

 

Koto squeezed Rin's hands as she looked on with wide-eyed curiosity, awaiting an answer from the stumped teen. The small group of youkai had stopped and Koto was pulling her into a sitting position, their legs draped under the wooden banister on an uncovered balcony that looked out over a dense forest.

 

“War?” Rin fumbled to try and gain her wits, the realization that she was the only one of her kind in this land was startling and left her wondering why they had not allowed the humans to `follow them to this place.'

 

“Yes, when last there was a human here, she informed us that there was a terrible war starting between many countries in your world. The shogun from `America' was supposedly going to enter into the war when she was pulled into our world. Is that war still waging?” Koto clasped Rin's hands tighter, she seemed desperately interested.

 

“Well- uh- oh! You must be talking about World War Two,” Rin had been thinking back over her world history and couldn't think of any other war that Koto might be referring to. “Yeah, that war ended years and years ago. There aren't that many people left alive that fought in that war, all of the- er- `shoguns' died a long time ago.”

 

Koto smiled, obviously relieved, and sat back, releasing Rin's hands. “I knew it couldn't last very long, not like the Sengoku, at least. It's good to know that you humans haven't completely wiped each other out yet.”

 

Rin gave a short, embarrassed laugh, not quite sure how to react to Koto's nature. She seemed desperately interested in anything that had to do with humans and it was a bit, well, scary.

 

“It would seem that you are very interested in humans,” Rin said, trying to keep up a conversation.

 

“Of course! Aren't you? Well, no, I guess you're not since you see them every day and well, you are one, lucky you. It must be strange not to be able to sense everything that a youkai can and yet still your species has survived for so long! Not only that, but you live such short lives for such intriguing creatures, it really isn't fair at all. I suppose I really am just fascinated with humans because…well, because they're not around anymore.” Koto continued on, musing to herself about humans and demons and their differences.

 

“Oh, uh, heheh, thanks…I guess…” Rin continued giving Koto a strange, lop-sided smile. She wasn't sure if she should be angry or happy with the demon's strange words. If nothing else she was most definitely embarrassed for it seemed that Koto had gone off into her own world, forgetting that Rin was even there any longer.

 

Casting her eyes aside, Rin was surprised to see a cluster of young demon children standing by the nearest post, obviously trying to watch her without being seen. Innocently they skidded away when they met her eyes, whispering and murmuring in wonder, not quite sure what to make of this new creature in their midst. Rin smiled at the children, they were so cute and they reminded her of her younger brother, Souta, when he had still been small.

 

The four demon children started at her warm smile, murmuring amongst themselves again before they pushed one of their ranks toward her. The chubby little boy stumbled forward, attempting to stop himself before getting too close to the human girl. Rin continued to smile curiously as he backed up, looked over his shoulder at his friends and then slowly crept forward. When he was about five feet away, Rin gently held out her hand, giving him a warm, inviting smile.

 

“Hello there, I'm Rin, what's your name?” She asked as kindly as she could, though her face was red because she knew there were eyes on her.

 

The children looked at her, unsure, the chubby little boy had stepped back several paces, eyeing her hand as if it might be some poisonous object. His nose twitched and his tiny, rounded-ears on the top of his head twitched as he investigated and then slowly took her hand, looking it over for some sign of a treat hidden in it. Rin giggled at him as he made a sour face of disappointment and abandoned her, running back to his friends to report his findings.

 

Those that were looking on chuckled and turned back to their work with content smiles. Rin felt somehow as if she had proven herself and flushed in embarrassment as she pulled back away again, folding her hands in her lap and bowing her head.

 

“Don't mind them, they're just a bunch of fat brats anyway,” a child's voice assured her in a grumpy tone.

 

Rin looked up, startled that so many people were speaking to her so freely when she herself could hardly gain the courage to start a conversation with someone she didn't know. He looked about seven years old; his hair was a dark reddish-brown and was as messy as a rat's nest. His eyes were a dull golden color and he had cast them aside, glaring at the company of toddlers. Rin tried to give him an understanding smile, but only ended up with the lop-sided, unsure smile she seemed to wear so often.

 

“Oh, it's fine, I don't mind at all. No harm done, and they're very cute.”

 

The boy's eyes snapped toward her, narrowing as he focused on her face, scrutinizing her. He seemed to be trying to tell if Rin was lying or not, for his nose and forehead were wrinkled in what Rin recognized as disbelief.

 

“You have to be kidding,” he scoffed after a moment. “Those four are complete brats, though I don't blame them for being skeptical of you.”

 

The human girl leaned away, accidentally bumping into Koto as the young mousy-haired boy sniffed at her. Koto seemed to come back from whatever planet she had been visiting and glared when she saw the young boy crouching on all fours like a cat next to Rin.

 

Koto swiped at him with one of her clawed hands, glaring angrily at him. “Get lost, Takeshi-chan,” she snapped at him irritably.

 

The boy called Takeshi avoided her swipe, hopping back a few paces and growling, bristling angrily at her for attacking him. “Don't call me `-chan,'” he ordered. “And besides, you're the one fraternizing with the enemy! You all are! Despicable, disgusting.”

 

Koto rolled her eyes and several of the other servants looked up, only to turn away again when they saw who was causing all of the ruckus. “It's only Takeshi,” they murmured to each other and that seemed to be enough to calm whatever had aroused them from their work.

 

Rin looked at him in shock, embarrassed as Takeshi went on about how filthy and disgusting humans were. He proclaimed that they were the scum of the earth and that they were not fit to share the same planet as the youkai who were so obviously superior. Koto gave a heavy sigh and pulled on Rin's uniform sleeve. Rin turned toward her and gave a slight laugh when Koto rolled her eyes and motioned for Rin to follow her.

 

Mizu picked Takeshi up by the scruff of his neck, snapping at him to `quit his noise-making' while the boy swung fists and legs at her angrily. Rin followed after Koto during this, catching the eye of Omachi, who was laughing at the argument between Mizu and Takeshi. He gave her a nod as she went into a tatami-mat filled room with Koto. Koto closed the shouji doors behind them, though it didn't muffle the noise from outside much. Mizu and Takeshi were really going at it, by the sound of it.

 

The youkai-girl gave a heavy sigh, rumpling her ears and hair with her hand and shaking her head. “Sorry about that, Takeshi has a mouth on him,” she apologized, looking embarrassed.

 

“Oh, it's ok, really, I'm-”

 

“Well, we had better get you something better to wear at any rate,” Koto cut across her as if Rin had not spoken at all. She thrust open a shouji door to reveal a closet where futons and spare clothes for the servants were kept. She riffled through the clothes, making faces as she held up different outfits, trying to see if anything would fit Rin's petite form.

 

“What's wrong with my school uniform?” Rin could have hit herself for asking such a question. It wasn't exactly like her skirt was short, unlike the other girls; she had worn her skirt long, the edges reaching to just underneath her knees. It sounded rude anyway and she mentally kicked herself several times for being so ungrateful. Koto was only trying to be helpful and make her more comfortable in this new world after all!

 

Koto looked her over and Rin blushed, quickly apologizing for her words. “I-I'm sorry Koto-san, I just…I said it before I could stop myself.”

 

Koto shrugged to show she was not offended in the least. “It's understandable that you'd want to keep on your human-clothes, but those look a bit scuffed and dirty from being in the forest. I meant to lend you another outfit until we cleaned that one,” Koto gave her a grin as she presented a cute-looking yukata; it was orange with golden rings on it.

 

Rin changed into the outfit behind a folding screen that was made for just such a purpose. When she came around to show Koto how she looked, she found that the young demon-girl was trying on her school uniform. Rin couldn't help but giggle, Koto looked adorable in the outfit, if not a bit out-of-place with her ears and the bulge on her backside where her tail was.

 

Koto changed back out with an amused giggle of her own, commencing in asking Rin all about Tokyo again while behind the screen.

 

“Do you always get to wear outfits like that, Rin-sama?” She asked hopefully.

 

“Yeah, but they're just for school. It's required for all girls to wear the sailor fukus, boys have a similar uniform. And please don't called me `-sama,'” Rin added sheepishly.

 

“Only if you don't call me `-san,'” Koto agreed with a grin.

 

“It's a deal then, Koto-chan. Ah! Do you mind if I ask what kind of youkai you are?” Rin felt embarrassed asking such a question, for it was obvious that Koto was a kitsune, but she didn't want to make a mistake and offend her.

 

“What kind of demon I-? Oh! I'm a kitsune, what kind of human are you?” Koto seemed sure that there were different kinds of humans as well.

 

Rin blanked for a minute, then giggled to herself as she realized what her new friend was asking for. “I'm Japanese,” she replied. It wasn't like Koto being a kitsune, but it was close enough.

 

“Amazing, another Japanese human!” Koto cried happily, grinning from ear to ear. “Are there many of your kind left?”

 

Rin tried not to laugh at Koto again; Koto didn't know anything about her world, so it would be rude to laugh at her for being so inquisitive. “Oh yes, there's many of us left.”

 

Koto seemed to find that even better news than the fact that Rin was Japanese. Her tail wagged excitedly as she led Rin back out of the room and around the crowd of servants that were chatting happily. Many cast her curious looks, but she ignored them, too engrossed in conversation with Koto to notice anyone staring at them.

 

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