InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lost World ❯ Chapter Eleven ( Chapter 11 )

Lost World

 

By: OtakuSailorV

 

Chapter Eleven - Inquiry

 

Koto walked with Rin backed to the room she had been staying in when the sun began to set. Rin was hungry by that time, and was beginning to have dizzy spells. She knew it wasn't good to let herself go hungry for so long, but she was apprehensive about how to go about getting something to eat. She hadn't seen anyone eating all day and she was beginning to wonder if youkai ate as often as humans did. When a particularly harsh grumble from her stomach was heard, Koto grinned at her in a knowing manner and tugged her toward a side hallway sharply.

 

“W-where are we going?” Rin stammered as her new friend jerked her about. Koto was quirky, a bit human-obsessed and kind of on the strange side, but Rin liked to have a friend.

 

“You're hungry aren't you? Come on, the kitchen is this way,” Koto gave her a toothy grin before picking up the pace, forcing Rin to follow after her as she gripped the humans frail wrist.

 

Rin was silent, though she wanted to protest. She knew she needed to eat, but she didn't want to impose on Inutaishou and the others. She knew she was nothing but a burden, after all, what good was she, especially in this world? She didn't know how to cook very well, and she didn't have the energy required for cleaning. The only things she could do were read, write and fold clothes. She couldn't even wash clothes correctly, and even if she could, she wouldn't be any good at working in this world. They seemed not to advanced very far, and Rin already knew that she was no use when it came to jobs that required brawn. She had good grades in Physical Education, but those were only for effort.

 

Koto tugged her into the kitchen where several servants were working on preparing something that smelled delicious. Rin felt her stomach grumble at the smell and she blushed when Koto sent her another knowing grin.

 

“Kai-san!” she called, waving the hand that wasn't holding onto Rin's and smiling excitedly at a wild looking, red-haired woman with a large, bushy tail. The ears on the side of her head perked up and she turned about. Her eyes were naturally narrow, making her look eternally disgruntled and her hair was bushy and untidy. She put her clawed hands on her hips when she saw Koto's bright, smiling face and two fangs stuck out from under her top lip as she rolled her eyes.

 

Koto ran over, dragging Rin after her and continued to beam at the older woman. “Kai-san!” she greeted again. Rin was nervous and withdrew into herself again as her embarrassment grew.

 

“Koto? What do you want, free-loading again? And who's this?” Kai pointed a dangerous looking knife at Rin; Rin's eyes darted from the knife to Kai apprehensively. She got the idea that Koto and she weren't supposed to be there. She opened her mouth to speak, but choked, her voice wouldn't come out again! She was only mildly frightened of Kai and that was only because she was pointing a knife at her, but she still knew she should be able to speak like a regular person. If only she didn't have these intense anxiety attacks she'd be able to speak!

 

“I-I'm Higurashi Rin, ma'am,” she managed to spit out, bowing deeply. She closed her eyes when she looked at the floor, feeling intensely embarrassed. Why did she have to be so strange? Everyone must think she was an idiot…

 

Kai paused for a moment before bursting out laughing, she patted her knee as she bent in the middle, and it looked as if there were tears in her eyes. She rubbed them away, still laughing when she straightened up again. Rin had peered up at her, her blush fading momentarily in her confusion. Why was this youkai laughing so much?

 

“Hoo, that was a good one, `ma'am,'” Kai chuckled again, patting Rin on the head with a wide smile. “So you're Higurashi, eh? Judging by your scent, you must be that human that Sesshoumaru found.”

 

“How many times do I have to tell you that it's Sesshoumaru-sama, Kai?! Get back to work!” A male voice shouted over the bustle in the kitchen.

 

Kai sniffed indignantly, her upper-lip curled to show her sharp canines, barred in anger. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear ya!” She grumbled, but didn't make a move as if to do what the voice had ordered her to.

 

“Yeah, isn't it great Kai-san?!” Koto broke in, ignoring the commanding voice as well. She was back into her obsessive mode and words spilled from her mouth readily. “She's from Japan, too, just like Izayoi-san! It's so amazing! She wears this really weird outfit too, she says that it's called a `sailor fuku,' and all of the girl's at her school have to wear one. That's another thing! Human women are allowed to be educated still! And they can go to the same school as boys if they please now! That's just so weird, don't you think, Kai-san?”

 

Kai was watching the babbling kitsune-girl with one raised eyebrow, her hands on her hips again. Koto had her hands clasped together again in that passionate way Rin had already grown used to. Her giant smile did not falter as Kai continued to stare at her as if she had grown two heads.

 

“Well, you should be careful of telling her too much,” Kai informed Rin in a dull manner. “Her head'll explode the next time, either that or her lips will catch on fire.” She grinned at the look of concern that crossed Rin's face. Did the girl really think such things happened?

 

Koto didn't seem to have heard her; she was still beaming pleasantly, obviously lost in her own little world at the time. Kai snickered and turned about, getting back to work on whatever she had been preparing before. “So, what are you two here for anyway?” she asked over her shoulder, obviously in good humor now.

 

“Uh, well,” Rin began, not sure how to put it. She really didn't want to bother them, everyone looked so busy and several of the cooks looked disgruntled that they were present. Koto once again cut across her though, Rin started to wonder if Koto did it purposefully to stop her from getting into an embarrassing situation by blabbering something stupid.

 

“Higurashi-san is hungry,” Koto piped up cheerfully.

 

Kai wheeled about, placing her face mere inches away from Koto's, her good humor instantly gone again. “I knew it! You're free-loadin' again! There's no way you'd stop by just to say `hello,'” the youkai huffed and turned back away, fuming.

 

Rin thought she had done something wrong again and was just working up the courage to apologize to Kai when the said woman jerked one clawed finger toward what Rin thought to be a pantry. “There are dishes in there, hurry up, before someone notices,” she grumbled under her breath at them.

 

Koto beamed again and dashed off, looking back at Rin earnestly, urging her to move along as well. Rin glanced at Kai's back for a moment before striding off after her friend.

 

“Are you sure this is ok?” she whispered to Koto as she searched the store-room for anything that might be considered a plate.

 

“Yeah, Kai-san gives me food all the time. We're lucky, tonight Inutaishou-sama himself is dining, so we'll have the best meal yet!” she seemed quite excited, but Rin felt a squirming apprehension grow in her stomach. Koto seemed fine with it, even if it was Inutaishou's food that they were more-or-less stealing, but Rin didn't want to offend Inutaishou, much less get Kai in trouble.

 

“But won't she get in trouble if someone finds out?”

 

Koto looked at her, raising her eyebrows in the strange way that Kai had done but moments before. “And whose gonna care if we have just a little bit of whatever Inutaishou-sama is eating tonight? Besides, it wouldn't be like Inutaishou-sama to get upset over a bowl of beef stew or a bowl of rice. And he needs to nourish you if you want to stay alive, so there ya go.”

 

With that said, Koto pressed a ceramic bowl and chosticks into Rin's hands and headed back out the door, the human girl trailing behind her and looking troubled.

 

Kai filled their bowls and sniffed at Koto's bright, beaming smile. “Just don't expect anything next time, I'm only letting it pass this time because you got her with you,” she jerked her head toward Rin who blushed and bowed deeply, making sure not to spill her food.

 

“A-arigatou, ma'am, I appreciate it,” Rin inclined her head in goodbye as she noticed that Koto was already leaving without her. Kai watched them go until they had turned the corner, chuckling to herself again at Rin's polite tone.

 

* * *

 

Koto led her to a small garden that smelled very nice in the twilight hours and sat down on the wooden deck, stretching her legs under the rail and her arms over the top, holding her bowl of beef stew and rice. She munched happily, watching Rin carefully as the human copied her position, finding it hard to use chopsticks in the awkward position that Koto chose. Eventually she became comfortable and tried to control herself from eating too fast. If she weren't careful, she'd make herself sick.

 

“So, what's your home back in the human world like?” Koto asked, looking out over the garden, her eyes following a long-tailed butterfly that was fluttering about whimsically over a bushel of tall red flowers.

 

Rin grew still, silently bringing up memories of her home that flashed before her mind's eye swiftly. She felt a lump in her throat and swallowed hard several times to clear it away so that she could speak properly. “Well, I live by this old shrine with my mother, my grandfather, my older sister Kagome and my younger brother Souta. We have a cat named Buyo; Souta's still in middle school, so he doesn't go to the same school as me and Kagome. It's hard to climb all of the steps to get to our house, but its keeps us in shape, I guess, or at least a little bit. Being from a shrine-family, everyone immediately thinks that you're a shrine maiden and all of the boys want to see you dressed up in the priestess robes if they think you're cute,” Rin said and blushed when she felt Koto's eyes on her. Had she said too much?

 

“Oh, uh, sorry, I guess I shouldn't have said that,” she mumbled, casting her eyes away in embarrassment.

 

“There's open affection in the human's world?” Koto asked, ignoring her apology.

 

“Yes,” Rin replied simply, trying to keep herself from becoming embarrassed by the topic.

 

“Wow, that sure is strange,” Koto laid down on her back and stared at the ceiling for some time, obviously musing about something.

 

Rin was silent, wondering what Koto thought of her world, though she already knew that the kitsune was enamored completely with it. Gathering the courage, she pushed a question through her lips before she could second-guess herself again. “Koto-san…why do you call where I come from the `human world?'”

 

Koto looked at her with an isn't-it-obvious look that quickly faded and was replaced by a pondering expression. “Well, it's kind of a long story, but I think I can give a brief summary of what happened, though I was just a kit when that all came about...”

 

She dropped off for a moment in thought before clearing her throat and sitting up to face Rin with a nostalgic look on her face.

 

“Back during the Bakumatsu, when the humans that ruled our country began to advance how we once had lived to mimic that of a foreign culture's, there was a threat to youkai well-being. The old ways died off, humans fought each other to the death deciding which would succeed: these new ways that denied our existence and defied all of our old traditions or the ways we had been living by for centuries and was our beloved heritage. What the humans called `logic' gained the upper hand eventually and the old traditions began to die off one after the other. Humans stopped believing in us, though we stood right before their eyes, they no longer feared us, though we could easily have killed them all. Our numbers diminished, for we are creatures of magic and magic is in believing and when the humans stopped believing, we stopped being.”

 

Koto sighed and shook her head, the story seemed almost painful for her and Rin was silent, not budging an inch as she waited for the kitsune to pick back up her tale again. “We found it harder and harder to call upon our demon strength and soon there were so few of us left that we knew there was no hope for us if we did not act. Some suggested a rebellion against the humans, but if they all died, then where would we be? We would soon pass into nothingness as well. Inutaishou-sama was Lord of the Western Lands then and with the help of other Lords, they managed to create this shadow-world that you are sitting in now that somehow allows us to exist without the presence of humans. It is both our home and not our home, it exists but then again it cannot truly be in existence. The last of the demons passed into this world and the gateway was sealed so that no human could follow. Thus this place was created, a replica - if you will - of our old stomping grounds. It took some time to adjust to…but…its home.”

 

Koto finished with a smile and swiftly lurched onto her feet, stretching and sighing with pleasure as she picked up the bowls she and Rin had just scraped clean. “Well, no more sad stories right now, come on, you must be tired and we'll have to get these dishes back to Kai-san on the way to the room you're staying in.”

 

Rin hurried after her, protesting that Koto should not have to carry all of the bowls and wondering the entire time why she and this other `Izayoi' person had been able to pass through into this world when the humans had supposedly been sealed out.

 

* * *

 

Koto slipped into the kitchen, leaving Rin to stand by the door, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot in anticipation. Rin was still lost in thought, wondering how in all the world she had been the only human besides Izayoi to ever move between the two plains and enter such a fantastic world. It was her dream come true and yet it didn't seem likely that there was anything special enough about her that she should be the only one in so long to have passed through. She was just a regular school girl after all, and it would seem in this world she was still just a regular school girl. The only thing that made her irregular in this world was that she was human and that was nothing too big, after all, it wasn't like she was stronger than the youkai that lived here.

 

Koto came back out, smiling broadly and informed Rin that Kai was in a good mood again. “Oh, by the way, Kai is a kitsune too,” she added and smiled at the look of surprise on Rin's face.

 

“I'm sorry, I don't mean to be nosy or anything,” Rin apologized, feeling stupid for being so interested in what kind of demon everyone was. She hadn't even said anything to Koto about it and still her new friend seemed to know what she was thinking. “I was just curious and I don't mean to pry or anything.”

 

Her friend gave her a blank look for a moment, studying the human's expression closely, making Rin blush all the more. “You sure do apologize a lot,” Koto mused to herself and Rin felt a twinge of shame hit her.

 

“I'm sorry,” she replied softly, not sure exactly what she was sorry for. It just seemed like the right thing to say…

 

“What are you sorry for?” Koto was smiling at her. “There's nothing to be sorry about, Higurashi-san.”

 

“Well- I- uh,” Rin stumbled for an answer, spluttering again and feeling like a fool. Koto must think of her as a complete idiot, babbling and stuttering like she always was. Damn her inability to keep her head in situations like these!

 

Koto grinned as Rin gave up with a sigh, heaving her shoulders and lowering her head in dismay. “I'm sorry,” she repeated again.

 

A burst of laughter hit her ears and Rin looked up, startled, to see Koto giggling madly at her, holding her stomach and trying as hard as she could not to stumble to the ground as she walked along. Rin fidgeted again, wondering why everyone here seemed to find her words so humorous.

 

“Hoo, hee, I'm sorry Higurashi-san, but,” Koto broke into another fit of giggles before she could finish. “But- but it's just so strange to hear someone apologize so much.”

 

Rin flushed but soon found it funny as well and laughed along with Koto, finding it easier to laugh now somehow. “It is strange,” she agreed with a helpless grin, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. “You'll have to ignore me when I do that, I know I apologize too much, but I can't help it, I always feel like I cause trouble.”

 

Koto shook her head, her laughter easing now. “We wouldn't keep you around if you caused trouble, Higurashi-san.”

 

* * *

 

They finally had reached the room Rin had left hours before; rounding the corner, Koto froze stopping in mid-sentence and looking awe-struck. Rin, who was watching her friend the entire time when they had been talking, raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked forward thoughtfully.

 

Standing in front of the door was a lone figure, outlined in silver by the newly rising moon. Rin felt her face heat up and her heart jump in her chest as she recognized Sesshoumaru. Was she in trouble?

 

Koto bowed deeply as he walked toward them silently, his emotionless eyes fixed on Rin. “Hello, Sesshoumaru-sama,” Koto said as he passed; Sesshoumaru paid her no mind.

 

“You have been gone a long time,” he said blandly, speaking to Rin.

 

Rin cast her eyes aside, she didn't trust herself to meet his gaze. She would end up smiling dumbly and making some stupid sugarcoated excuse if she did. “I'm sorry, I just wanted to see what the castle was like, I didn't mean to cause any trouble,” she replied softly.

 

He seemed to find this a suitable answer; his head inclined some, but it was hardly distinguishable.

 

In the silence that followed, Koto shifted and began to move away, back down the hallway that she and Rin had just come from. “If you'll excuse me, Sesshoumaru-sama, I must get back to work now,” she said and was gone. Rin felt temporarily betrayed, the least Koto could have done was see that she got into her room all right.

 

Rin trusted Sesshoumaru, after all, he had brought her from the forest to the castle when she had passed out, but he was so enigmatic that she wasn't sure how to act around him. She didn't dare shift under his intense golden gaze, though she was highly uncomfortable with him staring at her like that. What was he thinking behind that unmoving mask that he wore? Did he feel anything at all?

 

They stood there in the hallway silently for what seemed to Rin as years but in actuality was only a few seconds. Sesshoumaru broke the spell of tense silence by gliding by her, his robes fluttering near her as he passed. “You should get some rest now,” he advised and was off down the hallway, not a sound was heard from him as he passed.

 

“O-ok, good night, Sesshoumaru-sama, thank you,” she said, bowing in his direction as he left.

 

Her legs were quaking as she pulled open the shouji door and slipped inside. To her surprise, clothes had been lain out for her near her newly-folded futon. She slipped out of the kimono Koto had lent her and folded it neatly by her school uniform that she had been carrying with her the entire time. Pulling on the new kimono lain out for her, she slipped underneath the covers and pulled them up to her chin, curling into a ball and closing her eyes as she drifted into deep thought.

 

Why had Sesshoumaru been waiting for her and why was he always so strange like that? She always acted so strangely near him too, not just on the outside in her usual, apologetic-stumbling manner, but on the inside as well something made her heart warm up so much that her cheeks burned. It was weird and she was afraid Sesshoumaru might have noticed. What was she going to do? She had to find a way home; there was no time for silly things like crushes. After all, he wore such a cold mask, what if he was heartless?

 

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