InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lost World ❯ Chapter Sixteen ( Chapter 16 )

Lost World

 

By: OtakuSailorV

 

Chapter Sixteen - Gift

 

Rin found Koto immediately the next day and tried to hide her overflowing elation as she presented her friend with her first sketch in Koto's sketchbook.

 

Surprised by Rin's sudden eagerness and bouncy attitude, she was further surprised by the accuracy of Rin's sketch. She stared at it for a long time with large eyes, a bright smile spread from ear to ear. Rin's happiness subsided some, her nervousness and embarrassment beginning to take hold again in the growing silence. She shifted uneasily, still smiling, as she pulled at her fingers.

 

“Rin-chan, this is amazing! Why didn't you tell me you could do this before?” Koto exclaimed, looking up from the charcoal rendering of the Koi at last.

 

Rin shied away from the praise, though she was very happy that Koto liked it. “I've had a lot of practice…”

 

Koto laughed, surprising Rin. “It takes more than practice for something like this!” Koto gestured at the Koi.

 

Rin smiled softly and blushed, averting her eyes; she could think of no other way to refute what Koto said any longer. It's not like the girl would let Rin get away with putting herself down anyway. Besides, she should allow herself some praise sometimes, she supposed…

 

“You…you can have it…if you want,” Rin cast her eyes away shyly again, realizing that she had not even thanked Koto for the gift of the sketchbook yet. “As thanks for making me a sketchbook - ah, I'd be happy to draw anything you wanted whenever you wanted, though!”

 

Koto beamed so brightly that Rin fell short and spluttered the last bit as she searched for more words that weren't there. Then, in a motion that Rin barely saw, Koto lunged forward and caught the human in a tight bear hug. Rin stumbled under the sudden weight but hurriedly caught herself and felt herself grinning wildly as she returned Koto's excited hug.

 

A friend! She finally had a true friend!

 

* * *

 

Kagome stared dully about Rin's room, as cluttered as it was, it felt empty. Every corner seemed to exude sorrow at the loss of the quiet, artistic mistress that once inhabited it. Not a thing had stirred from its place since Rin's mysterious disappearance. Stories left half-finished sat amongst sketches of fantastic characters and scattered notes that the author had hastily scrawled on any tiny scrap she could get her hands on.

 

Wandering into this foreign land was Kagome, memories playing over and over before her mind's eye tauntingly. Where had Rin gone? Nothing made sense anymore since Rin's disappearance. She hadn't cared tell the rest of her family about finding Rin's unconscious body only to have it disappear in her arms. It was far too strange, even Jii-chan would think she was loony.

 

She sighed, pushing aside the various notebooks, paper scraps and sheets of loose leaf. The police had been immediately notified when the family could not find Rin, Kagome standing mutely in the middle of all of the craziness, stunned and dazed. Her family believed that she was in shock from the news and having been the one to first discover Rin's bag outside the house in the dirt.

 

Searches had immediately commenced, friends and family from all over the city called in, wanting to help or to ask for news about Rin. Every day the kids at school would stop to watch her in the hallway, to question her about Rin or to whisper to each other as she passed.

 

Rumors had begun to spread like wildfire that the old Higurashi shrine was haunted and had spirited away the poor Rin, or that Rin had committed suicide. Students that had never noticed Rin before now described her as `weird,' one of those silent, brooding types that hold strange notions about the world and do not make friends because they do not enjoy the company of others. One group of particularly snooty and gossip-inclined girls dared to add that Higurashi Rin had fancied herself better than the rest of the student body.

 

Kagome sneered derisively - an action not at all like her - as she recalled the memory of how her friend Yuka had come to inform her of this bit of news. Yuka had not been pleasant to the girls ever since, though not by Kagome's orders or anyone else's.

 

Her shuffling halted as she came upon a sketch that she knew all too well. At least, she knew the name of the character that was scribbled at the bottom…The sketch itself was gone, and yet she knew that it had not been before. This drawing had been one that Rin had been particularly proud of and she recognized the scribbled notes about the character as some of Rin's hand writing from months ago. Open-mouthed, Kagome stared at the blank sheet dumbly, for there was not even a sign of the sketch having been erased. It was utterly blank, white and pure while the rest of the sheet was smeared with pencil lead from constant handling. How could this be? First Rin disappears and now her drawings mysteriously gone as well?

 

Instinctively her eyes darted to a bulletin board that Rin kept next to her desk. Thousands more papers were tacked onto it and Kagome was horrified to find that more such blank sheets hung there among the rest. It was the strangest thing, for everything on the sheets was still there except the character renderings. Even as she watched, she would have sworn that she saw another disappear out of the corner of her eye.

 

From her peripheral vision she caught sight of a brilliant splash of red and green against the dull grays and whites on Rin's desk. A red blossom, which she knew had not been there before, sat on the desk freshly cut. Kagome picked it up carefully, examining it with frightened thoughtfulness. What was going on? Was she going insane?

 

A knock at the door and she flinched, turning sharply. The knock came twice more before she moved to answer it. Where was the rest of the family? Why was no one else answering the door?

 

Kagome carefully unlocked the door, the flower still clutched in her hand.

 

Outside stood a girl that looked about Rin's age with short black hair cropped very close to her head. She looked up at Kagome through black-rimmed glasses, her dark eyes bright with curiosity.

 

“Hello, is Rin home? I'm a friend from school.”

 

* * *

 

“Over here, come on!” Koto called, pulling Rin along by the wrist behind her.

 

Rin smiled and tried to keep up. She'd never been the athletic type, so she was already quite slow and Koto, with her demon blood, was as swift as the wind in comparison. She felt bad, knowing that Koto was purposely holding back and yet she still could not keep pace with the kitsune.

 

“Where are we going?” Rin puffed.

 

“You'll see!” Koto giggled at Rin's red face that frowned in playful frustration. “I'm sure you haven't been there yet and you'll love it! Just wait!”

 

Rin hurriedly called out apologies to servants that were nearly toppled by the pair as they raced about. Koto seemed to have no remorse, a wicked grin on her face as she charged down her unsuspecting targets only to whip out of the way at the last moment. Rin had to try and keep up with these swerves as well as Koto's hurried pace.

 

“Ah! Sorry Mizu-san!” Rin shouted as they raced by the rotund woman who made a swipe at Koto. Koto dodged it and laughed as Mizu shook a fist and called after them.

 

“Oh, it's Jaken!” Koto beamed as she spotted the toad, totally unaware of their approach.

 

“Huh?” Rin replied, then as she realized what Koto planned, “Oh, no! Koto, don't! Stop!”

 

It was too late. Koto was determined now and ignored Rin's cries to halt. Jaken, upon hearing the pound of feet now and Rin's wild protests turned his head somewhat and started when his eyes fixed on the oncoming pair. Rin was waving her one available arm wildly, reaching for a hold to stop Koto or to somewhat hinder their progress, for she was sure that she'd lose all control of her own legs soon. Already they were shaking from the over-exertion and her breaths were coming in sharp and piercing, making her lungs scream. Koto's eyes were glowing with playful fire as she charged him. The little toad let out a scream of fright and hurried to get out of their way, but again, he was too late by this time.

 

“Watch out Jaken-san!” Koto mocked as she leaped over his head. Rin barely cleared him, her wobbly legs nearly giving under her weight on the descent. She called for Koto to halt, but they had gained too much speed to stop on command now.

 

Jaken spluttered, outraged at the unruliness of the two girls. He shook his staff of heads at them and gave chase, though soon falling far behind on his stubby legs. Rin was too out of breath to apologize; instead she concentrated on communicating to Koto her discomfort.

 

Koto was near mad with laughter, her face split in half by her enormous grin. She knew that Rin was calling for her to slow down and obliged. To her surprised puzzlement, Rin's breathing was very haggard in her sensitive ears and she wondered with a pang of guilt if she had overexerted her friend. She began to slow more as she came near to a corner.

 

“Come back here you insolent girls! I'll have Inutaishou-sama hear about this!” Jaken screamed, swinging the staff of heads over his head as he came.

 

“Only if you can catch us!” Koto let out another loud laugh and rounded the corner, planning on disappearing into the first open room until Jaken passed.

 

WHAM!

 

Rin wasn't quite sure what happened at first, for as soon as she had rounded the corner, she slammed right into the back of Koto, who apparently had in turn knocked into someone else. Koto was shoved harder into the person in front of her by Rin's impact, and the unnamed third party fell back under the sudden weight and force which struck him. Rin briefly felt Jaken bump against the backs of her calves as she tilted forward. As she lost her footing, she kicked her heels back impulsively and Jaken's weight disappeared, though a scream did register overhead. All four fell hard on the wood floor and laid there.

 

Again, this happened so suddenly and so fast that the entirety described was seemingly one fluid motion. Rin, bewildered and dazed, lay still, her heart racing as she pressed her throbbing temple to the cool wood. She puffed for breath, keeping her eyes closed for she had knocked her head pretty hard in the fall and now had a searing headache. Presently she scanned the area, though careful of her movements for she was tangled about the other three that had also fallen.

 

Koto stirred to her side and sat up, rubbing her head and one crumpled ear. “Owww…” she groaned as she reached over and plucked Jaken off the face of the unnamed person whom they had toppled.

 

Her expression faltered and she looked over at Rin with large eyes. Finding herself unable to speak, she mouthed the person's name. “Inutaishou-sama…”

 

Rin's heart pounded and she jumped forward, sitting on her knees and peering into the tall Lord's face. His eyes were closed and her lay quite still. Carelessly, Koto tossed Jaken aside; he bounced off the opposing wall and lay dazed on the ground behind them.

 

“Is he ok?” Rin asked, though she could tell just from the fact that they had knocked the mighty youkai Lord unconscious that he was definitely not `ok.' Another obvious question rose into her throat and escaped over her tongue before she could retract it. “Did we knock him unconscious?”

 

Koto stared, “You think he's dead?” she whispered as she lifted one of his great, hulking arms and let it go again. It landed with a loud `thud.'

 

“No!” Rin hissed, a touch frightened. She pressed her ear to his chest to listen for a heartbeat.

 

“What are you doing?” Koto whispered sharply, not understanding Rin's movements.

 

“Shh! I'm listening for a heartbeat…” she pressed a finger to her lips and waited.

 

“What do you hear?”

 

“A heartbeat, so he's not dead, Koto,” Rin replied, giving her friend a hard look for even suggesting such a thing. If Rin hadn't been so very flustered at that moment, however, she might have noticed that the deep bass voice could not belong to her slight, girlish friend. She might even have noticed that the voice had resonated inside of the great chest she had had her ear against, but again, she was so flustered that none of this was made at all apparent to her until several moments later.

 

Koto was staring at Inutaishou's face with a relieved grin when Rin looked back up. Rin raised an eyebrow at her friend quizzically, not understanding at all what her friend thought was so funny. “Koto, what-”

 

“Bwah!”

 

Inutaishou suddenly sat bolt upright and flung his arms out at her, a toothy grin spread on his face. Rin nearly jumped out of her skin, giving a shrill cry as she flinched away, tensing.

 

Koto and Inutaishou both erupted into laughter immediately, leaving a puzzled Rin to stare at them blankly with her heart pounding in fright. Rin's panic melted though, and she sighed as she hurried to calm her rising anxiety.

 

“The look on your face,” Koto giggled, doubled over on the floor.

 

Inutaishou was leaning back, his arms anchoring him on either side. He was chuckling, his eyes closed and chin titled toward the ceiling.

 

Rin laughed nervously at first, thankful that the mighty Lord was ok after all. The nervous laughter was soon replaced by loud giggles that brought tears to her eyes, for she could not help but laugh at herself. The others renewed their laughter with her.

 

Sesshoumaru found them this way, sprawled out on the floor in fits of giggles. Jaken was still lying on his stomach a little ways off, unconscious. He arched a single eyebrow at the lot of them.

 

“What are you doing?” he questioned in his usual dull tone. Rin blushed, feeling silly under that gaze, and yet knowing that there was no reason why she should feel such a way.

 

“Scaring Rin-chan,” Inutaishou replied, still laughing. “Want to join, Sesshoumaru?”

 

His silence was his answer.

 

Rin flushed further and acted as if she wasn't aware of the conversation. She was afraid of what her expression might give away if she looked in his eyes.

 

Inutaishou turned to Koto, seeing that she was the leader of the brigade that had knocked him down. “Where were you two headed in such a hurry anyway?”

 

Koto brightened, then, with a swift peek at Rin, leaned toward Inutaishou and whispered something in his ear between her cupped hands. Rin looked from one to the other and then at Sesshoumaru, confused and hoping someone could tell her what was going on. Koto didn't need to keep their destination a secret from her forever…

 

Inutaishou's eyes darted to Rin and he smiled as he listened to Koto's brief explanation. Both looked quite pleased with themselves when Koto sat back again. She stuck her tongue out playfully when Rin wrinkled her nose at her.

 

“That's a grand idea,” Inutaishou pulled himself to his feet. “Let's go!”

 

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