InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Needing It ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I put a petition to place Inuyasha under my name as sole owner and master of said character's fate, but once again that damn penguin refused to notorize it!  I swear one day I'm gonna find some dirt on him...

A/N: (Searches fearfully from his hiding spot.  Approaches the podium slowly)  Umm... hi everyone.  I'm back now with another chapter, obviously.  Anyway, I won't bore you with excuses of why I didn't update sooner.  Call it a lapse of priorities and leave it at that.  Here's the next installment courtesy of me and my Five Muses.  Enjoy

Chapter Six: Lives

 

“Alright class, welcome to your first lecture in Lit. 101,” the professor said to the auditorium-sized class. A man of graceful stature and enough beauty that it dripped from each perfect blonde lock of hair, Tetsujin-sama held the college freshmen before him in awed respect and total silence. He was considered by many of the student population and faculty to be the most experienced and wisest person to walk the halls of Tokyo University, not to mention the handsomest. The list of countries he had visited and cultures he had tasted seemed endless, but there was one freshman that was not impressed in the least. Kagome Higurashi leaned against her seat and sighed at the adoring looks of her gender, no doubt visualizing the various states of undress they could reach with him before fainting with the pleasure. Were it not for his excellent reviews from the other professors, she never would have even entered his class.

As her mind wandered across the room, its silver wings beating gracefully and a trail of amber dust following behind, the memory of graduation returned to her. It had been a happy moment standing on the stage in her robe, clutching her diploma with pride. Her mother's camera flashed at superhuman speed whilst Souta tried his very best to deafen all the people around him. She waved at them with a huge smile before leaving the stage to rejoin her friends. Ayumi smiled dreamily at her, Eri patted her back affectionately, and Yuka congratulated her on being healthy enough to finish school. The funniest moment by far however, was when Houjou stepped up to offer his own congratulations. He stuttered horribly and sweat settled on his forehead, but he managed to get his message across. Kagome beamed at him and returned his praise, leaving him blushing furiously and thinking back on their kiss at the dance as she walked out of the auditorium of her high school for the last time. The party afterwards to celebrate the momentous accomplishment of surviving high school reached legendary portions as the newly freed senior class threw inhibition to the wind, along with most of their clothes. Kagome was designated driver, by choice of course, leaving her friends to cut loose. The images of that party made her face burn with embarrassment even now, almost two months later. At the end, when it was finally time to pick up the remaining shards of dignity before the final good-bye, the young miko suddenly found herself feeling extremely lonely and wet in the eyes. It wasn't the song that softly played in the host's house, or the loving kisses of the couples trying to lengthen the magic as much as possible, or even the fact that she might never see any of her friends again, since they had all been accepted to different colleges- Yuka was going to Nihon U, Ayumi to Akutegawa, and Eri to Oxford. A feeling of wrongness had descended on the scene, twisting her insides and bringing to mind images of a silver, red, and amber figure hopping from tree to tree, primordial and free. She struggled to remember, until her forehead hurt with the exertion, but it was all a blur. At the same time however, she felt as if that figure was vitally important to her and it should be with her right now, at her side. The emptiness she felt compelled her to peel her friends from the floor, couch, and horny graduate and escort them home, much to their own half-hearted and drunken protest. Once her duty as bus driver and emergency nurse was fulfilled she made her way up the steps to the shrine, hoping to find solace under the Goshinboku. Yet it seemed like not even the great tree with its strange indentations and calming presence could alter her rapidly descending mood. Her family had long since gone to sleep and as she walked to her room the depression crept on her from the shadows, as if they were demanding she remember something, but what she did not know. Once within the boundaries of her space the eighteen-year-old took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. `It's just the graduation blues,' she thought. `I'm just sad everyone's leaving, that's all.' Reassured in her logical explanation for the rising despair, she changed into her pajamas and fell into a restless sleep filled with the smell of sawdust and hazy trees. Mad sights and fierce emotion gripped and tossed her like the pole that stands against the storm, only to be swept away like so much trash.

Just a few weeks afterwards, with the small void in her heart that seemed to throb painfully every second she was in her house, Kagome decided it was high time to find a place near Tokyo U to live, a job notwithstanding. She searched for only four days and managed to find the perfect apartment that overlooked a forest and the sunset, and was only two blocks away from the school. The job, however, had not been as easy. It took the remainder of her vacation time scouring all the business of Tokyo before she finally snagged the cashier position of a `mom-and-pop' store called “Everyday Wonders”, which sold exclusively spiritual items and trinkets. The owners were generous and the miko felt at home surrounded by all the religious items, having been raised in a shrine. All in all, she felt pretty much established on the first day of class, ready to work hard on her major in Medicine and her ultimate dream of being a doctor. Still, from time to time, especially during that obscure, surreal state between the waking world and the land of sleep she found her mind filled with passing glimpses of the same white, red, and amber figure. The pain would hit her suddenly, violently, angrily until she was a quivering mass of tears for a split second before the Sandman made it all slip away.

“Since this is my class and you are all paying me to teach you, I've decided to start with one of my personal favorites,” Tetsujin said, his voice cutting easily through the strange memories. “It's staged in the turmoil of the Sengoku Jidai, a time of constant war and death. In this chaotic period arose the great author and historian known only as Jiji. His most famous work and easily his most influential is an ostentatious novel written in journal form- `The Life of My Lord.' The Lord, one Yash Inu, is the main protagonist. He is on a journey of vengeance against the evil demon Ukaran who killed his love. Along the way he meets new friends with the same mission and together they set forth to destroy the collective malevolence. Sounds pretty straightforward, doesn't it? The classic boy goes on quest, meets girl, and destroys the evil spoiling the land.” A twinkle entered his eye and for a second Kagome felt the same jumbled and foreign memories replay. “Well, let's see if that's how it ends. Now, if you'll look under your desks you should find a crisp new copy of the story that is yours to keep. Open to page one and let's begin.”

Tracking him, they were following him like a hunter follows his prey in hopes of dinner. He was prey and he didn't like it one bit. At the same time, he had to admit he didn't exactly try to avoid them. It was only until recently he had been slacking in his stealth, but he didn't think he was leaving that much of a trail, was he? He didn't even know how long they had been following, since the wind seemed to favor them. He simply knew that that damn monk and taijiya were behind him. Truthfully, as the sacred arrow pulled him toward a new shard, Inuyasha couldn't summon the courage to drive them off. In order to do that he would have to face them, and he just wasn't ready.

Far back, out of the hanyou's earshot rode Sango on Kirara, watching the sky and searching for shapes in the clouds. Miroku walked beside them, eyes trained forward in the maze of trees that loomed closer and closer. Occasionally their eyes would wander and meet, but the outcome was always the same. The taijiya would blush a bright pink and the monk would smile in contentment. In that moment the memory of that night resurfaced, as vivid as it had been all those months ago. After the reunion at the monastery, the two decided to spend the night for there was much to talk about. Plans of the future were discussed, restrictions (much to Miroku's dismay), and somewhere along the way the monk and taijiya and monk found themselves in each other's arms, Sango's cheek resting on Miroku's chest. His heartbeat roared in her ears whilst his arms around her gently caressing were slowly and surely driving her mad. A strange heat pooled in her lower abdomen at his touch until breathing no longer seemed so easy. Her restraint faded away as she brought her lips to kiss his neck and chin. The action startled Miroku but he caught himself in time to bring his eyes to her. She was flushing deeply and her eyes were closed. Their talk replayed in his mind, especially the part about restrictions. This was definitely not supposed to happen. In an effort to rouse her from herself the monk softly grabbed her chin and turned her away from what she had not stopped kissing. Her eyes were clouded and pleading as she locked eyes with him.

“Are you sure,” he asked, his breath its own caress on her lips, but the words pierced through the fog. The yearning she felt boiling her blood, muttering suggestions for that wonderful body of his, cooled as Reason took hold once more. She sat up and smiled weakly.

“Gomen, Houshi-sama,” she said, the flush of desire replaced by a blush of embarrassment. It deepened as he brought his lips down on for a fierce kiss, full of passion and repressed need. When he released her she felt the heat again, stronger than before and she fisted her hands on his robes to contain her impulses.

“My name, koishii, is Miroku. If you insist on using my title, I may have to resort to extreme measures in order to break that habit,” he said, his eyes full of mischief and fervor. Since that day he had indeed followed through on his promise, until it became a subconscious game the lovers played. She would let the title slip while requesting something and he would immediately begin his punishment, although torture was more appropriate. She swore his hands were demonic in nature, and those beads! Those deft little explorers roamed around her surface, torches plowing a trail of heat behind them. Sweet madness beckoned her, forming an impassable wall of fog and haze, allowing only his eyes to shine through. Even as his hands brushed where none had ever touched she couldn't pull away from his embrace. He was so considerate too, rushing her up the peak of her desire and thrusting her limp trembling body into the air until cries of contentment dribbled from her lips, yet he never once penetrated her or took her maidenhead. Guilt would wash over her from time to time at how much he sacrificed, rendering her such pleasure and never asking for any in return. But no matter how she tried to return his affection, he resisted. “I won't allow you to soil your purity before marriage. I'm a lost cause on that issue, but as long as I can make you happy, then that is all I need.” A smile filled her heart as she returned to cloud gazing. `That's why I love him,' she thought blissfully. It did not last long, however, when she remembered whom they were following. It had been Miroku's idea to track down Inuyasha, arguing that since his search for Shikon shards would eventually lead him to Naraku, why not just stick with him and save the trouble of running around chasing dead-end hunches? It made sense, but the taijiya was sure the hanyou would not be too happy if he found out the people he had deserted were following him. Deserted? Was that the right word? It felt right, especially when the mind is clouded by anger and betrayal, but there was much more to the parting than she had initially thought. Sango could not presume to know what the poor guy was feeling, but she did know that it had been terrible to force Inuyasha into solitude again after spending most of his life alone. So, out of both expediency and concern for her friend, she had agreed to the plan. All they had to worry about was make sure they remained hidden, a simple enough process as long as they kept against the wind and out of his canine earshot. Her eyes wandered again and met with his. The fire in them set her pit aflame and she could not wait until nightfall.

“Houshi-sama, may I ask why you're always looking at me,” she asked coolly, feeling her mask falter at the sudden rise in temperature as he walked up to her side. In one deft motion he was atop Kirara and running his lips along her neck. She twisted to catch them and suppress her moan of delight. Kirara paid them no attention, her attention tuned to following the hanyou, but even she could not ignore the loud cry that issued from her mistress' lips not soon afterward. The fire youkai sighed inwardly and mentally reminding to bathe when they stopped for the night.

 

~*~

 

“Well, let's keep the music right along,” the male voice said cheerfully from the radio in Kagome's living room. She didn't really listen, more focused on the newest assignment from that devil Tetsujin. Sure he was highly recommended, but no one had informed her of the ridiculous amount of work he gave, and she still had three other projects to work on, not to mention jotting down some notes on her thesis! Still, the book he had them reading was good, and it effectively snared her, whisking the freshman into the past as she traveled with the Lord and his ragtag group of friends. Feeling rebellious, Kagome decided to skive off the work for now and listen to the radio, maybe even read a few new journal entries of the great Jiji. “Here's a new track straight from America,” the disc jockey said, oblivious to her infraction. “I find it funny, but I'll let you decide for yourself if it's worth a second playing. This song is from Akon and is called `Mr. Lonely'.”

 

Lonely

I'm so lonely,
I have nobody,
To call my own
I'm so lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely
I have nobody,
To call my own
I'm so lonely.

 

The disc jockey was right, the voice was really high-pitched and funny, but she decided to stick it out instead of changing the station. The rest of the lyrics flowed on, denoting a distraught man suffering from a broken heart. The story wove itself around her, swelling and cresting in her soul before returning to that same high-pitched voice, only it wasn't so funny any more.

I'm so lonely (so lonely),
I'm Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
To call my own (to call my own) girl

I'm so lonely (so lonely)
I'm Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
To call my own (to call my own) girl

The tears feel unbidden over Jiji's pages as the young woman found herself singing along to the chorus, that same nameless guilt and pain tearing and lacerating her fragile psyche. Why? Why did she feel this need to cry, to howl her anguish to the skies? Who is that silver-haired man that smiled so lovingly at her through the fog, and why does it hurt so bad?

I'm so lonely (so lonely)
I'm Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
To call my own (to call my own)

I'm so lonely (so lonely)
I'm Mr. Lonely (Mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
To call my own (to call my own) girl

Lonely, so lonely
So lonely, (so lonely),
Mr. Lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, (so lonely), Mr. Lonely

 

~*~

 

`Where the hell could that damn coward be,' Inuyasha thought but continued walking in the direction the sacred arrow pointed. The endless trees that had obscured his vision on all sides like a criminal among the bars of his prison block suddenly parted and the hanyou had to blink against the sudden light of the sun. Once all was adjusted he beheld his surroundings. He stood on a grassy knoll of impressive height overlooking an equally impressive city. The rice fields themselves seemed like natural lakes with sturdy multiple-roomed huts bordering it on one side and a flat grassy plain on all other sides. Even from his view he could not count all the houses, but the lord's home was clear, since it was the largest property in the village. Much to his dismay, the arrow was pointing right at it. This presented a problem. A village of this size would no doubt have a large force protecting it, loyal peasants with pitchforks notwithstanding. They wouldn't stand a chance against him, but he could not afford the hindrance nor did he want to risk killing any of them in a rage, so stealth would have to be employed. Returning into the shadows of the forest Inuyasha planned and waited for the sun to set. Once the final ray of light disappeared he knew exactly what to do.

The moon witnessed it all silently as the hanyou thrust the sacred arrow toward the city after all the villagers went to sleep. Guided by the jewel shards it sensed, the arrow punched silently through the roof into the daimyo's room. Hunching until his knees nearly touched the ground, Inuyasha leapt high into the air, landing in the village square, a grassy extravagant affair filled with bright flowers and bulbous blossoms. He wasted no time in destroying the oak gate barring his path and disappeared into the mansion. Response for the door came swiftly, with guards materializing seemingly out of the walls. The hanyou dealt with them easily, making sure not to use his claws. Five minutes later saw him running along the same rice paddies he had admired during the day, three newly purified shards in his grasp. The guards and villagers gave chase, but he soon left them in the dust. Fate- three, Inuyasha- three. From above, shadowed by the clouds of the night sky sat Kagura on her feather. `He's doing very well for a hanyou,' she thought as she willed the enchanted object toward the mountains. `Maybe he'll bring about my freedom.'

When Sango and Miroku arrived in the city of Sansui they find the inhabitants in the final stages of what had been all-out pandemonium. Samurais bustled among the shops asking for information. Miroku furrowed his brows at the taijiya before entering the closest inn.

“What happened here,” he asked the elderly woman at the front desk. She looked up at them irritably before shaking her hands at them.

“For the last time, the daimyo's palace was attacked by a demon. It stole the lord's Shikon jewel shards and Kombi-sama has promised a hefty reward for the demon's head and the shards! Now, if you're not going to stay here, then leave immediately so that I can try to make some money!” After her rousing speech and vile muttered curses, she shooed them out the door. No words passed between the lovers. It was undoubtedly Inuyasha, and from the looks of it there had been no fatalities during the attacks. Sango smiled widely. `Kagome would be so proud.'

 

~*~

 

He raised the blade over his head, his eyes full of determination and strength of will. The wind whistled above and around him, waiting impatiently for the next move, but he drew it out, letting the power of his sword flow through him. The clap of hands sounded like the bell of doom and he swung with all his strength. Multiple bolts of blue-green youki fired from the silver surface, slicing everything in his path. Undeterred by the success or failure of his attack, Shippou raised the Byakkoken over his head again, waiting for the next signal. Truth be told, his hands ached with the training, but until his new sensei ordered him to stop he would continue. After all, he had an entire village to protect didn't he? The clap sounded and he swung, letting his pain and resolve out with a cry. Far to his right leaning against a fence post stood the wandering samurai that had taken the little kitsune under his tutelage. No one knew his name, only that he answered to Sensei. It was fine; since Shippou was only looking to learn what he could, not form personal relationships with his teachers. Once he left, and they all left, he would just train with Kaede until the next swordsman or martial artist passed through. He was getting to be quite good despite the constantly changing fighting styles. The only problem was: there were no youkai! Of course, Shippou knew this was a good thing, but it still frustrated him to no end that he had this powerful sword and only trees to use it on! Sensei clapped twice rapidly, his signal to end training. The kitsune collapsed where he stood, letting the cool grass soothe his aching muscles before he made the long trek to the hot spring. Still, the walk was well worth it, and the path always led close to the well. It still hurt sometimes, to know she was so close and yet completely beyond his reach. So, in order to quell the pain he took to scratching out little messages on the well. He never understood when she explained how the well connected his world to hers, all that stuff of time travel and paradoxes made his head hurt. But he felt that if he carved on the well here, it might, just might, appear on her side too. The thought comforted him, and he decided to add another little glib to his tiny journal.

I miss you. I'll see you soon. He really is an idiot, but he misses you too, I just know it. It feels like forever before I can hug you again, or get any of your special candy and chocolate. But I'll wait; because it's you I have to look forward to. I love you mom. Soon, very soon you'll hear me say it in person. Soon. The kitsune closed his eyes and bowed in respect to the object that had brought him his new mother and took her away before continuing on his way.

 

 

Don't really know what to say, except that I want EVERY criticism from EVERY reader!  Not just the ones with the guts to send a review!!!  That's right, I'm calling you wusses out!!!  LET ME HEAR IT!!!

Ja ne