InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silver Fox ❯ Insanity ( Chapter 32 )

Kagome found herself outside at last. The clouds and trees blotted out the sun but even if it were to be seen, she couldn’t have enjoyed it. She sat at the base of a tree, closing herself into as tight a ball as possible. Jumbled words fell from her lips and she just murmured quietly to herself.

“Quiet. Don’t like the quiet. Quiet is bad. No quiet. Screaming. Screaming is worse. There’s always screaming. Screaming and quiet. No one talks. No one except them, and they always talk. They’re never quiet, but I don’t like the quiet. Or maybe I do. No, no. Quiet is bad.”

She rocked back and forth, her lips never stopping the endless loop. She looked at the ground in front of her where bare feet had placed themselves. “Kagome?” InuYasha’s voice was soft. She looked up. The blood drained from his face leaving him ghostly pale. “Dear god, what happened to you?” She smiled at him.

“You sound like the voices. You’ll make sure it’s never quiet.”

He fell to his knees before her and pushed the blood caked hair away from her face. The edge of a scar that wound up her neck was exposed. He laid the barest of touches on it before taking notice that the woman before him was unclothed. He shed the fire rate robe, wrapped her up in it, and the gently scooped her off the ground.

Kagome was asleep by the time that he made it back to the camp. The fire was barely smoldering now as every else had fallen asleep. “Miroku, Sango, I found her.” His voice was barely a whisper but they both woke with a jump. Sango rushed forward, unshed tears sitting in the corners of her eyes. Miroku quickly built back up the fire and rolled out the spare mat. “Sango, you dress her.” He set her down and walked away. Miroku stood with him on the opposite side of the fire.

“My dear god!” She said that sounded like a cry of pain. “What is it, Lady Sango?” Miroku asked taking a step closer. “These scars, they are all over. From ankle to neck she’s covered in them.” Sango hunched over like she was in pain.

When she’d finally gotten Kagome dressed she pulled them closer for a better look. “They almost look like stripes.” Miroku noted as he looked over her exposed arms and lower legs. Kagome’s pale skin almost highlighted the pink raised flesh. The stripes were shiny against her skin and they seemed to glow with the light of the fire. “Why is it always Kagome? Why is she always the one to endure this kind of torment?” Sango hit a tree with as much force as she could muster. “Sango…” Miroku reached out and pulled her toward him. He cradled her against his body as she cried.

---

The group awoke to giggling. InuYasha slid down from his perch in the tree to sit in front on the giggling Kagome. “Kagome?” She looked at him. “The voices aren’t quiet. I don’t like it when it quiet.” She smiled at him. “Kagome I need you to tell me who did this to you.”

“Tiger tiger burning bright, in the forest of the night. One of the voices likes that. He smiles at me a lot up here.” She pointed to her temple. “But he’s always happy, and his name’s Anubis.” InuYasha looked to Sango. She nodded to him, knowing that he wanted her to try. “Kagome, who hurt you?”

“Anubis says your slow, even for a human.” Kagome relayed the message to them. “Kagome, who is Anubis?” Sango asked. She shook her head and put a finger to her lips. “He says it’s a secret and you’ll have to wait.” InuYasha’s hand shot towards Kagome and wrapped themselves in the borrowed kimono.

“Quit screwin’ with us wench, just tell us who did this to ya!” He shook her. She dug her claws into his arms and pulled them towards her. He cringed in pain and released her. Kagome looked at him with cold and hard eyes. She snarled at him, baring fangs. “You are to never lay a hand on me, hanyou, or it will be the last time you do such a thing.” She emphasized with an upper cut that snapped his head back and almost sent him sprawling. She disappeared into the trees leaving them confused and one bleeding.

They group hadn’t been too far from a small creek when they made camp and Kagome had found her way there. “He’s here. He’s coming!” She shouted with glee. “Of course he’s coming, he always does.” She turned and faced the opposite direction and snarled. “Yes, he’ll always come, what a fool. I’ll rip out his heart.” Her lips pulled back and she gnashed her teeth together. It almost looked like she was smiling, or smiling as much as a rabid dog would.

The all too familiar buzzing of saimyoshou signaled the approach of Naraku. He had found her again, that was no surprise. No the surprise was for him when he found out that his little ‘pet’ was quiet as sane as the last time he’d seen her. Kagome took a seat on the ground and smiled at him. The smile was perfect, full, beautiful, and completely misleading.

Even with the insanity eating her mind she knew it wasn’t him. Naraku would never risk getting this close to InuYasha and the rest even if it was to pick up his most prized pet. The puppet before her was wrapped in a baboon pelt, which was unusual since he’d taken to not wearing it. He took a step forward, his hand outstretched and reaching for her. “Come with me my little fox, it is time to return home.”

She gave him another bright smile and reached her hand up. Naraku reached down and clasped the much smaller hand. Kagome’s bright smile turned malicious as she pulled him down. Simultaneously she launched her body upward and swung her free hand horizontally. She pulled from his grasp and the puppet straightened. He looked confused for a moment then smiled. She had failed in her attempt to kill his puppet, maybe his pet was not as clever as she thought. At least until the head rolled off its shoulders and fell to the ground.

The puppet dissolved, returning to its original hair wrapped, wooden form. She looked to the sky knowing that the hanyou was watching her through Kanna’s mirror. Kagome smiled, waved, than shot him the bird. She wasn’t sure if the hand gesture would be completely understood, but it would not be lost on the hanyou that it was, in fact, an insult.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Naraku grit his teeth in frustration and glared down at the mirror. Just who did that little fox think she was. Destroying his puppet was expected, after all the last time he had encountered her she’d tried to rip out his throat, but for her to think that she would get away with insulting him? The idea was ridiculous! She was no better than a dog at its master’s feet, and from what he’d seen she’d gone rabid and would have to be dealt with as such.

If he could dig his claws into her and control her, then all would be right with his plans, but she couldn’t be allowed to roam free with the possibility of someone else killing her or, worse yet, taking control of her themselves. He knew that somehow the southern lord had gotten wind of the tales that were told of her destroying the northern lord’s forces. He’d heard the rumors that the old youkai was planning to expand his forces with his pet leading the way as a general.

Strangely enough the west was quiet. There wasn’t any way that the tales hadn’t been heard by Sesshoumaru, after all, Kagome’s battle with the north almost took place on the border. If anything the taiyoukai was planning to kill his wonderful asset and he couldn’t let that happen. So now he was faced with the two scenarios that he didn’t want to be faced with.

The southern lord was top priority though. He had already dispatched spies into the other territories in order to locate the powerful demon responsible. The spies were easily dispatched as he found. Several had gotten too close to the hut where he had her chained the last time she was within his grasp. Their skills were fleeing and hiding, which didn’t account for much when he was better at it.

Sesshoumaru was a different matter all together. He’d been impossible to defeat in head to head combat. He had never really fallen into any traps that he laid, and any assassins he sent were never heard from again. Naraku gave a hiss as he looked into the mirror again. Sure, the wench was powerful, but was it really worth it. It would be easier to rid the world of her so that she didn’t fall into enemy hands, but that little voice in the back of his head was whispering how many different ways they could use her. Torturing her former companions, bringing the cardinal lords to their knees, ruling Japan, the possibilities were infinite. No, he wouldn’t kill her just yet, but she was walking the line between useful and better off dead.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Nothing had been happening for hours now, and Kagome felt that she was growing bored. Sure the sky was pretty with the stars were shining brightly in their places and the rays of moonlight shining down through the clouds illuminating the grass in patches. There wasn’t any beauty here anymore. Her head was too ugly to see the world. She sat and folded her arms over her knees and knew that she used to like looking at things like this.

Her head snapped up and she looked around. That wasn’t one of the voices, this was someone new, but there was no one around her. The wind was starting to blow, a gentle night breeze. Something wasn’t right. Though the night was cool it was heavy with a warm pulsing power.

Kagome stood knowing that someone was right behind her. Her senses told her that no one was there. There was no smell. She hadn’t seen anyone. There weren’t any unusual sounds, but that itch she sometimes got in between her shoulder blades was there. It had never been wrong before so who was it. “Reiken.” The name fell off her tongue without her brain’s permission, and she spun around.

“Where have you gone, Kagome, Kagome? Lost in your mind and locked in a cage. When will you come out?” It was Reiken in all her ghostly glory. Her silver hair was pulled into an elegant bun with tendrils framing her face. Kagome snarled at her. “You know nothing, phantom!” She launched herself at Reiken and went right through. Reiken clicked her tongue.”You can not harm what is not here, Kagome, Kagome.”

“Shove it!” She snapped and leapt at her again only to be met with the same outcome as before. This fight wasn’t going anywhere, but how did you fight a ghost anyway. She didn’t exactly have the tenseiga with which to revive her so that she could cut her down again. “You must climb out of this madness! If not you will fail in your mission and fall before Naraku!”

“And what would you know of my mission you pathetic apparition?” She shouted. “You know nothing of what I have been through!” Reiken hung her head. “It is true that I cannot pear into the world of the living, but I have seen the possible result of your life if you continue down this path! It does not bode well for either of your homes.”

Kagome’s actions halted. Either of her homes. She’d forgotten about the future and her family there. How long had it been since she had seen her mother, brother, or grandfather? Nothing had gone the way she had thought it would. Everything was felt wrong now, as if her world had taken a skew and become warped in some way. She fell to her knees. “Tell me Reiken, is there a happy ending waiting for me?”

Reiken kneeled down next to her and placed a hand on her head. “Kagome I cannot say what is happiness in this world anymore, I’m dead. I do know that if you can’t save yourself from this mind numbing madness then everything you’ve been through will be meaningless.” Reiken took to her feet again. “I have to go now. Goodbye Kagome, Kagome.”

The ghostly form of Reiken disappeared as if the breeze had blown her away leaving Kagome to think. Reiken told her to save herself from madness, but how do you save yourself when you can’t tell what is real? Kagome leaned back on her hands and looked up at the partially cloudy sky. It had certainly been an interesting night. A puppet, a ghost, and finding out you were insane the whole time? Well that certainly made her not doubt the fact she’d seen a ghost. I mean really, what insane person hallucinates? What a ridiculous idea! She snorted in amusement.

So what was she going to do now? Seeking help in modern times wasn’t going to work since she wasn’t exactly human anymore, and no one in the feudal times was exactly qualified. She couldn’t really remember how they used to deal with the insane in this time but she was confident that it had something to do with drilling holes in one’s skull. That wasn’t on her list of things to do. So now she was stuck in a problem with no solution.

Kagome gave a heavy sigh and rolled onto her side. What to do? What to do?