InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ That Which Shines Brightest ❯ 02: Fire at the Well ( Chapter 2 )

That Which Shines Brightest

 

Chapter Two

 

 

Wasn't this walkway supposed to be covered?

Outside the darkened panes of her bedroom window, a thunderstorm raged, but Kagome barely noticed. She was completely absorbed in what she was doing. Pushing a long strand of ebony hair behind her ear, she looked down, a small crinkle forming between her brows as she studied what were supposed to be the final set of proofs for renovating the three hundred and fifty year old Suketsune shrine.

Hmm, she ruminated, pulling on the fullness of her upper lip with her teeth. It definitely seemed like it should be covered. Absently she reached for a stack of preliminary drafts placed at the corner of her desk. Thumbing through it, she diligently searched for the rough sketches she'd made when she'd visited the shrine and talked with the attending miko, Yukino Suketsune.

Yukino. What an enigmatic girl.

Kagome paused in her search as she thought about the seventeen year miko. From the moment she'd set eyes on her fiery red hair bright, and inquisitive, blue eyes, Kagome had liked her immensely. Yukino had seemed so enthusiastic and cheerful as she moved about the shrine doing her chores and speaking with the patrons that it had brought a smile to Kagome's face just watching her.

But the moment Hojo -- who was Suketsune Renovation Project leader -- had introduced her to Kagome, all that brightness and energy had seemed to whither right before Kagome's mystified eyes and it never returned - at least not for her benefit, anyway.

What did I do to make Yukino behave in such a way?? she idly wondered not for the first time. Pausing in her search, she stared blankly at the sketches clutched loosely between her fingers and sighed. It never sat well with her when she thought she might be the cause of someone else's discomfort. But no matter how much she tried, she thought, shaking her head a little, she couldn't figure out what she'd done.

At first she'd thought perhaps it was just because Yukino was having trouble accepting the idea of all the renovations they were making to her family's shrine - that she wasn't the kind of person that adapted well to change. But that wasn't it at all.

As long as Kagome was with Hojo, the enthusiasm that Kagome had witnessed that very first day would be out in full force. But whenever Hojo left -- which he often had to do, since he had many other pressing projects that required his attention -- and it was just her and Yukino; then the young miko would again become as still and watchful as the stone lion shishi that guarded the entrance to the shrine.

No matter how much Kagome smiled or how polite she was, she just couldn't seem to breach that chiseled cold mask of Yukino's countenance.

And during the weeks of planning and work she'd put in on the Shrine Project, this had become something of a problem for Kagome. Even though all renovations were designated and approved by the head priest of the shrine, Shirogane Suketsune, Kagome still needed Yukino, because Suketsune-sama, who seemed very charming on the phone, and who had insisted he be called Shirogane, was always mysteriously absent on the days he said he would meet her to go over any changes made to the proofs.

So it always came down to Yukino who carried the proofs to her brother and reluctantly relayed any changes her brother had left for Kagome. And if Kagome had any questions, they were usually met with suspicious stares and a small lift of her shoulders before Yukino turned on her heel and stomped away. Any useful information pried out Yukino usually had to be done in the presence of Hojo, which is why Kagome was almost certain Yukino had said that Suketsune-sama - er, Shirogane - had requested that they modify the walkway making it covered from the Sanctuary to the Kangensai Stage.

But still, the best way to know for certain was to locate her sketches.

Kagome knew that she would have made a note of it there. Halfway through her stack though, Kagome's phone rang and she abandoned her search before she could find her drawings.

“You're still up, I see.” Hojo's familiarly upbeat voice greeted her, along with static hiss as the line popped and crackled in response to the spectacular surges of light arcing through the nighttime sky. “You really should be in bed by now.”

Kagome laughed a little at that. “I was - you woke me up,” she teased accusingly.

“Is that so? Well, then, can I come over and join you?” Hojo's voice resonated deeply, full of a playfulness lacking in any true seduction. All the same it made Kagome smile.

“I dunno, Hojo,” Kagome murmured in feigned uncertainty, “you and the storm combined? I don't think my heart could stand all the excitement.”

“The weak heart, again, eh?” Hojo sighed regretfully.

“Mmhmm. I think it's safer not to chance it,” she whispered conspiratorially.

There was a long drawn out sigh and Hojo replied tongue in cheek, “I guess that's just one more rain check for a closer viewing of my, er, finer points. …”

“I guess…so.” Kagome's playful feeling faded, becoming shadowed with guilt and she had to force a laugh even though she knew Hojo was only teasing.

It was true, what Hojo said.

In the past ten years, Kagome had always found some excuse to keep their relationship from progressing on a more intimate level - even now at the age of twenty-five, it was still the same, and she wasn't in any hurry to examine her reasons for keeping it that way either.

“Ah well --” Hojo must have sensed Kagome's unease, for he brusquely changed the topic. “- The real reason I called was to see how things were going. So… how are things going?” he asked with a laugh in his voice.

“Mmm…. - almost done,” Kagome replied, her eyes trailing to the stack of paper poised at the edge of her desk. “I'm just doing some last minute checking - Hey, Hojo, the eastern walkway - isn't it supposed to be covered?”

She propped the phone between her shoulder and ear and it almost came squirting out to hit the floor when she jerked in fright as an instantaneous boom of thunder accompanied an intense slash of light near her bedroom window.

Hiyah! That one was awfully close, she thought, slowly starting to search her stack of papers again. “I-I thought Yukino Suketsune specifically stated that they wanted that walkway covered when we went out there.” She somehow managed to pull her concentration together enough despite the turbulent weather and the sudden chill that skittered across the back of her neck.

“She did,” Hojo agreed, “but don't you remember? Shirogane decided that the trees form a natural canopy, and since the Kangensai Stage is used in the spring, he said it would be best to leave it uncovered so the people traveling along the path would be able to enjoy the color and fragrance of the cherry blossoms. - I know I told you that. He made that change in my last meeting with him. “

Kagome stopped rummaging through her pile, a slightly annoyed expression flitting through her eyes.

“He did?” she asked faintly, the thumb of her left hand still marking her place in the stack. “I don't remember that. Are you sure…?”

Of course maybe if the peculiarly preoccupied priest had met with me as well, instead of continually breaking our appointments and avoiding me like the plague, I might have known that, she thought perversely, and then stifled the thought as completely inappropriate.

Kagome heard Hojo sigh again. “You're worrying too much over the little things, Kagome.“

Kagome pulled her hand back from her draft stack then and grasped the phone with it, lifting her head to stare blindly at the rain pelting the window. “Sorry,” she mumbled self-consciously, “I know how closely the Chairmen of the firm are watching this as an influential project for you. I just want it to go well.”

“Don't be sorry, Kagome - one of the reasons why I specifically asked Matsuda-san to assign you to do the proofing is because I know just how detailed and meticulous you can be -“

Kagome was a little dismayed by his comment. She knew that he'd meant it to sound like a compliment, but it somehow made her feel as if he was accusing her of being overly critical.

“ - and, of course, the other reason is because when we're working on the same projects, I get to see more of you. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I think it works just the opposite. Wouldn't you agree?”

He paused as if waiting for her to acknowledge his statement, but Kagome wasn't sure what to say.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy spending time with Hojo. Because she did. But often times she was afraid to tell him how she felt, afraid that he would read more into her words than she wanted him to. The silence stretched on a little uncomfortably and Kagome grimaced, glad that he wasn't there to see her squirm in her chair.

Finally he gave up waiting and continued in predictably upbeat Hojo-like fashion, “- I know everything will go well tomorrow evening when we go over the final proofs for the last time with Shirogane and then construction will finally start. Overall I think he will be very pleased with the final design details - and if he isn't - it's not the end of the world; we'll just work on it some more.”

“But, Hojo, Matsuda-san is expecting you to wrap up this project as soon as possible,” Kagome pointed out. “That's why we can't afford any mistakes.”

“It's all right, Kagome. It's important to do a good job, but, - well let's just say that not all my hopes are pinned on this project like they were a few weeks ago.”

Kagome blinked at the unconcern in his words. Just what exactly did he mean? she wondered.

“But what about your promotion? It's all you've been talking about this past year,” she observed aloud. “How could it all of a sudden not matter any more?”

“Tomorrow night after our dinner with Suketsune-sama, there are some things I want to talk to you about,” was all he said.

She didn't know why; maybe it was the way that he said it, or maybe it was just the turbulent weather that added an ominous portent to his words, but Kagome's stomach did a flip and then tightened in dread.

“You sound so… serious, all of a sudden.” Nervously, she folded and unfolded the corner of an old draft page, ear-marking it as she strove to keep her tone light.

“No, Kagome,” Hojo contradicted, “I've been serious for a long time. It's just that I haven't been in a position to do anything about it until now.” Kagome hands went ice cold. “-- But I don't want to say any more about it tonight - especially not over the phone, so I'll save the rest of this conversation for tomorrow evening.”

She wanted to protest, but her voice seemed to be frozen in her throat and by the time she was able to squeeze any words past her lips, Hojo was already telling her goodbye.

Horrified, Kagome sat rooted to the spot, the phone still pressed against her ear, a buzzing sound filling her head. It took a moment for her to realize that it was the sound of a dial tone.

He hung up, she thought numbly, but still she didn't move, too busy contemplating how she was going to handle Hojo's suddenly determined intentions.

Her worries were sheared away the next instant when the storm unleashing its fury beyond her window finally invaded the room. The phone line suddenly went dead as a burst of bright light blinded her before sending her plunging into darkness when the power went out. Its roar of fury vibrated the glass in her window, and as the shockwave died away, her heart beat just a little faster, adrenaline surging through her veins from the surprise of it all.

“Did you hear that, Nee-chan?”

Kagome yelped as her nineteen year old brother's voice cut through the stygian pitch. She turned her head in his direction and as another flash of purplish white light illuminated the room, she briefly saw him standing in her doorway, his wide brown eyes trained toward her window. “That one sounded like it actually hit something,” Souta observed warily.

“I know,” Kagome agreed a little breathlessly, her heartbeat finally beginning to slow a little. “It shook the glass in my window,” she told him, getting up from her chair and moving closer to the windowpane to squint out into the darkness.

It was well after midnight, and there shouldn't be any light, but when she turned her head to the left, she could see an orange red glow. “Oh my god,” she gasped, her heart revving back up in alarm, “It's the Well House! The Well House is on fire!!”

Whipping around, she sprinted madly for the door, spurred on by the panic surging up inside of her. Together, she and her brother pounded down the stairs, stopping abruptly to keep from colliding with their grandfather who moved between them and the front door.

“Jii-chan, the Well House is on fire!” Kagome almost yelled, feeling a little surprised when the calm demeanor of his face failed to change.

She made to move around both Souta and her grandfather but she was stopped when his gnarled fingers gently latched onto her arm.

“What do you think you can do in an electrical storm, Kagome?” Jii-chan asked, peering up at her. “You go out there, and you'll make an even better lightning rod than the roof of the Well House.”

“We - we should at least call the fire department!” she fervidly contended.

“I tried, but the phone line is dead.” Jii-chan remained unperturbed, although his eyes did widen a bit at how agitated Kagome seemed to be getting.

“Well, well - “ Kagome stuttered, clenching her hands together and thinking furiously. “I know! Use my cell phone!” She rushed to get her purse from the side table next to the door, her socks skidding on the shiny, waxed, wooden floor.

“Kagome,” Jii-chan called to her restrainedly.

She tore through the contents of her purse in determination, and didn't heed his call the first time. However, at the sound of her name the third time, she finally lifted her eyes and saw the odd look her grandfather was giving her. It made her feel as if she had grown an extra head.

But when he finally spoke, his words didn't match the look, for all he said was, “I doubt that a fireman could work any faster on that fire than the heavy rain outside.”

“But Jii-chan!” Kagome stammered in objection, “It's… it's… the Well House!”

Kagome realized from her grandfather's sharp look that he knew exactly what it was, and exactly what it meant to Kagome, even though in the last ten years she had refused to acknowledge its importance to not only herself but everyone else as well.

“Why are you suddenly so concerned with the Well House, Kagome?” he demanded, “You haven't even given it a second glance, since - “ he abruptly changed the course of his words when he saw Kagome's face become dangerously stiff, “The importance of the Well House's history has never impressed you before - even when the old roof almost caved in because it needed a new one.”

“But that was different,” Kagome contradicted, silently adding that a caved in roof was easier to fix than a Well House that was completely destroyed by fire - not that that couldn't be repaired as well, but what if the fire somehow affected the portal inside the Well, causing it to cease functioning? Kagome stopped her thoughts, mentally slapping herself for even thinking about it.

She had suppressed all thoughts about the Well House and anything connected to it a long time ago, and she wasn't going to start thinking about it now just because of a fire, she told herself firmly.

“How was it different?” Jii-chan wanted to know, his gaze swerving towards Souta whose head was pivoting back and forth between his sister and his grandfather, listening to their conversation with interest. “--Don't you have an exam you need to be studying for?” Jii-chan asked, addressing him.

Souta shrugged his shoulders, an insouciant grin on his face, “Can't study in the dark.”

Jii-chan grunted and turned towards the side table, pulling open one of the drawers.

“Here you go,” the old man said, swiveling back around and holding out his hand. “Instant light.” He reached out and molded Souta's fingers around the flashlight when Kagome's brother stared dumbly down at it. “You see this switch here,” he tutored, “you turn it on like this- ” there was a small fwick and the flashlight came on. “There! Now you can go study! You won't get into med school if you don't study.”

“But you said this afternoon that I study too much!” Souta protested loudly. “In fact, you're always telling me that I study too much - that I stay cooped up in my room and don't get out enough!”

Jii-chan waved away his words like they were an irritating gnat, “That was this afternoon, and this is now. And now is a good time for you to study so that tomorrow I can again point out to you what a nice afternoon it is, and you can leave off the studying to go to the park and try to find some nice girl without having to feel guilty about not studying… having already done it tonight. And one day, when there is a bright-eyed young lady who attaches herself to you, you will truly appreciate the wit and wisdom of your Jii-chan and you will say, `Jii-chan, you were so right!' Seeing his grandson roll his eyes, he fluttered his fingers at Souta and said, “Now go!”

Souta sighed, his eyes flickering over to Kagome whose face was entirely blank.

“You're no fun at all, Jii-chan.” he mumbled, and dragging his feet with numbing slowness, he climbed the stairs back to his room.

Jii-chan remained silent, his attention focused on Kagome's brother and his snail-like pace up the stairs, while Kagome peeked through the curtains of the window next to the door, her eyes trained in the direction of the well house.

The wind was blowing sheets of water against the glass panes, blurring the view she had, so she couldn't tell if the fire had spread or not. But it still stood out, a vivid patch of orange against the black backdrop of the night and Kagome's fingers convulsively tightened around the thick fabric of the curtains.

“It's late, Kagome,” she heard her grandfather tell her, and she turned to look over her shoulder to see him staring solemnly at her. “There's nothing to do be done for the Well House right now. Let the rain quell the fire and tomorrow we will go and see how much damage is done.”

Kagome's eyes were wide and at that moment, they expressed more than she was aware of, more of what her grandfather would have expected to see when she had first returned from the feudal age.

She is still lost, he thought in dismay. Even after all this time, she has yet to find where she truly belongs.

His eyes softened with affection for his only granddaughter. Stepping closer to her he reached out, his withered hand briefly cupping her cheek with its warmth before he patted her and let go. “Trust this old man,” he told her. “That Well House has weathered five centuries of history. A little fire can't destroy that. Now why don't you go to bed,” he advised, “you look tired. You've been working even harder than Souta, burying yourself under a mountain of paper until all that remains is the top of your head. There's more to life than that, Kagome.”

“I know that, Jii-chan,” she assured him with a faint smile.

“Mmm,” Jii-chan ruminated, his eyes pensive. “I want to see my granddaughter smile; I mean really smile, and not just here,.” He tweaked the corner of her mouth with his thumb and forefinger. “but here as well.” His hand drifted away, his index finger pointing to the middle of her chest and Kagome rested a tentative hand over her heart, feeling slightly appalled.

She'd never given Jii-chan any reason to think that she wasn't happy. So why would he think that she wasn't?

Maybe because deep down, you're not.

Where had that come from, she thought uneasily.

“My heart is smiling, Jii-chan,” she mumbled, trying to keep the tightness she was currently experiencing around that unpredictable organ from creeping into her voice. “Why wouldn't it be smiling?” she asked after a moment, the question aimed more at herself than at him. “I'm here with you, and Mama, and Souta. I have a good job, with a secure future, and Hojo - “ she stopped then, remembering the dread she had felt at Hojo's serious sounding remarks.

“Yes,” Jii-chan agreed with a nod, “Hojo; the boy who brings you comfort, but not happiness.” Jii-chan watched Kagome's eyes dilate in surprise and he sighed. She had buried the truth just a deeply as she buried herself in her paperwork. It wasn't any wonder that he had failed to see it sooner.

“Jii-chan -“ Kagome began, her dismay at her grandfather's words growing with every passing second.

“Ojii-chan,” Kagome's mother's soft voice called from the kitchen, interrupting them. “-Ojii-chan where did you put the candles?”

“Eh?” Kagome's grandfather turned his head in his daughter's direction, looking confused. “What candles?”

“The emergency candles I asked you to put away - where are they?” She wanted to know, coming farther into the room, her eyes flickering in concern over her daughter's bemused expression.

“Mama,” Jii-chan began, “you never gave me any candles.”

“Yes I did,” Mama objected in a patient way. Kagome watched her mother hook her hand around his arm, gently pulling him towards the kitchen and away from Kagome. “You just don't remember. But I need you to remember because I need them. I wanted to finish sewing the button back on to Souta's school jacket before I go to bed.”

“Can't you use a flashlight instead?” Kagome's grandfather's voice grumbled hollowly as he disappeared into the kitchen with her mother.

“I can't seem to find that either,” her mother replied as Kagome turned to climb the stairs back to her room.

“Oh… well, that's probably because I gave it to Souta.” Kagome smiled as she heard Jii-chan suddenly recall.

“Well then, yes, Ojii-chan, I need the candles,” Mama replied before Kagome reached the top of the stairs and their conversation faded out altogether.

Did she really need the candles? Kagome absently wondered to herself as she slowly made her way down the hall. Or had the candles been a way to try and save Kagome from Jii-chan's probing remarks. Kagome hoped it was the former reason, because the latter suggested that Kagome's mother was in agreement with her grandfather about the state of her daughter's heart.

Kagome's brows drew together over her eyes in a rebellious frown.

There is nothing wrong with my heart, she assured herself fiercely.

The steady rhythm of her life echoed its beat; a reassuring tempo that she found soothing and one that caused her little anxiety.

But is that what you really want? Your heart used to race; soaring in your chest so that you thought it would carry you away.

“Yes,” she whispered unable to keep just a thread of bitterness from creeping into her voice, “and then sometimes it seemed as if its weight would crush me entirely….”

She could feel memories trembling on the edge of her consciousness; sounds and images that had been locked away; not to be taken out and examined under any circumstances because they were a threat to that steady rhythm that she had worked so hard to attain.

Slowly passing through her doorway, Kagome shut her door and crept onto her bed where she lay on her stomach, staring into the darkness, listening to the hiss of the rain. Occasionally the lightning would brighten the room, flooding her consciousness as if it were trying to illuminate those things that she had hidden in the dark recesses of her mind for so long.

She hid her face in her pillow, squeezing her eyes shut. The past was past! The future was where her dreams should lie. How many times had she told herself this to keep that mental box of memories closed?

Just enough times to ensure that it stay closed, came the answer.

It was a successful ploy that worked - except for when she was asleep.

That was the only time that she had no control over her thoughts; the only time when images of a lone figure with long flowing hair the color of moonlight could rise like a phantom to drift in silence through her dreams; disappearing with the morning sun, back into the shadows of that forbidden past.

“Look to the future, Kagome,” she whispered tightly to herself.

She should be working on those shrine plans, she thought with determination. Maybe she could beg Souta for the flashlight for just a short time.

Putting her hands against her mattress, she pushed herself up and off of the bed and opened her door. Padding down the hallway she called out to her brother and then opened his door. He was lying on the bed, his arms tucked beneath his head, staring at the ceiling.

“You're not studying,” she observed a little dumbfounded and he swiveled his head to look at her.

“Unh-uh,” he murmured, his eyes thoughtful as they rested on her face.

“If Jii-chan could see you now, he would fall on his ear,” she smiled a little, coming further into his room. “I'll admit I'm a little surprised as well,” she observed, gesturing to his vacant desk chair. “It's so unlike you…. -- Don't you have a big exam coming up?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “but I'm all studied out.” He sat up and swung his feet over the side of the bed. “I've been re-reading my notes since early this afternoon, so I think I'm ready.”

“Then you won't mind if I borrow the flashlight?”

As she phrased the question she sidled over to his desk .

“It's all yours,” he replied laconically, “since, I'm not in the mood to study anyway.”

Kagome picked up the flashlight, then looked over her shoulder at her brother, her eyebrow soaring at his statement.

“Are you feeling all right?” she asked half-teasingly, giving him a curious look. “I think the lightning has affected your cerebral circuits - you're not acting like yourself tonight.”

“I might say the same thing about you,” he responded with more than just a hint of shrewdness. Suddenly intent, he leaned forward his hands planted on either side of his legs, his brown eyes glued to his sister's face, as he observed, “Tonight was the first time I've seen you get so upset about the Bone Eater's Well. -- I was beginning to think you didn't care anymore. Nee-chan, aren't you ever going to go back?”

There it was.

No one had ever asked her. And she had never had to say it, aloud. But she could finally lay it to rest here and now.

Taking a deep breath, Kagome gave her brother a long look.

“I stopped thinking about returning a long time ago,” she told him steadily.

“And Inuyasha?” Souta wanted to know incredulously, “you don't care about what happens to him? What he's doing on the other side?”

Kagome's throat closed up at Inuyasha's name. Was the wall she erected around her past so frail that it could be toppled just by his name alone? Her heart was pounding out of control, and she took another deep breath to try and regulate it.

Kagome looked down at the flashlight gripped tightly between her fingers, noticing her knuckles had turned white and she made herself relax her grip. “I stopped thinking about Inuyasha a long time ago too.” She replied in a wooden voice.

That's not what he'd asked, and he opened his mouth to say as much, but after a look at his sister's forlorn expression, he decided against it. Instead he swiveled his legs back around onto his bed and flopped back onto his pillow, his gaze going back to the ceiling.

“'Shame really,” he murmured, “he was such a great guy - for a dog that is.”

Kagome neither agreed nor disagreed, but hastened to make her escape thorough his bedroom door.

“I'll bring this back when I'm done with it,” she told him waving the flashlight at him, completely sidestepping his comment altogether.

“No rush,” he replied offhandedly as she disappeared from his room.

After she was gone he turned his head to look at the open doorway, his face losing its careless expression.

“Poor Nee-chan,” he murmured empathetically, “She's so miserable and she doesn't even realize it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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