InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Kohaku's Wish ( Chapter 33 )

Recap: Jaken tried to stop Kirara from having the spell redone by telling her that Sesshomaru did still care for her, but Kirara ignored his advice. Jaken tried to warn Sesshomaru about Kirara's plans, but Sesshomaru ignored him too.

 

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Chapter 33 - Kohaku's Wish

 

Kirara leapt backwards, swinging her sword around as another snake demon shot towards her. She had forgotten just how many demons there were before Naraku had begun gathering the jewel shards and becoming powerful enough to scare them all into hiding. Of course, remembering back, she acknowledged that she and Sango had been called upon to slay at least one demon a day back when they were still living in the demon-slayer's village; but the sheer amount of monsters she had encountered on her way back to Kaede's village was still shocking.

 

Kirara dropped to the ground, looking down at her now heavily bloodstained sword. She smiled a small smile as she looked down at the perfectly crafted weapon that Totosai had made for her. She had grown quite attached to the sword, even though she had barely used it, and it represented yet another small, selfish reason why she would miss having a human body. Unfortunately, the armour Totosai had given her had been so badly destroyed by Inuyasha's full-demon claws, Kirara had been forced to dispose of it, and return to wearing her old armour; and yet she still found her armour as another reason why she wished to remain in her human form.

 

Kirara sighed, shaking her head. She had hoped that she could just enjoy one last, leisurely walk on two legs back to Kaede's village, where she could observe her friends one last time before returning to Momiji and Botan in time to have the spell redone; but she had been challenged by so many demons on her way, she doubted she would even make it as far as the village before sun-down. Looking up at the sky, Kirara saw that the blues overhead had deepened, and the horizon had begun to glow the rich shades of pink and purple that signified that the sun was already setting.

 

Kirara turned her head, spotting the old bone eater's well a short way ahead of her, a sight that at last brought a grin to her face. She was almost at Kaede's village she only had a little further to go to reach her destination. Returning her sword to its sheath, Kirara ran the rest of the way to the edge of the forest, stopping at the grassy hill beyond that overlooked the village. Kirara smiled as she sighted the children running around and playing, their energy apparently boundless; but her breath caught in her throat as she saw a fifth child running with Shippo, Kohaku, Soten and Koru.

 

“Rin…” Kirara whispered, her brow furrowing curiously. “What is she doing here?”

 

Kirara slowly scanned across the village to the small fire that had been constructed just outside of Kaede's hut. Miroku and Kagome were sat around the fire together, talking amiably between themselves. A short distance from them, Inuyasha was sitting scowling at Jaken, who was sat scowling back at him, the two apparently having some sort of never-ending, silent, staring contest. Looking further along the length of the village, Kirara eventually found Ah-Un lying on the ground, one head eating from a bowl Kirara recognised as the bowl Sango had used to feed her when she was a cat, the other head resting in the crook of Sango's arm as she softly petted its mane with her other hand.

 

Kirara scanned back across the village, carefully studying everyone and everything that she could see. Ah-Un was there, Jaken was there and even Rin was there; but where was Sesshomaru? Once Kirara was positive that Sesshomaru was definitely not present, she began to feel another wave of an emotion she had never felt when she had been a small cat. She was not sure what the feeling was, but she did not like it, and it was making her eyes burn and her throat grow tight.

 

“He didn't come here because he couldn't bear to see me again,” she whispered aloud. “Does he really hate me that much?”

 

Kirara sighed, creeping along the hillside, strategically walking around the outskirts of the village. Kirara kept walking until she had walked beyond the last hut, before slowly arcing down the side of the hill, taking herself further away from the edge of the village as she descended towards the ground.

 

Once she was on level with the village, Kirara looked back at the distance figures, squinting to confirm that they would not see her. In the increasing darkness of the setting sun, she knew that only a demon's sense of smell would be able to sense her close presence, and so she approached the river, dropping down onto her hands and knees to peer over the bank into the water below.

 

Kirara could just make the reflection of her own human-like face staring back at her from the surface of the water. She tilted her head to one side, leaning slightly closer, her hair flopping over her shoulders, the ends dipping into the water. She silently wondered if it was the last time that she would ever see her face look that way; and to her own surprise, she did not have to wait long for her query to be answered.

 

Turning her head sharply as the sound of children's voices became audible, Kirara watched as Kohaku sat down hard onto the ground by the edge of the village, his sadness and disappointment evident to Kirara even though he was still some distance away from her.

 

“What's wrong, Kohaku?” Rin asked him, standing over him.

 

“It's not fair,” Kohaku moaned. “I don't have anyone to help me train like Sango did. She had a fire-cat demon that fought with her by day, and was her pet by night. I don't have anything!”

 

“Can't you train with Kirara?” Shippo asked him. “She said she would transform and train with you.”

 

“It's not the same, she's a lady now, she can't be my pet like she was to Sango,” Kohaku replied.

 

Kirara's face dropped as she felt both sad that Kohaku did not like her human form and yet oddly amused that he had referred to her as a “lady”; she was almost certain that it was the first time ever that anyone had used that word to describe her.

 

“I wish Kirara was a little cat again, so that she could help me train and be my pet cat like she was when Sango was my age,” Kohaku said softly.

 

Kirara clasped a hand to her chest, closing her eyes tightly as an unusual sensation washed over her. Opening her eyes again a moment later, she turned back to the river, finding herself no longer looking at a reflection of the face of her human form, but rather the face of a small, cream and black two-tailed cat with big red eyes, its head tilted to one side as it looked back up at her.

 

Every part of Midoriko's message had finally been realised.

 

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Sesshomaru paced back and forth, the long, loose sleeves of his haori swishing around him every time he spun around to pace back along the same stretch of grass. His behaviour was neither befitting of his status as Lord of the Western Lands nor typical of his normally calm and aloof character; and yet he could not escape the turmoil within his mind.

 

He had barely made it halfway to the temple Jaken had told him the fire-cat was at before he had stopped and begun to question his motives. He now found himself torn between going back to the village to collect his entourage and return home to forget about the whole affair, and continuing on to the temple to confront the argumentative and strange woman who he had been wholly unable to shake from his thoughts of late.

 

Pacing back and forth, his steps both quicker and heavier than usual, Sesshomaru only stopped as he sensed the sudden appearance of a demonic aura. It was not sufficiently strong to cause him any concern, but it was much stronger than any of the usual demons he would expect to encounter in the forest. Slowing to a halt, Sesshomaru turned his head, his eyes narrowing at what he saw. Standing at the very edge of the clearing he was in, almost concealed in the shadows of the trees was Kagura, her fan held up over her mouth, barely concealing the mischievous grin of delight on her face.

 

“Well, well, Lord Sesshomaru,” she said quietly, lowering her fan as her grin twisted into a condescending smirk, her crimson eyes slowly raking over his form as she spoke. “I remember a time when I believed you to be the strongest demon alive. But to look at you now, it seems that you've been reduced to nothing more than a pitiful, lovesick puppy.”

 

Sesshomaru smoothly leapt into the air, swiping a hand at the wind sorceress, but she easily leapt out of his reach, looking back over her shoulder at him as he landed in a crouch, the trunk of a nearby tree bubbling and dissolving from the poison that had spat out from his claws.

 

“Really Sesshomaru, if you feel that strongly about the girl, why not just tell her?” Kagura sighed, flapping her fan at her face, causing her hair to billow gently around her forehead.

 

Sesshomaru slowly stood, turning around to face her. Kagura turned fully towards him, purposefully eying him over again, a small smirk on her face telling him that she knew only too well how much her actions were infuriating him. As she met his eyes again, Kagura's smirk widened, and she let out a loud, short, over-dramatic sigh of exasperation.

 

“Really Sesshomaru,” she said, shaking her head at him. “I'm sure that just for once, you could drop the act of being the cold, heartless, malevolent, aloof “lord” and put the poor girl out of her misery.”

 

“Addressing me in such a brash manner and presuming to know what I think will only invoke my wrath,” Sesshomaru growled at her. “Is that what you seek to do here today?”

 

“There you go again…” Kagura sighed, turning her back on him.

 

Sesshomaru straightened his back, unsure of how to react to her sudden bravado; only a fool or strong warrior would dare turn their back on Sesshomaru, especially after angering him so.

 

“Oh I feel quite safe that you will not harm me,” Kagura added, glancing over her shoulder at him, speaking as though she had sensed his thoughts. “Like I said, I already know that the cold, heartless act that you portray is nothing more than just that: an act.”

 

“I never repeat myself,” Sesshomaru darkly replied. “You had better leave, or I will kill you. I will be so generous as to give you another warning.”

 

“Oh please, not that again!”

 

Sesshomaru froze, again too taken aback to respond as quickly as he would have liked to. People - both humans and demons - seemed to have been surprising him a lot recently, and he could only think of one reason for it all. Sesshomaru glanced down at the sword his father had bequeathed him, narrowing his eyes disdainfully at it.

 

““I never repeat myself”,” Kagura said mockingly. ““And I hate humans, even though I rescued one and now treat her as if she were my own child”. Sesshomaru, you are certainly not convincing anyone else with your crap, so tell me: are you managing to convince yourself?”

 

Sesshomaru charged at Kagura again, to which she casually spun around, waving her fan through the air, sending a barrage of blades towards him. Sesshomaru hurriedly leapt into the air to avoid her attack, landing hard once the blades had passed, his fangs bared and his eyes glowing red at her through the increasing darkness around them.

 

“I don't have time to play games with you,” Kagura told him frankly. “The sun has almost set completely!”

 

She pointed towards the glowing horizon with her fan, causing Sesshomaru to momentarily glance to the west to acknowledge her point.

 

“The girl has gone to the temple of the red and white priestess to have herself changed back into a little pet cat for the pleasure of her human friends,” Kagura sternly explained, bringing her fan down sharply to her side. “If you don't go there right now, you will be too late to stop her.”

 

“You presume-”

 

“I don't presume anything, it's written all over your face. I won't deny that I would have liked my chance with you myself, but it's plainly obvious that you only have eyes for that common cat girl. You saved my life, and I know you found out that I lied to you about your arm, so consider this my way of repaying you. If you ever want to see Kirara in her human form again, you had better hurry after her, before you are too late to stop her.”

 

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes menacingly, but the red glow faded from them as he glowered at Kagura.

 

“You're welcome,” Kagura whispered, lifting her fan again to cover her mouth.

 

Sesshomaru let out a small, rough growl, before turning and running in the direction of Momiji and Botan's temple. Kagura lowered her fan slightly, unable to contain the laughter that burst forth from her chest as she watched Sesshomaru run after the pathetic fire-cat.

 

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“I'm finished!” Botan said, nodding her head once in satisfaction at her handiwork.

 

“That took a lot longer than I expected…” Momiji muttered.

 

“It wasn't easy!” Botan argued. “Priestess Midoriko was a very powerful priestess! But I've finally managed to work out the exact details of the spell she cast on Kirara!”

 

“Well good,” Momiji replied. “Either way, I have prepared a spell to cast upon her to return her to the form of a small cat. I did try to find a way to make it conditional, or at least only temporary, but there was nothing I could do. Once I cast this spell, she will be bound into the form of a small cat forever. Apart from when she transforms into a larger cat, of course. Anyway, what did you find?”

 

“Priestess Midoriko's spell has been completed,” Botan replied. “It wasn't completed when Kirara's friend Sango made her wish, but something has happened since then, and it is now complete. Kirara is now totally free of the spell.”

 

“Meaning we can now cast this spell upon her.”

 

Momiji sighed, sitting down next to Botan.

 

“You have doubts too?” Botan asked her.

 

“Well…” Momiji said slowly, looking up at the star-filled sky overhead. “I know that Kirara is a demon, but she seemed to have a true heart, and I don't really believe that this is the best thing for her to do.”

 

“I know what you mean,” Botan agreed. “But she was determined that this was what she wanted.”

 

Momiji nodded her head, forcing a tight-lipped smile.

 

“We should call her back in,” she said.

 

“Has she been waiting outside the gates all this time?” Botan asked.

 

“Not the whole time,” Momiji replied, rising to her feet. “She left for a while, but she is on her way back now, I can sense her approach.”

 

Botan nodded her agreement, standing up as Momiji started across the courtyard to the gates that led outside the confines of the temple grounds.

 

“Momiji?” Botan asked slowly, tilting her head upwards to look into the sky.

 

“Yes?” Momiji asked, stopping to look back at Botan.

 

“Have you taken down our barrier?” Botan asked.

 

“No, why?”

 

Botan pointed upwards, and Momiji looked up, her eyes widening as she saw a large fire-cat flying through the air towards them. The two priestesses hurriedly began deconstructing their barrier of paper sutras, barely managing to finish in time for the fire-cat to drop down into the courtyard.

 

“Kirara?” Botan asked, running towards the large cat.

 

Momiji yelped in alarm as the giant fire-cat was engulfed in a wall of flames. Both girls then shrieked as the flames cleared to reveal a small two-tailed cat with enormous red eyes, which blinked at them forlornly.

 

“She became a cat again!” Momiji gasped, hurrying over to the cat and crouching down by its side.

 

“And she looks so sad!” Botan added, dropping to her knees by the cat's other side.

 

“I thought you said that the spell was completely undone, Botan!” Momiji snapped.

 

“It was!” Botan argued. “Something else happened to make it so, but it definitely had been fully undone!”

 

“And this is the result?” Momiji asked, pointing at the little cat between them. “She was made to become a little cat again?”

 

“Oh how sad!” Botan wailed, grabbing the cat up and cuddling it against her chest.

 

Momiji whimpered as she watched the little cat purr softly, rubbing its face against Botan's shoulder.

 

“We never even got the chance to say goodbye!” she whispered.

 

“I'm sure she can still understand us…” Botan said slowly, holding the cat out at arm's length. “But she has lost that sparkle from her eyes...”

 

“Oh how sad!” Momiji sighed.

 

“I suppose she just came here to let us know the outcome,” Botan said softly, frowning at the tired, saddened creature in her hands.

 

“We should let her go back to her friends,” Momiji suggested, standing up and starting towards the gates.

 

“I suppose she must have only been allowed to have her human form back long enough to allow her to help her human friend,” Botan said, standing up and following Momiji to the gates.

 

“Well, at least this means she was successful. Let me hold her one last time.”

 

Botan handed the cat to Momiji, opening one of the gates and stepping outside of the temple grounds. Momiji cuddled the cat close to her body one last time, before stepping out of the temple grounds and crouching down, opening out her arms to release the cat. Momiji stood at Botan's side once more, and both girls sighed as they watched the little two-tailed fire-cat demon slowly walk away without any apparent purpose.

 

“We did our best,” Momiji said softly, turning to Botan.

 

Botan nodded, and the two stepped back into the temple grounds, closing the gate. Once they were out of sight, Sesshomaru stepped out of the shadows, his eyes fixed on the little cat they had just released. Gulping anxiously, he started towards the cat, something inside of him twisting as he saw the familiar sight of the fluffy little cat Inuyasha's human demon-slayer friend usually carried around in the crook of her arm.

 

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Next Chapter: Some things were just never meant to be. Chapter 34 - Kirara's Destiny.