InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Welcome To The Machine ❯ Withinroad ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Ejecta2248586 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Supernatural / Occult / Mystery | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.26.2004 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.4K | Visits: 228 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Supernatural / Occult / Mystery | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.26.2004 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.4K | Visits: 228 | Status: Completed
Welcome To The Machine
Chapter IV: Withinroad
"It's a strange thing, this life." Said the Lonely One. "We run around in circles, fretting over the meaningless things. Do I like them anymore? Am I out of favor with that family? Does she love me? Pointless."
With superfluous gesticulation, Zatoichi strutted in his half-trot fashion around the hut. He had come to Suzume's once more, this night more worked up and irritable and distracted than she had ever seen this normally docile hermit. Had the air been less pregnant, she might have smiled or chuckled at the way he exaggerated every word as if it were something deeply profound and substantive, not realizing he was rambling in drone, disconnected mumbles.
"I mean, what an irony this is. There are so many more layers to this universe in addition to this plane we exist in. My meditations have shown me the ineffability of our existence, to the point that I find no words to express how holy is the nothingness that lies beyond this realm. Oh yes, Suzume-san, I have always meditated and practised my magic, even after my rather violent...parting of ways with Emi."
"What's got you so worked up tonight, Ichi-san? For a gentle pacifist, you are very enthusiastic tonight."
"I cannot explain it, Suzume-san. It's like the universe opened up to me last night. Like a vision. No. An experience. It makes me feel so humble yet, at the same time, as though I have a purpose. I'm being obscure, aren't I? My father always told me that obscurity is the mechanism of a lazy mind. I'd do good to follow his lessons even today."
"Any reason why you come to me?"
"I want to express all these random thoughts in some way. I need to vent."
"Fine," Suzume settled back into a comfortable sitting position, and looked up at him in the half-dark of the twilight. "Vent."
***
'The answer eludes me.' Thought Emi, as she stared into the darkness between her eyes. 'Amateras-Ohmikami still hides from Susanoh, leaving the world in darkness, concealing the answer from me in shadows.
'The Shikon Jewel... Gods! Where could this weak human girl have gotten the powerful Shikon no tama? Could Hotaru be real? Could the God-light be real? Then maybe this demon really is Bodaway. The Oracle said the Savior would arrive tonight...maybe she is already here. Oh, Emi,' She thought, for she referred to herself by her given name during introspection. 'you might have stumbled onto something great! If this...savior is real, then maybe her innocent mind can be bent to perceive the world in a different way.
'...In my way.'
***
"I'm glad it's raining." Said Kagome to herself, as she squinted up at the brooding, gray sky above. "No one can see your tears when it rains."
Sheets of rain came down from the sky in a bedlam of thunder and mist-imbued gales, blowing from the east. She was drenched. Her hair was clinging to her face and neck and shoulders, and her skin was visible through the clothing in a few spots, but she paid it no mind. Why she was crying, she herself couldn't say for sure. Perhaps because of the recent incident involving Inuyasha. He was becoming more and more distant and detached, more apathetic then usual. Only Kagome was starting to think that this wasn't simply a mask her wore to hide his feelings, she was becoming convinced that Inuyasha, her Inuyasha was slipping more and more into the Otherworld, and there was nothing she could do.
The kind, old witch had told her that the crystal ring/necklace could only anchor him to this world for so long, and then he must struggle within himself to stay in this world; an ordeal that would, in the end, leave him either in one world or the other.
But, then again, maybe that wasn't why she was crying. Maybe she was just so sorry to have to leave this world to go home. "Home." Kagome remembered hearing a clichéd saying. "Home is where the heart is." She believed it went. If so, then Kagome would be leaving her home tomorrow, and with Inuyasha in this quasi-catatonic state, her home may very well be in some other world.
"I'm getting wet." She stared passively at the cold dampness that had sunk into her clothes. It didn't matter. None of it mattered anymore. Her world was slowly starting to be seen by her as a bleak and joyless place, gray and cold and lifeless. Strangely, her thoughts began to wander to the old witch. What a nice lady Suzume was. She healed Kagome, she tried to help Inuyasha, even if she had failed there. No. If Inuyasha wasn't strong enough to find a mainstay in this reality, that was his own fault. Yes, everything was Inuyasha's fault now. The wonderful truthsayer Suzume was a wonderful, kind old lady.
Kagome didn't realize how her thinking was becoming distorted and her loyalties were slowly shifting.
Inuyasha, half-dazed, walked under the covering of the tree, toward the crying girl who was sitting out in the rain. He was struggling to stay lucid, and his concentration became distracted and disconnected. He knew this girl, he knew he knew her; but who was she? The face looked dimly familiar, and he knew the voice, but the haze of this drug clouded his memories in a miasma of confusion.
What am I going to say? Inuyasha thought as he walked up behind her. I can't even remember her name. I know her name, I must know her name. Gods, I'm losing my mind. I don't even remember my own name right now.
He was getting wet himself now.
"UmHi." It was all he could come up with at the moment.
For a second, Kagome looked startled, Inuyasha having walked up on her, but she sighed and looked back to the threatening sky on the horizon.
"Oh. Hello, Inuyasha." Her voice was drone and monotone, almost indifferent. She did not realize that her actions were being affected too, now.
Inuyasha's pride and obstinance were evidently in the Otherworld with his memory, so he sat down next to her, leaning against the same rock as she, looking at the same sky as she. She wiped her face to remove all evidence of her crying. Why had she been crying in the first place? She had been foolish, crying over Inuyasha. Now she realized that all of this was his fault. Everything was his fault.
"Are youall right?" Anything to keep from letting her know that he did not know her name.
Kagome chortled. "I'm fine, Inuyasha. Is there something you wanted?" She was becoming petulant.
"Or perhaps you wanted to talk about the weather?" Her hand pointed to the sky.
"It's raining."
"I noticed."
"Really, Inuyasha. Is there something in particular that you want? No? Then please leave me to myself, if you don't mind."
"Out here? But you'll freeze. It's almost nighttime, and it'll probably get cold tonight, so you could freeze out here. Freeze or drown, one."
A small smile appeared on the Crying Girl's face as she looked up at him. Even with her recent anger at the hanyou, Kagome knew she still loved him, deep down. She hated him right now, for reasons she couldn't say. Yet, at the same time, she was in love with him in a way that couldn't be explained in words. A sigh escaped her lips as she gave into her hearts entreaties.
"Inuyasha," She said, grabbing his hand. "Sit down next to me."
She pulled him down on the wet ground next to her, and leaned her head on his shoulder. The rain still poured down on them as they sat, disillusioned to the troubles that faced them, but knowing somehow that things would probably be all right.
Probably.
***
"Damn!" Cursed Emi, as she came out of the trance. "That stupid girl is stronger than I thought."
Chapter IV: Withinroad
"It's a strange thing, this life." Said the Lonely One. "We run around in circles, fretting over the meaningless things. Do I like them anymore? Am I out of favor with that family? Does she love me? Pointless."
With superfluous gesticulation, Zatoichi strutted in his half-trot fashion around the hut. He had come to Suzume's once more, this night more worked up and irritable and distracted than she had ever seen this normally docile hermit. Had the air been less pregnant, she might have smiled or chuckled at the way he exaggerated every word as if it were something deeply profound and substantive, not realizing he was rambling in drone, disconnected mumbles.
"I mean, what an irony this is. There are so many more layers to this universe in addition to this plane we exist in. My meditations have shown me the ineffability of our existence, to the point that I find no words to express how holy is the nothingness that lies beyond this realm. Oh yes, Suzume-san, I have always meditated and practised my magic, even after my rather violent...parting of ways with Emi."
"What's got you so worked up tonight, Ichi-san? For a gentle pacifist, you are very enthusiastic tonight."
"I cannot explain it, Suzume-san. It's like the universe opened up to me last night. Like a vision. No. An experience. It makes me feel so humble yet, at the same time, as though I have a purpose. I'm being obscure, aren't I? My father always told me that obscurity is the mechanism of a lazy mind. I'd do good to follow his lessons even today."
"Any reason why you come to me?"
"I want to express all these random thoughts in some way. I need to vent."
"Fine," Suzume settled back into a comfortable sitting position, and looked up at him in the half-dark of the twilight. "Vent."
***
'The answer eludes me.' Thought Emi, as she stared into the darkness between her eyes. 'Amateras-Ohmikami still hides from Susanoh, leaving the world in darkness, concealing the answer from me in shadows.
'The Shikon Jewel... Gods! Where could this weak human girl have gotten the powerful Shikon no tama? Could Hotaru be real? Could the God-light be real? Then maybe this demon really is Bodaway. The Oracle said the Savior would arrive tonight...maybe she is already here. Oh, Emi,' She thought, for she referred to herself by her given name during introspection. 'you might have stumbled onto something great! If this...savior is real, then maybe her innocent mind can be bent to perceive the world in a different way.
'...In my way.'
***
"I'm glad it's raining." Said Kagome to herself, as she squinted up at the brooding, gray sky above. "No one can see your tears when it rains."
Sheets of rain came down from the sky in a bedlam of thunder and mist-imbued gales, blowing from the east. She was drenched. Her hair was clinging to her face and neck and shoulders, and her skin was visible through the clothing in a few spots, but she paid it no mind. Why she was crying, she herself couldn't say for sure. Perhaps because of the recent incident involving Inuyasha. He was becoming more and more distant and detached, more apathetic then usual. Only Kagome was starting to think that this wasn't simply a mask her wore to hide his feelings, she was becoming convinced that Inuyasha, her Inuyasha was slipping more and more into the Otherworld, and there was nothing she could do.
The kind, old witch had told her that the crystal ring/necklace could only anchor him to this world for so long, and then he must struggle within himself to stay in this world; an ordeal that would, in the end, leave him either in one world or the other.
But, then again, maybe that wasn't why she was crying. Maybe she was just so sorry to have to leave this world to go home. "Home." Kagome remembered hearing a clichéd saying. "Home is where the heart is." She believed it went. If so, then Kagome would be leaving her home tomorrow, and with Inuyasha in this quasi-catatonic state, her home may very well be in some other world.
"I'm getting wet." She stared passively at the cold dampness that had sunk into her clothes. It didn't matter. None of it mattered anymore. Her world was slowly starting to be seen by her as a bleak and joyless place, gray and cold and lifeless. Strangely, her thoughts began to wander to the old witch. What a nice lady Suzume was. She healed Kagome, she tried to help Inuyasha, even if she had failed there. No. If Inuyasha wasn't strong enough to find a mainstay in this reality, that was his own fault. Yes, everything was Inuyasha's fault now. The wonderful truthsayer Suzume was a wonderful, kind old lady.
Kagome didn't realize how her thinking was becoming distorted and her loyalties were slowly shifting.
Inuyasha, half-dazed, walked under the covering of the tree, toward the crying girl who was sitting out in the rain. He was struggling to stay lucid, and his concentration became distracted and disconnected. He knew this girl, he knew he knew her; but who was she? The face looked dimly familiar, and he knew the voice, but the haze of this drug clouded his memories in a miasma of confusion.
What am I going to say? Inuyasha thought as he walked up behind her. I can't even remember her name. I know her name, I must know her name. Gods, I'm losing my mind. I don't even remember my own name right now.
He was getting wet himself now.
"UmHi." It was all he could come up with at the moment.
For a second, Kagome looked startled, Inuyasha having walked up on her, but she sighed and looked back to the threatening sky on the horizon.
"Oh. Hello, Inuyasha." Her voice was drone and monotone, almost indifferent. She did not realize that her actions were being affected too, now.
Inuyasha's pride and obstinance were evidently in the Otherworld with his memory, so he sat down next to her, leaning against the same rock as she, looking at the same sky as she. She wiped her face to remove all evidence of her crying. Why had she been crying in the first place? She had been foolish, crying over Inuyasha. Now she realized that all of this was his fault. Everything was his fault.
"Are youall right?" Anything to keep from letting her know that he did not know her name.
Kagome chortled. "I'm fine, Inuyasha. Is there something you wanted?" She was becoming petulant.
"Or perhaps you wanted to talk about the weather?" Her hand pointed to the sky.
"It's raining."
"I noticed."
"Really, Inuyasha. Is there something in particular that you want? No? Then please leave me to myself, if you don't mind."
"Out here? But you'll freeze. It's almost nighttime, and it'll probably get cold tonight, so you could freeze out here. Freeze or drown, one."
A small smile appeared on the Crying Girl's face as she looked up at him. Even with her recent anger at the hanyou, Kagome knew she still loved him, deep down. She hated him right now, for reasons she couldn't say. Yet, at the same time, she was in love with him in a way that couldn't be explained in words. A sigh escaped her lips as she gave into her hearts entreaties.
"Inuyasha," She said, grabbing his hand. "Sit down next to me."
She pulled him down on the wet ground next to her, and leaned her head on his shoulder. The rain still poured down on them as they sat, disillusioned to the troubles that faced them, but knowing somehow that things would probably be all right.
Probably.
***
"Damn!" Cursed Emi, as she came out of the trance. "That stupid girl is stronger than I thought."