InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ What Are You? ❯ Chapter Eight: Frozen Kiss ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter Eight

Frozen Kiss

What are you?

The voice echoed through my mind like someone at the bottom of a well screaming, the only answer being the returning screams. Then I realized that I was the one screaming. Stop! Leave me alone!

The voice was so persistent. What are you?

My father appeared before me, looking down at me with that… look. His lips parted in disgust, his eyes disappointed. I hated that. I would rather face his absolute wrath and have him attack and almost kill me than bear his disapproval. It hung in the air like a fog between us, so thick and stifling that it threatened to crush me. No! I was not going to be crushed by this. I was stronger. I'm going to kill him! And there's nothing you can do! I screamed into the abyss, the howling winds ripping my words away after I had barely uttered them. The only thing left in this world that you love I will destroy!

What are you?

It infuriated me. You can finally meet in hell!

What are you?

I snarled. You're dead! Stop pretending you're alive!

What are you?

My eyes snapped open, and I shot to my feet, looking around with wide eyes. My heart rate slowly relaxed and I lowered myself once more onto the soft grass. The first rays of the sun were just peaking over the horizon, the beginning of the end of the night. It was just a nightmare. Just another nightmare. It wasn't like I hadn't seen this one before. Every time I had slept for the past month, actually. I really couldn't take this any more. It was wearing down my sanity.

I buried my face in my fluffy thing. I wanted it all to go away. It would, once I killed everyone who knew. Once I destroyed Inuyasha, then maybe the dreams would stop. And then I would set fire to my father's palace. I considered that. No, that was a bit rash. I would just torch or melt anything that reminded me of him. Then the nightmares would cease and my mind would finally be at ease.

It sounded good. It sounded so good that I could relax again and fall back asleep.

I woke when I heard someone approaching. At first, I thought it might be Naraku, but, to my great annoyance, it was just some demon pulled by my scent. I killed him quickly and wandered around the mountain. I was terribly bored. Usually, I was doing something—traveling, killing things… Now, I was just sitting around. But it was ending. I could feel it.

By tomorrow, it should end. It would be the end for Inuyasha too. I liked that idea.

Sometime around noon, I smelled Naraku lurking nearby. I followed the scent. “I take it you have thought of something?” I said.

He smiled. “I will kill the ningen. If Inuyasha smells any of your scent at all around their death site, he will go after you before me.”

I nodded once. “Because of Tensaiga.” I had already known that though. He may go after me anyway to try to take my sword. I would gladly trade with him, if Father had not erected a barrier that rejected me, like Father himself had rejected me.

“I will lure him away using Kagura. I am sure he will take the bait.”

“How will you keep the others from following him? And how do you know that he will follow?”

He smiled. “Your little brother is… predictable. He always runs out ahead of the ningens. I will just wait until he does, and then release a couple of demon puppets for the ningen, to keep them in one place for a while. Then I will kill them.” His eyes seemed to sparkle with the thought of doing this. “He will come after me. You and I will already be engaged in `battle.' He is sure to join. That is when you have your chance.”

I nodded. Naraku may have been a malevolent bastard, but he was an intelligent malevolent bastard. “Two days from now, we will follow this plan.” I had to be sure the scent was completely off of me.

“Will you be able to find my castle?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. That's right; his barriers.

“Where is it?” I demanded.

He looked at the sky. “From here, head southeast. You will find it.” He looked at me again. I didn't like the way he was looking at me, but I never did. “Or you could come with me now.”

My eyes turned red. “Give up, Naraku. If I wanted you, I would have had you by now.”

“Hm,” he said. He was angry, but concealed it. He looked away. “Considering your age, that you're a virgin is ridiculous. What are you waiting for?”

“Naraku. You are annoying me, and that could be very dangerous for you,” I reminded him.

He was unperturbed. “You're beautiful.”

That caught me off-guard. I had nothing to say—no snappy comeback, and no cruel banter. In fact, all of my anger dissipated to be replaced by confusion. I was so damned confused that I barely noticed when Naraku's lips brushed mine. I didn't move when he kissed me. I was frozen in a cold sea of confusion. Despite his urgency, my lips did not yield. Despite his skill, my lips did not mold to his. And despite the heat rising between our lips, I remained frozen. He finally pulled back, obviously flustered. “You are impossible,” he snapped over his shoulder as he turned away from me and left me standing there, lost to my confusion.