Blindness: 04/01/05. 200 words. "The villagers knew nothing, nothing, only that they'd gone against Naraku and come back with the Jewel." Written for IYFic Challenge, 'celebration'.
Déjà Vu: 24/01/05. 200 words. "The past and the present coalesced as Kaede knelt by her sister". Character Death warning, twice. Winner at IYFic Challenge #4, 'remember'.
Infinite: 11/11/04. 233 words. Kohaku dreams. R-ish, for hints of taijiya-cest. Written for Shiina Bambi
Misunderstanding: 11/11/04. 427 words. Shippou is training. Poor Shippou! Sillyfic. Written for Wheezambu.
P.S.: 20/11/04. 436 words. Grandpa leaves a note for Kagome. Written for Artemis Moon-san
Pale: 200 words. After Naraku's death, Jinenji takes care of the sick. Winner at IYFic Challenge, 'flowers'.
Snow Revelations: 10/01/05. 200 words. Because the past is her future, and her future is in the past, and will she ever get a break? Yes. Winner at IYFic Challenge #2, 'snow'.
Unexpected: 19/01/04. 200 words. Inuyasha saves Kagome. Inuyasha insults Kagome. Pretty much routine, right? No. Written for IYFic Challenge, 'smile'.
He remembers her face. A real girl's face. No red eyes or unending blackness, just two beautiful dark eyes asking him to come back.
Come back from where?
He remembers her voice. He'd been on Kagura's feather already, but her scream penetrated briefly the fog he was living in. It was shrill; it pained him. It pained him more not to understand it.
What had she been saying?
He remembers her touch, teasing memories of being huddled against her, warmed by her own body. She always caresses his hair in these memories, always smiles as she mouths his name. There is no sound to these visions, just the flimsy knowledge that they are true, that it's not his imagination playing tricks.
Because his imagination plays enough tricks already.
It twists his few, precious memories. It turns her face into an expression that calls him for more than simple warmth. It makes her voice say words he can't quite comprehend but make him react all the same. His dreams are plagued by her touch, her skin going past his hair, down his face, through the barriers his reality builds around himself.
He wakes up sweating those nights. Too young to fully understand his thoughts. Too old not to feel unsettled by them.
This dream-girl is more than comfort. More than refuge. Infinite beyond salvation.
She's the only thing he still feels he can want.
It was a peaceful afternoon, a rare moment of calmness in their travels. Shippou had walked away from their campsite for almost an hour, looking for the perfect spot to do this. Now he stood in the centre of this clearing, with only the sounds of the forest surrounding him. This place, this moment, was exactly what he needed to keep his focus. Focus Shippou knew necessary for the mission he'd assigned himself.
For too long he'd been the group's weakest link. Even Kagome caused more damage with her powered arrows - especially after she actually learned to hit a moving target! Shippou often felt drowned in his friends' powers; he knew himself to be the helpless kid that barely got himself alive when he had to fight.
But that would change now. If he could only master his abilities, then he'd be the key element in their fight against Naraku. Shippou knew it would be hard. He knew it was to be practically hopeless. Those were the reasons he'd given himself not to tell the others.
But truthfully he wanted to surprise them. Shippou would show them what kitsune cubs were really capable of achieving, and his friends would finally recognise his potential. He smiled. If he kept practising this hard, he’d get it. He only needed the time. Just a little more time....
He breathed deeply, preparing his body for the transformation. His mind concentrated on the form he wanted to assume. That one and only weakness in Naraku's thick armour. He pictured the soft lines, the exact colours, the grace and majesty that always surrounded his current illusion.
Shippou tried so hard, that this time his trick was perfect.
He was so focused, that he completely missed the girl coming to call him for lunch. He never felt the light steps approaching the clearing, never as much as heard her soft gasp.
That was why he was so startled as an arrow flew by him, nearly scorching 'his' pale cheeks with its power. Shippou turned around wildly, legs almost tangling with the loose hakama, just to see Kagome preparing another shot.
No. Not now.
Inuyasha came running from the village, this form's name loud on his lips. Kagome's eyes narrowed as she let the arrow loose.
No!
Shippou ducked, eyes wide when long strands of black hair fell under the arrow's sharp edge.
Inuyasha screamed.
Kagome growled.
Too stunned to even think about reverting to his kitsune form, Shippou shrieked and ran away faster than ever.
Never, never, was he transforming into Kikyou again.
'Dear Kagome,
While you were out with your schoolmates, your dog-friend came through the well in your search. He tried to trick me, posing as a darkhaired boy, but he never stood a chance of going past me. I may be old, but my powers are still at their peak.
He made to walk past me, but I intercepted him with one of my oldest spells, one designed especifically to scare off evil demons. Again, that fiend managed to deflect it but this time I DID affect something of his. If only his clothes. He couldn't be fast enough to remove them.
But that presented its own share of trouble I had not counted with. It was hardly proper to let him stay in the nude, especially when you or your mother could come in at any moment. So I, as I always do, sacrificed myself for my family's sake and lent him some of your father's clothes. Kagome, my dear granddaughter, I am ashamed to know how unfit that half-demon is for our lives. I had to explain to him how most of the clothes worked, and even then barely convinced that stubborn head to try on some old boxers.
Now I understand your temper when you first tried to get him to wear a simple cap. I have to admit it, I'm very proud of you. I do not believe I would have been capable of such patience when I was your age.
Back to the story, I am afraid to say there was a small inconvenience. You may not remember this, but your father and I were of the same build. Needless to say, my beloved Kiyo's clothes didn't fit that boy. Those odd robes of his are still in the laundry room and I'm with them to make sure they do not release any evil youki into our house. When they are ready I'll bring them to your room. I'll only stop my vigil to leave this note where you'll see it.
- Grandpa.
P.S.: Kagome. Do not. I repeat, do not enter your bedroom without knocking first. This is maybe the most important part of this note. After all, that was the only place your friend accepted to sta---'
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! SIT! Sitsitsitsit!"
"Damn it, stop!"
"S---"
"Stop! Your stupid grandfather poured something smelly on my clothes, alright?! Even an human nose cannot stand that stench!"
Grandpa sweatdropped and crossed out the last paragraph. "Never mind that," he murmured to the empty room, closing the cap of Mama's 'lost' nail polish remover and hiding it back into his sleeve.
An unique night, where humans and youkai celebrated together. Fires burned bright across
the village, merry laughter surrounding them. The great Inu-tachi, everybody said, the
heroic warriors who’d saved the Jewel from Naraku’s grasp.
Yet the heroes didn’t partake in the celebration. Nobody noticed the unusual quiet in
Kaede’s hut. The villagers knew nothing, nothing, only that they’d gone
against Naraku and come back with the Jewel.
They didn’t know about Sango’s brother, a puppet without a puppeteer; the
boy’s eyes stayed blank to Sango’s cries. This people didn’t care about
Kouga’s sacrifice, hadn’t seen Kagome’s tears kiss him as she never had in
life. Inuyasha’s grief was lost to them; they hadn’t heard his scream when
Kikyou’s frail body shattered before his eyes. None had witnessed the pain in
Kagome’s eyes as she held the hanyou, the broken hearted silence that’d
surrounded the couple since. Even Shippou was affected, whimpering against the nightmares
that constantly attacked him.
Five souls who’d seen too much, too quickly, that was the Inu-tachi people
worshipped. They were rejoicing in Naraku’s downfall, the victory of good against
evil. Meanwhile, silent and defeated, their saviours sought shelter from their own losses
in each other’s pain.
Seven-year-old Kagome liked this holiday resort. Snow covered the grounds and she was
allowed outside while her parents rested. It was heaven.
Until she tripped and fell face first on a snowbank. That hurt; Kagome sniffled
noisily.
“You always got into too much trouble,” a voice said amusedly. Kagome stared at
the stranger, tears ceasing when he lifted her easily. Curious, she reached out to touch
the carrot-coloured locks, giggling a bit as they curled around her fingers. “Are you
hurt?” His green eyes studied her worriedly.
Kagome shook her head and bowed gratefully. “Thank y---“ But he was gone.
*
“Kagooooooooooooooooooooooooome!!”
Kagome winced as Shippou flew past her head. “Inuyasha!” she reprimanded
breezily as she ran to the bawling kitsune. How those two could fight in this weather was
anyone’s guess. Kagome herself felt like curling at a fire and not getting up until
winter was only a bad memory.
Luckily, the snow had softened Shippou’s fall. The girl inspected him carefully,
softly wiping his face with a kerchief. “You always get into too much trouble,
Ship---” Kagome froze mid-action, staring into Shippou’s watery eyes
thoughtfully. Her sudden laugh broke the silence, startling everyone.
“Kagome?”
“I’m fine. Really, everything's alright.”
“Are you stupid?!” Inuyasha scowled as soon as he lowered Kagome to the ground.
Some steps away, four flinched reflexively, awaiting the sound of the hanyou dropping to
the ground. Their jaws fell open when, instead of the expected word, Kagome’s lips
formed a smile. “Thank you for rescuing me, Inuyasha.”
*
Kirara meowed disconcertingly. Sango petted her absently, puzzled at the unexpected
situation, too. “That....”
“Wasn’t normal,” Shippou finished the sentence. He nudged the shoulder
where he was perched. “Hey, Miroku, why is Kagome smiling?”
A pensive look crossed the monk's face. “Maybe they are finally listening to each
other instead of their words,” he said, sounding amazed.
Shippou frowned in confusion. Then a terrible idea occurred to him. “Or maybe
she’s too hurt to think right. He didn’t help her at all!”
Indignated, he charged against Inuyasha.
*
“Why aren’t you mad?” Sango asked curiously.
Kagome remembered Inuyasha’s expression as he tore the youkai’s hand off of her.
She’d rarely seen him so worried, almost scared as he carried her to safety. It'd
really been a close call. “I understood what he meant.”
A pained growl interrupted them.
*
“Get off, or else...”
Stubbornly, Shippou tightened his fangs around Inuyasha’s ear.
She runs. There are people screaming around her, men trying desperately to put out the
fire. She doesn’t stop, the sharp pain in her face dulled by anxiety, by fear.
She runs.
Kaede watched them from afar, confused at the eerie silence that surrounded the
youngsters. That was wrong. Something was wrong. She gasped when she finally
recognised the bundle in Inuyasha’s arms, the familiar sorrow resurfacing instantly
and for a moment Kaede thought...
She is running again. Some men tried to stop her, said that this isn’t a
girl’s place, that Inuyasha would go for her, the weakest, first. Inuyasha? Why is
Inuyasha doing this? Why, when Kikyou loves... Kikyou!
Once she reached the group, there were no words. It’s not her, Kaede’s mind
says. But listening is impossible with the body at her feet.
She watches in amazement Inuyasha’s sealing, then there’s horror as her
sister falls to the ground. Is Kikyou hurt? Will she be alright? Kaede runs to her.
The past and the present coalesced as Kaede knelt by her sister. The same face, the same
heartbreak as fifty years ago. But where there’d been grief and betrayal, now her
sister’s expression spoke of final peace.
PALE
“Who are you?” Jinenji asked when her eyes finally opened. He
put the medicine bowl aside, waiting for her reply. Instead she stared at him mutely, with
a look that contained no answers, no questions and no explanations before they tiredly
slipped close again.
“Who are you?” This time her eyes strayed to the wildflowers in his grasp, and
her expression flickered in curiosity. Jinenji offered them to her. “Mother said
girls always like flowers.” She shook her head but accepted them anyway.
“Who are you?” It was a ritual now. The question, the medicine, the flowers
adding to the collection around her bed, her silence. Always her silence. But Jinenji
noticed she favoured white blooms, always playing with them under the moonlight. They
matched together, pale against pale.
When the absence of a name ceased to bother him, a new doubt was born. She wasn’t
human, or youkai, or even hanyou. “What are you?” he whispered absently to
himself.
All movement stopped. Her finger froze poised at a petal’s rim, the caress rudely
interrupted. She looked up at him, a single word lurking in the back of her eyes, and
Jinenji knew he’d finally asked the right question.
“Kanna.”
