Chapter Text
————————CHAPTER I - A gust of Wind—————————-
Kagura stretched her legs, dipping her toes into the shallow water. The pond lay silent in the evening breeze and she enjoyed the warm sun caressing her skin. Kagura was glad Hakudoshi and Naraku didn’t want her around whilst they were plotting something. They had been talking about a small tube of red paste, that Hakudoshi had acquired. And Kagura might have also picked up that it was potentially very dangerous to demons. But they had sent her away and alas, that was all she knew. Kagura didn’t care about it, she preferred the enjoyment of gazing into the orange sun.
As it began vanishing behind the mountains in the distance, Kagura stood up. I must have lost track of time, she thought. Naraku is probably suspicious of me staying away so long. But is that still important anyway?
As Sesshomaru had said, Naraku surely knew by now, that she was after his heart. It was only a question of time until he decided to get rid of her for real. Kagura felt that consequence catching up with her fast, an inevitable stroke of fate.
She landed on the balcony of the little wooden hut, hidden between the mountains, in which Hakudoshi kept himself hidden. Kohaku sat there, leaned against the wall, staring at her with his brown lifeless eyes.
“Isn’t Hakudoshi back yet?” Kagura asked.
“No.,” said Kohaku.
She rested her shoulders against the wood, standing next to him. He stared ahead into the darkness. Kagura looked down at him. “You remember, don’t you?”
A jolt went through Kohaku’s body. He clenched his hands around his knees but said nothing.
“Don’t act so scaredy,” Kagura said. “I’m not telling on you.”
A shivery breath escaped Kohaku’s lungs. He relaxed his arms and spread his fingers loosely over his knees. “How…did you notice?”
“You’re joking, huh?” Kagura squatted down next to him and fixated his eyes with hers. “You tried to kill yourself after I got you out of that castle. Don’t worry, I don’t think Hakudoshi or Naraku caught the drift.”
Kohaku opened his mouth. Thought. “What do you want from me Kagura?”
Kagura thought about that. There was nothing she wanted from the boy. He had had it harsh enough, with what Naraku had done to him and she didn’t want to cause him any more problems. But now that she knew, she had to die sometime soon anyway, maybe there was something to gain from this. There was no chance of getting out of this completely unscathed, but maybe Kagura could give herself a chance to live. The plan that had popped into her head was ludicrous, but it was a speck of light in what had been pitch black darkness just a moment before.
“Listen to me,” Kagura finally said, “I will not force you into this, but there is something you could do for me.”
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It was the middle of the night, when Hakudoshi returned, from whatever slaughter he had participated in. Kagura and Kohaku were now sitting on the roof, glancing at the stars. Hakudoshi walked into the hut and a few moments later, Kagura could hear Naraku’s voice. A shiver ran down her spine and she hugged her legs to get warm again. He freaked her out, even though the Naraku inside was probably just a puppet.
“…we don’t have a lot…the plant…we have to get it right,” Hakudoshi said. Naraku spoke, but his voice was lowered and Kagura just heard him say something about a generals brother dying. They continued their conversation inaudibly. After a while it went silent, nothing was to be heard anymore. Hakudoshi’s small footsteps moved inside the hut.
Kohaku shot Kagura a questioning look and she nodded in response.
“Can I ask you something?” he said.
“If you have to.”
“Is it bad…to die?”
“How am I supposed to know,” Kagura said. “I’ve never died before. ”
Kohaku took that in and looked in the opposite direction.
“However,” Kagura continued. “There might be worse ways to die than others.”
“How so?” he asked.
“It’s good if it’s over quickly,” Kagura said. “And if you regret nothing. If I had fought for something and I had to die just at the moment after finally acquiring it, that would be the worst.”
“Wouldnt you regret it more if you had never fought in the first place?” Kohaku wanted to know.
“I don’t know,” Kagura said. Then she stood up and stretched. “I won’t have a chance to fight for anything anyway. Enough of this now.”
Kagura pulled a little feather out of her hair. “I’m gonna leave for a bit,” she said. And with that she jumped off the roof and rose into the air on the feather, gliding away into the night. Kohaku pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his head between them.
Hakudoshi stood underneath him on the balcony, his hand firmly clenching his Naginata weapon. Looking at the point in the night sky where Kagura had vanished his lips formed a slight smile.
“Master Jaken! Please help, this fish is so heavy!”
Rin was standing at a riverbank, holding a makeshift rod, made of a thick branch, some of Sesshomaru’s hairs, and a little hook-shaped stone she had picked up. She dug her feet into the ground and pulled, but whatever was on the other end of the line was too strong for her.
“Yes, Yes,” Jaken took the rod from Rin and pulled. He wasn’t much stronger either, but maybe he could wear the thing out. Why did that damn kid have to go fishing all the time? And couldn’t Sesshomaru take care of this, if he needed to let the girl tag along? Why did he have to make sure Rin didn’t starve?
“Pull harder Master Jaken, harder!”
“I’m pulling alright..” she murmured.
Rin wrapped her arms around Jaken and started pulling him backward. He yelped. “Wait, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m helping you pull,” she exclaimed cheerfully, “we almost got him, Master Jaken!”
Before Jaken could get the fish out of the water though, a storm picked up and he lost his ground, the wind whipped him through the air and he plunged into the river. Gasping for air, he fought his way back up.
“Master Jaken!” Rin screamed. She must have let go of him and was now standing at the riverbank. “Where are you?”
“I’m here you idiot,” he said and swam over.
Not far from the river, Sesshomaru had raised his nose to the wind. He wasn’t surprised to see a white feather descend from the sky. He had smelled her from miles away, with Naraku’s stench still lingering in her smell. Kagura touched down on the grass before him, her bare feet sinking into the grass wet with dew. “Good evening.”
Sesshomaru decided not to say anything. Kagura had sought him out, therefore it was her turn to speak. Her appearance suggested, however, that she was once more confronted with a situation that she was unable to cope with by herself.
She tapped the fan against her lips. “Impressive how close you’ve already come to finding Narakus hideout.”
He sized her up with a cold glance. She didn’t seem to mind.
“If from here, you walk Southeast, you will find a mountain ridge. That’s where Hakudoshi is hiding. He is one of Narakus new babies, it might be worth keeping an eye on him because he does seem to know where Naraku hides his heart.”
“I believe I have already told you,” Sesshomaru finally said, “if you want your freedom, fight for it yourself.”
Kagura just smiled at him. “I know. That’s not what I was after.”
Sesshomaru wouldn’t ask what she had been after. She shot him a last look, then pulled the little feather from her hair and ascended into the sky.
From some distance, he heard Rins laughter. “You’ve got him, Master Jaken! You’ve got him! I knew you could do it!”
“The rod isn’t of any use no more. I hope you’re happy, you damn brat.”
“No, I still need a fire, Master Jaken!”
Sesshomaru felt cool air touching his cheeks, a slight breeze told of rain to come from Southeast. Even if Kagura hadn’t said it out loud, he was sure she was trying to exploit his strength to get rid of that Hakudoshi and finally, Naraku. Just, previously she had made no pretence of this. Why this time?