Naraku in Love

Untitled Part 3

I felt indignant. The thought of sleeping here next to Naraku was too much. But what choice did I have? I couldn't fight him or escape, I could only do as he said and hope that things did not escalate. 

"Where am I to sleep?" I asked looking around the room. 

There was no futon, only some mats. Naraku shed his baboon pelt revealing a beautiful purple and blue outfit that echoed my own. He really did look like nobility now. He laid the baboon pelt out near his feet. 

"You can sleep on this." 

"Is this really necessary? I've been alone in that other room for near three weeks, I couldn't escape even if I wanted to. I'm a lady after-all, I should be allowed some privacy." 

"You will in time," he replied coolly, "but for now, you're still too unpredictable. So I shall keep you here by my side." 

I tentatively draw closer to him, being so close to him makes my head spin, I had barely just gotten used to the aura that permeated the castle, but being in such close proximity to him made it much worse. I sit on my knees atop the pelt, but I feel as if I cannot relax and lay down with him so close to me, with the way he's sitting he would be right above me, looking down on me. Something about being in that position made me feel defenseless and vulnerable. 

"What's the matter? I won't bite" he says with a small smirk. 

I slowly lay my body down onto the pelt, it is surprisingly soft and warm and I find myself instantly relaxing. Suddenly I could hardly keep my eyes open, I vaguely wondered if some sort of spell had been cast on me, but before I could think any further, I fell asleep. 

Naraku's POV: 

I could see that the young priestess was hesitant to lay beside me. With good reason too. Once she was near though I released a subtle miasma that would put her to sleep. She looked peaceful there on my pelt, completely vulnerable. How pathetic I thought as I turned to look out the window. Yet the cursed heart of Onigomo continued to beat within me, I could hear it's whispers of affection for the young priestess. It was true she was an attractive mortal, but there were thousands of attractive women, both human and demon. None of that mattered to me in the slightest, my only goal was to obtain the sacred jewel shard and become to most powerful demon alive. I'd never lower myself to human emotions such as these. 

I had watched the young priestess long before I began to send demon's to her village. I had first seen her in a field walking alone. I could sense her spiritual energy even from the distance I was at, I was intrigued by it. The only other priestess I had known with such powerful energy was Kikyo. I was not a fool, I knew that as long as that moronic Onigomo's heart beat within me, it would continue to alter my decision making, a flaw that would soon be corrected once I possessed the jewel, it was probably this similarity to Kikyo that drew me to her in the first place. However it turned out that this wench could actually be useful to me. Not only was she powerful enough to destroy most demons with her spiritual energy, but I sensed she had the sight too and would easily be able to pick up on the exact location of the jewel. 

In the meantime I'd keep her close to me. After-all she was the most powerful tool in my arsenal now.

Reader's POV:

 When I awoke Naraku was gone. Instead a woman who looked very similar too him sat in the corner of the room. She seemed annoyed and was flipping a fan open and shut over and over. The loud sound it made was likely what woke me up. There was a small bowl of porridge in front of me on a table.

"Eat up brat, we'll be headed out to go hunt for the jewel afterwards," she said with a roll of her eyes. 

I said nothing too her and ate my porridge. When I was done, the woman stood up and left the room. I followed her silently out onto a veranda. My head swarmed, somehow being outside near the edge of the barrier was worse than being inside the castle itself. She handed me a mask, similar to what demon slayers use to block out poison gases and miasmas.

"Here put this on." 

I followed her instructions as she pulled a feather from her hair. The feather grew in size until it was big enough for her to sit on.

"Hop on," she said.

I tentatively placed one foot on, not fully convinced a feather would hold my weight, but it was surprisingly sturdy. Once I was seated we flew upwards and out of the barrier. I felt as though I could finally breath and a tension I didn't even know I was holding onto had been released. We flew for sometime until we came to a cave. 

"There's a bear demon that resides here, rumor has it he possesses a shard of the sacred jewel. Naraku wants you to fetch it for him." 

As if on cue a rather large bear demon appeared. It looked rabid and immediately began to attack. The woman flew higher out of the bear's reach and pulled a small bow and arrow from her sleeve. 

"Here use this, can you see the jewel shard?" 

I looked down at the bear confused, how would I know what the shard looked like? Would it be so obvious? I squinted down at it, trying hard to find anything, that's when I noticed a bright glimmer reflecting off of it's forehead. Was that it? Wordlessly I aimed my arrow straight towards the light and released it towards the bear. I watched as it dissipated into dust leaving behind a small shimmering object on the dirt. The woman lowered us down until the object came into clear view. It was small pink shard of a jewel, I could feel that even this small piece possessed immense power. The woman picked up the jewel in her elegant fingers and then tucked it away into her kimono. She didn't seem pleased, but then again she didn't look any less pleased than before either. 

After that we flew back to the castle. I silently cursed Naraku as we entered back into the barrier, it felt like a 10 pound weight was resting on the top of my head again. It was only as we were flying towards the veranda that I made note of how big Naraku's castle was. He truly was like royalty in a sense, I wondered where he obtained such a residence. When we landed I followed the woman back inside and to Naraku's room. He was waiting there, posed the same as yesterday, this time in his blue and purple haori. I pretended not to notice how beautiful he looked, lost in thought. For just a split second he looked like a normal man pondering his existence and not an evil demon plotting his next move.  But then he turned to us and the evil glint in his eyes along with his wicked smirk made me change my mind. The woman tossed the shard to him, he caught it easily and with grace. 

"You're dismissed Kagura," he said simply, turning to look back out the window. 

The woman, I now know as Kagura, couldn't seem to leave fast enough. She seemed to despise Naraku even more than I did. I stared at him for a moment as he looked through the window, even knowing what an evil and powerful demon he was, I couldn't help but feel bad for him. Even his own servants hated him. Had Naraku ever had a friend? Had anyone ever truly cared for him? I knew some demons were born evil, but I could sense the truth about Naraku, though his evil aura was stronger than most demons I had encountered, there was still the faint aura of a human as well. He was a half demon, and I couldn't believe that any creature who was even half human could be born completely evil. Something must have made him this way. 

His expression was that of perpetual unhappiness. He reminded of a child who had everything but his parents love. I pitied him. 

"Are you going to stand there staring all day, priestess?" he asked without turning to me.