𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 犬夜叉 ♡ ; 𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚔𝚞 𝚡 𝚘𝚌

crimson cascades & sullen whirlwhinds

  "Why. . . . Why are you showing me this?" Mei asked. Her face depleted of all color as she stared into the now blackened mirror. She remembered how Naraku looked. His face was sunken in, his eyes had bags, and his limbs. . . They looked like they were being held by the bare grip of his flesh.

How was it that he was just so easily able to get up and leave?

"Ugh!" The pain in her ankle began to surface again. She cursed herself as it surged through her foot to the back of her thigh. Although she didn't regret helping Kagura, the wound from the splinter inside of Naraku's hidden room should have healed by now.

What's going on?, she thought. She wrapped her hand around the base of her foot and gave it a good squeeze hoping to numb the pain. It dulled it for the moment but she knew it would only be temporary.

The girl remained stoic, fixated on an imaginary speck on the wall. She never blinked, twitched an eyebrow, or curved her lips. It almost brought a chill up Mei's spine just seeing how. . . Lifeless she appeared to be.

She opened her mouth to speak but immediately turned her attention back to Kagura. She let out a small groan and rolled on her side to curl into the fetal position.

"No no, Kagura you need to lay on your back." Mei scolded. She positioned her back on the mat she laid out for her and continued to dab her body with the damp rag that fell off her face as she turned. She was so warm to the touch, but how? She seemed to be just fine in the forest but after their meeting with the badger-demon it all went downhill quickly.

"Tell me," Mei began while dabbing Kagura's forearms, "If you are able to tell me."

"Was Naraku responsible for this?" She asked.

The room fell deathly silent. She could hear the wind whistling across the branches and the mysterious creaks from the floorboard echoing down the hall.

". . . " Kanna's small hands clenched the edge of the mirror with a harder grasp, as if not to drop it.

"He's coming." She said in her eerily soft, monotonous tone.

"He's coming?" She drew in a breath and gazed upon the interior. She couldn't find any words to say but she felt a whirlwind of emotions from sadness to rage bubble up inside of her.

Then frustration came over her. Where was he when one of his servants really needed him? How could he keep her in the dark for so many things for this long?

Showing her teeth, she turned around with her eyes scrunched together. "If he's coming then- huh?"

The girl was gone. All that was left was the cracked door she must have walked through. She peered down the hallway only to have darkness looking back at her.

A darkness all too familiar, she thought to herself.

"Kanna isn't one to socialize," Kagura said with a sigh, "don't take it too personal."

Mei's lips turned into a half-smile while her eyes still lowered disappointingly.

"I told you not to talk." She reminded Kagura in a slightly stern tone. "Save your strength." She dabbed her belly button a few times before taking the same rag and dumping it into a basin of cool water.

She angled herself from Kagura so that her profile was only shown to her. Her focus seemed more determined but the curved frown from her lips made it clear something was on her mind.

Kagura peeked up at Mei with one eye open to study her expression. When she couldn't get anything out of it she rolled her eye the opposite direction. Sometimes she just couldn't stand how vague a demon can be.

"You miss him, don't you?" Kagura asked.

Mei took a moment to respond, her eyes focused on the cloth in front of her while she folded it in a neat rectangular shape.

When the cloth was perfectly folded, Mei placed her hands on the cloth for a brief moment before balling them into fists.  Small droplets fell from her face onto the moistened rag, staining her kimono even more.

When Kagura looked up at Mei's face she saw her eyes were shut tightly, eyebrows scrunched together, and lips quivering softly. Tears continuously flowed down her cheeks and cascading along the lining of her jaw. She could taste the tears as they trickled onto her lip but it didn't stop her. She was strong long enough.

Curling her back inwards, she let out a gasp for air. She was so tired. She didn't even care if Kagura saw. She needed to know.

After a few more moments, she wiped her face with the back of her hand and slowly opened her eyes. Her heart was breaking all over again thinking of how many times she had heard the same thing.

He's coming. He's coming. He's coming.

How long would it take him to come this time?

"Mei?" Kagura's shaky voice was a whisper. She didn't have much strength but she knew how heavy this was weighing on her by the stress lines on her face. It was easier for her to make a joke, but she knew it would be inappropriate.

"I just-" she breathed. "I just am so tired of the surprises. I- i want to be with Naraku. But i can't tolerate anymore secrets. By the gods," she placed emphasis on her words, pushing out each one with more force than the other, "I just want to know what's going on. Damn the shard, damn Inuyasha, damn it all. Just be honest with me. You're his ally, aren't you? What does he want from me?"

"Does he want me to go insane in this place and throw myself to the depths? Are my efforts of being an ally in vain?"  She pounded her fists into her thighs, splashing water from the cloth to the tatami mats on the floor.

"I am just so tired of secrets."

Kagura's eyes lowered in contemplation. She was at a crossroads but she knew Mei cared. To a fault,  but she cared.

Kagura sighed, adjusted her body under the towels, and looked away.

"Naraku's body is regenerating itself. It can take anywhere from a few days to a few months, this time it being only a few weeks. Once his body is at a near-finished state," she sighed, cleared her throat, and continued, "He retreats to one of the many rooms here and rests. We never know which room nor why he picks one room opposed to the other but- he is coming. Just- give him time."

Mei didn't respond. She slid her eyes over Kagura's direction with a slight scrunch of her eyebrows.

Kagura almost jumped back at her cold gaze but instead kept her demeanor.

"if it helps you, i will talk to him. I can't promise if it all be successful but, i can say this, he cares about you. To the extent you want to know, neither I or Kanna know."

"You will just have to figure that out for yourself with your own- what's the word- heart?"

"Yeah. . . " Mei turned the cloth over and over again in her hands as she gazed down at her thighs.

"My heart."

Without announcement, Mei grabbed the small basin, propped it on her hip and stood to her feet.

"I'm going to get you some fresh water. Please don't go anywhere."

"Hmph," Kagura scoffed dramatically, "And walk around the castle naked? I would rather-" click.

"Huh?" Kagura blinked and looked around. Mei was already gone.

She shifted on the mat uncomfortably as her eyes studied the roof over her. She swallowed hard at the eerie silence and felt an unnerving sense that she was being watched.

I hope i didn't make a mistake.  She thought.

Instantly, after her thoughts, she felt the mysterious presence exit the room. It made her release a large sigh but now she was awaiting Mei in silence yet again.