Cure For The Poisoned Heart- A Naraku x Kagome FanFiction

Chapter 4: Power and Regret

 Kagome groaned a little as she woke up. Her body felt sore, and somehow, it felt like something was missing. Sitting up, she realized she was dressed in a plain white kimono. The next thing she realized was the young girl with a black tail and black fox ears sitting next to her bed. She jumped with a shriek of alarm the girl didn't seem to notice.

"Good morning, hime!" she said, "I ran a nice hot bath, so why don't you go get in?!" Kagome blinked.

"Hime?" she asked, "No, my name is Kagome." 'hime' meant 'princess'.

"OK, Kagome-hime!" the girl said, pushing her out of bed, "Bath time, bath time!" Kagome would have protested if she hadn't already been pushed into a room with a tub full of hot water that looked inviting. So she took off her kimono and got in. Immediately she felt better.

"Oh..." she looked at the girl as the girl hummed and moved around the room, picking up the white kimono and laying out some towels, "I'm not a princess. My name is Kagome." The girl paused.

"Kyoka's my name, hime." she said.

"I'm not a princess." Kagome repeated more firmly, "So don't call me one."

"You are a princess." Kyoka said, her expression becoming serious, "I can smell Lord Naraku on you. And he ordered me to take care of you and Master Shippo."

"Shippo!" Kagome jolted in the bath, "How is he doing?!"

"Resting right now." Kyoka said, "Don't worry, I'm running a bath for him too. And I've found a fresh change of clothes he'll look great in. I got you a new outfit too, so I'll have to grab that while you relax." Kagome relaxed a little. It sounded like Shippo was doing OK. And then Kyoka's words sank in and she remembered the night before. That she...with Naraku...Naraku of all people! She flushed and ducked down to her nose in the water to hide how her face heated. So, did everyone in this castle know? Kyoka said she could smell Naraku on Kagome...

Suddenly, Kagome had a very real desire to scrub herself clean. So she did. Again and again, hoping to scour off the memories and the scent of Naraku that suddenly seemed to be the only thing she could smell. After the fourth time, Kyoka jumped forward.

"Hime!" she said, taking the soap from Kagome, "You'll hurt yourself!" Kagome sank down in the water, trembling and in shock. Kyoka hesitated, her left ear turning sideways, "Hime? Do you want to talk about it?" Kagome wrapped her arms around her legs in the tub, drawing them close to her chest.

"I...I don't think I wanted to do that with...him..." Kagome said, "He...forced me." she almost choked on the words.

"That's terrible." Kyoka covered her mouth with her hand, "Why?" Kagome looked away from Kyoka's expression of shock.

"He wanted to take my spiritual powers." she said.

"Um...forgive me, hime, but are you sure?" Kyoka said. Kagome turned to look at the girl, frowning.

"Of course I'm sure! He told me that himself!" she cried, harried. Kyoka held up her hands in a gesture of surrender.

"OK, I do understand that." she said, "But...I just don't think it worked if that was its intended purpose." Kagome felt her eyes widen.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, it's a little different than a priestess' energy, but I do detect some kind of spiritual power inside you." Kyoka said, "And I would know. I'm a god's fox."

"That doesn't change what happened." Kagome said. She felt like she'd been branded. Even thinking about it for a second warmed her face almost unbearably. But why was she embarrassed? She should be angry he'd forced himself on her! He was despicable! She was only behaving in order to save Shippo! Once she had made sure to find him, she could escape.