Pre-Note: This is a short chapter, but it's something, right…? I'll try to get the next chapter out on time, but I can't make any promises; I've been job hunting these last few days, and if I can manage to get hired then I'll have much less time to write. Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter Thirty-Four—Waiting
A loud thwack echoed through the large room, and snapping blue eyes to almond-shaped golden orbs, Kagome scowled. "What was that for?" "You are not listening," Chiyoko responded calmly, tucking the slat of bamboo she had taken to carrying in place of her fan back into her sleeve. "I have been asking you nonsense questions for five minutes, and you have been responding to them with equally nonsense answers." Kagome pursed her lips against her instinctive reply, smoothing her fingers over the stinging skin on the back of her hand. "You didn't have to hit me," she grumbled. A sleek brow rose, and if Kagome hadn't seen the glimmer of amusement in the lady's eyes, she probably would've thought she was going to hit her again. "Then perhaps you should listen, Higurashi." "I already told you that I—" "Don't want to be here, yes. However, hovering over them will not make them wake any faster, as the healer has repeatedly told you." Mention of her "hovering" made Kagome wince, and she twisted her fingers, images of Kotono and Isamu's slumbering forms swimming in her mind's eye. "But—" "There are no 'buts' in this situation, ningen," Chiyoko drawled, tilting her head so that the weak sunlight spilling through the window behind her glinted off of the ornaments tucked into the twin buns of her hair. "There is only what has happened, and what must happen now." The logic in the statement wasn't lost on Kagome, nor was the double meaning. There were still things that needed to be done, and despite the two dragons lying unconscious in the healer's building, what had happened had happened, and what came next was necessary. And next meant the Festival of the Winter Solstice. Over the past three days, Chiyoko had been teaching her about the significance of the Festival—as the longest night of the winter season, there was great importance placed on throwing a celebration vivid enough to convince Amaterasu to end the toil of winter and grace the world with the rebirth of Spring once again. Beginning at sunset a scant two months away, the Cardinal Lords—minus the Northern Lord and his Court—would meet at the Western Shiro and travel to the Festival Lands, a valley somewhere on an island off the coast. Once there, they would all observe the setting sun, and once the orb had disappeared, the festivities would begin. Song and dance, food and wine—Kagome was sure it would be unlike anything she had ever seen, and Chiyoko had only scratched the surface of what would transpire that night. A stinging slap against her wrist tore her abruptly from her musings, and Kagome rubbed at the spot, scowling at the demoness. "Would you stop that?" "I'm afraid not," the inuyoukai murmured, tucking the cursed bamboo slat into her sleeve once more. "Now, recite the procedure of the Observance." Kagome settled back onto her heels and forced herself to focus on the task at hand.
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"You don't have to sneak up on me, Inuyasha." The hanyou perched in the trees above her head scoffed. "I ain't sneakin', wench." Kagome smiled. "Do you need something?" Snow heavy branches groaned, and then the gruff half-breed who had been following her around for the past half-hour dropped into a knee-deep snow drift a few feet away. Stifling a giggle at the look on his face—he glared at the snow as though it had done something to him—Kagome folded her hands into the sleeves of her coat and waited as he shuffled toward her. "Aren't your feet cold?" Inuyasha shrugged, white ears swiveling atop his silver-haired head. "Ain't you cold?" She was, so much that her face and hands had gone numb, but she shook her head anyway. "Not really. Walk with me?" He gave a curt nod, and Kagome resumed her slow stroll through the pine forest behind the Western compound, amazed at how much it had snowed in just a few days. "How come you're out here?" Inuyasha had folded his hands into his sleeves, and with his ears flicking and turning on top of his head, she thought that he was sort of cute. Swallowing the urge to tell him so—she didn't really feel like getting yelled at today—she shrugged. "I just wanted to think." "Your brain doesn't work inside or somethin'?" A laugh burst out of her throat, and she shook her head as the hanyou looked at her as though she had just confessed to being youkai. "Of course it works inside, Inuyasha; I just wanted to enjoy the landscape." Sun-golden eyes swiveled, and when he looked at her again, a thick white brow was arched high on his forehead. "It's just a bunch of trees." She grinned and turned her face toward the towering treetops. "It's not 'just a bunch of trees' to me; it's beautiful here, with the snow and the pine." Inuyasha sniffed. "Feh, whatever." Kagome smiled and faced forward once more, being sure to keep onto the winding path that had been flattened for walking—a path that had been flattened for her, per Lord Sesshomaru's orders. At one point, she probably would have refused such a kindness, taking it for the inuyoukai believing that she was too weak to wade through snow, but now she saw it for what it was; an attempt at making sure she was comfortable. A white rabbit darted across the path, and Kagome stopped to watch it zigzag through the trees. When it disappeared, something in her chest wrenched, and tears pricked at her eyes. She turned her head, but Inuyasha's nose was far too sharp even in the biting mountain air, and he stepped closer, craning his neck until his wide eyes met hers. "What's wrong?" Shakily, she wiped at her cheeks, fighting valiantly to keep the tears at bay. "N-nothing, it's just—" "You're lyin'," the hanyou rudely interrupted. "Now hurry up an' tell me what your problem is so you can stop all this damn cryin'!" As always, the gruff hanyou pulled a laugh from her, and she sniffled through giggles and tears, gesturing vaguely toward where the rabbit had gone. "I just…wi-wish that K-Kotono was here to walk with me t-too." Breath rising in a cloud between their faces, Inuyasha sighed and shifted on his feet. "She'll wake up soon." "Do you really think so?" It was probably silly of her to grasp so tightly onto the half-breed's awkwardly offered reassurance, but her heart needed a little more hope if she was going to make it through this without turning into a blubbering mess. "Keh. 'Course I'm—" He stopped suddenly, head snapping so quickly in the direction of the compound that Kagome winced in sympathetic understanding for his neck muscles. "Inuyasha?" "Huh?" "What's—" And then a wave of youki washed over her, settling over her like a warm, much-missed blanket. "Kotono!" Inuyasha looped one arm around her waist and leapt into the trees. When they landed atop the Healer's building and slid down to the ground, Kagome pressed a palm to her thundering heart, thoughts slipping through her grasping fingers like water. "Kotono…!" she managed to choke out, stumbling up the steps so quickly that Inuyasha had to hook his elbow around hers. She kept moving, shoving the door open just as one of the Healer's assistants reached it. "Oh, Kagome-sama!" "I felt Kotono's aura, Yue-san. Is she awake?" The assistant's brown eyes lowered briefly, and then she shook her head. "No, Kagome-sama. She woke for a moment, but she has slipped into unconsciousness again." Kagome felt as though someone has sucked all of the air out of her body, and the hand still holding on to the frame of the entrance shoji trembled. "Oh, I see." Beside her, Inuyasha shifted. "You wanna go see her?" Shaking her head, Kagome straightened and offered what she hoped wasn't a smile as weak as it felt. "Thank you for telling me, Yue-san. Let me know if she wakes again?" "Of course, Kagome-sama." Smiling once more, Kagome turned to Inuyasha. "I'm a little cold…take me back to my room, please." The hanyou's ears drooped, and he nodded, adjusting his hold until an arm slipped around her waist. "Hold on." Kagome let her tears be whisked away by the harsh wind of Inuyasha's bounding leaps.
Author's Note: This chapter fought with me the whole time I was writing it, but hopefully it was moderately enjoyable.
At any rate, thanks for reading! Also, I'd like to thank you all for your reviews! It means a lot to me to have the support of my readers - you all are awesome!
~Aubrey
