just love me

Kikyo spotted her loyal soul collectors and she silently slipped away from the laughing children, determined to give Inumaru his last day of enjoyment with his family and those he loved. She followed their pale slender bodies to a clearing, a puzzled frown on her porcelain face. Her soul collectors never usually came for her, she would summon them. They stopped then twined around her, linking their minds. Kikyo gasped as she saw the lord in her soul collector’s minds. He wasn’t supposed to return for another month.

And he looked angry. Raven locks adorned a sharp featured face, his slate eyes cold and hard. The horde of men he had left with had been reduced by at least half and a majority of them were injured. It seemed that the war hadn’t fared well for them. Kikyo gave her soul collectors a swift stroke on their heads before she turned and ran swiftly back toward Isako’s hut.

Kikyo burst into Isako’s hut, her normally placid eyes now wild with panic. Isako sat up, concern etched in her worn, once pretty face. “kikyo?” She looked at Kikyo’s disheveled appearance with worry; Kikyo was always immaculate in her appearance. “Your lord is here.” Kikyo managed to keep her voice calm, betraying her appearance. Isako gasped, her already pale face draining of color. Isako looked at her with lost eyes not knowing what to do. Kikyo swallowed and continued, “and it looks like the war did not fare well.”. Isako looked terrified and she shrunk back into her bed. Kikyo hated to do this to her once vibrant friend but it was necessary that Isako prepare herself.
“I’m sorry Isako but we must do this now,” Kikyo didn’t want to tear Inumaru away so quickly but it appeared that that’s what was going to happen, “I’ll help you prepare.”. Isako nodded, her large brown eyes now impossibly wide. Kikyo eyed her friend shrewdly, her friend had once had a vibrancy that made her beautiful, but now it was broken, she looked defeated. Kikyo shook her head, “I’m going to have to make an excuse for your appearance.”

She took out a brush, wetted it then she gently ran it through Isako’s limp brown locks, trying to make it look more alive. She finally managed to retrieve some of its former luster. Kikyo walked to the back of the hut and retrieved Isako’s official concubine robes. White cranes flew across green silk, the under kimono was a light cream color. Isako slowly shrugged it on as Kikyo tied the stiff white obi around her slender waist. Kikyo lifted Isako’s sleeping pallet to reveal a lacquered box hidden in a hole in the ground. She gently lifted it up and opened the lid, inside rested a beautiful hair pin. A silver dragonfly hung from the slender pin, emeralds winking in the chain. Kikyo twined up Isako’s locks and slid the pin in place. She let go and some hair fell to frame Isako’s face. Kikyo turned her friend around to view the result. Isako looked like what Kikyo really was, the walking dead.

But she now had an aura of innocence as she stood there, the image of broken beauty. Kikyo only hoped that the lord would see this as a good thing. Kikyo sighed, “you look beautiful Isako, now just act glad that the bastard is back. You have always been a better actress than me.” Isako cracked one tiny smile. Kikyo smiled back but her look soon turned stern, “I hate to make you do this one more burden but YOU must tell Inumaru about this. You are his mother.”. To Kikyo’s surprise, Isako nodded and straightened her shoulders, “you’re right. I should at least do this one thing for him. He deserves it.”

Inumaru now chose this moment to burst in, laughing as Shinko followed after him still trying to swipe the ball from his hands. They stopped and looked warily at their mother in all her finery. Isako stood there uncertainly but Inumaru broke into a huge grin, “wow, you look beautiful mommy!”. Shinko nodded in agreement as Isako met Kikyo’s eyes over the children. Kikyo nodded and smiled at Shinko, “Shinko, let’s go outside and look at some of the medicinal herbs I collected.”. Shinko smiled, she loved learning about healing.

Kikyo sat with the little girl, worriedly biting her lip but smiling when the girl looked at her. Butterflies flew above the swaying grass, blue skies clear, betraying the drama being played beneath them. Kikyo wanted to again shake her fist at the heavens. Damn them and their perfectness, she wanted to do something to soil it. Kikyo’s reverie was broken by sobs as Inumaru shoved his way out of the hut and ran, crying, away. Kikyo ran into the hut and spotted Isako, sitting down, her head in her hands. She looked up when she saw Kikyo look in. Her face was tearstained, “I’m sorry Kikyo, I did my best.”