I do not own Inuyasha. I never have, and never will.
Written for Freya's Haunted Challenge.
Okay people, please read this authors note!
There are going to be dark themes throughout this entire story, so if you are familiar with my usual stories and think this will be a lighthearted romantic comedy - think again! There will be ghostly encounters, sexual situations, and a whole bunch of other craziness.
The rating is MA, so folks who are underage don't even bother reading this.
Hugs and kisses go out to zandrellia and Synyster Star, who helped me by tossing around ideas, discarding a few (or a lot), beating me over the head (syn), and sending me songs for motivation and inspiration! Thanks guys, I couldn't have done it without you!
…
The Revenant
Chapter One
By: Luna
…
Kagome stared out of the car window with dull eyes - eyes that had once been a bright, brilliant blue, but now were full of shadows and secrets and a dull, haunting pain. Mrs. Higurashi pretended not to see; she chose to see only what she wished to. She wanted to believe that her daughter was finally normal after years locked away. She wanted to believe that her daughter would smile at her, just like the old days, and tell her how much she loved her.
But that wasn't going to happen. Not now, and not ever again.
She had betrayed her daughter - was still betraying her daughter by sending her away to live by herself in the country. But how can any family expect to have an unbalanced person in their household? Dad was getting older and sicker, and Souta had to focus on his studies; they dropped since Kagome was released.
She looked over at her daughter quickly, noting the slim, delicate build, the long lashes, the dark, beautiful hair. None of it mattered anymore. Kagome could be the most beautiful woman in the world, but as of seven years ago she could officially consider herself unmarriageable. Mrs. Higurashi wanted to cry at the grandkids she would never see, but even she wouldn't be that cruel to her only daughter.
She cleared her throat uncomfortably, shifting her eyes away when her daughter turned that blank, expressionless face towards her, and lifted those dull, expressionless eyes. "Ah…"
She shifted in her seat, clutching at the steering wheel a little bit tighter. "The family home should be quite comfortable for you. Its been in the family for generations, dating back to the start of the Meiji Era. It's quite old, but we placed forty percent of the grant money we received from the government into your own separate account at the local bank. If you choose to, you can redecorate the house to your liking."
Kagome stared at her mother for a moment longer before looking back out the window without a word. She didn't want to speak to that woman. In fact, she hadn't - not since she locked her away when she was fifteen. She would take the money that woman was giving her; she needed to eat, after all. But she also felt that that woman owed her. Owed her for her disbelief, her betrayal, her abandonment.
Her eyes traced the tree tops, the urge to smile almost lifting her lips. There was so much green here in the mountains, so much nature to lose herself in. She didn't know if that woman was being considerate in placing her out here, or if she did it simply out of shame so that her neighbors won't have to see the crazy child, and she could continue on with her life pretending she never had a daughter.
Most of her family members were doing that anyways, she silently acknowledged. Souta hadn't even stopped by the hospital when his mother came to pick her up. The car had already been loaded with belongings from when she was a child; all his mother had to do was pick her up and drop her off in the middle of nowhere.
The only one that believed her had been her grandfather. A long believer in demons and ghosts alike, when she told him she was being stalked by a one he had immediately tried to help her. Prayers, ofuda's, incense; her grandfather had tried them all. He had also been the only one to write her while she had been locked away, sending her flowers and gifts and silly little notes from one crazy person to the other.
He once told her that the only difference between his crazy and her crazy was that he was old and was allowed to get away with it. His last words to her had been, "It's okay. Fight it, beat it, and come home to us. I love you, be safe."
But when he started developing Alzheimer's, he had forgotten all about her and her demons. Kagome didn't blame him; if she had a chance to forget, she'd take it.
"We're here!" That woman said with false cheer, quickly sliding out of the car as if she couldn't bear to be in close proximity any longer.
Kagome blinked, focusing outside, staring at the old, three story house a moment before getting out. That woman hadn't been lying about the house; the timber frames, with no decorative molding or trimming, characterized a traditional Japanese home.
To the side of the main house she spotted separate structures with signs labeling each one; the kitchen, the bathroom, and the toilet. She wondered if she would have to leave the house every time she had to go to the bathroom; hopefully by now the house was updated enough to have a kitchen and bathroom installed inside.
She followed the woman to the genkan, the formal entryway, and slipped off her shoes inside the foyer before following her into the house. Even the furnishings were traditional; sparse and portable. Most of the furniture was low to the ground, and she knew what wasn't there was stored in the oshiire, the storage area. She looked outside; one of the rice paper doors were slid open to the veranda, showing a view into the gardens. When her mother left, she'd go explore.
It was a very beautiful spot, if a little too traditional and clean for Kagome's tastes; she was done with all things sterile. She wanted to feel like herself again; the fifteen-year-old she used to be had been careless with her belongings; leaving items draped over the couch, the kitchen chairs, her desk… She found that woman in the (thankfully) modern kitchen, having spotted her briefly, the sliding door slightly cracked open, and she paused and listened to her conversation.
"So this is the crazy one you mentioned?" The soft voice of the female realtor reached Kagome's ears.
"Yes. But don't worry, she's not violent or anything… it's not that kind of schizophrenia." Kagome's mouth twisted at the term.
"What happened? I mean, how did you know something was wrong…?"
"She stared hearing voices," Mrs. Higurashi admitted, in a voice small with embarrassment and shame. "She said that there were people who followed her all the time, people that no one else could see."
"Ghosts?" The realtor asked, her voice hushed with morbid curiosity.
"I don't know. But she said that there was this one, a man, who used to visit her at night and… and…" Mrs. Higurashi hesitated, breathing in deeply a moment before continuing. "She said he molested her. We put bars on her windows, even though her room was on the second floor. We installed a security system when we could hardly afford it. I had doctors check her out for physical signs of abuse but… there was nothing."
"She stopped taking baths, because she said the man would watch her as she undressed. She stopped talking to her friends, going to school… she would stay in her bedroom and she wouldn't leave." The woman kept whispering. "Only Dad would visit her…"
"She would get violent sometimes. Plates would get smashed, china broken..." She continued, and it seemed to Kagome that she had been holding this in for a while, or maybe she just wanted to talk about her crazy daughter, but now that she started she couldn't seem to stop, the words falling over themselves in their haste to escape the woman's mouth. "She would yell out odd phrases, or her eyes would follow things across the room that weren't there. And then…"
"Go on, dear," The realtor urged, her voice sounding soothing, yet greedy; Kagome would bet every dollar in her bank account that she would spread rumors about Crazy Girl Kagome within five seconds after walking out of this house.
"She started screaming one night." Mrs. Higurashi whispered. "Screaming and screaming. I ran to her, so scared - only to find her thrashing on her bed, scratching all over her arms and wrists, her face, completely naked and… and…"
"I couldn't believe her when she said that man raped her. I was right there." Whispered Mrs. Higurashi. "I was watching her do these things to herself. And she was crying, begging me to believe her but I…" She cleared her throat, and after a long moment continued. "She stopped talking after that. She stopped eating. Stopped doing everything. I needed help, so I called the Tokyo Psychiatric Hospital, and they took her away."
The realtor made soothing noises in the back of her throat. "There, there. There was nothing you could do; she was obviously a danger to herself and others." She paused, then continued on with a light, airy laugh. "She's completely safe now, isn't she?"
"Oh yes," Mrs. Higurashi assured. "The hospital tells me she's been responding well to her medication, and she hasn't had an episode in over a year."
"Oh good," the lady sounded relieved, though she was trying to cover it. "Then you have no need to worry."
"Of course not. I hired a local nurse to check up on her every now and then. I'll get the report on whether or not she had another episode."
"Well, I'm sure that nurse will come in handy. This town has quite the reputations for ghosts, you know." The realtor said, clearly wanting to talk about it.
"Oh?"
"Oh yes, you see a couple hundred years ago there was this great fire, and-"
Kagome chose that moment to slide open the doors, watching as both older women jumped guiltily. She stared long and hard at both women, letting them know she heard every word, before slowly sliding it shut.
She left without a word, turning back the way she came as she tried to force the dark, furious rage that bubbled up at her mothers confession. She didn't truly mind if the locals heard of her; she was used to being considered crazy, and with the stories it would help keep them away from her.
She unloaded the car quickly and without fuss; because of the sparse furniture, she had more room to pile all the boxes in the living room. When her watch alarms started beeping, Kagome sighed in relief. She pulled her purse out of the front seat of the car and a bottle of water, and took her scheduled medications.
Though not one to admit it, she loved her medicine. It made her not care, made all the anger and the sadness and the isolation she felt just drift away in a sea of lucidity. It made it to where, if she did see something she wasn't sure was there, she didn't have it in her to care. She didn't want to care; she held the childish belief that if she pretended she couldn't see them, then they couldn't see her. So far that philosophy has held true.
A half an hour later, Mrs. Higurashi found Kagome carrying the boxes from the living room into a room she claimed as her own, and Kagome paused when she noticed the woman shifting uneasily in the entryway.
"I'm, ah, leaving now, Kagome." She said, fiddling nervously with the strap of her purse. "Is there anything else you need?"
Kagome only stared at her, silent. Mrs. Higurashi gave a tight smile and started backing away towards the door. "All right, well, you have the home phone number, call me in case of an emergency. Oh, yes, there is also a nurse who lives down the road, who will be there in case you need to talk or to… anything, I guess."
When the silence stretched tight between them, Mrs. Higurashi gave her final nod. "Okay. I'll be off now. Stay safe."
Stay safe.
Kagome wanted to laugh.