In spite of being a slave under his kisses, I forced myself to tell him that this is not the right place for us to do this thing. Feeling a little bit guilty, he asked for forgiveness which is rare for someone like him who is full of pride and stubborn but, that made me happy at the same time. "Kagome, I'm sorry if I'm rushing you into doing this thing. I know I will be held responsible if you get pregnant but trust me, I'll be a good husband to you and father to our child." he said while caressing my face. His remarks made me blush and sent shiver to my spine knowing that Inuyasha is proclaiming his profound love for me, "Inuyasha, always know that I love you more than anything else." I replied. We head towards the hut and fell asleep as the night deepens.
The morning herald filled the hut with illumination giving me the sign that it is time to wake up and continue our journey. I was reminded by Shippo that the shrine of the first priestess is 7 hours away from here but I see to it that we have to arrive as early as we could in order for me to verify if my wish is valid enough to be answered. If not, we have to find a way to defy the doings of the evil demon who cursed my brother and find his whereabouts. Inuyasha offered me a ride while Shippo transformed into his balloon figure in order to see some signs if we are approaching near the shrine.
It's been two hours since we started traveling but Inuyasha became even more silent. I presumed that it must be because of my refusal last night that's why he's tight-lipped. Nonetheless, I'm still glad that I have managed to overcome the sexual feelings that engulfed me last night because having sex outside is not the place I envision where I can give up my virginity to the one I love. Besides, prioritizing my brother's life is my main reason why I am here.
"Inuyasha, you have been silent all this time? Is it about last night?" I whispered on his ear. Instead of giving me a word, he stopped for a moment and gave me a cold glare. "Umm... I'm sorry Inuyasha if that question offends you." I added.
"Kagome, I understand what you are trying to say but my silence is not about last night, okay?" he said in a tone that is as cold as ice. I know this kind of his behavior is something that I should worry about since I don't want to see him in a lonely state. Besides, I told him that whatever his problem, I'm here to help him. Another hour has passed and we stopped in a nearby village to take some rest.
"Kagome, let's eat something delicious because my stomach is already grumbling." Shippo announced.
"Sure, Shippo. By the way, I still have some noodles here in my bag. Do you like this spicy one?" I asked raising the big cup noodles that I considered as one of my favorites.
"No, no, Kagome. I mean, I want to eat in one of those restaurants." he said, pointing to the restaurants that lined up along the streets.
"Are you dumb, Shippo? She doesn't have a money with her that's why she brought some food with her." Inuyasha chirped in and grabbed Shippo by his collar.
The two started to fight and mock each other's flaws and imperfections. I cannot stand listening to all of their commotion so I started to leave them and head to a place where I can eat peacefully. Anyway, those two will follow me once they are done with their mess. I gathered some woods in the forest and started to boil some water for my noodles and after it started boiling, I started eating without hesitations. I don't care if those two would eat or not, as long as they are not done fighting, I'll leave them and walk on my own. Their drama is getting on my nerves already. Taking my last sip of the soup, Shippo suddenly emerged in the bushes, running towards me.
"Shippo, don't tell me that the two of you are not done fighting yet? I asked, while preparing my self to leave.
"Kagome, please come with us. Inuyasha agreed to eat on one of the restaurants that I've pointed earlier. I guess, he is no match when it comes to my persuading power now." he blurted.
"That's great," I replied. "but since I boiled a water already, why don't you come back to him and tell him to go here and eat?"
"What? Are you insane? We started ordering food already and Inuyasha must be eating some of those right now." he babbled.
"Are you saying it's my fault?" I asked angrily, "I don't have money in the first place, Shippo." I added.
"Kagome, I did not say that you are going to pay for those stuff because I will. I have some money here that I earned in helping people from other villages with their favors." he said while showing the shiny, round and golden objects.
What upsets me is that, Inuyasha didn't come to pick me up and invite me to the restaurant that he and Shippo agreed with to spend some time eating lunch. It took a few minutes for us to arrive at the restaurant and outside, a lot of people were falling in line. I realized that the eatery's chef must have a very good talent in cooking delicious Japanese food and I'm also glad that Shippo and Inuyasha have managed to get a reservation despite their quarrel earlier and throng of people outside, waiting for their turn. Heading towards the entrance, I saw Inuyasha sitting in front of the table near the corner, sipping the hot and newly served ramen. He must be very hungry that he did not even sense me coming. As we entered the door, a servant greeted us.
"Kon'nichiwa!" said the boy about my age, as he stared at me in a complete awe. "What a beautiful maiden!" he added and surfaced a smile.
I replied to his greetings, thanked him and he assisted me to our table where Inuyasha's expression is a little bit annoyed.
"Hey! stay away from her or else, I'll punch you in the face!" Inuyasha warned with his mouth full.
The boy knew that Inuyasha is a demon but didn't seem to bother with his warning. The worse part is that, he stayed by our side while watching us eat. Shippo asked him why and he replied, "So that there would be no need for you to shout in case you need something and besides, who wouldn't want to get closer to this stunning lady over here?"
The way the guy said his sentence made me take a glance at Inuyasha. Scrutinizing his facial expression, I can see that he's jealous and angry at the same time. I didn't know that this is the only way for him to notice me again. I want to tease him by paying a lot of attention to the guy but there's also a part of me that says, Inuyasha needs to be understood by a person no other than me. It is still yet for me to know the reason why he is always preoccupied all this time.
It's been Inuyasha's third bowl of ramen and as for Shippo, it seems that he's not even taking a pause in stuffing his mouth with onigiri and tempura. While in my case, since I have eaten already earlier, I just decided to eat sushi because it reminds me of my family back in the other world. A moment of silence fill our surroundings as the people around us were just busy eating aside for one person, the boy who decided to stand next before us. The grumbling of his stomach gave us the idea that he has not eaten yet.
"Um... excuse me, you can eat with us if you want to." Shippo invited.
The boy blushed and hesitated, saying that he is there to serve and not to eat with customers. He has a point, though, it still makes no sense since we heard his stomach complaining because of hunger. I also believe that he's just avoiding to be reprimanded by the owner because it might be the reason for his dismissal which is not appropriate since a worker like him is hungry and doesn't deserve to be treated badly. Looking at his current state, I can see the hunger in his face but he's just good at concealing it behind his smiles.
"If your duty is to serve customers, why don't you do us a favor by eating with us?" I articulated, making Inuyasha mad. "Don't worry, I'll just tell the owner of this restaurant just in case he asked. Right, Inuyasha?" I assured, making him smile brighter. Inuyasha didn't make any reaction to the current decision since he knows what punishment lies before him if he disagrees. In order to fill the silence and shake the awkwardness that envelopes the boy as he slowly picked the chopstick to grab some food, Shippo began asking him questions.
We just found out that his name is Yukio Ito and he's been serving in the restaurant for two years already in order to sustain his needs since he doesn't have a family to rely on. He began telling his life story saying that, his parents died when a group of bandits raided their village when he was seven years old and he lost his two brothers in the war three years ago. I cried while listening, as I cannot prevent my self from shedding tears. The way he lift the veil of sorrow in his life, his smile slowly turned into tears.
"When my parents were murdered right before our eyes, me and my siblings headed to my grandparents house to escape together and go to the mountains but when we got there, it was already too late as we saw the decapitated head of my grandmother laying on the floor, spilled with blood. My grandfather, who was severely wounded as he defended himself from the bandits, gave me a scroll. That scroll was supposed to be given to my father when my grandfather reaches his time limit in serving as the holder of the scroll. I heard a story about this scroll from my grandfather because he used to tell me a story before I fall asleep that, when grandfather's great-great grandfather was hunting on the mountains, he discovered a beautiful maiden who was badly wounded at that time, who also happened to be a priestess. The weird part is that, my grandfather wouldn't even tell me the name of the priestess but going back to the story, When the priestess was fully-healed and before she departed to hunt some demons and help those who are in need, a scroll was given to him. She told him that when he need to ask for help in return, all he need to do is open the scroll and recite what's written there. He was given a notice that the scroll can only be used once in summoning the priestess. What made me curios is that when I found my grandparents laying on pool of blood, the scroll was held by my grandfather's hand tightly but no help from the priestess came. I believe, she already died and was not able to help my grandparents as she, herself is already laid to rest." Yukio explained as he ate the last sushi left.
"It is what is." Shippo replied, "When you are dead, no help is expected from you anymore."
"Yeah, that's what I thought as well." Yukio conceded.
The thought rang a memory on my mind about the moment when Shippo's father saved us from being killed by the Thunder brothers, by using his powers to prevent us from being harmed by the lightning.
"Shippo, I beg to disagree but you are forgetting about the time when your father saved us from the Thunder brothers." I insisted. "Remember, he saved us from being killed that time."
"Yeah. you are actually right." Inuyasha blurted, breaking his silence.
"Oh! sorry about that, Kagome. I failed to give credit and honor my father's act of heroism." he cried.
"So you are saying that even though the priestess is dead, she can still help?" Yukio asked with confusions.
"Yes! because I believe, a promise is a promise." I replied.