With her bow and arrows on her back, Kikyo followed the villager who had come seeking help, hurrying along a country path lined with fresh greenery toward the village on the other side of the woods.
The spring breeze brushed past the Miko's neatly trimmed bangs and lovely long hair, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees.
"It's spring already." Kikyo closed her eyes slightly, sensing something different in the breeze. "Winter is over."
Kikyo glanced behind her. Sure enough, Inuyasha had followed her out. She smiled, a little helplessly but sweetly. They had agreed that Inuyasha would stay behind to guard the Shikon Jewel, yet she really could not trust him with everything without worrying. He was so impulsive.
To keep the monsters coveting the Shikon Jewel from harming the villagers, Kikyo had moved away from the village. She and her younger sister, Kaede, lived far from the settlement, where she devoted herself to purifying the Shikon Jewel, hoping that one day the Demon Jewel Four Souls would disappear entirely. Naturally, whenever the nearby villages encountered monsters or needed her help, they came looking for her.
Even so, all kinds of monsters continued to come. A treasure that could make them stronger was something few monsters could resist coveting, apart from a handful of powerful demons with unshakable resolve. The half-demon boy Inuyasha was among those drawn to it.
When the man leading the way was not looking, Kikyo silently mouthed, "Go back," to Inuyasha. He firmly shook his head and followed behind her, leaping nimbly from branch to branch with a monster's light-footed grace. The human ahead had not even noticed that a half-demon was following them.
If he noticed, that look of shock and anger mixed with fear would be quite a sight, Inuyasha thought to himself. But that would put Kikyo in a difficult position. Better not let him notice. He took greater care to conceal himself, following Kikyo cautiously and protecting the seemingly unruffled Miko in his own way.
Inuyasha was the child of a human and a Dog Demon. Humans and monsters alike scornfully called him a half-demon, rejecting him from both sides. Yet the immense strength he had inherited from his Dog Demon father also made humans and ordinary monsters fear him. Living between two worlds, Inuyasha still retained his kind nature and, because of his mother's hopes for him, never took the initiative to harm humans. Even so, he craved greater power, hoping to become a true great demon rather than remain an awkward half-demon. The Shikon Jewel was the shortcut he had found for himself.
But Kikyo, the Miko who guarded the Shikon Jewel, was simply too powerful. Before that graceful, beautiful figure, Inuyasha could not get a single step closer, much less obtain the Shikon Jewel. Instead, the powerful Miko taught him lessons in every sense of the word.
Even so, the Miko's gaze remained calm and untroubled whenever she looked at him, however aloof her bearing might be. There was no prejudice, no fear, as though the one before her were merely an ordinary human or an ordinary monster. Her natural gaze made Inuyasha lower his guard against humans and Miko, and without realizing it, he grew closer and closer to her.
To Inuyasha, this Miko named Kikyo was so special that he wanted to grow ever closer to her. He wanted to see her show him a different expression, wanted to see her smile at him the way she smiled at those bold, innocent children in the village...
As for Kikyo, from the moment she set out on the path of a Miko, she had been destined for a lonely life. Fortunately, she still had Kaede, her precious younger sister. It was for her that Kikyo had found the strength to rise after first losing their parents, seek a teacher, become a Miko, and protect this peaceful village.
But even her younger sister could not heal the wounds in Kikyo's heart. She had followed her father into the mountains to look for food, only to witness him being killed by a monster. Bright red blood splashed across her pale face, and Kikyo, still young and weak, brought her father home alone to bury him. Her grief-stricken mother gradually weakened in her sickbed, and before her death, all her reluctance to leave Kikyo and Kaede became bitter tears in her eyes. The last pair of eyes in the world that would look upon Kikyo with tender affection closed forever. From then on, Kikyo had no choice but to be strong. Her little sister still needed her protection. Her young shoulders took on the burden of her sister's entire life. Standing in front of Kaede, Kikyo could feel her sister's still-uncomprehending gaze, and she hoped the girl would always live in peace and safety as an ordinary woman, rather than a lonely Miko, removed from ordinary people and fighting endlessly against hideous monsters, her inner exhaustion known to no one, left to wait silently on her own for her wounds to heal after each injury, preparing for the next brutal battle that might come at any time.
To Kikyo, the half-demon boy was no different. At least, that was how it had been at first. He was merely another person who coveted the Shikon Jewel, only this one happened to be a half-demon. Yet as time passed, the half-demon who should have been her enemy seemed to have become her friend without her noticing. When she sat down in exhaustion after a battle, he would leave some rare medicinal herbs beside her, then swiftly turn and leap away. From a high branch, he would watch her chew the herbs and apply them to her wounds before leaving with a few leaps through the trees. At other times, he would quietly observe her from a nearby tree as she sat in a meadow, gazing into the distance in a rare moment of peace. The wind lifted her bangs, making him long to smooth them down for her...
The two gradually grew closer.
At some point, Inuyasha began standing by Kikyo's side.
He accompanied her to gather medicinal herbs, fought monsters for her, and went boating with her.
Under the setting sun, the Miko rose from the boat, only to trip against the riverbank and fall into the half-demon's arms. At last, he tossed aside the wooden oar in his hand and held her tightly, refusing to let go again.
Because of Kikyo's lofty standing in the village, the villagers simply assumed that Inuyasha was a monster she had subdued. Trusting Kikyo, they gradually accepted him as well. The children even grew curious about the white-haired young man's dog ears and surrounded him, singing songs that left Inuyasha at a complete loss.
Even Kaede, who was the most opposed to monsters, fell silent when she saw the small, happy smile on Kikyo's lips as she looked at Inuyasha.
Kaede had always been an understanding girl. She had always hoped that her older sister Kikyo could find ordinary happiness too.
Even if half the blood in Inuyasha's veins belonged to monsters, Kaede could accept him as long as her sister Kikyo could be happy. Only a faint unease lingered in her heart.
A gust of wind blew.
The tender pink blossoms that had just emerged on the trees drifted toward Kikyo.
Although Inuyasha could simply appear beside Kikyo without a care, doing so would invite all sorts of people to gossip about her. So, though he had stood beside Kikyo at first, he had now grown more accustomed to protecting her in silence. The awkward half-demon was guarding his Miko in his own way.
Even though his Miko always told him not to mind what others said, Inuyasha understood that, as a human Miko, she bore tremendous pressure. All the villagers placed their hopes on this young Miko, saddling her with far too heavy a burden. He did not really understand why she never refused the villagers' requests and went alone to face every monster. But whenever he asked, the Miko resting in his arms would always close her eyes and gently shake her head.
All Inuyasha could do was hold the Miko tighter and remain quietly silent.
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