Xu Zhiqiu tightened her grip on the jade pendant in her palm and looked up at Naraku, who had put on a full-body Baboon Skin that left only the lower half of his face exposed. Meeting the red eyes inside the baboon head's sockets, she asked, "You came here just to tell me that?"
He said Kikyo's fate had been the result of childish desire, yet only when he himself was about to die had he realized that he wanted Kikyo's heart. If anyone was childish, wasn't he even more so?
Noticing the contempt in Xu Zhiqiu's eyes, Naraku suddenly softened his voice. "Naturally, I, Naraku, came here to see you. Qiu."
Xu Zhiqiu frowned, watching the ill-intentioned male demon warily. "To see me? You want to kill me?"
"Heh, you think too badly of me." As he spoke, he suddenly flashed behind Xu Zhiqiu and reached out to touch her shoulder.
Sensing danger, Xu Zhiqiu attacked Naraku with the Jade Blade.
The Jade Blade materialized out of thin air and sliced the Baboon Skin on Naraku's body in two.
It did not touch his body.
Naraku's face came into view once again.
"Just as I thought. Your Jade Blade cannot harm me while I possess a human body." Naraku lifted the lower half of the Baboon Skin and wrapped it around his waist, then calmly sat down beside Xu Zhiqiu.
Xu Zhiqiu pressed her lips together, not daring to lower her guard. Whenever he moved closer, she shifted away. "Naraku, what do you want?"
"Qiu, your feelings are rather strange. Sometimes you seem to look down on me, and sometimes you're afraid of me. What sort of personality would leave the deepest impression on you?" Naraku stared straight into Xu Zhiqiu's eyes, trying to glean something from them.
"..." Xu Zhiqiu kept her mouth shut.
Naraku looked away and asked softly, "Onigumo's personality, perhaps?"
"..."
Xu Zhiqiu gave no answer. No matter what you say, as long as I don't answer, you can keep performing your one-man show.
When Xu Zhiqiu did not respond, Naraku's handsome face twisted for an instant before quickly returning to normal. His gaze settled on the knife wound on her neck, which had already scabbed over. Just a little closer, and he could smell her fragrance.
Before he could move closer, Xu Zhiqiu shifted away again, clearly resisting his approach.
"If you have something to say, just say it. Stop speaking in riddles." Xu Zhiqiu really could not stand Naraku anymore. She wanted to finish this conversation quickly so they could go their separate ways.
Naraku gave a chilling laugh and said slowly, "That lowly Onigumo wished to possess you."
Xu Zhiqiu nodded, staring into his eyes. "So what about you? Do you want to possess me just like that lowly Onigumo and make me your woman?"
The first step to subduing an enemy was to say the villain's lines first, leaving him with nothing to say.
With Xu Zhiqiu putting it that way, Naraku naturally denied it. "How could I, Naraku, be the same as that despicable Onigumo?"
Good. That's exactly the effect I wanted.
Xu Zhiqiu braced a hand against the ground and stood up. She nodded, looking rather pleased. "It's good that you have a mind of your own. Onigumo is Onigumo, and you are you. Don't force his consciousness onto yours. You should be your own unique self. She's just a woman. There are plenty of women in this world. I'm sure a handsome male demon like you will find a beautiful female demon or human woman you're happy with!"
At the latter part of Xu Zhiqiu's speech, Naraku suddenly laughed, his lips curling into a strange smile. He covered his chest with a hand, watching Xu Zhiqiu intently as she waited for an opening to leave.
"Qiu, did you know that what you just said made Onigumo's heart ache? He's blaming you for being so cruel. Heh."
Xu Zhiqiu felt no guilt. "What does his heartbreak have to do with me? I did my utmost to look after him for so long, and I haven't even asked for any compensation. Yet he's blaming me just because he's unlucky in love."
Did you hear that, Onigumo? This is the woman you wanted to sell your soul to obtain. She doesn't want you.
If you can't win her, you'll take her for yourself? Just what you'd expect from a brutal bandit.
After suppressing Onigumo's heart, Naraku stared at Xu Zhiqiu's rouge-painted lips. "You have a point."
"Mm. If there's nothing else, I'll be going." Xu Zhiqiu prepared to leave.
But Naraku reached out from within, seized Xu Zhiqiu's hand, and pulled her into his arms.
While Xu Zhiqiu stared in shock, tentacles emerged from his body and attacked her right arm without hesitation.
But the moment those tentacles touched her arm, the jade in Xu Zhiqiu's hand lit up, severing the tentacles that touched her.
Naraku took in Xu Zhiqiu's stunned expression. She apparently had not had time to react, yet something had protected her when he attacked.
"Your jade has a consciousness." Naraku's voice was certain. As Xu Zhiqiu's jade launched its attack, he withdrew his tentacles and held her tightly in his arms.
So this is what embracing a woman feels like. So soft.
Xu Zhiqiu froze. Being embraced by Naraku was something she had never imagined. Even through their clothes, she could feel the man's chest against her. An awkward flush rose to her face, and she said through gritted teeth, "Let go."
A red figure approached from ahead. Ignoring Xu Zhiqiu's words, Naraku held her by the waist and lowered his head to her neck, breathing in that sweet fragrance.
When Inuyasha arrived, he saw Xu Zhiqiu embracing a bare-chested man. He smelled the dense demonic aura on the man. He had to be a demon.
From his side-on vantage point, Xu Zhiqiu and that demon looked intimate.
He scratched his head. When did Xu Zhiqiu get to know this unfamiliar demon? And from the looks of it, they're lovers? He watched for a moment, but did not linger, promptly leaving to find Kikyo and ask her.
After that red figure disappeared, Onigumo's heart grew increasingly insistent with their closeness, yearning to press her down on the grass and claim her, making her his woman.
I've finished writing the events leading up to Naraku's birth, and I'm satisfied. Next comes the development of their relationship, hehe.
Before you continue