Keeping Kikyo company

She was already dead, yet someone had forcibly called her back to face something even crueler.

Inuyasha had gotten together with the girl who was the reincarnation of her soul. Even when Inuyasha agreed to follow her down to hell, the moment that girl called out, he turned and walked toward her.

She was already dead. Why did she still have to witness a scene that stabbed at her eyes?

Not to mention, when she first woke up, her younger sister had told Inuyasha to kill her. How could that not chill her heart?

A warm touch reached her hand. Kikyo emerged from her resentful thoughts and looked at Xu Zhiqiu, who was holding her hand.

Xu Zhiqiu tightened her grip on Kikyo's slightly cold hand. "Since you've come back to this world, live well for yourself. Stop agonizing over the past. Follow your heart a little more. Wear whatever you want, put on whatever rouge you like, and stop holding yourself back because of your duties. Just be happy."

As she spoke, Xu Zhiqiu gave Kikyo a toothy smile.

Kikyo gazed at Xu Zhiqiu's warm smile, then at her navy-blue clothes. "Qiu, I envy you. I envy how freely you can follow your heart, both back then and now."

"You can too. I've earned quite a bit of money killing demons, and it's in my bundle. Let me take you to a nearby clothing shop and buy you something." As Xu Zhiqiu spoke, she took Kikyo's hand and stood up.

When Kikyo didn't move, she turned to look at her. "Come on, Kikyo. What, you don't want them even if I'm buying?"

"No." Kikyo shook her head. "I'm just very happy. Thank you."

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Let's pack up these medicinal herbs first. They'll come in handy."

"Sure." Xu Zhiqiu went over to help. Once they had packed the herbs, Kikyo said goodbye to the local villagers and left with Xu Zhiqiu.

The village where Kikyo had been staying was rather poor, with no clothes for sale. Xu Zhiqiu took her to another village that was doing fairly well and had clothes to buy.

In the past, Kikyo had never imagined she would buy the sort of clothes other girls wore.

Under Xu Zhiqiu's gaze, she chose clothes in a color she liked, then stepped into the changing room to replace her ever-unchanging Miko Robes. She put on a delicate pink kimono and let her previously tied-up hair fall loose. Even without a trace of makeup, she looked so beautiful that it made one want to give her cheeks a good squeeze.

If Kikyo could wear the ethereal hanfu from my country, she'd be a little fairy for sure, Xu Zhiqiu thought.

"Qiu." Kikyo had never tried wearing such clothes in front of everyone before, and she looked a little awkward.

Xu Zhiqiu found her rather adorable and squeezed her cheeks. "You're beautiful! Which other one do you want? I think this one's nice. Try it on."

After squeezing Kikyo's cheeks for a while, Xu Zhiqiu picked out a few more outfits for her.

A beauty was a beauty. Whatever she wore, she looked beautiful.

In her delight, Xu Zhiqiu spent half the money in her bundle in one go. But she was happy, and money was easy enough to earn back. Her happiness was what mattered.

She bought Kikyo three different outfits. The other two were wrapped up, and Kikyo slung the bundle over her shoulder.

Xu Zhiqiu immediately pulled her toward a cosmetics shop and bought her fine face powder and rouge.

Once Kikyo had put on lipstick and face powder, she instantly looked much more alive.

After their girlish fun was over, Xu Zhiqiu bought some food, and she and Kikyo ate as they walked.

"Actually, I don't think what happened fifty years ago was necessarily as simple as you imagined. If Inuyasha wanted to steal the Shikon Jewel, he could have done it long before then. Why wait until that particular moment? I think some demon deliberately caused it. The biggest problem now is that the Shikon Jewel has shattered, and collecting it will be difficult," Xu Zhiqiu said as she munched on a steamed bun.

Kikyo lowered her eyes to her pink skirt. "I was badly wounded then, and Inuyasha had wrecked the village. The Shikon Jewel happened to be in his hands, so I had no choice but to seal him."

Everything had happened so suddenly, one event after another. Who could have thought that much at a time like that?

Xu Zhiqiu slowed her chewing and asked, "Maybe there was some misunderstanding. Do you want to talk it through with him?"

Kikyo looked up at the orange glow of the sunset. "There was a misunderstanding, but the way he's acting now makes me a little jealous."

Xu Zhiqiu patted her shoulder. "Inuyasha really does have a bit of a scumbag streak."

Kikyo stopped and looked at Xu Zhiqiu beside her. "Qiu, why hasn't your face changed after all this time?" She had wanted to ask for a long time, but hadn't had the chance.

Xu Zhiqiu paused for a moment. "Actually, I'm not from here, so I look the same as I did before I crossed over. Time in this world has no effect on me."

"Then doesn't that mean you don't age, just like a demon? You might even live longer than demons?" Kikyo was a little startled, but when she recalled the things Xu Zhiqiu had done in the past, it seemed to make sense.

"I suppose?" Xu Zhiqiu wasn't entirely certain herself.

"Then, Qiu, if you're not from here, where are you from?"

Xu Zhiqiu explained, "Like that reincarnation of yours, I'm from the modern era, though my time is probably more than twenty years later than hers. And I'm not from your island nation. I'm Chinese, from what's now the Great Ming. That's where I'll be born in the future."

"How incredible," Kikyo marveled.

"The clothes where I'm from are lovely. If I get the chance, I'll definitely bring you a few sets."

"I'd like that."

The two girls chatted about clothes as they walked.

Besides that, Xu Zhiqiu and Kikyo decided to return to Kaede's Village. No matter what, they needed to get to the bottom of what had happened fifty years ago.

Xu Zhiqiu wasn't going to let Kikyo find out that Naraku had been behind it. She felt that if Kikyo knew, the sisterly bond they had worked so hard to build would be gone. Buying Kikyo clothes and cosmetics was partly a way of making amends, though it was mostly for the joy of it.

As long as you were strong enough, whatever clothes you wore wouldn't stop you from killing demons.

On the way back to Kaede's Village, kindhearted Kikyo saved quite a few people, while Xu Zhiqiu collected payment beside her. Whatever else they were, priestesses were people too. They had to fill their stomachs to survive, didn't they?

At first, Kikyo wasn't used to slaying demons in clothes that restricted her movements. But when she saw Xu Zhiqiu wielding her sword and killing demons with effortless ease, she gradually grew accustomed to doing things this way too.

As for the spiritual power in Xu Zhiqiu's body, she told Kikyo without holding anything back that it was because her Jade had protected her. It was the Jade that had protected her, but she didn't know where it had disappeared to. Without the Jade, she couldn't use the Jade Blade. Since she happened to have spiritual power in her body now, she could only channel it into her sword to kill demons.

--

Naraku: I just remembered something. Qiu, you've never bought me any clothes.

Xu Zhiqiu: Uh...

Kikyo: Then I'm very lucky. (Smiles)

Naraku: (Smiles) I'm a little upset.