>Naraku was walking down the street in her casual clothes, holding two large bags full of groceries.
>She was already thinking of what to do for dinner that night, but she did know one thing for certain: strawberries for dessert. She didn't often treat herself, prefering to select the food based on Kagura's preferences as opposed to her own, but she did make exceptions once every so often.
>Not that Kagura was hard to please, luckily. Almost anything was still new to her, and so she never really felt like complaining, unless something really didn't sit right for her. So far, only brocolli got her to bargain for something else, and only in her first two forms.
>As Naraku was mentally running through the things she bought to see what would be best for tonight, however, the street got a freakish crimson tint.
>"Tsk, I thought we got rid of you pests for a while..." Naraku said with a frown on her face, dropping her bags and transforming.
>A small swarm of floating skulls and spiders appeared, but because of the wide range of her attacks and the sheer force behind her kicks, Naraku was able to dispose of them quickly.
>As she walked back to her bags, assuming that there were no more incoming, she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone landing a few meters behind her. She quickly turned around and jumped backwards, dodging an extremely heavy attack. More specifically, a large, metal ball.
>Within a second Naraku could clearly see her attacker, causing her eyes to widen: it was a scarlet version of herself, casually standing there with an equally red chewing gum bubble in her mouth.
>"Damn yõma tricks..."
>Naraku didn't bother talking to the thing, instead trying to crush it quickly. The thing dodged a good chunk of her attacks, but was still hit by a few attacks, even if it didn't seem all that phased by them.
>"We've betrayed master Kagura." It suddenly spoke up, the surprise causing Naraku to miss. "We've given up on our life goal for the selfish fantasy of living with her. We're not her mother, her sister, or even her friend."
>"Linking to my memory is impressive, but you can't hurt me."
>"You and I are one and the same. And you're more than capable of hurting people."
>Naraku was starting to get pissed off, and tried to hit the thing again. It dodged and got behind her, but didn't attack.
>"We've been spilling plenty of blood. How many people have we wounded, left for dead, just to summon yõma to kill? We've lost track... And we didn't have the guts to pull through. We've wasted so much life to help master Kagura, and yet we couldn't even go through with it."
>"I did go through with it!" Naraku finally lashed out, trying for another kick.
>"...Oh? What does that say about our current life, then? We would have thrown it away without thinking if no one stopped master Kagura. How funny that we tried to leave those same people for dead before that..."
>"Shut up!"
>"You know I'm right. Be honest about it."
>"Just die!" Naraku shouted, using a ninpo to shoot a few of her bubbles out at the thing. It was hit, and most of its clothing had been destroyed by now.
>"Yes, just like that. That's true to who we are."
>Finally Naraku crushed the yõma, and with its final breath, it taunted her one last time.
>"We have never felt... the sphere's warmth... in a human being..."
>The barrier started to fade, and Naraku undid her transformation.
>Grabbing her bags she walked into an alleyway, without really thinking.
>Next to a dumpster she began weeping, realising that she'd made too many mistakes for her to repent.
>She kept weeping for half an hour, until suddenly, she felt a warm hand touch her knee.
>"Naraku...? I was worried, so I started looking for you..."
>It was Kagura in her second form, with an unmistakably worried frown on her face.
>"Kagura... K-Kagura... I..."
>Kagura grabbed Naraku's hand and lifted her up, before hugging her tightly.
>"I don't know what happened, but... It's ok... I'm here for you... Alright?"
>"I... I'm not worthy of being with you..."
>"I don't know where you got that idea, but it's a lie..."
>"You don't remember, but, before you reached your apex, I... I've gotten people killed, and, and, my empathy is just..."
>Kagura tightened the hug, sharing her body heat.
>"I'm sure you thought you were doing the right thing... And even if not, you've changed for the better... Don't ever forget that..."
>The two headed home, and Kagura decided to prepare the dessert that night. While Naraku wasn't feeling herself for a few days after that, she became stronger from the experience. And soon, she began to slowly understand the warmth of other human beings besides Kagura.