Meiya Nakano

Meiya Nakano (中野明依夜, *Nakano Meiya*) was a friend and classmate of Kagome Higurashi's from modern Japan, who found herself in the Feudal Era.

## Appearance

Meiya is considered to be an attractive young woman. She has a lithe figure with soft curves. Her hair is long and dark, almost black, brown, falling just above her waist. Her eyes are brown in color.

**Modern japan attire:** While in school, her clothing was a green and white school uniform with a red ribbon looped through the blouse. Outside of school, she often wore skirts with thigh high socks and a top.

**Feudal era attire:** She can always seen in a traditional woman's kimono. It is a very light pink, fading into a darker pink at the bottom. There is a floral pattern on the skirt, as well as the sleeves. The obi, which is a hanhaba obi, is a very dark pink with a lighter pink tie over it. The obi rests snugly around her waist, resting against her back in a butterfly bow.

## Abilities

Meiya lacked any in experience in fighting, since she was born in modern Japan. Most of her abilities and skills are related to ballet, since she grew up doing ballet, as well as other types of dance.

**Agility:** She is very quick and light on her feet, as she is able to maneuver out of the way of lower physical attacks.

**Enhanced Endurance/Stamina**: She has a high level of endurance and stamina, as shown when she's able to run and do physical activities for extended periods of time without growing tired.

**Flexibility:** She is very flexible, able to bend and move her body in ways that others may not be able to. This is shown when she takes her foot and puts it behind her head.

**Strength:** While she is not as strong as Sango or Miroku, she does possess a fair bit of strength. This is shown when she is able to make a grown man stumble backwards with a hard slap.

**Tolerance:** She has a high tolerance for pain. Her tolerance is shown her back is sliced open by a demon when she first gets to the feudal era. Despite how much it pain she must be in, she is able to keep running in an effort to keep away from the demon.

## History

### Early Life

She was the one and only child born to Kosuke and Rika Nakano. When she was ten, both of her parents died in an airplane accident. After the death of her parents, she stayed at their family home, living by herself.

### Arrival In The Feudal Era

Due to being sick, Meiya missed a few days of school. She was on the phone with one of her friends from school, Yuka. During their conversation, she found out that, during her absence, she missed out on seeing her other friend, Kagome, at school. A couple of minutes later, their phone call ended. Since she wasn't feeling sick anymore, she decided to pay Kagome a visit. But, after arriving at Kagome's home and being greeted by Sota, Kagome's grandfather told her that Kagome's health had taken a turn for the worst. With that, she was sent on her way. While turning to leave, she caught sight of Kagome going into the Higurashi family shrine. Concerned for her friend's well being, Meiya ventured inside only to find that Kagome was no where to be see. When she saw the well in the middle of the shrine, she worried that Kagome had fallen into the well. She peered over the side of the well to see into the bottom. But it was too dark for her to really see anything. In an effort to try to see better, she leaned further over the edge. But her palm slipped out from under her, causing her to tumble head first into the well. The impact of hitting the bottom of the well knocked her unconscious.

When she woke up, she was still at the bottom of the well. Using the roots growing out of the inner walls of the well, she was able to climb out. But what she found wasn't the inside of the Higurashi family shrine. It was a lush and green forest. Before she could ponder more than a couple of minutes on where she was, the sound of leaves rustling caught her attention. A small black bunny hopped out of the bushes and disappeared within another bush. A couple moments later, there was another rustling.Assuming it was another bunny, she called out 'here, bunny, bunny.' But, instead of a bunny, a giant lizard came out from the bushes.

### Death

When Rin, Jaken and Meiya found themselves facing Suikotsu, the bridge collapsed due to Jaken's efforts to protect Rin, who fell unconscious from the fall. Meiya fell unconscious as well, but awoke before Rin did. When she awoke, she was met with the sight of Suikotsu picking up Rin and carrying her off. Filled with terror and panic, she rushed over to get Rin back from him. His personality seemed to have shifted back to the good kind doctor. It took a lot of coaxing, but she eventually gave in and believed him. She walked beside him as he carried Rin, to the village where he worked as a physician. When Rin woke up and was walking on her own, she shifted to walking beside her instead. Soon, it was revealed that it had all been an act as he slaughtered the villagers without a hint of emotion. She and Rin attempted to run away, but they were caught by Jakotsu.

With the two of them captured, the two were taken to Mount Hakurei. Jakotsu had Rin while Suikotsu had Meiya. As they waited for Sesshomaru to arrive, Jakotsu made the comment of how he thought there was only one girl that was his weakness. Suikotsu merely shrugged and replied that he only recalled something about the child. After this, there was a couple more minutes of conversation, which ended in the conclusion that Meiya must have been an extra, and the decision that she should just be killed. At this, she began to struggle as much as she was able to and managed to slip free of Suikotsu's hold. Suikotsu called out to Jakotsu, who merely sighed, shoulders drooping a little. Reluctantly, since he didn't get any kind of thrill from killing women, Jakotsu pulled his Jakotsutō free. It was at this time that Sesshomaru arrived. Upon seeing him, relief spread across Meiya's face, and she ran toward him, only to feel sharp blades tearing into various parts of her flesh. She fell to the ground with a thud as darkness overcame her. Blood coated the area around her as she died almost instantly from all of the wounds on her body.

The encounter with Jakotsu and Suikotsu would end in Sesshomaru's favor, with Kikyo's help. With those two dealt with, the group went back to where Meiya's body was. Then her body was moved outside of the sacred barrier of Mount Hakurei. Rin remained beside her, unable to stop her tears from flowing. Each of A-Un's heads nudged her cheek. Even Jaken looked troubled as he stood a short distance away.

Then Sesshomaru asked Jaken to take Rin away from where Meiya's body was. Jaken did as he was asked, leading Rin away with A-Un. Once they were gone, Sesshomaru's gaze fell on her body. He knelt down beside her, letting his gaze trail over each of the blood stains on her. Tenseiga throbbed at his side, and he immediately unsheathed the sword. He swiped it over her body, destroying the minions of hell. With Tenseiga back in its sheath, he moved, propping her body up against his arm and leg. His arm around her shoulders, and his leg keeping her propped up. He watched her, waiting for any sign of life.

After a few long minutes, her eyes fluttered open. Blinking slowly, she lifted her head and found herself looking at Sesshomaru. A soft murmur of his name left her lips, but he remained silent as he looked down at her. She asked what happened, recalling that the last thing she saw was him before everything went black. His reply to her was that she'd been killed. She wondered how she was alive then, now remembering the feel of Jakotsu's sword tearing at her flesh. But her wondering received no answer. The hold he had on her shoulders tightened, which caused her to realize just how close to him she was. It was then that he told her that he used Tenseiga to revive her. When she asked him why, the question went unanswered. He helped her stand and merely commented on how Rin would be happy to see her. But she didn't push for an answer. Everything settled into silence, where he spent the next few moments merely looking at her. She caught him looking at her and said his name. He didn't reply and just lifted his hand to brush the back of his fingers against her cheek. It lasted for a moment, before he returned his hand to his side. She smiled a little, then said they should go back to where Rin was. He turned and began to walk away with her trailing after him.

### The Epilogue

Three years after Naraku's defeat, Meiya was living in Kaede's village and adjusted well to the every day life of the feudal era. When Kagome returns to the feudal era, she was surprised to find out that Meiya was pregnant. She was even more surprised to find out that Sesshomaru was the father and had married her friend. As Sesshomaru flew over head behind Meiya, Kagome shouted congratulations to him on becoming a dad. Meiya blushed and scolded Kagome, telling her that she hadn't had a chance to tell him yet.

## Trivia

* Mei (明依) means *bright*, *reliant.* Ya (夜) means *night.* Put together, Meiya means *bright, reliant night*.