The day was sunny, but the cool wind was keeping the sun from blazing too hotly. Even the animals and plants seemed to be finally enjoying the weather.
"WindScar!"
The yellow light burst out of a small copse of trees, slamming into the hulking form of a massive demon centipede, tearing a giagantic hole in the side. Ichor sprayed from the gaping wound, and the demon screeched in pain.
It didn't turn, though, just kept coming on towards the nearest village.
A brilliant arrow went streaking outwards, to strike the demon in the head, and it was closely followed by both a small strip of paper, and then a huge spinning weapon. Under this onslaught, the demon quickly shattered into pieces, and fell with a gurgling groan.
"That's the third one today," Miroku said, stepping from the group of trees to stand beside the corpse of the demon. He shook out his robes where it was splattered with ichor, "Something certainly has them all stirred up."
The hanyou stepped from the shadows of the forest as well, his Tetsusaiga resting on a shoulder, "Yeah, and I'd love to find out what the hell it is. It's irritating me as well."
Kagome looked at him, frowning, "You can feel it too?"
"If Shippo were here, he'd tell you. But haven't you noticed Kirara's been acting a little...antsy?"
Sango nodded, and laid a hand on the large head of the feline, "Yes, I have. I thought she was just being a little silly. All cats get a little silly now and then, Kirara's no exception."
InuYasha shook his head, sheathing his sword, "I can't really explain it...it's like since I got up this morning I've been feeling this weird vibration in the air." He turned to Kagome, "You know how there's sort of a hum near those big metal trees in your world?"
"The power stations? Yeah, you can sort of hear it and feel it too."
He nodded, "It's like that, only not as strong. But definately here."
"Why didn't you say something, InuYasha?" Miroku asked.
InuYasha shrugged, "I didn't really think it was all that important. There's no demonic aura, no sense of anything bad or evil, no scent to follow. I thought it was just something I was hearing."
The monk smiled at him, "It's truly amazing, InuYasha, how powerful your senses are. That time we were transported into each other's bodies...it took all my concentration to pay attention."
InuYasha grinned, "You get used to it."
"Well," Kagome said, "Should we head on, or wait and see if any more are going to show up? I hate to think of the villagers here having to deal with a demon on their own."
"Yeah," InuYasha looked towards the village, "Though I hate the thought of just sitting here waiting..."
"We weren't really heading anywhere anyway," Kagome said, "We might as well just camp here for the night. Besides, it's giving me a chance to practice my sacred arrows some more."
The Kageri seemed to appear beside Kagome, out of thin air, "Yes, and already they are growing in strength, Nushi."
Kagome smiled at him.
InuYasha scowled, looking away for a second, and blinking when he saw Sango watching him. The demon slayer blinked, and quickly looked away, but there was a strange guilty look on her face.
"Well, if we're going to set up camp," Miroku said, "We might as well get started. I'll start on a fire pit for when we want to cook."
"An excellent idea, Miroku-Monk. I'll get some water. And perhaps we can go fishing again later?"
The monk laughed, "I think I've created a monster. DarkWind, you're enjoying fishing more than I am."
"It is most enjoyable! A sort of battle of the wills, and yet you can only move a little, speak softly. You cannot see your adversary, and yet you know he is there. Never did I think fishing to be so captivating."
Miroku chuckled, "Well, I guess being so fond of something so productive is a good thing...we'll never be short of fish. Go get the water, and when I'm done here we'll see what we can catch."
The little group set up camp, clearing away twigs and rocks from a central circular area, digging a small fire pit, and laying out their blankets.
The day wore on. Several hours after setting up camp, they were interrupted by a fourth, and then a fifth demon, all irritated and looking for the source of whatever strange sensation was in the air. While destroying them was by no means hard, it was starting to get annoying, and confusing as well.
"InuYasha," Kagome asked as they ate their supper, "Do you think you could home in on where the weird sensation you can feel is coming from? If it's something we can fix, the attacks would stop. Like you I really don't want to just hang around here, waiting to be attacked."
InuYasha shrugged, "I don't think so. I can't really...it's like there's no real direction, you know? It's like the air all around here is vibrating or something. It's everywhere."
She watched him quietly, "Does it hurt or anything?"
InuYasha grinned, his fangs flashing in the low light, "Hell no. It's just sort of irritating. Sometimes I forget about it. I can see how it would really annoy demons, though."
He turned towards Sango, "How's Kirara do-"
He blinked. Sango was sort of staring at him again, and once again she blinked, looking away very guiltily, before looking down to the small feline resting in her lap.
"It's irritating her, I think. But she's sleeping now. I gave her a little sleeping potion to make her drowsy after I saw she couldn't settle down."
"Good idea," Kagome agreed, smiling at the snoozing kitten.
InuYasha looked to the fire, frowning. What was up with Sango? It's like the exterminator was looking for something in his face, she watched him so intently.
"Oh, I have a treat for you guys!" Kagome grinned.
"Oh?"
"I brought over something called Popcorn for you to try!"
"Popcorn?" Miroku asked.
InuYasha nodded, "Oh yeah, I've had that stuff in Kagome's world."
"What's it like?"
"I can't explain it..."
Kagome rose, and walked over to her backpack and pulled out what looked like a tinfoil frying pan. Removing a cardboard label, she wrapped a towel around the handle, and held it out over the fire.
Sango rose, and knelt beside Kagome, peering at it, "The food is already inside?"
"Uh-huh. And it will pop in there too."
InuYasha watched the two women for a moment, then walked over and seated himself beside Miroku. He leaned back against the same tree as the monk, and spoke lowly.
"Hey Miroku...did anything weird happen when you guys were back at Sango's village?"
The monk tore his eyes away from the strange contraption Kagome held, and looked at the hanyou, "Strange? Like what?"
InuYasha shrugged, "I don't know...anything? Demons? Monsters...anything?"
Miroku frowned, "Not that I know of, no. Certainly the visit went calmly and quietly, save for a few things happening with DarkWind."
"Happenings? Like what?"
Miroku sighed slightly, but chuckled, "You've noticed the effect DarkWind seems to have on many human women. That was it, mostly. For a day or so we always seemed to have a group of women just happen to show up wherever we happened to be. That, and Sango and Kohaku having some sort of serious discussion about the village, everything else was quiet and calm."
"The village? What do you mean?"
"Just...the future, I suppose. They went into their house to talk privately. They never openly invited me, and while I'm sure they would have had I shown any desire to join them, I felt it was indeed a private matter and so excused myself and went for a walk. But when I returned they were out in the village again, talking normally."
Miroku studied InuYasha in silence for a minute, "Why do you ask?"
"Huh? Oh, uh...just...wondering."
Miroku chuckled, "InuYasha, you are the worst liar I have ever met."
The container in Kagome's hand suddenly erupted in a flurry of loud pops, startling the Kageri, Sango and Miroku, and they gathered around to watch the popcorn expand the container.
"Ah Nushi, I cannot eat another bite. You have some truly wonderful things from your world."
DarkWind was stretched out on his side, hovering a few feet off the ground, watching Kagome as she burned the leftover popcorn. Miroku was stretched out on his back, looking up at the stars, "Yes, I have to agree. Popcorn is definately something you need to bring back more often."
Kagome laughed, "Miroku, if you lived in my world, you'd be a junk food junkie, I can tell."
Miroku laughed.
The moon slowly rose above the treetops, a quarter moon, growing in size. The little fire crackled merrily.
"I miss Shippo," Kagome said, smiling, "He's usually such a little chatterbox."
"Yes. Two colds, one after the other," Miroku said, "Poor Shippo. But then that's what happens, I guess, when you're a child in a village. What one child gets, they all end up getting."
InuYasha watched the fire, watched the flames dancing. From the corner of his eye he could make out Sango's form, and knew the demon slayer was watching him again. He felt uneasy...anyone else and he could snap, demand an explanation. But he didn't want to snap at Sango.
He had just picked up a hunk of wood, and tossed it into the fire, to have something to do, when she spoke, standing up.
"InuYasha, would you come with me for a minute?"
Everyone turned, curious. InuYasha blinked at her, for some reason feeling like he had been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to have.
"Uh...now?"
Sango nodded. She turned, crossing to her backpack. She removed something - some sort of tubular item, and slipped it into her clothing, before starting out of the camp into the forest.
InuYasha sat there, watching her uneasily, until Kagome poked him in the back, "Hurry up, InuYasha."
"Uhhh..." feeling more and more uneasy, he rose, and followed Sango.
They walked out of the circle of light cast up by the campfire, and he saw she was looking back at him, waiting for him to catch up. InuYasha was starting to feel more and more uneasy...there was a look on Sango's face that this was serious, and he started wondering if he had done anything to upset or offend her lately. Whatever was going to happen, he had a feeling it wasn't going to be good.
Sango walked a little in front, occasionally glancing up at the moon above them. In the low light her hair looked more black than brown.
The hanyou studied her, the way she walked, and knew she was searching inside herself, trying to find the right words, or the right way to start speaking. And that made him uneasy as well. What did she want to talk about where she was uneasy?
They stepped out into a little clearing, a very small stream running past. The water level was low, but there were still a few remaining water lillies here and there, and several remaining fireflies dancing about. The moonlight reflected off the stream, making it look like a stream of pure silver.
InuYasha stood on the stream bank, hands up the opposite sleeve, looking into the water. He was starting to wish Sango would hurry up and talk...he was getting more and more uneasy by the minute.
"So..how have you been, InuYasha?"
He looked back at her. Sango stood a little ways away from him, standing in a like manner, looking into the water as well.
He shrugged, "Ok, I guess. What about you? I mean, how was your visit home?"
She looked at him, and smiled, "It was good, thank you. Our village is finally complete now. Word must have gotten out we have rebuilt - there was even a few people there looking to hire some of our people to get rid of some demons."
InuYasha smiled back, "Well, good."
She nodded, and her smile faded as she watched him, studied his face. Uneasily, he spoke, "Sango?"
She glanced up at the moon again, and then reached into her clothing, pulling out the small black tube-shaped object. Unscrewing one end, she pulled out a small scroll. She started talking, keeping her eyes on the scroll.
"InuYasha, Kohaku and were talking, and...we...well...I mean...we want to do something...you have done so much for us...but I'm not sure how you're going to take this. So if you don't want this, just tell me, ok, and I won't be upset in any way. But please don't be angry or offended, because I swear to you I don't mean to offend or upset you."
InuYasha blinked, growing alarmed, "What are you talking about?"
She looked up, and he was startled to see how uneasy she looked, "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to really say this right, and I can't, can I? Here, just...look at this. It will explain everything."
She held out the scroll to him. Hesitantly, he took it, and glancing at her face again, unrolled it.
At first he was unable to make any sense out of what he was looking at - it seemed to just be a long list of names. After a moment, he realized he was looking at a family tree, going back several generations. The actual names were white, untouched, while the paper around it was black. He guessed it was some sort of charcoal rubbing, taken from a crypt wall or something. Confused, he scanned down the list - the names meaning nothing to him, until he got to the bottom, where the last two were there.
Sango. And Kohaku.
And drawn in next to it, were two kanji symbols. One was the prefix for adoption.
The other was his name.
Eyes wide, he looked up at her, totally baffled and shocked.
Sango twined her fingers together, hands hanging before her, "It's entirely your choice, InuYasha, we're not doing anything you don't want to do...nothing's been made permanent yet...Kohaku and I made that and added in your name so you could see what the family wall would look like if you agreed...are you angry? You're not angry, are you?"
"You..." InuYasha just stared, "You want to adopt me?"
Sango nodded, then suddenly shook her head, "It's not like we'd expect you to forget who you are or anything! You wouldn't even really call us sister or brother if you didn't want...I mean it's not like you're a child or anyth-"
"Why?"
She fell silent for a moment, and then spoke gently, "Because you deserve family, InuYasha. And...as far as I am concerned...you are already my brother. Kohaku thinks so too. You have done...so much for us. But...you don't have a place of your own. The way the rest of us do. No place of safety to go to if you are sick or tired or hurt."
InuYasha lowered the scroll, and continued to just stare at her, eyes wide. He wasn't sure what to say, what to do. Of all the things he had been expecting, this was not it.
Sango spoke again, "You are always welcome at my village, InuYasha. If you ever need help, shelter...healing...I will take you there. But Kohaku and I were thinking...we may not always be around. You need...a home."
"I..."
"I know it would be strange for you, InuYasha. You've never met any of my villagers, you don't know them, they're strangers to you. But still...if we were ever separated, and you needed help...you would know you would be welcomed there with open arms."
"I don't..."
"There wouldn't be a ceremony or anything like that, I know you'd hate that. Your name would just be carved in next to mine. Any thing my family is entitled to, you would be entitled to."
"Why do you want to do this?"
She fell silent again. A firefly came and settled on her shoulder, unnoticed by her.
Her voice was gentle, "Because. You are already my brother, InuYasha. This would...make it sort of official, I guess. And I would rest easier...knowing you had...a home. Someplace to go if you needed help. A place to belong."
InuYasha swallowed. Emotions warred within him, and he took refuge in his old ways.
He crossed his arms, looking at her, "You pity me or something? Think I can't make it on my own? I've lived this long on my own just fine!"
"I know you have," she said softly, "I don't pity you in the least, InuYasha. I love you."
He blinked, stepping back a step, off balance emotionally.
Sango chuckled at his expression, "You are the older brother I never had, InuYasha. Kohaku feels the same way. We aren't reaching out to you because of pity. We're reaching out because of love. We want you to...offically...be recognised as our family. One of us. Everything we have, is yours. This would just prove it, so no one could ever refute it."
At a loss, he watched her, feeling oddly lost. Sango was offering him family. All she had. Safety, shelter, protection if he ever needed it.
"Then...I guess...yeah."
She blinked, "Yes? You're saying yes?"
Part of InuYasha felt extremely foolish, part felt touched and warmed, "Yeah. Ok. But..no ceremony or big deal or anything, right?"
She quickly shook her head, "NO, no big deal. No ceremony, nothing. We'll have your name carved alongside mine, and we'll tell the villagers so they know and that will be all of it."
InuYasha took a deep breath, and let it out in a whoosh, "Ok."
Sango's smile lit up her face, and she laughed in delight.
InuYasha was about to speak, when she leapt forward, throwing her arms around him, hugging him tightly, "Thank you!"
InuYasha blushed, feeling foolish, but hugged her back, patting her back lightly, "Aren't I supposed to thank you?"
"No," she said softly, "You will never understand, InuYasha, how much I love you for what you have done for me and Kohaku. Never."
InuYasha fell silent, not sure what to say.
Sango pulled back, laughing again, and as she turned, InuYasha thought he saw the slight glimmer of tears, "We should head back, the others are probably dying with curiousity."
"Yeah, if they're not just hiding in the bushes somewhere listening."
She laughed, then glanced back at him, "We don't even have to tell the others, if you'd rather."
He paused, then nodded, "Yeah, just between us for now?"
She nodded, "Deal."
InuYasha followed Sango back to the campsite, noticing she almost flew along in her joy, and smiled.
Sister.
The next morning, they arose to a more hot, humid day, as before. The sky was overcast, seemingly almost moody. They had a light breakfast, and Kagome noticed InuYasha's ears kept swivelling around, and he kept glancing around, almost nervously.
"InuYasha? Is anything wrong?"
"No, it's...that weird humming sensation. It's stronger now. Really irritating."
"Well...Kirara isn't here to experience it, so as long as you can put up with it-"
"Where's Kirara?"
"Sango sent her and DarkWind back to her village. She didn't say what for, just that it was really important. She gave DarkWind something to carry. What's going on?"
"It's...uh.." InuYasha found himself starting to blush, "Nothing."
Kagome blinked at him, and laughed, "Sure it's not."
He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly blinked, and turned, looking off in the distance. He stood up, and Kagome stood beside him, "InuYasha?"
"Izumi's coming."
"Izumi?"
Sure enough, as they waited, the tall, brightly colourful figure of the woman walked from the forest, heading towards their camp. InuYasha noticed right away she was walking quickly, not quite running, but close. She was also holding some long sword in her hand.
A little alarmed, he started walking towards her, "Izumi? What's wrong?"
The tall woman approached him, nodding to him and Kagome, and to Sango and Miroku as the other two joined them, "Can you feel it, InuYasha? The disturbance?"
"You mean the buzzing feeling?"
She nodded, "Just so."
"What is it? What's going on?"
"I've never seen you with a weapon you hand, Izumi," Miroku said uneasily, "Should we be on guard?"
"Yes," she said bluntly, straight forward, "You should. A portal is going to open very near here."
They blinked at her words, at the resolute look on her face, "A portal?"
Izumi looked at InuYasha, nodding. Her face was stern, "Keimetsu is making a portal here, to this plane."
"What, now?" InuYasha cried, and pulled his Tetsusaiga, "Is the war starting already?"
"No, no! But he has done this before. He-" she turned, looking towards the forest, and frowned, "Come with me."
The tall woman turned, sprinting on through their camp, plunging into the forest on the other side. InuYasha was three steps behind her when suddenly all his senses were on overload. The mild buzzing vibration that seemed to come out of the very air around him, suddenly exploded in force, sending the hanyou staggering to the side.
"InuYasha!" Kagome slipped an arm around him to steady him, "Are you ok!"
One hand to his head, he growled, but nodded, "Yeah...just a second...you guys go follow Izumi."
Miroku and Sango nodded, and plunged into the brush, following in Izumi's wake.
Kagome watched him, worriedly, "Are you sure you're ok?"
He nodded again, standing up straight. He ran a hand over his face for a second, then lowered his hand and nodded at her, looking sheepish, "Sorry."
"What happened?"
He turned, heading on again, Kagone beside him.
"Everything just got a lot more powerful!"
They ran on.