Travelers, an Inuyasha/Mermaid Saga Crossover

~Warring-States Era~

"Dammit, what's it take ta kill this thing?!"

Rolling to avoid a swipe from a massive clawed hand, Inuyasha righted himself just as the bulbous-eyed creature turned his way. The veins bulging out over its skins pulsed with its rapid heartbeat, shallow breaths escaping from gaping jaws lined with sharp teeth. The stench of fish and sea-water emanating from its mottled green skin was almost overpowering, but taking a few quick breaths into his sleeve, Inuyasha once again set out on the offensive.

With a swing of Tetsusaiga, he'd cleanly hacked off one of the monster's arms – but despite the gusher of red from the wound, his opponent seemed oddly unfazed. Growling, he lunged out of the way as it swiped with its good arm and nearly caught him in the back. For its size, it was surprisingly limber; Inuyasha watched its movements carefully, senses trained at all times on the girl huddled behind him, wrapped in nothing but his fire-rat robe. Her love of baths had really got them into trouble this time. As blood continued to spill from its wound, he hoped it would eventually slow its movements, but even as he watched, the flow seemed to stop. Even the cuts he'd inflicted on the creature earlier in the fight were already healing faster than any demon he'd ever met.

What the hell was this thing?

"Kagome," he called back, circling to draw the creature away from the defenseless human, "no jewel shards, right?" he turned to look at her, and catching his eye, she shook her head, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself than that one gesture. Nodding, Inuyasha squared his shoulders and brought both hands to Tetsusaiga's hilt.

"I don't know what the hell you are" he ground out, glaring into bloodshot, bulging eyes, "but this ends now." With a battle cry he lunged, Tetsusaiga impaling the creature through the heart as it gave a wailing cry. He smirked, sweat trickling down his brow as he twisted the sword a bit, readying to pull it out and maybe cut the thing in half for good measure. The jarring sound of Kagome gasping made him freeze.

"Inuyasha, watch out!"

He saw the clawed hand heading for his neck almost too late – one hand released Tetsusaiga with little more option than to take the blow and hope the strike wouldn't take off his arm. The hit never came. A deep groan and ragged breathing sounded over the wet rasps of the monster, and Inuyasha lowered his arm to see a dark-haired villager standing between him and the creature's claws. His eyes were scrunched in pain, teeth tightly clenched, and Inuyasha looked on in wide-eyed horror as four punctures beneath the young man's collar bled scarlet, large fingers still protruding from them.

"W-wha… who…" but the young man didn't answer, his attention turning to the harpoon in his hand – the harpoon he'd struck into the monster's throat. It gurgled, its body rigid and wracked by spasms with each small movement of the fishing spear. Taking a deep breath, the villager managed a rasping "Its head… cut off… its head!"

Inuyasha didn't need any more instruction. Wrenching Tetsusaiga from his static opponent, he swung a wide arc and the head fell with a thud to the sand, the head of the harpoon falling dully with it. The body of the creature soon followed suit, but Inuyasha was quick to catch the young man before he could join the carnage. His eyes had slipped shut, but he was still breathing.

"There, that should make the pain a little more bearable. I'm so sorry there's not more I can do."

Kagome tried to hide the water pooling at the corners of her eyes, though her patient was still unconscious, unable to see. The wounds on the young man were horrible, and aside from some modern stitches, she didn't see how he could recover. Her bandages and pain relievers were only superficial remedies. Even if she hadn't sent Miroku and Sango off with half of her first-aid equipment, she still wouldn't have what she needed to save him. He would likely be dead before her friends returned from the Demon Slayer's Village.

She stopped to grasp the young man's hand reassuringly and give him a watery smile before gathering up her supplies and retreating to the wall where Inuyasha sat eyeing the pair. Adjusting the folds of his borrowed robe, her own clothes lost somewhere in the dark ocean inlet where she'd been bathing, she sat close to his warmth and leaned into him. He tensed for a moment but she didn't move away. She'd been badly shaken ever since that fish-like monster had sprung from the salt water beneath her, and had her protector not been standing guard mere feet away…. She laid her head against his shoulder and burrowed into his warmth. This was one time where she wouldn't fault him for being over-protective.

"I don't get it…" Inuyasha mumbled beside her, and Kagome shifted slightly to see him watching the villager pensively. "Why would he risk his life like that? We just got to this village – we've never even met! It ain't like he owes me or nothin'."

"Maybe he's a good person" Kagome whispered, but even she knew that didn't mean much. For a villager, a human at that, to risk his life in fighting a demon… and not only risk his life to save her, but to save a half-demon like Inuyasha… it was beyond anything she'd seen during her time in the Feudal Era. People like that just didn't exist.

"There's another motive. There's gotta be." Kagome wanted to tell him he was being paranoid – that for once he should give the person the benefit of the doubt, try to be a little more open, a little more trusting… but the truth was, she agreed.

As though aware of their conversation, the man on the bedroll before them flinched, and a slight groan tore from his throat. Kagome started, but Inuyasha held her back before she could coddle their seemingly dying savior. She opened her mouth to protest, but then the young man shifted, and his hands went to his head as if rubbing away a headache. The half-demon and human girl watched him breath out shakily as he palmed at the bandages over his chest, and his long-suffering sigh as he sat up was so puzzling that neither bothered to stop his movements. He turned slightly, catching their wary stares, and that same tired sigh escaped him once more.

"Oi!" Inuyasha barked, "You gonna explain what's goin' on, or what?! I can't stand this patronizin' sighing crap."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, eyebrows drawn and mouth pinched, but the half-demon only turned to her with a scowl and pointed an accusing claw at the quiet man across from them as he growled "This bastard ain't smelled of fresh blood since we dragged him off the beach! Those wounds started closin' up the moment I pulled the claws out. I bet if you take those bandages off now, he won't have a scratch!"

Storm-blue eyes turned to the strange man in amazement – if Inuyasha said he didn't smell blood, then it must be as he said, but… how? Neither of them had sensed a demonic aura from the man. Could it really be that a human had healed so quickly?

Seeing the expectant looks of his rescuers, the young man pulled at the bandages on his chest. They fell away to reveal unblemished skin, washed clean of blood by Kagome's hand, without even a scar as Inuyasha had predicted. "Are… are you a half-demon?" Kagome asked tentatively. The young man's face scrunched in confusion and slight revulsion, until he caught the faces of his hosts. The white-haired one appeared crosser than ever. The young girl seemed hurt. "It's not a bad thing, y'know" she added softly, her voice tinged in sorrow. He didn't miss her eyes flickering to her companion, and he thought he understood.

"I'm sorry – I didn't mean to offend." A human and a half-demon… this was certainly among the strangest company he'd ever kept. "I'm just… human. At least… anyways, my name is Yuta. Thank you for saving me." He bowed low, hoping to make up for his earlier blunder, but the dog-eared man didn't seem willing to forgive just yet.

"And what did we do to save you? Looks to me like you healed up just fine on your own." He huffed, turning his nose up in the air and grumbling "Shoulda just left ya out there." His companion rose her voice in warning, and Yuta grit his teeth, trying to keep the annoyance from his voice as he responded "Don't I at least get a thank you? If it weren't for me, that thing might've eaten you both!"

"I'da managed" the half-demon murmured, but Yuta shrugged him off. "Look, you don't understand. You would've taken all night trying to figure out how to actually kill it if it didn't kill you first. And then who would protect your woman! You would've left her to be devoured!" His impassioned speech left off in raised eyebrows as both the boy and girl before him turned vibrant shades of red. He'd just assumed, from their matching red outfits and the fact that the two were traveling alone, that the girl must be the demon's lover. Yuta would have gone so far as to say 'wife', had he thought demons married in the usual way. But from the flustered expressions of his hosts, he was starting to rethink that idea. Now that he looked again, their faces softened by embarrassment… they did look rather young.

"N-nevermind all that." Inuyasha shook off Yuta's remark, saying brusquely "We fight demons all the time. That thing was small-fry… just a lil' more… persistent than usual."

"No, it wasn't persistent, and it wasn't a demon." Yuta watched the two across the fire-pit of the borrowed room in the village inn, and sighed. They were very young indeed. He almost felt afraid to reveal the truth of the creature to them, as though doing so would shatter some innocence that they couldn't get back. It was something he'd seen happen to too many people… people he'd held dear. He'd forgotten what it was like to not know these things himself.

"What do you know of… mermaids?"

~Present Day Japan~

Pushing his way into the train car, Yuta cleared a path for Mana to edge her way towards the seats lining the side. Even though their platform hadn't been too crowded, the train had come from Tokyo and already had more than its fair share of passengers. They could've taken the longer route and reached the coast-line on foot, but… he'd mentioned the train, and Mana said that she'd never ridden one. The expression she wore each time a new experience in life was opened to her was worth every detour the road had to offer.

Besides… it wasn't as though they didn't have time.

She had managed to find the only vacant seat and was eagerly looking out the window at the countryside already rushing past. Rooftops zoomed by, hidden among the trees as telephone lines shot up like sentries lining the tracks. She watched the world pass by for a while, and Yuta watched her. He'd never wish this immortal life on anyone, and did everything in his power to protect others from it, but… it was nice for once, not to be alone.

Getting lost in his thoughts for a moment, he looked down to see Mana's sharp eyes drawn away from the window and focused deeper within the throng of passengers. She looked as alert as if she'd just heard the howling of a Lost Soul.

"What is it?" Her eyes flickered to him momentarily, but honed in once more on her target before she answered softly "I don't know, but… I saw white hair. Long, white hair… like Towa's."

Yuta stopped, and looked out over the expanse of heads for anything white. Aside from a few graying elders, he saw nothing. "Are you sure?" he questioned back, and flinched as her sharp eyes snapped to him. "I'm not saying it's her" she said, "but it might be someone… someone like her. I can't see them well." She was stewing, and he didn't press her. If they were like the now deceased Towa, that meant they had drunk Mermaid blood – they might have undergone a partial transformation, and achieved partial immortality. Or….

The train stopped, the doors opening as a large group of passengers departed and only a few took their place. Yuta was glad to be able to breathe again. Looking down at Mana he said calmly "Or it could be some wild fashion from Tokyo. People in that city like to do strange things like that to their hair."

Mana didn't bother turning her head as she responded in a heavy whisper "Then why is the white-haired person staring at you, Yuta?"

Yuta looked up, not knowing what to expect – it certainly wasn't the wave of nostalgia that hit him the moment he locked eyes with gleaming gold framed in white. He took in that face, his mind swimming in memories as it tried to place times and towns and names to the strange man watching him intently across the train. And then he looked at the young girl seated next to him, and the pieces all fell together. 'Inuyasha! Kagome! That fishing village back in the warring states era! He'd saved them from a Lost Soul, and they'd tried to save him – only to find he needed no such help. For a moment Yuta wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him; certainly he was remembering them wrong, and his mind was making up faces that he didn't really remember. But then the white-haired man, his head topped in a ball-cap, leaned over and whispered something in the girl's ear, drawing her attention to Yuta as well. Her eyes lit in unmistakable excitement, and she looked to be giggling behind her hand. The boy beside her smirked, and they fell to whispering, never once taking their eyes from Yuta, who was trying to pretend he didn't notice the stares.

He remembered their encounter. These two odd youths were hard to forget. He could remember explaining to them about mermaids, and remembered the disbelief in their eyes as he told them how a mermaid's flesh could grant immortality. He told them how it was a poison that could either cure or kill, and the monster they'd fought was a person whose body had rejected the cure, turning it into something else entirely. Yuta could see in his mind's eye how the girl, Kagome, had clung to her companion, shivering in something deeper than horror to think that the creature they'd fought had once been human. He could remember as well how the half-demon had held her tightly in one arm, stone-faced even as his eyes turned haunted.

Yuta had begged them not to go looking for any more mermaids or Lost Souls, and Inuyasha had said gravely "if they don't got a jewel shard and they're not with Naraku, I don't care. I'll leave 'em to you." He'd been more than happy to abide by those terms. Demon-slaying wasn't Yuta's specialty either. He'd stayed the night with them, and in the morning they'd decided to move on. If Yuta remembered correctly, they were moving inland. But before they'd parted, Yuta had made them promise: he'd taken hold of both their hands, ignoring the half-demon's scowl, and pleaded and begged till his throat was sore that they would never eat mermaid flesh. He told them to enjoy their youth, and enjoy their future, and enjoy the passage of time. He remembered Kagome's smile as she solemnly promised never to eat it. He could still hear Inuyasha's voice ringing out "I'd rather die than eat that shit." And he'd let them go.

And here they were. Not looking a day older than when he'd left them almost five hundred years ago. And they recognized him. His heart warred in his chest: anger that they'd broken their promise, relief that their bodies had accepted the change, sorrow for those five hundred years they'd endured, and happiness that they'd seemingly spent that time together. He looked down at Mana, and finally, he settled on a smile. It really was nice not to be alone.

Kagome was still laughing to herself as they got off the train. Who would've thought their little trip to the sea would lead to finding Yuta's descendant? And only a week after meeting him? She still couldn't believe the coincidence, and had Inuyasha to thank for spotting him in the first place. Looking over at her companion, walking somewhat awkwardly in his sandals and baggy jeans, she smiled wider and linked her arm with his. She had a lot to thank him for – after he'd banned them all from any further sea-side excursions, she'd spent the week trying to convince him that the beaches in her time were safe and mermaid-free. Kagome still couldn't believe she'd talked him into this 'sea-viewing' day trip, but here they were, and he'd yet to voice any real complaints. Yuta's descendant was just the icing on the cake of her good day!

They'd walked not far from the station, and Kagome could already see the cliffs rising up out of the sandy beaches below. Flashes of fear from the previous week's encounter flittered briefly in her mind, but she tampered it down. They were in her time! There were no demons or mermaids or any other dangers – at least, none that she and Inuyasha couldn't handle. And come to think of it… they could handle demons and mermaids too. Burying her nose in her map, she missed the two figures approaching them at a run, until a clawed finger tapped on her shoulder and Inuyasha spoke up hesitantly "Uh… Kagome?"

That descendent was standing before them, a black-haired girl beside him who looked about the same age as Kagome. Her dark eyes flickered uneasily between the group, lingering suspiciously on Inuyasha. Kagome frowned – usually the only looks Inuyasha got in her time were of curiosity. Did… did they know what he was?

Panting to catch his breath, Yuta's descendent stared at each of them in turn, until finally he found his voice and said softly "Inuyasha… Kagome."

They froze. Their eyes met, both sharing the same thought: a descendent shouldn't know who they were. Kagome wished she could send the half-demon a message. Could this man be Yuta's reincarnation? But reincarnations didn't usually share memories, did they? She hadn't shared Kikyo's.

Watching their growing confusion, the young man tried again. "Don't you remember me? I was sure you did. I know it's been a long time. I'm Yuta."

A growl boiled up in Inuyasha's throat that mirrored Kagome's frustration. "You can't be Yuta" he ground out, "Yuta lived –"

"Over five hundred years ago, I know" the man finished, his voice stronger and more sure. "I already told you the night we met that I'd eaten mermaid flesh. You saw my wounds heal. What more proof do you need?" The girl beside him pursed her lips, silent and sullen. Kagome thought she looked like a volcano getting ready to burst, and made a note to soften their approach.

"Sorry," she tried again, meeting both sets of eyes before her with a smile, "but we're a little surprised."

"And you think I'm not?" Yuta's voice deepened, his face turning grim. "I never thought I'd see you two again. I wasn't supposed to. You broke your promise."

"Now wait just a damned minute!"

Kagome sprung forward, grabbing Inuyasha around the waist as he advanced on the pair. She was right to do so, as Mana sprung suddenly between them in a defensive stance, brandishing a pocket-knife she'd had hidden in her coat. "You think we don't know what you are?!" She shouted, and both Kagome and Inuyasha went stiff at the hate lacing it. "Stop playing games, and just fess up! You've eaten mermaid flesh just like we have!"

Dawning comprehension filled their faces, and both Kagome and Inuyasha looked utterly horrified. "You can't be serious!" Kagome glanced between both accusing faces, her hand going to her heart as she said emphatically "You think we would do that? After we gave our word not to?" When the faces of her audience only hardened, she faltered. "I mean it! Yuta, don't you remember how scared we were? Do you really think that after what we saw, we'd be stupid enough to do something like that?"

"Then how are you here?" Yuta's eyes no longer carried the hurt of earlier, but he looked lost. Kagome couldn't blame him, but she wasn't sure if she could really answer his question. Mana had lowered her knife, but her eyes remained livid.

"I wouldn't believe them, Yuta" she said icily, "Just look at this one" she pointed to Inuyasha, who glared at her accusing finger. "He's got that same white hair as Towa. And more than that, he's got claws and fangs. I guess the mermaid flesh didn't take the whole way."

Inuyasha was bristling by the time she finished talking, a low warning rumble in his chest. "Oi, you wanna start something?" It was Yuta who intervened, his hand lighting on Mana's shoulder as he laughed "Nah, he looked like that from the start."

Mana's surprise would have been comical, had Kagome not known what was sure to follow. Seeing the other tourists still lingering about the station, Kagome put on her most diplomatic smile and said "Why don't we find a nice quiet spot on the beach to talk… preferably away from everyone else."

Following Inuyasha's nose, they eventually found a quiet cove devoid of beach-goers. It was shaded and lined in craggy rocks, making it just difficult enough to dissuade sight-seers. Seating themselves on the narrow crescent of sand by the ebbing waves, they sat in silence for a moment and let their questions gather.

"Alright, I need to know" Yuta began tensely, "If you didn't eat mermaid flesh… how have you survived 500 years without aging a day?!" Hunched over himself, he glanced across at Kagome, who shifted uncomfortably under the expectant stare.

"Well, y'see the truth is…" she opened her mouth, closed it again, and taking a breath said in an exhale "for us it's only been a week."

There was no response. Her eyes flittered up to meet Yuta's. He looked bewildered. "Wh-what do you mean-"

"It means we went forward in time, dumbass." Inuyasha finished his succinct explanation with a grunt and crossed his arms, for all intents and purposes finishing the conversation. Unfortunately, he was the only one who'd finished.

"Just like that?" Yuta's incredulous tone was to be expected, but it still stung a bit. It was the sort of reaction Kagome expected to get were she ever to reveal her secret to anyone. "You just 'went forward in time'. What, you have a time machine or something?"

Now it was Inuyasha looking confused. "Time mesheen? What's that? We just go through the well at her family's shrine. It goes from her world to mine. Simple as that."

"Ooh, that simple!" Kagome winced, but Inuyasha didn't seem to have picked up on Yuta's mocking yet. "You've just got a time portal in your backyard, and you use it to go on train rides in the future and get your asses kicked by Lost Souls in the past!"

"We weren't getting our asses kicked – I had it covered! But other than that… yeah, basically! We fight demons there, we do what she wants here!"

"Guys, please" Kagome raised her hands to intervene, though her mind was still dwelling on that oh-so interesting little remark Inuyasha had said at the end. 'We do what I want, huh? I'll have to ask him about that!' Biting back a smile at his words, she tried a peaceful "I know it's a lot to take in at one time, but for now, please just believe us when we say that we didn't eat any mermaid flesh!"

Yuta was quiet for a moment, a hand to his chin in thought, until his voice broke the stillness to say sullenly "There's a way to test it y'know. If you'd really eaten mermaid flesh… you'd heal like I do."

The reaction was instantaneous. Kagome was thrust behind Inuyasha at lightning speed, his sweatshirt-clad arms spread out in front of her and fangs bared in blatant warning. "Don't. You. Touch her." Kagome grasped his shoulder, peering from behind the strands of white to see Yuta… laughing?

"Forgive me" he said between chuckles, "but I had to be sure. If there's one thing I remembered about you two, it was how protective you were of your… not-woman." Yuta's smile grew even broader as those same flushes of red crept up the teenager's necks, and he was sure – they were just as he'd left them five hundred years ago. Somehow, their story was true.

Amidst the sputtering and laughter, Mana abruptly stood. The other voices silenced as she took a few steps away, and at the silence she turned back slightly. "I'm just going to get some sunlight. I'll be right back." Yuta watched her go with concern, and started to rise to his feet, but Kagome beat him to it.

"I think I'll go get some sun too" she said brightly, and was off before either boy could say a word.

She followed Mana in silence until they were a fair distance away from the cove. Kagome couldn't be sure it was far enough away to distract Inuyasha's hearing, but the crashing waves would make it difficult regardless. Mana had said nothing of her shadowing companion, so Kagome dared to follow a little closer, until they both stopped at the shoreline, staring out over the waves.

Kagome waited for Mana to speak, and was finally rewarded with the girl's thoughtful voice. "I want him to go with you." It took a moment for Kagome to realize what Mana was talking about, and another moment to puzzle out "Why?"

Mana didn't respond at once, her eyes turning upward to the grey-blue sky and wisping clouds. "I don't know if he told you when you met, but he's trying to break this curse we're under. He's trying to get rid of his immortality." Kagome remembered – she could understand his feelings. "He's been under this curse a lot longer than I have. I've only recently…" her voice faltered, her eyes falling to the water lapping at her bare feet. She swallowed, and continued in a stronger voice "He rescued me from the mermaids who did this to me, and explained about the curse. I owe him everything. And I know there's nothing he wants more than to be free to live like a normal man. If he goes with you… he might have a chance."

"You mean" Kagome said haltingly, "if he goes to the past with us, he might find a way to undo his immortality?"

"What I mean" Mana answered, her dark eyes flashing as she focused them on Kagome, "is that if he goes back to the past, he can stop himself from ever eating mermaid flesh in the first place."

Kagome's heart shattered under that stare. This girl was trying so hard to be strong, to hold herself together, but Kagome could see so much hurt – hurt she'd carried many times herself. What a tragic life Yuta must have had, for Mana to suffer for him so. And how brave of Mana, to want him to be free at the expense of her own happiness. It was something she understood well; the pain and satisfaction of such a decision were old friends. Kagome found little comfort in the fact that Mana wouldn't have to sacrifice like that after all.

"I'm sorry Mana" she started softly, gently laying a hand to the other girl's shoulder. Mana flinched, but neither girl moved away. "The well doesn't work that way. It's a fixed point in time. I don't pick the time, it just takes me back five hundred years. If Yuta were to go back, he'd go back to the point after we'd already met him. He'd end up in a time after he's already been cursed." Mana's eyes hardened, and she looked away to the sea once more. Smiling sadly, Kagome's hand fell to her side once more. Her voice rose to a lighter tone as she said "Besides, I'd hate to think of the trouble it might cause if the two Yuta's were to meet… might cause a rift in time and space or something, and I'd hate to do that!" Mana didn't share her smile, but she didn't look quite as depressed as earlier.

Daring to try again, Kagome took a deep breath and started "I can understand how you feel. Inuyasha… he's been hated for most of his life, by everyone, even his own brother… and I've tried to take away his pain, but you can't. You can only support them, be there when they fall and hold them when they can't go on. And I try to show him the good in life, to show him that it's more than pain and hate, that there are things to look forward to, and… and people who love him." The crash of a large wave that swept over their ankles broke her from her reverie, and she turned to see Mana watching her in interest.

"Eternity is a long time to do that" Mana said softly, and Kagome smiled. "Plenty of time to practice then!" The other girl shared her expression, and they both turned to the sea. The ocean waves were fascinating – Kagome had seen them so few times in her life, and their power awed her. For a moment she thought of how powerless she would be against them… and how the girl next to her had overcome them without trying.

"I suppose I can understand why everyone wants immortality so badly" Kagome began, startling her new friend. "Once you've stared death in the face, you realize how badly you want to live. I've stared at it myself a few times." She turned to see Mana's growing alarm and laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not going back on my promise. Mermaid flesh isn't worth the risk." Once Mana seemed appeased, she continued in a dreamy voice "I just think… it wouldn't be so bad, if you had someone to share eternity with." Locking eyes with the girl beside her, Kagome whispered "You're lucky to not be alone."

Mana couldn't hold her gaze for long, and her eyes turned back to the ocean, red and raw from the salty air.

*Author's Note:

There might be a second chapter to this, there might not be. At most it's going to be a two-shot. I know Mermaid Saga isn't super well-known, but that's a shame because it's a GORGEOUS series! I've read most of the manga and I absolutely love it. It's heart-breaking and scary and poignant and just... really really wonderful. And the moment I realized that Yuta had been alive during the Feudal Era, I knew I had to write a crossover. It was too good a chance to pass up. So everyone, please do yourselves a favor and go read Mermaid Saga! You can find it online and it's SO worth it! It's only three volumes, so not very long. Totally doable.

Thanks for reading!