"What's that weird smell…" whispered Inuyasha to himself. He sniffed a couple of times before giving up. He had bigger things to worry about. Such as kicking Koga's ass for talking to Kagome. He could hear the rest of the group behind him, Miroku was yelling for him to stop. Of course, Inuyasha ignored it and kept going in the direction of Koga's smell, ignoring the other one.
He came to an abrupt halt when he reached a small village. The strange unidentified scent was stronger… Inuyasha couldn't figure out what it was, not human but not demon. He tried to shake his head and clear his thoughts, but the smell was sort of intoxicating. He felt someone grab his shoulder. He whipped around and saw Kagome catching her breath, with Shippo, Miroku, and Sango on her heels.
"Inuyasha… *gasp gasp* what the heck is *gasp gasp* your problem!?" said Kagome, out of breath. She seemed to want to reprimand him, but stopped when she saw the expression on his face. "Inu…yasha?"
Miroku, Sango, and Shippo had finally caught up with them. "Inuyasha, we thought you would've run forever!" said Miroku, laughing slightly while catching his breath. He was about to make a joke but Kagome stopped him.
"Inuyasha… what's wrong?" Inuyasha's face was tense and concentrating on the scent. Shippo tried to jump and see his face better, but Inuyasha swatted him out of the way. Before starting another question, Kagome gasped, "A… jewel shard!"
This made Inuyasha whip his head toward her. "Jewel shard, eh!?" he was energized again. "Well, where is it woman!?"
"Follow me…" said Kagome as she started towards the center of the small town. Everyone followed her, watching intently and readying their weapons. Not once have they acquired a jewel shard through peaceful manners.
"Here it is." Kagome stopped at a small building. No more than one story, and kind of grubby looking, it didn't stand out among the rest of the buildings.
"Hm… " said Inuyasha, who couldn't help but realize that the weird smell also seemed to be coming from the dingy looking building. Unable to tell if it was dangerous, he told the others "I'll go in. You guys stay here… I don't know what's in there."
Kagome prepared to protest, but Sango cut her off. Sango realized that something wasn't right, Inuyasha was acting weird. "Okay Inuyasha… we will stay here, call us if you need help." Kagome wanted to glare at Sango, but she also knew that Inuyasha was being weird.
"As if I'll need help." Said Inuyasha as he walked up to the building. Putting his hand warily on the doorknob, he turned it. The room inside was lit fairly well, and was kept remarkably clean. There was no furniture except for a desk with a man standing behind it, and a door that was locked behind the desk.
The man behind the desk looked to be about twenty five, and was well dressed. At the sound of the door closing, his head snapped up, and he greeted Inuyasha with a blindingly white smile. "Welcome sir! Welcome!"
Inuyasha took another step towards him, still not sure what type of building it was. His head was clouded with the strange smell. It was a sort of demon… How in the world could he find out what that smell was!? He cleared his throat and took a shot at it, "Uh… do you have any demons?"
The man just looked at him approvingly. "Well well, sir, you have expensive tastes! I am afraid that we have no full blooded demons, they are far too hard to catch, but we do have a half demon!"
That's what the smell was! It was a half demon! But… why would they be holding a demon in this old building?
"Would you like to see her, sir?" Inuyasha nodded slowly, and the man unlocked the door behind him. "Follow me then." With another smile, he disappeared into the door. Inuyasha took in a deep breath, and followed him in.
Inside the door was a dark stairwell. It seemed to go on for a while, and Inuyasha felt the pulse of life. He followed the man down, for what seemed like three stair wells. The only light was the occasional light torch hanging from the wall. The man stopped at a door that was heavily locked. There were several different types of locks on it.
The man fiddled with his keys, and finally was able to open the door. Inside, it was pitch black except for a pair of purple eyes that seemed to be glowing in the darkness. The man grabbed one of the light torch's and shed some light in the small dark room.
There was a girl in there… she had white hair chopped to her shoulders crudely. Her skin shone eerily, as if the moon was shining on her. There was a jewel shard on her forehead, hidden by her bangs. It glittered when the light shone it.
Inuyasha took a step back… finally realizing what business that this was. It was a slave trade. How the heck could they capture a half demon!? Obviously a weakling thought Inuyasha. The man beckoned him to get closer, "No worries, these chains keep her power under control." Inuyasha's eyes were drawn to the shackles around her wrists and ankles, which were attached to the wall. "Would you like a moment, sir?"
"Uh… yeah…" Inuyasha stared at the jewel shard, with only one thought at mind. To get at it. The man bowed, and closed the door, leaving Inuyasha and the strange half demon girl alone. The light burned dully.
"What would you like?" asked the girl, who seemed annoyed at the entire situation.
"The jewel shard." Something flickered in the girl's eyes, but other than that, no other emotion was shown.
"I'm afraid that's not possible."
"Heh, we'll see about that." Inuyasha advanced towards her, and extended his hand to grab her jewel shard. He was just about to grab it, when something electrocuted him. "Aaaaaaugh!? What the hell is that!?"
The girl laughed bleakly, "I'm afraid the owner of this place wants to make sure he gets his money's worth."
Inuyasha glared at her, a million thoughts racing through his mind. Such as, if he left her here, someone else could grab that jewel shard. Plus… I guess you could say he felt a twinge of remorse for her situation. "Fine… if I get you out of here, will you give me your jewel shard?" growled Inuyasha.
"Hm…" the girl thought for a moment, "I won't promise it to you… but we can surely discuss it."
Heh, she is planning on running the second we get outside. Oh well, if that happens I will just have to fight her for it. And, since she got captured by humans, it should be easy thought Inuyasha. "Fine… have it your way." Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsaiga and held it inches from her face. "Ready?"
The girl gulped, and mumbled, "Ready…"
Inuyasha gripped onto Tetsaiga, and started the task of breaking the barrier. It was harder than he had expected. Man, this guy put quite a barrier on her…
Finally, the barrier was broken. The girl's eyes flashed at once, and her shackles disintegrated into thin air. Inuyasha paid little notice to that, and grabbed her arm. He broke the door down, scaring the man who was waiting outside. "HEY!? WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" yelled the man as Inuyasha raced up the steps, dragging the girl behind him. Once he was outside, he ran past his group and into the woods. He let go of the girl and she toppled onto the ground.
"Okay, hand it over." Said Inuyasha.
"I think not." said the girl. "We said we would discuss it."
"Heh, whatever you say." He unsheathed Tetsaiga again, and held it in front of her.
"So that's how you would like to play?" said the girl as she grinned.
"We could do it the easy way… you know, the one where you just hand the jewel shard over."
"Hm… tempting, but no."
Inuyasha laughed to himself, "Your funeral." He thought about just taking her out with wind scar, making it easier on himself. But he was looking forward to seeing what she would do. He waited for her to make the first move.
She smiled at him, amused. She jumped up, and momentarily blocked the sun from his view. "Dragon Death!" yelled the girl. A light came out of her palm, it was purple, and headed towards Inuyasha. It was shaped as a dragon, and knocked him off his feet! He went flying about fifteen feet, stunned from what happened. He wasn't prepared, so Tetsaiga had went flying in the opposite direction.
She was there in a second, prepared to do another attack. But he was ready for her, "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" his attack had caught her in the stomach, a faint amount of blood showed on her white kimono. She grabbed a throwing star from her pocket, and dipped it into her blood.
"Burning Blood!" she threw the throwing star at Inuyasha, where it hit him on the hand. He pulled it out, ignoring it.
"Is that the best you can do?" yelled Inuyasha to the girl. She just smiled at him, and he looked back down to his hand. It was turning a strange shade of red… and he couldn't feel it anymore. It was practically useless! While she was smirking at him, he had run to grab his Tetsaiga.
He lunged forward, trying to sever her head from its shoulders, but she was too fast for him. Damn… She's fast… I can't keep up! Even for a half demon… this isn't normal! She wasn't ready for this burst of power from him, and tripped over a root jutting from the ground.
He advanced towards her, with his sword practically touching her nose. "Nice knowing you…" said Inuyasha, as he prepared to end the fight. He would've as well if someone hadn't yelled out "SIT" right before he was about to kill her.
He pummeled into the ground, dropping his sword once again. "Ka-go-me!!!" muttered Inuyasha, spitting out dirt that had gotten into his mouth from the "fall".
"What the heck do you think you're doing?!" asked Kagome, staring at the strange girl.
"She has a jewel shard! She won't hand it over!!!" responded Inuyasha, who was still intent on killing her.
"I said I would discuss it…" mumbled the girl, who was standing up and brushing herself off. "But this mutt wouldn't hear of talking it over."
"I think that's a fine idea, Inuyasha." said Miroku, shaking his head at Inuyasha. "It's reasonable, and no one has to get hurt."
They were all sitting down, Kagome was making ramen, Sango was petting Kilala, and Shippo was occupied with a lollipop for the time being. Inuyasha looked grumpy, he was still upset about missing the chance of getting the jewel shard quicker. The strange girl was sitting silently. All this stupid chatter hadn't gotten anyone anywhere.
"What's your name?" started Kagome, stepping back from the boiling ramen.
"Haruhi." answered the girl.
"What does it matter what her name is!? She has the jewel shard!!!" yelled Inuyasha.
"Now now, you have to ignore our friend Inuyasha," stated Miroku, "He doesn't have any self control." He smiled pleasantly at the girl, plotting a way to touch her but later on.
"Wah!?" Inuyasha was boiling with rage.
"Inuyasha… don't' make me say the S word." Inuyasha's ears flattened on his head, and he shut up for the time being. "So, Haruhi, tell us about the jewel shard… and how you got in such an awful place like the slave trade!"
Haruhi looked nervous all of a sudden. She wasn't used to company, and Inuyasha could appreciate that much. No one wanted to be with a half demon, it was bad blood. She took a deep breath and began her story.
"Well, you see, I was traveling not long ago, and I had come across a little girl. She was only about six, and she didn't see the half demon side of me like everyone else did. She was sweet, like the sister I didn't have. " The girl paused, "Well, I watched over her from afar. She knew I was there, but her parents would never have allowed it if they knew. Her name was Uotoni. Well, I was out one day, taking a bath. During this time, a single demon had come to Uo's small town and massacred it. The stench was unbearable… and then I saw Uo… she wasn't spared. I was mad… and I tracked down the killer. He called me pathetic for loving humans… and then he attacked me. That's the only memories I have. I woke up in a medicine woman's house, and she used the jewel to save my life. It's my life line, and I have to find the demon to get my memory back. I persisted in leaving the medicine woman's house, and managed to get caught when I was still healing." Miroku looked to Sango, who must've been relating it to Kohaku's peril.
Inuyasha was quiet, contemplating what she had said. He wondered why she was so open about it. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to deny any part of her story. She had no memories except for the death of the girl and the slave trade.
"What was his name?" asked Inuyasha, "the demon…"
"Naraku." whispered Haruhi.
Everyone was silent after that. Haruhi didn't know where she was from, or if she had a family. She just remembered how she was captured, the little girl that had loved her like a sister's death, and a name that had haunted them all.