Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).
Chapter Five: Electric! The Fox Child and the Thunder Brothers!
"Kaze no Kizu (Wind Scar)!"
The wave of energy washed forward, putting an end to the demonic creature. Kagome clapped as Inuyasha turned away, putting his sword away as it reverted back to its battered, thinner state. "Nicely done," she congratulated him. "You're getting better at using that thing."
"Yeah," the hanyô said negligently. "I wish I could say the same for you and your archery skills."
"Well, excuse me!" Kagome replied huffily. "I never took any kyûdo classes or anything! Just because I'm related to that family doesn't make me an archer…."
"Yeah, I can see that." He turned away. "We should get going."
Kagome sighed as she started after him. "Hard to believe it's been three weeks since we started our journey," she said wistfully. "I wonder how everyone else is doing…?
"And when are we going to get to civilization?" she complained. "It's been forever since I've had a bath…."
"Ah, cripes, quit your complaining. Takamori was a pretty backwater place, which was one of the reasons I drifted here in the first place. Less people to bother me…."
"Right, right…."
The two continued their argumentative banter, occasionally joined by Myôga the flea, unaware that a pair of eyes watched them from the shadows….
8-8-8
Kagome's arrow, blazing with spiritual energy, struck home, and the small lizard-like creature convulsed in pain as it slowly dissolved. "I got him!" she exulted, turning to Inuyasha in triumph.
Inuyasha gave a kind of harrumph sound and sheathed his sword. "Not bad. See? Tracking through the wilderness like this has at least helped somewhat. Too bad you've finally picked up the knack when it's no use. Another day and we'll be in the 'civilized' lands of Halteese, and that should put an end to most of our battles."
"Yeah, yeah," Kagome sighed, deflated. "In any case, we're almost to…Loreet, was it?"
"That's right," Myôga replied. "A small town, but it has most of the civilized amenities you're used to, including a public video screen used for major news events…common in the smaller towns of these lands that don't have regular televisions. What's your plan once we get there?"
The two had put their weapons away and were moving now finally out of forest and onto something resembling a road. Kagome considered. "I really need to get more information," she sighed. "Myôga-jii-san told me that we're all wanted for destroying the Gateports…I hope no one else got caught. I've got to find some way of disguising myself, or else I could be in trouble…."
Inuyasha snorted. "Why bother? It's not like anyone will recognize you anyway. I mean, there's not anything significant about you. You're not that pretty or anything…."
Kagome stopped and glowered after him. Then she said, "Osuwari," and Inuyasha collapsed magically to the ground.
"Well!" she continued indignantly as Inuyasha twitched on the ground. "Excuse me for not being noticeable! I don't know how this Kikyô could ever stand you! And speaking of which, you must not have thought anything of her in the first place, if I'm supposed to look just like her…."
She stopped suddenly as she stared up at the strange, blue-green flames that appeared overhead. "You," boomed a noticeably immature and childlike voice from the flame. "You, who trespass on the land of the great demon…the great demon…Shuppozuka…you must pay for your trespass…." Then the swirling flames transformed into…a pink balloon with large, white eyes. It drifted closer to the pair.
Kagome stared up at it. "Is this supposed to be frightening?" she asked Inuyasha as the hanyô pulled himself to his feet.
"You must pay! That yôkai-slaying sword you carry, that is the price that must be paid for your trespass!"
"What is this supposed to be?" Inuyasha growled.
"Hmm," replied Myôga, who was sitting on Inuyasha's shoulder. "I believe it's kitsune bi (foxfire)."
Kagome calmly reached into a pocket of her navy blue skirt and pulled out a small stick. "Let's see…" she muttered to herself. "How did it go?" She pointed the wand at the cloud and intoned, "Shatter, thou world of soulless mirrors."
And the balloon exploded, turning into a small figure as it zipped around through the air (like, indeed, a burst balloon) and finally fell to the ground in front of them. It moaned audibly and then demanded, "Who's the one who dares burst my bubble?"
Inuyasha stomped over and picked it up…by its bushy tail. "So, what's this? That 'great demon' is just this little tanuki cub?"
"I'm a fox!" the little figure responded angrily. It was dressed in a kind of orange vest over a blue shirt and blue trousers, but its bare feet completely resembled an animal's feet…yes, a fox's paws, indeed. The bushy tail, which Inuyasha now held, emerged from the seat of said trousers, yet its hands and face appeared human. It had its brown hair in a bushy pony tail, bound by a blue ribbon, and the most inhuman features of its head were its slightly pointed ears, ears that greatly resembled Kenjirô's.
"Fox, tanuki, whatever," Inuyasha droned with ennui, shaking the runt slightly. "So, what's your story, anyway, trying to scare travelers and steal my sword? Not that I really care…."
"After you're done, can I feel it?" Kagome asked, staring at the bushy tail as she pocketed her wand.
"I'm trying to teach a lesson here!" Inuyasha shot back angrily. As he turned his attention away, the child reached into a pocket and suddenly brought out an object and held it up to Inuyasha's hand.
"Huh?" The next instant Inuyasha's grasp came free of the demon and was crushed under an extreme weight. It was the form of a pottery doll, black and looking slightly like a tanuki—it was called a jizô by the Japanese, a representation of a guardian spirit of children. Inuyasha's hand smashed into the ground and lay there, immobile under the extreme weight of the strange object. Inuyasha struggled mightily to free his hand, but to no avail. "What the hell is this!?" he demanded.
The fox leapt over and scooped up Inuyasha's sword, scabbard and all. "Our time together was short but sweet!" it intoned with fervor. "Farewell!" Then it vanished with a pop. Inuyasha cried in shock and the three looked around desperately.
"Well, what's that over there?" Myôga remarked. The sword was visible in the grass by the road, bobbing clumsily in the air as demon struggled to carry it. Growling in rage, Inuyasha managed to upset the object that crushed his hand, and followed after the pint-sized thief.
Inuyasha almost instantly caught up to his antagonist and walloped him directly over the head. A moment later he replaced his sword as Kagome applied her wand to the wound. "This might sting a bit," she cautioned as she let her small healing spell deal with the injury—despite its intentions, she couldn't bring herself to treat the child poorly. "Why do you need Inuyasha's sword anyway?" Kagome asked.
"Who cares!?" Inuyasha barked. "It's just a stupid…."
"Inuyasha…" Kagome warned him dangerously, glaring at him. Inuyasha, remembering the punishment he had received mere moments earlier, fell silent with a grumble.
Kagome returned her gaze to the child, who looked up at her with defiance as it blinked away its tears. "I need it," it mumbled. "I've been watching you for a while now. It's a powerful yôkai-slaying sword, right? There are really powerful yôkai around here, and I need to kill them."
"A weak little fox girl like you wants to kill other powerful demons?" Inuyasha scoffed. "Even with this sword, you wouldn't have a prayer!"
"I'm a boy! My name is Shippô!" the kit replied angrily. "You'll see! I will get my revenge on them! They killed my ôto, and I'm not going to let them get away with it!"
Kagome felt a definite pang of sympathy for the child. "Revenge?" she questioned. "You mean your father's…dead? Who are these demons?"
"They're called the Thunder Brothers." Shippô explained. "They killed my ôto in order to take the Shapesphere he guarded."
"Hmm…the Thunder Brothers," Myôga intoned. "Hiten and Manten. The last surviving members of the Thunder Demon Tribe…they are supposed to be evil incarnate indeed. But what would two human-eating yôkai like that be doing so close to the civilized lands of Halteese? It wouldn't take any time at all to get a squad of BattleMages here to deal with them if the humans noticed them…."
"What's the Shapesphere?" Kagome interjected.
"The Shapesphere is a magical artifact that my family has guarded for generations," Shippô explained. "It's a marble that enhances the native powers inside the one who uses it and changes its shape according to those powers and its user's personality. It's the reason the Thunder Brothers came this close to Halteese. BattleMages don't bother with yôkai that don't attack humans, of course—even if humans in the cities are prejudiced against yôkai—so my father and I were perfectly safe. But something drove the Thunder Brothers down this way, gave them power and pointed them our direction, or something. That's what I heard them talking about while I was spying on them afterwards…that, and some sword and some girl…."
Kagome stared at Shippô for a few moments. "Inuyasha, I think we should help Shippô out and defeat these demons for him."
Inuyasha glanced sidelong at her. "Are you crazy? Why should we? This kid is a thief that tried to take my sword…and we don't even know if he's telling the truth. This business sounds fishy to me, and besides, weren't you the one who wanted to get to civilization so you could get yourself a 'bath' and all that? And now you suddenly want to go out of our way to help this thief of a brat?"
"Well, I don't care!" Shippô huffed. "I never said I wanted your help anyway! I'll go and get my revenge on my own! I wouldn't ask the help of a stupid half-demon in a hundred years! I can smell the human in you. A half-human shouldn't get involved in yôkai business."
"What's that, squirt!?"
"Hanyô are weak and stupid…besides of course that you're a dog. You couldn't beat the Thunder Brothers in a hundred years…."
But Inuyasha interrupted Shippô's rant with a barrage of punches upon his little head. "Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, and even Myôga mentioned the childishness of Inuyasha's actions.
As soon as Inuyasha's attacks relented, Shippô tore himself from the hanyô's grasp and dropped to his hands and knees, repeatedly dropping his head to the ground. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he pleaded tearfully.
"Heh. As long as you understand," Inuyasha crowed.
Shippô reached into his vest. "In apology…."
He then dropped something on Inuyasha's hands…which immediately grew into another super-weight jizô statue. Shippô instantly followed this up by slapping a fûda, a talisman in the shape of a strip of paper, onto the statue. He laughed in triumph and explained, "Unless that seal is removed, the jizô cannot be moved!"
"Why, you little…!" Inuyasha seethed.
"Hey, now!" Kagome objected, stepping forward.
Shippô regarded her. "And now, though I hate to do violence to a lady…." He jumped up cracked Kagome across the back of the neck. "…I'll have to have you sleep for a while!"
Kagome merely rounded on him, her own anger mounting. "That hurts, you know!"
"Eh!?" Shippô cried, shocked that his sure-kill martial arts failed. "Well, try this! Kitsune bi!"
The flames daunted Kagome suitably, and soon Shippô was scurrying away, Tetsusaiga once again in his hands. "I'll beat those Thunder Brothers with this!"
"The Tetsusaiga!" Kagome started after the fox-boy. "Give it back! I'm really getting mad now!"
"Hey, Kagome!" Inuyasha called desperately. "Get this ward off me before you go! Hey!"
8-8-8
A round and rather repulsive 'individual', for lack of a better word, stooped down and examined his reflection in the pool formed by rainwater. He was inhuman to say the least, short and fat with a long, animal-like face, smooth bald skin and rows of sharp teeth in its massive maw, dressed in various kinds of mismatched clothing and armor. A large furred orange sash of some kind adorned his waist, but his most prominent trait—at least, what he seemed to be paying the most attention to—was his three single strands of hair on the top of his head. "Ho…my hair," he murmured to himself, full of feeling and melancholy. If only I had full, flowing locks like Hiten-an-chan. Then I'd be as popular with the ladies as he is…."
The pair had just finished ravaging a nearby village their newly-grown powers, and they had separated temporarily to relax after the endeavor. As Myôga had said, continuous acts of this sort would draw the attention of Halteese's potent magical force, but these were two yôkai who, drunk on power, did not much regard the concerns of tomorrow over the pleasure of the day. However, the concerns of the day did draw their attention, and this demon, Manten by name, perked up suddenly as he sensed the presence. "What's that? A small amount of yôki…."
Shippô panted as he looked around, clutching the sword to his chest. "Did that do it?" he muttered. "I think I managed to lose her…."
"What do we have here?" boomed Manten as he appeared looming above the kitsune. "Why, I do believe it's the whelp of the kitsune from the other day. And what's this you've brought me? What a curious sword…."
"M-Manten…" Shippô breathed, paralyzed with fear over the memories involved with this beast…the one, in particular, that had dealt the killing blow to his father. Then his eyes fell upon the orange belt the creature sported. "T-that's…!"
Manten laughed and patted the fur. "That's right. This is your oyaji's pelt. How he must have comforted you before…it's so nice and warm…."
Shippô gritted his teeth, his anger replacing his fear for a decisive moment. "How dare you!" he screamed. "This time, with this sword, I'll get revenge for my father!"
With impressive dexterity he adjusted his grip on the scabbard in an instant, dropping it into a position where he could reach his tiny hands towards the massive hilt. As they closed on it, however, there was a burst of power and Shippô was repulsed. He cried in pain as he was thrown backwards, and the sword clattered to the ground.
Manten stared for a moment, and then began to laugh uproariously. "How amusing! The kit brought a blade to fight with, but the blade refused him! This is a curious sword…." He reached for it himself, but even before his hand touched the scabbard it emitted the same rejecting force, and Manten hurriedly withdrew his stricken member. "Hooo…." He turned back to Shippô, who was picking himself up off the ground and staring in shock. "Say, brat, what gives? Where did you get this thing from, anyway…?"
As he menacingly approached the demon child, an arrow suddenly flew in from the left, piercing the lightning demon rather cartoonishly right through its prominent beastlike nose. Shippô turned, still overcome with shock, to Kagome, who was rather taken aback herself. "It…it hit…" the girl muttered to herself.
As Manten turned to her, she recovered and quickly knocked another arrow. "Don't move!" she threatened him. "The next one is going right through your head!"
8-8-8
And how was Inuyasha faring in the meantime?
"Hey!" he barked at the passerby. "Stop running away! I'm telling you, take this charm off!"
"Yôkai fiend!" the peasant wailed as he fled.
And so….
"Don't move!" Kagome insisted again.
"My nose…" the demon whined.
Shippô stared in shock. "K-Kagome…."
"Shippô-chan, grab Tetsusaiga and hurry over here!" Kagome instructed the kitsune. "Hurry!"
Shippô moved to comply, but this larger action triggered Manten and woke him from his own lethargic shock brought on by pain, surprise, and Kagome's commanding demands. He focused on the fleeing child and leapt at him. "You little brat! You won't get away!"
"Give it up!" Shippô insisted, dodging deftly.
To Kagome's awakened magic sight, something glinted in Manten's, for lack of a better word, forehead. Some kind of magic jewel…? If I hit that…! She released her arrow.
The arrow struck Manten, but a little above the crystal. Darn! I only grazed him! She desperately knocked another arrow.
To her further surprise, however, the blow did stop Manten in his tracks. The blade of the arrow, in skimming his wide, round head, had shaved two of the demon's three precious hairs. Manten reached up to his head, his eyes striving to see on top of him and behold the damage, but they soon after focused on the two tiny pieces of hair that began to sway and float to the ground as they passed in front of his eyes. He began making strangling and gurgling noises.
"Eh?" Kagome marveled.
"MMMMYYYYY HAAAAAAIIIIIRRR!" Manten screamed, throwing his face towards the sky as he roared. Then he turned his gaze back on Kagome. "How…dare…you…." Energy began to build inside his mouth, casting light around him.
"Oh, no!" Shippô cried. "Run, Kagome! That's the attack that killed my ôto-san!" He grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her away as he explained this.
Nevertheless, it served no benefit. Manten opened his mouth wide, and an explosion of lightning issued forth. They managed to dodge the direct hit, but they were both thrown opposite directions by the ensuing explosion. Kagome hit the ground hard and lay still right next to the blackened crater. Shippô, less harmed by the attack, picked himself up and, an instant later, ran over to her. "Kagome!" he whispered. "Are you okay?"
Manten panted for a second to recover from the exertion of releasing that much power, then surveyed the scene of destruction. "Did I get them?" He moved through the tall grass until he came upon Kagome's still form. "Just the girl, huh?" He looked at her carefully. "Oh…she's…a pretty thing…." Chuckling to himself, he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. Then black clouds gathered around him, until they formed a kind of cushion he could sit on, and they took off into the air, carrying him with them.
Shippô, hiding nearby, stared after them. "Kagome…" he whispered. "She…tried to save me…and yet I…." He began to weep, but quickly stifled his tears and screwed up his face with determination. He turned back to the sword that was the cause of the whole incident and stared at it for several long seconds. "I can't do anything…but with this sword…he could…." He scooped up the weapon and hurried off.
8-8-8
Myôga strained at the paper, but pull as he might, it wouldn't budge. "It's no good, Inuyasha-sama," he confirmed. "I can't take this ward off."
"Damn that kitsune runt," Inuyasha growled.
"Hey!" Inuyasha glanced up in surprise as Shippô appeared, posturing arrogantly. "I might help you!" He hopped over to the dog-demon. "In exchange, promise you won't hit me!"
Inuyasha stared at the little demon carefully. He was still carrying the Tetsusaiga, but there was a significant missing presence he noticed. "Alone?" he demanded. "What happened to Kagome?"
"Do you promise or not?" Shippô insisted.
"I won't hit you, idiot," Inuyasha confirmed.
Shippô scooped the paper off the jizô and the statue magically minimized in size. Shippô, no longer seeming to carry the paper, took the tiny toy and began to toss it imperiously up and down in his hand. "Okay, calm down and listen…."
A moment later he was clutching his freshly-bruised head as Inuyasha returned the Tetsusaiga to its place at his side. "You promised you wouldn't hit me!" he whined accusingly.
"Right. So, about Kagome…?" Inuyasha pressed.
"This is no time to be acting calm! Kagome was carried off by the Raijû Kyôdai!"
"The Thunder Brothers? Aren't they your oyaji's enemies? You met?" He scooped Shippô up by his tail and stared him in the face. "Hmm…judging by your expression, you didn't manage to get revenge…." Inuyasha's own expression turned into an angry scowl. "You little brat…did you just sit and watch while Kagome was carried away!?"
"S-shut up!" Shippô riposted angrily. "Hurry up and go rescue her already! She's your woman, isn't she?"
Inuyasha stared at Shippô in shock. Then he angrily began to grind the kit's face into the dirt. "It's not like that!" he insisted. He let go stood up, and turned around, slipping his hands into the sleeve opposite as Shippô began to pick himself up. "However…I'm not unwilling to save her." Glancing over his shoulder at the boy, he demanded, "Prostrate yourself. Do that, and I'll forgive you for everything you've done."
"W-wha…!?" Shippô's own hackles began to rise.
Myôga hopped onto his shoulder. "Shippô. Just this once, ask for his favor as he demands. In a situation like this, it's you who must show maturity…if you do…."
The thought of humbling himself to this short-tempered, childish, violent bully of a hanyô was humiliating. W-why do I have to go this far…!? He thought of Manten carrying Kagome off. But…I can't save her by myself….
"Crap." He dropped his hands to the ground and bowed his face. "Please help me," he asked, but without much feeling. Silence greeted him. He raised his head in confusion. Inuyasha was already heading the direction Shippô had just come from. He turned back to look at the boy. "What are you groveling for? Let's go."
Shippô stared just a moment longer before jumping to his feet and hurrying after the hanyô.
8-8-8
Inside the Thunder Brothers' fort near the top of a great mountain, Kagome finally bean to stir.
Her eyes blinked open and she slowly, carefully rose. She was lying on some kind of wooden slab, right in front of a large, open window, which was currently at her back. Next to her, lying partially across the slab, was a butcher knife as large as she was. Across the room Manten, with the arrow still sticking ridiculously through his nose, was stirring a bubbling cauldron.
He sensed Kagome rising and half-turned to look at her. "Hmm? You're awake, huh?"
"T-this is…" Kagome murmured, staring at the cauldron. Her assumptions, rather than frightening her, angered her. "Hey, are you going to eat me?"
"Not that," Manten denied easily. "I've heard that the flesh of cute girls is good for the hair. I'm going to boil you down and rub you on my head," he informed her proudly.
Kagome was quite taken aback by this information. "I'd rather be eaten than be turned into hair tonic!" she raged.
"Shh!" Manten shushed her desperately. "Don't shout! If Hiten-an-chan hears you, you really will be eaten…."
"What's this? Have you come back, Manten?"
A door was pushed aside and…a much more human-looking figure entered. Two of them, in fact. The first figure was tall, thin compared to his brother, with dark skin, long braided black hair, fine and pleasant features, but sharp teeth and ears, dressed in rough clothing, a black tunic and red upper armor with baggy black trousers and blue sash. One arm was thrown around the shoulders of his companion, who also looked human, but female, with beautiful long black hair and perfect pearly skin. Other than some jewelry and the snake that wrapped around one shoulder and between her breasts, she wasn't wearing anything at all.
Kagome stared at the seeming young man. "Oh?" she muttered, mostly to herself. "You brothers really don't look very alike, do you?"
"Eh…Hiten-an-chan…" Manten muttered gravely.
Hiten's gaze finally fell on Kagome. "Huh? What's with the girl?"
Kagome's own thoughts were racing as she considered the man. This one looks more human, like Inuyasha and Kenjirô. Perhaps I can reason with him….
Manten jumped protectively in front of Kagome. "T-this one's my spoils!" he insisted.
Hiten laughed. "Don't worry, I won't take her." He turned to his companion. "After all, you are a far more alluring woman, aren't you?"
The woman chuckled. Hiten turned his gaze back to Kagome. "Although something about that girl seems familiar somehow. Where did you find her?"
"Hmm? Oh, just down in the marsh…with the fox-kid…that had the sword…."
Hiten stared. "What? What fox-kid? What sword?"
Manten seemed taken aback by something. "Wait a minute…I think that fox-brat had the sword that Kalovus was talking about…."
"That sword…you idiot!" Hiten's face flashed from a friendly smile to a rage-filled glare in an instant, and the intensity of it took Kagome aback…although it was nothing compared to the shock she received when he punctuated his anger by smashing his fist literally through the face of his lady-friend, killing her instantly. "You just let it get away because you were more dazzled by the girl than the sword! If its power really is comparable to the Shapesphere, we'd be unstoppable!"
Kagome stared in horror. W-wait a minute…this guy is…even more dangerous….
"Nothing for it," Hiten sighed, his choleric temper fleeing as quickly as it had come. "We'll just have to go after it now. A kitsune brat has it, you say?"
"Eh? We're going right after it now?" Manten demanded.
"Of course. Let's go, Manten." The more human yôkai headed for the door.
Kagome observed the pair carefully. I've been forgotten. A chance to escape….
But in a moment Manten was next to her, scooping up the cleaver and bringing it down at her. She managed to dodge aside with a small scream, then flared to anger again. "Hey, what are you doing!?" she demanded furiously.
"What do you mean?" Manten replied. "I'm going to kill you so you can't escape, of course. You're going to become my precious hair medicine, after all."
As Kagome fought for a reply, Hiten suddenly interjected, "Hold a minute, Manten."
As Manten looked back in surprise, his brother approached and considered Kagome more carefully. "I thought I recognized her. Kalovus said the sword was being carried by a dog-demon hanyô, accompanied by the woman. I don't know how the sword came into a kitsune's hands, but that doesn't matter right now. You're her, aren't you? The woman who can unseal the lands of power."
Kagome stared in surprise. What…? That's…how that centipede saw me, too…are these two related to that incident, somehow…?
"Eh? Hiten-an-chan, she is…?"
"You didn't totally mess up, Manten," Hiten informed him. "We've got the one prize right here. If Takamori's power is released for our benefit, the weapons will be just playthings after all…but I'd like them all, if possible."
"Ah…but didn't we promise Kalovus…?"
"Why should we keep any kind of a deal with a stinking human?" his brother said scathingly. "In any case, we can't kill her yet. I'll just shock her enough to make her unconscious until we come back…."
As he raised his hand, electricity crackling over it visibly, Kagome suddenly burst out, "W-wait! If you're going after Inuyasha and Tetsusaiga, you've got to take me with you!"
"What?" Manten demanded.
"Oh?" his brother added. "And why is that?"
"W-well…" Kagome continued, thinking quickly. "You'll lose the chance to unlock Tetsusaiga's true power!"
The two stared at her, suitably captivated. "Tetsusaiga has a seal on it—those who don't know the secret can't touch it. Manten knows—when he did try to grab the sword before, it rejected him."
"Is she telling the truth, Manten?" Hiten demanded.
"Er…yes, she is…the kitsune brat tried to draw it but was repulsed, and it stopped me from even touching it…."
Hiten turned back to Kagome. "So what's the secret then? How can we get past the sword's barrier?"
"I don't know," Kagome insisted. "Only Inuyasha, the true master of Tetsusaiga, knows. And that's why you need me."
"Do go on," Hiten insisted.
All right, I've got their full attention! I can do this! "Yes, you see…Inuyasha will never tell you what the secret is, unless you have something that's even more precious. And that would be me. You see...Inuyasha is completely in love with me! If you threatened my life, he would be willing to hand over the Tetsusaiga and reveal its secret in order to save me…."
"Hiten-an-chan! She's obviously lying!" Manten whined.
"I don't know…it might be true," Hiten replied. "At least the part about the sword's seal is true, and if it's the dog-demon hanyô Inuyasha, I have heard tales about him reappearing with that yôkai_-slaying sword. Wouldn't you like to have that for yourself, Manten?"
"But don't we need this girl, too? Why should we exchange her for the sword?"
"You idiot, we won't have to exchange her. Once Inuyasha gives up the sword and its secret, we'll kill him and take them both."
"Oh! Hiten-an-chan, you're brilliant!"
Hook, line, and sinker, Kagome thought. Now we just have to meet up….
Hiten suddenly grabbed Kagome's chin and pulled her in until their faces were mere breaths apart. "But if I find out you've been lying to me," Hiten breathed with fervent and eager threat in his voice, "I'll make you think this girl had it easy when I rearranged her face."
"R-right…." This guy…is serious!
8-8-8
"There it is…." Shippô pointed. "The mountain where the Raijû Kyôdai live."
"What's the matter, Shippô?" Inuyasha asked the yôkai, who was riding his shoulder. "You sound upset. If you're scared, you can go back.
"B-baka! I'm gonna get revenge for my ôto!" He stared at Inuyasha. "What about you? Are you really strong? The Thunder Brothers have powers given to them by somebody strange, and in addition, they now have the Shapesphere!"
"Besides that, I'm worried about Kagome's safety," muttered Myôga from Inuyasha's other shoulder.
"Hmm?" Inuyasha scoffed. "She'll be fine, I bet. She's surprisingly stubborn and headstrong, you know. Tougher than she looks, even if that's not saying much."
"Yes," Myôga continued, "but…those Thunder Brothers…the rumor is that they when they capture attractive human women, they eat them immediately…."
"R-really!?" shrieked Shippô, newfound panic and guilt arising within him. "What'll we do…in that case, she might already be…."
Inuyasha scoffed again. "You idiot, weren't you listening? He said attractive human women. Not Kagome. She doesn't have anything to be worried about."
"Huh? Don't your eyes work?" Shippô shot back. "Of course she'd be in danger!"
"Well, I also think that Kagome is a rather attractive young woman," Myôga agreed.
"Ahh!" Shippô moaned, rubbing his head with both hands in frustration. "She's probably already been gobbled up! It's all my fault!"
"Ahh! Shut up already!" Inuyasha roared, throwing his passengers off.
Suddenly there was a rumble above them. Inuyasha glanced up just in time to be able to dodge aside as a bolt of lightning sheared down next to him. In the air above him, he saw a humanoid figure standing in the air, flying on flaming wheels that hovered magically just inches from his ankles. In Hiten's hand was a weapon that seemed to be a spear with an additional L-shaped blade emerging from the shaft just underneath the point.
"So, you're the hanyô scum called Inuyasha?" demanded Hiten.
"How troublesome," Myôga informed Inuyasha. "That is Hiten, the elder Raijû. This could be bad!"
Shippô climbed atop Inuyasha and hoisted himself up to peer over the top of his head, clinging to his long white hair as if it was reins. "H-hey!" the tyke insisted. "What happened to Kagome!?"
"Heh. Don't worry. I haven't eaten a single finger yet. Manten."
Manten approached, riding his black clouds. "Yoo-hoo!" he called. Sitting in front of him, her shoulder gripped by his meaty paw, was Kagome.
"Inuyasha!" she cried in half-fear half-delight.
"Kagome!" She's alive…. And, despite his previous protests, the weight of doubt and fear was lifted by the power of assurance.
"Heh," Hiten chuckled. "Looking at your face, I guess the girl's story is true. So, if you want to save the life of your beloved woman, hand over your sword Tetsusaiga, and tell me the secret of how to wield it!"
Inuyasha stared, completely taken aback by this announcement. Kagome sweat-dropped as she anticipated the impending collapse of her story.
"Belo…? Who's this 'beloved woman'!?" Inuyasha demanded, rather angrily.
"D-darling…" Kagome called back, pleading in her voice. "What are you being so shy for…?"
"So the wench lied after all…" Manten murmured, glaring at the girl, who tucked her hands by her chin and attempted to look disarming and helpless.
"Heh!" Inuyasha scoffed. "Why would I give up my sword for someone like you!?"
Kagome knew that she had pushed past the limits of their relationship with her story, but his decisive and final refusal tipped her anger again. "What's with you!? Are you that ready to just cast me aside!?"
"Cast you aside!?" Inuyasha retorted. "What the hell are you saying!? You make it sound like we're some sort of loving couple!"
"Well, so only the part about Inuyasha being master of the sword was true," Hiten remarked calmly. "Whatever." He pointed his spear at Inuyasha. "That just means I'll have to force you to give up its secret!"
"You really think you can!?" Inuyasha roared, drawing his blade.
"Impressive sword or not, you're only a hanyô. You're less than half a demon!"
Hiten dove at Inuyasha. The red-robed dog-demon caught the attack and strained against his opponent. "I'll remember those half-demon comments," he breathed. "Hearing them always makes it all the more fun to kill you!"
"In your dreams!" Hiten taunted, releasing a blast of energy that threw Inuyasha away. He pointed his spear at the dog-demon, and a blast of electricity surged out towards Inuyasha.
"Kaze no Kizu!" he howled, bringing his sword down. The wind raced out and met the lightning, and the two forces strained together. Then the wind buckled and vanished, and the lightning continued on, impacting the stunned Inuyasha and throwing him further backwards.
"Not a bad sword," Hiten droned. "That was a pretty powerful attack. But my powers combined with this 'Shapesphere' simply dwarf yours. You don't have a chance!"
"As I thought," Myôga muttered. "That spear is the Shapesphere, formed in a weapon of Hiten's taste. As long as he has that, he might very well be unstoppable…."
"Well, do have any advice?" Inuyasha grumbled as he pulled himself to his feet.
"Hmm, well, running away would be ideal," Myôga replied. "I'm going to demonstrate that sage advice. Best of luck!" And despite Inuyasha's protests, the little flea hopped away and vanished.
Tch. Inuyasha readied himself as Hiten prepared to come in again. That spear really is something…this is gonna be a bit difficult….
"Looks like I'm gonna have some fun with you," Hiten boasted, sending more lightning Inuyasha's way. "Seems like you're worth some entertainment to me!"
"Ha! There isn't anyone who's spoken like that to me, or who's fought me, and come away entertained!" Inuyasha knocked away the lightning.
"Excellent! Let's get serious!"
Shippô watched the battle raging back and forth as he crawled up a rocky mound. "Inuyasha, I'll leave Hiten to you," he muttered. He glanced up.
The target of his aim, or targets, both of them, sat on the cloud watching the battle. As Kagome fretted for her hanyô companion, Manten chortled. "Hya hahaha! Go for it, Hiten-an-chan! I'll back you up!" So saying, he opened wide his mouth, and the energy began to build within.
"Hey, you can't attack him too! That's unfair!" Kagome insisted, and, calling on the power of her contract, she shoved the yôkai…sending him sprawling from the cloud and to the rocky terrain below, where he impacted, hard. His lightning discharged at the same time, making a nice explosive effect at his point of impact. "Got him!" Kagome enthused.
Her victory was short-lived, however, for, without Manten to maintain it, the cloud dissipated, leaving Kagome in the air with no perch. She screamed as she fell, but a corner of her mind berated Kain for never teaching her a flying spell.
Hiten and Inuyasha had stopped their battle and turned to stare at the sound of Manten's misfortune, and Inuyasha saw Kagome's plight. "Kagome!" he cried, and moved to catch her fall.
Hiten cut off his retreat, however. "This isn't the time to be worrying about girls, you know!"
"Kagome! Hang on!" Inuyasha pleaded desperately.
"Hang on to what!?" Kagome managed, and immediately after, she landed…right on top of Manten's still form. He actually made a nice enough cushion to prevent Kagome from being injured by the fall (quite probably along with the energy of the contract flowing through her).
"Saved!" she remarked happily as she stood, but again her emotions quickly changed as Manten rose up angrily behind her.
"You wench…" he growled.
"Kyaa! He's alive!"
Suddenly Shippô burst into view, throwing an object at the Raijû. "Kitsune-yôjutsu (Fox Demon Magic)! Spitting Top!"
The green top fell perfectly atop Manten's head, bringing him up short. As he tried once again to look at a place beyond his eyes, the top grew to enormous size and began to spin at high speed, driving Manten to the dirt as it worked on him like a massive drill.
"Kagome! Get over here, quick!" Shippô called.
"Shippô-chan!" Kagome hurried out of the crater and over to the boy, and continued following him as he began to hurry away. "That's an amazing move you've got!" she congratulated him.
"Heh, it's nothing," Shippô said modestly.
"It's too early to relax yet," Myôga insisted, hopping into view in front of Kagome. "Kitsune-yôjutsu is phony after all."
"Huh? Oh, you mean it's…."
"Yes…merely an illusion."
Manten was nonetheless crying in pain, but then the top stopped and returned to being normal size. Manten sat up, confused. "That kitsune brat," he muttered. He was unharmed…except for the last strand of hair that fell from his head.
An explosion of lightning accompanied Manten's anger, and streaks of lightning raged around them as the pair fled his wrath. "S-seems we threw gas on the fire!" Kagome gasped as Myôga once again vanished to safety.
"Where are they!?" Manten roared as he stormed out of the hill and the pair ducked behind a tree.
Kagome sat fearfully, more afraid than she had been in a long time. If he finds us, we're dead. Mai…Momo…Kain…where are you now? Inuyasha's fighting for his life with Hiten, and I never was able to learn how to fight for myself….
She slapped her cheeks. No…I have to fend for myself now. I can't rely them now. I can…. She glanced back at the desperately searching yôkai. There he was, with that arrow still sticking ridiculously in his face…. That's it! That arrow…I can use it again! "Hey, Shippô-chan…."
Manten heard a sound. "Over there, huh!?" He released a blast of thunder at the offending sound. The smoke cleared, and there was Kagome's corpse, still on the ground. "Heh. Wench…thought she could get away from me, huh?" He stomped over and grabbed her by the hair, hauling her up and staring at her. Suddenly she opened her eyes and glared at him.
"You bald, ugly bastard," she said, but it wasn't her voice. Manten was taken aback…and utterly flummoxed when her hair suddenly began to grapple his arms like clinging vines. "Is this hair what you wanted?"
Kagome suddenly came running in from the side, surprising Manten further. "T-there's two of you!?"
Kagome (the real one) laid hold of the arrow. "I'll take that back!" she declared, pulling it from his nose.
"You kitsune bastard…" Manten growled, realizing the trick.
"Heh," the fake Kagome replied. "I'll take revenge on my ôto's enemy!"
"Shippô-chan, keep him restrained like that!" Kagome insisted, taking up the arrow in both hands and raising it above her head. If I can pierce that gem in his forehead…I'll cut a large portion of his power off! And I think…he might be done in by the backlash!
"Damn you!" Manten roared, throwing his hands out, breaking Shippô's hair-grip (and returning him to his true form) and knocking Kagome to the ground. He reached down and grabbed Kagome by the throat before she could recover. "Hya haha! I'll strangle you to death!"
I-Inuyasha….
And on cue, the desperately-fighting hero saw the girl's plight. "Kagome!"
But the scene was merely a distraction in his case, and the point of Hiten's lightning-shaped spear pierced Inuyasha's shoulder.
"What the hell are you looking away for!?" Hiten scolding, slashing upward.
Inuyasha was thrown back as his shoulder was cut open, and the Tetsusaiga flew from his grasp. It stuck point-first into the ground a dozen feet away, and hissed as it reverted to its thin, dull-edged form. He glanced over at it, but before he could move, the point of Hiten's spear was at his face. "Ah, well…you're all talk. I had hoped to have a lot more fun. I don't even know if it's worth worrying about your sword now. Shall I just take time to tear off, say, your hands and feet?"
Too many damn distractions, Inuyasha growled to himself. I guess I better sort out Kagome first….
"Hey, Manten!" Hiten called to his brother, oblivious to Inuyasha's musings. "Don't go too far! We need that girl alive! She might be of more use than this coward of a hanyô and his dull sword!"
"Ah, right! Sorry, Hiten-an-chan! I just can't help it, you know…it's great, isn't it? The face of a dying girl…."
Shippô began to stir and rose in time to hear this declaration from Manten. "Stop it!" he cried, throwing himself futilely at the larger yôkai.
Manten batted him aside, laughing. "Mortifying, isn't it, you little kitsune runt!? Once I'm done with this girl, you're next…maybe I'll skin your pelt like I did your oyaji. Maybe I can make you into a hood or something…."
Shippô burned with rage. "You monster!" He leapt onto him and sunk his teeth into Manten's thick throat.
Naturally, Shippô's tiny yôkai fangs meant little to the massive thunder demon. He simply laughed again and grab Shippô's head with his other hand. "Stupid brat…I'll crush your skull in my fist…."
I won't let go…even if I die…!
"Jeez," Inuyasha sighed. "I never claimed to be a nice guy, but somehow you bastards disgust the hell out of me…."
He raised his blood-soaked fingers and flung the blood at Hiten. "Hijin Ketsusô!" The blood shaped into cutting blades en route to Hiten's face.
"Blades of blood!?" Hiten dodged back, leaving Inuyasha free.
Inuyasha leapt to his sword and grabbed it by the hilt.
Hiten laughed and charged in. "This is fun! Fight even harder to live, if you can!"
Inuyasha scooped the sword up which transformed instantly. "Take this!" He threw the blade towards his onrushing opponent.
It went right past Hiten, however. "Fool! What are you throwing at!?"
"Exactly what I was aiming at!" Inuyasha shot back.
"What?"
And, as Manten crowed with delight over Shippô's shrinking strength, he stopped suddenly…as Tetsusaiga ran him perfectly through.
Got him!
"M-Manten!"
Kagome stared as Tetsusaiga withdrew its form. I've got to get it back to Inuyasha…. She took hold of the sword with one hand and scooped the half-conscious Shippô up with her other.
"Ôto…" Shippô murmured.
Kagome glanced down at Manten's belt. That's right…Shippô-chan's ôto-san's pelt, too….
"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled. "Get out of there, you idiot!"
"Manten!" Hiten screamed with equal vigor.
Kagome was struggling with an armful of Shippô, pelt, and sword when Hiten arrived. A blast of his lightning threw her and her load away.
"Kagome!"
Inuyasha rushed to Kagome's side. She glanced up at him through a haze of pain. "Inuyasha…" she murmured. "I got it…." She feebly attempted to lift the sword up to him.
"You idiot," Inuyasha growled. "That doesn't mean anything if you get yourself killed…."
"Manten…" Hiten murmured. "How pitiful…."
"He's…crying…" Kagome observed, struggling to sit up.
His next action truly shocked her. He drove his hands into the body of his sibling and pulled out his bloody heart. "This…is so you can stay with I-chan forever…." And then he devoured it.
"W-what?" Kagome gasped.
"He's eating his spiritual power!"
"Myôga-jii-chan…."
"That means that darn Hiten will gain all of Manten's power for himself!" the flea continued. "Be careful, Inuyasha-sama…."
"Where have you been up to now?" Inuyasha accused him.
"Running away to safety, of course," Kagome muttered.
"E-eh…always grumbling over minor things…."
Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and Shippô and leapt to safety as an explosion of lightning engulfed their perch. "Any ideas of how to deal with this now?" he demanded of the flea.
"W-well, maybe if you could use the Bakuryûha (Backlash Wave), the Tetsusaiga's ôgi, you could overwhelm his power, but otherwise…."
"Bakuryûha? What's that?"
"Just as I said, it's the Testusaiga's ôgi, or ultimate attack. It takes an opponent's yôki attack and wraps it in your own yôki along with a Kaze no Kizu and sends it back…."
"Great…so how do I use it?" Inuyasha demanded.
"Er…well…."
"You don't know, of course."
Inuyasha set his charges down behind some cover. "Stay here. I'll take care of this."
"But, Inuyasha…" Kagome began.
"Just shut up. I'll be okay somehow. You've done enough."
Inuyasha emerged from cover and raised his sword to face Hiten.
"So, you've finally come out," the demon growled. "Ready to die, hanyô?"
"Not today. Not before you! Kaze no Kizu!"
Hiten dodged the wind by flying into the air.
Kagome stared at the battle as Shippô finally began to stir. He stared at the bed he'd been carefully laid in. "Ôto…" he murmured.
"Inuyasha avenged your father," Kagome explained. She turned her attention back to the battle. If only I could do something….
"What's going on now?"
"Inuyasha's fighting Hiten. He…devoured his brother's heart, and his spiritual power. Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga might not be strong enough to beat him now. If only I could help…." She watched Hiten fly in the air on his wheels of flame, giving him the agility to dodge all of Inuyasha's attacks, even the Kaze no Kizu. "If he couldn't fly, Inuyasha could get him…."
She glanced down. Somehow she had managed to bring that one arrow back with her as well. "If only I had a bow…."
"Leave it to me!" Shippo insisted, and put a leaf to his head. He then transformed into….
"Oh!" Kagome stared at the curvy, curly item. "…A snail?"
"…I'm a bow…."
"Still breathing, hanyô!?" Hiten roared. "What's the matter!? Your movements are growing sloppier!"
"Shut up!" Dammit…he's powerful, but I could get him if only he wasn't flying around like that.
Kagome aimed the odd-shaped bow. She released. Please, hit it!
The arrow struck Hiten's right wheel, shattering it. His flight suddenly wobbled. "What!?" He glanced across at Kagome. "You!" He opened his mouth.
Manten's attack! "Kaze no Kizu!"
Inuyasha's attack wasn't in time…it threw Hiten back, but not before his lightning breath raced out….
But then a blue-green flame swept over the lightning, ending it, and continued flowing, filling the battlefield with an eerie, ghostly light.
"This is…?"
"Kitsune bi…my father's…" Shippô muttered.
"The last spirit of the elder kitsune is protecting them," Myôga agreed.
Hiten picked himself up, his attention on the foxfire only briefly before turning back to Inuyasha. "What's this? Even needing help from the dead? I'll finish you, then get all of them, despite your petty tricks!" He opened his mouth and began to charge the spear at the same time.
Myôga began to panic again. "Inuyasha-sama won't be able to block both attacks at once! It's too much power!"
Inuyasha was feeling the same conclusion, but suddenly the scent of the wind changed. What's this…? The foxfire…it's…showing me something. He glanced at the building sources of power around Hiten. Hiten's lightning…there's a wound in the wind of his yôki…. Is the foxfire telling me to cut that…?
Hiten's attacks fired. Inuyasha leapt into the attack, heeding the pair of voices instructing him. "Bakuryûha!"
The Tetsusaiga cleaved through the oncoming lightning, dispersing it into a whirlpool of energy. At nearly the same instant, the whirlpools were swept up by the wind of the Tetsusaiga, creating a massive stream of tornados that raced back towards Hiten, who could do nothing but take them all head-on.
When the wind faded, Hiten struggled to his feet…still alive and kicking, if moving glacially. "What!?" Inuyasha cried in shock. "He took my attack combined with his own!?"
"It's the Shapesphere," Myôga moaned. "It was able to absorb some of the damage…at least enough to save his life…."
"I…won't…die…at least…until I avenge…Manten!" Hiten swore.
"Oh, give it up already, you useless fool."
A burst of red light flew through Hiten's chest in accompaniment with this new voice. Hiten staggered and glanced behind him. "W-what…? You…!"
Hiten hit the ground and turned to dust. A red-cloaked man strode forward and scooped up the spear before it hit the ground, and as he held it before him, it transformed into a silvery ball, two inches in diameter. "How useless," he murmured. "I thought you could at least get rid of the annoying hanyô for me if you borrowed the Shapesphere, but you couldn't even manage that. Relying on the yôkai of this world was a foolish mistake on my part…."
"Bastard! Who are you!?" Inuyasha demanded, readying Tetsusaiga.
"Ah, ah, ah!" The man held up a restraining hand. "That won't do any good in your condition. I'm not here to fight today…you've already taken my best in the chin. I'll have to make other preparations, but for now, it's time to leave with my toy…."
"That's not yours!" Shippô insisted angrily. "The Shapesphere was entrusted to my father! Give it back!"
"Give it back? To a little yôkai? No, no, no…this will serve much more use in the hands of the Obsidian Star."
"The Obsidian Star?" Inuyasha's eyes flashed. "You…you're the one behind everything!"
The man turned back to Inuyasha and laughed. "That's right…I've been toying with you a long time, Inuyasha-kun. Shall I send you after your beloved Kikyo…?"
"Kaze no Kizu!"
The wind attack swept over the man…but he was no longer there. "Take it easy, my dear half-demon. We'll have plenty of time to play later…I, Kalovus, will come for you soon enough…."
Inuyasha stared after him for several moments before finally sheathing the Tetsusaiga. "Kalovus, huh? Finally I have a name and a face to attach to my enemy…the one I will kill with my own hands…."
8-8-8
Shippô stepped back from the memorial they had built to his father. "Ôto…we were able to avenge you, even if we weren't able to get the Shapesphere back…."
Kagome held her card in her hand and glanced down at it. The Tenseiga….
"The Tenseiga is a powerful healing sword," Kamolai explained. "It doesn't cut minions of this world, although it will actually be a powerful weapon against those not of this world, meaning this existence—in other words, undead.
"But Tenseiga was created to be a sword that could save the lives of a hundred souls with a single swing. If you master it and its power, you'll hold that ability in your hand."
"Save lives?" Kagome asked. "What does that mean, exactly?"
"The Tenseiga even has power to bring back the dead by cutting down the harbingers of the netherworld. Of course, as always, restoring life to the dead has limitations. They have to be recently dead, their spirits still in this world, but it will strike down all the harbingers and even restore a cut chain of fate if the spirit is still present."
"I see…but only recently dead, right…?"
Kagome's mind returned to the present. But Shippô's father's spirit is gone…the last of its power was used to save us all with the foxfire….
I wish I could save a hundred lives…it's just like with Kain-sensei's village…I want to save everyone that I can…but…I guess even I have to learn to live with what I can't do….
But what I can do….
"So what are you going to do now, Shippô-chan?" Kagome asked the young kitsune.
"Eh? Ah, well…the Thunder Brothers are gone, but my family's legacy is now in the hands of villains…."
"In that case, you better come with us," Inuyasha grumped. "Can't leave a job half-done, can we?"
Shippô and Kagome both stared at the hanyô in surprise. "Inuyasha?" the girl asked, surprised and silently delighted.
"Well…" Shippô finally responded. "I suppose I might as well. Since it looks you'll be getting into a lot of trouble with that guy Kalovus or whatever. Kagome could use a real yôkai for protection, too so she doesn't have to just rely on Inuyasha…."
"Oi, don't push it, squirt…" Inuyasha growled threateningly.
"Okay, okay…" Kagome sighed, getting between them. "It'll be good to have you with us, Shippô-chan. And as for you, Inuyasha…." He blanched as she turned her full attention on him, inspecting him closely, but was surprised when she continued, "You're still hurt, aren't you?"
"H-huh? What? Bah, I'm no weak human. My robe of the firerat is as good as armor, you know, and it stopped most of the damage. This'll heal in a few days…."
"But we might never know when we'll get attacked again," Kagome sighed. "I know I haven't been a lot of help so far, but I'm going to start doing all I can…I have to. So for starters…." She raised her card and manifested her artifact.
Inuyasha staggered back in surprise as Kagome was suddenly holding a long but rather worn-looking blade. Myôga yelped in shock at the sight of the weapon. "T-that's…!"
"Restore, Tenseiga," Kagome commanded her blade, and the healing light washed over Inuyasha.
He started as his wounds closed, leaving him in sound and perfect health. He inspected himself and patted his former wounds. "Well, I'll be…."
Myôga hopped over to Kagome. "Kagome…where did you get that sword!?"
"Something the matter, Myôga-jiiji?" Inuyasha demanded.
"Don't you recognize it, Inuyasha-sama? That's…."
"Tenseiga," Kagome said evenly. "The fang of the Inu no Taishô. That's right…Kamolai told me that, too…."
"Yes, Tetsusaiga's twin," Myôga muttered. "That was a contract card wasn't it…yes…."
"Wait…so that's my oyaji's sword, too?" Inuyasha said. "How'd Kagome end up with it?"
"I see, I see," Myôga muttered. "Kagome made a contract with an Archmage, almost certainly through a magical spirit…probably her teacher, Kain Lockeheart-sensei, yes? Well, well…."
"In any case," Kagome said, causing her artifact to return, "we should get going…right Shippô-chan? Inuyasha?"
They stopped off again, with the usually taciturn Inuyasha suddenly demanding questions of Kagome. Myôga was in deep thought. Kagome…of the family of priestesses of Takamori…received, for an artifact, the Tenseiga, and then met the son of the Inu no Taishô and was the instrument of his release? Is this…coincidence…?
8-8-8
Author's Note: Character Introduction: Shippô
Ho-ha! For you readers, no time has (likely) passed through these last few chapters, but for me, writing this, I've been slogging through various things as I've attempted to continue the story. No need to relate them here, but it feels good to complete this chapter and get further along in the story.
This chapter, again, was largely an adaptation of an existing manga story, namely Inuyasha's introduction of the kitsune kit, Shippô. The Thunder Brothers (Raijû Kyôdai, perhaps more literally Thunder Beast Brothers) are the antagonists who killed Shippô's father, but I messed around with little details this time rather than big ones. The actual items of conflict here (and in most of the series) are the fragments of the Shikkon no Tama, making it the source of both the Thunder Brothers' power and Shippô's theft attempts; so, to adjust, I introduced the Shapesphere (which will have its own significant purpose down the line), had it be Hiten's spear, and had Shippô be after the Tetsusaiga for the instrument of his revenge (which conveniently allowed me to introduce the Tetsusaiga's anti-demon barrier, which was supposed to be introduced with the actual Tetsusaiga but which my introduction lacked). Then I adjusted other little things, including plugging the brothers in as Kalovus' patsies. Most significantly, I super sped up Inuyasha's development of Tetsusaiga's powers, which initially took forever for him to learn. He didn't to even use the Kaze no Kizu (his iconic Wind Scar) until his third confrontation with Sesshomaru, and then had to break his weapon and rebuild it and use it ineffectively for several small arcs before he mastered it and learned the so-called 'ôgi' Bakuryûha. Then, of course, he started the ages-long process of absorbing new powers for the Tetsusaiga to defeat Naraku, then having Naraku adapt to those powers, leaving him searching for another new technique to one-up the villain…. In any case, for most of the series, particularly the anime, he had these two attacks, so I allowed Inuyasha to master the signature attack during the off-screen time between chapters, and then learn the ultimate attack (what will likely be its ultimate attack for the purposes of this story, since it's not his story) at the end of this chapter. I was planning to bring in a couple of other characters this chapter, but decided to leave them for the final confrontation with the villain of this 'arc' in the next Inuyasha/Kagome chapter. And, no, those two other characters are not the remaining two Inuyasha mainstays, Miroku and Sango, as, while I love those two characters, they are a bit too 'big' in backstory and purpose to introduce as side character's side characters—they'd have to be so watered down they'd be unrecognizable, hardly befitting their value, so it's better not to waste time or space introducing them at all (one of the reasons I'm not using Amelia from Slayers, either—too big to fit into what I've got, too small and without significant parts to be necessary).
On the other hand, Shippô was an easy choice to use for an additional character and mid-plot story of the three-chapter 'arc' for Kagome and Inuyasha's journey through Arcanus Myrror, as, despite being one of the big five, he's a useless but endearing (and, yes, often rather annoying) mascot who can sit and add commentary but has little to worry about, especially since his father is avenged. His connection to the Shapesphere makes him more-or-less significant, but not overly so.
_So, here is Shippô, the young kitsune. He's rather simple and is the party's universal little brother and Inuyasha's primary cute but useless mascot (it has, actually, several, of varying degrees). He has some illusory magic—in Japanese mythology, foxes are notorious tricksters, and so, like in most of their tales, fox demons become masters of deceptive arts—but no actual combat power. Despite this, and despite his being young and childish, he feels (as a true demon) quite superior to Inuyasha and antagonizes him frequently. Shippô, being so childish, never forgives or forgets Inuyasha's abuse from early on, even if he deserved it, and so he takes every opportunity to berate him and even to use his magic against him if he has a good enough excuse (the girlfriend du jour, a parasitic pest controlling him, or a fox-magic examination). Nevertheless, he is a loyal and dedicated little companion, and he will, among other things, help keep Kagome sane through all this madness. He will obviously be popular with the class when all are reunited….
So, with Kagome's second part complete, we now return to Nodoka for part 2 of 3 in the Fairy Tail, er, Tale….