Misora: Hey guys! Welcome back! Sorry it was so late; I was finishing up the chapter.
I wanna thank all my wonderful readers and give a special thanks to my reviewers: Sakura Fuyu and Ai Kurama, Kia Ukitake Sohma, FrankenXana, and Arashikaze074.
Kirabimaru: Kaiju's in trouble! Hurry up with the disclaimer!
Misora: All right all right! Yeesh...
DISCLAIMER: I do not own InuYasha, either the manga or the anime. That would be Rumiko Takahashi.
CLAIMER: I do own the four kids: Kirabimaru, Adeyaka, Kaiju, and Mayu, and any other OC's that pop up in this chapter that aren't from the original manga or anime.
Read and Enjoy! ^_^
Chapter Ten
InuYasha ran as fast he could to the very place where his son's wind trail seemed to end. He was determined to get his sons back, no matter what the cost. Even if he had to sacrifice his own life to get them back, he would do so without any regrets. That's when he noticed something: the trail was coming to an end, and fast. InuYasha was confused, but not for long. Soon, he crashed right into an invisible barrier. He flew backwards, letting go of Kagome and dropping her in the process, landing hard on the ground. The gang stopped abruptly.
"InuYasha!" Kagome exclaimed, quickly getting up unharmed and running to him, "Are you all right?" InuYasha leaned up and rubbed his throbbing head.
"Yeah, just fine, Kagome." He looked up at the barrier that he had come into contact with. "What's with this barrier? Kirabimaru's wind trail ends beyond it." Kagome looked up, but realized that she couldn't see the trail, and looked at Sesshomaru, who just shrugged.
"I'm afraid he's right. It ends here." Kagome looked down, frowning.
"Now what?" InuYasha was thinking ahead for once. He drew his Tetsaiga, facing the barrier as it turned red, and smirked.
"What else? We break through it!" he exclaimed as he lunged at the barrier. To his surprise, the barrier withstood his attack and he was thrown backward again, repelled like a bug. He stood up slowly and looked back at it in confusion.
"What the hell? The red Tetsaiga didn't work!" Sesshomaru walked up to the barrier, putting his hand on it.
"It's different than Naraku's, so this can't be his doing," he said. Miroku and Sango looked at each other, then at the barrier.
"Here, let me try," Miroku said, taking out a sacred sutra. Carefully, he placed the sutra on the barrier, then backed away quickly. The barrier wavered for a split second, then went back to being invisible as the sutra burned off. Miroku now looked as confused as InuYasha.
"I don't understand..." Sango looked at the barrier.
"It's more powerful than Naraku's barrier..." she said. InuYasha growled.
"Damn it!" he yelled, slashing at the barrier with his claws. The others watched helplessly as InuYasha attempted to hack away at the impenetrable barrier.
In the Training Camp...
The hallway was dark, all except for the very dim light posts that littered the walls every few yards as they walked, and there were cobwebs around every corner. The walls themselves, derelict and moss-ridden, were not inviting. The bricks in the walls were old, and the two of them could hear the distant CLUNK of a brick falling onto the concrete floor. Kaiju looked around nervously. The road to freedom looked to be a long one. He was scared, alright, but he was too proud to show it, and followed closely as Roland led him down the mossy, dirty, web-covered corridor to the place where his tests would begin. Roland seemed to be a nice guy, but he even said that some kids didn't make the cut. It was all that "Naraku" person's doing that the four of them were stuck in this prison-like encampment. What if I don't make it? What if I die?... What will Mayu do?... And the other two?... he thought to himself. Kaiju quickly shook those thoughts out of his head and looked up just in time to see the light growing brighter. They were nearing the end of the corridor, finally. Roland suddenly turned and stopped Kaiju.
"Wait here, please," he said as he turned around and walked into the room ahead. Kaiju got a good look at the corridor that he was being made to stand in. He didn't like the smell, or the nasty taste it left on his tongue, but he knew that he had to endure it for a few minutes more. Then, he would be in a room quietly taking a test. Or so he hoped.
After a few minutes of enduring the painful smell and taste of the corridor, Kaiju noticed that Roland had returned. He smiled at Kaiju, but got no smile in return.
"So... What's my first test?" Kaiju asked. Roland turned around, not facing Kaiju.
"Another General will tell you when you get in there. Please," he turned, leaving the doorway open for him, "step inside. She is waiting for you." Kaiju looked at him more tensely than before. Roland just nodded to him. "It's alright. Just go." He tried to reassure him with a slight smile. Kaiju returned the smile, but not as wholeheartedly. He turned to the door, took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and marched into the room before him. As he entered, however, the door slammed behind him. Kaiju turned quickly, his confidence just about gone. That's when he heard something, or someone, rather. He turned slowly to see... a woman. She was wearing a suit much like Roland's, but her's had a bright red stripe down the side of it. It was a military-like uniform. Her hair was as red as the stripe on her uniform and her skin was as white as the spider demon that had attacked him and his sister. On her face were two thin scratches, or what looked like scratches. Kaiju was afraid to look her in the eye, but they were as gray as everything around them. The woman was walking toward him, slowly, as if sizing him up. She seemed to be Roland's age, maybe a little younger, and her hair was tied up into a tight bun. She soon stopped four feet from Kaiju. He looked up at her.
"A-are you the other general?" he asked timidly. The woman looked him up and down, then walked around him in full circle, coming again to a stop in front of him.
"I am. Name's Julia Ricco, but you may only call me General Ricco. Is that clear?" Her voice was crisp and stern, making Kaiju shudder.
"Y-yes, ma'am, General Ricco!" he said hurriedly. Julia seemed to smile.
"Good. So, what's your name, kid?" Kaiju looked at her.
"K-Kaiju, ma'am," he stuttered. Julia nodded.
"Kaiju, huh? I see..." She turned around and walked to the center of the room. Kaiju wasn't sure if he should follow her or not, but he got his answer. Without turning, Julia raised her hand and beckoned him. With no hesitation, he followed her. When he got there, Julia threw him something. He caught it quickly and saw that it was a stave. He looked up as Julia grabbed her own stave. He then realized what was going on: He was going to fight Julia. He shook with unease.
"Uh, G-general Ricco? Why are we fighting together?" Julia just smirked.
"Oh, you're not fighting me, Mr. Kaiju." To this, Kaiju sighed in relief. However, his happiness was short-lived as Julia opened another door on the opposite side. Kaiju peered at it anxiously. He could see that the room behind it was dark. Suddenly, something seemed to fly out at him and landed on the ground in a grayish green heap. Kaiju was quite surprised to see that the something was a girl. He looked at her in curiosity. She had dark green hair that was tied up into a ponytail and bright green eyes. She had the most evil scowl on her face as she sized Kaiju up, like a predator to its captured prey. Kaiju felt more than intimidated by this girl. Julia smirked and threw the stave to her, walking toward her. Without turning, the girl caught and twirled the stave so that it was in front of her. Kaiju looked at the girl in confusion. He didn't understand anything that was going on. Only when Julia was beside her did the girl stand up straight and speak to Kaiju.
"You're my opponent, huh?" she said in a soft voice, which confused him even more. What confused him the most, however, was the somewhat sweet smile planted on her face. Kaiju shook his head and tried to return the smile.
"Y-yeah, I guess so." Julia looked at the girl sternly.
"I don't want you to go easy on him, understand?" The girl nodded curtly.
"Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" she exclaimed. Twirling the stave again so that it was in front of her, the girl faced Kaiju. He held the stave next to him.
"Wait, who are you?" he asked, but before he could get an answer, the girl lunged at him, aiming the stave at his gut. Kaiju instinctively raised the stave in self defense and deflected the attack with ease, sending her flying off to the other side of the room. The girl slowly stood and looked at him.
"You're not as weak as you look, boy," she said, lunging at him again. Again, Kaiju blocked her attack perfectly, and again, and again. It was like Kaiju's body was on autopilot. Every time the girl threw a swing at him, he threw one right back and stopped her. He felt as though he had known how to fight all along.
After about ten minutes, Julia raised her hand to the girl, indicating that they had to stop. The girl backed away and stood next to Julia as Julia faced Kaiju.
"You are better than I expected if you could keep up with Mintai." Kaiju looked at the girl, who was looking at the ground shamefully, and smiled at her.
"So, you're Mintai, huh? I'm Kaiju. It was good fighting you," he said to her, but the girl didn't raise her head. She just kept sulking. Julia looked at her, then at Kaiju again.
"You're next task won't be as easy, will it, Mintai?" she said, looking at the girl next to her. Mintai looked up at Kaiju and nodded once.
"You better not lose. I want to fight you again, but next time, it won't be so easy." And with that, she rushed off to the room behind her. Julia laughed slightly at the girl's antics, and then turned to her attention back to Kaiju.
"You will wait out in the lobby as I test your other friends, understand?" Kaiju nodded, indicating that he understood. She then nodded her head to the door behind him, and Kaiju walked out.
Roland wasn't too worried about Kaiju. He knew that he could do it, and seeing Kaiju walk out of the room unscathed proved his suspicions. Roland smiled at him.
"Knew you could do it, kid." Kaiju smiled a big smile.
"I didn't think that I would have been fighting a girl," he said, to which Roland looked at him curiously.
"A girl? Who?" Kaiju dropped the smile.
"Her name was Mintai." Roland looked at the ceiling thoughtfully.
"Mintai, huh? I didn't think Ricco would use her for the first fight," he said to himself, then he shrugged and turned back to Kaiju, "Oh well, let's get you back." With that, the two of them walked back to the Lobby.
Misora: And that's it! What will happen next? That's the big question that keeps us going, isn't it? But!..
What will InuYasha do about the barrier?
Who will be next to take General Ricco's test?
Does Mayu like Kirabimaru?
Mayu and Kirabimaru: Hey!
Misora: Ehe... don't mind them.
Want to find out?
Tune in next time to Chapter Eleven of The Day After Tomorrow!!