Hello!
So, Inuyasha curses a lot. I suppose this is a convention of fan fiction, but I think it really fits with his character. In it goes! Okay, here's another chapter.
Also, I don't own Inuyasha. You knew that.
Miko- priestess. Hanyou- half-demon. Inu- dog. Ookami- wolf. Neko- cat. Ryu- dragon. Kitsune- fox. Youkai- demon. Youki- demon aura/energy. Daiyoukai- great demon. Moko moko- Sesshomaru's fluffy fluffy tail. Kappa- toad. Dokkaso- Sesshomaru's poison. Hime- princess. Kami- gods. Oni- ogre/troll demons. Baka-idiot. Hentai- pervert. Hai – yes. Yatta – I did it!, Hooray. Houshi – Buddhist priest. Taijiya- slayer, exterminator.
Chapter X: Inuyasha, the Wounded Boy
Under the black night sky, a young man leaned wearily on the ledge of the Bone-Eater's Well deep in the Forest of Inuyasha. His skin was covered in scrapes and bruises, and his long black hair was dampened with sweat. He clutched a rusted out katana by the hilt, though he knew it would do him no good. He'd traveled a long, perilous road to reach this place, and his human night was not yet over. Slowly, he sank down the rough, weather-beaten wood and leaned his back against it.
"Damn it…" The muttered curse was all he had energy for. No matter what emotions roiled inside him, no matter how he wanted to rage against the sky and his fate, his weakness and his bad luck, he just sat there listening as well as he could to the quiet of the forest around him.
He didn't hear anything, but he knew that the revenge-driven boar demon following him would catch up eventually. Gripping the katana more tightly, he bowed his head. This was the last place he should have come with that thing on his tail, but he hadn't realized until too late. By then, he had been a useless human with nowhere else to go.
In the back of his mind, Inuyasha knew he should head into the village, lose his scent among the humans, and rally Kaede and her thugs to guard against the threat until daybreak. He knew that he could and should rely on them to do that. His pride held him back, however. His pride, even beaten and mutilated by the loss of his powers in such a dire situation, was so familiar that it comforted him. He could focus on pride when there were other emotions he didn't want to identify. It was okay to be prideful. It was a manly, strong emotion. That and anger. But, what he felt now was neither pride nor anger.
In the far distance, a tree was uprooted and crashed to the forest floor. When the sound reached him, he let his eyes fall closed. For the past few months, he'd been traveling far afield of this forest, wandering really. Mostly staying off the roads. Mostly avoiding the villages. But when he didn't, when he stepped reluctantly into the domain of mankind, it was to save some stupid idiot who'd attracted bandits or vicious demons or worse. He swooped in to fish a child out of a river, to slay a crazed youkai feeding on his once-companions, to intervene when some thieves on horseback decided that they wanted whatever the poor dirt farmers had. He did this time and again, not caring for the reactions of the people he saved. There he was, trying to forget, to go back to being the animal he had before…her, before he had friends, before Kikyo, before he even heard about that damn accursed jewel. There he was, trying to forget so he could just have some measure of peace while he waited, but memories of her stupid, naïve voice just kept prodding him, We should help! They need our help, Inuyasha! We can't just do nothing!
He wanted her back so bad, just so he could tell her to shut up. To remind her that he wasn't some big fucking hero, just born to go around saving everyone.
But, every time he heard a scream or a cry for help, he was compelled to move, unable to fight the certainty that it's what she would have wanted.
What she would have wanted…
A deep pang struck his heart, and he gasped, folding over his weapon. What she would have wanted, fuck that! Fuck all of that! What a fucking stupid thing to think, what a stupid, an idiotic… What she would have wanted, as if she were dead. His hand flew to his chest and he dug the heel in against his heart. Stupid fucking human heart. She wasn't dead. He knew exactly where she was and how to get to her.
He just had to wait. Just five hundred years. Who could blame him if he wanted to be an animal, to just hunt and shit and sleep alone in the forest? Just to make it a little easier to pass the time?
In the distance, there echoed a bone-chilling squeal, wet, raw, and unmistakably porcine. The hair on his arms stood up. He heard the noise but was too lost in his thoughts to prepare.
Her voice came back to him, things she had said, or might have said. The pang in his chest deepened. Her voice above all others drew his ear. Don't be such a jerk, Inuyasha. But why couldn't he remember the exact sound? There are people who care about you. Which words did he remember and which did he imagine that she had said? Everyone needs friends.
I promise to always be by your side.
"Damn it." He lurched to his feet all at once, still clutching his chest. The tips of his finger dug in so hard, if his had been his usual self he would have drawn blood. "Damn…"
Much closer now, that same wrenching squeal came echoing toward him. He hefted his useless sword and bowed his head just once more to look into the depths of the Bone Eater's well.
"Kagome…" The young man squeezed his eyes close and then whirled to face the approaching danger with a sneer. "Keh. Damned if I'm gonna let some over-grown pig keep me away from you!"
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As Shippo lay in the pallet of blankets that night, dozing rather more lightly than was his habit, his dreams were affected by his own swirling youkai. His tail and paws twitched and kicked. He was still wholly a child, but now with a body that was changing, muscles that were stretching, a face that was growing ever so slightly leaner, and a demonic aura that was gradually welling up from a state of half-dormancy. One day soon, he would sprout a second tail.
But for now, he simply frowned in his sleep. He dreamt that he was hunting big game, deer or elk, with the kind of casualness and efficiency that made what he was doing a chore, like carrying water home from the river. In the waking world, it was all he could do to bring home rabbits and squirrels to make himself useful, but his dream-self brought down beasts ten times his size with a swipe of his claws.
Not a particularly interesting or intense dream, but it kept his eyes closed and his claws flexing. That is, until a wash of malevolent youki jolted him awake.
He sat straight up from his make-shift bed, amazingly lucid after such an awakening. Across the hut and against the back wall, Grandma Kaede was still sleeping soundly. If he had felt something, wouldn't she have felt it too? Maybe it was because he always slept closest to the door, or maybe he was becoming more sensitive to youki like she said, whatever. He was awake and she was not, it was his responsibility to check things out and make sure the village was okay.
The young kitsune quickly slipped out of the hut and leapt onto its roof. The edge of Inuyasha's forest was a ways in the distance, but his keen eyes picked out the wild shaking of the canopy immediately. The light breeze brushing against his face could not account for it. He'd been right! He tried expanding his aura to feel just what was coming, and got a horrible answer. An old, musky animal scent reached him on the breeze. Something really big was coming.
Just as he bent his legs to leap down from the roof, ready to sound the alarm to the entire village, a vibrant red speck flashed against the shadowy tree line. He froze, disbelieving, and then dreading and fearful as he witnessed a human Inuyasha sprint out of the shadows. Even from this distance, in this low light, he was able to see and smell his friend's blood dampening his fire rat haori. Then, not twenty yards behind the half-demon-turned-human, a black boar the size of the village headman's house broke through a stand of trees, shattering them on impact.
Without his demon speed, Inuyasha had no hope of outrunning the hulking demon. He must have realized this. As the boar charged at his back, he whirled and held the un-transformed Tetsusaiga aloft.
"NO!" In panic and fright, Shippo's legs unstuck. He leapt down from the roof and dashed toward his friend, not knowing what he would do to help and knowing that facing down the boar as a human would mean Inuyasha's death.
It all happened so fast.
The boar charged mindlessly into the rusty katana, and though the dull blade managed to cut into its snout, the beast overtook the human man behind it, ramming into him and propelling him through the air. Inuyasha rolled with his landing, still gripping Tetsusaiga, but he had had the breath knocked out of him. The boar swung its head around and charged again, this time catching the hanyou-turned-human in the knees and sending him flying over its back in its attempt to gore him with its large tusks. Again, Inuyasha rolled, but Shippo heard his short shout of pain over the furious grunting of the boar.
The demon was turning for another charge when Shippo finally got in range and shouted, "FOX FIRE!"
Blue flames shot out and blanketed the boar's snout, immediately filling the air with the scent of singed hair. An earth-shakingly loud squeal went up as it flung it head side to side, throwing off the flames. Before it had a chance to recover, Shippo leapt up as high as he could and threw his spinning top. The weaponized toy landed perfectly on the center of the beast's brow and transformed in a puff of smoke. The fox demon landed on the boar's back and leapt off again as the force of the top drove its head into the ground, which trembled as the boar bucked and threw its weight about. Another enraged squeal sounded as Shippo landed on the other side of the demon. At any other time he would have celebrated, but his eyes were fixed on his battered friend.
"Inuyasha!"
"Sh-Shippo…"
"Don't try to move, I'll get you out of here!"
Inuyasha stubbornly tried to push himself up. "Brat!" The word was hissed out between teeth wet with his own blood. "G-get out of here before you get hurt."
"I'm not leaving you!"
Though he'd been working so hard to master his more impressive transformative powers, in this moment of high stress Shippo reached for the form that was most familiar and became an amorphous pink balloon. Spindly little hands with surprising strength latched onto the fire rat haori and began to lift. In just seconds they were air born, but it was seconds too late.
With no warning, a tusk from the great boar sliced ruthlessly through the air and popped the pink balloon, leaving the passenger to freefall back to earth.
The pain was unreal, but just for a moment. It was so sharp that it took his breath away in the instant before shock set in. But, for better or worse, Shippo held his form perfectly and zipped through the air in the random, helter-skelter pattern of a deflating balloon, avoiding two more wild goring attacks before finally crashing to the ground and transforming back with a puff of smoke and dust.
The young kitsune struggled to his knees, clutching his side. He felt blood oozing from between his fingers and he looked down at the spreading stain in disbelief. That's when he was hit again, another swing of the boar's snout slamming into him, sending him flying. He tumbled through the air for a long time before hitting the ground. Stunned from the awesome blow, he just barely lifted his head in time to see the boar fixing its gaze on him. Red eyes set over a scarred snout glanced him over with some sort of intelligence and found him too weak to be much of a threat.
The great beast gave a snort that blew snot and blood from its nostrils before turning to again face Inuyasha, who lay deathly still in the grass beyond.
"No…" He tried to scream it, but the boy didn't have enough breath in his lungs. He tried to get to his feet, but he stumbled. He tried to summon fire to his fingertips, but what came wouldn't have roasted a chestnut. "No, no!" He began digging through his clothes, desperate, not knowing what he was looking for, but searching for something as the boar cast its shadow over his unconscious friend.
The river stone almost seemed to push itself into his hand. He did not question it, though later he would be certain that he had left it in his chest of belongings in Kaede's hut.
"Fuko!" he cried "Fu—"
The grass around him flattened and he was pressed to the earth by an unseen force. Between one instant and the next, a massive youki seemed to blink into existence over his head and one great dark paw appeared in his field of vision. And then a huge brown dog was standing over the boar, dwarfing it in size, and then the boar was flying through the air, blood trailing from its neck—throat mysteriously gone—and then Shippo watch as the hulking figure of the dog seemed to dive into the cavity of the boar's throat, splitting open the chest and belly from the inside out and spilling a fountain of viscera onto the ground.
"—ko…"
The inu youkai stood over him, head and chest plastered with pig's blood, and concerned green eyes looked out at him from a nightmare face. Brutal jaws opened to let out her sweet, familiar voice, "Shippo, are you okay? Where are you hurt?"
"F-Fuko?"
The enormous tongue drooped and the dog bowed, assuming the quintessential 'Play!' pose with her long forelegs bracketing him, her furry rump up in the air, and her ropey tail curling up over her back. She titled her head cutely in question, "Can't you tell?"
Relieved, the boy smiled—and then fainted.
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Inuyasha awoke to the mid-morning sun on his face. The combined scents of wood smoke, old woman, and faint purity allowed him to recognize immediately that he was in Kaede's hut. So he didn't come up swinging. He just sat up.
And winced. He was pretty beat-up, but not so badly that he couldn't shake it off. In a couple days, you'd never know he'd been near dead. The half demon bit back whatever niggling pain was in his skull and abdomen, threw off the thin hemp blanket, and swung his legs off the pallet. He was bare-chested, bandaged tightly, and the only shirt he owned was folded carefully atop his haori by the bed side. Tetsusaiga was at his feet. The hut was empty of life and movement, though the rough-hewn wood panel walls echoed with decades of vitality. The scent and sound of an herbal stew simmering over the fire drifted around indiscriminately, billowing out of the windows to attract who knows what kind of hungry soul.
Though his nose was drawn to the stew, his eyes scanned the floor around him with growing anxiety. Someone had brought him here. He knew that waking up safe in Kaede's place meant that someone should have been nearby, hovering, worrying.
For him, there was always going to be some hesitation before calling out to others, but he pushed passed it now. "Kaede?" he called as he rolled painfully to his feet, his sword naturally coming into his grasp. "Shippo?" At the persistent silence, his ears flattened to his head. Where was Shippo? No way had he beaten that demon pig by himself. Anxiety put some thunder in his voice as he called again, "Shippo?!" The half-demon began hobbling towards the door with gritted teeth. No way, no way that kid died for me! "SHIPPO!?"
Just as he passed under the heavy woven mat that covered the door, stumbling outside into blinding light, Shippo bounded across the last few yards between himself and his roaring friend. Forgetting how ill-advised it was, the boy leapt and ploughed into Inuyasha, yowling joyously, "You're awake! You're awake!"
Inuyasha barely protested ("AY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YA BRAT!") and returned the embrace under the guise of steadying himself, one arm holding the fox demon to his chest, one at his side, dangling his sword. It was only a few seconds before he became unbearably embarrassed and started to peel the kid off of him. "Alright, alright already! Get off, would ya?"
The reunited duo stumbled back inside, Shippo doing his best to keep Inuyasha on his feet as he sat him back on the pallet. The half-demon slumped back down without a word, not even caring that his relief was obvious. Shippo began darting around the room, collecting a bowl and chopsticks, getting rice from the rice pot kept warm by the fire, and ladling stew over the tightly packed mound. He chattered all the while, but Inuyasha barely caught a fraction of it. Reassured that his friends were safe, all he wanted to do was close his eyes again. He began to fall over to the side.
"Come on, Inuyasha! Eat this! Aren't ya hungry?"
The scent and heat of the stew was right by his nose, but he couldn't summon the will to move towards it. Some even dripped on his face, and he flinched away from it. "Damn it, Shippo, let me sleep. I'll eat later."
"But you're always hungry!"
Blindly, he shoved his much smaller body off the pallet. "Later." And then he was dead to the world with his sword clutched in his hand.
Shippo blinked down at his friend with worried disbelief.
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When next he woke, it was as if he were coming out of a coma, or else a hard night of drinking. Not that he was much for drinking. Groggy, cotton-mouthed, and starving, Inuyasha sat up and cradled his head. "Fuck…"
"Ye have a foul mouth, Inuyasha."
"So?" he groaned.
"Humph. Tis well that you have returned to us, then, that it may not grow worse from isolation."
"Ugh. Get me some soup, would ya, Grandma?"
WHACK!
The half-demon roared in indignation, clutching his head even tighter, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR, YA OLD HAG!?"
The miko continued to set seiza at his bedside, wielding a wooden spoon and unfazed by the show of anger. Her traditional white shirt and red hakama were crisp and pristine and her deeply wrinkled face was stern. "Fetch your own food, boy. You are more than able."
Grumbling furiously, he rolled out of bed and was across the room and digging into the stew in seconds. He didn't look for a bowl; he dived straight into the huge pot. Tasting it, having the rich dark broth flow down his parched throat, was an instant relief. He swallowed veggie chunks whole and tore into hunks of meat with relish. He didn't get to eat like this out on the road. Just when the caldron was halfway depleted, he grabbed blindly at the rice pot and dumped the entirety of its contents into the stew. He didn't even wait a moment for the chewy grans to soak into the broth before he continued to glut himself.
In his frenzy, he was only vaguely aware of Kaede's grumbling about his greediness. As his stomach filled, his mind cleared accordingly. With his head still in the pot, he picked out the sound of bedding being folded, crickets chirping outside, and, strangely, the distant murmuring voices of villagers. A couple were distinct from the jumble, though he could only recall their faces, not their names.
It sounded like they were talking about him and his injury, though Inuyasha knew this had more to do with the safety of the village than his own well-being.
"If he dies, the village falls," one lamented, whom he was sure was one of the wood-cutters.
"Nonsense. We've protected this land for generations. We get by when he is absent and will get by should he leave for good."
"Can not our miko do something to tie him to this place?"
"What, more than he was tied to the God Tree by her sister?" That was the voice of one of the quasi-warriors of the village, one of those wealthy enough to have a horse.
"You know what I say—" This was the loud, irritating boom of a farm hand.
"We all know what you say." A few snickered.
"—I say, like calls to like, and having all these demon-blooded folk walking free around our homes doesn't bode well for the future!"
"All villages are beset by demons in turn. These are things we must endure; banishing friendly spirits will not change it."
"What of the girl, the other? Do you think if we built a shrine, we could tie her to this place?" This was the wood cutter again.
"What is your fixation with keeping these demons like guard dogs? The headman would never approve such an action!"
"You must admit, they keep us safe."
"At what cost?"
"Hold off on such talk. The biggest folly here would be in assuming too much. Leave it to the elders to decide."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes into his food, effectively turning a deaf ear to their conversation. The villagers had so many little squabbles like this it wasn't even funny. He just wished they'd do it somewhere else. What the heck were they doing out this way in the first place?
Behind him, there was a sigh. "Are ye quite finished, boy? Must ye lick the pot clean?"
He sat back and licked his lips. "Just getting the good part. Great stew. Where's Shippo?"
"He and his friend went hunting, anticipating your hunger."
Inuyasha huffed and wiped his mouth on his bare arm. "What friend does that brat have—AH! Stop hitting me wouldja!?"
"Such words ye have for one who risked his life for you. It's deplorable."
"I just meant—"
Outside, the villagers suddenly quieted, and then a chorus of shouts rang out, "Hey, hey, welcome back! Look what you've brought us!"
Underlying the excited, grateful voices, there was a markedly unfamiliar female one, "Hey, you guys! No, no, it's nothing. Don't mention it. Here, can you manage this one between you? Big, isn't he? Thank Shippo!"
Instinct told Inuyasha that this was the voice behind the powerful, unknown youki that he felt. He was moving in an instant, still bare chested but with his sword in hand. Tetsusaiga transformed just as he swept the woven mat hanging in the door frame aside.
The scene before him was so confused that it stayed his hand for three seconds. The frail and usually fearful villagers crowding around and smiling at a daiyoukai with a wicked-looking spear. Shippo bouncing happily at the side of said daiyoukai with several rabbits strung across his shoulders. The stranger, Fuko, smiling in her flamboyant kimono with oversize obi bow, graciously burdening a couple of sweaty woodsmen with the body of a large stag.
Inuyasha's mind flipped back and forth like a fish on dry land as he fluctuated between aggression and confusion, the instinct to protect warring with honest bafflement. But, after three seconds of hesitation, Fuko's scent reached his nose. Never mind that she was clean of human blood, that she actually smelled as friendly as she appeared, or that she in no way smelled like or of his half-brother Sesshomaru—as soon as Inuyasha recognized her scent as being that of a full-blooded inu youkai, he lunged.
He'd never met a dog demon who didn't hate him just for being alive.
"Get out of the way!" he yelled at the villagers just a split second before he barreled through them and swung at his target. It was only the presence of the humans that kept him from unleashing a Windscar.
Still, when the blade of Tetsusaiga clanged with stopping force against the out-stretched blade of Chikyukiba, a concussive blast of power blew the humans off their feet. Amid their panicked shouts, Shippo cried out in protest, "Inuyasha! Stop!"
Inuyasha didn't even register his words as Fuko suddenly snapped in his face, "Stupid jerk!"
"What the fuck did you just call me?" he snarled back.
"I said STUPID"— with that lightening quick speed that Shippo had been bragging about for weeks, she swiped his blade aside, grabbed him by the collar, — "JERK!"– and launched him over her head and half way out into the field between the hut and the forest.
Now Shippo cried, "Fuko! What are you doing!?"
She huffed as she started marching after the still-soaring hanyou. "Getting him away from the humans. I'm not going to hurt him."
"But, Fuko!"
She waved a hand over her shoulder dismissively. "Just a minute!"
Inuyasha had righted himself mid-air and was readying his sword again. Fuko rolled her eyes as she began twirling her spear.
"Fuko, Inuyasha, don't fight…" Shippo's tail drooped as he mumbled the words, already realizing that no one was listening to him.
The instant he landed, the hanyou came charging back toward Fuko with a wordless roar. She side-stepped him. Growling, he spun and charged again. She stepped to the side. Not stopping to figure out why or to even realize that she was not attacking him even though his charges left many openings, Inuyasha swung his sword mightily and unleashed his trademark attack.
"WINDSCAR!"
Fuko leapt aside, letting the wave of demon energy break over a defenseless tree in the forest behind her. In response to this she charged him, ducking around his defensive swipe while thumping the back of his head with the flat of one of her blades, "Baka! Watch where you point that thing!"
"Die already!"
Fuko just snorted, deflecting his slashing sword with her weapon. "No, thanks."
After a while it was apparent that she wasn't going to be able to totally keep her promise. She didn't hurt him, but it took much longer than a minute to tire him out. She kept up in close quarters with him, deterring youki attacks but bearing the brunt of deflecting countless overhead strikes. After a couple hours, the blows started to vibrate through the bones in her arms. This guy is definitely a brawler, she thought. While she didn't favor heavy weaponry herself, she had some measure of respect for the stamina it took to battle with the two-handed sword for so long, even considering the energy boost he'd gotten from Chikyukiba's healing.
While they fought (though Fuko wouldn't have called this fighting), they had a lot of time to think. Inuyasha did not use his time very productively and dwelt mainly on frustration and anger—peppering his attacks with some pretty gnarly cursing. Fuko's thoughts drifted unusually. The thrill of a new opponent should have been at the forefront of her mind, but aside from a few mental notes on his strength and his straight-forward technique, she was more consumed with her own insecurities.
She wished she could have said goodbye to Rin and at least told her why she was leaving. She questioned whether she would be able to make it back. What if Rin never found the summoning stone she had left for her? If only she had had time to make it a homing beacon. As it was, it was merely a conduit. So many people were lost to her just because she couldn't find them again. Of course, she would always go to help a friend in need, and of course, she wouldn't think twice about coming to Shippo's aid, but she also cringed to think of Rin wondering and sad. What if she got it in her head that she left because of her? That would just be too much. And to think of the lost opportunity, the promise she had earned with blood! If she never made it back to that group again, what hope did she have of getting to the Western Lands and unlocking its secrets?
No. She would get to that place one way or another. If she never found that group again, never saw that smirking jerk-face again—well, that might be for the best.
That creep! That pervert! That—
She had wanted to make a good first impression on Shippo's friend—that was a bust. Why was it that every inu youkai she met wanted nothing more than to spill her blood? Sesshomaru— that dog she did not want to think of at all— had come at her without even having seen her first. And this one, this Inuyasha that humans and fox kits around this town could not say enough good things about, just disregarded everyone around him to take a swing at her. What was wrong with her? What about her inspired such hostility?
Part of her whispered insidiously that it was the folly of adults, that they couldn't be trusted, that they only wanted to take and control and blame, but she silenced that part with a resounding No. That wasn't true. Didn't she know that wasn't true?
She knew people lashed out from fear, from anger, and from disgust. Why fear her? Didn't she already go around with her youki half concealed, trying to assuage fear? Was there nothing left for her to do but to go back to pretending to be human all the time? Why be angry with her? She was a stranger to them. She tried always to be nice and to take only what she needed with the comfort of others in mind.
And if she was disgusting, then why had Sesshomaru kissed her?
"ARG!" Suddenly the pale-haired, yellow-eyed figure in front of her was replaced with another and Fuko took a page out of Inuyasha's anger-fueled, straight-forward book—"Gross, gross, gross!" She wielded Chikyukiba like a bat and punctuated each word with an overhead strike that left the hanyou staggering and blocking. "Hentai!" She then swept his sword aside and bunted him several yards away with a well-placed boot.
Inuyasha wobbled, just managing to keep his feet as he slid back with wide eyes. "Who the hell are you calling—?"
"I wasn't talking to you!" she screamed. "Shippo!"
"Yes?" The boy popped out from the hut threshold.
"I can't do this anymore!" Fuko spun her weapon onto her back and stormed quickly passed him, "You deal with him!"
Shippo trotted out to the field where Inuyasha stood with his mouth ajar. "Hey! What did you do to make her so mad?"
"What did I do—" He broke off and stabbed the tip of Tetsusaiga into the ground. Sweat dripped from his brow, but he was strangely still raring to go. "Shippo, who the fuck was that? What's going on around here?"
"Well, you would know, Inuyasha, if you didn't always rush in and try to fight every one!" The young kitsune took on a fighting stance. "She's my friend! And you made her mad!"
Inuyasha snorted. "Get out of the way, runt."
"No."
"Keh. You're just going to leave that demon alone with Grandma in there?"
"Like I said, she's my friend! And what do you care, Inuyasha? You've been gone for months!" He flew at him, jabbing him in the gut. Surprised by the strength behind the punch, Inuyasha stepped back, but the kit just kept on coming. "You've left all of us alone for months!" he shouted, fists flying. "You just disappeared! You're always running off! What if something had happened to you? How would we ever know? We'd just stay here waiting! And waiting!"
Inuyasha grabbed for his arms, trying to stop the rain of blows. "Now, wait just a—"
"NO, you shut up!" Even as worked up as he was, Shippo remembered his training and dropped his weight to his knees and twisted out of his grip. "You come back here, all torn up, half-dead, human!" He leapt up and kicked the hanyou solidly in the chest, making him stagger back. "You don't think we worry?! You almost died! Why did you wait 'til the last minute!?" He leapt again in a reckless tackle. Tear-choked, the boy furiously punched at the hanyou's head. "Are you stupid?! Do you want to die!? Don't you think we've lost enough friends?!"
Inuyasha finally caught Shippo's shoulders and peeled him off. "Ow! Fuck, Shippo, fucking ow! Hey!" He shoved him. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!"
"Are you?! Don't just say it to me! Grandma Kaede, Miroku, Sango—they've all been worried about you!" Shippo fell back on his tail, gulping air. After a few breaths, he threw one last glare at his friend. "We all miss Kagome, Inuyasha. When you leave, we have to miss you too."
He flinched and growled. "You don't know what you're talking about."
Shippo climbed to his feet, teeth gritted. "I knew you weren't really sorry. How could you be when you're just going to run off again?"
"Ay! Who said I'm going anywhere?"
"Aren't you?"
"No." He snapped, realizing the truth of the words just as he was saying them. "I'm not leaving." Shippo's face didn't soften at all and it disturbed Inuyasha to see the young kit looking so cynical. He knew that he was mostly to blame. "Shit," he muttered, looking away. "I only left to see… You guys know I can take care of myself, why would you—shit, I mean, I didn't leave to make you guys worry. I am sorry. I just needed…"
"Whatever, Inuyasha." After a few more seconds of silence, the kit put his hand on his hips. "You promise not to run off again?"
"I promise, ok?"
"Fine."
It had been a long time since anyone had bitched him out like that and Inuyasha was a bit disconcerted. He warily looked in Shippo's direction again, and then beyond him to the hut. "So, uh." He itched his cheek. "Who's your… friend?"
"Her name is Fuko." Shippo said petulantly, and then glanced over his shoulder at the silent hut. "I've never seen her so mad. What'd you do?"
"No idea."
Shippo rolled his eyes. "You just spent the last hour trying to kill her."
"Well, she was trying to— well." Running a hand through his hair, Inuyasha slowly shook his head. "No. She didn't fight back at all." Vaguely, he remembered that she even smiled a couple times and called out 'Good form!' He had taken her words as sarcastic (and cursed her viciously), but were they? He shook his head more firmly. In what universe would a full demon give a half demon an honest compliment? "She was probably holding back to make fun of me."
"Fuko wouldn't do that! Even when we race, she doesn't hold back."
"Keh. How well do you know this girl?"
"Well. She's my teacher, and she's the reason you're even still alive right now!"
At Inuyasha's skeptical look, Shippo detailed the events that led him to standing in the field outside of Kaede's hut, whole and hearty just hours after being on death's door. After rescuing them, Fuko had fetched Kaede and gotten her help in stabilizing the still-human Inuyasha so they could move him to the hut. Shippo had woken up from his short faint to find Fuko using her spear to channel earth energy into them both. Her healing lasted until day break, when he turned back into a half-demon and the villagers came, looking for those responsible for the huge demon carcass and all the felled trees in the forest. Fuko had taken responsibility and helped to clean up the body and harvest the wood while the half-demon rested.
"She saved you and even healed you, Inuyasha! That boar attack was last night. How else would you be walking around, swinging your stupid sword so soon?"
The hanyou growled, "I never asked for her help."
"I did. And I trust her."
"Well, I don't. Listen, just 'cause she shows up acting like some big savior doesn't mean she's not hiding something."
Shippo threw up his hands. "What could she possibly be hiding?"
"I don't know. But she's a demon, she wouldn't be doing these things for no reason."
"If Kagome was here, she'd say that's dumb! She always said it didn't matter if someone was human or demon, or half-demon—"
"Don't fucking tell me what Kagome would say, I know what Kagome would say and it's got nothing to fucking do with this!"
Shippo flinched away from Inuyasha and his sudden outburst.
Just then, Fuko sprang from the hut. "Hey, you guys, the food…" She paused, surprised at the tense scene before her. They all stared at each other for a moment.
"The food's done. The rabbits. For dinner," she continued, and indicated the threshold with a wide gesture. "Shall we?"
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
What followed was an awkward, silent dinner during which Fuko barely ate a quarter of a rabbit while being fixedly stared at by Inuyasha, who made a point of chewing with his mouth open and eating until he couldn't anymore. She was the only one who didn't notice, she didn't even look up. After dinner, awkward, silent tea was served. Everyone partook, and toward the end Fuko got out of her own head enough to break the silence.
"It's good to see you aren't nauseous."
Inuyasha glared.
"It's just, sometimes being healed by Chikyukiba makes people nauseous." After a few seconds, she blinked and added, "Chikyukiba, that's what I call my spear."
After a few more excruciating minutes, Fuko set down her cup and bowed quickly to Kaede. "Thank you very much for the food and for your advice, Lady Kaede."
"Think nothing of it."
"Well, I'm going to step out for some air
With another bow to the room at large, she swept outside, letting in a gust of hot, humid wind. Shippo bolted down the rest of his tea so he could follow her, but as he moved to stand Kaede put out a hand. "Don't be so quick to chase, boy. That one has troubles that do not concern you," the elderly woman cast a sidelong look at Inuyasha, "nor you."
Over the other's caustic snort, Shippo asked, "What's wrong with her?"
Kaede hummed non-committally. "Tis not my tale. But, perhaps your teacher would like some time to think in peace."
Though his gut urged him otherwise, Shippo eased back on his tail and crossed his arms over his chest, resolving that he wouldn't do anything to annoy Fuko any further. All he had ever seen from her was happiness and he really wasn't sure what to expect from her while she was so upset. She was a girl, after all. What he'd learned from the older females in his life was that sometimes they just needed time to cool off.
From a shadowed corner of the hut, Inuyasha finally spoke, "What I want to know is what she's after."
Kaede responded before Shippo could defend her, "When she came, she claimed to be seeking out inu-youkai in order to reclaim a lost familial connection. She arrived here with the expectation of finding you, Inuyasha, having learned of ye through rumor."
"Rumor, huh? Keh. Even if I was willing, why would she come to a half-breed looking for family? Did her folks like slumming it?"
"That is something you will have to ask her yourself."
"Fine." He leapt up and marched out of the hut, completely ignoring Shippo as he protested, threatened, and then tried to restrain him. In the end, they both went to find Fuko with Inuyasha gritting his teeth as Shippo gnawed on his head in his balloon form.
The contentious duo found her in the middle of the village, perched on the roof of the big covered bridge and absentmindedly skipping rocks down the length of the river. The demon-blooded folk took no note of the crowds of people standing slack-jawed on the river banks, watch stones bounce across impossible distances, and Inuyasha began his interrogation as soon as he entered shouting distance.
"Hey, you!"
"Hu…?" Fuko's ears perked up and she paused in the act of throwing another stone to glance over. For a second, she froze and her eyes took Inuyasha in with an odd clarity, then the moment passed.
The half-demon leapt nimbly up on the slatted roof and continued striding toward her. "Yeah, you! I got a couple questions for ya."
"O-kay…," she snickered, suppressing a grin. "What's eating you?"
Shippo the balloon paused in gnawing on the hanyou and began to twitch, huge tears welling in his eyes as he tried not to laugh. Little giggles still leaked out, much to his frustration.
Inuyasha stopped too, completely disconcerted, and then he was annoyed because of it. Since when did daiyoukai tell jokes? "See, that's what I mean! What kind of demon are you?!"
Her ears bobbed. "Dog."
"Gah!" He stomped over to her. "What do you think you're playing at, acting all friendly? If you're after something, don't even fucking bother 'cause I'm on to you!"
Blinking slowly, Fuko bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. During this little tirade, Shippo 'poof'ed back into himself and hopped down from Inuyasha's shoulder. She skipped her stone, and then passed him a nice flat one from the pile next to her so he could try. They skipped stones and chatted for a while as the hanyou continued yelling like a dog barking into the night, getting redder and redder every moment.
Some of the more enterprising villagers were taking bets on how far the next rock would go by the time he finished, shouting, "I don't know who you think you are but this is my town and I don't want you here!"
Fuko angled her body and slowly mimed throwing a stone. "—flick your wrist, like this, and then when you've got the hang of it—"
"Are you even fucking listening?!"
Fuko's ears bobbed as she glanced at him. "Sort of. You want me to leave, was it?"
"NOW!"
"Okay."
"What?!"
—"What?" Shippo squeaked, "Fuko, don't—"
"I'll leave," she continued, passing a hand over the young kit's hair to shush him, "if you can skip one of these river stones farther than me."
"What?! No way! What kind of trick are you trying to pull?"
"No trick. Listen, you pick a challenge and I'll do it. If I lose, I'll leave."
"Fuko, you don't have to—" She gently scratched the kit's scalp with her sharp claws and he broke off with a shiver.
"Anything you want," she invited Inuyasha.
He stared incredulously at her for a full ten seconds before he realized just how sincere her gaze was. She sat there, posture open, expression unfiltered, one hand holding up another little rock to throw. She looked like some kid proposing a different game to play in the humid summer evening.
Inuyasha tensed up, clenching his jaw and trying to recapture some of his lost ire. It didn't matter what she looked like, she didn't belong here. "Anything I want?" he sneered.
She waved a hand, "Go for it!"
"Keh." Inuyasha opened his mouth to challenge her to a Tetsusaiga-holding contest, but Shippo suddenly threw himself against her, burying his face in her side as he clung to her arm. Surprised, Fuko dropped her stone into the river to rub his back. (In the distance, a man curse and there began a crowd-wide argument about whether that counted as a throw or not.)
Shippo's cries from earlier came back to him, Don't you think we've lost enough friends?! The hanyou growled shortly. Damnit. He'd never hear the end of it if he just forced her out. For a second, he scrambled for a more fair challenge.
"I don't trust you," he began slowly, piecing it together as he spoke, "and I don't know what you did to get Shippo and Kaede on your side. So, I'll tell you what. We're gonna go see a couple friends of mine and they're going to decide if you should be hanging around a human village."
Fuko frowned, ears twitching. "Who are your friends?"
"Doesn't matter!" Inuyasha jabbed a finger in her face. "Anything I want, by your words."
"I did say that." She grabbed his finger and, the next thing he knew, they were cementing the bet with a hand shake. "You're on."
()()()()()()()()()(A little more than two days later)()()()()()()()()()
You'd think going for a 48-hour run on the way to be judged by a Buddhist priest and his demon-slayer wife would be enough to distract Fuko from that shocking incident of three days prior, but if anything, she was more certain than ever that she had been scarred for life. For the third time in as many hours, she rubbed her thighs together and tried to stop remembering the way Sesshomaru's fingers had curled against her private parts. That pervert! Why should he want to touch her there?
"Damnit… he did it to mess with me, I know it!" she hissed quietly to herself.
"Eh, Fuko?"
Sheepishly, Fuko looked over her shoulder where Shippo had been sleeping against her back. "Sorry to wake you."
The boy groaned softly and rolled so he wasn't face down on the rough sack that had held the travel rations Kaede prepared before they left. "Why are you still awake?" he asked. Inuyasha had been the one to claim he wasn't tired and would stay up, though now he slumped in the cup of a tree trunk sound asleep.
She sighed. "Not sleepy. Still mad at that guy I told you about."
"Want me to beat him up for you?"
"No, thanks though,"
Shippo nodded off, but then woke again a few minutes later and continued as if there had been no lapse, "Well, forget him! He sounds like a jerk."
"Hai, I will," she said, but he was already asleep. The small cooking fire had burned out hours ago, so she looked up at the starry sky to curse Sesshomaru's name. 'Forget him' had basically been Kaede's advise, too (also, meditate, and something about reverse sides having reverse sides). It would be easier to forget him if he hadn't been the one to find the summoning stone she had left for Rin. Fuko shuddered. From what she could tell, that perverted dog had been fondling the stone off and on since he picked it up and thinking of nothing but her. The shard of her youki that resided in the stone telegraphed the emotional resonance of the person who carried it against their skin, but only when they were thinking of her intently. Sesshomaru was, and he was really, really angry. And super determined about something. And really, really lustful.
She shuddered again.
"Dn't worry, Fuko. Mir'ku 'n' Sango 'ill like 'ou lot!" Shippo slurred, and then he was asleep again.
On a positive note, she wasn't exactly worried about the challenge to come. She had been, but with her little friend whispering in her ear from his perch on her back all while she ran, she felt she had a good idea of what kind of people she was going to meet. Nice, reasonable people who, despite their professions, had a history of fair treatment for demons. Maybe she wouldn't have their instant friendship, but she could reason with them well enough. She just needed to think of an argument.
Fuko guarded the two sleepers until the sun rose, and then Inuyasha woke and sprang from his perch on the same breath.
"R'arg!" he stretched his arms up in the air, yelling out the strange sound. "Yeah!" He spun on her. "You ready for this?"
This guy has boundless energy, she thought, and Fuko put a spark of fighting spirit in her reply. "Hai!"
"Keh. We'll get there before noon. Get the brat up and let's go!"
"Pfft." She rolled her eyes as she picked Shippo up under his arms. "He's no brat. You're the one who would rather burn good food than listen to somebody else."
"Who asked for your opinion? Maybe I like my meat charred."
The kit flopped around when she shook him and mumbled and grumbled all through waking. He was certainly not the morning person that his friend was. In moments, they were back on the run.
Doing her best to ignore the wild fluctuations in mood that she could sense from wherever her summoning stone was being carried, Fuko chatted quietly with Shippo for the next few hours, learning more about her judges, their village, and also learning about the training that he had put himself through in her absence. Inuyasha ran ahead, blazing the trail and setting a rather reckless pace, but then again they agreed that he was probably still under the effects of Chikyukiba.
Seeing the red-clad hanyou suddenly leap dozens of meters into the air, Fuko paused in retelling her many foibles with self-transformation fox magic. "Hey, what's he doing up there?"
"Probably getting a bird's eye view. We're pretty close to the village."
"I want to see." Fuko resettled him on her back leapt up on her next stride, to Shippo's yowling delight.
In the next instant they were midair with wind streaming past their ears. The countryside was laid out before them like a map, strands of forest and meadow given structure by rolling hills and mountains. The bright rays of sun bathed the expanse seemingly without shadow.
Fuko gasped at the beauty. "Wow…" On a glance downward, she saw Inuyasha beginning to arc down from his longer, lower jump. "Hey, you!" she shouted at him, "Are we close?"
He looked up at her, squinting against the sun and grimacing. Then he gestured downward as he prepared to land, falling below the tree line and out of her sight.
"We're going down!" Shippo squealed as she tucked her legs, rolled, and kicked out against the wind to propel them toward the place that the hanyou had gone.
Inuyasha was waiting with crossed arms when they landed, and she was summarily informed that she would be blindfolded from here on out.
"Uh, no."
"Gotta happen. I ain't giving away the location of the village."
From over her shoulder, Shippo groaned. "I forgot the village was hidden. It would make Sango mad if you knew how to get in."
"I wouldn't be able to get there without a guide anyway! Come on, 'Po…"
"Sorry, Fuko. Here, I can cover your eyes with my hands."
"Your hands aren't big enough, kid. You, put this sack on your head!"
"No, thank you. I'm serious, this isn't necessary."
After a bit more convincing and a struggle when the boys foolishly attempted to wrap her head in the food bag, they were on the move again with Inuyasha carrying her weapon, Shippo holding onto her obi, and Fuko blindfolded with a less stifling cloth foxed out of tree leaves. They walked for a long while, until a human voice called out for them to halt. Inuyasha only had to mention his name before they were ushered to a village that most people wouldn't notice even if they passed within a dozen yards of the front gate. Fuko's ears twitched wildly as more and more was revealed to her. She had heard tale of demon exterminator techniques that could completely mask scent, muffle sound, and dampen aura-based senses. Now she was experiencing it first-hand. One moment, she smelled only nature, and the next there was a concentrated mass of scent that was undeniably a human village.
Something passed briefly over her youki. "Wow, was that some sort of barrier?" Unable to contain her curiosity, she put her hands out in front of her and tried to feel something, like it was a party game and she had to guess where she was. She latched onto someone and began to pinch and pull. "Who's this person here?"
A small, reedy voice whined, "… help, please. D-demon…"
"Get your hands off of him and stand still, wouldja!?"
"Shippo? Shippo?"
"Here, grab on to me."
They were ushered into big tatami room in a low, large wooden home, and Shippo got Fuko to sit on a cushion while Inuyasha grumbled about all the trouble he was going to in order to prove something obvious. Still curious, Fuko continued to feel around the floor until she found Inuyasha's cushion pulled it out from under him.
"Damnit, take off that blindfold!"
"Nuh-uh, I'm used to it."
Miroku slid open the shoji door to the receiving room in his home with an audible snap and paused at the spectacle before him. When a guard had come with the message that his allies, Inuyasha the half dog-demon and Shippo the fox demon, had come to the village with a captured daiyoukai, he wasn't sure what he would find, but he didn't think it would be this.
Inuyasha and Shippo had teamed up to battle Fuko as she expertly defended her wished to remain blindfolded. One cursed enthusiastically and the other giggled madly as they tried to sneak and grab the cloth from her head, but she slapped their hands away every time, saying, "Nope. Nuh-uh. I'm wearing it now. It's no use. I'm blind for life."
"Excuse me? Am I interrupting?"
Inuyasha froze and sputtered, but Shippo gave one final lunge and yanked the trailing end of the knot in the cloth.
"Yatta!" he crowed, swirling the strip over his hand.
Fuko patted her cheeks. "What's this? I can see?"
"Stop acting so fucking silly!" Inuyasha jumped to his feet and strode over to the monk, who had appeared in his usual purple robes but missing his staff. "Ay, Miroku! This demon girl's trying to hang around my village. Tell her to scram!"
"That's not fair, Inuyasha." Shippo plopped down next to Fuko. "Tell him about the challenge."
She straightened her back, tried to give her most honest, trust-worthy face, and said, "Greetings! I am Fuko of the north." And then she bowed so deep her long bangs swept the floor. "Please don't banish me, houshi-sama!"
Shippo looked at her, aghast. "That's what you came up with? 'Don't banish me'?"
"What else do I say?"
Eventually, the situation revealed itself to Miroku and, after Inuyasha and Shippo argued their positions and Fuko made her plea again, he said, "I have heard Shippo speak of you before, milady. I have even seen your likeness in his drawings, though they couldn't hope to do you justice." From his cross-legged seat in front of them, Miroku assumed a meditative posture with his eyes closed and his hand tucked in his sleeves. "Hm. I don't know you at all, but if Lady Kaede and Shippo trust you enough to let you into their lives, then I must trust my friends." Over Inuyasha's groan, he continued with a charming smile, "And who am I to say no to such a cute girl?"
"Yatta!" Shippo crowed for the second time, and Fuko beamed at the monk, radiating gladness in her aura.
A strange expression suddenly fell over Miroku's face and he took Fuko's hands in his. Her ears fell flat against her head, that look made her uneasy!
With serious eyes, he asked, "Lady Fuko, will you marry my son and bear my grandchildren?"
Before she could react with anything other than stunned silence, Inuyasha jumped up and punched Miroku in the head. "You don't even have a son, you damned perverted monk!"
He clutched his skull, in quite a lot of pain. "Inuyasha, please, you can't blame me for wanting a pretty daughter-in-law."
"I can." A stern female voice came from behind him.
The monk spun, pain forgotten, and burst into nervous laughter, "Sango, my dear wife! I didn't hear you come in!"
"I just bet you didn't." The young demon-slayer came fully into the room, wearing a simple floral kimono and carrying three hidden weapons on her person despite her newly-earned, glowing, young-mother look. "What's going on in here? Who is this?"
The situation was explained to her, Fuko gave her plea, Shippo endorsed her, and Inuyasha again gave his argument. Frustrated because he was half-beat, he was even more adamant this time. He pointed out the fact that on one here could prove that she wouldn't turn on them. "Come on! You guys really think a daiyoukai would just swoop in all of a sudden and try to get all buddy-buddy with us for no reason? We're taking a huge chance on her that we just don't need to take."
"She's my friend!"
Fuko sighed, ears drooping. Being put in a position where she had to defend herself was taking more of a toll than she had expected. "I swear on my honor that I don't want to hurt any of you. I just want to spend time with Shippo while I can."
Sango put up her hand. "Wait, wait." After a moment, she continued, "Since my husband is hopeless, I suppose it's all up to me, then? Fine. I want to talk to this Fuko of the north alone." After a beat of silence in which nobody moved, she produced a deadly-looking paper fan and smacked it on the tatami with a harsh 'crack!' "I said alone!"
The guys scattered in seconds.
"So," Sango began. "tell me about Shippo."
For the next little while, the demon slayer explored the demoness' personality by finding out how she felt about others. She listened to happiness and pride when Fuko talked about her kit friend's progress with fox magic, to admiration as she described how Kaede counseled the villagers who came to her hut for help, and to child-like excitement when she spoke of the group of village children who came to play after their chores were done.
Nodding, Sango shifted tactics, noting that she only spoke of those who were friendly towards her. "Now, tell me about Inuyasha."
"Inuyasha…" Fuko furrowed her brows. "Inuyasha is very energetic, but also rude and bad-tempered. And boy does he have a foul mouth! He blusters all the time. He's a brawler, but he's got some skills with his sword. He's always up for a challenge. And, I think he's very sad."
Sango tried to suppress her surprise as she asked, "Why do you say that?"
"When he doesn't know anyone's looking, he seems to grieve. He's lost someone, hasn't he?" She blinked inquiringly at Sango. "That girl, you all lost her, right?" At the demon-slayer's impassive look, Fuko shrugged. "Shippo told me. I guess Inuyasha doesn't really rub me the wrong way because I can relate to his sadness. I've lost a lot of people. Not just to death, but to time and distance."
After a few seconds, Sango asked, "And his being a half-demon, it doesn't bother you?"
"No." Fuko's ears bobbed in sincere confusion. "Why should it?"
Finally, the demon-slayer sighed in defeat. Sorry, Inuyasha. I tried, but this one is harmless. "You are a very odd demon. Where did you say you were from again?"
"North."
"Just… north?"
Fuko pointed toward the ceiling. "Far north."
"Ri-ight…" Sango climbed gracefully to her feet and held out her hand. Fuko took it and let herself be pulled to her feet. "Let's go announce the good news."
"I can stay with Shippo?"
"Yes."
"Great! Thank you, taijiya-sama!"
"Don't thank me. Please put that energy toward keeping your promise."
Fuko gave a quick bow, claw tips curling into the silk of her sleeves. "You have my word."
"Right." Sango started to leave, and then paused with her hand on the door as she realized that the demoness wasn't following her. She looked back. "Fuko?"
"Hu…?"
Sango blinked. Though she had responded, Fuko's eyes seemed to be focused on something miles away. Her head was tilted slightly and a definite blush rode high on her cheeks
"Are you coming?" Sango asked.
"Huh? Oh, yes!" She snapped out of it and trotted out of the room on the demon-slayer's heels.
Subtly, Fuko tried to wipe the burning from her cheeks. She was relieved to be allowed to stay with Shippo for the duration of her visit, but she was starting to think that it would be a short one. With the way that perverted daiyoukai kept thinking about her, it was only a matter of time until he spoke her name and activated the stone.
Next time on Westward Bound:
Chapter XI: A Warm Reunion