Still don't own InuYasha. Would still like to.
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Kagome heard the screaming as she was walking back to the village. Her eyes widened, and she started running. It was coming from the opposite side of the village, which worried Kagome a bit, until she realized it would give her a chance to get her bow from Kaede's house.
A minute later, she was snatching her bow and quiver from a corner of the main room of Kaede's house, and running towards the commotion. She could see a circle of spider demons surrounding three people. One of the people threw something, and Kagome saw a flash of beige go around the circle of demons: Sango's hirakosu. It must be Sango, Miroku, and a villager in the circle. She knocked and arrow to her bow string, but did not shoot. She was not quite within range, and she was not going to waste arrows until she got a bit closer. She heard Sango yell
"... feels something bite at their neck, tell me! That's how they control people!" Kagome kept that in mind. Clearly, Sango or her people had fought this sort of demon before. She kept running, and was now at a point where she could see the three people clearly, through a gap in the demons' ranks. Then she saw it. A small spider that had been crawling on the villager's neck, suddenly stopped. The villager's face went blank, and he picked a knife that had been lying on the ground, and dove for Sango's back. Kagome didn't think twice: she lifted her bow, and shot, hoping her perfect aim would make this work.
It did. Kagome's arrow, blazing with light, shot towards the spider demon's avatar, missed the back of his neck by a hair, and hit the spider that had sunk its fangs into his neck. The young man's face cleared, and he collapsed, a second before he would have stabbed Sango in the back. This display attracted the remaining demons' attention. Most turned to Kagome with shrieks of fury. Calmly, she put another arrow to her string, and started shooting for her life.
"HIRAKOSU!" Sango and Miroku were using Kagome's distraction to the best of their abilities. They were attacking from behind, decimating the demons. Kagome cleared a path for herself, shooting demons right and left, to her friends.
"How's it going?" She asked as she joined them.
"Pretty well. I won't deny InuYasha's wind scar would be helpful right now, but we're holding our own. We noticed the arrow you shot. I'm guessing a spider bit him?" Sango told her, catching hirakosu from her most recent throw. Kagome nodded.
"Yes, he was going after you with a knife he picked up." Sango hissed.
"I hate these things. That's the second time they've used an avatar to try to kill me." There was silence, as the three continued to fight the rapidly diminishing horde of demons. It was Miroku who finally spoke.
"So these are some of the same demons who used your brother to kill your father and friends?" Sango nodded grimly, and threw hirakosu at an approaching demon.
"That means there's probably a villager who's been replaced by the leader of these things. We'll have to find him once we get rid of this lot."
"Lot? Don't you mean two?" Kagome said, shooting an arrow at one of the two remaining demons. Sango smiled, and threw her hirakosu one last time. It slammed through the body of one of the demons, as Kagome's arrow hit the other, and dissolved it in a blaze of light. Kagome fell to her knees, hands hitting the ground in front of her, panting. She saw feet approaching her. Shoes in a pair of tennis shoes from her own time.
What the- someone else got through? Who? Why? The other person from her time knelt down next to her, his arm going around her.
"Kagome?" a soft voice that she knew well asked, sounding stunned, and confused.
"Hojo?" She asked, knowing that looking up would be a bad idea. She had used too much power trying to help, and her vision was blurring slightly. If she moved to much, she would probably fall unconscious, or throw up.
"Yeah, it's me. Where are we? What were those things?" Hojo asked, still slightly amazed by he had just seen.
"Feudal era of Ja-" She broke off when her vision started to spin. Oh dear. This isn't good...
"Kagome!" Sango knelt down on her other side, and took in her white face. Her mouth set in a grim line. She must have used too much of her power with her arrows! If we don't take care of her, InuYasha will kill... She turned to Hojo. "I wouldn't try talking to her just now. She's not feeling too well." She looked at her friend "What possessed you to use so many arrows?!" She asked. Kagome smiled wanly.
"Wasn't-" she stopped, looking like she was going to be sick.
"Don't talk if that makes it worse. Come on, let's get you back to Kaede's." Sango paused, seeing Miroku's eager face, then frowned. "On second thought, let's wait until Shippo and Kirara get back." She turned, and smiled evilly at Miroku's obvious disappointment that he would not be able to grope Kagome while carrying her to Kaede's house. "Miroku, why don't you go see if you can find them?" Miroku walked off, sulking.
"I can help!" Hojo said eagerly. Sango stared at him for a moment. You're joking. You think that I would let you move Kagome in a state like this? Besides, Kagome's light, but I don't think you can pick her up. She considered a better way to say this, then hit on the right answer.
"If we wait for Kirara, she'll be more comfortable." Sango said calmly.
"Oh." Hojo kept chattering at Kagme for a long time, pausing as if he expected her to answer. Kagome never even tried. Sango kept a close eye on her, ready to catch her if she fell unconscious. A few minutes later, she did, falling forward into the arms that Sango held out to catch her. Hojo was startled when it happened.
"Wha-"
"She fainted. She used too much energy on her purification arrows." Sango explained bluntly. She watched the trees carefully, and muttered "Dammit, Miroku, get back here with Shippo and Kirara!"
Fortunately, Shippo and Kirara had already turned around and headed back to the village, so Miroku found them relatively quickly. They arrived a few minutes after Kagome fainted. Sango was relieved. She did not want to have InuYasha show up until after she got Kagome to a safe place where she could sleep, preferably not until after she had managed to ship Hojo back to his own time. She hoped she could manage it. Miroku and Shippo would help, she was certain. She was positive that they did not want InuYasha to see Hojo when Kagome was not able to control him any more than she did. In fact, Miroku probably wanted that to happen significantly less than Sango and Shippo. They had not forgotten Hojo's health lecture.
They put Kagome on Kirara's back, Sango sat behind her to keep her from falling off, and they took off, leaving Miroku, Shippo, and Hojo to walk. Hojo was not happy about this arrangement. He had wanted to be with Kagome. Shippo and Miroku were trying to explain why it was Sango taking Kagome, and not him, while skirting the real reason.
"She's my girlfriend! I'm supposed to take care of her!" He protested
"Kagome is probably more comfortable with Sango. She's a girl after all." Shippo pointed out. And she would probably be even more comfortable with InuYasha, but I don't think it would be a good idea to bring him up...
"Couldn't I have gone with them, at least?" Hojo asked, whining like a puppy.
"Kirara couldn't carry all three of you, especially not with Kagome in her condition." Miroku lied smoothly. That made Hojo pause.
"Oh." He said softly. He looked at Miroku with a concerned look on his face. "Can we get going? I'm worried about Kagome." Miroku nodded, feeling a wave of pity.
Poor boy. He truly cares about Kagome. Still, I don't think he really understands her, or wants to, for that matter. He wants her to fit in the role he's created for her, and I think she's going to shatter it when she wakes up...
They reached Kaede's house a little after the girls. Shippo and Hojo ran inside to see Kagome. Miroku waited outside for Sango and Kaede. They came out a few seconds later.
"Well," Sango said softly. "This is not good." Miroku laughed uneasily.
"That's an understatement. InuYasha is not going to be happy about this."
"Think ye that you can get Hojo to return to his own time before InuYasha returns?" Kaede asked, concerned.
"Heh. I'd like to think that we can, but somehow, I just don't see that happening. He wants to know what's going on, and his girlfriend is here. Still, we should try." Sango said, and all three shuddered, thinking of what might happen to Hojo if he did not leave.
"Well, I'll be happy to give him funeral rights." Miroku said with a shrug. Sango rolled her eyes.
"Let's just hope Kagome wakes up before InuYasha-"
"Before I what?" InuYasha asked, and the three humans jumped.
"Uh, well, you see..." Miroku started, while Sango got a worried look on her face, and Kaede hastily reentered the house.
"Where's Kagome? I want to know why she sit me a little while ago." InuYasha asked bluntly.
"Ummm, about that..." Miroku started, stopping at InuYasha's look of annoyance.
"Where. Is. Kagome." He said slowly, in a very deadly voice. Sango answered for the monk, who was frozen by the half-demon's glare.
"She's recovering." She said flatly. InuYasha stared at her.
"What do you mean, she's recovering? Recovering from what?"
"While you were sulking," Sango said cooly, "A horde of spider demons attacked the village. Kagome used too many arrows trying to help us get rid of them, and now she's unconscious. She's inside, lying down until she recovers. Shippo's with her." Sango took a deep breath. The moment of truth had come. "And so is Hojo." InuYasha had started heading into to house after Sango said Shippo's name, but he froze when she said the name of Kagome's boyfriend.
"What did you say?" He asked slowly, hoping he had misheard. Sango looked him right in the eyes.
"I said Shippo and Hojo were with her. You have a problem with that?" InuYasha turned away from the door, crossing his arms over his chest.
"No. Why should I care? If the stupid girl wants her boyfriend with her, she can have him!" He stalked away, heading once again for the tree.
Meanwhile, inside the house, the four people were a slightly quieter time. Kagome was still unconscious, and Shippo snuggled down by her neck for a nap. Hojo was chattering Kaede's ear off, asking questions about her herbal medicines, and laughing at some of the things she practiced. Kaede, like Sango, was growing tempted to just hand him over to InuYasha, with reassurances that Kagome wouldn't mind if he turned up dead in a few days. Eventually, Sango and Miroku came in to watch Kagome. Kirara leapt onto Sango's shoulder mewling. Sango smiled, and began polishing her hirakosu. Eventually, she spoke.
"So, Hojo, do you believe there are demons now?" Hojo started. He had been in the middle of explaining to Kaede just why one of her herbs was not as good as medication.
"Huh? Oh. I guess I'm not really sure." Sango and Miroku stared.
"Your mind was taken over by a demon, and you're not sure?" Miroku asked, slightly stunned. Then he shook his head. "All it took for Kagome was one dragging her down through the well, and trying to kill her. You must really be in denial..." Hojo's eyes widened.
"A demon tried to kill Kagome?"
"Heh. Interesting phrasing." Sango said wryly. Hojo was confused.
"What do you mean?"
"A demon. I suppose you could say that. You might want to add something like "every couple of days" to the end of that, though." She explained. Hojo's jaw dropped.
"That does sound a bit more accurate." Miroku agreed ruefully. "Maybe even 'several' instead of 'A'." A glint of evil glee shined in his eyes. The past five minutes of lecturing had made Hojo no friends. He sat there, stock still, and finally stammered.
"B-b-b-but Kagome isn't here that often! She's been sick!" This made Sango and Miroku double over with laughter.
"Oh! Is that what she's saying?" Sango choked out. Hojo frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"What my dear Sango means," Miroku said, regaining his composure, "Is that Kagome's only been sick one time in the past year. She came down with a cold. The rest of the time, she's been making up excuses to come through the well for a little while." Hojo's mouth dropped open.
"You mean she's been coming here for over a year? Why didn't she tell me?"
"Would you tell someone, if it were you?" Sango asked calmly. Slowly, Hojo shook his head no. "I didn't think so. Don't go picking at Kagome if you wouldn't do it yourself." Hojo was silent for a moment, as he looked at Kagome. Then he began to talk at Kaede again, this time sounding slightly shaken.
Kagome woke up to the sounds of an argument.
"Why not dump
water on her face? By now we need to check to see if she's
in a coma!"
Was that Hojo's voice?
"I may not know what a coma is, but I do know that it would be a really bad idea to dump water on her. She just needs to sleep!" That was Sango. Kagome was sure that her friend must be itching to wallop Hojo with hirakosu.
"She shot some arrows and fell unconscious! That would imply there's something wrong!" Hojo yelled, and footsteps moved across the floor.
"Don't you touch her! Kagome wouldn't like it!" That was Shippo. Kagome felt something brush against her cheek: her kitsune pup's tail. "I won't let you!"
"She's my girlfriend! We need to get her somewhere with doctors!" Hojo yelled. All the yelling was making Kagome's head hurt.
"Could you..." she hissed slightly in pain as she tried to sit up. Right. Moving, bad idea! "Please be quiet?" Shippo pounced on her, hugging her neck.
"Kagome! You're awake!" He said gleefully. Kagome laughed, and hugged him back.
"Yes, I'm up. Not feeling too well, though." She put a hand to her head. "And I'm still pretty tired."
"All you did was shoot a couple of arrows." Hojo said, sounding slightly concerned., "Are you sick?" Kagome took a deep breath. The time for some major explanations that she had been putting off for a long time.
"No, I'm not. But I wasn't just shooting arrows. Couldn't you tell?" Hojo stared at her, then slowly shook his head. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo stared at him.
"You... can't see it?" Sango asked, slightly stunned. Hojo stared back.
"See what? Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
"Because, you can't see ANY spirit energy at all! Most people can see light around Kagome's arrows when she shoots at a demon." Miroku explained.
"Why? How's that possible?" Hojo asked, almost more confused than before.
"I'm a miko" (note: yes, I'm using miko. In my opinion, mikos and priestesses aren't the same thing, and I point blank refuse to type out "white magic user" when I like the Japanese word.) Kagome said simply. "My arrows are special. My power, my energy, goes through them to purify whatever demon I'm shooting at." Hojo just stared, looking vaguely unnerved. Miroku grinned.
"The poor boy is so awed that he cannot speak!" He joked. Kagome, Sango, and Shippo just glared at him. He shut up.
"Kagome," Sango asked changing the subject, "How soon do you think you'll be able to move again?" Kagome sat all the way up. Even though she was a bit tired, she was feeling much better.
"Probably as soon as everyone else is ready. I just hope that I don't slow us down..." She said, sounding a bit worried.
"You can ride Kirara until you're up to it." Sango assured her. Then she frowned. "Where is Kirara anyway?" Shippo shrugged from his position by Kagome.
"I dunno. Maybe she's out by the tree?" He answered, thinking She probably went out after InuYasha. I don't think we want to mention him right away, though... "I'll go look for her." He added, bouncing up, and heading out the door.
"Remember, when it starts getting dark, come right back, whether you've found Kirara or not. It's dangerous." Kagome told him sternly. Shippo beamed at her.
"Don't worry Mo- Kagome!" He called back happily, "I'll be back before it gets too dark!" He smiled as he left. He loved it when Kagome acted like his mother. In fact, he had to be careful not to call her mommy now. That's who she was.
His Mommy.
Kagome smiled after the little fox demon. Her little boy was so sweet. She did not notice Sango shaking her head, until she spoke.
"Good grief, Kagome! Just adopt him already!" Kagome blushed slightly.
"What are you talking about?" She asked innocently. Sango rolled her eyes.
"You think the rest of us haven't noticed how you treat Shippo like he was your own child? You adore the kid, and he sticks to you like that white liquid sticky stuff you brought for him a couple months ago!"
"You mean... glue?" Hojo asked in a very confused voice.
"That's the stuff." Sango agreed. "Anyway, all you need to do is make it official!" Kagome shook her head slowly.
"I can't do that... what about his real parents? He might feel like I'm trying to take their place... I couldn't ask him to let me do that..." She explained slowly. Hojo shrugged.
"If his parents left him with you, and haven't come back for him, I think that could be termed abandonment." Kagome turned to him, eyes narrowed to slits. Hojo was startled.
What the-
"Shippo's parents were killed by two demons called the Thunder Brothers, because his father had a shard of the Shikon no Tama." Kagome said in the cold voice that Sango and Miroku had come to associate with extreme show of Kagome's temper. They edged away from Hojo, getting behind Kagome where it was safe. "His father died trying to buy Shippo enough time to get away. We took him in, and went up against the brothers ourselves, a little later." Hojo's jaw dropped.
"Why?" Kagome shrugged.
"We had Shikon shards. Anyway, the spirit of Shippo's father helped us- he saved Shippo and me with his fox fire." Hojo looked confused.
"Shikon shards? Fox fire? What the-" Everyone else sighed.
"Stick with us long enough, which I wouldn't recommend," Miroku told him dryly, "And you'll find out. Heh, too much about the shards."
"And you'll find out what happens when people insult Shippo's parents in front of Kagome." Sango added, eyeing the still slightly mad Kagome.
She seems to be controlling herself well...
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, don't start a fight with Hojo, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, he didn't know, 11, 12... Kagome was resorting to an old anger management trick she had learned as a child, resisting the urge to drag
Hojo to the well and push him through. After all, he was her boyfriend, and she adored him... right?
Amazing! You're actually starting to question yourself! You are more intelligent than Kikyo! The blasted voice was back. At least this time it was not insulting her. Yes, I do give compliments occasionally. Don't let it go to your head. And miraculously, it shut up.
Kagome sighed slightly. She wished that InuYasha was there. She was getting a little worried, actually. He should be back by now...
Did it occur to you that maybe he doesn't want to see you with Hojo? The voice pointed out sweetly. Kagome almost rolled her eyes.
Yeah, right. He's in love with Kikyo, remember? Kagome pointed out silently.
And here I thought you were intelligent. Even if he does love Kikyo, and I would hesitate to say he does, that doesn't mean he appreciates someone he doesn't know hanging around you. Look how he gets with Kouga. He doesn't like Hojo any better. The voice replied.
Oh. Was all Kagome could answer.
InuYasha sat on his branch of the tree, glowering. He wanted to go see how Kagome was doing, but he did not want to see Hojo. He refused to call him her boyfriend.
And why is that? InuYasha groaned. The voice was back. Of course I'm back. You didn't think I'd go away that easily, did you?
"No..." InuYasha sighed.
Good. Now, why do you care if Kagome's boyfriend is with her? It's not like you care. After all, you have Kikyo. InuYasha could not quite pin down why, but the voice's words irritated him.
"I don't have Kikyo..."
You know, it's really harsh to only like someone because she reminds you of someone else. The voice chided him, determined to be as irritating as possible.
"I don't like Kagome because of Kikyo!" InuYasha snapped.
Oh really? Funny coincidence, Kikyo looks almost exactly like Kikyo... The voice observed dryly. InuYasha growled.
"Yeah, and that's what I like least about her."
It is, isn't it? The voice agreed smugly. Then I must ask... Why do you like her?
"Because... because..." InuYasha muttered, trying to think of an answer fast. The voice got tired of waiting, and sighed.
Allow me. You liked Kagome at first because she accepted you. Now you like her because she's part of who you are. She changed you, and you can never get away from that. You love her for it. InuYasha yelped and nearly fell off his tree branch at the last words. The voice snickered quietly. What, didn't you realize that little detail? It asked sweetly. Didn't you notice that you haven't been as eager to see Kikyo as you used to be? Now you almost dread it. And every night Kagome's here, you have to fight the urge to block the well with something so she can't leave you. You hate this boy she's dating, because she's chosen someone over you. You don't want that, but you don't want to force her into anything, because you don't want her to hate you. So, as a result, you're leaving her, and going off to sulk. InuYasha listened to the voice's arguments with a slack jaw, trying to process all of this information. He did not notice Kirara's arrival at the foot of the tree. He was still trying to sort through everything.
"How do you know all this?" He muttered. The voice sighed in exasperation.
I'm in your head, InuYasha. Please tell me that you can figure out where I'm getting all this. InuYasha flushed slightly, mentally kicking himself for being so stupid. You're admitting it? Will wonders never cease! The voice added in sarcastically awed tones. So, the voice began, getting back to the matter at hand, What are you going to do about it?
"What do you mean? There's not really a lot I can do." InuYasha pointed out in a vaguely depressed tone. "Not with him around, anyway."
Good point. The voice sounded frustrated, like it was not too fond of this fact. There isn't really anything you can do to get rid of Hojo that won't get Kagome annoyed, and there isn't really anything you can do to get Kagome back with Hojo around. The voice paused. Except recruit the others...
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Goodness knows this is longer than usual. Much longer. This was actually originally intended to be three or four parts, but they were merged into one mega chapter to keep my DeviantArt readers happy through November, when I participated in Nanowrimo. So, don't expect this length again. You won't find it.