AN: Haha, I finally managed to get this chapter working n.n (yay?). Anyways, sorry, but I can't reply to any reviews, on account of I can't seem to get to my review's page, and I didn't save them like I usually do. I do, however, want to say thanks to everyone that did review. And, a special thanks to the person who told me the proper name for Kohaku's weapon. So, thank you! Now, without further ado, onto the chapter!
"Taijiya-san! The demon's are coming!"
Sango nodded her head towards the villager, before turning to look back at her other companions, "Are you guys ready?"
Kohaku nodded, as he lifted his exterminators mask to cover his nose and mouth, "Hai, ane-ue."
Inuyasha, on the other hand, merely smirked with the arrogant confidence he always seemed to possess, "Do you even have to ask, Sango?"
It had been a couple weeks since Inuyasha had joined up with Sango once again. And Inuyasha had managed to settle into life at the exterminator's village pretty well. Despite what Yukio had said to him, none of the other villagers seemed to mind having a half-demon staying there. Inuyasha seemed quite content with staying there as well. Though, he did still occasionally wonder how long he should or would be able to stay there, he hadn't brought that topic up with Sango again.
Sango, meanwhile, couldn't be happier that he was there. When she wasn't busy with the trainees, she could usually be found not too far from where Inuyasha was; showing him tricks of the trade, or just talking with him. He didn't seem to mind either way either. And, while she did occasionally go off on exterminations by herself, or with some of the trainees, the hanyou was usually waiting near the gates when she returned, or generally was one of the first to see what had happened.
Today, however, they, along with Kohaku and Kirara, had gone to a village that reportedly had a problem with a couple of demons.
Sango rolled her eyes at Inuyasha's comment, but refrained from saying anything. After all, they had a job to do. "Let's go then." She said, going in the direction that the villager had pointed out before retreating as the others had done.
"What kind of demons are we dealing with?" Inuyasha asked, walking beside Sango, and looking around for any signs of the demons.
Sango could only shake her head at the question, "They didn't say. The only thing they told me, was that they were having some demon problems."
"Inuyasha, with your senses, couldn't you tell what kind of demons they are?" Kohaku asked, glancing to the hanyou for a moment.
Inuyasha was quiet for a few seconds, then, "I wish I could..." He mumbled, "Whatever they are... they sure as hell stink." He added, lifting his arm slightly to cover his nose with the sleeve of his haori.
Sango looked over to Inuyasha, then frowned slightly, "Maybe I should've given you a mask."
The hanyou huffed and 'keh-ed', "Like I'd wear it." He replied, lowering his arm again and wrinkling his nose. Suddenly, though, his expression changed to one of seriousness and he looked forward, "They're here."
Immediately, the two taijiya looked ahead, preparing for the fight that was coming. The demons, they discovered, were a couple of large, grotesque looking demons, that really didn't look like they were one, specific type. They had two, almost human-like legs, arms that seemed out of proportion when compared to the rest of their body, one eye each, no visible ears, and fangs that protruded from their mouths. And each were a pretty decent size as well.
"You guys take the smaller one, I got the big one." Inuyasha said, cracking his knuckles. With that, he ran forward without waiting for them to reply.
Sango let out a slight sigh, as she lifted her own mask to her face. Seemed like he was eager for a battle... "Well, no use in arguing with him. Kohaku, Kirara, let's go!" She added, glancing to her other companions, before running ahead as well.
Inuyasha lifted his arm, claws flexed as he prepared to bring them down on the demon he had targeted. When he was only a few feet from it, though,the demon suddenly lurched forward, and spat something at him.
The hanyou jumped back, barely missing the substance, which then landed on the ground. When the strange stuff hit the ground, it hissed and bubbled slightly where it landed in the dirt.
"Shit!" Inuyasha growled, glancing over to Sango and Kohaku, "Watch out, that stuff's dangerous!"
Hearing his warning, Sango jumped back, just as the other demon spat some of the venom at her, Kohaku, and Kirara, "That was close..." She whispered, her eyes narrowing as she took a few steps back and lifted hiraikotsu. Then, just as quickly, she threw the large weapon towards the demon.
The demon jumped to avoid the boomerang-type weapon, but that's where Kohaku stepped in. While Sango distracted the demon, Kirara flew above it, taking Kohaku with her. As the demon jumped up, the boy jumped off the fire-cat with his weapon in hand. He then swung his arm out, successfully hitting the demon's side with the blade of his kusarikama. As he landed on the ground, the young taijiya immediately turned and threw the chain part of his weapon at the demon. The chain wrapped around its leg, and the boy then gave a firm tug, forcing the demon to the ground again.
Inuyasha, meanwhile, was prepared to kill the demon he had gone after as well. Since getting close enough to it to use his claws proved to be a challenge, it wasn't long before the hanyou drew his sword. While he waited for an opening to attack, the hanyou used Tessaiga to block the demon's venomous spit from hitting him. Which, proved to be quite a feat in itself.
He glanced towards Sango, Kohaku, and Kirara a few times throughout the fight, just wanting to make sure they weren't in any danger. Sure that they were fine; he turned back to his own target, and narrowed his eyes slightly. Finding an opening to attack was proving to be difficult... So, Inuyasha decided to make his own opening.
Nodding slightly, as though reassuring himself of his plan, the hanyou ran forward. He ran straight for a few steps, and then suddenly jumped to the right. There, he ran straight another few steps, before jumping back to the left. He continued running in a zig-zag pattern, thoroughly confusing his demon target, until he was a few steps in front of it. There, he jumped into the air, flipped, and landed right behind the demon. The second his feet hit the ground, he turned and swung Tessaiga; cutting clean through the demon. He watched warily as the remains of the demon fell to the ground, and then began to dissolve and melt into a mass on the ground. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose, lifting his arm to cover his nose again, "This shit smells worse than the whole demons." He mumbled, before looking towards the two taijiya, just as Sango's hiraikotsu cut through it.
As that demon fell, it managed to spit some of its acid-like venom towards the group one last time, before falling to the same fate as the other demon had. As though on pure instinct, Inuyasha immediately sheathed Tessaiga, and ran to them. He quickly picked Sango up and jumped safely to the side. As he did that, Kirara took to the air, bringing Kohaku out of danger as well.
Once sure it was safe again, the hanyou turned to look at Kohaku and Kirara, "Oi, Kohaku! You and Kirara alright?"
The boy nodded, giving Kirara's head a pat, "Thanks to Kirara. How about you and ane-ue?"
"We're fine too." Sango replied, smiling, glad that her brother was safe. Then, looking up to Inuyasha, she added, "Thank you, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha looked at her for a few seconds, then set her down again and folded his arms across his chest, "Don't worry about it."
She blinked, then frowned slightly. Okay, first he had reacted so quickly to get her out of harms way, then he had acted as though he hadn't done anything worth being thanked about. She decided to shrug it off though. Inuyasha was just being Inuyasha; his actions and motives behind those actions were sometimes hard to figure out, but that seemed to be the way he preferred things. "Well, let's go let the villagers know that the demons have been taken care of." She said, motioning back towards the village.
With that, the group headed back to the village to let the villagers know that the demons had been exterminated. Then, after everything that needed to be said had been said, they started back for the exterminator's village.
The trek back to said village was uneventful; filled mostly with silence. Kohaku walked a few steps ahead of Sango and Inuyasha, carrying Kirara in his arms. Inuyasha remained silent, looking as though he were deep in thought about something. And Sango walked contently beside the hanyou, remaining quiet as well so she wouldn't disrupt whatever it was he was thinking about.
As they neared the village, though, Inuyasha stopped suddenly and grabbed Sango's wrist, "Wait, Sango."
Sango stopped as well, and looked curiously at him, "What is it, Inuyasha? Something wrong?"
The hanyou shook his head, letting go of her again, "No, it's not that. It's just..." He trailed off, and glanced to Kohaku, then back to Sango, then to Kohaku, and back again.
Sango blinked, a little confused at first. But, it didn't take her long to figure out what the problem was. "Kohaku." She began, turning to her brother, "Could you and Kirara go ahead and let the others know that we're back and all right?"
"Sure thing, ane-ue." Kohaku replied, nodding slightly. He then smiled and turned and ran into the village to let them know they were back and unharmed.
Sango watched until he had disappeared within the village, then turned back to Inuyasha, "Now, what were you going to say?"
Inuyasha was quiet for a moment, as though trying to figure out what to say, or how to say what he wanted to. Finally, he shook his head a little, and held out his hand, "Give me your hand."
"What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, "Why, Inuyasha? What are you planning to do?"
"I'm not going to do anything, I just want to see your hand for a minute!" He replied, glancing to the side, much like he always did when he was nervous or embarrassed about something. "Look, Sango, do you trust me?"
She nodded instantly, without even having to think about that, "Of course I do Inuyasha, it's just--"
"Then just give me your hand." He said, interrupting her as he grabbed her wrist again.
The taijiya looked at him, tilting her head to the side slightly in wonder. Just what was he doing? And...
Her thoughts were cut short when she felt something slip onto her wrist. She looked down, only to find that Inuyasha had given her a bracelet of sorts; one that looked remarkable familiar... "This is..." She began, lifting her arm so she could look at the beaded bracelet closer.
"Beads from the kotodama rosary I used to wear." Inuyasha said, finishing her statement for her. "I didn't have any use for it, so I asked Kaede to use the beads to make that."
"But, Kagome-chan gave the rosary to you before she left... Are you sure you want to give this to me?" She asked, looking at him once again. She was honored-- flattered even, that he would give her something. But, that was the only reminder of Kagome that he had, and, despite what he had said to her weeks earlier, she couldn't help but wonder if he really wanted to part with it... "Why are you giving this to me?"
The hanyou crossed his arms, glancing to her for a moment, before looking away, "As far as I'm concerned, the only memories that thing has, are one's I'd much rather forget." He replied, frowning slightly. The rosary, or rather, the beads from the rosary, only seemed to remind him of all the times Kagome used her 'osuwari' command on him... And, the fact that the miko had kept the rosary on him until the day she left, only made him wonder if she had ever really trusted him in the first place...
Looking at Sango again, he continued, "Kaede said it was supposed to help protect whoever wore it. Because of that, I was going to save it for when I found a mate."
Sango blinked, as a very surprised look came to her face, "What did you say?" She asked, still trying to make sense of the last thing he had said. He couldn't be saying what she thought he was saying... could he?
Inuyasha made a startled sound, then immediately held up his hands, "Wait a minute, I didn't say I wanted you for a mate, Sango! I said I was saving it, but-- keh! It seems like you need it more than anyone else. So... so, don't be thinking anything like that."
She looked to the bracelet again, falling silent for a moment. She felt rather embarrassed about jumping to conclusions about what he had said, and yet, at the same time there was a slight feeling of-- dare she say-- disappointment?
Sango frowned slightly, and shook her head. Well, that was just plain silly! Looking up to Inuyasha again, she gave a short nod and smiled, "Thank you, Inuyasha." Then, without hesitation, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a hug.
"O-oi! You don't have to... O-okay, okay, you're welcome, but enough of that." He stuttered. And, though he tried, even he couldn't hide the faint blush on his face.
The taijiya, still smiling, moved back again, "Sorry, but thank you again." With that, she turned and walked into the village again.
Inuyasha blinked, then followed after her, crossing his arms once again. Just why did she seem so happy? Had he really been the one to make her that way? He wasn't sure, but as he followed her into the village, he couldn't stop the small smile that came to his face.
AN: Sorry about the time skip, but I couldn't work with it any other way -.-;; And, you know, I just noticed something... for someone who doesn't like writing fight scenes, I sure seem to do a lot of them, don't I? And I still have at least one more fight planned out for this story. Anyways... as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!