Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Sengoku Otogizoushi - InuYasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. InuYasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, Viz Media, ShoPro Entertainment, and Shounen; while Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Togashi Yoshihiro, Shueisha, Viz Media, and Shounen. No profit or money of any kind is made from this fan-created crossover.
Existential Plight
Chapter Three, Part IV: The Path of Vengeance
"We met in the foggy tomorrow
and parted in the silence of the night.
A broken sword and a torn shield
with unshed tears having pierced the heart."
Kagome huffed in anger; she should have realized that she would be the one stuck asking youkai about Totousai while Hiei was her silent follower. The jerk could not be bothered to lift a hand in her search for the reclusive swordsmith. She figured he was trying to make sure she would have to find him someone else to make him his sword.
She glared at him as best she could through her bangs that were stuck to her face as yet another youkai had not heard of Totousai. The rain had yet to let up, and yet she was still forced to look and find clues. She was beginning to rethink her desire to go on this little adventure with him.
Yet she could not take being drenched anymore. She as only human-this was not looking good for her health. She put her foot down, only to discover that it was far from the best idea. Mud splashed up, chilling her even more than the pounding rain and staining her only yukata. It worsened her mood all the more. "Look, Hiei! I'm sick and tired of this, and is spending a few hours getting warm and dry inside too much to ask for?"
He scoffed, "Why? So you can step out and get wet all over again? Pointless. The sooner you find your blacksmith, the sooner you'll get dry."
He was quick becoming the reason behind the new twitch developing in her brow. He was lucky Kaede was no longer around to create a kotodama no nenju. Just as she was about to make good on her desire to throttle the youkai at her side, a warm hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Are you the one looking for Totousai-sama?"
From the voice, Kagome could surmise that the youkai was male, as she had yet to glimpse behind her. It also held a slick tone, one that spoke of someone used to using words to fight, though the callouses she could feel told a different story. She was overcome by a familiar urge to turn around and slap the guy. Though she could not entirely remember the reasons behind that.
But she squashed that desire as it seemed he held the answers she was so desperately seeking. Instead, she turned and tried to not let her cautiousness show; his voice reminded her of someone in her past that she could not quite remember. "Yes, I am... Do you know where we may be able to find him?" Hiei had returned to her side which made her more on edge, somewhat.
After all, a youkai that had managed to sneak up on them was one to be watched. Yet when said youkai also wears the habit of a monk and has even gone so far as to shave his head, it did not send a friendly message. Buddhist he may be, but a youkai monk was a threat, though subtle. Which made them all the more wary.
He looked between the two of them, focusing more on her than Hiei. "Hm. You have foreign eyes. Might you be Higurashi Kagome?"
She took a step closer to Hiei whom did not seem to mind. "That depends... Who are you?"
"Ah, forgive me." He fell into a sweeping bow. "I am Hokushin, a trusted friend of Raizen-sama. Sesshoumaru-sama mentioned you often in his documents on a long-forgotten past."
Hiei was confused as to why she would relax at the mention of one of the lords of the Makai. He remembered very little about his time spent at Sesshoumaru's mansion, yet he was positive that never had there been any sort of connection between Raizen and the dog lord.
Kagome smiled, though she did not step away from him. "Then yes, I am that Kagome. However, you have yet to answer my other question..."
"Forgive me for ignoring it." He gave an easy smirk before gesturing to the street full of youkai attempting to listen in. "Yet I hope you will follow me to where we are camped. It will be much easier to speak on matters there."
Without waiting for an answer, he turned and began to walk away expecting them to follow. Kagome stepped forward, her blind faith in the youkai written all over her face. He scowled in disbelief that she could be so stupid, and grabbed her arm. "Are you honestly that stupid?"
Her confused expression was his answer, and he had a deep desire to growl in frustration. "Do you make it a habit to take everyone's word at face value, especially a youkai's?"
She shrugged. "Yes. Though I may not get out much, I do know no one goes around pretending to belong to Raizen's forces. No one's that stupid."
"And that still leaves the issue of Raizen. You have to be stupid to trust him."
Kagome pulled her arm from his grip. "Before Sesshoumaru died, they were allies. His land was going to become part of Raizen's domain peacefully before he was killed-and it wasn't by Raizen. Can we go now? I don't want to lose sight of him."
He crossed his arms and glared, yet she ignored it in favor of running after Hokushin. There were times he had issues with believing that she had lived longer than he, especially given that she had forgotten one important thing.
"Sesshoumaru's dead, and youkai aren't that honorable, idiot," he muttered, yet followed at a more sedate pace.
To his surprise and growing dread, they were camped in the ruins of Sesshoumaru's old mansion. Dwelling in places belonging to the dead did not sit well with him, yet Kagome seemed unfazed by it. The fact that there were three other youkai monks increased his bad feeling.
Kagome waved off his concerns as she continued to talk about a past Hiei could not recall and things that had no meaning to him. The only things he wanted to know was if her blacksmith still lived and where the old bat resided so he could leave them and the ruined place behind them that much sooner. Even though it seemed as if Kagome had other ideas and was more than content to hang around with the youkai monks. The girl did not possess any self-preservation instincts, it appeared.
As such, he was too busy brooding to notice when Kagome received the answers they were looking for.
"You know, if you keep on looking grumpy, your face will get stuck like that," Kagome teased as she sat down next to him. He noticed the blanket in her hands, but kept his comments to himself.
"Where do you get such ridiculous sayings?"
She waved off his question with a kittenish smile and a wave of her hand. "Hokushin was nice enough to allow us to stay here for the night."
"So it'll be easier for them to slit out throats tonight."
She smacked his shoulder with no amount of playfulness. "That's not nice! He gave us information on Totousai and is allowing us to stay the night. That's not how you repay kindness."
He snorted; as if he was kind. "What did they say about your dead blacksmith?"
"That you're right. He's been dead for fifty years," she answered. She wrapped the blanket around her as she scooted closer to him, possibly for his body heat. He did keep her out in the rain for hours that day. "But he did use to live in the mountains where we were headed. See, I told you it would be a smart idea to stop and ask around."
"Che." He turned his head away from her. "All it proves is that this entire thing was a waste of time. Now we have to go out in search of a living blacksmith."
She was quiet for a moment and had quit fidgeting. He could feel the weight of her stare. "What," she spoke with great care, "do you need a sword for so suddenly? Why do you fight so much?"
Her questions gave him pause. Not only had no one ever dared to ask him about his intentions before, but he found reasons to fight absurd. He knew she was looking for some noble answer, but that was not who he was. "Revenge," he said. "My mother's people have it coming to them. There is also something I need to recover."
She leaned away from him, the weight of her stare gone. Instead he felt as if he had just disappointed her, but that was not his problem. He was who he was and would be the first to admit that he was a bastard, in every sense of the word.
"Revenge solves nothing, you know," she said. "Instead it causes new problems."
"Says you."
He heard her smile. "Says most people who went after revenge. There's more to fighting, too."
"I only have need for strength."
Kagome made a strange sound as if she was torn between agreeing and disagreeing before going silent once again. He could not tell if she had nothing more to say or if she was trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to.
"Hokushin said the arms room is still fully stocked here, and has some weapons that Totousai made in his last days. You are welcome to one." Her words were forced and full of sadness, that he could tell. He could not believe she would give him a weapon after she knew his desires. He waited for the catch, yet it was not one he had been expecting. "After that, I want you to leave. Do not bother Jinenji nor myself until you've had your revenge and done all that you need to.
"You may be someone very dear to us both, but we both know what lies down the path you're taking. We do not need to to experience it again... I will pray for your safety though."
"Don't bother." He grunted. "The gods are assholes and don't care."
He stood and walked away, intent on leaving that night as she told him to.
Her heart broke at the sight of his back walking from her. She wished that there was more she could have done for him, but his heart was set on his path. He needed to find out the consequences of it on his own, and there was little she could do to help him out there. Yet she was sure someone would show him the errors of his ways, and she knew it would not be her.
