I am on a ROLL.
This is where the story takes a definite turn in regards to canon, people! Well, in terms of CHARACTER it does. Until the entire group gets together (aka Shippo, Miroku and Sango) events will stay mostly canon just for the sake of getting everyone together. But fear not, things won't be EXACTLY the same...bwahahaha!
I'm not gonna get all hissy and say "oh if I dont get reviews I wont write" - I love writing this story so much that I'll write it even if I'm the only one reading it - but it would be great if I could hear from more of you! Considering that this isnt one of my more popular stories, I dont really get a feeling for who's reading, so let's make some noise! I want to hear your ideas/comments - they give me a sense of what's working and what's not!
If you want more ASAP...
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Chapter 10: Instinct
For the next hour, Kohana managed to ignore Inuyasha for the most part. Nobu was his usual strict self, and his lack of concern for Inuyasha's presence in the dojo—at first, anyway—helped Kohana relax into their usual routine. It almost started to feel normal, after a while.
Inuyasha sat as still as a stone statue in the sitting area, absorbing every movement with sharp, unblinking eyes. He hadn't been outside her door when she emerged to start training; Kohana wondered if he had sensed her need for space and escaped downstairs to wait.
Nobu was going harder on her than usual. Although he hadn't looked once in Inuyasha's direction since they began, Kohana had a feeling it was because of the half-demon's presence. Her arms were trembling with exhaustion towards the end, and sweat dripped down her face and neck as she crouched to block one of Nobu's attacks. They were using wooden staffs that were a traditional training tool—they allowed for more brutal training sessions due to the lack of blades involved.
Her uncle landed a particularly hard hit on her shoulder and without knowing why, her gaze flickered to Inuyasha. He was watching her with that same piercing gaze, only this time there was a flicker of emotion behind those eyes. His body tensed as if to rise but his movement was interrupted by Nobu's imperious shout.
"He can't help you!" her uncle yelled, and Kohana's vision went white when another blow came, this time to her jaw. It was harder than Nobu had ever hit her, harder than she had thought a human man was capable of. She yelped as she hit the mat, instinctively rolling into a crouch as far away as she could get. The coppery taste of blood pooled in her mouth; she must have bitten her tongue.
"Bastard!" Inuyasha snarled, and Kohana's head snapped up just in time to see the half-demon leap at Nobu. Her head was spinning, which gave the scene before her a very dream-like quality. Nobu bared his teeth as he met Inuyasha's attack, his eyes dark and dangerous as he advanced. Nobu must have hit her harder than usual because it almost seemed like he was matching Inuyasha's speed.
"Inuyasha, stop," Kohana gasped, steadying herself against the wall as she gingerly stood up.
Both men ignored her.
An instant later, Nobu sent his staff swinging into his opponent's ribs so hard that even Inuyasha couldn't hold back the groan of pain. Kohana blinked away the fuzziness, her shock quickly being replaced with anger.
Nobu had hit her that hard on purpose. He had goaded Inuyasha into action, and for what? So he could take out his frustration on someone?
A deep vibration of energy hummed in her chest, then, and the back of her neck tingled. Inuyasha slammed into the ground, Nobu's hand around his throat. The older man stared the half-demon down with such intensity that for a moment Kohana felt genuine fear. It was the same look Sesshomaru had given her when she refused to give her the Tessaiga, and that comparison pushed her into action.
She ran forward, jumping onto her uncle's back and locking her arms around Nobu's neck, yanking backwards with such force that the man was forced to release Inuyasha. Without giving him a chance to react, Kohana kicked hard at his kneecap, hearing a pop and pushing off of him when he crumpled to his knees.
Inuyasha was on his feet immediately, but didn't step forward to help as he expected. Kohana didn't waste time analyzing it, too busy punching her uncle solidly in the mouth. Her knuckles stung, even through the cloth bandaging, but it was worth it.
"Enough!" Kohana snapped when Nobu looked up at her. The fury was gone from his dark eyes, replaced with shock.
Kohana realized that her teeth were bared and frowned, stepping back from him and uncurling her hands from their clawed position. She didn't look away from her uncle as she went on:
"If you ever use me to provoke Inuyasha again, I will leave this house and never come back. I'm not a pawn in your fucked up chess game. Inuyasha is my friend and keeps me safe—I thought you two would have that in common. Guess I was wrong," she seethed.
With one last glare, Kohana threw the staff down at her feet and stormed out of the dojo, not caring how broken Nobu looked as he stared at his niece's abandoned weapon.
Once outside, she felt hot wetness pricking at her eyes but refused to acknowledge it. She just kept walking, sucking in deep breaths to try and keep her the tears at bay. Nobu was her family, and yet she had felt such glee at hurting him. The popping of his kneecap had filled her with such a sense of triumph. For a few brief seconds he ceased to be her guardian.
He had been an enemy.
Kohana reached the Go-Shin-Boku, and that's when her tears escaped the span of her control. She ducked around the back of the tree, away from prying eyes, and let go.
A choked sob ripped through her throat. She knew that Inuyasha could probably hear her but at that moment she didn't care. Her legs refused to hold her, her body weighed down with her guilt and her grief. The grass met her knees and she leaned her forehead against the rough bark of the tree's trunk. Blindly, she slammed her hand against the tree over and over again, feeling splinters bite into the skin of her palm.
Inuyasha wasn't sure what he felt as he watched Kohana throw her weapon down and walk outside. Seeing her jump onto Nobu—her uncle, her family—and viciously attack him had sparked something deep within him, something he hadn't felt since his mother died.
Pack, a little voice nagged at him, but he pushed it away like he did most of those annoying instincts that fucked with his brain at the worst times. He didn't need a stupid pack, and he had a century and a half of survival to prove it.
But still, the nagging feeling persisted.
Kikyo had never treated him like pack, but then again, she had never treated him like a half-demon. She had treated him like a man who happened to have extraordinary fighting abilities. He remembered feeling the urge to run his nose along the curve of her neck when he held her close that day on the docks. Most common-folk thought it to be preparation for the kill but it was actually a gesture of affection between packmates. It was one of the only dog-demon customs that his mother had taught him—as a human woman, it was strange that she knew any of them. Izayoi herself had been surprised that his father trusted her enough to reveal such intimate details of his demon nature.
Inuyasha had resisted that instinctual urge with Kikyo, because somehow he knew that she wouldn't take it well. She wasn't a demon; she was a delicate human woman that he had to embrace and kiss with such care because one too-tight grip of his hands would cause his claws to pierce her soft skin.
The half-demon's ears perked up at the sound of a raw, broken sob in the distance, and he knew without having to see that it was Kohana. Nobu flinched as if he too could hear the sound, and that made Inuyasha's eyes narrow.
The human man had kept up with him. Normally that wouldn't surprise him, but unlike most fights with humans, Inuyasha hadn't been holding back. What was he? He smelled like a human man, but like with Kohana, there was this ever-changing hint of something else. It disappeared the moment he focused on it, but in that fight, it had crept to the forefront.
"Does she know you're not human?" Inuyasha barked, and Nobu's head lifted up immediately. The man's shaggy brown hair partially concealed his equally dark eyes. He remained silent, but the lack of an immediate response was answer enough.
Nobu glanced at the door before letting out a heavy sigh.
"I apologize for the provocation. It was the foolish test of a concerned guardian wanting to see for himself if you were genuine in your desire to protect her. It was childish, yes, but it's all I have."
"You didn't answer my question," Inuyasha pressed, crossing his arms across his chest.
"No, she doesn't know. And with any luck, she won't find out for a long time."
Inuyasha frowned. "Why?"
Nobu shook his head. "Kohana is…special. If she finds out what I am, it would force me to reveal things that have been put in place to keep her safe. She is already in more danger than I would like, what with the near-constant exposure to both half-demons and demons in your world."
"I won't let anything happen to her," Inuyasha snapped, more vehemently than he intended. Nobu gave him a humorless smile before shaking his head. Something shimmered near the top of his head, and for an instant Inuyasha glimpsed large furry ears, larger than his own were. But then they were gone.
"It's not their claws or fangs I'm concerned about. With every exposure to malicious demon energy…" Nobu hesitated, then shook his head firmly. "If any demon in your world finds out what she is, she'll be in more danger than you can possibly imagine. You need to keep her safe, son of Inu no Taisho."
A cold chill trickled down Inuyasha's spine. "How the fuck do you know my father?"
Nobu didn't reply, just stared at him long enough for Inuyasha to feel the urge to fidget with unease. The man's knee appeared to be healed, because when he rose and walked to the door he did so without a limp.
"Ignorance keeps her safe," he said gently, pleadingly, and then he was gone.
Inuyasha stood there in the dojo, hearing Kohana's sobs as well as the anxious thudding of his heartbeat. Nobu wasn't human and somehow knew who is father was. The man was related to Kohana, so did that mean…?
Kohana wasn't entirely human? But she was human! He smelled it on her skin every time she walked by him! Besides, she wouldn't have been able to wield priestess energy if she was a demon…right?
But he couldn't forget the way she had leapt at Nobu and clawed at him, or the way she had fearlessly stood over him and aimed an arrow at his older half-brother's face.
There was something feral inside of her, something that he hadn't seen until…Sesshomaru had arrived. Something clicked in Inuyasha's mind, and suddenly it made sense.
Until Sesshomaru arrived, Kohana had acted entirely human. She was scared, but she also had that very human naivety that spoke to a lack of demon instincts. But then that huge hulking demon of Sesshomaru's had arrived, and she had dropped to the ground immediately, hiding in the brush like a scared animal. When he had touched her, he found her trembling in preparation to flee. Humans couldn't sense demon energy in that way, not enough to be so physically affected by it. That lack of awareness was why so many human villages were burned—by the time they became aware of the demons, it was too late.
It wasn't entirely uncommon to have those senses as a human—those with spiritual training had a similar sort of instinct—but not to the extent Kohana had demonstrated.
Inuyasha walked out of the dojo, his nose immediately locating Kohana. She was crouched behind the Go-Shin-Boku, the salty tang of her tears wafting towards him along with the breeze. Her scent was tinged with sadness, and there it was again, that instinct to protect…to comfort.
Pack, the voice urged again, louder this time, and Inuyasha found himself jumping across the courtyard, landing a few feet behind Kohana. She didn't appear to notice his presence, too consumed by her sobs, and so Inuyasha took a moment to observe her.
The way Kohana spoke and fought made her seem much bigger than her body, so to see her curled into herself was a testament to just how small she was. Not entirely lacking in feminine curves—as that interesting blue dress had unexpectedly highlighted—but definitely smaller than most humans her age.
Inuyasha took a few steps forward, unsure of what to say, but sure that he couldn't leave her alone.
He was so close that he could feel the trembling of her back against the fabric covering his legs. Kohana flinched at the touch, her spine stiffening until it was as straight as a spear. The sobs stopped but the trembling of her shoulders continued.
Inuyasha crouched down behind her and watched the tendons on her neck shift as she roughly swallowed.
"What do you want, Inuyasha?" she asked, her voice hoarse from crying. Inuyasha lowered himself into a sitting position instead of replying. She took a bit of time to compose herself before turning around to look at him.
Her eyes were red and swollen from crying but the blue color shone just as fiercely as it always did. She was so close that if she moved forward a few inches, they would be touching.
Inuyasha wondered what his mother would do in this situation. She had always been so good at comforting people, whether it was noble people who were scared of demons or her son who was mocked for being a demon himself.
Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha leaned forward and gave in to that instinct he had ignored for so many years.
Moving very slowly, so as not to startle her, Inuyasha bent down slightly in order to run the very tip of his nose up the graceful curve of Kohana's neck. A growl rumbled in his throat as he did so, almost without his permission.
Kohana remained very still as he approached, and didn't react when he touched her. Inuyasha kept waiting for her to yell and push him away but she never did.
When his nose reached the spot just below her ear, he felt and heard the sob rise from her chest. Without any warning, she threw herself into his arms and wrapped her arms around him. Her head found a place under his chin, her face burrowing into his chest as she cried.
The pleased humming in his chest increased as her small form relaxed into his body. It should feel strange and wrong, because she wasn't Kikyo and she wasn't a dog-demon.
But when Kohana let out a shaky but relieved sigh, Inuyasha's unease melted away into nothing. He settled one arm against her lower back, the other pressed against the length of her spine so he could gently run his claws through the smooth strands of her hair.
Holding her was different from holding Kikyo. The priestess's arms had been more cautious, just as unsure of physical intimacy as Inuyasha himself was. That was what had drawn him to her in the first place; the innate knowledge that she was just as much an outsider as he was.
Kohana had no such hesitations. Her embrace was secure and warm, and as the seconds ticked by Inuyasha wondered if she was aware that her nose was rubbing back and forth against the hollow just above his collarbone. Considering her emotional state, he doubted it, but it still filled him with an overflowing sense of satisfaction all the same.
Pack.
"I know you're not Kikyo, ya know," Inuyasha said quietly. Kohana pulled back slightly, looking up at him with a decidedly less teary gaze.
It was true. The only time Inuyasha had made a significant comparison between them was that day at the cleaning pool, when he was still getting a hold on who Kohana was. It was when he saw her standing naked in the water and staring up at the sky with a melancholy expression. She had looked like Kikyo for the briefest of moments; both held the weight of the world on their shoulders.
But since then? Her eyes and short hair weren't the same, sure, but the biggest difference lay in how Kohana looked at the world. In how she looked at him. Like he was a complete person all on his own, instead of being only half-acceptable, only half-complete.
"Took you long enough," Kohana muttered, rubbing at her eyes with a hesitant smile. Inuyasha scoffed and let her move away from him. She got to her feet, brushing the dirt off of her legs before holding out a hand to help him up.
"You sure you can hold me?" he asked, grinning at the affronted flush that rose up the skin of her neck and into her cheeks.
"You want another demonstration, dummy?" she challenged, and Inuyasha cocked his head to the side, genuinely confused but unwilling to ask her what she meant by 'dummy'. Was she referring to the fighting dummies used for target practice? The way she said it made him think it was an insult…?
Instead of pushing the subject, he settled for rolling his eyes and reaching up so she could pull him to his feet. It wasn't effortless, but she definitely did it with more ease than he expected. She was stronger than she looked.
"Thank you, Inuyasha," Kohana said as they walked out into the open space of the courtyard in front of the Go-Shin-Boku.
Inuyasha shrugged automatically, shoving his hands into his sleeves to hide his nervousness. In the moment, his actions had felt natural, but now, outside of the moment and out in the open air, they felt like something to be guilty of. He shouldn't have given in so easily to those demon urges—his mother always warned him that those sorts of things were only to be done in the privacy of a closed room.
Kohana seemed to sense his discontent, because she looked away. He found himself following her line of sight until it reached the big house that was bathed in the scent of Kagome and several other humans.
The woman he had assumed to be Kohana's mother stood in the doorway, watching the two of them. The two looked similar, come to think of it, so he didn't think he was dumb for thinking they were related. The older woman had dark brown hair instead of black, and brown eyes instead of blue, but aside from that, she and Kohana could have been sisters. They looked more alike than Kohana and Kagome did, anyway.
"Is that your mother?" Inuyasha had to ask because what else could she be?
Kohana's face sank into shadow once more as she ducked her head and took a deep breath.
"No."
That was all she said, but Inuyasha could hear years of sadness behind that single word. Kohana sent him a grim smile before walking away from him and towards the woman. Inuyasha stayed where he was, watching from afar as the two embraced. The older woman looked at him over the girl's shoulder, staring at him without blinking.
Inuyasha boldly met her gaze until the woman's focus went back to Kohana. The two humans said nothing, electing to go into the house instead. A few seconds after the door closed, a purposeful rustling of leaves came to Inuyasha's ears. He looked back to see Nobu dropping down from the higher branches of Go-Shin-Boku.
Inuyasha hadn't seen or smelled him there, even when sitting under the tree with Kohana. That meant that Nobu wasn't just any demon; he was a fox.
"A fox, huh? It explains why you're a twig," Inuyasha sneered, and the tall, lean man leveled an almost exasperated look at him.
"Tough words from the pup I pinned in less than thirty seconds," Nobu smoothly retorted, and there it was again, that flickering of a concealment spell. Brown fox ears appeared on top of his head. Kohana's uncle must have caught wind of Inuyasha's puzzled examination, because he frowned in concentration. The spell renewed itself, and Nobu was a human-eared man again.
"Being around another half-demon's energy disrupts my concealment spells. It's been so long since I've interacted with any demons…I've grown lazy, it seems," Nobu admitted, grinning sheepishly. Inuyasha, however, wasn't even paying attention. Only one word had caught his attention.
Nobu was a half-demon?
"You're a—"
Nobu nodded curtly. "Yes. I ask that you attempt to be discreet."
"Does anyone else know?"
"Akira," Nobu said. When Inuyasha gave him a blank look, he quicky added, "Kagome and Souta's mother."
"Where are Kohana's parents?"
Inuyasha watched Nobu carefully for his reaction. The half fox-demon looked to the house. His dark eyes were far away, and Inuyasha found himself marveling at how seamless his human disguise was. How old was he, if his concealment spells were strong enough to successfully hide his presence from hundreds of humans for a period of ten years?
"I watched you comfort her…how does a loner know dog-demon pack gestures?"
Inuyasha scowled. "Are all foxes this fucking evasive?"
Nobu said nothing, merely grinned. Once more, Inuyasha saw a glimpse of fox ears but this time it seemed intentional on Nobu's part. Without answering, the fox-demon walked a quick circle around Inuyasha, a predator cornering his prey.
As he passed by, Inuyasha could swear that he felt something furry tickle his exposed ankle. He searched, and the flickering image of a long, furry tail came into view before blending into nothing.
Nobu was gone. One second he was there, the next he was nothing but air. Before Inuyasha had time to react, Nobu flickered back into existence, standing right behind him. The half dog-demon whipped around to face him, reaching for Tessaiga automatically.
"You have raw talent, son of Inu no Taisho, but even the most talented can waste away without proper training," Nobu commented casually. "Come to the dojo at dawn, and we'll begin. Or don't. It's your choice."
With that, Nobu moved away from him, walking towards the house. The door closed behind him, and Inuyasha was left alone in the courtyard.
Inuyasha stood there for only a moment before turning and running to the wellhouse. The glow of the well welcomed him, and the familiarity of the fields surrounding the well and the thick forests of his time soothed him more than he would have thought possible.
First, he stopped by the village to check on Kaede's scent from afar. Then, Inuyasha turned to the forests he knew so well and started running, knowing that he wouldn't stop for several hours.
He had a lot to think about.
