The General
Chapter Twenty Five
Don't question it.
"Inuyasha's blood is…curing Kouga…of…rabies!?" Kagome relaxed back on her thighs and struggled with whether to cry or snicker. "You've got to be kidding me…"
"I am not…'kidding', so you say. There is no doubt in my mind that Lord Inuyasha's blood is essentially curing Prince Kouga of his ailment." Myouga rocked back and forth on his swollen body. Even though the blood still had an aftertaste of disease and wolf—not his preference—he still felt wonderfully satiated.
"It is a curious thing but I am not," he burped and sighed, "mistaken."
"But how can that be?" Kasuhama said. "Inuyasha is part Inu-Youkai. He should be highly susceptible to the illness."
"I am not susceptible to anything," Inuyasha grunted. He was aggravatingly ignored.
"Maybe his hanyou blood had the right genetic codes to combat the illness. To be a…natural cure…?" Kagome said this slowly, unknowing of her comrade's confused looks. Genetic codes?
"Half-human or half-demon, from what Kagome told us earlier, it should not matter. This rabies can harm both species quite disastrously. So, Inuyasha should be susceptible to the disease." Jinsei said, tongue sliding in and out between his scaly lips.
"So now we have not one but two conundrums," Nagaharu said. He stroked his chin thoughtfully and held up a finger to correspond with each sentence. "One: How is Lord Pup immune when, from what we understand, he shouldn't be? And two: How is his blood, which shouldn't be immune, now the very cure to the disease he shouldn't be immune to?"
Fumina stared at the coyote with a bland look. "You're going to have to say that again."
"Very well! One—"
"Stop!" Inuyasha held up a hand, almost pleadingly. "You don't need to go through it again. We get it. I'm a frickin' miracle worker and Kouga's saved. Hooray." He looked off to the side.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome tried after an awkward pause. "Aren't you glad? There's nothing to worry about now."
Inuyasha's golden eyes dulled as he wondered over her words. Thick bangs shielded his smoldering thoughts.
Was he glad?
Yes.
Yes he was. As much as he could be.
He was glad to know that he wouldn't have to bury his rival. Kouga was certainly not a friend, he certainly didn't care deeply for the wolf, but he had never been anything more than a rival. Not even an enemy. That was saying something when it came to him. So yes. He was glad that the wolf wouldn't be in so much pain anymore. Maybe he could even have an argument with him—a truly heated argument over Kagome or some stupid wolf VS dog-hanyou topic. Argue so loudly and for so long that his mind would be completely focused on it and he would forget about the predicament he was in.
He would forget about the burn in his belly. For a blessed moment at least.
He was glad.
But he was also weak. The old weakness again—it hampered on his relief that the wolf would live. He had done it unknowingly this time but had done it all the same. The same "kindness" which had prompted him to save his brother, protect his brother's ward, take in his brother's banished soldiers, spare the wolf infected with the disease from his brother's land…and now he had unintentionally cured one of the reasons why his brother's kingdom was broken. He hadn't done the final part on purpose. He hadn't done really any of these things as an act of kindness! He had just…done them. Maybe there had been a wayward excuse that he would benefit from them—learn about the war, keep…someone from being killed—a whispered excuse which was all he needed to do those acts. He knew how everyone else saw them, as something to be proud of.
What you find as weakness: compassion, acts of mercy…I find those as strengths.
But no, this was his weakness.
Doing the right thing is…so hard, Inuyasha. What you did…and what you're doing now, I know it's hard for you. But going against everything…your brother…even yourself…and showing such compassion to others…it requires a great amount of strength to me. Strength you possess not just because you're half-human.
Tying up his wrists and his ankles and then pulling on all sides, unable to escape. Trapped.
I think you're strong because you're you, Inuyasha. That's all.
Inuyasha grimaced imperceptibly with distaste. Worst of all, it had been caused by his own choices. He had done this to himself, maybe not knowing fully what consequences they would bring…but still doing them with the understanding that there would be consequences.
Because you're you…
His weakness. This supposed kindness.
"Feh," he said with a weak wryness. "Nothing to worry about."
"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered.
"Perhaps it was Tenseiga's doing."
"What?"
Inuyasha jerked his head up, eyes flashing back to life.
Jinsei repeated himself, undaunted. "Perhaps it was Sesshomaru's sword, this Tenseiga. Perhaps its power lingers within your body and has transformed your blood to become the cure. And when Kouga ingested your blood, Tenseiga's basic function worked through you, essentially. The basic function of bringing life and health." Inuyasha tightened his hidden fists; fresh wounds on his knuckles split wider.
"You're saying that the regenerative effects of Tenseiga are still working…in Inuyasha…and now Prince Kouga, since he, uh, drank his blood when he…uh, wasn't himself?"
The snake-man nodded at Hakkaku. "I don't know how I could say it any plainer."
Inuyasha moaned, covering his face with his suikan sleeve.
"Well…that certainly sounds plausible," Miroku said. Inuyasha groaned again. He turned and walked away, having had enough.
The monk watched the hanyou go as he spoke. "However way this happened, it is a benefit we should be grateful for. But I am worried…"
"Worried about what?" Sango said when the monk fell into quiet contemplation.
"I believe it would be best if this was kept as a closely-guarded secret."
Tomi eyed the monk gravely. "Agreed."
Inuyasha walked past the huddled group of healing demon soldiers; all of their heads turned to follow him. Kasuhama frowned tightly. "Agreed," he whispered.
He was actually sleeping.
But that couldn't be right! It was a mistake, a trick of the eye.
Jakken hesitantly leaned forward and eyed his master. Sesshomaru had ordered for them to stop and rest before continuing on. That in itself was not uncommon, not anymore. Since Rin's arrival to their group, his Lord Sesshomaru had grown keen to when his smaller, weaker companions needed rest. But Rin was not with them and—the toad grudgingly accepted this—Lord Sesshomaru usually never slowed or stopped when it was just Jakken and him. But now he had with a curt command. And now he sat against the base of the tree, somehow making the simple gesture of leaning, head bowed, regal and impressive. This wasn't uncommon either. Eyes closed. Face serene. Seemingly asleep. But it was not so. There had been moments in the past when Lord Sesshomaru would speak out of nowhere or act too swiftly for the eye to absorb; one moment "asleep", the next moment…
Jakken craned his neck. His lord's breathing was a lot deeper than it usually was when he "slept". The toad felt a quiver of foreboding. He should not stare at his lord in such a manner. The Daiyoukai would certainly strike him without warning; one moment "asleep", the next moment…a sore head for the poor toad-demon. He made to move back when a sudden sound caused the toad to stiffen in his actions. Jakken's bulbous eyes widened even more.
The sound again. His lord's pale face tightened in discomfort and his lips opened, releasing a soft breath of a…moan? Jakken flinched, flustered upon seeing such a simple thing. A simple thing! BAH! My lord does not sleep and certainly does not whimper from…dreams? The toad quickly tossed his head. No, no, no, I must be mistaken! He is not asleep! He is not dreaming!
Sesshomaru's inclined head then moved a fraction to the left and Jakken could see a thin glob of sweat trail down the side of his master's cheek. Jakken swallowed a high-pitched squeal of distress.
"M-my lord…?" With a shaking hand, he tapped the cloth of Sesshomaru's hakama pants with the Staff of Heads. What am I doing? He shall surely hit me now! But even with his stomach curling in knots, Jakken tapped his lord's leg again. "My lord?"
Sesshomaru's breathing softly hitched and his eyes opened. He turned to Jakken and for a split moment, too quick for Jakken to fully grasp, Sesshomaru looked…disoriented. The expression was drowned in a fiery glare. "What is it, Jakken?"
"My lord," Jakken squeaked, "I a-am f-fully rested. If it be your will, I-I can c-continue on."
Sesshomaru continued to stare down at the trembling toad and his lips pulled back into a sneer. Another horrifyingly new expression that flustered Jakken; the toad chirped in fear. Sesshomaru took in a deep, ragged breath. "Quit your sniveling, Jakken. You are never to disturb me in such a way again!"
The toad fell forward onto his face, nearly nauseated with terror. "I-I apologize, my lord! I will never do so again! Please forgive your humble servant!"
Jakken could not see it but the temper cracked in Sesshomaru's face. He peered down at the toad, his eyes narrowed with hollow confusion. With a small and swift jerk of his head, Sesshomaru touched his damp temple. He forced his words to cool. "Never mind it. Let us leave now."
"Y-yes…my lord…"
They continued on their way. Sesshomaru stepped quickly, fingers clenched.
Jakken followed far behind and could not stop the quaking of his body.
Nature was quiet. There was no wind. Beneath the sky, gray light filtered through the spaces between empty branches and caused the snow to glow in patches. Inuyasha toed one lighted spot and felt the numb sting of cold and wet. His ears flicked around lazily, picking up the only sounds in the vicinity: the hushed conversations he had walked away from. One furry appendage bent when Myouga uninvitingly pounced off of its tip. He landed on Inuyasha's shoulder with a heavier thump than normal; he cleared his throat and settled himself comfortably on the slightly furred fabric made from the fire-rat.
Inuyasha's jowls tightened, displeased. "Go away, Myouga. I want some peace and quiet."
"I can see that, Lord Inuyasha. But I wished to speak with you privately. And I would be pleased if you would kindly indulge me without much fuss. It was difficult enough for me to extricate myself from everyone and their questions." Myouga's blood-puffed face tilted back where they both had come.
"Fine," Inuyasha said. He made his way towards the hot spring he had visited not too long ago. As he walked, he centered a majority of his senses on his surroundings. Ever alert. Ever surrounded by danger because of…who he was.
"But if you want to talk to me about the…the things I've done," he gritted his fangs, "then forget it. I'll squash you before you can even begin."
Myouga nodded; years of experience taught him well to not heed his master's half-hearted threats. Besides, he understood. He had always understood where the darkness in his master's eyes was from. "Very well, Lord Inuyasha."
The hanyou was softly surprised when the flea did not speak more. It took a good ten minutes to arrive at the steaming water and the trip was done in silence. Inuyasha mutely appreciated it. Conversation had grown difficult for him. Perhaps it was because most of the topics he'd heard or was pulled into were about…him. Him and his choices. Him and what choices he should make next. It fatigued him and did nothing to dull the real pain in his stomach. The ancient pain in his chest.
Inuyasha chose a shaded rock and gracefully leapt onto it. He sat; legs crossed, and inhaled the hint of spice in the humid air.
Myouga glanced up at his young lord's face. Cut apart light and shadow patterned his taciturn mouth and cheeks. So much like his father, the flea smiled sadly. He has grown so much from the child in the woods. Even from the youth trapped to the tree. Something had happened to the chin, made it jut out farther; something had happened to the shoulders, made them broader. What felt like one passing of the sun and the moon, his young lord had acquired the features of manhood. The look in his eyes completed it, however. A look which had actually existed well before his body caught up. The amber eyes of his father's which had seen too much, too soon; which knew the dark side of truth and how people looked when they lied, when they killed, when they punched and ran towards him or away from him, screaming. The eyes which had not seen enough of the other side, the side of simple caresses, soft words, and unbridled laughter. Where acts of kindness were rightfully adhered to and expected.
Myouga knew the look well.
It had gained strength, made a rousing comeback. It was eerily the same strength, the same look, and it transported Myouga to when he had first seen it—on the rounder face of the child from the woods. Myouga swallowed a sigh. The same perpetrator as well.
"Myouga," Inuyasha's voice was gruff. The flea blinked up at him, surprised to hear him speak. "Why are you really here? You usually have a reason to jump in like this."
Myouga turned his round head to the bubbling pools. He hummed thoughtfully. "I did not have a reason this time around, Lord Inuyasha. I only wanted to be sure you were healthy and alive, to simply see…how you were doing."Inuyasha's shoulder hopped with his soft scoff.
"I'm doing great, thanks," he whispered.
Myouga shook his head and pitied secretly to himself. He paused for a time and answered, "I made a promise to your father, Lord Inuyasha." The hanyou stiffened. "A promise to keep an eye on you, to give you advice since he couldn't. It was his will."
Inuyasha heavily released his breath. "I know." His clawed thumb found Tetsusaiga and stroked the cold metal, the comfortingly rough fabric.
"Myouga?"
"Hmm?"
"You know a lot about my old man's final wishes right?" The flea grunted in affirmation. Inuyasha tucked his chin down. "About why I was given Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga was given…to…"
Myouga looked up at him. "What is your question, Lord Inuyasha? If it pertains to the swords' abilities themselves, it would be best to ask the forger, Totosai."
"No, I—I just don't get it." He laced his fingers around the sword's hilt, squeezed tight. "Why won't Tenseiga let me kill him!"
Myouga tensed, not expecting such a question. "What do you--?"
His eyes flashed down. "I'm not stupid, Myouga! I know that it won't let me. When I first learned to use the Wind Scar, Tenseiga protected Se—that bastard! And…and not too long ago, after I—," he violently growled. "We fought! He didn't have his Tokijin so the idiot took out Tenseiga and when I tried to strike…my Wind Scar disappeared…"
Inuyasha jerked his head to his sword, pained from the realization he'd come to. "Tetsusaiga doesn't want me to kill him either! It wouldn't let me! And it won't let me in the future will it? It won't let me get revenge for—for—for what he's done to me!" Inuyasha's yell did not travel far. It was engulfed in the hot air.
He panted. "Why won't it let me, Myouga? I want to kill him."
Pause.
"No, you don't."
The flea was grabbed between angry fingers. "Yes, I do!" The flea was shaken in an angry fist, once, twice. "Yes, I do! I want to kill him!" His voice threatened to break even though his lungs were stinging with cold. Cutting, cutting, cutting.
Myouga, dizzied but calm, burrowed Inuyasha with his stare. "No. You don't, Lord Inuyasha. Deep down, beneath all that pain he's caused you…you don't."
But Inuyasha felt the metallic memory of his blood on his tongue, from the resolution he had made by breaking his knuckles in Shirabaku's tent. It was so final to him. Myouga was trying to break it; he tapped at it with his words, but Inuyasha resolutely grabbed it and tried to ice it down. "I do," he hissed. "I do want to kill him. And if I have to do without my old man's stupid sword than I will!"
Myouga narrowed his eyes with irritation. "It is not a stupid sword and you know it, Lord Inuyasha. It was meant for you, forged only for you. It has protected you and those closest to you time and again. And it will do so in the future. It will help you defeat Naraku. So I would appreciate it if you did not treat the gift your father gave you with such disrespect."
Inuyasha was taken aback. He had never heard such an unyielding tone from the little flea-demon. He scowled darkly, brows furrowed with pain. Inuyasha threw the flea to the side, uncouth and unapologetic. Myouga landed in the snow with a grunt. Hidden in the mass of wetness, Myouga sighed. He slowly climbed out, unharmed, and shook off the flakes gathered on his head. The hanyou refused to look at him when he leapt onto the red-clad knee.
"Lord Inuyasha, I know you are in pain. You are angry. But please understand. This was your father's will: to protect…both of his sons." Inuyasha, arms crossed tightly across his chest, looked farther away to the side. Myouga went on in a gentle tone.
"Tenseiga did not allow Lord Sesshomaru to kill you as well."
"No, he did kill me!"
"And are you dead still?" Inuyasha's mouth was parted open. He tossed his head with exasperated jolts.
Myouga closed his eyes. He talked out into dangerous ground. "I'm sure he is just as frustrated as you. Angry and in pain."
"Ha!" Inuyasha barked. "If he's in pain, then it's because he knows he has to go through the trouble of killing me again."
The flea remained composed. He knew it was hard to understand. He also found trouble believing it. He found trouble trusting in his late master's plans, in trusting that it would ever work. Lord Sesshomaru in pain? That was also difficult for him to accept but the late master had believed it and had worked hard to rectify it. The late master had understood well that his final choices would hurt his oldest son greatly and far after he had died. Myouga still was uncertain whether the late master's plan would ever work…because it relied far too heavily on the choices of the sons he'd left behind. The swords would help, if anything to simply keep them from killing each other…as they had. But the rest? The rest would always be up to the ones who now bequeathed the swords.
Myouga took in Inuyasha's seething features. Inuyasha had made the first step into the wide untouched ground between him and his brother. He probably did not know it and did not understand it but that was entirely his father's final wishes. That someone would make the first step. But Inuyasha was beaten down. And no matter how much he obviously wished for it, he could not go back to the comfortably tarnished and well-known ground he'd left behind. He would remain trapped there in unknown territory, trapped until the person who'd beaten him down took their step in. But would he ever, the flea wondered despairingly.
"Lord Inuyasha, please hear my next words and keep them close to you. Because I know you may regret your decisions but believe me when I say this," Myouga found and stubbornly maintained eye contact.
"Your father would be proud of you."
Myouga nearly regretted his words when he saw a brief flash of breaking in his master's face but it was quickly sheltered away by his hair. Inuyasha lowered his arms and gripped his middle. Myouga watched his hands clench into the suikan his father had also left him. Do you know this was also made for you? The flea wiggled his snout and recalled the taste of his current master's blood. He remembered the tang of it, the present health within it that now gave health to one other; he remembered the heady element of it that was his father's as well as the sweetness in it that was his mother's; and he also remembered what had troubled him.
"Lord Inuyasha?" He said gravely. "Are you feeling well?"
Inuyasha growled. "Yes, damn it. I'm feeling fine. I thought you said I wasn't sick!"
"You are not." Myouga hopped down Inuyasha's thigh so that he may look up into his master's face. "But please take care of yourself, Lord Inuyasha. I do not know what it is but I taste it. Just…just promise me that you will not push yourself too hard."
Inuyasha glared at him. His arms tightened. "If you're so worried than just suck it out. What's stopping you?"
Myouga's face scrunched up with worry. "I cannot. I can only taste a hint of whatever it is. It is dormant, deep within you. But…just promise me, Lord Inuyasha. I know it is against your personality but you have been through enough. Please take care of yourself."
"Feh," Inuyasha stood up, dislodging Myouga and forcing him to grab frantically at his hakama pants. "I'm not promising nothin'. I haven't done really anything but sit around these last few weeks. So forget it."
"Lord Inuyasha!"
"Forget it!" Inuyasha turned but then abruptly paused. He sniffed. He glared at the distant trees.
"Lord Inuyasha?" Myouga climbed quickly up to his chest.
Inuyasha shushed him. His ears were perked straight. Nature was still silent. There was no natural wind. Inuyasha grabbed Tetsusaiga but his sword remained silent as well for once. He continued to stare down the trees, completely trusting his niggling feeling that they were being watched. Like when he was at the well, dislodging the magic free from ice. There was a hint of a scent on the far edge of the hot spring's slight spice but he couldn't fully grasp it.
Snap.
Tetsusaiga sliced through the air as Inuyasha spun around. Across the pool, a branch jiggled from a past disturbance. But whatever the disturbance had been, it was gone now. The feeling of his was gone as well.
"Lord Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha sheathed his sword and continued to eye his surroundings.
"Forget it," he said.
"I got you!"
Rin pounced onto Shippo and knocked him to the ground. The kitsune's grunt was engulfed with giggles. He'd let her do it. It was only fair since she was human. Rin tickled his sides and her little-girl laughter was sweet in Shippo's ears.
"I surrender!" He cried. "I surrender!" He pushed her, mindful of his strength, and she fell to the snow. Shippo remained lying down, loving the sting of his lungs from the cold air and playful exertion. Rin panted next to him, giggling again every breath or two.
She then sighed deeply. "That was so much fun."
"Yeah."
The two of them ignored the way their clothes were slowly soaking in the snow. The cold touched their backs lightly and would only grow fiercer the longer they relaxed. Rin shifted her head to look at the kit next to her; her hair tickled his cheek. The softness of it was kind of funny. It made him feel like he had never felt softness before.
"Do you think Inuyasha-san is okay?"
Shippo's smile faltered by the sudden change in atmosphere. They hadn't been told anything, an element of his young life Shippo supposed he should be used to by now. Hakkaku and Ginta had run into the village days ago with strange determined faces, boisterously announcing that they were ordered by Inuyasha to protect them. All they did was stand in comedic stances in the middle of the road and make the villagers nervous. Then after a conversation he and Rin couldn't hear, Kagome left with them. Hours later, Kagome returned and determinedly headed to the well. All she said was that Kouga was sick and she needed to do some research. Having a conversation with her was even more futile when she returned. After leaving on Kirara's back, Shippo and Rin hadn't seen her since.
Shippo was terribly worried. But he smiled anyway, ignoring the way his chest tightened. "I'm sure he's fine. Inuyasha is an undefeatable idiot, believe me. Why are you so worried anyway?"
Rin shrugged one shoulder. The snow made a squished sound from the movement. "I'm not sure," she said in low tones. "I feel like something happened to him." Her troubled brown eyes moved to the dreary sky; they suddenly sparkled with a sheen of moisture. Shippo flinched with surprise.
"Rin! Wh-what's wrong?"
Rin sniffed and couldn't meet his eyes. "I didn't tell you, Shippo. I-I didn't want to tell you."
Shippo rested a paw on Rin's jacket, a futuristic one that Kagome had brought back. "What is it, Rin? You can tell me."
The little girl squeezed her eyes shut. Her chest bobbled up and down with half-choked whimpers. When she tried to speak, she first had to let loose the air in her lungs with a terrible sob, "He killed him!"
"What?" Shippo gripped the damp plastic fabric.
"He killed him, Shippo. I saw it! I s-saw Inuyasha-san. He was bleeding," she said in a high-pitched whisper. "He wasn't breathing."
Shippo's mouth was dry and he felt an odd want to rear up and scream. In the back of his head, he heard the sound of crackling thunder. "H-how? But—" He couldn't find the words to explain that no adult had told him Inuyasha was hurt; Kagome hadn't said anything; Inuyasha's body wasn't here in the village, being readied for a funeral; no one had said anything…No one had told them anything. Strangely, his lips twitched into a smile.
"Inuyasha g-gets hurt all the time. You don't need to cry." Inuyasha hadn't been brought to Kaede's village to heal. None of the human members of the pack were back. Nobody had said anything.
Kagome's haunted face when she traveled through the village pathways to and from the well flashed in his mind's eye.
But nobody had said anything.
"I saw it, Shippo!" Rin pushed herself up onto one arm and peered intently into Shippo's emerald eyes. "He was on the ground and he wasn't breathing and…and…and Lord Sesshomaru had bl-blood on his hand!" She fell forward into his shoulder, cupping the side of her face with her free hand.
"But—"
"Master Jakken t-told me Lord Sesshomaru and Inuyasha-san di-didn't get along but…Inuyasha-san took care of me and he was s-so nice. But—but Lord Sesshomaru p-punished him. He punished Inuyasha-san and—and it was all my fault!"
Shippo was motionless and he felt himself tremble. Was it from the snow seeping into his skin? "Inuyasha's dead?"
Rin shook her head, rubbing the delicate skin of her face into his clothing. "N-no…Tenseiga saved him…" She lifted herself up and moaned with pity when she saw unshed tears in the little kit's eyes. "I'm s-sorry, Shippo. I didn't tell you. I-I don't understand it b-but…Lord Sesshomaru's Tenseiga saved Inuyasha-san when he didn't want it t-to. Inuyasha-san's alive." She wiped her eyes and then proceeded to stroke Shippo's cheek. One droplet fell away and gathered onto Rin's soothing fingers.
Shippo swallowed. "I-I don't get it. You said Inuyasha was d-dead but now he's…"
Rin sadly moved her head between a shake and a nod. "I'm sorry Shippo. It was all my fault that Inuyasha-san was punished. It was my fault…all my fault…"
The fox-Youkai found his fingers buried in Rin's brown-tinted hair. He grasped the soft, wet strands desperately. The tension within him flickered. Nobody had said anything. Was it true? But no one had told them anything. Sesshomaru had killed Inuyasha? Nobody. Inuyasha had to be brought back to life? Nobody! Shippo's mouth opened wide, achingly, and his fangs hurt his gums and it hurt like the angry panic in his chest. Inuyasha had died and no one had said anything?
He made a loud yipping sound on the verge of a growl and Rin stiffened. "Shi-Shippo?"
The kitsune fought to put his thoughts into human words. "I-I have to see him!" Shippo tugged on Rin's hair to lift her head. She obliged, questioning. He suddenly felt far away from her, species apart, and he wasn't sure if he could make her understand what he himself was struggling to grasp. Why did he want to run? Why did he want to scream and clench his claws into something? Why did he want to cry?
He'd only felt this way once.
When his father had been killed and he was left alone without a pack to belong to.
"I have to see him, Rin. I need to s-see that he's alive." Did he believe her? They had become fast friends. To have a child to play with, a child who was used to demons, was a blessed thing and they had come to immediately trust each other, even depend on each other when the adults were too busy. When the adults were far away and weren't telling them things. He didn't want to believe her. But she cried at night when she thought no one could hear. Was this the reason? Shippo tightened his paw around her hair and she winced in pain but made no objection. He repeated the sentence again.
Slowly, Rin grew composed and determined. "Okay."
Shippo took a shaky breath. "They never tell me anything, Rin."
Rin patted his cheek as though attempting to wake him up. "Okay," she said again with more strength. "Let's go. I know how to get there."
Inuyasha was close to returning to the clearing when Kasuhama emerged from a batch of tree trunks. The Inu-Youkai tilted his head forward with respect.
"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha said. Myouga hid himself in the upraised collar of his suikan and cautiously watched.
Kasuhama's eyes were darkened amber, more brown than golden. All of the Inu-Youkai Inuyasha had met had eyes like that. Only Sesshomaru and his own reflection possessed irises with such a bright golden color. He wondered why that was. Kasuhama met his gaze and those darkened eyes were shaded by his heavy brows. "I wondered where you'd gone. If you are making another perimeter check, I would like to assist you."
"I don't need your help."
The demon stepped forward. He still wore his armor. It was similar to what Inuyasha had seen the human warriors wear: plated pads on the shoulders and chest and thighs. In the middle of the chest plate, however, was an indented imprint of a crest. It seemed to be an artist's rendering of a fully transformed Inu-Youkai. It looked a bit like Sesshomaru, flowing tails and mane and all; the only dog-demon transformation Inuyasha had witnessed in the past. There were four characters that Inuyasha couldn't identify and a flower was clamped in its mouth. Weird, he thought. Inuyasha didn't think any more of it.
"Just go back."
Kasuhama refused to move. It actually surprised Inuyasha, the demon had done well not to step on his toes or evoke any sort of irritation on the hanyou's part since his arrival to the clearing. A true feat. Inuyasha pulled back a corner of his mouth, intrigued.
"I…"Kasuhama moved his gaze away, "would like to be of some use."
"Some use?" Inuyasha felt a nip of small amusement. So the demon felt the same, huh? Stir crazy with nothing to distract yourself with but one manic wolf. Well, there was one interlude before Kouga but he had been the only one who had gotten any real action—through the stomach.
Inuyasha had only been in the clearing for about a full week, but before then he'd been stuck in the village—no jewel shards, no major demon attacks, no traveling. And the hanyou could guess that before he came along, Kasuhama had spent the same amount of "joyous" time in the ice and snow, caring for the sick and the injured. Yep. Stir crazy.
Inuyasha wasn't feeling in need of company, not at all, but something inclined him to shrug. "Fine then," he said dryly. "Do what you want." Kasuhama followed a step behind him.
Time passed without any interruption, vocal or otherwise. The hanyou wondered briefly whether he should tell Kasuhama about his feeling earlier but decided against it. If anything was there, it was gone now and had made no fuss. And if it decided to later, well, he could take care of it. He needed to stretch his sword arm anyway. Inuyasha slowed as one scent caught his attention and he habitually went to all fours to investigate. Kasuhama's foot met his line of vision and he could hear the demon chuckle softly.
"What are you laughing at?" Inuyasha bit out.
Kasuhama lowered himself down on his haunches. The hanyou glanced up and took note that there was no derision in his features, only…good-natured humor. Inuyasha paused in his sniffing. "What?"
"Forgive me. Your…habits just fascinate me." He shrugged.
"Habits? What the hell you talking about?"
Kasuhama blinked and tilted his head in thought. "Well, like sleeping in a tree. I've been curious as to why you do that."
"Feh. It should be obvious." Inuyasha stood, having deemed the scent unimportant. He continued walking. It seemed, to his utter frustration, that the silence was over. Typical.
"Is it the vantage point?"
Inuyasha roughly waved his hand back. "Shut it. It's none of your business."
Kasuhama paused long enough to catch up to Inuyasha and walk side by side. "Is it for protection?"
"Sure. Yes. Are you even going to pay attention?" Inuyasha pointedly looked around, hoping he'd catch the hint. "Because if you aren't, then go back. You're just going to slow me down."
"Very well." Kasuhama said. He wouldn't tell the hanyou that he could easily peruse the surroundings and speak at the same time. His senses were keen enough and trained well enough for the easy endeavor. But it would be best to keep the information to himself and not irritate the half-breed further. To do so would be…counterproductive, he supposed. Kasuhama remained side by side with Inuyasha and took risk in assessing the boy's behavior: how he walked, how he crossed his arms, how his ears swiveled fascinatingly to noises Kasuhama thought would be too dull to hear. What else could this hanyou do? Inuyasha once again leaned down close to the ground to inspect another scent. Was his nose too weak to inspect it standing up? The action made him look more like lower level species of canine demons and Kasuhama felt the urge to chuckle again. Half-dog but also half-human. More and more it simply fascinated him.
He assessed his decision but plunged forward all the same. "Inuyasha…may I ask you one question?"
Inuyasha abruptly stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Damn it, you're as bad as that Yasuo. No! I'm not going to tell you my favorite song!"
The laugh jumped out of his throat before Kasuhama even realized he'd found anything funny. "No, no! I am not Yasuo. I will only ask you one question." Inuyasha blinked and cautiously smirked. It was a weak movement of his facial muscles but it pleased Kasuhama. Since his "death" even he could tell the hanyou was of low spirits. He wasn't sure how Inuyasha had been before the interception of Sesshomaru's hand but according to the humans, the hanyou before his eyes was drastically different and it concerned them greatly. How different? Kasuhama had seen some flashes of temper which was vastly opposite to the stone-faced nature Inuyasha had exuded since Sesshomaru's departure. The temper, though quick and minute, seemed to fit him more than the currently cool exterior. Was that it?
Kasuhama hummed thoughtfully to himself. If the supposedly "old Inuyasha" returned, would he like him? This supposedly "new Inuyasha" was too similar at times to the one who banished them. How much had he really changed?
"Fine. But I get to decide if I want to answer it," Inuyasha reluctantly said.
Kasuhama flicked his forefinger in agreement. "Very well."
"Okay. Then… Shoot!"
"Shoot what?"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and stomped off. "Your question, idiot!"
Kasuhama walked after him, unhurried. He looked over the fire-rat furred back and the strange tweaking ears. His humor lowered away. The words were heavy for him but he handled them with care.
"How did you survive?"
The whisper caused Inuyasha to stop again.
"What?"
The demon knew he heard. But he repeated himself all the same. "How did you survive, Inuyasha? Who cared for you? Who taught you how to hunt and how to protect yourself? Who taught you that…sleeping in a tree would keep you safe? How did you learn to use your senses? How did you survive?"
Inuyasha slowly turned towards him and his expression was unidentifiable. It forced Kasuhama to stop and stare. On the other side of his conscious understanding, he saw something impressive and terrible in that expression. It couldn't be named but it disquieted Kasuhama and brought forth an emotion he could only label as admiration. "How?"
Inuyasha huffed sharply through his nostrils. "I thought you were only going to ask one question." He glanced away and Kasuhama's chest relaxed as though he had been physically released.
"How did I survive, huh?" The hanyou murmured. "Why do you want to know something like that?"
"I thought it would be obvious," Kasuhama said, long having lost the feeling of good-natured humor. "Please."
"But…" Kasuhama could tell he was already leaving, falling away into old, old memory. "It's pointless."
"Please, Inuyasha."
The hanyou stared without seeing and marveled at the tug of inclination that "please" created. The place within him, where it was cold and dark and unyielding, refused in all harshness. It wasn't the demon's right to ask. He didn't have to and never had in the past. But detachedly, and slowly, his lips started to move anyway.
"My mom took care of me until she died. I was a pup still but old enough to take care of myself if I had to. And I did have to," Inuyasha arched his claws and visualized the viscera that had covered them in the long days of his life.
"I did anything I had to. I stole, I killed, I fought, and I learned not to apologize. Survival came first. I taught myself mostly. I watched other animals and humans and even demons when they didn't know it. I learned from my mistakes real quick 'cause…it would mean death if I didn't. There were a lot of close calls."
His voice lowered an octave. The words continued to flow and he didn't know where they came from. Nobody had ever asked him that question before. Not even Kagome. So no one knew the answer. Inuyasha had never truly thought over all his years of trial and error, of struggle and tears, of blood and the gnashing of teeth so he also heard the words and considered them with awe.
"A lot of close calls. But somehow I always made it. I'm pretty lucky I guess." He could taste a lie on his tongue but didn't understand why. "I just kept going. Because I had to and there was nothing else to do but to live. And that's really all."
Behind the veil of his thoughts came unbidden images.
Little feet slipping in the mud.
Little hands trembling over the corpse of a rodent.
Scale-surrounded eyes.
A clawed hand reaching towards him.
A fat gray tongue as little hands rummaged through cloth that was still warm.
Faces twisted and red; rotten food and wood and tools thrown through the air.
Green, painful ooze from a gash on a little leg.
Mother's pallid face as he threw dirt atop her.
Inuyasha lifted up one shoulder. "It's kind of a boring story."
"So you taught yourself?" Kasuhama said slowly. "Everything? All alone?"
Inuyasha couldn't focus on the demon. All he could do was nod.
It shouldn't be possible, Kasuhama thought. A child all alone in a world of wild demons and wild animals; a world that did not want him on either side of his blood. Not even a full-blooded child, either human or demon, would be able to survive under the conditions Kasuhama could only imagine. Winter. Starvation. Predators. Disease. And there were other matters as well. Inuyasha was crude in how he used them but he had somehow learned to use his senses efficiently. Demon children needed a great deal of teaching to learn how to deal with their instincts and their abilities. One important factor of an Inu-Youkai's childhood was being taught how to sort through all the confusing smells and focus on one or more without being overwhelmed. If this couldn't be learned then the pup would surely die if separated from the pack. Yet Inuyasha had done it. Even if those senses were dulled because of his human nature, Kasuhama had already witnessed their unexpected sensitivity; a hanyou pup would surely still be overwhelmed from the stimulation.
He had taught himself?
A heady realization dawned on Kasuhama. Inuyasha possessed his father's lineage, a powerful bloodline, the strongest in the land. Kasuhama had already witnessed its effects: the commands Inuyasha had given, the behaviorisms which indicated he was following an unvoiced instinct, the red youki that would cover his eyes, the purple stripes that'd appear from his temples. Kasuhama had a theory that Inuyasha didn't fully understand what he did when his father's blood acted up. This theory made Kasuhama's realization all the more startling. For there were times when an Inu-Youkai's baser instincts would need to take over—in times of intense danger, in times of heat, when complex pack rules came into play—and these inner insights which could never be fully explained in human terms were horribly, horribly influential. Inuyasha was a hanyou but he was a half-demon with the most powerful Inu-Youkai blood.
He would have needed someone to teach him to control that blood, those instincts, especially in youth when those impulses were strange and scary and confusing. He would have needed someone to calm him with a soothing bark or a commanding nip. He would have needed someone to stop him from attacking anything in sight when the blood awakened. Yet here the boy was, saying he'd done everything alone. He had taught himself? It shouldn't be possible.
Kasuhama found his eyes traveling to the half-pup's abdomen. The suikan had mended itself quickly. But did his hadagi still have a hole? Sadness billowed open and he was surprised by it. What Sesshomaru had done became more wrenching and more impossible and Kasuhama's assurance that it should have been impossible for him soured the idea of Inuyasha's ruined hadagi with sorrow. A pup all alone. No parent. No pack. Did Inuyasha as a child ever feel the call in his blood to howl for those like him? Did he ever look up to the moon and feel incomplete without having ever been accepted into a pack—into the family his blood knew it should belong to?
Winter, starvation, predators, and disease aside, how had he survived the yawning loneliness? It alone would kill any Inu-Youkai child.
Kasuhama's sadness was burrowed through with growing pinpricks of anger. How had Sesshomaru denied him? It should have been impossible.
Inuyasha did not notice Kasuhama's incremental rise to antagonism. The feeling was back, niggling at the fringes of his awareness. He turned his head, away from the memories, away from the bitterness of being coerced into telling a vastly reduced version of his story, away from the betraying feeling of wanting to tell it, away from it all, and he tried to slow down his heartbeat.
"Inuyasha…"
Inuyasha shushed him harshly. "Don't you feel it?"
Kasuhama opened his senses and did not initially pick up on anything. "Feel what, Inuyasha?"
"Being watched." Inuyasha resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I felt it earlier but…couldn't find…anything…" The hanyou quickly froze when something pushed off from his shoulder. In his peripheral vision he saw Myouga hop quickly away. That's not a good sign, he thought with a twinge of cynicism.
Kasuhama grew nearer to him and whispered incredibly low, "They hide themselves well." He still had not detected anything but after the small insight he'd been given into Inuyasha's past, he trusted the hanyou's instincts. A slow wind caressed the underside of his chin. Two scents came upon it. They held no recognition for him except as to what species they came from. They also held no danger so he disregarded them...
But Inuyasha seemed to recognize them very well. "Damn it!"
From a good distance away, Kasuhama's sensitive full-blooded ears heard the sound of a shrill scream. A second passed and Inuyasha's ears flicked forward. The hanyou bolted. "Damn it!"
Another second and Kasuhama followed.
"Rin! Rin! Are you alright!" Shippo bounced on all fours to the girl. She held her little hands to her cheeks and screamed again. "What? What is it!"
She pointed, shoulders raised with apprehension. "It's a bear! Look, look! A bear head!"
The kitsune walked past her, having been behind her on their walk. On their left, a raised mound of earth and rocks, forming an indistinct cave, was riddled with the entrails of a loan bear. Coils of intestines and ripped hunks of fur hung from the tree branches. It was a nasty kill. Shippo, with his youthful nose, could not identify the killer due to the decaying carnage. Pushed by a bravery he didn't know he possessed, he stepped farther forward.
What Rin pointed to was indeed the bear's decapitated head. Its eyeballs were missing, leaving gouged sockets, and the tongue hung heavily out, being devoured by snow and worms. It had been thrown far and dully forgotten. Shippo stuck his own tongue out in disgust and tasted soured saliva. His tail frizzed outwards in growing fear. It was days old but they still should not stay near lest the killer returned. They were lucky enough they hadn't walked in on some desperate scavengers. Shippo hurried back to his traveling partner.
He quickly put a hand over her mouth to stop another scream. "Stop, Rin! It's dead. It won't hurt you." She nodded beneath his paw and was immediately, rather surprisingly, composed again. Well, he thought curiously, she did travel with Sesshomaru. "Come on. We should hurry."
Rin grabbed his hand and they jogged in a wide circle around the animal's body.
"Do you think a Youkai did that?" The girl quelled down the surge of adrenaline in her tummy from the notion. Lord Sesshomaru and Inuyasha-san weren't around if the Wild Youkai decided to return to the site.
"I don't know. But whatever did it, it was really angry." Shippo slowed to a trot and looked around at the tall, imposing, and unrecognizable tree trunks. He'd never been here before, in the forest on the opposite side of the village and the well-known area of the Goshinboku. "Where to next, Rin?"
She held a fist to her chest. "Uh…I-I think this is when, um, Kirara came to get me."
Shippo gaped at her sheepish face. "Are you saying…?"
"I'm sure if we keep going straight--!"
"We're lost?!"
Rin winced and slowly nodded. Shippo fell to his rump. "I thought you knew how to get there!"
"I'm sorry, Shippo. Everything all looks the same now. Well…except that." She pointed her thumb back to the bear thankfully hidden now from their sight. Sighing sadly, Rin sat down next to the kit. "I'm sorry. I really do think if we keep going straight, we'll get there. I don't remember Kirara turning a lot."
That's helpful. Shippo gnawed at his lower lip and heaved a heavy sigh also. "I can try to get as back with my sense of smell…or maybe transform and float to the top of the trees…maybe…" He noticed Rin's downcast features and refused to whimper like he so desperately wanted to. He firmly stood and smacked a fist into an outstretched palm.
"Yeah! That should work! I'll just go to the top and see if I can find the village. Don't worry, Rin, everything…will be…" Shippo trailed off as his ears twitched.
Rustling.
Crunching.
Panting.
Growling!
"Oh no," he said.
"What! What is it?" Rin gripped his arm and looked in the opposite direction that Shippo was where the bear cadaver laid. "Is something coming?"
"Yeah…" Shippo trembled. Something was coming and it was loud. It wasn't even trying to sneak up on them. A self-assured killer? Or…
"Shippo…!"
Shippo reached back for her. "D-don't worry, Rin. I'll protect y-you."
Crash. Snap.
Scream.
"FOX FIRE!"
Grunt.
"DAMN IT!"
The lilting screams of frightened children tapered off into wide-eyed astonishment. The two's white-knuckled grips on each other lessened as they recognized the peeved Wild Youkai Killer before them. His clawed hand brushed hastily at the burned patch of his hair. Tendrils of steam rose from the twitching vein on his temple.
"Oh no," Shippo whispered. He tried to chuckle but it only made the raised skin around the Killer's nostrils flutter with his growl.
"Hi, Inuyasha-san," Rin said with a weak smile.
A full-blooded canine demon Shippo had never seen before stepped out from behind the infuriated hanyou. Shippo edged closer to Rin. The strange Youkai eyed the children and Inuyasha's glaring face, amused and almost appreciative. "Huh," he said.
He turned again to the lost children. "It seems you two are in very deep trouble."
The children audibly gulped.
"What…the hell…are you doing here?" The hanyou hissed.
Inuyasha was angry.
Very angry. Downright pissed even.
The smell of drying blood and post-Kouga rage was in the background of Shippo and Rin who had the audacity to smile at him—and he had never felt such an urge to shake children before.
Yes, he was very angry. But what stalled him from fulfilling his desire to punish the damn kit—because the seven hells knew he should never raise a hand against Rin, she being a girl but also…his girl, damn it—was a very bizarre emotion.
Nostalgia.
He was angry. He wanted to bop the kit and chase him around. It was like old times.
There were huge differences, of course. For instance, Kagome wasn't around and he didn't wear the rosary anymore…
Oh.
The gradual rise of his evil smile, along with the cracking of his claws, made Shippo and Rin deliciously flinch.
"Oh. I should say very, very deep trouble." Kasuhama said behind him.
"Shippo," Inuyasha growled low. The kit tried to hide his head in the collar of his jacket. "I would run if I were you."
The kitsune chuckled again, "Heh…yeah…" He took a step back, making to run, but it was unnecessary. Inuyasha pounced, effectively ripping Shippo away from Rin's proximity without giving her harm or disturbing her balance. Shippo screamed in the hanyou's tight grip as they rolled on the ground.
"AH! Inuyasha, I'm sorry!"
"Damn it, Shippo! What in the world possessed you to come out here? And with Rin!"
"But it wasn't my—"
"You could have been killed! Way before any of us could have gotten to you!"
"But we're fine! OW! OW! Inuyasha!"
"Kagome would have my head, you dumb fox!"
"OW!"
Rin managed a glance up at Kasuhama. She recognized him from her short time at the clearing. "Hello," she said politely. She winced when Shippo yelped again.
Kasuhama inclined his head. "Hello, young Rin. Why have you traveled so far from the safety of the human village?"
"Um, uh…we were…trying to find Inuyasha-san."
Kasuhama smiled. Inuyasha roared when Shippo managed to get his fangs into his ear. The kit had decided to fight back. "Well, you certainly found him."
Rin's lips thinned when she agreed.
"Ah! Let go!" Inuyasha attempted to pull Shippo off his tender appendage but the action only caused him more pain. The kit bit harder into his ear and tangled his little paws into the white hair. "AGH!"
Shippo's snarl was high-pitched and youthful and muffled from fur. Once he heard the sound his chest had made, however, it fractured the annoyance and adrenaline prompting his attack. Fractured him right through. He killed him! Something jostled in his chest and his skin was awakened to the feel of Inuyasha's hair in his palms, of the restricted movements of Inuyasha's ear in his teeth…and the feel of the hard thumping of Inuyasha's heartbeat against the sensitive pads of his feet which pushed against Inuyasha's neck. Nobody had said anything…
Was it true?
Had it really happened?
Did they keep it a secret from him?
The adrenaline fled out through the fracture and was replaced with a hollowed sensation of vulnerability, the kind of vulnerability only children knew well. Especially this one who had witnessed his parent's deaths.
Shippo's breaths hopped up and down through his teeth as he slowly wilted. Hair still clamped in his paws, Shippo embraced Inuyasha's head and gently released the thin flesh in his mouth. He made his movements carefully, achingly so, as though the hanyou would make do of Rin's words and die right in his arms. The kit tightened his embrace degree by degree, letting the desperation out slowly. He buried his nose into the softness of the white hair, in the comforting scent he didn't know he'd missed, and finally let the tears go. "Inuyasha…Inuyasha…"
Inuyasha was about to rip the kit from his head, now that his sensitive ear was freed, but even a slight tug caused the kit's grip to grow more taunt. Shippo's broken cry of his name finally weakened the fist on the back of the kitsune's clothes completely.
"Shippo," Inuyasha said harshly, his anger draining away slowly. But surely. "Don't think your sniveling's going to—"
"Inuyasha, tell me it's a lie!"
The hanyou cried out, the sound of the yell raucous from the closeness. "Ah, watch it!"
Shippo ignored him. He moved his little nose in the thick fur, muffling his voice. "Tell me it's a lie, Inuyasha. Tell me it didn't happen."
"That what didn't happen, runt? You're not makin' any sense."
Shippo's erratic heartbeat pounded against Inuyasha's temple and the fastness of it shot a thin beam of concern through Inuyasha's irritation. He had to strain a bit to hear the kit's whisper.
"Rin…Rin said Se-Sesshomaru killed you…"
Inuyasha fisted his hand into Shippo's clothing again. He didn't answer and the hanyou's silence made Shippo panic.
"It—it can't be true! You weren't brought back! A-and Kagome didn't say anything! And you've fought Sesshomaru b-before and he never even tried to kill you seriously! So why would he do it n-now and—and—and it just can't be true because nobody told me! Nobody said anything!" His babbling erupted into sobs. Between the hiccupping air, Shippo repeated that it couldn't be true, Sesshomaru didn't kill you, Tenseiga didn't have to bring you back, nobody said anything and was astonished, far back behind the hysteria, that this amount of distress resided within him.
Inuyasha was also astonished by the distress as he was astonished by how calm he felt. The calmness was firm and resolute, exactly like the muted decision he'd come to. He needed to fix this. Tetsusaiga throbbed at his hip and Inuyasha knew what he had to do.
The hanyou tugged. "No!" Shippo whimpered, repeating himself as Inuyasha tugged harder. He stubbornly held on to the locks of hair that were now slick with the sweat in his palms.
"No," his voice cracked and there was a crumbling in him when Inuyasha effectively released himself from Shippo's hold. But Shippo didn't want to be pulled away. He didn't want to be bopped on the head and told he was stupid. Although he did want things normal, he realized that at that moment he wanted so much more. Bereft, Shippo rubbed his eyes with his empty hands.
Inuyasha, silent, pulled at one of his wrists. Shippo shook his head and refused to look at him. The pull got stronger and unavoidable. Giving in, Shippo opened his eyes to glare at the hanyou…but gasped instead. There were purple stripes raggedly tearing from the hanyou's temples. The corners of Inuyasha's eyelids were also more slanted. Fortunately, however, the golden irises remained. Their gentle stare was all that kept Shippo's fractured chest from splitting wider.
"Inuyasha?" he whispered brokenly.
Inuyasha slowly lifted his free hand.
And bopped Shippo firmly on the nose.
The kit sucked in a breath, surprised and affronted. One tap and an explosion of wordless command rose up from the back of his skull, forcing him to hold his breath and not make a sound. He was confused. Even though he knew well what the motion meant, it was a warning his own father had used to reprimand him; Shippo was still filled with confusion since Inuyasha had done it. He suddenly and vividly remembered the aura of power and authority Inuyasha had exuded in Lady Kaede's hut all those weeks ago. It was the first time this shuddering voiceless desire to obey the hanyou came forth, prompting him to seek acceptance from who his instinct-driven mind had deemed as the leader. The feeling wasn't mindless; Shippo had been and was completely conscious of his actions, but still there was a part of him that overlooked those actions with befuddled exasperation. When had Inuyasha become the same to him…as his father? When had he become a true "leader" in demon terms?
Shippo winced faintly when Inuyasha's free hand moved again, this time to the top of the kit's head. He grazed the backside of his claws softly along the scalp and Shippo started to breathe again, cautiously relieved. He blinked up at Inuyasha, who seemed so sure, so certain and unwavering. When had this happened? He didn't seem like…like Inuyasha anymore. But that didn't seem right, Shippo realized. A part of this had always been Inuyasha, had existed. He just…must have ignored it. Or had not recognized it for what it was.
He was motionless and awed as Inuyasha moved him closer to the red-clad chest. Shippo had been this close to Inuyasha's neck before. But it felt odd now. There seemed to be more space, especially since the rosary was gone. When Shippo had noticed this upon Inuyasha and Kagome's return from the future, he had very nearly panicked. Everyone else noticed as well but—nothing was said. This was most likely because when the couple came back, Nagaharu and the grave-robbing gang were visiting. And since then, well…everything got really busy and confusing for the kitsune. Everyone ran around and nobody told him anything. He actually forgot that he had seen the rosary missing. Maybe it had been a trick of the eye? Shippo didn't know what to do about it. He always figured if anything happened to the rosary, he would be at the top of the hanyou's list for revenge…then Kouga. But, he supposed, Inuyasha must have forgotten as well because of how busy and confusing things had become.
Inuyasha pushed him closer into the crook of his neck and his collarbone. Shippo fit himself in the space and touched the thick throat apprehensively. Without the rosary, Inuyasha seemed…wilder. He could feel the strength emanating under the covering of fabric and flesh and it thrilled him with anxiety. It was conflicting—dangerous but comforting. Shippo swallowed, his mouth dry, and warily snuggled himself close. Inuyasha made no objection. Instead a low, soft growl vibrated in the hanyou's chest. Acceptance. Shippo shivered and then clutched Inuyasha in another embrace, knowing it would be alright for him to do so. Inuyasha's hand patted his back and then fit around him, holding him. Cocooned in white fur and a purring-like sound, Shippo felt himself constrict with tears again. But they were different this time. The fracture was sweeter. "Inuyasha…"
Inuyasha stood, allowing the kit to remain where he'd placed him. Kasuhama and Rin stared at him. The demon was obviously amused while Rin was gaping with curiosity. Forget them, he thought flippantly. Inuyasha had made his decision. Shippo's breathing soon slowed and Inuyasha felt a deep pleasure, different than when he was able to stop Kagome from crying or any other rare moment when he tried to make someone feel better. It was bone deep and satisfying. It didn't feel human.
His brows furrowed, inquisitiveness breaking through his satisfaction a bit. In the hut, when Kirara and Shippo had obeyed him unquestionably—there had been a brief flash of this pleasure then as well. It had been surrounded by rage so he hadn't thought about it. It just felt correct. When Shippo crawled towards him, mewling for acceptance, a thought not composed of human words rumbled in his head and it had been strong and powerful. Yes. The kit has done the right thing. And he had been very pleased.
Inuyasha didn't know why he did these things, only that he knew they were the right things to do. So he mentally shrugged and disregarded any further thoughts on the matter. There were more important things to mull over. Rin had wandered away from the village again, this time with Shippo at her side, and they very well could have been attacked by who—or what—ever Inuyasha kept feeling amidst the trees. He should take them back…
"Inuyasha!" Kasuhama suddenly roared. The name was barely shivering out into the cold air when Kasuhama ran forward, hand outstretched towards Inuyasha's face. The hanyou leaned back, instinctively determining that the demon man had tricked him, was attacking him and the boy he had to protect, was all along a danger and he had been a fool for allowing—
Whoosh. Kasuhama's hand stopped a few inches away from the hanyou's flesh. In his fingers, still trembling from the trajectory, was what seemed to be a…a needle? Inuyasha blinked and blinked, unable to focus on the objet so close to his eyes. Kasuhama pulled it back and it was indeed a dart, fixed with a needle. It was a crudely made thing out of natural materials but Inuyasha had no doubt that it would have caused him harm if it had managed to pierce him. "What the hell…?" he breathed.
Kasuhama dropped it and whirled around again, grabbing another from the air. Inuyasha's features contorted in anger when his senses opened to behold what was happening.
The watchers were back. And they were attacking.
"Rin!" Inuyasha released Shippo and grabbed for Tetsusaiga. The kit held on. Rin jogged over to them, not understanding the danger.
"Rin-chan!" Kasuhama lunged out and grabbed her by the sleeve of her jacket. He pulled her behind him, between himself and Inuyasha. The demon lowered himself into a battle-ready position.
"We are surrounded," he growled angrily. "I could not detect them until it was too late!"
"Damn it." Inuyasha sniffed harshly and sure enough, the scent of Youkai was all around them. How had this happened? Was it because he had been distracted? But he still should have detected a hint! He was always supposed to be on high alert. How had they gotten past both of them!?
"Show yourselves!" Inuyasha yelled. He lifted Tetsusaiga high, making the energy crackle and coil around the blade. "Before I make you!"
Kasuhama glanced at him, baffled by such a tactic as yelling for the enemy to come out and attack. He stiffened by the sound of a cracking branch to the side. Well, what do you know, he mused, it worked. Inuyasha turned swiftly in the direction of the sound and swung Tetsusaiga down. A massive attack of demonic energy obliterated the trees and whoever had resided behind them. The cacophony of destruction drowned out Inuyasha's battle cry.
Despite having wind and yells and cracking wood in his ears, Kasuhama instinctively looked over Inuyasha's shoulder and saw two masked attackers sprinting towards them. He spun around the hanyou and the little girl and swiped at them.
Inuyasha noticed Kasuhama parrying with the two black-clad strangers and quickly ripped Shippo away from his throat. He plopped the struggling kitsune next to Rin and yelled out, "Don't move!" His mind screamed at him for the idiocy of leaving the children in the middle of the battlegrounds but there was no place he could take them to hide. They were surrounded, hidden dangers wearing all black and carrying needles all around them. All he could do, Inuyasha hurriedly strategized, was get rid of Kasuhama's attackers, grab the kids, and hightail it out of there. Get them to a safe place and then deal with who would certainly follow.
"Kasuhama!" The demon looked back, saw he was coming with Tetsusaiga ready to blow, and ran out of the way. Inuyasha swung down for the two attackers. One dodged. The other pulled out a sword and blocked his attack. The metal sung and sparked as they glared at each other. A snarling face to snarling golden-brown eyes.
The well. The ice. The watching eyes. I told you we would have to take you by force.
"You're from Shirababa's army!"
The masked demon pushed at him with one hand and used the other to pull out a small cylinder object. Right as he threw it to the ground and jumped back, Inuyasha felt a harsh pull on the back of his suikan. Smoke erupted from where he had been standing. Even though he was far enough away to not breathe in the noxious gas, his eyes immediately stung from it. "Agh," he covered his nose. "What is that?"
"I don't know!" Kasuhama's voice was muffled since he was covering his mouth and nose as well. He had been the one to pull Inuyasha away. "But it would be wise not to breathe it in!"
"Inuyasha-san!" Rin screamed.
Inuyasha and Kasuhama spun around. Another three black attackers with dark golden eyes stalked around the children. Shippo stood before Rin, arms stretched wide to protect the girl. One of the attackers reached out for them but received a sting of kitsune fire magic in his face. He cursed, rubbing his eyes. "Damn fox!" He backhanded Shippo, knocking the little demon boy to the ground with a resonating thud. The melting snow was not cushion enough. Shippo's skull cracked hard and he was promptly unconscious.
"Shippo!" Rin tried to run to his side but an attacker roughly grabbed her by the arm and had her in a choke hold. "Shippo! Inuyasha-saaan!"
"Let them go!" Inuyasha ran forward and without hesitation, slashed through the middle of an unsuspecting attacker. His body split and fell, not quick enough to even turn fully around. A name Inuyasha didn't care to understand was yelled to the sky. Blood riddled the ground between the seething hanyou and the rest of the black-robed attackers, their revealed eyes sparking with astonishment and rage.
Kasuhama ran to Inuyasha's side. "Put the girl down!"
"NO!" The attacker intensified his grip and Rin whimpered in pain. "Take one more step and the girl will die!"
"Not before I kill you first, you bastard!" Kasuhama pulled Inuyasha back before he could take another swing.
"Inuyasha," Kasuhama ignored his youki-glowing eyes. He turned back to the attackers. "What is your business here? Why have you attacked us without any warning!"
Slowly, more black jumped from the treetops and landed around the one holding Rin. Ten in all. One toed at Shippo's unconscious form, eliciting a snarl from the hanyou. "Don't touch him!"
Kasuhama firmly held Inuyasha back again. "I understand you are led by General Shirabaku. Tell me what business do you have with a human girl?"
"Our business is not with her." The attacker holding Rin said. "It is with the hanyou. Our orders are to bring him back."
"By force again, I take it." Inuyasha jeered. "Why the hell do you want me again! I already talked to that Shirababa hound. He let me go!"
"We have new orders… you filthy hanyou mutt!"
"AH!" Inuyasha ripped himself away from Kasuhama and ran forward. But he halted abruptly when the attacker brought a glinting claw to Rin's delicate chin. He heard a whimper and turned. Another one of them callously picked Shippo up by the back of his hair and similarly arched his claws around the youth's neck. The kit's eyelids fluttered.
"I-Inuyasha…"
"I wouldn't do that, half-breed," the Youkai said. "If you don't surrender yourself now…these pups' blood will be on your head."
Tetsusaiga's tip touched the ground. "Damn it," Inuyasha murmured.
This was so typical.
A.N.: What Jinsei said about Tenseiga and Inuyasha's "healing abilities" was brought to you by another fantastic reviewer, Jideni3. I hope you don't mind! Your astute analysis also brings me great inspiration to keep writing.