I do not own Inuyasha, All characters and such are copyright of Rumiko Takahashi!
Well..This summer went by fast, huh? I didn't even update once! And now, in two days time, I'm going back to school.. So, I'm back to updating on the weekends.. I actually will though, because when you're told you can't do something, it just makes you want to do it more ((Since I can't write on the weekdays, I'll just write on the weekends!))
Here's chapter 25!
Chapter 25: What's done is done..
The sky began to turn black and the wind picked up. Inuyasha ran to Kagome, grabbing the sword and stepping in front of her.
His eyes narrowed, "YOU!"
"Me? And with such anger! I didn't think you'd know who I even was, dog-breath." Inuyasha watched a smug smirk form on the demons mouth.
"Kouga..how did you know about Inuyashas current state?" Kagome asked, stepping forward to move out from behind Inuyasha.
Inuyasha seen her move forward, and placed his arm in front of her to block her way. He averted his sight back to the rugged wolf demon, he didn't know who he was, but something inside of him, probably the other Inuyasha, was making him want to protect Kagome from this guy.
"Hey, Kagome..I missed you, did you miss me?" Kouga flashed her a sharp smile, "I have something for you." He walked a little closer, throwing something tiny at her.
She caught it in her hands and smiled awkwardly. "A necklace?" she plainly said.
"Yes, I got it from some young monk from a couple of villages away from here." Kouga blushed, "It's a symbol of my undying love for you."
Kagome stared at the necklace, it was only a small, shiny rock with a thin piece of rope tied around it, but it was the thought that counted.
"Why, Kouga ...thank you?" she replied, hesitantly. While Kouga smiled brightly, Inuyasha scowled. Why was Kagome accepting a gift from this guy? She didn't even seem to know him well, let alone love him back?
'A symbol of my undying love for you' he could hear Kouga speak in his mind.
Kouga sniffed the air. "Well, I'm not far away from home, so I need to leave now. I'll be seeing you very soon, Kagome!" and with that, he erupted into a large tornado and sped off into the distance.
"Kagome!" a voice was heard soon after, Kagome and Inuyasha squinted to try and pick out the figure.
A familiar old priestess was riding towards them on a small, grey horse. She appeared quite tired and dusty from the ride, however she wore an excited face.
"Kaede! What are you doing here?" Kagome questioned her, watching Inuyasha lift her down from the horse.
"Kagome, child, I bring good news." the priestess huffed, trying and catch her breath. "News of what I had made ye wait all of this time for."
"Good news?" Inuyasha repeated dully, noticing Kagomes confused gaze turn to a much more interested look. 'For some reason, this can't be good news for me..' he thought, gulping.
"That's wonderful, Kaede!" Kagome smiled brightly, "When can you start!"
"We can start as soon as we get back to the village, if ye would like?" She also smiled, knowing how long Kagome had waited for this moment.
"Yes, yes, that's great. Thank you, Kaede." Kagome bowed, showing her thanks as she motioned for Inuyasha to help Kaede onto the horse again.
"Then come along whenever ye are ready, child." With another smile, Kaede was off again.
"Finally, some luck!" She said, looking to inuyasha, giving him a queer, dreamy gaze.
Inuyasha scowled, looking away from her. He could hear her approaching him, slowly. He finally heard her stop by his left side, he knew she was staring at him.
"What?" he barked, still looking away.
"Inuyasha..." she spoke with a soft tone, as if begging him to look her way.
He couldn't help himself, he slowly looked onto her face, his eyes making their way towards hers. She stared at him without blinking, as if looking deep within his soul, trying to tell him something, but not speaking a word.
He found himself smiling, somehow knowing the good news was totally concerning him.
"Inuyasha" she said softly again, breaking the trance between them. "Let's go back to the village." she stared at the ground, shifting her feet. "There's something that needs to be done."
"Feh, I don't care, let's just go and get whatever it is done and over with. I'm tired of traveling around. I want to rest for a while." Inuyasha lied, coming up with an excuse, and a bad one at that.
"Okay, let's go." She climbed up on his back. She knew he was lying, he never gave up a chance to go and search for more shards. She knew what was to become of him would change everything.
She hated to admit it, but over the time that this new Inuyasha was in this body...well...she had come to love him, as stubborn and arrogant as he was, his temperament was cute in its own way.
She laid her head on his back and they sprinted off towards the village.
Inuyasha felt the same way for Kagome. She was a whiney little wench most of the time, but he had recently had strong urges to protect her, to make sure she was always by his side. Her smile was his new solace and he never wanted things to change.
He couldn't remember his past, but this was all he knew as his present. He didn't want to lose her. Ever.
They arrived at the village an hour or so later, covered with a light dust from the dirt road.
Inuyasha stopped at the head of the village, reaching his hand behind his head, running the side of his index finger down Kagomes cheek, waking her. He quickly pulled his hand away.
"Ah, you're awake." he said in a hushed voice. Looking to the right as the sun began to set.
She wore a small smile after a long yawn. "Yeah..are we at the village?"
Inuyasha nodded, bending down and letting her slide off of his back. He pointed to Kaede's hut and they walked over, going inside. Kaede sat by a small fire, staring into it. When she seen the two enter she looked to Inuyasha, then smiled at Kagome
"Are ye ready child?" she asked, slowly standing. When she received a nod from Kagome, Kaede reached into her pocket and revealed a necklace.
As she walked towards Inuyasha, Kagome turned to him.
"I'm sorry Inuyasha, but this needs to be done." Kagome said, tearing.
"Ka..kagome?" Inuyasha stammered, stepping back a pace.
Kagome stepped ahead a pace herself, "I promise, this wont hurt a bit."
"This act will only come with a small tingling sensation, Inuyasha." Kaede slipped the necklace over his head. "I will also make a promise. You will be much happier once I am done."
Kaede's hand shot up and landed on Inuyashas forehead. She quickly started chanting fast, and Inuyasha glowed a dark purple. His eyes shot to Kagome as they turned red.
"Kagome! What is she doing!" Inuyasha yelped, trying to move, but couldn't. He could see the tears running down her cheeks. He wanted to reach out to her, forgetting about his own predicament.
"Inuyasha.." she wiped the tears away herself. After less than a moment had passed, she mouthed an 'I'm sorry'
'Kagome ..please...' he thought as his body began to shake. Every color around him turned red, then all that was heard was Kagome gasp before she screamed in what seemed like agony...then silence. His world went black.
Inuyasha opened his eyes. He stared up at the light blue, cloudless sky. His eyes twitched for a moment from the brightness of the sun, but he soon adjusted to that. He looked to his left, seeing that he was next to the stream outside of Kaede's. He looked to his left, indeed seeing the priestesses hut.
He moaned, feeling a shard pain in his chest. He moved to sit up.
"Hey, hey, hey!" a small voice yelled to him, he heard a scurrying nosie coming towards him, he look to see a small fox demon.
"Who're you?" Inuyasha asked it.
"Never mind that!" it said, "get back down!" it ran behind Inuyasha, grabbing his haori and pulling as hard as it could on the material. Which, to Inuyasha, wasn't hard at all.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes, lying down despite the little fox demon still being underneath him. All Inuyasha heard was a squeaky sound, most likely coming from the struggling kit.
He looked to his side, seeing a twitching leg sticking out, then a body, then a head as the kit struggled its way out.
"Thanks a lot you stupid demon!" the kit wailed, throwing the cool, damp cloth it had been holding to the ground. It turned away. "This is great. Why am I always stuck with the dirty work.."
"What are you going on about?" Inuyasha grabbed it by its bushy tail, pulling the kit closer to his face. "Tell me your name."
"It's Shippo. Now put me down, demon!" he screamed.
"Demon?" Inuyasha repeated out loud. 'Can this kit not tell that I'm a hanyou?' He shrugged it off, "Shippo, eh? Weird name for a girl, don't ya think?"
Shippo said nothing for a few seconds, but blinked annoyingly. "Girl...GIRL? I'm a BOY!" he yelled, little spit droplets landed on Inuyashas face. Inuyasha wiped off them off, wearing a blank look..
"Oh? I would have never guessed." Inuyasha looked at the bow that tied up Shippo's sandy colored hair.
Shippo blushed, squirming to try and get the demon to release him. Inuyasha sighed, letting the kit fall flat on his face.
Inuyasha stared up at the sky again until it hit him. Why had Kagome screamed like that?
He jumped up and grabbed the kit again.
"Where is Kagome!" he demanded. The kit said nothing. "Kagome! Where is she!" he asked again.
"Don't worry, she's alright, she's in Kaedes hut."he barely had the words out of his mouth before Inuyasha dropped him flat on his face again, running to the hut and barging in.
"WAIT!" Shippo yelled after him. "I'm supposed to be looking after you! Kaede told me not to let you go anywhere!" Shippo sighed, not seeming to care anymore, he walked the opposite way into the village, "Stupid Dog Demon."
"Kagome!" Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks. "...Kagome? What is..who?" Inuyasha didn't know what to say.
He looked to see Kagome, knelt down beside a bed. In the bed lay an unconscious man. Kaede was no where to be found. Kagome gasped again, looking very frightened. Inuyashas heart sank. Why was she so afraid? Wait, What happened to her hanyou features?
He looked to the man and gasped as well. It was Inuyasha. Himself, but with different features. His hair was black, he had no fangs or claws. What had happened last night? What had been done!
"How..what.." Inuyasha was still lost for words.
Kagome shook her head, still looking frightened. "I didn't think it would turn out like this for you. I thought..." She looked back to the man, then back to Inuyasha still with those frightened eyes.
"Kagome? What's wrong?" He asked, walking slowly towards her, on the way he glanced into a water bowl, seeing his reflection. His eyes widened.
"I'm sorry.." Kagome started to cry again. "It..it had to be done."