Chapter 25- Perceptive perspective
No, Inuyasha isn't mine, really!
There was a low groan. Everything hurt. Golden eyes opened...and looked around. A hut? An old fashioned hut? Where the hell was he?
A man's hand stopped him before he could get up.
"Easy. Try to relax, you need rest," a man said, and the hanyou peered at him. A plump, cheery looking man was leaning over him, dressed in ragged hiking clothes, and smiled nervously.
"Where...where am I? Who are you?" the hanyou demanded. Inuyasha remembered something coming at him as he drove the car up a winding mountain road, a crash, falling...and blackness. Kagome...she'd be worried, probably yell at him...
"Oh. My name's Watanabe Akiro, I'm an Insurance Agent with Tokyo Accident and Liability, and um...well-you're in the village of Togenkyo," the fellow answered with another nervous smile.
"Togenkyo...? Where is that?" Inuyasha pushed his hand away and scowled, making the human pale.
"I'm not sure you'll believe us if we tell you, stranger." Someone else had moved from the corner, one dressed as the first in the remnants of a hiker's clothes, and they looked at each other.
"Ever-see a box garden?" Akiro asked awkwardly.
"Kagome! Yoohoo!" a voice hailed them as they pulled up in front of a middle class apartment building to collect Shiori from her place. The miko stared as...it was like looking at something out of a museum as the bat hanyou came out of the shadows.
Blue and green laminated armor, a nasty polearm in one hand, helmed and looking amused at Kagome's expression. Shiori. She struck a pose.
"By day, a simple dental hygienist...by night...Shiori of the Bat Youkai Tribe, hanyou warrior! All I need's a theme song," the hanyou proclaimed with a grin, as Miroku just shook his head.
"I see you're ready."
"Yep. We'll take my car as far as we can, and then we'll be on foot. Between my ears and your senses...we ought to be able to find him," the grin faded as Shiori spoke, pulling keys out of her sash.
"Oh, we'll find him," Miroku nodded, as Kagome just sighed and the monk parked his motorcycle before they piled into her little compact, using the old map and a road atlas to navigate as close as possible to where it said the youkai tree was. They had to. The lunar eclipse was coming, and when it did...
"Alright then. Let's go over this one more time," Inuyasha was sitting, scowling at the pair facing him in the hut, a delegation of the villagers. "We're stuck in a miniature box garden by a youkai tree and it's servant. You people were all scooped up by various ways and are being held prisoner. That I get. But...why are you being held, and why don't you want me to go outside the hut?"
"Right so far. Not the best corporate retreat I've been on, mind you, but well...not actually the worst, either. No boring powerpoints on customer assurance and care plans or team discipline exercises. At least, no pointless ones as usual, though I would've foregone this cause," Saitou Shinichiro, a late middle aged man, the man who'd been in the corner, nodded to himself. "Well, Watanabe, it was your idea to use the actuary tables and estimate matters. Explain to the gentleman."
"See, well-you're the first youkai person we've seen here who wasn't taken almost at once...for fertilizer. We've been trying to devise a way to escape ourselves, and we-myself and my fellow Insurance agents, that is, some of the fellows here are locals, a couple of birders, and a Doctor on a camping weekend-he's the man who fixed you up, friend Inuyasha-"
"Watanabe," Shinichiro interjected.
"Lord Inuyasha, mortal," the hanyou corrected at his heels.
"Right. Sorry, got sidelined. Anyways, Lord Inuyasha," a nervous grin and a small bow, "we figured the odds of your survival, and well-they weren't good. In fact, we estimate a 85 percent probability that you could be the one that helps get us all killed. So, we'd like you to play sick in here."
"What Akiro is referring to is the tree Nemenka. We got together and pooled our information, and this is what we've learned. This tree is some sort of thinking youkai, and is being fed to create the fruit of Longevity by the Priestess Urusue, but we are the plant food. We're supposed to be studying to be sages or somesuch nonsense. But, as soon as the exercises we're being made to do for supplies start to work, the poor person gets carried off to the tree."
"We've been faking it as much as possible while we're working on escaping, but you don't have that luxury. Youkai and some monks from a local Temple have been here in the village before, and they get snatched as soon as they can be for tree food. Until you came in hurt. Apparently, they want you healthy before you're...taken," Akiro explained sadly.
"We were ordered to tend to you and we have...but we will not allow you to be killed out of hand if we can help it. So, we have the idea that as long as you are in here, healing up, you're safe enough, and can help us once we finish the tunnel we're digging through one of the walls of the garden. You see," Shinichiro polished his glasses on his shirt, "we aren't exactly fighters, and you appear to be. So, we help you, and you help us. Time's running out, you see. Once the fruit is grown, well...they'll likely kill us all as redundant."
"Uh huh," Inuyasha frowned, "So...they need Spiritual power and youkai for the tree. But you want to hide me until you dig out, and then you want me to protect you when you're running?" he asked. Nods and smiles answered him.
"Exactly!" Akiro nodded.
"What if I say no?" There were unhappy looks.
"Well...then you get eaten, and we all die. We've heard Urusue speak of it as she looks in on us. She's close to success. One or two more strong feedings-and it's over."
"Damn it!" Inuyasha swore as he looked around the tidy hut, "where's my sword?"
"A sword? You didn't have one when she dumped you here."
"I see." A frown as he thought. They had a plan, at least...that was something. Inuyasha had to admit he liked the fact that the mortals were trying to break out, and not just giving up. But without Tetsusaiga...well. A problem, now that he knew what the damned thing had been doing all these years. He didn't see anything else to do but agree. They made sense, even if mere mortals had come up with the idea.
"Excellent, this is wonderful news!" Akiro beamed.
"How long until you get through, and how long have I been here?"
"Ah, you've been here two days. As to your other question, Ichiro's head of the tunnel team. A contractor, unfortunate man was camping and got collected. One moment and I'll get a progress update and the latest estimate," Saitou rose and headed outside with grim dignity.
"Saitou-san is the reason this escape plan's being made. At the office, well...he's not popular, but he's a wonder when it comes to organizing. He's my supervisor, and acting as our headman, like the old days, you know. I just hope he's willing to overlook my low new policy rate once we get out of here," Akiro admitted with a worried glance after the older man.
"Sure. You'd need someone in charge. Eh...seems to me you've got more to worry about, Watanabe," Inuyasha commented, bemused.
"You haven't been called into his office after a bad performance review," Akiro shuddered as Inuyasha just shook his head. The mortal seemed to consider something, and spoke. "Tell me, Lord Inuyasha, have you ever considered the importance of having a comprehensive plan? Auto, Home, Accident perhaps? It's not just for mortals these days, and you're married, I see from your ring. It's peace of mind for the whole family, you know. We can certainly discuss rates, I'm sure I could get you an excellent deal over any current plan you may have."
Inuyasha's eyes widened. Mortals. Crazy, the bunch of them. Here they were, trapped by a dark Priestess and an evil tree...and this rabbit of a mortal was trying to sell him-insurance?? He found he automatically took the business card Akiro fished out of his ragged shirt pocket. Crazy. 'You're married, I see from your ring...' Kagome. He had to get out of here. Inuyasha glanced at the wide, shining gold band on his ring finger, his public marker, that he belonged to someone, to his mate. At least she wasn't here, she was safe at the Keep.
At least-if he didn't...he'd gotten to touch her before he left, because she'd wanted him to, not because she felt obligated. She would grieve...no. He would return to her. No choice there. Not now. No fucking tree was taking him down, damn it!
But Saitou arrived soon after, and told him. They figured another three days until a breakout. Using farm implements provided for them to create meditation gardens, they were slowly chiseling a hole through the thick wall, but it took time and they had to conceal the rubble and their activities.
Inuyasha didn't have three days. He racked up time in his head...and tomorrow night was the lunar eclipse! Crap!!
"I hate traffic!!" Shiori swore, driving like a maniac as they fought free of the evening rush hour and got out on the road towards the mountain.
"We'll get there. In one piece, I hope," Miroku commented.
"Hopefully," Kagome was doing her best not to look out the windows, pretending they were on a nice, sensible drive! The last time she'd been on this road, music was playing, in the convertible with Inuyasha...
She had to save him.
They drove as far as they could, until the roads branched around Mount Hakurei. Then, Shiori parked, and they got out to walk.
"Where to now, Miroku?" she asked, locking the car.
"One moment," he consulted the map...and frowned. "Hm. Nemenka...I believe it's that way," he pointed, one hand weighing down the scroll spread on the hood of the car, the old paper fluttering in the light breeze.
"Are you sure?" Kagome looked worried.
"I'd be lying if I said I was. The landmarks close to it have changed. Rivers move in so long, even stone has weathered away. A village is supposed to be right about where we're standing...but it has undoubtedly vanished with time. This map was made centuries ago and recopied since then."
"It's a shame we can't find Inuyasha first, then find this tree," Shiori noted sadly. But at her words, a slow, sudden smile lit the worried monk's face. An idea.
"What did you say?" he asked the bat.
"That it's a shame we can't find Inuyasha first," Shiori answered, puzzled.
"We can...I think we can, anyway, with Kagome here," Miroku looked gleeful as he rolled up the map.
"How?" Kagome asked eagerly.
"Inuyasha marked you, correct?"
"Sure." A nod.
"Then we can use it. Of course, I'll have to see it," he told her, and she turned around without a blink, lifting her hair out of the way. Shiori looked away. A mating mark was a private, intimate symbol, not for public display. She could sense it as any youkai could, but looking at it was not seemly. As for Miroku...well.
'The back of the neck?? That meant she was on her hands and knees when...work, Miroku. Work time...bad monk...' he reminded himself. Miroku was a pervert, he'd admit it, and could be distracted by well, many matters. Not n irregular reddish scar. He took out an ofuda and a magic marker, quickly writing down a series of characters. Then he laid it on her neck.
"Focus on him, Kagome. Think about Inuyasha, as hard as you can," he instructed, as he put power into the paper. The young miko did the best she could, thinking of him.
It glowed slightly. He removed it, and wrapped it around his staff.
"Well?"
"All done. You can let your hair down, Kagome. Stand behind me, please."
"What did you do, Miroku?" she asked, putting her hair down and watching him fasten the ofuda to the metal pole, the rings jingling softly as he worked.
"Since he marked you, you both are permanently linked, in effect making you two halves of a whole. It's what will extend your life to match his. Usually, he'd be the only one able to make use of it since you aren't a youkai, by sensing the mark when it's touched. But in this case, I used your mating mark to create a sort of...line. Think of yourself as one pole, and Inuyasha as the other. When I invoke the spell, it should direct the staff to point from you, to where the other pole is located. So all we need to do is-"
"Follow it!" Kagome clapped her hands involuntarily. "Miroku, you're a lot of things, but one heck of a monk!"
"Thank you...I think," Miroku answered, and frowned even as he positioned her where he wanted her, and held it lightly in his hand at a horizontal.
It seemed to quiver...and suddenly tipped over, laying at an odd angle as he allowed it to rotate. He moved slowly around Kagome and it turned to point in the same direction. It had worked. And it didn't point in the direction they had assumed the tree lay.
"Well. We'll have to check it periodically to make sure we're going the right way, but I believe we have our guide. Shall we go, ladies?" he asked, and the trio headed out.
But it was going to take time. Dawn broke, and they had to rest.
Inuyasha, sitting in the hut...fumed as the pair of humans took turns watching over the 'sick one' all night. After a fitful sleep, he slipped to the door and peered out, ignoring Shinichiro Saitou's frown. An old fashioned village, such as he hadn't seen in many years, was spread out before him. Huts, grassy slopes, what looked like a mountain in the distance, trees...even a sort of lake. But-massive walls rose in all directions. Too high for even him to jump, he'd bet. Nothing grew near them but brush, and they looked smooth.
He stared out until he heard a voice that seemed to boom across the odd garden village, and pressed himself against the inside of the door, letting the flap slide shut as villagers came out from all directions. Maybe where they met? It was possible...but an enormous woman was leaning over the village! No, a normal one, he realized, smelling power in her. Urusue. The dark Priestess who served the tree. An ugly hag of a creature.
"Good morning. So. Have you been studying, my villagers?" she asked sweetly, eyes raking the humans. She was looking for signs of awakened power, he realized, and pressed himself more tightly to the wall.
"Ah. A pity," her voice boomed to tiny ears. "Not a single useful one. Hm...most unfortunate...but what do I sense here?" her eyes slid along the huts...and a hand reached down-towards his! Damn it! A desperate gesture, and he dove under the blanket as-the hut roof was flipped up like a dollhouse top by a finger.
A huge eye looked down at him.
"Still injured? A pity. Rest well, little hanyou, later, you feed Nemenka, and your body must be whole for the fullest effect." She flipped the roof back down with a loud thud that made the walls shake. Human and hanyou exchanged a worried look. Without Tetsusaiga, he was in no shape to fight yet.
But later, when the digging team set to cautious work...Inuyasha told them to stand back as he flexed his claws and estimated how thick the wall was, crawling into the narrow tunnel the humans had made.
"I'm getting the fuck out of here. Now. You can stay or come with me, your choice, mortals."
"But-the stone is too thick!"
"Sankontessou!" he growled-and stone began to fly. The stunned humans started clearing rubble he pushed with his feet towards them...and Ichiro passed word to get ready to run.
Author's notes- Ah, fun to write, and I hope fun to read! Yes, I borrow shamelessly from the 'Fateful Night in Togenkyo' episodes, and hereby admit it. However, I do have a lot of fun with them, nor will it be the same. That would be wrong. Thanks for Reading!-Namiyo