Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.

Swarm Attack

Inuyasha didn't need as much sleep as humans. Still, he'd been starting to appreciate the option of sleeping after sunrise when he came in extremely late, and it was annoying to be woken up when he had seemingly only curled up in his corner of the hut. Of course, He hadn't shed his habit of waking immediately. But, it still took a few moments to identify the cause for the ringing of the watchtower bell. He'd been told of the difference cadences, but this one he hadn't heard before.

Youkai!

He was on his feet and bounding out of the door before the next thought crossed his mind. Then, he slid to a stop as he remembered that he did have teammates, when it came to fighting. He probably wouldn't need them, but, well, they ought to keep their skills polished, too. "Yo, Sango, Miroku!" he shouted. "Youkai! You coming or not?"

"Huh—what? Youkai—?—oh." Miroku's drowsy voice broke off as the bell continued to ring. "Give us a moment, will you?" Miroku called out, sounding a bit more awake. "At least give us enough time to put footwear on."

"Keh! Just catch up later! I'm going!"

And he bounded away, any fatigue utterly forgotten. Sparring with Sesshomaru was good, but a real fight—!

… … …

It was a mixed flock of medium-sized youkai that clearly all night flyers—all huge eyes, bat wings, and various, ferocious looking features. Individually, they were no match for Inuyasha, but they were all airborne, and were apparently adept at shifting in and out of the physical world—usually in time to avoid his attacks. Add in their shrieking voices, pitched at the edge of human hearing, and distinctly painful to inu-hanyo ears, and Inuyasha had more of a fight than he thought he would have at first glimpse. So, he was not unhappy when Miroku and Sango appeared. Fortunately, while the youkai could disappear and reappear to avoid attacks, they tended to show up on the same path they'd been on when they disappeared. Once Inuyasha and Sango started coordinating their attacks, they started to make progress.

But, it took awhile. In fact, the sun was fully up before the combatants—including Kaede, realized that the remaining youkai must have fled. "Hey, Inuyasha," call Miroku, from the watchtower, where Inuyasha had taken him after his arrival, to give him a better lookout and angles for the flights of his ofudas, "mind bringing me down?"

"Keh!" Inuyasha leaped up to the entrance of the small room at the top of the three-legged tower. It shook under his landing, having suffered damage during the attack. Miroku looked exhausted, and when Inuyasha deposited him on the ground, promptly dropped to a seated position, and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his thighs and pressing his hands against his temples.

"I almost miss the wind-tunnel," he said.

"I don't," said Sango, walking up, rotating the shoulder of her throwing arm. "I don't want to worry about what you pull into that thing."

Miroku looked up with a smile. "Ah, Sango-dear. Not missing the opportunity to nurse me through my poisoned miseries?"

She snorted, shifted Hirakatsu back to her right hand, and mimed bringing it down on his head. "Hardly," she snapped, as he ducked. "Houshi-sama." Then, her expression softened. "You are all right, aren't you?" she asked softly.

Miroku gave her a smile. "Just tired, my dear. Give me a meal and a nap, and I'll be fine."

Inuyasha looked around, trying to ignore his own ringing ears and headache. The men who had been outside the nearer houses, armed with spears or bows, as last-ditch efforts against any youkai that got into range, were gathering in a group, talking in low voices, casting glances his way. Looking further, he saw Kaede scanning the sky, an arrow across her bow. He jumped to her side. "They're gone, old woman."

She smiled at him, looking a bit tired herself, although not as much as Miroku. Her quiver was almost empty, and Inuyasha knew that, while she had arrived later than the others, had easily joined their attack pattern, accounting for at least seven or eight youkai with individual shots.

"So they are," she said. Her eye flicked to the shredded sleeve of his left arm. "Scratches, of course," she added drily.

"Keh!"

She studied him. "And your ears?"

"Eh?" Belatedly, Inuyasha realized that his ears were still plastered to his skull. "Oh." Reaching up, he began to rub around their bases. "Those voices hurt."

"I thought they probably did, given the way the dogs were howling." Her expression was sympathetic. "There'll be several people brewing willow bark tea, no doubt."

"Feh. I'll be fine."

"Of course." Kaede released the tension on her bow, and returned the arrow to the nearly-empty quiver. She sighed. "I'd best be off, to see whether anyone's been hurt."

"One of the men was pretty badly torn up by a youkai before I got to them," said Inuyasha. "I think some of the others took him to safety, after I got him to the ground."

"That's good. I—"

"Inuyasha-sama! Kaede-sama!" Turning, they saw Rin running towards them, well ahead of other people starting to trickle out of the hurts. "Are you okay? Inuyasha-sama, you're bleeding!"

"Uh, yeah." Inuyasha gave her a somewhat wary look, uncertain how she would react, if he gave his usual response. Last night's meeting with Sesshomaru had ended well, but Inuyasha still didn't want any more fists to the jaw, just because he hadn't figured out how to avoid hurting Rin's feelings. "I'll be fine."

Kaede smiled reassuringly. "Inuyasha heals quickly, Rin-chan—what you see truly is a minor injury, for him. Remember what you told me that Sesshomaru-sama said about him?"

Inuyasha's tried not to let his ears re-flatten.

"Sesshomaru-sama told me that his brother was half, that he and Inuyasha had the same father, but different mothers. And Inuyasha isn't as strong, but he is still really strong, especially with Tessaiga to help, and that he would be able to protect me, too."

Inuyasha blinked. Sesshomaru actually admitting that he trusted Inuyasha for anything?

Rin turned big, worried and hopeful eyes on Inuyasha. "Does your arm hurt? Do you want me to clean it up for you? I watched Kaede last week when she fixed Junichi's leg—she said I could learn healing, if I wanted to. I tried to help Sesshomaru when he was hurt, but all I could think of was to bring water or food, and he didn't want to touch it."

Inuyasha blinked again. Rin had tried to help Sesshomaru? He realized then, that he didn't know how the two had come together.

"Okay, you can help me clean up," he said. "But, you have to tell me how and why you were trying to help Sesshomaru. Deal?"

She gave him a grin and jiggled on her toes. "Deal!"

Author's Note: This piece was written for prompt #300 of the Inuyasha FanFiction Contest community on LiveJournal. (The prompt was a 3-part image, featuring Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango.) It was originally posted on October 2, 2012. It won the contest. (1/15/2013)