A/N: Let's see if Kagome gets to Hojo before he gets hurt...
Beta; Cstorm86
The Miko Finds The Boy
Kagome gasped when she heard Hojo's voice.
"A woman?" she asked and looked to the shrine guardian glaring at her. She could hear a faint feminine voice somewhere in the background of Hojo's side. She was asking about something.
"Keep him talking to you," Inuyasha growled and tugged Kagome down the road at a brisk pace. She was thankful for his steadying grip on her hand as they hurried down the mountain road.
"Um... Yeah, Hojo, what a surprise... What made you come here so suddenly?" Kagome tried to sound natural, but it was quite a challenge. "I'm on my way to get you right now."
"Oh... Well, you know, the girls told me they already visited you, so I thought I'd surprise you," Hojo sounded confused, but easily switched to his usual tendency to talk a lot. "So I came here today, but I kinda got sidetracked. I met a nice family who told me a lot of supernatural stories about all kinds of youkai living in the forest. I didn't know that people still believe in folklore beings."
"And he didn't think it's because they're real," Inuyasha grumbled. "Stupid human."
"Well, people here are more traditional, I guess," Kagome ignored Inuyasha's remark. "So, what happened next?"
"I went up the road the nice people showed me and... Wow, Kagome, this forest is thick! It must be a great place for walks, I mean during the day. But you must be careful, I saw a bunch of blue fires in the distance. You know, the gas might be coming up from the ground... Is the mountain a volcano? I bet it is, most mountains here are, but from the look of it, this one is dormant... I mean maybe not so dormant, since the gas is leaking... I'm sorry, lady, I'm talking to a friend right now... Anyway, you sure it's safe living in this area?" Hojo's voice was distracted as he addressed someone else for a moment, easily switching back to his previous subject. "Anyway, then I got some chills going down my spine, is the mountain snow not melted during the summer? Maybe there's some left in a deep ditch or somewhere?""
"I... I'm not sure, Hojo," Kagome managed to mutter back between his lines. Inuyasha let go of her hand and pointed towards something. They just cleared a road bend and had a long stretch of straight path in front of them. "Oh, I see your flashlight!" she announced with relief, starting to move faster. At Hojo's next words, Inuyasha glanced her way before he ran ahead, leaving her to follow at her own pace.
"I see yours too!" Hojo replied cheerfully when she waved her flashlight over her head. "Anyway, this lady is still following me and she is a bit creepy," he added in a hushed voice, as if trying to make sure only Kagome heard him. "She wears a mask, so I think she might be sick. And she just asks me if she's pretty all the time. I know it sounds silly, but I feel kinda odd, as if something bad was going to happen. You know, it's like after you watch a horror movie and you feel observed and pursued by something lurking in the dark, while it's just your imagination? Yeah, this one. I mean I guess it's because I listened to all those youkai stories, because I feel this way ever since I entered the forest, but now it's kinda overwhelming..."
Kagome didn't respond. She was close enough to see more than just Hojo's flashlight. She saw the dark silhouette of her friend and beside him a tall presence that made the moonless night darkness pale in comparison. And in the center of it stood a woman, her hair flowing down to her knees, her kimono dragging after her as she stepped in the beam of Hojo's light.
"Am I beautiful?" Kagome heard a sweet voice through her phone.
"Yeah, sure, you're pretty, lady. Now... My friend's coming to get me, so... Oh, goodness!" Hojo gasped in shock and trepidation. Kagome's heart jumped to her throat when she heard that and the hateful laughter that followed.
"You lie! And you'll look like me now!" the woman lifted her hand, something similar to huge scissors catching the light.
"Hojo, no!" Kagome screamed. At the same time the boy stumbled back, his flashlight dropped to the ground. A shadow passed in front of it, tackling the woman to the ground and rolling almost entirely out of the light.
Kagome reached her old friend, sitting on the road, pale and motionless as he stared at the other side of the road. Kagome looked there, her attention drawn by growling and hissing.
It was Inuyasha, kneeling on top of the woman. A white mask was hanging around her neck, revealing her mauled face. Her mouth was cut on both sides, blood dripping from partially healed wounds, her teeth glimmering in the light. Her eyes were perfectly black and full of malice as she struggled with Inuyasha, trying to kick him off of herself.
"Let me go!" a high-pitched, inhuman voice shrieked as the woman fought to get free.
"What..." Hojo whispered, but no one paid him any attention.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome was unsure what she was supposed to do now.
"Stay back!" the hanyou barked and put a knee over the woman's arm, freeing his hand, so he could plaster one of his ofudas against her face. A terrible wail cut the air and a putrid stench of fried meat spread as the paper burst into flames. The woman doubled her efforts, cursing and promising painful death to the man over her, but Inuyasha just punched her a couple of times before he put the other paper against her head.
"What is he doing to her!?" Hojo exclaimed, his hands covering his ears when another piercing wail cut the air.
"Don't move, Hojo," Kagome demanded and squeezed yet another talisman in her hands, focusing her reiki in it. Then she leaped towards the pair.
During the struggle, the youkai woman managed to free her right hand and deal a blow to the side of Inuyasha's head, her fist reinforced with the scissors handle. Inuyasha grunted and wobbled on top of her, trying to keep her pinned down, but it was obvious her punches were more effective. Soon she freed her other hand and sneaked it between them, her long, thin claws digging in the boy's chest before she pushed him off of herself.
With a painful curse Inuyasha rolled off of her, his white kosode stained dark where her hand had rested, He rolled away when her scissors swept at him.
"Don't fight, boy!" the woman followed on her hands and knees, moving just a bit not like a human being should. Stinking smoke rode from between the strands of her hair, that covered her face now, her eyes glowing as they reflected the flashlight lying on the ground. "I'll cut you first, then do the others!"
"Damn you, bitch!" Inuyasha yelled as the youkai leaped on top of his legs, keeping him in place. He tried to block her, but Kagome didn't wait to see what would happen. Without thinking too much she grabbed a handful of the woman's hair and pulled with all her might, trying to drag her off of Inuyasha.
"You wretch!" the youkai screamed and swung her scissors at Kagome. The miko yelped and tried to cover herself with her arm. She felt the hit that made her stumble back, but there was no pain afterwards. Instead she heard a noise of metal pieces falling to the ground.
When she opened her eyes she saw the woman staring at the scissors, the thin, sharp blades no longer crowning them.
Inuyasha pushed the stunned youkai off of himself and kicked her for the good measure before he leaped towards Kagome and ripped the ofuda out of her hand while shoving her away. Armed with a new talisman he pressed it against the youkai's chest, pushing her to the ground.
"Damn you, human!" the youkai howled, her limbs flailing, as she tried to get away from the burning light that rose from the spot where the ofuda was held against her sternum. Inuyasha got a few more scratches on his arm and torso, but he pushed away most of the attacks. A cloud of smoke rose from the woman's chest, enveloping them two. The boy cursed and the woman screamed for a moment before the area was quiet again, a cool breeze blowing the smoke away.
"Inuyasha...?" Kagome whispered. Something moved in the smoke and a head of dark hair came visible. Inuyasha looked back at her and shook his head.
"Don't come closer," he warned her and crawled out of the smoke on his hands and legs. Now Kagome glanced behind him and saw a pile of burned clothes, but no body. There was no youki lingering around too, so she guessed that the woman was purified. She moved to kneel beside Inuyasha, when a sudden cry stopped her from checking up on the wounds that she knew were under those dark spots on Inuyasha's kosode. The shrine guardian didn't move after escaping the smoke, just stayed motionless with his head low, breathing heavily after the struggle. The final struggle took just a minute or two, but she was sure fighting a youkai in his human form wasn't exactly a walk through a park.
"What... What was that?!" the miko glanced back to see Hojo, still sitting on the ground, staring between the pile of still smoking clothes and them. His face was pale, his eyes wide with fright and confusion, his body trembling. Kagome felt sorry for him, at least her introduction to the supernatural world had been gentler. "You... and him... and that woman... is she...?"
"Listen, Hojo..." Kagome shifted where she stood. "I'll explain everything to you, I promise.:
A shaking finger pointed at the smoke and the clothes. "She...?"
"It was a Kuchisake onna," Inuyasha panted out. "Dontcha know you ain't supposed to answer them? Ignore or say you don't have time and get your ass away, Don't you know any shit?"
That explanation was followed by a fit of coughing that pushed him to the ground. With a gasp Kagome knelt beside the boy and rolled him on his back. The youkai's claws left gashes on his body, bleeding and visible though the rips in his kosode. He was panting heavily, squeezing his eyes shut, a wince of pain on his face.
"Stupid... weak... humans..."
"Okay, we'll explain everything to you, Hojo, but I need to patch Inuyasha up first," she declared and grabbed the sleeve of Inuyasha's shirt and after some struggling, managed to tear it along the already existing rip. She wrapped it around the first of the wounds, one on his shoulder. "Can you help me?"
"Oh... Yes, of course," Hojo seemed to jump at the chance to focus on something else. Together they wrapped most of Inuyasha's wounds to keep him from bleeding out, but Kagome was still worried about him.
"Should we call an ambulance?" Hojo asked, looking at the man lying between them, his torso wrapped in pieces of his kosode that already seemed to soak trough in a few spots.
"No!" Inuyasha barked before Kagome could decide. His voice was pained, but determined. She wished that they could follow Hojo's plan and get Inuyasha into a hospital, but explaining how he got the claw marks all over him and, at dawn, how he healed, would probably be more troublesome than a home treatment."I'll live. I just have to stay alive till dawn. Now. you two... You go to the shrine."
"What? I'm not leaving you here!" Kagome glared down at those dark eyes focused on her. He scowled. She didn't want to admit it, but she was afraid to not have him at her side on the way back. The logical part of her knew he was too injured to fight and probably knew what he was doing, but she couldn't leave him behind. She had this feeling deep in her gut that if she did he wouldn't come back.
"You go. Just... Go. I'll rest and follow"
"We'll take you with us or we stay here till dawn," she declared, gripping his hand. He shook his head. "Inuyasha..." she started firmly.
"Not gonna work tonight, wench," he chuckled dryly and glanced to the other male. "Hoho."
"Hojo," Hojo corrected reflexively and looked between them. Kagome was leaning over the handsome stranger, fixing a bandage that was tied too loosely. He could read in her expression, her brows frowning, her lower lip between her teeth, it was easy to see how worried she was. He noticed a hint of affection there too and it made him happy that his friend found someone for herself. He made an internal note to ask this boy for his birth date, so he could make a horoscope and see if their relationship would work. The man, now looking at him, looked fit and reasonably handsome, but his long hair was a bit weird. And he'd fought that terrible... being.. that got burned away by what looked like white talismans. In his eyes and face Hojo saw pain, but also urgency.
"Whatever. Take her to the shrine. Make sure she gets there. You fail and I come back as an inugami and bite you for the rest of your life," the man Kagome called Inuyasha declared. Hojo paled and Kagome wondered if he believed this threat.
She didn't dwell on it long, she poked Inuyasha's uninjured arm.
"You're not staying behind, dog-boy. Accept it and we will not be wasting time, instead we'll be going back to the shrine," she pulled his hand. "Come on, can't you stand up? The cuts aren't that deep, aren't they?"
She ignored the fact that her voice was shaking. Over her short time as a miko she grew to rely on Inuyasha, she felt safe with this strong man, with his seemingly vast knowledge about all and every things and beings in front of her. It had been him who gave her directions and warnings. Seeing him weak, injured and in pain was... unsettling. Seeing him like this away from the shelter of the shrine's barrier, knowing that there were probably more youkai as dangerous as the one that had been following Hojo... It was scary.
One glance at Hojo told her that he wouldn't be much help when it came to battling youkai. She had a handful of ofudas, but she was still new to all this. Inuyasha was her anchor, her guide, her guardian.
And she brought him there, when he was weak, to fight a youkai anyway.
"Did you have to ignore the warnings of the locals?" she grumbled at her friend. Hojo glanced up at her, then back at Inuyasha.
"I..." the boy started. The hand in Kagome's hands flexed and Inuyasha sat up slowly.
"Have it your way, wench," he growled, gritting his teeth. "We're all going back. But if I slow you down you will leave me and go back to the shrine You can't stay in the forest when I can't protect you," he said.
"Deal," she felt relief when she saw her friend struggle to his feet and without thinking she found her way under his shoulder to support him. He scoffed and tried to move away, but she held onto him. "Hojo, can you pick up your flashlight? We're going home."
She felt reassured when Hojo grabbed his bag and flashlight without a word. Inuyasha starting walking made her smile. His wounds weren't that serious, he was her invincible shrine guardian. They were going to go back to the shrine, have hot tea and vanilla cookies.
They were walking at a rather brisk pace, Inuyasha leaning a bit on her, Hojo walking beside, his eyes wide and dazed. No one talked.
Then she heard a voice.
A feminine voice, sharp and angry.
'Inuyasha, you can't pray as a hanyou. You need to wait until you transform to your human form, so you don't insult the kami with your impure blood.'
She frowned at the voice and felt the arm she held over her shoulders shake a bit.