Ch. 95- To the Rescue

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Miroku lied completely still, seeming unaware of the danger that he was in. Mushin, under the influence of something more sinister than alcohol, chuckled in a devious manner as he held up the butcher's knife.

"To think," he muttered, "I would be able to take Miroku's head, so easily..."

With that, he swung down, the blade connecting as blood sprayed in the air. However, as Mushin looked up, he saw that Miroku had somehow managed to rouse himself and roll out of the way...not completely unscathed, though, for his left shoulder was dripping with blood, staining his white robes red.

"Oho," Mushin mused. "You're still awake, are you?"

"Who...who are you?!" Miroku asked with a raspy breath.

"What do you mean?" asked Mushin. "I'm Master Mushin, the man who raised you..."

Miroku was no fool. Mushin may have been a drunkard, but even he wouldn't act like this. No, he could see clearly that something wasn't right. As Mushin attempted to approach him, Miroku saw these white, worm-like things, slipping in out of his mouth.

'He's been possessed...!' he thought as he stumbled back toward the door while Mushin advanced. Suddenly, the monk began to realize that perhaps he should have told the others where he was going, after all...but it was far too late for that, now.

"You shouldn't be able to move, anymore," said Mushin as he raised the knife. "Your body will soon be paralyzed by the medicinal herbs."

As soon as he said this, Miroku's vision blurred a bit and he could feel his body growing even heavier. He was right. The painkillers were beginning to finally take effect. As Miroku slumped on the floor, struggling to stand, Mushin chuckled in a sinister tone as he raised the knife over his head.

"Rest in peace!" he shouted as he swung down, but miraculously, Miroku managed to roll out of the way, causing the possessed to hit the door behind him. As Miroku tumbled, the door fell off its frame and ended up falling right on top of Hachi, who was holding Miroku's staff. The raccoon dog cried out in surprise more than pain before he looked up at the monk, who grunted as he tried to sit up.

"M-Master Miroku?!" Hachi asked. "What's going on?!"

"Hachi...!" Miroku groaned. "Quickly, my staff!"

Deciding it was best not to ask questions, Hachi quickly handed Miroku his staff, which he used to block Mushin's knife, again. Hachi gasped as he looked down at his master's wounded shoulder, then looked back at Mushin, who growled as he tried to push Miroku back. It didn't seem to take him very long to realize what was happening here.

With a scream, Hachi took out several leaves from his vest and tossed them to the floor, causing them to explode in a cloud of smoke. Mushin coughed as he covered his mouth with his sleeve, but as the smoke dissipated, he saw that Miroku and Hachi had both mysteriously vanished. However, this didn't seem to discourage him, for Mushin simply smirked.

"You can run, but you can't hide," he hissed, the worm-like creatures slithering out of his mouth.

XXX

Hachi panted as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him while he held Miroku piggyback style.

"Nice work back there, Hachi," Miroku said.

"Well, of course!" Hachi exclaimed. "If there's one thing we raccoon dogs know how to do, it's escape!"

At that moment, Miroku, weak as he was, noticed something out of his peripherals.

"...Although," he said, "I think it's best if you saved yourself."

"What?!" Hachi questioned. "I won't just abandon you, Master!"

"Hachi, look closely," Miroku told him, causing the raccoon dog to look up, only to gasp in horror as he saw a huge horde of demons all around!

"W-where did they come from?!" the raccoon dog cried.

"We're surrounded," Miroku said. "If you stay here with me, you'll end up getting killed."

"Uh...I guess you have a point there," Hachi admitted, nervously.

"Just go, Hachi," Miroku advised. "Hurry...I can hide by myself once the medicine wears off."

"But...where should I take you?" asked Hachi.

"...My Father's grave," Miroku answered. "Hurry, now!"

Hachi nodded before he took Miroku to the very place that he instructed. Once he was there, Hachi gently dropped him against the grave marker.

"Go," Miroku said. "If you're caught here, you'll be doomed. I'll be fine on my own."

"O-of course," Hachi replied before he soon transformed and flew off into the sky. As he left, he glanced back at Miroku, worriedly.

'I know he said he'd be fine,' he thought, 'but there's no way Master Miroku will survive this by himself!' He then looked forward, determinedly. 'I know! I have to find him...Inuyasha!'

Suddenly, as Hachi flew through the air, he heard an ominous buzzing sound behind him, causing him to glance back, only to gasp as he a huge swarm of saimyosho, and they were headed right for him!

"Oh, no!" Hachi cried. "S-stay back!"

Too late. The insects soon clung to Hachi and started to sting him all over, causing him to yowl in pain as he flew as fast as he could, trying to shake them off.

XXXX

"Come on, Inuyasha, hurry!"

"I'm TRYING, Kagome! Dammit, you try looking for Miroku's scent when it's pretty much faded!"

Inuyasha stood up after sniffing the ground for who knows how long. So far, the group had no luck in finding a clue as to where Miroku might have gone, and with night falling so fast, it was going to be even harder to find him.

"I don't understand one thing," Sango said while Kirara sat on her shoulder. "Why would Naraku want to keep us away from the monk? What's his connection to him, anyway?"

"Well, you know the Wind Tunnel, right?" asked Kagome.

"The power in the monk's right hand?" asked Sango.

"Right, except it's not a power," Kagome clarified. "It's actually a curse that Naraku put on Miroku's family, starting with his grandfather."

"Yeah," Shippo added, "and as time goes on, the Wind Tunnel gets bigger and bigger!"

"And eventually," Kagome said, sadly, "it'll swallow Miroku up."

Sango gasped silently at this. "Are you saying that...he'll die?"

"Yes," Kagome answered as she cast her eyes to the ground.

"...I see," Sango said. "I didn't realize..."

'And to think...I also treated him, horribly...'

"What I don't understand is why Miroku would just up and disappear on us," Kagome spoke. "I mean...we've traveled together for so long. I thought we knew him, by now."

"Does this mean...we'll never see Miroku, again?" asked Shippo, tearfully.

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed. "We sure learned this much: the guy didn't trust us at all!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome chided. "How could you say something like that?! After all, Naraku's involved! Miroku could be in serious danger!"

"Even if that's true," Inuyasha began, "where the hell should we look?!"

Kagome opened her mouth to argue, but she was soon interrupted by a scream coming from somewhere up above, causing her to look up and gasp as she saw Hachi flying past the moon...with the saimyosho still chasing him!

"HELP ME~!" he cried.

"It's Miroku's raccoon dog friend!" Kagome exclaimed.

"And he's being chased by Naraku's poisonous wasps!" Sango pointed out.

"GAH!" Hachi screamed as he returned to his normal form in a puff of smoke and found himself falling toward the ground, bouncing several times before he finally stopped. The saimyosho closed in, preparing to deliver more painful stings, but then, Inuyasha stood in front of the swarm and drew the Tetsusaiga. The moment he did, though, the swarm immediately backed off as if knowing what harm the blade would do to them. Instead, they chose to hover from a safe distance.

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed. "For a bunch of bugs, they sure are cowardly! Then again, what do I expect from Naraku?"

"Hachi!" Kagome cried as she ran over to the raccoon dog and helped him. "Are you okay?!"

"L-Lady Kagome," Hachi said. "Thank goodness I found you and the others."

"Shippo, get me my first aid kit!" Kagome called. "It's in my backpack!"

"Got it!" Shippo answered as he brought the white plastic box. "Here you go, Kagome."

Soon, Kagome got to work on adding some ointment to Hachi's stings and putting bandages on them. During that time, Hachi began to explain in full detail why Miroku had left, even adding the part with his encounter with the mantis demon from yesterday.

"So...Miroku was telling the truth," Kagome said, worriedly. "I can't believe we doubted him!"

"With his Wind Tunnel sliced," Hachi began, "Master Miroku went to go and get it mended...so he can't use it, right now."

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked.

"Master Miroku's master, right before he turned strange," Hachi explained, "told him that if he should attempt to use the Wind Tunnel now, it would widen from the mouth of the wound...and his already shortened lifespan will be cut even shorter!"

Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo gasped before they all glanced at each other, the latter two clearly worried...and even if his face didn't show it, the former was worried, as well.

"It looks like time is of the essence," said Sango as she came out from behind a hut, wearing her demon slayer armor while Kirara stood at her side. "Let's hurry and save Miroku!"

"Sango...!" Kagome whispered in surprise.

"Good," Inuyasha said. "Let's get moving, then!"

With that, they all climbed onto a transformed Hachi's back and flew off to the temple. As they did, Sango couldn't help noticing the saimyosho following after them.

"Inuyasha," Sango said.

"Yeah, I know," Inuyasha replied. "Those damn pests are tailing us."

"But why?" Sango asked. "It doesn't look like they're trying to attack."

"You're right, they're not," Inuyasha replied. "They're spying on us."

XXX

Back at Mushin's temple...the whole place was swarming with demons, all of them growling as they looked around for Miroku...among them being two giant mantis demons.

"Where is he?!" shrieked one of them. "We will avenge our older sister's death!"

"I shall eat his liver!" declared another one.

What the demons didn't seem to realize was that Miroku was actually right in front of them...except that they couldn't see him. Why? Because he was sitting right in front of his father's grave marker...his hands folded together in prayer, having placed a barrier around himself similar to the one he and Kaede used to hide Inuyasha from Rōyakan. However, it seemed that the monk was struggling to stay still.

'Damn...the herbs are still flowing through my veins,' he thought. 'How long will I be able to hold up this barrier?'

"Where are you, monk?!" questioned one of the mantis demon sisters. "Show yourself!"

'...So those two mantis demons are sisters to the one that cut my Wind Tunnel,' Miroku thought. 'I see...this was all a trap from the start.' He sighed as he closed his eyes in resignation. 'I suppose...this is where I die.'

XXX

'There's no way that hardheaded monk is going to die so easily!' thought Inuyasha as he and the others rode on top of Hachi's back, heading toward Mushin's temple. At that moment, they could see the roof of their destination through the treetops.

"Is that it?!" Sango asked.

"Looks...like kinda disheveled, doesn't it?" asked Kagome.

Just then, a whole covey of demons came leaping out at the group, causing Shippo and Hachi to scream in terror.

"Just keep going!" Inuyasha shouted as he drew the Tetsusaiga once again. "We don't have a second to lose!"

"R-right!" Hachi cried as he continued to fly straight into the horde while Inuyasha slashed through them with his blade.

"Get out of our way!" Inuyasha yelled as he kept hacking and slashing, but more just kept flying at them. That's when Kirara, who had grown to her larger form, jumped off of Hachi's back while carrying Sango.

"Leave them to me, Inuyasha!" Sango called. "You hurry and find Miroku!"

"You sure about that?!" asked Inuyasha.

"Trust me! I have trained my whole life for this!" Sango answered before she threw the Hiraikotsu, mowing down the demons in seconds flat!

'I won't fail,' thought Sango...who felt a small phantom pain in her back as she remembered the night her father, brother, and comrades were slaughtered. 'Not this time!'

"All right then!" Inuyasha called. "We'll leave it to you!"

"Be careful, Sango!" Kagome added as she and Inuyasha flew off to find Miroku.

XXX

Miroku panted as he tried to keep himself awake, but alas, it seemed that the herbs that Mushin used were more powerful than he realized. Though he tried not to, he stumbled as he ended up tottering to the side, forced to use his left hand to keep himself upright. However, in doing so, the barrier vanished, revealing himself to the demons.

"There you are!" shouted one of the mantis demons.

"Thought you could hide from us, did you, monk?!" asked her sister.

Miroku sighed as he closed his eyes in resignation. It seemed that this was it: his final chapter. As he waited for the demons to rip him apart...all he could think about was his father and grandfather...and how he had failed to find and destroy the demon that cursed him and his family.

'Well...at least Inuyasha and the others aren't here to see me die...'

Just then...Miroku heard the strangled cries from the demons, causing him to open his eyes and gasp in disbelief. All around him, the demons lied on the ground, their bodies rent to shreds...and standing in the middle of it all was Inuyasha, holding his mighty blade.

"Well, Miroku," Inuyasha mused. "You picked a fine spot to take a rest, didn't you?"

"I...Inuyasha...?!" Miroku whispered in surprise.

This took a little longer than I thought, but I got it done!

Review, please!