As Manami and the Elric brothers walked with Inuyasha and Kagome down a long dirt road towards the village, Al looked to Kagome.
"Excuse me, but you said something about 'being from the future.' What's that about?"
"Oh well…" Kagome smiled nervously. "I guess you can all tell I'm not from here. I often travel from my time through the Bone-Eaters well…"
"Wait, so you're a time traveler?" Ed asked, incredulously.
"Well... Kinda?" Kagome smiled sheepishly. "I can just go back and forth from here to home though."
"Time travel… that's amazing!" Al said, sounding excited.
"Why are you telling everything to people you just met?" Inuyasha asked, annoyance in his tone. "You shouldn't be blabbering about that, you know."
"I'm just making conversation…" Kagome muttered.
"What year is it in your time?" Manami asked. "Compared to what year it is here?"
"Well…" Kagome looked up in thought. "We're in the Feudal Era, so it's somewhere in the 1500's... and my time is the year 2000."
Manami smiled a little. "Wow… awesome!"
"Wait, what year is it here?" Inuyasha snapped his head to look at Manami. "Don't you know how to tell dates where you're from?"
"Ah..!" Manami's eyes widened, realizing her mistake too late.
"U-Uh!" Al stammered. "Manami's forgetful! Really forgetful!"
"Yeah! Ahahahaha...ah…" Ed's nervous laughter faded, and he looked to Kagome to change the subject.
"Still, not sure why you'd wanna come here. I mean, it's crawling with yokai, wild animals, and who knows what... plus, I'm sure you really miss the conveniences of home, such as being able to take a bath. What could you possibly keep coming here for—"
He stopped mid-sentence, glancing between her and Inuyasha.
"..."
"Are you two dating?"
"E-EH!?" Kagome squealed, both her and Inuyasha's faces burning scarlet. "Well... you see, um…"
"Heck no!" Inuyasha barked. "Like I could ever want to be with some mangy, frail, shrill, annoying, obnoxious huma—"
"SIT BOY!"
BOOM! Inuyasha fell face first into the ground. Manami caught sight of his necklace seemingly pulling him down.
Was it some kind of spell?
"As I was saying…" Kagome huffed. "It's because I kind of have a debt to pay off. You see, a long time ago, I accidentally shattered something known as the Sacred Jewel into fragments... and it's been my job to find them because well, I have the power to see and locate them. Buuuut it's taking awhile…"
"Sacred Jewel?" Al tilted his head.
"That's enough, Kagome…" Inuyasha growled, now standing up. "We got enough demons looking for those jewel shards, we don't need these guys trying to snag them too."
Inuyasha's eyes moved to glare at Manami, who shrunk a little in intimidation.
"So…" She quickly went to change the subject. "Other than the creatures, you haven't seen anything else out of the ordinary?"
"Other than you three... nope." Inuyasha replied.
"... I see…" Manami resisted the urge to sigh.
It felt like no matter what she did or said, this guy wouldn't trust them.
"What should we do..?"
Before she could think any more, they reached the top of the hill, and they stopped to overlook the whole village.
"Wow..!" Manami gasped, taking in the sight. There weren't any cars, sidewalks, roads, or anything…
"It's like stepping into something from a book or a painting…" Al said.
"..?" Inuyasha suddenly lifted his head to sniff the air.
"... IT'S AN AMBUSH!"
"What?!" Manami quickly turned to see several heartless appear around them. There were 3 shadows, 2 Kitsunes, and 2 Tanuki.
Kagome gasped as Inuyasha pulled his giant sword out of his little sheath. "S-So close to the village?!"
"We can't let them get in!" Manami summoned her Keyblade and stood in a battle-ready stance.
The shadows attacked first, attempting to headbutt and slash at them with their claws. The Tanuki spread out around them, bouncing around on their round bodies, while the Kitsunes floated in the air, shooting blue flames at them.
Inuyasha wasted no time, slashing at one of the Tanuki, but it simply bounced over him and avoided the attack. Before it could get away, Al threw his lance like a javelin and managed to hit it.
"Manami, I'm gonna make an opening for you to attack!" Ed called. "Ready?"
Manami nodded firmly and braced herself. "Ready!"
Ed clapped his hands, transmuting a wall that exploded into a blast of stones, pelting the Kitsune heartless and making them flinch.
"Now!"
Manami charged, wailing on them all with slash combos, before finishing with a fireball that exploded in their faces.
They suddenly disappeared, and for a moment, Manami thought she defeated them… but she quickly turned and saw that they merely teleported a safe distance away from her. Ed followed up by transmuting sharp icicles and shot them, managing to land a few more hits.
Meanwhile, the Tanuki heartless were still bouncing around, knocking Al around with their tails.
"Ugh, get away!" Al managed to bat them away, but they only bounced out of range of his lance and threw leaves, like throwing knives. Before they could hit, Inuyasha stepped in front of Al and readied his sword.
"WIND SCAR!" He slammed down his sword and unleashed a powerful blast of energy that plowed the ground in front of him. The shadow heartless were caught in the fray, immediately destroyed, but the Tanuki heartless teleported before they could get hit.
"?!" Both Inuyasha and Al looked behind them to see that the Tanuki heartless had teleported behind them, and were both hit by their tails and knocked to the ground.
"!" Manami raised her Keyblade to the sky. "THUNDER!"
Lightning bolts struck from the sky, managing to hit all of the heartless and destroy one of the Kitsunes, while stunning the rest. Ed took this opportunity to transmute stone fists that rose from the ground and knocked the remaining heartless away, so that Al and Inuyasha could get up.
Before Manami could ask if they were alright, The other Kitsune heartless attacked her, pelting her with a ball of flame.
Kagome raised her bow and shot an arrow at the Kitsune heartless, but it disappeared before it could land.
"What?!" Kagome gasped as the Kitsune heartless suddenly appeared right in front of her. She held her bow up as the Kitsune shot a fireball, and set it aflame. Kagome was quick to drop her burning bow, now defenseless as the Kitsune heartless went to whip her with its tail.
She closed her eyes and braced herself, before… WHACK!
Kagome opened her eyes to see Manami had gotten in front of her in the nick of time, blocking the Kitsune heartless's tail with her Keyblade.
"KAGOME!" Inuyasha cried from several feet away.
"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Kagome assured him. "Just focus on finishing these things off!"
Just as she said that, Al thrusted his lance into the ground so hard, he created a miniature shock wave, stunning one of the Tanuki. He quickly stabbed it and finished it off, while the other bounced away.
Manami took aim at the remaining Kitsune heartless that was floating around, casting Blizzard to freeze it and make it fall to the ground. Inuyasha quickly followed up, slashing the creature in two. At that same moment, Ed had transmuted stone spikes that chased the last Tanuki heartless, and finally managed to impale it and destroy it.
All of the heartless were defeated. Manami took a moment to catch her breath, while Inuyasha rushed to Kagome.
Aside from a little bit of ash from the burned bow on her dress and hands, she was unharmed. Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry, I'm fine! Really! Manami was able to jump in just in time." She assured him, looking down to what used to be her bow on the ground.
"Buuuuuuut... I will need a new bow though…"
"Well, I'm sure we can get one in the village." Inuyasha followed her glance to the pile of ash, then looked to Manami and the Elric brothers.
"... thanks." He seemed reluctant to say it.
"Hm?" Al blinked. "Oh, for helping you out? You're welcome!"
"Not that!" Inuyasha sighed heavily. "I can handle those things in my sleep! I only said that 'cause she kept Kagome from getting hurt."
"Thank you, Manami." Kagome smiled warmly at the Keyblade wielder, making her smile back at them.
"No problem at all…" She turned to look to the village. "We should hurry, before more show up."
The group made their way to the village, and to their relief they found that there was a marketplace. Inuyasha went with Kagome to a weapons merchant to get a new bow, leaving Manami and the Elric brothers alone for a moment.
They looked around, noting that nothing that was sold here would be necessarily useful on their journey… but Al was the first to notice one particular stand.
"Hey, isn't that…" He pointed. "It's that cow from before!"
Manami and Ed looked over and saw Arakawa. Manami smiled at the sight of her as she led the Elric brothers to approach her stand. They immediately saw that what she had to sale could be of good use to them. New items, accessories, and weapons...
Below, there was a sign that read, "All proceeds go to a dairy farm."
"I don't like it." Ed muttered. "Cows make Milk. Can't trust them."
"But we can use some of this stuff!" Al looked down to Ed. "At least whatever we can afford. Huh, it also says she saves progress too... what's that mean?"
[Do you wish to save?]
"Better safe than sorry." Manami nodded.
Arakawa then pulled out a pen, and the trio watched as she began to draw. It looked like she was drawing manga panels, documenting the teams exploits up until that point. She drew at an amazingly rapid pace, finishing within a minute or two.
When she finished, Arakawa put away the drawings along with the pen and wiped her brow with a silent "phew."
"..." The trio stared at her in disbelief.
"How did she... How does she...?" Ed trailed off.
"I... don't think we should question it…" Al chuckled nervously.
"Heh, thank you, Arakawa!" Manami grinned, deciding to just roll with it.
The little cow nodded, before gesturing to the items she had for sale.
[For Sale:
Potions (Heals HP)
Ether (Recovers MP)
Arakawa Farms Milk (Boosts Defense temporarily, but ONLY for Manami)
Antique Pocket Watch (Accessory for Edward. Increases Magic slightly)
Kitten Plush (Accessory for Alphonse. Increases Defense slightly)
Blue Pineapple Charm (Accessory for Manami. Increases Attack and Magic slightly)
Elemental Gloves (Weapon for Edward. Increases Magic and Attack)
Knight Lance (Weapon for Alphonse. Increases Attack and Defense)]
Manami glanced in her wallet to check her funds before making her purchase.
[Purchase 3 Potions, 1 Ether, and the Blue Pineapple Charm]
Manami paid Arakawa and was handed the items. She put on her new charm, smiling at the sight of it.
The trio moved on, looking through the village as they walked. Everything and everyone seemed to be so... primitive. Occasionally, someone would approach them and either ask Al about his armor, ask Ed if he was a yokai, or ask Manami where she got her amazing clothes..
"If someone calls me an imp one more time... I swear…" Ed's eyebrow was twitching.
"People want to buy my armor... but I am the armor. It's weird…" Al complained.
"Where the hell did those two go?" Ed looked around. "This village is starting to get on my nerves!"
"Up here!"
The trio turned and looked up to see that Inuyasha was standing atop one of the roofs of the houses, carrying Kagome in a piggyback fashion.
"Sorry we took so long!" Kagome waved.
"You done yet?" Inuyasha asked. "We're gonna go to Kaede's place to ask her what to do next. I'll lead you there."
"Kaede?" Manami blinked, not recognizing the name.
"The village priestess." Kagome clarified. "She might have an idea where these creatures are coming from."
Manami looked back to the Elric brothers, silently asking them what they thought.
"I doubt she knows about the heartless, but she might have an idea of where the keyhole is…" Ed said. "Or at least know some kind of legend about it."
"Right." Manami nodded, looking back to Inuyasha and Kagome. "Lead the way!"
And so, the trio followed Inuyasha and Kagome to a little hut on the outskirts of the village. They stepped inside to find an elderly woman, dressed in a beautiful kimono.
"Lady Kaede, this is Manami, Ed, and Al." Kagome introduced them, pointing them out as she listed their names.
"Hmm…" Kaede looked at them, as if she were focusing on them. "I sense something about these three…"
"Something bad?" Inuyasha asked, suspicion in his tone.
"No…" Kaede shook her head. "Something... other-wordly. Not like man, beast, or demon…"
"UUUUUUUUUM…" Manami cleared her throat, visibly nervous.
"They came here to fight the new creatures that have appeared…" Kagome looked to Kaede. "They don't know where they're coming from, we were hoping you might have figured out something?"
"There have been stories about frequent attacks by strange demons in the mountain trail." Kaede explained. "I have no doubt it's these new creatures you speak of."
"The mountains? Strange…" Kagome looked up in thought. "I haven't detected any sacred jewel shards from that direction…"
"Well, we know that they're not demons, so it's possible that they're not after the jewel shards…" Inuyasha frowned. "Either that, or maybe they've figured out a way to hide them under our noses. Literally. I haven't even picked up the scent of Miroku, Sango, Shippo, or Kilala anywhere... so who knows what else they can hide."
"Well, that's why we're here," Al assured them. "Manami can definitely help!"
"So... you're familiar with these creatures?" Kaede looked to Manami.
"Not exactly…" Manami thought to herself, but still put on a smile that feigned confidence.
"Yeah." She lied. "I'm concerned about the fact that people are missing. You see, I'm looking for someone, too…" Her smile faded a little at the thought of Kai.
"I see… so, it's possible that you may find who you're looking for along with those we're looking for." Kaede said.
"Exactly." Manami nodded again. "So, I think working together to fight the heartless is our best bet."
"You know... you still haven't explained what these 'heartless' are." Inuyasha crossed his arms.
"Well…" Manami looked to the Elric brothers for assistance. She didn't know how to explain without telling too much...
"We don't know everything," Al started. "But we do know that they come in all shapes and sizes, and cause great damage if they're left unchecked. They're far more dangerous than Yokai, but we can get rid of them if we can figure out where they're coming from."
"If what you say is true, we better hope Naraku doesn't learn to harness their power for himself." Kagome thought aloud.
"Naraku..?" Manami tilted her head.
"Naraku... a man who allowed demons to devour his flesh, so that he himself could become a demon…" Kagome explained.
"And a coward, who would do anything to get the Sacred Jewel shards." Inuyasha added. "Knowing him, he'd likely want to exploit these heartless for his personal gain; anything it would take to boost his own power, he'll do it."
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news…" Ed frowned. "But if that's the case, that could be why your friends are missing. He could already be using these heartless to capture you, one by one. After all, power comes in numbers... so it makes sense that he's lessening that number for you."
"... he could even be trying to turn them into heartless, themselves…" Al added, as if he just realized that fact.
Manami looked up to Al with wide eyes, also not having thought of that fact until just now.
"What?!" Inuyasha gritted his teeth. "If he can do that, then what are we waiting for?! We have to get to the mountains as soon as possible!"
"Proceed with caution, Inuyasha…" Kaede warned. "If Naraku has found the source of these creatures first, he's likely awaiting your arrival to spring his plan into action…"
Kaede looked to Manami and the Elric brothers. "That goes for you three, as well."
"Well, the fact that you guys are here could definitely be a huge help! After all, Naraku doesn't know who you are, what you can do, or that you're even here!" Kagome paused "... at least I hope not."
"We need to prepare for the fact that we very well could be walking into a death trap." Ed shook his head. "If this Naraku guy is working with the heartless, it's very possible that they already notified him that we're here."
"So, we agree that waiting around is pointless!" Inuyasha said. "I say we charge in and fight our way through!"
"Inuyasha, planning isn't worthless!" Kagome argued.
"..." Manami had been silent, looking down to her feet and thinking to herself as the others talked.
"It's not, but..." She looked up at everyone. "I think the best plan is charging in."
Everyone looked to her in surprise.
"They may know we're here... but it's possible that they don't know everything we can do, yet." She continued. "The more time we give them to figure that out and report it to Naraku— or worse, capturing us one by one— the harder it'll be for us."
She sighed, looking like she wasn't happy with what she was about to say. "Ambushing when he's got the least amount of knowledge... it's risky, but... that's the gamble."
"But..." Al started to interject.
"Hate to say it, but I agree." Ed nodded, then looked up to Al.
"Look, if push comes to shove, all we can do is just guard Manami with our lives, so she can seal up the heartless for good."
"..." Manami's eyes narrowed a little.
"Protect me… with their lives?"
For whatever reason, those words got under her skin.
Ed continued speaking, not noticing the change in Manami's expression. "We'll charge in, but under no circumstances can we leave Manami alone!"
"Right…" Al nodded to his brother.
"I guess we have no choice…" Kagome sighed.
"..." Manami went to open her mouth to say something, but Kaede spoke first.
"This is worrisome, but I trust your judgement…" Kaede stepped forward. "All I can do is wish you the best of luck... while I am aware that Inuyasha knows his way, I suggest you take this…"
The old woman handed Manami a piece of rolled up parchment.
"What's this?" Manami asked, looking up from the paper in her hands.
"It's a map that was made by miners who frequently went to the mountains for resources. Even if Inuyasha knows the outside, he may not know the man made tunnels on the inside."
"Thank you very much, Miss Kaede…" Manami bowed her head respectfully, before looking back to the Elric brother, Inuyasha, and Kagome.
"... ready?"
"I've been ready!" Inuyasha seemed antsy to leave.
"Same here." Ed agreed.
"Yeah, I am too." Al nodded.
"In that case, let's go!" Kagome said.
(Meanwhile, in a dark shrine, surrounded by a fog of Miasma…)
"These creatures have assimilated with my being faster than I expected… I must say, it does feel like they're trying to burrow themselves into my heart."
"Can you blame them? They hunger for a heart as dark as yours. Shame as you've already separated yourself from it, but I suppose a man of your stature has no need for one."
Naraku looked up to Lust, who sat across from him, with her legs crossed.
"It seems... with this new power comes a new burden." He mused. "Those outsiders who have come to this world... they can take away my new power if I'm not cautious, can they not?"
A small smile curled on Lust's lips, as she flicked a strand of hair over her shoulder. "You're a big strong man, aren't you? I'm sure you can handle a few children."
"I am beyond a mere man." Naraku shook his head. "Especially now that I have these powers... and their friends— you say they, too, shall be under my control?"
"Of course. Once the process is complete and they're fully changed into heartless, they'll be puppets under your command." Lust assured him.
"Isn't the thought just so... sadistically invigorating? To know you'll have complete domination of all your former enemies, that they'll be nothing more than mere playthings... and you'll have whatever or whomever you wish."
"Heartless and demons... once they're all under my power, nothing will stop me from obtaining the sacred jewel shards." Naraku smirked to himself. "Who knows... corrupting them even further will just become all the easier."
After a moment, his smile faded. "Although... you mentioned playthings... how can I be sure that you don't see me as one, yourself?"
"It depends…" Lust's smirk grew bigger. "Would you like to be one of mine?"
"Hmph…" Naraku chuckled darkly. "Tempting, but I'll humbly reject. You know what I mean, outsider. Such power doesn't come without a price... and I doubt I was given this from the kindness of your heart."
He paused. "But... looking at you, I can immediately see that you lack one of those."
"Very observant…" Lust went to stand up. "But, if you don't trust me, you can always surrender that power and return it to me…"
Naraku frowned, saying nothing. Lust let out a chuckle.
"Of course, I doubt you'd be foolish enough to let it go." She turned to walk away. "I'll leave you be, then…"
Naraku watched as she created a dark portal with just the wave of her hand, and disappeared inside it.
He was certain that she had an ulterior motive…
He eventually dismissed the thought, convincing himself that he would deal with her later. For now, he knew that Inuyasha and the outsiders were on their way, and he had to make his next move…
"Perhaps I should send Kagura to pay them a visit… she could sample their power for me." He thought.
It would be foolish to make a move without knowing what I'm up against... especially if it's not from my world."
Author's Note:
Hi everyone! I hope you're all enjoying the fanfiction so far!
To make up for a slightly less word count than normal per chapter, I thought I'd update you guys on a few things:
1. Yes, this fanfiction finally has a cover image. It's about time, right? Well, it turns out that that cover image was my dream drawing for a while now, so I thought I'd humblebrag that there's a full-size version on my DeviantArt account under the same name (Bizcooitz)! There, you'll also find other things I've worked on, like character design and outfit concepts for both Manami and Kai. By all means, head over there and check those out to get a feel for what the kiddos look like! I will say, the outfit designs kind of spoil the future worlds that will be visited, so just keep that in mind.
2. You may have noticed that every now and then, there's some "prompts" that you would see in regular Kingdom Hearts games. If you didn't know already, my co-writer and I roleplay this story before I later convert it to fanfiction and post here. In our roleplay, we definitely have a much bigger "gaming" dynamic, that sometimes is difficult to translate to the fanfiction. For example, we "save the game" with our favorite cow friend Arakawa, earn experience and munni for every battle, have an item inventory, and make purchases such as the one in this chapter— but with an actual munni budget. I made the creative decision to keep some prompts, such as missions, saving, and purchases; while not including others. I understand that this can sometimes pull the reader out of the story, but I try to make it as understandable as possible, as if you readers were watching someone else play the game.
And, of course, thank you for reading!
