Warnings for this chapter: discussions of death, child-on-child violence/bullying, child endangerment
They had tried to be helpful to Kaede, to do something in exchange for commandeering her hut, her healing services, and her food yet again. But it didn't work. They were all ceaselessly exhausted, had been ever since they arrived some five days before. It had taken them almost two days just to get there, with Kirara unable to fly after her head wound took hold, and everyone utterly drained from the battle against Menomaru. Miroku had had to heavily bribe and lightly threaten Hachi for the tanuki to agree to take them to Kaede's. He'd been steadily eating through the village's winter food supply ever since. Inuyasha knew he needed to go hunt or something to make up for it, but he couldn't bring himself to wander that far from the hut.
He knew that the battle shouldn't have made a difference. His pack had faced down the odds before and been fine! But Menomaru had been undeniably different. He'd been their strongest opponent, the biggest threat they'd ever faced. And it wasn't just the damage that he'd done to all of them – they had all been put through their own personal hell. Everything that he'd done wrong, everything that he'd almost lost, and the helpless frustration of it all had kept him from sleeping for a few nights. The impacts of it had far from faded from his mind, and he knew he wasn't the only one who felt it.
Sango had been visibly on guard, keeping a close eye on all of them and never letting her weapons out of reach. Kirara had been even more insistent than usual with her demands for pets from them, working her way steadily through all of them in any given sitting. She rubbed against them constantly, marking them with her scent. Inuyasha had had to stop her from grooming him on several occasions. Shippo had also been more clingy than before. He spent most of his time on one of their laps, and though he was still eager to help, his enthusiastic ramblings had almost completely disappeared. And Miroku.
Miroku had been practically silent over the past few days. He'd spent most of the first two days at Kaede's asleep, utterly drained from overusing the wind tunnel again and again like the idiot he was. But more often than not, Inuyasha would catch his heartbeat racing, his brows furrowing, and his eyes would snap open. He would go rigid for a moment before calming, and go back to sleep. But it kept happening. And he didn't talk about it. The dark bruises under his eyes still hadn't faded, and his smile was held in place through sheer force of will. And Inuyasha didn't know what to do.
"I should be heading off now," Hachi said, popping one last piece of dried fish in his mouth. "Unless you need me for anything else?"
"No, thank you Hachi," Sango said from her place by the fire. "You've done plenty. We're still in your debt."
"Psh," the tanuki muttered, grinning. "What's a little life-or-death battle between friends? I'll be off, then."
"Bye, Hachi!" Shippo waved at him as he left the hut. They watched him transform through the doorway and float away. A few of the villagers stopped what they were doing to watch as well, but most paid him no mind. It was proof of how used the people here were to Inuyasha's extended pack that they didn't bat an eye when a giant yellow blob flew overhead, or a shrill little fox was found playing amongst their children.
"We should be leaving soon as well," Sango said quietly as she continued to sharpen Hiraikotsu. "There's no reason to stay."
"We agreed to stay until everyone's healed," Inuyasha grumbled, glancing around. But Sango's ribs had stopped bothering her most of the time, and Kirara was no longer dizzy when she walked. His own wound had healed before they even got to Kaede's, practically the moment he stopped landing on it and splitting it open again and again. The only one who might benefit from staying was Miroku, but he had no idea what would help his partner at this point.
Miroku had gone off with Kaede earlier that morning to tend to the shrine. Inuyasha knew that he'd been on edge since then, and he hadn't failed to notice the others being significantly quieter than normal. If it were up to him, they'd stay at Kaede's until the fear eased from everyone's minds, until they could let each other out of their sight without worrying. But sometimes, like didn't work that way. He'd just have to keep an eye on them and make sure they were doing as well as could be expected.
"Alright," Miroku said as he walked into the hut, a piece of paper in one hand and a small ink pot in the other. "We're making a list."
"Of what?" Shippo asked, abandoning Sango's lap to scurry over to where the monk knelt, the slayer and Kirara trailing after him.
"I want everyone to think of every battle you've ever been in," Miroku said calmly. "Think of what would have helped you survive it better or win it faster. Then we're going to write it all down, and get it."
"What, everything?" Sango asked, vaguely amused.
"Well, we probably can't commandeer an army to follow us around all the time," he shrugged. "And we have to be light enough to travel swiftly, but we also need to be prepared."
Inuyasha peered over his shoulder at the paper. "Looks like you've already gotten started."
Miroku hummed thoughtfully. "These are just the basics – poison powders, different kinds of sutras, prayer beads, purification salts…"
"Things used to be so simple," the hanyou sighed, leaning his chin on top of Miroku's head.
"Before an all-powerful demon began habitually trying to kill us?" Sango suggested mildly.
"Well, yeah."
xXx
It was snowing lightly when they left Kaede's village. Shippo began a fervent chase of the falling flakes, squeaking in delight whenever he caught on in his hands or on his tongue. The others followed more sedately behind him, enjoying his enthusiasm. Miroku had a small sum from Kaede, enough to buy them a few nights in a less-reputable inn or some of their supplies. They'd agreed the previous night to try and find some paying jobs in the villages they came across. The list they came up with hadn't been exorbitantly large, but it hadn't been small, either. Sango's detailed account of different types of poison powders or demon-repelling agents had all sounded important, but some of the ingredients didn't come cheap.
They walked for part of the day and climbed onto Kirara's back for the second half. She quickly spotted an abandoned storehouse, and dove down to investigate. It was nestled deep in the woods at the side of a road, with a well beside it – the perfect spot for the night, by all accounts. The only problem was, it didn't appear to be quite as abandoned as previously thought. When they opened the door, the small hut was full of hay and bags of rice.
"What do we do?" Inuyasha asked, poking at one of the bales with his foot. "Do we clear it out?"
"This is probably someone's winter food supply," Sango said uncomfortably.
"Let's find some food elsewhere," Miroku said decisively. "It won't do any harm to spend the night here, so long as we catch fish or find something else for ourselves."
Inuyasha nodded. "Kirara, you rest here – you worked hard today. Shippo, do you think you can help Sango find some firewood?"
"Of course!" the fox chirped, immediately climbing up to Sango's shoulder.
"Wanna come with?" Inuyasha asked Miroku, gesturing with his head in the direction of a nearby river.
Miroku followed a little suspiciously. Normally, he would be more than happy to have a moment alone with his partner. But Inuyasha was making that face, one that spelled trouble. Sure enough, the hanyou was quiet as they walked through the trees, occasionally glancing up at the cloudy sky, blinking the snowflakes from his eyes. Miroku pulled a deep breath into his lungs and held it for a moment, letting the chilled air calm him.
When they approached the river, Inuyasha crouched down at the bank, his ears swivelling distractedly.
"Something wrong?" Miroku asked cautiously.
"That's what I was gonna ask you," Inuyasha sighed, standing and turning to look at him. "You've been quiet."
"That doesn't mean that anything's wrong," Miroku argued softly, glancing away, well aware that he just revealed himself.
"I can tell when something's bothering you," Inuyasha huffed gently. "I don't wanna just sit back and watch while it hurts you. C'mon, Miroku. Please."
Miroku blinked into the fluid darkness of the river. "It's…it's really nothing. I've just been thinking too much."
"About what?"
He swallowed, shifted his gaze up to the sky. "After seeing Ruri sucked into her wind tunnel, I can't… I don't know if this, what we have between us, is a good idea."
Inuyasha's frowned deepened, and his voice gained a hard-edged growl. "What the hell does that have to do with us?"
"I can't let any of you be harmed by the wind tunnel – I refuse to allow this curse to claim your lives as well." Miroku shook his head angrily, casting the thought aside. "But with what we have, it makes it so much harder to leave if I have to."
There was no mistaking the growl this time. "You're not leaving."
"If the wind tunnel becomes a danger-"
Inuyasha cut him off smoothly. "If the wind tunnel becomes a problem, we'll deal with it. You're not leaving. You tried that once before, and it didn't work." His voice was steadily rising in volume. "If we couldn't lose you then, we sure as hell can't let you go now!"
Miroku sighed. "Inuyasha, if I think the wind tunnel is a danger to any of you, there is nothing you can do to keep me from leaving. I've accepted that it may one day claim my life. It will not take any of you."
"It won't-"
"It might, and you cannot deny that." Miroku's eyes were burning with an old intensity. "Inuyasha, I need you to promise me that if that day comes, that you will not try to save me. That you'll keep the others safe."
Inuyasha's voice dropped to a hushed whisper. "I can't make that promise."
"I need you to," he said simply, plainly. "Or I will have to leave. I will not put any of you at risk."
Inuyasha shook his head in denial, his ears flicking back. "You can't ask me to sit back and watch you die. I love you. I can't let that happen."
"This is exactly what I feared," Miroku murmured, and he sounded pained. "Please- kami, please, tell me you will not kill yourself in the wind tunnel when it takes me. This is not something I'm willing to negotiate, Yash. I can't be with you if I think I'm going to end up killing you. I cannot let that happen!"
"How is this any different from you throwing yourself at me when I transform?" Inuyasha snapped. "You can't ask me not to do the same!"
"It's not the same," Miroku insisted. "When you transform, I have a chance to save you, to get through to you! If the wind tunnel is taking me, then it's my time to go. It won't be yours."
Inuyasha turned to glare into the forest, breathing hard, brows deeply furrowed. Miroku watched him with sad eyes. He hadn't wanted to share his mind for this very reason, but then again, he supposed that it needed to be said. He needed to know that the others would be safe.
"You're a hanyou," Miroku whispered, silently begging Inuyasha to look at him. "You were always going to outlive me by centuries. Your life is so precious! I cannot be responsible for ending it."
Inuyasha whirled on him, un-spilt tears in his eyes. "I can't let you go."
Miroku pressed his lips together in a sad smile. "Mortal lives are, by definition, temporary. If it is my time, then I will go in peace. But I can't do that if you throw away your own life to try and come with me. You have to stay. For me."
After a long moment, Inuyasha huffed. His breath swirled as a cloud in the air. "Fine. I'll promise to stay back if the wind tunnel breaks, but only if you promise me something in return."
Miroku kept his face carefully neutral. "What's that?"
"If there's Saimyosho, or miasma, or any other poison around, or you've already overexerted yourself, you won't use the wind tunnel."
"If I can save someone from danger-"
"We're always in danger, Miroku!" Inuyasha snapped. "And I'm not asking you to stop using entirely – even though you should – just know your limits! If opening it is going to put your life in danger, then don't do it. Trust that we'll figure something else out. Okay?"
Miroku held his gaze steadily, assessing. Eventually, his shoulders slumped. "Alright."
Inuyasha took a few steps towards him and wound his arms around him, holding on tight. Miroku pressed his face into the warm fabric of his shoulder and blocked out the rest of the world for just a moment. He didn't know if either of them were lying. He supposed they'd find out, sooner or later. And he still didn't know if he should leave. Rationally, sticking together as a group would be their best chance of defeating Naraku. But he didn't want to put his friends in danger… But he really, truly didn't want to leave. He didn't want to be alone again. Their strange little band was the most important thing in the world to him, and for as long as he could get away with it, he wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.
Inuyasha buried his nose in Miroku's neck in a familiar gesture, and his arms tightened.
"You alright?" Miroku asked, even though he could guess the answer.
"You promised I wasn't going to lose you," came the whispered answer against his skin.
Miroku squeezed his eyes shut. "I know," he murmured. "I'm sorry."
xXx
"Miroku! Inuyasha!" Shippo chirped excitedly as they walked back to the storehouse. "You'll never guess what we found!"
"Yeah, probably not," Inuyasha grinned despite himself – because it was true! It could be anything from a neat butterfly to a mountain of gold.
"There's a hot spring deeper in the forest!" the kit announced, utterly unperturbed by the answer. "I tracked it down by the smell. It's a little bit of a walk from here, but it looks amazing! I was wondering if I could maybe go try it out while you roasted the fish?"
"Not that we're eager, or anything," Sango winked from where she was building the fire.
"Yeah, might as well," Inuyasha shrugged. "You two go have fun."
"Oh, I'm included in this now?" Sango asked.
"Well, someone's gotta go make sure he doesn't accidentally drown himself," Inuyasha sighed.
Sango didn't argue, just grabbed Shippo and headed off into the forest once more. Inuyasha sat down next to Miroku by the fire as they began cleaning the fish, feeding Kirara little scraps as they did so. It still felt awkward, working with his dagger, but he was slowly getting used to the weapon. He glanced at Miroku often as they worked steadily through the pile of fish, still a little rattled from before. He'd expected something to be wrong, which was why he asked in the first place, but he hadn't expected Miroku to want to leave. It just…wasn't what they did. He'd spent so long worrying that the others would drop him at a moment's notice, and they, especially Miroku, had been so adamant that they wouldn't. Then again, he supposed, he wasn't the only one haunted by his past.
Sango and Shippo returned by the time the fish had roasted, and they ate in a comfortable silence. It settled something in all of them to be back to their usual evening routine. Even if, with winter having arrived in full force, they wouldn't be able to spend the nights outside anymore. As they finished eating, Sango laid down their blankets in the cramped room of the storehouse. They would practically be on top of each other, but none of them minded, particularly.
"You should try the hot spring before we go to bed," Shippo was telling Miroku enthusiastically. "It's so much bigger than that one we found a few months ago. And it flows out into the river, and it draws all these fish around, and-"
"Looks like I'd better go see, then," Miroku smiled. He glanced at Inuyasha, his eyes warm. "Care to join me?"
Inuyasha blushed and looked away. He'd been avoiding bathing with the monk for several weeks now. It wasn't that he didn't want to – because he wanted to – he just knew where it would lead. He shook his head and smiled. "Nah, I'm good. I don't want to have my hair freeze on the walk back here."
Miroku nodded, looking vaguely smug, so Inuyasha knew that he hadn't been as convincing as he would have hoped. But the monk left with a wave, following Shippo's detailed instructions on how to get there. Inuyasha kept and ear trained on him, but forced himself to relax. He had to get used to the idea of Miroku being out of his reach. He wouldn't do anybody any good if he couldn't even let his partner out of his sight.
xXx
Miroku leaned back against the rocky edges of the pool and closed his eyes, breathing in the warm, swirling air. The scent filled his lungs, of trees and earth and sulfur. He held it there for a moment, letting it fuse with his person before slowly releasing, letting the tension slip away along with it. His head tipped back, exposing his threat to the world. Breathe in, take in the world. Breathe out, let it fall away. Breathe in, and he wasn't alone. His eyes opened to the figure casting a shadow on him, the solid presence which framed his shoulders. Inuyasha's eyes seemed to glow as he looked down at him, hair falling in a starlit curtain around them.
Air passed between them, a small smile, and then Inuyasha was leaning down. Their lips met, a long, lingering press. And then he was gone. Miroku's eyes opened to the stars in the inky black sky, and he was alone once more. He settled back into the comfortable silence. He occasionally missed this, the peaceful reflection of the world that he could only achieve in his own company. He'd been on his own for so long that he'd learned to take pleasure in it, find calm.
But then, he wouldn't trade his companions for the world. As much as Naraku had drawn them to one another, it wasn't just their quest for revenge that kept them together. There was a deep bond between them, of young people wronged by an unknowably powerful force, without a family other than what they'd created for themselves, struggling for their futures as much as avenging their pasts. There was something there that couldn't be broken. Miroku knew that, if he did have to leave one day, the others would be alright. They were still a family, after all.
xXx
The next day was much warmer than the last, the sun driving away much of the lingering snow from the night before. They relied on Inuyasha's vague memory of the area to guide them to a nearby village. They walked through the many rice paddies in relative silence, all somewhat subdued. When the small collection of houses came into view over the crest of the hill before them, they all breathed a sigh of relief. The winter days were growing ever shorter, and none of them wanted to walk too far in the dark.
A river cut cleanly through two clusters of huts, with a few scattered out further in all directions. Shippo scampered up onto Inuyasha's shoulder to get a better look before they began their descent down the hill. They glanced around cautiously as they walked, already drawing some wary glances from the villagers. Inuyasha had been in enough new villages over the past few months to know when the people were simply nervous of newcomers, and this wasn't it. They had a particular reason to fear youkai. Even though there was no scent of demon in the air, whatever had caused a disturbance here could still be kicking about. Maybe there would be some work for them there, after all!
"That looks like the place," Miroku said, turning his path towards a large house in the center of the village. Inuyasha and Sango exchanged a vaguely amused glance and followed him.
An old man emerged from the house as they approach, regarding them evenly under his brows. He was stooped with age, his face deeply creased with lines, but his eyes were sharp. "You look as though you have something to say. Did you come to seek me out?"
"We did, Headman," Miroku said, bowing. "We were just passing through your village, but I'm afraid I sensed a demonic presence in your house. I thought it only prudent to offer my services."
"A demon, you say?" the headman muttered, eyeing them each in turn. "You have much experience with demons, do you?"
"That is a fair statement," Miroku smiled. "We only wish to help."
The old man hummed thoughtfully, but gestured for them to follow him inside. "Strange, really. Are you certain, monk? My house is blessed by a priest every year. It shouldn't be possible for a demon to have possessed it."
Inuyasha and Sango shared a quick glance and tried not to look guilty as they let Miroku take the lead.
"I am quite certain," he stated in a grave tone. "And we must exorcise it immediately. Of course, this is my duty as a monk. I expect no payment, Headman."
"Absurd!" the old man scoffed. "You shall all be given a meal and a bed tonight."
Inuyasha shook his head and hid his grin. It wasn't as though he liked it, but he had to admire Miroku's gall. They followed the headman down the en and through the open doors of the reception room. It wasn't as grand as some of the places they'd stayed, to be sure, but Inuyasha still found himself looking around excitedly at the rich artwork on the walls. It was why he didn't see Miroku when the monk suddenly stopped just inside the entryway, and he proceeded to run into him bodily. Miroku put a finger to his lips, his eyes darting to the ceiling. Inuyasha watched skeptically – this wasn't part of the usual show – until he caught the slight uptick of the monk's heartbeat. He found himself looking up as well, partly convinced that he was also being played.
But then a slight creaking came from the rafters, followed by a few quiet thumps. Miroku frowned, held up his staff and summoned some spiritual power to the head of the weapon. The thumping increased, and the walls began to rattle and shake. Shippo clutched Inuyasha's shoulder and flattened down against him, while Inuyasha glanced around uneasily. That was certainly new. Miroku hummed slightly and walked over to one of the walls, deftly reaching into his robes for a sutra. He let out a long breath before placing the paper on a wooden beam. A strange ripple went through the wood as it momentarily became almost fluid, then the paper began to smoke and shrivel. A shriek echoed through the walls, and then a shadow shot from the beam with a sudden burst of youki. The dark shape swirled through the air and rose swiftly through the roof. Miroku ran past the others, back outside, and watched the figure disappear into the evening sky.
"There actually was a demon?" Sango asked quietly, blinking between him and the sutra.
"Guess there's a first time for everything," Inuyasha grinned, keeping his voice low so the headman wouldn't overhear.
Miroku cleared his throat loudly and walked back to the old man. "That should have taken care of things. I will place a few more sutras around your house, to make sure that the demon does not return."
"You have my thanks, young monk!" the old man said, bowing deeply. "I am ashamed to admit, I almost doubted your story! I will see to it that you are my honoured guests here."
Miroku's smile was a little strained as he trailed after the headman further into the house. Inuyasha and Sango, however, thought it was hilarious, especially as it dispelled their guilt of having to con the man. They exchanged pleasantries with the headman's wife as he arranged for food to be brought, and all the members of the household were unwaveringly polite as they brought out a veritable feast. Shippo's excitement at the meal was utterly contagious, and they were all grinning by the time the meal began. Miroku was especially touched when the tray in front of him consisted of stewed pickled vegetables and tofu as well as rice, while the others had a roasted fish each. It wasn't often that a head of house knew to not give him meat.
They all dug in, huddling close to the fire to drive away the winter chill. The headman insisted on pouring them copious amounts of tea, which quickly warmed them inside and out, as he asked them about their travels. By silent agreement, they left out any mention of Naraku, but described their path around the province and some of the adventures they'd encountered. He and his wife seemed intrigued, and asked endless questions.
After they had mostly finished the meal, the headman and his wife were drawn away on some business with some of the villagers. Only then did Inuyasha lower his bowl as he glanced at Miroku. "So, did you actually sense the demon in the beginning, or were you just full of it?"
Miroku grinned sheepishly. "A bit of both. I had this feeling that something was off, though I couldn't place it. Once we actually got inside, though, I could detect the barest trace of youki." He shrugged thoughtfully. "The demon must have been concealing itself somehow."
"I'll say!" Sango exclaimed. "I couldn't sense it at all. I spent ages wondering how on earth you managed to make the walls shake."
Miroku chuckled as he looked over the various dishes scattered around them. "I have to say, I'm happy with how things turned out. Though I could have sworn there was dango somewhere…"
Inuyasha dutifully pulled the bowl of the sweets out from where they were conveniently hidden behind Shippo. "Grab 'em while you can."
He obediently took the offered bowl. "Ah, thank you darling."
Inuyasha froze and almost fell into the fire. His eyes were almost comically wide as he stared at Miroku, his cheeks slowly colouring.
"Problem?" the monk asked, amusement and concern warring on his face.
Inuyasha's mouth opened and closed a few times before he shot to his feet, walking quickly out of the room.
"Well done," Sango commented dryly from her seat across the fire. "You broke him."
"I didn't mean to," Miroku said sincerely, peering after the hanyou.
"More for me!" Shippo said, diving for the bowl which Miroku quickly moved out of reach.
xXx
Inuyasha followed Miroku's scent to the room they were staying in that night. A divider had been placed between the two beds, and Sango, Shippo, and Kirara were safely asleep on the other side. He could tell by Miroku's heartbeat that he was still awake, but the monk's eyes were closed. He wondered what the conversation had been like, where he told the headman how many futons they'd need. Before, Inuyasha and sometimes Miroku slept sitting against a wall, and they'd gotten in the habit of telling the headmen or innkeepers that they wouldn't need the bedding. Well, Inuyasha was definitely using a bed these days, but he didn't need his own. He unceremoniously lifted the blanket draped over Miroku and slid underneath, heedless of his cold feet from the outside air. Miroku's startled gasp as the frozen appendages pressed against his legs only made him chuckle.
"Rude," he chided gently, pressing a kiss against his partner's lips.
"Deal with it," Inuyasha shot back, leaning in for another kiss. And then, quietly, "I love you."
"I love you, too," Miroku murmured, a soft smile framing his face before he added "Darling."
Inuyasha groaned and hid his face in Miroku's chest as his face flushed red. Miroku chuckled into his hair and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, wrapping his arms securely around him.
"Is it bad?" he asked quietly, and Inuyasha instantly shook his head and pulled back.
"No one's every called me that before," he admitted quietly, a slight nervousness on his face warring with the smile that threatened to break through. "It's...it's not bad."
Miroku dragged him back down by a hand on the back of his neck, and pulled him into a deep kiss.
xXx
"Thank you again for your kindness," Miroku bowed to the headman that morning. However, the old man only frowned.
"I didn't want to say anything last night," he said slowly. "But I was hoping you might be able to help us."
The group instantly sobered, guard raised. "Is something the matter?" Sango asked.
"That demon last night," the headman sighed. "It wasn't the first. People all over the village have been seeing strange shadows on their walls for almost a month, now. They belong to strange, shapeshifting demons that come from a series of caves to the east of us. On their own, they are relatively harmless, but as a group…"
"Have they killed anyone?" Inuyasha asked.
"We lost two young men recently," the old man said mournfully. "They thought that they could clear the demons from the caves, but after one was bitten, the entire pack appeared out of nowhere. They swarm at the smell of blood, you see. The others that were with them barely escaped with their lives."
Inuyasha nodded slowly, eyes flicking momentarily to Sango.
"We would be happy to help," Miroku said. "Can you show us where the caves are?"
They agreed to set out without delay. The headman led them to the edge of the village, where he summoned some of the same young men to show them the way.
"You'd better be careful," one of the men warned them as they guided them through the forest. "They're tricky. One moment they're nothing but a shadow, and the next they'll go for you. You can strike them when they're biting down on you, but the rest of the time it's like hitting smoke."
"Do you know how many there are?" Sango asked.
"Seemed like hundreds," the second man said, shaking his head. "They were crawling along the walls and ceiling of the cave. They had us absolutely surrounded once they caught a whiff of blood."
The men stopped at the edge of the forest, pointing nervously at the rocky face of a mountain. The cave was easy to see, yawning from the top of a pile of broken rocks. The men refused to go any closer, so they waved them off and told them they'd take care of things.
"How do you think we should go about this?" Sango asked, stripping off her travel clothes. "They don't sound like any demons I've encountered before."
"I don't think my sutra killed the one at the headman's house," Miroku said thoughtfully. "We should find how to destroy them before drawing them out – we don't want them swarming when we're unprepared."
Sango nodded slowly, but Inuyasha looked vaguely pained. He glanced nervously at Sango again, and her brows furrowed as she caught his gaze. Miroku looked between them, confused and concerned. Inuyasha shuffled awkwardly, his ears flicked back, and Sango suddenly blanched.
"You can tell?" she whisper-yelled at the hanyou.
"Tell what?" Miroku asked, concern growing.
"I wasn't gonna say anything," Inuyasha huffed, looking away. "But the blood…"
"What blood?" Miroku asked. "Are you injured?"
"Have you always been able to?" Sango asked incredulously. "This whole time? And you didn't tell me?" She was slowly turning crimson.
"Did you want me to point it out to you?" Inuyasha asked, only half-rhetorically.
"Tell what?" Miroku asked in exasperation. "What- Ohhh."
Shippo tugged insistently on his sleeve. "What? What's going on?"
"I don't think you're going to be able to come with us, Sango," Miroku said regretfully, brushing off the kit. "They would likely swarm right away."
She scowled, kicked gently at a rock with her foot. "I don't want to leave you two to face this on your own."
"We'll still take Kirara," Inuyasha said decisively. "You and Shippo can have the day to yourselves."
Sango sighed and her shoulders sagged. "Alright. Be careful."
She watched the three of them disappear into the cave, a pit in her stomach. Shippo was still looking at her in confusion, but she didn't particularly want to answer the questions he so clearly had.
"Come on," she said instead. "Let's find something to do. There has to be something, right?"
They made their way slowly back to the village, and some of the villagers seemed surprised to see them, but Sango soundly ignored them. She geared them towards the centre of town, sure that it would be the likeliest place to find something to hold their attention. Unfortunately, there was no apothecary where she could inquire after poison powders, and the blacksmith was all out of weapons.
"Everyone's probably busy with the end of the harvest," Shippo said, looking around. Sango glanced at him in surprise. "My father and I used to live in a human village like this, back before we were driven out of the mountains by the wolf demons."
"Yeah?" she asked, intrigued. "The humans didn't mind you staying there?"
"Nah," he shrugged. "Most people don't see kitsune as a bad thing. Once we showed them that we meant no harm, they let us stay."
"That's good," Sango smiled. "More places should be like that." Her smile turned wistful. "I wish you could have seen my village. There were about a dozen demons there, not just Kirara. They had been friends to my people for hundreds of years."
"Well, that's what Kaede's village is like now, right?" Shippo pointed out. "Everyone there knows me and Kirara and Myoga and Hachi. They'd probably let any of us live there, if we wanted to."
"That's true," Sango said thoughtfully.
"Do you think you'll live there?" Shippo asked. "After Naraku's gone?"
That pulled her up short. She had intentionally kept from thinking about the future, at least what didn't involve staying alive and saving Kohaku. "I don't know," she eventually admitted. "If they'll have me, I wouldn't mind staying. I would like to stay near you all, whatever happens."
"Yeah, we're pack!" Shippo nodded vigorously.
"What about you?" she asked gently. "Where do you want to live?"
Shippo shrugged easily. "Probably Kaede's, at least for a while. I'll be fine with wherever you all pick, though."
She watched him carefully, deeply touched by the implication. He was so unwaveringly confident that they would all end up together – probably living in the same house, in his imagination. She supposed it was only to be expected. They were his family, after all. She just didn't know if that would be enough. There was no telling what the future would hold. She was wary of making any sort of plan, because the specifics were too painful. Would Kohaku be there with her? Would any of her friends have died before they got there? How far in the future was this imagined place? How long would they be dragged along in Naraku's path of destruction? She shook her head and cast the thoughts aside. It was better to focus on the here and now, on what she could control. She would find something to do, and she would do it. And then the thing after that. And after that.
She ended up at the bank of the river, washing her travel clothes. It needed to be done, but it still felt incredibly wrong to be concerned with such tasks when her companions were in danger. But unfortunately, they'd been right – she had no idea how keen the demons' sense of smell was. She didn't want to draw the entire pack to her, especially when they had no idea of their true numbers. She only hoped that the others would somehow manage to avoid getting injured and causing a swarm anyway. Now that she thought about it, she had very little faith in them.
She glanced over to where Shippo was playing at the river's edge, throwing pebbles into the water. She had wondered before what he got up to while the rest of the group was off fighting. She supposed it couldn't be easy for him, to be always on the outside. But she stood by their decision to keep him from harm's way as much as possible – they had all had someone to protect them for at least most of their childhoods, and it was their responsibility to ensure that Shippo emerged from their ordeal with as little harm done as possible.
She heard children shouting from up in the village, their voices coming slowly closer. She wondered if maybe he'd end up playing with them. He needed more chances to just be a child. But as the shouts grew louder, and the group of children emerged over the edge of the incline leading down to the river, it appeared that all wasn't as it should be.
"Grab her!" one of the children shouted, one of several boys trailing a young girl.
"Stop!" another cried. It didn't sound like they were playing a game.
"Catch me if you can!" the girl called back at them, her tone mocking even as she ran faster.
One of the boys leapt for her in a flying tackle, and they both went tumbling down the hill. Sango pulled her clothes from the water and watched carefully. The boys circled around the girl menacingly.
"Satsuki, you liar!" one of them shouted. "You stole the dried persimmon from my house!"
"You can't prove that I did it!" the girl snapped, glaring up at them from the ground.
"Shaddup," another boy snarled. "You're a thief!"
"Back off!" Satsuki hissed. "When my brother gets back from the war, you're all gonna get it!"
"You mean when he gets back from the dead," one of the boys taunted, and the others laughed cruelly.
"My brother is not dead!" she shouted, and lunged forward to bite one of the boy's leg.
"Get off him!" another growled as the boy cried out, pushing Satsuki to the ground. "You rotten thief!"
And then the boys began to kick her. Hard. Sango shot to her feet, ready to intervene. Shippo was faster. The sky turned dark above the circle of children, and blue orbs burst into balls of fire. The boys shrank back, looking terrified. Then Shippo appeared in his large pink orb form, his eyes rolling wildly as he floated towards them.
"You scoundrels!" Shippo's voice emanated from the orb, warped and deepened through his magic.
"A ghost!" one of the boys screamed.
They all turned tail and ran, back up the hill and towards the village. Shippo waited for them to disappear from view before transforming back, the leaf that he had used for the spell floating down beside him. Satsuki was staring up at him in wonder. She appeared relatively unharmed. Sango decided to hang back, to see where this would go.
Shippo walked up to Satsuki. "You'll be safe now."
"Thank you, tanuki-sama," she said slowly, still a little stunned.
Shippo's face fell. "I'm a fox."
"Well, thanks anyway for your help," she grinned, reaching into her dirty kimono and pulling something out. "Do you want some?"
"Huh?" Shippo asked, and Sango craned her neck to see what it was.
"It's the persimmon that I took," Satsuki said unconcernedly as she broke the fruit in half and offered part of it to Shippo. "You'll like it. It's good!"
Sango hid her smile as she turned back to her washing, keeping an ear on the pair. It seemed that her companions had a habit of falling for thieves.
"You're strong for a little guy, aren't you?" the girl was saying as she ate her half of the persimmon. "I'm Satsuki. What's your name?"
"I-I'm Shippo," Shippo stuttered out, his face colouring.
"That's a really nice name," Satsuki smiled.
"My father gave it to me," Shippo said, sitting down beside her.
"That's nice," Satsuki said. "My father died a long time ago. My mother, too."
Sango could see Shippo's shoulders hunch. "Too bad."
"It's okay, 'cause I still have my big brother," Satsuki continued, unfazed. "He's gonna prove himself in the war."
"So those boys were lying before?" Shippo asked, confused. "Your brother didn't die?"
Satsuki's face hardened, and Sango's stomach clenched. She had a bad feeling about this. "He's gonna come back home. Even if he is dead, he'll come back to life."
Shippo made a soft noise of surprise. Satsuki glanced suspiciously at Sango, who quickly looked away, and dropped her voice. "Can you keep a secret?"
"I guess," Shippo said, sounding unsure.
"I'll show you something that I've never shown anyone before," the girl whispered, lowering her voice so that Sango could barely hear. "It's my treasure! And it can make any wish come true."
She pulled something else from her kimono and held it out for Shippo to see. Sango's heart clenched at the sight of a pink sliver of something in her hand. Shippo obviously recognized it as well, and threw a nervous glance over his shoulder at Sango.
"Isn't it pretty?" Satsuki asked, unperturbed. "It's a piece of something called the Shikon Jewel. Demons are always after it, but I trust you. My brother gave it to me before he left. He told me it'll grant a wish, if I want it to!"
Shippo was looking between Satsuki and Sango, clearly distraught. Sango climbed slowly to her feet and walked over. Satsuki immediately looked suspicious, shoving the gem back into her robes and scooting away.
"Wait," Sango called out to her. "I just want to ask you something."
"That's my friend, Sango," Shippo said reassuringly. "She's a really powerful demon slayer. You can trust her."
Satsuki's eyes widened and she looked up at Sango in awe as she knelt down in front of her. "You fight demons? Like, real life, giant demons?"
"I do," Sango said. "My companions are out there right now fighting some demons that have been hanging around your village."
"Wow," Satsuki breathed, clearly impressed.
"Listen," Sango said, keeping her voice low and reassuring. "Do you think I could take a look at that Jewel shard of yours?"
Satsuki's face instantly closed off, and she backed away slightly. "You won't steal it, will you?"
Sango ignored Shippo practically vibrating beside her. "Don't worry, I just want to take a look at it."
Slowly, Satsuki reached into her kimono and pulled out the sliver of the gem. She held it close to Sango's face, and the slayer knew better than to try and reach for it. Even without Miroku's sense for the Jewel, from this distance, it was unmistakable.
"That's enough now," Satsuki said, drawing her hand away and shoving it back in her kimono.
"Thank you for showing it to me," Sango smiled. "It's very pretty!"
Satsuki smiled, relieved. Shippo was staring up at her with a bewildered expression.
"I have to get back to the washing, but why don't you and Shippo play some more?" she suggested, already standing to leave.
"Okay!" Satsuki said instantly. "Shippo, let's go closer to the river. I can show you how to catch fish!"
As she ran off to do just that, Shippo climbed up to Sango's shoulder to stare at her. "You're just gonna let her go? But what about the shard?"
"Shippo, that was just a stone flower," Sango assured him gently. "It's a common rock found in the mountains. It's not a Jewel shard."
"It's a fake?" Shippo asked, turning to look at Satsuki, looking conflicted. "But what about her wish?"
Sango sighed as she set him down on the ground. "She's going to have to accept that her brother won't come back."
"But what if she had a real Jewel shard?" Shippo insisted. "Would that bring him back?"
"I can't say for sure the limits of the Jewel's power, but it doesn't matter," she explained gently. "Her brother's gone."
Shippo looked down and huffed. "It's not fair."
"I know," Sango said softly. "But there's nothing we can do about that. All we can do is watch out for her while we're here. So why don't you go play with her for a while longer?"
Despite his obvious hesitation, Shippo ran off to do just that.
xXx
"Where the hell are these slippery bastards?" Inuyasha snarled, stalking around another turn in the long tunnel system. "They have to be around here somewhere!"
"They might be avoiding us," Miroku shrugged, sticking close to Kirara's side. "Who knows? It's impossible to tell if they're hiding in the shadows."
The tunnel was illuminated by the fire at Kirara's feet as she walked around in her larger form. The flames sent flickering lights across the rocky walls, casting strange shadows in all directions. More often than not, Inuyasha could have sworn that he saw something moving in the corner of his eye, but by the time he looked, it was too late. The whole place stank of demon and exuded a faint demonic aura. Inuyasha was tempted to bite off a finger just to get the sneaky bastards to show themselves.
"Try that purification thing again," he said instead.
Miroku nodded and lifted his staff, summoning another wave of spiritual power to the head of his staff. It pulsed outwards in all directions. The same strange ripple as before travelled across the cave walls, and a series of shrieks echoed through the tunnel, but no demons emerged. Inuyasha growled and swung Tessaiga at one of the walls, dug it deep into the stone.
Miroku instantly placed a hand on his arm. "You're going to bring the whole place crumbling down on top of us," he chided gently.
"Damn it!" he growled, and sheathed Tessaiga. "This is getting us nowhere."
"We should head back to the village," Miroku nodded. "Talk to the people who've seen the demons, find out whatever we can."
Inuyasha grumbled all the way back to the cave entrance. Miroku stayed between him and Kirara, keeping an eye out for any shadows that might appear to be following them. Every so often, Kirara stopped and stared suspiciously at a patch of wall, but eventually gave up and followed after him. Once outside, Miroku placed a sutra on either side of the cave entrance. He didn't particularly know if it would do any good – the few he'd scattered around the inside of the tunnels certainly hadn't seemed to do anything – but he hoped that it would keep the demons inside for at least the time being.
They walked back to the village in defeat. The headman was waiting for them outside his house, and his face lit up when he saw them.
"Thank goodness you're all alright!" he said, grasping Inuyasha's hand in both of his own. "You were gone so long that I began to worry! What happened? Did you slay the demons?"
"Unfortunately not," Miroku admitted. "They were keeping their distance. We're going to have to come up with a plan in order to draw them out without having them swarm. We'll need to speak with everyone who's had contact with them so that we may learn as much as possible."
"Of course!" the headman said, and waved them inside.
He began recounting everything he knew about the demons while his wife went out to wrangle up everyone who'd so much as seen the demons. First a few then a dozen villagers began trickling into the headman's house, all eager to share their story. However, by the time they'd worked through them all, they had learned discouragingly little. It appeared that none of them had seen the demons' true form, though one woman swore that the demon she'd found in her cupboard had transformed into her mother-in-law. Most of them hadn't noticed the demon in their house for a number of days, but had been able to chase it out fairly easily once they had. No one had been killed by a lone demon, but a few had been bitten in the night, and others had discovered chickens dead or horses wounded. They could all agree on the creaking and thumping sounds that emanated from their walls shortly before the demons emerged in their shadowy forms. Other than that, there was nothing.
"So much for that," Inuyasha huffed as the last of the villagers left the house.
"It seems that they're truly not very powerful on their own," Miroku said slowly. "What we should do really depends on their true numbers. If it was say, twenty to fifty, then we could draw them out with blood and I can suck them up, or you can take them on with the Wind Scar. But hundreds? It's risky."
Inuyasha sighed and stretched out on the ground. "It's too late to do anything else today, anyway. The old man already said we could spend another night. Let's think on it over a nice hot meal and come up with a plan tomorrow."
Miroku eyed him amusedly. "And you say I'm opportunistic."
"Only because you are."
"Thanks, love."
Inuyasha groaned loudly. "Miroku, you are killing me, here!"
The monk only grinned. "But in a good way?" he clarified, just to be sure.
"Yes, damn it!"
"Miroku! Inuyasha!" Shippo called out to them as he ran into the house. "How did it go?"
"Nothing yet," Miroku told him and Sango, who was coming in behind him. "We'll have to go back tomorrow. What about you? What have you been up to?"
"We made a friend," Sango said quietly, gesturing behind her. Miroku peered around her to see a young girl in a torn, dirty kimono. She was thin and barefoot, and looked very uncomfortable to be standing there on the headman's en.
"Who's this?" Miroku asked, keeping his voice gentle.
"Satsuki!" the headman's voice sounded from down the hallway, and the girl visibly flinched in surprise. "I'm so glad you're here! Have you reconsidered my offer?"
"No," she shook her head defiantly. "I'm gonna live with my brother. He's gonna come back any day now, I told you!"
Miroku glanced between Shippo and Sango, taking in their tight expressions.
"We were wondering if she might join us tonight," Sango said to the headman.
"Of course!" the old man smiled reassuringly down at the girl. "I've already told Satsuki that she's welcome here anytime."
That seemed to brighten her spirits, and she was soon seated between Inuyasha and Shippo, chattering away with both of them. They ate with the headman's whole family that night, his three sons and his eldest son's wife. They all seemed familiar with Satsuki and welcomed her warmly.
"Are you a dog demon?" Satsuki asked Inuyasha as she shovelled a bowl of rice into her face.
"Half," he admitted after an uncomfortable moment, but the answer didn't seem to faze her.
"Oh, neat!" she exclaimed. "So, do you have powers like the other demons? Can you breathe fire?"
"The hell kind of demons have you met?" Inuyasha asked, before Sango subtly kicked him. "I can't do anything like that. I can just see and hear and smell better than a regular human."
"And he has this super powerful sword!" Shippo added enthusiastically. "It's really big and it can unleash these spells that can cut a mountain in half or destroy a whole bunch of demons at once."
"Woah," Satsuki said, eyes wide.
She continued throwing questions at Inuyasha as the meal progressed, and though she never seemed to stop for breath, the number of empty bowls in front of her was also increasing at an impressive pace. In between the endless barrage, the headman's family managed to ask her a few questions about how she was doing. It didn't take the others long to realize that she was living alone, had been for a few weeks. Satsuki brushed off all their concerns, insisted that she was fine on her own, that her brother would be back soon. Inuyasha could tell by the headman's tight frown that that wasn't the case.
As the last of the food disappeared, Satsuki pushed to her feet. "Thanks for letting me eat with you again, Headman. I'd better be heading back."
"Won't you stay with us tonight?" the headman's wife asked, a little pleadingly. "These nights have grown so cold."
"No, thanks," she said easily. "I wanna make sure I'm home for when my brother comes back."
"Alright then," the headman said, putting a placating hand on his wife's arm. "Just remember that our door's always open if you need anything."
"I will, thanks," she smiled. "It was nice meeting you all. See you tomorrow, Shippo!"
With one last wave, she headed out the door and ran off into the night. The others watched her go.
"Poor child," the headman's wife sighed, shaking her head.
"She's living in a house on her own?" Miroku asked.
"Her brother passed on some weeks ago in the civil war," the headman said grimly. "One of the other men in this village saw him die. But Satsuki refuses to believe it."
"We've been trying to get her to come stay with us ever since we heard the news," his wife continued. "But she refuses to move from the hut she shared with her brother. Sooner or later, we're going to have to force her. She can't stay in that tiny hut by herself over the winter."
"She'll only come to us when she's ready," the headman said firmly.
Sango told them about Satsuki's false Jewel shard later as they were getting ready for bed. It made sense as to why she was so adamant about her brother returning despite all the evidence to the contrary. Inuyasha hated it. Demons were one thing – he knew how to fight those – but there was nothing he could do about this kind of danger. At least she had the headman's family looking out for her. He hoped she'd be okay.
He glanced over at Shippo, who'd been quiet ever since Satsuki had left. He could see how much this was troubling the kit. He wished there was something he could say to cheer him up, but he had no idea. Shippo knew what it was like to lose a family – they all did. He supposed this was a life lesson he'd have to learn on his own.
It was later, when they were settled down for bed and he was just drifting off to sleep, that he felt something tugging on his robes ever so slightly. He groaned and burrowed his face deeper into Miroku's shoulder, waiting for it to go away. Then he heard a shuffle. His eyes snapped open and his hand shot out to grab the perpetrator, landing solidly on Shippo's head. The kit's shriek of surprise woke Miroku with a start, and the bag of Jewel shards slipped from his robes.
"I thought you were asleep!" Shippo shouted, as though that was the most pressing issue at the moment. Then he began squirming. "Let me go! Let me take them! I need them. It's to help someone!"
"Don't be ridiculous," Inuyasha snapped, snatching the bag from the ground and tossing it back to Miroku. "Shippo, you know how powerful even just one shard of the Jewel can be. It's not something you go around giving to humans."
"But Satsuki needs it!" Shippo insisted. "It might be powerful enough to bring her brother back!"
"Don't be stupid," Inuyasha growled, anger colouring his voice. "That's not how the Jewel works."
"It was enough to bring Sango's brother back!" Shippo growled right back.
Inuyasha's ear twitched as he heard a sudden intake of breath from the other side of the screen divider. Shippo had the decency to look ashamed.
"Yeah, it brought him back, and now he's Naraku's puppet," Inuyasha hissed. "Besides, wishing on a Jewel shard won't do her any good. Maybe, if he was here, and he was dying, a shard could save him, but he's not! He's off dead in some faraway place and his body has probably been burned by now. And even if he was here, even if we could save him, what then? We need the Jewel to be whole again. We'd need to take the shard back at some point anyway, and even if we didn't, you know that Naraku would find him." His eyes bore into Shippo's. "Is that what you want? To lead Naraku to this village?"
Tears slipped down Shippo's cheeks as he answered brokenly. "No."
"She's got people looking out for her," Inuyasha continued more gently. "Just focus on that."
xXx
The next morning, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Kirara headed off to the caves once more. Sango agreed to go with Shippo to check on Satsuki, and try to convince her to move in with the headman. They debated over whether or not they should tell her about the fake Jewel shard. She tried to encourage Shippo as they walked, telling him that she would be in good hands with a new family, but the kit was understandably gloomy. He tracked Satsuki's scent to a small hut by the edge of the river. As they approached, Satsuki burst through the door and ran towards them, a dazzling smile on her face.
"Shippo!" she shouted. "My wish came true! My brother finally came home to me!"
"Huh?" Shippo said, glancing back at Sango for some explanation, but she had none to give.
They followed her inside the hut, to where a young man lay on a woven mat on the dirt floor. He was covered with a straw blanket, and his head was heavily bandaged. Satsuki darted over to him and dropped to her knees by his side.
"See?" she said. "He's injured but he's back home!"
The man lifted his head and smiled at her. Sango frowned, reaching for Hiraikotsu. Something felt very off about this. Shippo suddenly stiffened, and she followed his gaze to a bucket of water at the top of the man's bed. Where his reflection should have been, there was the face of a large lizard demon. Sango's eyes snapped back to the man. He had to be one of the demons that had been plaguing this village! And his disguise must be blocking his youki, somehow.
"Satsuki," Shippo said quietly. "Can you come here? We need to talk."
"What's wrong?" the girl asked, turning to look at him but not moving from her brother's side.
"You must be part of the group staying at the headman's house," the demon said, surveying them coldly, still holding up his disguise.
"Satsuki," Sango said, firm and urgent. "Come here."
The demon snaked an arm around Satsuki's front, hugging her close to him. "You're right that we need to talk," he said, speaking directly to Sango. "You're going to bring me a shard of the Jewel."
"What are you talking about?" Satsuki asked, squirming uncomfortably in his grasp. "I have a shard of the Shikon Jewel. It's the one you gave to me! See, here!"
She pulled the crystal from her kimono and held it up to his face. The demon snorted and grabbed the gem with his free hand, crumbling it to dust. "Can't you tell by looking at it? This is rubbish."
"You imposter!" the girl cried, beginning to kick and struggle. "Who are you?"
"Let her go!" Sango commanded, lifting up Hiraikotsu.
"Or what?" the demon sneered.
She sent her weapon flying at his head, safely clear of Satsuki. The demon cackled as Hiraikotsu passed straight through him without hitting him and embedded itself in the wall behind him. His face rippled and turned transparent for a moment before reforming. Before Sango could react, he lost his human form and changed into a giant, six-armed lizard. One of his arms was still wrapped tightly around Satsuki. He climbed up the wall, dragging her along with him, and scurried to the doorway. Sango unsheathed her sword, but as the demon leapt over her head, he took on his shadowy form. The blade passed through him without hitting anything, and Satsuki fell from his arms.
Sango ran for her but the demon was faster. He wrapped around the child once more, hissing threateningly. Shippo shouted and hurled a ball of foxfire at the demon's face. To everyone's apparent surprise, the flames hit him squarely. The demon shrieked, releasing Satsuki once more as he rolled along the ground, trying to quell the burning. Sango grabbed the girl and ushered both her and Shippo behind her.
She chased after the demon, and swung at him with her sword. He leapt back to avoid the blow, and when she struck again, turned into his shadowy form. Sango swore and dropped back. How the hell was she supposed to fight him when she couldn't even hit him? At least Shippo and Satsuki were safe, and Shippo had actually managed to-
"Shippo!" she shouted, not taking her eyes off the demon. "Hit him with your foxfire again!"
Shippo looked confused but did as she said, throwing another ball of blue flames at the demon. Just as before, it connected solidly, and the demon cried out in pain. Sango immediately darted forward, struck with her sword before the demon had a chance to transform again. This time it hit home, plunging deep into his back. Shippo was immediately by her side once more, sending blast after blast of foxfire at the demon, keeping him pinned down. Sango cut again at the demon's back as he curled into a ball, unable to get a clean killing blow due to his thick hide. Then she heard a grunt behind her, followed by a scraping sound. She spared a glance to see Satsuki dragging Hiraikotsu across the ground towards her.
"Thanks," she said, taking the weapon from her and ignoring the tears slipping down the girl's cheeks. She wasted no time in tearing the demon in half.
"You did it!" Shippo cheered.
"Thanks to you," Sango smiled, before a thought struck her. "The others!"
"What do you mean?" Shippo asked anxiously.
"I could only defeat this one thanks to your foxfire," she explained hurriedly. "Now the others are trapped in a cave with the rest of the pack. We must go help them."
"Oh no," Shippo gasped, turning pale and immediately scampering onto her shoulder.
"Satsuki," Sango said, slipping off her travel clothes and shoving them into her carrying cloth. "You need to run to the headman's house, alright? Tell him that fire hurts the demons, and to use it against them if there happened to be an attack on the village."
"What about you?" the girl asked, staring at them wide-eyed.
"We have to go," Sango said, securing Hiraikotsu over her shoulder. "I'm sorry. We'll be back to check on you soon, alright?"
"Alright," she echoed quietly.
"We don't have time to waste," Shippo said, pulling a tiny toy horse from inside his robes. He threw it into the air and it immediately grew to ten times its original size. "We can ride this to the caves! It should last us all the way there."
Not about to question a free ride, Sango hopped on and held on tightly. The toy shuddered under her weight for a moment before it took off. Shippo jumped from her shoulder and transformed into his giant orb form, and floated along behind her. It was the strangest procession that she'd ever been a part of, but it didn't matter. She just hoped that they would reach the others in time.
xXx
"This is all useless!" Inuyasha groaned. "At this rate we'll never get rid of them."
"We just need a way to draw them out," Miroku said reluctantly. "Should we make them swarm?"
Inuyasha thought about it, and sighed. "Not in here, we shouldn't. If we're going to be piled on by hundreds of demons, I want room to fight them unrestricted. We should do it outside the cave."
"Good plan," Miroku nodded. "Shall we?"
Kirara took the lead this time, as they started back to the cave mouth. She brushed against the wall, scratching an itch on her shoulder. And the wall exploded. Ten demons burst from the shadows and materialized on the floor, hissing at her wildly. Miroku was so surprised that he stopped walking, and Inuyasha bumped into him from behind. He quickly recovered, swung at those closest to him with his staff. To his shock, they immediately disappeared into shadowy shapes, and his staff passed straight through them. The others quickly followed suit, and only the two being pinned down by Kirara weren't disappearing. Inuyasha shot him a startled look as he passed, but lobbed off their heads with Tessaiga nonetheless.
"The hell was that about?" he muttered, bending down to examine the bodies.
"What made those ones stay?" Miroku asked, following some of the swirling shadows on the wall before they scampered away. He could feel dozens of eyes on him. As he stepped forward to join the others, something shot passed him, and pain laced up his arm. He let out a startled cry and spun around, but there was nothing there. What there was, however, was a set of gouges taken out of his upper arm from a demon's teeth. The bite wasn't particularly deep, but it stung. And, as he remembered what the villagers had said about blood, a very, very bad sign. Inuyasha was at his side, tugging at him to see the wound, but then a chattering sound rippled down the tunnel.
The shadows on the walls began to swirl and move as a single mass. Miroku took a breath and tossed a sutra at the stone. As soon as it connected, a good dozen demons spilled out onto the ground. Inuyasha leapt at them with Tessaiga, caught a couple before the rest disappeared. Kirara pounced on another two, pinning one under each paw, while she caught at third in her jaws. The third writhed for only a moment before disappearing as well.
"It's the fire at her paws!" Miroku exclaimed. "It keeps them from transforming!"
"Shit!" Inuyasha swore, as he lifted Tessaiga above his head. He grabbed Miroku with his other arm and shoved him closer to Kirara. More chattering was coming from the walls, followed by thumping and hissing. Something flew at him from the ceiling, and he dodged, swiping at it with his claws. The demon never materialized. Instead, another one bit deep into his calf from the floor. Inuyasha swore loudly and kicked at it, but the demon was already gone.
It was Miroku's turn to drag him towards Kirara, who was reaching out as far as she could with her paws. After a moment's thought, she batted at the walls, which caused a few demons to spill out. Inuyasha dove on them with Tessaiga before they could disappear, and killed two while wounding a third. Miroku glanced around, trying to come up with a plan. The wind tunnel was still an option, maybe, if they could get large quantities of them to emerge at once. The Wind Scar would be dangerous in such a confined space. Their best shot was to do as Inuyasha had said, and make their way back outside before they were swarmed. But would the demons let them leave?
A demon dropped from the ceiling and landed on Kirara's back, sinking its fangs into her haunch. She yowled and snapped at it, but it passed like smoke through her jaws. With her distracted, more poured from the shadows, catching Inuyasha's arm, Miroku's side, Inuyasha's back. Miroku cut through the air with his staff, hoping to dispel them with a burst of spiritual power, but it only sent the demons flying back for a moment. More and more began to materialize around them, disappearing again in a heartbeat, not giving them the chance to strike. Kirara batted away as many as she could, but the fire at her feet could only reach so far. Very slowly, they began working their way back through the tunnel. The shadows became liquid around them.
"Run!" Miroku shouted, throwing a handful of sutras at the walls. They did, sprinting for the outside world. But it was a long tunnel, and there were dozens of demons. They began to hurl themselves at the group with abandon, getting bolder due to their numbers. Miroku and Inuyasha watched each other's' backs and Kirara's as she tried to keep the majority of them away. They were forced to slow down, forced too far away from one another as they ran. Inuyasha swung Miroku onto Kirara's back and jumped on behind him. Miroku raised his staff above them, the head glowing with spiritual power. The light glinted off dozens of eyes which appeared then vanished on the walls.
Kirara took off at a run, Miroku and Inuyasha flattening themselves on top of her. It worked, until a volley of demons leapt onto Inuyasha's back and dragged him off her. She spun around at his cry, batted them off him with her paws. Miroku threw another handful of sutras, caught a few with his staff but not enough. He leapt off Kirara's back, intent on driving back the demons with a spiritual barrier. But then a voice sounded from further up the tunnel.
"Foxfire!"
A blast of blue flames shot past them, and lizard demons began to drop from the walls and the ceiling. Inuyasha struck with his claws, slicing them to pieces, while Miroku and Kirara began fighting their way to where Sanga and Shippo had emerged. The little fox was hurling fireball after fireball down the tunnel, the flames dancing harmlessly off his companions but forcing all the demons to materialize before them. He used his multiple trick, sending versions of himself off in all directions, and the demons which struck at him met only more flames. The tide had turned, and the battle didn't last much longer after that.
"You have excellent timing," Miroku told the pair as they began to walk the length of the tunnel, Shippo keeping up a constant steam of fire to flush out any remaining demons.
"We couldn't let you have all the fun," Sango winked at him.
"I gotta say, Shippo," Inuyasha raised his brows. "I'm impressed! You definitely saved our butts back there."
"You're the ones who actually killed the demons," Shippo pointed out edgily.
"Maybe so, but we couldn't have done it without you," Miroku said.
"You should have seen him with the demon at Satsuki's house," Sango added. "I really think you could have beaten him on your own, Shippo."
"Satsuki's alright?" Miroku asked.
"She wasn't harmed in the fight," Sango said a little more grimly. "But the demon took on the form of her brother, and she found out that her Jewel shard isn't real."
Inuyasha hissed a breath in through his teeth. "That's gotta be rough – though I guess it'll finally knock some sense into her."
xXx
They rode Kirara back to the headman's house, eager to make sure that the demons hadn't fled to the village from the cave. Thankfully, everyone appeared to be unharmed. The headman, Satsuki, and his entire family were waiting anxiously for them at the edge of the village.
"I'm so glad you all are safe!" Satsuki cried, rushing up to meet them.
"Yeah, we're okay," Shippo said, hopping off Kirara's back and surveying her nervously. "How about you?"
Her expression froze for a moment before she shook her head. "I'm alright! Come on, I'm going to help you all get cleaned up. The headman said I can stay here tonight."
The rest of the group exchanged a relieved look as they followed the children into the headman's house. Satsuki already appeared to be right at home, bringing in buckets of water from the well so the adults could heat it up over the fire. The headman insisted on paying for all the bandages they needed to wrap their wounds, and said that it would be no trouble for them to stay another night. No one felt like protesting, and they were soon treated to another hearty meal. Though no one had been too badly injured in the fight, they were all ready to turn in early. At Satsuki's request, a bed was make up for her next to Sango's. Inuyasha an Miroku listened intently on the other side of the divider, and Sango pretended to be asleep with her back to them, as Shippo and Satsuki spoke quietly in the evening light.
"The headman's family seems nice," Satsuki was saying, playing with the sleeve of the new kimono they had given her. "They keep telling me I'll be happy here."
Shippo swallowed. "What about your brother?"
"I always knew he was gone," Satsuki shrugged. "I just had to pretend, for a little while, because I didn't want to be alone."
"You know, I don't have a mother or father either," Shippo said quietly. "But I still have a family, just like you do, now. They make everything okay."
xXx
Sango startled awake late in the night, shadowy hands and Kohaku's screams following her into wakefulness before they slowly disappeared. She glanced around, placing a hand on Kirara's head as the twin-tail blinked up at her. Shippo and Satsuki were fast asleep, sprawled across the bed. Neither of them seemed too shaken by what had happened. She let out a deep breath, forcing the spectres from her mind. She was safe, and everyone else was alright. She looked over to her other side, and was surprised to see Miroku leaning against the wall. He was still on his side of the divider, but situated back far enough that he could still keep an eye on the other half of the room. He gazed back at Sango, eyes warm and expression neutral.
She scooted over to sit beside him and, after a moment, lay her head on his shoulder. He shifted so that his cheek rested against her temple. She didn't ask what had woken him, just as he didn't ask her. This wasn't the first time they had found each other awake. Just like how either Inuyasha or Kirara always seemed to be suspiciously alert in the middle of the night, this was something that they didn't need to talk about. It simply was. When the air was too quiet and still, and the voices of her past were a little too loud, she knew that she could trust her companions to help drive them away. She listened to Kirara's purring, and Shippo's gentle murmur, and it was almost enough. Almost, but not quite.
A soft hum filled the air, so low that she almost didn't notice it. But she could feel it, emanating from Miroku's chest. It was a meandering tune, at times something close to a lullaby. It gave her something to focus on. Slowly, the tension bled from her shoulders, and she began to relax. She couldn't put her gratitude into words, certainly not in a way that he wouldn't simply brush off, so she simply dropped her hand to the top of his head and began stroking his hair. The song slowed for a moment but didn't stop. No words passed between them – they didn't need to. Some nights would be like this, and that was just a part of life. They had each other, they had their family, and together they would wait out the dawn.
Welcome to the Adventures of Shippo: ft. his two tired bi dads and two angry platonic moms.
I am back! I gotta admit, I thought I'd get a lot more editing done in my two weeks away, but this month has been, to put it mildly, messy. However, I'm ready to get going with this new season, and once I have a semblance of free time again, I'll be back to editing this monstrosity!
Thanks to everyone who commented on the last two chapters. I'll admit, I had written the Sesshomaru scenes into the movie chapter before I found out how thirsty y'all were for him and Sango. I still don't know if they'll end up being together, but I'm down to explore it a little more. I also realized that I made a grave mistake on not offering an Inuyasha-Miroku-Sango poly option!
Also, apparently I can no longer make a chapter that's under 10k words. Whoops.
