Nocturne - Chapter Forty-Two: Infamous
Rated - M (for suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, and coarse language)
o - o - o - o - o : Indicates scene or POV change
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
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She was already on edge from earlier, and now Kagome felt her heart begin to pound. She watched as Setsuna started to look around wildly. There it was, out of the corner of her eye. Movement.
Sango ran in front of the pair; her right arm splayed out in a protective manner, and the other at her side where she kept a blade hidden. She'd seen it, too.
"What is it?" Kagome asked.
"We're being watched," Sango replied, nodding towards the side of a house.
Kagome could see nothing but trusted her friend's instincts and her daughter's heightened senses. Sango crept slowly and, with the grace of one, trained not to make a noise towards the backside of a house where Setsuna had glued her eyes. The taijiya had pulled her hidden blade out, brandishing it before her, and put her back up against the house, ready to surprise the suspected interloper.
"What the fuck are you doing, Sango?!" a gruff, angry voice bellowed. The telltale red robe and white hair indicating Inuyasha appeared from around the corner, and he looked mad at having a knife pulled on him.
Sango looked guiltily down at her knife before tucking it back in her hidden pocket. "Oh, Inuyasha? Sorry, we...uh...we heard something."
He narrowed his eyes at her, "We?"
Setsuna broke from her strange trance. "Uncle Inuyasha!" she cried and sprinted towards the unsuspecting hanyo, jumping into his unsuspecting arms.
A broad grin replaced his grimace, and he lifted her into the air. "Well, if it isn't the runt?" he teased. "Bring your mom with ya?"
Kagome hurried over and pulled Setsuna from Inuyasha's grasp. "Please don't call her that."
"What? Runt?" he teased with a smug look. Inuyasha touseled Setsuna's hair and knelt in front of her. "She is." He defended against the girl's small but fierce punches. "Barely taller than me on my knees, this one."
"This is serious, Inuyasha!" Kagome chided. Leave it to him to make light of a situation when it did not call for it. She crossed her arms and took in a steadying breath.
"Keh, woman. You worry too much," he waved her off. He stood and looked over his shoulder before he was overcome with the look of a lovesick puppy. Inuyasha held out a hand, and it was taken by the delicately clawed one of Shizuka.
The hanyo woman looked around hesitantly but gave a small, secret smile once she spotted Sango. Her eyes became more apprehensive, though, when she caught sight of Kagome.
Setsuna grinned and squealed with happiness before pulling Shizuka into a hug. "Aunt Shizuka!"
The quiet woman flipped her long hair behind her shoulder and knelt to look at Setsuna. She motioned with her hands, pointing at Setsuna and Kagome, and then placed her hands over her heart, smiling and tilting her head. Shizuka was a vision of loveliness. Her silver hair was soft and long, her smile like a breath of spring, accenting her golden eyes.
Inuyasha looked down at her with a lovesick expression that Kagome found oddly sweet. He used to look at Kagome with that expression, and despite feeling jealous just earlier, Seeing them together was not as unbearable as she had thought.
"Inuyasha?"
He looked up to see an ungainly Rin, hand on her belly, ambling towards them. Her face seemed twisted with confusion. Once she caught sight of Kagome and Setsuna, though, a smile broke out, and she waved.
"Kagome? Is that you? It's been so long!" Rin called out.
Kagome hurried over to the heavily pregnant woman, and they hugged as best as possible to compensate for her large belly. "Oh, Rin, I can't believe you are going to be a mother!"
"Yes, it still hasn't quite sunk in yet, no matter how big I get!"
"It won't seem real until you hold that tiny babe in your arms; even then, it can seem like a dream," Kagome answered.
"While I'm happy to see you, I'm a bit confused," Rin admitted. She looked back at Inuyasha.
"What do you mean?" Sango asked, walking up to them.
"I just could have sworn I had seen Inuyasha a few moments ago back at the training arena. It was the most unusual thing."
"What are you talking about, woman?" Inuyasha demanded. "We just got here, Shizuka and me."
Rin seemed perplexed. "Right. I, uh, must be seeing things. I thought you looked different, and you were dressed differently, too."
Sango took up Rin's hands. "Would you like to sit down? Maybe the weather is getting to you?"
"I am fine," Rin assured. "It must have been the light playing tricks on my eyes." She shielded the sun from her eyes as emphasis, but everyone looked at her with concern.
Kagome thought it was too much of a coincidence to let slide. "Inuyasha, perhaps you could join me in taking a look?"
"Keh. Why would I do that? I'm busy," he growled in annoyance.
Infuriating as always, Kagome thought and set her jaw. "Please," she said through clenched teeth. "I would feel better if I knew it was nothing. Plus, Setsuna was acting strange."
Inuyasha looked down at the girl who was now conversing with Rin and grimaced. "Fine. Let's make it quick." He most assuredly remembered the events from five years back that had brought Shizuka to him and nearly taken Setsuna from her. Even though it had been much too quiet, he had to know that the underlying threat was still there just waiting for an opportune moment.
They walked silently towards the training arena, with Inuyasha leading the way. Kagome knew how to get there, but the man tromped forward on a mission to get this endeavor over as swiftly as possible.
Kagome ran her forefinger and thumb down the arrow string, ensuring her weapon was present and ready. She rarely went out without the bow. Just the thought of getting caught unprepared was a fear she did not want to face.
The area known as the training arena was more of a field than anything. The grass had been tamped down flat from constant use. There were dummies placed in a line along the north edge of the area where trainees could practice weaponry or combat moves. Many of them were missing their straw heads or limbs, showing wear and tear. The arena was currently bare of any people, the day was nearing evening time, and most of the trainees and instructors had returned home for supper and rest from a long day preparing for an unknown threat.
Kagome looked around and saw nothing. Just the gentle swaying of distant branches as the wind passed through them. She looked towards Inuyasha, who had jumped over to the edge of the training arena. He looked back at Kagome and threw up his arms angrily, implying nothing was found.
Perhaps it had been nothing, Kagome thought. Children were known to see things and hear things that were not there. Their innocent imaginations were always at play, causing them to confuse fantasy with reality. Kagome wanted to believe that was the case, but she knew deep down that Setsuna was no ordinary child who would have such notions.
Inuyasha's ears twitched back and forth on his head. Kagome glanced over and noticed that he'd frozen in place, similarly to how Setsuna had stopped in her tracks. He threw his hand to his side and grasped at air. Kagome realized that he hadn't brought Tessaiga with him. Why would he have cause to need it here where all was safe?
He growled and turned, wielding the only weapon he had on him. His claws were ready and no less deadly, but they put Inuyasha at a disadvantage if a foe attacked with a weapon.
"Fucking coward! Bring your sniveling ass out here and face me!" He snarled.
Kagome had already drawn her bow the moment she saw Inuyasha reach for the missing sword. She looked around wildly, not seeing anything but feeling something amiss.
Answering Inuyasha's call, a figure emerged from beyond the tree line. Kagome could no longer see Inuyasha's face, but she could only assume he wore an expression of disbelief that would match hers. A white-haired inu hanyo stalked towards them with a wicked grin plastered on his face, exposing long and deadly canines. This could be Inuyasha's twin if it weren't for long scars cutting down his cheekbones under each eye. The symmetry of the scars could only mean they were not coincidental and placed there by design. The scars looked angry and fresh, which could only mean that they were replaced each time the hanyo would heal.
"The fuck?" Inuyasha grunted. "What the hell are you supposed to be?"
The hanyo chuckled and crossed his arms beneath his chest, and his chin rose as his head smugly cocked to the side. He wore no weapons nor any armor, just simple clothing that could only be labeled as inconspicuous. "They told me to keep my head low, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the famed Inuyasha," he admitted.
"Keh. Should listen to your betters, huh?" Inuyasha challenged. His claws flexed menacingly by his sides. "Or you just too fucking stupid?"
The hanyo just scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Nah, I'm just excited to meet you finally. Heard so much about what a badass you were." He started laughing with mirth, holding his sides. "I'm sorry, I can't-I can't..." he continued to laugh, taking deep breaths," can't keep a fucking straight face."
Inuyasha released a scoff of his own. "The fuck is this shit?" He gestured to the hanyo, who was bent over laughing.
Kagome looked from one hanyo to the next, her arrow trained on the stranger. Her tiny motion brought attention to her.
"Ya gotta be fucking kidding me?!" He yelled with glee. "The damn miko, too?"
Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder towards her. "I'm the one you gotta worry about, kid," he warned, drawing the hanyo attention back to him. "Whatdya want? Aside from a swift death?"
The hanyo whistled through his teeth. "Hnn." He splayed his legs apart and bent over to place a hand on the ground, looking as if he were readying to take off in a sprint. "Gotta catch me first, old man," he said darkly.
Her fingers ached to be free of the bowstring, and Kagome wasn't quite sure why she'd held on so long. This was not a friend to be reasoned with. She knew exactly what this was...a threat to be dealt with accordingly, and time was not on her side. Kagome loosed the arrow and watched as it flew to its target. She'd practiced frequently, as much to blow of worried stress as to keep in top form.
The hanyo looked up at her and smiled, seemingly amused at her attempt to incapacitate him. Kagome felt her pulse quicken, the adrenaline pumping through her veins at full speed the second she realized she had missed. Rather, the hanyo had moved, avoiding the spiritual arrow and fixing her with a nasty leer.
He leaped into the air and landed on top of Kagome, knocking her to the ground and the air from her chest. "Father will be pleased to learn that his miko has left the safety of her nest," he whispered into her ear. The rancid stench of his breath, coupled with the way he used the words 'his Miko', caused her to shudder despite herself.
The hanyo's grin never left his face even as he was lifted bodily off her with a roar and tossed away. Inuyasha stood over her in a protective stance. "Touch her again, and you'll lose the fucking hand!" He shouted.
The man had skidded several feet away and laughed at Inuyasha's threat. "Gotta catch me first, old man," he said before rocketing off.
"Old man?!" Inuyasha shouted in disbelief. He bolted off after the hanyo, growling loudly and leaving Kagome on her rear in the fields of the training arena.
She moved to her knees and stopped when movement registered at the corner of her eye. Kagome's head snapped up, and she saw two figures watching her from a distance. While she couldn't make out their features, the silver sheen of hair was unmistakable. Her heart dropped even as they disappeared into the trees. So they had been watching, she discerned. But For how long?