Chapter Forty-Five
Disclaimer: I own nothing that belongs to the creators of Inuyasha!
Soooooo it's been a minute...
I honestly don't want to sit here and give excuses about why it's been so long, I would just rather get back into a regular posting schedule and continue on with this story! Although I will sincerely apologize for my fantastic readers and their wait over the past while. If you are still out there please feel free to touch base!
ONWARD!
It felt so good to be home.
That was the first thought that came to mind when I awoke in Kaede's hut with the sun streaming in through her window, and the birds chirping just outside. The second thought had me freezing in shock, however, as I shifted to sit up in my bedroll.
How had I gotten here?
'The last thing I remember…' I trail off in thought, eyes widening as I press the heel of my hand against my forehead. Flashbacks from the battle start to play in my mind.
Jaromaru.
Kageromaru.
An opal-like jewel emerging from my chest.
My jewel.
"You're awake," Sango's voice pulls me back to the present, a relieved sigh escaping heavily through her parted lips as she enters through the doorway of Kaede's home. "Thank goodness. You gave us all a scare," she adds, brown eyes shining with concern. The demon slayer comes over to kneel beside me, eye level with me now as I sit up straighter.
"How did we get back to the village?" I ask, frowning in confusion. We had been days away when I was last conscious. Had I been out of it for all that time?
"Miroku called on Hachi to come and give us a lift. We all agreed we had to get back here as soon as possible to allow you time to rest, to recover, where it's safest. Koga returned to his Tribe after he was sure you were going to be okay," Sango answers, shifting to sit on her right hip and bracing herself with her right hand against the floor. Her brows furrow, clearly hesitating before speaking. "D-do you remember what happened?"
"Yeah," I answer weakly, the memories so vivid it was almost frightening. "I've no idea how I did that though. Mayumi told me that I wouldn't be able to create a Sacred Jewel till I was nineteen. I'm still months away from that."
"It looked nothing like the Sacred Jewel," Sango added, sounding almost mystified. "It was a beautiful, white but filled with flecks of every color imaginable."
"It was scary," I correct her, voice shaking slightly as I ran a hand weakly through my unbound hair. "It was like the jewel itself took over my body. I couldn't control what I was doing…I didn't want to," I add lowly, remembering the utter hatred I had felt for the two demons deep within my soul. I had wanted them dead, felt the need to kill them settle deep into my very bones.
It was unnerving.
I feel the pressure of Sango's hand rubbing soothingly against my upper back, and I turn to look at her, eyes burning with tears of fear. "What if it happens again? What if it takes over completely?" I can feel my heart racing, panic settling in. Sango looks worried, even as she shakes her head.
"That won't happen," her response has such conviction that I almost believe her.
"I want it out of me," I reach up, grabbing at the material of my top with my hands, pulling at it hard. My stomach clenched as I closed my eyes, willing the jewel to drift from my body once and for all.
Nothing happens.
"I want it out! I want it out now!" I cry, tears now pouring down my face unchecked. Sango wraps her arms around me firmly in a hug, holding me to her and running her fingers through my hair as I sob pathetically into her chest. This wasn't me. I wasn't one to sit around crying like this. I got up and I dealt with issues, I didn't cry about them.
This, though, this had me downright terrified.
The last thing I remember before allowing exhaustion to pull me back under, is the feeling of my friend's fingers massaging my scalp, gently soothing my tears to a stop.
Mayumi's POV
I sigh heavily as I step below the wisteria tree in the courtyard garden, hand reaching up slightly to brush my fingers along the vibrant purple flowers that hung around me. The bandage that wraps around my hand is a stark reminder of what had transpired the night before, my stomach was still in knots and head filled with racing thoughts. It had been a rare moment alone without Naraku shadowing my every move. He had been gone on business, though what type of business he refused to elaborate on. I had been sipping my evening tea when I had felt the most peculiar disturbance from deep within. It started as a gentle ripple, before becoming an all-communing tidal wave.
And I had started to glow.
Looking down at my pale hands now I still can hardly believe it. I would have thought it to be a dream, other than the feeling of the hot tea spilling over my right hand as I dropped the cup. I can still vividly see in my mind's eye the blue haze that had covered my skin. Would Naraku know what it was? Should I even tell him?
"What happened to your hands?"
Startled, I choke back a gasp and turn sharply to see the very man I had just been thinking about. His eyes are emotionless as he looks from my bandaged hand to my face, not even a hint of real concern or curiosity on his face.
"Spilled my tea last night. I was tired and clumsy," the lie slips from between my lips before I can further debate telling him the truth. Naraku simply raises an eyebrow, stepping forward and taking my injured hand between his own. I can feel my whole body tremble at the touch of his cool, smooth fingertips as he turns my hand to face upwards, opening the palm to gaze down at, incidentally, where the worst of the burn was beneath the layers of cloth. His handsome face deepens in a frown as he gently works at where I had knotted the material, ever graceful as he undoes the bandaging and almost tenderly unwinds if from around my hand. I'm holding my breath as he gets to the last layer, allowing the dirtied bandage to fall carelessly to the ground below as my still angry red skin comes into view. I take note that a blistered seemed to have formed and burst in the center of the palm, no doubt the reason for it's exceptional soreness this morning.
"You should leave it out to air. Covering burns make them worse," Naraku informs me, his voice even as he gazes from my blistered palm and slowly up my arm till our eyes meet once more. Now I have to tilt my head back to meet his gaze, what with him being so close and much taller than myself. "You should also be more careful," he adds lowly, his thumb suddenly starting to rub soothing circles on my wrist, right over my now racing pulse. I swallow thickly, nodding, unable to form words in that moment. Even if I could, I don't doubt my voice would be shaking.
Was this lust? Or fear? Right now my mind is so muddled I honestly couldn't tell the difference.
"Well, I shall leave you to your morning walk then," Naraku breaks the tense silence after a few moments, letting go of my hand finally when he does. He bows his head respectfully, and I'm at least of a mind to do so in return before he finally moves away and I feel like I can breathe again.
Who was this man?
Yua's POV
The next time I awoke I was surrounded by the smell of pine and warmth, the combination sinking right into my very bones and having me melting right there on the spot. Humming softly in recognition, I turn my head slightly to look over my shoulder, Inuyasha laying directly behind me. His strong arm that is laying over the dip of my waist tightens when he realizes that I'm awake, his own head tilting down to look at me from where he had propped himself up with his open arm. His lids lower every so slightly over his golden eyes, filled with soft concern as he offers me a weak smile.
"Hey," my voice cracks slightly, as it usually does when I first get up.
"Hey," Inuyasha replies, voice low and soft. His chest is against my back, so I can feel the soothing rumble of his voice. "Sango said you still weren't feeling well when you woke up earlier." He murmurs, lifting his arm from where it's draped over my middle to reach up and brush my hair out of my face, his claws gently scraping against my skin as he does. I let out a shaky breath, both from the shadow of the emotions I had felt before and the feeling of his nails against my skin.
"Yeah, but I feel better now," I murmur quietly, allowing my eyes to slip close for a moment as he tenderly drags the back of his knuckles along my cheek facing him. Before I can open my eyes again I feel his warm lips on my own, soft yet persistent as I twist my body around to face his own, keeping our mouths locked together as I do. It's not a deep kiss, but a comforting one, as his hand moves to cup the side of my face, holding me in place. 'As if I would rather be anywhere else right now,' I think to myself in mild amusement as he gently nibbles at my lower lip, but other than that, doesn't move to deepen the kiss. Inuyasha pulls away too soon in my personal opinion, causing me to open my eyes and lock gazes with him once more.
"I'm glad you're okay," it leaves him with a rush of air, and I can see his entire body relaxing, as if he had been wound tight up till that moment. It hits me then that as scared as I was about what had happened, Inuyasha no doubt was feeling much the same as I was. I reach forward with the arm I wasn't laying against, cupping his face now as his hand slowly drags off of mine.
"I'm sorry. I don't even know how it happened or why," I frown deeply, anxiety bubbling up from inside of me once more.
"I may have a theory," Kaede's wise voice speaks up from somewhere behind me, and I find myself freezing as heat floods my face.
Had she just seen us sucking face too?
"You could have warned me we had company," I groan in embarrassment, tilting my head forward to bury it against Inuyasha's chest, inhaling his scent deeply. Inuyasha chuckles lowly, his hand coming around to rub my back soothingly as he kisses the top of my head. I blink as the realization hits me.
Was Inuyasha really kissing me in front of people?
'PDA is definitely not his style, but maybe he really was scared he was going to lose me?' I wonder inwardly, chewing softly at my lower lip as I reluctantly pull away and sit up slowly, turning to look at not only Kaede, but the whole gang sitting around the fire pit and cooking what I assumed was dinner.
I didn't appreciate Miroku's sly smirk.
Inuyasha sits up slowly as well behind me, shifting to stand and then coming around to offer me a hand up as well. I look up, about to take his hand before frowning as I noticed the bandage starting along his forearm just under the cover of his large sleeve. Pushing it back instead, I shake my head seeing the blood stains on the white cloth.
"Let me heal it?" I ask softly, looking up to Inuyasha as he stares down at me, shaking his head.
"It's already mostly healed, Yua. I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore," he assures me, before twisting his hand to grab my own and effortlessly lifting me up onto my feet. My knees buckle slightly, but as always my mate is there to catch me, and does so with ease. I steady myself against his broad frame, taking a deep breath before managing a step forward with Inuyasha's help.
"Ye are as weak as a newborn colt, Yua," Kaede observes as Inuyasha helps me to sit down by the fire, the warmth welcome as it washes over me.
"I guess I am. I didn't realize," I admit, frowning as I look down at my shaking hands, clasping them together and placing them firmly in my lap as I sit crossed legged on the floor. "So, you were saying something about a theory?" I ask then as Inuyasha takes his seat next to me.
"Aye. I believe that knowing your friends were in trouble made you unconsciously call the jewel forward," Kaede explains, but I can't help shaking my head, brows furrowed in confusion.
"We've been in trouble plenty of times before. How was this any different?"
"Mayumi's soul is no longer attached to ye own," Kaede answers smoothly, and I can't help my stomach clenching in the worry and guilt that came whenever I thought of her. It still plagued my nightmares to think of what was being done to her by Naraku, and knowing that it had been all my fault to begin with. "I would not doubt that Mayumi's soul kept that jewel locked away securely, whether consciously or unconsciously, especially when ye realized it was Naraku that ye were dealing with."
"So, because Mayumi is no longer able to withhold the power of Yua's jewel, she can tap into it?" Miroku asks, a frown marring his own features.
"I honestly doubted that I could create a jewel at all, let alone before my nineteenth birthday," I speak up, still feeling confused. "I'm human, aren't I? I'm not special like Mayumi. I never had any of these powers before I came here. Before I met her."
"I believe ye did, Yua," Kaede argues. "There was no need for those powers in your era, so they remained dormant before coming here. Ye have the same powers as Mayumi-"
"I have my powers because of Mayumi," I argue firmly, shaking my head.
"Then would they not have gone with Mayumi when she did? Would ye's power have continued to grow?" Kaede quickly retorts, and I find my mouth gaping open, the denial that had been ready to spill forth lodged in my throat.
Because she made sense.
"So, not only is there the Sacred Jewel, but Yua's jewel as well for Naraku to try and claim?" Sango asks, Kaede nodding solemnly.
"Getting his hands on the Sacred Jewel would mean all of Japan being pulled back into the Dark Ages. Having both? He could end the world as we know it," Kaede confirms, poking gently at the fire under the boiling stew as she does. The smell of the food makes me feel nauseous now, my head light.
"A-and what about Mayumi's jewel?" I ask softly then, looking between everyone as they all pause and look back towards me in confusion. "Mayumi never gave her jewel up. What if she still possesses it inside of her?"
A tense silence falls over all of us, and I feel Inuyasha's hand laying atop my knee closest to him and squeezing it firmly.
"We best pray that, that isn't the case," Kaede answers solemnly. "Until ye, Yua, turn nineteen that jewel will not leave your body. Only after nineteen will ye be able to separate completely from your jewel, and we can destroy it before Naraku gets a chance to take it," I swallow thickly at that.
So, until I turn nineteen, I am going to have to live with what felt like a ticking time-bomb inside of my body.
Great.
Fantastic.
Bloody brilliant.
"Naraku has many incarnations," Miroku speaks up over supper later that evening. Shippo looks up from where he's nestled into my side, eating his own stew.
"You're talking about Juromaru and Kageromaru?" Sango asks.
"Yes, the fourth incarnation, Juromaru, is the younger sibling of the two," Miroku states, and I pause eating to listen more intently, curious to know where he was going with this. Even Inuyasha, who had long finished his dinner, leans every so slightly more forward off of the nearby wall he was sitting against. "He lives only for the thrill of battle, and seems to pay no heed to Naraku's orders."
"Clearly," I snort a little. "He did attempt to decapitate him."
"Precisely, and Naraku obviously figured on this or else he wouldn't have sent a puppet in his stead to release them on us. Naraku has great trouble controlling him," Miroku observes.
"And then there is Kageromaru, the oder sibling, who laid dormant inside of Jaromaru," Sango frowns, setting her own bowl of stew down in front of her knees. "Both of them are brutal, and quite mysterious," my back straightens at that.
"Are?" I question sharply. "You can't mean they survived?" I look around to all my friends, before my gaze lands on my lover, sharpening. "Inuyasha?"
"We think so," he answered calmly, his hands remaining folded within the sleeves of his fire rat robe. "I could smell traces of them in the air as we escaped with Hachi," my hands clench tightly into fists, nails biting into my skin hard enough to almost make them bleed.
If I couldn't kill them with that awful power, how could I expect to help stop Naraku himself?
"We don't know who or even what kind of enemy will attack next," Kaede speaks up, her concerned eye on me for a moment longer before she looks towards everyone else. "I encourage ye all to be extremely careful and keep ye wits about ye."
"Come on, Yua, let's get some fresh air," Inuyasha voice speaks up from behind me, and it's only then that I realize I hadn't even unclenched my hands yet. Swallowing thickly I look over my shoulder, giving him a small nod, feeling relief flooding through me as he stands and walks over to offer a hand up. Placing my smaller hand in his, he helps me to stand once more, though slowly this time, allowing my legs to adjust. "We'll be back before sundown," Inuyasha adds to the others as he places his one hand on my lower back, the other staying clasped in my own. As he leads me to the door Miroku predictable speaks up.
"We won't count on it," the sly monk's smirk only widens when I throw him a dirty look over my shoulder, and he even has the audacity to wink at me.
"Miroku! She can barely walk!" Sango's scandalized tone brings a small smile to my face as we step down off of the raised wood flooring and out through the doorway.
"Well, walking most certainly won't be an issue for that."
The sound of skin slapping skin echoes behind us before the mat over the door falls back into place. Inuyasha just shakes his head, rolling his eyes as he does, before letting me go and stepping around in front of me. When he kneels down I know exactly what he wants without having to ask, and slide up onto his back. A sigh of contentment passes through my lips at the familiar feeling of his strong hands gripping my thighs, and his muscles back pressed to my front.
"Thank you," I murmur softly to him, pushing his hair out of the way to nuzzle my face into his neck. Inuyasha doesn't say anything, doesn't have to. Instead he gives me a warning to hold on tight, before taking off down the road and out of the village. I take the time to just enjoy his presence, the wind rushing by my face, the warmth of his body against my own, and, above all, the simplicity of this moment.
When was the last time it was just him and I like this?
I press my cheek against his own at that thought, and somehow I know he's thinking the same thing as I feel him lean his head against my own. Soon the river fades away, the village is far in the background, and trees start to whiz by. Looking around curiously, it takes me a moment to realize where he is heading.
Back to his tree. The Sacred Tree.
When we get there he skids to a stop, kneeling down to let me off of his back. I find this time my legs are much steadier, and walk around him back up to the large trunk. I can still see the smoothed section of bark where he had once rested, my fingers just barely reaching the bottom of the stop from where I stood.
"Seems like forever ago since I found you here," I break the silence after a moment, looking over my shoulder to see Inuyasha watching me intently. I flush under his scrutiny, for some reason feeling suddenly self conscious, and drop my hand down lightly from the tree. I frown when he doesn't say anything, just continues to stare. "What is it?"
"I thought I had lost you," Inuyasha replies, his voice thicker than normal. I swallow back a rush of emotion at that.
"I know-"
"No, no you don't know," Inuyasha cuts me off rather sharply, surprising me. He begins to move forward, step by slow step closing the distance between us.
And suddenly I felt like I had back when he had first woken.
Like I was the prey, and he was the predator.
But this time I wasn't scared. No, far from it.
I felt a rush of heat coursing through my veins, and for the first time I really took in the fact that we were alone.
Alone, alone.
"I barely had control of myself when you fell to the ground unconscious," he continues on, his gaze heated and possessive as he moves to close the gap between us. I found myself backed right up against the tree, no where to go, no where to hide from his intense presence. "I almost lost myself to the demon. He was right there, below the surface, begging to be released to go and find Kageromaru and Jaromaru and rip them limb from limb," my hands move unconsciously to rest on his chest when he got close enough, but apparently he wasn't having it as he grabbed both of my wrists and pinned them above my head, a surprised gasp bursting forth and causing his gaze to drop from my eyes to my lips. His own golden eyes had gone almost molten in color, and perhaps it might have been the lighting with the sun setting, but I swear I could see red rimming around his irises. Inuyasha shifts my hands together so he can pin me at my wrists with one of his own, freeing the other to cup the back of my neck. I release a shaky breath, my fingers wrapping around the hand that now pinned mine to the trunk.
"Inuyasha, I-" Inuyasha's low growl cuts me off this time.
"Don't. Speak." In any other situation I would probably be very offended by his barked out order, and would have fought him on it too.
But I was honestly way too fucking turned on to form a single coherent thought.
Rather than kissing me senseless, as I thought he was going to do, he drags the hand clasping the back of my neck up into my hair, gripping the strands in his fingers and tugging gently but firmly. He uses his grip as leverage to tilt my head, and darts right in for his mark on my neck. My eyes close as my breathing stops altogether when he simply licks the puncture scars, electricity shooting through my veins at the touch.
When he attaches his lips to my skin around the mark and sucks, however, my knees buckle out from under me.
He quickly uses his own body to stop my from falling completely, the hand that had been in my hair moving instead down between the tree and my body till it hits the curve of my ass. With his demon strength he is easily able to lift me up off of the ground as he nibbles his way up my neck to my ear.
"Wrap your legs around me," the low command sends shivers down my spine, and I do what he asks without hesitation. "Good girl," he groans out as our lower bodies rub against one and other. "I'm going to scent you, and I need you to relax and let me do what I gotta do, okay?" He murmurs, his voice suddenly much softer then it just had been. I blink a little trying to make sense of this through the haze he had me in. The warmth of his breath against my ear, and the feeling of his tongue and lips playing with the lobe is wrecking havoc on my thinking process.
"W-what?" I gasp out as he nibbles at my ear before kissing it and starting to mouth back down my neck once more.
"I need you to smell like me. To be mine. Let me do this, I'll explain more when my own head is straight," Inuyasha groans as he finally lets go of my hands, if only to be able to use both of his to undo the tie at my waist. At this point his hips and the tree at my back are the only things keeping me up in the air, and I can feel him, heavy and hard, rubbing against my clothed sex, teasing and taunting.
"A-are we going to…?" I'm breathing so heavily by this point as he finally works the tie free and shoves my top open, only to growl in frustration seeing the bindings wrapped around my upper half to keep things in place. I can't help the yelp that escapes me when he takes a single claw and expertly tears the wrappings right down the middle from just above my breasts to just under.
"No, not with me like this. I don't have enough control. I'll hurt you," Inuyasha states firmly, grabbing what was left of the bindings and pulling them from around my body, throwing them carelessly to the ground. I was exposed from the waist up now, his gaze looking on hungrily as I can't help blushing, arms itching to move to cover myself. He looks up into my eyes then, as if sensing my unease, and the sexiest smirk I've ever seen him make spreads over his lips. "But I'm going to make you feel good, promise," that was all the warning I got before he suddenly leaned down to take the nipple of my right breast into his mouth, being very careful with his fangs. I can't help throwing my head back, and as it hits the trunk there is a momentary flash of pain that is quickly overturn with pleasure from the feeling of Inuyasha grinding our lower halves together. My own hands find purchase in his hair, gripping it tightly as he soothes my nipple with his tongue before moving on to the other. Sparks of heat flare from my chest down to between my legs and back up again, his mouth and hips almost confusing my body with which thing to focus on more.
Then one of his hands grabs one of my own from his hair, my right one to be precise, and he leans back from my chest to instead lean his forehead against my own. Breathing heavily through his nose he makes sure to press and rub his body against my own, and in return I find myself moving as much as I can against him.
Was this what he meant by scenting?
At random I would feel his cock brush against my clit through my clothes, enough to keep me on the edge and wanting more, but not consistent enough to build. I could feel myself clenching, body begging to be filled, and as Inuyasha's nose flares, I know he can smell how much I wanted him too.
"I can't touch you with my claws," Inuyasha murmurs, his voice husky as he leans back just enough to start dragging the hand he had grabbed down the center of my body, between my aching breasts. They were tight now from the cool evening air hitting the saliva he had left behind, and I wanted nothing more than to feel his warm mouth on them again. When he guides my hand down to the band of my pants, I finally clue in to what he might have in mind, eyes widening then as my lips part in surprise. Inuyasha leans in, kissing me hard as he pushes our hands together down into my pants, drowning my squeak of surprise when he manipulates my fingers with his own to rub over my hardening clit. Breaking the kiss he groans, no doubt from the torture of feeling my warmth but not truly being able to touch me. His eyes lock with mine as he braces his free hand against the tree, pushing my hand further down to my entrance to gather some of the slick dripping out from me. There was so much it ended up coating both of our fingers, and as he slowly drags my fingers back up I can feel my whole body tightening with anticipation.
This was hot. It was dirty, and hot.
'He still wants to feel in control, even though he can't do it himself,' I think to myself, before everything goes blank when I finally find my clit again. "Inuyasha!" I can't help gasping out his name, and the moment I do, I can hear the bark beside my head crunching as his nails dig into the wood. Inuyasha presses his body into my own, and I whimper at the feeling of the fabric of his robe as it rubs against my sensitive nipples. In a feat that surprises even me, I take the hand that was still in his hair, and somehow manage to split open his robes with one hand far enough that I finally feel his chest against my own. Skin to skin. Inuyasha growls at that, rubbing his body against mine once more as his fingers, currently in my pants with my own, begin to mercilessly guide my fingers to rub in tight circles. The burning increases tenfold, and the tightening in my lower belly came on so suddenly that I began shaking almost uncontrollably.
It was actually a little embarrassing how quickly I was going to come.
"You're so wet," Inuyasha groans as he dips our fingers back down to gather up more wetness, before quickly redirecting me back to my clit and resuming the tight circles. He takes in a deep breath, before letting out a low, possessive, growl. "I can almost taste you on my tongue."
"Oh fuck," I whimper, his words stoking the fire to the point it was unbearable. "Please, please, please!"
"Are you going to come for me? Yeah?" Inuyasha moans as he leans down suddenly to take my right nipple back into his mouth. I am sure I must have been a blathering idiot by this point, but I'm quite confident I at least got out a yes as my world started to crash down around me. "That's it, come on our fingers. You've got this," he encourages, and it's like he said the magic words to send me careening over. My legs shake around him as my entire body locks up, unable to even whimper with the power of my release. I try to pull my hand away, but he lifts his head from my breast and snarls to keep it there. He keeps rubbing me through the waves of my orgasm, prolonging it until I find myself begging him to stop, that I was just too sensitive. Mercifully he pulls both of our hands together out, but before I can take my hand back, he instead brings our fingers to his mouth, licking them clean with what I can only describe as a delighted groan. When he's done he allows my hand to gently drop, leaning in then and kissing me softly to help bring my body back down. I grip onto him like a lifeline, still trembling from the aftershocks.
"I love you," I can't help murmuring against his lips, which I feel quirk in a small smile against my own. He doesn't say it in return, doesn't have to.
I know he feels the same way.
When he's sure that I can stand, he gently lowers me back down to the ground, and even helps me to right myself. However, Inuyasha only looks slightly apologetic when I pick up the shreds of my bindings and turn to him with a raised eyebrow.
"So, uh, that was scenting, huh?" I ask softly after a moment, feeling weirdly shy all of a sudden. Inuyasha smirks a little, crossing his arms as he stands only feet away from me.
"Well, sort of," he murmurs, before stepping forward so he can brush some of my wayward strands of hair back. I tilt my head curiously at that.
"What do you mean 'sort of'?"
"Well, in reality, all I really had to do was rub up against you to get my scent on you," he shrugs innocently then, a playful smirk on his face. "Everything else was…a bonus."
"For you or for me?" I scoff, wondering if he had really gotten anything out of what we had just done.
"Oh, definitely for us both," he assures me, his gaze heated once again. I swallow thickly, about to lean forward to close the distance completely and return the favor, until we both stiffen at the sudden breeze that whips around us.
Something felt off, a coldness seeping into the air around me, around us.
The tree above us shake almost violently, and Inuyasha quickly grabs a hold of me to pull me back into his chest as we both gaze upwards. The creature slowly comes into sight through the opening in the canopy above. A great serpentine-like creature with deep red skin.
"It almost looks like one of Kikyo's Soul Snatchers," I murmur in wonder, feeling Inuyasha stiffen behind me.
"It is a giant Soul Snatcher. Look at the souls trailing behind it!" He exclaims, pointing towards the belly of the creature. I gasp seeing that he was indeed right, and there little orbs of light dancing around.
"Where there is one," we both hear someone stumbling through the brush, and a familiar raven haired priestess weakly walks out into the clearing, "there is usually the other," I finish, tone suggesting I was clearly not impressed.
"K-kikyo," Inuyasha stutters in surprise, his arms wrapping protectively around me and pulling me back further into him.
'I mean, the last time Kikyo and I had been alone together she had tried to kill me so his protectiveness might be warranted,' I frown, Kikyo turning weakly towards us.
"I-Inuyasha," She manages to get his name out before falling to the ground. I frown, unconsciously wanting to move forward towards the woman, only realizing I was doing so when Inuyasha's grip stops me.
"What are you doing?" He snaps down at me, pulling my body back into his.
"Listen, I don't like this any better than you do, but I'd be just as bad as her if I stood by and let her die. She looks hurt," I tell him gently, grabbing at his hands and slowly loosening their grip on me. "I don't have to like her to help her." Inuyasha still looks torn as he gazes between Kikyo's prone form and me, and internal battle clear in his eyes.
If he helped her, would it look like he was developing feelings for her again?
I reach up with both hands, cupping his face as I smile up at him. "I'm the one with your mark, right?" I ask rhetorically, and at this he seems to relax, nodding. I nod in return, before letting him go and hurrying over to Kikyo.
"Kikyo?" I call out, her delirious gaze looking unseeingly upwards. "Kikyo? Can you hear me? Can you tell me what's going on?"
"W-where is it?" Kikyo asks weakly. I frown at that, shaking my head in confusion, about to ask what she was looking for before suddenly I could hear the familiar sound of Naraku's insects buzzing just beyond the clearing. Both Inuyasha and I look towards the bees as they float in and out of sight.
"Is this a trap set by Naraku you think?" I ask, turning my gaze back down to Kikyo, torn between knowing whether to help her or prepare for the worst.
"It is…for me….the Soul Snatcher….is taking…my souls," Kikyo manages to get out, my eyes widening in realization as I look up towards where the gigantic Soul Snatcher was still hovering.
Then suddenly it was charging.
"Yua!" Inuyasha shouts as I throw my hands up, creating a barrier to ward the Soul Snatcher off. I wince feeling it hit my aura, the barrier flickering with the impact.
I was still weak from before.
Inuyasha snarls, taking advantage of the Soul Snatchers moment of discombobulation to draw Tessaiga, stepping out of my barrier as he does.
"You've picked a fight with the wrong guy, you worm. Now I'm going to cut you down to size!" Inuyasha growls, facing off against the large demon. He uses the momentum of the Soul Snatcher charging against it, catching the blade of his sword through the monster's mouth and slicing his straight down the middle. Both side of the create flop open on the ground, releasing the souls from within, and sensing the danger was over, I lower my barrier to allow Kikyo's souls to return to her. Her own Soul Snatchers do their work as I stand and step back, Inuyasha sheathing Tessaiga and coming to stand beside me. It's easy to tell when Kikyo begins to come to, her glare of loathing cutting through the both of us the moment she's coherent enough to muster it.
"What are you both doing here?" Kikyo asks sharply, and I find my shoulders unconsciously squaring as I even stand a little taller.
"Saving your sorry ass. What are you doing here?" I snap back to the rude priestess in return.
"The demon was chasing me," Kikyo mutters, beginning to move around weakly, but not yet standing.
"So you lead him here hoping we'd clean up your mess for you?" Inuyasha is the one to speak up this tone, sounding surprisingly disgusted. I blink a little in shock, looking up at him to see if maybe he was showboating, even just a little, to make sure I didn't feel insecure about Kikyo's presence.
One look in his eyes tells me his disgust is one hundred percent real and all his own.
I can't help that a very small, petty part of me was kind of jumping in joy at his open dislike for her.
Was it bad, childish even, that I wanted to rub it in her face?
"Don't be a fool, Inuyasha! I was running blindly for my life when I happened to come upon you both," Kikyo snaps, clearly struggling to stand. "And now, I'll be on my way once more."
"Where are you going?" I can't help asking as she braces herself against the nearby tree. The very tree, I can't help noting smugly, that Inuyasha and I had just been up against.
"To defeat Naraku," Kikyo answers, wiping any smugness I might have felt away with surprise.
And a little fear for the priestess too, if I was being honest.
"You can't mean to take him on your own? You're not strong enough!" Inuyasha scoffs in disbelief, Kikyo throwing him a harsh glare.
"I believe that I have the advantage of Onigumo once being in love with me, and thus Naraku still harboring those feelings as well. I can use that to my advantage," she informs us. I frown deeply, shaking my head.
"Kikyo…you can't depend on that as a weakness."
"Well, if that fails," Kikyo smirks wickedly, "then I shall just use Mayumi as leverage then."
Both Inuyasha and I freeze at that.
"W-what did you just say?" Inuyasha asks in disbelief, my own head filling with what sounded almost like white noise.
Did she mean that Mayumi has been resurrected? That she now has physical form just as we feared?
Before Kikyo answers either of us, her Soul Snatchers pick her up, pulling her with them into the sky, her laughter at our expense echoing through the clearing. I look to Inuyasha with wide, fearful eyes, and he looks back at me with much the same expression.
What were we going to do now?
"So you believe that Mayumi has been fully reincarnated? Based on Kikyo saying she'd use her a leverage?" Miroku asks, clearly sounding doubtful. "What would Kikyo even know about what transpired with Mayumi's soul? Perhaps she means to use the mirror that her soul is still no doubt still stored in?"
"There was this conviction in her voice, Miroku. You had to be there to hear it. When she said she'd use Mayumi as leverage…" I trail off a shudder running down my spine. "She knows far more than you believe," I finish lowly, frowning as I look towards Inuyasha. He had situated himself to the side, sitting back against the wall of the hut like usual.
"If that be the case, then our worst fears may yet come to light," Kaede murmurs, her tone grave.
"Naraku is most likely not only in possession of most of the Sacred Jewel, but of Mayumi's jewel as well," Sango frowns deeply, and I feel Shippo curl in a little tighter to my side. I pick the little boy up, wrapping my arms around him and holding him tight to my chest as he burrows against it, hiding his little face away.
"Mayumi won't give it to him." I state confidently, before wavering slightly. "Not if she can help it."
Sooooo what do you think? This was actually really hard to write because for the episodes this is bridging there is supposed to be all this triangle drama in the anime that I didn't want happening and didn't seem to fit to this story as it's progressing. I think I came up with an interesting filler chapter though lol! As always please let me know what you think and I should be back sooner rather than later!
Until next time!
T.O.T.