Chapter 79: Shiori's Family & Inuyasha's Feelings
It's another fine, sunny day here in Edo, and yet as we zero in on the calm shorelines of a coastal section, we see a small progression of people who's mood could be anything but.
Walking up front was a young woman with long black hair tied back, and dark brown eyes, keeping a serious and stoic expression on her features, while two men (plus some others bringing up the rear) carry a sedan holding a little girl with silver-grey hair, tan skin, wearing a simple white kimono, and in no way hiding the anxiety corroding her being...
Suddenly, the sky darkens overhead, and the progression stops, waiting for the source to show themselves...
It would be revealed as a giant bat demon with long white hair and skin in similar colour to that of the young girl, who upon landing on the ground, would cast his eyes to her:
"You've brought the girl..."
...She opens her eyes, revealed to be a beautiful shade of purple, and gazes at the demon in surprise...and worry.
Time Skip
Night falls, and we jump over to a small forest clearing where Inuyasha and the others have decided to set camp at for the night, after traveling for another few days in search of jewel shards and Naraku...
As they sat around the fire, Coraline and the twins decide to teach the rest how to play Poker (minus Inuyasha, who wasn't interested), which come round two, would become rather tense.
"Hmm..."
This time, it was down to just the redhead and Miroku, while Sango, Shippo and the twins watch with nervous expressions. Shippo asks in a whisper,
"Who do you guys think is gonna win?"
"Dunno." "Could go either way."
After another minute, Miroku smirks and says to Coraline,
"I will see your chocolate wafer and raise you a small bag of potato chips."
He places the ante in the middle, adding to a medium-sized pile of treats, before Coraline smirks back and replies,
"Oh yeah? Well I'll see your chips, and raise you, a packet of gum."
The audience quietly gasps:
"Goodness, neither one's giving an inch."
"We've got a standoff, people." "Who's gonna win?"
"I can't watch!"
The monk and redhead stare eachother down for a few minutes...before Miroku lays his hand down face-up with a triumphant smile:
"Three of a Kind. Ha! I win!"
Coraline frowns...before she smiles evilly and shows her own hand:
"Full House."
"What?!"
She laughs at the look of disbelief on Miroku's face and chimes,
"Gotcha!"
Miroku groans while facepalming himself, while Shippo compliments Coraline's skill:
"You're good, Coraline!"
Sango smiles teasingly at the monk and says,
"I can't believe you, Miroku..."
Freeman laughs and chimes,
"I can: Cora's a card-shark at Poker."
Miroku sighs, before focusing his attention on the card designs:
"These western karuta cards are fascinating." Besa corrects him:
"Not karuta: Playing cards." Miroku, Sango and Shippo ask confusingly,
"Playing, cards?"
"Mhm, and it's not just Poker: There's all kinds of games you can play with these cards."
"You mind keepin' it down?"
"Huh?"
He and the others look behind them at Inuyasha, who was laying propped on his side a little ways from the fire, occupying a disgruntled scowl:
"Can't ya play more quietly?"
Coraline gathers the cards up to shuffle and retorts back,
"Instead of complaining, why don'tcha come over and play a round?"
"Not on your life."
Shippo looks at Inuyasha's form and asks aloud,
"What's he so angry about?"
Sango answers,
"He's in a bad mood." Miroku tries to reason with Inuyasha:
"Sitting there and feeling sorry for yourself won't make Tessaiga any stronger."
Said dog demon darts to a sitting position and barks back,
"Butt out! You're wrong again!"
Coraline pauses in her shuffling...and lets out a sigh as she thinks aloud about their current situation:
"His mood is justifiable, though, considering what we witnessed regarding Naraku's new power...That damn barrier..."
Miroku adds,
"Until he's able to break through it, we can't even get near Naraku..."
Sango comments,
"Yes, this is definitely a problem," but then Freeman argues,
"Still, it's not a good enough reason to get discouraged: That's when the bastard will really get a leg over."
Inuyasha stands up and says to everyone,
"You people don't need to worry. I'll take care of it."
Shippo and Sango ask,
"Oh yeah? How are ya gonna do that?"
"Have you come up with some new ideas?"
...Inuyasha doesn't answer verbally, his twitching eyebrow and ears saying it all...Shippo exclaims,
"I knew it: He's all talk!"
Coraline starts up the shuffling again and chides,
"It's not like he isn't thinking about it at all...It's just gonna take time before the idea jumps up."
Inuyasha shouts at everyone,
"Knock it off, would ya?!"
"I'll take care of this problem for ya!"
"Hm?"
Everyone's heads dart up from the new voice, revealed to be Myoga, who was currently sapping some blood from Inuyasha's neck:
(Slurp...)
(Slap)
"Master, Inuyasha..."
"Myoga. It's you again."
Said flea demon floats down into Inuyasha's palm, before popping back up to say with confidence,
"I know how to handle Naraku's barrier."
"What do ya know about it?"
"First, let me tell you how much trouble it was finding you..."
"Spit it out! Tell me and you can suck as much blood from Coraline as you want!"
That did not sit well with Coraline:
"(Glare) Excuse me, but I'm not a walking blood bank!"
Oddly enough, Myoga was not taken by the 'offer' and remained serious:
"Look, this is no time for telling jokes, I'm afraid. You must go immediately to the Cave of the Demon Bats."
Coraline and her brothers ask confusingly,
"Demon Bats?"
Myoga explains:
"The Cave of the Demon Bat Tribe is located near a village on the western shore. The cave is protected by an impenetrable barrier, and no one is able to destroy them. The guarding of the barrier has been passed down from generation to generation. The current guardian demon, must be slain. In other words, you must kill the demon guardian who has the power to retain this barrier, and let Tessaiga suck its blood."
Miroku and Sango summarize,
"By killing such a strong opponent, the Tessaiga will absorb the demon bat's power..."
"And that would make the sword much stronger."
Myoga nods:
"Yes, exactly...Now then, Coraline, about our little deal..."
(Slap)
"Doh!"
Said redhead whacks the flea demon on her neck with a calm expression:
"Nice try, wise guy..."
Inuyasha stands up with an excited smile and calls,
"Alright, what are we waitin' for? Time to go demon hunting! I'm in if that's all it takes to make the Tessaiga stronger! I'll kill a thousand of them if I have to!"
With that decided, Miroku contacts his companion, Hachi, and we soon find our group traveling aboard his gourd form, en route to the west coast to find the demon bats and slay the guardian of their barrier...
If only they knew, just how difficult this task was going to be...
Time Skip
Daybreak comes and goes, and we turn to the village by the sand near the said cave, huts scattered on the sandy dirt above the shore, and a couple cedar canoes sitting by the edge ready to be used when needed. But turning to the beach itself, we see a group of villagers began beating on the woman whom lead the progression yesterday:
"You, wench! I should've known you would lie to us!"
(Whack)
"Uh!"
One man hits her with the blunt end of a spear, knocking her into the sand, and he adds fiercely,
"You promised us that our village wouldn't be attacked if you gave them your daughter! Well?!"
Two others join in just as angered:
"More villagers have been killed! You promised it wouldn't happen!"
"Why do they keep attacking?! She's probably in league with those demon bats herself!"
The first man growls,
"She deserves no mercy from us! Attack!"
With that, the men charge at the woman, she bracing herself for the brutality...But then:
(PUNCH)
"Agh!"
The first man with the spear was suddenly knocked flat onto the ground, courtesy...of Coraline!
"Gh-huh? Who are you, and what gave you the right to-Uh!"
The man freezes mid-sentence, when he saw the death-filled glare Coraline was sending his way...
"...Coraline!"
Inuyasha then rushes on scene, looking at her for a moment...before focusing his attention on the man she punched to the ground:
"We heard you mention the Demon Bats. Tell me where I can find their cave, old man."
Meanwhile, the others come over to the woman, with Besa kneeling down to check on her condition:
"Are you alright, ma'am?" She nods, while Miroku glares at the men and shouts,
"How dare you attack a defenseless woman!"
The second and first men answer Inuyasha's question, albeit on the bitter side:
"How the hell would we know where the cave is?"
"Why don'tcha ask that lying wench there? The traitor dares to call herself human, but she bedded with one of the demon bats and bore him a child!"
(Yank)
"Gah!"
"What, did you, say?"
Suddenly, before anyone could stop her, Coraline grabs the first man by his kimono, her eyes reflecting hate while her tone was filled with rage:
"You dare accuse this woman of not being human, but as far as I'm concerned, you and your cohorts are the monsters. It's people like you that make, me, sick."
(Sheen...Sheen...)
If things weren't already tense enough, her body and eyes then began to glow in and out!
The others gasp, and Shippo stutters,
"W-What's going on with Coraline? I've never seen her so angry before..."
"...Oh shit: I think I might know." Everyone looks to Freeman, as he adds in a serious tone,
"She was abused as a child by kids and antagonized by the adults in her old home, and if it was anything like what was happening now..."
The others clue in, and Sango exclaims,
"Uh! Then this must be triggering her memories of that time!"
And indeed, the demon slayer was right: As she continued to grasp the man in her fist, Coraline's mind raced with flashbacks of when she was brutalized for being among the abnormal...
(Flash)
"Loser!" "Freak!"
(Punch, kick, kick)
"Agh! Stop it, please! It's not dangerous! I'm just able to see things you can't!"
"All the more reason you're a freak!"
"Ha, more like a monster or a witch!"
"Witch, witch, witch!"
(Kick, kick, kick)
"(Sobbing) Stop it! Stop iiiitttt!"
(Flash)
...Coraline's free hand clenches hard, her knuckles cracking, as she kept seeing the faces of the jeering children and the impassive, glaring adults who did nothing, reflecting in the man's features as well as his comrades:
...Those, brats...Their damn parents did nothing. Nothing!
(Grasp)
"That's enough, Coraline. Put him down."
"Hm?"
She snaps out of it, and the throbbing energy stops, her gaze turning to Inuyasha, who was staring at her with seriousness while holding her wrist firmly that held the man up:
"This fool's not worth your energy."
Coraline stares at him for a minute, her Aura calming down and ceasing its energy throb...before nodding silently, releasing the man and turning her focus to the others, and the woman:
...The child of a demon, hm?
Small Time Skip
The group would soon find themselves inside the home of the woman (her name revealed as Shizu) who was being antagonized, her hut built outside the village itself, further projecting the isolation and bitterness between her and the other villagers. As they all sat around a fire, she asks,
"Why do you wanna know the location of the Bat Demon Cave?" Inuyasha replies bluntly,
"Why else? I'm gonna destroy them."
She looks at him warily, before Miroku cuts in:
"Inuyasha, hold on. (Turns to Shizu) The villagers said that you gave your child to the Demon Bats. What exactly did they mean by that?"
"For many generations, this region has been the hunting ground of the Demon Bat Tribe. They're terrifying: They prey upon humans and animals, and feed on their blood. But, Tsukuyomaru was not like the others..."
Flashback
We see a rather handsome demon bat, with white hair tied into a long, top-knot ponytail, wearing a fine kimono and armour, standing by the ocean during a moonlit night...
"My daughter's father was different from the other demons..."
He walks up to Shizu, who held the infant Shiori in her arms, and smiled at him, before turning her gaze to their daughter...
"He did not kill humans, and after Shiori was born, the other bats stopped attacking our village. I assumed he convinced them to do so..."
Tsukuyomaru's hand then reaches out to gently stroke the baby's head lovingly...
Pause Flashback
"Finally, our village was at peace."
"Was?"
"Shiori's father passed away, and then there was no one to stop them."
Continue Flashback
Several red-skinned Demon Bats are seen flying towards the village, prompting two men who were preparing a boat to run and warn everyone:
"Uh!" "The Demon Bats!"
One demon swoops down from the sky, and snatches up one of the men, killing him in a violent way...Similar if not worse fates would be subjected to the rest of the villagers, their screams of terror mixing with the screeches of the bats...
"Soon after, Shiori's Grandfather, Taigokumaru, came to see me..."
We see the giant Bat Demon from before in front of Shizu and Shiori's home, as he and she spoke with one another...
"He promised to leave our village alone if I gave up my daughter."
End of Flashback
"You see, he and Shiori's father were the guardians of the barrier, and the duty passed on through generations. As Tsukuyomaru's daughter, Shiori had inherited his guardian powers."
Sango and Freeman ask,
"But why did it have to be Shiori?"
"Yeah, if that Taigokumaru character's already got the guardian power..."
Shizu explains:
"The power to create the barrier wanes with age. Once the guardian passes on the duty, he loses his power."
Miroku summarizes,
"In other words, you're saying that your daughter is the only one left with the power to protect the barrier."
She does not reply, her thoughts clouded by another memory...
Flashback
We see a couple young boys picking on Shiori down on the beach by the water:
"Eww! Look at the demon girl! Hahahaha!"
"She's a half-demon!"
She's shoved twice before falling to the ground while the boys laugh mockingly at her...Eventually, Shiori returns home, tears streaming silently down her eyes. Wiping them away, she then enters the home, and softly greets Shizu:
"I'm home, mommy."
"Welcome home, dear. Oh! Shiori, how did you get all those cuts on your face?"
She rushes over to check on her daughter, who replies,
"It's nothing. I just fell on the beach."
But Shizu easily saw the entire truth, and hugs her daughter tightly, letting her own tears flow...Shiori smiles sadly and asks,
"What's the matter? I told you, I just fell, that's all."
"Sh-Shiori...I'm so sorry."
The little girl gasps, before burying her face into her mother's shoulder, both sobbing at how sad their lives have become...
Pause Flashback
"I agonized over what to do, but in the end, I gave my daughter to Taigokumaru."
Continue Flashback
We return to a few days ago, when Shizu and the villagers brought Shiori to Taigokumaru...
"Have you brought the girl?"
"As promised, I brought Shiori. In return, never attack our village again!" The Demon Bat agrees to the terms:
"Very well. I give you my promise." Shizu turns to her daughter:
"You must go with him, Shiori." But the little half-demon was having second thoughts:
"Mommy, I've changed my mind. I'm afraid of him."
The two men who carried her on the sedan try to reason with her:
"You must go with him."
"Yes, for the village."
Shiori looks to Shizu with begging eyes:
"Mommy!"
But Shizu was forced to remain strong, and looked away...With that, Shiori had no choice but to follow her grandfather, stealing glances behind her in her steps...
Please, forgive me. You'll be happier with them.
End of Flashback
With that part of the tale out in the open, Miroku and Inuyasha ask,
"Pardon my asking, but she is a half-demon, correct?"
"How could a half-demon child have such powers?"
Shizu looks to Inuyasha and replies,
"I see you too are a half-demon. You should know better that half-demons are accepted by neither their demon, nor their human brethren."
Coraline looks to the dog demon with a neutral expression, and nods:
And I too know that feeling...for according to the villagers of Majora, I was but a freak of nature.
Myoga, who was sitting atop the subjugation beads, asks,
"What do you think of this, Master Inuyasha?"
"Kuh, dunno..."
Shizu then adds,
"Shiori had ample power to fulfill her duties. That's why...I thought it may be best for her to be with them, and especially, if it would save our village...(Clenches her fists angrily) But the Demon Bats didn't keep their word."
...A moment of silence blankets the home...before Inuyasha rises to his feet:
"Take me there. I want you to take me there, to the old man, old what's-his-name."
Coraline readies to grab her sword:
"I'll go with you."
"No. I can handle this on my own."
"But..."
He shoots her a look...and she retracts her hand from her blade, as he adds,
"I'm the only one who needs to see them."
Inuyasha's POV
With everyone else back at Shizu's place, she leads me to the hideout of the Demon bats...We're now traveling along a steep, narrow ridge on a sea cliff, but while some of me was focused on the travel...my mind was also thinking back to when I had a harder time living...
Flashback
It was when I was younger, years after my mother passed, leaving me on my own to survive...
I was running for my life in the cover of the night, passing through a river to try and avoid these three large and ugly demons who were chasing me...I look back for a second, before tripping on some old tree roots. Of course, I wasted no time getting back up, and continued my sprint, only to get trapped at a cliff edge:
"Gah!"
...I could hear the demons closing in, making my heart race something bad...Luckily, there was a nook under the cliff edge big enough for me to hide in, so I quickly made my way in, and waited until the demons gave up and went away...
I felt so helpless back then, but at the same time...so, mad at myself for hiding like a coward.
End of Flashback
...Shiori may not be living a great life, but she's better off than I was at her age.
At least she still has one parent around to care for and about her...
"Tell me, what's on your mind, Master?"
"Just thinkin' about old times..."
...I then realized who was asking, and I look down at annoyance at the damn nosy flea demon:
"Myoga! Who said that you could come with me?!"
"What's the problem? It's not like I'm in the way."
"Go back, Myoga. I told everyone I was goin' on my own."
"Don't be so harsh."
Before we could argue further, Shizu calls from up ahead,
"...It's this way."
"Let's keep going, Master, come on."
"...Hmph, it's your life."
"By the way, that look you gave Coraline before you left...You were stopping her from coming because of what happened earlier, correct?"
"Tch, like I have to explain anything to you..."
...But yes. The way she looked before...if I hadn't stopped her, she probably would've lost control of her temper and Aura.
And right now, I can't afford that.
...Though, I can't really blame her for nearly losing her cool, considering...how much hers and Shizu's experiences match.
Meanwhile, in the Cave of the Demon Bat Tribe, No POV...
We see Shiori kneeling on the ground within a purple-coloured barrier, holding a red crystal ball with a piece of dark-hued coral lining the inside...
Suddenly, a hunk of animal meat is thrown down near her, startling her out of her daze. She looks up to see the provider was one of the regular demon bats:
"Eat. I can't have you dying of starvation."
He laughs a bit, before turning to fly to another part of the cave. Shiori looks down depressingly...
Just outside the cave, we see Inuyasha and Shizu standing across the sea from the entrance on a boulder, the waves shelling a bit viciously...
"It's that cave there, where it's glowing."
Shiori feels their presence, and looks up to see her mother:
"(Happy gasp) Mommy!"
"Shiori..."
Inuyasha looks down at Myoga and asks softly,
"Hey, Myoga...are you sure this is gonna make my sword become stronger?"
"Yes, but unfortunately, you must first slay the girl."
Shizu and Shiori call out to one another:
"Shiori! Shiori!"
"Mommy!"
...It was then that the latter's grandfather would appear:
"I was wondering what all the ruckus was about...It seems, we have visitors."
Inuyasha asks Shizu,
"Is that him?"
"Yes, that's him." She then addresses Taigokumaru with a glare:
"How dare you deceive me!"
He of course feigns ignorance:
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You promised to leave the village alone if I gave you my daughter, but you didn't!"
"Indeed. Don't tell me that you honestly believed that? As if I would keep a promise, to a human."
"Then return my daughter to me!"
Shiori cries out for her mother, as Taigokumaru refuses Shizu's demand:
"I will not. Shiori will remain the guardian of the barrier for the remainder of her life. She inherited the duty from her father, and she is doing a fine job. Indeed, it is hard to believe that she has a human for a mother."
Shizu grinds her teeth in anger, before Inuyasha tells her,
"Calm down. We're gonna have to take your daughter by force."
"You actually think, you can win?"
"That cocky old bat is standing in front of Shiori...If I attack now, I can slay him without hurting Shiori!"
He then pulls out Tessaiga at the ready, before unleashing his attack:
"Wind Scar!"
(SLASH)
...But as the seawater splashes back downward, we see that Taigokumaru was protected from the clawed attack by a purple barrier!
"He repelled my Wind Scar!" Myoga exclaims fearfully,
"The rumours were right: The barrier of the demon bats is virtually impenetrable!"
Taigokumaru then asks Inuyasha,
"Who are you, and what do you want?!"
"It doesn't matter who I am! Just give the girl back!"
"I see: The mortals must've sent you. Then you, must, PERISH!"
(Pow)
Taigokumaru then sends out a ring-shaped beam at Inuyasha and Shizu!
(BOOM)
...Thankfully, Inuyasha was fast enough to grab the woman and leap out of the line of fire, landing on another boulder nearby...
"Next time, I won't miss!"
Shiori whimpers fearfully from her place on the ground, while Inuyasha growls at the bat demon:
"Damn you...!"
"Stop!"
"Huh?"
Shiori couldn't take the sight, and pleads with tears streaming from her eyes,
"Please don't do this, grandfather! Don't hurt mommy, please! I promise to guard the barrier, so please...just don't hurt my mommy!"
Taigokumaru stares the the crying form for a minute, before turning to address the dog demon and mother:
"Did you hear that? This young child has far more sense than either of you."
"Save it for someone who cares!"
"Let me ask you this: Do you think Shiori will be happy back in the human village? I don't. The villagers ostracized her because she is a half-demon. They didn't hesitate for a second to sacrifice her life for the sake of their own. How can I give my precious granddaughter back, to such selfish humans?"
Shizu bows her head in shame, knowing that what her father-in-law said was true...Inuyasha makes a noise of exasperation, before sheathing his Tessaiga, while Shiori continues to cry...
Time Skip
Night blankets the village, and we find our group sitting around the fire in Shizu's home, as she and Inuyasha tell them what happened at the cave...Sango asks,
"It didn't work?" Shizu signs and says more to herself,
"I should give up."
Coraline looks at her sympathetically:
"Surely there must be a way..."
"Taigokumaru spoke the truth about Shiori: The villagers didn't accept either of us. Maybe she's better off there..."
"Kuh, you don't know anything..."
She looks with everyone else at Inuyasha, who remarks bitterly,
"Demons never accept half-demons, even if they're related by blood."
Coraline looks at him silently while thinking to herself,
He's not wrong, I mean, look at him and his brother...But at the same time...I'm, not sure if he's right...
"I'm a full-blooded demon and I haven't had any problems accepting you, Inuyasha."
Myoga agrees with Shippo:
"That goes for me too!" Inuyasha looks more at Myoga with a threatening smile and replies,
"That's only because I protect you both."
Miroku gets the discussion back on topic:
"Anyway, our hands are tied if you're unable to break the barrier," Sango adding,
"And that's precisely the reason we came here, right?" Inuyasha turns his head with a scoff and replies,
"Kuh, even I know that much."
Freeman and Besa think to themselves on the situation with grim expressions,
This is so cutthroat, killing a half-demon just to destroy a barrier and have the blood increase Tessaiga's power.
The poor kid's so young. There's absolutely no way Inuyasha can go through with killing her.
They then notice Coraline moving to a stand, her expression looking worse then theirs:
"...Sis?" "You alright?" She replies in a dead tone,
"...I need some air. I'll be back."
She then exits the home, leaving her friends to stare at the door with concern...
Scene Shift: Cave of the Demon Bat Tribe
As she sat at her place near the entrance, Shiori muses to herself sad and frightened,
Mommy...I miss you...If only father were still alive.
...Why did he have to die?
Taigokumaru watches her sobbing form from afar, saying to himself,
"I suppose she does miss her mother...Unless something is done, there's no telling when she'll ask to return to the village. (Grins) Then...I must destroy them all! The entire village, and your mother as well!"
...Suddenly, Shiori is interrupted from her crying, as she watches a large horde of demon bats begin flying out of the cave, unaware of what her grandfather just ordered...
Back to the beach
We now zoom in on Inuyasha, as he sits on a cliff edge overlooking the ocean by himself, his mind lost in thought once again, remembering back to when he first learned the term 'half-breed', and the silent answer his mother gave him when he asked what it meant for him...
Not too far away, was Coraline, who was walking along the shoreline, as she thought of what her father told her about being an Aura Reader...
Flashback
We see a five-year old Coraline, wearing a pair of blue overalls and white t-shirt, as she sat in her father's lap in his study, learning more about her special trait...
"Aura Reader?"
"That's right, dear."
"So what exactly am I seeing in people, father?"
"Well, Coraline, what you see is the energy within a person that makes up their Soul."
"Their Soul?"
The older man nods, and Coraline hms while looking down...before asking,
"Do all people have badness in their Souls acting as leader?"
"Hm? What brings about that question?"
"Well...(Sigh) There's a bunch of kids who pick on me, saying my glowing eyes are weird, and they either run away, or call me mean names and push me...I see a mean energy in them when they do it too."
Mathias looks at Coraline in surprise:
"Uh...Coraline..."
"I just...I just wanna know if it's true...and if not, why?"
She looks up at her father with misty eyes and asks further,
"Why are they being mean, father?"
"...Oh Coraline..."
Mathias hugs his daughter close and strokes her hair as he gently replies,
"Not all humans have their darkness dominating them...As for your other question...the reason they are being mean to you is because they are choosing not to understand you."
"Hm?"
"Human nature has the tendency to jump to fearful conclusions when it comes to topics not easy to explain. If someone can't understand something that appears frightening, they automatically become afraid themselves."
"Oh...Father?"
"Yes, dear?"
"...Do you think, that I'll find someone who understands and, wants to be my friend?"
"I'm certain of it...It just might take some time before that special person comes along. But when they do, hold onto them with all your might, for having a good friend is the best thing to strive for in life."
"I will, father. Promise."
End of Flashback
Coraline wipes her eyes of some forming tears, and looks up to where Inuyasha was perched at, before a small smile comes to her lips:
...And you were right, Father. I did find that special someone, along with a bunch more someones I now hold dear.
She decides to head up to the cliff edge to join the dog demon...
"...Inuyasha?"
"Hm?"
Inuyasha breaks out of his thoughts, and turns to see Coraline standing near:
"It's you."
She nods, and moves to sit beside him, asking,
"I'm, assuming you must be in thought about Shiori...and comparing her to how you used to live life as a kid?"
He doesn't reply, merely looking at her with a look of surprise at her deduction, before turning away with a small scoff...Coraline then says to him,
"You have a heart of gold, Inuyasha."
"Kuh, I do not, Coraline, don't be stupid...!"
She lightly shakes her head, knowing he was just being prideful, before turning to look at the stars in thought:
"...We've both been through some hard times, haven't we? I can't speak for your experience, but, it can't have been any better than mine was...(Smiles softly) But you know what? Who cares what those antagonists said? We've turned out fine, and now we have Miroku, Sango, Shippo, my brothers, Myoga...Heh, but you knew that already, right?"
"Yeah, I know..."
The air grows quiet for a minute...before Coraline decides to be bold, and lightly kisses Inuyasha's cheek, much to his shock:
"Wh-Wha-?!"
"Thank you, for being there that day, and every day after that..."
"...Coraline..."
The teens find themselves lost in eachother's gaze, neither wanting to interrupt this moment of, tranquility...But then Inuyasha's ears pick up on a troubling sound:
"(Stands) Huh?"
"What's wrong?"
Coraline then follows his gaze, and gasps when she sees,
"Oh no...Those are...!"
And as we look towards the ocean, we see the giant horde of demon bats, heading straight for the village!