Dawn
Cave Near Goshinboku
"And now we present, Kakyuu and Kaguya no hime!" the announcer called out in a booming voice.
I stirred, my small white hands fiddling with my silver dress beyond the kekkai. Guests of the ball 'oohed' and 'aahhed' at me like I was an exotic bird. Yes. A bird in a cage. My small wings fluttered a tiny bit, but I quickly hid them with my dark hair.
That's when I heard that voice for the first time.
"Okaa-san, why is the pretty hime in a cage?" a child was suddenly standing before me, hand held by his mother. He was silver-haired, dressed in Plutonian style, and he had the most curious golden eyes-fixated on me. "I wanted to dance with Kaguya no hime."
It was the first time anyone outside the family had spoken my name to me. That boy with those eyes-
Inuyasha woke at dawn before either of the twin girls. He looked over at them. They appeared identical, sure, but the red head smelled of a strong yoki that worried him. The dark haired one, the girl who'd released him, she had wings...she must be yosei.
They had saved him back then too. When Mother...no, he mustn't think about Mother. This meant that they knew Sesshomaru, too. That left a bad taste in Inuyasha's mouth.
The girl who saved him, the dark haired girl; it hurt to see her so badly wounded.
He couldn't help himself. He reached over, careful not to wake her, and cleaned the girl's hair and back and patched up the broken skin around her wings.
I sat straight up, a shiver passing through me. Why did I dream of the Silver Millennium? It can't be good.
I stood, about to go train, when I was stopped by Inuyasha.
"Where are you going?" he interrupted. "You'll only open that wound."
I smirked a little. "That would be good for you. Then you could get the Shikon no Tama, ne?"
As we entered the dining area, filled with the scent of eggs and bacon, I gestured at my sister, running about in her apron, to accentuate the point. As long as Minako and I were around, we would protect the jewel. And damn Inuyasha knew that, I was sure. My smile widened, and his look soured.
"That's the last time I worry for a yosei's safety!" he grumbled, gold eyes flicking to my wings-wait!
I paused. Those eyes are...
'I wanted to dance with Kaguya no hime.'
"Oi! Usagi-imouto," Minako yawned. "Gonna stare at the pup all day? Come on, let's eat!"
I nervously pulled at my rather short white and blue robe. It couldn't be Inuyasha.
"She ate my bacon!" yelled Inuyasha, growling, and about to used his claws on my twin.
I instinctively got in the way, earning two two long jagged cuts. "Don't you touch my sister, you ungrateful bastard!"
"ENOUGH!" yelled Minako. "Get along with us. Or you will no longer be protected from the yokai taijiya."
"I don't need protection!" retorted Inuyasha.
"You'd be dead in a minute, you ingrate!" I shouted.
The resulting blast from Minako sent Inuyasha and I into opposite cave walls-hard. The ginzuisho activated and my body healed. I knew better than to help Inuyasha, as he healed quickly. Minako growled and left the cave.
"Shouldn't we follow?" Inuyasha asked me.
"No," I said. "I'll go. You've caused enough damage."
Minako headed off into the trees, steaming. All that shouting, after I basically saved their hides. No thank you for the food I made and-
She jumped a mile as she heard footsteps, but stopped as she realized it was only Usagi. "Oh, hey Usagi..."
"You alright?" she asked, smiling a little. "You sure threw a fit."
Minako opened her mouth for an angry retort but before she knew it some men had grabbed her. "K-Usagi! Help!"
Minako couldn't fight back because she didn't have anything to fight with, and Usagi had been knocked to the ground. Minako shakily reached for her pendant, but felt a hand on her waist and before she knew it she was airborne.
Usagi had grabbed her and thrown her out of the men's reach. Minako tried to get up and help her anyway, stubbornly grasping at the rocks on the path, trying to summon the strength to stand and transform; but she only managed to bloody her hands. Before she knew it spots formed before her eyes and she passed out.
When she opened them Inuyasha was sitting before her, poking her forehead. Minako grimaced. "What do you want? I'm busy!"
Concern flickered across his features. "No, I smelled you and Usagi's blood. Are you ok?"
Minako had no response. She never thought Inuyasha would care about her well-being, and besides that, NO, she was not okay, her baby sister was kidnapped by creepers!
She finally sat up, hand going to her pendant. "I-Inuyasha! We have to save my sister! Those men took her! "
"Okay then," he said simply. "Let's go."
It took some time, but eventually they made it to a house. The two carefully snuck in.
The man leading the group was about to attack Usagi. Minako's kitsune nose picked up the scent of rotting flesh. A scent that made her yokai side stir and growl.
"Inuyasha! That man is dead! It's a disguise!" she yelled, pushing her sister back.
"Why'd you bring him?" Usagi complained.
"Inu-chi decided to go save us," Minako replied. "He smelled our blood."
Inuyasha stabbed his claw into the man's chest. Out popped a crow.
"Ehh?" Minako and Usagi chorused. "This sure is weird."
"Stop talking like that!" Inuyasha yelled at them. "Stupid girls!"
Suddenly the bird flew at Minako. Inuyasha slashed the bird to pieces. "Damn it!"
"Jeez, Usagi, you sure have an knack for being a damsel in distress," Minako muttered. "Why'd ya throw me off like that? If I wasn't used to sparring with you I could've broken my neck."
"You really are dumb," Inuyasha said. "Usagi was protecting the Shikon no Tama."
"I was not!" I yelled. "I was protecting my sister! You people! All you care about is this jewel!"
Inuyasha glared at me and snatched the jewel from Minako. "And it's about time I took it!"
"Osu-" I began, but my sister's hand went over my mouth, weakly.
The jewel began shaking in his hands, and then glowed a slight, black color. It flew up, shattering the roof, and then an explosion greater than any firework shook the air. The jewel had shattered.
I knocked my sister's hand off. "Onee-sama, what did you do?"
"My soul," she said softly. "It bends to my will."
"Big picture," I said. "Now we have to go get all those shards within one lunar cycle, or you will die."
"So why did you think this was a good idea?" snapped Inuyasha, suddenly really upset.
"It was only supposed to reject him! Not shatter!" Minako yelled back.
"That's the thing about magic! It is extremely tricky and you're inexperienced!" I shouted.
"Oi!" Inuyasha stopped us.
"WHAT?" we chorused.
"Just thought you'd like to know that I'm off to get those shards," he replied.
"Why you-" I started, but Minako stopped him.
She laughed. "You won't be able to find them on your own. I can sense them. Besides that, you can't just run out on us, we're a pack now, even after what you did."
Inuyasha pouted, but then suddenly picked her up just as she collapsed, glaring at the others. I heard a slight whisper. "I'm so sorry..."
I finished dressing Minako's wounds, but she remained unconscious.. "Without the jewel she cannot transform...or even heal herself..."
I had whispered the words, but I noted that Inuyasha's left ear twitched, indicating that he had heard me. He walked over, and took the bandages away from me. "Usagi. Show me your arms."
I swallowed, remembering our morning fight. "There's no need, Inuyasha."
"Show them to me," he insisted.
I revealed that my arms had healed. "I have my own power."
With a 'hmph', he dropped the bandages and sauntered off, to mope somewhere. I followed him, handing him a riceball. "Bacon flavored. Best I can offer."
I stared at him. His eyes shone brightly in the moonlight. It was those eyes.
Inuyasha watched Usagi clean the kitchen and scurry about, and then she returned, sitting by him. Not disturbed by him at all.
"Have you ever heard of Naraku?" she asked him suddenly.
Inuyasha tensed visibly. At first he hadn't known the name. But the night before he had read the twins' yokai files and come upon the shapeshifting Naraku. Early that morning he had gone to Kaede to confirm his suspicions. That demon was the reason he had lost Kikyo. And the reason he had nearly lost his own life.
"He kills humans and demons alike," she replied. "He has been after the Shikon no Tama within Minako for a long time, hoping to become a full yokai. We have never seen his true form, but he is a meld of many demons. And his name is Naraku."
"I know of him," Inuyasha replied to her. "I plan to kill him."
"Well then," Usagi replied. "Let's kill him together."
A pain identical to his own shown in her silver eyes. He did not know what Naraku had done to her, but Inuyasha would not let anyone else suffer like he himself had. Especially not this woman.
