No More Decisions
Part 5, "...in the heat of disaster...I see your face..."
Author's Notes: Oh dear, here's the next chapter to my Inuyasha ficcie. The Ranma crew has been taking up too much of my fanfic writing time. :) Go Inuyasha!
Disclaimers: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, Viz and whoever else lays claim. Not me.
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"KAGOME!" little Inu-chan screamed in terror as he clutched the dark-haired girl.
Kagome looked down worriedly at the little boy before turning to the white-haired demon with the half-moon on his forehead. She shifted slightly as the little boy's nails dug into her legs. In a few moments, she knew he was going to draw blood. The villagers looked on in fear, none of them daring to make any sudden movements. They all held their breath.
"Sesshomaru," Shippo let out the name, his voice between contempt and awe.
The demon briefly spared the fox demon a look before turning back to the little boy. His smile was like the apple Snow White bit into. Pure poison wrapped nicely.
Sesshomaru bent down and started towards Inu-chan. He held out his hands, those wicked, wicked hands.
"Little brother, come here," he said smoothly.
Inu-chan clung onto Kagome even tighter and the girl had to hold back from yelping.
"Kagome...make it go away...I don't like him...make him go away..." he pleaded as tears streamed down his face, unnoticed. Seeing the raw horror in Inu-chan's face, Kagome straightened up and turned resolute eyes to the demon. Her mouth was a thin line and her eyes turned so dark, they appeared like two glittering caves. She took a deep breath and moved her feet some distance apart.
Suddenly sensing the power in the air, Sesshomaru stood up also and stared the girl in the eye.
Kagome didn't look away.
That in itself was an achievement.
Her voice was cold, direct and unfaltering when she spoke.
"Inu-chan doesn't like you. From the looks of it, these villagers don't either. I suggest you leave," she demanded.
The villagers' eyes held confusion. How this girl looked like Lady Kikyo and yet how different from Lady Kikyo she looked also. It was the same power only so different.
Sesshomaru stopped smiling.
"Jaken!" he shouted and the servant appeared bowing at his side.
Jaken spoke, "She's the human-girl that used to travel with the half-breed."
All this while, Kagome and Sesshomaru did not remove their eyes from each other.
"Move little girl and take your little pet with you. You wouldn't want to get hurt," Sesshomaru said softly.
A flush came upon Kagome's cheeks and she screamed, "Shippo! Ink!"
The little fox demon immediately took out the ink and started to make it as Kagome puled out three yellow strips of paper. She took the ink from Shippo and wrote some ancient symbols on them each.
Holding the three strips up to her forehead, Kagome murmured something. She, then, pulled the three strips off and three them. She threw one on the roof of the building to her left. She three another on the roof of the building to her right. She threw the third onto the floor a few inches in front of her.
"Fire fence!" Kagome screamed and immediately a net of fire covered from the left house to the right, separating Kagome, Shippo and Inu-chan from the demon and his followers.
Sesshomaru gave a low growl before hurrying towards the net only to get burned badly.
"This net can't control me, little girl!" he screamed.
Kagome just grinned and picked up Inu-chan as she cocked a hip.
"Oh yeah? This is a pretty strong fire fence. Water can't even stop it. Nyah-nyah," Kagome said as she stuck a tongue out. Shippo laughed and joined her.
"Nyah! Nyah!' they both taunted only to make the demon angrier and start for the fence again. He got burnt again. Kagome and Shippo laughed even harder. Inu-chan just buried his face in Kagome's chest, as he tried his best from shaking.
By this time, Miroku and Sango had made their way over. Before they could ask any wauestions, Kagome gestured for them to question her later.
"Don't worry everyone, the fire fence will deactivate itself after we leave the village. One more thing, Lord Sesshomaru...I'm not a little girl," Kagome said and with a sardonic smile, carried Inu-chan away. The others followed her.
Shippo glanced back once to stare at the little girl by Lord Sesshomaru.
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"Did you see his face? We kicked butt, didn't we Shippo?" Kagome laughed that night around the fire. She and Shippo had been relating the day's events to Sango and Miroku. Inu-chan was sleeping softly in magical girl's arms. He had refused to leave Kagome's side ever since that morning, crying and clawing every time they tried to pull him away from her.
"Yeah, we did," Shippo said. The two friends turned to each other and high-fived.
"Yeah!" they yelled and laughed some more. Miroku and Sango just smiled softly at the two's antics.
When everything had settled down, Kagome got around to mentioning, "I wonder who that Sesshomaru guy was and why in the world did he call Inu-chan 'little brother'."
Miroku, Sango and Shippo shared a look before turning to Kagome. They were deciding how much they should tell her.
"Well, technically Sesshomaru is Inuyasha's, the demon that is, half-brother. He used to despise him, but ever since the Jewel, Inuyasha took over his lands. Sesshomaru lost all his power and have just been wandering since," Sango explained.
"Well, that makes sense, but what does Inu-chan have to do with him and why does he want him?"
The other three could only shrug. They knew as much as she did.
"Maybe Kikyo will know the answer," Miroku suggested.
"Well," Kagome said after awhile as she pulled Inu-chan's body closer to hers, "no matter what happens, that demon's not getting Inu-chan."
Somewhere in the shadows, a voice whispered, "That's what you think, little girl."
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The mother held her two children close as the wind howled outside and the door of the house shook. The children themselves, although used to this, were still shaking slightly. All three of them had their eyes closed and though they tried not to, they could hear his movements outside their door. Then, he was gone. The wind still howled.
The mother and her children eased softly from each other.
"Is Lady Kikyo hiding too, mama?" the little girl asked innocently.
"Yes," the mother replied.
The boy joined the conversation.
"Why won't she protect us?"
The mother sighed.
"We live on the outskirts of the village. Lady Kikyo has to stay there to protect the villagers. The charms she gave us to place around our house will protect us," she explained.
Suddenly, a shriek was heard, unlike those any have ever heard before. It was a shriek that cut to the bone and burrowed it's way slowly. The mother winced and covered her children's ears.
Somebody had obviously forgotten there was a full moon tonight.
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Kagome's eyes popped open and she stayed absolutely still.
Something had woken her up.
There it was! Rustling around her. Kagome softly took Inu-chan's arms from her body (which was surprisingly easy seeing as how he was asleep) and got up. Careful not to wake the others in case it was nothing at all, Kagome made it over to the bushes and shrubs where the rustling was coming from.
Maybe it was a little rabbit that was hurt or a-
Mmph!
Hands suddenly snaked around her mouth and around her waist. Kagome made to bite the hand but there was suddenly cold steel on her neck. It was a blade.
The other four slept soundly as their friend got kidnapped.
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Jaken dragged the difficult female to where Lord Sesshomaru. He had to use all his strength even with the knife at her throat. It was definitely harder than he thought it would be. Once Jaken got to the clearing where Lord Sesshomaru was, he pushed the girl forward.
Kagome, angry, turned around and punched Jaken in the stomach...hard.
While his servant was doubled over and moaning, Sesshomaru approached the girl.
"I told you I-"
Kagome interrupted him.
"Don't start with an 'I-told-you-so', Lord Sesshomaru," she said, putting unneeded emphasis on 'Lord'. "Technically, you said you would get Inu-chan. I don't see Inu-chan. All I see is a demon with a bad servant who can't tell the difference between a little boy and groan girl."
Sesshomaru frowned and raised his hand to hit Kagome when the little girl ran over and grabbed his arm.
The girl shook her head.
"Rin, let go of my arm," the demon commanded.
The girl still shook her head. Kagome had to give her points for guts.
Sesshomaru snatched his hand away but did not intend to strike Kagome anymore.
"I do not have to explain myself to you, girl. All you need to know is that you are my protection for the night. I am still healing and a fight with that half-breed would not serve me well. I can worry about the human Inuyasha later."
Nothing he said made sense to Kagome but she figured it couldn't be good. It was as though he was saying she was a shield.
"I hope you realize I can just scream or run away right now," she pointed out.
"I hope you know I'm faster than you and I really don't need you that much. You are expendable," Sesshomaru answered back. Kagome just shot him a glower and sat down on a nearby rock. This was not good. She didn't have any of her supplies with her (not even white chalk for a circle shield!). Sesshomaru just let out a slow, rumbling laugh and sat down by the fire. This was going to be a long night.
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The whooshing sound came upon the sleeping campers like a whirlwind. In it's midst was the howl of a starving demon. All of the four searchers of the Jewel sat up with wide eyes.
"What was that?" Shippo cried.
Miroku and Sango locked eyes. They knew exactly what it was.
In a flash, they jumped up and pulled Inu-chan and Shippo up too.
"It's Inuyasha," Sango said as she grabbed up their stuff. "It's the full moon. Geez! How could I have forgotten? We have to get out of here and into safety."
"But why-" Shippo began only was to be cut off by Inu-chan.
"Kagome's gone!" the kid screamed. The four looked at each other in fright before Inu-chan broke free and ran into the woods.
"Hey, kid!" Shippo started to fly after him only to be pulled back by Miroku.
"We have to get to safety, Shippo and I am *not* letting another one of us get separated," he said. The three made their way to safety.
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Inuyasha landed in the camp grounds and without so much of a greeting, attacked Sesshomaru. He picked him up and pushed him with his claws to a distance a few feet away. Rin gave a muffled cry in t he dark woods and tried to run to Sesshomaru, but she was held back by Jaken. Sesshomaru's orders were to be followed.
Sesshomaru himself just gave a groan as he struggled to stand up, his right hand holding the bleeding claw marks in his side. Inuyasha advanced slowly toward his brother with an expressionless face but Sesshomaru just gave a sickly smile.
He licked his lips.
"You seem to have missed something, half-breed," he whispered before pointing a bloody finger at a shocked Kagome still on her rock. Seeing the demon stare at her, she stumbled up.
Inuyasha stared at her a second with no expression before pure rage engulfed his features. He rushed toward Kagome with his bloody claws.
"Visions! Visions! Stop haunting me! Stop taunting me!" he screamed.
When he was getting near to Kagome, a little bundle escaped from the back woods and launched itself at Inuyasha, the demon's, head. He placed both hands on Inuyasha's cheeks and they both let out shrill sounds unlike those of this world.
Crying, the little boy pulled his hands from the demon's cheeks and jumped off. Crying, he ran to Kagome and opened his arms to her. She picked him up and stared in horror at his burnt hands. The burn on Inuyasha's cheeks sizzled slightly and he roared in pain. Not intent on anything but relieving the immense hurting, the white-haired demon jumped up and flew off.
Seeing one demon gone and the other severely injured, Kagome decided it was about time she and Inu-chan made their way out of there. There was no grace in what she did. She held tight onto Inu-chan and ran.
Sesshomaru screamed for his servant but it was too late to catch or find the two.
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"This is stupid. He's obviously not here anymore. Let's go back," Shippo demanded from their hiding place. It had been over an hour in the cave.
"Yeah, I think it's finally safe," Miroku said and all three of them pushed their way out of the cave. They traveled back to the campsite.
Kagome looked up and grinned as they entered the campsite.
"You finally decided to wander back, huh?" she addressed to Shippo. All the worry in the little fox demon suddenly transformed into anger.
"You idiot!" he flew towards Kagome. "What did you go running off for? Did you get hurt?"
Kagome frowned slightly.
"No," she answered, this time addressing them all. "But Inu-chan did."
They all looked at the bandages around Inu-chan's tiny hands.
"What happened?" Sango asked.
The schoolgirl gave a sigh before going into what happened. First with Sesshomaru, then Inuyasha (the demon), then finally with Inu-chan.
"Whoa," Miroku, Sango and Shippo said as they all plopped down onto the floor.
"Yeah," Kagome agreed. "Now, I think there may be a connection between this demon and Inu-chan somehow and that's why Sesshomaru wants him so badly. Maybe he was planning to use Inu-chan to kill Inuyasha since they can't touch each other."
"Oh and one more thing," Kagome said. "When Inuyasha saw me, he looked weird. This look came across his face like he recognized me or something. Then, he got really angry and called me a vision. You don't think I know him through a dream too, do you?"
Miroku, Sango and Shippo looked nervously around at each other. They were trying to decide how much of the truth they should tell Kagome.
Finally Shippo spoke up.
"The thing is...remember when I talked about Lady Kikyo, Kagome? The thing is, you look a lot like her. You two could practically be twins. Inuyasha probably thought you were her."
Kagome looked slightly surprised, but before she could say anything, Inu-chan (who had been silent until now) spoke up.
"I don't think so..." he said, his eyes turning to Shippos'.
Shippo couldn't move his eyes away. Over the firelight, Inu-chan's eyes seemed to have taken a golden color. Inu-chan got up from where he had been sitting staring at the fire and walked over to where Shippo, Miroku and Sango sat. He walked back and forth in front of them.
"I think you're lying," he said, his voice innocent and sincere. "I really do. There's something you're keeping from Kagome and I want to know what. If you don't tell us, Kagome could seriously get hurt next time."
The three stayed silent. Shippo seemed to want to tell, but in the end it was Sango who answered first to the accusations.
"We're not keeping anything from Kagome," she said softly, looking Inu-chan in the eye. "And I really don't think it's your place to question us."
The tension rose as the two stared at each other.
Finally, Kagome broke out with a laugh.
"Come on, everyone," she exclaimed, pulling Inu-chan into her lap. "Let's not let our enemy allow us to fight. We're a team, right?"
Shippo grinned and flew over to be by Kagome's shoulder.
"Yeah! We have a mission!" he exclaimed. The two beamed at each other. They were in perfect accordance.
Sango just stared at Inu-chan.
They both said nothing.
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"Inuyasha? Inuyasha..." the soft voice called.
Inuyasha groaned slightly before his eyelids fluttered open. He found himself staring at the face of a beautiful woman. Though it pained him greatly, he struggled to sit up. He turned and looked at his reflection in the sparkling lake.
"Inuyasha, your wounds," the woman gasped, bending down to touch his cheek.
He flicked her hand away.
"Don't bother me, Kikyo," he growled. Kikyo's hand moved swiftly away and her lips thinned.
"What? Killing your humans didn't satisfy your anger enough? Now you take it out on me?" she asked indignantly. Finally, getting no response, she inspected the two quickly fading wounds on Inuyasha's cheeks.
"How did you get those?" she asked. "They're amazing and-"
Suddenly, the white-haired demon whirled around. His eyes were flashing with something Kikyo couldn't place. Then again, she never did understand what was behind those eyes of his. Kikyo stumbled back slightly.
"Do you know that Kagome's back?" he questioned her.
Shock waved through the Priestess at the mention of that name.
"What?" she asked, her eyes wide. "She's back? Are you sure?"
Inuyasha stood up and started to pace.
"Yes, I'm sure. At first I thought it was just another vision, but now I know it's not. Sesshomaru saw her and she w as holding that kid-"
"Kid?" Kikyo asked again although this time it wasn't really a question. Now, those wounds on his cheeks made sense. "Did you finally meet the other Inuyasha?"
"Other Inuyasha?" the demon inquired. "Why do you say that?"
"You didn't know? When you made your wish on the...on the jewel to become a full demon, your other half had to go somewhere. You didn't think your human side could just disappear, did you? It was reborn. That's why you can't touch the child. He's the human Inuyasha. This is exactly like how I can't touch Kagome...Kagome..." at the sound of that name on her lips, Kikyo stopped. Inuyasha's eyes flamed up again.
Suddenly, he smiled...and his smile was much, much worst than anything else he could have done at the moment. Anger, frustration, sadness...anything would have been better than that smile.
"Kagome's back," he said, almost in a sing-song way to himself. "Kagome's back."
And Kikyo remembered. She remembered all too late that the demon in front of her wasn't the Inuyasha she knew. She remembered that the demon in front of her was insane.
Kikyo suddenly felt so sorry for Kagome.
"Kagome's back, Lady Kikyo," Inuyasha sang as his eyes glittered. "And this time...this time I'm going to make sure she doesn't leave."
With that, his smiled got larger and he took to the sky.
"Inuyasha! Stop! Don't..." Kikyo ran after the flying figure with an entreating hand, but eventually stopped. It was useless. He was gone. Kikyo's head bent down.
There was no saving the girl now.
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Author's Notes: Not much excitement in this chapter. Maybe the next one. E-mail me at silverflame_maiden@hotmail.com.