{The Road Between Souls}
{chapter 9 - soon you'll be home}
Standard disclaimers
~~~
Konton-ko sighed, glaring out at the band of slavers. "I'm bored." he announced.
"Then allow me to amuse you." the snarl came from behind him, and when Konton-ko turned around, there was a very angry wolf youkai glaring down at him. "Because, see, you kidnapped my mate and stole her. And if you don't tell me where the fuck you sold Kagome, you bastard, I'll be forced to torture it out of you."
"Bah. Doubtful that you could win against me. I've got my whole band at my back." Konton-ko was not worried in the least bit about this upstart little boy who spoke to him so rudely.
"We'll see," Kouga said, also confident. "'Cause I've got my whole tribe at my back...and trust me, they're pissed off at you, bastard." From the flickering shadows caused by the dying fire embers emerged a band of wolf youkai painted for war, angry sneers on their faces. "They were fond of Kagome," Kouga informed Konton-ko.
"Kono Konton-ko is not afraid," the slaver remarked, sinking down into a fighting stance, and issuing an order out of the side of his mouth, "All of you, leave this alone. This is my fight."
Kouga smirked, then with a yell, came rushing at Konton-ko much slower than he normally moved. We'll see how strong he is, really. Kouga twisted and threw a kick at Konton-ko, watching with pleasure as his opponent was knocked to the ground.
"Heh heh heh!" Kouga flipped back, then ran at him again, this time with a powerful punch combination. Konton-ko managed to block the first wave, but the second caught him off guard. A well-placed palm strike sent him flying through a tree.
"Ready to talk now?" Kouga smirked.
"No," Konton-ko said sullenly.
"Then we keep fighting!" Kouga rushed the slaver again, this time showing absolutely no mercy. The guy had stolen his mate, and offered his face to break. Oh, yeah, this guy was dead meat.
"Now?!" Kouga roared after three roundhouses and a spinning back kick.
"Hell no! Fuck you!" the reptilian's spat-out comment earned him another deadly combination...punch, palm strike, roundhouse left, roundhouse right, palm strike, jumping crescent kick.
"I surrender!" Kouga smirked. Konton-ko looked like shit, and probably felt like it, too. Kouga had, in all likelihood, succeeded in breaking at least three of his ribs, but also a myriad of miscellaneous injuries that included a broken arm, a dislocated jaw, and several cuts and scrapes. If he was lucky, he'd be okay in a day or two.
Translation: if he managed to not piss Kouga off again.
"I-I sold her at the Nishi Oukyuu...t-to Shuuraishi-sama's mate..."
"Good. Now I'm going to leave before I feel the need to kill you."
And he was as good as his word, screaming at the tribe to head west as fast as possible. Hang on, Kagome...I'm coming for you!
As an afterthought, he spun around and slashed his never-used katana at Konton-ko's neck, killing him instantly. "Now you're dead." he said calmly, in a satisfied tone of voice.
~~~
Kagome hummed as she headed for Inuyasha's room. It was after dinner, meaning that since her chores were over, she was entitled to do what she wanted for the rest of the night. Or, more accurately, go to Inuyasha. It wasn't like every night their clothes made the furious journey from bodies to floor, another thing that set Inuyasha apart from Kouga. Sometimes, Inuyasha was more than content to simply hold her all night long, insisting only that she snuggle with him.
Tsuraiuta flagged he down as they passed in the hallway. "Kagome, Inuyasha isn't here tonight. He won't be for the next three nights, actually."
Kagome's eyes narrowed. "How come?"
"He didn't tell you." The words of a question, put together with Tsuraiuta's now-upset face formed a rather disturbing picture. Kagome felt that this bit of information, whatever it happened to be, was crucial to say the least.
"Tell me."
"That's his business, not mine, to tell you," Tsuraiuta said prissily.
"Ooooh, I am so going to hit him when he gets back!" Kagome steamed, then stomped back towards the slaves' quarters, steam practically gushing from her ears. Tsuraiuta wondered why she seemed so unconcerned.
She shrugged it off, then headed for the kitchens to harass Dokukon. As she headed down the hall, Sango headed briskly past her, in the general direction of Miroku's room. The delinquent houshi and Inuyasha were rather close for two such opposites. Inuyasha considered Miroku his closet friend, and one of the three or four people he would confide in - the others being Kagome, his mother, and Shuuraishi. Sesshoumaru, predictably, was missing from the list. There was no love between the two half-brothers, and the two refrained from killing one another only because their father threatened to rip them to pieces if they didn't.
Therefore, it was strange that Inuyasha didn't tell Kagome the reasons he left three times a month. Tsuraiuta paused to absentmindedly tell Sango that Miroku was also gone, and would return in a few days. It was easier to excuse Miroku's absence, as he was a holy man (though a fairly oxymoronic one) and therefore had the right to leave for days of meditation.
Another odd thing was that Kagome hadn't noticed his earlier absences. Well, actually, it wasn't. This was Inuyasha's third trip out this month, and he left the first time the night Kagome had arrived, leaving him just enough time before she began serving. The second time had come in between Yari's death and the start of Kagome's service. The two hadn't been particularly close until a week or so ago, but had been nearly inseparable since then.
Tsuraiuta shook her head. It wasn't in her place to think about things like who Inuyasha was close with, it was her place to get working on important things like Dokukon's cooking so-called skills.
With such thoughts firmly in her mind, she strode purposefully toward the kitchen, her outward message telling anybody with enough brain cells to leave her alone. That had worked well in the past...severing bonds, 'cause bonds brought love and love brought breakup and breakup brought pain and nobody likes pain.
~~~
Inuyasha sat by the fire, knowing all too well that his normally acute senses were now as weak as an ordinary human, and he was without protection - save Miroku, who was also a human, though far from ordinary.
The houshi in question smiled beatifically at his now-human friend. "So are you taking first watch, or should I?"
Inuyasha grunted in response. Miroku nodded. "So nice of you to offer like that, so I could get some sleep." Inuyasha grunted again. "Stop sulking. You're going to have to wait the extra two days, like you always do to get back," he added sharply. "I don't care how much you want to get back to your nice warm futon with Kagome, you're going to wait, and if you try to leave, I'll open up the Kaza Ana."
That being said, the evening proceeded at a much more silent pace than it had previously. Miroku sighed. Every single time it was one of the three "times of the month" that Inuyasha left, the stubborn hanyou insisted that Miroku came along, then, if it was the New Moon, sulked all day and night. It wasn't a lot of fun, but at least by the next morning Inuyasha was perfectly content to sit around talking or sparring.
Now, however, Kagome had to be figured into the equation. It had been a bit of a strain, to say the least, in keeping Inuyasha from simply staying home. It had been even harder keeping him from telling the slave girl that she could come along, too. The only thing that stopped Inuyasha from setting one of the aforementioned scenarios into action were combined threats from Shuuraishi, Miroku, and Shirobou. Inuyasha had seen his father's physical strength, Miroku's curse, and Shirobou's "witch" powers in action combined, and it wasn't pretty. That, and Sesshoumaru finding out exactly when little brother dear lost his youkai strength helped.
Miroku settled down to sleep, as Inuyasha kept Tetsusaiga firmly clamped in his blunt-nailed hands. Ever vigilant, old friend, and it's saved both of our lives a thousand times. The houshi's thoughts wandered to the scenery.
The house they stayed in was no castle, but even Inuyasha had to admit that it was beautiful. "But no matter how pretty the cage is, it's still a cage." Miroku mused quietly to himself. If Inuyasha had been a hanyou, as he normally was, he would have heard the almost-silent remark and have responded violently to it.
But it was the truth. Though beautiful and spacious, Inuyasha's hideout was still a cage, and still held a bird struggling to be set free.
~~~
Houjou sighed as he thought of his sister. More than three years had passed since Kouga had come to get her. And his spineless father, just letting him steal her like that!
It wasn't for nothing, though, that Kagome had run the village with him for several years. Houjou had taken over as the village-head, and was doing a wonderful job of it. Still, there were some times that he wished that wolf bastard hadn't carried her off. Houjou did wonder from time to time why she had just let him take her like that.
Houjou thought back to that day, watching his poor sister being carried off on the wolf-youkai's shoulders, a glazed, frightened look on her face. She was probably intimidated by that youkai's strength. No, that wasn't it. There was a deeper reason for her just letting go like that, and Houjou was going to find out.
Whether it was force by the wolf tribe, pressure from their father, or something else entirely, Houjou would dig until he found the reason.
The only good thing was that the Shikon no Tama was still safe, though this time only Kaede guarded the jewel, without Kagome's help. Years and years ago, when the taiji-ya village had confronted the priestesses about the safekeeping of the jewel, it had seemed like an accident waiting to happen.
So far, so good, though. No particularly strong youkai yet.
Yet.
~~~
In the dark of the night, a huge beast rampaged, cackling as he devoured human and animal flesh.
"Gu gu gu!" Kagura rolled her eyes at Goshinki's pleasure over the kills.
"Can you be any less mature?"
"Very easily."
"I give up..." Kagura tossed a feather into the air, then jumped on it and flew away.
~~~
Phew! On to ch10 now! I bet you're all wondering what'll happen next, ne?
Will Kouga finally reclaim Kagome?
Will Inuyasha be able to formally declare that Kagome is his mate before Kouga gets to the Nishi Oukyuu?
Find out soon!
-Katra Winner
