Yes, Another Authors Note. Sick of me yet? -- Yo. Sorry for the long update time -- I was waiting until I passed ten reviews, but .. I've had exactly ten for the past week and a half. e.e Also, I kinda lost AOL. Dern money problems. They've been threatening for a year, but they finally shut me down..
Candycanes to those of you who recognize Shippo's insult -- Being an insane Nuri-lover, I couldn't resist. Sorry, Watase-Sama. u_u
Chapter three -- Darkening of the Light
"You have to come down sometime, Inuyasha."
Do not.
"You can't continue to sulk all day."
Watch me.
"At least grace me with a response, would you?"
No.
".. Inuyasha is a baby red mamoshi pit viper!!"
It was a very rare thing for Youkai -- even half-Youkai -- to fall from trees. However, sometimes the impossible did happen; especially when augmented by a rather loud Kitsune and a Buddhist Monk to provide sufficient distraction.
"ShippowhattheFUCKwasthat!?" It also took a great deal of force, indeed, to convey anger well enough to scare a Kitsune when one's face was stuck in the ground, but then, Inuyasha always had been known for his impressive lung capacity. Among other things.
"It serves you right, sulking all day like that. Why don't you go and get her already? Be mature for once!"
"Like HELL! You're one to talk!? And you!" While most people would have been (at least) slightly daunted by suddenly coming face to face with an enraged Hanyou, Miroku simply raised an eyebrow. "You fucking planned that, didn't you!?"
"It worked, didn't it?"
"What does that have to do with anything!?"
"Maa, Inuyasha, you shouldn't get so worked up. I'm not saying you should forgive her," He continued, changing the subject abruptly. "But there are more important things at stake here. Ne?" He smiled pleasantly; so did Shippo. Inuyasha twitched and drew back against the tree, suddenly feeling rather cornered.
"I--it's her fucking fault--"
"I repeat -- there are more important things to worry about. Naraku, for instance?" Using the element of surprise, the humble Priest of Buddha grabbed the beads around Inuyasha's neck, and yelled right in his face. "Or howsabout this fucking void in my hand!? I, for one, consider that to be a very important thing to worry about!"
"N--now who's gettin' w-worked up!?" Inuyasha spent a single moment being amazed at how hard it was to speak when one was being rather violently shook, then broke free of the -- now calm -- Monk's grasp.
"Inuyasha.. We must wait at least two more days before we can continue our journey," Miroku folded his arms, closed his eyes, and tilted his head; the very picture of calm, indifferent reasoning. "So, don't you think it'd be better to spend the time making up with Kagome-Sama, rather than hating her?"
"Thanks so fucking much for bringing that up, Priest.." Two more days, and it would be the New Moon.. Dammit! He's right, I can't fucking travel like that.. He folded his arms, turning away from them. "Keh! I'll go get her when I fucking feel like it!"
"Good. Now that that's settled, shall we go eat?" Settled, nothing! And yet, Miroku knew the Hanyou well enough to know when he was going too far. He'd made his point; that was enough. "It's getting late," He continued, "And I believe Kaede and Sango were preparing something special tonight." He didn't believe that at all, actually, but it was a good distraction for the young Kitsune and brooding Hanyou.
Inuyasha walked along behind them in silence, growing uneasier by the moment. There was something .. slightly off, something that gnawed at the edge of his mind, and sent tingles through his veins..
The tingling sensation suddenly erupted within him, condensing in one shining spot, right above his heart, or at the base of his neck..
The Jewel..
Aware of Miroku and Shippo's questioning looks, he drew the necklace off over his head, holding it in his hand and staring at it in uncomprehending trepidation. It glowed, yes, and by the looks on their faces, Miroku and Shippo could feel it too. It spoke to him of unending energy and power, singing praises to his Youkai blood, igniting every nerve.. and yet, though the edges glowed an angry black, the gold still vibrating within let out peals of torment so agonized that even Inuyasha sensed them..
He faltered, fear crawling its way up his spine as he realized what this meant -- the only thing it could mean --
He was off in an instant, vaulting over the heads of his surprised companions, agilely bouncing off the roof of Kaede's house, and thence from tree to tree. If only he could make it in time.. If only he could get there..
Kagome--!
*
Guns.. Numb with fear and pain and the first touches of hysteria, that had been her first thought. Monsters, poison, magic swords or ancient curses, I can handle those.. but guns..?
They'd grabbed her so quickly; it'd seemed like the very shadows had snatched her away from the comforting lights on the street, so suddenly that her newly bought possessions had scattered to the strong wind that blew angrily down the deserted sidewalks, stirring leaves the color of fire like half-formed dust devils in the gutters.
"Don't look so stricken, Hon, this really won't take long." The brick wall at her back seemed to gnaw against her shoulder blades, reminding her of its sheer solidity, and reinforcing her growing fear that this time, there was no way out.
"I thought you said we could have 'er next!" This time, she was on her own.
"I said I won't take long.. Christ, the pair of you, you're such greedy pigs." They laughed, then, appreciating the truth in this simple statement -- uneducated though most of them were, one really didn't need a passing grade to appreciate true irony -- and laughing, they watched in amused fascination as their leader forced himself upon the terrified girl at their feet.
*
He'd reached the edge of "his" forest in seconds, faster than he'd ever made it before. Spurred with a newfound anger -- at what, he didn't know -- he practically flew across the ground, looking like nothing more than a passing shadow as he pushed himself to move faster still.
Kagome -- He faltered, his foot striking a rock and sliding over the ground, losing precious seconds regaining his balance.
He couldn't think of her anymore. He simply had to run.
One two three four five six --
He'd long ago learned the trick to not thinking about anything; he counted. In this moment, he counted the seconds as they ticked by, and when he found that the pace was too slow, he counted his stride. He thought of nothing at all as he ran faster, focusing his gaze on the growing speck in the distance --
And then it was distant, no more; the well was there, and then he was through it, and he allowed himself to regain his breath as he began to slip through time.
*
Even with all her training as a priestess, her current circumstances merely proved what she'd told everyone all along -- Kagome was no Kikyo. Kikyo was so powerful, Kagome was sure she could have done something to protect herself. Wrapped herself in a protective cocoon, maybe, so that no one could touch her.. but then, Kikyo never had to deal with guns.
She shrieked, turning her head this way and that to avoid her attackers questing lips. She wished for the jewel, now, wished so hard that she swore she felt it calling to her -- but Inuyasha had it. Inuyasha had it, and he wasn't here.
She'd given it to him, and without it, she was ordinary.. just another normal girl.
*
"It's as if I could never measure up to what she was!"
"Then why the hell do you try so hard not to be like her!?"
"Because my soul is mine, not hers!"
Her cry from the heart wrenched something inside of him, ringing true in his mind -- it was this fear, this anger, that had driven him to the road after his mother died, that had spurred him to seek out the Shikon no Tama.. but that she could be like him never once crossed his mind -- that he could be more like her was a welcome speculation.
And yet.. she looked so indifferent, standing there glaring at him.. so angry..
"Well? Aren't you going to tell me I'm wrong? .. Talk to me, dammit!"
"Kagome.." The look in her eyes stopped him dead, and the tone of her voice. It was like that warning note she got when she was about to 'sit' him, but.. something more. Something more ferocious, something that he almost, almost feared. "..What? What the fuck is that look??"
"You just don't get it at all, do you?" She spread her arms in exasperation, then planted them firmly on her hips, her gaze turning icy and cold.
"Keh! It's not like you're fucking explaining anything!" He folded his arms, looked away.. she scared him like this -- she reminded him of himself.
"I am! I am, but you don't care! You never care! You never even try! You can have this back, Inuyasha, and good luck finding the rest of it!" She was hysterical, overreacting, furious.. all she ever did was yell at him, wasn't it?
"H-hey -- Fine! Go! And don't fucking come back for it, either!"
"Fine!"
Though nearly lost in an unwilling memory, Inuyasha vaulted from the well and into the air, finding a perch on the highest branch of the Go-Shinboku Tree. He sniffed, testing the wind for her scent --
-- There were so many people in this time, so many smells.. There! He smelt fear, and a familiar scent, yet not quite the same..
With a speed born of desperation, he leapt from the tree and raced over the rooftops, barely finding purchase on the slippery tiles the adorned the houses in this time. The setting sun shone off them, hurting his eyes, and he was forced to slow down lest he slip. He was there, however -- his sensitive ears could hear her now, and the harsh laughter of the monsters that delighted in her terror.
He dropped to the ground at a small path leading to a dead-end, and there he found her. He had one moment to take in the scene before him, and then his anger totally consumed him.
Two seconds ticked by; two men breathed their last.
It didn't matter how he killed them -- no one saw it, anyway. One moment they were nudging each other and grinning, maybe fidgeting occasionally as the young girl's screams caused almost inevitable reactions, not of a desire to help her, but of a different desire entirely.. and the next, they were dead, and that was all that mattered.
Of the five men in the alley that evening, none would actually survive. Perhaps they knew it, too, but that didn't matter either. Their friends had fallen before this freak clad in liquid and cloth of the exact same color, and he was going to pay.
And about that, at least, they were right.
He turned to face them, the two remaining and their leader, and it was then that he saw Kagome. She knelt there against the wall, clothing ripped and askew, a few bruises and blood already marring her pale skin. Slim arms encircled her body as she hugged herself, huddling as far away from her attacker -- who had paused with his hand still resting on her hip, under the rough material of her shorts -- as possible, biting her lower lip to keep from whimpering, eyes squeezed tightly shut.
She looked pathetic, almost, and such was his shock at seeing her so utterly helpless, that he completely forgot to kill the other three. Two of them backed away and ran, and the one that'd been assaulting Kagome found himself hurled backwards only to land on the hard street a few dozen feet away, stunned at the contact his head made with the sidewalk.
Ignoring them, he knelt beside her. Reaching out to touch her shoulder, then her face, he drew his hand back hurriedly as she flinched away from the contact. Almost immediately, though, her eyes opened, and she looked up at him.
"Inu.. ya.. sha.." A mere thread of a whisper; even his sensitive hearing could barely make out her words. Struggling to keep pity and sorrow out of his gaze, he simply put his hand on her face comfortingly, unsure of what else to do. She leaned into his touch immediately, more tears spilling down her face as she clutched his hand.
In an instant, however, the moment shattered -- Inuyasha was pulled back by a large, yet slim hand, and slammed against a different wall. Never one to take such abuse from anyone (if he could possibly avoid it..), he whirled, wrenching himself from the younger man's grasp, and ducking under his arm only to come back to his full height a few feet away, a low growl starting in his throat.
For a moment, his hair shone like a bright blaze in the dark, as if every lingering ray of sunshine dedicated itself to seeking out those silky white strands. His eyes glowed brightly amber, a color in sharp contrast with the crimson staining his claws.
"Who the fuck are you?" The human stared at him, mixed awe and contempt plain in his gaze. Seeing no reason to waste words, Inuyasha simply lunged at him.
Then the darkness came in silently, and even as he raised his fist to begin the attack, the color was fading from the scene around them, washing everything in shadows of black and gray..