Author-chan's notes: OHAYO!!! Wow!!! This is my fourth chapter! I'm really doing great on this fic. (*Sigh*) The only problem is that it's my fourth chapter already, and I still haven't gotten the characters out of Japan yet!!! They should be in London by now!!!
Oh well, they get there soon. I hope.
Overseas
(Chapter Four: Ninja or Slave? Feh!)
"RUN!!!"
"I'M RUNNING!!! FOR KAMI'S SAKE STOP SCREAMING LIKE A WOMAN!!!"
"SHUT UP!!! I DON'T CARE, AS LONG AS WE'RE FAR AWAY FROM THOSE FOREIGN DEMONS!!!"
"'Demons'?" Kagome blinked, hearing the screams. She and Sango had finished dressing, and had rejoined Inuyasha and Miroku when the whole group heard the cries.
"Bakas," Sango snorted, "Don't they realize that with all that screaming they're doing, they're just telling whatever youkai that's chasing them where they are?"
"Maybe we should help them," Kagome said.
"Feh! Leave those fools to their fate," Inuyasha snorted.
"Inuyasha! That's cruel!" Kagome cried. Inuyasha muttered something under his breath.
"We might as well find out what's going on," Miroku said, "Who knows? Maybe the demon that's chasing those two has a Shikon shard."
Inuyasha's ears perked up at the word "shard". Of course you couldn't see his ears do that since they were covered with a hat.
"If the demon has a shard," Inuyasha began, "then lets go!" Inuyasha dashed over to where the screams were coming from. Kagome sighed and followed. Miroku was also about to go, when Sango stopped him.
"Don't you think this is a bit odd?" Sango asked.
"What do you mean, Sango?" Miroku asked.
"Remember how you said that demons don't usually hunt around this area?"
"Yes."
"I was just thinking, why would a youkai just suddenly want to hunt in this area, at this time, when we're here? Isn't it a bit strange? Do you know how little the chances are that a youkai would just suddenly appear the same day that we do, in an area youkai avoid?" Sango asked.
"Good point, Sango," Miroku nodded, "Do you think that this youkai might be after us?"
"Either us, or the Shikon shards that Kagome-chan has," Sango replied.
"Then we better be on our guard," Miroku said.
"I'm always on my guard," Sango grinned. Then she frowned.
POW!!! Miroku now had a black eye, complements of Sango. Yep, our favorite hentai monk tried to grab Sango's butt again.
"Ow…" Miroku muttered.
"Like I said, I'm always on my guard," Sango said, "Especially when I'm traveling with a hentai like you!" Sango walked off, following Kagome and Inuyasha.
***
"Inuyasha! Wait for me!!!" Kagome cried. Inuyasha stopped and turned towards her. When Kagome finally reached him, she was out of breath.
"Tired already, wretch?" Inuyasha asked her, smiling smugly.
"I'm just not used to running in a kimono, that's all," Kagome gasped. Inuyasha shook his head.
"Climb on my back," he told her.
"What?" Kagome blinked.
"Listen, Kagome," Inuyasha sighed, "I can cover more ground if I'm jumping through the trees. And I don't want you trying to follow me that way. You'll tire yourself out in no time."
"But what if someone saw you?! Humans can't jump like you do, Inuyasha," Kagome said.
"Don't worry, nobody will see me, I'm too fast," Inuyasha said with confidence.
"All right, if you say so," Kagome sighed, as she climbed on him.
"Hold on!" Inuyasha told Kagome as he leapt through the trees.
***
"I wonder who was it that was screaming," Kagome mused. She and Inuyasha had landed on a tree branch, and were now scanning the area for either youkai or the people that were screaming.
"I would guess they were," Inuyasha answered, gesturing to two armored men on the ground below them.
"Wait a second!" Kagome exclaimed, "Those two men are samurai!"
"Feh!" Inuyasha snorted, "They look pathetic! No self respecting youkai would go after such pathetic looking creatures."
"You don't have any respect for samurai, do you?" Kagome sighed.
"Feh!"
"Typical Inuyasha," Kagome sighed, "Do you think we should go down there and introduce ourselves?"
"No. Not yet," Inuyasha muttered.
"WHAT?! Why?!" Kagome asked.
"Quiet wretch! They'll hear you!" Inuyasha hissed.
"Quiet yourself, dog-boy," Kagome muttered under her breath.
"So what's the plan?" Kagome asked quietly.
"Let's listen to them," Inuyasha said, "Maybe they say something useful."
"Who are you, and what have you done to Inuyasha?" Kagome asked playfully.
"Eh?" Inuyasha blinked. Kagome chuckled quietly.
"You're thinking ahead," Kagome said, "The Inuyasha I know never uses his head."
"I do too!" Inuyasha growled indignantly, "Now shut up, wretch, those stupid samurai are finally talking."
"Do you think we lost them?" Samurai #1 asked panting after his long running and screaming.
("Them?" Kagome whispered to Inuyasha, "Does that mean that there's more than one youkai?")
("Guess so, wretch," Inuyasha began to crack his knuckles, "That means there's more demon butt to kick!")
("Typical Inuyasha," Kagome sighed.)
("Quiet wretch!" Inuyasha hissed, "The other baka is talking!")
"I don't know, Karasu," Samurai #2 sighed, "Who knows what these foreign demons are capable of?"
("Foreign demons?" Kagome blinked in surprise.)
("Feh! They're probably just some demons from the east," Inuyasha shrugged.)
"Do you think we should run further, Tsuru?" Samurai #1 (now identified as Karasu) asked.
"Maybe," Tsuru (who was Samurai #2) shrugged, "I have a distant cousin who's a miko in this village somewhere in northeast. I haven't seen her in ten years, but she should still be there."
"So do you know were this village is exactly?" Karasu asked.
"Not really," Tsuru said. Karasu "sweatdropped".
"So how the hell are we going to get there?!" Karasu roared.
"Calm down, Karasu!" Tsuru soothed, "My cousin's village shouldn't be hard to find. After all, it is located right next this forest with the strangest name."
"So, what's this forest called?" Karasu asked.
"I think it has something to do with a demon," Tsuru said, "A dog demon I think."
"YOU DON'T MEAN 'INUYASHA'S FOREST'?!" Kagome cried out loud, her eyes wide.
"Way to go Kagome," Inuyasha hissed, "You just ruined our cover!"
"Opps!" Kagome blushed.
"Come out! Whoever you are!" Karasu yelled.
"Feh! Why should we?" Inuyasha yelled back from his spot in the trees.
"Because I said so!" Karasu yelled as he looked around for Inuyasha.
"Oh yeah?! Who died and made you Emperor?!" Inuyasha growled.
"Come and face me like a man!" Karasu snarled, "Or are you a coward?"
"WHAT?!" Inuyasha screeched as he turned red with rage, "That's it!!! You're gonna die, you baka samurai!!! Nobody calls me a coward, and lives to talk about it!!!"
"Oh no…" Kagome groaned, covering her face with her hands.
"Karasu, calm down," Tsuru soothed, "There's no point in losing your temper."
"Shut up, Tsuru!!!" Karasu yelled, "This is between me and the invisible coward!!!"
"I'll show you invisible!!!" Inuyasha snarled, jumping to the ground.
"Wait for me!" Kagome cried as she tried to climb down the tree. Unfortunately, Kagome was in a kimono, so climbing down was hard for her. That plus Inuyasha had placed them on a high tree branch.
"It's time to die, you baka samurai!" Inuyasha growled when he landed on the ground. Karasu's jaw dropped, and Tsuru's eyes widened.
"T-that's impossible!" Tsuru sputtered, "You couldn't have jumped from such a great height and not have a scratch on you! You must be ninja to do that!"
"Feh! Think what you will," Inuyasha snorted.
"Then you are a ninja!" Tsuru gasped. Inuyasha simply rolled his eyes.
"He's not a ninja!" Karasu laughed, "Look at him! He's probably some sort of farmer or servant!"
"WHAT?!" Inuyasha snarled, "I am the servant of NO one!!! Understand that, baka?"
"Um, can you help me?" Kagome asked, still stuck in the tree.
"I'll be there in a moment!" Inuyasha called back to her.
"Looks like you're the slave of that wretch up there," Karasu snickered. Inuyasha glared at the samurai with pure anger in his eyes.
"No one. Calls. Kagome. A. Wretch. Except. For. ME!!!!" Inuyasha snarled angrily. Then, faster than the eye could follow, Inuyasha grabbed Karasu by the throat, and slammed him against a tree (not the one that Kagome was in though).
"Maybe he really is a ninja," Tsuru mused to himself, "No human being could have that kind of speed, except for a ninja. Maybe he's a ninja in disguise."
"Let go of that samurai NOW, dog-boy, or I'll say the 'S-word'!!!" Kagome threatened from her spot in the tree. Inuyasha winced slightly, and slowly let go of Karasu. As soon as Inuyasha let go, Karasu began to rub his sore neck.
"Can you help me get down from here please?" Kagome asked Inuyasha. The hanyou muttered something under his breath. Then he quickly leaped back up into the tree, scoped up Kagome, and jumped back down to earth.
"Thanks," Kagome said when Inuyasha put her down. Inuyasha simply grumbled.
"I told you he was a slave to that woman!" Karasu muttered under his breath.
"I'm telling you, he's a ninja!" Tsuru argued, "Look at the way he moves! He's a ninja!"
"Bet you five ryu that he's a slave!" Karasu crowed.
"Fine! And I bet you five ryu that he's a ninja!" Tsuru said.
"Shut up!!!" Inuyasha yelled, "Baka samurai!!! Why do they even exist anyway?!"
"Why were you spying on us?" Tsuru asked politely.
"Feh! Why should we tell you?" Inuyasha snorted.
"Inuyasha! Be polite!" Kagome scolded.
"Did you call him 'Inuyasha'?" Tsuru asked, slightly surprised.
"Yeah, why?" Kagome asked.
"It's just a very odd name that's all," Tsuru shrugged.
"What?!" Inuyasha snarled, starting to become even more pissed than he already was.
"I meant no offense. It's just that there is a story about another creature named Inuyasha. I was just wondering if you were named after that character," Tsuru said, "But I doubt that very much. The story of Inuyasha is not a pleasant one."
"What do you mean?" Kagome asked.
"Well the story of Inuyasha is about a dog demon," Tsuru began, "He hungered for the power of this jewel called the Shikon no Tama. To get the jewel, he attacked the village where the jewel was. He destroyed the village. Burnt it to the ground. Inuyasha had the jewel in his grasp, but then the village priestess shot one of her holy arrows at him, and destroyed him. According to the story, the forest where Inuyasha died in still contains his remains. The forest itself was named Inuyasha's Forest. And even today, the villages that surround the Forest fear it, even though the demon was killed a long time ago."
"I know that story," Inuyasha said, his eye twitching, "But the story I know is slightly different, 'cause my version is the correct one!"
"Eh?" Tsuru blinked, "That's impossible! My cousin told me this story, and her version is the correct one! She was there when the village was destroyed! And that village miko was her sister!"
"WHAT?!" Inuyasha cried out in surprise.
"You're cousin was probably lying," Karasu snorted.
"Kaede wouldn't lie!" Tsuru cried.
"KAEDE?!" Kagome and Inuyasha cried at the same time.
"You know her?" Tsuru blinked.
"Yeah," Kagome nodded, "She's our friend and teacher."
"Feh! More like our 'wrinkled old crone'," Inuyasha snorted.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried.
"Show some respect to you're elders!" Tsuru scolded.
"Feh!"
"Listen up, dog-boy," Kagome muttered under her breath. Even though that she said everything quietly, Kagome knew that Inuyasha's keen ears could hear her, "Be nice, or I'll say the 'S-word' so many times, you won't be able to stand up strait for a century!"
"Wretch!" Inuyasha hissed under his breath.
"I heard that!" Kagome hissed back.
"Is there something you two children would like to share with us?" Karasu asked teasingly.
"'CHILDREN'?!" Inuyasha yelled, "Child yourself, baka!!! I'm older than you!!!"
"No you're not!!!" Karasu yelled back, "I'm over thirty summers old!!! How old are you? Sixteen or something?!"
"YOU WANNA KNOW HOW OLD I AM?!!!" Inuyasha shouted, "WELL I'M OVER ONE-HUN—"
"SHUT UP, DOG-BOY!!!!" Kagome yelled, hitting Inuyasha on the head, "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! BLOW OUR COVER?!"
"'Blow our cover'?" Karasu and Tsuru blinked at the same time.
"I told you!!!" Tsuru crowed, "He's some a ninja in disguise!!!"
"No he's not!!!" Karasu argued, "He's a slave to that woman!!! She's probably some sort of hime in disguise and the dog is her slave!!!"
"SAY WHAT?!" Kagome and Inuyasha yelled, both of them bopping Karasu on the head.
"OW!" the samurai cried as he rubbed his aching head.
"Baka samurai," Kagome and Inuyasha growled, glaring at Karasu.
"Like there's any way Kagome could be a princess," Inuyasha scoffed, "She's too much like a man to be one!"
"Say what, dog-boy?!" Kagome yelled, "Well if I was a princess, I wouldn't make you my slave. I'd just toss you in the dungeon!"
"Feh! I'd like to see you try!" Inuyasha taunted.
"Why you, you, you…" Kagome stuttered, growing angrier by the second. Then she quickly bopped Inuyasha on the head.
"I agree with the slave. You're not very lady-like," Karasu muttered, still rubbing the spot that Kagome and Inuyasha hit.
"That's none of you're business, is it?" Kagome snapped, then she went back to arguing with Inuyasha.
"Do you think we should stop them?" Tsuru asked.
"Nah!" Karasu said with an evil grin, "This should be interesting!"
"You're so cruel, Karasu!" Tsuru scolded.
"Shut up!" Karasu snarled.
Author-chan's notes: Sorry that I kind of ended the chapter so suddenly. Mou! I still haven't gotten everyone to England yet! It will happen soon, hopefully. Sango and Miroku should meet the two samurai in the next chapter. Not only that, but we'll find out about the samurai's "foreign demons". That plus we'll finally find out why demons don't like being in that area…
P.S. Don't forget to R+R!!! Remember, Author-chan + Good Reviews = Happy Author-chan and more chapters!!!