Complete the Circle
Chapter Forty-Two: Time's Up, The Battle Begins
Sango woke up when the bed she was leaning on shifted suddenly. She looked up and saw that Kagome was awake, and looking as healthy as ever. In fact, the cuts that she had had yesterday seemed to have all disappeared.
"Kagome-chan?" she asked, wondering what the girl was looking around for.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome called out, sounding slightly afraid.
"Kagome-chan, are you alright?" Sango asked, wondering what was wrong with her friend.
"Where's Inuyasha?" she asked, turning to her, her eyes filled with dread.
"He's at the other hospital," she replied, Kagome's paranoia starting to affect her. "What's wrong?"
"I have to get there," Kagome said, getting off the bed. "Where is it? Which hospital?"
"But Kagome, your injuries…" Sango started as Kagome began taking the various tubes and needles out of her, then took the bandage around her waist off. There wasn't even a scar to show her encounter with the wind youkai yesterday.
The door suddenly opened, and in walked Kagome's family. But Sango noticed that one in their number was missing.
"Kagome, are you alright? What happened?" her mother asked worriedly. "We just got the message this morning. How are you feeling? Are you hurt?"
"No, Mama," she said impatiently. "I'm fine."
"Kagome, why is there a wave of youki around you?" asked her grandfather, frowning.
"Kagome-chan was attacked yesterday by a youkai," Sango filled in for them.
"Nee-chan, you're not hurt, are you?" asked Souta. Sango noticed that Shippou was missing.
"I said I'm fine!" Kagome all but yelled. "I want to know where Inuyasha is!"
"That's right, that spell," Mrs. Higurashi realized. "Are you feeling dizzy right now?"
"No! And that's the problem!" Kagome said. "Why am I not feeling dizzy? Why do I feel fine?"
"Did something happen to Inu-nii-chan?" asked Souta.
"I don't know!" shouted Kagome. Suddenly, the door burst open and in walked Miroku.
"Miroku!" Sango said in relief. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked in concern.
"Don't worry, Sango, it was nothing," he reassured her. "It turns out that it was just a spell put on me by that idiot."
"What? I thought he took the spell off," said Sango.
"Yeah, well I found out this morning from his mother that Inuyasha didn't learn how to take spells off yet. He just knows how to replace a previously set spell with another one," Miroku said, shaking his head.
"Did you see Inuyasha this morning?" asked Kagome anxiously.
"Kagome? Shouldn't you be dizzy and stuff?" asked Miroku, wondering why she didn't seem to be ill at all.
"No. Something's happened to Inuyasha," she said, holding her tears in.
"Did you see him before you came here?" asked Sango.
"No. I was going to visit him later," Miroku said. "He was poisoned by that wind youkai and so I was going to give this antidote to him," he said as he took out a small vial. "His grandfather has a lot of useful things."
"Then why didn't you go to him first?" asked Sango, wondering where Miroku's common sense was.
"Because I had to tell you where Shippou was!" he said, getting annoyed.
"Where is Shippou?" asked Kagome, looking at the rest of her family.
"He was chased by a youkai yesterday, which is why your entire family left with Sango's family to hopefully search for him," Miroku said. "But they were led astray by another youkai. Thankfully, no one was hurt."
"But we still haven't found Shippou," Souta said.
"He's safe, for now," Miroku said darkly. "He's hiding at Sesshoumaru's place."
"Sesshoumaru?" asked Kagome, surprised.
"Sesshoumaru may still be weak from what happened before, but his servants can do more than just defend his home," Miroku said. "They'll protect Shippou for now. Our main concern is how to defeat Naraku."
"Shouldn't we go help Inuyasha first?" asked Sango. Suddenly the window in the room opened, and in hopped Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha?" they all asked in unison.
"What? Those stupid doctors wouldn't let me leave, so I just escaped through the window," he said, dusting himself off.
"Why did you have to enter through the window?" asked Miroku, wondering why Inuyasha didn't just use the door.
"Idiot. Naraku's people are down in the lobby," he said. They all looked at him in surprise. "It's true. Aki and some other people whom I've seen around Naraku before are all down there."
"What does that mean?" asked Souta.
"It means its time for me and the others to bust out of here," Inuyasha said. He took the sheet from the bed and threw it to Kagome. "Wrap that around yourself. It's cold outside, and we don't have time to wait for you to change."
"What are we doing?" asked Kagome, doing as Inuyasha had instructed.
"Your family will be safe. They don't know what they look like," Inuyasha said, opening the window wider. "Higurashi-san, please get your family into another room so that they don't suspect you," he said.
"Wait a minute," said Miroku, his brain not moving fast enough to catch up to what was happening. "Aren't you supposed to be poisoned and knocked out and dizzy, and basically dying?"
"Talk later," Inuyasha replied. "We're going out through the window."
"I can't jump down from here!" said Sango. "None of us can!"
"I'm carrying all of you down," Inuyasha said quickly. "Miroku, you're coming first."
"Why me?" he asked, wondering what was down there that Inuyasha wanted him to suffer first.
"I need you to defend them with your air rip if they should catch you guys while I'm carrying someone else," Inuyasha said impatiently. "Sango can better defend in closed spaces while you are better in open ones. I'm not going to let you suck everyone in the hospital into your air void."
"Just go," said Sango, pushing Miroku. Inuyasha grabbed Miroku and quickly jumped out. A few minutes later, he reappeared again.
"Kagome, on my back," he said, "Sango, you too." They both got on him quickly, and held on to him tightly as he jumped through the window. Sango saw the world around her in a blur, and a moment later, they landed on a roof next to Miroku.
She looked over the edge of the building and saw a thin veil of black smoke covering everything. What was strange was that the people who were walking in the streets didn't seem to notice it at all, but whoever touched it seemed to become melancholy and irritated. Sango saw two boys near a street corner get into a fight for what seemed like no apparent reason. Fear and distrust was starting to reign in the people's hearts.
"Our time's up," Miroku said. She was afraid of what that meant.
He watched the small kitsune pup transform himself into different objects in hopes of "training" himself. He had to bite back a scornful remark at the child's antics. To him, winning something with the aid of the Shikon no Tama meant nothing at all. After all, it was only with power borrowed from a greater being that allowed the person to win. It meant that the person who used the power hadn't gained anything with their own strength. He had tried to explain that to the kitsune pup, but the child had just shrugged him off and said that he would do whatever it took to protect his friends. Pitiful, he thought.
"Stop looking at me funny," the child said.
"You will never gain anything as long as you continue to use the power of that shard to meet your needs," he said haughtily.
"I already told you that there's no other way for me to do anything!" the child shouted. The kitsune hung around his brother too much. He had to force himself not to cover his ears from the sound the child made. He would not seem so weak as to be unable to stand a child's voice, even though his sensitive ears were hurting.
"You should at least try to use your own strength," he said. Suddenly he heard the doorbell ring. He could smell that familiar scent of Inuyasha and his friends.
"All right, where's Shippou?" Inuyasha's voice rang through the large house.
"Inuyasha!" the child said, running to him. Sesshoumaru looked on coldly as the child hugged the one called Kagome.
"Naraku has sent me a notice," Sesshoumaru said, looking straight at Inuyasha. There was something slightly different about him. It seemed like he felt more complete than before.
"What is it?" he said. Sesshoumaru caught the slight hint of hostility in Inuyasha's voice, though his face did not show it.
"He wishes to see you at the place where you met your end. Tonight," he said, feeling like a servant relaying a message between masters. But it couldn't be helped. His youki hadn't completely recovered yet.
"That would be the current national park," Kagome said, starting to think. "How are we supposed to get there? Sango and my family are hiding from Naraku's henchmen, so who is going to bring us there?"
Suddenly one of the servants showed up with a visitor. Sesshoumaru heard Kagome groan softly.
"Higurashi? What are you doing here?" asked Hojo innocently. Sesshoumaru saw Inuyasha swallow a growl that did not go unnoticed by Kagome.
"I should ask the same of you," she said, straining a smile.
"Oh! Omori-sensei," he said, turning to Sesshoumaru. "Some man gave me this to give to you." He handed Sesshoumaru a note. He opened it, and as soon as he read it, he crumpled it.
"Thank you, Hojo. You may go now," Sesshoumaru said, his voice welcoming no disobedience. Hojo waved at Kagome then left, leaving the group wondering what was so important about the note that it had needed Hojo to deliver it.
"That stupid—I can't believe I didn't notice it before," Inuyasha grumbled.
"What?" asked Kagome.
"He smells like that wimpy wolf, Kouga," he answered.
"Kouga?" asked Miroku, surprised. "But that would mean…"
"That Kouga is dead," finished Sango. "That means Hojo is his reincarnation…"
"What?!" asked Kagome. "How can Kouga be dead?"
"It has to be Naraku," said Shippou.
"If you do not defeat him tonight, all of your families will die," Sesshoumaru said to them suddenly. They turned to look at him, not quite sure if they had heard right. "The chain of events has started for a long time. It is time to finish it," he said, melting the note away with his toxic claw.
"Sesshoumaru, could you please bring us there?" asked Kagome. He turned to her, his face calmly neutral. He didn't want them to go. They weren't near powerful enough to take on Naraku by themselves. Especially Inuyasha. He didn't even have his precious Tetsusaiga to aid him anymore.
"You'll all die," he said without emotion.
"We'll prove you wrong," said Inuyasha defiantly. He only raised an eyebrow at his former brother.
"We leave at four. You have two hours to say your prayers," said Sesshoumaru as he exited the room. His brother was going to die again, and this time, he could do nothing to prevent it.
"So what did happen?" asked Sango. They were seated in Sesshoumaru's living room, and were discussing the mystery behind the disappearance of the distance spell.
"The link that was provided by the spell allowed me to transfer some of my youki to Kagome," said Inuyasha, "And that was how she became healed of her injuries."
"And my purifying energy purified the poison that ran through your system, right?" asked Kagome. Inuyasha nodded.
"But why did the spell disappear?" asked Shippou.
"It's because it's a love spell," said Miroku. "They must have proclaimed their love to each other while they were each lying on their beds, which broke the spell. Isn't that right, Inuyasha? Kagome?" He looked at the two from the corner of his eyes.
"No, Kagome never—" spluttered Inuyasha, while Kagome found the floor very interesting. Truth was, she was about to tell Inuyasha that she loved him, but she supposed that by that point, the spell already knew of their love, so was broken.
"What about you, Miroku?" asked Kagome, trying to divert the attention. "Why was Sango worried about you?"
"He came to save me!" said Shippou.
"It seems that Inuyasha's spell allowed me to leave my body for awhile in order to help someone," Miroku said. "After you two went to the hospital, I heard someone calling out for me, and then my soul just left my body and wound up next to Shippou. I led him to Sesshoumaru's place. Then I just woke up," he concluded.
"I thought Miroku was dead," said Shippou.
"Does that spell still work?" asked Sango, wondering if Miroku was going to drop unconscious whenever someone needed his help.
"No, it doesn't," he said. "My grandfather said that the youki that had surrounded me before has disappeared."
The door to the living room opened, and in walked some of Sesshoumaru's servants with their weapons.
"Sesshoumaru-sama requested us to give these to you," they said in a servile voice. They placed Hiraikotsu next to Sango, as well as the rest of her equipment. They placed the staff next to Miroku, as well as a new bow and arrows next to Kagome, and gave a slender sword to Inuyasha. Sango left the room to change.
A few minutes later, she returned to the room. They looked at each other. They weren't ready yet, but they didn't have any time left to prepare.
"Let's go," Sesshoumaru said, gesturing them to the car with a shake of his head.
"Where's Jaken?" asked Kagome, surprised that the little toad wasn't there.
"I've ordered him to protect your families," Sesshoumaru replied, turning the engine on. The others quickly got inside, and the drive to the forest began.
The sun was beginning to set when Sesshoumaru finally stopped deep in the forest. He watched as they all got out of the car, their faces grim. He got out and looked at them. To him, they were just children, not ready to face an opponent such as this one, but he knew he couldn't stop them. He looked at Inuyasha and could feel the familiar ice on his heart as he looked at his former half brother. He was going to leave his brother on poor terms again. He would never be given the chance to speak with Musashino again.
Surprisingly, it was Miroku who went first into the forest. Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha, who was fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Your friends are leaving you behind," he said calmly, as if he didn't care what befell his brother.
"Sesshoumaru…" Inuyasha said, gritting his teeth in annoyance.
"Go defeat Naraku. Then come back and face me," Sesshoumaru said, his words laced with regret. Inuyasha looked up at him, and he seemed to understand something. He suddenly walked up to him and hugged him. Sesshoumaru was at a loss for words.
"I'll come back and beat you, Onii-chan," he said, his voice muffled by Sesshoumaru's clothes. "I'll show you that your little brother has grown up, and you don't have to worry about him anymore."
"Too bad he'll never grow up because he'll never be able to defeat me," Sesshoumaru replied, ruffling Inuyasha's hair.
"Hey!" he said, pulling away and fixing his hair. As he did so, his raven dark hair transformed into pale, moonlight silver, and his ears twitched slightly on the top of his head. Sesshoumaru looked at him and knew that even in this life, Inuyasha was still a mix. He just hoped that Inuyasha could use both traits of his family to his advantage and defeat Naraku.
"I'll defeat you yet, Onii-chan!" Inuyasha shouted, waving at Sesshoumaru as he followed his friends. Sesshoumaru didn't wave back. He didn't need to.
Author's Notes: Yay! A big battle is finally coming up. And see, Angel-flame? I didn't kill Inuyasha off…yet.
Well, I haven't even cracked open my backpack yet, so I should probably get moving and do my homework. Grrr…
Till next time!