Disclaimer: *takes Inuyasha and Friends out of her toy box* Wee hehe!
Look out Inuyasha, it's another youkai... after the Shikon no Kakara...
again... Ack! Duck, Kagome, it's Kikyou, with PMS!! Oh, wait, I forgot,
she's DEAD!! BWA HAHAHAHAH... o.O... *sigh* *puts the figures back into her
box*... Are you sure I can't keep Inuyasha??? I'll keep 'really' good
care of him, I promise, tehe... heh... Grr, FINE! *puts the poor hanyou
back* Inuyasha and Co. aren't mine. I just like to toy with them.
Yo, all! Wasabi! Hurray, I love getting reviews, makes me feel all warm
and gooshy inside. Yuck. ^-~ ...But really, keep sending them in,
onegai! ^-^ Okieday, here's some more story!
Sorry I haven't update in a while, that normally wouldn't happen, but
since I wasn't seeing much support for the story (besides you guys that
review! 'Love y'all!) so I didn't think much for writing more... But I
won't disappoint you people that *are* reading, so here you go! This
story has a lot of places I want it to go, but it might take it a while,
so hope you enjoy the ride.
Domo arigatou- thank you.
Chapter 3:
"Sango! Miroku!" Inuyasha landed with a 'thump' just outside the
village with the Tetsusaiga transformed between both of his tight
clawed hands. "...Shippou!" He looked around, frantically, trying to
spot his comrades amongst the fleeing village people that swarmed
around him like ants. Growling, he tried to jostle his way through
them, but in their panic they weren't even paying attention to the
angry hanyou. Frustration, anger, and strain all near the boiling
point from the night's proceedings, reached a lightly controlled
explosion. With a fierce growl rumbling threateningly in his chest,
the hanyou resorted to shoving the hysteric townsmen in front of him to
the ground and leaped up and over the masses. They were all flooding
into the forest Kaede-baba so appropriately named after him; caught
between a rampant youkai and a haunted forest, they seemed to have no
qualms choosing the unknown.
Inuyasha saw the Hiraikotsu slicing through the air, and twisted
in the air toward that direction. His eyes caught on the youkai
exterminator in full uniform, and the monk Miroku with his staff
reflecting the growing sunlight. They were both facing him, they're
mouths open as though to shout something at him, but even with his
hanyou ears it was impossible to make out that they were shouting about
some leopard youk-
The sickening tearing sound that his shoulder made when the
enormous cat ripped its claws through his already injured skin made
Inuyasha's eyes glaze over. He could feel the muscles in the animal's
paw flexing as it gouged four perfect streaks deeper into his body,
scraping against bone. Fiery pain so cutting ripped through his body
like a hammer and Inuyasha fell to the ground. Gasping for air, the
world turned into a black void, the only sensations were slow coming;
phantasmal hands running over his body, and then slowly, slowly, a
feminine voice piercing through his haze. "Miroku, Inuyasha has been
hurt badly-"
The voice cut off abruptly when a trail of bloody speckled silver
hair trailed across Sango's lips. Tetsusaiga drawn and transformed in
one hand, the other swinging limply, Inuyasha streaked past her like a
fireball, slicing at the youkai. Even with a useless arm, the matter
with the youkai was over in minutes once Inuyasha had the beast in his
sights. With the carcass heaving last breaths before him, Inuyasha
finally recognized Sango and Miroku's presence. "Sango, what the hell
was it after?"
"What do you think, Inuyasha? It came screaming about the Shikon
no Tama, we didn't sense it until it was within the center of town."
Sango's cheeks pinked slightly. Sliding the katana into the sheath,
Inuyasha gingerly moved his injured shoulder, testing the damage; the
crimson blood was matting through his haori. A finger gently touched
the spot. He winced at the soft contact.
"You've been badly injured, Inuyasha. Even you might require
some care for an injury of this kind."
Inuyasha brushed the criticism away with a rough, "Keh. It's
nothing, houshi." His eyes were busy taking in the damage. The town
was badly damaged, many houses crumbled. A dribble of villagers
returned to the town like frightened cattle after thunder and lightning,
surveying the damage with blank faces, some of the women were crying
next to twisted red stained figures lying unmoving on the ground.
Sango moved next to them, her eyes scanning the surroundings,
pity shining dully before she turned her gaze on the hanyou. Her eyes
dropped to the wound on his shoulder that was trailing blood
tantalizingly down his arm and dripping into the dirt, before whipping
to his face. For the first time, fear was unmasked on her face.
"Inuyasha, Kagome was missing when the youkai came from her bedroll,
and throughout the fight we..." Sango trailed off as she studied his face.
On the other side of Inuyasha, Miroku shifted as if nervous, "...We
don't know where she is," he finished.
"She went back to the well. I let her."
Miroku blinked. "You let her return to the well, Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha rounded on him with a low growl. "Why's that so hard to
believe, houshi-sama?" He twisted the last words in his mouth
sarcastically, glaring at the priest and strode away toward the carcass,
searching for the Shikon shard he knew was somewhere within.
Twisting his staff with a slight jingle, Miroku's eyebrows rose
minutely, allowing his gaze to flicker to Sango just long enough to
share a puzzled glance. "No reason." Miroku let the topic drop with a
pointed silence until Sango diplomatically broke it as Inuyasha's
mumbled curses grew louder while he fumbled with the pieces of flesh,
flinging them in every direction (much to the repulsion of the on
looking bystanders). "Ah, I told Shippou to guide some of the
villagers into the forest to get them out of our way. He'll be waiting
for me." Sango exchanged one last worried glance with Miroku before
hustling off with Kirara in tow.
"Fuck it!" Inuyasha cursed loudly.
"It would be nearly impossible to find the shard without a miko's
powers, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha raised his head and narrowed his amber eyes. "Ah, so you
lived through the fight, old hag?" He retracted bloodied claws from a
lump of shredded flesh.
Kaede-baba wisely ignored Inuyasha's bait. She tottered to the
leopard-youkai's carcass. "This beast has no Shikon shards within it
already, Inuyasha, but if Kagome was here, she could tell you that."
"Well, she's not, crone!" Inuyasha growled, more harshly than he
intended. 'Please, Kagome, be okay. Be okay so that you can come back.'
Kaede's watchful look lasted so long on Inuyasha that it almost
became an uncomfortable stare before she broke it off to review the
devastation around her. A short distance away, Miroku was helping a
maiden walk. Inuyasha couldn't help but note in disgust how Miroku's
hand on her back was inching its way down the young woman's backside.
"I think there are more dangerous presences about, still, Inuyasha. I
felt something abound just outside the village... this morning, before
this leopard appeared."
His insides froze for a second before he gave a loud, "Keh.
You're miko powers are weak, Kaede-baba. You couldn't even give enough
warning to save this town from the youkai."
"I still am strong enough to know a presence of that sort.
Inuyasha. And, and where is Kagome, hanyou?"
Inuyasha's insides twisted.
"She went back to her own time," he said gruffly. With a twinge
of worry, he looked over his shoulder to the forest, trying to pierce
the trees and the well and find her!
Kaede nodded sagely, as if she expected the answer. "She will be
upset to find the town like this."
"Then maybe you ought to get to fucking work on it and she won't
have to find it like this, hag!"
"Especially with the sakura in bloom so soon."
A chill passed over Inuyasha, a waterfall against sweating skin
on a hot day.
"It will be a shame to miss the festival this year, but I fear we
will be too busy rebuilding. Don't I recall you once saying you
enjoyed this time of the year as well, or was that just my ancient mind
playing tricks on me, Inuyasha?"
"Why would I fucking like fucking flowers, you hag."
Inuyasha took off without bothering with pleasantries, toward the
spring that was nearby the town. Kagome always used to go there, as
obsessed as she was with hygiene- it had to be some female thing- and
he had watched her walk there often enough. He had to get this youkai
blood off him; he had to clean his own wounds too.
A small sobbing girl reached out a tiny hand toward him as he
passed by, her leg trapped under a piece of housing that had fallen on
her during the battle. No one was paying any attention to her, until
Inuyasha realized she wasn't actually making any noise, just silently
crying and stretching her arm out to him. She was mute. No one would
even notice her, amid the confusion. Silently mourning the girl's
grave condition, and her inevitable future (a girl who could not speak
could not live long in a world of youkai), Inuyasha pulled the child
out of the wreckage. Pressing her face into his cheek, her tears were
cold against his skin. When her mouth, pushed forcefully into his
cheek, began to move, Inuyasha gave a start. Trying to disentangle her
from around his neck, she gripped his haori tighter, moving her mouth
slower and harder.
His mouth fell open when he realized she was forming two distinct
words against his skin, speaking in an impossible way to him. Domo.
Arigatou.
Feeling he had recognized her message, the girl suddenly let go
of him, and hobbled toward Kaede-baba, favoring her left leg. Inuyasha
watched her for a minute before jerking awake and looking suspiciously
around, returning to his disgruntled status before the little girl.
Satisfied no one had seen him, Inuyasha made his way to the
forest. He had to be alone. He had to think.
***
"You're sure you saw Kikyou? You're positive it wasn't Kagome,
Shippou?"
Shippou gave Sango a withering look. "Unless Kagome suddenly
became an evil Kikyou-cross dresser within the last couple of days I'm
sure it was her." His little face creased with worry. "Why would it
be Kagome, Sango? Kagome was in her bedroll, right? Kaede-baba told
us to be extra careful about her with Kikyou around."
Blood flowed from her cracked lip at the merciless gnawing of her
teeth. "Yes... Yes, she told us Kagome could be in danger from Kikyou.
But, Kagome wasn't in her bedroll this morning." Villagers were still
passing back through the forest, returning to the tragic sight of their
town. Shippou had guided them to safety, herding them incidentally
around the Bone Eater's Well.
Shippou's fear escalated into full-fledged alarm. "Kagome wasn't
asleep? What- what- where is she now?"
Sango raised an eyebrow. "She went back into the well this
morning. Inuyasha let her," she said slowly, as though still pondering
the hidden meaning behinds those words.
"Inuyasha doesn't let Kagome go back to her time." Shippou said
matter-of-factly. "Kagome escapes and then Inuyasha gets mad, or Kagome
bullies Inuyasha into letting her."
"That's why I'm worried." What does Kikyou want with Kagome this
time?
Shippou took on a puzzled look. "Before all the humans got here,
Sango, I thought I smelled blood around the well. I- I," Shippou
hesitated. "I thought it was Kagome's blood for a minute, but then
everyone was rushing around and I couldn't smell anything straight."
"You were probably just smelling the injuries of the townspeople,
Shippou-chan, a lot of them were hurt by the leopard youkai before we
could get them out."
"Sango, don't you think Miroku was surprised by the youkai?
Can't he normally sense them when they get so close?"
"Shippou, go help that lady up! She's bleeding terribly! ...No, no,
let us help you, he's not a youkai, if you know what I mean. Please,
you're badly wounded... A little child, mute? Okay, yes, I'll go try to
find her..."
Look out Inuyasha, it's another youkai... after the Shikon no Kakara...
again... Ack! Duck, Kagome, it's Kikyou, with PMS!! Oh, wait, I forgot,
she's DEAD!! BWA HAHAHAHAH... o.O... *sigh* *puts the figures back into her
box*... Are you sure I can't keep Inuyasha??? I'll keep 'really' good
care of him, I promise, tehe... heh... Grr, FINE! *puts the poor hanyou
back* Inuyasha and Co. aren't mine. I just like to toy with them.
Yo, all! Wasabi! Hurray, I love getting reviews, makes me feel all warm
and gooshy inside. Yuck. ^-~ ...But really, keep sending them in,
onegai! ^-^ Okieday, here's some more story!
Sorry I haven't update in a while, that normally wouldn't happen, but
since I wasn't seeing much support for the story (besides you guys that
review! 'Love y'all!) so I didn't think much for writing more... But I
won't disappoint you people that *are* reading, so here you go! This
story has a lot of places I want it to go, but it might take it a while,
so hope you enjoy the ride.
Domo arigatou- thank you.
Chapter 3:
"Sango! Miroku!" Inuyasha landed with a 'thump' just outside the
village with the Tetsusaiga transformed between both of his tight
clawed hands. "...Shippou!" He looked around, frantically, trying to
spot his comrades amongst the fleeing village people that swarmed
around him like ants. Growling, he tried to jostle his way through
them, but in their panic they weren't even paying attention to the
angry hanyou. Frustration, anger, and strain all near the boiling
point from the night's proceedings, reached a lightly controlled
explosion. With a fierce growl rumbling threateningly in his chest,
the hanyou resorted to shoving the hysteric townsmen in front of him to
the ground and leaped up and over the masses. They were all flooding
into the forest Kaede-baba so appropriately named after him; caught
between a rampant youkai and a haunted forest, they seemed to have no
qualms choosing the unknown.
Inuyasha saw the Hiraikotsu slicing through the air, and twisted
in the air toward that direction. His eyes caught on the youkai
exterminator in full uniform, and the monk Miroku with his staff
reflecting the growing sunlight. They were both facing him, they're
mouths open as though to shout something at him, but even with his
hanyou ears it was impossible to make out that they were shouting about
some leopard youk-
The sickening tearing sound that his shoulder made when the
enormous cat ripped its claws through his already injured skin made
Inuyasha's eyes glaze over. He could feel the muscles in the animal's
paw flexing as it gouged four perfect streaks deeper into his body,
scraping against bone. Fiery pain so cutting ripped through his body
like a hammer and Inuyasha fell to the ground. Gasping for air, the
world turned into a black void, the only sensations were slow coming;
phantasmal hands running over his body, and then slowly, slowly, a
feminine voice piercing through his haze. "Miroku, Inuyasha has been
hurt badly-"
The voice cut off abruptly when a trail of bloody speckled silver
hair trailed across Sango's lips. Tetsusaiga drawn and transformed in
one hand, the other swinging limply, Inuyasha streaked past her like a
fireball, slicing at the youkai. Even with a useless arm, the matter
with the youkai was over in minutes once Inuyasha had the beast in his
sights. With the carcass heaving last breaths before him, Inuyasha
finally recognized Sango and Miroku's presence. "Sango, what the hell
was it after?"
"What do you think, Inuyasha? It came screaming about the Shikon
no Tama, we didn't sense it until it was within the center of town."
Sango's cheeks pinked slightly. Sliding the katana into the sheath,
Inuyasha gingerly moved his injured shoulder, testing the damage; the
crimson blood was matting through his haori. A finger gently touched
the spot. He winced at the soft contact.
"You've been badly injured, Inuyasha. Even you might require
some care for an injury of this kind."
Inuyasha brushed the criticism away with a rough, "Keh. It's
nothing, houshi." His eyes were busy taking in the damage. The town
was badly damaged, many houses crumbled. A dribble of villagers
returned to the town like frightened cattle after thunder and lightning,
surveying the damage with blank faces, some of the women were crying
next to twisted red stained figures lying unmoving on the ground.
Sango moved next to them, her eyes scanning the surroundings,
pity shining dully before she turned her gaze on the hanyou. Her eyes
dropped to the wound on his shoulder that was trailing blood
tantalizingly down his arm and dripping into the dirt, before whipping
to his face. For the first time, fear was unmasked on her face.
"Inuyasha, Kagome was missing when the youkai came from her bedroll,
and throughout the fight we..." Sango trailed off as she studied his face.
On the other side of Inuyasha, Miroku shifted as if nervous, "...We
don't know where she is," he finished.
"She went back to the well. I let her."
Miroku blinked. "You let her return to the well, Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha rounded on him with a low growl. "Why's that so hard to
believe, houshi-sama?" He twisted the last words in his mouth
sarcastically, glaring at the priest and strode away toward the carcass,
searching for the Shikon shard he knew was somewhere within.
Twisting his staff with a slight jingle, Miroku's eyebrows rose
minutely, allowing his gaze to flicker to Sango just long enough to
share a puzzled glance. "No reason." Miroku let the topic drop with a
pointed silence until Sango diplomatically broke it as Inuyasha's
mumbled curses grew louder while he fumbled with the pieces of flesh,
flinging them in every direction (much to the repulsion of the on
looking bystanders). "Ah, I told Shippou to guide some of the
villagers into the forest to get them out of our way. He'll be waiting
for me." Sango exchanged one last worried glance with Miroku before
hustling off with Kirara in tow.
"Fuck it!" Inuyasha cursed loudly.
"It would be nearly impossible to find the shard without a miko's
powers, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha raised his head and narrowed his amber eyes. "Ah, so you
lived through the fight, old hag?" He retracted bloodied claws from a
lump of shredded flesh.
Kaede-baba wisely ignored Inuyasha's bait. She tottered to the
leopard-youkai's carcass. "This beast has no Shikon shards within it
already, Inuyasha, but if Kagome was here, she could tell you that."
"Well, she's not, crone!" Inuyasha growled, more harshly than he
intended. 'Please, Kagome, be okay. Be okay so that you can come back.'
Kaede's watchful look lasted so long on Inuyasha that it almost
became an uncomfortable stare before she broke it off to review the
devastation around her. A short distance away, Miroku was helping a
maiden walk. Inuyasha couldn't help but note in disgust how Miroku's
hand on her back was inching its way down the young woman's backside.
"I think there are more dangerous presences about, still, Inuyasha. I
felt something abound just outside the village... this morning, before
this leopard appeared."
His insides froze for a second before he gave a loud, "Keh.
You're miko powers are weak, Kaede-baba. You couldn't even give enough
warning to save this town from the youkai."
"I still am strong enough to know a presence of that sort.
Inuyasha. And, and where is Kagome, hanyou?"
Inuyasha's insides twisted.
"She went back to her own time," he said gruffly. With a twinge
of worry, he looked over his shoulder to the forest, trying to pierce
the trees and the well and find her!
Kaede nodded sagely, as if she expected the answer. "She will be
upset to find the town like this."
"Then maybe you ought to get to fucking work on it and she won't
have to find it like this, hag!"
"Especially with the sakura in bloom so soon."
A chill passed over Inuyasha, a waterfall against sweating skin
on a hot day.
"It will be a shame to miss the festival this year, but I fear we
will be too busy rebuilding. Don't I recall you once saying you
enjoyed this time of the year as well, or was that just my ancient mind
playing tricks on me, Inuyasha?"
"Why would I fucking like fucking flowers, you hag."
Inuyasha took off without bothering with pleasantries, toward the
spring that was nearby the town. Kagome always used to go there, as
obsessed as she was with hygiene- it had to be some female thing- and
he had watched her walk there often enough. He had to get this youkai
blood off him; he had to clean his own wounds too.
A small sobbing girl reached out a tiny hand toward him as he
passed by, her leg trapped under a piece of housing that had fallen on
her during the battle. No one was paying any attention to her, until
Inuyasha realized she wasn't actually making any noise, just silently
crying and stretching her arm out to him. She was mute. No one would
even notice her, amid the confusion. Silently mourning the girl's
grave condition, and her inevitable future (a girl who could not speak
could not live long in a world of youkai), Inuyasha pulled the child
out of the wreckage. Pressing her face into his cheek, her tears were
cold against his skin. When her mouth, pushed forcefully into his
cheek, began to move, Inuyasha gave a start. Trying to disentangle her
from around his neck, she gripped his haori tighter, moving her mouth
slower and harder.
His mouth fell open when he realized she was forming two distinct
words against his skin, speaking in an impossible way to him. Domo.
Arigatou.
Feeling he had recognized her message, the girl suddenly let go
of him, and hobbled toward Kaede-baba, favoring her left leg. Inuyasha
watched her for a minute before jerking awake and looking suspiciously
around, returning to his disgruntled status before the little girl.
Satisfied no one had seen him, Inuyasha made his way to the
forest. He had to be alone. He had to think.
***
"You're sure you saw Kikyou? You're positive it wasn't Kagome,
Shippou?"
Shippou gave Sango a withering look. "Unless Kagome suddenly
became an evil Kikyou-cross dresser within the last couple of days I'm
sure it was her." His little face creased with worry. "Why would it
be Kagome, Sango? Kagome was in her bedroll, right? Kaede-baba told
us to be extra careful about her with Kikyou around."
Blood flowed from her cracked lip at the merciless gnawing of her
teeth. "Yes... Yes, she told us Kagome could be in danger from Kikyou.
But, Kagome wasn't in her bedroll this morning." Villagers were still
passing back through the forest, returning to the tragic sight of their
town. Shippou had guided them to safety, herding them incidentally
around the Bone Eater's Well.
Shippou's fear escalated into full-fledged alarm. "Kagome wasn't
asleep? What- what- where is she now?"
Sango raised an eyebrow. "She went back into the well this
morning. Inuyasha let her," she said slowly, as though still pondering
the hidden meaning behinds those words.
"Inuyasha doesn't let Kagome go back to her time." Shippou said
matter-of-factly. "Kagome escapes and then Inuyasha gets mad, or Kagome
bullies Inuyasha into letting her."
"That's why I'm worried." What does Kikyou want with Kagome this
time?
Shippou took on a puzzled look. "Before all the humans got here,
Sango, I thought I smelled blood around the well. I- I," Shippou
hesitated. "I thought it was Kagome's blood for a minute, but then
everyone was rushing around and I couldn't smell anything straight."
"You were probably just smelling the injuries of the townspeople,
Shippou-chan, a lot of them were hurt by the leopard youkai before we
could get them out."
"Sango, don't you think Miroku was surprised by the youkai?
Can't he normally sense them when they get so close?"
"Shippou, go help that lady up! She's bleeding terribly! ...No, no,
let us help you, he's not a youkai, if you know what I mean. Please,
you're badly wounded... A little child, mute? Okay, yes, I'll go try to
find her..."