Disclaimer~ Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, Shonen Sunday, etc.
A/N: Last Update: April 13th, 2003. *winces* Oops...really sorry about that. .
The last part of this chapter was written due to inspiration from a review from Fey Wind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seeing Can Be Deceiving
Chapter 18
by sunny1388
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It almost seemed as if Inuyasha flew through the trees. The young kitsune clinging onto his shoulder tightly whimpered, digging his claws further into the fire-rat fur material, scratching Inuyasha's shoulder.
"Inuyasha, slow down!" he whined, leaning down further, certain that he would fall off if they kept going, but his ride didn't hear him.
"Inuyasha..." Shippo whimpered again, a few minutes later.
"Shut the hell up!" Inuyasha snarled at the kit, his emotions taking hold of him. Shippo went silent. Inuyasha felt the slightest bit of regret at yelling at young fox, but he was angry. If Naraku dared to take Kagome, then he would make him pay for it. Starting with one of his offspring.
A cold smirk slowly spread on Inuyasha's face and his fists at his sides clenched. Naraku would have one less follower by the end of the day.
~*~
Kagome's face held a blank look.
"Inuyasha's brother? You mean Sesshomaru?" she had no clue of what the injured wolf was talking about.
"Was Sesshomaru here? Is Inuyasha hurt?!" she asked frantically.
Kouga's expression reflected her own: a blank look.
"Wha?" he asked intelligently, "he kidnapped you."
Silence.
Then Kagome spoke in a soft, reassuring voice as she gently tried to push Kouga back down with one hand while the other brought the blanket that was covering the wolf-demon up.
"Kouga, maybe you should rest some more."
Getting the confused wolf down, she scooted over to his head, fingers gently undoing his ponytail and sorting through his black hair to look at his scalp.
Even though he was enjoying the grooming that his love was giving him, Kouga protested, confused even more,
"Uh...Kagome? What're you doing?" he asked the concentrating girl,
"I'm looking for your injury! You must have hurt your head, because Sesshomaru was never here." she told him, exasperated that she had missed one.
Kouga's expression became even blanker, if that was at all possible. Then it dawned on him. He looked slightly annoyed at the humiliation she was implying,
"I didn't hit my head! Dog-breath's brother was here! He took you!"
Kouga sat up, knocking aside the blankets. He opened his mouth, about to defend himself, but stopped.
Suddenly, he grabbed Kagome by the shoulders and brought her into an embrace against him. At least, it seemed like it.
Blushing was an understatement for Kagome,
"Uh, Kouga-kun? Um..." she couldn't find any words to say since her head was still buzzing from concern for him. Her only comprehensible thought was that Kouga had hit his head pretty hard.
But hearing the snuffling sound, she finally understood that he was taking in her scent; but why?
She heard his voice from over her shoulder,
"I don't smell dog-breath's brother's scent on you..." he said, bewilderment obvious in his voice.
"No, of course not! I--" she stopped in the middle of her sentence. Kikyou. Anger and annoyance surfaced. It was Kikyou! After her 'meeting' with Kikyou in the woods, that bitch had gone off and pretended to be her! Kagome's fists clenched at her sides and she stiffened in Kouga's arms.
She had to find Inuyasha now! He probably mistook Kikyou for her and gone off after Sesshomaru...wait...why did Sesshomaru kidnap her? No, Sesshomaru had kidnapped Kikyou thinking the undead miko was her. Okay...so why did Sesshomaru want to kidnap her? She refused to believe it was for Tetsusaiga since Sesshomaru wasn't one to use tactics such as kidnapping to get something he wanted. That arrogant inu youkai would just attack Inuyasha head-on.
This was too confusing! The only thing Kagome was sure of was that she had to find Inuyasha and the rest of the group again and she sure wasn't going to do that by just sitting around.
She became aware of how Kouga's head was now resting on her shoulder and he was still.
Her eye twitched in annoyance.
"Kouga-kun, what are you doing?"
"Hugging you, koi." Came his casual reply.
The eye twitched more violently.
"Kouga-kun?"
"Yes, love?"
"Please stop."
Fortunately, Kouga had the ability to sense strong emotions, such as the dangerous emotions coming off of his Kagome in waves right now.
He gulped.
He let go of her.
~*~
The wind youkai glanced over the edge of her white feather that was speeding through the air above the treetops. She was looking for something, but wasn't having any luck. Deciding to travel along the ground since maybe what she was looking for was only a corpse, she directed the feather down and when only a few feet of the ground, jumped off.
The feather shrank and floated down through the air to land gently on her outstretched palm. Taking the feather, she tucked it into her ebony hair and began to walk in the direction she had been traveling on the feather, her demon senses acutely tuned for any scent of her prey on the wind.
~*~
Meanwhile a young girl was sneaking out of a cave. She carefully got up from her position with her head pillowed on a fluffy tail and tiptoed towards the entrance of the cave.
Getting there, she looked over her shoulder and glanced around the cave.
Sesshomaru was still asleep, sitting against the wall of the cave. Miroku and Sango were once again asleep propped up by one another with Sango's head resting on the lecher's shoulder and his head on top of hers. The kitsune was sleeping in Sango's lap, curled up with the tip of his bushy fox tail brushing his nose. Kirara was also curled up, but on Sango's side, leaning against her mistress.
Nodding happily, Rin skipped out of the cave, only to be grabbed from behind as soon as she stepped outside of the entrance.
A hand clamped down over her mouth while another hand held both of her's behind her back. And Rin was silently dragged off, away from the cave.
Inside the cave, one Inu youkai's golden eye opened narrowly and his nose breathed in.
But Sesshomaru closed his eyes, resting his head back down on his tail again, assured of Rin's safety with the boy he had sensed the day before.
Although reluctant to admit it, Sesshomaru knew that it was good for the girl to know people her own age and species, but it was hard to let go.
From the time Sesshomaru had first seen the little human girl with half-transformed red eyes to now, they had developed some sort of bond. Sesshomaru blamed it on his protective dog demon blood, but in truth, he had accepted it.
~*~
"Kohaku! Rin's back! Kohaku?" eyes casting around the meadow they had been in before, Rin was slightly disappointed that he wasn't there. She knew they hadn't agreed to meet again or anything, but still... Biting her lip, the girl turned and was about to walk back to the cave when she heard a voice call to her and her face lit up,
"Rin! Over here!" the boy was equally happy that they had met again. Yesterday he hadn't been sure if he would ever see his only friend again when the demon took her away, but here she was!
Rin ran towards him, arms stretched in her airplane run and grinning happily. Reaching the boy, she swung her arms around him and gave the surprised, blushing boy a tight hug,
"What does Kohaku-kun want to play today?" she asked him cheerfully, but the boy was too embarrassed to think straight and just muttered,
"Um..."
Unfortunately, he was interrupted by a cold, female voice,
"Here you are, boy."
Kohaku whirled his head around, since he was still bound by Rin.
"K-Kagura.."
"Huh?" Rin asked, looking around Kohaku to spot the youkai standing there, "Who's that?" she whispered to Kohaku, but Kagura, with her demon hearing obvious heard her,
"Come boy, Naraku has been looking for you." a smirk appeared on her face as she restlessly opened one of her lethal bladed fans to fan herself, "I don't think he'll be happy with you running off."
"What?" Rin was completely confused and stared at Kohaku, demanding answers. Who was this lady and who was this 'Naraku' she was talking about. Suddenly, a though popped into her head and she smiled, letting go of Kohaku to skip over to Kagura. Standing in front of the surprised youkai, she smiled,
"Hello Kagura-san. Are you Kohaku-kun's mother?" she asked, smiling,
Kagura was, obviously, confused. Who was this little girl. Didn't she know that Kagura was a youkai?
"I'm a demon, girl. He's a human. I'm not his mother." Rin's mouth formed a round circle and she blushed, embarrassed at making such a mistake,
"Oh, gomen nasai, Rin is very sorry for mistaking you." the little girl murmured as she bowed to a completely bewildered Kagura, who stared down at the innocent, naive little girl standing before her. A thought struck her and her mouth twitched upwards slightly as her gaze rose to meet Kohaku's wary brown eyes,
"So, you've made a friend?" Kagura asked mockingly, while scooping up the girl under one of her arms. Kohaku was about to rush forward, protesting, but Kagura stopped him with a shake of her head,
"Unless you want her to be hurt, you will come back without protest." the wind youkai had seen that the boy's eyes were no longer glazed, like they had always been. Now they were clear brown. Naraku's power over him was gone.
Kohaku was torn. Should he go back to Naraku and keep working as a puppet for the hanyou of pure evil? The very thought made him sick. At least before he hadn't been able to truly control his thoughts or motions. Going back willingly, in a way at least, and slaying willingly and completely consciously...he didn't know if he could take it.
On the other hand, if he refused, then Rin...his only friend. He knew better than to think that Naraku was bluffing. If he refused to go back to Naraku, the demon would consider Rin useless and kill her anyway. He couldn't let Rin die.
"I'll come." he whispered softly, his nature completely that of the real Kohaku's: a gentle boy who was just caught up in a huge mess. Rin looked up at the woman holding her, having heard their entire conversation. She was feeling a flutter in her stomach after hearing the female youkai threatening her. She wanted to be released, but Kohaku's reply agitated her,
"Where is Kohaku-kun going? Can Rin come? Is Kohaku-kun leaving?" she asked, sadness and urgency heavy in her voice. She didn't want her new friend to be leaving already! She tried to meet Kohaku's eyes with her own, but he kept avoiding her questioning gaze until finally he spoke softly and emotionlessly, the real Kohaku once again hidden,
"Yes. I'm leaving. Sorry, Rin, maybe we'll get to play again sometime." Rin nodded, accepting this as Kagura set her down, true to her word. Plucking the feather from her hair, she dropped it and as it drifted to the ground, it enlarged and as soon as it was big enough, she leaped on agilely and the feather rose, bearing her up slightly, then hovering.
Silently, she waited as Kohaku walked past Rin, then ran, not being able to bear it anymore. A call stopped him,
"Bye Kohaku-kun!" Rin called, cheerfully once again and completely ignorant from the heavy emotions that her friend was suffering under. He hid it well.
Kohaku stopped. He slowly turned around and smiled at Rin a disarming smile that hid his eyes. He waved too.
Kagura's feather sped off and with one last wave, Kohaku ran after her, not even pausing in his strides to pick his bloody scythe from the grass.
Rin waved until they were out of her sight, then let out a sigh. She turned away and began to walk back to the cave enjoying a pleasant, uneventful morning walk.
~*~
Kohaku's mind was kept completely blank. Although images of a certain cheerful little girl kept trying to enter it, he bit his lip and fought it, willing himself back into the cold-hearted killing tool he had been before.
Now he completely understood why he hadn't wanted to return to his true self. Back then, the guilt of it all would've overwhelmed him, especially if he had seen his sister again. Now, the guilt would be far greater.
Fervently he hoped that he would never see Rin again after all of this He'd rather die than go back to his friend with the blood of innocents on his hands again.
He wished he could just forget it all.
~*~
Kagura felt the pain emitting from the boy.
Humans only had five rather dull senses. Demons had six.
The last demon sense was the ability to sense emotions. As with human senses, some demons were better at it. It also worked best with companions or mates.
Of course the boy wasn't exactly a friend or companion, but he had been with Naraku even before her, although technically, she was a part of Naraku.
Nonetheless, she was around the boy a lot and now she sensed many emotions swirling about his that almost overwhelmed her. Before, the boy had had very little or no emotions.
It must have been because he would be unwillingly working for Naraku now; like her.
It stunned her that she had something in common with this boy.
Maybe he could help her escape from Naraku...no...that would be foolish. Skilled as the boy was, he wouldn't stand a chance against Naraku.
But try as she might, the wind demoness couldn't get her thoughts away from this idea that perhaps he could help...somehow.
~*~
Miroku rubbed his forehead wearily and sighed, letting Sango take over for a bit, but only a short while since the demon exterminator's patience was already worn thin and he knew from experience how painful her hiraikotsu could be.
"Hand it over or taste the poison of my claws." Sesshomaru demanded, using the same tone that he demanded for the Tetsusaiga with,
"I told you, we don't have--!" Sango exclaimed, fingering the seldom-used sword at her waist. Her boomerang would be too big to throw in their cave.
"Foolish woman," Sesshomaru interrupted, "I, Sesshomaru, have no patience for your games." the dog demon said icily, his hard amber eyes narrowing as he began to flex his fingers, staring down Sango who was glaring back.
Miroku's fingers curled around his staff, ready to interject if they began fighting, but luckily at that moment, Rin came skipping into the cave, looking up at the adults with wide mahogany eyes,
"Sesshomaru-sama?" her eyes traveled to Jaken, cowering in a corner at his master's angry aura, which had filled the cave. She was a little nervous, knowing fully what Sesshomaru was capable of if he got angry. But why was he angry?
In a deadly serious tone, Sesshomaru repeated,
"Hand over the ramen."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*watches as readers fall over anime-style*
Heh, sorry about that last little part, but I couldn't resist! Once again, I'd like to say in my defense that Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are brothers, so if one likes Ramen that much, the other might.
I was gonna try to get the whole Kagura fight in, but that would've made this chapter like 10 pages long! It's already a longer than my other chapters, although that's not saying much.
I've figured out my problem when it comes to writing. I love waffy/fluffy scenes too much. This means that I tend to ignore my plotline to add in more fluff. I'm sorry. I'm trying to get rid of this problem, but it's hard. Fluff is addicting.
~~~~~Review Responses~~~~~
CrissyKitty~ Sure, I'd be glad to take a look at your fic! And thanks for the cheer!
The Black Gatomon~ Yes, Kikyou should die...don't worry, already plotting a very painful death for Kikyou. *cackles insanely* Yep, I'm trying to keep this as non-AU as possible and to tell the truth, I don't like giving a big role to non-series chars, even in AU stories. And I think Kohaku is a very cute pairing for Rin, although originally I was thinking Rin/Shippo, but then Shippo left with Inuyasha, so that pairing went out the window! lol
Chibi Vegeta Girl~ Heehee, yep, Fluffy likes ramen. I dunno, it makes sense in my very twisted and strange mind. And as for the original plotline...er, no idea. *whispers* Actually, I just started typing this story with no idea what would happen. I'm as confused as you and I don't have any idea what the story is like until I finish a chapter.
Fey Wind~ Kouga is a little...*cough* dense *cough*, yes he is, but he's a guy. Girls know it and guys hate to admit it, but sometimes guys are just clueless. (Nothing against guys, I love them, but still...) BTW, that last little part was for you, your whole 'Hand over the ramen, Inuyasha' cracked me up!
Kawaii~ Naruto? No, sorry, but I know what a Ramen craving is like! Hmm...Ramen...that sounds good about now. Confusing? Yeah, it's kinda like a riddle. You have no idea what everything's about until the end. Then, (hopefully) everything will make sense. Hopefully. ^_^
~~~~~
Love the reviews, guys, keep them coming!
Reviews: a part of this balanced breakfast! So please, feed me! Review!
A/N: Last Update: April 13th, 2003. *winces* Oops...really sorry about that. .
The last part of this chapter was written due to inspiration from a review from Fey Wind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seeing Can Be Deceiving
Chapter 18
by sunny1388
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It almost seemed as if Inuyasha flew through the trees. The young kitsune clinging onto his shoulder tightly whimpered, digging his claws further into the fire-rat fur material, scratching Inuyasha's shoulder.
"Inuyasha, slow down!" he whined, leaning down further, certain that he would fall off if they kept going, but his ride didn't hear him.
"Inuyasha..." Shippo whimpered again, a few minutes later.
"Shut the hell up!" Inuyasha snarled at the kit, his emotions taking hold of him. Shippo went silent. Inuyasha felt the slightest bit of regret at yelling at young fox, but he was angry. If Naraku dared to take Kagome, then he would make him pay for it. Starting with one of his offspring.
A cold smirk slowly spread on Inuyasha's face and his fists at his sides clenched. Naraku would have one less follower by the end of the day.
~*~
Kagome's face held a blank look.
"Inuyasha's brother? You mean Sesshomaru?" she had no clue of what the injured wolf was talking about.
"Was Sesshomaru here? Is Inuyasha hurt?!" she asked frantically.
Kouga's expression reflected her own: a blank look.
"Wha?" he asked intelligently, "he kidnapped you."
Silence.
Then Kagome spoke in a soft, reassuring voice as she gently tried to push Kouga back down with one hand while the other brought the blanket that was covering the wolf-demon up.
"Kouga, maybe you should rest some more."
Getting the confused wolf down, she scooted over to his head, fingers gently undoing his ponytail and sorting through his black hair to look at his scalp.
Even though he was enjoying the grooming that his love was giving him, Kouga protested, confused even more,
"Uh...Kagome? What're you doing?" he asked the concentrating girl,
"I'm looking for your injury! You must have hurt your head, because Sesshomaru was never here." she told him, exasperated that she had missed one.
Kouga's expression became even blanker, if that was at all possible. Then it dawned on him. He looked slightly annoyed at the humiliation she was implying,
"I didn't hit my head! Dog-breath's brother was here! He took you!"
Kouga sat up, knocking aside the blankets. He opened his mouth, about to defend himself, but stopped.
Suddenly, he grabbed Kagome by the shoulders and brought her into an embrace against him. At least, it seemed like it.
Blushing was an understatement for Kagome,
"Uh, Kouga-kun? Um..." she couldn't find any words to say since her head was still buzzing from concern for him. Her only comprehensible thought was that Kouga had hit his head pretty hard.
But hearing the snuffling sound, she finally understood that he was taking in her scent; but why?
She heard his voice from over her shoulder,
"I don't smell dog-breath's brother's scent on you..." he said, bewilderment obvious in his voice.
"No, of course not! I--" she stopped in the middle of her sentence. Kikyou. Anger and annoyance surfaced. It was Kikyou! After her 'meeting' with Kikyou in the woods, that bitch had gone off and pretended to be her! Kagome's fists clenched at her sides and she stiffened in Kouga's arms.
She had to find Inuyasha now! He probably mistook Kikyou for her and gone off after Sesshomaru...wait...why did Sesshomaru kidnap her? No, Sesshomaru had kidnapped Kikyou thinking the undead miko was her. Okay...so why did Sesshomaru want to kidnap her? She refused to believe it was for Tetsusaiga since Sesshomaru wasn't one to use tactics such as kidnapping to get something he wanted. That arrogant inu youkai would just attack Inuyasha head-on.
This was too confusing! The only thing Kagome was sure of was that she had to find Inuyasha and the rest of the group again and she sure wasn't going to do that by just sitting around.
She became aware of how Kouga's head was now resting on her shoulder and he was still.
Her eye twitched in annoyance.
"Kouga-kun, what are you doing?"
"Hugging you, koi." Came his casual reply.
The eye twitched more violently.
"Kouga-kun?"
"Yes, love?"
"Please stop."
Fortunately, Kouga had the ability to sense strong emotions, such as the dangerous emotions coming off of his Kagome in waves right now.
He gulped.
He let go of her.
~*~
The wind youkai glanced over the edge of her white feather that was speeding through the air above the treetops. She was looking for something, but wasn't having any luck. Deciding to travel along the ground since maybe what she was looking for was only a corpse, she directed the feather down and when only a few feet of the ground, jumped off.
The feather shrank and floated down through the air to land gently on her outstretched palm. Taking the feather, she tucked it into her ebony hair and began to walk in the direction she had been traveling on the feather, her demon senses acutely tuned for any scent of her prey on the wind.
~*~
Meanwhile a young girl was sneaking out of a cave. She carefully got up from her position with her head pillowed on a fluffy tail and tiptoed towards the entrance of the cave.
Getting there, she looked over her shoulder and glanced around the cave.
Sesshomaru was still asleep, sitting against the wall of the cave. Miroku and Sango were once again asleep propped up by one another with Sango's head resting on the lecher's shoulder and his head on top of hers. The kitsune was sleeping in Sango's lap, curled up with the tip of his bushy fox tail brushing his nose. Kirara was also curled up, but on Sango's side, leaning against her mistress.
Nodding happily, Rin skipped out of the cave, only to be grabbed from behind as soon as she stepped outside of the entrance.
A hand clamped down over her mouth while another hand held both of her's behind her back. And Rin was silently dragged off, away from the cave.
Inside the cave, one Inu youkai's golden eye opened narrowly and his nose breathed in.
But Sesshomaru closed his eyes, resting his head back down on his tail again, assured of Rin's safety with the boy he had sensed the day before.
Although reluctant to admit it, Sesshomaru knew that it was good for the girl to know people her own age and species, but it was hard to let go.
From the time Sesshomaru had first seen the little human girl with half-transformed red eyes to now, they had developed some sort of bond. Sesshomaru blamed it on his protective dog demon blood, but in truth, he had accepted it.
~*~
"Kohaku! Rin's back! Kohaku?" eyes casting around the meadow they had been in before, Rin was slightly disappointed that he wasn't there. She knew they hadn't agreed to meet again or anything, but still... Biting her lip, the girl turned and was about to walk back to the cave when she heard a voice call to her and her face lit up,
"Rin! Over here!" the boy was equally happy that they had met again. Yesterday he hadn't been sure if he would ever see his only friend again when the demon took her away, but here she was!
Rin ran towards him, arms stretched in her airplane run and grinning happily. Reaching the boy, she swung her arms around him and gave the surprised, blushing boy a tight hug,
"What does Kohaku-kun want to play today?" she asked him cheerfully, but the boy was too embarrassed to think straight and just muttered,
"Um..."
Unfortunately, he was interrupted by a cold, female voice,
"Here you are, boy."
Kohaku whirled his head around, since he was still bound by Rin.
"K-Kagura.."
"Huh?" Rin asked, looking around Kohaku to spot the youkai standing there, "Who's that?" she whispered to Kohaku, but Kagura, with her demon hearing obvious heard her,
"Come boy, Naraku has been looking for you." a smirk appeared on her face as she restlessly opened one of her lethal bladed fans to fan herself, "I don't think he'll be happy with you running off."
"What?" Rin was completely confused and stared at Kohaku, demanding answers. Who was this lady and who was this 'Naraku' she was talking about. Suddenly, a though popped into her head and she smiled, letting go of Kohaku to skip over to Kagura. Standing in front of the surprised youkai, she smiled,
"Hello Kagura-san. Are you Kohaku-kun's mother?" she asked, smiling,
Kagura was, obviously, confused. Who was this little girl. Didn't she know that Kagura was a youkai?
"I'm a demon, girl. He's a human. I'm not his mother." Rin's mouth formed a round circle and she blushed, embarrassed at making such a mistake,
"Oh, gomen nasai, Rin is very sorry for mistaking you." the little girl murmured as she bowed to a completely bewildered Kagura, who stared down at the innocent, naive little girl standing before her. A thought struck her and her mouth twitched upwards slightly as her gaze rose to meet Kohaku's wary brown eyes,
"So, you've made a friend?" Kagura asked mockingly, while scooping up the girl under one of her arms. Kohaku was about to rush forward, protesting, but Kagura stopped him with a shake of her head,
"Unless you want her to be hurt, you will come back without protest." the wind youkai had seen that the boy's eyes were no longer glazed, like they had always been. Now they were clear brown. Naraku's power over him was gone.
Kohaku was torn. Should he go back to Naraku and keep working as a puppet for the hanyou of pure evil? The very thought made him sick. At least before he hadn't been able to truly control his thoughts or motions. Going back willingly, in a way at least, and slaying willingly and completely consciously...he didn't know if he could take it.
On the other hand, if he refused, then Rin...his only friend. He knew better than to think that Naraku was bluffing. If he refused to go back to Naraku, the demon would consider Rin useless and kill her anyway. He couldn't let Rin die.
"I'll come." he whispered softly, his nature completely that of the real Kohaku's: a gentle boy who was just caught up in a huge mess. Rin looked up at the woman holding her, having heard their entire conversation. She was feeling a flutter in her stomach after hearing the female youkai threatening her. She wanted to be released, but Kohaku's reply agitated her,
"Where is Kohaku-kun going? Can Rin come? Is Kohaku-kun leaving?" she asked, sadness and urgency heavy in her voice. She didn't want her new friend to be leaving already! She tried to meet Kohaku's eyes with her own, but he kept avoiding her questioning gaze until finally he spoke softly and emotionlessly, the real Kohaku once again hidden,
"Yes. I'm leaving. Sorry, Rin, maybe we'll get to play again sometime." Rin nodded, accepting this as Kagura set her down, true to her word. Plucking the feather from her hair, she dropped it and as it drifted to the ground, it enlarged and as soon as it was big enough, she leaped on agilely and the feather rose, bearing her up slightly, then hovering.
Silently, she waited as Kohaku walked past Rin, then ran, not being able to bear it anymore. A call stopped him,
"Bye Kohaku-kun!" Rin called, cheerfully once again and completely ignorant from the heavy emotions that her friend was suffering under. He hid it well.
Kohaku stopped. He slowly turned around and smiled at Rin a disarming smile that hid his eyes. He waved too.
Kagura's feather sped off and with one last wave, Kohaku ran after her, not even pausing in his strides to pick his bloody scythe from the grass.
Rin waved until they were out of her sight, then let out a sigh. She turned away and began to walk back to the cave enjoying a pleasant, uneventful morning walk.
~*~
Kohaku's mind was kept completely blank. Although images of a certain cheerful little girl kept trying to enter it, he bit his lip and fought it, willing himself back into the cold-hearted killing tool he had been before.
Now he completely understood why he hadn't wanted to return to his true self. Back then, the guilt of it all would've overwhelmed him, especially if he had seen his sister again. Now, the guilt would be far greater.
Fervently he hoped that he would never see Rin again after all of this He'd rather die than go back to his friend with the blood of innocents on his hands again.
He wished he could just forget it all.
~*~
Kagura felt the pain emitting from the boy.
Humans only had five rather dull senses. Demons had six.
The last demon sense was the ability to sense emotions. As with human senses, some demons were better at it. It also worked best with companions or mates.
Of course the boy wasn't exactly a friend or companion, but he had been with Naraku even before her, although technically, she was a part of Naraku.
Nonetheless, she was around the boy a lot and now she sensed many emotions swirling about his that almost overwhelmed her. Before, the boy had had very little or no emotions.
It must have been because he would be unwillingly working for Naraku now; like her.
It stunned her that she had something in common with this boy.
Maybe he could help her escape from Naraku...no...that would be foolish. Skilled as the boy was, he wouldn't stand a chance against Naraku.
But try as she might, the wind demoness couldn't get her thoughts away from this idea that perhaps he could help...somehow.
~*~
Miroku rubbed his forehead wearily and sighed, letting Sango take over for a bit, but only a short while since the demon exterminator's patience was already worn thin and he knew from experience how painful her hiraikotsu could be.
"Hand it over or taste the poison of my claws." Sesshomaru demanded, using the same tone that he demanded for the Tetsusaiga with,
"I told you, we don't have--!" Sango exclaimed, fingering the seldom-used sword at her waist. Her boomerang would be too big to throw in their cave.
"Foolish woman," Sesshomaru interrupted, "I, Sesshomaru, have no patience for your games." the dog demon said icily, his hard amber eyes narrowing as he began to flex his fingers, staring down Sango who was glaring back.
Miroku's fingers curled around his staff, ready to interject if they began fighting, but luckily at that moment, Rin came skipping into the cave, looking up at the adults with wide mahogany eyes,
"Sesshomaru-sama?" her eyes traveled to Jaken, cowering in a corner at his master's angry aura, which had filled the cave. She was a little nervous, knowing fully what Sesshomaru was capable of if he got angry. But why was he angry?
In a deadly serious tone, Sesshomaru repeated,
"Hand over the ramen."
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*watches as readers fall over anime-style*
Heh, sorry about that last little part, but I couldn't resist! Once again, I'd like to say in my defense that Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are brothers, so if one likes Ramen that much, the other might.
I was gonna try to get the whole Kagura fight in, but that would've made this chapter like 10 pages long! It's already a longer than my other chapters, although that's not saying much.
I've figured out my problem when it comes to writing. I love waffy/fluffy scenes too much. This means that I tend to ignore my plotline to add in more fluff. I'm sorry. I'm trying to get rid of this problem, but it's hard. Fluff is addicting.
~~~~~Review Responses~~~~~
CrissyKitty~ Sure, I'd be glad to take a look at your fic! And thanks for the cheer!
The Black Gatomon~ Yes, Kikyou should die...don't worry, already plotting a very painful death for Kikyou. *cackles insanely* Yep, I'm trying to keep this as non-AU as possible and to tell the truth, I don't like giving a big role to non-series chars, even in AU stories. And I think Kohaku is a very cute pairing for Rin, although originally I was thinking Rin/Shippo, but then Shippo left with Inuyasha, so that pairing went out the window! lol
Chibi Vegeta Girl~ Heehee, yep, Fluffy likes ramen. I dunno, it makes sense in my very twisted and strange mind. And as for the original plotline...er, no idea. *whispers* Actually, I just started typing this story with no idea what would happen. I'm as confused as you and I don't have any idea what the story is like until I finish a chapter.
Fey Wind~ Kouga is a little...*cough* dense *cough*, yes he is, but he's a guy. Girls know it and guys hate to admit it, but sometimes guys are just clueless. (Nothing against guys, I love them, but still...) BTW, that last little part was for you, your whole 'Hand over the ramen, Inuyasha' cracked me up!
Kawaii~ Naruto? No, sorry, but I know what a Ramen craving is like! Hmm...Ramen...that sounds good about now. Confusing? Yeah, it's kinda like a riddle. You have no idea what everything's about until the end. Then, (hopefully) everything will make sense. Hopefully. ^_^
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Love the reviews, guys, keep them coming!
Reviews: a part of this balanced breakfast! So please, feed me! Review!