Author's note: I am so sorry for not answering all my reviewers, and for
the fact that this is way overdue. I have pretty good reasons, though:
School's been murder.
I was grounded for two weeks from the computer (Sometimes parents are so evil!)
3. I lost my disk for at least a week, and spent all day, every day looking for it.
4. I had at least half of this chapter finished, and then my computer decided that the 'file name or path is not valid', and won't let me continue.
Well, now that that's out there, on with the story!
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, I wouldn't have to root through our nearly empty change jars for cough drop money at CVS pharmacy. (Damn Cold! Damn empty pockets! The world's so cruel!)
Chapter 10: We've Caught The Bandits, So Let's Go Home.
*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~~**~*~*~*~***~*~*~~***~*~*~*~***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The group proceeded silently on their way. Sango and Miroku refused to look or talk to anyone but each other, and Sango was constantly blushing when she caught him staring, his familiar goofy smile gracing his features. Shippo and Kagome took careful note of this. Inuyasha acted like he didn't give damn, though he was running off ways to tease Miroku in his head, 'Ah, sweet revenge.'
They each continued like this as they began to climb the steep, twisting path up the mountain. It started getting steeper and steeper, making it harder to climb. Everyone, except Inuyasha , was exhausted by the time they reached level ground. The hanyou seemed more alert than ever.
They were close. He could smell it.
Yes, they were very close. The smell of alcohol, sweat, horses, and men hung in the air. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose at the unwelcome smell.
What he didn't realize was exactly how close they were.
He was preparing to turn and inform his companions that they should get ready to face off with the bandits, but he didn't get the chance before they turned the corner...
And tripped, one by one, over an abandoned tent, right into the ronin camp.
*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kagome knew at that moment they were in trouble. Everyone in the camp was staring at them, to shocked at their clumsy entrance to say or do anything, until one of them stepped forward.
He was amazingly tall and thin. Kagome suspected that even at her full height, she probably only went up to his naval. His clothes were mismatched, and the armor on his chest, back, stomach, and shoulders were rusted and thin at the edges, making it obvious that they were second hand, and probably stolen.
The samurai's beady eyes slid over them coldly, "Who the hell are you?"
Inuyasha pulled himself up, bringing Kagome with him. "That isn't important right now," He growled. The man's face darkened even more, if that was possible, "What do you want with us?"
"To kick your asses. What else?" The hanyou gave a confident smirk and laid a hand on the Tetsusaiga, ready to draw it at any given time.
The man before him returned his smirk, cruel amusement etched on his features. "Oh," He chuckled dangerously, "Is that so?"
"You better believe it," Inuyasha pulled out his sword with a 'shing', sparks flying as it transformed.
The samurais seemed surprised by Tetsusaiga's tranformation, but the tall one seemed indifferent. His voice was low and deadly, and any weaker man would've shuttered upon hearing it, "Kill them."
The men charged, and Inuyasha smiled. This was going to be fun...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*
In the end, Inuyasha was the victor, with only a bit of help from Sango's Haraikotsu, and the bandits left standing were dragged kicking and screaming back towards the village where the group had been given this mission.
And when I say dragged, I mean in a literal sense.
A few feet behind Inuyasha and Kirara, the samurais were bound hand and foot, and gagged with towels and sheets, complements of Kagome. Ropes were tied around their feet or waists, and the demons of the group, minus Shippo, were pulling them along in the dirt. Even Miroku and Sango were working together to pull one of the ronin. Kagome was bare handed. She was pregnant. She couldn't pull.
They walked on. Inuyasha was thankful that the men behind them had shut up hours ago from lack of energy. They were giving him a headache.
The group took a lot of breaks. Dragging at least a hundred pounds of weight in the hot summer sun was tiring, and although they weren't carrying anything unusual, Kagome and Shippo weren't complaining. Rest stops were all right with them. Most definitely. Inuyasha tied each warrior to a tree tightly. Not tight enough to mortally wound them, but tight enough to make escape imposible. Not that they'd get far. He didn't take his eye of them for a minute.
As they neared the village, samurai in tow, Kagome appeared by Inuyasha. She seemed cheerful. He cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Hey, Kagome," He grunted.
"Hi."
They were quiet for a second, then spoke in the same instant.
"Did you want-"
"I was going to ask you-"
More silence.
"Go ahead," Inuyasha instructed.
Kagome smiled. "I have something to ask you," She said.
"What is it?" She was apparently up to something. She was mysteriously happy today.
"Well, Inuyasha. Do you think you might want to come back with me to my time?"
Inuyasha blinked, "Huh? Why? I thought we were going to stay at Kaede's for a while."
Kagome rolled her eyes, "No, Inuyasha. You insisted I stay at Kaede's for a while. For at least, let's see.. five months, actually. I never said I'd do it."
"You will."
"I'd be just as safe in my time," She said, "And I want you to come with me."
"Why do you want me to come to your time all of the sudden?" Her face fell slightly.
"You don't want to spend time with me?" She asked.
Inuyasha waved his one free hand wildly, shaking his head just as fast, "No! That's not it. It's just that you usually want to go by yourself. Why do you want me to go now?"
Kagome smiled brightly again, all traces of sadness gone, "It's a secret."
With that she strode off to where Sango was, leaving him staring after her. He shook his head. Hormones. Women. Kagome. There were some things he'd never fully understand.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~*~*~***~*~*~**~***~*~*~*~***~*~*~~***~*
People lined the streets as the group entered the village. They pointed and whispered at the lump of people they were dragging behind them.
Inuyasha was approached by a small troop of guards. "Are you the search party that was sent out to find the wanted Samurai?" The leader asked stiffly.
"Yes, sir. That's us!" Kagome piped from Kirara's back. She'd taken to riding there when her feet had started hurting a couple hours ago.
The soldiers nodded at her politely, and Inuyasha saw a few of them note her swollen stomach. The ones who were smart enough to see it wasn't just a few extra pounds, that is.
"Oi, which one of these is the one you're looking for?" Inuyasha demanded of the leading man, not wanting to linger needlessly if at all possible.
"We'll need to take that up with our army general," He replied, giving a nod to his followers, who immediately surrounded the captive bandits, not that they could've cared less, due to the fact that they'd been unconscious for hours. "Thank you," He said, "You've done a great thing." He bowed slightly, before walking off, his soldiers and prisoner's following closely behind.
At seeing the men leave, the crowd seemed to go off instantly. There were cheers and a lot of people patting them on the backs, and bowing, and shaking their hands. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo grinned, obviously enjoying all of the attention, and although Inuyasha pressed his ears back against his skull to drown out the noise and feigned a scowl, by the gleam in his eyes Kagome could tell he was proud of what he'd done.
They fought their way through the crowd, attempting to reach the outskirts without begin stomped on and torn to shreds. Kagome was glad she was above most of them on Kirara, therefore avoiding any harassment or injury.
As the crowds began to thin, Kagome looked back, and noticed a couple, standing arm in arm on the front porch of and old, but big house.
Jiro and Tomoko waved goodbye, smiling warmly at each of them, before heading inside, not strong or young enough to push through the throng of people the group had barely escaped.
Kagome turned back around, and saw Inuyasha had just witnessed the same sight, and was actually smiling slightly. She took his hand in hers, and said quietly, "You're such a good person, Inuyasha. Not everyone would help those people like you did."
Inuyasha snorted, "I only did it because you wanted me to."
Kagome's smile only grew, "Not everyone would help them, Inuyasha, no matter what anyone wanted. You've got a good heart."
Hesitantly she let go, and turned toward the path. Sango and Miroku turned away quickly, making it obvious that they were watching, and Shippo was fast asleep in Sango's arms. Kagome walked over and pulled him to her gently, and they all continued on while Kagome petted Shippo's fuzzy, little red hair. That is with the exception of Inuyasha.
He stayed behind for a moment, watching her and the young kitsune, and sighed quietly. She was going to make a wonderful mother. It was him he was worried about. Three months ago, Kagome told him she needed him, but now he needed her. He didn't even remember his father, and now he was going to be one. He needed Kagome's parenting skills.
With a deep breath, he took a step forward and continued after his lover.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's notes: I'm sorry this is so short, but I wanted to give you something. Just so you know, this is where the story really starts getting good. (
School's been murder.
I was grounded for two weeks from the computer (Sometimes parents are so evil!)
3. I lost my disk for at least a week, and spent all day, every day looking for it.
4. I had at least half of this chapter finished, and then my computer decided that the 'file name or path is not valid', and won't let me continue.
Well, now that that's out there, on with the story!
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, I wouldn't have to root through our nearly empty change jars for cough drop money at CVS pharmacy. (Damn Cold! Damn empty pockets! The world's so cruel!)
Chapter 10: We've Caught The Bandits, So Let's Go Home.
*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~~**~*~*~*~***~*~*~~***~*~*~*~***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The group proceeded silently on their way. Sango and Miroku refused to look or talk to anyone but each other, and Sango was constantly blushing when she caught him staring, his familiar goofy smile gracing his features. Shippo and Kagome took careful note of this. Inuyasha acted like he didn't give damn, though he was running off ways to tease Miroku in his head, 'Ah, sweet revenge.'
They each continued like this as they began to climb the steep, twisting path up the mountain. It started getting steeper and steeper, making it harder to climb. Everyone, except Inuyasha , was exhausted by the time they reached level ground. The hanyou seemed more alert than ever.
They were close. He could smell it.
Yes, they were very close. The smell of alcohol, sweat, horses, and men hung in the air. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose at the unwelcome smell.
What he didn't realize was exactly how close they were.
He was preparing to turn and inform his companions that they should get ready to face off with the bandits, but he didn't get the chance before they turned the corner...
And tripped, one by one, over an abandoned tent, right into the ronin camp.
*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kagome knew at that moment they were in trouble. Everyone in the camp was staring at them, to shocked at their clumsy entrance to say or do anything, until one of them stepped forward.
He was amazingly tall and thin. Kagome suspected that even at her full height, she probably only went up to his naval. His clothes were mismatched, and the armor on his chest, back, stomach, and shoulders were rusted and thin at the edges, making it obvious that they were second hand, and probably stolen.
The samurai's beady eyes slid over them coldly, "Who the hell are you?"
Inuyasha pulled himself up, bringing Kagome with him. "That isn't important right now," He growled. The man's face darkened even more, if that was possible, "What do you want with us?"
"To kick your asses. What else?" The hanyou gave a confident smirk and laid a hand on the Tetsusaiga, ready to draw it at any given time.
The man before him returned his smirk, cruel amusement etched on his features. "Oh," He chuckled dangerously, "Is that so?"
"You better believe it," Inuyasha pulled out his sword with a 'shing', sparks flying as it transformed.
The samurais seemed surprised by Tetsusaiga's tranformation, but the tall one seemed indifferent. His voice was low and deadly, and any weaker man would've shuttered upon hearing it, "Kill them."
The men charged, and Inuyasha smiled. This was going to be fun...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*
In the end, Inuyasha was the victor, with only a bit of help from Sango's Haraikotsu, and the bandits left standing were dragged kicking and screaming back towards the village where the group had been given this mission.
And when I say dragged, I mean in a literal sense.
A few feet behind Inuyasha and Kirara, the samurais were bound hand and foot, and gagged with towels and sheets, complements of Kagome. Ropes were tied around their feet or waists, and the demons of the group, minus Shippo, were pulling them along in the dirt. Even Miroku and Sango were working together to pull one of the ronin. Kagome was bare handed. She was pregnant. She couldn't pull.
They walked on. Inuyasha was thankful that the men behind them had shut up hours ago from lack of energy. They were giving him a headache.
The group took a lot of breaks. Dragging at least a hundred pounds of weight in the hot summer sun was tiring, and although they weren't carrying anything unusual, Kagome and Shippo weren't complaining. Rest stops were all right with them. Most definitely. Inuyasha tied each warrior to a tree tightly. Not tight enough to mortally wound them, but tight enough to make escape imposible. Not that they'd get far. He didn't take his eye of them for a minute.
As they neared the village, samurai in tow, Kagome appeared by Inuyasha. She seemed cheerful. He cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Hey, Kagome," He grunted.
"Hi."
They were quiet for a second, then spoke in the same instant.
"Did you want-"
"I was going to ask you-"
More silence.
"Go ahead," Inuyasha instructed.
Kagome smiled. "I have something to ask you," She said.
"What is it?" She was apparently up to something. She was mysteriously happy today.
"Well, Inuyasha. Do you think you might want to come back with me to my time?"
Inuyasha blinked, "Huh? Why? I thought we were going to stay at Kaede's for a while."
Kagome rolled her eyes, "No, Inuyasha. You insisted I stay at Kaede's for a while. For at least, let's see.. five months, actually. I never said I'd do it."
"You will."
"I'd be just as safe in my time," She said, "And I want you to come with me."
"Why do you want me to come to your time all of the sudden?" Her face fell slightly.
"You don't want to spend time with me?" She asked.
Inuyasha waved his one free hand wildly, shaking his head just as fast, "No! That's not it. It's just that you usually want to go by yourself. Why do you want me to go now?"
Kagome smiled brightly again, all traces of sadness gone, "It's a secret."
With that she strode off to where Sango was, leaving him staring after her. He shook his head. Hormones. Women. Kagome. There were some things he'd never fully understand.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~*~*~***~*~*~**~***~*~*~*~***~*~*~~***~*
People lined the streets as the group entered the village. They pointed and whispered at the lump of people they were dragging behind them.
Inuyasha was approached by a small troop of guards. "Are you the search party that was sent out to find the wanted Samurai?" The leader asked stiffly.
"Yes, sir. That's us!" Kagome piped from Kirara's back. She'd taken to riding there when her feet had started hurting a couple hours ago.
The soldiers nodded at her politely, and Inuyasha saw a few of them note her swollen stomach. The ones who were smart enough to see it wasn't just a few extra pounds, that is.
"Oi, which one of these is the one you're looking for?" Inuyasha demanded of the leading man, not wanting to linger needlessly if at all possible.
"We'll need to take that up with our army general," He replied, giving a nod to his followers, who immediately surrounded the captive bandits, not that they could've cared less, due to the fact that they'd been unconscious for hours. "Thank you," He said, "You've done a great thing." He bowed slightly, before walking off, his soldiers and prisoner's following closely behind.
At seeing the men leave, the crowd seemed to go off instantly. There were cheers and a lot of people patting them on the backs, and bowing, and shaking their hands. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo grinned, obviously enjoying all of the attention, and although Inuyasha pressed his ears back against his skull to drown out the noise and feigned a scowl, by the gleam in his eyes Kagome could tell he was proud of what he'd done.
They fought their way through the crowd, attempting to reach the outskirts without begin stomped on and torn to shreds. Kagome was glad she was above most of them on Kirara, therefore avoiding any harassment or injury.
As the crowds began to thin, Kagome looked back, and noticed a couple, standing arm in arm on the front porch of and old, but big house.
Jiro and Tomoko waved goodbye, smiling warmly at each of them, before heading inside, not strong or young enough to push through the throng of people the group had barely escaped.
Kagome turned back around, and saw Inuyasha had just witnessed the same sight, and was actually smiling slightly. She took his hand in hers, and said quietly, "You're such a good person, Inuyasha. Not everyone would help those people like you did."
Inuyasha snorted, "I only did it because you wanted me to."
Kagome's smile only grew, "Not everyone would help them, Inuyasha, no matter what anyone wanted. You've got a good heart."
Hesitantly she let go, and turned toward the path. Sango and Miroku turned away quickly, making it obvious that they were watching, and Shippo was fast asleep in Sango's arms. Kagome walked over and pulled him to her gently, and they all continued on while Kagome petted Shippo's fuzzy, little red hair. That is with the exception of Inuyasha.
He stayed behind for a moment, watching her and the young kitsune, and sighed quietly. She was going to make a wonderful mother. It was him he was worried about. Three months ago, Kagome told him she needed him, but now he needed her. He didn't even remember his father, and now he was going to be one. He needed Kagome's parenting skills.
With a deep breath, he took a step forward and continued after his lover.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's notes: I'm sorry this is so short, but I wanted to give you something. Just so you know, this is where the story really starts getting good. (
