Wee, my first attempt at an actual story-format fanfiction for Inu-yasha!
Aren't you proud? Well let's see, I actually have a whole plot planned out
for this fic, let's see if I can keep the ending similar to what I planned
^-^ Hmm...No worries, or I'm sorry, whichever applies to you: No author's
avatars are introduced into this fic, nor any new main characters; there's
not even any real secondary characters introduced, other than the ones
necessary to the plot. Nor are there any new character relationships hinted
at or acted out (I.E. Kagome x Sesshoumaru [bleh] ...in fact, Sesshou
doesn't even make an appearance) although ones already in place are not
ignored. There's some comedy, not really more than there is in the series
(at least I don't think so) and I tried to keep the character's behavior
similar, accordingly. Just try to think of it like an addition to the
actual manga, only in literary format...right...
This takes place somewhere between Inu-yasha getting red Tetsusaiga and Kikyo dying (oops! Did I just give the plot away? Sorry...! Other stuff happens afterward, though.) Has anyone noticed Inu-yasha took a really long time before turning human again? Man, more than fifteen books, and it usually takes him only five or so. Well, I take care of that problem in this...sort of...you'll see ^-^ Hm, I think that's about it. Oh, I should mention this is PG-13 for language, because in the literal translation of the manga, both Inu-yasha and Kouga (who also doesn't make an appearance) swear a LOT, and I didn't really tone it down, since like I said, I tried to keep true to the character's personas. Nothing else is different really, though, so...yeah. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Inu-yasha and the affiliated characters are © Rumiko Takahashi and her business associates. The idea for this doujinshi is © me, but I would be most honored if Ms. Takahashi or anyone else wanted to draw it out for me ^-^
(p.s. the "Big Hip Blues" is a song from the anime-only Ranma ½ episode, "Pelvic Bone Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. 1 Bride in Japan", and since Takahashi does Ranma 1/3, as well as Inu-yasha, I added it as a sort of...private joke...haha...I think...)
"Oo, woo-oo-oo, I've got the Big Hip Blues..."
Inu-yasha's lids flickered at Kagome's innocuous humming, as it unfortunately filtered right into his right ear. His initial impulse to knock her into silence was squelched by his sizable fear of the repercussions, but it took a few moments more before he could continue his pace normally. Unfortunately, Kagome noticed his pause, and felt no indecision in inquiring about it.
"What's up, Inu-yasha? Notice something strange?"
Well, at least she had shut up momentarily. "Eh." Lifting his chin, he nodded briefly ahead of them. "Ain't we getting close yet? We've been following this fucking trail for over a day."
"Actually," Miroku countered, coming up beside them, "It's been less than an hour." Inu-yasha turned slowly, glowering at Miroku with an expression that would have turned lesser men to stone, but the monk merely waved his hand dismissingly and patted Inu-yasha on the shoulder. "If you're tired, Inu-yasha, why not just come out and say it? I, too, admit to being famished."
"Feh!" Inu-yasha shouted in reply, slightly embarrassed. "I ain't tired of- "
"Did I hear correctly that you plan to adjourn for a meal?" Sango asked, riding upon a rather beleaguered Kirara and carrying a drowsy Shippou. It seemed the others were still tired from their last battle with the demon Naraku, and even Inu-yasha had to admit to himself that he was not fully recovered. It had been a long time since any of them had had a real rest, and Inu-yasha owed it to them to concede to the point and allow a brief respite, if for no other reason than to make them stronger if they should meet Naraku again soon.
Still, he wasn't about to hand over his victory easily. "You fucking humans. So damn weak. Fine," he concluded, beginning to shoulder off Kagome onto the ground, much to her surprise. "If you're all so tired, you stay here and rest. I'm going ahead. Just over here, you said?" He asked, looking at Kagome and gesturing towards a high rise in the withered meadow.
"Uh..." The confusion cleared from her expression as Kagome realized his intent, and he knew he was in trouble when her brows lowered dangerously. "No. Farther than that. And no way you're leaving us here, Inu-yasha."
"Lady Kagome is right," said Miroku, glad that the others were backing him up. "What if Naraku comes?"
"Feh," Inu-yasha repeated, hesitating a moment and looking from Miroku to Kagome and back again. "You mean you can't take care of her yourself, Miroku? So much for helping the common man."
"Ignoring your duties again so soon, Inu-yasha?" With a bitter glare, Sango lowered her eyes disdainfully and turned to Kagome. "Do not worry, Kagome. I will protect you."
Kagome looked to Sango, slightly puzzled. "Uh..."
"As will I," Miroku added, laying a reassuring hand on her lower back. Kagome's countenance flickered and she shot Miroku a disparaging glance, which he shook off with practiced apathy.
Inu-yasha reacted with similar hostility. "On second thought, I don't think I should leave her with the likes of you." He turned and nodded to Kagome, careful to keep his face locked in its usual scowl. "It's up to you, Kagome. Stay or go?" Looking around briefly, he frowned at the almost total lack of vegetation. "I guess I could find something to eat if I have to."
"Well..." Kagome looked down at her hands and folded them thoughtfully, deep in consternation. "We're pretty close to the jewel fragments, and it would be a real shame if someone got to them before us... On the other hand, we hurt Naraku pretty bad, back at his castle. He'll probably be out of it for quite a while. The only other powerful person looking for the fragments besides us and Naraku is..." She stopped at just the right moment and looked towards Inu-yasha nervously, who returned her gaze with near- demon eyes blazing with hatred. "Ahem," she continued. "Maybe we should just eat. It won't take so long, and I'm really hungry besides." It had also been more than a week since she had had a good night's sleep, but she was wary of seeming selfish and didn't bring up the matter. She would just have to wait until someone else brought it up, and then back them up appropriately. That was, unless she started falling asleep in the middle of battles.
"Well, you heard the girl." Inu-yasha hit his fist into his palm and stamped his foot into the ground once. "Here's good as anywhere. Start a fire if you want; I'm gonna find something to eat."
"I shall stay here to aid the women," Miroku volunteered, just as Inu-yasha grabbed at the nape of his robes.
"Hell no. You're coming with me."
Sango and Kagome sighed and exchanged glances as the men left on their usual exploit. "At least he didn't try to feel you up this time," Kagome said cheerily as Sango halved firewood with her boomerang.
"He just didn't get the chance," Sango replied, keeping her tone neutral. Her next swing with Hiraikotsu came down especially hard, not only cutting the log but splintering it into dust. Kagome and Shippou winced respectively.
"You know, Inu-yasha. I wasn't going to try anything. Don't you have any respect for me yet?"
"No," Inu-yasha replied plaintively, scanning the horizon with his sharp eyes and sniffing the air vigilantly. "Besides, I need you to tell me what's edible and what's not."
"You don't know?" Miroku asked, genuinely surprised. "You need to eat too, am I not correct?"
"..." Inu-yasha's ears perked as he heard a slight rustling from a clump of dried grass, and in an instant he was upon it, his nail pierced through the creature's midsection.
"A lizard," Miroku remarked, eyeing the prey appraisingly.
"Edible?" Inu-yasha questioned, with no pause for elaboration.
"Well...yes, but probably not among the girls' preferred delicacies."
"Too bad." Inu-yasha shoved his hand beneath Miroku's nose, and the monk took it into his own hands, before looking at Inu-yasha inquiringly.
"What would you have me do with it?" He took a bite from the tail, and grimaced immediately. "Ugh."
"Put it in something." Inu-yasha said no more before he was out on the prowl again, jumping from bush to bush and looking for anything that so much as moved. He came back after a few minutes with a handful of bugs and other vermin, all of which Miroku frowned upon.
"What's wrong with this field?" Miroku complained at length, staring distastefully at a stinkbug that was taking its time in dying (and wasting as much of its essence as it could upon Miroku's palm). "Where is all the small game? Come to think of it, what's wrong with the plant life, as well? Everything's dead and dying."
"I dunno. Drought?" Inu-yasha took one more sniff before turning to Miroku, shrugging and shaking his head. "There's nothing else out here. We can bring this back to the girls or go look for some forest."
"Erm. I would have to opt for the latter," Miroku said, gazing down at the grotesque menagerie of earthworms, stinkbugs, lizards, scorpions and snails that now covered his hands and arms with refuse and bug guts. "I'll...let the birds have these."
It was several hours later, almost near dusk, when Sango turned to Kagome and remarked quietly, "Been awhile, hasn't it?"
"Mmm?" Kagome turned to her side, looking up at Sango and stretching sleepily. "Since what?"
"Since they left." Lifting her gaze, Sango watched the horizon, peering as if willing Miroku's silhouette to appear in the darkness that contrasted against the dying sun. "How long does it take to find some food?"
"Maybe they got lost," Kagome suggested, not worried in the slightest. *Miroku's probably going on about Sango, and Inu-yasha's probably ignoring him,* she thought, smiling sadly. *I wish Inu-yasha would go on about me like that...*
"Maybe." Seeing Kagome lay out upon the grass lazily, Sango did the same, staring at the sky as tiny lights began to discern themselves from the fading blue of the sky. "Isn't it funny, though?"
"What's funny?" Kagome asked in the same blasé voice as before. Sango was obviously worried about Miroku, which struck Kagome as both cute and wistful. *To have someone worry about him like that...Miroku should feel a lot more honored and be more respectful than he is.* Still, it was not her business. Sango and Miroku would just have to work it out as best they could, and Kagome would hope for the best.
"The way we always end up like this. Inu-yasha and Miroku go off on their adventures, and we wait behind to take care of the aftermath. This is such a chauvinistic society."
"You could have gone with them," Kagome remarked, somewhat tired of Sango's occasionally feminist attitude. Normally she was much more sensitive to Sango's feelings, as they were close in age and similar in outlook, but tonight she was just so...darn...tired. It was about time, anyway, than Sango realized that most of her anger and issues were caused by her own groundless conjecturing.
Sango stiffened, and Kagome felt the slight increase of tension in the air. She sighed. "I'm sorry. I know how uncomfortable you get around Miroku." "I don't...I have no interest in that monk whatsoever!"
*Oh, not this again.* "Okay, Sango. Whatever you say." Kagome turned on her side to face the other way. A bit of dry grass got in her eyes and she groaned, blinking rapidly. "Ugh. I wish we could make a tent of some kind."
"I would have, had I known we would be here so long. Damnit, where are they?!" She stood, and looked in several directions. "Ho!" She called loudly. "Miroku! Inu-yasha! Are you there?"
"Not so loud, Sango," Kagome muttered. "Do you *want* to attract demons?" The woman instantly fell silent, feeling guilty. "I, uh, no," she whispered, dropping to her knees and looking through her packs, just so she had something to do. "Do you have a brush? I've been dying to get some of the bristles out of my hair."
"Yeah." Kagome gestured to her large backpack, parked beside her bike. "Get it yourself."
*I hope Miroku returns soon,* Sango thought to herself as she pulled the horsehair brush from the back and began running it through her tangled ponytail. *What if they were attacked by demons?! Oh, I hope he returns soon! If he doesn't, I'll kill him!!*
Meanwhile, Shippou ran along the edge of the meadow, Kirara in kitten-form scampering along beside him. "Come on, Kirara!" he called encouragingly, pausing now and then to sniff the air for any sign of Inu-yasha or Miroku. "I smell yokai in the air. We have to reach Inu-yasha before the yokai do!"
Kirara mewed in agreement.
This takes place somewhere between Inu-yasha getting red Tetsusaiga and Kikyo dying (oops! Did I just give the plot away? Sorry...! Other stuff happens afterward, though.) Has anyone noticed Inu-yasha took a really long time before turning human again? Man, more than fifteen books, and it usually takes him only five or so. Well, I take care of that problem in this...sort of...you'll see ^-^ Hm, I think that's about it. Oh, I should mention this is PG-13 for language, because in the literal translation of the manga, both Inu-yasha and Kouga (who also doesn't make an appearance) swear a LOT, and I didn't really tone it down, since like I said, I tried to keep true to the character's personas. Nothing else is different really, though, so...yeah. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Inu-yasha and the affiliated characters are © Rumiko Takahashi and her business associates. The idea for this doujinshi is © me, but I would be most honored if Ms. Takahashi or anyone else wanted to draw it out for me ^-^
(p.s. the "Big Hip Blues" is a song from the anime-only Ranma ½ episode, "Pelvic Bone Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. 1 Bride in Japan", and since Takahashi does Ranma 1/3, as well as Inu-yasha, I added it as a sort of...private joke...haha...I think...)
"Oo, woo-oo-oo, I've got the Big Hip Blues..."
Inu-yasha's lids flickered at Kagome's innocuous humming, as it unfortunately filtered right into his right ear. His initial impulse to knock her into silence was squelched by his sizable fear of the repercussions, but it took a few moments more before he could continue his pace normally. Unfortunately, Kagome noticed his pause, and felt no indecision in inquiring about it.
"What's up, Inu-yasha? Notice something strange?"
Well, at least she had shut up momentarily. "Eh." Lifting his chin, he nodded briefly ahead of them. "Ain't we getting close yet? We've been following this fucking trail for over a day."
"Actually," Miroku countered, coming up beside them, "It's been less than an hour." Inu-yasha turned slowly, glowering at Miroku with an expression that would have turned lesser men to stone, but the monk merely waved his hand dismissingly and patted Inu-yasha on the shoulder. "If you're tired, Inu-yasha, why not just come out and say it? I, too, admit to being famished."
"Feh!" Inu-yasha shouted in reply, slightly embarrassed. "I ain't tired of- "
"Did I hear correctly that you plan to adjourn for a meal?" Sango asked, riding upon a rather beleaguered Kirara and carrying a drowsy Shippou. It seemed the others were still tired from their last battle with the demon Naraku, and even Inu-yasha had to admit to himself that he was not fully recovered. It had been a long time since any of them had had a real rest, and Inu-yasha owed it to them to concede to the point and allow a brief respite, if for no other reason than to make them stronger if they should meet Naraku again soon.
Still, he wasn't about to hand over his victory easily. "You fucking humans. So damn weak. Fine," he concluded, beginning to shoulder off Kagome onto the ground, much to her surprise. "If you're all so tired, you stay here and rest. I'm going ahead. Just over here, you said?" He asked, looking at Kagome and gesturing towards a high rise in the withered meadow.
"Uh..." The confusion cleared from her expression as Kagome realized his intent, and he knew he was in trouble when her brows lowered dangerously. "No. Farther than that. And no way you're leaving us here, Inu-yasha."
"Lady Kagome is right," said Miroku, glad that the others were backing him up. "What if Naraku comes?"
"Feh," Inu-yasha repeated, hesitating a moment and looking from Miroku to Kagome and back again. "You mean you can't take care of her yourself, Miroku? So much for helping the common man."
"Ignoring your duties again so soon, Inu-yasha?" With a bitter glare, Sango lowered her eyes disdainfully and turned to Kagome. "Do not worry, Kagome. I will protect you."
Kagome looked to Sango, slightly puzzled. "Uh..."
"As will I," Miroku added, laying a reassuring hand on her lower back. Kagome's countenance flickered and she shot Miroku a disparaging glance, which he shook off with practiced apathy.
Inu-yasha reacted with similar hostility. "On second thought, I don't think I should leave her with the likes of you." He turned and nodded to Kagome, careful to keep his face locked in its usual scowl. "It's up to you, Kagome. Stay or go?" Looking around briefly, he frowned at the almost total lack of vegetation. "I guess I could find something to eat if I have to."
"Well..." Kagome looked down at her hands and folded them thoughtfully, deep in consternation. "We're pretty close to the jewel fragments, and it would be a real shame if someone got to them before us... On the other hand, we hurt Naraku pretty bad, back at his castle. He'll probably be out of it for quite a while. The only other powerful person looking for the fragments besides us and Naraku is..." She stopped at just the right moment and looked towards Inu-yasha nervously, who returned her gaze with near- demon eyes blazing with hatred. "Ahem," she continued. "Maybe we should just eat. It won't take so long, and I'm really hungry besides." It had also been more than a week since she had had a good night's sleep, but she was wary of seeming selfish and didn't bring up the matter. She would just have to wait until someone else brought it up, and then back them up appropriately. That was, unless she started falling asleep in the middle of battles.
"Well, you heard the girl." Inu-yasha hit his fist into his palm and stamped his foot into the ground once. "Here's good as anywhere. Start a fire if you want; I'm gonna find something to eat."
"I shall stay here to aid the women," Miroku volunteered, just as Inu-yasha grabbed at the nape of his robes.
"Hell no. You're coming with me."
Sango and Kagome sighed and exchanged glances as the men left on their usual exploit. "At least he didn't try to feel you up this time," Kagome said cheerily as Sango halved firewood with her boomerang.
"He just didn't get the chance," Sango replied, keeping her tone neutral. Her next swing with Hiraikotsu came down especially hard, not only cutting the log but splintering it into dust. Kagome and Shippou winced respectively.
"You know, Inu-yasha. I wasn't going to try anything. Don't you have any respect for me yet?"
"No," Inu-yasha replied plaintively, scanning the horizon with his sharp eyes and sniffing the air vigilantly. "Besides, I need you to tell me what's edible and what's not."
"You don't know?" Miroku asked, genuinely surprised. "You need to eat too, am I not correct?"
"..." Inu-yasha's ears perked as he heard a slight rustling from a clump of dried grass, and in an instant he was upon it, his nail pierced through the creature's midsection.
"A lizard," Miroku remarked, eyeing the prey appraisingly.
"Edible?" Inu-yasha questioned, with no pause for elaboration.
"Well...yes, but probably not among the girls' preferred delicacies."
"Too bad." Inu-yasha shoved his hand beneath Miroku's nose, and the monk took it into his own hands, before looking at Inu-yasha inquiringly.
"What would you have me do with it?" He took a bite from the tail, and grimaced immediately. "Ugh."
"Put it in something." Inu-yasha said no more before he was out on the prowl again, jumping from bush to bush and looking for anything that so much as moved. He came back after a few minutes with a handful of bugs and other vermin, all of which Miroku frowned upon.
"What's wrong with this field?" Miroku complained at length, staring distastefully at a stinkbug that was taking its time in dying (and wasting as much of its essence as it could upon Miroku's palm). "Where is all the small game? Come to think of it, what's wrong with the plant life, as well? Everything's dead and dying."
"I dunno. Drought?" Inu-yasha took one more sniff before turning to Miroku, shrugging and shaking his head. "There's nothing else out here. We can bring this back to the girls or go look for some forest."
"Erm. I would have to opt for the latter," Miroku said, gazing down at the grotesque menagerie of earthworms, stinkbugs, lizards, scorpions and snails that now covered his hands and arms with refuse and bug guts. "I'll...let the birds have these."
It was several hours later, almost near dusk, when Sango turned to Kagome and remarked quietly, "Been awhile, hasn't it?"
"Mmm?" Kagome turned to her side, looking up at Sango and stretching sleepily. "Since what?"
"Since they left." Lifting her gaze, Sango watched the horizon, peering as if willing Miroku's silhouette to appear in the darkness that contrasted against the dying sun. "How long does it take to find some food?"
"Maybe they got lost," Kagome suggested, not worried in the slightest. *Miroku's probably going on about Sango, and Inu-yasha's probably ignoring him,* she thought, smiling sadly. *I wish Inu-yasha would go on about me like that...*
"Maybe." Seeing Kagome lay out upon the grass lazily, Sango did the same, staring at the sky as tiny lights began to discern themselves from the fading blue of the sky. "Isn't it funny, though?"
"What's funny?" Kagome asked in the same blasé voice as before. Sango was obviously worried about Miroku, which struck Kagome as both cute and wistful. *To have someone worry about him like that...Miroku should feel a lot more honored and be more respectful than he is.* Still, it was not her business. Sango and Miroku would just have to work it out as best they could, and Kagome would hope for the best.
"The way we always end up like this. Inu-yasha and Miroku go off on their adventures, and we wait behind to take care of the aftermath. This is such a chauvinistic society."
"You could have gone with them," Kagome remarked, somewhat tired of Sango's occasionally feminist attitude. Normally she was much more sensitive to Sango's feelings, as they were close in age and similar in outlook, but tonight she was just so...darn...tired. It was about time, anyway, than Sango realized that most of her anger and issues were caused by her own groundless conjecturing.
Sango stiffened, and Kagome felt the slight increase of tension in the air. She sighed. "I'm sorry. I know how uncomfortable you get around Miroku." "I don't...I have no interest in that monk whatsoever!"
*Oh, not this again.* "Okay, Sango. Whatever you say." Kagome turned on her side to face the other way. A bit of dry grass got in her eyes and she groaned, blinking rapidly. "Ugh. I wish we could make a tent of some kind."
"I would have, had I known we would be here so long. Damnit, where are they?!" She stood, and looked in several directions. "Ho!" She called loudly. "Miroku! Inu-yasha! Are you there?"
"Not so loud, Sango," Kagome muttered. "Do you *want* to attract demons?" The woman instantly fell silent, feeling guilty. "I, uh, no," she whispered, dropping to her knees and looking through her packs, just so she had something to do. "Do you have a brush? I've been dying to get some of the bristles out of my hair."
"Yeah." Kagome gestured to her large backpack, parked beside her bike. "Get it yourself."
*I hope Miroku returns soon,* Sango thought to herself as she pulled the horsehair brush from the back and began running it through her tangled ponytail. *What if they were attacked by demons?! Oh, I hope he returns soon! If he doesn't, I'll kill him!!*
Meanwhile, Shippou ran along the edge of the meadow, Kirara in kitten-form scampering along beside him. "Come on, Kirara!" he called encouragingly, pausing now and then to sniff the air for any sign of Inu-yasha or Miroku. "I smell yokai in the air. We have to reach Inu-yasha before the yokai do!"
Kirara mewed in agreement.