There and Back Again

Chapter Nine:  Hanyou and Crew Finally Show Up

            "Well, Inuyasha, you appear to have the strongest feelings about this, please share you opinions on the matter."  The monk leaned against a tree, shutting his brain from the stream of "logic" he knew was about to come from their resident hanyou.  Instead, he focused his attention towards the most attractive woman seated in the grass nearby who was polishing her weapon.

            "NARAKU is our goal here!  I don't CARE what's going on in your own time!  Killing Naraku and recovering the jewel shards are more important than ANYTHING in your time, Bi...

            "OSUWARI!"  Kagome was severely pissed.  The monk noted that Inuyasha was about two inches below ground level, so it was far from the worst sit he'd ever received.  Kagome wasn't admitting to anyone, well, anyone but Sango-chan, that she had to get back for a date with Hojo. "I TOLD you that I wanted to be back by Saturday, AND that I had things I've been putting off I need to do because SOMEONE was hurrying me to come back.  Just who could THAT have been? ANSWER ME!"

            "Mmm mmurmf mm mmr mm mmrt MMMRMMF!"

            "WHAT did you say?"

            Deciding to be purely evil for once and praying Buddha would forgive him, the monk piped up, "I believe Inuyasha was trying to say 'my mouth is full of dirt, bitch.' OW!"

            "Oh YEAH? OSUWARI! OSUWARI! OSUWARI! OSUWARI! OSUWARI!"

            Miroku rubbed the newly sprouted lump on his head and looked over to see a glaring Sango, who was tossing and catching another rock as perfectly formed as she-- "OW!"

            "And that's for your last thought, Houshi-sama"

            "Damn, women really are psychic."

            "WHAT WAS THAT???"

            "Uh, nothing Kagome-sama.  OW! Saaaannngo!"

            Shippou had wisely chosen to simply sit on a warm rock in the sun with Kirara and watch the fireworks while slurping on hard candy.  He didn't know what the big deal was about these "movies" he'd overheard Kagome discuss with Sango, because nothing could be as entertaining as the two couples before him.  By his estimation, he had about five more minutes of good, solid lounging ahead of him while the argument finished itself up.  They'd already gotten past "single osuwari" and the "multiple osuwari" stages, and Sango had now gone through three rocks, so about two more rocks and perhaps a final osuwari were left in the match.

            Inuyasha picked his head up out of the hole he'd just dug and spat the dirt out of his mouth.  "FINE.  We'll ALL walk you back to the well, and then we'll wait for you to finish whatever it is that's more important than Naraku and Jewel Shards!"

            "Humph."

            Ooo, the Kagome-nose-in-the-air-wheeling-bicycle stage, looks like the fight was over. Darn.  Sango didn't even get to use the final couple of rocks.  Shippou and Kirara hopped off the rock and started helping gather up camp for the walk back.  Oh well, it just meant he'd get to have some of Grandma Kaede's stew and that Kagome would be bringing back some candy for him.

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            Dusk was beginning to settle in, and it was time the travelers started looking for a good place to pitch camp.  It never dawned on Ruri just how many people lived in Japan in their time until they had walked for several hours and only saw a few squirrels and birds.  She had spent the past hour seated on her guardian's shoulder.  They'd covered more ground while she was on his shoulder, but she could tell even the youkai was beginning to show a desire to stop for the day.  The youkai suddenly stopped and stood very still.  Ruri looked down at him, wondering why he'd stopped.  This didn't seem like a good place to spend the night.  The ground was littered with rocks.

            "Otou-san."

            The fact that Ruri didn't smell anything didn't surprise her.  She was hanyou by virtue of DNA only, and she knew it.  She wasn't surprised she didn't have the inu-youkai's increased sense of smell.  She hopped down off his shoulder and seated herself on one of the larger rocks in the field.  She saw on the far side of the clearing her guardian's father and Jaken emerge from the trees.  She saw with some surprise that a girl a few years younger than herself was traveling with the pair.

            "Inu-kun?"

            "Hai, Ruri-chan?"  Inuyasha replied, his eyes not leaving his father.

            "Who's that?"

            "Rin-sama.  Basically, my Godmother, though she died long before I was born.  Her spirit is so bound to my father that even in our time it visits him from time to time.  Well, let the confrontation begin."

            "Inuyasha,"  Sesshoumaru called from across the field.  "I see you're still alive.  But not for long.  It's time I claimed the Tetsusaiga from you."

            The elder youkai flew across the field with ungodly speed.  Ruri was sure she had to have dozed off or something.  Not even senpai had moved that fast.  She saw Toukijin flash out of Sesshoumaru's belt, but Inuyasha hadn't drawn a weapon yet.  His hands were on Tenseiga, but he had done nothing with it yet.  Then she saw.  His father swung his weapon toward Inuyasha, and he ducked.  Ruri remembered to blink.  Ducked?  No attack?  No, there it was.  Sesshoumaru was following through with the missed blow, his entire sword side wide open.  Her teacher had ducked and dove onto his sword side.  Now he drew his weapon, striking his father with Tenseiga in the shoulder.

            For the first time he could ever remember, Sesshoumaru was headed for the ground.  That brat Inuyasha had to have learned some tricks since they had last met.  He actually had the guts to dodge under his strike, and attack him from behind.  He let himself fall, and rolled through it to allow himself to move enough away from his victim to recover.  As he stood, he spun to face his brother, who had re-sheathed his sword.  He then realized that the blow hadn't taken his arm off like the first time he had been attacked by Tetsusaiga.  He was still holding Toukijin.

            "You've learned some new tricks, hanyou.  Been hanging out with the humans again?"

            His opponent smirked.  "You're good, but you do make some mistakes."

            "Yes, such as allowing you to live."

            He came at his victim again, this time choosing to let fly his attack earlier, allowing Toukijin to throw its razor-sharp projectiles.  "Let him dodge this."

            And he did.  Leaping up at the last second, Inuyasha cleanly dodged all of the projectiles.  He came flying down at his father, his right hand on Tenseiga's hilt as his left hand held the sword in its scabbard.  Just as he reached Sesshoumaru, he pulled the sword from its sheath and struck.  Sesshoumaru managed to block the sword as he had expected.  He flicked Tenseiga's sheath around in his left hand and held it as a sword, then swung it into Sesshoumaru's side.

            Sesshoumaru felt the entire right side of his body flame in pain.  This arrogant brat had managed to strike a nerve point.  The blow threw Sesshoumaru to the ground and several feet backwards.  Looking at how his opponent landed on the ground, he saw how he had been struck.  The dog really had been taught new tricks.

            Jaken stared open-mouthed.  That fool hanyou was actually beating Sesshoumaru-sama!  Whatever that bastard had done in his last attack was apparently serious; Sesshoumaru-sama hadn't gotten up yet.  He watched as Inuyasha walked up to Sesshoumaru.  This was it, the end!  He was exchanging final words with his brother, and his brother was... helping... him... up?  What was going on here?

            "Very well."  Sesshoumaru's face had returned to its infinite coolness after his son had explained everything to him, albeit briefly and quickly.  "We will not hinder your travels any more.  Good luck... my son."

            Sesshoumaru walked back to his traveling companions.

            "Sesshoumaru-sama!"  Rin cried, glomping his leg.

            "Rin, Jaken, we are moving on."

            "But, Sess--Sesshoumaru-sama... your brother..."

            "Is not here."

            "WHAT?  Then, then who is that man?"  Jaken shrieked, clearly confused at this point.

            "Someone who looks very much like him," was all that the youkai would reply.  Rin simply accepted this, but Jaken kept muttering under his breath.

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