There and Back Again

Chapter Fifteen:  Something Wicked Arrives

            The afternoon was spent mostly on practicing katas.  Youkai Inuyasha would have spent it this way anyways if given the opportunity.  Ruri did it because Inu-kun did it, Sango did it to keep from giving any indication she was a slacker.  Shippou even tried to do some. Miroku spent the afternoon in quiet meditation (on the subject of Sango).

            It was almost dusk when Kagome and Inuyasha returned through the well.  The exhausted menagerie walked the distance to Kaede's hut where they would spend the night.  Sango noticed the monk being unusually quiet for having "meditated" all afternoon, glancing around him often.

            "What's wrong, Houshi-sama?"

            "It's um, just something I've been pondering, that's all."

            Sango raised an eyebrow but chose not to pursue it.  Ruri, who had decided to bum a ride on the back of her companion, had noticed a similar disquiet in Inu-kun.  Inu-kun, for his part, realized rather quickly that she was staring at him, considering she was three inches from his face.

            "Do not react when I tell you this," he said, his voice barely a whisper, "but we're being watched."

            Ruri twisted to look back at Miroku and Sango, which "coincidentally" placed her mouth millimeters from his ear.  "By what?" she murmured.

            Inuyasha the younger couldn't help but smile.  "You're catching on quick," he whispered as she faced back forward to watch Inu-kun's aunt and uncle.  "I don't know yet.  We'll just have to see what happens, I guess."  Ruri nodded and laid her head on his shoulder, dozing as they walked the final distance.

            Upon walking into the village, Miroku and the youngest Inutaishou both felt the presence disappear again, as it had after it had been joined by the massive evil the night before.

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            "I like not the sound of this," Kaede summarized after Miroku and Inu had related their observations on their mystery guest.

            "Well, it ain't Naraku, so we can take 'em down anytime," the elder Inuyasha bragged to the room.

            "Are ye sure, Inuyasha?"

            "What's THAT supposed to mean?"

            The hanyou's namesake sighed, refraining from commenting on his elder's rashness. "Inuyasha-sama, I'm sure you've heard the phrase 'no matter how strong you are, there is always someone stronger?' "

            Inuyasha sulked, unable to argue with what his mother had always said.  The youkai continued.  "Naraku is the sworn enemy of all of you, I do not argue with that.  However, he is not the most powerful youkai in existence.  After all, he isn't even youkai - he is hanyou.  Inutaishou-sama's power far overshadowed that of Naraku, and yet there was a demon that even he could not defeat, only imprison."

            "Yeah, and I kicked his ass!"

            The youkai rubbed a temple.  "So, if your father was powerful, and another demon is as powerful as your father, and you defeat said demon, it means only that you are as powerful as your father."

            "Since A equals B, and B equals C, A equals C," Kagome chimed in.

            "Indeed.  However, it does not by any means mean that C is greater than A or B, only equal."  The hanyou scratched his head, not liking the line of argument but not understanding it nearly enough to win.  Instead, he rose from his seat.

            "I'm going for a walk."

            When he reached the door, Kagome gasped.  "What, bitch, you got somethin' else to say?" Inuyasha challenged, spinning to face her, not noticing that Sango and Miroku were wearing the same expression as Kagome.

            The younger Inuyasha stood and placed his swords at his side, thumbing open Tenseiga.  The hanyou was a bit mystified by their behavior until a screech pierced the night.  The youkai walked past his uncle into the night.  "Hope you're limbered up," he said.  He darted towards where the sound had come from followed closely by his uncle.

            Ruri grabbed her weapons and hurried after them, followed by everyone else.  They caught up with them at the village's rice paddies.  It was evident what the malevolence was that they had sensed, as well as what made the screech.  A massive demon stood in the middle of the patties.

            The hanyou Inuyasha moved to step into the patties but was blocked by his nephew.  "Do you know what that is?" the younger asked calmly.

            "Yeah, moron, a DEMON."

            The younger smiled.  "Yes.  But it is a water demon."  Ruri's eyes widened, remembering earlier conversations with Inu-kun.  "You haven't fought many elemental demons, have you?"

            "What's the difference, a demon's a damn demon, and that's all there is TO IT." The hanyou snorted.

            "No, that's not all there is to it."  The water demon was obviously waiting for them to make the first move, so the inu youkai chose to explain the situation.  "Kouga's a wolf youkai, and has power over wolves, follow?"

            His uncle shrugged.  "Yeah, so?"

            "So a water demon has power over water."

            "So?"

            The youkai sighed at his uncle.  Ruri finished for him.  "Baka.  It means that the paddies are now its weapon."

            Reality settled on the elder hanyou.  "So how do we attack it?"

            His nephew couldn't resist sarcasm.  "Carefully."  He smacked Tenseiga's tsuka securely back against its sheath and grasped his katana.  He raced down the narrow row separating paddies.  Realizing the idea, the hanyou followed suit a few rows over, drawing Tetsusaiga on the way.  They attacked almost simultaneously, Tetsusaiga with Kaze no Kizu and the katana with a blinding series of moves, but to no avail.  Both Inuyashas returned to the edge, one obviously more offended at the outcome than the other.

            "We didn't even scratch that damn thing!"  the hanyou seethed.

            "Baka.  You missed it totally didn't you?  It uses water as armor, causing our attacks to be weakened against it."

            "So what the HELL do you suggest we DO about that, NEPHEW?"

            "Ruri-chan!"

            "Hai, Inu-kun?"

            "Draw Tetsusaiga.  The two of you follow my lead."

            She withdrew the blade from its home and watched it flare to life.  She wasn't sure what good two Kaze no Kizu could do when one didn't do much of anything, but she had faith in her friend.  She watched as he stepped into the edge of the waters.

            "Hey, baa-kaaa, I thought you said NOT to DO that?"  Inuyasha snorted.

            "Baka.  I told YOU not to.  Not me."

            The water demon surged forward, not realizing its own peril.  When it was halfway to the dark red kimono, the katana flashed through the water, sending a torrent of terrifying power towards the attacker. "NOW!" Inu screamed.

            The bright red kimonos leaped into the air and with a scream of Kaze no Kizu attacked their opponent's wind scar.  Inuyasha saw what his nephew had done - create a wake through which Kaze could plow through and be allowed to inflict damage.  They were not out of danger, as he felt some of the attack that the mizu youkai had tried to launch.  It was as if a thousand tiny daggers had struck his fire-rat shroud at once.

            Amazingly, the hanyou realized all of this in a fraction of a second.  He listened with satisfaction as the mizu youkai screamed in pain.  Suddenly, he smelled an all-too-familiar scent and realized not all of the screaming was being done by the demon.  He tried to look in all directions at once and saw a flash of the darker kimono moving away from him.

            He saw motion from the direction of their opponent, and spun to face it.  "Bring it on!" He roared and lunged forward.


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