Well, here goes my attempt at making my chapters longer; I kind of enjoy being on a self-imposed deadline, because it forces ideas out of you and makes you more committed…that, plus the fact that I have a bunch of people wanting to read the next part of the story, helps too ^_^.
Quick translation of stuff from Japanese:
Teme: In case you've forgotten, Teme corresponds to a harsh word for you/bastard; in other words, a useful word to know ^_^.
Koinu: This one's kind of funny; the kanji for it mean child (ko) and dog (inu), so it literally means child dog, i.e puppy.
Kutabare: I believe this can also be shortened to "kurare", but I'm not sure about that; basically means "go to hell", or "eat this", or "take this"; etc. Inuyasha screams it whenever he uses the Kaze no Kizu and he's really pissed off.
And now, for more of your favorites, review responses!
Inuyasha—well yeah, they kissed; just because they kissed, however, isn't any reason for Inuyasha to say he loves her (I've already planned for when they're going to say it; you'll just have to wait and find out…lol); like I said, I try to keep him in character: I don't think they'd get all "I'll love you until the end of time" and immediately touchy-feely after their first kiss. I will, however, make sure that I check out your story (I don't know much about Ranma ½ but I'm sure I'll still enjoy it ^_^)
BurningBritelyOne—lol, I love episode 90…I just find it hilarious that Inuyasha's trying to teach Sota the Sankon Tessou.
Whoobonhooaglo—yeah, I'm from California too, except that I rarely go to bed past 2 AM (except during the summer, when my sleep schedule just goes completely haywire).
To everybody who says "update soon!"—I enjoy hearing it, but come on: you all know I update once per day! ^_^
Well, I tried to get a jump on this and started earlier in the day (it was about 11:30 AM right when I started, I've had this done since about noon/half past noon; most of the time I start writing at about 10 or 10:30 PM, when I finish my homework…heh). So, without further ado, on with the story!
Chapter Seventeen
A little over a mile away, Kagome heard Inuyasha's cry of, "TEME!!!!"
'Oh, Gods, Kouga's found him…'
Not bothering to pause for another moment, Kagome took off in the direction of Inuyasha's unbelievably loud cry, desperately hoping she could make it there in time before Inuyasha decided it would be a good idea to use the Kaze no Kizu to defend his possession of her.
'I just had to leave my bike back in modern times, didn't I???' Kagome berated herself as she ran as fast as her enormous yellow backpack would allow her.
The Tetsuaiga sang a hissing song as it sliced through the air, missing Kouga by bare centimeters; another silver arc slashing down not a second after the first clipped Kouga's hair, but did no serious harm—it had taken Inuyasha mere moments to discover that he could not strike Kouga with the Tetsuaiga, but it would be many more moments before his stubbornness allowed him to sheathe the sword and slash Kouga to bits with his claws.
"What's the matter, Koinu? Too fast for you?" Kouga taunted, avoiding a third lightning-quick strike from the Tetsuaiga by a slim margin as Inuyasha's fury began to increase at an astounding rate; adrenaline surged through his bloodstream, a roar resounded through his doglike ears as any inhibition snapped.
He raised the sword; youki flowing freely from both he and Kouga, but he didn't need that anymore. Wind wrapped around the sword, forming a swirling cocoon of swirling gales as he raised the sword. It glittered in the noon's sun as he brought the sword down in a fatal strike.
"KUTABARE!!!"
Bolts of yellow energy lanced out from the Tetsuaiga as the cocoon shattered into a storm of winds, swirling towards the lightning-quick Kouga as the energy carved huge, deep slashes into the ground.
No more than half a mile away by now, Kagome heard Inuyasha's newest outburst, along with the explosion of energy as a decent portion of Kouga's territory.
"Chikusho…too late…," she sighed, breath coming in short, panting gasps now as she pushed herself to keep running. "Gotta…hope…he didn't…kill Kouga…"
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on whom you're rooting for in this battle), Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu had not had the desired effect: it had destroyed several dozen nearby trees, reducing them to firewood that Kouga's pack would appreciate, but it had only hit Kouga with a glancing blow.
Still, a glancing blow is better than none. Kouga had been in the midst of a leap when he was hit by the Kaze no Kizu, and the result was that he had been hurled about fifty feet away from their battleground, and was now bleeding from the slash-marks on his chest and left arm.
'That damn Inukoro…' He growled, surveying his injuries as he vaulted upright, preparing to rush back to the battlefield. The Shikon shards pulsed with rage inside his body; they glowed through even the sheathes of his skin as rage surmounted, and he leapt forward.
Unfortunately for Kouga, Inuyasha had had the same plan: meeting in midair, Kouga blinded by rage, Inuyasha not much better off, Inuyasha had the upper hand. He had sensed Kouga leaping, and had timed his own jump with startling accuracy…with a slight shift in midair…
"Wimpy wolf!" He snarled, swinging the flat edge of the Tetsuaiga towards Kouga's midsection like a baseball bat, even as he swung his left fist up in a staggering uppercut. Both blows connected: with a 'BONNNNNNNNNG!' as the Tetsuaiga connected with Kouga's ribcage, backed up by a satisfying 'GRNNNNCH!' as Inuyasha's fist collided solidly with Kouga's chin, Inuyasha's adversary once more found himself flat on his back in the clearing.
Involuntarily sniffing the air, Inuyasha detected Kagome's scent, less than a minute away at the pace she was going, and thought, 'Shimatta! I'd better finish this up before she comes here and decides to sit me for beating up on this wimpy wolf…'
Wrenching Kouga off the ground, Inuyasha wrapped him in a none-too-gentle headlock as he began landing blow after blow upon Kouga's face with his none-too-gentle fist; enjoying the feel and sound of each meaty 'smack!' even as Kouga struggled against Inuyasha's vice-like grip.
Or at least he enjoyed it until he heard an all-too-familiar voice ring out with an all-too-familiar prelude to an all-too-familiar word.
"Inuyasha!"
Said Inuyasha looked up, not bothering to pause as he continued punching an extremely angry wolf demon, and growled,
"Wench, if you sit me this time, I swear I'm going to…"
"OSUWARI!"
Although Inuyasha detested sits as a general principle, he had to take a grim satisfaction in this one: Kouga was sat along with him, his already battered face slamming into the ground along with Inuyasha's as he refused to give up his hold.
'Still…' he admitted to himself. 'Never a good thing to be sat…'
"Inuyasha, just what did you think you were doing, beating up on Kouga like that!?" She reprimanded him, standing over him and glaring down at him even as Kouga freed himself from Inuyasha's pinned arm.
"Don't blame me!" Inuyasha yelled, ripping his face free from the ground and shoving it into Kagome's. "That damn wolf kicked me off a tree first; he's the one that started it!!!"
"So that meant you had to put him into a headlock and attempt to beat him senseless?"
"Keh, it was in self-defense."
"THAT was self defense!?" Kagome yelled incredulously. "Self-defense would be you using the Kaze no Kizu to drive him off! Not that you had any qualms about doing that…," she muttered darkly, looking behind her at the wake of felled and blackened trees.
"I don't have time to argue with you, Kagome!" He sputtered out, face going slightly red as he knew there was no way he was going to win this argument. "I've got to take care of…" he trailed off, looking around him for the wounded wolf demon, yet seeing no trace of him. "…Kouga???"
Kagome smiled at him; a wide-eyed, innocent smile as she said sweetly, "He must have gotten away while we were arguing, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha nearly exploded at this, and immediately snapped around and took off, following the trail of Kouga's scent. He stopped, however, before he had left the clearing and growled,
"Kagome, don't you dare sit me this time. I'm gonna go make sure that he doesn't ever try to claim you as his again, not kill him. You sit me, and I swear that the next time I see him I'll unleash Bakuryuuha on him," he growled in a surprisingly calm voice, not even bothering to turn to face her as he clenched his hand around the Tetsuaiga. "Am I understood?"
Kagome, completely taken aback at both the calmness permeating his voice and the fact that he wasn't going to kill Kouga, nodded her head and voiced her stunned amazement as, "Un…", before Inuyasha leapt away through the forest, following the strong trail of Kouga's blood drops spattered throughout the forest.
Through his travels in search of Naraku, Kouga had come across new allies; enough new allies to the extent that he now had a pack of wolf demons once more at his command. It wrenched his heart slightly whenever he looked at them, remembering how Naraku had slaughtered them in cold blood; then insulted him as he reanimated them, making them dance like puppets as familiar faces came to slaughter their once-longtime friend.
Now was not the time to dwell upon events long past, however; Kouga, healing already taking place so fast that you could see the cuts and bruises disappearing before your eyes, was assembling his pack; giving them orders so that they could accomplish one of his three longtime goals: capture Kagome (the other two, of course, being to kill Naraku and to take Inuyasha out of his life). Plans had long ago been made; all that remained now was to implement them.
Kouga berated himself mentally for jeopardizing their strategy: it had called for Inuyasha to be unaware of his presence…petty anger had risen up, transformed into fury, and taken over as he remembered their last meeting; he remembered the pain and humiliation he'd endured from Inuyasha smashing him over the head with the flat edge of his Tetsuaiga; an insult that had been compounded again today when he had the same edge slammed into him.
Kouga smiled, however: soon, all of that would be taken care of. Wolves were good strategists…'Better than any dog demon,' he laughed inside his mind. With a single word, he sent his pack out to carry their raid; he, however, stayed behind as he waited for Inuyasha to come. His grin grew all the broader as he stepped lightly over to a secluded corner of the cave and put his hand into a barely visible crack.
Light shone from his hand as he clasped it to his chest; his grin taking upon an eerie glow as he held the Shikon jewel in his hand, and without a second thought, he thrust it into his mouth and swallowed.
Well, guess I can still keep the update schedule going on with once-per-day as planned…I've got ideas planned for the next couple of chapters, so you guys don't have to worry about that.
Heheheh…it's
longer, so I hope you're all happy! And before you ask, no I'm not insane: I
have a very good reason for why Kouga has a Shikon no Tama…you'll just have to
tune in next chapter (and preferably review ^_^). Well, that's all for now…jaa!
Bwa ha ha, thought I'd forget the disclaimer, did you? For shame…you should know better than that; just like you should know that I don't own Inuyasha, and you don't either! (Dissolves into hysterical, maniacal laughter)