Uso! (Lie!) 35 new reviews today, and it's only nine at night…dang…^_^ well, I'm happy now!
Nightrain (who gave me many many reviews today ^_^): I've known about Onigumo's defeat since before I started this fiction: I just got the feeling that Onigumo wanted out again ^_^.
To answer your other question: I just write what I feel; if I think of something that I think would work good (cold floor of the world; tear line; etc) I'll write it in. Ex: I just thought this up one day, and if I ever get around to writing a book around ideas I have (probably after this story's complete), this will go in it:
Whispers of amber, streaking sky a golden hue;
Tears of blood stain her face, as a blush;
Emotions, thoughts, feelings piquantly stew;
Soul grows quiet in hidden hush
Etc; I just think of stuff like that and put it in ^_^. Finally, it turns out its not a line in chapter three: it was a line in chapter 4, I believe; the part about Kagome's eyes. I was almost out of ideas right there, then I hit on that and just ran with it…thus creating the rest of that chapter ^_^.
Ikanugo (who also gave me many many reviews!): Inu means dog, Yasha is another word for demon; so, literally translated, it means dog-demon. And no, there will be no Miroku/Sango relationship in this story: there may be in the future, but I'd rather do a Kouga/Ayume (thanks Liz ^_^) fiction, or start on my original work…working on two stories would be hard, and it'd be kind of hard to keep ideas from bleeding through to each other.
Well, that's it for now: if there's anymore reviews, I'll check after I get home (Woohoo! No homework tonight, which means a longer story for you guys! I forgot I had a test in math today, which entails no homework; and I we just got finished with a project in history, so no homework there either! Go me! ^_^)
I don't own Inuyasha…I do, however, own this box of Nilla Wafers that I'm snacking on right now…mmmmm….Nilla Wafers….
Chapter 25
Blood pooled around Rin's body, soaking her kimono, seeping into the ground, quenching the thirsty ground as it fled from her body. Tiny rivulets seeped onto the fresh green grass, winding their way earthward, then hesitated for a moment before plunging to the ground with a sickening, drip…drip…drip…this is how Sesshoumaru found her: lifeless, warmth just leaving her body, eyes glassed over with fear still readable inside of him.
His expression did not change, no sign of emotion flickered inside him as his eyes wandered over to Jaken, laying where he had fallen defending Rin; what was not readable, however, soon became palpable as a cold aura of fury began to spring up around him: barely felt at first, then becoming a slight tingling sensation, and then filling the woods, causing animals to scatter as he felt the Tenseiga pulsing at his side.
Without any ceremony, he tore the sword from its scabbard; miniature oni became visible, hovering around Rin's body—three of them, exact duplicates of the ones he had seen when he first revived her. The Tenseiga swung in a glittering blue slash, and the sword that could revive a hundred fallen with a single stroke cleaved through the minor annoyances, simultaneously healing the gashes in Rin's side as breath rushed into her once more.
She looked around, disoriented for a moment, until she saw the hem of the robes of her savior: none other than Lord Sesshoumaru.
"SESSHOUMARU-SAMA!" Rin cried, grabbing a firm hold of his robes as she cried into them; and yet, if any were around to see his face—and close enough to look deeply into his eyes, for this was no great thing—a slight light flickered in his eyes as he placed his hand atop the young girl's head. Compassion was almost unknown to him, and it was still thus as he said, albeit softly,
"Rin."
Rin unburied her face from his robes, tears still streaming down her face, nose running as she sniffled, "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"Who did this?" he asked, aura flaring once more; Tenseiga sheathed, his hand now rested atop its polar opposite: the Toukijin.
Rin shook her head as she sniffed, "Rin does not know, Sesshoumaru-sama…Rin has seen him before, but does not know his name: he had hair like Sesshoumaru-sama's, but he had different ears: like a puppy…"
Sesshoumaru didn't say another word: he merely plucked Rin up, holding her in the crook of one arm, and began following the scent trail left by his filthy half-breed brother, leading off in a winding trail towards him; at the same time, Inuyasha and Kagome began walking towards he and Rin…
Inuyasha walked beside Kagome, silent (for once in his life) as he began to lose himself in thought…well, he was silent except for the slurping of ramen noodles, anyhow (Kagome had given the instant ramen as a sort of peace offering, he'd been grumbling about the deer since they'd started moving again). She had to admit he looked really cute like this…golden eyes glowing with knowledge while he slurped his ramen (a/n: Hahaha, I can see this in my mind and it's kawaii as hell ^_^), deep pools of thought rippling like rings in a tide pool…
Well, at least he was cute, until he stopped gulping down his second noodle-cup mid sluuuuuurp to find out why in the world Kagome was looking at him like that, hint of a blush tinting her cheeks.
He turned to Kagome…
'Oh, great, here comes the "why in the hell were you looking at me like that, bitch!?" speech…' she grumbled.
…opened his mouth…
'Yep, here it comes.'
"What in the world are you staring at?"
Kagome simultaneously face-faulted, sweatdropped, and fell to the ground, leaving a very confused Inuyasha blinking stupidly, sweatdropping and thinking,
'Why the hell did she just do a perfect imitation of me getting sat?'
He heaved a sigh, reached down, and plucked Kagome off the ground. Grabbing her backpack from her, instead wrapping it around his own shoulder, he tossed Kagome over his shoulder and bounded up into the trees amid half-delighted, half-highly angry screams from Kagome, such as, "aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAH! Inuyasha just what do you think you're doing!?" as he leapt above the forest, golden sun flashing about them as a gentle breeze blew back their hair; silver mane and raven feathers intertwined as Inuyasha smirked and simply said,
"We'll move a lot quicker if you don't try to do impersonations of me being sat."
Kagome laughed, caught up in the adrenaline rush as sky swept her away from the ground, green earth mixing, melding, molding to the blue of the sky as she tried to shift and get a more comfortable position.
Although the chances of Inuyasha or Kagome admitting it were about as slim as Naraku giving Kikyo a great big hug, both he and her had been doing this more often: they tried to get the other close, creating special moments, and just being near the other…all without the other knowing, of course. It was kind of immature in a way, a game at times, yet a lifeline at others, as each of the two was unable and unwilling to drop their emotional shields and do what each wanted the other desperately to do…
It was with the thought of Kagome that Inuyasha's nose was stopped; hearing was deafened to all save the sound of her voice, otherwise he may have heard his brother approach. He may have heard the sound of a sword being drawn, could have avoided the blistering wave of energy that lanced out from the forest below as it destroyed the tree he had intended to be his next foothold in he and Kagome's journey through the forest.
As it was, he heard the hissing of raw power as it sliced through the tree he was nearly atop of, but was too far down to change direction. An explosion surmounted the area, hurling both he and Kagome back as the tree released the Toukijin's pent-up energy in the form of a blast.
He instinctively reached up to shield himself, but thought won over instinct as he instead shielded Kagome, taking the full brunt as he fell to the ground. Hitting the ground, nearly unfazed by the fall (he was, after all, a hanyou), he released Kagome, checking her for wounds (and finding nothing) before he turned to face the foe.
For what felt like the millionth time since they'd departed on their solitary journey, the Tetsuaiga tore out of its sheathe and exploded in a cone of yellow energy as the great fang took shape; holding the sword, equal parts he and father, he was more than ready to take on any adversary that dared threaten the life of he, not to mention his mate.
Smell, however, gave away the identity far before sight could: the overpowering scent of blood and leaves, moon and starlight, invaded the clearing even as Inuyasha snarled out the name of he and Kagome's attacker,
"Sesshoumaru…"
"So, the great child-killer will face his punishment like a man," Sesshoumaru spoke, every trace of emotion gone from him as he held the Toukijin at the ready, blue sparks flying and meeting wind as he narrowed his gaze at the filthy half-demon blighting the earth in front of him.
(A/N: Most of the time I would end the story here, but since you all wanted it longer, I'll try to go a little bit longer)
Inuyasha stepped back, while Kagome's visage revealed horror and mirrored the shock that was now igniting every nerve ending in Inuyasha's body as he yelled, "Child-killer!? What the hell are you talking about, Fluffy?"
(A/N: I've given Sesshoumaru the handy-dandy ability to make clothing, so nobody pop up and say, "Wait a second! Rin's going around naked!?" or, "Where did she get another kimono!?")
Not a word was spoken by Sesshoumaru; reaching into some unknowable place in his billowing robes, he withdrew a kimono—fit for a nine-year-old, a vague pattern of cherry blossoms on it, ripped and torn, and stained with blood and the scent of…
'Myself?' Inuyasha recoiled in surprise inside his own mind as his own scent wafted up towards him from the bloodstained kimono, and even the trace amounts of youki that remained in the clothing were like his…almost…
"Inuyasha did not attack that little girl, Sesshoumaru," Kagome said in a soft yet commanding voice as she took her stance up beside her boyfriend (for lack of a better word). "He was with me the entire day, the only time he left was to hunt for us, and there certainly wasn't enough time for even a demon to cover the distance between us, brutally murder a young girl, wash off the blood, and return; and besides that, Inuyasha would never do that!"
Sesshoumaru leveled the sword at Kagome, and a flash of his old personality shone brightly for a moment as he spoke,
"Human, don't try to cover for this pitiful half-breed. I could smell his reek all over the two he killed, I could taste his stench following him here. Don't tell me lies when I can see the truth as plain as day."
Inuyasha growled, a deep, throaty growl rumbling his chest as his youkai blood fought to rise against the barrier of the Tetsuaiga; blood boiling, heart pounding, ears ringing, he rushed forward faster than even Sesshoumaru thought possible, swinging Tetsuaiga in an arc, knocking aside the Toukijin and following through by landing a hard left to his half-brother's face, snarling,
"Don't you ever threaten Kagome again!"
Knocked back a few paces, the youkai raised his pale hand to his pale face, wiping blood from his cut lip as his eyes began to glow red, maintaining the cool composure as hate raged within, and felt the Toukijin pulse in his hand, the vassal of his rage.
This is how Naraku's plan began, as all his other contrived schemes had: the manipulation of others, pitting one against the other, body and soul, weakening them until he swooped in for the kill.
Brothers and miko alike did not notice the small insect sitting on a nearby tree, watching the brother's battle begin, and waiting for the chance to summon Naraku to claim the winner as his own...
Yes, yes, I know, another evil cliffhanger; sorry, but I can't keep writing tonight: I got three and a half hours sleep last night…gah…well, thanks to everyone who reviewed today, this doubles the record set yesterday! (Almost three new pages of reviews were added today…sweet!) And you can hate me if you want to for this cliffhanger, I'll care tomorrow but I don't right now…sorry…-_-