A/N: *hits self on head repeatedly* gomen nasai peeps!! I seriously meant to get this chappie out sooner!! Really I did!! I even had written some in my notebook!! But classes and homework got me then I got preoccupied with all this stuff, so here I am again, bout 2 months late for my update!!! _ gomen!!!
Oh yea, and remember the thing I mentioned in the author's note in the las chappie? the hoshi-no-tama I said I was gonna use? This is what it is!! ^___^
Hoshi no tama: Kitsune closely guard a round ball. Those who obtain it can force the kitsune to help them; one theory says that the kitsune "reserves" some of its magic in this ball when it shape shifts. Kitsune must keep their promises or suffer deterioration in their rank and power.
Just so everyone knows, I don't really know what a hoshi-no-tama looks like ^^;; so im just guessin!
Song of the day: "Ni Yao De Ai" by Penny Dai (I think this is on the Meteor Garden soundtrack………but im not sure, haven't seen the movie either………-_-)
CHAPTER 18*~*~*~*AUTHOR'S POV*~*~*~*~*
A fist-sized ball, rested in his clawed hand, the dawn light scintillating off and through the crystalline form of it, making the pale blue star within it glow brilliantly. Suddenly, the beautiful orb shook violently and flashed a dark blue, making the bright star inside turn black before it flashed back to the original color. He put the orb inside a velvet pouch at his side. "Hn, so, the kitsune didn't do a very good job," he stated coolly, little or no emotion made it past his cold, demeaning persona. He narrowed his eyes, "I'll give her a week to rectify her mistake, otherwise………" he trailed off, flexing his claw.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Gingira growled angrily as she stared into the blinding dawn light. "If Sesshoumaru-sama finds out, no, he can't. I'll die before letting him ruin my life!" she hissed angrily as she turned another tree to a pile of ashes with her kitsune bi.
Finished venting her anger on trees, she leapt into a high branch of a pine tree. 'Ok, now, let's lay down the facts and see what could have caused this waver in my spell.'
*~*~*~*FLASHBACK*~*~*~*Gingira stood, almost impossible to detect in the deep green foliage of the evergreen, as she watched the human wench jump into a well after running out of forest, chased by Inuyasha. The smell of dirt and death clung to his form as a small glow was absorbed into the human's back without her or Inuyasha's notice. Gingira had identified the glow as a chunk of a soul, but why would the girl's soul be in pieces? That was a trivial matter, but the girl was engulfed in a brilliant magenta glow as she entered the well, Inuyasha, however, had been thrown back by the force of it. When the light faded, he jumped into the well, but when his human companions came, he jumped out and into the forest.
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Two weeks later, I met up with Sesshoumaru-sama to put the plan into full motion. I had taken on the human girl's form, even masked my scent. I screamed, Inuyasha came running when he heard the voice. He stopped when he reached us, anger flashed heavily on his face, but before either could do anything, a huge mass of Saimyoushou came into view. A dark swirling cloud of miasma followed and I felt myself getting lifted up. When I turned to face my captor, a pale face gazed at me with blood red eyes.
"KAGOME!!" I heard Inuyasha yell. I could also sense Sesshoumaru-sama's annoyance.
There was something wrong with my captor. The only thing detectable from him was his dark aura. It even made me shudder. "What the hell are you doing?" I demanded, emulating the scent of fear was easy but not necessary right now. I could feel my hackles rising, preparing to fight the danger but in this human form doing such would most certainly jeopardize my ranking. I couldn't fight him; Sesshoumaru-sama would lower my rank. That was unacceptable. But being so near to becoming a gingitsune meant facing everything challenge face on, dying with honor if necessary.
He laughed sardonically. The miasma cleared, revealing him holding me by one arm, the claws on his free hand outstretched. I cast a quick glance at Sesshoumaru-sama. Perhaps he had changed his mind? He raised an eyebrow, then nodded ever so slightly as he touched a velvet pouch at his side. Narrowing me eyes, I realized the hoshi no tama was in the pouch. 'Damn him, degrading me like this.' I had to do as I was told. I struggled, I writhed as if I was in pain. "Inuyasha!" I called out.
He looked at me, apprehension written all over his face. He leapt up but Naraku was quicker. He shoved his pointed claws into my stomach, then pulled out, dropping me. 'The fool, can't he tell a real human from a demon?' I thought, but nevertheless, it still had been painful. Never had I felt anything so horrible, it was as if it was eating away at me, inside out. 'Why does it burn so much?' I asked myself, wincing as I looking at my wound. 'Poison. Damn him, that bastard.' So that was my next act, I allowed the stench of death to cover my own before closing my eyes and resting limp. Inuyasha yelled, I cracked open my eyes and watched in amazement as his sword flashed red. He slashed angrily and blindly at Naraku, surprisingly, Sesshoumaru-sama had joined in.
They all traded blows, Inuyasha receiving the worst end of it. His chest had been cut severely several times and a deep gash had been made in his back, blood soaking his hakama and haori, but despite his evident injuries that SHOULD be fatal to a hanyou such as himself, he kept fighting. It seemed as if he couldn't feel the burning of the poison in the bloody wounds.
Sesshoumaru was definitely better off, his armor had been broken, a cut across his chest, but not very deep, one of his legs seemed to have been injured, but you would never be able to tell if it wasn't for the fact that he stayed off that leg on each attack. Luckily for them, the battle was not long lived. Naraku obviously wasn't planning on them joining forces. He was defeated, the miasma disappeared, the Saimyoushou were gone, only his clothes and the shining near-complete Shikon no Tama.
Sesshoumaru-sama came and stood next to me for a moment, before turning to Inuyasha. "The wench is dead," He declared emotionlessly.
"N-no, she can't be!! Do something!! Y-you're Tenseiga! You can revive her!" Inuyasha exclaimed, anxiety evident all over his face. He leaned heavily on his fang-shaped sword, his breath coming in uneven gasps.
Sesshoumaru-sama glanced at him and swiped his sword near me, but I wasn't dead. There were no demons taking my soul. Inuyasha waited, nothing happened and I still reeked of death. Sesshoumaru-picked me up, my blood dripping onto the ground, luckily, Inuyasha was too devastated to notice the obvious slow in my blood loss and the signs of healing or the fact that the blood dripping onto the ground didn't smell like the human's at all. "Wh-Where the hell are you taking Kagome?" Inuyasha yelled.
"You seem to have tendencies to stay too long in the company of the dead," he stated in reply as he flew off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We arrived at Sesshoumaru-sama's castle within minutes. "Get up," he commanded.
I stood as normally as I could, ignoring the crushing pain in my stomach. Sesshoumaru-sama obviously wasn't one to take great notice in another's pain. I reverted to my true form and pushed aside the scent of death and brought forth my own scent.
"I suppose Naraku's appearance wasn't too harmful. Go now, erase his memories of her, it'll do him no good to wallow over the death of a mere human."
I bowed stiffly; the throbbing pain started fresh again as more blood leaked through. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama," I replied, taking off.
That had gone well, erasing Inuyasha's memory was no trouble either. I took off again, promising to return, I had business to attend to.
I had been gone for longer than I had expected. But when I did return guess what had come to greet me. The human. She was back, and the spell had weakened.
*~*~*~*END OF FLASHBACK*~*~*~*Gingira smiled. Simple problem, simple solution. Kill the human wench and everything will go back to normal. I will even reach the status of gingitsune! I flexed my claws. 'However,' I thought angrily. 'Inuyasha seems to be getting closer to her. This may cause a few problems. Oh well, I'll just have to find a more subtle way to get rid of her soon, ne? What a fool I was to worry, Sesshoumaru-sama will never find out.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: ookies, yea I obviously wasn't able to upload this for some bizarre reason! I mean, I tried, I previewed, only the author's note appeared -_-;; o well, that gave me a lil more time to edit the chappie!! ^^;;
yea chappie was kinda short for the huge wait but im suuuuuuuuuper sorry!!!!! _ I hope you guys haven't lost interest in this fic!!! also, guess what day it is tomorrow? (sept. 30 I mean) IT'S MY B-DAY!!! ^_______^ yup!! Dats y I got this chappie out!!! *passes out pieces of chocolate cake* enjoy!!! AND REVIEW PLEASE!!!! ^________^ arigatou!!!