by Ironraven
editorial assistance by Lachesis-chan
Gomen, I know it's been a month. *dodging thrown objects*
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama. Kiyoshi is mine, however.
Let's see... What hasn't gone wrong? Miroku is playing dead. Kagome has gone home. And Kaede slipped up, letting Kiyoshi learn that Kagome is a time traveler. The only thing that hasn't gone wrong is the moon phase, and it's a new moon tonight...
---
"I told that wench, two days. Two days!"
Leaning against a tree stump, Kiyoshi slowly cleaned his teeth with a long blade of grass, listening to the hanyou's rant in amusement. "The day isn't over, Inuyasha."
Shippou leaned back against the tree he was sitting in, watching them both. He knew what tonight was, and what it meant to Inuyasha. It meant loosing his edge over the humans, and that was something that Inuyasha hid from the world. He wasn't about to anger his surrogate brother by saying anything in front of the new guy, no matter how much he liked the hunter.
"Who asked you, Kiyoshi, huh? Stay out of this." Turning towards, his forest, Inuyasha stomped off. "I'll be back."
"Inuyasha, where are you going?" Tossing aside his grass, the hunter jumped to his feet in a move of relaxed power, much like one the dog boy would have used.
"To get Kagome, baka. Stay here."
Jumping from his tree, the kitsune unconsciously placed himself between the two warriors. "Don't worry, Inuyasha, I'll look after things here!"
The brave pledge of the kitsune caused Inuyasha's eyebrow to twitch slightly, a smile spreading itself across his lips. A smile only the trees could see. Not yet Shippou. "Feh. Whatever."
Pausing several times to listen and scent the air, making sure he was not being followed, Inuyasha wove a twisted route to the well. Here and there, the smell of the new hunter and his tanuki friend crossed his path, but all of it was old. Probably hunting or exploring. Doesn't look like they stayed too long any one place.
Even if they do know, without a shard, they can't follow me. Looking around one last time, he vaulted over the low wall. With a flash, he was gone.
---
Blasted tourists. Poking and prodding everything. No respect for the past. Pausing to pick up a piece of litter, Jii-chan shuffled about the shrine, cleaning and straightening. Sighing in disgust, he pried up a piece of chewing gum. Geijin. May demons suck their eyes from their heads and play ping-pong with them! A now familiar hollow pop and flash of blue-white light rang from they dry well. "Who's there? Show yourself, demons- I am a powerful wizard! Show your faces or face my wrath!"
"Feh, in your dreams, old man." An unfortunately familiar white mane of hair poked out from the edge of the well. With the arrogant grace of youth and strength, Inuyasha leapt off the ladder and into the shrine. His smirk mocked the shrine guardian's scowl. I love you to, jiiji.
"I think she's in her room, Inuyasha."
"How did you know I was going to ask where Kagome is?"
"You only ever come here for one of three reasons, demon. For my granddaughter, my granddaughter and food, or because you can't sleep without making sure my granddaughter is safe."
"Feh!" Taking the steps three at a time, Inuyasha's hands shot out to grab either side of the door way, stopping his rush just short of the portal. He leaned on his arms, mouth open, eyes staring at the wooden door.
"Do you like it?"
'It' was a new addition to the well's decor. 'It' was an ofuda. A live, active ofuda, throbbing in Inuyasha's demon senses. Standing at the top landing of the well, Inuyasha whirled, teeth and claws bared in anger. "Where did this come from, old man!"
"Kaede taught me to make better ones when she was here sick, remember." Sending his best smile at the half demon, Jii-chan crossed his arms. "You can pass, Inuyasha. Kagome insisted that it allow any who are welcome here to pass, or she would take them down herself." Even if it was against my better judgment to do so.
The shock having passed, Inuyasha looked at the barrier again. Not very strong. I could get through even if I was blocked. Shippou or Myouga could get through here without too much trouble. But it would probably wake the old fool up if someone crashed through. Not a bad idea. Cringing inwardly, accustomed to Kaede and Miroku's wards, Inuyasha pushed the door open without any resistance as the last bit of the sun dropped.
"Hmph!" Grabbing the door frame in his hand, Inuyasha steadied himself as the change slammed into him. Black spilled though his hair like ink into a sponge as his ears twisted and moved across his head, stampeding down his skull. The sudden loss of most of senses masked the feeling of his fingers sucking his nails back into their roots. Damnit, that hurts.
"Inuyasha!" Looking up in surprise, Inuyasha saw it was Kagome's hand on his arm. "Are you alright?"
"Do I look all right!?"
From back in the well, Jii-chan's voice was soft. "You look human."
---
Pulling fingers through her still damp hair, Sango walked to the steps of Keade's hut. "Shippou, have you seen Taijya-kun?"
"He said he was going further up the river, said he had some thinking to do." Frowning at the ground, Shippou scratched at his ear. "He's been doing that a lot, hasn't he."
Sango nodded, her lips pressed together in a flat line. "And Inuyasha is out getting Kagome?"
"Yep. Although, I doubt he'll be back my morning. It is the..."
"It is the way it usually works out. I know Inuyasha has shown you a little about scent tracking. Think you could find Taijya-kun for me?" I'm sorry, Shippou, but if he sees you, he won't think he's being watched.
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"Not really." Sighing, Sango looked about for signs of the other hunter. "Do you ever get the feeling that something isn't right about him?"
"Not really. I trust him. At least more the Kouga. You don't."
"I'm not sure. Kagome's travel, Inuyasha's night, we all have secrets. His have made trouble in the past."
"But he's a good guy, right?"
Looking down at her feet, Sango's emotions warred with each other. "I think so. But if you could find him, just keep an eye one him. And don't let him see you. Think you can do that? I need to talk with Kaede."
"If I find him, he won't see me, Sango. Kitsune's are illusionists."
---
Coming out of the river well down stream of the village, Kiyoshi wrinkled his nose as he sank knee deep in a pocket of clay. Shaking and kicking his leg in disgust, he made his way up the bank. The last of the twilight died as he hung a serpentine candle in a branch, lighting it with a rapidly struck spark in a tiny tinder box. Leaning back against the tree, he waited. Down stream, near the four fingers of stone with maples between each finger, is what Kaban said. The hunter's frustrated whistle was soon answered by the tanuki's footsteps.
"Took you long enough."
"I'm sorry, master. I think I've found the girl's portal."
"Really? That is interesting."
"A dry well, near the old shrine. It reeks of the hanyou's scent, along with the others."
"At the base of the giant tree? I thought it felt funny when I was exploring yesterday, like I was being watched by the tree."
Nodding, the battered demon cracked his knuckles happily. "The half breed lives in that tree. His scent and fur are all over it."
"That's funny, he's been sleeping at the old woman's roof." Closing his eyes, Kiyoshi assembled the facts in his mind. "It makes sense. He's protecting the well from us. He suspects something."
Shaking his head, Kaban clearly didn't agree. "Or he could just not trust you enough to tell you were his nest is, Master. You are new to his party, he might keep it secret. But it could be the portal. He is it's guardian."
"Hmmmm.... You are probably right, Kaban." Plucking a slender strand of grass, he started tying knots in it. "In that case, we can move within the next few days. Do you remember your part of the plan?"
"Yes, Master. When you grab the jewel, if you are not blocked, I am to carry you away quickly. If the pretties stop you, I am to run and lead the half breed and Kirara away." Running an eager tongue over a long tooth, Kaban wondered silently if roasted firecat would taste different from a normal roasted cat. "Kill the kitty. Kill the half breed; master, I will consider it an honor to destroy him. He is a mockery of the natural laws. Making hanyou is fun, particularly if the pretty is feisty, but you destroy them as soon as they are born."
"You are a savage." Smiling to soften the harsh words, the taijya leaned back on his elbows. "By the full moon, I'll rule the land as a living god."
Smacking his neck, he glared at the tanuki. "Keep your fleas to yourself, if you please, or I'll finish burning off your fur!"
"I do not have fleas, Master. Perhaps your association with that mongrel has led to an infestation." Smirking in the faint candle light, Kaban looked up. "Tonight is the new moon. A pity he ran- many hanyou are weak on this night, Master. It would have been easy to eliminate him as a human. He fears us, and hid."
Looking into the candle flame, the hunter thought in silence for several minutes. "Kaban, do not harm the fox child. He is not to see what we are to do. We will return a few days later, with the body of a demon."
"Master?"
"I will be the last of the Youkai Taiyja. I will need an apprentice, even if I do gain the power of the jewel."
---
Ladling soup into a bowl, Sango looked across at Shippou. "It's alright. Your said his scent stopped at the river. It is an old trick of his." Of our's, taijya- who knows his ways better? "Even Inuyasha would have lost his scent at that point."
Slurping broth, Shippou focused on filling his belly for the moment. "Really?"
"Really."
"I looked, he didn't come out the other side. No tracks, no scent, up or down stream from where he went into the river."
"If there was sun, ye might have been able to find tracks in the soft areas, but by morning there will be nothing to find. That is, if he did not float or swim for a ways." Setting aside her bowl, Keade looked at her younger friends. "Sango, do yea really think we have reason to worry?"
"Maybe." The huntress closed her eyes, thinking back. The night they found Kiyoshi with an agent of another tribe, copies of the ancient alchemical scrolls in his possession. The agent, the kunochi, wasn't dressed for battle as Sango smashed the door in, but neither was Kiyoshi. Seeing red, feeling shame as they asked her to join them. JOIN THEM! The other woman looking her over, the way Kiyoshi did, tounge running over lips. Her father pushing her frozen form out of the way, grabbing Kiyoshi and dragging the younger hunter's suddenly unconscious form out by the hair. Of the fight with the pale, unscarred beauty that had lured him away. "I hope it's just our history."
"And if ye are right?"
Sango hugged herself, and looked into the cook fire, unable to answer that question.
---
Inuyasha yawned as the first light of day became distinct from the city glow. Hmmm.... Haven't slept that well in a while. Looking down at his hands, properly clawed, fine white hairs on them, he leaned back against Kagome's door. "When I'm not human, I can sleep next to her. When my curse kicks in, I can't. It isn't fair."
Inside his mind, an evil little voice whispered to him. It's because last night you were a man. Every other night, you are a dog to her. A pet to let curl up on the floor. She's a miko, a shrine maiden- she can not share her bed with a man. But a playful puppy is another matter. Kagome wants the puppy; Kikyou wanted the man, Inuyasha.
Shaking his head to clear the doubts, he muttered to himself. "Oh, shut up Inuyasha, you don't believe that."
Reaching down to rub Boyou's head, he marveled at a night in Kagome's time without Souta. It had been interesting, not having to worry about the kid being right there. He had gone to a "sleep over", what ever that was. And without his normal ears, Kagome's mother hadn't been as interested in rubbing his ears. Even the old man was decent to be around for once.
Watching something called a "movie" on the little picture box with Kagome had been fun. The swordplay was silly, and most of the warriors in it used horribly made, overly heavy blades. Still, it was an interesting story. To him, it was about groups of youkai or hanyou, after something they called the "prize". The bad guy reminded him of Naraku, only uglier. It reminded him of their quest so much that he had asked about it.
'No, I think only Jii-chan and a couple of other scholars know about the Shikon no Tama in my time. But everyone has a story about things like it. This is a story that someone made up about the time I was born.' He remembered Kagome's sigh as she leaned against him for comfort. 'Outo-san liked this movie a lot, even if it is a little violent for my taste. He would hum the love song from it all the time.'
'There is no time for us, there is no place for us...' Sounds like me.
Any further ruminations were thrown from Inuyasha's head when Kagome opened the door. His head bounced on her floor, the more familiar pain replacing the one inside his head. "Watch it!"
Hmphing, she stepped over him and started over the stairs, her traveling clothes draped over an arm. "And a good morning to you too, Inuyasha."
"What did I do?"
Boyou simply yawned.
Getting to his feet, Inuyasha silently padded down the stairs. Sitting on the kitchen table was the hulking pack that she had filled last night before watching the story. He could hear the rustle of clothes through the door, running water. "As soon as you're done, we're out of here!"
---
Hopping as fast as he could, Myouga ran to Keade's hut. Inuyasha's tree was empty, and it was the night of the new moon. Cursing the lack of birds he could hitch a ride on, the grandfather flea had many interesting things to say about the previous night. Having to pull himself out of the river after loosing his grip on the human half of the conspiracy he had landed in the night before was just the start of his foul luck. Covering a day's jump in half that time. No one at the well. All he could hope for was they were at Keade's hut. His feet were sore, and his stomach was mewling at him. At this point, he'd even suck on a tired, tough old lady like the miko.
Coming to the door way, he squirmed in through a crack, and froze. Before him, sprawled on the floor in Miroku's usual place as him, the man who wanted to take the Jewel! And no sign of the monk. Something was horribly, horribly wrong. Fear gripped his thorax and squeezed as he checked on the other occupants of the hut. Kaede was unhurt, as were Sango, Shippou and Kirara.
"Lady Sango, wake up, please. It is Myouga, I need to talk to you, it is urgent." The huntress swatted at her ear, trying to brush him away. I need to wake her up and I need to eat. Two birds with one stone.
Digging his snout deep into the flesh of her ear, Myouga slacked his thirst. Not bad. Better than Kikyou was, but not as sweet at Kagome. Twice the hunter smacked her ear sleepily, trying to dislodge him, before she woke up. "Lady Sango, wake up, I need to talk to you."
"Hmm... Myouga?"
"Not here, outside. It is urgent. And keep your voice down."
"Alright." Climbing to her feet, Sango slowly walked across the floor, moving deliberately to remain silent. Lifting her feet just enough to clear the wood, she worked her way past her companions, pointedly not looking towards Kiyoshi laying in what she thought of 'Miroku's space'. She cracked the door wide enough to slip out, and closed it behind her. Knowing that the flea's words required secrecy, she crossed to the path into Inuyasha's forest, sitting against a tree. "What has you so worried, Myouga?"
"Many things. Where is Master Miroku? That isn't him!"
"I know. That is Kiyoshi. We used to be..." Closing her eyes as she thought of a word, Sango settled on one. "We were together."
"And Master Miroku ran away because of him?"
"Houshi-sama's hand went wild, Myouga, and sucked him into it. He's... He's... He's dead." After finally saying it, admitting that Houshi-sama was gone, dead, Sango drew a shuddering breath. "It happened the night we met Taijya-kun."
Setting delicately on Sango's shoulder, the flea crossed his arms, tucking his hands into his sleeves. "Do you love him still?"
Sango's heart twisted at that simple word. Her ears rang as if slapped. Hanging her head, Sango's words were barely audible, even to the flea, her voice flat, lifeless. "Which one?"
"Kiyoshi."
"He betrayed me, many years ago. I can never forgive him."
Hmmm... That isn't what I asked, Lady Sango, but I know now you are not a part of this. "He is not to be trusted. Last night, I came across him and a tanuki further down the river. They are planning to steal the Jewel, and use it for their own power. And they know the Bone Eater's Well is Lady Kagome's portal to her time."
Twisting her face to look at the flea, Sango's lips were pulled back in a snarl. Myouga had seen the expression before, on his Master's face, and those of his sons. On Lady Sango's, it was a little terrifying. "Tell me everything, Myouga."
Sweating profusely, the Grandfather Flea told everything. When he was finished, he took a deep breath, trying to keep the pity he felt out of his voice. "Lady Sango, there is something else. A curse like Master Miroku's, could, if the legends are right, be triggered by an extreme emotion. Such as hate, or jealousy. Or if he wanted to die. I'm sorry."
Sango looked at the flea, not full beleiving what she had just heard, but knowing somehow it was true. Kiyoshi. You killed him. You killed Houshi-sama. You killed him. You killed Miroku.
---
With an audible shimmer, the squabbling pair were deposited in Japan's feudal era. "...wasted time, wench! Look how high the sun is!"
"Well, I'm not the one who asked my mother for a fourth helping of breakfast!"
"Feh!" As Inuyasha jumped out of the well, he spotted Sango as a blur of pink and green. Landing next to the huntress, Kagome slid off his back.
"Sango, what's wrong? Is someone hurt?"
"No one is hurt." Brows furrowed in anger, Sango uncrossed her arms. "Not yet, Kagome."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Looking about quickly, Inuyasha drank in several scents. The other hunter's tanuki had been here after he left last night. That isn't good.
"Kiyoshi wants the Jewel. Myouga overheard everything last night." Watching her friends' faces, Sango told of the most frightening part of the conspiracy. "And he knows about the well."
"Kuso!"
"Oh, no. Where is Shippou?"
"Shippou is safe. He's with Kaede while she makes her rounds. Kiyoshi was going to go and see if he could be useful with the rice planting." Looking through the forest, seemingly at the patties beyond, Sango sighed. "It lets him look at the legs of girls."
Holding her self tight with anger, Kagome seethed. "How did he figure it out?"
Gently, Inuyasha set his hand on her shoulder. "More importantly, how do we stop him."
Turning back to face them, Sango's face and voice were blank, empty of emotion. "We kill him."
---
Author's notes:
A blade of grass isn't the world's best floss substitute, but it's been used as such for millennia.
How many fics have I a written and no Myouga? I think the bug is cool. Yeah, he's a 'coward', but his strength isn't in combat, but in reconnaissance and intelligence. He's yet another flea, so he doesn't stick out, and he's one of the smarter characters in the saga. *pouts, wanting a Myouga plushie*
kunochi: Term popularly applied to female ninja. Rarely open warriors, usually used as couriers, intelligence gatherers and "honey pot" agents.