Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha...
A/N: Sorry for the pace in between the updates. I've been busy... Well, let's get on with the story. Also, I'll remind you at the end too, on my bio I have a sign-up for a mailing list where you will receive an e-mail when I update. If you would like to, sign up today, okay!
Translations for the day:
Anchan: Older brother (affectionate)
Kangei: welcome
Kago: basket
Translations corrections:
Anou: Well, um. (Used in thought (Thank you Fawn for the correction))
Chikuso: Shit (Thank you Fawn the panther for the correction)
Kuso: Damn it
Onegai: Please (Used as more of a beg)
Kudasai: Please (Formal (thank you explainatron)
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Author: Sakura-chan88
Title: Taking the Long Way
Chapter: Awaking to a Problem
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At that time,
whenever I closed my eyes...
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Kaede wiped the sweat from her brow as she leaned away from the girl before her. She had finish bandaging the wounds received from the battle with Yura and turned to look at the hanyou whom had found a liking to the tree outside the window. She sighed. He had refused to tell her the details, then cursed her when she asked about the Shikon no Tama...
What was it that kept him from taking the jewel from the near-to-death miko?
******
Inuyasha remained silent, watching his forest with minimal attention. He didn't understand... What was it about that girl? Why hadn't he taken the jewel...?
She looked so much like the miko he knew 50 years ago, who had died 50 years ago, but lived on in his memory. The girl... It was as if fate was teasing him!
He sighed and slumped back against the tree. Turning his head a fraction, he looked at the pale girl that lay beneath a fur Kaede had procured... She looked so fragile, but serene. She reminded him of Kikyo, but Kikyo had never looked frail, breakable. She was always strong and alert.
What happened to Kikyo, anyway? How had she died...?
Kaede had said she died after pinning him to Goshinboku, but how? She was never someone to be caught off guard, never left unarmed, never weak in strength- physical or spiritual. It didn't add up! Something just didn't fit well in this puzzle. Pieces were missing and the pieces he had... they didn't fit together... Kikyo...
How could such a thing be missing? What was the part to put them together!? What was it that had slain Kikyo..?
... Why had she turned against him when they were so close to being together...?
Kikyo and Kagome... They were definitely two separate people...
But, then...
Why couldn't he take the jewel?
Her breathing was shallow, almost unnoticeable. Even with Kaede's help... If she lived through the night, he'd be surprised.
******
"Shikon no Tama? You're back..."
The voice's owner smiled wantonly. It was going to be a fun way to pass a little free time...
"Manten," he called to his brother. "It is time to pay a visit to that bastard hanyou's home."
Hiten watched a grin spread across the other man's face and smirked. Another battle- that would end with the gain of immeasurable power- was just what they needed.
******
It had been two days and the girl still slept on with Inuyasha close by. Every morning he expected to look into the hut and see a corpse clutching the Shikon no Tama. Every morning he was shocked to see the Shikon in the hands of a recovering teen.
She was strong, despite her appearance.
He smirked.
'She wouldn't last five minutes against me.'
He turned back to look at the forest, watching as a butterfly flew around a tree, then landed on a flower in a clearing a few feet away. Over to his left, the village children played, their parents watching from the left, over in the rice field. Behind him, Kagome stirred.
Inuyasha's attention snapped to the girl, watching as she tossed and turned, mumbling incoherently. For a moment, he thought he heard something like... 'Gee-a-met- tree'... He shook his head in confusion. Confusion seemed to be the only feeling he had recently...
An itched formed on his left cheek with such suddenness that his hand squished it before he had even recognized the sensation. A minuscule, flattened body floated into his outstretched palm.
"Myouga-jijii?"
The said flea regrouped himself, popping back into size. His beady eyes surveyed the hanyou's face.
"Inuyasha-sama," the flea exclaimed. "It's good to have you back with the living!"
"What are you here for?"
The flea's eyes widened. "I heard rumor of the Shikon no Tama... Is it true? Someone really does possess the jewel?"
Inuyasha's eyes flickered to the girl laying on the futon inside the elderly miko's shabby housing. He could see a light pink sliver where her fingers parted. He growled.
"Hai."
******
Myouga followed Inuyasha's line of vision to see what had caused his answer. To his surprise, he saw the miko Kikyo sleeping with the Shikon no Tama in her grasp. The more shocking part was not that she was there, but that she looked younger than she had 50 years ago at the time she was pronounced dead.
"The miko! Kikyo has been revived?" he wondered, bouncing toward the slumbering girl.
He was repelled by an unseen barrier surrounding the hut. Finding himself smashed against the tree and Inuyasha snorting in amusement displeased the flea.
"It's not Kikyo," Inuyasha stated, jumping to the ground.
Myouga looked at his master, seeing a lost and calculating look. He looked back to the girl... Of course she wasn't Kikyo. Kikyo wouldn't have slept through the arrival of two youkai - full or half.
His attention moved to the elderly woman making her way toward them with a bundle of herbs in the straw-woven kago. She was eyeing Inuyasha with suspicion, until she saw Myouga as he jumped to gain her acknowledgement. She tipped her head.
"Kangei, Myouga," she called. "What brings you here?"
******
Inuyasha didn't bother to listen as Kaede explained to Myouga who Kagome was. He was content to watch the changes in the sleeping girl. She seemed to be growing strong every minute now. She had recovered her coloring over night, her breathing was becoming deeper, her movements more frequent. She'd even began mumbling coherently, saying something about 'Oden' and 'sneaky brat'...
She was tossing again. However, something was different. Sweat appeared on her forehead as the color drained from her face. Her breathing increased when the sky blackened. Something was very wrong....
"Run," she whispered, gasping and sitting up bolt right. Her eyes were crazed as she found the hanyou standing outside. "Run. They-"
Kaede gasped and ran into the hut to still Kagome as the girl began to throw off the furs. She was in a frenzy, pushing against the woman as she shouted.
"Inuyasha, watch out! They're here-"
The hanyou missed the rest of her words as a shock of electricity ran through his veins. He cried in pain and fury and faced his attackers. A man, looking no older than 20, with a long black plait and red eyes stood in the air, wheels near his feet. Another man, looking more like a monster and less like a human, floated on a cloud above, looking content on just watching the oncoming battle.
"That was cheep," hissed Inuyasha, cracking his knuckles.
In the background, he heard Kaede chanting and Kagome's breath before she followed the elder woman's séance. Myouga leapt to Inuyasha's shoulder as the attacker spoke, raising his staff into the air.
"You are the hanyou Inuyasha?"
"Keh! Yeah, what's it to ya?"
Myouga spoke up, "These two must be the Thunder Brothers, Hiten and Manten."
"Thunder Brothers?" Inuyasha repeated.
"They use thunder magic to get their way, and it's said to be very powerful," Mouga said.
"Where is the Shikon no Tama?" the first man asked.
******
Kagome was falling, farther and farther into the darkness, falling into a blackness unlike any other she'd seen. Then, there it was; the pale glow of pink in the endless abyss floated in the distance. She tried to swim toward it... Her hands wouldn't move, nor her feet. She was bound together by some unseen force and it was pulling her down.
The Shikon no Tama was just out of her reach, just barely.
'Another inch, that's all,' her mind grunted with the effort to move.
'Another inch... Move...!'
And the Shikon rose above her head as she fell further. She was losing another battle, just like with Yura... And just like with Yura, Kagome was giving up hope... But, unlike then, he never came to her rescue, he never came for the Shikon, he never came-
A sudden shock ran through her body. A flash of lightening appeared before her, blinding her as one thought entered her mind. Inuyasha was in danger- She was in danger. She wanted to scream, wanted to warn him... Someone was coming for the Shikon no Tama...! And that someone was powerful enough to pull her from the depths of her sleep.
"Run," she heard herself say. Her eyes opened and she found herself looking into amber eyes. "Run! They-"
Kaede burst through the thatched doorway, panicked. "Kagome, calm down," the elder miko ordered. She looked disheveled, though relieved in some small way. "You mustn't use so much energy."
Kagome didn't listen, trying desperately to dislodge the smothering furs from around her. Inuyasha was in danger, and if he failed to live through it then no one was left to protect her... Though he was after the Shikon, he'd come to her aid once before, she was sure he wouldn't let her die now. He needed to know!
"Inuyasha, watch out!" She screamed as two figures appeared in the sky. "They're here-"
Her words were choked off by a feral cry as lightening struck Inuyasha from the staff the human-like youkai held. The hanyou was furious, snarling as he had when his brother had attacked him. He had her full attention as they shouted insults and questions.
Her attention failed as a new sensation was felt. In her clenched fingers, which had turned a pure white, was a cold sphere. The pink glow of the Shikon no Tama shown through her hand...
He hadn't taken it...? Why not? He'd chased her down- twice- for the sacred orb and, given the chance when she was so close to death, hadn't taken it... And had truly saved her from certain death for the second time.
What... had compelled him to do so..?
She gasped when a new weight was added to her. Looking for the source, she found Kaede chanting in a steady beat, her voice at its lowest.
"Ner hen do su ka, Ner hen do su youi, Ner hen do su ti, Ner hen do su nai," she droned.
Kagome didn't understand any of what she said, but followed the words in her mind.
"Ner hen do ku ne, Ner hen do ku pa, Ner hen do ku laeii, Ner hen do ku miaku," Kaede continued.
Slowly, Kagome felt the barrier around her strengthen, then understood. Kaede was forming another barrier to surround her and the jewel, to seal them from sight. Kagome picked up on the spell and spoke it with her, concentrating on blocking out the voices around her.
"Kagome, don't use more power than you have," the elder woman said beneath her breath. The chanting didn't cease, though. Instead, it eerily continued as the woman spoke to Kagome. "The barrier is strong enough now. However, you must stay where you are. Stay still."
She took the advice, opening her eyes to watch as Inuyasha tried to defend himself with no weapons in reaching distance...
The fight was one sided.
"Kaede," Kagome whispered. "Is he... Will he be okay?"
"... I do not know, child. He does not tire easily."
'She has doubts... He isn't invincible,' she thought helplessly.
'How am I to help?'
******
Hiten smirked as the hanyou leapt from the ground to strike at him. Bringing Raigekijin down in a slicing motion, he successfully sent Inuyasha to the ground.
"What was that?" Hiten sneered. "You won't lay a finger on me with those petty attacks. I was hoping for a fair fight."
"Fair?" Inuyasha repeated. "How is striking someone in the back fair!?"
"Whine away, puppy," he chuckled, lunging to the now up-right hanyou. "You'll die in the end, anyway!"
"Just keep on talking," Inuyasha barked, smirking as the youkai lunged forward. "Defense isn't my style!"
When Hiten brought Raigekijin down to meet his opponent's head, Inuyasha shoved his body up and under the man, shouldering him in the stomach. The impact threw him back into the air. He lunged again, watching for the slightest change in the hanyou's stance. However, he found himself fighting to press Inuyasha into the ground when he had grabbed the staff and shoved it back.
"Hiten-anchan," Manten called from above. "Should I help?"
"Find the Shikon no Tama, Manten," Hiten called, watching his brother from the corner of his eye, maintaining focus on Inuyasha.
'What powers him so, this lowly hanyou?'
******
"Find the Shikon no Tama, Manten," Kagome heard Hiten command.
His brother, the monster-like youkai, flew around the village in a circle, destroying each hut he passed with a beam of lightening. Kaede gasped beside the young miko. When she stood to leave, Kagome knew she couldn't just sit back anymore. Innocent people were dying!
"Kaede-baachan, let me help!" she yelled, jumping to her feet. "I can help, just tell me what to do."
Kaede stopped in her tracks.
******
Kaede felt the barrier give way as the younger woman sprung to her feet. She shouldn't have moved! It broke her only defense!
******
Hiten saw a shift in the background, almost like another person had teleported to the area...
"Manten, this hut!"
Inuyasha started, casting a look over his shoulder. With the element of surprise in his favor, Hiten pressed back against the hanyou and sent him flying straight back into the said hut, which repelled him. A barrier...?
He watched the occupants in the hut. The younger of the two was pleading to help as the elder eyed Hiten with a small amount of fear and anticipation.
"Hand over the jewel," he growled, approaching the housing, "or witness the death of the villagers."
"You..!" the young woman shouted. "You filthy, horrid... BEAST!"
Hiten's eyes narrowed. He had never heard such words from a woman before- and she would pay for directing them at him! How dare she...!
"You'll sink low enough to kill innocent villagers- I thought you wanted a fair fight!" she fumed, glaring at the man.
"... I won't find a fair fight here," Hiten hissed, flying toward the hut and knocking the hanyou aside with ease to better see through the window. "Unless you think you could defeat me."
Manten laughed in the background as Inuyasha charged him. Both stopped as a softest of replies was heard.
"Of course I can."
******
Inuyasha didn't know what hit him, but it hit him full force as he heard the words spoken so quietly from the sealed away miko. She was fragile AND stupid! There was no way she could win! She wouldn't even be able to stall for time enough to save anyone...
Whatever she was planning, it was suicidal.
"If you want a fair fight, go to the clearing of the Bone Eating well," Kagome stated. "Inuyasha and I will be more than prepared enough."
...What was she up to?
"I don't think that's a good idea," Inuyasha muttered. "Just what are you planning?"
"I'm planning for us to win," Kagome said determinedly to the hanyou. "Fight us at the well and you'll have your fair fight."
"What does the well have to do with a fair fight?" Hiten asked, skeptically.
******
Kagome's mind was racing for a feasible reason. Then it clicked. If power could be stored in a jewel... All she needed was Inuyasha's cooperation, though. He didn't necessarily have to help- he could run off with the jewel at any moment.
"When Inuyasha was sealed to the tree, Kaede stole his power and sealed it separately," Kagome began.
Hiten caught on. "She stored his true power in the well... Hmmm... Sounds interesting."
Kagome watched as Inuyasha thought through what she said and Hiten processed the information. Manten watched his brother's reaction with anticipation. Kaede placed a gentle hand on the younger miko's shoulder. Kagome turned to the woman.
"Here," she said, thrusting a bow and quiver of arrows at the girl. "I trust you know what you're doing, child?"
"Hai, I believe so... But, I've never used a bow..."
"Take it, nonetheless."
Taking the offered weapon with a nod, Kagome left the hut to stand beside Inuyasha. Her legs quivered. He could easily reach over and pluck the jewel from her grasp... However, he refused to do so much as look in her direction.
******
Hiten was intrigued. The woman insulted him, then challenged him... She would die a very slow death, then. After she watched her hanyou pup yelp in pain and life fade from his eyes, of course.
He smirked and led the way to the soon-to-be battle field. Manten took up the rear to watch for any suspicious actions. There was no way out of this one sided battle for the Shikon no Tama, except for in the hands of Hiten, of course. Well, fate might not have chosen today to be crystal clear...
Manten laughed in the background. "Anchan, let me have the woman after the battle! She would be perfect for my hair potion."
"Eh?!" the girl exclaimed, clutching the jewel tighter in confusion. "W-What to do you mean, 'have' me?"
"Of course, Manten," Hiten stated, flying into the appointed clearing.
The area was eerily still, not a living being in sight; no animals, no insects, no humans- save for the four that just entered. The center held a well atop a small incline. The well looked ancient, unused for ages. It helped create a scene of desolation and loneliness.
"Chotto! I asked you a question!" the woman yelled. "What do you mean he can 'have' me?"
Hiten turned to face her. A sneer found its place.
"Since you're so confident you'll win," he muttered, rushing forward, "then you don't have to worry!"
******
Inuyasha jumped to her rescue, calming her fears about his cooperation. Kagome knew her plan was a suicide if anyone made a false move and off-set the scale. She would have to improvise now- and the bow was just what she needed. She silently thanked Kaede.
As Inuyasha thrust up and under the youkai's staff to knock the breath from the man's lungs, Kagome pulled back the bow and took aim. Never having held a bow in her life, the confused teen loosed an arrow to send it flying over Manten's head... And her aim had been three feet in front of her- Hiten.
Manten sat still for a moment before his mouth cracked in a grin to show lightening resting inside. He was going to use the beam he'd used earlier! She didn't think ahead for that...
Bug-eyed and staring, Kagome remained still (A/N: Is it me or does she do that a lot in the Anime?) and waited for the oncoming attack to hit her full force. Inuyasha came to her rescue once again and flung the older brother into the line of fire by way of a firm fist in his face. Hiten fell from the air with a cry of pain.
Kagome gasped, then turned to the hanyou who snorted in disgust.
"You got us into this, get us out, wench," he hissed.
She nodded and pulled back the bow string with an arrow notched in place. Taking aim once more- for Manten this time- she released her grip. It soared too low.
"What are you aiming at?" Inuyasha demanded. "You can't seriously be Kikyo's reincarnation."
"... Nani?"
"She was a marksman with the bow."
"Oh..." Kaede's choice of weapons made sense now.
Thinking his words through, she watched Hiten gather himself. The man was furious- lightening crackling around him with such power that the live grass beneath his feet caught flame. That last move, in his mind, was one deadly mistake they wouldn't live to make again.
She raised her arm once more to grab another arrow. One arrow left... How was one arrow going to help at all with two youkai facing them?
'What are we going to do?' Kagome questioned herself.
'The well... My plan...'
"Inuyasha, the well!"
******
"Inuyasha, the well!" the girl screamed, sprinting toward the structure.
"Stop where you are, bitch!" Hiten commanded. "You will pay dearly for what you have done!"
"Your brother attacked you, not her," Inuyasha hissed, sliding in his view to block the girl from harm. "You should place the blame where blame is due!"
"Die you hanyou bastard!"
As Hiten dived to assault the man once more, Kagome yelped and loosed her last arrow.
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you were there, smiling.
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******
A/N: Alright, that's it everyone! Next chapter should be up within the next month- or that is at least what I'm hoping for. Please, if you want an email for Taking the long way updates, then check my profile! It would help...
Anyway, how was it? Good, bad, could be better? Comments, questions, suggestions, anything goes!
Ja ne, minna!