Ten days

by Kradvity

Chapter 4: Hana and Hideki

Okay... I'm writing one chapter for each day. Except the two first chapters told about the same day. So two days are gone now which mean eight are left. I realised I had put it stupidly to the story, sorry 'bout that, but there are _eight_ days left. By the way. _These_ mean that the word is underlined. Just in case you've never met _these_ on the net before.

And thank you from your wonderful reviews ^-^ They have really cheered me up :3

* * * * *

The fact I was actually very tired surprised me completely. My eyelids were heavy as if they were ten times heavier. I escaped to Kaede's rebuild cottage and curled up to a shady corner. I know I looked like one whining little fox demon when I did that, but I was _really_ tired. At the moment I felt like as a kid. When I don't see anyone, no one can see me.

I saw a nightmare. Miroku ran after me trying to kiss me. I think it can be considered a nightmare. Good thing I run fast in my dreams. Sometimes I can't run at all. That's when I dream about being human. Not that I _like_ to be a human in my dreams, but I can't really choose, can I?

I was trying to set a trap for Miroku when the dream suddenly stopped. A pair of little hands were shoving me. The thing that made me wake up was the high voice screaming next to my ear.

" Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! "

" Good, Miroku... Run straight to the rope... "

" Inu-Yasha, What are you talking about? " Shippo's little voice asked. I blinked my eyes.

" What do you mean? "

" You said something about Miroku ", the little demon said looking irritatingly curious.

" I didn't say anything about Miroku, you little... "

The argue ended up to be a very short one. A feminine figure was silhouetted by the sun light coming from outside. At first I thought it was Kagome and I felt my stomach turn upside down. I wasn't too delighted to talk with her. Then I realised it was only Sango. She was standing at the door holding her Boomerangbone.

" There's no time to fight. We have to go ", she announced getting her stuff from the floor of the cottage. I got up. I hadn't slept well, but it had been enough for me anyway. The older I get the less I need sleep. That is something humans should envy. They never manage to finish anything because of the fact their bodies go crazy if they don't sleep.

" What is going on? ", I asked gazing Sango. She seemed to enjoy the situation, in which I was the stupid man and she was the smart woman. Sango must be one of those... what did Kagome call them again? Feminists. Even the name sounds suspicious. Anyway, I didn't like that. But why didn't I ever tell her to stop being so independent if it bothered me so much? Maybe Miroku knows. But no. He'd think I have problems with women.

" Some villains have seen a demon near the village. We should check it out just in case it has Shikon shards ", she explained. Yeah, don't worry about Inu-Yasha's curse. Let's go searching for more Shikon shards.

" Why didn't you wake me up earlier?! " I spat and ran out. It was a sunny day. Humans were never worried when the weather was like then. They just picked flowers or sung or went fishing. Like they had nothing better to do.

Miroku and Kagome were waiting outside on the sandy ground. Kagome turned her head as I approached them. Good. Now _I_ didn't have to turn _my_ head. But then, I felt my face going red.

" That fits in with your suit, Inu-Yasha ", said Miroku looking rather innocent. I heard Kagome giggle.

" What is so funny? "

" She's laughing at you, Inu-Yasha ", Miroku explained helpfully.

" I know that! " I shouted.

" Don't worry, Inu-Yasha. They say that if you make a woman laugh, you can get anything from her ", Miroku continued staring at the baby blue sky. Now Kagome turned to him with her eyebrows making a V upon her eyes.

" You must be jealous to the persons with a good sense of humour ", she said crossing her arms and gazing Miroku angrily. Miroku gave out a quiet 'ouch'.

Sango and Shippo has arrived just in time to hear Kagome's comment. Sango laughed loudly. Shippo didn't even understand that one. I sulked. It was good way to say 'don't talk to me'. Usually it worked. Though it seemed to be very difficult for Kagome to understand my body language.

" Off we go. We don't want to let that demon escape, now do we? " Sango said and pointed at the deep green forest. She was talking like this was a silly game. She didn't seem to know how serious this was...

* * * * *

" Are you sure it went this way, Miroku " Kagome asked looking around. They had climbed up a slope of a mountain. It was getting harder to maintain balance all the time. Soon someone's foot would slip and cause everyone to fall down. But I forgot to think about that.

" Don't tell me you don't know where we're going! " I roared to Miroku who was looking around very calmly. I knew Miroku enough well to know that was his 'If-I-look-calm-they-won't-notice-I've-screwed-this-up'-face. Suddenly my hands felt like they needed a throat to squeeze.

" Of course he knows where _we_ are going. He doesn't know where the _demon_ is going ", Sango said rolling her eyes. I knitted my teeth.

"Miroku, you- - - "

" Quiet! " Sango interrupted. It was now very silent. I heard the wind, but there were no birds around. Or any other animals. I tried to listen. I have sensitive ears, but even I couldn't hear anything unusual. I thought Sango was imaging things. Then...

" To the bushes! Quick! " she hissed. We went to the bushes and we waited and absolutely nothing happened. Shippo was going to sneeze. Kagome's hair was stuck in the leaves. I didn't see where Miroku's hand ( the one that wasn't holding the staff ) was, but it must have been somewhere near Sango. I was going to say that this was stupid and stand up. Actually I did both, but my timing could have been better.

There were two persons standing some feet away from me. A boy and a girl. Probably as old as Kagome. The boy had a short hair that was pointing into every possible direction. That wasn't weird, but the hair was white. Like mine. He was holding a katana.

Also the girl had white hair, longer than mine, though. It was on a ponytail. She too was having a katana tied to her back. They both had red eyes. They were staring at me looking surprised. But I wasn't paying attention on their facial expressions. I was staring at their ears. They both had dog ears.

" What is that dog-face doing? "

" I'm I looking into mirror? "

" No, he's more handsome. "

" Inu-Yasha is _not_ handsome! "said Kagome, who had stood up after hearing the girl's words. Her eyes were flaming and she was gazing the white-headed girl with anger. Or something.

" Excuse me?! " I growled back to her.

The two dog-eared humans were staring at us intently. Well, I thought they might have been humans. They just... had dog-ears... Somehow I didn't want to think that they were half-demons. I hadn't ever seen another like me. Or at least I can't remember anyone. They looked so much like me. No, they only had ears and hair similar to mines.

Now that the shock had passed I had time to take a look at their faces. Sister and brother. They weren't identical, but twins anyway. Definitely not identical. Their clothes were scruffy and old and they didn't seem to care about what they looked like. The girls long hair was full of leaves. They had obviously been sneaking in the forest.

Always so polite Miroku opened his mouth.

" Let's not do anything rush. We won't harm you anyhow. "

" Who is the handsome monk? " the girl asked curiously and smiled. I wanted to laugh. Sango and Kagome giggled. I thought that girl wasn't completely alright. Only total idiots called Miroku handsome.

The white-haired boy stepped forward.

" Forget that one. I am Hideki and this is my sister Hana ", he said pointing at her sister with his thumb. Hana waved her hand happily. Her red eyes didn't fit in with her attitude and childish behaviour. It was strange. I decided to keep an eye on her. In the case these twins decided to follow us. Which wasn't going to happen if I could choose.

Miroku sighed. He wouldn't mind if Hana called him handsome again. My demon side told me to throw a stone at Miroku's direction, for example. My human side didn't tell me anything. It remained quiet.

" What is your task up here? " Hideki asked. Hana stuck out her tongue.

" What is you doing on me mountain? " she asked. Her Japanese sounded more or less horrible. Or then she spoke like that to annoy us. I had never felt so civilized. Before I could open _my_ mouth, Sango started to show off.

" We are searching a bird-looking demon. This monk here- - - "

" My name is Miroku, if you're interested... "

" - - - said he saw the demon coming this way. Have you seen anything? "

Hana and Hideki exchanged quick glances. Not a word was said and yet everything was understood.

" Maybe we saw it ", Hideki said.

" Maybe we didn't ", continued Hana.

Great. Just great. They were somekind of filthy, greedy bountyhunter half- breeds...

I got startled of my own thoughts. These twins would mean troubles.

* * * * *

We had a little conversation with Hana and Hideki. They weren't willing to tell us. I almost lost my nerves. We had better things to do than listen to their stupid riddles and jokes. Did they take anything seriously? They must be more than half-demons. Someone as stupid as them, couldn't have survived if they were humans.

They were interested in my Tetsusaiga and Sango's Boomerangbone. At first the twins refused to tell about the demon if they couldn't get the weapons. Sango was even more furious than I. An echo of her lecture could be heard all over the slope.

That was a warm and sunny afternoon. We sat in a shadow that one particularly big tree spread on the ground and it was still too warm. I got a headache. Hana told me to pant.

" Isn't that what dogs do? " she asked innocently. She somehow reminded me of Miroku. I wouldn't have minded if Miroku decided to run away with Hana. And Kagome could run away with Hideki. Sango and Shippo are left. Well, they could go together. I just wanted to get the Shikon jewel. Why did it have to be this hard?

Then Hideki got a great idea.

" Let's say we tell you where the demon is. And when we find it, the one who gets the shard from it gets your Tetsusaiga. "

First I shouted for minutes. Then I tried to force Sango to surrender her Boomerangbone. When neither one of these worked I turned to Miroku.

" That's insanity! Do you think I'll just give my Tetsusaiga away?! "

Miroku stayed calm.

" We have Kagome. They don't even know where the shard is. "

I thought about it. Yes. I could work. We _did_ have Kagome. But what if they could see the shards, too? No, if they were half-demons like me ( I hadn't have enough courage to ask ) they presumably weren't able to do that. But should I risk my sword because of one ridiculous bet? Did I even need all the shards.

Kagome came to us. She looked slightly worried but determined.

" You'll get the shard, no matter what happens ", she said quietly. I rolled my eyes. Not this 'I-will-help-you'-thing again. She had already been in a great danger. Was she too naive to understand that demons are dangerous?

" What is your problem? " I asked trying to stay calm. Kagome wasn't going to give up and we both knew it.

" Fine ", I mumbled, " do what you want. But stay out of my way. "

Hana was depressingly excited. She jumped around her long hair following her head like a white scarf. Inu-Yasha felt like he could clip that hair right away. What if the twins were lying to us? No, why would they agree to such a bet if they weren't sure they'd win?

Maybe this was a trap. There was a whole clan of weird half-demons waiting for us. To be honest, Hana and Hideki didn't look like persons anyone would want into their clan. But they liked each other. I couldn't help thinking about Sesshou-maru. These two twins didn't always use words but they understood each other no matter what. Just one quick look and they knew what the other one was thinking. Maybe I wanted to have a brother like that.

The sun was starting to set. Again I had lost one day. This was going nowhere. Worse, actually. I was turning into demon and the days just passed by so quickly. Did they even remember it?

I wasn't tired at all but I wanted to sleep. People say sleeping helps to solve problems. I decided to try.

* * * * *

A/N: Phew again... this was maybe a little shorter one and you prolly notice in which time of day I've written this ( I give you a hint: at night ). But here it is.