At Least We Have Each Other

By: Escachick357

Ch. 8- The Ghost from the Past

Disclaimer- I don't own Inu-yasha, but if I did...I'd be popular around most anime freaks.

A/N: I'm baaaaaaack! Yes, it has been a long time since I updated, but there's been a lot going on: school, work, and writer's block. Now when you send me a review, I would really really REALLY appreciate a suggestion of what should happen in the next chapter. I've had no idea what to write, I didn't update until my sister gave me this idea for the chapter. So please send ideas! Now on with the story.

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The woman looked at the now conscious children and smiled, "My name is Miya." Hitomi and Hiroshi gasped. Their mother had told them about Miya and her older sister, Mina. But Miya was supposed to be 6 years old. This woman was at least 21. "Miya?" Satoshi asked suspiciously, "As in Priestess Miya?" The woman smiled and nodded her head. "Where...are we?" Sakura softly asked. "You are in the Eastern Forest about 10 miles from my village. When we found you, you were all drained of your energy and barely conscious." Miya answered, the smile still on her face.

"Ummm...who's 'we' exactly?" Akira asked nervously. "My husband, Reidon..." Miya started. The man standing next to her smiled and gave a small wave. "My elder sister, her husband, and their four children. Actually they just went to grab some special herbs and firewood and should be back soon." Miya finished. "Okay, I know that it's dark, so that's the reason for the firewood, but why do we need the herbs? I feel perfectly fine." Hiroshi asked.

Miya let out a soft laugh, "It's not for you. We're going to burn the herbs to keep the youkai that dwell around here away." "There are youkai here?" Hitomi asked. This time Reidon answered her, "Of course. We're in the forest, so there is definitely youkai. The herbs we burn will protect us throughout the night and until the evening of tomorrow."

"We're back, Aunt Miya." A voice from behind said. Everybody turned around and looked upon the figure that had the voice. It belonged to an 11 year old boy with a bucket full of water. "Ah, welcome back, Kogato." Miya answered before pausing. A silence passed before she asked, "They're fighting again, aren't they?"

Kogato nodded and put his bucket down on a flat rock, "And Iruka is only making it worse." A 12 year old boy ran up with a scared look on his face, "It's worse than it's every been before! Their fighting is bound to keep the youkai away instead of having the herbs being burned!" "Are you okay, Iruka?" Reidon asked the boy, who now was shaking as he put the basket of herbs on the ground, "Hai, just cover your ears."

Two screaming voices got closer and closer and kept getting louder and louder. "You are a complete baka, Mataichi!" A girl's voice screamed. "Takes one to know one, bitch!" Another boy's voice yelled back. "Mataichi! You know that putting water on somebody won't wake them up from unconsciousness. That only works if you're sleeping!" The girl screamed.

"No it won't, Hanata. You're only telling me that because you think you're smarter than me."

"I AM smarter than you!"

"You are such a damn liar, Hanata!"

"I am not, you asshole!"

"Yes you are, you damn ugly bi-"

A voice then filled the air—woman's voice.

"Mataichi! Hanata!"

"We're sorry, okaa-san."

Mataichi, Hanata, and their parents then appeared. Both Hanata and Mataichi stood holding a very large basket of firewood and had angry, every angry looks on their faces. Their father, an extremely muscular and tall man, was carrying the meat of a slaughtered animal. The woman walking next to him fascinated Hitomi, Hiroshi, Sakura, Satoshi, and Akira.

This woman, although her kimono had a few mud stains on them and her face and hands were slightly dirty, was the most beautiful woman the 5 of them had ever seen. Her voice sounded as good as how she looked, "Oh, you're awake. It's a good thing you woke up." Miya and I were afraid you weren't going to awaken. I am the priestess, Mina."

Sakura, Satoshi, and Akira introduced themselves and Coal, but Hitomi and Hiroshi just couldn't bring themselves to introduce each other. Their mother had told them millions of stories about the feudal era, but she hardly talked about Miya and Mina. They didn't know why, but they were never told much about the two of them.

Both Hitomi and Hiroshi took a deep breath and introduced themselves. Although surprise filled her soft brown eyes, she managed to keep the surprise inside. "Are you two Inu-yasha and Kagome's children?" Mina asked. Both of them nodded. Mina softly chuckled, "I thought so. There are very few hanyous left now since your father left."

"Wow...really?" Hiroshi asked. Mina nodded her head. The smile was still glued on her face. "Will we be able to get to your village soon?" Hitomi asked. Mina nodded, "We'll stop traveling tonight, but we should get there by tomorrow afternoon." "We don't want to continue tonight because we'd be slaughtered before we'd know what would be coming after us." Mina's husband, Yamagi answered, pointing at the setting sun.

"We have to continue! We've only got 20 days to kill Bardo!" Satoshi yelled from his spot in front of the fire pit. "You still got 20 days. Relax and let your parents do the fighting...or at least let me do it." Mataichi told Satoshi as he piled wood in the empty pit. "Mataichi, fighting solves nothing." Iruka told his older brother as he tossed a few herbs into the pit.

Mataichi snorted, "There you go again Iruka, you damn peacemaker. Hell, if it were up to you, the world would be nothing but flowers, no weapons, and hermits, those lazy ass-" "Mataichi!" Yamagi yelled from the other side of the pit. He lit the wood on fire and looked at his oldest son, "Apologize to Iruka." "But Otou-san..." Mataichi started. "NOW!!!" Yamagi shouted, his voice echoing through the forest.

Mataichi didn't need to be told again. He looked at Iruka and mumbled an apology. "Does he always yell like that?" Sakura asked Miya wide-eyed. Miya shook her head, "No, he's actually pretty calm most of the time. Don't worry, he won't yell at you like that." Sakura still wasn't convinced. She looked over at Hanata, who was tossing more herbs into the fire pit.

"Don't worry. Otou-san is always yelling at Mataichi. He won't yell at you." Hanata said, looking at the terrified younger girl. Now Sakura was convinced. Reidon held the carcass of the demon over the campfire. In a short time, the smell of cooking meat filled the part of the forest where they all sat. A few minutes later, both Reidon and Yamagi split the meat into 14 parts and gave them to everyone.

The cooked meat tasted a lot different from the cooked meat in the present...mostly because this meat had very little salt and sauces that Kagome used when she cooked, but nevertheless, the meat was edible and tasted good. After a while, Yamagi stopped to toss more sticks into the fire to keep it from dying. Everyone sat around the fire, eating and relaxing, until they started growing tired.

Miya, Mina, Reidon, and Yamagi were the ones that grew tired and fell asleep soon after. Hitomi, Hiroshi, Sakura, Satoshi, Akira, Coal, Kogato, Iruka, Hanata, and Mataichi all sat around the fire, talking and occasionally tossing sticks into the pit. Everyone told stories to themselves and laughed, but not loud enough to wake the adults up and not soft enough to be a whisper.

"And then, before anyone could say anything, Mataichi..." Hanata began to say. "Wait!" Satoshi interrupted upon hearing some rustling in the bushes behind Kogato, "There's something else that's here." As soon as he finished saying that, a young woman in a thin kimono walked up from behind the bushes. She looked beautiful with her long hair and rosy cheeks, but her pale brown eyes made her seem so mysterious.

"Good evening, children. My name is Setsuko. May I ask your names?" the woman asked. Everyone nervously introduced themselves and asked what she was doing out so late in the forest. A frown appeared on her face, "My village is 3 miles away from here and at dawn, an earthquake will destroy it. I saw it in my dream!" "You saw it in a dream?" Kogato asked.

"Hai! I have the power to see visions in my dreams!" Setsuko cried. "My Otou-san says that there is no way to see visions in dreams. They're just made up. He's told me that ever since I had that dream on the ox that was trying to kill me when I was six." Akira told her. Hitomi softly giggled, but answered, "My Okaa-san and Obaa-san told me that, too when I thought there was a monster in my closet." Hiroshi laughed, "Yeah, Otou-san really got you with that one." "He got you too!" Hitomi shot at Hiroshi. Hiroshi stopped laughing, "Oh yeah."

"Please! You must believe me! An earthquake really will destroy my village!" Setsuko cried and waited a few seconds, "Do you believe me?" At the same time, everyone but Setsuko shook their heads. Now Setsuko was desperate to get their attention. She put her pale hands on Iruka's cheeks and looked into his eyes, "Please believe me." Iruka shivered and shook his head, "I'm sorry Setsuko, but I don't believe you."

Tears fell from Setsuko's eyes as she ran away. "Her hands...they were so cold." Iruka said softly. "Do you think we should have believed her?" Kogato asked. "I don't think so. I really don't believe that an earthquake will destroy the town, plus she changed her emotions too quickly." Satoshi said. "I guess you're right. I just wonder why she left so quickly." Kogato said.

Suddenly, Setsuko appeared again, but this time she was burnt and bloody. She quickly grabbed Sakura's arm and held tightly. "You have to believe me! You have to!" Setsuko screamed. "Let go!" Sakura screamed, trying desperately to pry the woman's hand off her arm. Setsuko's grip tightened. She grabbed Iruka's arm with her free hand and screamed, "Please! You have to believe me! Please! It hurts! I'm in pain!"

Everyone lunged at Setsuko, trying their hardest to free Sakura and Iruka, all screaming. Miya, Mina, Reidon, and Yamagi's eyes opened and saw the woman squeezing Sakura and Iruka's arms, but it only lasted a few seconds. Setsuko then disappeared into thin air. Everyone stood in fear and silence, almost petrified, everyone but Sakura and Iruka.

Tears were rolling down their cheeks and they clutched the arms that Setsuko grabbed. Miya and Mina pulled up the sleeves of the kimonos that Sakura and Iruka wore and nearly screamed. There were burns right where Setsuko grabbed them. The two women wasted no time treating the burns. "What happened? Who was that woman?" Reidon asked Mataichi, who was literally shaking like a leaf.

"I...don't know. We only know that her name is Setsuko and she tried to have us believe that her village 3 miles away was to be destroyed by an earthquake. We didn't believe her, so she grabbed them. I'm really scared." Mataichi answered. "Me too." The rest of the kids and Coal answered. Mina sighed, "It's alright. She's gone and in the morning we'll see if her village was destroyed. Now to go sleep." Although they were still freaked out, everyone did as they were told.

When the sun came up, everyone walked the three miles to Setsuko's village. Everything seemed peaceful and nothing happened. Children ran throughout the streets, laughing and playing games. Women sat outside, visiting with each other while the men were busy repairing buildings. "I...don't get it. Setsuko said that an earthquake was going to destroy the village at dawn. And it's the afternoon." Hitomi said out loud.

"You met her?" A voice from behind them asked. Everyone jumped and turned around to see a tall, elderly man with his eyes wide open, "You saw Setsuko? The woman in the woods with the long, black hair begging for help?" Hiroshi nodded, "Yeah. She said that at dawn the village was going to be destroyed by an earthquake..." "And when we said we didn't believe her, she ran away crying then came back bloody, burnt, and screaming." His sister finished.

The elderly man gave them a sad look before saying, "I am Shiro, the village elder. I remember Setsuko from 58 years ago, even though I was just 12 years old." "58 years ago? But she looked so young. What happened?" Hanata asked wide-eyed, he hand covering her opened mouth.

"Setsuko lived in this village her entire life. When she was just 6 years old, she found her parents murdered while everyone was sleeping. After that, she claimed to see visions of horrible things. Everyone believed her, but nothing ever happened. She married when she was 16 and the whole village thought she'd stop these visions, but she didn't. After a year or so, her husband left her because he thought she was crazy. One day, she had a vision that the village would be destroyed by an earthquake, but nobody believed her. She screamed and begged for at least someone to believe her, but nobody did. The leader threatened to punish her if she didn't be quiet." Shiro began. "Oh my..." Miya gasped.

Shiro took a deep breath before continuing, "She didn't stop screaming. She grabbed onto villager's arms and begged them to believe her. At first we ignored her, but we had to punish her after what she did to my younger sister, Maki." "What did she do?" Iruka asked. "She grabbed Maki by the throat while she was walking home. As Setsuko grabbed Maki, she screamed in the child's face and started strangling her." Tears started to roll out of Shiro's eyes, "Maki almost died."

"What happened next?" Sakura asked, squeezing onto her brother's hand. Shiro took a deep breath, "Some townsmen removed Maki from Setsuko and the leader...had Setsuko burned to death. They tied her to a wooden pole, covered twigs and hay around her, and lit them all on fire. She died 58 years ago yesterday." "Did the earthquake ever happen?" Mataichi asked.

Shiro nodded his head, "It happened 2 years after she died. Half the town was killed and everything was destroyed. Even though the earthquake did eventually happen, Setsuko comes into the woods on the anniversary of her death, pleading for travelers to help her, but she only stays for a day."

"So she only comes on the day she died?" Sakura stuttered. Shiro nodded his head, "Don't worry. She only comes once and your burns will go away within the next few hours." The group thanked Shiro for what he told them and left Setsuko's village for Mina's. "Thank God that's over with. I was scared as hell." Hiroshi sighed, looking at his sister. "Me too. No we have to figure out how to beat Bardo and save Otou-san, Okaa-san, and everyone else who was crystallized." Hitomi answered grabbing hold of Hiroshi's hand.

Hiroshi looked at Hitomi and smiled, "It's okay. We can do it." Hitomi smiled and nodded, "You're right. After all, we have each other, and out friends!" "And I have this!" Hiroshi yelled, removing his hand from Hitomi's, grabbed her ribbon, and running off with it to the west, towards Mina's village. "Hiroshi! Give me back my hair ribbon!" Hitomi screamed, running after her brother in anger.

"Chotto matte, Hitomi! Hiroshi!" Sakura, Satoshi, Coal, Mataichi, Hanata, Iruka, Kogato, and Akira yelled, following both of them. Miya, Reidon, Mina, and Yamagi smiled and ran after them. They knew that Hitomi, Hiroshi, and their friends wouldn't have any problems saving their families.

End Chapter 8

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Yes, that's what I got. Don't flame me if you don't like it please. Half of this story was written by my little sister since the idea WAS hers. Remember R/R if you want, but if you do PLEASE send me some ideas for the next chapter. Oh, and here are some translations for some of the Japanese words I used in my story:

Hai = yes

Okaa-san = Mom

Otou-san = Dad

Obaa-san = Grandma

Chotto matte = Wait a minute