Kindred Spirits
In Inu Yasha and Saiyuki fan fiction by Iapetus
Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own the rights to either series.
***special thanks to GW Katrina for help on this chapter***
Responses for reviews can be found in the link in my bio. I'm not going to be posting them on Live Journal anymore.
I want to point something out. Unless my plot does a complete turnaround, there will not any pairings in this story. There shall be romantic tension, but no getting together. Again, unless my plot REALLY surprises me, I'm not even going to THINK about making this Sanzo/Kagome. Their relationship is like that of siblings.
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Chapter 9: Minus Wave
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"Imouto?" Kagome felt as if she heard the voice from inside her mind. She shook her head slightly. Am I going crazy? Had whatever happened unhinged something in her mind? As she slowly came to a more aware state of mind, she was shocked as she realized who the voice was.
Oniisan, are you really in this time? As her mind grew more aware and out of the dazed state she had previously been in, the connection seemed to fade. She could still sense him a far ways away, but it was the fact that she could sense him at all that startled her the most.
However, as much as she wanted to figure out where her "older brother" was, she had to worry about herself first. Kagome had been the first person to come around after falling – or whatever one wanted to call it – and landing in the middle of a road going through a forest. She could see in the distance that there was a town, but it didn't look like any of the villages from the Sengoku Jidai. The priestess knew that they had traveled through time somehow, because while the sensation of being pulled away was painful, there was also the feeling that she got whenever she jumped into the well.
A moan coming from her right side brought her more aware of her surroundings. Shippo held his left hand on his forehead as he supported his body with his right. In the middle of the road Inu Yasha pushed himself up into a sitting position. Miroku and Sango used their staff and boomerang respectively to help them stand up and keep their center of gravity. Everyone seemed to be off balance, and didn't quite know how to react. It wasn't only that, but there wasn't something right about the air…
"What the hell just happened?" Inu Yasha asked as he stood up.
"We appear to not be where we once were," Miroku said simply.
Inu Yasha rolled his eyes. "Well, that's obvious…"
"It feels like we traveled in time," Kagome used a tree that stood next to where she had landed to help herself brace herself as she stood up. "I'm not to sure of the direction, but I think we went backwards." At least, that was what it felt like.
"How is that possible?" Shippo asked. "You can only travel through time by using the well, and only you and Inu Yasha were able to use it before. How did we end up here if we could never travel through time before?"
Kagome did not have an answer for that one, and neither did Inu Yasha.
"Sesshomaru is not here either," Sango noted. "Or Jaken and Rin."
"Who cares about them," Inu Yasha said in a disgusted tone of voice.
"I would rather know where he is then to not know where he is," Miroku stated. "If you all remember, he was suffering from the pain like the rest of us. He could have fallen into this area too."
Inu Yasha sniffed the air and shook his head. "I don't smell him…" Shippo nodded in agreement.
"I don't sense any other Shikon shards nearby," Kagome commented. "But…"
The priestess' statement was cut off suddenly as Shippo fell to the ground, holding his head in his hands. Sango started to walk towards him, but the kitsune quickly fell backward in an attempt to distance himself from the woman.
"Don't come near me!" he whispered in a strained voice. "Something's wrong with my head…"
Inu Yasha raised his eyebrows and did the exact opposite of the younger demon's request. Face contorted in pain, recognition seemed to slowly seep out of out of the fox's eyes.
"How… are you not reacting to it…?" Shippo forced the words out to the dog demon.
Inu Yasha smirked at the writhing figure, masking his concern. "Because I'm stronger than you, little fox." His eyes grew serious when the kitsune didn't rise to his taunt. "Snap out of it!" He grabbed the teenage demon by the front of his clothes and looked him in the eye.
Shippo's eyes glazed over, and his body became limp. Confusion filled Inu Yasha's face, and he relaxed his grip on the demon's clothes slightly. Kagome looked over quickly at her other companions. Miroku absentmindedly fingered the prayer beads that bound his arm with his right hand; a habit he had developed when he was deep in thought. Sango simply appeared to have her guard up, unsure how to react to the situation. Kirara's hair seemed to stand on end, and the little cat prepared itself to possibly transform into it's larger form.
"You limit your power by choice…" Shippo said in a distant voice that did not sound like his own. "Or, maybe you don't realize it…" His eyes shifted from the glazed appearance to one that she had never seen before. Bloodlust filled his eyes, and it appeared that he wanted to lunge out at something. In a lightning quick move that Kagome had only seen Shippo use in the heat of battle, the kitsune lunged for the prayer beads around the half demon's neck. He instinctively drew back, and caught both of Shippo's wrists with his hands. The fox demon's right hand, however, clutched the rosary tightly. A look of triumph appeared on his face.
"Take this off, and we can go back to where we truly belong. You can't hear our master calling us with those around your neck." He struggled against his captor's grip to try and break the rosary. Inu Yasha responded by smirking as he tightened his grip on Shippo's wrist, slowly forcing the fox demon to let go of the prayer beads.
"Baka," he laughed at the fox as he narrowed his eyes, "I've never had a master. And don't you think I've tried to take off that rosary before?"
Shippo drew back slightly, his now cold eyes calculating. "So it isn't by choice..."
"Shippo, don't you recognize us?" Kagome pleaded with her friend. She wasn't foolish enough to approach the two demons, but she couldn't stand remaining silent anymore. The air around her seemed to grow thicker, and swirl around the area the two demons were standing in.
"I don't associate with your kind, you bitch."
Kagome was taken aback by his words. This wasn't right… Shippo never talked to her like this. He always was the one to start getting on Inu Yasha's case whenever they'd have a fight…
Inu Yasha let go of one of Shippo's wrists long enough to smack him across the face. "Don't you ever talk to Kagome like that again," he threatened in a vicious tone. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"He's let his demon nature get the better of him," Sango said slowly. "There's something in the air that is forcing him to act this way. Can't you sense it? It feels like youki, but not exactly…"
"Get a hold of yourself, Shippo," Miroku walked up so that he stood slightly behind Inu Yasha, but was at an angle in which he could look the kitsune in the eye. "Either that or I will have to assist you in the process." Kagome didn't miss the threat in the monk's voice. He was speaking in such a casual way, but both Sango and herself knew that it was times like these that their priestly friend was the most dangerous.
"Yeah? How would you do that, human?" Shippo challenged.
Miroku smiled a smile that did not look pleasant at all, and punched him in the stomach. "I'm sorry, Shippo," he apologized as the demon fell to the ground.
"You bastard…" he glared at the monk with hatred before Inu Yasha hit him across the head, knocking him out.
"Idiot. Thinking you could actually beat us…" Inu Yasha looked at the unconscious figure with distaste. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded again.
Kagome instinctively wanted to run and help her friend, despite his recent performance. Miroku held her back with his staff, and turned to look at her better.
"Kagome-sama, I don't suppose you happen to have any spare prayer beads on you?" He lifted up his right arm to show his own. "I'd give mine away, but that isn't possible…"
"What are you getting at?" Inu Yasha asked in a confused tone.
"It appears as though those prayer beads kept you from loosing your sense of self," Sango noted. "We all know that some forms of youki can be suppressed by a holy artifact, such as prayer beads, and it might help us restrain Shippo."
Kagome couldn't help but shudder at how odd that last phrase sounded as she shook her head. I never thought I'd see the day we would have to do this kind of thing to him…
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"Hakkai, how much longer until we reach the next town?" the blonde man asked impatiently.
"As long as there is nothing to delay us, I'd say by early evening," the green-eyed demon smiled as he continued driving. "Any particular reason?"
Sanzo decided to not answer, assuming his normal lack-of-tolerance for both Gojyo and Goku's arguments to be explanation enough.
"If you're referring to the odd chi we sensed earlier, I wouldn't worry. We aren't heading in the direction of the malicious-feeling one."
After the startling pause in their journey earlier that day, the mysterious chis seemed to have vanished. Sanzo had assumed that whatever happened had been an outburst of energy – he could find no other reason for the unusual circumstances allowing his companions and himself to feel it. They were no gods – they could not sense others over great distances. A majority of the time they relied on Goku's heightened senses to alert them of demon presences. That, and all of the polluted youki from the Minus Wave clouded his and the other's minds like a patchy fog. Sometimes they could sense their opponents approaching, and sometimes they could not.
Sanzo generally could have cared less about several new powerful beings in the area. So what if one was evil? He was no Champion of Justice set out to right every wrong that ever occurred. As long as it didn't mess with him, he saw no reason to even think of approaching it.
It wasn't only that, but the priest had sensed an unconscious fear grow inside his "pet" as they all reeled from the earlier event. As his mind processed all the thoughts that had gone through his head in that split second, he realized that he did not have a desire to confront it either.
"Who said I was worried?"
The driver laughed. "You're quieter than normal. Usually about now you'd be attempting to get Gojyo and Goku to relieve their restlessness in a way besides their usual behavior."
Sanzo's eyebrows rose minimally at the statement. Only those that knew him would be able to tell that he had even changed his expression at all. He then let his face fall back into his normal indifferent appearance.
"Che."
Hakkai's voice dropped lower so that his companions in the backseat – well, one companion in particular – would be less likely to hear them. "With Kougaiji's recent injuries, I also highly doubt that anyone from Gyumaoh's side would send any assassins anytime soon. He was in pretty rough shape."
"Kougaiji won't die that easily. Demons heal quicker than humans do." Sanzo paused to pull out a pack of cigarettes. "And I wouldn't put it past them to send some other idiots to try to slow us down."
"Well, they are accomplishing that much," Hakkai responded with a somewhat strained smile. "According to the master plan, we should be probably about a month's worth of driving ahead of where we are now."
"Nothing ever did go according to plan," the disgruntled priest pointed out.
"Yes, but that makes life that much more interesting," the demon's expression returned to it's normal smile.
The two fell silent as they stared out at the road ahead of them. The conversation behind them, which had previously been temporarily ignored, seemed to gain volume.
"Give them back, you thief!" Gojyo demanded in a low voice.
"I told you, I didn't steal them! I borrowed them at the last town when I was playing with some of the villagers. One of them took it!" Goku shot back.
Already aware of the situation, Hakkai seemed to be a step ahead of the two. "Gojyo, we can get you a new deck of cards in the next town. We should be getting there soon."
Sanzo noticed the half-demon paused to smile at his friend slightly before continuing.
"Thanks, Hakkai, but that can't replace the fact that it was my favorite deck! We've been through a lot together!"
"Gojyo, you make it sound as if those cards are your best friend." Hakkai smiled while his tone pretended to seem slightly offended. "I'm hurt."
"Hey, those cards put a roof over my head and yours plus put food on the table. Without them I might have had to get a job doing something respectable."
"Like that would ever happen," Sanzo muttered to himself, yet loud enough to make sure that all of his companions heard.
Gojyo was about to rise to the priest's bait when his real best friend cut him off.
"Gojyo's right though, Goku. It isn't nice to take people's things without asking."
The young man seemed confused. "But Sanzo and Gojyo steal each others lighters all the time…"
The half-demon had been in the process of pulling out his cigarettes during this statement when he noticed that he was missing a very important piece of his belongings.
"Speaking of which…" Sanzo could see the man's annoyed expression in the rear-view mirror. "Give me back my lighter, you damn monk."
"Who ever said I had it? Don't blame me because you can't find your stuff."
"What the hell…" Goku's distant comment distracted the two chain smokers as they looked off to the side to view a somewhat surprising sight. Two demons were locked in a struggle that appeared to be going nowhere.
The first demon seemed normal enough, he had long pointed ears, a birthmark on his lower neck – exactly like the demons they always seemed to run into. However, the other demon was vastly different.
It looked like, for the lack of a better way for Sanzo to describe it, a living pile of shit. The form was undefined, and the priest couldn't even distinguish what kind of demon it was. It was as if it were only a mass of youki in a physical form.
An inhuman cry came from the second demon as it was pushed back against a large boulder. Trying to free itself from it's captive's grasp, it used it's body mass to gain momentum and rolled so that the parts of captor and captive were switched.
The captor screeched in glee, and Sanzo saw Goku flinch slightly at the high-pitched noise. His attention was brought back to the fighting pair in morbid fascination as one of the human-like demon's arms was ripped off and thrown to the side.
Crying out in pain, the injured demon seemed to get a determined look on his face and quickly plunged a hand into the creature's body. For a second, the world seemed to stop as a look of triumph crossed the injured demon's face.
It was then that he noticed it. The demon's claws were grasping a small object tightly from within the second form. Giving his own companions a sidelong glance, he looked to see if they had noticed it. By the look on their faces, even on Hakkai's, it appeared that they had not.
In one last quick movement, the first demon pulled the object out and held it in his hand. It looked like a shard of glass. The evil aura that emanated from it was almost overwhelming. Smirking in triumph, the other demon's youki dissipated as the body faded into nothingness. Slowly rising to his feet, the demon examined the object in his hands. He winced as the movement sent spasms of pain through is body.
As if in a daze, the demon stared at the fragment of jewel in his hand with amazement. Confusion clouded his face as well as apprehension as he held such a powerful fragment, and he did not seem to know what to do with it.
For a full minute, the five figures sat frozen, staring as if mesmerized at the foreign object. Sanzo could not figure out how else to describe it – it was certainly not from this world.
As the priest continued to observe it, he watched as some of the dark aura seemed to snake out and coil around the demon's arm. The creature seemed unaware of it, until it reached his head. Eyes glazing over, the demon seemed to lose control completely of his body.
"Would this really make me stronger?" the demon asked in almost a panicked voice to himself. As if answering his own question, he rammed the shard into his bloody remains of his shoulder as Sanzo saw the last of his willpower slip away. The Sanzo-ikkou watched in horror as the severed limb rejoined his flesh and completely healed itself.
"Oh my God…" Gojyo whispered. "What the fuck did he just do?"
The demon turned to leave, and before he knew what he was doing, Sanzo found himself standing up and taking aim. A demon should not have this in its possession, Sanzo thought to himself. The priest could see the exact location in the demon's arm where the shard was located…
He aimed for the shoulder first, and then the head. Sanzo had never liked wasting bullets – especially on demon scum – but he had a gut feeling that he would regret it if he didn't. Having never failed him before, Sanzo trusted his instincts and fired the Smith and Wesson twice.
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*Ahem* I'd like to apologize for the delay on this chapter. Sanzo was being… difficult… and the scene never did sound right until just recently. I also got a bit sidetracked with my other story, "Somewhere I Belong", because the idea hit me VERY hard and I had to write it down. *sweatdrop* (And by the way, if any of you are reading that story, it will be updated tomorrow. ^^)
-Iapetus