DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of the Inuyasha series nor do I own the original storyline.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hi everybody!! Yes I am very busy and I shouldn't be updating chapters while
having 2 tests coming up. But still, I didn't want you all to wait for a very
long time because then you might forget about this story ^-^. Enjoy reading!!
Italic: thoughts or emphasized words
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
~*~*~*~*~: time gap or change of perspective
*...* : noises
-by Kittymui-
Unexpected reunion
Previously:
Maya repositioned her bow around her shoulder and leaned her head onto Inuyasha's
back. It's that warm, nostalgic feeling again... she thought to herself.
Little did she know that the hanyou was thinking about the same thought as they
continued their journey to the south on foot.
~*~*~
Several months have passed since they left Omoshi. They had officially entered
the Southern regions of the Western Lands and decided to stay in a small road-inn
for the night.
"Ne Inuyasha?" Maya turned to the hanyou, who was looking out of the window, as she put down her quiver and bow on the floor against the wall of their bedroom.
"Hm?" he responded, without turning around.
"Are you...still that determined to find Kagome?" she asked, sitting down on the soft mattress of the bed with white sheets and covers.
The hanyou finally turned away from the window and looked at her. "Yes, I told you before. I will never give up," he replied as determined as always.
"I see," Maya said as she dropped her gaze to her feet. Why did I ask him that? she wondered. Why don't I just tell him the truth? But she shook it off again. I will tell him eventually...after I've found my promise. she decided.
Yet, the longer they traveled together, the guiltier she felt for lying to him. She knew it was selfish of her, but it was either his freedom or her happiness. Inside, she just hoped he would understand her someday if she really were to tell him the truth.
Her thoughts were cut off when Inuyasha spoke again. "It's getting late, we better get some rest," he suggested and walked to a nearby wall.
Maya nodded and gathered some things. "I'm going to take a shower first," she said and left the bedroom.
~*~
Inuyasha watched the girl close the door behind her before sitting down on the
wooden floor and leaning his back against the white wall with his sheathed sword
resting against his shoulder. His eyes slowly traveled to the black bow and
quiver that were resting against the wall from across him. I'll never give
up huh? he mused as his determination wavered with the minute. It would
be nice if I found another useful clue again leading to her... I wonder when
this journey will end... he pondered, staring at Maya's equipment. What
will I do...when I find her?
You keep your promise of course, you idiot! the voice in his head replied annoyed.
He sighed. How am I to confront her with the fact that I'm engaged to another girl?
She will understand your reasons, she always have. Either you explain things to Lord Takada and keep your promise or break the promise by marrying his daughter. It's your choice. But whatever you choose, you should keep in mind that it's your responsibility to find them first.
Find them first huh? Inuyasha thought to himself. He had to admit that his conscience was right this time and decided he should leave the brooding until after he found one of the two.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when the bedroom-door opened and an overwhelming fresh scent of spring filled the room. It was Maya who had entered, dressed in a soft blue yukata and her long raven-black hair tied in a simple loose knot to keep it dry.
Inuyasha closed his eyes and inhaled. What a nice and soothing scent... he thought relaxed.
"Inuyasha?" he heard her call his name.
"Hm?" he responded, opening his eyes. He was just in time to watch how her hair cascaded on her shoulder after she untied the knot on the back of her head.
"You've been sleeping on the floor every single night, why don't we swap places for once?" she offered.
"Don't worry about that. There's no way I'm going to let a girl sleep on the floor. And besides, I'm already used to it," he answered with a smile. "Now go to sleep, it's going to be a long day tomorrow."
The girl nodded reluctantly and settled herself under the covers. "Oyasumi, Inuyasha."
"Oyasumi."
~*~*~ that night ~*~*~
Maya slowly opened her eyes. She couldn't sleep somehow. Her eyes traveled from
the pale blue ceiling to the hanyou sitting on the floor against the wall near
the bed.
She studied his calm features that were illuminated by the moonlight through the window. He's really nice... she thought. Why isn't he the one whom I'm betrothed to? Why... she hesitated before finishing her thought. Why isn't he the one I'm looking for...?
Now you're being greedy Kagome. her conscience told her. It's already unfair to use him to find the promise you're looking for.
I'm not using him! We're just helping each other...that's all! she argued.
You're not being honest to yourself Kagome. Surely you've not forgotten that you're the one he's looking for.
Maya dropped her face. I know...I know that...
With that thought, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, as she didn't want to think about it anymore.
~*~ the next day ~*~
As they walked over a large grassy open field, Maya, wearing a white haori and
navy blue hakama and carrying her black equipments, was still being haunted
by her guilty feelings. She snapped back into reality when she heard Inuyasha's
voice.
"Are you okay? You don't look so well," he asked with a worried tone.
"Y-yeah...I'm fine..." she replied awkwardly.
"You sure you don't want to rest for a bit? I can carry you if you like," he offered.
She turned to him. "No really...I'm fine..." she forced a reassuring smile on her face. Please don't be so nice to me... she pleaded inwardly as she turned her eyes back to the path again.
~*~
Inuyasha noticed her strange behavior but decided not to ask any more questions
as he knew she must have her own reasons for not telling him right away and
acting like that.
I wonder if I'm pushing her too hard with this journey... he wondered. It's not like she has the obligation to search for her mistress with me...I could bring her back to the mansion and continue the journey on my own...yet...why can't I imagine the journey without her by my side...?
He glanced at the raven-haired girl out of he corner of his eyes. She had been enthusiastic about it until recently...I wonder why...? Has she grown tired of searching? Of me? He turned his attention to the road again. Should I...ask her? But...I don't want her to leav__
Inuyasha quickly shook it off as he became afraid of what thoughts his mind would produce next if he continued.
You're not starting to have feelings for the girl, are you? his conscience suddenly asked.
Inuyasha was shocked by the sudden accusation. I'm not... he replied, becoming a little bit confused.
You don't sound very persuasive, Inuyasha.
I don't...okay? I'm not forgetting my promise to Kagome...never!! he snapped.
All right all right...if you say so...just don't blame me when you've made wrong decisions. And by the way...you might want to snap back into reality again instead of talking to me, because someone's calling you and I don't think you're going to like the situation you're in.
"Inuyasha!! Snap out of it!!"
He was abruptly pulled back into reality by Maya's voice and he looked around them. His conscience was right, he didn't like the situation he found himself in.
He and Maya were completely surrounded by snakes.
Most of them were thin and about 5 feet long and were brown of color. But there was one snake that stood out; its body white as snow, its head similar to that of a cobra and eyes of an albino. It was 3 times longer and thicker than the rest and unlike all the other plain-colored snakes; this one had a black striped pattern on its back.
"You've got a lot of nerve to enter this territory of mine," the white snake hissed, raising its head above all the others.
Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsusaiga and turned to Maya, who had already readied an arrow on her bow. "Looks like we'll have to fight our way out of this one."
Maya nodded. "They're poisonous. We better watch out for their teeth and the liquid coming out of their mouths."
They both positioned themselves until they were almost leaning back-to-back and waited for the first strike of their opponent.
They didn't have to wait long before the first brown snake of the circle jumped
charged forward and jumped into the air towards Maya with its teeth ready to
dug into her flesh. But Maya reacted fast and fired her arrow at the snake's
head, pinning it to the earth again.
The other snakes saw an opening when she reached for another arrow in her quiver and charged at her.
This time, Inuyasha positioned himself in front of Maya and swung his blade horizontally, slicing every single snake apart that had attempted the counter.
If snakes had brows, you would certainly have been able to see the scowl on
the white snake's face. "Attack!!! Kill them!!!" he hissed angrily.
Suddenly, random snakes from the circle charged at the two, aiming to get at least one snake through their perfect defense and injuring one of them.
Maya and Inuyasha withstood the random surprise attacks pretty well with their teamwork, but that was until the archer ran out of her arrows.
In a split second, she had to decided what to do next: watch the hanyou's back and fence away the snakes with her bow or gather some arrows that she had already fired and hope that the hanyou would be able to defend himself in the meantime.
I can do this... she told herself as she made her decision and tightened her grip on her black bow.
~*~
Inuyasha frowned as he realized that his companion had run out of arrows.
I can't protect her with this disadvantageous situation we're in. he concluded and quickly made a decision. "Maya, I'll open a path for you. When I say 'run', you run as fast as you can out of this circle and bring yourself into safety, understand?" he whispered over his shoulder.
Maya widened her eyes. No way... she gasped disbelievingly in her mind. But before she could even argue, Inuyasha already raised his blade high up in the air. "RUN!!!" he cried and swung it downwards to the earth, sending several blades of light into one direction.
The blades of light crushed every single snake on its way and opened a path, just like Inuyasha said he would and Maya didn't hesitate before running towards the part of the circle that became free of snakes.
But as she ran, her mind kept screaming at her that it wasn't the right thing to do, leaving Inuyasha behind. And so she turned over her shoulder to look at him, only to realize that one of the snakes was about to charge at the hanyou from behind. He knew this was going to happen, yet he still decided to do this for the sake of my safety... she thought to herself as she began to feel ashamed of herself. Why am I always the one needing protection from others...?? I don't want it...!! If he dies because of me, I'll hate myself for the rest of my life!!
Her eyes quickly darted around and stopped when she saw one of her arrow sticking into the air above the grass. But what she also saw, was the white snake, which had apparently foreseen what she was planning to do, making its way towards the same arrow.
No time for hesitation!! she decided and sprinted towards the arrow. She quickly pulled it out of the earth and notched it to her bow.
She winced when she felt a surge of pain coming from her upper left arm but she didn't care.
Before her arm became completely numb and her vision blurry, Maya quickly used the last bit of the perseverance she had and fired her arrow.
*FWWIIISSSHHHHH*
~*~
When he swung Tetsusaiga and opened a path, Inuyasha only thought about one
thing.
As long as she is safe...
He realized something was wrong when he saw the panicked look in Maya's eyes as she looked back at him over her shoulder. From the quick shift in her line of vision, he knew something was about to surprise-attack him from behind.
When he turned around, he realized it was already too late to parry the attack without getting bitten by the snake.
At that moment, he felt a sudden breeze graze pass his shoulder, and the next thing he knew was the snake being pinned down to the earth about 2 yards away in front of him.
His eyes widened when he saw what had pinned the reptile down and he immediately turned around.
It was indeed Maya who had saved him, but something was wrong.
Her face looked paler than usual and her eyes had become hazy.
Inuyasha's eyes traveled from her face to her left arm that looked paler than the rest and widened. The large white snake was clutching at Maya's upper left arm with its teeth, while the rest of his long body was still touching the ground.
Without second thought, he dashed towards them with his free claw raised in the air while the other was still holding Tetsusaiga. "Sankon Tessou!!!" he cried as he slashed and ripped apart the white snake.
As soon as the snake perished and the 'two-holes'-bitemark on her arm became visible, Maya became limp and toppled sideward.
"Maya!!" Inuyasha cried as he caught her by her waist with his free and bloodstained claw before she hit the floor.
"I-Inu...yasha..." the girl murmured barely distinguishably. "G-go...leave me..."
He scowled as he held her closer to his chest with his free arm around her waist and tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade with the other. "Baka! There's no way I'm going to leave you behind!!" he growled angrily as he watched the whole swarm of snakes charge at himself and Maya. "EAT THIS!!! KAZE NO KIZU!!!!" he yelled out lout as he swung his blade diagonally upwards at the incoming attack and unleashed a group of huge blades of light.
Within seconds, the entire army of snakes was pulverized into thin air, leaving only several long, diverting scars in the landscape in front of them.
Inuyasha quickly sheathed his Tetsusaiga and looked down at the girl in his arms, who had become unconscious of the spreading venom. "Hold on Maya!! Please don't die on me!!" he cried and looked around them. He stopped when his eyes caught a shrine not very far away. "There!!" he said aloud. He quickly scooped up the girl bridal style and dashed into the direction of the shrine.
~*~
"Somebody!! Anybody!! Please help me!!" he shouted desperately as
he entered the main hall of the shrine, which was mainly made of wood, with
the unconscious Maya in his arms.
"Oh my goodness!" an old and bald priest gasped as he appeared in
the doorway at the end of the hall. He was wearing a white haori and black hakama
with brown prayer beads around his wrinkled neck.
"Please! My friend here has been bitten by a poisonous snake-youkai!" the hanyou pleaded as he ran towards the old man.
The priest glanced down at Maya and quickly nodded. "Follow me!" he said as he turned and ran further into the shrine.
And Inuyasha followed.
---- In one of the guestrooms ----
"Please lay the girl down on the bed, I will go and summon the high priestess
immediately," the old priest said before leaving the bedroom again.
Inuyasha did as he was told and carefully set Maya down on the bed.
"You'll be okay Maya, I'm sure you will...don't worry," he assured her as he held one of her cold and pale hands. Yet deep inside, he felt he was comforting himself instead of the unconscious girl in front of him. Chikusho...!! How could I let this happen!! I swore to protect her and keep her safe!! he cursed inwardly. "Please don't die on me...I can't lose you...not now..." he whispered as he removed some strands out of her face.
His ears perked up when a loud gasp sounded from the doorway behind him and
he turned to the voice.
It was a young woman. She had long dark hair tied into a low ponytail and dark gray eyes. She was wearing a formal priestess outfit of white and red and in her hands she was holding a basket filled with bandages and herbs. "I...Inuyasha...??" she gasped as disbelief filled her depthless eyes.
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes but widened them as he recognized this woman.
'K-Kikyou...?!"
Ohh what a suspense huh? Well sorry about that ^-^, you should at least be happy that I updated within a week. It will take longer for me to update the next chapter because the next test will take place on Thursday the 15th, sorry!! Please look forward to the next chapter!!
Next chapter: Remembrance (sounds pretty promising huh?)
~*~
\\"You told me that Inuyasha had a childhood friend and that he promised
to marry her when they meet again, right?"//
\\"Well yeah, but where are you exactly going with your reasoning?"//
\\"Well, have I ever mentioned that Kagome cried out Inuyasha's name when we told her that the scar on her face was gone ten years ago?"//
\\"Euh, I'm not sure I'm following you."//
\\"Okay. What if I told you that the reason why Kagome had run away was because she's convinced that someone of her childhood had promised to marry her and is searching for her? She ran away because she wanted to find her promise!"//
\\"Are you saying...?"//
\\"Exactly!"//
~*~
Vocabulary:
ne: something you say to draw someone's attention
oyasumi (nasai): goodnight
Tetsusaiga: a blade given to Inuyasha by his father (made of one of his
father's fangs), can be translated as a "Steel-Cleaving-Fang"
Sankon Tessou: claw-attack used by Inuyasha, can be translated as "Soul-Shattering
Iron Claws"
baka: stupid/idiot
Kaze no Kizu: an attack used by Inuyasha using Tetsusaiga, means "Wound
of the Wind"
chikusho: damn it
~*~
REPLIES ON REVIEWS:
Kyia: Yeah they could, they are a good team in battle ^-^. Good luck with your stories!
Dragon Man 180: Hmm Shippou? I don't think so, because this story will be ending within several chapters now. Putting in the kitsune-character would be a bit mustard-after-the-meal, right? Thanks for reviewing!
brazil: Thanks!! I'll try to update as soon as possible!
Clearwater-Faerie: Thank you ^-^. Hahaha well, they're going to be more stupid later on, be prepared!!
Tinkerbell-69-4ever: Thank you very much, it won't take them very long now since this story is going to end pretty soon.
Thief of Baghdad: Thanks!
Ks-Starshine: Thank you so much!! It's very nice to hear that from readers (not to mention very encouraging ^-^).
nekomoongirl: Oh I can stand puppy eyes *groans* woah don't use them at me...*author's hands starting to move and type the chapter on their own* aahh!! Look what you've done to my hands!! Lol just kidding...here's the next update!! Enjoy it ^-^.
Guardian-of-the-night: Thanks! I'm glad I've put enough descriptions in it hehe.
power2thepink: If you mean Kagome's scent back then and now. Well, 12 years is a very long time. At least I personally don't think someone of 24 would still smell the same as when she was 12. If you meant the scent of Maya now and that of his fiancée when they were in that dark room, still no, because Inuyasha was human back then so he couldn't use his keen sense of smelling. Besides, Inuyasha doesn't even know (not even now) that Kagome is his fiancée, I hope you're still following me ^-^.
osuwariIYK: Thanks for reviewing! Enjoy reading this chapter!
Kirei Baka Kasumi: Wait and see ^-^! Thanks for reviewing!! I'm glad you like this story!
Shadow-Demon14: Thanks! Well, it really depends on my mood when I update,
but I try to keep it as regular as possible as I don't like to let readers wait
(and forget) my story or the storyline ^-^.
~*~
Lots of greets
~Kittymui~
Posted: 7 April 2004
Last Edited: 7 April 2004
Spelling check: YES