The Scent of Despair
Written by Catrina Winner
Author's Notes: Well, I DID promise to put out this chapter before Thursday. C'mon you guys, help me break 100 reviews! We're so close! That would make my summer break shine. Anyway, I filled in all the plot holes and typed it all up, so I know exactly how long the story will be, where it's going, and everything in between. I even know if it will be a happy ending or not. For those of you that want to know if it ends well, e-mail me and I'll tell you: Yes, it has a happy ending, or, No, it doesn't. But, you don't get to know anything in between. And, lemme tell you, we're not even into the second major half of my story yet! Hope all my reader's like plot twists… On another up note, because I have my plot line done, I'm going to bargain with all you reader's out there! I really want to break 100 reviews. When I get back in a week or so of living without a computer, I'll check my reviews. If I broke my goal, the person who did it will get special thanks from me in the next author's note, and a chance to know any ONE thing about the plot. {i.e. Do Kagome and Inuyasha end up together? What does Kagome wish for?} Stuff like that. I'll answer any ONE question. That, AND, I'll have a new chapter out within 24 hours of my return. Maybe even TWO chapters. Wouldn't that be great? Yeah! So, let's break 100 reviews!
{That was one looooong author's note…}
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Chapter Nine
Thump! Inuyasha flopped over on his other side, tired from his watch over Kagome the day before.
Thump! He opened a single, golden eye, trying to figure out where that noise was coming from. Obviously nowhere near his head, but his sensitive demon ears could hear it easily, wherever it was originating from.
Thump! With a loud snarl, Inuyasha leapt upward. In the inky darkness of the hut, he turned swiftly towards the noise, causing him to slam into a wall. Gracefully done, but still rather painful.
Thump! In pain and angered, Inuyasha slammed open the door and stomped out into the hall. Everything was silent as he knocked doors in, stared at the sleeping occupants, and moved on. Finally, something told him that the thumping did not come from inside the perimeter, but, rather, far outside the house and down the hill it resided on.
Following the loud noises, the hanyou's eyes were met with a peculiar sight. Kagome, dressed in her usual strange clothing, was on the roof of one of the buildings, holding an odd weapon in her hand. She was beating it on the roof repeatedly, with many sharp, glittering objects lying next to her and stuck in her mouth.
The darkness lay heavy around Inuyasha as he tried to figure out what was going on and why Kagome was attacking a roof, of all things. It briefly occurred to him that she may be possessed by a demon, but he threw that thought out. What demon would possess a human and make her fight against a half destroyed roof? It was night, and night was made for sleeping. Glancing up at the sky, his nose twitching slightly, Inuyasha decided there was still at least an hour before dawn would arrive.
That cleared up for him, Inuyasha leapt up onto the roof, walking calmly over towards Kagome. She looked up when she heard his soft feet hit, and smiled warmly. It had been a long time since Inuyasha had been on the receiving end of one of her smiles, and, of course, he tried to be above it all, as it was his nature. A few seconds later, halfway to Kagome, he fell halfway through the roof. Still trying to show Kagome her smile had no affect on him at all, Inuyasha pulled himself out, and proceeded to flip himself over backwards and roll off the side of the hut. Kagome's worried eyes peered over the edge of the roof after him.
She spit the funny-looking things into her hand and called down to him, "Inuyasha! Are you all right?" He pulled himself off the ground, dusting off his kimono, and snarled.
"Of course, wench!" he snapped. Kagome rolled her eyes and turned back to thumping with the object, shoving the little things back into her mouth after warning him to be more careful. He jumped back up next to her, and moved gracefully around any holes in the roof, stopping next to her.
"What are you doing up here?" he asked, poking at the strange material she held in her hand. It was too blunt to be a sword or dagger and it seemed to be very heavy, the only purpose it had appearing to be slamming very small daggers into the wood.
Kagome noticed Inuyasha's strange looks directed towards her hammer, so she pulled the nails out of her mouth again and shook her head. "It's a hammer, Inuyasha, and I'm putting these nails into the roof to hold it up better."
Hammer… Nails… Those words sounded familiar to Inuyasha, but he had never before seen a hammer made out of sword-like materials. The metal infused into it must make it stronger. The nails were made from the same material, not wood like he was accustomed to. Rarely were nails used in building, and never before had he viewed these strange metal items.
"I'm trying to help Kaede out a bit by fixing up this orphanage. The village really needs it back in working order because several children have been coming from other villages that were completely destroyed by the rain. I'm trying to repair this roof since the rest of the building is scheduled to be done today," she smiled, leaning back. "It's best to work just before dawn and right before it gets too dark. That way you won't get too hot!"
Inuyasha blinked in confusion. Since when did Kagome get so helpful?
"Feh," he retorted and jumped back off the roof, climbing back to Kaede's temporary home. His curiosity had been satisfied, and all he wanted now was his well-deserved sleep.
Kaede was awake and moving around busily when he entered the home, a sure sign that sleeping was over, and the time to work had begun again. Inuyasha cursed his bad luck, but allowed himself to be pushed over to Miroku and out the door, towards the woods. Miroku had his staff in hand and was mumbling unhappily.
"They expect us to work after we travel all the way over here, with no food for breakfast! We saved the Shikon Jewel, but does that mean we get fed? No! It's, 'wake up, Miroku, you and Inuyasha are going to gather more wood for the villagers.' Why can't those stupid villagers get their own wood for their homes? I didn't make it rain! I'm hungry!!" he stomped ahead of Inuyasha, who followed him, bored. This day was not shaping up to look like a good one. Not at all…
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The midday sun burned down onto the backs of the workers. They were all pulling away from their duties for a long lunch break. The day's heat had risen beyond what they had seen for years, and not even the strongest men dared to work in it. Sango and the other village women wandered around, carrying large packs of bread, water, and meat for the men. Sango was mumbling much like her counterpart Miroku had been early, cursing anyone who asked her for food. Demon hunters were certainly not serving maids.
She felt slightly better when she noticed several of the larger men trying to corner Inuyasha and tie him up to a cart so he could haul wood faster. Inuyasha, on the other hand, was not about to be tied up to any sled-like contraptions, and claimed he could carry wood quite fine without it. The men were not partial to believe him, but laid off as three young women brought over fresh bread and offered it to them.
Inuyasha took double his share, but no one questioned him. Not many people would speak up against a hanyou, even if he did claim to be friendly. They were even happier that they said nothing when he bounded off towards the orphanage again.
Kagome was still on the roof, which looked a lot better than it had just a few hours before. Just as Inuyasha suspected, she was not resting like most of the villagers were, but was trying to continue working. Her pace had slowed down as the sun had risen to its higher points. He frowned as she put the hammer down and ran a hand across her forehead, breathing heavily.
"Here," he said and shoved the food at her. She looked up, startled, but any surprise soon melted away when she saw Inuyasha holding out the small bit of lunch for her.
"Thanks!" she said and took it from him, sitting down and beginning to eat. Inuyasha watched her for a moment, ignoring his own food.
"You shouldn't be working so hard," he said quietly. Kagome blinked and looked over at him.
"What?"
"You shouldn't be trying to help so much! It's too hot out here and you'll hurt yourself!" Inuyasha repeated, an edge of irritation in his voice.
"I'm just trying to work as hard as everyone else, Inuyasha. I was hoping I could be more than the girl who detected shards for everyone all the time, and make the children around here smile. A lot of the surrounding villages were totally destroyed and these kids have nowhere to go. I just want to help," she replied quickly.
Inuyasha growled in disgust. "Well, if you get sick again from working in the sun, we won't be able to summon the Jewel's power and make our wishes! No more working for you!" he snapped.
Kagome scowled. "See? That's all I am! Just someone who can use the power of the Shikon Jewel! Well, I want to work, and I will!" she finished.
"No!" Inuyasha retorted.
"Yes!" Kagome shouted.
"NO!"
"YES!"
"NO!"
"SIT!" Thump! Kagome brushed off her skirt and looked through the rather large hole Inuyasha had created. "I'll be fixing this hole you made, if you need me!" she said and smiled sweetly before nailing a large board over half the opening.
"Stupid girl," Inuyasha mumbled, walking back to the woods. He cast a glance over his shoulder and saw Kagome working again, and slowly shook his head. Why had she suddenly decided to work so hard? It wasn't as if she was leaving soon… His thoughts trailed off and Inuyasha frowned. She had better not try and leave us all behind… he thought quietly to himself.
Letting his guard down around the same cart was not quite the best idea, however, as six men leapt out and slung a very strong harness around his neck, latching it into place. They were rewarded with Inuyasha charging after them, the wood behind him being pulled quickly as he raced in hot pursuit of the men that had so belittled him.
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Well, as always, please review, and remember my offer to anyone who hits the 100th review. E-mail me with your question, and, please, take your time. My e-mail is catwinner@earthlink.net. I'll be looking forward to answering your question and telling all those who want to know if it will be a happy ending or not. The next two chapters will be a lot of fun to write, and even more fun to read {I hope}. One's mostly humor, though there will be serious undertones, and the second chapter will be composed fully of… FLUFF!! Inuyasha/Kagome fluff to boot! E-mail me with any questions!