The Agency
By: Evl5011
Chapter 10: The Jewel of Junshin
The morning sun rose over the horizon, InuYasha and Kagome both awoke to the sound of the singing birds. Kagome and the hanyou were both inside of Lady Kaede's home. InuYasha was still severely injured by the Akutenshi's powerful attacks, and although in pain, he refused to rest anymore. Kagome pleaded with the stubborn boy, but her pleas fell upon deaf ears. Even in his current condition, he gathered the strength to search for the Jewel of Junshin. InuYasha found out about the jewel, when Kagome explained to him on how it might be the only thing capable of defeating the Akutenshi. The two disembarked on a quest for the lost jewel. The only clues they had to lead them to it, was rumors and stories of where it might be.
"Lets go Kagome!" shouted InuYasha. The hanyou grabbed tetsusaiga and headed out the door. Kagome followed behind, but not before grabbing the two last ancient arrows. Kagome and InuYasha headed south in hopes of finding the fabled Jewel. Like a blind person, they headed off without knowing where they were going. They only knew that it was somewhere in the Forest of Oujou (Death), not many people dared to venture out into the forest. Stories told of a dark creature, which would kill any who would dare enter.
"InuYasha…Do you think the Jewel of Junshin is really somewhere within the forest?" asked Kagome. InuYasha looked at Kagome and hesitated to answer her question. "Look Kagome, if you're going to bother me with these stupid questions. You should go back to the village, I don't feel like answering them today." Kagome remained quiet for the remainder of their journey. After walking for what seemed hours, they finally came upon a large forest. "Is that it?" asked Kagome. She looked at InuYasha as he examined the vast area. "That's it…" InuYasha had a concerned look on his face as he answered the young girl. "Its not to late for you to go back." InuYasha looked at Kagome in hopes that she would go back. "We've come this far InuYasha, there's no point in turning back now." Kagome gave a confident smile at InuYasha and reassured him that she wasn't scared of whatever awaited them.
The two stared into the forest and wondered what challenges awaited them. Deep within the forest a black creature felt the presence of the two. Awakened by their voices it emerged from the shadows. The creature's body appeared human, but had no real features; some unholy force shrouded its face. The black being breathed deeply as saw past the trees and focused its sight on InuYasha and Kagome. It traveled at incredible speeds and jumped into a nearby tree. Its dark red eyes watched as InuYasha scanned the forest for any signs of life. The black being rested on top of the tree and watched as InuYasha and Kagome both cautiously entered.
Meanwhile, about thirty-minutes away…the two Agents followed closely behind their leader. Toorima and Koroshiya both held their weapons tightly and listened to every sound. The three men were following Kagome and InuYasha. The three kept their distance and planned on stealing the Jewel of Junshin, and killing the two adventurers. Koroshiya ran up towards his superior. "Commander? Can you please explain to me why we don't just kill them now?" The Commander stopped and faced his subordinate. He grabbed Koroshiya by the throat with one hand and raised him off the ground. "How dare you question my coarse of action!" the dauntless man tightened his grip, causing a few bones to crack in a sickening sound, with his free hand he grabbed Koroshiya's ribs. The Commander applied pressure to Koroshiya's ribs; blood began to drip as his nails buried themselves in the man. Koroshiya's cries went unheard as the merciless Commander took pleasure in hurting his agent. "S-Sir…" Toorima mumbled. The Commander turned his head and looked at Toorima "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" The Commander suddenly loosened his grip on Koroshiya, and dropped him. "Someone's following us…" The Commander reached for his weapon, it was a short sword; the blade was stained with dried blood. "Get up!" ordered the Commander. Koroshiya quickly responded and unsheathed his newly acquired sword.
The three men stood back to back, listening as something was drawing closer. The invisible enemy circled around them, and remained concealed behind the large trees. Koroshiya and Toorima held their swords tightly and tried to catch a glimpse of whatever was stalking them. The Commander grew impatient by the unseen being and walked instinctively towards some trees. The Commander raised his weapon in the air and swung it, the sword cut the mighty tree in two, hidden behind it was the Akutenshi. The Commander remained paralyzed in fear as it stared him in the eyes, unable to move, he attempted to strike the angel down with one fierce blow. The sword cut across the air, striking the angel, the evil being looked down at where it was hit and smiled. Its body remained unscathed by the attack; it quickly raised its hand and fired a massive ball of fire at the Commander. The powerful assault sent the Commander flying backwards, directly at his subordinates. He crashed into them; the three men fell to the ground and quickly stood back up. The Akutenshi was gone; the three men looked around and heard something flying around them.
Before they even had time to react, Toorima dropped to the ground; his face was covered in blood. Koroshiya was shocked when he saw that his brother was cut across the throat. Gasping for air, Toorima looked up at his brother before dying, his blood soiled the ground. "I-I don't want to die…" Toorima gurgled, blood poured out of his throat and mouth as he spoke. "Koroshiya…I'm scared…" Toorima whimpered as he finally died on the ground. Koroshiya and his Commander listened as the sound of the angel circled around them. "You ready?" asked the Commander, Koroshiya nodded his head. The two men held their weapons high across their faces. A white streak quickly struck their swords; they immediately swung their weapons simultaneously, hitting the Akutenshi on one of his black wings.
The angel fell to the ground and lay in front of the two men. The Akutenshi's razor sharp scythe lay four feet away and was out of reach. The Commander put his sword into its scabbard and reached into a pouch on his back. He dropped, what seemed like dozens of black orbs on the ground, it turns out that they were grenades. The two men left the body of Toorima there and ran as fast as they could. The Akutenshi raised his head and noticed the strange objects in front of him. The angel froze as the grenades all exploded in front of him; the nearby trees fell on top of him. The Akutenshi was unhurt by the explosions, but was pinned to the ground, by the massive pieces of lumber. Toorima's blood and entrails covered a vast amount of the forest, and most of his blood splattered on the unstoppable angel.
The multiple explosions echoed throughout the land, and both InuYasha and Kagome turned around. The sound was deafening as it shattered the eerie silence. InuYasha and Kagome both knew that they had to find the ancient jewel fast. They ventured blindly into the forest, not knowing exactly which direction to go. InuYasha felt something watching them, but what? "Hurry up Kagome!" InuYasha gritted his teeth as Kagome tried to keep up with him. They made their way through the dark forest and finally came upon a section, which was covered with the remains of many people. "Who could have done this?" Kagome asked InuYasha, he remained silent as he looked down at the dead. The bones were either crushed or sliced into pieces. "Whoever did this, caught everyone here off guard." InuYasha examined the weapons on the ground and picked up a katana off the ground. "How can you tell?" asked Kagome. "They didn't even get a chance to draw their weapons, see look at this…" InuYasha handed Kagome the sword and she noticed that it was still securely in its scabbard.
InuYasha and Kagome continued in the direction of the dead and noticed something shining in the distance. It was a small alter, and on it was what appeared to be a jewel. " That's it!" The hanyou ran at top speed, instantly becoming a red blur. He quickly made his way towards the small pedestal and left Kagome behind. InuYasha approached the alter and was within inches of grabbing the jewel, when something darted in front of him. A black shadow blocked him from his goal. InuYasha drew tetsusaiga, and without thinking twice, swung the immense phantom sword. The blade cut across the black shadow and appeared to have no affect on it. The shadow lunged at InuYasha and pushed him at some trees, he crashed into them breaking one in two. InuYasha slowly stood up and noticed the black shadow headed towards him. The large shadow stopped in front of him and began to take shape. The black shadow morphed into the shape of a man; and picked InuYasha off the ground. The hanyou still held tetsusaiga in his hand; he swung the sword, cutting the shadow across the neck. The black shadow remained unscathed by the attack, and threw InuYasha with an incredible force. InuYasha flew towards Kagome, and smashed into another tree.
Kagome ran over to InuYasha and noticed a large amount of blood soaking through his haori. InuYasha lay unconscious on the ground and the black shadow began to head towards the two of them. Kagome looked around for some means of fending off the strange enemy. Kagome reached for her bow and quickly placed an arrow on the weapon. She pulled back on the arrow and released it. The arrow flew across the forest and went right through the shadow. Kagome dropped the bow as the shadow drew even closer, when suddenly time froze. The black shadow was motionless where it stood, and InuYasha was also still. A bright light materialized in front of Kagome and took shape. A female shrouded in white stood before Kagome. Without revealing her face she spoke to Kagome. "The creature your friend is battling is a Kagemusha, to defeat him you must see past the darkness. You must expose its true form, only then can you strike him down." The mysterious female slowly began to fade away. "Wait! What's your name?" shouted Kagome seconds before the mysterious female disappeared. "My name is Reiko, I am a fallen Miko…" Reiko slowly raised her head, only to reveal a beautiful smile. Reiko faded away and everything began to move slowly.
Kagome crouched down besides InuYasha, before time was completely restored. She shook him aggressively and awoke him seconds before the Kagemusha got any closer. InuYasha moved Kagome to the side and blocked the attack of the Kagemusha. He pushed the shadow back and turned his head when Kagome shouted something to him. "InuYasha…He's vulnerable only when exposed to the light!" InuYasha looked around and realized that there was no light what so ever entering the forest. He swung tetsusaiga with all of his might and cut through multiple trees in one large swing. A dozen trees began to fall around the shadow and the bright sun broke through the thick foliage of the trees. The Kagemusha remained paralyzed under the suns bright light and began to let out a bizarre cry. It fell to the ground and its dark exterior began to fade away revealing its true form.
InuYasha and Kagome stood in shock to see an oily creature that vaguely resembled a man. Its face was distorted and black, its large fingers were nothing, but bone. It covered its face with its narrow arms and shielded itself from InuYasha. The hanyou put tetsusaiga back into its scabbard and approached the pathetic demon. "Not so tough now?" InuYasha raised his fist into the air and struck the black demon across the head. It cried out in pain and attempted to hit InuYasha with its frail fist. InuYasha took the weak blow and smiled as he raised his open hand in the air once more. "Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!" A white streak cut across the air, tearing the Kagemusha into shreds. Its remains scattered all over the ground, and its flesh splattered across the few standing trees. Kagome closed her eyes as the Kagemusha died in an instant.
"You didn't have to kill it" Kagome approached InuYasha and noticed large amounts of blood still dripping onto the ground. "InuYasha, you're hurt badly." Kagome attempted to tend to InuYasha's injuries, but he just pushed her aside. The hanyou was focused on the small green jewel. The Jewel of Junshin rested on the small alter, and appeared to be untouched for years. Large amounts of dust had collected on the diamond shaped jewel. InuYasha reached for it and clutched it tightly in his hand. Kagome followed behind InuYasha and asked that he let her examine the ancient jewel.
"InuYasha let me see the jewel." Kagome was handed the jewel and see immediately noticed that it began to glow. It radiated with warmth and it sent a tingly feeling throughout her entire arm. "Kagome, how'd you figure out on how to kill that demon?" InuYasha leered at Kagome with suspicion. He knew that something happened in the brief moment that he was thrown into the tree. "It's hard for me to explain, and even if I did, I don't think that you'd believe me." Kagome put the green jewel into her backpack and closed it up. "Try me!" replied InuYasha. "Or have you forgotten who you're talking to?"
Kagome sighed and knew that she would have to eventually tell him what happened. "When you crashed against the tree…everything froze that instant. Nothing moved for a few minutes, and then, this strange girl appeared out of nowhere. She was dressed all in white and claimed to be a Miko named Reiko." Kagome paused when InuYasha suddenly stopped her. "Did you say that her name was Reiko?" InuYasha knew something about the Miko upon hearing her name. "Why? Have you heard of her?" Kagome stared at InuYasha and had a feeling that he knew more than he was about to tell her.
"Kagome, she couldn't have been the same Reiko that I know about. The Reiko I heard of died many years ago, before even I was born. She exists only in stories and fairy tales now, I really doubt that she was Reiko." InuYasha insisted that she forget about the person she saw. The two headed back out of the forest and noticed the scent of something burning. They both headed out into the open and noticed smoke billowing in the distance. "What's over there?" asked Kagome. "It's a nearby village. Quickly get on my back!" Kagome hopped on InuYasha's back and quickly made their way to the neighboring village. Once they were within a few yards of the small village InuYasha stopped dead in his tracks. "Their isn't just houses burning…I smell burning flesh."
InuYasha and Kagome both entered the village and witness the aftermath of a brutal slaughter. Men, women, and children lay scattered on the ground. Some were hacked into pieces, while others were burnt alive. The scene was horrific, as limbs and various organs covered the ground; even InuYasha was shocked to see the carnage left behind. "Who could've of done this?" Kagome walked past the dead and searched for survivors, but there were none; every single person was dead. InuYasha walked beside Kagome and stopped her where she stood. "Kagome, whoever did this, is still in the village. I can smell their presence."
Just as the two stood in the middle of the village, a dark shadow hovered overhead. InuYasha looked up and pushed Kagome out of the way. An enormous ball of fire crashed into the earth, scorching it. The heat was unbearable as InuYasha stood back up off the ground. The Akutenshi dropped down at an incredible speed hitting InuYasha with his scythe. The razor sharp blade cut across his back, drenching the dirt floor red. InuYasha attempted to drag himself towards a nearby house, when the angel flew in front of him. InuYasha struggled to stand back up, and the angel patiently waited for him to do so. The two warriors stood face to face, both with the intention of killing the other. InuYasha pulled tetsusaiga out of its scabbard and held it tightly in his hands. The angel waited for the hanyou to make the next move. Although InuYasha was already severely hurt, his arrogance and pride forced him to press on. Like two samurai about to do battle, only one would be able to walk away. Kagome stood in the distance and watched, as the battle was about to unfold.