Chapter 5 revised. (2.6.04)
Disclaimer: ::huggles Inuyasha:: Mine. ::Lawyers snarl:: I mean, Takahashi-sensei's!!! ::nervous laugh::
____________________________
To Be With You Tomorrow
Part Two :: Tama
Chapter Five :: Shininikubuta
"Tama, why the hell are you following us?!"
The complaint was from none other than Inuyasha. The silver-haired hanyou was in a better mood than the last few days, seeing as how they were on the road again, searching for shards of the Shikon no Tama, but he was none to pleased about his sister --his veritable mirror image-- following them on their quest.
Tama clenched a fist, her eyes narrowing. "Why the hell can't I come?! I don't have a home and my place is with you, my twin! So quit your bellyaching and just leave me alone."
"I can't stand having you around, you bring back bad memories!"
"Well EXCUSE ME for being part your goddamned past, oh noble and fucking kind sir! Get over it Inu-chan, after fifty years of looking for you, I finally found you and that's it! You're stuck with me again!"
Kagome sighed. "I suppose it'll be like this the whole time now..." Miroku rubbed his temples. "I don't think I can take much more."
"And you haven't even left the village yet." Kaede observed.
Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Shippou all glanced at each other, a collective sweatdrop appearing over their heads.
~*~
"So, Kagome-chan," Tama began, "how many shards of the sacred Shikon jewel are there left anyway?"
They had walked for an entire day, stopping in nearby villages and such to investigate, but strangely there were almost NO demons in the area. That was odd, since Naraku had been killed two weeks before, which was more than enough time for demons to get wind of it and come out of hibernation.
The gumi were camped by a small stream, and Tama was wading in the water, snagging fish left and right, while Miroku, Shippou, Sango and Kagome sat by the fire, and Inuyasha of course, distant from the group. Kagome blinked. "Uhm, well, I'm not sure how many there were to begin with... But we have most of them."
She pulled out the Shikon no Tama, which was now nearly complete, except for a good sized chunk in its upper side. It looked almost liked a cracked crescent moon.
Tama took a good look at it and then nodded. "Hmm. About six or seven pieces, looks like…" Kagome nodded. "About that, yeah."
"We already know where three of them are." Inuyasha said, "That wimpy wolf Kouga's got two of them in his legs."
"Yeah," Kagome said, and then glanced sideways at Sango, who looked a little distressed, *And the third one is the shard that keeps Kohaku-kun alive...*
Kagome looked up at the sky. *I wonder what happened to him... after we battled Naraku, he disappeared.*
Kagome glanced at Inuyasha's back. He was turned just a bit so she could see his face. He looked vacant, as though his mind was elsewhere. *I wonder if he's thinking about Kikyou... He's doing better after what happened, but I wouldn't be surprised… if he still loved her…*
She sobered, shoulders drooping in sorrow. Of course he still loved her. She would never be able to get between them. Kikyou's death had done nothing to change Inuyasha's feelings.
With impeccable timing, the hanyou noticed Kagome watching him and turned, his eyes narrowed. "What??"
"Nothing." said Kagome, letting the jewel drop back against her collar and watching the fire crackle.
Tama noticed the slight tension and glared back and forth between Inuyasha and Kagome. She finished her fishing and put the seven fish into a small basket near the shore. She stomped over to Inuyasha and grabbed him by the ear, twisting it. "Ow owowowOW~~ Tama, what the fuck are you doing?!!"
Tama, still dragging Inuyasha away, turned to look at the group with an innocent, bright smile. "I'll be right back with him. Please go ahead and begin to prepare the fish, Miroku-sama?"
The houshi nodded, a little surprised at Tama's quick intervention of the situation. "Uhm... okay."
Tama continued towards the nearby forest, still dragging her twin by his ear. Finally, when they were out of the humans' earshot ranges, she released him and he whined. "OWW! That really hurt!! What the fuck did you do that for?! Why'd you drag me out here?!"
Tama looked at him angrily. "Kagome-chan told me everything about you and Kikyou. I know about it all. So I just want to ask you one thing: who do you care for?"
Inuyasha looked taken aback. "Why the hell would I tell you?! It's none of your business who I love!"
"No, but it's my business that everytime Kagome-chan thinks you're in love with a dead woman it hurts her. She's my friend. If you don't care for her, then tell her so, so you can let her off the hook."
"It's not that easy!" Inuyasha yelled, "Kagome... I tried to break up with her before. She still wanted to be with me. Even knowing I cared for Kikyou still, she wanted to stay by my side."
"Which makes me wonder how fucking stupid you really are."
At Tama's comment Inuyasha turned. "What?"
The female hanyou had a little bit of a softer look on, and she crossed her arms. "Think about what Kikyou's done to you. She did all that to you DESPITE knowing that you were still in love with her. What woman would do that to the man she loved?"
Inuyasha looked down. Tama continued.
"Kagome-chan has been by your side, even when she knew she couldn't have you, has she not? That's not being stupid or persistent; she loves you. So I'm gonna ask you again. Which one do you love?"
Inuyasha looked away. "............Kagome." Tama nodded with a snort. "I thought as much. You already know all this, don't you? And yet you're putting it off, and worrying about Kikyou." Inuyasha glared at his sister. "That's for a different reason. Kikyou and I--"
Tama lifted a hand and interrupted, "Don't tell me, tell Kagome-chan. She's the one being hurt by all of this, not me. I don't really care whether or not your screw up your love life and it's really not any of my business. But if you make Kagome-chan sad again, I'm gonna have another go at your ears."
She turned back towards the camp, leaving Inuyasha in the clearing alone. He blew a deep breath out, blowing his bangs away from his face. *Dammit. Tama has no idea how I feel. She doesn't understand me a damn bit.*
"Inuyasha?"
He jerked visibly, turning. Kagome was standing in the clearing with him. She smiled, one hand folded over the other, her black hair a frame of curls around her face. In the broken shadows of the canopy above the clearing, she looked more beautiful than Inuyasha could have thought possible, and he caught his breath.
"Is something wrong?? Come back and eat with us, okay?" She walked to him, gently taking his hand in hers and turning to lead him from the clearing. He looked down at her hand. It was so soft and warm in his. He wanted to be able hold her hand like this forever, to be able to hold her in his arms anytime he wanted.
Would she turn him away now, though? Was his constant chasing after Kikyou enough to dampen her feelings for him? He was afraid to ask. Yet somehow he found his voice and whispered, "Kagome..."
"Hm?" She asked, turning back to look at him. She blinked, not really comprehending. All she could see on him was this look of utter heartache, and she had seen it before. Everytime he looked at her nowadays, he would have this same look.
*It's the same look he gave me after he kissed me at my house. Almost... sorry. Hurt. Maybe because he's trying to oblige to me and my feelings, but he still loves Kikyou? So he can't put himself into it?* She tugged her hand sharply out of his. "Sorry. Let's go."
The hanyou was snapped out of his thoughts but her sudden action and sweatdropped, confusion bubbles and question marks surrounding his head. "Uhm, what? ......Wait up, Kagome what'd I do?!!"
"Oh shut up, Inuyasha just, just...! OSUWARI!"
SLAM! "Gah!"
Back near the fire, the group heard the typical 'osuwari' and Inuyasha's yelp, and Miroku sighed. "He screwed up the most perfect chance. Again."
"He's just stupid like that." Shippou said and Tama nodded. "I agree." Sango, petting Kirara, nodded in agreement as well.
~*~
"This is so stupid."
Tama was standing at the bow of a boat, Inuyasha sitting almost directly behind her, Kagome, Miroku and Shippou littered towards the stern. Kirara was in the water ahead of them, swimming and Sango was on her back.
"How many days have been out here now?" Tama asked, turning to look at her brother and he looked up at her with a glare. "Today's the fifth."
"Five days?!! And nothing yet!!! My claws are dulling!" Tama growled to herself. "I wanna kill some demons!!!" Inuyasha grimaced. "You sound like a cannibal, Tama. You ARE a demon, remember?"
Tama looked at him seriously. "I am a hanyou. I'm half-human. And I don't go around killing demons like Shippou-chan who keep to themselves and don't get into any trouble. I kill the bad demons."
"All youkai are bad, Tama. It's just you and Shippou who are the exception to the rule." Inuyasha mumbled, and Kagome grinned at him. "So are you!! You're not a bad youkai, Inuyasha."
He grumbled something under his breath, something sounded like 'yeah, yeah don't say that too loud.' Tama whined again. "Aaaah, I'm bored." Kagome laughed. "Well, I'm sure we're catching up to one. I mean, we're heading in the right direction."
"Is the fragment still where you sensed it was yesterday?" Inuyasha asked and Kagome nodded. Suddenly he and Tama both snapped to attention. Both hanyous looked like they were going to be sick, and Tama covered her nose with her sleeve. "Oh... oh ugh."
".....Do you smell that?"
"Yep," Tama answered, "It's so thick that I bet even the others could..."
Almost immediately after, Kagome covered her nose. "Oh God-- what is that~~?" Sango blew a breath out, trying to breathe through her mouth so she wouldn't smell it so much. "That's... blood, isn't it?"
Inuyasha and Tama nodded. "Blood and decomposition... There's something dead that way and it's been there for... awhile."
Inuyasha turned. "Kagome, you stay here." She shook her head vigorously. "No way!! The Shikon fragment is over there, and we need to get it! I'm coming too."
"No, I said stay here! Just do what I say for once, okay?!" he said, leaping up. He disappeared into the forest and Tama looked at Kagome.
"I'll come back and get you once we check everything out, okay? It's... gonna be bad, I can tell." And then Tama also leapt into the air, heading into the forest.
Kagome gasped. "Ah, wait!! Tama-chan!!"
Kagome pouted, gripping her bow in her hands. *How dare he tell me to stay behind?! He has no right to!* Slowly her anger gave way to worry. *Inuyasha... Tama-chan... be careful...*
~*~
Inuyasha observed the ruins with disgust, and Tama gasped sharply. Beyond the thick forest lining the river was a relatively large village-- and no one was left alive.
The buildings were all torn down, and some were still smoking. Bodies were everywhere, in different degrees of decomposition. Inuyasha trudged forward, nudging one of the men onto his back. One jelly-like globule stared back at him and sickened, Inuyasha realized it was an eye. "Dammit, ya recognize this, huh Neechan?"
Tama jerked in surprise at the sudden 'Neechan;' Inuyasha hadn't called her that since they were 8 years old. But by the same token, it reminded her of what he meant.
When they were eight years old, they had wandered into a small village. Their mother had died when they were 6, and since then they had wandered aimlessly, stopping every once in awhile only to be kicked out after a few months.
In this particular village, they were accepted at the time by an elderly woman with no children. The village feared the hanyou twins, for it was bad enough with one hanyou brat around, but twins was bad luck. A set of twins of both sexes --like Tama and Inuyasha-- was quite possibly the worst feared combination because it was so rare, which left the pair with nothing facing them except animosity and ostracism.
However, the little old lady protected them; she was the first person since their own mother who had cared for them so dotingly. And the twins liked her very much.
But after only two months of staying in the village, Inuyasha and Tama, who were always playing in the forests together, returned to find the village desecrated by scavenging youkai. The villagers had all been killed, and the youkai who had done it knew a particular spell which made corpses decompose more quickly, so the youkai could feast on the dead flesh.
Tama could still remember the scent of the bodies. It was in the air now.
"It's the Shininikubuta, huh...?" she asked and Inuyasha kicked at a head on the ground angrily. It was that of a pig, with large spear-like teeth like a boar, and dark red stripes burned into its grayish flesh, underneath its beady purple eyes. Apparently SOMEONE had tried to fight them off.
"Yeah, it is. And I'll bet one of them's got the very Shikon fragment Kagome was feeling." He growled. "They're around here somewhere, it's their damn magic that made the bodies do this."
"Well well well, what have we got here?"
The voice sounded like a man gargling gravel, crunchy and slurry at the same time. The twins spun, and nearby were four Shininikubuta.
The Shininikubuta, as the name suggested, were pig-like youkai, with gray skin. All of them had tiny purple eyes and were huge, seven feet tall each and underneath their eyes were vertical stripes that looked almost like burns. Six-inch-long razor sharp teeth stuck up out of the bottom jaw. They were heavyset as well, with thick arms and legs. Fortunately for the twins, not a damn bit of it was muscle-- all of it was flab.
"A pair of inuyoukai twins, huh?" droned the leader and one of the others laughed, a noise that sounded like hyuk hyuk hyuk. "I want the boy. That hair a'his would look real good on m'armor."
Inuyasha grimaced and Tama glared at him. "It's always like that! You always get all of the attention! It's not fair." Inuyasha gaped at her accusingly. "TAMA HE WANTS TO EAT ME!!"
"Well he doesn't wanna eat ME..."
"YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY NOT JEALOUS!!"
"Boss, can we play with them for a bit?" asked the subordinate, and the boss waddled off to a sideline and plopped down. "Sure, but don't hurt either of 'em. Inuhanyou flesh is rare and these two look pretty tasty."
"You feel better now? You've been included." Inuyasha said and Tama smiled brightly, baring her fangs. "It's makes me feel better to know I won't just be saving ~your~ ass by killing these guys." She peered at her brother out of the corner of her eye. "Ready?"
Inuyasha grinned at her. "S'been awhile since you and I fought together."
"Fifty years."
"Yeah... okay, let's GO!"
Inuyasha leapt off from where he stood, and Tama a little to the side, rushing around the three easily. They looked a bit confused, as if they hadn't expected the twins to be as fast as they were. Inuyasha took the first one out without barely lifting a claw.
"Sankon Tessou!!!" The first Shininikubuta was toast.
"Dokka Tessou~!" Tama slashed the second Shininikubuta from behind, and he was toast.
The third looked back and forth between the twins --both of them wearing insane grins and cracking their knuckles-- and decided it would be best if he were elsewhere. He turned and ran --well, ran as only a 7 foot pig could run-- and Inuyasha raced up behind him. "You're not getting away ya damned flesh-eating bastard! SANKON TESSOU!"
The third Shininikubuta was also toast.
Inuyasha and Tama turned to the boss, who was looking rather unimpressed. "I suppose you two are proud of yourselves now? Well taking care of my subordinates is nothing. They were only your average youkai. I, Hakabuta, will not be so easy."
"Hah! You wanna know how many youkai I killed who've said that to me?!" Inuyasha demanded, and Hakabuta snorted, a sound that sounded almost like 'oink.' "Little boy..."
He disappeared, and Inuyasha gasped. Suddenly Hakabuta reappeared behind the twins. "You have no IDEA what you're up against." And the he swung his arm horizontally.
"GYAH!"
"Inuyasha~!!!"
Tama ran to her brother as he landed. Hakabuta had slammed Inuyasha with his fist, which was about the size of Tama herself. Inuyasha was on the ground, unconscious, blood trickling down his temple. She shook his arm softly. "Inuyasha!! You dumb idiot, don't die on me!!"
His face scrunched up, like he was trying to force himself awake, but then he stopped moving altogether, a small pained sigh escaping his lips.
Tama stood. "And as usual it's me on my own." She glared at him. *He's stronger than most Shininikubuta... How...? Is it the Shikon no kakera that Kagome-chan was sensing?* She looked him over and then gasped. *There!! On his chest... it's like a tiny stone... Oka~ay then, aim for there, Tama!!*
Hakabuta's eyes shimmered. "Looking to go for my fragment? I won't make it easy for you."
Tama growled.
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: Glossary of terms used in this chapter:
Sankon Tessou:: soul shattering iron claws
Dokka Tessou:: fire poison iron claws
Shininikubuta:: dead flesh pig
Hakabuta:: grave pig
Okie ja!! Tama versus Hakabuta in chapter 6!
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
Tessen
Disclaimer: ::huggles Inuyasha:: Mine. ::Lawyers snarl:: I mean, Takahashi-sensei's!!! ::nervous laugh::
____________________________
To Be With You Tomorrow
Part Two :: Tama
Chapter Five :: Shininikubuta
"Tama, why the hell are you following us?!"
The complaint was from none other than Inuyasha. The silver-haired hanyou was in a better mood than the last few days, seeing as how they were on the road again, searching for shards of the Shikon no Tama, but he was none to pleased about his sister --his veritable mirror image-- following them on their quest.
Tama clenched a fist, her eyes narrowing. "Why the hell can't I come?! I don't have a home and my place is with you, my twin! So quit your bellyaching and just leave me alone."
"I can't stand having you around, you bring back bad memories!"
"Well EXCUSE ME for being part your goddamned past, oh noble and fucking kind sir! Get over it Inu-chan, after fifty years of looking for you, I finally found you and that's it! You're stuck with me again!"
Kagome sighed. "I suppose it'll be like this the whole time now..." Miroku rubbed his temples. "I don't think I can take much more."
"And you haven't even left the village yet." Kaede observed.
Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Shippou all glanced at each other, a collective sweatdrop appearing over their heads.
~*~
"So, Kagome-chan," Tama began, "how many shards of the sacred Shikon jewel are there left anyway?"
They had walked for an entire day, stopping in nearby villages and such to investigate, but strangely there were almost NO demons in the area. That was odd, since Naraku had been killed two weeks before, which was more than enough time for demons to get wind of it and come out of hibernation.
The gumi were camped by a small stream, and Tama was wading in the water, snagging fish left and right, while Miroku, Shippou, Sango and Kagome sat by the fire, and Inuyasha of course, distant from the group. Kagome blinked. "Uhm, well, I'm not sure how many there were to begin with... But we have most of them."
She pulled out the Shikon no Tama, which was now nearly complete, except for a good sized chunk in its upper side. It looked almost liked a cracked crescent moon.
Tama took a good look at it and then nodded. "Hmm. About six or seven pieces, looks like…" Kagome nodded. "About that, yeah."
"We already know where three of them are." Inuyasha said, "That wimpy wolf Kouga's got two of them in his legs."
"Yeah," Kagome said, and then glanced sideways at Sango, who looked a little distressed, *And the third one is the shard that keeps Kohaku-kun alive...*
Kagome looked up at the sky. *I wonder what happened to him... after we battled Naraku, he disappeared.*
Kagome glanced at Inuyasha's back. He was turned just a bit so she could see his face. He looked vacant, as though his mind was elsewhere. *I wonder if he's thinking about Kikyou... He's doing better after what happened, but I wouldn't be surprised… if he still loved her…*
She sobered, shoulders drooping in sorrow. Of course he still loved her. She would never be able to get between them. Kikyou's death had done nothing to change Inuyasha's feelings.
With impeccable timing, the hanyou noticed Kagome watching him and turned, his eyes narrowed. "What??"
"Nothing." said Kagome, letting the jewel drop back against her collar and watching the fire crackle.
Tama noticed the slight tension and glared back and forth between Inuyasha and Kagome. She finished her fishing and put the seven fish into a small basket near the shore. She stomped over to Inuyasha and grabbed him by the ear, twisting it. "Ow owowowOW~~ Tama, what the fuck are you doing?!!"
Tama, still dragging Inuyasha away, turned to look at the group with an innocent, bright smile. "I'll be right back with him. Please go ahead and begin to prepare the fish, Miroku-sama?"
The houshi nodded, a little surprised at Tama's quick intervention of the situation. "Uhm... okay."
Tama continued towards the nearby forest, still dragging her twin by his ear. Finally, when they were out of the humans' earshot ranges, she released him and he whined. "OWW! That really hurt!! What the fuck did you do that for?! Why'd you drag me out here?!"
Tama looked at him angrily. "Kagome-chan told me everything about you and Kikyou. I know about it all. So I just want to ask you one thing: who do you care for?"
Inuyasha looked taken aback. "Why the hell would I tell you?! It's none of your business who I love!"
"No, but it's my business that everytime Kagome-chan thinks you're in love with a dead woman it hurts her. She's my friend. If you don't care for her, then tell her so, so you can let her off the hook."
"It's not that easy!" Inuyasha yelled, "Kagome... I tried to break up with her before. She still wanted to be with me. Even knowing I cared for Kikyou still, she wanted to stay by my side."
"Which makes me wonder how fucking stupid you really are."
At Tama's comment Inuyasha turned. "What?"
The female hanyou had a little bit of a softer look on, and she crossed her arms. "Think about what Kikyou's done to you. She did all that to you DESPITE knowing that you were still in love with her. What woman would do that to the man she loved?"
Inuyasha looked down. Tama continued.
"Kagome-chan has been by your side, even when she knew she couldn't have you, has she not? That's not being stupid or persistent; she loves you. So I'm gonna ask you again. Which one do you love?"
Inuyasha looked away. "............Kagome." Tama nodded with a snort. "I thought as much. You already know all this, don't you? And yet you're putting it off, and worrying about Kikyou." Inuyasha glared at his sister. "That's for a different reason. Kikyou and I--"
Tama lifted a hand and interrupted, "Don't tell me, tell Kagome-chan. She's the one being hurt by all of this, not me. I don't really care whether or not your screw up your love life and it's really not any of my business. But if you make Kagome-chan sad again, I'm gonna have another go at your ears."
She turned back towards the camp, leaving Inuyasha in the clearing alone. He blew a deep breath out, blowing his bangs away from his face. *Dammit. Tama has no idea how I feel. She doesn't understand me a damn bit.*
"Inuyasha?"
He jerked visibly, turning. Kagome was standing in the clearing with him. She smiled, one hand folded over the other, her black hair a frame of curls around her face. In the broken shadows of the canopy above the clearing, she looked more beautiful than Inuyasha could have thought possible, and he caught his breath.
"Is something wrong?? Come back and eat with us, okay?" She walked to him, gently taking his hand in hers and turning to lead him from the clearing. He looked down at her hand. It was so soft and warm in his. He wanted to be able hold her hand like this forever, to be able to hold her in his arms anytime he wanted.
Would she turn him away now, though? Was his constant chasing after Kikyou enough to dampen her feelings for him? He was afraid to ask. Yet somehow he found his voice and whispered, "Kagome..."
"Hm?" She asked, turning back to look at him. She blinked, not really comprehending. All she could see on him was this look of utter heartache, and she had seen it before. Everytime he looked at her nowadays, he would have this same look.
*It's the same look he gave me after he kissed me at my house. Almost... sorry. Hurt. Maybe because he's trying to oblige to me and my feelings, but he still loves Kikyou? So he can't put himself into it?* She tugged her hand sharply out of his. "Sorry. Let's go."
The hanyou was snapped out of his thoughts but her sudden action and sweatdropped, confusion bubbles and question marks surrounding his head. "Uhm, what? ......Wait up, Kagome what'd I do?!!"
"Oh shut up, Inuyasha just, just...! OSUWARI!"
SLAM! "Gah!"
Back near the fire, the group heard the typical 'osuwari' and Inuyasha's yelp, and Miroku sighed. "He screwed up the most perfect chance. Again."
"He's just stupid like that." Shippou said and Tama nodded. "I agree." Sango, petting Kirara, nodded in agreement as well.
~*~
"This is so stupid."
Tama was standing at the bow of a boat, Inuyasha sitting almost directly behind her, Kagome, Miroku and Shippou littered towards the stern. Kirara was in the water ahead of them, swimming and Sango was on her back.
"How many days have been out here now?" Tama asked, turning to look at her brother and he looked up at her with a glare. "Today's the fifth."
"Five days?!! And nothing yet!!! My claws are dulling!" Tama growled to herself. "I wanna kill some demons!!!" Inuyasha grimaced. "You sound like a cannibal, Tama. You ARE a demon, remember?"
Tama looked at him seriously. "I am a hanyou. I'm half-human. And I don't go around killing demons like Shippou-chan who keep to themselves and don't get into any trouble. I kill the bad demons."
"All youkai are bad, Tama. It's just you and Shippou who are the exception to the rule." Inuyasha mumbled, and Kagome grinned at him. "So are you!! You're not a bad youkai, Inuyasha."
He grumbled something under his breath, something sounded like 'yeah, yeah don't say that too loud.' Tama whined again. "Aaaah, I'm bored." Kagome laughed. "Well, I'm sure we're catching up to one. I mean, we're heading in the right direction."
"Is the fragment still where you sensed it was yesterday?" Inuyasha asked and Kagome nodded. Suddenly he and Tama both snapped to attention. Both hanyous looked like they were going to be sick, and Tama covered her nose with her sleeve. "Oh... oh ugh."
".....Do you smell that?"
"Yep," Tama answered, "It's so thick that I bet even the others could..."
Almost immediately after, Kagome covered her nose. "Oh God-- what is that~~?" Sango blew a breath out, trying to breathe through her mouth so she wouldn't smell it so much. "That's... blood, isn't it?"
Inuyasha and Tama nodded. "Blood and decomposition... There's something dead that way and it's been there for... awhile."
Inuyasha turned. "Kagome, you stay here." She shook her head vigorously. "No way!! The Shikon fragment is over there, and we need to get it! I'm coming too."
"No, I said stay here! Just do what I say for once, okay?!" he said, leaping up. He disappeared into the forest and Tama looked at Kagome.
"I'll come back and get you once we check everything out, okay? It's... gonna be bad, I can tell." And then Tama also leapt into the air, heading into the forest.
Kagome gasped. "Ah, wait!! Tama-chan!!"
Kagome pouted, gripping her bow in her hands. *How dare he tell me to stay behind?! He has no right to!* Slowly her anger gave way to worry. *Inuyasha... Tama-chan... be careful...*
~*~
Inuyasha observed the ruins with disgust, and Tama gasped sharply. Beyond the thick forest lining the river was a relatively large village-- and no one was left alive.
The buildings were all torn down, and some were still smoking. Bodies were everywhere, in different degrees of decomposition. Inuyasha trudged forward, nudging one of the men onto his back. One jelly-like globule stared back at him and sickened, Inuyasha realized it was an eye. "Dammit, ya recognize this, huh Neechan?"
Tama jerked in surprise at the sudden 'Neechan;' Inuyasha hadn't called her that since they were 8 years old. But by the same token, it reminded her of what he meant.
When they were eight years old, they had wandered into a small village. Their mother had died when they were 6, and since then they had wandered aimlessly, stopping every once in awhile only to be kicked out after a few months.
In this particular village, they were accepted at the time by an elderly woman with no children. The village feared the hanyou twins, for it was bad enough with one hanyou brat around, but twins was bad luck. A set of twins of both sexes --like Tama and Inuyasha-- was quite possibly the worst feared combination because it was so rare, which left the pair with nothing facing them except animosity and ostracism.
However, the little old lady protected them; she was the first person since their own mother who had cared for them so dotingly. And the twins liked her very much.
But after only two months of staying in the village, Inuyasha and Tama, who were always playing in the forests together, returned to find the village desecrated by scavenging youkai. The villagers had all been killed, and the youkai who had done it knew a particular spell which made corpses decompose more quickly, so the youkai could feast on the dead flesh.
Tama could still remember the scent of the bodies. It was in the air now.
"It's the Shininikubuta, huh...?" she asked and Inuyasha kicked at a head on the ground angrily. It was that of a pig, with large spear-like teeth like a boar, and dark red stripes burned into its grayish flesh, underneath its beady purple eyes. Apparently SOMEONE had tried to fight them off.
"Yeah, it is. And I'll bet one of them's got the very Shikon fragment Kagome was feeling." He growled. "They're around here somewhere, it's their damn magic that made the bodies do this."
"Well well well, what have we got here?"
The voice sounded like a man gargling gravel, crunchy and slurry at the same time. The twins spun, and nearby were four Shininikubuta.
The Shininikubuta, as the name suggested, were pig-like youkai, with gray skin. All of them had tiny purple eyes and were huge, seven feet tall each and underneath their eyes were vertical stripes that looked almost like burns. Six-inch-long razor sharp teeth stuck up out of the bottom jaw. They were heavyset as well, with thick arms and legs. Fortunately for the twins, not a damn bit of it was muscle-- all of it was flab.
"A pair of inuyoukai twins, huh?" droned the leader and one of the others laughed, a noise that sounded like hyuk hyuk hyuk. "I want the boy. That hair a'his would look real good on m'armor."
Inuyasha grimaced and Tama glared at him. "It's always like that! You always get all of the attention! It's not fair." Inuyasha gaped at her accusingly. "TAMA HE WANTS TO EAT ME!!"
"Well he doesn't wanna eat ME..."
"YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY NOT JEALOUS!!"
"Boss, can we play with them for a bit?" asked the subordinate, and the boss waddled off to a sideline and plopped down. "Sure, but don't hurt either of 'em. Inuhanyou flesh is rare and these two look pretty tasty."
"You feel better now? You've been included." Inuyasha said and Tama smiled brightly, baring her fangs. "It's makes me feel better to know I won't just be saving ~your~ ass by killing these guys." She peered at her brother out of the corner of her eye. "Ready?"
Inuyasha grinned at her. "S'been awhile since you and I fought together."
"Fifty years."
"Yeah... okay, let's GO!"
Inuyasha leapt off from where he stood, and Tama a little to the side, rushing around the three easily. They looked a bit confused, as if they hadn't expected the twins to be as fast as they were. Inuyasha took the first one out without barely lifting a claw.
"Sankon Tessou!!!" The first Shininikubuta was toast.
"Dokka Tessou~!" Tama slashed the second Shininikubuta from behind, and he was toast.
The third looked back and forth between the twins --both of them wearing insane grins and cracking their knuckles-- and decided it would be best if he were elsewhere. He turned and ran --well, ran as only a 7 foot pig could run-- and Inuyasha raced up behind him. "You're not getting away ya damned flesh-eating bastard! SANKON TESSOU!"
The third Shininikubuta was also toast.
Inuyasha and Tama turned to the boss, who was looking rather unimpressed. "I suppose you two are proud of yourselves now? Well taking care of my subordinates is nothing. They were only your average youkai. I, Hakabuta, will not be so easy."
"Hah! You wanna know how many youkai I killed who've said that to me?!" Inuyasha demanded, and Hakabuta snorted, a sound that sounded almost like 'oink.' "Little boy..."
He disappeared, and Inuyasha gasped. Suddenly Hakabuta reappeared behind the twins. "You have no IDEA what you're up against." And the he swung his arm horizontally.
"GYAH!"
"Inuyasha~!!!"
Tama ran to her brother as he landed. Hakabuta had slammed Inuyasha with his fist, which was about the size of Tama herself. Inuyasha was on the ground, unconscious, blood trickling down his temple. She shook his arm softly. "Inuyasha!! You dumb idiot, don't die on me!!"
His face scrunched up, like he was trying to force himself awake, but then he stopped moving altogether, a small pained sigh escaping his lips.
Tama stood. "And as usual it's me on my own." She glared at him. *He's stronger than most Shininikubuta... How...? Is it the Shikon no kakera that Kagome-chan was sensing?* She looked him over and then gasped. *There!! On his chest... it's like a tiny stone... Oka~ay then, aim for there, Tama!!*
Hakabuta's eyes shimmered. "Looking to go for my fragment? I won't make it easy for you."
Tama growled.
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: Glossary of terms used in this chapter:
Sankon Tessou:: soul shattering iron claws
Dokka Tessou:: fire poison iron claws
Shininikubuta:: dead flesh pig
Hakabuta:: grave pig
Okie ja!! Tama versus Hakabuta in chapter 6!
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
Tessen