Chapter 25 The Demon Hunters
Around noon, several days later, a red and silver blur shot out of the old well on the grounds of the Higurashi shrine. The blur resolved itself into what appeared to be an attractive teenaged boy with very long silver hair, wearing an archaic but well-made red costume, perched on the lip of the well. On closer inspection, the non-existent observer would have been surprised to note the small silver dog ears, which swiveled inquisitively on his head. This detail, along with the amber eyes, claws and fangs would have quickly disabused the notion that he was a local schoolboy in a festival costume.
"Are you coming or not? I don't got all day to wait on ya, wench," he said with his arms folded over his chest and his nose in the air. "You're the one who didn't want me to carry ya," he said bending down and reaching one arm into the well. He straightened, bringing up an enormous yellow pack effortlessly.
"I'm coming, InuYasha," Kagome growled as her head appeared over the edge of the well, "And don't call me that or I'll say the 's' word."
He just muttered, "Feh" as she finished climbing out of the well.
"You didn't have to come you know. Nobody asked you," she said testily as she started to drag her pack towards the house.
"If there's a demon here in this time, who else is gonna protect ya," he said somewhat plaintively.
She turned around blinking her eyes, then a huge smile spread over her face as she thought, 'He does care about me after all.'
Seeing the expression, InuYasha paled and stammered, "I can't risk a demon getting a hold of the jewel you're wearing and besides I need ya as a shard detector to find the rest of the Shikon jewel shards," trying to cover his slip.
"Fine, be that way. I bet Ranma could protect me from what I've heard," she said as her face fell. 'I guess that's all I will ever be to him' she thought. She turned her back on him and headed toward the house to find her grandfather.
Tofu returned to the Higurashi shrine after receiving a phone call from his old sensei. Mr. Higurashi had told him that his granddaughter had returned, and that she and her friend were willing to help them search for the artifacts and that they had the skeleton of a plan. He had brought Ranma along with him as they planned on heading to the Kuno estate after picking them up.
After they knocked on the door, a young boy of around ten opened the door. "Grandpa, Kagome, your friends are here," he bellowed, and then he turned back to motion them to enter. He said excitedly, "Guess what! InuYasha came too to help you guys. Isn't that so cool!" He was practically bouncing off the walls in his excitement as he led them to the sitting room. As they entered, they saw the young girl that they had met earlier sitting on the couch. A boy, currently dressed in blue jeans, a short-sleeved red polo shirt and running shoes sat sullenly against the wall with his legs crossed against the wall and his arms folded against his chest, a sword resting across his knees. His silver hair was gathered at the base of his neck and he wore a baseball cap turned backward on his head.
InuYasha sulked, thinking 'Why did I have to wear these stupid clothes anyways. I hate having my ears crammed into this cap even more than I hate wearing these shoes. It just feels so unnatural.' He glared at Kagome, muttering under his breath, 'The things I do for you!!'
Higurashi introduced Tofu and Ranma to his granddaughter Kagome and her friend InuYasha, emphasizing the word 'friend' and winking knowingly at the newcomers. Kagome blushed and protested, "Grandpa, it's not like that!"
InuYasha examined the two men, frankly dismissing Tofu, but scrutinized Ranma speculatively. 'There's something odd about this guy. There's a stench of magic around him that I don't recognize.'
Ranma returned the favor, staring intently at the strange boy. He thought to himself, 'There's something not quite right about this boy. There's something about his aura that's not quite right. It has a weird flavor that I just can't put my finger on.'
"Have you come up with something that might help us?" Tofu asked, causing the two younger men to break their staring contest.
"I have the ability to sense some magical artifacts," Kagome said hesitantly, "And InuYasha here is real good at tracking demons. One of my other friends, who was unable to come with us, had some suggestions on what to look for. We thought at least we could help you search for the artifacts."
"Well let's get going," Ranma said as he gave InuYasha another piercing look. He had never seen eyes quite that color or silver hair on a boy that age. His attempts to read his aura had resulted in some very confusing impressions.
InuYasha just muttered, "Feh" as he rose gracefully from his sitting position and followed the others out the door. That Ranma was more than he appeared to be on the surface and InuYasha resolved to keep a close eye on him. 'He better not get too close to Kagome,' he thought, remembering Kouga.
When they arrived at the Kuno estate, an attractive woman, with short brown hair, greeted them. "How's it going, brothers-in-law?" she said smiling at Tofu and Ranma. "Who are your friends?" she asked as she led them through the attractive grounds to a gazebo where her husband was waiting.
Kuno rose from where he was sitting and bowed to his guests. "Mr. Higurashi, thank you for coming. I recognize the lovely lady as your granddaughter, but we have not been formally introduced," he said taking Kagome's hand out of habit. InuYasha growled and Nabiki pulled her husband's hand back.
"Behave yourself, Kuno-baby," she said under her breath. She looked to Tofu for introductions. Higurashi had noticed InuYasha's reaction and smiled knowingly to himself.
After the introductions had been made, Kuno offered to show Kagome and InuYasha around the house, giving them a quick tour to allow them to get their bearings. Then he suggested they regroup later to plan a more thorough search.
"What's with that guy, anyway?" Ranma asked Higurashi, "I swear he growled at Kuno."
"Oh, don't you mind InuYasha, that's just his way," Higurashi replied, "But it seems that he does have feelings for my dear Kagome after all. In fact, I think he may have actually been jealous." "Now, if only those two would go ahead and tell each other honestly how they feel, everything would be a little less tense around our house," he said mostly to himself.
"So, you think they like each other, but don't want to admit their feelings openly?" Nabiki asked, smirking at Ranma, "Remind you of anyone you know?"
"Oh, man!" Ranma said, "That's not a good situation to be in. I know from experience," he said remembering all the wasted high school years he had spent denying his feelings for Akane. "I sure hope they get their act together," he said. 'I wonder what I can do to help. After all, I'm an expert in screwed up relationships,' he thought and resolved to look for an opportunity.
Kuno soon brought Kagome and InuYasha back from the quick tour. Kagome said, "I'm sensing something but it appears to be below us. What's underground?"
"My sister's laboratory is the only thing I'm aware of, and we have searched that several times already," Kuno said, "But if that's where you think it is, I'll take you there."
As they walked down the hall toward the stairs, InuYasha sniffed the air tentatively and then asked, "What's in there?" jerking his thumb toward the closed door.
Kuno said, opening the door, "That's my sister's room. We have searched there before and Kagome says what she senses is below us."
"Just a hunch, humor me, okay," InuYasha said, brushing past him into the room. He began to sniff the air as he wandered around the room. Suddenly, he dropped to a crouch, sniffing the carpet near Kodachi's bed. The others just stared at him and Kagome began to blush and snuck past the others into the room. "This place reeks of demon," InuYasha announced before Kagome reached him.
"InuYasha has a very good sense of smell," she said, nervously waving her hands in a placating manner.
Ranma just shook his head, shrugging off InuYasha's odd behavior and said in a slightly sarcastic manner, "Well that's no big surprise. We already told ya we think she's possessed and has been for at least a month."
InuYasha immediately began to bristle at what he took to be an insulting comment. "Well that's the thanks I get for coming mmh..," he growled. He was cutoff as Kagome put her hand over his mouth.
"Let's get going downstairs, okay?" she said nervously.
Everyone filed out of the room and continued down the hallway. InuYasha folded his arms across his chest, saying "Feh!" and followed in a huff.
Kagome grabbed his arm and whispered, almost silently, "You are starting to make them suspicious. Try acting a little more like a human."
"I am not ashamed of what I am," he growled, not making any particular attempt to keep his voice down, "Why should I pretend to be a lousy human?"
"Please, InuYasha," she begged, "We're here to help that girl, remember?"
"Feh," he replied with his nose in the air as they followed the others. Ranma had been looking back over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. The group followed Kuno downstairs, where they found a padlocked door. Kuno unlocked the door and opened it, which revealed a large room full of shelves and several tables. Many of the tables showed signs of chemical spills, obvious signs of a former lab. Most of the tables and shelves were bare, except for some lab equipment. "We discarded most of the stuff in here a year or so ago," Kuno said, "and I don't see what we're looking for anywhere."
Kagome pointed toward one of the walls. "What I am feeling seems to be in that direction," she said.
Tofu walked over to the wall and said, "I don't see any boxes that could hold the doll or the necklace."
He started moving the few things on the shelf around. After they had removed everything off of the shelves, and examined them carefully as they went, Kagome began tapping on the wall and said, "I still sense something right here." Her knocking produced a hollow sound.
While the others had searched, InuYasha had been leaning against the wall. He pushed off from the wall and stalked impatiently over to Kagome and punched his hand effortlessly through the wall. After feeling around a moment with his arm up to the shoulder in the wall, he said, "There is a big, empty space back here." He pulled his arm back out bringing a portion of the wall down.
Ranma started over to help him, but by the time he got there, there was a large enough hole for a person to walk through. Higurashi said, "We need to be careful in there. Do not attempt to pick up anything until I say it's safe. There's no telling what other things may be hidden in there."
"It's kinda dark in there, did anyone think ta bring a flashlight?" Ranma asked. Tofu silently handed him a flashlight. Ranma stepped into the room, followed by InuYasha. As he panned around the room, he saw what appeared to be a light switch. He walked over to it, and flipped the switch. Several overhead lights turned on, changing the darkness into day. The walls were lined with shelves containing all different sizes and shapes of containers.
Kagome came into the room and walked directly to a small open box. She looked into the box and said, "This looks like what you're looking for, grandfather. At least the figurine is in here." She backed away from the box and waited for him to come over.
Higurashi placed some wards around his arms, and put on a pair of leather gloves. He came over to the box, and using a pair of iron tongs, he picked up the doll. He said, "The necklace is not in here." He put the doll back in the box and then placed the box on a convenient cart. "Could someone take this back upstairs, please?" he asked politely. Sasuke came forward, and the small ninja pushed the cart away. "Do you sense anything else, granddaughter?"
Kagome frowned in concentration. "No, I'm afraid I don't sense anything. Let's just keep searching. There is a lot of stuff to go through."
They spent the next several hours searching the room looking for the necklace. While they found many interesting things, the necklace wasn't one of them. Finally Kuno said, "That's everything. We've opened every container and it wasn't in there."
Kagome had an odd look on her face, as she realized there was a question that had not been asked. "Grandpa, did you look at Kodachi's things after she was brought to the hospital?"
All the men face faulted. Kuno cursed and said, "No, we didn't ever look at what she was wearing. Everything is still there at the hospital."
Higurashi groaned, "How did we manage to miss that, Tofu?"
Kagome answered, "Because you're men?" They filed out of the room, all of the men looking sheepish. Kagome had a smug look on her face as InuYasha snickered openly in disbelief.
"Looks like someone needs to make a trip back to the hospital," Ranma said, "While the rest of us put wards up around a large room."
"We can use the dojo, it is pretty good size and the walls are reinforced," Kuno said
InuYasha and Kagome followed Kuno into the hospital room. Ranma stood by the door. There they saw Kodachi sitting up in her bed, in restraints. "Hello, brother dear," Kodachi hissed, "It's so nice of you to visit. Sorry I couldn't rise when you came into the room, but as you can see, I'm all tied up at the moment." A look of pain and sorrow flashed across Kuno's face as he gazed upon his sister.
"Hello, 'Dachi, I'm sorry I haven't been by sooner. I brought a couple of friends by to talk to you. InuYasha, Kagome, this is my sister Kodachi. Kodachi, these are my friends, InuYasha and Kagome," Kuno said. Kagome bowed politely to Kodachi.
Kodachi slowly eyed InuYasha up and down. "Hmm, not bad brother dear, he is a tasty morsel," she purred, "You're an attractive one aren't you, InuYasha. You interest me more than you can know. I think you could even make me forget Ranma. Why don't you get rid of these two and we can 'talk'. Besides, why are you hanging around with this child, when you could be with a real woman?" InuYasha reddened in embarrassment.
Kagome bristled, and straightened up, thrusting her chest forward. "InuYasha!" she growled in warning.
InuYasha just crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air, ignoring them both, his face still reddened. Kuno went to the closet where her belongings were stored. Kagome just shook her head and said, "Don't bother looking there, she has something around her neck. That's probably the necklace."
InuYasha approached Kodachi and opened her gown, exposing the chain around her neck "My, my, how forward of you, InuYasha. Here you are taking advantage of a helpless woman," Kodachi said throatily, "This is very manly of you."
"Look's like you were right, Kagome. Your grandfather was hoping it would be here," InuYasha said.
"Good. Now we need to take her back to the estate," Ranma said from the door.
Kodachi wiggled suddenly, causing more of her body to be exposed as the gown fell further down on her shoulders. "Oh, Ranma-honey, you've come to take me," she moaned in pleasure, "How I've dreamed of you!"
"Kuno, can you get her out of here so we can take her home?" Kagome asked, "They should be done setting up the dojo by the time we get there."
"With as much money as my family has given to this place over the years, I better not have any problems," Kuno replied. He grabbed the phone and called Kodachi's doctor. After a few brief words explaining the situation, Kuno hung up and said, "It's all arranged. She can leave with us, although her doctor insisted on coming."
InuYasha warned, "Remember what Higurashi said, keep your wards on while we're with her." Kuno and Ranma put on a pair of silk gloves and then a pair of leather gloves over that. Ranma walked over to Kodachi and hit the same pressure point he had used before, paralyzing Kodachi. They released her from her restraints, and put her in a straightjacket.
The doctor stuck his head in the room and said, "The ambulance is ready, Mister Kuno. Would you come with me, please?" They followed him out of the room and down to the waiting vehicle. Kuno called ahead to the estate on his cell phone to alert them of their coming.
Upon reaching the Kuno estate, they escorted Kodachi into the dojo. She began to struggle when they entered after seeing the walls, windows and doors, liberally decorated with various spirit wards. After placing several on the doctor, they seated Kodachi on the floor and then chained her to a ring that was anchored in the floor. "InuYasha, why are you helping these humans destroy me?" Kodachi asked, "They mean nothing to one such as you."
InuYasha growled, "Silence, demon, you know nothing of who or what I am. Let's begin."
Higurashi approached carefully, and placed the clay doll near Kodachi. Then he removed the straight jacket and opened the neck of the gown enough to gain access to the chain. Using a pair of iron tongs, he pulled the pendant away from her body and placed it into a silken bag covered with wards. The pendant resisted as if it had a will of its own, but then with a pop, it slid into the bag. He tied the bag off with a piece of string and then began placing wards all over Kodachi. "Kaede assured Kagome that this would work," Higurashi said, "The wards will expel the demon if Kodachi's will is strong enough."
Kodachi began to throw herself around, the fiery look in her eyes diminished until suddenly an amorphous blob began pouring out of her body. Kodachi collapsed onto the floor. The cloud spun around looking for an exit, but the walls and ceiling had been completely sealed by the wards. The cloud began to condense into a solid form, and then suddenly in front of them was a naked female, with fiery red hair, the image of Ranma in his female form. Higurashi said, "Enter the doll, or be destroyed!"
"Why would I want to go back? I like this form that I have created. It suits me well."
Kuno began to drool, the goddess of his youth had appeared before him. She was calling to him to take her. "Pigtailed girl!" he cried, "You're real! I, Tatewaki Kuno, will save you!!" He started to move toward his goddess, Ranma looked on in total disgust for a moment and then grabbed Kuno.
"Kuno, stop that, she's a demon, that's not even her real form!" Ranma said, as Kuno struggled in his arms. Finally, he knocked Kuno out.
InuYasha jumped up high and came down screaming, "Iron Reiver Soul Stealer!!' As he did, his cap flew off, exposing his ears. With his arms outstretched like a hawk, and his hair trailing behind like a cape, he slashed the demon with his claws, destroying it. The doctor fainted, Tofu rushing over to see if he was all right. Higurashi carefully removed the necklace from around Kodachi's neck.
Ranma walked over to join Higurashi. "I don't sense the evil anymore, Mr. Higurashi. Do you?"
"No, it appears to be gone. InuYasha truly destroyed the demon," Higurashi said.
Ranma turned to InuYasha. "Thanks for your help, but what the hell are you? You're certainly not human," he asked.
Kagome stepped between them. "He's my friend, companion and sometimes, protector. His father was a demon, but his mother was human."
Ranma relaxed, and said, "That's good enough for me, Kagome." He walked to InuYasha and reached out a hand, "Again, thanks InuYasha. I would've had a tough time fighting something that looked just like me. I'm glad ya were here." InuYasha raised an eyebrow at that remark but reached out and clasped hands.
Kodachi woke from her faint. "Where am I?" she asked
Higurashi answered, "You're in the dojo at your estate. How are you feeling?"
"Much better, now that that thing is gone. Tell me it can never come back, please?" she begged.
InuYasha replied, "Wasn't a problem. I destroyed it. It's dead and it ain't comin back."
Kodachi stood up shakily, and after Ranma released her from the chain, went to InuYasha and hugged him with a hug that would have rivaled Shampoo on her best day. "Thank you, kind sir," she said, huskily, "I owe you a great debt. How can I repay you?"
Ranma hid a smile as he saw the expressions on Kagome and InuYasha's faces. It reminded him so much of Akane and himself. Then an idea came to him. "Hey, you two, it's getting late. Why don't you and Kagome come join my family for dinner, InuYasha? I want ya ta meet the family anyway."
Kagome said quickly, "That's a wonderful idea. Come on, InuYasha, stop playing around and let's go!"
Tofu looked at Ranma, mirth dancing in his eyes. "Make sure you tell them some of the old stories, Ranma," he said, "I'll stay here to make sure everyone else is okay."
"Come on, guys, I don't want to be late for dinner. Akane never likes it when I'm late," he said, practically running. InuYasha picked Kagome up and they followed Ranma to his home.
After dinner, Ranma had a brief conversation with his wife. Akane's eyes grew big, and then she laughed. Ranma took InuYasha aside and began to talk to him, telling him some of the events in Ranma's life, about how hard it was with all of the fiancées, fights, and all. Then he said, "I guess the worst part of all was how long it took me ta realize how much I loved Akane. Those two wasted years fighting each other, afraid ta admit we cared. If I regret anything, it is the pain I caused both of us because I was too proud to show my feelings." InuYasha looked unsettled, and then he stared at Kagome with a speculative look.
Akane had taken Kagome aside. As they played with the two little girls, Akane regaled Kagome with tales of her life once she had met Ranma, how she had been jealous of all of the fiancées, how she had fought herself as well as Ranma. Then she said, "The worst part was how long it took to admit that I loved Ranma. We wasted two years because of our fears. If I hadn't have been so proud, we would have been together sooner and a lot of the pain wouldn't have happened." Kagome stared at InuYasha, unsure of herself.
"We need to head on home, Ranma, Akane," Kagome said, "We have an long journey ahead of us tomorrow, and we need to leave early. Thank you for your hospitality."
Akane hugged Kagome. "Please feel free to drop in anytime, you two. We consider you our friends. Take care of yourselves," Akane said.
They watched InuYasha and Kagome walk out the gate. Akane turned to Ranma and asked, "Do you really think that helped?"
Ranma shrugged. "I hope so. They make a good couple. They remind me a lot of us at that age."
The same day at Ucchan's
Ukyo looked up as the door to her restaurant opened and said, "I'm sorry, we're not open quite yet. Oh, it's you two," as she recognized the happy couple. "Hey, Sham-chan, where've you been? Ryoga get lost again? It's almost time for the lunch crowd to start coming in."
"Sorry, Ucchan, Ryoga and I had something to take care of this morning and it took longer that we expected," Shampoo replied, "We're here now, Sis. We'll get busy."
Ukyo smiled. "It's pretty much ready. Hey, Ryoga, how'd you like waking up next to my sister this morning," she teased.
Ryoga blushed. Shampoo glared at her sister. "Ukyo, that wasn't very nice," she said.
"That's okay, dear, I don't mind. It made me realize that I'd done the right thing, though. Waking up with her in my arms was a real nice way to wake up. It's certainly something I want to do again, real soon," Ryoga replied.
Shampoo giggled at the blush on Ukyo's cheeks. "Ryoga, and here I thought you were real shy," Ukyo said.
"Well, I was warned that Shampoo was affectionate. I guess she rubbed off on me," Ryoga said innocently.
"I think she's been a good influence on you," Ukyo said, after controlling her laughter, "I think Ranma's gonna have to teach you Mouko Takabashi attacks now, I bet you couldn't get depressed enough for a Shi-Shi Hokoudan. Oops, it's time to open!" as customers started coming through the door.
Later that evening, Ukyo, Shampoo and Ryoga joined Nodoka and Soun for a late dinner at their home. The Amazon twins, Ling-ling and Lung-lung, had eaten at the restaurant earlier and were working the evening shift, but would be coming home soon. They had a pleasant conversation about the plans for Nodoka and Soun's upcoming wedding ceremony. Ukyo finally asked, "When are you two planning on having your wedding ceremony, Shampoo?"
"We haven't set a date for the ceremony yet. We want to stay out of the way of Mom's wedding after all. It needs to be about her," Shampoo replied.
Nodoka said, "That's sweet of you. I meant to warn you earlier, though; we rearranged your bedroom this afternoon. The girls thought we should but a larger bed in there."
Shampoo kept a straight face and said, "That will certainly come in handy. I'm going to bathe, now. Come, Airen, you can scrub my back," as she grabbed his hand.
Ryoga blushed, and shrugged his shoulder helplessly in a 'what can I do manner.' Ukyo smiled and asked, "Is that a three thousand year old Amazon tradition?"
Shampoo looked back over her shoulder and smiled brightly. "Maybe," she said saucily as they vanished down the hall.