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Go read Luna's and Shelly-chan's fics! They be awesome!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Hikari.
Chapter 2
-Twelve Years Later-
"HA!" Hikari slammed the Ring of Heaven and Earth down on the rat demon's head. With a gold starburst of light, the demon crumbled into dust, leaving behind a sparkling purple shard. "Oh! A piece of the Sacred Jewel!" Hikari exclaimed, scooping it up and placing it in her small pouch. "That makes two bits I've found." She smiled, but the grin evaporated off her face when she heard the footsteps of several people.
"What was that noise, Seiki-sama?" asked a man.
"There's rumors of a demon in the woods..." his master responded.
Damn, I'd better go. Hikari lightly took off into the woods.
She didn't stop until nightfall, when she spied a hot spring. I could really use a dip right now, she thought, so she stripped off her clothing but kept the pouch tied on, and waded into the warm water. It felt nice on her sweaty skin. Hikari relaxed and breathed in the mineral scent. She had almost fallen asleep when a voice made her nearly jump out of her skin.
"...Poor Inuyasha, he took such a bad hit during the fight with the vapor youkai. I can't believe the Wind Scar didn't work!"
Inuyasha? Hikari's mind automatically flicked back to that moment twelve years ago when she had spoken to him, still pinned on the Goshinboku by an arrow. She still remembered the last words she had spoken to him. Inuyasha. I hope you wake up sometime for real, Inuyasha. So he was awake now? She couldn't believe it.
Clambering out of the hot spring, Hikari put her clothes back on and hid behind a rock, trying to see if she could pick out some other things about Inuyasha. But nothing else was said about Inuyasha.
There was a splash, as though one of the girls had stood up suddenly. "Kagome? What's wrong?"
"Sango, I sense the presence of a Sacred Jewel shard!" exclaimed the other girl. "It's coming from over there!" She pointed to where Hikari was concealed, behind the rock.
She can sense the Sacred Jewel shards, Hikari thought in wonder, as she touched the tiny fragment of the gleaming Shikon Jewel she always wore at her waist in a small pouch.
Sango and Kagome emerged with towels wrapped around their bodies and saw Hikari. "What are you doing here?" Sango asked in a demanding tone. "Why were you spying on us?"
Hikari took a deep breath and said in her best bargaining voice, "I'll give you the Sacred Jewel shard if you let me see Inuyasha."
"Let her, Sango," the girl called Kagome whispered. "The jewel shard she carries isn't tainted."
"All right, then." Sango gave Hikari another suspicious look, and she and Kagome got dressed. "Follow us."
They walked down a short path from the hot spring and reached an old cabin. Sitting inside was a monk, a small kitsune, and a tiny catlike creature. Inuyasha was lying on a straw mat on the dirt floor. He was covered in blood, some fresh, some crusted but other than that he looked exactly like Hikari remembered him.
"I didn't bring enough medicine from my world and there aren't any herbs around here," Kagome said, dejected. "That's why he's like this."
"You didn't need to," Hikari replied. "There are natural healing minerals in the hot spring. I could smell them."
"Really?"
She nodded."Shippo, can you do me a favor and bring back a tub full of hot spring water?" asked Kagome.
"Sure!" The little kitsune got up and scampered out of the cabin with a washtub in his hands.
"You didn't introduce me to this lovely young lady, Kagome," said Miroku with a lecherous grin.
"I'm Hikari," she said. Sango was eyeing Miroku warily.
"Ah, Miss Hikari. Since you are helping Inuyasha, could you help me as well?"
"O-okay."
"Please bear my—"
THWAM! Miroku was cut off by Sango's Hiraikotsu. "Baka hentai!" she muttered furiously.
Just then, Shippo returned, saving Miroku from further pain. He set down the tub full of steamy spring water in front of Kagome, and dug into her backpack for his reward: a giant lollipop. While he was rummaging, a washcloth fell on the floor. Hikari picked it up, dipped it in water and began removing Inuyasha's ruined clothing.
"You don't have to—" Kagome began, but Hikari smiled and nodded. "Yes I do. I met him long before you all did." She told them her fondest memory of twelve years. "Since then, my biggest wish has been to see him again, awake for real."
"Oh, wow," Kagome breathed. "You were only three when this happened?"
"Yeah! If it weren't for Inuyasha, I'd still be a nameless little girl who can't stick up for herself." She gently scrubbed away dried, crusted blood and put fresh bandages on.
Inuyasha woke up to warm cloth on him and kind hands washing his wounds. Kagome? He groaned and opened his eyes. Staring at him from her reddish-brown bangs was a cat hanyou that looked vaguely familiar. Even so, he was astonished and the first words that popped out of his mouth were: "Who the hell are you?"
Instead of the angry response he expected from her, tears of happiness swelled up in her eyes as she exclaimed, "Inuyasha! It's really you! Alive for real!"
Alive for real? He remembered a vivid dream he'd had, almost right before he was unsealed. A little cat hanyou with the same rust-colored hair and eyes, all alone and orphaned. "But go ahead, chose a name, I don't really care...
'The light is so nice! I know! My name from now on will be... Hikari!'"
"You... it really happened?" he asked. "I thought it was all a dream. But I could see you, wearing that raggedy, torn green kimono. You called yourself... wasn't it Hikari?"
She nodded. "It's late," said Kagome, cutting in gently. "Let's go to sleep. If Inuyasha is better tomorrow, we'll go back to Kaede's and get some herbs. Miroku, could your friend Hachi give us a lift?"
He nodded. One by one, they lay down on sleeping bags and mats and went to sleep. Hikari had curled up on a pile of straw nearest to Inuyasha.
Despite his wounds, Inuyasha couldn't sleep. His eyes kept wandering, for some reason, to the dreaming Hikari. She had grown up since he last saw her. Well no duh, he thought to himself. It's been twelve years. Her body, though still scrawny and petite, at least had a few curves, her hair was not neatly cut but roughly chopped and her cat ears were slightly bigger. What the—Inuyasha mentally kicked himself for looking at her in such an inappropriate way. He turned red, flopped over on his mat, and determinedly shut his eyes.
