Disclaimer: The author of this story does not own anything (or anyone) used in this story.
How the writing is organized:
"....." speaking
'......' thoughts and quotes (if it's quotes then it'll be in the speaking)
Word character's actions or sound he or she makes
(......) notes
Italics how much time has passed or where the scene is taking place
Chapter Ten: New Friends and Hanyou Versus Youkai
With Miroku and Inuyasha, who are walking back to the inn
"Well, Inuyasha, you can drop the act now. I know your nature is not that well mannered," Miroku started.
"Feh. How'd you know?" Inuyasha questioned, wondering if it was obvious he was not the gentleman he had pretended to be while he was in front of Kagome.
"From what I've seen from youkai, most of them tend to think they are superior, resulting in no regard for beings weaker than them, such as humans, for example. Besides, you hardly seem like the type to keep to himself," Miroku explained as they reached the inn. "Here we are. I think there is a spare room in the left wing," Miroku said as he led the way to an empty room.
"If you know that I'm not a gentleman, why didn't you tell Lady Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, wondering what would happen if Kagome found out that he was pretending to be nice.
"In my opinion, females are delicate beings that are impossible to lure into your grasp unless you treat them properly. That is why I always use my charms to entice a woman. If you aren't gentle with them, they run away. That is why I treat women differently from men, like all men should. Ahh! There's a lovely woman coming our way. Watch and learn from the master! I will have that woman in my arms within minutes!" Miroku giddily exclaimed as the thought of yet another woman in his perverted hands. Walking up to meet his new-found treasure, he introduced himself. "My name's Miroku. May I ask who this beauty before me might be?" Miroku asked as he finished off his introduction with a kiss on the woman's hand, causing the woman to blush slightly at the thought of the handsome man in front of her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm-" the unsuspecting woman was cut off as Miroku's expert hands finally reached the woman's rear. "How dare you! You disrespectful monk!" the now furious woman screeched as she punched Miroku's head and dashed pass Inuyasha, willing to do anything to be as far away as possible from the monk, who she now believed to be possessed by a demonic spirit.
"Feh! Using your charms, eh? Learn from the master? You're despicable. No one will sink to that level. And here I thought that as a monk, you would be better than me," Inuyasha disapproved as he went up to Miroku and waited for him to get up and lead him to his room.
"I can't help it. That beautiful rear was waiting for me," Miroku sighed as he got up and headed to the room that Inuyasha will stay in. After walking for a few more seconds, they reached their destination at last. "This'll be your room, Inuyasha. I'll see you tomorrow. If you want food, just ask a servant to take the orders to the kitchen."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," replied Inuyasha as he entered the room and closed the door.
Miroku was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something. "Before I forget, Inuyasha, do you want to join my friends on our trip around the village? I'm sure you'll like to see some of the sights before you leave." Miroku asked, hoping to set up Inuyasha for his scheme.
"Fine," was all Inuyasha said from behind the door as he took out his sword and began to polish it.
The next day, in the morning, with Miroku, who is standing in front of Inuyasha's door
"Inuyasha! Hurry up! How long do you take to get dressed?" Miroku asked, growing impatient because he knew he had to be on time, or else a certain inuyoukai will have his head for taking so long.
"Alright! I'm out!" yelled a fustrated Inuyasha, who had an unpleasant wakeup call from Miroku. "Feh! It's your fault! You didn't have to get me drenched!" Stepping outside the room, Inuyasha attempted to punch the monk, only to find that he was already heading out of the entrance to the inn. Hastily, he grabbed his sword and scurried after him.
Near the forest next to the village, with Miroku and Inuyasha
"Feh! I don't the point of being here. Why do we have to walk this far just to meet you friends. Why couldn't we meet at the inn?" a bored Inuyasha questioned.
"One of them is training in the forest right now. I left a note to tell the other that he should come here. I thought we could do some training before we go into town. It's a waste to not take advantage of such a sunny day." Miroku explained as he looked around. Spotting a figure amongst the trees, he pointed him out, saying to Inuyasha, "There he is. We made it just in time."
Approaching them, the unidentified figure scowled at the sight of the monk's companion. "A hanyou? Miroku, it's not good to associate with half-breeds." the newcomer reprimanded.
"Ah, Lord Sesshy, good morning! This is my friend, Inuyasha," Miroku introduced before he was cut off by a livid hanyou.
"Half-breed am I? I bet I can bet you anytime," Inuyasha provoked as he used his right hand to move the hilt of his sword an inch or so from the scabbard, which was on his left.
"It's not worth my time to waste it on mistakes like you," Sesshy said as he ignored Inuyasha.
Without warning, Inuyasha jumped at Sesshy, aiming for the youkai's chest, only to be blocked by another sword, the result of Sesshy's extremely quick battle reflexes. "Darn you! I'll get you!" Inuyasha said, noticing he should be on high alert with this obviously well-trained lord.
"Finally noticed that you half-breeds will never reach our caliber haven't you?" Sesshy said with an air of superiority as he blocked and prepared to strike.
Without warning, a voice shouted out, "Stop this battle at once!" Heads immediately turned in all directions as they looked for the source. The two fighters paused at once, trying to sniff out the scent of the possible threat. No matter how hard they tried, they could not find a scent anywhere. "You can stop sniffing; it won't work. I've concealed my scent and my aura. Besides, Miroku of all people should have been able to recognize my voice," Kagome, disguised as Kai, said as she came out onto the battlefield dressed in boy's clothing with her hair tied up. 'Good thing I remmbered to seal my scent or else my disguise will be revealed, since Inuyasha knows it belongs to Lady Kagome, not a boy named Kai,' Kagome thought to herself. "You could have at least waited for me, Miroku! Leaving your best friend with only a note at the inn, how disgraceful! And you two, start working on your manners, beginning the training without waiting for me," Kagome lectured as she began her plan to stop the two's dispute.
"What do you mean? We're not training! I don't even know you! The two of us are fighting here! We don't like each other! Use your eyes, or are you blind?" argued a frustrated Inuyasha, looking at the familiar-looking newcomer, wondering if he saw him before.
"Kai, I'm trying to teach this insolent hanyou a lesson. Please save you talk until later; I won't take long, he's not very challenging," a calm Sesshy stated as he prepared to reengage the fighting.
"No! You are obviously training. You just don't want to let me in on the fun. If you were enemies, then you wouldn't agree on the fact that you are battling each other." Kagome said, trying to force them into stopping.
"You know, Kai, for someone as smart as you, you know that statement is not true at all. Now, stop stalling and let me get rid of this unworthy half-breed," Sesshy replied, seeing what Kai is trying to do.
"If he's a worthless half-breed, then you shouldn't waste your time on him. After all, you wouldn't want to taint your sword with the blood of an outcast, do you? Come on, I'm sure the two of us are hungry. You've just finished your training and I haven't had breakfast yet. Let's go!" Kagome pleaded as she hoped this method will work and end the pointless fight. 'If they don't stop, Sesshy will probably kill or injure Inuyasha severely. And if he's unable to do anything, I'll end up marrying that spoiled idiot, Hojo.' Kagome thought to herself.
"Very well, Kai. I don't see the point in letting this half-breed live but knowing that you won't stop till we discontinue the fight, I will let it go this time," Sesshy agreed, knowing that with Kai's personality, he will do anything to save a person's life. Miroku, Sesshy and Kagome headed towards the village when they were stopped by a certain hanyou.
"Where do you think you're going? I still haven't beaten you!" a pissed off Inuyasha yelled as he stood in front of them.
"Look, I only stopped Sesshy because you are Miroku's friend. The least you could do is to give up, let alone thank Sesshy and me. You know he's stronger than you. Why don't you let it go and join us for the rest of the day. That was the whole point of meeting in the forrest," Kagome disguised her true motive as she walked around the stubborn hanyou.
"Make me!" Inuyasha dared. All of the sudden, chanting from Kai could be heard as prayer beads surrounded Inuyasha's neck.
"Sit!" commanded Kagome as Inuyasha was sent pounding into the ground, leaving an unconscious hanyou laying sprawled out deep into the forest's floor.
At the same time, in a dark, gloomy castle that is located near the capital city
Stopping in front of a screen, Hojo kneeled down with one knee and spoke to the person behind the screen, "Father, I have returned." Suddenly, Hojo was pushed back by an invisible force, knocking him off balance.
"You don't deserve to call me 'Father'. You shall speak properly, calling me by my title. That is a common rule all lords and their sons follow, and you have yet to learn it over the twenty years, as I have repeatedly told you to do so. Disgraceful. You are late and you shall be punished," the individual commanded. "Well, what are you waiting for? Give me your report. I don't have time to waste on incompetent fool of a son like you."
"Yes, my lord. I made the proposal to Lord Higurashi like you wanted me to. However, the girl was already engaged to another. I couldn't get him to cancel the engagement but her fiancée was there. I challenged the boy for the privilege to get married to her. He accepted. He should be easy to beat. Don't worry about it my lord, I have it under control," a boastful Hojo gloated as his body swelled with pride about how smart he was with handling the problem. However, his short glorious moment was terminated as he was pushed back yet again by the invisible force.
"You useless boy!" hollered the unidentified man. "You had two well trained servants with you! Why didn't you force Higurashi into letting you have the girl? You have wasted my time! My plans have been delayed! Now I have to change all of it! Guards! Take this blundering idiot and lock him in the dungeon. He will receive neither water nor food until he is freed. He will have no visitors at all and the guards that are watching him are not to speak to him." With that, Hojo was dragged away to one of the most atrocious dungeons in all of the four lands.
Author's Note: I'm still having my writer's block so I am terribly sorry if the characters seemed out of character. This chapter was a bit longer then I intended it to be so I had to publish it a bit later than usual. I would like to take this opportunity to really thank Jamie for pointing out the fact that I would have missed in this chapter if it wasn't for the comment in the review (and since you're good at picking up stuff I missed, I was wondering if you are interested in being my beta-reader since I don't have much time for editing). I would like to give a great big thank you to Jamie, jaryjosephwantsapplejuicenow, Prepare For I Am The Sugar Kitten, aznish, and, borken hearts,crying tears who have continued to leave a comment after their first review. In addition, I would like to thank kay, Kuraii Koneko, Kahana, heaven, ShawKoh1989WinterBlossom/YukiSakura, Dorie, Krazy, Inu-pup1outofplace, and Melpomene05 who have all left a review for me. I would like to point out that with the votes, I am only accepting one vote per person, or else it won't be fair to the other people (but you are welcome to find friends who can vote for the pairings you want). However, if it is not about the same pairing, feel free to mention the other pairing you want. Lastly, the voting is still continuing and if you have any suggestions about the story or about any pairing(s), let me know and I'll try my best. Again, the Miroku and Sango pairing is guarantied as are the Inuyasha and Kagome pairing and the Sesshomaru and Kagome pairing. Also, let me know if you want Rin to be older (like teenager or adult or remain same age as in the anime/manga) and if you want her to be youkai or not.
Reminder: One vote for each pairing will be counted for a vote from one person. If one person votes for the same pairing twice, the second or whatsoever vote will not be counted. However, if that person changes his or her mind or wants to vote for another pairing or about the extras, the person is free to do so.
Possible Pairings (ones being planned unless voted/suggested otherwise- will pretty much be in both endings for sure):
Kouga and Kagura Votes so far: 1
or
Kouga and Ayame Votes so far: 1
Hinten and Kagura Votes so far: 1
And for Alternative Endings (these pairings will be added to the other pairings in the Alternative Endings):
Sesshomaru and Rin (if Rin is older) Votes so far: 2
Inuyasha and Kikyo Votes so far: 1
Shippo and Rin (if you don't want Rin to be older)
Kageromaru and Kikyo Votes so far: 1
First ending to come out (the other ending will be the alternate):
Inuyasha and Kagome Votes so far: 6
Sesshomaru and Kagome Votes so far: 5
Extras:
Rin being youkai: For: 1 Against:
Rin being older: For: 2 Against: 1
Something I want to point out: I found that there is a bit of confusion about the pairings so I'm going to explain it in detail.There will be two endings for this story, Ending A and Ending B. Ending A will have Inuyasha and Kagome whereas Ending B will have Sesshomaru and Kagome. Whichever ending will be written first will be decided by the most votes. However, added pairings will work differently. For example in Ending A, there will be the Inuyasha and Kagome ending plus the added pairing, which might be Sesshomaru and Rin for example. Likewise, in Ending B, it will be Sesshomaru and Kagome plus the added pairing, which might be Inuyasha and Kikyo. However, the pairings not involving Inuyasha and Sesshomaru will almost definitely be included in both endings.