"How many times do I have to say that I'm sorry?" Juanyu complained.
He and Inuyasha were around a fire by a river. Near the bank the hanyou had erected some branches into a drying rack. On it were Hikaru's clothing, cleaned of blood and drying. Juanyu had some skinned rabbit roasting on sticks and some broth simmering in a small pot.
The hanyou was seated across from him, glaring at the man over the flames. "Much more," he said. He saw Juanyu's sullen look and slammed his fist into the ground. "What did you expect? You only made Hikaru worse earlier!" he shouted.
******
Flashback
Inuyasha was standing upwind from the now conscious Hikaru. She was behind him, hidden within a small cluster of trees. The sounds of retching were clearly audible.
The miko had woken up with next to no memory of what she had done and was dismayed at all the blood on her. This only made her go pale; she became sick when Inuyasha and Juanyu told her what she had done. They managed to get her to a secluded area before she couldn't control herself anymore.
Inuyasha stood over her for protection while Juanyu said he was going to find some food. The hanyou gave her Tetsusaiga to lean on and to give her some protection from her youkai blood. He was now waiting for her to get done being sick. Part of him was disgusted at her reaction; but another part reasoned that maybe the girl had never taken a life before. This made him feel sorry for her.
He showed none of this though when she finally emerged from the woods. Her face was still pale and had one hand clutching his sword on her stomach. He lost some of his show as she gave him a weak smile.
"I'm sorry for acting like this, Inuyasha. An experienced warrior like you, you're probably think that my reaction was embarrassing," she said.
He smiled too and shook his head. "No, none at all. Actually, I'm a bit relieved by this. After what you did to that miko girl, I was a little worried about how you would feel about having to take someone's life. But now I know. You would rather beat your opponent into submission rather than kill them. And I'm glad of that," he replied assuring her. About this time their noses picked up the scent of fresh blood. They turned and saw Juanyu came up the trail carrying some freshly killed rabbits.
"Hello everyone. I found some food for lunch!" he called out. At the sight of the rabbits, Hikaru's other hand went to her mouth and her face turned green. She rushed back into the woods and began vomiting again.
Inuyasha walked up to Juanyu and hit him on top of the head. "Idiot!" was all he said.
******
Juanyu massaged the top of his head in memory. "Well, yeah, I guess that I deserved that didn't I?" he said.
Inuyasha nodded, "You sure did."
"Inuyasha-sama!" a pipe-size voice cried out. Juanyu saw something small jump from the ground and land itself on the hanyou's nose. It sucked a little bit before Inuyasha hit his nose.
"Myouga, I was wondering when you would show up again," Inuyasha said.
"Huh? You know that thing?" Juanyu asked.
"Yeah. This is Myouga, the flea-youkai. He use to serve my father but now he has attached himself to me."
"And who might you be?" Myouga asked.
"I'm Juanyu, a friend."
Satisfied, for now, the flea returned his attention to his master. "I'm so glad that you're all right, Inuyasha-sama. When I tasted that berserk-tainted blood, I thought for sure that something terribly wrong had happened to you."
Inuyasha looked confused. "What are you talking about?"
"At the sight of the battle between you and those youkai spiders, Inuyasha-sama."
"You thought that was me? But I didn't lose any blood during that battle."
Now it was the youkai's turn to be confused. "But it tasted like your blood. If it wasn't yours, then whose?"
The two men looked at each other in surprise and bewilderment. "Um, Myouga, I'm not the only new friend that Inuyasha has made," Juanyu said.
******
Hikaru sneezed and her body shivered. She was upriver from the men, washing herself underneath the power of a waterfall. Tetsusaiga was still clutched in her hands. Inuyasha had told her of its powers and thought it best that she hold onto it for now. And the miko was grateful.
Although all the blood was gone, she still felt unclean. How could she have done that? How could she have taken a life so casually? Was that the curse of her youkai blood? If it was, then she never wanted to lose control again. But how when whatever protection that held the youkai blood in her reigned in was apparently gone.
Hikaru pushed the gloomy thoughts aside and tried to focus on other things. Her wounds were healing nicely. But her right arm ached when she tried to move it and the same happened with her side when she walked. The cut across her chest was gone completely. She sighed.
The cross that she normally wore must have gotten lost in the fight. The hanyou mourned its lost. It was one of the few mementos she had from the island where she grew up. She knew how to carve another one, but it was the sentimental value she missed.
After another sneeze, she decided that she had been long enough and it was time to return to the guys. Staying in the water, she carefully walked back down to where they were. When she got close to the fire, she lowered herself deeper into the water for modesty's sake. She could hear them talking and called out that she was coming. Both men were startled and sat on the same side of the fire with their backs towards her. She climbed out and found her pack out and ready for her. Hikaru managed to dry herself off and found some dry clothing. After she had dressed she tapped both of them on the shoulder.
"It's all right. I'm dressed," she said and took a seat by the fire. Then she began to twist her thick hair to squeeze most of the water out. Once she was sure that she got out as much as she could, she used her fingers to comb through the mess.
They stared at her for a moment. They had never seen anyone dressed quite like this before. Hikaru was wearing a long, brown robe that went down to the middle of her calves. From there pants made out of the same material covered the rest of her legs. The sleeves came to her wrists and were a bit larger than necessary. A bunch of the material had been gathered in the back to form a hood. Some rope around wrapped around the middle cinched in to form the waist and act as a belt with small bags hanging form it. Tetsusaiga was placed in her lap.
It took Hikaru a minute to notice the glares. "What?" she asked. Then she looked down at her clothing. "Oh, this. This was what I normally wore when I was growing up and when I first came here," she said.
Juanyu rubbed his chin, "Yeah. I vaguely remember seeing you wearing that. It has been a while since you have."
Myouga jumped from Inuyasha's hand landed on her knee and performed an elaborate bow. "Hello, young lady. I'm Myouga, a humble servant of Inuyasha-sama. You must be Hikaru."
The miko looked at him and nodded. Then she looked closer at him and gasped. "There it is!" she practically squealed. She grabbed the flea with both hands.
Both men were shocked by her reaction then saw that she was attempting to separate the flea from something. But Myouga wasn't inclined to let go.
"Stop it! Stop it! It's mine! I found it!" he shouted.
"Hey, Myouga, what is it?" Inuyasha demanded.
His shout distracted the flea long enough for Hikaru to finally succeed in getting whatever it was the flea had.
"It is something I found at the battle scene, Inuyasha-sama. And that girl stole it form me!"
"It's really mine, Inuyasha. It's the cross I was given by my order as a child." She paused and thought back. "In fact, as long as I was wearing it, nothing happened to me. But," she put a hand to her chest, "when that spider cut across me here, she must have cut the cord and I lost the cross."
"And shortly afterward you went berserk," Juanyu said. The group's eyes went wide in realization.
"Myouga, let her have it back," Inuyasha ordered.
"But, my lord…" the flea began.
"No. It rightfully belongs to her. Besides, that thing may be the thing that was sealing her youkai blood. Trust me, you don't want to see her if her youkai blood gets control of her again," Inuyasha said.
The flea was silent for a moment then sighed. He remembered what his master was like under the complete influence of his youkai blood. So he caved in and allowed the cross to be returned to Hikaru.
Juanyu searched in the basket and found some thread, which Hikaru normally used to sew large wounds back together. The miko braided some lengths of thread together and restrung the cross and tied it around her neck.
She sighed with relief, "I feel much better now. Here's your sword back, Inuyasha." The hanyou gratefully accepted his inheritance back.
By this time, all the food was ready. Juanyu and Hikaru ate in silence while Inuyasha spoke to Myouga. It had been a long time since they were forced to part company.
"So where are the others?" Inuyasha asked in between bites.
"Miroku, Sango, and Shippou are looking for you as well, Inuyasha-sama. Kagome was sent back to her world. We thought that with you gone, it would not be wise for her to stay here. We told her that when we found you, you would go back and fetch her," Myouga replied.
Inuyasha grunted his approval. He didn't doubt the skills of his friends, but he knew that he would be worried if Kagome was wondering around this world without him. He hoped that he could return to the village soon. He tossed what remained of his rabbit into the fire.
"So, Hikaru. Which direction do we go now?" he asked.
The miko finished her broth with relish and thought for a moment. "Myouga-san, how long has it taken you to get here?" she asked.
The flea looked up at her with relief in his eyes. Ah, here was another person that realized the value he could be. "It has taken me three weeks to get here, and that was just by flying on a raven," he replied.
"Hmmm, and how far away was the group from the village when Inuyasha was taken?"
"About two weeks, maybe more," the hanyou said.
"Then I guess that it could take us about two months to get back there," she said. "Maybe more because we have to walk."
Inuyasha stood up. "Then let's get going," he said. Juanyu gathered their supplies and Hikaru banked the fire. Myouga jumped up and landed on Inuyasha's shoulder to ride along.
Together they left the river and headed into the woods.
******
By the time that evening fell, they were deep in the darkened wood. There wasn't any visible trail and the going was tough. Rocks and roots threatened to cause the unwary traveler to trip and stumble. It was easy to get lost.
Hikaru as in the lead and was using her staff to help her find any sudden drops in terrain; the setting sun and the thick overhang of the branches made it darker than it truly was. It also sent a unsettling shiver down her spine, it was in a setting like this that the youkai spiders attacked and she lost control of herself. The miko was trying mightily to forget it; not that she could remember much of what had happened.
Behind her, Myouga was carrying a lively conversation with Juanyu. The flea youkai was regaling the young man with stories about Inuyasha. The hanyou in question and several times threatened massive bodily harm unto his servant if said servant didn't shut up. But that didn't faze Myouga. He was use to Inuyasha's threats. He just continued talking about Inuyasha's adventures.
Hikaru giggled at the men's antics. They were just the thing to lift her gloomy mood. She knew that it would not do to dwell on things that she had done when she wasn't in control of herself. But still the death of that man would haunt her many nights to come.
As she was thinking these thoughts, she failed to notice that the path she was taking was different from the path that the men were being led down. And they were too busy talking to notice either. So it was several minutes before Hikaru realized that none of the men were talking.
"Hey, guys, is everything all right back there? We should start looking for a place to camp for the night. It's getting too dark to find anything resembling a trail here," she said.
She turned to find herself alone and lost in the darkening forest.
"Guys, where are you? Guys? GUYS!"
He and Inuyasha were around a fire by a river. Near the bank the hanyou had erected some branches into a drying rack. On it were Hikaru's clothing, cleaned of blood and drying. Juanyu had some skinned rabbit roasting on sticks and some broth simmering in a small pot.
The hanyou was seated across from him, glaring at the man over the flames. "Much more," he said. He saw Juanyu's sullen look and slammed his fist into the ground. "What did you expect? You only made Hikaru worse earlier!" he shouted.
******
Flashback
Inuyasha was standing upwind from the now conscious Hikaru. She was behind him, hidden within a small cluster of trees. The sounds of retching were clearly audible.
The miko had woken up with next to no memory of what she had done and was dismayed at all the blood on her. This only made her go pale; she became sick when Inuyasha and Juanyu told her what she had done. They managed to get her to a secluded area before she couldn't control herself anymore.
Inuyasha stood over her for protection while Juanyu said he was going to find some food. The hanyou gave her Tetsusaiga to lean on and to give her some protection from her youkai blood. He was now waiting for her to get done being sick. Part of him was disgusted at her reaction; but another part reasoned that maybe the girl had never taken a life before. This made him feel sorry for her.
He showed none of this though when she finally emerged from the woods. Her face was still pale and had one hand clutching his sword on her stomach. He lost some of his show as she gave him a weak smile.
"I'm sorry for acting like this, Inuyasha. An experienced warrior like you, you're probably think that my reaction was embarrassing," she said.
He smiled too and shook his head. "No, none at all. Actually, I'm a bit relieved by this. After what you did to that miko girl, I was a little worried about how you would feel about having to take someone's life. But now I know. You would rather beat your opponent into submission rather than kill them. And I'm glad of that," he replied assuring her. About this time their noses picked up the scent of fresh blood. They turned and saw Juanyu came up the trail carrying some freshly killed rabbits.
"Hello everyone. I found some food for lunch!" he called out. At the sight of the rabbits, Hikaru's other hand went to her mouth and her face turned green. She rushed back into the woods and began vomiting again.
Inuyasha walked up to Juanyu and hit him on top of the head. "Idiot!" was all he said.
******
Juanyu massaged the top of his head in memory. "Well, yeah, I guess that I deserved that didn't I?" he said.
Inuyasha nodded, "You sure did."
"Inuyasha-sama!" a pipe-size voice cried out. Juanyu saw something small jump from the ground and land itself on the hanyou's nose. It sucked a little bit before Inuyasha hit his nose.
"Myouga, I was wondering when you would show up again," Inuyasha said.
"Huh? You know that thing?" Juanyu asked.
"Yeah. This is Myouga, the flea-youkai. He use to serve my father but now he has attached himself to me."
"And who might you be?" Myouga asked.
"I'm Juanyu, a friend."
Satisfied, for now, the flea returned his attention to his master. "I'm so glad that you're all right, Inuyasha-sama. When I tasted that berserk-tainted blood, I thought for sure that something terribly wrong had happened to you."
Inuyasha looked confused. "What are you talking about?"
"At the sight of the battle between you and those youkai spiders, Inuyasha-sama."
"You thought that was me? But I didn't lose any blood during that battle."
Now it was the youkai's turn to be confused. "But it tasted like your blood. If it wasn't yours, then whose?"
The two men looked at each other in surprise and bewilderment. "Um, Myouga, I'm not the only new friend that Inuyasha has made," Juanyu said.
******
Hikaru sneezed and her body shivered. She was upriver from the men, washing herself underneath the power of a waterfall. Tetsusaiga was still clutched in her hands. Inuyasha had told her of its powers and thought it best that she hold onto it for now. And the miko was grateful.
Although all the blood was gone, she still felt unclean. How could she have done that? How could she have taken a life so casually? Was that the curse of her youkai blood? If it was, then she never wanted to lose control again. But how when whatever protection that held the youkai blood in her reigned in was apparently gone.
Hikaru pushed the gloomy thoughts aside and tried to focus on other things. Her wounds were healing nicely. But her right arm ached when she tried to move it and the same happened with her side when she walked. The cut across her chest was gone completely. She sighed.
The cross that she normally wore must have gotten lost in the fight. The hanyou mourned its lost. It was one of the few mementos she had from the island where she grew up. She knew how to carve another one, but it was the sentimental value she missed.
After another sneeze, she decided that she had been long enough and it was time to return to the guys. Staying in the water, she carefully walked back down to where they were. When she got close to the fire, she lowered herself deeper into the water for modesty's sake. She could hear them talking and called out that she was coming. Both men were startled and sat on the same side of the fire with their backs towards her. She climbed out and found her pack out and ready for her. Hikaru managed to dry herself off and found some dry clothing. After she had dressed she tapped both of them on the shoulder.
"It's all right. I'm dressed," she said and took a seat by the fire. Then she began to twist her thick hair to squeeze most of the water out. Once she was sure that she got out as much as she could, she used her fingers to comb through the mess.
They stared at her for a moment. They had never seen anyone dressed quite like this before. Hikaru was wearing a long, brown robe that went down to the middle of her calves. From there pants made out of the same material covered the rest of her legs. The sleeves came to her wrists and were a bit larger than necessary. A bunch of the material had been gathered in the back to form a hood. Some rope around wrapped around the middle cinched in to form the waist and act as a belt with small bags hanging form it. Tetsusaiga was placed in her lap.
It took Hikaru a minute to notice the glares. "What?" she asked. Then she looked down at her clothing. "Oh, this. This was what I normally wore when I was growing up and when I first came here," she said.
Juanyu rubbed his chin, "Yeah. I vaguely remember seeing you wearing that. It has been a while since you have."
Myouga jumped from Inuyasha's hand landed on her knee and performed an elaborate bow. "Hello, young lady. I'm Myouga, a humble servant of Inuyasha-sama. You must be Hikaru."
The miko looked at him and nodded. Then she looked closer at him and gasped. "There it is!" she practically squealed. She grabbed the flea with both hands.
Both men were shocked by her reaction then saw that she was attempting to separate the flea from something. But Myouga wasn't inclined to let go.
"Stop it! Stop it! It's mine! I found it!" he shouted.
"Hey, Myouga, what is it?" Inuyasha demanded.
His shout distracted the flea long enough for Hikaru to finally succeed in getting whatever it was the flea had.
"It is something I found at the battle scene, Inuyasha-sama. And that girl stole it form me!"
"It's really mine, Inuyasha. It's the cross I was given by my order as a child." She paused and thought back. "In fact, as long as I was wearing it, nothing happened to me. But," she put a hand to her chest, "when that spider cut across me here, she must have cut the cord and I lost the cross."
"And shortly afterward you went berserk," Juanyu said. The group's eyes went wide in realization.
"Myouga, let her have it back," Inuyasha ordered.
"But, my lord…" the flea began.
"No. It rightfully belongs to her. Besides, that thing may be the thing that was sealing her youkai blood. Trust me, you don't want to see her if her youkai blood gets control of her again," Inuyasha said.
The flea was silent for a moment then sighed. He remembered what his master was like under the complete influence of his youkai blood. So he caved in and allowed the cross to be returned to Hikaru.
Juanyu searched in the basket and found some thread, which Hikaru normally used to sew large wounds back together. The miko braided some lengths of thread together and restrung the cross and tied it around her neck.
She sighed with relief, "I feel much better now. Here's your sword back, Inuyasha." The hanyou gratefully accepted his inheritance back.
By this time, all the food was ready. Juanyu and Hikaru ate in silence while Inuyasha spoke to Myouga. It had been a long time since they were forced to part company.
"So where are the others?" Inuyasha asked in between bites.
"Miroku, Sango, and Shippou are looking for you as well, Inuyasha-sama. Kagome was sent back to her world. We thought that with you gone, it would not be wise for her to stay here. We told her that when we found you, you would go back and fetch her," Myouga replied.
Inuyasha grunted his approval. He didn't doubt the skills of his friends, but he knew that he would be worried if Kagome was wondering around this world without him. He hoped that he could return to the village soon. He tossed what remained of his rabbit into the fire.
"So, Hikaru. Which direction do we go now?" he asked.
The miko finished her broth with relish and thought for a moment. "Myouga-san, how long has it taken you to get here?" she asked.
The flea looked up at her with relief in his eyes. Ah, here was another person that realized the value he could be. "It has taken me three weeks to get here, and that was just by flying on a raven," he replied.
"Hmmm, and how far away was the group from the village when Inuyasha was taken?"
"About two weeks, maybe more," the hanyou said.
"Then I guess that it could take us about two months to get back there," she said. "Maybe more because we have to walk."
Inuyasha stood up. "Then let's get going," he said. Juanyu gathered their supplies and Hikaru banked the fire. Myouga jumped up and landed on Inuyasha's shoulder to ride along.
Together they left the river and headed into the woods.
******
By the time that evening fell, they were deep in the darkened wood. There wasn't any visible trail and the going was tough. Rocks and roots threatened to cause the unwary traveler to trip and stumble. It was easy to get lost.
Hikaru as in the lead and was using her staff to help her find any sudden drops in terrain; the setting sun and the thick overhang of the branches made it darker than it truly was. It also sent a unsettling shiver down her spine, it was in a setting like this that the youkai spiders attacked and she lost control of herself. The miko was trying mightily to forget it; not that she could remember much of what had happened.
Behind her, Myouga was carrying a lively conversation with Juanyu. The flea youkai was regaling the young man with stories about Inuyasha. The hanyou in question and several times threatened massive bodily harm unto his servant if said servant didn't shut up. But that didn't faze Myouga. He was use to Inuyasha's threats. He just continued talking about Inuyasha's adventures.
Hikaru giggled at the men's antics. They were just the thing to lift her gloomy mood. She knew that it would not do to dwell on things that she had done when she wasn't in control of herself. But still the death of that man would haunt her many nights to come.
As she was thinking these thoughts, she failed to notice that the path she was taking was different from the path that the men were being led down. And they were too busy talking to notice either. So it was several minutes before Hikaru realized that none of the men were talking.
"Hey, guys, is everything all right back there? We should start looking for a place to camp for the night. It's getting too dark to find anything resembling a trail here," she said.
She turned to find herself alone and lost in the darkening forest.
"Guys, where are you? Guys? GUYS!"