Disclaimer: Haven't got the figurines yet… don't ask about the whole thing.
"…" – speech
'…' – thoughts
--- - change in scenery or time
x-x
-- Previously, on The Sealed Garden:
-"Naraku. Curse."
Miroku's pupils contracted.
"Shi---t."
He then fainted.-
x-x
Chapter EIGHTEEN:
Something Amiss
x-x
"Wha…" Miroku groaned, placing a hand to his forehead. "What happened?"
Opening his eyes, the monk found that he was lying across the sofa in his apartment, a blanket strewn over his legs. Pale sunlight streamed in through the balcony window, bathing him in a soft glow. The soft, familiar ticking of the clock on the wall prompted him to look up.
"Ten o'clock?" He sat up, letting the blanket fall to the floor. "What…?" The human frowned, trying to remember what he was doing on the sofa. "Did I piss Sango off again?" He shook his head.
"You fainted." A voice called out from somewhere in the kitchen. Miroku looked up and saw his girlfriend, poking her head around the corner. Sango padded across the living room to sit beside the mildly confused man. "Don't you remember?"
He gave her a strange look. "I fainted." He raised an eyebrow. "Me." He shook his head. "No, no, no… I don't faint. I-"
"You fainted." His girlfriend nodded her head. "I tried to wake you up, but then you started snoring, so…" she shrugged. "You were too heavy for me to carry to the bed, so I just left you there."
Miroku paused for thought. "Now, see… what would make me faint?"
She stared at him. "You don't remember?"
"Well, I remember the drive here… and that you needed to tell me something." The man stood up and began pacing. "You were singing, and then… we got home. We went up the elevator… sat down… and I remember feeling really tired." He paused." And then you told me that-" His eyes widened. "Oh."
Sango jumped up as Miroku faltered. "You feeling okay?"
"Oh." His right hand clenched. "Oh. That's not good…" He wobbled.
"You're not going to faint on me again, are you?" The girl asked anxiously.
"No, no…" the monk steadied himself, suddenly seeming to be very calm. "Just… give me a few seconds, will you?"
Before Sango could protest, he was walking towards the balcony. With a detached sort of air of calmness surrounding him, Miroku pushed the door open, strolling outside. She watched with some amount of nervousness as the man took in several deep breaths.
The door clicked shut.
Through the semi-sheer drapes, Sango nervously watched the man's silhouette. Suddenly, he drew himself up, and shouted something that was indistinguishable from within the apartment.
The demon exterminator winced.
The door slid open again, as the monk, calm once more, walked in. He strolled over to the sofa, and sat down on it delicately, his mouth unusually thin. Disturbed from her nap, Kirara gave the monk a rather annoyed look from her spot on the carpet, before trotting off into the bedroom, tail up in the air.
"That's better." He sighed.
The woman stared at him. "So…' She paused, afraid that any more words would cause some sort of break down in the man. "What's going to happen?"
Miroku turned and looked at her.
He stared.
The silence grew.
Sango wriggled self-consciously before demanding, "What?"
The man hesitated, as if gathering his thoughts and strength to say whatever it was he was going to say. "First thing is… you know that I'm going to protect you, right?" His face remained a mask of seriousness. "You and…" he gestured vaguely at her midsection. "The baby." Miroku took in a breath. "I'll make sure the two of you are safe. You should stay here, in Kyoto, and I'll go back to Inuyasha's place- to try and find a way to lift the curse-"
"Shut up." Sango frowned at him. "Stop trying to take all the responsibility." Tears began to fill her eyes, but she angrily wiped them away.
'Damned mood swings.'
"Don't you think this affects you as much as it does me? Damn it, Miroku!" She brought her palm down on the smooth coffee table in front of the sofa. "Don't you understand that…"
The rest of her sentence was muffled as the man wrapped his arms around her frame, bringing her close to him. "Yeah… yeah…" He rocked her gently. "I get it. It's just a little…" He paused, trying for time.
Sango brought her face away from her boyfriend's shoulder. "Hard?"
He nodded. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"But you've got to let me help!" She shook her head. "I don't love you because you're independent- I want to be able to know your problems." She paused. "I don't want to just share the good times with you…" Sango looked at him imploringly. "Let me help you?"
Miroku raised an eyebrow at her.
"You love me?"
She stiffened, the expression on her face becoming dark and slightly menacing. "What do you mean?" She glared at him. "You didn't know?" She pulled away, a pout on her lips. "All this time, and you've only just figured it out? How thick can you be?"
Eyes wide, the monk stared at the frowning woman. "Wh-what?"
"Eh. 'What'? What do you mean, 'what'?" She crossed her arms. "You didn't know that I loved you?!"
"Of course I knew!" Miroku chuckled uneasily, but it came out sounding more like a nervous cackle. "I knew… in… my… err… heart." He struggled for words. "You just never said it."
She looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Well?"
"Well what?" He blinked at her.
"Well aren't you going to say anything?"
Thankfully, the man got the hint, and threw his arms widely around her. "I love you too…?"
The slightly questioning tone of voice was lost on Sango, and she nodded firmly. "You'd better." She glared at him. "You got me pregnant."
He stared at her, doubt growing at the edge of his mind. "Are you… unhappy about the baby?"
"What?" She started. "No! I'm not unhappy! I'm… very happy." She lowered her head. "But I was a little worried about what you'd think…"
Miroku forced a laugh. "Why?"
His girlfriend raised an eyebrow. "Gee… I don't know." Her tone was distinctly sarcastic.
He shook his head in amusement.
A slight moment of silence passed, before the man stretched in a leisurely manner. "So… you want to watch a movie today?"
Sango stared at him. "Shouldn't we be getting back to Inuyasha's?" She thought for a moment. "And shouldn't we call his brother like he asked?" She paused again, confusion darkening her thoughts. "And what do you mean, 'watch a movie'? What about everything that's happening?" She stared at him incredulously.
The man shrugged. "A few hours won't hurt." He checked his watch. "Besides, I don't know if Sesshoumaru's a morning person or not, and I really don't want to be on the receiving end of his temper."
His girlfriend frowned. "But I thought you said he was always 'emotionless'."
"Oh, believe me. You know when he's pissed off at you." He shuddered. "He has this kind of look, and the atmosphere just gets really creepy."
"And you know this… how?"
"Well one time in our freshmen year, Inuyasha thought it's be funny if we took his—"
Sango butted in. "Do I really want to hear this?"
He paused. "No.
"Ah."
"So… movie?" Seeing the doubtful expression on his lover's face, Miroku added, "Considering everything we've been through, don't you think we can treat ourselves to a little movie?" He grinned. "I hear part three of Ju-On is quite good…"
The woman bit her lip. "Okay then." She paused, torn between having fun, and reporting back to an irate hanyou with his brother. Sango's expression deadened. 'Well, isn't that a hard decision…' She snorted. "It's a date, then."
Miroku grinned, looping an arm around hers. "That, it is."
Inuyasha paced impatiently in his room, fists clenching and unclenching in an unheard rhythm. Golden eyes searched annoying around the walls of the room, looking for nothing in particular. The hanyou grumbled under his breath, his nerves and patience stretched to the point of breakage.
"Where in the hells are those stupid humans?!"
He stopped in the middle of his room, just in front of his futon-like bed. Pieces of clothing littered the room in various degrees of cleanliness. Books, paper, and pens were scattered around aimlessly, and, for some strange reason, a stuffed mouse sat in the middle of the room.
Focusing on it, the hanyou frowned.
"What the fu--?"
His expression cleared.
The evening before yesterday, after Naraku's attack, Inuyasha had been playing cat-sitter to Kirara, with Sango trying to talk to the newly cursed man. The mouse had provided entertainment for the fire-kitty, as she attacked it with a certain catty playfulness that the half-dog-demon just couldn't understand.
Casting that thought away, Inuyasha cracked his knuckles absently, eyes straying to the glowing red numbers of his digital clock.
The time displayed only served to tighten his nerves even more.
"Twelve fucking o' clock! They left yesterday!" He resumed pacing. "What the hell are they doing?"
The half-demon growled under his breath, his mind riddled with unwanted worry about his friends- and the fire cat. Since the previous day's discussion in the garden, Inuyasha had been unusually tense- even for him, and it was thankful that nobody had been around to be the recipient of his wrath.
Letting out a sudden sigh of annoyance, the hanyou hopped backwards, landing on the somewhat hard surface of his bed. His eyes closed, and for one, glorious moment, Inuyasha just let his mind go blank, and forgot about all his worries.
Everything was just… blank.
And peaceful.
Then, everything came rushing back.
"Damn it!"
He hopped off the bed, too restless to stay still.
He wanted to be doing something… anything. Everything was just so boring right now; with Naraku not showing his face; with the house empty; and with Kagome not talking to him…
Inuyasha winced.
Before a bubble of resentment grew and burst within him.
Well, her not talking to him was her fault.
Really,
It was.
If she hadn't been so stupid as to say… those things, then they wouldn't have been in this position. He wouldn't be so damned confused about his feelings, and they would probably have been plotting the destruction of Naraku at this very moment!
The hanyou halted that train of thought, and shook it out of his mind.
He didn't want to think about that right now.
Inuyasha sighed again, combing a hand thickly through his matted hair. He ran his claws through it irritably, disliking the texture of it. He thought back to when the last time was that he'd washed the stuff.
The half-demon winced.
He couldn't even remember.
Sighing –yet again- deeply, he walked briskly to the washroom attached to his bedroom, tossing off random articles of clothing as he went. By the time he reached the shower, the hanyou was wearing nothing but his birthday suit. Inuyasha stepped in and turned the water on at its highest setting.
The half-demon began work on his hair, a frown etched on his face.
Maybe a long shower would help him think?
"Try again. Maybe he didn't hear it."
Miroku raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend, who was sitting across from him in a booth in WacDonalds. "I've tried calling Inuyasha three times already, and he hasn't picked up once."
They had finished with the movie only a few minutes before, and were now starting on their lunch. Part three of Ju-On had been somewhat of a disappointment, the movie being far less scary than its predecessors had been. Nevertheless, it had taken their minds off their predicament for a good chunk of their time.
Sango sipped her coke. "Well, why don't you try again?" She checked her watch. "It's twelve thirty already. He should be awake, right?"
"He should be…" the man took a bite from his chicken burger. "But you know Inuyasha." His voice came out muffled from behind the food. Swallowing thickly, he continued. "He might not be near his phone."
She wrinkled her nose at her boyfriend. "Don't do that… it's gross." Sango went back on subject. "But isn't that why we bought him a cell phone? So he could be contacted?" She shook her head and fell silent into thought.
Miroku stared at her for a few minutes, shrugged, and then attempted to steal a fry off of the woman's tray.
She slapped his hand away.
"Eat your own."
He grinned toothily at her. "But Sango, dear, I've finished all of mine."
Blinking in astonishment, the woman glanced down, and say that, indeed, he had eaten all of his fries. "Wha--?" She looked up into his face, eyes wide. "How?" Recovering, she snorted. "Food Vacuum." She pushed over her tray. "Here. Knock yourself out."
"Mmph." Miroku's reply was muffled, as his mouth was, again, stuffed with food.
She stared at him, idly stirring a large glob of ketchup with a French fry. "You must really be hungry." Her expression softened somewhat. "Which isn't too much of a surprise. You didn't eat last night, did you?"
"Mm." He shook his head.
Sango sighed, leaning back into the vinyl of the chair.
She glanced lazily around the fast food restaurant, seeing almost too many laughing faces. One group in particular, three giggling school girls dressed in the usual middle school uniform, stood out from the rest.
"Oh, Yuka-chan! I'm sure he likes you!"
"You really think so, Ayumi-chan?"
"Of course!"
Sango smiled absently, directing her absent gaze back to the ceiling.
The life of a stranger seemed so simple, compared to what was happening to them…
A yawn broke her face.
The restaurant atmosphere was making her slightly drowsy…
She closed her eyes.
"Eeh… Sango?"
Somebody shook her.
"Sango, wake up."
Sitting up, the woman blinked and stretched. "Wha—" she yawned. "What happened?" She turned half-bleary eyes to the man at her side.
Miroku looked at her, slightly concerned. "You fell asleep. Are you tired?"
Sango glanced at him. "No…" Another yawn broke into her answer. "I guess the restaurant just made me sleepy." She stretched. "You done?"
The man gestured to the clean table. "I cleaned."
She nodded absently, standing to join him. "You think we should get Sesshoumaru now?"
The man thought for a moment, presumably for an excuse, before deflating. "Yeah…"
"I thought so."
"…"
"Call him."
"But-" Head drooping, Miroku left the excuse unfinished and reached into his pocket, drawing out his phone and the piece of paper Inuyasha had given him. He despondently tapped in the numbers.
The line rang.
And rang.
And rang.
Just before the fourth ring, somebody picked up, and the deep, cool sounding voice of Inuyasha's elder brother came through.
"Yes?"
Miroku rolled his shoulders. "Hey… Sesshoumaru?"
There was a pause at the other end of the line. "Whom else would it be?"
"… Nobody…" The man slid a side-long look to Sango. "It's Miroku. I'm-"
"My little brother's human friend. I know. What do you want?"
He took in a deep breath.
"Well, you see… It goes like this…"
A small, yellow butterfly fluttered onto the grass, landing on a slender blade. Its wings opened and closed slowly, the insect taking a few steps up the piece of grass.
"You have it easy." A despondent looking girl floated a few millimeters above the ground, almost at eye level with the butterfly. "You just eat and worry about finding a mate… and being eaten." She sighed, ocean-blue eyes overlaid with sadness. "You don't have to bother with feelings and saving the world from evil…"
Kagome rolled onto her back, watching as the butterfly took flight and disappeared over the stone wall.
Her gaze followed the edge of the wall, and lighted sadly onto the wooden doors.
One was still broken…
And her powers were still on the blink, so to speak, which meant Kagome couldn't do anything more significant than float around and mope.
Which was what she was doing.
Closing her eyes, the spirit sighed deeply. She rose a few inches so that her raven hair almost- but not quite, brushed the tips of the tallest blades of grass. The faint smell of nature surrounded her, and the gentle breeze swirled around her, but Kagome took no notice. Her hands rested just below her chest, her position making her look eerily similar to the corpse of a dead person.
With this level of silence, she could almost notice a slight pulsing coming from deep within the forest.
Slightly curious, the girl sat up, her eyes straying towards the dark line of trees. Her mind wandered absently towards what she could find there, and with her aura, Kagome gently prodded the strange pulse.
A sudden wave of something akin to fear made her snap her aura back.
"What?" She frowned into the forest, thankful for the distraction if provided from her present thoughts. "I wonder…" Kagome began to muse to herself. "…just what lies within?"
All through her entrapment, Kagome had never been able to venture too deep into the wooded area. Whenever she'd attempted to go further than she dared, a stab of malice would always cause her to step back. It was as though she were deeply afraid of whatever it was that was sending off that faint pulsing.
Shaking her head, the spirit turned her gaze away from the forest, and back towards the open sky. Her eyes lazily took note of the sun's position in the sky, and she noted that it was probably a few hours past noon, according to the modern method of telling time.
Abruptly, and certainly without her mind's consent, Kagome's heart began to wonder about the whereabouts of a certain silver-haired hanyou.
Expression becoming more depressed at the thought, the girl's eyes wandered back past the space in the entrance, and towards the large house that stood in front of it.
Curious, Kagome, almost against her own will, stood up and began moving towards the entrance. Her head cocked to the side as she wondered whether or not she'd be able to walk out of the garden, and into the outside world. With each step she took that brought her closer to freedom, her doubt grew.
When she had stepped to the very boundary of the garden, the girl looked out and saw, as if for the first time, the scenery surrounding the garden. It was true, that sometimes, she'd floated to the top of the wall, and sat on top of it. A faint smile grew at the edge of her lips.
By peering out of her tiny garden, Kagome had seen her old village grow. She'd seen how people from the neighboring villages had visited, and constructed buildings of their own, for various purposes. She'd watched as the small children grew taller and older. She'd watched them marry, and have children of their own.
Her expression saddened.
She'd watched Kaede go through her duties, although the miko had never noticed her. Kagome had watched as her friend grew older, and eventually, died.
And then, she'd watched as her village itself, after so many years of prosperity, dried up and withered away. Only a few buildings had remained, one being the shrine that had been built a few years after she, Kagome herself, had died.
And after that, she'd retreated into her garden.
And for a period of time- what seemed like nothing to her, but decades for the outside world, Kagome had peeked out from within the stone walls again.
This time, there'd been a mansion surrounding the aforementioned shrine. She'd watched as different lords and ladies had passed their lives in the richly furnished house. Time passed on, and Time brought and took away many different people. The girl had had no way of knowing how many years had passed by, but she could still remember every aspect of her previous life.
Each day, the sun set, and darkness fell, but rarely did anything new happen to Kagome. Every day was the same; while everything changed outside, she herself remained the same, trapped within the sealed stone walls of the garden.
The faces of the different people that had passed faded from view, and none stuck in her memory- except for one.
There was just this one girl that Kagome could remember…
She'd had the darkest and longest hair the spirit had ever seen, and her eyes had been a deep, hazel colour. She'd been the daughter of the family; an only child. She'd been pampered and treated to many things, but the girl had never grown selfish.
What had been her name?
Kagome racked her memory.
And faintly, slowly the recollection came, and one word rose above the mess of memory.
"Izayoi."
But eventually, Izayoi had left as well.
Suddenly, a powerful yearning filled the spirit as she gazed longingly outside.
She wanted to escape these walls.
A small smile on her face, Kagome steadied herself and took in a deep breath before proudly stepping across the threshold.
For a moment, nothing happened, and the spirit felt her smile grow.
But then, something strange and awful happened.
An abrupt dizziness hit her, as the girl stumbled. Her blue eyes widened, as her hand flew to her chest.
'I can't… I can't…"
It was almost as if she couldn't breathe, although Kagome knew that couldn't be the case. Nevertheless, the blackness that was edging around her vision wasn't a good sign, and with a tremendous heave of strength, the girl threw herself back within the walls of the garden.
Gasping for the air she couldn't breathe, she adopted a kneeling position, hand still at her chest.
After a few seconds, Kagome's gasps slowed, and with eyes closed, she collapsed onto her back.
"I can't leave."
Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes for the second time in centuries.
"I'm… trapped… forever…"
Sango leaned back into the passenger seat as she watched Miroku steer his way through the busy streets. The traffic was rather bad for this time of the day, and it was taking a lot longer than it should have, getting to Sesshoumaru's building.
Miroku had given the dog-demon a short synopsis of everything that was happening, and eventually, Sesshoumaru had agreed to go to Inuyasha's aid. Although he hadn't sounded too happy about the fact that his chaperones were going to be humans he'd and agreed to be picked up at exactly four o' clock.
The humans had gone back to their house, picked up Kirara and a few of Sango's exterminating equipment. Miroku had been against bringing anything, but Sango had beaten him down.
However, the man had flat out refused on bringing Hiraikotsu, her over-sized boomerang, insisting that he would never let her use it in this state.
Then, after picking everything up, they'd made their way towards Sesshoumaru's building. When a regular drive would have taken, at the most, forty-five minutes, the heavy traffic was slowing the trip down significantly.
It was now a quarter past four.
Which was why Miroku was panicking.
"Why is the traffic so fu--… bad?!" His hands gripped the steering wheel. "At this rate, it'll be three by the time we get there, and I'm not sure whether or not I'll want to be trapped in a car with that guy. He hates it when people aren't on time…"
The woman next to him gave him a look. "Relax, Miroku." She rubbed his neck in a soothing manner. "I'm sure Inuyasha's brother is a lot more reasonable than you make him out to be."
He shot her an incredulous glance. "How can you say that? After all that I've told you?"
Sango shrugged. "I guess I'm just not scared to death of the man."
"Demon."
"Fine. Demon."
"A demon. With powers. Such as seeping poison into his nails." He gave her a look. "I don't want to get on his bad side; that's all."
His girlfriend closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm sure Sesshoumaru won't kill you, as long as you give him the respect he expects."
"Right."
There was a lull of silence in the car.
"But what if-"
"Miroku!"
"… Fine."
"I just wonder what Inuyasha's up to. Do you think he's worried?"
"Knowing Inuyasha…" The man paused. "Knowing Inuyasha, he'd probably really pissed off at us right now." He offered a grin to the woman. "But- hey. We did try to call. It's not our fault he didn't pick up."
Sango shook her head. "I'm beginning to regret watching that movie…" A twinge of guilt rushed through her. "We should have gotten back as soon as we could've."
"Aw… don't worry about it." Miroku looked over after completing a right turn. "I'm sure he won't mind."
"Right."
The car became quiet, as the man navigated his way through the unusually heavy traffic.
Just then, the deafening sound of screeching metal cut through the air, followed by several heavy bumping noises. Everything became quiet. All at once, all the cars stopped moving. An eyebrow raised, the man sat up, trying to see what it was that was causing the disturbance.
"What's happened?"
"Whatever it was, it sounded bad." Sango frowned, unlocking her door. "I'll go check it out." She opened the door. "You stay here."
With that, the woman stepped out, and carefully picked her way forwards.
Miroku watched with a slight bit of anxiety, and waited impatiently for her to come back. After a few minutes, the top of her head bobbed into view, and he was shocked to see the paleness of her face.
She slid back into the car.
"Sango? What's wrong?" He caressed her face. "What happened?"
The woman looked at him, eyes wide. "A collision."
Miroku let go of a tense breath. "Why so pale then?"
"A really bad collision." Sango looked at him. "Four cars. Half the road's been scraped away." She swallowed thickly. "And… there are… dead people."
His hand froze.
"I think somebody caused the collision. A demon, probably." Her magenta eyes were filled with worry. "It looked like a couple of the cars had been ripped clean in half." She shook her head. "And, I don't think we'll be getting out of here anytime soon."
Cursing under his breath, Miroku reached into his pocket and drew out his cell phone. Redialing Sesshoumaru's number, the man waited, and when he got through, skipped right past the pleasantries.
"Listen, Sesshoumaru. There's been… an accident." He shot a concerned look at Sango before continuing. "Do you have a car?" He paused. "Good. We'll be there in half an hour. An hour at most."
Abruptly hanging up, Miroku looked at his girlfriend.
"I think somebody doesn't want us getting to Sesshoumaru." He ran a hand through his hair. "I could be wrong… but…"
Sango watched him. "But?"
He waved a hand, dismissing it. "If somebody- and I could guess who that 'somebody' is- is trying to keep us from getting back to Inuyasha, then something big's going to happen." The man unbuckled. "Let's go."
She started. "Go where?"
Miroku stepped out of the car, sticking his head back in. "Go to Sesshoumaru. We're walking."
Inuyasha sat just outside of his house, staring into the darkening sky.
It was now well past six o'clock, and his friends still hadn't gotten back yet. The hanyou glared around the garden, his mood having declined significantly since his shower.
It was just so… quiet.
And he hated 'quiet'.
'Quiet' meant he had time to think, and with the current issues going on at the moment, thinking didn't provide a very good sanctuary.
He cracked his knuckles for the thirtieth time that day.
"Stupid… Miroku…" He'd tried calling the man, but all he'd gotten was a busy signal, and once, and out-of-service recording. "What the hell could he be doing?"
The question continued to bug the half-demon, and whatever he told himself, Inuyasha knew that he was worried about the two.
He squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head between his knees.
"…Hate… this…"
And on top of it all, like a cherry on a sundae, it was going to be the night of the new moon.
The night of the new moon was Inuyasha's period of weakness. Whenever the moon disappeared from view in the night sky, the half-demon's demonic powers ebbed away with it.
Which left him human.
And he hated being human.
Adding to the obvious physical mortality of being human, Inuyasha's emotions during that time were also far harder to control. During those times, his self-confidence faded with the departure of his demonic strength, and he was left feeling uncomfortably vulnerable.
Rubbing his face, Inuyasha raised his head, and watched as the last rays of the sun disappeared from the land, throwing him into darkness.
And suddenly, the half-demon's heightened senses vanished.
It was as though somebody had thrown a blanket over his head, as his hearing became less sharp, and his sense of smell dulled. Sight was also considerably weaker than usual. He could feel the strength flow out of his limbs, as he was left with a body that was stronger than the average human, but extremely weak compared to his hanyou form.
He shook his head irritably, his now-black hair swinging in the motion. Previously amber eyes had turned lavender, and his sharp claws had been reduced to normal human fingernails. The doggy-ears that normally sat atop his head had disappeared, and been replaced by normal human ears at the sides of his head.
Inuyasha sighed at his weakness.
Gods above, he had being human.
Standing up, the half-demon turned human gazed around the yard, hearing the faint tinkle of the artificial stream. There were no streetlights this far out of the city.
But then- what was that glow?
Startled, Inuyasha placed a hand on Tetsusaiga, and watched the approaching glow.
His eyes narrowed.
"Who the hell's out there?"
"It's just me."
Surprised and shock spread through the man as the familiar voice drifted to his ears.
"Ka- kagome?" As she walked closer, Inuyasha saw that, indeed, it was the girl. "What are you doing here?" His grip in Tetsusaiga weakened.
A light smile touched her lips. "I just wanted to see you." Her expression was curious, but not one of surprise. "You're human."
Something was off, but the hanyou couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"I've always wondered what you would look like when you were human…" She looked up into the sky. "So your night of weakness of the new moon?"
Inuyasha frowned. "What of it?" His tone was rough; for some reason, he didn't trust this woman.
Something was not right… but what?
She grinned and walked closer. "I think you're really cute as a human, Inuyasha." A strange glint shone in her eyes.
Once again, shock pulsed through him, but he covered it over. He tried to keep his expression neutral. However, he couldn't mask the slight blush that'd risen to his cheeks. "So?"
"'So'?" Hurt crossed her face. "Is that all?"
He crossed his arms. "What do you want?"
She walked closer, and Inuyasha abruptly found the motion strange. "I just wanted to be with you, Inuyasha." Her tone was almost sickeningly sweet. "Please?"
She reached out a hand, and almost touched his face.
He flinched backwards.
"Inuyasha?" A frown touched her face. "What's wrong?"
She moved towards him and leaned forward.
His eyes narrowed.
Her grey ones widened.
Wait.
Grey?
She's touching the ground?
Lavender eyes widening, Inuyasha stepped backward, and drew out his katana. Tetsusaiga didn't transform, and a wave of panic washed over him.
Apparently, Tetsusaiga didn't change when he was human.
'Shit.'
Nevertheless, he pointed the tip of the sword at the girl's throat.
"You're not Kagome."
A wicked grin spread across the girl's face. "What do you mean?"
And then, her eyes went red.
The hanyou shook with rage. "Naraku!"
Indeed, it was Naraku, as the shape-shifter kept Kagome's form, and rushed forwards, his hand headed for the half-demon's neck.
"I almost got you."
Face twisting in anger, Inuyasha avoided his hand, sidestepping. "You bastard!" It came out as a snarl, as he continued to avoid Naraku's attempts to grab his neck.
He looked around, and realised that the only safe place he could go was the shrine within the house. 'Shit.' Naraku was standing between him and the entrance.
Inuyasha hopped on the balls of his feet, eyes watching the demon as he prepared to make a break for it.
Just as Naraku shot forwards, the hanyou turned and bolted for the house.
He was fast.
But not fast enough.
Just before he reached the shouji doors, the twisted, grinning replication of Kagome's face appeared. A strangled gasp escaped the hanyou as he attempted to skid backwards.
A hand shot to his neck.
He was lifted into the air.
The red eyes widened in amusement as Naraku watched Inuyasha struggling in the air.
And using a voice that almost matched Kagome's, he spoke.
"It's time to die, Inuyasha."
Review Responses:
--AngelMiko289
Re:
Boy...I would hate to be in Miroku's place right about now... Well, also in Sango's. Anyways, Kagome was in love with Koga, and it turned out that he was using her, right? So... I have 2 small questions. How come Inuyahsa is so dense about his feelings? (No offense. I really like him this way, it adds the flavor and the suspense of the story) But after when Kagome locked him out, why didn't he realized that he liked her more then a friend? And also, how can Inuyasha help her? Sheesh! This chapter is so suspensful, I'm really nervous! LOL.
Inuyasha is dense because… he doesn't like to acknowledge his feelings. He thinks they're making him weak, so he shuts them off… besides… he's a lot funnier this way… How can Inuyasha help her? That will be revealed in the second-to-last chapter… I think…
-- magical-nurse-komugi
Re:
why dose inuyasha want his brother to come?
You shall find out later. I think… perhaps in the next chapter?
--
Many Thanks to:
Lluvia the Immortal Wolfgirl
remix-69er
Elfin Kagome- Interesting… A fried newt?
ChAnDrA16
NordicaVB
UsakoSerenity
WhiteDloud
humble-bumble
cool-chick-rae
Fiery Demon Fox
ever free
Sarcasm Girl8
SilverStarWing
Izayoi 'Confessions' would have been a great title…
lovable kitty mew
kagome fan
Mental Monkey
Misato-Katsuragi2
Vesca
Brittany3
--I'm sorry about the delay. It's just that I was really busy for the… ::checks:: …past three weeks. -.-;; Bad case of writer's block too…
Ah well.
And I left you on another cliffhanger…
::nervous laugh::
Ill be going now…
Oh, in case you're wondering, 'Ju-On' translates to 'The Grudge", and everything you read about it in the story, I made up.
Till next time…
Ja!--