Authors Note: I really apologize in the delay. My bird died a few days after I posted the last chapter and I was a little depressed for a while. I've gotten over my heartbreak enough now to continue writing. I dedicate this chapter to my bird Sammy. I'll miss you.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Chapter Eight: Fights, Wounds, and Confessions
"Raye wait! We're you going?!" Sakura rushed after her sister. She found Raye at the school entrance pulling on the door that said "push". Sakura put a hand on her shoulder and whirled around to face her, "We can't go out there! We could get in big trouble!" Raye growled, "Why the hell not?! I've been itching for a challenge lately and this is as good a time as any! Besides, if we don't do anything, who will?!" Sakura gazed calmly at her, "Calm down. There's nothing we can do. We're not allowed outside now. All the students are to report to the shelter where we'll be safe." "You coward! What are those humans gonna do?! Shoot at it with those gun thingies?! You know that won't work! We're the only ones who can beat that demon so let's go!" Sakura was about to make another excuse when she realized Raye was right. There was no way the police would be able to take down that demon. As much as she didn't want to, Sakura saw no other option, "Fine. Let's go." She pushed on the door and the two of them ran towards the demon smell.
Kekeru was huddled in the shelter with the other students. His school had been near the attack too and all the teachers had evacuated the students to the shelter. Kekeru was sitting a safe distance away from the others as he wasn't completely comfortable around them yet. A boy with red hair strode up to him with a cocky look on his face, "I bet that's one of your cousins out there or something right? Or is it your Daddy? What happened? He get a parking ticket or something?" Kekeru growled under his breath but ignored it as best he could. The boy smirked while thinking to himself, 'This kid's not so tough. He's just some purple eyed freak! I bet his mama just screwed around with demons for fun!' Kekeru snapped when he heard that thought. He stood up and faced the boy, "She did not! Take that back right now you bastard!" The red haired boy backed away. Not only was he frightened because he realized Kekeru could read his thoughts, but Kekeru's eyes had started to glow as his rage mounted. The boy Darien who he sat next to in class put his hand on Kekeru's shoulder. Immediately Kekeru repressed the urge to attack at sat on the ground with a growl. "That wasn't smart. Raima's the one in charge around here. If you pick a fight with him, you pick a fight with about a hundred of his closest friends too." Kekeru looked over at Darien and nodded.
They were getting closer, Raye could smell the demon stench in the air. Reaching the scene, the saw it was a giant snake demon. The police were firing at it but the bullets just bounced off the snakes hard scales. Numerous priests and priestesses were trying to subdue the demon but they couldn't get close enough for their sutras to have any effect. Raye smiled, "Feh, that's the big bad demon? What a weakling!" Raye jumped towards the demon with Sakura on her heels, "Iron Rever Soul Stealer!" Both of them attacked in unison. The attack tore into the snake's scales creating a large gash. "Heh, he's a little tougher than I thought." Raye said to Sakura. "You there! Hanyou! Stay out of this!" They turned around to see a police chief yelling at them. "You kiddin'?! We were able to wound it! More than you could do!" Sakura could see the man wasn't up for an argument at the moment. She stepped between him and Raye, "We're very sorry for intruding. But please let us help. I know we can beat it." The chief took a step back, "Fine. But don't expect us to rescue you if you get yourselves caught!" Raye smirked, "Don't worry. That'll never happen." She jumped up and made for the snakes head. Her sisters sudden movement caught Sakura off guard and it took her a few seconds to register and go after Raye. By then it was too late. Raye had jumped for the back of the head but the snake was able to smell her and turned around. Raye tried to dodge the oncoming attack but it was hard to maneuver when you were in the air. She managed to lean to the right a little but the snake's fang was able to pierce her in the side.
Raye fell to the ground with her hand on her side trying to stop the blood flow. Sakura ran over to her sister, "Raye! Raye, are you ok?" Raye forced a small smile, "What, this? It's just a scratch." Sakura faced the demon, "Let's get it!" Raye smirked, "Now you're talkin'! Blades of Blood!" "Iron Rever Soul Stealer!" The two attacks combined and hit the giant snake in the same spot as the previous attack. With a loud hiss, it fell to the ground in hundreds of pieces. A police officer was running up to the two girls, "Somebody get the paramedics!" The medical team rushed over to Raye. She stood up and pushed them away, "Go away! I'm fine! I don't need some humans taking care of me!" She staggered out of the crowd and ran for the shrine. Sakura followed her, it was pretty easy to catch up with her since she wasn't running at full speed thanks to her injury.
Finally the two of them reached the shrine and Raye went inside to the bathroom. Removing her shirt, she took a towel and ran it under the faucet before pressing it against the wound. She grimaced as the cold water seeped into the gash. Sakura was standing in the doorway, "Why didn't you let them help you? They're trained to bandage wounds." Raye whirled on her sister, "I can take care of myself! Besides, it's not like I've never been injured before! This little scratch is nothing!" She removed the towel and placed it under the faucet again. "Well, it certainly doesn't look like nothing." Raye growled, "Just leave me alone will you?! I said I can take care of myself!" Sakura sighed, "You know, you live here with us now, but I get the feeling you still don't think of us as your family. Whether you accept it or not, we are your family. And we'll always be here for you no matter how rotten you act. Personally, I think you've been pretty ungrateful. We've given you everything and more and you still won't let us in! Mom and Dad were so happy to find you, not to mention Asano! Do you know that every day he blames himself for your disappearance? No matter how many times Mom and Dad told him that it wasn't his fault, he never listened. When you came back, it was the very first time I'd ever seen him smile! Though I can't imagine why! You're just an ungrateful little brat!" Sakura had been expecting a fierce comeback but Raye just stood there leaning against the sink with her face down in the saddest expression Sakura had ever seen. Raye cracked a sad little smile, "You're right. I've been selfish and stubborn and I have the world's most rotten personality. I'm not used to people taking care of me. For so many years I've been on my own. I learned to block out my emotions because I thought that if I did, it would be impossible for me to get hurt by them. After Granny Taiya and Grandpa Magaru were killed, I was devastated. They were the only ones who ever treated me like I wasn't a monster. I was six when it happened. And all I did was run away. I couldn't protect them. After that, no one in the village would have me. So I lived in the forest and trained myself to get stronger. I guess you could say I became pretty cold hearted. I trusted nobody but myself because I knew that no one would ever accept me. Then you guys came along. For the first time in years, there were people who cared about me for just being me. I didn't want to let you in because I knew that if anything happened to you, I'd be hurt again. I just didn't want to go through that a second time."
Sakura stared in shock at her sister. Never before had she heard Raye with so much emotion in her voice, so much grief. Sakura started to feel incredibly guilty for snapping at her like that. Apparently Raye noticed this too, "Don't look like that. You were completely right. I was the one who was being a jerk. And don't apologize either. Thanks to you, I finally got that huge weight off my chest. Now, where do you keep the bandages?" Sakura pulled the mirror open and removed the bandages from the medicine chest behind it. After using some alcohol to clean the wound, she wrapped the bandage around Raye's waist. "So now that we're being completely honest, can I ask you something?" Raye winced as she sat down on her bed, "Sure." Sakura smiled, "Can I borrow that red top we bought you yesterday?" Raye nearly fell over, she definitely wasn't expecting that! "Uh, sure, why not. But, if you liked it so much why didn't you just buy one yourself?" "Why pay money for another shirt when I can just borrow yours?"
Half an hour after the students had been ushered into the shelter, they returned to their classes. Apparently the demon had either been destroyed, captured, or severely wounded. From the lack of noise outside, Kekeru decided it was one of the first two. The teacher continued her lesson as though nothing had happened. Demon attacks were not that uncommon and the people here had learned to live with them. All through the lesson, the red haired boy Raima was staring angrily at him, as if daring him to make a move in front of the teacher. Kekeru was not going to be intimidated and tried his best to ignore him. Although after school let out, that was no longer a possibility. "Yo, purple freak!" Kekeru growled and refused to meet Raima's eyes. "Just keep walking." Darien said. "Try to ignore him." Kekeru nodded and made his way to the front gate. "Hey, I'm talkin' to you!" Raima was standing ten feet in front of Kekeru blocking the gate. He also had a dozen other boys behind him. Kekeru smiled, "What's the matter Raima? Can't fight your battles without a bunch of other guys backing you up?" Raima returned the smile, "Battle? Just try it. You attack me and they'll have you locked up in jail along with the rest of your freak family!" Kekeru growled, "Then what do you want?" Raima's smile grew sinister, "Isn't it obvious? I thought you could read my mind? You can't attack me, but I can attack you." With that, all of them rushed Kekeru. He easily dodged all of their pathetic attempts at punches and kicks. Five minutes later, they were all on the ground panting from the effort and Kekeru didn't have a scratch on him. "Kekeru!" Kekeru looked up to see Sakura and Raye waving at him from the sidewalk. He turned back to Darien who was staring at the boys looking very impressed, "See you tomorrow!" He turned and followed the twins back to the shrine.
Dinner that night was interrupted when Kagome announced that she'd gotten a very interesting phone call today, "So Sakura, Raye, where exactly did you run off to today? Your school called and said that you missed the second half of the school day." Sakura bit her bottom lip, she was hoping that Mom wouldn't figure out that they had sort of played hooky. Inuyasha stopped shoving ramen into his mouth long enough to speak, "You took care of the snake demon, right? How's that wound doing Raye?" Kagome's eyes widened, "Wound?! You got hurt?!" Raye looked up from her plate, "Don't worry, it stopped bleeding hours ago." "Yeah, but not enough to hide the smell. If you plan on fighting demons, and you don't want anyone to know, you should clean up better afterwards." Kagome stared angrily at her husband, "Inuyasha! Is that all you have to say?! They could've been killed!" Inuyasha shrugged, "Kagome, they're not little pups anymore, they can decide things for themselves." The rest of dinner continued on in this manner. Luckily, Kagome seemed so preoccupied with yelling at Inuyasha that she seemed to have completely forgotten about the two girls skipping school.
Authors Note: Well, that's it for now. As usual I'll wait for three reviews before updating. hope you enjoyed it and I'll try not to take so long getting the next chapter up.