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Hakisuma groaned and sat up. She winced slightly and looked around, trying not to wake the sleeping Shippo. Nobody was up yet. Kagome and the rest were all sleeping. Hakisuma got up quietly and rummaged around in Kagome's pack. She saw some ramen and brought it out carefully, not to wake anyone up with the noise. She blew on the dying embers and cooked the ramen. Inu Yasha's nose twitched and he opened his eyes. He looked at Hakisuma and grinned. Hakisuma ladled ramen into the soft bowl that the ramen was held in and handed it over to the hungry Inu Yasha.
Hikari also shifted and turned over to see what was going on. She smiled to herself and tried to get up. Hakisuma ladled another serving and gave that to Hikari. They started eating quietly. Pretty soon the others were up and more ramen was cooking.
Inu Yasha sighed contentedly. He closed his eyes and leaned back onto the low foliage. Kagome stiffened.
"I sense a Shikon shard...." She commented. Inu Yasha jumped up and grabbed Kagome's pack.
"Let's go!" he exclaimed, pointing the opposite direction Kagome was headed in. Everybody sweat-dropped and sighed. They shook their heads and followed Kagome, leaving Inu Yasha pointing at nothing. Shippo bounced onto Hakisuma's shoulder.
"Feeling better?!" he asked happily. Hakisuma nodded and smiled.
"Thank you, Shippo," Hakisuma said gratefully, "to comfort me." Shippo blushed and wagged his tail. "Kii!" Hakisuma clapped. Kii bounced over to Hakisuma and jumped on her other shoulder. "Go play with Shippo." Kii obliged and nibbled on Shippo's attire. They jumped off and started chasing each other around the feet of the companions. Hakisuma laughed at them. The others were talking quietly and Inu Yasha was bugging Kagome about the Shikon shard.
"Come on, Kagome, hurry it up! We have to get it before Naraku does!" he complained.
"Ok, ok..." Kagome sighed. Inu Yasha bent down to let Kagome climb on. Sango and Miroku climbed onto Kirara and Hikari and Hakisuma clambered onto Kii. Hakisuma carried Shippo on her shoulder.
Hakisuma patted Kii on the head and they took off. Inu Yasha ran above the treetops with Kagome on his back while the two fire cat demons soared above with their passengers. Hakisuma enjoyed the cool wind blowing in her face. There was a sudden shout below them and Hakisuma looked down.
A volley of thick black arrows pierced through the sky and flew towards them. Hakisuma gasped and closed her eyes. 'Concentrate...remember your teachings...be calm and still...' she thought over and over in her head. She folded her hands into a chanting position.
Sango and Miroku gasped. Hikari growled at the arrows and held her blade at the ready. Hakisuma opened her eyes. There was a spherical shield around the two fire cat demons and their owners.
The arrows bounced off the shield harmlessly and dropped below. Hakisuma looked down at Inu Yasha. He was fighting off dark, misshapen forms.
Hikari nudged Kii with her heels and they dove down to fight. Sango and Miroku did the same.
"We're coming, Inu Yasha!' Miroku shouted. Sango gritted her teeth and threw her boomerang. "Hiraikotsu!" she yelled while chucking her weapon.
Hikari jumped off and punched away a mass of shadow. The shadow retreated a couple of feet and tried to tackle Hikari down. She pulled out her Divine Blade and slashed at it. She kicked the falling corpse away and ran to join Inu Yasha.
Hakisuma flew down on Kii and jumped off also. He was fighting three of the dark forms with his Tetsusaiga. Behind his back was Kagome crouching and shooting arrows. One of the creatures snake forward and lunged at Kagome.
"No!" Hakisuma shouted. She grabbed onto Kii's fur and flipped off onto the creature. She landed on it and brought down the Katana into its back. Purple gas seeped out and Hakisuma covered her sensitive nose with her wide kimono sleeve. Her fox demon ears popped up and the smell got stronger.
"Poison gas!" Sango exclaimed while whacking a creature on the head with her giant boomerang. She kicked it away and grabbed her mask. The poison had not spread everywhere yet. "Here!" she threw the mask to Hakisuma.
Hakisuma caught it and coughed. She leapt onto a tree branch and put the mask on. She rested for a few moments before leaping back down to fight. Kagome was on all fours, coughing because she was in the same area Hakisuma had been when the creature released the poison gas. Hakisuma looked around frantically for Inu Yasha. He, too, was coughing but he was still fighting. She grabbed Kagome's elbow and whistled to Kii, who was taking on a couple creatures herself. Kii's ears perked up and she bit into one last being before bounding over to Hakisuma. Blood dripped from her jaws and formed a thick puddle on the ground. There was blood splashed everywhere on her matted tan coat.
Hakisuma hoisted Kagome, who was still coughing, onto the back of Kii and took off the mask. She handed the mask over and said, "Go with Kii up above," Kagome nodded and Hakisuma slapped Kii's back, covering her hand with fresh blood. Kii lunged forward and flew off to a safe distance from the fighting below. Hakisuma looked around. Sango and Miroku were fighting side by side, killing demons by the dozen. Shippo was hiding in the tree they were under. Blood covered their faces and clothes. Kirara was a little into the thick trees, taking on nine ghostly creatures. Inu Yasha had hacked the heads off five of them with his Wind Scar and was still taking on four. Blood splattered everywhere and covered everything from trees to creatures to rocks.
There was one left....and it was lurking behind a boulder, waiting for the opportune moment. Hakisuma watched as Hikari inched towards the unsuspecting figure, with her Divine Blade tightly gripped in her right hand. She grinned savagely and jumped forward, cutting off the head as she went. Blood spurted from the fatal wound and drenched the unfortunate Hakisuma who was right around the corner. Hakisuma's eyes were the line/dots and she smiled sarcastically.
"You know, next time I want my outfit red, I will tell you." She said dryly.
Hikari grinned and hoisted her up. "Come on! Let's go tackle this thing together! Hakisuma smiled for real and nodded vigorously. She hadn't killed anything in a long time....it would be nice to take out her stress and anger on one of Naraku's poison-gas creatures. They all knew only too well that Naraku sent these. They recognized his poison and the barbaric style they were designed.
Hikari lunged forward again with Hakisuma right behind her. They slashed at all the creatures that got in their way-covering everything with blood. The grass and leaves were stained red and the dirt was an unnatural crimson color.
The air filled with a shrill screeching noise and everybody halted their fighting to look up. There was nothing in the air but the shriek clearly came from above. Without warning, the dark foreboding creatures vanished, leaving a thick black arrow clattering onto a flat rock.
Inu Yasha looked around confusedly. "What was that?" he asked to no one in particular. Everyone shook their heads and stared into the sky. The air that has once been sounds of screaming and yelling quieted down to nothing.
Hikari transformed her Divine Blade back to its empty handle and kicked at a tree. "More blood..." she growled. Hakisuma put the katana back into its sheath and whistle to Kii. Kagome dropped out of the sky and Inu Yasha's eyes grew wide. He jumped to the spot where Kagome's slight shadow was and caught her. (Sound familiar? The first Inu Yasha movie)
Kii landed gracefully next to Hakisuma. Hakisuma patted her head appreciatively and Kii rubbed her hand with her matted, blood crusted muzzle.
Inu Yasha also picked up a rock and chucked it at a creature's head. "Damn! I wanted to kill some more...cowards...." He muttered.
"What were they?" Kagome asked while handing the mask back to Sango.
"I think they're Naraku's doings," Miroku started. "Actually, I'm positive they're his doings..."
Inu Yasha growled and sat down. Kagome sighed and peered into the tree Shippo was in. "Shippo?" she asked. Shippo came crawling out shakily.
"I....don't.....want...to....see...another...fight...like..that..AGAIN!!!" he muttered. Everyone laughed except for Inu Yasha and Hikari. They huffed away sat down opposite of each other. "Now what do we do?" Hakisuma asked.
"I don't know," Sango said, shaking her head. "I don't know."
END of chappie 19! Haha! Well domo arigato to all you readers, and please Read and Review! Thank you again! Ja Ne, all you otakus! Ta ta for now! Cheerio! .