Jewels are Forever
Summary: "Trade? What kind of trade?" Kaede asked as she eyed her suspiciously. The demon slowly began to sit upright and replied: "The shards for her body. I want life. I will be Kagome and you will have the jewel shards."
Chapter One: The Fox and the Hound
InuYasha sat in his tree, just outside the village, gazing at the darkening sky as night drew nearer. Every sound jerked him about, ready with some scathing condemnation of Kagome's inability to keep a schedule; but each time it turned out to be just a wandering villager or a scavenging animal. "'I'll see you tomorrow afternoon!' Whatever! Like there's a test," InuYasha mumbled to himself, suppressing his urge to just go and drag her back. What could be more important than searching for the shards of the Shikon No Tama?
InuYasha started to scowl and glare at the retreating sun. "Feh! She's probably gossiping with her stupid friends!" And yet, he had a bad feeling that something was not right. Kagome arriving late from the future was never an unusual thing, but she had never been this late before. Except for the time when the ancient Noh mask had attacked resulting in Kagome sending her younger brother, Souta, into the well to bring him to save her. But that was different: She had not planned to return for another day at that time.
Hopping out of the tree, he took off for the Bone Eater's Well, deep in the forest where he had been a prisoner until Kagome had come and freed him, trying to save her and the villagers from Mistress Centipede. After that, it was the crow demon, then Yura of the Hair, then his own brother—demon after demon trying to gain possession of the shards of the Shikon No Tama, with InuYasha always having to save Kagome from some peril or another. Well, she could take care of herself sometimes. Sometimes—just sometimes—she was actually resourceful and hardly got in his way. Everything could have been so much simpler if she had just given him the jewel when he had asked for it in the first place. If she hadn't listened to that witch Kaede's advice and kept the jewel, then the crow demon wouldn't have stolen it, Kagome wouldn't have shot it with an arrow, and the jewel wouldn't be split into tiny fragments that were scattered all over Japan! Stupid girl! The jewel was his by right! Who exactly did she think she was, coming from the future and shattering the blasted thing? If her looks had not given it away, he would have believed her to be Kikyou reborn by her actions alone!
The prayer bead necklace swung around his neck as he landed outside the forest and stalked with great purpose and irritation inside, headed for the well that was Kagome's link between her time and his. The beads; if only they weren't a curse! No amount of brute force could remove them, and because of them, a single command from Kagome's lips left him face down in the dirt, unable to rise for a few moments. It was so humiliating! They were like a leash on a dog! And that command—"Oswari!" InuYasha fumed as he stalked through the trees, fists clenched tightly, and his teeth grinding. "She treats me like a common mutt!" Well, that was not entirely true. She didn't pet him, or feed him scraps, or try to make him do tricks, thought it would be nice to have his ears scratched every now and then. It was just the principle of the thing: A ridiculous mortal girl, who dresses oddly, shouldn't be allowed to have that much power over a demon! Especially not this—
"Kagome?"
All that he could see of her around the well was the lower part of her legs, with their usual strange stockings and ugly shoes. He couldn't see her large, yellow bag, but its contents were scattered about nearby, as if it had exploded when it hit the ground. InuYasha sniffed the air and his ears twisted around, but the only scent that came to him was Kagome's and the only sounds were ordinary forest noises. As he approached the well, more of Kagome became visible: No scratches or bruises, nothing that would give any indication that she had been in a struggle. She was on her stomach, arms flung over her head, one leg slightly bent, and her onyx hair covering her angelic face.
"Kagome?" He brushed her hair aside, relieved that her face showed no signs of abuse. He sniffed her on reflex, though he was not sure what information his nose was seeking. Shaking her didn't produce any kind of reaction at all, so he started to shake her more vigorously. Nothing; not even a flicker of an eyelid. He gently rolled her onto her back and lay his ear against her chest. Good; a heartbeat, thought it was disturbingly slow. A hand over her nose confirmed shallow breathing. This was not good. He studied the ground around the well and found signs that someone had entered the clearing from the forest and returned through it, rather than through the well, which meant feet other than Kagome's had crushed the grass. But if she had been attacked, why didn't her body show the sort of signs a struggle would have left behind? He averted his attention back to Kagome, who looked to the entire world as if she was merely having a nap beside the well.
Suddenly, InuYasha gasped and started sorting through Kagome's belongings that were strewn on the ground. Not there! He upended her pack and frantically went through the items that had fallen out: A hairbrush, packages of noodles, soap, clothing—where were they? The pockets sewn onto the pack were the next to fall under attack, but all InuYasha found there were Kagome's schoolbooks and odd-looking writing utensils. Whoever or whatever had been in the clearing with Kagome, they had stolen her shards of the Shikon No Tama. "Damn them!"
He hurriedly stuffed her things into her pack, slung it over his shoulder, then very carefully lifted Kagome into his arms and headed back for the village as fast as he could without jostling her. The missing shards indicated a demon. A mortal attacker probably would not have known what to look for and would have tried to—they would have hurt her, there would be marks on her, signs that she had fought someone and her clothes would be torn. Something! So, it had to be a demon, since a demon would be able to sense the shards. A demon would have powerful magic, maybe even the kind that could subdue an opponent without even touching them. Maybe Kagome was just under some sort of sleeping spell. Well, if that was magic, Kaede would be able to break the spell, and then Kagome would be able to tell him who had stolen the jewel shards. After that, it would be a simple matter of tracking down the thief and reclaiming what was his. And killing the demon, of course. Couldn't leave the competition running free, able to attack again some other time. Not to mention the matter of revenge.
By the time he had reached Kaede's hut, InuYasha was leading a parade of curious, worried villagers that no amount of snarling and cursing on his part could shake. His relief was immeasurable when at last the flap closed behind him and the only crazy human he had to endure was Kaede. The old woman unrolled a tatami, and bid InuYasha to lay Kagome down onto it, and then she covered the girl with a blanket and began her examination—both of Kagome and InuYasha.
"What happened?" Kaede demanded as she felt Kagome's forehead for a possible fever and checked her heart and breathing rates. She made a worried expression over the last two indicators of life and sat back on her heels with a deep frown.
"I found her by the well," InuYasha explained impatiently. "I don't know what happened to her!"
Myoga, the flea hopped up InuYasha's arm, onto his shoulder and observed: "No signs of a struggle. Was there any sign that anyone had been in the clearing with her?"
"Crushed grass in a trail to and from Kagome," InuYasha replied, "nothing more." Then with a low growl, he added solemnly: "They took her jewel shards."
"Meaning there was a demon, more likely or not," Kaede mused. She lay her hands on Kagome's face and closed her eyes in concentration, her extra senses searching the girl's body for signs of magic. With a sudden intake of breath, Kaede's eyes flew open and she jerked her hands away from Kagome. "No! How can this be?"
Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, as well as Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku.
