Disc.: I only WISH I could own Inuyasha, the same goes for all the lyrics I use, although there will be a chapter or two when I use my very OWN poems at the beginning, and those I WILL own! (YAYS!)
A/N: Okay, very busy, laundry is waiting for me to finishe this...gotta do another load after this one too...I'm gone pretty much all night tomorrow at my miserable high school...my heel hurts for no reason...(dies)...okay, I apologize, I corrected errors only passing in this one b/c I'm in a huge hurry...I hate not being obnoxiously perfect, but it's either sloppy or you guys don't get these updates...and I don't get to smile when I hear from you! (cries at the thought) well I hope you all love this chapter...remember that NEXT chapter is REALLY cool, I LOVED writing it...someone suggested that I have some more fluff in this story...and guess what...they got their wish...(see I really DO listen!) the next chapter is pretty much ALL fluff I tell you! Here is your preview b/c I LOVE the next chapter SO much:
Her warm, soft skin was only centimeters away, the slightest movement, the slightest waver in his muscles, intentional or otherwise, and Inuyasha's flesh would meet hers. And her scent! It seemed to affect him the way that the smell of Ramen did when he was hungry—he swallowed nervously—there was too much spit in his mouth!
Get away from her!It was warm and sweet, and her skin glowed like honey. He wanted to run his lips over her cheeks, to taste her skin, not just feel it against his own.
You must wait!
But he couldn't.
There it is guys...basically he's fighting with himself while she's asleep...hehehe...enjoy!
Without Kagome…
"Lovesick, bitter and hardened heart
Aching, waiting for life to start
Meet me in the morning when you wake up
Meet me in the morning then you'll wake up…"
"I sense an ominous cloud overhead. There are evil spirits hovering about your village dear sir, but lucky for you, I am the famous traveling monk Miroku. For a free meal and a place to stay tonight for me and my companions, I will gladly exorcize any evil spirits or demons from your area." The monk bowed slowly before the wizened and clearly displeased old man, completing his show of false grandeur.
Behind him, Sango was frowning lightly. Miroku's act was weak and obviously false today, at least to her eyes. There'd been many other days when she'd seen him sweep tavern owners and rice field workers right off their feet until they were begging him and his friends to stay over night. The monk could be charming if he was in just the right mood…but clearly now was not one of those times, everything Miroku said was forced, strained. Surely the man could tell…
The man Miroku was speaking to simply blinked for a moment and then bit his lip, and his eyes blazed angrily. "You stupid monk! Of course there's an ominous cloud over our blasted village! It's been going on ever since that boy Toka and his sister pulled that skinny water sprite from the river…" he sighed and shook his head, "We should've let her die then…we've done nothing but suffer since."
"Really, sir?" Miroku took a step backward to stand beside Sango, a huge and almost sick friendly smile blooming over his lips. Sango could only roll her eyes as Miroku grabbed her and pushed her forward to introduce her, he was such a bad actor… "My friends and I can be of great help to you! We specialize in anything unusual…have you ever heard the name Sango of the Demon Slayer's village?"
The man frowned, "No…" but he was a little more interested now, and at least he was listening…or maybe he was too busy admiring Sango's womanly figure beneath her pink and green skirts. With Miroku's hands on her shoulders and the old man's eyes taking in all of her form, Sango suddenly felt queasy.
"Well, Sango is simply the best Demon Slayer around!" Miroku went on, trying to sell her as if she were a sutra or protective spell and not a person at all, "If there's anything troubling you here sir, we can take care of it for you in mere minutes and save you years of suffering!"
"I just told you that there is trouble here, stupid monk!" The wrinkled, crotchety old man scowled again, then spat into the air. Sango and Miroku cringed as the spittle came flying back toward them in the breeze. "If you want to stay here the night no one's going to stop you!" he snorted, "But good luck trying to get rid of our problems! The girl from the river cursed our village with unhappiness! After she came the samurais arrived with their wounded men and bullied us, and following them was the Red Demon! Now it's all we can do to make it through the day!"
Miroku stepped forward again, the rings on his staff jingling. "What is this you say about a red demon?" the bad acting was over now and the monk was genuinely intrigued.
"Yes I did young monk. And if you stay the night here you'll likely get just about your fill of that demon I should say. Then you'll be glad you can move on come sunrise tomorrow!" the man chuckled bitterly as his gaze slid over to Sango, examining her form once again…and then he saw Shippo and Kilala at her feet.
The man's eyes widened in what might have been surprise. "Demon exterminators that travel with demons?" a snarl grew over his face, "What kind of trick are you trying to pull!"
Miroku started to speak but his voice was a stutter and the man's face was quickly becoming a livid red with his outrage, so Sango came to the rescue. Stepping forward and nudging Miroku aside she bowed slightly before the man and began to explain, "The monk and I have these two demons as helpers. They are friendly demons; they only serve as our helpers. They are the reason we are so successful at exorcizing evil spirits and slaying demons."
The man was listening but his eyes were narrowed with suspicion. "There's no such thing as a friendly demon, woman…"
"I'm afraid there is, sir." She turned slightly and called Kilala's name. The little cat demon leapt into Sango's arms and remained there as her human master stroked her fur. Kilala began to purr contentedly. She was like any normal cat or kitten with the exception of her two tails.
"What about the kitsune? You can't fool me, those things make trouble everywhere they go!"
Shippo crossed his arms and frowned up at the old man, annoyed. "That's a myth." He huffed.
"I assure you sir, Shippo's only trouble when there's food about!" Miroku bowed to the villager, trying to appease him, "He's only dangerous to bowls of rice and plates of fish."
"Hey! Miroku! I'm dangerous! I've killed plenty of demons before!" but Shippo's incessant whining proved Miroku and Sango's words true to the old man, whose face began to soften as he watched the kitsune pleading with the adults for attention and recognition.
Slowly he sighed, "Like I said, no one's going to stop you four from staying in the village—well at least none of the villagers will anyway…"
"You said there were samurais staying here?" Miroku asked, his gaze pinned on the old man sternly now, at his feet Shippo had ceased complaining and was listening attentively.
"Yes, they were attacked by the Red Demon, it injured and killed a few of their men…they sent the wounded here and brought their curse with them."
"The Red Demon you say?" Miroku asked, his fingers traveled to his chin thoughtfully, "Tell us what you know about this demon, perhaps we can slay it. What kind of demon is it?"
the old man shook his head, "Not even the samurais are a match for it. You'd all die for sure…"
Miroku shook his head, "We'll see, sir, but please, can you tell me anything about this demon? Does it have a name? What kind of demon is it? What does it look like?"
The old man sighed and shook his head. "No name that we know of, really. The samurais called it the Red Demon because it's dressed in red robes."
"Red robes?" the monk and the demon slayer asked at the same time, blinking. Both thought the same thing of the old man's demon: Could it be Inuyasha?
"Yeah, damn the stupid thing to hell…" the old man huffed for a moment, fuming, and then looked up and past the strangers before him. "I must go to the rice fields, I've been chatting the day away. There's work to be done if the village is to survive winter…" he stepped forward abruptly, pushing Miroku and Sango aside brusquely.
"Please, sir…" Sango tried to call him back, but stopped when Miroku's voice rose above hers.
"I think we've heard enough Sango."
She looked to the monk, her chocolate colored eyes concerned, "Are you sure, Miroku? Do you think that this village is being attacked by—"
"Inuyasha?" the monk looked away from her pursing his lips, "I think it's worth staying here to investigate."
Shippo jumped to Miroku's shoulder and crouched there, frowning. "I think it's Inuyasha too."
"Really Shippo?" Sango asked, her gaze sad and fatigued at the thought of facing a rabid Inuyasha, "I'm going to hope that we're wrong…I mean red is a common color…"
"Yes," Miroku nodded, "You're right. And Inuyasha is well known. If these people don't know this demon's name…" he shook his head, pursing his lips, "And we never got a description of the demon, just the color of its robes."
"It doesn't matter Miroku." Shippo sighed on his shoulder, closing his green eyes in something close to despair. The monk and the demon slayer exchanged worried glances with one another and then looked to Shippo concernedly.
"What's wrong, Shippo?" Sango asked gently.
"I know it's Inuyasha."
"But how?"
"His scent is all along the river." The kitsune whispered.
The group grimly pressed onward, silence the only answer to Shippo's words. None of them doubted the nose of a youkai—to do so would simply have been denial.
They followed the path up the river, watching as nervous women moved about the river's edge, trying to wash their dirty laundry or drawing water for cooking. Each woman glanced at the group with a mixture of curiosity and fear. Yet not one approached them, which was unusual. In any other village the younger women would've likely gone to greet Sango and Miroku, and immediately after the monk would inquire as to whether or not they'd be interested in bearing his children. But none of that happened here. The women folk were too harried and worried to bother with pleasantries with the new arrivals. Plus it didn't help Miroku and Sango to have two youkai with them, small as they were.
Just ahead the rice fields opened up, splayed before the group directly in front of the village's gates. At those gates Sango noted two samurais in full regalia standing guard. They were so still that had they not been in full Technicolor Sango would've thought they were statues. But just as they came within speaking distance those "stone" samurais turned their heads and took in the newcomers…their faces clouded immediately with distrust and suspicion.
"Stop!" the nearest to them commanded, they obeyed wordlessly, "Who are you, what is your business here?" he demanded.
"I am Miroku, the traveling monk. This is Sango, the demon slayer." He gestured next to Shippo, who was still on his shoulder, "This is—"
"A demon!" the samurai snarled, and he drew his sword, the metal grinding against the sheath as it slid out, showering the dirt in front of the warrior with sparks, "Be gone or I'll kill you all!"
"But good sir," Miroku bowed and forced a pleasant, innocent smile on his face, "We've heard that there is a demon in these parts that troubles you. As it turns out we can take care of such a problem! The lovely Sango at my side is an excellent demon slayer, while I can exorcize spirits as well as troublesome demons. We have come to offer our services for—"
"No one will pay you here!"
"We're not asking to be paid." Sango supplied immediately, "Just a meal and a place to stay."
The samurai hesitated, apparently interested in the chance at ridding his peers and the villagers of the Red Demon. Slowly he sheathed his sword after glancing at his partner, who nodded his agreement.
"Very well. There is a demon that troubles us…" the samurai growled, irritably, "It took two arrows last night from one of our archers—that didn't even slow the thing down."
Miroku nodded, "Yes that sounds like him…"
"What?" growled the samurai, suspiciously.
"Oh, sir, you see—" but Miroku was never able to finish his explanation, for it was then that many screams cut through the air, catching all of them by surprise. The sounds came from across the river in the distance beyond the rice fields. The group turned to look that way, spellbound, and the samurais rushed forward, drawing their swords. They passed Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala in a rush, screaming their defiance at whatever was coming.
Miroku glanced to Sango, his eyebrow raised, "Should we investigate?"
Sango sighed only in answer, but Shippo, on her shoulder now, shrugged, "Sure, we might as well get it over with…"
"But without…" Sango closed her eyes, suddenly fighting a terrible lump in her throat that was both hot and cold at once, "…Kagome…Inuyasha will never listen to us…we can't make him sit…if he's really that crazy…"
Miroku's gaze on hers was stern and fierce, resigned to their shared fate, "If he's that crazy, Sango, you're right…we'll have to kill him."
Shippo was shaking on Sango's shoulder, "Miroku…"
But Sango was nodding in agreement, "Shippo, he's right. If Inuyasha's insane with grief…Kagome told me once…" she choked slightly on the words, remembering the girl, so sweet and innocent that she was the perfect tranquilizer, the perfect collar for the wild inuhanyou… "That Inuyasha, when she first met him, was going to kill her for the Sacred Jewel. It was only the rosary beads that Kaede put on him that saved her. Without Kagome…" Sango bit back her words and her tears, stopping her sentence there, but Miroku finished it for her nonetheless, his eyes were stony and cold. He'd distanced himself from the subject emotionally.
"Without Kagome Inuyasha is a selfish, wild beast." He nodded and his eyes slid to Shippo, "If he's terrorizing these people for amusement then I'm afraid the hanyou we knew is as good as dead…" he closed his eyes a moment as the rest of that sentence finished itself in his mind, too painful to be voiced aloud though every one of them, even Kilala who mewed mournfully in Sango's arms, thought it together: Dead like Kagome.
A horse's hooves beat the ground then, drawing their attention away from the dark not too distant past. Just crossing the river was a samurai on horseback, his face pallid, his expression drawn and taut. Miroku dashed into the horse's path and cried out, "Sir! Sir! Please! Please slow and tell me what's transpired across the river there…"
The samurai's horse reared about five feet shy of Miroku, neighing frantically. The beast's wyes were wile with fright, its breathing rough. The samurai atop its back wasn't much better off.
"The demon…the Red Demon…" he huffed and panted, his eyes as wide as they possibly could be, "It came…it came from the trees, swooped down…"
Behind the frightened samurai a gaggle (A/N: I couldn't resist using that word! Sorry!) of women were running, their eyes wide with terror, some of them were crying…and all of them were scantily clad—many of them had wet hair and only towels to cover themselves.
Sango felt a twinge of heat creep into her cheeks as she noticed that Miroku's eyes were no longer on the samurai but were focused on the bountiful pale flesh of the women.
"You hentai…" she muttered and crossed her arms angrily, looking away.
The frightened women dashed by the samurai, heading straight for the safety of the village. But as one slipped by, wearing a short blue kimono with small white flowers embroidered over it, the samurai reached out and stopped her. The girl was no older than fourteen with dark brown eyes and straight black hair that was dry, unlike a lot of the other women's. She looked up at the samurai with confused, terrified eyes…and she was crying. The tears were racing down her cheeks like rain from heaven.
"You," the samurai panted, "You were with the girl that was taken by the demon…"
Miroku and Sango and Shippo all blinked in surprise at this. "The Red Demon took a girl?" Miroku demanded, frowning in disbelief. Had Inuyasha become a hentai in his wild state?
"Do you question me!" the samurai yelled, outraged, "I saw him swoop down and steal her away with my own eyes! This girl was the victim's friend…"
The girl looked to Miroku and Sango and Shippo, shivering in fear and grief. "He's right. The demon came and took Sakana away…" the tears started to fall from her eyes again, skidding down her cheeks, dribbling from her chin.
"The women were bathing. I escorted them and guarded." The samurai barked, his breath recovered now, "They'd been attacked there once before…" he stopped and looked over the monk, the demon slayer, the kitsune and Kilala, confusedly, "Who in the seven hells are you?"
"Exterminators." Miroku bowed politely, "We came here to rid you of the Red Demon." The words were so cold, his tone so dead, that even the samurai shivered and warily frowned, uncertain.
"Well I'll pray for you or something." He muttered, then he prodded his horse and breezed by Miroku for the gates of the village. In his wake he left the frightened young girl, shivering and crying still.
Sango enveloped the younger girl in a hug and tried to wipe her tears away, "It's okay, we've come to slay the demon…" she bit her lips at the last half of the sentence and looked away, making sure to miss the expression of relief that passed over the youth's face.
"Oh thank you!" she shivered and started to cry anew, "The beast took my friend…poor Sakana…"
"Sakana?" Miroku asked, frowning, "That's an unusual name for someone…" why would Inuyasha steal a girl named Fish?
"It's not her real name, sir." The girl seemed to deflate, to sag with exhaustion brought on by her terror and grief, "My brother and I pulled her from the river half-alive. We thought that she'd die for sure, but she recovered amazingly. I thought she was a miracle from heaven…but you see Sakana doesn't remember anything about her past life. She only remembers waking up on the banks of the river and being healed by our healer Mijai…so we called her Sakana because we pulled her from the river like she was a fish…"
Sango felt a twinge of confusion pass through her, as if the girl's story meant something…but she shrugged the thought off, even though she noted that Miroku apparently thought something similar, for he gave her a quick glance, as if checking up on something with her. But when he saw her blank expression he turned back to the girl, cleared his throat and asked, "Can you take us to where the Red Demon was when he took this other girl, this Sakana?"
The girl started to shake with fear, "Please sir…I don't want to die!" she started to sob and fell against Miroku's robes. Awkwardly Miroku patted her; his face burned bright red as he smiled sheepishly at Sango, who was carefully watching the monk's lecherous hands for "slips."
"Can you at least tell us where to look?" Sango asked.
The girl withdrew from Miroku and nodded slowly, "Follow the path across the river to the hot springs. The demon took Sakana there…" she sniffled mournfully and then looked to Miroku and Sango, her dark brown eyes suddenly hard and full of hatred. "Kill it," she whispered, ""Kill the evil demon…"
As the girl started to sob again Miroku, Sango and Shippo all exchanged glances of fear and regret.
Could they kill Inuyasha?
The world flew by, green and brown tree branches, the flash and flicker of the bright blue sky above. It was afternoon at the village, women were washing their clothes, drawing water, cooking, cleaning…but she'd never see any of that again…red robes smothered her sight again, she was smashed against the demon's back, he'd thrown her body like a sack of rice over his shoulder and was leaping away through the trees…nothing looked familiar to her, it was all wilderness. She'd never be able to escape and find help out here. The demon could kill her at any time easily and devour her at his leisure.
Or he could do worse than kill and eat her…
Sakana felt suddenly sick.
Feebly she tried to beat on his back, tried to make her throat produce words for her but nothing came. Finally tears began to fall, careening from her eyes and face as the wind swept by her while the demon leapt and ran.
I'm going to die…
Endnote: Gotta be fast again...AOL doesn't work on my machine at all now...and my computer's become ridiculously slow, I'm sorry, VERY sorry...leave me some notes guys and gals anyway though, I can check them here on has some fans ask me to read their work...when I have more time in my schedule, yes, I'd be glad to...but right now my laundry is waiting for me, "With Our Arms Wide Open" is staring me in the face, so is "Somebody's Waiting For Me." They all need to be written...and at the same time I shouldn't be writing fanfiction at all, I need to write something original for scholarships...(sighs miserably) but this is FUNNER! Anyway...leave me a note, I'll check, I promise, I DO get them, so if you have an important question or suggestion I AM listening...and when I have more time I'd LOVE to read your work...just keep reminding me so I don't forget...thanks! bye!