SUMMARY: Kagome hasn't been herself lately, some weird kid wants her soul, and Inuyasha once again has to come to her rescue. But what happens when her life depends on a very serious choice of action?
RATING: PG-13 to be safe. (Shouldn't putting Inuyasha in a Fanfiction automatically make it PG-13)
CHAPTER ONE : And So She Was Hurt
Inuyasha laid Kagome on her bed, in her own time, his amber eyes on her sleeping face. She looked like she was sleeping at least. For the first time in the longest of times, Inuyasha seemed to look like he was about to cry.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome's voice was loud and made his ears hurt, since they were quite sensitive. He was in the middle of "thanking" Shippou for stating the obvious like he often did. Both he and Shippou knew what was coming next, Shippou wriggling free of Inuyasha's hands just in time to escape being smothered in the ground along with Inuyasha as Kagome shouted, "SIT!"
That she did, and his prediction came true-He was now face first on the ground. On the ground? Normally he'd be a few feet IN it! What was going on? He tried asking, but since his mouth was kissing dirt, he couldn't get the words out. Luckily Shippou asked the very question Inuyasha had been thinking of. He snickered as he sat on Inuyasha's back before speaking to Kagome, "Hey, Kagome. Are you feeling alright?"
Kagome looked at him before smiling and picking him up. Her brown eyes had a soft look to them like they usually did. She was smiling, and Inuyasha peeked from his awkward position to see it. Inside he smiled, though on the outside he was angry at the fact he was still pinned to the ground. Kagome gave Shippou a hug, "I'm fine Shippou. Why?"
"It's just that you've been..." Shippou didn't know how to put it. "You haven't been yourself lately! That's it!"
"Really? How so?" Kagome looked slightly surprised. Had she been acting weird and not known? Shippou looked off somewhere, again pondering how to put his words.
"Well, Inuyasha would normally be several feet in the ground, but now he's only barely in there, you know?" He looked at Inuyasha in point, Kagome following by looking too. Inuyasha felt awkward with them both staring at him, and he looked the other way. Seeing Shippou's point Kagome looked him in his eyes.
"Do you think I'm sick or something? I think I'm fine, Shippou. Don't worry about it, okay?" she pat him on the head and put him down. Shippou watched after her as she walked off. There was something wrong alright. She didn't seem like herself. Even her movements looked like she was becoming weaker.
Inuyasha looked out of Kagome's window. The leaves on the trees had already begun to fall, and it seemed like a completely different place from his own time. Leaves were everywhere, and more drifted about in the wind. It was fall, and it was a bit chilly out. Back in the other era though, it was still summer, or at least it felt like it. But then again, he hadn't much time to feel how the weather was...
"Kagome!" Inuyasha, even to himself sounded furious. Kagome turned to look at him, and she smiled before turning back to what she was doing. They were both out in the forest somewhere, outside the village that neared the well in which Kagome used to pass from her Era to that one. But that didn't matter. Kagome had wandered off without telling anyone in the slightest, and Inuyasha had just discovered her where they both stood at that moment. He scowled, though inside he was relieved that she was alright. He knew he couldn't stand it if something happened to her.
He approached her, having to look down since she was on her knees in the grass. Then he paused before putting his hand on her shoulder and wheeling her around so he could see her face. Kagome appeared fine, her black hair settling on her shoulder from her sudden turn. Her eyes were watering for some reason, and Inuyasha's expression changed quickly from anger to one of concern. Again he said her name, only softer. "K-Kagome?"
She opened her mouth, as if to say something but then her eyes... they went blank. Not blank literally, but her eyes seemed to lose all reflection whatsoever. It was at that moment he noticed something around her neck. It was almost transparent, but he could make it out, and it was holding on to her. He reached for it, but then it flashed and appeared somewhere to his left, upon doing so letting Kagome fall limp. Whatever it was became more apparent now, showing several links of some black substance hovering in the air. It appeared to be a chain of some kind! It was misty at first, but began to visibly solidify, and a clacking issued from it slowly. It was wrapped around something. A faint blue light.
After looking from the light to Kagome once, Inuyasha instantly knew what was going on. Angrily he grabbed at the chain or whatever it was, but again it slipped from him and appeared to his left. This happened over and over again, Inuyasha not letting up and the chain not either as it moved in a snake like fashion to avoid his grasp. They were much deeper in the woods now, "they" being: Inuyasha, the "chain", and Kagome who was on Inuyasha's back. He was using only on hand to grab at the chain, since the other was to hold Kagome to himself so she wouldn't slide off. Already he was getting tired-A conscious Kagome was a lot easier to carry than an unconscious one.
"You!" He shouted out of frustration as he tried and failed once again to capture the chain. It was starting to grow dark, and since the chain didn't have a scent, he couldn't tell where it was if he lost sight of it. If he was right, this thing had Kagome's very soul! The blue light caught by the chain seemed to be struggling, much like Kagome would do. That was the last he saw though, because it vanished into the darkness ahead. The only thing alerting Inuyasha of this was Kagome's light growing further and further away. He couldn't let the chain take her away! "KAGOME!"
As tired as he was, he rushed forward. After minutes of running, he saw it again, drifting up higher through some trees. Still full of anger he leapt up the nearest tree, now above the trees along with the chain, which clattered loudly in the moon's light. He glared at it, now catching on. As long as he grabbed after it, it would keep dodging him, taking Kagome's soul along with it. He now noticed the chain had two lengths extending from it down below the treetops. That meant this was only a portion of the chain. The beginning and the end were somewhere else, so Inuyasha had to be on his guard. There they both were, silence around them (except for the excessive clattering of the chain) for moments before something happened.
Inuyasha decided to charge. He rushed toward it, hoping to catch it. The chain remained there, still moving in its snake-like fashion, but not going anywhere. Inuyasha was sure he had it, until he was had. He found himself wrapped from behind by a chain much similar to the one he was trying to get. He managed to leap out of it's loose bind rather easily, but it took after him again, hooking itself around his foot and pulling him downward suddenly. In his surprise he let go of Kagome and she held in midair for an instant before starting to descend a lot slower than the rate Inuyasha was being pulled down. Before he could even say anything, another chain it seemed wrapped itself around her waist and pulled her off. Inuyasha hit the ground hard, the chain now pulling him into the brush. The clattering of chains was a lot louder and frequent, and he saw in the moonlight dozens of links of chains weaving in and out of each other all around the clearing he was being dragged into. The sound and movements seemed to be hypnotic almost. And to his sensitive ears, it seemed like torture. The sound was beginning to grow annoying. There he saw Kagome on one side of the waves of chains, still wrapped in it. The other side had Kagome's soul, still desperately trying to free itself. The chain around Inuyasha's foot was dragging him roughly toward a pillar in the middle of the clearing where the chains seemed to be coming together. He struggled, but it was no use since he was inside the pillar in moments, getting tangled in the mess of flowing chains. He couldn't see, and the chains were obstructing his vision, but he could make out a scent nearby. That was Kagome's scent. Her body's scent. But there was one more...
Suddenly his face was pushed out of the chains, and he could see. His head at least was outside of the pillar he assumed. He was high up, able to see the flowing chains below him, all over the ground. It looked like a pit of black snakes that hissed in clatters and clicks. He struggled, seeing Kagome's body down below, and her soul still struggling on the opposite side. He opened his mouth, but he was knocked on the head once with what felt like a fist. Inuyasha struggled to look up, but he didn't have to, since whoever it was lept from above him and slid down so that their face was in front of his.
Surprisingly it was a very young face from what he could tell. Whoever it was wore a scarf it seemed over the lower portion of their face. They were wearing a haori (what Inuyasha wears), with long messy black hair from what he could tell. Their eyes glared at him, shimmering in the moon's light. Even though he couldn't see their mouth move, he heard them speak. "You... Why are you here?"
"Why am I here!" Inuyasha foamed. "Why am I here! You're kidnapping Kagome!"
The person narrowed their eyes. "Kidnapping? I'm taking back something that belongs to someone else. I don't care what happens to whoever stole it."
Inuyasha was confused. What was going on? His eyes darted to Kagome's body. The person must have seen, because they looked too, and the chains seemed to constrict her. He could smell blood, even from there. He glared at the person hanging onto the chains next to him, who looked at him in response.
"Leave her alone!" He shouted, the person jumped at his outburst.
"I just need to keep her away from what's not hers." The person sounded like he were trying to justify himself. Inuyasha's hand shot out of the chain bondage and hit the person across the back, and they let out a scream before tumbling down the pillar. Inuyasha now wriggled himself free-at least his torso. He saw the person still tumbling, though they halted abruptly in mid-air, almost like he were tied by a rope. In fact, his leg was bound by the chain, only it was attached by a cuff. That was the end of the chain. Was this man... this BOY using it to control the chains? The boy grabbed onto the chain and it pulled him up, towards Inuyasha who needed to get his remaining bound leg free. The hanyou was pushing against time as the boy drew nearer and nearer with an angry look to his pale blue eyes. At last Inuyasha's leg was free, despite the chain's efforts to keep him bound, and he pushed himself off of the tower which was starting to wobble because of Inuyasha's force. The boy watched as Inuyasha soared over his head and down toward where Kagome's body was sinking into the sea of chains fast. The boy still watched a moment before leaping down himself, only he headed toward Kagome's soul instead.
Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's wrist, since her hand was the only part of her sticking out from the chains he could grab. It was difficult pulling her out, because the chains were wrapped around her, the chains not willing to give her up without a fight. Irritated, Inuyasha pulled harder, freeing Kagome from the chains. It was then he noticed the boy watching him again, sitting on a smaller pillar of chains, Kagome's soul next to him bound by chains. Kagome was putting up a fight again, desperately trying to get back to Inuyasha. Inuyasha attempted to make a move, but the boy shook his head.
"Sure you want to do that? You have your arms full." the boy teased.
"Shut up," Inuyasha spat, knowing the boy was right. Either he had to put Kagome's body somewhere, or risk it getting hurt in a fight that would be totally one-sided with his arms full. Was this the boy's plan all along?
"Good doggy." the boy paused as he looked at the moon, "Just wait. Things will be put into order soon enough."
"Bullshit," Inuyasha hissed and lept at the boy, deciding to take the chance with Kagome in his arms. After all, there was no place nearby to put her if he wanted her safe. The boy was caught off guard and was knocked off his chain pillar. Now all Inuyasha had to do was get Kagome's soul and put it back in her body somehow. He grew closer to Kagome's soul, the soul eagerly trying to reunite with the body as it came closer. They finally were close enough for Kagome's soul to enter her own body, but she didn't. As hard as she tried, Kagome couldn't enter her body.
Inuyasha couldn't figure out what was going on. It should have been easy. It was supposed to be easy. It was … too late.
"You're too late, doggy." The boy cackled. Inuyasha fumed. The boy stood and regained his balance, "That's right. You're too late."
Inuyasha glared angrily. What was this kid talking about? What did he want? Why attack Kagome all of a sudden. "You bastard, what are you getting at?"
The boy grinned, though Inuyasha couldn't see it through the boy's scarf. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to explain it to you, doggy, as you'll never see your girlfriend again."
There was silence as the two watched each other, the moon overhead and bathing them in an eerie light. The chains stopped clattering, slowly vanishing as the boy went on. "Try to keep up, as your puny brain might get lost. I am Yahei. Shirahata Yahei. And I am here to take back what is rightfully my sister's from this no-good-thief."
"Kagome? A theif? What the hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha growled but didn't get an answer. Why? A very large white boomerang made of bone flew through, knocking Yahei back into a tree. He didn't take the full hit, because he used some chains to block the boomerang, but was still knocked back none the less. Inuyasha looked to see Sango rush in, followed by Miroku and of course, Shippou. Kirara came as well, hissing. Wasting no time, they freed Kagome's soul from the chain by cutting it, just in time to see Yahei stand up again. He seemed angry that he was outnumbered as he wiped his young lip free of blood.
"So, you had friends." Yahei muttered, looking to the chain. The chain had grown considerably shorter since it was cut, the broken end dangled a bit before black mist formed around it and more chain started to grow. Even though the chain wasn't complete, it shot forward toward Kagome's soul which was circling Inuyasha's head. Inuyasha swiftly grabbed it, since Sango and Miroku held Kagome, getting a horribly surprised look from Yahei.
"Look kid, I don't know what the hell you want Kagome's soul for, but whatever it is," Inuyasha smirked as he pulled the chain, knocking the boy down again. "You're wasting your time! There's no way I'm going to let you get your stupid little hands on Kagome's soul!"
It looked like Inuyasha was about the fling the boy off violently, when Sango butted in. "Wait Inuyasha, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, look at Kagome…"
"What?" Inuyasha looked at Sango. Then he realized. This boy was probably the only one that could get Kagome's soul back in her body. Throwing him off would give him a chance to escape, and Kagome would be separated from her soul forever. "Fine."
Instead of throwing him, Inuyasha wrapped the chain around him tightly. The boy had control over the chain, but Inuyasha made it clear, "Look kid, if you even try something funny, I'll kill you on the spot, got it?"
Yahei reluctantly nodded. Pleased that the boy wasn't resisting, Inuyasha pushed him forward. They started heading back to Kaede's Village, all of them keeping an eye on Yahei, but none of them catching the sinister grin his eyes hinted at. Even if they thought they had, they hadn't stopped him. This girl, Kagome, was going to die without her soul, so that another could live. It was the way it had to be.
End Chapter One
Yup! Sorry it's not too exciting right now. Am I pushing the plot too slow? Or too fast? Anyway, I'll have the next chapter up soon, so go ahead and review if you don't mind. Reviews will help me make the next chapter better!