CHAPTER SIX
Naraku's Plan
"So what you're saying is that Naraku is afraid because his shouki didn't work on Inuyasha......" Sango was repeating Miroku's idea to better understand it. "... and now he wants to find another way to kill him?" These words, which were being spoken too lightly to Kagome, were sending shivers down her spine. Here they were in the middle of the forest with no clue to Inuyasha's whereabouts and they were discussing what was happening to him..... It felt like a bad dream. "All hope is not lost Kagome-sama," Kagome looked up to see the houshi smiling down on her, "If there is anything that we've learned from our journey it's that Inuyasha does not give up easily. For all we know he has already escaped the youkai and is heading back to Jinenji's farm as we speak.
'He's going back.... yeah, he's ok and he's going back! I have to go back'
"We should go back..." was all that could escape her lips. Miroku gave her a concerned look and then walked over to Sango, "Sango, you should take Kagome-sama back to Jinenji's farm. She looks exhausted. I will take her contraption and go ahead to see if maybe I can find something to go on." a sad little smile spead across his lips, "and maybe you should stay with her there. It didn't take even a second for Sango to reply furiously, "No! Houshi-sama, I can't leave you to do this by yourself... youcan barely stand!" Miroku looked down... he was leaning on his staff and holding back the groans from his empty stomach. "Well, I obviously can't take her back Sango, and Kirara will be faster without the burden of my weight...." Sango cut him off with a dark glare. "I don't care, I'm not leaving you here. What if Naraku attacks? What if you get hurt? What if......" she never finished that sentence. The houshi's index finger had pressed against her lips and his calm stare had silenced her in an instant. "Sango, having you worry for me is more than enough to carry me from here to the ends of time.... I have to keep searching, I didn't want to say this in front of Kagome, but I believe that Inuyasha is in grave danger. If we don't get to him soon, it might be too late...." Kagome's voice interrupted, "too late for what?" Miroku flinched at the thought of having to explain this to her. He turned to her... she had been standing right behind him.... tears already welling in her eyes, hands held at her chest, preparing for the worst... "Miroku, too late for what?" she repeated.
'What should I do? Should I tell her? There must be a way out of this. If I tell her she won't want to go back.'
The monk let out a sigh and looked back at the demon exterminator with eyes of regret. 'I shouldn't have opened my mouth' they seemed to say. When he turned back to Kagome Shippou had perched himself on her shoulder, making this only more difficult. "Kagome-sama, please understand that this is only my opinion and that I have been wrong before many times" This was a lie, usually it was Miroku that did the thinking in the group because of his wisdom, "But I believe that Naraku will stop at nothing to get what he wants... as he usually does. So I think that it's better that you return to the hut with Sango and wait for any signs of Inuyasha and Shippou and I will continue the search." This was as sugar coated as Miroku could make the phrase, "Unless we find him soon, he'll surely die" But Kagome bought it. She nodded warily and turned to get back on Kirara. Sango shot an angry glare at the monk, but also proceeded to get on Kirara. They went back towards Jinenji's farm, stopping only to let Miroku and Shippou off a the bike and exchange looks of worry. Shippou looked like a lost puppy when Miroku signaled him to come along. 'Why me? Why not Sango? She's strong... I couldn't fight a cold!' The little kitsune reluctantly jumped into the bicycle basket and stared at their three female companions as they rode back to the farm, adn to safety. "I have to be strong" Shippou reminded himself, "I have to be like Inuyasha, I have to protect my friends" It was only after he said this that hea realized he was talking out loud and looked up at Miroku sheepishly. The monk simply smiled and peddled away on the bike. 'I really should get one of these' he thought as his pacing was made easier by the contraption that now did the walking for him.
As Inuyasha stepped over the threshhold of the tiny hut in the middle of Jinenji's farm, the large figure rose in front of him and then, without warning, put him in an almost deadly bear hug. "You are ok! Kagome-sama will be so happy!" Jiinenji's face, though horse like, was spread in a large grin. Inuyasha was taken aback by the greeting, but quickly got over it. "Keh! I doubt that she's worried. She know better. She knows that something like that couldn't kill me" Inuyasha looked up at the giant hanyou, who was now silent as night. He didn't have to ask to know why Jinenji had fallen silent. "She was rying, wasn't she?" At this Jinenji smiply nodded and then shok his head to get the memory of Kagome's cheeks covered in tears out of his head. "DAMN IT!" Inuyasha couldn't conrtol himself and punched the ground, making a huge crater in the dirt, which doubled as the floor of Jinenji's mother's house. He quickly regreted what he had done and started to fill the hole with dirt from the sides. "It's ok." Jinenji stuttered, "I move the house later." Inuyasha stopped what he was doing and looked outside. It was almost morning. "Do you know what it's like Jinenji...." Inuyasha said, his pained face hidden behind a curtain of his own hair, "... to make the person that matters the most to you in the whole world cry?" The large hanyou simply put an oversized hand on Inuyasha's shoulder and replied, "My mother cries for me all of the time Inuyasha-kun, but it is not because she is sad... it is simply too much emotion for her to handle. Some humans have hearts bigger than this world. My mother is one and I know that Kagome-sama is another. She cries for you because she care about you Inuyasha-kun. It is not a burden for her." At this moment Jinenji stopped talking because Inuyasha was looking up, sniffing the air... fangs beared.
"I think we're almost there Kagome-chan." They had been silent the entire trip. Kagome had been sobbing to herself, but Sango could still hear her strained breathing through the rush of air that passed through them. "Maybe when we get there you should go back and find Miroku... he might need your help." Sango turned slightly to get a glimpse of Kagome in the corner of her eye. "You know how he is around women..." She was smiling slightly. At the sight of seeing her friend smile Sango felt a great weight lift off of her shoulders. "I'll go when I leave you with Jinenji... I know, he isn't to be trusted, that monk." They shared a little laugh that was silenced by the presence of youki in the air.
'Inuyasha?' Kagome's heart lifted, but quickly sank back into that region just below her stomach when she realized that it wasn't him. This youki, though, was strong, and was also headed right for them. Sango started looking in all directions... with the sun coming up it was difficult to see anything since shadows played with her tired vision. It was upon them before they had time to dodge. With one swift movement, a large lizard-like demon flew out from between the trees and tackled Kirara tothe ground. Sango and Kagome both fell hard on the forest floor, getting up quickly to aid their companion. "Kirara!"
Hiraikotsu flew through the air with a deadly precision, knocking the youkai away from Kirara. Kagome let an arrow fly towards the attacking demon, but it easily dodged it and headed straight for her. "Kagome-chan!" Sango had raised a hand to catch her hiraikotsu and had turned around just in time to see the youkai get thrown to the floor by Kirara. The mononoke fought hard to keep the lizard demon pinned down long enough for Kagome to escape. Sango ran towrds the fray and launched her hiraikotsu once again. Only this time the lizard was ready. It put it's powerful hind legs on Kirara's side and thrust her straight into the hiraikotsu's path. The mononoke took the hit in the back and landed not far from the lizard demon, unconscious. Another arrow flew at the demon which was staring menacingly a the knocked out mononoke. This arrow, because it caught the lizard by surprise, hit it's mark with a flash of blinding light. "Yes!" Kagome rejioced at her marksmanship and was about to join Sango over by Kirara when something jumped at her from out of the light. She had no time to react, she simply stared in horror as a lizard head floated towads her at neckbreaking speeds.
It didn't take a second thought for Inuyasha to take off at a run towards what called his attention. He had smelled a youkai and had dismissed it as a weakling, but now he smelled something else mixing with that youkai's reek. 'Kagome' was the only word echoing in his mind as he ran at full speed towards the two scents. He bounded over trees and dashed from limb to limb, searching frantically for his companion. The trees were swinging slightly from the morning breeze, swaying to the wind as the hanyou passed by at unmatchable speed. 'She's getting closer' he could smell her better now, he knew that she was close. 'Kagome, don't do anything stupid until I get there. He raced through the brush, urging his feet to move faster. Hoping against hope that she would be just behind the next tree. He came to a small clearing and sprinted right through, leaving a trail of dirt clouds and grass in his wake. The smell was getting stronger and then, just before him he saw what he had come to know as the glow from one of Kagome's excorsising arrows. His heart lept into his throat and he pushed himself harder to get to the light. 'She's fighting all alone. I'm not there. I have to get there.' He made one last leap and was swallowed up by the bright essence that lay before him. "KAGOME!!!"
She was going to die. It was inevitable. Without Inuyasha here to protect her she was a sitting duck. 'Inuyasha' she thought as she glanced down at the himono that was tightly wrapped around her and took in the scent of her hanyou one last time. A tear ran down her face as the demon head came ever closer. There was no time to react, no time to run, and no Inuysha to hide behind... it was over and then she heard her name.
"KAGOME!" Inuyasha bolted out of the woods behind her and soared into the air, rage twisting his face into that of the vicious hanyou who had saved Kagome's life again and again. "DAMN YOU!! GET AWAY FROM HER!!!" He yelled as he slashed the lizard head into tiny pieces that disintegrated before they even hit the ground. The dog demon landed a few feet in fron of Kagome, crouched down as he fought to control his rage. Then, with no warning what-so-ever, he jumped up, facing the girl in his himono and proceeded to yell at her, "What the hell is the matter with you?? You could have been killed!! What are you doing out here all alone any...." an uneasy silence suddenly fell over the outraged hanyou. At his feet, staring up at him, wrapped tightly in his himono, was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his entire life. And she was crying. A short gasp passed through Inuyasha's lips and then he continued, this time his voice calm and tame, "Kagome, there's no need to cry. I'm here now. You're ok, nothing is going to happen to you while I'm here. You can stop crying." But she wasn't crying for her safety. She was crying because of what she had just seen .
It was the most beautiful sight ever for her. Inuyasha leaping out of the light from her arrow, anger filling his entire body.. and then those words.... the words that he yelled as he threw himself in front of her to keep her from harm. It was too much for her. She fell to the floor like a crumpled piece of paper and started sobbing. But they weren't tears of sadness, or of fear, or of joy for that matter. They were tears of love. So much did she love Inuyasha that an everyday thing like protecting her from a demon seemed like an amazing spectacle of emotion. She tried to stop crying, but then as he croched still there, breath obscured, back arched like a gargoyle, claws flexed from his attack, and most of all, face holding a pose of great relief, she realized just how much she loved him. Even now that he was yelling at her he seemed to be surrounded by the radiant light of her arrows. Then he surprised her by going quiet, gasping for air, and then comforting her to the best of his abilities. It was the most beautiful thing in the world to her..... Inuyasha.
Sango, who had seen the whole scene from one side as if in a movie, was now walking up to Inuyasha, Hiraikotsu swining from her back. "Oy Inuyasha, you gave us quite a scare." The hanyou looked up at Sango and smirked, "Keh, you guys should know better than to..." but he stopped and sniffed the air around him. A look of concern dawning on his face. "Where's Miroku, and Shippou" He said, voicing his concern, "I don't smell them anywhere." Sango smiled at his query about their companions and made a mental note to tell houshi-sama about it. She quickly explained to the questioning hanyou what had happened. After listening to the story, Inuyasha furrowed his brow for a moment then opened his mouth to speak, but Kagome didn't let him say a word. "No!" she exclaimed, "We're not going back to Jinenji's so that you can go look for Kiroku and Shippou alone. They're our friends too." She walked over to him and started climbing his back. Iuyasha didn't protest to this... still hating himself for making her cry... but instead picked her up and set her on his back. She held onto him by the neck tighter than usual and placed her head on the nook where his shoulders met his face. Her cheek grazed the side of his head and she playfully moved his hair to get a better view of his face. "Keh, suit yourself." was is only reply, but Kagome could see the smile that played around his lips. He wanted her there just as much as she wanted to be there with him.