CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Only Human
The ambulance rocked slightly as it screamed past busy intersections and crowded side streets.
"What's his condition?" One paramedic asks another.
"He's unstable. We have a lot of blood loss... Damn it Suki, step on it!"
The large van lurched forward as the driver punched the accelerator and swerved to miss an oncoming vehicle.
"Let's get this cleaned up... hmmm... it doesn't look so bad from here. Still, we have to take him in to get the wounds sewed up and have a blood transfusion ma'am."
The black haired girl that was holding the boy's hand nodded slowly. She too had a large bump in her head but it didn't seem to hurt her at all. Her eyes never left the young man's face.
As the ambulance pitched sideways, passing cars and rounding corners at law breaking speeds, the paramedic got the cuts on the boy cleaned up and placed cotton over them to try and stop the bleeding. A slight drip could be heard as blood fell off the gurney and onto the steel floor.
"Dispatch this is ambulance 428, we've got a boy here's been stabbed..."
Kagome blocked out the driver's conversation on the radio. She was focused on Inuyasha's pale skin and tried to focus on the real problem at hand.
'Whatever that thing was it might still be on the other side of the well waiting.'
A Sudden horror reflected off of Kagome's face.
'Shippou… he always waits for us at the well… Oh no!'
Kagome could hardly control her anxiety. Was Shippou ok? What about Miroku and Sango? She had to get back. Gripping her knees Kagome waited anxiously for the ambulance to arrive at the hospital. After a few minutes that felt like and eternity the large van came to a stop in front of a large white building.
"Grab that side."
The techs pulled the longhaired boy out to the front and wheeled him inside. The driver rounded on Kagome.
"Ma'am, I'm afraid he'll be going straight into the ICU (Intensive Care Unit)… maybe you'd like to wait for him in the waiting room…"
Kagome shook her head. "It's ok… Actually, if it wouldn't be too much trouble I really should get back to my house and check up on my mother."
She tried to sound calm and concise. The driver smiled and waved a hand at the ambulance.
"Well, as soon as the guys get back we have to go back on our rounds so I see no harm in dropping you off."
Kagome thanked the driver and went over to the van. She sat herself down in the back and awaited the return of the techs. Her head was pounding with questions and she was about to go crazy when the hospital doors flung open and the techs emerged with wary smiles on their faces. The taller one raised an eyebrow at Kagome, to which the driver quickly explained that she needed a ride home.
"Oh, ok. Well ma'am you're friend is ok. The doctor said surgery wouldn't be necessary, only a simple sewing operation and he'd be fine. He even said the boy might be up and about in a few hours."
As relieved as she was to hear that Inuyasha was ok, Kagome couldn't help but show a hint of worry on her face… worry for her family and friends.
One of the techs hopped in the back and the other in the passenger side of the ambulance. The ride back was slower than the ride to the hospital, but Kagome couldn't help that. She could only hope that everything was ok at home.
"How is she Kaede-sama?" A voice came from beyond the darkness. "Aside from the bump on her head she's fine. Remember that she's a youkai, they can survive much more than us…. I mean just look at Inuyasha-sama… That stubborn mule rushes into battle time and time again and he is still standing." Another voice replied. "Didn't you go a little overboard there Sango?" This voice was one of a small child.
"Inu…yasha…" Ying tried to lift her head but was met with resistance. Apparently her body had taken quite a beating and was in the process of healing itself.
'I have to get that bastard….'
"She's moving!" The tiny voice yelled and then the sound of scrambling was heard.
"Please try to lay still Ying-sama. You're not fully healed yet." This voice she recognized. It was that persistent monk. Rage exploded through Ying's body and her eyes flashed open. Above her the monk, the woman, a tiny boy, and an old woman were looking down at her. Ying's eyes fell on Sango.
"You!"
She wanted to rip the human to bits and pieces for interfering but she found that movement was impossible. Ying looked down at her chest and noticed a glowing scroll there over her shield.
"What is this?"
"That is for our protection. I hope you understand Ying-sama, but we needed to make sure that you would not attack us when you cam to." The monk explained patiently.
"What do you want with me?" Ying's anger showed in her voice.
Miroku shifted his position so he was leaning on the wall behind him. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Ying-sama… Can you tell us how it is that you know who attacked your villagers?"
Again memories poured in from all directions.
A dark forest. Ying ran at full speed towards the foul stench of youkai. Her eyes sharply scanned the decimated huts, not daring to stop in fear that she would find more mutilated bodies. The scent got stronger and… her brother's scent was there as well.
'Not today nee-san. This one's mine'
Ying doubled her speed and cleared the village. She was now running in the forest. Confusion worked it's way into her mind.
'Why would the youkai stick around… unless… Damn you nee-san!'
She knew that the only reason a demon would stand around in a forest so close to one of it's guardians like her brother was because it was dead. Her blood boiled as she thought of the promise she had made to destroy the demon herself. She was about to give up and slow down when the scent dissipated and after a while was undetectable. Ying's eyes widened and she ran even faster.
"Nee-san!"
She found Yang staring off into the forest. At the sound of her footsteps he turned and faced his sister. His eyes were wide and his usual confident face was distorted with uneasiness.
"Yang… what's wrong?"
Her brother looked down.
"I let him get away. I let that bastard get away. Aneue… I'm sorry."
Ying took her eyes off her brother and looked on into the forest.
"That's ok… We have his scent. We'll track him down and finish him off."
Ying's brother let a smirk replace his frown. "I know his scent."
Ying looked confused. She opened her mouth to question what her brother had just said when he spoke softly.
"Sister… the scent we followed was a trick this bastard can do to lead us off the trail. The demon's scent is this…"
Ying's eyes widened as her brother opened the palm of his hand and revealed a tiny piece of ripped red cloth. She plucked it out of his hand and sniffed it. This scent was indeed different.
"How-"
Yang smiled and looked away. "I ripped it off him just before he ran away like a coward."
Miroku was looking at the fire that was now roaring in the center of the room. Ying had stopped struggling against the sutra on her chest and was also looking into the hypnotic fire.
"I've been chasing after that filthy scent ever since. My brother and I aren't your typical youkai. Our father was a Chinese demon and our mother a Japanese goddess. We inherited our father's demonic power and his unique battle armor… and at the same time we inherited our mother's mercy and her kind soul. And since father was a demon that protected humans back in china, we followed his footsteps and have for centuries been the guardians of the southern villages of Japan."
Her face contorted with anger and her eyes flared white.
"And that's why I'm going to rip that filthy hanyou into little pieces!"
Miroku sighed and placed his hands on his lap. He took in a deep breath and proceeded to tell Ying about their journey to find the shikon-no-tama. The journey that brought them all together and the reason they banded as one. He spoke to her of a demon. A cowardly hanyou that used trickery and deceit to get his way. He told her of Kikyou's death, Inuyasha's sorrow, Sango's brother, and his own right hand. He reminisced youkai such as Goshinki, Kagura, Kana, hakudoushi, and others that followed Naraku. Then he spoke of humans… Bankotsu and the rest of the Schinintai, Sango, and many others who had been deceived by Naraku's poisonous tongue.
Ying lay there in her spot and listened. There really wasn't much else she could do with the sutra binding her to the ground, but she did not struggle nor did she interrupt the monk as he continued his story.
Kagome gave a short thank you to the driver and the techs, quickly jumped out of the ambulance, and started her way up the long steps to the shrine. Her head still pounded with questions and she went up the steps two at a time. Fear blanketed her in a cold sweat as she reached the top and headed towards the well house. Her mother was sitting outside by the broken pieces of wood that once used to be the shack that housed the well, and her grandfather and Souta were cleaning up a bit.
She gave them all a quick good-bye, gave her mother instructions to try and get Inuyasha out of the hospital before sunrise, which would be in about eight hours, grabbed her bow and quiver and jumped into the well.
'Please everyone be ok.'
When she emerged on the other side there was no sign of Shippou or the rest of her friends. Kagome dashed through Inuyasha forest straight towards Kaede's village. She ran passed all the darkened huts and went for the one that was at the foot of the shrine with its lights on. When she passed the threshold Kagome recoiled in fear and grabbed an arrow from her quiver instinctively. She was about to notch it when Sango appeared out of nowhere and flailed her arms wildly as if to tell her it was ok. Everyone looked surprised to see the raven-haired girl standing there… alone.
"Where's Inuyasha?" Shippou's question went unanswered.
"Kagome-chan… This is Ying… She is a guardian youkai from southern Japan." Miroku said as he pointed to the demon lying on the floor with a sacred scroll on her chest.
Kagome looked reluctantly at the shield and sword by the demon's body. Then it spoke.
"I take it you met my brother."
Kagome suddenly remembered the one that attacked them was male and this was obviously a female demon. She nodded and looked at her friends.
"Is everyone ok?"
Miroku gave a nod and Sango smiled warmly. Shippou by this time was up on her shoulder and nodded as well. Kagome looked around the small hut, it had been stupid for her to return to he time and… about this time Kagome noticed the presence of a jewel shard other than the ones around her neck.
"Sango… what…?"
She was looking at the youkai exterminator's clothes that were carefully place in the corner of the hut. Sango, as if knowing exactly what Kagome wanted, walked over to them and carefully picked out a small glittering something. She turned and handed it to Kagome. As it touched the raven-haired girl's palms the faint black color erupted and made way to a new shade of bright pink.
"Where did you guys get this? I thought Naraku had all the remaining…"
She suddenly stopped. The images of Inuyasha and the other demon that looked just like this one ran frantically through her head. There! Why hadn't she noticed it before? An image of the demon standing over the human Inuyasha with an especially dark aura around his neck swam around her head.
"That demon…" The words escaped her lips in a whisper. Sango turned towards the demon lying on the floor.
" I'm surprised that you're still alive seeing as how Yang is even stronger than me."
The voice was like a bucket of cold water in Kagome's face.
"There was another one!" She suddenly blurted out. Miroku nodded as if understanding what Ying had said already and Sango simply made for her hiraikotsu.
"He came to my era… He attacked Inuyasha!"
Everyone froze. Kagome knew what they were thinking. Tonight was a very vulnerable night for the hanyou. His demon blood would die down leaving a frail human in it's wake. Inuyasha fought the demon in his human form… After calming down a bit Kagome told them all about what she saw. About how she heard a loud ruckus outside and found that Inuyasha was gone. And about how she ran out just in time to see a man with a large shield and sword and a dark demonic aura, which must have been the shard he was carrying, run his sword through the still human Inuyasha.
"Kagome-sama…" Miroku looked at Kagome as if reading the expression on her face. "Where is Inuyasha-sama now?" Kagome remained silent so Miroku continued with the questions, "And the demon?" At this the girl looked out the door.
"I came back because I thought you guys might be in trouble. The demon went back through the well before I could get him… Some people from my time are curing Inuyasha. I've already told my mother to get him before the sun rises and I've…."
It was plain to see that Kagome was trying to convince herself of something. She was talking too fast and she was pacing around the tiny hut taking turns looking out the window and the door.
"Kagome-chan"
Sango had moved forward before Miroku could use his words of wisdom to calm the situation. She placed a hand on the nervous girl's shoulder. "We're all ok Kagome-chan. You should go back to him."
Kagome's cheeks turned a furious red. She faced the corner and covered her face with a curtain of black hair.
"Kagome-sama, we have everything under control." Miroku looked down at Ying. "As a matter of fact we were just telling our new friend here about our journeys."
Kagome looked down at the demon. There was an unmistakable resemblance between this one and the one she had just tried to put an arrow through. One of the only differences was that this one had a light pinkish hair color and the other one's hair was darker. Exactly what color it was she couldn't tell in the dark. The other one also had a deeper voice and more manly characteristics. This one was obviously female.
"So your names are Yin and Yang, isn't that Chinese?"
Ying looked at her carefully then turned away. "Yes. My brother and I are the children of…" Miroku cut her off by raising his hand.
"Kagome-sama, why don't you return to your own time? I assure you that we can take care of this misunderstanding."
Kagome looked thankfully at the houshi and turned towards the door. Shippou caught up after her and offered to walk her to the well.
After Kagome and Shippou were out of sight Miroku sighed and relaxed his shoulders. Sango noticed this.
"She really wanted to go back."
Miroku looked up. "Yes… Let us only hope that Inuyasha-sama is in good health. Well then, Madam Ying, if you promise not to try and hurt me again," Miroku's sly smile appeared over his straight face, "I will release the sutra which binds you to the floor."
Ying nodded in acceptance and then lay very still as the monk removed the piece of paper that was pinning her down. Then with a heavy sigh she sat up and took in her surroundings. She was apparently in a tiny hut in a small village. She could smell the vegetables from the gardens, could hear the gentle snoring of sleeping villagers, and could see some huts with lights still on out the window. It was peaceful as far as she was concerned.
"Now then, Ying-sama… Your brother has not been told about this. What are the chances of him attacking our friends again?"
Ying looked down.
"It's not a possibility, it's an eventuality. My brother heals faster than most demons… only needs about three to four hours to completely regenerate himself after long battles. He has always been the better warrior… And his compassion for humans is slightly less than nothing."
Miroku's hand went up to his chest unconsciously. Ying knew what he was thinking.
"That's right. My brother's sword isn't a harmless as mine. If humans get in his way it's nothing for him to slice them in half."
Sango looked nervously out the window. Her thoughts took her to Kagome's situation and Inuyasha's well being. Her friends might be in trouble.
"Sango let us look for Ying-sama's brother. Since he knows where Inuyasha-sama is he will waste no time in going back."
Sango nodded at the houshi's suggestion and picked up her hiraikotsu. Ying stood up also and retrieved her things.
"… I'll go with you. If anyone will convince my brother about this Naraku demon it will be me."
Miroku nodded gratefully and walked out the hut behind Sango. Outside Kirara blazed in fire and grew in size. Sango hopped on followed by Miroku who stretched out a hand to help Ying when…
A blaze of fire next to them caused both Sango and Miroku to nearly fall off of Kirara's back. The fire mononoke, however, didn't move as if unsurprised. Miroku blinked his eyes repeatedly and looked up at the fox demon that stood beside them almost twice the size of Kirara's gigantic form. The demon turned to acknowledge them and then ran off into the forest. Kirara automatically followed.
"Well… that was a new one." Miroku whispered to Sango as they followed the fox demon through the woods.
Along a river a dark form stood. He sniffed the air. "Aneue… you're still alive I see, and traveling with… humans?" He sniffed a bit more and caught Inuyasha's scent. It was trailing off the humans that his sister was currently with. His smile turned into an evil grin.
"Well then… it looks like this Naraku fellow was right about his annoying friends. No matter. I'll be sure to rip them all to pieces… And if my dear old sister should get in the way," Yang sliced a tree close to him in half as if to demonstrate to an invisible audience what would happen, "I'll finish her and her stupid little ideals about protecting these animals."
Kagome reached the sliding door of her house and pulled it aside to find her mother sitting at the table in the kitchen. She was drinking a cup of tea, which she set down when her daughter walked in. Giving Kagome a wary smile her mother then told her about Inuyasha's condition.
"I spoke with a nurse at the hospital and she told me that the rude boy," she let out a snicker, "would be fine and that we could go pick him up soon. They wanted to keep him overnight for observation but I told them he isn't very fond of hospitals and would only make things worse for the other patients."
Kagome hugged her mother and thanked her repeatedly. Tears of joy and relief fell from her eyes and she wiped them away hurriedly. "Let's go to right now mama, I really want to get him back before anything else happens."
Her mother smiled warmly. "Of course you do. I'm sure he needs you, after all, he's only human."
Kagome smiled back.
A/N: Ok everyone... here's the next chapter. Make sure to watch out for a new story that I'm writing in a comletely different writing style. Enjoy!