Niroku's Story

Chapter 6: United

Angel:sighs: Here we go again. I hope I don't make a habit of being this late… Thanks for waiting, everyone. :is addressing approximately three people… well, they're all the reviewers: This is where the actual thought-out plot starts to fail, so any ideas would be much appreciated. I know where our destination is, just not how to get there.

Reviewer: inuyasha-lover-1231—I'm glad you like the story. Heh heh, somehow I don't think Miroku is so grateful, considering one of those kids tried to kill him! He asked for it, though. You're the first reviewer in this story that I don't know personally. Thanks!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inuyasha. Wish I owned Sesshomaru, though. I've gotta start saving up…

CHAPTER START

I wonder where Maraku and Niroku are now, Kagura wondered one morning while she ate breakfast. They had been gone a month now; were they okay? She felt an instant of worry for the sister she had raised from birth but stifled it quickly—she had no use for sentimentality. So what if they are dead. One less link to me, she told herself. She almost believed it.

There was a knock at the door. Kagura felt a clutch of fear around her newly-reclaimed heart. No one knows about this place. Who could that be? But she already knew.

Steeling herself, she opened the door.

"It's been a while, Kagura," Naraku commented casually.

"You—How did you know?" she gasped, her suspicions becoming real in a rush.

"Anyone will divulge secrets under the right pressure. Now, what possessed you to believe I would let you go unpunished?" Without waiting for an answer, he stabbed through her stomach with a tentacle.

She fell to the ground, bleeding freely. That bastard, she thought. Indeed, she knew this was one of the cruelest deaths he could have inflicted on her. The acids from her stomach would seep slowly up into her chest cavity and eat away at her insides until her system shut down completely. It would take ten, fifteen minutes of agony before she finally died.

The hanyou laughed, quietly malicious. "Die, treacherous wench. Die like the cowering filth you are."

Kagura had just strength enough to mock, "That's exactly what you are too, then. After all, I was made from you."

Naraku laughed. "Ah, dying insults. How meaningless. But I suppose I shall have to teach you a lesson anyway." He picked her up and took her to a cliff nearby.

"Goodbye," he sneered as he tossed her over.

She screamed, thinking, I really am going to die.

However, Fate had other plans for her. She landed safely in a soft patch of a familiar herb. As soon as she recognized it, she let out a gasp of relief mixed with a crow of triumph. Exactly what I need! she exulted. She swallowed a double handful of the violet leaves. Within minutes, the burning had ceased and her life was out of harm's way again.

Unsteadily, she sat up and thought, What do I do now?

An image washed over her mind. Maraku needs to be warned, she recognized. The bastard will kill her the first chance he gets.

She stood and almost fell down again. Annoyed, she sat and thought, I'd better try to get my strength back.

She lay back and soon, the slumber of the exhausted claimed her.

BACK WITH THE TWINS

Maraku timidly tapped Airi on the shoulder. "Could I ask a favor, milady?" she asked when Airi had turned to look at her.

The demoness laughed. "Sure, of course. But you can call me Airi. I'm really nothing special."

"Um, Airi, could we go tell Kagura that Niroku and I are okay? She said to come back as soon as we were done," Maraku requested shyly.

"Well, I'll have to ask Sess, but I think I can persuade him. So, I think that's a yes." She smiled. "You don't have to be scared, you know. We aren't going to eat you. And Sess can be a little curt with most people, but he really is a kind demon. I promise. Okay?"

"Okay."

After a little convincing, they were on the way to Kagura's safe house. The journey was uneventful, but by the time they were within a mile of their destination, Sesshomaru whispered to Airi, "I smell blood."

"Me too," Airi agreed, concerned. "Better not tell the kids, though. It's probably nothing." She was trying to convince herself as much as him.

Sesshomaru nodded. He didn't want to worry his mate, who dwelled on troubles far more than necessary, but he recognized this blood. He never forgot a scent, and this smelled exactly like the blood of a certain Wind Witch.

Maraku knew something was wrong when she saw the safe house. The door swung in the breeze, and when she went inside, she saw a huge bloodstain on the floor. "What—happened here?" she gasped.

"I think there was a fight," Niroku suggested. "But where's Kagura? And who did the fighting?"

For all that he was usually a very intelligent kid, Niroku was clueless. However, Maraku knew what was going on.

"Someone killed Kagura," she realized, her voice lifeless.

"Naraku. His stench is everywhere," Sesshomaru told her.

The girl's astonishment turned to anger. For the first time in her life, she was furious. "I'll kill him," she whispered.

"I'll help," Niroku offered. "He killed me, after all."

The siblings stood, united in a common goal. They would kill their father or die trying. It was him or them this time.

TO BE CONTINUED

Angel: Whoo, this is getting intense. See ya next time!