Ohayogozaimasu! Or konichiwa! Or konbanwa! Ah ha! I'm updating again, so soon! :-D yes, you may praise me. Or not...Well, I don't own anyone in this story, except Akako. I mean, come on, do you really think I'd use my billions of dollars to steal the rights away from Rumiko Takahashi? ... heh heh. What kind of person do you think I am? ... go away.
Chapter 23
"I'm gonna go wash up in the near by hot spring," Sango announced after awhile, "you want to come with me, Akako? Kagome?" she asked.
"Sure!" Kagome responded happily, leaping up.
"No, that's all right. I'm just gonna stay here. Besides, someone here better make sure this lecher doesn't come after you," Akako responded, nodding towards Miroku. Sango smiled as she turned around, and the two friends began walking in the direction of the hot springs.
Akako turned her gaze towards Shippo. She became surprised when she noticed that he was just staring off into space. Then a laugh escaped her lips.
'The kitsune has fallen asleep with his eyes open!' she laughed. "That's a pretty neat trick to have.' Just as she said this, Shippo fell over and Akako shut his eyes. "It was getting kinda creepy," she explained to no one in particular.
Miroku smiled and nodded as Akako started to sit down. She glanced over at Miroku to make sure he wasn't heading towards the hot springs and was surprised to see him staring back at her.
'What?' she asked, startled by his unblinking stare.
'I was just wondering when you were planning on further explaining your use of the elemental powers.'
Now it was Akako's turn to stare. "How do you know?" she asked him.
'I AM a monk you know. I did learn some things, even though my teacher was drunk most of the time,' he replied.
Akako half-smiled. 'So why haven't you revealed me to the others yet?' she asked suspiciously.
'I asked you first... However, I didn't know that being an Elementalist was something to be ashamed of. I just thought that since you hid it for so long that there was a reason.'
Akako's smile widened as she realized how big both Miroku's brain and heart were. 'Being an Elementalist isn't something to be ashamed of,' Akako replied. 'However, being a Quintessence Manipulator can be widely unacceptable.'
'A what? Quin-tess-ance Manipulator?' Miroku looked throughly confused. 'How do you manipulate what doesn't exist?'
'Oh, quintessence exists alright. It is what everything not made of the elements is made of. If it is not made from fire, water, air or earth then it is made of quintessence. However, as many people cannot think of anything that is not made of one of those four, they believe it doesn't exist. However, my family has been able to disprove this theory. For as long back as my family tree extends, my ancestors have been able to channel into a greater power and use the four elements in order to help good people. However, we are unaccepted because we cannot control this greater power. Once they possess my body I cannot control what they do through me. This is what got my family our bad reputation.'
'What happened?' Miroku asked, extremely enticed in the story.
'Well, my great-great grandfather decided that since our powers were so exceedingly powerful, he could use them to make a profit. He went from town to town, helping anyone who had enough money. However, he was once hired by some particularly evil people. Even though they were evil, they were still high up in the social scale, and there was a lot of them. They wanted my great-great grandfather to destroy the select few who were rebelling against them. However, once the greater powers took over his body, they destroyed his employers. Many people heard of the slaughter of these people and decided that all of my relatives were evil and not to be trusted. So now my people are shunned by all except those who knew of the real reason. My great-great grandfather was just a money obsessed man who had powers too great for him. . .'
Miroku stared at Akako, and then nodded. "I understand," he said, looking down at his own hands. "Ancestors can really screw up our lives, eh?" He smiled at her, then leaned up against a tree, awaiting Sango's return.
Akako sat just outside the ring of light that the small fire created. A shiver ran up her spine and she spun around. A light breeze rustled a few of the crinkly leaves that had fallen to the forest floor. The darkness was almost complete, due to the small moon overhead, illuminating little. Akako looked over at Inuyasha, who was crouching next to Kagome, looking around everywhere, never letting his guard down. Kagome seemed to be sleeping happily, a slight smile plastered on her face. Akako's gaze turned to Miroku and Sango. The two had fallen asleep next to each other, curled up in each other's arms. Akako felt a sharp pain slice through her heart. Painful memories raced through her mind of a lost love who would never return.
No she thought to herself, I'm not going to think about that. It's...it's too agonizing. The stars twinkled in the late night, reminding the world of a larger universe. Akako looked up and sighed. There was little she could do here anymore. And she couldn't stay and allow the love between Miroku and Sango conjure up such excruciating memories. She slowly picked up her pack and walked away slowly.
Inuyasha heard Akako get up. He heard her walk away. He looked over and wondered if she would return. After she had been gone for 5 minutes, he decided to go after her. He threw Kagome a fleeting glance, worrying for a second if she would be alright or not. He didn't want to leave her alone, not yet, not again. After contemplating for a second, he figured she'd be ok for a little while, since Sango and Miroku were there. After all, he would be able to hear them, and it's not like much could happen in a few minutes.
Inuyasha jumped up into the tree above and began leaping from branch to branch. He followed Akako's scent, and quickly began to hear her shuffling footsteps. He jumped down and landed in front of the startled red head.
"Where are you going?" Inuyasha asked.
"Oh, I was, um, well, I have to get going. Many people need my help. I was just, I thought I should, you know, leave you guys alone again," Akako attempted to explain.
"Why don't you just wait until tomorrow?" Inuyasha asked. "It's not like I care or nothin, but I'm sure Sango wants to say good-bye to you and all."
"Well, yes, but, really, I think I should be off none-the-less. Please give Sango my regards. And, well, tell her I'm sorry. I just...I can't stay anymore."
Inuyasha stared at her questioningly, but Akako simply smiled and began to walk away again.
"Akako?" Inuyasha stopped the girl as she turned around.
"Yeah?"
"Uh, well, thanks. For your help. With my brother. And all. And, uh, good luck, with whatever you end up doing."
"Your welcome," Akako responded quietly as she turned around again, and slowly walked away.
"I can't believe she'd just leave like that! Did she tell you why???" Sango asked, clearly upset.
"Uh, she said she had to go, you know, help people and stuff," Inuyasha responded blandly.
"Why didn't you stop her?" Sango asked bitterly.
"I tried!" Inuyasha snapped back. "Besides, if she wants to leave, let her. Jeez, it's not our fault if she doesn't want to stay. She's not my responsibility!"
"I'm sorry Inuyasha," Sango replied. "I shouldn't be so hard on you. It's just...I don't understand why she left."
It was early morning, and the entire crew was up. Kagome had begun to make up some breakfast on the fire, and Shippo was helping Miroku get some water. Kirara was in her smaller form, looking on as Kagome worked. They were all troubled by the sudden departure of Akako, but had decided if that was what she wanted, then there wasn't much they could do.
"Well, speaking of leaving..." Kagome cut in, "uh, I kinda need to go home. I'd like to have my wounds and such looked at by a doctor, or at least my mother. I need to make sure they're not infected or anything."
Inuyasha whirled around and glared at her. "What?!? You can't go home now! We just got you back! You can't just leave!"
"Inuyasha, it's not that I want to, it's that I have to." Inuyasha grumbled at this remark, upset at the prospect of Kagome leaving his side ever again.
"I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere but hell," a voice from overhead declared. A frightened look passed over Kagome's face, as did a feeling of dread pass through Inuyasha. All three looked up to see Sesshomaru smiling.
"I think I have something that might interest you," Sesshomaru responded.
A unanimous gasp eminated from the three as Sesshomaru pulled out the limp body of Akako.
"So Miroku, did you get lucky last night?" Shippo asked the monk.
"Ha ha!" Miroku responded, a nervous smile passing over his face. "What ever do you mean by that, Shippo?"
"I don't know, exactly," Shippo responded, "I've just heard men saying that to each other in the places that we stay."
The smile stayed plastered on Miroku's face as a giant bead of sweat gathered on his forehead.
Suddenly, they heard Kagome's scream coming from the forest. "What was that?" Shippo wondered.
"I don't know, but I get a feeling we should find out," Miroku responded, picking up his shakujo and running towards the place they had heard Kagome's scream. As he got closer, he heard the sounds of voices growling at each other, and began to distinguish the sound on Sesshomaru's voice.
"Shit..." he grumbled under his breath. "Not again..."
A/N: That's all you get for now. :-D My prediction is that there will be...hmm, 26 chapters in this story. 3 to go! Stay tuned! Now that I've got it going, I'm sure I'll finish it soon. Leave me ideas on what you want, although since I'm getting back into the writing routine, I might already have written the next 3 chapters by the time you leave them :-P. Well, that's all for now. Aloha!
