Thank you for the reviews!! I appreciate them all~ As sad as chapter 11 was, I'm glad it conveyed the feelings I wanted it to. I got so many reviews that were like 'YOU EVIL WENCH, I'm crying over here!!!' v^^- I honestly didn't mean to do that! (even though I was crying writing it… hm, shoulda been a clue, ne?) And yeah, that was a horrible way to die, wasn't it. ::huggles Inuyasha:: Gomen ne, koinu-chan~
Disclaimer:: I don't own Inuyasha, but I killed him. Is that bad?
____________________________
Inuki
Chapter Twelve :: Return to Sengoku Jidai
The room was still, the silence seeming thick enough to physically touch. The two young people sat silently, neither knowing what to say next, now that the story had ended. The storyteller quietly wept, the emotions and the memory of the experience still vividly clear in her mind's eye. The listener sat on the floor, feeling awestruck and out of place, like a foreigner watching a native weep for the loss of something personal.
No matter what the more logical part of Inuki's brain told him, the things Kagome had told him had to be true. Despite the constant barrage of denial in his head, the description of Inuyasha's death matched his dreams almost perfectly.
The visions and nightmares Inuki had were of a confusing and frightening matter, something that for him, had been taking place since his childhood. But for Kagome the real event had been only six months ago, in a dimension where the era was that of a world long since past, where youkai were as commonplace as Wacdonalds.
Her description of Musashi country was easily attainable by a textbook, but her account of everyday life there, of the old miko Kaede, the people and the surroundings was something not as easily faked.
Anybody could describe how the rice paddies looked during planting season, all you had to do was have Japanese History 101. But to describe watching cloud formations while a fox-child made magic tricks and the young women sang for a good crop as they planted was an entirely different situation.
He had to admit to himself at least that if it weren't for the uncanny connection to his nightmares he probably would've recommended her for psychiatric evaluation.
Out of the corner of his eye Inuki glanced at Kagome. The teenaged girl sniffled every so often, her shoulders shaking. He softened. He seriously hated seeing her cry.
Kagome felt a rustle of soft fabric at her arm and glanced down to see a dark navy handkerchief held out to her. The hiragana embroidered in lime green thread in one corner read "Koinu."
She glanced up at Inuki as he pushed it towards her. "Here." She took it gratefully and wiped her face, and he settled by her desk, his back to the drawers. He reached up and behind him, onto the desktop and picked up the photograph of everyone.
After examining it again, he looked up at her. "So… what happened to the others? Shippou, Sango, Miroku..?"
Kagome shook her head, shrugging as she did. "I don't know, I.. haven't seen them since it happened. After he died, I… I got sick. Once I got better, I just stayed away…"
Inuki looked empathetically at her. His eyes went down to the picture, on Miroku and Sango's faces. At the warm smile of the little old miko and the ecstatic grin of a fox-child. An idea started to form. He bit his lip, wondering if he should mention it at all. In a slightly reproachful voice he asked, "Higurashi…?"
"Yes?" Her voice was clear as she spoke, and he looked up at her. "Maybe you should go back."
Kagome flinched visibly. "What?"
He shrugged, looking back at the picture. "You said it yourself, you hadn't been back to see your friends since he died… Maybe you should go back. Sango and Miroku… They're probably worried about you. And it might help you." he swallowed. "…I can't."
Kagome shook her head vigorously, looking down at him. "No, of course you can, you helped me before." He looked away. "I can't do that all the time," he said in a low voice. Then he looked up at her. He looked sincerely bothered by what he'd just said. "I don't know him, and I can't help you deal with it."
Kagome looked at her floor. Inuki had never seen her look so small, so vulnerable, since he'd known her. "I'm afraid to… I just left them, and I didn't even turn back. I don't know what I'd say to them…"
Inuki shrugged. "I don't know either. I haven't met them."
At this Kagome caught her breath. "Come with me." The color drained from the boy's face. "Say what?! No way, I couldn't." She nodded. "Of course you can, you're Inuyasha's reincarnation, you should be able to travel through the well too."
Inuki looked frantic as Kagome stood, grabbing his hands and pulling him to his feet. She nodded at him urgently. "You can come. You need to meet Miroku-sama and the others, and I--"
"Higurashi…" he tried.
"--need you to be with me."
His mouth shut instantaneously, eyes wide and hopeful. Did she really mean she needed him? He opened his mouth to protest and wavered momentarily when he realized he had nothing to say. He wanted to go with her as much as she wanted him to come. He sighed. "All right."
~*~
Kagome stood in front of the wellhouse, her heart pounding. The doors were barred and locked, as they had been for over five months. She had passed by the little shrine everyday on her way to school and yet it had never caused her as much anxiety as it did now.
Tentatively she took off the padlock and slid open the door. The musky scent of old wood wafted under her nose and for a moment she forgot she wasn't alone. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
On the floor by the door was her pack, right where she had dropped it. Her bow and quiver lay besides it and several arrows were scattered. A thick layer of dust and several spiderwebs coated both items and Kagome brushed them off in sheets as she picked up the weapon. Glancing at Inuki, she said softly, "Just in case."
Together they headed down the short flight of stairs, and Kagome stopped at the edge of the well, swallowing as she did. A wave of memories ran awash over her simply from the touch of the deteriorating wood, and she shoved them down. She didn't need to hesitate when she was so close. This was as close as she'd gotten in months.
Inuki helped her over the side, noticing her trembling limbs. Her earlier statement came back to him. She was afraid. Afraid to face her past, her friends and her duty that she abandoned. He gave a slight reassuring squeeze on her hand before releasing her and walking to the other side, embarrassed by his actions.
Kagome looked up at him in surprise, and then smiled at him in the darkness when he looked away, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. "Thanks." She swung her legs over the side and then taking a deep breath, she dropped into the blackness underneath her.
She knew she had hit the Sengoku Jidai when she was suddenly hit with a downpour of rain. The ceiling of the well shrine was gone, and she was exposed to the elements. She lifted the hood of the windbreaker she'd brought, and was suddenly blinded from the bottom as the blue light appeared again. Inuki dropped next to her, his white hair glowing ethereally in the magic light.
"Oh my God, what the hell was that?!" he gawped, looking up at the sky and promptly hit in the face with the same rainwater. "It's raining," Kagome said belatedly, already climbing the vines that led up and out. She helped Inuki out as he too clambered out of the muddy bottom, climbing up and over into the wet grass.
It was night of course, the same as home, but the dark rainclouds gathering over Musashi made it seem more preternatural and sorrowful than it was for the young miko. Kagome swallowed as her eyes scanned the area, falling over the huge thick trunk of the Goshinboku. She shuddered at the thought of going to his grave again, the memory of refusing to leave it the first time still fresh in her mind.
But she still hesitated. Inuki turned, troubled by the fact she was pausing for so long. "What?" His eyes scanned over the tree and he blinked. "Goshinboku.. it's here too…"
"Yes," she replied, and Inuki looked at her. "Are we really in the Sengoku Jidai? This is where your house would be?"
She nodded. "Yeah. And it will be, in a few more hundred years."
He blinked again, looking around in awe at the trees and plants that would eventually be cut down to make room for the shrine. It was shocking.
Kagome sighed, leaving the newbie to his staring, and she paused in her walk towards the village as she slowly came to realize she could sense something she should never have sensed in the village, hear noises that she should never have heard ever again.
She swallowed thickly and broke into a run, praying that it was not as she thought and knowing it was futile. *Dear God, they've needed me. They've needed me and I've been mourning...!!*
"So, Higurashi, which way… to…." Inuki looked around in the dark. There was no one there. "Higurashi??"
She was gone. He cursed under his breath and sniffed a little bit. The rainwater make tracking her nigh impossible, but he could faintly pick up her scent of honey and plumeria. "Dammit, we're gonna have words when I catch up…!!"
~*~
"HAAAAAA!" The agile mukade dodged the flying bone and Sango cursed slightly as she recaught Hiraikotsu. Miroku was nearby, steadying her in the mud, but the rains were still falling, causing heavy batches of mud sliding down the terraces and knocking villagers down.
As if that weren't problem enough, the huge mukade they battled had a huge, cumbersome body that knocked the very trees out of the ground and crushed those trying to exterminate him. The rain and the dark made visibility close to zero and even for Sango, a trained youkai taijiya, fighting under the conditions they were in was dangerous.
Miroku cursed, grabbing Sango around the waist and backing away as the mukade's poisonous tail struck again in their general direction. Sango landed in a sticky puddle and cursed. "Damn rain…"
The mukade screeched and swung across them again, taking out three houses and over 10 fighters. Sango stood, retaking Hiraikotsu.
"Che, ever since that happened... it's been more difficult to slay demons!!" Sango yelled, and Miroku threw his ofuda, only to have them fizzle on the heavy mukade's body. "We'll have to make do! We must protect this village!!!"
"I wish she was here..." Sango said softly, almost at a level that Miroku couldn't hear. As he dodged another swipe of the poisonous tail, the houshi nodded. "I know. I wish the same."
Almost a full three seconds after Miroku said those words, they and every other villager who battled the large youkai heard the distinct twang of an bowstring.
A faint purple light glowed brightly in the dark torrential rains and slammed into the youkai's side. Three more slammed into him and he collapsed, screeching his defeat. He twitched once, twice, and didn't move.
And just like that, the youkai they had battled for what seemed like hours now, was dead.
Afraid to hope for the best for fear of being let down, Miroku slowly raised his eyes to the shadowed figure on the horizon. A dark, blocky figure lowered the bow, a wisp of dark hair fluttering out from under the hood.
As she came towards the light of the lanterns Miroku heard Sango gasp aloud. Kagome's sad, frightened eyes met theirs. "Minna..."
There were villagers who were closer to her than Miroku or Sango, and they were all obviously shocked but delighted to see her; they burst into almost maniacal laughter and began screaming that their miko-sama had returned, that Kagome-sama was home. One of them grabbed her hands and screamed some more, dragging her through the mud and muck to the other villagers.
The ladies came out of their homes, not caring they were getting wet, and hugged Kagome, bowing and blessing her; the men hollering the Gods had finally taken heed to their prayers and sent back their miko.
The ruckus the village people were making called out the three people Kagome cared to see the most: old Kaede came barging through wondering what in the name of the nine hells was everyone screaming for, while Sango and Miroku tried to make their way through the crowd.
"Kagome-sama!"
"Kagome-chan!"
Tears sprang to Kagome's eyes instantly at the call of her name and she began to fight her way towards them, calling for them as well. She saw Miroku's dark robes finally break way between herself and the villagers and she bowled the houshi over, the two of them landing in the mud. Miroku let out a slight yelp at her ferocity, but locked his arms around her. "Kagome-sama!!"
Kaede echoed her name in shock, and Sango dropped to her knees in the mud also, Kagome seeing the obvious tears on her friend's face, and the taijiya hugged her best friend close. "Kagome-chan!! You came back!! You finally came back!"
"It's a damn miracle." Miroku muttered, loosening his hold on the smaller girl so Sango could hold her as well.
"...sorry..."
Through the noise and the rains Sango and Miroku struggled to catch the weeping girl's words. "I'm sorry!! I'm so, so sorry! I should have come back!! I should have come back sooner!! It was my fault!! I'm so sorry!!"
Sango's eyes filled with tears again and Miroku's face crinkled with emotion. "Kagome-sama…" She looked up. "I'm sorry, I was so stupid! I just… And I couldn't do it anymore! I'm so so sorry!!"
"It's alright, child," Kaede began, patting her wet hair, "Come inside and change from these wet things. I'll make you some hot soup." Kagome nodded, allowing Miroku to help her to her feet.
But as they started back towards Kaede's hut, Kagome gasped abruptly, startling the three of them. "Inuki!! I forgot about him!!!" And just like that she detached from the muddied houshi and ran in the direction of the well.
"Inu...ki?" Miroku echoed, looking at Sango, who looked just as confused, but both hastily jogged after the miko, gasping when she suddenly slammed heavily into another warm body. "Kagome-sama!"
Kagome fell back, cursing her new Bermuda short's ugly demise at the hands of the sticky Sengoku-jidai mud, when the person reached out and caught her. And promptly began to yell.
"What the hell were you thinking, leaving me there?! You wench, do you know how hard it is to catch a scent when it's freakin' raining?! Thank the gods I can freaking SEE!! And you left me in the goddamned wilderness, thanks alot!!"
Miroku and Sango stared, horrified at the voice. Kaede mumbled something, Miroku thought it sounded like "impossible." Apparently undaunted, Kagome jumped up, yelling at the boy in the shadows. "Well excuse me!! I had something important to take care of!"
"Kagome-sama, who is that?" Miroku demanded and Kagome turned. "Oh, Miroku-sama. This is Yashagawa Inuki. A classmate of mine..."
The houshi, taijiya and old miko lifted their eyes to the young man as he came into the light, and Kaede gasped rather audibly. "Dear gods..."
"Inuyasha..." Miroku murmured.
The boy stared back at them, wiping the water from his face and gazing at them from underneath white bangs. "You guys…"
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: Hey I managed to get Miroku and Sango in there! Yay! Please review~ v^^-
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
~Tessen
Disclaimer:: I don't own Inuyasha, but I killed him. Is that bad?
____________________________
Inuki
Chapter Twelve :: Return to Sengoku Jidai
The room was still, the silence seeming thick enough to physically touch. The two young people sat silently, neither knowing what to say next, now that the story had ended. The storyteller quietly wept, the emotions and the memory of the experience still vividly clear in her mind's eye. The listener sat on the floor, feeling awestruck and out of place, like a foreigner watching a native weep for the loss of something personal.
No matter what the more logical part of Inuki's brain told him, the things Kagome had told him had to be true. Despite the constant barrage of denial in his head, the description of Inuyasha's death matched his dreams almost perfectly.
The visions and nightmares Inuki had were of a confusing and frightening matter, something that for him, had been taking place since his childhood. But for Kagome the real event had been only six months ago, in a dimension where the era was that of a world long since past, where youkai were as commonplace as Wacdonalds.
Her description of Musashi country was easily attainable by a textbook, but her account of everyday life there, of the old miko Kaede, the people and the surroundings was something not as easily faked.
Anybody could describe how the rice paddies looked during planting season, all you had to do was have Japanese History 101. But to describe watching cloud formations while a fox-child made magic tricks and the young women sang for a good crop as they planted was an entirely different situation.
He had to admit to himself at least that if it weren't for the uncanny connection to his nightmares he probably would've recommended her for psychiatric evaluation.
Out of the corner of his eye Inuki glanced at Kagome. The teenaged girl sniffled every so often, her shoulders shaking. He softened. He seriously hated seeing her cry.
Kagome felt a rustle of soft fabric at her arm and glanced down to see a dark navy handkerchief held out to her. The hiragana embroidered in lime green thread in one corner read "Koinu."
She glanced up at Inuki as he pushed it towards her. "Here." She took it gratefully and wiped her face, and he settled by her desk, his back to the drawers. He reached up and behind him, onto the desktop and picked up the photograph of everyone.
After examining it again, he looked up at her. "So… what happened to the others? Shippou, Sango, Miroku..?"
Kagome shook her head, shrugging as she did. "I don't know, I.. haven't seen them since it happened. After he died, I… I got sick. Once I got better, I just stayed away…"
Inuki looked empathetically at her. His eyes went down to the picture, on Miroku and Sango's faces. At the warm smile of the little old miko and the ecstatic grin of a fox-child. An idea started to form. He bit his lip, wondering if he should mention it at all. In a slightly reproachful voice he asked, "Higurashi…?"
"Yes?" Her voice was clear as she spoke, and he looked up at her. "Maybe you should go back."
Kagome flinched visibly. "What?"
He shrugged, looking back at the picture. "You said it yourself, you hadn't been back to see your friends since he died… Maybe you should go back. Sango and Miroku… They're probably worried about you. And it might help you." he swallowed. "…I can't."
Kagome shook her head vigorously, looking down at him. "No, of course you can, you helped me before." He looked away. "I can't do that all the time," he said in a low voice. Then he looked up at her. He looked sincerely bothered by what he'd just said. "I don't know him, and I can't help you deal with it."
Kagome looked at her floor. Inuki had never seen her look so small, so vulnerable, since he'd known her. "I'm afraid to… I just left them, and I didn't even turn back. I don't know what I'd say to them…"
Inuki shrugged. "I don't know either. I haven't met them."
At this Kagome caught her breath. "Come with me." The color drained from the boy's face. "Say what?! No way, I couldn't." She nodded. "Of course you can, you're Inuyasha's reincarnation, you should be able to travel through the well too."
Inuki looked frantic as Kagome stood, grabbing his hands and pulling him to his feet. She nodded at him urgently. "You can come. You need to meet Miroku-sama and the others, and I--"
"Higurashi…" he tried.
"--need you to be with me."
His mouth shut instantaneously, eyes wide and hopeful. Did she really mean she needed him? He opened his mouth to protest and wavered momentarily when he realized he had nothing to say. He wanted to go with her as much as she wanted him to come. He sighed. "All right."
~*~
Kagome stood in front of the wellhouse, her heart pounding. The doors were barred and locked, as they had been for over five months. She had passed by the little shrine everyday on her way to school and yet it had never caused her as much anxiety as it did now.
Tentatively she took off the padlock and slid open the door. The musky scent of old wood wafted under her nose and for a moment she forgot she wasn't alone. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
On the floor by the door was her pack, right where she had dropped it. Her bow and quiver lay besides it and several arrows were scattered. A thick layer of dust and several spiderwebs coated both items and Kagome brushed them off in sheets as she picked up the weapon. Glancing at Inuki, she said softly, "Just in case."
Together they headed down the short flight of stairs, and Kagome stopped at the edge of the well, swallowing as she did. A wave of memories ran awash over her simply from the touch of the deteriorating wood, and she shoved them down. She didn't need to hesitate when she was so close. This was as close as she'd gotten in months.
Inuki helped her over the side, noticing her trembling limbs. Her earlier statement came back to him. She was afraid. Afraid to face her past, her friends and her duty that she abandoned. He gave a slight reassuring squeeze on her hand before releasing her and walking to the other side, embarrassed by his actions.
Kagome looked up at him in surprise, and then smiled at him in the darkness when he looked away, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. "Thanks." She swung her legs over the side and then taking a deep breath, she dropped into the blackness underneath her.
She knew she had hit the Sengoku Jidai when she was suddenly hit with a downpour of rain. The ceiling of the well shrine was gone, and she was exposed to the elements. She lifted the hood of the windbreaker she'd brought, and was suddenly blinded from the bottom as the blue light appeared again. Inuki dropped next to her, his white hair glowing ethereally in the magic light.
"Oh my God, what the hell was that?!" he gawped, looking up at the sky and promptly hit in the face with the same rainwater. "It's raining," Kagome said belatedly, already climbing the vines that led up and out. She helped Inuki out as he too clambered out of the muddy bottom, climbing up and over into the wet grass.
It was night of course, the same as home, but the dark rainclouds gathering over Musashi made it seem more preternatural and sorrowful than it was for the young miko. Kagome swallowed as her eyes scanned the area, falling over the huge thick trunk of the Goshinboku. She shuddered at the thought of going to his grave again, the memory of refusing to leave it the first time still fresh in her mind.
But she still hesitated. Inuki turned, troubled by the fact she was pausing for so long. "What?" His eyes scanned over the tree and he blinked. "Goshinboku.. it's here too…"
"Yes," she replied, and Inuki looked at her. "Are we really in the Sengoku Jidai? This is where your house would be?"
She nodded. "Yeah. And it will be, in a few more hundred years."
He blinked again, looking around in awe at the trees and plants that would eventually be cut down to make room for the shrine. It was shocking.
Kagome sighed, leaving the newbie to his staring, and she paused in her walk towards the village as she slowly came to realize she could sense something she should never have sensed in the village, hear noises that she should never have heard ever again.
She swallowed thickly and broke into a run, praying that it was not as she thought and knowing it was futile. *Dear God, they've needed me. They've needed me and I've been mourning...!!*
"So, Higurashi, which way… to…." Inuki looked around in the dark. There was no one there. "Higurashi??"
She was gone. He cursed under his breath and sniffed a little bit. The rainwater make tracking her nigh impossible, but he could faintly pick up her scent of honey and plumeria. "Dammit, we're gonna have words when I catch up…!!"
~*~
"HAAAAAA!" The agile mukade dodged the flying bone and Sango cursed slightly as she recaught Hiraikotsu. Miroku was nearby, steadying her in the mud, but the rains were still falling, causing heavy batches of mud sliding down the terraces and knocking villagers down.
As if that weren't problem enough, the huge mukade they battled had a huge, cumbersome body that knocked the very trees out of the ground and crushed those trying to exterminate him. The rain and the dark made visibility close to zero and even for Sango, a trained youkai taijiya, fighting under the conditions they were in was dangerous.
Miroku cursed, grabbing Sango around the waist and backing away as the mukade's poisonous tail struck again in their general direction. Sango landed in a sticky puddle and cursed. "Damn rain…"
The mukade screeched and swung across them again, taking out three houses and over 10 fighters. Sango stood, retaking Hiraikotsu.
"Che, ever since that happened... it's been more difficult to slay demons!!" Sango yelled, and Miroku threw his ofuda, only to have them fizzle on the heavy mukade's body. "We'll have to make do! We must protect this village!!!"
"I wish she was here..." Sango said softly, almost at a level that Miroku couldn't hear. As he dodged another swipe of the poisonous tail, the houshi nodded. "I know. I wish the same."
Almost a full three seconds after Miroku said those words, they and every other villager who battled the large youkai heard the distinct twang of an bowstring.
A faint purple light glowed brightly in the dark torrential rains and slammed into the youkai's side. Three more slammed into him and he collapsed, screeching his defeat. He twitched once, twice, and didn't move.
And just like that, the youkai they had battled for what seemed like hours now, was dead.
Afraid to hope for the best for fear of being let down, Miroku slowly raised his eyes to the shadowed figure on the horizon. A dark, blocky figure lowered the bow, a wisp of dark hair fluttering out from under the hood.
As she came towards the light of the lanterns Miroku heard Sango gasp aloud. Kagome's sad, frightened eyes met theirs. "Minna..."
There were villagers who were closer to her than Miroku or Sango, and they were all obviously shocked but delighted to see her; they burst into almost maniacal laughter and began screaming that their miko-sama had returned, that Kagome-sama was home. One of them grabbed her hands and screamed some more, dragging her through the mud and muck to the other villagers.
The ladies came out of their homes, not caring they were getting wet, and hugged Kagome, bowing and blessing her; the men hollering the Gods had finally taken heed to their prayers and sent back their miko.
The ruckus the village people were making called out the three people Kagome cared to see the most: old Kaede came barging through wondering what in the name of the nine hells was everyone screaming for, while Sango and Miroku tried to make their way through the crowd.
"Kagome-sama!"
"Kagome-chan!"
Tears sprang to Kagome's eyes instantly at the call of her name and she began to fight her way towards them, calling for them as well. She saw Miroku's dark robes finally break way between herself and the villagers and she bowled the houshi over, the two of them landing in the mud. Miroku let out a slight yelp at her ferocity, but locked his arms around her. "Kagome-sama!!"
Kaede echoed her name in shock, and Sango dropped to her knees in the mud also, Kagome seeing the obvious tears on her friend's face, and the taijiya hugged her best friend close. "Kagome-chan!! You came back!! You finally came back!"
"It's a damn miracle." Miroku muttered, loosening his hold on the smaller girl so Sango could hold her as well.
"...sorry..."
Through the noise and the rains Sango and Miroku struggled to catch the weeping girl's words. "I'm sorry!! I'm so, so sorry! I should have come back!! I should have come back sooner!! It was my fault!! I'm so sorry!!"
Sango's eyes filled with tears again and Miroku's face crinkled with emotion. "Kagome-sama…" She looked up. "I'm sorry, I was so stupid! I just… And I couldn't do it anymore! I'm so so sorry!!"
"It's alright, child," Kaede began, patting her wet hair, "Come inside and change from these wet things. I'll make you some hot soup." Kagome nodded, allowing Miroku to help her to her feet.
But as they started back towards Kaede's hut, Kagome gasped abruptly, startling the three of them. "Inuki!! I forgot about him!!!" And just like that she detached from the muddied houshi and ran in the direction of the well.
"Inu...ki?" Miroku echoed, looking at Sango, who looked just as confused, but both hastily jogged after the miko, gasping when she suddenly slammed heavily into another warm body. "Kagome-sama!"
Kagome fell back, cursing her new Bermuda short's ugly demise at the hands of the sticky Sengoku-jidai mud, when the person reached out and caught her. And promptly began to yell.
"What the hell were you thinking, leaving me there?! You wench, do you know how hard it is to catch a scent when it's freakin' raining?! Thank the gods I can freaking SEE!! And you left me in the goddamned wilderness, thanks alot!!"
Miroku and Sango stared, horrified at the voice. Kaede mumbled something, Miroku thought it sounded like "impossible." Apparently undaunted, Kagome jumped up, yelling at the boy in the shadows. "Well excuse me!! I had something important to take care of!"
"Kagome-sama, who is that?" Miroku demanded and Kagome turned. "Oh, Miroku-sama. This is Yashagawa Inuki. A classmate of mine..."
The houshi, taijiya and old miko lifted their eyes to the young man as he came into the light, and Kaede gasped rather audibly. "Dear gods..."
"Inuyasha..." Miroku murmured.
The boy stared back at them, wiping the water from his face and gazing at them from underneath white bangs. "You guys…"
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: Hey I managed to get Miroku and Sango in there! Yay! Please review~ v^^-
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
~Tessen