Day of Days, Night of Nights
The Inn
The sun sank into the west, and night fell, and shortly after the moon rose they arrived at their destination; but it was nothing like what they had expected. The stories they had heard had told of a charming inn, brimming with laughter, warmth, and hospitality; but everything here was dark, bleak, and deserted. What might once have been a cheery and welcoming place was empty, run down, and overgrown with weeds. Stone lanterns had fallen and broken, and were now only homes for the woodland animals; what once had been serene, well-tended gardens had grown rough and wild. The tattered remnants of a sign hung from the door; the only words they could make out were "out of business."
"This...doesn't look good," Kagome said pensively. "I don't sense any jyaki...I don't feel anything evil. It's just...abandoned."
"Well, I don't know..." said Inuyasha, twitching his ears and sniffing the air.
"Let's look around," Kagome said. "I suppose we'll have to camp somewhere tonight...I'm not sure I like this place at all, but at least it might put a roof over our heads. Part of one, anyway," she said pensively, as she looked through a window and saw a hole in the thatching that opened to the sky.
They picked their way through the ruins to what must have been the central courtyard. This part of the canyon was dotted with natural hot springs, and the inn had been built around one of them. In the center of the courtyard was a large pool, and vague, thin wisps of steam rose feebly from its surface. Kagome looked carefully into the water, using her flashlight to see if it harbored anything under the surface, then cautiously put her hand into the pool.
"It smells OK, and it feels OK. It's warm...sort of..." she said wistfully. "Inuyasha...if you don't hear or smell anything, can we please stay here just long enough to wash the mud off? I don't mind sleeping under the stars, but I won't go to bed filthy."
"Alright," he said, peering intently into the darkness. "You can take a quick bath here, but we're not staying here any longer than we have to. As soon as you're done, I'm taking us to higher ground."
Kagome eagerly stripped off her muddy clothes, briefly rinsed herself off, then settled into the pool and tried to relax. "Inuyasha," she asked quizzically, "what are you doing behind that rock?"
"I'm not looking. I'm staying behind the rock and I'm not looking." he called out. "I've been through enough today, and I don't want anything thrown at me."
Kagome giggled. "Silly...we're married now. Everything's different. Don't you understand that yet? Get over here." Inuyasha cautiously stuck his head over the top of the rock; seeing that nothing was flying in his direction, he slowly rose and came towards the pool. He blushed when he saw Kagome sitting nude in the water.
"Inuyasha." Kagome chided him gently, and splashed him playfully. "Come on—we've seen each other naked lots of times before. Don't be bashful—now take that off and get in here with me."
Blushing as red as his kimono, Inuyasha timidly slipped off his clothing and hastily slipped into the water on the opposite side of the pool. He smiled nervously at Kagome, and they both giggled.
"Well then," said Kagome, attempting a little small talk, "It's been quite the day, hasn't it?" They both laughed awkwardly for a moment or two, then fell silent, staring at one another.
"Um...Kagome..." Inuyasha asked slowly, "This water isn't really hot enough...is it?"
"No," she said sadly, "it's not."
"Er, Kagome...are human honeymoons supposed to be like this?"
"No," she said, slumping dejectedly, "They're not." She buried her face in her hands and began to cry. "Oh, Inuyasha, I wanted this day to be so special," she sobbed. "But I made you take me to those awful flowers, then those horrid little tanuki ruined all the nice clothes I brought to surprise you, and now this place is just... horrible." She tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but her wet hands only made matters worse. "I always knew that life with you was going to be different, and I chose that life when I chose you...but I hoped that just once, for just one night, we could be an ordinary, normal, husband and wife."
"Keh. Are you still going on about that?" Inuyasha said brusquely. "Kagome, you faced down Naraku and dared him to do his worst, and you're still here--why are you letting muddy underwear get to you?"
Kagome turned her face away from him in anger and shame. "You just don't get it, do you," she sniffled.
"I'll tell you what I get," Inuyasha said, and in a flash he had crossed the pool and taken Kagome into his arms. She inhaled sharply at the unexpected touch of his bare skin against hers, and an electric thrill ran through her. She looked up into his face; his voice was gruff, but his eyes were kind. "You're here, I'm here, and nobody's hurt. We're safe, and we're together. As far as I'm concerned... that means that everything is absolutely perfect. What could be better?"
"Oh, Inuyasha," she sniffled, "you really do have some romance in you after all! Inuyasha...I love you so much!" And she closed her eyes and reached up to kiss him.
Suddenly, Inuyasha shoved her away, hard, and she fell with a splash backwards into the pool, sinking under the water. Spluttering, she struggled to her feet, furious. "Inuyasha, you brat," she snapped, "that wasn't funny. That wasn't funny at all! What's the matter with you?" She wiped the water from her eyes, and whirled to face Inuyasha, but he was in no position to pay any attention to her anger.
A huge insect youkai had appeared out of nowhere, and it had brought one of its enormous claws down on the very spot where Kagome had moments ago been standing. Inuyasha had caught the claw with both hands, and was holding off the monster with all his strength.
"You...lousy...bastard," he growled through clenched teeth, straining against the insect's weight, "you picked... the wrong night...to get in my way!" He deftly spun underneath the insect's claw, sending the monster tumbling off balance and slamming it into the ground. He wrenched the claw off the creature's limb, breaking it free with a cruel twist, and swinging the claw like a scythe, he slashed the beast's head from its body.
"And this..." he shouted as he somersaulted over the creature's body, "is for you! He hurled the claw like a javelin into the thorax of a second insect youkai that had been following closely behind the first, and its body flew backwards and fell to the ground with an earth-shaking thud.
From the other side of the courtyard, through a thicket of bamboo came crashing four large and ugly boar youkai, roaring and gnashing their tusks menacingly. "Bring the woman to me! The woman is mine!" their leader bellowed, but he was stopped short in mid-roar, and stared agape and wide-eyed at the terrifying sight before him: an enraged Kagome, dripping wet, her bow drawn, her feet planted firmly, and stark naked. The tip of the arrow burst into a flame of purifying energy, but her dark eyes burned even more hotly with ebon fury.
"What're YOU looking at?" she snarled, and let fly the arrow. It struck the chief boar youkai right between the eyes and burned its way cleanly through his head; whereupon it exploded in a burst of pink and lavender sparks, vaporizing all four of the hapless youkai at once.
"Pervert," Kagome snapped angrily at their still-smouldering ashes; then she spun and rapidly fired a volley of arrows at more oncoming intruders.
"Kagome!" shouted Inuyasha, as he vaulted over the bathing pool to his sword and his clothing. He grabbed his kimono and tossed it to Kagome, who quickly pulled it on; as she was tying it closed, Inuyasha swung Tessaiga and fired a series of blasts at the hoards of youkai, who were all too quickly surrounding them.
Kagome and Inuyasha stood back to back in the center of a tightening circle of growling and cackling youkai, and grimly faced their attackers. "Well, here we are again," said Kagome with a grim smile. "Wasn't this pretty much what happened the day we first met?" She fired an arrow or two into the crowd of youkai; many were destroyed, but more soon rushed in to fill the gaps.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," replied Inuyasha, his grip tightening on his sword and his knuckles cracking. "You know, Kagome," he whispered mischievously, "When you're wet, angry, and naked...you're really hot."
"Not now, Inuyasha," Kagome hissed, blushing slightly; and then, although her eyes never left the enemy, she leaned her head slightly towards his, and whispered, "You're pretty hot right now, yourself."
Inuyasha glared unblinkingly at the approaching youkai, but the corner of his mouth showed the hint of a roguish grin. "Are all human honeymoons this exciting?" he asked.
"Only the good ones," Kagome answered with a suggestive whisper.
Inuyasha regripped his sword and planted his feet firmly. "Alright, you bastards," Inuyasha shouted at the growling youkai mob. "You want trouble...you got it." Kagome's eyes narrowed sternly, and she raised her bow; the tip of her arrow burst into a brilliant lavender flame. Inuyasha lifted Tessaiga, and a golden vortex whirled around its blade. He gave a great cry: "Kaze...no..."
Suddenly, a coruscating flash of sapphire flame rent the air, cutting a vicious swath of destruction through the youkai hoard. Searing tendrils of green-white lightning whipped earthward, instantly vaporizing everything they touched. Destruction rained down from the sky in wave upon blazing wave, and in what seemed like only seconds, the entire cohort of demons was utterly destroyed; not a trace remained of them but unidentifiable lumps of flesh and piles of smoldering ashes.
Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other and blinked in amazement, completely baffled by the speed with which their enemies had been miraculously dispatched. They looked upwards, and floating above them they saw the great two-headed youkai Aun, his hooves sheathed in flames; and upon his back rode Rin, tall and imperious, her long black hair and graceful white kimono fluttering gently in the updraft from Aun's fiery hooves. Her expression was glacial, implacable; but her eyes burned with the passionate fire of a mother protecting her young. In her hand was a great and terrible sword, glowing with an inner light, mystical blue and green sparks still flickering along the blade.
Aun gently landed, and Rin leapt nimbly off his back and walked through the wreckage, her footfalls delicate and silent. For a few moments, she regarded the destruction silently, then she smiled and shook her head.
"Youkai..." she chuckled resignedly, and she casually touched the tip of her sword to a large charred lump lying at her feet, vaporizing it instantly. "They can be so tiresome."
She sheathed her sword, turned to Inuyasha and Kagome, and smiled graciously. The chilling visage of an avenging angel was gone; she was again the gentle Rin that they had known and loved for so many years, full of warmth and charm.
Rin looked Inuyasha up and down, raised an eyebrow, and grinned mischievously. "Not bad, little brother! Looks like you are going to be one lucky woman, Kagome." Inuyasha blinked for a moment, confused; but suddenly, he realized that in the chaos and heat of the battle, although he had given Kagome his kimono, he hadn't remembered to retrieve his own pants. Blushing bright red over his entire body, he somersaulted to his clothing and vaulted behind a nearby rock, and in a moment he reappeared, hastily tying his belt, cursing under his breath, and gnashing his teeth in embarrassment.
"Rin-chan!" said Kagome, warmly embracing her friend. "Thank you for saving us...but how did you know we were here? How did you know to look for us? How did you find us?"
"Oh, I had heard some stories about this place...stories that I realized that you hadn't heard, or else you would never have come here," Rin said casually. "Apparently, this valley had suddenly been stricken with a nasty infestation of evil youkai, and for some time now travelers have been avoiding it. Although I am surprised that Inuyasha didn't smell the youkai long before you got this far..."
Inuyasha was scratching his nose and sneezing, and looking a little sheepish; Kagome hastily interjected, "It's...a long story."
"Ah," said Rin, diplomatically. "Anyway, when I realized that this was where you were heading, I came here looking for you, in case you might need a little help. As to how I found you..." Rin pointed to the characteristic triple scars that had been cut in every direction by the kaze no kizu. "Once you started letting those fly, it was easy to tell where you were."
Kagome looked sadly at the ruins of the inn that was to have hosted her storybook honeymoon. "Youkai..." she said mournfully. "I suppose that means that more will be here soon. I guess we'd better get ready for them." Her shoulders slumped, and she said dispiritedly, "I did so want to spend my wedding night alone with my husband...not exterminating youkai."
"Quite so," Rin said, "We'll soon fix that. Kagome, please get a purifying arrow ready." Rin walked to the center of the courtyard; and it was then that Kagome saw that Rin carried not just the one sword that she had used to dispatch the youkai; a second, much older sword, was also thrust through her belt. Rin planted her feet, drew both swords, and then crossed the swords above her head. Eldritch power began to flow along the blades, and when she spread the blades apart, a ball of energy began to form over her head, a swirling globe of blue, yellow, and green flame.
"Rin," said Inuyasha with amazement, "Those are Sesshomaru's swords."
"Yes," said Rin distantly, deep in concentration, staring at the whirling fires over her head, which now began to spark and flare.
"How did you get them?" Inuyasha asked insistently. "Where's Sesshomaru?"
"It's...a long story," said Rin absently, intent on her work. (And that story is told elsewhere, in "The Tale of Rin and Sesshomaru.") Suddenly she lifted her arms, again crossing the swords over her head, and sparks of energy shot between the flaming sphere and the tips of each sword. "Get ready, Kagome..." Rin said; then she shouted, "Now!" and whipped the swords away.
Kagome's purifying arrow struck the sphere dead center, and it seemed to kindle some sort of mystical reaction within the sphere. It pulsed, and flashed once; then with a huge thunderclap, the sphere expanded rapidly, sending a wave of pure energy traveling up and down the canyon as far as the eye could see. Kagome could see sparkles and flashes in the distance as the wave expanded, and from time to time she heard dull reports, as if from small explosions.
Rin allowed herself a satisfied smile, then sheathed both swords. "There," she said. "You will not be bothered by anything evil as long as you're here; nor will anyone else for some time, I would imagine."
Kagome had known Rin for many years, but had never once seen her use such terrible power, or speak with such authority. "Rin-chan...how do you know that?"
"Anything in this canyon that harbored a spirit of evil is no longer alive," Rin said matter-of-factly. She continued, "I have also written our names, and the names of our swords, in flaming letters across the heavens, for those who can see such things. Only the truly powerful or the truly stupid will dare trouble us here...and in either case," she smiled chillingly, "You need not be concerned. I will see to everything."
Kagome shuddered. Something about that cold, deadly smile reminded her of Sesshomaru, and she didn't like it one bit. "Rin-chan...how did you...how can you...?" she stuttered.
Rin shrugged. "It's hardly worth mentioning. It's a long story that I'll be happy to tell you sometime; but tonight is for the writing of your story, not the hearing of mine." She reached out and took Inuyasha's hand, and set it in Kagome's. "Oh," she giggled like a schoolgirl, "I'm so happy for both of you," and she patted both their hands and smiled broadly.
"Rin-sama! Rin-sama!" They all heard a creaky voice approaching, and in a few moments, bursting out of the underbrush came Jaken, running helter-skelter through the ruins and breathlessly shouting for his mistress. He tripped over a dead youkai's severed leg, and tumbling head over heels, he landed face down in front of Kagome; where, with a surprising amount of dignity for such an entrance, he mumbled with his face in the dirt, "Congratulations on this, your most blessed day of days."
"Ah, yes, Jaken. Thank you for reminding me," Rin said cheerily. She turned back to Inuyasha and Kagome. "I have a gift for you." Rin looked significantly around at the remains of the battle, and said, "You can, of course, stay here tonight...if you think this is romantic," and she nonchalantly kicked a youkai's severed head into one of the courtyard's many stagnant pools, where it splashed with a dull plop. "Or, if you prefer...and I think you will...you can stay at a place that we have prepared for you."
Jaken puffed himself up with pride. "It is a place of great beauty—my lady Rin is as sensitive and artistic as she is gracious." He straightened his coat and adjusted his hat jauntily. "You will find the hot springs especially enjoyable—I made them myself."
"Hush, Jaken," Rin playfully chided him. "It's not dignified to boast so. The work should speak for itself." Jaken bowed meekly, but Kagome could see that he was watching them with one eye open, just in case any praise should fall his way. Rin continued, "Follow the river upstream. You will come to a fork in the river marked by a white rock; follow the left fork. You'll know the place immediately when you see it."
Rin walked to Aun, climbed on, and helped Jaken up to scramble up behind her. "Please enjoy it for as long as you like...and as long as you are there, rest easily. Give no thought to keeping watch: I will see that nothing disturbs you, day or night."
"Rin-chan," said Kagome, "This is...this is wonderful. I don't know how to thank you."
"Yeah, thanks for everything," said Inuyasha, a little ungraciously; blunt as always, he added, "But why are you going to so much trouble for us?"
Rin was silent for a moment, then she looked unblinkingly at Kagome and Inuyasha, and her gaze was so piercing that they felt that her eyes were boring directly into their souls. "We're family," she said simply. "Family takes care of its own." Without another word, she was borne aloft, and in a flash, she and her little band were gone.
Kagome took Inuyasha's arm, and waved to Rin as Aun flew off. Inuyasha scratched his head, and said thoughtfully, "Well...she may have his swords, but she sure didn't learn that from Sesshomaru."
"No," Kagome said, just as thoughtfully, "but if he was lucky, maybe Sesshomaru learned something from her." She belted Inuyasha's kimono securely about her waist, picked up her muddy wet clothes, and handed Inuyasha the knapsack. "Come on, Inuyasha, let's get out of here," she said, and in a few moments, they were heading upstream towards what they hoped would be, at long last, their final destination.