Wow, it's the chapter that changes everything! MUHAHAHA! Okay, sorta… I'm just being a tad bit dramatic but who cares? Anyways, I'm going to reply to the many replies to this fan fic because I have nothing better to do (well, I've gotten like five since the last time I posted, and for me that's a lot, so shut up!)
peachpit: Cute username! Glad you found my fan fic funny. Except your only on chapter four and if you find just that funny than I suggest you read more… and don't sue me if a lung pops! And yes, I sort of did take the sword that glows blue thing from Lord of the Rings. Well… Kagome sensed the Shikon Jewel Shards so Sueko was going to be able to sense the Shrine Stones, except I thought just plain sensing them for really no reason was rather retarded (one of the reasons I found Kagome extremely annoying was because she was "Oh my freakin' God, so powerful!" I mean, being even more powerful than Kikyo is just messed up!) so I decided to have the "mysterious and powerful sword that does all these cool things that no one really understands" be able to sense the stones… by glowing… and I choose blue as the color because Frodo's sword glowed blue (I was in a LOTR's mood, shut up!). And no on really does understand Sueko's sword… neither do I. I just make it up as I go. But no one needs to know that… ;) But I'm glad you like Sueko more than Kagome. Seeing how I hate Kagome and Sueko's so terribly like me even though I didn't mean to write her that way… but her character comes out more later on (you're only on chapter four according to your last reply) so whatever.
ICYGIRL: Um… you didn't really say much except "write more." And I'm seriously working on that, don't worry!
elemental hanyou: Thank you for saying "Happy Birthday." And don't worry about your reading skills. I mean, I read fast but I've been reading since like Kindergarten… I mean, as soon as I learned how to read that's all I did… besides breath, eat, and sleep. Kind of like a character I made up for this fan fic except he draws instead of reads… well, he reads manga… but he doesn't show up for such a long time… cries Oh well.
Oh, and in case you care I re-wrote the introduction to our fan fic that explains how Kagome died and all that crap. But it actually explains what happened to Kikyo, Kagura, Kanna, and Kohaku and all that crap so you can go read that if you want…
DISCLAIMER
Maybe if I possessed Rumiko Takahashi I'd own InuYasha, except I'm not a demon and I have better things to do then going around possessing people… and I wouldn't own the real InuYasha, just the little drawings of the people. Hey, I actually drew InuYasha the other day. For my first drawing of him it's not that bad… The cheeks could be drawn way better but whatever. ANYWAYS, if it's not on the TV show or manga it belongs to Ravyn and watashi (Japanese for me. There, you can tell your parents you learned something today!). Now go read fan fic and reply so I know if it's any good or not!
Chapter Eighteen: Complicated Love
Fireflies hovered over the endless field, lighting up the green grass. That was the only source of light for the moon was almost gone from the sky. Suddenly the glowing bugs were scattered as the flap to the hut was opened and out stepped Yoshiko. Sighing, she threw her bag over her shoulder to make it easier to carry. It was small but she figured there would be a large distance to travel. In her other hand she carried her sword out of its sheath just in case she had a run in with demons.
Standing outside right in front of the doorway was Sueko. At first Yoshiko was sure the girl was asleep on her feet. But when Sueko's eyes completely cleared her face turned to a scowl. In fear, Yoshiko took a step back, eyes wide. Sueko continued to put her hands on her hips and leaning forward to glare at Yoshiko.
"So…" she said.
"What are you doing up?" asked Yoshiko, not looking the girl in the eyes. Instead she looked off at the trees in the distance.
"You were awfully quiet all day! I knew you were going to be leaving without saying anything!" snapped Sueko.
"Can you blame me?" sighed Yoshiko, looking at Sueko.
A thoughtful expression crossed Sueko's face as she straightened up and looked at the half-demon quizzically. Yoshiko adjusted her bag over her shoulder, her feet starting to go numb in the cold. She was hoping to make good time by leaving at night and hopefully not having to travel too much that morning. Maybe even get a small nap in. But now Sueko, being the curious and stubborn girl that she was, was holding her up. Then suddenly Sueko smiled sadly.
"You really like him, don't you?" she said softly.
Yoshiko blinked as she tried to figure out if there was a hidden meaning in Sueko's words. But really they were as plain as she had said them. Despite this it took her a while to figure out what to say to this.
"Who?" asked Yoshiko, suddenly feeling guilty.
"Sesshomaru, you dimwit!" cried Sueko, hitting Yoshiko on the head.
Yoshiko was about to tell her to keep quiet or she would wake the others but apparently Sueko wasn't the only one up. Behind the half tiger demon stirred Sango, InuYasha and Miroku, not one of them looking like they had been asleep. Yoshiko sighed and hung her head. There was no way she was going to get out of here now. Not with everybody on Sueko's side anyways.
"So, you like Sesshomaru do you!" said Miroku, grinning mischievously.
"Will you stay out of my business?" cried Yoshiko, swinging her bag at the monk's head and stomping out of the hut and past Sueko.
"Hey!" cried Sueko, running after her. "Don't leave yet!"
"Well, it's nice to know that I can tell my friends things and expect them to keep it a secret," said Yoshiko icily.
"Look, I'm sorry okay! I only told InuYasha, I don't know how Sango and Miroku found out!" snapped Sueko, grapping Yoshiko by the arm to try and turn her around. Since Yoshiko was way stronger all she did was stop the half demon.
"Well, InuYasha opened his big mouth when I came back," said Yoshiko, feeling that her voice wasn't really hers.
"I was worried that your stupid crush on Sesshomaru would get us all in trouble so I told InuYasha! I really am sorry though…" said Sueko.
Tears crept to the corner of her eyes as the words sunk in. It was true that if she kept up the way she was it would get people killed. But how could Sueko say such a thing? Her arms started shaking as she turned around to face the girl. By this time tears were streaming freely down her face.
"What about your stupid crush on InuYasha? Don't you think that maybe it will get us in trouble?" shouted Yoshiko. Almost a second later she regretted it, seeing the fearful and confused look on the girl's face.
"Cr—crush? What crush?" stammered Sueko in a timid voice and taking a step back. "We're talking about Sesshomaru here! He did try to kill me and other people, you know!"
"Maybe he's changed. Did you ever think about that? Besides, from what I heard InuYasha wasn't exactly a saint either," growled Yoshiko.
"Will you stop changing the subject?" shrieked Sueko, her cheeks starting to turn a little pink. "Anyways, how can you be so sure Sesshomaru changed? People like him don't suddenly change. Why would he change? How could he have changed?"
"You're rambling…" hissed Yoshiko.
"So what!" cried Sueko. "You're not listening!"
"When you tell me something worth listening to I might," snapped Yoshiko.
"Me caring about your well-being isn't worth listening to?" said Sueko, starting to shake herself. "I'm really just worried about you, Yoshiko. Really, I am."
"Stop it then," said Yoshiko in a low voice, her eyes darkening. "People who worry about my well-being only end up dead."
"Am I interrupting something?" asked InuYasha, walking up to the girls. When neither answered he continued. "Well, don't you have somewhere you would much rather be?"
Yoshiko looked up in surprise, her tired green eyes meeting InuYasha's completely serious hazel ones. Despite everything that had been said Sueko wasn't about to just give up. Her green-hazel eyes narrowed.
"You're just going to let her walk off?" cried Sueko. "You hate Sesshomaru! Don't you…"
"Yeah," shrugged InuYasha, "but Yoshiko can't help who she falls in love with and it isn't like he's tried to kill her. Plus, she hasn't given us a reason to distrust her."
"Okay, I don't really have a problem with Yoshiko leaving but she really should think about this! Besides, she shouldn't go running off with out telling—" started Sueko. But when she looked back to see Yoshiko she had gone. "Dammit!"
"Hey, we know where she's going," shrugged InuYasha, smiling slightly.
Though quite a lot of time had been wasted trying to get away from the others, Yoshiko still made good time. Around noon when she was contemplating stopping for lunch, she felt suddenly like she was being watched. For a while she tried to ignore it, knowing that there was nothing within a hundred miles, but when it continued she found herself trying to figure out a way of losing them without making it obvious. Finally she figured out that this was a familiar sensation. Trying to surprise him, she turned around suddenly.
As she expected, standing right in front of her was Sesshomaru. For some reason Yoshiko felt like he had changed since she had last seen him. But this change wasn't very evident by how he looked. It was more something in his eyes or so she thought. That was the only thing she could pin it on though. Quickly his eyes moved over her as if checking to make sure it was really her or to see if she was in one piece. Yoshiko shook herself mentally at the last thought. When he seemed satisfied he turned around and walked off.
'He must really think of me as part of the group if he expects me to just follow,' thought Yoshiko as she fell into step behind him. 'Of course I feel more at home here than with InuYasha and the gang.'
Surprisingly the walk wasn't that long. Soon Sesshomaru stopped on the edge of a very small clearing where Rin was playing in some leftover snow. She ran around gleefully, throwing handfuls of the white stuff and sometimes throwing it at the back of Jaken's head. Yoshiko could see the anger starting to build up in the imp as snowball after snowball collided with him, but he staid pretty calm.
All that stopped when Rin noticed Yoshiko standing not too far away. The girl's brown eyes went wide as she cried out happily. She ran forward and grabbed Yoshiko's hand with both her own as if trying to pull her out of the trees. The half-demon smiled slightly, dropped her stuff and allowed her to get pulled out into the snow. She felt Sesshomaru's eyes on her back as she and Rin had a small but furious snowball fight. Rin soon forced Jaken in. By late afternoon they were all tired out and decided to move on to find a nicer place to rest.
That night Rin curled up at Yoshiko's feet as she leaned against a tree as usual to try and get some rest. It was strange how natural and simple this seemed to feel to Yoshiko as she watched the sleeping girl. When it seemed assured that she would fall asleep herself Sesshomaru's shadow loomed over her. All day she had been quite sure that she was over him. But suddenly her heart quickened its paced and she had to force herself to look up at him without blushing.
"Can we talk?" asked Sesshomaru.
Automatically Yoshiko went jumping to conclusions. What kind of things would Sesshomaru want to talk about? What was so important that it had to wait until this late at night? Surely it couldn't be… Maybe he was just wondering why she left so quickly a couple of weeks ago. Or why it had taken her so long to come back. He could even want to tell her not to come back. Despite all these ideas, Yoshiko was still curious so stood up and followed after Sesshomaru. He slowed his pace slightly so they were practically walking side by side. This unnerved Yoshiko slightly.
"You've been away a while," noted Sesshomaru after they were a good distance from the camp.
Yoshiko glanced sideways at him but saw no sign that he really cared. In fact it almost seemed beyond what he really wanted to talk about. Silently she sighed and looked down at her feet.
"Well, I got a cold and then my aunt showed up. She decided she wanted to possess one of my friends. Then Shippo got into some sort of trouble or another," explained Yoshiko. She looked at Sesshomaru again but still saw nothing on his face. She shrugged. "Then I decided that I wasn't really needed with the others."
Slightly Sesshomaru nodded to show he knew the rest. Still they walked in silence. Yoshiko suddenly started to think that he didn't want to talk. And if he did he couldn't seem to figure out how to say it.
'That's ridiculous,' Yoshiko reprimanded herself. 'Sesshomaru's the kind of guy who doesn't care what he says.'
As her mind was running through these circles, Sesshomaru stopped suddenly. When Yoshiko realized this, he all ready turned toward the trees and putting his hand on the hilt of his sword. But from the other side she heard footsteps. She then found herself back to back with Sesshomaru as oddly shaped men came out. At times they seemed solid but then they wavered and refracted the light. They also moved oddly, seeming to be in one place by suddenly growing or reforming in another.
"They're not human," growled Sesshomaru.
Everything seemed to stand still for a moment. Then an arrow came out of the trees from the side. Both Yoshiko and Sesshomaru moved out of the way and drew their sword in the same moment. In the same motion Yoshiko swung her sword at one of the men. The attack slid through almost as if nothing was there. She didn't stop to think about it but kicked out at the next. When she felt nothing she lost her balance and fell over backwards. One of the men stepped over and raised its sword.
The first attack she dodged and was able to pull out her dagger. She stabbed him in the thigh but the only sign that there was any thing was a sudden gust of wind her face. In surprise she realized the complete truth of Sesshomaru's words. She doubted he even knew it. So when the next attack same she sat still and sure enough the sword broke apart into nothing but a weird sort of vapor. Someone out there had an air stone…
"Sesshomaru!" cried Yoshiko, getting to her feet and her face set. "Move out the way!"
Without hesitating Sesshomaru jumped into the cover of the trees. By the simple will of her mind fire leapt up from her sword. Her eyes narrowed as she swung the blade from her left side to her right as far as her arm would go. A fire leapt up engulfing the airmen and sending them shrieking. In seconds the trail was clear and Sesshomaru came striding back out.
"I need to practice more often," sighed Yoshiko, putting her sword away. "That was exhausting."
"It would be for anyone," said Sesshomaru. "We should head back."
"No," said Yoshiko. "There's a stone near by and I need to get it!"
"Very well," said Sesshomaru, surprising her.
'Sueko is lucky,' sighed Yoshiko. 'At least InuYasha's friends understand his actions and explain it to her. Sesshomaru makes no sense to anyone…'
The gang hadn't gotten much traveling done the next day since Sueko was still a little angry with Yoshiko for leaving. But what made her even angrier was everybody seemed to agree with Yoshiko for going off to find Sesshomaru. But according to Sueko Sesshomaru was a huge jerk, needed to die and Yoshiko needed to get over him. InuYasha hated his older brother and all but it was probably good for Yoshiko to even realize that she was in love.
InuYasha sighed and willed the sun not to set. In fact it would be just fine if it staid halfway for the rest of his life. As he watched the sunset he thought back to the last new moon and what Yoshiko had told him. Why was it that he had to be supposedly in love again? Couldn't he have just been in love with Kikyo and stuck with that? But now he didn't really care about Kikyo that much. But also according to Yoshiko since he could get over Kikyo he could also get over Kagome.
'Wait… haven't I already gotten over Kagome?' thought InuYasha. 'And why is it that Yoshiko seems to know something about everything?'
Finally the sun had set and the new moon rose. As his hair turned black and his claws shrunk he put his head in his hand. Not too long afterwards he felt somebody sit down next to him but InuYasha continued to look off into the distance. He didn't have to look to know it was Sueko. At the moment he didn't really want to talk to her. Especially since he was worried she would start blaming him for letting Yoshiko walk off. She had a temper larger than Kagome's as times.
"Hey," said Sueko, pulling lightly at his hair.
"What?" snapped InuYasha, finally looking at her out of the corners of his eyes.
"You going to not get captured by a random demon this time?" joked Sueko. "Or do anything stupid?"
"Since when did I do something stupid?" cried InuYasha, turning toward her.
"Well, thinking that the Tetsusaiga would transform when you're human is pretty stupid," said Sueko, crossing her arms.
"Feh."
The silence hung over them almost thick as a cloud. InuYasha wanted to say something to break the awkwardness but knew speaking would be just as awkward. Feeling restless he stood up and looked down at Sueko who just blinked a couple of times.
"I'm going for a walk," said InuYasha, looking away and feeling his cheeks go a little pink. "Want—want to come with?"
"Uh…" said Sueko, getting her feet slowly and brushing off non-existent dirt from her pants. "I guess."
If he thought the strange feeling would go away, InuYasha was wrong. In fact walking alone with Sueko in the woods made him feel even weirder. He found himself looking at Sueko but when she noticed, looking away. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't think of anything to say though he wanted to say something! But whatever that something was he couldn't think of… or didn't want to think about.
'What the hell is wrong with me?' thought InuYasha.
"So… InuYasha…" said Sueko suddenly. Her voice seemed so small after the long silence that he almost jumped in surprise. "If you hate your brother so much… why do you let Yoshiko go off to see him?"
Sueko looked up threateningly and InuYasha found himself stopping. He swallowed in fear and felt himself sweating guiltily. When he continued to say nothing Sueko put her hands on her hips and leaned in closer, narrowing her eyes.
"Well?"
"What do you want me to say?" cried InuYasha, looking away.
"You're avoiding the question!" snapped Sueko.
"What do you expect? You won't shut up about it! Give it a rest okay!" snapped InuYasha.
"But I don't want to!" cried Sueko. "Yoshiko's my friend and I don't want her to like… get herself killed or something!"
"I don't think we have to worry about Sesshomaru killing Yoshiko," sighed InuYasha, starting to get annoyed.
"How do we know though? How do we know!" cried Sueko dramatically, shaking InuYasha slightly.
"Ugh," sighed InuYasha, putting his head in his hand and shaking his head. "Give it up all ready. Now let's head back before the others start wondering where we are."
"Whatever," shrugged Sueko, turning back toward the hut.
InuYasha sighed in relief and started off not looking to see if Sueko would follow. He just figured she would. But then he realized that she wasn't following. He turned back around to see Sueko staring off into the trees trying to see something and her face full of confusion.
"Come on! What's taking you so long?" called InuYasha.
"I thought I saw… someone," said Sueko.
InuYasha looked off into the trees but saw nothing. Just to make Sueko feel better he went over to the trees and tried looking harder. But there was nobody there. He shrugged and turned back.
"There's nothing there. Hurry up!" snapped InuYasha.
"Okay, Mr. Bossy!" shouted Sueko, running after him. "But I still swear I saw something!"
"Think what you want but there wasn't anything there," said InuYasha.
"Not when you looked anyways," said Sueko.
"God dammit! You're not going to let this go either! You're so stubborn!" shouted InuYasha.
"I know you are but what about me?" joked Sueko, skipping past him and grabbing the sleeve of his kimono. "Now will you hurry up? The others are probably worried by now."
"Oh boy…" muttered InuYasha, allowing himself to be dragged along. And as they walked along he smiled, feeling lucky to have a friend like Sueko.
The demon aura was coming from a large shrine in the middle of the forest. If that was strange enough a yellowish barrier surrounded the building. Just when Yoshiko was about to step out of the cover of the trees Sesshomaru put a hand on her shoulder. Her heart jumped up into her throat and she looked slowly over her shoulder. It almost seemed like he was worried but that couldn't be right. His eyes looked softer than usual but at the same time harder. Yoshiko closed her eyes for a few seconds then opened them again but still Sesshomaru's expression was the same.
"Do you have any idea what to expect?" asked Sesshomaru.
'Of course…' thought Yoshiko a little disappointed. 'He just wants to have the edge in the fight! He doesn't really care about anything else… or me…'
"Well… no, not really. Most likely there will be more a defense than just the shield but I don't think they'll be as easy to beat as the water guys," said Yoshiko, trying to ignore the hand on her shoulder.
What was even stranger than everything else that day was when Sesshomaru pulled away his hand it seemed to linger on her hair. Yoshiko swallowed and turned away a bit too quickly. She started toward the shrine expecting something to attack and knowing that Sesshomaru was following her. When they were half way between the trees and the barrier a burst of dark energy came from their right. In a blink of an eye both Sesshomaru and Yoshiko had drawn their swords.
The energy dispersed and in it's place stood a yellowish-gold colored ogre. It brought its fist down upon them but they both jumped out of the way. When Yoshiko landed she was about to send a fire attack at the ogre, but it reached out and grabbed her around the waist. It started to lift her up, and since her arms were pinned to her side she couldn't do anything about it. Sesshomaru leapt forward and swung his sword, cutting off the ogre's arm.
Yoshiko was thrown backwards and when she lifted up her hand she saw ogre hit Sesshomaru aside. She gasped and quickly got to her feet. Her thought was to attack the ogre with the Fire Wave but then she realized her sword was at the feet of the ogre. Just as it was advancing on her it suddenly fell in half, dead. Yoshiko sighed in relief as Sesshomaru straightened up on the other side of the dead carcass. She hurried forward and scooped up her sword so she wouldn't have to look at him.
As she turned toward the shrine wondering how to break the barrier it suddenly disappeared. In shock her eyes went wide and she stood there with her sword held loosely at her side. Out of the shrine walked an old man, holding something in his hand held out in front of him slightly. He wore priest robes and was bowed over slightly. Yoshiko found herself pitying the poor human who probably in search of immortality asked a demon for help. Beside her Sesshomaru turned toward the old man, his sword dropping slightly. The priest chuckled.
"Do you wish not to fight an elderly man?" he croaked.
"Heh," laughed Yoshiko, lifting up her sword. "Do you really think I would care what you look like?"
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sesshomaru glance at her in surprise. But at the moment she didn't really care. All she wanted at the moment was destroy the demon and get the stone. By the strange glowing around the priest's hand apparently he was holding it. This would be a simple task. She narrowed her eyes and started to step forward to attack the old man. But the priest held up a hand and she suddenly felt that she couldn't move and dropped her sword.
"You should respect your elders, half-breed," growled the old man.
"Bastard," hissed Yoshiko.
"Watch your language," said the old man, snapping his fingers.
Suddenly dark light seemed to surround Yoshiko, swirling around her from her feet. Almost as if she was forced to, she looked down and felt her eyes open wide when she saw a large gapping hole. Angrily she looked back to see a smirk on the old man's face. In fact as she watched he straightened and his white hair darkened to a brownish black. Just as Sesshomaru started toward the priest, Yoshiko felt any restraint her up leave. In the shock she didn't have time to scream as she felt herself plunging into the darkness. Then suddenly she wasn't falling anymore.
Opening her eyes and tilting her head up she saw Sesshomaru holding her wrist, keeping her from falling. Again she found it odd how he could look worried but at the same time impassive. Behind him she could see the priest looming over him and gasped. She tried to say something but suddenly felt as if her voice was taken away from her. A sword appeared in the man's hand and he slashed at Sesshomaru's back. Little pain crossed his face but his grip loosened on Yoshiko's wrist and she felt herself slipping through the shadows, any sign of Sesshomaru fading.
Sueko sat down underneath a tree watching the Pokèmon game go by as Shippo played with her Gameboy but at the same time not really watching the action going on. Instead she was sitting there thinking about earlier when she had "walked" around with InuYasha. Something had gone on… what it was she really didn't know and she knew she should know and the fact that she didn't just really bugged her! Being with InuYasha earlier just left her feeling extremely bewildered and confundled with all these mixed up feelings inside that Sueko didn't even have a name for… she was just really confused! And why in God's name did she keep thinking 'He's cute!' whenever she looked at InuYasha!
"Hello?" said a voice above Sueko. She looked up almost tiredly from the Gameboy screen to see Sango smiling kindly in front of her.
"Um… hi…" said Sueko, unsure of how to respond for some reason.
"You looked alone," said Sango, sitting down next to Sueko.
"I did?" muttered Sueko.
Sango chuckled softly. "Well, there's that and then there's the fact that without Yoshiko I don't have many people to talk to… and there's only so much of a conversation I can have with Miroku before he decides that he should touch my butt."
"Did I miss something?" asked Sueko, raising her eyebrows.
"The fact that you didn't react to all the racket worried me, so I decided I should talk to you," said Sango, her smile widening slightly.
"Wow," said Sueko. 'I guess I have been caught up in my feelings a bit too much…'
"So what are you thinking about so deeply?" asked Sango.
"Uh…" How could she answer Sango's question when she didn't even know the answer herself!
"Well… I was thinking about… um…" mumbled Sueko, turning more and more red in the face.
"That was a really interesting thing to think about," said Sango teasingly.
"I don't really know what I'm thinking about!" cried Sueko. "It's just… uh… It's… I think… I really don't know!"
"Okay, okay, calm down…" said Sango, putting a hand on Sueko's shoulder caringly.
"It's just… when I was with… well…" 'I can't even say his name! What is wrong with me, dammit!'
"I think I get it," said Sango quietly.
"You do? Because I really, really, really-really-really DON'T!" cried Sueko.
Sango laughed a bit before saying, "Well… I don't really know how to put it…"
"Well, figure it out because I've been sitting in the snow for an hour and a half trying to figure it out on my own and my butt is totally frozen and I still don't know," said Sueko.
"Er… I think you might like him," said Sango awkwardly.
"Huh?" said Sueko.
"You know… you're in love with him."
"Oh."
"That's it?" asked Sango, raising her eyebrows.
"Well, what else am I supposed to say?" asked Sueko, shrugging. "I guess I sort of already knew but at the same time didn't… you know what I mean?"
"Kinda…" said Sango, looking a bit confused.
"I guess I'm not that surprised," said Sueko, hugging her knees close to her chest and looking down at her feet. "I mean, Yoshiko kept saying I liked him even though I thought I didn't… I don't know, this is really confusing…"
"That's the point," said Sango. "Love is a confusing thing…"
"It's bad enough I have to go run around in the past killing a bunch of filthy overgrown bugs… now I have to worry about a complicated love life! What next?"
"At least he doesn't find you repulsive," said Sango. "And at least you don't have to deal with him going back and forth from you to some other girl like Kagome did."
"You know, I keep hearing about her but at the same time I know nothing about Kagome. Well, except for the obvious," said Sueko.
"Well… Um… She used a bow and arrow instead of a sword," said Sango. "And she was a reincarnation of somebody, not a protector of a shrine. And she and InuYasha started out trying to get the pieces of the Shikon Jewel together before any demons got a hold of it, because she had accidentally broke it before. And she was one of those people who could easily forgive you unless you were Naraku or something…"
"Ha! I can so never forgive people like that. Even if they did something really minor… I'm weird that way, I guess," said Sueko, shrugging and giving a small smile.
"I guess it's a good thing you don't have to deal with the Kikyo thing, then," said Sango.
"Huh?" said Sueko.
"Well, InuYasha and Kikyo fell in love a long time ago but then Naraku made it to where they thought they betrayed each other… fifty years later InuYasha's spell was broken so he was no longer bound to the tree and then Kikyo was revived because she had died before… and then once and a while InuYasha would leave Kagome for Kikyo…" said Sango. "But then eventually InuYasha finally choose Kagome over Kikyo and we didn't have to deal with that anymore…"
"How very complicated…" muttered Sueko.
"And then right after that Kagome sort of died… then you showed up! Wow, that's weird…" said Sango, laughing.
"Life is just so freakin' complicated!" Sueko cried out. "It makes you just want to go to bed and sleep your troubles away."
"At least you don't have to deal with a perverted monk!" said Sango, who shot a glare at Miroku suddenly. About twenty feet away Miroku looked up just in time to see the piercing look and when he saw it he smiled sheepishly back as InuYasha turned his head to roll his eyes.
Sueko laughed and patted Sango's shoulder. "You can have fun with that one!"
"Oh, thanks!" laughed Sango, trying to glare at Sueko.
When he felt Yoshiko slip out of his grip, he swung around and attacked the man but the priest was able to dodge the attack. A smirk crossed the man's face as Sesshomaru lashed out and grabbed the front of his robes.
"Where is she?" snapped Sesshomaru, shaking him.
"Somewhere," laughed the priest.
From his hand the stone started to glow forcing Sesshomaru to step back and let go of the man. Slowly the man grew larger, losing his human complexion and turning into a large scorpion. On it's tail Sesshomaru could see blue stone glowing slightly as it arched over the scorpions back, ready to attack. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as she stooped to pick up his sword. A hollow laugh came from the scorpion as it attacked with its tail. Easily Sesshomaru dodged the attack and cut off one of the legs.
"Do you really think that will stop me?" laughed the scorpion as the leg re-grew.
Sesshomaru simply blinked and smirked. As the scorpion came in for another attack he cut of the end of tail and then continued on to cut the demon in half. Suddenly the guise of the scorpion melted away, leaving the old man lying, covered in blood. Seeing the end of the fight, Sesshomaru put his sword away. Again he stooped, but this time he picked up the blue stone that had been giving the man his power. He looked at it in his hand for a while before putting it away. Then he turned toward the old man who was trying to get up. Again Sesshomaru took the priest by the front of the robes and pulled him to his feet.
"Now, where is she?" snapped Sesshomaru.
"Even if I told you, why would a demon care?" laughed the man, but it soon turned into a cough.
Sesshomaru's grip on the man tightened and he pulled him closer to his face.
"Answer me!"
The man just smiled as his eyes closed and finally died. In disgust Sesshomaru tossed his dead body aside, clenching his teeth in frustration. He then turned back around as if expecting to see Yoshiko standing where she had disappeared. When he found himself staring at an empty space he turned toward the shrine. He entered the dark space, trying to figure out where things were and where Yoshiko might be.
It didn't take too long for him to see and when he could all that he saw was a large empty room. As Sesshomaru walked farther in, looking from side to side, he felt his foot nudge something. In the middle of the floor was a trapdoor. Almost without thinking he kicked it open and jumped through. At the bottom was a long, cold, stone corridor leading away from the shrine.
Not too long later the corridor opened up into a smaller version of the shrine. This time, however, Yoshiko lay on the bare floor unmoving. As Sesshomaru moved to stand over her, Yoshiko's eyes opened slowly. After she had sat up, she turned to look up at Sesshomaru who automatically held out his hand to help her up. Despite her surprised expression, she took it and allowed herself to get pulled to her feet.
"Are you injured?" asked Sesshomaru, starting back down the corridor but watching her out of the corner of his eyes.
"No…" muttered Yoshiko in a way that made him think she hadn't even heard the question. "You did get the stone, right?"
"Of course," answered Sesshomaru.
When they reached the place where the trapdoor he realized there was no ladder to get back up. Yoshiko blinked and turned toward him questioningly. Without saying anything, Sesshomaru put his arm around her waist and jumped up, barely making it through the hole. When they reached the top Yoshiko pulled away quickly and turned away. Sesshomaru went striding past her acting like nothing had happened but at the same time feeling a bit disappointed. Outside he picked up Yoshiko's sword and handed it back to her. But she didn't take it.
"It doesn't seem right just leaving his dead body here," muttered Yoshiko, looking down at the old man.
"What do you expect to do with him?" growled Sesshomaru, shoving her sword into her hand.
"I don't know!" cried Yoshiko, sheathing her sword. "Least we could do is bury him. I mean, he was an old priest!"
"He doesn't deserve your pity," snapped Sesshomaru.
"And why not?" asked Yoshiko icily, glaring at him out of the corner of her eyes. "He was only human."
"The human part of him might have been dead for years, so what would the point be?" asked Sesshomaru trying to keep calm.
"And it could be that he only got possessed a few days ago," stated Yoshiko. "Either way it would put his soul to rest."
"Why should you care what happens to somebody after they die? They're dead, move on," said Sesshomaru, turning away.
Eyes narrowed, Yoshiko spun angrily at him. It seemed as if she was going to cry but at the same time her eyes were completely dry. Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows and turned back toward her.
"I was raised in a human environment so I believe in many things they do," said Yoshiko in a dangerous undertone. "In fact… demons by nature disgust me!"
Without waiting for his reaction, Yoshiko strode past him. Sesshomaru watched her disappear into the trees. In a trance he headed back to where they had left Rin. When he arrived he found Yoshiko grabbing her small bag starting off. Before she could get far Sesshomaru grabbed her arm and turned her back around.
"Will you leave me alone?" cried Yoshiko.
From behind him he heard Rin moan and slowly sit up. Almost at the same time, Yoshiko and Sesshomaru turned toward the girl. Rin blinked a couple of times before getting to her feet and walking forward hesitantly.
"Are you leaving all ready?" asked Rin. "You just got here. Don't you like being with us?"
"I…" stammered Yoshiko, stepping backwards and out of Sesshomaru's loose grip. "I don't know!" she cried before turning around running off.
"Did I say something wrong?" asked Rin. "Lord Sesshomaru?"
For a while Sesshomaru stared after Yoshiko thinking about following after her. But then he turned away and walked past Rin, pausing only to say, "Go back to sleep, Rin."
'It's probably best that she's gone,' thought Sesshomaru as Rin stared after him, her eyes flickering from his back to where Yoshiko had left.
Now that Sueko was off, preoccupied, InuYasha didn't have anything to do anymore. Plus Miroku wanted him to give advice on girls since apparently InuYasha was really good with girls. Until Shippo pointed out that if that was true Kagome wouldn't have been pissed at him all the time. After pummeling the little kitsune InuYasha stood up and left without a backwards glance.
It almost seemed like his feet were taking him wherever they wanted to. After a while he realized he was walking down the same path he and Sueko had. InuYasha sighed wishing that he could just put the girl out of his head for two seconds at least! No matter how different she was from Kagome he was still reminded of Kagome. At least thinking Kagome was Kikyo made sense. This… this made no sense. How could it be that he was able to fall in love so quickly after Kagome had died? Everything about Kagome made sense after he stopped to think about it but Sueko confused him no matter what.
'Maybe I should talk to Yoshiko about it again since she seems to know everything!' thought InuYasha.
Suddenly he thought he heard a rustle in the bushes to his side. He turned, realizing this to be the same place that Sueko thought she saw something. Having nothing better to do, InuYasha decided to investigate it. But just as he was about to step off the path and into the trees Sueko's voice jumped into his head:
"You going to not get captured by a random demon this time? Or do anything stupid?"
'Damn you, leave me alone!' InuYasha thought, striding purposefully into the trees.
As he walked InuYasha looked from side to side trying to figure out if there was something out here. Just when he was about to give up and go back to the others, he thought he heard somebody whispering his name. Though it was quiet and he could have imagined it, he decided to keep going. In fact as he went toward the voice calling his name it got louder. And the voice… it was familiar… but it couldn't be… He was definitely hearing things and should head back. Despite this thought InuYasha quickened his pace, almost running through the trees toward the voice and…
He came to a complete stop on the edge of a small clearing. In the middle was a log and on it sat… but it couldn't be. But she had the strange outfit with the white blouse and short green skirt. Also there was the same raven hair that InuYasha remembered so well. And then, when she turned toward him, those familiar chocolate brown eyes fixed upon him. InuYasha closed his eyes, willing the image to go away, but when he opened his eyes again she was still there. The sad look on her face caused InuYasha to be overwhelmed by his guilty feelings again.
'This can't be happening… I thought I was over this!' InuYasha reprimanded himself. But these thoughts obviously didn't reach the rest of him.
"K—Kagome…" he muttered.
A small smile flickered across the girl's face as she nodded. Then she stood up and started walking toward InuYasha. He looked her over, trying to figure out if this really was here and if so how it was possible. She had died! He had been there, saw it, felt her cold face afterwards. But there she was, walking toward him, her eyes completely serious and… cold?
"What do you want?" asked InuYasha, trying to get her to stop coming toward him… try and make her leave. Or at least get his bearings.
"What else?" said Kagome softly, reaching out slowly toward him. "I want you, InuYasha. I do love you."
If he had stopped to think about her words InuYasha would have found it strange that her last words didn't affect him at all. But he didn't have time because Kagome almost purposefully tripped and fell into InuYasha's arms. Immediately InuYasha swept her away, practically forcing her to fall backwards. But, unnatural to Kagome, she caught her balance easily and was able to stay on her feet. She held up her hand and seemed to inspect something. When she looked back at InuYasha she was glaring at him.
"I broke a nail, you idiot!" snapped Kagome.
"Yeah, you also have a rip up the side of your skirt and don't seem to care about that," said InuYasha, shrugging and looking away.
'This obviously isn't Kagome so why can't I just leave?' thought InuYasha.
"Least of all you can act like you're happy I'm here!" cried Kagome, fake tears welling up in her eyes.
'I would be… if you were Kagome!' thought InuYasha.
But despite this thought he turned around and grabbed Kagome by the arms, willing her to stop crying. No surprise at all crossed her face at this sudden movement. Her tears stopped immediately and she tilted her head up to look him in the eyes. She started to open her mouth to say something but InuYasha cut her off.
"I'm sorry, Kagome…" he said quietly. "I tried… I tried to save you but…"
"I guess… I understand," muttered Kagome.
'Wait… Kagome was always so forgiving,' thought InuYasha. Suddenly he found himself thinking about Sueko and how stubborn she was. 'What the hell is wrong with me?'
In surprise of his own thoughts InuYasha let go of Kagome and take a step back. Suddenly her eyes flashed blue as she scowled. InuYasha blinked and started to turn to leave. Before he could so much as take one step Kagome had put a hand on his cheek and forced her lips on his. And at that exact moment InuYasha saw Sueko walk through the trees out of the corner of his eyes. Immediately he pushed Kagome away, but the damage was all ready done.
"Sueko, it's—" started InuYasha.
"Bitch," interrupted Kagome, getting to her feet and glaring at Sueko. "You weren't supposed to show up!"
"Shut up!" snapped InuYasha, turning toward her.
"Excuse me?" said Kagome, putting her hands on her hips. "Is that what you say to the girl you're supposed to love?"
He stopped, thinking over this. Again he went over in his head that this wasn't really Kagome. But at the same time he couldn't help but think of her as Kagome. He went over the word 'love' in his head, turning it over and over. But it no longer seemed to fit how he felt about Kagome.
"I did love Kagome…" muttered InuYasha.
At the same time an uncharacteristic smirk crossed Kagome's face, Sueko turned around and started running away.
"SUEKO!" cried InuYasha. Without another thought in his head he started running after her, pushing away Kagome's arm that tried to stop him.
For such a small girl she was running pretty fast, dodging the trees quickly and shoving stray tree branches out of the way as if she didn't care. He didn't need his dog-ears to hear her crying but he wished he didn't have to hear it at all. He kept calling her name even though he knew it was really rather pointless in the first place.
There was a point where InuYasha could tell Sueko was starting to get tired because she started to slow down… In an act of desperation InuYasha ran faster so he could grab her hand to stop her and try to explain.
"Sueko…" he moaned softly to her.
Sueko's eyes went wide in shock. He noticed guiltily that she had stopped crying—for the time being, he couldn't help thinking. But then suddenly her eyes narrowed and she gave InuYasha this very ugly and hurtful look as she jerked her hand away and turned around to run away again.
He actually wasn't going to follow her at first—what would be the point?—but then he decided he should because she wasn't going back to the others and he didn't want to get herself killed or something. Once the trees started to disappear and the two appeared in an open space InuYasha stopped running and just stood frozen to the ground as he watched Sueko stop at the well, pick up her book bag and go into it, going back to her timeframe.
"Figures…" muttered InuYasha, turning away from the Bone Eaters well. He could have followed her… but he didn't see how it'd do any good.
Oooh, a cliffy! Okay, not really, but whatever. I was never good with cliffy but InuYasha so needs a cliffy so I wrote one. Sorta. Actually, I just needed to split the chapter because it was getting pretty long. Well, with everything else it was. So you'll just have to suffer until I write more. But hey, if you've got cable you can watch the real show on adultswim. But I think our fan fic is better because it doesn't have Kagome. :D