AUTHOR'S NOTES
Sorry for the long wait. It's the end of school and I've been quite busy and stressed… I got this edited yesterday but forgot to post it. But here it is! Expect more/quicker updates after the 21st with Ravyn gets out of school (I get out on the 16th, ha ha!). And I can't think of much to say… except it gets really dramatic here… And two new characters show up… Whatever, read and reply and enjoy and have a good day!
DISCLAIMER
I don't own InuYasha! Ohmigod! Why can't you people get it through your heads! Anything not on the show/manga WE own!
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Akemi's Opposite
The rain was really starting to irritate her nose when Yoshiko reached the hut. Before she had hardly come to the porch when the flap opened. Standing in the doorway was a very surprised looking InuYasha. Then his confusion turned into relief as Yoshiko looked up at him.
"I was just about to come looking for you," said InuYasha. "We were starting to worry you weren't coming back."
"You… were worried about me?" choked Yoshiko.
Suddenly she burst out crying and ran forward to bury her head on InuYasha's shoulder. After a minute he got over his shock and patted Yoshiko's back awkwardly. Soon Sango walked out and draped a towel over the half tiger demon's shoulder. When she did, Yoshiko looked up, her eyes red from crying, and hugged InuYasha round the neck.
"Um… I thought you liked Sesshomaru," joked InuYasha.
At that Yoshiko gave a small laugh, pulled away and wiped away a few stray tears. Then InuYasha crossed his arms and stared intently at her, while behind him Sueko, Miroku and Shippo craning to get a look at Yoshiko. Finally InuYasha sighed.
"So, what are you going to do?" he asked.
"What?" said Yoshiko in confusion.
"Well, first we're going to get her inside," said Sango, pushing Yoshiko inside gently.
Once inside Yoshiko sat down opposite Miroku and Sueko. As Sango handed her a cup of tear InuYasha sat down next to her. After she finished half of her tea, InuYasha turned to face her.
"What are you going to do?" he asked again. "You going to forget about him, try to find him or wait around and see what happens?"
"There isn't much I can do," sighed Yoshiko, putting down her half empty cup. "I've made the world's biggest mistake already!"
"At least you'll admit it," said Sango. "Couldn't say the same about InuYasha…"
"What? What I do?" cried InuYasha.
"Nothing recently," muttered Sango.
"Anyways!" said Sueko loudly. "I thought we were talking about Yoshiko!"
"What do you want?" Miroku said suddenly. "What is it you really want, Yoshiko?"
"I just want to be human. I just want to settle down in a house and live a normal life," said Yoshiko quietly. "But I lost that chance because of other mistakes I made."
"Raoul wasn't your fault!" cried Sango. "You can't say that was a mistake!"
"I guess," said Yoshiko gloomily. "Then again if I hadn't frozen up he wouldn't be dead."
"But then you would never have met us!" cried Sueko. "Is that a mistake?"
For a minute Yoshiko stared at her blinking. But when she couldn't hold the tears back any longer she started sobbing and started hugging Sueko. There was almost a split second where Sueko looked a little surprised but she quickly got over it. Everybody else was just a little weirded out because Yoshiko basically launched herself over the fire to get to Sueko.
"You're the bestest friend I've ever had!" cried Yoshiko between sobs. "It would be a mistake not to realize that…"
"You're just seeing mistakes all over the place," muttered Miroku, which was soon followed by an "Ow!" when Sango hit him on the head.
"I just want him back… I don't care what I have to do but I want him back!" sobbed Yoshiko. "And I'm sorry if I worried any of you… I really am…"
"You didn't have me worried at all!" said InuYasha sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
At that Yoshiko suddenly sat up, her eyes void of tears, glaring at him. InuYasha just sat there, blinking at her until she stood up. When she stood up she put her hands on her hips and walked over to the half dog demon. He quickly glanced at either side to see if anybody was going to help him. But everybody just sat there calmly watching as Yoshiko bearing down on him. Slowly he began to back up against the wall until she was standing right above him. Suddenly she lifted up her fist and… simply hit him on the head.
"Ow!" cried InuYasha, rubbing his head. "What did you do that for?"
"That wasn't funny!" snapped Yoshiko.
"It wasn't supposed to be funny!" said InuYasha, rolling his eyes. "It was supposed to make you think before you do something that stupid again."
"Well, I won't do something that stupid again, you moron," snapped Yoshiko, hitting InuYasha on the head again. "I'm not that stupid!"
"If you did it once, then you could do it again," said InuYasha, crossing his arms. Yoshiko hit him again. "Will you stop that?"
"No! Besides, I learned from my mistakes, why would I do it again?" shouted Yoshiko. "You're the one that's stupid, anyways!"
"I didn't go off and commit suicide," muttered InuYasha. This time Yoshiko was too lazy to hit him, so she kicked him instead. "Damn it! Will you stop it already?"
"Why?" said Yoshiko, pursing her lips, crossing her arms and looking away.
"Because it hurts!" said InuYasha, rubbing his head again.
"That's the point!" shouted Yoshiko. "I didn't kill that many brain cells."
"Are you sure?" said InuYasha. "I think I may have some serious brain damage now."
Yet again Yoshiko hit him on the head, but this time it was really hard. At that it seemed nobody could contain it any longer; they all burst out laughing at the same time. Except for Shippo. He walked over slowly and looked at InuYasha and Yoshiko thoughtfully. Then his eyes opened up widely and he hit one of his little fists into his other hand as if he had just realized something. Then he put his hands on his hips.
"You know… You should forget about Sesshomaru," he said to Yoshiko, and then turned to InuYasha, "and you should forget about Kagome. Then you two could get together."
At this Yoshiko raised another quivering fist into the air and Shippo quickly ran and hid. Still on the ground nursing his bumped head, InuYasha's eyebrow was quivering madly. Before he could yell—as you could see he was going to do—Yoshiko ran after Shippo and picked him up by the tail. She lifted her fist to hit him then suddenly frowned. She dropped the small fox demon and sat down, sighing.
"I miss Jaken…" she said, as if this was a bad thing. "Of all imps to miss, I miss Jaken!"
"Um… Where did that come from?" said Miroku, in confusion.
"Who's Jaken?" asked Sueko.
"Actually, I miss hitting Jaken. I didn't do it much… But now I won't really get a chance," sighed Yoshiko.
"Okay… but who's Jaken?" asked Sueko.
"That's just sad," said InuYasha, shaking his at Yoshiko. "It's nothing special really. Even Kagome could beat him up."
"HELLO!" screamed Sueko. When everybody looked at her she blushed but continued. "Who's Jaken?"
Once again everybody started laughing… and Yoshiko was able to join in.
About a week after—well, everything that had happened—Sueko could be found sitting under a cherry blossom tree that was just beginning to bloom after a long winter, reading a book that she had actually already read, but it had been so long ago that she couldn't remember the ending—or the middle of it, even. And while she was reading a very suspenseful and drama-filled scene, Yoshiko decided to come over and sit next to her and say, "Hi."
Maybe if it had been InuYasha she would have just muttered a simple "hello" and go back to her book, but she had been awfully worried about Yoshiko since she had gone off and gotten herself killed—literally!—that Sueko couldn't just ignore Yoshiko. So she shoved the book back in her book bag, looked up at Yoshiko and said with a smile, "Hi."
"Would you rather read your book?" asked Yoshiko sweetly.
Sueko shook her head. "Can't I find talking to a friend more entertaining than reading a book?"
Yoshiko's mouth twitched slightly upwards as if she was trying not to smile as she said, "Why can't you just admit you're worried about me?"
"I am not!" cried Sueko, crossing her arms and wearing a frown. But it was so obvious she was lying that even Sueko had to laugh out loud a few seconds later.
"So," said Yoshiko, leaning back slightly, "did anything amazing happen while I was gone?"
"You mean when you were off saving the world?" asked Sueko, hugging her knees to her chest. "Not so much."
"No, before that," said Yoshiko, waving the thought away. "When I had gone off to be alone…"
"Oh," said Sueko, putting on a thoughtful expression as she tried to remember what had been going on during that time. Then she vaguely remembered the group's run-in with a young woman.
"We met this girl," said Sueko slowly. "She wanted us to kill a demon for her."
"Really?" said Yoshiko, her eyebrows going up.
"Uh huh," said Sueko. "Hmm… Yeah, she asked InuYasha if he would kill a demon for her, and in exchange she was going to give him a Water Stone afterwards."
"Hmm…"
"She was kinda weird. And she looked really depressed. And apparently she reminded InuYasha of Kikyo…" said Sueko, babbling.
"Kikyo?" said Yoshiko, looking interested. Then, with a pause, she asked, "What's the demon she wants you to kill?"
"Uh… she didn't really say," said Sueko with a sigh. "Sachiko—that's her name—just said she was a shape-shifter."
"She?" said Yoshiko.
"What, demons can't have a sex?" asked Sueko teasingly.
"No, it's just that demons usually aren't referred to as a boy or a girl," said Yoshiko. "At least, I've never heard anyone do so."
"Anyways…" said Sueko, a bit weirded out by the conversation change, "Myoga also showed up."
"Shoot. I missed out on that?" said Yoshiko, sighing dramatically.
"Apparently he left to visit the Water Shrine, but it was no longer there," said Sueko. "He explanation was that ten years ago the village that protected it—which was humans, just to let you know—was destroyed, and the only known survivors where two sisters…"
Sueko stopped talking suddenly as her brain did some figuring out of things. Yoshiko, noticing this, asked, "What?"
"There were two survivors of the village that protected the Water Shrine," said Sueko slowly. "And Sachiko had a Water Stone… and how many people walk around with Shrine Stones shoved into their pockets!"
"Wow…" said Yoshiko, thinking what Sueko had said through. "So if Sachiko is one of the two survivors to the village, who's the other sister?"
"So you finally figured it out…" said a voice nearby.
Sueko jumped up in surprise and started looking around for the source of the sound. Yoshiko just looked up at the tree, and when Sueko did the same she saw a young girl about her age with raven hair and a green skirt…
"Kagome!" cried Sueko, jumping up and grabbing for her sword. As she was doing this the girl jumped out of the tree and tried to take the sword away from Sueko so she couldn't use it, but when the girl's hand made contact with the sword the girl jumped back in surprise, looking at her hand with a shocked look on her face.
During all of this everyone had rushed over to Sueko and Yoshiko, and the four others were all staring at the girl in the green and white outfit with looks of astonishment. And Sueko really couldn't blame them.
InuYasha was the first, amazingly enough, to recover from the shock as he unsheathed his sword and said in a teasing manner, "So, what do you think you're up to this time?"
Kagome—or maybe it should be "Kagome" since this obviously was not the real Kagome, the real one being dead and all—laughed a haughty laugh and snapped, "Oh, wouldn't you love to know?"
Then she looked back at her hand. Sueko noticed that where it had touched her sword there was now a faint burn mark on the girl's hand. Sueko found this fact fascinating and looked at her sword with an eyebrow raised, but looked up when Yoshiko said, her confusion evident in her voice, "Who are you?"
"How about you ask them!" said the girl cheerfully, pointing a finger at InuYasha, Sango, Miroku and Shippo.
When Yoshiko turned to Sango curiously Sango sighed and said, "She's—"
"Don't say she's Kagome!" cried InuYasha, turning to glare at Sango and Yoshiko. "That girl is as far from Kagome as you can get!"
"Kagome?" said Yoshiko, looking back at the girl before her. "Isn't she dead?"
"Do I look dead to you?" said the girl crankily, putting her hands on her hips. Then, with a sigh, she put her hands to her side and muttered, "I don't have time for this." And before anyone could react she held her arms out, a dagger appearing in her right hand. It reminded Sueko of Kamatari… except Kamatari was a guy!
Right? For all she knew he could be an it… um…
Before Sueko could even think of a thing to do about it, Kagome grabbed Sueko by the sleeve, pulled her to her, and held the dagger at Sueko's neck. And then Kagome cried right in Sueko's ear, "Hand me the stones, or the girl gets it!"
Everyone was all freaked out by this—well, not really, but Yoshiko, Sango, Miroku and InuYasha all wore worried and angry expressions, and Shippo just looked confused—but Sueko didn't feel worried at all. Just annoyed.
"What do you think you're doing!" cried Sueko, trying to get out of the girl's grip.
"Shut up!" cried Kagome angrily. "You already ruined my second idea! Don't go ruining my third!"
"Wha…" said Sueko, extremely confused.
"What makes you think we're just going to hand you the stones?" snapped InuYasha. "I highly doubt you'll use them for any good deeds."
Kagome laughed coldly. "I bet the only reason you're collecting the stones in the first place is so you can be a full demon. Well, hate to burst your little bubble, but turning into a full demon is going to make your life a living hell, so how about you just forgot about the stupid dream and give me the stones?" And then, perhaps to show that she was really not in the mood, Kagome's grip on Sueko tightened and she held the dagger closer to her neck.
Sueko, rolling her eyes exasperatedly, said, "You know, if you had half a brain in your head you'd realize that if anyone has the stones it'd be me, seeing how I'm the one 'collecting' them. So how about you let go of me!"
Well, thankfully Kagome did let go of her—but did she have to push Sueko away from her?—and, with a tired sigh, snapped, "Fine. Hand me the stones, then!"
Getting up and brushing the dirt off her blouse and skirt, Sueko crossed her arms and said with a laugh, "Oh, you actually thought I'd give them to you? That was just a way to have you let go of me. Kagome must have been really skinny because your arms are pretty bony…"
It looked as though Kagome's patience had run low. Her eyes turned blue as she clenched her fists, and suddenly the girl was no longer Kagome… Well, she was suddenly becoming taller, her hair grew and became smoother and not as messy, her face narrowed and the eyes stayed that deep blue color… Kagome's schoolgirl outfit disappeared and became a blue, yellow and white kimono.
This girl obviously was no longer Kagome. But somehow, when Sueko looked up at her face—the girl, or maybe woman, was as tall as InuYasha—she thought the woman looked familiar.
"If I screw this up again I'll never hear the end of it!" the woman shrieked. It seemed as though she was talking to herself… if she wasn't then it would just hurt Sueko's head to figure out what the hell she was talking about.
InuYasha sighed. "Are you done yet?"
"Wait…" said Yoshiko suddenly, making everyone look at her. Yoshiko turned to Sueko to say, "Didn't that Sachiko person want you to kill a shape-shifter?"
Before Sueko could respond the woman before them started laughing, laughing so hard she had to hold on to a nearby tree, lest she'd loose her balance.
"Oh… my… Wow… I thought she was pathetic, but not that pathetic!" the woman cried through her laughter.
"What in the hell are you spouting?" snapped InuYasha.
The girl quickly stopped laughing and looked at InuYasha with her deep blue eyes. "Haven't you figured it out already, mutt-boy?" Then it sounded like she was talking to herself again as she said, "Sachiko's tried to kill me so many times, but it seems as though she just doesn't have the heart to kill her own sister. Oh my… Is she so desperate that she hired a half breed to do the dirty work for her?"
"Family is still family even if you hate the hell out of them," said another voice from up in the tree.
Before anybody could say anything somebody dropped down out of the tree right next to Sukiyama. Instantly the long black hair and many layered outfit registered in Sueko's mind. It was Rheda, Yoshiko's aunt. Blinking in confusion, she backed up a little until Yoshiko walked over to her. She half expected the tiger demon to turn to her niece, but she stood looking at Sukiyama with her eyes narrowed.
"Oh, crap…" muttered Sukiyama. "It's you…"
"You know, I don't really appreciate people taking my form," said Rheda icily. "Especially when it involves tricking my friends."
"But these aren't—" started Sukiyama in a whining voice. Then she stopped and started over again in her regular voice. "How did you know I took your form?"
"I knew somebody took my form," said Rheda, with a smirk. "I just figured it was you and you proved it for me."
"Damn it! You're going to ruin everything!" cried Sukiyama.
"Oh, and I'm not going to let you try and steal Elemental stones that are rightfully mine," said Rheda, causing Yoshiko to roll her eyes. "So leave now before I decide you're better off dead."
Glaring at the tiger demon, Sukiyama ran off almost in a blink of an eye. Rheda stared after her thoughtfully before turning to InuYasha.
"I was just wondering if you had seen Sesshomaru lately because there's a rumor—" she started. Then she stopped and turned to Yoshiko.
"Um… Hi?" said Yoshiko, waving.
"I heard you were dead and I was going to go comfort Sesshomaru!" cried Rheda, pointing a finger at Yoshiko. The half-demon gave a small laugh.
"Me? Dead? You've got to be kidding me…" she said in a monotone voice. "Do I look dead to you?"
"Looks can be deceiving," said Rheda, turning away and looking at Yoshiko out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh, shut up, I'm not dead," cried Yoshiko, hitting her aunt on the head. After she did so she stood there with her hand in the air, blinking in confusion. She hadn't done that in forever. Not since she had first moved in with her aunt.
"Well now," said Rheda, with a small smile. "I'm seeing a definite change in you. What brought that around?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," muttered Yoshiko, crossing her arms and turning away.
Rheda shook her head and turned back to InuYasha. Before she could say anything, he spoke up.
"We don't know where Sesshomaru is. But if you do find him maybe you could tell us," said InuYasha, staring pointedly at Yoshiko's back.
At that Yoshiko froze and dropped her arms to her side. Slowly she raised her hands and put them into fists. Then she turned toward InuYasha, eyes narrowed.
"Excuse me?" she said in a dangerous undertone.
"Ahhh!" said Rheda. "Did you two get into a fight?"
Before Yoshiko could say anything InuYasha responded, "Something like that."
Crying out in anger Yoshiko punched InuYasha on the cheek, sending him to the ground. Rheda gave a small giggle as everybody stared at InuYasha and Yoshiko worriedly. When InuYasha sat up rubbing his sore cheek Yoshiko kicked him in the shin before turning away.
"What was that for?" snapped InuYasha.
"I'm quite capable of answering for myself, thank you very much," said Yoshiko coolly. "Plus it sounded like a good idea at the time and it blew off steam."
"You're saying you enjoyed hitting me, aren't you?" growled InuYasha, starting to stand up.
"Now that you mention it…" said Yoshiko thoughtfully. Then she turned around and hit InuYasha on the head. "Yeah, I did!"
"Well, I can see you're all very busy," laughed Rheda. "So I'll leave you alone. Now about Sesshomaru…"
"You'll stay far, far, far away from him," hissed Yoshiko, her eyes narrowing.
"Are we being a bit possessive?" asked Rheda, raising an eyebrow. "Really, you of all people would realize he's not my type!"
"I look like I care," muttered Yoshiko.
"But of course, he's not your type either," said Rheda thoughtfully.
"If he wasn't you wouldn't be interested," said Yoshiko icily. "Now leave before I decide that you're better off dead."
"Dear me, I'm afraid I might have rubbed off onto you!" cried Rheda in mock horror. "Oh well, I'll see you later!"
"Ha!" laughed Yoshiko. When InuYasha moaned she kicked him again.
"What did I do to deserve this abuse?" cried InuYasha, jumping to his feet and backing away.
"Absolutely nothing," said Yoshiko, shrugging. "I'm simply bored and don't appreciate your whining."
"You really do sound like your aunt…" said Sueko in a low voice.
"Shut up!" cried Yoshiko. "Let's move out of here… Sooner we find Sesshomaru the better!"
"I thought you didn't care that he and Rheda kissed!" said Sueko, jokingly.
"And I said that the only thing I had to worry about was Sesshomaru falling in love with her," said Yoshiko. "Then I didn't think he could fall in love, okay?"
"That makes sense…" said Sango. "But why the sudden change?"
"I don't know…" said Yoshiko, looking up at the sky much like Utako might.
Everybody started laughing.
The group grabbed up their stuff and started off, having a friendly conversation now and again. But it was quite obvious everybody was still worried about Yoshiko. Though she showed signs of being her old self, there were still times when she would sigh and stare off into the distance. For some reason InuYasha spent the entire trip walking with Yoshiko, especially when she wasn't talking. Everybody, however, had his or her own theories as to why this was. Miroku believed it had to do with the fact that Yoshiko seemed to be acting a lot like Kikyo. Sango thought it was more that Yoshiko was reminding InuYasha of himself. Shippo, being the young child that he was, was fixed on the fact that InuYasha liked Yoshiko… and more than just as a friend.
Sueko however simply thought he was worried about her. Though for a split second she thought it might be a little bit more, she soon brushed that thought away. Instead she thought about how sweet InuYasha was acting and hoped that he would do the same for her someday. Yoshiko didn't really seem to notice. Or, at least, she made no sign that she noticed. But she found it quite relieving that for once she had some friends that would help her through this mistake in her life. God only knew she needed them.
The day wore on and everybody seemed to get quieter and quieter. Yoshiko seemed almost desperate as she told everybody that could stop at nightfall and not anytime before. Their path went into a small canyon with a river running through the middle. Sango was worried that they wouldn't be able to make it out before sunset but Yoshiko assured her that it was a fairly small canyon. As time passed Sueko shot more and more worried glances at Yoshiko over her shoulder. She was worried the half tiger demon would notice but she seemed to be off in her own little world.
'Kind of like me after the labyrinth,' thought Sueko as she glanced over again.
Yoshiko was staring off over the river as the opposite bank, holding her sheathed sword and leaving it against her shoulder. She did this often, Sueko realized just then. Yoshiko never really seemed to keep her sword in her belt when they were traveling. She always carried it. But the red hilt would have clashed horribly with her purple kimono so Sueko didn't blame her. Wait… she knew that why? Had Tamika possessed her and made her suddenly think horrible fashion thoughts?
'You know, I haven't been home in a while. I really need new clothes,' thought Sueko, sighing.
When she did, she half expected somebody to ask her what was up. But everybody seemed so intoned on Yoshiko and whatever it was she was looking at. Though as far as Sueko could see there was nothing there. Sango and Miroku were probably just looking for the same reason as Sueko: to see what had Yoshiko so captivated. Not even InuYasha glanced at Sueko when she sighed and he normally noticed these sorts of things. And so did Yoshiko… when she wasn't depressed and thinking suicidal thoughts. Not that she was anymore… Anyways, she got so annoyed she turned toward Yoshiko and hit her on the head.
"Ow!" cried Yoshiko. "I probably deserved it… but what was that for?"
"Welcome back!" teased Sueko, remembering when Yoshiko had the done the same to her after the labyrinth.
"When did I leave?" said Yoshiko, rolling her eyes.
"Who knows," shrugged Sueko. "You seem to be going in and out of your own little dream world."
"Yeah, what's so preoccupying?" asked Sango.
"Lots of things," said Yoshiko thoughtfully, looking across the river again. She started walking and InuYasha moved away so Sueko could walk with her. But he still kept a close eye on the half tiger demon.
"Penny for your thoughts?" suggested Sueko, thinking it corny that she was using such an old phrase. She couldn't even remember where she picked it up—probably from TV.
"I don't think they're even worth that much," laughed Yoshiko, turning to smile at the girl.
"Oh, come on, everybody's thoughts are important," said Sueko, crossing her arms. "Just sometimes they don't seem like it to other people!"
"But friends have to at least pretend like they're important," added Sango.
"You'd have to pretend pretty hard for me," said Yoshiko.
"Don't kid yourself," said InuYasha, rolling his eyes. "Besides, you're stalling for time!"
Before Yoshiko could even open her mouth to say anything, a falling figure caught Sueko's eyes and she gasped. She pointed a finger but as soon as everybody turned the person had fallen into the river with a loud splash. Even though the water wasn't moving fast, the current was still strong enough to carry an unconscious person to the bottom and drown them. Gallantly Miroku dived into the river and pulled the person to the top and swam back to the bank. It was then that Sueko could make out bright orange hair in a ponytail and a purple version of Sango's outfit without the armor. You could see by the grin on Miroku's face that he was enjoying it completely and as soon as Yoshiko relieved him of his "burden" Sango quickly hit him on the head. Sueko rushed over to help Yoshiko just as the women's eyes opened up.
"Kane…" she muttered, almost as if asking someone who wasn't there for help. Sueko looked at Yoshiko questioningly and saw a look of utter shock. And right after she called out the name, the woman's eyes closed and she passed out.
Everybody attempted to keep Yoshiko away from the strange woman, but she didn't give in. She spent an entire hour sitting at the woman's side, practically glaring down at her. Eventually Sango came over, hands on her hips, and looked down at Yoshiko disapprovingly. At first she acted like she didn't know Sango was there, but finally she got annoyed. Slowly she wrenched her eyes off of the woman and looked up at Sango angrily.
"What?" she snapped.
"How would you like it if you woke up to somebody glaring down at you?" said Sango.
"Well, I would prefer that over waking up and not seeing anyone!" said Yoshiko exasperatedly. "Besides—"
Before she could finish her thought, the woman stirred. Immediately everybody dropped what they were doing to turn their attention to Yoshiko and the woman. Bright green eyes opened and fell upon Yoshiko's face. Before anybody could even move, Yoshiko spoke up.
"Why did you say my father's name?" she cried.
"What?" said the woman, blinking.
"Before you passed out you muttered 'Kane.' That's my father and I want to know how the hell you knew his name!" snapped Yoshiko.
"You're Kane's daughter?" muttered the woman, a sad look coming over her face. "So… you're Yoshiko?"
"Okay, this is officially freakin' me out! How the hell do you know my name?" cried Yoshiko, standing up.
A small smile passed over the woman's face and she slowly got to her feet. Her eyes passed over the group before coming back to Yoshiko. However, her start at an explanation was quickly interrupted.
"Well, well, well…" came a familiar voice behind Yoshiko. She spun around to see Rheda stepping out of the trees. "Long time no see."
"How long has it been? Twenty years?" asked the woman, her eyes twinkling.
"Twenty-one… No wait…" said Rheda thoughtfully. "Okay, in two days it'll be exactly 21 years."
"That's pathetic," murmured Yoshiko.
"Oh, shut up! Like your little brother didn't remember the day you abandoned him!" sneered Rheda. "By the way, Fluffy's coming right behind me."
"I did not abandon…" started Yoshiko. Then she stopped, looking perplexed. "Fluffy?"
"Yeah…" said Rheda. "Oh yeah! You haven't heard his new nickname. Do you like it?"
"Who… the… hell… are… we talking about?" hissed Yoshiko through her teeth.
"Sesshomaru of course!" said Rheda exasperatedly. Then she acted like Yoshiko wasn't there and turned toward the woman. "So, where have you been hiding Katsumi?"
"Hiding? I haven't been hiding," laughed Katsumi. "You just don't seem to know where to look for me!"
"So where have I forgotten to look?" asked Rheda, raising an eyebrow.
"Mostly the old Demon Exterminator village. Other than that, I've just been wandering," shrugged Katsumi.
During this entire exchange Yoshiko had been staring at Rheda, her mouth slightly open. But when she heard rustling in the trees behind her aunt, she quickly closed it. Though she expected it, she was still surprised when Sesshomaru stepped out of the tree behind Rheda. He turned a disapproving look upon the tiger demon then turned toward Yoshiko. She expected to see a look of extreme loathing in his eyes and was rather shocked when she didn't. But she didn't have time to figure out what exactly he was feeling before a small figure collided with her leg. Looking down she saw Rin hugging her around the middle and felt dazed.
"Hi…" she said breathlessly.
"I thought I was never going to see you again!" cried Rin.
"What?" said Yoshiko dazedly. Then she realized what the girl was saying. "Now what would make you think that? Didn't I promise I would come back?"
"Yeah. But…" said Rin, looking up at her.
"Well, isn't that sweet!" laughed Rheda. "Pretending that you didn't try and get yourself killed, and all."
Yoshiko looked up quickly at her aunt, her eyes narrowed. But the tiger demon seemed not to notice and instead turned toward Sesshomaru, resting her arm on his shoulder.
"You know you hurt Fluffy's feelings! What would you do if your places were switched?" said Rheda, with a small smile. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed and he turned away. "I had to take time away from my life to—"
"BITCH!" yelled Yoshiko, punching Rheda right in the nose.
"What the hell?" cried Rheda, pulling away and putting her hands to her nose. "Crap, I think you broke my nose!"
"I look like I care!" shouted Yoshiko. "Besides, a good night's sleep and it'll be as good as new!"
"But I like my nose before you made it crooked!" snapped Rheda. "Now it's not as pretty anymore."
"LIVE WITH IT!" screamed Yoshiko, turning on her heel and stomping off.
Nobody made to stop her as she walked off into the trees as far away from Rheda as she could. After a while Yoshiko got tired of walking and, sighing angrily, leaned against a tree. It wasn't too long after that she realized somebody had been following her. Rolling her eyes, she turned toward the place the person was standing.
"Can I help you?" she asked. When Katsumi stepped out of the trees she let her anger melt slightly. "Any particular reason you followed me?"
"I thought it would be an excellent time to get to know my daughter," shrugged Katsumi. "Plus it looked like everybody else was quite worried about you."
"I worry everybody," sighed Yoshiko. "They're especially worried since I decided to get myself killed."
"If you give them a reason to trust you, maybe they won't worry as much," said Katsumi, looking away sadly.
"Guess our family just has a habit of wanting to die," muttered Yoshiko. "First Dad, then Godric and now me."
"Godric?" said Katsumi in surprise, turning toward Yoshiko.
"He was my little brother… Half-brother," said Yoshiko off handedly.
"Kane married again…"
"What did you expect him to do? Wait around forever for you to come back?" snapped Yoshiko. Then she took on a kinder tone. "Not that we ever blamed you for leaving."
A sad smile came to Katsumi's face as she responded, "I'm sure you did. You're just trying to be nice."
"Okay, I did for a little bit. But I was young and stupid," laughed Yoshiko. "And Dad rarely spoke about you. In fact, he wouldn't talk about you… But you could tell he really missed you!"
"I know he did…" murmured Katsumi. "In fact, he told me so before he died."
Before Yoshiko could even think of a response for this, another sound came to her ears. It was almost like a low whistle that the wind would make, but there was no wind. In fact, the trees were extremely still. Obviously Katsumi had caught the sound as well because she was drawing two short swords. Yoshiko found this a bit odd because she couldn't prove that it was a demon of any sort. But she stood up, drawing her own sword just as she realized that the sound was coming from behind her. Spinning around she half expected to see someone like Kamatari. But instead her sword collided with another, which had tendrils of black smoke coming off of it. At first it seemed as if there was no one wielding the sword when suddenly a pale, grinning face appeared in the dark smoke.
"Well, it's about time I found you," said a young yet cold voice.
Jumping away, Yoshiko found herself standing next to Katsumi who was sweating worriedly. Instantly the dark smoke disappeared and where it used to be stood a young boy with a smile almost similar to Sueko's, though Yoshiko would have preferred Sueko's over his. His hair was ruffled slightly but still seemed to be neat as he looked down to sheath his sword. But after he sheathed it, it disappeared in a flash of dark smoke. He acted as if this was something interesting, even for him, and then shrugged. He looked up at the two tiger demons with a grin, cocking his head to one side. His outfit was completely black with a high black collar. It made him look even more pale. When he took a step closer Katsumi clutched tighter at her swords. Before Yoshiko could say anything the tiger demon gave a cry and jumped toward the young boy. All he had to do was duck to dodge the attack and he punched her in the stomach, sending her flying backwards into a tree.
"What the hell did you do that for!" cried Yoshiko in horror. She was surprised at the power in such a young boy.
"Hmmm… that's a good question," said the boy thoughtfully, his voice sending shivers down Yoshiko's back. "I guess… because I can?"
"Don't expect to get a better answer," hissed Katsumi, struggling to get to her feet. "Hotaka doesn't believe in anything but having fun in other people's pain."
"Who is he?" cried Yoshiko almost sarcastically. "Kamatari?"
"Oh, please," said the boy, sitting down on a rock, putting one of his legs on his other and jiggling his foot. "Don't mistake me for that pathetic fool. He couldn't even kill you properly."
"Ain't that too bad," sighed Yoshiko. "Then who the hell are you?"
"Hell… There's your own clue for you," laughed the boy. "But as your good mother said, my name is Hotaka."
"That's nice," said Yoshiko, putting one hand on her hip. "But what does 'Hell' have anything to do with it?"
"Excuse me?" cried Hotaka in horror, falling dramatically backwards off the rock. It was almost amusing. When his head popped up from behind the rock he continued on. "You're completely obsessed with everything to do with the 'Last One' and you don't know who I am? I feel so insulted."
"Good for me," said Yoshiko, starting to get bored and annoyed. "But you're kind of young to be the demon of all evil."
"Kind… of… young…" muttered Hotaka. Then jumped to his feet. "What do you expect out of me? The 'Last One' is a freakin' child! At least I'm good looking…"
"Don't flatter yourself," laughed Yoshiko. "You're still just a little kid."
"I'm at least 17 looking," snapped Hotaka. "Maybe 18…"
"You don't even know how old you are…" said Yoshiko blankly. "How pathetic can you get?"
"Hello! I'm pure evil here! Insulting me is so not a good thing," said Hotaka, putting his hands on his hips. "By the way…"
He put out one of his hands and suddenly dark tendrils of smoke wrapped around it. For a while Yoshiko expected it to go away to show whatever it was Hotaka wanted to show them. But then she realized that the thing was already there… and the smoke was coming from that thing. So she focused her attention on his hand more and saw it: a perfectly formed stone completely black in color. Yoshiko raised her eyebrows questioningly and in surprise.
"What's that?" she asked, trying to sound like she was interested.
"You… don't… know… what it is…" said Hotaka through his teeth. He closed his hand around the black stone and hung his head. At first Yoshiko was just confused. Then she heard something rather familiar. He was breathing in and out almost exactly like how Sueko had the first time she met Sesshomaru.
"Well, I thought it was a myth!" said Yoshiko defensively.
"What are you talking about?" said Katsumi, still kneeling on the ground, clutching at her stomach.
"You don't want me to explain… I'll go on and on and on and…" started Yoshiko. Then she stopped, shaking her head.
"You two are starting to bore me now," yawned Hotaka. Then a mischievous grin crossed his face and he opened his hand again.
At first Yoshiko didn't notice anything unusual. But as she watched Hotaka she noticed that he seemed to disappear and in his place was that foul dark smoke again. The she heard Katsumi gasp and turned toward the tiger demon. The woman was looking down at the ground in horror where a dark tunnel had opened up. Recognizing it as the one Yoshiko had fallen in a while ago, she ran over to Katsumi. As she did so dark smoke came out of the pit, surrounding her and Katsumi. Narrowing her eyes she reached out and grabbed the tiger demon's arm as the darkness swallowed them up.
"That wench!" cried Emiko after Katsumi had gone after Yoshiko. Her nose already seemed to be doing better but she kept on patting it because it was swelling.
"You had it coming," said Sesshomaru calmly. The strange girl with the red shirt nodded her agreement. Then stopped as if she realized what she was doing.
"I blame you if she takes out her anger on me next," said InuYasha moodily, crossing his arms.
"Now why would she do that?" said Emiko in mock astonishment.
"Because she seems to think it's fun to make me squirm," muttered InuYasha.
"But you have to admit it's quite entertaining," said the monk thoughtfully, leaning on the half-demon's shoulder.
"Especially since it means she isn't hitting me," said the small fox demon, putting his hands on his head.
Suddenly Sesshomaru noticed Rin glaring up at Emiko looking almost close to tears. But her hands were in fists and her eyes were narrowed, showing how extremely angry she was. It seemed Emiko had followed his gaze and looked down at Rin as well. She looked almost as surprised as Sesshomaru felt. But her expression softened as she leaned down to be at eye level with the little girl.
"What's up?" Emiko asked, smiling slightly.
"You're mean, cruel and evil!" cried Rin. "You didn't have to say those things to Lady Yoshiko!"
"Excuse me?" cried Emiko, standing up straight. "I was just giving her the facts!"
"Some that she's already looked at," snapped InuYasha. "If there's one thing I hate is when people throw my mistakes back in my face after I've learned how to deal with them!"
"Besides, she was working to fix them," said the woman with brown hair. "Which is probably why she didn't want you anywhere near Sesshomaru!"
"You act as if you don't trust me!" cried Emiko, putting her hands to her cheeks in mock horror.
"It's not like you've given anyone a reason to trust you," said Sesshomaru, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Oh, so you're taking their side are you?" snapped Emiko icily.
In response he turned toward her, eyes narrowed. She rolled her eyes.
"Of course," Emiko sighed. "Stupid question."
"Well, well, well," said an unfamiliar cold voice. At it Emiko jumped and attempted to hide behind Sesshomaru. But then she thought better of it and her dagger appeared in her hand with a flash of flames. "Having a very intelligent conversation, I see!"
"Have we learned sarcasm, Hotaka?" sneered Emiko. At this a long cold laugh came from the shadows in the direction Yoshiko had left in.
"Who's there?" cried InuYasha, drawing his sword. It almost looked as though a person seemed to materialize in the darkness before walking out.
"Hey! My sword is glowing!" cried the strange girl, drawing her sword, which was, in fact, glowing a steady blue. "Do you have an elemental stone?"
"Why would I waste my time with those things?" cried the boy walking out of the trees in horror. "Wait… You're the 'Last One?'"
"Um… yeah… so?" said the girl, blinking.
"But… but… but…" stammered the kid. "You're more of a child than I thought!"
"What do you think you are?" said Jaken, walking closer to the boy. "A midget, maybe?"
"Okay, a half-demon insulting me is one thing, but an imp?" cried the boy, shaking a finger in disapproval. "That's a little too much. So," he continued, glaring down at Jaken and kicking him really hard, "I WOULD KEEP YOUR BEAK SHUT IF I WERE YOU!"
"Master Jaken!" cried Rin, running into the trees to find the imp. Everybody else just seemed amazed at the power in such a young boy. Except, it seemed, Emiko.
"Do you enjoy picking on those a great deal smaller than you?" she snapped. "Or are you going to tell me that was actually painful for you to do, Hotaka?"
"Please! I enjoy picking on everybody equally," laughed the boy. "And it's been a while since I've gotten a chance to!"
"You sure have gotten efficient at wiping out tiger demons," said Emiko icily. "Or have you gotten bored of that already?"
"Well, I wouldn't be bored if, let's see…" said the boy thoughtfully. "Oh, I know! IF YOU WEREN'T SUCH WEAKLINGS!"
Then he paused as if thinking about something. In the meantime the girl was starting to look confused. She was glancing from her sword to the boy blinking continually. InuYasha looked like he was starting to get annoyed but he didn't say anything, just glared at her.
"No, wait," said the boy finally. "That half tiger demon wasn't that weak. But that woman—Katsumi, I think her name is—just had to interfere!"
"What did you do with my sister?" screamed Emiko.
"Wow, touchy are we?" laughed the boy, putting a finger in his ear as if it hurt. "I didn't do anything! You know very well I don't do anything! Okay, I punched her. That was pretty fun."
"You're disgusting," snapped InuYasha. "So what happened to Katsumi and Yoshiko?"
"Want to find out?" said the boy, a grin spreading across his face slowly.
"It would be much easier if you just told us," growled Sesshomaru, stepping closer.
"Touchy, are we?" laughed the boy. "Let's see… Oh, I know! You're afraid of losing that girl. That silly half-demon who thought it was impossible for me to come back from hell!"
For some reason everybody glanced at him. But all he did was stand there calmly, staring at the boy evenly. This obviously was not what he had been expecting, because he pursed his lips at Sesshomaru in annoyance. Then he sighed, turning away slightly and putting a hand behind his head.
"Oh, well, I'm afraid I've grown bored of you already!" he said, acting as if he was greatly grieved. "Let's play!"
With that a dark smoke circled around their feet, slowly moving upwards until they were all completely engulfed. He heard Emiko scream before it seemed every single sense was blocked out and he felt himself falling.
"InuYasha!" cried Sueko, trying to see through all the smoke. She really did not like fog… Okay, this was smoke this time around, but whatever… The labyrinth was no trip and Sueko just knew this wouldn't be either. But the smoke didn't last as long as that fog seemed to last at the labyrinth and all Sueko could see was this barren landscape going on for miles on end. It looked like an old battlefield… at least, Sueko was figuring this by all the bones of old samurai surrounding her. She didn't see anyone else with her though…
That was, until she noticed that same boy standing about ten feet in front of her with this cocky grin on his face. And Sueko also noticed her sword was glowing blue. Really bright blue, and it was even sort of vibrating… Like perhaps something extremely important was around? She just did not understand her sword…
"Where's everyone else?" Sueko asked timidly to the boy, looking around her.
"Do you want the truth or the exaggerated truth?" the boy asked sarcastically.
Sueko moaned. This boy was reminding her of Akio! And it helped that this boy was around the same age as her…
"Exaggerated?" said Sueko, curious as to what sarcastic remark he'd make.
The boy grinned. "Don't worry about them… They're all just fine! And when you come back home they'll all be there waiting for you!"
Sueko chuckled. "That's so not the truth…"
The boy smiled sweetly. "Well, it was exaggerated…"
"How exaggerated can you get!" cried Sueko.
Laughing, the boy said, "If you want the truth, you're 'friends' are actually in some sort of dream state in a mild version of hell… There, do you feel better now?"
Sueko blinked a few times. "WHAT?"
"Must I repeat myself?" sighed the boy.
"THEY'RE IN HELL!" bellowed Sueko.
"Milder state of hell, milder state…" The boy laughed again. "Can you hear?"
Sueko sighed, hoping that the guy was just yanking her chain. But her hope was filled with extreme doubt so instead she asked, "Um… dude, do you have a name?"
The boy blinked. "Dude? Whatever… it's Hotaka. What, that tiger demon didn't tell you about me?"
Sueko blinked as well. "Was she supposed to?"
Hotaka laughed yet again. Apparently he found her amusing as hell. "How dense are you?"
"Hey!" said Sueko, feeling offended. "Okay, so I don't get the most wonderful grades in school and I suck at pretty much everything I try to do… but that doesn't make me dense!"
Hotaka chuckled. "What sort of rubbish are you spouting, 'Last One'?"
"I have a name, you know…" said Sueko darkly as her temple throbbed.
"Would you prefer if I called you Akemi, then?" said Hotaka sweetly—so sweetly it was kind of creepy and made Sueko walk a few paces backward.
"Who's Akemi? I'm Sueko, not Akemi!"
Hotaka grinned. "That tiger demon didn't tell you anything, did she?"
Now Sueko was just annoyed. What did this kid know that she didn't!
"What the hell are you talking about?" she snapped.
"Why should I tell you?" the boy said boredly, sighing and crossing his arms while pretending to lean on an invisible wall. "I think it'd be much more entertaining to watch you all try and get that half tiger demon to tell it all."
"Why… can't… you… just… TELL ME!" cried Sueko impatiently.
Hotaka raised an eyebrow at her. "Feisty, aren't yah?"
Sueko closed her eyes and tried to breath deeply, because if she didn't she might just walk over and strangle the guy. But when she heard the footsteps from the boy come towards her she opened her eyes to find Hotaka standing right in front of her. Maybe a bit too close to her for her liking…
"You were amusing for a time but then you just became tiring…" sighed Hotaka, rubbing his temple. When Sueko still looked up at him with the same frown planted upon her face, he gave a small little smile and said in a singsong voice, "Time to say hello to your little friends again!" Then he put two fingers to her forehead and Sueko suddenly saw no more.