A Story of Hope
Although the wounds had been deep, Kagome pulled the band-aids off the next morning. "What does it look like Shippo?" she asked, "Should I keep the band aids off or put them back on?"
"They look okay to me." The kitsune replied, "The cuts are almost healed. They're just a little red."
There was the sound of footsteps walking over to Kagome. "I think you should keep the bandages on for the rest of today." Sango announced, "Shippo's right. The wounds are mostly healed, but you should keep them on just for safety. Just to make sure that they don't get infected or anything."
Inuyasha's signature Shikon glow became closer and the next thing Kagome knew, she felt his clawed hands gently replacing the band-aids on her legs. "I absolutely refuse to let you get yourself infected." He told her roughly.
"Is that because Koga threatened you and you're scared?" Miroku asked.
"NO!" Inuyasha put back the final band-aid. "It's because if Kagome's legs get infected it's going to slow us down."
Kagome rolled her eyes. Even she knew that wasn't the real reason he was being extra careful with her today. So far he had: helped her out of her sleeping bag when she woke up, made her breakfast (no one else, they'd had to make their own), and packed up her things for her. There was no doubt about it. Inuyasha was still feeling guilty.
"Thanks Inuyasha." She said quietly. Her only response was a snort.
"Well are we ready to continue?" Miroku asked, "We can't hang around here all day, besides, I heard that we were approaching a relatively large village."
"Yeah, what about it?" Inuyasha asked.
"Well I thought I could get us a nice place to sleep and a good meal." He replied.
"And he wants to see if there's any pretty girls there." Shippo added.
"That too." Miroku agreed.
There was a loud thunk and the monk rubbed a growing bump on his head. "Sango, must you be so violent?"
"When you're being perverted, yes." She replied.
"Weren't we going to go now?" Inuyasha grumbled.
"Yes." Miroku said nodding, "Let us go."
Kagome watched the jewel shard's glow become brighter as Inuyasha turned back to her. "I'm going to pick you up now." He told her.
"Alright."
Inuyasha gently picked her up and moved her onto his back. His grip on her legs was much lighter than usual. "You okay back there?"
"Yeah."
"Well then what are we waiting for?" Inuyasha asked the others, "Let's go! Miroku, which way to that village you were talking about? We may as well head towards it. Maybe we'll get a lead on a shard."
The group moved away from their campsite, following the way Miroku had pointed out.
"Do we know the name of the town we're going to?" Sango asked.
"Does it matter?" Inuyasha asked under his breath.
"Hiroshima or something like that." Miroku replied.
"Hiroshima!" Kagome repeated, "The Hiroshima?"
"Is that an important village in your time?" Sango asked.
"Important!" she replied, "America dropped the first atomic bomb on it and it was completely destroyed!"
There was silence.
"You didn't understand that, did you?"
"Not a word." Shippo replied.
Kagome sighed. "That's alright." She said, "It wasn't a good thing that happened there anyways, it's just a just famous."
As the sun began to set, the group walked into the village of Hiroshima. "Great Buddha…" Miroku said trailing off.
"What is it?" Kagome asked. It was times like this that she wished she could still see.
"Well let's just say that there's plenty of houses for Miroku to find an ominous cloud hanging over." Sango told her.
"It's a rich village?" Kagome guessed.
"From the size and quality of the buildings around us, that is exactly it." Miroku replied, "Dear Sango! Pick a house for us to spend the night in!"
"But where are all the people?" Shippo asked, "There's no one outside…"
"Because of the village's wealth I'm guessing that they are all enjoying a large meal at this time." Miroku said, "But Sango, which house shall I pick?"
"I don't like the smell of this." Inuyasha growled, "Something's wrong here."
There was the sound of quick footsteps. The group turned to see a man walking down the street with a young boy running ahead. They were indeed wealthy by the look of their clothes. "Father!" the boy exclaimed, "Look! There's a monk in the group of travelers ahead!"
"Aye, there is." The father agreed. "Monk!" he called, "Monk, might you be a holy man, traveling from village to village to rid possessed houses of their demons?"
"Uh, yes good sir!" Miroku replied. "Never mind Sango." He said quietly, leaning over to her, "I do believe we will not have to pick a house for the night. The fates have picked one for us."
The little boy was standing right next to the group now. "Will you exorcize our house, monk?"
"We have been plagued by a demon for many moons now." The father said sadly, "We have been hoping to find a monk good enough to help us. My poor daughter has been possessed and she is deathly ill."
This got Miroku's full attention. "Fear not sir." He said, "I will help you with your demon problem and see to your daughter at once!"
The man smiled. "If you can get rid of the demon, my wife and I will gladly pay you well, not to mention give you a room and food for the night."
Miroku nodded. "I will start straight away. Of course the state of your daughter is your greatest worry. I will see to her first."
"Of course he will." Shippo mumbled, rolling his eyes.
The man bowed. "Please follow me to my home."
As the group followed the man, the feeling of a strong demonic presence became stronger and stronger. Miroku tightened his grip on his staff. Sango put a hand to her boomerang. Kagome squeezed Inuyasha's shoulders and Inuyasha squeezed Kagome's legs, but he did not puncture the skin again.
Finally they arrived at a house notably bigger than the rest of the ones around it. There was a woman waiting outside. "Sato." She said, kissing the man lightly on the cheek, "That was a quick fishing trip. She turned to the little boy. "Did you catch anything Totori?"
"No." the kid replied, "We didn't get to the river. But we met a monk on the way! He said he'd help us!"
The woman turned to the new comers and bowed politely. "I pray that you'll be able to help my girl." She said quietly, "Her suffering is awful. We can't do anything else. Please do all you can."
"I promise you I will." Miroku said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Anai." The man named Sato said, "Please bring the monk's companions to a spare room and get them something to eat. I'll show the monk to Kella."
Miroku followed after Sato as the others followed after Anai. He was led down passage after passage until they stopped at a door. "My daughter is in here." Sato said softly. He opened the door and lit a lamp to reveal the girl.
Miroku sighed. By the girl's size she was very young. No more than three.
"What is it monk?"
"Nothing." Miroku walked over to the girl, kneeling down next to her futon. He pushed back the blanket to see her. Her face was pale, but then again so was the rest of her. Her hair was bright white. Miroku frowned. "Do you know what manner of demon is possessing her?"
"No." her father replied, "That's why you're here."
"Right." This girl really was badly possessed if her hair was white. Miroku pulled out a sutra and placed it on her forehead. Nothing happened. "That will keep her safe during the exorcizetion if the demon was planning to use her as a hostage. But now I will have to look around the house. It would be better if you joined your wife and son and waited."
Sato nodded. "What about your friends?"
"They will be fine."
He nodded again. "Will we know when it is over?"
"Yes." Miroku replied, "You will definitely know."
Meanwhile, the others were sitting down to dinner. "-Is is gud ood!" Shippo exclaimed, shoveling rice into his mouth.
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Kagome told him.
Shippo frowned. "How'd you 'ow I was eatin wi my mou ull?" He swallowed. "You can't see me."
The priestess's mouth tightened. "Just because I can't see you, doesn't mean I can't hear you."
"Oh yeah. Sorry."
Kagome smiled slightly, "It's alright." Her smile quickly turned to a frown. "Do you feel that?"
"Yeah." Sango replied. She glanced towards her weapon, leaning against the wall. "The presence we've been feeling since we got here just got stronger. I don't like it."
Inuyasha put a hand to Tetsusaiga. He was ready for anything that came at them.
Kagome asked. "Do you think it's because of the exorciztion?"
"Probably." Inuyasha said. "What ever this demon is, it's strong, but it's not Naraku. Any jewel shards, Kagome?"
"None."
There was a loud crash and Miroku's yell. Sango jumped up in alarm, grabbing her boomerang. "I'm going to go check it out." She ran out of the room.
A moment later there was another crash. Miroku and Sango's yells were heard together and there was the chinkling of Miroku's staff and the whoosh of Sango's boomerang. Then there was another crash and a scream of what they could only guess was the demon. The noise went on.
Kagome's face was now white. Inuyasha noticed this. "Hey." He said gently, "What's wrong?"
"Do you think they need our help?" Kagome asked shakily, "It sounds bad."
"Don't worry." He said smiling at her, of course she didn't see it though. He tuned his ears into the fight. "It sounds like they're doing fine. It's the demon who's screaming."
She nodded, but she was still pale. Sighing, Inuyasha put his hands around her waist and pulled her into his lap, enveloping her with his arms. "Don't worry, okay? They'll be fine. They're professionals. They can handle themselves."
Kagome relaxed a bit in his hold. That's when Inuyasha really noticed what he had just done. She's sitting on my lap. Inuyasha thought She's sitting on my lap and it seems as if she's enjoying it! She relaxed when I pulled her onto it! Kagome relaxed because I was holding her! I made her relax! Fireworks were going off in his head.
As soon as Kagome had calmed down, she noticed just where she was. I'm sitting on Inuyasha's lap! She could see the bright shine of Inuyasha's Shikon shard right next to her head. Wait, why would Inuyasha pull me over here? Is he… hugging me! Her eyes widened and she looked up at him.
He saw this and looked down at her. His cheeks had a red tinge to them. "What?"
She looked back down again, also blushing. "Nothing."
Kagome felt herself being pulled off the hanyou's lap and placed on the floor next to him. "Uh, sorry." Came Inuyasha's voice.
The sounds of the fight ended. A few moments later Sango and Miroku walked back into the room. "Did you get the demon?" Shippo asked.
"We did." Miroku replied. "It's gone."
Kagome smiled. "That's great!" she said happily.
"Yes." Sango agreed, "It's great that we're actually getting paid for real work and not for a trick."
"Makes the food taste better." Miroku declared, sitting down to start his meal.