Mizuko-man No Kiga: The Hunger of Mizuko-man
Kagome filled her backpack with everything she'd need for the trip through the well: extra clothing and thread, some math homework (in case there was nothing to do), and some food and cooking supplies. After double-checking to make sure she was fully ready, Kagome headed out of the house and to the well where she would fall through time to meet with her half-demon friend.
"Bye, Grandpa! I'm going to meet with Inuyasha!" Kagome called as she passed her grandfather reading a book in the living room. "Be back by Tuesday night, if you can!" she heard her grandpa say as she jumped into the well. After a moment of the usual whirling sensation, she landed gracelessly on her knees on the soft ground sometime in the Feudal Age of Japan.
"It's about time you showed up," Inuyasha said to her, walking over to her as she stood up. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't come back."
"Oh, hi, Inuyasha," Kagome panted. "Heh. Apparently I have to... work on my landings. I should be... used to that by now. I come... here every weekend, after all."
"Yeah, yeah, now enough of your jabbering," replied Inuyasha, in his usual huff. "We've got shards to find."
Kagome looked around and saw that she was standing (steadily now) by a large tree, against which leaned Shipp, apparently asleep, and Nekomi, staring hungrily at a small bird perched a ways above them. As Kagome and Inuyasha watched, Nekomi suddenly sprang to her paws, leapt up several feet, and caught the bird in her jaws, munching hungrily on it as she fell gracefully back to the ground, landing on all fours.
Inuyasha ran over to Nekomi and smacked her on the head. "Nekomi! Stop that! Everyone knows you're supposed to pluck it, clean it, and cook it before you eat it!" Kagome fell down, arms out, in exasperation. She got up and sighed with her head in her hand. Nekomi was a fairly recent addition to the party, after she had been rescued from slavery at a past village. Nekomi was a cat demon, and she definitely showed it. Sometimes to a fault.
"But I like them raw!" Nekomi said sadly to Inuyasha, as if she was being punished (which she was).
Kagome sighed and walked up to Inuyasha and Nekomi. "Inuyasha, just let her be," she said. "If you want her to be punished for eating a raw bird, let her eat it as she caught it, and her punishment will be having to crap out 2 pounds of feathers in a few days." Kagome then took the bird from Inuyasha and handed it to Nekomi. "Here, Neko-chan. You can eat the bird as it is. Just don't expect to feel too good next week."
Nekomi took the bird from Kagome as if it were a priceless treasure. "Oh, thank you, Gome-chan! You're the best!" she said with shining eyes. Nekomi then rammed the dead bird into her mouth and pounced happily at the tree to eat her catch, wagging and twitching her large, bushy cat's tail.
"Can we go yet, Kagome?" Kagome wheeled around and found Shipp standing behind her. Apparently, the fuss with Nekomi's bird had woken him up. "That little fuss with Nekomi's bird woke me up," Shipp said sternly, as if he was upset to be deprived of such a great sleep, which he was.
"Sure. Sure, Shipp, we can get going right away. Neko-chan!" she called out. Nekomi pricked her ears up and looked at Kagome, the bloody bird corpse clutched in her jaws. "Uh," Kagome said uncertainly, "we're... going to the next village now. I guess you can eat that...bird...ugh... on the way there."
"Okay!" Nekomi hurried to her feet, still clutching the bird in her mouth. Inuyasha looked at her with disgust and annoyance. "Ugh," he sighed. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" Kagome asked.
"To Kamizuno Village," replied Inuyasha. "It's about an hour north from here. I heard that they've been terrorised by a rather vicious demon lately."
Inuyasha, Kagome, Shipp, and Nekomi walked on towards Kamizuno Village, Nekomi munching all the while on her caught bird as if it were a piece of fried chicken. Eventually, the four of them came to what Inuyasha told them was Kamizuno Village.
"It's so weird," whispered Nekomi, having finished eating the bird she was munching on earlier. "There's almost nobody here!" And it was true. They managed to see just a couple of people out in the open, both men. When Inuyasha tried to confront one of the men, he fled in terror.
Kagome managed to ask the other man they saw, "Sir, excuse me, but could you please tell us what has happened to your village?"
"Oh, it's... terrible, terrible," the old man stammered. "Mi... Mizuko-man... the women... Mizuko-man has been taking the townswomen away!" he said finally.
Kagome gasped. "Taking the women away? But why? Where does Mizuko-man live? How can we get to him?"
The old man looked up at her in fear and what seemed to be awe. "You want to confront Mizuko-man? But none who has done so has ever come back! He must have taken seven of our women already! Gods know what he does to them, but all the same, they're never seen again.
"Mizuko-man comes at night. He is an enormous, hideous monster, with three tentacles instead of arms. I know this because... because... last night... Mizuko-man took my wife!" The old man burst into tears. "My beloved wife of thirty years! He grabbed her while she was sleeping, and just stormed off with her! (Left a giant hole in my bedroom wall too.)" The old man cried noisily for a minute, then continued through choked sobs. "Mizuko-man lives at the bottom... of Kamizuno Lake, just east of here. Go carefully. If you manage to defeat him, try... try to... see if my wife... is alive..." He could say no more. Kagome looked up, scanning the village for her friends. Soon, she found Nekomi and Shipp, and before long, all four of them were heading east towards Kamizuno Lake.
When they got to the lake, Kagome was puzzled about something. "I guess Mizuko-man doesn't have a Shikon shard, because I probably would have sensed it by now. Do you think maybe we should just try going somewhere else?"
"No, of course not!" Nekomi almost yelled. "You told me what the old man said, remember? Even if Mizuko-man doesn't have a shard, we still have to defeat him, for the sake of those lost women! I know how to defeat Mizuko-man; one of the men in town told me. If we can work together, we can defeat him, and possibly free those women from the village!"
Kagome nodded in agreement. Later that night, Inuyasha fried up some vegetables for dinner, and the four of them went to bed a tiny ways from the lakeside.
The sun rose and woke Kagome the next morning. She yawned, stretched, and got undressed. "Time for a bath!" She walked slowly to the lake, so as not to wake the others, and slid slowly in. "Ooh, the water's cold, even for this time of year!" As she walked into the lake, the cold water flowed over her, chilling her slightly. "Eehh, cold." She picked up a leaf and began to scrub herself. Suddenly, she felt a flash of a shard nearby! "Could it be...? Nah. If there were a shard around, I would probably have felt it before. Maybe my intuition's a little off today." As Kagome scrubbed down with the leaf, she was startled by a sudden rushing of water behind her, and before she could even make a sound in surprise, she was picked up by a long, blue tentacle.
Kagome gasped as she realised what was happening. "Mizuko-man! INUYASHA! SHIPP! NEKOMI! HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLP!" she shouted. She looked at the humongous water demon she was facing. He was just as the old man in the village described: huge, with three long tentacles for arms. Something the villager hadn't mentioned also caught Kagome's attention: Mizuko-man had an enormous transparent stomach! Not only that, but he did have a shard! It was in his...
Just then, Inuyasha, Shipp, and Nekomi came running to the lakeside, having been woken by Kagome's cries for help. "He has a shard in his heart!" they heard Kagome say.
Nekomi, having been given some vital information by a villager the day before, proceeded to launch into a mini-lecture about Mizuko-man. "Mizuko-man is an incredibly powerful demon! He's probably incredibly old! Apparently, the reason Kagome didn't sense his presence is because with the power of the Shikon shard in his heart, Mizuko-man could block any 'sensing' abilities, effectively camouflaging himself until within our reach. The only way to truly defeat Mizuko-man is to split his head, and eat his heart and his... bleh... brain!"
Suddenly a booming voice spoke from the demon in the lake. "What the little cat demon says is right. I am the dreaded Mizuko-man! I am the one who stole females from the village nearby! I find women to be so tasty and delicious! They're so full of energy, too!"
Inuyasha suddenly looked like he'd seen Kikyo again. "Look, you guys! Look at his stomach! It's see-through!" Sure enough, Mizuko-man's abdomen was almost completely transparent, giving a clear view of several women inside him, apparently comatose.
"Well, let's kick this guy's ass already!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he pulled out Tetsusaiga. He tried to attack, but Mizuko-man blocked the assault as if it were nothing but a ball of crumpled paper, forcing the blade to revert back to its idle, useless form.
"Hahahaa! You think your puny weapons can defeat me?" Mizuko-man boomed. "You think you can save your sumptuous little friend? I'll do to her what I've done to all the others!"
"GAAH! What are you going to do! Don't you dare!" Kagome shouted at Mizuko-man, who was holding her up by one tentacle-arm. The great demon paid no attention at all to her screams and stretched his jaws wide. Mizuko-man was planning to eat Kagome!
Nekomi looked at the horrible scene and swore at Mizuko-man, "You'll pay for that! How dare you treat her this way!" She created a ball of purple energy in her hands. "Psychic Shock Wave!" she shouted, and flung the ball of energy at Mizuko-man. Mizuko-man, with one glance, reflected the ball of energy so it hit Nekomi, Inuyasha, and Shipp, sending them flying back several feet.
Meanwhile, Kagome was screaming for her life as Mizuko-man's jaws stretched even wider. "HELP! Somebody figure out how to attack him! Burn him or something! GAAH!"
Shipp got up from being knocked back by Nekomi's reflected attack and faced Mizuko-man with determination. "Fox Fire!" he exclaimed as he unleashed a large ball of fire toward Mizuko-man's abdomen.
Mizuko-man cried out in pain as Nekomi had a sudden idea. "Aha!" she exclaimed. "Mizuko-man can't block against fire attacks!" She began to form a large purple sphere of flames between her palms. "Celestial Fire Explosion!" she cried as she sent the purple fire hurtling towards Mizuko-man, who took heavy damage.
"Let's try and attack at the same time!" Nekomi said to Shipp. "Okay!" he agreed. At the same time, Shipp used Fox Fire and Nekomi used Celestial Fire Explosion, sending orange and purple fireballs speeding towards Mizuko-man, who, when hit in the stomach by the double attack, sank into the lake, screaming in agony and pain, taking the struggling Kagome with him.
After a short pause, Nekomi spoke up. "Inuyasha, he's not really gone, is he?"
"No, Nekomi," Inuyasha finally said with a heavy sigh. "I don't think he is. Something's not right. That battle was too easy."
"Kagomeee!" Shipp cried out. "Nooo! Whyyyy? Waaaaahh..."
Suddenly, like a whirlpool rising from the depths, Mizuko-man appeared at the surface of the lake again. Inuyasha could clearly see Kagome huddled inside the great demon through his transparent abdominal skin and organs.
"Oh, she tasted wonderful!" Mizuko-man exclaimed with satisfaction and triumph. "Now to prey on the feeble little cat-girl!" Mizuko-man reached a tentacle towards Nekomi, ripped her clothes off, and hoisted her up off the ground with one of his long, tentacle-like arms.
"Oh no! Shipp, Inuyasha! Do something!" Nekomi cried out. "Now that he's eaten Kagome, he'll be more powerful even than when we started fighting him! HELP! AAH!" She screamed as Mizuko-man's jaws began to open wide.
Shipp hung his head and proclaimed, "I was hoping not to have to do this, but I suppose we have no other choice."
"What are you talking about, Shipp?" Inuyasha asked, a bit confused. High above them, Mizuko-man's jaws began to stretch even wider, large enough to accommodate two of Nekomi easily.
"Well, I have a Shikon shard in me, and have for quite some time, as you and Kagome well know."
"Go on."
"Using the power of my shard, I can transform into a much more powerful form of myself. Maybe even more powerful than Mizuko-man."
"Well, let's hope you can do it pretty soon, because it looks like Nekomi's not going to last much longer," Inuyasha concluded, and both he and Shipp looked up. Mizuko-man's jaws were reaching their maximum width, and they could tell that his tentacle muscles were loosening up.
Shipp nodded, stepped back, and said some magick words in Japanese. At that moment, he began to transform. He bent over and, with his hands, covered his face in pain as his back, arm, abdomen, and leg muscles began to ripple and expand. As he pulled his hands away from his face, his fingernails grew long, black, and very sharp, like claws. His face changed as well, becoming more fox-like, with a more pronounced snout, blazing red eyes, and much sharper teeth. Finally, the metamorphosis was complete. Shipp had completely transformed into Kami-Shipp!
Inuyasha stared at his changed friend with his face wearing an expression of absolute astonishment. He almost shouted aloud, "WHOA! NO WAY! Shipp can do THAT!"
Kami-Shipp, with a much deeper and more resonant voice than Shipp, called out, "CATACLYSMIC HYPERNOVA GUILLOTINE!" as he formed a giant blade out of white swirling fire. The attack rushed towards Mizuko-man's head and split it in half, destroying almost all of his body from the force of the explosion. As Mizuko-man cried out for the last time, his brain, heart, and filled stomach fell to the shore. Nekomi, who had just barely been dropped by Mizuko-man, bounced off his dying bulk and fell into the lake, emerging above the water a few seconds later relatively unharmed. "I hate water," she griped.
Inuyasha rushed to the body parts and cut open the stomach as Kami-Shipp transformed back into Shipp, his musculature becoming smaller and less defined, his countenance becoming friendlier and more childlike.
"Kagome! Are you all right?" Inuyasha called as soon as he had lifted Kagome and the seven other women out of Mizuko-man's expired stomach. "Kagome, answer me!"
Shipp came running over to Inuyasha just as Kagome regained consciousness. She coughed a bit, trying to regain her breath. "Whuh... huh?" Kagome finally stammered, standing up shakily. Nekomi walked out of the lake and walked over to her.
"Apparently, when Mizuko-man swallowed Kagome, he put her in suspended animation first, leaving her perfectly preserved," Nekomi said as she approached. "The same thing must have happened to the other women he ate, who, if you would look behind you, are just waking up." She pointed behind Kagome. Sure enough, the seven women from inside Mizuko-man's spent stomach were standing up and coughing, struggling to regain lucidity after their digestive imprisonment.
Suddenly, Nekomi looked down at Shipp, who was looking at her still-nude body, and stepped on his head. "Stop staring at me, you little pervert!" she yelled. Shipp whined in pain.
Kagome, Nekomi, and the seven townswomen entered the lake to bathe and rinse the liquid gastrointestinal remnants of Mizuko-man from their bodies. "I know I definitely want at least to be clean when I go back to the village!" said one woman. "I don't want to go home with demon stomach acid all over me! Gross! What would my husband say?" laughed another.
Inuyasha addressed the townswomen when they were all out of the water. "So, I guess you'll be going back to the village now?"
"Yes," one of them said. "I'm sure we've been gone quite a long time, and our husbands miss us terribly. We must go back to our homes now."
"Do you think maybe we could make you some clothes before you go back? I don't think you would want to go back to the village naked," said Kagome. "I have some needle and thread in my bag. We could make you small outfits out of leaves!"
"Oh, that would be wonderful," the townswoman said. "We'll help you," said another woman. And after a couple of hours of gathering and sewing together leaves from nearby bushes and trees, the seven women from Kamizuno Village were walking home, each wearing a leaf bikini.
"Well, Kagome, Nekomi," Inuyasha piped up as he gathered the fallen body parts, "Any chance you and Nekomi could put some clothes on? I think Shipp's going nuts looking at you two." He and Kagome glanced at Shipp, who was lying on the ground, staring (and drooling) at Kagome and Nekomi's still-nude bodies.
"Oh brother, what a little perv," Kagome said as she rolled her eyes and stepped on Shipp's face. "Sure, let me just get my backpack." She disappeared into a bush, rummaged around a bit, and emerged a minute later with two yukatas, one pale green, the other lavender with a sakura blossom print. "Here, Neko-chan! Clothes for you!" Kagome handed Nekomi the lavender-sakura yukata, and they helped each other dress.
"Oops," exclaimed Nekomi, with a hand to her mouth. "Inuyasha, do you think it was a bad idea to dress in front of you?"
Inuyasha looked up from the stick he was peeling in boredom. "Huh? Oh, I don't mind. It's that little pervert Shipp you've got to worry about."
"Kagome, what do you propose we do with these?" Inuyasha said calmly. He held up a small cloth for Kagome, on which lay a heart, a cleaned Shikon shard, and a brain, the last remnants of Mizuko-man.
"We're supposed to eat the body parts, but we don't have to eat them raw," Nekomi said. "We can cook them with other ingredients as well. Hmm..." Suddenly she had a thought. "I know! I'll make a stir fry!"
"Okay!" Kagome agreed. "I have some shiitake and a fry pan in my backpack, but there should be some nice vegetables around here!"
"Can you get me some sort of vessel or cup too, please?"
"Sure!" Kagome took off towards the bushes.
"Do you need my help with anything?" Inuyasha piped up, having set down the cloth with the body parts.
"Yes, please, Inu-chan!" Nekomi replied. "Put the Shikon shard in Kagome's little jar, and make some chopsticks for us all."
"I found the veggies!" Kagome exclaimed, rushing back with her hands full of mushrooms and root vegetables. "You can even use my binder as a cutting board! And here's a cup!" She set down her vegetable find and set next to them a white plastic binder and a large cup that she was holding between her knees.
"Thanks, Gome-chan!" Nekomi said with a smile. Kagome and Nekomi helped each other make a stir fry with the vegetables and body parts. They drained the bodily fluids into the cup and diced the heart and brain. They then mixed the blood with some pollen from nearby flowers to make a sauce, and fried the body part pieces and vegetables in the sauce.
Kagome and her friends ate their stir fry for lunch that day. "Hey, this actually isn't that bad!" commented Kagome.
"It's delicious!" Nekomi exclaimed.
"Weird, too," replied Shipp, "if you remember what it's made of."
Oh, great, thought Inuyasha, thanks for reminding me that I'm eating demon brain.
"Thanks for making chopsticks for us, Inuyasha!" said Kagome.
"Yeah, whatever," mumbled Inuyasha in reply, putting down his empty bowl in front of him and crossing his arms.
Kagome glanced at Inuyasha upon hearing his tone of voice. "Why so upset?"
Inuyasha looked up. "It's just weird, what we're eating, that's all," Inuyasha muttered.
"Oh come on, Inu-chan!" Nekomi beamed, and Inuyasha's left eye twitched. "People all over the world eat weird stuff! If you try not to think about what this stir fry is made of, it actually tastes a bit like chicken!"
Inuyasha huffed and slumped down as Kagome, Nekomi, and Shipp set down their bowls. "That was tasty!" said Kagome.
"And now not only is Mizuko-man gone forever," replied Shipp, "but we're each going to get a small portion of his power! It does kinda suck, though, that we have to eat his body parts to truly kill him, but I'm sure it's for the best."
"There's just one bad point about this whole thing," said Nekomi.
"Oh? and what, pray tell, is that?" Inuyasha scowled.
Nekomi, encyclopedically holding up an index finger, said, "Eating brain gives you diarrhea." Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shipp fell down in exasperation.
"WELL, YOU COULD HAVE TOLD US THAT BEFORE WE ATE IT!" the three of them shouted at her.
"Sorree!" she whined, covering her head with her arms and curling her tail around her hip.
The next day, Inuyasha, Shipp, Kagome, and Nekomi were walking down a dirt road, wondering where their quest would take them.
"The next village is about half a day's walk north," Inuyasha said. "We can ask them if they've seen any demon activity lately."
"Knowing this day and age, they probably have," replied Shipp. "It seems like every village these days is being terrorised by some demon."
Nekomi piped up. "That was definitely the weirdest time we've had collecting a shard."
"Pfh. I'll say," Inuyasha scoffed.
"I can't believe I got eaten by a big ugly demon! That sucked!" said Kagome.
"What do you think getting the next shard will be like?" asked Nekomi.
"I don't know," replied Kagome. "I hope it's not as weird as the last one."
"Yeah, well," scoffed Inuyasha, "try not to get yourself kidnapped next time."
"Do you think you'll get naked for a demon again?" inquired Shipp, who was promptly bonked on the head numerous times. "Eeeh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Waaaahh..."
THE END