The land began to light up as the morning sun brought everything to life. The moon was still slightly visibly in the sky, though it cast no light that was visible to the living creatures below.
It had been a few days since Kagome's death. After many attempts from Sango, Miroku, and even Shippou to get InuYasha to talk, but always getting nothing but a growl from him, they just finally gave up. Having to take Kagome's body back to her time, only added to InuYasha's pain. Since he returned from her time, he had not spoken to anyone, only cast them glares and that was if you were lucky enough to get him to look up from the ground.
Temporarily giving up on Naraku only meant more demons coming after the now small group. But every time they did, Sango and Miroku never had to even raise a finger. Seemed like every time InuYasha was the only one to fight. Could be because he wouldn't let anyone else help, or because he could easily defeat them with his own anger. Sure, fighting demons didn't really help InuYasha get over his current situation, but for some reason he believed it did.
Naturally InuYasha wasn't the only one affected by Kagome's death. He was just the only one who let it affect him so much. Shippou however, had been crying so much, a stream could be made from his tears. Sango and Miroku though forced themselves not to cry, for Shippou and even InuYasha's sake. True, pain and misery was looming over the group, like a spider looms over it's prey.
Slowly getting annoyed by the silence and Shippou's crying, InuYasha stood walking out of the hut. Only muttering as he left. "I'll be back later, don't bother following me." And with that he left the hut, walking to the well, that he feared he would never use again.
With every step he took, InuYasha felt as though he could burst into tears at any second, but the problem was no matter how much he wanted to he wouldn't be able to. He knows what if he did let himself cry any demon could easily use that against him and the others. He had already made a promise to himself; he wouldn't let anything happen to anyone else. Losing two people whom he greatly cared for took it's toll on him, InuYasha felt as though he couldn't tolerate losing someone else. At least not if he knew he could've done something to save them.
As he approached the well, InuYasha could hear voices in the opposite direction. He stopped walking, twitching his nose to get a scent. He shrugged, not really caring about the three unfamiliar scents, what did catch his attention was the yell he heard.
"Stupid wolf! Give it a rest!" Was what InuYasha head, it wasn't the actual yell that caught his attention; it was what the voice had said. He growled at himself as he decided that he would go see was responsible for the yelling.
As he approached the voices, InuYasha stopped when he caught one of the scents walking towards him. He looked around, searching for anything he could hide in or behind. Seeing nothing but the trees around him, InuYasha jumped into it. Looking down at the area, waiting to see the owner of the scent.
Less than a second after InuYasha had jumped into the tree, he caught sight of a girl who seemed to be around the age of seventeen, shoving past the bushes.
"Himawari! You can't just walk out on us!" Another voice called from behind the girl, which InuYasha assumed was Himawari. Not very interested in staying there and listen to these people argue, InuYasha was readying himself to jump down out of the tree.
Himawari turned around, and now InuYasha could clearly see her now. She possessed light green eyes, light brown shoulder length hair, and something InuYasha thought he would never see again.
Shocked InuYasha leaned forward in the tree. He couldn't believe it, the girl, Himawari, was wearing modern say clothes. Clothes people in Kagome's era would wear. Not sure if he should confront her or not, InuYasha decided that it would be best to stay hidden, at least until he knew if the people she was traveling with were dangerous or not.
"Who said I was leaving? I'm just walking ahead of you two." Himawari called back, before once again turning around and walking forward. Feeling someone was watching her, Himawari called for one of her friends. "Chishio… come here. I need a favor." She said, looking up in the tree InuYasha was in, but luckily for him, couldn't see him sure to all the branched and leaves.
Hearing her words, InuYasha stiffened in the tree. So, he could conclude that she was traveling with a demon. Why he was worrying, InuYasha didn't know. He knew he could easily defeat any demon that got in his way.
"Can't you do it on your own? Why do I need to go over there?" A voice asked from the distance. One InuYasha guess was Chishio.
Himawari sighed, raising her hand to her head. "I would, but I'm not a mutt." She called back. "Why did I get stuck with them…?" She asked herself.
InuYasha blinked, she was with some kind of dog or wolf demon then. No matter, InuYasha could take either kind.
Muttering something inaudible under his breath, Chishio pushed his way through the bushes, towards Himawari. He glanced down at her with brown colored eyes. "What is it?" He asked crossly.
InuYasha grew even more confused now. Chishio also had clothes from modern times, but InuYasha had never met someone else who could travel through the well. Then, there was the possibility that they got to the feudal era some other way.
Himawari kept her gaze locked on the trees. "There's something up there. See if you can get a scent." She muttered, pointing to the exact spot InuYasha sat at.
Chishio looked up to where she pointed. "Yeah… they're called birds Himawari." He muttered, crossing his arms. "Why don't you just try to find whatever it is?"
Himawari looked over at Chishio. "And just how do you propose I do that?" She asked, looking into the tree.
Chishio shrugged, looking up into the tree. "I'll do it, but no more mutt jokes!" He said, looking back down at her.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just hurry up and do it already." Himawari muttered, waving her hand in front of Chishio's face.
InuYasha couldn't help but grin. There was no way that a human girl and a, whatever the hell Chishio was, could bet him. Let alone find him. Even if he went easy on them, he'd still win. But what about the third scent, he had already figured out that it was that of a demon, but not one he was familiar with.
Chishio blinked, crossing his arms. "You don't mean that do you?" He sighed, not getting any response from her. "That's the best I'm going to get from you, isn't it?"
"Would Ryutaro do this faster and without complaining as much?" Himawari asked looking behind Chishio. "Where is he anyway?" She asked, pushing Chishio to the side, as though he weren't even there.
InuYasha's grin grew in size at those words. Now, he would have the chance to see if this Ryutaro person was any threat. Since, to him, these two weren't much of a challenge. Of course, he hadn't seen them fight yet, so he couldn't know for sure. Though he was sure of one thing, the girl had an unusual attitude.
Again, Chishio just shrugged. "Maybe he will, who don't you ask him?" He muttered, attempting to turn and walk back to where he had come from.
"Didn't say you could go, did I?" Himawari asked, grabbing Chishio by the wrist. "You get him to come. He does listen to you better than he does me."
"Maybe you should let me go, so that I can go get him?" Chishio said, pulling his wrist away from her. Without even waiting to hear what Himawari would say, Chishio just started walking back.
Seeing this as an opportunity too find out more about the three, InuYasha jumped down from the tree. Landing silently behind Himawari. "He's not coming back, is he?" He asked slowly, as he stood.
"Not unless I tell him I have a chew toy, or-" Himawari began, only to realize that she didn't recognize the voice. She turned around to face InuYasha, not at all shocked by the hanyou standing in front of her. "Let me guess, you were the demon… or should I say half demon, that I sensed?" She asked, as though he were harmless.
InuYasha blinked, utter confusion was all he was feeling at the moment. Most humans, not that he had met many, were scared of him. Yet, here stood this human girl, with no one anywhere close to her, and she seemed unfazed by the fact that he could easily kill her. Though InuYasha didn't know why this was, perhaps it would be best to just get the answers he needed.
"Maybe, why would I tell you that?" InuYasha asked, slowly lifting his hand to the hilt of Tetsuiga. "And what makes you say I'm only a half demon?" He asked once again, curious to know why she didn't think of him as a full demon like most humans did.
Himawari sighed, raising her hands to her head. "What is it with men and acting so tough?" She asked herself. "I can just tell alright? I'm not stupid or from around here." She added, looking ahead at InuYasha.
"I figured out that much. Your clothes, and that guy's, they're different. Like Kagome's." InuYasha growled, barely pulling out Tetsuiga to where you could just barely see the fang. "I never said you were stupid either, but why don't I just give you a sample of my power?" He asked, now completely unsheathing Tetsuiga, and pointing it directly at the girl. "Scared now?" He asked, sounding rather hopeful.
Himawari sighed; obviously InuYasha was no different from any other demon. He wanted to prove just how strong he was. "Listen, whatever your name is. There's only one thing that scared me. Okay, two if you count spiders, but that's not the point. Only one thing that can scare me, and you'll never figure out what it is." And with those words, she turned away from InuYasha, and started walking off.
Now even more confused, InuYasha followed after the girl, making sure to sheath Tetsuiga as he did. "I bet I can figure it out. Let's see…" He paused, now walking next to Himawari; he tried to think of anything that might scare the girl. "Some kind of demon, you getting killed… uh, breaking a nail?"
Himawari rolled her eyes. "No. No, and very funny." She muttered, not looking over at InuYasha.
"Then what? Help me out here." InuYasha growled, stopping dead in his tracks.
Himawari stopped as well, turning to face him. "Why the hell do you want to know?" She asked, a rather annoyed expression on her face.
"Well, it just so happens that I, we, need some…" He paused trying to think of a good word. One that wouldn't give her the wrong idea, or, for some reason, hurt her feelings. "We need assistance." He muttered, not sure if that was the right think to say. "And to me it seems that you three? Are strong enough to… assist us."
Himawari eyed InuYasha for a moment. "And just what do you need assistance with?" She asked, wanting to know if he was just another one of those demons that wanted power.
"Actually there are two tings we need assistance in." InuYasha began, becoming rather frustrated with all her questions. "First off, killing Naraku." He paused for a second waiting for some shocked expression, but saw none. "Second, we're collecting the Jewel Shards to restore it to it's original from."
At the sound of Jewel Shards, Himawari seemed to lose all interest in "assisting" him. "Forget it. If Chishio and Ryutaro want to help you, that's their choice, but leave me out of it." Was all she said, as she started off once more.
InuYasha growled, more to himself than at her. Thinking he had said something wrong, he followed after her. Making sure to stay behind her. Though he couldn't help but wonder what he said or did wrong.
Truth be told, InuYasha probably wouldn't find out unless, by some miracle, Himawari decided to "assist" him and the others.
As they walked deeper into the forest, the sound of two arguing voices could be easily heard. Growling slightly, as Chishio came into sight, InuYasha instantly crossed his arms. Just behind Chishio InuYasha could see another, as he thought, demon. This demon InuYasha took to be Ryutaro.
Easily reaching over six feet in height, Ryutaro was no ordinary demon, as InuYasha found out by his scent. To InuYasha's surprise, Ryutaro was dressed in clothes from his time, along with armor covering his chest and back. Strands of black colored hair swayed in the wind, as Ryutaro slowly looked down at InuYasha with golden eyes.
"And he would be?" Ryutaro asked, looking down at InuYasha. Easily drowning out the sound of Chishio's growl.
Himawari stopped next to Chishio. "He's…uh, someone. Says he needs assistance to kill Naraku, and find the Jewel Shards."
InuYasha nodded. "That's right. Sango, Miroku, and me we need the help. Shippou to… he's more the one that needs a babysitter. By the way, my name is InuYasha."
Himawari nodded, pretending that she cared about anything he had just said. Next to her, Chishio wasn't showing much more support.
"You're not the only one who wants Naraku dead. So, why should we help you?" Ryutaro asked, not showing much more support than Himawari or Chishio.
"I'm not saying you should. It's just that, we recently lost someone who helped us out immensely." InuYasha lied, trying to get the small group to agree to help him.
Himawari looked up at InuYasha. "But… you're just a half demon, who wants the shards to become a full demon. Right?" She asked, stepping towards InuYasha.
InuYasha sighed, looking down at the ground. "It use to be like that. But now all I want is to kill Naraku, and get the Jewel back to the way it should be." He paused, as he turned his attention back up to them. "Asking for help isn't something I normally do, but I am asking you. Please, at least consider it."
Ryutaro and Chishio both turned their attention towards Himawari. After a few seconds with no response from her, Chishio finally spoke.
"He doesn't know that you can sense the shards. Does he?" Chishio asked, raising an eyebrow.
Himawari eyed Chishio, slapping his stomach with the back of her hand. "He does now. Mutt…" She snapped.
Chishio backed away from her, his hand instantly rubbing his stomach. Ryutaro allowed a soft chuckle to escape his lips.
InuYasha looked at Himawari, surprise written all over his face. "You-You can sense the Jewel? So, then what's the problem?"
"The problem is I don't want to help you. What part of I-Don't-Want-To- don't you understand?" Himawari snapped at InuYasha, jut before storming off back into the forest.
"She's got a bit of a temper. So, don't take it personally." Chishio muttered, ignoring Himawari yelling. "I DO NOT," at him.
"Come on, even you should know she doesn't want to." Ryutaro began. "It's pretty obvious." He paused looking down at Chishio. "She's scared."
"Scared?" Chishio and InuYasha asked at the same time.
"She said there were only two things that scared her." InuYasha continued. "Spiders, and she wouldn't tell me the other one." He admitted, not wanting to make it something up, and end up sounding stupid.
Ryutaro nodded. "Bet you'll never guess the second one." He began, looking over at InuYasha. "What scared her the most is seeing someone she cares about her hurt. Whether it be physically or emotionally. She just can't stand it."
InuYasha looked to his side, pondering over what Ryutaro just said. So, he had made the right choice by asking them for help. They seemed to be strong, both mentally and physically. Now all he needed to do was to get the girl to agree. InuYasha turned his attention back towards Ryutaro and Chishio, only to find that Chishio was no where in sight.
"Where the hell did that mutt go?" InuYasha asked, looking all over the area. "He was just here."
Ryutaro looked behind himself. "He went to go see if he could convince Himawari to help you." He said, looking back at InuYasha. "How did you know he was a… mutt?" He asked.
InuYasha shrugged. "His scent." He stated, rather uncaringly. He immediately turned his attention to the direction where Chishio and Himawari had gone. He grinned at the words that he heard Himawari yell.
"Fine! I'll go with him! Now will you leave me alone!"
InuYasha scoffed. "I knew she'd agree to it eventually." He muttered. Truth was, that he was thankful she had agreed. For him these three were a way to forget. To forget about Kagome. To him, they were his solution.