Disclaimer- It is my duty as (insert impressive title) to inform a/an (insert desired title) that Inuyasha is not a possession of mine. Please, (insert first name), this is hard to accept, but eventually (insert random plural item) will make it okay.
Sango finished off the breakfast she had found in Kagome's bag neatly, putting out the fire from the night before with fistfuls of dirt. Miroku was still contently (but half asleep while doing so) chewing on his cup of noodles. Shippo and Kirara had finished eating their meal long before the others and were play-fighting and racing around in circles.
Strangely, Inuyasha and Kagome had made it quite clear they were awake a long time ago but weren't down on the ground with their companions.
"Since Kagome said good morning to us, neither her nor Inuyasha had said another word. I'm not even sure I actually saw them up yet. Have you?"
The monk shook his head carefully, swallowing his mouthful of noodles before lowering the cup. He looked around with cautious eyes, as if someone might be listening to them. "No Sango, I've not seen either of them. In all actuality, we cannot even verify that Inuyasha has woken yet. He hasn't said anything at all. Indeed, maybe those two are just… how shall we say, 'enjoying each other's company?" Miroku took another bite of noodles as Sango glowered at him.
Shippo and Kirara rolled past the two and everyone sighed. If their hanyou and furturistic friends weren't going to come down on their own, Sango was going to find out why. The demon slayer frowned again at Miroku and stood.
"Are you two okay up there? You've been awfully quite since you woke up. Now that I think about it, you haven't even come down for breakfast yet…" Sango voiced her thoughts while walking over to the base of the tree Inuyasha and Kagome were still in. She reached the trunk and looked directly up at her friends. Both of them were still there, barely moved from the previous night, except for one thing…
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Yelled Sango, the sound of her voice breaking both Inuyasha and Kagome apart instantly. Like they had the day before out in the forest, Kagome had been happily fondling both of Inuyasha's ears at the same time, causing the hanyou to growl in content, nuzzle his nose into the junction of her neck and shoulder, and pull her extremely close and tightly into him. This supposed-to-be private moment had not only ended abruptly, but also caused Kagome to blush furiously.
Kagome shifted uncomfortably after she jumped away from Inuyasha. Still, it didn't cancel out the slayer's baffled and shocked expression. In hopes to end any self-made conclusions, the girl apologized, "I'm sorry! We just… It was nothing Sango!"
Even with the mixed up explanation, Sango stared, still stunned. "But you two never said anything to us last night when we were all talking! We never knew you two were together already. When did this happen?" She demanded excitedly, wanting to know all the details.
"None of your business!" Inuyasha said menacingly, warning her to stop before it started. Thank all the gods everywhere and anywhere that Miroku wasn't…
Too late. The 'conversation' between the trio of people had spiked up the monk's interest, and he was walking over towards them with a questioning look on his face. He was, needless to say, surprised when he was able to look up at Kagome and Inuyasha still relatively close to each other and blushing, and was able to make the right (even though perverted) conclusion.
Like mandatory with all weird things, there was an awkward silence in which no one even moved. Sadly enough, Miroku was the one to finally break this chain.
"Congratulations you two! I always knew this would happen someday! I must admit though, I was beginning to wonder if Inuyasha had it in him…"
Inuyasha started growling, getting ready to leap out of the tree and kill that stupid big-mouthed monk and make him curse the day he was born. When he was about to leap, Kagome stuck a hand out in front of him and held him back.
"Don't get so worked up over it… though I'd wish SOMEONE wouldn't have come and brought this whole mess up!" She said, glaring accusingly at Sango.
"Was it… supposed to be a secret?" Sango asked confusedly. Kagome nodded with an even bigger blush than before. "That has to be the most stupid thing I've ever heard before in my life. You two love each other and we all knew it anyways. Why on earth would you want to keep something like that from us? Do you two not trust us or something?"
Kagome shrugged, allowing Inuyasha to pull her into him then jump down from the branch, landing delicately on the ground a couple seconds later. Both shared a look at the question before Inuyasha let Kagome out of his arms.
"Because of him!" Inuyasha growled, pointing a claw irritably at Miroku. The monk in question had a distant expression but an easily recognizable perverted smirk plastered across his face. At least for this one issue they could all agree, not even wanting to imagine what Miroku was thinking…
Shippo walked calmly over and mumbled, "What's all the fuss about? Did something bad happen?"
"No, Shippo," Kagome said, bending down and picking up the kitsune protectively in her arms, "Inuyasha and I kind of… well… I guess you could say we're kind of like how your mom and dad were, only it's with us..."
Miroku and Sango point-blanked. Shippo had understood it the way it was meant to be translated: Inuyasha and Kagome were, in their own way, together. However, Miroku and Sango (having all their knowledge on mates and marriage, whether you were looking at demons or humans, and what they did) did not. Sango even blushed feverishly and had the split second urge to leap at Inuyasha and kill him for doing what she assumed he had done to Kagome. After a moment of consideration, Miroku was still wide eyed but was obviously pleased about it. Kagome and Inuyasha stared between each of them.
"Inuyasha, congratulations! I'm so happy that you took my advice, but I definitely didn't think you had it in you to do THAT! I can't believe Kagome actually consented. Though, I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised… you old dog, you!"
"Inuyasha, how could you even THINK of doing that to Kagome! You should be ashamed of yourself! Where'd you get the nerve to do that after not even a day since she told you she loved you? You're more perverted than him!" Sango accused, shoving a finger in Miroku's face but keeping her eyes on Inuyasha.
At the same time, the couple that was being falsely accused realized what it was their friends were talking about. Kagome felt like dying; she was sure that if the heat from her mad blush didn't burn her to death, the mental embarrassment would be enough to do it. Inuyasha shouted, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING," and raised his claws, ready to kill whoever spoke next.
Another awkward pause arose.
"Just what kind of person do you two think I am? Of course I haven't done that to Kagome! You two better get your minds out of the gutter!" Inuyasha ordered
Sango and Miroku slowly regained the composure. "B-but… you said…" Sango started awkwardly, and Shippo pulled himself out of Kagome's arms and bounded between the two sets of his friends.
"Yeah, Kagome said that they're like my mom and dad. That means they love each other and they all know… right?" He asked innocently, looking back at Kagome. Taking this in from a new perspective, Miroku and Sango calmed down a bit.
"Just drop the whole damn thing. It's not important," Inuyasha exclaimed, locking his eyes on the spot where Sango and Miroku stood rooted to the ground. Sango seemed both embarrassed at her own thoughts and apologetic for them at the same time, but that couldn't be said for the monk, who kept his perverted smile.
In a few moments of silence, everyone had turned to stare at him. As if Miroku's thoughts were actual pictures, Kagome and Sango blushed, Kirara growled her lack of approval, Shippo sighed, and Inuyasha raised a fist.
"That's it, you asked for it!"
Miroku blinked and jumped swiftly to the side, narrowly missing Inuyasha as he landed, fist raking the ground. Instantly, the half demon aimed again, jumping skillfully. The monk spun out of the way barely in time, feeling his friend's furious hands brush against his own.
"I think you are taking this a bit too seriously, Inuyasha," Miroku pronounced calmly, taking a step back as Inuyasha took one forward, "And besides. It's not like you two won't eventually; I am only thinking logically! Ah!" Miroku dashed backwards quickly as Inuyasha started racing after him, almost ready to start using claws. The restraint he had used because Miroku was his friend was fading.
As the two males fought it out, Sango and Kagome shared a look, each with a light blush on their features. "Sango, I think we should leave and let those two deal with it. I can tell you all about how it happened if we do. You too, Shippo," Kagome added, noticing the young kitsune looking up at her expectantly.
"Yay!" Shippo cried, jumping up into Kagome's hold again. Sango nodded, glancing back at Miroku and Inuyasha once before leaving, smiling when Miroku made another miraculous evasion. In seconds, Kirara was at her master's side and all four were walking off.
Some twenty minutes of walking later, Kagome had gone into all the details Sango had wanted. While they discussed this, they had laughed at Shippo's entitling of the topic as 'ew'.
Sango had asked for everything there was to ask about anything. Kagome (amazing as it was) actually complied, even down to the exact way she had felt when Inuyasha had let her rub his ears when she first woke up then their exact conversation. This sufficed, and they had begun to walk back in an emotional silence while Kagome took her time in her memories.
Flashback
"I'm sorry… I just had the urge to pet 'um," She'd said.
"As long as you're fine, I don't care what you do to my ears," He had told her. She'd laughed when he pressed his head into her from the pleasure, and once he started to nuzzle he and make that low purr like noise that he insisted was a growl, it only added to her own personal enjoyment of the situation.
And even before that scenario, what was it she had overheard him saying?
"It's not like I hate you…I think I actually love you, too…"
End Flashback
"I sure hope he really meant it Sango," Kagome said out loud after some consideration. "It would be horrible if he was just lying. I don't see why he'd have a reason to lie if he thought I was still unconscious though. You do think he meant it, don't you? That Inuyasha really does love me?"
The question had caught Sango by surprise, and she looked at her friend with a half smile until she understood the question, at which point she fully smiled and replied, "Kagome, I know for a fact that he'll always love you more than you'll ever know, because he'll never tell you. If he managed to admit that much, it means he loves you more than what you think even now. Miroku and I have known forever; it was so obvious, it was hard to believe neither of you two realized it."
Kagome grinned and responded quickly, "Just like you and Miroku! I've told you this before, you're being hypocritical."
"Kagome, what does 'hippo-crit-ick-all' mean?" Shippo asked intriguingly, looking up at Kagome's face, having no idea what this weird word meant. He'd heard his friends call each other this many times but never quite understood it.
Before her friend could answer, Sango intervened. "It's what you call someone who is accusing you of something if they are too. For example, if Miroku yelled at someone who was always asking women to bear his children, he'd be a hypocrite, because that's the only thing Miroku does. Which, Kagome, is why I know he doesn't love me. I may like him, but I doubt he could ever truly love me… well, love me for anything but my butt. He can't seem to stop touching that!" She cried out in desperation.
Sighing, Kagome mouthed 'sure' to her friend and rolled her eyes mockingly.
When the girls and their two demons returned, all fighting between Inuyasha and Miroku was over with. Inuyasha was sitting cross-legged with hands inside his sleeves, looking arrogantly away from Miroku, who didn't look as unscarred. He had a swelling on the top of his head and a slightly torn robe which revealed raw, red skin along certain parts of his arms, hands, and face, obviously where Inuyasha had managed to land scrapes.
In perfect unison with the other, Inuyasha and Miroku looked over when the rest of the group stepped into view.
"Inuyasha, I can't believe you took it that seriously…" Kagome mumbled under her breath, wondering how much worse Kouga would have looked if he had said the same things Miroku had.
Inuyasha flicked one of his ears at her comment and ' feh'd ', looking away again, giving the stage to Miroku, who chimed in with amazing speed, "Don't blame him Kagome. It is only because Inuyasha is insecure with his masculinity that he reacts so rashly."
'Not again,' they all thought as Inuyasha growled, getting ready to leap. Kagome rushed forward and ran in front of him the second he stood up.
"No, no! Calm down, he doesn't mean it Inuyasha!" Kagome said frantically as Sango hit Miroku over the head anyway. She grabbed one of his hands and jerked him to the side, causing the hanyou to glare at her. "Come on, let's go. You can cool off this way, and Miroku won't follow us." Inuyasha said nothing and refocused his gaze on Miroku, who was apologizing to Sango, and it seemed he wouldn't comply with Kagome. "Please? Please Inuyasha, just come with me," She begged, tugging at Inuyasha's hand again and giving him her best puppy expression.
Miroku and Sango started yelling at one another in the background. Inuyasha took one more glance at the two and looked back down at Kagome. She said 'please' one more time, taking a single step closer to him. The proximity was enough to make anyone uncomfortable, especially Inuyasha.
"Fine." Squealing with delight at Inuyasha's defeat, Kagome jumped and turned around, walking quickly off into the trees. After a moment of making sure he really did want to follow her, Inuyasha ran off behind Kagome, leaving Sango and Miroku's arguing voices crisp in the air.
When she was being honest with herself, Kagome admitted she had no idea where she was going or what she wanted to do when she got there. At least it would be quiet wherever they were headed.
It was peculiar, Kagome noted, that Inuyasha hadn't asked where she was leading him, and that kind of made her thankful. After all, what would she say? He'd surely get ticked if she had no reason for dragging him away from killing Miroku. And then he asked.
"Uh, Kagome? Where do you think you're going? There's nothing out this way," Inuyasha's voice came, and Inuyasha himself appeared directly at Kagome's right, looking down at her with a funny look in his eyes. "You… you DO have a good reason for leaving, right? If it's not good, I'll let you know I'd have had more fun ending that monk's life."
Kagome smiled and teased, "Now that's not nice; he's our friend after all! Though, now that you mention it, I seem to recall him making questionable comments about us the entire time I had my memory stolen," She confessed with some serious thought. Inuyasha could only nod and growl under his breath, not having enjoyed that one bit. The number of times he had felt like tearing Miroku limb from limb in the past few days was uncountable, he was positive. Maybe they didn't even have numbers for something that great.
"You still didn't answer my question, wench."
This was impossible. No matter how hard she tried over the next couple minutes, Kagome finally realized she couldn't just lead the both of them around in circles for the rest of the day.
"I don't really have a reason for leaving, other than getting away from Miroku, Sango, and the others for a while. And… well, I don't quite know where I'm going either. Happy? You made me admit it."
She waited for his smart and irritated remark, but it never came. Cautiously, Kagome looked over at Inuyasha, but he hadn't taken his eyes from the path. He seemed to be considering something before he met her gaze. "Sango had a point. We didn't eat breakfast. And by the sounds of your stomach, I can tell you're hungry."
About to protest and insist she wasn't hungry at all, a growl that could only be made by an empty stomach passed through the air, and Kagome immediately closed her mouth with a blush that made Inuyasha grin in victory.
Inuyasha instructed Kagome to stay where she was before disappearing into the trees. The girl pitied the first rabbit or fish in a stream that her (and she scolded herself mentally for thinking of him as a possession) half demon came across. Part of her wished he had just gone back to grab her book bag, but the other part wanted Miroku to stay alive, so she was fine. She glanced around herself in comfort for about two minutes.
The trees made perfect backrests and instruments of shade, which Kagome took advantage of. Every now and again her eyes would flutter open and shut from traces of sleepiness, so it was to no surprise that she originally thought the rainbow shower of something that looked suspiciously like dust was only her imagination.
"Little human girl, did you all honestly think you would ever be allowed your right mind again?" A slightly agitated but still calm voice came. The familiar tone of it chilled Kagome to the bone, and she started to get afraid really fast.
"Kinenrosu…" She whispered rigidly, looking up.
About six branches directly overhead was the butterfly demon herself, balanced faultlessly on two feet and one hand. The other was securely clasping a glowing orb, fitting the description Myoga had given perfectly. The wings flapped a few times, sending the dust swirling around Kagome, who leapt up and took a step back.
"What do you want? You said you would leave us alone!"
Kinenrosu looked amused and shifted her weight. "You assumed I would feel compelled to keep a lousy promise to some old human girl? It wasn't even a promise, you foolish child. No, you people offer me too much amusement. Why would I allow such fun to go to such waste? You and the hanyou have expressed your feelings, which will only make things ten times more hilarious when he comes back to see you've forgotten him again! I couldn't have hoped for a better stage for the next scene in this play of yours. I will thank you for that," She explained calmly, tensing the shimmering sphere in her hand excitedly and restlessly.
What manner of beast was this? The whole concept of taking not only pleasure but also comedy from other people's pain was as foreign to Kagome as advanced mathematics for Inuyasha. The concept was impossible to grasp from any angle. The frightened girl took another couple of steps backwards, regretting her idea of leaving the safety of her friends.
"Don't you dare do anything to me, you horrible liar," Kagome threatened emptily, "Or we'll really kill you this time. Stay back!" She warned, leaping backwards. Kinenrosu had disappeared from her branch and reappeared a couple feet from her prey, all the while holding the white orb firmly and reaching her other hand out in a measured pace.
"I promise for real this time that it won't hurt you. It'll hurt less than before, I guarantee. This time I will see to it that a new angle is taken… knowing who you were and thinking you were kidnapped was fun, I'll tell you that much. But can't you see it? See Inuyasha devastated when you think yourself but a regular old villager, knowing the horrors that demons bring? Fearing him much worse than before? I can hear his heart shattering as we speak. And do you know what the most entertaining thing is about all of this?" No response. "It's that you can do nothing to prevent it from happening again, and neither can any of your little friends."
Damn the truth! Kagome stumbled backwards, tripping stupidly over a mixture of her own feet and a root sticking out of the ground, landing unhappily on her back, staring up at the approaching demon with terrified eyes.
And there it was again! That god awful glow, the bright stream of light from Kinenrosu's palm that extended swiftly to the ground Kagome lay upon, equally quickly causing the girl to pass out for a brief time period. The aura of the ball pulsed once and the glow increased, having once again stored up Kagome's true memories. The ball vanished into thin air, and Kinenrosu smiled.
"Now let us see what this has in store…" Following suit of her sphere, Kinenrosu snapped her fingers quietly and vanished, leaving no trace of anything, unless you counted the sleeping girl.
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Inuyasha carried two nice sized rabbits in his left hand, which hadn't taken very long to hunt down at all. He wondered for a moment if Kagome liked rabbit, but lost interest in that thought quickly. There was a strange scent in the air that was starting to make him nervous and all the more anxious to get back to Kagome.
Six more minutes of travel later, and Inuyasha jumped perfectly into the tree Kagome had fallen under, rustling the leaves and causing the girl to stir. He muttered something about overly tired girls before dropping the rabbits and leaping down some five feet from the yawning teenager.
"What business do you have falling asleep on me like that?" Inuyasha asked roughly, standing when Kagome's eyes shot open. They seemed to take in the trees then landed on his feet, slowly, oddly and worriedly making their way up to his face, where they grew wide. To his shock, she leapt up and her heart started racing so rapidly that Inuyasha was afraid it might explode.
"Ack, a demon! Unhand me you foul beast!" Kagome cried out, bringing her palm down on Inuyasha's head the moment he stepped into her striking range. "Keep your distance you sickening creature! Where have you taken me? I don't remember anything! What have you done to me!" She demanded hotly. As far as she could be expected to believe, she had obviously been taken as some sort of hostage or sex toy by the despicable animal before her, and he must have erased all of her memories.
"Now you're just being stupid. Kagome, this isn't funny at all. I don't appreciate a false repeat of what Kinenrosu did to you. What are you trying to pull?"
"Nothing you couldn't dream of yourself, tainted being!" She accused, starting to shake furiously as she broke out into a light sweat. It wasn't hard to tell that the demon was loosing his patience with every passing second, and she knew that something like that always led to death, rape, or torture… Maybe she didn't know who she was or where she was from, but she didn't need to know that to be able to understand just how nasty demons could be to a helpless young human girl like herself. They were all sick when it came to women; she knew that for a fact.
She was right though. From where he was, Inuyasha glared at her. He knew for a fact that just last night Kagome had gotten her memories back. Kinenrosu had given them back to her before his eyes, and then left. Kagome had apologized and announced she loved him, and unless he was much mistaken, he had, too. 'That couldn't have been imagined,' he decided, remembering all the small details this time, nothing at all like had happened when Kinenrosu had originally altered his memories. There was no mistake. Yet why was she doing this then? Did she think it was funny pretending to have lost her memory again?
"I'm gonna give you ten seconds to stop messing around or I'm gonna get really angry. One… Two…"
That was it. The girl blanched and her heart skipped a couple beats. There was no avoiding it. She was in the middle of nowhere, being held captive by some demon and therefore utterly helpless and at his mercy in every single way, no matter what that might imply.
We all know that when someone is scared or frightened, they get an adrenalin rush; the fight or flight instinct. One look at the claws the demon owned, the sword hanging perfectly at his side, and the fangs that he was beginning to bare, and the option to fight was definitely out of the question. So she ran.
Inuyasha was literally too stunned to react for some time, and wondered if she really did think this was funny, because he sure as hell didn't. Maybe she was heading back to Miroku and Sango now? But then why had she seriously whacked him over the head?
In minutes Inuyasha was back at the campsite, Miroku explaining something about women to Shippo with Kirara and Sango glaring at him from the corner of their eyes. Kagome was nowhere in sight.
"Sango, Miroku, have you guys seen Kagome? Did she pass through here?"
Miroku looked up. "Wasn't she with you?"
"Answer the question!"
"No," Sango said calmly, standing and walking over towards the flustered hanyou. "Why, did she run off from you?" Inuyasha nodded. "You wouldn't happen to have any idea why, would you?" Now he shook his head, and decided to explain Kagome's initial reaction.
A few minutes later, everyone was staring at him intently with anxious faces. "I think maybe Kinenrosu might have had another go at her. We have to find her at once, before anything else can happen to her Inuyasha. Run ahead, we'll catch up," Miroku said with a determined face. Inuyasha nodded and darted off, straining to locate Kagome's scent and follow the trail through the woods.
Kagome, meanwhile, wasn't fairing nearly as well. Her heart was still thumping a million beats a minute and she was running so quickly that her legs felt like they might give out at any moment. She didn't dare look behind her in fear that if she did she would see the face of her captor.
"Not… fair…" She panted, tears starting to form in her eyes. The forest seemed to have no end, and that demon was bound to catch up with her if she couldn't find help soon. Since she had fled it only made sense that the moment he caught her, he would kill her painfully. Those claws she had seen on his hands, those horrible claws… each possible of killing her with the slightest will of their owner. What was to stop him from killing her now that she had disobeyed him?
The endless forest cut off abruptly, no thinning of trees or anything before it broke out into grass, rice and other fields, and the walls of – thankfully – a human founded civilization, where she could see people were working in the grasses right now.
A village, great! They can protect me from that demon before he finds me, Kagome thought happily, rushing towards the walls of the unfamiliar place. She glanced behind her shoulder nervously, glad to see that the demon with the red clothes hadn't followed her this far. Perhaps she would be safe for the time being…
"You there! Who are you and what do you want?" A voice called from by the gate the village possessed. The man seemed ready to attack her if necessary, so she halted and blinked.
"I'm… uh… I think… Well, I'm not quite sure what my name is, but I'm running away from a demon that's hunting me down! I think he kidnapped me or something, and I'm pretty sure he's going to come after me," She explained hurriedly, glancing backwards every several words to see if the red shape she had run from was anywhere in sight. It wasn't.
He looked her over a few times and motioned for her to come forward.
"Then you can find safety here for some time. Our defenses are strong enough to hold off any demon for you, I assure you. But I have a question… Why do you dress in such strange clothes, unless you too are a demon?"
At this his eyes narrowed and he seemed closer to attacking her than before. Kagome frowned and reasoned, "I'm not really sure about that either… I just kind of woke up in the forest and the demon was all over me, like trying to kill me or torture me, or… or something worse. Maybe he gave me the clothes."
Even though he looked unbelieving, the man took a step forward, waving a dismissive hand. Some people had started to stare at her and with his gesture they continued along with their chores.
"My name is Anshin. And I expect a name before I let you into this town," He stated.
"Umm… I think… I think it might be Mikomi…" She lied unsurely, trying to look depressed and upset that she could only now remember a name, even though she was entirely making one from random. Anshin blinked again and looked her over before calling over a young woman.
"Kitai, show this lady into the village. She claims that a demon is in her pursuit," he said in an unhurried voice. Kagome blinked as a lady dressed in a very non-fancy set of clothes with dark hair pulled into a bun took her hand sharply and pulled her towards the safety of the town, suddenly made weary by the fact that a demon might be on its way to attack the village.
'Mikomi' followed graciously, looking behind herself once again and sighing in relief when she still saw no one leaping over the trees to confiscate her.
Kitai led Kagome through the opened gates and the field workers followed quickly after the news. The village was well kept and tidy, everything looking just how it should. This could probably be due to the fact that they had that protective wall that was being watched by armed warriors even now. A small group of young children ran across Kagome's and Kitai's path as they played, causing both women to smile.
"You should be okay in here. Were you telling the truth when you said you were captured by some male demon, Mikomi-san?" She asked.
The name sounded wrong when this other person used it, but Kagome didn't care. She just wanted protection from whatever nasty intentions that demon had for her. True, he hadn't looked or acted particularly evil, but she could care less. Mikomi nodded shakily, glancing backwards at the gates that were being closed and Anshin ushered the last person in. He, however, remained outside, ready to fire his arrows or draw his blade the moment the demon came forth from the trees.
Mikomi felt a tug at her hand, and she looked over to see Kitai gesturing towards the wall. "You should get to see what happens if that demon of yours comes. I can't even fathom what he could have done to you. I'm so sorry," she said sympathetically. Mikomi shrugged and allowed herself to be guided to the ladder, which she climbed up with great speed. All the people waited to see if the new girl had lied to them, or if something was genuinely coming.
And they weren't disappointed. Mikomi squeaked a little and ducked down so that only her eyes were visible; the red clad demon from before had burst through the trees and into the fields she had stood in only a couple minutes before. Anshin tensed his weapon, ready for anything.
"Hey you!" Inuyasha demanded, pointing at the person across from him. "A girl ran by here, I can tell by the scent. Are you keeping her in this town, because I need her!"
The sword that Anshin had was slowly being drawn.
"So, she told the truth! Despicable creature, how dare you stand before me and ask me to hand over to you a young girl you so obviously captured."
"Uh…" the demon said stupidly, trying to understand what this guy had just told him. When he did, Inuyasha formed a fist and waved it at him. "I can smell Kagome, so don't bother trying to lie to me, you idiot. I want her back right now. If you don't hand her over willingly, I'm gonna have to kick your ass!"
Anshin narrowed his eyes and Mikomi squeaked again, wondering to what extent this creature had defiled her without her knowledge; he seemed pretty intent on getting her back for more. This was what she had been afraid of.
"Attack me if you will, demon. You will never lay claim to that maiden again!"
Another moment of silence in which Inuyasha's eyes grew extremely wide. "L-Lay… claim? WHAT do you think I did to her!"
"Don't pretend it didn't happen. I've dealt with many a demon like you in my time, each bent on causing pain, killing as many humans as possible, and if the opportunity arises to rape defenseless human girls after kidnapping them from their villages! You're behavior is sickening."
'Okay, what the hell has Kagome been telling these people? What did Kinenrosu do to her this time? These fucking idiots think I'd do that to someone? I couldn't do that to anyone, especially not Kagome,' Inuyasha thought angrily, beginning to growl and signaling Anshin to draw his sword fully. "I'm gonna hurt you," Inuyasha muttered, raising a clawed hand. This person had just really pissed him off, and he was at least going to give him some serious injuries.
The village protector barely had time to hop out of the way when Inuyasha jumped at him with brandished claws bellowing, "GIVE ME BACK KAGOME!"
Anshin flashed his blade, causing Inuyasha to stop for a moment and eye him. "The girl who we rescued from you is not called Kagome. She gave us her name as Mikomi, you lying fiend! Taste my blade!" He cried, swiping at Inuyasha quickly.
After dodging easily, the half demon demanded angrily, "How about you taste my claws," and brought them down painfully hard on Anshin's back, causing the man to cry out in agony and wave his sword, only resulting in his opponent leaping back a couple meters then resting on hands and feet, eyeing Anshin distastefully.
"Give her to me now before you really piss me off," he repeated, cracking his knuckles for emphasis.
"You will never get her back in your clutches!" Anshin said heroically. A few arrows were let loose from the wall. Inuyasha looked up sharply and growled as he leapt backwards, unwilling to give up. He was going to get Kagome back somehow, right now.
He jumped forward, aiming to strike Anshin in the chest just hard enough to push him backwards and knock him unconscious so he could be used as a bribe for the return of Kagome, but that plan was soon crushed.
Two more arrows were fired, giving Inuyasha only a second to react or be hit. He kicked off of the ground, narrowly avoiding the arrows, but not noticing that he had picked up more force from doing that. Too much force. Inuyasha was still aimed straight for Anshin, but his focus had been distracted, not giving him time to look where he was going.
In seconds, Inuyasha had connected with his original target, but more than three times as hard as he had planned. Anshin screamed in anguish when he felt the claws shoot through his heart like a sword, killing him after a few seconds of silent pain and agony.
The people on the wall either gasped or screamed, and Mikomi jumped back, not wanting to see anymore of what the demon was capable of. She had just brought upon the death of this man.
No one noticed it, but Inuyasha was shocked into silence, not able to comprehend that he had just killed this person, even though he could feel the warm, fresh blood running down his hand that had disappeared inside of the body. He hastily pulled his hand out, and Anshin dropped to the earth in a bloody puddle that only continued to grow.
'What… what have I done!' He thought frantically, looking down at the crumpled body at his feet, the blood dripping from his claws.
"You… you monster! You killed Anshin!" Someone from the town screamed, releasing his bow at the demon. Caught up in all of this and distracted as he was, Inuyasha came so close to being hit that he could feel the feathers of the arrow brush against his clean hand when he leapt away.
Not long after, plenty of arrows were shot in one swarm. Inuyasha didn't even feel like taking Kagome back right now after what he had done. He hadn't killed an innocent human this purposefully for as long as he could remember. The confused hanyou ran back for the trees not a moment too soon, for the arrows embedded themselves in the place he had been only a second earlier.
Several armed people descended the wall to fetch their dead leader. They couldn't have been more afraid or angry, not at all positive that the demon that had so easily killed Anshin was not going to jump back out and slaughter them as well. There was a mixture of relief and disappointment when the demon did not return; they were spared their lives, true, but the people would have liked to take their revenge. They carried Anshin's body back into the protection of the town with a respectful silence.
"I'm… s-sorry…"
Kitai looked over at the girl, who was crying lightly, not wanting to meet the eyes of anyone. They would surely hate her after bringing such a formidable enemy upon them.
"Mikomi, do not apologize. Had Anshin not been trying to aid you, he still would have attacked such a demon upon sight. It is not your fault. If he had not stolen you from your village, it would have been someone else, and this probably would have happened anyway. The only thing we can do now is pray that that demon is destroyed before it can wreck more havoc. Anshin would not want anyone to skip a heartbeat over him, but strive to kill what had killed him. No matter what anyone does or says," Kitai continued softly, "I will make it my own duty to keep you safe until we know for sure that the beast is slain."
Her kind words encouraged the girl to look up with a forced smile. "Then I'll try not to be a burden… I'd love to help with his burial, even if I only knew him for about a minute. I still feel personally responsible."
"You can do what you wish. Just make me a promise: no matter how bad you feel, I don't want you to even consider trying to kill the demon without at least a few trained warriors with you. That creature could kill you with a slight movement of the claws or bite of the fangs, and you'd have no more say in the matter."
"But–!"
"No. No," the woman said, trying to keep back some of her tears, but failing. "I was told to take you into the village, and I plan to help protect you as Anshin would have wanted. You will stay safe until the demon is killed, do you understand?"
Mikomi nodded slowly, looking around herself and hugging her knees to her chest. "I do." Her response was good enough for Kitai, who smiled and offered her a hand up, which Mikomi took gingerly.
The two women made their way down to the town, following the crowds mostly. The whispering about the horrid demon that had been brought upon them by the new girl in skimpy clothes hit Mikomi's emotions hard, but Kitai kept her own mind unclouded and reminded the girl to ignore them.
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"Inuyasha… Inuyasha, why do you smell like human blood? Why do you have blood on your claws? Why don't you have Kagome? What were you running from? Why-?" Shippo was cut off from his inquiries when Inuyasha hit him over the head with his clean hand.
Sango and Miroku had been called back, wondering why on earth Inuyasha was returning so soon, and without their friend no less. They hadn't noticed the blood that was still dripping from his claws and were now curious and appalled.
"What… on earth did you do?" Miroku asked, walking over to their distraught friend, who sat down quickly.
"Kagome's never gonna come now. I killed someone. Its not even like I meant to!" He yelled angrily, more at himself than at Miroku. "Fucking idiots in that stupid town… they wouldn't give me Kagome and this idiot tried to fight me. Stupid, dumb, idiotic idiots in that town… fucking shot at me and made me loose my goddamn concentration. The guy who wanted to fight, stupid human reflexes; didn't get out of my way!"
Miroku and Sango did a double take, staring wide-eyes at Inuyasha.
"You… you don't mean to say…?" Sango said shakily, dreading the answer as she took a couple uncertain steps towards the half demon, who dropped down onto the ground and crossed his legs, keeping both hands out of his sleeves to pervert any staining from the blood that was still dripping every once and a while. He glared up at Sango with a warning look, but it said everything. "I can't believe… believe you killed a person!" She finished, horrified.
"IT'S NOT LIKE I WANTED TO! HE DIDN'T MOVE OUT OF MY WAY!" Inuyasha shouted angrily.
The rest of the group blinked and sighed. Inuyasha gave them each their own glare before looking away, murmuring something distasteful under his breath.
They all knew that it was now pointless for Inuyasha to try and go get Kagome back, and doubted if the people would be willing to accept strangers anytime soon. This posed an uncanny problem. Perhaps if they gave it a night or two then they might accept a monk and a demon slayer into their village and take the girl with them?
Miroku and Sango seemed to have the same idea and smiled weakly at each other then at Inuyasha, who refused to look at anyone and started to try and get the blood off of his hand; the smell had long begun to make him nauseous.
"Sango and I shall try and see if we can get Kagome from them in a few days. Inuyasha… please try not to act rashly around the village or the villagers until then?"
Inuyasha looked up at them and glared but said nothing, shaking his hand frantically and causing droplets of the blood to fly everywhere. He growled to himself and jumped up and off in a hurry; only water could get all the blood off (even if not the smell) and he needed to find a stream or something.
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After several hours, a fitting grave had been dug for Anshin inside of the town, and people we generally hanging around that area. People felt it best to hurry up at get the burial over with, no matter how important Anshin had been to them. In short, no one wanted to have the fact of his death pressed right up into their faces for much longer.
In a couple more hours, the body had been buried and a fair number of the villagers stood by for the event. Mikomi decided at the last moment that she wanted no part of this and left. Kitai had invited the girl to stay in her house for as long as she needed to get her memories back, or until they were sure that the demon that had hunted her down was out of the way. Currently, the girl was sitting down in a spare room that was not quite designed as a sleeping chamber but would do good enough.
Her back was against the wall and she was hugging her legs to her chest once more. Mikomi had inspected every inch of her body that she could repeatedly. To her surprise, the only slight scratches or bruises on it were ones that she knew she had inflicted herself during her flee from the demon. She could only begin to ponder why he hadn't visibly laid a hand on her; maybe he had covered it up very well? Maybe he had been careful so that she didn't have any proof he had ever hurt her?
'Why does this have to happen to me? Did I do something bad to deserve this? Kidnapped and probably violated by some violent, evil beast… Caused an innocent man to be killed at the claws of the demon…' She couldn't believe her luck.
How could the villagers not all hate her after that? Kitai was too nice for her own good. Mikomi was willing to bet that if she didn't leave soon, she'd end up killing the kind lady somehow! Hell, she'd end up bringing their village to the ground overnight. What was to say that the stupid demon with those stupid red clothes wasn't going to come back and steal her away, but not before he had his sick pleasures from slaughtering all the people of this place before he left?
When that thought reared its ugly head, she shot her eyes open wide and turned to stare at one of the five candles that lit the little room. It didn't take a genius to realize that nothing was as it should be.
"I have to leave… I need to get away from here… just do the noble thing and be the only one to die, save all these people. Run away during the night and make sure you get…"
"Mikomi, what are you talking about?"
The girl glanced over at the door, where Kitai was eyeing her with utmost concern.
"Kitai-san, you people must not want me staying to bring more misfortune to your village. One of your respected men has been killed, only because of my being here! It may be best for every one of you if I were merely to leave and take my chances with the demon. I cannot feel right as long as I stay here, knowing that the village will be tormented by some vile demon because of it. Please, let me leave so I can help you. I never thought any harm could come of this, but I was wrong."
Kitai smiled softly but didn't move to comfort the girl opposite her. "Do not think that for a second. I told you this is what Anshin would have asked for, and you cannot change my mind. Though, I shall admit, it may be more hazardous to us than normal. Equal to your feeling, I couldn't allow you to leave knowing that by doing so I would very probably be risking an innocent young girl in both body and mind to a reckless monster. How could I live with myself with such guilt? You will stay here like I said before, and I will personally make sure you are fine.
An emotional silence filled the room and no one attempted to break in for a bit. "I'll fetch you all the sleeping necessities, and then you can get a well deserved sleep. You've been through an ordeal I could not possibly imagine."
Without further conversation, Kitai left to gather up a sleeping mat and a spare blanket. Mikomi was thankful for her kind words, but it really didn't make her feel much better. An now- as the cruel fates would have it- she would have to keep her horrible thoughts to herself all night, and she was positive that the thoughts would only get worse as the time she spent here increased. Logically, the longer her captor had to wait before she was returned, the angrier he would get, and the worse off she and the village would be.
Several minutes later the woman returned and set up a place for her guest to sleep. Before she left to get to her own bed, Kitai smiled encouragingly at the distraught youth.
'I hope these people forgive me,' Mikomi thought pitifully as she climbed atop the mat and pulled the blankets up, slowly being taken over by a slumber filled with terrible nightmares.
The following morning was not much better either. Mikomi had at least been convinced to eat a little something (she ate incredibly politely, considering she had skipped dinner and had never had lunch on the previous day), but not much else.
"Do not worry yourself over these matters. How many times must I tell you?" Kitai repeated as she led Mikomi around the town, trying to show her the locations of the important things.
Mikomi stared at her and said dully, "I've said it a hundred times. I can never, EVER feel truly content here. The village could be attacked at any second due to me… doesn't that bother you?"
Kitai shook her head and she turned her direction. "This is day number two of however many days you plan to spend here. Chances are that the demon that has you worried won't be slain easily, so he will probably be here as long as you are. I may as well get used to it, and so should you. If I can accept this, why can you not?"
"Because it's wrong, that's why," Mikomi said sadly, shifting her gaze to the ground.
"You may think that now, but you're mistaken. Now come, we need to get you something else to wear… my clothes might be a bit too big," Kitai said plainly, dismissing the argument for what was possibly the fiftieth time.