Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.
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Kaede slumped despondently onto the wooden floor of her hut and put a hand to her aching head. Why, she pondered, did she have to be "blessed" with not only a half-deranged older sister who frequently entertained the notion that she was deceased, but also three immature and very noisy houseguests who obviously didn't entertain any thought of leaving?
Between the four of them, it seemed she never got any peace and quiet these days! Either someone was fighting with someone else, or somebody needed bandages, or someone wanted food... it was always something -- and Kaede decided that if she didn't get a chance to relax soon she was going to commit acts of violence upon the next person who dared to ask her for a favor.
What she needed, Kaede decided, was a respite from all of the craziness. She needed to get the four of them out of the house and send them somewhere -- anywhere -- so that she could relax in peace. Any excuse would do...
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"Naraku? ...Who was that again?" asked InuYasha, picking his teeth lazily. "I think I've heard that name somewhere before... was it important?"
Kaede felt a small amount of panic begin to well up. If she wanted them out of the house and off on a quest to destroy this Naraku, she needed to make it sound urgent, darn it! "Of course it's important!" she shouted. "Naraku is a very evil demon!"
Shippou glanced up from his Gameboy, vaguely interested. "Say. Isn't that the demon who killed my babysitter?"
"Yeah, that's the one," confirmed Kaede gravely. "His evil has even touched the life of someone so young... how sad..."
"Not really," shrugged Shippou. "Old Urasue was a witch anyway."
Kagome coughed sternly and took the Gameboy from Shippou. "Don't say things like that!"
"Why shouldn't he?" asked Kikyou, taking the Gameboy from Kagome and returning it the the kitsune. "I went to school with Urasue and he's absolutely right."
Kagome crossed her arms. "That's not the point..."
"Stop changing the subject!" ordered Kaede, somewhat red in the face. "Don't any of you care about stopping this terrible evil?"
The other occupants of the room innocently avoided eye contact.
Kaede sighed. "Well then... I suppose none of you would mind helping me with some work around here? The bridge club is meeting here Thursday and I want the place to be absolutely spotless by then."
InuYasha's head shot up. "We definitely want to look for Naraku. That evil bastard... he shouldn't be allowed to live!"
"That's right!" agreed Kagome. "We can't allow this to go on!"
Kikyou and Shippou nodded hastily. After all, Kaede could be quite the slave driver when she went on a cleaning rampage... best to be far away from here as possible when she started.
Kaede's face brightened immediately. "Well in that case," she lied, "I've heard a rumor that he's been spotted in a village to the, ah... east of here. You should leave right away. Oh, and here, I packed some lunches to take along with you," she finished, handing the plastic lunch bag to Kagome.
"Um, thanks-" began Kagome.
"Oh, no need to thank me," interrupted Kaede, discreetly nudging them in the direction of the door. "Just leave... and don't come back until you've rid the world of this appalling evil that plagues it!"
Kaede smiled in giddy relief as her four housemates disappeared into the distance. Abruptly, she jumped up with a curse, realizing something just a few minutes too late.
Kagome had left that damn cat for her to take care of!
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"So... which way did Kaede say Naraku had gone?" asked Kagome. "She rushed us out of there kind of fast, so..."
InuYasha pondered for a moment. "Um... north? She never mentioned the name of the village he was supposed to be in."
"No, it was definitely east," declared Kikyou. "I definitely remember east."
"If you say so..." said InuYasha dubiously.
"Of course I say so." Kikyou crossed her arms smugly.
"Great!" Kagome put a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "But how do we know which way east is?"
"That's easy," said Shippou, looking up from his Gameboy incredulously. "I can't believe you don't know that! East is the direction the sun rises in, so..."
InuYasha rolled his eyes impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, sure it is, kid. Seriously, I guess we'll just have to pick a direction and start walking... hopefully we can make it to some village before night and they can tell us if they've heard of Naraku's location."
Kagome and Kikyou nodded. "Good planning, InuYasha," complimented Kagome. "We'll do that."
-------------------2 weeks later...-------------------
"Alright!" shouted Kagome, waving a hand around excitedly. "We've finally made it to a village!"
InuYasha crossed his arms proudly. "And all thanks to my brilliant plan... whenever we find him, this Naraku's not going to stand a chance against my strategizing skills."
Shippou rolled his eyes. "What are you so happy about, InuYasha? It's not even that impressive of a town. In fact, it looks pretty much abandoned."
Sure enough, a quick glance around revealed empty streets, and "Closed"signs hanging on the doors of all the nearby inns and businesses. The same sight continued to meet the group until they were nearly at the outskirts of the village.
"This establishment is still open," declared Kikyou, pointing out a gaudily-painted bath house with a large sign advertising the fact that their facilities were "Cleaned Daily."
"Is that the only place?" asked Shippou, wrinkling his nose dubiously.
"Apparently so..." mused InuYasha, leading the way to the front porch and peering into the dimly lit interior. "We don't have to stay long."
The first thing that came to the attention of the travelers was the sound of heartbroken sobbing coming from the direction of the women's bath.
Kagome rushed ahead of the group to investigate while the others followed at a more leisurely pace. The person making the racket with all the crying knelt with their back to the door, and sported a long purple robe and a short ponytail.
"Gone..." wailed the purple-clad figure. "They're all gone..."
"What's gone?" asked Kagome, kneeling beside the crying man with a concerned expression. The man jumped up in surprise when he heard her speak to him, since he had drowned out all sounds of her approach with his distraught sobbing. Kagome, in turn, jumped back at the sudden movement on his part.
"All the... the women..." he choked out.
Kagome opened her arms for a comforting hug, which the man returned enthusiastically.
"Hey, who's this?" asked InuYasha, walking in with Shippou and Kikyou in tow. "He's the only person in this whole building. We checked."
Kagome shrugged, pulling her arms from the man's embrace. "I dunno. But he seemed really upset about something."
"I'm Miroku, the Safety Inspector of this establishment," declared the man, straightening up and flashing a sparkling smile.
"If you're a Safety Inspector, why does your name tag say 'Maintenance?'" asked Shippou dubiously.
"Ah..." Miroku scratched the back of his head nervously. "I borrowed this one?"
"But why were you crying so much?" asked Kagome.
"And why are you the only person in this town?" added Kikyou.
"And is that a dress?" added Shippou.
Miroku looked slightly affronted. "I assure that my uniform is most certainly not a dress. And, as for the first two questions, to answer them would require a lengthy tale, which I'm sure you don't wish to hear, concerning the demon called Naraku."
"Naraku, huh?" said InuYasha, sitting down cross-legged on the floor. "We're listening." The others followed his lead and sat down on the floor.
Miroku sighed and sat down across from the expectant group. "Well... if I must... The situation began two days ago when we had a rather problematic customer..."
----------------2 days ago at the bath house...----------------
"Excuse me, Miss?" Miroku put on his best smile as he approached the long-haired figure wrapped in some type of white fur. "You should be over on the ladies' side, don't you think?"
The figure ignored him so Miroku continued, placing a friendly hand on its shoulder. "I would be happy to escort you there personally, since surely you have no desire to bathe in the men's room?"
The dark-haired person whirled around abruptly, eyes sparking with fury. "You dare to insinuate that I, Naraku, look girly!"
Miroku cringed visibly. He'd made an assumption based on the long, wavy hair... But, ewwww. That was no woman. Hell, Miroku wouldn't have bet money on it being a man, either. It was just...
"Ewwwwwwwww." Miroku covered his mouth with his hand. 'Oh shit, I didn't just say that out loud, did I?"
Naraku huffed indignantly, his features forming into an expression that was half pout, half sneer. "You scum, do you dare to mock me, the transcendently magnificent Naraku?"
Miroku stared at Naraku with morbid fascination, his eyes open a little wider than natural in a mixture of shock and fright. "Ummmm..."
Naraku quivered with fury. "You should be taught a lesson in respect, you pathetic human!"
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"And after delivering that typically cheesy 'villain line,' Naraku placed a curse on me, which will apparently only be removed after his death," concluded Miroku. "And, to add insult to injury, he created a great number of hot springs throughout Japan. Now that people can bathe in them for free, they no longer patronize the bath house, and my livelihood is ruined."
"But, what sort of curse did Naraku place upon you?" asked Kikyou.
"Follow me and I'll give you a demonstration," replied Miroku cheerfully.
He led the group to a weedy, overgrown clearing in the back where he proceeded to strip his robes off to the waist.
"Ah... what are you doing?" asked Kagome nervously.
"Trust me," replied Miroku reassuringly. "I am merely going to demonstrate the curse. These robes were expensive and I don't wish to damage them."
Turning his back to the group, Miroku lifted his arm and removed the seal from the curse. Immediately, air started rushing towards the void, along with loose debris and litter that had been lying around in the abandoned lot.
"Ah, I've heard of those," remarked Kikyou. "It's an air void, am I correct?"
"Indeed it is, although perhaps a more accurate term would be 'Kazaana,'" replied Miroku.
"Ooooh, you know Japanese?" exclaimed Kagome. "Cool!"
"Well, this is Japan..."
InuYasha scratched his head in confusion. "But... there's one thing I don't understand..."
Miroku raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"
"Well... why on earth would Naraku give you a Kazaana in your armpit?"
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AN: Um, hope you all liked it! Sorry about the wait...