Inuyasha: Beyond the Fairytale

By:Hopuchan

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Co. belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

This is but a fan fiction.

Chapter 2

The inutachi were walking at a sedate pace late in the afternoon. Everyone was unusually quiet and lost in his or her own thoughts. If they believed what Kagura told them a week ago, then the upcoming final battle with Naraku was approaching sooner than they thought. Kagome had suggested returning to Kaede's village and the bone-eaters' well to stock up on supplies and prepare. No one, not even Inuyasha had put up much argument so back to Kaede's they headed.

'So I guess this is it. I have to return home and tell Momma that we're gonna fight Naraku and complete the jewel at last. I can't tell her what I'm afraid of though; I can't tell her that I may not make it. How can I say something like that anyway? Hey Mom, so I'm back to pack my bag for possibly the last time and oh guess what, I may not survive so I may never see you guys again!' Trudging along behind the others, she tried to stop the depressing turn her thoughts took. 'Everything is so beautiful here…and its up to us to save it from Naraku's evil taint.' Slowing down as she gazed out across the grassy lands that stretched on forever, Kagome came to a decision. 'Yes, we will beat Naraku and everything will work out because it just has to. And I will not be a liability to my friends.' Turning her gaze to her friends that were moving further and further away from her, the tall grass hiding everything below their shoulders, she nodded sharply, 'I will not be weak anymore. They'll see, Inuyasha will see, I will be strong. No one will need to protect me. No one will call me weak.'

"Hey Miroku?" asked Shippou from atop his shoulder. "Hunh? What do you want Shippou?" Miroku replied. "Why is Kagome all the way back there staring at us? Is she mad? Did Inu-baka do something wrong again?" Shippou wanted to know.

That comment got Inuyasha's attention. "Shut up runt! Hey Kagome! What the fuck are you doing? Yo Kagome! Hey wench I'm talking to you!" bellowed Inuyasha to an oblivious Kagome. "SIT!" Well, he thought she was oblivious. "Whatcha do that for you bitch!" Sango and Miroku looked at each other and sweat dropped. "Well, it seems that maybe things are getting back to normal." Sango commented. "Hmm, perhaps so my dear Sango perhaps so" agreed Miroku as he moved closer to his dear Sango. A few seconds later, the loud thwack of hiraikotsu connecting with the monks head was heard following a cry of, "HENTAI!"

"Its been a week and there's no word from Junichi. Shall we assume he has failed his mission?" asked the horse youkai as he paced back and forth. "Shiroma! Stop this frenetic pacing! You show your nervousness in this. You know better. Do not expose weakness even to allies!" replied Kuroma also a horse youkai but in contrast to Shiroma's waist length white hair and pale blue eyes, his ebony hair is cut short and his eyes are such a deep midnight blue that upon first glance, one can mistake them for black. Both have tawny skin and the same white markings; two stripes on their cheeks, wrists, and ankles, with a jade green circle on their foreheads.

"We never should have sent that rat! Can't even do a simple assassination job correctly", mumbled Shiroma as he ceased his pacing. "Thank you for not wearing a hole in the tatami, brother. But yes, we need to set an alternative plan in motion in light of Junichi's apparent failure" replied Kuroma pensively stroking his chin. Suddenly a more interesting thought came to him, "But if its true that our little plot failed…why has Lord Sesshoumaru not come for our heads?" Shiroma sat on a pillow near the low table next to his brother. "Maybe he does not suspect us? Perhaps we were successful in hiding our tracks", Shiroma thought aloud. Kuroma laughed harshly at that, "Don't be naïve! He may not be certain of our involvement as of yet, but he will unless we finish what we started. We have little time. It's time to involve the girl."

The little girl whimpered and moaned as she instinctively rolled away from the heat of the campfire. She pulled weakly at her clothes in an attempt to cool herself but nothing seemed to help. 'She has been ill for too long' thought Sesshoumaru as he watched her suffering from across the camp. His young ward had caught some mysterious illness five days ago and had yet to recover properly. This severely hampered his plans to find those responsible for the attempted assassination on his person. As Rin grew worse each day, he was loathe to admit that her waning health took precedent over rooting out disloyal members of his keep. 'Perhaps a ningen healer would be necessary? How unfortunate.' The taiyoukai sneered in disgust at the thought of some lowly humans' aid being needed. 'What human would sincerely help Rin anyway? They would more than likely let her die simply because she's my ward.' A fleeting image of impossibly wide frightened eyes leaking tears suddenly popped into his mind. His eyes narrowed in response to the unbidden image. 'Inuyasha's woman-child; yes, she would do I suppose.' Glancing over at Rin and taking in the coughs racking her little body, he decided to make a detour to the village near his brothers' forest and once his wards' illness is dealt with, return to the Western lands and root out the traitors.

"You are so beautiful", Naraku purred as his caressed his piece of the shikon jewel. "So lovely in your dark taint and soon, soon you will be perfect! Soon you will be whole again. And those pathetic fools will help me complete you! Kukukuku!" Holding the jewel behind his thumb and forefinger, the dark hanyou chuckled as he anticipated acquiring the last few shards. "Kanna!" he called. A small pale girl in all white appeared holding a mirror in her hands. "Kanna, show me Kikyou. Does she think I don't know about the shards she now holds?" he asked rhetorically, "What could she be planning?" He watched as an image of Kikyou appeared in the mirror. She was currently walking through an unfamiliar forest. 'Perhaps I should pay her a visit? I'm not certain of her role in my plans since she's acquired the rest of the shards and I do not appreciate surprises not of my own doing. Hmm, what shall your fate be my Kikyou?'

"Inuyasha! How long til we get back to Kaede's?" whined Shippou from his perch on Kagome's shoulder. "What did I say the last time you asked runt?" grunted Inuyasha in reply. "Um, you said that if I don't stop asking you that you'll eat all my ramen." Said the little kit. "And what else?" prodded the hanyou. "And, that you'd rip my tail off." Shippou finished. "Inuyasha!" "Dammit all! What is it runt!" he all but yelled in frustration. "How much longer til we get to the, eep!" Shippou dived off Kagome's shoulder to make a run for it only to end up hanging by his tail in the dog hanyou's fist. "Hah! Whatcha gonna do now kid? Be prepared cos that tail is coming off!" Inuyasha growled and flexed his claws about to swipe at the dangling kitsune. Folding his arms Shippou managed to look quite unimpressed at the threat. "You ain't gonna do anything dog breath! So just let me go!" Growling louder, Inuyasha replied, "That's what you think runt? And why wouldn't I?" "Because you don't want to get Kagome angry that's why! And she'll be plenty mad if you hurt me! So there!" Shippou said smugly. "Grrrr! Who the fuck thinks I give a rats' ass if she's mad? She ain't nobody!" Inuyasha yelled back unthinkingly. "What did you say dog boy!" yelled Kagome, "Let Shippou go right now!" Inuyasha released the kit as he turned to face the girl. "Now wait Kagome! Don't do anything rash! You know I didn't mean it like that!"

"I know I know Inuyasha, you weren't thinking, right?" she replied in an eerily calm voice. "You never think do you?" She gathered Shippou in her arms and walked to a nearby tree and sat down. Inuyasha looked at her but was puzzled by her calmness. "Uh, Kagome? Why are you stopping? We've gotta keep moving its not time to camp yet", he said still not sure what to make of her mood. With her head bowed so that her bangs hid her eyes, "Sango-chan, Miroku-sama, would you mind stopping early today?" she asked. The two in question shared a look then replied together, "uh, no its fine with us!" Inuyasha objected loudly to this course of action. "What the fuck? Hells no! We are not setting up camp now! There's still the rest of the afternoon and evening to travel! If you guys weren't so damn slow we could be there by nightfall but nooo, we're gonna break for camp now? Hey! Are you listening to me?" He watched as they all ignored his words of wisdom and set up camp. "Oh, Inuyasha?" "Yeah Kagome?" Kagome finally lifted her head and smiled at him. "SIT! SIT! SIT!" A very muffled,"Dammit all!" was all Inuyasha chose to say.

"Kagome-chan, would you like to go have a bath?" asked Sango. 'I need to get her alone to talk, maybe she can tell me what's been going on with her lately.' Kagome looked over at Sango and replied, "Yeah, a bath sounds good, but are there any hot springs in the area?" Both girls turned to Inuyasha expectantly, but the hanyou just ignored them. "Ahem! Inuyasha! Do you know if there are any hot springs around here?" asked Sango. Inuyasha merely sniffed and jumped to a high branch above them before grudgingly saying, "Nah, the only water close by is a river about a 10min walk from here. If we kept going, there would be hot springs near a decent place to camp for the night but since SOMEONE decided to stop so early, the hot springs are too far away and we won't be stopping there tomorrow." Satisfied with his rant and obvious attempt at revenge for the subduing spell he collapsed against the branch with a smirk on his face.

"Well a nice cold dip in the river sounds fine to me, right Kagome? A perfect way to cool off from the hot sun I'd say" quipped Sango. "Yes, its nice to take a break from all the heat. Let's go Sango!", chimed Kagome. "But uh Inuyasha, which direction is the river?" Inuyasha scowled as he wordlessly pointed the direction. Miroku wanted to follow the girls, to protect them of course, but decided it was better to stay behind to play peacemaker with Inuyasha and Shippou. Besides, he was concerned about the weird tension between Kagome and Inuyasha. 'Maybe I'll get some answers from the stubborn hanyou while the girls are gone.'

'I can't believe the trouble this girl gets into!' thought a disgruntled Jaken, 'How dare the brat use this illness to get more of milord's attention? He has much more important things with which to concern himself.' Giving the little girl his best glare, he noticed something was off. Maybe it was just because of his position on the ground but Rin seemed to be leaning a bit too precariously on the dragon AhUn. "Stupid girl can't even sit atop the dragon properly! Useless!" he griped. The tall taiyoukai heard this and glanced at his ward from the corner of his eye. He covered the distance in a flash to catch the girl as she fell off AhUn. His face didn't betray any worry but he refused to place the girl on the ground. His youki cloud gathered about his feet and he left Jaken to scramble atop the dragon mount as his lord flew toward Inuyasha's forest.

"I know we told Inuyasha that the river would be a nice way to cool off but man, this really sucks" lamented Kagome as she and Sango shivered in the cold water, trying to clean themselves as quickly as possible. "Heh, yeah but its okay. Um, Kagome-chan, I wanted to talk to you about something if its ok" Sango said hesitantly. Kagome looked at her friend curiously, "Sure Sango-chan, what do you want to talk about." Taking a deep breath, Sango placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder, "Kagome-chan, Miroku and I have noticed something lately…you seem different somehow. If something's wrong you'd tell me, right?" Hearing this, Kagome closed in on herself and rubbed her arms with her hands for warmth. "Well, could we talk out of this cold water? I guess something has been bothering me but I didn't think you guys noticed anything." she said quietly. They both left the river and wrapped themselves in towels to dry off. After getting dressed, they settled down on the grass together and Kagome told her friend what was bothering her. "Sango? I don't know what to do or feel anymore.", she said sadly. Sango gave her a knowing look, "You mean with Inuyasha right?" "Yeah, I know he doesn't always mean to be a jerk and doesn't mean to hurt me but lately it seems all we do is argue. Before we had fun and acted as friends, ya know? Even our stupid fights weren't so bad really. But it doesn't feel the same and I don't know why", Kagome revealed. "Is it because of Kikyou? I never understood how you could promise to stay by his side when he's still conflicted over her. Only someone as selfless as you Kagome could do that.", Sango said softly. The tajiya wasn't used to offering comfort and physical affection as freely as Kagome but she tried to comfort her friend with an arm somewhat awkwardly wrapped about her shoulders. Apparently this was enough because Kagome took the comfort she offered and rested her head on Sango's shoulder and threw her arms around her in a grateful hug.

"I love him, that's how I could do it. At least I think I love him. I know I want him to be happy no matter whom it is he chooses. But its not really Kikyou that has been bothering me, its more about my place in the group. I know Inuyasha doesn't really mean to hurt me when he says I'm useless or only good for detecting shards but it does hurt. It hurts because I'm scared he's right. I'm not strong enough to fight in the Naraku battle. The battle is closer than ever and I'm a liability to you guys. I really am just a distraction aren't I Sango?" Sango was shocked. She thought for certain that it was the usual Inuyasha and Kikyou drama that had her friend down. "No Kagome! You aren't a distraction! You're our friend and you are very valuable to all of us. Don't think for a second that you're only useful as a shard detector! You are brave and at many battles you were the deciding factor in our victories. Do you hear me? YOU. ARE. NOT. USELESS. Even Inuyasha would agree even if he wouldn't admit it out loud.", Sango said passionately. That got a small smile from Kagome and she giggled and replied, "Yeah, dog boy wouldn't dare admit that to anyone!" Sitting up and releasing Sango from her hug, she sighed and wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her head on them. "But, I'm still confused about what I feel for him and what I want from him I guess." "Kagome-chan, what's changed since you promised to stay by his side? Do you regret it?" asked Sango softly. Keeping her head rested on her bent knees, Kagome replied, "Well, no I don't regret that promise. At the time, I was so hurt because of him and Kikyou but I also couldn't see a future without him. It hurt much more to not be near him that I chose to be with him anyway and deal with his indecision. I felt that perhaps he did love me in his own way and that one day he'd realize how much I cared for him." "So, what changed Kagome?" Taking a deep breath, Kagome turned to look at Sango then closed her eyes. "Somewhere along the way I think I got tired of always being second best. Even though I promised to stay with him, our relationship never really changed and I'm tired of feeling like he compares me to Kikyou and always finds me lacking.", replied the miko.

Sango sighed and said, "Oh, Kagome-chan! I'm so sorry. I can't believe you've been just holding all of it in and I never thought to really talk to you about it." Kagome grabbed her friends' hand and squeezed reassuringly. "No Sango, its ok. I don't think I really wanted to talk about it until now anyway, so don't feel bad." Sighing again, Sango thought to herself, 'There she goes again; always worrying about someone else's feelings.' Something came to mind suddenly and she had to know, "Hey Kagome? Remember last week when you were lost and Kikyou stole the shards from you?"

An apprehensive look came over Kagome's eyes as she said hesitantly, "Yeah, I remember." Sango looked at her friend curiously, "Did you not tell us everything that happened before we found you? You never told us why you were unconscious? I know you hate the thought of tattling on Kikyou, but you should know that you can tell us everything, right? What did she do to you?"

'Oh, crap! I thought maybe they had forgotten about that! But can I confide in Sango about what happened? I mean, I'm not sure everyone would be too receptive to me helping Sesshoumaru and the fact that the only reason I know Kikyou took the shards was because he told me.' Kagome looked away from Sango nervously. "Sango, she actually didn't do anything but take my shards. Well, she may have healed my throat too but I'll never know." Sango let go of Kagome's hand in shock. 'What! What does she mean? Kikyou didn't attack her?' Sango shot rapid-fire questions, "But Kagome, who hurt you? Why were you unconscious? And not that I don't believe you but, how did you know for certain Kikyou stole the shards?" Kagome squeezed her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to see her friends' reaction to her story, "I was helping Sesshoumaru. He was injured! But then he acted like an ass and I yelled at him and he choked me. When I woke up my neck wasn't even sore! It was as if I hadn't been choked at all! I thought at first that maybe he healed me with Tenseiga but that didn't make any sense. Then I noticed that the shards were gone and Sesshoumaru told me Kikyou had taken them. I think that maybe….for some reason…she also healed my throat."

"Inuyasha! Stop teasing Shippou! That's what started all of this nonsense earlier!" the monk said sternly. Shippou hid behind the monk's legs as the hanyou leapt to the ground to face Miroku, "That ain't what started anything! Me and the runt are always at it and she always uses that damn spell but this is something else." Growling he folded his arms and jutted his chin at Miroku defiantly. Slightly taken aback, "So, what is the problem then Inuyasha? What's really been going on lately?" asked a curious Miroku. Looking away from the monk, he said quietly, "I don't know what's been up lately…but I do know that she wasn't telling us everything about Kikyou taking the shards."

This got Miroku's attention. "Do you believe that Kikyou didn't take the shards?", he asked carefully. Shaking his head, Inuyasha replied, "Nah, I believe her about that but more went on than she told us. She never said exactly why she was unconscious and who did it. Why would she keep that from us?" "Well she didn't want to tell us the last time Kikyou tried to kill her, so what makes this time any different?", Miroku stated reasonably. "Feh! That's not what I meant. I don't think Kikyou attacked or threatened her" said Inuyasha. Miroku raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest. "Hmm….Is that so? And why would you think that? Who would hurt Kagome?"

"She never said anything but I smelled my asshole brother on her." At that the monks' jaw dropped in shock. "Wha…What? Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha smirked, "Yeah, I guess she thought I didn't notice and I didn't place the scent til days later. So, why didn't she tell us about running into that pompous ass?" Miroku was inclined to agree. 'Indeed, why would she keep quiet about that? What did Sesshoumaru do to her?'

Descending from the sky, a tall imposing figure in white landed with a small human girl in his only arm. They had not yet reached the village where his half-brother's pack resided. Looking down at the ill girl in his arm, he came to an unwanted realization. 'The girl won't make it to the village. She is so close to death.' Closing his eyes, he tried to stamp down on the emotions he refused to feel. 'Why am I so concerned? Her life is insignificant, right? And when she dies I can merely use the Tenseiga to revive her again. If it will choose to work a second time.' Growling at his lack of control over his own sword, he placed Rin gently on the ground. 'She suffers as she dies', thought the demon lord as he watched her little body over heated with fever and shaking as if she was racked with chills. Raising his lethal claws in preparation to kill the girl, he paused as he thought, 'Will Tenseiga heal her if I end her life?' Glancing at the girl he firmed his resolve. 'If Tenseiga denies me then at least she will no longer suffer.' With this thought clear in his mind, he again raised his clawed hand and struck.

End chapter 2.