My Daughter!
Chapter 5: Haruko's Battle
"Haruko-chan?" Haruko turned to the bundle of cute fur that ran up to her. Quickly, her smile appeared and she shone like a diamond in the mid day of the forest. Shippou smiled back at her with his boyish charms and said, "In the future, what will I look like?" he asked.
Haruko gave an amused sigh and said, "Well, as I recall…" she noticed that Sesshoumaru raised a brow at them, obviously listening. "Your hair was long and messy but in a good way. You were tall…and buff…and rugged!" with every compliment, Shippou's smile widened and he puffed his chest proudly. "You were so…boyish…I actually had a crush on you for a while." She admitted.
Hearing that, Shippou blushed and beamed up at her. "Was I really that good-looking!" he asked.
"Of course you were!" Haruko said merrily, taken over by his childish mirth. "And you were very, very strong! You beat every single warrior in the kingdom except for Aki, Touya and fathe—I mean, Sesshoumaru-sama." She became conscious again of herself and her smile slowly decreased to her depressed smile. "And before I left my time, you actually were starting to find Rin-sama kind of cute." She winked mischievously. "But of course, I was still your all time favorite gal!" she proclaimed.
Shippou blushed a deeper shade of red and hid his face from her, turning away and cupping his face with his little hands; feeling the heat on his cheeks. He peeked her way and found her smiling down at him, so he turned away again.
"Rin." Haruko turned to Sesshoumaru, taken by surprise. "What is she like?" he asked out of pure curiosity. Haruko smiled that depressed smile again, this time the rays of light seeping through the leaves made it's way to define her features more closely; giving her a picturesque image like a lonely woman too tired to smile but smiled nonetheless.
"She's…absolutely beautiful." She said, looking as if remembering. "Her long wavy black hair, beautiful and deep brown eyes. She's a taller and a lot smarter than I am. That's why she's my role model. She's-uhm—my father's closest friend, next to my mama."
Sesshoumaru stared down at her for a while longer, thinking over something, considering this and that. Then he returned his gaze to the road that lied ahead. Haruko turned her gaze back down to the ground, a small smile on her face. It wasn't much but…it was a start.
"Oi!" she turned to the hanyou up ahead who didn't even turn to her, seeing as his face still had some dirt on it. "We're nearing a village, try not to be such a freak, alright?" Unexpectedly, Inu-yasha doubled forward with his eyes bulging out when something hard hit his head from behind. He quickly turned around, knowing it was Haruko. But faltered when he saw that it was Shippou!
"Why do you have to be so mean to her!" he cried as he jumped over Inu-yasha's head and started biting his dog ears. Inu-yasha yelled in pain, trying to shake Shippou off, making him look like a drunk trying to dance.
Sesshoumaru noticed that Haruko had put her finger over her plump pink lips to stop herself from laughing at the sight. How was it that it was only last night when Shippou met her and yet, now he was fighting for her? Was she that powerful? She did mention earlier, he overheard, that all her friends were men. Did she have a charm in her that attracted men so much that she could make them do absolutely anything?
But then, he waved it off. It was only a little kit, after all. He was probably over analyzing everything about this girl. And yet he couldn't stop trying to contemplate what this girl truly was.
Suddenly, there was a loud gargle of a monster, making the ground shake and the trees quiver. Everyone became alert as they turned to the east. There, towering over the small village they were supposed to pass by was a large blob like youkai. It was glowing red like lava and spat fireballs down to the houses.
"It has a shard!" Haruko and Kagome both cried out. They looked at each other and Haruko smiled sheepishly, "Hehe…runs in the family."
"I'll get that shard!" declared Inu-yasha boldly, charging forward with tetsusaiga. Haruko called to him, trying to stop him but Inu-yasha didn't listen.
"Aren't you going to help them?" asked Kagome turning back to Sesshoumaru and Haruko who stood still while the group started attacking.
Seshoumaru turned his blank gaze her way and said, "I have no need for that jewel of yours. I am powerful enough."
"Yeah, but won't you even help? It's killing innocent people!" Kagome reasoned.
"There are no such things as innocent people." Sesshoumaru answered in a finalizing tone.
Kagome couldn't believe what she just heard and looked absolutely disgusted. "Don't you have a heart?" she exclaimed.
"No. I don't." Sesshoumaru said, locking eyes with her in a battle. Kagome gave up and then turned to Haruko, seeing the blank look in her face. Just like her father. She turned around and ran towards the others to help.
Haruko turned from Sesshoumaru to Kagome, her face was calm but inside she was battling with her practicality and her conscience. In the end, her conscience won. "oh," Haruko groaned, starting to move forward, gradually turning into a sprint, "I hate having a conscience!" she grunted, taking note that her mama was already nearing the scene. Sesshoumaru watched as they vanished into the trees and calmly took a perch upon the tree above him, giving him a clear view of everything.
When Haruko and Kagome arrived at the outskirts of the village, Inu-yasha was slashing violently at it, Sango was doing her best to avoid it's fireballs and Miroku protected her by sucking the fireballs into his palm. Kirara tried to use her fire breath but it only made the monster bigger.
"It feeds on fire!" Miroku exclaimed but soon screamed in pain as the monster formed a blob for an arm and slapped Miroku, Sango and Kirara away! The wind blew poor little Shippou to the trees but Inu-yasha was unfazed. He kept on attacking the thing, getting aggravated when the cuts he made only regenerated as if nothing happened. When it was only he who was left, the monster enlarged itself and took Inu-yasha's leg in its mouth, throwing him away to the bark of a tree.
Haruko and Kagome caught them at that moment, in pain. "You stupid baka!" Haruko said to Inu-yasha, noting the burn on his leg. Inu-yasha fell to his knees and did his best to stand up.
"What did you—call me?" he said through gritted teeth.
"Inu-yasha no!" Kagome said, running to him and helping him.
"Don't touch me!" Inu-yasha said, pushing Kagome aside. "I can do fine on my own!" he ignored the pained look on her face, feeling the stinging pain of his pride.
"It's an element youkai! You can only defeat it by using the opposite element!" Haruko declared. "You baka!" she added, angry that the foolish boy would push away her mother.
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Kagome asked.
Haruko turned to her, seeing the worry in her mama's eyes. She smiled reassuringly, "You guys get every villager as far away as possible from any damage. I'll handle everything." Kagome nodded with determination and was about to help the others up when. "Mama!" she turned to Haruko. Haruko raised her eyes from the ground and smiled, "Take…care."
Something inside Kagome warmed at that, and she instantly knew it was her heart. She knew that to get hurt was to hurt this young lady's whole being. She nodded with more determination than before and smiled, "You too, Haruko-chan!"
Sesshoumaru, comfortable in his shady perch up in the tall tree, propped his elbow on his knee, supporting his head with a bent fist. He looked down with interest, wondering what the little hanyou had in mind. Curious and anxious, he felt his body stiffen. If she really was who she said she was, she would know how to defeat it.
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