Fated Existence
Chapter 9 – Old Habits"Fine Inuyasha, you win. At least give me some privacy when I bathe."
And thus ended what, for Inuyasha, had begun as a promising argument to get himself sat and things back to a more familiar routine. It had been, to date, the most effective way to silence the hanyou, next to her tears. The morning after soaking in the hot spring, Kagome awoke to Inuyasha's sudden proclamation that she was to stay in his sight at all times. Kagome had made a brief effort to dissuade the hanyou from sticking himself to her side like glue, but gave up when she realized that this particular battle would not be won. And the upcoming battle with Naraku was far more important than trying to get Inuyasha to relent on being her personal bodyguard. When all was said and done, she didn't want them to have their last memories of her be unpleasant ones.
The next few days had been more stressful than the week before, for Kagome that was, with Inuyasha's sudden 'guard dog' duty. He kept his distance, but the reality was that even with Sango near, he still followed her everywhere. At least he'd listened when she'd told him to steer clear when she was bathing; or did a good job of hiding from her. Just thinking about the argument over his behavior gave her a headache. She'd had to bite back the urge to subdue him, reminding herself that she'd broken the kotodama rosary six months ago. He'd almost looked confused and disappointed when she'd simply caved in and given up the fight.
Now the latest dilemma was how to contact the woman without Inuyasha following her. She could end up waiting weeks for him to tire enough to fall asleep. Usually whenever the new moon approached; but that was still three weeks away by her calculations. She needed answers before she ran into Kikyou. Although, if what the others told her was true, she would need to track down Kikyou instead and she knew there was no way to explain why she would want to do such a thing without telling them everything.
0o0o0o0
Kagome sat on the fallen tree with a dejected sigh, disgusted with herself, or rather disgusted at being unable to practice with Sango. She'd honestly made a serious attempt, but when her only opponents were either Shippou or Kirara, she lacked the will to fight with everything. Even in her larger form, Kirara would remain a tiny 'kitten' in Kagome's mind and Shippou she regarded like a brother or son. The thought of hurting them, even on accident, kept her from drawing either blade or bow when Sango suggested a mock fight to test Kagome's new skills.
"Glad to see not everything changed." Sango commented as she propped her Hiraikotsu against the log before claiming a seat next to Kagome.
"Huh?"
Sango smiled. "It goes against your nature to hurt anyone you care for, even if it might be for their best interests. You can't attack Kirara or Shippou, so it shows that you're still as kind-hearted and caring as ever."
Kagome smiled at her friend's insight and nodded. "Hai."
"Now, Inuyasha and Miroku, however," Sango chuckled. "I wouldn't mind a mock fight with them. The houshi dodges well enough and Inuyasha, if injured, would heal by tomorrow. But I get the feeling we'd be doing most of the dodging. "
"True…" Kagome pondered the idea. Technically she injured Inuyasha every time she'd sat him, even if he didn't let on that he was hurt. And she did smack Miroku whenever his hands went wandering, as did Sango. So was it really that much of a stretch to do a mock fight with them? She glanced up at the sun overhead, calculating that it was perhaps just after noon. Inuyasha and Miroku had opted to go a bit ahead to the village they'd spotted and inquire about shards while the girls stayed behind at the nearby spring to refill the water bottles and rest. Sango had suggested a test of Kagome's skills while the boys were gone.
"Tell you what Sango, how about…"
0o0o0o0
Inuyasha walked in silence beside the monk on the way back to the girls, disgusted that the only rumors to be heard were about the usual youkai sightings and the possibility of a shard from another village three days away. They could easily cover the distance in two days, especially now that Kagome seemed to be keeping up with a faster pace. He frowned slightly, remembering that one of the sightings sounded suspiciously like Sesshoumaru. He didn't want to get anywhere near the bastard right now. Not with things still edgy between him and Kagome. Hell, he didn't want to get near anyone that might use the rift against them. He needed to solve this soon, a phrase that he'd been repeating for the better part of two weeks.
"Uhh, Inuyasha…"
Miroku's hesitant voice brought Inuyasha out of his thoughts and to an immediate halt. It took him a long moment for his brain to register what his eyes were seeing. Right in the open field where they'd left the girls, were said females currently, if sight was to be believed, engaging full tilt in battle… with each other. Inuyasha blinked several times trying to will the image away, but either he was under a spell or they really were fighting. Of course, if he'd bothered to glance at the kitsune and neko-youkai, he'd have realized from their unconcerned expressions that this wasn't a fight. Which, subsequently, would have prevented his immediate reaction to the perceived threat of Sango going in for the 'kill'.
Kagome, it had appeared, had tripped on either her own feet or something under her feet, giving Sango a good opening to bring down her katana in a stabbing action aimed for the heart. Before Kagome could bring up her own katana in defense to knock away Sango's blade, a loud snarl and a blur of red interceded itself between the opponents.
Kagome lay frozen in shock as Inuyasha covered her body with his own; one hand to either side of her ribs as his knees rested to her left. The sickening sound of Sango's katana piercing his back caused her to gasp in horror. She barely heard Sango's own gasp and rapid apology as the taijiya retracted her blade and ran to get Kagome's first aid kit. She couldn't see his face with his hair in the way, but she was still too shocked to move until he slightly raised his head and growled. Looking to her right she saw Sango approaching with the bandages; she shook her head in silent warning to Sango to keep her distance.
Inuyasha glared at the offending taijiya with a softer growl, letting the woman know that her actions were not acceptable, but that he also wasn't going to attack her for them. The blood was pounding so loudly in his head that he was only able to think within terms of 'now'. Pack-mate or not, no one attacked the alpha female. But since it was another female to attack, he wouldn't be the one to meat out punishment. He watched the woman slowly back away, shock still in her eyes. When he judged that she was a safe distance away, he slowly moved to one side of Kagome and crouched next to her, sniffing lightly to see if she was hurt. Satisfied that he smelled no blood, he slowly calmed down, distantly aware that she was trying to talk to him.
"Inuyasha…" No answer. "Daijoubu, Inuyasha… we were practicing…"
Practicing… play fighting… before he could full grasp the meaning of her words the scent of fear sent him back on edge. Her fear, which roused all his defensiveness, was directed at something behind him. Before he could turn to discern the cause of her fear, he was knocked head over rump with enough force to send him flying several yards away. By the time he rolled to his feet, the tengu was shrieking from the painful stabbing of Kagome's katana into its foot. Apparently it tried to keep her pinned to the ground. Inuyasha smirked as pride briefly surged in response to her actions.
The tengu easily stood at a height equal to Sesshoumaru, talons digging into the earth for balance or perhaps in irritation at the miko. Its right wing curled like human fingers around its staff; flexing in time to some beat only it could hear. The three rings gave a chime too soft for human ears to hear with each twitch from the tengu. Inuyasha knew the damn things were inhumanly fast, like his damnable bastard of a half-brother. At least the ruddy coloring of its feather would make it easier to follow its movements. Gripping Tessaiga, he suppressed the urge to shudder as the sword's presence brought clarity back to his red-hazed mind. He would have time enough to yell at the women after he got rid of that tengu.
Kagome rolled away and to her feet as Sango ran behind the youkai to check on Miroku who had been knocked down first. She set the katana before her in a defensive position, braced to either run or block an attack. She barely had time to register Inuyasha's warning cry before she found herself knocked forward and pinned down by a set of talons. Another tengu had joined the fight. Pinned face first as she was, she could only see Miroku's feet and a lot of grass. Her katana lay useless before her, knocked from her hands when she'd gone down. The first tengu had moved off, apparently fighting Sango from the sound of things. Miroku must have still been unconscious. You'd think after being hit with Hiraikotsu repeatedly that he'd have grown an immunity to being knocked out, she thought. Then again, she didn't know the extent of his injuries.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha was dealing with a problem of his own. Before he could reach Kagome to free her from the second tengu, two more swooped down to block him. With a growl of impatience and fury, he drew Tessaiga and attacked before they could. Either too stupid to move or simply shocked by such a swift attack, the first in his path went down without a fight. The second screamed in anger and dodged the next sweep of his sword, then blocked the third with its staff. Inuyasha stepped back and frowned as the difficulty just went up a notch. He needed to end this fast and get to Kagome before that other tengu did anything to her other than hold her captive in its talons. He glanced over at Sango, who was holding her own against the first tengu that had attacked them, keeping it clear of Miroku's still form. It must hit harder than Sango, he thought as he redirected his attention on the tengu blocking him from Kagome. Just as he took a step to ready his Kaze no Kizu, a horrible shriek made him flatten his ears and look towards Kagome.
The tengu above Kagome shrieked as it yanked back its foot from her purifying aura, giving her time to get back to her feet. She spun around to face her opponent when a flash of light barely warned her in time to put up her arms in an instinctual defensive motion. It buffered the staff's impact just enough to simply scratch the side of her forehead rather than bash her brains in, but the impact would probably leave bruises on her forearms if the pain in them was any indication. Before she could do anything except register what had hit her, the wind was knocked from her by a leg to her gut which sent her flying several yards and then sliding several more once she impacted the ground.
"Kagome-chan!"
"Kagome!"
"Hiraikotsu!"
"Kaze no Kizu!"
Both warriors released their attacks almost simultaneously, anger and worry overriding everything else. The tengu Sango had been fighting had suddenly disengaged when Kagome hurt the one pinning her down. Its staff had been the one to knock her in the head and the one with the wounded foot took the opening to kick the miko across the field. Sango released Hiraikotsu, taking out the tengu that had been blocking Inuyasha while Inuyasha's attack took out the remaining two tengu even though his intent had been to take out the one blocking him. For an unplanned maneuver it turned out very well. Sango looked between her two fallen friends, unsure of which to go to, knowing both needed to be seen to.
The dilemma was solved when Inuyasha raced past her with a brief remark to check the houshi and make camp. She almost smiled with relief, knowing that Kagome was in good hands with Inuyasha. Calling for Kirara, Sango made her way back to Miroku. The houshi had taken a serious hit to the back of his head and she'd barely had time to see how badly beyond that he wasn't bleeding before the second tengu had shown up. Having Kirara lie down, she half rolled, half pushed the unconscious houshi onto the fire-cat's back; pleased to see that what little blood had seeped from his wound was half dry.
Inuyasha slid to a stop beside Kagome and dropped to his knees, leaning over her as he tried to check for injuries. He was unprepared for her next words.
"You're…hurt…"
He gaped at her for a moment, unable to form a reply. The stupid wench had just been thrown like a stone and she was worried about HIS wound? He shook his head and ignored her feeble protests as he picked her up, carrying her back to where Sango was currently setting up camp. In the short time it took for him to cross the field, Kagome had passed out.
As he entered camp, Shippou came racing towards them, but halted when Inuyasha shook his head at him. Shippou had watched the fight from the fallen tree, afraid to help and yet knowing his attempts wouldn't have really helped anyway. Sniffing, Shippou caught wind of Kagome's blood and his eyes went wide for a moment before diving for Kagome's pack. He quickly dug out the box that held the bandages and raced back to Inuyasha. Knowing he'd probably get thrown for jumping on Kagome, Shippou opted to scamper up Inuyasha's back and lightly drop the box on Kagome's stomach before running off to the nearby stream to gather water. He knew the only way he could really help right now would be to finish setting up camp and get water for food and wound cleaning. Inuyasha would see to Kagome like Sango saw to Miroku. Some habits didn't die.
A/N:
My son is keeping me very busy so following chapters will be a bit slower in coming out.
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Standard Disclaimer: Inuyasha is property of Rumiko Takahashi.
All other characters are mine unless otherwise mentioned.