Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Prepared for Battle
They were prepared for battle.
Sango looked at her friends, each looked as grim as she felt. They were hunting, preparing for battle… with Inuyasha. With the demon Inuyasha. But when push comes to shove, will they be able to fight him? Would they have to make that terrible decision of destroying their friend.
"What will your parents say when they get your credit card bill?" asked Miroku.
"They'll probably just be grateful that it was at a sporting good store instead of a computer or game store." Shippo laughed. "They seem to think that spending so many hours in front of a computer screen can be dangerous."
Even Kouga snorted in amusement at that one.
It wasn't as large as her bone boomerang that she had in the game, but Sango held her small sturdy boomerang in her hands. It would do in a pinch. Though she was grateful for the cricket club she chose for her other weapon, she really wished they had been able to find a sword. Too bad they didn't sell them at the sporting goods store. The only ones they had run across in the mall had all been for decorative use only and would have snapped in two the first time she used it.
Miroku wrapped his fingers tighter around his modified javelin. It was a little too flexible for his tastes, but it seemed a better fit than anything else he had tried. It was taking all of his self control to not swing it around like he would a staff, but the people on the street probably wouldn't appreciate it much. Nervously he checked his pocket to make sure that the paper charms were still in there. They were.
As usual, Kouga decided he didn't want any weapons to keep track of. He felt his feet and his fists would be good enough. Anything else would just get in the way. He did, however, carry the bow and arrows that they purchased for when they found Kagome. It had taken awhile to find one that wasn't painted in camouflage colors.
"I still think the crossbow would have been better," groused Kouga.
Sango sighed, "I thought we already had this argument."
"We did," answered Miroku.
"Then why are we having it again?"
"The crossbow is more powerful and easier to use."
Shippo snatched the bow case from Kouga. "But Kagome has only ever used a regular bow. Switching now would take too long for her to get comfortable using it. It's bad enough that this one has these pulleys on it instead of just being a traditional short bow." He sighed, looking at the bow case. "At least we found the ultra-lite bow. It's nearly two pounds lighter than the others. The case is boring though." Shippo grinned, "Later I'll paint it and make it look nice for her."
Kouga grabbed the case back. "Runt."
"Did you get anything for yourself?" Sango asked the youngest member of their group in a desperate attempt to change the conversation. Without Inuyasha to pick on, Shippo seemed to be making it his full time job to annoy Kouga.
"Darts. Pepper spray. Dog whistle. Swiss army knife. Lighter."
"Dog whistle?"
Shippo gave Sango a slightly creepy chuckle as he started blowing on the whistle. "Yup."
"Lighter?" asked Miroku.
"For the fireworks."
Sango opened her mouth to ask what fireworks, but Miroku shook his head while covering her mouth. He was probably right. The less she knew about what that kid was packing, the better.
Originally they had broken off into two groups after purchasing their weapons. They searched the town for any sign of their friends. But when they came up with no leads they met back at the same park where they had parted company hours ago. It was close to midnight, and they were beginning to lose hope.
"I'm hungry," whined Shippo.
Sango's stomach chose that time to gurgle in complaint.
"I guess we all are," chuckled Miroku. "Let's head back to the hotel. We'll order room service and start looking again in the morning."
No one liked the idea of giving up the search. But they were all tired and hungry. Besides, none of them had completely recovered from the extreme malnutrition they had suffered. Shippo's stomach especially had troubles keeping food down.
As Kouga and Shippo fought over carrying Kagome's bow case, Miroku and Sango walked in silence. Neither one of them wanted to speculate on what may have happened to their friends. Seeing Inuyasha as a demon had been a shock. It was impossible. At least, it should have been impossible. Why wasn't Kouga or Shippo still demons? And what the heck happened to Kikyo? One minute she was with them in the basement, and the other she was gone! Practically melted into the shadows! Why didn't she help them free Kagome and Midoriko? And where the heck did Midoriko disappear to when they had gone to find Kouga anyhow? Was disappearing into thin air a priestess thing?
Miroku looked over at Sango. Her brows her were knit together in concentration as she glared at the sidewalk as they moved down the street. He couldn't bear seeing her suffer. So it was out of the complete unselfish goodness of his heart when his hand moved to touch her… purely for comforting purposes… derriere.
The earsplitting screech actually made traffic stop.
"PERVERT!"
The remainder of the trip to the hotel went by fairly quicly. Kouga and Shippo had a difficult time catching up as Sango chased down Miroku. If she hadn't knocked him out, they would never have caught up.
"Were you in track?" asked Kouga as he gasped for breath, not bothering to lend Miroku a hand up.
Considering Sango was still sizzling with anger, Shippo decided to keep his mouth shut. One never knew when the tides of rage would turn. It was best not to be noticed. Where oh where was Kagome to hide behind?
Four weary warriors walked to the hotel and took the elevator up to their room. Once again, they decided they would share a room. It just didn't feel right to be separated.
Shippo dug out the key card and ran it through the lock. One by one they entered the room and dropped their weapons and bags. Yawning loudly, Shippo locked all the locks on the door before turning towards the beds. He was ready for some food, even if it was just soup. He just hoped he could stay awake long enough for the food to arrive.
"Who want room service?" he asked.
No one answered. They were too busy standing and staring in shock at the beds. Grumbling about tall people, Shippo managed to shove Miroku off to the side enough (oddly enough, it was in Sango's direction) so he could get a look at what they were all gaping at.
He gaped too.
There on the bed was Inuyasha and Kagome.
Sound asleep.
Miroku lifted the cover and peeked. Yup, she was fully dressed. If she was, then Inuyasha probably was too, so he didn't bother to check.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" yelled Sango as she rushed the bed.
Inuyasha was up in a flash. His hair went from black to silver in a heartbeat as he jumped protectively, and fully clothed, in front of Kagome. He relaxed a bit when he saw his attacker. But still, she couldn't be allowed to jostle Kagome, so he flew off the bed and tackled her to the ground.
Oof!
Golden eyes glared down at Sango when he heard Kagome groaned painfully in her sleep. Sango, in turn, gulped. Things didn't tend to live long when they were on that end of the demon's glare.
"Don't wake her up," he hissed through his teeth… fangs… whatever.
"We've been searching for you all day!" she hissed right back, using her self defense training to dislodge her attacker in a very painful way. Sure it was a low blow, but she was severely ticked off for their day of searching and worrying. The guys were impressed that Inuyasha wasn't lying puking on the floor. Maybe it had something to do with being in demon form. "Where have you been?"
Inuyasha growled angrily as his claws ripped the carpet as he struggled to keep from taking a swipe at his friend. "We came here."
Sango sat up. She looked over to the other three. They all wore the same disbelieving looks on their faces.
"You were here?" she squeaked.
"Yes."
"The whole time?"
He growled again. "What, are you stupid or something? I said 'yes" already."
Miroku hung his head and tried not to laugh. Not a single one of them had thought to check the hotel. In fact, they hadn't even thought about calling the room. They had been so sure that the demon in him would take her as far away as possible. Talk about irony.
Inuyasha smirked. "Been looking for us, huh?"
"Oh just shut up," Sango snapped at him as she stood up. She stalked over to the phone and jabbed the number for room service. Shippo raced after her and started pointing out things on the menu that he wanted. Kouga disappeared into the bathroom, complaining about supersized sodas.
Miroku sat beside Inuyasha. "Your hair was black when we came in. Now it is silver. Can you control it?"
Inuyasha shook his head. "Nope. I don't have a clue. You know as much as I do."
"Why did you take Kagome?"
The dog demon shrugged. "I dunno. I just knew that I had to. Instincts maybe?" He glanced over to the bed where the miko was sleeping in a heavily drugged sleep. "She's healing fast. Really fast." Too fast. It wasn't a normal healing. But Inuyasha wasn't going to complain.
"Miroku, what do you want to eat?" asked Shippo.
"A cheeseburger."
"They don't have any," replied Sango.
"Spaghetti."
"Nope."
"Pizza?"
"Um… nope. C'mon, hurry up and make a decision."
With a snarl, Miroku stood up and proceeded snatch the menu out of Shippo's hands and began to read off item after item off of the menu, only to have the kitchen staff say that they have just run out.
Inuyasha smiled at his friends. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo were all arguing with whoever was on the phone. Kouga soon joined them, demanding meat. Preferably a nice rare steak.
He glanced back at the door, noticing that all of the locks had been locked. He was a bit embarrassed that he hadn't locked them himself, but when he had finally gotten to the hotel room he was completely wiped out. It had taken all his effort to get Kagome under the covers before the collapsed.
He also noticed the items they had dropped by the door. Weapons. Or potential weapons at any rate. Looking at them squabbling over the phone in hopes of something edible, he wondered if they would have used those weapons on him. He looked over at Kagome then down at his hands. The claws were still there. He had become a demon again. How? Why? Suddenly he was glad that they had weapons. Just in case. He wasn't entirely sure he trusted his demon form.
The curse words filling the room weren't unusual. The fact that they were coming from Sango was. Though her rantings on the conspiracy to keep her starved were fun to watch, Inuyasha was just too tired to keep awake. With a yawn he headed back to bed. He had just pulled back the covers on his side when the phone hit him in the side of the head.
The PHONE!
The names he called Kouga weren't polite, but he felt they were totally deserved.
"That hurt!"
"You're not sleeping with Kagome, you pervert!" Claws or not, there was no way he was letting him sleep with her. Kouga knew the others would back him up on this. Though part of him was hoping that Inuyasha would throw the first punch.
Golden eyes flickered red for a moment.
Quickly, Sango stepped between them before a fight could break out. She grabbed them both by the ears and twisted them before bringing them down to her eye level.
"You will BOTH calm down. Right. Now. Or so help me, I'll maim the both of you so badly you will BEG for death."
"He can't sleep with her!"
"Get your hands off me, wolf!"
"Get away from the bed, you mangy delusional DOG!"
"Back off, Kouga! I'm warning you!"
"SOMEONE has to protect Kagome!"
"She's not YOUR mate to protect!"
Miroku and Sango both froze in their attempts to keep the two males from tearing each other, and their hotel room, apart. They couldn't help but smile. Sango was a bit concerned that Inuyasha still seemed to be thinking in demon terms instead of human, but it was so romantic that she actually sighed. She gave a quick glare at Miroku. Why couldn't that moron be more romantic and less perverted? It was Miroku's turn to sigh.
A muffled groan caused Inuyasha to disappear. At least that's what it looked like. One minute he had his hands around Kouga's throat and pinning him to the wall, and the next he was just gone! Somehow he had defied all laws of physics to be back at Kagome's side in the blink of an eye.
"You woke her up, you idiot!" he scolded Kouga.
"Me?" He sounded offended. "It was your yowling that woke her up!"
"Yowling? Do I LOOK like a blasted CAT? You asOwwwwwwww!" Inuyasha winced as Kagome drug him down to her eye level by a lock of hair that had somehow twisted around her finger. "Leggo, woman!"
Her eyes slowly opened. They were angry and glazed with pain. "Stop shouting," she whispered.
Inuyasha's mouth snapped shut. He glowered at the others in the room, silently forbidding them to raise their voices. Heck, they shouldn't even speak at all. He was about to shove them all out the door when Kagome whispered again.
"Help me sit up."
"Don't be an idiot, wench," he whispered softly. "Go back to bed. We'll talk in the morning."
"We have plans to make," she protested weakly.
"We can make plans in the morning. Get some rest." He brushed his lips against her forehead and tucked the covers back under her chin.
After giving her one more assessing look, Inuyasha grabbed an extra blanket and pillow and tossed them on the floor between the two beds. Without a word he settled down, waiting until Sango crawled into bed with Kagome and the other males got comfortable on the other bed before turning out the lights and closing his eyes.
"You know," said Miroku into the darkness, "This was rather a let down."
"What was?" asked Inuyasha grumpily as he tried to get comfortable. It seemed like only minutes ago he was sound asleep on a nice comfortable bed, holding Kagome to keep her safe, and warm. Now his bed was a hard floor, a thin blanket, and an even thinner pillow. He really hated hotel pillows.
"Well, we were expecting... you know... a battle or something."
"More violence, eh?" No problem. Inuyasha just happened to be in the right mood for a little violence.
"Yeah, something like that."
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles.
"Miroku is so stupid," muttered Shippo as he tried to block out the sound of Miroku being clobbered. No one bothered to dispute that statement.
