Chapter 24: A New Strategy
"Kenshin? Sanosuke? What's going on?"
Three of the gathered men turned to warily eye the tired human woman. The fourth man only eyed her with cold curiousity. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes as he studied the new intruder.
Who was this human?
The youkai lord watched as the kitsune stepped between them in an attempt to stop the woman. The tall, brunette haired human also stepped next to him. The strange woman suddenly glared at them.
"What's going on?" Kaoru asked suspiciously, now fully awake.
"Uh...nothing," Shippo lied. Sanosuke hastily nodded his head in agreement. Kaoru didn't buy a word of it. The kitsune was considering how to keep her from seeing Kenshin when he felt Inuyasha's hand on his shoulder. Both he and Sano turned around to see the temporarily human hanyou looking directly at Kaoru. Inuyasha pushed the two men out of the way so that the woman had a clear view of the red haired man behind him.
The hanyou lord had learned from direct experience that women always managed to get their way in the end. So instead of holding off the inevitable, he'd decided to save time and show Kaoru the truth. There was no telling how long Kenshin would stay like this, so she'd most likely find out anyway.
"Kaoru," Inuyasha began hesitantly. He'd never been good with words. Kaoru felt a twinge of panic just then. Something was wrong, she could feel it. Why wasn't Kenshin talking to her? What was...
She stared in shock as Inuyasha, with uncharacteristic gentleness, moved her into full view of Kenshin's face. His face! His eyes, they were yellow! Did that mean that the Battousai was back? No...something was different. There were strange markings on his face. What had happened to him?
"Kenshin?" she asked hesitantly. A pair of impassive eyes regarded her. Kaoru felt a flash of fright. Something was definately wrong.
"My name is Sesshoumaru woman," he said. Kaoru's eyes widened as she stared first at him, then at the others. Inuyasha nodded his head reluctantly.
"I don't know what happened," Inuyasha admitted. "But the bastard's woken up." A pair of amber eyes glared at the currently human Inuyasha.
"You seem displeased little brother," Sesshoumaru said.
"Damn right I am! Now bring back Kenshin!"
"And just how would I accomplish that? If this Kenshin and I are one and the same, then you are speaking to him."
"Don't give me that crap Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha growled. "I should..."
"Inuyasha!" Shippo yelled. "Calm down! The last thing we need is for the two of you to get into a fight. Especially not with Naraku back." Sesshoumaru's head swiveled sharply to the kitsune's direction.
"Naraku you say," Sesshoumaru murmured. "Curious. You mean to tell me that you did not kill him brother?" Inuyasha growled at that before admitting.
"I did kill him, but he was resurrected. He hid his soul inside the Toukijin. And since your sword was made from the flesh of one of his incarnations, he used it as the beginnings of a new body. The last time we saw him, some youkai lady named Raizel teleportated away with him."
Kaoru and Sanosuke eyed the exchange warily. The transformed Kenshin deeply unnerved them. Sanosuke hoped that his friend returned soon. He looked down at his side to see how Kaoru was faring.
She wasn't there.
Sanosuke blinked before looking around in a near panic. Where had the little missy gone now? He desperately hoped that she wasn't about to do something stupid.
"Kenshin, please wake up," Kaoru pleaded. An impassive Sesshoumaru stared at her.
"Begone woman, I have more urgent business to deal with right now," he said. The youkai watched curiously as her eyes narrowed dangerously within a suddenly reddened face. Some inner voice seemed to tell him to beware, but he foolishly ignored it. After all, what could a human woman do to him?
WHACK!
Stars danced in the youkai's eyes as a wooden bokken came out of no where and crashed down on his head. Why that wench, she would pay! Sesshoumaru opened his mouth to snarl at the human, but received yet another whack from her bokken. This time he gave an undignified yelp.
Inuyasha was laughing his ass off.
"Woman," Sesshoumaru gritted out dangerously. "You will die for this." Kaoru's eyes widened fearfully for a second before she boldy brandished her bokken at the youkai lord.
"I'd like to see you try," Kaoru taunted. "I am the assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin style." Sesshoumaru growled as he began to withdraw his sword, but his hand had only succeeded in pulling the reverse blade sword halfway out of its sheath when it stopped.
It refused to pull out the sword.
Sesshoumaru stared down in surprise at his hand and willed it to withdraw the blade. But instead of obeying him, it pushed the sword back down in its sheath. He brought his other hand to his forehead as an unexpected feeling of disorientation washed over him.
"What...is this?" he wondered. The youkai lord felt light headed as he felt a strange pull in his mind. Then something strange happened to him.
A flash of memory played before him. This woman, he did know her! That was when Sesshoumaru realized with shock that not only did he know her...but that he also loved her. That, for the dog youkai, was the greatest revelation of all as he sank back into the subconscious of Himura Kenshin's mind.
A very disorientated and confused Kenshin collapsed down on the ground. Kaoru immediately dropped her sword and bent down next to the swordsman. She fearfully helped him to sit up with Sanosuke's help.
The blue crescent moon was gone from his face, but the red stripes remained on his cheeks. Kenshin's eyes fluttered open, but they had returned to their normal blue color.
"Oro?"
Kenshin was back. And for some strange reason, his head hurt like hell.
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Aoshi stared down at the child. What...what was she? His sword arm trembled as it waited to strike the killing blow. The child's face was now wet with tears as she stared up at the horrified Aoshi. The demonic face on the other side of her head continued to shriek.
What should he do?
"Kaia..." he murmured. Shinomori Aoshi had done many things in his life. But he had never killed a child. He'd never...
"Mr. Aoshi..." Kaia wailed. "I'm sorry Mr. Aoshi! Bad people told me...they told me..."
A stunned Aoshi could only stare down at the child. He had to do something. The creature, the child, she would break free from him if he didn't do something.
"What bad people little one?" he asked. Even his normally impassive voice shook slightly from the effort. He couldn't kill a child! He couldn't!
"Bad people..." the hanyou child sniffed. "Bad people make me do bad things!"
"Who?" Aoshi asked. "Who..." A clawed hand came up and scratched at his face. Luckily for Aoshi, he was able to move back fast enough to mostly avoid it. Even so, a tiny bit of blood trickled down from the thin scratches across his left cheek. The creature hissed at him as the child continued to wail from the back of its head. Whatever control that Kaia had managed to bring over the creature, it was now gone.
Aoshi damned his indecision as he faced off against the creature. He now believed that the child herself was not in control. But if that was so, what the hell was going on?
"Kaia, you need to get control," he said. If he could, he was going to save the girl. The creature flew at him then and the human managed to avoid another raking of its claws. Despite the opportunity, he didn't strike at it with his kodachi.
"Kai..." Another voice halted him as Misao and Gojin came stumbling up onto the deck. A small crowd of seamen and passengers were now gathering to watch them.
"Aoshi! What's going on?" Misao asked. Not turning his attention away from the creature, Aoshi yelled at the young woman.
"Misao! Get these people out of here!" he commanded. Without questioning him, Misao turned and began to bully the surrounding people away from the fight. She even brandished her shuriken at the stubborn ones who refused to budge. In under just a minute, the young Obiwaban had managed to chase the bystanders away.
However, she had also gained the attention of the creature. It screeched as it lunged itself at the surprised young woman. Without a second thought, Aoshi jumped in front of her and brought out his kodachi instinctively in defense.
The creature impaled itself upon his drawn short sword.
A wordless Aoshi watched as it slid slowly off his blade and onto the wooden deck. His suddenly nerveless hand dropped the short sword as he bent down and rolled the creature over. The pain stricken face of a young Kaia stared up at him as she made a very weak smile.
"Mr. Aoshi, I go now. Bad people can't make me hurt no more," she said softly. Then her normally bright eyes faded as her chest slowly came to a halt. Aoshi slowly brought his hands to his face for a moment before glaring up at the nearby Gojin.
"It's possible she didn't know, at least not at first," Gojin said quietly. "Our enemies are ruthless. It's not beneath them to secretly subvert a child and twist her to their will. Lord Naraku will not be pleased with this news of his daughter."
Aoshi felt his breath catch in his throat as red hot rage began to rise in his chest. It was an unusual feeling, usually his anger was cold like steel, not hot like fire. He glared at Gojin. The damnable, there wasn't even a shred of remorse in his face! Didn't he care?
Aoshi felt the sudden urge to punch the man in front of him, but he held back. It was illogical. He wasn't the one who did this to her...
"I don't trust you," Aoshi finally said.
"That is probably for the best," Gojin agreed. "Only the foolish trust blindly. On this, I think we can both agree."
Aoshi cast him an icy glare before he silently bent down to pick up the girl. Then just as quietly, he walked away with Misao following behind him.
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"I think we should split up," Akio suggested. Kouga eyed his son before nodding in agreement.
"He's right Inuyasha. We'd cover more ground if all of us split up. There's no telling where that bastard's hiding," the wolf said. Inuyasha nodded absentmindedly as he looked over at Kenshin. The red stripes were still present on his face, but other than that, he was back to normal.
Kenshin didn't really seem to remember much of what happened when Sesshoumaru took over. Perhaps that was for the best.
"If we do that," Inuyasha said. "I need some people to stay here. I can't leave my home undefended." He saw his daughter open her mouth and the hanyou immediately shot her down.
"I know you want to go Amaya, but someone needs to stay here," he commanded. His daughter glared at him. Dammit, she had Kagome's stubbornness and his temper. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Father," she said. "They took Mother's ashes. I can't just sit here!"
"Amaya, I need you here," her father said firmly. "Your daughter needs you here and so do I. Naraku may try to attack if we're all gone." His daughter glared at him, but she finally, and reluctantly, agreed.
"Very well Father," she agreed. She and her father locked eyes for a moment before he nodded.
"You'll get your chance Amaya," Inuyasha said. "I promise." Kouga turned to his son then, but Akio was already one step ahead of him.
"I'll stay too father. And I'll send a message to Mother. If Naraku managed to get in here, he may try to hurt our tribe." Kouga nodded his head in approval. His son was intelligent and he was as deadly as his father in a fight. He had nothing to prove.
"Sango, Namu," Shippo said then. "I want both of you to stay here." The kitsune was met then with protests and glares. Namu opened his mouth to argue, but he caught Inuyasha glaring at him so he shut his mouth. Before Kenshin or the others could say anything, Yahiko was already protesting loudly.
"I'm going! I'm not staying behind!" he yelled.
"So much for that," Sano muttered. Inuyasha eyed his descendant a moment before smirking at him.
"Want to come with me Yahiko?" he asked. Yahiko's face lightened up as he quickly agreed. However, this only served to renew Sango and Namu's indignition at being left behind. An irate Inuyasha finally banged his fist down on the short table they were all seated at and yelled at the young foxes.
"Look, I need people to stay here!" he yelled. "Your father and I have agreed that you will remain behind!"
"But Yahiko..." Sango started.
"ENOUGH!" Inuyasha roared. "I said I need people here in case Naraku or even some other bastard tries to attack!" He softened his voice then as he looked at the downcast youngsters. "Look kids, I know you want to go. And I know it doesn't seem fair that Yahiko is going and you aren't, but you'll get your chance too. We'll draw too much attention if all of us are together."
Namu and Sango sullenly agreed to stay behind. However, they still cast a glare over at a smirking Yahiko.
"I'll stay behind as well," Megumi said. Inuyasha nodded his head in approval.
"Good, then it's Yahiko and I so far. Who else wants to come with us?"
"Wait," Kaoru said. "We don't even know where we're going to look first! Shouldn't we figure that out?" The others looked at each other a moment before sighing.
"Well I for one plan on staying here," Myouga announced. Kirara mewed and glared at the cowardly flea, but he ignored her. Inuyasha actually agreed with him though and even went so far as to ask Jaken to stay. The small youkai stared longily in Kenshin's direction, but a glare from Inuyasha stopped any protests. Even so, he still pouted. He wanted to follow Lord Sesshoumaru.
Kenshin and Sanosuke studied each other quietly before they each nodded their heads in understanding. It might be a start.
"What is it?" Megumi asked. Everyone else turned to look at the pair.
"This one thinks that perhaps we should seek out the Obiwaban, that we should," Kenshin suggested. "They have connections that could be of use to us." Sano nodded his head at that before putting his own input it.
"If we do that, we might as well get in touch with Saito. He might have information for us too. That mangy dog will have noticed if there's anything unusual going on," he said.
"Agreed," Kenshin said. "This one will go to Kyoto to speak with Aoshi. Perhaps you should track down Saito, Sanosuke."
"Hey, wait a minute," Inuyasha protested. "Why the hell should we go find these people anyway? We're looking for Naraku!" Miroku sighed inside the bokken before gave Yahiko a strange request.
"Yahiko," the monk said. "Throw me at Inuyasha's head." A second later, a flying bokken banged against the stubborn hanyou's head. Inuyasha yelped and glared at Yahiko, but a zap of spiritual energy from Miroku turned his outrage on the monk.
"Miroku!" Inuyasha yelled.
"Inuyasha," Miroku said calmly. "Calm down. If our friends believe that these people can help us, I think we should seek them out. Besides, it's not as if we have any leads right now anyway." Inuyasha gave a feh as he reluctantly agreed.
"Fine," he said. "Shippo, go with Sanosuke to find this Saito guy. I'll go with Yahiko, Miroku, Kenshin and Kaoru to find these..."
"Obiwaban," Kaoru said.
"Obiwaban," Inuyasha finished. He turned to the wolf youkai sitting across the table from him. "What about you wolf?" he asked. Kouga gave a feh before replying.
"I'll go with Shippo and Sanosuke. At least," he turned to smirk at the tall human, "At least as long as Rooster Head here can keep up with a couple of youkai." Sanosuke glared at him before smirking back in reply.
"I think I can manage that wolf, as long as you don't get in MY way," he said. Kouga laughed then. He appreciated anyone with a little backbone.
"Then it's agreed then," Kouga said. "Shippo, Sano, and I will go find this Saito guy. The rest of you will go after these Obiwaban people."
"Agreed," Inuyasha said. "Let's get going."
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Author's Note: I plan to do some fanart to go along with my story. I've got an unfinished website on geocities that I haven't had time to work on. However, if I do any artwork to go along with this story, I might post it on the site even if the rest of it is unfinished. If I do, I'll list the website if you want to see the pictures.
One other thing, as someone has pointed out, I haven't focused very much on the POV of the RK characters lately, especially Kenshin. I'm hoping that now I've split them up, it will be a little easier to manage. I'm going to try to focus a little more on Kenshin in the next chapters.