A/N: Sorry for the delay; busy week with the Ohio Graduation Tests going on and all. So, really, IT'S THE GOVERNMENT'S FAULT! Right. This chapter starts with a little background history of Reyu and Hiromi, which is all in italics. It's a flashback, not a vision, so I hope I don't confuse anyone. Heh.
Also, orignally this was going to be the second-to-last chapter, but I decided to split it into two chapters because it was so long and taking me forever. So now, after this one, there will only two chapters left. There we go.
--No Time--
Reyu scrambled up the Bone Eater's Well and, like the klutz she was, tumbled out over the edge and fell head first onto the ground. Another flash of light emitted from deep inside the well, and a moment later, Inuyasha jumped out without any trouble. Without a word, he lifted Reyu to her feet and looked at her expectantly.
"Okay," she started, brushing the dirt of her clothes, "First things first; remember me mentioning that demon-seer I knew? Hiromi?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, we need to find him. I'm going to need his help to do the spell. Unfortunately, I have no idea where he's at. He's a winged demon, you know, so he could be anywhere."
"What spell? What are you going to do?" Inuyasha asked, wondering what exactly she was planning. But apparently, she wasn't about to tell him.
"It doesn't matter if we don't find Hiromi," Reyu said, unrelenting, "So let's get that out of the way first."
"But--"
She cut him off. "Can you sniff him out?"
"Uh, if I had his scent I could. But I've never met him, so... Do you have anything of his, maybe, that would have his scent on it?" He doubted she would, as the only things she had with her were the clothes on her back. Reyu frowned, thinking the same thing, but then realization crossed her face and she pulled out something from the neckline of her yukata.
It was a chain, and dangling from it was shiny rock about the size of her palm, with a yellow, crystal-like hue, cut crudely in the shape of a five-point star. She pulled the necklace off over her head, handing it over to Inuyasha almost reluctantly.
"I'm not sure if it still has his scent or not, but go ahead and try."
Inuyasha turned the star charm over in his hands. Scratched roughly on the back were the words 'Hiro. For Reyu.' Reyu saw his puzzled expression and said, "It was a gift. He made that and gave it to me about a year ago."
"So, you don't just know this guy, huh?"
She titled her head to the side thoughtfully and replied, "Hiro is--was my best friend. My only friend, really. Um..will the necklace work?"
Inuyasha brought it up to his nose and sniffed. "Smells like you, obivously," he said, then took another sniff. "And kinda like...river water?"
"Uh, that's because I kinda threw it into a river," she informed him, twindling her thumbs. "Me and Hiro got into a big fight nearly a month ago, and I was so angry at him that I threw the necklace away."
Inuyasha blinked. "How you'd get it back then?"
"After Hiromi left, I dove into the river to get it out." She told him casually, as if it were nothing. She left out the fact that it was during the freezing night, that she could barely swim, and that it took her nearly two hours before she was able to find it again.
Inuyasha raised an eye brow at her, but said nothing, being much too depressed to feel curious or questioning. He continued searching for the slightest trace of Hiromi's scent. Reyu knew he probably thought it was stupid of her to jump into a river to retrieve a trinket she threw in there in the first place, but he didn't know how valuable it was to her. Even when she was mad at Hiromi, she couldn't bear to not wear it, so that's why she hid it under her yukata. That way, she would still feel its presence without having to see it there and think of Hiromi.
But she thought of him now.
"Wow, Hiromi, look at all the stars! Aren't they so pretty?"
"Yeah, I guess." He wasn't even looking at the sky.
"You guess? Hiro! They're beautiful! All sparkley and bright and full of hope..."
"If you say so," he shrugged.
"Oh! Can you fly up there and get one for me?" Reyu asked, bouncing at his shoulder. "Please? Pretty please?"
"What, are you kidding? I can't fly that high!"
"Aww, come on! Can't you at least try?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No!"
"Pretty-pretty please?"
"No! Why should I?"
"For me?"
He opened his mouth, paused, then shut it, seeing that look on her face. He couldn't say no to that face. Sighing, he laid down on the grass and closed his eyes. "I'm going to sleep now," he told her, "So don't bug me. You need to go sleep soon too. And remember to put out the fire."
"Okay, but--"
"Sorry, Reyu, but I'm asleep now."
"No you're not, you're still talking!"
"Just sleep talking. I really can't hear you and have no idea what I'm saying. And now I'm snoring, see? Snooore..."
She rolled her eyes and giggled.
"And you...snore...need to...snore...go to sleep now...snore...too."
She giggled again and ignored him, continuing to look at the stars. Eventually she did go to sleep, and when she woke the next morning, Hiromi was gone. He did that sometimes, but normally he told her first where he was going, so she worried. He was gone all day. She was starting to worry about herself too, since it was getting dark and she was alone. But finally, he dropped in from the sky, looking very smug.
"Hiro, you jerk! Where were you? I was worried, you know! I thought maybe a bear came by last night and ate you or something--"
"Here," he said, thrusting something into her hands, "This is for you."
"Huh?" She blinked and looked down at a long, silvery chain. Something shiny was hanging from it. "O-oh! It's a star!"
"Yep. I couldn't get you a real one, but I figured this was better anyway. There's tiny crystals in the rock it's made of that reflect light, so it will always shine, night and day, unlike those stupids ones in the sky. I had to fly all the way to Tsukachi Mountain to get the rock and then I had go to a village get chisel to shape it and a chain to hang it on."
"You didn't steal those things, did you?" Reyu asked.
"No, don't worry, I paid for them, but I know those stupid humans overcharged me. But see, I behaved myself, and I went through all that work to get you your dumb star. And I scratched my name on the back, since I made it, and your name too so if someone steals it or, more likely, you lose it, we can prove that it's yours." He grinned and waited to be lavished with praise, but Reyu was very quiet and kept staring at the charm. Hiro then saw that she was crying. He gaped and felt a surge of panic, wondering what on earth he could have possily done wrong this time. Was it something he said? Was she upset that it wasn't a real star, one from the sky? Did she not like it? He didn't understand; he thought girls liked things like this. He thought it would make her happy. But instead he had gone and made her cry.
"H-hey, don't cry Reyu," he said worriedly, "Whatever I did, I'm sorry, okay?"
Reyu let out a laugh. Hiromi then blinked in surprise as Reyu jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, saying, "Oh, Hiro, thank you, thank you, thank you! I just love it! It's the best gift you ever gave me!"
"It's..the only gift...I ever gave you..." he gasped, as Reyu's hug was cutting off his air supply.
"I'll always wear it and treasure it forever! My very own star! Hiro, you're the best! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she sang, releasing him from the death-hug, and she flashed him such a wonderful smile that he felt, somewhere deep inside his sub-consciousness, that he would do anything in the world to see her smile like that again.
"I'm glad you like it," he said truthfully.
"And I'm glad I have a friend like you, Hiro," she replied.
"I found a lingering scent that must be his, but it isn't enough to track him down with." Inuyasha handed her necklace back to her. She paused to stare at it for a moment before slinging it over her head and letting it drop under her yukata again.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to search for him the normal way," she shrugged.
"What's the normal way?" Inuyasha wanted to know.
"Walking around aimlessly and hoping we're lucky enough run into him." She cast a glance through the trees where the village lay ahead. "Do you want to go to your friends first?"
Staring at the ground, Inuyasha shook his head. "I'd rather not have to see them right now," he mummured.
"I understand. We"ll just go then." Reyu turned to the east and pointed. "I last saw Hiromi by the village near the exit of the pass, the one we were in a few days ago. I guess we could start there."
Inuyasha finally looked up. He glanced back at the village, at the God tree, but his eyes eventually rested on the Bone Eater's Well. Staring at it with unblinking eyes, he recalled the time he pushed Kagome in and then plugged it with an entire tree to stop her from coming back. He did that for her own good; the only way she would be safe was if she stayed in her own time. Yet somehow she had managed to return anyway and could not be persuaded to leave. And it was just what Inuyasha had needed, to feel her presence there. It gave him strength and he had been glad that she was back.
Now Inuyasha felt that he had acted selfishly and he badly wished that he had forced her away and plugged the well again. But he hadn't; he had let her stay and now exactly what he had feared had happend. Why did she ever have to come through that damn well?
"Inuyasha? Are you okay?" came Reyu's voice, interupting his frustrated thoughts. She was standing there, waiting for him to follow.
"No. I don't think I'll ever be okay now." He tore his gaze from the well and strode firmly on past her, head held up as he added, "But that isn't going to stop me."
----------------
"Why do I have to come with you?"
"It was part of the deal."
"I don't remember anything about this being part of the deal! He never said--"
"Oh, just give it up, will you? I told you there was no going back. Once Naraku has hold of something, he never lets go."
They fell silent. Hiromi continued to lead the way, turning left and right, passing that rock, crossing this stream, going this way and that way without the slightest hesitation, as if he had been through through those woods hundreds of times before. He hadn't, but with the additional Shikon Jewel shards he now possessed, that wasn't a problem.
After a while, he decided to break the silence and asked, "Naraku...is he your father?"
"Hhmp. You could say that," Kagura said. "Unfortunately," she added acidly.
"You don't like him?"
"Do you?"
"Oh." Hiromi blinked, "Then why do you serve him?"
"Because I have to. I am bound to Naraku."
"Why don't you just run away?"
"Don't you think I'd have already tried that?" she said, with an undertone that suggested how stupid she found his question. "Besides, I don't see you running away," she sneered. Hiromi glowered at her.
"I need these shards. I need the power they give me."
"How naive." Kagura rolled her eyes. "You're not very attentive, hm? Maybe if you were, you'd realize what a fool you are."
"Thanks." Hiromi said bitterly. He was about to retort, but a loud, heavy crash from behind him made them both stop and turn around. Hiromi winced.
"Not very coordinated, are they?"
Two black-skinned oni laid piled on the ground, one's massive arm caught in between the other's twisting horns. Also, the horned one was missing a leg. It was laying off to the side, next to the tree root it tripped on. Neither oni seemed to mind any of this. Under normal circumstances, it would have been painful. But who cared about pain? They were both already dead.
Kagura sighed. "They're useless without my constant attention. With rotten bodies, it just makes it harder to move them. The dead always dance better when they're fresh."
Hiromi grimaced. "Did you kill them?" he asked as she worked her powers to make the oni get up, the horned one reattaching his leg as best he could.
"Of course not. I wouldn't dirty myself with that. Human warriors brought them down. Naraku had the bodies fetched for me." She gave the zombie-oni a considering look and added, "He brought the humans too, but these demons will do so much better."
Hiromi tried to surpress a shudder. He didn't want to be in any part of this. This wasn't what he wanted. He thought about just flying away, right then and there, and coming up with a better, less violent and regrettable plan.
"Like what?" asked a cynical voice inside his head. "There's nothing else you can do!"
"But it's wrong," countered a smaller voice, one Hiro didn't use to hear until after he met Reyu. What did she tell him it was again?
"It's a very wrong and bad thing to do! Those people didn't do anything to you, they don't deserve this!"
Oh yeah. A conscience.
"Neither do you," said the louder, more stubborn voice. "But it's the only way. Nothing you can do about it."
"But she wouldn't like it," spoke his conscience.
"She wouldn't like the other option, either," retorted his other voice, and that seemed to put an end to his rambling thoughts.
"Well?" Kagura asked, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently.
"I'm sorry; what?"
"I said, how much further until we reach them?"
He paused, giving it one last thought and...
Conscience was the loser.
"This way," he said, turning left and heading forward, "There's a clearing right through here, where they'll show up at any mintue."
"Good." Kagura followed, her undead oni lumbering after. "You remember what to do?"
"How could I forget?" he grumbled unhappily.
"Don't even think about bailing out on me," she warned. "Not that I need or want your help anymore, but Naraku will find out and he will not be pleased. He hates it when people disobey him, since it hardly ever happens. There would certain..retributions. Understand?"
"Yes."
"Good boy. Now get ready. Here they come..."
----------------
They had only been walking for about a half hour, not even close to the pass, when Inuyasha caught wind of his scent.
"Naraku," he hissed, as if the name burned his tounge when he spoke it. Immediately, he turned to follow the scent and started towards the direction without a single thought, his rage rising.
"Oh no you don't!"
SMACK!
Befuddled, Inuyasha stopped and searched around him for whatever it was that was thrown at his head. He barely caught sight of the zori sandal laying on the ground before Reyu, with one foot bare, came rushing straight at him. She tackled into him and knocked them both to the ground. In shock, it took Inuyasha a mintue before he registered what just happend. Grumbling, he untangled himself from Reyu and stood up.
"What the hell was that for? Hey!" A determined Reyu clamped her arms around his right leg. Irritated and not in the mood to put up with her childish antics, Inuyasha tried to shake her off. "Let go of my leg, Reyu!" He commanded. She held on tighter.
"I don't think so, mister!" she said from the ground, "You're not getting away this time! You're always taking off without a word and leaving us slow, non-demon people, like me, behind! In the last few days, I've nearly run my legs clean off trying to keep up with you. You've done this to me about three times already, so I'm not gonna let you do it again!" She let go of his leg and pulled herself up, but quickly grabbed a fistful of his sleeve as if to make sure he couldn't get away from her. "If you would just calm yourself and slow down, I'd truly appreciate it. Now, tell me what's got you in such a big hurry."
"Dammit Reyu, there's no time for this!"
"Tell me. You're not going anywhere 'til you do."
"It's Naraku, all right? He's nearby!"
Reyu failed to see the point in this. "So?" she said. Inuyasha was getting really irritated now.
"So? So I'm going to kill him! I'm going to rip him into shreads, I'm going to--"
"Not go after Naraku. If anything, there's no time for getting pointless revenge. We need to keep searching for Hiromi."
"It's not pointless revenge! It's justice for what that bastard did to Kagome! And I'm going after him, whether you want me to or not. It has more of a point to it than your plan, which I still haven't been told, by the way."
"That's not what I meant, Inuyasha," Reyu said in exasperation. "If my plan works, then there wouldn't be any point in killing Naraku. It'd just be a waste of time. If you were a little patient, you could wait to kill him afterwards."
"What is your damn plan? If you were a little considerate, you could just clue me in here and then I'd have a better idea of what the hell is going on!"
"Look, I'll tell you about it after I talk it over with Hiromi. I just don't know if, well..." her voice trailed off. What she just didn't know was if her plan would work or not, which is why she refused to tell Inuyasha in the first place. She didn't want to raise his hopes like that just to have them dashed to pieces if things didn't turn out well. She didn't need an even more super-depressed Inuyasha right now. There was too much at stake, and besides, she couldn't bear to see him look any more rueful than he already was.
"Fine. Tell me later. But then that means I get to go after Naraku first."
With his arms crossed and his eyes staring her down, Reyu's shoulders slumped and she knew he was going to get his way. So, so stubborn, she thought, The biggest thick-head I have ever met!
He was too stubborn, even for her.
"Fine," she said, matching his firm tone. "But you're taking me with you."
----------------
"Miroku, watch out!"
He hastend to get out of the way, but too late. The oni's huge fist came rushing down, crashing into Miroku and knocking him to the ground. Then oni's other fist followed, right onto Miroku's arm. He was pinned there by his arm, the weight of the oni's fist causing a sickening CRACK. Pain shot through his arm and up to his shoulder. The oni probably would have crushed his bone into dust, but luckily, Sango's boomerang rammed into the oni, throwing him backwards. She grabbed it as it flew back to her and rushed to Miroku's side.
"Can you move your arm?" she asked.
"Hold on," Miroku said, sitting up. He tried to raise his arm. "AHHH!" He let it drop. "Ahh. No. I don't think so."
"Well, we can't have you opening that abyss in your hand, now can we?" It was Kagura, eyeing them with distaste. Next to her was a demon they didn't know, one with black hair and wings, and he kept speaking to her in hushed tones. She nodded once, then turned back to look at Sango and Miroku. She seemed almost as if she were waiting.
"I can still use my Wind Tunnel," Miroku whispered. He wasn't whispering in hopes that Kagura and the other demon wouldn't hear, but because that's just how loud his voice was at the moment, crippled from the pain of an extremely broken arm. "Just pull off my rosary for me and back away as fast--"
"Forget it," Sango cut him off, "You're too hurt for that, and besides, Naraku's demon wasps are hovering around. I'll take care of it. You and Shippo just stay put."
Speaking of Shippo, she thought, Where he is? Hiding somewhere, I hope.
Sango readied her boomerang. The was one oni left; the other one was laying in two pieces, cut in half, and would not be pulling itself back together again. Sango decided to take out the remaining undead oni first, then immediately turn her attention to Kagura. Her only concern was the other demon with her, the one with the wings. He hadn't attacked yet but kept saying things to Kagura. He didn't talk or even look at them. Sango wasn't sure what he would do when she went for Kagura.
There was no more time for thinking out strageties; Kagura had decided to act. With the flick of her fan, the oni sprung into motion. It stomped with surprising speed towards her, charging like a bull with it's head down and horns ready to strike. Sango raised back her arm and threw the boomerang straight at him with all her might, hoping to slice the oni in two like before.
As soon as it left her fingers, the winged demon next to Kagura lifted his head and said, "Now."
Just seconds before her Boomerang Bone would have hit the oni, Kagura sent a strong gust of wind to revert its path; the boomerang flew off course and Kagura's winds sent it hurling towards Miroku.
"No!" Sango cried, unable to reach her boomerang in time. It zoomed towards where Miroku was slumped.
Miroku quickly rolled out the strike zone. He made it, but just barely. Now laying on his back, he turned his head over and stared wide-eyed at the Boomerang Bone that jutted from the dirt, the top still waving back and forth, just inches from his head.
Sango didn't even have time to heave a sigh of relief; Kagura was controlling the oni again, and now Sango had to resort to using her katana, which wouldn't hold long against the undead orge.
The oni charged. Sango side-stepped and slashed her sword into its torso as it passed. Its tough skin repelled it and with a sinking heart, Sango saw that her sword was now bent. The oni was preparing to charge again, and now she was unarmed. With nowhere to run, Sango braced herself for the fastly approaching demon.
Two things happend at once: Shippo, in a brave if not well thought out attempt to help his friends, jumped down from the tree he was hiding in and attacked the nearest foe, the winged demon, with his foxfire. The demon did not seemed surprised at all when he noticed the gaint top spinning towards him, but fortunately it did distract him from what else was happening, something he hadn't predicted and therefore couldn't alert Kagura to.
What else that was happening was that right when Kagura's oni was just split-seconds away from impaling Sango with its horns, a streak of red and white (and purple?) flashed by. It seemed to slice clean through the oni, which roared and toppled over right at Sango's feet. She instictively jumped back and let out her breath.
"Inuyasha!" someone wailed, "Put me down first before you go around slashing at demons!"
"Inuyasha?" balked Kagura. "What is he doing here?" For some reason, she directed this question at her winged companion, as if he were expected to know. He just shook his head and looked grim.
Inuyasha let Reyu down and made an effort not to rub his sore neck. With the way she was holding on so tightly when he carried them there, you'd think she was trying to severe his head off with just her arms.
"You guys okay?" he asked his friends without turning around. He was too busy glaring at Kagura, who glared back.
"More or less," Sango said, heading over to Miroku to retrieve her boomerang.
"Defintely less," huffed Miroku, cradling his broken arm, "But I'm glad you're here. You can finish Kagura off for us." Shippo, after seeing that the winged demon was not attempting to kill him at the moment, took this time to dart across the clearing and take cover behind Miroku.
"Y-yeah, Inuyasha!" he said, just a little shakingly, "I weakened 'em up for ya! You can do the rest!"
"No problem," Inuyasha said, with a deadly seriousness. You could see the white of his knuckles as he clenched the hilt of his sword. "You told Naraku about the New Moon, didn't you?" he asked accusingly, adressing Kagura. It made sense. She knew about his transformation for a while now, but hadn't told Naraku. Up until reccently, that is.
"No. What reason would I have to tell him that?" she said evenly but looking annoyed.
"Liar!" Inuyasha yelled. "You're the only one else who knows! You had to have told him!"
"Please. I only tell Naraku something when he orders me to. Which he didn't."
This only made Inuyasha even more angry, because part of him realized she was telling him the truth. "Then how did he find out?" he growled.
"He hired himself a seer," she said, jerking her thumb at winged demon next to her. "For a few measley Shikon shards, this lad will tell you all you need to know about your enemies, including the when's and the where's."
Inuyasha finally registered the other demon next to her. Although he knew he never saw him before, there was something slightly familar about him. The wings. His smell. Inuyasha's mind formed the name but Reyu spoke it.
"Hiromi?"
She had been back with Sango and the others, working on a splint for Miroku and not listening to the conversation. (Because she couldn't do both at the same time.) But the word 'seer' caught her attention. Now she was standing up, staring at Hiromi with confusion. He stared back at her in horror.
"Reyu! What are you doing here?" He sounded upset, and wasn't only confused but also surprised. Why didn't he know this would happend? Why didn't he See her before hand?
"I could ask you the same question!" Now Reyu was upset. He had some nerve! And what was he doing here, with the enemy? Reyu noted that while the demoness wasn't Naraku like Inuyasha had thought, she obviously worked for him or something. And what had she said about Hiromi?
"Well, it's seems there is no need for introductions,"Kagura said, looking mildly amused. "And now that Inuyasha is here, I suppose that I should be going." She pulled out a feather from her hair and enlarged it with her magic.
"Running away, are you?" Inuyasha snarled.
"Actually, I'm giving you a break. My orders were, "Kill Inuyasha's companions while he is gone getting aid for the girl." When Naraku struck the miko girl instead of you, he figured you would immediately go somewhere to get her help. So he had the seer confirm it and also find out when and where your friends would be next. Without you to get in the way, he sent me to kill them. Makes things easier, you see, when you are all separated. But now you've shown up, so my orders are invalid. And since I'm in such a good mood, I'll let you go this once."
Hopping on her feather and rising steadily into the air, she added, "Besides, you have your man. He's the one who told, not me. And if he's smart, he'll fly away while he can. You are done now, Seer."
As if on que, Naraku's demon wasps had suddenly converged and in the blink of an eye, they flew down and surrounded Hiromi, almost hiding him from view. A slashing noise sounded and he cried out a shout of pain. Then the wasps rose back into the air, going as quickly as they came, two of them each holding something small and pink as they flew to the north.
Hiromi, both of his wrists bleeding, looked up at the retreating Kagura with angry eyes. "Those were mine!" he shouted, "That was his payment! He can't take them back!"
Kagura glanced down at him with something surprisingly close to pity. "He never gave them away in the first place, boy. I told you, once Naraku has hold of something, he never lets go. You were just another pawn." With that, she flew away, following the demon wasps.
Hiromi's face fell and a feeling of defeat washed over him. He held up his wrists and stared at them blankly as the dark, crimson blood welled up through the slits and ran down his arms in long, red lines. Soon the blood flow came to a halt, his skin already healing and knitting up the wounds. He let his arms drop to his side, not bothering to wipe his wrists off. He looked up; everyone's eyes were on him.
Miroku, Sango, and Shippo stared at him with confusion, because, obviously, they were confused. Reyu stared at him in this sad way, clearly disappointed. Hiromi avoided meeting her eyes.
Inuyasha stared at him with pure hatred.
"Reyu," he spoke, with a biting edge in his voice, "Is the same seer we were looking for?" He knew it was; he recongnized the scent now. But he needed to ask first.
Reyu seemed to hesitate; she had come to a conclusion similar to Inuyasha's. But thinking about that made her relent. "Yeah."
"You had a vision of me," Inuyasha said to him. "And then you told Naraku all about it. That's how he knew exactly when and where I'd be in my human form. It's because of you that he found out!" Inuyasha's voice was getting louder, harsher, and he was practically seething. "It's because of you that Kagome died!"
His friends gasped from behind him. Hiromi remained silent. Reyu was shaking her head.
"Hiromi," she sighed, "It's not true, is it? Tell me you didn't do that."
He kept silent, his head down, avoiding having to look at anyone.
"Hiro?"
Speaking towards the ground, he said quietly, "I can deny nothing."
"You're dead," breathed Inuyasha. In one swift motion, he leaped forward and brought his sword down in vertical slash. Hiromi dodged it by mere inches and nearly lost his left wing. The sword sank deep into the trunk of a tree that stood behind him. After a throwing a quick glance back at Reyu, he ran two steps and thrust himself up in the air, taking flight.
Inuyasha didn't even bother to stop and get his sword; he left it in the tree and ran off after Hiromi.
"Inuyasha! Don't!" Reyu called out, but she knew he wasn't going to listen.
"What's going on? What--what exactly happend?"
"Lady Reyu, do you know that demon?"
"K-kagome's d-d-dead?"
Reyu turned around to face Inuyasha's somber friends. She didn't know what she was supposed to say to them. And there was no time. No time."I'm sorry, but I'll explain later!" was all she could come up with. She quickly bowed her head in apology, then turned and ran in the direction Inuyasha and Hiromi had went.
Again with the running, she mentally sighed, Apparently it's unavoidable. She frowned and willed herself to move faster; she had to catch up to them before Inuyasha killed Hiromi.
----------------
There were too many trees in the way. Hiromi couldn't fly out of the forest from here and he had to fly low. He felt stupid for going this way and not flying out through the clearing when he was there. Then again, it's kind of hard to think about those things when a half-demon is swinging a giant blade at you. Said half-demon was right on his tail, too, so he couldn't turn around and go back. Not without being torn to tiny pieces.
Finally, Hiromi spotted a break in the trees, free of obstrucing branches. He tilted the top of his wings upwards, letting the gust of wind fill them and give him an incline. He was almost out, but he paused, mid-air, thinking, What about Reyu? He had finally found her. He couldn't just fly away now!
And he wasn't going to. That second's hesitation cost him; Inuyasha had caught up. He sprung through the air and Hiromi suddenly felt five claws pierce into each wing. Instantly, they were falling to the ground, Hiromi being pulled down by Inuyasha's grip. Unbalanced by this, they both crashed to the forest floor.
For a moment, Hiromi blinked slowly at the twigs and leaves and the sideways bottoms of trees. After a quick settling of his mind and senses, he hurriedly rolled onto his knees and got up. He took a few steps but the ground wavered under his feet. Apparently he wasn't as settled as he thought. Being pulled down from the sky can do that to you. He stumbled and fell against a nearby tree. Finally, things stopped spinning.
But then there was a hand closed around his throat.
"Hguh!"
He gasped for air. Inuyasha's hand only closed tigther. He lifted Hiromi by his neck so that they were eye level. Hiromi raked at Inuyasha's death-grip with his hands, but he couldn't break free. Inuyasha was not letting go.
"Bastard," he growled. "You damn bastard!"
Through blurry, narrowing eyes, Hiromi thought he saw someone else show up behind Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha, stop it!" the person shouted. It was Reyu's voice.
Either he didn't hear her or he was ignoring her, because he refused to let go.
"YOU KILLED HER!" he yelled, squeezing Hiromi's throat all the more tigther.
"Hgh..." Hiromi's hands dropped, no longer able to try and escape Inuyasha's grip. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and his eyelids fluttered.
"Inuyasha!" Reyu cried again, "Put him down! He can't breathe!"
"She's dead. Because of you. You killed her." Inuyasha held onto him, choking the life out of him, ignoring Reyu's cries. "Your fault. You killed her! You took her away from me!"
Hiromi didn't respond at all now, didn't gasp for breathe. He was hanging slack and still. Reyu pulled at Inuyasha, but he didn't release his hold. Her heart beat wildly; he was going to kill him, he going to kill Hiromi...
"Let him go, Inuyasha, let him go!"
Rage was the only thing he heard.
Hiromi went completely limp.
Roaring, red rage firing through his veins, screaming in his head.
Hiromi's eyelids stopped fluttering and closed.
Don't kill him Inuyasha, please don't kill him, Reyu's thoughts raced, Do something, I gotta do something...
He still didn't let go...
"Inuyasha, SIT!"
----------------
The familar command rang through his ears, jolting him, draining his rage in an instant. He finally let go. Hiromi dropped and slid against the tree. Suddenly, he was gasping for air like crazy, like someone who had been under water for far too long and just broke through to the surface. Inuyasha stared down him with wide eyes, almost as if in disbelief of what he had nearly done. Then he stared down at himself, wondering why he was still standing and not forced to the ground. It took him a minute, but then something inside his mind clicked.
He turned around and saw Reyu, really seeing her this time. Her purple eyes were flooded with tears and she was shaking. But she looked relieved. She gave him a sad smile. "Good boy," she said softly.
He looked back at Hiromi, who was breathing heavily and staring out through half-lidded eyes. Inuyasha's rage might have been gone but his anger was still there.
"Count yourself lucky," Inuyasha told him. "I'm going to let to you live for now but only because that's what Reyu wants. If it weren't for her, you'd be dead right now and I wouldn't feel an ounce of guilt about it." He turned back to Reyu. "Do we really need his help for whatever you're planning?"
"Yes."
"He can't be trusted! He-- How do you know he'll even agree to help?" Especially since I just tried to kill him, he thought, but didn't say aloud.
"I'll talk to him. He'll listen to me," she answered flatly. "Go ahead and get your friends. We'll meet up with you in a few minutes."
"What, you think I'm going to leave you here with him?"
"Hiromi won't do anything to me and he won't run away. Don't worry about it; I'll have everything under control."
"Feh," was all Inuyasha had left to say on the matter. Throwing one last warning glance back at Hiromi, he reluctantly headed back to the clearing.
Reyu took a few steps closer and waited for Hiromi to regain full consciousness and get his breathing back to normal. As a demon, he healed faster than humans, so this didn't take long. Using the tree for support, he pulled himself up and found that he could walk steady. He massaged his throat as he walked over to stand in front of Reyu.
"Thanks," he murmmered.
"Are you okay, Hiro?"
"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine."
"Good." Reyu then slammed her fist into his stomach.
"Oof!" Hiromi doubled over. "Re..yu..." he said, through gritted teeth. He stumbled back a step, then straigthend himself up. When he saw Reyu glowering at him, he realized how mad she was and gulped.
Reyu wasn't someone who was easily angered. She's a kind and polite girl with a meek disposition and it normally takes a lot for her to get angry. Hiromi had only seen her get this angry twice, but that was enough for him to find out how different she could act when she was. He knew; it might take a lot for her to get angry, but when she is, you had better watch out.
Especially when she started throwing punches. For such a timid, petite human girl, she could hit and she could hit hard.
"You jerk!" She was coming at him again, fuming. "I can't believe you!" She sent another punch at him and slugged him hard in the shoulder. "How could you such a thing?" Another hit in the gut. "How could you!" The next one got him square in the face. Hiromi thought now would be a good time to stop her, before she pulverized him to a pulp, but her punches were getting softer and slower. Now she was just repeatedly beating her balled fists on his chest and crying.
"I thought," she sobbed as she hit him, "I thought you were--"
Hiromi grabbed her wrists in his hands, and held on as she tried to punch him even still.
"I thought you were... I thought--," she sobbed again. She gave up trying to hit him.
"Reyu--"
"I thought you were a good demon!" she finally shouted, and ripped her hands away. She stepped back from him, glaring through angry tears. "I thought you were better than this!"
"Reyu..." Hiromi faltered, "I'm--it's not...it's not like that. You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly," she snapped. "You wanted more power so badly that you used your Sight to sell out Inuyasha for Naraku! You willingly helped someone as evil and horrible as Naraku just for thoses stupid shards!"
"No, that's not it, you don't understand..."
"Then tell me, Hiro," Reyu said, lowering her voice. She sniffed and wiped her eyes off on her arm. "Just tell me why." Her voice was almost pleading.
"I--I can't."
"Why not?"
"I just can't! You don't--"
"Don't tell me I don't understand!" she said, her voice rising again. "I already know I don't understand! I can't understand, because you won't tell me!"
Hiromi didn't reply. He pressed his lips in firm line and put on his stubborn face.
"Fine. It doesn't matter anyway," Reyu muttered, "Nothing you can say will make what you did any less terrible. An innocent girl lost her life because of it, you know."
Hiromi's face fell, no longer stubborn at all, but sad. "And that's why he was after me, right?" he asked, refering to Inuyasha. "That what he was talking about when he kept saying 'You killed her, you killed her.' I'm the one who informed Naraku. If I hadn't, he would have never knew. He wouldn't have attacked them and killed that girl." He sighed deeply and frowned. "I didn't want any of that, Reyu. You have to believe me. I didn't mean for it to be like this."
Reyu was silent, looking at the never ending grey sky instead of him. She seemed to be deep in thought.
"All right," she finally spoke. "I can't forgive you now. Not only did you ruin Inuyasha's and his friends' lives, but you also gave Naraku an advanatage in his goal to ruin everyone else's lives. As I'm sure you know, the future isn't looking too good anymore. You messed up big time, Hiro."
He nodded but said nothing, waiting for her to walk away in disgust and never speak to him again.
Reyu didn't go anywhere though.
"So, do you want to redeem yourself?"
"What?" Hiromi asked in surprise.
"I'm giving you a second chance, dummy! Do you want to fix what you caused or not?"
"Of c-course I do," he stammered, shocked and grateful at the same time. "But what could I possibly do? How can we fix it?"
"Well, that's why I orignally came back here," she said, and Hiromi wondered what she meant by that. He recalled how he was unable to find her the other day; where could she have gone so that he couldn't See her? He didn't get ask, though, as Reyu continued. "Inuyasha and I need your help to do this. I might be a better seer but you know a lot more about it than I do."
"Wait, what exactly do you have in mind, Reyu?" he asked.
For the first time that day, she grinned. "Glad you asked," she said mischievously. "We're gonna alter a time portal."
"A time portal? You've actually found one?" Hiromi asked dubiously.
"Yup."
"And you want to alter it?"
"That's what I said."
Hiromi stared at her. "You're crazy."
"Hiro--"
"There's no way we can do that! Do you know how dangerous it could be? It probably wouldn't even work! Or it would turn out disaterous! I don't even want to try it."
"But Hiro, there's nothing else left that we can do! Come on, please?"
"Nuh-uh. It won't work, and you're crazy to even suggest it."
"Please Hiro?" she pleaded,
"No."
"Can't you at least give it a try? For me?"
"You owe her one. Help her out. It's the least you can do, considering all the trouble you've caused."
Hiromi sighed. "All right, all right. I can't promise you anything, but...I'll try my best."
She gave him a small smile. "Thank you."
He knew he was going to regret this. He felt that something would most definitely go wrong if they tried to tamper with a time portal. That's something you just don't do. But still, things were already screwed up because of him. And Reyu wanted his help. She wanted to be able to forgive him. How could he say no to her?
He sighed again.
Damn conscience.
--TBC--
A/N: Like I said, sorry this took so long. School's burdening me. We've been preparing for the OGTs for months and now we're actually taking them this week...-sigh- I hate state tests. And I'm so, so veeery tired.
Oh well. I've finally added a chapter, so it's all good! Hiromi's been brought back into the story now. He got the shit beat out of him this chapter though, with those demon wasps plus a pissed off Inuyasha and Reyu. Poor guy can't seem to catch a break, can he? But hey, not my fault. I BLAME THE GOVERNMENT! AGAIN! Not that they actually have anything to do with it, state test or no, but it's good to have someone to be my scapegoat. Heh heh.
All righty then, that's all I got say right now, besides keep reading, review, etc. Two more chapters left, boyos! Woot! Oh wait, the names! Real quickly:
Naraku - Hell
Sessohmaru - Destruction Man
Totosai - Sword Maker Ceromony
Myoga - Invisible Divine Help
Kanna - Canna Lily
Laaater!