A/N: Hello again! Well, I've currently run out of "Inuyasha" characters to do the disclaimer…my brain is literally fried rice…I've been doing these long-ass essays in school for the past 3 weeks or so, and it's STILL not over yet. I've just done most of them now…anyway, let's get the bandwagon rolling! The disclaimers will now be done by "Naruto" characters! Anko, you're doing the disclaimer, hurry up!
Anko: Aki doesn't own Inuyasha or Naruto. She's just getting really old and senile.
Me: Hey! I'm not THAT old! I only just turned 14 like, 3 almost 4 months ago!
Anko: Well you keep complaining about it.
Me: Shut up and go away. I have a story chapter that people need to read. But really quickly, reviews!
Dragon Man, (it's funny how you always seem to review first…you really like my work don't you? Lol) Hehe…ummm…wow…you are like, psychic…but they won't really fight…but hey, if you read below, and remember a certain person's description from the first fic, you will know instantly who it is. Anyway…no…she won't change back…not yet, anyway…still trying to plan out how I'll do that… (Grumbles) No, they're kind of still at cuddling stage. But all in due time, everything will be on the upside once again.
Bluespiderman57, hello! I don't believe I've seen you before! But thank you, I do hope that this one will be just as good as or better than the first one. (Hopefully you read the first one, so you won't be ridiculously lost and confused) Anyway, please enjoy the second chapter.
Angie, you are so weird…but, of course you'd absolutely LOVE Tenshi Miyazawa…lol…well, you can't not love Inu-kun. Or Sesshy. Both of them are so hot! Anyway, enough of my rabid fan girl-ness. Onward, to the chapter!
Ohiowriter, Thank you! Well, do you really think that I have talent? I just paid a slight bit more attention in English class in eighth grade that's all…lol…
Blackcrimson, where ever you are, hopefully you've caught up. Thank you so much! No it is not pathetic! I have this one Inuyasha fic that I have read at least 5 times and it STILL makes me cry. And besides, writing the end of the first one almost made me cry. Now that's pathetic…when the author nearly cries over their work!
Riku, where ever you are also, I had planned on posting Ch. 2 when you reviewed, but I've already finished up to Ch. 4 of this fic already…lol…I've been working a bit overtime…but hey, more for you to read when you get back! Lol…and if you didn't catch it the first time, Tsukimaru means 'moon circle' or I guess, it could mean full moon, but then the word for that is mangetsu…oh, whatever…and Tsurugi means 'sword'.
On with the chapter!
Chapter Two: Cry for Help
Kyo looked up, storm clouds meeting fire. They quickly broke eye contact, and Kyo turned to his companions, telling them to go inside, and that he would be coming shortly.
"What do you want, Harukichi?" Kyo asked, once the three girls were out of earshot.
"That is no way to speak to me, brat. Show some respect for your betters." Harukichi replied coldly.
Kyo sighed and keeping his gaze at the soggy earth, he rephrased his first question.
"What is it that you ask of me, Harukichi-sama?"
"That's more like it…now, I have no time to linger, so listen to me very carefully. I have come to discuss you."
"Me? What about me?"
"You are of age, in the Sengoku Jidai, to take a mate…"
"Yeah, and?"
"Regrettably, I do not approve of your choice…a hanyou bitch, Kyoshima? You picked her out of all the women there are!"
"Don't call her that…"
"Call her what?"
"Don't call her 'mesuinu'…"
"Hmph! You've gotten so soft…you are weak…you fool. I call her a bitch simply because it is exactly what she is, and you know it!"
"So what, if my heart has grown kinder? I don't care! I don't care if I'm weak or a fool, because at least I have her!"
"I will not allow such a union between you both! I will be dead before I see the Ryuu clan's finest blood mix with such a low level blooded female of the Inu clan!"
"Hinoki-sama will allow it!"
"Hinoki-sama is unable to manage everything at this present time!"
"You bastard! What did you do to Hinoki-sama?!"
Harukichi growled and drew back a fist and hit the young Ryuuyoukai boy with incredible force. Kyo had been lifted into the air from the force, but once he landed, his eyebrows narrowed considerably as he wiped away a trickle of blood from his mouth.
"I have done nothing, brat. But know that she has left me in control, and also if she is to die, that I receive her full power."
Kyo did not respond, he just simply glared at Harukichi.
"You are lucky…I'm being very lenient with you, Kyoshima…if you had had another father…you would not still be alive…you are so lucky that your father was who he was…"
"…then for that, I guess I'm thankful…"
"Hmph. Now you'd better listen to me…as I was saying…before you interrupted me…and there had better not be any interruptions. Let me say my piece, and I will allow you to voice your opinion. Where was I? Ah yes, you are of age to take a mate, and although I will not allow you to take the hanyou for your wife, you may have her still, but only as a concubine. I will find you a suitable mate. That is my final word. There, now I am finished. You may speak now."
The moment Kyo was allowed to speak, a great angry torrent of words came through, letting his heart speak for him, his mind not even comprehending what he was saying.
"That's not possible, Harukichi-sama! How is Mei not suitable for me?! I love her with everything I have! I don't care if she's hanyou! I'd love her even if she were Ningen!"
"She is Ningen, Kyoshima. Well, at the present time, anyway…she is not suitable for you because you are a Ryuuyoukai of the Spirits. The highest royalty one can have in our clan. She is a lowly, not even full, Inuyoukai. A female of her ranking of nobility is far below your own, Kyoshima. Yes, I understand how you feel about her…"
"No! You don't, you've never had someone like Mei to love! She's not lowly, Harukichi-sama. And you know this!" Kyo paused for a moment, before realization dawning upon his face. "You want to keep all lines of Ryuuyoukai pure, don't you? You haven't let anyone choose their own mates unless if they were of our kind, didn't you?! You aren't allowing anyone of us to love! You're just arranging it! Why?!"
"I am simply keeping us alive! We are growing smaller in number, Kyoshima!"
"But not as small a number as the Inuyoukai! There's only, what, seven of them left!"
"Six, Kyoshima, the girl's excuse for a brother has long gone…he is no longer among his kind."
"Inuyasha will come back."
"You live more foolish dreams than one…but, your assumptions are correct…I am only letting Ryuuyoukai take Ryuuyoukai mates…to keep the line of our pure blood going on generation to generation."
"I should be allowed to choose who I want to love. You shouldn't choose for me. You shouldn't choose for anyone! Why is it all of a sudden forbidden to mix bloodlines?"
"Because Kyoshima! The whelp that would grow within that hanyou bitch's womb would be an abomination! Three-quarter youkai! A mixed breed! An heir to both lines, Inuyoukai and Ryuuyoukai! I can allow no such thing to happen! Now listen to me, the hanyou will be your concubine, and I shall find you a suitable mate. And if you do anything, and I mean anything at all behind my back, like mating the bitch, I promise you, I will kill her without hesitation."
Harukichi disappeared and the rain stopped. Kyo breathed hard, a low growl coming from his throat. He walked up to the main house of the shrine, throwing open the door, kicking off his shoes, and slamming the door shut. Everyone looked up, Mei Lhi running over to him.
The girl approached him, sensing that something was wrong. Calmly, she took Kyo's face into her hands, and looked at his face.
"Oh Kami, Kyoshi-kun! What happened?! Daijoubu? The man from outside, did he do this?! Please, tell me…" She said to him, concerned.
Kyo looked into her eyes, passively shaking his head as he brushed the matter off.
"Kyoshi-kun, your clothes are all wet…and…anno…you're getting me all wet too…"
"Mei-chan, Kyo, go upstairs and change into warm clothes, ok?" Kagome said, observing the two of them.
The two nodded turning and walking away to the second floor.
-
Kyo and Mei Lhi were in the upstairs bathroom, drying off.
"Kyoshi-kun…will you tell me who that man was? And what happened? No one will know you said anything…please tell me…"
"Hai…"
Mei Lhi tightened her bathrobe on her body, waiting patiently. Kyo walked over to the doorway and paused.
"Here…we can talk in Kagome-chan's room…" Mei Lhi suggested.
Kyo nodded, and followed Mei into the girly-pink bedroom.
"What happened, Kyoshi-kun?"
Kyo sighed, and breathed before going on.
"The man you saw…that's Harukichi…Ryuuyoukai of the Sun. He's the second most powerful Ryuuyoukai in our clan…with five markings on his forehead. Our most powerful Hinoki-sama has six markings…but she has suddenly taken ill, and I'm pretty sure Harukichi had something to do with it…"
"That was your leader…?"
"Hai…I don't like him much…but…he came and talked to me…"
"What did he tell you?"
"He talked to me about you, Mei…"
"About me? What did he say?"
"Nothing very nice…"
"Like what?"
"Long story short, he thinks that you're unworthy of my 'superiority'…but I told him I didn't care…and then he got pissed off and hit me…so yeah, you were right when you guessed that he had hit me."
"What do you mean?"
"He won't allow me to take you for my mate…he said you could be my concubine…but…I refused…I won't let him choose my life for me…"
Mei Lhi sat silently on Kagome's bed, mulling over Kyo's words. She closed her eyes with thought.
'The Ryuuyoukai are such a strict clan…poor Kyoshi-kun…if only…wait…that's it…I'll make that Harukichi eat his words!' She thought.
"Kyoshi-kun…" She said softly.
"Hai…?" He replied.
"If…if I offered myself to you…and let you take me as I am now…would it make any difference…?"
Kyo's face flushed suddenly, and he looked up at her to see her biting her lip, blushing lightly, her slender hands moving to loosen the bathrobe around her body.
"Mei…" He said lightly, reaching out and stopping her hands.
She looked up at him, her breath catching in her throat.
"K-Kyoshi-kun…"
"Even if…I did…it would make no difference…besides, you aren't breaking that promise are you? You said fifty years, so until then…"
"But why? Why won't it do anything? I'll already be yours and Harukichi won't be able to do anything!"
"Because…he told me…before he left…that if I did…he would find out…and…he said…he said that he would…kill you…"
Kyo's body shuddered as he fought back the wave of sadness that washed over him, fighting back his emotions that were trying to force tears from his eyes.
Mei Lhi watched him as he fought everything back, gritting his teeth, determinedly looking away. She reached out to him, and held his face in her hands to he face her. But still he refused to meet her eyes.
"Kyoshi-kun…onegai…"
He finally made eye contact, and the moment he did, Mei Lhi leaned forward and placed a small, soft, sweet kiss onto his lips.
"It'll be alright, Kyoshi-kun…you'll see…"
"Hai…" He agreed softly.
She held him for a few minutes in her arms as he calmed down. When she was sure he would be alright, she stood quickly and grabbed her school uniform and changed into it before rushing outside, where it was again pouring rain.
"DAMN YOU!" She cursed into the night. "DAMN YOU TO HELL YOU BASTARD! WHY?! DAMN YOU INUYASHAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Tears streamed down her cheeks for the first time in over two and a half years, her tears mixed with the rain and fell into the earth below the Goshinboku.
"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE?!!!!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!!!!! YOU BASTARD!!!!!!!!"
-
Kyo listened in silence as he heard the name of the man that he knew Mei hated leave her lips.
"Well…she wouldn't do that…unless she really cared about you, Inuyasha…" He said aloud to himself.
-
Kagome had been in the kitchen, and she watched through the window as her friend cried and shouted curses at the man she loved.
'Wait…that's…the first time she's ever said his name…since then…' She thought, bewildered.
Silent tears made their way down the young miko's porcelain face.
-
"They are calling for you…can you hear them…? They need you…more than I do…"
"Hai, I can hear them…"
"Go to them…you kept your promise to me…now keep yours to them. I no longer need you by my side…go to them…it is now that they need you the most…"
"Hai…"
"I will use my power to allow you to escape…but you must hurry…I do not know if I will be able to hold off the fires of hell for long…do not fail me, do not fail them…"
"I won't…I promise."
"Go on to your destiny, Inuyasha!!!"
Bright miko light pierced through the dark depths of hell and in a shower of earth, it created an escape passage. A red and silver blur streaked through as the hole resealed itself.
"Arigatou…Kikyou…"
Once again back in the living world, Inuyasha took deep breaths of the clean air of his familiar Sengoku Jidai.
The sound of fast approaching footsteps reached his inu ears.
"I…I don't believe it!" Sango exclaimed, coming to a halt.
"You came back!" Shippou cried.
"My old friend…it's nice to see you again…" Miroku said.
"Inuyasha-san…" Kohaku acknowledged.
The hanyou turned to look at where moments before had been the opening in the earth he crawled out of to see the shrine, the ground around it overrun with gifts from his friends. Growing at the base of the shrine was a small patch of white lilies.
He smelled the air, letting himself get used to all of the other scents in the world, other than rank death and burning acid. The fragrant scent of the lilies caught his nose.
'Imouto-san…your scent…you brought these to me…'
Ignoring everyone, he shot off to the Bone Eater's Well and jumped through.
"Kagome, Mei Lhi…I'm coming…please, wait for me…"
Colors whirled around him as he crossed through countless ages of time and reached the other side of the well.
A/N: Yes, I know, much shorter. It was going to be longer, but then that would kind of make Ch. 3 and 4 reduced to almost nothing. And I know you all prefer chapters with actual length, and not just a clump of a few words. So, now review, my loyal people! Chapter Three will begin…very soon…And let us all have a harmonious cheer! Inuyasha is back! YAY! Yes, I pulled it off. Never though I could do it, did you? Now you know! (Evil laugh) Review or face your doom! Um…not really…wow…Lucky Charms cereal does really weird stuff to you…lol…
