Disclaimer: Well, you see... I DON'T OWN INU YASHA! However, I DO OWN ALL
ORIGINAL CHARACTERS! Thank you for listening... er... reading.
AN: Ok, so this took me a month (or two) to get out. I know some of you are threatening me, but it's not easy being an 11th grader! I do have tons of things to do, and I've been very busy with projects, mentoring, tutoring, project lift, writer's block, FF7, blah, blah, blah. So please, don't lose hope and stop reading the story! Onegai~~~~~!!! *begs on hands and knees* After all, if you forgot what the hell the story's about, you can always re- read it, ne? Maybe you'll notice some things you never noticed before ^.^;;
Nogareru~Break Away
By Otaku-Chan ^_~
Chapter Thirteen~Too Late
Souta crouched down low next to the village jail entrance, anxiously awaiting Kohaku's signal. The village jail was a large bamboo complex with an underground dugout, where all the Kinryoku villagers were kept. Soon the town would be buzzing with panic stricken taijiya. It was at that moment that Souta was to knock out the main guard who wasn't allowed to leave the cell area no matter what, come hell or high water. Then he'd steal the keys and set everyone free. Kohaku was hiding nearby on the roof of one of the smaller buildings, ready to jump down and guide them all to safety.
Meanwhile, as the sun sunk into the weary earth, Yume began chanting an incantation, summoning all the spirits she could into her body. Over the few years of her life, she had pushed herself to learn how to utilize her powers. Unbeknownst to her cruel owner, she was considered to be as skilled as an adult kitsune, having mastered every basic spell and most of the more intricate ones.
The sky grew even darker as gray, foreboding clouds swirled to life. Lightening could be seen streaking through them, lighting up the sky a little, then growing dark once again. The Saizen taijiya were already on alert, knowing something was to come.
"There's going to be a slew of the damn things, so get your asses ready to fight!" the general of the village yelled as he rode his black horse around the buildings calling forth a militia of taijiya. The people threw their armor on with an amazing speed that could only be achieved by years of experience.
As expected, swarms of blood thirsty youkai reared their ugly faces as well as fearsome claws and weapons. It seemed as if the whole sky was blocked by them. Chaos ensued as the taijiya flew into battle on horseback, as well as on foot. Arrows took flight, piercing the flesh of monsters of all kinds. Axes and swords sliced through armor, scales, fur, bones and anything else in their path.
Yume knew that if Souta and Kohaku didn't hurry, the taijiya would eventually figure out that all the youkai they were fighting were merely a clever illusion. They'd eventually turn into harmless leaves, revealing that kitsune magic had been used. Since she was the only kitsune in the village capable of such a trick, she'd be hunted down immediately. "Hurry up you two!"
Meanwhile, Souta had successfully taken care of the prison guard, having knocked him over the head with a rather large rock that he stole from a nearby Zen garden, and he was nervously fumbling with the keys to get the cage like door open. After a minute, he finally got it, then quickly ran down the bamboo steps into the heart of the cell. Looking around, he noticed everyone lying lifeless on the ground. His heart nearly stopped as he felt warm liquid seeping into his sandals and coating the bottoms of his feet... blood. Everyone was...
"Mama!? Grandpa!? Everyone!? How... h-how could this have happened?! Why!!?? Oh Kami-Sama!!!" he cried as he ran to the still bodies that used to be his loving family. It appeared that they were sliced to death by some type of sword...
"Hm, hm, hm... so, it looks like you arrived just a minute too late. Too bad. I was hoping for a good show. Children just don't know how to plan these days. Heh, heh, heh!"
Out from a dark corner of the room, Souta wiped the tears out of his eyes to see the figure of a man with long black wavy hair and a dark maroon kimono, eyes glowing an eery red in the dim light of the cell.
"Y-you did this, didn't you?" Souta said between clenched teeth, a river of hot tears pouring down his red cheeks once again. His fists were clenched so hard that he drew blood as his nails dug into his heated flesh. A rage began to overtake him. It was frightening to him to feel such a rage that he could kill. Kill the man standing in front of him holding a sword covered in the blood of all his family and friends. That man... that man should be bathed in blood just like his family! "You bastard!!!" Souta screamed as quickly ripped the sword out of the man's hands. "I'll kill you!!!"
"Hmph. A mere human boy thinks he can kill the great Naraku. Ku, ku, ku! Learn your place in this world boy!" Naraku growled as he knocked Souta back with a wave of jaki.
"Souta-Kun!!!!!" Kohaku screamed as he entered the room, noticing the horrible scene.
"Kohaku, you know what the punishment is for betraying your lord, do you not?"
"Naraku! How could you do such a thing!? Anyone who would slay so many innocents can never be my lord!" Kohaku spat, helping Souta up, who was coughing from the jaki. Kohaku noticed Souta began to cough up blood. "You're no human, but a cleverly disguised youkai! This room reeks of your jaki... You've been deceiving all of us taijiya all this time. I won't let you get away with this!"
Naraku sneered, "And what do you think you can do about it?" Then with a smooth motion, he raised his left hand and sent a powerful blast of energy in the boy's direction. Neither were prepared, or even capable, of dodging such an immensely powerful attack. "Nobody will no of who I really am until the time comes for me to render this pathetic world dead."
Meanwhile...
As the ground began to shake violently, the taijiya halted in their assault of the false youkai and watched in shock as the entire prison imploded, leaving behind a mess of bamboo and a cloud of dirt. Something must've happened underground to make such a thing happen. this had a few of the taijiya suspicious that a youkai had infiltrated the prison...
"Don't take your eyes off the enemy! This battle's not over yet!" the general shouted as he forced back more of the youkai. "Our job is to rid the world of these foul beasts! Remember that!"
Yume began to grow tired due to the immense expenditure of her energy. Some of the youkai had already began turning back into leaves. She wondered how Souta and Kohaku were doing... they should've been home free by now, but something triggered her senses. She had a sudden sinking feeling. They didn't make it out.... neither did any of the other villagers. Yume couldn't sense their life forces.
Her throat grew tight and her eyes filled with unshed tears. They were all dead? But how could something like this happen? The thoughts ran errant through her mind until eventually she collapsed, no longer able to continue her spell due to her exhaustion and the shock of losing the only people who were brave enough to try to break away. Was this how it always ended?
The clouds slowly dissipated into thin air, and all the youkai turned into leaves which fluttered gently to the earth. The taijiya men and women looked on in disbelief, realizing they were fooled. The general huffed in anger. It was the work of a lofty kitsune... and which ever one it was, he'd be sure to skin it and hang it's fur on his wall.
Naraku appeared from amidst the chaos, then held up his hand as a signal for everyone to remain silent as he spoke.
"Taijiya of Saizen, as your lord and leader, I am responsible for the well- being of each and every one of you. In this time of war, I wish luck to all of you who fight bravely to win this world back for the human race. However, I am sad to say that all of the villagers of Kinryoku... are no longer with us. Had they seen things eye to eye with us, they wouldn't have suffered their fates. Let this be a lesson to all of you. Know that your loyalty lies with humans, not youkai. Now, to all the able bodied people out there, please take care to clean up the mess and dispose of the bodies. Oh, and one last thing. I want you, general Tsubaru, to find the youkai that did all this and bring it back to me... alive."
With that, he walked slowly up a small flight of wooden steps and disappeared into his building, leaving behind a silent crowd. The general smirked, proud that the lord would put him up to the task.
"I will not fail you, my Lord."
**********
Kagome rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up, careful not to disturb the hanyou who was peacefully snoring next to her. For some reason, she felt a slight pang in her chest, a tightening of her throat. Her eyes began to brim with tears which she quickly wiped away with the sleeve of her sleeping kimono.
"What is wrong with me?" she asked herself in a whisper. Everything seemed to be all right, heck, she even admitted her feelings to Inu Yasha, and he to her last night, yet something felt out of place. Something was missing, almost like a piece of her soul had vanished. She tried to shake the foreboding feeling, but to no avail. Quietly getting up, she slowly headed towards the door, before feeling a hand wrap around her ankle and a raspy voice say, "Where do you think you're going?"
"I-Inu Yasha... you're awake... " Kagome turned to the rising hanyou with a warm smile, trying to hide her unusual feeling of discomfort. He released her ankle and stood up, not noticing the blush creeping onto her cheeks at the sight of his bare, well muscled chest. He reached up to scratch one of his fuzzy ears with one hand, while covering a yawn with the other. Just the sight of him made Kagome feel a little better. Now that she knew what they felt for each other was real, she had no doubt he would keep his promise and always protect her. Gracefully walking up to him, she embraced Inu Yasha in a warm hug, slightly surprising him. He still wasn't quite used to his new situation.
"Inu Yasha, I have a question for you," Kagome began, the feeling that frightened her returning.
He nodded for her to continue.
"I was wondering... is there any way we can get into Saizen without being caught? I mean... well... I'm really worried about my family and my fellow villagers. Naraku has them trapped there, after all. Who knows what kinds of torture he may be putting everyone through." Her eyes began to fill with tears again, which alarmed Inu Yasha.
"Kagome, you know we can't get anywhere near that place until we are ready to take on Naraku. I understand the anxiety you must feel, but we all have to be patient." He gently kissed her forehead as he tried to comfort her as she began to sob.
At that precise moment, Sesshoumaru, Rin, and the fumbling Jaken practically busted the shoji door down, all three panting as if they had run a marathon to get there.
"What the hell did the cat drag in this time?" Inu Yasha smirked at the amusing and highly uncharacteristic scene. Kagome blushed deeply at being caught with the half-naked hanyou, while he was kissing her forehead...
"Enough of your revolting sarcasm!" Sesshoumaru said while trying to catch his breath. Being human had taken a lot of his endurance, as well as his keen ability to compose himself. He quickly took out a dusty, old, and very fragile rice paper scroll. "This is it. Father's ultimate technique."
"Nani? Is that really it? Are you absolutely sure?" Inu Yasha asked as he released Kagome and quickly put his haori back on.
"I bet on my life. That's definitely it."
"How dare you doubt the great Sesshoumaru-Sama! Even if he is a scatter brained human..." Jaken mumbled after the 'great' part, earning a swift kick in the rear by his disgruntled lord. Rin barely contained a giggle.
"Foolish toad! Do you forget where your loyalty lies? As soon as Inu Yasha and I learn this technique, I will surely become full youkai once again."
Everyone looked at Sesshoumaru with questioning eyes. How was this possible?
Inu Yasha took the scroll from Sesshoumaru's hands and carefully unrolled it. It was full of delicate calligraphy that was written in their ancient Inu youkai tongue. "You can translate this, right?" the hanyou asked incredulously.
"Do you take me for a fool? Of course I can!" Sesshoumaru snapped. lately he'd been having outbursts of emotion to the likes of which he'd never experienced before. He felt tainted by the human blood coursing through his veins, and he cursed himself for being so careless. All because of a damned scroll!
Rin placed a gentle hand on his tense shoulder and gave him a warm smile, which calmed him considerably. Ever since he met her, he felt whole, as if she was always meant to be beside him. However, he would never admit this to her. He found it hard enough to just admit it to himself. Perhaps it was because he was a human that he felt the way he did? No... he was feeling this way before he was turned into a mortal. And what of Inu Yasha? Had he not been kissing the forehead of that miko wench when he barged into the room? Was every son of Inu Taishou doomed to fall in love with human females?
"Hellloooooo???? Anyone in there????" Inu Yasha asked as he waved a clawed hand back and forth in front of Sesshoumaru's face. "Now's not the time to be daydreaming, you know."
"Keh! I was not, fool!" Sesshoumaru spat. It was humiliating enough to be an emotion sap, but to be caught off guard by his hanyou half-brother was just unbearable!
"Well, better start translating. We can't waste any more time," Inu Yasha said, earning a small smile from Kagome. He suddenly seemed so... mature? Well, he was acting like a leader any ways...
Sango suddenly popped her head into the room, curious of all the noise. "So, are things finally going to get rolling?" she asked, having noticed the old scroll in Inu Yasha's hands.
Miroku appeared behind her, half asleep. "Whaa...zat??" he yawned. His shoulder still hurt a bit, but since Sango did such a superb job of patching the wound, he almost forgot he had it as he placed a hand on it to remind himself it was still there.
"Good. Now that everyone's here, we can make a plan."
And so began the brain storming of six people and a toad youkai...
**********
Yume slowly sat up, feeling cool rain drops fall onto her face from the tree leaves above her. She looked around, surprised that she hadn't been found while she was unconscious. Kami-Sama must've wanted her to live... but she felt absolutely horrible. Her only friends were gone. What was she to do? Her heart felt heavy as she slowly stood up and stumbled, grabbing the tree for support. Her head felt like a lead balloon. Perhaps using all of that magic wasn't agreeing with her body...
"Ko... ha... ku...," she sobbed. And, even though she didn't know him for very long, she sobbed for Souta as well. Life was just one cruel turn of events after another, with no end in sight. She fell to her knees as a fresh wave of sobs racked through her tiny adolescent body. She knew it wouldn't be long until the taijiya found her.
"I'll... be joining you all... s-soon...," she whimpered. "Wait for me."
To Be Continued...
AN: *Sniff* Well, this fic certainly lives up to its 'angst' rating, ne? Once again, sorry for the short chapter. Anyway, I'll try my best to continue working on this fic on a more consistent basis, but I find that time is hard to come by latley. Well, there's always Christmas vacation ^_~. R+R!
AN: Ok, so this took me a month (or two) to get out. I know some of you are threatening me, but it's not easy being an 11th grader! I do have tons of things to do, and I've been very busy with projects, mentoring, tutoring, project lift, writer's block, FF7, blah, blah, blah. So please, don't lose hope and stop reading the story! Onegai~~~~~!!! *begs on hands and knees* After all, if you forgot what the hell the story's about, you can always re- read it, ne? Maybe you'll notice some things you never noticed before ^.^;;
Nogareru~Break Away
By Otaku-Chan ^_~
Chapter Thirteen~Too Late
Souta crouched down low next to the village jail entrance, anxiously awaiting Kohaku's signal. The village jail was a large bamboo complex with an underground dugout, where all the Kinryoku villagers were kept. Soon the town would be buzzing with panic stricken taijiya. It was at that moment that Souta was to knock out the main guard who wasn't allowed to leave the cell area no matter what, come hell or high water. Then he'd steal the keys and set everyone free. Kohaku was hiding nearby on the roof of one of the smaller buildings, ready to jump down and guide them all to safety.
Meanwhile, as the sun sunk into the weary earth, Yume began chanting an incantation, summoning all the spirits she could into her body. Over the few years of her life, she had pushed herself to learn how to utilize her powers. Unbeknownst to her cruel owner, she was considered to be as skilled as an adult kitsune, having mastered every basic spell and most of the more intricate ones.
The sky grew even darker as gray, foreboding clouds swirled to life. Lightening could be seen streaking through them, lighting up the sky a little, then growing dark once again. The Saizen taijiya were already on alert, knowing something was to come.
"There's going to be a slew of the damn things, so get your asses ready to fight!" the general of the village yelled as he rode his black horse around the buildings calling forth a militia of taijiya. The people threw their armor on with an amazing speed that could only be achieved by years of experience.
As expected, swarms of blood thirsty youkai reared their ugly faces as well as fearsome claws and weapons. It seemed as if the whole sky was blocked by them. Chaos ensued as the taijiya flew into battle on horseback, as well as on foot. Arrows took flight, piercing the flesh of monsters of all kinds. Axes and swords sliced through armor, scales, fur, bones and anything else in their path.
Yume knew that if Souta and Kohaku didn't hurry, the taijiya would eventually figure out that all the youkai they were fighting were merely a clever illusion. They'd eventually turn into harmless leaves, revealing that kitsune magic had been used. Since she was the only kitsune in the village capable of such a trick, she'd be hunted down immediately. "Hurry up you two!"
Meanwhile, Souta had successfully taken care of the prison guard, having knocked him over the head with a rather large rock that he stole from a nearby Zen garden, and he was nervously fumbling with the keys to get the cage like door open. After a minute, he finally got it, then quickly ran down the bamboo steps into the heart of the cell. Looking around, he noticed everyone lying lifeless on the ground. His heart nearly stopped as he felt warm liquid seeping into his sandals and coating the bottoms of his feet... blood. Everyone was...
"Mama!? Grandpa!? Everyone!? How... h-how could this have happened?! Why!!?? Oh Kami-Sama!!!" he cried as he ran to the still bodies that used to be his loving family. It appeared that they were sliced to death by some type of sword...
"Hm, hm, hm... so, it looks like you arrived just a minute too late. Too bad. I was hoping for a good show. Children just don't know how to plan these days. Heh, heh, heh!"
Out from a dark corner of the room, Souta wiped the tears out of his eyes to see the figure of a man with long black wavy hair and a dark maroon kimono, eyes glowing an eery red in the dim light of the cell.
"Y-you did this, didn't you?" Souta said between clenched teeth, a river of hot tears pouring down his red cheeks once again. His fists were clenched so hard that he drew blood as his nails dug into his heated flesh. A rage began to overtake him. It was frightening to him to feel such a rage that he could kill. Kill the man standing in front of him holding a sword covered in the blood of all his family and friends. That man... that man should be bathed in blood just like his family! "You bastard!!!" Souta screamed as quickly ripped the sword out of the man's hands. "I'll kill you!!!"
"Hmph. A mere human boy thinks he can kill the great Naraku. Ku, ku, ku! Learn your place in this world boy!" Naraku growled as he knocked Souta back with a wave of jaki.
"Souta-Kun!!!!!" Kohaku screamed as he entered the room, noticing the horrible scene.
"Kohaku, you know what the punishment is for betraying your lord, do you not?"
"Naraku! How could you do such a thing!? Anyone who would slay so many innocents can never be my lord!" Kohaku spat, helping Souta up, who was coughing from the jaki. Kohaku noticed Souta began to cough up blood. "You're no human, but a cleverly disguised youkai! This room reeks of your jaki... You've been deceiving all of us taijiya all this time. I won't let you get away with this!"
Naraku sneered, "And what do you think you can do about it?" Then with a smooth motion, he raised his left hand and sent a powerful blast of energy in the boy's direction. Neither were prepared, or even capable, of dodging such an immensely powerful attack. "Nobody will no of who I really am until the time comes for me to render this pathetic world dead."
Meanwhile...
As the ground began to shake violently, the taijiya halted in their assault of the false youkai and watched in shock as the entire prison imploded, leaving behind a mess of bamboo and a cloud of dirt. Something must've happened underground to make such a thing happen. this had a few of the taijiya suspicious that a youkai had infiltrated the prison...
"Don't take your eyes off the enemy! This battle's not over yet!" the general shouted as he forced back more of the youkai. "Our job is to rid the world of these foul beasts! Remember that!"
Yume began to grow tired due to the immense expenditure of her energy. Some of the youkai had already began turning back into leaves. She wondered how Souta and Kohaku were doing... they should've been home free by now, but something triggered her senses. She had a sudden sinking feeling. They didn't make it out.... neither did any of the other villagers. Yume couldn't sense their life forces.
Her throat grew tight and her eyes filled with unshed tears. They were all dead? But how could something like this happen? The thoughts ran errant through her mind until eventually she collapsed, no longer able to continue her spell due to her exhaustion and the shock of losing the only people who were brave enough to try to break away. Was this how it always ended?
The clouds slowly dissipated into thin air, and all the youkai turned into leaves which fluttered gently to the earth. The taijiya men and women looked on in disbelief, realizing they were fooled. The general huffed in anger. It was the work of a lofty kitsune... and which ever one it was, he'd be sure to skin it and hang it's fur on his wall.
Naraku appeared from amidst the chaos, then held up his hand as a signal for everyone to remain silent as he spoke.
"Taijiya of Saizen, as your lord and leader, I am responsible for the well- being of each and every one of you. In this time of war, I wish luck to all of you who fight bravely to win this world back for the human race. However, I am sad to say that all of the villagers of Kinryoku... are no longer with us. Had they seen things eye to eye with us, they wouldn't have suffered their fates. Let this be a lesson to all of you. Know that your loyalty lies with humans, not youkai. Now, to all the able bodied people out there, please take care to clean up the mess and dispose of the bodies. Oh, and one last thing. I want you, general Tsubaru, to find the youkai that did all this and bring it back to me... alive."
With that, he walked slowly up a small flight of wooden steps and disappeared into his building, leaving behind a silent crowd. The general smirked, proud that the lord would put him up to the task.
"I will not fail you, my Lord."
**********
Kagome rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat up, careful not to disturb the hanyou who was peacefully snoring next to her. For some reason, she felt a slight pang in her chest, a tightening of her throat. Her eyes began to brim with tears which she quickly wiped away with the sleeve of her sleeping kimono.
"What is wrong with me?" she asked herself in a whisper. Everything seemed to be all right, heck, she even admitted her feelings to Inu Yasha, and he to her last night, yet something felt out of place. Something was missing, almost like a piece of her soul had vanished. She tried to shake the foreboding feeling, but to no avail. Quietly getting up, she slowly headed towards the door, before feeling a hand wrap around her ankle and a raspy voice say, "Where do you think you're going?"
"I-Inu Yasha... you're awake... " Kagome turned to the rising hanyou with a warm smile, trying to hide her unusual feeling of discomfort. He released her ankle and stood up, not noticing the blush creeping onto her cheeks at the sight of his bare, well muscled chest. He reached up to scratch one of his fuzzy ears with one hand, while covering a yawn with the other. Just the sight of him made Kagome feel a little better. Now that she knew what they felt for each other was real, she had no doubt he would keep his promise and always protect her. Gracefully walking up to him, she embraced Inu Yasha in a warm hug, slightly surprising him. He still wasn't quite used to his new situation.
"Inu Yasha, I have a question for you," Kagome began, the feeling that frightened her returning.
He nodded for her to continue.
"I was wondering... is there any way we can get into Saizen without being caught? I mean... well... I'm really worried about my family and my fellow villagers. Naraku has them trapped there, after all. Who knows what kinds of torture he may be putting everyone through." Her eyes began to fill with tears again, which alarmed Inu Yasha.
"Kagome, you know we can't get anywhere near that place until we are ready to take on Naraku. I understand the anxiety you must feel, but we all have to be patient." He gently kissed her forehead as he tried to comfort her as she began to sob.
At that precise moment, Sesshoumaru, Rin, and the fumbling Jaken practically busted the shoji door down, all three panting as if they had run a marathon to get there.
"What the hell did the cat drag in this time?" Inu Yasha smirked at the amusing and highly uncharacteristic scene. Kagome blushed deeply at being caught with the half-naked hanyou, while he was kissing her forehead...
"Enough of your revolting sarcasm!" Sesshoumaru said while trying to catch his breath. Being human had taken a lot of his endurance, as well as his keen ability to compose himself. He quickly took out a dusty, old, and very fragile rice paper scroll. "This is it. Father's ultimate technique."
"Nani? Is that really it? Are you absolutely sure?" Inu Yasha asked as he released Kagome and quickly put his haori back on.
"I bet on my life. That's definitely it."
"How dare you doubt the great Sesshoumaru-Sama! Even if he is a scatter brained human..." Jaken mumbled after the 'great' part, earning a swift kick in the rear by his disgruntled lord. Rin barely contained a giggle.
"Foolish toad! Do you forget where your loyalty lies? As soon as Inu Yasha and I learn this technique, I will surely become full youkai once again."
Everyone looked at Sesshoumaru with questioning eyes. How was this possible?
Inu Yasha took the scroll from Sesshoumaru's hands and carefully unrolled it. It was full of delicate calligraphy that was written in their ancient Inu youkai tongue. "You can translate this, right?" the hanyou asked incredulously.
"Do you take me for a fool? Of course I can!" Sesshoumaru snapped. lately he'd been having outbursts of emotion to the likes of which he'd never experienced before. He felt tainted by the human blood coursing through his veins, and he cursed himself for being so careless. All because of a damned scroll!
Rin placed a gentle hand on his tense shoulder and gave him a warm smile, which calmed him considerably. Ever since he met her, he felt whole, as if she was always meant to be beside him. However, he would never admit this to her. He found it hard enough to just admit it to himself. Perhaps it was because he was a human that he felt the way he did? No... he was feeling this way before he was turned into a mortal. And what of Inu Yasha? Had he not been kissing the forehead of that miko wench when he barged into the room? Was every son of Inu Taishou doomed to fall in love with human females?
"Hellloooooo???? Anyone in there????" Inu Yasha asked as he waved a clawed hand back and forth in front of Sesshoumaru's face. "Now's not the time to be daydreaming, you know."
"Keh! I was not, fool!" Sesshoumaru spat. It was humiliating enough to be an emotion sap, but to be caught off guard by his hanyou half-brother was just unbearable!
"Well, better start translating. We can't waste any more time," Inu Yasha said, earning a small smile from Kagome. He suddenly seemed so... mature? Well, he was acting like a leader any ways...
Sango suddenly popped her head into the room, curious of all the noise. "So, are things finally going to get rolling?" she asked, having noticed the old scroll in Inu Yasha's hands.
Miroku appeared behind her, half asleep. "Whaa...zat??" he yawned. His shoulder still hurt a bit, but since Sango did such a superb job of patching the wound, he almost forgot he had it as he placed a hand on it to remind himself it was still there.
"Good. Now that everyone's here, we can make a plan."
And so began the brain storming of six people and a toad youkai...
**********
Yume slowly sat up, feeling cool rain drops fall onto her face from the tree leaves above her. She looked around, surprised that she hadn't been found while she was unconscious. Kami-Sama must've wanted her to live... but she felt absolutely horrible. Her only friends were gone. What was she to do? Her heart felt heavy as she slowly stood up and stumbled, grabbing the tree for support. Her head felt like a lead balloon. Perhaps using all of that magic wasn't agreeing with her body...
"Ko... ha... ku...," she sobbed. And, even though she didn't know him for very long, she sobbed for Souta as well. Life was just one cruel turn of events after another, with no end in sight. She fell to her knees as a fresh wave of sobs racked through her tiny adolescent body. She knew it wouldn't be long until the taijiya found her.
"I'll... be joining you all... s-soon...," she whimpered. "Wait for me."
To Be Continued...
AN: *Sniff* Well, this fic certainly lives up to its 'angst' rating, ne? Once again, sorry for the short chapter. Anyway, I'll try my best to continue working on this fic on a more consistent basis, but I find that time is hard to come by latley. Well, there's always Christmas vacation ^_~. R+R!