Chapter X: The Mask
"Hey, Hiten! You should stop worrying about what you can't have, and be more concerned with what's in front of you!" Inuyasha yelled, as he lunged at Hiten, the Tetsaiga unsheathed. Hiten leapt out of the way of Inuyasha's enormous blade and flew to the roof of the adjacent building. "Wasn't it you that said that no warrior should ever put a woman before a battle?" Inuyasha shouted, as he jumped towards Hiten.
He smircked, "There's conditions! For a woman that fine, I'd gladly give up a battle!" He raised his Thunder Pike and slammed it towards Inuyasha. The Tetsaiga and the pike collided as thunderbolts cracked through the air.
The others' battles had already commenced as well. Miroku was dodging Manten's mouth blasts; tumbling all over the castle's courtyard. Kohaku threw his chained blade towards Sango. Due to his inexperience as a demon exterminator, his aim wasn't as good as Sango's. But she didn't dare use her Hirikotsu on her own brother. Kagome was tangled in Yura's hair, but was able to escape by snagging an arrow from her sack and slicing at the hair. She struggled through the jungle of tresses to find Yura's red comb; the comb that controlled her. Kouga and Kagura had separated themselves the most from the others. She fired waves of wind blades at him. But he dodged them easily thanks to the jewel shards in his legs.
This left Kanesa and Juromaru alone in the same spots where they had been. Naraku had fled to the safety of another location, most likely to watch the fight from the safety of Kanna's mirror. Kanesa stared at Juromaru; she didn't see what the bid deal was, he seemed so fragile. For the first time, Juromaru lifted his head and looked directly at Kanesa. She separated her legs and held her staff firmly in front of her. He raised himself from his knees to crouching, staring at Kanesa and breathing deeply.
In a flash, he had disappeared. Kanesa looked frantically around and heard the jingle of his chains behind her. She turned quickly, just in time to block a lethal blow from his hand. She was knocked back a bit and regained herself. She stared at him, 'This guy is fast, really fast. Maybe even Kouga's speed. I guess this is what the others were so worried about. But I'm not worried. It's nothing I can't handle.'
She charged towards Juromaru and swung her staff at him. He zoomed out of the way. But she planted her staff into the ground, spun around in the air, twirling on the staff, and kicked. Juromaru was behind her, ready to attack, but was surprised by her sudden attack. Her kick landed right against his shoulder. He flew around the ground and grinded against the dirt, colliding into a building, destroying it.
Kanesa walked to the building, looking over the rubble. There was too much smoke to be able to see, but she could hear Juromaru's chains jingling in the dust and debris. After everything cleared, she saw him crouched over, breathing hard, staring coldly at her. She was surprised he was able to stand after such an attack. But before she could think about it, Juromaru was in front of her, lashing his claws at her. They stammered backwards at Kanesa evaded each of his lashes.
Kagura waved her fan again towards Kouga. He leapt and rolled out of the way, but some of the blades still made contact. Kouga was sporting cuts all over his arms and torso. Pieces of his armor had also but sliced off, his left peck and upper abs were exposed. But this second wave from Kagura's fan sliced away the remaining armor. Kouga was surprised, these wind blades seemed stronger, and more numerous than any of her previous assaults. But he kept himself together, and continued to dodge, getting closer and closer to her with every avoidance.
She smiled as she watched Kouga dance, but glanced over at Kanesa and Juromaru. 'All right, he's in position.' She leapt back, and with a large and powerful wave of her fan, thousands of wind blades flew out. Kouga had no trouble dodging these blades; only a handful of them came close enough to do harm.
He laughed, "What's the matter Kagura; the wind not on your side today? None of those blades came even close to hitting me!"
But Kagura simply giggled, "Always thinking of yourself, aren't you wolf?" she smiled as she closed her fan and rested it on her shoulder.
Kouga's eyes widened and he whirled around to see where Kagura's wind blades had gone. They were headed straight for Kanesa and Juromaru. "Kanesa! Get out of the way!" he yelled.
But she didn't need a warning; she had seen the blades coming. He flipped onto a nearby rooftop right before the blades made contact. But Juromaru didn't move. He looked over his shoulder and watched as each of the blades hit him head on. Kanesa gasped as she watched scraps of Juromaru's kimono fly out of the cloud of debris.
After the blades disappeared, she leapt to the floor and stared at the cloud. 'No one could have ever survived that!' She took a step closer to the cloud as it died down. But she was speechless when she saw a figure crouching. She took a step backwards when she saw Juromaru lifting himself up, the chains on his wrists fell off. He lifted his head with his hair still in his face. But there was something missing; Kanesa saw it. Juromaru's mask was gone.
He stared at her, breathing as hard as ever. But now, his mouth sparkled and a grey sludge dripped out. She quivered at the sight of him. That sludge made her even more uneasy, 'What is that stuff?'
Juromaru wobbled to his feet and walked slowly towards Kanesa, the grey sludge still oozing out of his mouth. Kanesa took a step back, holding her staff in front of her. She had an entire new sensation running through her body. It wasn't exactly fear, but it was close to it. She had been nervous when she first saw Juromaru, but now, something new filled her inside. She was uneasy.
"Kanesa! Get away from him, now hurry!" Kouga shouted as he rushed towards her.
Kagura raised her fan, "Her battle is not your own, wolf! Yours is with me!" And with a wave of her fan, a tornado flew out, and engulfed Kouga. He was trapped inside the twister. He tried to shout to Kanesa, but his voice was drowned out by the roar of the wind around him. He stared at Kanesa; she had no idea what she was getting into.
Despite her fear, Kanesa kept herself together. "So what? His masks off, it makes no difference. He's still the same guy."
She spun her staff around her and lunged towards him. But when she was about fifteen feet away from him, a sharp pain hit her arm. She stopped, dropped her staff and grabbed her arm. She fell onto her knee and looked at her hand; it was covered with blood. She looked over at her arm and saw a deep gash running across her arm. She stared wide-eyed back at Juromaru, he was still standing in front of her. He hadn't moved at all. 'What happened? Did he do that?'
Everyone else's battles were ending. Miroku had thrown sutra spells at Manten, making it useless to use his mouth blasts against the monk. He threw his staff into Manten's chest and tore the jewel shards out. Manten screeched as he disintegrated. But before Miroku could retrieve the jewel shards, a saimyoushou flew up and grabbed it. Miroku cursed under his breath and looked over his shoulder and saw Juromaru. He saw the grey sludge dripping from his mouth, "Oh no! Kanesa's in danger!"
Sango was still blocking Kohaku's blows. As she did so, she too witnesses the removal of Juromaru's mask. "Kanesa won't survive an assault from Juromaru without his mask!" She raised her boomerang and and hit Kohaku. He flew back, colliding with the building behind him. Sango looked back at him one last time and ran to Miroku. He too had stumbled to the ground and Sango helped him up.
"Juromaru's mask is off, Miroku" she said.
He nodded, "Yes, we have to help her."
Kagome had freed herself from Yura's hair and found her comb. She had retrieved her arrows and struck Yura's comb. With a blood-curdling scream, Yura disintegrated leaving only her clothes and sword behind. With Yura gone, Kagome ran to help Inuyasha, who was trapped by a barrage of Hiten's thunderbolts. She fired two arrows at Hiten's fire wheelsm immobilizing him. Inuyasha took the opportunity of his sudden surprise to swing his Tetsaiga at Hiten's chest. The jewel shards flew out from him.
"No! My jewel shards!" he shouted as his flesh melted away, leaving only bones behind.
Kagome joined Inuyasha at his side as he stumbled to the ground, planting the Tetsaiga at his side to keep his balance. He had cuts and gashes all over him from Hiten's thunderbolts. She helped him up at he put Tetsaiga back in its sheath. She looked over and saw Kanesa on the ground, clutching her arm. She turned her attention to Juromaru and saw the grey sludge trickle down his chin.
"Inuyasha, Juromaru's mask is gone!" she gasped.
"Yeah, and Kanesa doesn't know what that means. She's in deep trouble. We gotta help her!"
Miroku and Sango had joined them and went together to try to help Kanesa. They hadn't noticed that Kouga was trapped in Kagura's twister. She smiled and she raised her fan again and flew another tornado at the group. "Nice try, but this is the girl's fight. You are not to get involved."
Kouga stared back at Kanesa. She had brought herself to her feet. She grabbed her staff and stared at Juromaru. "How… how did you do that?"
But instead of Juromau speaking, another more sinister voice greeted her. "That wasn't Juromaru. That was me."
Kanesa looked around, and saw a small figure resting by Juromaru. She was disgusted when she saw the figure come into view. It had a small ghost-like body, blades in place of his hands and Juromaru's head.
"What the hell are you?" she asked, "Where did you come from?"
The small creature snickered, "I am Kageromaru. I have been living inside of Juromaru's stomach. That retched mask kept me from escaping."
"In… inside Juromaru's stomach…?" Kanesa asked.
Kageromaru nodded, "Yes, and I shall enjoy devouring your innards as well, my dear."
Kanesa frowned as she grasped her staff with both hands. She ran slowly towards Juromaru. But as quickly as he had appeared, Kageromaru was gone. He reappeared at Kanesa's side and slashed her all over her body.
Kageromaru flew back to Juromaru's side and Kanesa again, fell to the ground, on both knees this time. She dropped her staff and clutched herself. She was covered in cuts and gashes.
Kageromaru laughed, "Your blood is delicious my dear."
Kanesa breathed harder. 'He so fast. I…I can't keep up with him.'
"I grow tired of this. I think I will just devour you now" Kageromaru said and he again disappeared.
Kanesa stood lightly clutching her staff. She whirled around as she heard Kageromaru's laughter all around her. Kouga watched in horror as he continued to cut her. She couldn't keep up with him. But Kouga saw every one of his movements. Being just as fast, he could see Kageromaru's movements. The winds grew stronger around him; he had to shield his eyes from the debris being kicked up at him. He had lost track of Kageromaru, but he could still smell him over the wind. He stared at Kanesa, and noticed a small figure in the trees behind her.
"Kanesa, watch out! Behind you!" he shouted.
But his shouting was futile. Kageromaru flew towards Kanesa with his blades stretched in front of him.
Blood spurted out of Kanesa as Kageromaru crashed through her armor and through her stomach. She coughed up blood as she fell to the ground. Kouga stared helplessly as her body lied motionless. A puddle of blood formed underneath her. Kageromaru crawled next to Juromaru, "She is no more."
Kouga's hands twitched and he stared motionless at her. His eyes were wide open as his hair flew in front of his face. "No… she can't be gone…"