To Court a Miko
Chapter 1:
The spring breeze was gentle, rustling the leaves in the trees and the plants in the surrounding forest. Inuyasha landed swiftly in a small clearing, head tilted to scent the air. They were investigating a demon that was destroying the local villages crops and fields. Inuyasha left the group in the night as they slept in the headman's hut to scent out the demon and defeat it so they could move on quickly. He was tired of staying in human villages to cater to the human wench. It was always 'I need a break' or 'We need to eat.' She even wanted to go shopping in this village for weapons she didn't know how to use! The neediness of the girl and their two human friends were beginning to get on his nerves. Inuyasha had forgotten how slow, and lazy humans were in his years alone. Inuyasha continued on with his search as his thoughts ran towards more of irritation and annoyance.
The village was quiet and peaceful at night. The headman's home had a lovely garden surrounding it, lit with the soft glow of lanterns. Kagome had woken the moment Inuyasha had left. She didn't try following, and didn't try to stop him. Kagome had grown from the naive young girl who ran away from battle unable to defend herself, who depended on Inuyasha and the others to protect her. It has been 5 years since the search for the jewel shards began. She was no longer foolishly in love with the inu-hanyou, hanging onto his every word. She trusted that whatever trouble he got himself into, he would get himself out and return. Still, she worried. He was her friend, whether he treated her as one or not. She considered him one of her closest friends and made the promise to never leave him early on.
Kagome walked the paths in the garden trying to calm herself enough to sleep again in vain. The sun was beginning to brighten the sky and she could hear the rustle of people and animals waking. She shuffled quietly back to her room and dressed in one of her kimonos. No longer did she wear her uniform, she realized too late that it was simply impractical, and indecent for this era. She had surprisingly graduated school with decent enough marks to pursue college education if she wished. For now, she was taking an extended break to decide on what she wanted to do with her life. Sango and her mother had assisted her in finding kimonos and outfits appropriate for the Sengoku Jidai.
Looking around the room her friends were rooming in, she realized her friends were already up and about. She went about putting their things in their packs, preparing for the expected journey, and folding the futons of their host. She continued on with the tasks she set upon herself and ventured to bid their host good morn, and gather the things they would need for their journey from the village.
Sango, Miroku and Shippo were at the entrance to the headman's home, speaking with some of the villagers about the demon they had been having problems with in the village. Kagome overheard the villagers saying how the demons were pulling the plants just before they ripened, and then clawing through their fields destroying all of their irrigation and making the need to till the soil again for the next crop. The demons had yet to come into the village, and had not done this during the day, so they were unaware of what type of demon it was.
The group nodded solemnly, thanking the villagers for the information and headed into town to begin their errands. Shippo hopped from Sango to Kagome to sit on her shoulder and began to dig through her basket and vegetable bag over her shoulders looking for some food.
"Shippo, I haven't gotten any food yet, we haven't been to the village yet!" Kagome said giggling. They were walking up to the first stall that had vegetables and fruits, which were sparse because of the demon. They were only going to buy what was necessary to get them to the next village so as not to take the villages dwindling resources.
"Okay okaa-san, but can we get some rice? Im tired of just vegetables and water" whined Shippo. They were all efficient on doing what they could to find edibles on their way, however because of the refusal from the hanyou to hunt for meat their reliance had been on the vegetables they were able to find.
"Im sure we can find some money for a bit of rice, yes. But not too much. This village needs all the resources they have. We will only take what is necessary for us to get to the next place." Miroku said. Miroku carried much of the money mostly due to Kagome getting kidnaped a good bit.
As they were shopping, Miroku perked up his head, and looked around. Kagome was looking in the direction of the forest, head cocked to the side sensing something. They made eye contact and began heading towards the edge of the forest, their senses saying the danger was getting closer. Sango and Shippo began telling the villagers to take safety in their huts, as the demon broke through the tree line. It was huge, with green scaly skin and claws as long as a sword. Its red eyes focused on the village, as it let out a roar and started running towards the village.
Kagome pulled out her bow, knocking an arrow. She ran to the side, shouting at the demon to follow her away from the village. She sped into the fields that had been demolished, screaming at the demon that he was destroying lives and killing people.
Sango launched her hiraikotsu at the demon, drawing its attention from Kagome. It roared into the air, spit spewing from between its dagger-like teeth. Miroku pulled out his ofuda's, preparing to fight, as he saw Kagome send one of her arrows at the demon to pull him away from her companions. She knocked another, this time with purifying energy and sent it sailing towards it. Not missing a beat, she pulled out a dagger that Sango had gifted her and walked towards the demon that was dying in the fields. Before she reached the demon, he was purified into dust by her arrow.
Sango and Miroku ran up to Kagome, prepared to assist an injured comrade. Seeing she was unharmed and still armed, they began speak with her about the demon and the cause for the attacks.
"Kagome, your skills are improving exponentially!" Miroku nodded, "I must agree Lady Kagome. You have improved immensely. I'm impressed by how you purified the demon with so few arrows." They all turned towards the village to finish their shopping and discuss with the headman that their demon problem had been solved.
Just as they broke past the first edging huts, Inuyasha broke through the forests edge, sword at the ready.
"Hey! Where's the demon! There's no way you guys killed that thing that fast! Where is it!"
The gang turned and Miroku replied "Dead, Inuyasha, Kagome purified it with her arrows in battle."
"Keh, yeah right, she can't hit anything. Even if it's right in front of her!" Kagome rolled her eyes at this and turned to continue through the village. "Inuyasha you were not there. Sango and I barely had time to-"
"Save her ass, yeah, I understand that. So, she purified the demon once it was dead. Let's get our stuff and go. Daylights wasting." Inuyasha said as he strode past the group towards the headman's home with purpose.
Miroku began to argue in favor of Kagome, but she stopped him. "Miroku, there is no point in arguing with him. He will never see me for more than what he wants to see. A scared reincarnation unable to defend herself."
"But Kagome-chan, he needs to open his eyes and understand that-" Sango began to say, clearly wanting to beat the truth into Inuyasha.
"Sango, it's alright. Come on, we have things to finish and then we need to head out after our 'fearless leader."