Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: I own nothing that belongs to the creators of Inuyasha!

Thank you to: RubyGemGreen, Huggies90, JumbledThoughts, FearofFalling, Tiggs1990, MillieBelle, frustratedfox for your wonderful reviews for the previous chapter! I truly appreciated your words and thought provoking questions!

Don't forget if you have any thoughts please leave them in a review! I will respond via private messaging!


'Of all the places…' I can't help thinking as I stir some left over stew in our pot over the fire Inuyasha had made. Looking around me I can't help cringing a little, wondering how this could be so normal for him that he even found an appetite here.

We were currently sitting in the middle of an old battlefield.

Skulls and bones could be easily seen scattered along the ground below the small dirt hill we were on. I had suggested we try and make it to the forest first, but no, he had to stubbornly insist that he was hungry now and that it was time to eat.

'What a toddler.' I can't help thinking to myself as I scoop out the food into a wooden bowl, handing it to him.

I, on the other hand, for some odd reason couldn't find my own appetite.

"You aren't going to eat?" Inuyasha asks, looking at me curiously after taking a sip from his bowl.

"I'm not that hungry right now." I reply dryly, sitting back on the small rock I had perched myself on.

"Suit yourself." Was his only reply, before he digs back into his food with gusto. I give a large sigh, before frowning deeply as it suddenly gets very dark.

"What's going on?" I frown as I stand, looking up at the sky as the clouds roll over us. The wind was even starting to pick up as if there was a storm coming. That couldn't be right though, it had been blue skies as far as the eye could see earlier.

"I don't know, but something is telling me it's trouble." Inuyasha insists, standing as well now as he sets his stew to the side. I frown, trying my best to feel out for a jewel shard, but there was nothing.

"You down there!" A voice suddenly exclaims, and as I continue to watch the sky a swirling pinwheel of blue flames appear. "You possess a piece of the sacred Shikon Jewel!" The voice correctly identifies.

'He hardly sounds intimidating though.' I think to myself with a frown. 'In fact, it sounds like the voice of a kid.' I think in confusion as the swirling blue fire gets larger in front of us.

"I believe this is the doing of a fox." Myoga points out from Inuyasha's shoulder. A fox demon?

"Not likely, Myoga." Inuyasha denies, frowning as he takes hold of Tessaiga, but doesn't draw it. The fire suddenly recedes into a blue orb, before a loud 'Pop' is heard echoing through the valley.

And a giant pink balloon with a face comes flying towards us.

Both Inuyasha and I look at each other dumbfounded, before looking back to whatever the heck this was.

"Give me the jewel shards, or it shall be your lives!" The voice goes on as it drifts towards Inuyasha. I watch in amusement as the mouth of the balloon face attaches to the top of Inuyasha's head. Barely resisting the urge to laugh, I watch as Inuyasha, looking thoroughly unimpressed, lightly taps at the balloon a few times with the knuckle of his pointer finger. No wonder I hadn't felt any kind of signature earlier. If this was a demon, it was a very weak one. Inuyasha draws his hand back, and with one swoop he successfully smacks the balloon head off of his own. I can hear the poor creature screaming as it seems to deflate, flying wildly away. Whoever he is doesn't make it too far before the pink balloon forms the ball of blue fire from before, and after a few seconds a small boy forms and drops to the ground.

'He's so cute!' I can't help thinking as I watch the poor kid sit up and rub at his cheek, his eyes glossy with tears. My heart melts almost instantly, and I move to go to him.

"Wait." Inuyasha frowns as he reached out and grabs my wrist in his hand. I look to him in disbelief.

"He's just a kid." I exclaim, pointing to the poor boy.

"He's a fox demon, and they're known to be sly tricksters." Inuyasha states with a small frown. "We still need to be careful with the shards." I sigh heavily, feeling the silk sack against my chest under my top as I pull my wrist from his hold.

"It'll be fine." I reply in a soothing voice, and Inuyasha doesn't stop me this time as I make my way over to the little boy. He has reddish-brown hair, just a touch of a lighter shade than my own, tied up into a ponytail with a blue scrap of cloth. He is dressed in a blue kimono, the top a light blue and the bottoms dark. The top of his kimono has what looks to be leaf designs on it, and was covered in a brown vest.

Then there was his tail, his cute, fluffy, tail.

Looking up at me his blue eyes go wide as he scrambles back. I instantly get down on my knees to be more at his level, holding out my hands so he could see I didn't mean him any harm. Something deep inside of me pulled hard at the look of fear on his face.

"Hey, it's alright. We don't want to hurt you." I try to calm him down, Inuyasha coming to stand behind me. His shadow swallows my own as he crosses his arms, still looking down at the little boy with suspicion.

"Speak for yourself." He growls lowly, and I turn to look at him over my shoulder, narrowing my eyes in warning. He thankfully shuts up at that, so I turn back to look at the boy once more having fully expected him to be scared shitless by Inuyasha.

"How dare you burst my bubble!" The boy shouts at him as he stands up angrily. I blink, shocked.

This kid had a set on him.

Inuyasha seems to think the same thing as he grabs the kid by the tail before he can run away, lifting him up as I stand as well. He gazes at him with narrowed eyes, clearly still impatient when it came to this kid's antics.

"You're a feisty like guy, ain't ya?" Inuyasha asks as he holds the boy by his tail to his eye level.

"Well, that's about as close to a compliment as I've ever heard come from you." I state lightly, brushing the dust from the ground off of my knees. Inuyasha shoots me a look, before returning his attention to the small boy.

"Nice tail, are you a badger or a squirrel?" He asks teasingly, and the boy looks absolutely infuriated.

"I'm a fox demon!" He snaps at him, before suddenly his body transforms into a heavy stone weight, taking Inuasyha down with him.

"Did he just transform into a statue?" I ask, but am soon answered when I hear something rustling in our things back where we had set up before. "Hey!" I frown, the boy tossing our vegetables, fruits, and spices from the small bag all over the ground. It was clear he was digging around to try and find the jewel shard. I sigh heavily, grabbing at the string around my neck and pulling the silk sack out from underneath my shirt. "Yo, kid, you looking for this?!" I call to him, and he stops dead in his tracks. Slowly he turns towards me, blue eyes sharp as his gaze locks onto the bag dangling from my finger. Quickly he scrambles over to me, standing at my feet and looking up to me with his big blue eyes.

"Can I please look at them? I only what to see." He places his hands together, lacing his fingers under his chin. I scoff, stuffing the bag back under my shirt.

"Listen kid, that crap doesn't work on me with my own cousin." I told him seriously, and he pouts, crossing his arms and glaring up at me now.

"My name isn't 'kid'." He insists, and I place my hands on my hips.

"Okay, what is it then?" I ask in return, lifting an eyebrow at him.

"It's Shippo!" He proclaims, placing his own hands on his hips to mimic me. I hold back a small smile of amusement at the stubborn look on his face, inexplicably feeling myself warming up to the small fox demon.

"I'm Yua, and this is Inuyasha." I introduce, before tilting my head. "Well, Shippo, are you hungry?" I ask gently then, and the boy didn't even have to bother answering as his stomach grumbles loudly. He winces, placing his little hands over his stomach with a frown. "Come on, we've got plenty."

"Now we're feeding that would-be thief?!" Inuyasha asks indignantly. I ignore him while rolling my eyes.

"Come on, Shippo." I nod for him to follow me back to the fire, grabbing my unused wooden bowl and scooping my portion of the stew into it. I gently hand it to him as he sits down, looking on edge. "It's still hot, so be careful."

"T-thank you." Shippo murmurs softly, blowing on the stew before taking a sip of it. Inuyasha soon comes to join us, sitting down cross legged and finishing his own stew, his suspicious gaze not once leaving the little boy. I frown as I watch him start to scarf the stew down once it was cool enough, clearly having been starving before now.

'Where are his parents?' I can't help thinking with worry. "So what made you so determined to get the shards?" I ask instead, the boy frowning sadly as he looks down and away.

"For my Father." He answers, setting the now empty bowl down and crossing his arms. I look from him towards Inuyasha, who seems to be paying more attention now as well. "I need to get the shards of the jewel to avenge him." My heart drops.

'Avenge? Then this kid's Dad is dead?' I frown deeply, my thought from earlier half answered. "What happened to him?" I ask gently, not sure if Shippo would even be ready to talk about it. He was so young to have lost him. What about his Mother?

"Oh I get it." Inuyasha interrupts with a superior tone. "The kid isn't strong enough to do it on his own, so he wants the jewel shards."

"Inuyasha!" I frown at him. How could he be so callous?

"No! I'm strong enough!" Shippo protests angrily. "I-I just wanted them as a precaution." He admits, his voice growing small. Sending Inuyasha one more glare to make sure he shut up, I turned back to the kid, my gaze softening.

"Go on." I told him gently. He hesitated, before nodding.

"It all started not too long ago. Hundreds of warriors were engaged in a battle near the forest where we lived. A dark cloud passed overhead so suddenly, dark and evil. No one could imagine the horrors that it would bring." Shippo's face goes a little white. "Everyone was first puzzled by the strange turn in the weather. Then they came, the Thunder Brothers."

"Thunder Brothers?" I question, eyebrow lifting in surprise. 'They sound like a boy band.'

'They are anything but.' Mayumi responds grimly. 'Hitan and Manten, I've heard of them both before. They're ruthless killers, true demons.'

"They took out the entire army near our forest easily. With the help of the jewels shards they both have embedded on their foreheads they were unstoppable. They wanted more, though, and they knew my Father possessed a shard himself." Shippo frowns, his eyes narrowing in on where he knew the shards rested under my shirt. "He had found it one day when hunting. They came to our home, and destroyed it. My Father died protecting me from them." I watch as his face slowly morphs into one of guilt.

'Poor kid.' I think, before looking towards Inuyasha. He looks at me, and I know what he's thinking instantly. We had to find these demons, and Shippo was our best bet.

"Well you're in luck then, kid. We're going to help you get your revenge." Inuyasha stands as I start to gather up the small camp we had made for lunch. I use the rest of the water I hadn't for the stew to quickly rinse out the bowls before shaking them to get them as dry as possible and putting them away. The pot would have to wait till later, but it wasn't too messy inside anyways. I glance to the boy as he watches us both with suspicion.

"You don't want to help me." He accuses Inuyasha as he points at him. "You just want to take the shards for yourselves." I move to kneel down in front of Shippo as Inuyasha grabs our gear, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Trust me when I tell you it's better us, than anyone else at this point." Looking him in the eyes I can see him still hesitate. "I was the one that shattered the jewel weeks ago." I admit to him. "Now Inuyasha and I have been tasked to gather them so we might piece the Shikon no Tama back together. I'm to be it's new protector." When Shippo's expression softens slightly, I nod, standing up. "Besides, you'll have a better chance against those demons with our help. You get to avenge your Father, we get to continue to ensure the safety of the jewel shards. We all get what we want in the end." I hold me hand down for the small fox demon. He looks between my hand to my face, before back to my hand again. Slowly he reaches for it, and I gently take his hand to help him stand up. An electric shock rushes through my system, eyes widening at the feeling.

What had that been?

"Alright. Deal." Shippo agrees, dusting his clothes off. "But how are we going to find them?"

"Yua can sense the power from the jewel. It shouldn't be too difficult to find them, especially if they are in possession of multiple shards." Inuyasha answers. I suddenly feel the weight of the boy as he climbs up my back and comes to stand on my shoulder. He's surprisingly light, I notice as I look to him with wide eyes.

"I'm tired." He muttered bashfully, and I can't help a small laugh hearing him.

"Alright, this is fine for now." I reply, turning to look back towards Inuyasha. He's watching us intently, but shakes himself out of it as our eyes lock.

"Well, let's get a move on then!" Inuyasha exclaims impatiently, turning and heading for the nearby forest. I sigh heavily, grabbing my bow and quiver of arrows.

'This must be the battle ground from Shippo's story.' I realize as I take one last look over at the scattered bones. 'The lightening was powerful enough to melt the skin, tissues, and muscles right off of their bodies.' It made me a little wary, wondering what exactly we might be walking into.


"So, I have to ask." Shippo begins from his spot on my shoulder. "You're so nice. How did you end up working with a miserable half demon like him?"

Oh, I like this kid.

"Watch it, squirt!" Inuyasha gripes from above us as he leaps from tree to tree.

"I can smell human all over you." Shippo doesn't heed the warning, talking with a tone of spoiled importance. "A half demon like yourself has no business in the affairs of full demons." Nope, that was going too far. Inuyasha jumps down from the tree, an annoyed look on his face as he slowly approaches us. I frown, reaching up and grabbing Shippo by his left ear, pinching it firmly.

"Owwww!" Shippo cries out, Inuyasha stopping in his tracks to watch on then.

"That was rude. Inuyasha has been kind enough to help you," 'Despite it being for selfish reasons' I grumble inwardly, "when he didn't have to. Neither did I, quite frankly. We could have just left you back there and been on our merry way to finding these jewel shards on our own. Apologize."

"What?! Apologize to a stupid half-breed?!" Okay, that was enough of that. I definitely couldn't tolerate his prejudice attitude, even if he was only a kid. I pinch down even harder. "AH! Okay! OKAY! I'm sorry!" Shippo whimpers out, and I let his ear go. He rubs at it, tears in his eyes from the sting. Even as he looks at me from the side through narrowed eyes he stays put on my shoulder.

"Glad someone is teaching him a lesson." Inuyasha mutters irritably, still looking unimpressed.

"You mean on how to respect my elders?" Shippo bites out, obviously still bitter. It was better than his comments about half demons at least.

"That's it!" Inuyasha snaps and moves to grab the little fox. Shippo dodges, planting the stature on Inuyasha's hands once more and this time placing a spell scroll on it.

That dodgy little fucker.

Shippo leaps back a few feet, pointing and laughing at Inuyasha. "Now you're stuck until you can get that spell scroll off!"

"Shippo, that was completely unnecessary! Release the spell." I frown at the little boy. He looks the other way haughtily, clearly not the least bit sorry. "Shippo!" When he didn't move I turned to Inuyasha. "Is it really that heavy?" I ask dubiously as he struggles to slide his hands out from underneath.

"I'd like to see you give this a try!" Inuyasha replies, giving a great heave before groaning as the statue didn't budge anywhere. Maybe I could use my own powers to dispel it myself?

"Thank you for these by the way!" Shippo speaks up, lifting the silk sack up high in the air for us both to see. My mouth drops open as I reach into my top trying to feel for the shards.

'That two-timing little devil!' I think, bewildered. "Just what do you think you're going to be able to do with those?" I ask him then as I frown.

"I'll use them to flush out the Thunder Brothers!" Shippo proclaims, before racing off in the opposite direction.

"Shippo! You have no idea what you're doing!" I call to him uselessly, his tail bouncing behind him as he continues to run. Without thinking I race after him.

"WAIT! Yua! Get this thing off of me!" Inuyasha yells, and I look over my shoulder, hesitating. Looking forward once more Shippo was gaining ground and I was losing sight of him.

"I'll be back, Inuyasha! Just hang tight!" I make the executive decision to try and catch the fox demon while I still could. It would only take a few moments anyways, and I'd be back to release him. No harm done.

Minutes later I come upon Shippo as he's thrown to the ground, and as luck with have it, a demon with a large oval face and large mouth with pointed stood menacingly above him. I can feel the electric charge of this demon's aura as it washes over me in an overpowering wave.

"A shard of the Shaken Jewel!" The demon grins wickedly, eyes gleaming with excitement. He steps closer to Shippo, and consequently the silk sack that carried the jewels now laying behind him. As the demon steps through the long grass I get a better look at him. He's got a single braid of hair off the back of his nearly bald head. His body is large, but short, covered with colorful armor. The shoulder pads were blue, purple silk wrapping around his body to hold them there. The chest place of his arm was a gradient from black to red, and his lower half was covered with what looked to be the remains of a fox.

'One of the Thunder Brothers.' Mayumi identifies. 'And it looks like he must have Shippo's Father wrapped around his middle.' She adds grimly. My stomach churns, anger from before instantly forgotten.

Shippo tries to crawl for the shards, but the monster steps on his tail stopping him. I draw my bow, notching an arrow and shooting it directly at the demon's feet. Surprised, the demon becomes unbalanced with his foot releasing Shippo's tail.

"Shippo! Get behind me!" I call to him, notching another arrow. He looks up, surprised, but quickly scrambles to me. When he gets behind me I can feel him gripping at the back of my leg, his whole body shaking in fear.

"I'll just have to kill the both of you." The demon chuckled, opening his mouth as lightening begins to fill it. My eyes widen in shock, before I let the arrow fly. At the last minute his head turns, causing the arrow to pierce him straight through the nose. The lightening dissipates in his mouth from his shock of being hit.

"My nose, my beautiful nose!" He cries out in true grief, and I can't help looking at him dumbfounded.

Seriously?

'This must be Manten. It's been said he is constantly concerned with his looks.' Mayumi speaks up.

'Look, the jewel shards are in his forehead.' I respond to her, spotting the now familiar glow from the jewel's energy as I notch another arrow.

'Hit him there, it'll bring him down.' Mayumi instructs. I nod, releasing the arrow. This time my aim is too good, and it hits his forehead but grazes off of the jewel shards and arches over the top of his head. However, as I notch another arrow I notice that he's shaking and hardly moving.

'What the hell?' I frown, pulling back and watching him intently. He reaches up to his nearly bald head, the three strands of hair being the only thing left.

Well, one, now that two of the strands fell off.

Both the black hairs drifted elegantly to the ground as his face fills with absolute rage. Tears falling down from his eyes he throws his head back, opening his mouth as lightening starts to charge around him. My eyes widen as I feel the force of his energy building, the skies turning dark almost instantly as lightening comes down to envelop him as well.

"That's the same kind of attack that killed my Dad!" Shippo exclaims.

'You need to run, Yua! NOW!'

I didn't need any further convincing. I turn and urge Shippo to start running, racing after him and away from the quickly charging demon.

'It's too late, we aren't going to get away in time.' I think frantically as I feel his energy pulse. "Keep going, Shippo! Find Inuyasha!" I call to him, before turning sharply, throwing my hands out and concentrating my own energy forward into a barrier. His lightening hits full force, and I gasp as the force of the impact drags be backwards a few feet. I close my eyes, unable to handle the bright light of the lightening as it meets my aura.

'He's going to break through!' Mayumi yells, and I squint my eyes open enough to see what looked to be little hairline fractures cracking in my shield. Looking behind me I see that Shippo had thankfully listening and was gone. 'Here it comes, brace yourself!' In a sudden rush his lightening breaks fully through and I go flying, landing hard on the ground yards away. As I lay on my side I can see the crater left behind from his attack, right where I had been standing only moments before.

'Yua? YUA?!'

Mayumi's panicked voice is the last thing I hear before my world goes dark.


Inuyasha's POV

I watched intently as Myoga pulled at the binding spell, frowning as my annoyance rose to a new level when he couldn't get it.

"I'm sorry, Lord Inuyasha, I can't remove the spell scroll." Myoga looks up at me apologetically, but it doesn't help. This was getting fucking uncomfortable.

"Why the hell had Yua run off like that?!" I gripe then to the flea, heaving once more to no avail. "She should know better than to go without me!"

"Forgive me for saying this, but the girl is quite independent and capable." Myoga replies, and I shoot him a narrowed look. If only I had my hands free right now. I pull once more with a groan.

"I'm going to kill that little fox!" I promise out loud. "He'll regret doing this to me!"

"Inuyasha!" Shippo's voice suddenly shouts out as he appears before me, hands on his hips and his little chest puffed out. I blink in surprise, instantly noticing that Yua wasn't with him.

'Where is she?' I think, worry sweeping through me. I cover it with annoyance as I glare at the little fox standing before me.

"I'll help you on one condition!" The little pest continues on, negotiating. "You need to promise not to hit me anymore."

Yeah, that's not going to happen.

"Where is Yua? Why didn't she come back with you?" I surprisingly find myself asking, rather that lying to get out of this mess. This wasn't like her, she doesn't just disappear.

"Will you promise me or won't you?" The boy demands again, and I make sure to stare down at him for a few minutes to make my answer seem convincing.

"Okay, I won't strike you." I reply after a few moments, keeping eye contact with the small fox demon till he finally got rid of the statue. He waved his hand, the weight lifting off of my own as the statue shrinks back to it's small size. Shippo catches it easily, naively confident that I wouldn't break my promise.

"Alright, I'll tell you where she is." He says, but his eyes widen last minute as he realizes his mistake.

Time to teach the brat another lesson.

I pummel the top of his head, making sure to not actually hurt him too badly. After all, I still needed him to tell me where Yua was. When I'm done he's tearfully rubbing at his head, looking at me all dejected.

Not a single fuck was given on my part.

"Now where is she?" I demand, and Shippo glares at me.

"We had a promise!"

"Where is she? Tell me, now." I command, voice sterner. Shippo seems to freeze then, looking at me with wide eyes as his nose reaches upwards, showing me his throat.

Was he…being submissive to me?

I reach down, an unfamiliar instinct pulling at me as my claws run through his hair, being sure to be careful by the goose-egg I had created that would soon heal.

Pack.

The feeling hits me, though not as hard as it had with Yua all those weeks ago. Shippo leans back then, looking sheepish now.

"We ran into the Thunder Brother Manten. He got really mad when she accidentally cut his hair with her arrow." Shippo began, and I could already feel a sense of dread washing through me. "She told me to run, and she tried to stop the blast of his lightening, but she couldn't. She's still alive, but he took her." Shippo frowns, guilt on his face. "She told me to get these back to you." He adds, digging into his kimono to fish out the silk bag that held our shards. He offers them up to me, and I blink in surprise.

I hadn't even thought about how we might have lost those.

I take them, storing them safely away, before turning to Myoga.

"Do you know where they might have taken her?" I ask the seemingly all knowing flea. He frowns, clearing thinking.

"I have heard rumor of their hideaway up in the foothills." He responds, pointing to a rocky outcropping miles away. The dark clouds seemed to hover just over that spot, and I can't help but think of the irony in it. Of course their lair would be shrouded by thunder clouds.

"Alright, then let's get going. We've got a lot of work to do." I comment, grabbing our things and throwing them over my shoulder. "Let's go Shippo." I call over my shoulder to him with determination, not turning to see if he followed as we make our way down the road.

'Hold on, Yua, we're coming.'


Yua's POV

I wake to the sound of maniacal laughter, and an awful smell that attacked my senses. Opening my eyes I look blearily ahead, noticing that I was laying on a large slab of wood. Manten stood at the other side of the room with his back towards me, obviously in a much better mood. As my gaze lands on the large butcher knife, I have a sinking feeling why.

'I'm his lunch.' I think to myself in disgust.

'You're awake!' Mayumi shouts in relief. 'I've been trying to rouse you for hours!'

'Where am I?' I frown deeply, slowly raising my head to try and look around more.

'You're at the Thunder Brother's stronghold. Shippo made it away safely.' I feel a rush of relief hearing about Shippo, but it's quickly replaced with uncertainty.

'How am I going to get out of here?' I ask her then, knowing without a doubt that Manten was more powerful that me. Not only that, but I could feel my energy still drained from trying to block his attack before.

"Awoken have you, my fair maiden." Manten speaks up as he looks over his shoulder. I rise to my knees, eyeing my bow and arrows leaning against the nearby wall. "I wouldn't try it if I were you." He tsked me, shaking his head. Frowning I lean back on my heels.

"Where am I?" I ask, my voice cracking slightly. No doubt it was still raw from screaming before. Manten turns to me fully, revealing where that awful smell was coming from. Beside him there was a large stove, and one of the pots was boiling something. It was a weird shade of purple, and thick in consistency.

"That's the least of your worries. Sit down, stay a while. It's almost ready." Manten replies confidently, a hungry grin on his pierced face. The dude hadn't even stopped long enough to take my arrow out of his snout!

"Yeah, sorry, I don't think I can stay for dinner." I reply easily, slowly crawling back away from him. He laughs.

"This isn't for dinner, sweet thing. Young maidens like yourself, your skin and blood, do wonders for growing hair. Some might call it the wonder potion of the century." Manten explains, and I look at him utterly bewildered.

"You're turning me into some sick hair product?!" I exclaim in disbelief

"Sh!" Manten suddenly hisses out urgently, holding his hands up in front of him in a placating manner. "Keep your voice down. If brother Hiten hears you, you will become dinner!" I swallow thickly, having forgotten about the other brother.

Hopefully he was as dumb as this one.

All of a sudden the door blasts away, revealing a much more handsome young demon, his eyes blood red as he stared down at us cruelly. His lips are turned up in amusement, his arm wrapped around a female demon with red eyes of her own.

'Well, I can see why Manten is so obsessed with his looks now.' I think to myself, taking in Hiten's full head of jet black hair and flawless face. My eyes lock onto the jewel shard in his forehead. 'There's the other one.'

"Back so soon, Manten?" Hiten asks, a cocky air about him. The barely dressed female demon beside him laughs softly.

'Is that a snake wrapped around her boobs?' I can't help inwardly cringing.

"That thing is your brother?" She asks with an amused look, her tone cold.

"Hiten, how good to see you." Manten replies, looking meek. Now this was an interesting dynamic.

"Who's she?" Hiten demands, his red eyes roaming over me. I feel oddly violated, especially when he gives me a wink once his eyes reach my own. A disgusted shiver runs down my spine.

Great.

The first guy to notice me in ages and he's a homicidal pervert.

"What's she doing here?" He demands then, looking back to his brother thankfully. Manten steps in front of me, throwing his arm out to block me from view.

"She's mine! I found her first!" I resist rolling my eyes. He sounded like a toddler claiming a toy.

"No need to worry." Hiten quickly soothes his brother. "I have no use for her. Not when I have this little vixen." He smirks perversely, looking down at the scantily clad woman under his arm.

'Good for you buddy. Let the STDs run wild!' I frown, glancing towards my bow and arrows once more. I needed them to be of any use to myself right now. My energy was too low to create as well as focus.

"Hey Manten, how did you fare in your search for more jewel fragments?" Hiten asks then, his own jewel shards glinting in the low light provided by the torches. My heart stills, hoping that Shippo had managed to keep a hold of them after he had fled. Manten looks sheepishly away from his brother.

"Oh right, how could I have forgotten?" He states innocently, clearly not wanting to admit that he had lost them. Hiten approaches him, looking pissed off as he does, and Manten quickly changes his story. "I'm sorry dear brother I found some but I lost them!"

"How many did you lose?" Hiten asks, voice hard.

"Two." Manten replies honestly, his head hung low. With this dynamic going on right now it was easy to tell who had put himself in charge.

"Don't tell me you were so interested in this woman that you forgot about the jewel shards." Hiten raises his fist, his face screwed up I rage as his body shakes. He whips his hand out behind him, blood red eyes flying open wide as he yells and expels his energy backwards. The woman behind is caught completely off-guard as his lightening engulfs her and burns her body to a crisp.

"Holy shit!" I gasp when I see the damage, Manten quickly moving to kneel before his brother's feet.

"Please, Hiten, forgive me!" Manten begs, Hiten looking hardly pacified.

"You bring nothing but shame to this family. If you were not my younger brother I would have done you in long ago." Hiten proclaims, Manten shaking in front of him.

'Unbelievable. Why does Manten stick around for this? I felt his attack, he has plenty power on his own.' I frown deeply, but not from worry for the younger Thunder Brother, but realizing that Hiten was even more powerful and clearly the leader. I may be able to slip by Manten, but Hiten I doubt would be so easy to fool. Manten proceeds to bubbler out the story, dropping Shippo's name.

"So, this Shippo tyke has the jewel shards?" Hiten asks, though he doesn't wait for an answer as he turns away with a flick of his long braid.

"Are you going after him?" Manten asks.

"Of course I am! And you're coming with me." He orders, my stomach dropping then.

Shippo…Inuyasha…they couldn't handle both on their own. I slowly start to move, crawling over towards where my bow was only feet away.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Manten snaps, catching me. He grabs his butcher knife, swinging it down at me. I roll to the side, just barely being missed, before smoothly grabbing my bow from the wall along with an arrow from the quiver. I come to my feet, barely having enough time to wonder at my sudden act of uncharacteristic grace, before I pull my arrow back and manipulate my energy into it.

"Don't move, either of you." I snap, glaring at the both of them. Hiten looks a mixture of annoyed and amused as he turns back fully to regard me. Manten looks nervous.

Maybe he's afraid I'll take the last strand of hair?

"And just what are you going to do with that, little girl." Hiten coos sarcastically, taking another step towards me. My eyes narrow, a smirk forming on my lips as I think of a plan.

"Take another step and you'll see." I challenge back. Hiten laughs this time, a smirk on his lips.

"For a human girl you're pretty ballsy." He comments eyes surveying me again. "Not half bad in looks either. Not the prettiest, mind you, but not the ugliest either."

Excuse me?!

I let my arrow fly then right towards the wall to Hiten's right. My focused energy hits with the arrow, blasting the side of the wall away and sending both Hiten and Manten flying. I grab my quiver, racing towards my man-made exit before the dust even has a chance to settle. I run, not even sure what direction I was running or where to. I just needed to put as much space between the Thunder Brothers and I as possible. I look ahead, my heart dropping as I see a large gate, the equally large doors shut. Running up I yank at the handles desperately, shouting in frustration when the doors didn't budge.

"Come the fuck on!" I shout to the overcast sky, banging my fist angrily against the door.

"Well that was certainly stupid." Hiten's voice rings in my ear, and I can feel his warmth breath wash over my neck as he speaks. My green eyes go wide, entire body stiffening as I figure this is going to be it. I'm dead.

Instead I feel his nose run along my neck.

"You smell of another demon." He growls lowly then. "No, a half demon."

'Inuyasha!'

"Does this half demon travel with you? Would he have the shards?" Hiten demands, grabbing me by the shoulders and twisting me around to face him. "Answer me, woman!" He growls, before slamming me back hard against the doors. I wince, but look away, refusing to answer. If I did Hiten might find them, and I couldn't let that happen.

'If he find Inuyasha and Shippo he'll kill them both.'

'But if you don't say something he's going to kill you!' Mayumi points out urgently. A painful slap against my left cheek brings me out from my thoughts. I gasp, cupping that cheek with my hand as the residual sting crawls across my skin.

"Answer me!" Hiten shouts in my face. Even with tears in my eyes I continue to look away, refusing to make eye contact. He suddenly backs off, crossing his arms. "You act like a loyal mate." He mutters, flicking his braid back behind his shoulder. "If I follow the scent on you I'll find him, and no doubt the shards." He turns towards his brother. "Mount up, Manten. She'll ride with you. We'll get to the bottom of this." He promises, the cruel smirk back on his face.

'I'm so sorry, Inuyasha.' I think, Manten coming forward and taking my bow and arrows away once more. He set them on the cloud that he manifests out of thin air, before grabbing me and throwing me on behind him. Hiten power up, small flamed wheels coming to slide right beside his ankles as he slowly levitates off of the ground.

Please, don't be close.


I watch the landscape below as we hover over it, hoping I don't see any sign of red, silver, or blue below.

Oh no.

There he was, Shippo surprisingly on his shoulder as he jumps from peak to peak gracefully. He lands on the tallest one below us, and that's where Hiten decides to strike.

"INUYASHA!" I scream his name, trying to warn him. He looks up just in time to see the attack coming, launching himself and Shippo into mid-air to avoid the brunt of the lightening. Waiting anxiously I can't help glancing at my bow and arrows, just a little out of reach. They both go flying, separating during the blast. Shippo lands hard, bouncing away as Inuyasha lands gracefully on his feet. Hiten hardly gives them time to recover before he lets loose another attack, Inuyasha just barely dodging as he picks Shippo up while running past.

"Very impressive maneuver, dodging my lightening bolt." Hiten compliments sarcastically, smirking down at them as he hovers above. "You must be the reputed Inuyasha himself." He deduces, resting his staff against his shoulder.

'Reputed?! I refused to even talk about the guy!' I think in annoyance.

"Where's Yua?! What have you done with her?!" Shippo jumps up onto Inuyasha's shoulder, glaring up at Hiten. I'm momentarily struck by how much the little twerp seemed to be worried about me.

"Don't despair. We haven't done anything to her as of yet." Hiten replies easily, before turning his head upwards towards us. "Manten!" Manten moves the cloud to come and hover closer to where Hiten now was.

"Coming brother!" He cries loyally, before grabbing me and shoving me towards the edge of the cloud. "Behold!"

"Yua!" Inuyasha calls, a worried frown on his face.

"Judging by your expression it seems I was right." Hitter suddenly speaks up, looking down at Inuyasha with amusement. "Now hand over the fragments of the Shakon Jewel to me, or you'll never see your lover alive again."

'It won't matter if he hands over the shards or not, because I'm about to die of embarrassment!' I groan to myself, feeling my entire face heat up. Inuyasha looks up at him absolutely bewildered, even with the light-show he was putting on right now to try and emphasize his point.

"Lover?" He croaks out, dumbfounded. "Uh…there must be some misunderstanding!" He calls up to us as he shuffles closer, eyebrow raised. "Let me get this straight. You and I are supposed to be lovers?" He asks me dryly.

"NO!" I exclaim, almost too quickly. "He thinks I'm your mate or something because I smell like you!" I knew I should have had a bath today…

'If things weren't so serious right now I'd be incredibly amused.' Mayumi's voice echoes in my head, making this all the more horrific.

'STOP!'

"You little vixen, I knew you were fibbing." Manten grins, raising his fist to give me a noogie. Of all the things I had ever dreamed of happening to me…this didn't even remotely fall on my radar.

"Did you really think I'd trade the shards for you?!" Inuyasha screams up at me in disbelief, and I can't help feeling a twinge of hurt. I wasn't even me that had presumed it! Hiten thought so without any encouragement on my part!

Well, other than the fact I had just refused to answer him at all.

"Well, it is something lovers would do!" I snap back at him, unable to help myself. Fuck, it had hurt when he had said that.

"Well we ain't lovers! And without love the whole argument kinda falls apart!" Inuyasha gripes back, clearly embarrassed about this whole situation.

Embarrassed of me.

'It's like fucking junior high all over again.' I think to myself, hurt still resonating deep in my chest. Why was his eager dismissal affecting me so deeply?

'I think we both know the answer to that, Yua.'

'No.' I shake my head. 'I barely know the guy still, and clearly he's by no means even remotely attracted to me.'

Not even enough to save me from becoming some demon's hair potion, apparently.

"Well it's clear that you do have some jewels for us, Inuyasha." Hiten interrupts, before bringing his staff around to the the ready. "Jewels that will be mine!" He shouts, taking a nose dive towards Inuyasha.

"Not in my life-time pal." Inuyasha replies, successfully drawing Tessaiga. I watch the sword as it transforms while it slides from the stealth, biting at my lower lip.

'The sword wouldn't have worked if he didn't actually want to protect you.' Mayumi speaks up slyly, and I can't help rolling my eyes.

'Stop trying to play matchmaker. Now is really not a good time.' I frown, watching as in a blaring blast of lighting Hiten's staff makes contact with Tessaiga. I lean forward a little more, watching Inuyasha intently as he blocks the hit, but he's obviously struggling. His shout of effort echoes up to me, and the very ground beneath him starts to break apart as their energies continue to collide.

"No one can withstand my attacks for very long!" Hiten proclaims confidently, continuing to bare down on Inuyasha. He pushes him off with a loud yell, but Hiten simply flips in the air as he is shoved backwards. "You do have power, but no style. This should be an interesting battle!" I swallow thickly, looking again to my bow out of the corner of my eye. If only I could find a way to reach it…Looking back down to Inuyasha I see him looking upwards, my his eyes shift to mine, locking for a second. His face was set in determination, and a silent promise rested in his eyes. I feel a sense of warmth wash over me, my gut telling me exactly what he was saying as the pain of his over-the-top denial from earlier washes away.

He wasn't about to leave me.


Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave some reviews of your thoughts about this story thus far! Always love to hear them!

Until next time!

T.O.T.