"I deserve this. I've more than earned this" I sighed with complete joy as I slipped into the warm waters of the spring.
"It's really a treat, isn't it?" Kagome smiled before hopping in herself.
"I know they're in America too," I conceded, "but I never stepped foot in one until coming here. I wonder if this is what it's like in Warm Springs."
"Eh? Why wouldn't you go to the spring if there is one where you live?" Sango asked as she sat next to Kagome.
"Well, I guess I never really had an interest in it. Plus it would be quite the trip."
"Is it far?"
"I've never seen it on the GPS when my family and I were driving around, so I'd assume so. I don't even know where Warm Springs, Georgia is."
"GPS?"
"A map essentially."
"This America sounds strange." Sango concluded. "What is it that you do have?"
"Well, every house has its own room to bathe in."
"Like Kagome's home?"
"Well, not exactly, but yeah."
It was as though the three of us had gone out for a girl's night in town. It was nothing but laughs, exclamations of surprise, embarrassment, and violent dunking of heads into water or tripping. We each had our own little dirt on the other, whether it was chest size, or preferences in men. Sango had assumed herself safe of the later, but I was more than willing to bring up the perverted monk and her excessive use of her boomerang whenever the man batted his eyes at another woman. I proceeded to be dunked under the water by the blushing woman as she insisted that there was nothing special between her and the monk. After she let me come back up for air, I took several deep breaths.
"Good." I managed. "I still have to kill him for that favor he did me earlier."
Kagome was full of laughs until my foot swept her legs, making her fall forward into the water. It was my turn to laugh before doing the same to Sango. Unfortunately for me, the demon slayer had a much better sense of balance than the both of us. With the slightest turn on the ball of her feet, I was landing face first into the water as well. Sango let out a small chuckle, not realizing that Kagome was waiting under the water. She was more than surprised to see the raven pop out of the water, grab her, and then pull her down with her, all while I broke the water's surface. It was all out war from there, and it didn't stop until all three of us were panting on our own sides of the springs. We called it quits, dragging ourselves out of the water to get dressed, talking about our long journey all the while. With our bodies dried and covered, we were ready to depart, but of course it was too good to be true.
"Of what I saw, I'll take the one in the middle." A voice said, announcing its presence and putting the three of us on edge.
Kagome and Sango instantly grabbed their weapons while I moved to a position behind them. I knew all too well he was talking about me since I'd made the effort seconds before to squeeze myself between the two girls to hear what they were gossiping about. Was I flattered? Slightly. I was more disgusted and embarrassed than anything. He had watched us all bathe. Not only had we been nude physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. We'd done some embarrassing things, me specifically, comparing my chest to Kagome's, and sizing up Sango's hips, not for fun or anything, but because they thought it would be funny to tease me about a certain demon lord liking my body. And they didn't let my actions go unchecked.
"You pervert!" Kagome yelled.
"Ah, feisty." He replied, humored by her name calling.
"How dare you?!" Sango said, voicing the disgust I'm sure we all felt and her anger.
"How dare I? I stumbled across three women bathing while I passed. Is it not your fault for being so open?"
"What do you mean 'take'?" I asked with narrowed eyes, suddenly realizing what he had said.
"A fine feast, a woman can be. Three would bring others to my door, pleading for my favor."
This demon was not one of the more attractive class. Oily black hair covered the large goop like mass that had two black, beady eyes dotted slightly north of what would have been centered. I wouldn't have guessed that it had sharp canines for teeth or that it had a mouth at all were it not for his ability to move his mouth as though it had a jaws, revealing how it ate its prey. How it caught its prey was beyond me, seeing that it had no arms or legs, but I did not want to find out. My sense of danger over ruled my sense of curiosity.
"I think not." I replied, barely containing my gag.
"Do not worry, I will be sure to devour the three of you on my own." He stated matter of factly.
"The only thing you'll be eating is dirt!" Sango replied, more than ready to fight.
I, on the other hand, was much more contemplative. What was this monster's weapon? It had to feed itself somehow, and I doubt animals and people are dumb enough to walk into the jaws of that thing. And with no arms and legs, I doubt it could actually catch its prey. Something wasn't adding up, and it was making the hairs on my neck stand up. My flight mechanism was daring to drag me away from the scene, but I continued to stare at the demon, trying to unravel its mystery.
"You'll die, you awful excuse for a living creature!" Sango yelled as she got ready to throw Hiraikotsu.
It all happened in maybe three seconds. As Sango raised the bone boomerang and moved her foot to take a step forward, I unconsciously followed my gut, pushing her aside while Kagome took in a deep breath to call for InuYasha. My eyes seemed to slow things down, watching as a blurred mass attached to the larger one around three yards away from us hurdled toward where Sango once was, only to find my body in her place. I watched as the mass pressed against my torso, landing on my left side, just under my rib cage. Had I been a second earlier, it would have missed me. But I hadn't been. When it started to tear through my skin, time sped back to its regular flow as a scream escaped my lips while my hands flew to grab where the extended mass had pierced through me.
Kagome had only gotten out, "INU-" before she gave up on being heard, knowing that her voice would only be drowned out by my own. My scream decayed to a whimper once my lungs remembered that it took air to scream, and breathing felt like I was coughing up a lung. That organ hacking experience was only made worse when I was lifted off the ground. I stopped caring about expelling my lung and let my voice grow in volume to match the disparity of my feet in their search for ground. My blood crawled up my throat, silencing me, before finding its way onto the ground and sending me into a fit of wheezing coughs. The pain started to disappear, and my eyes slowly took on more weight than I could bear. My entire body followed suit. My hands, stained with my own blood, stopped their clenching before I lowered them to my sides. The numbness spread to my fingertips while my head grew too heavy for my neck.
"KAZUMI!" Kagome yelled, wide eyed.
I fainted.
I slept for an eternity and a half before trying to bat away the seal on my eyes. When I finally succeeded, I found that I had two nurses staring into my face. I simply stared at them as they slowly backed away, giving relieved sighs of relief.
"What did I miss?" I asked nonchalantly from my bed.
"Well, Sango and Kagome went ballistic." Miroku informed.
"That's nice to hear." I replied. "I could have lived just fine without encountering that thing."
"That's what we do to perverts, so you better take this as a warning." Kagome claimed while smiling at Miroku.
The monk gave a pained laugh before scuttling off somewhere.
"How long was I out?" I asked as I attempted to sit up.
I instantly regretted the decision, but followed through with it anyway.
"Two days." InuYasha stated, jumping into the conversation.
I moved my head to stare at the silver headed man, looking for a sign to tell me that he was lying. The agitation that rose to his face in response for my staring contorted my face to match my frustration and desire to whine.
"This isn't even fair." I stated as I shoved the blankets off my body.
"Your wounds aren't healed!" Kagome told me.
I noticed that my entire torso was wrapped with gauze. A bit overdone, but I wouldn't have to worry about being spotted bare chested for a while. I found Kagome's telling me of the status of my wound to be redundant as a dull pain bloomed from my side to wrap around my entire torso. I instantly changed my mind, silently thanking whoever was tasked with tending my wound for finding it necessary to mummify me. Surely, if my entire torso wasn't wrapped, the pain would have slipped into every limb of my body.
"I'll have more if I don't go now."
"You should lie down and rest." Sango said.
"I'll be fine Mothers." I replied as I slowly propped myself up on my knee before steadily standing.
"Are you sure about this?" Kagome asked as she watched me walk toward the door.
"It's either I get up and walk to that demon lord, or he comes here and takes me. The only difference is that I'll be fussed at, should the latter occur."
"You're going back to that bastard's party?" InuYasha asked, quite offended.
"I don't have much of a choice." I replied, turning in the door to face the Inu whose pride I had unintentionally damaged.
"Or is that just your excuse?"
"And how exactly am I supposed to get out of this?"
"Well, you could start by not running to him whenever he calls."
"So he can hunt me down? I'd have to live in a hole for the rest of my life."
"That's better than being Sesshomaru's pet, if you ask me."
"I am not his pet." I shot back defensively.
"You sure did fool me."
"Well, you just don't understand the complexity of it then."
"There ain't anything else to it." He replied, standing up and walking over to me. "If you were really against bastard, you would be as stubborn toward him as you are toward me. I'm pretty damn sure that you aren't scared of that bastard, so why is being fussed at by him suddenly such a horrible thing?"
"That doesn't make him any less lethal, and I'm not made of stone. I break as easily as the next person. Saying I'm not afraid of him is a down right lie; I couldn't fear anything more than I fear that guy. And being fussed at means a suspension of free will to him: no talking, no walking, no breathing, without his approval. And abhorrence is not shown through stubbornness, confidence and/or hubris is."
"If that's how it is, then go ahead." He replied. "It's not me who's letting myself be manipulated."
"That's enough, InuYasha." Kagome stated.
"I know where I stand, or at least I pray I do." I replied, stepping up to the red clad man, leaving three inches between our chests. "And unfortunately, I'm not that very high in the grand scheme of things. I'm no fighter and not a survivalist. I'm sorry for taking my chances with the demon lord, but I don't see a much safer alternative."
"What are you saying?" He asked, puffing out his chest to bump mine, almost making me curl over and try to stop the pain in my side.
I opted to keep silent and turn back toward the door. I wouldn't have the last word in the argument, but I didn't need to. I waved a silent goodbye to the remainder of the group, and gave InuYasha a short stare before heading out of the hut. The road was silent except for the heavy breathing of field workers and the picking at the ground for sustenance. I took my time on the road, needlessly fixing my yukata to cover as much of my body as I could. I needed something to busy my hands to keep me from replaying the Inu's words in my head and getting frustrated.
