I do not own InuYasha or the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.
The Lost Chapters: The Desire Within Part 7
Back in the tunnel, his companions had dismounted Kirara to give her a rest. Kagome walked a bit behind the others, feeling reluctant to go too far without Inuyasha. She was the first one who felt a strong, minacious wind moving through the tunnel.
"U..uh guys?" she stammered.
They turned to see a blast of Inuyasha's wind scar barreling towards them. Kirara was the first to spring into action and everyone hopped on hastily. Kirara flew as fast as she could with everyone on her back, but the powerful wind was faster. Miroku turned to try and diffuse the attack when it was right on her tail. It helped a little giving Kirara just enough time to break through to the large, dome-shaped cave. The attack exploded against the walls of that entrance and hurled them into the air. They landed quite hard on the ground, but essentially unharmed.
"Why is he always so reckless?" Miroku sighed rubbing his backside.
A few moments later Inuyasha appeared in the entrance.
"Inuyasha, you idiot. You could've killed us!" Shippo hit him.
The half demon lunged and grabbed him by the tail. "I didn't know you were all so slow," he retorted.
"Osuwari*," Kagome groaned from somewhere in the darkness. He face planted and dropped Shippo in the process.
"I'm ready to get out of here," Sango said, rubbing her bruised shoulder.
Kirara roared in agreement and they found their way back to the small low tunnel.
While they navigated their way through the tunnels again, the castle maids were reporting to the headman that their guests had left during the night. The headman didn't want to believe it and demanded to see their quarters. He had at least trusted the demon slayer in the group and didn't want to believe they would dishonor him. He went to the room the monk and demon slayer occupied first. He scanned the room quickly and noticed a gash in the wall along with a hole in the floorboards. He walked over to examine them and saw a tiny fire down the hole which made him completely forget about the exterminators.
"Quick bring water!" the headman commanded.
One of his attendants left the room and returned with a bucket of water. He leaned over the hole again and the fire seemed to grow brighter.
"If that fire reaches us the entire mansion will go up in flames. Bring more water," he instructed.
A few more attendants left to retrieve water as he threw the first bucketful down the hole. It looked like the fire dodged the water and the headman panicked.
"Hurry!" he shouted.
The attendants returned and he threw three more bucketfuls down the hole. This time the fire vanished, but then a blue fire appeared seconds later.
"What evil is this?" he pondered helplessly, "Get everyone out of the castle, it won't go out," he ordered.
All of Tsukaro's attendants left him to inform every one of the impending danger. As soon as they left the fire went out again and a silver haired person dressed in red popped up from the hole.
"Oi, who keeps throwing water on us?" the half demon questioned looking very much like a wet dog.
"Oh, it's you. My servants thought you left without killing the demon," he explained, clearly startled.
He furrowed his brows and his ears twitched at the loud calls echoing throughout the house.
"If there's a fire why are you still in the house?" he asked confused.
"Well, we thought you were the fire," the headman admitted sheepishly.
The half demon climbed out of the hole and was followed by Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Kagome, and Shippo.
"It's morning already? I was hoping to get some sleep before we had to go," Kagome whined, exhausted.
"You should probably tell them there's no fire. We can explain everything over a nice meal perhaps," the scowling monk interjected, quite annoyed at the saturation of his clothing.
"Oh, yes. Please. I'm so sorry. Won't you please, stay another night and relax here before you continue your journey?" the headman offered.
They all readily agreed before Tsukaro excused himself to call off the fire evacuation.
The headman proved to be much more hospitable this time and allowed them to dine with the family; which was to the monk's satisfaction and they bathed and had their clothes cleaned before they had to depart. The headman bid them farewell after he rewarded them handsomely for their services. The daughters of the castle were sad to see Miroku go, but Inuyasha was more than ready to leave.
They started down the path with a renewed enthusiasm for their quest. The two women walked ahead of the men, enjoying the warm weather. Shippo walked in between Inuyasha and Miroku and was the first to break the silence.
"So, Inuyasha…..how far have you gone with Kagome now?" Shippo asked casually.
The half demon immediately flinched and blushed at this accusation. He pulled his hands out of his sleeves and brought his fist down on the fox demon's head.
"Don't talk about things you know nothing about," he warned, picking him up by the tail.
"Aaah! Kagome, Inuyasha is picking on me again!" Shippo cried out, unable to avoid Inuyasha's repeated jabs.
"Inu..yasha…..osuwari," Kagome commanded. The half demon was pulled to the ground, face first in the dirt.
"Why you," he growled. Shippo let out a sigh of relief, but continued taunting the half demon.
"You were two timing for sure if Miroku was kissing SangAAAAAh!" he finished with a yell. This time Miroku knocked him on the head.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Inuyasha muttered.
"I think they might actually feel guilty," Kagome whispered to Sango.
They glanced back for a moment, "Well, maybe just one of them," Sango admitted and they both agreed.
"Of course, I am a bit curious about what happened," Kagome wondered, her curiosity growing by the minute.
Inuyasha of course overheard this and sprung up from the ground.
He loomed over her, "Nothing happened woman, I keep telling you that," he barked at her.
"Is that so? Would Kikyo agree with you?" she demanded, staring him down. He stuttered and turned red again. "Hmph, didn't think so," she affirmed, leaving him frozen and speechless.
The two women continued to walk again, looked at each other and giggled. Kagome smiled to herself thinking that she should interpret his behavior as a compliment. There wasn't much time to dwell on it though; they were back on their search for Naraku's castle.
*osuwari- sit command
Author's Note: This is the end of The Desire Within that could occur before episode 39. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Stay tuned for the next chapter.