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Bad Glon! Bad Glon! I should be studying, not writing fanfiction! Bad Glon, bad, bad, bad!
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Oh well, I've already written it, might as well post it. I hope you enjoy at the very least as much as I liked writing it… though I really ought to study *sigh* I am so going to regret this the day after tomorrow -_-'
Anyway, as I said, I hope you enjoy. Oh and by the way, many people have been asking me when 'certain people' are going to show up. Well, here's part of the answer I didn't give before ;)
Many thanks to Kanna37 (aka Amber) for edits :D
ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS:
kate: That soon enough for you? *smiles*
InuGome: Well, yeah, Kagome understands the importance of school because she had someone explain it to her. In canon, Inuyasha might not understand it, but let's be frank: did Kagome ever bother explaining it to him? And in a way he might understand without problems, how it's a matter or honor and such? (Because in Japan, it is.) No, she did not. So why should he understand? And about Ririko, believe me, you're not the only one who has questions *winks* But more about her later on. Thanks for the review, glad you liked it and I hope you'll like what's to come, too :3
Tracks for this chapter:
V6:Way of Life
Breakers:
XxX: change of scene
~ξ~: time-skip
実: Beginning/End of Flashback
Ю: Beginning/End of a story told by one of the character (the parts in bold between the stars are what the present them are saying as a small narrative)
Ж: Change of POV (mostly used within a story told by several characters)
[T] and [/T]: Beginning/End of soundtrack
Reminder: 'Inuyasha' written normally refers to Inuyasha, while written in cursive (cursive and bold in thoughts) refers to Kagome, the "Gentle Dog Demon". 'Hanyō' written normally means "half-demon", while written in cursive (cursive and bold in thoughts) it means "half-breed".
Chapter 15 – A Would-Be Thief: Shippō, the mischievous Fox-kit
"Admit it!"
"Admit what?"
"You were leading us in circles before!"
"I told you already, I did not!" Well, that was a lie, but he didn't need to know that.
"You fucking were! Admit it already you stupid hanyō-wench!"
"Why would I do that, Mr. I-Know-It-All?"
"I don't know and I don't care…"
"Then why won't you just drop it already?"
"Because you were leading us in circles! Admit it already!"
"I did not! You were just so slow in the beginning that we hardly put any distance behind us in a single day!"
"So you're telling me that I… suddenly…" The silence lasted about thirty seconds before Kagome raised an eyebrow and decided to prob.
"That you suddenly what?" she asked, exasperated, but Inuyasha stayed silent. She sighed. 'What an exhausting guy…'
True to his word, Inuyasha had stayed in his world for two more days before coming back through the well. During those two days, Kagome had diligently protected the well, leaving only when she needed to get away from it because it became too hard to resist the Jewel's call. Whenever she left, however, she had always left Tessaiga near so its barrier kept demons at bay while she was gone. When Inuyasha had come through, he had found her sitting right next to the well, as if nothing were, completely ignoring the huge amount of demon carcasses lying about – which had been enough to make his stomach churn slightly, even though the black haired kannushi had not shown his discomfort. They had left that same day, and had rarely stopped since then, except when it became too dark to continue on. This was the second day of their journey and they had just crossed the woods, which Inuyasha remembered to have taken much longer the first time around, hence the argument.
Of course, he was right, Kagome had been leading them in circles last time, but she wasn't about to admit it. He was mad enough as it was, there was no need to rile him up even more by saying he was right and that she did it on purpose to train him. So she kept denying it, while he kept pushing, effectively making her lose her temper. And while she didn't end up telling the truth, she had somehow said something that shut him up. 'I wonder what made him shut that big mouth of his,' Kagome wondered. 'Couldn't be because I indirectly told him he was improving, could it?' Then again, she wasn't sugarcoating her critiques of him, but when it came to fields in which he actually improved, she mostly kept her observations to herself. Only rarely did she tell him what he was doing right.
That morning hadn't been any different, except the fact that she didn't need to wake Inuyasha up. The violet eyed teen was already awake when she told him to get up at dawn. As per usual, they had sparred first before eating and then setting off, and while Kagome did notice that he was slowly starting to improve, all she did was point out what he was doing wrong. It was definitely pissing him off, but in her book, that was a good thing. It meant nothing was hindering his growth and that he wanted to improve, which in turn allowed him to learn quicker. He was also, finally, listening to her advice.
'He's leaving fewer openings, but he's still too careless,' Kagome thought as she ran through the fields, Inuyasha close behind her. They had been going at it since dawn and Inuyasha was starting to get tired, she could tell, but she didn't blame him. She did start to go progressively quicker and she had also found a way to make his backpack heavier than it was before, so it was expected he'd tire out quicker. It wouldn't be long before he'd be able to keep up without a problem, though, at least if he kept progressing at the rate he did up until now.
'He's starting to get a better hang of his sword, too, and his foot work isn't too bad, either. I know he's stronger than before as well, but for some reason, it doesn't show in his swings – they lack the strength I know his arms have gained, not to mention he can hardly block any of my counters… when he's quick enough to even try and block them, anyway. I have to give him credit for dodging, though, that's one thing he learns quickly,' she thought with narrowed eyes. But that's all she did - she thought. Out of all these things, none concerning his improvement ever left her mouth. All she told him was what he was doing wrong.
Then again, that was also how she was taught sword play. Tsurugi had hardly ever praised her on anything, deciding instead to concentrate on and point out her flaws, and while that could be discouraging and annoying at times, more often than not it served to drive her to get better so that she could prove to him that she was better than he thought. Of course, when he suddenly decided there was nothing more he could teach her and handed her Yougo as the first sword of her own, she had been surprised, but proud nonetheless. Her plan was to give Inuyasha that same surprise once he was ready, although that would probably still take a while. 'He's steadily getting better, though,' she thought fondly, a little proud of herself, too. It was her training that was making him better, after all.
"Let's stop for a break," she said finally as they arrived at one of the few trees scattered about that provided enough shadow for two people to hide from the increasing heat of the afternoon sun. When he had been home, Inuyasha had taken a look at the calendar and noted that it was already June(1). Time sure flew by.
"I don't need a break. I'm fine," Inuyasha replied, not unlike the many times before when they had just started out their journey. Kagome sighed.
"When will you learn that I can tell when you're tired? Besides, I don't know about you, but I could use something to eat and I can smell dinner nearby. I'm not going to just let it walk away," Kagome replied without looking at him as she scented the air.
"Keh, I thought half-demons could go longer without food than humans. What, didn't you eat this morning?" Inuyasha asked with a scoff as he set his back pack on the ground and took a bottle of water out of it. If they were taking a break, he might as well use it.
"I didn't," Kagome replied casually, as if it was the most natural response. Inuyasha almost choked on the water her was drinking in surprise before he turned his head to stare at her. His eyes only widened when her eyes and expression proved that she was being sincere.
"What do you mean, you didn't?" he asked in disbelief as Kagome turned on her heel and was about to leap off, after telling him with a hand gesture to stay where he was and wait for her. He didn't let her leave, though, and grabbed her wrist. Kagome scowled at him over her shoulder in annoyance, but Inuyasha didn't let himself be impressed. "Oi, answer me, Kagome," he grunted out, a scowl now present on his face as well.
"I mean what I said," Kagome replied as she easily forced her hand out of his grip. "Now, stay here. I'll be back once I get my dinner," she added before she leapt away.
Truth be told, that morning hadn't been the only meal she'd skipped. For the two days she had guarded the well and the first day of their journey, she had forsaken food, not that it bothered her. As she had told Inuyasha, hanyō could go without a meal and not be bothered by it longer than humans did. Only now, after three days was her stomach starting to protest a little more that it was empty, but even then, it would take even longer than that for it to really take a toll on her strength, speed or anything else for that matter. She wouldn't be losing weight anytime soon, either. If she wanted that, she'd probably have to quit eating for at least a half of the moon cycle, if not more, not that she was willing to try and starve herself to that point. But Inuyasha didn't know that.
'She didn't eat?' He thought worriedly, whether he liked to admit it or not. Sure, it wasn't like he saw her eat that morning, or any other day for that matter, but whenever he ate, she disappeared somewhere and she told him she was hunting when she was hungry, so he assumed that was what she did any other time. That morning, when he had made himself another cup of Ramen, she had gone off somewhere, too, so he was certain she was off to catch her own breakfast. But apparently, that was not the case.
How many out of all the times that she left when he ate did she actually hunt? And how many times out of them had she gone without eating? He furrowed his brows. 'Well, she did tell me that hanyō can go on longer than humans without food or water, but still…' he didn't like it. It just rubbed him the wrong way. He didn't know why it was unsettling him, nor did he really care, it just did. And when he didn't like something, it meant he needed to do something about it.
It didn't take Kagome very long to get back, but when she did, she didn't have anything with her. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her, which Kagome didn't fail to notice. She glanced at him questioningly as she crouched down next to him in a dog-like sitting position.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" she finally asked after a few minutes of mutual staring. Inuyasha scowled.
"Where's the dinner you were talking about?" he asked back. She didn't have anything with her, after all, and he couldn't detect any signs of her having caught anything on her person. "Did it get away?" To that, Kagome snorted.
"Yeah, as if I would let it get away. Come on, it stood no chance the second I started following its scent," she replied, actually laughing a little. Inuyasha didn't see the humor in it all.
"Then where is what you caught?" he asked, irritated. If she was messing with him and was skipping another meal…
"Where do you think it is?" Kagome interrupted his train of thought, although she wasn't laughing anymore. Her gaze was now questioning and a little confused. "Where do meals usually end up?"
"You mean to tell me that you hunted, cooked and ate all in the span of less than an hour? Do you think I'm that much of an idiot?" Inuyasha almost yelled at her, his anger quite visible in his eyes. Kagome only blinked.
"I didn't cook it," she finally said carefully, as if trying to gauge his reaction. He was about to explode again, but then her words sank in and he deflated a little in surprise.
"What?" Kagome only sighed to that.
"I followed its scent. I crept up on it. I killed it. I skinned it. I ate it. I quickly cleaned myself up in a nearby stream and came back. End of story," she said simply. Had she looked at Inuyasha that very instant, she would have had to wonder why he blanched so suddenly.
"You mean you ate it raw?" he asked with wide eyes, his voice a little weaker than usual. Of course, the sight of blood or anything like that didn't bother him, but the mental image of someone as human-looking as Kagome, even though she wasn't completely human, eating raw meat was just a little disturbing.
"How else was I supposed to eat it?" Kagome asked, her golden eyes searching his, trying to understand what his problem was, and miserably failing at it. If there was a problem at all.
"Roasted?" the black haired teen offered and Kagome actually blinked at that, stared at him for a moment before answering.
"I could have actually. Guess it just didn't cross my mind," she said and Inuyasha couldn't help but gape.
"It didn't cross your mind?" he repeated, stunned. How could someone not even think of starting a fire to roast their food? It was impossible to prefer raw meat, after all, wasn't it? The question, however, seemed to have an effect on Kagome because suddenly, her ears drooped a little and her eyes got a glint to them he rarely saw. She seemed… sad for some reason.
"Old habits die hard," she whispered quietly to herself, too quietly for Inuyasha's human ears to pick up. "You don't always have the time or possibility to start a fire, you know," she said louder, changing her position and sitting Indian style as she moved Tessaiga so that it leaned on her shoulder, her hands in her sleeves and her back against the tree. The conversation died there. Inuyasha's thoughts did not. He spent the rest of the break trying to figure out what she could have possibly meant.
~ξ~
It was late afternoon, almost evening actually, when they started encountering more trees than before, although there was no forest in sight. Not that Inuyasha was complaining. Trees meant shadows to hide from the sun that was apparently trying to fry them, but woods meant green walls blocking the cooling breeze and Inuyasha wasn't looking forward to that.
Glancing to his left, the black haired priest observed the hanyō leaping easily beside him. Normally, he would be getting angry by now – here he was, running as fast as he could and barely keeping up, while she didn't break a sweat and apparently was even bored. Talk about a blow to the ego – if not for the fact that the words she said to him a few hours ago were still resonating in his head. The teen scowled.
They continued running in companionable silence, when suddenly, they were forced to stop, as Inuyasha unexpectedly tripped on a root he must not have seen and fell rather ungracefully. Kagome stopped in front of him and stared at him, although he could definitely see the amused glint in her eyes. She wasn't laughing at him, but he was more than certain she felt like it.
"You okay there?" she asked in an amused tone, making the black haired ningen boy glare at her.
"Keh," he snorted as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Stupid hanyō-wench," he muttered under his breath. Kagome definitely heard him, but decided to ignore the insult for now.
"What did you trip on, anyway?" she asked, the laughter almost hearable in her voice. Inuyasha only glared harder, and started walking again.
"Probably a root or something," he grunted, quite annoyed both at himself and at her. Kagome scowled as she looked around, absentmindedly grabbing Inuyasha's wrist to stop him from leaving. 'Could be… if there were any trees near enough,' she thought suspiciously. Indeed, the tree nearest to them was at least ten feet away – not nearly enough to have a root coming out of the ground that could trip anyone. "What?" Inuyasha grumbled behind her as she stopped him and she glanced around her shoulder, only now registering that she had actually stopped him. Instead of answering his question, however, her eyes widened as they rested on his chest.
"Inuyasha, where's the Jewel?" she asked urgently. Inuyasha raised a brow, surprised.
"Around my… neck…?" he trailed off as his hand traveled to where the pearl of the make-shift necklace should be, but all his hand found was his shirt. During their run, the gem had slipped out from under the clothing and was merrily jumping on his chest as he ran, but he didn't pay much attention to it. But now, it was no longer there. "Ah, shit," he cursed as Kagome released his wrist.
"'Shit' is putting it mildly," she spat as she scanned the surroundings frantically and scenting the air. "How did you even lose it?" she grumbled under her breath as she dropped to all fours and sniffed the ground. She scowled. 'That scent… a kitsune?' she thought as she raised her head a little higher, still on all fours as she frowned. There was no doubt about it, a kitsune had definitely passed here a little while ago, probably in disguise if she hadn't seen it. Her eyesight might be superior to a human's, but she couldn't see past a kitsune's illusions, unfortunately. Very few people could. 'Just great. How are we supposed to find it now? It's like looking for an arrow-tip in a stack of stones!' she thought angrily as she rose to a crouched position.
Inuyasha grumbled under his breath as he observed Kagome. Part of him just wanted to be glad that the Jewel was out of his hands. Now, he could just simply go home and pretend none of this ever happened. As they say 'out of sight, out of mind'. But a bigger part of him was not happy about it at all, though he couldn't exactly tell why, which was the reason why he was anxiously waiting for Kagome to say something or find a lead. But she stayed quiet.
"Any luck?" he asked hopefully when she rose, even though the expression on her face gave a clear answer. He actually cringed a little when she glared at him over her shoulder. 'Fuck,' he thought angrily. He should have been glad right about now. The Jewel was gone and Kagome had apparently no idea where to look for it. If he went home now, he'd be free of it for good, he could just leave and never come back.
So why wasn't this thought as appealing as he thought it should be?
"Can't you feel it?" Kagome asked suddenly, bringing him out of his musing. He blinked at her and she sighed. "The Jewel," she explained. "Can't you feel it? If you have the power of sight strong enough to see the Shikon, then your sixth sense should also be enough… to… feel it…" she trailed off as her eyes wandered off to the left. Curiously, Inuyasha followed her gaze, but saw nothing at first. By the time he realized what Kagome was looking at, she was already pouncing it.
'Got ya, you trickster!' she thought as a small cry escaped the stone she had pounced on. A stone that had been slowly moving away from them. A stone with a very bushy fox-tail.
"Considering your current predicament, I suggest you quit your games," Kagome growled, actually feeling the stone shiver beneath her claws, but the fierce scowl didn't leave her gaze. 'Apparently not as good as most kitsune if his tail isn't disguised. Lucky for us,' she thought.
"Oi, what is that?" Inuyasha's voice sounded from behind her as he approached slowly, just in time to see a blue glow surrounding the stone Kagome held. Startled, Kagome released it, though deep down she knew she shouldn't have. Using the short time of freedom, the stone, still surrounded in the fire-like glow, started to scurry off, but made the great mistake of running straight towards Inuyasha, who reacted without thinking and kicked it back towards Kagome, much like one kicked a foot ball. The blue glow intensified before disappearing as suddenly as it appeared and a small fox-yōkai appeared in its place, falling face first to the ground by Kagome's feet. Raising a brow, Inuyasha slowly walked closer to get a better look at it, while Kagome glared down at it.
"Ow," the yōkai grunted as it slowly rose to a sitting position. It was a small boy, seven or eight years old by the looks of it (although Kagome assumed he was older than that in human years) with green eyes, pointy ears and a fluffy fox tail. His legs were fox paws, too and he wore blue pants, a turquoise shirt with white leaf patterns and a tan vest that looked like it was made of fox-fur (probably his own) with a thin, black belt. His short, auburn-brown hair was long enough to be tied in a pony tail.
"A kid?" Inuyasha asked incredulously as he openly stared at the yōkai. He was, however, blatantly ignored as the little fox stood up, turned to him and started yelling.
"What are you doing, you heathen?!" were the first words to leave his mouth before he suddenly froze and looked over his shoulder at the half-demon standing over him. Emerald eyes suddenly widened when Kagome bent down to grab him. He tried to scurry off, but unfortunately for him, he wasn't quick enough, and the half-demon easily caught him by the tail and raised him to her eye-level as she stood up. "Hey!" the kit yelled angrily, but it had little effect on his captor. Kagome narrowed her eyes.
"I was right, though not totally. You're just a baby fox in disguise," she said, looking the kit straight in the eye. He stopped squirming by then, opting instead to stare right back at her. Her comment obviously irritated him, though.
"Yeah, I'm a kitsune," he grumbled at her in a tone that clearly said 'you got a problem with that?', to which Kagome raised an eyebrow.
"A fox?" Inuyasha asked as he stood next to Kagome, observing the kitsune she held, though by that time, instead of holding him by his tail she just grabbed the back of his jacket. She didn't know whether his tail was sensitive or not, but she wasn't going to chance it. She knew that if it was, her holding him by that could be as painful as someone pulling her ears – something she was definitely not a fan of.
"Yup," she said, turning her head to him. "Kitsune are known for their magic and illusions, usually used to trick their victims, mostly humans, although most of the time, the tricks are pretty harmless. I'm guessing he was the one who tripped you just— whoa!" the hanyō's explanation was interrupted as she was suddenly forced to the ground, as if the fox she was holding suddenly gained a few hundred pounds in a single second. The priest blinked as he stared at the partially immobilized, but mostly stunned, hanyō-girl.
"A jizo statue?" he said in bewilderment. Indeed, what had forced Kagome down so suddenly was the fact that instead of a fox, there was a rather big stone statue placed in her hand. Kagome clicked her tongue in annoyance as she easily stood up, statue still in hand, before throwing it off to the side where it landed heavily in the grass. 'Tch… caught off guard by a kitsune kit. I can't believe I fell for that,' she thought angrily at herself.
"And that was one of his tricks," Kagome said easily as if nothing had happened. "As I said, harmless most of the time."
"He still got you, though. And he disappeared in the process," Inuyasha replied, wondering whether he should laugh at her or be angry at the kitsune. To his surprise, however, Kagome just shrugged.
"Let him go, he's just a harmless kit playing harmless jokes," she said absentmindedly as she reached out to him. It took Inuyasha a moment to realize that she was actually handing him something: the Shikon no Tama. "Besides, whether he really wanted to steal it or not, we got it back, so there's no problem," the Inuyasha continued as her human companion took the Jewel and placed it around his neck again. For a moment, he wanted to ask her if she was really certain it wasn't another of the fox's illusions, but finally decided against it. Somehow, he just knew that this was no trick and they got the real Shikon back.
[T]
"Well, with that over and done with, let's get going," the violet eyed teen said. Kagome only nodded as she started walking beside him, but contrary to what he expected, she did not break into a run. Closer inspection, however, proved that it was because something was on her mind. Inuyasha decided not to pry, though. They didn't seem to be happy thoughts, nor thoughts she'd be willing to share. 'That kitsune kit… he wasn't one to really and truly harm anyone. I could see it in his eyes. He has neither the strength, yet, nor the heart to physically hurt someone,' Kagome thought as she walked, her eyes narrowed in a fierce scowl. That kit hadn't been dangerous. He might have tried to steal the Jewel, but he was not the kind of demon to kill for it, of that much there was no doubt. 'So then, why did the stench of blood and death cling to him so?'
He was covered in it, it clung to him almost like second skin, but contrary to someone who shed blood (more often than not on a regular basis), it was like some kind of perfume added on to his natural scent. It was as if he had taken a bath in blood instead of water shortly before meeting them. If it was the stench of blood he himself had spilled, it would be more like a part of his own scent, a stench integrated into his own… like Kikyo, whose scent had that blood-undertone no matter what she did. She was in contact with it so often that the stench penetrated her clothes, her hair, her very skin and became part of her natural scent. That wasn't the case with that kit, though.
'And why would such a young kit want the Jewel anyway? Surely, he wouldn't already want its power when he was still so young? He shouldn't even know about it, unless his parents desired it… but surely no parent would send a kit so young to retrieve the Shikon, when it was bound to be either in the possession of a strong yōkai, or an extremely strong spiritualist… although I wouldn't know which would be worse,' she continued to muse, not really paying attention to her surroundings. The whole thing didn't make any sense to her, unless of course, which was also a possibility, he wanted to get the gem for his parents to make them proud or narrowed her eyes. Was that it? A rather stupid reason to risk his life, but then again, she wouldn't know. She never got the chance to want to make her parents proud, they died when she was too young to think of that… although she liked to think that, wherever they were now, they were still watching over her and saw what she was doing. And if that was the case, then maybe she was making them proud.
The young half-demon-girl shook her head. 'Well, no use dwelling on it. We probably won't be meeting that kit again, anyway,' she thought to herself, deciding to let the matter drop just as Inuyasha decided to speak up.
"Why don't we stop? The sun's going to set soon," the kannushi said a little bit uncertainly as he glanced at Kagome. Whatever was bothering her before, though, it seemed she sorted it out in her head.
"Yeah… I think that might be a good idea," the silver haired girl replied as she glanced towards the skies, absentmindedly raising her hand to her neck before slapping a bug that had decided to, unfortunately for it, feast on her. Her eyes widened, however, and she quickly removed her hand from the spot, holding said bug in her palm. "Myouga-jii-chan?" she asked bewildered as the flea puffed itself up to its normal size. "Why, I haven't seen you since the fiasco with Sesshōmaru. Where did you go off to?" she asked in a sweet tone with an even sweeter smile on her face. A smile Myouga apparently knew well because he suddenly started sweating and rushed to explain.
"Well, you see, Kagome-sama… it's just that… well… how should I put it…" the old flea stumbled over his own words as Kagome's smile progressively turned into a scowl.
"Oh, spare me. What do you want this time?" the hanyō finally snapped as she grabbed the flea between two fingers and squeezed him like she was used to doing when he annoyed her. It was Inuyasha's turn to sigh.
"Why do you always try to squash him?" he finally asked as Myouga tried to tell the half-demon the reason for his coming, which was unfortunately hard to understand due to his current predicament.
"'Cause he deserves it," Kagome said as she released her hold on the flea somewhat. By that time, they had reached a lone tree in the field and non-verbally decided to make their camp there. Kagome promptly sat down by its base, while Inuyasha set down his backpack and slowly started taking the usual camping stuff out, though his eyes didn't leave Kagome and the flea in her hand for even a second. "Now, Myouga-jii-chan, repeat that in a way I can understand," she said.
"This Myouga came here to warn you, Kagome-sama. When this Myouga heard where you're headed, it was apparent I needed to catch up to you to tell you…"
"Does it have anything to do with my half-brother?" Kagome interrupted rather rudely.
"Sesshōmaru-sama? No, not at all, it's about…"
"Then I don't want to hear it," the young half-demon interrupted the flea again and, as if to prove a point, threw him away from herself and towards Inuyasha's bag. The black haired teen raised a brow as he started getting out the small camping-gas-stove he usually used to make himself ramen. His sleeping bag was already out and ready for use.
"Shouldn't you at least listen to what he has to say?" he finally asked the obviously irritated hanyō. Kagome only snorted.
"So long as it doesn't concern Sesshōmaru, it's not worth listening to. He tends to over exaggerate things a lot. Besides, whatever it is that he wants to warn me about, I'll deal with it when and if I run into it. Knowing him, it's probably some demon that has been raging havoc in this area for a while, and since both he and I happened to be in the area, he decided to seek me out, the coward," she said confidently. "Out of all the warnings he's ever come to give me, the only ones that ever mattered were those concerning my half-brother. You can trust me when I tell you that any other warning he might have is useless."
"How can you say that, Kagome-sama! I risked my life to bring this information to you and this is how you repay me?!" the flea screamed, apparently outraged as it reached Kagome's shoulder once again, only to be flicked away by the half-demon.
"Whatever," she said in a bored tone, her thoughts once again wandering to the fox child they had met not so long ago. Somehow, she just couldn't get him out of her head – as if there was something about him she should have noticed, but didn't. And for the life of her, Kagome couldn't figure out what it was.
"Aren't you going to go hunting?" Inuyasha asked after a while as he waited for his ramen to be ready. Kagome shrugged.
"There's nothing nearby," she replied, although her eyebrows were furrowed. 'Which is weird in and of itself. Sure, we aren't near a forest, but still, there should be more animals here than that…' she thought suspiciously. 'Could it have something to do with Myouga-jii-chan's supposed warning?' she wondered. Of course, even if that was the case, she wasn't worried. Whatever demon scared her potential meal off, she wasn't going to be either scared nor killed by it. If she ran into it, she'd be the one to kill it. "Besides, the deer I caught earlier was easily enough to last for the next few days, so there's no rush," she added as an afterthought.
Inuyasha frowned, anything but satisfied by this answer. Without another word, he reached for his backpack and rummaged through it for a while, though Kagome didn't pay any attention to him. Until he spoke again and handed her something, that is.
"Here," he said gruffly as he handed her one of his cups of ramen. When she just stared at him for a while, he sighed and placed it on the ground in front of her. Surely, she understood what he was doing, didn't she? She couldn't be that stupid.
"Inuyasha?" she asked a little bewildered. The young priest scoffed.
"Shut up and eat, Kagome," he replied curtly, digging into his own ramen immediately afterwards. Kagome stayed as she was for a moment, just blinking at him in surprise, before a small smile appeared on her lips and she reached for the cup. 'He really cares more than he likes to admit, doesn't he,' the silver-haired girl thought as she broke the chopsticks that went with the instant noodles apart and took the cup in her hands.
"Arigato," she said softly, glancing at Inuyasha in time to see him turn his head away as if embarrassed.
"Keh!" was all he answered, but when Kagome's words of 'this isn't half bad!' reached his ears, he couldn't help but glance at her and smile slightly before he returned to inhaling his own meal.
[/T]
"I must say, Inuyasha, your country has many convenient things," the silence that was up until now only disturbed by Inuyasha's loud slurping (Kagome tried to restrain herself, although she also wasn't exactly the correct example of eating with small, slow bites – old habits die indeed very hard) was interrupted by the flea Myouga, who had by that point reclaimed his spot on Kagome's shoulder and blatantly stole a few things out of her ramen-cup to chew on himself. "A thing tells me, mostly through looking at your strange foodstuffs, that you do much trade with the foreigners of the south."
"Heh, you're rather smart, Myouga-jiji," Inuyasha said in between two bites of his noodles, honestly surprised the flea had figured out that much just by seeing things that didn't exist in this time period at all, not only in Japan, but anywhere for that matter. "Cup noodles were invented by the Japanese, though," he corrected after he gulped down another mouthful. "It was intended for use up in outer space, I think."
"Outer space?" Kagome asked, as she set her half-filled cup down, deciding to listen to Inuyasha's story instead. She was curious by nature. When she came to Inuyasha's home three days ago and he had been in 'school', she was more than happy to pass the time waiting for him with his mother, listening to her explanations about various things Kagome had never seen before. His world was an intriguing one, one filled with new things to learn and to discover for her. She was intent on finding out as much as she possibly could.
"Yeah. Humans go to outer space in my time," Inuyasha said as if it was nothing unnatural. "Heck, they even went to the moon."
"The moon?" Kagome repeated in wonder. "How did they do that?"
"With a rocket."
"A rocket?" the hanyō asked, genuinely curious. Inuyasha sighed as he set his now empty cup on the ground in front of him.
"How to explain…" he mumbled to himself nervously. He had completely forgotten that Kagome wouldn't know what a rocket was. And he had no idea how to explain it so that she could understand. "Well… It's like a big, metal… tree, but without branches. And it shoots flames from the bottom part to be able to get off the ground and then towards the skies, eventually leaving the Earth's atmosphere and reaching outer space," he said a little awkwardly, stumbling a little over his words, but Kagome seemed to get the general idea.
"Sounds pretty amazing," she said as she reached for her cup of noodles again, quickly emptying it. Then she once again leaned against the tree they were camping under, her gaze directed towards the skies were the moon would soon be probably visible. "I wonder how this place looks like from up there," she wondered, a kind of a dreamy gleam entering her eyes and suddenly, Inuyasha found himself unable to look away.
"Japan, you mean? It… might be a little hard to notice it," he said as he subconsciously got a little closer to her, as if some mysterious force was drawing him in.
"I didn't mean Japan, I mean our planet in general. I wonder if could ever get to see it… I think I might like that," the Inuyasha said with a slight laugh.
"You'd have to live a few centuries, first," he said with a teasing smirk on his face. "And by that time, you'd probably be too old for that."
"I wouldn't be so sure. A few centuries isn't that long," Kagome replied without thinking. Inuyasha blinked in surprise and tilted his head to the side in wonder, suddenly noticing that she was much closer than before. Just when exactly did he move from the other side of the 'make-shift camping kitchen' that replaced a fire right next to her? And why did it feel so… right?
"What do you mean?" He asked in a low tone, as if speaking any louder would disturb the peace that settled over the both of them. "Won't you be dead in a couple of centuries?" he asked, noticing how his own question made his heartbeat speed up. If Kagome noticed this, however, which she most likely did if the twitch of her ears was anything to go by, she did not comment on it. She merely smiled.
"Unless I meet a demon stronger than myself, then no, I shouldn't. Yōkai and hanyō have different life-spans from humans. We tend to live longer. A lot longer. A couple of centuries isn't really that much," she said easily, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Inuyasha couldn't help but wonder…
"If you live longer than humans do then… well, you look like you're about my age, but how old are you really?"
Kagome never got the chance to respond, though, as she suddenly jumped to her feet, her eyes trained on the horizon. Surprised by her sudden movement, Inuyasha leaned (or rather jumped) backwards and leaned on his hands as to not fall flat on his back.
"Oi, what the Hell?" he asked angrily, the previous moment shattered completely. Kagome ignored him, however, her eyes still staring straight ahead where she could see a deep red glow forming over the few trees in the distance. It wasn't the edge of a forest, but there were quite a few trees growing together. If left alone, then a few decades from now, a forest could grow there. But that wasn't what caught the hanyō's attention. 'That glow… it could be the setting sun, but…' she thought, her eyes moving away from the glow for a moment to look at the only star that shone during the day. It was still in the sky, though it would set soon. 'No, that's definitely not the source of it,' she thought as a weird feeling crept up in her gut. She didn't know what it was exactly, she had never felt quite like that before – it was a sense of foreboding, like something was about to happen, yet at the same time she knew nothing would. Her instincts yelled at her that danger was approaching, but she also knew she and Inuyasha were perfectly safe. It was almost as if that danger concerned someone else. She narrowed her eyes.
She was forced back to reality when the red glow she was observing suddenly got a lot brighter. Or rather, it was their surroundings that were now shrouded in darkness. 'What the…' Kagome had time to think before a new glow appeared before her. This one was blue and looked a little like fire. She had the distinct feeling of having seen something like that not long ago.
"You possess the Sacred Jewel…" an ominous voice suddenly spoke up from nowhere, making the young half-demon look around suspiciously to try and find out where it was coming from. When no other source presented itself, she looked back at the blue fire-like thing, which by then formed a circular disc in the air.
"A yōkai?" Inuyasha asked as he jumped to his feet and reached for his sword, just as Kagome bent her knees and gently rested her hand on Tessaiga's hilt.
"Could be an elemental… some kind of fire-yōkai…" she said, although she didn't sound too sure of herself. Myouga jumped on her shoulder and she couldn't help but glance at him, although she kept a vigilant look-out on the mysterious thing before them as well.
"No," the flea said rather calmly as he gazed at the weird occurrence as well. "That's kitsune-bi," he stated calmly. Kagome blinked and visibly relaxed.
"Fox fire?" she repeated. She was calmer now than before, although she still kept her guard up. If it was the same fox child as before, then there was nothing to fear, except that his tricks were still enough to allow him to get the Shikon last time, which meant he probably could, and more than likely wanted, to do it again.
As if reading her thoughts, the fire suddenly unrolled itself from its disc-form and flew right past her, straight at Inuyasha. 'Shimatta!(2)' Kagome thought as she quickly turned around.
"Inuyasha! The Shikon!" she yelled in a warning, but she needn't worry as far as Inuyasha's reaction was concerned. He swiftly, hardly even thinking about it, ripped Seiryuu out of its sheath and swung at the approaching fire. However, there is no sword in this world that can cut through illusions, no matter how realistic they are, and so, Inuyasha's sword didn't do anything to stop it, having cut basically nothing but air. Before the black haired priest understood what was happening, the fire had surrounded him, only to retreat a second later without harming him.
When it flew further away, the fire suddenly condensed and formed a weird, bird-like form. In the bird's clawed legs was the Sacred Jewel that had up until a second ago hung from Inuyasha's neck. The bird laughed.
"I got it! The Sacred Jewel!" it yelled as it started to swiftly fly away, making a vein pop on Kagome's forehead in anger. She growled.
"Oi, get back here you little kitsune-runt!" she yelled angrily as she swiftly followed after him.
"Hey, Kagome! Wait up, damn it," Inuyasha called after her as she leapt away, once again surprising him at how swiftly she could move. Shaking his surprise off, the young priest swiftly followed after her. He thought of grabbing his backpack and swinging it over his shoulder, but his sleeping back and camping-kitchen utensils were left behind. It wasn't like anyone was around to steal them and even if there was, they'd probably leave it alone, not knowing how to work the contraptions. At least he hoped so, but he also knew that he had no time to pack everything up before following Kagome and the kitsune… who by now he understood was the same kit that had tried to get the Jewel before.
Meanwhile, Kagome ran in the direction the bird the kitsune had changed himself into before he flew off, not failing to notice that it was the same direction she had seen the red glow before. She narrowed her eyes. 'Could these two things… that glow and the fact that this young fox wants the Jewel so badly as to come after it again, could it be related?' she couldn't help but wonder as she easily caught up to the fleeing bird. Her sensitive ears picked up something the kit was muttering to himself as he flew, but she paid little attention to it as she jumped higher. It was easy enough to jump to the level the bird was flying at and even easier to grab the unsuspecting yōkai, though she was careful to not grab it strongly enough to actually hurt him. The kitsune let out a surprised squeak and promptly changed back to its original form (probably because he wasn't concentrating enough anymore) as she landed gracefully on the ground. She was once again holding him by the back of his jacket.
"Hey, let me down! Let go of me you stupid hanyō!" the little kitsune wailed as it started to squirm in her hold. Though his words affected Kagome, as they always did, she hid it well and even resisted the urge to hit him. 'He's just a kid,' she reminded herself . It was another rule she forced on herself. Never harm humans and never harm any children, be they ningen or yōkai. So she only sighed as she shook him gently, making his belongings fall out of his pockets, the Shikon no Tama among them. She knelt down without releasing the kit and quickly picked the gem up, leaving the rest of his things where they fell.
"I'll take that," she said in a surprisingly gentle tone as she stood back up, kit still in hand, though for some reason he was not struggling anymore. Kagome raised a brow, suddenly wary. Last time he did that, it was a distraction so he could use more of his magic. She raised her hand a little and bent forward so that they were at the same eye-level. "No tricks now," she warned, but surprisingly, her voice was still as gentle as before, not the warning growl she originally planned it to be. There was just something about the kit that didn't allow her to stay mad at him. Some familiar glint in his eyes Kagome could not recognize right away. But she didn't dwell on that thought. "Now, why don't you tell me why…" she cut off abruptly and straightened up as her head turned in the direction the young kitsune had been flying in. Just now, a stronger gust of wind from that direction reached them, and it carried a scent that made Kagome's blood freeze in her veins.
"Oi, Kagome!" she heard Inuyasha behind her as he ran towards them. He stopped a little behind her, panting slightly, but otherwise fine. He saw the kit in her hand and glanced at her questioningly. "Kagome?" he asked hesitantly when she didn't respond, or even move to acknowledge his presence. But Kagome didn't hear him, focusing instead on the scent that now reached her nose. Smoke. Fire. Blood. Kitsune blood. A whole lot of Kitsune blood. And suddenly, the words the little kit had muttered to himself a little while ago finally registered in her brain.
"With this, I can help otou!"
"Here," Kagome said absentmindedly as she threw the Jewel of Four Souls at Inuyasha, who caught it effortlessly without even blinking as he stared at her questioningly. He didn't have the time to ask her what was wrong. She simply released the kit she was holding as suddenly as she had caught him, earning herself another angry 'Hey!' from him, but she ignored that, too. She didn't think anymore. She just ran.
"Oi, Kagome! Where the hell are you going! Oi!" Inuyasha yelled after the retreating half-demon, who soon enough was out of ear-shot. Then again maybe she could hear him with her superior hearing, but even if she did, she ignored him. Inuyasha sighed and corrected his backpack on his shoulder, about to follow after her when the Kitsune spoke up.
"She's running to where they are…" he whispered under his breath, as if too stunned to even move. Inuyasha blinked.
"They?" he asked in bewilderment. The little kit nodded, his mind probably elsewhere at that moment.
"Otou… and the Hōnōo no Kyoudai(3)," he said tightly, still staring ahead.
"You mean Houka, Hinote and Hibana?" A deep voice suddenly spoke up and Inuyasha averted his eyes to his shoulder, where the speaker, Myouga, was, his three pairs of arms crossed in front of his chest. The black haired priest scowled.
"Oi, Myouga-jiji, when did you get here? I thought you were with Kagome," he couldn't help but remark in an annoyed tone, although really, he had been expecting that. "Ran away from danger again, did you?"
"I beg to differ! I only thought it would be easier for Kagome-sama to face whatever is up ahead if she had more information on her enemies and this fox-child definitely can help us with that," the little flea defended himself, to which Inuyasha snorted. As if he was going to believe that. "Although the reputation of this three-some greatly precedes them. This Myouga heard they are truly unruly siblings."
"Keh, so what? All we gotta do is follow Kagome and defeat them, since she obviously plans on kicking their asses anyway," Inuyasha replied, although he had to wonder why Kagome took off so suddenly. Almost as if her life depended on it.
"Don't make me laugh. Like she can change anything," a bitter voice interrupted Inuyasha's exchange with the flea and the both of them glanced down at the kitsune, who had yet to move from the spot Kagome had dropped him at. As if sensing their stares, and mostly Inuyasha's, the young kit continued. "She won't be able to take them on. She's just a hanyō! I can smell the human in her."
For some reason, Inuyasha felt anger rise inside him at the kit's words. And since he was never one to hold back when he was angry, he did the one thing he really wanted to do right now. He delivered a solid punch to the little kitsune's head… or rather, a few solid punches.
"Don't call her that," he gritted out, not even stopping to wonder why the fact that the kit had insulted Kagome had angered him as much as it did. He didn't stop hitting the kit, either, until the poor child quickly turned onto his knees and started bowing down, mumbling quick apologies. The black haired priest sighed. "It's not me you should apologize to, runt. And how come you're so sure she'll lose, anyway? You don't know her, you don't know how strong she is," although, of course, he would never say all that, any of that, if she was actually within ear-shot. The kit only snorted.
"She's just a half-demon," he repeated angrily. "She should stay out of demon affairs. It's not like she can change anything. Whether she's there or not, the fight will rage on and if it continues like this then otou will… Otou!" Suddenly, as of waking up from a dream and remembering something of vital importance, the kit scrambled to his feet and grabbed his things. Then, he jumped up and grabbed the Jewel Inuyasha was still holding in his hand after Kagome threw it at him and started tugging at the string. "Give me that!"
"Oi, quit that already!" Inuyasha yelled angrily, once again raising his fist to bonk the fox on the head. He did it at a wrong moment, however, as the kit hoisted himself up on the Jewel's string and bit on Inuyasha's hand exactly when the priest's punch connected, thus forcing the little teeth deeper in. Inuyasha cursed as he started shaking his hand, but doing so, he also released the Shikon. The little fox didn't lose time to grab it again and start running off on all fours. "Shit! Get back here!"
Surprisingly, it wasn't hard enough to keep up with the fox – he wasn't nearly as fast as Kagome when she wanted to be. Catching up wasn't much harder and soon enough, the kit was dangling from his hand as he held him by the tail and ripped the Sacred Jewel from his hands.
"Will ya quit doing that already, runt," Inuyasha growled under his breath as he placed the Shikon around his neck, the little kit squirming in his grip much like it did before when Kagome held him.
"My name's Shippō," the little kitsune replied angrily, before stilling suddenly and turning his head to the right. Then he started to tremble. Inuyasha, thinking it was too good of an act to be another of the kitsune's tricks, followed his gaze just in time to see a big, ginger fox (although the blood that clung to his fur made it look redder than it usually was) landing lightly on the ground as if it just finished a jump, only to fall heavily immediately afterwards, as if its legs were no longer able to support it. The black haired priest stared stunned at the magnificent beast not far away from him, although he only had about a second to observe it before it was covered in an explosion so strong it shook the ground and almost made Inuyasha lose his balance. Once the noise of the explosion calmed, an eerie silence fell on the field surrounding them until it was pierced by one, agonizing scream that ripped free from Shippō's throat.
"OTOU!"
(1) For those who might not know: unlike in Europe and in the USA, school doesn't start in September in or late August (respectively) in Japan. In Japan, school starts in April and end in March the following year – which makes for really short vacation, I know – and if you remember, the first chapter of the story stated that vacation had been over for a month. So the story started in May and more or less one month passed since then, meaning that, logically, it's the beginning of June.
(2) Shimatta – 'Damn it!' in Japanese
(3) Hōnōo no Kyoudai – "Flame siblings" in Japanese. Their names mean respectively 'Fire', 'Blaze' and 'Spark'.
Yup, Shippō is finally making his entrance, although he's not an orphan… yet? I have to wonder if Kagome and Inuyasha will save his father or if he just died in that explosion, don't you? *smiles evilly*
Once again, thank you all for the wonderful reviews. Please, keep them coming and see you next chapter :]