Well, this took a little longer than expected, but I hope you can forgive me for that. I now present you with chapter 20, hoping you will accept what is happening concerning our both heroes. Remember, if you kill me now, they'll never get reunited, ne ;)
So, without further ado, here we go with the chapter. Just allow me to thank you a thousand times for all the wonderful reviews. They made my day and definitely made my muse stick around to write what follows. So thank you all and here's hoping I'll hear from you again.
Oh, and one warning: I think this chapter is one of the few we'll ever see in which Kagome could actually give Inuyasha a run for his money when it comes to cursing like a sailor LOL To excuse her, she was pissed and with good reason, as you'll see soon.
ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS:
To all of you: While I don't mind anonymous reviews and always try to take the time to respond to them before each new chapter, there's one thing I have to ask of you: please use some kind of 'sign name' or something. If you look at the review page for chapter 19, you'll see several people who have reviewed as 'Guest' or something like that. How are you now going to guess which reply goes to which one of you? Please, try to leave some kind of name to avoid silly problems like that, OK?
blackreader27: Wow, thank you. I'm really touched to hear that. Sorry for making you wait so long (although, really, it could have been longer… LOL). I hope this chapter will make up for the wait :3
CatchySayo: Well, if the classic Shippō-move made you laugh, then I'm definitely satisfied with that scene. And as for Naraku's plan hurting both Inuyasha and Kagome, I'm hoping this chapter will show more or less just how much the both of them were affected by what happened. Hope you enjoy and looking forward to hear from you again :]
InuGome: You're definitely right. As I said a couple of times before, reviews are fuel. It's through reviews that I know thatpeople are reading and enjoying my story and it really keeps me going. In all honestly, if no one reviewed, the story would have probably died after the first, maybe the second chapter. But so far, it doesn't look like I'm threatened and you can be sure there'll be lots more reading even after chapter 21 :D Oh, and about Naraku's plan working… that depends on what he was planning, really. I mean, when he turned Inuyasha and Kikyo against each other, he wanted Kikyo to kill Inuyasha but for Kikyo ti survive via wishing on the Jewel. In this case, he might have wanted to just separate them, or maybe even go further than that. We can only hope to find out eventually, ne :3 Hope you keep enjoying the fic! :) Oh, and thanks for the birthday wishes.
Guest 1 & 2: On the off chance you're the same person reviewing twice, sorry to keep you waiting LOL On the much more possible chance that you're two different people, I thank you both for the reviews and hope the wait wasn't overly long :3
Guest 3: Signed as 'A friend'… hmmm… That you, Fr0sted FLAKES? *reads the review again* Hmmm… not sure, but it doesn't look like it. Anyway, I know what you mean. I read quite the number of fics where their roles were the other way around, and in my opinion all of them were pretty crappy. That's why I decided to write a story like that in the first place. I wanted to see if I could do any better, seeing as all I did otherwise was complain. Glad to hear you enjoyed it so far and hope things will not go down the drain in your opinion later LOL I also hope to hear from you again… though I'd appreciate knowing exactly who you are :D
Fr0sted FLAKES: for the review for chapter 1, I know it's you because you said so. Thank you for that. And of course I remember you, how could I not? Glad to see you found some time to get back to this fic and hope to hear from you again once you get this far again (unless you already did and were in fact Guest 3 *sigh* so confusing…) Hope you like all of what you still have to read, or what you've already read and that this chapter will be satisfactory as well. Looking forward to hear from you again :]
Tracks for this chapter:
Riviera: the Promised Land Music: Hector's ambition (link: www. aimini view /?fid=IOT794Dg8w94jO36a5fq)
SID:Natsukoi
Breakers:
XxX: change of scene
~ξ~: time-skip
乗: 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".
Many thanks to Amber for edits :]
Chapter 20 – The Monk With the Cursed Hand
Inuyasha sighed as he leaned against the trunk of the base of the tree he'd chosen to sit under, having just finished his meal. Staring straight ahead, his tired eyes took in the sight of the nearby village and not for the first time, the young priest wished he could go to one of the inns that were bound to be there and sleep on something more comfortable than the hard ground. Alas, he had no money, or at least, not money he could use in this period. He highly doubted money used five hundred years from now would be satisfactory for the people here and he didn't have anything else he could hope to trade for.
Still, he had decided to stay near the village, instead of moving on, and not only because his body still required a lot of rest. He had wondered briefly what he could have possibly done to tire himself out this much, as he had rested plenty already in his own opinion. It was just his muscles that were disagreeing, saying that three days and nights of rest was definitely not enough, especially since he had also been traveling during that time, and not only resting.
His surprisingly persistent fatigue wasn't the only reason Inuyasha decided it better to stay close to the village for the time being. There was also the fact that should he be attacked by some demon, he still wouldn't stand much chance alone, so it would be better to be near a settlement, as much as Inuyasha hated to admit that he might need help in case of an attack. Sighing again, the young kannushi slowly raised his right hand and inspected his bandaged forearm. The fresh bandages he had changed a few hours prior were still clean, as he had assured himself that the bleeding had stopped, dried blood having closed the wound temporarily until the flesh beneath could heal. Since the scab had already formed, the black haired teen couldn't assess just how deep the claw-wounds were, but he was actually glad for it. Knowing how much they hurt was enough for him.
He couldn't help but notice that something was going on, however. He might not be a student at medical school or anything, but even he knew that torn muscles took a really long time to heal over, and it took even more time to re-learn to use them afterwards. Three days definitely shouldn't be enough for them to heal to the extent they apparently already had, considering his improved ability to move his fingers. Of course, the attempts still hurt like Hell, but the pain wasn't blinding anymore, and if the movement wasn't too abrupt (like when he tried to grasp Seryuu's hilt the other day), he could even manage to close his fist loosely. He tried to avoid that, though, knowing that his arm would heal quicker if he left it immobile.
Lowering his hand, Inuyasha glanced once again towards the not-far-off village, envying the people he saw entering their huts to retire for the night as he himself shivered lightly in the cool breeze of the evening. It was high time, in his opinion, to start a fire, but in order to do so, he had to wait for Shippō to return with some firewood. He had been skeptical when the young kit offered to go and get some, but had agreed in the end, if only because another wave of tiredness had unexpectedly hit him and the soreness of his body seemed to increase tenfold, making moving around harder than it already was. It was a fact the kit hadn't hesitated to point out, having noticed it easily. Inuyasha grumbled under his breath, remembering how he had scowled at the kit and tried to insist he could still go. Shippō hadn't let him, however, pouncing on him with speed he hadn't expected and easily pushing him to the ground and landing on his chest.
"If that's so, then try and keep up," the kit had said , then had jumped over him. Inuyasha had quickly turned onto his stomach to see the direction in which the kit would go to follow him, but it seemed Shippō had expected that, because the moment he turned, something heavy had landed on top of his hand, effectively keeping him in place. "That might be a little hard with that there, though," the young kitsune had laughed before scurrying off, leaving a scowling and very annoyed Inuyasha behind.
The young priest huffed and turned his head to glare at the object Shippō had immobilized him with thanks to his fox magic. It was a miniature jizo-statue, the same one he remembered the kit trapping Kagome with. Surprisingly, when it landed on his hand, it hadn't hurt or broken any of his bones. Still, the thing was fucking heavy and so for a while, he had found himself unable to move from his spot on the ground. The statue was too heavy for him to lift with one arm in the position he was in, and if he were to try and push it off, he'd need to get into a kneeling position first, propping himself up on his injured hand. Needless to say, he decided to avoid that.
What had helped him out of his predicament in the end was the thing he still needed to get used to utilizing, but first he'd need to figure out how to even do that. After a moment of lying there with an angry scowl on his face, Inuyasha had suddenly noticed a bright blue glow enveloping the statue, as well as a few electric sparks flying over it before it had shrunk with a poof-ing sound, allowing him to get up. But Shippō had been long gone by then so whether he liked it or not, Inuyasha knew it would be best to wait for the kit, which he had been doing since then. 'The runt better hurry up and get back here with the firewood, though,' the young pries thought, annoyed, his eyes falling to the water he had boiled on his small gas-stove and the ramen cup standing next to it – a cup he hadn't even thought twice about taking out and preparing for the kit, who as far as he knew had yet to learn how to hunt.
XxX
Jumping into the air, Kagome swiped her claws once again, easily cutting off another drying almost-dead branch from one of the trees. It landed on the ground with a dull thud and she fell next to it without a sound before kicking it over to the small pile of wood that was slowly accumulating a few feet away from there.
"I think that should be enough," she said as she glanced as said pile before looking around when she only received silence as an answer. "Shippō-chan?"
A sudden crack above her alerted her to the kits possible location and she quickly stepped to the side as another branch fell next to her, a screaming kit following close behind. He would have landed face-first in the dirt much like the branch he'd just cut, had Kagome not caught him easily in her arms.
"Easy there. Be careful the next time. Don't go cutting branches you're standing on, stupid," she reprimanded gently as she set the kit on the ground and frowned at the branch he cut. "Also, try to avoid cutting living branches. They don't burn nearly as well as the dry ones do."
"OK," the little kit replied meekly, his eyes travelling to all the wood they had gathered, which Kagome started to pick up and rest on her shoulder in order to carry it.
"Let's get back. I'll help you carry it to as close as I can get without him noticing, then I'll be off again," the young half-demon said calmly, looking straight ahead without blinking, waiting patiently for Shippō to pick up what she left as his part to carry, which wasn't very much. Nodding, the young kit threw the few branches onto his back, being too small to carry them over one shoulder like Kagome did, and they slowly started walking towards where they both knew Inuyasha was waiting. Kagome opened her mouth to ask a question that had been on her mind ever since Shippō came into the forest and asked her for a little help in getting some firewood, but the kit had been quicker to speak.
"Did you have any luck yet?" he asked, his voice betraying the worry he felt about the subject he probed on. Kagome understood what he meant. There was only one thing he could be asking about, really. She sighed.
"Luck's got nothing to do with it," she grumbled, annoyed. "I can always catch its scent and I follow it easily, but I can never find it. It's like the scent is there, but whatever emits it is not. I know it's somewhere around here, but I can't pinpoint its exact location," she confessed, both anger and worry seeping into her tone. That had never happened before. When she caught a scent and wanted to follow it, she always found the source eventually. It was impossible not to. But this time, it was like the source was invisible or something, or like she was just imagining the stench she knew her nose was picking up. It was as infuriating as it was worrying.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find it," Shippō tried to cheer her up, but her expression did not lighten. Far too many grave thoughts were swirling in her mind right then.
"I know I will," she replied curtly, her scowl deepening. "I will because I have to. There's no other option," she growled, suddenly becoming angry as her thoughts wandered to the possibilities entailing her not finding what she was looking for. But she shook them off, angrily. 'I will find that accursed sword. I won't allow it anywhere near Inuyasha again. I'll find it and destroy it. Failure is not an option!' she vowed to herself, determined to keep that vow even if it killed her. And she had to acknowledge the fact that if she wasn't careful, then this time, it actually might.
"Can't I help you? Two noses are better than one, right? And I could learn how to track things by scent, too," Shippō piped up hopefully. Kagome replied without hesitation, crushing his hopes swiftly, if he even had any.
"No," she said curtly. "You have to stay with Inuyasha. I trust you to use your fox magic to alert me if something goes wrong and I'm not nearby. I need you to stay with him, you can't come with me," she elaborated when the kit's face fell and regarded him with a gentle, yet serious expression. "Besides which, training should not be done in circumstances that could threaten your life like that. The risk of actually dying is much too high in this case," she added. She didn't expect her words to make Shippō's eyes widen and fill with tears, however, much less to hear what he said next.
"Even so… you won't die, will you? You can't die, Kagome! Promise me you won't!"
The young half-demon stared at the little kitsune in astonishment, actually stunned into silence. When the kit refused to calm down and started crying louder, she couldn't help but smile lightly as she crouched down beside him, careful not to let any of the wood fall off her shoulder. Next thing Shippō knew, she was gently ruffling his hair in an affectionate manner.
"Don't worry, I don't die easy," she assured him, coming as close to a promise as she dared, though she did not allow herself to utter the two words she knew he really wanted to hear. She knew she couldn't promise that, not only for this hunt, nor any other that lay ahead. She could promise to do her best, she could promise to defeat her enemies whatever it took (though that was a risky promise as well), she could promise to protect him as long as she lived… but she couldn't promise to stay alive. She was strong and she didn't want to die, of course, but you never know when you encounter someone stronger than you, and she knew at least one person who would be able to kill her and whom she would not be able to harm any more than she already had unless it was her only way out – and that was her half-brother, Sesshōmaru.
Still, she couldn't help but feel touched at Shippō's worry, even if she was surprised he cared for her this much already when they had only barely met. Then again, he was just a kid and kids tended to get attached swiftly, especially to people who helped them through hard times. Her smile turned sad as he reluctantly nodded, accepting her words. 'I guess locking my heart away won't work anymore,' she thought, surprised how the thought wasn't as sour as she thought it would be. Instead, she almost felt happy to realize that. 'Arigato, Shippō-chan.'
"Well, we're almost there," she finally said once Shippō calmed down some. "I have to leave you here, now. But I'll be back," she assured the young kit, adding 'if I can' only in her thoughts. She didn't want to worry him, after all. Shippō nodded in agreement and took out a bunch of leaves from his pocket, most likely to use some kitsune trick that would allow him to carry the wood the rest of the way. Before he could, however, Kagome had one more question to ask.
"Before I leave, tell me… how is he?" They both knew who she was talking about.
"He's fine. Still sore and tired like I've never seen him before at times, but overall fine," the kit cheerily, certain those words would cheer Kagome up.
"And his arm?" she probed, guilt seeping into her tone as her ears drooped slightly despite her will not to let them do so.
"Well, the bleeding's stopped from what I can smell and he seems able to move it a bit, though not too much, and it still hurts when he does, though he won't admit it. He thinks it's healing unnaturally quickly for some reason, too."
"I see," Kagome replied simply as she straightened up, her eyes scanning the forest around her as she sniffed around. She couldn't pick up the scent she was looking for, though, nor did she smell anything amiss. "I'll be going then," she said cortly and leapt off before Shippō could utter another word.
'His arm's healing unnaturally quickly, huh. Well, I suppose it would, though I'm sure Inuyasha wouldn't like the reason behind it,' Kagome thought, her expression turning slightly sour at the thought. Inuyasha had been unconscious when she tended to his wound, doing her best considering she knew almost nothing about healing, and Shippō hadn't paid much attention, so no one really saw what she did then.
All things considered, she had expected the outcome she was now dealing with. She knew what it was like to lose control of your mind and body, either to something living inside of you or to outside interference, it didn't matter. Either way, she knew what it was like and she knew people mostly didn't remember what happened during the time they were possessed, so she expected that Inuyasha might think she attacked him and act accordingly. So she had done the one thing she knew she could do to make sure he would heal as soon as possible, in case he needed to defend himself while she was not nearby. After cleaning his wound, she had slashed at her own wrist, drawing blood. The cut hadn't bothered her. In fact, it had healed an hour later. But it had bled enough for the scarlet liquid to roll down her arm and drip off her elbow onto the inside of her jacket, and that was what she wanted. She had clenched her fist then, to strain the muscles in her forearm and make the cut bleed even more, making the droplets of blood fall off her wrist and into Inuyasha's open wound, mixing her blood with his.
It was something she had discovered by accident fifty years ago and something both Kikyo and Kaede had been very intrigued by, not to mention herself. She still didn't know exactly how it worked, but she knew that by doing so, she would accelerate Inuyasha's healing rate for a few days, before her blood became the same as his, or something of that sort(1). Still, she preferred not to know how Inuyasha might react to the idea of her blood mixing with his in his veins. 'He'd probably think I'm trying to contaminate him with my 'filthy blood' or something,' she thought, trying to sound sarcastic to herself like any other time she thought of what humans thought of her. And yet this time, the idea that she might actually be right stung and she couldn't help but flex her claws before she fisted her hands, trying desperately to keep the sadness out of her expression and the small whimper that got stuck in her throat right where it was. She would not show weakness. Not now, not ever.
Shaking her head once again to clear her mind, Kagome forced herself to let go of those depressing thoughts as she sped up, trying to catch the scent she had been hunting for a couple of hours already and, if possible, finally follow it to its source.
XxX
Inuyasha was dozing lightly with Shippō curled up beside him and the fire cracking merrily, warming them both up. A sudden, loud rustle in the bushes close-by broke him out of his half-slumber and the young priest rubbed his eyes as he stared warily into the black of the night, rendered even more difficult to see in by the dense foliage that could be hiding a potential enemy. Biting his lip, Inuyasha gently shook the sleeping kit, deciding that it would be better to ask someone who didn't need sight to know if everything was alright, although he had a feeling he knew what was in the bushes, even if he didn't know how he knew.
Shippō awoke groggily and was about to ask what Inuyasha had woken him up for, when his entire body stiffened, his eyes widened with what the young priest interpreted as fear and his nose started to twitch as he scented the air. Not long after, his gaze turned straight towards the foliage Inuyasha had been staring into a few moments before, uttering only one word in a hushed whisper.
"Yōkai…"
That was all Inuyasha needed to hear as she slowly stood up and reached for his sword, mindful of his injury. But before his fingers could close over the hilt, the bushes rustled again before a big shadow jumped out of them, heading straight for the black haired teen. Inuyasha sidestepped it in the last possible moment and the shadow flew by without harming him, landing a few feet away on the ground, now illuminated by the fire as it turned around, revealing itself to be a rather large panther demon, or some other wild cat, of that Inuyasha wasn't sure. Panther still seemed to be the best guess, though, as its fur was completely black, save for two white spots around its glowing, scarlet eyes and two white ring-stripes on its tail.
[T]
Snarling, with its ears pressed against its scalp and with the tip of its tail swishing slowly back and forth, low to the ground, the panther bent its paws and lunged at Inuyasha with its claws extended before the violet eyed teen had any time to move. Throwing himself to the side and rolling on the ground, Inuyasha somehow managed to avoid the snarling beast and was quick to get up again. He reached for Seiryuu one more time, gritting his teeth as he tried to ignore the pain pulsing in his forearm as his fingers slowly moved to close over the blade. But he was distracted when something small jumped over his shoulder towards the panther, though it didn't attempt to get too close to it.
"Fox fire!" He heard Shippō's yell, the kitsune trying to control his terror even though it was hard to miss in both his voice and trembling movements. A bright blue fire erupted from his hands, the flame being surprisingly big. But the panther wasn't impressed by the little kitsune's antics, easily reaching with a clawed paw to slash at the kit, unafraid of the fire it passed through. Squeaking in terror, Shippō stumbled backwards, barely avoiding the deadly appendage, his fire escaping into the sky as he lost control over it. The now enraged panther snarled viciously before leaping at the kit, who closed his eyes in fright and waited for it all to end, too petrified to move.
"Shippō!" Inuyasha yelled frantically, not thinking any more as he lunged forward. He grabbed the kit with his good hand and pulled him back, straight into his chest, barely avoiding having his hand torn to shreds as the panther landed on the ground lightly mere seconds after he grabbed the kit. Gulping, Inuyasha stood up and retreated a few extra steps backwards, glancing briefly at the kit in his arms, who was clutching his shirt tightly as tears of terror fell from his eyes and that same emotion shook his tiny body. The black haired priest cursed when he raised his eyes and locked gazes with the panther. He couldn't fight it, he wouldn't be able to hold onto his sword yet. He couldn't run either, the panther would easily catch up before he reached the sleeping village, where he wasn't even sure he'd get any help after all. 'Dammit… What do I do?!'
XxX
Kagome leapt quickly from branch to branch, not making a single sound as she moved. Her nose twitched from time to time to assure herself that she was heading in the right direction and her eyes were narrowed in a determined glare. 'This time I'm sure. It's not going to get away this time. I won't let it have enough time to switch bodies again and wander off with the newly-possessed the fates only know where,' she thought as she sped up even more, knowing that she wasn't far now. Just a few more leaps and she would finally find the accursed sword she had been looking for since the day before and could destroy it. She had to give the thing credit, though, it knew how to avoid being tracked. Too bad it underestimated her inu-nose.
Her thoughts and her run were unexpectedly stopped, however, when she noticed a weird glow in the corner of her eye. Halting and turning her head in the direction she saw it in, her eyes widened when she easily realized what it was. 'Shippō's kitsune-bi!'
She didn't hesitate even a second. Growling furiously, Kagome swiftly jumped off the branch she was standing on onto the ground, then leapt forward as quickly as she could, backtracking the way she had come, hoping she wouldn't be too late. But why did something like this always have to happen in the worst possible moment?
Growl turning into a snarl, Kagome sped up even more, becoming nothing but a red blur to anyone - human, demon or animal - that might see her as she raced towards where she knew she was needed the most.
XxX
'Damn it… What do I do? What the fuck am I supposed to do now?!' Inuyasha thought frantically, his heart beating a mile a minute and beads of sweat rolling down his face as he stared at the panther-demon that was stalking towards him like a predator towards his prey – and unfortunately, the analogy was rather accurate.
Without any plan to speak of, and no way to either run or fight, Inuyasha did the only thing he could have done: tried to avoid being killed. Now, however, with his back pressed against a tree and almost completely out of any energy he might have accumulated while resting, he hardly knew how to get out of this predicament anymore. 'Damn… Where's Kagome when I fucking need her?' Inuyasha cursed in his thoughts, only to reprimand himself seconds later. What was he thinking? The wench had left days ago and obviously didn't care about him, hell, she most likely never did in the first place, why would she be here? And that minor point aside, he didn't need her. Not now, not ever. He'd find a way out of this. Somehow.
Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha forced himself to calm down and control his breathing as he stared down at the panther. There was really only one thing he could do if he wanted to survive and frankly, he should have done it before. Bracing himself for the pain he knew was coming, Inuyasha slowly reached for the hilt of his sword and slowly closed his fingers around it, hoping and praying to whoever would listen that the pain wouldn't be as blinding as he remembered it was last time he tried to use his sword.
"Shippō," he whispered to the trembling kit he was still holding protectively against his chest. The kitsune stilled completely in his arms, which Inuyasha understood as having the kit's attention. "When I say so, I want you to run. Run and hide somewhere," he ordered sternly, his eyes not leaving the still-approaching cat. When the kit started to protest, he almost growled. "I can't fight and protect you at the same time, stupid. The idea is that you don't get the fuck in my way," the young priest said harshly, making the fox wince slightly, but he nodded in agreement.
In that same moment, the panther finally lunged. Releasing Shippō and yelling at him to get out of there, Inuyasha quickly unsheathed Seiryuu and swung it in a wide arc in one fluid motion, closing his eyes on reflex when his arm reminded him none-too-gently of its current condition. Hissing loudly, Inuyasha reached for the hilt with his left hand to support it, now holding the sword in both hands as he looked up and forced his eyes open, breathing heavily as his arm seemingly pulsed, sending waves of pain through his entire body. He was more than certain he wouldn't be lifting his sword with his right arm any time soon. He had to try fighting holding it with both hands, otherwise he was screwed. Not that he wasn't anyway, as far as this situation was concerned.
The panther hissed angrily at him before a low, threatening growl erupted from its chest as it started approaching again, a thin line of blood flowing between its eyes from the shallow cut on its forehead Inuyasha had somehow managed to inflict, effectively angering the demon beyond belief. He scowled. 'I would have preferred to cut its skull open and be done with it. That's what I was aiming for… Damn.'
[/T]
The panther was obviously preparing to pounce on him again, but this time, it didn't even get that far, jumping instead to the side as something flew at it. It hadn't been quick enough and a rectangular piece of paper stuck to its side, sparks of what Inuyasha concluded to be holy power flying around as soon as it made contact. The panther howled and rolled on the ground until it managed to get the scrap of paper off before fleeing swiftly, disappearing into the night like a ghost.
"It would seem I let it escape," someone spoke from the direction the piece of paper came flying from and Inuyasha turned his head to see a young man a bit older than himself. As the man stepped closer to the now dying fire, Inuyasha narrowed his eyes to see him better. He was wearing purple robes and had short, black hair tied into a low ponytail at the base of his neck. A string of prayer-beads was wrapped around his right hand, where he also wore an arm-protector. On his feet was a pair of simple sandals and he was holding a long staff which Inuyasha recognized as a six ring Shakujō(2). The only real difference was that the tip was sharpened, and instead of being made of wood, it was actually a long, metal pole, most likely to be even more effective in battle, should the need arise. The young priest narrowed his eyes at the newcomer, silently glad for his help, but unwilling to admit such.
"Who the Hell are you?" He asked finally with narrowed eyes, carefully eyeing the man before him.
"My name is Miroku. I use my spiritual powers to save people," the young man replied calmly. He didn't seem to be lying, so Inuyasha slowly sheathed his sword, though he still remained cautious, just in case.
"Keh! I didn't need to be 'saved'. I would've been fine on my own," he bit out, half-angrily, half-cockily, causing Miroku to raise an eyebrow as if he wanted to say 'it didn't look that way to me'. If that were indeed his thoughts, he didn't voice them.
"Priest though you may be, you are wounded. No matter how strong you are, you should avoid battle, lest you shall die meaninglessly," he said wisely, a snort sounding a little off to the side being the answer he got.
"As if Inuyasha is going to listen to reason. He disregards his own, he won't listen to someone else's," Shippō spoke up from the ground before he leapt onto Inuyasha's head, where he deemed it safe from the irritated teen's punches (and rightfully so, since Inuyasha avoided hitting him in that case, having already delivered a punch to his own head by accident once – something Shippō got a big laugh out of). "Much less admit that he actually needed the help," he added with a smirk.
"Oi, shut it runt. I would have been fine. A kitten like that would've never beaten me," Inuyasha growled, glaring above him where he knew Shippō was sitting.
"Says you," the kit answered with a grin, actually enjoying irritating the teen.
"I must say, I am surprised. It is not often one sees a kannushi traveling around with yōkai, harmless as they may be," Miroku interrupted once again, eyeing them with curiosity shining in his eyes. Inuyasha glared at him again.
"So? What is it to you?" he asked rudely, feeling uneasy for some reason. Like someone was watching him. "How did you know I was a priest, anyway?" he then asked, suddenly realizing that, as far as he was aware, that fact shouldn't be obvious to everyone. Miroku looked surprised at the question.
"Your sword," he replied simply, pointing to the sheathed blade at Inuyasha's hip with his staff. "It is one only a Shinto priest may carry to my knowledge, so unless you killed a priest and took his sword, you must be one."
"I didn't kill anyone. The sword's mine," Inuyasha defended when the young man's stare became somewhat penetrating, as if Miroku was actually contemplating the possibility. Shippō nodded his head in agreement, still sitting on Inuyasha's head.
A strained, agony-filled cry of a dying panther suddenly filled the air, but for some reason or another, it went unnoticed by all three of them, and then deathly silence fell upon the forest behind them once again, nothing disturbing the peace for the rest of the night.
~ξ~
When morning came, Miroku was already gone as if he was never there in the first place. Inuyasha believed he headed to the village like he had been planning to before running into Shippō and him. Since they had a fire going already (though it was close to dying because of all the fuss with the panther demon), the young man had asked if he could just stay the night, since the people in the village would probably be all asleep anyway. Inuyasha had agreed, and Shippō didn't seem to mind the idea, either. But as soon as morning came, the young man was gone.
Inuyasha didn't dwell on it, though, once he had assured himself that the mysterious guy hadn't taken anything that wasn't his. Assuring himself that everything was as it should be, Inuyasha started the day with a nice cup of ramen - noting sadly that his stock was slowly getting empty and that it would last for one week and a half more, maybe two, but afterwards, he'd have to go back home to restock – and then proceeded to re-bandage his forearm and re-inspect the wound while he was at it. He had to make sure yesterday's mishap didn't cause any re-openings or anything, even though if it had, he'd probably know without looking. The pain would have been telling enough.
He was lucky. Though his arms still pulsed with a dull ache from his attempts to actually fight, it didn't look like anything got torn more than it was. He was glad for that, though he still couldn't help but wonder just how in the world the wound was healing so unnaturally quickly. If it continued like that, he might actually hope for it to be healed over within the next two weeks instead of the three months it should take at the very least. Maybe the wound wasn't as deep as he had first thought?
He was brought out of his thoughts when he caught movement in the very corner of his eye. Turning his head, Inuyasha's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets when he realized what it was, for he easily recognized the red and white blur as the hanyō he once considered a friend. Something stirred in him at the sight of her, however brief it might have been and he couldn't help but feel sad as he saw her leap away towards the village, although he didn't let it show on his face or in his eyes. He didn't want to admit it, but the thought that he thought of her as a friend once stung… and he even found himself wishing he could have it back. His head lowered. He knew he could have it back, were it not for one important detail that made things even worse. 'Why, Kagome? Why?' he thought as he closed his eyes, his mind wandering once again to four days ago, when she had shown him what she was really like. He still couldn't believe he had trusted her until that moment.
His thoughts came to a screeching halt and he snapped his head back up when an important thing hit home. The hanyō who absolutely detested being in or near any village unless she absolutely had to (except for Kaede's, so long as she stayed in the hut and left for the night), was headed straight to the one up ahead. And by the looks of it, it wasn't just because she suddenly felt like it. His previous train of thought completely forgotten, Inuyasha quickly grabbed his backpack, which he had packed by habit earlier in the morning, and stood up. Calling for Shippō to follow him, Inuyasha waited for the kit to jump onto his shoulder where he preferred to travel when he didn't run alongside him, then took off in the direction of the village, uneasy for a reason he himself didn't know. 'Kagome… what are you up to?' he thought worriedly as he ran.
It didn't take long to reach the village, but in his opinion still long enough. Whatever he was expecting to find there considering that Kagome had to be quicker than him, however, was not what he found. Meaning a normal, calm village. That is, until one of the villagers zoomed past him almost impossibly quickly, yelling something about a blood-thirsty monster wanting to kill him. Inuyasha would have expected this to cause panic in the next few moments, and at first it had. But when after a moment the 'blood-thirsty monster' didn't follow the fleeing man, a dead silence slowly enveloped the village. Narrowing his eyes, Inuyasha walked slowly in the direction from which the villager had come from, finding the reason for Kagome's hold-up (at least he suspected the 'blood-thirsty monster was Kagome… and he was right) rather quickly. It proved to be the same young man who had helped Inuyasha out the previous night, Miroku.
Kagome stood opposite him, an angry frown on her face as she analyzed her situation. It didn't take a genius to figure out it wasn't looking too god. 'Great, just what I needed right now. A fucking Houshi(3),' she thought angrily, her frown deepening when she caught sight of Inuyasha a little further behind him. 'And I almost caught the damned thing, too… Shit.'
"Who the Hell are you?" she finally growled out, not thinking about the fact that Inuyasha had asked that same person the very same question just a few hours prior. Her mind was occupied by more important things than that.
"My name is Miroku. I use my spiritual powers to save people," he replied with the same line he had said to Inuyasha as well, a fact Kagome ignored as she growled, bending her knees a little more as her ears twitched, catching the agitated voices of the few villagers that gathered around them, suddenly curious, rather than terrified like they were after the villager's yell about her following him. She didn't know whether she should be happy or mad about it, though.
"What's going on?"
"A yōkai?"
"He's slaying demons?"
"Can he do it alone?"
"Hey, a monk is slaying demons!" one particularly loud voice cut through the air, easily silencing everyone else. It was to that call that Inuyasha finally came close enough to see what was happening, and though he wasn't surprised to see Kagome there, he had mixed feelings about it. Part of him was worried, though he couldn't for the life of him understand why. Part of him was scared, if not downright terrified, even if he'd never admit it to anyone. But mostly, he was confused. 'Why the Hell did she come here? Why was she chasing that man?!' he couldn't help but wonder as he became one of many onlookers. Kagome had noticed him already, even before he came close enough to see her, but she ignored his presence, focusing on the monk in front of her instead.
"You use you powers to save people?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows for a brief moment before scowling again. "In that case, you're doing a rather poor job of it, monk," she growled, her anger rising. 'Couldn't he feel the evil of the sword the guy I was chasing was carrying? What kind of spiritualist is he if he can't feel even that?!' she asked herself, although she could feel Miroku was far from weak.
"I will not fight a senseless battle. Leave and I shall spare your life," the young monk said calmly, yet firmly. Kagome snorted.
"I wasn't referring to myself, monk. If you can't tell even that, then get out of my way. I'm not here to fight the likes of you," she growled, preparing herself to leap overhead and follow the still-distinct scent of the poisoned sword.
"Do you insist on being punished?" the houshi asked calmly as he narrowed his eyes, preparing his staff to fight her. She her growl grew more menacing as she got angrier.
"Out of my way, I said!" she yelled as she leapt forward, intending on passing the monk and leaving. She didn't expect him to jump backwards himself, effectively intercepting her and still standing in her way. Then he raised his staff and thrust at her, aiming for her stomach, but she easily leapt back to dodge the blow. "Guess I'll have to force you out of the way then, idiot monk," she muttered angrily under her breath as she unsheathed Tessaiga and swung at him.
"Only if you insist on terrorizing this village, inuyasha," the monk replied as he pushed her back, a feat that actually surprised her, but she didn't let it show.
"You know who I am?" she asked, honestly surprised, as she stared at him. It was hard to believe, but if he did know, why did he treat her like a regular low-level yōkai or… oh, right, this was how spiritualist generally treated hanyō, and she was one.
"Not at all," the monk replied casually, swiftly erasing her confusion as she almost fell over. "But isn't that what you are, a female dog demon(4)?" he asked as she glared at him once again.
[T]
"I ask one more time: out of the way before I move you myself!" she yelled as she jumped forward with her sword at the ready. The monk didn't move, only parried her blow and moved backwards as she advanced slowly, dealing strike after strike. She wasn't aiming to kill him, of course, but he was in the way and she had to move on before the sword got away again. If the monk refused to let her pass, she had to somehow get him out of her way, without killing him and preferably without drawing his blood either.
"You're very strong," Miroku commented as he continued to parry her blows with what seemed to be relative ease. Kagome didn't answer, focusing instead on finding some kind of weak-spot or opening. There had to be something, damn it! 'Damn! He parries my every stroke! I'll never get anywhere like this!' the young half-demon thought angrily.
Just then, the monk had been unfortunate enough to step on a pile of small logs while retreating from her attacks. Losing his balance slightly, Miroku started to fall backwards but tried to regain his balance. Kagome wasn't going to let the lucky chance pass by, though. 'An opening!' she thought as she swung once again, this time hitting the monks staff out of his hands and sending it flying a little distance behind her, where it got stuck tip-first in the ground, the rings jingling lightly before they rested soundlessly on the ground.
Miroku landed on his behind and then looked up at her as she towered over him, her sword still in position after her swing. She glared down at him and quickly sheathed her sword.
"I told you, I don't have time for you," she growled before she leapt of, leaving a perplexed monk behind. Following her nose, she weaved her way between the now scattering villagers and swiftly passed a shell shocked Inuyasha, hoping she could still catch up to the new body the cursed sword had possessed, even if it had more than enough time to get away by now. She had to try.
Taking to the rooftops of the small huts, but careful not to cause a cave-in as she leapt from hut to hut, Kagome sped up even more, her nose working overtime as she crossed the village at breakneck speed – or at least what would be considered breakneck for a human and was merely a fast sprint for her. A smirk wound its way on her face when the scent she was following suddenly got stronger. 'Found ya!' she half-cheered in her mind as she took one more leap and landed between two huts with barely a sound, blocking the way to the main road for anyone who might have been there.
"You're out of places to run," she growled to the villager in front of her, though if a third person had been there, he would have wondered why the villager wasn't terrified. Kagome swiftly noticed it wasn't the same man she had been following before. This one was younger. "Switch bodies all you want, that's not going to work anymore. End of the line," she snarled, flexing her claws. The man in front of her only laughed.
"That's what you think, hanyō," he laughed as he reached for his own sword, one Kagome easily recognized, unsheathed it and attacked in one, albeit a bit awkward motion. Kagome ducked to avoid it, but before she could even think to counter somehow, the villager jumped over her and ran again. Cursing under her breath, Kagome gave chase once more. 'Why the Hell does it keep running? It didn't have a problem with fighting back before. What is the damned thing up to?!' Kagome thought furiously as she leapt towards the hut roofs again. Before she managed to corner the unnaturally-fast-running villager, however, they had left the village and he bolted for the trees. She wasn't about to let him.
Pushing herself to go even faster, Kagome finally overtook the possessed man and landed in front of him and reached for Tessaiga, leashing out immediately so that the man couldn't have time to react, aiming for the sword at his hip. But before she could cut it off and separate it from the body, she jumped backwards when she saw something approaching in the corner of her eye. She had been quick enough to avoid it herself, but one of the straps of paper got stuck to her sword, sending waves of holy energy to clash with its youki. 'An o-fuda(5),' Kagome noted with a frown as she quickly reached for the paper, ignoring the burning sensation it caused as it clashed with her youki as well, and ripped it off before it could purify her sword or, even worse, herself. Not long afterwards, the same monk that had stopped her minutes before stepped between her and the villager, a deep frown on his face.
"You again," Kagome growled, slowly becoming pissed. This monk was thinking he was saving some villager from her wrath, but goddamn it, he was actually helping an existence much more demonic and dangerous to humans than her. Didn't he realize that? "I told you not to get in my way."
"You should get out of here. I will take care of her. Run back to the village and tell everyone to get as far away as they can. For their safety," the monk spoke calmly to the villager behind him, completely ignoring Kagome's words. The possessed man smirked malevolently at the half-demon over the monk's shoulder, something the houshi couldn't and didn't see, making her snarl almost savagely. 'Damn it all to fucking Hell!' she yelled in her mind as she watched the villager retreat. Ignoring the monk, who she noticed didn't bring his staff along, apparently following her immediately after she left, Kagome set out to follow the man. She didn't get far, however, before her instincts screamed at her and she turned around, swinging Tessaiga to easily cut through the couple of new o-fuda the monk had dared to throw at her. 'Fuck… He's not going to let me go, is he. Just what the fuck am I supposed to do to get rid of him without actually killing him, damn it?!'
"How do you intend to fight without a weapon? Your o-fuda won't be enough to stop me, you know," the hanyō asked cautiously, her sword still held at the ready as she slowly retreated. Turning her back on the monk and running wouldn't help any, she knew, he'd just throw more o-fuda at her and eventually, one would hit. She had avoid that.
The only answer to her question was a smirk as the houshi slowly raised his right hand. Kagome narrowed her eyes as she glanced at the beads surrounding them. 'Monk or not, wearing prayer beads quite like that is weird,' she said, her grip on Tessaiga tightening. Somehow, she knew that she wouldn't be able to get away to follow the possessed villager now. There was just something about his hand… something that was out of place. 'I smell something weird coming from it… shouki? No, that's not it, but it's similar,' she mused as the monks left hand slowly moved to unwrap the beads. 'Whatever it is, it's not safe. Whatever he hides in that right hand of his, it has an evil stench to it.'
"Sorry, but I hate losing," the monk said confidently, only succeeding in confusing Kagome further. He made it sound like he followed her to fight again only because she had 'won' the previous encounter when she disarmed him. But Kagome knew that even if it was part of the reason, that definitely wasn't all. 'He's like me in his own way. He's a protector of the weak. But why have two protectors have to fight each other when the real evil hid somewhere between the protected?!' Kagome thought desperately, fury once again rising within her. Didn't the monk feel that evil he just let escape?
Then again, she didn't feel it, either. What she followed was the stench of the miasma that the sword was made of. Could it be that for some reason, the sword hid its youki?
Kagome was abruptly brought out of her thoughts when the monk before her suddenly ripped the prayer beads from his hand and then turned it towards her, revealing just what it was that he had been hiding.
"Spiritual Power!" he yelled as a sudden, strong wind started pulling the young hanyō towards the monk. Startled, Kagome did the only thing she could think of: she stuck Tessaiga in the ground in front of her, hoping it would be enough to prevent being drawn in. Behind her, she could hear a few huts that were too close fall apart and she saw the wood parts fly from behind her towards the monk, disappearing into his hand. 'What the Hell?! What is this wind?' she thought as she thrust her sword deeper into the ground and held on for dear life to not be sucked in. Looking closer, she managed to see what was causing it, and her eyes widened when she saw a black hole in his hand. 'Spiritual power my ass! It's a fucking kazaana(6)!'
"How long can you hold out?" Miroku asked calmly, almost tauntingly, smirking at her from behind his hand, he himself perfectly save. Kagome cursed in her thoughts, knowing that she was pretty much toast now. He wouldn't just close the Wind Tunnel and let her go. She wouldn't be able to get away from it, the wind was too strong. Her only chance would be if she propelled herself on Tessaiga to leap up where the Wind didn't reach her, but abandoning Tessaiga to save her own skin was not an option. It was all she had left of her father and it had become her partner. It had a will and a heart of its own, it was alive, and frankly, in that case, she could consider it a comrade, if not even a friend. She wouldn't leave it behind to be sucked into the monk's hand. Never!
But that left her pretty much without any way to get out of her current predicament, and Tessaiga could only hold out so long. Already, it was being pulled towards the houshi, making a deep gash in the ground in the process, as she had yet to pull it out. 'But he wanted the villagers to get far away,' Kagome remembered suddenly. 'He doesn't want to suck in humans. So maybe if…' her thoughts cut off abruptly and her ears drooped. 'Oh, right. Inuyasha won't do anything. Why would he?' Yup, she was pretty much screwed. She grunted as she was pulled just a tiny bit closer, still trying to resist the wind to the best of her ability, even if deep down she knew it was only holding off the inevitable.
"Run away!"
"You'll get sucked to your death!" the terrified screams of the villagers reached her sensitive ears, but she knew they weren't directed at her. They were yelling to each other, they could care less about some half-demon. 'Damn it all!' Kagome thought furiously, slowly but surely being force closer to the monk.
"Surrender," he said suddenly. "If you get sucked in, you'll never get out."
"As if you care," Kagome spat back angrily, tightening her grip on Tessaiga even more. She wasn't falling for it. If she were to surrender, he'd just suck her in all that much easier. Like Hell she was going to let that happen.
Just then, a scream louder than any other sounded from the village. It was the scream of a terrified woman. A terrified mother.
"No! KAZUKO(7)! Kazuko!"
Somehow, she knew what this scream meant, and when she looked up, Kagome knew her fear had been right. First she saw a small doll pass her by, followed closely by a little girl who soon wouldn't exist anymore, swallowed by the black hole of the monk's hand. Kagome's eyes widened in fear and as if responding to her, Tessaiga pulsed strongly. The half-demon understood and hesitated only a second before she jumped lightly, then used her own sword as support before she bounded off a second time, easily reaching the little girl and snatching her up in her arms. She didn't expect the wind to suddenly stop blowing, however, so when it did, she lost control of her body and landed much less gracefully than normal on the ground, a few feet away to the right of the monk, child safely held against her chest. She noted that the young spiritualist's eyes were wide and his right hand was tightly gripping the prayer beads he had just wrapped around his hand again. Then, he let out a sigh of relief before he turned to her, warning in his eyes. She knew what he was saying with his eyes. 'Let go of the girl.' She snorted as she glared at him.
[/T]
'Those prayer beads seal off his arm. He's restraining himself, so he's not an evil person,' Kagome confirmed in her thoughts, but didn't lessen her glare any. 'He was only doing what he thought was right,' she noted, forcing her anger to evaporate instead of letting it boil. She really shouldn't hold it against him. Shinto priest or Buddhist monk, it didn't matter, he was a spiritualist. She was a hanyō. There was really only one thing he could ever think of her. Lowering her eyes, Kagome looked down at the girl she still had in her arms, knowing that so long as she held her, the monk wouldn't dare to open the kazaana again, not that she planned to hide behind the little ningen child.
Big brown eyes looked up at her, partly curious, partly grateful and Kagome had to wonder if the child knew in just how much danger she had just been in and if so, if she had done that on purpose, as ridiculous as that sounded. But what surprised her even more was that though the child was looking straight at her and had her claws wrapped around her, she didn't smell of fear at all. In all honestly, she seemed like she was expecting something like this to happen.
Shaking her head, Kagome sniffed the air and had to restrain herself to not growl angrily. The wind caused by the monk's Wind Tunnel had mixed all the scents together, and though she could still pick up the faint stench of miasma that she knew belonged to the sword she had been hunting, there was no way she'd be able to track it now. The fucking thing got away, whether she liked it or not and all she could do now was try to pick up the trail and hope to find it again before it found her… or, which was more likely, Inuyasha. Because suddenly, the reason behind its flight became all too clear to Kagome. 'I forgot that this sword can only force the body it possesses to go beyond its limits, but it can't use skills the body doesn't have. It didn't fight before because the body it had didn't know how to. It keeps running… because it's looking for the body of a warrior. Whether he intends on using it to kill me or finish Inuyasha, either way, I have to stop it! But where do I look now? It could be anywhere!' Kagome thought frantically, fear slowly rising within her. If the sword did find a body that was well trained and accustomed to fighting, then she'd be in big trouble, and Inuyasha even more so. She cursed under her breath. She had to start tracking it. Now. There was no time to lose.
"Run to your mother, little girl, and next time, don't get yourself into dangerous situation that you can avoid," she whispered quietly to the little girl in her arms, completely ignoring the monk. Then, without waiting for the child to respond and before the monk could react, she leapt towards Tessaiga. She snatched it from the ground and sheathed it, then leapt off, disappearing between the trees of the nearby forest before Miroku could so much as blink.
Unbeknownst to her, two other sets of eyes were also watching for far longer than anyone else. A pair of worried emerald eyes and a pair of violet contemplative ones. Holding on tightly to what remained of the wall of one of the huts, Inuyasha had observed everything that went on. What he witnessed, however, hadn't been what he had expected at all, and not only on the monk's part. Because of that, he couldn't help but wonder…
(1) This is something that's hard for Kagome to understand, since the medical knowledge in that time was rather poor, at least in comparison to today's medical biology. So, here's a more 'futuristic' and medical explanation for the idea I had behind this: Kagome's blood acts in this case like some sort of medication. Compare it to pain-killers for example: you eat them, they get digested, enter your bloodstream and are then transported to the cells they should be effective on, doing their work on specific receptors and thus dulling the pain. This is the basically the same thing: mixing her blood with Inuyasha's, Kagome made her blood enter his bloodstream exactly where it was already needed, where it got to work on his cells, allowing them to multiply faster and thus to start closing the wound sooner than it normally would. Still, Kagome's blood is a foreign object in Inuyasha's system, so it's going to be treated as such and progressively, though her blood is actually helping him, Inuyasha's antibodies are going to react and destroy every blood cell that isn't his own (demon blood being sturdy, it takes a couple of days to get rid of it all) – that's what Kagome suspects to be 'her blood becoming like his'. That occurrence is a natural one, actually, which is why, when doing transfusion, the blood-type transfused must be the same as the patient's, otherwise it'll be transfused just to be destroyed (in actuality, this process causes the blood to coagulate, though, but for the sake of the story, let's overlook that 'tiny' detail, ne ;)). And one last thing: mixing her blood with a human's, in this fic, does NOT, in ANY WAY, make the human more demon or less human. It only works like medication and once it's disposed of by the anti-bodies, it's as if it was never there in the first place.
(2) Shakujō (Japanese name) – a Buddhistringed staff used primarily in prayeror as a weapon, that originates from India.The jingling of the staff's rings is used to warn small sentient beings (i.e. insects) to move from the carrier's path and avoid being accidentally trodden on. In ancient times it was used also to scare away dangerous animals. Ringing also is used to alert the faithful that there is amonkwithin earshot in need of alms. It may have either four rings representing theFour Noble Truths, six rings representing theSix Perfections, or twelve rings representing thetwelvefold chain of cause and effect. A four ring Shakujō is carried by novice monks, a six ring Shakujō is carried by a Bodhisattva (enlightened existence or enlightenment-being), and a twelve ring Shakujō is carried by the Buddha. Most commonly seen are those with six rings which have also been claimed to represent the six states of existence (humans,animals,hell,hungry ghosts,gods, andasuras [the lowest ranks of the deities or demigods. They are described as having three heads with three faces and four to six arms]). In Japan the shakujō became a formidable weapon in the hands of a practiced Buddhist monk. It could be used as a staff to block and parry attacks and the metal rings at the tip could be slammed into an opponent's face to momentarily blind him. At the very tip of the metal finial is a sharp point which can be used to attack weak points of the body. The bottom end of the Shakujō has a metal butt which can be used to thrust and hit an opponent. An opponent's weapons can also be easily deflected.
(3) Houshi – Buddhist priest
(4) Remember how back in chapter one I told you that 'Inuyasha' can be translated literally into 'gentle dog demon'? That was something I read somewhere once (sadly, I don't remember where). Then, I read on inuyasha. wikia. com that it only translates into 'dog demon'. But when I looked it up in a dictionary myself, I found the words 'inu' for 'dog' (I think most of us know that) and 'yasha' meaning 'female demon'. So, while I'm not sure, I think all three translations are correct, depending on the kanji used. Even if it's incorrect, Kagome's 'title' shall still translate into 'gentle dog demon', if you don't mind. What Miroku meant, however, is the third translation: 'female dog demon'. He was really only calling her what she was.
(5) O-fuda - a type of household amulet or talisman, issued by a Shinto shrine (they originate from Buddhism, though), hung in the house for protection, also called agofu or shinpu in this case. It is made by inscribing the name of a kami and the name of the Shinto shrine or of a representative of the kami on a strip of paper, wood, cloth, or metal. The portable version of o-fuda (and the one Miroku actually uses, as normal o-fuda are way too big, consisting of a wooden board where you attach the paper or cloth with the inscription, unless you write on the board itself) is also commonly called o-mamori. It's typically given out wrapped in a small bag made of decorated cloth. This also originates from Onmyōdō and Buddhism, but was subsequently adopted by Shinto. Both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines give out theseo-mamori. While an o-fuda is said to protect a whole family, ano-mamori offers support for personal benefits. Not to confuse with a Sutra, as it was translated in the English dub of the anime, for a sutra is actually anaphorism(or line, rule, formula) or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual, or, more broadly, a text in Hinduism or Buddhism. More specifically, i nBuddhism, the sutra refers mostly to canonical scriptures, many of which are regarded as records of the oral teachings of Gautama Buddha. These teachings are assembled in part of the Tripitaka which is called Sutra Pitaka. There are also some Buddhist texts, such as the Platform Sutra, that are called sutras despite being attributed to much later authors.
(6) Kazaana – Wind Tunnel
(7) Kazuko – Japanese girl name meaning 'child of harmony' ('Kazu'='peace'/'harmony', 'ko'='child')
Well, after the ridiculously long foot-notes (did any of you bother to read all that?), now you're officially finished with reading chapter 20. I hope you liked it, but unless you'd tell me in a review, I won't know :) Looking forward to hearing from those of you who wish to enlighten me on their opinion and see you in the next installment, which just might pop up next week, if I'm not too lazy :]