Well, here we are, the long-awaited chapter 22… though I must say, some of you guys are really impatient. It's only been a week. Sheesh *smiles* But, it's good to know people like this story so much and want to know what happens next, so thanks anyway :] And many thanks for all you wonderful reviews, too. I hope you keep them coming, I hope I keep deserving them and I hope this chapter (and others to come) are still to your liking. Happy reading!
On a side-note: this chapter is the one with the most tracks so far, as far as I can tell :3
ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS:
Again, there's a couple of unsigned, anonymous reviews, to forgive me if it's confusing, but I can hardly do anything about it, unless you 'sign' your review next time.
Guest 1: Yes, I know I'm mean. I could leave it at that because unlike my readers, I know what's going to happen next, so I hardly care for a cliffhanger – it's not a real cliffhanger for me anyway. But I'm glad you enjoyed and I hope you like this chapter as well… though I probably wasn't any less mean at the end of it LOL You'll see what I mean soon enough.
blackreader27: Keep pouting, it won't change the fact that the cliffie was there :] But thank you for your kind words and I hope what happens in this chapter will satisfy you… partially, if nothing else. Glad to hear you enjoy the fic so far anyway, though :3
Inulover: I'm glad to hear that, thank you :]
happyface2107: Don't worry, I definitely will keep going. Glad to hear you liked it and I hope I will not disappoint in the future :3
InuGome: Hello again :3 Well, I hope you liked Miroku's entrance so much because the parallels with canon weren't noticeable LOL Although, if it was just you not paying attention, there's no need to apologize. So long as you enjoy what you're reading, I guess… :3 And no, I don't blame you for dreaming. I'm quite sure you aren't the only one, in fact. I think that part of you can somewhat rejoice in this chapter… although there's also a possibility you'll be glaring daggers at me in a while. Oh well. Enjoy and hope to hear from you again!
Misty Blue: Don't give promises you can't keep. It's nice to know I'm safe from you, but you can hardly promise that NO ONE will kill me, ne? There are far more people out there I might be pissing off with my reunion stalling LOL Anyway, I'm glad to hear you have faith in me. I promise I won't fail your… probably *smiles evilly* Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and I hope to hear from you later!
CatchySayo: Yes, you did make sense. At least to me you did :] And Kazuko sends her thanks for all the compliments on her character, though sadly, we won't be seeing much of her again… I think… I may be wrong, though. Enjoy the chapter :3
Random: Why ending where I did last chapter? Because I felt like it :P Wait… Kazuko gave you the creeps? *sweatdrops* That… was not intended. Definitely not. Don't worry, she isn't some kind of monster or anything, I can say that much. She's pretty much a random village girl who just so happened to play a bit of a role. Anyway, let her go, she won't be appearing much anymore, so don't let her bother you :3 True, bribery isn't Naraku's style, not really, but if he was indeed the one who put up the reward with the three salamanders, who ever said he was actually planning to pay up? If it was indeed him, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a means to an end, a part of some bigger plan… who knows. As for the trolls, as they said themselves, they wanted revenge for their kid whom Kagome killed at one point which wasn't shown as it wasn't really that important. As for wanting to find out what happens next even though you know Inuyasha isn't going to die… I have to say, that was EXACTLY what I was aiming for with the cliffhanger LOL I managed to do so with one person at least it seems :] Thank you for the great review and glad to hear you enjoyed. Hope this chapter will also be to your liking.
Guest 2: Thank you for your kind words. I certainly hope I'll live up to your expectations. Let's continue writing (in my case) and reading (in yours) to see just where I take this 'awesome ride', ne ;) I hope you'll like what I still have in store for you, along with the other readers :3
Tracks for this chapter:
Metallica:Ecstasy of Gold (S&M version) (link: www. youtube watch?v=kKypYslGEA8
SID: Monochrome no Kiss
Riviera: the Promised Land Music: Elegant Melodies (link: www. aimini view /?fid=j6RlYEOhjcYHpov3oDgG)
Blood-C OST:Shousa ni wa Houbi O, Haisha ni wa Bachi O
Breakers:
XxX: change of scene
~ξ~: time-skip
乗: Beginning/Change/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 Kanna37 for edits :3
Chapter 22 – Realizations
As he lay on the ground, waiting for the end, he was suddenly forced to acknowledge that it would never come, as instead, the sound of steel clashing with steel met his ears. Miroku must have saved him, he figured, but was quick to find out he was wrong.
[T]
"Kazuko-chan, Shippō-chan, get off my back. It's going to get dangerous," a very familiar, female voice spoke, one he thought he wouldn't hear again in a long while, if ever again. The sound of two pairs of small feet hitting the ground as they jumped off followed, along with the voice of the samurai, who obviously wasn't very happy about the interruption.
"You again," he hissed angrily at the half-demon who stopped him. Kagome shot the samurai an annoyed glare before her eyes moved to the blade she had stopped with her own.
"Missed me, did you," she said sarcastically, still looking at the enchanted sword as she addressed it, but didn't wait for its response. "Do me a favor and look after Inuyasha for me, would you, Shippō-chan?"
"You can count on me, Kagome!" the young fox replied proudly, though his small posture was shaking slightly and he was chanting too quietly for human ears to hear 'gotta keep it together, gotta keep it together,' under his breath. Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha once again forced his eyes to open, the first thing he saw being a red-clad back. His eyes had to move upwards next to see anything other than her feet, though, as Kagome slowly stood up and pushed the samurai away. He walked a couple of steps backwards, but she didn't follow him immediately, positioning Tessaiga diagonally in front of her instead, the edge of the blade pointing upwards and the tip turned towards the ground in a battle stance.
"And what do you think you can do, hanyō? That old blade couldn't harm me before and it definitely will not harm me now," the samurai pointed out with a small smirk on his face, one that didn't reach his dead eyes. Kagome snorted.
"That's right, you never got to see Tessaiga's true power,' she said calmly as she stared right into her opponents eyes without blinking. "But you know, unlike last time, though I may have a reason to hold back, I know that it is not something I can allow myself to do."
As if responding to her words, Tessaiga pulsed suddenly, the power coming off from it impossible to notice by anyone but the wielder until it became visible. Stronger with each pulse, the energy soon enveloped the sword in a golden scabbard, which continued to grow and morph slowly with each pulse, only to fade away and reveal Tessaiga's real form to the now stunned, possessed human.
"This time, I'll make sure not even a shard of your cursed blade is left," she growled as her grip on the sword tightened, unaware of Inuyasha staring at her back as he forced himself into a sitting position and ignoring his loud hisses of pain as he did so.
[/T]
Without another word, she charged straight at the samurai, the sound of two swords clashing and cutting the air the only thing that could be heard for a moment. The villagers that were observing from a fair distance away didn't seem very happy with the new addition to the fight, but they didn't seem much more scared than they were before, either, except for one woman who had to be held back by several men to stop her from charging right into the middle of things, where she saw her daughter.
As for Inuyasha, he was stubbornly trying to get to his feet in order to get to his sword and join the fray once again. Injury and fatigue be damned, he wouldn't let Kagome save him. He didn't need her protection. Hell, he didn't need her, period.
His body seemed to have a different opinion, however, as his legs refused to support his weight just as stubbornly as he tried to force them to obey. Really, it was as if his own body was telling him 'are you sure? You really want her to leave?', and a part of his mind was actually agreeing. Still, that didn't mean he was just going to sit back and watch.
"Don't, kannushi-sama! You are wounded and in no condition to fight, please," the little girl that went to get Kagome and whom the half-demon brought back with her pleaded, but the violet eyed teen wasn't going to listen to her.
"Stay out of this, kid," he replied gruffly as he clenched his fist. "I'm fighting and that's that. That half-demon should not interfere," he added angrily, although his words must have been misunderstood by the little girl, for she tried even harder to keep him in place, not that it was very hard at the moment.
"No, please, kannushi-sama, don't! She isn't evil! I know it's hard to believe, but please, don't do anything to her! The hanyō came here to help us! I brought her! She isn't evil! Please, kannushi-sama, you have to believe me!" Kazuko all but yelled at him, her eyes frantic, although her words couldn't have stunned Inuyasha more. What he had actually meant was that he was sick and tired of Kagome saving him, and although he knew he had actually needed it this time, he wasn't about to admit that, planning to join her in battle instead to show her that he was neither weak nor scared of her or anyone else. He also wanted to show her he didn't need her protection. The little girl seemed to have understood it otherwise, however, and she wasn't the only one.
"I would listen to the little girl, kannushi-sama. It is far wiser to observe for now, instead of acting rashly," Miroku spoke up as he slowly approached the small group. If he expected Inuyasha to show the same level of respect, he was about to be disappointed.
"Shut it, monk. I do what I want to do," Inuyasha spat out, trying to get up again, only to get a light hit of a staff to the head. He glared at the monk who delivered it.
"You're in no condition to do anything and should be glad your foolishness hasn't cost you your life or someone else's yet," the young man replied sternly, his eyes slowly moving back to the battle at hand. "But I find it odd," he said finally after a few seconds of only observation.
"What is odd?" Kazuko asked as she raised her head to look up at the monk. Miroku narrowed his eyes.
"She isn't fighting the samurai," he said finally, catching Inuyasha's attention and making the black haired teen stare at him, then glance at the battle again. As if sensing the question he was going to ask, the monk continued: "instead, she's fighting his weapon, the sword he wields."
As if to prove him right, in that very moment, Kagome guided her sword in a diagonal, upward cut to respond to the samurai's horizontal slice. The two blades met with a loud clashing sound, but Kagome's swing proved to be the more powerful one, as the possessed human's arm was forced in the opposite direction from the one it was originally moving, leaving him wide open. Instead of bringing her blade down on his chest, however, Kagome jumped while turning her sword before letting Tessaiga fall heavily onto the cursed weapon. The samurai withstood that attack, however, something that shouldn't have been possible in a normal circumstance, but Kagome wasn't startled by that, only getting more and more annoyed.
'Damned sword and its inability to feel the pain of the body it's possessing,' she cursed in her thoughts as her opponent distanced himself from her, but she was quick to follow him, not planning to give him any chance to counter or flee.
"Can she possibly know that it is the source of evil inside this man?" Miroku wondered to himself, obviously not aware that he was still speaking aloud.
"Of course she does, she's fought that sword before. A couple of days ago, in fact, it possessed In…" the fox kit broke off abruptly, making Inuyasha frown. 'What was that damned runt going to say?' he couldn't help but wonder briefly. During Miroku's observations, which had absorbed the two kids as well, Inuyasha had managed to get up and slowly walk over to his sword a little distance away, not nearly enough to be out of hearing range of the other three people. His right hand being out for the count, as he didn't even dare to try and move it right now, he had reached out his left hand to grasp the hilt, only to freeze when he had heard Shippō's words.
Shaking his head, he decided to think about it later and pulled Seiryuu out of the ground with his left hand. It felt a little weird to be wielding it like that, but if he could wield it with his right, he should be able to wield it with his left, too. He'd manage, no problem.
Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha got ready, looking for his best chance to attack. It was then that someone noticed him, however, and was quick to voice that observation.
"Inuyasha don't, you baka! Do you want to get killed?" he heard Shippō yell and knew instantly that the fox should have kept his mouth shut, because his yell attracted the attention of the samurai. Grinning like a madman, though as far as Inuyasha was concerned he was one, the warrior managed to switch his position with Kagome's, and then used one of his dodges to get far enough away from her to turn around safely and attack him, instead. Cursing, Inuyasha got ready to parry the incoming blow, suddenly not so certain that this was a good idea anymore, but before he could try, something slammed into his stomach, effectively pushing him back and out of harm's way as the cursed sword cut through mostly air.
What had not so gently rammed into him was, as he soon found out, Kagome's arm, which she had outstretched to grab him as she ran past. It wasn't the gentlest way of helping him out, but at least it worked. Releasing the hold she had around his middle, Kagome took half a step back, but to the people looking at the scene from the side lines, it still looked like she was hugging him, for she had yet to actually remove her arm from his person.
"I know you don't trust me," she whispered into his ear as she took another half-step back, slowly inching away from their 'hug', not that it could really be called that as she wasn't really hugging him. "But… just this one, last time… please… stand back and let me help. Just this once."
[T]
Her voice was but a whisper, so that no one but him, demon or not, could hear her words, and as soon as they were out of her mouth, she swiftly turned around to face her opponent again. An opponent who was laughing.
"Well, well, what will you do now, hanyō? You can't possibly hope to win now. You're finished," he laughed, making Kagome scowl, although she knew he was more than likely right, for when she pulled Inuyasha away just now, she hadn't been quick enough to evade the swing herself. She could already feel the miasma of the poisoned sword spread within her body, starting at her left arm where he had shallowly cut her. 'If I want to get out of it alive, I have to end it quickly. Otherwise, I'm in trouble,' she acknowledged in her thoughts, but the Inuyasha wasn't about to admit such aloud.
"That's what you think," she said coldly as she jumped at her opponent, holding her sword in both hands as she swung. He dodged her attack and countered, engaging her in a fast exchange of strikes, slices and thrusts, his face, safe for his eyes, betraying his glee.
Kagome somersaulted backwards to dodge another horizontal swing, only to jump right back into the air as she landed. Then, she turned sideways until she was positioned horizontally in the air and started spinning, the momentum of the movement adding to the strength of her attack as she descended towards the samurai with a graceful, perfectly vertical slash. But Tessaiga only slammed into the ground as the samurai jumped back, then stepped forward again to attack her. Kagome rolled to the side to avoid the thrust he tried to hit her with, never letting go of Tessaiga. As a result, the sword was pulled out of the ground and made a wide arc, hitting the cursed sword from below and forcing the samurai to let his arm be hit upwards, as the sword refused to be let go of. Stopping when the sword made half-an-arc, Kagome stood up and swiftly turned her blade to slash at the sword again, moving her sword in a horizontal arc. From this angle, it was impossible for the sword to force the body to hold on to it, or so she thought, but the warrior had turned his body at the last second, making her sword cut only air.
With the danger passed, the samurai swung downward on Kagome's exposed shoulder and back. He missed, however, as Kagome followed the movement of her sword, rather than stopping it, swiftly turning around her own axis and meeting his sword with her own as Tessaiga completed its circle, now holding it with only one hand.
"Not bad," the possessed human admitted.
"I don't need your praise," Kagome spat back, turning her arm and guiding Tessaiga in another circular movement, this time much smaller and vertical, forcing the samurai's sword to follow her moves. Sparks of energy flew between them as Tessaiga's and Kagome's youki combined clashed with the demonic energy of the demonic sword, making Kagome narrow her eyes as she quickly completed the move, effectively pinning the demonic sword to the ground with her own. With his sword rendered useless, the samurai had two choices – give the weapon up and retreat, which the sword would never let him do, or try to force Kagome to retreat with nothing but his other hand and feet. Needless to say, he chose the second option, or rather the sword made him chose it.
The white haired hanyō-girl ducked to avoid the first punch he threw at her, but was much too close to see in time the next move he made. Lowering his arm so that it was at the height of her neck, the samurai swung his hand sideways, his open palm hitting Kagome's throat mercilessly and throwing her to the side. She just barely managed to keep her hold on Tessaiga as she was flung away.
Inuyasha gasped as he saw her turn in the air to land on one hand before her feet also set gently on the ground and stand up, only to fall right back to her knees. His eyes widened in disbelief, refusing to acknowledge that Kagome was actually losing. 'Kagome…'
"Looks like we finally got to the end," the samurai said slowly to the young half-demon as he watched her breath heavily as one of her hands slowly wandered to the exact spot on her neck where he'd hit her, beads of sweat forming on her forehead already.
'He got me with that one,' she acknowledged, her neck still hurting a little from the hit she received, one that would have most likely killed a human. 'But the real problem is that poison… it's spreading much faster than I thought it would, and it's a lot stronger… Shit,' she cursed in her thoughts as her vision swam a little. She had to hurry it up, otherwise she wouldn't make it. Her chances of survival were low enough already with how strong the poison proved to be.
Something caught her eye then and her gaze fell of the enchanted sword, noting that close to the tip, a small chunk was missing. Her eyes widened in realization. 'That damned thing can do that? No wonder it's spreading so fast! Damn…' she thought angrily, slowly forcing herself to stand back up, though her legs were definitely complaining about it. The poison was already weakening her a great deal. It wouldn't be long before it completely finished her off. 'I have to hurry.'
"That's only what you think," she growled through gritted teeth in response to the samurai's taunts as she charged again. Once more, they exchanged blows and although Kagome could feel the poison spread within her and weaken her, she didn't let up in her assault. She had to get rid of this sword quickly. The only problem was, it wasn't giving her any chance to try and disarm her opponent, warier of her than it was when it had possessed Inuyasha.
Besides which, she was starting to hear a weird sough in her ears, almost like a muffled whisper that was beckoning her to do something. She couldn't quite make out what the whispering voice was saying to her, though, so she dismissed it as another sign that the poison was getting to her, rather than try to understand what was said.
Ducking quickly, she avoided another of the samurai's swings, then leaned to her right to dodge a thrust before she raised her sword next to her with the blade pointing towards the ground to block the cursed sword as the samurai turned it and tried to get her neck again. Sticking the sword into the ground, Kagome used it as support to jump over her opponent's weapon, then quickly raised her own and slammed it against it. He had seen what she was doing, however, and responded by raising his sword towards hers, the two blades meeting sooner than Kagome expected them to, resulting in her father's fang flying out of her hands, her grip on the hilt having loosened as strength progressively left her.
"No way…" Inuyasha whispered to himself as he saw Tessaiga fly through the air before it fell uselessly to the ground, where it transformed into its rusted form again, while Kagome was forced to avoid and evade as the samurai continued swinging at her. She was visibly having problems with it, too, though the black haired priest couldn't fathom why.
"The scabbard, Kagome-sama! Use the scabbard!" a sudden, male voice sounded from Inuyasha's shoulder and the black haired priest looked down to see Myouga there. He raised his brow, wondering when the flea had gotten there and why he chose him as his new hiding spot, but refrained from voicing these questions.
"How would the scabbard help? It can't possibly hold back a sword, it'll just be cut through," he pointed out, his left hand once again tightening on Seiryuu's hilt. He felt restless, like he couldn't just stand back and watch anymore. Something within him was yelling at him to go help her, distract the samurai, just do something already, but his body was frozen in place. His mind felt in conflict with itself, one side of him yelling at him that he had to help and protect her, the other telling him to just let her die already. He noted with surprise that that second part was stronger and for some reason, he felt disgusted with himself. He hated a lot of people in his life, but never had he wished death on someone, much less be ready to witness someone die without doing anything if he could help.
How was he any better than any yōkai that killed their prey mercilessly just for the fun of it in that case?
Lowering his head in shame at his own thoughts, Inuyasha's eyes suddenly landed on his shirt and the little bump in it that was the Shikon. He frowned as he stared at it. Usually, the thing was glowing a bright pink he could easily see through his shirt. That wasn't the case now, however, so Inuyasha slowly pulled the Jewel out of its confines and let it rest on his hand. His eye brows rose in surprise as he saw it, however, for instead of the bright pink it usually presented, the Jewel's color was matted and rather coming closer to a light-purple than bright pink. 'What the…?'
"It's a sheathe that keeps Tessaiga's power in check. It should be able to repel a youki-infested sword," Myouga's words snapped him back to reality and he glanced briefly and the flea, who was slowly starting to get agitated. "Hurry, Kagome-sama, use the scabbard!" he yelled as he started to jump frantically on Inuyasha's shoulder. But even with her superior hearing, the flea's weak voice was too far for Kagome to hear.
"Why aren't you with her to tell her that? And where were you up until now? Hiding out at a safe place?" Inuyasha asked rhetorically with a scoff. When his eyes wandered back over to the battle, he froze. Kagome was lying on her back on the ground, and if the dust in the air was anything to go by, she had just landed there. Meanwhile, the samurai was well on his way to stab her though the stomach, having jumped high into the air and descending rapidly towards the dazed half-demon. 'He'll kill her!' Inuyasha realized, and that thought sent a jolt of fear like he had never experienced before down his spine. Without thinking, he did the only thing he could hope would save Kagome at this point, as he was too far away to ever hope to get to her in time.
"The scabbard, Kagome! Use the scabbard!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, but before Kagome could react, the samurai landed on the ground, his sword embedded in Kagome's body from what Inuyasha could see. His eyes widened. 'KAGOME!' his mind, the part of it that wanted him to help her, yelled, but his voice failed him at that point, and no more sound left his lips. Until he noticed that Kagome looked more concentrated than in pain, and the samurai didn't look so smug.
'She… stopped it.' Indeed, Kagome had slopped the blade by catching it between her hands, positioning them perfectly as to not be cut by the blade she held above her chest, preventing it from descending any further. She had heard Inuyasha's words, but had no time to act according to them.
Feeling that her arms would give out any moment, Kagome forced herself to move them behind her, bringing the sword with her and allowing it to embed itself in the ground above her head. Her vision was blurring now, and the whispers she heard before were getting louder, though they were still incomprehensible gibberish that served only to further annoy her. She was running out of time.
Rolling away from him, Kagome barely had the time to stand up as the swordsman came at her again and again, forcing her on the defensive again. It was getting harder to avoid each strike, however, and soon, Kagome found herself listening to what Inuyasha had told her as a last resort, knowing well she wouldn't be able to dodge the thrust aimed at her. She leaned backwards she raise the scabbard in front of her face, blinking in surprise when it actually worked, though nothing more revealed her surprise. She was far from happy, however. The fight wasn't won yet, and she couldn't allow it to continue much longer, lest she fell before she could do what she needed to do.
Visibly angry by that point, the possessed human started swinging madly, yelling at he to just lie down and die already, but she wasn't about to listen to him. His swings were becoming wilder and wilder with each passing moment, and it wasn't long before the perfect opportunity presented itself and Kagome seized it. Weakened as she was, she was still strong and fast compared to a human, definitely more so than the evil sword had expected as she managed to grasp the wrist of the hand with which the samurai held the sword. Before he had the time to react, she squeezed and turned until she heard a sickening snap, although nothing showed on her opponent's face – he didn't feel the pain.
Releasing him, she swiftly struck with her other hand from below, using the scabbard as she would a sword and finally managed to hit the sword out of the samurai's hands, his wrist being too limp to hold it anymore. It flew in the air and unlike with Inuyasha, she didn't stop to help the human who fell to the ground as soon as he was freed, jumping after it instead. The scabbard pulsed in her hand as she did so, but she understood what that meant before she had the time to wonder, because from the corner of her eye, she saw Tessaiga flying towards her. Reaching out her hand, she easily caught it and it transformed instantly just as she was at the same height as the now vessel-less sword. Without wasting another second, Kagome raised her father's fang above her head with both hands, then struck with all the strength remaining in her body.
"TESSAIGA!" she yelled as she did so, sparks flying once again as the two demonic energies collided. The battle between the two swords lasted only an instant, however, and soon enough, a small explosion ended everything as Kagome landed on the ground, a blade-less, harmless hilt falling not far away from her, the poisonous blade having been annihilated by Tessaiga's power.
[/T]
Breathing heavily, Kagome turned her head to the fallen samurai, but didn't approach him, already smelling the stench of a dead body. He had not been strong enough in the end, and the prolonged possession had killed him. He had probably already been dead by the time she arrived.
"She defeated him."
"You think she'll go after us next?"
"But she helped us."
"She also killed him in cold blood."
The last comment she had heard from the not far off villagers made her snarl as she turned on them, the anger in her eyes easily silencing them. Inuyasha froze when he saw her and she saw Miroku tighten his grip on his shakujō, as if preparing to attack, should need be.
"I had plenty of chances to just slice his head off. If I wanted to kill him, this battle wouldn't have lasted this damn long," she growled, trying to hide just how hard it was not to collapse right there on the spot. But she'd rather die than let those people see how weak she was right now, so using the very last of her remaining strength, she leapt off and disappeared in the trees where she had come from.
~ξ~
Inuyasha winced slightly as one of the village women gently bandaged his wounded arm. She wasn't a miko, but knew a little of healing and, most importantly, wasn't bothered by the sight of blood (though in this time, Inuyasha highly doubted if any woman could really be bothered by it), so when the village headman announced the kannushi-sama's wound needed to be tended to, she volunteered to help.
At first, Inuyasha considered declining the offer – after all, if he managed to re-bandage the wound on his own before, what could possibly stop him from doing so now? – but he quickly noticed that no matter what the village people offered, he was expected to kindly shut his mouth and graciously accept. They just didn't take a 'no' for an answer, and with Miroku agreeing more than happily to take advantage of their hospitality, the feat was downright impossible. That's how he found himself in a free room in the village's inn that was lucky enough not to be destroyed, with a young woman he didn't know gently tending to his arm.
"It must have been a very dangerous demon to wound you so severely, kannushi-sama," the young girl finally spoke, not raising her eyes from her work, almost as if she thought she was unworthy of looking at his face. Inuyasha scowled at himself as he wracked his brain for an answer to her gentle inquiry. He couldn't very well tell her that not only had she seen the demon (or half-demon) who wounded him, but he didn't even really remember the fight itself.
"She is strong," he finally admitted vaguely, anything but comfortable in this woman's presence. He didn't know her, much less how to talk to her without upsetting her somehow or seeming suspicious. And he didn't like the idea of accidentally revealing that he was from another time period, thank you very much.
"Is?" The young woman repeated, her voice full of surprise. "Didn't you defeat it in the end, kannushi-sama?"
"She got away before I could. But don't worry, she will not come here. We fought far from this place," now that was a total lie. Not only had he been nowhere near defeating Kagome, she was also, as far as he knew, in the forest next to the village. And where they fought was also much closer than the young woman could ever think. His words seemed to put her at ease, however, and she didn't say anything else after that. He was grateful for it, too.
Wincing slightly again as she pulled the bandages a little tighter than he thought was necessary, Inuyasha thanked himself for swallowing the painkillers before attempting to take care of his wound. If he hadn't, he was sure he wouldn't be able to pull through her treatment so calmly, and he'd hate to seem like a weakling who couldn't take a little pain in stride.
He thanked her curtly for her (unneeded) help as she finished and stood to leave. She bowed to him respectfully, a thing Inuyasha had to fight to not roll his eyes in exasperation at, before turning towards the door. Without another word, she left, leaving Inuyasha alone with his thoughts, which were quick to return to the fight and the words said during it.
"Well, what will you do now? Your hanyō friend isn't here to protect you now, is she? And you're the only one to blame as she only did what she had to save your skin, while you believed she'd really try to kill you. Pitiful, really. But that makes you that much more of an easy mark, I'm not about to complain about that."
What had the samurai been talking about? How would he even know about Kagome or about her attacking him? And what did he mean by 'she did what she had to do to save his skin'?
Inuyasha huffed to himself as he tried fruitlessly to make the words remind him. Somehow, he didn't know how, but he just knew that these words were important. They were hinting at something important. Something he should know, but didn't. And Shippō's words to Miroku weren't any different.
"Of course she does, she's fought that sword before. A couple of days ago, in fact, it possessed In…" Shippō stared, but cut himself off.
What was the kit going to say? He had a feeling it should be obvious, but the answer just didn't come to him. Something else got his attention, though. 'Kagome met that sword for the first time a couple of days ago? Well, the sword did look kinda familiar, so I guess it probably happened while I was still with her… but why can't I really recall it?'
It was like there was some kind of wall within his brain. He knew the answers were all there, all within his reach, but when he tried to grasp them, it was as if something was stopping him just a bit short of reaching them. No matter how hard he tried to remember, the memories just eluded him, as if something within him, within his conscious mind, was purposely blocking them out. As if a part of him didn't want to remember.
Frustrated, the black haired priest turned his head to gaze outside, his eyes falling on the nearby forest where he knew Kagome was at now, probably not far away, along with Shippō. The kit had run right after her shortly after she left and Inuyasha hadn't even had the chance to stop him. 'He seemed pretty worried, too…' the young kannushi thought, his eyes narrowing in thought. As far as he knew, except for the little scratch she got on her arm (something he didn't know why he felt guilty about. It wasn't even anything serious, damn it!) she hadn't gotten hurt, and one little wound like that surely wouldn't kill her. So why had the kit been so frantic when he followed her?
A sudden uproar not far from the inn interrupted his thoughts and Inuyasha turned his head away from the forest to look at the source. At the border of the destroyed village, a large group of men was gathering with all kind of weapons and some torches to light their way in their hands. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at the sight, but didn't move from his spot. 'What the Hell is going on now?'
Apparently he wasn't the only one wondering, for a short moment later, a certain monk walked up to the group from the direction of the very same inn Inuyasha was now resting at, though the young priest had to wonder why he was suddenly accompanied by a group of women he could only suspect to be yūjo(1), if he remembered the exact term for women of their kind in this time period correctly.
"Would you tell me what the problem is, good men? Where are you planning to go at this late hour?" Miroku asked calmly, his attention fully on the men in front of him instead of the girls surrounding him who were obviously attempting to gain his attention before slowly giving up and dispersing. As they passed closer to his current position, Inuyasha couldn't help but understand the houshi's lack of interest, for the girls were far from exotic beauties, but that made him wonder even more why they were near him in the first place. If he had been close enough, he would understand that, too, for the disappointed gleam in Miroku's eyes was more than enough to explain the situation and he was obviously happy for the distraction.
"The hanyō is still somewhere nearby, we know it is!" one villager yelled loudly.
"We're going to find it and finish it so it leaves our village alone!" another added and more angry cries like that, none of which came past Inuyasha's ears without being heard. And for some reason, the things they said made him angry. ''It'? 'It'?! She isn't a thing, she's a person just like each and every one of you, you scumbags and she has feelings!' the young priest couldn't help but yell in his mind, his anger rising as he heard more accusations of how the hanyō would most definitely come back soon to destroy the rest of the village, which had to be avoided. He failed to notice how their words weren't so far from what he himself had thought of Kagome not so long ago.
"Going there now would not be a wise decision," Miroku finally spoke up once the villagers calmed some. "She would have the advantage. Though you may have some light, the hanyō has demonic eyesight, far superior to our own. Do not follow her. You'll only be asking for death if you do. Wait for the morrow and if you're still wary of her then, then I will go into the woods and slay her before she can come to the village and bathe it in blood."
His words seemed to be working for the villagers had definitely started to think their decision through. Inuyasha, however, was getting furious. 'Kagome isn't like that! She cares for people and protects them! The only thing she ever kills are yōkai that attack others! She'd never…' his thoughts got cut off abruptly as he realized what he was about to yell, even it was only in his own head and his eyes fell to his lap. 'She would never harm a human' was what he was thinking… but she had wounded him.
It just didn't make any sense! Why would she do that? It was against her nature. He barely knew her, but even he could tell that much from what he'd seen of her. She'd never harm a human willingly. And if she wanted to harm him, she wouldn't have waited so long to do so.
Question was, what happened to make her do it? Something had to have happened, he was sure of it… but why hadn't he even thought of it before? And why was he suddenly so sure that something had happened? 'Because otherwise this whole mess just doesn't make sense, that's why. I was stupid not to see it earlier!' Inuyasha cursed in his thoughts, but they were interrupted when he heard an approaching jingling. Looking up, he saw Miroku approaching the inn, the men having walked off, most likely calmed by the monk's 'wisdom', if he could really call it that.
"The hanyō will not attack the village. Not tomorrow, not any other day. She won't harm anyone. She isn't like that," he found himself saying when the monk was within hearing range, although the young priest wasn't sure whom he was trying to convince anymore, Miroku or himself.
"I am aware of that, kannushi-sama," he replied, once again switching back to the honorific Inuyasha just couldn't get used to. Instead of going to his own room, the monk walked over to where the violet eyed teen was sitting.
"The name's Inuyasha," he corrected off-handedly as the houshi took a seat across of him.
"Inuyasha?" Miroku was visibly surprised. Inuyasha glanced at him from the corner of his eye as the monk continued, easily explaining just why he was surprised. "An uncommon name to be sure, but why would you bear a demon's name?"
Inuyasha blinked at that, but didn't respond right away, for the simple reason that he didn't know himself. He had never questioned his parents' choice of name for him, but now that he thought about it, it was an unusual one even in his own time. And it did translate into 'dog demon', so it would sound like a yōkai's name in this time. Hell, he even remembered when he was little that other children teased him about it and pretended he was a real demon while playing games, not that he really enjoyed it.
"And just now, it didn't sound like you were aware she wouldn't attack," Inuyasha said instead, pretending Miroku hadn't said anything, thus easily switching back to the original subject. Deep down he was asking himself why he was even pursuing this conversation, but since it already started, he may as well go with the flow.
[T]
"If I told them the truth, they would not have believed me and would have gone. Their eyes have yet to be opened by Buddha and for now, they're clouded and do not see the truth. The hanyō may not be evil, but were these people to go after her, we know not what might happen," the monk replied calmly, his eyes roaming the forest as well, as if looking for something only he could find. Inuyasha raised a brow.
"Truth? What truth?" he repeated, his tone doubtful. This guy didn't know Kagome, how could he possibly know any kind of truth about her? Then again… could he himself say he knew her?
"That the hanyō is not evil like they believe her to be," the monk replied calmly, to which Inuyasha blinked and stared at him with surprise. This had to be the first person he's ever met who didn't know Kagome and didn't assume she was evil for some reason the black haired teen had never understood. Miroku sighed as his eyes met Inuyasha's most likely misinterpreting his feelings, for he elaborated.
"When she first arrived in the village and fought me, she merely settled with disarming me so that I couldn't stop her. She could have killed me then, but she did not. She didn't attack any of the villagers surrounding us, either, though she seemed to be hunting a specific one. I'm starting to believe she had a reason, however," he said seriously, his serious eyes never breaking eye-contact with Inuyasha's. "When I used my spiritual powers against her…" 'Yeah, right… looked more like you had a freaking black hole in your hand or something to me,' Inuyasha thought, but didn't interrupt as Miroku continued, "…and a child got caught up in our fight, she risked her life to save her. When she arrived during the attack of the warrior on the village, she saved your life twice. These are not the actions of an evil person."
Inuyasha had to hand it to the monk, he was more observant than one would have thought at first and he was definitely just as smart, even if the things he listed were rather obvious. 'She also warned me to stay on guard and asked me to let her help me,' he added in his thoughts, realizing more and more how irrational the idea that she attacked and tried to kill him was. His eyes broke away from Miroku's and fell to his bandaged arm, a scowl appearing on his face. The idea was stupid for sure, but the fact still remained that she hurt him. How was he supposed to make sense of that?
Shaking his head and already feeling a headache forming, Inuyasha decided to let these thoughts go for now, but he couldn't stop himself from letting his mind wander elsewhere instead.
"Makes you wonder how they haven't noticed it all," the black haired priest mumbled, more to himself than to the monk next to him. He still received a response, however.
"They believe she killed the warrior who attacked them, and while in their eyes he was also evil, he was human and as such, her apparent killing him was proof that she could kill any human. They do not know of the sword the man wielded," Miroku said with narrowed eyes, leaning his shakujō against his shoulder, eyes once again trained on the woods. Intrigued, Inuyasha glanced up at him again.
"The sword? What of it?" he asked, a weird feeling setting in his stomach. Somehow, he knew that whatever Miroku had noticed about the weapon, it was something he needed to know.
"Have you not noticed the demonic aura it emitted?" the monk seemed genuinely surprised at that and Inuyasha blinked. 'Well, I did feel something weird from it and Seiryuu reacted to it, but that doesn't explain what exactly was wrong with it,' he thought to himself.
"I did," he half-lied. "But I didn't sense anything beyond that." He added, hoping it would get him off the hook. He wasn't looking forward to explaining to a complete stranger that he was not trained because he wasn't even from this time period, not that the guy would actually believe him. Miroku regarded him somewhat suspiciously for a few more moments before speaking again.
"It was a demonic sword that took possession of the one who wielded it," he finally said. "The warrior we fought was not himself when we fought him, he was being controlled by the sword he wielded. If it was going on long enough, he was most likely already dead when we fought him and his body only moved because the sword wanted it to."
"His eyes sure looked dead to me," Inuyasha added as he recalled the dead look in the man's eyes when their swords have crossed. His eyebrows narrowed in thought as something nagged at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite get what it was.
"Those were not the eyes of a dead person. Those were the eyes of one who was possessed by evil," the houshi retorted, his voice serious. "Even where the man alive, his eyes would look the same so long as he was possessed."
"So you can survive it," the black haired priest deadpanned, his thoughts wandering here and there as he tried to pinpoint what exactly was bothering him in all that talk, but try as he might, the feeling that he was missing something important stayed just that: a vague feeling.
"If you are freed quickly enough. Most of the time, people survive and are just extremely tired afterward, but if the sword's spirit is strong enough, it may kill the one it possesses in less than an hour," the monk said, his eyes once again falling on Inuyasha. "Though it is curious that you seem not to know all this. Have you never performed an exorcism before?"
[/T]
Before Inuyasha could answer, their calm conversation was interrupted by a red blur that came almost flying from the forest and straight into Inuyasha, knocking him flat on his back. Grunting in both surprise and pain, for his wounded arm definitely didn't enjoy the sudden jolt, Inuyasha opened his eyes and glared at the source. As he had thought, it was Shippō and had Inuyasha taken the time to actually really glance at him, he would have noticed that he was more frantic than could be considered normal. He was downright panicking.
But Inuyasha didn't see that as he pushed the kit off his chest with an annoyed 'get off me' and sat up.
"Inuyasha, come quick! You have to come with me!" the young fox yelled frantically, tugging at the young priest's shirt to get him to follow him, but to no avail, the monk that sat beside them long forgotten. When Inuyasha didn't respond right away, Shippō tried tugging harder. "Kagome needs your help!"
He almost laughed at that. Kagome needing his help? The kit must have hit his head somewhere. Since when did the hanyō-girl need his or anyone else's help, much less admit it? It just wasn't possible. And even if it was, why should he go help her?
He was actually surprised at the fact that he felt like he had hit himself in the stomach as soon as that thought passed his mind, but he shrugged it off. It wasn't like Kagome really needed him or anything. Pigs would fly before that happened, as much as a big part of him hated to admit that.
"Good one, Shippō. Too bad I don't fall for tricks like that," he said with a small smirk on his face, unable to keep the amusement hidden. But the little fox was far from amused.
"I'm not playing tricks on you, baka, now come on!" he yelled, trying once again to tug on Inuyasha's clothes, but even though he was demon, he was still much smaller and not nearly strong enough to make the black haired teen budge. Inuyasha glared at the kit with annoyance showing on his face, but it slowly faded when he noticed the tears in the yōkai-child's eyes. He really didn't seem to be faking it, but…
"Whatever," the future-born kannushi sighed as he pried the kit off himself and stood to get back into the room the villagers had offered him to rest in. He didn't take even two steps when Shippō's next words made him freeze.
"If you don't help her now, she'll die!"
That wasn't something you yelled when you were kidding. It was too dangerous a statement to ever be uttered in a joke. And as Shippō's words slowly registered in his brain, fear gripped Inuyasha's heart in a vice grip and refused to let go. It was fear like he never knew before, fear that made his heart race a mile a minute or even faster and made his hands shake uncontrollably. Fear that had him paralyzed for about thirty dreadful seconds before he finally turned to the distressed kit, no longer thinking, only wanting to act.
"Where is she?" he asked, his voice betraying his feelings whether he liked it or not, not that he was really noticing it at the moment. Realizing that Inuyasha was willing to follow, Shippō quickly turned around and made a beeline for the woods, the black haired priest close behind him, running as fast as he could.
'Why do I even care this much? She betrayed and attacked me. It doesn't make sense, but that's what she did…' Inuyasha thought to himself as he ran. A glint in the moonlight caught his attention and he jerked to a stop, his eyes falling on the source – the empty hilt of the sword the samurai wielded. He hadn't realized it, but the way Shippō was leading him led through the battlefield of not even an hour prior.
[T]
Slowly approaching it, Inuyasha narrowed his eyes to see it better. It wasn't anything special, just a simple hilt of a long-sword without a blade as Kagome had shattered it to the point where not even shards remained, much like she had told it she would. And yet there was something about it… something familiar. He had seen it before, lying innocently just like it did now, though not in the grass, that he was sure of. But where had he seen it?
Closing his eyes, he tried to remember, but the images were only a blur of colors and sounds that didn't make any sense. He shook his head as he heard Shippō yelling at him to hurry up, but something kept him where he was, unable to move away from this sword-hilt. He didn't know what it was, but he just had the sudden urge to take it in his hands. As if in a trance, he slowly walked closer and knelt next to it, his hand reaching out to grasp it, his eyes registering some violet smoke surrounding it but his brain not registering the image.
His ears no longer heard the young fox, who kept calling him as his hand slowly inched closer to the blade-less hilt. But in the second his hand closed over it, Inuyasha's eyes cleared as small lightning sparks flew out of his own sword, catching his attention, while his hand glowed a soft blue. 'Seiryuu?' He wondered, his mind waking up sluggishly as his injured hand reached for the sword. He didn't grasp the hilt, just touching it proved to be enough as light engulfed the sword and small sparks erupted from his hand. He didn't notice either, however, as suddenly, images clear as day flashed before his eyes, as the last of the sword's influence on his mind was purified – for that was what had blocked his memories in a part of him he could not access: a bit of youki the sword had implanted within him, which pretended to be harmless enough for his powers not to react to it. Suddenly, he saw a baboon-clad man offering him the sword, he saw himself taking it hesitantly once the man left, saw himself attacking Kagome while her back was turned…
Inuyasha's breath caught in his throat as he released the hilt and stepped away from it, dread washing over him. Glancing back at it, he noticed it had changed from simple black to turquoise-blue with clear blue gems embedded in it and a black string with a knot at the end attached to the tip of the cruciform hilt.
"Too bad… I almost had you… and here I thought I could take you even in that state and use you to finish her off like planned…" a weak though menacing voice spoke in his head, a voice he recognized and at the same time did not, as the whole hilt pulsed before cracking. First, there was only one crack, but more were quick to follow and blue fire erupted from them, effectively burning it to a crisp. It was the youki left within Inuyasha that had called to him and to the blade-less hilt, the rest of it having been overwhelmed by Tessaiga, but it was too weak to correctly channel Inuyasha's power and thus, the sword's last attempt to possess someone also proved to be its downfall.
Had Inuyasha not been kneeling already, he would have fallen to his knees right this moment. He remembered now what happened. Oh yes, he remembered. He wished he hadn't, though, or better even, that it had never happened in the first place. 'It wasn't her who attacked me,' he thought weakly, his heart heavy with dread and, for some reason, despair. 'It was me who attacked her…'
"She did it to save your stupid ass, baka," Shippō's words, which he was sure the kitsune hadn't expected him to hear, floated back to the forefront of his mind and suddenly, everything made sense.
According to Miroku, the sword had possessed its wielders and prolonged possession could easily kill. And Inuyasha had been wielding that sword when he attacked Kagome. She wounded him in order to disarm him. Yes, she hurt him, yes, she raised her claws at him… but it was to save his life.
And he – he had thought she wanted to kill him.
He had never felt so much like the lowest scum of this earth before.
[/T]
"Inuyasha, come on! Please, you have to help her! Inuyasha!" Shippō tugged at his shirt again, having backtracked when Inuyasha stopped following him. The kit's eyes were filled with tears and his cheeks were stained with them, his vision blurred enough not to see the current expression on the teen's face and thus not realizing what it meant. His voice was enough to bring Inuyasha back to his senses, though, and the black haired kannushi stood up quickly.
"Lead," he ordered curtly, his voice desperate, but Shippō didn't seem to notice as he once again took off, Inuyasha hot at his heels, his mind heavy with self-reproach. 'Why didn't I fucking realize it sooner? Why couldn't I at least talk to her? Why didn't I just believe in her, notice something was off?! I'm such a fucking idiot!' he berated himself, but it didn't make him feel any better. He knew that what was done was done, but that didn't make him forgive himself, either. The fact remained that he had not trusted her when he should have… and now, she was the one who could pay the price for it. Because she had protected him whereas he couldn't have cared less whether she lived or died at that time. He cursed himself in his thoughts. If he had only believed in her, all of this wouldn't be happening!
'Please, don't die, Kagome! Don't you dare die on me! You can't die, not now. You can't!' Inuyasha found himself pleading in his thoughts as he ran. They were in the forest now and he tried to dodge the trees and roots that tried to trip him without slowing down, fearing that if he did, he'd arrive a precious second too late.
He stopped suddenly when a bit more moonlight suddenly reached him. He wasn't exactly in a clearing, it was too small to call it such, but it was a place where the trees were a little thinner. Inuyasha wasn't paying attention to the surroundings, though, his breath catching in his throat as he caught sight of the one he was looking for.
She was lying on her side at the roots of one of the trees, silent and unmoving. Her hair lay in disarray around her, almost making a hallo and her ears were hidden by her mane. What scared him most, however, was that she truly wasn't moving. At all.
"Kagome!" he yelled as he ran over to her, falling to his knees at her side. His eyes widened when he saw her face and he could hear his heart beating loudly against his chest in fear, as if it wanted to burst out of it. "K-Kagome..." he whispered as he stared at her deathly pale face, a hand slowly reaching out to touch her. He drew back immediately, however, noticing with fear how cool her skin was. Not deathly cold yet, but definitely too cool to his liking. 'She's so cold…'
"Oi, you better hang in there, Kagome, you hear me?" he yelled at her, hoping she'd wake up to his calls yet knowing deep down she would not. That didn't stop him from trying, though. "Kagome! Come on, wake up! Kagome!" Still, she did not respond. 'Because I couldn't just have fucking trusted her when it counted… that's why she's in this situation. It's my own damned fault,' the black haired priest cursed himself.
He was about to call her again when he heard a sucking noise. Looking a bit to his left, he saw Myouga with his nose in Kagome's wrist, sucking at her blood. He was a bit bigger than Inuyasha remembered seeing him last – about three times his size.
"Hurry, Inuyasha," the flea spoke up as he removed his nose from Kagome's wrist, staring at him expectantly. "Kagome-sama's wound! There's a shouki-shard in it, the source of the spreading poison. You must take it out before too much of it enters Kagome-sama's blood stream. There's only so much a flea can suck out," he said gravely, promptly getting back to slowly suck out Kagome's blood, taking the poison along with it in the process, which was what had allowed the half-demon girl to still stay alive – otherwise, she would have died long before Shippō could get Inuyasha to come here.
Nodding his head, Inuyasha turned his attention to Kagome's right arm. Looking at it, he noticed that her fire rat robe was tucked up to reveal the wound, while her kosode was torn up. She had obviously been trying to remove the shard herself, but must have for some reason failed at doing so.
Leaning over her so he could get a better look, Inuyasha strained his eyes and saw a small glint of something imbedded within the hanyō's flesh in the small, thin wound. 'I'm actually lucky it didn't heal over yet, otherwise, I could be looking for ages before I found it,' Inuyasha thought, thanking the fates for small miracles as he reached out his hand to take the source of the problem out. He had been thankful too soon, however, for as soon as his hand came within reaching distance of the poison-shard, he drew back with a curse, examining his hand right afterwards. There wasn't a mark, but it still felt like he had just tried to touch a burning fire. Biting his lip and shaking his head, he tried again, only to obtain the same result. Slowly, a horrifying realization fell on him and he could swear his heart stopped beating at that moment.
"I… can't take it out… I can't even touch it," he whispered in despair, falling back on his haunches.
(1) Yūjo (literally 'play woman') were women who pleasured men in the 16th century in Japan, often also selling sexual delights. They worked in pleasure quarters called Yūkau (shogunate since 1617) and outside of which prostitution was not allowed. The highest rank of a yūjo was called 'oiran' and was a combination ofactressand prostitute, originally playing on stages set in the dryKamoriverbed in Kyoto, and they were the predecessor of geisha, who appeared in the 18th century (under that name) – I point that out because many people think a geisha is the same as a normal prostitute, which is not the case. I repeat: a geisha is NOT the same as a common prostitute, she's way more educated.
Let me guess: two evil cliffhangers in a row isn't something you enjoy? *laughs nervously* Alright, come on, come on, no need to glare like that. At least Inuyasha remembers everything (finally), so now all we have to do is save Kagome and our little moments of InuKag interaction will be following shortly. Aren't you happy about that?
I hope you aren't too mad about the cliffie, though. I also hope you enjoyed the chapter despite the cliffie. I'll try to update ASAP to make sure you don't kill me. Hope to hear from you! :3