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Strangled Time

Chapter Five

"Swords?" Kagome asked as she picked the last pieces of meat off of her roasted rabbit. She sat in the corner opposite to the one that Togashimaru had claimed, her legs crossed in front of her. "No, you didn't have any on you when I found you. Only the armor. I kept it if you want it, it's in a pile right outside the well." She frowned and bit apart a strip of the salty meat. "Though, it probably won't do you any good. It's kind of in pieces."

'And heavy,' she added in her head. 'Don't you ask me to bring it back down. I almost dropped it on you the first time.'

Togashimaru stared at his mostly untouched rabbit as if it were going to answer all of his questions better than the human girl did. So'unga had been in his hand before the collapse of the building, it was probably lost within the rubble. He couldn't for the life of him remember if the other two were at his hip when he had fallen down the well.

None of those swords were something that should be just lying around. Those powers in the wrong hands could throw the entire world into chaos. The demon sighed. He needed to trust that his retainers had taken care of them for him, no matter how useless they seemed to others, he believed in their ability to complete tasks that he asked of them.

Myoga had been with him before he reached the castle gates. Perhaps the flea assumed him dead.

The demon general reached up slowly to rub his temples. His joints were still tight and every movement sent sharp bolts of pain racing down his limbs to his wounds. Five days. That was how long he had been trapped in fierce combat with Ryukotsusei while the dragon's clan attacked his lands before he was able to reach Izayoi's castle.

Even one stronger than himself would have been worn to the bone after such a grueling battle. And that would have been if they had gotten away unwounded. It was no doubt a miracle that he was still alive. Togashimaru had gone to Izayoi fully expecting that battle to be his last.

The priestess took a long look at him. "I can buy you a sword if you really think you'll need one," she said slowly, trying to get the attention of the demon who was suddenly lost in thought. "It wouldn't be a demon sword, just a regular katana. But it'd probably be good to have some sort of protection when you're still down for the count."

Togashimaru looked up at her, his thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion before raising into his bangs. "You know of demon swords?"

Kagome blinked. "Yeah," she started, a grin growing on her face. "When you spend as much time with demons, half demons and demon slayers as I have, you learn a lot." When she saw that she had his complete, undivided attention she continued. "Like, I know that you are a dog demon. You are healing much slower than you should be. Your markings mean that you are either of a noble clan, are capable of poisonous attacks, or both. And that you're not eating much because I accidentally burnt the meat and it's killing your taste buds, but you're too honorable to turn it down because you feel you owe me something."

With an almost indistinguishable grunt, the demon set down the charred meat. He was quiet for a few moments as he took long, steady breaths through his nose. Finally, he looked at her. "You are a human in your early adult years. You have the powers of a priestess, though never formally trained, otherwise we wouldn't be having a conversation." His eyes moved to the yellow backpack. "You are not from this area, your accent and mannerisms tell of a more... relaxed culture. And you've been fighting alongside your friends for many years, but you stay towards the sidelines because you tend to more of a hindrance than anything else in direct combat."

He looked back at Kagome, entertained by the redness that colored her cheeks. "Your easiness with strange demons has undoubtedly been your downfall on countless occasions. Though you make up for it with medical knowledge and I assume many beings owe you their lives."

Kagome's flush of anger slipped into one of modesty. "I do what I can." After patching up everything from wolves to priests after their battles, it was heartwarming to think that she made a difference. She smiled warmly at the memories of her friends as they recovered and became their lively selves again.

"You are easily pleased." Togashimaru added to his list as he studied her expressions.

The priestess looked up at him and her smile grew. "It makes the hard times easier and keeps long days interesting."

His lip quirked. "I'll keep that in mind."

...

Togashimaru stared at the strange object. It sat unmoving, tempting, in the corner next to him. Aside from the autumn clouds that drifted slowly above him, the unnecessarily large and offensively colored pack was his only visual entertainment. He wondered what kind of society created such an intricate bag. He wondered how long it must have taken the artisan to make the stitching so perfect. He wondered how the latches worked.

But above all he wondered what was in it.

The demon had seen the human girl take things out of it while digging for the items she sought, but never had the contents been emptied completely. Perhaps it was a bag of demon origin that could hold items unnumbered.

Foods, cooking utensils, medical supplies and odd clothing were a few of the things that she had pulled from the bag. Most of the others were foreign objects that he was unable to identify.

He listened. Birds chipped above the well, but he couldn't hear beyond them. He scented the air. The girl was gone, her trail not yet beginning to grow cold. She wasn't due back for some time, presuming it took her as long as it did on her first hunting trek.

He eyed the yellow backpack.

...

The stream was the same one that she had bathed in countless times over the years, the only real difference being that it was much smaller. A wide brook ran through the land where one day a small pond would keep. The waterfall in the distance seemed mostly the same, but Kagome noticed that the peeks of the cliff seemed taller.

'Maybe an earthquake is going to cause a landslide between now and then.' She looked back to the water directly in front of her. 'That would probably create a pond.'

Kagome dug her toes into the moss that coated the rock she was that standing on. One wrong move and she would have been neck deep in water. As she caught a glimpse of a shadow within the depths of the water her hand pulled back on the waxed string of her longbow until her fingers rested on her cheek. Her breathing calmed and her hands steadied from years of experience as she aimed at the small target.

The priestess waited for the perfect moment to strike. The water rippled against the rock, her prey moved with the current. 'Now,' she thoughtwith excitement. Her fingers loosened and the shaft was released, it plunged into the water with a small splash.

The silhouette of the fish darted away as the arrow skimmed it's tail and collided with a rock. Kagome's excitement quickly faded to disappointment as the broken wood of the arrow shafts floated to the surface and started drifting away.

A rustle from the trees startled her. Kagome fumbled for another arrow from her quiver as she turned, almost loosing her balance on the stepping stone. Her heart raced as the rustling came again. Bears weren't that common so close to the village in the time she was used to, but the village was smaller and less threatening in that new era.

A gruff voice laughed. "You are never going to catch a fish with such a technique."

Kagome awkwardly gathered her composure and greeted the fisherman.

...

"Hey, I've got lunch!" Kagome exclaimed as she sauntered into the clearing, trout hung from a twig in her hands. "Well, technically it'd be dinner now, wouldn't it?"

The priestess peered into the well. "Want it cooked or-?" She was cut off by a growl. Not a low, weak, harmless growl, but one that made shivers run down her spine and her hands stand on end.

Togashimaru looked up at her with angry eyes, his smooth blue markings were beginning to fray. "Where did you get this?" He asked, holding out the metal hairpiece in his hands. His claws wrapped around it protectively.

"What do you me- My mother gave that to me." Her eyes wandered to the mess at the bottom of the well. It looked like a puppy had gotten into the garbage, but instead of banana peels and wrappers on the floor it was her textbooks, socks and underwear. Her face turned red. "You went through my bag!?"

"Where did your mother get it?"

"I don't know! My father gave it to her!" Kagome ground out as she whipped away from the well and stalked toward her fire pit. "I can't believe you just went through my bag!"

Togashimaru's voice was muffled from the pit where he was stuck. "Where did your father get-"

The priestess didn't give him the time to finish his question. "You didn't even ask! I would have been totally cool if you wanted to look at some stuff. But no, you just wanted to rummage through it like an animal!"

The demon was quiet for a moment, his frustration was evident. Kagome could hear him breathing through his teeth to keep from yelling at her. Finally he tried again to get his query across. "How did something that I gave-"

Kagome interrupted him once again. "I'm not saying anything to you until you pick up my stuff." The teen dug her dull nails into her palms and jabbed at the warm coals with her shoe. "So don't both asking." She could have sworn that she heard him grind his teeth, but she didn't care. It was totally rude for a stranger to rummage through someone's things, Kagome thought, it didn't matter how powerful or noble they were.

He was just as bad as Inuyasha.

...

Kagome blinked lazily at the forest in front of her. It didn't seem like it would rain, so she took up her place at the top of the well, comfortable inside her dried bedroll. Her bag sat beside her, freshly reorganized. The night was quiet and calm, an owl hooted in the distance. But Kagome was too curious to sleep.

She turned around so that she was facing the weathered wood of the well. The demon was still sitting below, she didn't know if he was ever planning on laying down. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha both rested upright, so it wasn't that unbelievable that Togashimaru would as well. It would have been awkward to sleep beside him, even after she had apologized, fed him and continued packing where he left off.

"Hey, you awake?" She asked, knowing that he was but hoping that he would answer anyway.

Sounds of shifting fabrics came from below. It was quiet for a bit and Kagome completely excepted that he wouldn't say anything. Then, finally, he said, "I am."

Relief filled her. The fear that he would turn out to have a personality similar to Sesshoumaru disappeared completely. "Well, you said that you bought a hair piece identical to mine a couple months ago, right?"

"I did."

There was a good possibility that it was the same one but from a different time, but the priestess didn't want to mention that just yet. "Who did you buy it for?"

He didn't even hesitate. "The woman I love."

Kagome was taken aback by his blunt response. If he were any of the other men that she was acquainted with they would have changed the subject or beaten around the bush. She smiled, knowing that he must have loved her a lot. "What's her name?"

This time he did pause before answering. For some reason he deemed her safe to tell or worthy of knowing. "Izayoi," he said, his voice caressing the name like an unspoken promise.

Kagome hummed, it was a pretty name. Though, somehow she felt as if she had heard it before. She thought back, sifting through memories of the previous years until finally it hit her. She froze. It was a name that hadn't been said since her first few months of time traveling. It was a name that was associated with adoration by Inuyasha and hatred by Sesshoumaru.

She bit her lip before finally gathering up the courage to ask, "Is... she human?"

His answer seemed to take forever, but when it came it made her blood run cold.

"She is."

End Chapter

(A/N~ Hey everyone! I wanted to thank you all for your comments and favorites, please continue to do so! It makes my heart skip a beat every time I get a review, and, since I don't have a boyfriend, hearing your feedback fills that special gap in my life. I'm currently making a cover photo for this story, but I'm not putting a date to when I'll be releasing it yet. Since I procrastinate... a lot.)