Sango tensed up, "M-murdered?"
"They came to my village to exterminate a demon, but a new one appeared," the man said, "she killed them!"
Kagome came outside, "Is everything alright?"
Sango put a hand over her mouth and shook her head. KAgome looked to the foreign man for an explanation.
"The Demon Slayers were killed," the man said.
Kagome's eyes widened, "All of them?"
"I don't know, I was told to come to this village and report it to Miss. Sango before I could see anything."
The man then took out a scroll from his belt and placed it in Sango's hand, "They told me to give this to you."
He then quickly left, leaving the two girls in shock of the news.
Kagome put a hand on Sango's shoulder, "Let's go inside…"
They went inside and Inuyasha looked up, seeming confused from the girls' expressions.
Kagome and Sango sat down, and the Demon Slayer untied the string from the scroll slowly. She unrolled it on the floor, revealing only a drawing of a spider.
Upon seeing the drawing, Inuyasha growled, his body tensing up.
"What is it?" Sango asked, looking at the demon.
"Naraku…" Was the only thing he muttered, his eyes narrowed at the scroll.
Sango looked over as she heard a clatter, seeing that Kagome's mother had dropped the wood she held for the fire. She also noticed Kagome's wide eyes and pale face.
"N-Naraku…?" Kagome said, her eyes not leaving the image of the spider.
Inuyasha snapped out of it, looking up at Kagome, his expression looking questioning.
When Kagome didn't answer after a moment, her mother stepped in, "That was the name of a traveler we once had."
Kagome just shook her head, "He was no traveler…"
"This Naraku…" Her mother said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, "he murdered my father and husband."
Sango covered her mouth, "I'm so sorry…"
"It… It was years ago, when I was a kid," Kagome said, "I barely remember any of it."
"A few days before I found out I was having Sota," Kagome mother said.
Inuyasha suddenly stood up and left the hut. Kagome looked at the door, "Did Naraku do something to him…?"
"He knew it was him by the spider…" Sango muttered.
Kagome stood up and went after him, which wasn't hard, considering he was just outside, grabbing his damp kimono from the line.
She went over to him, "What are you doing?"
He paused for a moment, thinking of the words to say, "Going after him."
"Naraku?"
He nodded, tying the kimono around his waist instead of wearing it. Kagome grabbed onto his arm before he could leave, "No, you're still hurt."
He clenched his teeth, "He'll get away!"
"Is this all because of what happened to my father and grandfather?" Kagome said.
Inuyasha turned to fully face her, "Yes… And no."
"Then what else?"
"He was…" Inuyasha said, struggling to find the correct term, "Good with family?"
"He was an ally?" Kagome suggested, earning a nod from him.
He seemed to try to figure out how to word what he was going to say next, but Kagome stopped him, "You don't have to say anything else if it's too hard. Maybe when you don't have to try as hard, okay?"
He looked at her for a moment to process what she had said. He slowly nodded, probably knowing the basics of what she had said.
"If you do want to go after him, I'm coming with you," Kagome said.
After a few seconds, he shook his head, "He's dangerous."
Sango came out of the hut with Kirara, "Are we going after Naraku?"
"Yes," Kagome said, making Inuyasha hang his head in frustration.
As Sango went to her hut to get her stuff as Kagome tried to fix how Inuyasha was wearing his kimono.
"You don't want to wear it like that?" Kagome asked.
After a second, he responded, "It's still wet."
She let him tie it back around his waist as her mother came out with a cloth bag and Kagome's bow and arrows.
"What…" Kagome was confused.
"Sango talked to me," he mother said, "you could use some time away from the village."
She took the items from her and hugged her. After releasing from the embrace, she slung the bow and quiver of arrows over her shoulder along with the cloth bag, which her mother explained had a few necessities in it.
Once Sango had came back with her bag and Hiraikotsu, they were ready to go. Kagome said goodbye before they left the village.
Just before they got onto the pathway between trees, a thought came to Kagome, "Hey, if Naraku is your ally, then why did you growl when you saw the spider?"
Inuyasha thought for a moment, "He… I didn't trust him?"
"I suppose that makes sense," she said.
As they walked, they just spoke about things that came to mind. Sango and Kagome did most of the talking while Inuyasha listened. Kagome came to the conclusion that maybe hearing people speak may help him start learning more, so she tried to keep the conversation going the best she could.
"Where are we going to stay tonight?" Sango said once they were a good distance from the village.
"We can manage outside, right?" Kagome said.
It came upon them that their decision to leave was too spontaneous and not planned out. They were going after a demon for revenge, it wasn't exactly the best reason. How were they going to find this Naraku? How would they defeat him? Just the fact they were traveling with a demon who barely knew his native tongue was outrageous.
"We will be fine," Inuyasha suddenly spoke, catching their attention.
"We should find somewhere to camp for tonight, then, when it starts getting dark," Sango said, shortly earning a nod from Inuyasha.
And so they walked, not stopping until they reached a village before the sun touched the horizon.
Kagome had found some coins in the bag her mother had given her, which got them some food for dinner. Though some villagers stared at Inuyasha, they were all very nice.
"Are you travelers?" A woman asked as she handed them their meals.
"We are," Sango said.
"Would you like to stay here tonight? We have lodgings for travelers," the woman offered.
With a glance to Inuyasha, who shook his head slightly, Kagome spoke, "No, we need to get further down river before nightfall."
A girl carrying a basket of vegetables stopped beside the woman, "Oh, you don't want to enter Kiken Forest after sunset. It's dangerous."
"Are there demons?" Sango asked.
"Yeah," the older woman said, "we advise people passing by to stay for the night."
Kagome looked to Inuyasha, "Maybe we should…"
The demon seemed to look at Kagome and then Sango before nodding.
The woman then led them to a hut on the other side of the village, "If you need anything, come to the headman's home. He'll help you any way he can."
The group went inside of the hut and sat inside around the fire.
"Kiken…" Sango murmured, "Doesn't that mean danger or something?"
"Now that you mention it, it does," Kagome said.
"I guess it's a good thing we didn't keep walking, then," the slayer said.
Kagome then turned to look at Inuyasha, who looked… Well, paranoid seemed to be an understatement. He hadn't even sat down, he was down in a crouch, his ears moving in different directions, sensing sounds that the girls could not hear.
"Something wrong, Inuyasha?" She asked.
He only looked at her when he heard his name, his ears perking up, "Huh?"
"What's wrong?" Sango asked, "You seem paranoid."
He stared at her for a moment, his eyes squinting as he tilted his head. From what the girl knew, that meant he didn't understand something.
"It looks like you think something bad is going to happen," Kagome said, trying to simplify what Sango had said.
His ears turned out slightly as he processed her words, "Bad… Yes."
"Why?"
He moved to sit instead of crouching, "Uh… Bad… Bad ex… Exper…"
"Experience?" Sango suggested, which earned a quick nod from him.
"So you don't like staying in villages?" Kagome asked.
Inuyasha soon shook his head, "Bad…"
"Do you want to leave?"
He shook his head, "Kiken…"
"Danger… Right," Kagome said.
The three of them sat in silence as they ate the meal the woman had prepared for them. Though, Kagome noticed that Inuyasha didn't eat much. His paranoia must have been bad.
When the crescent moon was visible in the sky, they decided it was time to get to sleep. Inuyasha refused to go over and lay on the bedding with them, instead sitting across the room against the wall.
Just before Kagome fell asleep, she saw Inuyasha untie his kimono from his waist and attempt to put it on. Though he did manage to get it on somewhat correctly, Kagome knew he had plenty to learn on their journey.
A journey of a village girl who barely knows how to shoot an arrow, a Demon Slayer with her demon companion, and a demon who barely knew how to speak his own language.
The motive of the expedition? Naraku, the one who killed Kagome's father and grandfather, the one who massacred the Demon Slayers. The one who Inuyasha did not trust.
Naraku of the Spider Tribe.