Disclaimer: I…am…going…to…ugh! Fine, I don't own Inuyasha or any of its characters…yet (sinister smile)
A/N: Okay, last chp 4 d vacation 4 now. If u review nice enough, be it good or bad (more constructive reviews though), i'll try 2 update asasp k ;)
"Dr. Saito, Dr. Saito!" cried out a little girl as she raced through the village to meet the medicine man.
"Hai Sakura-chan, what's the matter?" asked the gentle male.
"Travellers…entering the village…" she began out of breath, her face flustered from running so hard and fast.
"Slow down Sakura, take a deep breath…inhale, now exhale," he instructed, and the young girl did as told.
"Now, tell me, do they look dangerous?"
"Well, not really."
"How many are there?"
"About one, two…five, and a kitty!" she counted on her tiny fingers.
"Really, and what do these travellers look like?"
"Well, there're two girls; one has a big boomerang thingy—she has the kitty on her shoulder—and the other is dressed funny. And there's a monk man, and, and, a white haired man with funny looking ears, like a puppy," she said excitedly as she mimicked the ears atop the hanyou's head.
"And there's a little fox man with them too!" she finished, now exhausted from bubbling over so with her story.
Hmm…sounds like we have some demons in our mists.
"Well Sakura-chan, you know what you have to do now?"
"What?" the little girl asked enthusiastically. The good doctor then hunched down as though giving her a secret.
"Round up the welcoming party and greet our guests as they should be," and he jokingly shoed her off.
"Lee-chan, Kouji-kun, Yuki-chan, we have an important mission!" Sakura bellowed to her friends as she ran through the village in search of them. Dr. Saito just smiled and returned to his hut where he was tending to a patient.
INUTACHI'S POV
"Now Inuyasha, please be on your best behaviour. We don't want to scare off these villagers like the last ones," Kagome scolded her hanyou.
"Feh, they were asking for it, telling me about my 'rude' attitude," he retorted.
"Inuyasha," Kagome merely grumbled as they came closer to the village.
"C'mon Inuyasha, please. It would be nice to get a decent meal and a proper place to sleep tonight," Sango beseeched.
"Feh," he merely said as he ignored her request.
NORMAL POV
"Welcome to our beloved village," a man who appeared to be the village leader proclaimed to his guests when they neared him.
"We are honored to be here sir," Miroku said solemnly as they bowed in courtesy, all except Inuyasha as usual.
"Call me Yamada, and no, the honor is all ours. Now, if I may be so bold to ask what business such travellers as yourself have with our simple town?" he asked coolly.
"We're just looking for a place to rest for the night kind Yamada," Kagome said with her effervescent smile. Inuyasha grunted at her 'fake' civility and just stood in the background with his arms folded impatiently waiting for the greeting to be over.
"Ah, well consider this your home for the day. We have much nourishment for you, need not worry. Come this way and I shall show you to your hut," Yamada said as he directed the group to their nesting spot, whilst giving them a minor tour of the place.
"If you wish to freshen up, there is a bathing area not too far from where you will be staying."
"Arigatou Yamada-san," Kagome replied.
"Dr. Saito, they're here!" cried out Sakura-chan as she ran right through the group to see her favorite doctor. His inn was not too far from where Inuyasha and they stood.
"Sakura, now haven't I taught you better manners than that? Please apologize for your loud outburst," he admonished when he came out to meet the young child.
"Gomen-nasai," the girl apologized with a puppy-dog pout and beady eyes.
"It's okay little girl, no harm done here," Kagome consoled, but the poor girl was so wrapped up in her sorrow she paid Kagome no mind.
"Come here Sakura-chan," the doctor said as he held her gently in his arms.
"I'm sorry for behaving badly Dr. Saito," she cried in his shoulder.
"You promise you'll be more respectful next time?"
"I promise," she said as she hugged him tighter.
"Now, run off and play with Lee-chan and the others," he said as he placed her down to go find her friends.
"Ja ne!" she hollered as she waved both doctor and visitors a farewell.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier," the kind man said in the sweetest of voices. After his display with Sakura, Kagome and Sango were all starry-eyed for this handsome young caring physician.
"I'm Saito, the doctor of this village. And you fair maidens are?"
"Kagome—"
"And Sango!" she butted in, both girls trying their hardest not to blush. Miroku and Inuyasha just stood by with stern watchful eyes on their respective women.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both," he said chivalrously as he kissed both their hands, reddening their faces instantaneously.
The man had serious, brown eyes, but they held benevolence to them, and in the right angle in the sun they took on a golden tinge. He had about a 6 foot frame, very muscular and lean against creamy white skin, and he had long dark hair about mid-back, thick, yet smooth as silk.
"And how rude of me not to acknowledge the gentlemen behind these stunning women."
"I'm Miroku, and this is Inuyasha," the monk replied politely, whilst the hanyou next to him simply grunted his salutation. "And this is Shippo and Kirara," he finished, pointing to the kitsune and neko demon by his foot.
"And as aforementioned, I'm Dr. Saito. Pleasure to meet you all."
"So do you tend to everyone here by yourself?" Shippo asked.
"Hai. Unfortunately there are no others with my expertise, and no one has really offered to assist, other than the children of course. But I don't mind, the peace that comes with working in solitude is nice sometimes. Besides, it's the least I can do, for these people welcomed me with open arms into their town, they feed and house me daily; the labour is worth it."
"You're not a local here?" Kagome asked.
"No. Like you, I was travelling, well, more like wandering, when I stumbled upon this village. Then they had a horrible measles epidemic. I offered my assistance and since then I've never left."
"How long ago was that?"
"About three months."
"Doesn't it get lonely sometimes, working so hard all by yourself?" Sango asked with sensuality to her voice. Miroku didn't like this one bit.
"I feel you monk friend is better apt to answering such a question, as they are expected to live a life free of such female companionship during their penance, not so?" Saito asked innocently.
"Ah, yes, what a lonely road it is sometimes," Miroku replied with a weak chuckle.
"Apparently he doesn't know much about Miroku then," Inuyasha conspired with Kagome.
"Uh huh," she agreed, nodding her head.
"Ugh," Saito suddenly gasped as he felt a sharp pain sear through his chest. He held it dearly, for it was beginning to become a burden.
It was happening again.
"Something the matter Dr. Saito?" Kagome asked, rushing to his aid.
"No, no, I'll be fine. Minor heart problem, nothing some rest won't cure. I must excuse myself now," he struggled to say as he retreated to his hut.
"You think he'll be alright?" Sango asked her fellow female ningen.
"He's a man of medicine, I'm sure he'll be fine," Miroku replied for her. "I think its best time for us to settle down ourselves."
"Right," the girls agreed.
As they walked off, Kagome realized that Inuyasha wasn't shadowing her as usual. She turned around to find him intensely staring at the rice-screen door of the doctor's hut.
"Inuyasha, come on, he'll be fine," she prompted.
"Hmm…fine," he relented. But he knew better; something eccentric was going on behind there, something he sensed was very bad.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Agh! The pain…I feel it again, but stronger this time," Kikyo exclaimed as she fell to the floor, her heart throbbing with each beat. "I must be near…" she exhaled before drifting in and out of consciousness. She didn't know exactly why she felt the pain, but she knew it had a part to play in finding him, so she bore her cross willingly knowing that when they finally meet, things will begin to turn around for her for the better.
Get up Kikyo, you're so close. Get up NOW!
She struggled mind over body, but with the aid of her bow she managed to obtain some balance and rose, slowly but steadily. It didn't hurt as much as before, which meant she must move quicker if she ever wants to find this man.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I think I'm going to take a bath guys, I'll be back in a while," Kagome said as she reached in her backpack for her shower supplies and proceeded to leave for the river.
"You need any company?" Miroku asked her before she left, nodding in Inuyasha's direction where the hanyou was busy arguing with Shippo again. But he never got an answer as Sango clobbered him unconscious on his head for his crude remark.
"La da da da dee da," Kagome sang to herself as she approached the river, but it was then she felt an unusual presence; was it a shard she sensed nearby? She stopped her tracks to follow this aura, and it led her to a spring in the opposite direction of the bathing river. There she saw a man dipping a cup into the spring and drinking from it. Afterwards, he knelt down and said a small incantation of some sorts, and then drank some more of the spring's water. She didn't see the shards, nor sense them, but there way something peculiar going on here. As he scooped his cup for the second time, the young doctor felt as though he was being watched. He turned around fiercely to see a dazed Kagome looking back at him, confused out of her mind.
"Dr. Saito?" she whispered out to him.
"Ka—Kagome? What are you doing here?" he stuttered. No one was supposed to know about this place, no one did, yet she found him with ease.
"I was going to take a shower when…I guess I must've taken a wrong turn."
"I see."
"May I ask though, what exactly were you doing just now, with the incantation and all?" she inquired naively. Saito rose from where he stooped and watched the young miko, understanding now that she wasn't your average ningen. Yet there was something vaguely familiar about her…
"There's no sense in hiding it from you I'm sure. Sigh." He paused for a second, unsure where to start. "This spring here is said to have healing powers, blessed a long time ago by a houshi who lived in the village. It was these same waters I used to help the people during the epidemic, and the same water I use to keep my demon within."
"Your demon? How is that—I don't quite understand." She hadn't sensed a demonic aura when she stood near him, so how could he claim such a thing?
"I am enslaved by a demon that has no name, and I travel this earth in hopes of finding a way to release his spirit and free me from his bondage. I don't know why he chose me, but we are one in the same now, and if I want to continue to help these people I implore you tell no one of this. I have everything contained."
"So is that why you were feeling hurt earlier today?"
"Hai. He was trying to take control." His story reminded her of another kind doctor who had a demon of his own who eventually took over his reincarnate and rejoined the resurrected Shichinintai.
"Is there nothing we can do to help you?" she pleaded with eyes full of hope and desperation.
"At the moment, no. My dependence lies in this spring so long as it continues to flow. Now, I believe you have a bath to attend to?"
"Uh, yeah," Kagome said before scurrying off to the river.
You can't trust her. She knows what you are now you foolish sensei; do you honestly believe she will keep your secret concealed? It's about time you let me go anyhow, I'm dying of thirst…for blood! his inner youkai spoke to him, lusting for a taste of the villagers.
"Stop it! I won't let you hurt these people!" he cried out softly to himself as he ran back to the spring and chugged down water as though it was his last drink.
"How long do you think Kagome will take?" Inuyasha asked his comrades as they keenly awaited the miko's arrival.
"Patience Inuyasha, she's not in any danger," Miroku consoled.
"Hmm…I must ask you guys though; did any of you feel anything around that doctor?"
"Like a demonic aura? No, none that I can think of," Miroku answered the hanyou.
"I agree, and neither did Kirara or I'm sure she would've made note of it," Sango replied.
"Well yeah, but I can't quite help but feel something's wrong here. It's just not sitting with my blood, you know?"
"Maybe you're just exhausted from travelling so much. Relax, and let's enjoy this meal prepared before us," the monk said as he rubbed his chopsticks, ready to dig in at the banquet newly placed before them.
"Hi guys, oh food's here already?" Kagome asked, her stomach growling ferociously at the feast lain before her eyes.
"Yup, just arrived," Sango replied as she grabbed a bowl and began serving herself.
"Daijoubu Inuyasha, you seemed troubled?" Kagome asked her hanyou as she saw his sullen face.
"He believes there's something wrong with the doctor," Miroku answered on his behalf in between bites.
"Oh, well I'm sure it's no cause for concern," Kagome weakly brushed off, but before she could take her seat Inuyasha grabbed her hand and turned her to face him.
"Tell me you don't sense it too Kagome," he said deadly serious. The poor girl could only sigh and shake her head solemnly, for she knew how important keeping the doctor's secret was to him.
"I'm sorry Inuyasha, but I don't," she replied glumly as he flung back her hand and left the hut.
"Where are you going Inuyasha?" the monk shouted out to his friend.
"For a walk," the hanyou replied dryly.
"Aren't you at least going to have something to eat?" queried the demon slayer next, but with no response as he swung the screen door and left without a sound. Kagome sighed heavily for she knew how important her conformity was to him, yet she made a promise.
There's something wrong with that man and I'm gonna prove it!
Inuyasha stomped around the place till he reached Saito's hut. But before he could enter, he heard a vague buzzing sound not too far from him. It was the saimyosho, Naraku's ungodly insects, but what were they doing here, and they seemed to be…leaving? That was when the blood curdling sound was heard from inside the hut. Inevitably it was Saito's cry, but what lay inside no longer looked like the good doctor.
"Saito, are you—" Inuyasha said bursting into the hut, but he never finished that sentence as he saw a beast with scarlet red demonic eyes, talons as long as Inuyasha's hand, and teeth that were itching to sink themselves into some raw flesh. Inuyasha retreated to the safety of the outdoors as he drew his Tetsusaiga prepared for battle.
I knew it, but this time I wish I was terribly wrong.
When the youkai exposed himself to the village ready to take on the hanyou before him, the place was left in an uproar as everyone scampered for safety wherever they found it. Of course, this outcry gathered the attention of the gorging travellers, and soon they were all by Inuyasha's side ready to aid in the fight. When Kagome looked at the demon, she saw three shards in it, one in each arm and one by his heart. Then it hit her…
"So is that why you were feeling hurt earlier today?"
"Hai. He was trying to take control."
"Inuyasha, that's the doctor! Please be careful!" she cried out. Looking at him she realzied he looked nothing like the gentle man from before; his hair was silvery, he grew elongated fangs, he now possesed wolf like characteristics...he was full youkai.
"He also has three shards in him."
"So I guess he got them when our little friend Naraku passed by," Inuyasha spat out.
"Naraku was here?" asked a shocked Sango.
"Never in the flesh, but his little buddies the saimyosho did stop by before I arrived."
"What are we going to do now?" Miroku asked the Inutachi leader.
"If I attack him with my wind scar, I'm sure to kill him."
"Then leave the fighting to us!" Sango sang as she climbed aboard Kirara who let out a battle growl in the process. "Hiraikotsu!" she exclaimed as she release her Hiratsu, but the monster caught its attack in its mouth and deflected it right back to its owner.
"Kagome, see if you could hit him with a sacred arrow whilst I hold him down," Miroku shouted as he removed the prayer beads sealing his wind tunnel, but as the black hole began devouring everything its path, the saimyosho appeared from nowhere, and thus Miroku had to retreat.
"I'll still give it a try," and Kagome shot an arrow at the beast. It was a wasted attempt as with one slash of his claws he destroyed the arrow before it could get with feet of him. Not to be outdone, he then slashed out at the group, ensuring that he had Inuyasha separated from the rest as they scampered to evade his attack.
"It's useless Kagome, he's too powerful," Sango told her yuujin.
"I'm sorry Kagome, but I must," Inuyasha said before soaring through the air to deliver an assault. "It's the only way…WIND SCAR!" he cried out as his blade came crashing down to the ground in a fury of yellow light, but he didn't feel the effect of the blow as his Tetsusaiga was rendered paralyzed by a sacred arrow and returned to its natural form.
"Watcha do that for Kagome?" he scowled at the miko.
"It wasn't me!" she proclaimed. When the dust that spurred from the attack settled everyone saw who the beast's saviour was.
"Kikyo…" Inuyasha whispered to himself as he saw his first love standing at the village's entrance, still in her stance when she shot the arrow.
"Kikyo, what are you doing?" he then declared louder and harsher.
"Lay not a hand on him," the priestess replied defiantly.
"But he'll destroy the village if we don't do something!" was Kagome's input. Kikyo merely glared at her reincarnation as she made her way towards Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha…" she said softly, her eyes glistening with sorrow. This was not the same woman that entered a few seconds ago. But before another word could be spoken, the youkai's hand swooped down again to attack his prey. Inuyasha, with Kikyo in hand, dodged the full blow of the attack, but unfortunately he was not quick enough.
"Kikyo!" he cried out seeing his miko bleeding from her back. The beast's talons managed to dig her as Inuyasha leapt out of harm's way. "I will surely kill you now!" he raged, ready to strike again with all his might, but he felt a restraint on his hakamas.
"Inuyasha…please, don't kill him…" Kikyo managed to cough out as she tugged harder on his robe.
"But why?" he asked angrily, yet bewildered. "Why are you defending this monster?"
"Because he is my son…our son…" she relinquished as the pain seeped down her spine.
Our son?
Author's note: Wow, bet you didn't see that one coming! How is all of this possible, only chp 3 can tell, but before I do reveal more secrets you gotta review this chp first and inform me of any flaws or suggestions about future chps u might have. Your support and ideas are always welcomed. Thanx 2 d few still keeping this fic alive, I hoped u enjoyed it!