Scroll 8 – Home and Back Again

Inu Yasha sighed as he felt his muscles begin to relax in the hot water. He could also smell the dinner his mother was preparing and was trying to decide if he was hungry enough to get out of the bath. After a few more minutes of debating, he finally got out of the bath and sprawled out on his bed thinking about the crazy sounding story he had told his grandpa. Even if it was the truth, I can't believe that Gramps believed it, he thought with a smile. I wonder what happened with that crazy girl with the hair. I hope she isn't bothering that village too much…. Wait, what am I thinking? Who gives a shit? They have that pain in the ass cat-girl to deal with her. He frowned. The villagers had been nice to him, but Kagome had been insulting and rude and mean and he could honestly say that he didn't care if that demon with the hair beat her black and blue. Ah, whatever. I'm home, I'm not going back, so it doesn't matter.

"Inu-chan! Dinner time!" his mother called. Inu Yasha rolled off his bed and made his way downstairs. A big smile spread over his face as he began to smell the food.

"Oden! Real food! Thanks mom," Inu Yasha sat down and immediately began shoveling food into his mouth. The other three family members at the table just stared at him. Even for Inu Yasha, this level of enthusiasm was excessive. "What're you lookin' at? I was starving," he said around a mouthful of food. The others just rolled their eyes and went back to their own food.

"So Inu-chan was just telling me the most fascinating story that goes with the legend of the Shikon Jewel," Gramps began.

"That's nice, dad," Mrs. Higurashi said dismissively.

Suddenly the door banged open and an annoyed looking Kagome stalked in. She zeroed in on Inu Yasha who just stared back at her dumbfounded. "Okay, you filthy human, let's go." She stomped up to him, grabbed is arm, and started to pull him back the way she came.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, finally finding his voice. Without waiting for an answer from her, he turned to his grandpa. "I thought you said you were going to seal that stupid well so that this wouldn't happen!"

Gramps gaped for a moment before replying, "I did seal it. I used the strongest sealing and protection scrolls. Nothing should have been able to come through."

Kagome snorted. "What, you mean these silly pieces of paper?" She pulled a scrap off of her sleeve. "They wouldn't block a maggot. Now, let's go, human," she said resuming her pull on his arm.

"I have a name you know. Say it slowly. In-u-ya-sha. And what makes you think I'm going anywhere with you, huh?" he asked, digging his heels in and trying to get out of her grasp. They stood there glaring for a minute before they were interrupted by Inu Yasha's mother and grandpa approaching Kagome. Before either of them could react, his mother grabbed both of Kagome's ears while Gramps snagged her tail and began to stroke it. Kagome stood stunned for a moment before jumping away from the two of them and hissing.

"What the hell was that for? Ew, now I'm going to have to bathe again," she said making a face, her ears and tail twitching even more now.

"I'm sorry, I just—I mean, I thought—I mean, I didn't realize they were real," Inu Yasha's mother stammered turning pink. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"And what's your excuse, you dirty old man?" she snarled at Gramps. He just grinned. Kagome made another disgusted face. "You sick old pervert! Okay, whelp, we're leaving now." She grabbed Inu Yasha's arm again and resumed trying to drag him out of the dining room.

"And I said, like hell I'm going with you, you psycho bitch. What part of that did you not understand?" he asked angrily, trying to shake her arm off and ignoring his mother's chastisement about his language.

"You are going to lead me to that bastard of a demon who tried to behead me. And you are going to give me back my Shikon shard. Then I'll leave you alone with your perverted family," she told him shortly.

"First of all, why do you need me to lead you to a demon, and why do you think I'd help you anyway? Secondly, that Yura of the Hair person took the Jewel shard before she pushed me down that fuckin' well. Now go back to wonderland, Alice, and leave me alone!"

She stared at him for a moment. "You lost my Jewel again?!" she exploded. "I ought to strangle you right now!" she threatened reaching out for his throat.

"Bad, Kitty!"

Kagome snarled as she picked herself off the ground. "As soon as I get these fucking beads off I'm going to tear you to pieces. Now, I hate to repeat myself, boy. That old witch says you can see that ba—bitch's hair, so you are going to follow it and lead me to this Yura. I am going to kick her ass for trying to take my head and get my Shikon shard back. Now, you can either walk back to the damned well with me or I can carry you there myself, but you are coming with—hey, are you paying attention, whelp?" Inu Yasha was staring at her shoulder and obviously hadn't heard a word Kagome had said to him.

"That had better not be what I think it is," he said as he reached out to pick something off of her jacket. He was about to grab it when it twitched and sliced his fingers. "You brought some of it with you!" he yelled accusingly at the surprised hanyou. She was looking around trying to see what had cut him, but she could not see anything. Inu Yasha saw the hair moving out of the corner of his eye. It was stretching towards him from the opposite direction that Kagome was looking. Suddenly it dawned on him that she couldn't see the hair. Almost on instinct, he reached up and grabbed the hair, slicing his hand on hit and letting the blood run down it. "It's here," he said. Kagome turned and slashed at where it appeared his blood was just floating in the air. She felt something snap under her claws and she thought she heard giggling in the distance.

"Now will you get your ass down that well?" she asked him smugly. Inu Yasha glared at her. She smirked as she sauntered out of the dining room towards the door.

I'll be back later, mom, don't let anyone in the well-house while I'm gone," Inu Yasha called over his shoulder as he followed Kagome out. "Stop grinning, you sadistic bitch," he growled as he caught up to her. "I'm not going to help you; I'm going to make sure my family doesn't get hurt. They may be annoying and a pain in the ass most of the time, but if they get hurt because you led that crazy bitch here, I'll test out those prayer beads to the fullest," he threatened.

Kagome ignored his threat as she glanced at him still smirking. "Wrap up your hand, no need to draw other pathetic minor demons with the smell of fresh blood," she told him handing him a scrap of cloth. "Hm…. Human skin is so fragile," she murmured. "Since I'd rather her not dice you up before we reach this Yura of the Hair, take this," she said taking her jacket off and tossing it to him. "It's made from the fur of a fire rat and will protect you from anything this pathetic demon can throw at you."

Inu Yasha stopped in his tracks and stared at her. "Are you trying to be nice to me?" he asked warily.

"Of course not, human," she scoffed. "I simply need you to survive long enough to show me where this annoying demon is. She tried to decapitate me and she stole my Shikon shard. She continued towards the well-house and Inu Yasha jogged to catch up to her again. When they reached the well, Inu Yasha stopped and stared at it for a moment. There were pieces of wood everywhere from when Kagome had blasted her way through Gramps' barriers.

"Do I need to push you in? The faster we do this, the faster we can go our own ways, human," Kagome pointed out.

Inu Yasha sighed. Here we go again. Down the rabbit hole…

They jumped in.

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In a cave a ways from the well, a girl was sitting on a ledge humming to herself and playing a game of cat's cradle. I wonder if they're coming yet? she thought to herself. I'm getting bored. This funny little demon is so slow. I wonder what is keeping her? I hope she won't keep me waiting much longer. She giggled as a passing bat was sliced in half by her webbing of hair. Ooolala! It will be fun to see that little kitty's head do that, she giggled again as she settled back into her perch.

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AN: YAY 2 chappys in 1 week...of course this is probably the shortest scroll ever. Soon it'll be back to the grindstone with tons of reading and work for as many hours as they'll let me work. I kind of know what I want to do with the fight with Yura, so if I have time, hopefully I'll get it written up before the end of the school year.

Remember! I need an want opinions about weapons and characters! Reviews keep a story alive!!

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