Inu Yasha: Of Plots And Graves
By – Ravyn Knyght
The group looked on as the two men stared each other down. "You are nothing to me." Sesshomaru simply stated and struck at Kenjiro with his toxic claw attack. To his surprise, Kenjiro caught his hand and held it inches from his neck. 'He is very skilled. I must not take this boy lightly.' Sesshomaru thought as he tried to free himself from Kenjiro's grip. "I believe you came here for a reason?" the hanyou asked, releasing his grip only to place his hand on Tetsusaiga to deter any other attacks. "My questions have been answered for now. Next time I will take that sword with me." Sesshomaru warned as he walked away. "You shall try but fail." Kenjiro pointed out. "That's it?" Shippo said wide-eyed, gawking at the two men. "Well that just sucked." Jakotsu frowned and headed back to the village. "What was all that about?" Miroku inquired as he tried to understand what just took place. "A very foolish man who wishes to possess something not meant for him." Kenjiro sighed leaving Miroku, Sango and Shippo to wonder amongst them.
On his way back, Jakotsu accompanied Kenjiro. "Well?" she prodded wanting to know how things were progressing. "It didn't go as I expected." he admitted, "I thought my Tetsusaiga could have shattered Tokijin." thinking about what to do. "I told you so!" Jakotsu teased, sticking her tongue out at him. 'There must be a way to destroy that damn sword!' he angrily thought as they walked along. "So what about the other things? When are you going to get to them?" Jakotsu then asked. "Better to let them occur on their own instead of forcing them and making everyone suspicious." Kenjiro replied. Jakotsu gave a sulky growl, "You promised me a fight to the death with my sweet Inu Yasha!" she muttered, folding her arms and looking away from him in disgust. "You are not one for long drawn out affairs are you?" Kenjiro asked curiously. "Well you either do things my way or I put you back where I found you." Kenjiro playfully warned. "You wouldn't." Jakotsu glared then realized he was serious. "You would. Meanie!" she sniffed as they reached the village. "They should be here soon. Make sure no one sees you or 'them'." Kenjiro reminded. "When have they ever?" she called back as she headed off.
"Hey, where's Jakotsu going?" Shippo asked as the others came along. "Her own little world." Kenjiro sighed turning to them. "So Sesshomaru now wants your sword too." Miroku noted. "I would have thought you would have sought him out to assist you, he being your father and all." Sango commented. "Hm. I best leave him to his own plans. I have no wish to travel with such a person." he made his resentment of his father clear. "He doesn't even see me or my sister as his own." Kenjiro angrily sighed as he thought about Sesshomaru. "Because you are only half demon? I suppose that would be right in view of his hatred for Inu Yasha." Miroku concluded. "It surprised me that Sesshomaru would take a human like Rin as a wife considering he loathes humans." Sango added. "This is a subject I wish not to talk about any longer." Kenjiro said putting an end to the conversation and walked away. "Boy, they really don't get along in his time, do they?" Shippo stated to have the others agree.
"Bah! This is a waste of time!" Kagura thought as she glanced over the grounds below while thinking about how paranoid Naraku was. 'He killed that damn priestess himself!' she thought as she continued her search for the alleged soul collectors that had reappeared in the last few months. She was about to turn back when she caught sight of the object of her search. 'Maybe his paranoia can work for me…' she pondered as she set down to follow the single demon through the woods. As she followed, several more appeared and joined up with the one she followed. 'Could it be she is still alive?' Kagura wondered as the soul collectors led her to their owner.
She hung back in the heavy brush, her eyes opened wide with surprise when she saw whom the soul collectors belonged to. 'Not who I expected but it does partially explain how she survived.' Kagura thought as she watched them deposit the harvested souls to Jakotsu. 'Now how can I play this to my advantage? I suppose I don't have to tell him 'who' owned the soul collectors.' she schemed then realized she was not alone as Hakudoushi joined her. "So that's what all the fuss was about?" he sighed uninterestedly.
"What a waste of time this was! Let's go." Kagura insisted, Hakudoushi agreed and the pair was about to withdraw when they heard another voice. "Wait." Hakudoushi whispered as they looked back.
"So what does everyone do during this time?" Kenjiro asked as he sat down next to Jakotsu. "Well…Inu Yasha usually hangs around here for a day or two then gets mad and goes back…or is it forward? Anyway he goes to Kagome's era and hangs out there for a while or drags her back here." "Well Inu Yasha won't be back for a few days and Kagome won't be coming back anytime soon so that leaves Miroku, Sango, you and the kitsune." Kenjiro counted. "Yeah about that…every now and then the monk and the slayer head off to her village. She brought me along to help curb the monk's 'less desirable traits' the last few times so that just leaves the brat." Jakotsu mentioned as she glanced at the young hanyou's ears. "Don't you have anywhere to go? Don't you have family?" Kenjiro asked the mercenary. Jakotsu looked thoughtful for a few moments, "I used to but not anymore." While the two talked, Kagura and Hakudoushi listened intently.
"Isn't this stuff you should already know?" Jakotsu thought aloud as she reached for Kenjiro's ears only to have him grab her hands. "Must you keep doing that?" he groaned in a tired sigh as he firmly placed her hands onto her lap. "I told you before, just because Naraku created me from their souls doesn't mean I know everything they knew. I just pick up on certain feelings." Kenjiro angrily reminded her. "Sorry. Forgot." she giggled. "Any idea how come you couldn't break the Tokijin? Isn't your Tetsusaiga stronger then Inu Yasha's?" she wondered. "Yes it is but not even that seems to be enough to destroy that sword of Sesshomaru's." Kenjiro sighed as he stared up at the nighttime sky. "Well why not check old that old guy, now what was his name?" Jakotsu tried to recall the name. After a few moments of listening to Jakotsu rhyme off a list of names she finally struck on the right one, "Aha! Totosai!" she declared in triumph. Kenjiro just stared at her blankly for a few moments then pecked a kiss on her forehead, making her blush slightly, "You are a genius! Not even I would have thought of that!" he praised as he got up and pulled her with him. "Let's go back before the others start to wonder where we are."
As they left to meet up with the others, both Hakudoushi and Kagura tried to make sense of what they just heard. "So that wasn't Inu Yasha? But I don't remember Naraku creating anyone like that?" Kagura thought back to all of Naraku's incarnations. "That's because he didn't! They obviously knew we were here and are trying to trick us with that little story of theirs. They probably were the ones who revived Jakotsu with those soul collectors. Think about it, if Naraku still thinks Kikyo is alive then he'd be highly distracted and it would be easy for Inu Yasha and his friends to attack him." Hakudoushi clearly pointed out. "But at least we know where Inu Yasha will be heading next. Let's keep a close eye on the old swordsmith. More than likely he'll go alone." Kagura observed. "Probably another trick to throw us off. A saimyoushuu can keep an eye on that old man. Let's go." Hakudoushi ordered. 'It's too good a chance to pass up if what he says is true. If he is from Naraku and freed himself …' Kagura silently thought as she drew a feather and they departed from the forest.
Finding himself a suitable perch in a tree that overlooked the campsite, Inu Yasha settled himself for the night as the women he was guarding went about preparing their own accommodations for the night. Not wanting to fall asleep too early Inu Yasha occupied himself with mulling over what he and his friends had known so far about their newest member. Even though he had agreed to let Kenjiro travel with them he still had his doubts about the young man and still didn't trust him fully. 'If he had all those jewel shards on him, how come Kagome didn't sense them? And I definitely don't buy his story about Sesshomaru giving him the Tetsusaiga! But if Sesshomaru had the Tetsusaiga in his time...' he stopped in mid thought when a noise caught his attention. He opened his eyes slightly to glance around the campsite but couldn't see anything. "Could have sworn someone was there…" Inu Yasha whispered to himself as he listened intently and checked the air for any foreign scents but found nothing. Satisfied that it was just his imagination, he rested against the tree again but kept alert in case there was something out there. 'Better not get careless.' a shadowy figure thought to itself as they focused their gaze on the group's bodyguard. 'He'll be a tough one, that's for sure.' the person sighed as they devised ways to deal with Inu Yasha.
On his return to where he had left Rin and Jaken, Shessomaru thought about the sudden appearance of this young hanyou who claimed to be his son. 'An obvious lie to attempt to distract me. But for what purpose? It has still not been made clear where this boy came from. He is of my species but father had no other children and he is definitely not Inu Yasha's offspring. He unmistakably has a deep resentment of me but I don't ever recall crossing him. I doubt I shall make progress in questioning him of his lineage but that girl back at that village claimed to be his sister. She seems to be more of the talkative type. But what of his sword? True it is the Tetsusaiga but it holds far more power than the one held by Inu Yasha.' While Seshomaru pondered everything up until now while taking note of the damage to his Tokijin, without understanding how it was possible, Tokijin seemed to repair itself before his eyes. 'Hm…Intriguing.'
Early the next morning, both Kenjiro and Jakotsu left Kaede's village and headed off to Totosai's telling the other's that his Tetsusaiga needed some repairs after his fight with Sesshomaru. "Well I guess that just leaves the two of us now doesn't it?" Miroku coyly stated as he gave Sango a warm smile. "Yes it does. There is now no one here that can stop me from killing you if you try anything perverted." Sango happily pointed out, drawing a tanto blade from her kimono sleeve, Miroku quickly distanced himself from her while giving a false laugh. "You've been told." Shippo snickered as Miroku sighed in premature defeat.
Upon breaking camp, Inu Yasha and the three women continued on their journey not realizing that they were being followed. 'Keade is so going to get hurt when I get back.' Inu Yasha angrily thought as he lugged the cart along while tuning out the noisy chatter of his companions. He only stopped momentarily to slap the back of his neck. "Hey Miyoga. What's up?" he asked as he brought his and back around to bring the crushed flea into view. Before the old flea could regain his composure, the two were interrupted by shrill screams as the three women flew towards them and hid behind Inu Yasha. "Now what?" he grumbled while one of the women peered over his shoulder and with a trembling hand pointed up ahead. "It's a demon riding a three-eyed bull! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!" she wailed causing Inu Yasha to wince in pain. "Yeah. Right in my ear. That's good.". The hidden shadow in the trees also agreed with Inu Yasha. 'Oh, please! Lower the volume would ya!' as their stalker shook off the ringing in their ears. He looked ahead to where she was pointing to and sighed. "As much as I'd love to kill him, he keeps my sword in good shape. He's totally harmless." Inu Yasha declared, waving him off. "What do you want Totosai?"
"I thought as much from the disturbance I felt." Totosai concluded after Inu Yasha filled them both in on the events of the last few days. "So where is this Kenjiro fellow now? I would like to see his Tetsusaiga for myself." Totosai questioned. "Back at Keade's." Inu Yasha told him. "Well when you are finished here I'd like to see you both at my place. No doubt the two of you knuckleheaded pups damaged your swords with your reckless training and fighting styles." Totosai shook his head disapprovingly only to get a set of knuckles brought down on his skull. "Master Inu Yasha! Show some respect!" Miyoga scolded only to get a threatening glare from the hanyou. "Well if they are no threat then why are we wasting time here! We could be half way to the market by now!" one of the women angrily spoke up. "Yeah, yeah! Quit your whining already!" Inu Yasha snapped as he took hold of the cart handles. "We'll see you around." Totosai called as he and Miyoga headed towards Keade's. While the group continued on their way, their follower calculated the best time to strike. 'I think I'll wait until they unload that stuff. It'll save me the effort of trying to pawn off a bunch of useless junk. They'll probably have that demon slave of theirs guard the money.' the plotting thief figured.