Chichiue (Honoured Father)
Written by Sarga
July to December 2006
Summary: On their quest to destroy Naraku, Inuyasha's group comes across another half dog-demon. Why is he so anxious to join their quest for the Shikon Jewel? What startling secrets will he reveal?
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and I have no money to sue for.
Translations:
Inu :: dog
hanyou :: half demon
kami :: gods
youkai :: demon
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Chapter 3: Sibling Rivalry
"PERVERT!"
A resounding slap of skin on skin broke the late afternoon's silence. Miroku, sporting a furious red hand print, grinned shamelessly as an enraged demon slayer stomped ahead of the pack, putting as many people between her and the lecherous monk as possible.
Kagome, still upset at Inuyasha's reckless transformation, stuck close to Adachi's side, Shippo clutched in her arms almost painfully. The child, despite his discomfort, knew better than to attempt escape, lest he become the new target for her anger. Stifling a squeak as Kagome's scent spiked in anger and she yet-again tightened her hold on him, Shippo shifted in her arms to give himself more breathing room.
As they proceeded, it did not escape either Adachi's or Inuyasha's notice that Kagome was fixedly ignoring Inuyasha, to the point where she was keeping Adachi's body between them at all costs. Adachi was hard-pressed to restrain his triumphant grin every time his half-brother would turn around, but somehow he managed. Perhaps due to the fact that it allowed him such close contact with the girl or perhaps due to the searing glares she sent Inuyasha every time he turned towards her. Adachi did not consider himself foolish enough to change her target to himself.
Silently brooding at Kagome's avoidance of him, Inuyasha trudged ahead, snapping at anyone who tried to intrude on his foul mood by speaking aloud. As an equally fuming demon slayer silently matched his stride, he bit back a scathing comment, wary that her infamous fury would be unleashed upon him as well. He did not need two angry women focused on him.
Traveling onward in stifling silence, Inuyasha was struck by the sound of trickling water in the distance. In an attempt to steer the group away from the potential distraction a hot spring would give, Inuyasha ground to a halt and barked back towards the weary travelers.
"This is taking too long!" Inuyasha glared at Kagome who looked pointedly away. Marching to her side Inuyasha turned around and scrunched down. "Hop on, wench!" he commanded.
Kagome stiffened. Her rigid body stood stalk still as she whipped her head around to sear a hole in Inuyasha's back.
Adachi disguised his huff of amusement as a cough, clearing his throat to keep his voice calm.
"We've been walking all day, Mutt," Adachi couldn't help the smirk that grew as he, too, heard the trickling water in the distance. "And besides, I think we could all use a stop at a hot spring to keep our sanity in check."
Inuyasha turned around, sneering at Adachi. His retort, however, was quickly interrupted by the sound of Kagome's agreement.
"That sounds great, Adachi," Kagome turned gleaming eyes towards him in gratitude. Grabbing Adachi's arm before Inuyasha could protest, Kagome looked towards the forest. "Which way?" she asked hopefully. Shippo, given reprieve from his restraint, fled to Adachi's shoulder where he once again breathed freely.
Giving his livid brother a victorious wink, Adachi led Kagome towards the sound of water, Sango and Miroku following shortly behind. Stopping for a bath at this late hour meant they would be stopping for the night, and no one, aside from Inuyasha, wanted to continue after ten solid hours of travel.
Reaching the banks of the small trickling hot spring, Adachi made a cursory check to ensure its safety. Sensing no demons in the near vicinity, Adachi looked directly at the monk. "Time to leave the women to their bathing, pervert," Adachi grinned as the monk's face fell slightly, knowing he would not be able to sneak back with the hanyou watching his every move. Shoulders slumping in defeat, Miroku turned around and walked with Adachi to their campsite.
The two women undressed, abandoning their clothing in a pile on the ground. They settled into the warm water, washing away the tension and anger with the dirt.
The pair chatted amicably, making frivolous conversation about their travels, about when they would reach the next village, and about when they would come across another jewel fragment. As the topics naturally petered out, they slipped into a comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company.
"I was wondering, Kagome," Sango furrowed her brow in contemplation as Kagome turned her attention toward the demon slayer. "I've never noticed a sword on Adachi. Nothing, for that matter, that would protect him from turning into a full demon."
Kagome nodded, thinking about the potential for disaster. "Adachi's not as hot-headed as Inuyasha."
"But still..."
Kagome frowned.
"Maybe he just hasn't had the right button pushed," Sango added. "I mean, he's had a pretty wonderful life by comparison. I think that when he does get angry, he's going to be far worse than Inuyasha could be. At least Inuyasha expresses his anger freely; we have some kind of warning before he changes."
Kagome sank into the water, suddenly weary with the new knowledge. How would she control not one, but two enraged hanyou turned full-demon? Especially with one not having a safety net to snap him back to reality.
"Do you think..." Sango continued, searching for the right way to word her thoughts. "Do you think that Kaede has another one of those necklaces handy?"
Kagome burst into a fit of giggles at the sudden thought of both hanyou under her thumb. Sango joined in, the tension once again falling forgotten into the waters that surrounded them.
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Inuyasha stood in the middle of the road, grumbling in annoyance as he thought about Kagome's attitude towards him in the past three days. She had been ignoring him since he had turned into his full demon self, and all because of his stupid half-brother. Never mind the fact that he had been fighting a vicious demon at the time; it was all Adachi's fault...
It seemed, in fact, that even before he had lost his control, Kagome had been acting more annoyed with Inuyasha. Her smiles, once shared willingly with all, including himself, were focusing more and more on the newest member of their group. Stupid Adachi! Without him, they were all better off, his extra shards be damned!
Inuyasha, his mind enamored with the idea of ousting the intruder, stomped off after Kagome. They would return Adachi's shards, send him on his way, and fight him for them later. Bound and determined to force Kagome to see who the real hanyou was, Inuyasha rushed onward.
Breaking through the foliage surrounding the hot spring, Inuyasha was distracted from his sole purpose by not one, but two thoroughly naked women standing before him. After a brief moment of shocked silence, Inuyasha found himself flattened to the ground, his ears and head burning from the Kagome's shriek of "sit" and Sango's hiraikotsu to the noggin.
"PERVERT!" both Kagome and Sango screamed.
Inuyasha didn't even think of lifting his head as the women fled the pool to find the cover of their clothes. Unfortunately for him, that didn't stop Kagome from continuing to keep his face plastered to the ground.
"Sit!"
Kagome quickly pulled on her skirt.
"Sit!"
Sango followed suit, covering up as much as she could, as quickly as possible.
"Sit!"
With both women finally dressed after their comfortable bath, Kagome threw out one more for good measure.
"Sit!" Kagome stomped past the prone hanyou, grumbling hotly with blazing pink cheeks.
Sango tutted as she passed, muttering a forlorn, "And I thought Miroku was the pervert..."
As the spell finally wore off, Inuyasha leaped to his feet and chased after the pair.
As the women approached the camp, Miroku instantly identified the fuming looks and sheer anger radiating from them. He silently thanked Kami that he was not the cause of it for once. As he watched Inuyasha follow shortly behind, Miroku grinned and gave his friend a knowing glance.
"Couldn't wait your turn, huh, Inuyasha?"
"Can it, Monk!" Inuyasha ground out, jumping to a sturdy branch nearby, his cheeks glowing red from embarrassment. So he would wait a day or two to kick Adachi out. He had time.
- - - - - - - - - -
As the early evening progressed into night, the group found themselves spread around the campsite. Sango and Kilala, curled up next to a tree, rested comfortably. Shippo, who had once again rejoined Kagome, lay in Kagome's sleeping bag while she brushed her hair next to him. Miroku, the hand-print from earlier fading but still noticeable, leaned against a tree, his heavy-lidded eyes gazing unnoticed at the resting demon slayer.
Inuyasha sat high in a tree, his embarrassment having faded into frustrated anger hours earlier. In a subconscious show of superiority, the half-demon continued growling a warning to all lower members of his pack; namely Adachi.
Adachi crouched by the fire, prodding the embers with a long stick. The subtle sound of Inuyasha's growling played in the background of his enhanced hearing, as it had for the past several hours. The challenge held within the growl was beginning to wear thin and Adachi did not think he could stand much more.
Muttering barely loud enough to reach his half-brother's ears, Adachi issued a challenge of his own. "Fine then, Mutt, you want a challenge, how about we put some stakes on the line." Adachi allowed himself a lopsided grin as he faced the fire. "You win and I'll submit like a good little half-demon. I win," he paused as the growling increased slightly, his grin growing wider. "...and Kagome gets to see how a real inu-hanyou courts his mate."
The humans in the campsite all visibly jumped as a feral snarl was issued from the trees above and Inuyasha hurtled towards his brother. Inuyasha's form flew at his brother, a rage seeming to control his movement as he swung his claws haphazardly towards his foe. Adachi, on the other hand, smoothly avoided the attacks, sidestepping and ducking easily, as if he were fighting an untrained child.
"Tut-tut, Inuyasha," Adachi chortled. "Didn't your mother ever teach you self-control?"
At the mention of his mother, Inuyasha swung his claws out carelessly. Calmly, Adachi jumped, grabbing onto Inuyasha's clothing. As he landed behind the hanyou, Adachi flung him like a catapult into a nearby tree.
Regaining her senses, Kagome took that instant to do what she did best.
"SIT!"
The hanyou had enough time to crash into the tree before he was pulled downward, his body scraping along the rough bark. As Adachi sneered and approached the prone form, he was startled by a harsh yell.
"Enough!" Kagome commanded. She rushed between the pair, Adachi having paused at her command. "Don't think that I won't find a way to do the same to you Adachi!" she glared at him and he threw his arms up in defeat. "You're both behaving like animals."
"What do you think we are, Kagome?" Adachi interrupted before she could continue. "We're not human, we're not bound by human interactions. We're not demon, so we aren't bound by demon custom either." He took a step forward, his penetrating gaze causing Kagome to shiver, whether in fear or anticipation, she was not sure. Adachi's voice lowered and proceeded silkily, "We have to create our own bounds, Kagome. If that means breaking another's control to protect the ones you love," Kagome gasped as his hand brushed her cheek softly. "then we break it and make him rebuild it stronger," he glanced at his brother as he strained against the curse that held him down. Steeling his voice again, Adachi continued, "...or he destroys himself."
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Kagome lay in her sleeping bag, Shippo snuggled sleeping in her arms, as she contemplated what Adachi had said. Did Adachi mean that he was once 'broken and rebuilt'? Was he forced to lose control like that, only to be beaten down? Would Inuyasha be able to attain the same control Adachi apparently had? Would he finally be free from the burden caused by his demon blood? Or would he...?
Kagome did not dare to contemplate the finality of Adachi's last words as she slipped into blissful repose.
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Review. C'mon! You know you wanna!
:-: Sarga