Disclaimer: I do not own any part of InuYasha, only my own character Kakiya.
Chapter 15
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Kagura had finally reached the castle, Sesshomaru's castle, and she was now inside looking for the bedroom that belonged to Rin. She was glad that all the maids were already sleeping since when she arrived the moon was already well up above her. She was floating along the hallways on her giant feather since she didn't want anyone to hear her. She opened all of the doors that she had found unlocked in each hallway, peering inside to see if the sleeping child was there or not.
'Damn… this is harder than I thought…' she cursed, 'I can't even sense her anywhere here; this whole place is filled with the scent of demons; it's stifling the scent of the human girl.'
Kagura peeked into a few room before finding another door and quietly opened it, looking inside and saw her, "Bingo." She whispered in triumph.
She entered the room and closed the door behind her. Getting off of her feather, she walked over to where Rin slept. She gently picked up the sleeping girl and walked towards the window door, opening it and stepped out onto the balcony. Kagura took the feather that she was using before, which was still in her hand, and threw it up, turning it into a giant feather. A soft tornado of wind blew around them and carried them onto the giant feather.
Holding Rin in one arm, she slowly moved Rin so that she was resting her head against her chest, and let the child continue sleeping, 'At least she didn't wake up…yet.' Kagura smiled, she had completed two of the few tasks that Naraku had assigned to her and so far, nothing had gone wrong. Kagura drifted along, taking her sweet time getting back to the castle: she had to make sure that Rin would stay sleeping and her going back quickly would only make her chances of waking Rin up greater, besides, she didn't want to do the next part of Naraku's plan. After a while, she had finally reached Naraku's castle, freely passing through the barrier since she was one of Naraku's kin, and flew towards the entrance, jumping off of her feather, holding Rin, and landed on the ground below them. The feather turned back into a small one and floated down towards her. Kagura snatched it out of the air and placed it back in her hair. She saw Roshoi working on the claw doll, who was almost finished. She didn't bother asking when he would be done, and went inside, still carrying the child.
She walked through the hallway, carrying Rin in her arms, trying to be careful so that she wouldn't wake her, 'This child is such a heavy sleeper.' She mused.
Kagura stopped in front of a set of doors and it opened, revealing Kohaku. She walked in and gently placed her sitting down, leaning against the wall.
"Take care of her like you did last time." she told him as she walked out, heading towards the outside of the castle.
Kohaku simply nodded, still showing no emotion as he walked over to Rin and sat down beside her, "So, you're here again." He quietly said as he watched Rin sleep.
He stood up and got a blanket, walked back to Rin and draped it over her, to keep her from getting cold, 'Sleep tight.' He thought and sat back down beside her.
'Now, all I have to do is tell Kakiya that Rin was kidnapped.' Kagura thought as she drifted along in the night sky, trying to find Kakiya, 'I'm surprised that Naraku had actually thought up of this plan.' She mused.
"Argh!" she yelled out in fury, obviously frustrated at the fact that Naraku tells her to do everything, "This is the second time that I had to go and find that abnormal witch!"
Despite what she had said, she still chose to follow Kakiya's scent; her only motive to being quick about it was to find out if Kakiya was still with Lord Sesshomaru or not. As she flew closer to the large tree, the stronger Kakiya's scent was.
"This whole area smells like her." She said bitterly.
She flew closer to the giant tree and saw what it seems to be like Kakiya sleeping at the base of the tree. Sesshomaru was nowhere to be found.
She smiled, "He probably left her since she was so boring… although, I can still sense him, but Kakiya's wrenched scent is all over the place, so I can't tell if he's actually here or not." She scowled.
Kagura jumped off her feather, which turned back to its normal size, and tucked it into her hair once more. She had landed a few metres in front of Kakiya.
"What do you want now?" she asked, her eyes still closed.
'So she's not asleep… figures.' Sighing, Kagura walked towards her until she was only a metre away from the resting demon, "Naraku wishes to see you again."
Kagura saw Kakiya's hand twitch on her knee, which it was rested on, but then relaxed again.
She opened her eyes and glared at the wind sorceress, "Tell that Naraku, that I am busy and therefore do not want to see him…" she simply told her, "…ever again." She added.
Kagura tightly clenched her fan, "Busy? Doing what? Sleeping?" she growled, trying to calm herself down.
"Hmm… it would seem so…: yes, I am busy sleeping. Now fly along and tell him that" She said after a long pause, "You are still here. Why?"
Kagura smirked and opened her fan, holding it up to her face and hiding her smirk behind the fan, "I see... so you do not care what would happen to Rin?"
She narrowed her eyes, "So this is how he plans to bring me back to him? What a foolish half-breed. Nonetheless, I want you to leave."
Surprised, she snapped her fan shut and pointed it at Kakiya, "Do you not care about that human child anymore? What is wrong with you?"
"Why would I care about what you do to a human? I've never even met the child before." She looked away, "Go tell Lord Sesshomaru to come with you." She pointed upwards, "He's up there."
The wind sorceress looked up to find Sesshomaru sitting on a large branch with a slight expression of anger on his face.
Then, a thought hit Kakiya, 'Wait… what am I doing? If I go with Kagura, then I'll finally meet this human girl that both Lord Sesshomaru and Kakiya have been hiding from me." Kakiya stood up.
Kagura looked at her with confused eyes, "What are you planning to do now?" she spat out.
"How mean," she taunted, "I am planning on coming with you, you were the one who invited me to come. I changed my mind." She said, annoyed, "So don't bother taking him." She sighed an exaggerating dramatic sigh, "Demons these days… let's go." She started to walk away from the tree.
Sesshomaru suddenly jumped down and landed in front of Kakiya, who didn't notice until she bumped into his back.
"What now?" she snapped at Sesshomaru.
He looked down at her alluring ruby eyes, "I am coming with you." She simply told her.
"No, you are not." She told him, "Go do something else. No one asked you to come along." She stepped to the side, but was blocked yet again by him, who quietly growled at her.
"You will not be telling me what to do," he coldly replied, and then he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "but…how mean," he whispered the same words that she had told Kagura to her, "You were the one who invited me to come."
She growled, bitterly remembering what she had said earlier.
Kakiya turned back and angrily walked towards Kagura, 'Trust him to ruin everything.' She bitterly thought, "Kagura!" she barked out, "Are we going or not?"
Kagura looked at Sesshomaru and then back at Kakiya, she tapped her fan on her hand, "Of course we are." She retorted, 'Hmm… how can I get these two to split up?' she thought as she pulled a feather out of her hair and turned it into a giant feather, she quickly hopped on.
Ah-Un, who was resting behind the tree, came into view and walked over to Kakiya's side, nudging her, wondering if they were going to follow her or not.
Kakiya pat the demon, "Yes, we are going to go after her." She watched as the dragon lifted up into the sky, and jumped on him, "You're such a good boy… unlike someone I know…" she muttered and looked down, looking for Sesshomaru, "…Where is he…?"
"Looking for someone?" came a low voice behind her.
Kakiya spun around to see Sesshomaru setting behind her, "When did you…?"
He took a lock of her hair and rubbed it in between his fingers, "So… I'm not a good boy?" he dropped her hair letting it fall back into place, 'Her hair… it's really soft…' he resisted the urge to touch her hair again and then his to see whose was softer, 'I bet mine is…'
He watched as she turned around and grabs the reins, "Obviously not," she muttered, "And stop touching my hair."
Sighing, he quickly snatched the reins from her hands and with a flick of his wrist he snapped the reins and made Ah-Un go faster since they were quickly falling behind.
"What are you doing?" she tried to grab the reins back from him, but he just shook of her small hand, making her let go.
"I am not doing anything; it is you who is making us fall behind." He simply told her.
They kept on following Kagura in silence. Occasionally, Kakiya would see Kagura quickly glance back and then mutter something, and then try to go faster, but they always caught up to her. Kagura started to land and they followed after her. Sesshomaru landed Ah-Un while Kagura floated around beside them.
Looking around, Kakiya figured that they were still in the forest, since so many trees surrounded them, "His new place is in a place like this?" she turned to Kagura, "Are we walking on foot now?"
"No, wait here. She flew through a pair of trees and disappeared.
'An illusion?' Kakiya jumped off of Ah-Un.
She landed in front of the pair of trees that Kagura had just flown through. Sesshomaru jumped off Ah-Un and landed beside him, holding his reins so he wouldn't get away, not that he would in the first place. Kakiya reached out and touched the space between the trees. Her hand was violently rejected by an invisible force which didn't let her hand through.
"An illusion barrier." She looked at her hand and formed a sword, "I guess I'll just have to break it."
She was about to hit it, but suddenly, it disappeared. Tossing the sword, which made it vanish, she looked up to see Kagura flying towards them. Kakiya looked back at the spot between the trees and saw a castle, but when she looked at a different spot, the castle was no longer visible.
"Follow me," Kagura told them as she jumped of her feather, "Although, Naraku told me to tell you that Lord Sesshomaru cannot come inside the castle." She grabbed her feather from the air and put it back on her hair, 'A little white lie won't hurt.' She thought.
Kakiya smirked, "Looks like you won't be getting in the way now." She muttered.
Sesshomaru stared at her, obviously hearing what she had said, but then turned away, "As if that pitiful half-breed can tell me what I can and cannot do. Besides, I have other things to tend to."
'Like saving that human girl…' Kakiya thought and let out a low growl out of jealousy, surprising herself. "What am I doing?" she whispered when she caught herself growling at her own thought.
Sesshomaru, who was walking behind the two, smirked. Kakiya's soft growl did no escape his ears and it was easy to tell what the younger demon was thinking. They walked thought the pair of trees, towards the castle. Once all of them were in the barrier, it closed up behind them.
A few miles away, InuYasha had caught the scent of Naraku as soon as he had opened up part of his barrier. Not only that, but he had also caught the scent of Kakiya and his older brother, Sesshomaru, which were all tangled up together along with Naraku's scent. He and his group had been following the scent and demonic aura until just a few moment ago until all three of their scents and auras had suddenly disappear.
"Damn it… what is Naraku doing with them?" InuYasha growled.
"InuYasha…" Kagome softly said as she put a hand on his shoulder, "We'll find them soon, don't stress out so much, it's bad for you."
Miroku swung his staff around, trying to sense where the demonic aura was before it vanished, "All we have to do is find the spot where they disappeared."
"I know that!" he sniffed around, "But all I smell is Kakiya, it's all over the place… her scent is the strongest near Sesshomaru's scent… oh…" he growled, "Why didn't I figure this out before? I'm so stupid… all we need to do is to follow Sesshomaru's scent and we are bound to fine them!" InuYasha told them, 'Besides, his scent is the easiest to make out… maybe it's a brother thing.' He thought bitterly, 'but as long as it helps me find Kakiya, I guess I'll have to just deal with it.'
They pushed on through the night and by the time they got there; dawn was already starting to break through the night.
"Well, we're here." InuYasha told them while looking at the pair of trees that last held Sesshomaru's scent.
"InuYasha…" Kagome balled her fist, "We're still in the forest!" she screamed at him, "They can't just vanish in the middle of nowhere!"
Shippo sighed, "Trust InuYasha to mess everything up."
"Wait, InuYasha isn't wrong," Miroku touched one of the trees, "Kakiya's strange demonic aura suddenly stops at these trees."
Sango reached out to touch the space in between the trees, but like before when Kakiya had done it, Sango's hand was pushed back by the invisible shield.
"A barrier." They all said in harmony.
InuYasha growled, "It's always a barrier, we might as well start calling Naraku the barrier demon."
He pulled out his Tessaiga and it turned bright red. He swung at the barrier as an attempt to break it; he failed.
"Damn it." He cursed.
"Here, let me try." Kagome strung an arrow and released it at the space between the trees.
The arrow managed to crack the barrier, but it still held in place. Kagome strung another arrow, she looked at InuYasha and they both nodded. She aimed her arrow between the trees and released it at the same time InuYasha swung at the barrier with his Tessaiga. The rest of the barrier cracked and it finally gave way, revealing a large clearing with Naraku's castle plain in sight.
"Finally." Shippo muttered.
InuYasha ignored his comment, "Let's go!"
Sesshomaru, who had picked up on InuYasha's scent, looked back at where the scent was coming from and saw the barrier break down. Only moments later did he see InuYasha and his company of humans came rushing towards the castle.
'What a meddlesome younger brother.' He thought as he watched them come nearer.
Finally, InuYasha had noticed his older brother, "Sesshomaru." He growled, he looked back at his friends, "You go in the castle and find Kakiya, I'll deal with him."
"Leave it to us, InuYasha, we'll find her." Sango reassured him.
They started to run into the castle, Kagome hesitated before following them, "Be careful." She told him before she too ran off.
"That's a given." He muttered, he gripped his sword, which he still had in his hand, not daring to sheath it ever since they broke down the barrier, "Sesshomaru, why are you here with Kakiya?" he yelled at him.
"It's none of your concern. Tell me, why is it that you are so fixated at getting the girl back?"
InuYasha pointed his sword at him, "It's none of your concern!" he mocked him, 'I haven't seen her in such a long time, and then when she finally appears, she goes off again… with none other than you.' He mentally answered, not wanting to let Sesshomaru hear his answer.
Sesshomaru drew his sword, "Could it be that… she got bored of you?" he slightly smirked, "Or maybe… you got annoying because you over protected her?"
InuYasha was taken by surprise on that comment, "How did you…" Images from the past suddenly erupted into his mind.
It was night time.
InuYasha was laying on a tree branch, out of sight from the human middle-age males. They were drunk and were sitting by a fire laughing, telling jokes, and talking about woman.
"So what do you feel like doing tonight?" one asked, taking a gulp out his sake bottle in his hand.
"Wanna go round up some woman and play with them?" another laughed.
Another man laughed with him, this was the only one that InuYasha had recognized as Takoro. He was the man that recently was always around Kakiya, talking with her, and being real friendly with her. InuYasha thought that he was suspicious and had started to follow him around, in secret. InuYasha noticed that he was the only one in his group of friends with a pretty face.
He finally spoke, "There was a woman I met a few weeks ago, the one I'm always with. Let's go get her and play around. I'm sure she won't mind, I've already got her wrapped around my finger. We'll just drug her and then, let the fun begin."
They all laughed and agreed. They stood up and started to walk towards InuYasha's home - where Kakiya currently lived. InuYasha growled in anger when he heard him say that. He jumped down and landed in front of them, blocking them from their destination.
"Where do you think your going?" he growled.
"A demon!" one exclaimed.
Takoro smirked, "Well, well, it's InuYasha. What are you doing here? Trying to stop me from loving the woman you also like?"
"Loving? More like lust. You will not be doing anything to Kakiya!"
He growled, "Why not? She's practically fallen for my charms," he flicked his hair, "Besides, what are you going to do to stop me? Kill me? Ha!"
InuYasha smirked and cracked his knuckles, whipping the smirk off Takoro's face, replacing it with fear.
"You wouldn't dare…" he backed up.
InuYasha slowly walked towards him and his friends, "I guess you would be surprised." He jumped on one of Takoro's companions and quickly finished him off before he could utter a sound.
His other friend got too scared to stay. He screamed and ran away, leaving Takoro alone with InuYasha to fend for himself. InuYasha cursed at his escaping prey, but then turned to look at Takoro, not wanting to keep his main prey out of sight.
"Now, InuYasha… let's talk this over, I'm sure we can make things work out…" Takoro backed away from the half-demon, "I really do love Kakiya!"
"Bah. What lies."
Takoro stepped back and tripped on an overgrown root, "Or maybe we can share her? Yes, let's do that. Then we can both have her, you want her too, right?"
"You are despicable… Now… how should I finish you off?" he stepped towards him, "Slowly… or quickly…?"
Takoro looked like a frightened cat to InuYasha, "Please… spare me!" he begged while crawling back, "I'll do anything!"
InuYasha stopped, "Actually, I want you to go to Kakiya tomorrow and tell her that you no longer wish to see her, or be friends with her… oh, and did you know that Kakiya is a half-breed?"
"So what! I do not care for what breed she is. And I will not stop our friend ship, it could have turned into something beautiful tonight, if not for you." Takoro snarled.
"Don't you dare call what you planned on doing to Kakiya beautiful." InuYasha cracked his knuckles again. "So, what will it be? Will you do as I say, or will your pitiful life end here?"
"Fine! I'll… I'll do it!"
"Then, I'll see you tomorrow morning." He told him.
The next morning, Takoro found Kakiya in the spot that she usually sat, waiting for him. He looked around and saw InuYasha watching them from afar.
"Takoro!" she said happily, waving to him.
'How I would have loved to bed her… Damn that InuYasha.' He cursed mentally; he walked up to Kakiya, "Hey…"
She frowned, in a cute way, at him, "What's wrong?"
'Her voice… it's so pure and innocent… she's like a drug…' Takoro shook the thought from his head, remembering what InuYasha had told him before, "Nothing, I just have something to tell you, that's all."
She went up to him and gently smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes, "What is it?"
'I have to make this as real as possible…' he slapped away her hands, "Don't touch me," he slightly paused, "Half-breed."
She slightly stepped back, her eyes wide with shock, "Wha…" she tried to speak, but couldn't find the words.
He instantly regretted what he had just done. Although he wanted to make love with her and have some fun, he had feelings for her too, even if his desire to bed her was stronger.
She reached towards him with her gentle hands, but he made her pull back with more harsh words, "Can't you hear? I said don't touch me. I don't want a filthy half-breed touching me."
Kakiya looked up at him with sorrow in her eyes, small tears were forming, "Why…? What happened to you…?" she finally managed to say.
He wanted to do nothing but hold her, tell her it was okay, and that he was only joking, but the constant stare of InuYasha behind him was making the fear of his life drive him to continue to make her hate him and pressed on, "Nothing was ever wrong with me, I was always like this." He quickly turned away, "I no longer wish to be 'friends' with you, I'm sick of you. In fact, I was never your 'friend' in the first place. From now on," he looked at her straight in the eye, trying to be as convincing as possible, "I never want to see your disgusting half-breed face ever again."
He watched as she covered her mouth with both of her small hands while tears rolled down her face.
He turned to leave, but before he left, he quickly whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry. InuYasha made me do this; it was either you or my comrade's and my life. He already took one last night." He paused a bit, "Good bye, Kakiya."
Takoro quickly left, leaving Kakiya there alone to cry to herself.
"InuYasha?" She whispered, she turned around and saw a red and white flash, "How could you?" Her tears of sadness turned into tears of anger. Using her demonic powers that she had kept dormant ever since she learned that she was a half-breed, she took off after InuYasha.
Kakiya had finally caught up to him, "InuYasha!" she angrily yelled as she got in his way, making him skid to a stop, "Why did you do such a thing?"
"Kakiya, listen, I can explain, they were going to use you and-"
Cutting him off, she slapped him, "Use me? Takoro wouldn't do anything to me!" she angrily shouted to him, tears streaming out of her eyes, "InuYasha, I finally found a friend and you chase him off, what is wrong with you? Do you oppose to me having a companion or seeing anyone else other than yourself?"
He touched his check, "A friend? What about me? Aren't I 'friend' enough for you?"
"I see you as my younger brother, nothing more."
That sentence rendered InuYasha speechless. Kakiya searched his expression for something, anything that would explain why he did that, but found nothing.
She balled up her first, "InuYasha, you're such an idiot." She angrily muttered, wiping away her tears.
He obviously heard, but remained quiet.
"I hate you, InuYasha!" she screamed at him.
She turned away and started to walk, but InuYasha stopped her. He grabbed her wrist to prevent her from leaving, "Kakiya, I-"
Kakiya slapped his hand away from her, "Don't touch me." She coldly told him and left.
He watched her go as guilt started to build up inside him, 'Kakiya…'
He shook the memory from his head, 'That was just the past. Concentrate on what is happening now.' He mentally told himself.
Sesshomaru knew that he had hit a raw nerve in InuYasha. He quickly used this to his advantage, attacking him when he was obviously thinking about Kakiya. InuYasha saw him coming at the last moment and struggled to block. He managed to black his attack just before it hit him, but the impact blew him back a few metres.
InuYasha growled, "Have you done anything to Kakiya that would make her want to stay with you?" he angrily swung at his older brother.
"I wonder about that…" he simply said, dodging the attack and yet again, hitting another raw nerve in InuYasha.
"You bastard…" he swung at him again, but missed entirely this time.
"What are you trying to hit? It would seem that you are aiming at the ground." Sesshomaru taunted.
InuYasha gripped his sword, "You will regret saying that."
As their swords clashed, sounds of metal rang through the air. While they were fighting, the sun had already started to rise, which signalled the start of a new day.
XXX
… just as a story can write itself.