Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all other characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. But Seeing You Again is rightfully mine, since I wrote it.
A/N: Sango and Kagome have been taken to Naraku's castle. Oh no! What shall we do? Thankfully, Inuyasha and Miroku are on the way. But things may not be as they seem...
Chapter 5 - Unexpected Guests
Inuyasha, on the way to the castle, was slipping some pretty colorful words. Miroku, however, just scoffed at the hanyou. His mind was directed on one thing, and one thing only – his beloved Sango. Kirara rubbed up against Miroku's leg, as if to comfort him. The youkai cat had been left behind after Shiori departed. The disappearance of Sango had affected them both. They both missed her – the feeling was very much mutual.
Hold on a little bit longer, Kagome. I swear that I won't let Naraku go this time. Inuyasha blinked to keep the branches out of his eyes, shielding his arms in front of his face. Shippou was nervously clinging onto his back, having fallen too far behind earlier.
Inuyasha jumped high into a tree, to the very top. Leaves and twigs fell to the ground. Miroku glanced up at the two of them with curious eyes. He waited silently for the verdict.
"We're close." Inuyasha lowered himself stealthily to the ground, veering away from the branches beneath him. He looked at Miroku, nodded slightly, and took off again. Kirara was behind him, then Miroku. There wasn't much more distance between them and the castle. Naraku wouldn't get away with it this time.
Trees whipped past them. Wind flew in their faces, causing Shippou's eyes to water. He shut them tightly and buried his face in the hanyou's haori. Inuyasha turned his head slightly and glanced at Shippou. He somehow felt sorry for the kit – his adopted mother had been taken away from him. Please hang on, Kagome.
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Kagome watched Shiori as she rested cross-legged on the floor. I can't let my guard down. But that youkai was paying no interest in Kagome. She was staring into nothing, it seemed. When Kagome tried to move, Shiori glared in her direction, eyes flicking dangerously. Kagome sighed and stole a worried glance at Sango, still laying on the floor.
The taijiya had fallen back into unconsciousness. Her face was pale and body unmoving. It was strange to see her laying like this. Kagome mustered up all her strength and stood up. She pointed an accusing and demanding finger at Shiori. "How long until she will be able move again? And why have you taken her, and not just me?" The miko was feeling nothing but anger now. How dare she just come and take us here? What's her problem, anyway?
Shiori cast an amused smirk at Kagome, a faint pink aura surrounding the miko. The wench is stronger than I thought... "The paralyzation should wear off soon," Shiori drawled on, uncaring. "And for your information, I was just following Naraku's orders. Why don't you speak to him yourself?"
As if on cue, the door once again slid open. Naraku himself was standing there, a gallant sneer on his face. It was windy outside, and his robes were billowing with the wind. A steady rain had begun to fall, pitter-pattering quietly on the ground. He stepped a foot in and shut the door behind him, laughing quietly.
Maybe he's finally snapped, Kagome thought wistfully. The insanely evil look on his face disturbed her. The wound in her back had stopped bleeding but was hurting terribly. A puddle of scarlet blood covered the ground where she sat. I have to be careful, or my wound will reopen. She heed no mind to it right now. "Why have you taken us here, Naraku?" Her voice sounded louder than she had thought it would.
Naraku took an intimidating step towards Kagome. She seemed to slink away, taking a step backwards and glaring at him with uncertain hesitation. "Inuyasha will come for us...me and Sango-chan," she said meekly, with much less strength than before.
An alarm went off in Kagome's head. Naraku began to laugh dementedly. His hand shot towards her neck and pinned her against the wall. She clawed at his hands, but his grip would not release. Black dots danced in front of her eyes, breath coming short. I can't breathe...he's going to strangle me!
Naraku's hand fell from Kagome's neck, causing her to crumple in a heap to the ground. Standing behind him, the taijiya caught her Hiraikotsu effortlessly, panting slightly. Her sudden movement caught Shiori off guard, who was now leaning back on her hands, anger flashing in her smokey eyes.
"Wench, how can you move!?"Shiori's angry cry echoed throughout the room. Her eyes were blazing with anger as she stood up, clenched fists shaking furiously at her side. All of a sudden, it seemed her anger vanished. Her arms hung limply at her side. A cocky smile spread over her face. "It seems I have underestimated you. You've broken through my paralyzation spell." Shiori bowed her head down and smirked. "You won't be doing that again."
Sango's eyes widened as Shiori pelted another poison flower at her. She held the Hiraikotsu in front of her to deflect the attack, sending the flower crumbling to the ground. Her glance turned to Naraku, who was glaring at Kagome and Sango in turn.
What he did next was not expected. "Come, Shiori." She stood up questioningly, shooting one last glare at Kagome. Naraku smirked and slid open the door, taking his leave, stranding Kagome and Sango. The room became eerily quiet while the rain drummed outside, the only source of noise.
Sango blinked and glanced over at Kagome. She ran hurriedly to her side and laid a comforting hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Are you alright, Kagome-chan?" Blood soaked her uniform, and her neck was red where Naraku held his grip. "Is your back hurting at all?"
Kagome gave Sango a soft and reassuring smile. "No, I'm okay Sango-chan. It doesn't hurt that much anymore." She coughed and wiped her bangs away from her eyes. "I just wish I knew what Naraku is planning. Sango-chan, I'm scared. Shouldn't Inuyasha be here by now?"
Sango wrapped a comforting arm around Kagome's neck and sighed, knitting her dark brows together. "They'll be here soon, Inuyasha and houshi-sama." Sango paused and examined the room. "But I don't think we should stay here. Something tells me Naraku won't be so lenient next time."
Kagome nodded and stood up with the help of Sango strong arms. The pair made their way to the door, slowly but standing in front of it no less. Kagome gasped and took a step back, shaking ever so slightly. "Sango-chan, it's the Sacred Jewel shard! There's one...one on the other side of the door." She spoke in urgent whispers, eyes widening. The presence of the shard made her shudder, and sent a creepy chilling feeling down her spine.
Sango reached a hesitant hand for the door handle. Her whole body had stiffened. She was terrified to open it, and had a strange feeling of who was standing on the other side of that door. Taking a deep breath, she wrenched the door open. It made a banging noise as it reached its end. Both of them froze, not daring to breathe. Sango stepped backwards by Kagome and turned her head around, tears burning in her eyes.
Kohaku.
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Inuyasha growled and tore another branch from its tree. He stopped at the top of a hill and looked below him. Naraku's castle sit there, seemingly dormant. Kagome's scent was here too. Miroku was shortly beside him. Shippou jumped to the ground and began running down the hill. "We have to hurry, Inuyasha! Come on!" the kit shouted impatiently, turning back only to glance at Inuyasha and Miroku.
"Shippou's right, Inuyasha. We don't have a second to spare. Naraku's been known for his devious plots, that's for sure. Right now our help is needed."
Inuyasha nodded and ran down the hill, allowing Shippou to once again climb upon his back. Once again a familiar - yet repugnant in his...nose - scent filled the area. Miroku seemed to have noticed the difference in the air as well. Both heads turned in one direction. What did they see?
A mini tornado...and in the middle was one angry wolf-youkai.
The whirlwind got closer to Inuyasha...until it ran him over. Inuyasha groaned into the mud -which had come from the rain - and propped his elbows on the ground. (Now honestly, how mean can I be if I let my prideful inuhanyou reduced to a mud puddle...by a wolf no less?) "What are doing here, Kouga? Kagome's not here right now, so you may as well leave." If it was possible, Inuyasha sounded even more impatient and defiant as usual.
"What do you mean Kagome's gone? Where is she?!" The wolf prince grabbed a few tresses of Inuyasha's hair and yanked his head upwards so they were looking eye to eye. "If Kagome's hurt in any way, I'll have your head, mutt face!"
Inuyasha jumped up with such force that Kouga went stumbling backwards. "Feh. She's not hurt. She's just..." His voice trailed off and a grim expression set on his face. But I could smell her blood earlier. She is hurt...
Miroku coughed and the arguing pair, along with Shippou, turned to look at him. "If you 'boys' would stop arguing, we could go look for Kagome- and Sango-chan. Need I remind you that Naraku has them in his custody," Miroku stated calmly.
Kouga's fists began to shake, no longer holding onto Inuyasha. "What do you mean? WHERE IS KAGOME?!" His ice blue eyes shot daggers at Inuyasha, who was vehemently glaring back. Shippou buried himself under some of the hanyou's white hair.
"She's not here right now, dammit! And we need to go look for her, right now!!!" Inuyasha shouted back with much force. He began to stomp away in the mud. Who does that wolf think he is? I can't see why Kagome's nice to him.
Miroku looked hesitantly at the castle. There was something...sinister about all of this. Inuyasha, being rash as usual, didn't notice. Miroku rested his chin in his hand and sighed heavily, but started his decent down the hill, mud sloshing onto the hem of his robes.
While Inuyasha was cursing himself, Miroku having a mental argument, and Shippou still hiding under Inuyasha's white locks, none of them really noticed Kouga sprinting towards the castle. Not until Inuyasha stopped cursing and looked ahead did he see that Kouga was examining the entrance to the castle.
"Do you think it's a trap?" they heard Kouga question as the rest of them managed to catch up and look at the doors themselves.. There was nothing particularly special about the double doors - a towering fifteen foot tall oak frame with rusted metal handles and hinges.
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and scoffed. "Well, what choice do we have? I don't care if it's a trap or not." He grabbed the rusted handles and pulled backwards. The large doors began to open, creaking loudly as they did. The doors lead way to a courtyard of sorts. A sidewalk wrapped around the center and lead to another set of doors on the far end. The whole area was empty...and eerily quiet, albeit the rain was still falling.
Shippou chose this time to jump to the ground as Inuyasha began sniffing the air. When he realized that Kouga had begun to advance forward, he started growling. "You can leave now," the hanyou told him, rather unpleasantly. "I'm not about to ask for help from some mangy wolf."
The pair came nose to nose, growling violently at each other. Miroku raised an innocent hand behind his neck and laughed slightly. "Two seconds in the castle and they're jumping down each other's throats..." he muttered to himself, momentarily forgetting about the youkai's sharp sense of hearing and extremely sensitive ears.
"I HEARD THAT!" Both Inuyasha and Kouga turned to glare at Miroku, who was now waving his hands defensively in front of his face.
"I didn't mean anything by it! Can we please just continue along?" Shippou chose this time to jump on Miroku's shoulder instead. Obviously the fighting had scared the young kit a bit. Miroku glanced sideways at him and nodded understandingly. He took a few steps towards the center of the courtyard and scanned around. "Can either of you sense Naraku from here?"
Inuyasha raised his nose in the air. "His stench is all over the place. I can't find where he is..." He draped the sleeve of his haori over his sensitive nose. His eyes narrowed as he glanced dejectedly at Kouga before jumping towards the second set of oak doors. The were almost identical to the other once, just about three feet shorter and not as rusted. The doors only creaked slightly as they were pushed open.
A long hallway lay before them, and two other halls perpendicular to it at the end. Kagome and Sango's scent mingled together with the others that inhabited the castle. It was difficult to say which way they were coming from.
Inuyasha smirked and drew his sword, preparing for any sudden attack. "Hurry it up, we don't have all day, dammit!" His footsteps echoed throughout the hall, as long as those of Miroku and Kouga that followed.
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Kohaku.
What's he doing here? Sango braced herself and turned back to gaze at her younger brother. His eyes were blank...lifeless. His face was expressionless. He stared at the two of them, obviously not recognizing either of them.
"Ko..Kohaku?" Sango finally managed to utter. His presence was barely tangible. Tears sprang to her eyes. Now is not the time to cry!
Kagome posited a hand on Sango's shoulder. Utter disbelief flared on her face as the blade at Kohaku's side was slowly raised above his head. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the attack to come. Moments passed. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes a slit and peeked at Kohaku. Sango held fast to his arm, and he was vividly struggling against her strength. She finally overpowered him and sent his lifeless figure sprawling backwards.
Not wasting another second, Sango grabbed Kagome's arms and ran outside to the wooden walkway, which wound itself around the perimeter of the castle. Panting, Sango dared a look backwards. Kohaku was still laying on the ground. She forced back a couple tears and coerced the door open, dislocating it from its track. She pulled Kagome inside, who was now staring questionably at the sorrow-struck taijiya.
"Sango-chan...are we just going to leave him here?" Kagome asked weakly, not diverting her gaze. It didn't seem like Sango, to just leave her brother stranded outside.
Sango shook her head sadly. "We can't do anything to help. It's best if we leave him here..." her voice trailed off as she glanced off into the possible directions. They had two ways to go. "We should keep going, Kagome-chan." Before waiting for an answer, she headed to the right.
"Do you think Inuyasha or Miroku's here somewhere?" Curiosity killed the cat...but satisfaction brought it back. Kagome couldn't shake this dreaded nervous feeling. She quickened her pace to keep up with Sango.
"I think so, and we're going to try and find them. Are you alright for the time being, Kagome-chan?"
Kagome smiled softly and reassuringly. "Yes, it doesn't hurt that much any more. I can manage." She stopped at the next three-way intersection and sighed, as if about to give into defeat. "It's like a maze in here...which way do we go now?"
"I guess it doesn't matter at this point," Sango stated. A few steps in the hallway to the left of them, Kagome let out a small gasp. Sango turned back to stare at her this time. "Is something wrong?"
Spinning around to face the other direction, Kagome tried to focus her attention on one area. "It...it feels like that jewel shards are closing in on us, from two sides." A nervous expression flicked on her face. "One in Kohaku's direction, but there's two coming from the other direction. Who could that be?"
The presence of the shards were coming closer, one at a faster rate than the other. Kohaku appeared at the end of one side of the hallway, a scornful look on his face. He raised his weapon again, poised for attack. His deep red malice-glazed eyes didn't flicker, didn't blink. Before Kagome and Sango could turn to run...
he threw his blade. Straight towards the two of them.
A/N: Another cliffie! I didn't receive any reviews for the other chapter. What happened? Ah, well, I guess I have to be patient. In my point of view, this chapter isn't my best. But I'll leave the judging to you. All you have to do is push the button and tell me what you think.