Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. This is a not for profit fan work.
Chapter 8She was running through the woods. She could hear the howls getting closer, the muted thunder of dozens of feet behind her. She ran harder, her legs on fire, her lungs ready to burst. She was dizzy, the pain in her side was blindingly sharp, her feet felt like lead, but she ran. The trees reached out to grab her, catching bits of her clothing and cutting at her skin.
She caught the sound of ragged breathing that wasn't her own. He was gaining. She pushed herself harder.
She barely stopped herself from running off the Wall. It was all in front of her, Tokyo, her home. She could see the shrine, the old tree. It was close enough to touch. The lights were on and she could make out the shapes of her family moving about. The sun was setting, and the city looked red, as if it were on fire.
It was burning. She screamed, but her family couldn't hear. The flames were drawing closer, but their shadows kept moving steadily, going about their normal routine as if nothing were wrong. She had to warn them, she had to get them out.
Behind her, the sounds of her pursuers grew louder. It was more than howls, now. Slithering sounds, war cries, the manic laughter of a dozen demons, a hundred, a thousand, all converging on the Wall, on her, on her family beyond. There had to be something she could do.
She looked to her sides, and saw General Muso standing nearby. She might hate him, but he had power. He could warn them, raise the army. She called for his help, but, it wasn't right. His eyes, they weren't the brown eyes of the man. No, they were red, and piercing. They nearly glowed with malice. And behind him, the demon in the white fur.
Run.
She made to move, but her feet were tangled in the roots. No, not roots, tentacles, brown and thick that could easily be mistaken for roots. She reached down, trying to tear at them. If they held her down, she wouldn't be able to run, she wouldn't be able to get help. The sounds were coming closer, getting louder.
She tore at the tentacles, but, they would not budge. She cried out as they came alive, slithering up her legs, grabbing at her hands. They circled her body, pinning her arms to her sides. She couldn't breath, they were so tight.
She screamed, using the last of her breath to call out his name. But, the demon only laughed. It was a maddening sound, insidious. She felt it slithering in her brain, trying to turn her as mad as the one laughing.
She looked away from the demon. Tokyo was on fire now. And not just Tokyo. All of Japan. There was nothing left of the world but fire and smoke.
The furred demon was in front of her again and the mantle fell away revealing a face. It was not Muso's face, she had almost expected it would be, but it wasn't. She couldn't speak to any of the demon's features but his eyes, his blood red eyes. He was grinning, a horrible grin. She screamed his name again, unsure where she had gotten the air. The demon stepped aside, and there he was, white hair dyed red, golden eyes cold and dead.
"InuYasha!"
Kagome opened her eyes with a start, gasping for breath as her body realized nothing was constricting her chest. Her bangs stuck to her face, and she was aware of the cold sweat that covered her. She breathed in shuddering gasps as her arms wrapped around herself tightly.
She started at the feel of a hand on her shoulder, but calmed when she saw it was him. Even in the dim light of the dying embers, his amber eyes were full of warmth and life. She placed a hand on his, savouring the warmth, the connection, the knowledge that it was all a dream.
They sat like that for a long time before the awkwardness of the situation overshadowed the comfort. She blushed, letting her hand slip away from his. He took it as his cue to remove his own.
She heard him move and, a moment later, a cup full of water was pressed into her hands. She sat upright, nodding her gratitude. She drank deeply, draining it, then passed it back to him. He took it without a word, settling down with his back to her.
"Third night in a row."
She nodded, hugging her knees. She had never had nightmares like this before. Yes, she had been under a lot of stress, but nightmares?
"I didn't mean to wake you." She looked to the entrance of the den, almost expecting to see the white figure out there. It wasn't, of course. InuYasha wouldn't have let that demon anywhere near his territory, let alone his den.
"Keh," he scoffed, "I don't need as much sleep as you weak humans."
She smiled softly, his bravado oddly comforting. If he could be so ridiculous, things had to be alright.
"Thanks," she said, not sure what else to say. The longer she was awake, the harder the details were to remember, the more foolish she felt. Fire, that white demon, those burning red eyes…
InuYasha's lifeless body.
She shuddered, and InuYasha looked at her from over his shoulder. He was surprisingly thoughtful when it came to other people's pain. Maybe it was the dog in him. She smiled at the thought, though she promised never to voice it.
"Worse?" he asked, his voice soft. She just nodded. He frowned. "Stupid girl, how many times do I have to tell you nothing is going to happen to you before you stop worrying about it!"
"Idiot!" She shot back, and she felt a small thrill of satisfaction when his ears went flat on his head at the volume. "It's not just me in the dream! It's Tokyo! It's my family! It's," she hesitated for only a moment, "it's you!"
He looked dumbfounded, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air. It took a full half a moment before he scoffed and turned away, crossing his arms and blocking her out. She frowned, wondering why she had bothered. She sighed, resting her forehead on her knees.
"Gods know why I'd be worried about you," she mumbled to herself, her cheeks flushing red. "Dreams are stupid."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you, you idiot," he shot back, though it had lost some of it's bite.
One, or both of them, shifted ever so slightly, so there was the slight pressure of contact. His back, her calf. They sat like that for a long while.
"What time is it?" She was awake now, but it was clearly still dark.
"It'll be dawn in a bit," he replied. He was as aware as she was that she hadn't been getting enough sleep the last few days. She had fallen asleep on his back as he carried her back to the den, that night about a week ago, and her nights had been restless since. "We have a few hours before we have to leave."
She could almost see the frown on his face. He had been most displeased when Jaken had arrived and told them she was to appear before the Council and give testimony. She was worried about it, obviously. These would be some of the most powerful demons from beyond the Wall, all gathered together to hear her speak about what had happened to her. She didn't have to have anyone tell her that there were a lot of things that could go wrong with the whole thing.
"I'm going to take a quick bath," she declared. She could smell her sweat, and if she could, then she must really stink to InuYasha.
InuYasha scoffed. She took it to mean 'if that's what you want to do', though it could have been more of a 'you humans bathe too much'. She let it go. If she was going to be riding on the back of the demon for hours on end, she was going to make sure he wouldn't have to smell her sweat. She broke contact as she stood and set about gathering her bathing things.
He scoffed again, standing and walking to the entryway. He was going to make sure it was safe. He always did before she bathed. "We won't be getting to Sesshoumaru's until tomorrow. No need to get yourself all dolled up for him now."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe I'm not doing it for him."
He paused, giving her a sidelong look and she couldn't help but grin. "I'm doing it for me, dumby. I feel gross and sticky."
"Keh, as if an ugly wench like you could even get him to look twice at you." He dashed off, doing what counted for a quick check of the area. She rolled her eyes. Men really were idiots, no matter what species they were.
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Sango Tachibana sipped at her beer thoughtfully. She had come to the bar with a few coworkers for drinks, but, she couldn't get into the spirit of things. Something was bothering her. Or, rather, a bunch of somethings.
Sango had been trained in combating demons since she had been young. It was the family trade and, as the oldest child, it fell to her to carry on the legacy. It suited her fine, and she enjoyed the work. She was protecting mankind, after all.
When she had turned 18, she had been allowed, at last, to go overseas and join in some of the active demon hunters in China, Korea, and even the United States. They did not have the same relationship with demons as here in Japan. America had reserves spread around the nation, Korea had pockets of fairly peaceful demons who lived apart from humans, though there was some crossover, and China actively hunted demons. Three years abroad had honed her skills and she joined the Japanese Self-defense Force.
She hadn't seen much action, of course. Japanese demons were, for the most part, a fairly docile bunch content to keep to themselves on their side of the Wall. When there had been issues, the leaders of the demon clans were as eager to keep things calm and quiet as the humans were. She knew the leaders of the JSDF met with the demons every now and then, to make sure there was some relationship in case anything went awry, but she had never heard of a demon Lord showing up at the Wall unannounced, and never escorting a human.
Humans had come back on their own before. Sometimes, they had been injured. Sometimes, they just wanted to plead for forgiveness, or to beg for more rations. There was procedure for that. Take them in, give them a meal and a quick medical check up, let them sleep on a bed for a night or two, then send them back on their way. It happened more in winter, when they would have frostbite or some other illness. The visits weren't surprises. After all, everyone was tracked.
She had been in the Control room when the dot that represented Kagome Higurashi began to move. At first, they had thought there was some glitch in the system, her dot was moving so fast. But as it kept its steady pace and direction, they began to think something else was going on. Maybe she was being dragged about by a demon.
When the phone had rung, everyone was baffled to hear it was Sesshoumaru himself. There was scrambling as they tried to figure out what was procedure for this kind of situation. When they found nothing for a demon escorting a human, they defaulted to a parley, deciding to ignore the oddness of the situation.
It had been a shock when Muso came down from the Wall with the girl. Sango remembered Kagome. She had been assigned as her liaison for her short time staying at the Wall before being released into the wilderness. She had been a sweet girl, clearly scared but also brave. Sango had seen grown men bawling their eyes out. She had seen them do anything to avoid going over. Kagome had cooperated, and she had listened closely to the advice Sango gave her. Two years wasn't that long, as far as sentences went. She might be able to come home.
Kagome had held onto that belief. She had talked about her brother playing soccer and her grandfather's stories and what she wanted to do in university. Sango had found herself rooting for the teenaged girl.
While Muso didn't talk about what she was doing there with anyone, the guards who had gone with him did. One of the demons had said there was a problem, that the treaty only allowed for murderers.
Hearing that, Sango had expected something to happen. Government representatives, her lawyer, at the least. Instead, after putting the girl in the boardroom and talking to her for a few hours, Muso emerged and said to treat her as a normal catch and release. He chose someone at random to escort her to the doctor, and then the showers.
She saw the girl when she walked out of the boardroom and was surprised by the change in the girl. She was wearing some of the male clothes that were standard issue to the survival kit, clearly too large for her. Kagome had lost weight, but unlike many of the convicts when they returned she didn't look unhealthy. Perhaps it was because she hadn't been gone that long. Also different was the look on her face. It seemed more confident, somehow fiercer. Sango found herself unable to look away.
Sango didn't run into the girl again until later that evening. She had wanted to check in with her, see how she was doing. She had been friendly with the girl before she had left, and, given the oddness of everything, she wanted to check in with her again. She was surprised to find people in the room and Kagome struggling against them. It had only taken a few words for them to stop once Sango walked in, but it was concerning. She had worked with some of these men for years and had never seen any hint that they would attempt anything as disgusting as this.
Kagome told her everything that evening. About her trial, about the cat, her family, her trip to the other side of the Wall, the centipede demon, InuYasha.
Sango knew about InuYasha, of course. He was one of the few demons that had a name that was known to the leadership on this side of the Wall. Although, what Kagome told her was extraordinary. How he had taken her in and had done everything he could to see that she was returned here, his conviction that Kagome had been sent over the Wall unjustly. What's more, that Sesshoumaru, known to be one of the most powerful and heartless demons of all, had supported this wholeheartedly.
To say she was stunned was an understatement. Kagome held such trust for these demons, that Sango found it hard to know what to say in response.
So, she told the girl to rest and that she would take over guard duty for the evening. No more harm would come to her here.
Sango couldn't join the girl on the ride to her new release point, but she made sure there was a female guard to deter any more incidents. It was clear, too, that it was needed. Muso hadn't been interested at all when Sango reported the incident to him. He saw nothing wrong with their behaviour.
And that was why she was having such a hard time relaxing this evening. The indifference of her boss over the way his men had treated someone in their care, his indifference to the concerns of one of the most important demon clans from beyond the Wall, his insistence that no one talk about the matter at all, all of it felt wrong on so many levels.
And then, Sesshoumaru returned. Sango hadn't been there at the time, or she would have gone up to the Wall herself to see what this demon looked like, how he acted, how he responded. She did see the guns, sliced cleanly in two. The men who had been there told everyone else how scared they had been, how fierce. It took a lot for them to get past their fear and to tell her about Muso's little trick, and how that had enraged the demon lord.
She had then gone and looked at the video tapes. She had clearance for that sort of thing. She saw how he crushed the phone, how Muso had ordered the guns aimed at him. She took a video of it with her phone, fearing that this footage would be destroyed or altered. Muso had deceived and then threatened a demon lord, and he walked away alive. None of it made any sense.
"Don't we look unhappy?"
Sango looked up from her drink to see Akitoki Houjo wandering up to her. She smiled up at him, feeling herself relax. He worked as government liaison officer, a civilian, and he was just about as sweet as they came. She thought he might have a thing for her, but, she wasn't interested. He motioned to the empty seat beside her and she nodded, indicating he could sit down.
"It's this Kagome Higurashi situation," she said, sighing. It felt good to be able to voice this to someone who would sympathize.
"Higurashi?" Houjo asked, his nose scrunching up in a comical way as he tried to place the name. "Oh, the young woman who sheltered a demon. Are you still letting that bother you? I know the circumstances were unusual, but, it's been months, now."
She blinked, staring at him as if he had grown another head. "You mean, you haven't heard?" He should have heard. No matter how much Muso wanted this slide under the rug, reports were still filed to the liaison office. She had penned one herself.
"Hear about what?" he asked, intrigued.
Sango looked around, trying to see if anyone was nearby enough to overhear them talking. She leaned in, putting on as casual a face as she could. If someone saw them, maybe they would think she was just flirting. "Kagome Higurashi arrived at the Wall last week," she said, keeping her voice low. "And, she was escorted by Lord Sesshoumaru himself."
Houjo blinked, his eyes going wide. It was his turn to look around the bar and see if anyone was listening in. He turned back to her after a moment. "Why don't we go somewhere a little more private?"
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Thank you, everyone, for your kind reviews ^^ I'm really glad you are all enjoying this so much. I've taken some time and mapped out the story for the next while, so, hopefully, I'll be able to keep my updates steady at about one every week or so.
So many of you were glad to see Sango, and I'm glad. I'm really looking forward to her storyline which will, yes, include Miroku.
Side note, I've seen Sango given the name Tachibana in some fanfic or other, and I liked it, so I'm using it. I can't remember which one, though.
Love and light 3