Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, I do not own InuYasha. How very sad for Sayuri.
Ownage: I own any character I make up. Just tell me if you plan on using them for anything.
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Chapter Two - Still No Explanations
Sometimes, it's better not to know.
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The night before, after her ordeal, Kagome had fallen asleep in a hanyou's--who she learned was called "InuYasha"--arms, giving him a small amount of her trust, though it was more from pure exhaustion than belief in his sense of honor. She knew that she didn't want to hurt him--as if she even could!--but he didn't know that. He could have killed her as easily as he had Mistress Centipede!
Still, she slept until Kaede bandaged her wounds, giving her a jewel hung on a string to wear around her neck. Then she was out again. The last thing she heard in consciousness was InuYasha telling Kaede she didn't have to worry about him; until the girl was better, he wouldn't be doing anything other than watching over her.
Her dreams began with the vision of a perfect clearing surrounded by trees, sunlight shining through the leaves as if in a picture. Everything was green and lush as though she were in Eden. But an old well marred nature's pristine domain with its man-made glory. Though it fit into the scene--ivy grew all around the sides--something wasn't right about it. Something about it just didn't…work. But she couldn't remember what it was.
As she stared at the time-worn well, she seemed to be getting closer to it at an alarming rate. Like she was running to it as fast as she could. But what was she running from?
A roar rent the air, shocking her into looking behind her for the culprit.
She was running from whatever had made that noise. She realized that now. But who it was…she couldn't remember. Glancing back, she saw that nothing was there.
Turning, she could feel the breath heaving from her lungs as they labored to keep up with her heartbeat. I've got to get there! To the well! It's the only thing that will save me! Her legs ached from her dash, but she knew she had to get to the safety of the well though that reason also escaped her.
Chancing one last look behind her before she vaulted over the side of the well, she caught sight of a red blur following her. She didn't know who or what it was even as she dug through her mind for the answer. Why was she so frightened of him? Why was he chasing her? How did she even know it was a him? Then the answers hit her…just when she ran into him.
Kagome awoke breathing heavily, though she didn't open her eyes. She couldn't recall what had frightened her so much in her dream, only that she'd been running in a clearing. For a few moments, she tried to find what it was that had scared her so much, but it was locked in her brain. She shrugged it off.
And found that someone had their arms wrapped around her middle, crushing her to a chest that was as hard as granite. Instantly, her eyes flew open to red cloth surrounding her, keeping her warm against the cool breeze that blew her hair slightly.
Her heart beating wildly, Kagome tried to jerk herself away from her captor. Somehow, she knew it was InuYasha. Her mind said to just lay back and appreciate how tightly he held her, but her body wasn't used to this kind of contact. And the sane part of her mind was shouting about how she didn't know him or how they'd ended up wrapped up together.
The moment she tried to move away, InuYasha was wide awake and snarling, upright in a split second and leaning over her…almost protectively, like he was afraid for her safety.
With his movement, she flew up, hitting him squarely in the chin with her head. She gave a yelp of pain, sinking away from him. Her hands already went to her head, attentively prodding the bump forming. She noticed angrily that he didn't even seem to notice their head bash. When her eyes caught his, he gave a low curse.
"Damnit," he breathed, standing quickly. He moved to her, a growl echoing in his throat. "I…didn't mean for that to happen. I thought someone scared you."
Her fingers tightened on the cloth that covered her as she prepared herself to start yelling, but noticed in doing so how dangerously ripped her clothes were.
With a gasp, she grabbed the corners of what she saw was InuYasha's haori. Her shirt was torn down the middle, showing her bra and stomach. The handprint made from the heat of his hand was still on her abdomen, showing her exactly how large his hands were. But, for some reason, instead of terrifying her, it excited her. He had such long fingers! Her skirt was also ripped just above her left hip, showing the bandage that protected her worst wound. And also gave her a look at how panty-less she seemed to be. Another squeak left her as her gaze slammed up to his.
He stared at her blankly for a moment, not understanding why she was so squeaky. Then it dawned on him what was going on and he flushed red. "You were…uh…hurt and we had to get to the…uhm…gash. No one could figure out how to get your clothes…ah…off. So I just…tore…through them." He coughed, trying to hide a grimace. Swiftly, he righted himself, clearing his throat. "I'll go tell the hag you're up." With that, he left her alone in the one-roomed hut.
She stood, clutching his haori around her. She couldn't go outside in her clothes. Not with the condition they were in.
Eyeing InuYasha's haori, she sighed and began stripping. If she changed fast enough, there was less of a chance of someone seeing her almost completely nude. In record time, she was out of her useless school uniform and into the haori. She tied the excess material behind her back in a large bow, hoping that Kaede would have something else she would be able to change into…soon. But this was the only way she could go outside, so she would just have to deal with the fact that she felt the wind hitting some of her more…private places. If only for a little while, anyways.
She adjusted her loose clothing to better fit her petite frame, starting to go outside.
A large frame blocking the doorway stopped her.
"Where is the miko of this village?" the man who belonged to the large frame bellowed, not even sparing her a glance. "I need the miko!"
Backing away to be able to look him right in the eye, Kagome took in his appearance.
He was tall, almost as tall as InuYasha. He was built like a truck, shoulders reaching out much too far to be believable. His hair was just long enough to hang in his face, but too short to put into a ponytail. It was almost as dark as her own blue-black hair. His eyes were bright green and held a furious glint. His skin was tanned from long periods of time in the sun. His face was covered in sweat from his heavy armor that looked like something out of her History textbook.
Her eyes bore into his when he finally managed to look down at her. She purposely glared at him, annoyed that he would act as if she weren't even there.
"Are you the priestess of this village?" he demanded, returning her glare full force. But then his gaze softened and a grin lifted the corners of his mouth. He leaned down slightly, just enough to show her exactly how much taller than her he was. "Surely you aren't! You are much too beautiful to forever be chaste and unmarried. Could you tell me where your miko for this village is?" After his compliment, his hand absently went to her cheek, caressing it.
She slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me. It isn't any of your business how long I'm 'chaste' anyways." Crossing her arms over her chest, she sniffed disdainfully and looked away, hoping he wouldn't notice the blush that came to her face. "Kaede will be here in a few moments, I suspect. InuYasha wants her to check over my wounds before it gets too much later."
He blinked in confusion at her. Then he straightened, a fierce gleam coming to his eyes. "You're husband allowed you to be injured? He is careless with your safety! Why would you choose someone who cannot care for you?" He crossed his arms over his chest, taking a large step closer to her. "Or was it an arranged marriage?"
"He isn't my husband--though how that is any of your business, I don't know!--and I sustained my wounds of my own free will. He had nothing to do with it. And you can stop asking me about my love life. It's none of your concern." Every step he took, she took one back, watching him warily. Something about how he was sizing her up didn't bode well in her stomach, and she was one to follow her instincts in these situations.
"You aren't married?" Is that all he hears come out of my mouth?! It's worse than talking to a brick wall! He grinned, leaning down to be eye to eye with her. "Then where is your father, girl?" At her perplexed look, he said, "You can't very well expect me to--"
"I don't think any of that is your fucking business, ningen!" a cold, familiar, and totally welcome voice snarled from the doorway that the warrior had been occupying only a few idiotic words before.
The unknown man spun around to face InuYasha, his hand unerringly going to the sword hanging at his hip. "And who do you think you are, hanyou?"
Kagome froze in anger. What gave him the right to talk down to InuYasha?! He had done nothing to him!
"I'm her Mate. So you sure as hell had better get away from her before I kill you." InuYasha's voice, though is words were threatening, was cold as a midnight breeze in the middle of winter.
"You're Mates? Why should I believe that when she doesn't have a mark?" The man chuckled, smirking at Kagome. "Would you like me to get this half-breed out of the way so you and I can get back into our conversation?"
Kagome felt a wave of nausea and indignation rise within her at his words. First of all, she didn't feel safe with just him around, so why would she do that? Second, how dare this stranger insult someone he didn't even know! It was uncalled for!
Stomping to stand between the men, intending to block InuYasha from lunging at the human man, her vocal tell off was lost when Kaede stepped into the hut. Though the woman had to be weary from the night before, her voice was strong as it rang through the hut.
"InuYasha, don't fight in my home. I won't allow it. This is supposed to be a place of peace." She turned her one-eyed gaze onto the warrior. "I apologize for his rude behavior. Ye are probably tired from your journey. Please, sit." The woman motioned for him to do so.
When Kaede also nodded to Kagome, she collapsed immediately. Her hip was throbbing from standing so long when it hadn't fully closed yet.
But the moment she sat down, the warrior sank down beside her, seating himself close enough for their bodies to brush against each other's.
This brought InuYasha to her rescue.
Standing behind the man who seemed to outweigh him by at least fifty pounds, InuYasha easily shoved him away, ignoring the man's swiftly forthcoming shouts. He sat beside Kagome, putting one protective--or maybe it was possessive--arm around her shoulders. She gladly moved to the safeguard he provided, wondering if that was a purr that left him when she did.
Furious, the other man began to rise, hand once more grabbing for his weapon.
"Here is some tea. It should help if ye are thirsty," Kaede said, halting the man's movements. After he took the cup she offered and reseated himself with a lot of grumbling, she sat as well. "I am the priestess Kaede. Many of the villagers have said that ye were searching for me. I must ask why." She surveyed him stoically, hands folded in her lap. When he didn't respond, she cleared her throat. "Well, if ye will not tell me, I cannot help."
That got him to talk.
"Lady Kaede," he began. "I have to ask for your help. I am a warrior from a nearby village that has been attacked."
Taking another sip of tea, he continued. "You see, my men and I were in battle, fighting with another lord's men to win back our land. We arrived home a month later to find everything in ruins. There were fires everywhere. We tried to save many, but could only get to a few with our injuries. One of the survivors told us that our village's healer--though very inexperienced--had been taken by the thieves that had ransacked our people.
"Following their path, we found that they had killed the healer in those woods." He pointed out the doorway towards InuYasha's forest. "After burying the healer, we rode to avenge her death--she was one of my men's fiancée. But when we found them, we could all tell that their leader was possessed by some kind of demon. We kept hearing the leader sending out orders to get the girl with whom the Shikon no Tama has resurfaced." He stopped for a moment as if expecting them to contradict his statement.
"And this had ye coming here?" Kaede asked incredulously.
"No. It was when several of the men came this way…. They kept saying their boss was crazy, that the Shikon no Tama had disappeared forever fifty years ago." He sighed. "Seems it hasn't, though. My men and I rode just came from following them to warn the village of this. You have to be ready for when they attack."
At his words, everyone tensed. They were going to be attacked?
The man looked at Kagome, gauging her reaction.
"Can I help you?" InuYasha growled, his arm tightening around Kagome as his body stiffened more, if that was possible. His nails curled around one of her shoulders, causing her to flinch in fear. Those nails had ripped easily through a demon last night. How would they do against human skin this morning?
Kagome, uncomfortable with the feeling of dread in her stomach, gently shifted away. She didn't like how InuYasha acted so possessive over her. They'd just met the night before! Where had he gotten the idea that grabbing her in front of others was all right?
"I was just wondering what such a beautiful girl like her was doing with such a pathetic creature such as yourself. But now that I see her trying to pull away, I realize that it isn't of her own volition." He slowly rose, drawing his sword to put the tip under InuYasha's chin, tilting his face up. "Let go of the girl."
"Sir!" Kaede shouted as Kagome went rigid next to InuYasha. "Put your sword away!" The old woman stood and had her arrow drawn with astounding speed. "Or I will be forced to shoot ye. I do not allow violence in my home."
"You would allow him to hold her against her will?! Where is her father?! I would like to meet a man who could regard his daughter's safety so callously!" His voice echoed in the small room, shaking the walls.
"That is it!" Kagome yelled, jerking out of InuYasha's tightening grip to stand. "I have had it! First of all, warrior man, my father died a long time ago. So if you want to have a little heart-to-heart chat with him, I'm sure InuYasha over here will love to take care of that for you. Second, I travel alone a great deal of time, and I can take care of myself. I don't rely on anyone else to do so. And third, where do you get off saying that I hang out with bad people when you don't even know him?!" She was breathing heavily and paused to take in a few deep breaths. Her voice was soft and calm with her next words. "Now, tell me your name so I can scold you properly."
The other three inhabitants of the hut stared at her for a moment in stunned silence, perplexed by her outburst.
Then InuYasha--being quite the helpful hanyou--snickered at their guest and said, "Yeah, ningen. Tell her your name so she can yell at you the right way."
Kagome turned on him then. "I'm going to be dealing with you later." Her eyes went back to the warrior just as her hands rested on her hips. "Well? What's your name, all ready?"
He blinked at her for a second, then gave a weak smile. "Please accept my apologies. I did not mean to be so rude. My name is Taru." He bowed slightly. "Now, may I ask for your name, as well?"
"Kagome," she answered absently, eyeing him cautiously.
"And, Kagome, where is your family?" His smile became wolfish with his words.
InuYasha leapt to his feet, taking on a defensive pose immediately. "Don't even think about it, human! Go near her and I'll rip your throat out!" His lips pulled back across his fangs in a snarl, and he moved in front of Kagome. "Now I think you should leave before I get really angry."
Taru smiled. "You have no right to tell me whether I can call upon a beautiful girl or not." He looked to Kagome, the glint returning to his eyes. "How do you know such a pitiful creature, Kagome?"
Kagome glared at him furiously. "He saved my life, you pompous--"
"Kagome!" Kaede interjected abruptly, a fake smile plastered to her face. "Ye should take InuYasha out and meet some of the villagers. They would like to thank ye both for leading the youkai away from the village before it could take anyone's life." She looked to Taru. "I will look at your comrades' wounds, now. Just show me to them."
With a brief nod, InuYasha dragged Kagome from the hut, ignoring her struggle to free her wrist. She could hear Taru's protests even as she was surrounded by grateful residents of the village.
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InuYasha watched intently from the sidelines as Kagome was swarmed by the villagers. She was so…at ease, acting as though she had known each and every one of those people all of her life. She smiled and chatted, crouching down to talk with the smaller children. Even though they held a deep paranoia of newcomers, the village people accepted her easily.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spied both Kaede and Taru walking towards the edge of the tiny town, going to his comrades, no doubt.
He turned his gaze fully on the two when he saw the warrior's eyes fall on Kagome. A telltale gleam of lust filled them. The other man stared at her like a starving man would a large steak. He didn't like it. If that man didn't remove his eyes from--damnit he'd better stop staring at her!
Growling, he stalked after the man, knowing that the warrior was paying too close attention to Kagome to even notice him.
"InuYasha!" Kagome suddenly screamed, waving at him as best she could. "Come over here! These guys want to thank you!"
With one last killing look sent Taru's way, he obeyed his Mate, crossing his arms into their opposite sleeves. Passing through the people a bit forcefully, he got to her side, glaring at the people who dared to do so to him. "What do you want?" he growled to one of the men.
"InuYasha," Kagome said lowly in warning. "They would like to thank you for helping with the demon yesterday." Her jaw was clenched tightly as she put one hand on his shoulder. "This is InuYasha. He's the one who killed Mistress Centipede yesterday." She smiled brightly up at him.
"We know who he be," one man said gruffly. "It doesn't make up for him killing a priestess."
Kagome instantly looked up at him in disbelief. "Y-you…killed a priestess?" Her voice was barely audible as she stared up at him with large blue eyes.
He snarled at the humans, discouraging them from saying anything more. He looked down at Kagome. "I've been pinned to a tree for fifty years. How the hell did I do that?"
She blinked up at him. "Fifty years? Just how old are you!" Her eyes went over him from head to toe and back. "You don't seem that old…. Or was that part of the spell?"
He rolled his eyes, hearing a few of the women in the crowd around them snicker. "Demons don't think in terms of human years. We don't have as much trouble with mortality as you humans do. We live for thousands of years before we can die of old age."
Her eyes widened. "Really?" Seeming bursting with energy, she rose to her tip toes, hands going to his shoulders. Leaning in to search his face for signs of age, Kagome said, "Oh! So you could be, like, a hundred years old? You would be so helpful with my History homework!" Her face blanched unexpectedly.
Instantly he asked, "What's wrong?"
"I just thought about how scared my family must be that I haven't returned to my home. They must be sick with worry." Her face fell, and she started to turn away.
He grabbed her arm. "I'll take you back to them," he supplied, wondering how her family would react to see her with a hanyou.
She turned back to him, giving him a weak smile. "Thank you." She dropped her gaze. "Now all I have to do is find out how to get home…."
He stifled a laugh. Well, now we don't have to find out what her family will think.
"Kagome!" Kaede shouted out of the blue, shocking both Kagome and InuYasha into looking up.
A large crow demon swooped down, nearly latching onto Kagome's head. Fortunately, InuYasha had thrown her out of the way, into the crowd that began scattering.
"Kagome, get out of here! Go to Kaede!" he ordered, watching the crow circle back towards them. "Damnit, go!"
He heard her stumble to her feet before running to the old woman.
Leaping at the crow, he felt his claws rip through it just as a feminine scream broke through the air. He instinctively spun to make sure it wasn't Kagome--Please don't be her! Please, gods!--and saw that at least ten men were attacking the village, dressed at bandits. But the odor of corpses and stale sake rolled off them in waves. They couldn't possibly be thinking it was safe to attack a village when they were obviously intoxicated--
A murder of the crows flew out of the trees that the men had just come from, diving to pick up what seemed to be random people from the thick of the unfair battle. Yet somehow InuYasha knew who the target was. And it infuriated him.
Lunging towards her, he shouted, "Kagome!" just as one of the demons dug its talons into his arm, moving upward to fly away with him.
When he saw the men grabbing Kagome--who was unshielded since Kaede had her hands full trying to shoot each of the crows--he yelled, "Damnit, ningen! Protect her!" He searched the ground for Taru and found him pushing through a large blockade of the demons to get to Kagome. At that point, it didn't bother InuYasha--she had to get out of there.
Swinging his arm up, he slashed through the crow, allowing himself to fall. He landed with grace just as the men split into three groups, each of which had Kagome's unmistakable scent mixing with the men's.
He roared his displeasure. "I'll kill them all!" he swore.
Jumping into the trees, he heard Taru yell, "Wait for me, hanyou!"
"I'm not going to be slowed down by you bumbling through the forest! I'll get to her faster on my own!" He leapt into a nearby tree branch. "You keep an eye on the village! I can get Kagome myself." With that, he took off at break-neck speed, following the first trail diligently.
I'll kill you all before you can even lay another finger on her.
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Kagome let out a squeak of pain when she hit the floor of the rotting hut. It stunk of mold, sake, and urine, making her want to vomit. The place was rundown, as though no one had been living there for quite some time. The walls were marred with stains from dried blood, sickening her farther.
"Boss, you wanted this girl?" one of the men that had grabbed her asked. "She sure is a pretty little thing. You sure 'er hus'and won't be real sore af'er what we got planned for 'er?" The group snickered, but the one that had spoken said, "Well, look at 'er. She was probably married to a warrior, er somethin'. Ya know, as a present for winnin' a battle er somethin'."
The men all seemed to quiet at that, regarding his words thoughtfully.
"Bring her to me," a low voice said from the shadows. She moved her head up to see who had spoken, but no one was there.
"Sure thin', Boss," another one said, grabbing her elbow and yanking her up. "Get ov'r there, girl. Boss wants to see ya." He kept his grip on her, tightening it when she tried to pull away. "If ye're nice, Boss might just kill ya af'erwards stead'a sending ya back to yer village."
She glared at him defiantly, but felt real fear in the pit of her stomach. They had traveled for so long through the forest; there was no way anyone had followed them!
"Bring her closer," their boss said. "If she has what I seek…."
Kagome dug her feet into the dirt that made up the floor, struggling against the man until several more grabbed her arms as well, jerking her into the shadows.
Just an inch before she would have been covered in the darkness, she heard the man say, "She has what I want. Hold her still."
Only two men held her then, confused but following orders. "Ya mean ya wanna kill 'er? But look at 'er, Boss!" one whined.
Out of the shadows, a sword came down and she expected it to hit her. Instead, it cut through the whiner.
She gasped and the man holding her let go, choking. Everyone took a step back, away from the madman holding the sword as he stumbled towards them drunkenly.
She saw that their leader was gigantic. He was easily over a head taller than the rest of them and broader than anyone else--including Taru--that she had ever seen. He was bald and his eyes looked as if he were still asleep: unseeing, unknowing. She swallowed as she saw drool drip from his mouth just before those beady black eyes settled on her neck…where the jewel Kaede had given her the night before hung on its string.
Kagome sucked breath to scream, dodging the swing of the sword when he brought it down on her. She felt the jewel hit her collarbone and decided that to save herself, she'd have to get rid of it. It was obvious that it was what the man was after.
Ripping it from her neck, she flung it out one of the broken windows, hearing the bandits running around the room as their boss swung blindly at anything that passed in front of him.
The men all ran wildly around the room, not thinking clearly. But each time one of them hit the west wall, it would shake slightly under the impact. It gave her an idea.
"Everyone, hit that wall!" she shouted, pointing to the weak wall. "At the same time!" she added, noting that they weren't the brightest bunch of men.
Each nodded and did so. But the wall still held firm.
"It's no good! It isn't going to budge!" they yelled, drawing her attention from the shadow closing in behind her.
"The Shikon no Tama!" the monstrous man bellowed from behind her.
She spun just in time to see him bringing the sword down on her. She clasped her hands together and prayed that someone would help her.
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InuYasha heard Kagome's voice before he saw the hut. Her scent was strong there…as was the stench of death and crow demons.
He moved as fast as he was able, hoping that he would get there before the youkai would get to Kagome.
Breaking through the wall, he burst into the hut, seeing the largest man--the one that stunk of crow--raise his sword to Kagome's back, bellowing, "Shikon no Tama!" before bringing the sword down.
Kagome twisted and saw him nearly slice her.
But InuYasha didn't let him actually do it.
He flew in front of Kagome and kicked the man in the chest, forcing him to fly backward. The sword nicked his arm. Thank God it's me instead of her. My haori can't protect her very well the way she's wearing it.
"Kagome, take the jewel and get out of here," he growled, holding himself in front of her protectively. "I'll take care of this demon. He'll be easy enough to kill."
"D-demon? But he's just a man!" she breathed, not obeying his direct order.
Snarling, he said, "There's a demon in him forcing him to do this. You remember those crows that flew at everyone in the village? They're part of this one's murder. They killed this gorilla to use his body." He looked at her. "Now leave and take the Shikon no Tama with you."
"Uhm…right…. The jewel…." Her voice drifted off, as did her eyes from his face.
"Don't tell me something happened to it!" he shouted, making her flinch. "Damnit! Get outta here!" He turned his attention back to the man finally rising. "I don't want you to have to see this." With that, he leapt at the man, claws reaching out towards his heart. He felt them slice through vulnerable mortal flesh and hit something much more resilient. So the crow IS in there….
But the second he yanked his hand away from the hole he'd made, the youkai flew out, swiftly going out the wall InuYasha had demolished when he burst into the hut. Kagome shrieked, but quickly quieted, breathing heavily.
He went to her side. "Don't be so shocked. You'll see a lot worse stuff here. Besides, everyone's safe since that crow can't get to the jewel."
"Uhm…the crow might be a problem then…."
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I tried to follow the original plot as well as possible, but I couldn't find a way to fit in the prayer beads. I'm going to see if I can't do that next chapter, though, so don't worry. There will be many sits in the future.
Also, I own Taru. He's one of my characters and yada yada yada. You'll be seeing more of him. :)
SS98