Chapter 13: Battle Lines
Sitting next to Kagome on the staircase landing, Teruo worriedly rubbed the woman's shoulder while she fought the mother of all migraines. Rethinking his original plan the owl demon asked softly, "Are you alright?"
"Shin'ichi..." she murmured.
"What?"
"Shin'ichi-dono?"
"Shin'ichi, you mean Honorable Shin'ichi?"
"Yes," she responded, still stroking her temples. "Who is he."
"He is...I mean he was Sesshomaru and Inuyasha's grandfather. He passed away some time ago. Why are you asking..."
"Because I saw something...a memory of the past?"
Remembering her amnesia, Teruo urged her to continue.
Shaking her head slightly in refusal, Kagome tried to change the subject. "Teruo-sensei...What were you going to show me?"
Sighing, the owl demon opened his mouth to speak when a loud crash was heard from the top of the staircase. Startled, Kagome jumped up from her seat and began rushing upstairs towards the door, a fearful Teruo right on her heels. Throwing the steel structure open, the scent of the air reached her nose and she realized she was standing on the roof, bearing witness to one of the modern era's most unimaginable scenes.
Launching himself in the air, the uncloaked Inuyasha aimed glowing talons at a rather long haired woman. "Die wench!" dodging the attack, the woman spun through the air a moment before her hair came to life; bristling against the wind and trapping the half demon within her tresses. Like tentacles, the dark and matted material moved, wrapping Inuyasha tightly in a spread eagle position in midair. In vain, he struggled to get free, a string of curse words leaving his mouth as the woman began to reel him in.
Seeing he was in trouble; Kagome raised her hand and fired a number of orbs from her palm, all but one hitting her target. Screaming, the woman let go of her original prey, switching her attention to Kagome instead. Released from his bindings, he collapsed to the ground, sitting on his knees while he tried to catch his breath. "Inuyasha!"
"Huh?" Turning in the direction his name was called, his golden eyes grew wide at seeing Kagome who was preparing to continue the battle in his place. Not seeing Kikyo anywhere in sight, Inuyasha was forced to acknowledge her himself. "Get out of the way idiot!"
Doing as she was told, Kagome moved away from the closed door to the roof, just as a large clump of hair darted towards her at breakneck speed. "What is this thing?!"
"Its a Kejoro!" he replied, standing up. Flexing his claws, Inuyasha prepared to attack the creature again but paused when he saw the way it was staring at Kagome. "What..."
The Kejoro gave the appearance of a beautiful woman, though the curtain of touseled hair it possessed covered its face from view. Clothed in a beautiful pink kimono, the sleeves and hem of the attire were in rags, the razor sharp hair apparently being what had ruined it.
It stared at Kagome as though it recognized her, the Kejoro's hair aimed at the woman like millions of arrows waiting to be fired. At the other end of her tresses the creature raised a blood soaked hand and pointing at the demoness uttered a word that chilled Kagome to the bone.
"Come."
"What..."
"Come." It repeated more firmly though it did little to convince Kagome to head its order.
" way."
The Kejoro gritted its teeth as though angry and snapping its mane of hair against the roof, caused a small tremor to go through the area. Losing her balance in her four inch heels, Kagome stumbled and hit the ground, the razor sharp tresses attacking in her moment off guard. Just as they closed in, Inuyasha appeared, swiping his talons through the tresses with a snap. The locks of hair he cut tumbled to the ground, landing in a pile that immediately turned gray and died.
Again the horrendous creature shrilled. Its voice on a frequency that was especially painful to the two dog demon's ears. Stunned, Inuyasha laid his ears flat against his skull and cupped them tightly for protection while Kagome did the same to her own rounded hearing aids. Taking advantage of the opportunity to attack, the Kejoro used what was left of its mane to lash at at the girl, narrowly missing her when the demoness dropped to the ground.
Not to be deterred, the hair slid along the ground like a snake, closing in on Kagome's bent form. Before she could react, the monster had her snared, lifting her into the air like a kite in the wind.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, annoyed at the development. "That's why I told you to get out of the way!"
Fighting back against the hair that was digging into her skin, she bared her teeth and ordered pathetically, "Let go of me!"
"Like that ever worked." Aiming directly at the woman's body, Inuyasha drove his hand straight into the Kejoro's chest, the tips of his claws coming out right between her breasts. In his hands, the bloody organ that was the creature's heart lay quivering within his palm. Growling he squeezed and crushed the pulsating organ between his fingers, the blood encased within squirting all over his hand. With no sense of mercy he barked in victory, his prey at last defeated at his hands."Die!"
With a final streak, the Kejoro met its end. Releasing Kagome, the demoness growled as the hair unwrapped itself from around her form, the razor sharpness of the tresses cutting deep into her skin as it let her go. Returned to the ground, she could only watch while the creatures remaining hair turned gray; the rest of its body beginning to crumble and melt into dust. In no time at all, the monster was gone, replaced by a pile of dirt and grey hair that soon began to blow away with the wind.
"Inuyasha!"
"Dad!"
Seeing his wife and daughter approach, Inuyasha looked down and sighed when he saw the blood that was leaking from his midsection. Searching for his suit jacket, he saw it on the edge of the roof and silently cursed himself for having taken it off in the first place. Kikyo reached him first. Seeing the worried look on her face, Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak.
"Kikyo I know what you're about to say, but..."
"You promised me you wouldn't get hurt."
"Its just a flesh wound!"
"I should have just followed my gut and stayed with you."
"You did what you needed to do, you had to close up the rip before anything else came out."
"That's not the point!" placing a hand over her husband's wound, her breath hitched in her throat when he involuntarily flinched. "I should have just fought with you and sent Kaede in my stead. She's old enough to handle mends by herself."
"Keh! Do we have to do this every time I fight?!"
"When you insist on being stubborn, yes!"
"Mom...Dad..." Kaede called softly.
"What?!" He asked his eldest daughter rather harshly.
Pointing over to Kagome's sprawled out form, she lightly suggested. "Um...should we get her medical attention?"
A/N: Lol I can't believe it but I typed this whole chapter on my phone. Gotta love GoogleDocs! Anyway I know Teruo disappeared in this chapter and the next chapter explains what happened to him. I'm sure you are all wondering where the Kejoro demon was trying to take Kagome as well and that gets explained next chapter too. Well a piece of it anyway. Please review, you people keep my creative juices flowing! -Theores