Hey there sorry for the long wait...here is chapter 4. I loved doing this one!
I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA!
Chapter 4: Lost and Found
With the arrival of Sesshomaru after day break the irritable Inuyasha stumbles in the residence where Yuri stayed. Going back to the others feeling dizzy, "from the looks of it she left about two hours before you got up."
"Maybe just to get a head start," questions Kohaku tieing his hair up.
"That was three hours ago, she's about half way there at least, right?" guesses Shippo in his childish yawn. Sango gave him an uneasy look, "something tells me she's already there."
"Seeming how determined she may be Sango might be right," Kagome lines up in their little chit chat, "well head out after our-," the coughing sound of sickness resembles itself outside.
"I'll stay here and tend Miroku; you guys go ahead," Sango insures, the others nod in agreement and walk off as her hand claims Kohaku's shoulder, "Aneue?"
Sango could see it in her younger siblings eyes, "I don't want you going with them Kohaku," she states flatly.
"But Aneue," Sango just shakes her head, " I know you know about the troubles around here but we can handle it. You need to go back and train to what you were born for, being a demon slayer. And promise me you won't be involved in this event anywhere else."
"I've been in worse cases," excuses the fourteen year old.
"Yes and you've almost died in them too, I'm sorry if I'm being too protective but I just want you to be fully trained before you go into fights like in the past again. Besides Shippo is going back to do his training as a full fledged youkai when everyone leaves so you won't be the only one."
Kohaku understood and bows his head down in defeat but brings up an ear to ear smile, "Hai, aneue. I promise, but promise me something too."
The elderly sister pays attention, "promise me you'll keep me on the list in need of help if necessary."
"I will," she gives Kohaku a bear hug and then gets funny in hooking her arm around his head and scratching his head, " I love you, you little rascal!"
The boy had his hands on her arm and held a pressured face in surrendering to his sister's playful tactics, "ah, I-I love you t-too, aneue!"
"Say it!"
He then laughs as she tickles his ribs, "n-no!" the last straw had been seized when she gives him a wet willy, "okay,OKAY! Uncle, uncle!"
Leaving most of the crew at the monk's temple Kagome and Inuyasha take off as the priestess rode on the breed's back. Above them came flying the two headed, scaly creature Ah-Un as he is reined by Rin with Jaken tagging along. The lord of the western lands hovers ahead of them in his inhumanly and superior stance of flight in the sky. Miles of traveling to Kaede's village were ahead of them.
"What happened," as Sango predicted Yuri had already gotten to the village. The demon had gone up to a man that had an arched back from old age. Turning to her with his hands around his back he seems surprised, "Yuri, I didn't expect to see you and the others here until tomorrow."
"Yeah, well the others are back at the temple along with Kaede. So, your son is in charge of this village as of right now, right? So can he or you might spread some light in telling me what has happened here?" she describes folding her arms, making the flaps of her sleeves swing which were connected to the band of bronze armor hugging her upper arms. The huts on the east corner of the small village had been tumbled to the ground by some force. Gardens and fields of crops were destroyed; tearings of rice plants and other crops had been signs of it. One thirds of the crops had been useless; winter is going to be more struggling with food this year.
He walks her over to the main source of the destruction, "it was a demon attack. Luckily the creatures were something we could deal with but it was at night time."
"So it happened last night?"
"No it happened the night before. As I was saying it happened at night and the vile creatures started out with the crops since that's where they come from," he points north of them at the edge of the forest, "we didn't notice until the screams of our people when the demons headed for our huts. We've had four people die and six injured. We don't think one of the injured ones with survive to see the next light of day. Lets hope that our priestesses get here in time."
Yuri nods, "so where are the remaining bodies of the demons?"
"We burnt them since the blood could've attracted others to come. We didn't know what else to do."
"You could've dumped them in the Bone Eaters well, I mean your village use to do that back then. And with burning them could have brought their spirits to haunt this place."
"We do not dare dump them in the well without the presence of a priestess and we didn't know that burning them could possibly bring the demon's spirits in disturbance to us," the man sighs and stares at the cloudless sky, "there's not a sight of clouds today."
"But we were blessed with a good omen yesterday," the old man brought her teals eyes a wonderful beam of hope, "a young man came and asked to assist of any help. He said himself that he ventures around and builds for those in need. The fellow is very kind and understanding to us. We need more people like him these days."
Nodding again in her listening, "where can I meet this man as a welcome and thanks?"
The male points, "about three or four huts down to the right," Yuri waves at him in continuing her stroll, "Arigato, Otoya."
Recording his directions again in her mind she is greeted by other women. Arriving at one of the least damaged of huts she hears taping on the roof as the causes were of a hammer and nail. Seeing a ladder on the side of the structure she sights him as his back was to her. With a dark green kimono on with tiny white and brown stripes his coal hair caught her eye. It seemed familiar for some weird reason. It's not like she has met the man. Using her energy to leap near the wooden hierarchy she moves her lips and rolls her tongue in speaking, " hey buddy!"
A palm resting on her hips in her own body language the man speaks, "gomen, but I'm kinda busy right now."
Though it was manlier his voice was familiar to her as well, "Well I came to say thank you for what you are doing for our village and to also welcome you here. I just arrived here so I had to come over here to say this since I just heard of your presence. It's only proper, right?"
"Yes, I guess," he stops his doing and circles his neck and broad shoulders to her. His face immediately masked with excitement the moment he faces her, his extraordinary sea blue eyes dart to her in a shining marvel. Yuri knew those eyes full too well and her teals contract as her dim chocolate eye brows shot up in the mist of her ginger bangs.
No, that can't be him…it's not possible! Is it…I'm dreaming!
"Yuri!" the man stood up in the blink of an eye as his body is tingling to jolt to her. Yuri was thunderstruck but also afraid to say it if it wasn't him. She decides to anyway.
"T-T-Toshiro," Yuri finally spit out in a sad, nervous façade as the second she said it he slides down the ladder and runs. His arms embrace her in thankfulness that she stuttered his name. Gasping from the hug she quickly hugs him back. She couldn't believe it was him; that small boy was him! It had only been spring when she took him in and it was already late summer of August! That isn't possible, but part to her mind told her it was.
"I can't believe it's you!" Toshiro blabbers in releasing her and having his hands on her shoulders. Yuri just glimpses at him when she put herself into dept of depression, "why?"
Toshiro backs up a bit, "why what?" The female's elf ears slightly droop at its tips, head bowing, and her bangs blacken her eyes, "why'd you runaway, at such a young age, why'd you leave?" He puts a frown below his nose in feeling pity for her suffering and anguish for his actions months ago, "I'm sorry."
She snaps; it makes him jump, "that doesn't answer my question. I took care of you for two weeks and all of the sudden you just run out of Kaede's hut and run off like that! I searched for you for more than a month! A month, Toshiro!"
"I know, and I hated doing what I did but something happened and I needed to get out of there. I wasn't really myself at that time and all the sudden I was by myself again, lost. I didn't know how I even got there. I tried; I tried so hard to come back but I couldn't find my way back, gomenosai," it was his turn to bow his cranium. The girl then felt bad for breaking her fury on him and gives him a slight smile. How could she ever be mad at him. He was just little and barely knew anything.
The said girl only got mad at him for him giving her the worry and agony of not knowing if he was alright and of his absence in missing him dearly. She nursed and took care of him like a little brother thought she never told him of her thoughts. It was like Sango and Kohaku all over again, "at least your hair isn't that greasy and you've taken care of yourself compared to that day I found you in the forest, ne?"
Toshiro chuckles a bit, "well I had a good guardian."
She's so beautiful…wait what am I saying? She's more like a little sister to you. Actually an older sister cause she is waaaaay older than me, but not from the looks of it. Dude, I'm not even five years old but I have the body and mind of a twenty year old. God this is messed up!
Smacking her hands to her hips again she makes a contagious smile in her showing off, "well that means I do a pretty swell job in taking care of a youngster. Another thing to brag about don't ya think?"
Heading back to the climbing contraption he laughs and positions himself to start going up and beams at her once again, "I'm glad we get to reunite once again but it looks like I need to head back to my work," he gleams at the soil with a toothy smirk, "man, telling you that is really weird."
"You can say that again, but Toshiro…you really have…grown up a lot," narrowing her orbs, "I don't have anything to do right now but we can catch up on things while I help you. If you don't mind I mean." Toshiro just gives her another positive answer from his face swollen with delight and gets on the incomplete roof.
Knowing that as a yes Yuri uses the muscles of her demonic legs and jumps on the roof with no sweat. He hands her a hammer and nails and provides her with some long strands of fresh cut lumber, "so what's been going on while I've been gone?" Shades of the darkest blue to the lightest of electric blue held so much. Like each shade of blue held a specific emotion and the positive shone the brightest and the negative hid behind.
"Well my friend Kagome and I took our friends to our homeland in a two week vacation around the earliest of summer," Toshiro tensed when she said Kagome's name and not only did she view his outlook but sensed it faintly, "what's wrong?"
He shatters out of his not-himself mode as he would refer, "oh nothing it's just what you said made me think of something."
"You can tell me anything that's bothering you Toshiro. I promise I won't feel offended by it," Yuri places a strand of wood on the roof to start to hammer while studying his actions on how to do it.
"No, it's okay I just don't want to talk about it that's all," he shakes his skull innocently. Wavy, pitch black/brown bands cut through his eyes handsomely. Yuri stood there glaring at the sight and then just jolts herself back to work, "alright then I won't force you."
What was that for Yuri. You can't like him…were just friends nothing more. Besides you like someone else…but…it's not like he likes you back.
"You still wear that necklace I see," Toshiro notices, he always loved that necklace on her, "oh, yeah I wear it everywhere I go. I've had it as long as I can remember." Yuri picks the black marbled circle on her collarbone as she veiws at her jewelry and sees the green stain glass triangle and the golden rectangle in the tread also.
Toshiro just grins at her behavior and watches at the corner of his eye as she knees down carefully in trying not tear her short purple skirt and her knee length leggings. Rolling up her over sized sleeves she gets to work, "also just yesterday my friends Miroku and Sango got married."
"Aren't they the monk and that demon slayer when I stayed here?"
"Yeah, it's ok everything will come back to you when you meet them," she reassures positively.
Therefore, time passes and it just held silence until the said man unleashes his thoughts, "you know, I'm not human Yuri, you can tell already I suppose."
Hammering the nail into the wood to keep in place she wipes the salt tasting sweat before it hit her left eye, "yeah, I know I could tell even when I took care of you. In those past two weeks you changed to a three year old to an eight year old. And you weren't changing continuously throughout the day but you had episodes. Like one minute you would look like a cute four/five year old and the next you were a seven/eight year old."
"Yeah, well I stopped aging so fast until I was in this adult body. I stopped over a month after I ran away. I've never had an episode since," he explains, never gazing at her.
"Good, that must mean you'll age like the rest of us. I glad; I was so scared at the pace you were in you wouldn't even live to see next spring. Not ever to experience the cold beauty of winter and many other things," Yuri halts in her hammering in thought. Toshiro kept marking and nailing like he was on a roll, "like what? What things," his voice held struggle from hammering.
"Like knowing what you're gonna be when you grow up or adventuring to other parts of Japan. Or…or even finding yourself a girl," mumering those words made her mind stress.
That last part was so not me. Even Sesshomaru would even say that! Why…
"Oh, well I've got everything as you said but…I haven't had that kind of a relationship with a girl yet. But I have been having this one girl in my mind a lot and I would really like to get to know her more," he hides a smile.
For some reason she felt disappointed at his answer. She erases it immediately as she rejects her thoughts, crawls behind him, pokes him in the back. A smirk crosses her lips as her eyes narrow, "and who may that be? Come on tell me, I promise I won't spill it out. I could probably give you some hints."
Blushing didn't come in mind for him, but it just did, "um…uh, can we change the subject. Besides it's not like I'm gonna tell you missy," in a playful accent.
"You suck, I'll get it out of you some way or another, you just wait," while plopping another stretch of wood on the next empty space. On her second piece of timber he hands on his third and last one for the roof. That is if she finishes her half, but he didn't mind doing the rest for her. He chuckles at the thought.
"What?"
"This is funny, you're a demon and I'm a…well something. You'd think you'd be faster than me on this," Yuri sticks her tongue out, "shut up," that never stops his laughs.
"Maybe because I've done this more often, it's my job."
"No dur."
"What?" Yuri views at him in an are-you-that-dumb feature. He brings out a giggle and beams at her in knowing she didn't really mean it but he knew she couldn't help but give it to him, "what? I just didn't get why you said that," he knew her full well she was the joking type.
She sighs, "it's another way in sarcastically saying 'oh what do think'. You need to catch up on things."
"Hey is Japan really an island?" he asks curiously, you couldn't blame him for only being in this world for only a few years at the most. That's what Yuri thought, "yeah, it's not the biggest in the world but it's a very huge island."
He still has the curiosities of when he was just a kid…
"How do you kn-huh, need help?" he saw her having trouble with a nail as he drops his tools and checks it out, "this nail is being stubborn. Damn, it won't go in; it just keeps bending every time I try to nail it in further."
Toshiro then bends his knees and arches behind her in stretching his arms out to touch her hands. His arms in the same position over hers he lets her hold the hammer and places her fingers around the flexible nail. His other hand having hold around the back of hers that still had a steady grip on the hammer. He could tell from the tenseness of her veins and muscles, "now just let me borrow your hands. I'll show you."
She conforms as she feels the grip of his fingers and palm as he directs her hands. Blushing from his touch she tries to hide it. An easy fail. Like his hands where hers he angles her hands and hammer to a good position to hit the nail. She could help but slightly have nerve wrecking goose bumps on her as she feels his lose strands of hair that were held in a ponytail from working and his breaths tickle her ear and left cheek. It wasn't helping that her ears were poking out the sides of her head like a thorn of a rose as the peak barely brushes his lips.
"It's okay, I won't hurt your fingers," he promises. It wasn't her fingers or her trust in him she is concerned about but what he was doing to her at this moment. Only the protection of her adoptive father has been this close to her presence.
Not only by the presence of my father but Sesshomaru…
"And that's how you do it," Toshiro finishes his little teaching lesson to her as she didn't even notice his hands were already off of hers. Dropping the objects on the roof she turns her head to him in wonder as he still was on his knees but to the side of her now, "are you okay, I'm sorry if I scared you," he scratches the back of his skull in awkwardness.
"Oh, no it's just," Yuri shakes her head, "no…it's nothing, but thanks."
"My plea-" he halts in mid sentence as he observes something behind her. His head tilted upwards, "who are you?"
"Huh," rotating her neck she adorably - in a cute little toddler look of interest – sights him. Quickly standing up she swiftly bows down honorably, something she did once in a blue moon towards him, "Sesshomaru."
Yuri presents Toshiro a glare as he suddenly gets up and bows too, "gomen."
"Sesshomaru this is a friend of mine Toshiro a-and um…he-"
"I have no interest," he says plainly. The lord simply disgusted this male in sensing his aura.
He is not human…but yet he is. It's irritating.
Toshiro didn't care for the youkai at all in him interrupting his dear friend, "how dare you interrupt her like that! You have no right to do that you canine!"
"Toshiro!" the female shouts as the villagers glimpse at the conversation while passing by. Yuri could barely hear the secretive growl in the full dog demons chest as she places an almost forceful palm on his grey armor on his chest while gazing at Toshiro. Yuri came in between them. She knew she couldn't stop Sesshomaru but it was all she could do for Toshiro's sake, "Sesshomaru is the lord of the western lands so please have a little more respect. He's of a royal bloodline of the dog demon clan. I know he may not turn out with good first impressions but he can actually be a good companion to hang around once you get to know him. And he is known as Lord Sesshomaru not of what you just called him!" Toshiro felt a bit of envy with Yuri's touch on the lord.
"Then why do you call him just Sesshomaru?" his tone deep and livid. Yuri eyes grew in not expecting that answer, "Um…well-"
"Because I allow her too, and it's none of your concern," Sesshomaru yanks Yuri out of his way as his rough force pushes her past him as she lands on her hips as her hands plants on the wood. One of her flip flops had fling off of her as she adjusts her eye sight in seeing and hearing the fabric from his white kimono as the wind attacks him along with his long white hair. Yuri was surprised to be so close to the back of him that the edge of his fluff plays with her cheek bones and nostrils. Almost as if it was trying to comfort her.
Why is he acting this way. Don't tell me his going to kill him!
Making an effort to get back in front of him he widens his stance on purpose as he steps his left leg in front of her so she wouldn't interfere. She burns holes at Sesshomaru as she stares at him furiously and grumbles under her breath. Her fangs bare at him.
Yuri patience was thinning as the males just give each other their threatening glares. Amber verses blue they battle through the raging heat of their eyes as if they could read one another's mind. Sesshomaru breaks it as he faces her with a harsh tone, "go."
From feeling his emotions and aura he wasn't happy one bit but she could tell he wasn't mad at her. Either way she would've still obeyed to him in knowing to never mess with him when he claimed to be in this mood. She gazes at Sesshomaru as he does the same and she gradually saunters backwards as the lord follows her in not wanting her to get any ideas. His eyebrows flow downward together in a gentle ferocity. Hardening teals never leave his demanding gold, "I guess I'll talk to you later Toshiro."
"Yeah, see you."
With that Yuri shatters her stare with her tall companion and makes her exit in snatching her abandoned flip flop off the wooden ground with the lord leaving until she was well away from Toshiro.
So whatcha think intense hah! I hope you like it as much as I do...I haven't yet added anything to the story (well where I am right now) but I will finish it! I would like to hear you're prediction for what will happen next please!
PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!