Author's note: I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please leave reviews with praise or concrit, as both make my day. Thank you for reading!
Disclaimer: Inuyasha belonging to me is not. Did I get through tea? Yes, a pot.
Kagome and Arashi continued their search for several days, but had yet to find any more clues as to the whereabouts of their quarry. During their search, Kagome asked what the panther youkai had done to deserve extermination, and was horrified to discover that they had attacked a small village and massacred its inhabitants as they refused to pay protection money, having had a poor harvest that year. She decided there and then to help Arashi defeat them, and only return home once they were no longer a threat to others.
Of course, Kagome also had the nagging feeling that there was something she had to do in this time, and a small, instinctive part of her told her that, if she ever did see her friends and family again, it would be a long time in the future. She dismissed that part as her insecurities coming out to play, however, and told herself to maintain a more positive outlook.
Kagome, or Ishikawa no Sakura as she was beginning to be known, and Arashi used this abundance of spare time to talk about anything and everything, and found that they had very similar views on some things, and opposite views on others, from poetry (she loved it, he thought it was a bit too floral, and why can't people say what they mean and mean what they say?) to traditional Japanese kabuki theatre (he thought it was wonderful, she thought it was too long.)
Bit by bit, Kagome began to become more comfortable with her alias than she had ever thought she could be, and she seriously considered dropping everything else for a time and staying here, with the inuyoukai who was rapidly becoming her closest confidant.
On the fifth day of their search, Kagome and Arashi literally stumbled on the hideout of the panther youkai they were seeking. With a quick "Stay back!", Arashi jumped into combat in front of Kagome, protecting her from the hoards of panther youkai streaming out of the cave entrance. Kagome decided to do the sensible thing, and stood out of Arashi's way, allowing him to attack with brutal efficiency. The enemy was defeated in minutes, with only Konomi presenting a challenge.
"Stand and fight!" Arashi roared, enraged that a leader would send her own men out to die while she fled, but Konomi wasn't fast enough to escape, and ended up fighting Arashi in a one-on-one duel.
They circled each other warily, ready for a surprise attack, but after a few moments they sprang toward the centre of the invisible circle they had paced out, lashing at their respective enemies with claws out, and in Arashi's case, dripping a fluorescent green poison from his pointed talons. They seemed unevenly matched, with Konomi having a slight advantage, as she was well-rested while Arashi had been tracking her for weeks, and had fought through all of her henchmen to reach her.
Kagome felt as though she could hardly watch. What if Arashi were injured, or worse, killed? What if the kind youkai who had become her protector only out of a sense of honour lost this battle, and she could never hear him laugh or see him smile again?
With this new-found determination, she shouted for Arashi to duck, and let loose a glowing pink arrow, charged with all of the spiritual energy she could muster.