Chapter 1~!
I think this is much bettter than the prologue, so tell me what you think.
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Inuyasha. I only own the plot and the OCs
~Stars Of the Moon~
Chapter 1
Kagome yawned as the Inutachi continued their way to the next village. Just as planned, they left Kaede's village as soon as the rest of the group recovered, and Kagome had enough time to go to her era to gather up some more supplies.
"Inuyasha, can we take a rest for a while?" Shippou whined from behind the half-demon. "We've been walking for hours now! Are you sure we'll find demons here, Miroku?"
"Shippou's right," said Sango. "I haven't sensed any demonic aura in a long time. I think we should take a break."
Inuyasha sighed. "Fine. But let's do this quick."
Kagome got off his back. She took out some bowls of ramen and Inuyasha's ear twichted.
"Okay... First, the ingredients..." Kagome looked at her friends. "Can someone get me some firewood?"
"We're on it," said Miroku. He and Sango hopped onto Kirara's back and flew off.
"Since that's done... I'll need some water." Kagome glanced at Shippou and Inuyasha. "Can you do that?"
"Sure! We'll be right back!" Shippou ran off to the closest river he could find.
Inuyasha was about to go after him, when he turned back to Kagome. "If there's any trouble, don't hesitate to yell for us. And-"
"That won't be necessary, Inuyasha. I can take care of myself, and I have my bow and arrows. I'll be fine. Kohaku here can help me too." Kagome said as she reminded the half-demon of their new friend.
"Feh. Yeah, whatever. Just make sure that you-"
"'Scream if you need help' I get it already!"
Knowing that he shouldn't provoke her any further, Inuyasha ran off without another word.
Kagome sighed. "I know how much he worries for me... But he should know that I'm getting stronger. I train almost everyday, and I want him to notice me. I seems to work... Only he still doesn't get the picture. He doesn't want to lose me... the way he lost Kikyou."
The elder priestess (literally) died not long before they killed Naraku. When he learned about her death, Inuyasha was heartbroken and he grieved all day, not really paying attention to any of his friends. Kouga cheered him up when he gave a nice kick on Inuyasha's head. Well, Inuyasha wouldn't exactly call that 'cheering someone up', but at least he stopped sulking over his dead girlfriend, right?
"Alright Kohaku, you can help me open these up," the young miko said as she handed a bowl of ramen to him.
"Oh, okay." Kohaku placed his weapon down.
He didn't have his jewel shard anymore, but thanks to Kikyou, he was able to live normaly again. After the Inutachi defeated Naraku, Kohaku decided to go and live with his sister and her friends. At first, he seemed uncomfortable around them, but then, he got used to everyone. Inuyasha's arrogance, Shippou's annoyingness and Miroku's pervertedness. He still couldn't understand how her sister made frineds with these wierd people. Maybe it's because she knew that Kagome was suffering too.
When everyone came back, Kagome started the fire and boiled the water. Everyone waited patiently.
Everyone except Inuyasha.
His leg would twitch every ten seconds and he would always say something like 'Is it finished yet?' and 'It's called instant noodles so why is it taking so damn long!' every twenty seconds (A/N: Do the math and that does six twitches and three questions every minute :D)
And every time Kagome would always say 'It's almost done, so just wait a sec.'
So after three minutes of going through hell, Inuyasha got his serving first. Everyone else knew what would happen if he didn't.
Kagome noticed how peaceful the air felt. She looked at her friends. "This is how it should always be... A perfect day. No one to disturb us, no demon in sight, just calm-"
Her thoughts were cut off by a loud SLAP! and a PERVERT!
Everyone except a certain couple sighed. "The only thing that isn't really perfect is the monk's hand."
*O*~*O*~*O*
After everyone finished, the Inutachi continued their road. Inuyasha dn Kagome were taking the lead, Sango and Kohaku were right behind them, and Miroku was waaaaaayyyy in the back with a red mark on his face. Shippou was on his shoulder and Kirara was on Sango's.
Shippou whispered in Miroku's ear, "You know, you really should stop rubbing Sango's bottom. That doesn't help anyone, and that isn't going to make her like you any better."
Kohaku heard him, and he fell back to Miroku's side. He whispered back, "Shippou's right. You should've noticed by now how Sango looks annoyed everytime you go after a girl. When she and I are alone, she often talks about you, but sometimes, it's nice things, and some other times, it's bad things. Let's just say that... you're stating to lose her. So in the next village, you should probably lay off the women."
Miroku smiled maliciously, "Thank you, Kohaku, but I just simply cannot ignore how the ladies are looking beautiful these days. I can't help myself!"
Kohaku sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
He walked back to his sister. "It looks like he's completly forgotten about what I said..."
"Are we there yet?" Shippou whinned for probably the thirtieth time today.
"For the last time, quit complaining already!" Inuyasha yelled. "Look, we'll be there sooner or later, and that's it! We already took a rest, so shut your yap, be patient, and stay put like a good, patient kid!"
Shippou pouted. "Sounds like I'm not the only one's who's impatient."
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
"But seriously, Inuyasha, can't you smell anything? Isn't the village nearby?" Sango asked from behind.
Inuyasha sighed in annyoance and sniffed the air. He seemed alerted all of a sudden, and sniffed again to make sure that he wasn't just smelling Shippou's feet. He whipped around to his friends.
"It's the village alright! But that's not the only thing I smell, there's also the scent of a demon!"
His friends looked a little shocked, but he continued, "Kagome, get on my back. The rest of you will catch up later."
"We'll see you there," said Miroku.
Inuyasha nodded and ran off with Kagome on his back.
Kirara transformed and waited for her master to get on her back. Only... There was something to decide first.
"Kirara can only hold two people at a time, so..." Sango looked at Miroku and Kohaku and back hestitantly.
"Kohaku, you go with Kirara and Sango," said Miroku. Before Sango could object, he quikly assured her, "Don't worry, I can run pretty fast, and I'll catch up with you in no time at all."
Sango narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay..."
She and her brother hopped onto Kirara and Miroku started running to the village with Shippou on his shoulder.
*O*~*O*~*O*
When Inuyasha and Kagome got to the entrance of the village, it was complete chaos. People were either hiding in their homes like the good people they are, or the were either running in circles like the idiots they are.
"THE DEMON IS COMING!"
"EVERYONE RUN!"
Inuyasha couldn't take this anymore. As Kagome got off his back, he caught a running villager by the collar and asked him, "What the hell is going on here?"
The villager didn't seem to be afraid of him. But he must have been panicked because of all the trouble's that's going on. "Are you deaf? Can't you hear the others? The demon's gonna eat us all alive!"
The hanyou growled in his face, "Where is it?"
The villager pointed over his shoulder. "T-there... B-back to where our leader is..."
Inuyasha let him go. "That's all we needed to know." And turning to Kagome, he said, "Let's go, Kagome."
"Right."
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Miroku! Do you see that?" Sango called to her friend from above.
"If I'm seeing a giant cloud of smoke, then, yes, I see it!"
"We'd better hurry up!"
Miroku nodded. "Hold on, Inuyasha. We'll be there soon."
*O*~*O*~*O*
When Inuyasha and Kagome arrived at the battle scene, they saw a pack of villagers in a circle holding weapons and ready to attack. All of a sudden, a giant fire tiger demon burted out of the ground, and looked around to see the people surronding him.
"Alright, everyone step aside!" called Inuyasha as he pushed through a few people. He pulled out Tetsusaiga and called over to Kagome, "Are you ready?"
"Ready!"
"Wait! Stop! What do you think you're doing?" yelled one of the villagers, probably the leader of the group.
Inuyasha looked at him as if he were crazy. "What do you mean 'what do you think you're doing' ? Isn't it obvious? We're going to kill the demon!"
Kagome stared at the people in shock. "Don't they want to kill it? Unless it's their guardian, then, I understand. But they need help if they want to destroy it!"
"There will be no need for that." The leader said as he looked over to his men.
And as if on queue, a beautiful young girl bursted out of the trees behind the demon. She took out twin blades which were hanging on her back and literally threw one of them at the tiger demon's hind paw. The demon yelled out in pain as it turned around to face his real enemy.
Inuyasha looked shocked. "Wait a sec, where did she come from? And what she's holding... Huh? Demon swords? How is that even possible? She smells like a human. And why do those blades look so familiar...?" Little did he know, Kagome was thinking the same thing.
The demon's eyes burned with fury and with a roar, charged at the girl. It lifted its (remaining) paw above her head, and brought it down, only for the attack to be blocked with the girl's sword. With all the tiger's wieght on her blade, she threw the demon to the ground with a nice push on her weapon.
The tiger stopped the impact by landing on its paws and immediatly ran at his enemy again. It would always be the same moves over and over again. Attack, block, attack and block again.
This went on and on for a little longer, and Inuyasha was getting bored. "Alright, so the first time I see that girl actually fight, I'm impressed. But honestly! Whe the same thing happens again and again... This is just plain annoying! And why is she always in defensive? Shouldn't she be attacking, too?"
Just then, the other blade that the girl threw earlier bursted out of behind the demon, and slashed its head off its neck. The young girl caught the blade which was coming at her and grimaced as the blood splattered on her clothes.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the air. Soon enough, the villagers all ran to thank their saviour.
Inuyasha and Kagome just stood there looking at the crowd. A few seconds later, the rest of the Inutachi arrived.
"About damn time you showed up!" Inuyasha sounded pissed off at them.
Kohaku jumped off Kirara. "Did we miss something?"
"Oh, just the battle which we didn't fight in!" Okay, so he was pissed off.
Shippou hopped into Kagome's arms. "So... if you didn't kill the demon... who did?"
They all turned back to the crowd again and looked at the 'hero'. The villagers were surronding the girl in a huge cirlce.
"Oh, thank you!"
"We never would have done it without your help!"
"How can we ever repay you?"
The girl had a nervous smile on, and she would always say the same thing, "It was nothing, really! And there's no need to give me anything!"
Now that the the Inutachi had a closer look at her, they could tell that she was about sixteen years of age. She had blue and red armor covering the top part of her body, and blue cloth covering the front and back of her legs so she can move them as freely as she wants in battle. She had a white sash around her waist and around her neck was a pendant of a blue dragon.
Her long black hair was tied, and went it down to her waist. Part of her bangs covered a corner of her left eye. Her blue eyes shone brightly in the sunlight. Her voice sounded beautiful; strong, but soft, proud, but warm.
She had twin demonic blades. They were both the size of Tetsusaiga. One had blue curved patterns on it, and the tip of its handle was shapped like a water drop. As for the other, it had red curved patterns on it, and the tip of his handle was shapped like a little flamme. Their sheths were on the girl's back.
Inuyasha and Kagome still couldn't tell why they looked so familiar to them.
When the girl finally saw the strange group, she turned to them and asked, "Who are you?" Her voice didn't sound suspicious, just curious.
Now, all eyes were on the group. Everyone stated feeling nervous with all the attention. Kagome decided to start off, "Actually... We're... Umm... Er..."
Of course, her words weren't helping her friends get anywhere.
The woman smiled and called to the people around her, "I shall speak with these travellers for a moment! Meanwhile, you should search any wounded men and make sure that everyone is alright! Also, I don't want anyone to disturb me with our guests."
"Yes, m'am!"
As soon as the people all left to work, the girl walked up to Inuyasha and his friends. She sighed, "Man, what a pain. I hate having to order a large group people around sometimes. Makes me feel guilty sometimes, ya know?"
Kagome blinked. "Just a moment ago, she was speaking so wisely. Now she sounds like a regular teenager. And by how she talks, she must act like one too."
"So, allow me to introduce myself. I am Hikari, legendary healer," said the girl.
At that moment, Miroku, Sango and Kohaku's jaws fell down.
Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippou looked at their wierd reaction on their friends faces. "What's up with them?"
Miroku managed to find his voice again, and he spoke slowly, "You are Lady Hikari? THE Lady Hikari?"
Hikari smiled, "The one and only. Oh yeah, and forget the whole 'Lady' stuff. I don't look that old, now do I?" She giggled.
"Well, Lady- Ummm... Hikari," Miroku said as he took the girl's hand, "I never would have expected you to be so beauti- OW! Sango, that hurt more than usual!"
"Right now is not the right moment, monk."
Miroku caught Kohaku's look from the corner of his eye, and he didn't need to ask for what he was thinking. "I told you not to flirt with girls."
Hikari sweat dropped (anime style :D) and continued, "So, who are you? I haven't seen any of you in this village. Are you travelers?"
Seeing that half of the group was still shocked, and that the other half was completly confused, she sighed. "How about we go too my place? Then, you can tell me what you're doing here. And on the way there, you could explain what's going on to your other friends."
She started walking away, until she realised that they weren't following her. She turned around with an amused look on her face, "Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up!"
"Oh, right!" Kagome went first, and then the rest of them followed.
"So... What was the big deal with the three of you back there?" Inuyasha asked Miroku.
The monk seemed shocked. "You don't know about Lady Hikari? Kagome and Shippou, I understand, but... Inuyasha, you should be the one to know the most!"
"I know what a legendary healer is!" His friend snapped. "I just don't know why you're all acting like fishes with your mouthes open like that! Legendary healers are everywhere these days, aren't they?"
At those words, everyone saw Hikari flinch and Miroku immediatly wacked Inuyasha on the head.
"OW! What the hell was that-"
"Don't ever say that in front of Lady Hikari again," Miroku said in a low voice. "And no - legendary healers aren't everywhere today."
Shippou tilted his head to one side. "Why not?"
"Like Sango's demon slayer village, there was a legendary healer village. Legendary healers, along with other regular humans lived there. The healers were very skilled when it came to healing. They knew which herbs to use and what to do everytime. People treated them like Buddah himself. They're very skillful in swordsmanship and martial arts. But what's most surprising is that they're able to wield demonic swords. As you already know, regular humans cannot control the power of a demonic blade, but rumours say that the legendary healers are powerful enough to use them. This gives them demonic abilities, such as the strength of a demon, the speed of a demon and so on."
"Alright, that explains why she's holding a demon sword, but what's this got to do with what I asked? And what do you mean there 'used' to be a village like that?" said Inuyasha.
Miroku looked at him with serious eyes. "It was completly annihilated six years ago."
Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippou's eyes widened.
"Oh." Inuyasha looked down.
Sango sighed and explained. "It appears that a pack of demons destroyed it, which was very unexpected, because the healers are usually very good at sensing demonic auras from a far distance. That's what the rumours say, of course. Some people didn't believe it, but when nobody's ever seen a legendary healer for years, we all had to face the truth. Then, about four years later, we discovered that Lady Hikari was still alive. She told us that a few humans were still alive in her village, but she was the last survivor of the legendary healers. Some people still didn't believe that she was alive, so we considered her as a legend of some sort."
Everyone stayed silent, all lost in their thoughts.
Tey jumped when they heard Hikari's voice. "Well, here we are!"
The Inutachi looked up to see a big temple. Judging by the shining walls and big roof, it must have been very luxurious inside.
Their jaws dropped and their eyes went wide. "She stays in THAT thing while she's here? It must have cost a fortune!"
Looking at their stunned expressions, Hikari groaned, "The villagers were so desperate for me to kill the demon, they sent me to sleep in this. Honestly, sometimes I wish that they would stop insisting. Anyways, come on in."
*O*~*O*~*O*
"How about I get us some tea?" Hikari asked when the Inutachi entered her room and sat down. Sango and Kagome nodded, and Hikari left the room.
Everyone looked around them. Every single part of the temple was filled with expensive furniture and rare plants.
They didn't wait for very long, since Hikari came in with all their drinks. She handed a cup of tea to Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Kohaku and Miroku, some juice to Shippou, and a bol of milk to Kirara.
"So," she said when she sat down, "My question. First, who are you?"
Miroku cleared his throat, signaling to the other to let him handle this. "I am the monk Miroku, this is the demon slayer Sango, and her brother Kohaku," he sais as he pointed out his friends. "Kagome is a miko, Shippou is the little fox demon, and our 'leader' is Inuyasha."
Kirara mewled at him. "Oh, right. And this is Kirara, Sango's demon cat."
Inuyasha mumbled under his breath, "Thanks for the introducing, monk, but we can talk ourselves."
Hikari smiled, "Ah, so you're that famous group I've hear talking about so much. Although... I heard that you had only three humans, not four."
Kagome explained, "We were three before, but not long ago, Kohaku joined us."
"Ah, I see. So second, why are you here? I would have expected you to stay in your village with all the demons running around these days."
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Should they tell the truth? Should they lie to her?
Before anyone can say anything else, Kagome spoke, "That's why we left. The demons are getting stronger and stronger, so we want to see who's making them react this way. And we have a suspect of out own. You see-"
She was cut off when Inuyasha whispered in her ear, "You're giving too much information there, Kagome. Why are you throwing out all we know? We can't even trust the girl yet!"
Kagome quickly whisepered back, "If she's as great as Sango and Miroku said she was, I'm sure that she can help us!"
Inuyasha snorted, "Alright, fine. I just hope you know what you're doing."
His friend continued, "We used to have an enemy called Naraku."
Hikari's eyes suddenly darkened. "Oh, yes. Him. I heard that bastard's finally dead."
The others were shocked. "You know about him?"
"Well, I only had a few things to finish with him, but that's not the point right now. Go on."
Kagome continued, "We've all had some stuff to deal with him. Anyways, we killed him two months ago, but we fear that he's back to life and that he's the one making all these demons stronger somehow. Also, some of our old enemies are coming back too."
Hikari looked deep in thought for a moment, until she finally said, "So you I guess you sensed the demon and you came down here to check what's going on, am I right?"
They nodded and Hikari sighed. She looked outside the window. "It's getting dark out. You're going to need a place to stay for the night, so... You can stay here."
Miroku bowed, "Thank you for your hospitality, Lady Hikari. We are very greateful, and shall forever be in your dept. In fact..." He walked over to her and took her hands. "Will you consider bearing my children? We can already start tonight if you wish, I wouldn't mind-"
He couldn't finish, since Hiraikotsu met his head, and his head then met the floor. Sango was fuming and everyone sighed.
Hikari spoke to an unconsious Miroku, "Ummm... Are you sure that I can let you stay here?"
She looked down at he clothes and frowned. "Well, shit. I guess I'm going to have to wash up." She looked over at Sango and Kagome. "Looks like you're going to need it too."
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Ah, I haven't felt this relaxed since... forever!" Kagome let out a sigh.
"That makes two of us," said Sango.
"You'd better enjoy it while you can," said Hikari, "Because they're won't be enough time for something like this to happen again."
The three girls were in the hot spring while the boys were left inside making the beds. Since all the villagers were out working, and that Miroku was dreaming about a wrold without Hiraikotsu, they didn't need to worry about any peeping toms.
There was a long moment of silence.
Hikari looked up at the sky. "It's at nights like this that I remember my best memories. When I was young, my mother always used to bring me out at night and sing me a song. It would make me feel at peace, and eventually, I'd fall asleep."
"You must have been really happy back then... With your family and all..." said Kagome. But when she just realised what she said, she clamped her mouth shut.
"Oh my God! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"
Hikari didn't seem very sad or upset. In fact, she was smiling. "It's alright, don't worry about it."
And after a moment, she added, "Talking about my village's massacre doesn't bother me as much as it did when I was little. I'm getting pretty used to it now, so don't try holding back if you want to ask me quetions. I won't mind."
There was another long moment of silence. The only thing the girls could hear was the crikets in the background.
Finally, Kagome spoke, "Is it really that hard? I mean, having to be the last of your kind?"
Hikari smiled again. "It was hard was I was younger since I didn't have anyone to talk to... but when I came back, I felt less lonely. Mentioning the death of my family doesn't bother me as much as it did before. I had people around me to take care of, and I had a goal. I wanted to take care of everyone the way a true healer did."
"But what annoys me the most," she said rather quickly, "Is the fact that people treat me like a saint. I know that it's because I'm the last of my kind... but I can't help but notice how everyone is so desperate to know me better, to know more of the legendary healers. They respect me, alright, but I wish that some people can treat me the way I want to be... As normal girl, trying to get a normal life. Well, long story short, it's just annoying how they treat me like some old wise guy, you know what I mean?"
Sango and Kagome nodded. Of course they knew how she felt. They feel the same way sometimes when they enter a village.
"Why don't you travel with other people?" Sango asked.
Hikari took a little while to think about that. "I think it's basically because I can't travel with others. You know what I said, right? People don't see me as their equal, so if I travel with someone, I might end up having fans around me every time I wake up. Plus, I've also got tons of work to do..."
Kagome and Sango giggled.
"But are you really that busy?" the miko asked. "You must have some free time at least."
The healer thought about that for a moment (again), and finally answered, "Actually... When I'm in a village, I have a lot of work to do, like calming down a few people, healing the injured, and other stuff. But when my job is done, I leave the village to look for others to help. And when everything is alright, I'd just sit down and look into my memories. I think about all the legendary healers I lived with, and sometimes I think I might be able to see them again. But..."
Her eyes sadened and Kagome and Sango didn't want to push her any further.
Her words replayed in Kagome's head, and the priestess realized something. "You said 'might be able to see them again'... I hope you don't mean that you plan on killing yourself to see your friends!"
Hikari laughed a little and smiled, "You're pretty sharp, aren't you? And no, I'm not planning on killing myself. It just means that... I'm not giving up."
"Huh?"
"I'm not giving up on finding some other healers who lived through the massacre. After all, not all healers were at the scene of the crime when the killing started. There were others in some different villages. I know that it's like trying to find some ater in a desert, but I still have that little spark of hope in me. I want to talk to some people who understand what I went through, to talk about everything I saw back then. So it's my job to find out if anyone survived..."
After that, none of the three girls said anything.
Kagome stood up, "I'm going inside. I think I had enough for one day. You coming, Sango?"
"Um... No thanks, I'll stay here a little longer."
Kagome shrugged, "Okay then."
She took her towel and looked back at her friend, "She didn't say much ever since we met Hikari... I wonder what's going on..."
And she left the two alone.
Sango made sure that Kagome left before looking back at Hikari. She was returning the glance. "It's now or never."
FLASHBACK
"She's here!"
"They're back!"
Little eight-year-old Sango peeked out her window to see what was going on outside. Everyone was huddled up in a circle as if there was something there. She quickly ran outside and grabbed her weapon.
Before she could go any further, her father's hand rested on her shoulder and stopped her.
"Now, now, Sango. This isn't a demon. Listen. They don't sound like they don't sound like they're in trouble, now do they?"
Sango was confused, but listened anyway. "Father's right. In fact, everyone sounds... happy."
"Shall we go see who's here?" Sango's father said as he took her hand.
Sango nodded and walked to the group. As she got closer, she could see more of who was there.
It was a woman. A quite beautiful one. There was a little girl behind her, she looked almost exactly like her. She looked nice.
"Probably mother and daugther," thought Sango.
She didn't realize that she and her father were right in front of the visitors. Her father smiled warmly at the woman. "Lady Michiko. You have returned."
Lady Michiko smiled back. "Isamu. It has been quite a while, hasn't it?"
Sango looked at her father and back. She didn't understand anything. Then, she remembered the little girl. She looked at the child, and she was looking back. The girl smiled shyly at Sango and gave her a little wave. Sango smiled and waved back. "She looks pretty nice. I wonder what her name is?"
'What brings you back here?" she heard her father say. "I would have expected that you have forgotten-"
"Of course I haven't!" Lady Michiko laughed. "But I haven't come back for me..."
She looked at the child behind her and smiled at her encouragingly. The little one blushed slightly and came out of her hiding spot. "Everyone, meet Hikari."
"Sango," Sango heard her father whisper to her, "You will be training with her as of now on."
"I will?"
END FLASHBACK
"Of course she can't remember!" Sango yelled to herself. "That was years ago! How can anyone remember..."
Before she could think about anything else, the words slipped from her mouth. "Hikari, do you remember me?"
She closed her eyes shut, expecting Hikari to reject her question, but when nothing came, she opened her eyes, Hikari was smiling.
"Of course I do. How can I forget the one person who taught me one of my most frequent moves?"
"You... you still use it?"
"Sure I do! Okay, I made a few modifications, but it's still the same thing, right?"
Sango sighed in relief. "I'm glad. I thought that you might have forgotten all about me. You know, with all the workk you've got to do."
"Hey, I might have a lot of stuff to do, but that doesn't mean I'll lose part of my memory. I'm not going to get old anytime soon."
They both laughed.
Hikari then spoke in an amused voice, "By the way... That's a pretty nnice man you've got under your nose."
Sango stopped laughing and blushed, "I-I don't know what you're t-talking about! Me and Miroku are just friends!"
Hikari winked at her, "Don't try to deny it. I know jealousy when I see it, and that was jealousy in your eyes. You shouldn't be so shy about it. Everyone's going to know eventually."
Sango looked down and blushed even harder. She got an idea and her head shot back up. "Okay, so I like him. What about you? I'm pretty sure you've got a special someone too!"
Hikari flinched and looked away. Seeing that it wasn't exactly the right thing to say, Sango apologised, "O-oh... I'm sorry, I thought that-"
"No, don't worry, it's alright." Hikari smiled at her. "I didn't really find someone to be with yet... I travel a lot, so I doubt that someone would stay with me for that long. But, as the old saying goes, thereare plenty of fishes in the sea. I'll be fine."
"So then," she said after she finished, "How about we go inside?"
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Ah, I've never felt anything so soft like this!" Shippou exclaimed as he fell onto his bed. Kirara mewled in agreement.
"Well, this temple is pretty rich," said a now consious Miroku. "I wouldn't be surprised if they had a pet tiger with them."
"I would," Inuyasha snorted, "We only find tiger demons these days. Even if they are rich, and even if they did have one, how would the be able to tame it?"
"It's just an expression, Inuyasha, don't take it seriously," said Kagome who started her own bed.
"Hey, we're back!"
Everyone turned around to see Sango and Hikari come in the room. Sango was in her regular kimono, but Hikari's outfit changed.
She wore a light blue kimono which had white lily flowers. Her hair wasn't tied anymore - it was flowing freely in the wind (which came from the window). The only thing that might not have changed was her face and that dragon pendant she was wearing.
Inuyasha and Miroku's mouthes slightly dropped from her appearance. Inuyasha managed to snap out of it and clamp his jaw shut, but Miroku refused to look away. "Why, Hikari, you look rather-"
Hikari cut him off, "Don't bother. I've already heard it a hundred times and over." And she started immitating a man's voice, "Lady Hikari, looking as beautiful as usual, I see. My dear Lady, you seem rather gorgeous today. My Lady, how have you become so divine?"
She, Sango, and Kagome bursted out laughing, and Miroku blushed. "W-well, t-they were telling what they thought! And so I am, for that matter. I-"
He stopped when he saw the warning glance Sango was giving him. He swallowed down hard and quickly nodded to her, getting the message.
Hikari yawned and started walking out the room. "Well, I'm going to sleep. I'll be in the room next door if you need me." She glanced t Sango from te corner of her eye and nodded to her. Sango nodded back, and Hikari left.
Everyone noticed how uncomfortable the girls felt. "Did they have a fight when I left? No, that can't be right... Sango wouldn't do anything like that," Kagome thought.
As soon as the healer left, Inuyasha turned to Sango, "What was that about?"
Sango sighed and sat down. Kirara jumped into her arms and instinctly, Sango started petting her. "It's going to be a long story, but I guess I'll have to explain to you sooner or later," she said.
Kagome blinked. "What do you mean by that?"
"You see... Hikari and I... We used to know each other ever since we were kids."
Everything was quiet for a moment, until Inuyasha bursted, "WHAT? Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"Never mind that. I'll just explain how we know each other."
FLASHBACK
(A/N: This is from Sango's dad's POV, back when she wasn't born. And since I didn't want to call him 'Sango's dad', I decided to call him 'Isamu')
"It's here! There's a demon!"
"Get all the woman and children inside! Quick!"
The leader of the demon slayer village immediatly ran outside and took his weapon. A large bug demon bursted out of the ground and started going after a child laying on the ground."Oh no you don't!"
"Hiraikotsu!"
The boomerang hit the demon, but it didn't even make a scratch. Since the bug was distracted, the child managed to run away. Isamu looked around to see his men circling the monster. They got their weapons ready. He then made sure that all the other people were safe. There wasn't anyone in sight. "Good. Everyone's safe. Now we can take it down without any worries."
But things didn't go the way he planned. No matter how much his men attacked the demon with their best shot, they were never able to manage any serious wounds. In fact, the only ones who were getting hurt were them.
"We can't go on like this..." Isamu thought as he saw his men falling to the ground, exausted, one by one. "We'll only end up dead if this keeps up."
Then, a blade bursted out of the trees and slashed off the tail of the demon. It let out a final shreek of pain, and crumbled to the dirt, dead. The remaining men turned around to see where it came from.
A voice sounded from the trees. "The heart of a Hado no bagu lies within its tail, where no one can reach it since it moves constantly."
A women stepped out of the shadows and smiled. "I'm glad I made it in time. Any longer and there might have been a lot more damage."
The voices of Isamu's people rang in the clearing.
"A legendary healer!"
"But how can that be?"
"Their village is so far from here! Why would there be one in these parts?"
With a single hand sign, Isamu silenced everyone and walked up to the woman. He bowed, and said, "We're very grateful for your help. Thank you."
The woman smiled. "There really isn't any need to thank me. Those types of demons don't appear everyday. They're very rare in this area."
"I see... Oh! Where are my manners? I am Isamu, leader of the demon slayers."
The woman laughed and smiled. "Courage..."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Your name... it means courge, doesn't it?"
Isamu smiled now. "Yes, it does."
"Courage... The name of a true leader... Yes, that is nice."
The leader was flattered. "Oh! Why, thank you..."
"Like I said, there' no need to be so grteful. Now, I guess that I should introduce myself. I am Michiko."
Looking behind his shoulder at his men, Michiko continued, "It looks like you will need a little bit of help to handle these things. How would you like me to show your men how it's done?"
"B-but that's too much of an honor!"
"Oh, please. It won't be much of a problem. I don't have much to do these days anyway."
Isamu was still shocked. "U-uh... umm..." When he realised that he was stuttering, he shook his head and started off again. "We'd be glad to have your help, my Lady. Thank you."
And when he realized what he just said, he blushed, and Michiko laughed.
END FLASHBACK
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Let me guess," said Inuyasha after Sango finished her story. "After your father met Michiko, they got married and lived happily ever after. Am I right?"
Sango and Kohaku raised a brow at him.
"What? Isn't that what's supposed to happen when there's a situation like this?"
Sango sighed. "No, not this time. Lady Michiko did as she said, but she couldn't stay in our village forever. And since she couldn't train with everyone at once, she taught my father, and my father taught the others. After that, she left. She promised that she'd come back one day."
"So... what happened after that?" Kagome urged.
"Time passed by, and Lady Michiko still didn't show up... But when I was eight, she returned... But with someone else. There was a little girl accompanying her. That girl... was Hikari."
She looked at her friends to make sure that they were following. They seemed okay so far, so she continued, "Hikari and I trained together, and we became very close friends. We did almost everything together, and she became like a sister to me. Kohaku was still a very young child at that time, so he deosn't remember that much. Hikari and Lady Michiko stayed in our village for a year, and after that, they left. Like her mother, Hikari promised that she'd come back."
She paused again, and closed her eyes. Her voice trembled, "But two years later, I heard about the village's massacre and I knew that I can never see her again. I lost all hope."
When Miroku placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, she relaxed. "Then, four years after that, we learned that Hikari was still alive. I was so glad that she was the one who survived. Ever since then, I continued waiting for her return..."
"Why didn't you tell us sooner about this?" asked Kagome.
"I... umm.. didn't think it was really necessary..."
"It doesn't matter now since you've told us the truth," said Miroku. "I suggest we all get some shut eye and leave the rest of the surprises for tomorow. We've all had enough for one day."
Everyone else nodded and went to sleep. Little did they know, Hikari was still wide awake in the other room.
"I wonder if I should..."
Finally finished fixing this!
As I said, this is a lot longer and better than the prologue (Idk about better, but I think so :P).
~FoxRain7~