Inuyasha regashi
When the group had eaten their fill and stocked up on necessities, they were ready for their next adventure. Kazuka, like her father, was antisocial and stood afar off with Meimei occasionally going to see what she was doing.
"hey Kazu-chan, we have food prepared, you should come and eat something." Meimei said.
"this Kazuka is not hungry." Kazuka said. A peculiar growl escaped from the girl's stomach, betraying her guise.
"your stomach doesn't agree. C'mon, cuz! You need all the strength you can get! We have to save my mama, papa and the western kingdom!" meimei said, grabbing her cousin's arm.
"hmph." Kazuka grunted. The two joined the group sitting around a fire eating their lunch. Kazuka was generous enough to lend money to them to buy food and supplies.
"this is going to be and adventure! Its not as far in the future as kagome's time, but it is the future nonetheless!" miroku exclaimed.
"I wonder what we all look like? Do you think I will have aged a lot?" sango said.
"I know I wont be any different. I haven't aged in the last fifty years!" inuyasha said.
"I wonder how I look? Will I look like mama?" kagome wondered aloud.
"well you will all just have to wait and see!" itaru said.
"so what are we supposed to call you now, ita—er, inuyasha? Since we know your name now and all…" shippo asked.
"you can call me itaru. That's what everyone back at home calls me."
"Inuyasha and Kiyome." Kazuka said.
"what?" inuyasha, itaru and meimei said looking up at the princess.
"not you, oji-san*. Itoko –san*."
"what is it, Kazuka?" itaru asked.
"if we are finished here, we should be on our way. If we tarry any longer, the reborn will reach the western lands." Kazuka said.
"don't worry, I think my brother can handle it." Inuyasha said unsympathetically.
Kazuka grunted at her uncle's disregard for her father.
"unless, you're worried about him?" itaru said.
Kazuka turned away, hiding her embarrassment.
"that's it isn't it!?" itaru sneered.
'she may be sesshomaru's daughter, but she is Rin's too. And because of that, she is half human. No matter how hard she tries to imitate her father's cold nature, she cant hide the emotions that comes with being half human.' Kagome thought.
"its nothing of the sort. I just told my grandmother that we would be back and I would return the meidou stone to her." Kazuka bluffed.
"well, im ready to go. How about you guys?" sango said
"yeah! Lets do this!" shippo said.
Kazuka led the group deep into the forest near the bone eater's well. They stopped in front of the sacred tree as Kazuka drew out the meidou stone. Its onyx stone glittered in the midday sun. she pressed the necklace to the trunk of the tree and uttered a few undecipherable words. Suddenly, a bright light glowed from the necklace. A door appeared on the trunk of the tree that kazuka opened. The inside of the door was pitch black and empty.
"h-h-hey…do you think this is a good idea? How do you know that we can trust her? After all, she is sesshomaru's daughter!" shippo said.
"the very fact that she is sesshomaru's daughter should be proof enough that she can be trusted. This means that sesshomaru has changed his ways. And by the way Kazuka addressed inuyasha as her uncle, this must mean that inuyasha and sesshomaru are on better terms." Miroku said.
"but its so scary in there!" shippo said.
"if you are afraid, you are more than welcome to stay. No one requires your presence." Kazuka said smartly.
"hey! Im not afraid! Im just being cautious, that's all!" shippo said defensively.
"is that what you call it?" kazuka said.
"grrrr…."shippo growled.
"if anyone is having second thoughts about going, you can turn back now." Kazuka said.
"no worries here." Inuyasha said simply.
"im ready." Kagome said.
"we are prepared as well." Sango said.
"well, lets go then!" itaru said.
Kazuka led the way into the black void that stood behind the door in the sacred tree. "we must hold hands so that none of us are lost in the void of time and space." Kazuka said.
"alright." They all agreed. They clasped hands and jumped into what seemed like a bottomless pit. It seemed like forever that they were floating in the blinding darkness. But then, the meidou stone glowed and illuminated a door kazuka grabbed onto the latch to the door and used the meidou stone as a key. The door opened and the light from the outside flooded the area. They stepped out into the open, in front of the sacred tree once more. The brush surrounding the sacred tree was a lot thinner to what they were used to seeing. The birds chirped happily as usual as if they had never left their time period.
"well it doesn't look like much has changed." Inuyasha said.
"where are your parents?" miroku asked.
"we don't know." Itaru said looking down.
"well, all we have to do is track them!" inuyasha said. He put his nose to the ground and sniffed loudly. Itaru and meimei did the same and put their noses to the ground and started sniffing as well.
"this is an embarrassment." Kazuka sighed.
"I agree!" said Roga.
"well, miss smarty pants, can you think of a better way to locate them?" Myoga retorted.
"hey myoga! You're still here!" shippo said.
"well…." Myoga said.
"I cant smell them! I cant smell them at all! All I smell is smoke and dead bodies!" inuyasha said.
"don't tell me we're too late!" meimei cried.
"we'll find them! I just know they're around here somewhere!" itaru said.
"hey itaru, why don't you try and sense their auras like you did trying to find meimei?" kagome suggested.
"good idea!" sango said.
"alright, ill do it!" itaru said. He closed his eyes and tried to trace kagome's aura. Meimei closed her eyes too and tried to find it. Itaru grunted and said, I kind of sense it, but I feel like its being blocked by something…"
"but do you have a general idea of where to go?" inuyasha said.
"yes, that way!" itaru said pointing northward towards the mountains.
"then that's where we'll go!" inuyasha declared.
"hold on a minute, do you sense inuyasha's aura too?" miroku said.
Itaru paused and looked at the ground. "no, I don't…"
The group was hushed for a moment until inuyasha said, "what are we waiting for?! Lets go find Kagome!"
Itaru led the way through the forest. And into the mountains where the terrain was steep and hard, bt not passable. When they came to a cleft below a cliff, itaru stopped and turned to a cavern with its entrance covered in sutras.
"this is the place. These must be why I couldn't pinpoint where my mother's aura was." Itaru said.
"well lets go!" miroku said.
Suddenly they heard a feral growl come from the inside of the cavern.
"h-h-hey itaru, was that your stomach again?" shippo stuttered.
"no, it wasn't…" itaru said.
Another growl came from inside of the cavern, more intense than the first.
"keep on your guard everyone." Miroku said.
A large black figure pounced from the inside of the cavern and shaped into a black dog with red eyes.
"it's a hound from the underworld!" sango said, drawing her hiraikotsu.
"well, if that thing is what is keeping kagome hostage, then its going down!" inuyasha shouted, unsheathing the tetsusaiga.
The hell hound bared its fearsome fangs and growled once more.
"no! don't hurt him!" itaru said jumping in front of the beast.
"what are you talking about?! That thing is keeping kagome hostage!" inuyasha said.
"no he's not! Hes protecting her!" itaru said.
"HAJI!" meimei cried running up to the giant dog.
The beast retracted its fangs and whined. It laid down so that meimei could pet its nose.
"I missed you haji I bet you were worried sick about us!" meimei cooed.
"wait a minute, you know this thing?!" sango said.
"yes, Haji is our friend!" meimei said.
"oh…" inuyasha said, setting the tetsusaiga down.
"when its not ready to kill us, it looks kind of cute!" kagome said, walking up to it and petting its nose.
"whats all the commotion out here?" said a masculine voice from inside the cavern. A tall figure appeared in the sunlight. It was a familiar fox demon, but with bandages on his arms and legs and a bandage over his right eye.
"UNCLE SHIPPO!" itaru and meimei shouted.
"hey, its you! So you got the tetsusaiga?" shippo said.
"no, we got something better!" meimei said, showing shippo to inuyasha and the others.
"whoa! That's me!?" shippo exclaimed.
"I guess so…" miroku said.
You look so mature, shippo!" kagome complimented.
"well thanks, kagome!" both shippos said bashfully.
"so where is our mother?" itaru asked the adult shippo.
"shes in this cave. We are hiding from those reborn by the glasses of time. " shippo informed.
"is she alright?!" inuyasha demanded.
"shes alive, but not well. She is really weak right now…"shippo said.
"and what about inuyasha? Is he alright?" kagome pleaded.
Shippo paused for a second and said, "maybe it would be best if you come inside…" shippo said.
They walked inside of the large cavern, shippo lighting the way with a torch. Sounds of water dripping echoed loudly from the stalactites that hung from the ceiling. Bats hung in bunches, concealed by the shadows. It took them a minute or two to get to the end of the hidden tunnel.
"hey shippo, how did you get those injuries?" kagome asked.
" we had to change locations a couple of times over the past week and a half. I had to protect inuyasha and kagome…I lost an eye in the process, but its no big deal." Big shippo said. He stopped in front of a large boulder and sighed. "here we are. Im going to need a hand moving this thing." "okay." Itaru said, rolling up his sleeves. Inuyasha did the same and pushed the giant rock over to reveal an entrance. It was a tiny dark crawl space that they had to duck to access.
"no wonder they haven't found you yet. This place is pretty tough to figure out." Little shippo said.
"that was the idea." Big shippo replied.
They reached a room at the end of the small tunnel where it was dimly lit. the saw a pale and sickly looking kagome sitting against the wall and an even sicker looking kagome. Both of their eyes were closed.
'if I didn't know better, I'd say that she—I mean I, look a lot like kikyo!' kagome thought.
"MAMA! PAPA!" meimei shouted.
Kagome opened her eyes a little bit, but inuyasha's did not move. Meimei prepared to charge at her dearly missed mother.
"NO MEIMEI! DON'T!" future Kagome shouted.
Meimei screeched to a halt and looked at her mother with sad confusion.
"I have erected the strongest barrier I can muster. So anyone with the slightest hint of demon blood will be purified and killed." Future kagome warned.
"but mama…" meimei whined.
"im sorry, sweetheart…its to keep your father safe…" kagome apologized.
"what happened to him?" present kagome pleaded.
"im assuming that meimei and itaru told you what happened for the most part. The village was attacked by jakotsu and renkotsu. Im assuming that ginkotsu fired a bomb and it exploded really close to us. Inuyasha protected me…" future kagome explained.
"so you're saying…" sango began.
"inuyasha is really dead?!" shippo said.
"yes and no. I am using my powers to keep inuyasha's heart beating—" kagome stopped midsentence and bobbed her head.
"ma? Are you okay?" itaru asked.
Future kagome convulsed a little before yelling "ITARUUUUU!"
"Huh?"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, BOY!? DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO GET AWAY FROM HERE?! GODDAMMIT WHY DON'T YOU EVER LISTEN?!" future kagome shouted.
"mama? What is wrong?" meimei said.
"I have a feeling that that's not kagome talking…" miroku said.
"YOU REALLY WANT TO GET YOURSELF KILLED DON'T YOU?! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING SENSE?!" Future kagome said.
"ma?" itaru said incredulously.
Future kagome convulsed again and regained her composure. "inuyasha, calm down. Now what I was going to say was, I am storing inuyasha's soul within my body. He was killed in the explosion but I was near enough to him to catch his soul before it left this world. So his body is only an empty shell…"
They all stared at *kagome* with concern in their eyes.
"so that's why you look so sick…" sango said.
"yes. Its really hard to physically support two people who are completely dependent on me and then myself. It really drains my strength, I don't know how much longer I can last…"
"wait what do you mean two people other than yourself, kagome?" little shippo said.
"yes, it seems like shippo can take care of himself just fine…" sango said.
"not shippo…what im saying is…" kagome let out a very weak chuckle and put her hand to her belly.
"im having a baby…"
"WHAAAAT!?" the group shouted.
"KAGOME IS PREGNANT?!" little shippo said.
'THIS IS SO AWKWARD!' kagome thought.
Inuyasha could say nothing, but blushed a brilliant red.
"YAAAY! IM GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!" Meimei cheered.
"AWWW COME ON, MA! I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN! I WENT THROUGH ENOUGH WHEN MEIMEI WAS BORN!" Itaru shouted.
Kagome let out a light chuckle. "im sorry honey…its just that when your father looks at me and touches me a certain way… well I simply cant control myself!"
"STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!" kagome and inuyasha shouted at the top of their lungs.
"*kagome simply chuckled and then formed into an all out belly laugh that more resembled inuyasha's laugh. "who are you two kidding?! Don't you dare tell me that you guys don't think like that about each other!" *kagome/inuyasha roared.
"WE SAID STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!" the two reiterated.
"I suppose no good has come of us?" miroku said disdainfully.
"yeah, where are Ami,Yui and Hiro?" meimei asked adult shippo.
"they managed to escape to the new demon slayers village that kohaku rebuilt. Thye should be okay for now…" adult shippo informed.
"well that's a relief. Wait, did you say the demon slayers village kohaku built?" sango said in disbelief.
"yeah. Hes really made something of himself. You would have never known that he wandered around half dead for a year. I even heard that he was engaged to be married…" Adult shippo said.
Sango's heart filled with delighted awe. Her spirits were instantly lifted learning that her beloved brother escaped the clutches of naraku's control. She sat down in relief and uttered a prayer of thanks to the gods.
"that's…that's wonderful…thankyou, shippo…thankyou for telling me that…"
"no problem."
Kazuka, who had enough drama for her tastes, rolled her eyes and turned to leave. But kagome caught her and asked, "kazuka! Where are you going?!"
"to return home and aid my father. There is no doubt that ryukoushi is headed there next." Kazuka explained.
"let us help you! Its going to take all of us to beat all of those guys!" kagome pleaded.
"we do not need your assistance." Kazuka said.
"listen! You guys don't have a chance by yourselves! You'll get killed!" kagome insisted.
"I said we do not need your assistance. My father was the most powerful thing in the country twenty years ago, and he is even stronger now. Do not underestimate him."
"we're not underestimating him, we have total faith in your father's abilities! But what is a general without his men? What is a king without his subjects?!" kagome insisted.
Kazuka remained silent.
"listen to her, kazuka." Said future kagome/inuyasha. "there is a better chance of your father winning without casualties with us around. "
Kazuka turned away and mumbled. " it's a disgraceful thing to accept aid from mortals. Father will surely be angry with me."
"is that what you're scared of? Getting in trouble with your dad?" itaru teased.
"you scared of a little spanking?!" shippo chimed in.
"my father does not 'spank'. He disciplines." Kazuka said indifferently.
"spanky spanky spanky!" the boys jeered.
Kazuka's anger rose and was prepared to hurt the both of them when miroku stopped them and said, "stop it all of you. Remember, it was kazuka that brought us here."
The two boys stopped teasing the hanyou princess.
"so what now?" sango asked.
"I guess we have to hatch a plan of how we're going to go about this…"
That was a terrible chapter. Im sorry everyone. So sorry!