Chapter Twelve: Soul Piper and the Mischevious Little Spirit

Kagome's bag surged over the side of the well and landed on the ground. Kagome herself clambered up afterward, pulling over the side and getting to her feet. Looking up she called aloud:

'I'm home grandpa!' she called 'Mind running the bath for me!' She sighed and picked up her bag. 'I'd better hurry, or I'll be late for school again.'

'Shingles, is that serious?' came a familiar voice.

'Is that Hojo?' asked Kagome.

'It's a nasty form of herpes.' said Grandpa.

'That sounds bad.' said Hojo 'Last week it was rhumatism.' He offered Grandpa a parcel.

'Oh your mom's going to go broke giving all this away.' said Grandpa 'I'll think of you when I put this on my poor Kagome's swollen ankles.'

'It is Hojo, and Gramps is telling him another bogus story.' muttered Kagome. As Hojo walked off she opened the door and made her way up. 'So how's my rhumitism?'

'Kagome you shouldn't be out here.' said Grandpa 'Now get back inside and put your feet up on some pillows before the swelling gets too bad.'

'I don't have any swelling! And if you'd quit telling all these stories I might be able to go to school for a change!'

'Well someone got up on the wrong side of the bed.' said Grandpa.

No one aside from Kagome's family knew about her excursions through the hidden well into the feudal era. Even if Kagome told her friends, she doubted anybody would believe her. Could anyone blame her for keeping it to herself?

Later that day Kagome went to get ice cream with her friends. She got vanilla and ate it somewhat relucantly. Her friends looked at her. 'Kagome I hear you have to retake your math courses.'

'I found out last week.' said Kagome.

'I don't get it, you've always had top marks in the math class until now. I wonder if Hojo would stop coming around if he found out about your new grades.'

'So what did your new boyfriend bring you this time? Maybe some arthritis creme?'

'He's not my boyfriend, and it wasn't for arthritis! They were expensive plasters to treat my rhumitism.'

'But I thought rhumitism was a kind of arthritis.'

Was it? Kagome didn't no. 'Um, yeah.' She was so caught up in Grandpa's tales she didn't even know what was what. How was she supposed to make it into highschool with all these classes she was missing?

As they walked they saw a playground. A group of kids were playing with fireworks.

'Hey look they have fireworks!' said one of Kagome's friends. 'Remember when we used to do that when we were kids.'

Then Kagome saw something. A child appeared in the junglegym with a match. Lighting it she tossed it into the pile of fireworks which began to spark and explode. The kids panicked while the girl climbed to the top with a cruel smirk on her face.

'That'll keep em busy. Little brats.' said the girl, before running off.

'No stop!' cried Kagome, racing after her.

The girl stopped and turned around.

'What did you scare all those kids for?' asked Kagome 'That wasn't very nice.'

'Wait a second,' said the girl 'you can see me.'

What was with this girl? She didn't even have any shoes on. And why was she wearing a down jacket when it was almost summer? Didn't really matter. 'You owe those kids an apology. Come on, I'll come with you to make it easier.'

She offered her a hand.

'Mind your own business!' snapped the girl, before slapping her hand away. Flames were suddenly all around them and Kagome felt the heat of something terrible on her face. 'I'm done talking to you! Leave me alone!'

Then the girl was gone and so were the flames.

'What did you run off for, Kagome?' asked one of her friends.

'How come you were talking to yourself?' asked another.

Great, now they thought she was nuts. That girl had just disappeared. Was she losing it?

Inuyasha was sitting on a tree branch, taking in the fresh air. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming and Shippo was biting him on the head playfully. Reaching up he dealt the brat several well deserved punches.

'Hey stop!' said Shippo 'I was just trying to liven things up around here!'

'Yeah, well liven things up somewhere else.' snapped Inuyasha in disgust.

'Where's Kagome anyway?' asked Shippo.

'Back home in the future or whatever.' said Inuyasha.

'It's not fair! Why do I have to be alone with you!' snapped Shippo.

'Because you are an insufferable brat who, instead of saving from the Thunderbrothers and giving free room and board, Kagome should have instead fed to them as a peace offering.' said Inuyasha. 'Any other questions?'

'Um, don't I deserve to be counted?' asked Myoga.

'No.' said Inuyasha.

At that moment a glowing ball of golden light appeared in the distance. Inuyasha noted that it was being followed by a number of other spirits. There was also the sound of a flute. 'What is that?'

'It's a demon!' said Shippo in fear.

'Great, maybe I can feed you to them.' said Inuyasha.

'That's no ordinary demon.' said Myoga 'It's the Soul Piper. When a child dies the Soul Piper stays and plays with that child until it's soul is ready to rest in peace. As long as the eyes of the monster remained closed, there is nothing to be afraid of. But when the Soul Piper's eyes open it becomes a fearful demon.'

'Right, I'll go over there and chop its head off.' said Inuyasha 'Be right back.'

'Why do you want to kill it?' asked Shippo.

'I dunno,' said Inuyasha 'bored.'

Then he leaped forward, blade in hand.

'Come on Mom! It's saturday!' Kagome had cried.

But Mom's held an authority greater than any mortal being. So naturally Kagome found herself walking Souta through the city, holding his hand. 'Why do I have to take you to go see your friend at the hospital? It's not fair.'

'I can't help it.' said Souta 'Mom's busy and I'm not allowed to take the train by myself, remember?'

'Yeah, yeah.' said Kagome 'But I don't want to stay there all day, okay.'

They walked for a time quietly. Then Sota looked up. 'Hey sis,'

'Yeah?' said Kagome.

'Do you think evil ghosts really exist?' asked Sota.

Kagome didn't know what to say to that. Sure she'd seen a lot of weird things, but she guessed it depended on your definition of ghost.

The hospital room was clean, clinical and on the third floor. The patient was lying comotose on the bed and his mother was sitting by his side.

'Oh Sota, it's so nice of you to visit.' said the boy's mother.

'How's Satoru? Will he be getting out soon?'

'I'm afraid he'll be in here for awhile yet. He still hasn't woken up since the accident.'

'Maybe these'll help.'

'Get well cranes. How very thoughtful of you, Sota.'

Then Kagome noticed something. The woman's hands were burned. She caught her gaze and looked up. 'Oh these? They were burned in the fire.'

'I didn't mean to stare!' said Kagome.

'Fortunately he wasn't burned. But he's been in a coma for a half a year since the fire.'

Then, all of a sudden, the IV connected to Saturo broke. Kagome looked down and saw the girl from before holding the wire. What was she doing here? What was going on?

'Not again… why does this keep happening.'

Who was that girl? What did she want? Kagome had to get to the bottom of this.

'Why were you asking about evil ghosts before we got to the hospital?' she asked Sota.

'Some people in our class think there's an evil ghost after Satoru. He's been in a coma for six months now, right? Everyone in the class used to come visit him all the time but then all kinds of weird things started happening when they came to see him. Like… they were pushed down stairs, almost hit by cars and other stuff.

Everyone is too scared to visit him now. His sister Miyu died in the fire, you know. Some guys in the class think maybe she's the one doing all the creepy stuff. It's over there.'

'That's where the apartment was?'

'Yeah, they kept trying to clean it up and rebuild it after the fire but every time someone got near there was another accident.'

'Look out!'

'See! I told you there was an evil ghost around!' Then he collapsed.

'Sota!' said Kagome, going to his side. She looked up and saw the girl from before standing on top of the rail. 'No, get off of there!'

The girl leaped down anyway. Kagome closed her eyes, afraid to watch. Yet when she opened them again she saw that the girl had landed without a scratch on her.

'Duh,' said the girl 'I'm dead! Don't you get it!'

'You're Miyu!' realized Kagome 'Satoru's sister! Why are you so mean? You don't really want to hurt people do you?!'

'I don't care about anyone!' snapped the girl 'Especially not my mommy! Mommy couldn't stand me! She didn't even care that I died! She left me in the fire! She only saved my little brother!'

'I'm sure you're wrong about that.' said Kagome 'I've talked to your mother, Miyu. I'm sure she loved you as much as your brother.'

'What do you know?!' roared Miyu 'You'd better stay out of my way or I'll have to kill you too!'

She disappeared suddenly. Then hedges began to break free of their roots and fly all over the place. Trees snapped in half and fell around her. Kagome suddenly heard the hum of a flute and turned around to see a giant yellow thing playing a flute. Its eyes were opening.

'What is that thing?' asked Kagome.

It was saying something to her. She couldn't quite understand.

'When the eyes open wide…' began Kagome.

Then, suddenly, it was gone as if it had never been there. But the broken remnants of the plants were still there. She had to talk to Myoga.

Inuyasha was bruised and burned all over. His hair was a mess and he was still regenerating several teeth.

'What happened to you?' asked Kagome.

'I tried to kill the Soul Piper.' said Inuyasha 'It ended in a draw.'

'A draw is hardly the word I would use, Lord Inuyasha.' said Myoga 'The Soul Piper is a divine being of unmatched power. To think that a mere half demon could kill it was pure folly.'

'What'd you say?!' snapped Inuyasha, grabbing Myoga.

'What is this Soul Piper?' asked Kagome.

'It is a mythical being which entertains the spirits of lost children until they can move on to the next life.' said Myoga.

'What if they can't move on?' asked Kagome 'What if they have something holdign them back? Like jealousy, or hatred?'

'In time the children become evil spirits.' said Myoga.

'You're not serious.' said Kagome.

'You've heard of poltergeists,' said Myoga 'full of rage and hatred. When the Soul Piper senses the child's rage its eyes open and it hurls the child into the depths of hell.'

'Most of the time the Soul Pipers eyes are closed.' said Shippo 'But look out when they open.'

'Thank you Shippo, for reminding us how worthless you are.' snapped Inuyasha.

'Sit!' said Kagome.

'Ow!' roared Inuyasha.

'They were opening!' said Kagome 'I've got to do something to save Miyu!'

'Don't worry, I'm going to kill it.' said Inuyasha. 'Sure ghosts and spirits aren't like monsters, sure we can't order them around, but I think I can find a way to kill them.'

'That's your answer to everything!' snapped Kagome 'Just murder it until the problem goes away!

'Well it works, doesn't it?' asked Inuyasha 'Very few problems can't be solved by hitting someone in the face with a sword.'

'I'll show you!' snapped Kagome 'I come from a long line of priests and there is no way I'll let someone suffer!'

'Whatever.' said Inuyasha 'Let's go.'

They leaped into the well. As they fell downward Kagome spoke. 'I can't let her carry on like this. Poor Miyu, she's already suffered so much.'

'Eh, not really.' said Inuyasha.

'Yes she has.' said Kagome.

'Look she got caught in a fire and died.' said Inuyasha 'Big deal. I got bullied and beaten up as a kid, had my mother killed by bandits, got beaten up by Sesshomaru, had to scrape a living off in the wilds and that's just how things got started.'

'Oh.' said Kagome 'How did you deal with it?'

'I joined the Band of Seven and had great fun murdering everything in sight.' said Inuyasha. 'Seriously you should try murder some time. It really gets the blood pumping.'

'You're sick.' said Kagome.

'Obviously you only target bad people.' Inuyasha corrected himself.

'You shouldn't kill anyone!' said Kagome 'Whether they are good or bad!'

Inuyasha stared at her. 'Have you been paying attention to what we've been doing these past few weeks?'

'Yeah,' said Kagome 'but those are demons.' She paused. 'Why are you looking at me like that?'

'Do you even listen to yourself, Kagome?' asked Inuyasha 'Demons are just the same as humans. They eat things to survive. Sometimes what they eat are humans. I don't see you getting uppity with the villagers for eating rabbits. I kill them because I'm good at that and I don't want the Sacred Jewel falling into the wrong hands.

That doesn't change the fact that we're killing people. People that could have lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. A human lives like, sixty years at most and then they're done. What makes humanity so special that it deserves to be protected while demons are purged?

And for that matter, this kid is already dead. She isn't gaining anything by killing people. She doesn't need to eat her anything. Way I see it that makes her even more guilty than the Thunder Brothers.'

Kagome didn't have the answer to that. As they got out of the well they rushed to the hospital, pausing only to give Inuyasha a cap to cover his head.

'Ms. Cicada!'

'Hello, what are you doing?' said Cicada 'Visiting hours are over dear?'

'I know, but I need to talk to you.' said Kagome 'It's about Miyu. I… I need to know more about her.'

'Well,' Cicada paused. 'I remember that she was really looking forward to the schools open house. I was supposed to go there. But Saturo got sick and I had to stay home. She got angry at me, and Saturo and ran out. She thought I cared more about Saturo than her.

It seemed we were always having arguments like that. I heard the door slam and I assumed that she'd run off to the neighbors apartment as she usually did. I was mistaken. I went out to get groceries and when I got back the apartment was in flames.

I went to get out Saturo and I managed it. But Miyu was in there. How could I have known that Miyu was still inside?

They found her body in the closet. If I had known I would have gone back in. But I was so sure that she wasn't there.

Then glass shattered in a window above.

'That's Saturo's room!' cried Cicada.

'It's Miyu!' said Kagome.

She rushed into the hospital and through the wall and got into the room to find Miyu standing at Saturo's side. Machines were exploding and the curtains were flowing.

'Miyu stop!' cried Kagome 'This is all a misunderstanding!'

'Miyu!' cried Cicada 'But you-'

'Stay out!' roared Miyu as an invisible force threw her mother back.

'Don't blame your mom!' cried Kagome 'Think back! Your mom didn't-'

'Yeah, let's speed this up.' said Inuyasha. Then he dropped down from above and slammed Miyu down onto the floor, putting his claws to her throat. 'Alright kid, I'm going to make this really simple for you: You think that just because your mother wasn't able to find you in time that you've been greviously wronged.

Get over yourself. Have you ever been so hungry that you had to eat leather to keep breathing? Have you ever been stabbed in the chest and kicked in your wound?'

'I… I…' began Miyua.

'Answer the question you little bitch!' roared Inuyasha.

'No!' cried Miyu 'No stop! You're hurting me!'

'Oh? Oh?' said Inuyasha with a smile. 'I'm hurting you?! Forgive me! I guess it's okay for you to go around threatening people, hurting people, and trying to murder people but as soon as I try to spread the love that's pure evil!
Shut the hell up!

You have two choices here, kid. You can either get over yourself and pass on. Or you can keep on trying to kill people and I will show you what real suffering is before you go to hell. Ya get me?'

'Yes.' said Miyu, crying.

'Good.' said Inuyasha, standing up. 'Now Kagome if you want to explain about the whole misunderstanding or whatever go ahead. I'm going to go get some ramen.'

'Sit!' snapped Kagome.

Inuyasha hit the floor. Then he stood up with a shrug. 'Whatever.' And he leaped out the window.

Miyu stood up, looking absolutely terrified. Kagome realized this was her chance. 'Um, your mom didn't think you were at home when the fire happened. Remember?'

'I…' Miyu paused. 'I left my scarf over the stove. It must have fallen and caught fire. It was my fault our apartment burned down and mommy didn't even know I was home…

I forgot that…

But it doesn't matter! Because I still-'

Inuyasha appeared behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. He smiled broadly. 'Hi.'

Miyu glanced back fearfully. 'I'm… I'm going to pass on now.'

'You do that.' said Inuyasha.

'So,' said Kaede 'ye helped the girls spirit find peace by threatening her with torment until she gave up her hatred.'

'Pretty much.' said Inuyasha 'I mean I didn't get to kill that stupid Soul Piper but overall a pretty good day.'

'Oh shut up.' said Kagome 'I'm the one who talked her down. I'm sure she would have listened even if you hadn't scared her half to death.'

'Don't you mean half to peace?' asked Inuyasha.

'That isn't funny.' said Kagome. 'I just hope Miyu is okay.'

'Well unless her ghost shows up to thank me I don't think we'll ever know.' said Inuyasha.

'Yeah.' said Kagome 'You're probably right. I don't think she was ever an evil spirit. She was just an ordinary little girl who loved her mom more than anything.'

'She set off explosives in the middle of a crowd of children, tried to murder her brother dozens of times, destroyed numerous innocent plants, blew up private property, forced the evacuation of entire apartment complex and nearly put her mother in the hospital, all over something that was her fault to begin with.' said Inuyasha 'Face it Kagome, Miyu was a complete psycho.'

'Yeah,' mused Kagome 'I guess you're right.'

Authors Note:

Okay, so I am now averaging one update every six months. This has got to change or I will never finish this series. I'd like to thank everybody who reviewed. Knowing people are reading this is essential to me staying motivated.

The good news is that I think we're just about done with the filler one shot episodes.

Now I know this might shock you, but I found the one shot character Miyu slightly unsympathetic.