A/N: Thank you all for the support and enthusiasm you have for this story. I'm so happy you enjoy it so far!
Enjoy and review as you please.
Beta; Cstorm86
The Dog and His Retainer
"What is it?" Hojo gasped, horrified at the sight of the creature feasting on the other male. Kagome felt a wave of trepidation and panic wash over her as the sound of a woman singing a lullaby in Inuyasha's memory faded away into silence in her head. She had to act, and fast - she wasn't going to allow a youkai to harm her friend more than he already was. She'd told him she wanted to protect him and she was going to purify that sneaky bloodsucker.
Somehow charging the paper she held in her hand went much faster than ever before. The reiki cracked around the edges of the talisman as the paper stiffened in her grasp.
"A youkai," she growled and cleared the distance between herself and the creature in two steps. She was leaning in to plaster the talisman against it when it suddenly stopped sucking and sighed.
A tremor went through Inuyasha's body and the man let loose a heavy sigh of relief, after which his breathing returned to a deep, calm pace, not this labored gasps. His skin seemed to get less pale, too. These changes made the miko pause and look in surprise and confusion at the youkai.
He - it was a male, and an old one at that - resembled a ball now, his kimono stretched to accommodate his suddenly expanded body. His big round eyes were sizing her up, four hands resting on his sides, in a parody of an angry stance. It'd have been more effective, hadn't he been so round.
"You!" he pointed one finger at her. "Miko! Do you have any idea who you have purified with your power? How dare you trespass through the barrier and assault my master, already weakened by poison? And how dare you steal his precious kimono? You humans, you shouldn't be in this area and cause harm to others!"
"Uh... What?" Kagome asked. Was this youkai... scolding her...? She glanced to Inuyasha's face and back at the youkai. "Listen here, you attacked us first!"
"Because you harmed my master!" the man pointed his finger down, at the bandaged chest of the hanyou.
"Master?" Hojo uttered, voicing Kagome's surprise at this reveal. The fuming youkai, who was slowly shrinking to his original shape during their talk, glanced at him.
"Well, actually, he is not technically my master," he confessed. "My name is Myouga, a flea youkai. For many years I was his father's retainer. I've been searching for the pup for countless years after the boy had fled his brother... And now, when I heard kitsune gossiping about a silver inu hanyou I knew I had to check the rumors out. I was on my way to the Mountain Pass when I sensed the Fang and found my master," he glared Kagome's way. "Stripped of his youki, poisoned and unable to resist an attack."
"I didn't purify Inuyasha!" Kagome growled, glaring straight back at him. "And he is my friend, I'd never hurt him!"
"So, how is my poor master in such a bad shape and you don his hi nezumi no kawagoromo?" the youkai argued, gesturing towards her jacket. Kagome hugged it to her, the touch of the rough fabric calming.
"He gave it to me when we went out to help Hojo," she pointed to the boy, who watched the argument in silence. He blushed and looked down when the youkai glanced his way. "There was a youkai, Inuyasha called her a Kuchisake-onna... And she scratched him. We were on our way back to the shrine, but the road... It disappeared... And Inuyasha has a fever... And it's because I made him go out of the barrier tonight.." her voice shook as she confessed, looking back at Inuyasha's face. "He's hurt, because I didn't put enough reiki in the talismans to purify her instantly..."
Hojo looked sadly at his friend, her eyes fixed on the other male's face. There was guilt in her gaze, concern and regret. Suddenly he felt as if he was seeing her for the first time. Youkai were real and she knew about it, for gods knew how long. She'd kept this knowledge hidden, trying to live a normal life, but now it seemed she embraced the life of a shrine keeper, dealing with supernatural, that was a part of the world, a part hidden from the rest of the society. Was he a bad friend for not noticing her leading a double life and supporting her? Who else knew that the beings from folk tales were real? The village people, for sure, now he understood why they had been so persistent in their attempts to keep him from climbing up the mountain.
And, from what he'd gathered, this man, this Inuyasha knew about youkai too, was her partner, one she was very attached to. Hojo sighed, feeling remorse for putting these two in danger - as the fighters of good they were honor-bound to save humans and risk their lives.
The youkai was observing the miko as well, he seemed no longer angry and ready to argue, but thoughtful and almost serene as he stood on Inuyasha's chest.
Kagome blinked away the tears that came to her eyes when she looked at Inuyasha. He'd suffered so much during his countless years of service to the shrine and now she went and pushed him to go out and get injured on his human night. She just wanted to go back home and wait for the dawn to come, bringing along the hanyou she knew and... liked very much.
"Oi... wench..." Inuyasha's head turned towards her and she gasped, seeing his eyelids lift. He glared at her, but she found it hard not to smile at this familiar expression on his face. "Why ain't your fat ass at the shrine?"
"My ass ain't fat, komainu!" a scowl replaced the smile, but she was still thankful for him being awake and strong enough to talk. He frowned.
"You were crying?" he mumbled, his voice sounding stunned. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" she gasped in exasperation. "Just look at yourself! You're hurt and you had a terrible fever and I..."
She paused. How was she going to tell him about all those dark and sad memories she'd witnessed? How was she going to apologize for centuries of prejudice and abuse from her own ancestors?
She was spared coming up with a way to approach the subject, because Inuyasha blinked a couple of times, as if surprised she'd been distressed by his wounds. Then he did as she'd told him to and looked at himself
"My lordship..." the tiny flea youkai whispered when the brown eyes of the man landed on him. Kagome saw Inuyasha's eyes widen before he clasped his hand around the youkai and... squeezed.
"Inuyasha!" she gasped. The hanyou turned human growled and threw the poor youkai away in the bamboo thicket before he sat up, swaying and muttering a curse. Immediately, she moved to stabilize him with her hands on his shoulders. "Easy!"
"We need to move. We need to go, fast. If he's here, it means the asshole is here too and if the asshole finds us, we're all dead," the hanyou explained without actually making things any clearer to her.
Kagome bit her bottom lip, the same urgency as before was now present in his voice. As if the only concern in his mind was if she was back at the shrine. She gripped his shoulders.
"Listen, Inuyasha, you got poisoned by that youkai, you can't overdo it. Besides... We're kinda lost."
"Keh! You close your eyes and focus on the Sacred Tree," he replied with a shrug. "We'll go through the forest until we find the road and go back home."
"The road disappeared," Hojo supplied and looked at his feet when Inuyasha sharply glared at him. "You were unconscious and Kagome was... Kinda zoning out... But she said it'd be fine as long as we followed the road. But it disappeared. Like... It was there and then when I blinked... it wasn't... It's very confusing," the boy finished.
"Dammit!" Inuyasha barked. "Oi, flea!"
Kagome looked back to where Myouga stood between the bamboos, dusting himself off. "My lord, don't fret. Your brother is not yet aware of your presence in the Western Lands. I am here because I was about to cross the barrier and confirm kitsune rumors..."
"Fuck!" Inuyasha turned to look at Kagome. She gulped, the expressive brown eyes looking at her from under the unruly bangs were full of determination and urgency. "Kagome, listen. It's the new moon and the shadows are deeper tonight. You ain't trained to pick on the depth of them yet, so I guess you didn't sense it when you crossed the wrong shadow, but... We're not on the same mountain."
"How is it possible?" she asked. "Do you mean we walked right into a portal to a different world or something like that?"
"There's another world?" Hojo inquired, but was ignored.
"Exactly. We're on the Higurashi mountain, but the one in the youkai world. And this means that we're in danger, no matter where the asshole is," Inuyasha grabbed her hand when she shivered. Kagome swallowed, unsure what to do now. She wasn't prepared to go to the youkai world, not with her training not being finished and her only ally powerless and hurt. Cold fingers of fright ran down her spine when she realized that they were all in danger. Who knew what youkai were lurking in the darkness, ready to pounce on them? Her reiki and Inuyasha's blood were probably easy to sense for them, not mentioning all the noise they were making.
And she, the Higurashi miko, didn't know how to keep them safe, how to find their way home.
Her gaze dropped to her hand held in Inuyasha's. She was a failure, now she knew how much, how inferior she was to the other priests of her family. She'd saw many of them battle youkai, defending humans and wielding their power with efficiency and easy grace. Compared to them she was like a stumbling child. Inuyasha squeezed her fingers again, causing her to look up.
"Focus, wench," he muttered. He was so amazing, determined and focused, not letting his pain and fatigue stop him from thinking of a solution to their situation. "The mountain is not that different from the one in the human world. It has the well and the Sacred Tree of its own. Try to locate them. We can go towards them and... We'll be okay."
'How couldn't they see how amazing you are, Inuyasha?' she asked herself and nodded. "Okay. I will try."
She closed her eyes and instinctively wrapped her fingers around the hand holding hers, calloused and rough, but warm and giving her a sense of security and comfort she desperately needed.
The forest was dark and deep, youki flashing here and there among the trees, indicating that there indeed were many youkai around them. Most were weak or not interested in them. She knew that there were youkai living or visiting their mountain, but never in such big numbers, and so many diverse kinds. She frowned and pushed this matter aside, she had to hurry before a youkai that would be stronger and interested in them came along.
She had to find the Sacred Tree. How to find a tree, even an ancient one? How was she supposed to do that? She sent her reiki outwards, sensing in a way she did to find youki, allowing it to spread wide, but thin. It wouldn't be wise to alert something.
She gasped. It was like hitting a brick wall face first and she swayed at the feeling, even if it was not physical at all. The presence was ancient, serene and... soothing. It was like a cool shade during a hot afternoon, a ever-whispering canopy of leaves overhead when the summer rain came. It was... Somehow, it reminded her of the voice from Inuyasha's memories - the one that had called him komainu - despite not being the source of it.
Kagome opened her eyes and pointed towards the presence. "That way," she said. Inuyasha gave a sharp nod and tugged at her hand, coaxing her to stand up. He followed her, moving painfully slow for someone who was capable of speed and grace much more than hers.
"We're going then. Hobo."
"Hojo," Hojo corrected him, but his voice sounded distracted. Kagome glanced his way to see her friend pale, obviously overwhelmed and confused. She had to sit down with him and explain it all to him, but she didn't know how.
And she didn't know how to talk to Inuyasha about all the memories she'd seen, memories that - she suspected - were too painful, too personal, for him to share. Would he think that she did something akin to spying? It wasn't like she'd had any choice in the matter, but would he believe her? After so many years of abuse, could he trust her, a descendant of those abusing him? How many of his actions were the result of a command? Would he stay with her if not for the kotodama binding him? Was he hating her deep in his heart, but unable to voice his true feelings, bound into servitude?
"Don't stay behind," Inuyasha told the other man and started walking in the direction she'd pointed to. He'd have fallen on his face, but she grabbed him in time and wrapped his arm over her shoulders like before. Shyly, she glanced up to him and saw him give a stiff nod. "Keh. Let's just go."
"My lord," Myouga landed on Kagome's sleeve, out of Inuyasha's reach. "Don't forget about your faithful retainer!"
"You still here? Feh, it means it's safe," the shrine guardian grumbled, but did nothing to throw him away again. Kagome sighed as they started their walk, meandering between trees and through the undergrowth, Hojo hot on their heels.
Inuyasha was leaning on her, but now, as he was conscious, it was easier to walk. He was weak and stumbled from time to time, but at least they didn't have to drag him. But this time they had no easy road to follow, only short distances of animal paths that led to nowhere.
The Sacred Tree shone in her mind's eye in the distance, like a beacon of hope, a lantern brighter because of the dark forest around them.
The dark forest in which youki was glimmering like St. Elmo's fires. Some of them started to follow them as they were making their way up the mountain, creeping and slithering through the shadows of the trees, unnoticed by the humans stranded in the world that lived by different rules.