Chapter 26
The shutters creaked as Kagome slid them open, giving a small grunt and a shove to get it past the sticky part. Light and the cool morning air rushed into the small room. Walking to the doorway, she rolled the entrance hanging all the way up to air out the hut further.
At Inuyasha's urging ("what kind of weakling do you take me for, half-demons don't get sick!") and to not further stress Kaede with worries about being contagious, Kagome had conceded to their request. That first night she'd left to go back to her foster parents to sleep after making Inuyasha swear to stay and help if Kaede needs anything during the night and to come get her if needed.
The two of them had come to unspoken agreement to taking shifts of sorts. She'd come early in the morning, spy Inuyasha at his post on the roof top and he would take off to do whatever it is he did during the day while Kagome stayed with Kaede.
Moving to the fire pit, she saw the empty bowl with dried brown dregs staining the bottom. Kagome smiled, happy to note that Inuyasha apparently had succeeded yet again to give Kaede her evening dose of medicinal tea.
It did surprise her a little—though she kinda had a hunch—that the half-demon was rather proficient at caring for others. Judging from what he'd let slip in their conversations, he hadn't had too many people to care for in his life. Despite this, he was just the right mix of stern, pragmatic and caring when it came to looking after Kaede the last couple of nights.
Even though he put up a good front being crass and nonchalant, deep down, Kagome knew Inuyasha had a big heart. It was obvious with how easily he would help them with a variety of things, even though he tried to cover it up with mean words. Like how he pulled her—some strange girl he'd never met— out of the dry well back when she first met him.
From the far corner, the blankets rustled and the occupant under it all stirred, shaking Kagome from her musings.
Moving towards the waking girl, Kagome made to sit on the raised platform. She leaned over a little, rolling down the tangled sheets to give Kaede a bit more give around her neck and chest.
"Hey morning, Kaede," She rested a hand on her slight shoulder. "How are you feeling?"
Tired, brown eyes blinked up at her, clearly still groggy with sleep but looking much clearer than the previous days.
"Morning, Kagome." She whispered. "I… feel better, actually."
"Good!" Kagome brushed aside Kaede's sweaty fringe and laid her palm against her forehead. She felt a subjectively normal temperature, at least definitely not as hot has she'd been yesterday. If only she had access to a proper thermometer. "I think your fever broke!"
The girl gave a tired smile.
She beamed back at her, then slapping both hands on her lap decisively, Kagome hopped up. "Maybe just one more dose of tea to be sure but I think you're definitely on the mend."
Grabbing the bundle of dried leaves on the counter, Kagome freed three from the string and carefully pinched off the lobed leaflets from the rachis. After securing them in a small cloth pouch, she reached to fill the kettle with water to boil. The sound of the ladle scraping the bottom of the pail however, signaled that they were low.
Kagome grabbed the pail, along with some used face cloths and walked past Kaede's curled up form.
"Kaede, I'm just refilling our water." She called softly before slipping out the doorway. "I'll be right back."
Outside, the morning was getting bright and clear, and likely going to be a hot one too.
Kagome made her way down to the river, saying good morning to a few villagers she passed. Since it would be a quick visit, and she wasn't washing herself, Kagome opted for the normal spot where villagers gathered at the river instead of her favourite bend.
She made quick work of the washing, enjoying the feel of the water cooling her skin.
As Kagome got up, a sudden, sick feeling welled up from the pit of her gut. Her body lurched forward of its own accord, and her hand slammed down into the silty bank, knocking over the previously filled bucket with a clatter. Water splashed up onto her front, but she could only helplessly endure the dry heaving.
A few deep breaths managed to calm the nausea, but the hair standing up on the back of her neck refused to lay down. Without really giving it a thought, Kagome leapt up and pelted down the bank, back towards the village.
There was no time for her to feel sick. Some unshakable instinct was driving her sprint, insistent that something was wrong.
Her footfalls made hollow thuds as she raced across the log bridge back towards the main part of the village.
A bloodcurdling, terrified scream punched through the sound of her own heavy breathing.
Immediately after, a chorus of shouts, incoherent words and people running filled the air. All around were billows of dust, obstructing whatever was causing the disruption. The biggest seem to be coming from the far end, near the torii up to the shrine.
Kagome's stomach was still rolling.
The men are running back from the fields in every which way, one cutting across her path yelling with a hoe raised over his head.
Jerking to the side to follow his trajectory, Kagome blanched, feeling the breath catch in her throat.
There was another man crumped to the ground, the two halves of a snapped shovel tossed to either side of him. And swarming him were what looked like centipedes easily as long as a human limb, hard shelled in green and purple and eyes bulging red. The worst part—was the writhing mass of tentacle like appendages coming from their mouths.
Where it touched, the visible flesh turned dark and bloody.
Kagome had to stop. Bracing herself on bent knees, her field of view started to stipple, black haze encroaching from the sides.
Oh god, oh god…
As thought of her elderly foster grandparents crossed her mind, her heart jump-started again, and she blinked rapidly to clear her vision.
Still a bit wobbly, she course-corrected, flying down the path to the hut where she stayed. Desperately she tried not to look at the downed villagers, and the people fighting what appeared to be a losing fight.
Kagome rounded the corner, panting loudly and her eyes honed in on the old lady crouched over her husband, who was sporting a freely bleeding wound on his forehead.
"Oji-chan! Obaa-chan!" She yelled as she approached. "Are you two okay?"
They looked like they'd been through a tumble, but by some miracle, there didn't seem to be any youkai near their house.
"Kagome!" The elderly woman's voice was wavering with tears. "T-they just c-came out of nowhere."
"Both of you need to get inside!" She commanded as she ran up to them, having no extra capacity to utter reassuring words.
Kagome slipped an arm under the grandpa's armpit, supporting him and led him towards the doorway.
Once the three of them crossed the threshold into the hut, Kagome left the pair supporting each other. She darted back out and around to the back of the hut, wrenching the axe free from the woodpile.
Hurrying back inside, she left the tool with her foster family, hoping it would be better than nothing if worse came to worst.
Kagome dashed back down the path and onto the main road once more.
She needed to get back to Kaede.
Her heartbeat is too loud in her ears, and maybe it was all the running but it seemed like she couldn't move enough air into her chest. The feeling in her stomach seemed to worsen and Kagome tried to swallow down the rising panic.
Rushing into the village square, Kagome ran straight into chaos. There were way more of those centipede youkai things, attacking in small groups. Every which way she turned, there was shouting and swinging of weapons.
She squinted at her surroundings, trying to find a safe way to zigzag through. Anxiety squeezed her chest when it seemed impossible to do so without getting caught in the crossfire.
A deafening screech split the air.
Everyone spun around to stare at a massive youkai slithering its way towards them.
It was at least two storeys tall. The torso covered in the same hard shell as the small ones but ending in a long tail like a snake. The face was a humanoid mask, horned and with disproportionately short limbs coming out of the sides. The eyes— and kami, the tentacled mouth—was the same but many times bigger.
Two things.
It looked like something straight out of a horror movie.
Kagome was going to die.
Casting around helplessly for some solution to rain from the sky, Kagome froze when she caught sight of a slight figure almost directly opposite her.
How she managed to drag herself this far out was beyond Kagome but it was definitely Kaede, leaning heavily against the corner of a building. Even from this far away she could tell the young girl was struggling to hold herself upright.
Despite looking sickly pale, and her mouth was clearly trembling, there was a determined set to Kaede's brow. Half dragging on the ground in her right hand was a bow.
Why didn't she think of that sooner?!
Cued by Kaede's example, Kagome tried to focus, searching through the debris around her for something useful. Anything better than a farming tool or a stick. Because she did not fail to note that those items seemed to do next to nothing against these demons.
Praying to all the kami above, she almost collapsed with relief when she spotted something tossed amongst some overturned crates in a struggle. It was a crude bow, probably belonged to one of their hunters. And beside it lay exactly two arrows.
The ground was shaking now, and the ones who were still standing were fleeing in the opposite direction from the massive demon. Its screeches chilled her spine.
She darted through the stampede, only to be knocked hard on one shoulder sending her crashing to the ground. Pain shot through her left knee, as no doubt the skin on it was scraped right off. Thankfully at least, it landed her right beside the bow.
Fingers closing around both items, she got to her feet clumsily. A quick glance told her Kaede was slumped against a wall to the side, breathing heavily and more pressingly, the giant youkai was closing in on all of them.
Even though Kagome had serious doubts an arrow would do any damage to a youkai that big, she had to try.
Ignoring the enormous urge to throw up, she inhaled shakily, aligning her body into the standard stance from archery class in Phys Ed.
She notched one arrow, trying to feel for the proper position on the grip based on the wear of the wood. The bow was devastatingly unlike the traditional ones her grandpa had or the practice bows at school.
Kagome drew the string back and released. At the last minute she could feel it catch and her face crumpled, watching the arrow fly straight into the dirt far from its target.
It was so close now… she had to crank her neck up to meet those bulgy red eyes.
Damn, she was just no good at this.
The bawling cry of a child drew the youkai's attention to the side.
The purple tip of its tail lashed out, curling around the small boy, and effectively cutting off any more cries.
Kagome really really didn't want anyone to get eaten. Herself included, before Inuyasha could get back. But from the looks of things, she was one hundred percent on course to accomplishing just that.
In the span of half a second, Kagome made up her mind and reset her position. She steadied her breath, pulling her arm back. And with the exhale she released the remaining arrow.
Something warm instantly flooded her from the inside out.
Almost in slow motion to her mind's eye, the arrow arced gracefully across the sky and lodged itself in the thing's midsection. And promptly, the air around them exploded in a brilliant blue light. All the hair on her skin stood up, this time weirdly, in a good way.
When the flash died down, there was nothing left of the youkai.
Kagome gaped, feeling her knees buckle underneath her.
What in the world just happened…?
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A/N: I've been scattering hints about several things of note in this chapter for some time now :P For those who have been curious to know whether Kagome has spiritual powers in this story, I hope you like the answer!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. However, this plot, the exact sequence of words and any original characters described therein, I reserve all rights to.