(Enter the Void)
"When the ten Fangs of Ryuhogo reunite after thousands of years, the Dragon Guardian shall at last fulfill his destiny and rid this world of the Jewel that has caused so much suffering, and begin a new era for all."
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The night was calm over the skies of Feudal Japan, but the mood was rather grim as the group settled down in a hut for the night.
"Wait hold on a second." Kagome looked over at Miroku from where she was in the middle of using the Healing Hand on Inuyasha's arm "So you're thinking that whoever Kagura is, she might have been created from Naraku?"
"I cannot confirm or deny such a suspicion right now, all I'm saying is that we have to consider it as a possibility." Miroku told her flatly.
"But that's impossible, Naraku is a man." Shippo pointed out "How could a man give birth to a woman? And actually, how does a woman give birth to a woman?"
"Well since you were kind enough to ask-"
"Nope." Tatsu promptly slapped a hand over Miroku's mouth to shut him up "Keep in mind what from what you guys told me, Naraku himself was created when that bandit Onigumo went and sold his soul to god only knows how many demons, so what if he just pulled one of them out of his body somehow?"
"And we know that this Kagura couldn't have been Naraku in disguise either, seeing how she knew next to nothing about us." Kagome pointed out.
"Whatever the case, we can't afford to let down our guard now that we know that Naraku has some backup working for him."
"And in any case, regardless of whatever her story might be, if she was created by Naraku then I hold no interest in her." Miroku noted firmly, earning a few unconvinced looks.
"I guess there is a first time for everything, do us all a favor and pull your head out of that part of your anatomy."
"It doesn't make any sense to me though." Inuyasha muttered "I could tell that Kagura had the same scent as Naraku, and she had a spider shaped burn scar on her back that looked identical to the one he had. Still though, don't think it's strange that for a woman, Kagura possessed an unusual amount of power?"
"Really dude, you're bringing sex in on this?" he was met with a dull look "Relax, I'm just messing with you."
"My point is that if Naraku had the ability to create henchmen like her then why didn't he do it before now?"
"Yeah that's a fair point, but what if he couldn't? What if the problem wasn't that he chose not to do it, it's that he couldn't do it."
"What does that mean then?" asked Kagome "Are you saying that Naraku gained some kind of new powers recently?"
"Well the first thing that comes to mind is his recent transformation. Keep in mind that you hurt him so badly in that one fight against him that he needed to use that Kodoku ritual to make a new body for himself. Maybe that gave him all sorts of new powers that we don't know about."
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Meanwhile, with Naraku…
"It seems that you're recovering quite well." Naraku studied Kagura intently as a large number of his Saimyosho absorbed themselves into her body, creating a new left arm for her "With the damage you had received from your battle with Tatsu, I was able to comprehend how much power he has at his command, as well as that of Inuyasha and the others. Now Kagura, the time has come for you to go forth. Your sister Kanna has already been dispatched."
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A few days went by, and things had calmed down, but knowing how things usually go for this group, it wasn't going to last. Case and point…
"Where the hell is she, where did that wench get to?!" a number of men were wandering through a marsh land, one of them covered in bandages and all of them armed with weapons "How dare she go so far as to resist the keeper of the oil's young master."
"Once you find Koharu and drag her back, I expect you to beat her." the leader of the group told them from where he was riding on the back of his horse.
"Rest assured young master, we'll consider it to be an honor."
What none of them noticed was that a young woman by the name of Koharu was hiding nearby, cowering in terror at the sight of them 'What choice do I have?'
"Over there, we found the wench! Allow me to strike her as punishment for the harm she dealt you young master!" one of the men spotted the figure of a woman nearby and promptly tried to beat her with a stick.
"Nope." too bad for the poor bastard it turned out to be Sango, and she promply used the water canteen in her hand to beat the guy over the head "You care to explain what reason you have for attacking me?"
"What… What manner of being are you wench?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing, from what I can tell you seem to be no more than ordinary men."
"She is not Koharu milord, shall we do away with her?"
"Such beauty…" the lord was left dumstruck at the sight of Sango, and then he proceeded to get other ideas in his head "Bring her with us."
"Yes sire!" the promptly advanced on Sango with their weapons pointed forward.
'That woman is in trouble, I have to help her!' Koharu prepared to rush in to help, only to stop when she watched Sango beat the every loving crap out of them with ease 'Then again, it looks like she has this covered.'
"And don't come back!" Sango finished the group off by dealing the lord a fist to the face and sending him crashing into the water, which led to the other men running away and dragging the lord with them 'So that happened. Honestly, it's times like this I wonder what in the world my life has come to. I mean it's not the first time a group of men have tried to force me to go with them somewhere, but it's still annoying regardless.'
"I can't thank you enough." it was at this moment that Koharu revealed herself.
"I take it you were the one those men were coming after?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Is something wrong Sango?" this was when Miroku and the others showed up on the scene, the appearance of one of them taking Koharu by surprise.
"Miroku! It is you Master Miroku, at last you came back! I knew the day would come when you finally returned to me!" she promptly threw himself into Miroku's arms "Miroku, how much I've missed you so."
"Yes, well… I take it the two of us have met in the past?"
"Of course, I am Koharu."
"Koharu…" and then the memories came flooding back to him "Oh you don't say? I was hardly able to recognize you, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you. How incredibly providential it is to meet you like this."
"I've waited for three long years, for the day when I would see you again."
"Oh for fuck's sake, now we have to deal with this." Inuyasha let out a sigh "I'm gonna go out on a whim and guess that you're a friend of Miroku?"
"I hope to be so much more than just a friend to him. I had lost my parents and siblings in the war, the keeper of the oil took me under his care but worked me day and night. I was weary from my many duties, and I cried myself to sleep each night. But then a wondrous day fell upon me three years ago, when I was only 11. I happened upon Miroku, and he offered me a simple kind gesture when he happened to pass by our village to perform an exorcism. And then he asked me if I was willing to have his children." now that caused the others to recoil in considerable shock, and even more disgust.
Miroku could only blink at the looks he was receiving "I take it something is the matter?"
"You'd better believe there is!" Kagome and Sango were quick to round on him "You can be absolutely disgusting, how in the heck could you be so cruel as to lead an innocent girl on like that you letch?!"
"That was the happiest day of my life." Koharu let out a dreamy sigh, which caused them to falter from their rage, for about three seconds anyway.
"I'm serious Miroku, you'd better be prepared to take responsibility for this."
"Yes, of course." Miroku gave a sheepish nod "Would it change matters in the slightest if I told you that I had never laid a hand on the girl."
"You'll understand if we don't believe that." Sango noted dryly.
"Well keep in mind that she was still a child back then."
"I was, and it was such a shame too." Koharu let out a sigh "Miroku had to take his leave of our village not long after this, but I knew that one day he would return for me. I believed in this with all of my heart. As of late, I noticed that the young lord of the keeper of the oil had been leering at me from afar. My fears were realized last night when he tried to force himself on me."
"And that's why you ran away?" asked Kagome.
"Yes, when he tried to move on me I struck him with some firewood until he lay motionless, and then I took my leave."
"Well… okay then, I guess that works."
"It was the only thing I could think to do at the time. Please I beg of you Miroku, won't you take me with you? I have nowhere else to go."
"Koharu, I…" Miroku breathed a sigh.
"Besides I am an adult now, and I am able to have your children." now that got a reaction out of the others.
Tatsu glanced over to see Kagome blushing over what Koharu "You alright? You're looking a little bit red."
"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just kind of shocked is all." Kagome muttered "This girl is even younger than I am, I guess things really were different back then."
"You don't know the half of it. The only things I really knew about this era before all of this started was that people only lived to be about 50, and that's if they were lucky, and that in this day and age, a paper cut is lethal."
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A few hours went by, and the group returned to the hut they were staying in to discuss their current situation.
Inuyasha was the first one to point out the obvious "Miroku you had damn well better understand the postion we're in, we can't take the girl with us."
"Yes I am aware." Miroku let out a sigh "You don't need to explain why."
"Still we can't just abandon an orphaned girl." Sango pointed out.
"True enough. We can't take her with us on our journey, but perhaps we could allow her to come with us until we can find a suitable family that will be able to take the girl in."
"That's the least you can do, considering the fact that you were the one who asked her to have your children."
"Oh you mean that, no I ask the same question every time I meet a new girl."
"Every girl except for one maybe."
"Oh. Right. Tell me something Sango, would you consider baring my-"
"Spare me would ya?"
"Sure she says that now." Tatsu rolled his eyes at the exchange, and then he shot a glance over towards Inuyasha "Three packs of ramen says that the two of them get together before we take down Naraku."
"You're living in a fantasy." Inuyasha let out a scoff.
"So you're not in?"
"Fuck yeah I'm in, easiest bet I've ever won, and there's ramen at stake."
"As is to be expected with you."
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Meanwhile, with two of the girls…
At the same time, Kagome sat with Koharu by a nearby river discussing over her current feelings for Miroku "So you're saying that Miroku was the first man you fell in love with."
"He is." Koharu gave a simple nod with a fond smile "I never forgot him even for a single day since then. I knew from the bottom of my heart that we would meet again one day, and the thought of that was what helped me to get through the hard times."
"That's what first love feels like." Kagome let out a sigh as she looked down at the water and gazed at her own reflection 'First love huh? I don't think I've ever really felt that way towards anyone before, and the only one that comes close is Tatsu, and god only knows how that's going to turn out. My friends from school seem dead set on believing that I'm in love with him, but I… I just don't know how I feel. I need some time to think this through for awhile.'
"I feel so happy, so happy that I could die."
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Meanwhile, with the forces of evil…
As well as things seemed to be going for the group, what none of them knew was that Kanna, an albino girl with white hair, black eyes and dressed in a simple white robe, was watching the group through a demonic mirror she held in her possession.
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A day went by, and the search for a new home for Koharu had begun.
Tatsu glanced over the top of the hillside as Miroku made his way down, and then he turned back towards Koharu "Well that checks out, as long as they say yes that's where Koharu is gonna be staying from here on out."
"Wait what?" Koharu's head snapped up when she heard this, and she looked horrified "Please don't make me leave, I promise not to a burden. Let me come with you."
"There's no chance of that happening. It would be way too dangerous to let you come with us considering what we have to do, Miroku knows this better than any of us. The thing he cares about most is keeping you safe."
"But…"
"I've spoken to the village elder." this was when Miroku made his way back to the group.
"Miroku…"
"I know what you want to say Koharu, but please come with me won't you?" he put an arm around her shoulder and led her away from the group, though that wouldn't stop them from trying to listen to what he was saying to her.
"Miroku please, I cannot bear the thought of having to part ways with you again after such a short time."
"Please try to understand what I'm telling you Koharu." he pulled her into a gentle hug to try and comfort her "I cannot guarantee to you that I would always be able to protect you whenever I have to go into a battle, and that fact is inevitable. You see, the demon that I seek to vanquish is more devious and formidable than any other. Having to part ways with you like this is very difficult for me as well."
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Meanwhile, with the rest of the group…
"So what do you think?" of course, Inuyasha and the rest of the group were watching the exchange between Miroku and Koharu "Anyone else think this looks like he's trying to make a move on her?"
"You'd have to be blind not to notice that." Tatsu pointed out dryly "But then again we're talking about a guy who asked an 11 year old to have his kids."
"I'm starting to wonder if Naraku was really wrong about trying to rid the world of his entire bloodline."
"Putting aside how messed up that sounds, the lecher is all over the girl. Trying to part ways with her like that will just make her fall deeper in love." Sango let out a scoff, then glanced over to see the looks she was getting from the others "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"I might just be imagining it Sango, but is there a little bit of a jealousy thing going on here with you?"
"Whatever you're seeing is your imagination." her rage ended up producing comical flames that didn't miss a second in scaring the every loving crap out of most of the group.
"...Yeah okay, if you say so."
"Whatever you need to tell yourself." Tatsu shared a quick glance with Kagome "Damn, if she could do stuff like that on command then Naraku would've been turned into a bloody stain on the ground a long time ago." he glanced over at Kirara "I don't suppose you have any input to add on that note?" he was met with a simple meow "Yeah that's about what I expected."
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Nightfall came, and the group was preparing to head out.
As one would imagine, Koharu was less than thrilled when she heard this "Miroku I'm begging of you, won't you please stay with me for one last night? One last night with you by my side is all that I ask of you."
"I understand how you feel Koharu, but I can't." Miroku told her calmly "I believe you know as well as I do that postponing our departure will only make it that much harder for you."
"But…" it was at that moment that she ran away in tears, causing him to sigh.
"If it's that bad for her now, just imagine how much worse it would be tomorrow."
"Forget about it and just stay for her sake." Sango told him flatly "I doubt one more night here is going to make that much of a difference. It would probably help too, keeping in mind the fact that we're the only people here that she knows."
"I must decline. I know how painful this must be for her, but if reason were to give way to passion and Koharu became pregnant, then she would end up bring burdened by my likeness for the rest of her life with my likeness." that earned more than a few looks of disgust.
"If reason gave way to passion?" Shippo blinked from his place on Kagome's shoulder "So what does that mean Miroku?"
"I'm delighted you asked."
"And I'm delighted you won't answer." Tatsu cut him off dryly "The kid is still young and the last thing any of us need or want is for you to corrupt him, if your talk with the girl earlier was anything to go by."
"You mean you were spying on us? You have no boundaries towards respecting my privacy do you?"
"You asked an 11 year old to have your children, you're the last person in this era or any other who has the right to talk about boundaries."
"And just like that I'm sick listening to the two of you." Inuyasha promptly started walking away from the group.
"Where the hell are you going?"
"To do two things. One, to tell the girl not to waste any of her tears on the monk. Two, to get the hell away from you two." so he promptly made his way over to where Koharu was crying in a nearby corner, and he breathed a sigh of frustration "Alright fine, we'll stay here for the night and head out in the morning."
"You will?" Koharu lit up when she heard this.
"Just for tonight, and I don't want to see any tears when the time comes, you got that?"
"Of course!"
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Soon enough, the group had settled down in the village for the night, and the hospitality had begun.
Koharu hadn't wasted any time in catering to Miroku's wishes, the first of which included her preparing a bath for him "Tell me Miroku, how is the bath temperature."
"It feels absolutely perfect." Miroku let out a sigh from inside "Nice and hot."
"Excellent, and after you finish with your bath I shall do my best to prepare the finest dinner for you and your friends."
"Thank you for going to all of this trouble Koharu."
"I assure you Miroku, it's my absolutely pleasure." and then she rushed off to fulfill her promise to him, but stopped not far away as something appeared in front of her.
As it turns out, that something was Kanna as she appeared in front of Koharu and held up her mirror, causing a light to emerge from Koharu's body and flow into the mirror, and for Koharu to collapse to the ground immediately afterwards.
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About an hour went by, no noteworthy events happening as it did, and dinner was well underway for the group.
"I have to admit, this stew really is incredibly." Kagome and the others hadn't wasted any time scarfing down the food in front of them "Koharu really is a sweetie, it looks like she really pulled out all of the stops and went out of her way to please you with her cooking Miroku."
"She's got talent that's for sure, too bad it probably won't be recognized." Tatsu's head snapped towards the doorway as he grabbed his sword, with Inuyasha and the others grabbing their own weapons.
"What's the matter?"
"It would seem that we're surrounded." Miroku told her "I fear the meal that Koharu went to so much trouble to prepare for us is going to end up going cold."
"Are you sure? I don't sense any demonic auras."
"My guess is that's because it's not demons I'm sensing." Tatsu told her.
"But if it's not demons then how are you sensing it? I mean Miroku and Inuyasha are one thing, but how can you tell?"
"Oh that's from something Akira taught me, I'll tell you about it later. For now you guys just wait here, I'm gonna go check things out." and so he took off out the doorway, with Inuyasha, Miroku and Kirara right behind him.
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A few moments later…
It didn't take long for Tatsu and the others to reach the center of the village, where they found a number of villagers stumbling towards them with torches in hand "Okay, it's stuff like this that tells you when shit's about to get bad."
"From what I can tell, they seem to be ordinary villagers." Miroku noted "They appear to be some kind of spell."
"And what gave that away for you, the glazed eyes and the stumbling like zombies or the fact that they're trying to kill us?"
"Whatever the hell is wrong with them, there isn't a chance in hell that I'm gonna let them take me out!" Inuyasha wasted no time in forcing his way through multiple villagers at a time and knocking them to the ground, with Tatsu and Miroku doing the same, albeit to a more gentle approach.
"Take it easy Inuyasha, it's pretty obvious that these are just normal people."
"I figured that much out, I'm not an idiot!"
"You'd have to be if you keep barking at us when you should be knocking them out!"
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Meanwhile, back inside…
Shippo and the others glanced out the doorway as they watched the events taking place "What's going on out there?"
"They look just like ordinary villagers, but there's a lot of them." Sango promptly grabbed hold of her Hiraikotsu "Come on Kagome, we'd better go and help them."
"Right." Kagome grabbed hold of her sword, bow and arrows and prepared to head outside along with Sango, when…
"Please, you have to help!" this was when Koharu rushed into the room "Something dreadful has happened!"
"What's the matter Koharu?"
"A demon was able to get inside and attacked the elder and his wife!"
"All we need to hear, Sango let's get moving."
"Stay with Koharu just in case anything comes from behind, I'll go ahead and make sure that way is clear." Sango told her.
"Got it." and with this in mind, the group started moving throughout the building until they found the forms of the headman and his wife sprawled out on the ground unconscious 'These poor people.'
"You said it was a demon that did this?"
"Think back for a second Koharu, do you remember what the demon looked like?"
"Not exactly, I only caught a glimpse of it." Koharu muttered.
'But this whole thing doesn't make sense, if there was a demon then Miroku and Inuyasha would sense it right away. Something about this seems off.'
"Come on, let's get moving and see if we can track it down." Sango advanced into the next room and motioned for Kagome and the others to follow, but then she and the others suddenly caught sight of Kanna standing in the doorway in front of them "There it is!" she was about to hurl the Hiraikotsu, but then stopped when Kanna disappeared 'Where did she-' they looking around to see another image of Kanna appear and disappear behind them, and then reappear in front of the group "That's it! Hiraikotsu!" she didn't hesitate in hurling it forward.
Kanna needed only to hold out her mirror to stop Hiraikotsu mid flight, then used it to reflect it back at Sango and strike her square in the chest, sending both her and Shippo hurtling to the ground in a heap.
"Sango, Shippo are you guys okay?" Kagome was quick to rush over to Sango and try and snap her out of it "Sango say something, can you hear me?" she was met with only a loud groan of pain as a response 'This isn't good, that attack was enough to hurt her really bad.'
It was at this moment that Kanna finally uttered a single word "Kagome."
'This girl is the demon, but why can't I sense anything from her? And for that matter, how the heck does she know my name?' Kagome was preoccupied with this thought for a moment, before she was snapped out of it by Koharu grabbing her from behind in a full nelson "Koharu what are you doing, that girl is the demon!"
"Look into my mirror. Give me your soul." Kanna held out her mirror to Kagome as it started glowing with blue energy.
Kagome was unable to resist, and her eyes glazed over as a blue energy started flowing from her body and into the mirror.
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Meanwhile, with the male protagonists…
"Okay you know what, this is getting on my nerves now!" by this point, Tatsu had resorted to just punching out the villagers one by one.
"Show restraint to them Tatsu, keep in mind that these are ordinary villagers! They've simply been placed under a spell, we must not harm them!" Miroku called out to him.
"I know what I'm doing monk, this isn't the first time I've fought off a mob of people that were out for my blood, and it probably won't be the last." Tatsu ducked underneath a blow from a pickaxe and swept the villager's legs out from under him to knock him out 'That's the last time I make the mistake of screaming at the top of my lungs in public about my opinion that the Sam Raimi Spider Man Trilogy was overrated, and that Tobey Maguire as Spider Man showed off about as much personality as a stack of bricks.'
"Honestly, you fools are absolutely pathetic." this was when Kagura decided to reveal herself to the group, looking as sadistic and smug as ever "You would've been better off if you just killed all of these people, and then they wouldn't be able to keep coming after you. Then again, I suppose that if you were capable of killing them, then you would've done so by now."
"And you would've been a lot better to not show your face around me, if our last encounter is anything to go by. I take it you're the one controlling these people?"
"I am, a mortal without a soul is no different than a man who has been claimed by death. It just so happens that your friend Kagome is having her soul sucked right out of her body even as we speak."
"So you have a friend here with you. Then all I have to do is rip off your head instead of settling for just an arm." he prepared to unleash a Sea Dragon's Roar, only to stop in the middle of it when he saw Inuyasha holding out Tessaiga in front of him "What are you doing?"
"Stopping you from wasting time and saving my pride." Inuyasha told him flatly "Take the monk and go back to the house to help the girls, I've got a score to settle with this wench, and it's gonna involve having her suck on the flat end of my Wind Scar."
"Good enough for me." and so Tatsu grabbed hold of Miroku and the two of them disappeared in a flash using his Dragon Warp.
"Go ahead wench, give me everything you've got."
"As if you had to ask, this time victory shall be mine! Dance of Blades!" Kagura waved her fan and unleashed a barrage of wind blades.
Inuyahsa promptly batted all of the wind blades away with the Tessaiga, but it was when that he noticed something "What the hell, you got your arm ripped off last time!"
"Naraku has contingency plans just in case of such an event happening."
"Of course he does, why the fuck am I not surprised?"
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Meanwhile, with the other males…
It didn't take long for Miroku and Tatsu to reach the house, and they found Koharu sprawled out on the floor in one of the rooms "Koharu!"
"You take care of her, I'm gonna go track down Kagome and the others." Tatsu then took off through the halls without waiting for a response.
"Koharu come, say something!" Miroku rushed over to Koharu and tried to help her to regain consciousness.
Koharu's eyes slowly fluttered open, and once they did she immediately latched onto Miroku and buried her face in his chest "It was horrible Miroku, it was just so horrible!"
"I'm sure it was, but you don't have to be afraid anymore. I'm here for you now, I promise you're in safe hands. You can be sure that I will protect you."
"I know you will Miroku, I know." Koharu leaned further into his embrace, though secretly she was picking up a knife aimed at his back.
Miroku quickly caught the hand holding the knife and batted it away, and then he proceeded to deal Koharu a swift fist to the gut that knocked her out cold "I didn't want to have to do that, but I didn't have a choice in the matter either. What on earth is going on? If Koharu was acting like this, then Kagome and the others must be in danger. I
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Meanwhile, with the girls…
"Ow, my head…" Shippo let out a groan as he regained consciousness, but then he quickly turned serious when he saw Kagome getting her soul sucked out by Kanna "Hey what are you doing to Kagome, get away from her!" he pounced at Kanna in a moment of courage, only for her energy to send him flying and crashing to the ground.
Kanna didn't bat an eye at Shippo's attack and continued with sucking out Kagome's soul with her mirror, only to take notice of something "How strange, I cannot subdue her soul." she took a few steps forward "Still, you are unable to move, are you not? I desire the shards of the Shikon Jewel that you possess. Give it to me."
"No… I won't…" despite her weakened state, Kagome managed to pull herself back to her feet and gripped her sword, her eyes blazing with determination.
'How is she still able to move?'
"Sea Dragon's Waterball!" a large swirling sphere of water suddenly shot through the walls towards Kanna, courtesy of Tatsu as he burst onto the scene, then took to the ground as his attack was reflected back at him "Looks like you guys already tracked down Kagura's partner in crime, to make a long story short she's here too."
Kanna eyed Tatsu for a moment, then turned around and disappeared into the shadows, her disappearance from the scene prompting Kagome to collapse to the ground.
At least that's what would've happened, if Tatsu didn't catch her "Easy Kags I've got you, are you okay?"
"Tatsu!" it was at this moment that Miroku rushed into the room, with Kirara following right after him "Tatsu what happened, what exactly went on in here?"
"I heard something about Kagura's partner in crime trying to draw Kagome's soul out using some kind of demon mirror, at least that's what I heard Shippo say. The kid's passed out on the floor over there. Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling we might have our work cut out for us with this one."
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Meanwhile, with Inuyasha…
"Dance of Blades!" with a wave of her fan, Kagura unleashed a barrage of wind blades that ended up ripping through a number of the villagers.
'Shit!' seeing the attack hurtling towards him, Inuyasha was forced to on the evasive, which put him on the receiving end of some taunting from Kagura.
"You do nothing but flee from my attacks, is this all that the great Inuyasha is capable of in the heat of battle? This leads me to one belief, Naraku grossly overestimates your abilities if he has to send me to do his dirtywork."
"Why don't you stand there and find out for yourself wench. Kagome's healing spell really did the trick, after taking Koga's attacks like that I'm already back to full strength, which means that I can hit her with everything I've got. All I need is one good swing on this wench, and then I can send her flying. Now do what Tatsu didn't, and aim for the head. I just have to use a single move in order to cut through the Wind Scar, and then I can take her down for good.'
"Dance of the Dragon!" with another wave of her fan, Kagura sent forward a barrage of wind tornadoes that once again forced Inuyasha to go on the evasive 'I never imagined that this pathetic mongrel would try to use something as elaborate as the Wind Scar against me. When I first met him and the others in battle, I was able to manipulate the wind so that he couldn't create this so called Wind Scar, but then that human brat Tatsu charged in and used his water powers to rip through me and one attack ripped off my left arm! The Wind Scar is more complex then shooting out a water dragon, seeing how it is created when the demonic winds collide with one another. I control all wind, and as such a Wind Scar would never be able to form between myself and him.'
'Dammit I was afraid of this, it's not going to work. The Wind Scar isn't going to form within the wind that she created.' Inuyasha scowled at the lack of presence of a Wind Scar, but then he soon took notice of something else 'Wait a second, that is a Wind Scar! I don't get it, she controls wind so there shouldn't be a Wind Scar for me to use. What the hell does this mean, is her control over the wind getting weaker somehow? Well I'm not gonna, what was it Tatsu said, look a gift horse in the mouth? One stroke through the Wind Scar is all that I need to kill her.'
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Meanwhile, on the sidelines…
"Oh crap, he's already getting started." Tatsu (carrying Kagome in his arms bridal style and the unconscious forms of Sango and the others being carried by Kirara) and the others made their way down from the house to see what was taking place "Yeah, this is gonna turn out to be bad."
"We have to stop him before he unleashes the Wind Scar." Miroku pointed out "He doesn't yet know about the second demon, the one with the mirror that can steal people's souls. Sango tried to attack it but her weapon was thrusted back towards her, and you were almost hit by one of your own attacks."
"Which means that if Inuyasha ends up using it, then he's gonna end up being hit by the Wind Scar full force."
"We have to stop him!"
"It's too late, he's already guiding the stroke. I've got one thing I can try, but I can't say for certain it's going to be enough.
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Meanwhile, with the main battle…
"You can see the Wind Scar can't you?" Kagura gave a smirk of triumph as she glanced back to see Kanna coming up behind her "That's only because I allowed you to see it. You wish to slice through it I imagine."
"You're damn right I do, and now you're mine!" with a single stroke of Tessaiga, Inuyasha cut clear through the Wind Scar.
"And now you can die!" Kagura stepped aside as Kanna stepped forward and held out her mirror as the attack closed in on them, her mirror reflecting them back at him.
'What the-' Inuyasha didn't have any time to react as the attack closed in on him.
"Terra Shield! Sea God's Shield!", using his Dragon Warp, Tatsu blitzed in front of Inuyasha and summoned a wall of earth in front of them, followed by a water shield in front of that one, but unfortunately they weren't enough, and the Wind Scar ripped through both of them within a matter of seconds. Both he and Inuyasha could only scream in pain and agony as the energy of the Wind Scar ripped through their bodies and sent them flying back and crashing to the ground in two simultaneous heaps, though Inuyasha took the worst of it.
"Inuyasha! Tatsu!" horrified by what he was seeing, Miroku didn't hesitate in rushing to their side, only to see the blood pouring from their wounds 'The Wind Scar runs so deep, if he hadn't used both layers of defense then… Are you two still conscious, can either of you move?"
"More or less…" Tatsu spat out a considerable amount of blood as he pulled himself back to his feet, cringing at the deep gashes that covered his torso, not to mention that shredded the top of his gi "Aw dammit, this thing was a gift from my brother."
"Can you still fight?"
"I can probably fight and put up some decent defense, but I can't guarantee that I won't pass out in a pool of my own blood again once this is over." then his head snapped up "Speaking of which you'd better look sharp, we've got company. Looks like the big man himself decided to show his face."
"Come again?"
"Don't let down your guard perv, Naraku is about to show himself."
Sure enough, a large vortex of miasma descended from the skies above, and from that vortex emerged none other than Naraku, looking as composed and malicious as ever as he let out a laugh of triumph "Well that was indeed simple enough. I came here myself so that I would be able to ask you in person how it felt to have your own power turned against you, and very easily I might add."
"I'm guessing you want us to feel honored you decided to grace us with your presence, but I do appreciate the break from you acting like a coward and sending one of your demon puppets to do your job for you."
"You think me a coward."
"I think your track record speaks for itself, not to mention the fact that you never bother to get your hands dirty and you lay traps for each of us for shits and giggles. Your ego has to be even bigger than Inuyasha's right now, or else you wouldn't have the kahones to show your face in front of us."
"Ah yes, the human with the elemental powers of a demon, and the monk that wields the Wind Tunnel in the palm of his right hand. Both of you do have impressive powers by the standards of humans, but surely even the two of you would not dare to be that foolish."
'Dammit, he had to call the bluff didn't he? Kagome and the rest of the villagers had their souls sucked out and locked in that mirror, but if I can get one clean shot in on it then I might be able to break it.'
"The course of action I took was quite simple really. I created the Wind and the Void here as incarnations of myself, and yet witness the damage I was able to inflict."
'He said they're incarnations of himself, which means Miroku was right. Naraku is so much more powerful now that he can create offspring from himself to serve him. I fought Kagura back at the castle during the whole thing with Koga, and then there's this albino kid to deal with.'
"Dammit, I can't believe I let myself be fooled so easily." Miroku swore to himself "He said that this new one was the Void, and that's why we couldn't sense its evil. It doesn't have any actual presence, it's no wonder this situation went unnoticed until it was too late."
"We let ourselves get played like suckers. I guess this means I still have a long way to go before I can really protect her. Look at me, I'm preaching about how power doesn't mean anything if I don't know how to use it, and now I'm so rusty with my own skills that I let something like this happen.' his body started surging with energy, though it was fairly subtle 'One clean shot is all I need to destroy the mirror, and with any luck I'll get some damage in on them too.'
"Have we not spoken long enough?" this was when Kagura finally spoke up again "Shall we go ahead and take Inuyasha's head along with us as a trophy of our victory? No? Did you not want to be able to tell that woman about how Inuyasha had been slain? I was under the impression that this is what you desired."
'Oh great, what the hell are they going on about now?'
"True enough, it was only thanks to her and her cooperation that you and Kanna were able to be created in the first place." Naraku let out a chuckle as he pulled something out of his robe, which happened to be the nearly completed form of the Shikon Jewel, which left Tatsu and Miroku both frozen in thei tracks "I cannot help but wonder, what would reaction would she show to me if I were to show her Inuyasha's head severed from the rest of his body."
'You've gotta be kidding me, his shard of the jewel is lamost whole. Shit, it's been less than three months and we're already so close to the jewel being completed?'
"Tell me something Tatsu, Monk, you told me earlier that I do everything to avoid having to sully my own hands."
"You do."
"So you say, but even the mightiest are inferior to someone. A certian woman had attempted to use me so that I would end Inuyasha's life for her."
"A woman… are you talking about…?"
"Indeed I am, that Kikyo truly is turning out to be quite the piece of work. You would agree with that wouldn't you?"
'So it was Kikyo after all.' Tatsu glanced over to see Inuyasha bolt upright when he heard the mention of Kikyo's name, or at least try to.
"Kikyo was the one to personally hand me your shards of the Shikon Jewel, and she did it of her own free will."
'Well it's official, if I wasn't pissed at Kikyo before, I sure as hell am now.'
"So you understand now don't you? What that woman wishes for is to gaze upon Inuyasha's face, but only after he's good and dead! Dance of Blades!" Kagura waved her fan and hurtled forward a barrage of wind blades.
"Miroku get behind me and don't move. Sea Dragon's Nest!" Tatsu ushered Miroku behind him, then spread out his arms and summoned a dome of water that effectively cancelled out the wind blades, protecting those inside with ease "It's like I told you before, Naraku might be getting stronger but so are the rest of us. You don't have what it takes to bring us down."
"We'll see about that you filthy wretch!" Kagura unleashed another barrage of wind blades, only for a Sacred Arrow to drop down in front of everyone and purify the wind attack within a matter of seconds.
'That's a Sacred Arrow, so it must mean… Kagome!'
Sure enough, Kagome was flown down onto the scene on Kirara's back, looking exhausted and rather sluggish, but she was still there armed and ready for a fight "Sorry I'm late… how are you guys doing…?"
"I think all of us have better than we are right now, but to be fair none of us had our souls sucked out of our body. Don't push yourself too hard, just get inside the water barrier and let me do the rest."
"No… I need to do this… Just stay back… and protect the others…"
'It seems that Kanna failed in sucking out this girl's soul.' Naraku glanced over at Kanna, but then he noticed a light emerging from the mirror 'Her soul is spilling out of Kanna's mirror. It shouldn't be possible, just how much power does this girl possess?'
"What about Inuyasha… how is he…?"
"He and I both took direct blows from the Wind Scar, but I'm the only one who was durable enough to somewhat withstand it." Tatsu told her "He'll live so that's a plus, but there's no way he'll be able to get up and fight as he is right now."
"I see… just protect him… and the others…"
"I plan to do just that, but not only them." Tatsu blitzed outside of the water barrier while still keeping it active "I promised I was going to protect you no matter what, and I'll be damned if I break that promise now."
"Listen you two, and listen well." this was when Naraku got their attention "I have a message that I wish for the two of you to pass onto Inuyasha. If he must hold hatred for anyone, then let it be Kikyo, for the only thing that she desires is for Inuyasha to be claimed by death."
"First of all, I do that plenty for all of us already. Second of all-"
"Spare us the high and mighty act, I'm tired of listening to you preach." Kagome cut him off sharply as she drew her Seishin Rozu from its sheath and raised the blade into the air "The fact that I have to listen to you preach like you know everything makes me sick, and I'm not going to let you hurt my friends or anyone else any more than you already have!"
"Points for the spirit Kagome but this is a bad idea, what's to stop her mirror from deflecting it back at you like it did with Hiraikotsu and the Wind Scar."
"I can guarantee that it won't, don't forget that my spiritual powers are able to purify a demonic aura."
"But she doesn't have one."
"Maybe she doesn't, but the same can't be said for her mirror. I can feel it, the same sensation burning within my chest. The feeling of having someone to protect, wanting to protect them with every fiber of your being, and having the resolve to push yourself to your limit! Take this!" she brought down her sword with a single stroke, and from that stroke emerged a large wave of spiritual energy.
Kanna simply held out her mirror to block the wave of spiritual energy, resulting in it being absorbed into the mirror until it disappear "Her stroke went through. It didn't deflect."
'So I was right, because my sword can unleash spiritual energy it could break through instead of being absorbed.
"I understand. Her sword is like her arrow, and is made up of souls. The mirror has been entirely filled, and unless the souls are released, the mirror will burst." this was when a series of lights started spilling out of the souls, Kagome being engulfed in one of them, and then the rest of them going to Koharu and the rest of the villagers.
"I see, so now that her mirror had to release all of the souls it held, they're being returned to the bodies they came from. Which means now is your chance to attack, if you're going to rip them to shreds then do it now."
"Kagome… Her eyes are so full of determination, it's like what Kazuma keeps saying that he sees in me whenever he looks at me… The will to make sure that no blood is shed, the feeling that you have to get stronger… the sensation of having those you wish to protect. Right. You've done a great job Kagome, just stand back and let finish this. Sea Dragon's Roar: Dual Version!" with both arms spread out in front of him, he unleashed two simultaneous water dragons and sent them hurtling forward at full speed.
"Such ferocity and unity you display, not that it will be enough." Naraku gave another smirk as he, Kagura and Kanna all vanished from sight immediately before they could be hit by the water dragons.
"Dammit, so now they can just disappear whenever the hell they want to. The bastard has more plot armor going for him than Aizen."
"We shall allow you and the rest of your companions to live, at least for the time being. The shards of the Shikon Jewel will continue to bestow me with even greater amounts of power as time progresses. Let us all relish the immeasurable power of the Shikon Jewel, shall we? Yes I think we shall."
"What I think we shall is do whatever it takes to make you shut the hell up."
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Morning came, and the sun was still rising over the skies above the village.
Koharu looked around as things were starting to settle down for everyone, her thoughts drifting with the morning sun 'I remember nothing about what happened last night, aside from Miroku and his companions saving all of us. But now I understand what it is you were trying to tell me. You told me that life itself is a frightening image for every human being. In your right hand is a hole that is capable of drawing everything in its path into the void. In time, the day would eventually come when you too would be drawn into the terrible nothingness of your own hand. Being strong in life, it is a difficult task for anyone to accomplish, as is overcoming uncertainties in any form. I understand now, this is something that you have to do, for your own sake. I will not stand in your way, I can only pray that you will be successful in your quest. And if the day should come that you return to me, then I will welcome you with open arms.'
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Meanwhile, with the main protagonist…
"Iron Spear Storm!" within the woods, Tatsu fired a barrage of iron spears from both hands, a number of them ricocheting off of each other and forcing him to evade, which he did for the most part, though he still took a few cuts and bruises as a result 'Dammit, I guess I got a lot more complacent than I thought I did.'
"I figured I would find you out here training like always."
Tatsu glanced over to see Kagome making her way through the trees and onto the scene "Given everything that's happened I let myself get complacent, and because of that I ended up letting my skills get rusty in the process. How are the others holding up?"
"I used my Healing Hand on Inuyasha and Sango so their wounds are healed, but they still need time to rest. Funny thing about the Healing Hand that my grandpa didn't tell me, it turns out that while it can heal injuries, it doesn't restore stamina. Miroku and Shippo are back keeping an eye on things for now, but overall morale is pretty low."
"You can't blame them for feeling down though, Naraku has almost all of the jewel shards in his possession already."
"That actually does kind of throw me off though, I mean he's got almost all of them already and it hasn't even been three months."
"Yeah I know, I was thinking the exact same thing. Still though, I can imagine Inuyasha has a lot to deal with right now. Naraku told us that Kikyo was the one who gave him our shards of the jewel to add onto his own. I swear, the more I hear about her the higher she gets on my shit list, and that's not an easy thing to do."
"You hate her that much?"
"I'm definitely getting there. She was brought back by you having your soul sucked out of your body, she tried to drag Inuyasha into hell and would've if it wasn't for us, and then the last time we saw her she stole the jewel shards from around your neck, tried to kill you, admitted to my face and then laughed about it."
"Well, you do make a convincing point. I can't imagine what it's like, to have someone you love hate you so much. Is that supposed to be what true love looks like?"
"Definitely not, I'm not gonna pull the pin on that grenade right now. What I will say is that in my eyes, the best example of true love comes from Kazuma and Moya. What the two of them have with each other, it's what I want someday." he let out a sigh that came off as somewhat wistful, but then he changed the subject "So is there something I can do for you?"
"Actually yeah, I was hoping I could ask you for a favor, if you're up for it I mean."
"Yeah sure, what's up?"
"Okay well, here it is… Can you train me? As in teach me how to fight as well as you do?"
"I… was not expecting that. What brought this on?"
"To be honest, a lot of stuff. I've been watching you training and fighting for so long and I never really thought too much of it, like it would never really be needed. I was wrong to think that, I see it now. When I first saw you fight Sesshomaru and you got hurt so bad, it was an eye opener for me. I had to get stronger, because if I didn't then you might end up being killed. Not just you either, but the likes of my mom, grandpa and Sota back home, and everyone else here too. My dad taught me swordsmanship in that whole meeting of the minds, and it made me stronger, but not strong enough. My dad taught me all he could, but then he said that I would have to go on my own from there. But that's the thing, I'm not on my own. You said to me awhile back that there is no shame in being weak, but there is shame in staying weak. I want to do my part in making sure that Naraku gets destroyed, but it's not just for that either. You've stood by my side for as long as I can remember, and it's not fair for me to not do the same. I know I can't handle the same sort of training regimen that you can, and I know I probably can't get up to the same level as you do, but I know that I can learn a lot from you. So please, help me get stronger." she bowed her head and held her breath, waiting for his answer.
"...Alright, I'll do what I can. But I'm gonna warn you now, it's gonna be the hardest thing you've ever had to do. This kind of training will end up draining you mentally, physically and spiritually. And I mean even more than school already does."
"I'm ready for it." Kagome gave him a smile bright enough to light up the darkest of caves, and then she pulled him into a gentle hug, her voice soft "Thank you."
A/N:
Now we get to see the debut of Naraku's second incarnation, Kanna of the Void, make her appearance, and the battle in which she appears before the group results in our heroes taking more than their fair share of damage. Inuyasha and Sango both ended up badly injured, and the group learns that Kikyo was the one who gave their jewel shards to Naraku.
Something I probably should mention is that Kagura got a new arm to replace the one that she lost to Tatsu, made from Saimyosho merging with her body. I know some of you will probably call this a copout, but to be fair Naraku had them do the same thing with Muso later on, so I don't see why it couldn't work with any of his other incarnations.
One other thing worth noting is that Kagome has taken the next step in growing stronger for the sake of the group, and that's asking Tatsu to train her not just in swordsmanship, but in fighting in general. The first example of her training is going to come in the next chapter, and it will be one lesson at a time.