(Lost Memories)
"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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About a week and a half had gone by since the battle with Juromaru and Kageromaru, not to mention a certain realization on Kagome's part, and the adventures in the Feudal Era had once again gone underway, which meant two things: Jewel Shards and training. At the moment, it was the latter.
Sango, Inuyasha, Miroku and Kagome stood huddled in the corner of the clearing they were in, and the former glanced over at were Tatsu stood a short distance away from the group with his back facing them "Okay listen up guys, I have a plan on how we can do this. Miroku, I want you to strike first."
"You wish for me to attack Tatsu head on?" Miroku raised an eyebrow.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
"Meaning she wants you to get your ass handed to you, Wind Tunnel or not that's all you really do in a fight." Inuyasha commented dryly, earning a series of smacks upside the head.
"Trust me, this is all part of a plan I have in mind to catch Tatsu off guard."
"Yeah I hate to break it to you Sango, but your plans in a fight don't do a damn thing agaist the enemy. Face it, Kirara does all the heavy lifting." this earned him a growl from Kirara and a smack upside the head from one of her tails.
"...Okay change of plans, Inuyasha you're going to attack him first."
"How about everyone shuts the hell up and we do this!" and so the four of them started advancing forward and spread out to different corners of the clearing.
"So you guys have a plan in mind?" Tatsu glanced around as they scattered, and he dropped into a combat stance without even drawing either of his swords "Alright then, let's see how this works out for you. Come at me."
"I've been waiting to shove this sword up your ass for months!" Inuyasha drew Tessaiga and charged at Tatsu at full speed.
"Yeah well, you're gonna keep waiting." Tatsu weaved his way around Inuyasha's attack and dealt him a solid kick to the chest, knocking Tessaiga out of his grip and sending him crashing to the ground.
"Now!" this was when Sango, Miroku and Kagome all came charging at him from three different angles.
Tatsu weaved his way around a kick from Sango and a thrust of Miroku's staff, and then he ducked underneath a slash of Kagome's sword, before he caught Sango by the leg and Miroku by the wrist, and swept their legs out from under him "And then there was one." he drew one of his swords and aimed a slash.
'Now's my chance!' seeing Tatsu slash with his sword, Kagome ducked underneath his attack, and with a single movement of her sword and a half step forward, she dealt him a diagonal upward slash across the chest, sending him staggering backwards a few feet. It was only after a few seconds that she realized what she did, and she was horrified by it "Crap! Tatsu I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" she was silenced by the blade of a sword being held at her throat.
"...Yeah, I think it's safe to say I'm gonna be feeling that one in the morning." Tatsu let out a sigh as he wiped some of the blood from the cut on his chest, then sheathed his sword and gave a smile and a nod "You definitely had me going there, but just when you had the advantage against me you hesitated, and that made you vulnerable and let me put a blade to your throat. In battle you can't hesitate for even a second, or else you're as good as dead."
"Yeah… Yeah, I'm starting to get that idea."
"Glad to hear it. Anyway I think that's enough of that for today." Tatsu promptly pulled two of his Fangs out of his pocket and placed them back on the necklace he wore "Unless any of you want to go a round with three Fangs instead of just one."
"...No thanks, I think we're good."
"Alright then, you guys go ahead and get camp set up. I'll head out and grab some wood to start the fire with." and so he took off.
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Nightfall came, and the group was preparing to settle down for the night.
By this point, Sango and Kagome had settled down to relax in a nearby hotspring, and the former was quick to get a conversation started "Is everything alright with you Kagome? Ever since you came back from your era you've seemed pretty tense, even when we finished training you looked so on edge."
"I could tell you knew something was up with me, and you're right." Kagome let out a sigh "I did a lot of thinking while I was back in my time, I realized something really important, I feel like I have to tell someone or I'm gonna explode, but I can't tell him or else I'm gonna explode or- I don't know what the heck to do!"
"Kagome calm down, if you have something to say then just say it."
"Alright alright." so with a deep breath, Kagome decided to just come out and say it "I think I'm in love with Tatsu." she was met with silence, but only for a moment.
"...Wow." Sango's eyes widened when she heard this "Well it's about time."
"That… was not the reaction I was expecting."
"Well I mean I knew you knew he had feelings for you so I figured it was only a matter of time before this happened, me and Miroku both did actually, but are you serious? You really believe you're in love with Tatsu?"
"I don't just think it, I know it from the bottom of my heart, and it's driving me nuts. I can't sleep at night, I can barely eat, he's all that I think about. I close my eyes and I see Tatsu, I try and listen to music and I think about Tatsu, even when I try and train late at night because I can't sleep just looking at my sword reminds me of him."
"Okay Kagome, you have to calm down. So you know that you love Tatsu, that's good, but what do you want to do now? Do you want to tell him how you feel?"
"Of course I do, but I… I'm scared to. It's kind of hard to explain why. I mean I love him and he loves me, it should be that simple right?"
"If you think that then why are you scared?"
"Because I don't want to hurt him. The truth is that I've actually known about how he feels about me for awhile, but I never said anything because I didn't want to risk hurting him. If I tell him how I feel and I have to mention that, then I might end up hurting him."
"Kagome… You don't want to take this for granted."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you have a chance to attain happiness right before your very eyes, but you're letting your own fear get the better of you over this. Keep in mind that not all of us have the luxury of being able to tell someone they love them, and then start a relationship. Take me for example, I have things that I have to do before I can ever even consider getting married. But I have to try, I have to forward with it or else I won't be able to move forward in life. I'm sure that Miroku is bound to feel the same way if you ask him. I can't start a relationship right now, but you're a different case. You have an opportunity here, don't waste it."
Kagome said nothing, she just laid back against a nearby rock, her thoughts drifting as she relaxed into the water.
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The next day came, and in their travels, the group had come across something that was rather unprecedented.
"So this is the place then?" Miroku glanced around at the sight before them "This is the place where Naraku's castle used to be?"
"No doubt about it, I can still smell traces of his miasma." Inuyasha let out a growl.
"As I thought, this is certainly the place."
"It doesn't make any sense though." Tatsu muttered "There's barely any signs of the ruins, and even if a castle was here how do we know for sure it was Naraku's?"
"I will admit that you do have a point, but considering this is Naraku we're dealing with, it wouldn't be the first time we've been lured to a false castle."
"But the castle we saw during the times with Kohaku and Koga were just illusions, there are actual signs of a castle here. Maybe it was one that got torn down during the war."
"No it was Naraku's and it was definitely real." Sango muttered.
"How can you tell?"
"There's no doubt it, Naraku's castle was definitely here, if what I'm seeing right now is any indication." she held something up for them to see, a piece of armor "I know because this is the armor my father wore in battle. The day that he and the others were murdered, we Demon Slayers were lured to Naraku's castle."
"Yeah you told us about this, you killed the spider demon but then your brother was being controlled by Naraku and killed all of the others, except for you. Are you saying…"
"These are the graves of my father and comrades. The lord had ordered that their bodies would be buried in the corner of the courtyard, right where we're standing."
"...Well then we had best get started." Miroku made his way forward and started removing his robes as he knelt down in front of the graves "It wouldn't be right to leave your father and the others here, buried in a ground tainted by the presence of Naraku. We shall bury them elsewhere and offer our prayers, so long as you find that to be agreeable Sango."
"Of course I do. Miroku, I… thank you."
'So this is where Naraku's castle stood…' Kagome looked around at the grounds where the castle once stood 'He somehow moved the castle itself and left behind the bodies of the people that died here, but what about the people inside that were still alive, like Kohaku? I know Naraku was controlling him, so did Naraku take him with him or kill him again?'
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A little while later…
It took a little while, but Miroku and the others were able to move the remains of the Demon Slayers to a new grave along a cliffside path, and they offered their prayers in respect "It may not be the most suitable resting place for them, but at the very least, this way the forces of nature and wild predators won't be able to disturb them. Let this be their resting place, at least for the time being."
"Thank you Miroku, truly." Sango laid down a small bouquet of flowers in front of the graves, her eyes blazing with determination and resolve 'I promise all of you, someday I will erect proper graves for all of you back in our village. The village is abandoned now, but Kohaku and I are both still alive, and both of us are going to watch over the graves. That is to say, if I can manage to find Kohaku and free him from Naraku's clutches.'
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However, what none of them knew was that Kohaku was still alive and well, albeit with the jewel shard implanted in his back, as well as with amnesia, and had been living with an elderly couple that had found him in the woods shortly after the mysterious disappearance of Lord Kagewaki's castle. Unfortunately, this came to an end when he had to run, after being attacked by a sizeable swarm of Naraku's Saimyosho.
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Meanwhile, with the main group…
"So like I was saying before, it's all in the legs." even though night had fallen, training carried on for the group, as Tatsu and Kagome were in the middle of sparring, his two swords against her Seishin Rozu "Remember that while you can just use your spiritual powers to blow demons up, demons aren't the only thing we're gonna be coming across in this era."
"It's like you were saying, all the power in the world doesn't mean anything if you don't know how to use it." Kagome blocked a strike from one of his swords aimed at her legs, and then she took a few steps back.
"But the main point I'm trying to get across right now is that a sparring match like the one we're having now is a fighting focusing purely on katanas, not on spiritual or demonic power like the two of us possess. In cases like this, it's a competition based solely on skills with a sword, if our other matches are anything to go by."
"And because you have so much more experience with it than me, that puts you at a pretty big advantage over me. That's what you're saying right?"
"It's just stating a fact, but I think I have an analogy to make it work. A tree that has weak roots can be knocked over pretty easily, especially when it has a lot of fine branches at the top."
"So it's a tree analogy?"
"Let me finish. A sword isn't anything more than the tip of a fine branch to the one that wields it, so what I'm saying is that if you put your strength into your sword, then it doesn't have any real meaning if your roots and lower body parts aren't firmly planted in the ground. If you fail to do that in a fight, then it leads to something like this!" he dealt a slash aimed at Kagome's sword, causing one of her hands to lose its grip on the blade and almost making her stumble back from the blow "And now?"
"Now it's like you said, firmly plant my roots!" Kagome took a step back to strengthen her stance as she brought down her sword against one of Tatsu's, and then she pushed back against him further, and with another strike she knocked him to the ground. With that over, she let out a sigh and helped him to his feet "Saying that out loud sounds kind of weird though."
"You get used to it, like with pretty much anything else you do for a long time. But some things you don't need to, take kendo for example. You're really something else you know."
"Oh come on." Kagome found herself blushing and looked away nervously "I'm only doing this well because I had a good teacher."
"Don't sell yourself short, you're picking up on these things at least twice as fast as I did when I first started training. The way I see it, you're the kind of talent that only shows its face once in years." this caused her to blush harder, but he didn't have time to take notice of this as his head suddenly snapped up "Looks like your daily praising is gonna have to wait, we've got some work to do."
"Is it a demon?"
"Well if the Ki I'm sensing is anything to go by, yeah I'd say so."
"It's worse than that, I can sense a shard of the jewel in that direction too."
"...We'd better get the others."
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A few minutes later…
It didn't take long for Tatsu and Kagome, along with the rest of the group, to take off running through the forest at full speed "Well how about it Kagome, is it this way?"
"There's no doubt about it, I sense it just beyond the forest." Kagome didn't waste any time in running after him, albeit having a little bit of trouble keeping up on foot, but then she looked up and took notice of a swarm of Saimyosho flying above them "And even if I couldn't sense it, I guess that would be a pretty clear sign."
"Which means that we've got some competition for getting our hands on that shard."
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Meanwhile, with Kohaku…
'Yes that's it, I remember now!' Kohaku bolted through the woods away as fast as he could, his chain sickle in hand and his mind racing 'I ran away from that castle the night it disappeared, after that person said that he didn't need to keep me alive any longer. He called me Kohaku, so I guess that must be my name.' it was at this moment that he felt the ground beneath him suddenly erupt, and from the ground emerged a massive spider-like demon "What the-"
"It's useless to resist Kohaku, you cannot escape from me. Now give me the shard of the Shikon Jewel that you have in your back!"
'The what I have in my where?'
"Surrender the jewel to me!"
"I don't have whatever it is you're looking for!" Kohaku was forced to avoid the attack from the demon but ended up crashing to the ground as a result, his chain sickle flying into the air, while he was forced to cower as the demon closed in on him…
"Kohaku hold on!" this was when Sango and the others came running onto the scene "Get away from him you filthy demon!"
"We'd better hurry Sango, that demon is trying to get the jewel shard that Kohaku has implanted in his back." Kagome told her.
"What?! But the shard that Kohaku has in his back is the only thing that's keeping him alive, if the shard is pulled out then he'll die. I won't let that happen. Hiraikotsu!" with a single movement, she hurled forward Hiraikotsu and ripped through the demon in an instant, and it was then that she locked eyes with Kohaku, and both of them froze in place 'Kohaku… you were being controlled by Naraku, and I saw you in Naraku's castle, so how in the world did you end up here now?'
"Who…" Kohaku struggled to find his voice for a moment "Who are you? Do I know you from somewhere?" and that made everyone freeze in place.
"You… You mean you don't recognize me?"
"Am I supposed to?"
Sango said nothing, she just sank to her knees and pulled him into a hug.
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A little bit of time passed and the group retired to a nearby abandoned hut for the night.
"You hurt your arm, let me take care of this for you." Sango had taken it upon herself to see to the wound that Kohaku had on his arm.
"Thank you…" Kohaku looked up at Sango nervously "Excuse me, but have the two of us ever met before?"
"...Y-Yes, yes we have."
"Oh, I see."
"Think back for a minute Kohaku, are you sure that you don't remember anything at all from before that night you escaped from the castle?" asked Kagome.
"No, nothing at all."
"So then you don't remember Naraku either?" Sango's voice was quiet.
"Naraku? Wait a minute… That man who told me that he didn't need me alive, could he have been this Naraku she's talking about?'
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Meanwhile, outside the hut…
"I say all of this reeks like a pile of horse shit." Inuyasha let out a growl as he sat down on the ground, Tessaiga in hand "I don't buy any of it, I say the kid is just trying to put on some stupid act for us."
"That doesn't appear to be the case to me." Miroku told him calmly.
"So what then, you're saying you trust him?"
"I never said that. Keep in mind that the last time we saw Kohaku, he was virtually a puppet with no mind or consciousness of his own, like a human without a soul. Now we have the boy inside with Shippo and the girls, but we've yet to be given any true reason to suspect anything amiss from him." Miroku then glanced over at where Tatsu was sitting next to him "So what do you believe about this situation?" he was met with a sigh, but nothing else "Well… alright then, I suppose."
"That's my input for the time being."
"Hey guys." this was when Kagome made her way out of the hut with Shippo clinging onto her shoulder.
"So Sango's in there alone with him?"
"That was how she wanted it to be, and given everything that's happened I don't plan on arguing with her."
"Fair enough. So what are they doing in there?"
"From what I know, she's probably trying to tell him about their life in the slayer village to try and jog his memory. I can only imagine what Sango must be feeling right now."
"Not just her, what about the kid? He must be confused as hell, he probably doesn't even have any idea what's going on."
"Oh… I never even thought about that. He must be so confused right now."
"So he claims." Inuyasha let out a scoff "Just give me a few minutes alone with the kid, I bet a few good punches will be enough to knock the truth out of him."
"Come on Inuyasha, do you really think that's going to solve anything?"
"It's better than sitting around on our asses doing nothing."
"But Kagome is right, it's not as simple of a situation as that." Miroku told him "I cannot say for certain whether or not this is a trap, but the fact is that Sango has finally been reunited with her younger brother, and if it does turn out to be a trap then Sango will be devastated. We have to keep in mind that Naraku loves to toy with people's emotions, if for no other reason than to watch them suffer." it was then that they noticed Sango making her way out of the hut.
"You know what fuck it, I'm not pussyfooting around this." Inuyasha promptly pulled himself to his feet "If you guys aren't gonna tell her then I will."
"The hell you will." Tatsu grabbed him by the back of his robe and yanked him back to the ground, while he himself stood up "I'm gonna go and talk to Sango myself, you're staying here with the others."
"What you know I'm right about this, so what the hell is your problem?"
"Well first of all, it's not just about being right. Second of all, if you think I'm gonna let the guy who said "zombie shard puppet brother" right to her face try and tell her that her brother is some kind of double agent working against her, you're living in a fantasy." and so he left the group and made his way over to Sango "Hey."
"Hey, is everything alright out here?" asked Sango.
"More or less, how's the kid doing?"
"He's sleeping inside, I just wanted to let you know that it doesn't seem like there's anything to worry about." she glanced around nervously "What's the matter?"
"There's a little bit of… divisiveness going around right now, mainly because of your brother popping up out of nowhere like this."
"Oh. I see." Sango's face fell when she heard this.
"Inuyasha is dead set that this is another trap Naraku set for us. Kagome and Shippo are dead set against it, at least based on my best guess since they've been pretty quiet about it. Miroku is somewhere in the middle."
"I see. And where do you stand on this?"
"I'm… undecided at the moment. Actually, I'm reminded of a few incidents that I went through when I was younger." he sat down on the grass and motioned for her to do the same.
What neither of them noticed was that Kohaku was slipping out of the hut through the back, having overheard much of the conversation 'That nice lady is going to become unhappy, and it's all my fault. I can't stay here, I don't want her to be upset.' and so he disappeared into the forest unnoticed.
"Did I ever tell you about my family back in my world?"
"I know a little bit, about how your mother died of sickness when you were young, and when your father died in an accident." Sango frowned slightly.
"Yep, only a few minutes after he gave me this Fang I wear around my neck. For a long time I struggled to cope with what happened. I mean my dad was my whole world back then, and in the blink of an eye he was just gone. But there was still a little bit of hope in my eyes, mainly because of one big factor: They never found his body. I still had a little glimmer of hope that my dad was still alive. I spent the next year or so trying to follow up on every lead I could find, I even begged my brother to help me with it. I don't know if he believed it to be true or not, or if he was just trying to help me grieve over losing our father, but he went along and helped me with it anyway. But then about a year went by and every lead had gone dead, so I was basically forced to give up. After that I wallowed around in depression for a few weeks, until my brother's best friend Akira offered to teach me a few things."
"Akira… that was the name of your master right?"
"That's the one. Anyway that was when he took me on as his apprentice, and he taught me everything I know about martial arts and swordsmanship, and a lot of lessons that can just apply to life in general. One thing I never mentioned to Kagome is that it's not just my way of trying to get strong enough to protect her, it's also my own coping method. Anyway, he taught me so many things over the years, now I'm doing my best to pass those lessons onto Kagome and help her grow stronger, and I've got every last one of them right here." he pulled a small notebook out of his gi and opened it to a certain page "This one was the first lesson he taught me, I still remember it like it was yesterday. In any situation, you have to be careful to trust your instincts. However, the most dangerous trap one can fall into is when they believe something to be true, for no other reason than they want it to be true. What he means is that you have to trust your instincts, unless your instincts are wrong."
"That… sounds incredibly confusing."
"And that's how you know it's good advice." he let out a chuckle, but then his expression turned serious "I'm not gonna tell you what to believe. Whether Kohaku being here is a trap or not, you have to decide that for yourself. But don't forget what I said, don't believe something to be true just because you want it to be true. Okay?"
"...Okay."
"Good." this was when Tatsu's head suddenly snapped up "Oh crap."
"What is it?"
"One argument is that this is a pretty good reason for you to learn about sensing Ki, because they're coming, and there's a lot of them. Hundreds if I had to guess." this was followed by two massive swarms, one of Saimyosho and one of regular demons, descending from the skies above and hurtling towards the group "Case and point."
"It's Kohaku they're after, they came after his jewel shard!" and so Sango promptly ran back towards the hut.
"Well in that case, there's only one thing left to do. Cascade Destroyer!" with a wave of one hand, Tatsu sent forward a barrage of water streams to rip through a number of Saimyosho and demons "Iron Spear Storm!" and then he fired a barrage of iron spears from his fingertips with his other hand.
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Meanwhile, in the hut…
"Kohaku stay where you are!" Sango bolted inside the hut, only to find that Kohaku had disappeared "Kohaku…"
"He's gone isn't he?" this was when Kagome rushed inside and grabbed hold of her sword, bow and arrows "I can sense his Shikon Jewel shard on the move, we have to get moving if we want to protect him."
"What about the others?"
"I know Tatsu and the others can handle themselves, but if Kohaku gets caught and his shard gets pulled out then it's all gonna be for nothing."
"Yes, yes you're right."
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Meanwhile, back outside the hut…
"Break off your attacks and get behind me! Sea God's Shield!" Tatsu motioned for Inuyasha and the others to get behind him as he summoned a large water shield in front of him, just as a barrage of wind blades hurtled towards them and slammed right into the shield "Okay, army of demons and the Dance of Blades, that means we're gonna have a run in with Kagura."
Sure enough, it was at this moment that Kagura decided to drop down onto the scene, holding her trademarked fan "Hey."
"Great, so what the hell do you want this time?"
"I know you and the others are trying to hide Kohaku, let me have him and I might let the rest of you live. Don't even try to fool me into thinking you don't know what I'm talking about, you and the others are hiding Naraku's kept boy. You see Kohaku went berserk some time ago, and he ran off from the castle with a shard of the Shikon Jewel embedded in his back."
"And you came to get the shard and rip it out of him right?" Inuyasha let out a snarl.
"You know how Naraku is, he always goes overboard. Imagine dispatching an army of demons of this size just because he wants the jewel shard from one boy."
"The hell with the kid, you only want the shard."
"Of course I do, but you know as well as I do that once it's removed from his body, Kohaku will die. His death is inevitable, but once that happens we're under orders to let Sango keep his rotting corpse."
"Not gonna happen." Tatsu promptly stepped forward as he covered his body in a set of iron dragon scales "I'm gonna go ahead and tell you now that you're not just gonna lose an arm like you did before, this time I'm going for the head."
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Meanwhile, with Kohaku…
'What are these things, why are they after me?' Kohaku didn't waste any time in running through the forest at full speed, with a swarm of Saimyosho following hot on his heels, only for a second swarm to come at him from the front and effectively corner him 'Oh no…'
"Kohaku get down!" this was when Kagome and Sango showed up on the scene, and the former fired a Sacred Arrow from her place on Kirara's back, purifying a large number of Saimyosho before they could get Kohaku, and she breathed a sigh of relief "Looks like we got here just in the nick of time, are you okay?"
"I don't understand, why did you come? I was the one that they were after!"
"I didn't have a choice." Sango made her way over to him and gave a sad smile "Please just stay here Kohaku, I don't want to lose you again."
"But why, why are you doing this for me?"
"It's because brother, do I need any other reason? You're my brother Kohaku, and no matter what happens that's never going to change."
"Sango… You'd better get ready, we've got company." Kagome drew her sword as she gestured to the large swarm of demons hurtling down towards them from the skies above.
"Kirara and I will go and stop those demons, can you keep an eye on him for me?"
"You can count on me, just be careful okay?"
"Got it. Remember this Kohaku, you have to live!" and so Sango mounted Kirara's back and took off.
"Come on we don't have a lot of time, we have to move." Kagome grabbed Kohaku by the wrist and started leading him through the forest on foot, her mind racing 'I can feel it, running this long should at least tire me out a little bit, but I'm not even breathing hard. I guess Tatsu's training is really working for me.'
"Look up there, they're coming for us!" Kohaku pointed at where a number of demons were closing in on them.
"Stand back, a few clean strokes are all that I need." Kagome gripped her Seishin Rozu with both hands, and she unleashed a series of strokes infused with spiritual energy, purifying every demon that it touched.
"That… That was amazing!"
"There's probably gonna be more of them coming soon, we should try and find some cover in the meantime." to that end, she pulled Kohaku into a nearby cavern just as a few Saimyosho passed by them "This should keep up safe for the time being, for we should wait for Tatsu and the others to catch up. I mean granted I probably could've handled the rest of them, but I promised I was going to protect you, and that's the most important thing to me right now."
"That lady… She's fighting out there all by herself, I just hope she's going to be okay."
"You're talking about Sango aren't you? You don' have to worry about her. She's one of the strongest people I know, and she can take care of herself. She's your older sister too, do you remember anything about her, or do you still have problems with those memories you have locked up inside of you?"
"I'm sorry… I do seem to know her, I mean she seems so familiar to me."
"I'm sure she does, she's been so worried about you ever since the two of you got torn apart. I know she tries to put on a brave face and be the responsible one, but I can tell how truly sad she is deep down about having you get taken away from her. I'm glad that you came back to her, for both your sake and hers."
"So then, you're saying you think it will be alright if I stay with her then?"
"Of course it is, and I think that the longer you stay with her, the sooner you'll start to remember about her and yourself."
"Okay. I want to remember her and I want to remember everything else. But still, I don't know why I feel this way. It's almost like I'm scared, as if there's something that I don't want to remember.'
"Kill her. Kill Kagome." a voice suddenly sounded through his mind, and then a pulsing feeling shot through him from the shard in his back.
'Kill her… Kill her…'
"Tatsu and the others are strong, they can handle themselves." Kagome glanced out of the cave and looked around "But you don't have to worry Kohaku, I'll make sure that nothing happens to you."
"It's not me that you have to worry about." Kohaku got her attention as he raised his chain sickle into the air, a glazed and lifeless look in his eyes, and then he brought down his weapon.
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Meanwhile, with Sango…
"Hiraikotsu!" Sango didn't let up for a second as she used Hiraikotsu to rip through multiple demons at once with Hiraikotsu, with Kirara ripping apart several demons with her claws "Don't let up Kirara, not even for a second 'Don't worry Kohaku, no matter what happens I'm never going to let Naraku take you away from me again!' and so she continued her charge, only for her attention to be caught by the sound of a familiar scream "Kagome! Come on Kirara, we have to get moving!" and so they took off running at full speed.
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Meanwhile, with the men…
"Cascade Destroyer!" Tatsu waved his hand and unleashed a series of water streams that ripped through multiple demons at once, only for more of them to show up in their place, and as he did so he glanced over at Inuyasha and Miroku, his face conveying his thoughts 'Don't say or do anything stupid, we've gotta keep Kagura distracted so Kagome and Sango can get the kid out of here without her noticing. I think this shows how much you're lacking Kagura, you need a whole army of demons to capture one kid? Well if that's the way you want to play then I guess we're game."
"Glad to see you're cooperative." Kagura shot him a smirk full of malice 'These fools are about to fall straight into Naraku's trap, now all we need is for Kohaku to follow through and play his part in the plan. My my, isn't this just so convenient? I might as well go ahead and slaughter all of you while we're at it. You don't have to worry though, I plan on taking all of your heads personally."
"You're more than welcome to try and die in the process. Dance of Blades!" with a wave of her fan she unleashed a barrage of wind blades.
"Cascade Destroyer!" Tatsu manipulated the water streams to cancel out the wind blades "It doesn't matter what kind of attacks you throw at me, I can counter every last one of them and do so much more."
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Meanwhile, with Kagome…
'This is definitely not how I imagined this day going!' Kagome found herself bolting through the forest with a small trail of blood pooling from her arm, only to trip on a root and fall to the ground with a loud thud 'Great, first Sango's younger brother shows up with no memory, then we have to deal with Kagura and a huge swarm of demons, and now her younger brother is trying to kill me! Please stop Kohaku, I don't want to fight you."
Kohaku said nothing, he just readied his chain sickle and charged forward 'I mus kill her, I must kill Kagome.'
'The look in his eyes, he's changed somehow. Does that mean Naraku is still controlling him? I guess I can't avoid having to defend myself, but maybe I can just knock him down and pin him to the ground.' so she readied herself as he charged, and she started clashing her sword against his chain sickle while she tried to dodge and weave her way around his attacks.
Kohaku continued his relentless attacks against her, but eventually he ducked underneath a strike from the Seishin Rozu and used his chain sickle to try and slash her across one of her legs.
Kagome saw this coming and in a single swift movement, she kicked his legs out from under him and knocked him to the ground while his chain sickle fell out of his grasp, allowing her to pin him to the ground 'Huh, I guess sweeping the leg is a thing in swordfighting after all. I don't want to keep fighting you Kohaku, it's not too late to stop this."
"Kagome! Kohaku!" it was at this moment that Sango and Kirara dropped down onto the scene to see what was happening "Kohaku… Tell me Kagome, is he…"
"Yeah, he's still under Naraku's control." Kagome was about to say something else, but she was cut off by Kohaku kicking her in the jaw, grabbing his chain sickle, and then taking off running into the forest.
"What about you Kagome, are you alright? Your arm…"
"It's not that serious, just give me a minute to use my Healing Hand so I can make sure it doesn't get infected. Go ahead and go after him."
"...Alright, but I'll have Kirara stay here with you just to be safe. I can only imagine how much pain you must be in right now."
"It's just a cut on my arm and a bruise, it's nothing to worry about. Go ahead and go after him, get your brother back."
"I… okay. And Kagome? I'm so sorry…" and so Sango promptly took off into the forest.
'Sango… I can only imagine what she must be feeling right now.' then Kagome suddenly felt her blood run cold 'Oh no, don't tell me that she's planning to… I can't let that happen. Kirara can you take me there? You can move faster than I can." so she mounted Kirara's back and then took off.
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Meanwhile, with the men…
"Cascade Destroyer!" Tatsu spread out his arms and unleashed two large streams of water that ripped through a large number of demons with ease "Is that all you've got?"
"Far from it! Dance of Blades!" Kagura waved her fan and fired forward another barrage of wind blades, only for them to be easily cancelled out by the appearance of a large water shield in front of her, but her smirk only widened "Tell me something Tatsu, why is it that you seem to be the only one that's actually trying against me? The monk is too much of a coward to use his Wind Tunnel against these poisonous insects, but why does Inuyasha not draw his sword and try to use the Wind Scar against me?"
"Don't give me that bullshit." Inuyasha let out a scoff "As if I'm gonna waste any time or energy by using the Tessaiga against the likes of you. Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" he started using his claws to
"So you claim. Is that really the reason why you're only using your claws, or is it because this new Tessaiga of yours is still to heavy for you to wield properly?" this caused him to fall silent for a moment "Yes of course I know about the sword you fool, you're all talk just like I thought you were."
"If you want all talk then look in a fucking mirror, or better yet hold still while I cut out your fucking tongue!" to that end, Inuyasha drew Tessaiga and charged at Kagura, only for her to dodge his attack and for it to miss her by a sizeable distance.
"What's the mater Inuyasha, it seems as if you're having an awkward time of it with that sword of yours."
'Dammit, this stupid thing is still too heavy for me to use right.'
"It might not be the Wind Scar, but it gets the job done! Boomstick!" Tatsu summoned an iron club in his hand, coated it with energy and then hurled it into the air, engulfing a number of demons 'Don't use anything too big just yet, we have to let them and Kagura believe that we're keeping Kohaku inside, so fight like you're trying to keep it out of the crossfire.'
"Sacred Sutras!" Miroku hurled forward a barrage of sutras at the surrounding demons closing in on him, and then with a wave of his staff he evaporated all of them into nothing, but he was left panting heavily as a result, and he barely had time to whip around before he saw one of the demons closing in on him from behind.
"Dammit, get down monk!" Tatsu waved his hand and directed one of the still active water dragons to stop the demon in its tracks, engulfing it in the explosion that followed, but the explosion also ended up destroying the hut in the process, as well as trapping Shippo under a fair amount of rubble in the process "FUCK!"
"So the hut was empty all along." Kagura gave a smirk "Very clever, you kept us occupied all this time and tricked us into thinking that Kohaku was inside."
'She seems so calm about this, I would've thought she'd be a lot more pissed. Unless…' he sharede a glance with Miroku 'Dammit, it's all a fucking rouse.'
"You're sure as hell not going anywhere Kagura, I can tell you now that this fight is far from over!" Inuyasha prepared to charge at Kagura again, only for Tatsu to stop him with a set of iron chains holding onto his sword "What the fuck are you doing?!"
"Stopping you from falling further into their trap like a sucker."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"We thought that Kagura brought a ridiculously massive horde of demons here because she was sent after Kohaku, so now that they know he's not there, why the hell are none of them charging off looking for him? For we know we were probably the ones being stalled for time, Naraku had to go and play us like fucking suckers!"
"What?!"
"Kohaku is one thing, but what else could Naraku see as a threat to him? A jewel shard that he doesn't have his hands on, or the one that actually destroyed his body once? Kagome was the one who took Kohaku out of here… which means that Naraku is still controling him through that jewel shard in his back. Dammit, how in the fuck could I let myself be fooled so easily! Deal with the fodder and catch up with me, I'm going after her." and so he disappeared in a flash using his Dragon Warp.
"Son of a… You played us like fools!"
"It really wasn't that hard, and the fact that you're only realizing such a thing now most likely speaks for itself." Kagura let out a scoff "It's such a damn shame too, chances are that even if he does teleport right to where she is, he's probably too late."
"So Kagome was the one you were actually targeting."
"The girl that has the power to fire Sacred Arrows capable of actually harming Naraku, not to mention being able to kill one of his incarnations single handedly. She's proving to be quite the nuisance to him."
"Which means that Naraku sees her as a threat." Miroku suddenly gripped the prayer beads on his right arm "And this is what he does to people he sees as threats, and I'd rather be corrupted and marred by unforgivable sins than let the same thing happen to her."
"No Miroku, what are you doing!" Shippo cried out from where he was trying to free himself from the rubble "If you use your Wind Tunnel then you'll get the poison insects!"
"I don't have any other choice! Wind Tunnel!" so Miroku opened up his Wind Tunnel and started sucking up all of the demons in its path, Saimyosho included, without letting up despite feeling the pain from the poison.
"Miroku no, you have to stop before it poisons you!"
"I can't stop! Inuyasha this is your chance, go help Tatsu and the others!"
"You can fucking count on that, but you'd better not die on me." and so Inuyasha promptly took off, which prompted Kagura to raise her fan.
"Don't even think about attacking him Kagura, all I have to do is turn towards you and then you'll be devoured as well."
"...Fine, to hell with it for now." and so Kagura promptly summoned her giant feather and took off into the sky.
"She escaped." with that thought in mind, Miroku closed his Wind Tunnel and fell to his knees in pain.
"Miroku hold on!" Shippo was quick to rush to his side "Are you okay?"
"I've had worse, and we don't have much time. We have to go after Inuyasha and the others, and help them to the best of our abilities."
"Yeah, yeah sure."
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Meanwhile, with the love interests…
"Kagome!" with a blue flash, Tatsu materialized before her via Dragon Warp, earning a yelp of terror as a result "Sorry I took so long to figure it out, are you alright?"
"I've got a few cuts and bruises, but I'm fine." Kagome assured him "Sango is the one we have to worry about right now, she's chasing after Kohaku on her own and I'm worried she's going to do something she'll regret."
"Then let's not wait around for that to happen." he took Kagome onto his back and took off into the woods, with Kirara following right behind them.
"Can't you use your teleportation thing?"
"Dragon Warp only works if you're trying to go somewhere you've been before, and based on what I'm sensing from Sango's Ki she's going deeper than we've gone before."
"Kagome! Tatsu!" it was at this moment that Inuyasha showed up on the scene.
"You caught up fast."
"I know my way around a forest better than the rest of you, and it's not like you were that far away either. What about the kid?" then his eyes landed on the wound on Kagome's arm.
"It's nowhere near as bad as it could've been." Kagome was quick to cut him off "He could've killed me when he got me from behind earlier, but he didn't. Even when I had to fight him to subdue him, I could feel it. He was holding back, because he was trying to stop himself from attacking me, and he did succeed more or less. I didn't have a chance to tell Sango about it before she took off, and now… I think she might be planning to kill him."
"...That's not gonna happen. I'll make sure of it." Inuyasha glance between Tatsu and Kagome, and they shared a subtle nod as they continued on into the forest 'Kohaku is still being controlled and Naraku tried to use him to kill Kagome, but he didn't. Does that mean he disobeyed Naraku's orders? If that is the case then it means he's still got a will of his own, even if he can't control himself he still has some kind of what he's doing.'
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Meanwhile, with the slayer siblings…
"Hiraikotsu!" a single swing of Hiraikotsu stopped Kohaku in his tracks as it ripped through the surrounding forest, before it returned to Sango's possession "Kohaku… You know Tatsu was trying to warn me about this, about you. He told me that I shouldn't believe something to be true just because I wanted it to be, but that's exactly what I did. I wanted to believe that you had come back to me, but the truth is that you haven't escaped from Naraku's grasp after all. You came here because you wanted to hurt Kagome and to try and steal the shards of the Shikon Jewel that she has. I don't see why I should let Naraku keep controlling you, I'd rather… Kohaku, stay where you are and don't move. I promise you, one way or another I'm going to see to it that you're free from that demon!" she drew her sword and charged at him.
Kohaku met her charge and wrapped the end of his chain sickle around her sword, and then he brought the blade down towards her.
Sango blocked his attack with Hiraikotsu and then advanced 'Kohaku I promise I won't let you die alone, I'll make sure that I'm right behind you. I promise to follow you, now let me end this once and for all.' with one swift movement she knocked Kohaku's sickle out of his hand and pinned him to the ground "It's over Kohaku, it's all over now. I'm going to kill you, and then I'll do the same to myself. It's the only choice I have. This is the only way I can ensure that you're free from Naraku's hold… I just hope you can forgive me for this." as tears started streaming down her face, she prepared to bring down the blade, when…
"Blades of Blood!" a series of crimson energy blades suddenly hurtled towards them from within the bushes, knocking Sango's weapon out of her hand and blowing her and Kohaku away from each other, courtesy of Inuyasha as he arrived on the scene, with Tatsu and Kagome both arriving not long after "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Inuyasha… why did you stop me?"
"Don't be stupid about this, if you kill Kohaku now then the only thing that's gonna accomplish is make Naraku happy and give him another shard to add to the ones he's already got." this was followed by Kohaku bolting to his feet and attempting to run away from them "Get the hell back here you litle shit!"
"Stand back Inuyasha, I've got him." Tatsu summoned a set of iron chains that promptly hurtled forward and latched onto Kohaku by both of his arms, and he started pulling him back towards them "He's not gonna get away on us that easily."
"I beg to differ! Dance of Blades!" a barrage of wind blades suddenly descended down and ripped through the chains holding Kohaku back, courtes of Kagura as she dropped down onto the scene "Kohaku was ordered by Naraku to kill Kagome so that's what he's going to do, he has no choice in the matter."
"You're wrong about that Kagura, you're wrong about a lot of things and that's pretty high up on the list."
"Is that so? Tell me something Tatsu, why do you think Kohaku lost his memory?"
"Because Naraku wanted a blank slate that he could control and use against us, that's pretty much his thing."
"No. Well I mean granted that's a fairly big part of it, but it's also because the boy himself doesn't want to remember the sins of his past."
"That's enough Kagura, I don't want to hear another word out of you!" Sango prepared to grab hold of Hiraikotsu.
"Why bother to fight it, you know I'm right about this. Kohaku didn't want to remember the horrible things he's done, so Naraku granted his wish and erased his memories."
"He only did it because he found it easier to manipulate a blank slate." Tatsu noted flatly as he reached for one of his swords.
"And here I thought Inuyasha did nothing but see the worst in people." Kagura unleashed a massive gust of wind and used the opportunity to hoist him onto her feather and prepare to make a getaway.
"Give me one good reason not to blast him out of the sky."
"I'd be careful about trying anything with this kid if I were you, if this kid remembers his past then there's a fair chance that it really will destroy him. I think you should let the poor boy die in bliss, free from all of the terrible memories he's had to endure." and then she disappeared into the skies above.
'Dammit, I can't do anything without getting the kid too. They'll be back though, which means they'll have to be ready.'
"Kohaku… dammit…" as she watched him disappear from sight, Sango fell to her knees and started punching the ground out of frustration "Dammit, dammit, dammit! How could I be so much of a fool!"
"...You know something, you and your brother are proving to be an even bigger pain in my ass than anyone else that pisses me off." Inuyasha told her, his tone flat "And yeah, when I say that I'm counting Koga and Sesshomaru, but for what it's worth, maybe this will make you do something different next time. Kagome, tell her what you said earlier."
"What?"
"I never got a chance to tell you before you left." Kagome told her "He could've killed me when he got me from behind earlier, but he didn't. He hesitated, and that proved to me that he was fighting back. Even when I had to fight him to subdue him, I could feel it. He was holding back, because he was trying to stop himself from attacking me, and he did succeed more or less. I think there's a part of him that's still in there, still fighting Naraku's influence."
"Kagome…"
"We're not gonna kill the kid." Inuyasha went on as he crossed his arms and did his usual "feh" pose for them "I did say that killing him would satisfy Naraku, and there isn't a chance in hell I'm gonna let that happen, you got that?"
"Inuyasha… you're right." Sango gave a small smile as she picked herself up "We should get going and meet up with the others."
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At the summit of a faraway mountain, Naraku wasn't happy that Kohaku had failed in his mission to kill Kagome, and he demanded to know why he had failed. He then proceeded to torture Kohaku by shortly returning his memories to him, causing him to cry out in pain, but only after this did Naraku decide to spare him, and so he reverted Kohaku back to his mind controlled state and erased his memories once again. Despite not knowing who she was, Kohaku found that he couldn't forget about Sango, or erase her face from his mind.
A/N:
This chapter is a little bit on the shorter side, but considering how long the last one was, and how long the next one is going to be, I think it's justified. This one focuses on the details surrounding Sango's younger brother Kohaku, and how he's being controlled by Naraku after having his memory erased, but a small part of him
So yes, rather than Inuyasha, I had it be Tatsu who confronts Sango about the possibility of Kohaku still being under Naraku's control. I know that Sango has a lot of moments where she bonds with Kagome, but I haven't given any real bonding moments to her and Tatsu yet, so I decided to have them bond over their shared experiences: A desire to have a love one be brought back to them, only to have it be crushed by the reality of the situation. Granted Inuyasha stills stops Sango from killing Kohaku in the end, but I'm going somewhere with that, so bear with me for the time being.