Daylight brightens the lands of Feudal Japan, as it always does. Within the coolness of the calm waters of a pond, Kagome is swimming, having a wonderful time, and Kaori is bathing, her own version of relaxation. Kagome is wearing a striped swimsuit; her school uniform, a towel, and a floatie lie on a nearby rock, in case she is in need of them. Kaori is completely in the nude; in the nearby grass, her combat uniform (survival getup) lies.
Kaori runs her fingers gently through her soaking hair, a faint smile on her face. Ah, there's just nothing like taking a relaxing bath in a random pond after almost getting brutally murdered by another demon just a few days prior. She rings out some of the water in her hair. I wonder what we'll deal with next time. Spiders? Snakes? Ducks? I really hope duck demons don't actually exist; it'll ruin the way I think about normal ducks. She glances to her right, watching Kagome swim away from her again. At least, for now, we've got another moment of peace.
Kagome stands up in the water, near her discarded items, and raises her arms in the air. "Oh, wow. That was so nice." She sounds completely relaxed, blissful. "The water is clean. The air is fresh. It's not so bad being in the middle ages."
Kaori snorts, overhearing; it's not like Kagome was using an indoor voice outdoors. "Yeah, until a demon attacks us again for the jewel shard," she mutters. "Or for no good reason." I can't wait until that matter finally gets resolved; it'll be nice, not having to worry about getting jumped at any given second. She pauses the movement of her hands. That is if Kagome chooses to get rid of the damn thing once it's complete again; keeping it intact will only place a near permanent target on our backs, again. She sighs lowly. "Here's to a bright future at the end of our journey…" she whispers.
Nearby, Inuyasha rests on a tree, having a very brief conversation with Myoga that appears to be completely one-sided; they've been on the road for three days, by the suggestion of Myoga himself, as a better means of locating the missing jewel fragments. Thus far, they've had no luck. Myoga mainly ignores Inuyasha, in favor of watching the females from a safe distance; then, of course, he chooses to get a closer look. However, something flashes past them, too quick to be fully seen; Inuyasha jumps off the tree and chases it.
Kagome, leaning over to splash herself in the face with water, hears something behind her and turns around. She screams. Kaori, fully on alert now, quickly moves towards her in the water; she'll fight naked if she has to. Inuyasha, in midair above the pond, looks towards them, surprised by the sudden scream; he lands on a rock in the pond and struggles to balance himself on it (but only for a moment). "Huh?!" Seeing that she, nor Kaori, are in immediate danger, he complains, assuming the scream was for a different reason. "Jeez, would you not scare me like that? It's not what you think."
Kaori glances towards him. "She's wearing a swimsuit; she has no reason to be screaming at you in the first place." She puts her hands on her hips, staring at a trembling Kagome again, still slightly cautious about their surroundings. "What happened?"
Kagome continues to look a bit panicked. "You're right," she tells her adopted sister. "It wasn't 'cause of Inuyasha. It's my clothes." She points in the direction of where her belongings had been; hopping from rock to rock, with Kagome's clothing in grip, a little white monkey can be seen, however briefly. A whistle sounds not long after the animal disappears into the forest.
"…" Kaori sighs in relief. "I'll leave y'all to it, then." She starts walking back to the other side of the pond, where her own clothing remains. "A harmless animal and its possibly human master sounds like a job for two, not three." She takes her time, getting out of the pond and gathering her clothing. "I'll catch up!" Briefly, she watches Inuyasha, then Kagome, run off to follow the thief before putting on her outfit again. Then, she follows suit, catching up to them quickly. "Uh…" She stares, speechless; the monkey is running in circles, arms raised in the air, and Inuyasha's foot is pressed against the face of a human male. "…Should I come back later?"
The young man sits beneath the tree in which he'd been discovered, ravenously munching on a bag of potato chips. The monkey sits on his shoulder, biting into a chip of his own. Kaori stands across from him, an eyebrow raised. Kagome kneels beside the young man, watching him with curiosity. Inuyasha lies on the curved tree trunk, ignoring all of them, the rude bastard.
"You must have been hungry," Kagome comments. She holds out her hand, a bottle in it. "Would you like some tea?" The young man nods, uttering thanks with a full mouth as he takes the beverage from her and begins drinking. Kagome reaches into her bag and takes out a bag of food, which suspiciously looks like dog chow to Kaori. "And there's something in here for you, too," she tells Inuyasha.
"No, thank you," he declines.
"But if you eat it, I don't have to carry it," she points out.
Maybe if you didn't pack so much… Kaori thinks.
Inuyasha stands and jumps off the tree trunk, picking up Kagome's bag. "Look, it's not my fault you gotta carry around so much junk all the time." …I'm just gonna pretend we weren't just on the same wavelength, Kaori thinks.
"It's not junk," Kagome defends. "It's homework and clothes, and-"
"Floaties and bathing suits, and other relaxation items," Kaori interrupts. "Yeah, those are just so essential when it comes to surviving." She rolls her eyes. "And when the hell would you find the time to even do your homework, anyway? And why should you? You'll be missing school for a while; you'll be behind everyone else regardless."
"I got everything in advance!" Kagome exclaims.
"Which takes me back to my previous point," Kaori says. "When will you find the time to actually do all of it? We can't exactly call a timeout to the demons that'll be after us. Not to mention how easily you'll ruin your homework just from a simple mishap here; a demon sneezes fire, oh no, no more homework to turn in."
Kagome looks horrified. "I didn't think about that…"
"You hardly think at all anyways," Kaori insults her.
Inuyasha slouches, sighing heavily and closing his eyes. "I give up."
The young man, for whatever reason, slaps the empty bag of chips between his palms. His monkey does the same movement, just without a bag between his palms. "I give you thanks, woman." Kaori's eye twitches; I hate how they speak here… "The chips potato were delicious." …I really hate how they speak here, Kaori's thoughts continue.
Kagome immediately starts introducing everyone. "My name is Kagome, his is Inuyasha, hers is Kaori, and-" She's interrupted by the sounds of sucking; the young man slaps his cheek and a flattened Myoga drifts towards Kagome. "He's Myoga the Flea," she finishes, sounding amused. The young man suddenly appears to be worried, like he's just realized he shouldn't have accepted help from complete strangers that outnumber him. "You said before you were separated from your allies," she continues. "Tell me, are you a nobleman?"
The young man turns his back towards them, folding his arms. "I'm not at liberty to reveal my family." Kaori's eye twitches again; she breaks a low-hanging, decently sized branch off the tree and proceeds to take aim at the back of his head. Kagome quickly snatches the weapon from her before she swings, tossing it aside; Kaori pouts. The young man, without noticing what's occurring behind him, takes a few steps forward. He faces them again, after the commotion has settled without his realization. "But my name's Nobunaga," he introduces with a smile.
Kaori falsely smiles back. "Pleasure meeting your acquaintance."
Kagome's reaction to his name surprises, well, everyone. She holds her face between her palms, practically glowing with excitement. "Nobunaga?! The Nobunaga?!" She sprints forward, grabbing onto his hand; she shakes it. "Let me shake your hand! I'm so glad to meet you!" Out of nowhere (maybe her ass or something…), she pulls out an ink brush and a sheet of manuscript paper. She bows her head in respect. "Can I have your autograph?"
"Uh, okay," Nobunaga agrees, though he is very confused, much like everyone else.
Kagome hands over the paper and brush, pointing to a specific spot on the sheet. "Right here, if you'd be so kind. And your full name, of course." She giggles in excitement, grinning widely.
Kaori stares at Kagome, a variety of emotions flowing through her. "What the fuck is happening…?"
Inuyasha deadpans. "What's got you so excited?"
"That's Oda Nobunaga!" Kagome exclaims. "Hello, didn't you study history?!"
"Umm…" Kaori continues staring at her. "One, he's from the now, not the future, so no, he didn't. Two, you really just made me defend Inuyasha of all people." Again. "And three, I studied history, yet I still don't know who the hell you're talking about."
Myoga butts in. "Actually, my dear, that's not what the signature says."
Kagome takes back the sheet, only to find that indeed the signature does not say Oda Nobunaga. "Amari Nobunaga?" Kaori snickers; Kagome looks so disappointed. She gets into Nobunaga's face again. "But I thought you were Oda Nobunaga."
Nobunaga scoffs, folding his arms again. "I belong to the Takaeda clan in the land of Kai. Please, do not confuse me with him."
Kagome blinks, somewhat hopeful again. "So, you do know him?"
Nobunaga looks at Kagome, angry. "Yeah! And he's a big idiot!"
Kagome gets angry back, yelling in his face in return. "If you weren't Oba Nobunaga, then you should've said so!" She pouts, hugging the signature of the nobody important. "And here I thought you were living history." She sighs in disappointment.
"Mmm, yes, how unfortunate," Kaori comments, not really caring.
Nobunaga coughs into his hand. "Ahem. I trust you'll excuse me. An important mission demands my immediate attention. Farewell." He begins to walk away from the group.
Kaori smirks to herself, seeing what's up ahead.
Inuyasha doesn't ignore what's up ahead. Instead, he points it out. Or tries to, at least. "Uh, I wouldn't go that way if I were-" Nobunga shouts as he falls down the slope with his monkey, though the monkey manages to save himself. Kagome, Kaori, and Inuyasha look over the ledge of the slope; Kagome looks concerned, Inuyasha looks unphased, and Kaori looks amused. "I told you, but you wouldn't listen."
Kaori hums. "But to be fair, you warned him as he was heading towards his doom."
Inuyasha looks confused. "His doom? But he's still alive."
"He won't be for too much longer when he stumbles off a few more cliffs," Kaori states.
"A loser? Yes. But Oba Nobunaga? Probably not," Kagome says to herself, aloud.
"…He already told you he wasn't whoever that guy is," Kaori comments.
"Oh… Right…" Kagome sweat drops. "Sorry…"
In a small village surrounded by mountains, a group of villagers chatter with concern and worry as a group of young females are rounded up into a line, their hands tied together before them. Each time the women are sent to the castle, none of them return; the men are only given orders to send more after some time has passed. In a bush nearby, Nobunaga eavesdrops; Kagome, Inuyasha, and Kaori stand behind him, though the latter two are reluctant about it; that is until Inuyasha overhears something about a demon, then Kaori is left being the only one who is there against their will. However, she does faintly laugh when Inuyasha steps on Nobunaga's head in his excitement for battle; admittedly, the half demon's slowly growing on her.
The four wait until nightfall to make their move upon the castle at the top of the mountain; they stand at the bottom, looking up. Kaori takes a breath through her nose and instantly regrets it; she hunches over, pinching her nose closed as she turns a sickly green. Kagome rushes over to her, grabbing her shoulders in attempted comfort.
"What's wrong? Is it the smell of rotten meat again?" Kagome asks, remembering how that particular smell bothered Kaori during their time with the demon bird (just before the jewel shattered) and Yura.
Kaori sounds funny when she speaks, because she keeps her nose plugged. "No, but I'd much rather be smelling that right now over rotten eggs. Ugh, it's so strong, too. I think I'm gonna hurl… Seriously, what the hell is making that smell?" What crawled up someone's ass and died?
Inuyasha's nose twitches. He smirks. "Heh, yeah, I smell the demon-stink from here, too."
That's what demons smell like?! Kaori thinks, looking like she's about to cry (and puke) and potentially have a sensory overload. And I have to smell it for the rest of my life?! That's not fair! She gags, accidentally catching another whiff of the scent. Kagome, unable to do anything, gently pats her back and gives her some space again.
Inuyasha continues speaking. "There's a piece of the sacred jewel there, all right," he says confidently. He squats, glancing towards Kagome and Kaori. "We better go and have a closer look. Jump on, Kagome." Kagome, after making sure Kaori's alright one last time (which she isn't but there's nothing they can do about the smell, other than killing the demon), hops onto Inuyasha's back. However, Nobunaga joins. Instantly, Inuyasha complains. "Hey, what's the big idea? Get off!"
"I've got business up there," Nobunaga states with courage and determination.
Kaori straightens her back, looking less sickly than before but that's maybe because she's breathing through her mouth now to avoid smelling so much of that disgusting scent. She stares at the three, taken aback by seeing Nobunaga on Inuyasha's back with Kagome. She can see it now; Inuyasha's gonna strangle him. Well, attempt to; Kagome will definitely stop him. After a moment, Kaori groans. "Fuck me…" Not willing to delay the inevitable, with much reluctance, she manhandles Nobunaga so that he's on her back instead. "If you touch anything other than my shoulders, I will drop you. Got it?"
"U-Understood, woman," Nobunaga answers. Kaori's eye twitches; maybe she'd drop him anyways.
Inuyasha leaps, landing on the opposite side of the castle fence; Kagome gets off his back. Although it takes her a bit longer, Kaori climbs up the mountain and over the fence, too; Nobunaga hops off her back immediately, looking around frantically, as if he's searching for someone in particular. Directly ahead of them, sitting by a bonfire, a guard sleeps; not too far away, laying across the staircase, another guard slumbers. Myoga warns them that a spell has been cast on the residents of the castle.
As they wander through the massive building, Nobunaga slams open doors and yells as loud as possible, searching for an apparent princess. Luckily for the group, they've only managed to run into more sleeping guards.
"Should we be letting him make so much noise like that?" Kagome asks, without actually sounding concerned about potentially getting caught.
"Don't know why not," Inuyasha answers. "They're asleep, ain't they?" He smirks. "Besides, the sooner we find the demon, the sooner we find the jewel."
Kaori looks annoyed as she watches the clumsy idiot run around frantically and without thought. "I vote that if this particular demon we're up against eats people, we feed Nobunaga to him or her immediately and call it an accident."
"I like that plan," Inuyasha comments.
"You would," Kagome says, throwing a glare at both of them.
For some time, the three follow Nobunaga throughout his search for the princess. Eventually, he throws open yet another door and finds a sleeping woman, face down on the floor. "Princess!" he exclaims, rushing forward. "Princess Tsuyu!" He kneels beside her. "Princess, be brave." He lifts and turns her. He and his monkey shriek in horror; the woman in his arms is elderly. She, like the men before her, is snoring, under the curse of slumber. "Oh, what has happened?!" he cries out, mock tears flowing from him as he cradles the old woman.
Very badly, Kaori wants to ram her head against a wall and put herself out of this misery. "…How did this moron survive into adulthood? Just how…?" He's so fucking stupid.
Kagome, standing directly beside Nobunaga, leans over to stare at a young woman who slumbers on the floor just inches away. "Hey, uh, Nobunaga? I hate to interrupt, but isn't this the princess over here?"
Nobunaga hums slightly in question as he looks towards Kagome. Seeing the actual princess, he roughly plops the old woman onto the floor and gasps loudly in horror; how could he have mistaken an elderly for the princess? Myoga awakens the sleeping beauty by sucking up some of the blood in her cheek; she smacks him, of course, just as everyone does, but awake again, she is. She sits up and recognizes Nobunaga; she speaks briefly about their past together, giving him praise for being so kind whilst also embarrassing him by mentioning his clumsiness.
"Hey," Kagome whispers to Inuyasha and Kaori. "You don't suppose he's in love with the princess, do you?"
"Huh. Pathetic," Inuyasha says without interest.
Kaori quietly says her answer. "With how frantically he'd been searching for her, not even remotely caring about literally everyone else under this sleeping curse, I'd say it's pretty obvious he's got feelings for her."
Princess Tsuyu (or whatever her name is; Kaori wasn't paying attention) tells them, namely Nobunaga, of her husband having an accident shortly after she'd arrived; he'd fallen into a pond, gotten ill, and has acted differently ever since. Because of this, she'd much like to return home, as he is no longer the man he was previously; Nobunaga states her father asked him to rescue her, though he'd had done so without permission anyway. Their moment is broken by the monkey, who spins a bowl on top of Nobunaga's head like a circus act; Nobunaga's mock tears return as a result.
"Thank goodness that's over," Kaori comments quietly. "It was getting really awkward."
"Yeah," Kagome agrees, though she's reluctantly doing so, as she feels bad for the guy.
Inuyasha, then, hears the sound of footsteps in the hallway. He stands and cracks his hand, preparing. "Sounds like he's finally here."
Kagome and Kaori follow behind Inuyasha, leaving Nobunaga and Tsuyu as they step into the corridor. They come face-to-bandage with their enemy, whose identity is hidden. Unhappy with the three being there, he attacks; his tongue, exceptionally longer than a human's, shoots out towards them, namely Inuyasha who stands in the front. Inuyasha dodges, as do Kagome and Kaori, and slashes the bandage covering the "lord"'s face. Their enemy falls backwards, landing on his ass; he is revealed to be an unusually large toad.
"…You know, I expected something so much worse," Kaori comments. "But this? This is nothing in comparison to the others. He doesn't even look scary." She glances at Kagome, who looks disgusted. She scoffs. "Seriously? We've dealt with better enemies, yet he's the one you get weirded out by?"
"I don't like toads!" Kagome exclaims, defending herself. "They're gross! And…well, they're nasty looking!"
"Good grief…" Kaori rolls her eyes.
Behind them, Nobunaga and Tsuyu have exited the room; upon discovering the truth, the princess faints into the young man's arms. The toad demon slowly begins to cackle and croak, sounding very demented. Then, a pink glow appears on his right shoulder, a light only Kagome can see; a piece of the jewel. Much like Kaori, Inuyasha doesn't think much of their opponent. Myoga tries to warn them of the demon's age, that he's not as weak as he appears, but Inuyasha ignores him and attacks the toad, brandishing his claws again. In retaliation, the toad burps out fumes.
Inuyasha drops onto the floor, clenching his throat. Kagome and Kaori step back in unison, coughing and covering their mouths (and noses) the best they can. Myoga tells them it's toxic, but they'd already figured that out. The toad walks past them, approaching Nobunaga and Tsuyu; he quickly injures the young man and takes the princess without difficulty, crashing through the wall, soon running across the roof with her slung over his shoulder.
Taking a risk, Kaori is the first to go after the demon, despite currently having no capabilities of subduing him alone. She loses sight of them temporarily, but Tsuyu's scream redirects her towards the correct location. She soon finds them; the princess cowers in a corner, terrified, while the toad looms over her menacingly. Without speaking (as that would immediately give away that she's there), she uses the element of surprise; she sprints at the toad, grabs ahold of his clothing tightly, and slings him across the room effortlessly, making him crash slightly through the wall.
Taken aback, Kaori gazes at her hands. "What the…?" After a moment of processing what occurred, she laughs heartily. "It's about damn time!" She collides a fist against her palm, staring down the toad demon, who has gotten back up and is now glaring at her. "I'm gonna enjoy this!" Even when you win our battle, she thinks. She knows she won't win this fight alone, but at least, now, she can actively fight demons head-on.
Not long afterwards (of Kaori running after the toad demon), Inuyasha follows suit. He arrives at their location at an unfortunate time; the toad demon has already encased Tsuyu within an enlarged egg, adding her to his collection of young maidens, and Kaori is laying on the ground, coughing and holding her throat, much like Inuyasha did. Kagome and Nobunaga approach from behind Inuyasha, horrified by the sight of the women trapped in eggs. Then, Kagome notices Kaori's state and rushes to her side, helping her up.
Kaori coughs again, leaning against Kagome for support. "No offense, but you guys are really fucking slow when it comes to rescuing someone."
Kagome laughs weakly, tears in her eyes; she's worried about Kaori and what the poisonous fumes will do to her, as an untransformed full demon. "We'll get better at it. Promise." Kaori just nods shortly.
Myoga starts explaining the situation, even though they've all got a gist of it by just seeing. "Sealed her in like toad spawn, just as the rumors said. Young women kept in egg sacs until their souls ripen, then eaten. With the power of the jewel shard in the young lord's possession, no one could oppose him."
"That's unfortunate…" Kaori mutters, slowly recovering from inhaling a bit of the poisonous fumes. Note to self; poison is a weakness for demons of my type… Must be more careful from now on…
Nobunaga tries to be brave; he takes out his sword and charges the demon toad. Like before, in retaliation, the toad balloons his cheeks, getting ready to burp up more toxic fumes. Inuyasha, noticing this tactic, shoves Nobunaga aside and takes out Tetsusaiga; the toad burps the fumes out but Inuyasha leaps out of the way, avoiding the poison, and slashes downwards as his sword transforms. The demon toad has been injured severely at the shoulder.
The demonic toad panics, unwilling to die. The eggs behind him start glowing; several women, approximately nine of them, float out of the eggs in soul form, flying towards him. Opening his mouth wide, he devours each and every one. The wound on his shoulder closes. The more they attack and injure him, the more souls he'll devour and the less women they'll be capable of saving.
During the commotion, Nobunaga successfully pries open an egg with his sword, the very one that Tsuyu is sealed inside. She flows out of it, alongside a pile of goop. She awakens and hugs him; the monkey spins a bowl on top of Nobunaga's head again; the entire thing is just weird to watch, honestly. The demon toad trots towards them. Inuyasha whacks him on the head with Tetsusaiga; he falls backwards, fainting for a brief time. He reawakens, speaking in a gentle, kinder tone, far different to the other voice. Inuyasha doesn't quite believe it's the real lord speaking, but absolutely everyone else in the room does, resulting in him stating he's just gonna stay out of the fight, after being denied the chance to kill the toad possessing him (even though that would kill the lord, too).
As soon as Inuyasha places himself on the sidelines, the demon toad makes his reappearance, injuring Nobunaga's shoulder further. Kagome and Tsuyu attend to the fallen Nobunaga whilst Kaori stands guard in front of them, prepared for any sudden attack, willing to give up her life if need be, just so the others would have time to escape or figure out a better way of dealing with the situation.
Nobunaga begs them to leave without him; Kagome doesn't hesitate, grabbing Tsuyu's hand and running off with her. Kaori delays following behind them but only for a moment; she wants to keep them a fair distance away from the demon, who'll likely give chase after them.
And sure enough, he does; he follows them down the corridor. Kaori makes sure Kagome and Tsuyu stay ahead, delaying the demon toad by dodging his attacks and managing to push him back with mere physical strength; she holds him back for a short time before he manages to catch her off guard again, leaving her collapsed on the floor.
Upon Myoga's suggestion, Kagome begins a frantic search for anything hot, like water or a torch. Nobunaga's monkey appears on Tsuyu's shoulder; jumping off, the pet runs ahead, as if knowing something they don't. Tsuyu, then, trips over her own feet, like in horror movies. The demon toad gains up on them. The monkey returns with a candle, but the fire is too small. The demon toad attacks Kagome, but misses her, hitting her backpack instead; the impact, however, makes her tumble to the floor, alongside her belongings. That's when Inuyasha and Kaori reappear; Inuyasha has murderous intent whilst Kaori just wants to defend her adoptive sibling (and the innocent princess).
With quick thinking, Kagome grabs an aerosol can and uses the magic word, which makes Inuyasha face-plant onto the floor. Kaori hugs the wall, not wanting Kagome to accidentally kill her. Tsuyu is out of harm's way, too. Kagome stands, holding her hairspray in one hand and the candle in the other; she sprays, a torrent of fire bursting at the demon toad. He yells in pain, transforming into a tadpole-like form. Inuyasha gets up and slices the flying tadpole in half with Tetsusaiga, which dissipates into thin air. The jewel fragment falls out and Inuyasha catches it before putting away Tetsusaiga.
Nobunaga tumbles towards Inuyasha and holds his hand in gratitude. Inuyasha tries to tell him the truth of the matter, but Kagome stops him, making Kaori pout ("why's he getting all the credit, huh?"). Laying face first on the floor is the real lord. Tsuyu calls out to Nobunaga, who mistakes the moment as another somewhat intimate one, but instead of hugging him, she hugs her husband, causing further embarrassment for Nobunaga as he falls to the floor in a manner that's rather dramatic.
"Poor guy," Kagome mutters.
"He'll live," Kaori comments. For a few more hours, give or take a few minutes; his clumsiness will be his downfall, without a doubt. No need to worry about being broken-hearted for long.
Outside the castle grounds, underneath a tree, the trio sits on a picnic mat. Nobunaga sits further away, his back facing them. His monkey sits on his head, being the comic relief.
Kagome slightly monologues the aftermath. "With the toad gone, all the girls were safe." She stares at the back of Nobunaga's head. "Isn't that nice?" He doesn't reply. "Oh, come on. Say something, Nobunaga. Won't you?"
Kaori huffs, biting into an apple. "Why bother? Let the brat mope. It's probably the only other thing he's best at besides tripping over air." She speaks with her mouth full, so it likely just sounds like gibberish to them.
Inuyasha instantly becomes annoyed with Nobunaga's behavior (not Kaori's). "Idjit. Even though he practically got himself killed, he went out of his way to save the life of his only romantic rival."
Kaori hums, still munching on an apple. "Mhm, he's a special kind of stupid."
Nobunaga laughs awkwardly and sighs lowly, bowing his head. "That's me, all right. World's biggest idjit and fool."
"We know," Kaori remarks. "We've just stated so."
Inuyasha looks away from him. "You are an idjit, but you also saved a lot of lives. So don't beat yourself up; there's plenty of others who will do that."
Kaori glances towards him. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to anyone."
"Shut up, mangy cat," Inuyasha insults without heat behind the words, for once. She just sticks her tongue out at him.
Nobunaga glances towards Inuyasha. Slowly, a smile appears on his face. He gets up, using a very strong stick as support. "Know what? That does cheer me up. Okay." He begins walking forward, taking his leave.
"Hey, wait!" Kagome warns. "Look out!"
"He's not gonna listen, you know," Kaori comments, finishing her apple.
"Wouldn't go that way if I were-" Inuyasha can't finish his sentence; Nobunaga walks off the ledge, crashing harshly at the bottom of the slope, just as he did before many hours ago. Again, the monkey saved himself; he scratches his ass, just staring at his fallen companion.
"He's an idjit, all right," Kagome finally agrees.