Chapter 68:
Arisa, Yukino and Mari chose a dessert café near their university to spend a few hours to catch up. As they waited for their coffee and meals, it was Arisa who sparked up their girls' talk.
"So, what did I miss?"
Yukino put a finger on her chin, trying to remember the happenings at their school.
"Nothing much, actually. There was supposed to be the school festival, but it was postponed and moved. Apparently, it will be on the first week of the next semester and will serve as a welcome party at the same time."
"Oh, I see…"
"But what matters right now…is you! What happened? That was the longest absence you've incurred…considering you're also an achiever." Mari asked worriedly, and it made Arisa uncomfortable.
"Yeah…though your mom constantly informed our professors that you couldn't make it because you're sick, I still feel that something isn't right."
"I agree with Mari! You're perfectly fine…it's just too strange for someone to look completely normal, especially when…let's say, you had just recovered from a serious sickness." Yukino added.
Arisa only gave them a troubled grin, as she thought of her life-threatening experiences while being at the feudal era.
Oh right. I forgot that I was also fighting in this world…but at least it's for having high grades, not demons.
She began to sweat nervously, as if they could uncover her secret at any moment.
Nope, no more ridiculous stories!
"Well, never mind about that…! I won't be absent from now on." She said in an antsy tone, which earned her dubious looks from them.
"What a way to dodge the topic. At any rate, we just hope you're really okay…" Mari said softly.
"By the way…!" Yukino interjected, leering at her.
"W-what now?" Arisa asked, and they both smiled in a teasing manner.
"Where'd you get that necklace? I didn't know you were a fan of antique-looking things."
Arisa flinched at her statement, and she quickly held her pendant.
"O-oh! Uhh…this…!"
"Hmmm?"
"M-my sister bought it for me as a souvenir from her Hokkaido field trip…!"
"Really? It does look old, but it's really beautiful and exudes rare quality. Your sister has quite the eye for things." Mari commented, to which Yukino nodded in agreement.
"Right?"
As the two of them giggled in admiration, Arisa fell into a lopsided grin as she took hold of her necklace once again.
"...rare quality because I actually got it from someone who lives in the ancient dimension." she then murmured to herself, but Yukino somehow heard her.
"You said something, Arisa?" she then asked, to which she shook her head violently.
"N-no, nothing!"
Ugh…I can't believe one mention of anything related to Sesshomaru is enough to completely fill my mind with thoughts about him.
After about two hours of spending time at the café, she waved goodbye to her two friends and convinced herself to completely focus on her studies and pass the final exams.
The ball of light stopped, and it transformed back to its full dog demon form upon sensing that he was at the place he sought for. Sesshomaru was aware of the barrier, but he forced himself in and eventually broke into it without any major scratches. He then landed ferociously - smashing most of the rocky mountains that surrounded the little wooden house that Naraku had set up for the time-being.
The half-demon who was currently thinking on how he would execute his plans on getting the remaining pieces of the sacred jewel was also startled as he was sure that he had masked the place with his usual protective barrier and filled it with excessively toxic miasma that no one, not even Sesshomaru could withstand for a long time.
Unfortunately, his detachments weren't there as he had assigned them to search for the places that had the remaining fragments of the jewel according to his external sources; and so he had no choice. He furiously went out to see who the intruder could be, and was rather surprised to see someone he least expected. The dog demon had quickly noticed his appearance and howled to the point it could deafen ears. At the same time, he was also amused as him being there also means that the woman he was itching to kill was definitely around as well.
I am not in the mood for an unscheduled warm-up but no matter. I'll settle this quickly like hitting two birds at the same time.
"Welcome, Sesshomaru. I see that you are in your full demon form – no wonder you were able to enter without any problems."
He noticed the black streaks on his fur, but before he could even mention it, Sesshomaru quickly attacked him with his giant paws like crushing a bug. But of course, Naraku was swift enough to dodge the attack.
"Oh? You're not up for a little conversation? Very well."
Their battle went that way for some time until he was fed up and finally made an offensive attack with his demonic tentacles. Contrary to his expectations, they were easily swatted away and the accompanying force was too strong that even his body got hit and slammed to the ground.
I didn't think dealing with this form would be hard labor. More importantly, that woman should be here. But where is she?
However, he had no time to employ his sensory skills as his opponent was already on the move. He was nearly smashed but thanks to his quick defense, he launched his demonic webs and it caught all of Sesshomaru's paws – making him immobile for some time. Naraku took that chance and hid himself, frustrated on how he should handle this demonic beast.
"Sesshomaru-sama!"
Jaken shouted continuously while searching for his master.
Oh, why are my companions like this!? One just went missing, and now one is currently going mad...I think.
And after hours of desperate calling, the sound of loud crashing caught his and Ah-un's attention.
Could that possibly be Sesshomaru-sama…?
"Ah-un, let's head to that direction!"
The two-headed creature grunted in agreement and quickly glided to the aforementioned place. Despite the overwhelming miasma, they both went in and Jaken started calling out for Sesshomaru once again.
This miasma is too much! If only Arisa were here…!
Naraku then heard Jaken shouting, who was getting closer and closer to where he was hiding and decided to appear right in front of them. Jaken was clearly frightened and pointed his Staff of Two Heads at him. Even Ah-un was ready to launch an attack.
"Why are you-"
"Oh? You were not with your master?"
"So Sesshomaru-sama is here!? And also, if you have Arisa, let her go this instant!"
Suddenly having the slightest idea of what was happening, Naraku sarcastically chuckled at his accusation. "I do not have that woman in my hands."
"What!?"
"Before we get to that, I want to know something. Sesshomaru showed up in his full demon form and just attacked me rashly, which is…not very like him. But there's something strange about his appearance."
"You just said he was in his full demon form! Of course he'd look like a big, furry white dog with red eyes!"
Naraku's forehead creased at the little demon's response, and he could just kill him in an instant but he answered it anyway as a means to get clues.
"...that is indeed the usual. White fur and bright red eyes. But his fur had black streaks, and his eyes were dark red."
Jaken gulped in fear upon hearing Naraku's description.
"Huh?!"
"Why are you so alarmed? You should know about this because you have been with him for a long time."
"That IS the problem! I have no idea about that either!"
Naraku scowled at the little creature.
"Excuse me?"
Jaken flinched at his reaction. "I am telling the truth! I am sure that he transformed into his full dog demon form but the way he howled was different so I came in a hurry to check on him and with what you just said, it's all new to me! I swear!"
With two of his demonic tentacles, he suddenly grabbed Jaken up close to him.
"Well then, let's get to the interesting part. You accused me of holding that woman captive...why would you think of that?"
Jaken, not wanting to be crushed, decided to honestly answer him.
"Sesshomaru-sama simply left me as always and most probably searched ahead for Arisa who suddenly disappeared...then that's when I heard him howl. Now I found myself here, you appeared and confirmed Sesshomaru-sama's presence. And since you incessantly plotted on kidnapping her, I only guessed that you probably have her right now since Sesshomaru-sama is here!"
Naraku raised an eyebrow at his statement.
"So that woman is gone, and he was already in that form way before he intruded here?"
"Uh, yes!"
Naraku fell silent for a second, and his lips curled into a small smirk.
How amusing.
"And just what are you smirking for now?" the little creature asked in confusion.
Naraku just grinned like a devil and tightened his grip on Jaken.
"I have an idea on how to deal with that dog."
"H-hey! What are you planning to do with Sesshomaru-sama!? And let me go!"
"You will be coming with me and play the part of being the sacrificial object if this won't work. But then again, my instincts never fail especially when it comes to things like this."
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