Chapter 19.- Ruptures
At the pace they were moving, they'd reach Mt. Hakurei a few hours before dawn.
Usually, when the group had to start a long hike like the one they'd have to go through to search for Naraku, they'd wait until the next day to start with their trek. After all, while youkais weren't exactly limited to a specific time of day (with a few exceptions) many of them were more active after nightfall, and no one wanted to risk getting caught between potentially ravenous demons and the spider hanyou. In any other circumstance, Kagome herself would probably be the one urging the others to set up camp somewhere, start getting dinner ready and insisting everyone had a good rest before starting the hike. But this wasn't like the other times. They'd managed to find out where Naraku was hiding, but with the remnants of the Shichinintai still lurking around, they couldn't afford to wait and risk letting other innocent bystanders become casualties, caught by the spider's schemes or the mercenaries' destructive impulses. They had to go and try to cover as much ground as they could while hiking their way up regardless of the time of day.
Charging head-on with no plan in mind wasn't a new approach for, and while the undead Shichinintai were undeniably strong, they'd already handled half of them, sending them back to their graves. Truthfully, the girl wouldn't have any reason to be especially concerned about this particular chase if not for the fact that even though it'd still take a few more minutes to reach the foot of Mt. Hakurei, the sacred power hanging in the air around them felt eerily similar to Hijiri island. And it'd only grow stronger once they actually got inside the barrier.
There's no way Inuyasha would be able to move around, let alone fight.
No one had expected Tessaiga would be effectively neutralized by the sacred energy covering Hijiri island, and if she compared that barrier to the one she could feel surrounding the mount, it wasn't anywhere as close as she hoped it'd be. Shippo and Kirara had been basically knocked out by it, they would have to stay behind. If Inuyasha insisted in going into the sacred grounds, being unable to fully use his sword may be the least of their worries, he might end up unconscious. A repeat of the island, would've been bad enough. Thinking back on what happened, she could see how careless they'd been. Had it not been for Itachi's presence, things could've ended up in a very different way, but that wasn't something the silver-haired hanyou would ever admit. No matter how she looked at it, they couldn't let Inuyasha test his luck with that barrier… the one thing the miko was absolutely certain of was that the hanyou wasn't going to accept being left behind without a fight. His anger had been steadily boiling over for the last few weeks, she could see the signs; it wouldn't take much to set him off, and Kagome wasn't sure just how bad the explosion would be.
Perhaps she could delay the incoming disaster if she stayed behind with him. Avoiding a confrontation wouldn't be easy, but if she pretended to meditate she could buy some silence. He might try to confront her, push her, but she knew how to dance around their issues.
A few weeks ago, she wouldn't have thought twice about making that choice. It her took her too long to shoot her arrows, they were too slow for her to take the lead in a fight and back then she couldn't even protect herself, she would've only been a burden to Sango and Miroku. Being able to see the shards wouldn't have been enough to justify her going into the barrier. Things were different now; she could keep herself safe, and while the density of reiki in the air was messing with her accuracy when feeling auras, she could still sense them.
Vile as he was, Naraku never moved without a reason. It couldn't have been easy to set this charade up, waking up the Shichinintai and Hakushin-shounin, making the saint erect a barrier like that to serve as a shield and disappearing for over a month wasn't something he would do unless he thought the rewards were worth all the effort. It also meant that no matter how close they got to his hideout, Naraku couldn't just up and leave. This was a race against time. And the only way for them to avoid aimlessly wandering through Mt. Hakurei hoping to get lucky and find Naraku without getting falling into yet another ambush was for Kagome to join in and try her best to act as a guide. Staying behind had far too many cons, and while she could take the hanyou's bad temper, this would endanger Miroku and Sango too. Not to mention, she wasn't about to sit on her hands after sending Itachi into the lion's den when she was could actually help this time just because it'd let her delay her fight with Inuyasha. And she would have no choice but to ask him to lead the charge; with the amount of shards Bankotsu had on him, neither Sango nor Miroku would stand a chance, and even if her shield could block his attacks, she couldn't fire her arrows while keeping herself and the others safe. The only one able to handle the mercenary leader was Itachi.
Slender fingers struggled not to clench around crimson fabric.
When traveling through this time period, there were no guarantees about what they'd find on their way back to the village, so the miko had hoped to push her confrontation with Inuyasha until they were back in Edo so she could get some distance by jumping back to her era. By standing her ground and insisting on going to Mt. Hakurei, there'd be no way they'd make it back to Kaede's before things blew out. Getting on the hanyou's back after leaving Hijiri island had been awkward as it was.
Her friends' safety would always be more valuable than a bit of comfort.
"Let's stop for a second!" Miroku's voice came from behind the line.
Biting her tongue, the girl swallowed down her anxiousness as she jumped off his back. She'd run out of time. While her decision wasn't about to change, the girl had no clue how she was supposed to approach this. Her thoughts had been too scattered, but now that she'd been forced back to the present, she could see how close they were to the edge of the barrier. Inuyasha's movements had already become stiff and stilted. Her worry couldn't cloud her judgement. A quick step to the left had her getting closer to the others, and her eyes couldn't help but find the young warrior's form. Dark eyes met azure, his expression calm and reassuring, and the girl felt a little more determined.
"What now, Miroku?" Irritation laced every word. "This ain't the time to chat."
"Exactly right, which is why we need to think things through." The monk's soothing tone remained unperturbed.
"Just spit it out," Inuyasha huffed, ignoring the glances exchanged by the others. "We need to keep moving."
"My friend, surely you can't be thinking of charging through."
"The barrier around Hijiri island was tough on you, Inuyasha." And now, Sango was jumping in. "You said couldn't go past a certain point when you and Miroku-sama checked out this place before."
"Can't wait for that bastard to get bored and get out himself." Crossing his arms, the hanyou glared at the monk.
Determination fought to push down her hesitation. Subtlety wasn't going to work. If they wanted to get to Naraku before he was done with whatever he'd planned they needed to start moving now, and she'd made her choice already, so she really should be the one speaking out right now.
"I agree, which is why that's not what I was suggesting." The conversation was starting to go in circles.
"Getting the barrier down shouldn't be that difficult, right?" Kagome said, trying to focus only on facts while reassuring him they weren't planning on fighting Naraku without him. "As long as we can get Hakushin-shounin to disable it, Inuyasha and the others can join us, right?"
"True, it shouldn't take too long; we'll go after him first," Sango nodded.
"You want me to just sit here and do nothing?!" The hanyou's volume was going up. "Just wait?!"
"Well, it's not like you can do anything if you want." Shippo's voice was a little drowsy as he piped in from her shoulder. "Even Tessaiga was pretty useless."
"The hell are you saying?!"
"Come now, my friend, he's only pointing out how hard the barrier will be on you." Hands raised, Miroku tried to soothe the male's ego. "Against sacred power this strong, it'll be better for us to disable the barrier first."
"Us as in…" Inuyasha trailed off, golden eyes narrowing.
"Naraku will be carrying the shards with him. Bankotsu and the others have their own fragments, too." The miko's voice was firm, determined not to back down. "Plus, even with the reiki here, I'll still be able to sense anyone nearby, even without them. Coming across Bankotsu or the other Shichinintai without any warning would be too dangerous."
She could see the realization dawn on him, golden eyes widening for only a heartbeat before narrowing. The tension that had been in his frame thanks to the fact that the reiki hanging in the air had doubled. This response was partly out of worry. Inuyasha could be a little paranoid, and while he'd stopped openly complaining and accusing the young warrior of being dangerous, she knew the hanyou well; he still didn't trust Itachi. But understanding where the silver-haired male was coming from didn't change reality.
Itachi had to go, and so did she.
More importantly, they didn't have time to waste.
"It's the fastest way to get the barrier down," Kagome repeated.
"Someone looking to hide would find a place at either the top of the mountain or some underground passage, as low as they could find." Itachi's calm voice instantly caught the hanyou's attention. "Regardless of which it is, it'll be a long hike. Night will fall unless we hurry."
"Pausing here for too long will make things dangerous. Since Kagome-sama's help is indispensable, it'd be best for me to stay behind." Miroku took his chance to end the argument right there.
"You can't be fucking serious, Miroku!" And he was straight out yelling now. "It's way too dangerous!"
"When isn't it dangerous?" Frustration bled through the miko's words.
A screaming match here would take too long, but sitting the hanyou and leaving would make things ten times even worse on the way back.
"The more time we spend here, the more time they'll have to prepare another ambush." Speaking up again Itachi's intervention got him another glare.
"We'll hurry and bring the barrier down!" Sango added, clearly in a hurry to leave. "Let's go!"
Shoving a sleepy Kirara into Inuyasha's arms, the demon exterminator was quick to turn and all but sprint toward the barrier. This was the best chance she'd get, so the miko followed suit, pretending she couldn't hear Inuyasha's angry yells. Miroku would be able to talk him down, even if he couldn't, the monk wouldn't have much trouble with using a sutra to make sure the hanyou wouldn't start moving again. For now, the sacred barrier was working in her favor too, it'd only be after they dealt with the barrier and faced Naraku that things would get ugly. This wasn't how she wanted things to go; surely, there were better approaches, smarter options she could pick from, but in the situation they were in, she couldn't come up with many other options. Going back to how things used to be wasn't possible, and it would be a wiser decision in the end. Even if this path was rocky, it would get them to a healthier place. She couldn't keep waiting in the background letting the others fight her battles, not even trying to learn how to fight for herself.
Azure eyes flickered back, finding a gentle black staring back at her. As if on instinct, the girl reached out. Rough fingers didn't hesitate to return the gesture, his grip firm and reassuring. It felt unfair of her to be relying this much on him when she knew he couldn't have had an easy life until now, and it shouldn't fall on him to help her through her emotional turmoil, but it was difficult not to look for him when he always seemed ready to have her back, jumping before she could even ask for his aid. He'd told her she'd saved his life, and he probably still thought that way, but by now, it felt like she was the one who owed him. Quite a bit too.
With a shake of her head, the girl did her best to push those thoughts away. This was neither the time nor the place for her to be focusing on herself. She'd grown used to hiking in these last few months, but having to focus on her senses with all this sacred power around her would make the trek more complicated for her as well. She'd pushed for this, so she had to do this right. From where they were, she couldn't see the light of the Shikon, so they'd have to make a gamble here and pick a direction. To bring the barrier down, they'd have to find Hakushin-shounin first. Closing her eyes and trusting the young warrior to lead her, Kagome did her best to search for anything unusual in their surroundings. Any fluctuations that could hint at the location the barrier originated from would work. If there was a higher concentration of reiki somewhere…
"Found it…I think," she said after a while, uncertainty peeking through. "There's more sacred energy near the top, I believe."
"They said people go on a pilgrimage to the top in search of absolution; we should be able to find a path or at least a trail nearby," the young warrior nodded.
"Let's hurry, then." Sango looked back at them before starting to pick up the pace. "Before Inuyasha does something stupid."
"I'm…not sure that's possible," Kagome added, a rueful smile on her lips.
Kagome would be safe, Itachi would keep her safe.
Sharp claws threatened to break the skin of his palm; his feet were tapping against the floor with no rhythm whatsoever. It was all he could do not to bolt after the others. Not that Inuyasha was confident he could reach them in the first place. He'd scoffed at the idea of staying behind, but the truth was, even if he wasn't as badly affected as Shippo or Kirara, the hanyou could feel himself slowing down before Miroku stopped them. It wouldn't surprise him if, sooner or later, the barrier stopped him from moving an inch. Staying behind wasn't so much a choice as it was an impossibility. Infuriating as it was to admit it, Inuyasha did understand how pointless it'd be for him to barge full speed (or as close as he could get) ahead. It didn't make the idea of letting Kagome go on without him any easier to swallow.
Yes, this side of the well was generally more dangerous compared to hers, but usually, he was there to keep her safe. That's how they worked and it was just fine that way. Because she needed to be protected, she was weaker than everyone else. Miroku and Sango were strong on their own, but they wouldn't be able to keep the girl safe. That's why he had to be by her side; that was his place. She knew it, too. Until recently, she'd always stuck close to him for that very reason. The perverted monk shouldn't be the one sitting beside him right now.
Except this was the smarter plan here, and Kagome wasn't as powerless as she'd been before.
No… no, she wasn't good enough to fight either Bankotsu or Naraku, and she shouldn't have gone in without him. It didn't matter that Itachi could probably handle either of them or that it was clear by now that the so-called warrior wanted to keep her safe; she shouldn't have gone in. The man's naive plan to have her learn how to fight would only make her act even more recklessly than she already did. Whatever goal Itachi had in mind, it wasn't one the hanyou was about to go along with it. He had no choice but to stay here because of that stupid mummified priest or monk or whatever the guy behind the barrier was, but once he was dealt with, Inuyasha would have to make sure he made it clear to Itachi that this wouldn't happen again. He wasn't going to just move aside and let Itachi do whatever the hell he wanted. How exactly he was supposed to do that. Inuyasha wasn't sure yet, but details weren't important.
If only Kagome could stop being so damn…
Dulled as his senses were, the scent still hit him. It was unmistakable, and it wasn't hers, but he still jumped up, almost causing Miroku to fall from the rock he'd been meditating on and startling Shippo and Kirara off their nap. Even if he couldn't tell for sure whose blood he was smelling, there was no way he'd let this go. If the scent was this strong, then whoever was bleeding couldn't be that far away from here, either outside the barrier or just on the very edge of it.
"What's going on?"
"Inuyasha," Miroku started. "I know exercising patience can be difficult at times, but…"
"It's not that! Someone's bleeding and it's close!"
Refusing to waste any more time the hanyou took off on a sprint, leaving Miroku to pick up the others and chase after him.
An ambush wasn't out of the realm of possibility, and those assholes were not above dragging some innocent villager as bait, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was outside this barrier, he could still use Tessaiga, and he wasn't gonna sit idly, sleeping while Kagome and the others were hunting Naraku on their own.
His nose itched as he finally recognized who the blood belonged to as the scent of gunpowder was added to the mix. Right, the wolf had gone right after the puppet's scent earlier; even without knowing about Hijiri island, it shouldn't have been shocking to find Kouga roaming around here. Hell, Sesshoumaru might be somewhere nearby for all he knew, after all, his bastard of a half-brother had been sniffing around, too. Not that any of them could go on until the fucking barrier was brought down. Still, if the wolf was bleeding, it meant at least one of the Shichinintai was wandering around the border.
"You got beat up, huh?" the hanyou scoffed as he glanced at the trio of wolves standing among burned grass.
"Shut it, dog turd!" Well, at least Kouga had plenty of energy left. "Bastard got away."
Golden eyes narrowed slightly as he took a good look at the black-haired male. All in all, the wolf prince wasn't in terrible shape. He could see a few bad burns, and one of the cuts on his right leg was pretty deep (likely the reason the scent of blood reached him), but a full-blooded youkai wouldn't even have a scar left after a couple of days. Judging by the fact that neither of the idiot's followers was any worse for wear either. They couldn't have faced anyone aside from Renkotsu. It made sense, that sneaky asshole was the one who tried to trap them in the monastery a few days ago. It would've been better if the one scurrying outside was Bankotsu, but Naraku probably felt pressured enough to keep the strongest out of the seven by his side for protection. The cowardly fucker was always trying to cover his ass. If this was the only fight he could get for now, he'd take it.
"He was too scared to face us," Ginta nodded, clearly proud of his assessment.
"Yeah, right." Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha crossed his arms. "That's why you lot are here, licking your wounds."
"Inu…yasha!"
Gasping or not, he could definitely hear the promise of a thoroughly boring scolding in his future as he turned around to see Miroku, carrying the two runts, frown firmly in place. Didn't matter. He was doing the right thing here.
"Huh?" Kouga's eyes narrowed in a glare. "Where's Kagome?"
"Kagome's in Mt. Hakurei…destroying the barrier," Shippo added, helpfully yawning halfway through.
"Wait, what?!" The wolf's yell made his ears ring. "Then what the fuck are you doing here, mutt face?!"
Ignoring the fresh wounds, the wolf jumped at him, left hand closing around his hair to scream right at his face. Inuyasha's teeth gritted as he swallowed down after a few choice words. The last thing he needed was to have the stupid wolf asking the same questions that had been whirling inside his skull from the instant he lost sight of the girl. Claws dug into the other male's wrist as he shoved him away with more force than necessary, Kouga wasn't responsible for the shit happening right now, and his hands were even more tied than the hanyou's.
"Sango and Itachi-san are with her," Miroku explained, his gaze scanning the area. "Someone needed to go and handle the barrier, and they're the best suited for that particular task."
"Itachi? That new guy?"
"Yep," the fox kit jumped in once more. "He's really strong, so they'll be fine."
"Can't you go in there? You're half-human aren't you? You're supposed to be the one protecting her." Of course, Kouga was still nagging him.
"I know that, damn it!" Charging on was stupid. "What direction did he go?"
"Hold on, Inuyasha, you can't seriously mean…" Miroku frowned again, taking a step closer to him, a warning clear in his voice.
"That way." Thankfully, Hakaku was often clueless. "Kouga injured him, of course, and…"
Whatever the next words were, Inuyasha didn't hear them, though Miroku's curse did reach him. Still, the hanyou refused to stop. The energy that had built up for the last couple of hours finally had a chance to burn. Bankotsu or Renkotsu made no difference; they needed to get all these fucking zombies back to their graves anyway; he might as well start first. So he pushed through, ignoring the sacred energy clinging to his skin, and kept running. His sense of smell definitely took a hit, but if he concentrated, he could still catch a whiff of the smell of corpses and burial soil. It was easy to ignore the discomfort this place gave him now that anger was moving his limbs, going forward, ignoring the fact that the fog was affecting his visibility more than it should. This wasn't the first time he acted on an impulse, and really, improvising was what he was good at. It's how he'd always done this shit, and it was just fine that way.
Besides, it's not like he needed anyone else to win against that slimy bastard. All he needed was to take the Shikon fragment, and the mercenary would return to being a rotting corpse, and he already knew where those assholes kept them. As long as he aimed for his neck, the battle would be over and done with. His fingers twitched as he ran, his hand itching to unsheath his sword. He was getting close; he could feel it, but Renkotsu wouldn't let him get too close. Being too aggressive from the get-go might get him to flee further into the barrier. Like hell, the hanyou was about to allow that to happen. One way or another, this hunt was gonna end today.
Fire exploded at his side.
There he was.
His sword was out before the hanyou landed, the weight shifting in his hand as Tessaiga transformed. Fangs bit down on his tongue; he could already tell the Kaze no kizu wasn't going to happen here either. That's probably the only reason Renkotsu was willing to attack him instead of fleeing with his tail between his legs once more. Ginta and Hakaku hadn't lied, the mangy wolf did manage to get a few hits in. The mercenary's armor was broken in several parts, evidence that Kouga somehow closed the distance and was fast enough to get a couple of hits in at once; that was probably when the cowardly asshole chose to run away, and the large cannon he was carrying around was likely what got the youkai. He couldn't let that thing be fired, or things would get even more annoying than they already were. Renkotsu had been on his left to avoid the fire, the hanyou had no choice but to jump right, and now, his back was facing the barrier. It was obvious what the plan was now, push him far enough into Mt. Hakurei that either the barrier would do him in by itself or the sacred energy of the place would immobilize him enough to give the mercenary the opportunity to kill him.
"I wondered if you'd really follow me here." There was a smug smirk on Renkotsu's face. "But I see I worried for nothing. You're not the smart one, are you?"
"You're the one who messed up here, getting out of that barrier."
"Now, why don't we do this the easy way?" A hand was extended towards him. "Get me the shards, and you and your friends can leave this place with your lives."
"As if I'd ever believe that!" That was the most obvious lie he'd ever heard.
"That's the only way you can get that girl, that archer, out of here safely." Condescension dripped off every damn word, "Bankotsu will hunt her down."
"Not if I deal with all of you first!" Rushing in wasn't the smart move, and that's exactly what he did.
The glow of the Shikon registered first, piercing through the fog the migraine keeping her senses sharp within the barrier caused. Three shards. It could only be one person. And he was sprinting right at them.
"Bankotsu is coming!"
"We were right, then," Sango said, eyes straining to find their enemy. "Hakushin-shounin is somewhere above us."
They'd been hiking for the last few hours, going up through the fog created by sacred energy. The place was eerily calm, just the same as Hijiri island; there was barely any vegetation aside from short grass and white flowers; outside the noise they'd made while hiking up, Kagome hadn't heard anything else, no birds, no insects, not a single thing. Even if she hadn't been able to feel the reiki in the air, the girl still would've been able to tell there was something off with this place. The higher they'd gone, the more confident she'd been in her original assertion, but she still couldn't pinpoint exactly where the previously dead saint was hiding. Bankotsu had tried to kill her at Hijiri island for revenge; that could still be the reason he was here right now, but Naraku had been so desperate to avoid any interruption to his plans he wouldn't have allowed the undead mercenary to stop guarding him unless they were getting too close to a place he didn't want them near to.
In a few seconds, Bankotsu would be on them. Itachi had warned this would happen, but she couldn't help the chill running down her spine. This wasn't the first time she'd been targeted by someone for revenge. Just because the enemies they defeated had done horrible or vile things, it didn't mean they didn't have anyone who cared for them. It didn't make any difference; people like the Shichinintai harmed too many others, they could do too much damage to be left alone. They had to be stopped. Having all that hatred directed at her like this; it was terrifying in ways she couldn't fully describe, but she couldn't afford to freeze. A gentle brush on the back of her hand was enough to startle her back into motion. Her hands flew to her bow, and she could see the demon exterminator grabbing her hiraikotsu, preparing for the clash. Neither of them could face the undead mercenary directly, but they still had to be ready to defend themselves or move out of the way. The terrain was bad enough as it was; Itachi didn't need any more disadvantages.
"I can hear him." The sound of the young warrior's blade leaving its sheath was incredibly loud.
"Should we go on ahead?" Sango's voice was guarded, her eyes glancing at the trail they'd been following. "If Bankotsu's here, then…"
"No, splitting up can be dangerous. I'll handle him."
Careful yet swift movements pushed her back; the clash of metal against metal was almost deafening. Recovering her footing, Kagome turned around.
Itachi was stronger than they'd seen; he was always careful to match them when the fighting began. She'd known that for a while now. The hunt for the Shikon was her problem to deal with, not his, and if he didn't feel comfortable with showing the extent of his skills, it wasn't her place to demand more of him. He deserved more than an unending series of battles just because she happened to help him when they were kids. Looking at the way he'd so easily blocked Bankotsu's halberd, however, made the difference between them impossible to ignore. There was no struggle as he pushed the undead mercenary back, shoving the giant blade to the side and delivering a kick.
"Fucking bodyguard," Bankotsu was almost snarling now. "I'm going to rip both of you apart right here!"
"He has no new shards! Just the two on his neck and one in his sword!" Putting up a barrier of her own would also restrict her and Sango's movements, instead, she kept her senses sharp.
"Don't know when to shut up, do you?!"
Another slash. Another block.
Sango helped her take a few steps back, climbing over a small boulder. She could still see them as they fought. Still, she didn't take an arrow out of her quiver. One attack after another, barely a second passed without the sound of swords clashing, tearing through the unnatural silence. She couldn't aim like this…she probably didn't need to.
Fire burned around him, explosions deafening him.
None of that hurt quite as much as the sacred energy. His skin was burning without burning, jolts of pain wracking his body with every step he took. Renkotsu had planted bombs all over, counting on whoever was chasing him to have demonic blood in him. It worked, forcing him into the barrier. But the bastard hadn't counted on Miroku to be here too. So now the mercenary was running away again. Desperately launching random attacks as he dove deeper into the barrier after loosing his cannon to the monk's wind tunnel. As if that was enough to stop him.
Annoying as his human blood could be, it was useful in times like this; no doubt Kouga would've been forced to go back by now. Weaker demons might've already been purified. Hell, even Sesshoumaru would have to turn back at some point.
"Stop running, you damn coward!"
"Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled; he didn't sound winded this time. "Are you sure you should…"
"I'm fine. Just run faster!" Anger and frustration were starting to blend together and he wasn't exactly controlling their target.
The words were as much for him as they were for Miroku.
Unlike Bankotsu, the fire fanatic wasn't especially fast. With it without the constant explosions, Inuyasha should've caught up already; hell, Miroku was going faster than him. No, this was still fine; as long as he could keep going, he would do so. He was used to pain anyway. Besides, the Kazaana didn't seem to be affected by the barrier, with Miroku here, he had a chance, even if it was risky. After all, it didn't look like Renkotsu knew they didn't have the shards. Underhanded tactics were not his style, but just this once…
"Leave this guy to me, Miroku!" Guys like that asshole would stay to fight if he thought Inuyasha was an easy target and there was something to gain. "Get back to the wolves; no need to have you here!"
"What?!"
"I said get the fuck back!" How the hell was he supposed to signal what the plan was without letting Renkotsu know? "You'll get in my way if you get attacked!"
"Are you sure you should be worried about someone else?" Maybe there was no need to send a signal after all.
Honed instincts had him jumping back, the flames coming far too close for his liking. Good, even if the fucker wasn't brave, he was far too greedy to give up the chance of getting his hands on the Shikon. The hanyou's insistence on getting the monk to go back was enough of a suggestion to have Renkotsu double back and try again. Violet eyes met him as they both dodged the next fireball. Understanding seemed to dawn on him thanks to Renkotsu's sudden change in tactics. It was better this way; the monk knew how to deal with shit like this.
"I can't just leave!" Miroku yelled back, his hand moving to find something hidden in his robes. "Even if I get why, we're too far into the barrier for you to fight by yourself!"
"Don't worry about who gets to leave," the mercenary was almost laughing. "I'm killing both of our here!"
Without Naraku's insects to tie Miroku's hands, there were only two ways to get around the wind tunnel. Overwhelming attacks that'd force the monk to dodge, or use someone else as a shield. That's how he and Kagome bested the monk the time they met. If the mercenary wanted to get to Miroku, he'd have to pick one of these, and it didn't matter who Renkotsu chose to target the other would have a clean shot.
Heat rushed around him, fire launching at the hanyou. He didn't back down this time. Flames licked the fire rat robes uselessly as Inuyasha lunged forward. The bastard was going after Miroku. Grasping the hilt of his sword with both hands, the hanyou swung. There was a moment of realization as Renkotsu began to turn around mid-sprint, halfway through his next attack. Tessaiga's blade found the undead man's throat, its edge cutting through flesh, slower than it should. Was the blade duller now, or was his strength that diminished? The thought vanished as he finally cut through, the tainted shard falling from the man's severed neck, leaving his body to turn to ashes.
"Fucking finally."
"This was far too risky." With a sigh, Miroku knelt down to grab the shard, using a piece of cloth to avoid direct contact. "Good news is, the barrier seems to have purified the shard, now that it's…well…out."
"Grab the damn thing and let's keep going," Inuyasha huffed.
"Hold on, you can't be telling me you really want to keep going." Despite the question, it was obvious the monk had expected this. "You're already getting hurt."
"Of course I am, and if you want to stop me, just try it!"
Pain shot through him as he willed himself to keep going. It was a good thing they'd managed to settle things here because Inuyasha wasn't sure how much longer he could go on before Tessaiga stopped transferring. Claws dug into his skin as he clenched his fists. He could hear Miroku give an exaggerated sigh and put the shard somewhere in his sleeves. The hanyou wasn't an idiot; he knew why the con artist wasn't yelling at him to get back. He was counting on the barrier to stop him eventually. That wasn't going to happen. He was sick and tired of this nonsense, and he'd get to the others - to Kagome - no matter what it took.