Crossover Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Journey to the City of Endless Night ❯ Chapter Sixteen ( Chapter 16 )

Chapter Sixteen

“Inuyasha, that you?” Miroku stood, peering at him through the hood.

“What do you think, monk?” He pushed his hood back briefly, letting his ears peek out a moment. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just going to ask you the same question.”

Inuyasha cringed slightly as he heard a squeal and saw Kagome rush to Sango, hugging her tightly. He would have to talk to her about that noise later. Kagome cried out, “Sango-chan!”

Sango hugged the girl back, smiling. “Kagome. You're alright.”

Kagome asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Ask the monk. We were in a nice inn the other day until he got caught swindling again.” She glared at Miroku.

Miroku cleared his throat. “Well, now that we've all found one another back, why don't you fill us in?”

Inuyasha snorted. “We were heading towards a village when we came across this grassland and we've been traveling with these people ever since.” He pointed towards the table.

“I see. We also were traveling towards a village to meet you and we found ourselves here. I must say, the people here are rather strange.” Miroku brushed his robes off.

Kagome asked, “Where is Shippo?”

“Upstairs with Kirara.” Sango said. “He's been asking after you for quite some time now.”

Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder at the group. They had ceased their conversation, watching the reunion take place. He crossed his arms. “Feh. We can do all this catching up later.”

Kagome nodded. “Yes, we've met a few people here as we've traveled.”

Inuyasha crossed back towards the table with Miroku, Sango, and Kagome following close behind. He sat back down into the seat by his brother, waiting for the obvious questions to begin. Belgarath was the first. “Well, who do we have here?”

Kagome said, “These are our friends. The monk is named Miroku and the woman is named Sango.”

Miroku and Sango looked over the large traveling group, their evident shock at the two brothers sitting next to one another not lost on Inuyasha. Miroku recovered first, clearing his throat. “Yes, I am a humble Buddhist monk named Miroku. And who are the lovely ladies amongst the table?”

Sango glared at him, clenching her hand into a fist. She ground out, “Monk, don't press your luck.”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. He muttered, “Some things never change.” He turned, looking at the pair. “Sit down and quit making a scene.”

Miroku held his hand up. “I only asked a question.”

Kagome stood back up. She went towards Sango and pointed towards Polgara. She said, “That is Lady Polgara. The red-haired woman is named Ce'Nedra.” Then, she pointed towards the men, one by one, introducing them to her friend.

Miroku overheard the introduction of the ladies and he smiled in their direction. He extended his hand towards Polgara, asking, “My dear lady, would you like a proposition?”

Polgara's gray eyes looked at him with suspicion. “What sort of proposition?”

“Would you like to bear my children?” Miroku rushed the last sentence before Sango could smack him in the head.

Inuyasha shook his head. He grumbled, “That monk just will never learn.”

His brother whispered in his ear, “Does he not know that she is mated?”

“No and even if he did I doubt that'd stop him.” Inuyasha put a hand over his eyes. “Let's see how he gets himself out of this one without Sango killing him.”

Polgara stared at him, her eyes narrowed momentarily. Then a deep, rich laugh emanated from her throat and she shook her head. She said, “Oh dear.” She continued to laugh which caused Miroku to slump until he remembered the other lady at the table. Polgara caught her breath. “I'm quite attached already, thank you.”

Before Miroku could ask the same question of Ce'Nedra, Garion placed his arms around the tiny, red-head. His expression alone caused the monk to put his hands up in defeat. He said, “Ah well, there are always other ladies to ask.” This earned him a smack in the back of the head from Sango.

Sango had her eyes still locked on Miroku. She also formed a fist at her side. She asked, “What is going on with Naraku, anyways?”

Inuyasha said, “Basically he's raising hell and we have to go and stop him.”

Belgarath sighed. He said, “We should, perhaps, find an inn for the night to stay in. Thank you Yurek for your information about what's going on in Mallorea. I'm sure we'll find time to ask for more if we need it.” The old man stood. “Why don't you tell your friends to gather their items and we'll be on our way.”

Yurek nodded. He stood, “Kheldar, if you need to talk to me I'll be doing records in the office.” He exited the dingy inn.

Sango glared at Miroku. “Come on, monk. Let's go get Shippo and Kirara and see if we can actually stay in the same inn with these people after the horrible swindle you pulled.”

Miroku sighed. “My dear Sango, I'm sure we'll be just fine.”

Inuyasha snorted. He stood, his arms crossed in his haori sleeves. He twitched his ears a couple times under his hood. How on earth would they hide Shippo's tail and Kirara's twin tails? It would not be good for everyone to see those things until they were certain only the group could see them. He rubbed a clawed foot on the back of his leg, waiting.

Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara came back down the stairs. Sango had strapped her weapon to her back and had Kirara in a basket, the one from Kagome's bicycle. This took care of the tails issue. Shippo, on the other hand, rode on Miroku's shoulder, his tail twitching. They had to hide his tail or they'd find themselves having to make a lot of unnecessary explanations. Shippo immediately launched himself off of Miroku's shoulder upon sighting Kagome. He cried out, “Kagome! You're here!”

Kagome caught him, hugging him tightly to her chest. She said, “Yes, I'm here. How have you been?”

Shippo said, “I've been alright. Where were you and Inuyasha?”

Kagome smiled. She pointed towards the group behind her and remarked, “We were with these nice people.”

Shippo looked them over, climbing onto Kagome's shoulder. He looked wide eyed when he noticed Sesshomaru and ducked behind her head. Inuyasha sighed. Too late. Everyone by now had to have seen the young fox's tail. Inuyasha stalked over towards Kagome, plucking the young fox child off his mate's shoulder by the tail. Shippo cried out, “Kagome, he's being mean to me!”

“Inuyasha, put him down.” She crossed her arms looking at the two of them.

Inuyasha glared at Shippo. He set him down onto his own shoulder. “We should get going if we're going to get to this new inn.” Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed all the expressions of shock.

Polgara peered at the two of them. “The child has a tail. Is he also like you, Inuyasha?”

Shippo puffed his chest out on Inuyasha's shoulder. “I'm full-demon.”

Inuyasha snorted, raising a fist. He said, “You're also a brat. Your point?”

Belgarath shook his head. “Well, I suppose we should get out of here before we draw too much attention to this odd group. We'll ask questions when we get to the inn. In the meantime, cover that tail of his.”

Kagome opened her arms for Shippo, letting him climb into them. She then wrapped him tightly to her chest. She said, “Inuyasha, can you grab the coat I have in my bag? It'll do for a blanket to hide his tail while we get into the inn.”

Inuyasha grumbled briefly about the irritation that Shippo brought as he pulled a jacket from her bag. He handed it to her, watching her wrap it around Shippo. Once that was complete, they exited the inn into the dark alley way.

Silk lead the way, slinking through the back alleys until they reached the cleaner side of town. They approached a white washed inn and stopped in front of it. Belgarath said, “With our special guest here we should get any room we want. But, what type of arrangements would you like?”

“One big room for the lot of us, please,” Kagome asked.

Inuyasha's ears drooped at the idea of sharing a room with everyone. He had hoped he'd have Kagome all to himself now that they were no longer on a ship and it would not matter nearly as much what they did. Apparently she had different ideas. An innkeeper brought him back to the situation as he said, “Travelers, you looking to stay here?”

Belgarath nodded. “Yes, we'd like two suites if at all possible.”

The man said, “I don't think we have any left. We're down to single rooms.”

Zakath stepped forward. “Would you mind opening some up for us, good innkeeper?”

The man blinked. “Your Majesty, I did not know you were traveling with these people. Certainly. The rooms are yours. As many as you would like.”

“Thank you.”

The innkeeper put his hand out when Miroku attempted to pass through. He said, “All but this one, Your Majesty.”

Miroku held his hands up. “I don't know what you're talking about, good innkeeper.”

“You know full well what I mean, you swindler. You tried to swindle me out of my best rooms when you didn't have the money to pay for them.”

“Surely there has to be some sort of mistake.” Miroku tried to laugh off the charge that he had swindled his way into the inn earlier.

Inuyasha caught with his ears Sango's remark, “Sure, he never lies his way into a fancy place.”

Zakath glared in Miroku's direction. He untied the strings on his belt, letting a purse fall into his hands. “Here, let this be payment.”

The innkeeper took it from the Emperor's hand, counting the gold. “Right this way.”

The group was escorted to two massive suites adjacent from one another. Once everyone was situated, Belgarath asked, “Would you like to formally introduce your friend there?”

Shippo wiggled his way out of Kagome's jacket. He climbed back onto her shoulder, looking over the group. Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Hopefully the young kit would miss the mark that identified her as his. It wouldn't do for the child to react with all these people in the room.

Kagome said, “He's Shippo, a young fox demon.”

“Fox demon? That explains the tail, I suppose.” Belgarath scratched his beard. “You aren't telling us everything that comes with the man and woman, though.”

Miroku and Sango exchanged glances before Miroku said, “If I might say something, we are companions of both Kagome and Inuyasha. I, as I introduced myself earlier, am a Buddhist monk and Sango-sama here is a demon slayer.”

“Demon slayer? But if that child is a demon and Inuyasha's half, not to mention Sesshomaru, why would she travel with the group?” Belgarath asked.

Miroku, Sango, and Shippo all turned to look at the mentioned Demon Lord. They had acted as if he was not in the room, unsure of what to say about him. Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, the jackass is here. Get over it.” He pulled his hood back, a clawed hand itching an ear. “She's after Naraku like the rest of us.”

Sango eased her weapon down onto the floor. She said, “Exactly. What is Naraku doing?”

Belgarath replied, “I'll let your companions fill you in on the situation. However, later on, I will ask that we sit down and talk as a large group. We've been traveling for awhile and I know some of us would like to rest.”

Silence fell over the room as soon as the others had left. Inuyasha sat down on the richly patterned carpet, his legs crossed and his hands holding his feet. He looked around the expansive room, three side rooms marked by doors. He flicked an ear when he felt Shippo crawl onto his back and ask in a shaky voice, “Inuyasha, why is he here?”

Inuyasha snorted. He picked the child up by the tail, setting him down onto the floor. “Don't you worry why he's here.”

Kagome said, “Sango, I'm sure you'd like a bath. Why don't you and I find Lady Polgara and she can help us set up a bath.”

Sango looked warily over the men in the room. She nodded. “Alright, Kagome. It sounds like a good plan.”

After the ladies left the room, Miroku said, “Well, it certainly has been a strange couple weeks. What have you been doing, Inuyasha?”

Inuyasha glared at the monk. He said, “Same thing as you. Trying to find out what's going on with Naraku.”

“Inuyasha, you know what I mean.” Miroku pointed his staff towards Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru said, “I suggest you do not point that at me, monk.”

Inuyasha blew hair from his face. He rolled his eyes. “Now you went and did it.” He stood, standing in between the two. “Listen, it's not a big deal. We're traveling together and that's that.”

Rin peeked around Sesshomaru's shoulder when she spotted Shippo also peeking around Miroku's. She stepped out tentatively, uncertain of what these strange newcomers might do. Her gaze shifted towards Sesshomaru, asking silently if she might approach the young fox child. Sesshomaru only nodded his acceptance and Rin stepped slowly out. She laughed when she saw Shippo hide behind Miroku further before he looked at her. Shippo put one foot down, probing how safe it might be to approach the young girl. Inuyasha sighed. This was going to be a long night.

Rin said, “What's your name? Mine is Rin.”

Shippo stuttered before responding, “My name is Shippo.” His green eyes locked onto Sesshomaru's golden. He stood, shaking slightly, wary that he might do something wrong and provoke the Demon Lord.

Rin clapped her hands. She said, “I like it.”

Shippo shifted his eyes towards Rin. He said, “I like yours, too.” He flicked his gaze towards Inuyasha, trying to get some reassurance. Shippo jumped when he felt a pair of arms go around him as Rin hugged him.

“Are you like Sesshomaru-sama?” She pulled away, looking at his tail.

Shippo nodded slowly. He said, “I'm a fox.”

Sesshomaru stood, causing Shippo to scramble back towards Miroku. He said, “Half-breed, do you know where your mate keeps those colored objects of hers?”

Again the room fell silent. Inuyasha glared over at his brother. He saw from the corner of his eye Shippo's eyes widen and Miroku's expression become smug. Inuyasha stood from his spot in the corner, shoving a finger into his brother's face. “Thanks a lot, asshole. Now everyone knows.” He crossed his arms. “There some where in her bag. By the way, her name is Kagome.”

Shippo peeked around Miroku's form. He stared at Inuyasha in wonder. He asked, his voice quavering, “Is it true?”

Inuyasha turned and looked at the small fox demon. “Yeah and what you gonna do about it?” He flattened his ears. One hand made a fist and he shook it in Shippo's direction. “It's none of your business.”

Miroku smirked. “I'll have to ask for details later when the children aren't present.”

Inuyasha shook his fist a the monk. “Only if you want Tetsusaiga shoved up your ass.”

Sesshomaru dug around in Kagome's bag, looking for the crayons. He remarked, “Little brother, I suggest you not point a finger in my face again.” He held the box of crayons in his hand. “Rin.”

Rin clapped her hands upon seeing the crayons. She went over to the Demon Lord. “Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?”

“Take these and occupy yourself.” Sesshomaru tilted his hand slightly, letting the box slide into Rin's open palms.

Rin nodded. She smiled and said, “Shippo, why don't you come color with me?”

Shippo looked from Inuyasha to Sesshomaru. He shifted his gaze to Rin before agreeing. Shippo followed the young girl to a small table. He pulled something from his jacket. “Here, we need this to color on.” He set down a piece of paper in between them.

Inuyasha's attention was pulled back to their side of the room when his brother's quiet voice asked, “Half-breed, what do the monk and slayer have against Naraku?”

Inuyasha crossed his arms. He snorted. Inuyasha tilted his head towards the monk, indicating that Miroku should answer the question. He saw Miroku sit down next to him, his staff leaning against a corner.

Miroku said, “May I respond?”

“Go ahead.”

He said, “It's rather simple. Naraku has placed a curse on my family. I do not think I should speak about Sango's reason.” Miroku adjusted the beads covering his Wind Tunnel.

“A curse. What sort of curse?”

“He has placed into my hand a curse that will eventually consume me. It is called the Wind Tunnel and if it is uncovered it shall suck everything into it. Unless I destroy Naraku, I shall too follow my grandfather and father.” Miroku squeezed his hand.

“And the fox kit?”

Inuyasha said, “He's with us because he lost his father and couldn't avenge him alone. Kagome adopted him.” Inuyasha saw Shippo hunch over the paper, drawing. His tail twitched ever so slightly in concentration. Rin's giggles could be heard as well and Inuyasha shook his head in their direction.

Miroku asked, “I might ask you, if it doesn't intrude, why you have the little girl with you, Sesshomaru-sama.”

Sesshomaru turned a cold gaze on the monk. Inuyasha looked from one to the other. The monk's question had struck a nerve and he had to defuse the situation and fast. Sesshomaru replied, “I suggest you keep your curiosity to yourself.”

Inuyasha leaned towards Miroku. He said, “Why don't you go set up the room you're going to stay in for the night, alright?” Miroku nodded, grabbing his staff in his hand as he opened one of the suite doors. Once the monk was gone, Inuyasha said, “Now that the monk is gone, I'd like an answer to his question.”

Sesshomaru glared at him. “Half-breed, I owe you no explanations.”

“Give it a rest, Sesshomaru. Just answer the question.” Inuyasha stared at his brother, unwilling to move until he got an answer.