InuYasha Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Breathless ❯ What are you afraid of? ( Chapter 13 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Sailor Moon.

 

 

Chapter Twelve.

 

 

`What are you afraid of?'

 

“Aku, Tsumi; I want you to go find those bandits that did that to her… and punish them accordingly” he ordered as he started to walk away.

 

Forgetting her previous fear, this time it was Tsumi's turn to smirk.

 

“Shall we kill them?” she asked eagerly.

 

Naraku paused to consider.

 

“If you want to; but I want them tortured first..."

 

He fixed them with a glare that meant business.

 

"... long and slow”

 

Dismissing the twin detachments, Naraku retreated to his own special chambers, where only he could enter and where he kept the Shikon no Tama when he wasn't carrying it with himself.

 

 

Taking the round object in his right hand, he pondered on the last events that'd been plaguing his attention: they were the only concern that'd been strong enough to take his attention from his new prized possessions lately.

 

 

-The only thing that'd so recently become the most urgent, compelling nuisance-. The dark Hanyou Lord's crimson rubies flashed again, like every time he was planning someone's unfortunate demise.

 

 

This time, it concerned a certain meddling female, and the mere thought of her suffering to come brought a look of devious mocking to his face.

 

 

“I know you've been around here, and the fact that you might suspect this place is in itself too dangerous. I can't allow you and your so called `allies' to poise a threat to everything I've been working so hard to obtain; I can not let the two of you get this close to them again. It is time I punish you for this intrusion and get rid of you permanently…”

 

 

Inspecting the smooth surface of the Jewel, he closed his fingers around it tightly as he contemplated his next move, his lips curling in a twisted smile.

 

 

“…Foolish little girl…”

 

 

 

 

Somewhere else, the girl known by the name Kagome sighed.

 

 

“I'm telling you Inuyasha, Kagome-sama is right when she says there was something very wrong with those mountains” the Buddhist monk by the name of Miroku tried to reason with the aforementioned half-demon for the fifth time. Though they had finally left the incredibly vast area weeks ago, none of them could yet shake the dreadful feelings those echoing gloomy caverns had given them.

 

 

“Heh, it was just an endless succession of lousy caves, scattered among an endless succession of mountains” the red-clad hybrid crossed his arms, continuing to shrug him off snottily “nothing to make such a fuss about. Probably a cemetery filled with skeletons and a convenient home for wandering lesser youkai inside; that's all”

 

 

Sango, the group's trained demon slayer, nodded at the inu-hanyou's words, confirming the information he had provided. “I heard once in my village in that area there used to be an old youkai settlement underground. One of those many caves must be the secret entrance to the abandoned subterranean fortress that once belonged to the ancient Okami tribes”

 

 

A sincerely amused Inuyasha chuckled. “You mean your people used to believe those flea-bitten wolfs had actually carried out some semblance of fancy human lifestyle? You've got to be kidding! ―”

 

 

“Inuyasha…” a narrowed eyed Kagome growled in warning. `He BETTER not make a coarse comment at the expense of Sango's murdered loved ones!' she thought with a bit of ire, but fortunately the hanyou had apparently caught her undertone, for he turned to her with a look of flustered guilt, for a second before he realized what he was doing and immediately covered it with a stubborn puff after.

 

 

Kagome hid a grin before listening to what Miroku had to say.

 

 

“If you don't mind, what I'd like to know is whether you happened to notice something unusual when you and Kagome-sama went scouting”

 

 

“I didn't smell anything if that's what you're asking” the hanyou answered him; an eyebrow slightly raised “I already told you there were no more Yama-Arashi left. Not here, not there, not anywhere else… It's been weeks since we last saw one”

 

 

The `Yama-Arashi' were youkai hedgehogs that had attacked their little group under the influence of Naraku's shouki poison, remnants of which had been graciously left behind days before by their owner after the group's last encounter with the Dark Hanyou Lord, an encounter during which Naraku'd thoroughly succeeded in reabsorbing the infant Akago ―the baby who was his physical youkai heart― together with the fearsome golem that Akago'd been controlling, Moryoumaru, along with almost succeeding in stealing the wolf Kouga's shikon shards as well… all this before getting away once again. It'd been a pretty close call for them all, specially Miroku; the only good points being that Naraku had not gotten his dirty hands on Kouga's shards after all, and that the monk managed to absorb the baby Akago's infamous Fuyoheki stone (an aura concealing item) with his wind tunnel before falling unconscious from the poison.

 

 

…So it was that, once he'd been recovered enough and the possessed Yama-Arashi taken care of, they'd spent the following days attempting to track down any other possible surprises, and found nothing. A crappy couple of weeks, if you asked Inuyasha.

 

 

The last thing he needed was another round of Miroku's insufferable eternal questions.

 

 

“I'm not saying there are any more hedgehogs, Inuyasha” the monk finally supplied after a long pause “What I'm saying is that I believe we should go back to investigate those caves, or wait for Kouga so he can tell us what he knows. Being that he is a wolf demon, it is possible he might know this secret entrance Sango was mentioning earlier”

 

 

“What! We'd finally gotten rid of that mangy okami and you want to find him again?! Hell NO!!!” an aggravated hanyou shouted, only to be interjected by an equally exasperated little kitsune.

 

 

“Inuyasha, what a blockhead!! You should listen to someone else for once!” Shippo yelled at him non-too kindly from his perch on Kirara's back.

 

 

Said blockhead's eye twitched as he pulled one sleeve up his arm. “What did you call me?!”

 

 

“You heard me!” the small fox-kit exclaimed righteously, sticking his tongue out at him “Miroku, Sango and Kagome all agree on something and you're the one that's always pulling us the other way! Don't you realize that Kagome also needs to rest?!”

 

 

“Um. Thank you Shippo, but that's not really necessary” the flustered girl from the future threw in, only to be ignored by the two arguing parties.

 

 

“RUNT! You're going to get it now for being such a loudmouth! ―” the furious inu-hanyou yelled as he threw himself over the fleeing rascal.

 

 

Sigh. “Sit”

 

 

CRASH!!!

 

 

Yikes!

 

 

“Ouch! Kagome, what did you do that for?!”

 

 

“Oops! Sorry Shippo!”

 

 

The other two could only laugh while she blushed in embarrassment watching the grumbling half-demon get up and off a much flattened little fox.

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, he didn't know the reason she was keeping so quiet.

 

 

It was granted most of the time she was that much reserved and not usually the talkative type. Neither was he in this times he supposed ―something that was for obvious reasons―, though months by her side had helped him learn to better discern her subtle mood swings.

 

 

Once again, she was preoccupied ―that he could tell as much― which wasn't really surprising if one thought about it…, quite the contrary. But he sensed that someway, somehow, this was different; this wasn't the usual concern.

 

 

What he guessed was that `this' time, she was really, truly upset.

 

 

And once again, she wasn't telling him why

 

 

Kikyo-sama…

 

 

He was just a boy. He feared was that it would somehow concern him, and it was at times like this wished she would trust him better.

 

 

…Even when he knew he didn't have much to offer…

 

 

…Even though he sensed that, unsurprisingly, there probably wasn't much he could truly do to help.

 

 

The boy had to wonder sometimes, was it the jewel shard on his back which made him more intuitive?

 

 

“―Kikyo-sama?”

 

 

“Um. Yes, Kohaku?”

 

 

“ -Are you truly alright?” He was resolved to ask her that time…

 

 

Pause.

 

 

“Yes, I am. Why do you ask?”

 

 

The childish demon exterminator's face was down set. “That wound looks worse and worse every day. I -I thought that, with the soul of Midoriko-sama ailing you, it'd eventually heal completely… but it hasn't, and then you have all those deep gashes and cuts everywhere-”

 

 

`Which you won't tell me how you got' he had privately added in his head.

 

 

The midnight haired Miko had actually smiled. “It is nothing. You don't need to worry so much about me, child; my body is made of hardened clay and soil, remember? It is very resistant”

 

 

“If you say so…but” his anxious stare returned to her face.

 

 

Kikyo had given Kohaku a sideway glance. She regarded the boy in a contemplative way.

 

 

“Do you mean to say, that it troubles you?” she inquired of him in a low murmur.

 

 

Kohaku'd blushed a bit pink, unable to lift his head to look her in the eye.

 

 

“I just -I just wish I could help you get better, Kikyo-sama. I know for sure that, if something were to happen to you, I'd be so lost… I -I don't know what I'd do without you―” His tone filled with apprehension, as if nervous to voice what came next.

 

 

“―if you are ever gone, how am I supposed to protect this jewel shard all by myself?”

 

 

The Miko stared at him serenely.

 

 

“You have nothing to fear. You still have your sister, have you not?” she noticed the way his back and shoulders tensed. “Don't you want to be reunited with her when this is over?” But the boy stayed silent, hence leaning her head to the side she continued.

 

 

“Tell me, child… What is it you're afraid of?”

 

 

That was actually it, she'd been partly right. But it wasn't the only thing.

 

 

It was her also her evident unshared fears, which she was keeping to herself, under a cloak of silence, what was also eating his nerves away.

 

 

—`What is it you're afraid of?'—

 

 

…Indeed.

 

 

GLOSSARY

 

 

`Okami' means either wolf or wolf demon.

 

 

A/N: Hiya guys! I'm back!