InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Intertwined ❯ Downtime and sponge baths ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: All characters are products of Rumiko Takahashi, and Togashi Yoshihiro's minds, not mine.

 

 

 

 

A/N: God, that took more than a month. I'm sorry, guys. All I have to say for myself is that I've actually finished a bunch of drawings since my last post. My muse wanted to draw, and I had requests backed up, so I indulged. I also entered an impromptu contest (which I won *dance*) with a drawing of an elf. I really, really hope that this chapter works for you guys; I don't much like it myself. The thing about this story is that, no matter how much I wish it were true, I don't have the entire thing mapped out. Points of interest are logged to happen in the outline, but I need to fill in the gaps (in which this is a big one). Though I will concede that a lot of important things are said in this chapter.

 

Now, if you feel up to it by the end of the chapter, feel free to stop by [sardave.deviantart.com] to view the reasons I took so long getting this chapter out. There are about nine of them… (Yes, I'm blaming them and you can't stop me… ^_~)

 

I also wanted to warn that I plan to refresh the chapters soon. I've caught far too many mistakes to leave `em all, so I'll probably do it when I post chapter 11 and I just wanted to give you watchers a head's up. Lotsa love!!!

 

 

The Intertwined

 

 

 

Chapter 10

 

 

 

Two days. It had taken all of two days from their arrival to the den before the relative peace was broken. During this time everyone had done what they could to get their minds off of the deathly stillness of Sango and Kagome, even when it was obvious…more than obvious actually, that they were quite alive and very well. The paste that Youko had administered was taking longer than usual to wake the girls, but their fevers had broken the same night of the treatment. Now they were merely unconscious...and yet it was all most could do to keep from glancing for movement from them after every few minutes.

 

Now after they had finally settled in for however long recovery would take, they'd inexplicably been intruded on by a small variety of animals including ordinary weasels, rabbits, and a deluge of various birds. Not terribly abnormal by means because of the winter weather…but when a low-level drooling mole demon found its way through Youko's carefully placed perimeter of dissuading foliage, everyone was left scratching their heads at the ongoing interruptions. Well…not exactly scratching their heads, really; that's just a turn- of-phrase. Some of those present would never do such a thing, but one gets the point. At the very least, it made for easy “hunting”.

 

 

It was now late in the morning of day three, and Miroku sat near to Sango's heavily covered feet as he reflected the occurrences happening of late. The auras of his lady and lady-friend had finally ceased shifting since their encounter, and had settled down to burn as bright as was humanly possible. Even for a miko, which Sango was not…at least she didn't use to be, but…

 

Miroku frowned at his uncertainty of the situation concerning the women he held dear. Sighing as he shifted on the dirt floor of the den, he leaned back against the wall and propped up his feet, resting his forearms on bent knees. Whether or not he knew better, he might say that whatever Naraku had done to the women had caused them to leak into one another…for lack of a better analogy. It fully seemed as though his earlier suspicions of Naraku's main objective had been on the mark. The question was why did he do it?

 

According to the demons present to the group, each girl now held a trace of the other's natural scent. Sure, that wasn't terribly uncommon considering they spent so much time around each another, but the scent of holy power didn't simply transfer as normal scents did, and Sango now smelled… authentic, to use Youko's words. `As if she'd been a miko all her life', he'd said. If that weren't enough, their auras had also gradually shifted to mirror the others identically over the past two days.

 

That was uncommon...unheard of, actually. A person's aura could be as individual as one's face, but theirs were now purely indistinguishable from one another. And now they had Kami's every creature to crawl Japan converging on them in what had been a secure den. It was as though the barriers had just dropped; as if they were no longer able to contain what they were hiding. What changed? The women, obviously, but what were all the pest-critters after? Combined essence in the form of two women? Everyone found it painfully obvious that whatever had happened to them in Naraku's hands had caused their current state…the change in their aura alone signified as much; this wasn't natural.

 

Miroku sighed as he thought over the group now assembled in the warm den. Ginta and Hakkaku had come and gone at times to furnish various supplies for the group for the duration. They were currently about two day's travel from their village, but nobody had wanted move the two women in their unpredictable condition. Though both practically glowed with a health no one had anticipated, they were still comatose and no one was in a hurry to be caught with their hakama down, so to speak. And judging by what had been happening with the animals roughly since lunch the day before, it had been a sharp decision to stay put. That's not to say they couldn't have handled it with all of the present company; Sesshomaru could most probably do it all with is eyes closed…but why bother when they didn't have to, right? That was Miroku's argument, anyway. And never mind that without Youko's barriers, they would no doubt have far worse come at them than some woodland animals and drooling mole demons.

 

A sleepy little sneeze sounding from one corner of the temperate den drew the monk's unusual purple eyes from Sango's fur covered form to Rin's fur covered form. The little girl slept on as she rubbed her pink nose, wrapped up next to her guardian in his Mokomoko for warmth. Even in her sleep, her little fingers returned to wind themselves in the plentiful strands of silver that she had claimed before falling to sleep the night before. A glance at the taiyoukai's face and one could see nothing of his awareness that she was doing so, save for his eyes having closed when she'd begun. The youkai was unparalleled at hiding such things to most, but Miroku could see that the great Sesshomaru doted on the little girl as much as, if not more than, any father would their own child. He felt incredibly privileged to be privy to the warm sight of him running his claws through her hair as she snoozed. He wondered if he was even aware he was doing it.

 

Miroku mentally nodded, `It's most likely that he does…' Sesshomaru never seemed to be unaware of anything. It made him feel trusted. Weird, since he hardly knew the youkai beyond chance meetings and those seven or so months among him for training a couple years ago. That was also about the time that Kohaku had begun traveling with him, and Miroku was grateful for the boy's growth under his tutelage since then; it had eased Sango's fears considerably.

 

“Dammit, fox! That ain't what I meant, and you know it!”

 

…'Ah, Inuyasha and Youko have returned with fare for the night,' Despite all that had happened the last two days, Miroku's face did none other than grin widely at the way Youko had of provoking Inuyasha. It was entirely enjoyable to watch, even when Inuyasha didn't catch what appeared to be hidden lessons squeezed between innuendoes and insults. His two demon friends came into view carrying various spoils from the forest and ducked into the warmth of the den.

 

“Well, perhaps were you to word your questions more effectively they wouldn't be taken out of context. Do think about how such a question would be taken from an outside perspective,” Youko answered the flustered dog over his shoulder as he bent and deposited his burden of two rabbits and an armful of dead logs with a conspiring wink at Miroku.

 

Thankfully for his own health, Miroku had been able to wipe the borderline glee from his face before Inuyasha approached to alight his own armful of provisions while Youko went and knelt between the women. He checked both of their pupils and then he pulled back the fabrics to check their healing shoulders, pretending not to hear Inuyasha's grumbling.

 

“I take it I've missed out on something?” Miroku asked innocently from his spot against the dirt wall, missing the amusement settle in Sesshomaru's eyes.

 

Sesshomaru knew exactly what that clever fox was up to. This was one of the reasons he'd allowed the creature to be friend and ally when he first met him. Though he was notoriously impish, he was serious when warranted and was smart fire. If one disregarded Youko's propensity to drop insinuations left and right, the fox was usually welcome company. He listened with amusement as he continued to comb his hand through Rin's hair, silently marveling at how one little bath-session with the other females had improved its texture.

 

He opened his eyes when Inuyasha began to instinctively rumble at the fox. If he didn't know any better, he'd suspect the fox's pull affecting his brother with the way he flushed all the time…likewise with the fox always pushing his ire. Though apparently, as he'd recently learned, it was merely because Youko had taken liberties with those ears of his early on in their acquaintance. As curious as the youkai is, it wasn't terribly surprising that he had wanted to investigate them, but Sesshomaru suspected that he also counted that messing with them would fluster the boy. The monk seemed to have caught onto the fox's games deftly, but his little half-sibling merely swam along with the current, oblivious. Though, as one takes into accord that they'd only been around the thief for roughly over one moon cycle, it was a wonder that any of them had enough time to catch them at all. Humans could be so blind to such machinations most times, and Youko's tended to be more of the undetectable kind. They also tended to be slightly…okay highly suggestive, but the point remained. It needn't be said that he likely enjoyed toying with him anyway; that was just how he worked.

 

Inuyasha attempted to ignore the monk's comment and Youko's infuriating chuckle as he sat down and began separating the food into two piles. While Inuyasha was half-demon and could digest uncooked meat quite easily, he didn't much prefer it that way as Sesshomaru and some of the wolves did. He had no idea how Youko ate his meat, so he could just take what he got. `Pain in the ass son of a…' He shook off the string of curses threatening to overtake his mind as he began stripping the meat of the “cook” pile. Without the girls being awake to actually eat the food, they would need to set aside any of the cooking juices and spare meats aside to make a broth. That would at least aid to help keep their systems healthy as they recovered.

 

However long that would take.

 

The males really had no idea just how long they would stick around in this very accommodating hole-in-a-hill of Youko's, but Ayame didn't much seem to care as she continued to nest in that way females do. She had already decided that they may be here for a while. It was understandable enough; the skies had begun to threaten snow shortly after dusk the night before, and she wasn't the only one who didn't want to add “fever” onto the strange symptoms the girls had. And the Lord Sesshomaru had a human girl child…Rin?...to account for, too. Were it not for her, Ayame reasoned, Sesshomaru would have moved on already…though he actually did seem to be concerned over their current situation as far as she could tell…she couldn't tell that much about him, really.

 

As for now, regardless of the fact that every person there had seen all they could of the human girls, she had taken it upon herself to set up the necessary separations so that she could bathe their sleeping charges without taking them out in the cold to find a spring. She may not have known the two for long, but she knew the younger of the women was assiduous about her cleanliness, and would appreciate the wash as well as the partition. As much as she had accused the poor miko of in the past, Ayame believed such luxury of clean skin during a time when Kagome was unable was the least she could repay.

 

As she prepared her supplies, Ayame considered the corner in which the Dog Lord and his ward sat. Should she ask about a bath for Rin? When she looked to find that the child slept on, she dismissed the thought with a frown. The little girl had been sleeping all morning and had sneezed once or twice since dawn, too. She hoped she wasn't getting sick; she really was a sweet little thing.

 

Ayame stood back from her chosen corner and inspected her work once she finished fashioning the partition out of a large swath of silk the fox had pointed her to. She wasn't entirely sure, but she had a feeling he was a little annoyed with her for asking about setting up the structure…

 

Satisfied with the privacy they would have, she turned to retrieving the girls. Thankfully as a demoness, she wouldn't need to ask for help in their relocation. Of course she had no qualms that her company in the cave would be honorable to the victimized girls, she simply detested asking anyone for help. She'd demand Sesshomaru himself to move them for her first.

 

Ayame snickered as she picked up Kagome; she could just see that going over.

 

 

 

 

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The dark dreams of one that was under constant control of another never were easy to endure, this being a main reason why she rarely ever fell into a full sleep; merely dozed. However, she could have sworn that she was asleep for good in her own hell of dark dreams before now.

 

As she became aware that she was, in fact, still breathing, the tall woman with black hair kept her ruby eyes closed and took a long drag of the air only to come back with the scent of cat. Why she wasn't scenting rancid fog or melting flesh, she had no idea. It would seem that somehow, she wasn't in the company of those which gave off the offensive smells...even if she carried the scent of one of them. Whatever the reason, she found herself glad that with the life still in her, she would have another chance of gaining her freedom from her master with his ultimate death…hopefully before she found freedom with her own.

 

 

 

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The day was past halfway gone. Careful of her charge's skin around her claws, Ayame ran the damp scrap cloth over the arm she held aloft. She was amazed at how many injuries the slayer had endured in her life, resulting in the numerous scars she'd found on the girl's skin during the sponge down. The most prominent being that of what looks to have been a stab wound next to her spine. It looked frightfully painful, and she wondered how the girl had survived it.

 

Finished with Sango's arm, she laid it on the fur at the girl's side and reloaded her wash rag, wringing out the excess water. She was nearly finished; Kagome had already been rinsed clean and re-covered, and all that was left unwashed on Sango was from the shoulders up. The water had been refreshed some time earlier for Sango by a blushing slayer-boy. She almost felt bad for making him do it, but he was the girl's brother, so she had deemed him “safe”. Since then though, he had escaped with the excuse of escorting Rin outside of the cave to visit the two-headed beast and the repulsive little toad. She seemed to be oddly attached to the creature…

 

 

Placing the cloth on her hand, Ayame continued on to the huntress's forehead. Dragging the cool cloth over the human's skin, her face rolled into a concentrating frown when sound came from the girl's chest. It was very soft, and she would most assuredly have missed it with human hearing.

 

“Sango?” she tested quietly, studying her face for any reaction to her name. When none came, Ayame tried again with the damp cleaning napkin on her cheek, tapping lightly with her fingers, “Sango!” she tried, slightly louder. She was rewarded when her pink stained eyelids began to flutter, and the girl's head turned on its own accord toward her voice as the brown eyes slowly opened.

 

After blinking a few times, Sango's brows wrinkled, “Ay-me?” she croaked, licking her lips and trying to swallow, “Water…”

 

Ayame's eyes sparkled as she stood abruptly and called the others over, “She's awake! Her eyes are open, come quick! Kouga, I need more water, hurry!” she yelled, forgetting the fact that the young woman she'd been sponging the face of still wore nothing over her chest. Shippo arrived to the occasion first, quickly leaning over Sango with his fluffy tail twitching as he petted her head.

 

Inuyasha arrived next, rounding the makeshift partition only to blush faintly and spin to face the other direction. Miroku, who was practically on his heels, only walked closer and retrieved his robe that they'd covered Sango in before, draping it over her loosely as Youko arrived with a chuckle at Inuyasha's expense.

 

Still blissfully unaware of her relatively underdressed state, all Sango's brain could sit on was that she needed water. Now.

 

As if on cue, Kouga's voice announced his return, “Move it, mutt,” he chortled, earning him a reprimanding look from his woman as he handed over the bowl of fresh water, “Keh…” he replied to the look, getting a giggle from Shippo who still petted Sango on the head with his other hand on her arm.

 

Giving the kit a confused look, Kouga squinted questioningly, “What?”

 

“You're starting to sound like Inuyasha,” he said with child-like mirth, immediately earning him shocked offense from the tornado-tempered wolf.

 

Kouga growled under his breath as he heard Inuyasha snicker, “Why you little…”

 

“Shippo, don't antagonize Kouga. After all, a good man knows when to concede to his lady's judgment,” Miroku supplied from Sango's side, trying to evade an argument between the canines while scooting out of Youko's way as he knelt down to check on Kagome.

 

“I'm not conceding anything, I don't know where you all got that stupid idea,” Kouga glowered as he stood with his arms crossed, sans armor. Ayame continued to help Sango drink, shaking her head at her male's blatantly defensive denial.

 

Leaning over the still unconscious Kagome to check her pupils, Youko smirked, then looked up at the wolf, “And here I thought I was the one who wielded a whip,” he joked, unable to resist.

 

Ayame's mouth drifted shut over a restrained laugh as her mate sputtered for a comeback to that one. Before he could find one however, a strangled sound came from behind him where Inuyasha now stood next to his brother, quickly breaking out into all-out laughter at Kouga's expense. It wasn't long before he had one arm around his mid-section, holding a hand out to try and anchor himself to something lest he fall over from lightheadedness. Sesshomaru looked to be amused despite the fact that his half-sibling had ended up using his empty sleeve for balance. Kouga's eye twitched even as he mentally conceded that yes, he was most probably pretty well whipped. He would refuse to admit it to his dying day, though.

 

“S-si...t,” a small voice spoke up from under Youko's chin with no warning, and Inuyasha's face instantly wiped clean.

 

“Oh, sh…” he started, unable to finish as he tumbled to eat floor under the glowing beads, but not before Sesshomaru gracefully made room for the occasion, preferring not to be brought down with him. The small and broken word from the small and broken voice had effectively, and quite humorously he might add, ended his brother's tearful laughter and started Kouga's on the turnaround at the indignity.

 

“N...Now who's whipped?!” the wolf managed to choke out between chortles as Inuyasha looked up from his spot on the floor and straight toward Kagome even as Youko did.

 

Amidst the payback laughter of the wolf, the near-smile of a pleased Sesshomaru, and Miroku with his forehead in his hand, Youko turned stunned eyes to the open, deep-ocean eyes of the girl that had just sent the hanyou into the floor with one word. While it was pretty damn funny now that he finally got the chance to see it, he found himself slightly more intent on the one that had done it. She looked to be a little confused, and seemed to be trying to clear her vision as her eyes roamed his face. Though she and Sango had only been out for two days, both seemed to be quite disoriented upon waking.

 

“It's about time,” he said to her quietly as the wolf's laughter in the background began dying out. He sat back and reached for the bowl of left over water that was brought in moments ago. As Kagome took in her fill, Kouga finally stemmed his laughter down to occasional snorts and chuckles and he walked over, crouching next to Youko.

 

Wiping his unnaturally bright aqua-blue eyes, his features softened when he looked at Kagome, “That's one hell of a way to lighten the mood, Kagome. We all needed it,” he said as she tried to focus on his face like a newborn.

 

She frowned and swallowed thickly, “L-lighten? Why…how long have I…what…” she stopped, closed her eyes and swallowed again, “My tongue hurts,” she announced, opening her eyes to a slit when she felt a tiny hand on her head, petting her hair.

 

“I'm so happy you guys are okay, Kagome. I knew you would be,” Shippo said, ready to both laugh and cry for his world being right again. Kouga straightened his features and simply nodded in agreement as he patted her gently on her uninjured shoulder.

 

“Move, Wolf, you're in my way,” Inuyasha said out of eyeshot, now finally off the ground and ready to elbow his way through to see Kagome's open eyes for himself.

 

“Inu-sha, be nice,” she automatically replied and Youko tried, but just couldn't keep the little smile off his face at the obvious similarities the situation presented to the last one. He decided to refrain from repeating the whip joke, though.

 

Kagome swallowed once more, then tried to rise to her elbows with little success because of her shoulder, “Where's Sango? How's Rin?” She paused briefly as she gave up and laid back down, “Where are my clothes?” She asked, blushing when she realized that she wore nothing but Inuyasha's haori. She finally saw Sango on the other side of the two demons hovering over her, wearing nothing but what looked to be Miroku's robes draped over her. And she needed to go to the bathroom…bad.

 

Miroku turned to look at her and scooted the two feet over to her from Sango's side, “Kagome, you feel well I hope?” she hesitated, but he continued, “You two have been sleeping for two days now, you know,” he supplied for her gently.

 

Kagome's sleepy eyes shot open at that, a friendly bush outside the cave forgotten for the moment, “What?! What on earth caused us to pass out for that long?!”

 

Everyone's head turned to her at the exclamation with a mixture of frowns and confusion, and then looked over to Sango for her affirmation of the question. She returned everyone's attention warily, “What?”

 

Youko sighed after a moment's quiet, “I suspected as much,” he said regretfully, obviously expecting everyone else to understand what was happening as he leaned back.

 

When he didn't expound on that, Sango glowered at him with more worry than anger, “You might elaborate please? None of us are mind-readers.”

 

Miroku returned to her side, “Sango…you don't remember anything?” he watched her intently as if begging her to answer correctly.

 

Breaking eye contact with the monk, Sango searched out Kagome to find her wearing the same expression of uncertainty that she could feel. Pursing her lips, she looked around the room at the various faces gathered around the two of them, surprised momentarily to see Sesshomaru's tall form still among them. Taking a breath, she looked back to Miroku, “I don't. The last I remember was a cave,” she shifted her view from the monk next to her, to Kagome who lay beyond him, “I can remember telling Kagome that we still had our weapons, but that's all.”

 

Surprising everyone by the sudden sound of his voice, Sesshomaru took control of the room, “It would seem, slayer, that the agent used against you and the miko rendered your memories clean of your interaction with Naraku. What this means is that we have little way of knowing what was done to warrant your condition.”

 

From her vantage point at the side of the little room, Ayame saw that both newly awoken women frowned at the Dog Lord simultaneously. Kagome finally succeeded in sitting up, facing front and drawing Sesshomaru's attention, “I'm sorry, but…what condition do you mean?” she shrugged gingerly, “I feel fine. Sluggish and sore, but that's it.” Sango backed up her friend with a nod of agreement.

 

“You smell like Sango, Kagome. And Sango wasn't a miko last time we checked,” Shippo piped up from Kagome's other side, unknowingly confusing them more.

 

Youko chuckled richly at the kit's broken explanation and elaborated, “What the big guy means is that not only do the both of you hold identifying scents from one another, your auras have done the nearly impossible and now reflect each other to the shade,” he said, the perplexity in his tone seeming out of place coming from him. He shook his head with a breath, his ear twitching, “I've never come across the event before so I don't know the specifics, but we think that your life forces are tied together somehow,” he finished with a look from Kagome to Sango.

 

Silence reigned as the girls mulled over what he'd said, Sango ultimately breaking it, “Naraku did this to us? And we forgot?!”

 

Sitting up with a hand outstretched to calm her, Youko explained further, “You really didn't have any choice. The powder he used on you tampers with the mind and it is why you cannot remember. In truth, I'm a little taken aback that you don't seem to be hallucinating, as well.”

 

Sango narrowed her eyes as Kagome widened hers, “Hallucinating? So I could be imagining that Sesshomaru is still here? Oh, this is wonderful,” she huffed, trying to cross her arms until she hissed in pain from her shoulder, additionally bringing to her attention that she was essentially half-naked.

 

A smirk came from the taiyoukai before he spoke to her again, “I would assume that hallucinations cannot, and do not, converse with the afflicted. If you recall, it was I who spoke moments ago of your memory.”

 

Sango just rolled her eyes, “Silly me,” she replied as she made to get up, “Okay, I can't hold it anymore. I have to go,” she announced with her face painted lightly in a blush at her boldness as Kagome practically shot off her pallet, to the best of her ability at the moment, to do the same.

 

“You have to have someone with you. Who knows what'll walk right up to you while you're squatting,” Inuyasha said, causing both girls to spin on him with fire on their cheeks, “What? For some reason, everything in the forest wants in here! Besides, it's cold outside,” he mumbled gruffly.

 

Ayame sighed as she shook her head again, “I'll go with them, don't argue,” she added on with a pointed finger as she stood and followed the slowly moving women around the partition toward the entrance of the den.

 

Going next to pass the partition, Inuyasha caught Sesshomaru's raised brow, “Astutely put, little brother,” he nearly grinned with wicked delight.

 

Inuyasha scoffed before continuing past him, “Oh, shut up.”

 

 

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madmiko—I'm so glad you liked! Yeah, I'm trying to make it more believable between those two and I'm using Kohaku as my out (mostly). The relationships are moving slowly, but I feel like were finally making a little headway with them. As far as the research, I'm very happy it worked to paint the picture better!

Drachegirl14—Thank you! The pairings were difficult to figure out myself; they just kept doing things that surprised me! Still as of now, it looks to be somewhat of two threesomes since both girls will need such of the protection *wink* (though you probably won't see everyone in action)

darknessmoon—o.0…house arrest? That sounds harsh (though I'm kinda suffering the same with a broken car…) Here's a fresh chapter!

Yue no Rei—Your reviews are great! I love `em all. My research for that chapter was done in a couple different places: Wikipedia is usually a staple for several subjects, but I got the aura stuff from the strangest place that I ran across. Tickle has this test (yes, I succumbed) where you can find out the “color” of your aura (I'm yellow, by the way…) and they'll give you a detailed overview of it all once your done. You don't have to pay, just pass up all of the advertisements.

Resilience—Why grazie, dear! I'm happy that the humor isn't being passed up. (My humor tends to be off sometimes) And I try hard to keep to the character as they should be.