InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Unexpected Ally ❯ Meanwhile, Elsewhere... ( Chapter 16 )

Unexpected Ally

 

Disclaimer: YYH belongs to Yoshihiro Tagashi; IY belongs to Rumiko Takahashi; Unfortunately, I am neither one of them, and make no money from this. Pity me!

 

Chapter Sixteen: Meanwhile, Elsewhere…

 

When Sango and Miroku had taken the job to help the village, they'd immediately picked up and left with the messenger. When they arrived, the village was under fierce attack by a group of several large insect-like youkai. Many villagers were being chased through the village, quite a few homes and part of the fortress-like wall around the village had been smashed, and a few fires had broken out during the chaos. Miroku and Sango jumped right in, leaving Kirara to keep an eye on Shippou and Kohaku. The monk and demon slayer together killed about seven demons easily, and Kohaku and Kirara both killed one each as a pair came after the neko-babysitter.

 

After all the youkai had been disposed of, the fires were put out and the injured were helped. Luckily no one had been killed and there were no life-threatening injuries. The group was eagerly received into the village, an impromptu celebratory feast made in their honor, with several young women of the village putting on a small performance of dance for them in appreciation. Sango had immediately grown irritated, as she noticed a familiar gleam coming into the monk's eyes as he watched the girls. She was then very surprised when the monk did not do his usual leering and ask the girls to bear his child, but merely thanked them for the dance and asked to speak to the headman of the village.

 

A short audience later, they were provided with a large room to stay in, complete with several futons, bed coverings, and a few free-standing rice-paper screens to change behind and separate their sleeping areas.

 

Arrangements had been made with the village for them to stay at least a week, room and board provided along with a small fee for their services. In that time, they would not only protect the village but investigate where all the youkai were coming from, and why. The villagers hoped that the famous band that had helped rid this world of Naraku would be able to end the attacks once and for all.

 

Before going to sleep that night, Miroku and Sango discussed their plans of action. In order to make the most use of their time, they decided it would be best to split their work up between them. Miroku would start the investigating, talking with villagers and scouting out rumors from the surrounding area, while Sango took care of most of the demon slaying, assisted by Kohaku who had shyly offered to help. Shippou insisted he could help, too, but both adults thought it would be safer for Shippou to stay inside the village. They convinced him he would still be helping because he could do a bit of his own information gathering as he played with the other children. Kirara would stay near Shippou as added protection to both the young kitsune and the children of the village.

 

In the morning, they ate breakfast with the headman and his daughters, and Sango was once again surprised when Miroku restrained himself from his usual behavior. Instead, he seemed interested in engaging Kohaku in conversation. They talked of the youkai they had seen the day before and possible origins of them, as Kohaku had learned much about many different types of demons during his time with Naraku.

 

Afterwards, the group split up as they had planned. Miroku left the village with a guide in order to dig up more information from nearby residences outside the village. Sango and Kohaku left for their sentry duty with the other guards of the village, leaving Shippou and Kirara behind as the headman's youngest daughter, a girl of about six years, fawned over them.

 

Things were quiet for a couple hours, nothing out of the ordinary occurring, and Sango had just begun to relax when they were suddenly attacked. The sky darkened, filled with the writhing, roaring bodies of many youkai as they swooped down towards the village. Immediately, Sango was at the ready, Kohaku at her side. The siblings put their childhood training to good use and managed to keep most of the youkai at bay and away from the village, soon killing all of the youkai at the gate. A few slipped past their defenses, however, and Sango ran to the inner part of the village when she heard the roars of Kirara and Shippou's cries of “Kitsune Bi!” as the two protected a group of children that seemed to be targeted by the youkai.

 

Sango made it to them just in time, sending her Hiraikotsu to rip the heads off the attacking youkai. However, as the large boomerang came back to her, she heard the cries of Kohaku near the entrance to the village. Turning back around, she let out a shrill cry for her brother as a large toothy mouth came down to devour the boy. Just before Kohaku could disappear into the mouth, three sutras were thrown against the demon, paralyzing it as a large staff came down upon it and purified it. As its body dissolved and disappeared, Sango breathed a heavy sigh of relief, running to hug her brother and thank the man that had saved him; Miroku. She surprised both Miroku and herself by throwing her arms around the monk and kissing him full on the lips, tears streaming down her face at the thought of almost losing her brother again.

 

The awkward moment between the two after this action did not last too long, as then Shippou and Kirara came running up to jump on Kohaku, glad he'd been saved. Sango used the distraction to discontinue her hold on Miroku and gravitated back to her brother, hoping she'd somehow saved face. So worried was she about her own actions, Sango didn't even stop to wonder why Miroku hadn't groped her or made a lewd comment like he usually would.

 

She took Kirara from Kohaku's arms in order to hug her brother again, holding him tightly in her embrace. A small squeak of a sob brought her attention back to the neko youkai and she watched in a mixture of shock and wry amusement as Myouga jumped from Kirara's fur, tears streaking down his face, and he ran off. She was surprised he hadn't fled before then.

 

After things calmed, relatively, in the village again, everyone split off to return to their assigned duties, though Miroku decided to stay in the village in order to be close at hand if there was another attack. A few hours later, Sango still paced the perimeter of the village, keeping an eye out for the next attack. She hoped it wouldn't be soon.

 

When a cry of, “Halt! Come no further demon!!” erupted from a guard near the gate, she felt her heart begin to race and her body instinctively went back into battle-mode as she ran towards the entrance to the village.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

“Did Shizuru say what was so important?” Yuusuke asked Kuwabara as he and his friends walked from school.

 

The carrot-topped boy shook his head, “Just that we needed to meet her right after school.”

 

“Whatever it is, it must be important if it couldn't even wait until she was off work,” Kurama reasoned.

 

“But it could wait until school let out?” Yuusuke countered.

 

“Because Shizuru-san knows what I'd do if you skipped out on school again, Urameshi Yuusuke,” said a female voice from behind Yuusuke. He sweatdropped as Keiko matched his pace to walk beside him.

 

“Whatever the reason, did you have to bring her, Yuusuke?” Hiei asked, less than pleased at the addition to their group today.

 

Keiko looked offended at his tone and about to go off, but Yuusuke put an arm around her, hugging her tightly to his side, and spoke before she could. “Sorry, Hiei, but I promised Keiko I'd spend the day with her today since I accidentally abandoned her yesterday. Besides, what harm is there in bringing her to see Shizuru at work?”

 

“Hn,” was the small youkai's reply and he went to walk beside Kurama at the back of the group.

 

They soon arrived at the beauty salon where Kuwabara Shizuru worked. Keiko ran in front of everyone and barred their way from the door. “Hold up, everyone, let me just go in first. Actually, I think Shizuru-san's shift is almost over. We don't need to bring this many people inside just to troop out again, ne? You wait here, and I'll go tell her you're here.”

 

Keiko ran inside, and the boys obediently stayed outside, Hiei perching in a tree Kurama chose to lean against. Yuusuke and Kuwabara sat on a nearby bench to wait.

 

Inside, Keiko quickly spotted Shizuru finishing cleaning up her space before she left. “Shizuru-san,” she called hushedly to her as she approached. The sandy-haired girl looked up at her. “Shizuru-san, the boys are outside. I told them to wait there, and I would tell you they're here. I needed to talk to you first… I mean, since we agreed I shouldn't talk to Yuusuke about this… that is… ano…”

 

“Did you feel something weird last night, Keiko-chan?” Shizuru asked.

 

Keiko nodded, eyes wide.

 

Shizuru nodded back. “I think I know why. Come on, help me clean up and we'll get out to the boys faster. I need to tell them this too… but while we're in here, you can talk to me…”

 

Keiko smiled at her gratefully. “Arigatou, Shizuru-san. It was last night, as I was sitting down to dinner after you dropped me off at home. I felt a weird energy pull at me and then get sucked back from wherever it came from. Does that make sense, Shizuru-san?”

 

Shizuru nodded again, “That was the barrier opening. You know about the barrier between Ningenkai and Makai, ne?”

 

“Hai,” the younger girl answered.

 

“Well, last night on the way home from dropping you off, I thought I saw that boy again. You know, the one that gave you a weird feeling yesterday on our walk? Only, this one was carrying a backpack, so I didn't think it was him at first… but then I followed him to an alley and watched him go into a portal in the barrier!! And thinking back on it now, I think it really may have been that same boy, Keiko-chan! You know, cuz he was so pretty but so eerie… I want to take Yuusuke and the boys past that café we were across from yesterday to see if he's there, then I want to take them to that alley. Did they say anything about a breach in the barrier last night?”

 

Keiko shook her head, “No, they evidently were listening to an important case from Koenma-sama, and then they were reviewing other cases all night, trying to find out something about Kagome-chan. What exactly, they didn't say… I wonder what's so special about Kagome-chan, Shizuru-san.”

 

Shizuru blinked at her, “Y'know, that's a good question, Keiko-chan. I don't know what it is, but there's somethin' about that girl I guess.”

 

Finally, the two girls exited the salon and joined Yuusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Shizuru's little brother, Kuwabara Kazuma, outside.

 

Shizuru slung her purse over her shoulder, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. Exhaling, she said, “I have something I need to ask you.”

 

“What is it, Shizuru?” Yuusuke asked, sounding put upon.

 

“Did you get alerted to any breaks in the barrier last night? Perhaps around sunset?”

 

Hiei's eyebrow quirked up and he said, “No, we did not. That was about the time last night that Kagome and Inuyasha disappeared again, though. Why?”

 

“I saw someone going through a portal to Makai last night,” Shizuru answered.

 

“You did? Around sunset?” Shizuru nodded at Yuusuke.

 

“I wonder if it has anything to do with how Kagome and Inuyasha disappeared,” Kuwabara thought out loud.

 

“I don't believe Kagome or Inuyasha went through any mere Ningenkai/Makai barrier, though,” Kurama stated.

 

Hiei frowned and nodded absently, “Perhaps it was timed that way so that we would not notice? Maybe something about the way Kagome and Inuyasha time travel allowed the breach in the barrier to go unnoticed by the sensors in Reikai, too, otherwise Koenma would have said something about it. Or at least, Botan would have.”

 

“Wow, Shorty, that's the most I've heard you talk at once in awhile,” Kuwabara suddenly laughed.

 

Hiei glared at him, cheeks slightly red.

 

“Anyway,” Shizuru interrupted, “I wanted to take you past where the portal was… but first, I want to take you past where Keiko-chan and I first saw the kid I think went through the barrier. Maybe he'll be there again.” Shizuru grabbed Keiko's arm and the two girls led the boys to the café they'd seen that odd boy at yesterday.

 

Yuusuke ran to keep up and asked Keiko, “You were there for this also, Keiko?”

 

Keiko shook her head emphatically no, “I was with Shizuru-san when we saw him at the café, but I didn't see the portal thing she's talking about. I was about to eat dinner when—”

 

“Keiko-chan!” Shizuru gasped and pulled on her suddenly, walking faster than Yuusuke who stared after them questioningly. She looked at the brown-haired girl, “You can't tell him yet, Keiko-chan. Not right now, he has too much to worry about as it is, remember?”

 

Keiko looked apologetic and nodded, eyes downcast. Shizuru felt bad for her, but, honestly, waiting was best for now. If word got out, Keiko could be in danger as well, and Yuusuke already had enough to deal with concerning this case with Kagome, without having to worry about his girlfriend on top of it.

 

The boy wasn't at the café when they got there, but Shizuru pointed out where he'd been and where they'd been when she and Keiko had seen him. Yuusuke and the boys inspected the area.

 

“It seems like just an ordinary table,” Kuwabara commented, tipping the round table back and forth.

 

“I don't sense anything out of the ordinary,” Kurama agreed.

 

“It was the boy that was weird, not the table,” Hiei said dryly.

 

“Perhaps we should talk to the person that served him,” Kurama suggested.

 

“Already on it,” Yuusuke said before walking inside. The others waited for him, watching through the front window as he talked to a girl behind the counter and she then directed him to another girl currently busing a table. He spoke to her for a minute, then came back outside.

 

“Well, Urameshi?” asked Kuwabara impatiently.

 

Yuusuke shrugged. “Nothing out of the ordinary, according to the waitress. She did mention that he was a `hottie', but a bit aloof, not that that means anything to our case. I say we've done all we can here. Let's go look at that alley you mentioned, Shizuru.”

 

Shizuru led them to the alley, not too far from where Keiko lived actually, and the boys got to inspecting. Kurama immediately started sniffing around curiously.

 

`What's the matter, fox, the smell not agree with you?' Hiei asked mockingly, calling attention to the two dumpsters in the alley.

 

`It's not that, Hiei,' Kurama insisted, still sniffing. `I smell… Kagome.'

 

`What?!' Hiei asked, not sure he heard right.

 

“Kagome,” Kurama repeated, this time aloud so everyone could hear.

 

Yuusuke looked at him, “What do ya mean, `Kagome'? You smell Kagome in this alley?”

 

Kurama nodded. “It's… very faint… but it's definitely Kagome.”

 

Hiei rolled his eyes. “Or someone was carrying around something sakura-scented.”

 

Kurama's green eyes tinged gold for a moment as he focused on the fire youkai, “It's Kagome.”

 

“Hn, okay, kitsune, whatever you say,” Hiei replied, crossing his arms and scowling lightly.

 

“Okay, we have a problem then,” Yuusuke began. “We already decided we wouldn't approach Kagome until we had a better idea of what we were dealing with, but now we're faced with the possibility that she has either gone through a Makai barrier willingly, or she's been kidnapped.”

 

“Or there's a completely different answer altogether,” Hiei added stubbornly. “This portal was opened at the same time she and Inuyasha disappeared on the other side of town.”

 

“She could have been here at a different time. Maybe she passed by here yesterday when she ran away from us in the park,” Kuwabara offered.

 

“That is a possibility,” Kurama agreed with a nod of his head.

 

“What should we do?” Yuusuke wondered aloud, looking first to Kurama for suggestions.

 

“Why don't we just go check on Kagome-chan and see if she's home and if she's alright?” Keiko suggested. Everyone looked at her.

 

“Yeah, Keiko-chan has a point. Wouldn't that be the simplest and fastest solution?” Shizuru agreed.

 

The boys for the most part agreed, and they headed towards the shrine that by now was becoming very familiar. Keiko and Shizuru came along curiously, Keiko never having seen Kagome's house and Shizuru never having met Kagome yet.

 

Before they even got to Kagome's side of town, however, they were suddenly attacked by a group of five youkai. They leapt from the cover of some nearby bushes and immediately baited Yuusuke, Kurama, Hiei and Kuwabara in battle. Two large blue oni grabbed Yuusuke, keeping him from firing a shot at them. He struggled from their grasp, jabbing at them with his elbows and twisting his body violently, immediately sending a kick to one's head as the other ran away to try to escape the coming Rei Gun blast. When that one disappeared into a pile of ash, Yuusuke turned back to the others, only to be dragged down when the first one he'd kicked wrapped his arms around Yuusuke's ankles. He pulled Yuusuke down and held his arms down on either side of his body, leaning his weight on the human boy whose size he more than doubled.

 

Hiei and Kurama fought back to back, the two that had chosen them as opponents circling them. One guy was smaller than Hiei, and almost as fast it seemed. The other, Kurama couldn't read yet. He brought the rose from his hair and used his youki to lengthen it into a whip, brandishing it with a flourish. When he looked back at his opponent, the guy was standing there, a mirror image of Kurama, whip and all. Or, perhaps not a mirror image, but a negative image, for he'd even imitated Kurama's face and clothes, but the colors were like the negative of a picture. This other Kurama had green hair and red eyes, his whip was blood red and he wore a light-colored school uniform. The real Kurama wore a dark blue one, just as Kuwabara did. Yuusuke still seemed fond of his green uniform color that had never been the color he was supposed to wear at any of his schools.

 

Negative-Kurama smiled, and his teeth were black outlined with green. His red eyes glinted. He suddenly twirled, and his red whip went up to twirl around him. Black rose petals seemed to come up from the ground and twirl around just the two of them. Kurama wondered if they were poisonous and went to dodge, but realized he could not move. At first, he thought the petals had been poisonous and he'd been paralyzed by the poison. He then realized that the imitation of him was nothing more than a distraction for the shapeshifter to take control of Kurama's shadow, holding the kitsune in place with it. Negative-Kurama chuckled as he walked towards the boy, pulling a black-bladed, white-handled dagger from a sheath at his hip.

 

Hiei pulled his gleaming katana from his scabbard and leapt at the little guy. There was a flash of white that was the little guy's hair before he disappeared in front of Hiei's eyes. It was the first time in he couldn't remember how long that Hiei had encountered someone faster than him. Surely, the only person that had ever come close was Kurama in his Youko form. Hiei quickly picked up the tempo of the little guy, however, and was gaining on him. He would be able to outmaneuver him soon. Finally, Hiei saw an opening, a point when the little guy would have to slow down to change directions on him, and Hiei went for it, slicing through the air towards him with imperceptible speed. Hiei smirked as his katana went through the little youkai… and the youkai smirked back as he, once again, disappeared.

 

Kuwabara readied his Rei Ken and got in a stance for battle, but no youkai came after him. Instead, the fifth youkai grabbed the two girls and ran off. Kuwabara ran after him, but was knocked over when he was punched hard in the stomach, kneed in the face, and pounded on the back with two fists by a sixth one that had stayed behind the bushes. That one then ran to catch up with the other guy and took Shizuru out of his grasp so that they were each carrying only one girl.

 

“Come back here with my sister!” he growled at the two escaping youkai, but they merely laughed shrilly back at him.

 

Yuusuke kicked back his foot and hit the youkai on top of him in the back hard. Shocked from the sudden attack, he jumped, giving Yuusuke just the opportunity he needed to slide out from under him. He immediately leapt to his feet and punched the still-crouching youkai in the face, then kicked him in the balls and kneed him in the gut. Yuusuke readied his Rei Gun, aiming it at the blue guy's head. The guy barely had time to look surprised before his head was blown off and reduced to ash, the rest of his body slowly deteriorating away as well.

 

Hiei realized the little guy was really running away this time. He went to chase after him, when he spotted Kurama out of the corner of his eye. His red-haired friend seemed unable to move, and the guy he was fighting had just pulled a dagger from his waist and was walking towards Kurama with a grin on his face. Immediately abandoning his chase, Hiei leapt towards the youkai that was about to kill Kurama, his sword raised straight out in front of him. The katana sank through the flesh, muscle, and veins with a “squelch” as it rammed straight through the side of the youkai's neck. His movement stopped. Hiei pulled his sword from the youkai unceremoniously, and the body dropped. Kurama was released from the shadow-bind. Hiei used the youkai's own shirt to wipe his blood off the katana before re-sheathing the sword.

 

Yuusuke ran to where Kuwabara lay after being sucker punched by the hidden youkai.

 

“U-Ura… meshi…” Kuwabara called to him, voice strained. “Th-they got my sister… and Keiko-chan.”

 

“Those bastards!” Yuusuke exclaimed. “What the fuck do they need Keiko for?”

 

“Don't worry, Yuusuke, we'll get her,” Kurama assured the black-haired boy.

 

“I'm comin' with ya,” Kuwabara said, slowly getting up. “They've got Shizuru too, ain't no way I'm leavin' her rescue up to you two.”

 

“Enough talking, if we're going to catch up we need to go now,” Hiei called to them from a few meters ahead.

 

“You're helping, Hiei?” Kurama asked, smiling at his friend.

 

Hiei's brow twitched, “The sooner we get those two onna back, the sooner we can get back to more important things, like finishing this case with that Kagome woman. We won't get anything done with those two moping about those other girls being gone.”

 

Kurama chuckled softly at Hiei's excuse, but said nothing more. He picked up the scent of the girls and quickly led the other three boys along its trail. Suddenly, the trail just stopped. They found themselves in the middle of a small residential playground. There was no sign of the youkai, Keiko, or Shizuru anywhere.

 

“They left here,” Kurama stated.

 

“What do you mean `they left',” Kuwabara asked.

 

Yuusuke looked at Kurama questioningly and the kitsune nodded at him. Yuusuke's gaze hardened into a glare and he clenched his fists. “They left Ningenkai. They're in Makai now.”

 

“Well,” Hiei said, “What are we waiting for?” He then did something his friends had never personally seen him do before. He opened a portal to Makai.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Inuyasha sat on the lip of the well, looking down into it. He had wasted all the time he could.

 

He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and ended up wandering around the forest most of the night. In the morning, he had somehow found himself perched on the fence surrounding Kaede's herb garden, watching the old miko pick weeds. His watching had then mysteriously turned to helping, and together they had filled a basket full of weeds before Kaede spoke more than `good morning' to him. She had then moved on to the vegetable garden, and Inuyasha had followed automatically.

 

It was then, as they tended the vegetables, that the old miko had begun to annoy Inuyasha.

 

“Inuyasha,” the old woman addressed the hanyou. “What are you doing?”

 

“Keh, what does it look like, Kaede-baba? I'm picking weeds!” to emphasize this, he threw a particularly nasty looking weed into the basket.

 

“You know that is not what I mean, Inuyasha.” She gave him a look. “Why have you not returned to Kagome?”

 

“That's none of your business, old woman. Drop it. I'll go back when I want to.”

 

“You must have been in an awful hurry to run away from her if you didn't even have time to change back into your fire rat robes,” the old miko said offhandedly. “Tell me, Inuyasha, what do you call these clothes you are wearing? Is this what all men wear in Kagome's time?”

 

Inuyasha looked down at himself, just now realizing he'd come back to his time still wearing his t-shirt and jeans. Reaching up to his head, he pulled off the bandana that had been tied there the entire time, and wiggled his flattened ears a bit. He was glad he had abandoned the sandals he was forced to wear in Kagome's time back at the shrine. Inuyasha stuffed the bandana in his back pocket and grumbled an answer to Kaede, who merely chuckled.

 

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched as the woman continued to press him with that look, but he ignored her and continued his weeding. She didn't ask what had happened between them, but her continuous `knowing' looks toward him, and her seemingly innocent remarks concerning Kagome waiting for him on the other side of the well, grew very irritating very quickly. Finally Inuyasha had enough and stalked off with a `Keh!', throwing the last of the weeds he'd picked into the basket so forcefully that many weeds were knocked out of it.

 

Leaving the village, he had then come across Myouga, who fell like a piece of paper from where he'd been enjoying a drink on Inuyasha's nose when the hanyou smacked him off.

 

“Ah, Inuyasha-sama, you're so cruel to this old flea,” Myouga complained once he'd recovered.

 

“Myouga-jiji, where've you been hiding?” Inuyasha questioned, holding the flea up to his face by the back of his small shirt.

 

“Nowhere! Myouga the Flea does not run from his duties! I have been keeping an eye on your companions as they have been out of the village.”

 

“Eh? Sango and Miroku have been out of the village?” Inuyasha set the flea down on his shoulder and continued walking, no real destination in mind.

 

“Along with Shippou, Kohaku, and Kirara. Inuyasha-sama, you just came from the village, didn't you notice them missing? They've been gone since yesterday.”

 

Inuyasha looked up to the sky, scratching his nose. “I didn't really think about it. It's still early and I have… other things on my mind… I suppose I thought they were all still asleep.” He cast his eyes to the side, looking at the flea on his shoulder, “So where are they then, Myouga-jiji?”

 

The flea told his master of the village his friends had gone to work for, and Inuyasha decided while he was in this time he should at least check up on them. Who knew what kinds of trouble the monk could get himself into when Inuyasha wasn't around to keep him in check?

 

“So if everyone is still at this village we're heading for, where were you going just now?” the hanyou asked his vassal, eyebrow raised suspiciously.

 

Myouga frowned at his young master. “Inuyasha-sama, do not doubt your humble servant! I was merely going to check on Kaede-sama to make sure the village is safe while Miroku-tachi are away.”

 

“Then they weren't in trouble when you left?”

 

“Of course not, Inuyasha-sama. Your friends do know how to handle themselves, after all. They had the situation under control and things were quiet when I left.”

 

Satisfied with Myouga's answers, Inuyasha had let up on the interrogation. The flea, however, seemed to have a death wish anyway, as he then said, “Inuyasha-sama, I've been meaning to ask you, what are these strange clothes you're wearing? I've never seen anything like them! Are they from Kagome's country? By the way, where is Kagome?” The only answer he received was Inuyasha's hand flattening him again. He took the hint and they continued in relative silence.

 

After traveling almost a quarter of the day, Inuyasha and Myouga finally came upon the village. Walking up to the village that housed his friends, he heard cries go out of, “Halt! Come no further demon!” and “Youkai attacking! Sango-sama, youkai are attacking again!” Inuyasha's senses immediately perked up as he searched for signs of the attacker, ready to tear them to shreds before his friends in the village even laid eyes on it. Needless to say, he was a bit confused when he saw no one: no youkai; nothing.

 

Then he realized. The guards were screaming about him.

 

Inuyasha growled and grumbled to himself. Once again he was being judged stereotypically. He leapt to the top of the fortress gate, landing right beside one of the yelling guards.

 

“Who's attacking?” he asked in a growl, cracking his knuckles as he brandished his claws, brow twitching, ears thrust forward, and vein throbbing in his forehead. Really, how much further was his patience expected to stretch?

 

The guards atop the wall of the gate were paralyzed in fear, and the two closest to Inuyasha were about to attempt a jab at him with their speared staffs, but just then Sango appeared between them.

 

“What's wrong? Where are the youkai? Did you kill them already?”

 

Inuyasha crossed his arms, disappointed not to have his haori sleeves to hide them as usual, and stuck his nose up, sniffing out, “Keh! There aren't any youkai. These bozos were yelling about me.”

 

Sango turned to the hanyou, “Inuyasha? Is that you? I barely recognized you in those clothes!”

 

Slowly realization was dawning on the faces of the guards as they realized this person was Inuyasha, the leader of the group that had come to help their village, and a couple of the guards began trying to stammer out their apologies. “Gomen nasai, Inuyasha-sama, forgive our rudeness. We did not know what you looked like. We'd been told you usually wore red haori and hakama. We weren't expecting this strange costume.” They were peering at him curiously, wanting to inspect his strange dress.

 

“Whatever,” Inuyasha turned from their curious stares and followed Sango into the village.

 

He was thankful Sango didn't interrogate him about his clothes, but then he figured she probably knew they were from Kagome's time already anyway. He could recall a few times that Kagome had brought back some of those weird books from her era; she called them magazines; with pictures of people she called `models, actors, and rock stars' in them. Inuyasha had said he wasn't interested, but he had snuck a peek when the girls weren't looking and saw quite a few people pictured on the pages, in clothing very similar to his.

 

Inuyasha was surprised to see the damage the village had taken from the recent increase in youkai attacks, but was glad to see that things seemed to be under control. Amazingly, Miroku was still alive, which to the hanyou spoke wonders for his behavior, since apparently Sango hadn't killed the pervert yet. Sango and her brother, Kohaku, were taking sentry duty around the village, keeping watch on the perimeter for any more attacks, and Miroku was evidently putting his monk skills to actual use, going around the village doing real exorcisms, putting up seals and talismans for protection.

 

Shippou and Kirara were playing with some village children in the square when Inuyasha strode into the village with Sango.

 

“Inuyasha!” Shippou exclaimed, jumping onto the hanyou to hug him in greeting. “I knew I smelled you!” He rubbed his nose into the collar of Inuyasha's strange black shirt and smelled a hint of Kagome there as well and sighed.

 

“Alright, twerp, alright, that's enough,” Inuyasha complained, though he still gave a pat to the top of the kit's head and let him sit on his shoulder.

 

“Are you here to help us, Inuyasha?” the kit asked curiously. “Where's Kagome, I smell her on your shirt but she's not here? She's going to help too, isn't she? Do you think there are jewel shards involved? Where's Kagome? Maybe she can sense them!”

 

Thinking twice on his kindness, Inuyasha plucked the eager, question-spewing kit from his shoulder by the nape of his neck and tossed him off, straight into Sango's arms.

 

“Can't I do anything without Kagome? Do I always have to have her tagging along with me? You should be happy I'm here at all!” At that, he stomped off in the direction he'd seen Miroku.

 

Sango stayed behind, holding Shippou who now had Myouga on his head, and the three simply looked at each other knowingly. Another day, another `lover's spat' between Inuyasha and Kagome.

 

Escaping to Miroku turned out to be no escape at all, as the monk also immediately inquired after Kagome, wondering how she was doing these past two days and if she was okay doing her meditations on her own so far. Seeing the look on Inuyasha's face, however, he soon abandoned those questions in favor of others.

 

“What happened between you and Kagome-sama, Inuyasha?” the monk asked as he and the hanyou walked a more secluded path on the outskirts of the village.

 

“Nothing,” Inuyasha replied stubbornly.

 

Miroku then blocked Inuyasha's path and frowned at him. “Inuyasha, it does neither of you any good to go through these childish motions. You've been through this a hundred times or more, so one would think you two would be used to the cycle by now, but evidently you're not. Whatever it is that has you upset with Kagome-sama right now, it surely can't be bad enough to abandon your duties.”

 

Inuyasha was going to protest. He wasn't `abandoning his duties'. Miroku cut him off before he could though, placing a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder.

 

“You made a promise that you would always protect her. From what you and Kagome-sama told us last time, it seems her time isn't completely safe for her or the jewel right now. I know Kaede-sama has put a protective spell on the jewel, and Kagome-sama's powers are quickly maturing now that her soul is complete, but she is still vulnerable. As long as the jewel remains incomplete, Kagome-sama could be in danger. Surely whatever spat you two are having is not important enough to leave Kagome-sama unprotected on her side of the well. Inuyasha, you should return to her. I feel an ominous aura heavy in the air, and somehow I don't believe it is limited to just this village, or this time for that matter, and I fear what may happen if Kagome-sama is left unguarded.”

 

Inuyasha didn't reply. He merely kept on walking, pushing past Miroku. He didn't want to admit it, but Miroku's words rang true. No matter what may be going on between them, and he seriously wasn't sure what was going on between them right now, it was no excuse to leave Kagome alone for so long. If nothing else, he should at least be there to keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble.

 

Miroku left Inuyasha to his own internal thoughts and returned to the busier part of the village to see how the others were doing. Eventually, Inuyasha returned as well, looking, to Miroku at least, a bit mellower than he'd seemed before.

 

When Inuyasha returned, the group was sitting together, discussing the events of the past day.

 

“…and you still have no leads, then?” Myouga was asking.

 

Miroku shook his head, “So far, it seems to be random. None of the villagers has any idea why the village would be specifically targeted, there are no local legends or superstitions concerning specific youkai or spirits in this area, and the village isn't all that wealthy, either. This village must simply be located in a youkai hot-spot of some sort.”

 

“It does seem that way,” Sango agreed. “There's no organization to the attacks, and they just seem to be out to cause destruction. It probably is just another case of youkai celebration now that word has gotten out that Naraku is dead.”

 

“But Naraku was a demon just like them. They're celebrating the death of their own kind?!” Shippou piped up.

 

“Actually, Shippou, if you'll remember, Naraku was a hanyou,” Myouga corrected the young fox. “And besides, Naraku's existence plagued both humans and demons. I'm sure now that he's gone, many youkai feel as if a great weight has been lifted from them.”

 

“Well, whatever the reason may be,” Sango said, “It seems the youkai that have been attacking are still rather weak. I don't think we'll have too much trouble protecting the village. If we find out exactly where all these youkai are coming from to attack, we may even be able to end the attacks altogether.”

 

Deciding his friends had the situation well under control, and there was no need for him to be worried about them right now, Inuyasha finally decided to head back to Kaede's village… and the well.

 

Which is where he still sat, staring down into the darkness of the dry pit.

 

“Well,” Inuyasha said to himself, “Here goes nothin'.” With that, he hopped down off the ledge, letting the light of the magic of the well engulf him.

 

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Kagome barely had time to see that look in Yukio's eyes again, the one he'd been giving her all day, before he stole his second kiss from her in twenty-four hours. This kiss, though, was not the quick, chaste kiss of the night before. He gently caught her lips up with his, softly moving his mouth over hers. Before Kagome's brain could react, he held her face in his hands and pressed a little more, and she pressed back slightly on instinct without really thinking about it. Taking this as permission, he pulled away for a split second, only to angle their heads better and kiss her again, this time more insistently. Their breathing quickened, and Yukio nipped at her lips with his, enticing them open in order to slip his tongue in. At the feeling of the warm, wet muscle invading her lips, Kagome's brain finally came back online, and she pushed him away, putting her hand to her lips.

 

Eyes wide, she looked at him, shocked and questioning. He stared back at her, eyes slightly glazed over, and said nothing.

 

“Yuki-kun?” she said, uncertain and nervous.

 

“Kagome-chan,” he replied softly. “Gomen, I… couldn't stand it anymore. I had to kiss you.” His strange red and gold eyes shined at her, his gaze almost hypnotic. She couldn't turn away as he scooted closer to her again, this time facing her. “Was that wrong, Kagome-chan? Is it wrong to want to kiss you?”

 

Kagome had a strange feeling come over her, but wasn't sure what it was exactly. Her heart and breathing held a strange rhythm, and she felt slightly tingly, but at the same time, her stomach seemed to flip-flop in a not-so-pleasant way. Trying to think and figure out what she was feeling, immediately the image of an irate Inuyasha came into her mind and she cursed mentally, scolding herself. Hadn't she decided just the night before that she wasn't going to feel guilty about stuff like this?

 

Trying to be bolder than she felt, she answered her tutor, “N-no… I guess not…” She blushed and looked away from his eyes finally, breaking the spell that seemed to leave her breathless, and she felt as if a fog in her mind cleared a bit. She shook her head of the feeling, and finally looked up again. Yukio was now smiling at her again, and she again found herself wondering why his smile never reached his eyes any other time. He had a sweet smile and it made his strangely-colored eyes come alive.

 

“But… Yuki-kun…?” Kagome spoke again.

 

“Hai, Kagome-chan?” he replied in his gentle voice.

 

“I really should finish these problems right now,” she answered, pointing to her abandoned paper.

 

A small bit of pink tinged his porcelain pale cheeks as he agreed, and they returned to their former positions sitting side by side at the low table. Kagome had just picked up her pencil to continue, when Yukio put his hand over hers.

 

She looked at him. “Yuki-kun?”

 

“Kagome-chan, will you go on a date with me?” he asked a bit shyly.

 

Kagome could already imagine the comments her friends would have when they heard about this. Her normal reaction to questions like this was to try to politely say no, but somehow she always ended up agreeing anyway. This time, however, she found herself wanting to agree. She'd never actually been on a date. Not a real date at least, with someone her friends hadn't forced on her. And though she didn't really know him that well still, or maybe because of this, Kagome was curious and wanted to see what a real date with Yukio would be like. She agreed. They would go the next night, after another tutoring session.

 

Kagome finished her problems for the night, and saw Yukio to the door as the sun was going down. Before leaving, he shyly gave her a peck on the cheek, causing both of the teens to blush slightly. Then he walked off, towards the steps that led out of the shrine. Kagome was just about to close the door and head to the kitchen to help her mother with dinner, when she felt a familiar energy sweep through the shrine grounds, originating from the wellhouse.

 

The sound of an old, weather-worn wooden shoji sliding open, then slamming closed, echoed through the empty grounds. Then there was the patter of quick footsteps and a flash of blue, black, and white as Kagome stepped outside.

 

Blue eyes met amber as Kagome exclaimed in a whisper, as if speaking too loudly would make him disappear, “Inuyasha!”

 

End Chapter Sixteen

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A/N: Fina-fuckin-ly! I can update! It's amazing!! Lol, well despite the fact it's been about 2 months since I updated, I actually am putting this up earlier than I expected (by about a week or two), so yay!! It's even up before my birthday next Friday!! *shock*

 

Also, I am happy to report that I am sooooo back into this story again!! I was having major writer's block for awhile, even though I know exactly where the plot is going, because the details of how to get there were just blanking on me. Plus, I have so many other anime/manga/fic distractions that I kinda wasn't in the Inuyasha mood for awhile. Thanks to my best friend, Ren's recent-found love for Inuyasha (yay! I knew I'd break her!!), Adult Swim finally showing “new” episodes again, and a sudden flood of ideas for the sequels to this fic (that's right, I said sequels—plural! Well, possibly.. at least one definitely for sure!), I have been feverishly and randomly writing notes and adding to my original outline. Once again, my dreams have been filled with scenes I want to wake up and write immediately!! So things are flowing once again and I am ecstatic about that!!

 

Though there is a downside to this sudden flood of ideas: it didn't end just with this story! Since my last update, I have written outlines for four fics, and that's not even counting the fic ideas I haven't written down yet!! As I said in a recent thread on the AFF.net forums, “I have this plot-bunny problem.. lil fuckers just don't know how to stop humping each other and now I'm up to my waist in furry pink plot for fics I shouldn't even be THINKING about starting until I finish at least ONE of my big projects..”

 

And though I really want to work on Unexpected Ally, a recent insatiable obsession with all things Sesshoumaru (thanks largely in part to Ren..) makes me impatient to start on my next project. But I can't and won't until I finish UA, and there's still a looooong way to go! So there's my determination and motivation to finish this as well!! I won't let it make me rush the story, though, so don't worry. ^___^ I will, however, be trying to work on this a lot more often, like I used to when I first started a year and a month ago.

 

Ummm… wow, this turned into a rather long author's note… ah well, I think I've said what I needed to for now.

 

Japanese Words First Appearing in Chapter Sixteen:

 

neko: cat

Kitsune Bi: Fox Fire

 

To All My Reviewers: Sorry, gotta go with another blanket thanks. I really want to get this posted and I wasted a lot of time rambling up there in the a/n. *points at A/N* Anyway, thanks to everybody still reading this and putting up with my slow ass. I love you all dearly!! Even those of you not reviewing, if you are enjoying this I am happy (though I would/do still love to get reviews to let me know ^__^) By now I'm sure many of you have ideas or are even sure you know who the villain/villains are… a couple reviewers have mentioned it already… well some of you may be right.. or at least very close. Things will eventually be revealed completely, piece by piece more stuff will start coming to light. Even so, I love hearing your ideas, so don't hesitate to ramble at me if ya want lol.

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Thanks for reading, please review!