InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Killer In Hindsight ❯ When It Rains, It Pours ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: I have never, nor will I ever, own Inuyasha and Co.

“Speech”
`Thoughts'
OOO - Flashback
XXX - Break in scene or POV

Warning: This story is rated for a reason. It gets a little gory towards the end. If you wish to skip that paragraph, when you see *** go to the next section.
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They had been stranded on the island for approximately a week. Inuyasha had eventually come to the conclusion that no one had received their mayday report. It would be another two weeks before anyone would notice they were even gone, when they would miss their docking date at the first port.

Bringing his shirt to his face, the young captain wiped at the sweat forming on his brow. He grunted and heaved the stack of boards in the direction of the Tetsusaiga. The crew had come to the conclusion that if they ever wanted to leave the stupid island then they need to repair the boat.

He had done some more work on the generator, not that it helped any, all he had discovered was he would need to replace some of the parts should he ever want it to work again. With that in mind, he had started working on the engine, which fared far better than the generator.

He and Kouga had been reduced to mules, seeking out the things they would need and carrying them back, like tearing apart the old tree house for its boards. Bankoutsu and Miroku waited for them back at the boat, to begin the process of preparing the wood for the boat. It was well into the afternoon now, and this was the stack of boards.

Finally the beach came into view, and with it, the boat. Kouga had beaten him back, and he scowled, that mangy wolf would never let him live this down. All thoughts of Kouga ceased to exist as soon as Inuyasha saw Kagome. His appreciative eyes roamed her body as she walked down the plank to the others, a large tray filled with cool drinks, in her hands.

Her tank top clung to her with sweat, and her shorts rode a little higher revealing just that much more of her legs. Swallowing hard, he heaved the stack again, coming into view of the others. Kagome smiled in welcome as soon as her eyes came across his sweaty form. Taking a quick sniff of himself, Inuyasha wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Kagome waved him over and he dropped the stack into the sand, causing it to spray. “Would you like a drink?” Her soft voice hung the air, and she lifted a glass towards him. All he could do was stare and nod as he took the cool glass from her.

Taking an elastic hair-band from her wrist, Kagome proceeded to tie her hair back. “This heat is horrible; it's totally ruining my hair.” She wiped a hand across her forehead.

“What the hell are you doing out here? You should be inside where it's safe.” He stressed the last word and scowled at the girl in front of him.

“Oh hush, I'm fine. Naraku's not going to come around when I have you guys here to protect me.” She smiled exclusively at the captain. His frown only deepened and he turned away to hide the blush that suddenly burned his cheeks. Or was it the sun? He wasn't really sure anymore.

“Feh.”

Miroku raised a brow but didn't question any further; they had an audience after all. And knowing the hanyou the way he did, he bet the captain would not appreciate his questions right now. A loud rumbling from above them caused the small group to look up. Dark clouds had gathered in the sky, and a few fat raindrops were starting to fall.

“Aww fuck…” Inuyasha grumbled and rubbed at his nose when a cool drop landed on it. “I'll check the lines and make sure the boats tied down good.” Making his way up the beach, he stopped at the tall palm that the boat had been tethered too since they had reached the island. The line was starting to wear, and with the looks of the storm, he figured he'd need another line, to keep everything secure.

“Hey Miroku!” He yelled back at the man. Miroku grabbed a tarp from the deck of the boat and tied it securely around the few stacks they had. Looking up at his name, he signaled that Inuyasha had his full attention. “We're going to need another line!” The winds picked up and kicked sand around them.

Kagome reached her hands up to cover her face and keep sand from her eyes. Grabbing the tray and glasses, she hurried back up the plank and inside to the safety of the cabin. Inuyasha ducked deeper into the trees, taking cover from the harsh winds and the rain that had just started to pelt the ground. Miroku came running back, already soaked to the bone, one end and the coil of the rope in hand.

“Here!” He shouted, shoving the length at Inuyasha. They weren't even two feet away and they had to yell at each other just to be heard. Wrapping the rope around a small cluster of trees, Inuyasha gave the thumbs up to Miroku.

Bankoutsu and Kouga had already made a mad dash indoors and Inuyasha and Miroku closely followed their example.

XXX

Kagome jumped again, when another crack of thunder sounded and a bright flash of lightning followed. Another wave crashed against the Tetsusaiga, and she grabbed at the arm of the couch.

“You know what? I think I'll make us some dinner…” The raven-haired girls’ voice cracked and she stood on shaky legs. Another wave crashed against the boat, and they all felt it shift against the sand, the weight of it pulling against its ties. Kagome wobbled a little more before making her way back into the kitchen and grasping onto the edge of the counter as if it was her lifeline.

Taking a bungee cord from under the sink, she secured her flashlight in a place where it could illuminate her entire workspace. Opening the refrigerator door, she wrinkled her nose. Without the cool of the fridge, the heat of the day had curdled the milk. Her lettuce heads were wilted and the cheese was looking particularly inedible.

Sighing, she reached into the cupboards and pulled out a pot and portable burner. Ramen it was. Setting up the burner and taking a lighter from under the sink, she lit the hot plate. In her experience it was always good to have another heat source to cook on. You just never knew what could happen.

Running some water into the pot, at least they still had running water; she set the pot onto the burner to boil. Another wave shifted the boat, and she `eeped' when the cook-top slid a little. Grabbing some clamps from under the counter, she proceeded to clamp the burner in place.

Shippou and Kirara had been settled down in one of the bunks with a flashlight and a gameboard. Occasional giggling could be heard from their general direction. Inuyasha was spread out on the couch, with Miroku barely squeezed in on the end. Bankoutsu and Jakoutsu just in front of the couch, discussing, or rather flirting on Jakoutsu's part, with the captain and the deckhand above them.

Hojo had said something about double-checking the first aid kits and a few mutterings could be heard from the closet down the hall. Kouga laid spread eagle in the center of the living area, and Sango, Eri, Ayumi and Ayame all sat around in a circle just to the side of the sweaty wolf demon.

The water started boiling and she ripped open the packages, dumping the noodles into the pot. Clutching at her head, she let out a small gasp. It felt like someone was trying to crack her skull open and succeeding. She clenched her eyes shut, a few tears slipped from her lashes, and she grit her teeth. The grinding echoed in her head and proceeded to make the pain worse.

Inuyasha's ears pricked towards the kitchen when he first heard her gasp, thinking maybe she just burned herself. He looked over when he smelt the salt of tears. His brow furrowed in concern and he rose to a sitting position. He watched as she promptly passed out.

XXX

He shivered in fear and anticipation of what was to come. He could hear the pounding of the rain, and the howling of the wind. He shivered again, this time from the cold breeze that blew past. The swish of a fan could be heard, and he was immediately alerted to her presence.

“I'm sorry I couldn't help you.” Her voice resounded in his ears; the sound was hollow and void of emotion. He chanced a glance in her direction. Her red eyes glowed like embers in the dark. He merely grunted and returned to staring at the rocky surface beneath him.

“You know you're going to die, correct?” He could detect a faint sadness in her voice, like she really didn't want to do what she was about to do.

“Yes.” Was his only reply. Another cold breeze blew by and it aggravated his tender flesh. His face burned with fever but he shivered with cold. Pity lined the eyes of the woman before him and she frowned. “Make it quick, if you can.” His voice was rough with disuse and he quickly glanced at her to see that she had heard him. Surprise, clearly evident on her face, he quickly turned back to staring at the small streams of water flow by him.

“I will try.” She said in response. He again, shivered in anticipation, this was his end. `I will finally be with you again, brother.’ And just like that, his heart ceased to beat, and the crimson, which gave him life, reflected brightly in the demoness' eyes. The small white-haired girl in the corner went unnoticed.

XXX

Gasping for breath, Kagome bolted into an upright position clasping her neck, she knocked skulls with another person. An “Ow, dammit” confirmed Inuyasha was the unfortunate victim.

“Kagome are you okay?” Sango asked, from somewhere to her right.

“Do you need bandages? An ice pack maybe?” Hojo sounded, from somewhere behind her. She felt hands grab her and help her to unsteady feet.

“What happened?” she finally asked, rubbing at the spot where she had connected with the captain.

“You fainted.” Came Inuyasha's gruff reply. Rubbing at her eyes, she blinked a couple times before the room came into focus. Steadying herself against the counter, she looked sadly into the pot of burnt noodles; apparently someone had noticed the burner was going just a little too late.

“Get her some water.” Ayame's voice filtered into her ears first, and then came her face. She appeared suddenly in front of the clearly shaken cook. “Are you okay?”

“I think Hiten's dead.” Slapping her hands over her mouth, wide eyes flashed to the captain. She hadn't meant for that to slip out. Drats! Kagome watched his eyes narrow and a fierce rage burned inside those glowing amber orbs.

“What makes you think that?” Hojo suddenly piped, popping up next to her with a glass of water. Taking the cup from the startled boy, she gulped its contents down.

“I don't know…can I sit down?” She was starting to feel a little woozy. Ayame and Sango helped her over to the couch.

“So what makes you think Hiten's dead? He could still be alive for all we know.” Inuyasha glared at her, and she flinched in response.

“You guys are going to think I'm absolutely crazy if I tell you.” Kagome glanced nervously from face to concerned face. For the first time she noticed the scared little faces of Shippou and Kirara, peering up at her from their spots on the floor.

“It's okay honey, you can tell us.” Ayame said. Hojo shoved another cup of water in her face and she sipped at it slowly this time. The young girl shifted in discomfort and the wolf demoness put her arm around the cooks' shoulders.

“Where do I begin?” Fiddling with her fingers in her lap, Kagome jumped in surprise at Inuyasha's gruff response.

“The beginning is a good place.” It would make things so much easier if he would stop staring at her with those accusing eyes of his. The raven-haired girl shook her head and fiddled with the ends of her ponytail.

“I've been…I've been having these really strange dreams…”

XXX

An exasperated sigh sounded through the room. “How do you think we should display him?” The man spoke as if he was talking about the weather; unfortunately, he was talking about the dead deckhand that lay before him. Suddenly, his eyes sparked with an idea. “Kagura, fetch me a pole…and sharpen the end.” The grotesque smile that stretched the man's features caused a shiver to run down Kagura's spine.

“Yes sir, right away.” She replied. Once she had escaped the gruesome scene, she gasped desperately for air, a delicate clawed hand grabbed the cloth covering her chest.

XXX

“The night before Jinenjis' head was found…I had a horrible nightmare.” Glancing at Inuyasha's face she watched recognition come to the surface of his eyes. “It was like…I was inside his head, looking out and seeing everything he saw.” Kagome rubbed at her neck, just thinking about it, she could feel the cool blade against her flesh.

“It was like…when his head was…severed…I…I could feel it. And just now, when I passed out. I was in Hiten's head…just before…just before…they killed him.” The dam broke and a torrent of tears burst forth. Ayame shushed and rubbed her back in a soothing manner, cradling the shaking girl in her arms.

“I don't get it.” Inuyasha grumped. Kagome hiccupped and stared up at him through heavy lashes laden with tears.

“She must have some kind of connection with what's going on.” Miroku voiced, before the captain and the cook could start fighting.

“What kind of connection?” Eri asked and looked at Miroku.

“I'm not really sure. Kagome, has this ever happened to you before?” Everyone turned to look at her and she shook her head in the negative. “Hmmm, it must have something to do with the island. It might be like the Bermuda Triangle.” He offered.

“But we’re nowhere near the Bermuda Triangle.” Sango pointed out.

“I know, but it's like the Bermuda Triangle…maybe…I'm not really sure.”

“So, there's like some kind of weird spiritual energy that's channeling Kagome?” Kouga glanced between Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha.

Miroku shrugged before responding, “Yeah, something like that.”

“That's just stupid.” The half-demon's scowl deepened.

“What about when she `felt' Kagura before any of us did?” Shippou looked up at the grown-ups, they all looked rather startled when he spoke. He shrugged when a few of them gave him strange looks.

“Coincidence.” The captain grunted and his ears twitched when Ayame turned to glare at him.

“Well, I don't think it was a coincidence. Maybe Naraku is trying to torture her emotionally, before torturing her physically.” Kagome stiffened in her arms.

“Who says he's ever going to get to torture her?” Inuyasha raged.

“So… what are we gonna do?” Hojo asked looking directly at Inuyasha.

“I have no idea.” The captain answered, the brutal honesty in his words hit everyone. The rain still pounded down around them.

XXX

Kagura returned with a sharpened branch from a tree. Stepping inside the cave, she was surprised to find Hiten had been stripped entirely of his skin, except for what little was left of his face. She cleared her throat to let her master know of her presence.

“Good Kagura, bring it here.” He rose from his sitting position upon his throne made of the skin and bones of various victims of the past. The mottled decomposing flesh made her gag and she handed the branch to Naraku.

***
He continued on to shove the sharpened end through Hiten's rectum, through intestines and vital organs and all the way through brain matter and bone. The sharp tip burst through the top, glistening with thick goopy blood. The spark in Naraku's eyes intensified, and he licked the tip of the branch, savoring the coppery taste. His malicious laugh echoed through the cave.

XXX

He watched from across the room as she read to the children, her voice soft and pleasant to any ears. He felt himself starting to drift off as the sound of it washed over him. Jerking awake again, he tugged at his eyelids to keep them open.

His thoughts wandered into dangerous territory as he went through the discussion earlier in his mind. He honestly hadn't meant to be that cruel to her. Just the thought, that he had failed yet another crewmember greatly bothered him and he had become agitated. Partly because he didn't want it to be true and partly because deep down he knew she was right. He still felt guilty just thinking about the hurt in her eyes when he had tried to write off her weird dreams as if they were nothing.

The rain had stopped a short while ago, and stars twinkled merrily in the sky without a cloud in sight. He made a mental note to remember to go out in the morning and see how much damage this storm had done. He looked again at Kagome, as she hefted the two small children into her arms and carried them to their beds. He sighed, whatever was he going to do with her?

XXX

Kagome snuggled down into bed; she lay awake staring at the curtain in front of her. She knew she could try as much as she wanted but she would never go to sleep. Her fear of having another “vision”, as the others had taken to calling it, kept her awake. No matter how many times they had told her, it shouldn't happen again without Naraku abducting another one of them; her gut told her that Naraku didn't need to abduct another one of them in order to telecast horrific images into her head.

She stiffened and a tingly feeling fell over her body, like when you stand up after your leg has fallen asleep and you get those pins and needles. She could hear her blood rushing in her ears, and her hands became clammy. A soft voice entered her head, the tone was almost fearful.

`Can you hear me?' it had said. She nodded her head, for some reason she felt this person could see her. `Good.' It answered. `Now listen very carefully…'

XXX

The next morning she awoke groggy and slightly cranky. So when the others finally came away from the land of dreams, they were all fairly surprised to find the usually chipper Kagome, replaced with the grouchy girl.

“Kagome is everything all right?” Hojo asked, his clothes in his hands, he was getting ready to shower.

“Everything. Is. Fine.” She grit her teeth and with each word she accentuated it with a hard chop of her very sharp knife to the poor green pepper.

Seeing as a cranky woman, with an unusually sharp object was never really a good thing to mess with, the frightened man continued on into the bathroom.

Rubbing his eyes, Shippo climbed down from his bunk, he yawned and his jaw cracked. Smacking his mouth, he settled at the table.

“Kagome I'm hungry.” He whined, as every little kid does.

“Well, breakfast will be ready soon.” She grit out. Oh that poor tomato, it never even had a chance. The pulp splattered and Shippo made a face.

“Are you okay?” He looked at her quizzically, as she wiped tomato juice from her face. Bankoutsu, Jakoutsu, Miroku, Sango, Kouga, Ayame and Inuyasha all rushed to the table at once, looking for prime seats. They caught Shippo's question, looked at Kagome covered in tomato slime, and turned questioning faces towards the usually cheerful cook.

“I think I'm going crazy.” She sighed and the faces turned even more confused. But before anyone could say anything else a chorus from “Rubber Ducky” rattled the bathroom door and caused several fingers to be shoved into several pairs of ears before they all turned to glare at the door. And as if he could sense it from the other side, Hojo's horrendous singing stopped.

“Why would you say that?” Jakoutsu asked, still eyeing the door cautiously.

“I'm hearing voices now…”

“Are they telling you to run around naked? If they are, I suggest you listen.” Sango knocked Miroku on the head for his remark. Kagome only sighed.

“Does your family have any history of mental illness? Schizophrenia maybe?” Bankoutsu said, glaring at Miroku who had the sense enough to blush.

“No, I don't think so.” Kagome put the green peppers and what remained of the poor tomato in a skillet with the egg batter that was already starting to turn into fluffy yummy scrambled eggs.

“Do you think it has anything to do with the visions?” Ayame asked, watching the blue-eyed girl take some of the cheese that had yet to expire and, using a grater, shred the cheese into the pan.

“Maybe…I'm not really sure.” Sighing she flipped the omelet, and nothing more was said. Hojo took that moment to emerge from the bathroom, humming the tune to “Rubber Ducky” and flinched slightly when everyone turned glares on him. What had he done now?
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Author&# 8217;s Notes: Well there’s ten. I guess it’s okay. Not my best work, but it’ll do.

Soundtrack for Chapter Ten:

Blessthefall: Guys Like You Make Us Look Bad

Sparks The Rescue: Nurse Nurse! (I’m Losing My Patients)

The Hush Sound: Crawling Towards The Sun


Well tell me what you think. =]