InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Night Both Would Remember ❯ Hakudoushi's Insistence and the Return of Kouga ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer:

Turtlequeen2: We’re finally back! And we both apologize for our tardiness in updating again!

Vbollman: I just want to thank all of our readers for your patience. At the end of last month, I lost my grandfather to lung and liver cancer and spent the week before saying my final farewells. Once again, I wish to thank all of you for waiting.

Turtlequeen2: Also, I had to deal with school. Being a Junior isn’t easy…-sigh-

Inuyasha: What the hell is a “Junior”?

Vbollman: -sigh- We just started talking and you already don’t know what we’re speaking of. -looks at turtlequeen2- At least MY man isn’t as slow as yours. -looks at Inuyasha- Doesn’t Kagome explain these things to you?

Turtlequeen2: Probably not. I don’t think the Japanese refer to those high school nicknames.

Inuyasha: And what the hell do you mean by me being “slow”?!

Sesshoumaru: Well, aren’t you?

Inuyasha: -glares- Why is this any of your business?

Sesshoumaru: It is my business, seeing as you’re in my pack and I’m the one protecting your group. You really need to work on your intelligence level…

Inuyasha: I’ll pretend that you didn’t just say that…

Turtlequeen2: Anyways…

Turtlequeen2 & vbollman: We would like to thank the following reviewer: Dreamer_Anime_Dragon!

We do not own Inuyasha! Only Rumiko Takahashi does! Thanks to Inu Youkai Wanna Be and Kagura615 for helping us edit this chapter!

Also, tons of thanks to Kouryuu524 for nominating this fan fiction for “Best Canon” on the Inuyasha Fan Guild! It is a huge privilege for us! Though we didn’t quite make it into round two, it’s still an incredible honor!

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Chapter 17

Hakudoushi’s Insistence and the Return of Kouga

******With Sesshoumaru’s Pack******

The sun was shining, signaling the arrival of morning. The birds were chirping, the wind was calm, and…Miroku was still waiting for the girls to release him. He did get some sleep during the night, but not enough to be wide awake. He knew his arms were numb from the pressure placed on them for so long.

“I’ll have to remind myself to never do that in their presence again…” he murmured to himself. “Shippou is too underestimated in his kitsune magic.”

Suddenly, he stiffened up. He heard footsteps approaching and knew that it was the ones who punished him only the night before. He noticeably winced. He only hoped that they wouldn’t do much more to make him more humiliated than he already was.

“Did you enjoy your night?” Sango asked in a smirk, stopping in front of his keeled over body.

“I only hope that you got a good night’s sleep…” Kagura added with amusement clearly outlining her face.

It took all of Miroku’s patience to keep from scowling at the women as he glanced up at them. “I did get some rest,” he bit out in a false smile.

“That’s good to hear,” Kagome grinned, walking up to stand beside the other two women.

Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Shippou, Kirara, and the rest of the Sesshoumaru-Tachi arrived to see the women talking to the monk. The Inu Brothers inwardly cringed, hearing their taunts.

Kagome turned, giving her all too familiar smile to the boys, making chills run down their spines once more. “Shippou-chan, would you please come here?” she asked.

“Sure!” the kitsune replied, running up and perching on the miko’s shoulder.

“Sesshoumaru-sama, why are they being mean to the monk?” Rin asked, startling Sesshoumaru out of his thoughts and causing him to look down at his ward.

The group forgot that Rin and Jaken had been asleep during the whole ordeal, thus had no clue what was going on.

Sesshoumaru sighed and gave the women a glare for putting him in the position to explain things to the child. “Rin, the monk did something last night that made the three of them mad. They punished him last night and will forgive him later, but right now they are still mad at him,” he explained.

Jaken looked on and gave a snort. “The monk was probably being a lecher…” he muttered under his breath.

Rin cast a look at the toad, hearing the word he used. “Jaken-sama, what’s a ‘lecher’?”

“You’ll know when you’re older, Rin,” came the response from all three women even as they glared at the toad.

Jaken took a step backwards, not liking the look they gave him. He knew what they were all capable of in their own right. He didn’t want to find out how capable they were together. Instantly, he snapped his mouth and just stared ahead at the scene before him.

“So, shall we release him now?” Kagome asked the other two women.

“Hmm…it depends…” Kagura trailed off. She stared at the houshi and questioned,” Did you learn your lesson?”

Miroku nodded his head so quickly that the women thought he would have snapped his neck.

Sango stood looking intently at Miroku. “I’m not sure he truly understands his lesson yet,” she murmured to the others. When she noticed how pale the monk’s face went, she gave him a feral grin. “I suppose we can let him go at the moment. As long he understands that what he gets next time will be much, much worse,” she said before giving Shippou a nod of the head to tell him to release the baka.

The kitsune approached him, quickly taking the scroll off of the statue. Instantly, the structure shrunk back into its original size. Shippou took the two items and replaced them back into his pelt.

“Arigatou gozaimasu,” Miroku murmured, truly sounding grateful as he began to stand up, only to fall back down again. It seemed like his legs were numb because of sitting the whole night in such an awkward position.

“Kirara, would you go and fetch Houshi-sama’s things?” Sango requested.

The neko nodded and obediently ran off to retrieve the monk’s ofuda and staff. After a few minutes, she returned in her larger form, the items in her mouth.

“Arigatou,” the taijiya smiled, patting the neko-youkai on her head and taking the items out of her mouth. After handing the things back to the monk, she sent him a glare as if to warn him to keep his place.

Miroku gingerly grabbed for his things, replaced his sutras in his monk’s robe, and gripped the staff tightly with his right hand. He leaned on the staff heavily as he finally regained his footing.

Kagome gave him a smile--this time, a kind one. This made Miroku slightly relax. She turned to the other ladies. “We should make breakfast now. I’m sure that we don’t want Miroku-sama to starve.”

“Quite right…” Sango replied in a nod of agreement. “We’re not that horrible…”

“I would hope not,” Kagura added. At that, the women walked back to their overnight camping spot and began to prepare the food.

The Inu Brothers looked after the women’s retreating forms with calm expressions. However, on the inside, they both breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully, everything was back to normal…well as normal as it could be.

Rin walked up to Shippou and gave him an innocent smile. “Rin saw a field of flowers nearby and wanted to know if Shippou-chan could come pick them with her!”

A slight blush came over the kitsune at her question. “Uh…of course!” he stuttered out. He turned towards Kirara and asked,” Do you want to come with us, Kirara?”

The neko transformed back into her smaller form and gave a happy mew of agreement. The trio proceeded to run off together.

“Sesshoumaru-sama, shall I accompany them?” Jaken questioned.

“No, I think that they will fare well. I trust in the neko’s ability to protect them,” Sesshoumaru replied in his neutral tone.

His servant gave a nod and grabbed onto Ah-Un’s reigns. The two-headed dragon gave a slight growl, but nevertheless, followed after the toad youkai. They both headed back to the campsite, leaving the Inu Brothers alone.

Sesshoumaru looked towards the camp and then glanced at his brother. “How long do you think their good moods will last?” he asked.

Inuyasha followed his brother’s eyes back towards where the three females sat cooking around the fire. “How the hell should I know? Last time Kagome started one of her moods, she went home while Sango decided to go after a few youkai,” he practically growled. “With your mate added to them, I’m thinking we should stay out of their way.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes glinted when the sun caught them. He then thought about what his brother said. “I hate to admit it, but I must agree with you. Staying on their good sides would be the best thing we could do at the moment. Come brother, let’s join them before they decide to poison the monk.”

Inuyasha gave a roll of his eyes. “I could just picture that now,” he said in sarcasm. “Just hope that Tenseiga won’t be put on overtime.”

“One can only hope,” Sesshoumaru replied, giving a nod. They both walked down to the campsite, hoping that the monk would still be alive by the time they got there.

******With Hakudoushi******

Hakudoushi was pondering just how he would convince his sister and her new “pack” to let him near them long enough to talk, when he came across a certain lone wolf heading in the same direction. Knowing the mutual hatred between Kouga and his sister, he figured that he better head the wolf off before he got too close to his sister’s location and started a fight. Hopefully, instead of coming to investigate the clash, the damn wolf would take the hint and move in the other direction.

Hiding his youki in a such a way that he could sneak up on the wolf, he followed behind him for awhile trying to make out just what he was muttering about under his breath.

“That damn mutt is putting my woman in danger by staying with his ass of a brother and that murderous bitch, Kagura! Knowing how lazy Inukorro is with security around his camp, I'll be able to run in and grab Kagome before anyone else knows I'm there," Kouga plotted out loud, not knowing that he was being followed.

Hakudoushi smirked in amusement when he heard this. ‘Well, well... It seems Inuyasha has competition for his little miko. I wonder if I can use that against him at some point,’ he thought to himself. ‘But first to distract the wolf. He’s getting too close to the Inu Brother’s campsite...’

Hakudoushi sneered, throwing his spear in the front of the wolf, only missing by a few centimeters.

“What the hell?” Kouga yelled, jumping back quickly. His eyes narrowed once he noticed whose spear it was. “You’re here, aren’t you, you miniature bastard!” he demanded.

In response, an evil laugh sounded throughout the clearing. Hakudoushi then appeared in front of Kouga, retrieving his weapon, his infamous smirk in its place. “I’m flattered that you’ve remembered me, Kouga,” he chuckled in the similar style his creator would have.

“Of course I would remember the bastard that works under Naraku!” came the wolf’s response. This reply caused Hakudoushi’s eyes to slightly narrow.

How glad he would be once Naraku died…! Before he could respond, Kouga demanded:

“What the hell are you doing here? I‘m thinking that you wanna be killed!”

Hakudoushi had to think fast. “I merely wished to drop in,” he lied smoothly.

“The hell! It doesn’t matter why you’re here anyways because I’m gonna kill you!” Kouga declared, charging up to Naraku’s incarnation.

Hakudoushi simpered, knowing that his plan was working. He twirled around his weapon for show and then make a quick dodge from the wolf’s hit. He made a fast swing towards the wolf.

Kouga quickly jumped over the spear and landed across from him.

The wolf stopped attacking for a moment, an expression of realization overcoming his features. “Wait a minute. I know you’re here for a reason! Naraku always has hidden agendas for his actions. Tell me now!” the wolf commanded in a snarl.

The albino incarnation kept his expression void of any emotions that would give him away. “Well, well, well. The wolf cub does have a brain that can work, if feebly,” Hakudoushi taunted, though he was trying his best to find a way around the wolf’s words.

Kouga’s eyes narrowed at that insult. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demanded. His lips curved up slightly, thinking of a comeback. “Heh. You’re one to talk! You may not have to serve to Naraku directly, but you still work under him. At least I don’t live in the fantasy that you live in!”

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the incarnation gave silent thanks that the spear he carried was made for him. If he had been holding an ordinary spear, it surely would have broken in half from his tight grip. “At least I don’t live in a world where the only female you can get to look at you is human and in love with a hanyou,” Hakudoushi snapped back at the wolf.

The wolf demon’s eye twitched in rage. That was the comment that made him snap. “That’s it! You’re dead!” he yelled, running towards Hakudoushi.

‘Okay, maybe I don’t need to come up with a lie to get the wolf off that topic,’ the albino youkai thought to himself with a faint smile. He easily evaded the charge and retaliated with a fast swipe to the wolf’s side. ‘Hmm…it seems like he’s too angered to actually concentrate on fighting. Reminds me of a certain hanyou I know…This will be more easy than I thought…’ he added in his subconscious.

Kouga grimaced slightly, but was able to back out before the blade could sink into his side any deeper. Blood began to trickle out of the wound.

“Bastard!” Kouga breathed out. Hakudoushi only replied with a laugh of amusement. Even though he wanted Naraku dead, that didn’t mean that he still wasn’t evil.

The ookami decided to put his jewel shards into overdrive. He pushed off of the ground and flew towards the albino youkai, his legs poised for a hard kick. Kouga moved too fast for the demon to get his barrier up completely. It landed perfectly, knocking Hakudoushi back a few feet due to the quick impact.

Kouga was slightly faster at getting back up on his feet and was about to take full advantage of his speed, but a slight sound from the side drew his attention. He had barely turned his head to look towards where the sound had come from when a familiar arrow flashed across his vision and embedded itself in the ground between the two demons. What surprised Kouga, though, was the fact that the arrow was at full strength, forcing both himself and Hakudoushi to back away from each other and the arrow quickly!

As soon as they had both backed away, a strong wind pushed a giant boomerang harder and faster than normal, forcing them to move further away from each other, even as the three females came into the clearing where they had been fighting.

Kouga and Hakudoushi both stopped their battle and turned to see the women in all their glory. The wolf’s eyes widened as he caught Kagome’s annoyed expression.

“What the hell are you doing, working with her?!” Kouga demanded, pointing a finger at Kagura. Unfortunately, like Inuyasha, he was impulsive with his words.

Kagome gave another of her “sweet” smiles, and with a nod to Kagura; Kouga found himself blasted off his feet from another gush of wind.

“Why Kouga, I didn’t know that you cared!” Kagura said to the wolf in a tone of voice that matched Kagome’s smile.

The wolf jumped up, a slight scowl on his face. He wasn’t really mad at Kagome. He was more pissed about the fact that Kagura was the one that attacked him after Kagome gave her the permission! “Where the hell is Inukkoro?” he demanded.

  FLASHBACK (With Sesshoumaru’s Pack)      

The group started moving out from their current campsite to look for a safer location to spend the New Moon. Kagome suddenly stopped in middle of the beaten path, sensing something out of place.

“Oi, Kagome! Hurry up, would ya!” Inuyasha barked in irritation as the group continued walking ahead of her.

The rest of the Inu-Tachi halted, knowing very well what was going on in the miko’s mind.

“Do you sense something, Kagome-sama?” Miroku asked, looking back at her.

The miko nodded her head. “I sense four Shikon-no-kakera in the direction of the forest over there,” she replied, pointing her finger towards the forestry in the western direction.

“Four?” Inuyasha echoed.

Sesshoumaru watched the shadows cross Kagome’s face.“ Are you positive, miko? Can you tell if they are together or within separate locations?"

Kagome glared at the taiyoukai, both for doubting her knowledge and for his calling her “miko” once again. ‘Ah, well, no matter how much I may wish, it will take longer for him to call me by name on a regular basis,’ she thought to herself.

“When it comes to sensing the shards, I have never been wrong. As for your other question, I can tell that they are not together, as two of them have a darker taint. I can’t tell you much more then that,” she told them all.

A thoughtful expression crossed Miroku’s countenance at the response of Kagome’s explanation. He was intrigued, but more so because he wanted to redeem himself to the women of the group, considering the “fun” he had to endure the night before. “Perhaps the tainted ones were influenced by Naraku. I wouldn’t say that it is him, himself, though, due to the fact that he would bring all of his shards instead of just a select few,” he deduced sagely in his usual intellectual style. He then asked,” Do you think that the other jewel shards could be Kouga’s?”

At the mention of the wolf demon’s name, two identical canine growls were heard.

Kagome tilted her head to the side, looking towards the west in concentration. A brief flicker of surprise came across her face as she faced Inuyasha,“ I think Miroku-sama is correct. Two of the shards just flared, and then moved extremely fast,” she told the hanyou.

“Damn that wimpy wolf…” Inuyasha snarled, agreeing with their words. He flashed a dangerous smirk toward Sesshoumaru. “At least we have one thing in common,” he commented, noticing his brother’s similar reaction from a moment before.

Sesshoumaru couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge his brother’s remark, and instead started walking in the direction Kagome pointed out. “How far, miko?” he asked instead.

Kagome looked between the two brothers and silently prayed for patience ‘When will they admit just how much alike they both are?’ She thought. “If we move quickly, we should be able to get there within a matter of minutes,” she said out loud.

A flash of annoyance flickered in Kagura’s eyes as she followed behind the rest of the group. She thought back to the time when she was so close to killing the wolf. If only Inuyasha hadn’t interfered at the time…

A sudden smirk formed on her face. “If he’s here then that’s good. I still owe him thanks for breaking my other fan,” she thought out loud in mockery.

Kagome looked over to Kagura in surprise and then in understanding. “Kagura, I know you don’t like him, just like Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, but I would ask that you don’t hurt him too badly,” she advised softly.

Before all of the youkai present could comment, Sango broke in,“ I’m sure it would be just as effective if we teach him a lesson similar to the one we gave the boys last night.” She smirked.

Upon hearing this, all three of the “boys” took a step back and waited to see what would happen next.

Kagura studied Sango and then Kagome for a moment, before nodding her head in agreement. “I suggest we hurry. I have a feeling that my brother is fighting him at the moment, and he’s not all that happy with the wolf either.”

Sango and Kagome nodded their heads in understanding. The miko walked over to where Jaken stood with Ah-Un. "Go inform Rin and Shippou of current developments, Ah-Un. Stay and protect them too! Don't let them go far, okay?"

The two-headed dragon nodded his head and flew off in the direction of the two children.

Kagome then faced Jaken. “Jaken, stay and watch our stuff. Don't let anyone wander up and steal it.”

The toad demon was about to argue back, when Sesshoumaru threw a cold glance his way. He knew then, to follow Kagome’s orders.

“Uh, sure…” Jaken managed to mumble.

Walking back to where the other two girls stood and totally ignoring the boys, she asked Kagura, “If Sango takes Kirara, can you give me a ride on your feather to where they are?”

Inuyasha’s eyebrow twitched out of aggravation. For one thing, he didn’t trust Kouga around Kagome when he wasn’t around. So it didn’t help that everyone kept ignoring him on top of it. “Wait a fucking second!” he finally growled out loud enough to catch everyone‘s attention.

Kagura turned and looked back at the hanyou. “You have a problem?” she asked with one elegant eyebrow arched.

“Yeah, I actually do have a problem!” he shouted back, his glare locked on her.

This time it was Sango who answered with an identical look on her face.“ Which of your many problems would that be?” She asked.

In response, he let out another growl of frustration.

“Inuyasha,” Miroku called out calmly, walking up towards his temperamental friend. “Perhaps it is in your best interest to calm yourself. I’m only saying this from personal experience…” he added in a low tone barely above a whisper.

“Keh! I’m not the one who gropes women on a regular basis!” Inuyasha retorted bluntly.

Sango and Kagura looked from where Inuyasha and Miroku were standing, to where Kagome patiently waited for the other two girls.

As Kagura pulled out her feather and held it steady for Kagome to step on to it, she watched in amusement as both the monk and her future mate stepped away from the hanyou.

“The other’s are out of the way now, Kagome,” she told the miko.

Kagome gave the wind witch a small smile and as they floated up into the air, with Sango and Kirara at their sides, she screamed loud enough for the whole group to hear,“ OSUWARI!”

Inuyasha let out a yelp of surprise as he felt himself being dragged into the dirt. He was too caught up in his ranting to realize that she was annoyed with him. He assumed that she would take his side because of what happened to the monk only a few hours beforehand. Nevertheless, he was facedown in yet, another crater because of his stupidity.

Sesshoumaru walked up to the Inuyasha-sized crater and couldn't help the snorting of amusement that wanted to be let loose.

"I must admit that I am curious as to see what those three have planned for the wolf. If you run fast enough, monk, we should be in time to see the wolf brought low," he said with an evil grin, before gathering his youki to form into a cloud, setting off to follow close behind the girls.

Miroku, taking the taiyoukai's advice, took off running, leaving Inuyasha to pull himself together so that he to could join the “fun.”

  END FLASHBACK      

Kagome looked at Kouga, her smile still in place. “Hm…where is Inuyasha, Sango-chan?” she asked the taijiya.

“I don’t really know,” Sango replied, her expression just as mischievous.

Kagura spoke up with a slight smile also on her face. “Do you think he finally slipped his leash?”

“What the hell did you just say?” a sudden voice growled, making the girls trying their hardest not to snicker. This voice also made Kouga’s scowl deepen even worse.

“Oh damn, such a pity,” Kagura smirked. “I guess you’re still bound.”

Sango looked over at Kagura and asked with an impish grin,“ Ah, but is the other one still bound also?”

“You better believe it!” the wind witch laughed in response.

“You bitch…” Inuyasha seethed in anger. “If it wasn’t for you being Sesshoumaru’s mate, I would have killed you by now…”

“Aw…I didn’t know that you cared so much, brother-in-law,” she cooed.

Inuyasha’s only response was the twitch of his eyebrow.

“Oi, Inukkoro! What the hell is going on here?” Kouga demanded, interrupting the feud.

Sesshoumaru’s voice echoed throughout the clearing. “If you pups are quiet finished, we do have business to attend to.”

This made Kouga jump in surprise as Sesshoumaru materialized behind him.

Kagome looked at the taiyoukai in annoyance. “You still can’t kill him, you know?” she pointed out.

“Ah, but Miko, I can remove the shards he has buried in his legs…” Sesshoumaru almost purred in response, causing shivers to dance down everyone’s spine. “After all, he is nothing more then an insignificant flea that is staining what little honor his pack has.”

Hakudoushi watched the wolf’s face go red in fury as the girls stepped out of the trees without either of the Inu Brothers or that monk nearby. Recasting his shield, he floated up slightly to watch the show, without getting in anyone’s way. The moment that Sesshoumaru appeared too close to him, he floated himself closer to where his sister stood.

Making sure that the wolf couldn’t hear, he hissed at her, “ Get them to send the cub away. We need to talk.” He then settled back down, content to just watch the rest of the show. He knew that for this, he really wasn’t needed, but if a fight started, he would do what he needed to do to convince this new pack of his sister’s that he meant no harm to them.

Yet.

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I hope that the length of this chapter makes up for the long time we were gone!

And yes, it’s a partial cliffy! We like cliffys here!

Translations:

Arigatou gozaimasu: Thank you very much

Ofuda: Sacred sutras

Next time on A Night Both Would Remember: A fight breaks out! What is Hakudoushi planning to do?

Please Review!

Ja ne!