InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Slayer of Nightmares ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9

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Inuyasha sat on the unmade hotel room made in a pose that was rather familiar to Kagome -- legs crossed, hands propped on his ankles, shoulders hunched. It was almost a parody of what he looked like when he was healthy; his head was hanging, his eyes closed, his elbows locked as he propped himself up. His back arched as he struggled to suck air into his lungs. He was shivering.

He was too exhausted to glower.

Willow and Xander had added three more people to their numbers -- the dark-haired Slayer Faith, and the older scholar, Giles, and a very geeky boy named Andrew. Kagome wasn't sure whose side Spike was on -- it appeared they didn't know, either, because Spike seemed to occupy his own island of personal space. He was sprawled in a chair, leaning back, watching the room with blue eyes that seemed to flicker between amused and worried at unpredictable intervals.

Faith grabbed a blanket off the other bed and thrust it at Kagome. "Here. Your demon-boy looks like crap."

Kagome draped the blanket around Inuyasha's shoulders. He glanced up, shot the room a general glare of dislike, then seemed to withdraw back into himself. She'd tried to get him to lay down, earlier, but he said it was easier to breath sitting up. And laying down is vulnerable, she thought.

"So what, precisely, did you do to Buffy again?" Giles demanded. Giles had authority, in his voice and the way that the others related to him. Also, she was picking up vibes of power off of him -- nobody had said anything, but she thought he might be a sorcerer of some sort in his own right. And not a nice one. There was a faint aura of evil to him, lying well buried but still part of his soul. But contrasting with the evil there was also a goodness to him as well. In truth, she was having a hard time figuring him out.

She suspected he'd make a hell of an enemy, if it came down to that. Spike had mentioned he was a father figure and mentor to both Buffy and Willow and Xander -- which, she thought, explained a few things.

She answered his question after a moment of thought, "I purified her. Drove the demon out. It'll come back, but she won't have any Slayer powers until it does." Kagome sat down next to Inuyasha. He didn't look up, and she could hear his breath bubbling in his chest now. He was dying, she thought. These people were so cruel; she wanted to rage and scream and cry at them, and it was taking everything she had to keep her expression neutral. Screaming and crying was an option she was keeping open, however, for the near future.

"We could use that for Dana occasionally," Xander muttered under his breath. This got him a glare from everyone else. "Hey! She tried to cut my arm off!"

Xander was completely normal -- no super powers, no magic. Just a whole heck of a lot of guts, to be hanging out with this crew and fighting their fights with them.

"Kinda know that feeling," Spike said, and made a curious gesture -- he grasped one forearm with the other hand and seemed to wince. Then he shook his head, "Chibi, that was ... Buffy's vulnerable without her Slayer powers. And she's got a hell of a lot of enemies out there willing to take advantage of that."

Kagome snorted. Heck of a lot of enemies was probably understatement -- Kagome had been a Slayer for three years, had been effectively fighting as one for two, and she'd accumulated a few villains with healthy grudges against her as well. However, she said, "I've fought more than my share of demons as an ordinary mortal. As much as I appreciate the super powers and all, I've been the vulnerable once too often to feel too sorry for her."

"Kagome," Inuyasha said, without looking up, surprising her with his words, "You had me and the others watching your back. And you were a miko. With a big fucking bow and arrow. Hardly defenseless or undefended. Without her powers, and alone on the street without a weapon, Buffy's just a girl ..."

"Actually, she handled herself quite nicely when we tested her without her powers once ... I would not underestimate her." Giles trailed off, then added, "But I would feel far more comfortable if I knew where she was. I think it is safe to say that at this point, something bad has happened since she still hasn't checked in."

Kagome winced. It had been almost twenty-four hours since they'd seen Buffy last -- or, more precisely, since she had seen Buffy last. Since she was the last person to have seen their friend, that automatically made her an object of suspicion. On due reflection she was surprised that they were being as civilized to her and Inuyasha as they were. "I didn't mean for anything bad to happen to her. I just wanted to get Inuyasha away from her. I ... she was going to attack him!"

"I'm not so sure that's she had attacking you in mind," Spike said, with a frown. "Buffy's smart. She may have been coming to talk to you."

"I ..." Kagome trailed off, suddenly understanding Inuyasha's aversion to sorry. It almost felt like an admission of weakness to apologize. And it was humiliating to her pride.

"If I were me, I could find her," Inuyasha said. It didn't sound like he was asking to be turned back -- it was just a sour, snarky, observation.

"How?" Spike tilted his head sideways. "This lot tried a locater spell earlier; she's either somewhere shielded or ..." he trailed off, suddenly looking grim and fierce. Kagome saw him swallow hard, though, adam's apple bobbing up and down. Or dead, she completed mentally. He really and truly loves her.

"Inu-youkai have phenomenal noses," Kagome explained, softly, since Inuyasha had fallen silent didn't appear to be answering Spike's question, "Their noses are far better than vampires, or almost any other demon out there. He could track her. I've seen him pick up a days-old scent trail in the middle of a busy village after it rained."

No immediate comments answered that explanation. She glanced away from Inuyasha to see that they were exchanging looks with each other.

"He could do it!" Kagome said, suddenly desperate and seeing an opening, a way to convince them to lift the spell on him. "Please! He'll do it! You have to trust me, Inuyasha's not a monster ! He'll help you find her! Please!"

"Feh. Don't beg. It's embarrassing," Inuyasha was clenching his jaw, obviously biting back either some groveling of his own or seriously sarcastic comments -- she wasn't sure which. He did, however, look a lot more alert than he had a moment ago.

"I ... if it matters, I can stop him, if he gets too ... aggressive," Kagome added. "The rosary around his neck is spelled to me; I can use it to pin him to the ground for a bit."

"Why was this rosary necessary?" Giles asked.

"'Cause I was ... an ... asshole ... when we met." Inuyasha sighed. "Still am, sometimes. Kagome needed a way to keep me from hurting her and to keep me under control."

Kagome said quietly, "He also lived five centuries without me around and apparently did a lot of good in those years. I don't think it's really necessary anymore, ne?"

"Keh. If Amelia could've Osuwari'd me ..." He hunched his shoulders further. "She was telling me to stop, at the beginning .... of the fight. I didn't listen."

"Could you really find Buffy?" Willow said, sudden resolve showing on her face.

"I could try." Inuyasha looked up, hope blossoming on his features. He coughed, struggled for breath, then said, "I can't promise I'll succeed. But I could try."

"Willow!" Giles protested, as the witch stepped across the room towards Inuyasha. "Are you sure that's ..."

"I'm sure." Willow touched both of her hands to Inuyasha's shoulders. Just like that, she broke the spell -- Kagome wasn't even expecting it, and stared with wide eyes and a hand over her mouth. Sudden terrible wild hope blossomed in her soul. He'll live! He'll live! She's letting him live!

Inuyasha shuddered, and floated up off the bed, eyes closed. Then, suddenly, he threw his head back as light flared. The demon in Inuyasha, long suppressed, roared to life.

The power faded after a moment, gravity reclaimed him and he landed with a bounce on the bed. Willow dusted her hands cheerfully, and said, "There. All fixed ..."

"Look out!" Kagome shouted, as Inuyasha -- an all-youkai red-eyed snarling fanged Inuyasha -- lunged across the room at her with his claws out and murder in every line of his body. "OSUWARI!"

He crashed to the ground, hard, between the two hotel room beds. His outstretched clawed hand missed Willow's back by a hair's breadth; his claws actually snagged her blouse and left a small hole without touching her skin. She scrambled out of the way over a bed, astonishment and real fear on her face. "Hey! You promised!" She said, sounding betrayed and hurt. Not angry, hurt. "You said you'd help us!

"Fucking demon! He double crossed us!" Faith yanked a knife out of a sheath at her belt and Spike, beside her, had vamped out in alarmed reaction. Willow threw her hands up, clearly summoning an offensive spell. Andrew just screamed like a girl, bolted into the bathroom, and slammed the door shut.

"STOP!" Kagome shouted at them. She crouched beside Inuyasha, rested a hand on his back, and said in a lower voice, "Trust me, he's not himself! He can't go anywhere. Give him a moment. I think he'll come back to us ..."

They hesitated. Mostly because she was in the way of any sort of attack, she thought. Which was interesting in and of itself -- they would attack him, but not her.

Since she seemed to have bought Inuyasha a moment's reprieve, she turned her attention to him. She would have given her right arm and half her soul to have Tessaiga within reach. The old sword was back in her apartment, however. She'd deliberately not mentioned the sword when the Slayers had kidnapped them -- she figured it was better to leave it behind than risk it falling into their hands. The thing had been wickedly powerful in the past, and she suspected he'd only added to its powers over the centuries.

The question was, though, could he get control of himself? He had a few times in the past, and he claimed not to need Tessaiga now for that, but these were unusual circumstances. "Koi," she said, quietly, stroking his back. "Inuyasha, love, c'mon. Let me know you're in there. Do I need to go get your sword?"

He was still stuck to the floor by the rosary, but he reached a clawed hand out and grabbed her wrist. She heard several people gasp, but he simply wanted to hold her hand. He fumbled his fingers around hers, squeezed once, then said thickly, "No. Just give me a minute. This isn't easy."

Slowly, as the effect of the rosary faded, he sat up. His eyes were blood red, and he was shaking -- with effort not to rend and tear, not with chills from fever, she thought. Those ruby eyes regarded her intently, then he reached out and pulled her into his arms and hugged her. "I'll be okay. A minute, just a minute here ..."

She could see the tension in every line of his body. He knelt, arms around her, head bowed, teeth gritted, as he fought for control. He would win -- neither of them had any doubt of that now. His reactions assured Kagome that he wasn't lost completely in a youkai rage -- he was talking coherently, and he was holding her onto her like a lifeline rather than pushing her away. But it took him several long moments to regain his composure.

Once upon a time, he would not be able to do this, Kagome knew. He has grown a great deal since I knew him. He's stronger in many ways.

Finally, he let go of her, and stood up. His eyes were normal, the stripes on his cheeks gone -- he looked a little thin, but he was every inch himself. He coughed hard, clearly not completely recovered, but far, far better than he had been.

Kagome almost laughed at the expressions on everyone's faces -- mixtures of stunned disbelief, terror, amusement, and -- from Spike -- a smirk. You planned this somehow, she thought, catching that expression. Or at least you made sure the pieces were in place for your friends to come to the conclusions you wanted on their own. Manipulative son of a bitch.

Said son-of-a-bitch cleared his throat and said, "Well. That was certainly bloody interesting."

Inuyasha sat down on the edge of the bed. He was still too pale, Kagome thought, though he was obviously much stronger. He cleared his throat. "Damnit. It'll be a bit before I'm back to full strength. But I can breath again."

"Don't give me a reason to take you out," Willow said, warningly. She was trying to feel the hole in the back of her shirt with one hand groping over her shoulder. "You know I still can."

"I mean it about being sick of fighting. You guys leave me alone, I leave you alone; life goes on." Inuyasha drew another deep breath, coughed at the end of it, sniffled a couple of times, then said, "Let's go find your damned Slayer bitch so's I can sleep for about a week, after."

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Inuyasha, back to normal, was just amazing. Kagome had no words to describe what it was to see him right now. He was so alive. He cast about in the parking lot, sniffing the ground, on all fours. His long silver hair slid over his back, tumbling over his shoulder. Impatiently, he tossed it back and moved between two cars. He coughed a couple of times, but seemed to be doing fine overall. Kagome kept back, knowing he needed to concentrate.

Xander leaned over to Willow and muttered under his breath, "If Rover lifts his leg on a fire hydrant, can I ..."

Despise the fact that Inuyasha was a good forty feet away and Xander's voice had been very low, the hanyou looked up with a sharp, annoyed glare. He didn't say anything, but Kagome giggled as he went back to work. "Xander? A word of advice: Inuyasha's hearing is as good as his sense of smell."

"Sorry, Rover," Xander muttered.

"Hush." Willow elbowed him. "Don't be rude."

"His name," Kagome said with gritted teeth at Xander, "Is Inuyasha."

"So says the girl who calls me 'dog-boy' on a regular basis!" Inuyasha sat up on his haunches and looked at them over the hood of a car. Kagome grinned at him, hearing the affection in that grumpy snark from him. "I've got the scent. C'mon. She went this way."

He led the way down the street -- occasionally, he had to drop to all fours and sniff about, particularly in areas that were very busy. They were gathering stares -- though not as many as one would expect; this was Los Angeles. Hell, she'd seen a mime last week doing better imitations of a dog than Inuyasha ...

They reached an intersection and Inuyasha said, "I don't know which way she went. You people, wait here ..." and then he spent twenty minutes on all four corners, trying to pick up a scent trail.

Nasty smells of oil and pollution can't be helping, Kagome thought, watching him work from the opposite street corner. Though he was obviously still not feeling 100% -- she watched as he hacked up gunk, then spat -- he looked so much better it was amazing. She wondered if the germs simply weren't able to grow in his hanyou body due to a lack of compatibility with his biochemistry, or if he had magical resistance.

Giles asked her quietly, "Do you think he can really do it?"

"Track Buffy down? Sure," Kagome said, with confidence.

"He's kindof cute, actually," that was Faith, who was regarding Inuyasha with an amused grin.

"Faith, ewww," Xander said, in a you've-got-to-be-kidding-me tone of voice. "He's half dog!"

"At least he's not a giant bug," Willow said, with some irritation at Xander. "I agree with Faith. He's hot. And it's dog demon, anyway."

"What do you know? You're gay." Xander clearly wasn't happy that the women were ganging up on him. Kagome was a little surprised by their sniping at one another, given the grim circumstances of Buffy's disappearance -- but maybe this was how these people dealt with stress.

"I'm not blind," Willow sniffed, only jokingly offended by his comment. Kagome was slowly realizing this group had been together a very long time; some of the banter she'd overheard reminded her a bit of old times, in the past, between her and her friends. It made her feel a bit sad -- she'd never again see them; they were long dead and the well forever sealed.

"He's really yummy," Andrew agreed. Then he added defensively, "What? I'm so not blind either!"

"Half. Dog. Demon." Xander was nothing if not persistent. "Dog."

Wonder what you think of me, Xander? Kagome though, in irritation and a little sadness. The latter was for Inuyasha's sake -- he had to deal with this on a daily basis. It was her annoyance with Xander's bigotry that prompted her to say sweetly, "And he's as good in bed as he looks, too."

They spluttered, all but Spike, who chuckled and clapped her on the shoulders. She knew she was turning bright red -- and she suspected Inuyasha (who had definitely heard that, because he'd looked up from across the street) was blushing as well. But it had been worth the blush-factor to see Xander look like he'd swallowed a lemon.

"This way," Inuyasha shouted, after summoning his dignity.

They hurried across the street, where Inuyasha took a second to pull her aside and hiss in a very low, angry voice, "Don't provoke them, Kagome. Are you trying to make them lynch me later? You're human and Slayers kill people like me just for what we are! Don't give them any excuses! They might hurt you too!"

Sobered, she glanced at the group -- which, in reaction to Inuyasha's apparent irritation with her, had clumped together, except for Spike, who was still smirking and standing apart. All five of them were staring with expressions that ranged from amusement (Faith) to fear (Andrew.) Still, she thought that Inuyasha's concern was a little overdone -- after all, Spike and Buffy were obviously more than just friends.

On the other hand, it was clear by his body language alone, never mind a few things he'd mentioned, that Spike did not consider himself one of the gang. There was tension there, and mutual distrust. Old history, she supposed. Still -- she thought at least some of Inuyasha's paranoia was his past painful history talking; they might yet kill him for being a threat, but not for daring to love her. She hoped.

After a moment's glaring at them -- it was as if he was expecting them to say something about their relationship, and daring them to do so -- Inuyasha said, "Keh. She went this way."

He led the way through a graveyard -- Buffy had taken a circuitous route, and in two locations, Inuyasha paused and told them she'd slain vampires.

"She was human! No Slayer Powers!" Kagome protested.

"So?" Spike didn't sound at all surprised by this news. "Still knows how to do it, don't she?"

"And she's extremely fit anyway. Trained fighter." Inuyasha said, pausing from sniffing the grass. "Sango wasn't anything but a mortal girl either, Kagome."

"Oh. Yeah."

"I wish she'd come home," Giles said. "Or back to the hotel, anyway."

"She thought what Kagome did might be forever. Had something to prove to herself -- that she could be human and still fight." Inuyasha sat back on his haunches for a moment, regarding them with amber eyes that had a look far older than his perpetually youthful features should have allowed. Then, after a moment's regard, he took off at a loping run. He coughed and paused twice, propping his hands on his knees, but he still managed to set a pace that kept ordinary humans of the bunch puffing with exertion. They went over the graveyard fence, across a busy street, and down an alley. Kagome watched as Inuyasha wrinkled his nose and covered his mouth, obviously nauseated, by the scents of rotting garbage there -- but Buffy could have only gone one way, so they continued down it.

The alley opened up into a parking lot behind a grocery store. Inuyasha followed the scent trail across the asphalt, between two cars, across a loading dock, temporarily lost it near a noisome dumpster, picked it up again a hundred years further on, found another pile of vampire dust, and then came to a screeching halt by a parked semi trailer.

"Something wrong?" Kagome asked. He was standing there with nostrils flared and eyes wide.

"Fuck." He gave her an amber-eyed look -- wide eyed and worried. "Oh, fuck."

"What? What is it?" Kagome was alarmed by that expression. It said he'd found a problem that he hadn't expected.

"My brother." One lip lifted up in an involuntarily snarl.

"Uh ..." Willow said, sounding surprised and worried both -- the latter by Inuyasha's expression. "He has a brother?"

"He has a brother?" Faith said, in a very different tone of voice, his eyes lighting up. Teasingly, she asked Inuyasha, "Is he cute?"

"Keep your pants on, Faith," Spike said, looking as concerned as Willow did. "He's trouble. Inn't that right, Inuyasha? Remember reading about you and Sesshomaru.

"Inuyasha, is this likely to be a problem?" Kagome honestly had no idea what Sesshomaru was like these days. Maybe five centuries will have mellowed him out a bit.

"Depends." Inuyasha shook his head. "I haven't any idea why he's here, to start with, and Buffy smelled ... startled and scared. I think he grabbed her."

"Buffy doesn't get scared!" Willow protested, perhaps a bit too loudly.

"Oh, Yes, she does. Daiyoukai lord, right? Full blooded youkai, and powerful." Spike jerked a thumb at Inuyasha. "You lot think Inuyasha was a handful to take out, I'm betting Sesshomaru is ten times worse."

"Easily." Inuyasha agreed, surprising Kagome. He lifted an eyebrow her, seeing her expression, which was one of almost disbelief that he'd admit his brother was more powerful than he was. "I'm one of the good guys, ne?"

Oh. Yeah. She wondered which way Spike had meant it -- that Sesshomaru was a more powerful youkai or that he was more evil than Inuyasha. Not that Sesshomaru was exactly evil ... though 'good guy' would definitely be stretching the truth as a description.

"Giles," Inuyasha addressed the Watcher, making him nervously tense at being singled out by the dangerous evil demon, "How widely did you spread the word around that you were trying to kill me?"

Kusu. Kagome followed his line of thought easily. But how would Sesshomaru know?

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

Spike cleared his throat, drawing their attention. "I've been asking around about Inuyasha. In a few demon bars. Might've let it slip why I wanted to know about him ... never thought about him having a protector."

"He's hardly that," Inuyasha said, sounding disgusted. "Bastard's just sworn that only he is allowed to kill me. He'll take down anyone else who tries. Including, quite likely, Buffy -- and the rest of you, but Buffy was probably a convenient target to start with. With or without her powers, she wouldn't have been much of a challenge for my brother."

"Why didn't you go to him for help, then?" Willow said, sounding baffled. "I mean -- you didn't call him, did you?"

"Fuck no." Inuyasha folded his arms. "I'd rather die first." To Kagome, he added, in a lower voice, "He really didn't approve of Amelia."

Oh. Right. Not only was she a hanyou, she was a foreign hanyou. And I wish I'd thought about Sesshomarou because I would have gone to him if it meant saving Inuyasha's life. On the other hand, I have no idea how to get ahold of him.

She wondered if he had a cel phone. Everyone else did, these days.

"That was why I left Japan. To protect her from my brother." Inuyasha's amber eyes held old, smoldering rage and resentment against his brother. Kagome sighed. Five centuries and they're still enemies -- it almost sounds as if things got worse after I left. It's a shame, really.

"Do you think ... is she ..." Willow asked, with a shudder.

"I doubt she's dead yet," Inuyasha shook his head, making his pony tail swish back and forth. The silver and turquoise clip holding his hair back in that long pony tail picked up the glow from a street light and glittered. "He'd at least keep her alive long enough for you to use as a bargaining chip to get the curse on me lifted."

"But we lifted it!" Willow said, hope shining in her eyes. "So we just need to find him and tell him!"

"At which point, he has no reason to keep Buffy alive, and a few good ones to kill her. She is a Slayer." Inuyasha took a few steps, sniffing, then shook his head. "I think he grabbed her and took flight."

"He can fly?" Willow squeaked.

Inuyasha gave her an amused look. "Yes."

"Can you?" She asked, sounding intrigued.

"No. Unfortunately. Kagome, I think we should go back to the apartment -- I need to get Tessaiga if I'm going to go up against Sesshomarou." Inuyasha folded his arms. He seemed to be thinking. After a long moment, he asked, "You said that you couldn't find Buffy with a spell earlier, right?"

"No, I think she's somewhere warded against magic." Willow frowned. Kagome wondered what sort of warding would be proof against a witch who was supposed to be one of the most powerful in the world.

"Blood calls to blood, doesn't it? Could you find my brother if I helped? Find him, Buffy's probably there too." Inuyasha gave Kagome a sideways look, and flashed her the briefest of smiles. "I think the miko here brought home enough magical supplies last night to start a shop of her own. Candle's 'n incense 'n crystals and shit. We can set up what you need at her apartment."

Willow frowned at Kagome. "We could try that -- but Kagome, you were going to try to break the binding spell on him, weren't you?"

"Yeah." Kagome admitted.

"You'd have died." Willow said, shortly, and with apparent dismay. "That spell was set so that if anyone broke it besides me, it would have incinerated both Inuyasha and the witch doing the breaking."

Both Inuyasha and Kagome went pale. They exchanged a startled look. Inuyasha's lip lifted in an snarl at the mere thought, flashing a fang.

"I play for keeps when I'm taking down big bads," Willow said, sounding annoyed that he was angry. Then she huffed a sigh and said, "Look, Kagome, when this is all over, I'll point you to some people who can get you properly trained. You've got enough power to be a danger to yourself, but if you actually knew what you were doing -- Kagome, you could be a seriously heavy hitter for the side of the light, eventually. Just don't mess with magic you don't understand."

"Feh. Kagome don't need to join with no Slayers. She's fine as she is. She could have handled your little booby trap, I'm sure of it." Inuyasha said, resting a hand on her shoulder. His claws were blunted by the fabric of her blouse, but he was definitely gripping her with a little more strength than necessary. He was definitely more scared by the near miss than he was letting on.

"C'mon. Let's hurry back to my place." Kagome said. The thought of Inuyasha meeting up with Sesshomarou without his sword was a sobering one.