InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Thief in the Night ❯ The Game is Afoot.... ( Chapter 3 )

 

He had been chasing after the woman for a good half hour or so after diverting his half-brother on a wild goose chase. What he hadn't expected was to find her mud-encased body lying prone on the bottom of a ravine. Rushing headlong down the steep slope, he half slid, half ran to her still body. Checking quickly for injuries, he was relieved to see that she had just bumped her head in a tumble into the ravine supported by the nasty looking bruise she had on her temple.

 

Peering at her dirt-streaked face as he squatted next to her, he once again could not help but compare her to Kikyo. Where Kikyo was graceful and stepped with assurance, this girl bobbed along and took tumbles down ravines. Granted, Kikyo had nearly taken a fall down a mountainside, but he was the one at fault. He had pulled her a little too roughly over an outcropping before releasing her to continue their journey upwards, but she had not regained her balance. When his keen nose picked up the sudden spike of fear in her scent, he quickly turned to see her flailing backwards over the recently surmounted outcropping. Reacting swiftly, he grabbed one of her hands and jerked her forward to rest in his arms while his face turned cherry red in mortification. That had been the first of a handful of times that Kikyo had lingered in his embrace.

 

Shaking thoughts of Kikyo from his mind, he gently picked up the exasperating girl and jumped from rocky outcrop to unsteady ledge as he worked his way out of the ravine. Returning to the river shore, he propped her up against a sturdy tree before turning to set and light a fire. It would be best if she dried off quickly. After watching her sleep for a few minutes, he turned away to dash back to the place he had first met this…Kagome.

 

It was the best place he had found in the area for finding carp and channel catfish. There was a natural gully that the river water fed into allowing the fast current to rush right past it while the tiny fish fed in peace along the loose sediment of the river bottom. Gathering up what fish he had found before dragging out the half-drowned onna, he traveled swiftly back to his unconscious charge.

 

Settling next to the fire, he used his claws to cut open each fish to access the spine and connecting bones before pulling them out in one swift jerk. Rolling them up in leaves, he buried them underneath some hot coals courtesy of the fire. Sitting back to wait on the now cooking meat, he let his mind drift to his first memories of Kikyo.

 

He had been hiding from some malicious villagers who had decided to make his life miserable for being the hanyou he was when he came across the meadow with a meditating Kikyo. Seeing her sitting quietly soothed his nerves and made him forget the ridicule of village men. That he had entered the Southern Lands had gone unnoticed. That he was gazing curiously at a woman who most thought was the Southern Lady was unknown. That he was no longer running was a relief.

 

Keh'ing, Inuyasha grumbled under his breath as the flames crackled in mocking glee. He would have given almost anything to just kill the annoying ningens, but if he had, he would soon find himself facing Sesshoumaru. While he felt self-assured at being able to defeat the taiyoukai, he knew victory would be short lived as long as the demon lord kept Tensaiga by his side. So had he been threatened before he had was exiled to the forests at the tender age of eight. Now, ten years later, it still made his blood boil. But it was nine years then. Kikyo was calm personified sitting in the tall grass surrounded by wildflowers. He had wanted some of the peace she was exuding so graciously that he had slowly crept closer to her.

 

In a way, she had reminded him of his mother. Not in looks no, but rather in the ease at which she radiated self-confidence. It had startled him when her aura flared to place a protective barrier around herself. It startled him even more when she spoke with death's voice warning against creeping nearer.

 

Inuyasha half-smiled to himself. It had taken several days for her to speak of something other then idle threats, and each day he had crept closer to her person. On the fifth day, he sat beside her in silence as she continued her meditation. On the sixth day she let him sit next to her without a shield to protect herself. On the seventh, they exchanged names. It was a gradual feeling of comfort each bestowed on the other. Slowly, they shared their frustrations and their hopes.

 

She was the first human he met that was not tainted with Sesshoumaru's prejudice against hanyous. How he fell in love, he did not know. All he knew was that one day he had woken up knowing he had fallen for her. He always felt sad when the woman now sleeping in front of him sent Kikyo out on business, but she always returned to find peace in the meadow. He himself was forced to leave the Southern Lands when patrols came to close to finding one of his hiding places.

 

Now he was exiled to the combined northern lands due to the distrust among humans for youkai and youkai for humans. Being a product of both had made life even more dangerous. He had nearly begged Kikyo to take him as her personal slave, but Kagome had outlawed such use of youkai. They were prisoners of war, yes, but not slaves. They were treated far better in the Southern Lands then humans in its Northern counter-part.

 

Growling, he unearthed the well baked fish from the coals and stripped one of its leafy covering. Swiftly consuming the hot flesh, he poked the woman with an extended toe. Rising to consciousness, Kagome swatted at the tickling member and turned over facing away from him. Shuffling another foot closer, he reached out a greasy hand and shook her shoulder roughly.

 

“Wake-up wench!”

 

Kagome's eyes flew open at the insult. “My name is not wench!” she cried sitting upright. Feeling a sudden dizzy spell overcome her, she fell weakly back onto the ground. `Oie,' she thought to herself. `Remember not to do that again.' Putting a hand to her forehead, she winced at the egg-sized bruise she found.

 

“What happened?” she asked blinking against the bright sunlight. From the position of the sun, she would guess that it just past midday although she barely remembered half the morning.

 

“You decided to save my half-brother the trouble of finding you and knocked yourself out by falling into a ravine.”

 

“What?” sighed Kagome struggling to remember what happened after meeting the strange hanyou.

 

Inuyasha glared at the woman still lying on the ground. Poking her for good measure with his toe again, he growled, “My guess is you tripped on a rock and went tumbling down a ravine. Now, get up wench!”

 

Kagome pushed herself off the ground as a surge of anger gave her strength to overcome the pounding headache radiating from her temple. “I've already told you it's Kagome. Got that? Ka-go-me!”

 

“Whatever,” he grumbled disregarding her glare. Returning to sit on the ground, he threw her one of the wrapped fish as he started on his second.

 

Staring down at the offering and her mud streaked hands, she looked back up at the hanyou she now clearly recognized. “Thank-you,” she whispered still feeling slightly bewildered. Slowly, she began to piece together her scattered memories.

 

She remembered feeling rejuvenated after her run-in with the half-demon in front of her, but she did not remember sensing him following her. In fact, she remembered sensing him traveling away from her before she had turned back to the task at hand, traveling as swiftly as she could as far away from Nodokatokai, the youkai city. Letting her mind drift, she remembered she had been daydreaming about something when she felt the ground give out underneath her. Looking at her savior, she smiled brightly at him as she fought to control her twitching hand. She remembered now; it was his cute fuzzy ears that had caught her attention so!

 

Inuyasha remained oblivious to the almost feral gleam in Kagome's eyes as he continued to grumble and munch on his baked fish. “Yeah, well, I just wanted to know what my half-brother wanted with you. It's not often a human gets the better of him.”

 

Kagome's thoughts of attacking those tantalizing ears faded quickly at the reminder of Sango's and Kirara's death. “I didn't do anything. At least not that mattered anyways.”

 

“Well you must have pissed him off somehow!” cried Inuyasha as he at last looked up from his lunch.

 

“What's it to you!” cried Kagome as she flinched. “It's not like I asked for your help. Besides, I don't even know your name!”

 

“Who said I wanted to help you! I just wanted to piss him off anyways by sending him on a wild goose chase.”

 

Kagome looked at the half-eaten fish flopping around in Inuyasha's hands. Feeling slightly nauseous at the bobbing fish head, she delicately moved her own uneaten fish from off her lap to sit on the ground next to her. The dirt coating her hands and arms caught her attention with the movement giving her a much needed focus as she asked, “What do you mean? He's not coming after me anymore?”

 

Inuyasha scoffed as he stuffed his face with the last of his fish before tossing the uneatable head away. “Nah, he ran back to the castle with his tail between his legs.”

 

Kagome smiled tremulously before tossing control to the winds and glomping Inuyasha in a hug, bad fish smell and all.

 

Inuyasha reached up and tried to pry off the tightly wound arms from around his shoulders. He could feel her warm breath against his neck and one of her hands lightly grazing his all too sensitive ears. Shuddering at the pleasurable touch, he shouted, “Get off of me wench!”

 

Kagome pulled back her head and glared at her savior as she continued to rub one downy soft ear. “I told you not to call me that!”

 

“Well I might not call you that if you kept your arms and hands to yourself!”

 

Kagome's face contorted into a pout as she pulled away, loathe to end her ode to furry appendages. Settling herself down a foot away from the slightly skittish hanyou, she waited patiently for him to explain himself. After several moments of silence, she prompted him. “So, are you going to tell me who you are?”

 

Inuyasha blinked. “Why should I?”

 

“Because it's the nice thing to do!”

 

“What if I don't want to be nice!”

 

Kagome stared at him as her mouth dropped open. So he hadn't saved her out of kindness. He had only done it to get back at his half-brother. Humiliation settling in her stomach, she stood to her feet. “I don't deserve this kind of treatment,” she whispered as she fought to keep her tears at bay a little longer. To much was happening all at once.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, something she learned during the long hours of dealing with courtiers, she turned and began treading upriver.

 

Before she could get very far, she froze as a thought trickled into her painfully tender head. Turning to look behind herself, she threatened the nameless hanyou. “I'm going to take a bath, and so help me, if I catch you peeking there'll be hell to pay!”

 

Inuyasha blinked a few more minutes before her words sank in. This time it was his turn for his face to turn beet red. “I wouldn't want to look at you in a hundred years!”

 

Hurt again by his harsh words, she flinched and continued her trek upriver muttering under her breath the whole way. Flinching at the string of insults rolling off her tongue, he was grateful when her voice at last faded from his hearing.

 

—Concurrently—

 

Walking into his private study, Sesshoumaru swiftly walked over to his desk. Opening up the bottom right-hand drawer, he reached inside past a mound of scrolls to retrieve a key hidden underneath. Rushing over to the door adjoining the study to his bedroom, he walked through it and across one of the many thick rugs covering the floor to the built-in black walnut wardrobe. Throwing open the door, he brushed aside the few articles of clothing hanging within and felt along the grain for the tiny keyhole. Locating it, he inserted the key and twisted it 180 degrees before pulling it back out. Sliding the wood panel into the wall, he stepped through the wardrobe and closed both doors behind him.

 

Using his keen eyesight to pierce the darkness, he traveled down the stone corridor into the bowels of his castle through its many twists and turns. Few realized that the majority of the stone walls were hollow and required one of only a few keys to access the tunnels. Traveling swiftly downwards, he entered a one that would lead him to the charnel house placed in a back corner of the castle grounds to prevent smell of rotting flesh to permeate the air too foully.

 

Wrinkling his nose at the malodorous smell reaching down the tunnel with transparent arms, he entered a tiny room that contained a slab stone bench. Standing quickly to his feet, was a rather unkempt looking kitsune. Nodding his acknowledgements to the red haired youkai, he turned to look at the two bodies lying on the floor. One was the taijiya, and the other was the untransformed fire-neko.

 

“Did anyone see you collect them?” he asked indifferently.

 

“Yes sir. I grabbed one of the stable hands to help me carry them to the charnel house. After he left, I used one of the tunnels to enter the house unnoticed and brought them here.”

 

Sesshoumaru listened attentively as he searched the taijiya for the leaf characteristic of the kitsune's magic. “And the spell?”

 

“It's working although if you had waited any longer the leaf would have burned away. You can see what remain of it where her neck and body meet and on the neko's forehead. Any longer and nothing would be able to save these two souls.”

 

“Very well.” Swiftly unsheathing the second of his two blades, he narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the spirits of the underworld. Quickly sweeping the blade through them and the taijiya's body, he waited for her to awaken.

 

Gasping, Sango sat up on the cold stone floor and stared at the taiyoukai in front of her. Tentatively feeling along her throat, she sighed in relief at finding no wound there to mar her flesh. It had been most disconcerting feeling his blade sweep through her body right before her heart gave out. “I'm so glad it worked,” she sighed.

 

Ignoring her, he gestured to the neko lying beside her. “Is she trustworthy?”

 

Sango frowned and looked next to her. Scrambling to her knees, she scooped up the tiny cat in her arms and nodded her head. “Yes, she was only trying to protect me.”

 

“Can you control her?”

 

“Of course. She wouldn't do anything to harm me.”

 

“Then set her down.” Sesshoumaru watched as she swept a hand across her fur before she set Kirara back on the floor. Grasping the Tensaiga tightly in his hand, he waited for the sword to once again reveal the soul harvesters before sweeping it across the dead neko. Satisfied that at least one thing was going his way that day, he turned back to the kitsune without waiting to see the animal draw breath.

 

“I trust that you'll show Sango the tunnels? She needs to be able to travel swiftly through them if she is to keep an eye out for the human thief.”

 

“Of course, although why you think the thief will dare to come back here is beyond me.” The kitsune smiled cheekily, happy that he wasn't going to die anytime soon for something beyond his abilities. If he died by something he said, well, he probably deserved it.

 

Sesshoumaru handed him the key he had retrieved from his desk earlier after giving him a chilling glare for his forwardness. As he turned to walk away, he spoke over his shoulder, “He thinks I believe I have killed the thief and will not suspect that the one woman who can visually identify him is still alive. It is suspected that given the apparent laxness in security he will come after the Tensaiga to match the Tetsusaiga he stole. If not, we will destroy every human in these lands until we find it.”

 

Walking away, he left the kitsune with Sango. Turning towards the obliviously cooing woman, the kitsune cleared his throat before extending his hand out to the exterminator. “My name's Shippou. I'd better get you and the cat settled in.”

 

—Bythe River—

 

Looking around at the campsite, he banked the fire and dusted off his fire-rat haori. It was one of the few gifts he had actually received from his father that his baka half-brother hadn't taken away or denied him. Waiting a few minutes more, he finally turned and began to stomp his way upriver following the merry sounds of humming and splashing. Careful to avert his gaze, he followed her voice until he felt he was close enough. Jumping into a nearby tree, he traveled from branch to branch before settling himself within speaking distance of the unaware Kagome.

 

“So, why was Sesshoumaru after you?” he asked with his head tilted to look off into the forest.

 

“Gah!” came her cry as a smooth rock collided with his head. Startled, he fell off his chosen perch and landed face-down on the ground. Sputtering, he regained his feet and glared at the scrambling woman for making him lose his balance with such an inferior weapon.

 

“What was that for!”

 

“I told you not to peek!” yelled Kagome as she wound up and released another fist sized rock at his head.

 

“I wasn't looking until you hit me!” he exclaimed ducking the flying projectile.

 

“Well you're looking now so you deserved it!” Wham, a rock the size of two tightly clenched fists struck his unsuspecting temple.

 

Jumping back into the tree, he hid behind the trunk away from the deadly aim of the girl taking a bath. After several more minutes of anger-filled silence, he again ventured to find out what he wanted. “So what did you do?”

 

“I didn't do anything,” said Kagome as she tentatively started to rub the dirt off her limbs again. She had thankfully already cleaned her hakama and haori. Now she just had to quickly clean off the dirt from her skin before sidling back into the damp clothing. If only the hanyou would go away.

 

“Well you had to have done something!”

 

Sticking her tongue out the hidden hanyou, she muttered. “I lost control and showered him and about a hundred others with manure. Happy!”

 

Inuyasha nearly choked with glee. “That would explain the faint stench I caught from him, but that still doesn't explain why he would personally follow you and not send someone else.”

 

Kagome sighed. He just wasn't going to leave things alone. “I lost control of my powers and accidentally hit him with miko energy. The fertilizer was a side effect.” Sniffling, “I just couldn't help it. He killed my best friend.”

 

Inuyasha stared blankly in horror at the happy, nut-munching squirrel sitting in the tree opposite of him. “And you're still alive!”

 

“Of course I'm alive!” she snapped. Clean, she dashed out of the river and scrambled into her clothing after making sure he wasn't peeking. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she plopped unto the ground. “I'm alive, but Sango isn't.”

 

Inuyasha watched the squirrel scramble away and wished he could do the same. He could already smell the salt-laden tears start to fall. Sighing, he jumped to the ground and perched himself a good two feet away from the sobbing woman. “Did you say Sango?”

 

Kagome nodded her head in the affirmative.

 

“Then stop crying.”

 

Kagome jerked her head up in horror. “What! My best friend got beheaded and you're telling me to stop crying! You're a baka if ever I've met one!”

 

Inuyasha scowled. “The name's Inuyasha not baka, and while your friend may be dead, she ain't really dead.”

 

“What's that supposed to mean!” Kagome couldn't believe it. She saw Sesshoumaru kill her and Kirara before her powers went ballistic on the crowd. How could he say that she wasn't dead!

 

“Keh. You really are a stupid wench.”

 

“I am not a wench!”

 

“You are too. If you weren't one, you'd have known that anyone of Inutashio's blood can bring her back to life! That means me and Sesshoumaru.” Inuyasha stood proudly in front of the obviously annoyed miko.

 

Kagome's jaw dropped. “No one can bring someone back to life. Didn't you hear me? He beheaded her!”

 

“As long as we can get the body and Tensaiga, I can bring her back to life.”

 

Kagome stared dumbfounded at the hanyou. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. “Why would you want to do that?”

 

Inuyasha gulped and looked away. “Slavers caught her because of me.”

 

_______________________________________________________________