InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ After-effects ❯ Searching for a way ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: Me no own Inuyasha and the gang. Only Yuna and Mattemaru belong to me :).

 

Author's note: Well, many thanks to "just another stupid girl" for her kind reviews, I really do appreciate them :).

 

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Chapter 7: Searching for a way

 

"Well the good news is that you have recovered completely from the saimyoushou's poison. But I'm afraid that for the rest of your wounds, it will be a little longer," said Kaede once she had finished rebandaging Miroku.

 

"Now for you Sango," she spoke again, turning to the demon slayer who was sitting not far away.

 

"Is it even necessary to check?" muttered the girl. "We all know it's going to be months before I'm back on my feet," she added disgruntled.

 

"True, but it will be even longer if I allow the wounds to fester, now stay still," admonished the old miko sternly.

 

"As if I could even move to begin with," she spoke ironically.

 

Shippo looked at the wounded girl in slight confusion before jumping on Miroku's shoulder. "Something seems to be bothering Sango," whispered the kitsune in the monk's ear.

 

"I do believe it has something to do with Kagome," answered the said monk equally silently.

 

However, it seemed that they weren't quiet enough because the retort came as soon as they had spoken. "If you want to talk about me, at least have the decency to do so in my face," said the demon slayer angrily.

 

"Now now Sango. no need to get angry, we were merely concerned about you, that's all," replied the monk placidly.

 

"Worry about your own self, I don't need your sympathy," she spat back.

 

The monk and the kitsune exchanged knowing looks at that last retort. Something was definitively wrong with the girl. Yet before either of them could answer, Kaede decided to speak up.

 

"Getting angry at Miroku and Shippo is not going to accomplish anything except making the atmosphere around here unbearable," she said calmly. "Why don't you find a way to vent your energy in a more constructive way?" asked the old miko.

 

Sango could only stare in complete disbelief at the woman before her. Her accuracy in reading what was really affecting her was a bit unnerving. Looking at the monk and the kitsune youkai, she noted with some relief that they, at least, had not been able to identify the cause of her frustration. And it was true, for one used to train from dawn to dusk with barely time to rest, sitting around and doing nothing all day long proved to be an almost impossible ordeal. Her whole body demanded to move, to be used in some way, but the slightest movement caused searing pain to her injuries.

 

Kagome had been what had kept her from going crazy. She and the girl were practically like sisters and her presence had calmed her down somewhat. It wasn't that she disliked the company of Miroku and Shippo, quite the contrary, she loved the attention the monk was giving her, though she would not show it openly in front of anyone else, and Shippo was always a distraction. But things with your best friend are always different than what they are with your lover or a little kid.

 

As it was, she was spared from having to answer by none other than Kagura who chose this very moment to make her appearance. The youkai was carrying the two empty trays of food Kagome had given her earlier and behind her, the shape of a young girl could be seen shifting nervously. Sango was the first to notice the arrival and was instantly struck by the aura of protectiveness radiating from the sorceress. It was so unlike Kagura to be this way that for a second, Sango actually thought she might be dreaming. But then the youkai chuckled slightly, obviously amused by the looks she was receiving and turned to whisper to the young child behind her.

 

The child nodded in answer and moved slowly in front of her. The way she tugged at her sleeping kimono with her good hand proved just how scared the little girl was. Nonetheless, she managed to gather her courage and speak up, albeit in a small and stuttering voice. "My... My name is... Yuna... I'm... pleased to... meet you all," she managed to say with a small bow.

 

It was Miroku who shook his surprise off first and promptly started to introduce himself. "It is a pleasure to get to know such a lovely young lady," he said with flourish. "I am named Miroku and I am a wandering monk," he finished in the same tone.

 

Noticing the twinkle in his eyes, Sango promptly butted in before he could ask his traditional question. "Miroku..." she spoke darkly. The said monk turned an innocent look toward her and answered her unspoken menace.

 

"Now now Sango, there is no need to get angry over a simple introduction," he said a little too lightly for his own good. It earned him a knowing look from everyone in the room.

 

Shaking her head half in amusement, half in discouragement at his antics, Sango decided to take her turn. "Sorry about that," she said to the confused child. "My name is Sango and I'm a demon slayer, it's nice to see you Yuna," she continued with a smile.

 

Jumping off of Miroku's shoulder, Shippo spoke up next. "I'm Shippo, and this is Kirara," he said pointing to the cat youkai that had just joined their circle.

 

"And I am named Kaede," spoke the old woman. "I am the one who treated your wound, I trust you are feeling better?" she asked with a friendly smile on her face.

 

"Y... Yes Kaede-sama, thank you," she answered softly.

 

Kagura had said to her that the people here would not harm her and she had been right. None of them had even so much as raised her voice at her, they even smiled. That was... unnerving to say the least. She was used to dealing with harshness and even anger, but friendliness... that was a first. And now that she had introduced herself, what was she to do? They were all looking at her as if they expected something else, though she couldn't fathom what. This scrutiny was making her more that a little uncomfortable. Luckily for her, the sorceress seemed to sense her feeling and coughed a little to draw the general attention away from her.

 

"Well, now that we're all formally introduced, could someone tell me where I can drop these things?" she said, pointing at the trays in her arms with her chin.

 

"Just put them in the corner over there, I'll take care of them later," pointed Kaede, who had returned to her job of bandaging Sango.

 

Nodding, the sorceress proceeded to make her way to the designated location, leaving a very unsure Yuna to stand by herself. She wasn't alone for long though as the kitsune and the cat youkai made their way toward her. Upon reaching her, the cat mewed softly and started to rub itself on her legs. This made Shippo smile wryly. "Looks like Kirara likes you," he said.

 

"She does?" Yuna answered a bit unsure.

 

"Yep, she only does that with people she likes," he answered, his smile never wavering.

 

Looking at the cat youkai, she couldn't help but feel a surge of warmth flow through her. "She's so cute," she thought fondly and had the sudden, uncontrollable urge to pet her. Kneeling down, she reached with her hand carefully and gently passed it through her fur. It wasn't long before Kirara started purring in contentment.

 

Shippo chuckled softly at the display. "You know, she especially likes to be scratched behind the ear," he pointed.

 

She looked up at the kitsune with an inquiring look, as if asking for permission. He simply nodded in encouragement and she timidly reached for one of the cute little triangle on top of Kirara's head. Upon starting to rub it, the purring increased to a loud rumbling sound and the cat youkai leaned in her touch as if trying to get even more out of the sensation. Yuna couldn't help but giggle softly at seeing Kirara act this way and Shippo joined her heartily.

 

Behind them, Kagura watched carefully the scene unfold and couldn't help but smile herself at seeing the display. "Maybe it won't be so hard after all," she mused fondly.

 

******

 

A couple making its way through the woods holding hands would present nothing really out of the ordinary, even if none of the two said a word. Silence sometimes spoke louder than words, especially for two people in love. Of course, it didn't take a genius to see what was really peculiar about the pair. The man had long silver hair and two dog ears on top of his head that showed right away he was a hanyou. It was also quite obvious by the looks they wore that the silence they shared was far from casual.

 

Kagome had so many things to think about that she didn't really know where to start. The family she had left behind for good, the jewel she had to protect, her miko powers suddenly awakening. It was all mind boggling. She had thought that she would be able to sit down and think things over carefully once back at Kaede's village, but Mattemaru's attack had thrown her plans down the drain. Now, she had to figure out a way to keep the jewel safe and also to master her powers. Sulking for the loss of her family would have to wait a bit. She sighed deeply and shook her head in discouragement, nothing ever seemed to go her way.

 

"Something the matter?" asked Inuyasha upon seeing her reaction.

 

She looked at him for a few seconds with an unreadable look before she decided to speak up. "Let's see, I just severed all bonds with my family. My miko powers are awakening in strange ways. And now, some lunatic's after the jewel. I really don't see what could be the matter," she said, her voice dying in a light chuckle.

 

"Alright, that was a stupid question," he said, equally amused.

 

"What about you? You seemed to have something on your mind too," she inquired.

 

"I was thinking about Mattemaru. I can't help but wonder who he is and how he knows so much about us," he answered somberly.

 

"Yeah, it's a bit unnerving," admitted the young miko. "He must have been observing us for quite some time before he decided to come out in the open like this, the question is how," she continued pensively.

 

"Yeah, I can smell spies a mile away and this time, it eluded even me," agreed Inuyasha.

 

"Anyway, I think it's best to talk to the others about this, who knows, we just might be able to puzzle things out," said Kagome as the village came into view.

 

The hanyou only grunted slightly in agreement and they fell silent again. When they entered the outskirt of town, a few people turned their heads toward the couple in curiosity. The villagers had grown so used to Kagome's peculiar clothes that ironically, seeing her dressed in a miko outfit was an oddity. What more, they had never seen Inuyasha openly demonstrate any form of affection for anyone before and seeing him hold Kagome's hand raised quite a few eyebrows.

 

Kagome noticed the stares they received, but didn't mind really much. She was more concerned about the hanyou's reaction than what the villagers would think. To her surprise, he didn't let go of her hand, if anything, he held it even tighter than before. "He's changed so much," she thought fondly as a smile spread slowly on her lips. He didn't turn toward her, but she knew he had seen her reaction because when she glanced up at him, she noticed that the corner of his mouth angled imperceptibly upward.

 

A few minutes later, Kaede's hut came into view and both couldn't help but stare in surprise at what they saw. The path they had taken made it so that they came toward the hut in such a way that they were currently facing one of its side instead of the front. From their point of view, they could see Shippo and a little girl with her right arm in a sling handing pieces of cleaned laundry to someone who was hanging them to dry in the bright afternoon sunlight. Now, there was nothing really peculiar about this. The kitsune had helped with these kind of chores more than once in the past and the presence of the little girl wasn't really surprising either. What was really striking was who they were helping. It was none other than Kagura.

 

As they got closer, the youkai noticed the pair and scowled at them, daring them to make any comments about her predicament. Shippo who sported none of the female youkai's reservations promptly greeted the couple... well the young miko anyway.

 

"Kagome!" he exclaimed as he made his way to her, a happy smile on his face. "How did it go?" he asked and immediately winced at his stupid question. "Sorry," he apologized immediately.

 

"It's alright Shippo, I'm fine really," she answered reassuringly. It wasn't entirely true, but then again now wasn't exactly the time to be sulking over her family. And also, despite the warning glance the sorceress had shot her and Inuyasha, she simply couldn't help but ask the question that was itching her.

 

"Shippo..." she said in an inquiring tone while looking at the laundry currently being held to dry.

 

The kitsune looked embarrassed for a second before answering. "Well you see, the house being filled with wounded people, that makes for a lot of chores to do... and precious few arms able to do them," he said softly.

 

"So she got dragged into it," finished the hanyou, obviously amused by the whole situation.

 

"Well of course," began Kagome as if it was the most natural thing to do. "Only someone totally devoid of any sense of responsibility would refuse to do those tasks," she launched in a grand tone, but winked discreetly at the sorceress.

 

The said youkai looked surprised at the unexpected support but after a few seconds a wry smile broke on her lips and she shook her head in amusement. The young miko didn't understand exactly what had prompted the reaction until Kaede herself spoke up from behind her.

 

"Well, I'm glad to see that at least some people around here have a touch of common sense," she began in a serious tone that made the girl jump in surprise. "Since you think like that, I believe you won't complain if I place you in charge of our evening meal," she continued.

 

"But there are important things we must talk about," she argued. The old woman would have none of that however.

 

"Important things cannot be thought through on an empty stomach. Whatever it is that's troubling you does not seem urgent enough to justify missing a meal, now get to work," she admonished sternly.

 

And then turning to Inuyasha who was currently trying very hard to hold back his laughter, she assigned him his own task. "You can laugh all you want, but the food won't cook without a fire and a fire won't burn without firewood, now go and earn your meal," she launched in the same tone.

 

Hanyou and human stared at each other in dumbfounded silence before bursting out laughing at the way they had been caught.

 

******

 

"So someone's already after the jewel," said Sango somberly. "I would have thought we would have a little more time before something like this happened," she finished.

 

"True, but reality being as it is, we must now find a way to keep it safe," spoke Miroku calmly.

 

They were all sitting in the common room of Kaede's hut, finishing the food Kagome had prepared. It had been quite an interesting meal. First, Yuna had introduced herself to the two new people and Kagura had finally been able to relate her encounter with the child and how she had gotten her wound. This had prompted an instant wave of sympathy and promises from everyone to help her in any way they could. This had caused the child to blush furiously in embarrassment and even Kagura seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable.

 

And then the unpleasant subject of the shikon jewel had to be brought forth. Kagome and Inuyasha told everyone about their encounter with the youkai Mattemaru and his promise to come back for it. This had sombered up the general mood quite a lot.

 

"And how do you propose we do this?" asked Inuyasha briskly in answer to the monk. "The enemy can come at any time and from any direction. It's impossible to stay on guard all the time," he finished while folding his arms across his chest.

 

"Why don't you just... get rid of it?" came the small voice of Yuna. All heads turned toward her in surprise.

 

She had not taken an active part in any of the conversations so far and had seemed quite lost when the subject of the jewel had been put on the table. Yet, here she was, making a suggestion and what's more, a suggestion that actually made sense.

 

"You know, that may not be such a bad idea," replied Kagome, mind suddenly alive with new possibilities. "If we can find a way to purify the jewel, then our problem is essentially solved," she said.

 

"The thing is that we have no idea how," Sango said. "I used to think that a selfless wish would be enough to purify it, but it seems that I was wrong," she finished.

 

"And then, there's also the fact that ever since Kagome-sama made her wish, the jewel has gone silent," added Miroku.

 

"Keh! Just what we need now, another mystery," shot the hanyou angrily.

 

"So basically, we're right back where we started," summarized Shippo. "The only way we knew of to purify the jewel proved to be a dead end. That doesn't leave us with many options," said the kitsune somberly.

 

"That jewel, didn't it originate from somewhere close to the demon slayers' village?" asked Kagura.

 

"There is the cave where Midoriko's last battle took place not too far away from my hometown alright," confirmed Sango. "But what do you propose we do there?" she questioned in turn.

 

"Well... who knows, maybe bringing the completed jewel back to where it was born will free the souls trapped in it," she said dubiously.

 

The skeptical looks sported by everyone showed just how much they believed in the alternative proposed by the female youkai. Still it was better than nothing and it was Inuyasha who agreed first.

 

"I say we give it a try. It's better than just sitting around anyway. Being on the move will make it that much more difficult for whoever is after us to catch up," he said and turned his head toward Kagome to see if she agreed with him or not.

 

"Why not? I'm not one to wait for danger either," answered the young miko. "How about we leave tomorrow morning? That way, we would minimize the chances of being caught by Mattemaru again," she proposed.

 

"That's a plan, but I'm afraid Sango and Miroku are going to have to stay here this time," he said, sounding almost apologetic.

 

"That's okay," replied the demon slayer. "You can travel on Kirara's back, it will shorten the trip significantly and prevent you from leaving any sort of trail behind," she added pointedly.

 

Everyone nodded in approbation and then the hanyou turned to the wind sorceress. "How about you Kagura, wanna come?" he asked.

 

The female youkai looked a bit shocked that he had made such a proposition. Obviously, she was not used to being part of a group like this. She recovered quickly though and shook her head. "No... I'll stay here, that way if that Mattemaru guy decides to come and ask for your whereabouts, I'll be able to point him in the right direction," she said with an evil gleam in her eyes.

 

"Well then, I suppose that you are going to need some supply for this trip. Come Kagome, if we want to get everything ready, we must start now," ordered the old miko.

 

The girl didn't protest as she rose and followed the woman out the door. In fact, this would be the perfect opportunity to ask the questions that plagued her mind about her powers. Also, knowing Kaede's sharp mind, she had the nasty suspicion that this was part of the reason she had asked for her help.

 

"Kaede..." she began once they were out of ear shot. The old woman cut her short however.

 

"I know you have many questions to ask child, but before I can give you answers, I must ask questions of my own," she said seriously.

 

"Well... go ahead I suppose," said the girl uncertainly.

 

The old woman nodded once before beginning her questioning. "First of all child, I want you to tell how you are feeling."

 

"How I'm feeling?" asked the girl, completely baffled by the seemingly senseless question.

 

"Headache, nausea, cramps, even something as insignificant as an itch. I want to know if anything out of the ordinary has afflicted you recently," explained the old woman.

 

"Well... I haven't been sick, if that's what you mean, but something peculiar did happen to me and that's precisely what I wanted to talk to you about," answered Kagome.

 

"What happened?" asked the old miko, her eyes suddenly focusing on her like a hawk.

 

"You see, when Inuyasha and I went back to the well, we had a sort of... friendly race," explained Kagome, shifting uneasily under the intense scrutiny.

 

"And?" urged Kaede.

 

"I... almost outran him," she finished quietly.

 

A long silence followed Kagome's admission, a silence during which Kaede's gaze only grew more and more piercing until the young girl simply could not take it anymore.

 

"Kaede... is there anything wrong with me?" she asked worriedly.

 

This seemed to jar the miko out of her stillness. "I cannot say just yet," she answered, puzzlement evident in her voice.

 

"The only way to be certain would be to read your aura, but for that, you're going to have to summon up your powers," said Kaede, with a frown on her face.

 

"I can do that," agreed Kagome.

 

Taking a deep breath, she concentrated and reached within her soul. This time, she knew exactly where to look so it didn't take her long for her to feel the surge of purification powers envelop her body. She held it like this for about a minute before releasing them. Opening her eyes, she could see by the look of intense surprise on Kaede's face that something was indeed not right with her.

 

"Kaede?" asked the girl fearfully.

 

"This is impossible," whispered the old woman as if in a trance.

 

"What is it Kaede? What is impossible?" questioned Kagome, her voice growing more and more urgent.

 

"Preposterous! Absurd! Something like this should not even be possible," continued the miko, completely ignoring the girl in front of her.

 

"Kaede!" snapped Kagome, unable to stand being ignored any longer.

 

The woman gave a start at being startled out of her trance. "Kagome..." began the miko carefully, finally addressing the girl. "I don't know how it can be but... your purification powers are tainted with... youki," she finished and at that moment, Kagome's world stopped spinning.