InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Blackout ❯ The Mysterious Doctor ( Chapter 11 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: King Baka 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Adventure / Angst | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 04.23.2014 | Pages: 6 | Words: 10.8K | Visits: 1.5K | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Adventure / Angst | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 04.23.2014 | Pages: 6 | Words: 10.8K | Visits: 1.5K | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha or any of the publicly known characters, plot, etc. I’m just renting them from Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, etc. I do own the plot of this story and any original characters I’ve created. I will make no money from this fic; I write for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of my readers.
The Mysterious Doctor
The Inu-gang’s entrance into the village caused quite an uproar. Children ran for their mothers, and men hurried to retrieve weapons or stood eyeing the strangers warily. Their suspicion was understandable; it was not every day that a hanyou carrying a young girl, and a neko-youkai bearing a monk and a taijiya charged into your village like they owned the place. Normally, the Inu-gang would move into a settlement slowly on foot so as to reduce the disturbance, but the warmness of their welcome was the least of their concerns at the moment.
Inuyasha moved swiftly and efficiently, tracking the scent of corpse and graveyard soil without even needing to put Kagome down. The miko focused her senses and was able to confirm that they were indeed heading in the right direction. There was something odd about the rapidly approaching light of the Shikon no Tama, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. And she had precious little time to reflect. Within a minute or two of first entering the village, Inuyasha led them to a medium-sized hut near the opposite end, from which apparently emanated both the foul stench and the jewel’s aura. He set Kagome down and stood in front of her, hand gripping Tetsusaiga’s hilt and every nerve primed.
“Whoever’s in there, get your ass out here!” he demanded. There was the sound of shuffling inside, and the reed mat covering the entryway rustled. Inuyasha liked to think he was ready for anything at this point, but nothing could have prepared him for what actually emerged from the hut.
It was a little girl, no more than five or six years old. She stared at Inuyasha with big, frightened eyes, stumbling to her hands and knees in the dirt outside the hut. Both palms and one knee came away with scrapes, and she sat back with her bottom lip trembling, continuing to stare at Inuyasha as if he was the single scariest thing she had ever seen. The hanyou found himself at a loss.
“Aya?” came a gentle masculine voice from inside the hut, the owner emerging a moment later. He knelt down and picked the girl up, studying her injuries. “Had a fall there, little one? Go back inside and I’ll clean those up for you.” Then he set the girl back on her feet and gave her a gentle nudge toward the doorway.
“Now,” he said brightly, standing to face the Inu-gang. “How can I help you fol—ack!”
In the blink of an eye, Inuyasha had the man pinned against the wall of the hut, a clawed hand around his throat. The hanyou heard gasps and cries of outrage from the handful of onlookers who had followed them, but he paid them no mind. His full attention was on the quivering man-shaped mass before him, the one who positively reeked of death.
“Inuyasha!” Kagome whispered urgently, in that special pre-osuwari tone of hers. “What are you doing?!”
“Well,” he demanded irritably, “this is the guy with the shard, isn’t it?” Her silence told him everything he needed to know.
“Any last words?” he asked the man, hoping to see some sort of anger or defiance in his eyes. Instead, he glimpsed only terror.
“Wait, Inuyasha!” Kagome ordered, moving forward to place a restraining hand on his shoulder.
“Why?” he snarled, turning his head to glare at her.
It was a good question, Kagome reflected. Stopping Inuyasha had been a knee-jerk reaction, but as she thought about it her reasons became clear. And she finally understood why the jewel shard in this man’s possession had seemed odd to her before. It was pure. Whereas the shard possessed by the other creature they had encountered had been corrupted, this one contained no darkness at all. The man’s behavior, his seemingly kind nature, could be faked, but the purity of the shard could not. That was why she had to stop Inuyasha from killing him, at least for now. Because however mysterious this man might be, his kindness to the child was not an act, nor was he pretending to be ready to piss himself under Inuyasha’s claws. He was what he appeared to be. Kagome could think of no other explanation for the purity of the shard.
“Let him go, Inuyasha,” she told him firmly. The hanyou narrowed his eyes, stepping toward her so their noses were practically touching, though he still kept his victim pinned against the wall with his right hand. Kagome met his irate gaze unflinchingly.
“Have you lost your mind, wench? This guy is fucking dead.”
“And his shard is pure.”
That seemed to surprise Inuyasha, and he backed off a few centimeters. But then he recovered and was right back in her face.
“It doesn’t matter. He has a shard and he smells just like that other bastard. That means he’s working for Naraku,” he ground out, enunciating every word as though she was barely intelligent enough to understand them.
“It does matter,” she growled, hands fisting at her sides as she fought against her own rising ire. “It means he’s not faking. We can’t kill an innocent man!”
“You’re a moron if you think he’s innocent! He’s one of Naraku’s lackeys. Now tell me where the fucking shard is!”
“I won’t!”
“Stupid bitch!” Inuyasha swore, turning back to his helpless quarry with claws raised. He clearly intended to slash the man into a hundred pieces and collect the shard without her help.
“Osuwari!”
*Thud*
Sometimes Kagome hated having to subdue Inuyasha, but not this time. Part of her wanted to deliver a few firm kicks to her stubborn hanyou’s head as he lay there cussing her out. She had been somewhat concerned that he would drag the ‘dead’ man down with him, but that didn’t happen. Instead, the hapless fool tripped over himself trying to make a run for it, then began shuffling away on his backside.
“P-p-please!” he called at her, pleading shamelessly. “I’m only a doctor!”
“Don’t you fucking go anywhere!” Inuyasha growled viciously, paralyzing the man with fear. The hanyou fought against the spell, until finally it wore off and he was able to lurch to his feet. When he turned to face her, Kagome felt a twinge of fear herself, despite her anger. She had never seen Inuyasha so furious before. He glared at her, his eyes hard, as if he wasn’t sure whether she was ally or enemy.
“Bitch,” he snarled, in a low tone which sent a shiver down her spine. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Kagome suddenly didn’t want to argue anymore. Even now, she was not afraid that Inuyasha would hurt her. But backing down was easier than seeing him like this, confronting him when he so strongly adhered to the opposite opinion. She could see little droplets of blood dripping from his clenched fists, from where his claws had punctured his palms. Suddenly she questioned whether this man, this total stranger was worth all the trouble of trying to save his sorry behind. But it didn’t matter. She couldn’t take the easy way out. Because no matter what Inuyasha said or did, she couldn’t live with herself if she condoned the execution of an innocent man. And until it was proven otherwise, this self-proclaimed doctor was innocent. The presence of the jewel shard and the scent of death were immaterial.
Though she was firm in her resolve, Kagome was nevertheless extremely grateful when she was saved from responding by an unexpected exclamation.
“You lot, leave Suikotsu-sama alone!”
This was followed by many similar cries; unbeknownst to hanyou or miko, an angry mob had formed during their argument. The villagers had turned out in force to protect one of their own, most wielding sticks or farming implements as weapons, though some bore old swords. As a group, they appeared an edgy and undisciplined forced, prone to rout. But they drew courage from their numbers—well over three dozen men of all ages—and their leaders. One such man stood at the head of the group, apart from the rest. He was middle-aged, with a pockmarked face and a fearsome scar running vertically from his jawline up through his ruined left eye. Notably, he wore no eye patch, and his left arm had also been amputated just above the elbow. In his right hand he carried the best-looking sword in the village. The blade had seen some battle, but appeared sharp and well-cared for.
None of which seemed to impress Inuyasha.
“Get the fuck out of here, all of you!” he barked, his tone indicating exactly what he thought of the ragtag group of humans who dared to challenge him.
“Leave this village and do not return!” the disfigured leader shot back. “We will not let you harm Suikotsu-sama!” He raised his sword in the air, and a cheer went up behind him.
Inuyasha took several steps toward the mass of humans, cracking his knuckles and baring his fangs. Some of the men began to lose their nerve at this, but the majority remained defiant. Seeing that his unspoken threats were not working, Inuyasha tried something more direct.
“You think I’m scared of you weaklings? I’ll raze this whole fucking village to the ground!”
“Osuwari.”
*Thud*
With Inuyasha once more reduced to a madly swearing, hanyou-shaped lump on the ground, Kagome stepped up to address the villagers. It was time to end this.
“I apologize for him,” she declared, bowing to the leader. “We will leave now.”
“The hell we will!” Inuyasha snapped, glaring up at her and fighting the spell with everything he had.
“Osuwari!” she cried, with a little more force this time. Inuyasha did not fall silent, but he did stop struggling. Kagome knelt by his side, but did not move to comfort him. Now was not the time; she had to get her message through that thick skull of his first.
“Inuyasha,” she said quietly, her fierce tone demanding his undivided attention. “I said we would leave. I didn’t say we would go far. I know we can’t just let this guy run away with a jewel shard. But we need to talk about this, see what our friends think, and come up with a plan. If we stay here, someone’s going to end up getting killed. Maybe even one of us.”
She didn’t really believe that; her friends were all excellent fighters, and Inuyasha was fiercely protective of her. Even Miroku and Sango could probably make short work of this rabble mob. But doing it without employing lethal force would be a much greater challenge. And these villagers were just as innocent as the man they were trying to protect. From their perspective, it must seem that some violent outsiders were threatening one of their own without provocation. And because the conflict had progressed nearly to the point of physical combat, they wouldn’t listen to a word any of the outsiders said about the doctor’s smell or the shard of the Shikon no Tama embedded in his neck. The only option left open to the Inu-gang which would avoid violence was to make a strategic withdrawal and regroup.
Inuyasha didn’t say a word as he rose to his feet, nor did he look at her. But she could tell that his primary concerns had been placated. The argument was far from over, and the sniveling worm of a doctor was not going to be allowed to escape.
“Oi,” he called, voice dripping with malice as he eyed the doctor cruelly. “If you set one foot outside this village, I’m going to hunt you down and butcher you like a fucking rabbit.”
The doctor curled into a ball and began weeping uncontrollably. Inuyasha snorted in disgust, then stormed off in the direction of the nearby forest. Any villagers hiding along his path gave him a wide berth, and no member of the Inu-gang was harassed as they departed. Kagome paused at the tree line, looking back to see men already helping the doctor to his feet, women and children emerging from their hiding places and see if he was okay. They really do love him, she reflected with a sigh. What are we going to do now?
They walked for another minute or two, moving deeper into the forest so as to be out of sight of the village. But she knew Inuyasha would stop before they went too far, and sure enough, she found him in a small clearing, waiting for her with arms crossed over his chest and a foot tapping impatiently. Kagome crossed her arms as well and adopted a matching frown, the adrenaline of confrontation giving way to irritation at his irritation.
“Took you long enough, wench,” he snapped petulantly.
Kagome rolled her eyes. Count on Inuyasha to completely ignore the fact that the rest of their group had stayed with her and traveled at her pace, or that he’d had to wait thirty seconds for her at most. It wasn’t important enough to bring up. She just wanted to get to the point so they could get this over with.
“Well, maybe if you had taken the time to look back, you would have seen how much those villagers care for the doctor.”
“Keh. I don’t give a shit. He still needs to die.”
“Inuyasha, how many times do I have to tell you? He’s innocent. The jewel shard in his neck is pure!”
“How many times do I have to tell you? He’s fucking dead. He’s only tied to this world by the shard. Do you think Naraku’s gonna let him live? If we kill him now then at least the shard doesn’t get used for that bastard’s sick plans.”
“I’m glad you used the world ‘kill,’ since if you pull that shard out, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing. You’ll be a murderer, and I’ll be an accessory to it.”
“What the fuck is an access—never mind, it don’t fucking matter. And it wouldn’t be murder, ‘cause he’s fucking dead already!”
“Oh, and would you say the same about Kikyou?!”
As soon as those words passed her lips, Kagome regretted them. Inuyasha flinched as if struck, and she knew that she had made this far too personal, for both of them. But before she could attempt to retract her statement, the hanyou glared at her with real hostility in his eyes.
“That’s different,” he snarled. “Kikyou’s life isn’t tied to a fucking jewel shard, and you damn well know it!”
“No, but Kohaku’s is.”
That quiet declaration brought the argument to a grinding halt. Inuyasha and Kagome turned toward the source of the voice, to find Sango seated on a convenient log, staring at the ground with a despondent expression.
“S-Sango,” Inuyasha stuttered, “I wasn’t talking about Kohaku.”
“Weren’t you, though?” the taijiya asked, gazing at him with vacant, haunted eyes. “Kohaku’s life is also bound to a jewel shard. For all intents and purposes, he is dead too. And he’s probably done far worse in his borrowed life than that doctor has. So if you’re condemning the doctor as deserving of death, then you’re condemning Kohaku too.”
Inuyasha opened his mouth to respond, but ultimately could find nothing to say and shut it again with a muttered ‘keh.’ Kagome felt a grim sort of satisfaction at how uncomfortable he looked, but also sympathy. She knew what he was thinking, that the difference between Kohaku and the doctor was that Kohaku was Sango’s brother. Because of that relationship, they were willing to go the extra mile to try to save Kohaku instead of killing him, a fact which Naraku had used against them on several previous occasions. But this reason for the vastly different treatment must have sounded lame to even Inuyasha’s ears. Innocent men should be treated the same, regardless of who was related to whom. Perhaps Inuyasha was starting to see that now.
Or perhaps not. He certainly didn’t look ready to concede. Kagome sensed that round three of the argument was about to start. This time, however, she would avoid bringing Kikyou up. She didn’t want to hurt Inuyasha; she just wanted to convince him that he was wrong. Fortunately, the member of the group who considered himself the most level-headed chose that moment to speak up for the first time.
“It appears we have reached an impasse,” Miroku observed. “For my part, I agree with Inuyasha in the pragmatic sense. But my conscience is with Kagome. I do not believe continuing this right now will be productive. Let’s make camp and sleep on it. I don’t think the doctor will be going anywhere in the meantime.”
One by one, the other members of the Inu-gang nodded their agreement. It was too early to make dinner; Inuyasha wouldn’t want to hunt in case something happened at the village, and modern food didn’t take long to prepare. There was about an hour of good sunlight left, so Kagome decided to take advantage of it and do some studying. She quickly found it to be futile; there was too much on her mind to focus on schoolwork. She nevertheless tried gamely at it for a good fifteen or twenty minutes before giving up. She glanced around camp to see what the others were doing. Miroku and Sango had finished setting up the fire and were now sitting together and talking quietly. The taijiya seemed to be keeping a close watch on the monk’s wayward hands. Shippou and Kirara were playing together in the surrounding woods, and Inuyasha…
Kagome’s eyes softened. Inuyasha was sitting by himself with his back against a tree, arms and legs crossed, staring solemnly into the flames. He seemed so lonely, that she found herself moving to him automatically. She knew his earlier anger could resurface at any moment, but she decided it was worth the risk.
He didn’t notice her approach until she sat down beside him. Then he leaned back and stared, as if he couldn’t believe she was really there. Kagome smiled gently at him, hoping to convey how much she loved being here by his side, despite their argument. Inuyasha frowned and looked away, but crucially he straightened his back so their bodies were almost touching again. The pair settled into companionable silence, and Kagome for one was simply grateful that they could sit together without being at each other’s throats.
“Is…the baby okay?”
His soft-spoken question caught her by surprise. He seemed guilty, but she couldn’t figure out why.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Kaede-babaa said that too much stress can be bad for the baby,” he admitted shamefully. “And for you.”
“Oh,” Kagome breathed, the pieces finally coming together. “Inuyasha, a little fight isn’t going to hurt the baby. He was a bit distressed before, but now he’s calm again.”
“He?” the hanyou repeated, gazing at her with an unreadable expression.
Kagome shrugged. “I can sense his aura.” This was an ability she had discovered a few days ago. She could not communicate with the child or examine him in any detail, but it was enough to get a general idea of how he was feeling at any given time.
“His aura feels like a ‘he’ to me. I can’t explain it.”
Inuyasha nodded, digesting that information in silence. “A son,” he mumbled a few moments later.
“Is…that okay?”
“Keh. I just want a healthy kid. I don’t care if it’s a boy or girl.”
Kagome grinned. “It’s okay to have a preference, Inuyasha. I hope it’s a boy who looks just like his handsome father.”
Inuyasha snorted and looked away to hide his blush. He probably had a few things to say about her opinion of him as handsome, but knew that she would scold him if he tried to self-deprecate. She liked him for who he was, hanyou ears and all. It was something which would never cease to amaze him. Perhaps more amazing was how she was willing to spend time with him after he had been such a jackass to her this afternoon.
“Tomorrow,” he mumbled, “we’ll talk…no yelling.”
Kagome found him gazing at her, remorse and absolution shining in his golden eyes. Matching emotions shone back at him from her own dark orbs. They both had something to be sorry for, and were both forgiven. And tomorrow, when it came time to resume the debate, they would approach the matter with level heads and open minds.
“Deal.”
The comfortable silence resumed, and Kagome found her eyelids drooping with fatigue. Figuring he wouldn’t mind, she dared to lean her head on Inuyasha’s shoulder. The hanyou stiffened briefly at the contact but made no move to dislodge her. It probably helped that Miroku and Sango pretended not to notice, bless them. Kagome was just nodding off to a nice power nap before dinner when Inuyasha shook her urgently.
“Wake up, wench,” he ordered, rising swiftly to his feet as soon as she raised her head. Kagome didn’t like the grave expression on his face, or the way his ears swiveled like little radar dishes in the direction of the village.
“The village is under attack,” he declared. The Inu-gang were still fully prepared for combat from earlier, so within ten seconds they were on their way back to the stricken settlement.
It was a horrific scene. At least twenty men lay dead, sliced into dozens of separate pieces. Blood spattered all over the ground and the walls of huts near the killing zone. The rest of the villagers were fleeing in terror, their screams resounding through the late afternoon air. Inuyasha knew what had happened; the villagers had rallied to defend themselves again, but this time the enemy had massacred them without mercy. And it appeared that the culprit was one man. He stood surveying the carnage with a gleeful grin twisting his features. Despite this, the deep blue teardrop markings under his eyes and the intentionally wild way his hair was kept made him seem very feminine. The rest of his body added to that impression, clad in a light purple yukata with green floral print, which was worn so that it revealed a disturbing amount of leg.
As he approached, Inuyasha caught some of the stranger’s conversation with the doctor Suikotsu, who was lying curled up on his side, covered in the blood of his former neighbors and shaking uncontrollably.
“So wake the hell up already, Suikotsu! I hear the people I’m supposed to fight are finally in the area, and I’d much rather meet them than be stuck babysitting you.”
Inuyasha set Kagome down a safe distance from the battlefield, Kirara landing beside them. “Does that guy have a jewel shard, Kagome?”
“Yes, in his neck.”
Inuyasha nodded, not surprised. He could smell the distinctive scent of graveyard soil from here, and he didn’t think it came solely from Suikotsu. One thing was for sure—no one would object to him wasting this guy, even if he wasn’t a reanimated corpse.
“Stay back,” he ordered, stalking calmly toward the enemy. He hadn’t gone two steps before the stranger noticed him. His eyes lit up with genuine excitement, and if Inuyasha hadn’t been creeped out before, he definitely was now.
“Oh! Could it be that you’re Inuyasha?”
“What the— How do you know me, bastard?!”
“Oh, you are Inuyasha!” he exclaimed, holding his hands to his chest like a love-struck teenager. “You’re even cuter than I dreamed!”
Inuyasha was suddenly gripped by the very powerful urge to vomit, but settled for a low growl of annoyance.
“Cut the crap! I just have one question before I slaughter you. Where’s Naraku?”
“And those ears!” the stranger cooed, completely ignoring the hanyou’s question. “They’re adorable! I think I’ll take them.”
Inuyasha felt his thin thread of patience snap, and he would have charged headlong into the fight if Miroku had not restrained him with a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Hold up, Inuyasha,” he said. “Let me try. You there! Where did you get that jewel shard? Are you working for Naraku?”
The stranger just stared at him, and Miroku suddenly felt a thousand invisible insects crawling over his skin. Is this how it felt to be ogled?
“The houshi is sexy too!” the stranger declared happily. “I’d love to see his agonized face!”
It took all of Miroku’s control not to go after the perverted bastard himself. But he had a feeling that Inuyasha would need to handle this one. The hanyou was chomping at the bit anyway.
“I wish I could just suck him up,” he observed, beyond disappointed that Inuyasha would get the satisfaction of wiping that ridiculously adoring expression off their enemy’s face.
“Oooh, the houshi is so forward!” the stranger shouted scandalously. “Already wanting to do naughty things to me. You can suck me up anytime, houshi-kun!”
Miroku closed his eyes and tried to go to a happy place, but all he could see were horrible, unspeakable images. What he wouldn’t give for a stiff drink and a couple willing girls to prove his manhood with right about now.
“Oi, bouzu,” Inuyasha called, freeing Miroku from his mental torture.
“Y-yes?”
“I’m gonna kill this bastard, and then we’re never going to speak of this again. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
With that, Inuyasha whipped out Tetsusaiga and held it menacingly in front of him.
“All right, you bastard! Prepare yourself!”
“Oooh, that’s a nice sword you’ve got there,” the stranger observed, voice dripping with insinuation. “I wonder which is better, yours or mine? Let’s find out!”
Inuyasha had intended to blow his opponent away with a Kaze no Kizu, but the cutting edge of a sword blade came out of nowhere. It was all he could do to block it with Tetsusaiga.
“It’s a concealed sword!” he heard Miroku shout. “Everybody back!”
Inuyasha barely had time to contemplate the meaning of the monk’s words before the mysterious, serpent-like weapon was on him again. This time it seemed to fold over itself one more time when he blocked it, catching him in the back of the shoulder. He cried out, more in shock than pain, and freed himself with a shove from Tetsusaiga. The wound was superficial, thanks to his fire-rat, but would he be so lucky next time? The strange sword had already retracted to its owner, appearing as a single curved blade again.
“You’ve already lost some of your confidence, Inuyasha,” he observed. “I like it. Sink further into despair!”
The sword came on again. Inuyasha parried the blade in a manner which would have defeated the first two strikes, but at the last instant the sword suddenly changed direction. Only lightning reflexes saved his life and limited the damage to a raking graze across his forearm.
The enemy cackled gleefully. “Feel the bite of the Shichinintai’s attack captain, Jakotsu-sama’s Jakotsutou!”
Tired of defending, Inuyasha smashed the next strike away with Tetsusaiga, but the blade recoiled and caught him on the thigh. The following attack he simply dodged, and nearly lost his head for his trouble. It was extremely difficult to either dodge or defend when you couldn’t tell where the blade was coming from. Inuyasha cursed, but forced himself to keep moving.
This pattern continued for several minutes, with Jakotsu sending an unceasing frenzy of attacks at Inuyasha, who dodged or parried every single one. Not all cleanly; several strikes snuck past his defenses and left him with cuts all over his body, all of them relatively minor at this point. Still, he was amazed at the stamina of this human, who hadn’t even given him a moment to breathe, let alone launch one of Tetsusaiga’s stronger attacks.
Hiraikotsu soared in, catching Jakotsutou on its way to him and fouling up the blade. But its owner barely missed a beat, using the sword to hurl the boomerang back at Sango with an enraged shriek. Inuyasha heard her cry out, but couldn’t afford to look to make sure she was all right. Sango had afforded him this one opportunity, and he couldn’t miss it. He raised Tetsusaiga over his head to launch the Kaze no Kizu.
But Jakotsu was faster. Inuyasha was forced to block the serpentine sword once more, as it forced him back. His arms, heavy with fatigue, caved in just slightly under the pressure and earned him a neat slash along his cheek. This time when Jakotsu retracted his sword, he held it back. Inuyasha, exhausted and disheartened, simply stood with Tetsusaiga raised, breathing heavily.
“That expression is wonderful, Inuyasha,” Jakotsu declared, a crazed light in his eyes. “Show me more! Show me—ack!”
Jakotsu barely managed to block the arrow which came flying straight for his chest. Inuyasha hoped Kagome’s purifying arrow would have some effect on the sword, but Jakotsu swatted it aside like it was nothing. He knew why; as formidable as Jakotsutou was, it was not a youkai sword. Logically, spiritual energy would be useless against it, and the arrow itself wasn’t strong enough to even make a scratch. But Jakotsu didn’t seem to care about that; he turned and regarded Kagome with a hateful glare. Inuyasha hurried to put himself between the enemy and his friends.
“Your fight is with me, Jakotsu. Leave them out of this.”
“Then tell them to stay out of it!” Jakotsu snarled, renewing his attacks. Inuyasha was satisfied that he had his opponent’s undivided attention once more. His friends were strong, but none of them could handle this type of opponent, whose strikes were so quick and unpredictable. The battle resumed in much the same manner as before, and Inuyasha began to wonder if he should try something risky to end it. But gradually things began to change. At first Inuyasha thought Jakotsu was finally tiring, or that he was getting better at reading the sword’s movements. Neither of those seemed right; the strikes were as vicious and unpredictable as ever. They were simply less accurate, a defect which seemed to grow worse over time. It was not until Inuyasha noticed his opponent squinting that he comprehended the reason.
The sun. It was setting, partially below the horizon already, the sky darkening rapidly above them. And Jakotsu was human. Inuyasha hadn’t noticed the waning daylight at first because he could see fine in the dark, but humans didn’t have any night vision to speak of. Feeling a rush of confidence, he smacked away a particularly clumsy attack and leaned Tetsusaiga on his shoulder. Jakotsu, taken aback by his prey’s sudden cocky attitude, did not follow up immediately.
“Heh, having trouble seeing, Jakotsu?” Inuyasha taunted. “Just a human after all, eh?”
Jakotsu’s eyes widened, and he stared at the western horizon in disbelief. It was as if he’d been so focused on the battle, and the faces his opponent made, that he hadn’t realized why his eyesight was failing him. Tch, not an especially bright one, this guy. But he understood the peril he was in now; for the first time, there was real fear in his eyes. Inuyasha smirked. He was going to enjoy this.
The sound of terrified screams drew his attention to the right, where a few villagers who’d stuck around to see what happened were now fleeing in terror from something. He saw one woman stumble in her panic. She made it halfway to her feet again before the wave of smoke rolled over her, choking off her agonized shriek and dissolving her flesh even as her heart still beat within her chest.
“Bye-bye, Inuyasha!” Jakotsu called, already retreating as quickly as he could, an unconscious Suikotsu slung over his shoulder. “Next time, we’ll have to meet earlier in the day!”
“You’re not getting away, you bast—aargh!”
Then his feet were burning, and he leapt back to safe ground out of reflex. Looking out over the rapidly expanding area covered by the noxious smoke, Inuyasha was presented with a decision. He could go after Jakotsu; the human could never hope to outrun him, even if he had to go around the smoke. But that would mean leaving his friends alone, in the dark, with whoever had deployed that smoke in the first place.
“Fuck!” he swore, turning and sprinting back to his companions. He picked Kagome up bridal style and carried her out of the danger zone, waiting just long enough for the rest of them to mount Kirara. He led them back to their former campsite, where they packed up their things and moved to a new location deeper in the forest, ten minutes further as the neko flies. Only then did he begin to try to calm his racing blood.
Kagome’s first order of business was, of course, to check on their injuries. Sango had suffered a shallow cut on her forearm from when hiraikotsu had been thrown back at her. Kagome bandaged it as a precaution against infection. She found Inuyasha a less cooperative patient, as the surly hanyou seemed perfectly willing to take out his frustration at Jakotsu’s escape on her. A threatened osuwari fixed that, at least enough to get him to reluctantly remove his shirts so she could check his wounds. The one in his shoulder was the worst, but none require more than cleaning and light bandaging thanks to his youkai blood. Inuyasha knew he’d gotten lucky; Jakotsu had probably been toying with him a little in the very beginning. That was what irked him so much about letting the bastard get away; now he was likely going to have to face that damn sword again, in broad daylight. And he had a feeling that there would be no playing around next time.
As sour as his mood was, it surprised no one that he didn’t say much during the group’s customary post-battle discussion. Jakotsu had referred to himself as the attack captain of the Shichinintai, or ‘seven-man band.’ Given his possession of a shard of the Shikon no Tama, it was safe to assume that the zombie they had killed previously was also a member of this group. That meant there were probably five additional members roaming about, including Suikotsu and whoever had deployed that cloud of poison. Jakotsu had completely ignored their questions concerning Naraku, but no one doubted that the Shichinintai were working for him. Quite simply, they could not have obtained the jewel shards from anyone else, not to mention the fact that a Saimyoushou had made off with the shard from the Shichinintai member defeated several weeks ago.
But this new information also brought new questions. Chief among them was an explanation for Suikotsu’s strange behavior. No one disputed that he was a member of the Shichinintai. Inuyasha made one smarmy, ‘I told you so’ type of comment, but saw Kagome flinch guiltily and quickly decided to shut up. Suikotsu’s association with the Shichinintai did not, however, explain why he had been reduced to whimpering ball of flesh on the ground. Then Kagome informed them that she had noticed the shard in his neck repeatedly fluctuating between pure and polluted, as Suikotsu lay there holding his head and staring at the bodies of his neighbors. Finally, he had passed out during the battle with the shard mostly pure, and it had remained that way even as Jakotsu carried him off afterwards. The final piece of the puzzle was put into place when Inuyasha recalled the words he had overheard from Jakotsu, telling Suikotsu to ‘wake up.’
It was Sango who first raised the possibility of a man possessing ‘two minds within one body.’ Kagome confirmed that this was possible; in the modern era, they called it multiple personality disorder. It was the only theory that made any sense. Suikotsu’s ‘good side’ had been in control today, and during the battle his ‘evil side’ had tried to emerge, corrupting the shard in the process but ultimately failing to take over. This would explain why the shard had been pure in the first place, and how the doctor had managed to convince an entire village that he was a good man. As Kagome had stated when they first met him, it wasn’t an act. Suikotsu really was a gentle soul, at least while his benevolent personality was in control. Kagome for one hoped that they would never meet Suikotsu’s other personality, but had a feeling that this prayer would go unanswered.
Dinner was a subdued affair, as each member of the Inu-gang contemplated the road ahead of them. If the four members of the Shichinintai whom they had not yet met were as strong as Jakotsu, getting past them and finding Naraku was going to be a real challenge. Only a couple months ago, the dark hanyou had been so close. If Sesshoumaru had not interfered, Inuyasha thought he might have killed Naraku with one more attack from Tetsusaiga that day. Now he had hidden himself and marshaled new minions for his protection, potentially more powerful than any of his incarnations. It seemed a daunting task, and a poor start achieved on this day.
Normally, Kagome might have attempted to lighten the mood, but tonight she remained quiet and withdrawn. Inuyasha eyed her warily from across camp. Oh, she hid it well, but from the benefit of scent or perhaps from knowing her so well, he could tell that she was feeling remorseful about something. So he was not surprised that she found falling asleep difficult later, or that she rose from her sleeping bag with a miserable sigh a little before midnight. From his perch in the tree above, Inuyasha watched her trudge dejectedly out of camp. Rolling his eyes, he leapt down and followed. He found her barely a dozen meters from the fire, sitting on a partially collapsed tree and gazing up at the moon through a gap in the canopy.
“You shouldn’t be out here, wench,” he snapped, harsher than he meant to.
She gazed at him over her shoulder, favoring him with a sad smile. “I knew you’d come,” she said simply.
“Well, come back then. Or are you gonna make me stay out here all damn night?”
Again, Inuyasha cursed his incredible ability to speak before thinking. Kagome was hurting, and he was making it worse. Perhaps he was subconsciously trying to get a rise out of her, even if it was borne of anger. In this he failed; Kagome simply went back to staring at the moon.
“It’s up to you,” she told him. “I won’t make you stay.”
Okay, now Inuyasha knew something was seriously wrong. His heart thundered in his chest, and he tamped down on his rising panic. He was having flashbacks to that night in the tree, after Kikyou’s appearance, when Kagome had seemed empty inside, devoid of everything which made her Kagome. And like that night, he determined to do something about it.
Walking over and sitting next to her was not difficult. It was not even that hard to place his hand atop her own in an attempt at comfort, though he did blush at the contact. What he found truly challenging was actually looking at her and forming the words he wanted to say. Finally, he lapsed back into old habits out of frustration.
“What the hell is the matter with you, wench?”
She flinched at his tone, pulling her hand away. Without thinking, he snatched it out of the air and held it tightly in his own, unwilling to let her withdraw. And as he stared down at their joined hands, he realized that perhaps the key to communicating with Kagome was simply to act, and not overthink his words. So, swallowing nervously, he finally managed to say something with the level of kindness and respect she deserved.
“Kagome…tell me what’s bothering you.”
She regarded him with surprise, having rarely heard him use such a pleading tone. But it did not have the desired effect, as her gloomy expression returned. She turned away and shook her head.
“Seriously, Kagome, tell me…please.”
Even using that word didn’t help, Inuyasha found. Kagome bowed her head and closed her eyes, apparently intent on ignoring him. This obviously did not sit well with the hanyou, who decided to throw niceties out the window.
“Dammit, wench—”
“I killed them.”
Inuyasha blinked at her, briefly unsure if he had heard her soft-spoken admission correctly. But his ears were sharp, and that intense remorse suddenly clouding her eyes would certainly comport with her words.
“Keh, that’s stupid. You didn’t kill anybody.”
“I did. Not directly,” she said, cutting off his protest. “You were right, Inuyasha. I should have let you kill Suikotsu. Instead, those villagers died trying to protect him. All of them died…because of me.”
Inuyasha’s jaw dropped. Normally, he might feel quite ecstatic to hear Kagome tell him that he had been right about something, but he felt no joy now. Frustration and more than a little awe, yes, but no joy. How could anyone in Kagome’s shoes blame themselves for the deaths of those villagers? Because she’s Kagome. That was a simple answer, but it was all the explanation required. I should have known.
Growling in irritation, he took Kagome’s hand and held it up in front of her face.
“This hand don’t have any blood on it, Kagome,” he declared, shaking it a little for emphasis. “You wanna see a hand with blood on it? Look at this one!” His own larger hand moved in front of hers, deadly claws glinting in the moonlight.
“That was different,” she retorted immediately, a bit of fire in her eyes. Inuyasha was glad to see it, even though it was only because his condemnations were directed inwardly. He supposed he would always carry some guilt with him for his actions on that day, but Kagome had helped him forgive himself and move on. Now he had to do the same for her.
“Keh. ‘Course it was different. I actually killed those bandits. You didn’t fucking do anything today.”
“I did. If I hadn’t made you spare Suikotsu, maybe Jakotsu wouldn’t have killed those people.”
“Yeah, and if I hadn’t been such a jackass, maybe we could’ve gotten Suikotsu to come with us willingly.”
Her retort died on her lips; she had obviously never expected him to give such a negative assessment of his behavior. But he had spent a good deal of time this evening considering the events of the day, and in the heat of the moment his conscience had shone through. Sometimes speaking before thinking turned out for the best.
“T-that’s—”
“Bullshi t?” he finished for her. “Hell yes it is. You think I feel responsible for those peoples’ deaths? I wish we had saved them, but they made their choice when they chased us out and tried to fight Jakotsu. It’s their own fault. Anyone who blames you or me is a moron.”
Kagome frowned, clearly not in agreement. “But you told me not to let Suikotsu go! You were right about—”
“No, I wasn’t.”
Kagome gaped at him, her jaw moving soundlessly until finally she gave up and waited for him to elaborate. Inuyasha sighed heavily.
“You were right, Kagome. I don’t care how it turned out. You were right to try to save Suikotsu.” He paused, eyes glazing over with remembered past. “The way I grew up, I didn’t always have the highest regard for human life. I never went around killing people, but I didn’t give a shit about them either. There were times when people were in trouble and I could’ve helped them…but didn’t. I just hated the world so much… Sometimes, like today, I go back to being like that. I…I rely on you, to help me remember not to be such a heartless bastard.”
“You’re not heartless,” she replied automatically.
“Today I was,” he muttered sadly.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re a good person, Inuyasha. If someone needed help, you’d help them.”
“Keh,” he snorted dismissively, turning away from her. Why did receiving praise from her always quicken his pulse? Why did her absolute faith in his character make him feel so warm inside? Perhaps it was simply validation. He had tried to be a better person, a better man since meeting Kagome. Yes, he complained about helping random strangers, but he had never ignored a person in need since Kagome came into his life. She had changed him, just by being his friend. And in that moment, with Kagome still appearing torn between guilt and absolution, he was able to muster the courage to tell her.
“It’s because of you, you know,” he mumbled, just loud enough so she could hear. “That I’m a better person.”
“Inuyasha…”
He met her ardent gaze for a moment before looking away, allowing her to see the sincerity in his eyes. Silence settled over the pair for several long minutes. Kagome’s scent was still muddled by remorse, but gradually it cleared. Inuyasha didn’t realize their hands were still joined until she gave him a gentle squeeze. It was odd, how natural it felt to hold her in such a manner.
She was not beaming at him as he’d hoped, but she was smiling softly. And with genuine happiness, still tempered by traces of guilt. It would have been unreasonable to expect her to forgive herself completely in just a few minutes, but she was well on her way. Inuyasha grinned in relief. Everyone carried around little pieces of decisions gone bad. He knew he did; if he wasn’t careful, they could overwhelm him. But being with Kagome helped him move forward. She had rescued him from his past more than once, and now he hoped he could do the same for her.
These inspirational thoughts dispersed to the winds when Inuyasha saw Kagome’s tongue dart out and lick her lips. It was then that he noticed several other startling details: she had leaned closer to him, and her eyes were starting to periodically pan down to his lips before moving back up. A new fire kindled in her dark depths, threatening to consume both of them if only he would step into the flames.
It would have been so easy, to surrender to the passion burgeoning inside him, to take her in his arms and kiss her until she moaned for more. Especially after what she had said to Kouga. But he fought hard against the temptation, forcefully reminding himself that this was not fair to Kagome. She would give him everything, and he could offer her little in return. Nothing beyond a flimsy commitment and a veiled hope that he would be granted his freedom, to live his life as he wished. He had quickly seen that physically keeping his distance from her was foolish. She was far too perceptive, and would eventually have called him on it, exactly what he didn’t want. His restraint had to be subtle, reserved for moments like this, where giving into temptation would put him in so deep that he would be unable to pull back without severely wounding her. If he eventually had to join Kikyou in hell, he didn’t want to break Kagome in the process. That meant looking away from those beautiful eyes, keeping his hands from her silky skin, and his tongue from her sultry mouth. It meant following the will of his head, rather than that of his cock. Or his heart.
So he did. Afterward, he stood facing away from her, heaving shallow breaths through gritted teeth, less certain than ever that he was making the right choice. Her disappointed sigh nearly shattered his resolve; he had to literally bite his tongue to keep from spinning around and shoving it into her mouth. But he kept his composure by repeating the same mantra in his head over and over again—what was best for Kagome, what was fair to Kagome. So why did he still feel so uneasy, like he was missing something?
Kagome walked past him toward camp, and he hurried to catch up with her. He dared a sideways glace at her face, and was relieved to find her wearing a predominantly contented expression, though she still seemed disappointed.
“Goodnight, Inuyasha,” she told him, her tone indicating that she wanted to ask a question, one he was not ready for. He grunted in response and leapt up to a very high branch in the tree, prepared to ignore her if necessary. Fortunately, Kagome let the matter go. And minutes later, when he glanced down to find her sleeping peacefully with that same contented smile on her face, he finally allowed himself to relax.
Not that he expected to get much sleep tonight. How could he sleep, when all he could think about was what might have been?
“I fear we may have misjudged you,” he said. “Please, accept my apologies. If there is anything you wish from us, please ask, and we will to our best to grant it. We owe you that much for saving what is left of our village from that monster.”
“Just tell us whatever you know about him,” Inuyasha replied, knowing that none of his friends would want to take anything from these people, not even a free meal. They would have enough trouble managing as it was, now minus about half of the adult male population.
The villager nodded. “Please follow me. I will tell you all I know.” He led them to a small hut away from the battle zone, and once everyone was settled, began the tale.
“I am called Yuu. I do not know the name I was given at birth. I grew up an orphan, a servant to the local daimyo. As soon as I came of age, I joined the daimyo’s army. It was there that I first heard of the Shichinintai, a band of mercenaries who were quickly becoming infamous. Though only seven strong, it was said that they could perform the work of a hundred men or more, and possessed superhuman skill in battle. I must confess that I did not believe this talk…until the day came when the daimyos allied together to destroy the Shichinintai before they became too powerful to control.
“I fought at the battle where the Shichinintai were finally cornered and killed. It was slaughter; there is no other way to describe it. That monster, Jakotsu, slayed dozens of men by himself. There was also a Shichinintai member named Suikotsu, who fought with long metal claws and had markings on his face. It was those claws which took my eye and my arm, and gave me this scar,” he said, pointing to the left side of his face. “But I was one of the lucky ones. I survived, and eventually came to live in this village. When Suikotsu the doctor first arrived here, I had my suspicions. There were rumors spreading that the Shichinintai had been resurrected. But the good doctor was so different from the man I fought all those years ago… I convinced myself that his name and the timing of his arrival were just coincidences. What a fool I was. To think that we have been harboring a member of the Shichinintai all this time…” He barked a dry laugh. “Now it seems that the rumors are true. The Shichinintai walk the earth once more. Another chance to indulge their lust for killing, and to have their revenge upon the daimyos who betrayed them.”
The Inu-gang thanked Yuu for his information and departed shortly thereafter. It had been a stressful and sad twenty-four hours, but they felt much better now that they knew exactly what they were up against. Yuu had been able to give a general description of each member of the Shichinintai and his fighting style. Kyoukotsu was already dead, and the acrid smoke had likely been deployed by Mukotsu, the poison user. And as they pressed on toward Mount Hakurei, the site of the Shichinintai’s grave, they were confident that their next encounter with the band of mercenaries would not be long in coming. With every step, they drew closer to finding Naraku.
“Please! I’m just a doctor,” the pitiful man begged from his knees. That was Jakotsu’s favorite position for a victim to be in, but again, since he couldn’t entertain himself with Suikotsu, this was no fun at all.
“No, you’re Suikotsu of the Shichinintai. We left you alone for a while, hoping you would wake up on your own. But now our enemies are here, and Oo-aniki said to collect you. So I prepared this special place that’ll wake you up for sure,” Jakotsu told him sadistically. “Look around.”
It was then that Suikotsu noticed the sounds of this room. Soft groans, choking gasps, bitter weeping and lamentations…all the sounds the dying make as they slip closer and closer to oblivion. The doctor stared and started to shake, curling in on himself as he had done back at the village.
“What’s the matter, Suikotsu?” Jakotsu taunted. “You look like you’ve never seen blood before. You are a doctor, aren’t you?”
When the sun came up, the full extent of this room’s cruelty would be revealed. When Jakotsu had attacked this village yesterday, he had been careful not to kill everyone outright. At least two dozen he left mortally wounded, but bleeding out slowly. Those unfortunate souls he dragged into this room, to perish gradually in despair and agony. It was beautiful. Some were surely dead already, but enough survived to accomplish his objective. Perhaps Suikotsu would simply wallow in sorrow until his true self emerged. Perhaps he would try futilely to save the survivors, and give in to his darkness as they slipped away one by one. There were a couple children in here, if Jakotsu remembered correctly. He hoped they were still alive; watching them die would be especially hard for the ‘good doctor’ to take.
Snickering softly to himself, Jakotsu left the hut and barred the door behind him. He stuck around until the sun was peeking halfway over the eastern horizon, and the light of day had fully illuminated the carnage of this horrible, beautiful place.
Then the screaming began.
A/N – Whew…I creep myself out sometimes. I suppose I should mention that the village from the first part of this chapter is not the one where Suikotsu took up residence in canon. That village was closer to Mount Hakurei. In this story, the Inu-gang took a lengthy detour before arriving at Mount Hakurei, so the members of the Shichinintai have had more time to spread out away from the mountain. The decimated village at the end is probably that canon village, actually. It doesn’t really matter. All you have to know is that Jakotsu took Suikotsu to a place very close to Mount Hakurei.
The Mysterious Doctor
The Inu-gang’s entrance into the village caused quite an uproar. Children ran for their mothers, and men hurried to retrieve weapons or stood eyeing the strangers warily. Their suspicion was understandable; it was not every day that a hanyou carrying a young girl, and a neko-youkai bearing a monk and a taijiya charged into your village like they owned the place. Normally, the Inu-gang would move into a settlement slowly on foot so as to reduce the disturbance, but the warmness of their welcome was the least of their concerns at the moment.
Inuyasha moved swiftly and efficiently, tracking the scent of corpse and graveyard soil without even needing to put Kagome down. The miko focused her senses and was able to confirm that they were indeed heading in the right direction. There was something odd about the rapidly approaching light of the Shikon no Tama, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. And she had precious little time to reflect. Within a minute or two of first entering the village, Inuyasha led them to a medium-sized hut near the opposite end, from which apparently emanated both the foul stench and the jewel’s aura. He set Kagome down and stood in front of her, hand gripping Tetsusaiga’s hilt and every nerve primed.
“Whoever’s in there, get your ass out here!” he demanded. There was the sound of shuffling inside, and the reed mat covering the entryway rustled. Inuyasha liked to think he was ready for anything at this point, but nothing could have prepared him for what actually emerged from the hut.
It was a little girl, no more than five or six years old. She stared at Inuyasha with big, frightened eyes, stumbling to her hands and knees in the dirt outside the hut. Both palms and one knee came away with scrapes, and she sat back with her bottom lip trembling, continuing to stare at Inuyasha as if he was the single scariest thing she had ever seen. The hanyou found himself at a loss.
“Aya?” came a gentle masculine voice from inside the hut, the owner emerging a moment later. He knelt down and picked the girl up, studying her injuries. “Had a fall there, little one? Go back inside and I’ll clean those up for you.” Then he set the girl back on her feet and gave her a gentle nudge toward the doorway.
“Now,” he said brightly, standing to face the Inu-gang. “How can I help you fol—ack!”
In the blink of an eye, Inuyasha had the man pinned against the wall of the hut, a clawed hand around his throat. The hanyou heard gasps and cries of outrage from the handful of onlookers who had followed them, but he paid them no mind. His full attention was on the quivering man-shaped mass before him, the one who positively reeked of death.
“Inuyasha!” Kagome whispered urgently, in that special pre-osuwari tone of hers. “What are you doing?!”
“Well,” he demanded irritably, “this is the guy with the shard, isn’t it?” Her silence told him everything he needed to know.
“Any last words?” he asked the man, hoping to see some sort of anger or defiance in his eyes. Instead, he glimpsed only terror.
“Wait, Inuyasha!” Kagome ordered, moving forward to place a restraining hand on his shoulder.
“Why?” he snarled, turning his head to glare at her.
It was a good question, Kagome reflected. Stopping Inuyasha had been a knee-jerk reaction, but as she thought about it her reasons became clear. And she finally understood why the jewel shard in this man’s possession had seemed odd to her before. It was pure. Whereas the shard possessed by the other creature they had encountered had been corrupted, this one contained no darkness at all. The man’s behavior, his seemingly kind nature, could be faked, but the purity of the shard could not. That was why she had to stop Inuyasha from killing him, at least for now. Because however mysterious this man might be, his kindness to the child was not an act, nor was he pretending to be ready to piss himself under Inuyasha’s claws. He was what he appeared to be. Kagome could think of no other explanation for the purity of the shard.
“Let him go, Inuyasha,” she told him firmly. The hanyou narrowed his eyes, stepping toward her so their noses were practically touching, though he still kept his victim pinned against the wall with his right hand. Kagome met his irate gaze unflinchingly.
“Have you lost your mind, wench? This guy is fucking dead.”
“And his shard is pure.”
That seemed to surprise Inuyasha, and he backed off a few centimeters. But then he recovered and was right back in her face.
“It doesn’t matter. He has a shard and he smells just like that other bastard. That means he’s working for Naraku,” he ground out, enunciating every word as though she was barely intelligent enough to understand them.
“It does matter,” she growled, hands fisting at her sides as she fought against her own rising ire. “It means he’s not faking. We can’t kill an innocent man!”
“You’re a moron if you think he’s innocent! He’s one of Naraku’s lackeys. Now tell me where the fucking shard is!”
“I won’t!”
“Stupid bitch!” Inuyasha swore, turning back to his helpless quarry with claws raised. He clearly intended to slash the man into a hundred pieces and collect the shard without her help.
“Osuwari!”
*Thud*
Sometimes Kagome hated having to subdue Inuyasha, but not this time. Part of her wanted to deliver a few firm kicks to her stubborn hanyou’s head as he lay there cussing her out. She had been somewhat concerned that he would drag the ‘dead’ man down with him, but that didn’t happen. Instead, the hapless fool tripped over himself trying to make a run for it, then began shuffling away on his backside.
“P-p-please!” he called at her, pleading shamelessly. “I’m only a doctor!”
“Don’t you fucking go anywhere!” Inuyasha growled viciously, paralyzing the man with fear. The hanyou fought against the spell, until finally it wore off and he was able to lurch to his feet. When he turned to face her, Kagome felt a twinge of fear herself, despite her anger. She had never seen Inuyasha so furious before. He glared at her, his eyes hard, as if he wasn’t sure whether she was ally or enemy.
“Bitch,” he snarled, in a low tone which sent a shiver down her spine. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Kagome suddenly didn’t want to argue anymore. Even now, she was not afraid that Inuyasha would hurt her. But backing down was easier than seeing him like this, confronting him when he so strongly adhered to the opposite opinion. She could see little droplets of blood dripping from his clenched fists, from where his claws had punctured his palms. Suddenly she questioned whether this man, this total stranger was worth all the trouble of trying to save his sorry behind. But it didn’t matter. She couldn’t take the easy way out. Because no matter what Inuyasha said or did, she couldn’t live with herself if she condoned the execution of an innocent man. And until it was proven otherwise, this self-proclaimed doctor was innocent. The presence of the jewel shard and the scent of death were immaterial.
Though she was firm in her resolve, Kagome was nevertheless extremely grateful when she was saved from responding by an unexpected exclamation.
“You lot, leave Suikotsu-sama alone!”
This was followed by many similar cries; unbeknownst to hanyou or miko, an angry mob had formed during their argument. The villagers had turned out in force to protect one of their own, most wielding sticks or farming implements as weapons, though some bore old swords. As a group, they appeared an edgy and undisciplined forced, prone to rout. But they drew courage from their numbers—well over three dozen men of all ages—and their leaders. One such man stood at the head of the group, apart from the rest. He was middle-aged, with a pockmarked face and a fearsome scar running vertically from his jawline up through his ruined left eye. Notably, he wore no eye patch, and his left arm had also been amputated just above the elbow. In his right hand he carried the best-looking sword in the village. The blade had seen some battle, but appeared sharp and well-cared for.
None of which seemed to impress Inuyasha.
“Get the fuck out of here, all of you!” he barked, his tone indicating exactly what he thought of the ragtag group of humans who dared to challenge him.
“Leave this village and do not return!” the disfigured leader shot back. “We will not let you harm Suikotsu-sama!” He raised his sword in the air, and a cheer went up behind him.
Inuyasha took several steps toward the mass of humans, cracking his knuckles and baring his fangs. Some of the men began to lose their nerve at this, but the majority remained defiant. Seeing that his unspoken threats were not working, Inuyasha tried something more direct.
“You think I’m scared of you weaklings? I’ll raze this whole fucking village to the ground!”
“Osuwari.”
*Thud*
With Inuyasha once more reduced to a madly swearing, hanyou-shaped lump on the ground, Kagome stepped up to address the villagers. It was time to end this.
“I apologize for him,” she declared, bowing to the leader. “We will leave now.”
“The hell we will!” Inuyasha snapped, glaring up at her and fighting the spell with everything he had.
“Osuwari!” she cried, with a little more force this time. Inuyasha did not fall silent, but he did stop struggling. Kagome knelt by his side, but did not move to comfort him. Now was not the time; she had to get her message through that thick skull of his first.
“Inuyasha,” she said quietly, her fierce tone demanding his undivided attention. “I said we would leave. I didn’t say we would go far. I know we can’t just let this guy run away with a jewel shard. But we need to talk about this, see what our friends think, and come up with a plan. If we stay here, someone’s going to end up getting killed. Maybe even one of us.”
She didn’t really believe that; her friends were all excellent fighters, and Inuyasha was fiercely protective of her. Even Miroku and Sango could probably make short work of this rabble mob. But doing it without employing lethal force would be a much greater challenge. And these villagers were just as innocent as the man they were trying to protect. From their perspective, it must seem that some violent outsiders were threatening one of their own without provocation. And because the conflict had progressed nearly to the point of physical combat, they wouldn’t listen to a word any of the outsiders said about the doctor’s smell or the shard of the Shikon no Tama embedded in his neck. The only option left open to the Inu-gang which would avoid violence was to make a strategic withdrawal and regroup.
Inuyasha didn’t say a word as he rose to his feet, nor did he look at her. But she could tell that his primary concerns had been placated. The argument was far from over, and the sniveling worm of a doctor was not going to be allowed to escape.
“Oi,” he called, voice dripping with malice as he eyed the doctor cruelly. “If you set one foot outside this village, I’m going to hunt you down and butcher you like a fucking rabbit.”
The doctor curled into a ball and began weeping uncontrollably. Inuyasha snorted in disgust, then stormed off in the direction of the nearby forest. Any villagers hiding along his path gave him a wide berth, and no member of the Inu-gang was harassed as they departed. Kagome paused at the tree line, looking back to see men already helping the doctor to his feet, women and children emerging from their hiding places and see if he was okay. They really do love him, she reflected with a sigh. What are we going to do now?
They walked for another minute or two, moving deeper into the forest so as to be out of sight of the village. But she knew Inuyasha would stop before they went too far, and sure enough, she found him in a small clearing, waiting for her with arms crossed over his chest and a foot tapping impatiently. Kagome crossed her arms as well and adopted a matching frown, the adrenaline of confrontation giving way to irritation at his irritation.
“Took you long enough, wench,” he snapped petulantly.
Kagome rolled her eyes. Count on Inuyasha to completely ignore the fact that the rest of their group had stayed with her and traveled at her pace, or that he’d had to wait thirty seconds for her at most. It wasn’t important enough to bring up. She just wanted to get to the point so they could get this over with.
“Well, maybe if you had taken the time to look back, you would have seen how much those villagers care for the doctor.”
“Keh. I don’t give a shit. He still needs to die.”
“Inuyasha, how many times do I have to tell you? He’s innocent. The jewel shard in his neck is pure!”
“How many times do I have to tell you? He’s fucking dead. He’s only tied to this world by the shard. Do you think Naraku’s gonna let him live? If we kill him now then at least the shard doesn’t get used for that bastard’s sick plans.”
“I’m glad you used the world ‘kill,’ since if you pull that shard out, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing. You’ll be a murderer, and I’ll be an accessory to it.”
“What the fuck is an access—never mind, it don’t fucking matter. And it wouldn’t be murder, ‘cause he’s fucking dead already!”
“Oh, and would you say the same about Kikyou?!”
As soon as those words passed her lips, Kagome regretted them. Inuyasha flinched as if struck, and she knew that she had made this far too personal, for both of them. But before she could attempt to retract her statement, the hanyou glared at her with real hostility in his eyes.
“That’s different,” he snarled. “Kikyou’s life isn’t tied to a fucking jewel shard, and you damn well know it!”
“No, but Kohaku’s is.”
That quiet declaration brought the argument to a grinding halt. Inuyasha and Kagome turned toward the source of the voice, to find Sango seated on a convenient log, staring at the ground with a despondent expression.
“S-Sango,” Inuyasha stuttered, “I wasn’t talking about Kohaku.”
“Weren’t you, though?” the taijiya asked, gazing at him with vacant, haunted eyes. “Kohaku’s life is also bound to a jewel shard. For all intents and purposes, he is dead too. And he’s probably done far worse in his borrowed life than that doctor has. So if you’re condemning the doctor as deserving of death, then you’re condemning Kohaku too.”
Inuyasha opened his mouth to respond, but ultimately could find nothing to say and shut it again with a muttered ‘keh.’ Kagome felt a grim sort of satisfaction at how uncomfortable he looked, but also sympathy. She knew what he was thinking, that the difference between Kohaku and the doctor was that Kohaku was Sango’s brother. Because of that relationship, they were willing to go the extra mile to try to save Kohaku instead of killing him, a fact which Naraku had used against them on several previous occasions. But this reason for the vastly different treatment must have sounded lame to even Inuyasha’s ears. Innocent men should be treated the same, regardless of who was related to whom. Perhaps Inuyasha was starting to see that now.
Or perhaps not. He certainly didn’t look ready to concede. Kagome sensed that round three of the argument was about to start. This time, however, she would avoid bringing Kikyou up. She didn’t want to hurt Inuyasha; she just wanted to convince him that he was wrong. Fortunately, the member of the group who considered himself the most level-headed chose that moment to speak up for the first time.
“It appears we have reached an impasse,” Miroku observed. “For my part, I agree with Inuyasha in the pragmatic sense. But my conscience is with Kagome. I do not believe continuing this right now will be productive. Let’s make camp and sleep on it. I don’t think the doctor will be going anywhere in the meantime.”
One by one, the other members of the Inu-gang nodded their agreement. It was too early to make dinner; Inuyasha wouldn’t want to hunt in case something happened at the village, and modern food didn’t take long to prepare. There was about an hour of good sunlight left, so Kagome decided to take advantage of it and do some studying. She quickly found it to be futile; there was too much on her mind to focus on schoolwork. She nevertheless tried gamely at it for a good fifteen or twenty minutes before giving up. She glanced around camp to see what the others were doing. Miroku and Sango had finished setting up the fire and were now sitting together and talking quietly. The taijiya seemed to be keeping a close watch on the monk’s wayward hands. Shippou and Kirara were playing together in the surrounding woods, and Inuyasha…
Kagome’s eyes softened. Inuyasha was sitting by himself with his back against a tree, arms and legs crossed, staring solemnly into the flames. He seemed so lonely, that she found herself moving to him automatically. She knew his earlier anger could resurface at any moment, but she decided it was worth the risk.
He didn’t notice her approach until she sat down beside him. Then he leaned back and stared, as if he couldn’t believe she was really there. Kagome smiled gently at him, hoping to convey how much she loved being here by his side, despite their argument. Inuyasha frowned and looked away, but crucially he straightened his back so their bodies were almost touching again. The pair settled into companionable silence, and Kagome for one was simply grateful that they could sit together without being at each other’s throats.
“Is…the baby okay?”
His soft-spoken question caught her by surprise. He seemed guilty, but she couldn’t figure out why.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Kaede-babaa said that too much stress can be bad for the baby,” he admitted shamefully. “And for you.”
“Oh,” Kagome breathed, the pieces finally coming together. “Inuyasha, a little fight isn’t going to hurt the baby. He was a bit distressed before, but now he’s calm again.”
“He?” the hanyou repeated, gazing at her with an unreadable expression.
Kagome shrugged. “I can sense his aura.” This was an ability she had discovered a few days ago. She could not communicate with the child or examine him in any detail, but it was enough to get a general idea of how he was feeling at any given time.
“His aura feels like a ‘he’ to me. I can’t explain it.”
Inuyasha nodded, digesting that information in silence. “A son,” he mumbled a few moments later.
“Is…that okay?”
“Keh. I just want a healthy kid. I don’t care if it’s a boy or girl.”
Kagome grinned. “It’s okay to have a preference, Inuyasha. I hope it’s a boy who looks just like his handsome father.”
Inuyasha snorted and looked away to hide his blush. He probably had a few things to say about her opinion of him as handsome, but knew that she would scold him if he tried to self-deprecate. She liked him for who he was, hanyou ears and all. It was something which would never cease to amaze him. Perhaps more amazing was how she was willing to spend time with him after he had been such a jackass to her this afternoon.
“Tomorrow,” he mumbled, “we’ll talk…no yelling.”
Kagome found him gazing at her, remorse and absolution shining in his golden eyes. Matching emotions shone back at him from her own dark orbs. They both had something to be sorry for, and were both forgiven. And tomorrow, when it came time to resume the debate, they would approach the matter with level heads and open minds.
“Deal.”
The comfortable silence resumed, and Kagome found her eyelids drooping with fatigue. Figuring he wouldn’t mind, she dared to lean her head on Inuyasha’s shoulder. The hanyou stiffened briefly at the contact but made no move to dislodge her. It probably helped that Miroku and Sango pretended not to notice, bless them. Kagome was just nodding off to a nice power nap before dinner when Inuyasha shook her urgently.
“Wake up, wench,” he ordered, rising swiftly to his feet as soon as she raised her head. Kagome didn’t like the grave expression on his face, or the way his ears swiveled like little radar dishes in the direction of the village.
“The village is under attack,” he declared. The Inu-gang were still fully prepared for combat from earlier, so within ten seconds they were on their way back to the stricken settlement.
It was a horrific scene. At least twenty men lay dead, sliced into dozens of separate pieces. Blood spattered all over the ground and the walls of huts near the killing zone. The rest of the villagers were fleeing in terror, their screams resounding through the late afternoon air. Inuyasha knew what had happened; the villagers had rallied to defend themselves again, but this time the enemy had massacred them without mercy. And it appeared that the culprit was one man. He stood surveying the carnage with a gleeful grin twisting his features. Despite this, the deep blue teardrop markings under his eyes and the intentionally wild way his hair was kept made him seem very feminine. The rest of his body added to that impression, clad in a light purple yukata with green floral print, which was worn so that it revealed a disturbing amount of leg.
As he approached, Inuyasha caught some of the stranger’s conversation with the doctor Suikotsu, who was lying curled up on his side, covered in the blood of his former neighbors and shaking uncontrollably.
“So wake the hell up already, Suikotsu! I hear the people I’m supposed to fight are finally in the area, and I’d much rather meet them than be stuck babysitting you.”
Inuyasha set Kagome down a safe distance from the battlefield, Kirara landing beside them. “Does that guy have a jewel shard, Kagome?”
“Yes, in his neck.”
Inuyasha nodded, not surprised. He could smell the distinctive scent of graveyard soil from here, and he didn’t think it came solely from Suikotsu. One thing was for sure—no one would object to him wasting this guy, even if he wasn’t a reanimated corpse.
“Stay back,” he ordered, stalking calmly toward the enemy. He hadn’t gone two steps before the stranger noticed him. His eyes lit up with genuine excitement, and if Inuyasha hadn’t been creeped out before, he definitely was now.
“Oh! Could it be that you’re Inuyasha?”
“What the— How do you know me, bastard?!”
“Oh, you are Inuyasha!” he exclaimed, holding his hands to his chest like a love-struck teenager. “You’re even cuter than I dreamed!”
Inuyasha was suddenly gripped by the very powerful urge to vomit, but settled for a low growl of annoyance.
“Cut the crap! I just have one question before I slaughter you. Where’s Naraku?”
“And those ears!” the stranger cooed, completely ignoring the hanyou’s question. “They’re adorable! I think I’ll take them.”
Inuyasha felt his thin thread of patience snap, and he would have charged headlong into the fight if Miroku had not restrained him with a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Hold up, Inuyasha,” he said. “Let me try. You there! Where did you get that jewel shard? Are you working for Naraku?”
The stranger just stared at him, and Miroku suddenly felt a thousand invisible insects crawling over his skin. Is this how it felt to be ogled?
“The houshi is sexy too!” the stranger declared happily. “I’d love to see his agonized face!”
It took all of Miroku’s control not to go after the perverted bastard himself. But he had a feeling that Inuyasha would need to handle this one. The hanyou was chomping at the bit anyway.
“I wish I could just suck him up,” he observed, beyond disappointed that Inuyasha would get the satisfaction of wiping that ridiculously adoring expression off their enemy’s face.
“Oooh, the houshi is so forward!” the stranger shouted scandalously. “Already wanting to do naughty things to me. You can suck me up anytime, houshi-kun!”
Miroku closed his eyes and tried to go to a happy place, but all he could see were horrible, unspeakable images. What he wouldn’t give for a stiff drink and a couple willing girls to prove his manhood with right about now.
“Oi, bouzu,” Inuyasha called, freeing Miroku from his mental torture.
“Y-yes?”
“I’m gonna kill this bastard, and then we’re never going to speak of this again. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
With that, Inuyasha whipped out Tetsusaiga and held it menacingly in front of him.
“All right, you bastard! Prepare yourself!”
“Oooh, that’s a nice sword you’ve got there,” the stranger observed, voice dripping with insinuation. “I wonder which is better, yours or mine? Let’s find out!”
Inuyasha had intended to blow his opponent away with a Kaze no Kizu, but the cutting edge of a sword blade came out of nowhere. It was all he could do to block it with Tetsusaiga.
“It’s a concealed sword!” he heard Miroku shout. “Everybody back!”
Inuyasha barely had time to contemplate the meaning of the monk’s words before the mysterious, serpent-like weapon was on him again. This time it seemed to fold over itself one more time when he blocked it, catching him in the back of the shoulder. He cried out, more in shock than pain, and freed himself with a shove from Tetsusaiga. The wound was superficial, thanks to his fire-rat, but would he be so lucky next time? The strange sword had already retracted to its owner, appearing as a single curved blade again.
“You’ve already lost some of your confidence, Inuyasha,” he observed. “I like it. Sink further into despair!”
The sword came on again. Inuyasha parried the blade in a manner which would have defeated the first two strikes, but at the last instant the sword suddenly changed direction. Only lightning reflexes saved his life and limited the damage to a raking graze across his forearm.
The enemy cackled gleefully. “Feel the bite of the Shichinintai’s attack captain, Jakotsu-sama’s Jakotsutou!”
Tired of defending, Inuyasha smashed the next strike away with Tetsusaiga, but the blade recoiled and caught him on the thigh. The following attack he simply dodged, and nearly lost his head for his trouble. It was extremely difficult to either dodge or defend when you couldn’t tell where the blade was coming from. Inuyasha cursed, but forced himself to keep moving.
This pattern continued for several minutes, with Jakotsu sending an unceasing frenzy of attacks at Inuyasha, who dodged or parried every single one. Not all cleanly; several strikes snuck past his defenses and left him with cuts all over his body, all of them relatively minor at this point. Still, he was amazed at the stamina of this human, who hadn’t even given him a moment to breathe, let alone launch one of Tetsusaiga’s stronger attacks.
Hiraikotsu soared in, catching Jakotsutou on its way to him and fouling up the blade. But its owner barely missed a beat, using the sword to hurl the boomerang back at Sango with an enraged shriek. Inuyasha heard her cry out, but couldn’t afford to look to make sure she was all right. Sango had afforded him this one opportunity, and he couldn’t miss it. He raised Tetsusaiga over his head to launch the Kaze no Kizu.
But Jakotsu was faster. Inuyasha was forced to block the serpentine sword once more, as it forced him back. His arms, heavy with fatigue, caved in just slightly under the pressure and earned him a neat slash along his cheek. This time when Jakotsu retracted his sword, he held it back. Inuyasha, exhausted and disheartened, simply stood with Tetsusaiga raised, breathing heavily.
“That expression is wonderful, Inuyasha,” Jakotsu declared, a crazed light in his eyes. “Show me more! Show me—ack!”
Jakotsu barely managed to block the arrow which came flying straight for his chest. Inuyasha hoped Kagome’s purifying arrow would have some effect on the sword, but Jakotsu swatted it aside like it was nothing. He knew why; as formidable as Jakotsutou was, it was not a youkai sword. Logically, spiritual energy would be useless against it, and the arrow itself wasn’t strong enough to even make a scratch. But Jakotsu didn’t seem to care about that; he turned and regarded Kagome with a hateful glare. Inuyasha hurried to put himself between the enemy and his friends.
“Your fight is with me, Jakotsu. Leave them out of this.”
“Then tell them to stay out of it!” Jakotsu snarled, renewing his attacks. Inuyasha was satisfied that he had his opponent’s undivided attention once more. His friends were strong, but none of them could handle this type of opponent, whose strikes were so quick and unpredictable. The battle resumed in much the same manner as before, and Inuyasha began to wonder if he should try something risky to end it. But gradually things began to change. At first Inuyasha thought Jakotsu was finally tiring, or that he was getting better at reading the sword’s movements. Neither of those seemed right; the strikes were as vicious and unpredictable as ever. They were simply less accurate, a defect which seemed to grow worse over time. It was not until Inuyasha noticed his opponent squinting that he comprehended the reason.
The sun. It was setting, partially below the horizon already, the sky darkening rapidly above them. And Jakotsu was human. Inuyasha hadn’t noticed the waning daylight at first because he could see fine in the dark, but humans didn’t have any night vision to speak of. Feeling a rush of confidence, he smacked away a particularly clumsy attack and leaned Tetsusaiga on his shoulder. Jakotsu, taken aback by his prey’s sudden cocky attitude, did not follow up immediately.
“Heh, having trouble seeing, Jakotsu?” Inuyasha taunted. “Just a human after all, eh?”
Jakotsu’s eyes widened, and he stared at the western horizon in disbelief. It was as if he’d been so focused on the battle, and the faces his opponent made, that he hadn’t realized why his eyesight was failing him. Tch, not an especially bright one, this guy. But he understood the peril he was in now; for the first time, there was real fear in his eyes. Inuyasha smirked. He was going to enjoy this.
The sound of terrified screams drew his attention to the right, where a few villagers who’d stuck around to see what happened were now fleeing in terror from something. He saw one woman stumble in her panic. She made it halfway to her feet again before the wave of smoke rolled over her, choking off her agonized shriek and dissolving her flesh even as her heart still beat within her chest.
“Bye-bye, Inuyasha!” Jakotsu called, already retreating as quickly as he could, an unconscious Suikotsu slung over his shoulder. “Next time, we’ll have to meet earlier in the day!”
“You’re not getting away, you bast—aargh!”
Then his feet were burning, and he leapt back to safe ground out of reflex. Looking out over the rapidly expanding area covered by the noxious smoke, Inuyasha was presented with a decision. He could go after Jakotsu; the human could never hope to outrun him, even if he had to go around the smoke. But that would mean leaving his friends alone, in the dark, with whoever had deployed that smoke in the first place.
“Fuck!” he swore, turning and sprinting back to his companions. He picked Kagome up bridal style and carried her out of the danger zone, waiting just long enough for the rest of them to mount Kirara. He led them back to their former campsite, where they packed up their things and moved to a new location deeper in the forest, ten minutes further as the neko flies. Only then did he begin to try to calm his racing blood.
Kagome’s first order of business was, of course, to check on their injuries. Sango had suffered a shallow cut on her forearm from when hiraikotsu had been thrown back at her. Kagome bandaged it as a precaution against infection. She found Inuyasha a less cooperative patient, as the surly hanyou seemed perfectly willing to take out his frustration at Jakotsu’s escape on her. A threatened osuwari fixed that, at least enough to get him to reluctantly remove his shirts so she could check his wounds. The one in his shoulder was the worst, but none require more than cleaning and light bandaging thanks to his youkai blood. Inuyasha knew he’d gotten lucky; Jakotsu had probably been toying with him a little in the very beginning. That was what irked him so much about letting the bastard get away; now he was likely going to have to face that damn sword again, in broad daylight. And he had a feeling that there would be no playing around next time.
As sour as his mood was, it surprised no one that he didn’t say much during the group’s customary post-battle discussion. Jakotsu had referred to himself as the attack captain of the Shichinintai, or ‘seven-man band.’ Given his possession of a shard of the Shikon no Tama, it was safe to assume that the zombie they had killed previously was also a member of this group. That meant there were probably five additional members roaming about, including Suikotsu and whoever had deployed that cloud of poison. Jakotsu had completely ignored their questions concerning Naraku, but no one doubted that the Shichinintai were working for him. Quite simply, they could not have obtained the jewel shards from anyone else, not to mention the fact that a Saimyoushou had made off with the shard from the Shichinintai member defeated several weeks ago.
But this new information also brought new questions. Chief among them was an explanation for Suikotsu’s strange behavior. No one disputed that he was a member of the Shichinintai. Inuyasha made one smarmy, ‘I told you so’ type of comment, but saw Kagome flinch guiltily and quickly decided to shut up. Suikotsu’s association with the Shichinintai did not, however, explain why he had been reduced to whimpering ball of flesh on the ground. Then Kagome informed them that she had noticed the shard in his neck repeatedly fluctuating between pure and polluted, as Suikotsu lay there holding his head and staring at the bodies of his neighbors. Finally, he had passed out during the battle with the shard mostly pure, and it had remained that way even as Jakotsu carried him off afterwards. The final piece of the puzzle was put into place when Inuyasha recalled the words he had overheard from Jakotsu, telling Suikotsu to ‘wake up.’
It was Sango who first raised the possibility of a man possessing ‘two minds within one body.’ Kagome confirmed that this was possible; in the modern era, they called it multiple personality disorder. It was the only theory that made any sense. Suikotsu’s ‘good side’ had been in control today, and during the battle his ‘evil side’ had tried to emerge, corrupting the shard in the process but ultimately failing to take over. This would explain why the shard had been pure in the first place, and how the doctor had managed to convince an entire village that he was a good man. As Kagome had stated when they first met him, it wasn’t an act. Suikotsu really was a gentle soul, at least while his benevolent personality was in control. Kagome for one hoped that they would never meet Suikotsu’s other personality, but had a feeling that this prayer would go unanswered.
Dinner was a subdued affair, as each member of the Inu-gang contemplated the road ahead of them. If the four members of the Shichinintai whom they had not yet met were as strong as Jakotsu, getting past them and finding Naraku was going to be a real challenge. Only a couple months ago, the dark hanyou had been so close. If Sesshoumaru had not interfered, Inuyasha thought he might have killed Naraku with one more attack from Tetsusaiga that day. Now he had hidden himself and marshaled new minions for his protection, potentially more powerful than any of his incarnations. It seemed a daunting task, and a poor start achieved on this day.
Normally, Kagome might have attempted to lighten the mood, but tonight she remained quiet and withdrawn. Inuyasha eyed her warily from across camp. Oh, she hid it well, but from the benefit of scent or perhaps from knowing her so well, he could tell that she was feeling remorseful about something. So he was not surprised that she found falling asleep difficult later, or that she rose from her sleeping bag with a miserable sigh a little before midnight. From his perch in the tree above, Inuyasha watched her trudge dejectedly out of camp. Rolling his eyes, he leapt down and followed. He found her barely a dozen meters from the fire, sitting on a partially collapsed tree and gazing up at the moon through a gap in the canopy.
“You shouldn’t be out here, wench,” he snapped, harsher than he meant to.
She gazed at him over her shoulder, favoring him with a sad smile. “I knew you’d come,” she said simply.
“Well, come back then. Or are you gonna make me stay out here all damn night?”
Again, Inuyasha cursed his incredible ability to speak before thinking. Kagome was hurting, and he was making it worse. Perhaps he was subconsciously trying to get a rise out of her, even if it was borne of anger. In this he failed; Kagome simply went back to staring at the moon.
“It’s up to you,” she told him. “I won’t make you stay.”
Okay, now Inuyasha knew something was seriously wrong. His heart thundered in his chest, and he tamped down on his rising panic. He was having flashbacks to that night in the tree, after Kikyou’s appearance, when Kagome had seemed empty inside, devoid of everything which made her Kagome. And like that night, he determined to do something about it.
Walking over and sitting next to her was not difficult. It was not even that hard to place his hand atop her own in an attempt at comfort, though he did blush at the contact. What he found truly challenging was actually looking at her and forming the words he wanted to say. Finally, he lapsed back into old habits out of frustration.
“What the hell is the matter with you, wench?”
She flinched at his tone, pulling her hand away. Without thinking, he snatched it out of the air and held it tightly in his own, unwilling to let her withdraw. And as he stared down at their joined hands, he realized that perhaps the key to communicating with Kagome was simply to act, and not overthink his words. So, swallowing nervously, he finally managed to say something with the level of kindness and respect she deserved.
“Kagome…tell me what’s bothering you.”
She regarded him with surprise, having rarely heard him use such a pleading tone. But it did not have the desired effect, as her gloomy expression returned. She turned away and shook her head.
“Seriously, Kagome, tell me…please.”
Even using that word didn’t help, Inuyasha found. Kagome bowed her head and closed her eyes, apparently intent on ignoring him. This obviously did not sit well with the hanyou, who decided to throw niceties out the window.
“Dammit, wench—”
“I killed them.”
Inuyasha blinked at her, briefly unsure if he had heard her soft-spoken admission correctly. But his ears were sharp, and that intense remorse suddenly clouding her eyes would certainly comport with her words.
“Keh, that’s stupid. You didn’t kill anybody.”
“I did. Not directly,” she said, cutting off his protest. “You were right, Inuyasha. I should have let you kill Suikotsu. Instead, those villagers died trying to protect him. All of them died…because of me.”
Inuyasha’s jaw dropped. Normally, he might feel quite ecstatic to hear Kagome tell him that he had been right about something, but he felt no joy now. Frustration and more than a little awe, yes, but no joy. How could anyone in Kagome’s shoes blame themselves for the deaths of those villagers? Because she’s Kagome. That was a simple answer, but it was all the explanation required. I should have known.
Growling in irritation, he took Kagome’s hand and held it up in front of her face.
“This hand don’t have any blood on it, Kagome,” he declared, shaking it a little for emphasis. “You wanna see a hand with blood on it? Look at this one!” His own larger hand moved in front of hers, deadly claws glinting in the moonlight.
“That was different,” she retorted immediately, a bit of fire in her eyes. Inuyasha was glad to see it, even though it was only because his condemnations were directed inwardly. He supposed he would always carry some guilt with him for his actions on that day, but Kagome had helped him forgive himself and move on. Now he had to do the same for her.
“Keh. ‘Course it was different. I actually killed those bandits. You didn’t fucking do anything today.”
“I did. If I hadn’t made you spare Suikotsu, maybe Jakotsu wouldn’t have killed those people.”
“Yeah, and if I hadn’t been such a jackass, maybe we could’ve gotten Suikotsu to come with us willingly.”
Her retort died on her lips; she had obviously never expected him to give such a negative assessment of his behavior. But he had spent a good deal of time this evening considering the events of the day, and in the heat of the moment his conscience had shone through. Sometimes speaking before thinking turned out for the best.
“T-that’s—”
“Bullshi t?” he finished for her. “Hell yes it is. You think I feel responsible for those peoples’ deaths? I wish we had saved them, but they made their choice when they chased us out and tried to fight Jakotsu. It’s their own fault. Anyone who blames you or me is a moron.”
Kagome frowned, clearly not in agreement. “But you told me not to let Suikotsu go! You were right about—”
“No, I wasn’t.”
Kagome gaped at him, her jaw moving soundlessly until finally she gave up and waited for him to elaborate. Inuyasha sighed heavily.
“You were right, Kagome. I don’t care how it turned out. You were right to try to save Suikotsu.” He paused, eyes glazing over with remembered past. “The way I grew up, I didn’t always have the highest regard for human life. I never went around killing people, but I didn’t give a shit about them either. There were times when people were in trouble and I could’ve helped them…but didn’t. I just hated the world so much… Sometimes, like today, I go back to being like that. I…I rely on you, to help me remember not to be such a heartless bastard.”
“You’re not heartless,” she replied automatically.
“Today I was,” he muttered sadly.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re a good person, Inuyasha. If someone needed help, you’d help them.”
“Keh,” he snorted dismissively, turning away from her. Why did receiving praise from her always quicken his pulse? Why did her absolute faith in his character make him feel so warm inside? Perhaps it was simply validation. He had tried to be a better person, a better man since meeting Kagome. Yes, he complained about helping random strangers, but he had never ignored a person in need since Kagome came into his life. She had changed him, just by being his friend. And in that moment, with Kagome still appearing torn between guilt and absolution, he was able to muster the courage to tell her.
“It’s because of you, you know,” he mumbled, just loud enough so she could hear. “That I’m a better person.”
“Inuyasha…”
He met her ardent gaze for a moment before looking away, allowing her to see the sincerity in his eyes. Silence settled over the pair for several long minutes. Kagome’s scent was still muddled by remorse, but gradually it cleared. Inuyasha didn’t realize their hands were still joined until she gave him a gentle squeeze. It was odd, how natural it felt to hold her in such a manner.
She was not beaming at him as he’d hoped, but she was smiling softly. And with genuine happiness, still tempered by traces of guilt. It would have been unreasonable to expect her to forgive herself completely in just a few minutes, but she was well on her way. Inuyasha grinned in relief. Everyone carried around little pieces of decisions gone bad. He knew he did; if he wasn’t careful, they could overwhelm him. But being with Kagome helped him move forward. She had rescued him from his past more than once, and now he hoped he could do the same for her.
These inspirational thoughts dispersed to the winds when Inuyasha saw Kagome’s tongue dart out and lick her lips. It was then that he noticed several other startling details: she had leaned closer to him, and her eyes were starting to periodically pan down to his lips before moving back up. A new fire kindled in her dark depths, threatening to consume both of them if only he would step into the flames.
It would have been so easy, to surrender to the passion burgeoning inside him, to take her in his arms and kiss her until she moaned for more. Especially after what she had said to Kouga. But he fought hard against the temptation, forcefully reminding himself that this was not fair to Kagome. She would give him everything, and he could offer her little in return. Nothing beyond a flimsy commitment and a veiled hope that he would be granted his freedom, to live his life as he wished. He had quickly seen that physically keeping his distance from her was foolish. She was far too perceptive, and would eventually have called him on it, exactly what he didn’t want. His restraint had to be subtle, reserved for moments like this, where giving into temptation would put him in so deep that he would be unable to pull back without severely wounding her. If he eventually had to join Kikyou in hell, he didn’t want to break Kagome in the process. That meant looking away from those beautiful eyes, keeping his hands from her silky skin, and his tongue from her sultry mouth. It meant following the will of his head, rather than that of his cock. Or his heart.
So he did. Afterward, he stood facing away from her, heaving shallow breaths through gritted teeth, less certain than ever that he was making the right choice. Her disappointed sigh nearly shattered his resolve; he had to literally bite his tongue to keep from spinning around and shoving it into her mouth. But he kept his composure by repeating the same mantra in his head over and over again—what was best for Kagome, what was fair to Kagome. So why did he still feel so uneasy, like he was missing something?
Kagome walked past him toward camp, and he hurried to catch up with her. He dared a sideways glace at her face, and was relieved to find her wearing a predominantly contented expression, though she still seemed disappointed.
“Goodnight, Inuyasha,” she told him, her tone indicating that she wanted to ask a question, one he was not ready for. He grunted in response and leapt up to a very high branch in the tree, prepared to ignore her if necessary. Fortunately, Kagome let the matter go. And minutes later, when he glanced down to find her sleeping peacefully with that same contented smile on her face, he finally allowed himself to relax.
Not that he expected to get much sleep tonight. How could he sleep, when all he could think about was what might have been?
* * *
In the morning, they journeyed back to the village to check on the survivors. Since most of the buildings remained intact, the inhabitants had returned sometime during the night, after the smoke had cleared. Now they were setting about the grim task of collecting the remaining pieces of their dead and removing the bloodstains from the walls of the huts. They were, of course, still on high alert, though the welcome the Inu-gang received was not nearly as chilly as they expected. Men came running and weapons were raised, but were then lowered again as soon as the villagers recognized them. The disfigured man who had confronted them the day before strode up to them and bowed deeply. “I fear we may have misjudged you,” he said. “Please, accept my apologies. If there is anything you wish from us, please ask, and we will to our best to grant it. We owe you that much for saving what is left of our village from that monster.”
“Just tell us whatever you know about him,” Inuyasha replied, knowing that none of his friends would want to take anything from these people, not even a free meal. They would have enough trouble managing as it was, now minus about half of the adult male population.
The villager nodded. “Please follow me. I will tell you all I know.” He led them to a small hut away from the battle zone, and once everyone was settled, began the tale.
“I am called Yuu. I do not know the name I was given at birth. I grew up an orphan, a servant to the local daimyo. As soon as I came of age, I joined the daimyo’s army. It was there that I first heard of the Shichinintai, a band of mercenaries who were quickly becoming infamous. Though only seven strong, it was said that they could perform the work of a hundred men or more, and possessed superhuman skill in battle. I must confess that I did not believe this talk…until the day came when the daimyos allied together to destroy the Shichinintai before they became too powerful to control.
“I fought at the battle where the Shichinintai were finally cornered and killed. It was slaughter; there is no other way to describe it. That monster, Jakotsu, slayed dozens of men by himself. There was also a Shichinintai member named Suikotsu, who fought with long metal claws and had markings on his face. It was those claws which took my eye and my arm, and gave me this scar,” he said, pointing to the left side of his face. “But I was one of the lucky ones. I survived, and eventually came to live in this village. When Suikotsu the doctor first arrived here, I had my suspicions. There were rumors spreading that the Shichinintai had been resurrected. But the good doctor was so different from the man I fought all those years ago… I convinced myself that his name and the timing of his arrival were just coincidences. What a fool I was. To think that we have been harboring a member of the Shichinintai all this time…” He barked a dry laugh. “Now it seems that the rumors are true. The Shichinintai walk the earth once more. Another chance to indulge their lust for killing, and to have their revenge upon the daimyos who betrayed them.”
The Inu-gang thanked Yuu for his information and departed shortly thereafter. It had been a stressful and sad twenty-four hours, but they felt much better now that they knew exactly what they were up against. Yuu had been able to give a general description of each member of the Shichinintai and his fighting style. Kyoukotsu was already dead, and the acrid smoke had likely been deployed by Mukotsu, the poison user. And as they pressed on toward Mount Hakurei, the site of the Shichinintai’s grave, they were confident that their next encounter with the band of mercenaries would not be long in coming. With every step, they drew closer to finding Naraku.
* * *
Jakotsu slid open the door of the hut and tossed Suikotsu in. The landing was less than graceful, and sounded like it would leave a few bruises. It served Suikotsu right for weeping so damn much, ever since he regained consciousness a little while ago. As far as Jakotsu was concerned, seeing a man cry was no fun unless he was actively causing the tears. It had taken him all night to reach this place, the moon being bright enough to travel by at least. But the journey would prove well worth the effort. The sky was already starting to lighten; the other objects in the room were just becoming visible if one looked carefully. A fact which thus far had escaped Suikotsu’s notice. “Please! I’m just a doctor,” the pitiful man begged from his knees. That was Jakotsu’s favorite position for a victim to be in, but again, since he couldn’t entertain himself with Suikotsu, this was no fun at all.
“No, you’re Suikotsu of the Shichinintai. We left you alone for a while, hoping you would wake up on your own. But now our enemies are here, and Oo-aniki said to collect you. So I prepared this special place that’ll wake you up for sure,” Jakotsu told him sadistically. “Look around.”
It was then that Suikotsu noticed the sounds of this room. Soft groans, choking gasps, bitter weeping and lamentations…all the sounds the dying make as they slip closer and closer to oblivion. The doctor stared and started to shake, curling in on himself as he had done back at the village.
“What’s the matter, Suikotsu?” Jakotsu taunted. “You look like you’ve never seen blood before. You are a doctor, aren’t you?”
When the sun came up, the full extent of this room’s cruelty would be revealed. When Jakotsu had attacked this village yesterday, he had been careful not to kill everyone outright. At least two dozen he left mortally wounded, but bleeding out slowly. Those unfortunate souls he dragged into this room, to perish gradually in despair and agony. It was beautiful. Some were surely dead already, but enough survived to accomplish his objective. Perhaps Suikotsu would simply wallow in sorrow until his true self emerged. Perhaps he would try futilely to save the survivors, and give in to his darkness as they slipped away one by one. There were a couple children in here, if Jakotsu remembered correctly. He hoped they were still alive; watching them die would be especially hard for the ‘good doctor’ to take.
Snickering softly to himself, Jakotsu left the hut and barred the door behind him. He stuck around until the sun was peeking halfway over the eastern horizon, and the light of day had fully illuminated the carnage of this horrible, beautiful place.
Then the screaming began.
A/N – Whew…I creep myself out sometimes. I suppose I should mention that the village from the first part of this chapter is not the one where Suikotsu took up residence in canon. That village was closer to Mount Hakurei. In this story, the Inu-gang took a lengthy detour before arriving at Mount Hakurei, so the members of the Shichinintai have had more time to spread out away from the mountain. The decimated village at the end is probably that canon village, actually. It doesn’t really matter. All you have to know is that Jakotsu took Suikotsu to a place very close to Mount Hakurei.