InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bound to Tomorrow ❯ The Great Fire ( Chapter 19 )

 

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Author's Notes: Sorry about the massive delay, guys, it couldn't be helped. I had to go to a wedding in another state and then immediately following that I was busy moving out of our college apartment and into our temporary residence where we wait to find out where my fiance will be heading for law school. Unfortunately it took us two weeks before we could get internet hooked up at our new location; then we found out our place had a major pest problem and we had to fight that for two more weeks, and THEN we had to do some renovations on the place because of said pest problem for even longer. Then on top of that my fiance' was injured renovating and I was busy taking care of him until about a week ago. Oh, wait but there's more! So, two days ago we discovered we have squirrels living in the walls of the house, which means we have to fix even more crap in the house. Ugh! Everything that could go wrong with this move HAS gone wrong. Sigh.

 

So, here's the low-down. We're still renovating and we're in the process of saving up money to get married, too so I'm super SUPER busy. I can't promise rapid updates but I will try.

 

I should have updates to most of my stories on the way soon. I haven't had any time to write but I've had plenty of time to think about what I've wanted to add. Thank you all for those who have waited patiently for me during this time! I hope my updates don't disappoint.

 

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Smoke billowed into the sky as Edo burned and Kagome stood before it all, horrified. The heat was terrible. The demons had left her and the other humans behind to help in any capacity and they had left them quite a ways away from town; yet still the miko could feel the intense heat on her cheeks and face. Sango and Miroku stood nearby for a short time. Then, out of nowhere, the huntress made a tiny choking sound and tore off towards the burning city. Her two remaining children could have been trapped in there, after all! Miroku gave one glance back at Kagome before following after his wife. The desperate look in Sango's eyes scared him more than leaving the powerful miko behind to fend for herself for a few minutes.

 

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InuYasha and Shippo barely knew where to start in burning streets of Kyobashi district. Their noses had already determined which districts had begun burning earlier in the day which meant the unfortunate people trapped in those areas would already be long dead from smoke inhalation. In Kyobashi district the air was slightly clearer but the burning districts surrounding it had trapped many residents in their homes. Their sensitive ears could pick up the terrified screams of numerous people in the tightly-packed houses. Shippo was stunned; unable to take a step as he took in the awful sounds.

 

"Wh-where do we start?" He gulped, turning huge green eyes to his hanyou friend.

 

InuYasha knew they wouldn't be able to save everyone and the thought brought a frustrated growl to his lips. "Shit. Let's start over there." He indicated to a smoke-filled alleyway nearby. "We should go down the block; left to right. Ignore all houses you can't hear a human breathing or screaming. Shippo, how many controllable copies can you make of yourself?"

 

The dog demon's orders shook the kitsune from his reverie. "Ah! Two--no--three at a time. The others just run blind."

 

InuYasha nodded. "All right, transform into a capable-looking human and use your controllable copies to lead them towards that way we came in. Lead everyone you can to that exit we made. The humans won't be able to see where it is like we can."

 

"Using my magic is going to eat up my energy!" Shippo argued.

 

"Yeah, but scaring off the humans in youkai form is going to make them die faster." The hanyou shot back. "If the visibility is bad and they can't see then don't transform; save your energy, all right? Now go."

 

The kitsune bobbed his head up as understanding finally set in. "All right, InuYasha, I'll see you later!"

 

As Shippo turned to leave InuYasha called him one last time. "Oi, kid! If something happens... You take her blood bond."

 

Shippo nearly tripped over himself as he skidded to a stop and whirled around to face him, "What? But that means..."

 

The words faded away. InuYasha was already gone, swallowed up in the sooty blackness of the alleyway.

 

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It had been nearly twenty minutes since Kagome had watched Miroku dash off after Sango. The relative silence of the forest had left her feeling more numb than ever. Her mind screeched at her to think; to jump into action. Yet, her legs felt rooted to the spot. She had seen disasters before but only in its' aftermath. Never had she witnessed a true tragedy in progress. She wondered: How had people overcome such horror? A polite cough behind her suddenly brought all her jumbled thoughts to a crashing halt. She whipped around and instantly paled. Noboru stood a few feet away wearing the same sickly-sweet smile as always.

 

"I didn't expect to find you hear, Lady Kagome." Noboru purred.

 

"Did...did you start this?" The miko gasped.

 

The fair-haired man shrugged. "I may have encouraged a little spark. But, I assure you it was for your own good."

 

Rage took over before in an instant. "How in Kami's name could this be for my own good?" She gestured angrily towards Edo in flames behind her.

 

Noboru sighed as and glanced at the sky, as if asking the gods themselves for patience for a girl with a silly question. "I have thought long and hard about this and I am certain that this is for the best, my dear."

 

"What does that mean? People are dead! People are dying in there!" Kagome snarled.

 

The living tree simply shrugged. "People die all the time. You and your friends all know that. Death is a part of life. You must understand that I've watched this city for some time and that hanyou mate of yours, nor anyone for that matter, could have told you that place was a deathtrap. The fire will cull the herds of humans that live too closely together before plague or something worse breaks out."

 

"You can't act as a god with people's lives, Noboru!" The miko yelled. "We humans learn from our own trial and error! You can't make decisions for us!"

 

Noboru waved a hand dismissively, "My logic is infallible, dear. You'll understand that soon enough." He sighed, turned away from her, and then called back over his shoulder. "I'll see you in two years. Have a good night, my lady!"

 

Kagome could only stand in stunned silence as he disappeared into the treeline and was quickly lost to view.

 

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Hours later Sango and Miroku returned to the rendezvous spot where they had left Kagome. The couple wore breathing masks and bore an extra one for the miko. Initially, the two had had no luck searching for their children in the huddled masses of dispossessed residents of Edo. Then in the third hour Miroku came to the realization that his children would not be found standing idly by while their beloved town was in danger; they would be fighting to protect it. With that thought in their minds they began searching the most fire-besieged areas of Edo and quickly discovered Kohaku and their children in short order. They, much like InuYasha and Shippo, had split up to help with rescue efforts in the city. Haruto then led his parents to one of Sango's many hidden weapons caches where he gave them the masks. He could not be sure what had happened to their childhood home, as he had not been home at the time the fire had broken out.

 

Eventually, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku managed to regroup with Akahanna.

 

Now that the miko had a proper breathing mask, she was eager to join her husband in the rescue effort. "Where's InuYasha?"

 

Akahanna bobbed her head towards four floating orbs of fire in the distance. "Kirara's coming to take you to him."

 

Kagome waited anxiously as the large demonic cat came into view through the haze of smoke and the glow of the flames below. Of all the demons, Kirara (as a fire-type demon) had the easiest time getting around Edo, yet her fearsome look made it nearly impossible to help round up any survivors but ones who happened to be unconscious. When the fire-cat landed she had several blackened and comatose patients to unload before she could take her new passenger. Kirara mewled at Sango and Akahanna a few times and the women exchanged concerned looks before Sango spoke.

 

"Kirara just came back from the area InuYasha's working in. She seems worried."

 

With the last of the people offloaded Kagome climbed on before answering, "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."

 

Her feline transportation took to the sky again. From the air the miko could see how bad the fire had truly become. Edo maintained several lumber yards in town and the cold, dry weather caused the timber to ignite easily; setting other districts ablaze in the process. She scanned the billowing clouds of soot for her silver-haired husband with little luck. Finally, a flash of red caught her eye. Kirara made a growling sound at the same time and quickly descended towards the rapidly-moving target. Kagome was forced to squint as visibility became worse the closer they moved towards InuYasha's retreating form. It quickly became apparent why neither of them could see his hair--he carried at least six people upon his back and in his arms and the clothes they wore obscured his bright mane. It also didn't help that he was coated in soot. Kirara mewled a greeting and Kagome waved as they approached. The pile of bodies shifted and slowed as golden eyes turned skyward and glittered orange in the glow of distant flames. In moments the cat demon had caught up with him and InuYasha quickly set about strapping down people to her back. He chattered instructions in between chides to his wife.

 

"Kirara, take these people back to safety. I'm going to hit the next district but the worst places seem pretty cleared out. Kagome, what the hell are you doin' out here?"

 

Kagome was initially taken aback by her husband's sudden shift in attention back to her. "I was looking for you."

 

"No shit, huh? Well here I am. Now go back somewhere safe." He insisted with a growl.

 

His snarky response was all the fuel she needed to get her mind back in the game and her mood soured in an instant. "You can't tell me what to do. Besides, you've been out in all this smoke and ash for too long."

 

Her sudden change in attitude did what it always did: startled him. He fumbled his defense, "I...er...Shippo's still out here!"

 

Kirara mewled and shook her head, giving the half demon a look that said otherwise.

 

InuYasha snarled back, "Who's askin' you?"

 

"He's out, isn't he?" Kagome countered before he could rail on the feline any more than he already had. Kirara nodded in the affirmative; leaving InuYasha to splutter ineffectively. The miko continued; hands on her hips. "When did Shippo leave?"

 

With a huff he motioned for Kirara to take off with the next load of potential survivors. "I'll take over from here, cat." The demon growled an argument for a few seconds and InuYasha exchanged grunts of his own in the "feral language." Over the years she had come to realize that he did so whenever he did not want her to know something. This only raised her ire. However, what he did not know was that since she had figured out his little trick she had coaxed Shippo into teaching her a few phrases here and there when she was certain her husband was out of earshot. She used her limited knowledge to listen in on their conversation and it confirmed her suspicions. Words like "sick", "tired", "safe", and "people" all pointed to her growing concern that InuYasha was burning himself out in the rescue effort.

 

Without thinking she jumped into the middle of the conversation. "Kirara's right, InuYasha, you need to stop now."

 

The hanyou turned wide eyes to his wife, "But... huh? How did you...? ...What the hell? You understood that?"

 

Crap, Kagome thought, she hadn't meant to let the cat out of the bag so soon. However, that moment was not the time to get into it. "I'll explain later--after we get out of here. Are you gonna leave me to sit in all this smoke?"

 

"But, Kirara's..." The argument faded away as the cat demon took off with her load of humans and effectively left him to handle his wife. "...damn cat..." He grumbled to himself before a fit of coughing suddenly ended his fussing.

 

Kagome pressed a hand to his shoulder, concern evident in the way her lips twisted into a worried frown. "InuYasha, you need to take a break."

 

"I can't quit, Kagome, people need help."

 

"...and if you pass out who can come to rescue you? Sango says Kirara's tired and we humans can't handle the smoke like you can..." The miko argued.

 

The dog demon was quiet; a sure sign she was on the right track. Kagome gave his shoulder a squeeze. "How about this, let's check out the next section of town and then we'll go back."

 

He gave her a relieved grin before he squatted down to carry her off on her back.

 

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Dark and sooty, Kagome and InuYasha finally returned to the makeshift campsite set up outside of town for those who had been rendered homeless by the on-going fire. Sango and Shippo met them at the edge of camp and led them to their own site near by. Shippo looked just as bad as they did--if not worse because he looked pale and drained in addition to watery eyes and sneezing. The demon huntress saw the concerned look on the miko's face as she assessed the boy who had become a son to her and crossed her arms over her chest, shooting a frustrated glare only a seasoned mother could produce at the boy.

 

"He wouldn't rest until he was sure you guys were back at camp."

 

Kagome immediately mirrored the look Sango wore. "Shippo..."

 

The kitsune had meant to give her a sheepish smile but could only respond with a sneeze and a sniffle.

 

Sango shook her head, "Come on then, let's get back to camp."

 

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Everyone had their hands full the next afternoon when the great fire, which had lasted throughout the night and into the next day, suddenly changed direction and headed towards Edo castle. An hour later a frantic Jaken sought them out: Rin was trapped inside the castle and Sesshoumaru was nowhere to be found.

 

Jaken led the way towards Edo Castle and the outer-lying area which housed the daimyo. Firefighting teams were already on the scene but the fire had already ripped into several nearby buildings. By the time they arrived the frog-faced demon was already in a full-blown panic. He pointed out the building she was supposed to be in but it was already engulfed in flames. Kagome spoke with the firefighters and quickly discovered that all of the occupants of the building had been evacuated long before it had ignited and that they had been moved into the castle. Rin was apparently safe for the moment. The gang's new job then was to stop the fire before it burned down the castle.

 

The smoke was not quite as bad as the first day but the flames proved to be a tough opponent. Many of the fine manors around the castle were scorched away and even a handful of towers on Edo Castle's outer wall burned to the ground. Fortunately, many more people were saved than on the first day. However, when the gang was finally able to get inside the castle they found that Rin wasn't there either. They looked for Rin for several hours but eventually had to leave Jaken to search for her on his own. Everyone went to bed in camp that night utterly exhausted.

 

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On the third day the fire had finally burned itself out for the most part. Shippo and InuYasha tried to look for Rin again but thick smoke from the smoldering ruins of more than half of Edo forced them to stay near the camps and make-shift hospitals; tending to the injured. Three more days rolled by before Edo was safe to traverse once more. Miroku, Kagome, Haruto, and Akahanna, all monks, priests, or priestesses by trade were employed, along with hundreds more like them to go about the unpleasant task of transportation and cremation of hundreds of thousands of the unfortunate dead. In that age, it was impossible to know for certain how many had died in the Great Fire, but it was estimated to be at least over one hundred thousand. There were so many bodies and almost all of them were impossible to identify. Many were charred beyond recognition while others, ones that had expired due to smoke inhalation, had become distorted by the smoke and the days spent rotting and exposed to the elements. In the camps, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, and children searched for family in vain. It was a dismal, depressing experience to everyone and especially frustrating knowing that Noboru had caused it all.

 

On the seventh day Sesshoumaru finally appeared. He skulked into camp, his expression as unreadable as ever, and followed Jaken to InuYasha's temporary abode. Sesshoumaru noticed that his half-brother and the kitsune were the only ones present on site at the moment and he quirked a brow at this. His hanyou brother was not one to travel far from his mate, after all. A few moments later InuYasha tilted his head up to sniff the air, then turned his gaze in the direction his brother's scent; a frown tipping the corners of his lips ever-so-slightly.

 

When he was within casual speaking range he grumbled, "Did you find your mate?"

 

"Quick to the point, as always, dear brother." Sesshoumaru drawled. "Yes, Rin is quite fine. I wouldn't dare risk leaving her in such a place."

 

InuYasha's frown drew further downward, "What d'ya mean by that? If she wasn't there then why did Jaken send us to the Castle to look for her?"

 

"This one had a great many political interests vested within the castle and was much too busy with other issues to handle it personally." The great demon lord shrugged casually.

 

The half-demon crossed the distance to his brother and stood in front of him, nearly nose-to-nose. "You sent me to the castle for your damned politics?!"

 

"It was for your own good... unless you would choose to live in a tent whilst the city is rebuilt? Surely your human mate cannot endure this winter chill as a hanyou can?" The demon lord blinked back; one eyebrow raised just slightly.

 

InuYasha gawped at his half brother like he had sprouted a second nose right before his eyes. He was not allowed to stare in utter speechlessness for long before Shippo's cough broke the silence.

 

Sesshoumaru's golden eyes flicked towards the kitsune, then narrowed. "Your pup is coughing up something black."

 

Shippo waved his hands dismissively as his coughing fit subsided. "What? No. S'nothing. Really."

 

But it was already too late as the Great Lord gave Jaken a pointed look and the frog-faced man obeyed with a disgruntled sigh. He grabbed the boy's hand and inspected the black gunk on his palms; then clucked his tongue disapprovingly.

 

"It is soot, Lord Sesshoumaru," Jaken was not about to address anyone but him as much as he could help it, "This boy has been mucking about in the fire too long. His body is expelling all the foreign matter within. I suspect--"

 

InuYasha cut Jaken's next statement short when he blurted out, "--You're coughin' that shit up, too? Why the hell didn't you tell me, pup?!"

 

Shippo was immediately on the defensive, "What do you mean, "too"? You didn't tell me you had it either!"

 

"I figured it was a bug and it'd pass. I didn't want to worry Kagome. You know how she gets when she thinks I'm hurt." InuYasha answered honestly; he was too surprised to counter with his normal abrasiveness.

 

Sesshoumaru's bored sigh interrupted any further argument. "This one grows tired of waiting through your petty squabbles. Will you be coming or not?"

 

Shippo jumped in before his adoptive father could give a definite 'no.' "Ah, what about Sango and Miroku and their kids? They're human too. We can't just bail without them."

 

The Great Demon refused to spare a glance away from InuYasha but he did respond to the comment. "Your pup makes a surprisingly intelligent point. It is not unreasonable to house one's pack, even if this Sesshoumaru questions your choices in pack-mates. Very well, that can be arranged. You must give me an extra day to procure more space. That should give you plenty of time to speak with your mate."

 

The Great Demon of the West then turned on his heel and stalked off; leaving no room for further discussion.