InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Buffy the Youkai Slayer ❯ 'Osuwari!' and Other Useful Phrases For the Traveling Vampire Slayer ( Chapter 3 )

3. 'Osuwari!' and Other Useful Phrases For the Traveling Vampire Slayer

Author's Note: Thank you, thank you, THANK you! to everyone who's taken the time to review my story so far. You guys are awesome, and I really appreciate it.

This story takes place after the second Inuyasha film, "Castle Beyond the Looking Glass," (just after Episode 74 in the series), and after the Buffy series finale. May contain spoilers for events that happen in the final season of Buffy, Inuyasha episodes 1-74, and the film. Some violence, some bad language and maybe a bit of sexual innuendo, but nothing beyond what you'd see/hear in an aired episode of Inuyasha.

One more thing: this chapter contains some bad language...that Inuyasha, he sure has a potty mouth!

Tokyo, the present day

Sooner or later, one of the demons would get past her, get past Inuyasha, and make it as far as the house...or worse, escape into the unsuspecting suburbs that pushed up against the base of Higurashi Shrine Hill.

I can't allow that to happen! Kagome Higurashi flashed on a brief image of the horrors that even a small spider youkai could wreak on her unsuspecting neighbors.

She stood in the middle of the shrine's central courtyard, all her attention focused on the shattered remains of the small well-house. Draw. Aim. Release.

She reached over her shoulder and drew the next arrow from the quiver on her back. Only two arrows left, and inside the crazily-leaning structure of ruined planking and sagging beams, she saw that the Bone-Eater's Well was glowing again, a blue light whose purity seemed at odds with the monsters it spewed forth.

The next wave of youkai was coming. And she would be unarmed soon.

Inuyasha had planted the blade of his sword in the dirt, taking advantage of the brief respite between waves of incoming youkai. He sank to his knees, shoulders heaving under his heavy mane of silver hair. Kagome could hear how his harsh and ragged his breathing sounded as he gulped great lungfuls of air.

"Inuyasha," she said, quietly. "Incoming."

"Keh," he spat, but it was drained of his usual vehemence. If nothing else, that told her how dangerously exhausted he was. He staggered to his feet, pulled the narrow, battered blade of Tetsusaiga from the soil, and raised it.

With a blinding flash, the sword transformed, growing larger, shimmering scarlet and gold with demon energies.

He was the front line of defense against the invaders. She was the second line, finishing off anything he wounded--or anything that managed to slip past him.

She fitted her second-to-last arrow to the bow, her fingers blistered and bleeding. Her arms and shoulders were burning with fatigue, her fingers cramped and shaking. But she wouldn't--couldn't--give in to the strain. Draw. Aim. Release.

Don't think about what's going to happen when you use your last arrow.

* * *

It had been a little after noon when the horror started. Her midterms had finished yesterday, and right on schedule, Inuyasha had emerged from the well to fetch Kagome for another expedition to the Warring States Era.

Mama, Grandpa, her little brother Souta, Inuyasha, and Kagome had just seated themselves at the table for one of Mama's delicious pre-departure luncheons when sound of the splintering well-house doors had caught their attention.

"Youkai? Here? Shit!" In a flash, Inuyasha had gracefully leapt over the table, and drawn his sword.

He was out of the kitchen in an instant, his bare feet pounding a staccato beat against the polished wooden floorboards, leaving Grandpa, Mama, and Souta gaping in astonishment.

Kagome, inured by months of traveling through the Warring States Era in his company, hadn't hesitated. Pausing only to grab her bow and quiver from the pile of her traveling gear in the living room, she ran after Inuyasha.

"Kagome! Be careful, dear!" Her mother's voice followed her out of the house.

As Kagome ran after the red flash of Inuyasha's robes, she had heard Souta complaining, "Awww, Mama! But I don't wanna stay here. I wanna help--"

Then she hadn't had time to think, hadn't had time to do anything but follow Inuyasha's urgent orders as the first of a stream of hideous insect youkai emerged from the well-house.

* * *

Draw. Aim. Release. How long had she and Inuyasha been battling this unending stream of invaders? Hours, though it felt like an eternity of days.

Kagome had thought her family safe from the often-frightening world of demons and bloodthirsty samurai in feudal Japan. Because until today, only Kagome and Inuyasha and a single centipede youkai had been able to travel through time using the Bone-Eater's Well.

How had these youkai managed to find them? And why were they so determined to come here?

The autumn sun was low on the horizon now, the pale gold of midday darkened to burnt orange. The shrine's grounds were littered with countless youkai corpses--mostly insect youkai, for they were the most dangerous kind, mindless and ravenous.

And the easiest for an enemy to control, thought Kagome. Insect youkai would not stop to question orders, nor were they moved by reason or compassion.

Souta suddenly spoke up behind her: "Wow, sis! You're really good with that bow! And brother Inuyasha is amazing with his sword!"

"Souta! What are you doing here?" Kagome tore her eyes away from the eerily glowing well. "It's dangerous. Get back in the house!"

"But, sis--" His jaw set, stubbornly.

She hastily added: "You have to protect Mama and Grandpa!"

"Nee-chan, I got these from the dead bugs! I thought you might need them." He grinned up at her, and she felt her heart expand with sisterly pride as he offered the dozen or so stained arrows clutched in his hands. He was so brave!

"Thank you, Souta!" She took the arrows and dumped them in her quiver. Saved! She felt a fresh burst of strength. "Now, go!"

She saw two demons come scuttling rapidly out of the well-house.

Apparently too exhausted to invoke the power of his sword with Kaze-no-Kizu, Inuyasha slashed at the nearest demon, a centipede youkai.

His first swing took off a couple of legs and peeled off one of the youkai's armored back-plates, but the injury barely stopped the insect's advance.

Souta, who had taken a step or two in the direction of the house, stopped to stare, his mouth open.

Inuyasha swore, and swung again. This time, his sword merely bounced off the centipede's back.

The other youkai, a serpent with gleaming green and copper scales, made a beeline for Kagome.

She shoved Souta out of the way with desperate haste. "RUN!"

Fumbling a little, she turned to fit an arrow to her bow.

But it was too late. The serpent, its eyes glowing like bloodthirsty jewels, was directly in front of her, and rearing to strike. Its neck flattened and fanned like a cobra's hood.

For an endless, frozen moment, the snake demon towered over her. With strange clarity, Kagome saw the droplets of clear venom beading the youkai's curved fangs.

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha screamed hoarsely.

But she knew he couldn't reach her in time, not with the centipede still putting up a struggle. Inuyasha, she thought. At least I got to kiss you, once.

Then the fangs were suddenly gone. Kagome gaped, unable to comprehend her sudden reprieve.

What? How?

A spray of blood pulsed from a stump where the snake's head had been a moment ago. Then it crumpled, falling into two pieces that hit the ground in front of her with a meaty thud.

And Kagome came face-to-face with a stranger, a blonde girl wielding a gently-curved blade mounted at the end of a staff.

* * *

Panting a little from her run up the steep stairs leading to the shrine at the top of a grassy hill, Buffy passed under the shrine's tall red gate, and paused to assess the situation.

The acrid smell of dead demons assaulted her nose. There were pieces of them scattered everywhere--legs and thoraxes and antennae. And head with faceted eyes, mercifully dulled now. Ugh. Koji didn't tell me they were giant bugs.

A shout and movements halfway across the shrine's courtyard caught her attention. There were people fighting there--a teen-aged girl with a bow, a little boy with an armful of arrows, and a boy, all in red, dressed in an old-fashioned Japanese kimono and puffy pants. He had a really big sword, which he was using to chop yet another bug into pieces.

He seemed really strong, thought Buffy, but there was something kind of weird about him--besides his long silver hair.

But she had a more pressing problem right now--the girl with the bow didn't seem to register that a giant snake was headed her way.

Wonder if he's a relative of the late Sunnydale mayor? thought Buffy, sprinting. Bugs and snakes. Yuck. She clutched the naginata that Koji Minamide had given her, holding it away from her body so she wouldn't trip over it.

"Hey!" she shouted, but neither the girl nor the little kid seemed to hear her.

She reached them just as the snake prepared to strike.

"Oh, no, you don't!" She swung her weapon, pleased to note that it sliced through snake-meat like butter.

"Kagome!"

From the corner of her eyes, Buffy saw the silver-haired boy drop his sword and rush toward them. Behind him, a giant centipede lay in six more-or-less equal chunks. Some of the legs were still twitching feebly.

"Kagome!" he shouted again, followed by a stream of Japanese that Buffy didn't understand.

What she did understand, suddenly, is that this kid had fangs and long, bloodied claws.

Another demon! She leaped between the girl and the--the--what the hell IS he?--noticing as she did so that he had two incongruously cute pointed ears at the top of his head.

He snarled, and swiped at her with his claws. His wide, red sleeves belled out like a matador's prop. Using her Slayer reflexes, Buffy jumped over him, somersaulting in mid-air to avoid the blow.

He spun around to face her again, his arm raised, fingers crooked, blood-stained claws black in the twilight. His mouth twisted, and he said something to her. She didn't need a translation--his nasty tone was enough.

He's actually growling at me! And jeez...look at those teeth. Nearly as long as a vampire's fangs. This demon is bad news.

Then Buffy heard the girl shout, "Osuwari!"

The boy's necklace flashed an instant before an invisible hand stopped his forward motion and flung him face-down into the gravel of the temple courtyard. He sprawled there in a tangle of waist-length silver hair, still growling.

The girl staggered forward, and came to stand beside Buffy. She looked utterly exhausted.

"Inuyasha," she said, in a tone of reprimand. Was that his name?

He glanced up at the girl with a hurt expression.

She said something else, and he turned his face away with an exclamation that sounded like, "Keh!"

Why, he looks just like a puppy someone had hit with a rolled-up newspaper, thought Buffy.

Suddenly, the demon boy seemed a lot less threatening.

Then the girl turned to Buffy. She looked maybe fifteen or sixteen, and was wearing a green-and-white sailor blouse with a matching pleated miniskirt.

"Good afternoon, miss," she said, softly, in heavily accented English. "My name is Higurashi Kagome. It is very nice to meet you."

* * *

The spell wore off, and Inuyasha slowly got to his feet and staggered forward, snarling, "Kagome! Why the hell did you--"

Only to meet the blonde girl's blade sweeping around to rest against his jugular.

"Youkai?" demanded the stranger. She was fast, and very strong. In fact, she reminded Kagome a lot of her friend Sango. Especially that determined look.

"No!" Kagome said, desperately trying to remember her English. She had missed so many classes this year..."No! Friend!"

She lunged for the shaft of the naginata, and clutched it. "No, please!"

The girl slowly lowered the weapon, but her gaze never left Inuyasha. "Friend? Are you sure?"

"Hai--yes!"

He did look rather dangerous, admitted Kagome to herself. Inuyasha was spattered with insect ichor and other noisome substances, bleeding himself from a number of wounds, his red robes torn, his silver hair disheveled. And he was grimacing, which showed off his inhuman fangs quite nicely.

"Who is she? What the hell is she?" demanded Inuyasha. His gaze flicked sideways, keeping a vigilant eye on the well-house. "I've never seen a woman with yellow hair before."

"Watashi-wa Buffy desu," said the girl, her Japanese sounding rehearsed, hesitant. "I am a--a--" she frowned, as if trying to recall something. "Youkai taijya."

"Shit. I knew it!" said Inuyasha, but he looked nearly as relieved as Kagome felt.

"My friend's name is Inuyasha." Kagome struggled to remember the right English words through the haze of fatigue. "Thank you for helping us, Miss Buffy."

"Don't worry about it. And I'm really sorry I tried to kill your friend. " Buffy dug in the back pocket of her jeans, and produced a small Japanese phrase book. "But this book isn't much help for asking, 'Hey, are you a good demon or an evil demon?'"