InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Buffy the Youkai Slayer ❯ Between a Rock and a Hard Place ( Chapter 13 )

13. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Musashi's Domain, late 16th-century Japan

Kirara smelled them first.

Kagome and the others had been walking for about two hours that morning. The landscape had changed, becoming rockier and steeper, and a forest crowded both sides of the narrow road. It was a beautiful autumn day, mild and sunny, with only a few high clouds overhead.

She was so glad it wasn't raining--paved roads weren't common in the Sengoku-jidai, and it was awful when you had walk for miles, knee-deep in mud.

Plus, she had forgotten her umbrella.

Trotting along at Sango-chan's heels, Kirara froze, sniffing suspiciously. Then, in a whoosh of flames, the tiny cream-and-black double-tailed cat transformed into her giant firecat form, and her growl became a full-fledged roar.

Inuyasha, who was striding along several hundred meters ahead of them on the narrow trail through the forest, also came to a halt.

"Youkai coming!" he shouted back over his shoulder, and returned to the group with a single jump, landing gracefully in their midst.

"Where?" Miroku-sama shouted, looking around. He gripped his staff with both hands and swept it around in a defensive posture.

Kagome stopped her bike, dismounted, and pushed it off the road. She leaned it against the nearest tree, and hastily strung her bow.

Buffy-chan parked her bike as well, and untied the wicked-looking naginata from the frame of her backpack. She moved to stand next to Sango-chan, who had shed her robe to reveal her leather armor. The youkai-taijya had strapped on her sword, and stood with one hand looped through Hiraikotsu's throwing strap.

By now, the group had arranged themselves on the verge on either side of the road. Kagome grabbed her quiver, and crossed the road to stand next to Miroku.

Inuyasha's face was tilted to the sky. Kagome could see his nostrils flaring as he scented the enemy.

"There are lot of them," he said, raising his voice to be heard over the harsh sound of Kirara's growl.

Then Kagome felt it, too--the massed aura of dozens of youkai. The sky seemed to grow dark around them, and she was overwhelmed by the psychic clouds of ravening hunger, seething rage, and the compelling need to reach a destination.

She pulled the first arrow from her quiver. Tiny, trembling arms fastened around her thigh, and she felt a short body pressing itself against the back of her knees.

"Shippou-chan." She reached down and rested her hands on his soft hair. "Go, and hide."

"B-but I can help fight!" said the little kitsune, moving around to her side.

"Keh! You'll be lucky if you don't get eaten, you little runt!" Inuyasha called from the other side of the road. "You're just a mouthful--OW! Let go, bitch! You too, Sango!"

Despite her nerves, Kagome giggled, which earned her a black look from Inuyasha. He was bent over and each of the Slayers had one of his ears firmly in her grasp. It didn't look like they were being very gentle.

"You really shouldn't scare Shippou-chan, Inuyasha," she said, trying to look serious. "He's not as big and strong as you are."

There. Maybe mentioning how strong Inuyasha is will make him feel better.

"Oh, give me a break," said Buffy, rolling her eyes. She tugged on the ear she was holding. "You heard our leader. Be nice to short stuff over there."

"Shippou-chan is already terrified," Sango said in her usual gentle tone. Her grip looked just as firm as Buffy's, though.

"All right!" Inuyasha shouted. "Just let go of me before those damn youkai get here!"

"Indeed," said Miroku, mildly. "If they didn't sense our presence before, they certainly know we're here now."

The Slayers shared a glance, and released Inuyasha.

Then he raised one taloned hand and cracked his knuckles. "I'll remove your hands if you ever do that again." He accompanied this by giving them each a narrow-eyed glare, his abused ears twitching.

Inuyasha liked to make threats, but this one sounded like he really meant it.

"Sorry," Buffy said, with patent insincerity.

"I apologize for pulling your ears," Sango said, equally sweetly. She stood on tiptoes and patted his head. "Good boy."

Inuyasha growled at her. "And stop treating me like a damned dog!"

Kagome cast a glance down at Shippou's shaking knees. "You can help by hiding, and watching. Call out if you see any of the youkai sneaking up behind us. Can you do that, Shippou-chan?"

"Sure!" said Shippou. He left the road, and sprinted for the cover of the nearest bush.

Relieved, Kagome watched him go. The fox-cub was brave for his size, but she didn't want him in unnecessary danger. Inuyasha had been tactless but correct in pointing out that Shippou would make a tasty mouthful for one of the bigger youkai.

Then she put an arrow to the string of her bow, and waited.

As the minutes ticked by, the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive with the jyaki of the approaching demons. It was getting harder to think, to move.

She ought to be used to it by now.

So then, why did her heart still pound so loudly, and why were her hands so weak, and the polished wood of the bow feel so slick? She swallowed, hard.

Then the first giant centipede appeared, marching up the trail. Overhead, Kagome heard the sound of hundreds of insect wings. The vibrating hum made the fillings in her molars hurt.

Everyone tensed, and gripped their weapons, waiting for the moment when the youkai saw them, and changed course to attack. Kagome drew her bow and held it until the muscles in her arm burned from the strain.

But the centipede youkai--and the spiders, beetles, mantises, and other insect demons that marched and flew behind it--never changed course. They scuttled down the trail, seemingly oblivious to the armed humans, hanyou, and youkai watching them pass.

"Hey," said Inuyasha, his taloned hand clenched around the Tetsusaiga's hilt. "What's going on here? These guys always attack if they smell fresh meat."

"This is certainly very strange." Miroku was frowning as he watched them, some of the youkai passing close enough to brush the hem of his long priest's robes.

Cautiously, Kagome released the tension on her bow. She kept the arrow against the string, though, just in case she had to draw again. Like the others, she found herself unable to look away from the misshapen procession.

There was something about them...something important...

Oh, no!

She drew her bow, rousing the power that usually lay sleeping just below the surface of her mind, and released. Her arrow flared with purifying fire as it hit a large moth-youkai.

The demon-insect spiraled down, blackened and smoking. Before it hit the ground, Kagome had nocked a second arrow, and was taking aim at at a large wasp youkai.

"What are you doing?" Sango shouted.

Don't they realize? "They're headed for the village," Kagome screamed, pulling her bow. "And the shrine! We have to stop them!"

Saying out loud made it suddenly and terribly real.

Her concentration fractured by panic, this time her arrow went wild, sailing harmlessly between two airborne wasps.

"Sango, you and I, up in the air!" Inuyasha commanded, drawing Tetsusaiga. "Buffy and Miroku, cover the ground. Kagome, your arrows!"

Buffy brought her naginata up to ready position. Then she stopped. "If that's okay by you, Kagome," she said, pointedly.

"What the hell--oh." Inuyasha scowled. "Kagome?"

"Of course," Kagome said hastily. "It's what we always do. Hurry!"

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled, launching her boomerang. It scythed through the swarm, and gobs of bug parts began to rain down. She caught it, vaulted onto Kirara's back, and they took off, sailing above the treeline to wreak further havoc on the swarm.

Inuyasha brandished his sword, and it transformed in a blinding golden flash.

"Kaze-no-kizu!" he shouted, sweeping Tetsusaiga in an arc around the front of his body.

The youkai in the path of the Kaze-no-kizu simply disintegrated as the white-hot energy swept over them. Tree limbs all along the road splintered and fell to the ground in a shower of sparks.

As always, Kagome felt the shockwave travel through her, every nerve in her skin tingling as if she'd been subjected to a mild electric shock.

Buffy paused in her ruthless hacking of an earthbound centipede youkai. "That's Kaze-no-kizu?"

"It can kill a hundred youkai with a single blow," Kagome yelled back, fitting another arrow to her bow.

She saw a large praying mantis demon swoop down behind Inuyasha, and aimed for it.

The hooked forelimb slashing for his back disappeared in a burst of purifying flame. The mantis-youkai screamed, a high, piercing sound like the screech of chalk against a blackboard. Whirling in mid-air, Inuyasha decapitated it with a single blow from his sword.

Kagome loved watching him fight, his wide sleeves spread like wings as he reached the apex of his leap, and his pale hair streaming out behind him. It was one of the few times when he actually looked happy.

He is a born warrior, she thought, seeing his fiercely joyful expression as he swung Tetsusaiga and released the power of the Kaze-no-Kizu to destroy another group of flying youkai.

"What the hell do you people need a Slayer for? Even the good guys are way scary in this place," muttered Buffy. She sliced viciously at the hapless centipede youkai as it attempted to scuttle away on its few remaining legs. "And stay down!"

After a few minutes, Kagome noticed a strange thing: none of the youkai were initiating attacks. They moved to evade blows, and snapped or tried to slash the enemies directly in their path, but mostly, they streamed by with single-minded determination, as if drawn inexorably in the direction of the Bone-eater's Well.

Sango, Inuyasha, Buffy, Miroku, and even Kagome exacted a heavy toll from the passing army of insect youkai, but some--too many--were slipping past.

"They're getting away!" Kagome said, despairingly, as the survivors from the first wave of wasp youkai disappeared on the southwest horizon. "What are we going to do?"

"I'll take care of them," Miroku said, grimly. He drove his staff butt-first into the soft dirt of the roadbed, and the chimes decorating the top rang like bells. He raised his cursed hand, and began to unwrap the rosary beads that sealed his Kazaana.

Then he raised his bared palm in the direction of the escaping youkai. Kagome saw them swept up in a whirlwind of dirt, twigs, leaves, fallen branches, and sucked inexorably into the void that Naraku's curse had created in Miroku's hand.

She knew that he if used the power of Kazaana too often, it would hasten the day when the void devoured him as well. But today, it couldn't be helped. And Kagome felt extremely grateful for its power.

Please, God, let Mama be safe. And Souta. And Grandpa. And Kaede...and everyone. Please keep the well sealed...

And then it happened. Kagome saw the first of the red-eyed insects swoop down just as Sango yelled: "Houshi-sama! Naraku's poison bees!"

Miroku said some very bad words. Words that she didn't think a priest ought to know. With frantic speed, he resealed the void, the beads clicking rapidly as he flung them around his wrist and fingers.

Drawing in those bees had made Miroku deathly ill in the past. And Naraku knew this, which is why he had sent them to escort the youkai swarm.

So, he really is behind the attacks on the well! Kagome thought.

Almost without thinking, she launched her next arrow at one of the hand-sized bees. It exploded in a shower of wet fragments, but there were a hundred more buzzing overhead.

Miroku gave an angry yell, and swung his staff. Another three bees fell onto the road, wings still twitching, but Kagome knew it was hopeless. Without the power of the Kazaana, even if they killed a thousand of the swarming youkai, a hundred would still slip past, and continue on to the Sunset Shrine...both here, and in the future.

But still, they had to try. And they did.

Pass after pass of Hiraikotsu's whirling destruction soon resulted in a thick carpet of dismembered youkai on the forest floor. Inuyasha's Kaze-no-Kizu cleared wide swathes through a sky dark with buzzing bodies, and Buffy and Miroku slaughtered mounds of marching youkai centipedes, millipedes, scorpions, caterpillars, spiders, and other things that Kagome didn't even want to identify.

And Kagome shot arrow after arrow, until her quiver was empty. Shippou emerged from his hiding place when it became apparent that the youkai weren't attacking, and darted in and out of the trees and undergrowth, gathering fallen arrows and returning them to her.

Kagome accepted them gratefully, reminded painfully of Souta's actions that dreadful afternoon...God, had it only been four days ago? It seemed a year had passed since then.

Draw, aim, release. The Band-Aids still on her fingertips protected them from reinjury, though they were still sore. And with every youkai she managed to injure or kill, one fewer would reach the Bone-eater's Well.

Finally, the swarm of insect youkai slowed to a trickle. Then they were gone.

Kagome lowered her bow at last, and looked around at her friends. The spaces around Buffy and Miroku were piled high with dead or dying insects.

And all around them, Kagome saw wings and carapaces hanging from branches like grotesque ornaments and littering the leaf-covered ground between the trees. The air was thick with the choking stink of burned bugs.

But a lot--over half the swarm--had escaped the slaughter, some simply bypassing Kagome and her friends.

She stared at the now-empty sky in blank horror. Kaede...Mama...Souta...Grandpa...What's going happen now?

"Come on," said a gruff voice. She lowered her gaze, and found Inuyasha standing in front of her. Tetsusaiga's energies flickered out like an extinguished lamp, and he resheathed his sword with a brisk gesture. "Let's go. It stinks here."

He strode off without looking to see if she was following.

Numbly, she gathered whatever arrows she could find, wiped bug guts off her bicycle seat with only a faint feeling of revulsion, and pushed off after the others.

* * *

They walked until the air smelled fresh again.

Then Miroku raised his hand, and everyone came to a halt, arranging themselves in a semi-circle on either side of him. "Kagome-sama, what shall we do now?"

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked. "We have to stop those demons from getting through the well!" Her hands tightened around her handlebars.

"Yes, yes," said Miroku. "But we have a choice to make. We can either turn back now, and try to catch the youkai who escaped before they reach the village, or we can continue on to Naraku's castle, and stop the next attack at its source. Which do you want to do?"

"I--I--" Kagome felt her stomach drop, as if someone had pushed her over a cliff. How could she abandon Kaede and the villagers to face the youkai attack on their own? But having come this far, could they really turn back now?

What had Buffy said, last night? The most important thing a Slayer--or a leader--can have is her friends.

And they were all friends here. She turned to her oldest friend, first. "What do you think, Inuyasha?" she asked.

He frowned. "If we go back now, that bastard Naraku will just disappear again. I say we find him and kill him."

She turned to Miroku next. "Houshi-sama?"

He sighed deeply and bowed his head. "Inuyasha has a point, but I fear for Kaede-sama and the villagers. If we used Kirara, we could return quickly, deal with the problem, and then find Naraku."

"Split our forces?" Inuyasha growled. "That's a dumb idea, monk. Plus, that old hag Kaede is tougher that you think."

"Don't. Please." Kagome put her hand on Inuyasha's sleeve. She couldn't bear it right now if things degenerated into an argument.

He glanced down at her, and subsided.

"Shippou-chan?"

The fox-cub looked away. "I don't know what you should do, Kagome. I'm just a kid!"

"Sango-chan?"

"I want to help the villagers, but Kirara can't carry all of us, and it would be dangerous to divide our forces," the youkai-taijya said, with downcast eyes. "Especially if we're going up against Naraku. He probably wants us to chase after his bait."

All those lives in the balance, and just bait to him.Kagome closed her eyes briefly. "Buffy?"

The American girl gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm with Inuyasha and Sango. We can't do both...and every hour we're delayed, there's a chance that the demons will find a way to break the seals on the other side of the well."

Kagome felt sick at the thought, and it must have shown on her face, because Buffy quickly added, in a reassuring tone: "Look, I'm sure it'll be okay. Koji's seals are the real thing. They'll hold the well until we manage to retrieve the Portal Key."

Now it was Kagome's turn. They were all looking at her expectantly now. What should she do? What should she say?

Either way, someone might get hurt. Someone might die.

Her chest felt tight, and it was suddenly hard to breathe.

Long-fingered hands tipped with gleaming claws settled on her shoulders, and she felt Inuyasha's breath warm against her hair. He didn't say anything, but his very presence at her back, strong and watchful, steadied her.

It was suddenly easier to think.

Kagome reached up, covered his hands with her own, and closed her eyes. One by one, she worked through all the possibilities that had been raised.

Rush back to save Kaede and the villagers, then face an unending stream of future attacks.

Rush ahead to find and destroy Naraku, and leave Kaede and the villagers to their fate.

Send Sango and perhaps Buffy back to the village on Kirara, and proceed to Naraku's castle without two of their strongest fighters.

Only one of these options promised any hope of victory.

She made her decision, hating it. "Let's follow where that swarm was coming from. We--we have to find and stop Naraku as soon as possible."

Everyone looked pleased, except for Miroku. But he didn't tell she was wrong, either.

Inuyasha slid his hands away, still without having said a word, and turned to go. Immediately missing the comfort of his touch, as if she were a small boat adrift on high seas and he her anchor, Kagome pushed her bike forward. It was done. She had made her first major decision as leader.

But as she walked along, she couldn't stop thinking. What if we can't find Naraku? What if we can't stop him? What if we return to the Sunset Shrine to find the village in ruins and everyone dead?

She had seen it happen before on her travels through this time. She knew what could happen.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Did I make the right choice?

* * *

Inuyasha was in a worse mood than usual when they broke for camp that evening.

The others had quickly returned to their usual rounds of riddle-games and rock-paper-scissors for the remainder of the afternoon's walk, but he found himself acutely sensitive to the misery radiating from Kagome. It was as dark as a demon's jyaki, and nearly as oppressive.

Not that she said anything. She simply pedaled along in silence. As if that could hide how she felt.

But it couldn't.

Not from him, anyway.

Shippou seemed to sense it, too, and he stayed close to her, riding in the basket of her bike, even though that usually made him feel sick to his stomach. Useless fox-brat. He even got seasick when crossing a lake!

But his presence seemed to cheer Kagome a little, and Inuyasha was--reluctantly--glad for it.

Inuyasha worked off some of his frustration hunting down dinner, returning with a large pheasant. Instead of being pleased at his prowess, however, both Buffy and Kagome recoiled when he appeared and threw it down at their feet.

"Ew!" said Buffy, wrinkling her nose. "What are we supposed to do with that?"

"Ungrateful!" he snarled, and snatched it up again. Didn't they know anything? Did all of their food come in crinkly packages?

He stalked away to pluck it, sneezing as bits of the downy underlayer drifted up and tickled his nose.

Sango appeared when he had finished removing most of the feathers, and in her practical way, pulled a narrow dagger from her sleeve and offered it to him. He finished dressing the bird, then returned to the others, displaying the cleaned, plucked, and now headless bird to Buffy and Kagome.

Occupied in pulling out various packages from Kagome's backpack, they didn't seem to notice.

The potato chips were gone, but at least there were still a few packages of that delicious dried-noodle-soup left, thought Inuyasha.

Now, if only Kagome would stop smelling so sour with unhappiness! It was ruining his appetite.

In short order, the pheasant had been rubbed with salt and spitted over the fire, and a kettle of water was heating over the coals.

His duty done for now, Inuyasha brushed away the feathers still clinging to his haori, and settled himself down to clean his sword properly. On the other side of the fire, Miroku was doing the same for the sharpened metal blade topping his staff. He passed Inuyasha a small flask of fine sand and an oiled cloth, and the two of them worked in silence, scouring away the remnants of the battle, until dinner was ready.

It was as unpleasant as Inuyasha had feared.

Even the delicious fresh meat turned stringy and gamy in his mouth as he noted that Kagome wasn't eating. She sat looking down at her plate with the same woebegone expression that she'd been wearing since noon, hunched over as if her stomach hurt.

Pain radiated from her, as strong and dark as demon's youki.

Dammit. He flexed his claws. He'd kill a hundred more centipede demons if it would make her feel better! But this useless brooding...he hated it. Hated feeling so helpless.

Buffy was watching Kagome, too, her green gaze sympathetic. As her gaze met Inuyasha's, he braced himself for what he knew she was going to say.

Talk to her? What the hell would I say? He knew he wasn't good with words. He found them useful on occasion, but threats and intimidation were more his style. Used properly, they served as a fine defense against rejection and loss.

But he had learned to treat them cautiously. Words could be slippery things, like the fish he caught with his bare hands. They could twist and wriggle, and, all-too-often, reveal things you wanted to hide. Kagome was especially good at that game. She could even pull secrets from his silences, so effective with everyone else.

He hated it. Hated that she could read him so easily now. Hated that he couldn't hide anything from her.

But Buffy didn't say anything to him, didn't give him the chance to argue himself out of his promise to her. She simply held his glance for a long moment--you know what you have to do, dog-boy--then looked down into her bowl, swirling long noodles into eddies of soup.

By the time dinner ended, he knew he had to at least try to--to talk to Kagome.

And if she got mad at him for saying the wrong thing, then at least he would have distracted her for a while. That might even be worth having her use that fucking "sit" command on him.

Buffy started briskly gathering up the used bowls. Kagome was still sitting with hers in her hands, the food untouched.

With a sigh, he rose and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, Kagome."

"What?" she asked, dully.

"Come with me. To...talk. I want to talk to you," he managed to force out.

If any of them laughed at him, friend or no, he was going to rip the smirks right off their faces.

But no one did. In fact, everyone--even that brat Shippou--was suddenly occupied with doing something. Anything.

It was almost worse than enduring knowing looks and smirks.

"Okay," she said, in the same lifeless tone, and followed him into the trees, away from the glow of firelight.

The moon hadn't risen yet, and it was dark under the trees. Inuyasha could see well enough by the faint starlight, but Kagome halted, uncertainly. She was probably completely blind.

He huffed a little, and looked around to make sure. No witnesses. He reached for her hand, ice-cold despite the mildness of the evening.

"I'll guide you," he said, softly.

She closed her fingers around his, trustingly, and his heart jumped, as always when she did something like this.

It's not that I'm in love with her, he told himself, as he pulled her gently along, steering her around rocks and fallen branches. It's just that she looks so scared. So alone.

He followed the faint sound of water until they emerged on the banks of a nearby stream, lined with huge tumbled boulders. The rocks were still warm from the sun, and Kagome let him guide her to one.

On impulse, he pulled off his haori and dropped it around her shoulders before lowering himself to sit next to her. The top of the oblong boulder he had chosen was just large enough for them to sit side-by-side, hips and legs pressed together through the thick layers of their clothing.

And now he had to...talk. His mind went blank. Shit. "Eh, Kagome..."

She turned to him. "Inuyasha, it'll be okay, won't it? I mean, Kaede is a miko. She's fought lots of demons before." Her tone was uncertain, pleading.

He nodded. "She has the gift of mystical arrows, even if they're not as strong as yours, Kagome."

"And she has the men of the village to back her up. Maybe they'll take care of the youkai who made it past us today..."

Inuyasha realized she was trying to convince herself. Was this what she'd been brooding about all day?

She was still talking, babbling almost: "...and maybe the seals on the well will hold, and I shouldn't be worrying about Mama, or Souta, or even Minamide-sensei."

She fell silent for a long moment. Inuyasha wondered whether this was the part where he was supposed to say...what?

He settled for leaning against her, just a little, so that their shoulders touched.

"But I don't know," she said, at last. "I don't know if I made the right decision. How will I know!"

"Is that what you're worrying about? Bakka," he chided her, a little hoarsely because something--maybe one of those damned pheasant feathers--seemed to be stuck in his throat. "When you only have a choice of bad things, how can you expect to choose a good one?"

She looked astonished, as if the possibility hadn't occurred to her. "But--"

Maybe this talking business isn't so hard, after all, he thought.

"Kagome, you did what you thought was right." He felt like he ought to say something else, and wished desperately for Miroku's glib tongue. That damned houshi always knew exactly what to say...especially when girls were involved. After a moment, he ventured: "I believe in you. No matter what happens."

"Thank you, Inuyasha."

She put her head on his shoulder, and he felt every muscle in his body tense. He wanted to take her in his arms...and at the same time, he desperately wanted to push her away. She was dangerous...she might hurt him...might betray him with a poisoned arrow and seal him away again...

She needed him. He exhaled, and surrendered, bending his head over hers, letting his cheek rest on her hair. She smelled nice, of fruit-scented shampoo and woodsmoke, and her own, unique, comforting scent.

She smells like home, he realized. Not any of the homes he had known before--however briefly--but simply...home.

He put his arm around her, and drew her close, so that he could feel her pulse against his skin, and fall into the rhythm of her breathing. He held her close, and thought of nothing in particular.

They sat that way for a long time, and bit by bit, he felt her frantic heartbeat slow to normal, and her breathing gentle. She was still troubled, but the acute sickness of spirit had eased.

Strangely enough, he felt better, too.

"Come on," he said, at last, reluctantly withdrawing his arm from her and getting to his feet.

He gave her a hand up, and somehow, neither of them wanted to let go, so they walked back to the camp palm-to-palm, their fingers entwined.

When she's in pain, I am, too.

He had faced a lot of scary opponents, seen a lot of bad things. Why did this realization terrify him the way that none of those other things had?