InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Buffy the Youkai Slayer ❯ Poison Pill ( Chapter 23 )

23. Poison Pill

Somewhere northeast of Edo, late 16th century Japan

It was still dark when the chime of Miroku's staff woke Buffy.

I've been having way too many early mornings on this trip, she thought, grumpily, as she sat up, blinking.

"Good morning, Buffy-sama!" Miroku was seated cross-legged next to the rekindled campfire, looking very pleased with himself. Kouga was sprawled full-length on the ground next to the monk, looking tired and sweaty.

And no wonder: a thirty-mile round-trip, with a full-grown man on his back!

"Morning is perhaps an exaggeration, houshi-sama." Sango was already up, and was returning from the stream, a full jug of water in her hand. Kneeling gracefully next to the fire, she refilled the kettle and set it to heat.

Rise and shine, thought Buffy, sourly, as she gave a tremendous yawn. She crawled out of her sleeping bag, and grabbing her clothing, she headed for the stream to wash her face and get changed out of her PJs.

"I'll wake the dog-turd," said Kouga, rolling to his feet. "He was supposed to be guarding this camp, not sleeping under a tree!"

He stalked over to the dark mound that was Inuyasha and the sleeping bag, sitting between the roots of the gnarled pine tree. "Hey, Inu-koro!"

Buffy heard Inuyasha's soft growl from the shadows, but--good boy!--he didn't move. Kagome was still asleep, then. She moved closer, watching Kouga closely.

"You lazy mutt!" Kouga drew back his foot, presumably to kick Inuyasha in the side. But before he could complete the motion, Buffy shot out her hand and caught one of Kouga's pointed Spock-ears between her fingers. She pulled on it, hard.

"I don't care what kind of manly contest you have going on with dog-boy," she said, with all the menace she could summon. "But if you hurt Kagome, I'm gonna cut off your tail."

He rolled his eyes at her. "I would never hurt--"

"Shit, Kouga. It's hurting her just to breathe right now." Buffy twisted his ear for emphasis, and heard air hiss between his teeth. He could have dismembered her in an instant, but taken by surprise--and the mention of Kagome--he simply stood there. "You do anything to Inuyasha while he's holding her, and I guarantee she's going to be in pain. And so are you. Understand?"

Kouga nodded, and she released him.

From his place on the ground, Inuyasha snickered nastily. Buffy leaned down, and grabbed his ear, too, for good measure. "Not. One. Word. Outta you, dog-boy. You heard what I said to him?"

Inuyasha gave slightest of nods, wincing as he did so.

"Good. Same goes for you. Now wake her up...gently."

She let go of his ear--which felt exactly like a dog's, warm and velvet-soft--and saw the flash of his pointed teeth in the firelight. "You don't have to tell me that, bitch."

* * *

Once everyone was up and gathered around the fire, Miroku shared his news. "We found the shrine, and spoke to the priest. Hayao-sama knew my master Mushin, and so agreed to allow us to open a portal on the grounds, once I swore that we were not doing this out of impure motives."

"Good," said Buffy, and Kagome, who was kneeling next to her, echoed her. She looked relieved.

"Kagome, if you only knew what I had to put up with," Kouga said, coming over and dropping to the ground, cross-legged.

The goofy lovesick look was back, noted Buffy.

Miroku nodded. "I have nothing but praise for Kouga-sama's graceful silence in the face of Hayao-sama's mistaken assumption."

"Oh, yeah?" Inuyasha said. "What, did he think you were a shining example of monkhood?"

"Er, no." Miroku had the grace to look somewhat embarrassed. "He did, however, praise my powerful spiritual abilities for having, um, bound a wolf-youkai to my service--"

Kouga made a sound deep in his throat, and Miroku added, hastily, "But I of course immediately corrected Hayao-sama and told him that Kouga-sama was an ally, not a servant--"

"And it's lucky you did, houshi," Kouga said. "The next time some lowly human makes that mistake, I'll have them for dinner."

"You--you wouldn't really do that, would you Kouga-kun? Eat people?" Kagome asked, softly.

Buffy saw her big brown eyes grow even bigger, and her hand reach out to clasp his. Oh yeah, she definitely knows how to play him.

"Well, er, of course not," he sputtered. "But I'm the leader of the Yourouzoku--what if someone finds out that I let a mere human get away with calling me a--a pet!"

Kagome smiled sweetly. "They'd think you were humoring an old man, Kouga-kun, and respect you for your good manners."

"Kagome, I..." The wolf prince looked down at their joined hands, clearly embarrassed.

Inuyasha was narrow-eyed and clearly displeased that Kouga was moving in on his girl, yet again. But he surprised Buffy by not confronting Kouga directly about it.

Instead, he dug in Kagome's pack. "Here," he said, brusquely, tossing something small and pale in Buffy's direction. "Isn't it time for Kagome's medicine?"

She caught it automatically, and recognized it as the Panadol bottle. It was alarmingly empty. She squinted at the hole punched in the side. Crap.I don't suppose the rest of the tablets fell out because Inuyasha couldn't deal with the child-proof cap?

But she knew that she couldn't blame the dog-boy for this one. She had seen Kagome popping these more often than she should have yesterday--not surprising, considering how much pain she was in.

Worried now, she rattled the bottle, trying to estimate how many tablets were left. How many had Kagome taken over the last twenty-four hours? This container had been nearly full two nights ago.

Kagome distentangled herself from Kouga's grip, and reached out her hand. "If you please, Buffy."

Buffy's hand closed around the plastic container. "How many of these did you take last night?"

Kagome blinked. "I don't know...maybe two before I went to sleep?"

Okay, so she hadn't had any in at least seven hours. That was good. That also meant she was probably in quite bit of pain now. Buffy sighed. "How about yesterday? Do you remember how many of these you took yesterday?"

Kagome shook her head. "Just--whenever it starting hurting too much," she confessed in a low voice. "Please, Buffy. It hurts now."

"I know it does," Buffy said, as gently as she could. "More than eight tablets, Kagome?"

"I--I think so. Maybe."

Which meant yes, definitely. "Then I can't let you take any more of these today."

Suddenly, Inuyasha was standing right there, his hand wrapped painfully around Buffy's wrist, his claws digging into the sensitive skin of her forearm. "What do you mean, bitch?" He glared down at her, his voice low, menacing. "Kagome is in pain. Give her the fucking medicine!"

"I mean what I said. No more pills," Buffy said, looking him straight in the eye. She knew better than to try and pull away. "They're poisonous in large quantities...I don't know exactly how many Kagome"s taken since we left Naraku's castle, but I'm sure it was more than is safe. Doesn't she seem really out of it to you!"

Inuyasha released her, and Buffy rubbed her stinging arm resentfully. She looked down and saw five small, bleeding half-moons on the inside of her wrist.

His gaze went to Kagome. "I--I thought it was just because she had broken bones."

"Kagome, does your stomach hurt? Have you thrown up at all?" asked Buffy, urgently.

Kagome shook her head.

"Have you noticed any other symptoms of poisoning--tingling, headache, bad taste in your mouth, anything unusual at all?" Buffy was struggling to remember all the symptoms she could, unsure of what happened when you overdosed on this type of painkiller.

"Nothing," said Kagome. "I'm fine, Buffy-chan. Really."

Kouga took the opportunity to sniff deeply at her nape. Kagome gasped in surprise as he buried his face in her hair, then whimpered as the sudden inhalation jarred her broken ribs.

"She doesn't smell poisoned to me," Kouga said, doubtfully. "In fact, the only bad thing I smell is your stink, Inu-koro. What the hell have you been doing--drooling on her?"

Nose wrinkling, he leaned in Kagome's direction again, only to come up short when Inuyasha grabbed his ponytail.

"Enough, you wimpy wolf. Or is your nose really that weak?" Inuyasha pulled hard on the hank of hair, forcing Kouga to expose his thoat. Buffy saw the fingers of Inuyasha's other hand flexing, the long talons gilded by the firelight.

"That's enough, boys." Buffy warned. She glanced over at Sango, who quickly and meaningfully hefted Hiraikotsu.

"Inuyasha, please," Kagome said, softly.

Inuyasha's mouth twisted, but he opened his fist and released the wolf-prince's ponytail, sending Kouga sprawling in the dirt.

Buffy let out a breath of relief. Another youkai death-match, averted. "I'm glad to hear Kagome smells okay, but I still think she shouldn't take any more of those pills until tomorrow, at least. In fact, I want to take her to an emergency room as soon as we get back to Tokyo." At the questioning looks she received, she clarified: "To see a physician, and make sure she isn't bleeding internally."

Inuyasha nodded. "That's a good--"

"No!" Kagome interrupted, her eyes suddenly blazing. "Not until I know my family is safe, and that Naraku won't--won't come through the well."

"But Kagome--" Buffy and Inuyasha began to protest simultaneously.

"I said, no." Kagome glared at each member of the party in turn. No one--not even Inuyasha--contradicted her this time.

"Okay, it's your family, and so I guess it's your call, but for the record , you're not in any kind of shape to fight Naraku today." Buffy said, tucking the remaining pills into the front pocket of her jeans.

Kagome's lips thinned as she saw the Panadol disappear into Buffy's possession, but she didn't protest.

"Buffy-chan is right," Sango said. "You're badly hurt, Kagome-chan."

"You are truly courageous, but please don't put yourself in the way of harm," Kouga said. He had regained his seat and was once more a lot closer to Kagome that Inuyasha liked, judging from the frown on the dog-boy's face. "I can fight for you--in fact, it's my duty to fight for my woman."

"For the last time, she's not your fucking woman! Are all the wolves as dense as you?" Inuyasha demanded.

Kagome didn't move away from Kouga, but her words were for Inuyasha. "I promise I'll go to the doctor as soon as this is over. Mama will probably want to take me to the hospital, anyway."

Inuyasha glanced up at the sky. It was still dark and starry, though the first hint of gray was showing to the east. "Well, then, why are we wasting time? Let's eat and get to that shrine!"

"We should leave everything behind that we don't need today," Buffy said, crisply. "Inuyasha, why don't you cache Kagome's bike and mine, along with the sleeping bags, up in a tree somewhere. That way, you can come back for the stuff later, and no one will steal in the meantime."

"And just when did you start giving orders again?" inquired Inuyasha.

Buffy blinked. Well, that had sounded a little bossier than she intended. "Um...I was just making a suggestion. Sorry."

Her apology seemed to take Inuyasha by surprise. He thought about it for a few moments. "Eh, it's a pretty good idea. But don't let it get to your head."

* * *

After some further discussion, they decided that Inuyasha would carry Miroku on his back this time. Kouga volunteered to carry Buffy, saying she had to weigh less than the monk did. Buffy noticed him blushing a little as he offered--it was kinda sweet, but she wondered what he was really thinking. Kirara would carry Kagome, Sango, and Shippou, plus Buffy's backpack and the food.

There was only enough ramen left for one more meal, anyway.

They ate a hasty breakfast, then packed up and prepared for the day's travels. Inuyasha stashed the bikes and everything except Buffy's backpack and the food in the top of the gnarled pine tree.

Buffy kept a close eye on Kagome as they worked. She looked better than she had yesterday--the worst of the dark circles had disappeared from around her eyes--but she was still in a lot of pain and moving as little as possible. She apologized profusely for not helping with cooking, dishwashing, or packing, but it didn't take much convincing for her to simply stay put while the rest of them took care of business.

It looked like a day without Panadol might be possible...until Kagome tried, and failed, to climb on Kirara's back. Inuyasha was instantly at her side, his hands on her hips, ready to hoist her up, but Kagome made a sound of protest, and he jumped back as if he'd been burned.

He cast a helpless glance in Buffy's direction. Sango, who was already seated on Kirara's back, straightened up, and shook her head. No go.

"It's going to be a hell of a day for her," Buffy muttered. "God, what I wouldn't give for some Vicodin about now!"

"Buffy-sama?" Miroku's quiet voice startled her. He took Buffy's elbow and steered her to one side. She kept an eye on his evil hand, but for once, his focus wasn't on groping her. "I was wondering--do you really think Kagome-sama is able to travel?"

"I know she wants to," Buffy said, looking at the frustration on Kagome's face. "But yesterday was more than she could handle, and that was with the tablets. Today..." She sighed. "I just don't know, houshi-sama. If it was my family, I'd do anything to get to them in time, but...I'm worried about her."

"We all are." The monk bowed his head. "Kagome-sama has the strongest spirit and the kindest heart of us all. It distresses me to see her like this."

"But what can we do? We have to keep going. We don't have a choice."

"There is...something." Miroku sounded reluctant. "A spell I could try."

"Is it dangerous?" Inuyasha demanded, having appeared next to them in that uncanny way of his.

"Not particularly. It would just put Kagome-sama to sleep for a while."

"So, what's the problem?"

Miroku sighed. "It might not work on someone with Kagome's powers. She is the reincarnation of a powerful miko, after all."

Well, it sounded better than any of their other options right now, thought Buffy. She saw agreement in Inuyasha's golden eyes, and said: "Let's ask her. A mystical sleep is probably better than risking more Panadol."

* * *

"Are you sure you'll wake me up when it's time to go through the portal?" Kagome asked, for the fourth time, as Miroku swirled his brush over the wet surface of his ink cake.

"Will you stop asking that, dammit?" Inuysha snapped at her. "I promised I would, didn't I? You think I'm lying, or something?"

They were in position for Miroku to work his spell--Kagome kneeling in front of the monk, Buffy and Inuyasha spotting her on either side, ready to catch her when the magic took effect. Despite the dog-boy's peevish tone, Buffy saw that his hand was cupping Kagome's elbow, the gesture hidden from the others by the generous sweep of his wide sleeve.

Buffy gave Inuyasha a dirty look, and said, soothingly, to Kagome: "There's still plenty of rubbing alcohol left in your first-aid kit--as soon as we get there, I'll use it to remove the symbols from your forehead, and...poof! You're awake!"

"Promise me," insisted Kagome.

"I promise," said Buffy.

Inuyasha sighed loudly. "Are you happy now?" Buffy felt like kicking him.

"Are you ready, Kagome-sama?" Miroku raised the brush. "Close your eyes."

Kagome obeyed, tilting her face up so that he could begin painting the spell on her forehead.

Miroku closed his eyes as well, taking three deep breaths before he began. Then he touched his brush to Kagome's forehead, drawing the symbols of the incantation with swift, sure strokes as he murmured in a soft, hypnotic tone. The prickle of pure power emanating from him raised gooseflesh on Buffy's arms and along her spine. Miroku's the real thing, all right.

Kagome swayed a little as Miroku lifted his brush and refreshed it on the ink cake. The sensation of raw power returned, stronger this time, almost electric.

Miroku began writing again.

There was a sudden, soundless rush of energy. Before Buffy could react, a comet of rose-colored light sent the monk flying backwards.

In a flash, Buffy was on her feet. Three steps, and she was crouching at Miroku's side. "You okay?"

He opened his large, dark eyes and gave her a piteous look. "I should have known. Kagome-sama is indeed powerful."

Kagome began to crumple, and Inuyasha caught her.

"Miroku-sama!" she called, weakly. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

Buffy felt something skim over her thigh, and come to rest on her left buttock. She slapped Miroku's stealthy hand away, calling: "Don't worry about him, Kagome. All you did was knock him on his ass." She frowned down at his prone figure. "Pervert."

He smiled at Buffy with a conspicuous lack of shame. Then, a bit ruefully, he rubbed the back of his head. "Ouch. Those rocks are certainly quite hard."

"I'm so sorry!" Kagome repeated. "Really, I am! I won't do that again."

He rose to his feet. "No apologies needed. Only, this time, please, try not to fight me. When my power touches yours, submit to it. Trust in me!"

Inuyasha gave an inelegant snort at that last statement.

Miroku found his brush, rinsed off the dirt and pine needles stuck to it, then loaded it with ink once again.

This time, he got all the way through the spell. As he finished the final squiggle, just over Kagome's left eyebrow, she began to fall forward in slow motion.

Buffy started to catch her, but an instant later, Inuyasha had scooped the unconscious girl up in his arms.

"Careful," said Buffy to him. "She can't feel anything right now, but if her broken ribs splinter, they could poke a hole in her lung. Or her spleen." Where the heck was the spleen, anyway?

"Or something," she finished lamely.

Inuyasha was already walking away from her with rapid strides.

"Now we can finally leave," he grumped to Sango, placing Kagome on Kirara's back as carefully as if she were a blown-glass figurine.

* * *

Having Kouga carry her to Chichibu-jinja had seemed like a good idea at the time, Buffy thought, grumpily, a couple of hours later as the tall, red-painted gate of the shrine came into view.

In reality, she might've been better off jogging alongside the wolf-prince. Her chest and stomach were bruised from banging against his armor, her neck and back were stiff from holding herself upright and trying not to throw off his balance, and he smelled---rather strongly at this point--of, well, sweaty wolf.

As did she.

Phew. Wonder how long it'll be before they invent deodorant? she asked herself when he finally let her down in the middle of a large courtyard surrounded by tile-roofed buildings. It would be very, very nice to return to her own time, and take a long, hot bath. With lots of bubbles.

She took a step on rubbery legs. "Um, thank you, Kouga-kun."

"Anything for a friend of Kagome," he said, stretching. She could hear his joints popping as he did so. "Don't mention it!"

She wouldn't, she decided. Riding wolf-back--even a wolf as cute as Kouga--had nothing on riding a nice, smooth, non-smelly train.

* * *

The rest of the group was close behind them. Inuyasha had just lifted Kagome's limp body from Kirara's back when an old man wearing a white shirt and wide-legged dark trousers emerged from one of the buildings.

"Hayao-sama!" Miroku called, bowing deeply.

Hayao returned the bow, looking very dignified. The he caught sight of Kagome and rushed over to her, practically shouldering aside Inuyasha to cluck over her unconscious form.

"Miroku-sama, you and your friends will be rewarded by Heaven for all that you're doing to return this poor, injured girl to her family. I cannot recall a time when youkai--" he gave Inuyasha's ears an appraising glance as he said this. "Stooped to help a human. She must be very special!"

Miroku nodded. "Indeed. She is the only one who can purify the polluted shards of the Shikon no Tama."

"Oh, indeed!" Hayao pursed his lips, looking very impressed. "Well, let me fetch some water for her."

He bustled off.

Inuyasha threw Miroku a dirty look. "You told that old man that using his shrine to open a portal was about bringing Kagome to the hospital?"

Miroku shrugged, looking innocent. "A half-truth isn't the same thing as lying," he protested.

"Keh."

To be continued...