InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Daughter of the West ❯ A New Lead ( Chapter 8 )

[A/N: Well, it seems the problem with my reviews on Media Miner has been straightened out. Anyway, over the holidays the updates will either take a little longer or come a little faster (depending on how much time I have) so make this one last just in case. I've also been working on a Mir/San fic called 'To Know You Once Again'. If you wanna check it out, it's at www.anzwers.org/free/msfics/fics3.htm. If you read that one, please enjoy it. Anyway, please remember to read and review!]

Daughter of the West

Chapter 8: A New Lead

The group walked along a dusty path, heading for the nearest small village. Inu-Yasha, of course, was in front, a very angry expression coating his face. Aikina was not far behind, walking with her mother, the same arrogant, angry look. They were both muttering things about each other, and although they were barely audible, Kagome had to take Shippô as far away as she could from the cursing and muttering, although it was only across the wide dirt road.

"Jeeze, you'd think those two would be over by now," Kagome mumbled to Sango. She nodded simply and pet Kirara, who was sitting on her shoulder. After a few moments, they turned when they heard Miroku give a anxious groan. Kagome looked at him curiously. "Miroku?" she asked.

He groaned again. "You don't think we'll see Usagi any time soon, do you?" he asked. Sango laughed a bit. "Why? I thought you liked her?" she asked. Miroku gave a small grimace. "Are you crazy? Gods, she a redneck!" he yelled. Kagome sighed. "And this is what I get for telling him Jeff Foxworthy jokes," she groaned. Miroku glared at her, as if he wanted to prove a point. "When she wears a dress that's sleeveless and a bra that isn't, she a redneck. Case closed." Both girls sighed.

They continued on walking for a while, when they came across a young woman, walking along the side of the road. She was dressed modestly, wearing a simple blue yukata and a white apron, carrying a basket in her arms. Inu-Yasha glanced over at her, and when the two made eye contact, she dropped her basket. Her mouth gaped open, and she quickly covered her mouth. She took a few, frightened steps backward.

"Leave my village be!" she shrieked, "You've already done enough damage!" She took a few more terrified steps back, turned, and ran off. Inu-Yasha, with a confused look on his face, looked over at Kagome. "Well, that was odd," he said. Kagome nodded slightly, although her attention was soon turned to Aikina, who was sniffing the air.

"Aikina?" Kimi asked. Aikina didn't answer for a moment. "I can't pin it," she said, "But I know this scent from…somewhere. It's different, but, it's so familiar." Inu-Yasha did the same as she had, and immediately recognized the scent. It was Sesshomaru's, no doubt about that. As Inu-Yasha thought this, an instinctive snarl formed on his lips.

"Inu-Yasha?" Kagome asked. Kimi looked as though she were about to have a heart attack, but as she tried to hide it, she looked even more conspicuous. "Mama, are you alright?" Aikina asked. "Huh? Oh! Yes, of course. I'm fine," she replied shakily, her thoughts apparently drifting. Kagome could tell exactly what she was thinking. She could smell Sesshomaru as well, and she must be itching top see him again. She also knew that Inu-Yasha was convinced that Kimi was in for a big disappointment, but was humoring her anyway.

"C'mon," Kagome said, breaking a long silence, "We should get to the inn. It's getting kinda dark." Inu-Yasha nodded slightly, and they kept on going. A little longer down the road, and after scaring off another villager for reasons unknown, they reached the gates of the tiny town.

They could see a small inn just down the road, but it looked mostly empty. Most of the people were dressed in mourning, as if a great battle had been terribly lost. They started to trek down the bricked road, and as they did so, people cowered and hid in alleys or behind boxes.

"I wonder what crawled up all their asses," Inu-Yasha muttered. The people seemed to be even more frightened when Aikina scowled at them, and one of them called out "The crescent moon!" All of them were confused by the villagers' actions, but they kept going.

When they reached the inn and walked up to the door, Miroku tapped on the door. A few moments later, a timid looking young woman opened the door.

"How may I help you, good sir monk?" she asked, her voice racked with shivers. "I sense a dark cloud over your inn. It would be my pleasure to exorcise the building, for room and board, perhaps?" he replied. The young girl looked around for a moment. "I'd…ha-have to…ask the master," she said, seemingly shaking. She shut the door, and a few moments later, an older man opened the door.

"You may come in, and you'll have your rooms. You must leave in the morn, however. We are hosting a funeral," he said in a firm, cold voice. Without waiting for their reply, the man led them inside. As he walked them down the hall, the young woman from before, her face stained with tears, ran up and stopped Inu-Yasha.

"Why are you here?" she demanded, "Why do you still plague us? Have you not done enough to our village?" Inu-Yasha looked down at her strangely. "Ayumi! Stop this nonsense!" the older man growled. The girl dubbed as Ayumi grabbed onto Inu-Yasha's sleeves. "Have you not tormented my village enough? Our entire defense! How dare you act so innocent!" she shrieked. Inu-Yasha pushed her away.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded. The older innkeeper pulled her to his side. "I am sorry, she is still in shock. Many of our men died in a battle three days ago," he said. She ripped herself away from the man. "No!" she yelled at Inu-Yasha, "You were the one! The one with the silver hair! You killed them! All of them!" The girl fell to her knees, now sobbing her eyes out. Aikina looked at her strangely. "Looney," she spat.

The girl looked up and shook with fear. "The demon…had a mark. A crescent mark, just like yours!" she yelled. A shocked expression crossed her face, but an even more disturbed look was plastered on Kimi. Her heart was aching. Her jaws had a firm grip on her lower lip.

"Sesshomaru," she thought, "Does this mean that you still live?" Kimi licked the small amount of blood off of her sore lips and walked over to the girl. She kneeled down in front of her and let her cry into her shoulder for a moment. When they parted, she gave the girl a soothing smile. "May I apologize," she started, "And give my deepest sympathies to you and everyone else who lost someone on behalf of this demon."

Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Inu-Yasha all realized what she was doing. However, Aikina and Shippô were very confused by this gesture. At the same time, Kimi and Ayumi stood up. Ayumi wiped away her tears and spoke, "Come, let me show you to your rooms." She led them down the rest of the hallway, and they gladly followed.

A few hours after being shown to their rooms, Sango and Kagome were all thinking of ways to get Sesshomaru and Kimi together. A few moments of silence went by, and Kagome stood up, a towel and bar of soap under her arm. "Well, I'm going to take a bath, anyone else interested?" she asked. Sango's eyes quickly opened. She cracked all ten of her knuckles and stood.

"Oh, sure," she yawned, "That should be relaxing." Kimi looked up at them. "I think I shall join you as well," she said, "Aikina, will you join us?" Aikina sighed. "No, go on with out me. I'm going to get some well-needed sleep," she said. After hearing Aikina's reply, the girls went off to the bathhouse.

When they entered the room, there was only a large, full tub in the center. There was little else in the room, so they made themselves at home. Kagome ran her hand through the water.

"How is it?" Kimi asked, undoing the belt around her yukata. "It's okay," Kagome replied. She noticed that Kimi still had a slightly worried look on her face. "Are you alright?" she asked. Kimi snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her. "Oh, yes. I'm fine," she replied simply. Kagome sighed. She could tell that Kimi was lying, but she just couldn't come up with a way to say it.

"We know your lying," Sango finally blurted out. Kimi looked up as she slid into the tub and sighed. "Is it that obvious?" she asked. Kagome nodded. Kimi leaned back and sighed as Kagome undressed and slid into the warm water. "I just don't know," she said.

"Don't know about what?" Kagome and Sango asked in unison. Kimi smiled a bit. "I just don't know what I'll say to him. I haven't seen him in so long. And Aikina! Sesshomaru doesn't even know he has a daughter, and I don't think she'd like the idea much, either."

Sango slipped as she got into the tub in shock. "What?" she asked bluntly. Kagome stared blankly, her mouth wide open. "You mean to tell me he doesn't even know about Aikina?" she asked.

"Sadly, he doesn't," Kimi replied. Sango leaned back. "Wow," she said. "Well, I guess that would explain why he never came looking for you," Kagome said. Kimi sighed again. "I guess it would," she replied. Then Kagome got to thinking. "Well, if he did attack those soldiers, then he shouldn't be too far off," she started, watching the grins on Kimi and Sango's faces grow, "If we can somehow get him to come to us…"