InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Daybreak ❯ Misunderstandings ( Chapter 16 )

A/N: `Allo again, my lovelies. Thanks so much for being patient with me.

 

Laur- Aww…! Thank you. You write the nicest things! And yes, I do like to be a little evil with the cliff hangers. Mwahaha…

Angel at Risk- Thank you thank you! Your comments always make me smile! :D

Lunabell- I love the cat sprouting wings image! Made me laugh! As for the Kikyou thing, we'll just have to wait and see! ;)

Silver Dog of the Snow- I DID miss you! Glad to see your back. Congrats on the fishie! …you're not planning to nibble on it, are you?

Sarah- Thank you! I'm so glad you like the story! Thanks for your lovely email!

 

Thanks to everyone for reading!

 

Don't own Inuyasha.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 16- Misunderstandings

 

 

“Well?” barked Inuyasha.

 

Miroku shook his head as he approached the hanyou and the rest of his companions who were waiting patiently outside the village.

 

“I'm afraid not. The castle on the hill is far from being abandoned. Even before I inquired the villagers about it, I could see several guards stationed around the castle walls.” The monk tried to smile as he held up a big sack in each hand. “At least we managed to replenish all our supplies!” he said proudly.

 

“Shit,” cursed the half demon as he began to walk away to the path from which they came. Miroku, Sango and Shippou looked at each other and sighed before wearily following after their leader. About twenty yards away from the village entrance, Inuyasha came to a stop and folded his arms.

 

“Oi, Hachi!” he shouted in no particular direction. Big, round eyes timidly poked out behind a wide tree trunk to the left of the hanyou.

 

“Oh, Inuyasha-sama and Miroku-sama, you and your companions have returned!” stuttered the racoon nervously. Inuyasha made no acknowledgement of the tanuki's mumblings.

 

“There ain't anything here,” he said sharply. “We're moving onto the next castle.”

 

Hachi bowed deeply, obviously uneasy by Inuyasha's tone. “Yessir! Right away!” He quickly transformed into the group's usual flying yellow transporter.

 

“Houshi-sama, this is the fifth castle today! I don't think the ruins will be in populated areas such as this village,” whispered Sango.

 

Miroku nodded in agreement as he kept an eye on their hanyou friend loading Hachi's back with the supplies. “Yes, but our only clue is that the ruins lie somewhere to the west, so we must be thorough. And it's been fifty years since Housenki threw away the pearl. That's definitely long enough for humans to rebuild a castle over some destroyed remains.”

 

“That's why we're checking even the active castles?” asked Shippou who was hanging over Sango's shoulder.

 

“Oi! You guys done complaining yet?!” shouted Inuyasha. The three of them jumped and quickly scrambled onto Hachi's back. Inuyasha merely looked at them out of the corner of his eye and sniffed as they rose into the air.

 

 

*****

 

 

“Jaken-sama! Look!” cried Rin as she bounded around the field. She stopped to pick a flower and proudly turned around to show her companion. “Isn't this the prettiest flower in the field?”

 

“Hm! It just looks like all the others around,” grumbled the little youkai. He had his head rested against the two headed dragon who was lightly dozing in the warm sun, enjoying the fragrance of the wild flowers.

 

“But this is the most special flower out of all of them!” said the girl. She happily spread her arms gesturing to the rest of the flowers that clearly dimmed in comparison to her chosen one.

 

Jaken closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “Really! What makes that flower so special compared to the others?” He was rudely startled when the girl thrust the flower in front of his face.

 

“Look! It has two colours! Yellow and white!”

 

Jaken blinked a couple of times before finally giving in and looking at it. Sure enough, the petals were decorated with swirls and thin stripes of yellow and white.

 

“So it has two colours. So what?” he snapped.

 

“Because! The field is full of either yellow or white flowers but this is the only one that is both yellow and white! It's all alone, but it's still the best and most prettiest flower of all of them!”

 

Jaken looked at the little girl inquisitively and sighed again.

 

“Jaken-sama, you're sighing a lot lately,” said Rin.

 

Jaken hung his head and whined. “I'm just sick of all this sitting around. It's so boring!” Suddenly he stood up, fists raised and shouted into the sky. “It's just not fair! When will it be time for me to assist Sesshoumaru-sama like the old days?!”

 

“Jaken-sama, you're crying again.”

 

“I'm not crying!” sobbed Jaken as he furiously wiped his eyes.

 

A flicker of red suddenly caught Rin's eye. She looked over to the trees lining the field. A flicker of white this time. The little girl continued to watch the moving red and white until it passed a break in the bushes.

 

A girl emerged dressed in priestess robes.

 

“Jaken-sama look!” said Rin as she watched the miko in the forest.

 

“What is it? You have another flower to show me?” he grumbled, still wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

 

“No, isn't that Kagome-Oneechan?” she asked as she began to run towards the trees.

 

“Wait! Rin!” shouted Jaken as he watched the girl run off on her own. Grumbling, he quickly got up to run after her. However, he stopped, turned to the two headed dragon and told it to `stay' before he continued after Rin.

 

 

*****

 

The inu-hanyou grumbled to himself as they finished their inspection of yet another run down building on a clear piece of land.

 

“This one's too fresh!” he complained. His nose twitched again as he sampled the air around. “The wood doesn't smell musky enough.”

 

“I see,” said Sango quietly. “Now that I get a good look at it, it doesn't seem to have the decomposition of fifty years…”

 

Miroku nodded his head. “Judging by the signs of destruction, this one was done by bandits. What do you think? A few months ago?”

 

“Two months,” snapped Inuyasha as he turned away from the site. “What does it matter anyway? It's not the one so why are we still standing around?”

 

Sango looked at Miroku for a second.

 

“Inuyasha, don't you think it's time we have a break?”

 

Inuyasha swung around to glare at them beneath his bangs. His voice was dangerously low. “What'd you say?”

 

“A break, Inuyasha,” said Miroku strongly. “It's sorely needed. We've been going since sunrise and already the sun is setting!”

 

“Keh! You kiddin'? You just had a break! Human's really are pathetic!”

 

“But I'm tired too,” whined Shippou. Tears suddenly began to pool around the corners of his eyes. “WAAHAAAAAAAAAAH! I MISS KAGOME!!”

 

“You're a youkai! Crying about it won't help! Where's your pride?!” shouted Inuyasha as the fox's crying turned to sniffs.

 

“Keh! Fine!” he sniffed and began to walk away. “You take your little break. I'll check out the surrounding forests and do something useful.”

 

He came to a stop.

 

It couldn't be… surely not…

 

He sniffed the air again, leaning in closer to the tree at his side. It was a little faint, but it was there on the bark! There was no mistaking it! He spun his head in the direction of the scent's trail.

 

“Inuyasha, what is it?” asked Miroku behind him.

 

“I smell her!” he shouted back as he leapt off into the forest, leaving his friends bewildered.

 

Kagome! He was going to find her this time and force her to come back! Even if she kicked and screamed. Did she really think him weak enough to get beaten by Onigumo twice? There was no way in hell that would happen again and he was going to make sure she knew it! He was going to make her sorry for doubting him and then he was going to take her home where she would be safe while he hunted down that fucking Onigumo! Inuyasha bounded through the foliage with an elated sense of urgency.

 

That was when light traces of two other familiar scents hit his nose.

 

*****

 

 

Kagome carefully scanned the forest around her before stepping over a twisted tree root to continue on her path as quietly as possible. Although today had gone smoothly, she had felt on edge for a little while now.

 

She and Kagura had been scouring the surrounding area for any sign of possible ruins all morning until they arrived at this quaint forest. Kagura had left her by some tall twisted tree, asking her human companion to do a thorough search of the area after seeing some sort of derelict structure from the sky. The wind youkai said she would meanwhile investigate the surrounding mountain ranges not too far from the forest.

 

Kagome was surprised when the wind youkai had asked her if she would be alright on her own. Kagura had her back turned when she said this, of course, and used a very uncaring voice as she spoke, but still, she had asked. Taken aback by the sudden sign of concern, Kagome had stammered she would be fine on her own and bade goodbye to her partner.

 

Kagome had then taken off in the direction of where she thought the old building was. After realising the ruins were nothing but a burnt out building (probably the work of some bandits), Kagome had rewarded herself with nice long soak in a nearby hot spring. All in all, it had been uneventful. At least the hot springs had helped take away some of the tension in her body. Only, the dull throb in her chest she had been feeling for a while still remained.

 

`I just wish I had brought my towel with me,' she thought, running a hand through her wet locks. At least they would be dry in a few hours. And it had been nice to get some time alone. Kagome frowned. Come to think of it, she was really surprised she was actually left on her own for a while. Wasn't Kagura or Naraku concerned she would try to escape?

 

Kagome mentally slapped herself. Of course not. How could she forget? Naraku knew exactly what he was doing. And he knew she would never try to run away from fear of Onigumo attacking Inuyasha again. How the heck did that guy get so strong anyway?!

 

She took another few steps over the tree roots when a small voice caused her to spin around.

 

“Kagome-Oneechan?”

 

“Rin-chan!” gasped Kagome as she watched the little girl happily approach her. “What are doing here?”

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama went off on his own and told Rin to stay with Jaken-sama and Ah-Un so we were picking flowers in the meadow and there was this beautiful flower that had two colours and I think it was the prettiest flower I've ever seen but Jaken-sama didn't think it was that great but then he's always a little grumpy!”

 

Kagome smiled weakly, already a little exhausted from the girl's energy. “It's good to see you're still so exuberant!”

 

“Rin! How many times must I tell you not to run off like that!” panted Jaken as he finally caught up to the two girls. “What do you think Sesshoumaru-sama will do to me if something happened to you?!”

 

“Jaken-sama! Look! It's Kagome-Oneechan!” cried Rin happily. “I told you it was, didn't I?”

 

Jaken narrowed his eyes at the girl. “Huh! It's the half-breed's wench is it?”

 

“Nice to see you too, you little imp!” said Kagome dryly as she crossed her arms.

 

“Why you-!” shouted Jaken, waving his staff around furiously. “I'm not an imp and I don't like that tone of yours! If Rin wasn't here I'd-!”

 

“Oh! Is Sesshoumaru-sama's little brother here with you?” interrupted Rin cheerfully.

 

Kagome's face suddenly fell as she was reminded of reality; seeing Rin had made her temporarily forget everything that had happened. Kagome turned away slightly, avoiding the curious looks of the two before her.

 

“Rin-chan, you shouldn't be here. It's not a good idea for you to be near me right now.”

 

Kagome could feel the confusion radiating off the girl. “Why?”

 

The young miko struggled to find the words. “It's just… a lot of things are going on right now. I would hate for you to get caught up in them because of me.” She smiled to herself. “I don't think Sesshoumaru would like that either.”

 

“Hm! In that case we should leave! Come on, Rin!” shouted Jaken as he turned to go. The little human just kept staring at the older girl.

 

“But why-?” she asked quietly. “You look sad…”

 

Kagome's heart clenched at those words. She tried to smile and shook her head lightly.

 

“It's nothing. Don't worry about me. But you should keep away from me for now.”

 

“Rin, let's go!” said Jaken impatiently.

 

Rin kept looking sadly at Kagome, unsure of what to do. She looked down at the item in her hand and suddenly held it out.

 

“For you,” she said, holding out the flower. “I hope you feel better soon!”

 

Kagome looked down at the offering, surprised by the notion. She warmly smiled and picked it up. “Thank you.”

 

Rin smiled before bowing and running ahead of her youkai companion. “Come on, Jaken-sama! I'll beat you to the field!”

 

“Hold on, Rin! It's not a race!” cried Jaken as he madly ran after her. Despite his words, he clearly felt some competitive drive to make him run.

 

Kagome smiled as she watched them run off and looked down at the flower in her fingers a she continued on her way. Rin was right when she said it was pretty. The usually white petals seemed decorated with splashes and swirls of a faint yellow making it look exotically unique. Two species combined into one beautiful thing. Probably the only one of its kind.

 

Why did that remind her of-?

 

Kagome was surprised she had to wipe her eyes as sudden tears threatened to fall. How could one little gesture of kindness make her want to bawl her eyes out?

 

 

*****

 

 

Sesshoumaru lazily looked around the spacious forest floor. Again, there was no sign of Naraku. Not even a trace of his scent. He had thought he had smelt something similar to the pathetic half demon, but realised it was mixed with the smell of the wind. It was probably that Kagura woman. He hadn't bothered to stop and investigate.

 

The daiyoukai came to a halt, keeping his eyes scanning the forest. He could sense someone's approach. Suddenly he was hit by the repulsive scent of soil. Grave yard soil.

 

A woman, dressed in a miko's uniform, emerged from the distant bushes of Sesshoumaru's gaze. The white skinned miko slowly turned her head to look at him with expressionless eyes. He returned the gaze lethargically as the woman stood staring at him. Sesshoumaru didn't bother to prepare for a battle but kept his eyes keen for any sudden movements. It didn't look like she was foolish enough to attack…

 

Eventually she turned her focus back on her path and walked onwards, out of his sight.

 

The daiyoukai stared after her for a while until he in turn continued on his way for another few minutes as his mind wandered.

 

He had recognised who she was instantly. The scent of grave yard soil, the odd feeling she gave off immediately told him this was the dead miko that had pinned his lowly half brother to a tree all those years ago. What a shame he had to be released. Mind you the shame of having a family member destroyed by a priestess was incredibly irritating, even if the member was half human.

 

Speaking of the whelp…

 

Inuyasha came bursting through the trees.

 

 

*****

 

 

Inuyasha stared at his asshole of a half brother.

 

He was confused. When he left he could only smell Kagome, but as he began closing in on her scent, he was met with others. Scents he did not expect to find in the one place. He was sure he detected Kikyou's scent not a few leaps before, strangely following the same path as Kagome's, and then he was assaulted with this bastard's stench.

 

The said bastard was now looking at him with the same expression as always; as if he was a lower form of life. He fucking hated that look. No matter how many times he had beaten the prick in the past, he always had that look.

 

Inuyasha's mind was racing as he refocused on the present events. With everyone being in the same place at the same time, the hanyou couldn't help but be suspicious. And this guy was coming from the direction Kagome's trail was heading. Had they met along the way or did they miss each other? If he had, did he try to attack her? Inuyasha drew in the air through his nostrils and let out a breath of relief when he couldn't detect any of Kagome's blood.

 

“Where is she?” He demanded.

 

Sesshoumaru's expression didn't change. “If you are talking about your dead miko she just passed through here without so much as a glance.”

 

Inuyasha's eyes widened as his suspicion of Kikyou's presence was consolidated. “Kikyou was here…”

 

They were then interrupted with a loud “Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin and Jaken-sama and Ah-Un have returned!”

 

The little girl with her arms full of flowers rode into the clearing on the two headed dragon, followed by the very irritating Jaken. Inuyasha had to swallow a growl of frustration from the disruption.

 

“Inuyasha!” exclaimed Jaken. Without his saying anything, the stupid creature launched into an unasked-for rant. “What do you want this time, you pathetic half breed? Come to try and take down your brave, courageous big brother? Have you?! I'll have none of it! I'll take you on myself and cleanse Sesshoumaru-sama's blood line! I'll nev-!”

 

“Jaken. Shut up,” said Sesshoumaru expressionlessly. The little youkai immediately fell silent before muttering incoherently to himself. Sesshoumaru looked back at his brother. “What do you want, Inuyasha?”

 

“Kagome. Have you seen her?”

 

“Why would I have seen her?” the daiyoukai asked, uninterested.

 

“Where is Kagome?!” snapped Inuyasha.

 

“You've lost your companion, then? First the miko, then the human girl… Perhaps you should keep a better eye on your women.”

 

“What?!” shouted an outraged Inuyasha.

 

“But I just saw Kagome- Oneechan…” said Rin, innocently. Inuyasha spun around to look at the little girl, his mouth hanging open.

 

“What?! Where?!”

 

“Over by the trees near the field of flowers,” she said pointing into the forest.

 

Without a moment's hesitation he bounded in the direction of where the girl was pointing, pushing his legs as fast as they could go. Kikyou's scent was getting stronger. As was Kagome's. And yet they were following along the same path…

 

`I've got a bad feeling…' he thought to himself as he pushed off the ground.

 

 

*****

 

 

Kagome sat on one of the protruding roots of the twisted tree examining the flower Rin had given her. It really was a very pretty flower once you looked at all the fine details. It may just seem like an ordinary flower at first glance, maybe a little wilted and strange, but it was its combined colours that made it so…

unique.

 

And it reminded her so much of Inuyasha!

 

Kagome sighed to herself. Okay, if she was starting to see aspects of him in something as dainty as this, she must be seriously missing him! A flower would be the last thing to compare Inuyasha with! Surely! Kagome looked at the rich gold colour at the centre where the flower petals met and marvelled at it. It was the same gold as Inuyasha's eyes. She could almost imagine him perfectly. Looking down at her, giving her that molten gaze that made her feel a little weak…

 

Kagome lightly slapped her cheeks to pull herself out of her daydream. If she kept thinking about it, her chest would only hurt. Already it was starting to throb. She quickly stuffed the flower into her white robes and pulled her knees up to her chin, gazing out over the small rocky clearing.

 

This was definitely the tree Kagura left her at. So how much longer was she going to take?

 

Kagome's head snapped up when a silent figure dressed in miko robes emerged from the trees.

 

“Kikyou!” gaped Kagome staring at the dead woman. She was the last person she expected to find here, so far to the west. “A-are you looking for Inuyasha?”

 

“I wanted to speak to you,” she answered quietly.

 

“Oh…?” was all Kagome could say as she slowly stood up. Usually Kikyou would only come to speak to Inuyasha. Did she know he wasn't here?

 

“You are waiting for Naraku's incarnation,” Kikyou stated as she stared at Kagome with a strangely hard expression.

 

Kagome gaped again, unsure of what to say. “How did-?”

 

Kikyou's eyes narrowed as if in pain. “I thought you were stronger than this.”

 

In a second she had an arrow nocked in her bow aiming at the girl. Kagome took a step back against the tree.

 

“Kikyou?” she asked in confusion.

 

“You are my reincarnation, Kagome. It is my duty to stop you, in any way necessary, to prevent you from tainting the Shikon no Tama!” shouted Kikyou.

 

“What do you mean `tainting'?!” exclaimed Kagome. “I would never do such a thing!”

 

“You're working for Naraku! I saw with my own eyes the nature of your deceit not two days ago.”

 

Kagome looked at her stunned, before realisation settled in. She must have somehow seen the meeting between herself, Kagura and Onigumo!

 

“Wait, Kikyou, please!” she cried. “This is all just a big misunderstanding-!”

 

“You are working for Naraku, are you not?! Don't you realise what that means?!” Kikyou pulled her lips back in fury. “You've betrayed Inuyasha!”

 

Kagome felt something lightly crack inside of her as she stared at the dead miko. The dull throb in her chest suddenly turned into a sharp pain.

 

“I have no wish to take a human life,” continued Kikyou. “Especially not one with as great spiritual power as yours. But if it is to save the purity of the Shikon no Tama, to save you from becoming Naraku's clutches and in consequence, to save my soul…”

 

She tightened her grip on the arrow.

 

“… then there is no other way. I must do this painful thing for the sake of all of us.”

 

Kagome's eyes widened.

 

“And so, I will not ask for your forgiveness,” Kikyou sadly whispered.

 

She released the arrow.

 

 

 

A/N: AAHH, DAMN!! Yet another cliffie. Can't help myself! Oh well. You know you love it.

 

xx GoldenDust