InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Delving Into The Mysteries Of The Past ❯ The Past Continued ( Chapter 3 )

 

I liked his name. Seeing him, in his half-demon form, made me realize just how much his name fit his image. InuYasha…it sounded wild and free, just as he was.

 

“That's a nice name,” I commented, earning another incredulous stare.

 

“You're lying,” he accused me. I realized that he must have been met with so much animosity because of what he was. In these troubled times, with humans and demons at war with each other, a half-demon would be the subject of public scorn. Pity and sympathy welled up inside of me.

 

“I'm not lying! I swear!” I protested. “I really do like your name. And I don't care if you're a half-demon! Honest!” He still looked like he didn't believe me.

 

“Yeah right,” he said, looking away. I sighed, but then a thought came to mind. How come he looked human before he drew his sword?

 

“How do you transform like that?” I asked him. He looked puzzled. “You know, between your human form and you half-demon form?”

 

“It's my blade,” he said. “When I draw it, I transform. When I sheath it, I revert back to my human form.”

 

“I'm guessing it's a demonic blade,” I said, wondering why Great-Aunt Kaede and Kikyo didn't feel its aura. I certainly did.

 

“Tetsusaiga is only a demonic blade when I'm in my transformed state,” he said, as if reading my mind. “When I'm in human form, it's only an ancient piece of junk.” I assumed that Tetsusaiga was the blade's name. As if to demonstrate its power over him, he sheathed it, and turned back to his human, and sadly doggie-earless, form.

 

“So should I still cal you Kage, or can I call you InuYasha?” I asked him.

 

“Keep calling me Kage,” came the short reply.

 

“But that's not your name.”

 

“Just call me that.”

 

“Why?” I asked.

 

“I have my reasons,” he said darkly, as a shadow passed over his eyes. I wondered why he had that reaction. Was someone looking for him? Was he on the run? Had he done something so terrible in the past that he had to hide it now? For some reason, my mind flashed back to the time of my father's murder. I saw those murderous red eyes staring at me, stray strands of silver hair falling into them…silver hair…I shook my head. I was living in the past again, as Great-Aunt Kaede said once, and I needed to stop that and start living in the present.

 

“Whatever you want, Kage,” I said. I wanted to know those reasons, but I was afraid if I pushed him to hard, he would close up on me. I wanted him to trust me, and if gaining that trust meant that I couldn't those reasons just yet, then so be it.

 

“Do you sense any jewel shards?” he asked sharply. I reached out with my aura, trying so sense any of them.

 

“There are two somewhere near by,” I said. “It's probably Manten, Hiten's younger brother.” He nodded.

 

“What direction are they in?” he asked.

 

“That way,” I pointed towards a grassy area. He mentioned me to go one, and to keep quiet. We silently made our way through the tall grass and Kage suddenly stopped short causing me crash into his back. He looked at me and mentioned once again to keep quiet. I looked around him and saw why. By a small pool of water sat Manten, completely preoccupied with combing three strands of hair. He seemed completely unaware of our presence.

 

“Kagome,” Kage whispered in my ear. “Do you think you can shoot him with one of your arrows. I don't want him to notice my presence.” I nodded. But just as I fitted my arrow, a small shape collided surprisingly hard into Manten.

 

“I'll get you back for what you did to my father!” it yelled, biting into Manten's neck. I saw now that it was a young kitsune. Manten didn't seem in the least bit interested in him. Manten grabbed him by his head and tossed him into a nearby bush. The kitsune was tenacious, however, and he once again threw himself at Manten.

 

“The little runt has a death wish,” Kage murmured. I was horrified. He looked so young! What had Manten done to his father? That's when Manten stood up, and I could see the fox pellet he wore around his waist, and then the whole situation became very clear. Manten had killed the kitsune's father, and in return, the kitsune wanted revenge. Manten finally had enough of the poor thing.

 

“I'll kill you now, little fox!” he yelled. “Then you can go join your father in hell!” He charged at the kitsune, who looked frightened to death, unable to move.

 

Manten never stood a chance. As soon as Manten had come within striking distance, I fired my arrow. Since my family comes from a long line of priestesses, my arrow was not a regular one. It was a Sacred Arrow, deadly to both human and demon. It ripped through Manten, leaving only two jewel shards lying on the ground, and one astonished kitsune.

 

“Are you okay?” I asked him. He looked at me with wide green eyes. “I'm not going to hurt you,” I said, when I realized he was afraid of me.

 

“You're not?” he asked in a small voice. I shook my head. “Thank you for helping me have my revenge,” he said. “I'll leave now.”

 

“Wait!” I said. “Where are you going to go? Is your mother looking for you?” He turned around with a pained expression on his face.

 

“My momma's dead,” he said, tears welling up in his green eyes. I felt so sad at that moment, that without thinking, I fell to my knees and pulled him into a fierce hug. He was surprised; I felt his small muscles tense up, but then he relaxed and began crying softly into my shoulder. I felt tears of my own begin to form, remembering the way I had felt when my father had died, but that was nothing compared to his sad story. Both of his parents were dead, and he had no home.

 

“Why don't you come with us?” I asked him. Kage snorted behind me.

 

“He'll just slow us down,” he complained. I glared at him.

 

“He has no home! Where else can he go?” I asked him. Kage looked away.

 

“Feh! If you want to keep him fine! But you have to take care of him. I'm not getting involved!” he snapped.

 

“You're acting like he's some kind of stray cat I found in an alley that I brought home,” I yelled at him. He only went “Feh!” and turned away. I smiled at the kitsune. “Do you have a name?” I asked.

 

“Shippo,” he told me.

 

“Well Shippo-chan,” I said, using the affectionate honorific. “I guess you're coming with us now!”

 

I could tell, right from the start, that Kage and Shippo-chan would not get along. He loved to pester Kage, often throwing tops and toy snakes at him, or transforming into his, as I called it, bubble form, bouncing on top of Kage's head. Kage, for the most part, took the abuse in stride, stopping long enough to hit Shippo-chan off of him, and then deposited him in my arms, with the warning of, “If you don't keep him in control, he goes.” It was very much like watching two brothers fight playfully about nothing.

 

Unfortunately, after the fight with Hiten and Manten, we heard and felt nothing about the jewel shards again. I glanced at the seven shards I kept in a pouch around my neck. They were so little and harmless by themselves, yet dangerous in the hands of demons and the corrupted.

 

“Have you sensed any yet?” Kage whined at me, for the tenth time that hour.

 

“If I had sensed any, wouldn't I have told you?” I said. I was becoming annoyed, his whining only adding fuel to the fire. I was beginning to see that this little journey was starting to turn into a large one, with much traveling everywhere in Japan. I wondered if Kikyo had realized this before, and if that was the reason she had sent me with Kage, instead of retrieving them by herself. Of course, she had plenty of work for her at home, defending the house from demons. I wasn't at her skill level yet. True, I could shoot Sacred Arrows with deadly precision, but that was only after several years of training. Kikyo had taken to it naturally, and being the oldest, had managed to secure the position of `The Best Archer' while I was there for the `Comparing Kagome to Kikyo' position. It made me angry just thinking about it. I didn't hate my older sister, we just didn't see eye to eye.

 

“What's the matter, Kagome?” Shippo-chan asked me. My feelings must have shown on my face.

 

“I'm tired, that's all,” I said. H didn't need to know about my family problems. He had enough to worry about.

 

“You're upset,” Kage said. “I can tell.”

 

“What do you know?” I replied back. I would really have to work on hiding my emotions.

 

“I know a lot,” was all he said. He seemed to enjoy being an enigma.

 

“Kagome, you know a lot about demons, don't you?” Shippo-chan asked me, trying to change the subject. I nodded. “Have you heard of the legendary demon Kaikatsu Gin Kiraitsu?” I had. He was a monster, even among demons. Kikyo and Great-Aunt Kaede often talked about him in hushed tones. They never talked about him in front of me, and if they were, they would stop talking as soon as I walked in the room or they sensed my presence. But that never stopped me from asking around. A few of my friends had told me some details about him. Kaikatsu Gin Kiraitsu was not his true name. Whatever his given name was, everyone was too afraid to say it, if anybody knew at all. He was only called that because every time he killed, he laughed. He was a ruthless killer, killing both demons and humans alike and he had no remorse. No one truly knows what he looks like; he's so fast that no one's actually gotten a good look at him. Some say that he breathes fire, while other say that he can multiply himself into copies. I don't know if it's true or not, seeing as I've never seen him before.

 

“I've seen him,” Shippo-chan was saying. “I was with my father, and he flew by. I got a good look at him though. He had sil-”

 

“Why don't the two of you stop chatting and try to find the jewel shards!” Kage snarled. I looked at him in surprise. He was visibly tensed; his shoulders and jaw tight.

 

“You can't talk to Kagome like that!” Shippo-chan yelled at him. “You need to learn some manners!” He jumped out of my arms and hit Kage on the head.

 

“That's it runt! You're dead!” Kage grabbed Shippo and started pulling on his cheeks, stretching them out as far as they would go.

 

“Kage! Stop! You're going to hurt him!” I yelled.

 

“Feh! He started it!” Kage said. I was beginning to wonder if `feh' was his favorite word. He used it often enough.

 

“Stop behaving like a two-year-old,” I told him. “Put Shippo-chan down!” He dropped him. “I said put him down! Not drop him! Kage just looked away. I sighed. Kage was a handful. “Why do you have to be so difficult?”

 

“I'm not difficult!”

 

“You're doing it right now!”

 

“Doing what?”

 

“Being difficult!!”

 

“I'm not!!”

 

“Is it just me, or does this conversation seem to be going nowhere?” Shippo-chan asked us. As much as I hated to admit it, Shippo-chan was right. The conversation was going nowhere. I had the feeling that Shippo-chan was probably the most mature out of the three of us, even thought he seemed to be the youngest.

 

“I'm sorry,” I said.

 

“Why are you sorry?” Kage asked. “You didn't do anything.”

 

“Hey look! A village!” Shippo-chan shouted. I looked. Sure enough, there was one up ahead.

 

“Maybe we can stop there and get something to eat!” I said. “And maybe find an inn. I'm tired of sleeping on the ground!” Kage rolled his eyes.

 

“Women,” he said. I glared at him.

 

“Are you guys coming?” Shippo-chan called to us, already five feet ahead. I ran to catch up.

 

I frowned as we reached the village. It looked normal enough, but it was the lack of life that bothered me. I could see no one. There were no people coming in or out. Not even smoke coming from the chimneys. We got closer to the main gate. There was something covering it.

 

“Hair?” I said, as soon as I could make out what it was.

 

“Hair?” Kage repeated. “I don't see any hair.”

 

“It's right there, all over the gate,” I said. What did he mean he couldn't see it?

 

“I don't see anything, either,” Shippo-chan said, looking up at me, a worried expression on his face. Was I the only one who could see it? Kage walked up to the gate, and pressed his hand against the hair. He swiftly pulled it back, cursing.

 

“What happened?” I asked him. He showed me his palm. It was all sliced up, thin lines of blood already falling down the side of his hand.

 

“How did that happen Kage?” Shippo-chan asked him, looking worried.

 

“Hell if I should know,” Kage snapped, shaking his hand. “It hurts like hell!”

 

“It was the hair,” I said.

 

“There is no hair!” Kage said. “You're seeing things.”

 

“Look!” Shippo-chan suddenly said, sounding horrified. I turned. I man was coming at us, covered in blood, holding his left arm, if he had had one. From the elbow down, it was gone

 

“Please…please…help…me,” he pleaded, staggering over to us. I could only watch, horrified as he came closer to the gate, blood spattering the ground where he walked. “Please…help…everyone's dead…only me,” he spoke in broken tones as he reached the gate.

 

“No! Don't!” I yelled. “Don't walk through the gate!” It was too late. I grabbed Shippo-chan and held my hands over eyes. He didn't need to see, not after what he had been through. I closed my eyes too, but it didn't drown out the scream, or the sickening sound of flesh being sliced. I fought the urge to retch. I opened my eyes and looked at Kage, who was looking at the man, with pity.

 

“Come on. We need to see what's happened here,” he said. I nodded shakily. “You said there was hair all over the gate?”

 

“Yeah…I guess it's some kind of weapon?” I asked. He nodded.

 

“It must be able so slice flesh and bones,” he said, looking sideways. I couldn't bear to look at the dead man.

 

“There's got to be another way in,” I said, looking around.

 

“Yeah, there is. We'll have to jump over the fence,” he said. I stared at him.

 

“Jump over the fence?” I asked.

 

“Do you see any other way in?” he asked me. I looked around. There was a small hole in the fence, and it wasn't covered with that strange hair. I pointed to it.

 

“We can get in through that hole,” I said. Kage made a face, but nonetheless, we went in. It took some wriggling, but I finally managed to squeeze my self through. When I looked up, I saw the extent of the damage. There was blood everywhere and bodies were strewn all over the place. It smelled like death and blood. I started to feel nauseas.

 

“They're all missing their heads,” Shippo-chan whispered. He didn't want to stay outside, and had insisted on coming in with us.

 

“What could have happened here?” I said. In all the battles I had seen, I had never seen anything so gruesome in my life, including my father's murder. I had to take several deep breaths before I could continue. “Be careful, there might be hair anywhere,” I warned them. We kept on walking.

 

“We need to give these people proper burials,” Kage said, looking at the bodies that were everywhere. “After we find the demon that did this.” He looked determined. We moved on. As we got closer to the center of the village, I began to notice the hair again. These strands were stained crimson with blood, so Kage and Shippo-chan could tell where not to walk.

 

I was trying to rack my brain, and remember what demon used hair as a weapon, but I couldn't remember any. Most demons relied on their claws and teeth to kill. And what demon only took the head but left the body? It didn't make sense, unless the demon had some special purpose for wanting only the heads.

 

The center of the town was completely covered in hair, just as the gate was. I could see arms and legs caught in the web. I pressed my hand to my mouth. We couldn't go any farther. If we did, we would be cut up, just like the people in the village. The only thing we could do was turn back and wriggle through the hole again. Only, this time, when we stood up, there was hair everywhere, laced through the trees like a gigantic spider web. And in the middle, there was a giant ball of hair, supported by the thick strands of hair that were laced through the trees.

 

“Oh me, oh my! Two humans, a demon and seven jewel shards!” A female voice said. Simultaneously, we all looked up to see a young woman swing through the hair. She smiled down at us.

 

“I guess you're the one that killed the village!” Kage shouted.

 

“Yes, that was I! You can call me Yura. Yura of the Hair!” she spoke. Something clicked in my brain.

 

“You! You're supposed to be sealed away!” I yelled. About fifty years ago, a very powerful priestess sealed Yura of the Hair away in the mountains. She was never supposed to break free of the bondings.

 

“Oh yes! I was! But you see, thanks to someone, a jewel shard hit the mountain, and I was able to escape!” she said. I gasped. It was my fault that the village had died.

 

“Shut up! Come down here and fight!” Kage yelled back, seeing my reaction. Yura's grin widened.

 

“You have wonderful hair,” she said to him. “I'd like to add it to my collection.” I shivered. Kage looked at me and then jerked his head towards Yura. I looked at him, puzzled. He sighed.

 

“I can't see the hair,” he whispered hurriedly. “I'll distract her long enough for you to shoot her. Don't miss!” he finished. I nodded.

 

“Shippo-chan, quick! Hide yourself!” I said to him. He nodded. In a second, he had transformed into a stone statue. It was good enough.

 

“Come on Yura! I'm waiting!” Kage taunted her. Yura swung down at him, blade in hand.

 

“This is Crimson Mist!” she yelled. “It slices skin and bone without cutting the hair!” She was almost within striking range. I just needed her to go a bit lower. She did. I let my arrow fly, but she saw it coming and dodged upwards. It hit her hairball.

 

“Oh no!” she yelled. The hairball exploded, sending skulls flying. A few of the heads that came out looked fresh, and I could only guess in horror that those were the villagers.

 

“Oh!” I gasped.

 

“You!” Yura yelled! “You're going to die, girl, for what you did to my nest!” she screamed, throwing Crimson Mist at me. I watched it coming, paralyzed in fear. There was no way that I could dodge! I closed my eyes and said a quick prayer, waiting for the blade to hit me.

 

It never did. Seconds before it would have hit me, Kage threw himself in the path of the blade, covering my body with his. The blade hit him in the back.

 

“Kage!” I screamed horrified. Even he was a half-demon, he wouldn't survive, not in his human form! It was all my fault! “Kage! Say something!”

 

“Don't cry for me yet,” he said, still sarcastic, even in pain. “I won't die.” He jerked when Yura pulled the blade out with hair.

 

“Your lover is very brave,” she said. “Or very stupid.”

 

“Shut up!” Kage yelled, blood pouring down his back. “I'm not going to die! It's going to be you!” She threw that blade at him so fast, that I don't think even he saw it coming. I saw his eyes widen, before I closed my eyes, and opened my mouth to scream.

 

The sounds of metal connecting with metal made me open my eyes. Kage had drawn Tetsusaiga, transforming into his half-demon form. He was InuYasha. I breathed a sigh of relief. InuYasha could defeat Yura. I looked over at Shippo-chan to see if he was still safe. To my surprise, he had transformed back to his original form, and was staring at the ongoing battle with what could only be described as wide-eyed horror.

 

“Shippo-chan! What's the matter!?” I asked as I ran over to him. He was shaking violently. “Shippo-chan!” I yelled urgently. I looked at him, but he wasn't seeing my face.

 

“It's him,” he whispered.

 

“It's who?” I asked. I was beginning to get scared. Shippo-chan had never looked this frightened before.

 

“It's Kaikatsu Gin Kiraitsu.”

 

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I love cliffhangers, don't you? `Dodges stuff being thrown at me.' Oh yeah! Kaikatsu Gin Kiraitsu roughly translates to Cheerful Silver Killer. But it sounds much cooler in Japanese. And, here's the deal. I'll write the next two chapters but I won't post them until I start getting some reviews. I know people have been reading this, and I want to know what you guys think. So if I get reviews, I'll post the next chapter, which will be in the present, as soon as its done, and then I'll write the chapter after that, right afterwards and have it posted in a few days. But if I don't get reviews, then you'll have to wait a week for the next chapter and another week for the chapter after that. So…R&R if you want to find out what happens.