InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Devotion ❯ Making Plans ( Chapter 3 )

Devotion

Chapter Three: Making Plans

By Chaos Reborn

 

 

 

“Who the fuck are you?” Inuyasha demanded of the youkai before him. She took a step forward and he countered with a step back, maneuvering his body to keep Kagome out of sight.

 

Her crimson feathered wings shifted as she took a step to the side. He moved too, again blocking the girl from view. “I have no quarrel with you, hafling,” she warned him, her tome mild and even. “Stand down.”

 

Tetsusaiga did not move from its place between them. “I asked you a question, bitch,” he seethed. Kagome winced, knowing that the demoness's name-calling was the source of his anger. “Who the fuck are you, and why do you want to talk to Kagome?”

 

The strange demon had come out of nowhere, appearing in the sky mere moments before making her descent into Kaede's village. She had seemed harmless enough; she made no move to attack the people. It was not until she had asked for the whereabouts of a miko named Kagome that violence had erupted. Inuyasha, ever wary of threats against the girl, was facing her down with sword drawn in a matter of seconds. She, however, seemed unfazed by his threat.

 

She arched a fine eyebrow and turned her piercing blue gaze to Kagome. “I see. So you are this... `Kagome' that I seek.”

 

Said girl was about to reply, but Inuyasha cut her off. “What's it to you?”

 

“My mission is none of your concern.”

 

“Like hell it isn't! I don't trust you, you hag!” Where were Miroku and Sango?

 

All she did was raise her eyebrow further, knowing full well that as a demon, she would have the countenance of youth for many more centuries. “Oh?”

 

“That's right! And if you don't get outta here, I'm gonna have to beat your ass into the ground!” He took a step forward to emphasize his point.

 

That step, that sliver of an opening, was all she needed. Shooting forward, her wings flapped once, then compressed against the length of her body, enabling her to streak past the half-breed and wrap her arms around the girl. She pushed off of the ground with a nimble kick, and allowed her wings to relax and launch the two into the air.

 

“What the hell!?” she heard him cry in disbelief.

 

“Inuyasha! Help!”

 

A swift jab to the back of her neck, and Kagome's eyes dimmed, her body falling limp. Neither demon nor hanyou noticed the glint of pink and silver falling to the ground.

 

“What did you do to her! Damn you!” With Kagome held in that demon's arms, there was no way for Inuyasha to get in a hit without putting her at risk. And even if he could avoid her, a fall from that height would hurt her badly--because of the extent of her lingering injuries, it could even kill her.

 

And the bloody demon knew it.

 

“Do not worry, Inuyasha. I have not hurt her. I will not hurt her. I have been commanded not to do so.”

 

“By WHO?” Was that his demon blood rising?

 

“It is not my place to tell you.”

 

“TELL ME, DAMMIT!” He could feel his claws sharpening, the amber of his eyes bleeding to red. No! I'll hurt her! Struggling, he barely managed to restrain the rising rage.

 

“I cannot.”

 

“Damn you! What are you, a puppet?” What the hell? It was like Naraku all over again!

 

A sad look crossed her features. “Perhaps.” She beat her wings faster, stronger, taking herself and her cargo into the air. “My name is Akako. Hopefully, the three of us will meet like this again someday.”

 

He watched helplessly as they flew farther and farther away from the village... farther away from him.

 

“KAGOME!”

 

 

*~*~*~* {^__^} @--n *~*~*~*

 

 

The hanyou was practically bellowing at the top of his lungs.

 

“WHERE WERE YOU GUYS!?”

 

The monk and ex-demon exterminator were seated across from him, cross-legged and guilty-faced.

 

“I'm sorry Inuyasha,” Sango whispered. She reached across the mat to link her fingers with Miroku's.

 

“Sorry? You're SORRY!? That's just GREAT. You're SORRY, Kagome's GONE, and I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THAT DAMNED DEMON TOOK HER!” He stormed out of the hut, his last sane thought pushing him to the Sacred Tree.

 

“We should have been here for her.” Sango's voice was laced with guilt, panic, and grief. “We should have been here. How? How could we have let this happen?”

 

“I do not know. Neither of us sensed an approaching youkai. We couldn't have known... we couldn't have stopped it.”

 

“Miroku?” Her voice wavered.

 

He sighed in response.

 

“What should we do?”

 

“Well, Sango... we will do what we do best. We will do what we have spent the last three years perfecting.” His voice was final.

 

With a nod she pulled her hand back and stood, looking him in the eye. “We will search.”

 

“Yes,” he agreed as he, too, rose.

 

“Houshi -sama?”

 

“Sango?”

 

“I-- We're going to have to put this off, aren't we? Until we have Kagome back. I don't want to, but...” Eyes looking lost and broken, she begged him for support.

 

Understanding her unvoiced statement, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a brief moment of bliss. “I know. I don't want to either, but it seems wrong to go forward without her here.” He tipped her head back to look into her eyes. “She's our family. It wouldn't be right for us to put... this... first.”

 

Her eyes filled. “Miroku?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Since we... because... I want to... just once...”

 

“Sango...” There was a fire in his eyes as he whispered her name, tempting her passion to match his.

 

“Kiss me.”

 

His eyes locked on hers as his head slowly lowered. At first, the kiss was no more than a slight brushing of lips, a feather-light touch of warmth on warmth. With a whimper and a frown, Sango let her eyes drop as she brought her hands to his shoulders, pulling him closer. Following her lead, Miroku gladly deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist and allowing himself to get lost in her essence.

 

Unsatisfied, he tilted his head, his lips breaking contact with hers for a tortured moment before returning with a vengeance. He traced his hand--his wonderfully curse-free hand--from her waist, up her back, and into her hair, hastily yanking out the ribbon before twining his fingers into the inky strands.

 

Drawing back, he took a deep breath and pressed his check against hers, savoring the heat.

 

“Sango...”

 

“Miroku.”

 

“We need to...”

 

“I know.”

 

She reluctantly pulled back and out of his embrace, painstakingly removing her arms from where they were wrapped around his neck. Before he let go of her waist, however, he leaned forward and placed a gentle, chaste kiss on her cheek.

 

“I'll go find Inuyasha. Can you take care of Shippo?”

 

In an assuring gesture, she squeezed his hand. “Of course. I'll start packing my things, as well.”

 

Miroku gave her a nod and walked out the door and into Inuyasha's Forest, warning himself against looking back at the beautiful demon exterminator he was leaving behind.

 

Slowly, almost in shock, Sango brought a trembling hand to her lips, letting it's cool touch linger over them before moving up to cup her flushed cheek. Watching him walk away from her, his heat and scent still surrounding her and clouding her mind, she fought against the double urge to dance and weep.

 

 

*~*~*~* {^__^} @--n *~*~*~*

 

 

Kagome.

 

Once again, he'd failed to protect her.

 

He had let is guard down. After the fight with Naraku, he had seriously thought that they would be safe. No man or demon could have possibly been as hard to deal with as Naraku... right?

 

Inuyasha raised his claws and attacked, shredding another defenseless tree into firewood. DAMMIT! He had underestimated that demon... that Akako. It would have been easier to hand Kagome over on a silver platter. How could he have been so weak?

 

But... he was forced to admit... she had been fast. Almost too quick to be seen. Had he been taking her seriously, and had his sore, newly-healed body not slowed him down, he would have been able to see her advance and prevent it.

 

But he didn't.

 

And now... now he didn't know where to look. As fast as the bird demon had been on land, she was faster in the air. All he was able to discern from her swift flight was that her destination was somewhere to the south. FAR to the south.

 

Shit. He had rarely ventured there. The forests were thick, and the even the dominant wildlife--hawks--were natural predators. It was fully possible to be attacked and killed by a few of those damned birds. The demons, as he had seen, were even worse. Aside from the incredible speed he had been witness to, they were rumored to powerfully passive, and mostly seemed emotionless and collected. However, their wrath was great when angered, and they could manipulate their element--the air--to their wills.

 

And they had Kagome.

 

A fierce rumble started low in his chest, then escalated to an angry growl. He would find them. Somehow, someway, he would find them. And when he did, the first thing he would do is shove his Tetusaiga where it didn't belong. After that, he would--

 

“Inuyasha.” The monk's voice was quiet but strong.

 

What the hell!? Inuyasha hadn't even sensed him drawing near! “What?”

 

“We're sorry. You know we are.”

 

“Keh. I know.” Obviously, he wasn't very good at expressing his guilt. “She's like your sister. You'd never willingly leave her in danger.”

 

Miroku knew what he was really saying, and smiled. “No, we wouldn't. You realize that we're going to help you, right?”

 

“Yeah... I figured I'd have to deal with you guys. Stupid Kagome making stupid, loyal friends...”

 

Laughter. “Yes, we are foolish for being so loyal to such an impulsive hanyou.” He quickly sobered. “You don't know where she is?”

 

“Feh. I'll find her eventually. You should stay here with Sango and the kit... listen for rumors and stuff.”

 

“No, Inuyasha. Why?”

 

“Akako flew away...”

 

“...?”

 

“...towards the Southern Lands.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Miroku had heard of the creatures that resided there. Hard to track and even harder to fight... they moved at inconceivable speeds, and took advantage of their settings shamelessly. Even if the demons did not attack them, the group could easily be killed by the natural predators roaming the forests. Even the woods themselves were a death trap.

 

“So what do you plan on doing, Inuyasha? It will take time to find her, if that is indeed where she is.”

 

“I know it is!” he bit out angrily as he chopped up another tree. “But if there's one thing I've learned from that stupid girl these past years, it's that I can't run in there blindly with Tetsusaiga swinging.” Huffing with the effort, he looked the monk dead in the eye. “We all know how careless I can get when I let my anger do the thinking. I can't risk that. I... I can't risk failing her again.”

 

Miroku nodded. He understood.

 

“I, uh... I've been thinking...”

 

He watched his friend with interest as he wiped the sweat off his brow with a red sleeve. It wasn't every day that the hanyou admitted to thinking...

 

“Those damned demons... they're pretty fast.”

 

“Yes, they are. Even I have heard of their talents.”

 

“There's no way any of us could compete. I mean... I could barely even see that youkai when she took Kagome...”

 

“What do you propose we do? I could ask Kaede to find a spell to hinder their movements...”

 

“No. That would take too long.”

 

“Kikyo might...”

 

“HELL no, monk!”

 

“Then WHAT, Inuyasha!?”

 

“...”

 

“Well?”

 

“Kouga. I want you and Sango to get Kouga.”

 

 

*~*~*~* {^__^} @--n *~*~*~*

 

 

“WHO wants us to do WHAT!?!” Sango's head was reeling from the shock.

 

“Inuyasha,” Shippo repeated for the monk, “wants you to get Kouga.”

 

“What?” She was confused. “Are you sure you were talking to Inuyasha, Miroku?”

 

“I'm positive. He was sulky and rude, so it must have been him.”

 

“I see. Was he sick? Hurt? Was his head bleeding freely?”

 

“NO, Sango, he was perfectly normal. He really DOES want us to find Kouga.”

 

“But... he... they...”

 

“Sango,” he interrupted firmly, “you know as well as I do how fast those falcon youkai can attack. Kouga--even without his shards--is still the only one fast enough to match them. We need his help in this.”

 

She thought it over for a moment before reluctantly agreeing. “I suppose you're right. When do we go?”

 

“He wants to leave tomorrow morning. He'll go on alone, and we're to go to Kouga's mountain and tell him what happened.”

 

“Okay.” She moved to walk into the hut behind them, but was stopped by Shippo's small and scared voice.

 

“C... can... I'M GOING WITH YOU!!!!!”

 

Two sets of eyes focused on him as his face reddened and his eyes filled.

 

“Kagome's the closest thing to a mama I've ever had! And you two and Inuyasha are the closest thing to a family I've even got anymore! And if you think I'm gonna stay here and let my family leave me all alone again... well... YOU'RE WRONG! I'M COMING, TOO!!!”

 

By this point, the tears had spilled over, and his words were coming out in sobs. He squeezed his eyes shut and swiped at the dampness, wanting to be strong for his Kagome.

 

When he opened his eyes, Miroku was crouched in front of him, hand outstretched.

 

“We wouldn't have it any other way.”

 

 

*~*~*~* {^__^} @--n *~*~*~*

 

 

It was a sight to behold. Had any of the villagers been awake to see, they would have been awestruck by the majesty of it.

 

There they stood, standing at the line of grass and dirt that marked the edge of the forest. The sun, barely rising over the tips of the trees, made their shadows stretch down the length of the trail behind them, and their bodies look like mere silhouettes. The hanyou stood there, calm, proud, hair billowing in the wind. Beside him the monk, taut, ready for action, his hand leaning the staff against his shoulder. To his right, the demon exterminator in her tight, battle-worn armor, reaching back with slender hands to steady Hiraikotsu at her back. They proudly gathered together, watching the dawn, the only illumination on their faces being the light emanating from the firecat's tail. She stood strongly, head tilted to the side, seeing both the sun and her mistress. The kitsune cub sat up on her back, his eyes open and alert, like those of the rest.

 

They were ready.

 

“Find Kouga, okay? I hate to admit this, but... we'll need his help. I'll meet you somewhere in the southern lands.”

 

“Inuyasha?” Sango whispered, not wanting to shatter the perfect sunrise with her voice. “Are you sure we should look for him? He might refuse to help, and what if we can't find you? We can't afford to waste time!”

 

“Feh. Don't be silly... of course he'll help her! He's fucking in love with her!” Inuyasha didn't share Sango's sympathy for the crisp, fragile morning. “Besides,” he added as he tapped his nose with a clawed hand, “his nose is even better than mine. He'll be able to track me down without a problem.”

 

She nodded, and turned to Miroku. “Ready?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“How about you Shippo? Ready to help Kagome?”

 

“Feh! Don't ask silly questions!”

 

There was a collective sigh--even Kirara let out a huff. That kit was becoming more and more like Inuyasha every day. It was horrible.

 

Said hanyou took the first step forward.

 

“Let's go.”

 

And they did, the lone red-clad figure leaping off one way, and the three others soaring off in another, piled onto the firecat's back.

 

Echoing through each adventurers head was one unifying thought:

 

“We'll save you, Kagome...”

 

 

*~*~*~* {^__^} @--n *~*~*~*