InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dubious Relations ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Dubious Relations

Chapter 1

The day had started out well; Inuyasha had been sat because of yet another thoughtless comment and Sango had slapped Miroku black and blue because of his perverted comments and wandering hands. All this had caused Shippo to laugh so hard he fell from the thick branch he'd perched himself on that morning, the fall causing his tail to hurt from his more than uncoordinated landing. All in all, it had been a normal, sunny, spring day for the group. The group sighting a village that had been terrorized by a large, menacing demon was also considered normal, though a gloomy, a mood dampener.

They'd spotted the black streams of smoke and heard the loud sorrowful shouts of the workers digging burials for the dead that originated from the village, long before they'd caught sight of the village. The village itself was small, but from the rebuilding going on, Inuyasha could tell it should have been twice as big as it was at that moment. The smell of death: rotting corpses and blood, and another wretched scent, worse than Inuyasha's mother's liver medicine, lingered in the air around and in the village. It was obvious they'd only been attacked recently, the night before if Inuyasha was to guess. He huffed and frowned. By the stink in the village it was some bug demon; a moth or bee perhaps?

When they'd arrived, it seemed that the only ones getting any attention were Inuyasha and Kagome. The villagers seemed thunder struck by Kagome's revealing clothing and the strange pink contraption she lead along beside her. They stared, whispered and wondered. Perhaps it was a new breed of worse without a pulse or lungs?

However, despite their stares and whispers, they went unnoticed by the sixteen year old girl who was too busy examining her surroundings with worried eyes to be paying attention to the commotion she'd caused.

Inuyasha watched with something akin to - but definitely not - jealousy, because the damned wench could ignore anything when she wanted to. The attention Inuyasha gained was not at all wanted and he had noticed it immediately. But, he was doubtful that, with his ears, there would ever be a time he wouldn't detect their whisperings.

He growled quietly, a sound that was a low thrumming in his chest that reminded passers by of a hive of angry bees, and glared at the villagers that were frowning and whispering about him and his demon blood. They pointed at his ears, which sat to attention on the top of his head. He heard every comment they made.

The half demon scowled when he heard the fourth plan they'd come up with in order to kill him: something about tying him up, dragging him into the forest and beating him to death, and decided it was enough; he wasn't going to stand around and take their comments calmly.

Inuyasha's golden gaze landed on Kagome's back, “We're wasting time.” He said loudly, rudely, making sure the villagers could hear, “They're humans; they're always going to be terrorized by demons. The one we kill now is just gonna be replaced by another one. We might as well keep searching for Naraku.”

Kagome frowned also and turned to glare disapprovingly at him, “Don't be rude, Inuyasha! They need our help. It's not like Naraku's going to die on us anytime soon. We can spare a day or two.”

“Kagome's right Inuyasha.” Miroku agreed and placed a hand on his chest, over his heart, “And it will be nice to sleep in a bed again, even if it is just this lonely monk occupying it.” He sent an expectant look towards Sango, one she ignored vigorously, a blush painting her sun darkened cheeks.

Inuyasha's ears flicked with annoyance at the monk's comments, but stoutly continued to glare at Kagome. He almost wished Shippo were awake and sitting on one of their shoulders with a smart assed comment; he could go for hitting the brat; it was very therapeutic.

Not a minute later, they were approached by an elderly man of sixty, with grey hair speckled with black and dark, suspicious eyes. He was short, only reaching the middle of Inuyasha's chest, but he spoke with authority, “Who are you? And what business do you have bringing a demon to our village?”

Inuyasha snorted. Kagome glared at him, critical of Inuyasha's bratty attitude, before she turned back to the man and smiled kindly, innocently, “We were wondering if you needed some help. We'd noticed you'd been attacked and we're all pretty good at fighting demons.”

“What do you want in return?”

“We only ask for a place to bed for the night and a meal. We're trying to track down a demon named, Naraku. Perhaps you've heard of him?” Miroku said as he stepped forward so he was beside Kagome, effectively blocking Inuyasha's view of the old man and his wary looks.

His ears stood to attention as the man thought over their proposal, his eyes closed in thought. In the end, Inuyasha guessed the prospect of a safe village won out, “Hm, I've some rumours. You may stay, but the demon cannot live within boundaries of the village.”

“But Inuyasha won't hurt anyone,” Kagome quickly interjected. She turned to Inuyasha and smiled sweetly, “You'll behave, won't you Inuyasha?”

“It doesn't matter if he behaves! No demons in the village!”

Inuyasha cut Kagome off before she had the chance to argue again. His sunshine eyes narrowed and having taken a nasty edge to them, “Listen Kagome, it's obvious I'm not wanted. So hand over the runt and I'll get going.” He said, glaring at the man all the while, “I prefer to sleep in the forest anyway.” He finally muttered, after a small and quiet growl.

“But-”

“I don't want to hear you three whinging because you're cold or nothing. You, Miroku and Sango sleep in the village, Shippo and I'll sleep on the outskirts of the forest.” With that said, Inuyasha none-too-gently reached into Kagome's yellow knapsack and pulled out a snoozing fox demon by his tail.

He sent a withering look towards the snoring fox demon, hanging upside down from his hand. He was going to spend that night sleeping with only the runt as company? Great.

“You see that tree, the one with the large whole in the middle?” He pointed towards the eastern side of the village, where a large tree stood its once impressive tuft of leaves and branches left with a gaping hole through the centre. There was a small wild boar running about its roots, “We'll be under that tree.”

With that Inuyasha stomped off, uncaringly swinging a now awake and whining Shippo and leaving a fuming human girl behind, her latest sit command balanced dangerously on her lips.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Two days later, Inuyasha found that they were still boarding in the village (or at least the human half of their group were; Inuyasha found that Kilala wasn't allowed to stay with Sango either), the demon having not shown its ugly hide at all. Inuyasha hadn't even heard a noise resembling a demon over the past two days and was beginning to suspect there wasn't going to be a second performance.

All things added up, and as their consequences were realised, Inuyasha's devastating change in mood from angry to I'm-going-to-kill-something furious caused Kilala to avoid Inuyasha completely that day.

He frowned as he watched the village; this was all Kagome's fault. It was her fault they were wasting time ploughing fields and feeding chickens, while waiting for a demon that could have simply felt like terrorizing a village once before it died or had already been killed. Either way, Inuyasha was not happy.

He wanted to track down and kill Naraku before that stupid ass of a wolf had the chance and before his bastard brother rid the world of Naraku for them. Naraku was his to kill, and he wasn't going to sit around and wait for some weak-assed demon to show its face just so he could swing the Tessaiga, kill it and be three more days behind Naraku.

“Hey, Inuyasha, you like Kagome don't you?” Shippo asked from beside the half demon, effectively causing him to halt in his musings.

“Why would I like Kagome, runt? She's annoying,” He groused, a light pink blush rising to his cheeks, “She talks way too much, is always getting herself in trouble and she doesn't understand the way this time works. She keeps thinking about how her time works and expects it to be the same here.” His paused for a moment before adding loudly, “And she keeps using those stupid sit commands on me!”

Shippo blinked his large grass green eyes up at Inuyasha, “So? You two seem to get along, except when you say something stupid - Ah!”

Inuyasha scowled as he watched Shippo rub frantically at his throbbing head, crying and whining all the while. He didn't ever mean to insult her, Kagome was just too sensitive. It wasn't his fault Kagome over reacted all the time, and the runt shouldn't ever say it was.

He raised his eyes to the darkened sky, watching the many fireflies blink and twinkle next to a glowing half-moon. After a moment, his attention is once again on Shippo, “Shut up, runt, or I'll toss you in with the chickens. I've noticed they've taken a liking to your tail.” Inuyasha warned, before raising his eyes towards the moon again.

“Wah! No, don't! I won't say anything!” Shippo's words petered out into near silence as the small fox demon continued to whimper and rub at his head. Inuyasha was grateful for the change in volume.

The half demon sniffed, “It smells like they're starting dinner.” Inuyasha commented quietly, an hour later. He took a large whiff again and attempted to work out what they were going to be eating for dinner. He almost cringed at the prospect of eating vegetables, the first thing he deciphered amongst the delicious aroma wafting from a large building in the centre of the half demolished village. The building almost reminded him of home. Except for the ruined houses that surrounded it, for some reason his mother's village was never attacked by demons.

Inuyasha felt Shippo curl up against his side. The small demon yawned hugely, “Do you think they'll be finished soon? I'm sleepy.”

Inuyasha snorted, “From what? All you did today was draw.”

“It takes a lot of energy to come up with the art I do!” Shippo scoffed as he rubbed his left eye. Inuyasha huffed back, and continued staring at the village and the villagers talking and wandering aimlessly to and from the central building. Children were playing outside of its walls, Inuyasha almost smiled when one particularly stupid kid decided it would be fun to attempt a round house kick and ended up with his foot planted in the building's northern wall.

He flicked his ears back and up as he saw Kagome wander out of the kitchen building, carrying a wooden bucket. She glanced back and smiled and Inuyasha thought he'd heard her laugh. She then started towards the dark forest, opposite where the demons were sitting.

“Must be getting water.”

Inuyasha nodded at his own deduction and closed his eyes momentarily and drew in a deep breath. Well, he couldn't allow her, Kagome the klutz, to go walking in the woods during the dead of night; knowing her she'd fall into the small, stone well the villagers used. Carefully, Inuyasha laid the snoozing Shippo in the grass against the trunk of the tree, motioned for Kilala to mind him, stood and began to take leisurely leaps after Kagome.

He hadn't made it to the edge of the forest before a piercing shriek erupted from inside the forest. Inuyasha cursed, ignoring the villagers who gasped and ran from their homes, hoping he'd been wrong about Kagome's habit of tripping into trouble, all the while racing towards the sound of her scream.

It was an easy task to find her, because Kagome wasn't going to stop screaming until Inuyasha hurried up and saved her! Inuyasha glared up at the huge, orange and black wasp, feeling his stomach grow heavy with worry. They were only a few minutes into the forest, Miroku and Sango could catch up quickly. Inuyasha had to save Kagome; with four of its six legs the wasp held Kagome close, whilst the girl screamed for Inuyasha's aid.

Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head and he cringed, quickly grasping Tessaiga in his right hand, “Will you shut up, wench? I can't damn well kill the thing with your continuous shrieking!”

Inuyasha flinched when she turned her yells directly on him, “What is that supposed to mean, Inuyasha? If you hadn't noticed I'm being carried away by a giant wasp! A bug!”

She was, Inuyasha acknowledged, all the while cursing his luck of it being a bug demon. Kagome was scared of bugs, though he had no clue why, all he had to do was step on them and they'd live no longer.

He scowled and leapt at the demon, raising his Tessaiga above his head. He swung, aiming for the wasp's abdomen. Inuyasha's eyes widened dramatically when the wasp simply turned towards him and spat a disgusting smelling, deep purple acid at him.

Inuyasha swore loudly and colourfully. He landed heavily, stumbling slightly as he wiped frantically at the now burning purple liquid from his face. He was pleased to see that his favourite kimono wasn't being eaten away because of the acid, though it hurt like a bitch while it remained on his face!

A moment later, Inuyasha took off after the flying wasp, flinching as the small splatters of acid left on his face and neck burnt at his skin. He stubbornly ignored the sensations they created; he'd live, he always did and there was no point in worrying about them when Kagome was going to be used as bug food.

He sniffed and snorted, ears tracking the demon's insistent buzzing; was this bug stupid or what? Was it really going to remain so close to the ground where Inuyasha could kill it easily? The damned thing had no sense of self preservation.

He smirked once he'd caught sight of it again. The over-grown germ was dead. With his right hand, Inuyasha grasped Tessaiga tightly and carefully worked out his attack's trajectory, holding the large sword over and to the left of his head.

Then he'd been shoved backwards harshly and the breath knocked out of him. The half-demon gulped and gasped, attempting to fill his aching lungs with air as he stared up at a large, mess of demon body parts now looming over him.

“Naraku.” Inuyasha admonished breathlessly, eyes hesitant to leave the half-demon's form and look for Kagome, “I should have known it was you. You always seem to show up when we're battling anyone!”

“And yet you remain bitter towards the priestess? She was the one that forced you to stay near the village, was she not?” Naraku's cold, unaffected chuckle causes Inuyasha to feel as though there are spiders crawling under every inch of his skin.

Inuyasha unsheathed Tessaiga, looking stubborn and attempted to look menacing as, a moment later, he rushed head first at Naraku, “Kagome doesn't force me to do anything you bastard!”

Kagome wasn't screaming any more, or Inuyasha couldn't hear her, whichever made him worry most he didn't know. But the heavy lump in his chest it caused made him move faster and swipe more viciously at the tentacles that were launched at him, attempting to trap him.

“Where's Kagome? You better not have hurt her!” He asked between swings. Inuyasha briefly closed his left eye, the acid finally getting to him, before he dodged a thick tentacle, watching as it pierced through the trunk of a large tree. He landed several metres away from Naraku and lifted Tessaiga above his head, “Wind Scar!”

The attack that had obliterated so many enemies thus far in Inuyasha's journey, sliced through the left side of Naraku's mass of arms, legs, torsos and heads as though he were made tissue paper, causing the said parts to litter the ground, leaving a bloody mess. Inuyasha allowed himself a smug smirk, until he spied Naraku's decapitated body parts starting to regrow, then stretch and clench as they were tested.

“You never learn.” Naraku chuckled as he sent a superior smirk back at the other half-breed. He then surged forward, surprising Inuyasha at his head first attack, the first one Inuyasha remembers witnessing.

The half-demon hardly had time to bring his arms up and around his face before he found himself encased in a slimy, rubbery substance. He clenched his eyes shut, he growled and gritted his teeth hard; it hurt, his entire body felt as if it were burning! What ever Naraku was doing to him - the bastard was going to pay!

Inuyasha snarled, had the bastard swallowed him? If he had - Inuyasha wasn't some weak demon! He wasn't going to be just another couple of body parts for Naraku!

He swung the Tessaiga sloppily, managing to pierce a hole in whatever it was he was in. The moonlight that had filtered inside the hole, a second before it closed itself, allowed him to see that the rubbery gunk was purple. His stomach lurched sickeningly when he realised he was most definitely inside Naraku.

Inuyasha wasn't sticking around any longer! But surprisingly, as Inuyasha readied his Tessaiga for his favourite attack, he found the purple, slimy cavern he was squished inside of starting to melt from around him. He clamped his mouth and eyes shut, he stopped breathing. It was as though he were submerged in water, only managing to gasp in a gulp of fresh air once the purple flesh was nothing more than a mere puddle of acid eating and kill all the vegetation around it.

Golden eyes flew around the clearing he'd been released in as Inuyasha kneeled, finding that Naraku wasn't anywhere in sight. He sighed, allowing himself to relax, his muscles slackening momentarily. He shakily sheathed Tessaiga.

That was when Inuyasha noticed the stench, the fact that his skin was still burning and that he wasn't were they were fighting originally. Inuyasha growled, as he stood on wobbly legs. The world was spinning and Inuyasha felt the need to throw up. Damn, the stench… Inuyasha wrinkled his nose with disgust, instantly starting to search for the nearest hot spring or river. He needed a bath now.

Inuyasha hissed, as he leaped, his vision darkening at its edges as he finally realised just how bad the damage from Naraku's acid was. He glared down at his left hand and willed the eaten and still slowly dissolving skin to grow back quickly. His mind then supplied another topic for concern for him.

He bared his teeth with fury when he realised that Kagome was more than likely still with that bastard, Naraku. She was probably yelling at him now, demanding to be released or telling him that Inuyasha would save her and beat the shit out of him. But her language would consist of grey terms, never the colourful ones he threw in all the time. He sighed, smirked at the thought and jumped further.

He'd been concentrating on thinking of Kagome's predicament; he hadn't noticed a large log, just as he hadn't realised there was a cliff beyond it. He cursed as he fell, soon turning grateful as the air whizzing past him soothed his burns. Inuyasha landed awkwardly and fainted, his mind full of Kagome.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Woffy: I'm back! And with a response to a challenge set by HPTR Fangirl on fanfiction.net. Go check out her profile; she's got a few challenges set, all of them are interesting.

 

Also, as you can tell, I can't write fighting scenes; I'm a non-confrontational type of person, I'd have no idea what to do in a fight. I'm sorry for its crappiness. I'll happily accept critique. -smile-

 

As an ending note: I am so effing happy at the moment! We just bought eight Inuyasha DVDs for $48! We saved more than $50 on them all! Now, with that said… Leave a review, it might cause me to update quicker.