InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dumb Luck ❯ Brief Lament and Swift Justice ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer- I do not own InuYasha or any of the original characters; they are the property of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. This story is an individual creation for personal and shared enjoyment of true InuYasha fans that I hope is up to the quality of the real series. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Author's Note - Thanks to LadyOrion, CrimsonStorm, Inu-KagLover and Parvatilotusfor your reviews. I just get all warm and squishy inside when I read them (in a good way…not pervy! LOL) I really glad you like my story. I'm hopelessly obsessed with InuYasha and it's a bit scary sometimes.

If you haven't checked out the stories here at MM(dot)org by Sueric, you really should. You can find me gathering at her feet with the other awed readers.

Parvatilotus, thank you for your comments about my "present tense" style of writing. Yes, I know there are a few spots where the tenses switch and every time I proofread, I find more typos and the like. I had one reviewer complain about my style, saying she preferred the "past tense" better and asked me, "would you change?" I told her I sympathized with her, because I absolutely cannot stand "party of the first part" style myself. But I tried the "past tense" style and didn't like the way it read; especially during the action/fight scenes. I feel that it flows better, more in the "now" of the moment. I've just been having a blast trying my hand at fanfiction. And considerate readers like yourselves, who take the one to two minutes to review, really make my day. Thank you so very much!!

Chapter Ten: Brief Lament and Swift Justice

Kagome hangs onto the straps of her yellow backpack that contains the precious cargo of two sleeping companions as she slides the rest of the way to the debris littered floor. It is her job to retrieve the Shards of the Shikon no Tama from the decimated youkai corpses as she is the only one who can see where they are embedded and she sniffs back the tears.

Sango barely notices Kagome passing her and doesn't acknowledge her presence, lost in her own tortured thoughts. `Damn…reckless…perverted…' her head falls forward and she squeezes her eyes shut against the tears, `…Stupid Monk!'

InuYasha leans on Tessaiga resting point down on the ground and frowns morosely over the Taijiya's mask at the motionless worm responsible for the loss of… He bows his head and his dog-like ears droop. `…A friend.'

Kagome approaches the spot closest to the Shards shining darkly under the worm's skin and jumps back with a frightened gasp as the flesh ripples.

Inuyasha's head and sword come up. He's there in an instant; grabbing her around the waist with his free hand to pull her back while swinging Tessaiga around in defense.

Sango raises Hiraikotsu and braces herself, "It's not dead?!"

The worm twitches and a section begins to bulge, swelling until it bursts from the inside out, spilling the beslimed and gasping Monk onto the ground. He has ofudas stuck to himself in various places and his staff gripped tightly in his left hand. He coughs and pushes up onto his hands and knees, spitting to clear his mouth, "UGH!" He looks up at his companions staring back at him, "I thought I was going to die!"

Kagome closes her mouth and grips InuYasha's arm, "Miroku-sama!"

Miroku stands up, pulling away damp scraps of paper and brushing at the slime on his face. He grimaces, shaking the goo off his hand, then gives her a crooked smile.

"Houshi-sama…"

He turns toward the soft sound and watches Sango drop the boomerang with a thud before slowly stepping closer, her head down and eyes hidden. He frowns uncertainly, "Sango?"

She stops in front of him and raises her tear-filled eyes to his. She tenses her jaw and flings her arms around his neck tight enough to choke him, uncaring of his sodden condition. "Houshi-sama!"

He drops the staff and wraps his arms around her automatically, his eyebrows rising in surprise at her unusual display of emotion. He barely has time to enjoy the sensation of her arms around him before she surprises him again by pushing away and punching him in the shoulder. Hard.

He staggers back, holding a hand to the abused body part. "Sango?"

She wipes her arm across her eyes and glares stormily at him, "BAKA!"

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The afternoon sunlight streams in through the cave entrance with the ofuda barrier still up. Though the night is over the pollen is still a concern until the wind stops blowing it around or it rains; whichever comes first. The two tiny sleepers nearby on her sleeping bag are a good indicator of the pollen's continuing presence.

Kagome holds up the little glass bottle containing the Shards, shaking it and watching the pieces of crystal wink with their own light, a nice clean pinkish hue now. She tucks the bottle away and continues to stuff her things back into her pack. She ties it shut and leans back against the cave wall, turning her head to look at the silently sulking hanyou sitting across from her. Her thoughts drift towards the absent Monk and Taijiya. The former to find a place to wash up - the latter insisting on watching out for his "foolish" back. "Ne, InuYasha?"

The silver-haired head turns, "What?" His tone is not very friendly, still pissed that he has to keep the mask on.

She touches her fingers the side of her neck, "How much do you remember from last night?" There is a slight swelling and she knows, without looking, that there is a small mark there, "You know…before we found this cave."

His eyes widen, watching her hand, and he turns his head away to hide his guilty flush, "…I…umm…"

Her own face turns red, "I thought so." She stares at the wall over his twitching ears and sighs. "Do you remember what you said?"

His glances at her, his face even redder, and swallows, "Said?"

She meets his golden eyes, feeling her own face burn hotter, "When Miroku…" She watches his face darken before he turns away again. She bites her lip with her heart lurching, `I have to know…' Kagome rises to walk over and kneel in front of him with her hands resting on her thighs. "Did you…" She takes a deep breath and waits until he looks up, then rushes to spit it out. "Did you mean it…or was it just the pollen talking?"

His eyes widen impossibly and his face goes pale, "Kagome…I…"

Kagome feels her heart skip and shakes her head violently, squeezing her eyes shut, "On second thought…don't answer that!" She hangs her head and breathes deeply for a few minutes, his growl from the night before still echoing in her head `She's Mine!' She eventually sighs and shifts to sit next to him with the wall at her back. `I made the decision to be with InuYasha…I'm not going to force anything from him.' Her heart calms and she thinks of the possessive Miko, `I'm Kagome…not Kikyo.' Weariness hits her like a wave and she shifts closer and rests her head on his shoulder, biting back a yawn. `I like him the way he is.'

InuYasha looks at her dark head and frowns in confusion, `Did I do something wrong?' His hand reaches for the ebony locks but he hesitates, leaving her hair untouched, `…or right?' He drops his hand and sighs. `Am I ever gonna understand?'

"Ne, InuYasha?"

He looks down at her sleepy voice and answers quietly, "What?"

"Something's been bothering me." Her head tilts back to so she can see him, "While I was at home, you came every other day until after the New Moon." Her eyes blink and her brow knots, "Why didn't you come back?" Her eyes grow more alert at his new blush and she sits up. "What is it?"

He looks down, hiding behind his hair again and mumbles something doubly muffled by the mask.

She leans closer trying to see his face through his hair, "What did you say?"

He peeks at her with a strange look in his eyes, still flushed, "…I did come back."

She frowns, "No you didn't. You only came back when my time was up." His face is practically glowing and she watches him shake his head and look away, as if embarrassed. Her frown deepens, "What?" She grabs a convenient hank of white hair and makes him face her.

He looks everywhere but at her before sighing, "I did come back."

She yanks on his hair stubbornly, "When?"

He glances at her puzzlement and hangs his head with another sigh, knowing she won't let it go. "The day after…"

--Flashback-

InuYasha closed the wellhouse doors behind him, gave the Shrine Grounds a quick look over, and headed for the Higurashi home. He stopped under the tree that stood near the building and frowned at the faint rhythmic sound drifting through the air, turning his head this way and that until he deciphered it to be coming from Kagome's room. `Huh?' His dog-like ears twitched and he cocked his head to the side in puzzlement. Curiosity growing, he jumped up onto the largish branch that was conveniently positioned for accessing Kagome's bedroom window, looked in and the clawed-hand reaching for the glass stilled. His eyes widened and his hand dropped to hold onto the branch with his claws dug in deep, feeling stunned and confused, unable to understand nor able to look away.

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Kagome turned the page of the dry-worded textbook with a sigh, looked at all the diagrams on the facing page and leaned backwards over the back of her chair. "Ugh!" She sat up and slammed the book shut. "I need a break." The little radio on the side of her desk caught her eye and she reached out to turn it on, twisting the dial until she found music instead of talk. She smiled, "Oh! I like this one!"

She started nodding to the beat, singing as she remembered the words. She smiled with her toe tapping through the final chorus and sighed when it ended all too soon. "Darn, I missed most of it."

When the next song started with the beat strong and fast, her eyes lit up. She jumped out of her chair and began swaying, getting the feel of it. Images of popular music videos flicked in her mind and she flung her arms out to the side, spinning around joyfully; she imitated some flashy moves, uncaring if they weren't perfect. Hips gyrating and hair flying, she closed her eyes and lost herself in the music, feeling the pounding of her heart match the fast pace of the drums and the full sound of guitars and synthesizers accompanying the soulful voice singing about hope never-ending filling her ears.

The song ended with a flair of percussion and she collapsed backward onto her bed, breathing heavily and laughing softly. `I haven't done that in a long time!' She looked up at a flash of reflecting light on her ceiling and sat up to look out the window in curiosity.

She stood and crossed to the window, sliding it open to let the breeze wash over her heated flesh and looked around before shrugging. She turned back to her desk, not seeing the red and white blur dashing across the yard to the wellhouse.

InuYasha flung open the door and shut it just a quickly, leaning back against it with his breath puffing like a bellows and his heart racing. He blinked and swallowed, feeling his face still burning from the embarrassed blush that only seemed to get worse the more he thought about what he just saw.

`What the hell was that?' With a frustrated growl, he leapt forward and straight into the well.

--End Flashback--

InuYasha's face burns again. Something strong rushes through him…something irresistible and he grits his teeth, trying to shake the lingering image of Kagome's shocking behavior out of his head. He asks out loud, "What the hell were you doing?"

"Doing?" Kagome puts her finger on her chin, thinking back, "Oh…I remember." She gives a short laugh, "I was dancing."

"Dancing?!" InuYasha looks at her like she's crazy. "You call that…that…" he sputters, lacking the words to describe what he thinks.

She frowns, feeling a little miffed, "What's wrong with my dancing." She looks down self-consciously, "I'll admit I'm pretty amateur at it," then she looks back up at his flaming face, "but I don't think I'm all that bad!"

He chokes, "Bad?!" His face couldn't get any redder, "That…that…disgraceful," she gasps in shock but he's on a roll, "…degrading…shameful display…" he ignores her speechless state, "I've seen loose women with more…"

She feels like the top of her head is going to pop and her eyes almost cross. She folds her arms and says dangerously through her clenched teeth, "More…what?"

He looks at her and finally notices that he's in trouble. `Oh. Shit.' His hands come up defensively and he pushes back against the wall, wishing he could crawl inside it to get away. "NOTHING!"

She stands up glaring down at him, flames of anger almost visible, "I N U Y A S H A…"

His ears go back and his shoulders slump in resignation.

"OSUWARI!"

The sleeping Shippo and Kirara are hardly disturbed by such a familiar sound that shakes dust loose from the cave walls.

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The End

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Next Story: Ghostly Ambition

---- Warning: this next story is reliant on characters and situations described in "Tangled Ambition" so if you haven't read it yet, it is recommended. Also, there will be some rather violent scenes, so if your squeamish…keep the Pepto-Bismol handy. ----

(Prologue)

A few days journey to the north, there is a castle on a hillside overlooking a wide river with a good-sized village along its banks. Inside, the inhabitants await their new lord's arrival and the argument taking place in a shadowed hallway grows in volume…

"I don't care if the lamps won't stay lit! Open the shutters! There is plenty of light outside!" The angry man wearing richly embroidered robes waves his arms in agitation.

Three servants are kneeling before him with their foreheads touching the floor and the elder of them looks up briefly before looking down again, "We were warned to never enter-"

"That doesn't matter anymore!" He sighs and changes his tone, as if talking to a child, "He is dead and is no longer a concern here."

"But Master, there are strange things going on in there. I myself have heard sounds that should not be-"

The angry man stomps his slippered foot on the polished wood floor, "Did I not say that there is nothing to be afraid of?! Now, get in there and get everything cleared out!"

The servants don't move except to shake their heads fearfully.

"UGH!" He stomps again, "Cowards!" He points at the cringing men, not one of them daring to look up. "Each and every one of you!" He turns to the armed guard at his side and points into the dark room and demands, "Go in there, open the shutters and show these worthless worms that there is nothing to be afraid of!"

The warrior bows, "Hai, Sakutaro-sama." He enters and crosses to the heavily carved wooden shutters, unlatching them and raising them, letting in the morning light. The fine furnishings are in need of dusting but look otherwise well kept.

Sakutaro smiles snidely and kicks the nearest servant lightly, "See! Nothing!" They still won't enter and he sighs in disgust before entering the comfortable-looking room. He turns to look back at the kneeling men who watch avidly from the hallway and raises his arms. "Oooh…scary room!" He addresses the guard again, "Go into the inner room and open those shutters for these weak children."

The warrior bows again and immediately obeys. The heavy shutters are lifted and latched open, illuminating an almost bare room except for a small table and a heavy chest. The light reflects off of a huge collection of bladed weapons and tools hung on the wall around the doorway and dust motes float through the fresh air drifting in from the newly opened windows, pushing the stale smell out.

Sakutaro peers into the inner room with trepidation, remembering the previous occupant, then looks back at the three faces watching avidly and straightens his shoulders before stepping boldly through the second door and saying loudly, "How foolish to be afraid of a room." He glances around at the starkness of this room and turns to look back out the door, "There are worse things-eep!" He steps back squeamishly with wide eyes at the wickedly sharp blades hanging overhead and swallows. He clears his throat and looks at the still staring servants, "As I was saying; there are worse things to fear." He waves at them to come forward, "Now, get that room cleaned out right away!"

The three men look at each other uncomfortably and stand up, taking their time entering the main room, peering around the doorframe at the brightly-lit room as if the slightest noise would make them jump out of their skins.

Sakutaro rolls his eyes and turns back to examine this room a little more, avoiding the wall of blades, and points at the ironbound chest, greed overcoming him. "Kafu, open that!"

Kafu obediently walks over, studies the chest and looks back at Sakutaro, "It's locked."

"Then break it!" He sighs impatiently, crosses his arms and glances over his shoulder to gage the progress of those fools in the other room.

Kafu shrugs to himself and placidly kneels in front of the chest. Twisting the dangling lock does nothing so he draws his sword to pound on the ring with the butt of the hilt, snapping it with a few good whacks. He lays his sword down to grip the lid, raising it with protesting hinges that scream loudly at the unaccustomed movement. A horrible smell hits him in the face, making him gag and fall backwards to lie stunned on the floor.

Sakutaro drops his arms in shock, "Kafu!" He only takes a step forward when the felled man raises a hand to his face. He stops, feeling his heartbeat slow in relief; not a little jumpy himself. "Kafu? What is it?" His own squeamishness holding him back, he watches as the guard sits up with a slightly dazed look on his face. "Kafu?"

Kafu stares at his hands and then looks around the room before standing up, grabbing his sword as he straightens. He remains silent while he examines the blade of his own sword as if for the first time.

"Kafu - answer me; what happened?" Sakutaro waits impatiently and watches the guard lower his sword and finally turn to face him. "Well?"

Kafu walks toward the questioning man in the costly robes with a slight smile on his face.

Sakutaro frowns, "Kafu?" The cold look in the guard's eyes sends a shiver up his spine and his voice takes on a whining tone as he takes a step backwards, "Kafu?"

The servants in the main room look up at the shaky sound in time to watch Kafu's blade separate Sakutaro's head from his shoulders, the severed arteries spraying blood like a fountain as the body hits the floor. They take one last look at the viciously grinning guard and run screaming out of the room.

Kafu looks down at the pool of blood spreading across the floor to block the doorway with deep satisfaction. He quickly turns on his heel and returns to the open chest, wiping his blade on the leg of his pants prior to sheathing it. He kneels and rifles through the items inside, selecting a few and tucking them away inside his clothing before standing. Kafu turns to look at the opposite wall where a ring is set deep into the scarred wood and moves closer to search the woven mat below it on the floor, pulling free a few strands of long, black hair. He stares at the fine ebon sheen of them for a moment, smiling at some memory.

Knowing he has little time, he stands and moves towards the wide windows to sit on the edge. Swinging a leg over the sill, he catches a glimpse of the shocked look on Sakutaro's face and grins crookedly at the severed head lying several feet from its body. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that!" He spits disgustedly at the lifeless head and slips out the window.

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