InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Barriers ( Chapter 3 )

This story probably won't be too many more chapters. I'm shooting for less than 10. For those of you have read my other works on ff(dot)net, I promise to start work on `All of Me' again after I finish `Family Ties.' It will not be abandoned. As always, comments are welcome. Enjoy the chapter!

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

 

Chapter 3: Barriers

 

“Are we safe?”

 

“Is the monk controlling the youkai?”

 

“Is that girl a youkai, too? She's dressed very strangely.”

 

Miroku was beginning to wish he had listened to Inuyasha. The impatient hanyou had wanted to march up to the doors of the castle and demand entry. It had taken three days of hard travel to reach the place (Hachi kept insisting that he was too tired to transform and carry all of them) which gave Miroku plenty of time to do some thinking. By now, he had managed to convince everyone, including himself, that they should visit the closest village first. They might be able to find out from the locals any problems with the castle or its inhabitants.

 

He was a coward.

 

What would he say when he finally met Kimiko? It's not like he could walk up to her and introduce himself as the long-lost brother she never knew she had.

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome's exasperated plea reached his ears. Miroku rolled his eyes and prayed to Buddha for strength. They just had to keep the temperamental dog boy from traumatizing the villagers before they found out what they wanted to know.

 

“Tell those brats to stop staring at me!” he growled, glaring at a small group of children. He took a step in their direction. “Go away! Don't you have chores or something?” The children shrieked and scattered.

 

Miroku sighed and casually bopped Inuyasha on the head with his staff. “Stop yelling, Inuyasha. The villagers won't tell us anything if you start terrorizing their children.”

 

“Feh.” Inuyasha slipped his hands into his sleeves and stuck his nose in the air. That was all the agreement he was likely to get.

 

It took a considerable amount of charm and a routine blessing of the headman's house before they found anyone who was willing to discuss anything.

 

“It's strange, it is.” The headman scratched his head and squinted at the party with near-sighted befuddlement. “The Lady would come down to the village two or three times a month. Bring sweets to the children and make sure we were getting along passably fair. We were always grateful for her kind interest. That was before.”

 

“Before what?” Miroku gripped his staff until his knuckles turned white. It couldn't be. Were they already too late?

 

Sango placed her hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly in a gesture of comfort. “Has something happened to the Lady? Or the Lord of the castle?”

 

The old headman gladly switched his attention to the tajiya, though he kept darting curious glances at the monk. “Don't really know. One day the Lady stopped coming to our village. We were afraid that we had somehow offended her. A group journeyed to the castle with a gift of apology, but they were turned back at the door. Since then, nobody has come out. That was almost three months ago.”

 

“I wonder what could have happened.” Kagome shaded her eyes and peered in the direction of the castle, rising black against the westering sun.

 

“Who knows what happens with humans.” Inuyasha glared at a group of overly curious villagers, sending them stumbling in the opposite direction. “Maybe there's a sickness in the castle.”

 

“But why seal off the castle so completely?” Kagome shook her head. “I mean, wouldn't they try to get help?”

 

Hachi cringed every time somebody looked his way. It was obvious that he didn't want to be here. Inuyasha took great delight in tormenting the timid raccoon-dog and had already promised dire consequences if he should try to run away.

 

Relaxing his grip on his staff through an extreme act of will, Miroku tried to regain a portion of his spiritual calm, before he did something to the idiotic headman that he would regret. The man couldn't stick to the point for more than two seconds and very little of his information was useful. He was the most placid individual Miroku had ever met, seeming to have absolutely no desire to find out anything that went on outside the village.

 

“Excuse me, sir,” Sango addressed the headman. He looked up from watching Shippou and Kirara playing a complicated game involving four pebbles and a piece of string. “Has anybody gone into the castle in the last few months?”

 

The headman got a thoughtful look on his face. “Now that you mention it…. A lot of priests and priestesses have been going in. Not a one has ever come out again.” His look changed to one of unease. “It is not our place to question the comings and goings of those with spiritual powers. An unhappy priest or miko could place a powerful curse on our humble village.”

 

“Did anybody say why?”

 

He shook his head. “The miko who attends to our needs makes her home in the castle itself. Shortly after the Lady stopped visiting, many messengers rode out. It was then that the visiting priests and priestesses started arriving.” The headman shrugged, plainly not curious in the least. He abruptly turned to Miroku. “Forgive me if I am rude, but you look familiar, Lord Monk. Have you passed this way before?”

 

Miroku inclined his head respectfully. “I am sorry, headman, you must be mistaken. I have never been in this area before.”

 

The headman frowned and squinted near-sightedly at the monk. “I am sure that I have seen your face somewhere before. Though, at my age, everybody starts to look familiar. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

 

Miroku shook his head and thanked the old man. He bobbed his head in farewell and tottered off in the direction of his newly-blessed home and the impatient ears of his wife. Shippou abandoned his game with Kirara and leaped for Miroku's shoulder.

 

“Aren't we going to stay here for the night? Isn't that why you blessed his house?”

 

“No.” Miroku peeled the sticky, dirt-covered kit off of his shoulder, handing him to Kagome. “Something is wrong. We should gain entrance to the castle immediately.”

 

“I told you we should have headed straight for the castle,” Inuyasha grumbled. “But, no, you had to talk to the villagers first.”

 

Kagome picked a small twig out of Shippou's hair. “This was a good idea. Now we know that there is something wrong.”

 

“We'd better hurry.” Sango scooped Kirara into her arms and studied the rapidly sinking sun. “If we don't get there before the sun sets, we'll probably have to spend the night outside.”

 

Most of the villagers had vanished indoors, but Miroku could still feel their curious and suspicious gazes on the back of his neck. He looked at the castle and, for just a moment, could feel a trace of a demonic aura. It was gone before he could be sure, and might even just be because of his youkai companions. Nobody else seemed to notice anything unusual.

 

Shippou got Kagome to carry him the entire distance by complaining that he was tired and faint from lack of food. Inuyasha snapped at the kit for whining, and got rebuked by Kagome. He growled and raised his fist to bop the kit. Shippou burst into tears, putting on his best adorable little kid act. Kagome fell for it as she always did and immediately subdued the hanyou. Shippou stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha as he was carried away.

 

The young kit was asking for a world of hurt the next time Kagome returned to her era for one of her “tests.”

 

Well used to the two youkai rivaling for Kagome's affections, Miroku and Sango mostly ignored them. Kirara insisted on walking after only a short distance. She scuttled into the long grass on the side of the path and returned a moment later with a mouse tail hanging out of her mouth. She slurped it down like a ramen noodle and licked her lips in satisfaction. Kagome shuddered and looked the other way. The girl could handle youkai guts and bloody battles, but turned green at the sight of Kirara eating a mouse.

 

They reached the door when the sun was still a thin sliver above the horizon. Nobody stopped them or called out and the place fairly radiated spiritual energy. Miroku frowned.

 

“Do you feel that?” he asked.

 

“I sense a lot of purifying energy.” Kagome's eyes were slightly unfocused, like they were when she was looking for shards. “It's like there are many spells layered on top of each other. And… I sense a Shikon shard!”

 

“Where?” Inuyasha's ears pricked up, and he looked excited for the first time all day. “Are you sure?”

 

Kirara walked up to the door and scratched at it experimentally. There was a giant flash. She yowled, jumping away. Turning to look at the door, she fluffed out her fur and hissed.

 

“There's a barrier of some kind.” Miroku held his hand in front of him and concentrated, trying to understand the nature of the spell. “It's designed to keep youkai from entering, or to purify them. I'm not sure.”

 

Inuyasha tilted his head to glare at the blank windows high on the wall. “Hey! Come down here and let us in!”

 

An arrow shot down from one of the windows. Inuyasha jumped backwards and it hit the ground where he had been standing only seconds before. Growling, he started to draw Tetsusaiga.

 

“Stupid humans! We're here to help!”

 

“OSUWARI!”

 

Inuyasha glared at Kagome as he peeled himself off of the ground. “What do you think you're doing, wench?”

 

Kagome glared back. “We're not going to get invited inside if you keep threatening people!” Shippou squeaked as Kagome's anger translated into her squeezing the breath out of him.

 

“They shot an arrow at me!”

 

“Destroying their castle with the Tetsusaiga isn't going to help!”

 

“Do you have a better idea?”

 

Miroku brought his staff down sharply on the hanyou's hard head. Sometimes that was the only way to get him to shut up long enough to listen to reason. With an ease born of long practice, he ignored the glare Inuyasha directed at him. “Be quiet,” he hissed. Inuyasha immediately started sulking while Kagome dropped her eyes in apology, loosening her fierce grip on the kit. Shippou gasped and took up a new position on Kagome's shoulder where he figured he would be safer.

 

Miroku grinned in the direction of the unseen watchers. “We heard that you were in need of spiritual cleansing. We have traveled far in order to offer our aid.” He kept the friendly smile plastered on his face, despite the strain it put on his cheeks. Appearances were everything. People had to believe that he was trustworthy.

 

Slowly the door opened. A well-dressed guard peered at them suspiciously. “What about those youkai? How do we know that they didn't cause our problems in the first place?” He held a sword in one hand. Behind him stood several heavily armed guards.

 

“I swear on my honor as a Buddhist monk that our youkai companions would never bring misfortune on your house.” Miroku bowed his head, the others following his lead. Kagome elbowed Inuyasha before he grumbled and inclined his head slightly.

 

The guard still looked skeptical. After a whispered consultation among themselves, one of the guards disappeared into the depths of the castle at a fast trot. The next few minutes passed in uneasy silence.

 

“What do you mean, `there are youkai at the door'?”

 

An old woman hobbled into view, talking loudly with the guard. She clutched a knobby walking stick in one hand, but most of her weight appeared to be supported by the man. He glanced nervously at the group and tried to shush her.

 

The crone whacked the guard on the shin with her stick. He winced but said nothing, his stoic response being proof that this was not new behavior.

 

“Let go of me, boy.” She shook his hand off of her arm. “I'm not so decrepit that I can't deal with a couple of youkai.” Muttering under her breath, she pushed past the remaining guards until she was standing right in front of the group. Miroku opened his mouth to speak, but she wasn't looking at him.

 

“You're a miko,” she announced abruptly, staring hard at Kagome. “Don't try to deny it, girl. I may be old, but I'm not blind.”

 

“I--I--“ Kagome stammered.

 

Abruptly she looked at Miroku. “And a monk.” Her gaze flicked to Sango. “And a tajiya.”

 

She turned her sharp eyes on Inuyasha, who glared back defiantly. “An inu hanyou who travels with a miko, a monk, and a tajiya. You must be Inuyasha.” With an impatient wave of her arm she beckoned them all inside. “What are you standing out there for? My old bones can't take the chill. Come in, and shut the door behind you.”

 

“Miko-sama,” the first guard protested weakly. “We can't let youkai into the castle. The Lord said--“

 

“The Lord won't thank you if you let the only people who have a prayer of helping walk away.” She seized Miroku's wrist with fingers like talons and practically dragged him inside.

 

“No--Wait--“ The old miko was very strong for someone who looked like she was only a few years away from death's door.

 

Shippou inched closer and carefully stretched out one little hand, feeling for the barrier. He cringed, but when the blast of purifying energy didn't come, cautiously opened his eyes.

 

“Hey, the barrier's gone!”

 

“Of course it is,” the old woman snorted, still clutching Miroku's wrist in a vice-like grip. “I took it down myself. Can't go purifying the ones who come to help us, can we?”

 

Kagome looked at Sango, shrugged helplessly, and crossed the threshold. After a minute, so did the rest of the group, with Inuyasha bringing up the rear and scowling at anybody who glanced his way.

 

Miroku felt relieved when the old woman finally released him. He resisted the urge to rub his wrist. For a withered old crone, she had a surprisingly hard grip. “We have heard about your troubles, and we are here to--“

 

“I know why you're here,” she interrupted. “The others had no chance, but you--“

 

“What are you babbling about, you senile old woman?” Inuyasha burst out, ignoring the mortified hiss of “Inuyasha!” from Kagome. “We didn't know we were coming here until a few days ago! How the hell could you know what--“ He cut off as a large knobby stick connected with his skull.

 

“No interrupting!” She swung her stick again. Inuyasha ducked behind Kagome. Grumbling, he decided to sulk instead and radiate general bad temper. For probably the millionth time, Miroku wondered what Kagome saw in him. “I have my ways, and I know why you're here.”

 

She went back to ignoring the others, fixing her beady eyes on the monk. “You are here to break the curse. The hime has been possessed.”

 

 

 

Food for thought:

 

Bad planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an automatic emergency on my part.