InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Anamnesis ❯ Identity Crisis ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 2 – Identity Crisis




Rising with the sun, Kagome asked Inuyasha if he wanted more ramen for breakfast or if he'd rather go hunting; she only had three cups of ramen left, which would have been their friends' shares from the night before had they not been separated.

“Let's go ahead and eat the ramen so that we can get going. Hunting'll take up too much time 'cause then there's preparing the catch afterwards before we can cook it.”

Nodding her agreement that that was logical reasoning, Kagome set to work getting their dwindling campfire built back up, and then went to change back into her uniform while the water heated to a boil, another supply they were starting to run low on again. She still had enough left for drinking to make it to Mushin's, though, so she wouldn't ask Inuyasha to detour to a body of water to refill her bottles right now. She knew there was a water source by Mushin's temple so she would refill her bottles there. Additional ramen they would just have to do without for the time being.

There was no point in hanging onto one single leftover cup of noodles, since they would obviously still have to hunt or fish anyway for the rest of everyone's food until she could restock – and certainly Inuyasha would insist that that last cup of ramen belonged to him, anyway – so since he had gone two straight nights in a row now without a single minute of sleep Kagome decided to go ahead and give Inuyasha both cups of ramen at the same time in that moment. She knew he could probably go through at least a dozen in a single sitting if he wanted to, and an extra cup would mean more energy; she was certain he could use it.

“Keh...” he mumbled quietly when he noticed her bringing out all three cups and pouring water into each, his subtle way of saying thanks. Kagome understood, and smiled softly to herself, which Inuyasha noticed even though he acted like he didn't as he silently accepted both cups of ramen from her and began eating without another further comment. She'd caught the way he'd blushed faintly, though, which only made her smile all the more as she ate her own noodles in silence.

I guess after resting at Mushin-sama's temple we'll have to head back to Kaede-obaa-chan's village so that I can go through the well and restock our supplies ... she thought in passing.

She should probably check back in with her school, too, and make sure to take any make-up tests that might be waiting for her, but she would wait to bring that part up later, she silently determined with a subtle nod of her head. No sense in getting Inuyasha in a pissy mood prematurely, since they definitely wouldn't be heading back to the well until after they took care of whatever was hurting Mushin's people, and they admittedly had no idea how long that was going to take. Kagome's mother and grandfather had long since told the school board that she had to go away a lot to a special shrine for medicinal treatments because of her various repetitive ailments, and so she was more or less on a schedule of popping in for one or two days every one or two months or so to take her make-up tests. That cover story worked out the best for everyone because then if any of her school friends showed up at the shrine wanting to visit with her or even just to go over school notes for something she'd missed in class, nobody in her family had to fib at the door that she was too sick to even get out of bed and come downstairs to see her friends and instead they could honestly state that Kagome wasn't home; it was only the reason why and her actual whereabouts they had to lie about.

Once the duo were finished with their ramen and the disposable cups were burned in their campfire, Inuyasha made sure that the fire was properly extinguished while Kagome packed up her bedroll into that seemingly bottomless pit Tardis-like backpack of hers, and then once she balanced said backpack upon her back alongside her quiver of arrows they were off.

Racing through the trees at his top speed, Inuyasha estimated it would probably take them roughly six hours or so to reach their destination, provided nothing pestered them along the way. They should get there by early afternoon. Calling back over the rushing wind that she understood, Kagome held on tightly, letting him do his thing.

Back in the beginning Kagome would have hated such a long stretch of aggressive racing, though not because the idea of being in such close intimate contact with Inuyasha had really bothered her all that much, even back then, but just for the simple fact that it had been physically uncomfortable for her, at first, just like someone riding a horse for long hours at a time if they weren't used to it. She was used to it now, though, and so settling herself in for the long haul, she and Inuyasha fell into perfect sync with one another. She moved as he moved, flowing with all of his jumps so that neither of them got rattled on the landing. Of course, there was a newfound hindrance, or perhaps it was a benefit, of having gotten so used to the feel of his body below hers. It had never used to be a problem, until Kagome had started feeling that way about him, and then suddenly 'that' became the only way she could feel about him, at least whenever riding on his back...at least whenever she wasn't distracted by them chasing or being chased by a youkai.

A somewhat naughty part of her mind wondered if the way her breasts were pressed firmly against his back, or the way she squeezed his waist with her legs, or the way he gripped her bare inner thighs with his bare hands affected him as much as it affected her. She didn't know that much about human physiology, and she knew even less about inu-hanyou, and therefore didn't really know if she actually gave off any kind of an 'aroused' scent that he would instinctively recognize whenever she felt the occasional tingling down below, but if the dampening of her panties was in fact something that that nose of his could distinguish then he either honestly didn't know what the smell actually meant and therefore ignored it or he was one hell of an actor. He certainly never gave any indication that he knew what their long runs could do to her, not that she was honestly expecting him to suddenly turn Miroku-ish and tease her or hit on her because of it, but even a more anticipated Inuyasha-like reaction of seeming either nervous, flustered and/or uncomfortable because of it had never happened either. Which she supposed in reality was a good thing even though it was still a little disappointing at the same time. Dejectedly, Kagome presumed that he probably didn't know what that particular smell actually meant, and chalked it up to normal human female bodily odors. It sounded kind of crude to think of it that way, but thinking about how sensitive that nose of his really was, she imagined that he could probably always smell her downstairs parts, along with every single other person they'd ever encountered, and so in order to avoid sensory overload his mind probably just jumbled all of the various bodily odors of a person together into a new form of B.O. that she was thankful her human nose couldn't fully pick up on. She could only imagine how badly somebody had to reek to the hanyou when even she thought they smelled horribly bad from lack of bathing. Honestly, knowing how sensitive his nose was was the main reason why she was as obsessed with bathing as she was, not wanting to risk actually smelling bad to him, especially after he'd confessed that one time to having lied about hating her scent.

But a stronger body odor as a whole from not having bathed was way different than a certain stronger odor on an otherwise clean body. Sometimes, when they traveled for long hours on end like they were doing now, Kagome liked to pretend that he could in fact actually smell her arousal as a separate odor, but that maybe he just didn't know that much about human physiology either, and therefore he didn't put two and two together, not realizing that the stronger scent of her 'female'ness meant that she was getting hot for him. She imagined that the scent of her body's natural lubricants in turn got him aroused, even if it was just an instinctive thing and a purely physical attraction, and that he was terrified to let her know about it for fear that she would be angry with him because he didn't know she felt the same way. Perhaps he feared that she would think him an animal, for being turned on by the scent of her womanhood like a dog attracted to a bitch in heat, when in fact nothing would be further from the truth. She fully comprehended the fact that he was half canine-youkai, but she loved him for him and that included his animalistic traits. She would sometimes daydream that if she ever found out that he too was secretly aroused by her that she would show him just how little he actually had to fear.

It was a nice fantasy, although she forced her mind to come back into the here and now in that moment, knowing that she couldn't afford to let her higher brain functions drift off into la-la land. If the others were with them, flying just overhead on Kirara, then she could more easily afford herself a little fantasy time for two reasons. One, daydreaming or not she would never be foolish enough to let her mind slip far enough into the obis to forget that they had company and actually let herself say or do something that would be even extra humiliating when he rejected her in front of an audience. Without that buffer she just might slip and say or do something that would still be humiliating enough when he rejected her without an audience. Two, when there were more eyes and ears and sixth senses on the lookout for danger she didn't have to worry quite so much about some kind of scary bogeyman sneaking up on them. With it being just her and Inuyasha right now she really needed to stay focused on their surroundings just on the off chance that something tried to sneak up on them in a way that she would notice before her hanyou companion did. True, he would almost definitely sense any possible incoming attack before she would, but why automatically dump the sole responsibility for their protection on his shoulders? That wasn't very fair. So she would keep her mind sharp and her senses open, Kagome told herself then.

Besides, if the scent of her arousal really did turn him on as well then the last thing she wanted to do was make the poor guy run with a hard-on for six straight hours. Besides such a thing undoubtedly being miserable for him and possibly even painful, she was sure it would also be one hell of a distraction, and again, it was just the two of them. They couldn't both let themselves be distracted by their hormones or they'd be dead for sure. And even assuming that he either couldn't scent her arousal or did but didn't know what it meant and wasn't affected by it, that still didn't necessarily mean that he wasn't affected by her nearness in and of itself, turned on for the simple fact that she was pressed up against him so intimately, just like she was turned on because of it. If that were the case then he was probably going to be distracted no matter what she let her mind wander off to think about, which meant that she really needed to pay attention if it was possible that the sole responsibility for being fully aware of their surroundings fell on her shoulders.

Kagome did realize how silly that reasoning actually sounded, since she honestly doubted either her proximity or arousal affected him in any way, but either way that farfetched hypothetical gave her one more reason why she needed to keep her head in the game. It would be all she could do to concentrate on not being distracted by his nearness while they continued to race through the trees together all alone, but with their lives quite possibly literally on the line she wouldn't let them down. Besides...it wasn't really fair to be lusting after Inuyasha when she knew he loved Kikyou. Even if he was physically attracted to her, she was sure he had way more honor than to ever actually let them do anything, not because he didn't love her 'that way' but because he did love Kikyou, and so it would be a betrayal against the older miko, and Kagome wasn't some man stealing 'other woman' whore. Yes, if Kikyou weren't in the picture at all and then he only felt physical attraction to her but not love she would probably give in and willingly romp around with him anyway just for the hell of it, but since Kikyou was in the picture Kagome knew she couldn't let herself be so heartless as to forget that fact, or even worse, make Inuyasha temporarily forget it. He would probably feel horribly guilty afterward if they ever actually lost themselves and did something so stupid, and she wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of making him feel so guilty. So fantasy or not, that was where it had to stay, in her mind, as a fantasy. Even though she liked to pretend that Inuyasha just might, possibly, actually not reject her if she ever physically came on to him, she would never ever test that theory.

Of course, in reality, Inuyasha was most definitely not impervious to the affect of having Kagome pressed so intimately against his back, although the scent of her arousal whenever they ran together like they were doing now never bothered him for one very logical reason. He couldn't smell it. Not while they were zipping through the trees, the wind in his face. His nose didn't automatically pick up all things around it within a ten mile radius, after all. It wasn't an antennae. Okay sure, if the air was fairly still then maybe that was about right; his sense of smell was very sharp, far better than a mortal dog's...but whenever he was running like he was doing in that moment then there was simply no way he could smell anything that was coming from behind him with his nose being filled to the brim with all things coming at him from in front as he zipped on through. Still, that didn't mean it hadn't long since dawned on him just what part of Kagome he was touching with his bare palms, or how it felt to have her legs squeeze his waist so tightly, and hey, pressed against his back like that was probably the only time he'd ever really get to touch her breasts outside of the odd hug so he was definitely not complaining.

It was just too bad she didn't feel that way about him, or so he thought.

Just like the miko, Inuyasha was also certain that Kagome thought of him only as a very good friend. Every once in a while, when he would dare say or do anything even remotely suggestive, or somebody else would do him the unknown favor and say or do something suggestive themselves, Kagome was always so freakin' squeamish and quick to embarrass because of it. It was clear to him that she just wasn't ready to think about that sort of thing yet. He still remembered the time he'd tried to kiss her, when he'd been trying to tell her that she had the whole Kikyou thing all wrong and that he didn't hate her because of the former miko, and she'd gotten spooked, to put it mildly. Sure, she'd been able to tease him about it later, during their walk back after she'd woken up after Kikyou had been resurrected and it'd turned out she had no memory of Urasue's attack, when she'd asked him to his face how come he always looked at her like he wanted her, but as soon as he'd been the one to get all flustered and defensive – his wall flying up just because he hadn't been expecting her to say such a thing and so he'd automatically started to deny it before stopping himself mid-sentence – she'd turned around and smiled and laughed, pleased that she had gotten him to look at her because apparently he had been so lost in his own thoughts after Kikyou's resurrection that he had been unintentionally avoiding looking Kagome in the eyes. He still wasn't sure if she'd actually noticed how he actually did always look at her like he wanted her, or if she had been under the impression she'd made that joke up out of thin air just to get a rise out of him, and damn it all, he'd never had the balls to bring in up, just in case she really did think she'd only made a silly joke. He figured either way she'd made her own feelings clear by pulling away from his would-be kiss and so it didn't really matter, plus with the whole Kikyou thing so fresh and new back then it'd honestly been the last thing on his mind for a while there.

He would admit it, Kikyou being brought back to life had really screwed him up big time, for a little while at least. He had his head on straight nowadays, though, not that it really mattered since he knew that Kagome was still planning on going back to her own world for good once their mission was completed. Even though he sometimes suspected that she might actually be a little bit physically attracted to him – he did sometimes catch 'that' smell and was pretty sure he knew what it meant, and although it didn't automatically affect the dog in him on an instinctive level the knowledge of it sure as hell affected him as a man – he was sure that it was just a hormonal thing and nothing more. He tried not to let himself get too worked up because of it. Okay, so the growing woman in her found him a decent looking guy to look at. That his youkai blood didn't disgust her even in that way he actually took as a huge compliment, truth be told, and yet another shining beacon of proof that she truly did think of him as an equal and as her friend. Any time his mind started to wander too far away into 'what if' land, though, if she could possibly actually care for him as more than just a friend, he would remind himself in an attempt to shake it off that she obviously didn't want to be in a relationship with him because she was still planning on leaving his world after Naraku was dead and the jewel purified.

He'd heard it enough times to know it was true, every single time she insisted that she had to go back to her time for one of her 'tests'. School was for education for the future, to prepare children to have careers, in order to make money, in order to support themselves and have a life. So if she didn't plan on still having a life in her own century when everything was said and done then what would be the point in going to school? Especially since it legitimately interfered with their hunt for Naraku and the jewel shards. If she didn't need school for her own future plans for after the mission was over then she wouldn't go, he was sure. She always stressed that she needed to go, not that she really wanted to. No, the reason she always freaked out about it so much, even going so far as to use the rosary to escape back when he'd tried to refuse letting her leave, was because she had to go to school, because she was still a part of that world, a world in which people had to go to school in order to get a job. She'd made her feelings on that matter quite clear. So maybe she really was physically attracted to him, but she was obviously not letting that interfere with her feelings of friendship for him, not letting herself fall for him any deeper than a passing fancy because she knew that regardless of her feelings she'd be leaving him in the end and so then what would be the point in breaking both of their hearts? He could pretend, then, that she really did love him like he loved her and the only reason she'd never said anything was because she knew it simply couldn't work and so she was doing the honorable thing. That concept he could fully understand. Perhaps it was true, perhaps it wasn't, but a man could dream, right? Once she was out of his life for good that'd be all he'd have left...his dreams.

Yes, she had said that she would stay with him, by his side, but they'd never really spoken on any details along those lines. She hadn't promised to stay forever. She'd only asked him if he would 'let' her stay with him, because otherwise he had been planning on sending her back to her time for good right then and there. For her own good, of course, since he'd known the whole Kikyou thing had kind of bothered her because of the way he'd used to insult her all the time in the beginning, insisting she wasn't as good as Kikyou for one reason or another. He hadn't wanted her to go, but he also hadn't wanted her to feel like he didn't appreciate her friendship or care for her as herself, as Kagome, just because Kikyou was back in his life. Since she would ultimately be leaving anyway, he just hadn't wanted to force her to watch him and Kikyou interacting if she'd feel like the whole thing was a giant slap in the face. He knew he'd made it seem in the beginning that Kikyou was more important to him than she was, and while he'd set that part straight right then at the well when he'd told her how much her friendship really did mean to him, how he'd never trusted anyone until the day he'd met her, he still hadn't been able to abandon Kikyou completely and so if it would have hurt Kagome's feelings then he'd simply cared about her too much to subject her to that.

Of course, she'd proven in turn that she really was his friend, asking him if she could stay, stating that she wanted to be with him, even despite his obligations to Kikyou and the fact that he just might end up dying because of his need to avenge her. Hell, if you thought about it, they had already been after Naraku, so really if you looked at it that way, if that bastard was going to kill him he was going to kill him and that's all there really was to it. Kikyou being brought back and her soul made to suffer had definitely lit a fire under his ass, intensifying his need to find Naraku and make him pay, but he knew now from personal experience that he fought harder and better when he had someone to protect and so his absolute unparalleled need to slay Naraku after Kikyou's resurrection probably actually increased his odds of survival; failure a second time was simply not an option.

Still, he had not been expecting Kagome to voluntarily stay in the fight as well, especially since he knew she was only coming to his world temporarily to restore the broken jewel and, technically, Kikyou could do that part for her. He'd tried to free her from her obligation, from her guilt and need to stay, and knowing that her need to stay because of her guilt over the jewel had been absolved with Kikyou's resurrection Kagome had instead chosen to keep coming back simply because she wanted to be there for him. Baffled, he'd asked her in turn, just to be sure. He'd asked her “You'll stay with me?” and she'd nodded her head yes, but they'd never really talked about for how long. He assumed it had been the presumption on her part that she would stay for throughout the remainder of their mission, as opposed to leaving early as he had been about to suggest she do. He was certain that she believed that she had only agreed to continue to see to the end what they had started together, a journey that would have an end, and that then at that time she would go.

That didn't stop him from wishing she would one day change her mind, of course. Sometimes, every once in a while, he had nasty fantasies about giving into his feelings for her, and that she would go along with it because the maturing woman in her did honestly find him attractive as a man, and that after making love her feelings of friendship for him would blossom and turn into the same level of affection that he already felt for her, and that she would then agree to stay with him forever. But kami forbid she would still choose to go back to her own time in the end, and that she would somehow feel used because of what had happened between them. She wasn't just some piece of ass, like the way Miroku seemed to see every woman on the planet outside of Sango whom he seemed to have some sort of genuine feelings for. But so the last thing Inuyasha wanted to do was give into his lust for Kagome and inadvertently allow her to believe that there wasn't any love to go along with it. Miroku had told him once, “It is better to want what you don't have than to have what you don't want.” and Kagome thinking he had used her in any way was definitely something he did not want, so if it meant never acting on the few times he thought she might possibly be feeling physical attraction for him then so be it. He would miss her terribly after she was out of his life, but in the mean time he would cherish her friendship, and after she was gone he would make sure to always remember the lessons she'd taught him. He was perfectly okay just the way he was, as a  hanyou. It was okay to care about people and to let people care about him in return. It was important to always do the right thing, even if sometimes nobody would appreciate it, and to not let his experiences with negative people prevent him from seeing the good in others. And of course, sometimes, it was okay to talk about your feelings.

Provided the two of them both lived to see Naraku-free days, with Kikyou peacefully at rest and the Shikon no Tama purified, then maybe, just maybe, Inuyasha would swallow his pride and tell Kagome how he really felt, not in an attempt to guilt her into staying with him, but simply because he felt she deserved to know. Maybe she actually deserved to know now, but he didn't want to risk screwing up their friendship. He didn't want her to see him as another Miroku and feel as if she had to defend herself against his advances like Sango and the monk. It would put a strain on their relationship, especially at times like now, as they ran through the forests and over the mountains, if she would feel awkward to be in such a position with him after learning of the thoughts that usually ran through his mind whenever he held her thighs so tightly.

His cheeks flushed just thinking about it, and he had to shake his head a bit to get his head back into the game and better focus on where to place his feet.

No, he would definitely wait to tell Kagome until after the mission was completed, provided he told her at all, so that then as she let him down gently that she didn't see him as anything more than a good friend he could offer her a sad smile, acknowledging that he knew that already but that he'd just wanted her to know how he felt, and there wouldn't be any awkwardness between them because she'd be disappearing from his life after that. Sometimes he fantasized that she would in turn suddenly reveal that she did feel the same way and she would jump into his arms happily agreeing to stay with him, but he knew that was just a silly wish that would probably never come to be. Still, it didn't hurt to dream, right?

“Oomph.” Kagome quietly vocalized as Inuyasha unexpectedly missed a step and had to correct mid-jump.

“Sorry...” he sheepishly apologized.

Okay, yes, it did hurt to dream, at least while he had to stay focused on his surroundings. Jumping through the treetops might come natural but he still had to pay at least a little attention to where he put his feet.

Clearing his mind for the time being, then, Inuyasha brought his thoughts back into the here and now and concentrated on pushing it even a little bit faster if he could manage it, because they really did need to get to their friends and make sure everything was all right.

They were about two hours in on their run when another stupid lower youkai showed up out of nowhere, looking to get its filthy paws on their jewel shards. Figuratively speaking, at least.

“Damn it!” Inuyasha cursed as he scented the oncoming attack – which had thankfully come from ahead of them –  maneuvering himself and Kagome mid-leap so that the energy blast that came at them from the ground hit the tree branch they would have landed on.

Kagome gasped in surprise, and Inuyasha could immediately feel her reiki rise to the surface a bit, as the miko in her instinctively tried to sense her surroundings, but whatever had shot that blast of youki at them was so weak that even he couldn't feel its presence now that its youki levels had gone back to whatever was apparently normal for the creature. Just as he thought that, however, he both felt and scented its youki increasing in strength again, and his eyes immediately widened in understanding.

“Incoming!” he shouted to Kagome before quickly taking evasive maneuvers once more, another ball of youki hitting the spot where they had just been standing.

Jumping down from the trees to land on the forest floor with barely a sound, Inuyasha let Kagome climb down from his back and held out his arm for her to hold onto for a moment while she stabilized herself. One negative to traveling like that non-stop was that it usually took her a second or two to find her legs. Quickly enough, though, Kagome released his arm and nodded his way with a look of determination as she reached for and notched an arrow. Turning in all directions, Inuyasha breathed deeply, completely ignoring the lingering scent of what he believed was Kagome's arousal because that simply wasn't the time or place to worry about such things, and clearly she knew that as well since he could tell the scent was well over an hour old. Ignoring that and filtering through all of the other scents of the forest he finally found what he was looking for, and turned to stare in that direction just as another blast of youki sailed towards them.

Quickly drawing and transforming Tessaiga he effortlessly deflected that latest blast, and then informing Kagome to stay back and be prepared to dodge out of the way of one of those energy balls if need be he then rushed forward, sword at the ready.

Coming upon the snake in the grass, an actual snake-youkai that was hiding in the tall grass, Inuyasha couldn't help the amused smirk that climbed its way up his lips as unexpectedly intelligent eyes widened comically large, as the snake suddenly feared for its life, and rightfully so. Its mouth was still hanging open, although he didn't think it was gaping at him in its shock; it was clear to Inuyasha that the hebi-youkai had actually been launching out its youki balls from its mouth. Then it slowly closed its mouth, as if cautiously trying not to make any sudden moves, and then without a single word, although Inuyasha wasn't even sure if it could talk, the low level snake-youkai immediately turned tail and slithered off into the thickness of the forest as fast as its dorsal muscles could propel it. Apparently it'd thought that a sneak attack might just do the trick, and it had in no way, shape or form been prepared for an actual one-on-one confrontation with the inu-hanyou.

Heh ...smart serpent... Inuyasha thought with a chuckle, sheathing Tessaiga while undoing its transformation at the same time so that it looked like he was somehow magically shoving the giant demonic fang-sword into a normal, skinny scabbard.

“I always think that looks so neat whenever you do that.” Kagome said, coming up behind him.

“I told you to stay back.” he pointed out, turning to glare at her a bit, even though he'd of course known that she'd started to approach him the second the snake had turned and slithered away.

“I might not have been able to sense the youki of whatever had been attacking us, but one thing I learned long ago was how to tune into yours, and you relaxed, no longer feeling agitated, so I knew it had to be safe.”

“Keh.”

Letting it go, since he knew she actually had a valid point, Inuyasha just turned and presented Kagome with his back, and having already tucked her unused arrow back into her quiver she quickly climbed on board. Taking a second to get herself situated again, so that she could securely hold onto him while also still maintaining a tight grip on her bow, Kagome then said “Okay, I'm ready.” and at her say so they were off, racing across the ground for a moment before Inuyasha launched them back up into the trees.

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Watching from his place high overhead in the sky above as the hanyou and miko took back off through the forest after that pitiful excuse for a snake-youkai failed in its own miserable attempt to defeat the famed duo, Hieibakai only smiled evilly to himself, knowing that unlike the sniveling weaklings that had been coming after those jewel shards in droves since Naraku's disappearance, he would be successful in his plan to acquire them. He actually had a plan, unlike those brainless buffoons. Watching as the inu-hanyou easily defeated, or sometimes even just scared off the pathetic vermin coming after them was highly entertaining. Hieibakai was no fool. He knew quite well just how powerful that inu-hanyou actually was, thanks to that sword of his, and then there was also the strangely dressed miko, carrier of the shards, who while clearly untrained just radiated with spiritual power. He knew he could not just charge into battle and honestly hope to be successful against them.

Not without a little insurance ... he thought with an amused grin, patting the side of his robes where he held a special bundle wrapped up in a carrying cloth. It was very beneficial doing business with witches.

At first, Hieibakai had thought for sure that he would have to face off against all six members of the Inu-tachi. The kitsune he wasn't worried about, although the taijiya and her nekomata companion would have been a troublesome duo, and that kazaana of the monk's was not to be taken lightly. Fortunately, he had come up with the perfect solution to deal with all of them. He had been watching them for a few days now from a safe distance, biding his time, just waiting until he'd felt it in his bones that it was the perfect moment to strike. He had actually been just about to make his move when that tanuki had started coming towards them from the eastern mountains, and he'd quickly maneuvered himself higher into the sky before the raccoon-dog had had a chance to notice him. He had then proceeded to creep a little bit closer, to monitor the situation, but without alerting the others to his presence. Fortunately they had quickly become distracted to any outside stimuli by the tanuki's words, and after realizing that the tanuki hadn't been another random youkai after the Inu-tachi for their jewel shards but instead was a companion of theirs seeking their aid, Hieibakai had made sure to follow after them at a safe enough distance so as not to be detected. He wasn't about to lose his opportunity to get those shards. He had thought that perhaps he could use the chaos of them battling this other foe to his advantage.

Underhanded?

So what?

Of course, what had ended up happening instead had turned out to be so much better, as he'd witnessed the hanyou and miko depart from their other companions to battle that grotesque forest-oni, and Hieibakai had grinned in wicked delight to realize that there was a jewel shard down in that human village, meaning that the miko now had six in her possession instead of five. Ah, fate. He'd known there had to have been a reason why that damn tanuki had screwed up his earlier preparations to strike; the kami were truly on his side, he cackled evilly under his breath. Now he only had to face off against the hanyou and miko themselves without their other companions getting in the way, and he would get another jewel shard as a reward for his patience. Life was good.

Continuing to follow the pair from what he was sure was outside of their sensing range, Hieibakai smiled, truly pleased with himself. They were nothing but dots to him at that distance, but being so far above them also allowed him to see what was coming up ahead. The trees would be thinning out soon enough, forcing the hanyou and miko back down to the ground as the mountain forest gave way to valley field, and they would have nowhere to hide once that happened. That was when he'd make his move.

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Kagome and Inuyasha, unaware of the pending danger, continued to remain lost in their own thoughts as they zipped together through the treetops, although this time their inner monologs had remained far less tantalizing. Kagome's mind was focused on their companions, hoping that everything was okay at Mushin's village and that her and Inuyasha's delay had not become a hindrance towards the others' ability to combat whatever assailant was behind this strange attack. Inuyasha, on the other hand, was keeping his senses on high alert, to the best of his ability, although he was marginally preoccupied with worrying over what Naraku could possibly be up to. The more sniveling, cowardly youkai vermin that clearly didn't have the balls to face off against him in a real fight showed themselves, the greater the indication it was that the dark hanyou had truly hidden himself but good. These lowly beasts thought of self-preservation before all else, sometimes even including their desire for the jewel shards, which meant that there was definitely no way in hell they would've crawled out from underneath whatever rocks they usually hid below unless they knew it was safe.

So then where the hell was Naraku?

Inuyasha knew that the dark hanyou was never necessarily their only enemy, though, and so stretching his senses again in that moment, he flared his youki in an attempt to better ascertain if everything was still all clear. Something was bugging him, prickling the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He couldn't sense any demonic auras besides his own from anywhere within the nearby vicinity, and whatever faint auras he could pick up on at the very edge of his awareness were far too weak or distant to be considered a threat. If somebody with the ability to do so stretched their senses out far enough, then they'd always sense a demonic aura or two from just whatever random youkai happened to be in the area, but that certainly wouldn't necessarily mean that those youkai were for sure going to jump out and attack them at any given moment. Checking again just to be sure, he confirmed that all seemed calm in that regard. Nothing was close enough to appear to be a threat; most lowly forest youkai were actually scurrying out of the way as they approached alongside their mortal woodland counterparts.

For the most part, Inuyasha knew that most lower youkai actually gave him and Kagome a wide birth whenever they came near, sensing how strong they were, especially together, and knowing right away that trying to fight them for the shards they carried simply wasn't worth it. At least while the shards were kept so pure and therefore couldn't pollute the minds of weaker youkai that would turn wicked within a heartbeat if the aura of a dark shard had the opportunity to influence their behavior. So long as the shards were pure then the only youkai that were ever after them, no matter how low on the power scale they were, were youkai that were intelligent enough to choose to go after the shards, seeking them from a place of calculated greed as opposed to mindless lust, as would be the case with a tainted shard calling upon their inner beast. Scanning the surrounding forest with his mind's eye one last time, the hanyou confirmed with finality that he could feel no demonic auras closing in on them from any direction; whatever auras he could feel at the edge of his senses were keeping their distance, and he chalked it up to various forest youkai that didn't want any problems giving them a wide birth as they passed on through.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Inuyasha couldn't scent anything that seemed suspicious, either, and if something or someone that could mask its youki was actually creeping up on them from behind faster than he was traveling then that air pressure disturbance as they crashed against his wake in the wind would be something that he would feel as well. No, there was definitely nobody standing in their path ahead of them that seemed like a threat, and there was definitely nobody trying to sneak up on them from behind, either. Something still felt 'off' so he would definitely keep his senses on alert, but so far he didn't actually think that there was anything specific he needed to worry about.

It was just too bad that Inuyasha never thought to look up.

Kagome did, a few times in fact, as something started prickling against her miko senses as well, almost like a sense of foreboding closing in on her, but their unseen enemy was much too high above to be spotted by human eyes squinting against the brightness of the midmorning sun. Telling herself that it was only her thoughts about whatever could be attacking Mushin's village that was putting her on edge, Kagome did her best to stop worrying about it, knowing there was really nothing they could do until they got there. Getting herself all worked up over the unknowns wouldn't help her friends anyway, so she needed to remain calm. Having felt the flare in Inuyasha's youki as he'd undoubtedly scanned the surrounding area with his own senses, Kagome took his lack of reaction as reassurance that everything was in fact all right as far as the two of them were concerned.

Roughly an hour after their run-in with the hebi-youkai Kagome noticed it right away as the trees starting thinning out. A few times Inuyasha leapt down onto the ground before pushing back off, again launching them from tree to tree before then landing on the forest floor once more. She knew he preferred running across the treetops whenever possible, but as they finally finished descending the wooded mountain they had been traveling over the forest abruptly came to an end and they entered a field of tall grasses.

Kagome wasn't that familiar with the topography of sixteenth century Japan, although she was almost certain that the beautiful valley they were now running through had been destroyed by her time to make way for one city district or another; she felt truly gifted, at times, to be able to see her country as it had once been. How many people got to live out such an incredible fantasy, truly? As far as she knew she was the only one who had ever been blessed with the gift of time travel. Well okay, her and Inuyasha, but that was different. He got to travel into a fantastical future, but he was disappointed by what he saw, always complaining that it was loud and smelly and confusing. His time wasn't confusing to her, and it was quiet, and smelled good. It was just too bad that the majesty and wonder of it all and her ability to travel into the past was tarnished with the harsh truths of greed and murder. It wasn't called the 'Warring States' era for nothing.

Monsters and dark magic, pain and suffering...Kagome tried her best to stay lighthearted and optimistic, but she certainly wasn't as naive as she'd used to be. Yes the world was full of good people, but it was also full of bad people, monsters and humans alike, and she knew it was her sacred duty to help tilt the balance towards the side of good. It was about more than just putting the shattered Shikon no Tama back together and defeating Naraku, or at least it was now. The kami had chosen her, sent her back into the past, and while it was true that at first all she'd wanted was to return to her own time and forget that all the craziness had ever happened, she'd since seen and done far too much to ever be foolish enough to think that she could even pretend to be like the so-called 'normal' kids of her century.

Yes, it was true that she had originally decided to keep coming back into the past solely because she'd believed that collecting the sacred jewel shards was her responsibility and because she was the only one who could properly purify them, and yes, it was also true that after Kikyou had been resurrected, somebody who could actually take over her duty of collecting the shards if she wanted to, Kagome had chosen to keep coming back into the past anyway to be with Inuyasha, because she loved him and wanted to be with him even if she couldn't be 'with' him how she'd really like to be, but honestly it was more than that now. Much more. Inuyasha was still a big part of it, much more than the lingering guilt she still felt for having accidentally shattered the jewel, but even knowing that they would never be more than friends she still continued to journey into the past, putting her life on the line to fight the forces of evil, and so it certainly wasn't a fool's hope of an eventual 'happily ever after' of the fairytale variety between her and the man she loved that fueled her sense of honor and duty those days. Inuyasha was her friend first and foremost, and they were in this together, as friends and comrades in arms. She would keep her love for him tucked away safely in her heart where nothing could hurt it, but in the meantime they had a mission to fulfill, and right now their mission was to get to Miroku and the others as quickly as possible and make sure that whatever was hurting those innocent villagers was taken care of, regardless of whether or not Naraku or any jewel shards were involved. What would happen to her and her duty in the past after Naraku was finally defeated and the sacred jewel restored she would worry about when it got there. After all, just putting the Shikon no Tama back together again was only half the issue when it came to that; she would still have to figure out how to purify it away, taking over where Kikyou had left off in that regard. Kagome hated to compare herself to Kikyou, but the fact of the matter was that she had been born with the Shikon no Tama within her body, and as such, she did know that it was her responsibility, her holy mission in life. She was the chosen one, the Shikon Miko.

Lucky me ... she thought with a roll of her eyes, before stifling a laugh as an image of herself standing proudly in her school uniform with her hands in fists on her hips, and the wide collar of her sailor fuku extended out into a full blown cape flapping in the breeze behind her came to mind. Perhaps a diamond on her chest with the letters SM?

The fifteen-year-old kid in her almost wanted to mentally cheer herself and her friends on like they really were some kind of comic book group of superheros, but this was real life and she knew the situation was far too serious to be trivialized in such a way, even if swooping in to the rescue was kind of cool.

Less than a minute after entering the field a sudden blast of foreign youki started clawing at her miko senses, immediately pulling her from her wandering thoughts as her reiki flared to life in response, right at the same time she felt Inuyasha's youki rise in strength as well. Something was suddenly closing in on them, and fast...and not to rescue them.

It all happened so fast.

Inuyasha had been concentrating on nothing but pushing his feet to move faster in the less favorable terrain; the softness of the grass and dirt could minutely affect his speed as tree branches, so long as they were thick enough to not be overly flexible, were far more sturdy than grass and dirt because they did not compress under the pressure of his feet as he kicked off. They also had a rougher surface which made establishing grip much easier, unlike soft dirt and grasses of a field that offered poor traction against bare feet. Fortunately it hadn't just rained in the last day or two and so at least he didn't have to deal with running through mud, and at least in an open field there would be far fewer places for a potential enemy to hide, so that part was definitely a good thing.

No sooner had that thought formed in his mind, though, then did he suddenly feel an incredible increase in one of the faint youki signatures he'd been keeping a mind's eye on as he ran. Something that had previously been keeping itself at a safe distance was now suddenly rushing towards them, and fast. Whatever it was had been too far away, too faint of a youki signature for him to have realized that it was the same youki signature that had actually been following them for quite some time now. At that distance there was just no way to distinguish anything discernible from one youkai to the next, like demonic white noise, and so whatever it was had deliberately been keeping itself blended in with the faint hum of distant youkai that Inuyasha could almost always feel in the background if he stretched his senses far enough, and could even still feel in that moment, though they were the last thing on his mind as this one particular youkai charged towards them at breakneck speed. His youki flared to the surface in response, as he tried to get a better idea of what the sudden threat was, and Inuyasha felt both a twinge of pride and fear as Kagome flared her reiki as well, as he brought them both to a dead stop. Pride because it truly pleased him to know that Kagome was powerful in her own right and capable of defending herself in most circumstances, and fear because he knew she couldn't always defend herself and it was his job to protect her, and he always worried in the back of his mind that one day he would be unsuccessful in that task. No time to think about that now, though.

“What is it?!” Kagome asked frantically at Inuyasha's startled expression, as a nonvocal roaring sound, almost like a flag flapping in the wind, started getting louder and louder to his ears. It was coming from...above?

He quickly looked up, which caused Kagome to look up as well, and her eyes widened in surprise and fear as Inuyasha loudly cursed “Damn it!” and grabbed her before diving out of the way.

Hieibakai, his dark red skin and black wings a dismal contrast against his bright white and golden robes that flapped loudly as he plummeted towards the earth, swooped in on them both so fast that in the split second Kagome had looked up to stare at his appearance in shock his perceived size from her perspective went from a dot smaller than a pea to larger than a basket ball. She didn't even have time to gasp, and then the next thing she knew she was lying flat on the ground, Inuyasha lying beside her as the tengu's massive shadow passed over their bodies. But Hieibakai had not intended to make a reach for them and had been anticipating their dive. He'd held his sword out at the ready for appearances' sake, making the hanyou think he was planning a strike to actually encourage the bodily dive they had just made. Opening his wings wide in the same moment they dodged, he pulled up out of his nosedive to swiftly swoop forward and fly right over them while at the same time quickly sheathing his sword before then reaching into his robes for his special prize. Pulling out the bundle he had acquired from the mountain witch, he smirked in triumph as he circled back around and threw down the entire carrying cloth, which had been wrapped loosely and started to unfold itself during the fall, spilling its contents on the two below. With no other members of the Inu-tachi to worry about he knew that that dose would be more than enough to take care of these two alone. Mentally, he was already doing his victory dance.

Just seconds after Inuyasha hit the deck with Kagome, thinking that volant bastard had been aiming to take one or both of their heads off, his bundle hit the ground right beside them and exploded into a massive cloud of white powder, like what one would expect from an opened bag of baking flour being thrown to the ground with similar force. The only real difference was that baking flour didn't really have much of an odor, and the ensorcelled powder now covering them both from head to toe reeked to Inuyasha's sensitive nose. It was a sweet, flowery smell, but almost too sweet, and with no discernible flora behind it, like the stench that would result from mixing twenty different types of floral perfumes together with the world's sweetest honey. It stung his nose, his eyes watering, and immediately Inuyasha realized that if he could smell it then that meant he was breathing it and he was pretty sure he probably didn't want to do that.

“Shit...” he cursed quietly, quickly getting up and helping Kagome to her feet after what had really only been a small handful of seconds lying on the ground. “Hold your-” he started to instruct, though he knew with dread that he was too late as wracking coughs coming from the miko interrupted his words of warning, the cloud of dust not yet having settled and still floating stagnantly in the air all around them.

They were both thoroughly covered in the mystery substance, Kagome's raven tresses looking more like Kaede's graying locks while the bright green and red colors of their clothing appeared significantly faded from the dusting of powder they wore, but so far there thankfully didn't seem to be any immediate ill effects and so first and foremost Inuyasha knew they had to deal with the fucker who'd covered them with this shit before they could worry about what it was or wasn't supposed to do to them.

“Are you okay?” Inuyasha asked Kagome with concern as she held her right hand to her chest, her bow still clutched in the left, trying to stop her coughing fit as she ran a few feet over to get out of the main cloud of the stuff. He kept one ear turned in her direction while the rest of him remained fully focused on the tengu still circling above them, just watching them as if he were waiting for something.

“Y-yeah...” Kagome managed after a second, her throat horribly dry and her eyes burning. Quickly, though, she drew and notched an arrow, trying to ignore the slight dizziness she felt while trying to draw a bead on her target. She agreed with Inuyasha's thoughts on the matter; they had to take care of their enemy, and now.

It's a tengu ... she realized quickly, recognizing the winged, mostly humanoid youkai from the legends she had read in her time.

Some lesser tengu were more bird-like, with actual beaks, but this guy flying above them had a mostly human face except for his comically large nose. His skin was a dark, blood red and the small topknot of hair on his head was black, as were the feathered wings protruding from his back. His white and saffron robes were styled like those worn by yamabushi. This was no Shinto kami, though, no protector spirit of the mountain forests. The look in his black eyes said it all; like every other youkai they had come across lately, he was after their jewel shards.

“Bastard...” Inuyasha grumbled, doing his best to ignore the slight dizziness he felt as he drew and transformed Tessaiga. “Coward!” he shouted up to the tengu then. “Can't face me like a man so you try some fucking sneak attack? Take this! Kaze no Kizu!”

Inuyasha wasn't fooling around.

Unfortunately, aiming an attack like the Kaze no Kizu up into the air against an agile airborne opponent wasn't very productive. Hieibakai easily dodged, while laughing at the hanyou's failed attempt, and even when Kagome tried to take advantage of his distraction to fire off her arrow straight for where he'd moved to avoid Inuyasha's strike, he easily sensed her purifying arrow sailing towards him and dodged the holy projectile as well.

“You'll have to do better than that.” Hieibakai told them both with a smirk, engaging in a pattern of evasive maneuvers so that neither the hanyou nor miko could accurately aim a second attack.

“Damn it.” Inuyasha cursed. “Come down here and fight like a man!”

“Dishonorable in battle I may be.” Hieibakai admitted with a casual shrug of his shoulders as he hovered steadily in place for a moment. “But I am no fool, half-breed son of the great Inu no Taisho.”

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes; Hieibakai continued.

“You and your miko, you two have quite the reputation. I will wait until my magic takes effect.”

“Damn it!” Inuyasha cursed again. “What have you done to us?!”

Hieibakai merely shrugged again. “I could tell you, but there would be no point; you wouldn't remember anyway.”

That cryptic clue had Inuyasha's eyes widening in alarm, and he immediately fired off another Kaze no Kizu, which without prompting was joined by another arrow of Kagome's. Both missed their target.

Hieibakai laughed.

“Fuck...” Inuyasha swore quietly. “Good try Kagome.” he added, turning to glance the miko's way, only to widen his eyes in worry at the blank look on her face. “Kagome?!”

“Huh? Oh...” Shaking her head as if to clear away a heavy fog, some of the white dust in her hair clouded around her face as a result, and crinkling her nose and trying to hold her breath she waved her hand in front of her face, attempting to clear the air, though she wasn't very successful as more powder clouded up from her sleeve at the motion. “Yeah...?” she asked then, looking Inuyasha's way with slightly unfocused eyes as she coughed a little.

“Keep it together, Kagome. You gotta resist this bastard's magic.” Inuyasha stated, sending concerned glances her way while also trying to keep an eye on the tengu at the same time.

“I am not the bastard here.” Hieibakai spoke back up at Inuyasha's words, a wicked smirk in his eyes. “My parents have unwaveringly honored their vow to consort with no others. My father has no human play things with which to disgrace our family line.”

“So you know who I am...am I supposed to be impressed?” Inuyasha asked sarcastically, royally pissed off. “Just who the fuck are you, then?”

“I am called Hieibakai” the tengu replied smugly, as if his name were his pride and joy.

Flying shadow of destruction ...? Eerily, Kagome thought to herself that the name seemed rather fitting, especially with those giant black wings of his casting his shadow over them as he hovered in the sky above.

Suddenly thinking that maybe if she fired first this time that Inuyasha could then be the one to followup with his own strike aimed towards wherever the tengu would fly to in order to avoid her arrow and that doing it in that order might possibly be successful, Kagome quickly drew, notched and fired said projectile in that moment, knowing she couldn't clue Inuyasha in in advance because it would warn their enemy though she also had full confidence that she didn't need to share her plan with Inuyasha because he would immediately understand and play his part all on his own. He did of course, Inuyasha's eyes widening in surprise for only the briefest of seconds as he saw Kagome fire her arrow before he quickly prepared himself and aimed a powerful Kaze no Kizu in the direction Hieibakai started to travel in to avoid the sacred arrow, but despite their best efforts Hieibakai was just too acrobatic; he easily flew around both of their oncoming attacks like he was performing an aerial ballet.

Inuyasha glanced Kagome's way to compliment her on the idea even though it had failed when her woozy appearance as she wobbled slightly on her feet had him by her side in an instant, his free hand on her shoulder.

“Are you all right?” he asked her in concern, unknowingly losing track of their enemy in that moment as he became fully focused on Kagome.

“I...” She blinked, and then turning her head slightly to meet Inuyasha's gaze her eyes seemed to focus a little bit better. “Yeah, yeah I'm okay.” she said then, reaching for and notching another arrow as he released her shoulder. “Let's get this bastard.”

Inuyasha did a double take at that, knowing that Kagome was most certainly not all right if she could cuss so easily, but that didn't mean he didn't agree with her and so nodding in determination he tightened his grip on Tessaiga's hilt and looked back up into the sky.

The tengu was gone.

And without a visible target Inuyasha was quickly forgetting what their enemy had even looked like.

What ...what was I aiming at...? Who attacked us?

The dizziness he felt was getting worse. Then he sneezed.

“Don't breathe in the powder.” he heard Kagome warn, and turning to look her way again his blurry eyes cleared by a faint amount.

“Keh...too late for that I'm afraid.” he confessed, before doing his best to shake the crap out of his hair and clothing so that he could smell again. He needed to scent the air, needed to know where their enemy had gone off to...whoever he was.

“What's going on?” Kagome asked quietly after a moment, and he stopped his dog-like shaking at the sound of her question to look her way with confused golden eyes, the white powder that had clouded around him slowly settling onto the grass.

“What do you mean?”

“Were we just under attack or something?” Kagome asked, noticing how she had an arrow held loosely notched in her bow even though there didn't appear to be anyone to shoot it at. They were all alone in a big empty field...although they were covered from head to toe in some kind of smelly white powder.

That can't be right ... she thought slowly, knowing they shouldn't be covered in white powder even if she couldn't quite put her finger on why she knew that.

Loosening the slack on her arrow to grip both it and the bow together in her left hand she used her right to start batting the powder out of her clothing, herself, ruffling up her hair too and generally shaking herself the best she could to mimic what Inuyasha had just done. Whatever that crap was she wanted it off of her. And why were they just standing there all alone in an empty field, anyway? Where were Sango and Miroku?

Eyes having widened in alarm at Kagome's words, Inuyasha tried to take in their surroundings while she did her best to de-powder herself. He was confused as to why they both seemed to be covered with some kind of smelly white substance, although he somehow knew it just had to be the reason for their foggy minds. He believed they had indeed just been under attack, noticing how she had an arrow drawn and also that he held the transformed Tessaiga in his hand. Taking a deep breath, then, he quickly noticed the stench of tengu over the lingering stench of powder and quickly followed the smell towards a carrying cloth that rested on the grass. Knowing what a tengu was and that it was an aerial youkai he immediately aimed his nose towards the sky and quickly found their enemy's trail, heading back towards the base of the mountain and the forest they had just recently exited.

Sneaky bastard is trying to hide from us, huh? Gonna just sit back and wait until this powdery crap does its job? Not likely!

His head started pounding something horrible in that moment, a worse headache than any he had ever experienced even when bodily wounded on his human night, but flattening his ears he tried to ignore the pain that felt like somebody was trying to crack open his skull with a hammer and chisel and immediately he took off towards the forest, praying that he could find and kill their enemy before it was too late.

Momentarily confused by her companion's sudden departure, Kagome didn't really know what was going on, but she did know one thing, and that was that she didn't want to be left all alone by herself in a big open field if Inuyasha was running back towards the woods, and so she immediately gave chase in that moment, figuring that he was probably following the scent trail of their unseen enemy and wanting to be there for him with her arrows if at all possible, even though she knew it would take her a little while to catch up to him since he could run so much faster than her. That didn't matter; wherever Inuyasha went she would follow and that was all there was to it. After all, he hadn't told her to stay behind, and so he couldn't even be mad at her for disobeying him.

Suddenly, the most gods awful migraine started threatening to rip her head apart and Kagome had no choice but to stop running for a moment and close her eyes as the instant sensitivity to light made her almost nauseous enough to throw up, but reminding herself that she didn't know where their friends were, and also feeling some kind of lingering concern as if she'd actually been worried about them for quite some time now, she did her very best to ignore the almost unbearable pain in her skull and her near debilitating dizziness to start running again, heading towards Inuyasha who had already made it to the tree line by that point before pausing to sniff the air once more. It would take her several minutes, at least, to cover the distance he had traveled in a matter of seconds, but in the meantime Inuyasha was on the hunt, his mind focused on one thought and one thought only, find and kill their attacker.

Spotting the tengu perched on a high tree branch he smirked, and lifting up Tessaiga he said confidently, “Whatever you're plotting it's not going to work. Kaze no Kizu!”

After the cloud of destruction settled he noted that there was no sign of the tengu, and for the briefest of moments he thought happily that he'd gotten him, although something didn't feel quite right. For some reason that had almost been too easy. Turning to look over his shoulder his eyes widened in panic to see that bastard flying straight towards where he'd left Kagome behind in the field.

Fuck! He was trying to separate us!  Inuyasha belatedly realized, taking back off towards his miko companion as fast as his legs would carry him, even as dark spots started invading his vision and a loud ringing in his ears drowned out even the sound of his own pounding feet.

Hieibakai laughed joyously as he closed in on the frightened miko, his amusement growing as he observed his spell beginning to take effect in both of them. Getting the hanyou to leave the miko abandoned in the field had been even easier than he'd thought it would be. Perhaps the inu-hanyou had thought with his limited intelligence that leaving the miko behind if their enemy had left the area would be the safer thing to do than to bring her with him back towards their enemy, but even with as stupid as the hanyou probably was under normal circumstances, Hieibakai was sure that if he were clearheaded he would have realized that separating himself from the miko was not a wise thing to do under such circumstances. It was easy to tell that the witch's magic he'd had commissioned was having an effect on them both, and Hieibakai smiled genuinely at that knowledge. They were strong willed, and were clearly both fighting against the spell's effects, but in the end they would lose.

Kagome's eyes widened in panic as she saw a giant tengu swooping in on her, his straight sword drawn and ready to strike. She could hardly think with the horrible pounding between her temples, but she did know she wasn't unarmed and immediately fired her arrow towards the attacking youkai. Hieibakai quickly banked to the left and avoided her arrow, then swooping back around, he raised his right arm and pointed his sword at her, releasing a powerful blast of youki that flowed from the tip of his tsurugi like a lightning bolt. Screaming, Kagome instinctively held her bow in front of her as if it could actually protect her from the blast like some kind of a shield, which she was surprised to see it actually did, as a bright flareup of blue light emerged from the bow and deflected the tengu's demonic energy attack. Quickly, she turned and bolted, running for her life, her splitting migraine forgotten along with just about everything else as flight kicked in when fight was no longer an option.

Hearing Kagome's terrified scream had Inuyasha's feet moving even faster, the bright blast of her miko energy as she successfully deflected the tengu's attack forcing him to close his eyes for a brief moment though he felt tremendously relieved to have witnessed her survival. Forgetting all about his headache he continued to run, catching up to the miko and grabbing her arm just in time to pull the both of them back down to the ground again as Hieibakai swooped low, that time with the legitimate intention of severing their heads with his sword.

Kagome “Oomph”ed as she landed on the soft grass, unhurt though the dive knocked the air out of her a bit and caused some of the residual powder she was still coated with to rub off onto the grass blades. Inuyasha rolled over onto his back to assess the situation, unknowingly releasing his grip on Tessaiga in the process, which reverted unnoticed back into its dormant state, and then his eyes opened wide in panic as he realized he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

He had absolutely no idea about anything.

Quickly sitting up, Inuyasha stared at the woman who was sitting up beside him with wide, hesitant eyes. All he could smell at first was that gods awful powder, though he would have had to be dead to not feel the powerful reiki that was coming off of her in waves, yet for some reason his youki did not appear to feel threatened by her miko aura and so with nothing else making any sense to him he would put his trust and faith in his own senses and instincts. Taking a deep breath in the hope of scenting beyond the powder they were both lightly coated with he immediately realized that he could in fact make out her natural scent underneath it all, and it was actually rather pleasing to his nose. She did not smell like an enemy; his instincts didn't tell him 'Beware!' at the scent of her. Instead she actually smelled very familiar to him, like he was certain he had smelt her before even though he couldn't place when or where – which wasn't surprising since there were no whens or wheres in his memory at the moment. His mind was completely blank in that regard. Scenting her again, hoping to jog his blocked memory in any way, he noted that there was also some kind of a strange magical smell on top of her natural odor that almost seemed unnaturally inviting that was also familiar to him though he couldn't quiet put his finger on it, and besides everything else she also seemed to smell a lot...like him?

Kagome observed in growing nervousness as the strange looking, clearly demonic man sitting beside her openly sniffed in her direction. “Who...who are you?” she timidly asked him.

For some reason she actually felt like she should know who he was. It was almost as if her heart and soul were both crying out at her to remember him, and the longer she studied his appearance the more she realized he didn't look so strange to her after all, as if she'd actually known him for a very long time and had gotten used to his inhuman characteristics. But try as she might to remember him there was nothing there; no matter how hard she tried to focus it was just...blank, and that was the real reason for her disquietude.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing.” he answered then, and his non-hostile tone of voice made her feel a little bit better even as the actual words he'd spoken put her more on edge.

“I...I'm not sure. I can't remember anything. I...I don't know who I am!” she stated frantically, eyes widening in renewed panic at that very realization. Maybe she was supposed to know this demonic man or maybe she wasn't, but she was definitely supposed to know who she was.

What was going on? Who'd done this to her? Had this man...?

“That makes two of us.” the hanyou stated then, and she opened her mouth to speak before her silver-haired companion suddenly shouted “Look out!” and grabbed a hold of her to roll them both out of the way just seconds before Hieibakai's energy blast charred the ground where they had just been sitting.

They quickly both climbed to their feet, trying their best to shake their disorientation free; that had been too close.

“A tengu?!” the miko spoke up in shocked confusion at the sight of their airborne enemy, not sure why she could remember what type of youkai the flying bird-man was if she couldn't even remember her own name. Maybe it had to do with still knowing the words to other things, like the object she had held in her hand and had dropped during the roll. It was a bow. She could also feel that she was wearing some sort of a backpack as well as a quiver of arrows; some of her arrows had spilled during the rolling and she scurried back to pick both them and the bow up in that moment.

The inu-hanyou was less concerned over the logistics of why he could still remember the things he could or couldn't remember the things he couldn't. Clearly this flying bastard was their mutual enemy, who had done something to the both of them to make them lose their memories. He trusted his nose, and thankfully enough of the powder covering them both had been knocked off by then for him to determine with finality that he and this strangely dressed miko were definitely some sort of companions. How or why he had absolutely no idea, but if they had been enemies then he seriously doubted that the entire front of her body would smell as if she'd hugged him for an extended period of time. The front of his own clothing smelled of her scent in return although nowhere near as strongly as it should if such extended contact had actually happened face to face, but a quick whiff over his shoulder revealed that his back actually smelled much more strongly of her, and so perhaps instead of hugging – that thought had him blushing mildly – he had actually carried her on his back in an innocent way since for some reason he knew it would be something that he could physically do. She was only human and so if the two of them had had to cover a great distance at a fast pace then her traveling upon his back would have logically been the best way to go about it. Even though he couldn't remember who he was, for some reason he at least still knew what he was, and to a point he felt like he knew his body's limitations and strengths. He just wished he could remember the beginning of this fight, so that he might possibly know their enemy's limitations and strengths. Just what all could he do with that sword of his? Were those energy blasts it, or did he have other attacks they also had to be wary of?

Noticing the empty scabbard on his left hip, Inuyasha realized he must have a sword of his own, somewhere, but just when he was about to quickly glance around for it the tengu started laughing, a horrendously sinister sound that chilled the inu-hanyou to the bone, as well as the miko, who had just finished collecting all of her fallen arrows. Sparing her only the briefest of glances, Inuyasha knew he didn't dare take his eyes off their aerial opponent.

Hieibakai guffawed loudly at the sight of his handiwork, relishing his triumph. With their individual identities erased there was no way he couldn't win in a fight against them now. Those jewel shards were as good as his. There was no way the miko should still be able to fire off purifying arrows since whatever miniscule training she'd had had now been removed from her mind, whatever instructions her sensei had told her lost on the wind. She had barely been able to tap into her holy powers as it was, and while something like blocking his attack with her bow might have been brought on by instinct in the sheer desperation of the moment, firing a purifying arrow took focus and concentration. As for the hanyou, Hieibakai had done his homework, and reconnaissance into the Inu no Taisho's bastard half-breed son's past had revealed a crude, brass, ill-tempered and sometimes downright violent brat who traditionally thought of no one but himself. He'd heard that the former Shikon Miko had tamed him, and her current replacement even more so, but before falling victim to their feminine wiles Inuyasha had never once given a shit about anybody else, and now Hieibakai wholly believed that he should revert back into his old ways, becoming the 'real' him that wasn't always concentrating on being on his best behavior so as not to upset his inugami-mochi. Now that his experiences with Kagome and Kikyou alike were both fully removed from his mind, Hieibakai actually doubted that Inuyasha would even think to protect Kagome as fiercely as he normally would, since he no longer felt the compassion for her that had developed over the time they'd spent together as he'd become her personal lapdog.

In fact, maybe he could even get the hanyou to believe that she was the enemy.

“Why the distrustful look, my friend? Oh, do not tell me that wicked miko's spell has actually gotten to you.” he stated with mock concern. “Quickly, step away from her before she can attack you again.”

Wicked miko's ...wait a minute! said miko thought in panic at the tengu's words, shouting out “I haven't cast a spell, I'm under one!” Something deep down inside of Kagome told her that she and this red-clad youkai were actually allies, but she didn't doubt that if the tengu managed to convince him otherwise then she was as good as dead.

Fortunately for them both, Inuyasha wasn't fooled by Hieibakai's words for even a second. Even if he couldn't smell his own scent covering the miko, which he could, there was also the little matter of this winged bastard having fired upon the both of them just moments prior. He might not be able to remember anything about his life up until just a couple of minutes ago, but he definitely remembered that, and if he and the tengu were actually allies then why in the hell would he have fired at the miko with him in such close proximity to the girl that he could have died in the blast as well?

Not fucking likely ... he thought, his eyes narrowing. The tengu's words also implied that the miko was faking her own memory loss, and he had smelled no deceit from the girl when she'd made that claim.

“Feh! Nice try, you bastard!” Inuyasha snarled then, cracking his knuckles before leaping up towards the  low-flying tengu, whose eyes widened marginally as he quickly lifted himself higher up into the air, just barely dodging the hanyou's claws.

Both demonic men were surprised to witness bright streaks of youki-charged blades flying from the hanyou's fingertips, the blades of youki successfully slicing into the tengu's abdomen and legs, drawing blood, though they were unfortunately all superficial wounds.

“Keh...seems my body remembers how to do a few things even if I don't.” Inuyasha stated with triumph as he flexed his fingers with a smirk of satisfaction, before quickly fixing his eyes back on the tengu as something told him if he dared glance away for even a second he might lose track of the bastard.

“Hey, Miko...” he called over his shoulder without turning to look her way. “Think you can actually shoot that thing?” he asked, referring to the bow in her hand.

“I'll do my best.” she answered confidently and without hesitation.

Both men had called her a miko, and while she didn't understand why she wasn't dressed like one, and the familiarity of her outfit seemed to imply she never usually dressed like one, Kagome concentrated in that moment to see if she could feel within herself the holy powers these two youkai both seemed to believe she possessed. Quickly drawing and notching an arrow, she couldn't ignore how familiar that sensation felt, and she immediately realized that even though her personal identity and memories were gone her body still seemed to carry within it the natural skills that she had learned throughout her life.

If that youkai in red who seems to be on my side can still use his own youki-based attacks then I should still be able to do this ... she told herself, sighting along the arrow while praying to whatever inner forces of her own energies would listen to please do this thing for her.

Hieibakai observed with an amused smirk on his face, certain that Kagome's arrow would be powerless and even half expecting her to miss him altogether, since she should have completely forgotten how to use the bow. The hanyou still using his youki had caught him by surprise though looking back on it he realized he should have known that that would happen, since he was inu and they were among the top species of youkai that most heavily relied on their natural instincts. Humans just weren't in tune with their bodies the same way. That mountain witch had promised him that this potion would remove their identities, erasing all knowledge of their personal experiences, and so then that should definitely include her prowess with a bow.

It was just too bad for Hieibakai that neither he nor that mountain witch had any idea how the mind actually worked, and that learned skills and abilities that had become second nature to somebody would still be something that they would possess even while under such a spell, even if they couldn't remember learning them. After all, if Inuyasha and Kagome had forgotten everything they'd ever learned then they wouldn't even know how to walk or talk, reduced mentally to mere infants. Erasing who they were as individuals didn't erase what they knew of the world around them otherwise. With Kagome still knowing what a bow was she also knew, in theory, how to use one; the rest just came naturally.

Letting her arrow fly with a cry of “Hit the mark!” Kagome smiled in triumph the same time Hieibakai's eyes widened in total shock to witness her arrow glowing brightly with pink purifying light as it sailed straight towards him.

He quickly dodged, less gracefully than he had dodged any of her previous arrows, and Inuyasha didn't hesitate to take advantage of the tengu's obvious surprise and distraction to leap back up into the air and slash in his direction a second time, having full confidence that his youki blades would emerge and reach him even though he was higher in the air than he could physically reach with his claws. Inuyasha was right, his energy slicing into Hieibakai a second time because his shock over the miko's unexpected success had made him slower than he'd previously been when he'd been properly anticipating their attacks. Seeing the hanyou's strike hit its mark it was then Kagome's turn to try and take advantage of the moment by quickly drawing another arrow, but Hieibakai was more focused now, having quickly realized the hanyou and miko were still just as dangerous as they had been before. He had been wrong to underestimate them, his own lack in judgment allowing them to get in a couple of lucky hits. No more.

Eyes glowing an angry red, Hieibakai didn't give Kagome the chance to shoot her second arrow, suddenly diving straight towards her with his sword drawn, and “Eep”ing, Kagome didn't loose her arrow but instead dove out of the way, successfully missing getting hit by the blast of youki Hieibakai sent at her. Done playing games, pissed that his expensive commission had not been as successful as he had thought it would be, Hieibakai angrily swung his sword at the miko as he closed the gap between them, intent on slicing her in half where she lay, and he mentally swore in irritation as Inuyasha unexpectedly intervened in that moment, bodily charging the low-flying tengu to throw him several feet back while slashing at his sword arm with his claws.

“Leave her alone, you bastard!” he shouted vehemently.

Inuyasha couldn't explain what it was, but he had an almost overwhelming desire burning from deep within his core to protect this miko at all costs, his heart having nearly flown right out of his chest in a panic at the sight of the tengu almost getting her with his attack, and so having already made the decision to trust his instincts he knew that she had to somehow or another be somebody very important to him. He would protect her with his life, believing unwaveringly that if he let her die while he did not know who she was that later, if he ever regained his memories, the grief would be unbearable. To die protecting her would be preferable.

With that thought in the forefront of his mind, Inuyasha stood protectively in front of the miko as she shakily climbed to her feet, a quietly murmured “Thank you.” leaving her lips that he responded to with a brief “Keh.” though he did not take his eyes off of their enemy. “Don't worry, I'll protect you.” he added, and the tone of his voice was so sincere, so confident, that Kagome knew in that moment that he was definitely her partner, but more than that, her guardian, and she definitely had nothing to fear from him, youkai blood or no. They were in this together, and he would not let the tengu hurt her.

Landing on his feet a few yards away, Hieibakai ignored the blood dripping from his arm as he held his sword aimed straight out at Inuyasha. The move kept the hanyou from attempting another strike, Inuyasha knowing that the tengu could fire youki from the tip of his blade at will. If he charged, the tengu could easily bypass him and fire his youki at the miko behind him, were he to leave her unguarded even to launch an attack, which meant Inuyasha knew he needed to stay right where he was, directly in front of the miko to block her from the tengu's strikes. For the moment, they were at a standstill.

Keeping his claws ready and leg muscles tensed, just in case, Inuyasha assessed their enemy while Kagome peaked herself out from behind him a bit so that she could better keep an eye on their enemy as well, though she was tremendously grateful for her companion's clear desire to protect her. Even though she'd stepped a little off to the right so that she would have a clear shot with the arrow she still held notched in her bow, she stayed back a few paces behind her silver-haired champion, allowing him time to respond to any possible attack sent her way. She would dodge a blast of youki sent her way rather than try to defend herself with her arrow, lest she accidentally hit the silver-haired youkai in the back should he move to shield her. Whoever he was, something deep inside her heart and soul told her that she did in fact know him, and that he was an important person to her, even if she couldn't actually remember anything about him, and the way he had protected her and was still continuing to do so told her that he also felt the same way. Whatever they were to each other, he felt the same connection she did.

Hieibakai glared hatefully in the duo's direction as they stood defiantly before him. His golden robes were in tatters and stained with blood, matching the crimson coloring of his skin, though they were all just flesh wounds that he could already feel healing. He was no kotengu, but he wanted more power. He needed more power. He needed those jewel shards, and with six of them in his possession he would become a true daitengu. Fortunately the hanyou had at least forgotten about his sword, and so with the Inu no Taisho's fang not a concern in this fight Hieibakai knew he still had a good chance of success, even despite the miko still being able to use her arrows. He had to be a little more careful than he'd originally thought, but this was still his best chance to defeat them, while they had no idea who they were or what was really going on. He would not cower and flee to return another day and risk them having found a reversal for his spell by then; he would never get another opportunity as good as this one, with it just the two of them and Inuyasha unarmed.

“This doesn't concern you, Hanyou.” he spat in Inuyasha's direction then, the would-be insult not phasing said hanyou one bit since somehow he had already known that that was what he was, although he had no knowledge as to why that should really make any difference.

Knowing he was inu-hanyou in that moment was no different to him than knowing he was male, although he could not miss the way the tengu had clearly meant the word to be insulting, nor did the spike of agitation in the miko's scent go unnoticed as he felt her eyes upon him, but he didn't care what the tengu thought and whatever the miko was thinking as she glanced his way he would deal with later, after the tengu was dead.
“All I want are the jewel shards.” Hieibakai spoke back up then. “Hand 'em over, and I'll let you both live.” he stated, eyes meeting Kagome's though he still kept his sword aimed Inuyasha's way. With his left hand he gestured to the bottle she wore around her neck, knowing the words 'jewel shards' were probably meaningless to her.

It was Inuyasha's turn to glance his companion's way at the tengu's words, then, surprised and nervous, wondering what her reaction and decision was going to be. Were these 'jewel shards' the strange, spookily enticing magical quality to her being that he had detected that was not a part of her natural scent or aura?

Surprised by the tengu's request in and of itself, Kagome was not surprised to learn of the shards themselves, having already become aware of the little bottle of crystals she wore around her neck by that point even if she hadn't known exactly what to call them. She could definitely feel that they possessed some kind of spiritual energy; she had first felt their presence when she'd concentrated on trying to locate and harness her own miko energies to fire that first arrow, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that handing such things over to this tengu would be a very bad thing to do. She could easily feel how powerful they were, and she could only imagine that a youkai who was clearly wicked like this man was would use their power for evil deeds. She didn't know why she had them in her possession and if they were rightfully hers or not, or even if she herself had been using them for her own personal gain prior to losing her memories, but she didn't feel like a bad person deep down inside and so she was sure that if she had been using them for their power in some way that she had to have been doing so from a place of kindness. They wouldn't be so pure otherwise; she could feel the balance of both reiki and youki within the shards and could easily tell that they were pure right now, their dark sides completely suppressed. Perhaps that was something that she had done herself with her miko powers, purifying them? Whatever the case, logically she just knew that if this tengu got a hold of them they would become tainted with his evilness, and she couldn't allow that. She couldn't let a wicked creature who had been trying to kill her become even more powerful.

Kagome responded to Hieibakai's demand by narrowing her eyes and quickly firing the arrow she'd held at the ready all that time, but he both surprised and worried her in that moment by swiftly pointing his sword her way and firing out a small blast of youki that intercepted her arrow, both of their forces colliding to explode between them in a flash of energy that hurt neither of them. He then immediately had his sword aimed at Inuyasha again, the entire move having taken less than a second, and so Inuyasha had not had a chance to react during the maneuver and was still stuck, trying to figure out what to do next. This bastard was more powerful than he'd thought.

Raising a shaking hand up to cradle the bottle of jewel shards around her neck, as if to better protect it from their enemy, Kagome darted her eyes back and forth in that moment, trying to formulate a plan of her own. Then she spotted something lying not too far away and inwardly sighed in relief, hoping not to reveal her thoughts to their enemy as she shifted herself back to stand more fully behind her hanyou bodyguard again, hoping the tengu would merely think she was growing more afraid of him after that latest display of his power.

“Hey, can you hear me...?” she whispered ever so quietly, hoping those captivating ears on the hanyou's head weren't just for show.

Trying to look casual about it as his right ear automatically cocked her way at the faint summons, Inuyasha briefly glanced her way over his right shoulder, asking “You okay?” for good measure because of her deliberately nervous demeanor although the look in his eyes let her know she definitely had his attention before he quickly turned back to keep his eyes trained on the tengu. He couldn't take his eyes off of their enemy for too long, nor could he let the tengu see them chitchatting, but standing directly behind him now as she was, Hieibakai wouldn't notice Kagome's lips moving, and Inuyasha had just let her know that he had heard her tiny whisper loud and clear.

“Yeah, I'm okay.” Kagome answered aloud for their enemy's benefit, before whispering faintly “Sword, back left.”

Trying not to show any outward surprise at her words, Inuyasha kept his glare on the tengu, knowing he couldn't let their enemy see him glancing around in an obvious show of looking for the weapon. Unfortunately with the early bedlam of all that had happened so quickly he hadn't yet had the chance to look for where his missing blade might be, and honestly he hadn't even known if it was anywhere nearby or not. He could have lost it somewhere else entirely for all he knew. But if the miko had spotted it now then he knew he had to try and make a grab for it. If he could still use his claws' natural youki attack and the miko could also still fire off sacred arrows, then maybe there was some trick or another that his sword could do, too, like how the tengu could channel his own youki through his sword. It would certainly be worth a try, but first he had to locate the weapon for himself, while keeping his search subtle enough so that the tengu wouldn't notice. That would be tricky if it was somewhere behind him and to the left.

Hieibakai, not presently aware of what the two were plotting as he could not hear Kagome's whispered words from his place standing several feet in front of them, spoke back up in that moment with, “Enough. Just hand me the shards and I will leave you both in peace.”

Kagome immediately took advantage of the opportunity to shift herself further left, peaking herself out from behind Inuyasha once again but by standing diagonally back from his left side that time instead of his right.

“What makes you think I'm going to take your word for it?” she asked Hieibakai sardonically. “You'll probably kill us both as soon as I hand them over.”

Immediately realizing what the miko had intended with her little move, Inuyasha glanced behind himself to meet her eyes again but by looking over his left shoulder that time, stating “Stay behind me.” for appearances' sake though his eyes did not truly remain locked with the miko's. He quickly darted his gaze all about, with the tengu unable to tell from his vantage point, and it did not take Inuyasha long to spot what the miko had wanted him to see. The burnt patch of grass lying opposite her several feet back where they had both woken up, where their realities and memories of existence began.

Where his sword lied abandoned on the chard earth.

“I can assure you I will kill you both to acquire them, if it comes to that.” Hieibakai stated, still unaware of what was going on.

Inuyasha flashed Kagome the quickest of looks to let her know that he'd spotted the katana and would work on a way of collecting it. Part of him wanted to just make a run for it but he was apprehensive about turning his back on the tengu for even a second. Speaking of, he quickly turned his head back to face the tengu once more in that moment, acting for all the world as if he had not just seen his weapon lying discarded on the grass, and then he swiftly shifted himself over to the side some to block Kagome's body from Hieibakai's view, the tengu still unaware of their developing plan and thinking only that Inuyasha was resolutely trying to protect Kagome from him.

A notion that was annoying for the tengu in and of itself since he had firmly believed that the hanyou would lose his desire to protect her now that he had no idea who she was.

Everyone knew that the old Inuyasha had never had a mind to protect anyone's life but his own. What Hieibakai failed to understand, though, was that the only reason Inuyasha had become so cold towards other people in the first place was because of the cruel treatment he had received his whole life after his mother's death, being ridiculed, feared, and sometimes even hunted like prey. He had grown up literally fighting for his life on a near daily basis and had remained both hated and hunted by youkai and humans alike until the day he'd met Kikyou. With those terrifying and hardening experiences also removed from his memory Inuyasha was being the real him; just like Kagome had always believed, he was really a good guy underneath it all. Even now, without his memories, he would've been doing his best to protect the miko even if his inner psyche wasn't screaming at him so forcefully to do so, but because it was, failing to protect her was simply not an option. But while a part of him wanted to just grab her and make a run for the sword he was hesitant because he couldn't remember what all he might or might not be able to achieve with that blade, and if it turned out to be defenseless against the tengu's attacks then he would have put himself and the miko in greater risk for no reason.

It was almost like Inuyasha could feel an inner voice from somewhere deep inside of himself practically demanding that he not just act rashly and without thinking things through, as though perhaps he had a tendency to do just that. It was almost as if he were screaming at himself to not fuck this up by being his usual 'act first, think second' self, even though he had no memory of ever being in any type of battle before. His body clearly remembered past battles; his muscles were all twitchy, just begging for action. His body clearly wanted to fight this bastard and it actually was kind of hard to force himself to stay still and outwardly calm, but he knew it was because he had to protect the miko. He had vowed to follow his instincts and while his instincts were actually at war with themselves in a way there was also great clarity amid the chaos. Part of him wanted to tear into their enemy, yes, but a much stronger part of him knew that he couldn't blindly listen to that other part; a stronger part that knew he had to protect the miko first and foremost, above all else. If he were alone then he would've gone after the tengu with gusto, but for her sake he knew he had to think about what he was doing. The closer he could get to his blade before making a final dash for it would mean more reaction time to get back out of the way again when the tengu would almost definitely fire at them for the maneuver. Under the circumstances, being slow and cautious, and not taking his eyes off of the tengu, was definitely the wisest course of action. At least while the tengu was also in a stalemate, eyeing them just as cautiously. If he suddenly up and attacked them first then Inuyasha would most definitely grab the miko and make a run for it, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

With that thought in the forefront of his mind, Inuyasha shifted himself back a step in that moment, inwardly smiling as he heard the miko take a step back as well. Hopefully the tengu would just think they were inching themselves away from him in their unease and he could gradually get them closer to his abandoned weapon before their enemy realized what was up. The katana rested behind them and off to the left, so hopefully he could get them back far enough that they were even to it and then just a quick dash off to the side would be all that was needed to reclaim it.

“You can try, but you won't be successful.” Inuyasha stated then, hoping to keep the tengu distracted in conversation as an added precaution to hide what they were really plotting.

Understanding the silent plan, Kagome kept up her end of the bargain, matching his subtle pace backwards step for step. Narrowing his eyes, Hieibakai began approaching them at the move, though he was also maintaining the same pace they were for the time being, not trying to close the gap between them but instead simply not letting them create a larger gap. He didn't seem to be aware of where they were headed, Kagome noted. So far so good.

She wished she had noticed the katana while gathering her fallen arrows, the blade lying on the small patch of charred ground where both she and the hanyou had been sitting prior to rolling out of the way of that first deadly blast; she would have given it to him in a heartbeat had she seen it. As it was, everything had happened so fast, the tenu laughing and trying to trick the hanyou and the hanyou in turn attacking the tengu with his claws right after she had finished collecting all of her arrows, and then suddenly she was firing an arrow and dodging blasts of youki and nearly getting cut in half, her companion fully focused on their enemy after saving her life. While she had noticed the empty scabbard on his hip earlier in passing she hadn't had time to even think about looking around for where the sword might have possibly been until after that fast-paced craziness had subsided, when she had finally spotted it.

It was all beaten up looking, too, probably a result of being hit by the tengu's blast of youki, and that thought had her worrying her lower lip somewhat, though it did still seem to be intact, and either way it was a weapon. It clearly belonged to her hanyou companion; the empty scabbard still at his side was a dead giveaway. She didn't know what he would or wouldn't be able to do with the katana, but considering the tengu had a tsurugi she was sure it would be better for her partner if he were also armed. If he could still use his natural born youki-based attack from his claws, and she could still fire purifying arrows, then maybe he would still know how to use his sword, too, assuming he had been skilled with it in the past. Besides, the tengu's straight sword looked normal but he could clearly use it as a demonic weapon of sorts, channeling his powers through it, and so maybe that rusty old katana had a few tricks of its own; maybe the hanyou could channel his youki through it as well. It was worth a shot.

“I am more powerful than you think, Hanyou.” Hieibakai countered, narrowing his eyes at Inuyasha.

Something tells me that I'm more powerful than I think, too... Inuyasha thought, although he didn't say that part out loud, scoffing instead with a mere, “Feh!” before he then made a show of cracking the knuckles on his right hand, claws raised, hoping to reenforce within the tengu's mind that he supposedly thought his claws were his only weapon.

With the hanyou and miko both pretty much on the same page, slowly, they took another step backwards. Then another, and another. Hieibakai, not yet noticing where they were headed, truly did only think they were backing away from him in an attempt to increase the distance between them, though he wasn't so sure it was just in their nervousness. He believed they had probably come up with some kind of a plan that somehow or another required they be further away in order to have enough room to do whatever it was they were plotting, and so he continued his own approach in that moment, matching them step for step, so that they would not be able to accomplish whatever it was they wanted to do by getting further away from him. He imagined that at any moment now they might switch to plan b and take off running, but he could easily catch up to them if that happened. They had nowhere to run to, exposed as they were out in the big open field. He could play their little game of cat and mouse; those shards would be his.

Still, he knew better than to just charge them headlong; they were still very powerful since they could still use their magics and therefore he had to be cautious. He was actually using this temporary stalemate to try and come up with his own plan of attack. He could fire off a much larger blast of youki from his sword than what he had done so far, but the reason he had not yet done so was because it would temporarily drain him. Only for a minute or two, but that amount of time could be an eternity in battle. If he obliterated only either the hanyou or miko alone with that blast then he would, no pun intended, be a sitting duck for the survivor to launch their own revenge assault. Drained of his strength he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against either of them. So that meant he had to save that ace in the hole for when he was absolutely positive he could get both of them together in one shot, and so far he did not have that confidence. If he fired it at them now there was more than enough distance between them that he was sure the hanyou with his lightning reflexes could just grab the miko and launch them both out of the way, and that would be very bad. No...he'd have to get closer to them first, or at least somehow get the hanyou distracted enough to not realize how large the youki blast he was charging up was until it was too late. Hieibakai knew that the ideal shot would probably be as the hanyou was already in the air mid-leap aiming to get him with another youki-claw attack, unable to maneuver out of the way in his momentum, with the miko directly behind him and within his attack's trajectory. Yes, that would be perfect. He would do his best to keep his eyes open for such an opportunity, and if he could not yet acquire the jewel shards by the time he was faced with such an opening then that would be what he would do.

As for right now, there was really no point in firing off a lesser blast of youki their way since he knew they could easily dodge. Keeping his sword aimed straight at them, that was just what was preventing them from rushing him, because if they tried a direct attack of their own then he would most definitely fire in that case. He couldn't risk letting them think they actually had the upper hand in this.

They took another step backwards, and he took another step forward.

As Inuyasha continued to eye the tengu warily he wondered what was running through their enemy's head, although he was glad the bird-man had not yet thought to either fire a blast of youki at them or bodily charge them with his blade. Not that he couldn't get both himself and the miko out of the way in time even if the tengu did try such a maneuver. Perhaps that was why their enemy had not yet attacked them again in such a manner, because he knew it would be futile. That had to explain why he had suddenly switched to asking for the jewel shards, because he had realized that it wasn't as easy to just up and take them as he had believed it would be. Inwardly, Inuyasha chuckled victoriously at the thought. Not even knowing who the fuck they were or what all they were capable of he and this miko were still a kick-ass team. That meant they were probably formidable opponents under normal circumstances. Probably the reason this tengu had erased their memories in the first place was because he had thought it would make them easier targets, knowing he was ordinarily no match for them. The thought had Inuyasha mentally puffing his chest in pride, though he wasn't too smug to risk making a wrong move. There was no way he was stepping away from the miko in either an attempt to reach his sword or attack their foe; his place was by her side, protecting her at all costs. Inuyasha would swipe at the tengu with his youki-claws from where he stood in a heartbeat if he actually thought his go of it would be any more successful, but he also knew that the tengu could just as easily dodge or deflect an energy attack sent his way from that distance, and right now, while the bastard was actually on the ground, Inuyasha wanted to keep it that way. If he tried to attack the tengu with his youki the bird-man would probably just take back off up into the air again, and that would put he and the miko at a big disadvantage.

Of course, as soon as he managed to claim his sword the tengu would probably still take off into the sky, but at least then he would have successfully reclaimed his weapon. He couldn't say what it was, exactly, but the feel of the scabbard on his hip was just too damn familiar, and the desire he was feeling to reclaim the katana was almost as strong as the desire he felt to protect the miko; that sword was clearly important to him and he wanted it in his hand, regardless of how beat-up looking it had appeared in the brief moment he'd glanced its way.

As if the sword itself had somehow sensed his thoughts, an unexpected pulse of youki hummed against his senses in that moment, and Inuyasha's eyes widened in surprise to realize that it was actually the katana that had pulsed, as if it were speaking to him, the blade somehow in tune with his own demonic aura. There had already been no doubt in his mind that the sword was his, but now, there was also zero doubt that it was more than just a mere sword. In some way or another, it was a demonic weapon, with an aura all its own, and it wanted to be reunited with him just as strongly. Inuyasha had already promised himself in his confusion that he would not second guess his instincts, and that included protecting the miko, and now, acquiring this sword, no matter what.

Tessaiga pulsed again.

Hanyou and miko took another step backwards.

Hieibakai took another step forward, and frowned, wondering what could have run through the hanyou's mind to give him that fleeting look of surprise. Better to make his move before the hanyou could put whatever thought he'd just had into action.

“This is your final warning, miko.” Hieibakai stated then, letting the tip of his sword begin to glow slightly with his youki though the miko could not see it from her place standing directly behind the hanyou. Inuyasha could see it, and his eyes narrowed at the threat although his only response was to take another step backwards.

“Grab onto me, just in case we gotta move quick.” he murmured quietly, feeling his inner beast calm slightly in relief at the feel of the miko's hands immediately gripping his shoulders, her bow slung over her right. That felt awfully familiar, too, so they had clearly done it before, and more than just the once to explain the scent transfer he'd already detected. For it to feel so right it had to be something that occurred on a regular basis. Hopefully he wasn't the only one who could somehow sense what seemed so right and natural between them.

He wasn't, Kagome immediately realizing how secure, safe and protected she felt simply from clutching his shoulders. She had also felt the pulse of youki coming from the katana, and it had startled her, but now she was even more anxious to reach it. The tengu's sword, she could sense nothing from it...it was more as if he could simply channel his power into it the same as she could do with her arrows. This katana, on the other hand, now that it was pulsing...it almost felt alive somehow. She was honestly surprised the tengu hadn't felt it.

“I mean it, Miko. Hand over the shards or I will extirpate you both where you stand.”

He let the tip of his sword glow a little bit brighter.

Slightly nervous though Kagome may be, she actually snorted, much to Inuyasha's amusement, as she refused to show their enemy fear and peaked her head up to retort with, “If you could really do that so easily then you would have already done so.”

Growling in anger, Hieibakai unthinkingly let the miko's words goad him into firing, sending off a short blast of youki their way meant to be a warning shot, to show them he wasn't playing games. It landed where they had both previously been standing, Inuyasha having immediately taken advantage of the shot to reach behind himself and grab a hold of the miko's sides for added security, her hands still tight on his shoulders, as he leapt backwards several paces, the move not suspicious because they were supposedly just escaping Hieibakai's strike.

It would have been perfect, except Tessaiga unfortunately pulsed again as soon as they landed, stronger than before, and as Hieibakai rushed forward to again close the gap between them he was now close enough to feel it for himself that time. His eyes opened wide in surprise to realize he'd been played and that for the last couple of minutes they had been trying to get themselves closer to the sword he had thought they knew nothing about. Quickly, he charged his own blade back up and fired a larger blast, not at the hanyou and miko, but at the Tessaiga itself.

I cannot let the hanyou reclaim his sword!  he thought frantically.

The Tessaiga was not damaged by the direct hit, of course, but Hieibakai hadn't been trying to destroy the demonic fang, he'd merely been making a point.

“I don't think so, Hanyou.” he snarled as Inuyasha and Kagome both looked his way with wide, startled eyes. “Try to make a reach for your sword and I will incinerate your precious miko.”

The look in his eyes meant business, too, and Inuyasha knew their game of inching closer to the blade was over. He was mentally cursing their situation, trying to figure out what to do next because he believed the tengu was serious in that if they tried to make a run for the sword he wouldn't hesitate to blast them. Whenever he fired a shot aimed at where they were standing now that was easy enough for the hanyou to dodge, but if he made a run for the sword then the tengu would aim his blast there, and they were at about the right distance that he and the youki blast would probably reach the katana at the exact same time. There was no way he could get in and out of there fast enough to avoid the hit, and even if he could survive the blast the miko certainly wouldn't because she was human. Yet he couldn't make a run for the sword by himself and leave the miko unprotected, because then that would pretty much be handing her over to the tengu. So if he couldn't make a run for the sword by himself, and he couldn't bring the miko with him, then what the fuck was he going to do? Unless...

“Think you can make a barrier?” he asked her over his shoulder.

Kagome blanched before realizing it was actually a good question, so swallowing down her nervousness she released his shoulders as she tried to feel around within herself for the ability, her hands over her heart, but she quickly realized she had absolutely no idea how to do it.

“I...I don't think so, sorry.”

“Not your fault...” he reassured her, mentally cursing all the same, though only their situation, not the girl. The expression on his face gave away his inner thoughts to their enemy.

Hieibakai smirked evilly at the duo's obvious dilemma, keeping his sword aimed at Tessaiga rather than at them for just a 'friendly' reminder that if Inuyasha tried to make a go of it he would get blasted for his trouble. Ideally, with Inuyasha clearly still being so protective of Kagome, he would not want to leave her side, but Hieibakai was making it obvious that if the two of them went together for the sword that at least she would die as a result. He knew that Inuyasha would probably survive the blast, if he didn't give it his all with his most powerful strike, but there was no need to worry about that because it was clear from the look in his eyes that he wouldn't chance it for Kagome's sake. In that moment Hieibakai realized that he was actually fortunate that the hanyou was still so protective of the miko, after all, otherwise he would surely make a go for his sword regardless of her safety, and unless he used his most powerful blast the hanyou would indeed most likely survive his youki attack; he'd heard that the hanyou could take quite the beating, and he also knew that those robes of his helped protect him as well – something the hanyou obviously no longer knew or he could give the miko his suikan for protection and that would be the solution to this puzzle right there. Hieibakai was fortunate that his commission had at least worked to his advantage in some ways; while Inuyasha instinctively knew how to use his youki-blades it was clear he had forgotten all about the protective properties of the fire-rat garments he wore.

As it was, Inuyasha knew only that if he and Kagome made a grab for Tessaiga together that that would be putting her in unnecessary risk, yet if the hanyou actually did try to leap for Tessaiga alone, instead – a distance Hieibakai was sure he could now easily make in a single bound – then that would not be the direction he would fire his blast of youki in. In the time it would take for the inu-hanyou to finish sailing through the air and land on his precious sword he would have released a powerful blast of youki headed straight for the miko, and even if she managed to instinctively block his attack with either bow or arrow, he would physically charge her in that same moment. While she was distracted by still shielding herself from his energy blast Hieibakai would run her through with his blade, and he could do it all faster than the hanyou could stop him if he began the maneuver after Inuyasha had already leapt away from her to claim his sword. Yes, Inuyasha would most likely become enraged and homicidal as a result, but even assuming he could somehow manage to use Tessaiga Hieibakai would also then be in possession of the fallen miko's jewel shards, and they would surely make him powerful enough to destroy the hanyou – or at least escape him unscathed. There was really no reason for him to stick around after acquiring what he wanted.

“It appears we are at a crossroads...” Hieibakai spoke back up then in that moment, his voice dripping with fiendish charm. “And either path you choose will lead to destruction.”

Kagome reached back up with her right hand and grasped Inuyasha's right shoulder, as if subconsciously seeking support from the contact, and he reached behind himself with his right hand at the feel of her touch, patting her on the side in a reassuring manner. He wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Adopting a solemn expression at the show of affection, the tengu then seemed to manifest an air of almost righteous generosity. “A wise man once said, 'when the road before you splits in two, take the third path.' It is not too late for you both to save yourselves. Relinquish your claim on the jewel shards, Miko, and I give you my word that I will take them and depart, leaving you and your...companion...unharmed.”

Yeah right ... Kagome thought sarcastically. He's already harmed us with whatever memory-erasing spell he's cast on us.

The way he'd almost sneered the word 'companion' had not gone unnoticed to either of them, though they had far greater things to worry about in that moment than what this tengu could possibly think of their relationship, especially when they didn't even know what that relationship actually was.

“We can't comply...” Kagome whispered softly for the hanyou's ears only, her hand tightening on his shoulder. “I can't say what it is, but I can feel that these jewel shards, they're very powerful, and the idea of handing them over to this monster...every fiber of my being is screaming at me not to do it.”

Inuyasha offered her the briefest of glances over his shoulder, nodding his head in understanding, the look in his eyes relieved. He couldn't say what it was, either, but it was almost like the most base part of him, the most animalistic part, was just as attracted to those weird little crystals as the tengu was. Yet at the same time he also understood and agreed with everything the miko had just said; they couldn't hand them over, not because he too wanted them for himself, but more simply because he knew they could not let the tengu get a hold of them.

Fuck ...what do I do? he thought desperately, eyeing the tengu warily.

The katana chose that moment to pulse again, and he flicked his ear in that direction, unwilling to turn and glance at the sword for fear that the tengu would think he was about to make a go for it and would fire on them as a result. Although, if he fired on them where they stood, then that would be the perfect opportunity for him to leap towards the sword with the miko. But he was certain their enemy fully understood that and would never give them such an easy opening. If the tengu got even the slightly hint that they might be making a leap for the sword he would merely fire upon the katana again, and Inuyasha did not trust his reaction time versus the tengu's to try tricking him out, making a fake dash for the sword to encourage the tengu's attack and then leap in afterwards. The bird-man could almost definitely fire those blasts at will and they would merely get hit with the second round.

In his unease and desperation, Inuyasha instinctively reached for the scabbard on his hip with his left hand, finding comfort in the contact. There was a way out of this stymie, he just had to find it.

He was caught off guard when, as the katana pulsed yet again almost as if offering its reassurances after his latest thought, he felt an answering pulse in the wooden sheath underneath his palm. The scabbard, too, had demonic properties? He hadn't felt it until now, but as he caressed the smooth wood in that moment he realized that yes, it did indeed possess a demonic aura all its own, and beyond that it almost seemed to be calling out for the katana as well, as if mirroring his own desire to reacquire his fallen weapon. As he explored this sensation further with his mind's eye it was almost like something from deep inside of himself told himself in that moment to trust his weapon, both katana and sheath alike as they were really two halves of one whole, and so in that moment trust it he did.

“Stay back, completely behind me. Don't let him get a shot at you.” he murmured quietly to the miko, immediately missing her touch on his shoulder as she took a few steps back to make herself seem smaller behind him, per his instructions. Narrowing the eyes he had kept focused on the tengu the whole time, Inuyasha then, quickly, pulled the scabbard from his obi and held it out sideways towards the sword, glancing his eyes in that directly for only the faintest moment. “Come on! Prove me right!” he shouted, mentally cursing as he realized such a powerful blade had undoubtedly been honored with a name by its smith, which he could not remember. But the sword proved both its loyalty and understanding of the situation in that moment as Inuyasha and Kagome, and Hieibakai, all witnessed it twitch before lifting up into the air and quickly flying straight towards its master blade first.

Not quickly enough, though, as Hieibakai, who was both enraged and terrified, immediately fired a large blast of youki straight towards the hanyou and miko in that briefest of moments they stood frozen to await the flying katana's arrival.

Inuyasha wasn't worried.

Adjusting only the angle of his arm, he held the scabbard more fully in front of himself, horizontally, the move to block incoming attacks feeling natural to him although that didn't stop him from breathing a sigh of relief as the barrier flared to life when their enemy's attack struck true. Either way the miko behind him would have been safe, of course; if there had turned out to be no barrier he would have merely shielded her with his own body, and therefore he had only been gambling with his own safety. Even injured he would have then been in possession of his sword, as he was now, as Tessaiga found its home within the scabbard that he quickly tucked back into his obi before immediately drawing the blade with his right hand. He was only briefly startled as the petite katana flared to life with a roar of youki to transform itself into a massive hybrid sword and inu-youkai fang. Although he hadn't consciously been expecting it, now that he gazed upon the enormous, clearly powerful weapon he held in his hand, he couldn't ignore how right it felt, and neither could the miko who still stood fully behind him who had witnessed the entire maneuver.

Seeing him with that gigantic sword ...I know I've seen it before, even though I can't remember any specific time or place.

Her memories were just as blank as they had been when she'd first woken up on the grass beside the inu-hanyou, as he had sniffed in her direction with wide eyes, clearly just as confused as she was. But despite not really being able to remember anything, it was as if her subconscious sense of déjà vu was working. At the very least she could tell what seemed familiar to her and what didn't, even though she had to wait until after something occurred for her to then analyze her instinctive response to it. It was better than nothing; just like the hanyou, Kagome had a spiritual sixth sense, too, because she was a miko, and so she was also relying on her instincts while they were all she really had to guide her. Maybe most other human girls would have been terrified of the hanyou, feeling how powerful his youki was, knowing how easily he could slaughter her if he hypothetically chose to do so, but the deepest part of her soul told her without hesitation that she could trust this canine man with her life, and so she did.

As Hieibakai bore witness to the hanyou reclaiming and transforming his weapon, part of him wanted to run for his life, his baser fight or flight instincts definitely wanting to make use of his wings. But his desire for those jewel shards was still too strong, his will still too stubborn to recognize in advance when he had been beaten. He clung to a fool's hope in that moment that he might still have a chance. After all, he had heard the rumors of how it had taken the hanyou brat a while to learn his sword's tricks the first time around, and so while he was definitely nervous, a part of him honestly doubted that Inuyasha would be able to use the giant sword to its full capacity right out of the gate. If he didn't know what attacks it could produce, then how was he supposed to call upon them? It wasn't the same as merely projecting his own energy; the sword itself had its own aura and attacks that it could engender, but only if you used it correctly. Perhaps if he attacked quickly, and without relent, then he could still one-up the hanyou as Tessaiga failed to perform.

What Hieibakai didn't know was that the rumors he had heard about the hanyou's sword were outdated, and there were a few key events that had taken place in Inuyasha's life that Hieibakai was unaware of.

As Inuyasha held the prodigious demonic sword high in his hand he couldn't help but marvel at how light it felt, believing logically that a weapon of its size should be much heavier, even despite knowing he had superior strength compared to humans. This blade, it felt almost like an extension of his own arm, and as a blast of youki sailed towards him from the tengu's sword in that moment he instinctively moved to block with the giant fang before even realizing what he was doing. The sword successfully deflected the attack, unharmed, and he smirked as the tengu's eyes widened a bit in apprehension.

“Ready yourself, Wench.” Inuyasha spoke softly then, wishing he knew her name, although calling her 'wench' somehow sounded better to his ears than 'miko' previously had. “The only way we're gettin' outta this is to fight our way out.”

That said, he held his sword in a defensive stance, prepared to shift into offensive mode as soon as he sensed an opening. His ears easily picked up the sound of the miko drawing and nocking an arrow behind him, her murmured assurance “Ready whenever you are.” following soon afterward.

She hadn't much cared for the 'wench' comment, but under the circumstances she would let it go, prepared and ready to fire off an arrow at the first opportunity.

Concentrating on the feel of the sword in his hand, Inuyasha was surprised, though pleasantly so, as he noticed a peculiar yet somehow familiar scent emanating from the blade itself. It was almost as if there was a swirl of energy circling around the blade, where its aura seemed to cut into the rest of the air around it. He couldn't see any disturbance in the energy patterns, but he could smell it, and he knew it was there.

Tessaiga pulsed again.

Do you want me to swing you?  he mentally asked his sword, as if it could hear his thoughts and answer him. Somehow, he sensed that the answer was yes. Fine with me! he readily agreed, giving the giant blade a powerful swing, slashing in his enemy's direction even though they were still several feet apart.

He smirked in triumph the same time the tengu's eyes widened in terror as a colossal blast of power emerged from his sword to zip straight towards their enemy, carving three massive gouges into the earth that looked like giant claw marks forged by lightening.

Crying out quickly with an eligible “Gah!” Hieibakai launched himself straight up into the air, barely dodging the Kaze no Kizu that he had not been expecting the hanyou to be able to master on a first try. His closed-minded mammonism had nearly gotten himself killed.

As the miko's sacred arrow sailed straight towards where he had taken off to,  above where he had previously been standing, Hieibakai quickly blocked it with a short blast of youki from his own sword, but then, as he noticed the way the hanyou and miko were standing, with Kagome almost directly behind Inuyasha and the hanyou appearing ready to leap up into the air to send another blast his way, Hieibakai thought that maybe he still had a shot at this, after all. Any sane being would have given up and flown away to save themselves, but whoever said Hieibakai was sane?

I can't let this fucker get the upper hand , Inuyasha thought desperately, easily sensing the powerful increase of youki coming from their enemy as the tengu prepared to strike again. We're at a huge disadvantage with our minds torn to shreds, but I for one want to live to see another day, even if I can't remember my own name...

Leaping into the air, preparing to swing, Inuyasha's eyes widened as he saw Hieibakai actually swing first, as soon as his feet had left the ground. Quickly, he swung as well, praying the energy blast from his own sword would neutralize the tengu's oncoming attack, just as the tengu could do against the miko's arrows.

For the briefest of moments Inuyasha was actually worried, especially noting how massive this particular blast of youki from the tengu was. What if his sword's attack couldn't fully neutralize it? But then both he and the equally nervous miko witnessed something truly amazing happen. The hanyou's attack, although he'd done nothing differently, immediately grew in strength by enormous leaps and bounds as it collided with the tengu's blast of youki, as if merging with their enemy's power and sending it right back at him. As Hieibakai fell to the earth, temporarily too weak to fly, he could do nothing but widen his eyes with that universal expression one wears when they realize they are mere fleeting seconds from death, and then the blast hit him, not missing even though he had dropped several feet because the blast from Tessaiga was so large it encompassed almost the entire area.

Worried about possible backlash Inuyasha immediately turned and grabbed the miko around the waist with his left arm, lifting and holding her half flung over his left shoulder as he raced in the opposite direction as fast as his feet would carry him, afraid of accidentally harming her with his own attack. Stopping several hundred yards back, he placed Kagome back on her feet with a softly murmured “Sorry 'bout that.”

“No need to apologize.” Kagome stated through heavy panting breaths, hand on her heart.

She hadn't been expecting to be picked up and rushed off with like a possession, although she couldn't really say she blamed her companion and honestly, she was grateful. His manhandling was a little rough, perhaps, but not necessarily in a bad way. Actually, a naughty little part of her mind was attracted to his more rugged behavior, although she quickly chose to keep that little tidbit to herself for the time being. Glancing back in the direction where their enemy had once been, Kagome's eyes widened in astonishment to witness just how much destruction her hanyou partner was truly capable of.

Following her line of sight, Inuyasha turned to look back the same way, his own eyes widening as he then slowly turned his head to glance at the sword still transformed in his hand, an almost comical 'Did I do that?' look on his face that had the miko chuckling slightly when she caught it.

He turned back her way then, a sheepish grin pulling up the edges of his lips and revealing his fangs. The sword in his hand chose that moment to revert itself back into its dormant, katana state, and only mildly startled though he'd realized it would of course have to happen somehow, he sheathed the sword without another thought on the mystical blade. Instead, it was with a growing feeling of dread that he realized the death of their enemy had not restored his lost memories, or the miko's, presumably, otherwise she surely would have said so. He hadn't necessarily believed that killing the tengu would restore their memories, but he'd been hoping.

“So...” he spoke up awkwardly then, the miko's thoughts mirroring his own.

“Now what do we do?”