InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Hope ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6

 

“When will Kagome wake up?” Shippou asked impatiently.

Inuyasha sighed and swatted the little kitsune off his head. “The train will board in 45 minutes, Inuyasha,” Miroku informed him, picking up his and Kagome's luggage and then Buyo. “Since your efforts in rousing Kagome have been unsuccessful you will have to carry her to the train.”

“Where are we going?” he asked, slinging on his backpack before picking Kagome up bridal style, ironically enough. She looked so small when held in his arms.

“I believe the place is called Ogimi,” Miroku offered as they began walking towards the train station.

“Ogimi? Never heard of it,” Inuyasha replied, shaking his head.

“Me neither,” he omitted.

“I guess we don't have to worry about anyone following us,” said Shippou, jumping up to sit on Inuyasha's shoulder. “If we don't know where we're going than they certainly won't.”

“Who do you mean by `they'?” Miroku asked absently.

“The people who want to hurt Kagome,” replied Shippou. “Dai told me about them a little bit, though she didn't offer much.”

“That is peculiar,” Miroku pondered.

Inuyasha shrugged and returned to the original conversation. “Why Ogimi?”

“Huh?” Miroku answered intelligently.

“How did you decide we were going to Ogimi?”

“Ah . . .” Miroku scratched his head in search of an answer other than the truth.

“The lady that was in front of us in the ticket line is going to Ogimi,” Shippou answered for him. “For some reason Miroku couldn't stop staring at her backside.”

“Oh?” replied Inuyasha, looking at Miroku menacingly.

“I don't know what he's talking about,” Miroku replied. “I merely chose Ogimi because they have a car that allows pets. This way we do not have to find a way to hide Buyo.”

Inuyasha scoffed but didn't argue with his excuse, instead opting for silence. The rest of the trek to the train station proved uneventful. They arrived with a half-hour to spare before boarding and Miroku led everyone to the lounge. To his immense disappointment, the woman who would travel with them to Ogimi was not in the room.

Inuyasha settled himself and Kagome on one of the couches. He still held her in his arms, her head resting on the crook of his neck. Shippou let out a small breath and curled up on her stomach. Inuyasha allowed him, shifting his weight so the little kitsune would not be crushed between himself and Kagome.

Miroku wandered off for a bit, and with the steady breathing of Kagome and Shippou, Inuyasha was gently lulled to sleep.

 

^_^

 

Miroku returned a few minutes later to find his friends asleep. He had found no trace of the woman who would go to Ogimi and returned in very low spirits. Quietly, he sat down in the couch across from his sleeping companions and took out his identification papers.

Masahiro had made the spell on the identification papers less than excellent. That, more than anything, worried Miroku. Masahiro was not known to lack in any area. When he did something, he did it perfect. The spell was too simple; it made it easy to trace them. The wedding bands gave it all away.

Luckily, Masahiro did not know about Shippou. That might throw their trackers off. They would be looking for a married couple with a male traveling companion. They would not be looking for a group of four with a small child. Miroku sighed and slouched in his seat.

The jewel had caught Masahiro's interest. Now Kagome had two powerful enemies. Masahiro wouldn't care about family ties. He would take the jewel at first opportunity with no regard for anyone else. Things were getting more dangerous by the day. How long would they be able to go on before they got caught? Maybe they shouldn't have accepted help from Masahiro. Well, no shit Sherlock. We would have been a hell of a lot better off without Masahiro's `help,'

Miroku shook his head to dispel further thoughts. He was probably just jumping to conclusions. There was no reason to believe Masahiro would harm them. At least not yet.

“We will now begin boarding for the 7:00pm train to Ogimi. Please have your tickets ready at the door.” The loud speaker shut off and Miroku slowly stood up. “Oi, Inuyasha. Come on, its time to go,” he said, yawning.

Inuyasha replied slowly, blinking his eyes and shaking his head before standing up with Kagome and Shippou in his arms. The hanyou quickly threw a concealing spell over himself and Shippou, hiding their demon traits, before turning to Miroku. “You got Buyo?” he asked absently.

“Yeah,” Miroku replied, picking up their luggage and the oversized cat. Inuyasha still had his backpack slung on his shoulder. “Come on, I'll show you where our train is.”

Miroku led the way, weaving through the small crowd to the end car of the train. A ticket holder was waiting at the entrance. “Tickets please!”

Inuyasha stopped beside Miroku while he fished the tickets out of his back pocket. “Four to Ogimi,” the ticket holder muttered, looking over the tickets. “Five, including the cat. Very good, sir. Your cabin is to the rear of the car, number four. Go on in and make yourself comfortable. Dinner will be served at 7:30 in the main dining area. You may bring food back to the cabin if you desire. It will take us until noon tomorrow to reach Ogimi. Enjoy.”

With that the ticket holder waved them on. Miroku held the door open for Inuyasha when they reached their cabin and Inuyasha carefully walked into the cabin, making sure Kagome's head avoided the walls.

Miroku came up short when he entered the cabin. Inside, by the window, sat the woman who had been in front of him at the ticket line. She didn't seem to notice him, however. Her eyes were on the unconscious girl Inuyasha had laid down across the seats. He had carefully removed Shippou from her and held the kitsune lightly in his arms before he sat down and eyed the cat that sat in the stranger's lap. It was a fire cat youkai.

“Hello,” Miroku greeted the woman. He held out his hand and she shook it lightly. “My name is Kouri.”

“Taijiya Sango,” she replied.

Miroku nodded at her name and proceeded to introduce his companions. “He,” pointed at Inuyasha, “Is my brother, Kaemon.”

Inuyasha nodded and Sango gave a small smile. “The little boy is Kai, he is Kaemon's son.”

Inuyasha had to control his facial expression at that snippet of information. “And the woman asleep beside him is K-“

“Kagome,” the woman finished. At Miroku's blank stare, she took a breath to explain. “I met her in the Ladies room at a convenient store earlier today.”

Miroku glanced back at Inuyasha who acknowledged it with the smallest nod of his head. “What a coincidence,” he said.

“Yes,” Sango agreed. “I was not aware Kagome was married. She didn't wear a wedding band earlier today.”

“She didn't wear the original wedding band constantly,” Inuyasha supplied before Miroku could answer. “It had nickel in it and Kagome is allergic to nickel. The ones we are wearing now were given to us today by my Uncle. These are 24 karat gold and don't bother her.”

“That explains it,” she replied.

The train gave a start and began to move down the track before the overhead speaker came on. “Welcome passengers. This is the 7:00pm overnight train to Ogimi. We will arrive at our destination around noon tomorrow. Dinner is being served at 7:30pm, ten minutes from now. The TVs in each cabin show all local county channels as well as International news and news from the Capital. If you need anything at all, just press the little red button by the door and we will be sure to help you any way we can. Thank you.”

Sango glanced down at her watch. “Excuse me a moment,” she said, picking up her purse and walking towards the door. “I need to call my little brother.”

“By all means,” replied Miroku, holding the door open for her.

“Thank you,” Sango said shyly before gently closing the door behind her.

Miroku sat down across from Inuyasha and exhaled. “So?”

“So what?” replied Inuyasha.

“How are you holding up?”

Inuyasha shook his head before replying. “I'm fine. Why did you tell her Shippou is my son?” He raised an eyebrow and cracked his knuckles, promising pain if he didn't like the answer.

“Calm down,” Miroku said carefully, raising his hands defensively. “Shippou decided earlier today that his alias would be as Kagome's son, and since the two of you are married, that makes him your son as well. Besides, look at it this way. Don't you think it would be strange for us to be traveling with a child if he wasn't related to you? And with those concealing spells, most would assume that he is your and Kagome's child. That way, questions we can't answer won't we raised.”

Inuyasha sighed and rested his head against the wall. “It has been a long day.”

“No kidding,” muttered Miroku.

“What's going on?” said Kagome, sitting up.

“Kagome?” Inuyasha's eyes popped open. “Are you okay?” He moved to knell beside her.

Kagome yawned before replying. “Okay? What do you mean? Did something happen?”

Inuyasha growled in frustration before he held up her hand and pointed to the wedding band on her ring finger before showing her an identical ring on his own finger. “Remember now?”

Kagome stared at the rings before the events of the day began to tumble down on her. “Oh yeah . . . We got married, didn't we?” she asked Inuyasha sheepishly, looking up.

“Yeah.”

“Ah . . .”

“Listen Kagome,” Miroku interrupted. “You remember Sango?” he waited for the young girl to nod before continuing. “Well, she is sharing the cabin with us on this train. We're going by our aliases. Inuyasha is Kaemon, I am Kouri and Shippou is Kai. I'm Kaemon's brother and Kai is your and Kaemon's son. Okay?”

Kagome nodded slowly. “Alright, good,” Miroku said, relieved. “Now, I'm going to get us all something to eat.” With that, he stood up and left the cabin, heading towards the dining area.

Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha and noticed he had put on a concealing spell. His jaw was drawn in a tight line and his eyes were beginning to drop. “Inuyasha?” she whispered.

“Yeah?”

Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but decided the better of it and only reach at hand out to scratch his ears. Inuyasha tilted his head to allow her better access and began to purr very softly. “That was some wedding,” she said.

Inuyasha glanced up at her before nodding softly. “What do you think?” he asked.

Kagome paused for a moment, before smiling and lying back down across the seats so that she was eye level with him. “I think that was one hell of a kiss.”

Inuyasha laughed softly before shaking his head. “Trust you to think about that.”

“Excuse me,” argued Kagome. “But Miroku is the perverted one, not me.”

“Sure,” Inuyasha said sarcastically.

“Why you!” Kagome launched herself at Inuyasha. Inuyasha caught her easily, pinning her arms down and trapping her legs. “Let me go!”

Inuyasha shook his head and laughed. “Don't think so. You would think after all these years you would learn.”

“You let me go or I'll . . . I'll do something!”

Inuyasha shook his head before leaning down, putting his face very close to Kagome's. “Like what?”

Kagome thought about it for half a second before leaning up and kissing him. She felt Inuyasha tense for a moment before relaxing, releasing the tight hold he had held on her. This is what Kagome had been looking for, but she was quickly losing focus on her goal and staying in Inuyasha's arms seemed so much more appealing. The warm pressure on her lips was softening the ordeals of the last few days and she felt so safe in Inuyasha's arms.

Soft laughter and the door opening broke the spell and Inuyasha pulled away. Miroku and Sango paused in the doorway. “Uh, if we are interrupting something we could come back later,” Miroku offered.

“No,” replied Kagome, shaking her head to clear her thoughts and standing up before offering Inuyasha a hand. “Come in. What did you bring?”

Miroku smothered a laugh when Kagome didn't wait for an answer and simply took one of the plates of food he held. The smell of food woke Shippou up and the little kitsune didn't bother to ask before eating the food off of Kagome's plate. Buyo jumped to Kagome's seat and also began to eat the food off the plate.

“Kagome-chan,” Sango greeted, sitting down across from the young girl.

Kagome swallowed the food in her mouth before greeting her new acquaintance. “Sango-chan, how good to see you again!”

Miroku walked past the two girls and reached up to turn on the television set. Inuyasha had sat down beside Kagome and was eating food off of Miroku's plate. Miroku silently congratulated himself for grabbing so much. He snatched the remote and sat down next to Sango before flipping through the channels. “Oh . . . dear Kami . . .”

Kagome broke off what she was saying when she heard Miroku. “Miroku what is it . . .?”

“No . . .” Inuyasha whispered from beside her.

Sango looked up to see what had captivated their attention, noting that Kagome had addressed the so-called Kouri as Miroku. Miroku had flipped to the International news channel. They were showing pictures of a mansion that had taken heavy damage. “Turn it up,” Inuyasha demanded.

Miroku did what he said absently, his eyes never blinking as he stared at the television screen.

“What you're seeing here viewers is one of the most terrible attacks suffered by the members of The Royalty. This Mansion was the home of the Demon Lord of the Western Lands, Lord Inutashio, and his wife Lady Ai, daughter of the High Queen. Earlier this week, the Western Lands suffered heavy losses from Naraku's forces, including Lord Inutashio's son Inuyasha and adopted son Miroku Houshi. Lord Inutashio's oldest son, Lord Sesshomaru, survived the earlier attacks. As of now, Lord Inutashio and his family are unaccounted for. We do not know if they survived the destruction today or not. Nine bodies have been recovered so far; all identified as hired help. We take you now to the Capitol and High Queen Hisu's comments.” The screen stopped showing pictures of the demolished mansion and Queen Hisu is shown sitting in her throne. Reporters flank the stairs and even Kagome could see the Queen looked very tired and worn. “Your Highness, what do you plan to do about these attacks?” Inuyasha wanted to bark angrily at that reporter. What could she do? “I will hope that my family survived. Now, if you will excuse me gentlemen, I have a country to run.” The screen flickered back to the demolished mansion and Inuyasha had to close his eyes. Half of the house was gone.

Miroku now understood why Dai had sent Shippou with them. He was, however, quite certain the family was still alive. If Dai had seen the attacks, then surely she would have done something to prevent them all from dying.

“Wait, I think . . . is that,” the helicopter zoomed down to a particular portion of the destruction. “There is a survivor. It looks like Lord Sesshomaru.” If the situation had not been so serious, Inuyasha would have laughed at his brother. His clothes were torn and he was covered in dust. His once silver hair was brown. He was one very unhappy Inuyoukai. “They have found Lord Inutashio and his family.” Kagome exhaled a breath she had been holding. Inutashio dug himself out of the debris and he was carrying Dai with one arm while the other arm led Ai out of the rubbish. Sesshomaru helped her stand and then helped Rin out. They were all filthy, covered in dust and dirt. Dai looked unconscious but Inuyasha could see everyone was relatively unhurt.

“Thank the Kamis,” Kagome sighed and slumped against Inuyasha.

“That's your family, isn't it?” Sango asked, eyeing Inuyasha. Quite suddenly the situation was spelt out for her so that Sango didn't have to guess anymore. “You are Inuyasha.” It wasn't a question.

“If you know what's good for you,” Inuyasha replied, removing the concealing the spell. “You'll keep this quiet.”

Miroku was silent, his eyes flickering to the woman beside him. “Do not worry about me,” Sango replied. “I would not reveal you, though I warn you, Masahiro is not far behind.”

“Masahiro . . .” Miroku repeated. “You're a Demon Exterminator.”

Sango looked surprised for a moment before nodding her head. “Yes. My home is in Ogimi. Masahiro summoned me earlier this week. He said he wanted me to hunt something down for him, though he would not tell me what it was. He said I would know it when I found it.”

“And what did you say?” Miroku asked.

“No.”

“Why?” asked Inuyasha.

“I hold no allegiance to one such as Masahiro. My skills would better be used fighting Naraku.”

Kagome sighed, not understanding half of the conversation. “Uh . . . guys?”

All eyes turned towards Kagome. “How about we all just take the serious stuff down a notch? I'm sure Sango-chan won't do anything to endanger us.”

“How are you sure?” asked Sango.

Kagome waved the question away like it wasn't important. “Would you intentionally do anything to harm us?”

“No,” Sango replied honestly.

“See?” Kagome told Inuyasha. “Now let's all calm down and finish eating.”

Inuyasha shook his head before leaning back against his seat. Miroku snapped out of his daze and took his plate back from Inuyasha before the hanyou could stop him. “Well, if that's settled,” he began, “Why don't we decide what we will do once we get to Ogimi?”

Shippou, finishing his supper, moved to sit in Kagome's lap and watch the TV screen. Buyo climbed over him to get to the dinner scraps but Shippou's attention was focused on the TV. They were showing more pictures of the Mansion. His room was in the portion of the house that had been destroyed.

“You should come meet my father,” Sango suggested. “He can supply you with proper alternate identification and hide you long enough to make the trail too cold for Masahiro to follow.”

The TV showed more scenes of Inutashio coming out of the debris. He looked so worn.

“That would be very helpful,” said Miroku.

The camera zoomed onto Dai's face. Inutashio still held her in his arms. He had refused to let the paramedics take her. Her eyes were closed and there was a red gash running down her cheek.

“It's settled then,” Inuyasha decided, nodding his head.

“Good,” smiled Kagome.

Shippou shuddered when the cameraman again zoomed to Dai. She looked dead. “Dai isn't dead, is she?”

All conversation hushed when Shippou asked his question. Inuyasha's eyes shifted to the television. “Viewers, as of yet we can not tell you if all members of Lord Inutashio's family are unharmed. Paramedics have not been able to get close to the child Dai to confirm any fears they might have. Right now, there is nothing they can do . . . “

 

^_^

 

Sesshomaru shook his head to try and rid his hair of the dust but to no avail. Rin sat beside him, staring at her feet. She had been quiet since they had escaped the destruction.

The Inuyoukai glanced over at his father. He was whispering something to Dai. She was barely conscious, her breathing haggard. Ai stood next to him, running her fingers through the little Inuhanyou's hair.

A firefighter ran pass Sesshomaru and he put a hand up to halt the human. “Do you have a cell phone?”

“I . . . here,” the human replied, giving Sesshomaru the phone before racing off as fast as he could.

“What are you going to do?” Rin asked, looking up.

Sesshomaru smiled without mirth before replying. “Straighten this whole mess out.”

He dialed a number and an old woman answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Kaede-obaasan.”

“Sesshomaru-sama, how good of you to call. What can I do for you?”

“You can get down here to the Mansion. Dai inhaled too much dust and father's instincts are going haywire so no one can get close except for my stepmother. Father knows you well enough so you may be able to help.”

He heard the woman sigh on the other end of the phone before she replied. “I'll see what I can do.”

Sesshomaru hung up before dialing another number. Rin was silent as she watched him work. The next place he called was the airlines, telling them to ready the family's personal jet for a flight in a few hours. The third call he made was to the commander of his father's personal army. Youkai and human may have been mainstreaming for a century, but that did not mean that old alliances had faded away. “Yes,” a deep voice answered.

“This is Sesshomaru.”

“Sesshomaru-sama, how is your sister? I am watching the news as of now and it doesn't look like she is doing very well.”

“I have already sent for help.”

“Good. It is a good thing you are there to keep a level head. Oh look, you're on the TV now.”

“Tanaka . . .”

“Forgive me, Lord Sesshomaru, I am going off subject. You called for something specific, no?”

“My family and I will be at the Capitol for a day or two and I need you and yours to hold the fronts of the Western Lands while we are gone.”

“Of course, Sesshomaru-sama. My Pack and I are at your disposal. Give my regards to your father.”

The line went dead. Sesshomaru shook his head in silent amusement. Tanaka was known for not being all there, but when he was given a job he fulfilled it to the best of his ability. He once lost an arm protecting a man Inutashio had asked him to guard. Good thing youkai limbs grew back.

“Is that all?” Rin asked quietly.

“No, one more call to make.” He dialed the phone, briefly glancing up at Lady Ai before looking away.

“This is Queen Hisu's secretary. I swear if you are a reporter I will hunt you down and rip out your heart.”

“Ayame-San. As polite as ever.”

“Sesshomaru,” the wolf youkai replied, not bothering with an honorific. The Queen's secretary was not known for her manners. “What is it you want? Is Dai still alive?”

“Don't tell me you are watching the news as well?”

Ayame snorted. “They've interrupted normal programming so that we can watch you all huddle around what is left of your home. I'm missing my soaps.”

“The reporters are so inconsiderate.”

“No shit. I'd give my right arm to gut them all.”

“You don't mean that.”

She snorted again. “Oh look, you're on TV, talking on a cell phone. You look like shit, Sesshomaru. Who's the girl next to you?”

“Mine.”

“Oh,” she giggled before continuing. “I see. So the bid bad youkai fell for a human?”

“Not that it's any of your business. Besides, aren't those adjectives most usually used to describe ookami?”

“Fuck you.”

“I'm sure you would much rather do that to Kouga.”

“Below the belt.”

“My apologies.”

“Whatever. Don't say it if you don't mean it. I'm putting you through to Hisu now. You're just not good for my self esteem.”

“But I so enjoy our conversations.”

“Yeah, well we both have much more pressing matters to deal with at the moment.”

Sesshomaru sighed. “I suppose that's true. Put me through to Queen Hisu.”

“Sure thing, dip shit. By the way, have fun with your human.”

“Go fuck Kouga.”

“Yeah, sure.”

The line went silent only to be answered with a voice full of authority. “Queen Hisu,” said Sesshomaru.

“Sesshomaru. How is Dai?”

The Inuyoukai shook his head. He was probably going to get that same question again and again until a reporter got close enough to figure it out. “Surviving, so far. I have sent for Kaede.”

“Good. The rest of you are fine as well?”

Sesshomaru nodded but then remembered that she couldn't see him. Or maybe she could, the reporter's chopper was circling above his head again. He made a mental note to sue them all when he found the time. “Yes. Father's instincts are going a bit haywire and Stepmother seems to be on the verge of a midlife crisis, but other than that, everything is just peachy.”

He heard Hisu snort. “You've been talking to Ayame again, haven't you?”

“Guilty.”

“That girl seems to have the worst luck of rubbing off on people.”

Sesshomaru silently agreed. “I called the airlines and the plane will be ready to take off in a few hours. It isn't safe here anymore so I assume father will agree with me if Dai recovers at the palace instead of what is left of the Mansion.”

“I'll have my people meet you at the gate. I believe it would be best if Ai and Dai stay at the palace with either your father or yourself to guard them. You can even bring that pretty young girl sitting beside you.”

“You're still watching that blasted news channel, aren't you?”

“They interrupted all normal programming. I'm missing my soaps.”

“I always wondered how you and Ayame got along.”

“Now you know. Will your father go back to the Western Lands once Ai and Dai are here?”

“I don't know,” Sesshomaru replied honestly. “On a normal basis, of course he would. But his instincts are telling him to protect his pup, and he can't do that a couple thousand miles away. I believe, until everything calms down, it would be best that father stays with Dai and Stepmother.”

“I see. Very well. By the way, when do you plan to sue?”

“As soon as I get on the plane.”

“Give my lawyers a call.”

“Of course.”