InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Ghostly Ambition ❯ ...And Found ( Chapter 5 )

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

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-- Chapter Five: …And Found --

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InuYasha jumps into Bone-eater's well without hesitation. Kagome's uncharacteristic silence and subdued behavior the day before had been nagging at him all night. `I know there's more she's not telling me.' His jaw firms as the floating sensation that accompanies traveling through the well between times envelopes him; not liking the feeling of something else being in control but enduring it as he always does.

He lands softly on the bottom, easily jumping out and up the wooden stairs, halting at the open doors with a puzzled frown. He turns back to look down at the dark interior, sniffing. `What is that?' He tries without success to separate the many scents that inhabit the old wellhouse. Those of her family being the strongest and confusing the older ones underneath. He looks over at the main house and leaps forward, targeting the tree just outside the girl's bedroom window, where he peeks in. The room looks a-jumble with the bed unmade and things lying sloppily about…but no Kagome. He rolls his eyes, `Jeeze, how could I forget that she's probably at that stupid `skool'?'

He jumps down, feeling frustrated, and folds his hands inside his sleeves. His doggish ears droop as he considers cooling his heels here or going back to Kaede's to wait. InuYasha stands undeceive, head bowed and muttering impatiently to himself when he hears footsteps just before Kagome's excitable grandfather steps around the corner of the house.

The elder Higurashi stops in surprise, "Oi, you scamp!"

InuYasha looks to either side of him just to make sure the old man was speaking to him. His ears pricked forward in curiosity, he raises an eyebrow, "Huh?"

Jichan squints at him pugnaciously, shaking his bony fist to emphasize his ire, "That's just plain inconsiderate!"

The confused hanyou repeats his oh-so-intelligent response, "Huh?"

"I didn't even get to see her this time!" He starts waving his shriveled arms in the air, "You could at least have waited a day before taking her back!"

This was getting more confusing by the second and InuYasha tilts his head to the side, "What are you talking about Jiji?"

Grandpa Higurashi continues to mutter, "And in the middle of the night too…shameful." He peers balefully at him, "That's what it is; Shameful!" He pauses his tirade and looks around, "Where is she anyway?"

`Ok…he's finally lost it…' InuYasha looks at the old man cautiously, "She?"

"Kagome," the old man sniffs and gives him a disgusted look, "don't play stupid with me!"

"Kagome…?" A sinking feeling hits him, "Isn't she at `skool'?"

"How can she be at school when you took her in the middle of the night?" The old man grumbles under his breath, "…left the front door wide open too…"

InuYasha frowns and looms over the geriatric rascal, "I brought her home last night!"

Higurashi Sr. was not to be outdone, and he gets right in the hanyou's face, "And took her back before morning! She didn't even get a decent breakfast!" He pokes a finger at the red-clad chest to make his point, "How can you expect her to gallivant around without a decent meal every now and then?"

InuYasha looses his temper with the beginnings of fear fueling it, "I didn't take her!"

"You had to!" The old man yells right back.

"Otousan? What - oh, InuYasha!" Kagome's Mother looks surprised.

InuYasha turns to her, instinctively knowing he will get more coherent answers from the calm woman. "Kagome isn't here?"

She frowns and shakes her head, "No. She's not with you?" Her concern shows, "I thought it odd. She usually says goodbye before she leaves and all of her things are still here." Her hand covers her mouth and her eyes look alarmed, "Otousan, the knife! You don't think she was…?"

The old man's eyes grow wide, "Kidnapped?" His voice rose squeakingly high, "Right from under our noses?"

InuYasha looks from one to the other, a muscle twitching under his eye and feeling frantic, "Knife?! Kidnapped?! What…????"

Mrs. Higurashi clasps her hands together, "Souta found one of my knives in his room this morning and didn't know how it got there." She looks worriedly at her father-in-law, "Maybe we should call the police?"

`Kidnapped?' InuYasha dashes around the two and into the house, leaping effortlessly over the stairs and rushing into Kagome's room. He looks at the discarded pack, the unmade bed and the borrowed clothes lying where they had been left. `There it is again…that odd smell.' He steps over her shoes and back into the hallway, still catching whiffs of the unknown scent, 'Like Kagome…but not,' and something else he recognizes all to well that sends his blood boiling, `…fear.' He jumps back down to the ground floor, following the invisible odor-trail to the front door and across the yard to the Goshinboku.

Kagome's unique scent is stronger here mingled with the lingering scent of salt, `Damnit!' The faint traces lead back to the wellhouse, easier to single out from all the other scents now that he knows the difference. He pauses in the doorway and glances over at Kagome's family, feeling guilt that they are upset, and sees her mother staring back at him; having watched him out of curiosity. He shakes his head, `No time…' before turning and leaping directly into the well.

The strange scent is much stronger than hers on the other side. `If she came back last night,' he casts about, following the trail into the woods in the opposite direction of the village, `why didn't she come to Kaede's?' The thought of Kagome roaming the woods by herself at night makes the urge to find her almost unbearable.

After almost a mile the trail just ends. All traces of any scent gone. InuYasha quarters the area, desperate for any clue and finds a large sack wadded and stuffed under a bush. `…There's something in the bottom.' He upends the bag and a tiny glass bottle with a broken string tied around it falls out. Empty.

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---- She doesn't know how long she's been standing there, staring out of the window when a blob of darkness, shifting and floating, moves closer through the smoky distance. It grows larger and pushes back the gray. Kagome tilts her head, straining to see anything to distinguish what it is.

::Don't look at it!::

The soft voice commands sharply, startling her, and she steps back, looking around her room, "What?"

::It's HIM. If he sees you look at him; He can get in!::

Alarm rushes through her and, flimsy as it seems, she flings the curtains shut before dashing across the room to lock the door as well. A sound like wind sweeping past the eves echoes beyond her walls and she steps back to stand in the center of the room.

::As long as you believe the walls are solid, so they will be.::

Kagome shivers and clasps her hands together, trying to warm them. "Now what?"

::Now; you have to regain control of your body.:: ----

"…Regain control…?" Kagome looks down at her hands and all the way to the shoes on her feet, "But-?"

::Don't be silly. That's only how you think of yourself.::

"I'm not…sure I understand."

The disembodied sigh is followed by the soft voice with a hard edge in it. ::Haven't you realized it yet? You're trapped in your own mind.::

"What?!" It sounds too incredulous.

::Luckily, he doesn't know about me so he can't see me.::

Kagome frowns, trying to understand, "But - how-?"

::As long as he doesn't know about me, I can move about freely. I can even watch Him without Him knowing.::

"Then what is he doing now?"

A slight pause. ::You don't want to know. It will only distract you.::

A heavy thud against the wood of the door seems deafening in the small room, followed by an irate bellow. "What is this?" The sound of the wind increases and the walls begin to shake.

::Remember - As solid as your will.::

Kagome clenches her fists at her sides and concentrates, willing the walls to hold. The frightful shaking stops.

Something not unlike a growl rumbles outside her sanctuary and the wind slowly dwindles, "Little Bird…" The deep voice turns cajoling, "…Open the Door."

Kagome gasps, "Ak-"

::NO!! Don't speak his name!! Your not ready to face him yet!::

"But - He's Dead! Kirara killed him!"

::Exactly. He was in possession of the man that attacked you, and He distracted you with His vessel's death; using the released energy to force his way past your natural defenses - that's how he got in. If you had had any formal training, this couldn't have happened at all.::

She can feel her heart beating and her breathing speeds up. "I remember…that man…at the well…he called me that!" She shivers remembering the dark glint in the man's eyes as the blade plunged into his own heart.

The deep voice chuckles, "I'll have all of you eventually, Little Bird. You're only making it harder on yourself…"

Kagome flinches at the hated nickname and slants a look at the door, her emotions in turmoil.

"…And on your friends." The wind howls for a moment, followed by a distant high-pitched voice. "Kagomeee!"

She gasps, "Shippo!" She moves toward the door.

::Stop! It's not real!::

Hesitating, she turns away from the sounds of her other friends calling for her, her heart lurching when the InuYasha's voice is included.

. You know what I'll do to them…to Him…" .

Kagome slaps her hands over her ears and drops to her knees, recalling the ghastly images that had confused her at the time. "Noo…"

::Get a hold of yourself. You don't have time for this.::

Covering her ears isn't doing a thing to block the upsetting sounds beyond her sanctuary or the sinister laughter and she takes a deep breath, "What do I-" She looks at the door apprehensively.

::Don't worry, He can't see me or hear me……but it would be best if you stopped speaking out loud. It's unnecessary and He can hear that.::

. "…Painful and slow…You know…You've seen..." .

Kagome does her best to ignore the taunting voice. `What do I do?'

::You have to forge your power into a weapon and force him out; destroy Him.::

`Like using an Arrow?'

::No. That is infusing your power into a material weapon. You need to take the power itself and shape it; bend it to your will.::

Kagome chews on that concept and looks at her hand, `You mean like when I repelled that Centipede Woman-?'

::No.:: The soft voice sounds impatient. ::That is the same as empowering an arrow. You still used a material object to carry the blow. This time the power needs to BE the weapon alone. Your hand is not real here.::

. "…Bathed in his blood…" .

Kagome flinches involuntarily, firms her lips angrily and stands, straightening her imaginary shoulders with determination. `Tell me what to do.' ----

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Shippo has moved further away from the water's edge and the clumsy Monk to allow his clothes to dry in the sun, still snorting giggles at the man's antics. "Oi Miroku!"

Miroku looks up from wringing the edge of his kimono. "What?"

"Maybe you should give up!" This was said with a teasing smirk, "'Cause it looks like all your trying to catch is a cold!" His giggles grow uncontrollably.

Miroku straightens with mock offense, "Perhaps you would like to try?"

Shippo shakes his head `no' while holding his stomach and he rolls onto his back with his petite fox-feet kicking in the air, delighted with his own cleverness.

"Humph!" Miroku turns back to searching the water, "Then kindly keep your comments to yourself!" This only sparks another round of giggles from the kitsune and the Monk smiles while shaking his head.

Shippo eventually sits up, trying to catch his breath. The loud splashing of another failed attempt to catch dinner has him turning away to save his stomach from more laughter. A quick movement at the edge of his vision just behind him has him turning to catch a glimpse of black hair and a flash of pink. He gets up to peer around a tree, hearing more splashing behind him but ignoring it. He is just in time to see the girl disappear into the trees. The furtive glance she throws over her shoulder sends his little heart pumping and he whispers, "Kagome…?" He doesn't think twice about bounding forward in pursuit, "Kagome!"

Miroku, an energetic fish wriggling madly in his hands, looks up at the shout and over at the spot Shippo had been. "Shippo?" He glances around for the kitsune and begins wading towards the bank.

Shippo pushes through bushes and leaps over large tree roots for a short ways before catching up with her. "Kagome!" She stops next to a tree and turns to look at him, biting her lip and frowning sadly. He stares at her from a few yards away with his emotions in a spin.

She blinks rapidly, as if to fight tears and gives him a tiny half-smile. He takes a step and her smile grows. Her arms open and he leaps forward joyfully, "Kagomeeee!"

She holds him close as he blubbers noisily into her pajama top, patting his head and saying softly, "Shh…it's all over now." Her smile twists crookedly, unnoticed by him in his exuberance, and her eyes narrow as her hand wraps around his tail, using it to viciously swing the unsuspecting kit around in an arc to smash his head into the hard trunk of the nearby tree, thudding horribly. She drops the limp body contemptuously, brushing off her hands as if having touched something filthy.

"Shippo?!" Faint ringing can be heard coming closer.

Her head turns and the smile twists into a sneer while a crafty look enters her dark eyes before she dashes into the underbrush.

"Shippo?!" Miroku ducking under low branches, searching and calling, he enters the small clearing. His breath catches and his eyes widen upon seeing the motionless kitsune. A slight rustling to his left isn't warning enough to dodge the heavy branch that connects forcibly with the back of his head, felling him instantly.

The girl standing over him eyes the blood on the length of wood before tossing it to the side and uses her bare foot to push the unconscious man over onto his back. Her smirk is full of satisfaction. She looks from one still form to the other and then goes to retrieve her weapons from where she had stashed them earlier. `All too easy…'

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Leaving Kirara curled up and sleeping in the sun, Sango heads for the stream, comfortable in her yukata and carrying a basket for the promised fish. `Hopefully…' she smiles to herself as she thinks of the Monk's lack of skill in that area. `I think that they've had enough time alone.' She sighs as the kitsune's sad, pinched-looking face comes to mind.

When she reaches the spot they habitually use for fishing, there is no one there. She frowns at the sight of the small fish flopping unattended next to the folded pile of the Monk's clothing on the opposite bank and makes an impatient noise. The faint chiming of Miroku's staff can be heard coming from the trees beyond, as well as his voice calling for the kitsune. She shakes her head and kicks off her shoes to wade across and rescue the fish before it flops its way back into the stream. Slipping her shoes back on and leaving the basket behind, she follows the Monk's voice, intent on giving him a piece of her mind when she catches up to them.

`He leaves a trail a child could follow…' Her mild amusement, at what might be an impromptu game of `seek and find' between the Monk and fox-child, dies like her smile when she ducks around a low hanging branch and sees a wild-haired Kagome bending over a prone Miroku . . . . . with a drawn sword in her hand.

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