InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Deep Woods ❯ Chapter 11
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Silly1 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Drama / Fantasy / Romance | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 03.11.2011 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.7K | Visits: 296 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Drama / Fantasy / Romance | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 03.11.2011 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.7K | Visits: 296 | Status: Work In Progress
In Deep Woods, 11:
Kazuki wasn’t surprised to see the two of them sitting back at the kitchen table, as if they’d never left it. His eyes found Trace’s and he growled faintly.
Trace shifted his features until it was the wolf youkai who again stared back at Kazuki, baring his own formidable set of teeth and answering Kazuki’s challenge with a growl of his own.
“Please stop it,” Megumi said, covering her ears as if she could block out the tension in the room as well as the sound. The smell of her tears brought Kazuki to his senses. He had never intended to hurt her.
Trace, too, backed down. Roughly, he pushed his chair back and went to get the coffee pot. He refilled his own and Megumi’s cups and jutted his chin at Kazuki, who blinked, then nodded distractedly. In between standing up and grabbing the coffee, Trace had changed back to his usual form. Trace poured coffee into Kazuki’s empty cup.
There was a fourth cup on the table. Kazuki glanced around, opening all his senses. Where was Misty? He caught Trace giving him a calculating look, and snapped, “What?”
“Are you going to blame me for this one too?” Trace sneered.
Misty was gone. Her scent was fast fading from the room, along with the scent of a certain familiar kitsune. Kazuki wondered if anything had happened. He dug out his holo-phone, and a flickering 3-D image of Misty hovered above it. ‘I’m not here right now,’ her voice tinkled. ‘Leave a message.’ Kazuki snapped the phone shut before trying Shippo. The little kitsune’s sharp features danced in the air in front of him. ‘What’s up?’
“Is Misty with you?” Kazuki asked.
‘No, she went home. She said she’ll talk to you later. Kazuki, is everything all right between you two? She seemed . . . kind of distracted.’
“No, no, we’re fine,” Kazuki mumbled, feeling himself go red. He was very aware that the other two at the table could hear every word. Trace had a self-satisfied grin on his face.
Distracted? Why would Misty be distracted? This didn’t have anything to do with her . . . . Kazuki snapped the phone shut abruptly. He’d been an idiot.
“You can go back if you want,” Trace said into the sudden silence. “Back a few hours, or back a few centuries. You can be with the woman you love.” Trace was enjoying the effect his comments were having on Kazuki. “But which one is it—Sachi or Misty?” Trace laughed hollowly.
Megumi looked at Trace in horror.
Kazuki leaped across the table, scattering cups and coffee everywhere. He went for the other youkai’s throat but Trace just laughed and let him, draining Kazuki’s energy as soon as their bodies made contact. Kazuki drooped to the floor and his eyes rolled back in his head.
“I could kill you now,” Trace murmured, stepping back to gaze impassively at the semi-conscious youkai. “Remember that.” He walked away from both of them, Megumi with her wide, tear-filled eyes, and Kazuki, the white-haired dog youkai who didn’t know how good he had it. If Misty was smart, she’d drop him for the unfaithful dog he was. But probably Misty wasn’t that smart, no matter the eons she had seen. Inuyasha’s bloodline had that effect on people. They made people fall in love with them and they didn’t even know.
He glanced back at Megumi. She still stood in the kitchen, staring after him as she cried quietly. She was one of them. Trace strode back and grabbed her arm. “He’ll recover. Come with me.” He didn’t wait for her to agree. He turned in between with her. It was time that Megumi found out what she was getting into.
x x x x x x
Kazuki groaned and struggled to his feet. That was stupid. There was a reason Trace had been sealed inside that cave in Japan where he had no access to living energy. What had Fenn been thinking when he had released the creature? He closed his eyes, weakness sweeping over him in waves. Fenn had said it himself: Trace was exactly like him. Or had Trace said it?
“Misty,” he murmured to himself. With an effort, he concentrated and moved in between. Whatever Trace was, he was also right. Kazuki wished himself home. Misty looked up as he popped in right in front of the counter of their little gift shop. Her golden eyes watched him, unblinking, as he came around the counter and touched her face gently. “I’m sorry.” He managed to kiss her before he toppled over.
Hours later, or was it days later, Kazuki woke to find his wife snuggled against his side in the upstairs bedroom. How had she managed to get him up the stairs? He could hear Leif in the shop below, so school must be over. He stretched. He felt—much better.
“What about Sachi?” Misty asked.
Kazuki pulled her close. “She died a long time ago,” he said quietly. Whether or not it was Trace’s fault didn’t change what had happened, although he was beginning to believe that maybe it didn’t have anything to do with Trace at all. The creature tended to strike out in any way he could, and he would not have been above claiming responsibility for Sachi’s death if he thought it would antagonize Inuyasha’s family. It was easier thinking the other youkai was guilty as hell, and he certainly was no innocent, but it was time to let this go.
Misty’s golden eyes searched his. “Are you sure? I won’t stand in your way?”
Kazuki hugged her fiercely, burying his head in her spiky white hair. “Don’t leave me,” he murmured. Misty was youkai. More, she was an ancient youkai and possibly immortal. She would never die like Sachi had. He couldn’t stop the trembling in his arms as he held her. Trace wasn’t important; nothing was as important to him as Misty. “I’m such a fool. Can you forgive me?”
Misty rubbed his back where she could reach it. He hadn’t said he loved her, but that was all right. She knew he did. She loved him too, a deep, aching love that let her forgive him anything. Even if she could only hold on to this life for a few more years or a few more centuries in the endless span of her existence, she would take it. She loved him that much. “I love you,” she whispered into his chest.
x x x x x x
Suddenly they were in the middle of a rush hour crowd.
“New York?” Megumi asked, looking up and around at the tall buildings.
“I need to do this,” Trace said by way of apology. He still held her arms. Now he let one arm drop and kept hold only of her left hand as they walked where the crowds were thickest.
Trace knew Megumi felt it when he began to draw life essence away from the people around them. It was like a warm wave of electricity which passed over her and into him. She gasped, a small intake of air as he realized what he was doing.
The people behind them slowed or stopped completely, some going gray or clutching their stomachs in pain. Megumi glanced back to see most of them recover, shake their heads, and go on.
“Are you feeding?” she whispered, sensing the unearthly glow that surrounded Trace. If she concentrated, she could see the ropes of energy connecting the passers-by to him. Those ropes dissolved the farther they moved away, but new ones immediately formed between Trace and the people currently closest to him. Megumi looked above Trace’s head, spotting diaphanous shapes that were forming there and breaking off to hover around the two of them. Trace caught her glance and looked up, too, frowning. He sucked the newly-formed youkai back into himself.
“Sorry, can’t let any of you go today,” he muttered under his breath. “And yes, Megumi, this is how I feed. I need energy to remain strong. You’ll see why in a little while.”
He strode through the city, Megumi at his side, absorbing more and more energy until he fairly glowed with it.
“That should do for now,” he said. He pulled Megumi in between, almost tempted to go back to her little hideaway in the woods. Instead, he took her back to the kitchen, not at all sorry to see Kazuki had gone. He didn’t need that hot-head to attack him while he was trying to show Megumi the truth. She hadn’t freaked out when she’d felt him feed. That was a good sign.
He let his features flow and meld, taking first the form of the wolf-youkai he had adopted earlier to fool Shippo and her uncle. He dropped that form to become Inuyasha, then before Megumi had a chance to react, he became Kagome, then Kazuki, and finally, her.
Megumi gulped when she saw herself. “Can you become anyone?” she asked, thinking of Fenn.
Trace’s smile faded. “I used to,” he said. “I used to be able to do a lot of things, but it takes energy, as you can see.” He concentrated, shifting easily back into his dark-haired familiar form. “Fenn was telling the truth about our ability to move in between through time. Once I could travel anywhere, at any time. I used to laugh at Fenn because he didn’t; I used to think he was just lazy and that I, his offshoot, was by far the superior being because I had no limits. None whatsoever.” His gaze faltered. “I can hear what you are thinking now,” he said softly. “I couldn’t hear your thoughts—before. I wish you wouldn’t. Love me, I mean. Your uncle was wrong about me. Come, I’ll show you.
Now, the hard part. It had been a long time since he’d done this. He was much stronger now, although not as strong as he used to be. For a creature without boundaries, that should have been impossible. He took her hand to make sure she followed, and sought the path in between that would bring him back in time to before Sachi died. It was a time both bittersweet and vivid in his mind. Until now, he had not had the power to move much beyond the paths Fenn or Megumi had blazed for him. But with this new intake of energy, he could finally see what had been blocked.
The air was clearer here, and nature had not yet been fully conquered by man. Trace breathed a sigh and unconsciously started drawing on the surrounding foliage. Megumi’s startled gasp made him realize what he’d been doing. He looked down.
“You can feed from plants also?”
“Any living thing,” he affirmed.
She smiled, and took his arm, resting her head against him. Just then, a tanuki youkai lumbered from its hidey hole, drawn by the scent of power the two of them were throwing off. Megumi jumped back. “We did go back in time, didn’t we?” she asked in awe.
“Did you doubt me? You can do it, too. You heard Fenn. Come, we’re here so you can see Sachi.”
Trace led Megumi unerringly through the woods to the old slayer village. Megumi’s throat swelled, as memories flooded back. She glanced at Trace. His eyes were serious, no longer mocking or challenging. If anything, they were a little sad.
“We don’t have to do this. I believe you,” Megumi quickly said. This was a slayer village. It would have a barrier.
“Come on.” Trace smiled enigmatically and wrapped Megumi in his own aura before he sauntered in, undetected. “Told you I could do a lot of things,” he whispered into her ear.
“I don’t understand,” Megumi whispered back. “How does this prove you didn’t kill her—not that I ever thought you did,” she amended.
The village was quietly busy. No one paid attention to the two people—Megumi shuddered to think what the two of them looked like—who slipped inside one of the houses. A woman lay on the bed, tended by another who looked very much like her. She was very still, and obviously in pain. Her sister fed her some sort of broth, but she choked as she tried to swallow it. “Is Kazuki coming?”
“He’s on his way,” her twin assured her.
Megumi felt awkward intruding on such an intimate moment, and she turned her eyes away.
“Look closely,” Trace said, making Megumi’s head shoot up, wondering if the other women had heard. But they were human, or perhaps Trace could disguise their very voices as well as their bodies. Neither woman reacted, so Megumi reluctantly looked back at them. There were no threads of power anywhere near Sachi. Megumi had seen how Trace fed—he had shown her. This really wasn’t Trace’s doing. She turned wide eyes to him.
“We can go now,” Trace said, leading her to the village wall. He hesitated a second, then jumped up with Megumi. The weak barrier was no obstacle to him. He paused at the top a moment, looking down at the village. Kazuki would be here soon.
Megumi sniffed, choking back a sob. “She’s dying right now, isn’t she?”
“Humans die, Megumi. Everything dies, eventually.”
“Not you,” she said. “You said you can’t die.” Megumi’s voice sounded relieved, which made Trace uncomfortable. He might not have killed Sachi, but he had killed before. It was his nature.
“No, not me,” he said with a touch of regret. “So, do you want to take a look around as long as we’re here? I remember this place we used to go. . . .”
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Kazuki wasn’t surprised to see the two of them sitting back at the kitchen table, as if they’d never left it. His eyes found Trace’s and he growled faintly.
Trace shifted his features until it was the wolf youkai who again stared back at Kazuki, baring his own formidable set of teeth and answering Kazuki’s challenge with a growl of his own.
“Please stop it,” Megumi said, covering her ears as if she could block out the tension in the room as well as the sound. The smell of her tears brought Kazuki to his senses. He had never intended to hurt her.
Trace, too, backed down. Roughly, he pushed his chair back and went to get the coffee pot. He refilled his own and Megumi’s cups and jutted his chin at Kazuki, who blinked, then nodded distractedly. In between standing up and grabbing the coffee, Trace had changed back to his usual form. Trace poured coffee into Kazuki’s empty cup.
There was a fourth cup on the table. Kazuki glanced around, opening all his senses. Where was Misty? He caught Trace giving him a calculating look, and snapped, “What?”
“Are you going to blame me for this one too?” Trace sneered.
Misty was gone. Her scent was fast fading from the room, along with the scent of a certain familiar kitsune. Kazuki wondered if anything had happened. He dug out his holo-phone, and a flickering 3-D image of Misty hovered above it. ‘I’m not here right now,’ her voice tinkled. ‘Leave a message.’ Kazuki snapped the phone shut before trying Shippo. The little kitsune’s sharp features danced in the air in front of him. ‘What’s up?’
“Is Misty with you?” Kazuki asked.
‘No, she went home. She said she’ll talk to you later. Kazuki, is everything all right between you two? She seemed . . . kind of distracted.’
“No, no, we’re fine,” Kazuki mumbled, feeling himself go red. He was very aware that the other two at the table could hear every word. Trace had a self-satisfied grin on his face.
Distracted? Why would Misty be distracted? This didn’t have anything to do with her . . . . Kazuki snapped the phone shut abruptly. He’d been an idiot.
“You can go back if you want,” Trace said into the sudden silence. “Back a few hours, or back a few centuries. You can be with the woman you love.” Trace was enjoying the effect his comments were having on Kazuki. “But which one is it—Sachi or Misty?” Trace laughed hollowly.
Megumi looked at Trace in horror.
Kazuki leaped across the table, scattering cups and coffee everywhere. He went for the other youkai’s throat but Trace just laughed and let him, draining Kazuki’s energy as soon as their bodies made contact. Kazuki drooped to the floor and his eyes rolled back in his head.
“I could kill you now,” Trace murmured, stepping back to gaze impassively at the semi-conscious youkai. “Remember that.” He walked away from both of them, Megumi with her wide, tear-filled eyes, and Kazuki, the white-haired dog youkai who didn’t know how good he had it. If Misty was smart, she’d drop him for the unfaithful dog he was. But probably Misty wasn’t that smart, no matter the eons she had seen. Inuyasha’s bloodline had that effect on people. They made people fall in love with them and they didn’t even know.
He glanced back at Megumi. She still stood in the kitchen, staring after him as she cried quietly. She was one of them. Trace strode back and grabbed her arm. “He’ll recover. Come with me.” He didn’t wait for her to agree. He turned in between with her. It was time that Megumi found out what she was getting into.
x x x x x x
Kazuki groaned and struggled to his feet. That was stupid. There was a reason Trace had been sealed inside that cave in Japan where he had no access to living energy. What had Fenn been thinking when he had released the creature? He closed his eyes, weakness sweeping over him in waves. Fenn had said it himself: Trace was exactly like him. Or had Trace said it?
“Misty,” he murmured to himself. With an effort, he concentrated and moved in between. Whatever Trace was, he was also right. Kazuki wished himself home. Misty looked up as he popped in right in front of the counter of their little gift shop. Her golden eyes watched him, unblinking, as he came around the counter and touched her face gently. “I’m sorry.” He managed to kiss her before he toppled over.
Hours later, or was it days later, Kazuki woke to find his wife snuggled against his side in the upstairs bedroom. How had she managed to get him up the stairs? He could hear Leif in the shop below, so school must be over. He stretched. He felt—much better.
“What about Sachi?” Misty asked.
Kazuki pulled her close. “She died a long time ago,” he said quietly. Whether or not it was Trace’s fault didn’t change what had happened, although he was beginning to believe that maybe it didn’t have anything to do with Trace at all. The creature tended to strike out in any way he could, and he would not have been above claiming responsibility for Sachi’s death if he thought it would antagonize Inuyasha’s family. It was easier thinking the other youkai was guilty as hell, and he certainly was no innocent, but it was time to let this go.
Misty’s golden eyes searched his. “Are you sure? I won’t stand in your way?”
Kazuki hugged her fiercely, burying his head in her spiky white hair. “Don’t leave me,” he murmured. Misty was youkai. More, she was an ancient youkai and possibly immortal. She would never die like Sachi had. He couldn’t stop the trembling in his arms as he held her. Trace wasn’t important; nothing was as important to him as Misty. “I’m such a fool. Can you forgive me?”
Misty rubbed his back where she could reach it. He hadn’t said he loved her, but that was all right. She knew he did. She loved him too, a deep, aching love that let her forgive him anything. Even if she could only hold on to this life for a few more years or a few more centuries in the endless span of her existence, she would take it. She loved him that much. “I love you,” she whispered into his chest.
x x x x x x
Suddenly they were in the middle of a rush hour crowd.
“New York?” Megumi asked, looking up and around at the tall buildings.
“I need to do this,” Trace said by way of apology. He still held her arms. Now he let one arm drop and kept hold only of her left hand as they walked where the crowds were thickest.
Trace knew Megumi felt it when he began to draw life essence away from the people around them. It was like a warm wave of electricity which passed over her and into him. She gasped, a small intake of air as he realized what he was doing.
The people behind them slowed or stopped completely, some going gray or clutching their stomachs in pain. Megumi glanced back to see most of them recover, shake their heads, and go on.
“Are you feeding?” she whispered, sensing the unearthly glow that surrounded Trace. If she concentrated, she could see the ropes of energy connecting the passers-by to him. Those ropes dissolved the farther they moved away, but new ones immediately formed between Trace and the people currently closest to him. Megumi looked above Trace’s head, spotting diaphanous shapes that were forming there and breaking off to hover around the two of them. Trace caught her glance and looked up, too, frowning. He sucked the newly-formed youkai back into himself.
“Sorry, can’t let any of you go today,” he muttered under his breath. “And yes, Megumi, this is how I feed. I need energy to remain strong. You’ll see why in a little while.”
He strode through the city, Megumi at his side, absorbing more and more energy until he fairly glowed with it.
“That should do for now,” he said. He pulled Megumi in between, almost tempted to go back to her little hideaway in the woods. Instead, he took her back to the kitchen, not at all sorry to see Kazuki had gone. He didn’t need that hot-head to attack him while he was trying to show Megumi the truth. She hadn’t freaked out when she’d felt him feed. That was a good sign.
He let his features flow and meld, taking first the form of the wolf-youkai he had adopted earlier to fool Shippo and her uncle. He dropped that form to become Inuyasha, then before Megumi had a chance to react, he became Kagome, then Kazuki, and finally, her.
Megumi gulped when she saw herself. “Can you become anyone?” she asked, thinking of Fenn.
Trace’s smile faded. “I used to,” he said. “I used to be able to do a lot of things, but it takes energy, as you can see.” He concentrated, shifting easily back into his dark-haired familiar form. “Fenn was telling the truth about our ability to move in between through time. Once I could travel anywhere, at any time. I used to laugh at Fenn because he didn’t; I used to think he was just lazy and that I, his offshoot, was by far the superior being because I had no limits. None whatsoever.” His gaze faltered. “I can hear what you are thinking now,” he said softly. “I couldn’t hear your thoughts—before. I wish you wouldn’t. Love me, I mean. Your uncle was wrong about me. Come, I’ll show you.
Now, the hard part. It had been a long time since he’d done this. He was much stronger now, although not as strong as he used to be. For a creature without boundaries, that should have been impossible. He took her hand to make sure she followed, and sought the path in between that would bring him back in time to before Sachi died. It was a time both bittersweet and vivid in his mind. Until now, he had not had the power to move much beyond the paths Fenn or Megumi had blazed for him. But with this new intake of energy, he could finally see what had been blocked.
The air was clearer here, and nature had not yet been fully conquered by man. Trace breathed a sigh and unconsciously started drawing on the surrounding foliage. Megumi’s startled gasp made him realize what he’d been doing. He looked down.
“You can feed from plants also?”
“Any living thing,” he affirmed.
She smiled, and took his arm, resting her head against him. Just then, a tanuki youkai lumbered from its hidey hole, drawn by the scent of power the two of them were throwing off. Megumi jumped back. “We did go back in time, didn’t we?” she asked in awe.
“Did you doubt me? You can do it, too. You heard Fenn. Come, we’re here so you can see Sachi.”
Trace led Megumi unerringly through the woods to the old slayer village. Megumi’s throat swelled, as memories flooded back. She glanced at Trace. His eyes were serious, no longer mocking or challenging. If anything, they were a little sad.
“We don’t have to do this. I believe you,” Megumi quickly said. This was a slayer village. It would have a barrier.
“Come on.” Trace smiled enigmatically and wrapped Megumi in his own aura before he sauntered in, undetected. “Told you I could do a lot of things,” he whispered into her ear.
“I don’t understand,” Megumi whispered back. “How does this prove you didn’t kill her—not that I ever thought you did,” she amended.
The village was quietly busy. No one paid attention to the two people—Megumi shuddered to think what the two of them looked like—who slipped inside one of the houses. A woman lay on the bed, tended by another who looked very much like her. She was very still, and obviously in pain. Her sister fed her some sort of broth, but she choked as she tried to swallow it. “Is Kazuki coming?”
“He’s on his way,” her twin assured her.
Megumi felt awkward intruding on such an intimate moment, and she turned her eyes away.
“Look closely,” Trace said, making Megumi’s head shoot up, wondering if the other women had heard. But they were human, or perhaps Trace could disguise their very voices as well as their bodies. Neither woman reacted, so Megumi reluctantly looked back at them. There were no threads of power anywhere near Sachi. Megumi had seen how Trace fed—he had shown her. This really wasn’t Trace’s doing. She turned wide eyes to him.
“We can go now,” Trace said, leading her to the village wall. He hesitated a second, then jumped up with Megumi. The weak barrier was no obstacle to him. He paused at the top a moment, looking down at the village. Kazuki would be here soon.
Megumi sniffed, choking back a sob. “She’s dying right now, isn’t she?”
“Humans die, Megumi. Everything dies, eventually.”
“Not you,” she said. “You said you can’t die.” Megumi’s voice sounded relieved, which made Trace uncomfortable. He might not have killed Sachi, but he had killed before. It was his nature.
“No, not me,” he said with a touch of regret. “So, do you want to take a look around as long as we’re here? I remember this place we used to go. . . .”
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