InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Inexcusable Nature ❯ Explanation & Contemplation ( Chapter 6 )

Inexcusable Nature

Just A Starving Writer

Disclaimer: nope, not mine.

Part 6: Explanation and Contemplation

Seeing the world from atop a feather high in the air surely lent some bit of unnatural light to the pictures one saw. But this…this was just too strange to be real.

It appeared the girl had finally returned and, oddly enough, was heading straight for Naraku's hidden fortress. But, if that was not strange enough for one's taste, Kagura also had to consider the sword at the young woman's hip that was pulsing with energy that the wind youkai could feel even from this far. How did the miko acquire such a powerful weapon?

Of course, those tidbits of information were nothing compared to the reincarnation's unlikely companion. Somehow, and Kagura wasn't sure she wanted to know the specifics, the girl had aligned herself with none other than her imprisoned hanyou's half brother.

This would surely not set well with Naraku. After watching the small group for a few minutes, the wind youkai took off for her master, dreading telling him the bad news.

*

The door to the dungeon opened suddenly and the inhabitants couldn't help but look at the intruder. Never once since they had arrived in the dismal place had someone come at a time other than to deliver the disgusting meals each day.

A baboon clad Naraku assaulted their vision and immediately the Inuyasha was flailing against his shackles.

"I trust my minions have been meeting your needs?" the evil hanyou began innocently enough, ever the gentleman.

"Go to hell!" someone, anyone, yelled in retort.

"Tsk, tsk, that is not proper language. After all, I only come for information."

"We've told you all we will," Miroku stated blandly, hiding his anger quite adequately behind his serious face. His religious training did have some uses.

"Yes, but I have new information that was…unexpected. It seems your miko has returned and is currently seeking you."

All eyes sparkled a bit at the verification of their suspicions.

"But you already knew that. What I find interesting is her choice of companion."

"Kouga…" Inuyasha grumbled angrily.

"Tsk, tsk, have more faith in the girl, Inuyasha. She has chosen a far more powerful ally that you will no doubt appreciate."

"What the hell are you babbling about?"

"Oh, Inuyasha, didn't you know? Your little miko is traveling with your brother."

Stunned silence followed that declaration and Naraku only chuckled as Inuyasha began to growl.

"Don't be so shocked. I'm sure the girl only has your rescue in mind. There could surely be no other reason for their alliance."

The crafty bastard could weave ideas into minds with astonishing ease and it took only a few seconds for Inuyasha to see exactly what the evil hanyou was getting at. The idea only made him laugh.

"You think Kagome…and HIM?" His laughter bounced of the walls of the dungeon and was joined by the soft chuckles of both the monk and the demon slayer. Though the fox child was still clueless, even the fire cat seemed amused.

"Naraku, you are stupider than I thought," Inuyasha was finally able to state once his mirth had abated.

"Or perhaps he is just incapable of understanding the purity of Kagome?" Miroku mused thoughtfully.

"Regardless," Naraku continued with obvious hatred. "The girl is approaching and you will see for yourselves before I kill you all."

He left as suddenly as he had entered and the former shard hunters were left with their thoughts once more.

"So Kagome is traveling with Sesshoumaru?" Shippou began hesitantly.

"Sounds like it," Sango commented.

"That would certainly explain a lot of the feelings we've been receiving from her. Fear, worry, anger, irritation…" Miroku added.

"Yeah," Inuyasha allowed.

A pregnant pause filled the room as everyone considered this latest twist.

"Naraku was just screwing with us, right?" Inuyasha asked with slight consternation.

"Of course!" Sango said with indignation on behalf of the missing miko.

"Still," Miroku began, that old lecherous sparkle returning to his eyes. "It does make you wonder how they began traveling together."

"Pervert!" screamed the hanyou and the demon slayer.

*

Since the arrogant youkai lord showed no signs of stopping as night approached, Kagome took control of her situation and fell asleep stretched on the dragon steed.

She woke sometime during the night, in a heap on the ground in front of a warm fire. Glancing around with sleep clouded eyes, she spotted an unconscious Rin leaning against her dragon pillow with Jaken a short distance away. The demon lord was not in immediate sight.

Taking advantage of her solitude, she rose, stretched damn near every muscle in her body, and combed her hair with her fingers before adjusting her skirt and sweater. They were looking a little worse for wear and could use a good wash now and a good mending soon enough. In fact, she could use a good wash now. Listening carefully, she picked up the sound of running water and took off gingerly with her weapons in tow to bathe.

After a refreshing 2 hour long bathing and clothes washing session, she returned to the camp feeling infinitely better about the whole adventure thus far. After all, she had discovered a new source of power, made a strong ally, and was approaching the hidden stronghold of Naraku, all with minimal difficulty.

Returning to her spot by the fading fire, she tried to sleep but found her mind far too energized to allow it. Instead, she decided a little bit of shooting practice would calm her, and be extremely practical considering how long it had been.

Creeping back to the river, she found a suitable tree and began her sorry attempts to hit her target. It took awhile before she was back up to her previous level of expertise, but her confidence was boosted tremendously. Now she could rely on the bow, something she could actually control, for protection.

Speaking of which, she cast aside the bow in favor of the white hilted sword at her hip and adjusted her hand into a grip she had seen her lordly companion use. Perhaps she could learn how to control the blade and not the other way around. It was just disconcerting having a weapon that acted on her behalf.

Experimentally thrusting the katana at an invisible enemy in front of her, she took glee in the beauty of the action as the blade caught the moonlight. It truly was a work of art. She tried again and again, dancing more than fighting with the blade, trying to bend her body to mimic the graceful movements the sword seemed to make no matter her efforts. Surely, she was a silly spectacle, but at least she was entertaining herself. And anyways, those years of ballet she had taken as a kid were finally coming in handy. It was a nice thought.

Once she had thoroughly exhausted herself in body, she dragged herself, sword in hand, back to camp. The girl and retainer were still soundly asleep but they had been joined by a silent watcher. He acknowledged her return with a look before his eyes fell to the katana. Suddenly, he was in front of her, his hand adjusting hers on the hilt of the sword.

"If you feel inclined to keep the weapon, hold it properly," was his reproach as he walked back to his previous spot overseeing the child and youkai. She tightened her grip in anger but engrained the position of her hand into her memory. He may be a poor teacher but she was an excellent student.

*

Walking for hours with a silent demon lord really didn't do much for conversation. So, in a desperate effort to relieve some of the boredom that was setting upon her, Kagome began going over her responsibilities once she returned home.

Home…how she missed it already! Sure, it didn't have the adventure of the Feudal Era, but it was comforting, familiar, and, most importantly, HOME. Even school couldn't get her down. Well, maybe it could a little.

However, school would be over soon. Or at least it would be if she could get this business with Naraku fixed quickly. This close to graduation, it was just plain cruel to mess up her attendance again. Surely, Fate was screwing with her. Perhaps it was karma…but what horrible thing could she have done in a past life that made having this pompous bastard as a traveling companion justifiable? Whose puppy had she murdered in her previous incarnation that punished her so?

Maybe it was Kikyou's fault…Sure, the miko hadn't done anything wrong when she was alive, but could her deeds accomplished when dead follow her soul onto the next reincarnation? That wasn't such a happy thought. Though Kikyou had already redeemed herself enough in Kagome's opinion, she wasn't sure if the Fates were all that pleased with the soul stealing undead miko.

Deciding that her current train of thought needed to be derailed quickly, she turned her attention once more to her upcoming graduation from dreaded school. After working her ass off for the past two years, she had managed to make decent grades. She might even get into the university.

After ticking off what homework she would need to complete when she returned to the future, she began going over her choice of topic for her history thesis. It was both a bother and a blessing to have so much of her grade resting on one long research project, but at least she had a benefit: she was now every bit of history as that which she studied. Writing a fifteen page thesis on the legend of the Shikon no Tama and how it influenced Japan was going to be a breeze, if she could only remember to use actual references instead of relying on her own experiences.

When her eye was caught by the slightly waving hair of her leader, her mind once more drifted from its present topic and shifted onto her companions.

She had seen Rin very few times during her stays in the past two years ago. She knew next to nothing concerning the child except that she was extremely happy, resilient, and over fond of her lord. Said lord didn't seem to give a damn about his worshipping ward, though he surely must have given that he had neither killed her nor left her somewhere in the woods.

Jaken was laughable. Hell, her fifteen year old self had beaten him up but a few days out of the well. Still, the toad was unfailing in his loyalty to the lord and had a soft spot for the child. It was endearing really and she decided then and there to show the toad more respect.

As for the lord and master…he was odd. They had met on bad terms, what with him attempting to kill her and all, and even though he had proven his disinterest in actually killing his brother, there was still a seething dislike between the siblings. Knowing that, Kagome found it difficult to like anything about the demon, but she did. Having such a personality as hers, it was damn near impossible not to find the good in anyone. And so, watching him lead, knowing that he could have killed her without a second thought at any point in time and had spared her, and even now was keeping her company on this quest, she simply could not hate the arrogant bastard, not that she ever could, but now she couldn't even thoroughly dislike him. Instead, she kept seeing tiny fragments of him that she appreciated.

Still, she didn't trust him. He was clever and though he had a strong sense of honor, it was not the same as hers and she wouldn't put certain sneaky things past him. Which was what was bothering her now.

"Kagome?" asked a childish voice to her side, disturbing her reverie.

"Yes, Rin?"

"Where are we going?"

"To save my friends."

"Did Naraku kidnap them like me?"

"Yes, Rin. Except Naraku still has them."

"Why?"

"Because I wasn't there to save them before."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't know they had been captured."

"Why?"

"Because I was gone."

"Why?"

"Because I was trapped somewhere far away."

"Where?"

"Somewhere far away."

Of course, that answer simply was not going to do for the girl and her expression related as much. It was astonishing how many tidbits of behavior she had picked up from her lord…astonishing and slightly frightening.

"Well, Rin, I'm not from around here and there's only one way to get from where I am from to this place. One day I went home and then couldn't get back. And I was stuck until the way opened again, which was last week."

That roundabout answer sent the child's head spinning for awhile but it seemed to satisfy her curiosity enough for the time being. Goodness, Kagome could only hope she didn't have to explain time travel to the girl since she little understood it herself. And, of course, there was the listening lord and she definitely didn't want him to know her true origins. He already knew enough about her as it was, and it wasn't like he'd believe her. After all, he still was convinced that she was dead.

Her supposed death still struck a nerve with her and she knew exactly why. If she had `died' and subsequently `returned', it made her seem even more like the reincarnation she was. And being compared to Kikyou, or at least the undead Kikyou, was not favorable in her opinion. That was all the world needed: another undead Kikyou. It angered her to no end that Kagura had spread the lie and truly made her wonder what the purpose had been.

One thing was certain though. When she ran across the wind youkai, there was going to be hell to pay.

"How did Kagura say I died?" she asked curiously.

"The wench stated she had killed the miko when she had attempted to rescue her companions." The cold statement made it abundantly clear that the lord still considered her dead.

"But why would my friends still be alive then? I was under the impression they were being kept to lure me out."

"Perhaps they are dead."

"No, they're alive. I can feel them."

"Hn." That disbelieving replacement for a snort was truly getting to her. It was indeed one of his more pompous expressions.

"And why did she tell you? What do you care if your brother is imprisoned and I'm dead?" Really, she was extremely curious about this.

"Naraku sent the information in an attempt to lure me to save the half-breed. I was not so foolish."

"You mean you didn't care."

His irritated silence told her she spoke the truth. Still, something about his current attitude and the details of the situation weren't making sense.

"You are lying," she blurted out in realization.

"Wench."

"You are! You did try to save him. But you couldn't, could you?"

The fact that he didn't deny the charge was proof enough. She could only wonder how such a thing had come about but was hesitant to ask, at least not now when she had already thoroughly irritated him. But before she dropped the subject, there was one thing she simply had to know.

"So why are you helping me now?"

"I am doing no such thing." She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Then what are you doing?"

"Retrieving something that belongs to me."

"Ah, of course," she said while she thoroughly cussed him out in her head. "You want Tessaiga."

"Yes."

"I've never seen the point to that. Having a sword you can't even use..."

His smirk made the sudden irony of the situation occur to her. Of course, he would have to point out her own issues with a certain katana.

"Oh shut up. At least I can touch mine." Folding her arms in the universal symbol of annoyance, she ignored him the rest of the day.

*

"How the hell can she get that pissed off?" a grimy hanyou in an even grimier dungeon asked angrily.

"Well, she is traveling with your brother," a demon slayer commented.

"Yes, that talent must run in the family," a monk stated thoughtfully.

"Shut up!"

"Yup, it's definitely a family thing," a fox child said with certainty.

The hanyou sulked.

*