InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Inexcusable Nature ❯ Questionable Resolution ( Chapter 8 )

Inexcusable Nature

Just A Starving Writer

Disclaimer: nope, not mine.

Part 8: A Questionable Resolution

"Kagome!"

Said young woman could only cringe as she recognized the wolf's voice. This could not be good.

"Um, hi Kouga!"

She was pulled into a lung crushing embrace by the sweaty demon before he resigned himself to simply holding her limp hands.

"Are you still searching for Naraku?" she asked hesitantly, not quite wanting to get into this discussion, but knowing full and well he would not leave til it was over.

"Yeah, I think he's around here somewhere but I just can't find him." He placed a kiss on the top of her hand and a nearby demon lord smirked at the expression it elicited on her face.

"But don't worry, I'll kill him soon enough and then we can be together."

She could only nod as she tried desperately to extract herself.

"So…" the wolf began as he released her hands only to wrap an arm around her shoulders, no doubt a possessive gesture. "Who is he?"

"Him? No one."

The tone and wording of her response only made Kouga eye the demon lord suspiciously.

"He's Inuyasha's half-brother. He's helping me save him," Kagome continued in a headlong rush, attempting to kill the wolf's possible reaction to another suitor. Of course, she fully ignored the supposed suitor's haughty half snort at her explanation.

"This guy is related to the mutt?" he asked incredulously. Once again, she could only nod.

"Another wimpy dog?"

She could feel the indignation rising off of said dog. It was increasingly obvious that she had to diffuse the situation soon. Apparently Kouga had once again forgotten her previous warnings to leave this particular demon alone. Was he truly that thick headed?

"Hey, Kouga, isn't that Ginta?" she asked while pointing somewhere in the distance.

"Guess I should be going then. Take care, Kagome. I'll be back for you!" Kissing her hands again, he turned his attention toward her companion. "Take care of my woman, dog boy."

Before the lord cared to respond, the wolf was gone, followed soon after by panting pack. Her shoulders drooped in exhaustion as soon as Kouga was out of sight, but she could feel the sick amusement radiating off of the lord behind her. Scowling, she stalked up to him and pointed an accusatory finger at his chest.

"What is so funny?" she asked, emphasizing each word with a poke.

He simply grabbed her hand, thoroughly crushing it with a purely evil gleam in his eye.

"You are her," he stated as he released her and allowed Rin to nurse the pained appendage.

"Arrogant bastard," she mumbled as she carefully stretched each troubled finger. He, of course, ignored her. He sure could take all the pleasure out of the small victory of her proven identity.

"Come," he ordered as he walked away. Everyone fell into line and she caught up and struggled to walk by his side.

"Why the sudden hurry?" she asked curiously, still rubbing the feeling back into the brutally savaged hand.

"He is near."

"Ha! Told you so."

A narrowing of his eyes warned her against further outbursts but she couldn't help but gloat. How often did she get to prove such a being wrong?

However, her excitement was short lived when the demon lord suddenly stopped. Kagome was not as lucky. Her momentum was too much to stop as quickly and she ran right into the invisible barrier.

After picking herself up off the ground and rubbing her nose back into its proper place, she glared toward a certain demon lord, intent upon making a snide comment about the honor of warning people when the way is blocked by an invisible wall. Once again, she was not that lucky. The glare failed tremendously when she realized how tense her traveling companion had become. She had seen this pose before; he was ready for battle.

Slightly frightened and strongly stubborn, she pulled out an arrow and concentrated into making the tip glow with her usual miko goodness. Thrusting the arrow into the barrier, she was amazingly rewarded with a crackle before the vision fell completely, revealing Naraku's trademark dark and foreboding fortress.

Pulling her bow into her hands, she felt eyes upon her. Turning once more to her leader, his blank stare made her instantly uncomfortable.

"What?" she asked while shifting the quiver on her back. "I didn't know it was actually going to work."

Shrugging her shoulders at his disbelief, she trudged onward toward the castle, keeping her bow at the ready. He followed shortly, but without his retainer and ward. Apparently, he had thought better than to have them present. She could only hope they would be safe as she was absolutely certain she would not be able to protect them if they had tagged along.

The castle felt oddly empty and the feeling permeated every inch of Kagome's body, seeping into her blood and slowly driving her crazy. The silence the fortress imposed upon its visitors as well as the usual quiet of her companion was just too heavy for the sociable young woman.

"He isn't here, is he?" she asked glumly without dropping her guard.

"No," the lord responded. "But the half-breed is."

Breathing a sigh of relief, she allowed the lord to lead the way slowly but surely to the dungeon. However, upon arrival, they discovered a new problem. Much like the entire castle had been, it too was blocked by magic. The lord tried several attempts at breaking the barrier without success. Finally, it was her turn. The arrow technique failed this time and she quickly became frustrated, especially with the youkai lord playing spectator with his malicious smirk at her expense.

"Oh shush, I can do this!" she hissed when she took a breather from the assault. Turning her angered eyes onto the slightly pulsating wall separating her from her friends, she could feel her indignation and irritation rising.

"No," she stated coldly as the arrow fell unheeded from her hand. "I did not come all this way to get this close to my friends," she continued, her voice growing louder with each word as her hand gripped the hilt of the katana. "To just be stopped two feet from them by a stupid INVISIBLE WALL!"

In one swift movement as she screamed the last two words, the blade was unsheathed and tore into the barrier. In a surge of power neither party was prepared for, the barrier as well as the dungeon door crumbled into nothingness. For a second, the sword dragged the stone floor from her slack hand and silence reigned supreme once again.

"HA!" she exclaimed suddenly, her eyes dancing with excitement as she realized exactly what she had accomplished. With an expression that was half smirk and half pure joy, she turned to the still shocked youkai beside her. Putting an accusing finger on his chest on more, she taunted him gladly.

"I told you I could do it!" Before he even knew she had touched him, she was gone, skipping off into the dungeon through the shattered door. He hesitated before stepping through the doorway, pausing when he felt the familiar prickle of magic envelope him. He began consideration but decided it was only remnants of the barrier. Shaking off the feeling without moving, he found the miko talking without stop to her exhausted and slightly worse for wear companions as she cut through their shackles with a charged arrow.

"We knew you were coming!" a recently liberated fox child stated with teary eyes as he jumped around the miko.

"Of course I would, Shippou! You know I could never leave you in this awful place."

"That's not what I meant, Kagome! We knew you were coming. We could feel you."

This strange statement, teamed with the faces of the other shard hunters caused her to pause as she worked on the demon slayer's bonds.

"What do you mean?" she asked with worry as she continued the task at hand.

"You were broadcasting your emotions," the monk answered as he waited his turn, his hands no doubt itching to reacquaint themselves with a certain demon slayer's rear end.

"I was WHAT?" the miko shrieked, eliciting a wince from nearly all those of demon heritage in the grimy dungeon.

"You didn't know?" Sango asked curiously as she began working on freeing the fire cat. Kagome's shocked expression readily answered her question.

"Strange," Miroku pondered as he was freed. "I wonder what it could be."

"I dunno," Kagome thought aloud. "Maybe it has something to do with my sword."

"Oh yes, the katana. How is that coming along?" Miroku asked with friendly interest, his tone completely out of place in the current setting.

"It's not."

"Not like you know how to use it," an irate hanyou stated sarcastically, obviously upset at being the last left on the grimy wall while his brother watched his humiliation.

"No," she scathed back as she assaulted his shackles with the arrow. "But it sure knows how to use me."

"What do you mean?" Sango questioned.

"Eh…"

"The sword controls her through her weak human emotions."

The cold, and yet slightly amused answer came from the demon lord who had thus far escaped notice. No one seemed to know what to say to that statement.

"Do tell, little brother," the lord began again mockingly. "Who forged the weapon for the miko."

"Feh, like I'd tell you," the hanyou retorted as he retrieved the Tessaiga from the far wall. Naraku had it in his foresight not to remove the weapon from his presence. After all, the plan to lure the jewel shards out of hiding was useless if a crazed demon Inuyasha murdered him first.

"Hey! I'd like to know too!" Kagome yelled indignantly.

"Really, Sesshoumaru, I thought you could recognize Totosai's work."

"It is just as I suspected. I was merely seeking verification."

The hanyou growled in response to the mocking tone as the miko yelled indignantly.

"Hey! You mean you KNEW all this time and you didn't tell me?! You POMPOUS JERK!"

The shard hunters were expecting the quick death of their savior but the demon lord only smirked at her.

"What the hell is he doing here anyway?" Inuyasha asked angrily.

"Waiting for me to fail," Kagome grumbled before her eyes suddenly sparkled with mischievous glee. Strutting up to him, she put the same pointing finger on the same chest as she had twice before that day.

"But I haven't, so HA!"

Her friends grimaced, positive those were going to be the miko's last words. However, what actually happened was much worse.

He grinned. Instantly, the other inhabitants of the room froze except for the still smirking young woman. The grin remained on his face as he turned from the miko and grandly exited the dungeon. Kagome stood with her finger in the air for a minute before she realized her opponent had left the room and went to chase after him.

"Hey! You can't just leave!" she yelled but all further arguments were silenced. Upon entering the shattered doorway of the dungeon, a strong wave of magic swept over her and she promptly fainted.

*

"You believe me a coward, Kagura?" a smooth voice asked from the darkness of the forest as he looked on the scene in his former castle through a mirror.

"You deserted the castle. You ran away from a human girl." It was a risk letting the hanyou know exactly what she felt, but truly, how could she pass up this opportunity to insult him?

In the mirror, an argument in a dungeon was displayed mutely and the evil hanyou smirked in anticipation as the demon lord walked away from the miko. He openly grinned when she followed him only to collapse in the doorway.

The wind youkai's face was immediately wiped clean of it's former disdain and replaced in curious shock.

"One must know their enemies, Kagura. I will not foolishly allow the girl to destroy me by not discovering the source of her power."

The mirror further displayed an irritated demon lord trying without success to leave the unconscious young woman on the floor. There seemed to be something amiss, as was clearly evident by the expression on his face.

"What have you done?" the incarnation asked her creator.

"Merely set about gathering information."

"About what? Why is he involved?"

"Your lord and the girl are an oddity, are they not? I wonder why he has not killed her." The pondering was bothersome but answering was the only way to force him to the point.

"He said she was useful."

"Ah." A dramatic pause tempted Kagura to roll her eyes. "Perhaps he will find her slightly less so when he cannot escape her."

"What?"

"They have been connected. I am curious how long it'll be before he kills her. It would certainly be a worthwhile gamble… And the girl's sword will only make the play more interesting. Did you know she lacks control over it? Such a curious weapon…"

"You are playing with fire. What if he doesn't kill her?"

"Do not worry over your lord's heart, Kagura. He will kill her when his patience fails. Until then, we watch and enjoy."

The wind youkai thought over this latest game invented by her hated master. She respected the miko and more than respected her recent companion, and knew that the play would be interesting. However, the unwitting players were her only chance at escaping her tyrant. Though she had previously believed the lord capable of taking down Naraku, she was now plagued by enough doubt to make the survival of the miko a profitable undertaking. After all, she could recognize strength when she saw it and the girl had grown into a woman during her time in hiding. The woman might be able to finish off what the girl had started. Thus, keeping the miko alive could ensure her own eventual release.

Of course, the only bad part in helping the girl was the lord. She was torn on the matter as she hated to see the cold youkai grow attached to anything. It was part of his charm that he remained so seductively aloof. However, it was not an important concern for the time being. Once the curse had been lifted from the unlikely partners, the two would split and go about their separate ways. While she might be able to persuade the lord from killing the miko, there was no chance in hell he would ever fall into the same trap as his half brother had. The girl was charming, pretty, and unfailing charismatic, but she was still only human. And that was why Kagura still had a chance.

*