InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of the Labyrinth ❯ Arguments at Dawn ( Chapter 9 )

Author's notes: First off, I would like to give a way overdue thank you to my advisor/critic, Non-Sequitor. She does a great job in telling me what I've done right and what I need to improve on, so once again, thanks.

Second: I'm going to try making shorter chapters. Hopefully then I'll be able to update faster. I'm really, really busy right now because I'm putting together my portpholio to apply to University, but after that I should have more free time to start writing again. Thanks for being so patient.

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Chapter 9

Zephyr - Greek god of the west wind.

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Inuyasha awoke while the room was still dark, ocean deep in the twilight of pre-dawn. His ears perked up, someone was coming this way, lightly running on all fours towards their room. He waited as the heavy wooden door squeaked open, and a small black figure darted across the room towards them.

"Kagome! Kagome!" Shippo nearly pounced on her, only to be stopped in mid-air and dangled by his tail.

"Oi, brat, she's sleeping. What do you want?"

Shippo took a moment, collecting enough air to speak. "Miroku says we hafta leave right now because he and the rich guy's daughter had a moaning contest last night and the old people don't like young people doing that 'cause they get jealous and they get mad and then we get in trouble so we hafta go before everybody wakes up and the old people find out."

While waiting for the blue colour to leave Shippo's face, Inuyasha thought about what the kit had said.

"Moaning contest…?" Then the realization hit him. "Keh! Stupid brat, they weren't having a moaning contest, they were making babies!"

"Making babies! Who gave you that idea! That's the stupidest thing I ever heard!"

"It's not stupid, Kagome told me. That's how humans make babies, brat!"

"Stupid half-breed, Kagome probably told you that to protect your 'in-no-sense'. I've been around it longer because I've lived with Miroku. He told me it's a moaning contest-"

"-but that's stupid! How can anyone have fun moaning!"

"Oh yeah, well then tell me how sound can make babies! Face it Inuyasha, you're wrong and I'm right. It's called a moaning contest!"

"… …" Inuyasha was stuck there, "…Stupid brat, it's called making babies, and that's final!"

"Moaning contest!"

"Making babies!"

"Moaning contest!"

"Making babies!"

Lucky her, these were the first sounds Kagome was consciously able to distinguish in the waking world. She groaned and whimpered, and managed to bury herself deeper into the covers, willing the sheets to block out the noise. When that failed, she decided that resolving this argument was probably her quickest way back to sleep. She rolled over again and ignored the sleepy crack in her voice as she asked, "What are you two doing?"

"Kagome!" A split second later the weight of Shippo made itself known on her head. "Kagome, which is it called, making babies or a moaning contest?"

Tired sigh, "Which is what called…"

"What Miroku was doing with the rich man's daughter last night. He locked me in the closet again, and Miroku told me they were having a moaning contest, but Inuyasha says they were making babies. Which one's right?"

"The first one…" and then her brain kicked off of auto-pilot, "…wait a minute, what?"

Shippo's weight lifted off her head and Kagome mustered the motor controls to prop herself up onto her elbow and rub the sleep from her eyes.

"I told you so, I told you so! It's a moaning contest!"

"Wait a minute, moaning what?"

"Lying bitch, you told me it was called 'Making babies!'"

Inuyasha's insults had finally managed to injure her pride, and she quickly sat up and composed herself, now totally awake. Unfortunately, all she could see was a big black blob chasing a smaller blob around the room.

"Nya-ha-haha-haaaa!!"

"Why you little…"

"Ahhhh!"

As you could imagine, Kagome had quite enough by this point. "QUIET!!!"

The little blob froze. The big blob tripped over it and landed with a smack against the floor. Then, blessed silence. Kagome sighed and began speaking in a very testy voice. "Good, now that I'm awake, what are you two arguing about?"

Shippo managed to disentangle himself from Inuyasha's billowy pants before answering in one long breath. "We were arguing about what Miroku and the rich-man's daughter were doing last night because Miroku told me they were having a moaning contest, but Inuyasha thinks they were making babies and I know I'm right because I've been living with Miroku longer but Inuyasha didn't believe me and then we started fighting and-" here Shippo paused to take a breath and Kagome quickly intervened.

"But wasn't Miroku supposed to be blessing the house last night?" She asked hastily.

"That's what I said," Shippo was quick to reply, "but he said that blessing the girl was more important because she was pretty and demons would want her and that he needed me to bring him good luck and then he locked me in the cupboard while they had a moaning contest and that's why we have to leave now before everyone wakes up and gets angry because old people don't like it when young people hold moaning contests and…"

Shippo promptly fell over in a dead feint from lack of air. Inuyasha picked him up and proceeded to make faces with his slacked visage while Kagome slowly digested what Shippo had told her. Let's see…Moaning contest, Miroku, beautiful, rich man's daughter…uh-oh.

As if to punctuate her thoughts, a shrill scream suddenly pierced the blue dawn, startling Kagome and causing Inuyasha to drop Shippo. Kagome snatched Shippo off the floor to cradle him in her arms. When she stood, a pair of running feet could be heard coming down the hall, as Inuyasha placed himself between her and the door. In the silence that followed, they waited with baited breath. The footsteps came nearer, slowing down just outside the door.

BANG!

"Lady Kagome, Inuyasha, hurry up and follow me!" with that, Miroku ran ahead down the hall. He returned a second later to add, "Oh, and grab the bed rolls!" Then he was gone.

Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other, "Bed rolls?"

Then Inuyasha's ears twitched, "Fuck, no time!" and he began to move. Like Zephyr he leapt around the room, bundled up two sets of the thick blankets and pillows, stuffed one under each arm, and with a quick nod to Kagome, they were off. By now, Kagome didn't need godly hearing to know why they were in such a hurry, the mansion was awake and running frantically about looking for the "villains." Her own brain was almost seized in panic as they ran through rooms and down corridors, reminding her of a tighter version of the labyrinth.

Down some stairs, they were right behind her now, with Inuyasha just barely visible ahead in the darkness. She called out to him quietly with what little air she had left in her lungs. Surprisingly, he heard. Plastering himself against the wall, he let her run by. With a quick snap of his wrist he threw the large blanket over their pursuers. It tangled the first one, tripping him and causing the others to crash over his fallen form. Inuyasha dashed down the remaining stairs to avoid being squashed in the resulting human landslide and continued to run until he caught up with Kagome. A few seconds later, they burst through a plain wooden door into the dank humid air of the horse stables. Miroku was already there on his horse, exerting his staff on the few who had tried to cut off their exit from the outside.

A quick "Hey pervert!" had Miroku's attention in a heartbeat. The priest made one last swipe with his staff to clear the way, and spurred his steed into a gallop. Inuyasha made a mad dash for the door, his free hand snagging Kagome on the way, holding her at his hip like a sack of potatoes. With Kagome still clutching Shippo to her chest, they burst out into the streets of the sleeping city. Inuyasha took to the rooftops while he pursued Miroku and his horse. And so they ran a marathon out of Marathon, and into the wilds.

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"Fucking," …wheeze… "asshole of a…" cough "damn priest!"

It had been almost a half-hour full out sprint for Inuyasha, with Kagome in arm, to keep up with the madman's pace Miroku had driven his horse. To be honest, Kagome thought the poor thing looked in worse shape than Inuyasha, while the priest walked the beast in circles to get it to cool down. All because the pervert couldn't control his lust for one night. Any minute now she was going to give him a glimpse at Hades for putting them all through that, but first, she had to get her own breathing under control. Speeding face down over roof tops, sometimes so close that you could feel your own hair brushing against the tiles, was not a very calming experience. In fact, the only one of the group that didn't seem at least somewhat exhausted was Shippo.

Instead… "Kagomeeee! I'm HUNGRY!!"

Oh no, a grouchy Inuyasha mixed with a whiny Shippo.

*CLONK!* "Shut up brat! We're all hungry, but because of this fucking loser we had to leave before we could grab breakfast!"

"Wahhhhhhhh! Kagome he's being mean to me!!"

He wasn't the only one ready to break down and cry. Kagome thought, Could this day possibly get any worse?! She'd already had more than she could take and it wasn't even light out yet! She glanced up at the heavy looking clouds and wondered if it was going to rain or not. Wouldn't surprise her if…

"YAAYY!! FOOOD!! Gimme, gimme, gimee!"

Her head shot up like a whip. Food?!

"You fucking sorry excuse for a priest! You've been holding out on us! Gimme that!"

Inuyasha made a swipe for the bag Miroku was carrying, but the monk deftly pulled it away and handed him what looked like a small bun, followed by a bit of cheese and some dried meat. Not too far away, Shippo was sitting on the ground, literally digging into his orange. Kagome watched him pull out fruit by the fistful from the little hole he'd made in the peel.

"M-miroku…wh…where did you…?" The priest approached her in turn, also bearing cheese, bread and more wonderful oranges. Kagome eyed it warily for about two seconds before her hunger finally got the better of her.

"There now, isn't that better? A pretty face such as yours will never be allowed to become thin and wan for want of food while I am around."

Kagome froze, turning to look up at him, half of a piece of orange still poking out of her mouth. Her eyes were wide with surprise and curiosity, and she gazed at him intently, innocently trying to gauge his sincerity. Oh yes, he had her, thought Miroku, just a little more, and she would be all hi-

"Oi priest, what is all this crap you got in here! Did ya bring the entire house with you or something?"

There was a clatter and a bang. Miroku spun around, already knowing it was too late. In his pursual of Kagome, he had left the bag right in the open. Now his spell was broken as she watched that damn 'dog boy' expose the stolen candle holders and smaller money bags he had worked so hard to get. The more he pulled out, the more disapproving Kagome seemed. Damn he was screwed!

Even so, he put on his most innocent face and placed a rather sheepish grin upon his lips.

Kagome squished the remaining half of her orange into his face and crossed the clearing to where Inuyasha sat. Inspecting the damage she turned to him. "Really, I don't believe you! And you're supposed to be a priest?!"

"I thought he was a pervert." Kagome elbowed Inuyasha in the ribs.

"If he stole something, doesn't that make him a thief?" Asked Shippo innocently.

Miroku looked offended. "Now, now, I think that's a little harsh, isn't it? After all, it's not like they can't afford to replace this, you saw for yourselves how unbelievably wealthy they were. Besides, we will need supplies on our way. The city of Thebes is still many day's travel from here. We can't possibly forage for that long." Kagome had to admit he had a point there. "This way, we can afford to buy supplies on our way, and nobody will suffer because of it. Isn't that the best way to go about it, Lady Kagome?"

To Inuyasha's disbelief, Kagome only frowned thoughtfully.

"I can see you're point, I guess…"

Then she finally became angry! Yes!

"…but I still don't think it's right to steal from people!" She huffed, turned around and stormed off into the nearby bushes.

Inuyasha could only stare after her. That was it? The damned priest causes all this commotion and all she does is tell him she doesn't like stealing? The bastard deserved to be kicked out! And good riddance! Fuck, he could take that damned kit with him too and then it would just be Kagome and him again. But no! She didn't even yell at the fucker, or call him names, or anything!

However, Inuyasha calls her some bad names and suddenly he gets this big lecture, complete with tears and a whole fucking guilt trip! Screw this! He had even tried his best to be nice to her this morning…

Any further thought, however, was interrupted by a flash of lightning, followed by a crash of thunder. Inuyasha flattened his ears against his head, even as he heard Shippo give a frightened yelp and dive for Miroku's ankles. Both men watched in surprise as he huddled himself into a tiny ball of fur under Miroku's robes and began to shiver like there was no tomorrow. Inuyasha locked eyes with Miroku, who shrugged as if to say "I have no idea."

Inuyasha turned his attention back to Shippo. "Oi, squirt. Don't tell me you're afraid of a little noise and light!"

As if on cue, the lightning repeated itself, and again Inuyasha pinned his ears to his head. The wind began to pick up and the half demon felt a sort of restless energy fill his soul. A storm was coming, but it felt like something much bigger. Good or bad, Inuyasha couldn't tell…

"Well then, I suggest we find shelter if it's going to start to rain." the priest was as calm as ever, "maybe there's an over hang up ahead we can rest under. Come one Shippo."

Inuyasha watched Miroku take about two steps away from him before Shippo suddenly leapt up and dove once again under the monk's robes, trembling like a leaf. Miroku stoped.

"Come on now Shippo, it's just a storm, it won't hurt you." Miroku tried to coax the kit to move, but to no avail. Another crash of thunder and Shippo went ballistic, crawling up the inside of Miroku's robes to come to rest against his stomach. He began muttering something that Miroku couldn't make out, but Inuyasha heard crystal clear.

"Don't let them get me! …they're here…I don't wanna die… hide me!"

Even from a distance the terror in Shippo's voice was obvious, it piqued Inuyasha's curiosity. "Oi, who's they?"

Miroku, who was absolutely lost, looked down at his stomach for an answer.

"The Thunder Brother's!"

There was a sudden white flash and all hell broke loose. Sparks flew out of some distant bushes, the horse reared and tried to bolt, Shippo flew around inside Miroku's robes before skitting across the ground and diving into a hole near the base of an old olive tree…

…and somewhere in the distance, Inuyasha could have sworn he heard Kagome scream…

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