InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lost in the Past ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

 

 

Lost in the Past, Chapter 2

 

 

“We can't stay here.” Kagome's brain was going a mile a minute as she tried to think of possible ways to go after their kids. She found herself talking out loud with idea after idea, trying to fill the silence that was Inuyasha. It wasn't that he was ignoring her, not exactly, but he wasn't responding. He hadn't moved from the room where the children had disappeared.

 

When they had finally accepted that the children weren't going to immediately reappear, Inuyasha had called Sesshomaru and quietly and succinctly explained what had happened. Kagome got up and smoothed the coverlet on the bed, running her hand over the indentations that had been so recently made by her children. If she were Inuyasha, she could have smelled them here. She leaned down and breathed in anyway, pretending to herself that she could catch their scent.

 

“What the hell do you mean by that!”

 

Inuyasha's raised voice yanked Kagome's attention back to where he sat, still on the floor. This wasn't good. She knelt next to him again and rested one hand on his arm to calm him. He stiffened at her touch. Again, not good at all. Kagome sighed, but didn't remove her hand. He may not think he needed her, but she knew better.

 

Inuyasha squeezed the phone so tightly Kagome thought it would break. “He knows better than to touch it!” Inuyasha yelled into the phone. “No, I didn't!” There was a long silence. “I wouldn't.” Inuyasha had stopped yelling. “I know, I know. Yeah, `bye.”

 

Inuyasha had flipped the phone shut and let it fall out of his suddenly slack hands. He stared straight in front of him, not seeing anything. “He's right, I don't deserve Tetsusaiga. I don't deserve Kazuki, or Mayumi, or you.”

 

That was the last thing Inuyasha had said for hours, and none of Kagome's protestations to the contrary, not her hugs nor her tears could get a reaction from him. Even her follow-up call to Sesshomaru to find out just what the hell he had said to make his brother so upset proved fruitless. She did give Sesshomaru a piece of her mind, for all the good it did. And she made some arrangements with him to have Shippo come back early, as early as the day after tomorrow, to house-sit for them while she and Inuyasha flew to Japan.

 

“I thought we could try the well. Who knows, maybe after all this time it started working again.” Kagome spoke faster and faster, not sure which things were getting through to Inuyasha. She just knew she had to do something or she would go crazy with the waiting. It was like losing Inuyasha all over again. It was worse. Not only had she lost her two children, she was losing Inuyasha again, too.

 

He glanced up at her, eyes dull, then glanced away.

 

“Damn it, Inuyasha!” Kagome cried. “I don't want to be the strong one! I want to kick and scream and fall apart, but one of us has to keep it together! I feel like my heart has been torn out of me, and I'm all alone.” She buried her face in her hands and started to shake with emotion. “I don't know what else to do.”

 

Inuyasha jerked up his head as if he had been slapped. He stared at Kagome, seeing her clearly at last. “I'm a jerk,” he said, and he pulled her into his lap and rocked her. “You don't give yourself enough credit,” he said after she had cried herself out. “You've always been the strong one.” He smiled, and smoothed her hair away from her face. “We'll figure this out.”

 

 

 

Kazuki kept to the shadows and avoided the roads where humans tended to travel. He remembered that much from his previous visits. He also remembered that this place was much wilder than his forest at home, and that not all the youkai here were his friends. He smelled some of them and had no doubt they could smell him and Mayumi, too. Especially Mayumi.

 

“Mayumi! I told you not to go!” Kazuki complained, as he felt warmth on his back. He unceremoniously dumped his little sister on the ground and pulled his t-shirt sideways to inspect the damage. There was only one small damp spot, but it smelled. Her Big Girl underpants had absorbed most of it.

 

If he could smell it, so could other youkai, not to mention mortal predators like wild animals. As much as he hated the idea, the Big Girl pants had to go. Tetsusaiga tangled around his legs as he tried to change Mayumi. The problem was, he had nothing to change her into. He ended up pulling off the pants and burying them in a hole he dug in the ground. He took his t-shirt off and slung it over his sister's head. At least it covered her and it wasn't so saturated with odor. That would have to do.

 

Mayumi thought it was great! She ran around the clearing with Kazuki's t-shirt fluttering around her like a nightgown. Kazuki finally got her to stay still long enough to climb back up on his back again so that they could continue their journey. He really didn't like the auras that had begun to manifest around them.

 

When he couldn't outrun them, Kazuki tried some of the tricks he had learned in Youkai School. Uncle Shippo always told him to use what was available and to avoid trouble unless there was no other alternative. He couldn't disguise his scent now, they had that memorized at this point, but he could misdirect the youkai that were following him. He grinned in spite of the gravity of the situation. If Uncle Shippo could see him now, he'd get another leaf for sure!

 

First he had to hide Tetsusaiga. The sword was simply too big for him to lug around and still move himself and Mayumi quickly. He'd come back for it later. There was a small cave by the edge of a swift-running brook, almost hidden by the steep bank. Kazuki saw it when he splashed into the water to try to put some distance between him and the youkai. Any creature looking down from the bank wouldn't be able to see the cave. Quickly, Kazuki shoved Tetsusaiga as far back as it would go, then he grabbed some loose rocks and handfuls of sand and shoved them in after, followed by hastily gathered sticks and leaves. When he was done, even he couldn't see the entrance to the cave. He took a last look around to commit the place to his memory so he could come back later and retrieve the sword.

 

That done, he grabbed Mayumi from where she had been splashing in the shallow water and pulled her onto his back. Her `nightgown' was soaking wet, but at least it didn't smell anymore. Without Tetsusaiga, Kazuki was able to go much faster, and he wasn't tied to the ground anymore, either. Mayumi squealed happily as Kazuki swung into the nearby trees. “Shh!” he whispered. When he thought he had traveled far enough, Kazuki swung back down and set Mayumi on the ground, while he took care of business against a nearby tree. “You gotta go, Mayumi?” he whispered. He wrung out her t-shirt/nightgown and held it up while he mimed what he wanted her to do. She squatted down readily enough, but as usual, she didn't go. Well, it would have to do.

 

Kazuki traveled in several different directions, stopping to mark trees or bushes every so often. Mayumi seemed to get the idea after a while, and she actually did go a little bit at one of their stops. Kazuki was relieved. Not only would it mess up the senses of the youkai who were following them, but it also meant she was less likely to go while he was carrying her.

 

Finally, he was satisfied that he had confused the trail enough. Now, which way was he really supposed to go? He considered, then took off in the direction of the slayer's village, hoping to make it there before nightfall. He was getting hungry, and he was sure Mayumi was, too.

 

 

 

Rin was restless. She had trouble sleeping at night this far into her pregnancy. It was her first child, and everyone at the village was concerned for her well-being. She was only able to get away today because Kohaku was out on patrol. Somehow, her feet took her to the place where the old bone-eater's well used to be. It had been gone for years now, ever since Inuyasha had destroyed it when he saved them all. Sometimes, when Rin came out here, she almost thought she could feel his presence still. Today, especially, Inuyasha's presence was strong. She couldn't help but wonder what it meant.