InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love Ain't Forgotten Easily ❯ A New Opponent ( Chapter 16 )

Chapter 16

Laughter echoed through the trees.

Kagome and Inu-Yasha blushed furiously as Miroku doubled up, clutching his stomach. Apparently he found great mirth in their problem.

“You—two—fantasy—ha!”

At last Sango had had enough and smacked him on the head. He dropped, and Kirara leaned forward to catch him.

“Hentai,” she muttered. “It's all right, you two. We'll stop in the village for now and search for rumors instead. Going out would put you at risk.”

Kagome smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Sango.”

Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes. “More shard-hunting time wasted.”

“Inu-Yasha, we're still looking for rumors. It's not a complete waste.”

“Feh.” He turned around and headed for the village.

Kagome heaved a sigh and followed, Sango and Kirara trailing after. Sesshoumaru had disappeared to who-knows-where, probably to avoid being seen with them.

***

A pair of red eyes watched the group walk into the village and split up, focusing on the miko with the shards and the hanyou.

“Heh heh heh…sssoon thossse ssshardsss will be mine…” the voice hissed.

“Don't underestimate their strength.”

With a shriek the owner of the red eyes fell out of the tree she was perched in and landed on her head.

She glared up at the branch. “What's the big idea, scaring the crap out of me? I was having an evil moment!”

“You're pathetic.” He jumped down and landed next to her. She rolled over, jumping to her feet, and took a swing at him, only to growl in frustration as it passed through him and smacked into a tree.

“Timber!” She jumped out of the way as the tree crashed down, then hopped back over to where her companion was standing. “Damn. I keep forgetting you're dead.” She shook her hand. “That kinda hurt, actually.”

“You're getting weak in your old age, Sadie,” he said calmly.

“I'm not old!” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I'm only two hundred and three!”

“And I'm six-hundred-and-ninety-one. What's your point?”

“You've been dead for five hundred of those. I'm technically older than you!”

“In body, yes. In mind, not even close.”

“Meanie.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “Don't make me sic Myli on you.”

The ghost paled. “Why are you here?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Why do you think? I'm after those shards!”

“Did Naraku send you?”

“Hell no!” She shook her head vigorously. “I want some for myself, and so does Myli. And Naraku ain't sharing, so we had to take it into our own hands. Say…” She looked at him slyly. “Do you know where they keep theirs?”

“Why would I tell you?”

“Because otherwise Myli will attack you?”

“The miko has a small jar that she keeps in her pocket. They've only collected two so far, so there's no real point in you taking them now.”

“Fine. We'll follow them for a while beforehand.”

“Why don't you just hunt them down yourself?”

“Myli's working on that as we speak. Some crow youkai has a shard, and she was looking for an excuse to chase birds. Damn Naraku's good for something, at least; conveniently sharing all those hints with me.”

“So you'd collect them for him.”

“Duh.” Sadie gave him a dry look. “Lucky for me he doesn't know how to break my spells, or that I even have some of them.”

“Is that how you got him to marry you?”

She gagged. “Gods no! It was his idea all the way. I'm still trying to file for a divorce, but no, he won't hear of it! Why the hell is he interested in me?!”

“Because those of your father's species are quite handy in the curse department?”

“Then why not just hire me?”

“You can't just quit a marriage.”

“You can't just quit working for Naraku, either,” she pointed out. “Why me?!”

“Because he didn't like your sister near as much.” A girl with dark blue hair and black cat ears suddenly popped out of the bushes. “Hi, Sesshy!”

Sesshoumaru took an involuntary step backwards. “As I was saying, don't take this group lightly. I loathe to admit it, but my half-brother is not a pushover.”

That said, the inu-youkai ghost vanished into the forest.

Myli blinked. “Why does he always do that whenever I show up?”

Sadie choked back a laugh. “I have no idea. Did you get the shard?”

The neko hanyou reached into her back pocket and produced a small lavender sliver. “Right here. Tasty bird, too.”

Sadie made a face and took the shard from her. “I can't believe you can eat those things. They're disgusting.”

“Eh.” Myli shrugged. “You just have to know how to cook them right.”

Naraku's wife blanched as she took out a small pouch and slipped the shard in. “Whatever you say, baka neko. Let's go.”

***(A/n: Sadie runs really, really fast. Like over ten times faster than Sesshoumaru. Maybe twenty. Either way, you can't see her when she moves.)

Naraku signaled for Kanna to lower the mirror. “How did I know that wench would betray me?”

“Why do you always assume I'm betraying you?” The door to his room banged open, revealing Sadie. She crossed the room and sat next to him. “It's easier to get information and shards if Sesshoumaru and Myli think I'm against you.”

“Oh.” He glanced over at her. “Where's the shard?”

She produced the little leather bag and placed it in his outstretched hand. “Right here, as always. Are you sure you don't want me to keep it?”

“Do you remember what happened the last time I gave one to you?”

“Right, right. Never mind then.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, during which Naraku started to toss the pouch with the shard up in the air and then catch it until Sadie's hand shot out and caught it. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Don't do that. Anyone could just steal it.” She dropped it into his lap.

“No, only you. Speaking of which, do you intend to go after the shards that Kagome has?” He saw her blank look. “The miko.”

“Oh. I was thinking I'd let them collect a few more, then do the stealing.”

“Take them now. Make them aware of your presence; put them on edge.”

Sadie stood. “You are sure?”

“Yes.”

“Very well then.” She was gone.

***

Kagome's head snapped up. “I sense a shard.”

Inu-Yasha stood. “Where?”

“Inu-Yasha, it's not safe for us to go after shards!”

“What, so you're just going to let it go?”

“No, I was thinking I'd send Sango and Miroku after it. They're perfectly capable.”

Inu-Yasha looked rather put out. “Good luck finding them in that mess out there.”

“Then come help me so that shard doesn't get away!” She walked out of the room, and a few moments later Inu-Yasha growled in annoyance and went after her.

Thankfully, the monk and the taijiya were only a short distance down the street, so Kagome was able to get to them relatively quickly.

“Hey, guys, there's a shard that way,” she said, pointing. The two nodded and hopped onto Kirara, heading in the indicated direction.

They were a short distance into the woods when they happened upon a small clearing with a black-haired young woman standing in it. She smiled cheerily at them, her hands full of flowers, but both had already picked up on her youki and were readying their weapons. She made a face.

“Sure, just because of my blood and aura you think you have to destroy me.” The flowers burst into flames one by one, yet did not blemish her skin. “Or is it because you know I have a shard, my friends?”

“If you just give it to us we will be glad to leave you in peace,” Miroku said, climbing off of Kirara.

“And just what makes you think I'm going to do that?” she replied sweetly.

“Then that leaves me with no choice other than to exorcise you!” He flung several charms at her, running forward and readying his staff.

He jumped up, intending to bring his weapon down on one of the strips of paper—

—Only to have it stopped by her bare arm. She was still facing Sango, but her eyes came up to rest on Miroku.

“You made a mistake, houshi,” she stated in a bored manner. “You threw youkai-restraining charms at me. They don't work on hanyou.”

He jumped back, fishing more charms out of his robes and throwing them at her. They stuck to her skin, crackling with electricity.

Then he ran forward again, raising up his staff and preparing to strike her with it.

But once more she caught it, now with her bare hand.

“Moron,” she hissed, showing off long, venom-dripping fangs. Her blue eyes now flashed a dangerous red, and flames formed around her hand. They snaked along the staff until they reached Miroku's hands. Then they stopped, flickering a mere inch away.

Then they shot forward, engulfing his hands. He let go with a yelp and stumbled back several paces, flipping his hands about to put out the flames.

The irises of her eyes now fully red, the woman turned to face him. His staff was still enveloped in flames, and as he watched it turned to cinders in her hands; the metal on the end became a molten puddle on the ground.

“Don't underessstimate them, he sssaysss. Ha!” She walked forward until they were nose-to-nose. “I hope Inu-Yasssha provesss to be more amusssing than you were.”

Miroku slapped a charm over her eyes. “Sango!” he cried, ducking.

“Hiraikotsu!” She flung the oversized weapon.

“You foolsss!” The woman turned, seizing the boomerang out of midair. A second later, and fire was disintegrating the paper covering her vision.

Sango drew her sword and rushed forward, seeing Miroku grabbing a stick and going for the knees.

“I don't think ssso!”

A blast of fiery aura—different from normal youki—whipped out from their red-eyed opponent, knocking them backwards. Sango was rammed into a tree, knocking the wind from her lungs and cracking a rib while Miroku hit Kirara, who had managed to stay on her paws.

The half-youkai snapped Sango's boomerang in half and threw the pieces on the ground before striding over to Miroku.

“You're not worth my time,” she snapped. “I'll be seeing Kagome and Inu-Yasha real soon, and they'd better put up a better fight than you two did.”

Miroku blinked, and she had left.

***

“I hope that youkai's not giving them a hard time,” Kagome said worriedly, peering down the road again.

“It does have a jewel shard, Kagome.” Inu-Yasha was leaning against the wall, absently drumming his claws on the floor and unknowingly making Kagome more nervous. “Give `em a few more minutes.”

She brought her head back inside. “I wish Sesshoumaru was here; we could send him to go check on them. Where'd he go, anyway?”

“Like I know?” Inu-Yasha felt another flight of the imagination coming on and walked into the adjoining room they had rented.

Kagome barely had time to register that the shard was moving before she was forced into the unexplainable fantasy.

***

She squeaked as he nibbled on her ear, then started giggling. “That—that tickles! Stop! Inu-Yasha!”

Her wish was granted as Inu-Yasha slumped down onto her.

“Perv.” She shoved him off of her, still laughing, until she realized he wasn't moving at all. “Inu-Yasha? Inu-Yasha!”

***

Kagome snapped back into reality knowing something was off.

She found out why a moment later: someone had an arm hooked around her neck and there was nothing under her feet. Her oxygen supply was a little short, but she was still able to breathe.

After the initial shock wore off, Kagome dared to glance down. She immediately registered that whoever was holding her was standing on top of the inn, and Inu-Yasha was down on the ground in front of a large crowd. He looked pissed.

“Ah, you're awake,” her captor remarked. “Now kindly take the shard jar from your pocket and give it to me.”

“Uh, no.” Kagome rolled her eyes. What does she think I am?

“Your choice.” The arm holding her let go, and Kagome shrieked as the ground grew larger, merely to be caught again by the back of her shirt.

“What the…?” She twisted around to look up at the roof.

A young woman with black hair knelt there. “Try again, Kagome?”

The miko's eyes narrowed. “I won't give you the shards!”

The woman sighed. “I don't much fancy picking them out of your flattened corpse, but if that's the way you want it…” She began to slowly let go.

“Wait!” Kagome yelped. The woman's grip tightened once more.

Kagome glanced down at Inu-Yasha, giving him a look that clearly said, “Attack her!” Her face fell at his annoyed expression that told her he had already tried that and it hadn't worked. She sighed, and dug around in her pocket.

“Here.” She held up the jar and felt it snatched from her hand. “Now could you please put me down safely?”

“Smart girl. Just for that, I will put you down nicely.” The woman jumped off the roof, then shoved Kagome to the waiting Inu-Yasha. “Thank you for the shards, dear Kagome. Naraku thanks you too.”

Inu-Yasha's head snapped up. “You work for Naraku?” he growled.

“I wish; no, I have the unfortunate position of being his wife.” She retched.

“Wife?” The inu-hanyou looked about ready to do the same thing.

“Disgusting,” Kagome added, paling visibly.

“You're telling me.” The woman suddenly seemed to realize she was bad-mouthing her husband with the enemy and composed herself. “Anyway, we'll be keeping…”

She trailed off, gaze trained on Kagome. Then it flicked to the side, and in the blink of an eye she was gone.

She reappeared in front of a transparent inu-youkai. “You should watch who you tell half-truths to, Sesshoumaru,” she snarled before vanishing for a final time.

The crowd dispersed, muttering amongst themselves, as Kagome and Inu-Yasha ran over to Sesshoumaru.

“What was she talking to you about?” his half-brother asked.

The full youkai was quiet for a moment. Then, “Her name is Sadie, and she says your friends are in trouble.”

The other two whipped around just in time to see Miroku come out of the forest acting as a crutch for Sango. Kirara trailed after them.

“Oh, no!” Kagome ran toward them. Inu-Yasha, faster than she was, caught her and picked her up. They landed in front of the taijiya and monk a few moments afterward.

“What happened to you two?” the miko exclaimed.

“Nothing too serious, thankfully,” Miroku replied. “Kagome, the jewel's showing.”

She quickly stuffed it back under her shirt. “Did you get the shard?”

“No.” They began to make their way towards the inn. “We were lucky we weren't killed. Inu-Yasha, can you go get the pieces of Sango's boomerang?”

Eyes wide, the hanyou bounded away.

“Who can break Hiraikotsu?” Kagome asked, helping Miroku to brace Sango.

“A hanyou.” His face darkened. “But not one like Inu-Yasha. I finally recalled it on the way here; it was the last thing Mushin taught me about.”

“What's that?”

“I'll explain once we're all back at the inn, Sango and I have been…repaired, and Inu-Yasha has rejoined us.”

***

An hour later Miroku's conditions had been met, plus his hands had been bandaged and Sango's boomerang had been given to the village armory. It was still in use despite the decreased demand for weapons.

“So what is she?” Kagome asked. “Besides half-youkai.”

“The most diabolical of all supernatural creatures. I was taught about them last because they are the most difficult of creatures to exorcise, and only monks of the highest caliber can do it properly. But she seemed stronger than any half should be.”

“Maybe she was using a shard,” Inu-Yasha suggested.

“No.” Miroku shook his head. “I think that was just her power, raw, when she faced us. It seemed as if she were…toying.”

“Inu-Yasha, do you suppose it's the same one who attacked us?” Kagome asked.

“Probably. She was strong enough.”

“You were attacked?” Sango sat up from her position of laying on Kirara.

“Uh…yeah.” Kagome looked down at her hands. “She took our jar of jewel shards and then left. She also said she was married to Naraku and that her name was Sadie.”

“Married to Naraku?” Sango choked and fell back.

Miroku fell over, twitching. “Ergh.”

“Yeah, that was pretty much her reaction too. It was weird; like she didn't want to be married to him.”

Miroku straightened. “Yes, well, he almost certainly married her only for her powers.”

“What powers?”

“Spells. The species is quite good at that. That, and they have a natural sense that tells them what someone else is feeling, and whether or not they are lying.”

“You still haven't told us what that species is, Miroku,” Inu-Yasha growled.

“Jeez, you humans are slow. Always drawing things out for a dramatic effect.”

Inu-Yasha jumped away from the now-open door, placing himself between it and Kagome. Miroku pushed himself to his feet.

“Who are you?” he inquired.

The blue-haired neko-hanyou in question raised an eyebrow at him. “Name's Myli. I'm Sadie's friend and fellow conspirator against Naraku.”

“She's…against Naraku?!”

“Yeah. Absolutely hates his guts. So do I, and, apparently, so do you.”

“What are you saying?”

Myli ran a claw down the wood of the door, leaving a deep groove. “That if you're not with us, you're against us. Typical, I know, but it's true. If you want to kill Naraku, you'll have to work with us. And if you choose not to…well, you know how Sadie's people deal with their rivals.”

She turned and walked away. “I'll be back tomorrow morning at dawn; have your decision by then.”

They watched her vanish into the forest, and then Inu-Yasha asked, “Miroku, what do Sadie's people do to their adversaries?”

“They dismember them. Slowly.”

“And why is that?”

“Because they are, quite literally, devils.”

***

A/n: ^__^ Howdy y'all! Sorry, I felt like saying that to someone. And yes, I know, I did a stupid author thing…I put myself in it. *snickers*

Myli: o.o But tell me again why we're in this?

Me: Uh…'cause I was really bored and really stuck otherwise? And note to all of you people out there: I HATE NARAKU. This is not me, this is the character Sadie. And the character Myli, though Myli is actually a bit ditzier than this and would've glomped Sesshoumaru the instant she'd seen him.

Myli: ^___^ Yup yup! *pauses* -.- Hey, wait a minute…

Me: *conjures Sesshy plushie* Myli! See the plushie? Go get the plushie! *throws it*

Myli: *pounces on it* ^_______________^ SESSHY!!

Me: *eyebrow twitches* Yeah, okay then…

Sesshoumaru (the actual one): Y'know, she's scary.

Me: Duh. Now I suggest you duck before she sees you. See the plushie? That would be you if she were to lay eyes on you.

Sesshoumaru: *shifty eyes**ducks behind conveniently placed crates*

Me: Normally I'd sic her on you, but today I'm feeling…nice. I'll let you live. *crosses fingers behind back*

Sesshoumaru: (muffled) Thank you.

Me: ^_^ No problem. >:) Changed my mind. I feel like having a good laugh. MYLI!! *poofs away crates*

Sesshoumaru: O.o SHIT! *tries to run away*

Myli: ^_________^ SESSHY!! *glomps poor Sess*

Me: ^___^ Poor Fluffy-chan. It's just so amusing.

REVIEEEEEEEEW! I love reviews, I thank thee for each I get! And otherwise I'll…I'll…I'll turn into Fluffy and sic Myli on you!