InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mitsukaitou: Blade of the Angel ❯ Chapter 14

ATTENTION READERS! It is time for you to throw your victory party! Time has bowed to your will! Swimming season is over, and I'll be able to update at least once a week. REJOICE! MAKE MERRY! BE HAPPY! *cries* you see, I'll never see most of the people on that team again, and I'm really sad to leave them. So, remembering my promise to get back to work with swim team over, well, long story short, I didn't get to page four until 2:15 AM (yes, even though I woke up at 6 this morning!). That's only half way. Haha. I've got to wake up in two hours for church. HAHA! *drops dead*

Kagome laughed. She was free. Inuyasha had stopped chasing her. That meant he'd understood. She couldn't believe the methods she'd employed to achieve that goal, not at all. She was sure it was her quick temper mixed in with angry youkai blood. The fact remained, however, that Kikyo was the person she needed. No small victory helped her quest.

"AHH!" Kagome felt the scream before she heard it. It penetrated her bones and wreaked havoc on her mind. It was the most desperate noise possible, the sort of scream that was a child's last resort. Her body rushed to the sound's origin, trusted along by her spiritual wind. What she saw was unbelievable.

Sesshomaru lay on the ground, completely motionless. An enormous demon was towering over Rin, and Jakken was nowhere to be seen.

"Get away from her!" Kagome commanded with a bravery she'd never imagined having in a situation like such as she'd been placed in. the creature turned to face her.

"Kagome-san!" squeaked a voice in her ear.

"Huh? Myoga, what are you doing here?"

"Never mind. This is a stealth demon, it should be reasonably weak."

"It took out Sesshomaru, and you're telling me it's weak?"

"Just don't let it out of your sight." Then Myoga performed his trademark disappearing act.

"Okay then! Come get me you miserable demon!" she said, putting her full attention back to the eleven foot beast before Rin.

"Certainly...right after my snack..." it hissed, turning back to face the girl. She screamed again.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" she cried, looking over at the form on the ground. Kagome wasn't sure, but he seemed to twitch. She wasn't sure if his awakening would improve or worsen the circumstances.

"Not gunna happen, you're worm's meat!" Kagome shouted, lunging at him with her sword in its greatest splendor. Mitsukaitou struck through the flesh at his mid-chest and drug down, nearly splitting it in two.

"Oh how father would scold..." it moaned, beginning to fall.

"Rin, run to me!" Kagome shouted, seeing the angle at which the demon would fall. The girl did just that, and they watched it plummet, taking out several trees, and finally make a royal thud. "Just a minute, Rin. I've got to make sure it's dead. Letting it live would be torture. Kagome walked over calmly. Its eyes were wide open, a white film already forming. Kagome cringed and turned away. She'd never really killed anything, save an ant or two.

"Thank you stranger!" Rin chirped, her happy demeanor returning once the immediate threat was over.

"It's me, Kagome. We play while Inuyasha and Sesshomaru fight, remember?" Rin's eyes brightened with recognition.

"Hello Kagome-chan!" she said happily, "Thank you for saving Rin-chan and Sesshomaru-sama. I think he's napping."

"What happened, Rin? That thing was pitiful, I hardly believe it could fight Sesshomaru."

"It didn't fight," Rin explained, "It snuck up."

"Snuck? But wouldn't Sesshomaru sense it?"

"That's the thing, Kagome. Before they attack, stealth demons cannot be felt, heard, seen, or smelled." Myoga said, mysteriously reappearing.

"Inuyasha's right. It is annoying when you run away." Myoga prepared himself for a squishing, but it didn't come. "So I guess they can't fight, they kill their prey immediately."

"That is correct. They administer a poison to adults or any other threat, which paralyzes them, in most cases it's lethal. They then devour the souls of children or elderly."

"That's..." Kagome looked at Rin. Her face was stricken. "Are you alright, Rin-chan?"

"Thanks to you, aneue!" Kagome beamed. Her smile quickly deteriorated, however.

"Sesshomaru isn't like most youkai, he probably survived." Kagome wasn't sure if this pleased or dissatisfied her. Although, she reasoned, it was bad karma to wish someone dead.

"My next life better be the bloody emperor." She muttered, approaching Sesshomaru. She gingerly knelt next to him and very delicately placed two fingers on his neck. A pulse was there. Faint, but definitely there. Knowing he was alive gave her the sudden urge to run far, far away, but instead she sprang to her feet and set to work on a fire.

"Sesshomaru-sama is alive." Rin said steadily.

"That's right. So I'm just going to stay here and make sure everything goes well until he wakes up."

"I feel the need to inform you that I won't be here at that time." Myoga said in a jittery tone.

"That reminds me, why are you here in the first place, huh?"

"Simple. I followed you after your departure with Inuyasha."

"Why?" she whined.

"I felt it necessary to speak with you regarding your quest."

"Do you know..?" it was at this point Sesshomaru's hearing returned to him. He found, however, that none of his other senses were in order, nor could he move, so he focused entirely on listening.

"You're looking for Kikyo, isn't that right?"

"Yes..."

"What is it you plan to do upon meeting her?"

"I'm...not sure."

"I didn't think so. SO, I took the liberty of visiting Toutousai. He told you that he incorporated your miko abilities upon forging the sword, correct?" at the mention of Toutousai building a sword, Sesshomaru found paying attention a very simple task.

"Yes."

"While you are given six attacks, that is merely the swords capability. You, as a miko, can create outpours of miko energy."

"Like the purification arrows?"

"Correct. I believe you'll find this information beneficial?"

"Yeah! Thanks Myoga-jiji!" he thought that croak was vaguely familiar. His half-brother's retainer Myoga knew this person, somehow. Well enough, even, to go around fetching information.

"Anything for a friend."

"Except hanging around for a fight."

"What's going on, aneue?" he recognized that voice, for sure. However, "aneue"? Did Rin possess family after all? Would he lose her now?

"It's nothing you need to worry over, Rin. I'll be gone soon anyway. I have to do some work with Mitsukaitou before I meet up with Kikyo." At this point it became very clear that the unknown person was Mitsukai. Sesshomaru tried desperately to move, and to his pleasure his fingers flexed and his toes curled. The area was covered in soft grass, and his slight motions made no noise.

"Inuyasha, where did you go?" Miroku asked, noting the dark look on his face.

"Who wants to know?"

"Knock it off Inuyasha! You saw Kagome, didn't you?" Shippo commented, sniffing the hanyou.

"Bullshit. Why would I do something stupid like that? After all, if I saw that traitor I'd kill her."

"Kagome, but not Kikyo?" Sango commented. Inuyasha looked at her with the expression of a wounded puppy.

"Just shut up!" he replied viciously, wiping his previous face away. No one spoke to him further.

"I definitely smelled Kagome." Shippo said defiantly to Sango and Miroku. "Not strong enough to say he touched her, but they were near each other."

"Wow, your senses have really improved since I first met you." Sango praised.

"Yes, but I have to wonder why Inuyasha would lie." Miroku commented.

"She probably said something that made him uncomfortable so he wants to block the meeting out completely." Sango whispered to Miroku.

"SHE DIDN'T SAY A HELL OF A LOT, OKAY? SO JUST SHUT UP!!!" Inuyasha shouted from the tree he was residing in. several animals scurried out of bushes, and four miles away Sesshomaru's ears twitched.

"Owie..." Shippo cried, rubbing his ears.

"Me thinks thou doth protest too much, Inuyasha." Miroku said slyly.

"You idiots never do believe when I tell you the truth, do you." He stated blandly, deciding to try harder to ignore them.

"Well your truth is usually kinda, oh what's the word? Oh yeah, implausible." Sango answered sarcastically.

"Well maybe that's because 'implausible' things happen to me!"

"So then tell us Inuyasha." Miroku said challengingly.

"Whatever happened is none of your business."

"TELL US TELL US TELL US!" Sango, Miroku, and Shippo chanted.

"SHUT UP!" Inuyasha hollered.

Sesshomaru blinked. His half-brother was in a very bad mood, and not far away. There was a very faint smell of him nearby, but it was probably emanating from the flea demon. There was a juncture where he noticed his own retainer's absence, but it was no matter to him. His current interest was Mitsukai. Once he was certain the effects of the stealth demon's poison had worn off, he would knock her unconscious and take her back to the palace along with Rin. A simple task.

It was not, as a servant had once implied, that he desired her for himself, but he did want her for Rin. Taking the young girl to his upcoming meeting with the Lords of the Central, Eastern, Southern, and Northern Lands was out of the question. Mitsukai had thus far proven herself capable in battle, and would certainly, as a woman, be able to care for Rin as well as he could.

The conferences would be in place for a week, discussions concerning boundaries and relations with each other, as well as the cold war that had been festering with China's youkai leaders. No, Sesshomaru could not expose her to war, not yet. Commanding her to be happy wouldn't erase facts from her young mind. Some simple-minded servants might not understand that, but they would never have to. Aside from that, a kidnapped babysitter wouldn't expect pay. Sesshomaru laughed within his mind. Money would never be a concern for him. Nonetheless, it was a factor in a leader's power, and no one should doubt his authority.

Sesshomaru readied himself for the pounce. With a lightning-strike motion he was in front or her, and in very short order he'd buried a fist in her stomach. Mitsukai fell. He caught her, and placed her on the back of his two-headed dragon, which had appeared from nowhere. Rin jumped on behind her.

"Why did you do that Sesshomaru-sama?" she asked curiously.

"So that she'll stay with you for a while." He replied coolly.

"Yay! Aneue is staying!" Rin cheered happily, watching the woods disappear.

Kagome awoke lying on a very soft futon. The stone walls were ornamented in tapestries depicting youkai in battle. There was a screen in the corner, and unlike the bloody scenes on the walls, it illustrated a female dog demon in her human form with several young pups frolicking about her. In the background a river ran, and trees swayed to a breeze. Then Kagome realized that stone walls didn't occur in normal houses. She remembered Sesshomaru knocking her out. Kagome bolted to the door and yanked it, though it didn't open.

"LEMME OUT!" she shouted, banging on the door quite loudly. "LET ME OUT NOW!"

"Honestly, you only had to ask once." Said a squat female demon. Kagome couldn't decide what sort she was, but she was covered in dark brown fur and had a long snout.

"Who are you?" Kagome asked, stumbling backwards.

"Well I'm Kagora, a servant in Lord Sesshomaru's castle."

"Why was I locked in here?"

"So you wouldn't wander around and get yourself lost."

"Why am I here in the first place?"

"Don't you know? You're supposed to keep an eye over young mistress Rin!"

"I am?"

"Yes!"

"How long?"

"A week."

"Where's Sesshomaru? Why did he choose me of all people?"

"Lord has already left for his conference. He chose you because you're you. You're Mitsukai."

"People have heard of me?" Kagome asked uncertainly. That was a change.

"Oh yes Miss! You slew the demons in Tsukyo, Lord has been looking for you since. Rumor has it you've got plans to face off with a miko named Kikyo."

"Well, sort of. I don't plan to fight her at all, you see. I-"

"Isn't that dangerous? Facing off with a miko, Miss!"

"I suppose, but I'm part miko myself so-"

"You're a hanyou! I never would have imagined, Miss!"

"Oh, well I thought I looked more human than youkai, but apparently not."

"No Miss, you look like a powerful youkai, being that you've a human form and what. Shall I show you about now, Miss? You'll need to know the way to a few places..."

"Um, you know what? Sure. Kikyo can wait a week, I guess."

"Splendid, Miss!" said Kagora, leading Kagome out. "Now this is Miss Rin's room, right across from yours. None of these other rooms matter, you can pop in later, but they're mostly empty, just sitting rooms and storage rooms and over here is Rin's play room, now this is the way to the dining room," Kagome followed the boisterous three-foot youkai through several corridors, listening to her ramble. "Now if I were you, Miss, looking for someone, I would take advantage of the situation and send someone to find this Kikyo so I'd know right where to go, rather than wasting time."

"That's pretty smart," Kagome said dully. Then what Kagora had said sunk in. "Yeah, that is smart!"

"I should hope so. Back in my village (before I took up work here in the castle) I was a strategist. I helped plan many a siege on neighboring towns to expand our own. None of my plans ever failed. Oh! Here we are, the dining room! Off this way is the baths..." they took off again before Kagome had the chance to see the room itself.

What Kagora referred to as "the baths" was much like the public hot springs of modern-day Japan. A large room had been built around a portion of a hot spring to ward off the elements.

"Nice." Kagome commented briefly.

"Sure is. I'll take you to Rin now Miss. She can take you where you please." Kagora said, bustling off back the way they'd come. Kagome sighed.

"What god said that I have to be the one suffering?" she asked herself. Kagome couldn't help feeling cursed. Avoiding Hojo was beans when she looked at falling through the well, falling in love with someone she couldn't have, being turned into a half-demon, being captured by Sesshomaru to baby-sit while she was already short of time... Everything that could possibly happen to her did. "Not fair." She pouted, walking into Rin's room.

"Aneue!" the young girl's greeting, however, cheered Kagome up immediately.

"Hi to you, too, Rin-chan!"

A'ight guyses, hea's the lay down. Dis Friday I be doin' the weddin' thang. I be planin to type chapta 15 and post befo den, and I be writin' chapta 16 durrin' that weddin' gig. So on Monday, ya'll be seein' chapta 16 an' 15 if I been too late ta post it dis week. So like, okay? Yeah! Buh-bye now! Don't forget to review lots and lots ya'll!