InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Okaeri ❯ Chapter 8

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and associated characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

…

Chapter 8

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Souta left first the next morning, cheerfully calling goodbye as he went off to school. He wore the sticky bandages on his scraped chin as proudly as if they were medals of honor. Inuyasha let him pass without notice; his object was the one coming out after. She stepped out slowly, calling out her goodbye uncertainly, before turning and raising her eyes to scan the yard and surrounding trees. He could restrain himself no longer.

“Kagome.” He leaped down from his place of semi-concealment, the handy bough overhanging the yard, to land lightly before her. He was breathless at the way her face instantly brightened as she looked up to him, and the way she leaned toward him slightly.

“Inuyasha! Why weren't you at breakfast? You know I've got to hurry to get to—“ He landed a kiss, silencing her, while his hands settled on her shoulders. She froze with surprise at first, but he was gratified at the way she quickly responded. The kiss was too short, as she reluctantly pulled her lips away after only a minute or five.

“Inuyasha…” The faint blush pinkening her cheeks enthralled him. He had to have more time to study it.

“Stay here today,” he murmured suggestively as he looked down into her eyes, his hands sliding down her arms. “You can go to school tomorrow.” Or the day after, or maybe next week would be okay…

“I can't.” She gave him a half-smile. “I wish I could, but I can't put off classwork any longer. I've got finals coming up.” She put her arms around him and hugged him, her lips touching his neck briefly, electrifyingly, before she let go and stepped back. She was still blushing, but smiling. “We'll have time to spend together. Just not now.”

He became aware of Mama's scent behind them in the entrance room at the same moment that they both heard a throat being loudly cleared within; he gave a low curse. How the hell did she sneak up on him? His brain must be turning to mush, he thought, and stepped back from Kagome reflexively. Kagome's face became even redder, and with a small gasp she spun and began walking briskly toward the shrine, and the way down to the street. She turned again, walking backwards a couple of steps, and blew him a kiss, her eyes sparkling.

“See you after school!” she called, before sprinting in earnest for the stairs.

As he watched her his lips involuntarily turned up in a small grin, despite his disappointment, before remembering he was about to have an audience. On cue the front door slid open, and Mama emerged, a half-apologetic smile on her face. He attempted to look casual. Sure, he always hung around the front door.

“Oh, Inuyasha. I was hoping to find you here,” she said. Dammit, how can she stand there and look so innocent? And why couldn't he manage the same trick? Grumpily, he folded his hands into his sleeves and waited for whatever she was planning to get him to do. She had her purse and her coat on, evidently on her way somewhere.

“I need to step out and pick up a few things. Can you keep an eye on Jii-chan, if he should wake up and need anything?”

That was all? “Sure,” he said. “But what's wrong with the geezer?”

“He's still got a bit of flu. He was talking earlier this morning about going over to see that barrier or whatever it is you found, and I'd rather he was in bed a bit longer and not trying to walk around back there.” She adjusted her coat and settled her purse before smiling at the hanyou. “He had gone back to sleep the last I looked, but if you could check on him once in a while and make sure he's comfortable, I would really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” he drawled, as he noted the clear sound of stealthy movement inside the house, specifically from the direction of the old man's bedroom, but gave no sign.

“Thank you, Inuyasha. I'll be back soon.” With a sunny nod she walked past him and followed her children's path out to the street.

Inuyasha stole into the house as quietly as only he could, moved soundlessly to the old man's door, and leaned on the wall to the far side of it, arms crossed over his chest, idly curious to discover what would happen. Jii-chan failed to see him at first as he stuck his head out and looked down the hallway; he gasped when he swiveled his head to see the hanyou staring at him sardonically.

“Looking for something, Jijii?”

Jii-chan theatrically stuck his hand in his robe as if to draw out an ofuda, and glared at him. “You're lucky I saw it was you, demon! What do you mean, standing around at my door?”

“I heard you get up. Ain't you supposed to be in bed?”

“You heard— oh, never mind. I was going to go take a look at that thing Kagome mentioned.” The old man stalked irritably past Inuyasha on his way to the kitchen, pausing to sneeze into a white hankie.

Well, that could be interesting. Belatedly he thought of his agreement with Mama, but dismissed it—he was keeping an eye on Jijii, wasn't he? Inuyasha followed him out the kitchen door and to the courtyard. He had remembered to grab a cap before exiting the house and walked along the fence with the old man, who was grumbling to himself. When they reached the well house, Jii-chan paused, looking past the building to the slope behind it.

“Behind the well house, eh? Where, exactly, is this barrier that you found?” His voice was heavy with disbelief as he squinted into the dimness; it was dark under the trees, even in the brightness of the morning. He put his hands on the fence and made as if to climb over it.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and sighed. Clearly it would take the old man a while to climb over the fence, and while it might be entertaining to watch him fall on his ass, he might get hurt and then there'd be hell to pay. He tapped the old man on the arm to get his attention, and presented his back. “Get on, Jijii. I'll take you.”

Jii-chan stared at him a moment, and then grumbled something indecipherable, but got on. Inuyasha took the fence easily and loped around the corner of the building, and stopped in front of the barrier, still faintly luminescent in the weak daylight. He dropped the old man rather abruptly, which produced a short squawk.

“Well, where is it, boy?” Jii-chan was angrily brushing imaginary dirt off his robe, and looking around.

What was he, blind? “It's right there in front of you,” Inuyasha snapped.

The old man's eyes went right past the barrier to scan the whole cliff face. “I don't see any barrier. Is this some demon trick?” he huffed, turning to glare at Inuyasha.

This is getting really boring. Plainly showing his irritation, he held a clawed finger up in front of the old man's eyes. “Look,” he said, and slowly brought his hand around to point directly at the talisman, barely visible behind the barrier. “It's. Right. There.”

“I don't see anything but dirt there!” He reached out and slapped his hand right where Inuyasha had pointed, but didn't appear to notice anything. “See? Just dirt!” He then sneezed, hastily bringing the hankie to his nose.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth. Fucking useless old man. I never thought he couldn't see it… “Okay. Watch this. If you still don't see anything, the next time I hit it will be with Tessaiga.” Deliberately he slapped his hand on the spot and held it there.

Light flared, and his hand burned as it had before; that is to say, the sting was negligible, certainly beneath his notice. Patiently he bore it as he watched the old man's expression. It changed from sour skepticism to astonishment, and he stared intently at the spot where Inuyasha's hand connected to the sparking barrier.

“Well, I do see something. Is that a talisman under there? Move your hand, boy.”

“Gladly.” Inuyasha took his hand off and sneered, “Need any more help, priest?”

Jii-chan opened his mouth for an indignant reply, but instead looked back at the barrier, dismayed. “It disappeared!” He poked his hand in the general area of the talisman in a bewildered manner. “Put your hand back on, boy, I wasn't done looking.”

Inuyasha crossed his arms and smirked. “Too bad. I told you, the next time I hit that thing it'll be with Tessaiga. I promise you'll see that. Get out of the way and I'll open it up right now.”

“That might not be a good idea.” Jii-chan looked back at the dirt wall, frustrated. “The warding on this could be set to collapse the whole cliff if not dispelled properly. You can see it?” he asked Inuyasha, looking at him sharply.

“Yeah. So can Kagome. Guess you're the only one who can't, eh?” he snickered.

Jii-chan ignored his tone, and instead ordered, “Read to me what it says.”

“Why the hell should I? If you can't see it, what can you do about it?”

The old man glared at him. “Just do it, youkai!”

Inuyasha glared back, and then relented sullenly. “Fine.” He leaned over and stared at the talisman. “Uh…I humbly speak before the…something…deities, who dwell…something, something, um…fulfill your praises…not be bewitched and will not speak consent, to the unfriendly and unruly…spirits? Yeah, spirits. Uh, who come from the land of …something. Then there's something about guarding, and then the rest is messed up.”

“Hmm. Can't you see any more?”

“It's pretty faded,” Inuyasha admitted. “I can't make out anything else.”

Jii-chan seemed to be thinking hard, his gaze abstracted. Without a further word he turned and walked slowly around the well house. Inuyasha stared for a moment at his retreating back, then followed him.

“Hey! Where the fuck are you going?” The old man ignored him, still deep in thought. When he nearly walked into the fence, Inuyasha cursed and grabbed him by the back of his robe, and lifted him by the scruff up and over the fence. Jii-chan still took no notice; when he was set down on the other side, he kept walking as if there had been no obstacle in his path, and headed for the shrine. Inuyasha stared a moment more in disbelief, before shrugging and going back to the house. The old man would be safe enough.

…

Inuyasha stared into the refrigerator, not really seeing the contents, though he was evaluating the smell of various leftovers so as to decide what to eat. He wasn't really hungry, but the well-stocked larder was a constant temptation for someone accustomed to catching his own food. Nobody in the feudal age, not even lords, had this kind of variety always close at hand. He was going to get fat if he didn't find something to keep him busy.

He was reaching for some sweet fried tofu aburage, and thinking wistfully of sword practice with that annoying kitsune Yasei for a training dummy, when he heard Mama at the front entrance. She walked into the kitchen shortly afterward, and set some bags down. It was even more food, from the smell of it.

“Any problems with Jii-chan?” she asked, as she put the groceries away.

“Naw,” he mumbled, eating the tofu at the sink.

“Thank you, Inuyasha. I'll go check on him.” She walked out of the kitchen; a couple of minutes later she walked back in with a concerned expression. “He's not in his bed, Inuyasha. Do you know where he is?”

He swallowed the last mouthful, and replied, “Last I saw he was going out to the shrine.”

She appeared faintly vexed. “But Inuyasha…oh dear. I'd better go find him.” With that she turned on her heel and hurried out.

Well, now that she was back, he considered himself relieved of geezer-watching duty. He headed out to one of his favored tree branches for a nap.

Several hours later, he was wakened by the sound of voices. Kagome and Souta were approaching the house; he immediately observed that Kagome looked unhappy. Instantly he descended and joined them.

“Hey, Inu no niichan!” Souta greeted him

“Hey.” He paused uncertainly. “Something wrong?” he asked Kagome. She raised troubled eyes to him, but shook her head.

“No, nothing to worry about.” She smiled a bit wanly.

Souta told him in a very audible stage whisper, “People at school were talking about Eichi and the accident and staring at her. It's all over the place.” Inuyasha frowned.

“Did some asshole bother you about it, Kagome?” He cracked his knuckles meaningfully.

Kagome gave her brother an irritated look. “I said it's nothing. They'll all forget about it soon enough.” She shook her head. “Come on, let's go in. I want to eat something before heading over to the hospital to look at that girl.”

Inuyasha had nearly forgotten about that. He followed them in, only to find a perturbed Mama waiting for them.

“Kagome, Jii-chan wandered off again. I got him to lie down for a while, but now he's sneaked out and he's not at the shrine. Can you see where he is?”

“Wandered off again?” Kagome set her books down.

Souta was already dashing out. “I'll find him!”

Kagome asked her mother with some trepidation, “He's not, you know, going…senile, is he?” Inuyasha snorted at that.

“Going?” he sneered.

Mama gave him a quelling look. “No, no. It's just that he should be resting, not walking around while he's sick.”

“Oh. Well, he shouldn't be far.” She looked at the hanyou. “Help me find him, Inuyasha?”

“Come on.” Walking out, Inuyasha sniffed, and then pointed negligently. “He's behind the well house again.”

“Again?” Mama said. She hurried ahead of them, muttering distractedly.

They came upon Jii-chan, leaning against the back wall of the well house, a hand absently stroking the point of his goatee. Souta was coming around the other side, having seen the direction they were heading. Mama started off with a plea for him to come back inside, but broke off when she looked at the dirt wall. He was staring fixedly at the spot Inuyasha had shown him earlier.

“Is this what you found?” She reached forward to the talisman, but checked herself when she found her hand blocked. “Why can't I touch this?”

That seemed to break Jii-chan's concentration. He glared at Mama. “You can see it too?”

“There's a barrier in front of it, Mama,” Kagome remarked. “I haven't figured out how to get in yet.”

“I have,” Inuyasha said coolly. “I'll just blast it open.” With a flourish he reached for Tessaiga's hilt at his waist.

Kagome started, “Inuyasha, don't you think—” at the same time that Souta yelled, “Cool!” and Mama put a hand to her mouth in surprise.

Inuyasha drew Tessaiga…and hit his elbow against the back wall. The space was too narrow. The transformed sword seemed even more enormous in the small space. Awkwardly he positioned the sword in front of the barrier, where the old man was still standing obliviously. Tessaiga began to glow redly.

“Move, jijii!”

“Inuyasha, wait—there's no room back here.”

“I'll make some room, wench. Out of the way.”

“You'd better not!”

Suddenly the old man straightened. He reached inside his kimono, and drew out several ofuda. He sorted through them quickly, looked up again at the bluff, and selected one, putting the rest away. He then leaned forward, chanted something briefly, and slapped the ofuda against the barrier, above the talisman.

All of them stared as the ofuda seemed to hang in the air for a moment, then fluttered to the ground. With a satisfied grunt Jii-chan reached forward unerringly and took hold of the talisman. He gave it a light tug and it came free, the rusted wire that it had been suspended on crumbling. With a slight, satisfied smile he held it up for inspection, shining a flashlight on it closely.

Inuyasha and Kagome stood frozen with shock, as Mama and Souta bent close to see the talisman. Kagome found her voice first.

“Jii-chan, how did you do that? I tried for an hour to get that thing open!”

Jii-chan clucked disapprovingly at her as he looked up. “You should pay better attention, girl. Haven't I shown you many times the sacred ofuda that have been passed down in our family?” He shook his head. “I really thought you'd be quicker on the uptake, Kagome. Well, I suppose everyone's entitled to an off day now and then.”

While she gaped at him, he reached down with a grunt and picked up the ofuda that had dropped to the ground, and with an air of restrained patience he held it and the talisman towards her. “Now, compare the phrases on the two here. Do you recognize it yet?”

At her blank look he sighed. “It's from the Miti-Ahe No Maturi norito. Really, Kagome, I see I'm going to have to go over the various ofuda with you again.”

Inuyasha felt his stupefaction wearing off at the realization that the barrier was down. He turned to it while the rest of them were staring at the scribblings, and poked at the dirt bank under the overhang with a no longer glowing Tessaiga. A hollow thunk resulted, and some caked dirt fell, revealing wooden planks. Everyone's attention was immediately diverted.

“Well, good thing somebody knew what to do with that stupid barrier,” he remarked as he sheathed Tessaiga, giving Kagome a meaningful glare. She ignored him as she stepped closer to the revealed door.

“Yeah, good work, Jii-chan,” she said absently as she touched the planks, brushing at some of the dirt to reveal more of them. Inuyasha joined her in brushing at the congealed clods of earth for a few minutes, but quickly became impatient. Without thinking he thumped the door with a fist. Immediately most of the dirt showered down revealing the entire outline of the door, as well as the supporting beams that framed it. It was fastened closed with a hasp and an antique padlock, encrusted with rust and dirt.

Mama, Souta and Jii-chan had jumped back in time to avoid the mess; unfortunately for her, a good amount of the dirt fell on Kagome, causing her to emit a shriek that hurt his ears.

“What the hell's with that noise!”

“Inuyasha, look at me! I'm all dirty, and I've got to get ready to leave! I'll have to shower again!”

“Oh, that's right!” Mama exclaimed. “Let's go, Kagome. I'll fix you something to eat.”

Kagome stamped her foot in frustration. “Mou! I want to find out what's behind the door!” She hesitated, then moved to it. “Seeing as I'm already dirty,” she decided aloud, “I'll just take a few minutes to see what's here, and then go.” She reached forward and gave a tug on the old lock, but only succeeded in getting her hand stained red-brown. Rusty it might be, but it was still solid.

“Stand back, wench.” Inuyasha pushed past her to grab hold of it and gave it a sharp yank. The lock, hasp, and part of the rotted wood frame came loose in his hand. He dropped it and gave the door a push. It resisted; he imagined it must be clogged with dirt, the hinges corroded, and gave it a stronger shove. Rather than swinging inward it fell, the hinges tearing off the frame with a squeal of protest. He reached in and grabbed the door, and pulling it out, set it against the back wall of the well house. He turned back to find the entire Higurashi family craning their heads to look in the beam of the flashlight.

It revealed a small, dank-smelling anteroom of some kind, with another door at the other end a few feet away. Against one side wall leaned some old tools: a pair of shovels, an axe, and on the floor lay several machetes, a hammer and a rusty bucket containing some equally rusty nails. Leaning against the opposite wall was a rifle. Inuyasha stared at it for a moment, curiously; it looked different from the Tanegashima rifles he had seen in the past. Ignoring it for now, he stepped forward to the other door.

This one was in better shape than the outer door, though he could smell the wood rot weakening it. It was similarly locked with a hasp and padlock, and an ofuda was fastened to it. He reached for the lock, prepared to dispose of it as he had the first, but Kagome was suddenly there, putting a restraining hand on his arm.

“Wait.” She took hold of the ofuda, which glowed briefly but gave way easily into her hand. She nodded in satisfaction at the door, an eagerness and curiosity burning in her eyes. “Try to just get the lock off, if you can, without breaking the frame,” she asked, glancing at him. He shrugged in compliance, and crushed the lock in his hand rather than tearing it off. He picked the remains from the hasp and, grasping the iron handle attached to the door, he pushed it open. Kagome gasped when the light shone in.

The room was piled with crates, trunks, boxes, rolls of unidentifiable material; oilcloth was draped over the piles, evidently to guard against falls of dirt and water seeping from above. There was a ceiling of wooden beams, stained and musty with age, as were the wooden walls; the things in the room rested on some rough pieces of lumber to keep them off the dirt floor. The room was small, maybe half the size of Kagome's bedroom. A narrow aisle allowed access through the middle of the room

Inuyasha looked behind him to see the four of them staring wide-eyed at the cache, utterly astonished. “There's bound to be some paper amongst all this crap, huh, Kagome,” he said, with a confidence he didn't quite feel. He felt he should be able to smell the ink, but if it was here the scent was being overwhelmed by the mustiness of everything else in this damp little hole.

“Wow.” Kagome ran her eyes over the contents of the little room wonderingly. Abruptly she seemed to come to a realization. “I wish I didn't have to go just now!” She turned to Jii-chan, who was just behind her, staring into the room in wonderment. “Jii-chan, please let me know as soon as I get back if you find them?”

“Yes, the shrine's archives. Of course, Kagome,” he replied distantly, lifting a tarp to get a view of what was underneath it. He looked…overwhelmed. Like he was seeing something he never thought he'd see. A couple of feet away, Souta had already found an ornate sword, and was reaching for it.

“Souta, don't touch that!” Souta stopped guiltily at his mother's admonishment. Mama took hold of her daughter's elbow, and began to guide her out. “I'll make sure Souta brings anything like that to the shrine office, Kagome. Now let's go. You need to get cleaned up and see Kitamura-san's niece, isn't that right?”

“Yes, Mama,” Kagome sighed. “Don't forget you're coming with me, Inuyasha!” she called over her shoulder.

“Whatever,” he mumbled to her retreating form as he surveyed the mounds of moldy crates. He barely noticed when Mama followed her out, leaving only himself, Souta and Jii-chan in the old hiding place. He tapped the boy on the shoulder as Souta reached for the sword again. “Do what your ma says, kid.”

Souta complied, but whined. “What can I look at, then?”

“Help the old man. He's looking for old papers. Aren't you?” he said the last rather loudly to Jii-chan.

“Yes, yes. There are a lot of things to go through, here,” he replied. He peered over at the next stack of crates, absorbed, but pleased.

Inuyasha sniffed deeply, trying to sort through the scents in the room, and coughed—damn, it smelled bad. Still, it did seem that there was a faint trace of ink somewhere, in addition to the mold and rot.

“Kid,” he got Souta's attention again, “try pulling some crates out of that corner, and get the old man to go through them. Okay?”

Souta nodded enthusiastically. “Sure! We'll be sure to find them, Inu no niichan!”

“Right.” With a last look, he turned and made his way out. It was probably going to be a long, boring afternoon.

…

The hospital smelled of sickness and human misery, of sharp antiseptic, and other odd things outside of Inuyasha's experience. He stuck closely to Kagome as she inquired at the front desk for Miss Michiko Shibutoi's room, glowering under the bill of his cap, his hands shoved into the pockets of the oversized jacket he wore. Tessaiga bumped reassuringly at his back, discreetly hidden in the bag slung over his shoulder. He followed her as she walked past an area where a number of people were loitering to an odd set of doors, where she stopped. They stood there for about a minute.

“What are we waiting for?” he snapped, eyeing the doors. Kagome seemed to be absorbed in her thoughts, but looked up at his voice.

“The elevator.” He gave her a blank look, and she continued patiently, “It's a lift, like a little room that moves, to get us to an upper floor. We have to wait for it to come back down before the doors will open.” At that moment there was a sedate chiming sound, and the doors slid open. Inuyasha looked with suspicious disfavor upon the tiny closet Kagome was already stepping into, but followed her in quickly.

By the time they emerged on another floor, Inuyasha had decided they were taking another way down. He was very vocal about his displeasure at the way the tiny box moved and jerked—surely it was unsafe. Kagome just shrugged, adjusted her light wrap around her shoulders, and started down the hall, passing the nurses' station. The nurses didn't even look up as they passed by, occupied as they were. This is a busy place, he thought, sliding a look at some of the people that were engaging the nurses' attention; some were obviously ill, others seemed to be people here to see sick family. Out of habit he noted where they had come from in this labyrinth.

Kagome consulted a piece of paper that she had withdrawn from the small handbag tucked under her arm, and headed off decisively in one direction. Inuyasha had no idea how she knew to navigate in here. Some distance down the hall, around a couple of corners and down another hall, she paused at a particular doorway, peering at the name on the door. “This is it,” she whispered, and gestured him to follow.

Inside, a girl lay on the room's solitary bed, a strange contraption with rails on the sides. The room was fairly large, compared to some of the other rooms they had passed; there was a window at the far wall which admitted some pale northerly light from the late afternoon sun. A chair was on this side of the bed, along with a small end table holding a vase with some flowers. Fluid drained into the girl's arm from a bag suspended next to the bed on the other side and there were some wires attached to her, running to machines that blinked and beeped quietly. Her skin was pale and waxy, her mouth slightly gaping, her eyes open. She looked like a corpse already, her faint breath the only sign that she still lived. He averted his gaze uncomfortably.

Kagome looked down pityingly. “She's so young…I'll bet she's not even in seventh grade. How terrible that she's lying here like this.”

Inuyasha looked down again. There were plenty of ways to die, as he well knew, but this… this was a pitiful death indeed, by inches. He felt uneasy being here, staring at someone who should have been spared this indignity.

“Why don't they just let her die?” he asked abruptly. “This isn't living.”

Kagome looked at him thoughtfully. “It's not that simple. She could pull out of it next year, or tomorrow, and they can give her that time.”

“Hmph.” He crossed his arms, and looked away. Not my business. Don't get involved. “Well, don't you have to look for the reason why she's this way? Hurry it up. I don't like this place.” He leaned against the doorway, preparing to wait.

“Yes, might as well get it over with.” With a sigh she took the chair next to the girl's bed, and reached for her hand. As she did so Inuyasha jerked his head up. Suddenly there was a sharp smell, familiar and yet not—

“Kagome, wait—” but she had already touched the girl, and had stiffened, frowning. Her grip tightened on the girl's flaccid hand, and a look of intense concentration came over her. He moved closer to her, tensely watching them both. And then the girl's body jerked as power exploded out of her, throwing him back against the wall. Kagome screamed.

“Kagome!”

He recovered immediately and tried to get back to Kagome, but he couldn't reach her—there was some kind of force pushing him away. Wind howled out of nowhere and the contents of the room— medical equipment, furniture and all— smashed violently into the walls, swirling around the center of the chaos, the two girls.

Kagome's eyes were squeezed shut, her hands gripping the girl's shoulders as she leaned over her, kneeling on the bed. Some kind of energy crackled redly over them both. Inuyasha was able to make out malevolently glowing lines of force that ran from the girl's fingernails and disappeared through the far wall. He pulled Tessaiga out and drew it quickly, and shoved at the force to get to Kagome— he had to get her away, out of there. He succeeded in moving a foot closer, straining. Sweat beaded Kagome's brow, her face twisted in a grimace of pain, as she held the girl down on the bed. The girl's mouth was open wide in a silent scream, her eyes staring, her body convulsing.

He flung himself against the unseen wall again, beginning to panic at his lack of success.

“Kagome!” he shouted. “Get away from there!”

Kagome either didn't hear, or wasn't listening. She glowed herself, with an intense pink radiance. Slowly, it descended down her arms, to the girl's shoulders, and then began to pick up speed. Kagome's light fought back the angry scarlet, quickly enveloping the girl and forcing the energy back. When it reached the girl's fingertips, Kagome's power suddenly expanded into a globe, explosively.

The shockwave hurled Inuyasha back to slam into the wall once again. He heard the window smash as the flying debris was flung outward, and felt the wall crumble behind him as he hit, but his attention was fully on the bed at the center of the room, and he charged back toward it.

Severed from their connection with the girl, the red lines hissed and waved, looking uncomfortably like tentacles. They were striking furiously around the room and the globe of power that surrounded Kagome and the girl, trying to penetrate it— aiming, it seemed, for Kagome. He was alarmed to see that she was now slumped over the girl on the bed—was she unconscious? With a yell he jumped and swung Tessaiga at the tentacle things.

With incredible speed they writhed out of the way in every direction. He swung again, and succeeded in striking several, that shrieked as they splintered and tore— were those words, curses, in the roaring winds? He managed to hold them at bay, forcing them away from the barrier, and they did seem to be retreating. There were so many— he had difficulty tracking them all; thus he missed the one that swept around from one side and slammed with incredible force into the side of his head.

Stunned, he hit the floor hard. He desperately tried to get up but his vision wavered and darkened. He could see the things through a haze, gathering themselves at the far end of the room; he saw Kagome lift her head and stare at them. She said, low and hoarse, “You can't have her.”

The last thing he heard, before he spiraled into darkness, was a breathy, strange, chuckling voice. “But I will. And you will die.”

…

TBC