InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Okaeri ❯ Chapter 20 ( Chapter 20 )

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

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Chapter 20

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“Kyoto?” Inuyasha looked curiously at the enormous building, the largest one visible in what was apparently a whole compound; it towered over a pair of entrance gates. The paths led to the gates, and a graveled courtyard beyond. He swept his gaze around to the sides of the parklike area. The high walls blocked the view beyond. “You sure?”

“I was here on a school trip once,” Kagome said. She glanced back at him. “Definitely Kyoto.”

“Huh. Your guess must've been right then, runt,” he mused. “The crazy bitch probably thinks either the Minamoto clan, the Emperor, or both are here, and she's after them.”

“Well, is she ever going to be disappointed—” began Kagome, but she was abruptly shushed by Yasei, who was looking around, alarmed.

“She could be around, you know,” he said in a low voice. “Illusions and all that. I wouldn't say anything about that where she might possibly hear.”

Kagome pressed her lips shut, her eyes wide as they darted back to the palace. Shippou looked around, a bit fearfully. Nothing came to Inuyasha's ears but the muted sounds of traffic and some distant sirens. The air held an acrid tinge; so did Tokyo's, but should the smell be so caustic here in the middle of this green area? A trace of Soen's scent was present, but fading. Had she gone to the palace, found it empty, and went off somewhere else? He itched to give chase.

“If she's still near here, I don't smell it,” he remarked. “And I've been able to so far. You might be fooled,” he baited the kitsune, who frowned in irritation.

“I can't believe she was able to maintain a portal in the middle of Kyoto, let alone right beside the Imperial Palace,” Yasei muttered. “The whole city was under a lot of protection in the old days. She was damned lucky she wasn't discovered.” He glanced at the others. “I think we should go back and check the other door,” he said uneasily. “What if she went through here, but then went back and through the other one?”

And could come back to the den and shut this door at any minute, Inuyasha thought; the opening was guarded on that side only by a couple of tengu, who weren't reliable anyway. That put his hackles up; he certainly didn't want them all to be stranded in Kyoto, or worse. He remained deeply suspicious of these kitsune `doors'.

“Come on, then,” he said, taking Kagome's arm and hurrying her back to the opening hanging in the air.

They stepped through, to find the den empty. The tengu had evidently gone up outside, and were gabbling with their buddies out there. Inuyasha climbed out warily to see what was going on, but the crows merely glanced at him and kept talking. Nothing but gossip, apparently. Akarui came forward, however, looking curious, her eyes bright.

“One of the portals goes to the old capital?” she asked, cocking her head questioningly.

“Yes,” answered Kagome, poking her head out from the stairs. “And we really need to find out where the other one goes,” she said, glancing at him. The crow-girl dipped her head briefly and went back to her companions, chirping something.

“Right.” Inuyasha looked back down into the hole, feeling on edge while that damn thing was open. Yasei was still down there, studying the other door and hopefully guarding the first, the dumb shit. “You two,” he indicated Kagome and Shippou, “get up here, and get behind cover, same as before, but stay this time. We'll check it out.” Kagome climbed out willingly enough, but Shippou paused at the top.

“Can't I try opening the other door?” he asked suddenly, staring down into the den. “I'll never know if I can do it if I don't get a chance to try.”

“What if your pal is on the other side, huh?” Inuyasha frowned down at the kit. “It's too dangerous.”

“He can try,” said Yasei, from the bottom of the hole. “He's got a point. And I don't actually think she used this other portal, by the way. I don't think it's been opened in a long time.”

“Make up your fucking mind,” Inuyasha said testily. “And if you two think now's a good time for kitsune lessons, great. Whatever. Just don't screw it up or get us killed.”

With great excitement, Shippou bounced down the steps to land in front of the door, Inuyasha following. Pointedly, he pulled out Tessaiga again and then leaned against the wall to watch. Yasei smiled down at the younger kitsune.

“Try closing the first one. Better that it not be standing open while we're checking out the second portal.”

Inuyasha kept an eye on the view of cool and green Kyoto, while Yasei coached the kit in front of the open door. All clear so far. Shippou closed his eyes and waved a small hand, and the door abruptly became solid wall.

“Good! Now, the opposite on this one…”

He hesitantly touched the door on the right. Instantly, light and noise poured through the small room, blinding them all. Yasei and Shippou stumbled back, and Inuyasha leaped forward in front of them.

 

“What the fuck?” Inuyasha swore, squinting into the glare.

 

“What is it?” Kagome called, startled. She was scrambling down to see before he could tell her to get back. She jumped down to the bottom, her eyes trained on the opening, and what she saw made her gasp. “Oh!”

 

“You recognize it?” said Yasei, jerking his gaze to her after staring wildly through the door. It was a busy city street, as seen from a sidewalk; the light was from the headlights of closely passing cars as well as the streetlights and traffic lights on a nearby corner. Inuyasha said nothing, but looked grim. He recognized it too.

“It's Tokyo,” she said. “Not too far from my house.” She hugged herself abruptly. “Ooh, that's creepy. Why so near the shrine?”

From his position flattened against the side wall, Shippou looked doubtfully at the chaos just through the doorway. “If that's near the village, it might be that Soen was keeping tabs on us,” he said slowly. “She was really pissed when she found out the Jewel was destroyed, Kagome.”

“Brr. That's even worse. I'd rather not know who else was after the Jewel.” Kagome turned to Inuyasha. “Well? Do you think she went through this way?”

“I'm pretty sure she didn't,” he replied, and he saw Yasei nodding in confirmation. “No scent. Well, this is a lucky break,” he said briskly. “You and the runt can go home where it's safe.”

“Your house is really through there, Kagome?” Shippou asked, his eyes wide as he took in the flashing lights and the noise. He sneezed at the exhaust fumes coming in through the open portal.

Kagome looked like she wanted to argue, but softened when she glanced down at Shippou. “I would like to take him home,” she said. “But don't you go off without me, Inuyasha. Just let me grab a bow and I'll come back with you.”

“Whatever,” Inuyasha mumbled. He had no intention of bringing her back here. The crazy kitsune bitch was too dangerous, and this was the perfect opportunity to get Kagome somewhere safe for once.

He turned to Yasei. “Can you hold this open for a bit?” he asked.

“Sure,” the kitsune replied. “Don't take too long.”

Inuyasha gathered them up and stepped through the door; he looked around to orient himself. There were not many pedestrians to gawk at them, not at this time of the evening, but there was plenty of street traffic. He knew exactly where they were in relation to the Higurashi shrine. He wondered, though, where had Soen been spying on them from, back in the old world? It was hard to tell where the old boundaries were from here in Tokyo. Had this gateway been hidden at the edge of the village, and nobody had noticed? That definitely grated on him.

Making sure of his grip on Kagome, and hers on Shippou, he sped the short distance to the corner and around it, and then several blocks towards the shrine entrance. He bounced up the familiar steps and paused at the top to let them down. “Recognize anything now, brat?” he asked gruffly.

The kit had brightened at the sight of the shrine, but when he turned around, he gaped at the glittering lights of Tokyo rolled out in front of him. “Wow.” For once, it seemed that the runt had nothing more to say. 

“Let me get you inside, and introduce you to my family, Shippou-chan,” said Kagome, smiling. She turned and was leading the kit towards her house, and thus didn't notice when Inuyasha silently sped back down the stairs to the street, and back to the kitsune door. He thought he might have heard her call his name once, but didn't stop. She'd be safer here, her and the runt, and he could make sure that nine-tailed menace never threatened anyone again.

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Inuyasha had Yasei close the opening to Tokyo as soon as he got through, ignoring his sardonic expression. They both glanced at the wall where the door leading to Kyoto had been, then at each other.

 

“Okay, what's the plan?” Yasei asked.

 

The hanyou shrugged. “Go back to Kyoto, find the bitch and kill her.”

 

Yasei rolled his eyes. “Oh, great plan. Why don't I just kill myself and save her the trouble?”

 

“You got a better one, punk?”

 

“Well, no. But I think that we ought to line up some backup.” He looked up and out of the entranceway, where they could hear the tengu gabbling to each other. “You know, like the reinforcements coming from the Inari shrine? Maybe the crows would like to help, you never know.”

 

Inuyasha snorted at that last. “You heard that tengu guy, they could care less as long as she goes away. And I don't need backup, least of all a bunch of foxes. I can take her.”

 

Yasei gave him a curious look. “Why are you so hot to chase after her? Your girl is safe; you should go home too. Soen is our problem.”

 

“Soen is my prey. Get in line, kitsune,” Inuyasha gritted out. The damn bitch had tried to kill Kagome, had hurt the runt—she was going to pay for that. Plus she was just too fucking dangerous to be running around loose, and she might even figure out that Tokyo was where the Emperor was. The last thing he wanted was an insane, powerful youkai rampaging through his territory.

 

He waved Tessaiga irritably at the spot where the door had been. “No more stalling, moron. Get that damn door open, and if you want to wait for backup like a fucking wimp, be my guest.”

 

“You're lining up a suicide mission, and I'm the moron?” Yasei snorted. “You're just going to have to wait, tough guy.” Flashing a snotty grin, he flipped himself backwards up the steps and darted out the entrance to disappear outside.

 

“Dammit—!” Inuyasha angrily jabbed at the wall with the sword, but it did not magically open. He stomped up the stairs after the kitsune. “Open that fucking door right now, asshole—”

 

He halted at the top, struck by a wave of fox scent. Just arriving in front of the den was a couple dozen kitsune, armored and bearing some pretty businesslike weapons. The crows stood to one side; they gripped their weapons tightly as they huddled together in a wary mass and stared at the newcomers. At the head of the group was Hanae, the older fox-woman from the shrine, looking stern and even kind of impressive in a particularly ornate set of armor. She strode up, Yasei in tow, and gave Inuyasha a searching look.

 

“Backup, see?” Yasei smirked from slightly behind her.

 

“Yes, I suppose he could be useful,” Hanae said absently. “Excuse us, please. Follow if you like.” She swept past Inuyasha down the steps, and the other kitsune made to follow.

 

“Just a fucking minute!” Inuyasha stomped back down the steps on her heels. “You jerks can be MY backup. I go first, got it?”

 

“Indeed.” Hanae turned from the back wall where the door was, to glance at Inuyasha, eyebrow raised, before looking at Yasei, who was climbing down into the den behind him, giving him as much space as the small den allowed. “Which one, Yasei?”

 

“Left, Hanae-san.”

 

Hanae flicked her fingers at the wall, and stepped back, waving Inuyasha forward to the now open door. “After you, then,” she smiled sweetly.

 

Inuyasha shot her a suspicious scowl before turning his attention to the view of Kyoto. But he tensed at the sight now revealed. “Shit!”

 

The grass outside the doorway was blackened as if burned. It led away in a wide trail that curved around towards the bulk of the Imperial Palace. Where not blackened, the remaining grass had turned brown and dead, and the trees were drooping, their leaves fallen. A poisonous yellow haze drifted slowly along the ground and over the wall.

 

Inuyasha lifted his arm and covered his nose with his sleeve. “Miasma,” he growled. Where the hell did it come from? This place was fine not that long ago.

 

Gripping Tessaiga, he sprang forward, getting some distance from the door before rolling around to face the door, and any possible threat behind it.

 

The front of the palace was ruined. It looked as though shouki had rained down on it, melting the tiles of the roof, where holes gaped. A view of the inside of the hall was revealed through a collapsed portion of the wall. The trail of destruction led straight through the gates, now flattened, to the ragged, yawning entrance.

 

The kitsune, emerging from the doorway much the same way he had, were grim. Yasei looked shocked and angry.

 

“She must have been covering it up when we opened the portal before,” he muttered.

 

“I agree,” murmured Hanae. “Judging from the damage, she must have come through at least half an hour ago. She could have moved off, and thus dropped the illusion.”

 

“But I didn't feel any effects,” Yasei said urgently. “And we had the kit, and that girl with us, they could be ill by now—”

 

Inuyasha had started moving cautiously away from them and toward the palace, where the trail of foulness led, but tensed as he heard that. He paused and looked back.

 

“The girl is a miko, and a strong one,” Hanae said, turning to wave the line of kitsune fighters through the opening; from his viewpoint they seemed to be emerging from thin air—he could not see the den from behind the door. “She might have been purifying the air around her without even realizing it was fouled. I'm sure she's fine.” The fox-woman gave a puzzled look back towards the opening. “Where is she, anyway?”

 

Inuyasha turned back to the palace, not bothering to listen to further conversation. Kagome should be fine—if she could shrug off Naraku's miasma, this thin stuff wouldn't be a problem. He felt a surge of relief that he could concentrate on finding the youkai without worrying about her safety this time. He was doubly glad by the time he reached the destroyed entrance to the building, and found the first body just inside.

 

The man's throat had been slashed out, and he lay twisted in a pool of blood. He wore a uniform, similar to the type that the city guards in Tokyo wore. Inuyasha tread silently past, every sense alert for signs of the youkai's presence.

 

She seemed to have made a circuit of this enormous hall, indiscriminately tearing at the walls in an insane rage. There certainly didn't seem to be any reason for the damage otherwise. The trail of devastation continued out the back of the hall, which had been torn out to reveal more buildings behind it. Near the hole ripped out of the wall, he found another dead man, wearing the same uniform. He had been eviscerated, and by the expression of agony on his face, it had been done, perhaps slowly, while he was still alive. Inuyasha stared grimly down at him for a moment, before warily continuing.

 

He paused before emerging outside, flattening himself against the inside wall while he surveyed the scents in the air. Miasma, of course; the smell of plaster, wood and tile, blood and shit and guts. Hanae and the punk and the other foxes, approaching. And the scent of Soen, enraged and frustrated and fresh, led to the next building.

 

He peered out, cautiously, but saw nothing moving, heard nothing out there. The trees in this courtyard, gray-graveled like the first, were blackened and leafless. The door to the next building was torn open as well. Behind him he heard the foxes come in, heard Yasei's gasp at finding the body by the front door.

 

Hanae came up quietly to his side, taking care to avoid being framed in the opening to the next building. Inuyasha noted the very good sword that she was holding in a very professional manner. The other kitsune followed her lead, Yasei bringing up the rear. It looked like they had left about half the contingent behind, hopefully to guard the portal.

 

“That building back there is the Emperor's living quarters, when he's here in Kyoto,” she whispered to Inuyasha, edging around him for a peek around the edge of the opening. “Fortunately, I know he's not there at the moment.”

 

A wave of scent was his only warning. He shoved Hanae back with a sweep of his arm, even as he brought Tessaiga to bear in front of him, and then they were plunged into darkness.

 

“Then if you know so much, traitor, then perhaps you can redeem yourself and tell me where he is?” The hissing voice was too familiar, and right in front of them. How the hell did she manage to sneak up on us? he wondered angrily, even as he swung, and hit nothing.

 

Out of the darkness multiple whips of energy flickered just before they struck. He managed to block some, but several connected, and swatted him like a bug. Inuyasha skidded across the floor to the far corner before he could gain purchase and fling himself back. He could not see anything but deceptive flickers of foxfire in the darkness, and even the grunts and screams of battle seemed oddly muted, off from where they should have been. But he could smell Soen's heavy, rank scent like a beacon.

 

He thought furiously as he pounded back towards her—any of Tessaiga's special attacks would also hit the other kitsune. The only thing for it was a direct attack—

 

Closely monitoring her scent, he feinted towards the flashes of sight and sound that suggested a location further away. At the last minute he swerved, sweeping the great blade at her with a snarl. He felt it connect, and the next second he could see again—in time to watch Soen's giant fox form crash through the wall high up near the roof and disappear outside.

 

He spared a glance for Hanae and the others. Most of the kitsune were down; Hanae was up, bleeding heavily from a gash on her left shoulder, but already heading outside, following Soen's trajectory.

 

Inuyasha sped past her out the back opening, and looked up, just in time to see the enraged kitsune bearing down on them from the sky. All nine tails were streaming sparks behind her. Soen let out a wordless roar of fury, claws splayed for a blow against them.

 

He grinned, nastily. She was perfectly framed for a Kaze no Kizu.

 

He let it fly with a yell, and the attack thundered from the blade and tore into her. She shrieked and was flung back, but amazingly swung back to them almost immediately. This time she flew in an evasive pattern, feinted towards him—but then swept past, seizing Hanae in a clawed grip and swept back up.

 

“Fuck!” Inuyasha tried leaping desperately after them, but missed and began falling back to earth. He could see Hanae slashing at Soen with her sword in one hand, blasting her with foxfire with the other, and heard her cursing. He landed in the courtyard, keeping his eyes on the sky. Soen was hovering, seemingly unconcerned about attacks now that she had a hostage. Out of the corner of one eye he could see Yasei and several of the other kitsune stumble out of the building, their expressions horrified as they took in the scene above the courtyard.

 

Inuyasha saw the claws contract on the fox-woman's body, and heard her gasp as the sword was swatted out of her grip. Soen bared her teeth in a horrible grimace, leaning down into Hanae's face. Miasma steamed around her in a cloud.

 

“Where is `Tokyo'?” she hissed. “Where is the Minamoto scum fled to?”

 

Hanae panted for breath in the crushing grip, and then spit in Soen's face. With a scream of rage Soen threw her straight down towards the ground. Her obvious intent was to smash her against the courtyard. With a curse Inuyasha leaped into the fox-woman's path, catching her and taking the force of the blow, which drove both of them into the ground. He tried to roll out from under the now unconscious Hanae and out of the small crater they were in. There was not enough time. Above him saw Soen arrowing in for an attack.

 

Suddenly she was sideswiped by several blurring forms, and crashed to the ground. He got to his feet but could only stand by and watch the writhing ball of fox fur—there was no way to safely get a strike on her without hitting one of the other kitsune.

 

Abruptly the entire group rose into the air, the largest body, that of Soen, shedding her attackers with a negligent shake. All of them but one fell to earth. One of the kitsune fighters that had come with Hanae struggled in Soen's grip, and they rose swiftly.

 

Inuyasha swore. She was rising up out of range, but he couldn't swing at her while she had one of the foxes. He glanced over and saw Yasei among the kitsune that stumbled to their feet. The young fox hurried over and got down in the shallow pit with Hanae, where Inuyasha heard him calling her name.

 

“She okay?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the dwindling forms of the huge, nine-tailed kitsune, and the smaller one in her grasp. The sky here had the same odd glow as Tokyo from the ambient light of the city, and he could pick out their tiny forms even at this distance.

 

“She's cut up, but I think she'll be all right,” Yasei said, but sounded worried. He started to say something else, but stopped at Inuyasha's sudden hiss.

 

There was something falling, something too small to be either Soen or the fox she had dragged up with her. Inuyasha tracked it until it fell, landing on the slanted roof of the palace hall, bounced several times and slid down off the eave to the ground.

 

It was a bloody arm, torn off from the shoulder. He looked up in time to see another fall, to land in the courtyard. The hand on this one still gripped a sword. A fine mist of blood was sprinkling down. Inuyasha wiped his face as he stared up to the sky, and a growl ripped from his throat as he saw Soen sweeping down, coming closer, and he stood defensively in front of the fallen Hanae.

 

Soen came only close enough to fling the torn, armless corpse of the kitsune fighter at them and fly up and away, in the direction of the kitsune portal. She was laughing.

 

“You can have this back,” she called mockingly. “I have what I need now.” And then she was out of sight over the building.

 

“Fucking hell! The door!” Inuyasha yelled, and leaped up onto the roof of the palace after her. He scrambled over the top and launched himself from the ridgepole, only to see her, way ahead of him now. She made directly for the kitsune door, knocking away the foxes guarding it like twigs, and disappeared. The outline of the space where it had been glowed briefly and then winked out.

 

“No, no, dammit NO!” he yelled as he skidded to a stop among the fallen foxes, who were shaking their heads as they rose. Inuyasha hauled one to his feet.

 

“You! Open that fucking door!” He spun the dazed kitsune around to face the spot where he guessed it had been. The fox focused on the area briefly, and then looked around, his face falling in confusion.

 

“It's gone,” he mumbled.

 

Inuyasha stared at him incredulously, and then gave him a shake. “What the fuck do you mean, `it's gone'?” Behind him he smelled Yasei and Hanae approaching, and he turned to see them limping up, Yasei supporting the older female. “Do something! She's fucking escaping, and this asshole can't find the door!”

 

The two kitsune shambled to a halt; Hanae stared at the space where the door had been, and then turned her head to give Inuyasha a tired look.

 

“He can't find the door because it's been destroyed, Inuyasha.” She shook her head, tears in her eyes. “Poor Jurou. She must have got it out of him.”

 

“You mean she's on her way to Tokyo by now,” Inuyasha breathed. If Soen didn't know how to find the emperor in Tokyo, she knew someone who did. The scent trail from the other door would lead the murderous bitch straight to the shrine. Rage and fear flooded him, and he clenched his fists hard enough that his claws pierced his palms.

 

Kagome.

 

 

TBC