InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pack Law ❯ Where We First Met ( Chapter 25 )

Pack Law

 

Chapter 25: Where We First Met

 

She twisted the coarse, light-colored fabric tightly, imitating the worry twisting in her gut. She was aware of the whispers of the other women, further down the river, tending to their own laundry. They were too far away to be clear, but it was obvious they didn't want her to know what they were discussing.

 

Of course they didn't. Their men had returned late last night… exhausted, battle-worn and dirty, but alive. Her husband was still out there… but he was coming back. She knew it.

 

She swept the small hut, smiling wryly at the tiny muddy footprints tracked around the floor. Just as she put the broom away, sighing in relief, her little terror rushed in, replacing the dirt with more. Her chastising words caught in her throat at the sight of her son's face - worry, concern, and sadness as he told her a man from the village was waiting for her outside.

 

Sorrow… he insisted her husband had been killed by one of the new matchlock guns. He'd saved this younger man… but left her and their son all alone…

 

Ki jerked awake, shocked at the liquid coursing down her cheeks. `I was crying?' Remembering her dream in stunning clarity, she rose, positive there'd be no more sleeping for her.

 

“Sleep, such a disgusting human weakness,” her master's voice intoned from the doorway. Ki swung away, staring out the window and quickly wiping her cheeks. It may be obvious she'd been tearing up, but the hells would open up and swallow her whole before she'd admit it.

 

Ki sniffed, hoping it sounded more offended than sorrowful. “Weakness or not… I don't need it. I simply enjoy it.”

 

“You say you don't need it, but you're obviously out of sorts this morning. Are you prepared and able to do my bidding, beautiful Chiaki?”

 

Ki nodded, shoving her negative emotions to the back of her mind. She'd lost track of the time she'd spent with her master, but he'd always been kind to her. So what if she had questions he wouldn't answer? She had meant what she'd said to the impertinent girl at school… she was loyal and would do anything Master Naraku wished of her. “Of course, Master. What is it you wish of me today?”

 

“Close your eyes,” he commanded, moving closer to her. She felt him come closer, could smell the effect his limited aura had on the air around him and wished he had more power, had the power to create a fully-formed body. Obviously forming a hand, he placed the half of the Shikon no Tama in her hand. “Feel its aura,” he ordered. “Be familiar with it.” After a moment, he spoke again. “Do you feel the pulling of your soul?”

 

Ki wrinkled her nose, searching deep within herself. Contrary to what her master always claimed, her soul wasn't necessarily tugging at anything. She never felt empty. It was more… speaking to her, saying there was more out there. It led her places… and always to that infernal schoolgirl!

 

“Follow the feel of the shards, Chiaki. Go to where your soul commands you. You will find the miko Kagome, take the shards from her, and kill her. Do not fail me, Chiaki.”

 

**********

 

Kagome muttered something unintelligible under her breath, bangs falling over her eyes as she marched next to Hitomu. He gazed at her out of the corner of his eyes, taking in the tense set of her shoulders, her clenched fists and flushed cheeks.

 

“Sooooo,” he drawled, hoping to stimulate some sort of conversation. They'd gotten about three-quarters of the way across town, and Kagome hadn't said a word. “Is there any particular reason you've dragged me across town with you?”

 

“I told you,” she huffed, “I want to see my family today. It's not fair to keep me locked up in there, especially after that baka said I wouldn't be kept from them!”

 

`Ah ha,' Hitomu grinned. “So you got in another fight with Uncle InuYasha this morning, huh?”

 

Kagome growled a bit, widening Hitomu's smile. `Those two were made for each other. They just can't see it.' His grin faltered as he remembered all the harsh ways his alpha had treated the young woman, `And I don't have to like it, either. But mother says these two belong together… and she's known them longer.'

 

Unaware of Hitomu's internal struggle, Kagome had begun ranting. “-hot and then he's cold. Super-nice and freaky and then he's back to being his baka self! I mean, it's not my fault he didn't ask to take me out before you did. Besides,” her voice turned morose, “there's no way he can be interested in somebody like me, anyway…”

 

Hitomu snorted, and then looked around. They were about halfway through a park. He nudged his companion, hoping to put a smile back on her face. “Hey, look where we are.”

 

Kagome blinked, taking in the surroundings. “The park?”

 

Hitomu nodded to a bench under a tree, off the beaten path. “This is where we first met,” he reminded her, acting shocked that she hadn't remembered. A smile began to grow on her face.

 

“Oh, you're right.” She ducked her head. “You know… when I first met you, I thought you were Miroku's reincarnation,” she muttered, slightly embarrassed. `Then again, I didn't know any better,' she reminded herself, a flash of anger at InuYasha reigniting in her veins. `How was I supposed to know Miroku and Sango would live this long?'

 

Hitomu had let out a bit of a laugh at Kagome's confession, only smothering it when she leveled a glare at him. “Sorry, sorry,” he choked out, waving his hands at her. “But you have to admit, that's kind of amusing. I mean, I don't look that much like him, do I?”

 

Kagome shook her head. “Nah, you're a decent blend of Sango and Miroku.” Her face took on a bit of a bitter quality as she continued, “But then, I don't look exactly like Kikyou, either. Our eyes were different colors and she was always so… refined.” She sighed, taking a seat on the bench. “Hitomu? Do you think I'm pretty?”

 

The teen cocked his head, lifting an eyebrow and somehow looking so much like InuYasha in that instant that her heart hurt. Then his father's nature shone through… “Do you really think I'd be hanging all over you if you weren't?”

 

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him before giving a tiny nod. “Actually, yes. Yes, I do. Because under that lecher façade, you're just like your father. You act like a pervert but you're a good guy and a good friend. Don't play with me.”

 

Hitomu suddenly remembered what she'd said about InuYasha just before he switched topics. `There's no way he can be interested in somebody like me, anyway,' she'd muttered. `She was always so… refined.'

 

“Kagome,” Hitomu said, obviously serious this time. “You are beautiful. Not just physically, but overall. You are a good person. In fact, my mother says if it weren't for you, none of the pack would be as close as they are now… if they knew each other at all.”

 

Kagome sniffled as she began to cry. “But… if that were true, why wouldn't InuYasha give me a talisman in the past? I would have stayed with him,” she confessed. “Did he not want me with him? Did he want the centuries to be with other women? I know he knew how much he upset me when he went off with Kikyou…”

 

Hitomu's eyes flared. “Is that really what you think?” Kagome nodded miserably and Hitomu wilted. `InuYasha, father's right. You can be such an idiot…' Damn it. “Kagome, remember… InuYasha thought you sealed the well.” He held up his hand as her eyes flashed, angry at the insinuation. “We all know that's not true now,” he continued, heading off what was sure to be a marvelous outburst. “But do you really think he didn't want you with him? He thought you didn't want to be with him. InuYasha's a man, darling. Did you really expect him to go 500 years without you and not be with any women, especially if he thought you didn't want him?”

 

Kagome gazed at Hitomu in astonishment. She'd never really thought about it that way. But still… “But I promised to stay by his side! Why would he think I would lie to him like that?”

 

Hitomu shrugged. “I don't know, Kagome. I never knew him in the past. All I know of him then is what mother and father told me. They always said that the two of you were meant for each other… if you guys could get past your communication problems.” He smiled wryly, “Now that I've seen it for myself, I'm tempted to agree with them.”

 

Kagome opened her mouth wide - whether to agree with him or chastise him, he wouldn't find out. A bolt, lit bright blue with youki, slammed into the tree between the two of them, taking some of Hitomu's bangs with it.

 

In the tree line, crossbow in hand, Ki stood defiantly, chin up and eyes narrowed. Dropping her long-distance weapon, she pulled out a curved, lethal-looking dagger and leapt across the distance separating them.

 

With a shout, Hitomu activated his staff, slammed it into the ground and projected a quick barrier. Ki bounced back with a hiss and a sizzle, glaring at the burn on her forearm. “You'll pay for that, boy, with your own blood,” she promised.

 

Slipping her ring on, Kagome darted out of the safety of the barrier, hoping to draw Ki's attention away from Hitomu. It worked a little too well, she thought, as a ball of youki slammed her to the ground. `I've really lost all the running and screaming skills I built up in the Sengoku Jidai,' she thought wryly, throwing up a small barrier of her own as another blast sailed her way.

 

The ball never connected; Hitomu swatted it away with his staff as he let loose a couple ofuda. “Call mother,” he shouted to Kagome, leaning back and very narrowly avoiding Ki's dagger blade. “We're going to need some help here.” He spun back, catching Ki in the side with his staff but getting a blast of youki for his efforts.

 

The youkai stood, panting, glaring and cracking her knuckles. “I've never truly tried out my power,” she said mockingly, “It will be educational for me to use them to tear you limb from limb.”

 

**********

 

“Look, I've told you everything I know! Miyuki thinks it might be the jewel shards, but I don't know what to tell you!”

 

“They've never affected her like this before!”

 

“She's never been around so many youkai with them before,” Miroku reminded InuYasha, pinching the bridge of his nose and refraining from smacking the youkai upside the head with his staff as he used to do when his alpha was being exceptionally stubborn. “Fine, if you're so sure it's not the shards, what do you think the problem is?”

 

InuYasha mumbled something so quietly Miroku couldn't pick it up. He sighed. “Not everybody has youkai hearing, InuYasha. If we're going to solve this problem, you're going to have to speak up.”

 

InuYasha raised his head to glare at his beta, promises of a painful death in his eyes. “I said… she smells like me,” he admitted. He'd noticed when hanging out the window earlier that morning. “Too much, because we haven't really been around each other lately.”

 

Miroku sighed. “Well, that's interesting, and we can add that to the list of things we don't understand the reasoning for… unless you know something you're not telling me?”

 

InuYasha shook his head, irritation marring his face. The worst part about the whole thing was that nothing felt wrong about the situation. His youkai blood, which seemed to speak up any time Kagome was concerned, was conspicuously silent.

 

“Maybe… maybe it's just because she's upset,” Miroku suggested, in a tone of voice that made it obvious he was grasping at straws. “Maybe it's affecting her ability to purify youki, and that's why it's wrapping itself around her power like that?”

 

“But it hasn't affected the rest of her powers,” InuYasha argued. “I saw you guys this morning. She was just as powerful… if not stronger… than she was the last time she was doing anything.”

 

“I still think it has something to do with the shards,” Miroku stubbornly maintained. “And if it is the shards, it might explain why she's been so damn moody.”

 

“That's not true,” Sango added, slipping into the office and shutting the door quietly. “At least, I don't think so.”

 

InuYasha tilted his head back with a longsuffering sigh. “Damn it, what do you want,” he muttered. His dismissive tone grated on Sango's already-stretched nerves.

 

“Kagome told me something last night,” she said, getting straight to the point. “About Chiaki. But…” she bit her lip, sure her alpha was going to go straight through the roof at the admission, “I can't tell you what it is.”

 

“WHAT?” InuYasha slammed his fists so hard onto his desk it cracked, eyes boring holes through Sango's face. “She fuckin'… I thought… damn it,” he spluttered, so angry he wasn't sure where he was going with his rant but sure it wasn't anywhere positive.

 

“That's right,” Sango said, a bit of acid to her voice. “She trusted me to tell me what was going on, and wants me to keep it a secret from you.” Sango had thought she'd like to see InuYasha squirm a bit, especially after hearing all of Kagome's worries the night before. Now, though, she just felt bad for him.

 

“InuYasha, I don't think she wants to get you involved because, well… I think she thinks you're over her, so to speak…”

 

InuYasha blinked, looking incredibly confused. “But I… that's stupid! Over at that ookami's dumb ranch we…”

 

“She told you she loved you,” Sango broke in. “And if what she told me is true, you didn't respond.” InuYasha looked away sheepishly. “And… Ayame kind of said something about all your past lovers.”

 

InuYasha cringed, a blush creeping up his cheeks. Of course his exploits were fairly well-known… especially after the night with that one German chick… but nobody ever really talked about them. `Shit.' “But they didn't mean anything,” he insisted, “You fucking know that! Didn't you tell her that? Why didn't she say anything to me?”

 

Miroku gave him a `You've-got-to-be-kidding-me' look. “What was she supposed to say, InuYasha? She confesses her love for you, you don't say a word. `Oh, hey, InuYasha, it's okay, I know you've been with dozens of other women so you must be over me…' This is Kagome we're talking about. She'd do anything to see you happy… even if it means letting go.”

 

InuYasha buried his face in his hands, a muffled “Fuck!” escaping with a groan. “Damn it to all the hells… what the fuck am I supposed to do now?”

 

“Make it up to her?” Sango suggested dryly. “Be honest with her?” She was about to make a few more comments when her phone cut through the office. Her forehead crinkled as she frowned at the caller ID. “Kagome?”

 

InuYasha's ears perked toward the phone, though his face remained hidden.

 

“Was that Hitomu shouting behind you?” Sango's worried voice drew InuYasha's full attention, especially when Kagome's scream ripped through the ear-piece. “Where are you?” Setting the phone down and pressing the ear-piece closer to her face, Sango busied her other hand by checking for her guns. “We'll be right there!”

 

InuYasha was already standing, Tetsusaiga at the ready. “She said the park by the shrine, right?” He blessed his clearer senses as he leapt out the window at Sango's affirmative reply. `Hold on, Kagome… I'm coming… I've been so stupid and now I'll make things right, as long as you hold on!'

 

Looking at each other, Sango and Miroku raced out of the office, heading for the car as fast as they could move.

 

**********

 

Kagome shrieked as she rolled across the ground, narrowly dodging another attack. Apparently these movements were like riding a bike - you never really forgot how to avoid death with the best of them.

 

“You okay, Kagome?” Hitomu shouted, running up and deflecting another attack with a grunt. His powers were much weaker than Kagome's; he was losing his concentration and could only hope his family would arrive soon.

 

Kagome nodded, panting, and then realized he was facing away from her and wouldn't have seen the movement. “Fine,” she groaned as she stood, “But we need to distract her so you can put up a barrier like the one at the shrine. Other people will hear this and come running.”

 

Hitomu reluctantly agreed, knowing the energy it was going to take. “We need to keep her in this clearing. Not many people wander through here. I hate to ask but-”

 

“She's after me,” Kagome said, “And I don't know how to make those kinds of barriers anyway… if I did it, I'd probably fry any youkai or hanyou trying to get in. Just do it!” She shoved away from Hitomu, ripping the shards off her neck and dangling them as she shouted to Ki, “You want these? Come and get them!”

 

Ki's red eyes narrowed. “That's not all I want from you, miko-child.” With a wave of her arm, the ground near Kagome's feet began to rumble. Eyes wide, Kagome scrambled backward. “I need something else of yours.”

 

“What do you want then?” Kagome shouted, trying to avoid the vines that had begun to erupt from the ground. For moment, she had a flashback of fighting Naraku in Mt. Hakurei. She yipped as one well-aimed vine snaked around her ankle, hoisting her into the air. The shards clinked to the ground.

 

Ki began a slow stalk toward her captive prey, ignoring the backlash of heat as a sound-dampening bubble formed around the area. “I do not know why my soul is in agony when you are nearby, but it is something I wish to rectify.”

 

“Let me help you,” Kagome offered breathily, reaching up to wrap her hands around the creeper tangled around her lower leg.

 

“You can help me,” Ki said, charging her bloodied dagger with youki, “by dying!” As she flew toward the miko, Kagome's hands glowed with reddish-pink spiritual power, burning through the vine.

 

Kagome shrieked as she fell, bracing herself for an impact that came a lot faster than she anticipated. “KAGOME!”

 

Kagome knew these arms. These were safe arms. Nobody could hurt her here… “InuYasha!”

 

Setting her on her feet, InuYasha gave her a cursory look and sniff before determining she was mostly unhurt. He swung around, leveling Tetsusaiga at the vines. Before he could release a blow, though, Kagome threw herself at them.

 

“Kagome!”

 

“The shards,” she hollered back, knowing she'd pissed him off by putting herself right back in harms way. `Oh well, there's nothing else I could do. He'd probably blast the jewel into sparkly dust…'

 

InuYasha spun to slice at Ki, who'd tried to manipulate the creepers into grabbing the miko again. “No you don't,” he muttered, seeing through red-hazed eyes as the scent of Hitomu's blood was blown at him. `Pack injured,' his youkai blood howled, swearing vengeance for the pup.

 

Ki hissed, grasping at her stomach and backpedaling away from the angry hanyou. InuYasha turned to the vines; he released a Kaze no Kizu and shredded them the moment Kagome was out of range. As his attentions were drawn away, Ki slid into the woods, taking to the trees and making a narrow escape.

 

“Stop!” Kagome tried to stop the youkai as she fled, but was distracted by Hitomu's groan. The young man's exertions had caught up with him; Ki had managed to plunge her dagger into his shoulder. “Hitomu!” Sango and Miroku were already gathered around him. She shoved her way to the young man's side, “Can I try to heal him?”

 

Miroku nodded tersely, removing his hands from the worst wound. “Just this one, though. He doesn't have a talisman to absorb the youki in your powers,” he cautioned. “Just close the wound.”

 

Kagome nodded, focusing on the task. Within a moment, she slumped back. She'd done a little more than Miroku had encouraged: healed the muscle around the injury, too, so he'd have use of the arm sooner. She watched as Sango lifted her son, carrying him to the park's parking lot.

 

“Oi.” Kagome jumped at the hand on her shoulder. “Calm down, you're fine now,” InuYasha muttered. “I'll take you to see your family, c'mon.”

 

Once her shards were safely stowed around her neck, InuYasha clutched her, as he'd wanted to do since he first saw her in this time period, and took to the trees. Kagome giggled, making the chance he was taking entirely worth it.

 

Kagome shot him a confused look as InuYasha settled them onto a broad branch of Goshinboku. “Gonna let ya' calm down before we see your folks,” he answered, reclining and pulling her to his chest.

 

Kagome struggled briefly before giving in to the safe feeling she always had when they sat like this. `He may make me angry… he may have moved on… but his arms are still the safest place in the world for me to be.'

 

Looking around, she broke the silence. “I told Sango I'd miss seeing the night sky in the past… but I think I miss this more.” She felt InuYasha's confusion and clarified, “Sitting in the tree in the middle of the woods. Listening to the birds and the wind and breathing the fresh air.”

 

InuYasha nodded against her head. “Things were sort of more peaceful then,” he agreed, “Even with all the youkai attacks. Then again, we wouldn't have had much time to relax in trees with all the wars and stuff going on.”

 

Kagome sighed, snuggling back against his chest as a brisk wind picked up. “It'll be autumn soon,” she mentioned. “Time goes by quickly when you're busy like this.”

 

“Not quickly enough,” InuYasha muttered. “But… I'd've waited another five hundred years to sit with you like this again,” he said, muffling his voice in her hair. She stiffened a bit as she tried to make sense of what he'd said.

 

She smiled wryly. `He can make me so mad just by opening his mouth… then he says something like that.' She knew it'd be a cold day in the hells before he actually apologized… that this was his way of trying to tell her he had missed her, that he'd been angry because he was hurt. Hitomu's words from earlier echoed in her head.

 

“You know, part of me wants to stay angry with you,” she said, feeling him tense up. “But I really can't when you say stuff like that.” He chuckled.

 

“Maybe I'll have to say stuff like that more often, then.”

 

Kagome twisted her head around to look at his face. “Not too often, though. That'd just be… weird,” she admitted, remembering all his nice overtures since they'd arrived back from the States.

 

InuYasha was about to bring up the subject of all their misunderstandings when a voice cut in from below them. “Are you two going to sit in the tree all day? Or are you going to come in and say `hi' to your family, girl?”

 

“Jii-chan… we'll be down in a moment.” Kagome sighed.

 

“We still have a lot of stuff to talk about,” InuYasha murmured, wishing they could stay like that all day but knowing the wench wanted to see her family.

 

“Why don't I take you up on your dinner offer tonight,” Kagome suggested with a bit of a smile on her face. “Think of it as an early birthday present.”

 

“Hey that's right… that's this week, isn't it?” Kagome nodded and InuYasha smiled. “Deal. Now let's go get some ramen.”

 

**********

 

Ki stumbled through the door, clenching her arm painfully. Her blood had already begun healing the wound on her waist but the burn had been caused by spiritual power. Those wounds always hurt the worst and took the longest to heal…

 

A hand clenched around her throat, slammed her up against the wall. “You do not have the shards, Chiaki…”

 

Choking, Ki made a desperate bid for freedom, scratching at his hand. Giving her a jerk, he released her. She slumped to the floor, sucking in deep breaths. “I apologize, master… I was intercepted…”

 

“I can tell by the disgusting smell of your blood,” Naraku said, looking down at his prize victim. “I shall not punish you this time. Next time, though, you will destroy the miko and bring the shards to me. Go bathe; you reek of humans and blood.”

 

A/N:

 

Let's start out the New Year right - with some Inu/Kag happiness!

 

I love hearing what you have to say about the story! Thanks go out to -

Lunabell

Sovereignty - (I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I slaved over it for quite a while… it took me forever to get it to say just what I wanted, without giving too much away!)

CatLover260 - (*huge grins* You, my dear, have just won a cookie. I'm not saying what PART of your review was right, but you're the first person to truly guess part of what's going on…)

badgirl093

Phalon

Deathmvp - (See? I told you I'd cut them some well-deserved slack. *smiles* And you're getting pretty good with your guessing, too…)

Ichigohime - (Answers are coming… eventually, muwhahaha!)

Brandospands - (Kagome really is a piece of moody work right now, isn't she? There will be answers soon enough…)

 

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other characters from the anime/manga. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

 

I do, however, own the original characters in this story. Please don't steal them! (I may let you borrow them if you ask politely.)