InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Possessed ❯ Chapter 7

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

 

Chapter Seven

 

 

 

 

Dinner with the monk and slayer went better than they’d expected, even after Miroku’s reassurances. As soon as they arrived, Sango hugged Kagome and then told her that her husband had already filled her in.

 

“So just so you know,” she told the miko right away, “we’ll keep your secret, obviously, no question, but we don’t personally think there’s anything wrong with you two being together, and we’d still love to be your friends.”

 

“In fact,” Miroku chimed in next, “we don’t know how you two spend the new moon...”

 

It was in Inuyasha’s file, so it had been easy enough for Sango to look up.

 

“...but we were thinking that the four of us could do things together, on occasion, if you wanted to that is. A small semblance of normalcy?”

 

“That sounds like a great idea,” Kagome agreed, before bravely confessing that she and Inuyasha usually did go out to eat on his human night, although they’d decided they wouldn’t be dining locally anymore for fear of eventually being recognized.

 

Sango agreed that that was a wise precaution, although she then confirmed what Kagome had previously believed; going out with Inuyasha on his human night was not illegal and there would have been no serious repercussions if they’d been discovered. Not now that he was her registered service youkai and always allowed to be out with her, at least. Him being human at the time was actually irrelevant. There were simply no specific laws on the books regarding hanyou during their human time. Hanyou were considered youkai, and youkai, including ones who could wear human guises, like kitsune, were obviously not allowed in the human world...unless registered. Shifters like kitsune couldn’t presently be registered, but hanyou weren’t classified as shifters; rather they were merely considered whatever their youkai half was, making Inuyasha an inu-youkai, even if, technically, his human time was viewed as him ‘adopting’ human form.

 

But since genetic testing was the only way to tell the difference, even reiki users unable to sense anything from hanyou while human, and reiki itself posing them no harm, there was no way for the Spiritual Forces to identify hanyou while human and so their official position on the matter was no position, since there was nothing anybody could do about it. The government wasn’t about to start taking everyone’s DNA to make doubly sure everyone was really human. The Spiritual Forces did what they could, and that was good enough. Statistically, nation wide, it was assumed there were always some youkai, and hanyou, successfully living among humans in secret; their job was just to keep those numbers as low as possible.

 

Sango and Miroku had a duty to follow the rules, hence their initial reaction to Inuyasha when they’d first met him in the forest, but because they both actually sympathized with the plight of hanyou they’d already been willing to keep his existence a secret after Kagome had explained the situation, and then of course Sango had suggested registration as a way of making him legal. Because he was legal, now, they weren’t going to say anything to anyone about the times Kagome had taken him out on his human nights back when it actually had been against the law, and they were all for the four of them doing things together, like going out to eat or going to the movies.

 

They discussed the various possibilities over dinner, which Inuyasha had gone ahead and cooked this time because he’d figured there was no point in trying to avoid looking ‘too human’ when they now knew he and Kagome were together, and were miraculously okay with it! They ended up making simple plans for January’s new moon. They were going to go to the movies, something Inuyasha and Kagome actually hadn’t done yet.

 

Kagome felt so much better getting the secret of her relationship with Inuyasha off her chest where Sango and Miroku were concerned. She hadn’t felt guilty for keeping the secret, just nervous, worried what their reactions might be if they ever found out. Now that it was over and done with, and they were supportive and still wanted to be their friends, it was a tremendous weight lifted off her shoulders.

 

It also had her doubling down on her decision to come clean with her family on Monday, too. Nobody had ever asked her about it, yet, at least, and so she’d never actually lied to them, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Her grandfather would probably bring up ‘finding a nice man’ again, if not over Christmas dinner then probably on her next birthday, if they didn’t come clean by then, and while her grandfather might not ever put two and two together Kagome was sure her mother would eventually get suspicious, assuming she wasn’t already. That woman was pretty sharp. That was why she’d originally made the decision to just go ahead and tell them this coming Christmas Eve, to get it over with. A decision Inuyasha supported, of course, because she wouldn’t go against his wishes if he’d told her he wasn’t ready to tell them yet. He’d agreed with her. It was probably inevitable that they’d eventually find out, and so in that case, the sooner the better.

 

That didn’t mean he was looking forward to it.

 

But Christmas Eve was still three days away, so there was no point in panicking in advance. That was why he’d suggested they go for a run that morning, as a means of distraction, and they were both grateful for the potential disaster as a result of that decision that had instead turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise. They at least knew, now, that even if Kagome’s family didn’t support them, they were not all alone in the world. It was also discussed over dinner that they were going to be telling her family, and Sango and Miroku both immediately offered their emotional support, saying they would be there for the hanyou and miko no matter what. They truly were good friends.

 

Good friends with their own home they needed to return to, as the two couples finally said goodnight for the evening. Inuyasha and Kagome didn’t do anything when they went to bed that night, much to Shiro’s relief, but as he held her in his arms as they drifted off to sleep together, it was one of the most peaceful nights they’d had thus far.

 

oooooooooooooooooooo

 

The next day was relatively uneventful. They decided to share a quick shower first thing that morning, after Inuyasha let Shiro out and got him his breakfast, the hanyou and miko fooling around some before starting their day. A quick and easy breakfast of microwaved egg and sausage sandwiches tided them over before getting to work on the daily morning chores. They decided to keep themselves busy that day by giving the house an extra thorough cleaning from top to bottom. There were lots of little things to dust with all the Christmas decorations up, so that took some extra time, not that they were really all that dusty, but still. Cleaning the house extra well that morning meant they’d be able to spend the next day, the 23rd, binge watching Christmas movies, and skip doing any housework at all.

 

Sango also called at one point just to see how Kagome was doing and they ended up chatting on the phone for a while, Inuyasha taking advantage of the break to work on his carvings for a little bit. Later that evening neither of them really felt like cooking dinner, so Kagome made a quick run out for some ramen, and then they had a casual dinner of eating their noodles on the couch while getting a head start on movie day, watching one of the cheesy made for TV Christmas movies Inuyasha had always used to watch with his mother. Once dinner was eaten Kagome relaxed into Inuyasha’s arms. It was the perfect evening.

 

The next day began much the same way. A few lovey-dovey ‘good morning’ kisses led to them sharing a shower where they eventually took the time to actually bathe, and then it was time for breakfast. Kagome dressed into some comfy house clothes consisting of light gray sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt sans bra, since she wasn’t planning on going anywhere that day. She was already thinking up ideas for dinner so she wouldn’t have to do another ramen run. Inuyasha donned a pair of red sweatpants but remained shirtless as hanyou and miko made their way downstairs for breakfast.

 

“Hmm, looks like I’m gonna have to go to the store today, after all, unless you’re okay with no bacon tomorrow morning, either,” the miko said as she stared at the contents of their refrigerator. She had been planning on making a simple plate of eggs and bacon that morning but had forgotten they were out of the latter.

 

“Just work with whatever we’ve got and go to the store whenever you feel like it,” Inuyasha said. He was looking forward to spending the day just watching movies with her.

 

Checking things out further, they still had plenty of eggs, she saw, and bread.

 

“How does French toast sound, then?” she asked.

 

“Sounds good to me,” he agreed.

 

Nodding, Kagome was just about to break the first egg against the bowl when her cellphone, which she’d forgotten upstairs, started to ring. Gently setting the egg back in the carton, then, she took the phone from Inuyasha who in only those few seconds had rushed up to his room to retrieve it and back down again. It still amazed her how fast he was when he wanted to be.

 

Inuyasha woofed quickly to silence Shiro who’d started barking his head off at the speeding hanyou, and then, having seen who was calling from Kagome having added the Spiritual Forces HQ as a contact, he ran back upstairs at a more normal speed to start getting dressed. There was only one reason they’d be calling.

 

“Higurashi,” Kagome answered professionally, Inuyasha already back downstairs dressed in his fire-rat by the time she finished getting their instructions, a nervous expression on his face.

 

Just like he’d said not that long ago, they’d both known it was only a matter of time before they got their first call. They honestly hadn’t been expecting it so soon, though. As a reservist, Kagome was only called in when the local taijiya needed backup, after all. For the usual small demonic pest in someone’s attic or what have you, a warrior miko (and her hanyou) would not be required.

 

Heading back upstairs, herself, Kagome explained the situation to Inuyasha, who came with her while she changed into her miko robes. Apparently, on the other side of town and so in a different part of the forest, which was why she hadn’t sensed anything – their entire town was shaped sort of like a knob on a jigsaw puzzle piece, a round area tucked into a cutout of forest, snuggled up against the foothills with forest all around them except in the one direction that led to the cities – three teenage boys had been attempting to capture a baby badger-youkai that morning, the kit apparently found by itself presumably while the mother had been hunting. Then the mother had shown up, catching them in the act, and she was pissed.

 

Headquarters had this information because the boys, who’d barely made it back to their car at the edge of the forest in a spot between spread out houses, were the ones who’d called it in. Two of the three boys also had bad gashes in the backs of their legs from the badger’s claws and needed medical attention, but they were trapped in their car, unable to drive away because mama badger had sliced their tires and was presently still trying to claw her way into their car. No word on the condition of the baby badger they’d claimed to have left behind when they’d made a run for it, but the mother’s aggression had Kagome fearing the worst.

 

It was standard procedure to automatically call in the local warrior miko, too, when dealing with an especially aggressive youkai that had already caused human injury, so that explained why she’d been called in as well. Kagome figured the taijiya could probably handle this situation on their own, hopefully just with sleeping pellets, but she was grateful to be included nonetheless. If for any reason the pellets weren’t effective, and they certainly weren’t foolproof, then she knew she’d be able to get those boys out of the car and to safety without harming the badger-youkai. From what she understood of the situation, mama badger definitely didn’t deserve to die.

 

Just about ready to go, Inuyasha dashed back downstairs and made her a quick piece of buttered toast. “You’d better eat something,” he said as she came downstairs to meet him and he handed her the toast. Grateful, she ate it quickly, and then they were out the door.

 

The drive only took a few minutes, and they arrived on the scene about the same time Sango’s team did, led by her father Masaru.

 

The mama badger-youkai was about three times the size of her mortal counterpart, was walking on her hind legs and slashing at the car with claws the size of steak knives, carving deep gouges into the metal, two of the windows already broken out. The teens trapped inside, who kept frantically moving around inside the car towards whichever end was farthest away from wherever the slowly circling badger was, were lucky she wasn’t capable of youki-based attacks like Inuyasha could dish out. They’d have been done for if she were.

 

Two of the taijiya immediately threw stink pellets towards the badger that were designed to render youkai unconscious, and even though he was upwind Inuyasha automatically held his breath at the sight. Unfortunately, apparently so did the badger. She emerged from the smoke cloud all fangs and claws, eyes glowing red, aiming for the taijiya who’d thrown the pellets. They were thankfully able to deflect her attacks with well-timed swings of their chained scythes, which seemed to make her think twice about attacking well-armed youkai slayers, but she clearly wasn’t ready to give up on her prey just yet when she planted herself between the car and the fighters and threatened anyone who took even one step closer to the car. One glance past her at the boys inside told everyone time was running out for the injured two. They were looking pale and sickly, and the one who’d managed to avoid getting slashed while running away was screaming for help through the broken windows.

 

“This is bad,” Kagome said, talking to Inuyasha who was standing beside her, unsure of what to do. He could take on that badger and win, no question, but from what she’d told him he agreed with Kagome that the mama badger didn’t deserve to die.

 

“Something’s not right,” he said then. “You said the boys said they hadn’t actually hurt her baby, they just dropped it and ran, but if that’s true she shouldn’t have abandoned her kit to continue chasing after them.”

 

“I can get the boys out of the car,” Kagome said, just as the local news crews started arriving on the scene. “Think you can go find the baby? Assuming it’s unhurt that should calm her down, and if it’s injured we need to see if we can help it.”

 

“If I can get close enough to catch her scent, absolutely.”

 

“Be careful.”

 

“You too.”

 

With that, Inuyasha dashed straight for the badger-youkai, who was all teeth and claws as Inuyasha approached. With most of the fighters unaware of the plan they thought Inuyasha was charging in to take the badger out and were surprised when the hanyou merely blocked her slashes with his sleeve and then veered off and dashed away into the forest.

 

Sango, who’d been on her way over to the miko and hanyou and so had been close enough to hear the last bit of their conversation, asked Kagome, “Are you going to try one of your blunt arrows again?”

 

Kagome shook her head.

 

“That badger-youkai might get seriously injured even by a blunt arrow. Her youki’s not very strong,” the miko answered.

 

“What do you have in mind, then?”

 

“A barrier.”

 

Sango looked confused.

 

“I don’t want to hurt her, but I’m betting she’ll get out of the way to avoid being zapped,” Kagome explained.

 

“Ah,” Sango voiced in understanding.

 

Closing her eyes, Kagome concentrated a moment, and then a shimmering transparent blue bubble appeared around her, not too large but wider than the reach of her arms, so she could theoretically fire a purifying arrow from within the safety of her barrier if there were ever a need, although to do both at the same time was a tremendous strain on her mental energy.

 

Approaching the car, then, Kagome’s guess had been correct in that the badger, who hissed and bared her fangs at the miko, backed slowly away at her approach, sensing the danger of her barrier and knowing not to get too close. The local news crews recorded every harrowing moment as Kagome got to the car and thankfully managed to get one of the doors open despite the vehicle’s mangled appearance by that point. Kagome and the uninjured boy then each helped one of the two injured boys to walk back behind the front line of taijiya warriors, who had spread out a bit to surround the area in order to prevent the badger from running deeper into town.

 

The local news, and bystanders with their cellphones, filmed it as medical personnel loaded the teens onto an ambulance, and then, just when it looked like the badger was planning on charging passed the fighters to reach the ambulance, or die trying, Inuyasha suddenly rushed back onto the scene, a little furry brown bundle in his arms.

 

“Kit’s got a fucking ofuda on it!” he shouted as he approached. “I tried to take it off with a stick but it’s on there good.”

 

He’d known he didn’t dare try to just rip it off with his bare hand, because he could sense there was enough reiki powering that slip of paper to possibly seal him as well, and he hadn’t really felt like just lying there on the forest floor, one hand on the ofuda on badger kit’s back, until someone from their team found him. Fortunately he’d known thanks to Kagome that the effects didn’t travel through the body from one youkai to the next.

 

Kagome couldn’t get close to Inuyasha with her barrier up, which she kept up in that moment as she and some of the taijiya continued to block the adult badger-youkai from running down the street after the departing ambulance, although the badger was actually now looking at the hanyou holding her immobile baby. Kohaku was the nearest taijiya to the mama badger so that was where Inuyasha headed, holding out the small limp animal in his hands with its back towards Sango’s brother, while his father, Masaru, also came over.

 

Instead of attacking Inuyasha, as it looked like mama badger had just been about to do, she stilled and tilted her head when Inuyasha told Kohaku and Masaru, “It’s just a sealing ofuda, the kit’s fine otherwise. But he’d sure looked dead from the way those brats had just dropped him on the ground when they ran off, and even if Mama knew her kit was just sealed it’s not like she could’ve taken the ofuda off, herself.”

 

Kohaku did the honors of peeling off said ofuda, then, and handed it to his father, who would be filing it as evidence. The boys had admitted to trying to capture the baby badger, which was a crime in and of itself, but using an ofuda made it a little more serious, and considering none of the boys had been reiki users it also begged the question of where they’d gotten the ofuda from in the first place. It certainly implied premeditation on their parts, instead of foolish teens just deciding to take the baby when they’d seen it.

 

That was not Inuyasha’s concern, though, as the kit in his hands, which was about the size of a human one-year-old, started to fuss and squirm in his grasp, clawing and scratching at his arms with all four paws. Thankfully his fire-rat protected him, but he still didn’t want to hold on to the kit any longer than necessary.

 

Masaru was worried Inuyasha was about to put the baby down from the irritated look on his face, but then before the head taijiya could instruct the hanyou on what he should do, Inuyasha was already addressing the mother badger directly. Masaru observed then, impressed, as the hanyou spoke to the adult badger-youkai so naturally.

 

“Your son’s fine, so come on, let’s get you two away from all these humans.”

 

That said, Inuyasha turned and walked at a swift pace back towards the treeline, past the slashed remains of the boys’ car, and when the mother badger-youkai lowered herself to all fours and scurried after the inu-hanyou carrying her baby nobody got in her way. Entering the edge of the forest, Inuyasha was still visible to everyone watching and recording as he gently placed the young badger kit on the ground and mother and baby immediately took off deeper into the trees together, Inuyasha following after them for a bit as a precaution. Kagome lowered her barrier as they went, a sigh of relief leaving her lips both for the fact that they’d managed to avoid harming the mother, and the baby was also all right, and because it was exhausting maintaining a barrier for so long. She was glad it was over.

 

Of course, it wasn’t really over, yet.

 

Now comes the ‘fun’ part, note the sarcasm, she thought, with a mental roll of her eyes she didn’t dare let show on the outside, because as soon as her barrier was down the reporters for the local news channels came over, hoping for a quick interview.

 

At least they weren’t like paparazzi vultures, shoving a camera and microphone in her face. Plus it was the same people as last time, so she felt a little more comfortable speaking with them this time around.

 

She was asked the usual sort of questions, at first. What had been going through her mind as she’d approached the car? Was she scared? What made her decide against using deadly force against such a violent youkai? And then, of course, they asked if she knew what was going on with that ‘other’ youkai, the humanoid one that had shown up with the baby badger in order for one of the taijiya to remove the ofuda. One of the reporters even mentioned having seen that youkai speaking with Kagome briefly just as they’d arrived on scene, and that even though cameras hadn’t been rolling yet they’d seen him charge the badger-youkai before disappearing into the forest. Then another reporter asked if this humanoid youkai dressed in red posed a threat to their town, or if Kagome knew it was going back home into the forest now and wouldn’t cause any trouble.

 

Here we go, she thought, keeping her professional smile firmly in place no matter what.

 

Answering their questions in order, she at first replied that she’d just been focused on rescuing the boys. She hadn’t been afraid of the badger-youkai since she’d known it couldn’t harm her through her barrier, but she’d been scared for the teens, not knowing the extent of their injuries and fearing that time was of the essence. She hadn’t wanted to hurt the badger-youkai because from what they’d understood, it hadn’t been an unprovoked attack, but rather, a mother protecting her baby.

 

“And as for the other youkai that you guys saw arrive with the baby badger-youkai he’d found sealed in the forest, our town has nothing to fear from him. He’s actually mine,” Kagome said then, playing her part well. “His name is Inuyasha, and he’s my new service youkai. The reason he ran towards the mother badger earlier was just to get her scent, so he could find the baby, because I had suspected something must have happened to the kit to make the mother act that way. She wouldn’t have left her kit alone to chase after those boys if her kit had been unharmed.”

 

Her attempt at directing the interview back onto the subject of the badgers and those boys didn’t work, of course. The reporters were just curious. She couldn’t say she blamed them.

 

She couldn’t say a lot, actually.

 

“How did you acquire that humanoid youkai?” she was asked right away, followed swiftly by “Or is he actually a hanyou?”

 

Curious minds, after all. Hanyou were rare.

 

“Actually yes, Inuyasha is an inu-hanyou,” she admitted but quickly followed up with a nonchalant, “not that it matters.”

 

Meaning the character she was playing saw no humanity in him. He was a youkai all the same.

 

Addressing the first part of the question, then, she added, “I actually discovered him quite unexpectedly shortly after moving into my new home, which backs up against a part of the forest I love to go for walks in. I left him be at first, but then over time we built a sort of rapport, you could say. He’s canine after all, so he ended up developing a loyalty towards me that I realized I could use on the field. Like any other service youkai out there, he’s happy to help.”

 

“As your registered service youkai, does that mean he no longer lives in the forest?” she was asked then. “Or do you just call for him and he comes?”

 

“I allow him to go into the forest when he needs to go for a run, but he does have a room in my house, now. It’s just more convenient that way.”

 

“And it doesn’t make you nervous?”

 

“Not at all,” she replied with a shrug. “It’s no different from the many taijiya who have their own nekomata or lower inu-youkai, except in my case I have the added benefit of actually being able to communicate with him,” she said with a little laugh that thankfully had the reporter chuckling as well. “I couldn’t ask for a better guard dog,” Kagome added, just as Inuyasha came back on the scene.

 

When he saw Kagome with the reporters he tried to look the other way and look busy talking to Sango, who was holding Kirara, but he easily heard one of the reporters ask Kagome to call him over and knew there was no getting out of this.

 

“You okay?” Sango asked quietly then.

 

“Fine,” he replied. “We knew it was only a matter of time.”

 

Just then, Kagome called “Inuyasha!” as if he truly were her dog.

 

Not in the ‘sing song’ way you might call your pampered pet over, but rather in the no-nonsense tone used with police dogs and the like.

 

Inuyasha schooled his features then immediately rushed over to Kagome’s side.

 

“Yes, Kagome?” he asked, as if he didn’t comprehend that she was in the middle of being interviewed.

 

Sango observed, and now that she knew the hanyou and miko personally, the difference between the real them and this clearly rehearsed act they put on together when necessary was night and day.

 

When the reporter addressed the hanyou directly, with, “So, Inuyasha, we hear you’re the newest member of our local taijiya team,” his startled expression wasn’t entirely an act, since he really was surprised the reporter had spoken to him directly, but he rolled with it, looking nervously at Kagome, then, as if he didn’t know what to say or do.

 

“It’s all right, Inuyasha,” Kagome said in an encouraging way, nodding a little.

 

“Yes, I’m new, and I’m happy to help,” he answered then, making sure to look directly at the person who’d spoken to him and not into the camera, as if he didn’t know what the camera was. If his lines sounded rehearsed to the news crew, it still worked, because most people would probably just assume Kagome had told Inuyasha what to say to strangers in an owner/talking pet sort of way.

 

Then one of the other reporters asked him how it felt to be working with a team of humans.

 

“I like it,” he replied. “My loyalty is to humans, so if there’s a youkai that’s posing a threat my job is to help protect Kagome and the other humans.”

 

The reporter smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m sure your team is lucky to have you.”

 

He bowed his head a little. “Thank you.”

 

“Well, if you will excuse us,” Kagome said then, taking immediate advantage in their lull of questioning. Inuyasha quickly looked to Kagome at the sound of her voice, like a loyal dog should.

 

“Come on, Inuyasha,” she said then, still in ‘master’ mode. “We need to get going.”

 

“Yes, Kagome.”

 

Kagome and Inuyasha walked away, then, towards Sango and the others, Inuyasha easily able to pick up the various reporters all speaking into their designated cameras with things such as “Well there you have it,” and “In a shocking turn of events...”

 

For better or worse, his secret was out, now. Hopefully their secret would never be discovered, but their hometown now knew he existed, and their neighbors would know there was a hanyou living next door. They would also probably not believe the misdirection that Kagome had supposedly found him out in the woods while going for a walk. The majority of townsfolk would not know her ‘new home’ was the old Takahashi place, but everyone in their cul-de-sac had met Kagome and would likely put two and two together.

 

That was a worry for another time, though. There were more pressing worries on his mind at the moment, considering tomorrow was Christmas Eve. He just wanted to go to HQ, have Kagome fill out their paperwork, and then get back home to salvage the rest of what was supposed to be movie day.