InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Settle the Score ❯ Breathe ( Chapter 4 )

Settle the Score
by Chri

Author rantings :
When I read my old chapters I was disappointed that they were much shorter than I thought them to be, so I decided to try a longer one. It's my first fic, so I can't tell for sure, but I think I'll change to longer chapters from now on.

It's really strange, you write almost forever and all you produce is almost nothing...

Disclaimer : I don't own Inuyasha or the rest. I'm just borrowing them a bit.

Special thanks to :
Kat Morning for her awesome beta skills. I also have to thank her that I finally know now that there is a comma needed with phrases like "of course".

Chapter 4

Come play my game
Inhale, inhale, you're the victim
Come play my game
Exhale, exhale, exhale

Breathe

Inuyasha woke up smelling smoke. He noticed that the whole room was engulfed by fire. He looked around to search for his mother, whom he could hear coughing somewhere. But every time he turned towards the source of the sound, the coughing seemed to come from behind him.

The room was getting hotter and hotter. The smoke bit his eyes, making them filled with tears. Suddenly, he could make out a figure in the smoke.

"Haha-ue!" He ran towards the silhouette, but stopped when he reached the person. His mother stood there in Kikyou's outfit, and her black hair was burning. The heat made her skin blister, but her clothes didn't catch fire. "You are late, Inuyasha." She walked towards him and reached for him. Her hand was only bones, all the flesh burned away.

Inuyasha tried to run away, but his body wouldn't move. The skin of his mother began to melt away in the heat like wax, revealing a new face, the face of the man who had bought him. Inuyasha somehow regained control of his body and fled, but he couldn't find an exit, just seeing fire everywhere he turned.

Soon he ran out of air, smoke irritating his lungs. He fell to his knees, coughing. "You won't be able to run away forever, Inuyasha," he heard, followed by steps from behind him, coming nearer. He snapped for air, but instead of oxygen only inhaled smoke. He needed air! He could feel two bony hands choking him from behind. He started to panic. He needed to breathe! He needed

* * * * *

"AAAAAH!" Inuyasha took in a deep breath. He exhaled sharply, trying to get the smoke out of his lungs, and took another breath of the cold morning air.

"Inuyasha, are you all right?" He could hear Miroku under him. Inuyasha shook himself, trying to regain his composure. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, feel it in his temple. He was glad he hadn't fallen out of the tree, all his years lying up in trees seemed to pay off.

Inuyasha looked down to see that the everyone, even Shippou, seemed to be awoken by his shout and now looked up to him expectantly. "Yeah, just a stupid nightmare."

That was why he didn't like to talk about his past; all it ever got him were the weirdest dreams. He wondered why this asshole always made an appearance in his dreams. ´If I ever get my hands on his neck ...´ He jumped down to join his companions. Everyone still looked at him. "What?"

Sango spoke up. "What was it about?" The others nodded, looking from Sango back to Inuyasha.

"Something that doesn't interest nosy youkai exterminators." Inuyasha gave her a glare.

Shippou jumped on Sango's shoulder. "I'm interested too. What is the wannabe-almighty Inuyasha afraid of? You will have to get stronger, so you be scared of nightmares," he teased the hanyou. ´This is going to be so much fun,´ the fox child thought with a grin. Inuyasha hated others witnessing a weakness of him.

But he didn't include Inuyasha's fist in the equation, which connected with his head. "Maybe you should take your own advice, brat," Inuyasha said, again punching Shippou on the head, but this time not as fast. "You can't even dodge when I'm playing!" he laughed at the kid. Shippou jumped down from Sango's shoulder and hid behind her.

"Osuwari."

Inuyasha slammed into the ground with a snarl. "Oi, Kagome, what was that for?"

Kagome looked tired. "No fighting with Shippou!"

Inuyasha got up. "But we just had a serious discussion on our fighting skills," he said with an evil smirk directed at the kid.

"What skill?" Miroku asked. For him Inuyasha's fighting consisted mainly of simple sword strikes and some really basic punches. And, of course, a lot of cursing.

Inuyasha glared at the monk. "More skill than yours." Inuyasha stretched his right hand in front of him. "Kazaana!" he shouted in the most disrespectful imitation of Miroku's voice he was capable of. "Very skillful indeed."

"I use my curse only as last resort. I'm very well capable of handling most things without," Miroku replied in an uninterested voice.

Shippou used the distraction to decide who it would be safer to be with. He looked between Sango and Kagome and finally settled for Kagome. He ran over to her and jumped onto her shoulder. "Let's see if you dare to attack now!" he shouted at Inuyasha, interrupting the hanyou's argument with Miroku.

"Keh."

´Damn Kagome,´ Inuyasha thought. The brat always hid behind her and the fucking word. Suddenly he had an idea. "I was not attacking you." He put on his most serious expression. "I was training with you!"

"No way..." Shippou eyed him critically.

"Really! The second blow didn't hurt as much, did it? Because you were able to avoid the full force of the blow." Shippou nodded in agreement. Inuyasha looked at him in feigned awe. "I'm really impressed Shippou, you are learning almost as fast as me. But if you don't want to get stronger..." he trailed off with a shrug.

The appealing to Shippou's pride worked. "I think I might be able to dodge another one. Kagome, do not interfere." He jumped in front of Inuyasha, who knelt down to be on the same level as his 'apprentice'. "Okay, fox, you ready?"

When Shippou nodded, he received his first hit on the head. "Don't let yourself be distracted!" Inuyasha lectured. He waited for the kid to regain his stance.

He threw the next punch even slower, allowing the fox to almost dodge it. "Wow, Shippou, you nearly evaded it this time!"

´The kid can be so stupid.´ he thought when he saw the determined look on Shippou's face. ´Let's see how long I can continue this.´ If he did it right, maybe he could give Shippou a daily dose of punches. But he would have to convince Kagome that it was really training, what would be quite hard. Nonetheless he would enjoy the fun as long as it lasted. He punched not hitting the kid. "Shippou, that just was your first dodged punch. You really have talent!"

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Miroku and Sango had taken Kagome out of Inuyasha's hearing range; at least, they hoped so. The monk had come up with the idea to interrogate Kagome when they had seen Inuyasha distracted with Shippou. Sango was also willing to sacrifice the kid, hoping that Shippou's headache wouldn't be too serious. "Kagome, what did Inuyasha tell you yesterday?" she asked.

Kagome had been expecting the question, but still didn't know how to answer. She had thought of various replies, but all had sounded like a lame excuse. ´Shouldn't have gotten all cocky yesterday, planing ahead would have been better,´ the miko scolded herself. "Umm, we were just talking a bit."

Sango inched nearer. "A bit?" They had stayed away long enough for her to fall asleep.

Miroku came closer too. "Just talking?" Sango gave him an annoyed look.

Kagome backed away again. "Yeah. Just talking. A bit."

Miroku took another step towards her. "What about?"

Kagome took another step backwards, suddenly standing with her back against a tree. ´Damn, I'm trapped.´ She tried very hard to make up a topic for yesterday's discussion, but her ability for keeping a cool head let her down this time. Inuyasha's revelation was still roaming through her head, distracting her even after a night's sleep. "Just about ... stuff."

"I don't believe you, Kagome-sama," Miroku accused her in a stern voice. Sango put her hand on Kagome's shoulder. "You can tell us," she told the miko in her most caring voice.

Kagome looked from one of her captors to the other. Was it just her imagination, or were they playing good cop, bad cop? She had to get away; when the youkai exterminator and the monk joined forces, she wouldn't be able to last long against them. They both were masters in drawing information out of others, although they usually kept the battle of wits between themselves. But no such luck this time.

"Don't you think we should look after Shippou?" She tried to get a look at the kid. Sango and Miroku were completely blocking off her sight, most likely to keep Inuyasha from noticing them. Crying for his help would look really strange - they were her friends, after all. ´Aren't they?´ she thought when she noticed the almost hungry look in the eyes of both of them. She felt a bit like a deer watching into the eyes of a wolf.

"Shippou is training with Inuyasha. You are evading the question, Kagome-sama," Miroku told her. He had been expecting this excuse since the beginning and quickly did away with it, not going into detail about Shippou's training. When Sango was about to go on, she suddenly felt her head knocked against Miroku's.

"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha barked at the two after he had knocked their heads against one another. Kagome instantly fled at his side, going between Sango and Miroku who were both rubbing the sides of their heads. "Being nosy again, Sango?"

"It was his idea," the youkai exterminator accused, pointing at her comrade.

"And you went with it," Miroku stated.

"And I will kill you both!" Inuyasha threatened them.

Neither of the caught pair dared answer and both settled for pacifying gestures.

"Point to Inuyasha," Kagome laughed.

"That was the cheapest point you ever gave, Kagome-sama," Miroku complained about Kagome's judgment. Sango too was not pleased with Kagome's actions. "You should sit him for attacking us, not reward him!"

"Feh, you both deserved it!" Inuyasha was calmed down by Kagome's praise. "Just feel lucky I didn't crack your skulls."

Meanwhile, Shippou had caught up with them; Inuyasha had rushed to Kagome when he noticed her being cornered. The fox felt a bit dizzy, but he had been able to dodge three punches! "What were you thinking, abusing my training as a chance to question Kagome!" Everyone was giving him a strange look. "What is it?"

"Nothing!" four mouths answered as one. Sango and Miroku didn't want the fox to know that they had willingly left him with Inuyasha, Kagome felt guilty for letting Inuyasha fool the kid, and the hanyou himself was hoping for another training session with Shippou. Repeatedly hitting the brat on the head had been very entertaining for him. He already was making up a training schedule in his head. Two session per day seemed enough, but maybe three were better? ´Let's try three for the beginning.´ Inuyasha decided with a grin.

"So", Miroku began, "what were you talking about yesterday? I presume it had to do with your outburst, Inuyasha?"

The hanyou nodded. "Yes, it did." Now it depended on him to satisfy his curious companions. "I killed the two because they were slavers. Kagome didn't agree with killing them, so we discussed if killing criminals is justified. To make a long story short, Kagome is against it, although I explained her that prisons like in her time don't exist here," he told them curtly. A small part of the truth wouldn't hurt.

Inuyasha turned and walked back to the remains of yesterday's fire, indicating that the discussion was finished. Kagome immediately followed after him with Shippou, while the monk started plotting again. "Looks like we have to use plan B, Sango. I distract Inuyasha so you and Kagome can talk undisturbed."

Sango nodded, "I think the direct approach should be better."

Miroku agreed, "Yes, Kagome will not fall for some kind of trick in that matter. Maybe you should say that you are afraid of Inuyasha. She will most likely want to reassure you."

"Hmm, good idea," Sango told him. "But I will use it only as last resort. If she tells Inuyasha afterwards, he will not be pleased."

Miroku grinned at her, "Should Inuyasha be angry with you, I would, of course, watch your back."

Sango rolled with her eyes. "As long as you only watch..."

They went back and had a quick breakfast, consisting mainly of long-life milk from Kagome's time and corn flakes. "This milk is really great. It should be sour by now," Miroku wondered out loud.

"Well, it tastes awful." Inuyasha made a face.

"The rest like it!" Kagome said a bit unnerved.

"Yeah, but the rest don't have my sense of taste and smell. The smell alone is really bad!" Inuyasha ate his corn flakes without milk. Because it was faster, he poured them into his mouth directly from the corn flakes package.

Kagome shook her head. "You could, at least once, eat like everyone else here. Even Shippou is having what everyone else has."

Inuyasha saw the face which Shippou made with each spoon of milk with corn flakes; the fox seemed to eat it only for her sake. Inuyasha put the package down and swallowed the corn flakes he still had in his mouth. "What for? The corn flakes are easier to eat this way. And I don't want this brew you call milk, anyway," he answered with a disgusted look. "You should listen to me," Inuyasha continued when he saw the disappointed look on Kagome's face. "With your dull senses you wouldn't notice if it were poison." With that he leaned his head back and continued to empty the corn flakes package.

Miroku decided to bring up something more important. "I think now is a good time to discuss where to head. We should be back at Kaede's village in eight days at the latest." He gave the hanyou, who would transform then, a meaningful look. Inuyasha had told them not to mention his human time, afraid of eavesdroppers. Miroku had to agree, Naraku seemed to have his ears and eyes everywhere. "I thought we should take another path to head back. It is a bit longer, because it goes in an arc, but I think we should make it back in time. My idea also allows us to cover more ground in our search for the Shikon no Tama."

Inuyasha didn't seem convinced. "You sure this road exits? Never heard of it," he asked after he had swallowed the last corn flakes.

Sango answered him, "Yes, it does. It was finished sixteen years ago, so you wouldn't know it. It was built to help merchants reach the otherwise secluded areas."

"Fine, if you say so. Always wanted to see the region, anyway." Inuyasha got up and looked at his companions. "You finished?"

* * * * *

Kagome put the cleaned dishes back into her rucksack. Inuyasha had been stressing them for the past ten minutes to finish their breakfast. ´He certainly is back into jerk mode,´ she thought with a half smile. The day before had been really creepy, and she was partly glad that Inuyasha was back to his usual self, although it wouldn't hurt if he were a bit more tactful.

She fixed the rucksack to her bike. In the late time Kagome had greatly reduced the amount of things she carried with her. Many things suddenly aren't that important when you have to carry them all over Japan. Although Inuyasha often helped her, he wasn't her packhorse, as he had pointed out. He wasn't one to refuse to help, but he quickly stopped kind actions if he felt exploited.

"Finished!" she told her friends. While everyone got up to leave, Kagome pushed her bike over to them. "Shippou, you want a ride on my bike again?"

Before the fox could open his mouth, Miroku answered for him. "No, Shippou and myself have something to discuss."

Kagome eyed him, still remembering her interrogation. Was he up to something again?

"Man's business," the monk told her when he noticed the inquiring look.

Kagome decided to push her bike, because nobody, except Inuyasha, was in a hurry. "Fine. Less work for me."

Miroku tied a sash around his waist and put his new sword by his side. He hoped that he and Sango would look more like a pair this way. And he had something different in mind too. He hurried after the others who already were ahead of him.

When Inuyasha noticed the sword, he eyed it curiously. "What's with the sword?"

The monk grinned. "Well, this is what I want to talk about with you and Shippou." He slowed his steps, indicating his two friends to fall back with him. "Sango gave it to me yesterday. If you look ahead to Sango you can see that she also has a new sword. She offered me one of the two blades we found yesterday, while you were chatting with Kagome." Miroku waited a bit for the hanyou to tell them something about the mysterious talk, but Inuyasha remained silent. ´Would have really surprised me...´ the monk thought and continued, "What I wanted to ask you is : Do you think I am finally making progress with Sango?"

His two companions gave his sword and Sango's curious looks. "Hmm, I say it's a good sign. But I wouldn't interpret too much into it," Inuyasha commented. Shippou nodded.

"Well, as you may have noticed ..." Miroku trailed off, searching for the right words. "Sango has been adamant to resist my attempted advances, despite my vast knowledge of women." The monk deliberately ignored the cynical looks of his companions. "So I decided to ask for some help. As you can imagine, my first thought was to ask ..." he paused for effect. Inuyasha and Shippou gave him hopeful looks, both wanting to be first.

"... Kirara." Miroku had to smile at the disbelieving and disappointed expressions on the faces of his companions. "Kirara has known Sango for the longest time," Miroku explained himself. "Although the conversation was a bit difficult, it has been very productive. Kirara offered her help in exchange for my promise to keep my hands to myself. For example, she travels slower if she carries only Sango and myself, to give me more private time with her."

"So that's why Kirara is so friendly with you lately!" Shippou burst out.

Miroku nodded. "Keep your voice down a bit, I don't want Sango to know. It wouldn't be good for me nor Kirara if Sango knew that we are plotting behind her back."

"Fine, so what do you want from us?" Inuyasha grumbled.

´Your advice, and your full attention,´ Miroku thought with a look to Sango, who he knew was questioning Kagome right now. "Well, I hoped that you would have tips? She doesn't seem to believe me when I proclaim my love, so how can I make her understand?"

"You shouldn't ask every pretty woman you see to bear your child," Shippou said.

"You also could help her in battle," Inuyasha told him, thinking functional.

"You can comment her beauty in the presence of other beautiful women," Shippou advised.

"You could fight bad so Sango has to help you. Or get injured while protecting her." Inuyasha seemed very fighting-oriented.

"Is this how you hit on Kagome?" Miroku inquired. Inuyasha's face went red. "I am not!" With this he jumped forward to where Kagome and Sango walked. ´I shouldn't have asked this, now he will disturb Sango,´ Miroku thought. ´But I just couldn't resist.´ The monk whistled to get Sango's attention. "Sango, you look really good today!" he shouted loud enough for her to hear.

Sango was just about to ask Kagome once more when she heard a whistle behind her. She looked back to see Inuyasha running up to her. "Sango, you look really good today," she heard Miroku shout. Sango was glad that the monk warned her and changed to another topic before the hanyou reached them. "When will this pervert ever stop staring at me?"

She hadn't spoken the last word before Inuyasha had reached them. "What are you talking about?" he barked, looking at Kagome. She wasn't talking about his secret, was she?

"Just about how stupid men are," Sango answered his rude question.

Kagome decided to help her friend out. "Yes, but because you are setting such a fine example we really have to question our opinion," she added sarcastically.

"Feh. I don't care about your opinions! Just have to make sure that our nosy Sango isn't being curious again." He saw Sango make an innocent shrug. "I think you are hanging around too much with Miroku lately," he added.

"I am not!" she stated.

"Denying the obvious?" Inuyasha pressed on. Sango turned around and walked back, not answering. Inuyasha didn't let loose. "Running back to Miroku?" he shouted after her.

"No, looking for Shippou." Well, it was a weak excuse, but better than none. Miroku had likely heard the hanyou's last comment too and grinned at her when she reached him. She ignored the monk. "There you are, Shippou. What were you talking about?"

Shippou had a deadly serious look on his face. "Man's business."

"And they tell me I'm hanging around Miroku too much," Sango muttered under her breath. Then she spoke up so Miroku and Shippou could hear her. "Before you ask, no, Kagome didn't tell me anything. She just said that it is very important to Inuyasha that she keeps silent."

Shippou sighed, always curious when the hanyou stole time with Kagome.

"So it is not very likely that she will tell us later?" Miroku asked. "Did you try the afraid-of-Inuyasha trick?"

"No, I didn't have enough time to finish my questioning," she told them. "And I don't think that the trick would have changed anything. It seems that she has really set her mind on keeping their secret. And the rest of our conversation was", she looked down to Shippou, "woman's business."

Shippou thought for a while. "Maybe I could do the afraid act?" His two companions thought about that. "No", Sango answered. "I'm sure she won't tell anyone. We will have to wait until the riddle solves itself."

* * * * *

It was already early evening, and they had been making way since breakfast. When Kagome had suggested to rest and cock something, Miroku had told her that they would need to go on to reach the village before sunset, and that they could eat and rest there.

The forest had gotten more dense since they started in the morning. ´Must be much work to build a road through this thicket,´ Kagome thought. The trees had thick trunks and were very tall grown and didn't let much sunlight pass through; it was quite cool and Kagome had put on a cardigan. It had been too warm, though, so she had put it back into her backpack before she started to sweat. ´No need to catch a cold,´ she told herself. ´Especially when Inuyasha is set on hurrying.´

This brought her thoughts back to Inuyasha. The hanyou had kept ahead of them since he and kept up a swift pace, not participating in any conversation. ´Possibly he also needs some time to think.´

She had been contemplating the hanyou's revelation and came to the conclusion that she wouldn't betray Inuyasha's trust in her. He had thought that she would call him stupid and he still feared that Sango or Miroku would laugh at him, his actions when she talked to Sango and Miroku this morning told her as much. She was quite sure that Inuyasha would shut her out completely if she told the pair anything.

She also was amazed how well he hid the gap in his memory. Kagome hadn't had the hint of a suspicion all this time, thinking that Inuyasha just didn't want to talk about his past. The fact that nobody knew of his amnesia also spoke for the hanyou's ability to keep his secrets to himself.

His careless manner could almost be described as a distraction. Whenever there was something concerning his past, he did away with it with a snarl, started a fight with Shippou or behaved childish, diverting their attention to something else. She hoped that she would be able to find out more, now that she knew what to look for.

He must have had quite a nightmare this morning, she was quite sure of that. ´Inuyasha never screams,´ she thought when she remembered the terrifying shout Inuyasha had woken up with, completely out of breath. But he had immediately recovered, not allowing a glimpse into something as personal as his dreams.

Suddenly she felt the presence of a Shikon shard. No, it were two! "I can feel two shards near!" she shouted, alarming her friends. "They seem to be just along the road!"

Miroku looked worried. "The village is ahead of us! I hope it isn't under attack."

Inuyasha picked up Kagome, while Sango, Miroku and Shippou waited for Kirara to change form, and then mounted on the cat demon. "Let's go!" the hanyou shouted.

Inuyasha ran a few minutes until he reached the edge of a cliff. He guessed it was almost a hundred meters down. The road went on to the left, making a long way around until it reached the village that was built down there at the cliff, in a glade in the otherwise deep forest. The glade had to be cut out by human to provide place for the village, it didn't seem natural. "Why do you stupid humans build a village in the middle of nowhere?" he asked in an edgy tone; something about this location unnerved him, although he couldn't put his finger on it.

"The villagers are mining for jade here," Miroku answered. "Since the road was built, it is far easier to export the gems."

Inuyasha tensed at the explanation and looked down to the village again. "Impossible," he muttered, remebering where he knew it from.

Miroku wanted to continue, but was interrupted when Kagome noticed a magpie demon gaining height. "This bird has the shards, one under each wing!" she shouted. Inuyasha dropped her off while the others got off Kirara and got ready for battle.

"Yes, and I will take your glittering pieces, too!" the bird grated.

Kagome didn't wait for a first strike and shot an arrow at the hostile giant bird, but the youkai dodged with a quick change of direction. Sango threw Hiraikotsu, but the giant bird evaded it, too. She caught her boomerang when it returned without doing harm.

"The shards must have improved its mobility!" Miroku shouted, causing the magpie youkai to turn his attention to the monk. With a huge flap of his wings the demon created a strong current of air which threw the monk backwards.

Miroku avoided being hurt when he hit the ground by reducing the impact with both arms, then did a roll backwards, pushing himself up to his feet. Still he had the air pushed out of his lungs, so that and the still heavy impact left him a bit dazed.

Sango threw Hiraikotsu again, hoping that her opponent was distracted, but with another wave of his wings the bird youkai stopped the boomerang, forcing it to fall down. Sango was glad that Hiraikotsu would endure the resulting impact of the long fall, but now she was without a real weapon; she wouldn't be able to reach the bird with a sword. "Not only the mobility is improved, the strength of its wings seems multiplied. Hiraikotsu isn't easy to divert from its path," she explained to her comrades.

Kirara, the only member of Inuyasha's group capable of flying, tried to engage in close combat, but the air was the enemy's natural element and, powered up by the Shikon shards, he didn't let the cat demon near. After a few failed attempts and closely avoided attacks Kirara returned to Sango to at least guard her from a fate like Miroku's.

The bird youkai noticed Shippou and launched an air wave at the kid. Inuyasha anticipated the attack and managed to get the fox child out of harm's way in time. The hanyou carried his burden to Miroku and dropped him there, and headed straight back to the fight.

Kagome saw a very large Jade gem in the claw of the bird. "It must have stolen the gem in its claw from the village."

"Figures that it's not only stealing Shikon shards!" Inuyasha shouted and launched a Kaze no Kizu into the air, but the bird managed to dodge even Tetsusaiga's special attack.

"Hehehe," the youkai laughed as he landed some distance away from them. "Hand the shards over peacefully and I might think of not crushing you with my wings," he threatened Kagome.

Kagome didn't even contemplate his offer and shot another arrow instead. The magpie demon waved with his wing again to stop the arrow like the boomerang, but it was only thrown a bit off course and still pierced through his wing, leaving a big hole because of Kagome's added magic. To her dismay the wound started to close right after it was inflicted. ´The shards have to be big. They are strengthening him in more than one way...´ she thought when she saw that the wing would be regenerated in less than a minute at the current rate.

The pain made the youkai mad, and he looked at the miko with murder in his eyes. Kagome stepped backwards, but noticed that she had retreated to the edge of the cliff after a few steps. ´Not good...´

"Miroku!" Inuyasha shouted. "Do something useful instead of enjoying the sight! Try to hinder it with the Air Void!"

Miroku, still a bit out of breath, unsealed his hand while stretching it away into the direction of the enemy. "Kazaana!" he shouted as a warning to his friends.

Inuyasha took a deep breath and immediately launched himself at the bird, having to fight against the pull of the Air Void because he was standing in the path. After he had dropped Shippou he had gone straight for the youkai, staying between Miroku and the giant bird. Still, Inuyasha was able to go against the pull because Miroku was some distance away.

The bird demon was not so lucky, because his legs weren't made to support him against such forces and only one fit wing wasn't doing him much good against the flow of air. The youkai pulled back the fit wing to launch a last attack at Kagome.

´No!´ Inuyasha thought and jumped, colliding with the youkai's chest, and pushed both his enemy and himself over the edge of the cliff.

* * * * *

Kagome, still standing at the edge, looked after him and saw Inuyasha push Tetsusaiga into the bird's chest up to the hilt in free fall. The youkai let out a long shriek when the sword pierced the lungs. The cry of the giant bird died away because of the fall and the youkai's inablility to breathe. Kagome flinched when they hit the ground and the shriek ended abruptly.

Panicked, she ran back to Kirara and jumped onto the cat youkai, joining the others who had already gotten on the cat youkai's back. Kirara went after Inuyasha as fast as she could without dropping anyone.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, tears beginning to form. "Inuyasha, NO!" She could only make out a red spot down there, seeing no details because of her watery eyes. Her breathing got uneven and she started to shake.

"Relax, Kagome, Inuyasha seems alive!" Sango tried to comfort her friend. Kagome wiped the tears away and took another look. Having almost reached the ground, Kagome could see that Inuyasha stood with his back towards them, some villagers being ahead of him in a half circle. As soon as Kirara touched the ground the girl jumped off and ran for Inuyasha, ignoring the other people. She gave him a hug around the neck from behind as soon as she reached him, almost throwing him and herself over. "Inuyasha! Don't do that again! Don't do that ever again!"

"Ah, wench, leave me alone!" Inuyasha growled and broke her grip with one hand, not taking his eyes off the villagers. His other hand stayed at the hilt of Tetsusaiga, which he had pulled out of the bird youkai's corpse, and continued to hold the sword in front of him.

Offended, Kagome looked up, but was immediately distracted from scolding Inuyasha when she noticed that the people looked more ready for battle than relieved, armed with everything from katanas to pitchforks. "They cannot be trusted," Inuyasha told the girl.

"Ha," a villager shouted, pointing his sword at the hanyou, "look who's talking!"

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was backed up by all his friends. Miroku tried to defuse the situation. "We mean you no harm. We merely came in search for a place to eat and rest when we encountered this youkai." He pointed at the corpse, which was lying on the back and had blood dripping out of its beak, forming a small pool.

The villagers parted and made way for an old man. "Put away the weapons, we don't turn away help when it is selflessly offered," the elder ordered. His people gave in, reluctantly following the command of the town elder and putting away their weapons.

Meanwhile, the old man walked over to the dead youkai to retrieve the gem. "This is one of the biggest gems we ever found. It's worth enough to provide food for the whole village for two months," he said and held the gem up against the sun, eyeing it for damage.

´He seems cranky,´ Inuyasha thought, watching the man.

The elder turned towards their saviors. "Please excuse our rude behavior, but you have to understand that this village has had its share of problems with youkai. I am Jiro," he introduced himself. "Please accept my invitation to repay you for your kindness."

Miroku bowed. "Your apology is gladly accepted."

Inuyasha gave the villagers an untrusting glare, but he sheathed Tetsusaiga nonetheless. "Inuyasha," he introduced himself shortly.

Kagome was glad that she didn't have to argue with the stubborn hanyou. "I'm Kagome, and these are my friends Miroku, Sango, Shippou and Kirara." The said people bowed when they were introduced, the now retransformed cat demon made a small meow.

Sango went to retrieve Hiraikotsu, which luckily hadn't crushed any of the villagers. She eyed it critically, but it didn't seem damaged. Then she walked over to the dead youkai to retrieve the shards. 'Looks like the back is broken,' she thought, judging the corpse with a trained eye. Like Kagome had said, she found a piece of the Shikon no Tama under each wing. She walked back to the miko and gave them to her.

"Could we please have a meal somewhere?" Kagome asked after putting away the Shikon shards, hoping to get something to eat before her stomach started to growl. "We have been traveling all day and killing the youkai wasn't exactly relaxing, either."

"Of course," Jiro answered. "I own the inn of our village, and you can eat and sleep for the night there."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome. "What would you be hungry from? You left all the hard work to me." When he noticed Kagome's look he thought it would have been better not to attract her attention.

"What was the big idea behind jumping down the cliff?" Kagome furiously asked him.

"Trying to save your ass?" Inuyasha shot back. "If I hadn't jumped in, the bastard would have blown you over the edge!"

Kagome was silent. He always risked his life to safe hers. She wasn't ungrateful, instead constantly being saved without returning the favor too often made her feel guilty. Sure, this time she had wounded the enemy, but it had been Inuyasha again who had finished the work. And here she was, shouting at him for saving her.

Inuyasha got angry at her silence. "It wouldn't break a stone out of your crown to be a bit thankful instead of accusing me!"

"I am thankful!" Kagome shouted back. "I was worried for you!" She calmed down a bit. "I thought you were ... dead," she said almost inaudible for anyone but Inuyasha.

"Feh. You think a stupid bird could kill me?" the hanyou said with a voice that sounded something between appeased and insulted. "You won't see the day I become bird food."

"How did you make it? Even you would be seriously hurt from a fall off a cliff that high," Kagome wanted to know. "You couldn't have slid down like the time with Urasue."

"I clawed onto the youkai and encouraged the bastard to turn around onto his back during the fall, so while he broke his back, I got a safe landing on his stomach. Worked really fine!" Inuyasha beamed with pride for his fine plan.

"One day I'm going to kill you myself..." Kagome muttered. She had almost died of a heart attack because of his 'plan'.

"Feh. Like you could."

"Want me to try?" she shot back, not in the mood to be pushed around.

´If she didn't have that goddamn word...´ Inuyasha thought. He was in a lose/lose situation. Giving in would damage his reputation, and opposing her would earn him a sit, what too wouldn't look good in front of all the villagers. Either way, his pride would suffer. But then he remembered the third way : When having to choose between two bad options, think of another one.

Ignoring her should work best. "Another day," he said and turned to the town elder. "Jiji, you mentioned something about food?"

* * * * *

Jiro had led them to a rather large house which seemed to be the inn. When they entered, the old man gestured them to take a place. They kneeled down forming the shape of a rectangle, Kagome and Inuyasha on one side, to their left Miroku and Sango, to their right Shippou and Kirara. Across the hanyou and the miko, the old man took place with a woman who seemed to be his wife. She too looked like she had reached quite an age. "I'm pleased to introduce you my wife, Aiko."

Aiko bowed to her husband's visitors. "We aren't having anything special today, but please feel free to eat as much as you like," the woman told them. A servant arrived, offering them various vegetarian food. Inuyasha sighed inwardly. ´No meat today.´ Aiko followed the servant afterwards, leaving her husband with Inuyasha and his group.

Everyone was very hungry from the straining day, so they ate fast and in silence until the greatest hunger was appeased. Still, everyone except Inuyasha tried to eat as dignified as possible when confronted with so many delicious fruits and vegetables. The old man chuckled when he saw how his white-haired guest almost devoured the food.

"You seem to starve your demonic follower," he told his visitors.

"Oh no," Kagome commented, "he always eats this way."

"Damn right!" Inuyasha agreed. "I don't sit around looking at food instead of eating it." He never understood why he should hold back while eating, it didn't serve any purpose at all. And if the others did... well, the more food was left for him.

"Perhaps you should teach your servant some manners. I'm surprised enough that he is eating with us," the old man advised them.

Inuyasha almost choked on his food. "I'm nobody's servant. Better get that in that old head of yours!" he threatened.

"Inuyasha, no need to get angry," Kagome calmed him down. "But he is right, Jiro-san - Inuyasha is nobody's servant."

The old man looked a bit surprised. "Then why does he have the prayer beads around his neck? I know what they're good for."

"Ummm, long story..." Kagome trailed of. Neither she nor Inuyasha looked too comfortable.

"We are a group of friends forged together by a common goal," Miroku explained.

"And Inuyasha wouldn't serve anybody even with these beads around his neck," Shippou cut in.

"I see," the old man stated. "Well, the youth indeed seems to have a strong spirit."

"Finally you get it, Jiji!"

"You said that you have problems with youkai?" Sango asked. As a youkai hunter she thought that she might be able to help them, or at least offer some advice. Although she was occupied with hunting Naraku, she still tried to help other people as much as possible.

"Yes, because of the jade mine. Youkai and humans alike seek the gems as jewelry as well as for its mythical properties. Jade is said to help one relax. It is considered a very balanced stone - it helps one in both the vision of tasks to do as well as doing the actual tasks," the old man explained.

´He sounds a bit like an advertisement on TV,´ Kagome thought, but didn't interrupt the old man.

"Because of the fine quality of the gems found here," Jiro continued, "thefts are attempted quite often. Therefore, our people are well capable of defending the village, but the magpie you defeated today somehow was stronger than any other we ever encountered. Thank you again for helping us."

"It is no problem, Jiro-san. We were passing by anyway, and your kind invitation is thanks enough to us poor wanderers," Miroku said humbly. "But may I ask, why were your people so hostile in the beginning?"

"Well, the real reason the people here are not very trusting in supernatural things is that the village was completely destroyed some decades ago."

Inuyasha looked up from his food, but didn't say anything. Kagome seemed shocked and voiced her concern. "That is awful! What happened?"

"It is said to have happened almost sixty years ago. It was a full moon night, usually they were peaceful, because of the light it is harder for anyone to stalk into the village. But said night, a beast attacked the village, and it didn't care for secrecy nor disguise," the old man paused for effect, obviously he had some practice in telling the tale. Inuyasha yawned, feigning disinterest.

"There had been some youkai raids before, so the village's defenses were weak. Seibunishi-sama, a strong youkai who had offered his formal protection to this village in exchange for some gems, had died some years before, and youkai attacked the village every once in a while," Jiro explained.

Inuyasha flinched slightly and fisted his hand, but relaxed it after a moment. ´Did they notice?´ he

Jiro continued his tale, "Anyway, that night the village was not attacked by a youkai, but a werewolf. It is said that the beast only had one eye. It slaughtered everyone except some of the children and a few adults, who could be counted on one hand. It is sure that it wasn't a wolf demon because it was full moon, and the werewolf didn't say one meaningful word. The survivors told that it just methodically massacred the villagers, unlike a youkai who would enjoy the slaughter."

Sango looked like she was thinking about something.

"So werewolves do exist?" Kagome asked a bit frightened. She had seen some horror movies about them that had been really scary. She remembered she had seen a horror comedy about a werewolf as a child, and had had difficulties with falling asleep for weeks, although the film had been more comedy than horror.

"Yes," Inuyasha answered her. "They are humans, but have been infected with lycanthropy. I think the curse is transferred if one is bitten by a werewolf. Their hearing and sense of smell gets a bit better, their reflexes faster and their muscles stronger, they age slower and can live for more than a hundred years, but they remain almost human most of the time."

Then he explained the most well known fact about werewolves, "At full moon, when they change into a wolf-human hybrid, they become a very dangerous foe, with the strength of a beast and the cunning of a human, and are completely lost to bloodlust."

"But they are very rare, because youkai can sense the curse and kill them on sight," Inuyasha continued to tell them what he knew of werewolves. "A transformed werewolf is a fair match even for a strong youkai, so the cursed human will usually be killed in human form."

"Well, we are sure that this werewolf never was killed," Jiro explained. "The villagers which could miraculously escape fled the village and hired a very good youkai exterminator to avenge the deaths of their beloved. The hunter never returned, neither has ever been heard of a youkai killing the beast. They like to boast with their accomplishment when doing so."

"I know," Sango interrupted. "It was my great grandfather who was called upon." She had waited for Jiro to confirm her suspicion, but now she was sure. Her grandfather had often told her of his own father, who had mysteriously vanished when hunting for a werewolf who had slaughtered a whole village.

"He was one of the strongest taijiya who ever lived in our village. I heard that he had had the rare gift of fighting two handed, able to use his hands for two different tasks at the same time. My grandfather told me that no corpse was ever discovered, but it was almost sure that his father had been killed." She still remembered how sad her grandfather had looked when he told her he would never know how his father had died. He had been quite young when his father left forever.

"So you are his great granddaughter? The world is small for sure..." Jiro muttered surprised. "Well, when the hunter never returned, the survivors refused to ever set foot on this ground again. It is said that a werewolf will always return after some time. This village was left destroyed for five years until some brave men tried their luck with the mine. When nothing bad happened, soon people who had nothing left in their lives, who were poor or searched for began to settle here again."

"But the fear that the beast could return remains," Jiro explained. "If you could find that creature, Sango-san, our village would pay you dearly. Not that I want to send you to your death, too, but I would offer you the gem you saved today if you ever brought us the head of this beast."

Sango nodded. "You can be sure that I will avenge my great grandfather should I ever cross paths with this werewolf. But I have a more important mission at the time, so it would be pure chance should I run across it. And we've heard no rumors during our travels."

Silence followed and Kagome couldn't suppress a yawn. "I'm sorry, but I, for my part, will go to sleep." The others nodded, agreeing with her. Miroku helped Sango up, who gladly accepted his hand, wondering why he didn't try to touch her anywhere else again.

The group was shown two rooms, one for the guys, one for the girls. They parted for their rooms after telling each other good night.

Kagome unfolded her sleeping back and fell into it like dead. "I hope tomorrow is more relaxing..." she heard Sango mutter. ´Too true,´ the miko thought.

"Sango, I'm sorry for your great grandfather," Kagome told her friend. "I just couldn't suppress the yawn."

"It's okay, Kagome, I never knew him anyway. It's just that grandfather was sometimes very sad thinking of his father. You don't know Kagome, but I inherited Hiraikotsu from my grandfather. I think I finally got a chance to repay him. Maybe I can find some clues in the nearby villages." Sango almost seemed happy to finally have found a first hint.

Kagome nodded. "But if you find the werewolf, please don't try anything on your own."

"But it is my duty, Kagome. I can't duck behind others in this matter!"

The miko nodded again. "That's true, Sango. But that doesn't mean that you can't accept some help. Your great grandfather possibly died because he tried alone. I don't think that he wants to be avenged at the price of your life."

Sango thought about that. Her friend spoke the truth, risking her life wouldn't bring back the dead. "You are right, Kagome. I promise you I won't do anything rushed."

"Thanks," Kagome said, stifling a yawn. "Good night, Sango."

"Good night to you, too."

* * * * *

In the guys' room, Miroku was already asleep, also exhausted from the straining day. This left the youkai and the half-youkai as the only awake members of their group.

Inuyasha sat with the back against the wall, brooding in the dark. ´That I would run across this one out of all villages...´ He had hoped to never set foot into the village again.

The good thing was to hear that the village had been burned down and that the father of Sango's grandfather had been killed in the process. ´This will hopefully take Sango's mind away from questioning Kagome,´ Inuyasha thought practically. The story of her relative's death couldn't have hit the youkai exterminator too hard, after all she hadn't known her great grandfather.

As usual with strange coincidences, part of his mind was trying to establish a connection to him. But as much as he thought about it, he couldn't come up with anything that indicated that the massacre was related to him. ´Not that I would remember if I was.´ He also didn't feel unhappy about the fact that the village had been destroyed. Because of that, nobody knew him because the old villagers were either dead or scared away.

"Inuyasha, I want to sleep with Kagome!" Shippou snapped him out of his musings.

"Shut up, brat," Inuyasha said. "Kagome needs to rest and she can't if you are annoying her."

"And I can't rest when I'm not annoying her," the fox child responded immediately. "I mean, when she isn't sleeping near me."

Inuyasha smirked. "I don't care if you can sleep or not."

"But you care for Kagome?" Shippou asked. He wouldn't tell, but he really hoped that the hanyou finally realized that Kagome was much more important than a resurrected priestess. He didn't want his new-found family to break apart because Inuyasha still felt committed to Kikyou. Kagome had been near leaving forever when Inuyasha had kissed the undead priestess.

"Keh! Just shut up and go to sleep." Inuyasha was too tired to bonk the fox on the head, and he also didn't want to wake up Miroku. He was about to doze off when Shippou spoke up again. "Inuyasha?"

"What is it now, brat?" the hanyou asked irritated.

"I wanted to ... thank you," the child brought out at last.

"What for?" Inuyasha asked into the dark.

"For saving my live, again. I never really thanked you before. And I thought today might be a good day to," Shippou told him, then was quiet for some time. "And I'm also glad that you want to train me," he admitted finally. "It's very important for me."

"No problem, pup. Just sleep now." Inuyasha felt good. Maybe he should really train the child, the small fox had no one else who could teach him. Their breathing got more even, the two finally drifted off into sleep.

The next morning Inuyasha wouldn't remember dreaming about his father, Seibunishi, Lord of the Western Lands, bringing him and his mother to the village, leaving them to never return.

But Shippou would remember his dream, in which his own father carried him to Inuyasha and put him into the arms of the hanyou.

This is it! Sorry that I didn't update earlier, but this chapter took quite some time to write (it's long, I hope you appreciate that :) ). And I didn't have too much time to work on the fic this days, with New Year's Eve and everything. Happy New Year, everybody!

I hope the magpie youkai made some sense; I researched and found out that magpies do exist in Japan. I thought a flying opponent would be more interesting, and it also fit into the mining village.

There exist two different kinds of Jade, one is more common and is very widespread in China (Nephrite Jade, only green). The Jade I'm talking about here is the more expensive one, Jadeite, which comes in many different colors.

I got the name for Inuyasha's dad from Becky Tailwaver, to pay respect to her wonderful fic "The White Dog" (I'm also lazy when it comes to inventing names). Don't worry, I won't copy the character, instead I hope she will give us more of her own work soon (Maybe she reads that one day and spontaneously decides to continue her fic...)

Prodigy - Breathe seemed fitting the best, no metal this time.

January 3rd, 2003: Chapter 4 finished.

October 25th, 2003: Last revision of the chapter.