InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Suffer The Fray ❯ Old Acquaintances ( Chapter 8 )

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

Disclaimer: I hold no claim to InuYasha...Rumiko Takahashi does. Bummer.

A/N: Reviewer Acknowledgements- sufferingkagome, Lucifer Spades, Knittingknots, Sassa, blackr0s3, wudelfin, Cynbad146, & unistar. Thanks for all your wonderful support! Read on and enjoy!

Reux

There was a woman following the same trail about a mile or so ahead. He'd caught her scent hours ago, but was still waiting for Shippo to pick up on it. There was a strong breeze and it shouldn't have mattered how sensitive his sense of smell, but it seemed the kit was oblivious. How was he supposed to learn to fight if he didn't use his resources? He sighed and resigned himself to the task of pointing it out. "Hey, Shippo." He called to the kitsune trotting ten paces ahead. "What do you smell?"

He blinked puzzled green eyes at him. "Why are you asking me? Your nose is way better than mine."

"That's only because you don't want to embrace it. It's rusted from lack of use." The wind ruffled his hair. "Scent the wind, Shippo. Tell me what you smell."

He did as asked and frowned. "I can smell the forest and the water from the river, but there's a perfume scent I don't know."

"That scent is coming from the woman ahead."

Shippo glanced back and forth between the hanyou and the trail. "Is she coming towards us?"

"No, we've been following her for the past few hours."

"Is that why we stopped earlier? Because of her? We don't normally take breaks and we're in kind of a hurry now."

"Yeah. I didn't want us to scare her." Inuyasha tweaked his ears, listening.

"You're the only one that scares people. Maybe if you tried smiling once in a while they wouldn't be crying 'youkai' all the time."

The hanyou stared disdainfully at him through rich amber eyes. "Hardy har har." He gazed back up the trail. "She's stopping by the creek again. Maybe we can just go right past her."

"Maybe." Shippo agreed.

It wasn't like he actually went around terrorizing people on purpose; he just gave off a very strong don't-mess-with-me vibe. He didn't really relish the idea of having a hysterical woman on his hands when she realized his ears weren't part of some kind of hood. He'd once had a kid actually try to remove his ears, thinking he was wearing a dog-skin cap. The thought had freaked him out and the experience hadn't been pleasant.

Inuyasha led Shippo down the sandy path and stopped at the spot where she had veered off to go down by the creek. She was humming softly to herself, but his ears caught the sound as if he were sitting right beside her. "She's humming."

Shippo stepped onto the smaller path and hesitated. "Kagome used to hum sometimes."

Inuyasha sighed. "She's not Kagome. I know what she smells like," He jabbed a clawed finger in the girl's direction. "And that's not her."

Shippo glowered at him. "It's been five years and I'm not passing up the chance that it might be her."

"You think I'd forget her scent?!" Inuyasha gritted her teeth. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

The kit shook his head and darted up the path. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha."

The hanyou snarled with disbelief and chased after him. The fox was getting more and more out of hand by the day. Eventually there was going to come a time when his impulsive behavior did more harm than good. He raced after him, catching a glimpse of his fluffy tail just as the trail broke into a small clearing. Inuyasha dove forward and tackled Shippo, sending them both to roll across the dirt and splashing into the creek.

The water was shockingly cold and Shippo hissed with surprise. The water was just about waist deep and Inuyasha merely stood up, shaking the chilly moisture from his head. He had just enough time to take a deep breath before the kit launched out of the depths to attack his head. "Bloody hell!"

He clawed at his head. "Why do you always have to beat me up?! I can't stand it!"

It was similar to being swarmed by angry bees. A thousand stinging scratches were welling up on his skin faster then he could keep track. If he didn't stop him, he wouldn't have a face left. He lashed out with his right hand and snatched what he thought was a leg, and threw the squalling kit back into the water. "Knock it off!"

"Ah!" He disappeared with a splash.

Inuyasha sighed and started to wring out his hair. And people think I'm out of control. Water trickled into his ears and he gave a strong shake to dispel it. There was nothing he hated more than being water-logged. It gave him migraines. He turned towards the bank to vacate the creek when his hair stood on end. Hesitating, he slowed his motion and lifted his eyes to blink through his soggy bangs.

Kneeling in the soft sand of the bank, not three feet away, was the flowery smelling woman he'd been trying to avoid. Her honey colored eyes were wide and blinked while her mouth formed a delicate 'O' with surprise. She wasn't moving or speaking, just staring at him with amazement. Inuyasha watched her watch him and almost winced when her bright eyes fell on his ears. Her mouth shut and the hanyou just sighed and waited for the scream.

Kagome was shivering uncontrollably by the time she trudged into Kaede's village. Her teeth chattered as she hugged herself, cursing Kikyo with every vibrating breath. She would have been warm if the berserk miko hadn't torn her heavy turtleneck sweater to shreds. The breeze intensified her goose bumps. It always surprised her how clear and crisp the air was here than back in the present. It was actually rejuvenating in its freshness. It also meant that the temperatures were truer, and the autumn air was downright frigid.

The villagers seemed unperturbed by the weather. They went about their chores, which consisted of tending the fields, livestock, or the day's wash, unaffected. Only when they caught sight of Kagome did they stray their attention. Most of them she knew from before and they greeted her with warm smiles and waves. A few of the youngest children were bewildered by her odd manner of dress and cowered behind their mother's skirts. Eventually, with some coaxing and assurances that she wasn't some kind of youkai, they ran around in happy, shouting circles.

Kagome liked playing with the children. It reminded her that most of a miko's time and energy was spent guiding and healing the people, with protection following behind. Thanks to Kikyo's reincarnated soul, she possessed the powers and Kaede had given her the training. Technically, she could be the high miko of a village if she didn't have the Shikon Jewel to recover.

Looking around the village, she saw no signs of her friends. Instead she saw Kaede being led down the path towards her by some of the older children. She smiled and jogged to close the distance between them. The elderly miko was more withered than she remembered, relying on the use of a cane to aid her movement. When they finally came face to face, Kagome towered over her hunched frame. She knew she'd grown taller over the years, but not that much. It seemed the poor woman was shrinking with age. She gently took her outstretched hand into her own. "It's so good to see you, Lady Kaede!"

"I am glad to see you as well." Her face had wrinkled with age, more so than she could recall, and her eye patch had been traded for a soft cloth tied around her head. Her garb was still that of a miko, but it was clear that the years were finally catching up with her. She glanced at the children. "I'll be fine now children. Go on and get to your chores. Kagome and I have many things to discuss."

Kaede's word was akin to gospel and the children obeyed without protest. Once alone, she gestured for Kagome to walk beside her. "I had a feeling I would be seeing ye soon." She turned and started slowly back toward her hut. "Five years is too long for a youkai such as Naraku to lie dormant and I can only fear that was done by choice."

Kagome wasn't particularly in the mood to speak about Naraku, but she didn't really have a choice. If she wished for silly conversation, then it was Shippo she should be talking to. Wherever he is. She shook her head. "Yeah, it didn't sit right with me either. It's just too illogical."

"Aye, but to the youkai it is a way to strengthen defenses. I fear that his purpose was to fortify his incantations- especially the one guarding his heart."

"The infant?"

"Yes. The infant was very helpless and Naraku's heart in his care. A body such as the one he had is hardly what is needed to protect something as vital as a youkai heart."

"So he gave it time to grow." She frowned as she slipped inside Kaede's hut behind her. "Does that mean all his incantations have grown and strengthened as well?"

"I would imagine so." She grimaced painfully as she sat down beside the fire.

"What's ailing you, Kaede?" Kagome shrugged out of her bag and quiver, resting them against the wall near the door.

"It's just an ache in my withering joints." She smiled, starting to poke at the embers of the fire.

"I hope you're not in any pain."

"No, child. It is nothing for ye to worry about." She looked confused about her appearance. "What has happened to your clothing?"

"Oh," Kagome pulled at the shredded denim of her jeans. "Kikyo."

Kaede seemed saddened by this. "My sister spoke with ye?"

"Well, that would be putting it nicely." She bit her lip in thought. "Did something happen to her?"

"Sadly, no." She shakily stood up and hobbled over to a small trunk on the other side of the room. She rummaged around for a bit and stepped back with a carefully wrapped bundle. "Kikyo's soul is a borrowed one and it knows that it truly belongs to ye now." She stopped beside her and held out the bundle. "Take these."

Kagome accepted it curiously and untied the twine holding it closed. The cloth fell away to reveal a pristinely folded pile of clothes. "Lady Kaede, what are-?" She lifted the top piece and it unfolded into the stark white haori of a miko. Laying it aside, she found the hakama to go with it, but instead of the traditional red that Kaede and Kikyo wore, these were done in a deep forest green. The kosode and tabi socks were there as well. She glanced up at the smiling old woman. "Are these for me?"

She nodded. "I know ye prefer your own style of dress, but this will allow you to blend in better. Since the jewel went dormant the youkais have calmed, but now it is bandits and rogue samurai ye must watch out for. They will be less inclined to bother a miko." She gestured to the hakama. "I compromised by having them made with your signature color. During your absence the people have come to calling you the Midoriiro Miko."

Green, huh? That's right, my old school uniform. "They're beautiful, thank you." She scooped them up and strode over to the screen to change. "Back to Kikyo though, is it my soul that's making her this way?"

Kaede's voice was softened from across the room. "Yes and no. The soul no longer belongs to her dead mind and heart, but to yours. It craves its living counterpart. It is essentially trapped within a dead being in the living world."

"In other words, it's driving it mad?" She paused the tying of her obi.

"Aye. That warring behavior has begun to erode the physically earth-created mind of Kikyo, subjecting her to bouts of madness." Kagome could hear the fire cracking and popping. "And Inuyasha's avoidance of her has only intensified her agitation."

Kagome nearly fell over when she stepped out from behind the screen. "What?!" She trotted over to her side and knelt down, the long sleeves of her haori flapping. "Inuyasha...avoided Kikyo?"

Kaede nodded. "I believe he blamed her for ye leaving him."

She frowned. "I left for myself and no one else. No one is to blame."

The older miko glowered at her. "Did ye tell him this?"

Kagome suddenly understood. "No."

"I will never say that Inuyasha is unintelligent, but when it comes to emotions he lacks sensitivity. He just assumes what he wishes."

"This is entirely my fault." Kagome's shoulders sagged. She'd been so conflicted and self-absorbed that she'd ignored a lot of important things. She had quite a few mistakes to remedy. Taking a deep breath, she straightened up and pulled the elastic from her low-slung ponytail. "Kaede, where is everyone?"

She looked up from her fire. "Miroku and Sango have a small home along the road to the youkai-taijiya village."

"They're living together? Did they get married?"

She nodded. "Yes. I, myself, performed the ceremony."

"Huh." She continued to finger-comb her wavy waist-length hair as if the news didn't sting. They could've had Inuyasha at least come tell her- even he would've ignored their own problems to do it. Still, perhaps she had acted like she didn't want to be bothered a little too strongly. Like she said, it was her fault all this was discombobulated. "That's nice."

"Shippo originally stayed with them, but he reached his youkai adolescence and became destructive. They had trouble keeping him under control, so Inuyasha took him."

"Wasn't Inuyasha staying with them too?"

"Heavens, no." She laughed. "Inuyasha has spent the last five years wandering about the countryside. The longest he's spent here or there is perhaps a month."

Wandering? That sounded so restless and miserable. Kagome tied off the end of her sleek, single braid and brushed her chin-length wavy bangs so they parted down the middle and out of her eyes. She stood up abruptly, looking very much like a miko should. "It's time I stopped all this ridiculousness." She glanced down at Kaede. "Do you have a horse I could use?"

She didn't scream.

Instead, she shocked him by cocking her head to the side curiously. "Do I know you? You seem very familiar."

Inuyasha studied her face and thought he'd seen her before as well. She was dressed in a bland maroon kimono with pale cranes depicted in flight, and a dark navy blue obi. The sleeves were tied up around her shoulders. Her ebony hair hung loose to her hips when she stood, a small lock of it tied off on the right side of her head. Her wide honey eyes nagged at him. Where had he seen them before?

Shippo decided to scramble out of the water and lay panting on the sand. "Inuyasha..."

The girl blinked at him and he saw recognition in her eyes. "Inuyasha!" She clapped her hands together happily. "I do know you! You're Lord Sesshomaru's little brother!"

That explained it. There was only one ningen female that would happily use his sibling's full title. He snorted grumpily. "Rin."

She seemed surprised to hear him speak her name. "You remember me?"

"Obviously." He waded out of the water and began to squeeze the moisture from his sodden clothes. "If you're supposed to be with that prick, then you're about a day late."

His comment seemed to deflate her bubble of happiness. "Oh, you've seen him?"

Inuyasha watched her curiously. "Yeah, about twelve hours ago on the trail. Why?"

She looked away wistfully. "I've been searching for him."

Shippo crawled to his feet. "I thought you were his ward? Why would you be searching for him?"

Rin glanced at the kit, but didn't really seem to see him. Her mind was somewhere else. "No. Lord Sesshomaru sent me to live with an elderly woman in a village when I was thirteen."

Inuyasha looked her over. "How old are you now?"

She sighed and picked up the hollow gourd she'd filled with water. "Seventeen."

So he'd sent her away four years ago. It was no wonder he was so touchy when he brought her up yesterday. And so distracted. Did his icy brother actually have feelings for her?

Inuyasha couldn't help but shiver. I am not going there. He studied her melancholy attitude and figured that at the very least she was deeply attached. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her and never wanted to punch Sesshomaru more for being such a callous fool. It would be a very large stretch for him to see Sesshomaru showing anything warmer than hatred, but he didn't have to send her away when it was plain to see being in his company filled her with contentment.

He had a moment imagining a smile on the Dai-youkai's face and it was scarier than facing him armed with a hundred Tokijins. Way creepy.

He slid his arms into the hanging bells of his sleeves. "Well, I hope you find him for your sake."

She smiled brilliantly at him and he cursed his ignorant relative. "Thank you, Lord Inuyasha."

The hanyou flinched. "Don't call me Lord, please." He didn't want to be lumped into the same category as his sibling. Especially by her.

"Wow, Inuyasha. You never say please for anything."

"Pipe down, will ya?" He glared at the kit.

Rin just continued to smile. "As you wish, Inuyasha."

"Well, seeing as you're not Kagome," He raised a fist in Shippo's direction. "We'll just go."

"Kagome?" She frowned a moment, but smiled quickly. "Oh, the Midoriiro Miko!"

Inuyasha's brows furrowed. He'd heard the name before, but hadn't realized it was used in reference to Kagome. "You know her?"

She shook her head, the long sideways ponytail swaying gently. "No, but I heard her name spoken in the village I was in late last night. She had suddenly shown up there I guess."

If what she said was true, then Kagome was headed to the Houshi's home. "Are you sure?" Inuyasha held his breath.

"Yes, I saw her leave the village in the same direction I'm going."

"But I would've caught up with her too if that's the case." Inuyasha began to pace furiously.

"Oh no." She laughed. "The miko left on a beautiful dapple gray horse. She was in quite the hurry."

Inuyasha and Shippo exchanged a look. "Kagome? On a horse?"

A/N: I obviously aged Rin from her character in the anime so it would make the story fit better. And I know that the timeline seems a bit confusing, but the Kagome/Kaede conversation occurred the night before the Inu/Rin/Shippo sections. This is also the last chapter that they are apart, so I'll let you think up what you will. Comments from the peanut gallery are warmly welcomed. XD.