InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ That Which Shines Brightest ❯ 01: The Night Before ( Chapter 1 )

That Which Shines Brightest

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

Inuyasha paused and glanced up at the moon, a deep frown forming a groove between his brows. It was but a small sliver. The last bit of light left before the complete darkness that would come tomorrow with the new moon. With a jerk of his head he looked away, and started moving forward again. Amber eyes roved across the shadowed terrain, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Bare feet carried him over familiar paths he could walk in his sleep.

All seemed quiet enough, but still, he couldn't shake his restlessness.

“It's just because it's so close to my weak time of the month,” he told himself, irritably pushing away a long strand of silvery hair that wandered across his face in the tenuous wind.

It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that he'd woken up that morning, shaking, his body drenched in a cold sweat, and his eyes dilated in shock as he relived an old nightmare - one that he thought he'd put behind him long ago.

Despite his better judgment, he let that old dream flare to life in his mind, blotting out the landscape in front of him, trying to prove to himself that it no longer held sway over him.

Vividly, he could picture Kagome returning to her world, their stiff and awkward farewell still ringing in his ears as he waited for her to disappear. And then, gripped by a sudden terror, he was following her, knowing before he even got to the bottom of the well that the portal had been sealed.

For months and months after they'd parted, he'd woken up this way; shaken and feeling sick, the irrational fear that when that day came and he was ready to try and bring her back, he would be unable to - that somehow there was a grain of truth in these twisted nightmares that haunted him.

But instead of reassuring himself that everything was fine by going down into the well, he did just the opposite: he stayed as far away as he possibly could while still doing his job of protecting the Shikon no Tama.

How could I have possibly gone down there back then? he asked himself now, when all eyes had been watching and waiting for that VERY thing!? Waiting for me to say that I was wrong in letting her go home in the first place!!!

Well, he WASN'T wrong, dammit!!

It had been her decision!!

“Gah!” Inuyasha snorted.

Even now, ten years later, the way she had looked and her final, private parting words to him still had the power to provoke him. For the first time in ten years, and perhaps because of the dreams of that morning, to his dismay, he found himself reliving yet another memory: those horrible, tumultuous moments of the worst days of his life; when Kagome had decided to leave.

 

“I need to go home, Inuyasha,” he recalled her saying, beginning to look uneasy.

“Why?” he'd asked, completely caught off guard, his face flooding with color as she had stared at him a long moment, making him feel stupid for asking.

“Because our job is done,” she'd finally remarked, gesturing with a wide weep of her hands, “--because there is nothing left to keep me from returning home to my friends and family.”

“Well what about us? He'd asked a little sullenly, still trying to recover his equanimity. How he hated feeling the fool. “We're your friends too.”

“I know, Inuyasha,” she'd responded quietly, her gaze falling away from him but not before he'd seen an expression of pain mingled with sadness dwelling deep within her eyes. “-But you see, Mama, Jii-chan, and Souta are all waiting for me to come home. And also - I need to find my place in my own world…”

These last words had come haltingly and he'd given her a puzzled look.

“Find your place?” he'd echoed stupidly. “But, you have a place… with us,” he'd insisted.

Her brows had drawn slightly together at that, as if his stubbornness angered her.

“That's not fair, Inuyasha,” she'd said, bringing her gaze back to him. “What about you and Kikyou?” she'd demanded, and he'd been unable to respond. “I've seen her hovering on the edges of town near dawn, every morning, as if she's come just to see you, Inuyasha, - and I've seen you too,” her voice had wobbled slightly, but her gaze remained unwavering as she kept her dark eyes pinned to him. “- up every morning, pacing restlessly, waiting to see if she would come, even though she rapidly withdraws when you try to approach her...”

Inuyasha remembered how startled he'd been at first when he realized she knew, and then how guilty he'd felt at being found out. It must have shown on his face because Kagome, who had been watching him closely, seemed to emotionally crumple from the inside out, as if she'd just had all the life sucked out of her.

“The way you love her, Inuyasha,” she'd said quietly, and he'd shifted uneasily, tumultuous emotions building inside him. “How you have done everything for her; wanting to protect her, to sacrifice for her. - In your heart and in your eyes… she will always be…. first.” Kagome had stared dully at him and he'd done nothing to deny it, standing there, his hands fisted at his sides, angry and confused, not knowing how to tell her how he'd felt. Only able to listen as she continued, his anger growing by leaps and bounds with her every word. “I need to find someone who will put me first in his heart, Inuyasha, and I think for that to happen, I need to return home -”

Making a slashing motion with his hand then, he'd cut off any other words she'd been about to say.

“Fine!” He'd exploded furiously, and Kagome had started in surprise at his outburst. “— But just don't expect me to come and get you in a month or two when the perfect man of your dreams doesn't appear!”

 

And so a few days later, she left, sadly wishing her other friends farewell as they all stood next to the well. And then she'd turned to him, one final time, but he'd still been peeved that she was leaving and, with a snort, he'd crossed his arms and turned away from her.

But his sensitive ears couldn't block out her pain as she spoke. Her voice wavered and broke as she addressed him, and that peeved him too; knowing that the sadness of leaving all of them wasn't enough to keep her there in the first place.

“Well, Inuyasha… please take care of yourself. I'm depending on you to take care of Shippou - and Rin, too, now that she is training to be a miko and a guardian of the Shikon no Tama. Sango, Miroku and Kaede-bachan will be able to help her with a lot of things, but she will need your strength and guidance too…” her voice had petered out and there was an awkward moment in which no one spoke.

And then, she was gone. Afterwards, the air had been filled with Shippou's disconsolate sobbing and shrill recriminations of, “Inuyasha!! This is ALL YOUR FAULT!!”

 

Grimacing, Inuyasha pushed away his past reflections. They only increased his restlessness, as he somehow knew they would. He turned to look at the moon once more, but his thoughts would not be so easily banished. It had been ten years, so why was he suddenly dreaming about the well again? As he stood mulling it over, a raucous cry broke the air.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!” it echoed through the stillness of the night, and Inuyasha's ears twitched, his face falling into a scowl as he honed in on the source of the sound.

“You stupid bird,” he hissed, turning his head, his eyes finding the outline of the grey Laughing Scythe Shrike.

Even though it was still young, in its transformed state it was a rather large bird, its wingspan at least 10 feet, with long curling tail feathers. He had seen it earlier that evening, along with the mutilated remains of the rest of a small flock that were being attacked by a swarm of Blood Wasps, whose favorite food happened to be Shrike.

Normally, Scythe Shrikes were formidable foes in their own right: their wings and tail feathers capable of delivering gusts of fatal, cutting scythe attacks; but against an entire swarm of Blood Wasps, there was no way they could have survived.

“I told you before,” Inuyasha exclaimed impatiently as the bird swooped gracefully towards him, attracted to Inuyasha by the vibrant, red color of his kimono, “I am not a giant piece of fruit and I do NOT have any food for you! Go find food yourself!”

He waved his arms at the bird, noting that some of the Shrike's feathers were missing. He also caught a strong whiff of blood - he'd smelled it before, but he'd thought that it had just been the blood from the other Shrikes. He hadn't realized that the young Shrike had also been wounded.

With a mournful cry the Shrike veered away from Inuyasha straight towards Inuyasha forest. Sighing, Inuyasha put his hand on Tetsusaiga and trailed slowly after the bird, extremely loathe to go beyond the trees despite the fact that he felt slightly remorseful.

“Oy!” he called after the dimwitted bird, his words showing no softness. “Don't go in there! You wanna get eaten?!”

The Shrike ignored him and continued onward, and Inuyasha swore under his breath. This would be the first time he'd actually been in the forest since Kagome's departure, ten years ago, and he seriously thought about turning around and going the other way. But that stupid Shrike would die for sure if he didn't go after it. It was a well known fact that Blood Wasps nested in there.

“Stupid bird,” he grumbled again.

Then, shooting a look left, and one right to make sure that neither Rin, nor Shippou nor Sango were anywhere to be seen -- for he knew he would never hear the end of it if any of them saw him going inside -- Inuyasha darted beyond the line of trees where he saw the Shrike disappear, tracking the scent of the wounded bird.

Just within the perimeter of the trees, Inuyasha's ears picked up the low sound of buzzing amid the hushed whispering of the wind among the tree branches, and he immediately followed the sound. Several of the farmers in old Kaede-baba's village had complained about the increased number of nests in here. The wasps would sometimes attack them while they were in their rice fields. Kaede had mentioned it to Sango, and she and Rin had cleaned the forest out twice already, but the winged parasites were always quick to return.

Maybe he should find the wasps before looking for the Shrike - but he hesitated to do that. They were extremely aggressive, and killing them would expend a lot of precious time - and time was everything if he was to find that dimwitted bird before they did, he thought in aggravation.

Turning his head, Inuyasha breathed in deeply, trying to track the bird's scent. But the wind made it difficult to find, dispersing it over a wide area. Looking up, all he could see was the black denseness of the trees' canopy. There was no sign of the mocking cry, nor the beat of the bird's wings nearby, but his ears did tell him that there was a swarm of wasps fairly close by.

“Heh,” he snorted with a feral half-smile, cracking his knuckles as he wended his way through the trees. `Too easy.” Within seconds he was on them, ripping through them with his claws. Nothing was left but small slivers of transparent wing and chunks of shiny, hard shell with bits of flesh still attached to them - food for the crows.

Inuyasha turned and continued on, raising his head and again sniffing the air. Was it his imagination, or was the smell of blood heavier now? Had the wasps gotten to the Shrike?

“Oy! Bird!” Inuyasha called, searching the boughs of the trees, “can you hear me?”

His body taught, Inuyasha listened intently for the flutter of bird wings. His ears twitched while the smell of blood strongly assaulted his nose, but all he could hear was the hum of those bloody insects! There seemed to be several more swarms in his vicinity, and they would have smelled the bird's blood too. If Inuyasha was going to find him, he thought darkly to himself, it had better be soon…

Again Inuyasha took off running, this time towards the center of the forest. It was hard to tell for certain because of the wind, but it seemed this might be where the scent of blood dwelled the strongest. Bursting through low-lying branches, he surprised another swarm and made quick work of them, his claws slashing left and right with deadly precision. Within seconds, it was over, and he stood, almost at the center of the forest now, trying not to think about how close he was to the Goshin Boku and the Bone Eater's Well.

“Oy! Bird!” he called again, this time hoping desperately the bird would respond so he would have to go no deeper into the forest.

His heart was already beating uncomfortably fast - and it wasn't from exertion either.

“Damn, bird!” he muttered under his breath and then broke off as he heard laughter amid the fluttering of wings from over head.

Looking up, relief flooded through him as he saw the Scythe Shrike alight high in the branches of a tree, muttering and laughing down at him.

Inuyasha listened to it for half a minute and the waved his arm impatiently.

“All right already! What are you yapping at me for!? I came to save you, didn't I?” He crossed his arms and tapped his toe impatiently. “So get down here where it's safe and I can keep an eye on you!” He jerked his head towards his shoulder as he spoke, even going so far as to lift his hand and pointedly tap it, before lapsing back into his nonchalant pose to wait.

The Shrike tilted its head, its grey eyes focused consideringly on Inuyasha.

Its hesitancy made Inuyasha grind his teeth and he stomped his foot, his nonchalance disintegrating into a burst of ill-humor. “Don't you just sit there, you ungrateful little wretch!” he growled, waving his fist at the bird, “or I'll come up there and rip the rest of your feathers out before the wasps can do it for you!”

The Shrike laughed and Inuyasha roared in anger, even more incensed, but he stopped, a look of sheer surprise on his face as the bird, now in its smaller form, left the branch and with wings outstretched, glided down to land softly on his shoulder. Then the Shrike reached out and playfully nipped at his ear and Inuyasha felt color spill across his face.

“I see after all that, you still didn't manage to find anything to eat, did you,” he complained as the Scythe Shrike laughed softly to itself, adjusting its feet on Inuyasha's shoulder as it took another playful nip. “Stop that!” Inuyasha turned, his amber eyes gazing balefully at the bird which seemed not to notice his ire. “Just because I found you, doesn't mean that I can't leave you here. Keep pushing your luck -“ Inuyasha ranted, breaking off suddenly as the sharp, acrid smell of smoke burned his nostrils.

Fire!? he thought. It was close too. Near the well - That couldn't be good.

Instinctively he turned and began moving as quickly as he could towards the Bone Eater's Well. The abruptness of his motion upset the Shrike and sent it away from his shoulder.

“Sorry,” Inuyasha called up to it as it circled above him. “Transform. As long as you stay close, you'll be safe.”

Changing size, the Shrike soared a little higher and Inuyasha was satisfied that it wasn't going to fly too far away and into danger when it continued to circle around him. His attention now free, he focused all of it into tracking the trail of smoke, this morning's dream standing out starkly in his mind, a huge knot forming in his stomach, as he was led in the direction of the Bone Eater's Well.

Was the well on fire? Would he arrive to find it destroyed? Dear God… could it be that he might not ever see Kagome again!?!

As he got closer to the veil of trees hiding the well, it felt like something inside him might explode, and yet at the same time, there was a voice in the back of his mind telling him that something wasn't right.

He would smell the smoke, but where was the roaring sound of timber being consumed? The heat of the fire as it burned through the forest? Even now, he should be able to see the red haze of the flames brightening the darkness. But there was nothing. Nothing but this nebulous smell of smoke and the terrible feeling that he was about to lose Kagome for forever.

Finally he could see it, and Inuyasha stopped abruptly, staring at it.

The Bone Eater's Well.

His heart was pounding with raw emotion.

There was no fire to be seen. He couldn't see any smoke either. But he could definitely smell it. The air around the well was filled with it, and it seemed to be coming from inside the well.

Slowly, Inuyasha approached it, his heart which had been pounding so violently before, now squeezed tightly in his chest. Was the Well House on Kagome's side on fire? Could the connection between their two worlds really be in danger? Could Kagome be in danger as well?

All of those dreams of losing her, of the portal failing seemed to be coming true, and Inuyasha felt a wild rush of panic. Ten years of digging in his heels and refusing to go near the well rose up to taunt him - ten years of possible chances to bring her back that might never come to fruition because of his pride.

A fresh gust of wind swirled around him and the insidious smell seemed to wrap around him, suffocating him, making it impossible for him to think. I have to know, he thought. This might be my last chance, if it isn't already too late…

Inuyasha put his hand on the ledge of the well and leaned forward, mentally preparing himself. Taking a deep breath he was ready, but instead of surging forwards like he ought to, he found himself stumbling backwards, startled into retreat at hearing the sound of his own name.

“Inuyasha!?” Sango addressed him with equal parts incredulity and shock.

Inuyasha turned his head and immediately she saw the wild look that ran rampant in his eyes.

“Inuyasha, are you all right?” she asked in concern, breaking away from Rin and Shippou to approach him.

The younger two remained momentarily silent, still gaping at him as if he'd suddenly stripped butt-naked to dance Kabuki.

Inuyasha blinked at Sango, and the panic he'd been experiencing slowly faded as he realized that his second worst nightmare had just come true.

“Inuyasha!” Shippou finally piped up joyfully, never without a voice for long, “you were finally going to go get Kagome, weren't you!”

Inuyasha stifled his grimace.

“Er, no, I was -“

“Yes, you were!” Shippou's face collapsed into a peevish frown and he took a step away from Rin, pointing a small, accusatory finger at Inuyasha. ”Why else would you be here? And besides that,” he added gloatingly, “we saw you! You were leaning over the edge, about to go in! Don't you dare deny it!”

“I was not!” Inuyasha hotly argued, ignoring the finger still pointed at him, Shippou's mulish expression making realize now more than ever, that no matter how terrified he might be, be could never let them think that he had even considered going to get Kagome. “If you must know, I came here because of that!” Inuyasha jabbed a finger to the right, in the direction of a tree, and all eyes swiveled towards it.

“That's the worst excuse ever, Inuyasha,” Shippou muttered darkly under his breath, completely ignoring Rin as she stepped up behind him and placed a restraining hand on the young kitsune's shoulder after seeing Inuyasha stiffen. “I mean, why can't you just be man enough to admit - Uwah!!!” Shippou stopped, huge tears of pain welling up in his eyes, the top of his head throbbing. His little hands went up and covered the spot where Inuyasha had just boxed him. “Inuyasha!!! You're so mean!!!”

Rin's hand tightened and pulled him protectively towards her and farther away from Inuyasha, disliking the hostile glare that still burned in his eyes.

Shippou would never learn to hold his tongue, and Inuyasha would never learn to have more patience when it came to the young youkai.

“Shippou, I think he was pointing to that little bird, there,” Rin said, direction his attention to the Shrike that had nestled itself amidst the branches once again in its smaller form and watching them with avid curiosity.

“That's right,” Inuyasha confirmed gruffly, crossing his arms, keeping his focus on the Shrike for now so he wouldn't have to face them. He felt certain that Rin and Shippou would accept the story of the Shrike for now, but Sango had seen too much - she had seen his face - and even though she might not come right out and ask him about it, he still wasn't ready to meet the questions in her probing gaze.

Taking a step towards the tree where the Shrike was he explained, “The Blood Wasps killed the rest of its flock and wounded it. I followed it in here, and… then smelled smoke coming from the well. I was looking down the well, NOT -“ he turned his head and looked meaningfully at Shippou “about to jump down it. Just came to LOOK!”

“SMOKE!?” All three said in unison, now completely ignoring him to crowd around the well to peer down.

The Scythe Shrike finally determined that it was safe and left its perch in the tree, gliding down to land on Inuyasha's shoulder, twittering softly and nipping at his ear.

Shippou sniffed the air anxiously, his eyes unable to penetrate the murky well shaft.

“I don't smell anything, Inuyasha,” he said after a long moment.

“Neither do I,” said Rin.

“Nor do I,” Sango added. “but that's not surprising since Rin and I are human.” Sango turned towards Inuyasha and gave him a thoughtful look. “But Shippou should still be able to smell something, if it was coming from the well. Maybe it's because we were using smoke on the nests of the Blood Wasps to bring out the swarms so we could get rid of them, and that has desensitized Shippou's nose. -- Or maybe what you smelled, wasn't smoke from the well at all, but the smoke we were using.”

“Maybe so,” Inuyasha agreed doubtfully, although he too could no longer smell the smoke any more.

Somehow that didn't make him feel any better.

“So that's why you're here,” Inuyasha murmured, changing the subject, and Sango nodded.

“Aye, I promised Kaede-sama that we would have the forest emptied of the Blood Wasps before the new moon,” she responded with a somewhat apologetic smile. It was as if she were trying to apologize for their presence.

That somehow made Inuyasha feel like she knew he didn't want them to know that he'd been there, and he felt his face turn red. “I wish you would've told me sooner,” he muttered darkly, “I could've helped, you know. It would've gone faster.” These last words were spoken as he turned and moved huffily away, and again the three just stared, gaping at him, momentarily at a loss for words.

“I didn't think he liked to come in here,” Rin whispered to Sango, confused.

Sango stared for a moment longer at Inuyasha before turning to look at her. Raising her finger to her lips, she shook her head in warning, and Rin nodded her understanding. Shippou just stared at the two girls with wide green eyes, confused.

“Wha?!” he said, “I don't understand.”

Before either of them could stop him, he rushed forward and tried to get clarification from Inuyasha, “So from now on, whenever we come in here, you'll be coming with us?”

“Heh, no,” Inuyasha immediately snorted.

“What!?” Shippou shrieked, outraged, “but you just said -“

“I said that I would've helped this time because you promised old Kaede-baba that you would have the forest emptied before the new moon which is TOMORROW, idiot!” Inuyasha retorted derisively. “but it doesn't matter, because I ended up helping anyway, when I came in. There were several swarms that were after this little bird that I managed to take care of for you guys,” he finished smugly.

“You're so selfish!” Shippou growled shaking his fist at Inuyasha, but Inuyasha just waved away the insult and turned to look over his shoulder at the girls.

“You ready to go?” he asked in a bored voice.

They nodded and he turned and started to walk away, ignoring Shippou who was mumbling under his breath. But then he stopped and looked straight down at the top of Shippou's blue-green bow. Shippou immediately stood stock still, wary of the hard, calculating look in Inuyasha's amber eyes.

“Hey, Shippou, make yourself useful,” he said, bending over and grabbing him by the tail.

“Wh-what are you do-doing!” Shippou cried, waving his arms as Inuyasha yanked him from the ground. “Uwah!! S-s-s-stop!!!!” he stuttered, as Inuyasha turned him upside down and began to shake him. Shippou turned his head, his wide green eyes imploring Rin for assistance.

“Inuyasha!” Rin cried in consternation, rushing forward to try and pull the young kitsune away from Inuyasha as toys began to fall from his pockets.

“Nope,” Inuyasha said, easily evading her grasp, “not done yet.”

It was like some kind of farcical ceremonial dance. The Shrike sat sedately on his shoulder laughing merrily, while Inuyasha shook the distressed Shippou who was screeching in a loud voice as he was swung in a large circle. They were both followed by the erratic movements of Rin as she wove in and out of the circle they made, her red hakama billowing around her legs as she tried to grab Shippou free. Tops, balls, leaves, dolls and Kagome's precious crayons fell from Shippou like a god dispensing prayers to Rin, the beseeching shrine maiden; until finally Inuyasha saw what he was looking for and he slowed down as acorns and mushrooms bounced to the ground. Thrusting Shippou into Rin's arms he reached down and scooped up a handful.

A triumphant smile on his face and ignoring the kitsune's dark looks, he said, “Thanks, Shippou,”

Reaching up, a few acorns and mushrooms held in the palm of his hand, Inuyasha fed the Shrike whose eyes lit with joy, and then he said over his shoulder, “Let's go.”

“Just you wait, Inuyasha!” Shippou cried in a strangled voice. “When I'm bigger…”

“I know, I know…” Inuyasha said with a casual wave of his free hand without looking back. “You're going to kick my butt…”

“Yes I am!” Shippou gulped.

“Shippou,” Rin soothed and then stopped as she heard a noise from behind her. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Inuyasha asked, turning to look at her.

“I thought I heard someone's… voice.” Rin said in a distracted way, searching the trees for any movement. “That's funny. It couldn't be, but I really thought I heard...”

Inuyasha came to stand beside her, looking in the same direction. He stared intently into the jagged gap formed by the tree trunks, his eyes narrowing. Reaching up, he transferred the Shrike from his shoulder to Rin's and then handed her the acorns and mushrooms.

Then he reached down and picked up a stone. “What you heard was nothing but a wild boar,” he said. Taking careful aim he chucked the stone and heard a resounding squeal of pain. “See?” he snorted with compressed lips.

“That's a boar?” Rin asked dubiously, feeding one of the mushrooms to the little Shrike, her brown eyes sliding over the darkened trees. “It… doesn't sound like a boar.”

Damn Sesshoumaru! Inuyasha thought to himself. It never failed. Always around this time when the moon was waning, he sent Jyaken to keep an eye on Rin for he knew about Inuyasha's “weakness”. Inuyasha didn't need Jyaken's help to protect Rin and Sango, no matter what time of the month it was. And furthermore, if Jyaken was going to skulk around the woods spying on them like a wild animal, then Inuyasha was going to treat him like a wild animal!

Glancing over at Sango, he knew that she'd probably figured out that it was Jyaken as well, because there'd been no mistaking the little imp's whiny voice. But long ago, when they both realized they were being spied upon from time to time, they had decided to keep silent on the issue where Rin was concerned, for they knew how much esteem she still had for Inuyasha's half-brother.

She thought she was helping Sesshoumaru establish his goals of a dynasty by protecting the Shikon no Tama, for god's sake - had thought that ever since she'd come to stay with them, and no one had ever tried to take that notion away from her. But even so, he couldn't let her believe what she'd just heard, so he would convince her otherwise.

“I'm telling you, it was a boar!” Inuyasha reiterated impatiently, his eyes on Sango. “Can we go now?”

“Inuyasha's right. It was a boar. It's probably attracted by all the noise that Shippou-chan was making just now. We should probably go before he gets too interested in us, since Inuyasha made him cranky by hitting him with a rock,” Sango agreed encouragingly. “Kirara!” she called, and then heard the roar of her cat from the forest as Kirara came bounding towards them.

“Hey, Inuyasha, your little bird! She's injured!” Rin exclaimed, as they turned and began walking the other way.

“She's not my bird,” he corrected, looking at the happy face of the Shrike as she twittered away on Rin's shoulder, “and yes, I know.” Then he looked back at Rin's face, trying not to sound too anxious, “but you can fix her, right?”

“Let's call her Tsuzume,” Rin said after a moment, as she fed the chatty little bird a few more mushrooms and acorns, her head turned towards the bird so she didn't see Inuyasha's exasperated look

“Oy! You didn't answer my question!” he said with a peevish gesture, their voices fading as they walked farther away from the well.

“Of course I can! Kaede-bachan trained me, after all!” she replied teasingly as they left the clearing altogether.

 

From his spot where he'd been watching Inuyasha's party, Jyaken sat, knocked off his feet, his short, stubby legs outstretched in front of him, gingerly rubbing the knot that was beginning to form where Inuyasha had beamed him with the rock, his head swiveled around, his yellow eyes narrowed in annoyance as he stared at the tall slender figure standing behind him.

“Atsuji!” he hissed at the long haired, aqua-headed man, using his nintoujou staff to help him regain his footing. He never took his eyes off of the handsome young youkai dressed in a dark blue kimono and loose fitting dark blue hakama tucked into soft skin boots.

Atsuji wasn't paying any attention to the baldheaded, green little imp. He was too busy watching the retreating figures of Inuyasha, Sango, Shippou, Kirara and Rin, his thickly lashed, deep aquamarine eyes pinned admiringly to the red hakama of the young human priestess.

“Look!” Atsuji, pointed, shuffling his feet in a flurry of small steps, “they're leaving. Aren't you going to follow them, Jyaken-sama?”

“NO!” Jyaken barked sourly, tapping his staff on the ground smartly for emphasis. “You idiot! What are you doing here?” he demanded, moving towards Atsuji, who was still ignoring him.

Atsuji was younger brother to Mizuna, one of the daughters to a daiyoukai in southern Shikoku. Her father had been known to Inu no Taisho, Sesshoumaru-sama's father, and while, not as great in stature as Sesshoumaru-sama's father or Sesshoumaru-sama himself, Sesshoumaru-sama acknowledged that an alliance with his clan would help in building the dynasty of conquest he wished to achieve. Thus, several years ago, he had allowed himself to become betrothed to Mizuna. And with Mizuna came Atsuji.

From the very beginning, Jyaken had disliked Mizuna. She did not properly respect Sesshoumaru-sama. Not at all. She treated him like she owned him. She didn't seem to understand the great honor she was receiving by becoming his bride-to-be, Jyaken thought darkly. Mizuna was a possessive child; willful, ambitious and cunning. But she was also very beautiful with the same aqua colored hair and aquamarine colored eyes that her brother had.

Not that that counted with Sesshoumaru-sama. And whenever she would visit Sesshoumaru-sama, she would bring her younger brother, Atsuji with her. If it wasn't for the fact that that they looked alike, Jyaken would never believe that they came from the same family. Where Mizuna was calculating, Atsuji was open and honest. And Mizuna's willfulness only seemed to make Atsuji excessive eagerness to help whenever he was around all the more irritating to Jyaken. But Atsuji was dedicated to his sister. He loved her more than anyone else. Which begged the question: what was he doing here now?

“Did you not hear me?” Jyaken raised his staff and poked Atsuji sharply in the back with it, running out of patience with him.

“Ita!” Atsuji finally turned, giving his attention to Jyaken, who was looking up at him, his beak pulled down into a menacing frown. Atsuji's sea colored eyes widened innocently. “What?” he asked.

“Don't you `what'” me, Atsuji,” Jyaken retorted, “you followed me here, and you are responsible for my lump!” Jyaken pointed to his head, his mood deteriorating slightly as he did so. “If I hadn't caught you skulking about, Inuyasha would have never known that we were here!”

“Well, you weren't supposed to catch me though,” Atsuji replied guiltily, shuffling his feet.

Jyaken blinked, his expression not lightening in the slightest.

“Who was she? Atsuji asked hopefully.

“Who was who?” Jyaken grunted blackly.

“The pretty girl,” Atsuji sighed, “she had long black hair tied in a cord, with pale skin.” Jyaken remained silent, so Atsuji tried again. “You know, the brave, young girl who was so cheerful and protective!” Atsuji paused. Jyaken's beak drifted lower into a deeper frown and still he said nothing. “I know you know who I'm talking about! You've been following her and watching her all night - the young miko in the red hakama!!”

“I wasn't watching her!” Jyaken denied, a little fearfully. If Sesshoumaru-sama knew that he let Atsuji find out about Rin, his lordship just might kill him.

“Then what were you doing?” Atsuji wanted to know.

“What business is it of yours, Atsuji, eh?” Jyaken asked with narrowed eyes. “Did your sister send you here?”

Atsuji's face flushed a deep red. “Well, she hates it that Sesshoumaru-sama denies her visits -“

“He hardly ever denies her anything!” Jyaken grumbled turning away from Atsuji thumping nintoujou on the ground as he walked, “why should she complain if he forbids her a visit one or two nights a month?”

“Because it's always the same nights,” Atsuji said plaintively, “she thinks he's hiding something.”

Jyaken whipped around at that. “You tell your sister that she has no right to test the trust of Sesshoumaru-sama!! Foolish girl!!!” he spat whipping back around and stomping away.

“Where are you going?” Atsuji called.

“I'm returning to Sesshoumaru-sama, you fool!” Jyaken retorted angrily, “to tell him about you and your sister. I think he has a right to know what tricks you've been up to,” and then in a quieter voice, “I just hope he doesn't kill me for it.”

He walked a few more steps and when he realized that Atsuji hadn't moved, he turned back around and said, “Go home, Atsuji!”

“In a while,” he said, waving the imp away, “I want to wait and see if the miko comes back this way again. She was very pretty. I think she might since there are a few more nests in the forest that she and her friends seemed interested in.”

Jyaken's face fell into a deep frown at that, but there was little he could do to make the bothersome young youkai go home.

“She was only human,” Jyaken muttered discouragingly.

“I know,” Atsuji replied, positively glowing, and Jyaken groaned inwardly.

The boy was completely unnatural. I only hope Sesshoumaru-sama doesn't kill me when I tell him, he thought again, with a weary sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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