InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Centre ❯ ...He is fierce! ( Chapter 37 )

Hey everyone! After a horrific airport retrieval experience and almost getting really sick, I'm back at the keyboard, fully rested and ready to type. Of course I had to reread my own damn story cause….uhhh, it's been a while, ne?

FYI, I haven't been putting disclaimers on all the chapters cause I figured if you are old enough to read this (or sneaky enough to be reading it when you shouldn't) then you are intelligent enough to realize I am no Rumiko Takahashi. My contract here has nothing to do with any of this so if you actually believe I get paid to do this…..

I got a lovely bridge over ocean front property in central Japan for sale! (For those of you really out of it….I'm in a land locked prefecture.)

And now….on with the story!

Chapter 37: …He is fierce!!!

"FUCKING HELL! THAT HURTS YA KNOW!"

"That means it's working," Kagome explained patiently to the hanyou she was treating. Inuyasha was bleeding lightly in various places and covered in a light dust.

"Inu youkai have survived for centuries without your silly antiseptic shit," he pointed out. He quickly realized his mistake as her mouth set into a thin line.

"Well excuse me for caring!" she snapped and stopped treating the cut. Standing up, she dumped the iodine bottle in his lap, leaving him with a mess of bandages and smelly rags. Inuyasha's nose wrinkled at the unpleasant reek of the chemical.

"Kagome, I didn't mean-" he began, but she was already bending down to help Rin. Neither woman looked at him as they finished wrapping Sesshoumaru's torso. The full demon looked at his brother in disgust.

"It takes longer to heal if there is an infection," Sesshoumaru pointed out. "And only a fool complains when his bitch pays attention to him."

"Shut up," Inuyasha growled. Miroku was still unconscious, Kohaku keeping a close watch over the monk. They needed to get him to a hospital in case he had a concussion. Hell, they could all use a trip to the hospital, especially Kagome. She looked on the verge of exhaustion. Dark circles had begun to form under her eyes and her skin was a shade paler than usual. She was beginning to resemble death walking.

Kagome's eyes met Inuyasha's as she scanned the small area they had stopped in. He tried to appear as apologetic as possible, ears half relaxed as he gave her his best puppy dog face. Her eyes softened ever so slightly, signaling his forgiveness. Then she frowned.

`Great,' Inuyasha thought. `Now what have I done?'

"Where's Sango?" Kagome asked.

"She went to get Souta and company," Rin replied.

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Sango approached the small shed cautiously. There had been no contact from Souta since the earthquake and their escape. She suspected it was probably due to damaged equipment, but as she neared the building warning signals went off in her head.

"Sis?" Kohaku asked, frightened by the lack of movement or noise from the shed.

"Shh, just stay behind me and keep a look out." Kohaku nodded, adjusting the weapon in his hand carefully.

The door to the shed looked as if it had been blasted inward. Deep furrows in the metal suggested a rather powerful force had hit it. Considering the holy barriers that had surrounded this shed, very few could have done this sort of damage. A quick scan of the inside told her all she needed to know.

Souta, Shiori and Shippou were gone.

"What's wrong?" Kohaku asked.

"We've got a problem," Sango said, scanning the area around them. Footprints led to the forest…then suddenly disappeared, as if they were lifted from the ground. "We've got a big problem."

****************

"What do you mean gone?" Kagome asked, her face growing paler by the second.

"Everything was left there. The footprints lead outward, then disappear," Sango reported. Her heart ached as she looked down at her own little brother.

Kagome's legs shook before giving out completely. Tears were gathering in her eyes as she looked at Sango as if wishing the slayer to tell her it was all a lie and Souta was somewhere safe. Sango could bare it no longer and broke eye contact.

"Not Souta," Kagome whispered. "That bastard took my brother…." Hatred began to fill her heart….followed by an overwhelming desire for revenge. Slow, painful revenge. No death would be good enough for the asshole, but Kagome would make it as close to the satisfaction as possible.

"Rin, tell the miko to stop," Sesshoumaru said from where he lay. "If she continues like this, her pure soul will be tainted."

"Kagome? Tainted?" Rin scoffed. "I think you've been sniffing too much iodine."

"No….ask Inuyasha. He can feel it as well. She is giving into the desires of hate and revenge. By doing so she risks unbalancing her own blood and with it her powers."

"It's true," Inuyasha added, his face drawn into a serious frown. "How do you think we get Black Mikos?"

"Shit," Rin swore. "She's your mate, do something!" she snapped at the Hanyou.

"She's not my mate yet!" Inuyasha protested. "And at this point she is rejecting me! Would you have me piss her off even more?!"

"Damn useless demons," Rin muttered. Next to her Sesshoumaru let out a brief chuckle of amusement. She knelt by the young woman whose miko powers were struggling to recover. Her mind was subconsciously pulling for more power even though she had so little left. At this rate she was going to permanently hurt herself….and perhaps take the rest of them with her.

"Kagome, sweetie, look at me," Rin said softly.

"He's got Souta, Rin," Kagome snarled, her once sweet voice laced with a steel cold edge. It reminded Rin all too much of Sesshoumaru. If there was one human that should never have sounded like that, it was Kagome.

"We'll get him back. Souta is a smart boy. He won't be easily manipulated, even with a collar. But we can't get him back if you don't control yourself."

"Control myself?" Kagome retorted, her eyes filled with sarcastic hatred. "When have I ever been able to control myself? Isn't that why the council wants me dead?"

"Is it that you really can't control yourself or just that the council thinks you can't? I've seen you level a building, pull up barriers at the last possible second and shoot powerful, concentrated holy arrows when necessary. If that isn't control….then I believe you need to redefine control."

"But-"

"No, Kagome, no buts. You get yourself under goddamn control or you risk killing us all. You are no use to your brother dead," Rin snapped, her tone sounding dangerously like a mother scolding her daughter over something trivial.

Kagome's eyes began to soften, slowly at first until they were back to their gentle gaze everyone knew. The dark power swirling around her quickly disappeared, vanishing. Both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha let out a sigh of relief, then quickly tried to pretend they'd done no such thing. Kagome looked up at everyone with an apologetic face.

"I'm sorry," she said lightly.

"Come on, kid, you need some rest," Rin said softly as she held out her hand. Kagome, however, never reached it. Drained of energy, both physically and emotionally, the miko's eyes rolled upward and the girl slumped over in a dead feint. Sighing, Rin looked over at Inuyasha.

"I got her, but Sango's gotta carry the perv. I only got two hands."

"Why do I have to carry him?" Sango demanded.

"Cause gimpy demon here only has one arm and if I carry two unconscious people I'm liable to drop one or the other," Inuyasha replied, picking up the miko every so gently.

"How come I get the heavier of the two?"

"Just shut up and do it," Inuyasha grumbled, not meeting her eye. Sango crossed her arms in annoyance. There was something he wasn't telling her.

"Miroku tends to ….uh….have wandering hands," Rin supplied. "Even while unconscious."

Sango's face turned bright red. Inuyasha seemed to walk a little faster away from them, his back to them all.

"Are you telling me Miroku copped a feel on Inuyasha?" Sango asked incredulously. Rin's smile was all the answer she needed as Sango burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Shut up!" Inuyasha yelled back.

"Between that and loosing an arm….I think I prefer the loss of limb," Sesshoumaru commented. "The slayer is definitely carrying the monk."

"Are you guys always like this?" Kohaku asked his sister who was on the ground laughing so hard tears were streaming out of her eyes.

"Wait till Miroku wakes up and I tell him!" Sango said between gasps for air. "He'll wretch!"

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"So now what do we do?" Ginta asked Kouga. The wolf prince was standing next to the window of the luxurious pent house apartment Ayame's grandfather owned. The large two floor apartment was more like a mini mansion on top of one of the most successful businesses in the city. The entire first floor was merely open space, perfect for large pack meetings…and now, a make shift hospital.

"Ayame is your leader, not me," Kouga retorted, his voice distant.

"But.." Ginta began only to have Kouga snarl a warning growl at him. The wolf retreated from his former leader with his tail tucked between his legs.

Across the room Ayame sat by a wounded wolf, bandaging his paw as her grandfather ground herbs.

"See what I mean?" she said as she finished tying the end of the bandage. "They still look to him as a leader….even though he has given it up."

"He is stronger than you," the old wolf said. Ayame's eyebrow ticked at that, but she did not dare snap at her elder. "Wolves always follow the strong and the smart."

"So where does that leave me?" she asked, fearing his answer. All her life she'd been second best…never good enough. Now she couldn't even dominate her own pack.

"Strength is not always in physical power. It is also in your character. You are presented with the problem of not being able to physically dominate your mate. There are other ways of achieving dominance. The pack needs to see you two on an equal level. You must figure out a way to balance his strength with yours."

"My strength?"

"Granddaughter, you are a very smart female youkai. Sometimes a bit too stubborn, but intelligent. Try to look past this as a power struggle and see what the best course of action is for the pack."

"The best course of action is for Kouga to lead," she said. "Is he a better leader and has their loyalty."

"Then perhaps your strength is in letting go." Ayame frowned, but nodded her understanding. Relinquishing head position to the alpha male was almost unheard of unless the female had pups.

"Princess?" a whine from the side said, catching her attention. Ginta looked like a whipped puppy, confused as to where he should go or what he should do. Ayame bit down her pride, trying to ignore the part of her that wanted to jump up and down in frustration at her inability to hold the pack like Kouga did. Maybe one day they would accept her on some level.

"This has got to stop," she said quietly, placing a hand on Ginta's shoulder. He looked even more confused when she gave him a gentle smile, then rose to walk over to where Kouga stood brooding at the window.

The entire pack watched as Ayame accepted a very submissive pose, dropping to her knees before the wolf prince.

"What do you want?" he half snarled.

"I want you to lead us," she said, her head bowed. Started, he looked down expecting fiery eyes to meet his in a challenge. Instead he found himself looking at the part in her red hair, her eyes focused somewhere around his feet.

"You are the leader, not me," he reminded her.

"I was…but I want you to lead. This is my final decision as leader of this pack. I turn it back over to you. Do what you will of me, put me where you want me within the pack…..it is yours. As it always has been."

Kouga's jaw dropped in disbelief. What had happened to the demanding little princess who marked his neck and demanded HIS submission?

"Why?" he found himself asking.

"This is best for the pack," she replied. So that was the reason for her change? She couldn't cut leading the pack? He almost laughed…except he could see the tension in her shoulders. She hated this, she really did, but she would do anything for the pack. As any of them should. It took a great deal of strength to go against instinct for the betterment of the group. He looked around and immediately saw the pack had a newfound respect for her. In giving up power she had, in fact, gained it.

Gods were politics a pain in the ass.

"I accept," he said. "But only if you remain second to no one but me." He could not risk a lower pack member taking advantage of her drop in status. By abdicating she placed herself at the level of regular wolves, subject to the orders of any male around her. Too many of the more ruthless one would have loved to knock the princess down a peg or two.

"I accept," she said softly, still not meeting his eyes, but the tension eased from her shoulders. Kouga nodded once, settling the matter as done and turned back to the window.

Her actions had placed a new thought pattern in his head. He wanted Kagome, there was no doubt about that….but was she good for the pack? Too long he'd ignored the true duty of a leader…to sacrifice for the good of the group. Ayame's abdication quickly brought to light his responsibility.

What was he to do?

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"Wow!" Souta commented as Shiori landed next to the large tree. "That was amazing! I've never flown…well, except in an airplane….I mean wow!"

Shiori blushed a bit and nodded, exhausted after flying with the fox demon and high school kid. He may have been skinny, but gravity made him one heavy boy!

"Where are we?" Shippou asked.

"A safe place," Shiori said, pointing to a rather large opening in the side of a rock formation.

"Safe place? What is this place?" Souta asked.

"Midoriko's grave."

"Midoriko? Why does that name sound so familiar?" Souta said to himself as they walked into the cave. "Hey, you think we should try and find a phone and call my sister? She's probably worried sick. Inuyasha is probably going insane as she lists all the possible horrors that could have befallen me in the last half an hour."

"We are being followed," Shiori said. "It isn't safe."

"It's ok, I left a trail," Shippou piped up. In his paw he held a little mushroom.

"Mushrooms? What, are they going to follow the bread crumbs home?" Souta asked sarcastically.

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I'm back on my roll. Hopefully I will get another chapter done tonight…after grocery shopping. Gotta eat, sorry. At this point I only have starch stuff in my house…and spices. I think some veggies, dairy and meat are in order. I'm outta cash too so I gotta whip out the plastic. Damn car inspection took most of my money for the month and I don't get paid until the 17th of January. Oh well, life goes on. Eventually I will be out of debt…I hope.

Happy Holidays to everyone! I enjoyed my first X-mas abroad….which was a weird experience, let me tell you. Tomorrow is New Years Eve and if I ever figure out what to do it should be fun!