InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Difference a Little Time Can Make ❯ Chapter 20 ( Chapter 20 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. I am not making any money from this story.

 

Author's note: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. Please continue to review and let me know what you think. The changes from canon will continue to ripple out, though some things will remain the same.

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Kagome sighed as the village came into sight. According to Kaede's scroll, on the outskirts of this village there should be a shrine with a priest that might be able to answer some questions about the Bone Eater's Well or the Goshinboku of whose wood it was made of. Kagome also needed new arrows. The others had all been destroyed during the battle with the Thunder Brothers. She turned to her traveling companion. “Well, shall we go?”

 

“Keh” but he followed her lead. They walked up the path to the village. He kept his ears trained for any sign of trouble. There were few villagers around, it was mid-afternoon so most were in the fields tending to the crops and finishing their work for the day. The few that were around would draw back and murmur about youkai upon spotting Inuyasha. He tensed as he noticed their reactions. This was why he hated coming into human settlements, preferring to remain in the forest. He hated the way people always reacted to him. It would start out small, pointing and whispers, then it would escalate and he would be chased out of the village. He glanced at Kagome and resolved to keep a close eye on her. If things were to turn violent, he didn't want her to get caught in the middle of it.

 

Kagome glanced at Inuyasha and noticed that he had tensed. She knew from their nightly conversations that he didn't feel comfortable in human villages. He had too many bad memories attached to them. Without giving it much thought, she reached out and grasped his hand, smiling at him when he shot her a look. She felt him relax at the small contact and they approached the shrine. There was a priest outside but his back was turned to them as he tended to his duties. “Excuse me” Kagome began “but we are looking for a priest named Daichi-sama. Is that you?”

He said “Forgive me if I continue my work while we talk. But no I am not Daichi-sama. I must regrettably inform you that he passed on two moons ago. I am Nobuo-sama. Perhaps I may be of assistance.”

Kagome was disappointed to learn that they priest they were looking for was dead. But perhaps this man had some knowledge that could help them. “Well, a miko named Kaede-sama thought that Daichi-sama might have knowledge about a well located on the outskirts of her village in Edo. It is known as the Bone Eater's Well. Have you heard of it?”

He paused in his work. “No, I can't say that I have. In Edo, you say?” And he began to turn around. He froze upon spotting Inuyasha and his eyes widened. “Youkai!”

 

Kagome hastened to calm him. “No, it's alright. This is Inuyasha, a friend of mine. Don't worry, he's a good person. He won't harm you.”

 

But Nobuo refused to be placated. “You DARE bring a youkai HERE, to this sacred shrine?” He was shaking with rage.

 

Inuyasha didn't like where this was going. He reached out and grabbed Kagome, pulling her back to his side and away from the angry priest. Nobuo's eyes narrowed as he saw how familiar Inuyasha was being by so casually touching her. Inuyasha was about to suggest that they get out of there when a commotion caught his attention. Turning, he cursed himself for becoming so focused on the priest that he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings. While they were busy with the priest one of the villager's must have run to the fields to gather the men because they were all coming up the road with weapons. He was about to toss Kagome on his back and run when a searing pain came over him and he fell to the ground as he felt his strength leave him. He was distantly aware of Kagome yelling but his mind was consumed by the pain.

 

“NO! Inuyasha!” Kagome cried out as she saw the priest slap an ofuda on the hanyou's back, causing him to fall to the ground. She felt hands grab her and she struggled against. “No! Let me go! We didn't do anything!” One of her captors silenced her by covering her mouth with his hand.

 

“Do not let her go!” Nobuo ordered the villagers. “She brought this foul creature to our sacred shrine. Such a vile act must be punished.” The angry villagers began to murmur in agreement.

 

One of the village women called out. “I saw them as they entered the village. She was holding the monster's hand! She is nothing but a youkai whore!”

 

Kagome felt as if the ground had fallen out from under her. 'What?' She listened in shock as the villagers called her vile names. Slut, whore, traitor to humanity. 'How can they act like this? I've done nothing to them.'

 

Nobuo raised his arms as if to placate the crowd and they quieted. “Now, now my good friends” he told the villagers. “It is possible that the girl has simply been misled or even enchanted. Let us first deal with this filthy creature” he spat on the ground in front of Inuyasha to make his point. “Then we shall see if the girl is repentant.”

 

The crowd cheered at that. They began to yell out suggestions. “Yeah, kill the beast. Let's hang him!” one man shouted.

 

“No, cut off his head!” another called out.

 

“How about burning him to death?!”

 

Kagome renewed her struggles upon hearing them. She couldn't believe that they were talking about killing Inuyasha. He hadn't done anything to them! And each suggestion was more gruesome than the last. She had to save him, he wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for her. But the men holding her were too strong.

 

Nobuo again calmed the crowd. “My friends, we must do this right. This foul creature desecrated our shrine so his blood must be spilled here to remove the taint. And in order to prevent the beast from reviving, we must cut off his head and then burn his remains.”

 

The villagers began to praise him. “You are wise Nobuo-sama.” “Whatever you say Nobuo-sama.” “It will be done Nobuo-sama.”

 

Kagome couldn't listen to anymore of this. She sunk her teeth into the hand covering her mouth. Once it was removed she began to shout. “Why are you doing this? What have we ever done do harm you?! Just let us go. I promise that we'll leave and never come back. There is no need for any of this!” But her words fell on deaf ears.

 

“Shut up youkai whore! Or you'll meet the same fate.” The villagers yelled and jeered at her.

 

Her hands were bound behind her back and she watched helplessly as they quickly erected an altar in front of the shrine. They sat her down in front of it where she would be able to see everything up close. She watched in horror as they laid Inuyasha's paralyzed body on top of the makeshift altar. She could see the axe set to the side of the makeshift altar. She was vaguely aware of the priest making another speech to the villagers but all she could hear was her heart pounding in her ears. She couldn't take her eyes off of Inuyasha's still form. He looked to be in so much pain. Suddenly everything went quiet. She raised her eyes from Inuyasha and spotted Nobuo standing behind the altar, axe in hand. He raised it above his head and something inside Kagome snapped.

 

“NOOO!” she screamed as she shot to her feet and threw herself over Inuyasha's still form. She waited for the expected pain but it never came. Instead, she heard panicked shouts from the villagers. She lifted her head and spotted something shimmering around the altar. Beyond that she could see Nobuo sitting on the ground with a look of shock on his face, the remains of the axe still clutched in his hand. She looked closer at the shimmering energy. It reminded her of when the Tessaiga had protected her from Sesshomaru's poison. 'Is that a barrier?' she wondered. She thought maybe it was the Tessaiga, protecting them again but realized that the energy didn't feel demonic or like youki. In fact, it felt like her own energy. 'Did I somehow create it?'

 

She shook her head to clear it. The villagers were beginning to get over their shock and were approaching the barrier. They threw things at it and pounded on it with their weapons but Kagome was relieved to see it hold. But she didn't know how long it would continue to last. She needed to free Inuyasha and get out of there. But to do that she first had to remove the ofuda from him. Not an easy task when the ofuda is on his back and she is laying sideways across his body with her hands bound behind her back.

 

Outside the barrier Nobuo had risen to his feet. “A barrier?!” he cried in disbelief. He could sense the spiritual energy behind the barrier. He had never felt so much power. He stared at the girl. How could this be? “A dark miko!” he cried out. “She has obviously made a dark deal with the youkai to have gained such power. They must both be destroyed at once!” He retrieved his staff from the wall of the shrine and swung it at the barrier. He rallied the villagers into renewing their assault on the barrier.

 

After a lot wiggling, Kagome managed to shift her body so that she was lying face to face with Inuyasha across the front of his body. She flushed at the position they were in and hoped that he wasn't aware of what was going on. She put that thought out of her mind. She had to hurry. She could now feel each blow against the barrier and knew that it wouldn't last much longer. Luckily the ofuda was up near his shoulder, so after shifting a bit more she was able to reach it. But she was puzzled as to how she would remove it without the use of her hands. With no other choice, she leaned forward and grabbed it with her teeth, tearing it away from him just as she felt the barrier begin to give way.

 

Once the ofuda was removed Inuyasha found himself able to move again. He grabbed Kagome from where she laid across his body and leaped away from the altar as the barrier fell away. He had been conscious the whole time, just in pain from the spiritual energy that invaded his body and left him unable to move. He had inwardly cursed Kagome, unable to voice the words, when she had thrown herself over him. He resolved to have a long discussion about that with her later, after they got out of this mess. His heart had stopped when he had seen the axe falling towards her body. He had been shocked and relieved when the barrier had appeared. But when he felt her wiggling over his body the way she had he was grateful that the ofuda kept his body from reacting. 'I think that was more of a shock than the barrier' he absently thought as he landed a distance away from the mob of villagers.

 

He quickly set Kagome down and sliced through the rope binding her hands. “Stay behind me” he ordered her as he turned to face the villagers. They were between them and the way out of the village. He didn't want to hurt them, at least not too badly, but he would have to deal with them before they could leave. Otherwise, they could end up being chased by a crazed mob, one that could quickly grow if they spread the word to other villages of a youkai attack. He cracked his knuckles and glared at the villagers. “Back off” he growled. Several took a step back, afraid to face him now that he was free to move.

 

But Nobuo stepped forward, urging them on. “No, we must stop them. They are evil! They must be destroyed before they destroy our village.” His words rallied the villagers and they once more began to approach, believing that they were protecting their homes and families with their actions.

 

Inuyasha growled again and reached for Tessaiga. But he hesitated, unsure if it would transform against humans. He didn't want to hurt them, just scare them off before they hurt Kagome. He knew that they just wanted to protect their loved ones. He briefly wondered at his reaction. Before he had met Kagome he wouldn't have thought much of hurting them to escape. He wouldn't have killed them but he wouldn't have cared if he had to injure them. But now that he had her acceptance, something he had always yearned for, he found he didn't want to hurt anybody, especially not in front of Kagome. He wondered how she could change him so much in so little time. He shook those thoughts away to focus on the matter at hand. It didn't matter right now why he had changed, just that he had. And he had to find a way out without injuring anybody. It was the priest that was the real problem. If he could just shut him up he might have a chance of convincing the villagers to let them go in peace. He tried to reason with them though he didn't think it would work. “Look, I don't want to hurt you. Just let us leave and we'll never bother you again.”

 

Several of the villagers looked unsure at his words but Nobuo spoke up quickly. “Don't listen to the beast! Can't you see that he is trying to trick you into letting down your guard? We must not let them get away! If we let them escape they'll return later to slaughter all of us!”

 

His words made the villagers continue forward. The men clutched their weapons as they approached where Inuyasha and Kagome were standing. Inuyasha cursed and tried to think of a way out that wouldn't seriously harm anyone. A rock suddenly came flying at his head and he batted it aside. He looked and spotted the women and children to one side. A small boy bent and grabbed another rock. “Yeah, get him. Get the monster” he threw the rock at Inuyasha again. Inuyasha growled as others joined in. Even if he could bring himself to fight against the men, he couldn't bring himself to hurt women and children. He continued to dodge and bat aside the projectiles while keeping an eye on the approaching men.

 

Suddenly he heard a pained yelp from behind him. He glanced back and saw Kagome holding her arm. She smiled weakly at him. “I'm alright Inuyasha” she hastened to convince him. “It just grazed me when I tried to glance around you.” With a start, he realized that one of the rocks had hit her. He cursed himself for not paying better attention and protecting her better. He pulled her closer to his body so he could shield her. “Don't move” he told her before facing the villagers again. It was time to get serious.

 

The village men were nearly upon them. They had grown a bit braver upon seeing the rock hit Kagome. “Look, no barrier this time” one pointed out.

 

“Maybe she could only do it once” another said. They grew braver at that and ran forward to attack.

 

Inuyasha growled and drew Tessaiga. He needed to protect Kagome. The sword pulsed in his hand and transformed.

 

The men halted and shrank back in fear upon spotting the fang. “He's got a demonic weapon” one man yelled as he scrambled back in fear.

 

Even Nobuo briefly stepped back in shock. He had examined the weapon but hadn't sensed anything from it. It had appeared to be just a rusty old katana, so he hadn't seen the harm in leaving it with the youkai. But now he realized his error. He grasped his staff tighter. “Come, we must destroy them.” But the villagers continued to back away, scared and doubtful. They didn't want to face a weapon like that. “Fine” Nobuo said. “I will deal with them myself.” He had confidence that his spiritual powers would protect him. He charged forward, swinging his staff.

 

Inuyasha simply smirked at the fool's overconfidence. He raised the Tessaiga and easily sliced the staff in half. “What?” he asked at the priest's look of horror. “You thought that stick of yours was a match for my Tessaiga?”

 

Nobuo shook with rage. “I'll still get you, you filthy monster. Let's see your sword handle my sacred sutra.” He flung a handful of ofuda at the hanyou.

 

Inuyasha cursed his own overconfidence as he saw the ofuda flying at him. He really didn't want to be sealed again. He did a double take when he saw Kagome step out in front of him. “Oi!”

 

Kagome ignored Inuyasha as she watched the ofuda approach. She knew it would be bad to let them touch Inuyasha. She concentrated and focused like Kaede had taught her, calling on her spiritual powers. She let her aura build and surround her before extending it. As the ofuda encountered her aura, they caught fire and burned away. She opened her eyes to see everyone gaping in shock. “What?” she asked.

 

Nobuo recovered from his shock. “See? I told you she is a dark miko! That is the only way to explain her powers when she consorts with youkai. She must be destroyed.” But the villagers were now even more reluctant to face them.

 

Kagome felt Inuyasha tug her back behind him and she clutched at Inuyasha's haori at the priest's words. But she could not contain her outburst. “Hey! I'm not a dark miko. I'm not even a miko. It is true that I've had some miko training but that doesn't make me a miko. And why should being friends with Inuyasha affect my powers? He's a good person.” She felt Inuyasha push her more firmly behind him and decided to remain quiet for the moment. She saw that her words hadn't helped the situation like she thought they would.

 

Nobuo took her words as confirmation of her guilt. “You see? She admits that she consorts with youkai, claiming them her 'friends' and still possesses powers. She must have made a dark deal with the denizens of the lowest hell for that to happen. Destroy her at once!”

 

Inuyasha growled at the priest's words. He dared to threaten Kagome? Not while Inuyasha was around. He felt her move to step around him again and grabbed her hand and pulled her back behind him with a warning growl to stay there. He glared at the priest. “There's nothing dark or evil about Kagome, you stupid bastard! Hell if it weren't for her I probably wouldn't have cared if I injured you fools or not. I would have just torn through you and left.”

 

His words gave the villagers pause. One man who hadn't even wanted to get involved spoke up. “Hey, he's got a point. He hasn't even tried to fight us. All he's done is dodge despite our attempts to attack. Why are we attacking?”

 

Several others began to murmur in agreement. They wanted no part of this. Those two were dangerous between the youkai's sword and strength and the woman's powers. Why shouldn't they just let them go?

 

Nobuo looked listened to them and realized that he was losing them. “No!” he cried. “All youkai are evil and must be destroyed. If we let them go they will just return later to destroy us!”

 

But the villagers weren't listening. One of the older villagers stepped forward. “No Nobuo-sama. We will listen to you no longer. I remember when Daichi-sama was still around. He taught us to be kind and merciful. There were several youkai that lived peacefully nearby until recently.” He turned to face the other villagers. “Don't you remember that family of badger youkai that lived just down the river. How they helped us build a dam and saved one of the boys that fell in the river? They had never done anything to harm us and we had all coexisted peacefully.” The villagers began to murmur louder. They were clearly moved by the man's words. He turned to face Nobuo. “That is, until you came. You came and said you wanted to learn under Daichi-sama, who was getting on in years. And then he passed away. You claimed his death was a punishment from the Kami for allowing the youkai to live. You tricked us into killing the badger youkai. And then problems began in our once peaceful village. The crops died, hunting was poor, several villagers became ill. And each time you would place the blame on some youkai or other that had never done us any harm. And you would lead us out to exterminate them. Well I say no more. We will follow your orders no longer.”

 

Nobuo's face had grown redder the longer the old man had continued. Many of the villagers appeared to be in agreement. But he saw that some of the younger ones still looked doubtful and might listen to him. “You fools! You stupid, old fools! I am a priest, a servant of the Kami. You dare to think you know more about their will than I? If you allow these two to live the Kami will deliver their wrath upon you. Youkai will descend upon this village to destroy it. Your families will be slaughtered, fields and houses destroyed, livestock devoured. They will loot and plunder, rape and kill. Not a soul will be left alive!” Nobuo's speech worked. The younger men, those prone to rash behavior felt their blood boil at his words. They snatched up their weapons and charged forward, ignoring the other villagers who called out for them to stop.

 

Inuyasha cursed and re-sheathed the Tessaiga. He would have to fight after all and he didn't want to kill the fools. He darted forward to keep them from getting too close to Kagome, and proceeded to take out the small group of men. He was careful to pull his punches, not wanting to badly injure them, and he proceeded to knock them all out. He then backed away, returning to stand protectively in front of Kagome.

 

“Look how easily he took them out” one villager gasped.

 

Nobuo was shocked at how easily the men had been taken out. But hearing the villager he felt some confidence return. “You see? Look at what he has done to your fellow villagers. We must attack him now, together or all is lost.” But he was shocked when the villagers simply shook their heads at him.

 

The same man who had spoken earlier again spoke up. “No, we will not attack. Yes, he fought our fellow villagers but he was defending himself and the girl. Did you not see how easily he took them out? He could have done that at any time but instead they tried to talk to us, to leave peacefully without fighting. And look closer at the fallen men. They are still alive, and appear to be uninjured, merely unconscious. The youkai even put his sword away before facing them. He could have killed them all if he had wanted to but he didn't. So no, we will not listen to you any longer.” The other villagers murmured their agreement. “In fact, perhaps it is time for you to leave. You are no longer welcome in our village with your violent preachings. You have brought us nothing but trouble and we will tolerate it no longer.”

 

Nobuo's face turned red with rage. “You fools!” But he saw that all of the villagers appeared to be in agreement. “It will be on your heads when the Kami decide to punish you. Don't forget that I warned you.” He marched into the shrine to collect his belongings. As he departed he thought about attacking again but one look at Inuyasha's growling face discouraged him and he hastily left the village, vowing to one day gain his revenge upon the two he believed were to blame.

 

Once Nobuo had left the villagers turned to look at Inuyasha and Kagome, who were taken aback by the previous events and didn't know how to react. But when Inuyasha saw them turn in their direction he pulled Kagome more securely behind him. The old man who had told off Nobuo stepped forward.

 

“Please accept our humble apologies” he began. “As you heard Nobuo has caused a lot of trouble lately. We are sorry that we fell for his words. But he could be most convincing at times.”

 

Kagome moved to step around Inuyasha but he blocked her. “I didn't tell you to move” he growled out at her before turning his attention to the villagers. “How do we know that this isn't some sort of trick? That you're not going to stick a knife in us the moment our backs our turned?”

 

The man inclined his head at Inuyasha. “You are right. We have given you no reason to trust us, quite the opposite in fact. For that I am sincerely sorry. Before Nobuo came we were a peaceful village and had been able coexist with several nearby youkai. But then he arrived and began to sow seeds of mistrust, poisoning us against our youkai neighbors until we were driven to kill them. We can never make amends for the crimes we have committed.”

 

Inuyasha didn't know what to think. He had never been in a situation like this one. Sure, he had been attacked and driven out by villagers before but they had never turned around and apologized for their behavior. The whole thing made him suspicious.

 

Kagome poked Inuyasha in the back to get his attention. He glanced at her but kept most of his attention focused on the villagers in front of him. “Inuyasha I think he's telling the truth.” He rolled his eyes at her. She could be too trusting at times. “Please Inuyasha? Everything is telling me that he's being honest.”

He huffed. “Keh, fine wench.” He crossed his arms but let her step around him.

 

Kagome gave the man a small smile. “Hello, I'm Kagome and this is Inuyasha.”

 

The man gave a brief bow. “Greetings Kagome-san. I am Hisao, the headman of this village. Again, I apologize for the way we treated you.”

She returned his bow. “Apologies accepted Hisao-sama.”

“Please allow us to make it up to you. It is getting late in the day, we will provide you with food and lodgings for the night.”

 

One of the other villagers spoke up. “But Hisao-sama. I understand why we should let them go but we can't let them stay here. She is still a youkai whore.” He spoke low enough that Kagome didn't hear him but Inuyasha easily did and began to growl. 'How dare they call Kagome a whore!'

 

Hisao noted his reaction and hushed the man. “I believe that may be a misunderstanding. We can clear it up easily enough.” He turned to face Kagome and asked “Kagome-san, what is your relationship with Inuyasha?”

 

Kagome was taken aback by his question. She didn't know why he wanted to know. But still she answered. “He's my friend. He protects me and has saved my life on a number of occasions. Why do you want to know?”

 

He waved off her question. The other villagers had relaxed at her answer and murmured something about an 'Inugami'. “It was just idle curiosity” he told her. “But please you are both welcome to stay the night in our village. It is the least we can do to make up for our prior actions.” The other villagers began to depart now that all of the excitement was over. Several went and roused the men Inuyasha had knocked unconscious, helping them up and away from the area.

 

Kagome started to decline but the thought of a night in a real bed, or at least this time's equivalent, stopped her. She might even be able to get a real bath if they accepted.

 

Inuyasha interrupted her thoughts. “Oi. Don't tell me you're actually considering it?!”

 

She turned to face him. “Please Inuyasha? Don't tell me you wouldn't like a chance to sleep under a roof for a change.”

 

He simply glared at her. He had no intention of staying in this village any longer than he had to, not after the previous events. But as he stared at the pleading expression on Kagome's face, he felt his resolve weakening. 'Why does she have to look at me like that?' He sighed. “Fine wench, whatever you want.”

Her face lit up. “Thank you Inuyasha!”

 

“Keh.” But he felt his insides warm at her smile.

 

She turned to face Hisao. “Thank you for your offer Hisao-sama. We gratefully accept.”

He gestured for them to follow him. “Come with me. You are welcome in my home this night. And perhaps you can tell me what brought you to our village.” They began to follow him and explain that they were looking for information on the well in Edo.

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Well this chapter turned out a lot longer than I expected. And both it and the following chapter went in a different direction than I had originally planned. Not too sure about how it turned out, I might have to go back and edit it later. Please let me know what you think. And don't think that Inuyasha and Kagome are out of the woods yet.

 

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