InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Heart Within ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 3 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: YoukaiFate 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.09.2008 | Updated On: 07.09.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 595 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.09.2008 | Updated On: 07.09.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 595 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, etc., of Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
THE HEART WITHIN
Summary: Granted Kagura’s heart by the surgeon Shigure, Sango has finally reached Makai after 500 years of waiting for her chance at revenge. But what awaits her in the demon realm? New friends or old enemies? (IY/YYH crossover)
A/N: I decided to change the summary, which was vague. I may change it again, I’m still not totally satisfied that it “grabs,” which a good summary should! LOL. Anyhoot, thank you for the lovely reviews (especially CrazyonDisplay, you are so sweet!) and forgive the all over the place point-of-view in this chapter. I finally gave up after four edits and decided to post as-is. (Fate)
WARNING! SPOILERS FOR YYH BLACK AND THE THREE KINGS SAGA!
WORD DEFINITIONS
Taiji-ya - demon slayer
Youkai - demon
Hanyou - half-demon
Chapter Two
Stumbling across them again was pure coincidence, though she didn’t know whether to be annoyed or amused as she stepped right into their small encampment like the most blundering of novices. She hadn’t sensed them---they must have dampened their demonic energies to hide themselves---and she hadn’t been paying as much attention as she should have to her surroundings. The darkness of night was not as hindering as it had been before, when she had been merely human, but her eyesight wasn’t as keen as a true demon’s. She had enough to be able to keep traveling when the sullen clouds had eventually darkened into twilight and then true night, but she hadn’t enough to make out their presence through the underbrush.
Her sudden appearance was greeted by a loud shout and a sudden fist sweeping her off her feet and tossing her back against a tree with pinning force as the man’s other hand gripped her neck in a pincher-like hold between his thumb and fingers. She was so surprised that she didn’t have time to react in the first moment, but the fool hadn’t pinned her too securely, and she had a sharp knife pointed at his bare stomach in the next as she hissed a warning.
“Let go of me or you’re a dead man.”
There was a bark of laughter, the irritating sound easily recognizable. It was the boy, Yusuke, and his friends. *Damn.*
“My, isn’t this a surprise.” The soft voice of the fox demon came out of the dark as he suddenly lit something in his hand, a luminescent globe forming as a seed sprouted into life in his palm. His white hair was gone, his clothing changed and the animal ears that had reminded her so achingly of Inuyasha had vanished. He looked completely different, his face human and almost femininely beautiful with dark green eyes and long, red hair. He looked younger than his demon self, but there was something in his eyes that hinted at the other. He looked impeccably neat, his light green over-robe and cream kimono and zubon somewhat incongruous with the wild forest surrounding them.
“You better have a damn good explanation for sneaking up on us, lady!” The boy who held her in a chokehold against the tree growled, his brown eyes glittering angrily behind the untidy waterfall of his long, brown hair.
Gritting her teeth, Sango pressed the sharp knife-point a little harder into his bare stomach, which he sucked in reflexively. “Let me go, now.”
“I don’t think so!” The iron band around her neck tightened. Sango’s eyes narrowed and she refused to drop her gaze as the battle of wills intensified between them. A trickle of blood ran down the boy’s stomach from where the razor-sharp edge of her knife grazed his skin and the muscles of his arm stood out in tight tension as neither of them caved to the other.
“Well, this will get us nowhere,” Kurama, ever the voice of reason, said dryly. Touching Yusuke’s shoulder, he suggested, “Perhaps you should let her go. She can’t talk while you have your hand wrapped around her throat.”
“Why, so she can try and kill us again?” Yusuke snarled, sucking his stomach in further as her knife dug a little deeper in annoyance.
Ignoring him, the fox demon turned his level gaze to her. “Koenma said you had an honor code. Will you give your word, then, assassin, not to try and kill us, at least while we talk?”
She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, but only nodded, the muscles in her throat working convulsively for a breath of air.
“I don’t believe her,” Yusuke stubbornly insisted, but she was done playing nice and decided to forego being polite for getting herself out of this mess. Rocking her legs up, she used his momentary distraction to plant her feet in his belly and push him off of her with a mighty kick. He flew back with a yell of surprise and she calmly sheathed her knife under the concealing folds of her cloak and dusted herself off as he jumped back up to his feet with a snarl.
“Damn it, I’m going to make you pay for that, wench!”
She looked at him, out of patience for his stupidity. “Oh, stop it. I’m not here to kill you. I already told you that.”
“Then why are you here, miss?” Kurama asked, standing easily as if they were old acquaintances who had just bumped into each other on the sidewalk, instead of doubtful strangers in the middle of a demon wood in a whole other realm.
“Pure coincidence,” she said, knowing they wouldn’t believe her.
“Yeah, right!” Yusuke growled. “You expect us to buy that? What next? You gonna try and sell us some ocean-front property in the desert?”
“I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s the truth.” She automatically put her back against the tree so she could watch both of them. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, and stumbled right into you.”
“Sure you were.” Yusuke rolled his eyes.
“She’s telling the truth,” Kurama said quietly.
“You got to be kidding me.” Yusuke let out a sharp bark of laughter, his teeth flashing in a mocking grin. “That’s hilarious!”
Sango glared. That half-demon knew just how to get under her skin, much like another one she had known. The thought didn’t give her any comfort, though. Instead it made her uneasy, and she twitched the folds of her cloak around her, as if separating herself with it. There was a certain chill to her voice as she said, “Well, then, I’ll be going now, seeing as I’ve explained myself.”
Yusuke abruptly stopped laughing, his own voice growing cold. “I don’t think so, lady.”
Sango looked at him, wondering if he was really that stupid. “How are you going to stop me, demon?”
“We wouldn’t, actually,” Kurama said, much to Yusuke’s annoyance. “But won’t you consider sharing our camp for a bit? Perhaps we can help you in some way---after all, we do owe you for telling us how we might leave demon world when we are ready to.”
“What? We don’t owe her anything!” Yusuke protested, expression aghast at the thought. Kurama only looked at him, and he turned sour. “Okay, fine. Maybe we do, but it’s not all that much.”
Ready to decline the offer, Sango paused. Perhaps these young men---well, maybe not the ex-detective, he seemed pretty thick-headed---could provide her with more information than she had. It wouldn’t hurt, at least, to see if they did know anything about their whereabouts on the demon plane.
“Actually, maybe you could help me.”
Yusuke scowled, suspicious.
“I could use some information about this place,” Sango waved vaguely around them, her stance relaxing a bit as Yusuke snorted. For some reason, his sarcastic protest reassured her more with its hanyou familiarity than a friendlier overture would have.
“You’re telling me a demon assassin doesn’t know anything about the demon world?”
“Yes.” She left it at that, and he looked shocked that she would be so blunt about that simple fact. Perhaps his arrogant male ego would never let him show such weakness. She didn’t need to care what others thought of her, though. She was who she was.
“Well, I can certainly help you with that,” Kurama said companionably, noting how she had relaxed a little at Yusuke‘s sarcasm. “I have some small knowledge of this place from my past life as a fox demon.”
“Past life?” She looked at him curiously, nodding slightly to herself as if finally understanding something. “I was wondering about that---your demonic aura feels veiled to me.”
“As does yours.” Kurama smiled slightly as her eyes narrowed. She was certainly skittish. But then, so was Yusuke.
“Yeah, what’s up with that? Are you a human or a demon or what?” Yusuke glared at her.
“Something like that.” She turned her head away to look up at the trees. “Your friend, the other demon, is up there?”
“How did you know that?” Planting his fists on his hips, Yusuke glared.
“He is certainly a sound sleeper,” she said, her expression slightly amused by that fact.
“He has to be, with Yusuke around,” Kurama replied, sharing her amusement.
“Hey!”
“I would invite you to share our campfire, miss---Anei, was it?---but as none of us know how to light one without using demon energy---which is still dangerously low, considering all we’ve been through this afternoon---I hope you will settle for this little candle-bud, a seed of which I still fortunately had left in my possession.” He was almost too courteous to be true, and Sango wished she knew more about him, for she was deeply suspicious of how simply nice he seemed.
“Why’d you have to go and tell her that?” Yusuke growled at his friend. “Damn it, Kurama, she didn’t have to know how low our reserves were!”
Deciding to ignore that, Sango opted to return kindness for kindness. “I can light a fire, if you wish. It might attract some interest, though---unwelcome interest. This is a demon forest.”
Yusuke laughed. “You think that really matters all that much? This is a demon’s world.”
“He’s got a point.” Kurama smiled indulgently at his friend.
Sango shrugged. “Fine by me. I could use some kindling.”
Kurama stared at Yusuke, who glared back at them. “Damn it! Why do I have to be the one to go?”
“Well, seeing as you are the one with the most strength right now…” Kurama reasoned.
“Fine! I’ll go. Sheesh! I’m always the one who has to keep---” His mutters faded as he disappeared into the darkness.
“Is he always this…” Sango asked the fox demon, who smiled slightly.
“Yes.”
She left it at that, what else could she say? Yusuke reminded her a lot of Inuyasha, and while it was certainly irritating, she had grown used to him over time. She even missed his brash bravado now that she could never---she cut that line of thought off quickly, and started gathering rocks into a circle and pulling up the grass inside it. Kurama set himself down on a convenient tree root nearby, helpfully holding up the candle-bud plant so she could see what she was doing. Neither of them said anything until Yusuke returned with a load of sticks and a list of complaints.
Sango ignored him as she tidied the pile he had tossed down beside her. Pulling a box of matches from inside her cloak, she coaxed the dancing light from one stick to the other, blowing gently to coax the flame to catch.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Yusuke slapped a hand to his forehead as he slouched down across from her and beside his friend. “Matches?”
“I came prepared.” Sango shrugged, blowing out the spent match and adding it to the creeping flames. Sitting back on her heels, she stared at the fire, mesmerized for a moment by its strangely comforting presence.
“Better than us,” Kurama commented dryly.
“Fuh.” Yusuke made a sarcastic sound, shaking his hair out of his eyes. “Stupid hair.”
“I have an extra ponytail tie, if you need it.” Sango looked up at him, and he reddened.
“I don’t need some stupid girlie hair tie! I just need to cut this damn mop off.” He tugged at the annoying tangle with a growl.
“I could do that for you, if I had a pair of scissors,” Kurama said. They suddenly looked at Sango, who couldn’t help but grin, they both looked so hopeful.
Pulling free her Swiss army knife, she eyed at the small, folded blade doubtfully. “A longer knife would be better.”
“I take it you have that, too?” Kurama asked, graceful brows raising.
“A few,” she said, freeing a medium-sized dagger and passing it over hilt-first.
“Just what the hell else do you have under there?” Yusuke demanded, before a wicked grin broke through his sour expression.
Sango scowled. Great. Just what she needed, another pervert.
Flipping the edges of cloak closed around her knees, she wondered just what the hell she was thinking of in sitting here watching one demon give another a hair cut. She must be losing her mind.
“So, what are you? Some kind of paid demon killer?” he demanded, tired of the heavy silence. He batted annoyingly at Kurama, who started tugging at his bangs.
“Something like that.” She looked into the fire, seemingly lost in memories. “I was born a taiji-ya.”
“A demon slayer?” Yusuke jerked. “Ow! Damn it, Kurama! You nearly cut my ear off.”
Kurama ignored him, staring back at her with a grave expression. “A taiji-ya? They haven’t been around for a long time. Their existence is considered by many to be but a fairytale.”
“Yes.” She rested her chin on her knees, wondering what the hell she was thinking in revealing so much about herself. But for some strange reason, these people she hardly knew seemed more real to her than even her own former associates among King Yama’s guard. She had certainly spoken more today than she had in a dozen or more years. It felt…nice.
“So why are you here, if I might ask?” Kurama’s voice was casual, and he carefully didn’t look at her, instead concentrating on working over the wild crop of brown hair before him.
“Yeah. That’s something I’d like to know,” Yusuke muttered, glaring up at his callous friend with deep suspicion. He hoped Kurama didn’t end up making him look more like a girl than he did now. He wasn’t the most manly-looking guy, after all, though the girls seemed to love the bishi look of the red-haired fox.
“I’m looking for a demon,” she said, expression tightening. “What about you?”
“Same,” Yusuke said shortly, attention taken up with the knife that flashed so ominously in the firelight above him. It was too close for much comfort and he grumbled under his breath, hating the whole stinking situation.
“Your ancestor, the youkai?” she quietly asked, and he found himself answering more of her questions than he had ever intended, distracted as he was by that damn knife in Kurama’s hands. He was finally glad when his bangs were back above his eyes instead of being right in front of them and shook his head at the much lighter feel as his long locks were finally snipped off.
“God, that feels good!” He grinned, and Kurama lightly laughed.
“Well, stop moving so I can trim you up. You still look pretty ragged, Yusuke.”
“Shit. Hurry it up already, will ya?” Yusuke submitted once more with ill grace, his eyes settling back on the girl. She seemed much more relaxed than she had been before. He decided to stir her up a bit, and demanded bluntly, “What about you? You haven’t said that much about why you are here. Koenma said you were some kind of half-a-wind-demon or something stupid like that. Is Jin some kind of ancestor of yours?”
“Who?” She fiddled with a piece of her long hair, which was partially draped over one shoulder, the rest spilling down her back. There were brown highlights among the black strands, the firelight giving them a reddish tinge. He wondered what she did look like under that thick cloak which concealed her so well and what deformity it hid.
“Jin. The wind demon?” Yusuke demanded. “He’s Irish, I think. Or maybe he just thinks he’s Irish.”
“I’m not Irish,” she said, her voice sounding preoccupied.
“Duh.” Yusuke rolled his eyes, and jerked as Kurama swiped a bit too close to his ear again.
Silence descended between them once more, until Kurama asked lightly, “I know you wanted to know more about the Makai---is there any particular questions you have?”
“Yes.” She came to attention, dropping her hair and straightening her spine. Her eyes were suddenly intense, as if she would absorb everything he said. “Like, do you know exactly where we are right now?”
Kurama smiled faintly as Yusuke looked interested. “Yeah, Kurama. Do you know where we are?”
“We are on the edge of the Reikai-controlled zone, so far as I can tell, in the Forest of Fools. It’s in the disputed lands between the Reikai and Lord Raizen,” Kurama replied, gently turning Yusuke’s head so he could work on the other side. “Hiei would be better able to tell you just exactly where we are.”
“Hiei?”
“Our friend fast asleep in the trees. He was exhausted from our battle earlier. He gave a lot of his energy to battling Sensui.”
“So you killed him, then,” she said, tone pleased.
“It wasn’t I who killed him,” Yusuke muttered darkly, still bitter over the fact. “Damn demons.”
“You are now one of those demons, Yusuke,” Kurama pointed out with wry humor as Yusuke grinned.
“I guess you’re right, fox-boy.”
“Is all of demon world controlled by this Lord Raizen?” Anei asked, tossing another stick on the fire, which sparked.
“No,” Kurama said. “I know there are two others, who divide most of the land between themselves, always ready to encroach on each other’s borders but too cautious to make the first move, lest the other two gang up on them. I am not entirely certain who they are, though. Hiei would probably know more.”
“This Hiei seems to know a lot,” she said wryly.
Kurama shrugged apologetically. “It has been some time since I’ve been here. Even before I was born, Youko Kurama spent the last few centuries hiding in the human world from his many enemies.”
Yusuke’s eyes glinted. “Looks like you’ll have to wait for short stuff to wake up so’s you can ask him what you want to know. I don‘t know if he‘ll be as cooperative as Kurama, though.”
A thin brow rose, but she made no reply, seeming to lose herself in her own thoughts. “I must be sure. The demon I’m looking for might be one of those other two lords.”
“He’s powerful then?” Kurama asked, pausing to look over Yusuke’s tangled head at her. “This demon?”
“Yes.” Her arms tightened around her knees, and she looked grim. “He was strong enough when I knew him, and that was five hundred years ago.”
“Wait a minute!” Yusuke jumped up, throwing his hair back out of his eyes as he stared at her in open-mouthed shock. “Did you just say five hundred years?”
She seemed somehow to withdraw, her eyes turning dark as she drew in upon herself. Kurama could feel her energy sucking inside of her, as if she would cloak her presence as she used her long black robe to hide her face and form. The shadows of the night seemed to envelope her, making her hard to see, and he said sharply, “Stop that.”
The shadows stilled and she jerked, caught off guard. “What?” She seemed truly puzzled, and he wondered how she could be. Could she not feel her power swirling around them?
Maybe she couldn’t, for as suddenly as it was there, it was gone, as if by him calling her on it had jerked her out of something she had no conscious control over.
“You were trying to use the shadows to hide yourself. It won’t work.”
“What do you mean?” She was tense, her brows drawn down as she looked around pensively, as if the air itself held answers.
“What’d ya mean ‘what do you mean?’” Yusuke growled down at her. “Even I could feel that, and I ain’t got the spiritual sense Kurama does!”
It suddenly dawned on the fox, what she must have gone through, not knowing what she was and yet still burdened with it. *Five hundred years. That would make her born at least in the Sengoku Jidai, before the barrier was erected. What manner of demon could she have known and how has she survived this long? She said she was a taiji-ya, though it seems impossible to me, I feel the truth of it, and Youko agrees. He has known them, in his long life, and she even sports a hairstyle popular back then for young women.* He got a flash of memory of three giggling women, all naked in a room filled with pillows, their faces painted and their hair worn much as this woman’s was, and felt a mocking laugh from his other, more demon self. Blushing, he looked away for a moment to gain control over his thoughts. Looking back at her, he felt pity stir inside of him, for she was huddled in on herself, her eyes holding a hint of some nameless fear, before she smoothed her features over into a bland expression that did little to cover the pensive sadness he now saw in her. Now that he knew what to look for, she was as easy to read as an open book, and he was gentle as he asked, “How much do you know about your demonic abilities?”
“I know enough,” she replied, her voice sharp and overly strained.
“Heh,” Yusuke snorted. “Now even I can tell that’s a lie!”
“I don’t need a demon telling me---” Jumping to her feet, she paused in mid-snarl, her black cloak swept over one shoulder to expose her hand gripping the hilt of a sword as she suddenly froze. They all did, for none of them had seen him move, but from one moment to the next, the fire youkai appeared, the razor-sharp tip of his drawn sword pointed unflinchingly at her neck.
“Can someone please inform me just what the hell is going on around here while I slept?” The demon growled, his red eyes narrowed on the girl, who had yet to release the hilt of her own weapon.
THE HEART WITHIN
Summary: Granted Kagura’s heart by the surgeon Shigure, Sango has finally reached Makai after 500 years of waiting for her chance at revenge. But what awaits her in the demon realm? New friends or old enemies? (IY/YYH crossover)
A/N: I decided to change the summary, which was vague. I may change it again, I’m still not totally satisfied that it “grabs,” which a good summary should! LOL. Anyhoot, thank you for the lovely reviews (especially CrazyonDisplay, you are so sweet!) and forgive the all over the place point-of-view in this chapter. I finally gave up after four edits and decided to post as-is. (Fate)
WARNING! SPOILERS FOR YYH BLACK AND THE THREE KINGS SAGA!
WORD DEFINITIONS
Taiji-ya - demon slayer
Youkai - demon
Hanyou - half-demon
Chapter Two
Stumbling across them again was pure coincidence, though she didn’t know whether to be annoyed or amused as she stepped right into their small encampment like the most blundering of novices. She hadn’t sensed them---they must have dampened their demonic energies to hide themselves---and she hadn’t been paying as much attention as she should have to her surroundings. The darkness of night was not as hindering as it had been before, when she had been merely human, but her eyesight wasn’t as keen as a true demon’s. She had enough to be able to keep traveling when the sullen clouds had eventually darkened into twilight and then true night, but she hadn’t enough to make out their presence through the underbrush.
Her sudden appearance was greeted by a loud shout and a sudden fist sweeping her off her feet and tossing her back against a tree with pinning force as the man’s other hand gripped her neck in a pincher-like hold between his thumb and fingers. She was so surprised that she didn’t have time to react in the first moment, but the fool hadn’t pinned her too securely, and she had a sharp knife pointed at his bare stomach in the next as she hissed a warning.
“Let go of me or you’re a dead man.”
There was a bark of laughter, the irritating sound easily recognizable. It was the boy, Yusuke, and his friends. *Damn.*
“My, isn’t this a surprise.” The soft voice of the fox demon came out of the dark as he suddenly lit something in his hand, a luminescent globe forming as a seed sprouted into life in his palm. His white hair was gone, his clothing changed and the animal ears that had reminded her so achingly of Inuyasha had vanished. He looked completely different, his face human and almost femininely beautiful with dark green eyes and long, red hair. He looked younger than his demon self, but there was something in his eyes that hinted at the other. He looked impeccably neat, his light green over-robe and cream kimono and zubon somewhat incongruous with the wild forest surrounding them.
“You better have a damn good explanation for sneaking up on us, lady!” The boy who held her in a chokehold against the tree growled, his brown eyes glittering angrily behind the untidy waterfall of his long, brown hair.
Gritting her teeth, Sango pressed the sharp knife-point a little harder into his bare stomach, which he sucked in reflexively. “Let me go, now.”
“I don’t think so!” The iron band around her neck tightened. Sango’s eyes narrowed and she refused to drop her gaze as the battle of wills intensified between them. A trickle of blood ran down the boy’s stomach from where the razor-sharp edge of her knife grazed his skin and the muscles of his arm stood out in tight tension as neither of them caved to the other.
“Well, this will get us nowhere,” Kurama, ever the voice of reason, said dryly. Touching Yusuke’s shoulder, he suggested, “Perhaps you should let her go. She can’t talk while you have your hand wrapped around her throat.”
“Why, so she can try and kill us again?” Yusuke snarled, sucking his stomach in further as her knife dug a little deeper in annoyance.
Ignoring him, the fox demon turned his level gaze to her. “Koenma said you had an honor code. Will you give your word, then, assassin, not to try and kill us, at least while we talk?”
She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, but only nodded, the muscles in her throat working convulsively for a breath of air.
“I don’t believe her,” Yusuke stubbornly insisted, but she was done playing nice and decided to forego being polite for getting herself out of this mess. Rocking her legs up, she used his momentary distraction to plant her feet in his belly and push him off of her with a mighty kick. He flew back with a yell of surprise and she calmly sheathed her knife under the concealing folds of her cloak and dusted herself off as he jumped back up to his feet with a snarl.
“Damn it, I’m going to make you pay for that, wench!”
She looked at him, out of patience for his stupidity. “Oh, stop it. I’m not here to kill you. I already told you that.”
“Then why are you here, miss?” Kurama asked, standing easily as if they were old acquaintances who had just bumped into each other on the sidewalk, instead of doubtful strangers in the middle of a demon wood in a whole other realm.
“Pure coincidence,” she said, knowing they wouldn’t believe her.
“Yeah, right!” Yusuke growled. “You expect us to buy that? What next? You gonna try and sell us some ocean-front property in the desert?”
“I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s the truth.” She automatically put her back against the tree so she could watch both of them. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, and stumbled right into you.”
“Sure you were.” Yusuke rolled his eyes.
“She’s telling the truth,” Kurama said quietly.
“You got to be kidding me.” Yusuke let out a sharp bark of laughter, his teeth flashing in a mocking grin. “That’s hilarious!”
Sango glared. That half-demon knew just how to get under her skin, much like another one she had known. The thought didn’t give her any comfort, though. Instead it made her uneasy, and she twitched the folds of her cloak around her, as if separating herself with it. There was a certain chill to her voice as she said, “Well, then, I’ll be going now, seeing as I’ve explained myself.”
Yusuke abruptly stopped laughing, his own voice growing cold. “I don’t think so, lady.”
Sango looked at him, wondering if he was really that stupid. “How are you going to stop me, demon?”
“We wouldn’t, actually,” Kurama said, much to Yusuke’s annoyance. “But won’t you consider sharing our camp for a bit? Perhaps we can help you in some way---after all, we do owe you for telling us how we might leave demon world when we are ready to.”
“What? We don’t owe her anything!” Yusuke protested, expression aghast at the thought. Kurama only looked at him, and he turned sour. “Okay, fine. Maybe we do, but it’s not all that much.”
Ready to decline the offer, Sango paused. Perhaps these young men---well, maybe not the ex-detective, he seemed pretty thick-headed---could provide her with more information than she had. It wouldn’t hurt, at least, to see if they did know anything about their whereabouts on the demon plane.
“Actually, maybe you could help me.”
Yusuke scowled, suspicious.
“I could use some information about this place,” Sango waved vaguely around them, her stance relaxing a bit as Yusuke snorted. For some reason, his sarcastic protest reassured her more with its hanyou familiarity than a friendlier overture would have.
“You’re telling me a demon assassin doesn’t know anything about the demon world?”
“Yes.” She left it at that, and he looked shocked that she would be so blunt about that simple fact. Perhaps his arrogant male ego would never let him show such weakness. She didn’t need to care what others thought of her, though. She was who she was.
“Well, I can certainly help you with that,” Kurama said companionably, noting how she had relaxed a little at Yusuke‘s sarcasm. “I have some small knowledge of this place from my past life as a fox demon.”
“Past life?” She looked at him curiously, nodding slightly to herself as if finally understanding something. “I was wondering about that---your demonic aura feels veiled to me.”
“As does yours.” Kurama smiled slightly as her eyes narrowed. She was certainly skittish. But then, so was Yusuke.
“Yeah, what’s up with that? Are you a human or a demon or what?” Yusuke glared at her.
“Something like that.” She turned her head away to look up at the trees. “Your friend, the other demon, is up there?”
“How did you know that?” Planting his fists on his hips, Yusuke glared.
“He is certainly a sound sleeper,” she said, her expression slightly amused by that fact.
“He has to be, with Yusuke around,” Kurama replied, sharing her amusement.
“Hey!”
“I would invite you to share our campfire, miss---Anei, was it?---but as none of us know how to light one without using demon energy---which is still dangerously low, considering all we’ve been through this afternoon---I hope you will settle for this little candle-bud, a seed of which I still fortunately had left in my possession.” He was almost too courteous to be true, and Sango wished she knew more about him, for she was deeply suspicious of how simply nice he seemed.
“Why’d you have to go and tell her that?” Yusuke growled at his friend. “Damn it, Kurama, she didn’t have to know how low our reserves were!”
Deciding to ignore that, Sango opted to return kindness for kindness. “I can light a fire, if you wish. It might attract some interest, though---unwelcome interest. This is a demon forest.”
Yusuke laughed. “You think that really matters all that much? This is a demon’s world.”
“He’s got a point.” Kurama smiled indulgently at his friend.
Sango shrugged. “Fine by me. I could use some kindling.”
Kurama stared at Yusuke, who glared back at them. “Damn it! Why do I have to be the one to go?”
“Well, seeing as you are the one with the most strength right now…” Kurama reasoned.
“Fine! I’ll go. Sheesh! I’m always the one who has to keep---” His mutters faded as he disappeared into the darkness.
“Is he always this…” Sango asked the fox demon, who smiled slightly.
“Yes.”
She left it at that, what else could she say? Yusuke reminded her a lot of Inuyasha, and while it was certainly irritating, she had grown used to him over time. She even missed his brash bravado now that she could never---she cut that line of thought off quickly, and started gathering rocks into a circle and pulling up the grass inside it. Kurama set himself down on a convenient tree root nearby, helpfully holding up the candle-bud plant so she could see what she was doing. Neither of them said anything until Yusuke returned with a load of sticks and a list of complaints.
Sango ignored him as she tidied the pile he had tossed down beside her. Pulling a box of matches from inside her cloak, she coaxed the dancing light from one stick to the other, blowing gently to coax the flame to catch.
“You have got to be kidding me.” Yusuke slapped a hand to his forehead as he slouched down across from her and beside his friend. “Matches?”
“I came prepared.” Sango shrugged, blowing out the spent match and adding it to the creeping flames. Sitting back on her heels, she stared at the fire, mesmerized for a moment by its strangely comforting presence.
“Better than us,” Kurama commented dryly.
“Fuh.” Yusuke made a sarcastic sound, shaking his hair out of his eyes. “Stupid hair.”
“I have an extra ponytail tie, if you need it.” Sango looked up at him, and he reddened.
“I don’t need some stupid girlie hair tie! I just need to cut this damn mop off.” He tugged at the annoying tangle with a growl.
“I could do that for you, if I had a pair of scissors,” Kurama said. They suddenly looked at Sango, who couldn’t help but grin, they both looked so hopeful.
Pulling free her Swiss army knife, she eyed at the small, folded blade doubtfully. “A longer knife would be better.”
“I take it you have that, too?” Kurama asked, graceful brows raising.
“A few,” she said, freeing a medium-sized dagger and passing it over hilt-first.
“Just what the hell else do you have under there?” Yusuke demanded, before a wicked grin broke through his sour expression.
Sango scowled. Great. Just what she needed, another pervert.
Flipping the edges of cloak closed around her knees, she wondered just what the hell she was thinking of in sitting here watching one demon give another a hair cut. She must be losing her mind.
ooOOooOOooOOoo
Sizing up his victim, Kurama picked a side at random and started slicing. Yusuke sat Indian-style in front of the fox demon’s tree root, hands on his knees, and glared at the girl watching them with dark eyes. The firelight flickered across her face, which seemed too young and innocent for what others claimed about her.“So, what are you? Some kind of paid demon killer?” he demanded, tired of the heavy silence. He batted annoyingly at Kurama, who started tugging at his bangs.
“Something like that.” She looked into the fire, seemingly lost in memories. “I was born a taiji-ya.”
“A demon slayer?” Yusuke jerked. “Ow! Damn it, Kurama! You nearly cut my ear off.”
Kurama ignored him, staring back at her with a grave expression. “A taiji-ya? They haven’t been around for a long time. Their existence is considered by many to be but a fairytale.”
“Yes.” She rested her chin on her knees, wondering what the hell she was thinking in revealing so much about herself. But for some strange reason, these people she hardly knew seemed more real to her than even her own former associates among King Yama’s guard. She had certainly spoken more today than she had in a dozen or more years. It felt…nice.
“So why are you here, if I might ask?” Kurama’s voice was casual, and he carefully didn’t look at her, instead concentrating on working over the wild crop of brown hair before him.
“Yeah. That’s something I’d like to know,” Yusuke muttered, glaring up at his callous friend with deep suspicion. He hoped Kurama didn’t end up making him look more like a girl than he did now. He wasn’t the most manly-looking guy, after all, though the girls seemed to love the bishi look of the red-haired fox.
“I’m looking for a demon,” she said, expression tightening. “What about you?”
“Same,” Yusuke said shortly, attention taken up with the knife that flashed so ominously in the firelight above him. It was too close for much comfort and he grumbled under his breath, hating the whole stinking situation.
“Your ancestor, the youkai?” she quietly asked, and he found himself answering more of her questions than he had ever intended, distracted as he was by that damn knife in Kurama’s hands. He was finally glad when his bangs were back above his eyes instead of being right in front of them and shook his head at the much lighter feel as his long locks were finally snipped off.
“God, that feels good!” He grinned, and Kurama lightly laughed.
“Well, stop moving so I can trim you up. You still look pretty ragged, Yusuke.”
“Shit. Hurry it up already, will ya?” Yusuke submitted once more with ill grace, his eyes settling back on the girl. She seemed much more relaxed than she had been before. He decided to stir her up a bit, and demanded bluntly, “What about you? You haven’t said that much about why you are here. Koenma said you were some kind of half-a-wind-demon or something stupid like that. Is Jin some kind of ancestor of yours?”
“Who?” She fiddled with a piece of her long hair, which was partially draped over one shoulder, the rest spilling down her back. There were brown highlights among the black strands, the firelight giving them a reddish tinge. He wondered what she did look like under that thick cloak which concealed her so well and what deformity it hid.
“Jin. The wind demon?” Yusuke demanded. “He’s Irish, I think. Or maybe he just thinks he’s Irish.”
“I’m not Irish,” she said, her voice sounding preoccupied.
“Duh.” Yusuke rolled his eyes, and jerked as Kurama swiped a bit too close to his ear again.
Silence descended between them once more, until Kurama asked lightly, “I know you wanted to know more about the Makai---is there any particular questions you have?”
“Yes.” She came to attention, dropping her hair and straightening her spine. Her eyes were suddenly intense, as if she would absorb everything he said. “Like, do you know exactly where we are right now?”
Kurama smiled faintly as Yusuke looked interested. “Yeah, Kurama. Do you know where we are?”
“We are on the edge of the Reikai-controlled zone, so far as I can tell, in the Forest of Fools. It’s in the disputed lands between the Reikai and Lord Raizen,” Kurama replied, gently turning Yusuke’s head so he could work on the other side. “Hiei would be better able to tell you just exactly where we are.”
“Hiei?”
“Our friend fast asleep in the trees. He was exhausted from our battle earlier. He gave a lot of his energy to battling Sensui.”
“So you killed him, then,” she said, tone pleased.
“It wasn’t I who killed him,” Yusuke muttered darkly, still bitter over the fact. “Damn demons.”
“You are now one of those demons, Yusuke,” Kurama pointed out with wry humor as Yusuke grinned.
“I guess you’re right, fox-boy.”
“Is all of demon world controlled by this Lord Raizen?” Anei asked, tossing another stick on the fire, which sparked.
“No,” Kurama said. “I know there are two others, who divide most of the land between themselves, always ready to encroach on each other’s borders but too cautious to make the first move, lest the other two gang up on them. I am not entirely certain who they are, though. Hiei would probably know more.”
“This Hiei seems to know a lot,” she said wryly.
Kurama shrugged apologetically. “It has been some time since I’ve been here. Even before I was born, Youko Kurama spent the last few centuries hiding in the human world from his many enemies.”
Yusuke’s eyes glinted. “Looks like you’ll have to wait for short stuff to wake up so’s you can ask him what you want to know. I don‘t know if he‘ll be as cooperative as Kurama, though.”
A thin brow rose, but she made no reply, seeming to lose herself in her own thoughts. “I must be sure. The demon I’m looking for might be one of those other two lords.”
“He’s powerful then?” Kurama asked, pausing to look over Yusuke’s tangled head at her. “This demon?”
“Yes.” Her arms tightened around her knees, and she looked grim. “He was strong enough when I knew him, and that was five hundred years ago.”
“Wait a minute!” Yusuke jumped up, throwing his hair back out of his eyes as he stared at her in open-mouthed shock. “Did you just say five hundred years?”
She seemed somehow to withdraw, her eyes turning dark as she drew in upon herself. Kurama could feel her energy sucking inside of her, as if she would cloak her presence as she used her long black robe to hide her face and form. The shadows of the night seemed to envelope her, making her hard to see, and he said sharply, “Stop that.”
The shadows stilled and she jerked, caught off guard. “What?” She seemed truly puzzled, and he wondered how she could be. Could she not feel her power swirling around them?
Maybe she couldn’t, for as suddenly as it was there, it was gone, as if by him calling her on it had jerked her out of something she had no conscious control over.
“You were trying to use the shadows to hide yourself. It won’t work.”
“What do you mean?” She was tense, her brows drawn down as she looked around pensively, as if the air itself held answers.
“What’d ya mean ‘what do you mean?’” Yusuke growled down at her. “Even I could feel that, and I ain’t got the spiritual sense Kurama does!”
It suddenly dawned on the fox, what she must have gone through, not knowing what she was and yet still burdened with it. *Five hundred years. That would make her born at least in the Sengoku Jidai, before the barrier was erected. What manner of demon could she have known and how has she survived this long? She said she was a taiji-ya, though it seems impossible to me, I feel the truth of it, and Youko agrees. He has known them, in his long life, and she even sports a hairstyle popular back then for young women.* He got a flash of memory of three giggling women, all naked in a room filled with pillows, their faces painted and their hair worn much as this woman’s was, and felt a mocking laugh from his other, more demon self. Blushing, he looked away for a moment to gain control over his thoughts. Looking back at her, he felt pity stir inside of him, for she was huddled in on herself, her eyes holding a hint of some nameless fear, before she smoothed her features over into a bland expression that did little to cover the pensive sadness he now saw in her. Now that he knew what to look for, she was as easy to read as an open book, and he was gentle as he asked, “How much do you know about your demonic abilities?”
“I know enough,” she replied, her voice sharp and overly strained.
“Heh,” Yusuke snorted. “Now even I can tell that’s a lie!”
“I don’t need a demon telling me---” Jumping to her feet, she paused in mid-snarl, her black cloak swept over one shoulder to expose her hand gripping the hilt of a sword as she suddenly froze. They all did, for none of them had seen him move, but from one moment to the next, the fire youkai appeared, the razor-sharp tip of his drawn sword pointed unflinchingly at her neck.
“Can someone please inform me just what the hell is going on around here while I slept?” The demon growled, his red eyes narrowed on the girl, who had yet to release the hilt of her own weapon.