InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Heart Within ❯ Chapter Thirty-Five ( Chapter 37 )

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

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 WITHINSummary: She has carried vengeance in her shadowed heart for 500 years, sacrificing her self for that dream. Now, Sango just might get her chance… (IY/YYH crossover) A/N: Boy, was I surprised by the reaction to the last chapter. Kind of makes me feel bad for the first scene of this one. Made me reconsider the whole plot, but then a rather devious plot bunny poked its twitching pink nose out of its hole inside my brain and winked evilly at me. I might have to indulge in a wee side story of Jin…
In the meantime, enjoy this short little transitional. =)
WARNING! SPOILERS FOR YYH CHAPTER BLACK, THE THREE KINGS SAGA

Chapter Thirty-Five

It just wasn’t there. That feeling, that spark. It felt wrong, although there was nothing particularly wrong with it. Jin was a good kisser, after all, sweet and gentle. Like her houshi. Perhaps that was it, that reminder. But she couldn’t pretend it was something it wasn’t, that would be cruel not only to her but to Jin. So she pulled back when he would have deepened the kiss, and shook her head, gently drawing his arms from around her.

“I’m sorry, Jin,” Sango said softly. “I didn’t mean to lead you to think---”

Jin grimaced. “Well, I willna tell ye that I’m not fair disappointed, lass, but I understand, I do. Ye’ve already given your heart elsewhere.”

Sango looked away, her throat tight. “No, that’s not it.”

She did not see the wry twist of his lips, she only heard the lightness in his voice. “Well, lass, let’s just pretend the last didn’t happen, why don’t we just? And go back to what we be, which I’m hoping is friends, and good ones at that.”

Too relieved for words, Sango clasped his hands in hers. “Thank you, Jin.”

Jin suddenly cocked a wicked grin at her. “Now, mind, I wouldn’t be the one to say no if’n you were to say we was what be good friends with benefits.”

Dropping his hands, Sango socked him---hard---in the arm as her cheeks burned. “You’re unreal, you know that, youkai?”

Rubbing his arm, Jin laughed. “Ah, lass, you do wound me so!”


Up too early after last night’s party, Sango stretched her arms over her head with a yawn and thought longingly about coffee. Black, and strong…

That got her out of bed---or rather, off the worn sofa in the crowded backroom that Master Sen had politely offered her last night. Pushing the blankets back, Sango padded into the main room, one hand covering another yawn as she pushed open the creaking door, which thumped into someone’s legs.

“Gawd, bledger, do you have to be so loud?” A plaintive groan had her staring down at the giant demon lying face down on the floor.

“That wasn’t me!” Rinku scowled from Guchi’s lazy boy. Fisting the sleep out of his eyes, he blinked at the slayer. “G’morning, Sango!”

“God, does that brat have to wake up early every morning?” A growl came from the dark recesses of the shop, and Rinku protested.

“I’m not a brat!”

“Bledger, shut up,” Chuu said into the floor.

“Sun’s up, it ’tis.” Jin’s rusty head suddenly appeared behind a tower of boxes as he sat up.

“So?” Another voice muttered.

“Ah, hey, there, lass.” Catching sight of Sango, Jin waved and then yawned, loudly. “Ooh, me. Been a short night, it has.”

“Coffee,” Chuu mumbled.

“Aye, coffee would be good.” Jin nodded thoughtfully, making no move to get up.

Hiding a smile, Sango said, “I was just about to make some.”

“You,” Chuu’s grizzled head turned just enough to squint up at her, “are an angel, sheila.”

“More sleep would be better,” someone growled out of the dark.

“I’m too awake now to sleep,” Rinku protested.

“So I fucking noticed.”

“Hey! Do best to be watching your language, Shishi, in front of wee Lily!”

“What about me?” Rinku demanded. “Ain’t I too young to hear stuff like that?”

“Please,” Shishi replied. “You cuss worse than Chuu when your damn yo-yo strings get tangled up.”

“Well, it takes me forever to untangle them!”

“Excuse me,” Suzuka snarled, “but some of us need our beauty sleep.”

“Ah, that won’t help you a bit, lad.” Jin grinned.

“Did all of you decide to camp out here last night?” Sango asked, gingerly stepping over Chuu to get to the coffee can located above the pot-bellied stove.

“Where else were we supposed to go?” Rinku demanded. “Since we ain’t exactly Yomi’s men anymore, we got kicked out of the hotel.”

“No money,” Jin said morosely.

“I’m already considering that,” Touya quietly reassured, neatly folding up his blanket as he stood up from the wind-youkai’s other side. “Good morning, Sango-san.”

“Ah, good morning.” Sango blushed, still uncertain around the quietly self-contained apparition. She was grateful when he offered to go fill the coffee pot at the sink in back, as there were too many bodies in the way between her and there. They finally started moving once the coffee began percolating, and even the last hold-outs grudgingly got out of the way when the door to the cellar creaked open and Master Sen peered out.

“Ah, pardon me, but I really need to open the shop…” the mole apologized as he emerged, Skunk right on his heels.

“Master Sen, do you want me to fetch breakfast from Jenji’s?” Sango offered, but Rinku bounced up on the counter and volunteered, eager to get away from a hung-over Chuu, who was more grouchy than usual.

Speaking of grouchy…

“What, are you still here?” Guchi stood at the bottom of the stairs, snout curled up in disdain. It was an interesting expression for a boar youkai, and showed his yellow teeth.

“And where else would we go, eh?” Chuu demanded. “We’re bloody broke blokes, we are.”

“Perfect. Hooligan hobos. Just what we need.” The boar sniffed in a way more typical of Yuda.

“Better a hooligan hobo than a hooligan has-been,” Chuu grumped back.

Guchi glared, his eyes flashing red as his aura flared around him.

“Ah, Master Guchi, I have your tea right here.” Sango quickly intervened, worming her way to the elderly youkai’s side and pushing a cup into his hands. With a skill she had learned over the past six months, she steered the boar into his favorite seat. Touya, taking a cue from her, quickly steered Chuu towards the backroom with a steaming mug of coffee.

The coffee went fast, and Sango had to make three pots before finally getting a cup for herself. By then, Rinku had returned with oatmeal and day-old bagels, the gleanings of Jenji’s cookshop. Propping herself in an corner---Skunk having claimed her normal stool for himself, and no one would dare naysay the little demon in his current bad mood---she looked at the overcrowded confines of the shop, and came to a decision. She certainly didn’t want to return to the two-bedroom apartment she’d shared with Kurama, not after what had happened there with Youko. The place was fraught with too many uncomfortable memories. Turning it over to the six now-homeless demons the fox had recruited would provide a damn good excuse for her not to.

It was the perfect solution, and their enthusiasm---especially Suzuka’s, who claimed he couldn’t stand that pit they called a bathroom, and wanted some real amenities---made her feel somewhat better for what was, in the end, a rather selfish solution to her own problem.

“We’ll not be to putting you out, lass?” Jin asked.

“Oh, no, no, not at all,” Sango replied too quickly, and Touya gave her a thoughtful look. It eerily reminded her of Kurama, and she uncomfortably slid her eyes away from the ice apparition’s light blue gaze.

“Right, then, best be off. I could use a shave.” Chuu scratched his stubbly cheeks.

“And a shower.” Guchi waved his hand in front of his snout, grin nasty when the giant demon rounded on him.

“Looky here, you old codger---”

“Now, Chuu, isn’t it that you’re to be respecting your elders?” Jin inserted himself between them.

“Yeah!” Rinku said. “You tell me that crap all the time!”

“Crap? Listen here, bledger---”

Thankfully, they hastily took their argument into the street when Skunk deliberately raised his tail. Hiding a grin, Sango saw them out and gave the key to Jin, since he knew where the apartment was. He promised to bring her things by later that evening, after they “set themselves in.” Touya gravely thanked her, and Jin gave her a last breath-stopping bear hug. Then they were gone, leaving the shop in blessed silence.

Master Sen looked relieved, than sorry for that relief as he said, “Your friends are nice, Sango-san, but---”

Guchi summed it up nicely. “I’m glad they’re gone. Damn barbarians have no manners.”

Unselfconsciously scratching his rear, the old boar let out a gassy fart.

Skunk’s twitching tail covered his nose.

“And they say you’re the stinky one.” Master Sen petted his little friend.


Finding herself at loose ends, Sango retreated to the yard to practice in the late afternoon. Strangely frustrated, she worked first with her sword, and then on her kata, loosening herself up for her wind techniques. She’d managed to work up a good sweat and was now quietly meditating, trying to ferret out her unspoken disquiet as she let her breathing slow, her jyaki returning back inside her body in a slow spiral.

Purpose. That was what she lacked. It loomed before her, the question of what she would do with herself now that she was willing to look forward and wasn’t so consumed in looking back. True, she could stay with Master Sen, and intended to for a while, as he did need help around the shop and she could use more training with her wind techniques. She bet Jin wouldn’t mind helping her out with that, and Master Sen had mentioned a master swordsman---an old friend of his, of course---would be coming around in the next few weeks. But then, the old mole always managed to finagle one of his “friends” to stop by for a cup of tea and a few bits of advice while they watched her practice.

But she needed more than that. What was she training for? What would she do with it? She couldn’t see herself doing what she had. Fighting for hire, mercenary work---it left a sour taste in her mouth after all the pointless, bloody skirmishes in Mukuro’s territory. Fighting to her had become so grim and empty. She missed the innocent wonder she had had as a little girl, her unadulterated joy in testing her physical limits and surpassing them. She had been the one to ask her father to train her in the art of demon slaying, begging and pleading and nearly chopping her own leg off when she’d stubbornly tried to do it herself. He’d finally relented then, and taught her with the other boys.

Gone was that simple joy, now. Lost to the realization of her anger and bitterness and what it had cost her and her foes over the countless years as she turned that skill to deadly purpose. Revenge was a cold companion, especially a revenge she could never take on a bastard killed by something so insignificant as a flea demon.

That bitter draught could twist inside her if she let it---as she already had for so very long. The dark rage she’d carried so long inside her heart left her empty now of even the willingness to use her sword for something so…pointless. Fighting for fighting’s sake, since she knew nothing different? How could she justify that to herself? No, she could not turn her sword for something so trivial as just to earn her bread.

Now, if she had a true cause or purpose behind it---defending the weak, perhaps, or exterminating demons like that raging beast in the Forest of Fools. Maybe that would be something, but here in Makai, that was few and far between. What she might consider rabid might be considered perfectly acceptable. She didn’t know this world enough yet to know the subtle difference, and didn’t know if she could trust another to make the decision for her. For what would be behind their persuasion? Greed? Enmity? She didn’t know enough of that, either.

It left her in a quandary, and strangely bereft, for she didn’t know what she was fighting for anymore. She needed purpose, needed a reason to get up and out. Maybe she could make finding it her quest, although that left her empty, too. She was just fishing, and---

And holykamiohmygod what the hell was that?!

Eyes snapping open, Sango was on her feet in an instant, her body reacting before her mind caught up with it as her jyaki flared in reaction to the powerful surge of demonic energies rippling all around her. Sheathing her sword, she clambered up the side of Master Sen’s shop, using the revitalized energy of her jyaki-fed winds to hoist herself up on the roof in a matter of seconds. She stood, mouth open and eyes wide, staring at the incredible beam of light that shot straight up into the sky. It was too far on the horizon for her to see except as a glittering, fuchsia-crimson laser beam. It lay south---Raizen’s lands---and the incredible feel of it---as if all three kings, and more than that, more powerful than that---had amped up their energies just to send it forth. Using the jyaki that existed in themselves and in the very world around them, it was like they were shouting out across Makai just how fucking awesome they were.

She felt the jyaki inside her blood burning with that arrogant challenge, tingling along her nerves as her own aura flared in answer. That oneness she had felt with Makai in the Forest of Fools---when demon world had welcomed her home, and Kurama and Hiei had opened her up to the simple joy of being alive in a world now her own---suddenly returned. Flushed with it, Sango laughed in pure astonishment, her heart speeding up as her instincts roared. That simple joy she had felt as a child---her warrior’s spirit---what had made fighting fun and wonderful and new and exciting---returned until she was all but giddy with it.

Whirling in place, Sango knew, suddenly, certainly, what she wanted, needed, had to do! Test her strength against demons so willing to call out their foes for a tournament she had paid little attention to. To see for herself what she was now capable of, against foes worthy enough to challenge her. Yusuke---the demon tournament---she didn’t know how he’d done it, but she knew now that he’d returned her joy in battle to her, and she knew, somehow, some way, she was going to be a part of it!


Explaining to Kurama what they were all doing there in his apartment---well, in his and Sango’s, truth be told---was a tad more awkward than Jin had anticipated. Of course, being caught with his hands in Sango’s underwear drawer was what made the whole situation even more uncomfortable.

But since Chuu was currently playing tug-of-war with Rinku---the curious boy having been the one to open that drawer and dig out a bra---it really just made the whole uncomfortable part…ah…well, explaining was easy after that.

“I see,” the fox said, green eyes opaque.

“Kurama,” Touya intervened, trying to soften the blow, “it was more a kindness than anything else---”

“We couldna all be staying at the little mole’s. A mite crowded, it was,” Jin added.

“No money,” Rinku helpfully supplied, finally letting go of his end of the bra.

“No money?” Kurama looked surprised.

“Seeing as how our CEO basically went right up and quit the company,” Chuu said, discreetly tucking his hands behind his back, bra crumpled inside one fist.

Kurama nodded distractedly. He went to the window, apparently lost in thought, and missed the quick exchange as Chuu chucked the bra to Jin, who hastily shoved it inside the backpack with the girl’s other clothes. Grabbing a handful of underwear---though, lordy, those white cotton panties put too many pervy thoughts in a young lad’s head---Jin managed to zip it up before the fox turned back around.

“I might have a solution,” the fox gravely offered.

Which was exactly how they all ended up in the forest outside the city, helping to disband an army of youkai not really believing yet that they were disbanding, their king only having abdicated yesterday. And while most were willing enough to go, a few of the more stubborn hardheads needed to be knocked around a bit to convince them of it. And seeing as that was perfect work for the six of them, it didn’t take that long to get the disorganized chaos of dismantling Shachi’s troops into the somewhat more organized chaos of dismantling Shachi’s troops.

And since they were overseeing that dismantlement, so to speak, and were all grouped up on an embankment above the array of tents, they were in the perfect spot to see that glorious surge of demon energy drilling right up from the south and straight into the sky. A real beaut, it was, all crimson and glowing. The jyaki in that giant pillar of light came from the very heart of Raizen’s lands, and surged with so much power and battle-lust and just plain joie-de-vive that it sparked that same surge inside every youkai who was a part of this land, making his blood a’boil and his toes a’curl and his ears start wiggling so that he wanted to dance right there in place---ah, the wonder and glory of it! And the pure, unadulterated power in it! Oh, my, but that must have toppled all the blessed saints off their holy thrones and right on their very arses, for it shot straight up into the very heavens, piercing the clouds with its glorious light!

Jin, sitting cross-legged in the air a few feet above them all with his arms crossed behind his head, basked in that glorious light as they all stared in awe at what amounted to a crazy display of pure demonic energy. That surging, red beam of light was summoned and powered by several demons as strong as King Yomi himself. Such a sweet display caused the wind youkai’s heart to throb right inside his chest as his warrior spirit all but chortled with it. He knew that somehow, some way, Yusuke had managed to pull those powerful demons out of seclusion to join in his tournament, and oh, but he could just imagine the expression on Yomi’s face. Or Mukuro’s! They thought they were the only powerful youkai in Makai, but aho! Here was proof that there was a demon or two who could put those two smug rulers to shame! This tournament was going to be the end-all-be-all, and Jin wasn’t going to miss it for the world!

With their very world at stake, what demon would?