InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Next Best Thing ❯ Chapter 12: The Day Arrives ( Chapter 12 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Hi all! I'm back! I know it's been quite a few months since I worked on this…but what can I say, I had a lot to do for Sakura-Con, and now it's over, I have a lot more time! And big news, this fanfic was submitted for the Sakura-Con Fanfic contest, and won in the Staff category! ^_^ Yea! And not to mention I dressed up as Kagome for the Con! (Oh, and for the contest, I edited the previous chapters, so their is no longer any part about Sesshoumaru wanting his way with Kagome. It was just...so out of character that I took it out. ^_^)

Okay, as always, Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, Sunrise, Shonen Sunday, and the other respected companies. We should all know this by now. ^_^

The Next Best Thing
Chapter 12: The Day Arrives
By Laura Hoak-Kagey

The atmosphere was heavier than usual that night at dinner. Sesshoumaru, Rin and Sakura sat together for dinner, but the table was more silent than it had been before. This was partially because Rin and Sakura were the ones to usually talk, but tonight Rin had too much on her mind to feel like saying much of anything. Roaming the halls for two hours still hadn't helped to ease her mind; Sakura's words still lingered there.

Dinner was nearly over before Sakura had dared to interrupt the silence. "Uncle Sesshoumaru, what're we doing tomorrow?"

Even though Sesshoumaru didn't need to eat in order to stay alive, he enjoyed doing so occasionally. He raised an eyebrow as he lifted his head up from his meal. "Sakura, tomorrow is a day for you to practice what you have learned, by yourself. Sesshoumaru has a few things to do. If you have any questions, ask Rin."

The tone of his words made Sakura feel like she shouldn't ask any more questions. She nodded her head, and went back to eating her meal.

It wasn't long before Sesshoumaru rose, and headed for the door. "Goodnight you two."

Just as he left the door, Rin dashed after him. She had a question she'd been waiting to ask, and she didn't want to pass the chance up to ask it. "Lord Sesshoumaru, after Inuyasha and Kagome come, what'll happen to Sakura?"

He was silent for a few moments before he replied, "That depends if she cooperates with us or not. If she does, then she shall stay here, but if she resists, then she will share the same fate as her parents."

"Oh…" Now Rin was even more confused than before. Sakura would be sure to side with her parents, which would mean…

"Now, as Sesshoumaru said before, I have a few things to attend to. Keep an eye on her, and report to me if anything happens." With that Sesshoumaru started down the hall once again.

Rin watched him go as she stood there, trying to figure out what she was going to do. She couldn't let Sakura die, no matter what. True, Rin had been an accomplice to Sesshoumaru for quite a few years, and they had done a lot of evil deeds in the past, but this time it involved a person she had begun to care for; Sakura. Now Rin needed to think of a plan of what to do if it looked like Sakura would die because of her actions…

*~*~*

Yumemi raced into the living area to find her parents, Uncle Inuyasha, Uncle Shippou and Kagome all asleep on the floor. She wondered if she should wake them up or not when Shinhaku joined her and whispered, "Well, what should we do? Let them sleep?"

"Hm, I don't know. But didja see, Uncle Shippou is here! I can't wait until he wakes up! It seems like a lot of people are comin' to see us, huh?" Yumemi had already started to quietly walk across the floor, heading for the kitchen.

Shinhaku was following her, "I know! Now we just need Sakura to come back, and maybe Mama'll make a big feast or something! Then we could build a bonfire, and hear lots of stories, and…"

The pair had made it as far as the kitchen when someone put an arm around each of their shoulders. They turned to find their Mama on the right, and Kagome on the left.

Sango spoke first, "Thanks for trying to be quiet, but you should know that I could hear you. Remember I always know where you are and what you're doing. All mamas do."

Kagome couldn't help but smile at Sango's words. When kids were little, they always believed that saying and it was so cute. Kagome decided that they should head into the kitchen, so as not to wake the others, even though Kagome was pretty sure that at least Inuyasha could hear everything that they were saying with those ears of his.

"So, why don't the four of us head into the kitchen and find something for breakfast? Then we can surpise everyone still asleep."

The four of them went into the kitchen and started to make something for breakfast. As they were doing so, Sango whispered to Kagome, "The potion's ready. Are you guys going to go today?"

Kagome continued to dish out the rice as she said, "Yes. I know I haven't really asked Inuyasha yet, but I know he'll want to help me get Sakura back as soon as possible. I don't know how much longer I can wait to bring her back…"

Sango laid a hand on Kagome's arm before taking the bowls of rice from her. "I know. Well, I guess we'll do it today. I'll have to take the twins to the neighbor's home and then Miroku and I can join you. Or at least go as far as the barrier, and wait to help in case it goes down."
Before Kagome could reply, Inuyasha walked through the doorway, yawning. "You guys talk a lot…is there any food ready? I'm hungry."

Kagome motioned towards the table. "Of course, sit down and eat. You could do to have a little more meat on your bones, ya know."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at that comment. He was about ready to tell her that she needed to eat a lot more than him since she was too thin, but held the comment back. Instead, he said, "Only if ya eat too. You guys made it, so ya need to sit down, take a break, and eat too."

Kagome smiled at the comment and took a seat next to Inuyasha and laid her hand on his leg. Not more than two seconds later, Shippou walked through the door.

"Uncle Shippou!" The twins chanted together. There was no hope for him to escape the hugs of the twins, who were the same height as him, despite their age differences.

"Yumemi! Shinhaku! Sorry to be away so long…I've missed playing with you guys…"

Sango managed to untangle her children from Shippou, and motioned for them all to sit. Once they were, she left the cheery breakfast chatter and headed for the living area. Sure enough, there was her husband, still sound asleep.

"Miroku, Miroku!" She had kneeled next to him, and now was trying to shake him awake. Leave it to Miroku to sleep through all the commotion in the kitchen.

She was about ready to give up when she felt a hand on her bottom. Miroku cracked his eyes and smiled. "G'Morning. I was hoping you would come to wake me up."

Sango had fought against the urge to slap him, and said, "Miroku! If you heard the noise, why didn't you come out? It's not like we have time to do things like this today…"

She couldn't say anything else since he chose to quiet her with a kiss. After he pulled away, he sat up and said, "I don't know about you going to Sesshoumaru's place or not…not in your condition."

"My condition…?" Sango was getting more than one surprise from Miroku this morning.

"Let's say that monks have some special senses, among other things. Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant again?" The truth was that Inuyasha had congratulated him earlier on their third child and Miroku had had to act like he'd know that all along.

She avoided his eyes as she answered, "Well, I wanted to help Kagome. Her only daughter's been kidnapped, and she needs all of our help to get her back. I didn't want you to try and make me stay here while you went to help them."

Miroku made Sango look at him. "Now, Sango, let's think about this for a second. Have I ever made you stay behind when you didn't want to? You're not exactly the type of person who would listen to everything your husband says, now are you?"

She sighed. "I know…but I'm not staying behind, and you know that right? I'll be fine. Hey, I still hunted demons during the beginning of my pregnancy with Yumemi and Shinhaku, right?"

"Of course I can't make you stay behind. But know that I'll always be protective of you, pregnant or not."

Before either of them could say another word, they heard Kagome's voice from the kitchen. "Hey! You two had better come and get some food before the children and Inuyasha eat it all!"

They could hear quite a few voices saying, "What?!" as they headed for the kitchen.

*~*~*Breakfast had come and gone, and now it was nearly afternoon as everyone, except for the twins who were at the neighbor's, Miyagi's, house, gathered round the kettle that contained the bond potion. All Kagome and Inuyasha needed to do was drink the potion, and then they could go to try and save their daughter.

Sango ladled some potion into two cups, and handed one to Kagome and Inuyasha. "Well, I'm not sure how it'll taste, but there it is. Let's hope that it works."

"Thanks Sango." Kagome looked to Inuyasha. "So, about drinking it at the same time? That might encourage me a little more…I have a feeling it's gonna taste horrible."

Inuyasha nodded. "On the count of three…one…two…three!"

The both forced down the potion, and finished at about the same time. A few seconds after they had drained the cups of their contents, Inuyasha and Kagome began to feel a little strange. Kagome, being only human, didn't have as strong a stomach as her half-demon lover. She nearly double over from the pain she felt.

[Kagome…]

"Don't worry…I'll be okay Inuyasha."

Inuyasha, who was doing much better than Kagome, said a little bit puzzled, "I didn't say anything…"

Kagome managed to sit back up straight. "Of course you did! I heard you say my name in a concerned way. Didn't I?"

[Only in my head…do you hear me?]

Kagome had been staring Inuyasha in the face when she had heard that; he hadn't moved his mouth or said a word outloud. "What?!"

Sango, Miroku, and Shippou were all confused at this point. It was Miroku who spoke up, "Would you like to tell us what's going on?"

Kagome was the one to answer. "I heard Inuyasha say my name in my head. He didn't speak…it's like the potion has started to work, and we can hear some of each other's thoughts."

Sango sighed in relief. "Alright, that's a start. Now I say that we head out for Sesshoumaru's place. The potion should be in full strength by then. That is, if you can get up, Kagome? You looked a little pale there for a while…"

"I'm fine now. I'm just not as strong as a certain half-demon when it comes to stomaching anything."

Inuyasha took her smile as a peace offering, and didn't retort back at her. Even though Kagome has said she was fine, he helped her to her feet. After all, she would be riding his back to the barrier.

"Kay, let's go." Inuyasha led them out of the hut, and everyone followed, including Kirara.

*~*~*

It was already afternoon when Sesshoumaru had called Rin and Sakura to his study. After they had entered, Rin guessed from the look on Sesshoumaru's face that Kagome and Inuyasha were either here, or nearly so.

"Well, it is time. Let's go for a walk outside, in the woods, shall we?" Sesshoumaru took the lead, and guided them through the corridors.

From his comment, Rin's guess had been confirmed. She guessed that Sakura had no idea what was going on, but she hoped that the girl would remember what she had told her last night. Rin had told her that if Sakura's parents came back to get her, and they looked like they were angry with Lord Sesshoumaru, she needed to stay close to her. Rin had an idea of how to protect Sakura, and she hoped her plan would work. Of course, if it didn't come to that, she would be even happier, but for some reason she had a feeling that things wouldn't go the way she dreamed they would.

*~*~*

Kagome and Inuyasha had reached the barrier at about the same time as Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and Kirara had. Kagome dismounted Inuyasha's back, and waited to see who would speak.

Inuyasha spoke first. "Well, we're here. We'll go through, and ya guys need ta wait here till the barrier goes down. I think that Miroku'll be able to tell when that happens…and remember if anyone sees Sakura, take her to safety. I'll be the one to take care of Sesshoumaru."

"Not without me." Kagome said sternly. She wasn't going to let him get all heroic and think that he'd let her go to safety while he tried to either save the day or become some tragic hero by trying to save everyone by sacficing himself.

"Or us." Sango motioned everyone else. "Of course we'll get Sakura to safety, but don't think we'll just leave you behind. Sesshoumaru needs to be taken care of once and for all so that this doesn't happen again to someone else."

"Alright, whatever. Let's just go." Inuyasha didn't want to involve everyone else, and since he was a guy, his dreams of saving everyone and being the hero had been shattered.

[Don't be so…stupid. I want you back in one piece, ya know.]

Inuyasha looked at Kagome. [Of course. It's just my nature to protect my family.]

Miroku struck the ground with his staff, making a noise with the clanging of the rings. "Okay, I think it is time to go. I will keep track of you two as best as I can, and we'll definitely come in after the barrier is down."

"Thank you all for your help." Kagome looked to her friends before taking Inuyasha's hand. They looked at each other, and just like they had done when they had jumped into the Bone-Eater's Well together nearly six years ago, they nodded to each other before stepping towards the barrier.
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Alright, that's it! This was so easy to write! Maybe because I haven't written in a while? Anyway, please let me know what you think! Thanks!
May 2002
http://animeforever.com/inuyasha