InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Presence of Autumn ❯ Sorcery ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: Why do I even bother? Fan Fiction. Fiction written by Fans. Got it?

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Chapter Eight: Sorcery

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Miroku was puttering around the campsite when everyone got back, folding his blankets and setting up the makings for breakfast. He saw Akiko as she walked into the sight and reveled that such transcendent beauty could be hidden behind her previous mask of filth. She noticed his staring and blinked confusedly, stopping only a few steps from him.

Everyone but Akiko knew what was going to happen. Kagome sighed and shook her head, Inuyasha `Feh'd and crossed his arms to watch the monk's neck get broken, Sango clenched her fists.

Miroku staggered over to Akiko and fell to his knees before her, taking up one of her delicately clawed hands in both of his. A blush leapt into her cheeks and her free hand rose to hover over her breast, brilliant green eyes sparkling at him in surprise.

"Lovely Akiko," Miroku said, his voice tremulous with suppressed passion. "Your beauty is so exquisite and magnificent that it leaves me without words to describe how you have felled me. My heart has been swept away from me on the tides of your emotions. My soul teeters on the brink of demise, for you have brought my eyes to their limit of acceptance with your otherworldly beauty. My Hanyou Goddess, I would be saved, if you would only answer this one simple question."

Something in Akiko's expression had changed during his speech, but he could not place it. Now, she drew a trembling breath and responded with a slightly breathless, "Y-yes?"

"Beauteous Lady, would you do me the honor of bearing my children?"

Well, Miroku had had many different responses to this highly refined question; he'd been slapped, punched, kicked in the nuts, chased out of town, even accepted (though usually by an uninvited third party). But the last thing he was expecting was for her to laugh.

It was a quiet chuckle at first, a slight shaking of the shoulders and twitching of the lips, that soon escalated into a full out laugh. She tipped her head back and laughed with her whole body, her fangs gleaming in the morning light, tears of delight streaming from her closed-eyes and a slightly bemused expression on her face. Inuyasha, Kagome and Sango were amazed at this response. Kagome was the first to begin laughing with her, then Sango, and finally Inuyasha. Tears streaming down their faces, Sango and Kagome collapsed into each other's arms, giggling for all they were worth.

Miroku, for his part, was feeling sheepish and mildly humiliated. Embarrassment suffused his cheeks with color, but after a moment he began to chuckle too.

After everyone had calmed down a bit Akiko patted Miroku on the cheek and shook her head, still chuckling. "That was wonderful! Thank you! I haven't laughed that hard in months. And, in answer to your question; you're cute, but you're not that cute."

Miroku nodded sheepishly and went back to helping prepare breakfast.

Akiko sank down onto her nest of blankets with a tiny sigh of relief, tremors of mirth still shaking her body. All of her energy was still not back yet, and she felt sore all over. While the bath had helped, she was far from being healed.

She was in the process of pulling a few blankets into her lap for warmth when she came across the kitsune pup curled up into a ball with his tail wrapped around his toes. He was a gorgeous child and in some ways he reminded her of her baby sister, Natsumi. Smiling and being careful not to disturb his slumber, she picked him up and pulled the blankets over her lap, then set him down in her lap atop the blankets. Running a light hand over his silky hair, she watched as breakfast was being made.

It was an amazingly quick process. Breakfast was done in only fifteen minutes and consisted of a pot of rice to divvy between them, a small omelet with a bright orange cheese inside it, a lovely smelling soup of pale brown broth and long, wavy noodles, and hot green tea. A veritable feast, and in such short order; Akiko was beginning to get suspicious of Kagome's origins, for everything, from the food to the `shampoo' at the hot spring, had been pulled from her bag.

Setting the troubled thought aside for the meantime, Akiko set about the process of waking Shippou.

"Shippou-chan, breakfast is ready." Akiko said, gently rubbing his shoulder.

Shippou frowned slightly and rolled into her stomach, fisting one of his tiny hands into the fabric of her borrowed yukata. He mumbled something about staying out to play, and sighed.

Not quite knowing what to do, she looked up and made eye contact with Kagome. Kagome smiled and mimed that she should shake him gently.

"Shippou-chan. Wake up, Shippou-chan." Akiko gently shook his shoulders, but he just curled into a tighter ball.

Inuyasha solved the problem with exceptional efficiency. He popped a squat next to Akiko and grabbed the kitsune by the tail, picking him up to dangle by said appendage right in front of Inuyasha's nose. "I'm gonna eat all the ramen."

Shippou's eyes popped open and he began struggling though disoriented at first because the world was upside down. "MY RAMEN! GIMME!" He shouted.

Inuyasha chuckled and tossed him back into Akiko's lap, before shifting positions and crossing his ankles in front of him. Kagome and Sango brought all the food over and soon everyone was in a circle chowing down.

"Akiko-san, why don't you tell us where you're from." Sango suggested, as she leaned forward to pick up another bite of the omelet with her chopsticks.

Akiko chewed her omelet thoughtfully. "I live in a village called Yonezawa, far to the north and high in the mountains. It's taken me about a month to come this far south, and that was with Naraku forcing me. We did zigzag a lot, though, so I would guess we're probably about two weeks travel by foot from my village. I plan to return there as soon as I am healthy enough to make the Journey." She frowned and let her hands sink into her lap.

"What is it?" Inuyasha asked. The others were surprised at how gently he asked the question.

Akiko glanced at him once, and then returned her eyes to the ground. "My family is there. Naraku threatened to harm them, and somehow I don't think they were empty threats. My father and brother are powerful demons, but I don't know how they would fare against the likes of Naraku. I must return as quickly as possible to help them."

Kagome's heart was notoriously big. It was only natural for her to suggest the next step. "We'll come with you!"

"What?!" Exclaimed everyone else in the circle.

"Lady Kagome, with all due respect, a journey of that magnitude would take us as much as two months." Miroku pointed out. He set aside his bowl of ramen and folded his hands in his lap. "It's considerably further a field than we were planning on traveling this trip."

"Miroku is right, Kagome." Sango added. "If we make this journey we will not be back in time for you to attend your birthday party as you wished."

Shippou nodded sagely. "Even though all it takes for you to go back is to jump through the-ACK!"

Inuyasha cuffed Shippou on the head, not hard enough to hurt him, but hard enough to get his immediate attention. "Shut up, brat."

Akiko frowned. `Go back where,' She wondered. There was definitely something amiss with this group. Setting the thought aside for later consideration, Akiko drew a deep breath and spoke. "If it would ensure your aid, I can say something of value. I can get us there without having to cross the intervening space."

The others looked at her curiously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha queried.

Akiko frowned slightly in irritation at his tone. "It means that I can get us there without having it take two weeks. I just need a day or so to regain some strength and then I can start laying the spell."

Miroku blinked. "Is it some kind of demonic skill?" His professional curiosity was peaked.

Akiko blushed, suddenly becoming very interested in her claws where they cradled her chopsticks. She mumbled a response that the humans didn't hear, but Inuyasha and Shippou picked up perfectly.

Inuyasha's response was to blink in surprise. His ears twitched rapidly as though uncertain he had heard correctly.

Shippou's eyes went wide and sparkly, and his tail wagged. "Wow! Really?!"

"What? What did you say?" Kagome asked.

Akiko cleared her throat and looked off into the trees. "I've had some training in sorcery."

Sango and Miroku both blinked in surprise and looked at each other, sharing the same line of thought. This hanyou girl was training to be a sorceress? That was markedly… odd.

"Not much, I admit." Akiko said. She combed her fingers through the soft fur of her tail, avoiding everyone's gaze. "I'm not very good yet. But I can get us to my village without too much trouble. That would make the whole trip much easier and shorter. Does that help convince you at all?" She looked up. Her ears were flipped back against her skull in a manner that made her look slightly dejected.

Miroku cleared his throat. "That would make the whole excursion much shorter."

"I could make it back in time for my birthday party with no problem." Kagome said. Sango nodded silently.

What they were really waiting for was for Inuyasha to speak up. He was the unofficial leader of their group, and they would go where he deemed worthy. Most of the time.

Inuyasha considered Akiko's proposal. If they could travel there instantaneously and get a chance to battle Naraku again it could be worth the trip. Akiko claimed that her father and brother were strong demons, so it was possible that they could offer some assistance during the fight. Weighing the options, Inuyasha nodded.

"Let's do it. How much time do you need?"

Akiko though for a moment. "In the interest of expediency, I could push and set the spell tonight. There are a few things I'll need, so I'll set about gathering them immediately and as soon as I'm done I can begin casting."

"How can we help you?" Kagome asked.

Akiko frowned, considering. "I don't think you can. I'm not sure how to describe what I'm looking for, but I'll know it when I see it. Use of the wrong items would be disastrous."

"Then you'd better start looking." Inuyasha suggested brusquely. "The day isn't getting any younger." That said he stood and moved off to start cramming things back into Kagome's bag. Kagome watched him and leapt up with an exclamation to stop him and do it correctly, before he could damage any of her supplies with his rough treatment.

Akiko rose carefully, trying to avoid using any muscles that protested the motions, but it was next to impossible. Figuring that some exercise might help her abused body stretch out and relax she rose and, with the monk as company, wandered off into the trees.

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After they'd passed out of hearing of the camp Kagome turned to Inuyasha. "So exactly what is it that's bothering you?"

Inuyasha, not expecting the blunt question, let a pot slip from his suddenly numb fingers, and cried out when it landed on his foot. "Ow! Sonofabitch!" He fell back and pulled his injured foot into his lap. "Damn, that hurts!"

Kagome turned a keen eye on him as she continued carefully packing things away. "You haven't answered the question, you know."

"What the Hell does it matter to you, bitch?!" Inuyasha growled. Rubbing his toes and glaring at the offending pot in Kagome's hand. "I've got something on my mind, that's all."

"Uh-oh, Inuyasha's thinking. He must not feel well." Shippou piped up from the far side of the fire.

"Shaddap, turd!" Inuyasha grabbed a handy rock and lobbed it at the kitsune kit.

"Ow!" Shippou whined.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha flinched and looked guiltily at Kagome, anticipating the use of the Command. Kagome merely frowned at him.

Shippou saw this and was unwilling to leave things unresolved. "Kagome, he hit me with a rock! Aren't you going to subjugate him?"

Kagome turned her frown on Shippou who hunched his shoulders unhappily. "You baited him, so I don't think he deserves it. On the other hand, Inuyasha, you shouldn't throw rocks at Shippou. And you still haven't answered my question."

Inuyasha sniffed and shot a glare at Shippou. "Get out of here, brat."

Catching the clear note of dismissal, Shippou stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha and leapt off of Kagome's shoulder, bouncing over to see if Kirara would play with him. Keeping an eye on Shippou, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome by the upper arm and steered her over towards the tree line where he knew they'd be out of earshot. He drew a deep breath and sighed, hunkering down on his haunches. "What do you want to know?"

Kagome sank to her knees and rearranged her skirt. "What's bothering you? You're being snippy one minute, and the next you're listening attentively and acting almost polite. Something's got you all out of whack."

Inuyasha shrugged uncomfortably. He never liked sharing his feelings; they left him exposed and open to attack. But if there was one thing he'd learned over the last year, it was that he could trust Kagome with his feelings. She'd never turn them on him, ever. "Akiko."

Kagome nodded. "I'd figured as much, but what is it exactly?"

Inuyasha shook his head, flicking his ears in several directions before responding. "I've met so few other Hanyou, none of them humanoid, like me. I have so many questions…"

Kagome's eyes softened with understanding. She nodded and moved to place her hand on his arm but stopped short, unsure if he would appreciate the gesture or not, and put her hand back in her lap instead. "I understand, Inuyasha."

Suddenly uncomfortable with his openness, Inuyasha huffed and closed his eyes with a disdainful expression on his face. "Keh! It's not that important. I don't even really care!"

"Sure." Kagome nodded agreeably before rising to her feet again and moving forward to recommence striking camp.

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(A/N) There ye be! It took me a while `cause I got stuck. I apologize. I'll do my best to get the next chapter written ASAP. I have another idea for an IY fic floating around in my head that I just may have to begin working on soon. We'll see. Review (please and thank you)!