InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Twenty-Two: Smack ( Chapter 23 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Co. belong to Rumiko...lucky lady...and not me...(weeping bitter tears)...

A/N: Wow! Thank you for all the responses from C20/21! (Devilish grin, I hadn't known so many people could get mad at Kagome!) Promises of future misunderstandings and future understandings...but for now, a few thanks to Athena for continued inspiration, River and Shiro Ryu for some new twists in ideas, a note to "Anonymous" - I do not mind reviews from any source!, a note to Wicca: Where are you? Both email addresses are now cut off! Miss the frosted flakes!, special bow to Feminafures - you inspired me in "Hot Like Fire" for certain (ahem) parts of my Sess lemon, and enough dawdling...on to the next chappie...Puffin and Sessmylvr6 requested some background information regarding Koharu. She is a minor character who appeared in episode # 41, where she met Miroku again, declaring she was ready to bear his child. They left her in the care of an elder in the next village, and Miroku left her with the knowledge of his Wind Tunnel and his impossibility to be there for her---no matter how much she loved him. He did promise her, however, that he would give her a child, if she would wish it. =) (Gotta love hentai's!) Three years have passed since they left Koharu in the village, and she is now 17...

Chapter Twenty-Two (Smack!)

"Where the hell is this woman?" Koga roared at Ginta, whose ears flattened at the volume his wolfish leader could achieve.

"Well, she just said she was going for a walk..." Ginta gestured toward the trees that stood some distance from the entrance to their caverns.

"Are you an idiot?" Koga growled at him. "You let a prisoner go walking out alone in the woods?"

"I'd say Ginta's an idiot." Hakkaku provided helpfully. Both youkai shot him sour looks. Koga's fur-clad arms crossed over his armored chest and he regarded both of his younger wolf-brothers with icy blue eyes.

Ginta grumbled under his breath, walking ahead a few paces, before he paused and turned back to Koga, a sudden notion catching him up. "Prisoner? Yura's a prisoner?"

"Well, what the hell else is she?" Koga growled, striding past the jaw-dropped youkai as he preceded them toward the woods. A small herd of anxious wolves followed after him, their paws stirring up faint puffs dust in their wake. Ginta and Hokkaku just stared at each other, dumbfounded.

"B-But Yura's a lady." Hokkaku said, puzzled.

A dreamy smile crossed Ginta's simple face. "A pretty lady."

Hakkaku closed his eyes as a dreamier smile curved his own mouth. "Yah...pretty."

"Ginta! Hakkaku!" Koga roared at the forest's edge. Both wolf-brothers jerked around, exchanging chagrined expressions as they realized how much further ahead their leader's long strides had seperated them. Clutching their spears in sweaty palms, both youkai gulped---Koga had no patience with dawdlers---and scrambled down the dusty embankment after him. Some of the wolves hovering around Koga came loping back to urge their wolf-brothers on. Koga waited impatiently, arms crossed over his chest again.

That didn't bode well for the inattentive duo.

Both wolf youkai stopped a pace away---with enough distance that they might be able to dodge a flying fist if Koga decided to really go after their inattention. Koga stared at them both for a long, significant moment.

Long enough for both of them to stir uneasily and look down at their feet.

A heavy sigh, and both youkai looked up with hopeful expressions. "Both of you are growing slow." Koga growled at them. "You're driving me insane. I'm going to let you slide this time, but the next time..." The threat hung in the air between the three youkai, and was only broken by Hakkaku shifting his feet. One of their four-legged brothers whined.

Koga shook himself, growling. "Which way did that damn woman go?" His demand was directed at Ginta.

The grey-haired wolf-brother scratched the back of his head, looking thoughtful. Koga's blue eyes narrowed as his tail twitched with impatient annoyance. Hakkaku took a conspicuous step backwards, away from Ginta.

"WELL?" Koga finally roared.

Ginta jerked, and ineffectually used his spear to arc across the wide expanse of forest. "She went into the woods..." A rippling shrug of fur-clad shoulders, and suddenly he was knocked over on his rear, rubbing at the nice goose-egg Koga had just gifted him with his heavy fist. "OW!"

Hakkaku took another step backwards, gulping. Koga growled at the pair of hapless wolf youkai, blue eyes narrowed. "Stupid..." One of the wolves whined again, drawing Koga's attention back to the forest. He paused for a long, tension-filled moment, and Hakkaku stared in fascination as his volatile leader drew in a long breath, his sensitive nose twitching.

"That scent..." Koga's eyes were deadly now, the ice slowly turning to fire, and deepening the intense blue of his eyes. Koga took a single step closer to the darkly green forest, sniffing delicately on the breeze. "That's..." A deep, menacing growl welled up from his throat, and the wolf youkai's hands twitched, claws digging into his palms.

A wolf wuffed in question, and Koga's eyes swept back to pin his followers with an angry glare. "I'm going ahead. You catch up. Keep your spears ready. There's something in that forest that reeks of Naraku."

Hakkaku and Ginta both twitched in reaction of that name. Both knew how much their leader loathed the dark hanyou who had set the wolf tribes up in a dark plot to steal the Shikon shards that Koga used in his legs to enhance his speed and strength. Many wolf-brothers had died, and Koga himself had nearly been poisoned by the fake, malignant crystal of Naraku's fashioning. Only the youkai's rather wolf-shy girlfriend, Kagome, had saved their leader from certain death.

Koga had declared a blood-debt on Naraku and the dark hanyou's foul offspring, Kagura.

"Naraku..." Hakkaku gulped.

"And Yura's in there!" Ginta shivered. "Koga! You will protect Yura, won't you?!"

"Yeah. Whatever." Koga said, his angry attention already focused on a single goal. Finding the reason for that awful scent and crushing it under his bare fists. "Hurry and follow!" He shouted over his shoulder as he took the first stride with his Jewel-enhanced legs. A swirl of dusty wind whipped up around the running figure, and both brothers watched in the silent amazement that never seemed to tire them as the long stream of their leader's black hair disappeared into the tornado-like winds that were stirred up by his speed.

Hakkaku helped Ginta up, and they both loped after the dusty whirlwind, their hearts anxious over the fate of their Lady.

*~*~*~*~*

Kagura stirred, her awareness shifting. She could feel something powerful approaching her, and at some speed. The Wind was stirring around her, and she felt its call tensing the muscles in her arms and shooting down her back. Her delicate hands clenched, her claws digging a small tatoo of welts on her white palms, as she stretched her senses, seeking the source of the Wind that called to her.

*The Wind! The Wind is returning to me!*

Her mind was overcome with joy, and tears sparkled in her red eyes, deepening the color of them into glinting rubies. Her head whipped up, making the long waves of her raven hair froth over her shoulders and back. She turned away from the distracting view below her to embrace the Wind that was coming toward her at such speed. Her sensitive nostrils twitched, but she ignored the nagging foreboding that snagged at her attention. The Wind would never hurt her. It was hers, it was calling to her!

She took the first stumbling step closer to the source of that power. She could feel the swirling of dusty winds pulling along her soul, and her heart beat faster in her chest with anxious anticipation. Could they be returning to her? The winds? Her steps quickened, and she ignored everything around her, seeking the source of that powerful draw. Brush dragged at the thin fabric of her white yukata, and she casually jerked at the hindrance, tearing the hem in her haste. She felt the sting of thorns scraping her arms as her seeking senses narrowed on the source and ignored the path her running feet were taking her through.

The Wind was coming straight for her, and Kagura's soul burned with joy-filled desire to unite with the dusty whirlwind that she could see through the tangling trees. There, in that clearing, she would meet it, become one with it! Her feet hurried, even as one hand tore at a branch that tangled in her hair, trying to keep her away from the Wind...

Tearing the snagging clutch on her hair, she nearly sobbed in relief as the tangle came free. She drew forward, her fingers reaching for the whirlwind that was coming toward her. She burst from the impeding brush and into the clearing, her steps lurching as she stumbled over a raised tree root. She fell to her knees on the softly damp grass, her arms reaching out for the Wind.

Her black hair danced on the breezes raised by that powerful whirlwind, the long waves obscuring her vision until she shook her head impatiently, causing the long tendrils to curl behind her. Yearning filled her soul, and she moaned softly in a plea for the Wind to come to her, her rubied eyes wide, her lips parted in silent appeal.

Something hard thudded to the earth before her, and Kagura almost cried out in despair as the Winds died, cut off abruptly as if by a sweeping hand of denial. The cry froze in her throat as she saw just WHO the swirling dust of the whirlwind had hidden. Long, straight black hair fell with a faint whisper against the fur-armored back, and she could see the strong muscles of his braced legs and the sudden narrowing of rage-filled, icy blue eyes. She paled, and her ruby eyes opened further and sparked with fear as her mind screamed at her in sheer terror.

*KOGA!*

*~*~*~*~*

"K-Koharu?" Miroku slid shakily off the neko as his eyes swept over the welcoming girl who had run to him. His hand tightened on the wood of his jingling staff in reaction as the girl---no, young woman---stopped in front of him. Her smile was as bright as ever, her warm brown eyes rippling over him in return as she scanned him for any differences in appearance that might have changed each of them since their last meeting, nearly three years ago.

Koharu had definitely grown up, and into a beautiful young woman. The promise of her girlishly innocent charms had filled out into the curves of fulfilled womanhood. The wide brown eyes were still the same, and she had not gained in height. The freckles that had graced her cheeks now danced across her nose and left the blushing cheeks alone. The shortened hair, once covered in a peasant's pink scarf, curled long and full down her back, caught up in a simple white ribbon. The flowing robes of a miko, red hakama and white kimono, only hinted at the filled curves beneath.

"Miroku!" Koharu, ever free in her emotions, bound into his arms, hugging him tightly.

What was a monk to do?

The houshi's arms circled around the white-robed back, tangling in the long black hair as Koharu nestled her sweet face in the curve of his neck. Her scent, a pleasant odor of herbs and plants, surrounded him, and Miroku sighed at the feeling of the soft body against his.

"Oh, Miroku! How I have worried over you these last years!" Koharu's whisper was heated against his neck, and Miroku only held her tighter in response to the words, his body comforting where words failed him.

Kirara watched them with warmly glowing red eyes, but her tails twitched, and she rumbled something low in her throat before turning away to face the Lady Kaede, who stared at the embraced pair in some calculation.

Shippo, caught off guard by Koharu's sudden appearance, suddenly remembered why tears had sparkled in his eyes a moment before. With a cry of returning anguish, he launched himself into Kaede's chest. The old miko grunted under the impact, even as her aged arms came up to encircle the kitsune cub. Shippo's muffled sobs dampened the white cloth of her kimono, and she patted the little fox child tenderly even as she turned away from Miroku and Koharu. Her questions regarding that pair would have to wait. Little Shippo needed her care and comfort right now, and she needs must find out why the little pup had thought Kagome would be here in the village, and not out hunting Jewel shards with the others.

Miroku's head raised as the grey-haired miko went back into her hut, cuddling Shippo. Dust swirled as Kirara transformed back into her smaller form. She gave him a parting look out of red eyes and, with a dismissing flick of her two tails, went after the old miko and the kitsune cub. Miroku blinked at the neko's action, but then was distracted when Koharu leaned back away from his chest and small, herb-scented fingers touched his cheek.

"Miroku..." Koharu whispered, love shining in her eyes.

*~*~*~*~*

From the fork of a convenient tree, InuYasha stirred restlessly as a chilling wind rustled the leaves of his chosen branch. The ends of his white hair brushed against the rough surface of the tree bark he leaned against, and he tightened his clawed hold on the fanged sword that rested in his arms. His eyes were hooded as he tried to peer through the darkened forest, imagining he could outline the distant castle that had been his home once, many long years ago.

A small noise below him shifted his attention to the slayer who slept at the tree's base. Sango had been uncomplaining through the long journey that had diverted them into the Western Lands. Tired muscles had protested against him as she kept her grip on his back strong; she had known that he had been too enwrapped in trying to find Kagome to think about the ningen woman's own welfare. InuYasha felt a bit bad about that. The dark circles under Sango's eyes had told him volumes about the slayer's own denied exhaustion. InuYasha had pressed deep into the Western Lands before he had realized that Sango's fierce pride was the only thing keeping her awake.

Once realizing just how tired Sango was, InuYasha had, with characteristic abruptness, stopped and called camp for the night. Sango had been too tired to do anything more than nod dully at him, her normally bright eyes weary. She had slipped from his back, and InuYasha had had to steady her wobbly stance with a clawed hand on her shoulder as her legs protested under the sudden need to use them. Sango had murmured a short thank you for his assistance, and then brushed his concern aside. Sheer pride had the slayer lurch toward the nearest tree on her own, carefully pulling the heavy weight of her Hiraikotsu from her back and laying it beside her. She had only paused to pull her kimono from the small pack she carried before wrapping herself in it and falling into exhausted sleep.

InuYasha had made a short patrol of the forest around them, but was hardly worried. His stinking youkai brother kept the ancestral lands around his castle conspicuously clean of vermin. He was actually surprised that SesshouMaru hadn't shown up yet to challenge InuYasha's own presence there.

But SesshouMaru could be toying with them, luring them to his castle for some deviously twisted plot. The only demon who could surpass his stupid half-brother for intrigue was Naraku---and that putrid mass of rotting youkai parts was often bested by the people he tried to deceive.

InuYasha allowed a mocking smile to curve his lips over that satisfying thought.

*No matter what that arrogant dog has planned, I can still take him out with my Tetsusaiga.* White claws caressed the braided hilt, and InuYasha's eyes glowed amber for a moment when looking at his sword. *At least the old man gave me this. Must have showed some sense. SesshouMaru wouldn't have had as much use for the old fang as I do. Stupid youkai.*

Thoughts of his arrogant brother shifted to thoughts of his arrogant brother with Kagome in his grasp. Fury surged along the hanyou's veins, and his caressing claws now clenched over the hilt of the sword. *I don't give a damn what SesshouMaru has done to you, Kagome. I don't care what Kikyo said. You'll never be worthless to me. I'm going to rescue you from that stinking dog, and then I'm going to cut him into such tiny pieces that even the carrion crows won't be able to find a bite to peck at.*

The fury was like one of Kagome's strange, carbonated caffeine drinks, filling him with awakened energy, and InuYasha burned with the desire to go. He gazed down impatiently at the sleeping taijiya below him. *Damn humans and their weaknesses.* He fumed, as his mind whirled with what he might be able to do. He couldn't abandon Sango here. She might not be helpless---hell, she was a strong enough fighter, for a girl and a ningen---but you just didn't leave your friends sitting on their thumbs. Besides, she might get really mad at him, and while Miroku might only get a slap from her ire, he kept getting her stupid katana poked at him like he was a damn pincushion.

Well, he couldn't leave her, and he didn't want to waste any more time, either. The slayer should be allowed to sleep, he might need her help getting Kagome free. Someone had to pull the stupid girl out of whatever prison SesshouMaru had her in, and InuYasha might be too busy cutting the inu bastard into little pieces with his Tetsusaiga.

*Well, nothing for it, then.*

InuYasha heaved up on his haunches, and pushed free of the swaying tree limb. He allowed the sleeves of his haori to catch the slight wind he raised and cushion his short leap to the earth. As soon as his bare feet touched the ground, he stalked over to the sleeping Sango and hauled her boned boomerang over his shoulder. The thing was damn heavy, but no test for his strength, even if he was only a half-demon. He tied it across his back with swift, sure movements, having watched Sango do it many times. Securing the Tetsusaiga to his waist, he knelt down to pull the sleeping taijiya into his arms. Sango was so exhausted she just merely let out a muttered complaint at the change of her position, and then burrowed against the warmth of his chest. Her skin was chilled to his tentative touch, and InuYasha actually excused his man-handling of her by thinking it would be better if she slept this way, instead of on the cold ground. She wouldn't catch a chill, then. And slow him down. Right?

He let out a slight grunt as he lurched to his feet, finding his balance with the added weight. Sango was hardly heavier than Kagome, but her Hiraikotsu was damn awkward. Shrugging his shoulders, he settled the woman in his arms. Ignoring the ningen, he took a running leap and launched into the air.

Sango wouldn't be ignored, however. As the hanyou gained speed and jumped, the force of his leap swirled winds back on him, and the taijiya's long tail of black hair whipped up and smacked him sharply in the face. Growling, InuYasha shook his head, freeing the snapping tangle of hair. He jostled the sleeping slayer even as his body instinctively lengthened into the arc of the mighty leap that took them both up above the tree-tops. Sango merely murmured a single word against his bead-snapping chest, and burrowed closer to his warmth as her breaths evened once more into sleep.

"Hentai..."

InuYasha smirked. *Must have been thinking about that stupid monk, Miroku.*

As he crested the arc of his first jump, he looked down to gauge his next landing and take off. That tree, there.

Smack!

InuYasha's eyes flashed red and he growled again. Shifting one clawed hand under the taijiya's shoulders, he tangled his fingers into the long whip of silky black hair and held it firmly---and defensively---along the girl's curled body, using the angle of his supporting arm to wedge it under her---and out of the way of his face.

He was so preoccupied by the damn slayer's hair, he almost missed the tree he had picked out as a jumping point. Cursing softly under his breath, the hanyou refocused his attention on leaping instead of defense.

*Damn it, anyway!*

A/N - Sorry for such a jumpy chapter, other characters were begging screen-time. I promise more Sess/Kag in the next one!