InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Sweetest Sacrifice ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

The Sweetest Sacrifice

 

Chapter Two:

 

The next thing Kagome knew, it was morning. It was rather hard to tell though, due to the storm that was still raging outside. The sky was as dark as night; the only way that she could even tell it was morning was because the sky had been even darker the night before. Shippou was still sleeping on her lap, nestled in quite comfortably. Kagome would really have to pull out that extra bedding, she decided, rolling her head around on her stiff neck.

 

She gently set the kit down on the chair again, and put more wood on the fire. Once she had it going again, she stepped into the back room. She used a large stick to fish out the hanyou's garments and hung them out, careful not to burn herself, on a few wooden chairs that were stacked up in the corner. Once satisfied that they would dry at a good rate, she returned to the main room and looked down at the hanyou who was still sitting on her bed with her hands on her hips.

 

She couldn't help the corners of her mouth tilting up into a smile when she playfully reproached him. “If I had've known you'd be sitting up all night, I would've given you the chair and taken the bed for myself and Shippou-chan.” She joked. He just glared up at her. She rolled her eyes with a grin.

 

She left him to his own devices as she prepared breakfast. It was nothing fancy - just some fried fish, vegetables, and a plate of boiled rice. Shippou had woken up during the preparation, and was busy staring at the hanyou man with something akin to awe. Kagome could feel the tension between the two, and had to ask Shippou to go outside and find her some more wild onions and some carrots since it was raining and she might get sick. Since he was a demon, he didn't get sick; Kagome was only a human. He eagerly sped off outside, the thought of being useful ringing in between his ears.

 

“Sorry about him.” Kagome rolled her eyes, speaking to the disgruntled hanyou. “He's never met a hanyou before either.” She chattered happily. She was quiet for a little while; just making sure that the rice didn't overcook. She drained the gluggy mix, and put it in a bowl to the side to cool down while she pulled out a flat pan and hung it above the fire. She put a little oil into it and let it heat up, turning back to the table.

 

She pulled the fish apart into flakes and chopped the remaining vegetables from last night. She didn't really need Shippou to get extras, but it couldn't hurt to have some handy. She chopped the carrots and onions up into little pieces and eyed the potatoes thoughtfully. She reached out for one and sliced it thinly, so thin that they were almost see-through. While she waited for Shippou to come back inside, she put the potato slices onto the pan to cook with some herbs and salt. In a matter seconds, she used a large knife to scoop them out and onto a plate.

 

Sighing, she put the fish and carrots into the pan. The sizzle was heard immediately. She stood over the grate, munching on one the crisp potatoes. She smiled, and divvied them up into three; a bit for her, a bit for Shippou, and a bit for the hanyou. Shippou barrelled inside, sopping wet, and disappointed. “I'm sorry Kagome-chan! I couldn't find any!” He whined.

 

“It's alright.” Kagome smiled. “I found some left over from last night. You just sit by the fire and dry off.” She ruffled his drenched hair. It was kind of hard not to laugh at the soaking kit. His tail was bedraggled and his hair was plastered to his skin. His many layers of clothing looked like they could drag him down to the bottom of the lake and not give a damn about his buoyancy. Shippou stripped until he was wearing nothing but his pants, and plopped in front of the sizzling fire.

 

Kagome dumped the clothing in the boiling cauldron in the other room to clean, before serving up breakfast and handing some to Shippou. She served a plate for herself, and a plate for the hanyou; which she placed with a pair of chopsticks in the table next to the bed without a word. She perched herself on the top of the over-stuffed chair by the fire, her head grazing the top of the small house. She could hear the hanyou snatch the plate off the table and scarf the food down to put the plate back a moment later.

 

“C'mon, time to change the bandages.” She sighed, collecting the plates and utensils. Shippou was still drying by the fire, though he had turned around so that his back was now becoming nice and toasty warm. All eyes were on Kagome as she reached up into the shelf, pulling down some salve and a spare wad of bandages. “What?” She blinked at the two male demons. Shippou giggled and the hanyou just grunted, looking away.

 

“Arm.” Kagome reached out. The hanyou glared at her, before cautiously lifting his arm up. She grasped his wrist firmly, and unwrapped the bandages that were around the extremity. Upon discovering that the arm was completely healed, she merely shrugged and dropped the arm, and instead reached for the bandage on his head. She barely batted and eyelid when she discovered that that one was healed too. The same was true for his chest. He didn't even have a scar. “How's your ankle?” She asked, not willing to remove the splint unless it was healed.

 

“Bones take a week to heal.” He grunted.

 

Kagome gave him a stern look. “Well, then you're lying down!” She ordered, forcing him down onto his back. He stared up at her with shock. “What?” She raised an eyebrow from her position - sitting on his stomach - above him. “You didn't think I'd let you wander around on a broken ankle, did you?” She chuckled with ease, climbing off him. “You just relax. Don't make me tie you down.”

 

He knew she wasn't serious. Even so, he couldn't help but growl at her. In his youkai mind, he was being picked up by a pack like a stray and was at the bottom of the pack hierarchy - the girl was at the top. He would have to fix that. He was a male, and a dominant one, damnit! He had to be at the top of the pack! His human mind, however, quietly reminded him that she would likely toss him out when he was healed, only to be captured by the taijiya again. He had no rights to make demands of the human wench and the kit - neither of them were even pack animals.

 

“Tie me down like an animal, wench?” He growled.

 

She chuckled. “I've had to do it before.” She lifted her sleeve to reveal an angry red scar on her arm. “A neko got me last year when I was trying to help her with a broken tail.” She explained, feeling his gaze on the scar. “It was either tie her down to tend to her or get torn to shreds.” She tugged the sleeve down, hiding the ugly scar.

 

“And what'd you do with the other damn youkai you `helped', eh wench?” He growled; he had to know what she was gonna do with him! “Kick em out to the elements? Hand em over to the taijiya?”

 

“Course not.” Kagome shook her head. “They all chose to leave. Why?” She looked back at him cheekily. “You wanna stay?”

 

“Keh!” He snorted, looking away.

 

She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at him. “I give each and every youkai that comes through here a choice. They can either go on their way as soon as they're healed, or they can stay, and pull their weight.” She ran a hand through her long black hair. “Take you, for example; I'd get you to do the hunting and collect firewood with Shippou, and in exchange, I'd give you a bed to sleep in - you could have the back room if you wanted it - and I'd cook food for you. I'd clean up after you around the house, and we'd have a routine. Every other demon I've put it to has turned the other way and walked out; Shippou-chan was the only one to take it up.” She shrugged. “But of course, you don't want to stay.”

 

He glared at her from down on the bed. His youkai demanded that he yield to the alpha. She flashed him a dazzling smile. “Well, I'm going to sew your clothes.” She patted his other leg, standing up. “Gimme a yell if you want anything.” She disappeared into the back room after saying those words.

 

The hanyou closed his eyes in frustration momentarily, before they shot open at the feel of a weight on his chest. Curious green eyes immediately obstructed his honey-coloured ones. The kit had decidedly wanted to get to know the hanyou better, considering how rare they were. “My name's Shippou.” He twitched his tail. “I'm a kitsune. What're you?”

 

“Im a half-breed.” The hanyou snarled. “Aren't you disgusted by me?” He asked, somewhat surprised as the kit shook his head.

 

“I'm just curious.” He reached up to tug on his ears. “How come you're so rude to Kagome-chan? She's only trying to help, you know. You don't have to be so mean to her.”

 

“Shaddup.”

 

“You're half dog, right?” The kit continued to tug on his ears, ignoring the growl from the hanyou. “You're a pack youkai. Where's your pack?”

 

“I said shut up!” The growling became more menacing.

 

The oblivious kit paid it no heed. “I mean, do you even have one? No one'd be patient enough to keep you.” The hanyou had just about had enough when the small boy was plucked from him.

 

Kagome gave the kit a glare. “Shippou-chan! Don't be so rude! He's still resting and has a broken bone! How would you like it if you were recuperating from a near-death experience and you had someone telling you how no one would want you?!” She demanded. The hanyou actually blinked at her words. They were all a blur to him as Kagome admonished the child. She sent him into the other room with a scowl and a promise of discipline. Not even glancing at the hanyou, she stomped off after him.

 

She sat him in the corner of the room to do his lessons as she sat in the chair nearby to sew the white kosode. The haori and hakama were repairing themselves. She shrugged to herself, putting it down to the fact that it was a demonic cloth. By the time that the kosode was repaired, the red cloth had already finished fixing itself. Smiling, Kagome took it back out to the hanyou who was staring out the window with a faraway look. Clearing her throat, she gained his attention.

 

Biting back a smile, she presented him with his cleaned, dried, and repaired clothing. “The fire-rat's cloth is remarkable, and quite rare.” She commented. “I've never seen it before. Where did you get it?”

 

“None if your business.” He snarled, shrugging on his kosode and haori. He fought to get the hakama on under the blankets to preserve his modesty. Once all the ties were done up, he returned to looking out the window. She watched him in fascination as he crossed his arms and lowered his ears to his head, as if he were thinking about something truly painful. Sitting on the bed next to him, she put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't notice her sit, or touching him, but he jumped when she spoke.

 

“Is something troubling you?”

 

The words were spoken softly, a general curiosity behind them. He had no idea what happened next. One moment, she was sitting next to him, hand on his shoulder, the next, she was sprawled out on the floor, a look of acute horror and fear on her face. He stared at her cheek in shock. There were three long gashes stretching from her nose to her ear, bleeding profusely. She barely registered the pain and blood loss as she scrambled away from him, blindly calling out for Shippou.

 

Said kit scrambled into the room, and stood shocked at the sight of his adopted mother's face. Both the hanyou and the kit could smell her fear. Shippou could never remember smelling his mother so afraid in all the time he'd known her. Her scent had always been calm, sweet, and soothing, but the sharp, tangy scent of her fear was truly something to make the kit go slack-jawed at. After a second, he realised that it was the hanyou who had struck her. He was about to say something, when Kagome reached out to him.

 

He scrambled into her trembling arms as she regarded the hanyou with a nervous stare. The hanyou looked truly bewildered, staring at his claws. Her blood glistened in the firelight from the grate upon his claws. All three watched it for a moment, before Shippou spoke up innocently. “Okaa-chan… he hurt you…” He reached up a small hand to touch her cheek. All three snapped back to the present as Kagome held up a hand to the bloody gashes.

 

The hanyou stared back and forth between his claws and her cheek, as if he was wondering what had happened. And he truly was. He was just thanking his lucky stars that he had not killed the girl. She looked, to his eyes, to be barely fifteen. It wouldn't take much to kill the small, delicate thing. She stood slowly, cuddling the kit to her chest. She stared at him through fearful yet determined eyes.

 

“Get out.”

 

The words lacked any real conviction. “Get out,” she repeated, this time in a stronger voice, “and never come back.”

 

He started at her words. Quickly, ignoring the stabbing pain from his mending ankle, he sprung to his feet, and dashed out into the pounding rain outside. He bounded across the muddy clearing and into the trees. Once the occupants of the small house couldn't see him, he stopped in the treetops and looked back. He saw, barely, through the window. Kagome was cleaning her wound, and appeared to be crying. Shippou was attempting to comfort her, while occasionally scanning the forest outside. He couldn't see the hanyou hiding in the trees.

 

He bunched his legs up to spring away, but the sharp, stabbing pain of his ankle, made him hiss, digging his claws into the wood of the tree. He made out like it didn't hurt to people's faces, but the fact of the matter was that it really, really hurt. He was surprised that the throbbing, burning pain hadn't made itself known beforehand, when he was leaving the house.

 

He felt terrible. She was only trying to help. And he'd chocked her kindness up, originally, to the desire to see him tortured, like so many. When she'd gone to sleep in his presence, and mended his clothing, and scolded the kit for his words, he'd realised that she was genuinely trying to assist him. So what had happened?

 

He mentally shook himself. Its not important; just remember the mission. He repeated this to himself over and over again like a mantra, willing himself to forget about what had just happened. It wasn't like he'd ever see the two again, anyway.

 

OoOoOoOoOoO

 

“It's been an awful long time, Ane-ue.” Kohaku wheezed as the two of taijiya, who had separated from the squad about a day ago, trekked through the pouring rain. “D'you think Chichi-ue's squad found him?”

 

“Inuyasha is a good warrior.” The boy's older sister shook her head. “If there is anyone capable of escaping Chichi-ue, it is him. We have to keep searching until they send word that they've captured him.”

 

“But Ane-ue…”

 

“No buts, Kohaku.”

 

“But…”

 

“No!”

 

The older woman huffed as she led her brother through the woods, the hefty weight of her Hiraikotsu resting upon her shoulder, ready for an attack at any moment. Her skilled eyes skimmed the surrounding shrubbery in the pouring rain. Her human eyes weren't at their best in their grey misty surroundings. The neko on her shoulder suddenly hissed, flying forward and transforming into her larger form.

 

“What is it, Kirara?” Sango asked hurriedly, readying her Hiraikotsu for throwing.

 

“Ane-ue, look…” Kohaku pointed ahead on the road.

 

“It's a Houshi…” Sango lowered Hiraikotsu. “D'you suppose he's alive?” She asked sceptically, cautiously approaching the still figure, face down in the mud. Kohaku crept up behind her as she knelt down beside the unconscious man in the mud. She brushed his hair away from his face, checking for a pulse with the other hand.

 

“He's alive.” She looked up at her brother.

 

“Come, Kilala, let us take him with us and seek shelter. We will have to postpone looking for Inuyasha until the rain lets up.” He sighed to his sister, as he hefted the man onto the firecat's back. “There is nothing to be done. We can't very well leave him here to die.”

 

“But… if Chichi-ue finds out…”

 

“Sango!” Kohaku snapped. “We're going to seek shelter; that's an order!”

 

Affronted, Sango mutely nodded, following her baby brother into the woods to seek a cave. It was really coming down hard; she'd slipped over after stepping on upturned tree roots more than once. In her head, she was wondering how her baby brother had gotten such an attitude. She reasoned that it came to him when he, albeit reluctantly, became a slayer, and, being male, earned a higher rank than her. He had the authority to make such a decision, despite the fact that she was his five years his senior.

 

“Fine…” she sighed, “…I saw a cave a little while back. We can go there.” She climbed atop Kilala, in front of the houshi, and Kohaku behind him, to brace him to ensure he didn't fall. “Let's go, Kilala.” She nudged the demon in the sides with her knees. Kilala gave an almighty roar and took off at an astonishing speed, ever conscious of the three humans on her back.

 

OoOoOoOoOoO

 

“Is he coming to?”

 

“I think so…”

 

“He is!”

 

The voices swam around him as he regained consciousness. Groaning, he tried to lift an arm to his forehead to feel the damage, as his other, with the prayer beads on them, groped around blindly on the ground beside him. His hand came into contact with something soft and fleshy. Giving it a squeeze, he heard a distinctly feminine gasp, and mentally grinned. He'd died and gone to heaven.

 

“Houshi-sama?” A female voice sounded as his hand was plucked from whatever it was that it had landed on. “Houshi-sama, can you hear me?”

 

“Yes.” Was his groggy reply. He forced his eyes open to see the roof of a cave, flickering orange in the light from a nearby fire. There was a beautiful woman peering down at him from his side, and a young man on the other. He blinked a few times to get his vision into focus, before attempting to sit up. They helped him to a sitting position by the fire, confident that he could support his own weight.

 

“I am going hunting for something to eat, Ane-ue.” The young man stated rather casually, before disappearing out into the rain.

 

“Be careful!” The woman shouted out, before coming and sitting by the fire as well, putting some dried firewood in it. Soon the crackling of the fire increased and spread throughout the cave. She decided to break the awkward silence in the cave. “So, Houshi-sama, what are you doing out here? As far as I am aware, there are no monasteries around here.”

 

“I am looking for someone.” Was his response as he circled the fire to come to sit by her side. “May I inquire as to your name?”

 

“Sango.”

 

“Sango-sama,” the houshi nodded, “I believe I have found the perfect person to ask this question.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Sango-sama…” he paused, taking her hand in both of his own, “…will you do me the honour of bearing my child?”

 

OoOoOoOoOoO

 

Later on, when Kohaku came back, he saw his sister fuming in the corner of the cave, with an unconscious monk lying next to the fire.

 

“What happened, Ane-ue?” He asked, noticing that she kept shooting the unconscious man filthy looks.

 

“Houshi-sama decided that he would rather sleep for the duration of the storm.”