InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Kagura's Plan ( Chapter 19 )

Recap: Sesshomaru was uncharacteristically welcoming towards Inuyasha and the gang, allowing them to stay in the family wing of the castle. He gave Kirara a room in his own private wing, leaving her very confused. Kirara asked her old friend Midoriko for guidance, but was given a message that only confused her further still.

 

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Chapter 19 - Kagura's Plan

 

“Good morning, dear!”

 

Kirara growled, opening her eyes to thin slits begrudgingly to eye Rinko as she walked around the room, silently noting that Rinko cast a disapproving eye at the broken trinket box by the fireplace as she swept passed it.

 

“Did you sleep well dear?” Rinko asked, forcing a smile as she noticed that Kirara was looking at her.

 

“No,” Kirara bluntly replied, pushing herself up into a sitting position.

 

Kirara stretched her arms above her head, yawning openly. As she did so, she heard Rinko making a small clicking sound of disapproval in the back of her throat, and she promptly dropped her arms to her sides, opening her eyes wide to look at the fox demon. Rinko quickly forced another smile, but not before Kirara noticed the sceptical look on her face.

 

“Now my dear, it will soon be time for breakfast,” Rinko explained. “I have come here to offer you some assistance to get dressed for his Lordship.”

 

“For what?” Kirara asked, scratching at the back of her head.

 

“You are to have breakfast with Lord Sesshomaru this morning, dear,” Rinko patiently replied. “He has specifically requested that you accompany him for breakfast in his own private dining hall.”

 

“Mew?” Kirara yelped.

 

“Yes dear,” Rinko said with a nod of her head, as though the noise Kirara had just made was a valid question. “I must say dear, my Lord never ceases to amaze me. I never would have thought he would have chosen a rough and ready creature like you for his mate, least of all a cat demon, and yet here you are, sleeping in the lady's room.”

 

“In the what?” Kirara echoed.

 

“Well dear, this is the room the lord of the castle keeps his lady in when they are… Well I'm sure you understand…”

 

Kirara paused, her face growing warmer as her cheeks began to turn red.

 

“Um… No?” she said slowly.

 

“Oh dear my girl, for one so out-spoken you really aren't very versed in the facts of life, are you dear?”

 

Kirara tried to smile back, even though she knew only too well that she was being insulted. She could not formulate a suitable response to Rinko's remark since it had been such a valid point. The last time she had held human form and been forced to deal with communicating verbally with others or conforming to their standards, she had been a mere child; and that had been so very, very long ago, other than her warrior's sword and fighting skills, what little she had learned had long since left her memories.

 

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“This food is divine!” Sango said dreamily.

 

“I'll say!” Kagome agreed. “It sure was nice of Sesshomaru to let us stay here and eat in this part of the castle.”

 

“The food maybe tastes better here, but it still stinks of Sesshomaru around here!” Inuyasha moodily remarked.

 

“Perhaps the smell would not bother you so much if you were not still wearing your brother's clothes, Inuyasha,” Miroku suggested.

 

“Hey, shut-up!” Inuyasha snapped at him.

 

“I wonder where Kirara slept last night?” Shippo asked. “Do you think she will eat breakfast here too?”

 

“I don't know, Shippo,” Sango replied, frowning thoughtfully.

 

“I sense there is much afoot that we do not yet know about,” Miroku commented.

 

“Like what, Miroku?” Sango asked, turning to him.

 

“Oh nothing sinister, don't worry,” he hurriedly assured her upon seeing her concerned expression. “It was just with regards to something that Kirara said to me on our way here, just after she was bitten by the serpent.”

 

“What did she say?” Kagome asked.

 

“She told me that the last time she had human form, she was around the same age and size as Shippo,” Miroku replied.

 

“Me?” Shippo echoed.

 

“Yes,” Miroku said. “And given Shippo's outlook on life, I rather suspect that Kirara's is not much different.”

 

“What are you getting at, Miroku?” Inuyasha demanded impatiently. “Are you saying that Kirara is just a dumb little brat like Shippo?”

 

“Hey!” Shippo wailed.

 

“In many aspects, yes,” Miroku replied.

 

“Hey!” Shippo yelped.

 

“She may well now possess the body of an adult, and she may have lived a very long time between when the spell was cast and when it was broken, no doubt witnessing many, many things; but she lived that part of her life as an animal, with no ability to communicate or learn about culture.”

 

“You mean you don't think she understands many of the things around her?” Sango asked.

 

“I mean I doubt she can understand why Sesshomaru lives the way he does, or even what an honour it was for us to be allowed into this part of the castle. Without the social skills and cultural awareness of an adult, she is nothing more than a young child trapped inside an adult's body. Which perhaps explains why Rin calls her a friend. I think that, despite her outward appearance, Kirara probably has more in common with Rin than she does with you, Sango.”

 

“Oh…”

 

Sango hung her head, deep in thought.

 

“It's no big deal!” Inuyasha snorted. “It's not like anyone's expecting her to act like a lady, or anything!”

 

Sango stiffened in alarm as an idea suddenly occurred to her: Sesshomaru had asked Kirara to be his mate, what if he had asked her again after they had left together the night before? And where exactly had he taken her the night before? Just what was going on between the two of them? And would Kirara be able to cope with whatever it was?

 

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Kirara walked through the doorway, her head immediately turning upwards to look around herself. Rinko, who had been walking ahead of her, stopped and bowed politely.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru, Miss Kirara,” she said.

 

Kirara continued to look around herself, oblivious to the fact that both Rinko and Sesshomaru were staring at her. Ignoring them completely, she wandered to the opposite end of the table, her armour clunking as she walked. Rinko had advised her against wearing her armour and the soldier's clothing she had been given from the castle guard, but Kirara had decided that dressing like a lady might only make Sesshomaru think that she was capable of acting like one.

 

Kirara casually picked up a small chunk of fresh fish from the table as she walked, popping it into her mouth and all but swallowing it whole. Rinko made a small noise of alarm that drew Kirara's attention back to her. Rinko widened her eyes as Kirara looked at her, and Kirara turned her attention to Sesshomaru, who was standing at the opposite end of the table. He was dressed in his usual red and white haori and hakama, his armour and weapons absent. She blinked at him in confusion, wondering why he had stood out of his chair when she had entered the room, and why the bowl of food in front of him was sitting uneaten.

 

“Have a seat, dear,” Rinko whispered, walking over towards Kirara.

 

Kirara nodded her head, climbing up over the arm of the throne-like seat at the opposite end of the table from Sesshomaru and then dropping herself onto it with a thud. Rinko paused, her hands hovering over the back of the chair.

 

“Heh,” she breathed, retracting her hands from the offer of pulling out the chair for Kirara.

 

Kirara failed to notice Rinko's actions though, her attention fixed on Sesshomaru as he sat back down, watching her intently. Unsure of just what he was thinking, Kirara's natural urges soon helped her decide on her next move. Her stomach let out a growl of complaint, and she happily grabbed up a handful of small fish steaks, stuffing them into her mouth. She chewed through them before sucking the juices from each of her fingers in turn, ending on her thumb.

 

As she withdrew her thumb from her mouth, Kirara became aware of Rinko at her side. Moving her eyes to look at Rinko, she saw the old woman shaking her head vigorously at her.

 

“Hm?” Kirara responded.

 

“Your bowl, dear!” Rinko whispered to her, pointing at the bowl before her.

 

“Oh!” Kirara blurted. “Oh right! Sorry!”

 

Kirara picked up her bowl, using it as a scoop to help herself to another pile of fish steaks, before dunking the whole lot into a bowl of sauce, lifting it out again and placing it back down on the table in front of herself with a smile of delight. Rinko yelped as Kirara then sucked the remaining sauce from her fingers, before lifting to bowl to her face and slurping loudly from it.

 

“Kirara!” Rinko hissed.

 

“Huh?” Kirara echoed, placing her bowl back down to the table a line of sauce dribbling down her chin.

 

Rinko pointed fervently at something by Kirara's hand. Kirara slowly lowered her eyes to the object Rinko appeared to be referring to, finding two slender sticks. Kirara picked them up in one hand, crossing her eyes to study them thoughtfully.

 

`Ah!' she thought to herself. `I've seen these before! Humans and human-form demons use these to eat with! I've seen Sango, Miroku, Kagome, Shippo and even Inuyasha use these!'

 

“Wow, I get two?” she remarked aloud, snapping the sticks apart.

 

“Of course you do, dear,” Rinko replied with a frown.

 

Kirara grinned, taking a stick in each hand. Rinko's frown deepened, and she groaned in utter despair as Kirara began stabbing her chopsticks into the food around her, using them like skewers to bring food to her mouth. Rinko hurriedly cleared her throat, bringing Kirara's attention back to her. Rinko held up one heavy sleeve to cover her other hand, pointing frantically down the table as she did so. Kirara slowly turned in the direction she was pointing, finding Sesshomaru staring at her, holding his two chopsticks in one hand.

 

`Of course, he only has one hand,' she thought to herself. `I wonder how he can still use both sticks then?'

 

Without moving his eyes from Kirara, Sesshomaru delicately picked up a small piece of food from his bowl, balancing it effortlessly between the two sticks and lifting it to his mouth.

 

“Oh…” Kirara mumbled under her breath.

 

These were not the same sticks Inuyasha and the others used to roast fish over the fire with, these were the sticks she had seen them use when Miroku had managed to get them a free meal in a respectable household. They were supposed to be used together in one hand to handle food. Kirara slowly passed one stick into her other hand, balancing the two sticks between the fingers of one hand. She watched Sesshomaru carefully as he ate another piece of food, manoeuvring the sticks she held to mimic his method of holding them.

 

Rinko sighed softly in visible relief, stepping back from the table as Kirara reached her chopsticks towards a chunk of fish in her bowl. She successfully pressed the sticks against either side of the object of her desire, but, being unaccustomed to the correct way to handle such utensils, she squeezed the sticks together too hard, causing them to slip off the fish and cross over. The piece of fish Kirara had been trying to grasp slipped upwards, propelled into the air by the force of her chopsticks hitting together. With a small yelp, Rinko caught the fish steak, closing her fist around it and concealing it beneath her many sleeves, glancing nervously back and forth between Kirara and Sesshomaru, her eyes wide with what looked to be fear.

 

“Excuse me,” Kirara said abruptly, pushing her chair back, wincing as it scraped noisily against the stone floor.

 

Sesshomaru instantly stood opposite her, his chair moving fluidly and silently back, making Kirara frown with momentary wonderment; he even managed to move a heavy, cumbersome object with effortless grace.

 

“I have to…” Kirara began, stumbling out from her seat. “I need to…”

 

She glanced at Rinko, who gave a small shake of her head as she tried to warn Kirara not to leave the hall.

 

“Excuse me, Lord Sesshomaru,” Kirara said, side-stepping past Rinko. “I just need to go to… I have to use the… I need to…”

 

As Kirara tried desperately to formulate an excuse to leave, she walked backwards towards the door, watching Sesshomaru as she went. He watched her until she reached the door, at which point he turned fully towards her, bowing his head slightly as she receded back out of the dining hall.

 

“What you doing, you silly girl?” Rinko hissed, hurrying after her.

 

Kirara glanced over her shoulder, alarmed to see that the little old woman could move a lot quicker than she had expected her to. Breaking into a run, Kirara tore off, heading back through the library, back down the corridor to the set of doors she knew lead back towards the family wing and back towards her friends.

 

“So stupid…” she grumbled as she ran. “I don't belong here! He did this deliberately he wants to make me feel this stupid! Does he really hate me that much for refusing him?”

 

Kirara reached out a hand towards the double doors as she neared them, aiming to grab a door handle and pull it open; but as her fingers touched the metal of the door handle, a shock of energy shot through her body, and she was thrown back from the doors, landing hard on her back.

 

“What the…?” she muttered, slowly sitting up again.

 

“Now you see dear, you can't use these doors without his Lord's permission!” Rinko advised.

 

Kirara screamed in shock as she found the little fox demon standing by her side, showing no signs whatsoever of having had to exert herself to catch her.

 

“I have to get out of here!” Kirara cried, leaping to her feet and running back towards the library.

 

Not even daring to look back for fear of what she might see, Kirara ran into the library, skidding around and tearing up the staircase to the second level. Directly ahead of her was a small, arched balcony, leading outside. Running straight out onto it, Kirara hopped up onto the stone handrail by the edge of the balcony, ready to fly off into the sky and finally make her escape for the awful palace; but something made her stop.

 

Kirara was overlooking the courtyard, at the centre of which was a large water fountain, the water in which was littered with pink petals from a nearby blossom tree. The scene was beautiful, but she barely had time to enjoy it. Beyond the walls of the courtyard, Kirara could smell a very distinct scent, a damp, sulphuric and slightly mouldy smell one that she would recognise anywhere.

 

“Naraku…” she whispered.

 

Kirara leapt into the air, landing in a crouch behind the water fountain, cautiously sniffing at the ground around her for any further clues as to where the evil demon was hiding. Kirara crept around the courtyard, sneaking past what she felt sure were the windows of the family wing as she went. Although the scent of Naraku was getting slightly more predominant, Kirara still felt that he was very far away. A gust of wind swept around the courtyard, removing almost all traces of his scent altogether, making her momentarily question if she had perhaps just imagined sensing him.

 

Either way, she told herself, she would be unwise to approach him alone. Deciding to go back for reinforcements - namely Inuyasha with his Tetsusaiga and Kagome with her sacred arrows - Kirara turned around to return to the castle; but a short, sharp scream stopped her dead in her tracks.

 

“Jaken?” she muttered.

 

Without even thinking about her actions, Kirara spun around and ran off in the direction she had heard Jaken's cry, scaling her way up and over the courtyard perimeter wall, landing in a small orchard. Kirara stopped abruptly, staring in shock at what she found. Kagura was standing a short distance in front of her, one hand grasping the front of Rin's kimono, holding the girl at her side, the other tightly clutched around Jaken's throat, choking the life from him.

 

“Well if it isn't the pesky fire-cat, Kirara,” Kagura greeted her. “I'll deal with you just as soon as I've finished with this miserable little toad.”

 

“Let him go, Kagura!” Kirara quickly responded, unsheathing her sword as an added warning to the wind sorceress.

 

“Or what?” Kagura laughed. “Don't make me laugh, Kirara. I know that your human form is even weaker than your fire-cat form. Step aside, or I'll gladly kill you too.”

 

“What do you want, Kagura?” Kirara asked, ignoring the insults she had just received.

 

“I want that fool Sesshomaru to kill Naraku,” Kagura calmly replied. “I've tried asking him, and that didn't work. So now I'm trying something a little more severe. Let's see him refuse me when the life of his precious ward is at stake!”

 

“Let the little girl go, or I'll kill you right now, Kagura!” Kirara hurriedly yelled, glancing at Rin, who was deathly silent, even though tears were trickling down her cheeks.

 

“You've got about as much chance of stopping me as this miserable toad did,” Kagura replied, smirking confidently.

 

“You risked your life for Rin?” Kirara asked softly, turning to Jaken.

 

Jaken did not answer her, but she suspected that that was mainly because he could barely breathe in Kagura's vice-like grip. Kirara then realised that something bad was going to happen regardless of what she did next. With one flick of her wrist, Kagura could easily snap Jaken's neck and take his life. Kirara tried desperately to think of a way that she could attack Kagura without hurting either Jaken or Rin; but then an idea occurred to her.

 

Sticking two fingers into her mouth, Kirara blew hard, a loud whistle ringing out through the grounds of the castle.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” Kagura snarled at her.

 

Kirara barely had time to smirk back at Kagura before a shadow fell over them. Kagura gasped, releasing Jaken as she looked up to see what was heading her way. Before Kagura could figure out that it was merely the shadow of Ah-Un and that it was no real threat without someone giving it orders, Kirara leapt forwards, shoving Jaken back out of the way. He groaned as he fell, but did not complain. Kirara then dove at Kagura, colliding with her and knocking her to the ground.

 

Kagura's hand released Rin, who stood frozen in fear, staring with wide, startled eyes at the two female demons on the ground by her feet.

 

“Jaken, get Rin and get out of here, now!” Kirara yelled over her shoulder. “Take Ah-Un and leave!”

 

Jaken nodded dumbly, running forwards and grabbing Rin, tugging her up onto Ah-Un's back. As the dragon demon took off, Kirara turned back to Kagura, where her face was met with Kagura's fist. Kagura's punch packed far more strength than Kirara had expected it to, and she was knocked to one side from the sheer force of the blow. Kagura kicked Kirara off of herself, getting to her feet and snapping open her fan forcefully.

 

“You will pay for your interference with your life, fire-cat!” Kagura snarled.

 

“A price worth paying for the freedom of the girl,” Kirara smugly replied as she started to stand.

 

“Die!” Kagura yelled, swinging her arm around, creating a blast of wind that sent Kirara tumbling over backwards.

 

Kirara rolled helplessly over and over until she collided with a tree.

 

“Dance of the Dragon!” Kagura yelled, whipping her fan through the air.

 

Before Kirara could even stand, she was caught between two whirling cyclones which held her body upright, lifting her up a short distance off the ground. Kirara closed her eyes and tensed her muscles as the winds around her burned at her skin with their sheer speed, and small stones and sticks pelted off of her, their high velocity making every impact far more painful that it should normally have been.

 

“Do you give up yet, Kirara?” Kagura taunted her.

 

“Never!” Kirara yelled back.

 

“Stubborn cat!” Kagura snapped irritably. “Dance of Blades!”

 

Kirara tried to move her arms and legs to protect herself from the blades that were shooting towards her from Kagura's fan, but she was completely debilitated by the whirlwinds at her sides, which held her fast. Closing her eyes in anticipation of the worst, Kirara could not contain the pitiful, feline cry of pain that burst from her throat as the blades sliced into her.

 

Kirara silently thanked her own bad attitude for now being the one thing that saved her life. Thanks to her insistence on wearing her armour to her breakfast date with Sesshomaru, the blades only cut her arms and legs, any blades aimed at her torso bouncing right off her super-strength armour.

 

“Hm!” Kagura said, waving her fan through the air again.

 

The cyclones at Kirara's sides died down and she fell to the ground, landing hard. Kirara lay still for a moment, the pain and extent of her injuries finally dawning on her. If she did not transform, she had no hope of so much as surviving the battle, let alone somehow managing to defeat Kagura.

 

“You're going to have to try a lot harder than that if you expect to live, fire-cat!” Kagura snapped. “Because the next time I come at you, I won't miss!”

 

Kirara slowly clenched her fists, her claws digging small divots in the earth as she did so.

 

“What's the matter, Kirara?” Kagura taunted her. “Still not figured out how to use that new body yet?”

 

Kirara growled, sitting up onto her legs, her eyes glowing red in her anger. As fresh surges of adrenaline pumped through her body, she became numb to her injuries.

 

“Go ahead, transform into your true form, Kirara,” Kagura goaded her. “Because the way you are right now, you're no challenge for me.”

 

“I'll show you, you evil witch!” Kirara snarled, getting to her feet.

 

Kirara grabbed a hand at the point where she expected the hilt of her sword to be, gasping in alarm as she realised that she had already drawn her weapon, and Kagura's winds had torn it from her hands.

 

“Your pathetic sword can't help you now anyway!” Kagura called to her.

 

“Maybe not,” Kirara growled in a low voice, cracking her knuckles as she spoke. “But I still have my claws. And I still have my fangs.”

 

“Dance of Blades!” Kagura yelled, swinging her arm around again.

 

Kirara tried to leap and dodge the lightning fast and razor sharp blades that charged at her, managing to successfully evade some and escape harm from others thanks to her armour; but most of Kagura's blades hit their intended target, slicing open new wounds and deepening existing ones alike.

 

`Damn!' Kirara thought to herself as she staggered around weakly. `I can't even get close to her! I need a long range weapon to fight a foe like her.'

 

Kirara shuddered as she remembered recently witnessing the battle between Koga and Kagura. Koga had been completely at the mercy of Kagura's wind attacks, and had ended up sliced and bloodied all over, his life only spared when Inuyasha showed himself, in his mortal form, to save the wolf demon. Without Inuyasha with his Tetsusaiga, Kagome with her sacred arrows or Sango with her Hiraikotsu, Kirara knew that she was fighting a losing battle; but what choice did she have?

 

“What are you doing here anyway, Kirara?” Kagura asked, smiling as she eyed Kirara over.

 

“I could ask the same of you,” Kirara returned, touching one hand to a particularly deep gash in her upper arm. “How did you get through Sesshomaru's barrier?”

 

“Somebody broke it for me,” Kagura replied, her smile widening.

 

“Damn you…” Kirara growled.

 

“Foul language, poor manners, peasant clothing and the weakest demonic powers I have ever encountered,” Kagura sighed. “And you seek to make yourself Sesshomaru's little bitch?”

 

“What?” Kirara snarled, her demon spirit stirring, her eyes flickering with red.

 

“That's why you're here, isn't it Kirara?” Kagura asked.

 

“What would you know?”

 

“Let's see if your precious dog still finds you as attractive when you've been cut to pieces! Dance of Blades!”

 

Kirara froze, the size and number of blades coming at her this time telling her that this was Kagura's ultimate attack, and that she had no hope of escape. Too weak, too slow and with no way of defending herself, Kirara gulped as she braced herself for the sensation of the blades tearing through her body.

 

“No!” a voice yelled.

 

“Inuyasha!” Kirara cried as a figure leapt in front of her, raising an arm to shield them both from the blades.

 

The force of Kagura's wind blades forced them back, and before Kirara knew what was happening, she was on her back, a mass of silver hair lying over her legs. Kirara looked up at Kagura, surprised to see that she looked shocked. Turning to her saviour, Kirara saw Inuyasha, still wearing his brother's clothes, lying on the ground by her side, his right side bleeding in several places where Kagura's blades had torn into him. Without his fire-rat coat or any armour, the blades had made light work of the fine silk of his haori, gouging into the skin and flesh below.

 

“You fool, you almost lost your arm!” Kirara said weakly, clawing at the sea of silver hair around her in an attempt to uncover Inuyasha's face. “What were you thinking coming out here unarmed?”

 

Kirara paused, her brow furrowing as she spotted a sheathed sword clenched in Inuyasha's hand; but it was not the Tetsusaiga.

 

“Inu…”

 

Kirara froze, her eyes locking onto the two purple stripes on the hand holding the sword. As she stared at the hand, a line of blood trickled down from under the sleeve, dripping off of the knuckles.

 

Her saviour was not Inuyasha.

 

“Get… Out of here.”

 

Kirara gasped as Sesshomaru slowly sat up, turning to face her. Apparently only one blade had hit his face, leaving a long but shallow slash down one cheek. His long silver hair had stuck to the wound, and with his one remaining arm incapacitated he had no way of moving it from his wound.

 

“Move,” he growled, narrowing his eyes.

 

“But…” Kirara began. “But you're badly hurt! And you don't even have any armour!”

 

Kirara's eyes moved back to the sword in his hand, her head tilting and her frown deepening in confusion.

 

“Why did you bring the Tenseiga?” she asked, moving her eyes back to his.

 

“I thought I might need it,” Sesshomaru replied.

 

Kirara opened her mouth to reply but stopped again as she realised Sesshomaru's meaning. He had assumed that she had perished in her battle, and he had taken the sword to revive her; or at least, she assumed that was what he meant.

 

“Kagura!” Inuyasha yelled, dropping down behind Kagura, clutching the Tetsusaiga in both hands. “Die! Wind Scar!”

 

“Inuyasha, no!” Kirara screamed.

 

But it was too late. Inuyasha swung his sword down, slicing through the Wind Scar, five blasts of energy firing out towards Kagura, Kirara and Sesshomaru. Kirara gasped, closing her eyes instinctively against the bright glare of the Wind Scar. A second later, something hard collided with her, and she was thrown back, the static of an energy wave crackling around her.

 

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Next Chapter: As the dust settles on the showdown between Kagura and the gang, Kirara is amazed to find that she has escaped with her life; but at what cost? Chapter 20 - Kirara's Guilt.