InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Their Daughter's Journey ❯ A Village Encounter ( Chapter 13 )

“Kiki, would you stop that? It's embarrassing…” Kazumi stated, blushing as she tried to avoid the awkward glares of the locals.

“But it's so strange!” replied Kikyou enthusiastically as she sniffed everything in sight, from huts to ground to pottery. Much like her father, none but her own bloodline rivaled her sense of smell. Able to sniff out every food, person and object that had passed within a week, the aromas surrounding her were overwhelming. Data from the scents being registered in her mind, she could think of nothing else. Unlike her father, she had not learned to sift through such an abundance of smells.

“You have to remember that she hasn't left the village since she was small, Kazumi. It's a lot to take in.”

“I haven't either, you know,” she retorted in a spiteful tone.

“But you're not dealing with such a remarkable sense of smell.”

“…”

Her eyes sparkled as she walked past stores and restaurants, beaming at every sight. In all her amazement, she was shocked when she slammed into something. She let out a yelp as she plummeted to the ground. She rubbed her back in an attempt to lessen the sting. Her comrades stared down at her, baffled because she had never before been so clumsy.

“Are you alright?”

A hand stretched out to her, motioning for her to grab on. She blinked before looking upwards to the man to whom the hand belonged. She grabbed hold and rose to her feet, watching him.

He was a very tall man, towering over most of the group and just barely over Satoshi. Wearing some form of battle gear, he almost resembled a demon slayer, a mask resembling Sango and Kazumi's adorning the lower half of his face.

“I'm fine, no thanks to you,” she answered harshly, still surveying his being. A large, black patch covered his left eye and most of the left side of his face. It looked unseemly and distracting against his pale skin and spiky blue-grey hair. An emblem was embroidered on his chest, which she had never seen before.

“So it's my fault you were wandering through the town without paying attention?” He watched her pout at this, realizing he was right, and before giving an answer his eyes seemed to smile at her, as though she was a lost child. “Don't get so distracted next time.” He continued passing and disappeared within the crowds.

Kikyou squinted, “I don't like him.”

Kazumi looked into the crowds. “That man…was he a demon slayer as well?”

Satoshi thought back to his mental image of the man, folding his arms in thought. “No; his attire was certainly similar, but his chest plate and armor were unusual. Perhaps he was a soldier of some sort?”

“I doubt it.” The siblings stared at Kikyou in confusion, awaiting her explanation. She finished dusting herself off and walked forward, almost indifferent. “He's a demon.”

Their eyes widened, not expecting that answer. He was a demon. Everything about him looked human, from his face to his hands. Then they thought again. His hair colour was abnormal, foreign. Strange as it was, it did not look demonic.

Kikyou gritted her teeth, storming further into town. Why didn't I sense him? The image of that man, and the shock she felt when they touched, could not escape her mind. Over and over she pondered it. Never before had she not sensed nor smelled a demon even 500 meters away, let alone one right in front of her. When she bumped into him, she felt his presence and demonic aura envelop her; it was suffocating. In comparison to the hoard of demons before, he was devastatingly strong - incomparably, really.

“Kikyou, slow down!” shouted Kazumi as she ran to catch up. Satoshi had agreed to locate supplies and separated from the two.

Kazumi grabbed hold of her friend's shoulder and pulled her back. She snapped out of her focus and returned to her surroundings, blankly looking to Kazumi's face. She was breathing heavily and had started to sweat, showing just how fast Kikyou was going.

“What's wrong?”

“Sorry,” she thought for a moment, deciding not to burden her friend with her frustration, “its nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

She began to worry knowing that something was wrong, but said nothing as they took a seat outside a food stand.

Kikyou breathed slowly, trying to make sense of yesterday and calm herself after her recent encounter. The sun shone strongly above, scorching the ground beneath them. The summers were always hot, but she never took notice of it until then because she was always beneath the trees of her father's forest. Never before had she been so far from home without her family at her side. They stayed together through everything, and yet now they were so far away. All of the memories they shared seemed to wither away.

She thought back to her brother once more, only now having time to analyze her mother's final words to her. It hardly seemed possible for Sesono to be alive, seeing as he had been “dead” for the majority of her life. Looking back, she never got an explanation for his disappearance. One day he was gone, and no one said a thing.

Where was he? If he was alive all of those years then where was he now? And what he been doing?

“You sure you don't want to talk about it?” asked Kazumi, seeing the worry in her eyes. “Are you worried about that demon from earlier?”

She shook her head “It's not that.”

“Then…?”

Satoshi spotted his two comrades from a distance. Noting their concern, he watched as his sister's face contorted, giving her a less than approachable demeanor. On his back was a basket of rice, being the only thing he could afford. Slowly he stepped closer to them, not wanting to intrude. “Then, what did she mean by that?” Kikyou shook her head.

“She neglected to explain it to me.”

“I see…”

Once more, the two sat depressed and frustrated as the eldest neared. He took notice of this and was careful not to anger them. “If you are both ready, we should probably move on. The sooner we leave, the further we can travel.”

“I still don't get why we have to keep going. The demons are all dead by now.”
Kazumi spat, crossing her arms in annoyance.

Satoshi sighed, not exactly sure how to explain the situations properly to his young sibling. He scratched his head. “Well, we do not have the means to go against orders. They wanted us to get as far as we could, and until I hear from them we will not return.”

“You said that earlier. You're just repeating yourself, moron.”

He let out a groan and continued on, “I do not know the details but there was something about the attack that wasn't right.” Kikyou's ears perked at this. That was what she wanted to hear. What happened back in their home village? “It appears that the attack was orchestrated by some unknown enemy. It was more than the usual attempt at massacre that our village regularly faces. Everything was planned out, and the sheer force of the enemy was abnormal. Our parents wished for us to leave the village to avoid whatever conflict should arise.”

The girls paused for a moment to take in his words. Being born long after the fight over the jewel that their parents had fought in, having an intelligent enemy wasn't so easy to believe. Many demons had attacked when they were young, yes, but none had ever planned their assault. To them it seemed Satoshi was exaggerating; demons didn't stop to think. Even so, what if he was right.

“What kind of demon is it? Once more, if that was a planned assault, why come after us? What could they possibly want?” Kikyou inquired as her interest was peaked. Something did not seem right: only after this attack did her mother mention that Sesono was alive. There was a connection.

“We are unsure what it is. I haven't seen it, but if our parents knew then I am sure they would have discovered its weakness and vanquished it rather then send us away like they did. As for what they want…”

Kazumi and Kikyou unconsciously leaned forward, awaiting his next words.

He cleared his throat, “I haven't the slightest.”

“What?” shouted Kazumi as she tried to stop herself from pummeling her brother. Satoshi smiled nervously as Kikyou held his sister back.

“Now, now, Kazu, I'm not finished yet.

“You better not be.”

“Though I don't know what the demons were after, I do know that whatever it was must have been important enough to risk countless numbers of their allies to obtain it.”

“Isn't that obvious? Of course they wanted something important, you moron!”

Embarrassed, he cleared his throat. “In any case, we should be moving on now.”

The siblings started forward, but Kikyou stayed in place. Something felt off. She could feel the piercing glare of a demon watching them as the continued on. She spun around once, twice, but without spotting anything abnormal she shrugged her feeling aside and ran to catch up to her comrades.

Behind her, she left a demonic figure hiding in the trees. The boy smiled eerily as he followed her group from his place slouching on a branch. “Far too naïve, Hime.”

A/N: Sorry it took so long for this update! I had most of the chapter done almost two weeks ago but I caught the stomach flu and spent most of last week sleeping, and then while I was sick my dog ate my keyboard and I had to get a new one. I'm warning you, in the next few chapters I'm not going to spend much time on combat. Instead I'll be developing the plot more like I have been, only hopefully with chapters that are a bit more eventful. I would love to hear what you guys think of it and what you think will happen next, so please review and let me know! I love hearing from you guys.