InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ This Wasn't In The Job Description ❯ The Black Pearl ( Chapter 62 )

 

 

Chapter 62

 

The Black Pearl

 

InuYasha and his friends re-entered the cool depths of the forest, and Kagome sighed in relief. No longer would she view the forest as forbidding and strange - it felt safe after what they had been through in the village. Taking InuYasha's hand, she wrinkled her nose as she felt flakes of dried blood fall into her palm.

 

“Can we find a hot spring or river where you can bathe?” Kagome asked.

 

“I'll bathe, don't worry,” InuYasha said wryly. “But you'll see why I want to find what I'm looking for, first.”

 

“Won't you tell us what it is?” Sango asked.

 

“I have an idea,” Miroku murmured, stroking his chin with his chained hand.

 

Sango quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly, but he only smiled at her and winked. It was not his place to air his conjectures, so Sango was left with her curiosity unsatisfied. Absently, she stroked Kirara in her arms, and the neko gave a questioning chirp.

 

“Seems our friend here is keeping his thoughts to himself, Kirara,” Sango said wryly.

 

They walked deeper into the forest, their senses extended to pick up any sign of further threat. The hanyou stalked ahead with Kagome at his side, his ears flickering in all directions. Miroku and Sango followed behind, ready to grab their weapons at any change in the tense demeanor of their friend.

 

“There is a clearing up ahead,” InuYasha said quietly. “It's there.”

 

An air of intensity and sadness came over InuYasha, his eyes glowing molten gold and his face grim as they neared their destination. Kagome glanced at him, her brows drawn down in concern, but he only squeezed her hand in reassurance at her scrutiny. She squeezed back, her mind racing with questions she wanted to ask, but unable to do so in the face of his current mood.

 

The trees thinned out, and the group broke through into an over-grown field. In its center were the ruins of a house, surrounded by a crumbling stone wall. InuYasha let go of Kagome's hand and strode purposefully towards a corner of the wall. As he squatted down and began to dig, the others came and stood beside him, dodging clumps of dark earth.

 

Suddenly, InuYasha stopped, a snarl on his face as he sat bolt upright.

 

SMACK!

 

Kagome blinked in surprise, and Miroku and Sango looked equally as dumbfounded. InuYasha removed his hand from his neck, and they glimpsed a small, flattened body drift downward to the ground.

 

“So good to taste you again, Lord InuYasha,” the youkai flea said, popping back into its full, rounded form. “Are you here looking for the Black Pearl?”

 

“Fucking Myoga, you decided to find me, huh?” InuYasha said. “No one found the Pearl while I was gone, did they?”

 

“No, no, Lord InuYasha,” Myoga said, crossing his arms and shaking his head. “I did just as instructed - the entry to your father's tomb has been safe all these years.”

 

Miroku raised an eyebrow, planting his staff firmly in the ground before him as he began to listen more intently to the conversation, which had become quite interesting to him. It seemed this flea knew parts of InuYasha's history that the hanyou had never confided in him, even though they were best friends. Next to him, Sango became somber, her face still and dark eyes soft.

 

Quickly, Kagome squatted down on the other side of this strange demonic flea - who had bit her powerful boyfriend with not so much as a please or thank you. Her eyebrows shot up in astonishment, the ends of her mouth quirking in a smile.

 

“And who are you, young lady?” Myoga asked, looking her over appraisingly. “Are you my Lord's concubine?”

 

SPLAT!

 

InuYasha lifted his hand, leaving the youkai flea squashed like a flattened ball with little spokes sticking out. Myoga popped up again, dusting himself off, and narrowed his eyes testily at InuYasha.

 

“What did you do that for?” Myoga grumped.

 

“You are not to refer to Kagome as my concubine, dip-shit!” InuYasha growled, balling a fist. “She is my girlfriend, and not my servant or slave!”

 

“Well, pardon me, Lord,” Myoga said with a bow. “And you too, young lady. I guess this term `girlfriend' holds much respect in the human realm - although it's unknown here.”

 

“Damn straight it does,” InuYasha grumbled. “Now get out of the way, flea. I need the Black Pearl.”

 

Myoga moved quickly as a pointy claw came towards him, heading for his back. He leaped up, landing on Kagome's shoulder. Spying him there, InuYasha gave him a warning glare, and the flea moved away from her neck towards the edge of her shoulder.

 

“Can you tell us what this Black Pearl is?” Kagome asked softly. “InuYasha is preoccupied…”

 

The little flea crossed his arms behind his back, and puffed out his chest with self-importance. It made Kagome smile and almost giggle - which she quickly hid behind her hand so as not to offend the little guy. Miroku and Sango knelt down to hear what Myoga had to say, but InuYasha only glanced up, snorted, and kept digging.

 

“After a long, hard battle with a dragon named Ryukotsusei, InuYasha and Sesshomaru's father, a Taiyoukai of immense power, was sorely drained,” Myoga intoned. “But sensing that Izayoi, the human mother of InuYasha, was in danger - he rushed to her side. That night, InuYasha was born - and his father died defending him and his mother.”

 

The flea was silent a moment, the only sound the clods of earth from InuYasha's digging clumping on the ground. Myoga looked at the three humans and was satisfied to see he had their full, serious attention to his story. In particular, Kagome's eyes were shining, as if with unshed tears.

 

“I was the steward to my Lord, Inu no Tashio,” Myoga continued. “It was my duty after he died to guard his grave.”

 

Feeling very satisfied with himself, Myoga was peeved when he saw the humans were still looking at him expectantly. What else did they want from him? Couldn't they understand what he was telling them? Oh, damn these ignorant humans anyway!

 

“Inu no Tashio's grave is in the Black Pearl,” Myoga said, gazing into all their eyes one at a time to be sure they got it.

 

“I have it!” InuYasha said, holding a black orb between his thumb and pointer finger, his claws caked in dirt.

 

Everyone turned to look as InuYasha rubbed away the remaining grit. All but Myoga, who was sidling up closer to Kagome's neck…It looked so sweet, so tempting, he smacked his little jaws in anticipation. He did not see it coming…

 

PLING!

 

“Don't you fucking dare, Myoga!” InuYasha growled, as Myoga was sent tumbling.

 

The others were looking dubiously at the Black Pearl. Just how had a grave been put in there and how were they supposed to get in? Smirking, InuYasha snorted at their expressions. Then he reached over and pulled Kagome to her feet.

 

“Make a chain everyone….” InuYasha instructed.

 

Kagome grabbed Sango's hand, and Miroku took up the rear. InuYasha gave the Black Pearl a little toss into the air. As it floated in the air before them, InuYasha pierced the orb with just a claw tip, and they were all sucked into the Pearl. Myoga jumped onto Miroku at the last second.

 

Bones…

 

The setting was a giant, canine skull, in a timeless place, forever at sunset. They were falling through the air, like all their previous times going through portals between the realms. But this was a portal that made Kagome shiver in dread - a doorway between the living world and the gateway to the realm of death.

 

Quickly, Kirara jumped out of Sango's arms, and swooped underneath her friends, catching them on her back in her youkai form. From where he sat in front, InuYasha bent down and talked softly in the youkai-neko's ear. In response, she headed down and between the cavernous jaws of the skull. Once inside, Kirara landed and they carefully dismounted.

 

There were many more bones littering the space inside the skull, and they crunched under foot. But on a large stone in the back, Kagome, Sango and Miroku caught a glimpse of red among all the parched whiteness. InuYasha had started striding purposefully towards it.

 

“Ah…” Miroku said, as it dawned on him what this might be. “Could this perchance be the fabled fire rat, which was left you by your father?”

 

Nodding, InuYasha picked up the red suikan and hakama, his face turned away from his friends so they would not see his solemn expression. Touching these clothes, which he had forsaken so long ago, filled him with unwanted memories. In an effort to dispel his mood, InuYasha shrugged his shoulders and squared them back, then shook out his long mane of tangled and bloody hair.

 

“Lord InuYasha left his fire rat behind in my Lord's tomb, before leaving the Demon Realm,” Myoga said, moving to perch on Kagome's shoulder once more. “It was in this very place that his father had left Tessaiga for safe-keeping. I brought InuYasha here via the Black Pearl, when he was just a lost and orphaned boy, to claim it.”

 

“That's enough, Myoga,” InuYasha grumbled. “Let's get out of here.”

 

The little youkai flea looked offended, crossing his arms. But he would not be rebuffed so easily.

 

“It's too bad you never learned how to use the sword,” Myoga said. “Your father must have had a spell put on it - but he and Totosai never confided that in me, his loyal retainer.”

 

Obviously, this little flea had a lot of knowledge about InuYasha and his family which the reticent hanyou did not want to share. It was intriguing to Kagome, and she put out a finger to Myoga which he stepped on to, so she could face him. This made Myoga puff up with pride. Well, this girl knew when someone had important things to say!

 

“InuYasha did learn how to use the sword,” Kagome said, smiling. “It transformed when he defended me against his brother.”

 

“It transformed to protect you, you say?” Myoga said excitedly, making Kagome break into a broad grin. “That Sesshomaru - I take it he was after the sword?”

 

“Yes, he was. Now let's get the fuck out of here,” InuYasha grumbled, putting a hand on Kagome's shoulder to steer her out.

 

“Lord InuYasha,” Myoga said. “I have not seen Tessaiga transform in so many years, won't you show me how you have mastered it?”

 

The hopeful expression on Myoga's face turned to one of concern as Kagome bit her lip. She looked up at InuYasha, who crossed his arms with a sour expression on his face. At his hip, the sword hung. You could not tell the sheath contained the sword in two pieces. The silence was foreboding, and Myoga wilted, crestfallen.

 

“Come on, we need to get to Totosai,” InuYasha said. “It won't take long for me to wash and change.”

 

Scratching his tiny, bald head, Myoga jumped back on to Kagome's shoulder as they moved out. Flicking strands of her hair away, his brow creased as he puzzled out what was going on.

 

“Totosai?” Myoga said. “Lord InuYasha, are you trying to tell me something has happened to Tessaiga?”

 

Carefully, they exited through the jaws, and Kagome shot a look at InuYasha.

 

“Tell the little bastard,” InuYasha said morosely.

 

While Kirara jumped from Sango's arms to once again transform, Kagome was silent a moment, contemplating her response. This little youkai flea was obviously very attached to those things left to InuYasha by his father. This made perfect sense, since he had been his retainer. She hoped not to upset him too much…

 

“Tessaiga was broken by a creation of Naraku's,” Kagome said. “But not to worry, I am sure Totosai will fix it as good as new.”

 

The flea's response was not one Kagome had hoped for. He jumped in the air, his little arms and legs extended, in obvious shock. She had to put her hand out to catch him as he fell off her shoulder.

 

“Oh, this is a disaster…” Myoga moaned. “What will happen to my Lord InuYasha now?”