InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Fulfill a Duty ❯ Chapter Eleven ( Chapter 11 )

To Fulfill a Duty

 

Chapter Eleven

 

By: DeadBHunter

 

“talking” `thinking'

 

Chapter Eleven

 

A bad smell awakened Kagome from her ponderings. Junsui held cup filled with a pale yellow liquid (AN: It's in Chapter Ten) up to her face.

 

“Drink this,” Junsui repeated, placing the cup in Kagome's hand.

 

“What is it?” Kagome asked, giving it a tentative sip and later spluttering to get the taste out of her mouth.

 

“It's a potion commonly used by mikos. It is used to restore energy and power if the drinker has any. Simple and abundant herbs are used to make it, as well as only a slight amount of purification powers. Even practically drained mikos can make it, making it effective in cases where strength is needed to save one's life.”

 

“So it's kind of like a Power Bar, right?” asked Kagome, curiosity getting the best of her. `I bet it only comes in one flavor though,' Kagome thought, with the taste of the potion fresh in her mind.

 

“What?”

 

“A Power Bar. It gives you energy for when you play games and you feel tired.”

 

“I suppose it is like this Pow-er Bar you speak of. But there are harmful side effects if used to often and inappropriately.”

 

“Like what?” Kagome questioned.

 

Before Junsui could answer, Sesshomaru opened the door to the hut and looked at the two mikos on the ground.

 

“I will be leaving. I have business in the Western Lands to attend to. I will be back by nightfall,” Sesshomaru announced.

 

Junsui nodded in acceptance to this statement and said, “Yes, milord.”

 

~Near the Well~

 

Inuyasha growled as he faced off against Miroku. Both stood still in fighting stance and mentally prepared for battle. The crunching sound of leaves beneath their feet faded away. Miroku took the initiative to attack first and made a move to knock Inuyasha unconscious with his staff.

 

Testusaiga rose up to clash with the staff, neither breaking due to youki and holy powers. Miroku took a step back and once again made a move to harm Inuyasha.

 

The hanyou clumsily blocked and growled when the monk attempted to tell him something.

 

“Inuyasha, you are not thinking. You are too busy being mad at Kouga! Focus, or I will knock Testusaiga away from you and possibly have to use the ofuda in my pocket on you,” Miroku threatened.

 

Inuyasha growled at Miroku and faster than Miroku could see, he pointed his sword at Miroku's neck, and grinned.

 

“I win.”

 

“Again, Inuyasha?” Miroku challenged a hidden smirk on his face.

 

Inuyasha returned to fighting stance as Miroku closed his eyes moved his lips in a silent chant. Golden eyes watched curiously, but inevitably losing patience and attacking the monk.

 

Testusaiga cut through air and was aimed to slash through Miroku's heart. A now glowing staff cut off Testusaiga's path and faster than Inuyasha could react, Inuyasha and Testusaiga were thrown to opposite sides of the clearing.

 

Inuyasha turned toward the forest at sounds of snickering. He could make out the sight of Shippo laughing at him for being thrown to the ground. Inuyasha growled in reply and started to get up toward the kitsune.

 

Before Inuyasha could get to his feet, an ofuda was slapped to his back. He growled at this and turned to yell at Miroku. But he couldn't move.

 

“Never underestimate the strength of holy powers, Inuyasha. These ofuda cannot be touched by any youkai, or hanyou for that matter,” Miroku said. The monk glanced up at the sun, grinned, and continued in a more mocking manner. “Ah, Inuyasha. It's time for lunch. There is only one pack of instant ramen left from Kagome's time. I suppose if you aren't going to be coming to lunch, I will just have to eat it myself.”

 

Inuyasha struggled to escape his bindings but the ofuda did its job. Miroku turned his back on Inuyasha and walked slowly back to Kaede's hut.

 

“Oi! Bozu! Miroku! Don't touch MY ramen! Get this fuckin' ofuda off me!” shouted Inuyasha.

 

“Do not worry, Inuyasha. I will take great care of your ramen. What safer place to keep it than my stomach? After your lunch is secure, I'll take the ofuda off.”

 

Inuyasha growled at Miroku's back and struggled to get free of the ofuda. He couldn't move his body and he was starting to get hungry.

 

The sounds of childish laughter joined the gurgling of Inuyasha's stomach, and an idea formed Inuyasha's mind.

 

“Oi, brat. Take this ofuda off me.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because if you don't, when I get free I'm going to beat you up.”

 

Shippo jumped off the tree and walked in front of Inuyasha. “Inuyasha,” Shippo sighed in exasperation, “you're stupider than I thought you were. Remember what Miroku said, no youkai can touch the ofuda. Besides, even if I could take it off, why would I? I smell ramen, I better hurry up or Miroku is going to eat all of it.”

 

“Brat, if you can get it off, I'll give you the ramen I hid a while ago. You wouldn't be able to get any from Miroku.”

 

Shippo considered this for a moment, and nodded his head. “Okay, but you better not be lying about hiding the ramen!”

 

“I'm not! Now hurry up!”

 

Shippo grumbled under his breath, but decided to take advantage of the situation. He jumped onto Inuyasha's head and moved his feet around a little to mess up Inuyasha's hair. Then, he slowly made his way to Inuyasha's shoulder, making sure to take some silver strands with him.

 

Shippo reached a paw to the ofuda, hesitating when it began to glow. As he brought his paw closer and closer to the ofuda, the light grew brighter and brighter. Shippo all of a sudden snatched the ofuda away from Inuyasha, expecting to be burned. But no pain came. Shippo dropped the ofuda to the ground in surprise, and watched the light dim away to nothing.

 

Inuyasha looked on, wondering if there was something wrong with the ofuda. He flexed his fingers and brought a claw to touch the ofuda. Once again, the bright light appeared, this time burning Inuyasha's claw away so he couldn't touch the ofuda.

 

“Crap!” Inuyasha said, looking at his dull claw. `Now I'm going to have to wait until it grows back.'

 

“Stupid ofuda! I guess it didn't sense a threat in you, brat. Otherwise it would have burned you. Your too weak for even an ofuda to be defensive around you,” insulted Inuyasha, positive that that was the reason why he had been burned but Shippo hadn't.

 

~Kaede's Hut~

 

Kaede watched as Miroku fell forward, barely missing his prized bowl of ramen before it was newly situated in Inuyasha's claws.

 

“Feh, serves him right,” Inuyasha said between mouthfuls of ramen.

 

“Ewww! Inuyasha has no manners! Gross!!!” exclaimed Shippo, disgusted at the sight of partly mashed up noodles being moved around in Inuyasha's mouth.

 

“You promised me ramen! Now where is it? You better not have been lying!” Shippo accused.

 

“Of course I wasn't lying, runt. Do you think I would do that to you?” Inuyasha said with a grin. “I hid it six months ago.”

 

Shippo gaped at Inuyasha and transformed into his pink balloon form. Shippo began chewing on Inuyasha's ears and repeatedly saying, “Liar.”

 

“And I ate it yesterday,” added Inuyasha, with an evil glint in his eye.

 

“Is that healthy?” Sango asked Kaede. The miko gave a disappointed look at the hanyou and slowly shook her head.

 

~Near Junsui's hut~

 

Kagome sat on the ground and gazed lazily at the river. There was a calm section of the river that was like a small pond. She swirled her finger in the pond and enjoyed the sunlight streaming down on her. Small pebbles littered the bottom of the river, easily seen through the clean water.

 

There was nothing to do. Sesshomaru was off at his castle doing some tai youkai business that she couldn't care less about. Junsui had told her to enjoy the warm day because with winter coming, there might not be many more like this.

 

This left Kagome with nothing to do besides gazing at the river. `Might as well get some work done,' Kagome thought. She quickly retrieved her math textbook and returned to her position by the river.

 

`Eh? That can't be right…if x=3 and y=5, then z should equal 7. Arg! I don't like math! Let's try again, `Prove that z=14 if x=3 and y=5. Z equals four x plus two y plus four divided by the square root of four.'

 

“Mou,” Kagome said to no one in particular. She spat lightly onto the ground as little pieces of pink left her mouth. Her eraser was now gone. `Might as well go back and get another one.'

 

Kagome returned to Junsui's hut and got another eraser. When she went back out, the sun was covered by dark clouds. She went back in and set her books on the ground.

 

After telling Junsui, Kagome left to add pieces of firewood to the dwindling pile before the rain soaked all the wood.

 

~Later~

“Ooh! What a pretty flower.” Kagome plucked the flower and stuck it behind the ear, picking up the pieces of firewood she had dropped. She looked up and a drop of rain fell in her eye. “Ah,” she said while rubbing the offended eye. Kagome blinked a couple of times to remove the fuzziness that had invaded her vision. By now, it had started raining lightly and the wood was soaked.

 

~Inside Junsui's hut~

 

“Just set the wood by the fire,” Junsui said to who she thought was Kagome. The mass of damp clothes and wet hair dropped the firewood on the ground and went back outside to squeeze the water from her hair. A more presentable Kagome now entered the hut and sat down next to Junsui.

 

“Thank you for the firewood, child. The outside of the wood must be dry at least before it will light.” The old miko set the wood around the fire to allow it to dry, as she had learned from a wounded traveler a couple of years ago.

 

Sesshomaru strode into the hut as Kagome and Junsui looked up at him. “This is Rin.”

 

“Sesshomaru-sama, Sesshomaru-sama! You forgot-”

 

“Jaken, do I forget things?” Sesshomaru smoothly asked.

 

“No, you never forget anything,” Jaken quickly replied, afraid that he had angered his master in one way or another.

 

“That is Jaken.” Finished with introductions, Sesshoomaru sat in the farthest corner of the room.

 

Rin stood indecisively between the demon lord and the fire, trying to figure out where to go. Water droplets were falling from her hair and clothes, dotting the ground with wet splotches. She looked questioningly at Sesshomaru for a reply. He nodded at her and she ran to the fire to dry off.

 

After a while, Rin began to get bored. Kagome, noticing her boredom, decided to entertain the child.

 

“Look at the flower, Rin. I just picked it today,” Kagome said, taking the flower out of her hair and handing it to the eager child.

 

“Ooh, it's so pretty!” Rin exclaimed, her fascination with flowers getting the best of her.

 

Despite this, Rin's mind, like other children's, has a short attention span. Rin sighed again, gazing at the wall of the hut.

 

Once again, Kagome decided to take matters into her own hands.

 

“Rin, do you see this piece of wood?” Kagome asked, holding up one of the pieces she had brought in earlier.

 

“Yes,” Rin said slowly.

 

“Can you feel how it's wet?”

 

Rin reached a hand toward the log and gently brushed it with her fingers. It was still slightly damp.

 

“Well, Rin. When wood burns, there is the crackling noise. You can hear it now if you're quiet and listen.”

 

Both stopped talking and turned their ears toward the fire. Sure enough, a crackling noise could be heard.

 

“What is that noise?” Rin asked.

 

“Well, that noise is the water being released from the wood. For example, if I burn this piece, it will make a louder crackling noise than the one that's already burning, because this one is a little wet.”

 

“Really?” Rin asked, eyes growing large with eagerness.

 

“Yep, watch.” Kagome set the piece of wood in the fire. Seconds later, a crackling noise filled the hut, louder than the one before.

 

“Miko,” came a voice in the dark, startling two of the three humans in the hut. “Where did you learn this?”

 

“I learned in my t-, I mean, uh, tree house. Yeah, tree house,” Kagome managed to get out.

 

“Hm, tree house,” the youkai lord said doubtfully.

 

“Yeah, I told Inuyasha and the others too,” she added. “Not that he cared,” she whispered.

 

Sesshomaru gave a small smile at the insult towards his half-brother, not that anyone saw it, that is. After all, he was in the dark.

 

~With Inuyasha~

 

“Ah-choo! Ah-ah-ah-choo!”

 

“And I thought you said youkai didn't get sick,” taunted Shippo. “It must be a hanyou thing, you know, weaker blood,” he whispered good-naturally at Miroku.

 

“I heard that, brat! Someone must be talkin' crap, ah-choo, about me!” Inuyasha got out before another round of sneezes forced him to stop talking.

 

“They have a lot of things to talk about, don't they, Miroku?” Shippo said.

 

“Indeed they do, indeed they do.”

 

A/N: I'm so sorry it took me forever to get this chapter out, but I made it really long for you guys! If you want to be notified when I update, leave your e-mail in your review. Otherwise, just review anyways! ^_~ Oh, and the thing with the fire is true, as well as the math problem.

 

Translations:

 

ofuda: sacred scroll

houshi: Buddhist monk

bozu: a less respectful way to say houshi

 

Review Responses:

 

Daughter of the Void: Yep, Shippo's still alive! *throws confetti* Sesshomaru will come around… eventually… You know Sess, always shy. LOLs. Rin's here too. You have to have Rin. Who else is going to keep Kagome happy when Sess is being an a**? An about the emotions, you'll just have to see!

 

latin-gurl: Thanks for the review! Yay! Short but sweet, just like…candy? Candy is sweet…but short? Hmmmm…I'm not sure…

 

Kag Higurashi: Who says that they'll find out that Kagome healed Shippo? Muahahahahhahahahahaha. The evil authoress strikes!! LOL.

 

The Dragon Sorceress: Well…well…well…I'm the most sorry! *writes “I'm the most sorry” on forehead* Ha, you can't beat that. LOL.

 

Dah88: Yep, Shippo's allllllllllllllllll healed!

 

Sesshoumarugrl: Hahahaha! Feel good reviews are so good, like candy, and Sess, and TV, and Sess, and computer, and Sess, and phone, and candy, and Sess, and candy…*faints from verbal exhaustion*

 

Mystic Hanyou: Hehe, Sess came in now!!! Yep!!! And Inuyasha will end up happy hopefully. Everyone probably will, except for Kikyou. Heh heh…hate her… That's why my pen name is DeadBHunter, the “B” standing for bitch, so it's Dead Bitch Hunter!!! YAYAYAYAY! I think I've had enough chocolate for one day…

 

twilight_aura: I hope you liked this chapter. I tried to make it sweet for you guys!

 

Nova Alexandria: I'm not sure if the chapter was short, according to MS Word it was about 7 pages, but it might just be the review responses. Anyways, thanks for reviewing!

 

missthix2006: Yep, Kag/Sess are a great couple! I'm glad you liked my story so far! Look forward to hearing from you again!!!

 

Kirara Grey: Thanks for reviewing, I'm still reading your story, it might be some time before I finish it though.

 

Whimsy: Well, that was enlightening. I'll give what you said some thought.

 

Annie: Well even if the previous chapter didn't have any Sess, this one does!!

 

InuyashaJunky: HAHAHAHA There! I did it AGAIN, I laughed at you! Lol. Well I guess your seriousness paid off *grins*. After all Shippo DID survive. You should be grateful! *nods head solemnly and shakes finger at InuyashaJunky* VERY grateful!

 

rosestotts27: Thanks for the review!

 

erica c.: I didn't know if you wanted me to tell you when I updated or not, so I did anyways. Thanks for your review!