InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Nowhere ❯ Hope ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: I have an Inuyasha now… he's sitting on my desk giving me evil looks O_o

Ha! You thought I would never update again!!!!! Okay… well… for those who may still be reading… here's the new chapter!!! Yay!!! It's only a few months late!!! -_-

I won't go into much detail on why it's taken me so long to update b/c I doubt you really want to hear it… but basically I wasn't happy with the last chapter at all. I planned on re-writing it but I just never found the time and couldn't find the encouragement to do it. And well, contrary to popular belief, I do have a life and all of my leftover spare time lately has been going to my artwork (which you should go check out on http : / / www . na0k0 .deviantart. com [remove spaces]) but yes, I know that there is no real excuse for my absence. I mean, the series has ended since I last updated!!! I want to cry! Not that anything was actually resolved or concluded… but that's another story for another time.

Oh, and I know I told you there would be a lemon in this chapter… but well, there's not. It will be in the next chapter (I promise!) But there are some other things I want to happen first. Not to mention, I lost my outline so I forgot how I originally planned for the lemon to happen -_- .

and in the previous chapter, I forgot that Kagome's ankle was hurt from when she fell… so pretend it was.

This chapter is short but I rushed to get it out since it's been so long since I updated. Next one should be better. I'll apologize now for all the mistakes (I know there will be many)

Now I'll stop wasting time now and get on with the story… (and I have you know I'm skipping Algebra to write this chapter!!! Please review)

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Finally back to a safe haven in the forest, Miroku studied the book, trying to discern its meaning and understand why it had been lying in that room. Sango looked over his shoulder, reminding him again that she had only seen a book like it from Kagome's bag. He nodded but kept his concentration on the text as he struggled to see it in the dim light illuminated by the dying fire.

"It is strange, Sango. It speaks about human blood and life forces but in completely strange ways. I have never seen it explained quite like this." He said finally.

Sango squinted at the book and slid it from under Miroku's gaze. She held the page they had found it open to and flipped through the other pages looking for more helpful paintings. She could not even identify the subject of most but she saw some extremely light writing on the top corner of a certain page. Convinced she had found something to solve the mystery, she leaned in and inspected it closely. She noted that the lighter words were bigger and not as neat as the tiny symbols that decorated the crisp paper.

"I know what that is!" she exclaimed happily

"Hm?" Miroku looked up.

She looked at it again with a smile. "Yes! It's that thing Kagome uses… called a pencil. She can take it off paper, remember?"

Miroku nodded absently, unsure where she was going with this odd bit of information. "So, do we think this belonged to Kagome-sama?" he asked, trying to urge her on to a conclusion.

Sango nodded enthusiastically. "It's Kagome's name!" She read the rest of the note and suddenly blushed brightly.

"What is it?" Miroku asked, more confused.

"It says… Kagome loves Inuyasha… I wonder if she wrote that…"

Miroku sweat dropped as Sango looked at the book in wonderment. "Um, Sango. This is all very interesting, but may we focus?"

Sango looked up. "Yes, of course."

"Well…" he began, "at least we know that it did belong to Kagome. Maybe if we show it to her, she can make sense of it."

Sango nodded and turned back to the original page. She read a little and looked up to give Miroku her own input. "I think they were trying to find a cure. This book is talking about sickness."

Miroku nodded in agreement. "Yet, we are no closer to finding this cure then they were."

Sango sighed. "Shall we move on then?"

"We will. It's only a few days before we are to meet with Inu Yasha. I do not think he will be too grateful if all we have to show for our travels is one of Kagome's old school books. We all know how he hated those anyway."

Sango nodded. "He would probably just destroy it if we gave it to him."

"It's settled then", Miroku replied. "We'll rest tonight and leave at daybreak."

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A loud roar woke Kagome from her peaceful slumber. She lazily opened her eyes and through her daze registered Inu Yasha lunging in front of her with his hands on the hilt of tessaiga. The image jolted her back to reality and her eyes widened as she tried to figure out what had happened.

Sensing her movement, Inu Yasha glanced over his shoulder at her. "There's a huge boar demon outside. Stay in here while I take care of it." He ordered.

Kagome glared at him, pulling her covers tightly around her still naked body. "Let me help you." She replied, irritated. However as she stood up to reach her drying clothes, she collapsed back down. She squealed as the sharp pain reminded her of the sprained ankle she earned that day.

"You see, stupid! Just stay right there!"

Kagome grumbled but did nothing to stop him as he rushed out the mouth of the cave. She leaned back on the wall, assuring herself that a boar demon was nothing to get worked up about. They were certainly tough and aggressive demons but the group had handled plenty during their journeys. The thought however did little to console Kagome. Inu Yasha was outside battling the boar demon alone. Before, Sango and Miroku were always there to help.

"Inu Yasha!" she screamed, willing him to return to her so they could think of some better alternative then rushing into a brutal fight.

Her plan, however backfired. Her limited view of the battle only allowed her the occasional flash of red, silver, and brown but at her scream, the boar's snarling face suddenly encompassed the mouth of the cave. She saw Inu Yasha jump up at its side, ready for what could have been a finishing blow when the animal turned and charged straight for Kagome.

She realized, much to her horror, that Inu Yasha wad not lying about the size of the demon. It was huge. Almost too big to fit into the cave. Almost.

With a loud scream, she braced her body and held her arms in front of herself. Although her actions were merely an instinctual defense mechanism, she felt the familiar tingling of her own spiritual powers radiating from deep inside her body. In the next split second, with her eyes clenched shut, she managed to purify the demon to pieces. The felt a fleeting relief as her body became drained of all energy and she gave fleeting smile as she fainted.

Inu Yasha stood at the mouth of the empty cave, feeling his own body recovering from the backlashes of her energy. He rushed to her fallen form, desperate to make sure she was unharmed by the obliterated demon.

As he lifted her head, her eyes fluttered open and she smiled. Inu Yasha frowned in response. "What the hell was that, bitch?"

Kagome's face fell. "What do you mean? Isn't it good that I killed it?"

"You could have been killed! I told you that I was gonna take care of it! Can't you ever listen?"

"Hey!" Kagome shot back as she tried to lean up. "I just.. I" she suddenly stopped as the world around her started to spin.

"Hey, are you okay?" Inu Yasha asked, as he saw her eyes unfocused.

"Oh…" she said, half-dazed, "I'm still really weak I guess."

Inu Yasha sighed heavily. "That's what you get for wasting your energy on something like that. If you would of let me handle it, you'd be fine."

"Mm…" Kagome said, drifting back to sleep, "But why do you think it came here?"

"How the hell should I know?" Inu Yasha asked gruffly. "It was probably just hungry."

"Oh…" she replied quietly as she continued to drift off.

However, Inu Yasha truly did wonder why it had come to their hideout. Boars were territorial and irritable but they rarely went after humans who were minding their own business. Yet, this one had tried to make a direct attack on Kagome. It had even turned its back on its attacker. He sighed again and leaned against the wall, cradling Kagome's head in his lap.

He tried to concentrate on the boar demon's strange behavior but something suddenly struck him as odd about Kagome's scent. He leaned down and put his nose in her hair. Sure enough, her scent had changed. He shook her lightly, trying to wake her.

"Mm… what?" she asked, irritation coming clearly through her words.

"You're scent." He commented.

"What about it?" she asked, growing more irritated and tired.

"It's back…"

"Huh? Where did it go in the first place?" she asked, growing confused.

"You smelled faintly, like demon. Remember? You don't anymore." He pulled her up and gave a few more sniffs just to be sure. "Normal." He confirmed.

Kagome would have blushed at their close proximity in conjunction with her state of undress, but her mind was much too tired to be embarrassed. "Oh." She replied simply.

Inu Yasha, on the other hand, was extremely happy. He continued to talk, but Kagome fell asleep in his arms anyway, only half-aware of what he was saying.

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A BIG thank you to ALL my reviewers!!!! You guys are wonderful and I feel really really really terrible that I've neglected you by not updating. I know from experience how frustrating it is to get into a story that stops randomly. All I can say is sorry and please don't hate me!!! For those of you still reading, thank you thank you thank you! I'm am not worthy of your kindness!