InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Our Trials We Add Another ❯ New Encounters ( Chapter 5 )

I WILL NEVER HOLD A CHAPTER HOSTAGE TO RECEIVE MORE REVIEWS!

 

The ratio of ownership between Inuyasha and I is non-existent. I do, however, own all my original characters.

 

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Kagome and Inuyasha landed with a soft `umph' and painful moan respectively as they appeared on the other side of the well. Inuyasha began to cough violently, forcing Kagome to help steady him against the side of the well, patting his back gently. After his coughing fit, she looked up and examined the distance to the top before returning her attention to Inuyasha.

 

“Inuyasha can you stand up?”

 

“I-I think so.” He stuttered uncharacteristically. Slowly rising to his feet, he looked up out of the well. Sniffing the air he growled when he realized what she had done, rounding her with a glare.

 

“Stupid! I could have taken him!”

 

“You're stupid, stupid! You can hardly stand up. Now quit complaining and start climbing.”

 

“Keh, just grab on.”

 

“Inuyasha no don...” Kagome tried to reprimand before she was hauled up into the air as he jumped up and out of the well. The cool air of the well house dried her mouth slightly as it was agape at the hanyou's disregard for himself. Upon landing, Inuyasha's leg buckled and they fell to the ground with a grunt and a curse.

 

“Inuyasha! Are you ok?” she cried frantically.

 

“Keh it's just a scratch.” He mumbled as he tried to stand up. He had half risen when his leg buckled again and he fell back to the ground. Unsuccessful on his own, Kagome got to her knees and tried to help him up. Stumbling slightly, with Kagome's help Inuyasha was able to get back onto his feet. Once the duo was standing Kagome slowly led the way towards the shrine, Inuyasha staggered every so often. Kagome could feel the warm sensation of Inuyasha's blood seeping into her clothing each time he fell into her. Biting her lip in worry, Kagome moved as fast as she dared. Upon reaching to door, Kagome slid it open with her foot and pulled the bleeding half-demon into the kitchen. Looking around quickly, if not frantically, she noticed their kitchen table was mostly empty and helped Inuyasha to limp his way over. Laying him on the table, she scrambled around the house gathering medical supplies. Piling the all she could high in her arms she went back to the kitchen. She returned to Inuyasha's side and dropped her contents on the table. Kagome began looking over the large gash in his thigh.

 

“Luckily it's not deep, but it is still bleeding.”

 

“That's obvious, wench”

 

“Inuyasha be nice!” She remarked as she uncapped and poured antiseptic over his hamaka and thigh. She grimaced at the hiss of pain that escaped his lips. `Maybe I should have warned him…' she though in hindsight. Wiping off as much blood as she could, she quickly checked the wound again. Dabbing on some coagulant with a towel, she looked up to find him staring at her.

 

“I need to bandage your wound or it may start bleeding again.”

 

“Keh! I will heal just fine without you helping anymore!” he groused, obviously angry about the antiseptic.

 

“Like your chest did?” she countered as she began to gingerly roll up his hamaka leg. Crossing his arms with a `Keh' he looked away from her, missing the slight blush forming on Kagome's face as she rolled his hamaka leg up further. Once the wound was completely exposed, Kagome began cleaning it once more. Satisfied that she had done a good job, she draped a few pieces of gauze over the wound. Not taking her eyes off the wound, she began rummaging through the other supplies she had acquired. Finally finding what she wanted, she wrapped the wound tightly with an Ace Bandage. Flashing a quick smile of victory, she rolled the hamaka leg down.

 

“Now the wound on your chest, open up your robe.”

 

He grimaced slightly at the thought of the painful liquid on his chest. Nevertheless he complied and Kagome set to work on his older wound. The scab had broken off and the wound was oozing blood, but only slightly. After a quick wipe off and coagulant dab Kagome redressed the wound.

 

“All done!” she announced happily.

 

“Keh!”

 

“Are you able to put any weight on your leg?” She asked. Casting her a sideways glance, he didn't bother to answer as he swung his legs off the table and onto the floor, a very noticeable wince on his face upon landing.

 

“See wench? I told you I could handle it.” He crossed his arms again.

 

“Oh yes, the mighty Inuyasha!” She rolled her eyes. Gathering up the used supplies, she walked over and deposited them in the garbage. Reaching into a cabinet, she grabbed some paper towels on the way back to the table.

 

“I guess it's a good thing no one was home huh?” Kagome muttered to herself as she knelt down and mopped up the residual blood. Inuyasha only looked on as she proceeded to clean up the floor.

 

“Stupid! You know what you've done don't you?” Inuyasha questioned suddenly. Glaring at the spot she just cleaned up, she counted to 5 before standing up and placing her hands on her hips.

 

“Yes, I just saved your life baka! You could at least say thank you!” she yelled. Turning around, she headed back to the garbage can muttering.

 

“You just showed an enemy the use of the well.” Inuyasha said calmly, turning to study her. It was then he noticed how much blood was actually on Kagome's clothes. `Had I been that wounded?' he though. Kagome froze on the spot. Playing his words over and over in her head, she turned around to face him.

 

“W-what?”

 

“You went through the well in front of…who ever the hell that was.” he repeated gravely, “I am sure he wondered where you went, seeing as we never came out!”

 

Kagome could only stand there, staring at him like he had grown another set of ears. One could almost see the wheels turning in her head. Inhaling sharply, she spun around so abruptly Inuyasha jumped as she exited the room. As he watched her leave, his nose was assaulted with the bitter scent of her salty tears. `Damn it all' he thought as he proceeded to limp after her. She was no where to be found in next room. Realizing she went up to her room, Inuyasha cursed silently, eyeing the stairs.

`Just had to go up the stairs didn't you wench?'

Beginning his long and arduous assent, he finally reached her door panting. Pausing outside, he could hear, as well as smell, her sobbing. Not bothering to knock, he entered her room. Inuyasha spotted Kagome's prone figure, he head buried into a mass of pillows. Luckily, she had changed out of her blood soaked clothes; they were lying on the floor next to her bed. Not knowing exactly how to comfort her he settled for sitting at the edge of her bed.

 

“Don't cry Kagome, damn it. It's not that big of a deal!” He tried to reason. His comment coerced her to look up from her pillow and stared at him with puffy red eyes.

 

“Not a big deal? We don't even know who he is and I went and showed him my only way to get to the past! The only way to get here to my family!” She started crying again and smashed her head back into her pillow. Inuyasha sighed. He hated it when she cried. At least this time she was not crying because of him. Growing steadily more uncomfortable the longer she cried, Inuyasha tried one last thing.

 

“Thanks for saving me.” he mumbled low enough that he was sure she didn't hear. Kagome stopped crying long enough to look up from her pillows at Inuyasha.

 

“What?”

 

“I said thank you for saving me, wench!” He huffed, crossing his arms and looking away, hiding the slight blush he felt creeping up his face. Kagome stared at him for a few seconds trying to decide what to do. Just as Inuyasha was about to turn around and see what she was doing he felt her wrapping her arms around him.

 

“Your welcome you baka.” She whispered as she felt him tense.

 

“Keh, are you going to stop crying now?” Kagome nodded into his back and smiled.

 

“Good, cause' your family is here.” Inuyasha pronounced, jerking his head towards the window. Sure enough, Kagome could hear her mother and brother talking.

 

Issuing a soft `eep', Kagome got up and dashed out of the room, nearly knocking the poor hanyou off the bed. Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he stood up slowly and hobbled after her. Cursing the stairs again for being so long, he trekked back down. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard Hiroko and Souta arguing.

 

“But mooom, why can't I have it now!”

 

“I told you sweetie, if you get good marks you can have your video game.”

 

“Keh!”

 

Inuyasha smiled slightly as he heard the younger Higurashi mimic him. While Kagome's little brother may be annoying, sometimes he was amusing. He watched as Kagome opened the door for her mom as she neared the door. Noticing the door opening, Hiroko looked up into the smiling face of her only daughter.

 

“Kagome! What are you doing back?” She yelled in surprise.

 

“Can't I come home just to see my family? Here, let me help you with those bags!” Kagome said a bit too brightly.

 

Eyeing her daughter for a second, she happily agreed and handed a bag over. As they both walked into the kitchen, it was then that Miss Higurashi spotted her favorite half-demon. Sitting her remaining bag down, she quickly walked over and griped the boy in a hug.

 

“Inuyasha, it's so nice to see you again!”

 

“Keh.” He responded.

 

Upon releasing her grip, she noticed the hanyou seemed to be in pain. Allowing her eyes to linger on him for a moment longer, she filed her questions away for later as she started to put the groceries away. Souta then entered the house carrying his own set of bags.

 

“Kagome!” he yelled, nearly dropping his load in surprise.

 

“Hey Souta, need any help with those?”

 

“Keh, no.” he replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Juggling the bags all the way to the table, he managed to set them down before the contents were spilled. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned and he too spotted Inuyasha.

 

“Inuyasha! You're here!” Souta yelled as he ran and gave Inuyasha a great hug around the legs. Hiroko smiled at the scene until she noticed the boy grimace in pain yet again. Briefly casting her eyes onto Kagome, she saw that the young woman was looking on in pity. Realizing more was going on here than a simple return trip, she resolved herself to ask questions after dinner. Nodding to her self, she returned to her groceries.

 

“Where's grandpa?” Kagome questioned.

 

“Oh he went to visit a friend; he won't be back for a few days.” She replied, “Are you two going to be staying for dinner?”

 

“Yeah, we both could use a good meal.” Kagome practically yelled, cutting off Inuyasha's response. The two then proceeded to glare daggers at each other. Pausing to eye her daughter and the hanyou once again, Hiroko asked, “What would you like to eat then?”

 

“Um…could you make oden?” Kagome asked hopefully. Her mother smiled warmly.

 

“Of course and what would you like Inuyasha?” She asked as she pulled a box of Ramen out of a bag. Confused by his lack of response, she turned to look curiously at the hanyou. She found him staring at her…or more specifically, her hand. She chuckled as she saw his eyes following the box of Ramen when she moved it up and down, then left to right. Catching herself imagining Inuyasha wagging his tail, she chuckled again.

 

“Would you like Ramen Inuyasha?”

 

He responded with a slow nod before he crossed his arms and quickly looking away. Giggling, she set Kagome to work and started preparing dinner.

 

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The house was soon filled with smells that promised some very tasty food was being prepared. It had been relatively quiet since the family had returned from the store to find Kagome and Inuyasha present. Kagome was studying in a chair at the table while Inuyasha was watching Souta playing yet another violent video game. One thing was certain, however, both Inuyasha and Kagome returned at the same time, a surefire sign that something big had happened. Just as night had fallen, the food was done and Hiroko called everyone to dinner. Souta jumped up from his seat and ran into the kitchen. Inuyasha was notably slower. Hiroko could have sworn she saw him wince several times on his way over to the table. Once he sat down and began wolfing down his food, the normal innocent table conversation started.

 

“So Kagome, when are you going back?” Souta asked between mouthfuls of food.

 

“I don't know, I think, no I KNOW I have been neglecting my studies. Maybe a week? Two? I am just not sure.”

 

When the timeframe was mention, Inuyasha nearly choked.

 

“I did say you could choke if you ate to fast.” Kagome said as the hanyou glared at her.

 

“We ain't staying a week!”

 

“Inuyasha! I need to study!”

 

“You can study when we are doing hunting jewel shards!” he retorted. Souta, having experienced his sister's anger over Inuyasha's demands of jewel shard hunting, quickly asked to be excused so he could eat in his room. Receiving a nod from his mother, he bolted upstairs before the fireworks started. Just in the nick of time too.

 

“Inuyasha I told you, I am staying for a week and that's final!” Kagome yelled as she glared at the hanyou. Unfazed by the daggers she was staring at him, he waved his hand dismissively.

 

“We are going back and THAT'S final!”

 

“Inuyasha…” Kagome said in the voice that promised a rather forceful acquaintance with dirt. Realizing that a sitting was imminent, Hiroko brought the attention to her.

 

“Will you tell me why you both are here?” she asked as she laid her napkin on the table. Both Inuyasha and Kagome stopped their argument instantly and turned to stare at the elder Higurashi. Hiroko only stared back as she waited patiently for a reply.

 

“Well mom it's kind of complicated.” Kagome began slowly.

 

“We were ambushed and she pushed me into the well.” Inuyasha stated bluntly as he crossed his arms.

 

“Uhh...yeah.” Kagome agreed, looking sheepishly at her mom.

 

“So you were attacked?”

 

“Yes, Inuyasha hadn't healed from last fight we had and he got injured again, so I brought him here.

 

“KEH! I coulda killed him.” Inuyasha grumbled.

 

“That explains the bloody clothes I found in your room then. So this wasn't the first time you were attacked by this….wait, what were you attacked by?”

 

“Well, we don't know who he is but we think he is human. He just appeared three days ago and started attacking us.” Kagome replied before going into a short recap of the past few days.

 

“Oh you poor thing! It must have hurt terribly when I hugged you!” Hiroko cried with guilt.

 

“Keh, only a little.”

 

“I am so very happy that you and Kirara survived though.” Inuyasha only nodded, looking uncomfortable at the mother's reaction.

 

“What about your other friends, you said they were at the slayer village. How will they learn what happened?”

 

“There was no time mama; I had to get Inuyasha out of there. I think they will be safe though, he seemed to ignore them last time…mostly anyway”

 

She was about to ask more questions when she saw Kagome yawn widely. Realizing that the fights took more out of the two than she previously thought, she reeled in her questions.

 

“You two must be so tired! Go on to bed, we can talk about this more tomorrow.” She said with a knowing smile.

 

“Thanks mama.” Kagome said as another yawn overtook her. Standing up she walked towards the stairs, stretching. Pausing, she turned around to Inuyasha.

 

“Do you want to sleep down here tonight? You won't have to climb th...” She stopped when he pushed past her and headed up the stairs with a growl.

 

“Never mind then.”

 

Hiroko smiled as she watched the two head up to bed. Getting up herself, she headed into the kitchen to clean up. Upstairs, Inuyasha waited patiently outside Kagome's door.

 

“You done yet wench?”

 

“No!”

 

He rolled he eyes and leaned against the wall. His ears twitched as he listened to the sounds in the house. He could hear the scraping of clothes against the woman within the room behind. He cringed slightly when Hiroko dropped a pan in the sink, he nearly missed Kagome's all clear signal. As he opened the door he let the smell wash over him. Preparing to settle into his customary place on the ground, he was stopped by Kagome's hand on his shoulder.

 

Casting her eyes down she started poking her fingers together.

 

“Inuyasha…about the jewel shards…” she started.

 

“Wench, what did you do?” he replied, crossing his arms.

 

“Uhh…well you know when I was trying to drag you up and over the edge of the well?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“Well that guy was kinda on top of us so I did the only thing I could!”

 

“I asked what you did, wench!”

 

“I saved your life baka! I just happened to lose a shard in the process!” she finished angrily.

 

The silence after her comment seemed to stretch forever. After what seemed like an eternity Inuyasha finally responded.

 

“How could you lose a jewel shard! He wasn't even attacking you!” he accused.

 

“Well, I kinda threw it at him to get him to stop coming at us…or at least slow him down.”

 

Again, he lapsed into silence at her comment. Feeling guilty all over again, Kagome moped over to her bed and lay down heavily. She was on the verge of tears when she felt the mattress compress by her side. She turned her head to see Inuyasha staring down at her with a strange expression on his face.

 

“So you threw him a shard to save me?”

 

Kagome only nodded her head.

 

“But I thought you hate being there in my time, you always want to come back and take your `tests' and study. Why would you force more time on yourself?” He asked. Kagome would have burst out in anger if the look on his face hadn't been so sincere. Sighing out loud she shook her head sadly.

 

 

“Inuyasha I don't want to talk about this now. I know your leg hurts you. You can sleep with me if you want.” Inuyasha blushed slightly.

 

“Keh, it ain't that bad.” He said while folding his arms and looking away.

 

“Please Inuyasha?”

 

Turing back around he looked into her expectant face he knew his fate was sealed.

 

“Keh, FINE…wench.”

 

Kagome smiled as she lay down, pulling the covers over her. She wiggled over to give Inuyasha room. Kagome patted the open area expectantly. Gingerly lying on his side, he settled down and positioned Tessaiga out of the way. She reached over and tickled one of his ears as she felt sleep start to over take her.

 

“Good night Inuyasha.” She said quietly before she drifted off to sleep.

 

“Good night Kagome” He replied quietly.

 

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Back in the Feudal Era, Kaede was having her own problems.

 

Upon sensing a great amount of spiritual energy from the direction of the Bone Eater's well, Kaede had decided to investigate. Grabbing her bow and arrows, she went in search of Shippo. She found him playing with his top in one of her neighbor's gardens.

 

“Shippo.” She yelled, gaining the attention of the little fox demon. She motioned for him to come with a leathery hand. He readily complied, seeing the elder miko much like a grandmother. Once he was standing before her, she quickly told him of what she had sensed.

 

“I sensed something happening near the well, be ye able to get me there?”

 

“Sure!” Shippo chirped as he transformed into a miniature horse. Kneeling down to allow Kaede easy access, Shippo was soon bounding off into the direction he had traveled countless times. Kaede was silently contemplating what could have released such energy when she was nearly thrown off onto her face as, the now fox-horse, stopped abruptly.

 

“I smell Inuyasha's blood, Kaede!” He said. She could feel the tremors racking the child's body; it was not unusual for Shippo to be come scared. Unfortunately, for Kaede, this time he was terrified. She swung her self off Shippo's back and patted him gently on the head..

 

“Get ye back to the village and bring help.” She commanded, her mind already racing to the dark possibilities that Inuyasha's blood represented. Shippo nodded once and sped back in the direction of the village, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. After feeling like Shippo was a safe distance away, Kaede began walking the remaining distance to the well. Jumbled thoughts kept running through her head, a multitude of different scenarios playing out in her old mind. As she neared the ancient well, she noticed the uprooted and charred trees. Following the path the devastated tree line created she continued to move towards the well. The closer she got to the clearing the stronger the spiritual aura seemed to be getting. She smelled the blood before her one eye could find it. Near the edge of the trees there were streaks of blood spread out in several directions, evidence of a large battle. Due to Shippo's earlier statement, Kaede only hoped that the blood was that of Inuyasha's and not Kagome's as cruel as that might seem. Even so, the fight must not have gone well, for neither were to be seen.

 

She followed the streaks of blood in the grass; she just couldn't seem to take her eye off the large pools of it in the grass. As she neared the well she looked up and gasped. One side of the well was all but covered with the red liquid, so much in fact that, who ever had bled so much, must have been terribly wounded. Continuing to walk around the well she found another large pool of blood and an indent in the in the side of the old wood. She was only able to processes the thought that Inuyasha, or Kagome, might have been very seriously hurt when she felt a presence coming up behind her. Notching an arrow, Kaede turned around as quickly as she could while notching an arrow and aiming. One eye met two cold, red ones.

 

`This must be the attacker Kagome spoke of.' Kaede thought, still aiming her arrow at the lone figure. The silence between the two seemed to stretch forever. Kaede, with one last glance at his white hair and large halberd, spoke up first.

 

“Are ye the one who has been attacking Inuyasha and his group?”

She stood there waiting for an answer. Her old arms were beginning to weaken from keeping the weapon raise and ready for so long. When she realized the figure was not going to reply she pressed on.

 

“Who are ye?”

 

Again she received no response. By now her arms were all but screaming from the abuse Kaede was putting them through. Still, not one to give up easily, Kaede tried yet again.

 

“Speak quickly, what is your business here demon!” She yelled out in anger.

 

Quicker than her eye could catch, Kaede felt cold metal pressing firmly against her throat.

 

“I am no demon, miko.” A dark, power voice said in a low and threatening tone. The blade of his weapon was nearly cutting the skin of her throat. Slowly she lowered her bow slowly. Unable to speak for fear of slitting her own neck, Kaede could only glare at the now confirmed human male.

 

“Where have the dark miko and half-breed gone?”

 

Still unable to safely respond, Kaede glared down at the blade pressed to her neck. Emitting a low growl, the man stepped a few feet away from her, angling his weapon down.

 

“Now tell me where they have gone.” He commanded again.

 

“Or what? What will ye do? Kill me?” she chuckled, “I have lived a very long time, it takes more than the likes of ye to scare I.” she stated. She didn't flinch in the slightest when the man sent her a look that would freeze water. Somehow she knew that if this man was going to kill her he would have done so. She continued to question him.

 

“Who are ye?”

 

“Answer my question miko.”

 

“Ye have no power over me.” She retorted.

 

The man glared at her for a second, contemplating something. Suddenly he stabbed his mighty halberd into the ground beside him. Reaching around and behind his body he fiddled with his armor a bit as he unfastened a small bag from his waist. Kaede could only watch in curiosity as he began to untie the top. There were a few stains that appeared to be blood on the outside of this little, innocuous bag.

 

“Answer my questions…” he said as he finished untying the bag, “or this demon will die slowly.” He flipped the bag over and dumped a red and brown lump out and onto the ground where is landed with a wet sounding thump. Kaede gasped as her one eye discerned what the brown and red lump truly was. There, at this man's feet, was a bleeding, unconscious Shippo.

 

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A/N

 

Told you this one would be late…..Anyway Christmas is coming up here in three days and I am looking forward to it slightly. Hope everyone out there has a safe holiday.

 

I say holiday because I bet there are a lot of people out there that don't celebrate Christmas…..that's ok though, nobody is perfect.

 

As always, questions, concerns, and comments can be sent to my email (artarious @ hot mail . com)