InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Transformations ❯ Human For A Night ( Chapter 46 )

Kagome tried her best not to gag and to eat the fish - she liked fish, but the smell was getting to her, even while cooked. And the entire time, she could feel Inuyasha watching her closely, obviously thinking she was either lying or holding something back and trying to figure it out.

She felt like she was going to blurt out the first thing that came to mind any second now, just to satisfy Inuyasha.

~*~ Kagura ~*~

For a year she helped Naraku and betrayed Naraku, set up his traps and led the prey to them. But in all that time, she hadn't paid much attention to his strategies.

She had an hour to think of something, something to save them. It seemed impossible.

Forty Six

Kagura paced, at a loss. She had ten minutes left, and still she had nothing - no idea of what to do in order to save herself or Kanna, and definitely no idea how to save both of them. But she knew somebody who would save them, or at least think of a way to keep them safe. The only problem was getting to that person, and with no trail for Naraku to follow.

If she did leave with Kanna, then she had to make sure she wasn't followed and double check her trail. If Naraku followed her and found who she was going to, there'd be no way or preparing for the final battle that weighed over the entire country. One mistake would be all it took to damn Kagome and her friends.

But she had no choice. She was not going to let Kanna die, and there was even less chance of her allowing Naraku to absorb her into his body. She was certain at this point: I'm not going to let Naraku win.

But as great of a chance as there was of having to fight Kanna, there was an equally great chance of her getting killed along the way to Kagome or dying once there. But really, that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Kanna got there safely, free from Naraku at last.

And she had no time to debate about it. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Kagura lifted Kanna in her arms and ordered her not to make a sound. Then she began through the twists and turns of the castle, hoping to leave a crisscrossing trail that no demon could follow by scent.

She had one chance to make this work. She knew the consequences if she should fail. She knew what Naraku would do now. She knew, above all, that if she did fail, she was going to fight Naraku with her last breath.

There was no way she was going to make such a victory on his part easy. It wasn't in her nature.

~*~ Kagome, Five o'clock ~*~

Gar had felt it first, being on constant alert and closest to the edge of the forest, and immediately had told Kagome. So now Kagome stood and waited, more or less exasperated now that she could feel it, too. It felt like she was in an old film, showing the same boring rerun way past its expiration date. She could almost hear the audience booing her for being in it.

And now he stepped out, elegant as ever.

"What do you want, Sesshomaru?" she very nearly sighed.

"I ran into somebody who was looking for you while patrolling my lands," he told her. And then she could see Rin, holding the reins for the demon of his, bringing it out. "We've both met her, but I don't yet know of the child she is holding."

Kagome could feel her face turn in confusion, and stepped forward, unable to get a steady feel from whoever it was he was talking about. The first thing she noticed was Jaken, standing atop the left head of the demon, seemingly watching over the limp form spread across its back.

She gasped as she gathered the facial features, and all at once the feeling she was getting hit her sharply. It was Kagura, passed out but holding tightly to Kanna, who was staring blankly at the sky above. Kagura looked like she'd been mauled, her clothes shredded in certain vital areas and one large bruise on her left cheek. A trail of blood reached her chin from the left corner of her mouth.

Kagome looked sharply at Sesshomaru. "Did you do this to her?" she demanded.

"Of course not," he sneered back. "Why would I, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands -"

Angrily, Kagome cut him off, waving her hand at him. She was in no mood to listen to the same old talk of his. "Fine, fine, whatever, I don't care," she said harshly.

"Does Kagome-sama know her?" Rin asked quickly. "Does Kagome-sama know the girl, too?"

"Yes, Kagome-sama knows them," Kagome replied, not even looking at the child. After a moment she turned and looked at Gar. "Go get the others," she told him.

Gar nodded and turned sharply, ever the soldier. He returned in just a few moments' time with Miroku, Sango, Sana and Inuyasha trailing behind. One look and Inuyasha was drawing Tetsusaiga, but Kagome spoke quickly.

"She's unconscious, hurt, and came looking for me," she told him. "I doubt she risked her life coming here with Kanna just so she could try to assassinate us."

"Assassinate?" Sana asked.

"Murder," Kagome corrected. "Now, we have to get her to Kaede - she'll know what to do."

"That's not a very good plan," Inuyasha told her.

"And what's wrong with it? I can feel her, Inuyasha. She doesn't want to kill anybody. She wants. . ." Kagome's voice trailed off and she looked down at Kagura in surprise. She could feel exactly what Kagura wanted, but she was shocked to feel it in the wind demon's mind. "She wants Kanna to be safe."

There was a moment of stunned silence behind her, but then Sango broke in. "I knew it!" she claimed. "I knew there was more to her than we thought!"

"And how did you know that?" Miroku challenged. They'd been doing that all day long.

"Because she's a woman and I'm a woman -"

"I certainly hope so," Miroku interrupted.

Sango bit back a laugh and went on. "Because we're both women and I could just tell. It's an instinct thing - female instincts are hardly ever wrong."

"Really?" Kagome asked, raising a brow. "And here I thought they were never wrong."

This time Sango did laugh.

Sesshomaru broke in moodily. "Are you going to take her or not? I don't have time for this."

Kagome rolled her eyes and pulled Kagura off the demon, saying, "Bite me," without really thinking. If she hadn't said with annoyance, he probably would have done it, too.

She heard Inuyasha gasp and stutter out protests, though. And Sango laughed harder.

In a minute Kagome had it all straightened out and Sesshomaru was gone. Kagura was more or less safe with Kaede, and Kanna was sleeping in the nearest room - well, sort of. Was it possible for a young female demon to sleep with her eyes open?

~*~ Naraku ~*~

He figured Kagura would leave, and take Kanna with her. In fact, he was counting on it. Kagura had become more and more defiant over the past year, and he was more than tired of it. But tonight was his human night, and he couldn't have Kagura sniffing around while he was mortal.

He hadn't known that there were consequences when Onigumo had offered his body to demons to make himself a hanyou. But apparently, there were times when hanyous had to be human. It didn't really bother him in the least. He could easily last through eternity hiding while mortal. What bothered him was Kagura's rebellious nature and hot-headed anger. She was entirely capable of killing him if she got the chance.

But as long as he had her heart, she wouldn't try. So far she didn't know of his mortal time. But that was because he sent her off whenever it happened, which wasn't often at that. Every six Sundays.

The biggest problem was how his mortal time affected him. The demons in his body literally fell apart, revealing helpless Onigumo again. The demons couldn't move, and neither could Onigumo.

As always, a spasm of pain held him still a moment, and he held his side. The sun was setting. It wouldn't be long now.

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Short chapter, I know. Try to ignore that part and focus on the idea that I have four chapters uploaded. Or maybe five. Six? Seven? I can't see into the future, but man am I in a mood for intense writing. *Sigh* I know that this took long, but there's a big problem in my life right now.

I named it "Jeremy" after my brother-in-law. He decided that since SpyWare keeps getting downloaded on his computer, that he'd just wipe everything out and not let anybody on the internet ever again. At least not on his computer. Which is totally unfair. He's the only one who ever does banking and such on the internet, so the SpyWare is his fault and not mine or my brother's.

He keeps blaming ME in particular. "It's your fault! You caused it! You're not allowed on the computer again!" The stupid dirty bastard. He shouldn't be part of my family. Nobody even likes him, either. At least none of the women. He says evil, perverted stuff all the time and is completely harsh and cruel on Jade, my seven-year-old niece.

Damn bastard. *Grumbles on and on*

See ya.