InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unattainable ❯ Far(ther) From Home ( Chapter 3 )

Responses!

 

Fireflyskies: I hope you didn't hafta wait too long, and thank you!

 

rin sama1989: Wow! I'm blown away by your enthusiasm!

 

Inukag: Thank you very much!

 

Moonlit Showers aka InuKag Fan: Oh, I'm sure that I'll manage to find a way to keep Inuyasha and Kagome stuck together… (Mwah ha ha!)

 

InuKagluver91: I'm glad that you like it!

 

Dave Man: Thank you! And yessiree, I did indeed write Haunted. 'Twas my first fic. (Speakin' of which I gotta finish that thing soon…)

 

InvictusCanisDeus: Thanks! I'm glad that the ending worked out, too; I usually end with a cliffhanger, so in some ways it was a bit of an experiment.

 

THANK YOU ALL FOR RESPONDING!

 

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Unattainable

 

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Chapter Three: Far From Home

 

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"A-and it's not e-even that!" hiccupped the older woman, brown eyes rimmed with red. "I-it's my s-s-son! I know that he's one of them! I'm sure he's p-part of the mob!" The aging woman removed her glasses and wiped her eyes before sobbing noisily into a handkerchief kindly provided by Mrs. Higurashi.

 

"There, there," the black-haired woman smiled reassuringly and patted her neighbor on the back. "I'm sure it can't be that bad."

 

"It is!" The other woman howled. "I know! He's always talking with those shady characters on the street. And when I used to invite him over to dinner- I-I don't anymore, he could be so violent- he always a-argued that Sympathizers are just as bad a demons. N-now we all know that demons are evil, b-but I can't believe that my little Ataru grew u-up to b-b-be so violent! He's a mobster!" She blew her nose noisily into the kerchief.

 

Mrs. Higurashi frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that, Wanatabe-san. What about your other children? I remember that your Akina was so sweet and gentle." With a kind smile, she offered her neighbor a steaming mug of tea.

 

"Sh-she's to terrified to do anything but nod and go along. H-her family is everything to her, and wh-when poor Kisho -that's her departed husband- was killed, she just was never the same." Fresh tears started to well up in the older woman's red eyes. "A-after that, she just a-accepts i-it all as a part of l-life."

 

"I'm sorry to have brought it up," murmured Kagome's mother. She pursed her lips tightly. The clock on the mantelpiece ticked quietly in the background. "It's just… it's been on my mind lately." She glanced out of the window distractedly. How different it was from the night. Cars zoomed by relentlessly, motors humming monotonously as the sidewalks clamored with a multitude of people; exuberant schoolchildren, conversing teens, men in business suits who glanced impatiently at their watches.

 

"Oh, not at all," Mrs. Wanatabe assured her with a watery smile. "It's been so long since I've talked to anyone about it. Sometimes it's nice to just cry." An embarrassed flush stained her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry to have let it all out in your living room." She glanced around the darkly lit room, the photos cluttering the chest of drawers in the corner and the dusty, unused television squatting on a tea table. "It's a v-very emotional subject for me."

 

"The same goes for me." Mrs. Higurashi stared down at the carpeted floor. "I-I just lost my daughter." She blinked watery eyes and dabbed her them with her apron. Kagome's framed picture grinned cheerfully down at them from the wall, black hair tied back in a ponytail.

 

The other woman gasped. "You don't mean Kagome!" She clapped two withered hands over her mouth in horror before breaking out in a fresh bout of sobs. "She was so kind to me! Sh-she knew th-that I was lonely and when…" she took a shuddering breath, "when she h-had time, she'd say hello a-and ask how I w-was. Sh-she always smiled a-and waved…" She crushed the paper kerchief in one fist and tossed it into the wicker wastepaper basket by her feet. It was already half-filled with other tissues. "A-and you lost your husband a few years ago, too. Life is so cruel!"

 

Mrs. Higurashi sighed heavily, dark eyes sorrowful. She looked up at her aged neighbor. "Do you remember how it was five, ten years ago?"

 

The other woman sighed dreamily. "Oh, what a fine time! After dinner, we all used to go out after the sun set for anmitsu in the summer, and oshiruko during winter, sometimes an-dango… and they hung paper lanterns in the streets. I miss being able to go outside at night…"

 

"Really? We'd go out for daifuku. It's -it was- Kagome's favorite. She liked an-daifuku. So does Souta." She sighed wistfully and hastily wiped her eyes. If someone had told her five years ago that today the world would be a crumbling mess of struggling politicians and terrified citizens, she would've suspected them of being crazy.

 

Mrs. Wanatabe glanced at her neighbor. "Was it really only six years ago? I can't even begin to imagine…" She glanced at her watch. "Oh, my! It's been hours! I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time…"

 

"Oh, no! It was a pleasure having you over." Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "I just suddenly realized; how long ago was it since I've had someone over? Nowadays, everyone keeps to themselves because they're too afraid to stick out, or say something traitorous to a mob supporter."

 

"You know, you're right!" Mrs. Wanatabe shook her head wonderingly. "In fact, I think I'll call my old friend Noriko. I haven't spoken to her for three years, since my husband died." She stood up and bowed stiffly. "Thank you, again."

 

"Of course." Mrs. Higurashi broke out into the first sunny smile in a week. Step one: rally supporters. Now she had three.

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

"Oh gods, it's hot," Kagome complained with a wistful glance at the burbling creek to her left. She sighed and watched the clear water flow over the stones, creating small currents and pools in the water. Deliciously cold, clear, refreshing water… "I'm worse than Buyo." She smiled quietly in spite of herself, fond memories of the large, lazy cat rising to the surface of her mind. The family's obese feline wouldn't do much unless it didn't require that he moved.

 

A white ear swiveled in her direction. Inuyasha looked down to the shady forest floor from the tree branch he was lounging in. The higher up, the better to catch a cool breeze, he'd learned. "Who's Buyo?"

 

The schoolgirl looked up at him stubbornly. "Uh-huh. Not until you tell me why you're a fugitive from my country."

 

"This again?" the hanyou asked irritably, amber eyes glimmering down at her through the thick foliage of the tree. The emerald leaves rustled quietly in a disappointingly muggy breeze and Inuyasha sighed unhappily. He hated this kind of weather. "I told you, it's none of your business, so keep your big nose out."

 

"Yes, 'this again', until you tell me why you're a fugitive." As an afterthought, the black-haired girl added, "And my nose isn't big."

 

Shippo rolled his emerald eyes at the two of them in disgust. He'd gotten bored of this conversation the third time they'd had it. The kitsune blocked out the rest of the argument; it was always the same, Kagome demanding that Inuyasha explain, to which the hanyou always refused, followed by a bunch of wild guesses from Kagome, and then Inuyasha accused Kagome of being nosy, and finally Kagome's huffy silence.

 

"I'm going to the creek," the ginger-haired child exclaimed. "C'mon, Kagome. Inuyasha's never gonna tell you." He stood up and tugged impatiently on the hem of Kagome's sleeve.

 

The black-haired girl sighed in resignation. "I know, but I can't help but try," she explained with a pointed glance into the branches of the towering tree.

 

The white-haired hanyou snorted and his ear flicked derisively. "So you're nosy and stubborn." He rolled onto his back and stared up at the myriad of swaying branches and waxy green leaves above him, shimmering as the wind crooned through the branches. "Why am I not surprised?" He smiled smugly.

 

"You're one to talk." Kagome's voice had a sour note to it as her the quiet crunch of her footsteps on the forest floor faded.

 

Shippo let go of the black-haired girl's sleeve and rushed over to the stream, an eager gleam in his green eyes. Pausing only to hastily remove his socks and sneakers, the kitsune splashed into the shallow water. "Ooh! It's cold!" He grinned happily, revealing his two fangs.

 

Kagome grinned delightedly. "It better be!" She followed him at a slower pace, a thoughtful expression on her face. Less than a week ago, those fangs would've alarmed her, immediately followed by a plethora of emotions conjured by what she'd been brought up believing. Demons were evil. Demons were bloodthirsty. Demons tricked humans and killed them. Demons were mindless killing machines.

 

The delighted smile on the kitsune's face widened as he grasped a large rock and dumped it deeper into the stream, deliberately splashing himself with the wonderfully cold water. For what felt like the umpteenth time, Kagome wondered how she once believed all of that propaganda.

 

Shippo grabbed another rock and tossed it farther down the stream. "Hey! It skipped!" The ginger-haired kitsune slogged through the water and grinned at Kagome. "Did you see that?" he demanded eagerly. "I skipped it three times!"

 

"Betcha I can do better," Kagome challenged with a grin.

 

"Betcha can't!" Shippo's sharp eyes quickly selected a nice flat stone. "Watch this!" The stone skipped down the brook and crashed into a bush. "Hah! Five!" Shippo taunted. "Beat that!"

 

Kagome wasn't paying attention. With wide eyes, she watched as the bush continued to rustle. "Uh, Shippo…" She pointed at the bush. "I think you got something mad." She grabbed the kitsune's hand tightly and slowly backed away, brown eyes fixed on the shuddering shrubbery.

 

"Uh-oh." Shippo backed away slowly. With incredulous green eyes, he watched the bush tremble again, and the air around it shivered. Mist leaked from the shrubbery in little tendrils, sinking down towards the ground. The hot day's temperature dropped as the fog spread out.

 

"C'mon." Kagome slowly turned and started to walk away at a fast pace, Shippo jogging along next to her to keep up, eyes wide with fascination as he watched the seasons change behind him. The leaves shriveled and became brown before dropping to the forest floor. The mist spread out towards them and over the small brook. The water froze abruptly, little fissures cracking on the smooth river stones at the abrupt change of temperature.

 

Kagome started running as a cold wind blew at their backs, making her shiver. Sure, in the past few days she'd seen demons. But she'd never heard of this before, or anything remotely similar. "Inuyasha!" She whispered as loudly as she dared with a darting glance behind her. It was snowing over there now.

 

"What?" The hanyou sighed irritably and opened one amber eye, a white ear flicking in her direction. He sniffed and golden eyes widened incredulously. "What the hell-" He dropped from the tree with ease. "What's going on?"

 

"I have no idea," Kagome replied, alarm flashing in her wide brown eyes. "Shippo threw a rock and it fell in the bush. Then it started shaking and then this,"
she waved her hand vaguely at the odd scene, "happened."

 

"Huh," the hanyou snorted. Without a moment's hesitation, he walked into the fog. His feet slid on the frozen ground and his breath was visible in a puff of steam. White ears flicked when little ice crystals began to form on them.

 

"Inuyasha, are you sure that it's safe!" Kagome hollered anxiously after him.

 

"No!"

 

Shippo sighed. "Reckless as usual," he commented unhappily. "Or," the kitsune reconsidered, "maybe he knows what it is. He has lived here for the past year or so."

 

"But he's probably being reckless," Kagome replied. There was a sound of breaking ice, followed by a muffled curse and something crashing. It sounded large. The black-haired girl winced. "Definitely reckless."

 

Inuyasha stomped out of the swirling mist, amber eyes smoldering with anger at the thing in one hand, the other one brushing ice off of his head. "Pathetic," he spat. "What the hell are you doing?"

 

Kagome's eyes widened. In the hanyou's grasp -suspended upside down by one leg- was one of the oddest things that she'd ever seen, including the numerous demons that they'd run into so far. It looked like a turtle, but the arms were longer and more froglike with webbed feet. Similarly, its skin was a yellowish green. The head was blocky, with long bedraggled hair circling the skull. There was a large dent in the skull, from which an odd-looking liquid was dripping.

 

The kappa water sprite in the hanyou's grasp glared belligerently at him, a large bump on his forehead. "I could ask you the same thing," he retorted. "Unhand me this instant!" His voice was squeaky with outrage.

 

"Hey, isn't that a water sprite?" Shippo ventured forward, green eyes wide with curiosity. "I've never seen one of those befo-"

 

The sprite lunged and grabbed the kitsune with its free arms. "Put me down!" it hissed at Inuyasha, "Or I'll snap his neck!" Shippo struggled feebly in the water sprite's grasp, sock registering in his green eyes. How had something not much bigger than him manage such strength?

 

"No you won't," Inuyasha lifted the struggling sprite up to eye level as he growled low in his throat. "Because if you do, I'll kill you. And if I let you go, you'll probably just drown him, or eat his life force. Besides, your head's empty. You couldn't do shit."

 

Kagome shuddered, recalling one of the more gruesome legends that her grandfather had told her. Kappas attacked humans, horses and other big animals. They would then drag their prey into the nearest body of water, where it would do a variety of gruesome things. The kappa had a cavity atop its head to hold a fluid that gave the sprite strength. When the liquid spilled, the kappa would become feeble. And yet, this one still hand the strength to hold Shippo hostage.

 

"You've no choice!" the kappa growled menacingly. Suddenly, it didn't look as odd as it did frightening, like a thing out of a nightmare. "Ow!" The kappa withdrew its hand from around Shippo's throat when the kitsune lunged and bit down on it, fangs sinking into the froglike flesh.

 

"Kishunuhbi!" The kitsune spat out from around the sprite's flesh. Blue flames suddenly swirled around the sprite and it howled. It tossed the source of the flames- Shippo- away from it in a desperate attempt to stop the burning.

 

A mulish expression on his face, Shippo raised his hand again. "Kitsunebi!" Bluish flames swirled around his hand and gathered around the water sprite, which continued to howl.

 

Ears pressed flat against his head from the awful noise, Inuyasha held up the sprite.

 

A sudden idea caused Kagome to rush forward. "Now, promise to quit bothering people, and never harm anyone again." I hope this works…, she added silently. She watched the sprite carefully.

 

"Waaaah!" the kappa howled. "I promise! I promise! And a kappa always keeps a promise!"

 

The demi-demon nodded at Shippo, and the scowling kitsune reluctantly stopped hurling fire at the sprite.

 

With a contemptuous expression on his face, Inuyasha dropped the kappa to the still-frozen ground. "Now scram."

 

The kappa bowed low, gasping heavily from its ordeal. "You win," it told them with grudging respect. "And as such, I am now indebted to help you." The sprite looked at Kagome anxiously. "Is there anything you want?" He turned to Inuyasha. "What about you?" He pointedly ignored Shippo. "How can I be of service?"

 

"You can scram," Inuyasha replied sourly. "Get out of here. You're whining is annoying me." He wrinkled his nose. "And you stink of fish."

 

"Sorry. What about you?" The kappa turned it blocky head towards Kagome, pale eyes fixed on brown. "What do you want?"

 

Kagome shrugged, bewildered. "I… want to go home," she admitted.

 

The kappa looked disappointed. "Well, I don't think I can help you with that," it admitted and scratched it's head. "Unless you need a guide…?"

 

"Nope." Inuyasha sighed impatiently. "Now get out of here." Steam rose from the ground all around them. To the left, the stream burbled back into life as the ice finally melted. The fog was dissipating, swirling through the air as the warmth of the day took its toll.

 

"Very well." The kappa sighed unhappily. "Safe voyage!" It bowed once more before disappearing into the underbrush. The bush rustled and the kappa stuck it's head out. "By the way, miss, your shoe is untied!"

 

Kagome looked down at her feet. "But my shoes don't have laces…" she murmured. Brown eyes widened in surprise. Directly between her feet, the kappa had left a little pink bauble. She picked up wonderingly and rolled the perfectly round ball in her palm.

 

Shippo gazed at it with wide green eyes from his perch on Kagome's shoulder. "Wow. Shiny. Did the sprite give it to you?"

 

"I guess so." Kagome shrugged. "I don't know why, though." The bauble twinkled innocently in the shafts of buttery golden light that lanced through the thick foliage.

 

Inuyasha was stock still, his eyes the same color as the sunlight as he stared wonderingly at one of the most mysterious objects he'd ever heard of. "Are you saying that the kappa gave you the Shikon no Tama?"

 

Kagome blinked. "What's that?"

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

"Help!"

 

Mrs. Higurashi sat up in bed, eyes wide and breath coming quickly. A cry for help. It was time to put her more daring strategy into play. Quietly, she pushed away the light summer sheets and stepped out of bed.

 

"Help!" It was a man's voice, desperate and forlorn. "Please, someone! I'll pay anything! Just let me in!"

 

Mrs. Higurashi hurried down the dark stairs, too worried to turn on a light. Her slippered feet made little sound as they padded across the carpet to the front door. With her heart pounding in her ears, Mrs. Higurashi opened the door a crack.

 

Pounding footsteps echoed through the silent, dark streets and distant shouts, jeering and cruel, reached her ears. Mrs. Higurashi shuddered. Was this how it had been for Kagome…?

 

Ragged breathing came from the street and nervous brown eyes peered out through the crack in the door.

 

A disheveled man in a business suit stumbled across the street, his breath coming in ragged sobs. Sharp, sympathetic eyes noticed the shock and disbelief on the middle-aged man's features. She could almost imagine what he was thinking as he stared down at his hands incredulously; it couldn't be real. It couldn't be him. There must be some mistake. He had a home, children perhaps, that he had to return to.

 

Mrs. Higurashi licked her lips nervously. "Excuse me!" she whispered as loudly as she dared as he stumbled by. He didn't seem to hear her. "Hey!" she tried, a bit louder.

 

The man stopped abruptly under the dingy illumination provided by a streetlight, eyes wide with panic. He wheeled around; rapid footsteps approached, jeering voices and torches through the murky dark. He had to run.

 

"Hey! Come here!" Mrs. Higurashi was at her wits' end. What if they say her…? It didn't make sense; she was endangering the lives of all she held dear for the sake of a stranger. What on earth had compelled her?

 

With a gasp of relief, the man rushed up the steps to her house and collapsed in the entryway. Mrs. Higurashi quickly shut the door, watching the window carefully. Without turning away, she told the man, "Please, take a seat. I'll go get you a glass of water after I make sure that no one saw you come here."

 

"Thank you so much." The man bowed low several times in a row as he gasped for breath. "Here," he fumbled with his wallet. "Please accept this humble offering as my thanks." He held out a large wad of bills.

 

Mrs. Higurashi sighed in relief. The mob gathered farther down the street, confused and angry as they waved their weapons around in the night. No had seen. The middle-aged woman turned. "No, keep your money," she told him gently. "To repay me, you can simply do what I've done for you tonight for someone else."

 

The man nodded fervently and leaned against the couch. "I definitely will. Thank you again."

 

Mrs. Higurashi's smile widened, a warm contented feeling spreading through her for the first time since Kagome disappeared. She saved a life. Something told her that she should do this more often. "I'll go get you a blanket and a glass of water. Do you mind spending the night on the couch?"

 

"I wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor," the man admitted. He stood up and bowed again. "Thank you."

 

"You're welcome." Mrs. Higurashi walked out of the room, in search of extra blankets.

 

Behind her, the man put his head in his hands. His voice a hoarse whisper, he wondered aloud, "Where would I be now if she hadn't let me in?"

 

_|__|_

(•.•)

--( • )--

(____)

 

"So, you're telling me that I have one of the most valuable things in the world in the palm of my hand." Kagome's voice was frank and incredulous. "…You're joking, right?"

 

"Do you honestly think that I'd joke about something this serious?" the hanyou snapped at her, amber eyes flashing angrily.

 

"Well, so-rry! Don't blow a ghasket or anything," Kagome grumbled. "I mean, I've never even heard of this thing and you're telling me it's one of the most important objects in the world. You can see how I'd find that hard to believe, don't you?"

 

Inuyasha scratched a white ear with one clawed hand. "Not many people have," he admitted. He sighed, amber eyes sweeping across the glade that they were sitting in. Cicadas droned incessantly and the long green grass rustled in the muggy afternoon breeze. The cloudless cornflower blue sky soared above, the sun flashing overhead.

 

Protected by a large tree on the outskirts of the meadow, Kagome and Shippo watched their guide expectantly. "And I don't know much." He glanced at the pink bauble in Kagome's hand. "From what I've heard, it's some sort of symbolic thing."

 

"What for?" Shippo interrupted, green eyes skeptical as he looked at the jewel. "It doesn't look very symbolic to me. It's a round pink thing. How is that 'symbolic'?"

 

"I was getting there. Now quit interrupting me."

 

Several seconds later, Shippo found himself nursing a bump on his head and a grudge against a certain white-haired hanyou.

 

"It's supposed to be made out of a human and a demon soul." Inuyasha glanced at Shippo. "How's that for symbolic?"

 

Kagome rolled the glittering sphere around on her palm. "How's this a soul?"

 

"If you'll shut up long enough, I'll tell ya." The hanyou leaned against the rough bark, oblivious to the angry glance that the schoolgirl shot in his direction. "Hn… I think it was some sort of 'for the good of the earth' sort of crap. Some priestess named Midoriko and a demon." He snorted. "I can't see how it'd benefit humanity and demons, though. I betcha they were both suicidal nuts who wanted to make a statement."

 

"So, you don't know anything else?"

 

Amber eyes flickered as the hanyou watched the Shikon no Tama. It glimmered in the patchy sunlight. "Not really."

 

"Well, that was helpful," Shippo commented sarcastically, bushy tail flicking derisively.

 

"Hey," Inuyasha retorted, "I don't see you offering up any information." He lapsed into silence, a frown creasing his forehead as he thought. "I wonder what a kappa sprite was doing with it, though…"

 

"Whaddaya mean?" Shippo's scowl at the hanyou melted away into curiosity.

 

Inuyasha heaved an exasperated sigh. "Will you quit asking me all these stupid questions? I'm tryin' to think."

 

"I didn't know that you could think," Shippo snickered, green eyes glittering with mischief.

 

Inuyasha's fist swung down and deftly knocked a few points from the kitsune's ego. "That rocks been missing for about fifty years. No one really knew what happened to it, but humans thought that demons stole it, and demons likewise. I'd say that's how things got so screwy today."

 

"So you're saying that the disappearance of the Tama is the source of over half of all the problems in today's world." Kagome shook her head incredulously and rolled the jewel around in her palm. "Geeze. This thing's pretty important, isn't it?"

 

"That's an understatement. And you're wrong; demons are doing just fine. It's the humans who're crumbling. And I don't think it's got much to do with the Shikon, myself." He paused, the heat encompassing them all like an oppressive blanket. Out in the meadow, insects zipped back and forth over the long emerald grass as it waved slowly in a light afternoon breeze.

 

Eyes bright with curiosity, Kagome asked, "What do you mean?" It was a not-so-subtle attempt to delve into his past, and the schoolgirl was pleasantly surprised when he replied, rather than calling her nosy again.

 

"The problems in your society don't have anything with the jewel." He shrugged and glanced at the sky. "We should get going. If we hurry, we could make it to Matachi by tonight."

 

(\ /)

(0.0)

(><)

 

"How can it be so hot during the day and so cold at night?" Kagome wondered aloud, shuddering. It didn't help that she was stuck in a short skirt without a jacket. Something dropped onto her head. "Ah!"

 

"Will you shut up?" Inuyasha's voice was exasperated. "And is there anything that you don't scream at?"

 

Kagome realized that she had his haori. "Are you sure you don't need this?" Regretfully, she held it up for him to take if he reconsidered.

 

"Nah. I'll be fine." There was mild amusement in the hanyou's voice. "Now go to sleep. I don't wanna hafta wake you up in the morning like I did yesterday."

 

Kagome smiled slightly. She'd finally gotten up at what she figured was around nine. Much too late for a certain hanyou… She wrapped the warm cloth tighter around her. "Thanks."

 

"No problem." Up in the heights of a towering tree, Inuyasha stretched out on a limb. Kagome was right; it had gotten pretty cold. Stars twinkled through the thick foliage of the tree and large green leaves swayed restlessly in a phantom breeze. Shafts of moonlight lanced through the trees, illuminating patches of forest floor with pearly light.

 

Matachi was one day away.

 

_|__|_

(•.•)

--( • )--

(____)

 

An embarrassed flush stained the schoolgirl's cheeks as she walked hesitantly through the bustling crowds of people, painfully aware that her once smart pleated green skirt and starched shirt were hopelessly stained, wrinkled, and torn.

 

The outpost was completely different from what she had been expecting. It certainly wasn't like home; people here didn't wear business suits or school uniforms, and the buildings were all made of wood rather than steel and concrete. But it wasn't primitive; the people who bustled to and fro wore sneakers and modern clothes, digital watches often glinting in the sun.

 

Kagome recalled what Inuyasha had told her on the way there;

 

"No," the hanyou sighed huffily, "they're not primitive. They live in wooden houses and don't have electricity because they're smart. Demons would attack power lines or generators. With the panic over the loss of power, they'd attack and wreak havoc to the town. They're self-reliant." Inuyasha leapt over a fallen tree effortlessly.

 

"And besides," he added, "they don't need any of it. They're probably better off as is."

 

A white ear flicked impatiently. "Are you done gawking like a tourist yet? We've still got some ground to cover."

 

Kagome turned back to him. "Oh. Yeah, coming." She followed the hanyou as he maneuvered through the crowd, pausing only to glare an ox that snorted at him. The black-haired and grubby schoolgirl was surprised by the recognition that their guide received from the townspeople.

 

An elderly woman inclined her head politely to the hanyou, a large basket of laundry under one arm. "Goodday, Inuyasha." Shrewd eyes glanced at the two following him. "Are ya lookin' fer Tanaka?"

 

"Isn't everyone?" the hanyou retorted. "Yeah, I am. Got some customers." He shoved his thumb in the other two's direction, amber eyes businesslike. "You know where she is?"

 

"She's where she always is. You know that she never comes out." The woman cast the hanyou and his friends a sideways glance. "Unless it's to chase unpaying customers." She cackled before walking away.

 

Inuyasha signaled for them to follow. "You just gonna stand there all day? C'mon!"

 

Kagome jogged through a myriad of busy people, Shippo bouncing along on her shoulder. "Who's Tanaka?" she inquired as soon as she caught up with the hanyou. "And what did that lady mean, when she was talking about customers?"

 

"And you said that you aren't nosy." The hanyou smirked at the schoolgirl. "You'll see soon enough. Unless you have a lot of money with you?"

 

Kagome shook her head, apprehension knotting her stomach. What was Inuyasha getting her into?

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

Fifteen minutes later, Kagome found herself standing in the middle of a dingy empty street. Small piles of refuse cluttered the sides of the muddy lane, and the wooden buildings on either side were silvery with age.

 

Inuyasha stood on a filthy concrete step and rapped his fist impatiently on a weathered screen door. "Hey, Tanaka! I know you're there! Come out!"

 

Kagome bit her lip nervously. "Hey, are you sure this is a good idea, Inuyasha?" She recalled the smirk that he'd shot at her when she told him she didn't have any money. Somehow, she found it slightly ominous. "I mean, you said you'd just take us this far. I'm sure me'n Shippo can find our way, right?"

 

The kitsune didn't like the situation any more than Kagome. "Yeah, we'll be fine, really!" The ginger-haired demon forced a grin at Inuyasha. "We'll take it from here, okay?"

 

"It's all right," Inuyasha replied, a smirk widening on his face, revealing his two fangs. "I don't mind going a bit out of my way."

 

The screen door creaked open on rusty springs and two button-bright black eyes peered out at the hanyou through the crack. Gnarled fingers clutched the weathered wood of the door. "Ah! Inuyasha." The eyes quickly scanned the street. "I see you've brought some friends along."

 

Inuyasha waved them over. "C'mon! You won't get anywhere standing there all day." After exchanging wary looks, Kagome trudged up the narrow muddy lane to the doorway.

 

"Wait-wait-wait." The door banged open, knocking Inuyasha from the step in the process. A hunched old woman emerged from the depths of the house, a sock swinging in one gnarled hand.

 

"Hey, Tanaka!" Inuyasha glared at the old woman, amber eyes smoldering with ire. "You could've just asked me to move!"

 

"Takes too long," the elderly woman replied absently. Black eyes narrowed in concentration as she waved the fluffy white sock in Kagome's shocked face. "Watch the sock, girlie."

 

The schoolgirl backed away. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "Waving socks in people's faces. That's just rude!" The irate Kagome turned to Inuyasha, brandishing a finger at the old woman. "She's crazy!"

 

Arms folded across his chest, Inuyasha glared down at the black-haired schoolgirl. "Do you wanna go home or not?" Kagome opened her mouth to object. "That's what I thought. If you wanna go home, let Tanaka wave the stupid sock in your face."

 

"What's a sock got to do with going home?" Kagome grumbled, but nevertheless she grudgingly stepped up to the door again and glared at the sock as it swung back and forth in front of her.

 

"Kya!" The woman whipped the sock back around and whapped Kagome in the face with it.

 

Inuyasha watched with more than mild amusement as the girl wheeled back, a stunned and speechless. Her expression didn't stay that way for long, and soon turned stormy with outrage. "Wh-what was that for?" she demanded furiously, a hand to her cheek.

 

The old woman ignored her outburst and hobbled towards Shippo. "Come here, kid."

 

"No way!" Green eyes wide with panic darted from left to right. The alleyway was narrow, but if he could get to the street… He dove to the right, towards the street.

 

"Nice try!" Tanaka lunged after him and came up short, the squirming kitsune held up by his tail, which was bushy with panic.

 

"Help! Kagome! Inuyasha!" he shrieked, green eyes huge in his face. "She's gonna kill me!"

 

Mouth set in a grim line and brown eyes glinting with determination, Kagome strode up to the old woman and poked a finger in her face. "I've had enough of you and your stupid games, you crazy old lady. If all you're going to do is hit us with socks and terrorize Shippo, then I think I'm done here." She put her hands on her hips. "Now put Shippo down and we'll be on our way."

 

A large hand gripped her arm. "I don't think you want to do that," Inuyasha told her softly, eyes urging her to trust him. "Really."

 

The old woman cackled. "I won't be a moment more, dearie. I'm just about through." She waved the sock around in the air and the kitsune scrunched up his eyes, anticipating the blow. The sock swung down and hit Shippo across the face, making him sneeze.

 

Tanaka held up the sock, black eyes sparkling shrewdly. "The sock has determined that you're allowed in." She hobbled back up the step and into the weathered house. "What a good sock," she crooned.

 

Inuyasha's grip on Kagome's elbow only tightened as he pulled her into the house. All it took to convince Shippo was a ferocious amber glare, and the kitsune was scurrying after him eagerly.

 

The screen shut with a bang and Tanaka quietly closed the heavy wooden door behind it. "Come on, kids!" She hobbled down a dingily-lit hall cluttered with demon paraphernalia and faded plastic flowers. "This way!" She giggled eagerly, like a small child about to receive a birthday present.

 

For Kagome, it was almost surreal. Was this really happening? Had she come all this way to be lead through a crazy woman's house? There had to be a catch. Desperately, the schoolgirl clung to some sort of reason. Perhaps Tanaka would lead her to someone else, who could take her home…

 

Inuyasha's grip on the schoolgirl's elbow tightened slightly when she sagged slightly. "Come on," he insisted. When she didn't respond, he sighed. "Just trust me, okay?"

 

With a bit of grumbling on her part, Kagome straightened again and kept walking. "Oh, sure. Trust you. I've been trusting my instinct, and it's telling me that this won't get me anywhere," she retorted.

 

"Well, you're instinct's off. By a lot." The hanyou marched her along as they turned yet another corner and entered a dusty old room filled with cardboard boxes.

 

Kagome was at her wits' end. "Oh, look!" She laughed. "Salvation! A bunch of boxes! We're saved, Shippo! Just hop in one of those, and you'll magically appear home!"

 

Tanaka closed the door gently behind the schoolgirl before straightening. "If only that were the case," she sighed. She pulled a small brass chain on an ancient-looking lamp. With a click, it turned on and cast the small room with a faint orange glow. She surveyed Shippo and Kagome with calm black eyes. "I must apologize for my behavior in the yard. I have neighbors in the pay of your government who would simply love to catch a smuggler, as you can imagine."

 

Kagome stared at the elderly woman, speechless. It was as if she was standing before a completely different woman. Rather than standing hunched over, the woman before her stood straight and tall, her eyes radiating calm rather than glaring suspicion.

 

"Please, sit down." Tanaka indicated the various cardboard boxes that filled up the room. "I understand that you have a rather pressing issue that you would like to discuss with me."

 

"You can let got of my elbow now," Kagome informed Inuyasha. Hastily, the hanyou removed his hand. The schoolgirl turned to the elderly woman again. "I want to go home."

 

Tanaka's eyebrows raised. "And where do you live, young lady?" She snapped her fingers. "Wait, would it perhaps be across the Border?"

 

Kagome nodded. "Just across the Border. I fell down a cliff, and that's how I got here."

 

Tanaka sighed. "Dear, my operation isn't that big. But I can offer you some advice," she added when Kagome slumped slightly. "There's a variety of ways you could get across the Border. You could have your hanyou friend there run you up the cliffs himself and drop you over, for one-"

 

"Do I look like a pack horse to you?" Inuyasha demanded. "And it wouldn't work, anyway. We'd get shot down in an instant."

 

"I was simply thinking aloud, child," Tanaka reprimanded gently. "Now let's see… you couldn't pass of as an ambassador- they're all dignified old demons- or even one of their clerks. You're human."

 

"No shit," Inuyasha snickered.

 

"Quiet, Izayoi's boy." Black eyes flashed with irritation at the white-haired teen. "It's the cliffs themselves that are a problem," she mused and glanced around the dusty room. "If you get past the cliffs, you're as good as home. They don't patrol the wall itself, just the cliff coming up."

 

"Maybe I could float Kagome up as a bubble," Shippo suggested. "If I do it from far away at night, and we go over the wall."

 

Black eyes twinkled kindly. "It's a good suggestion. But you'd have to carry your friend up about a mile away and then high above the wall itself, or you'll be shot down, even at night." Tanaka lapsed into silence. "No, there's only one thing I can see you doing." She turned to Inuyasha. "Take them to the Embassy in the demon capitol."

 

"What?" Inuyasha barked. "How would that help? And besides, I only said I'd take them this far. The capitol's over a week away, even for me!"

 

"If I recall, child, you're not particularly busy." Tanaka stood up. "And it's the only sure-fire way of getting you across safely."

 

"Oh, yeah. 'Sure-fire'," Inuyasha grumbled. "That's only if they survive the journey and don't get sick, eaten, fall down the mountain, freeze to death, get past those stupid guards, enter the city, don't get eaten there, get accepted into the Embassy as part of the Ambassador's clerks or somethin', and aren't killed on the human side for being part of the Embassy." He snorted as Shippo and Kagome went pale. "Oh, that sounds 'sure-fire' to me."

 

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AN: Questions, comments, complaints, demands, suggestions, queries, and all that other stuff are welcome and appreciated.

 

(A not-so-subtle way of saying "Please review!")

 

Thanks for readin', and now I hafta sleep.