InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unexpected Circumstances ❯ Respite ( Chapter 7 )

The group sat huddled together in the small space provided by Shippou's barrier. Nerves were on edge in the cramped area as everyone tried to come to some solution to their problem regarding the massive number of demons awaiting the end of this reprieve. Inuyasha, having finally discovered that Kikyo was now among his ally's, chose to sit himself as close as possible to her without sitting on her lap. Miroku, with Kirara in his arms, took his `rightful' place beside his lovely Sango who was busy glaring daggers at the insensitive inuhanyou who couldn't keep his paws off of his undead miko.

 

Sango looked over cautiously to Kagome who was stuck in the middle of an overly affectionate wolf demon tribe leader, who at every chance he got was sniffing Kagome's hair, and his polar opposite, the ever thick-skinned demon lord. Sango couldn't help the small smile that came across her face, what a sight they all made. Ginta and Hakkaku were busying themselves with pulling on poor Shippou's limbs telling him if they stretched him out he'd grow faster. The space was cramped, but it served its purpose in letting them take a breather. They all grew into a comfortable stillness each looking over each other calculatingly.

 

“Miko, rest,” Sesshoumaru stated suddenly, effectively breaking the silence.

 

Kagome nodded her head and closed her eyes in an attempt to catch up on some much needed sleep. Sesshoumaru didn't miss the looks of confusion that ran across the faces of the other occupants in the barrier and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The miko needed her sleep if she was going to be of any use to him, he could care less about her in particular, she was a loud mouthed, stubborn, clumsy human, why should he care?

 

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes in suspicion; Kagome and Sesshoumaru were acting strange and he was going to figure out why. Whispering carefully so as not to disturb Kagome's sleep, he voiced his concerns.

 

“Are you gonna tell me what the fuck is goin' on, or do I have to pry it outta ya?”

 

“What this Sesshoumaru does is of no consequence to one such as you, half-breed.”

 

“Like hell it isn't! What did you do to Kagome, why the sudden interest?!”

 

“You misunderstand little brother. The well-being of the ningen is merely a precaution; she is no good to me if she is not at full capacity.”

 

Kouga, who had been listening impatiently with bottled rage, reacted in the only way he knew how against dog demons: by screaming insults.

 

“Who the hell do you think you are?! You ain't touchin' my woman with your filthy dog hands! It's bad enough I got inu-baka dirtying up her beautiful scent, I sure as hell ain't gonna let you make it worse!”

 

“Hold your tongue wolf or I will cut it out,” Sesshoumaru threatened.

 

“Easy gentlemen,” interrupted Miroku, “let's not be hasty. Lord Sesshoumaru, surely you can understand our concerns, Kagome is a dear friend, we are only looking out for her.”

“Your concerns are ill placed. The ningen will be aiding this Sesshoumaru and in turn will have my protection.”

 

“Oh yeah, and who died and left you in charge?! What makes you so sure she'll even want to help you?!” shouted Sango, finally voicing her opinion.

 

“That is between the miko and myself. Should anyone try to say otherwise, they will suffer the consequences,” said Sesshoumaru with finality.

 

“I think all of you are forgetting something!” intervened Kouga, “Kagome is MY woman and-”

 

“She's not your woman ya mangy wolf! Get that through your thick skull!” Inuyasha shouted.

 

At this point in time Kikyo decided that she had heard enough about the young priestess. She gently placed a hand on Inuyasha's arm to soothe him. Inuyasha looked towards her in surprise but saw the calmness of her features willing him to calm down. Huffing and putting his hands in the sleeves of his haori, he sat back and relaxed.

 

Kagome, who miraculously continued to sleep through the controversy, was beginning to be a little unstable in her seated position. Her head bobbed up and down trying to catch herself reflexively before she fell. After the third attempt at keeping upright, her body finally gave in and tumbled to the side, only for her head to land on the shoulder of the demon lord sitting next to her. Caught off guard, Sesshoumaru's eyes widened and he instantly looked over at her sleeping form on his shoulder. Not missing the rare moment of free expression coming from his older brother, Inuyasha let out a gut rumbling laugh at Sesshoumaru's expense. The demon lord snarled at this but decided to ignore the sleeping woman; it was he who commanded her to rest.

 

Miroku covered his laughter behind his hand and nudged Sango who was distracted by the two wolf brother ruffling up Shippou's hair. When she followed Miroku's gaze and direction of the slight nod of his head, what she saw nearly had her in a fit of giggles. There in all his glory was the mighty Lord Sesshoumaru with a small woman precariously sliding down his chest towards his lap, leaving behind a light trail of drool. In spite of himself, Sesshoumaru ran a hand across his face in utter exasperation; he questioned his decision, not for the first time, to bring this young woman back to life. Surely he could have figured out a way to dispose Naraku without her help, right?

 

 

****

 

Naraku paced the confines of his castle impatiently; just what were those fools doing? What was taking them so long? He had tried several attempts to bust their barrier, but with two priestesses and a monk to reinforce it he did not have such success. The demon forces that he had sought were quickly turning against each other, which simply would not do. He needed all the advantage he could get when it came to fighting his enemies. The unexpected arrival of the wolves was surprising, but not something that would prove to be a hindrance. However, when that accursed dog demon showed up and aided the priestess which he was certain he was finally rid of; it left him a bit perturbed. Things were not exactly going to plan; perhaps he should take his leave and set his minions free to their own devices while he still had the chance. Surely if he left then the demons would seek their vengeances on the closest beings possible; this could prove to be quite favorable.

 

“Kagura,” Naraku started.

 

“Yes my lord?” the wind witch replied.

 

“I leave the band of warriors in your hands; I trust you will not fail?”

 

Oh how she hated this beast. “Of course, whatever you say. I require some assistance however.”

 

“You will have the demons as well as my saimyoshou (poisonous insects of hell). I will also leave Atoshi and Micharata at your disposal; see what they can do and then report to me at a later time.”

 

“As you wish master,” came Kagura's response which was dripping with loathing.

 

“Oh and Kagura, if anything should happen, kill them before they give any valuable information, if would not do to have my whereabouts divulged.”

 

Naraku then tossed one of his wooden puppets onto the floor of his room and watched as it transformed into an exact duplicate of himself. He smirked and did an about-face before stealthily making his way from the castle.

 

Kagura looked on in disgust as Naraku fled from the battle like a coward. He was nothing short of a rat. He presumed himself quick; he was sneaky and underhanded and usually depended on others to do his dirty work. More often than not the rag tag group of warriors found themselves fighting not Naraku himself, but against his puppet. Many times Kagura found herself to be the guinea pig of Inuyasha's newfound attacks, much to her dismay. Whenever she returned to Naraku tattered he would merely chuckle amusedly and send her on her way. The worst thing about it: she could do nothing.

 

With a heavy breath she walked towards the awaiting courtyard filled with demons. She stopped halfway to her destination in front of two adjoining rooms in the castle. There she found one of the three newest incarnations spawned from Naraku.

 

Atoshi, the smaller one, had dull red hair that reached just to his shoulders and light gray eyes. His specialty was that of a shape-shifter. Although Naraku was indeed lower than the dirt he walked on, no one could deny that he was clever. Using the inner-most feelings of his enemy was his forté and he made sure to utilize those feelings to their fullest potential. Kohaku, Sango's younger brother, was more than proof enough for that theory. The boy had been cheated of his death by a tainted jewel shard embedded in his back by none other than Naraku. When fighting with the small group of warriors, Naraku made it a point to bring Kohaku every now and then to stir things up for the woman demon slayer. He thrived off the pain of others, and though Kagura was a spawn of him, even she saw this as despicable.

 

“Atoshi, you are to come with me, we will be retrieving your sister shortly as well,” commanded Kagura.

 

The two incarnations made their way through the palace once again and came to another room, this time revealing a tall, slim demoness known as Micharata. The striking features of this particular demon were proudly shown off by her. She had long, almost ankle length, golden hair and deep purple colored eyes. She was as deadly as she was beautiful. Her strength flowed from her in waves of pure energy that even the simplest of humans could feel. Micharata glanced at the two at her doorway and nodded her head in understanding: it was time to make their presence known. The three of them followed the halls of the fortress, each holding onto thoughts of what was to come.

****

 

 

Kagome felt warm-so warm and comfortable; that had to have been one of the best sleeps she'd ever gotten. She yawned wide and allowed a contented sigh escape her lips before deciding it was time for her to wake up fully. She slowly stretched her legs out until they could go no further and her toes pointed. She then brought her arms above her head and wiggled her fingers and came into contact with something hard and covered in silk. She patted her hand around to try and decipher what was in her way when a clawed hand firmly grabbed her wrist. She started and warily opened her eyes only to be met with white silk and silver-plated armor. She glanced up further and her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

 

Deep amber eyes glared back at her and she felt the heat rise to her face and she turned ten different shades of red when she realized just what exactly she was laying on, or better yet, what exactly her hand came in contact with. She audibly gulped and regained her bearings to quickly sit up.

 

Her eyes were down cast and face still blushing, “g-gomen, gomen nasi (sorry, very sorry),” she whispered. She lifted her head again to face the ever emotionless demon lord. His usual mask of indifference was on, but an emotion was clear when it passed through his eyes; was that amusement? Her embarrassment was slowly ebbing towards annoyance when the look didn't go away.

 

“It is not rare for women to desire to touch this Sesshoumaru, it is understandable you were unable to resist,” his deep baritone voice stated haughtily.

 

Kagome snorted at this in a clear unladylike fashion. Stupid arrogant dogs think they're so hot with their stupid pretty silver hair. Kagome looked over her friends in the barrier; everyone seemed to have finally drifted off into some semblance of sleep. Even Kikyo seemed to be resting while her creepy little soul stealers brought her souls for her rejuvenation. Kagome hated that the worst. Her and Kikyo seemed to be on mutual terms as of late, but she could never agree of Kikyo's use of souls; they never got a chance to seek peace in the afterlife. Kagome then turned toward Sesshoumaru who had once again taken up to looking out at the surrounding battlefield.

 

“Um, so was there any progress while I was asleep? What's the plan?” she asked

 

“Naraku has fled from battle. His presence is masked even to this Sesshoumaru,” he stated. The demon lord had felt the vile hanyou's aura fade, but being the sneaky and pusillanimous bastard that he was, he hid himself completely before he was able to discern the direction in which he went. However, two strong powers had been felt shortly after Naraku's leave and he was letting his curiosity get the better of him. If he couldn't fight Naraku himself, then he would indeed settle for his spawns; one way or another a part of Naraku was going to die by his hand this day.

 

As if reading his thoughts, Kagome asked, “So, if Naraku is gone then why are you still here?”

 

Sesshoumaru took a moment to think of his response, not only did he stay around to kill off some of Naraku's evil minions, he also wanted to make sure that the miko was not harmed, it would not do well to have this girl debilitated; not before he could use her to finish off Naraku. But should he tell her this? Would it be wise? He chose then to hold off his answer.

 

“It would be best discussed in the company of your friends; I have no desire of repeating myself.” Not an entire lie, just a certain omission of truths.

 

Why was he trying to assure himself? He did not have to answer to others, he was Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western lands, the most feared taiyoukai in all of Japan! She was no one of importance, just some lowly human wench of his half-brother, a means to an end as far as he was concerned. Humans were pitiful, weak, filthy, deceitful creatures; the only exception was of course his Rin. She on the other hand was loyal and obedient; and he made certain that she was well kept. Yes, she was the only exception, not even the miko was an exemption.

 

But she is loyal.

 

Sesshoumaru mentally sighed. That indeed she is. The way she clings to Inuyasha is almost sickeningly loyal. No matter how many times the half-breed runs off to be with his undead lover, the girl still stays by his side.

 

She is not weak.

 

Hai (yes), that is true as well. The girl emanates an extreme amount of power, albeit untrained and unfocused, but still a massive amount of power. `She has even stood against this Sesshoumaru on occasion', not many, human or demon alike, could say this.

 

She is honest.

 

Sesshoumaru had never been in observance of a lie from her. While she sometimes does not admit her fear, even when it is blatantly obvious that she is terrified, she is not traitorous in her sham.

 

She smells good.

 

Perhaps. But now is not the time to dwell upon such things.

 

“Thank you Lord Sesshoumaru,” Kagome said, effectively silencing Sesshoumaru's inner debate.

 

He turned his eyes toward her and kept his stoic façade while he waited for her to continue. When she still did not speak, he rose one of his elegant eyebrows in question.

 

Kagome had been watching intently while Sesshoumaru seemed to be thinking. He was so caught up in his thoughts that she took the time to look over his features; up close and in the dim light of the morning he made a beautiful picture. When she had thanked him she had intended to continue, but her words caught in her throat when he shifted his gaze toward her. Everything about him was pristine; although he had not slept at all and had been cramped within the barrier, nothing was out of place on his body. His clothes were immaculate, his hair held an eternal shine, and his eyes were a deep shade of amber. When he raised his eyebrow she basked in the small amount of emotion that he allowed to play across his face.

 

Kagome cleared her throat and continued after his eyes narrowed; she had been caught staring. “I wanted to thank you for allowing me to sleep, um, I'm sure you weren't very comfortable.”

“…”

 

“Right uh, perhaps we should wake the others,” she yielded when she realized that he was not going to comment.

 

She nudged Kouga who was peacefully sleeping next her and with a grunt he opened his eyes. She asked him to help her wake the others and soon everyone was once again alert. To say that Inuyasha was furious that Naraku was no longer there would have been an understatement. He was livid. It took Kikyo and Miroku twenty minutes to calm his nerves, but when they finally did, preparations were well on the way of what to do with the two new presences that had made themselves vaguely known.

 

The surrounding demons were getting frustrated and the small group of warriors were preparing themselves yet again for battle. With everyone well rested they stood and waited for Shippou to drop his barrier so they could continue their fight. Each of them were anxious to get out of the confined place; they were all too close for comfort.

 

“The miko will be coming with me,” Sesshoumaru affirmed.

 

Kikyo started to walk forward at the same time Kagome did and Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. Directing his vision towards Kikyo, he clarified his choice. “This Sesshoumaru does believe he said miko, not specter.”

 

“What the fuck is your problem! Don't talk to Kikyo like that!” snarled Inuyasha.

 

“It is alright Inuyasha, his words do not injure me,” stated Kikyo. It was only too obvious that Sesshoumaru detested her presence; anyone could clearly see that. He thought her a plague on the earth; not just her, but anyone in this likeness. Kikyo took his words in stride and calmed the growling hanyou.

 

“I swear if you let anything happen to Kagome I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat!” Inuyasha threatened his older brother. Just because Kikyo was around didn't mean that he cast Kagome aside; he still loved her and cared for her.

 

“Really dear brother, must you always be so brash?”

 

“Look, this is getting us nowhere, can we just get on with it?!” Sango interrupted.

 

“Indeed.” Sesshoumaru was very much inclined to agree with the woman demon slayer. Any longer with these people and he was sure he would not be able to keep his poison claws to himself.

 

Shippou let down his barrier and all at once the demons struck with a newfound force. During the night many of the demons had fought against themselves and killed one another in hopes of being the only left standing to get the jewel. This left the small band of warriors with less than half to deal with now which they had planned on.

 

Inuyasha led the group with his “Wind Scar” attack which significantly decreased the oncoming force. The demons hissed and screamed as they were swallowed up in bright gold power. Sesshoumaru then unleashed his Tokijin's “Dragon Strike” attack, bringing the hoards to one-third of their remaining numbers. The ones left over looked on in fear as the majority of their fellow aggressors were slain. A few took to retreating in fear of their own lives, but many still stayed in hopes of gaining a greater power.

The group stood in waiting as the attacks paused, leaving an eerie calm over the demolished courtyard. The eyes of all the shard hunters scanned the demons, looking for even the slightest twitch to indicate their next move. There were so few left that they could count them now. Kagome had just enough time to count seventy remaining when the doors of the castle slid open to reveal the wind demoness, Kagura. Behind her stood two figures that the group had not seen before.

 

The two entities seemed unbothered by the events in the surrounding courtyard, the tall demon, Micharata, had a most unusually twisted smirk playing across her face. She loved battle. Since she was `born' not two months ago, she had been in a few at Naraku's order. At that point in time he was testing her abilities against different types of demons and humans alike, each time she was the victor, but she also found out her weakness. Each time she used her uncanny strength she weakened a bit more. Her speed would suffer as would her might, but she always finished off her opponent before they could get the better of her.

 

Atoshi, the small, younger looking incarnation, had a frown permanently etched into his child-like face. He had no special weaknesses, when he was cut he bled just like any other. But his ability to take the form of a person most cherished to his adversary gave him the upper hand. He had to be crafty however, he could not simply take their form in front of their eyes, he had to appear to actually be that person, otherwise it was too easy to see his deception.

 

Kagura looked on at the rag-tag group that she had met many times before. She could care less about the incarnations behind her; in fact, secretly she wished for their demise, the fewer obstacles the group had to killing Naraku the better. But, as long as Naraku held her heart, she had a job to do. Reluctantly she lifted her closed fan in front of her; a clear sign for the demons and incarnations to continue their onslaught.

 

Tired of the interruptions to his killing spree, Inuyasha vowed to let nothing else stop his sword. After the long night of sitting he was more than ready to stretch his limbs. He genuinely smiled when a huge boar demon started to charge; this one he would enjoy taking out with his bare hands. Inuyasha pulled his fist back and leapt towards his target. In a jaw shattering punch, the boar demon went down along with a couple of other that just so happened to be behind the thing at the time. Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and continued on his merry way, slicing and dicing demons with his claws.

 

Sango was enjoying this fight, perhaps even more so than Inuyasha. She swung her heavy bone boomerang with harsh laughter and a look of pure bliss on her face. She looked every bit the beautiful warrior, and Miroku had the black eye to prove it. He had been fighting with a snake demon and was about to make his killing blow with his staff when he caught sight of the beauty. She looked heavenly against the now morning sky and he found he couldn't look away even if he tried. The snake demon took advantage of this and made his blow. Fortunately for Miroku, Kouga had been close at hand and he killed the demon in Miroku's place.

 

“Would you pay attention houshi, I like ya and all, but I ain't got time to fight your fights as well as mine!” screamed Kouga.

 

With a shaky nod, Miroku regained his footing and continued to exchange blows with the masses. He joined with Hakkaku and Ginta and all together they brought a few more down. The numbers were dwindling and there were only around forty left to finish.

Sesshoumaru made his way towards Kagura and the two others near her; he did not deem it worthy to waste his time with the likes of lowly demons, he would hit Naraku where it would hurt him most, and that was his `children'.

 

“Kagura, it seems that your master has yet again chose to flee from this Sesshoumaru.”

 

“In fact he has, but he left you a present,” she started. “Atoshi! Micharata!”

 

The two newest spawns of Naraku worked their way around Kagura's form. Their moves were graceful, and it gave the impression that they were not even touching the ground at all. They were dressed in similar attire, dark black robes that hung loosely over their forms, giving them enough room to maneuver freely. The two beings came to a stop in front of the wind sorceress and set their eyes upon the demon lord and the young miko. Atoshi looked over the girl, examining her every feature and expression. His eyes locked onto hers and she felt a pulse of power rush over her body from her feet to her head. She had never felt anything like that, it was a pressure in her head, but as quickly as it came it was gone again.

 

Atoshi was going to use his newfound knowledge that he had just gained from reading this young mortal's thoughts. It seemed that the hanyou in the red robes was something special to her. He saw many people in this girl's mind, but by far that was the one that kept coming through the clearest. He stored this information away and moved his eyes to the powerful dog demon standing next to her. With the same quickness of sensations, Atoshi had gathered the very useful details embedded in the demon lord's mind.

 

Sesshoumaru felt the slight pressure in his head and narrowed his eyes at the small incarnate; just what did he do? Neither beings had made a single move towards them, and being the patient demon that he is, Sesshoumaru would wait for one of them to make the first advancement; this is how he calculated his enemies capabilities.

 

“You can take the girl Atoshi, I want a go at the male,” Micharata said with a low, soft voice. Atoshi nodded in acquiescence and in less than a blink of an eye Micharata had disappeared.