InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unnamed ❯ Chapter 3

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The sun had set over the forest and the creatures of eternal darkness emerged from their places of refuge to begin their nocturnal crusades. The forest was a cacophony, created from the cries of the nearby fauna. None of the creatures neared the glowing campfire emulating from the glade where Inuyasha and his friends had set up camp. The girls had left for the nearby hot spring to cleanse themselves of the dirt they had gathered from the day's rigorous trials. As usual the holy monk was up to his normal lecheries.

“Inuyasha, why don't you come and join me,” the monk said, trying to coax Inuyasha into a deadly mistake.

“Feh, no thank you, monk. I prefer to keep my face out of the dirt,” Inuyasha replied.

“You're so innocent, Inuyasha, it's sickening,” the houshi said, his face a mask of unbearable disgust.

“Hey, there's nothing wrong with being innocent in some aspects. Kami knows that I've lost every other tie to innocence there is.” Inuyasha sat with a look on his face that betrayed his so-called innocence. He considered the ups and downs of taking the late night peeping trip with his only male peer. `I could see Kagome naked, plus they'd never be able to know I was there, I'm to silent to get caught. Hm . . . though on the other hand, if I do get caught, I risk losing Kagome's trust.' His mind made up, Inuyasha announced his decision, with a little more volume than was necessary. “No thank you Miroku, I'll just sit here and wait for Kagome to come back and make my ramen. I'm not ending up in a crater in the ground.”

Miroku wondered why Inuyasha was speaking so loudly before turning to leave. “Inuyasha,” he started, looking back at his companion, “every time I ask you to come, you turn me down. You're such a stiff, you know that. I swear it's almost as if you have no feelings for Kagome at all.” Miroku stopped when he saw a small smile arise on Inuyasha's face. “Why are you smiling?”

Inuyasha hesitated a moment before answering, knowing that two pairs of hidden ears were listening to their conversation. “Feh, nothing, monk.”

“Inuyasha, I really don't get you.” Seeing the smile on Inuyasha's face made the monk want to wipe it away. “It's a good thing you want to maintain that innocence of yours because everyone knows of all those people you've killed, how many times you've had to steal from villagers, and of course all those time you-” Miroku could not finish his sentence. He was forced to run as Inuyasha lost all control of himself.

“Monk, I'm going to kill you now! I thought you were my friend! But what kind of friend would bring up such painful memories?” Inuyasha asked, his fangs and claws beared. “I know all my sins and I can't forget them, but you don't need to bring them up. Get over here so I can gut you!”

Miroku, now fully afraid for his life, was running around the glade trying to avoid the hanyou's furious onslaught. Miroku was starting to tire and Inuyasha was within striking distance when two things happened at once.

First, out of nowhere, the hiraikotsu came sailing through the air and connecting with the lecherous monk's head, knocking him out. Inuyasha looked around for his friends expecting to see Sango emerging from where her and the others were hiding. His search was distracted however as the pale, lavender light again shone around his neck as he softly dropped to the ground.

“Kagome! Where are you hiding?” Inuyasha yelled furiously out of rage from being unjustly sat. Inuyasha tried to lift up his head to inspect the area for the young miko, but the spell only forced his head back down.

“I'm right here, Inuyasha,” Kagome said arriving at his side.

“Why the hell did you sit me?”came Inuyasha's retort, full of rage, but a hint of underlying pain caught Kagome's ear.

“I'm sorry, Inuyasha, but I was afraid you were actually going to kill Miroku.”

“I was until you stopped me.”

“See, it was a good thing. I heard everything and Miroku had no right to talk to you like that.” Kagome stopped to help Inuyasha up.

“Kagome,” Inuyasha said, pain apparent in his rough, baritone voice. “Thank you for stopping me from committing another sin. But now I must go and be by myself for a while. I'll be back in the morning.”

Kagome tried to grab a hold of him, but Inuyasha slipped out of her grasp and into the night sky, jumping from tree to tree. “Inuyasha, come back,” Kagome desperately yelled after the hanyou. More quietly to herself she whispered, “I need you to keep away the nightmares.”

Seeing Inuyasha takeoff, Sango left Miroku's side to try and comfort her friend. “Kagome, what happened? Why did Inuyasha just take off like that?”

Kagome looked at her best friend with tears in her eyes. “I don't know. I guess it was something I said,” Kagome half sobbed.

A little concerned, the demon slayer asked, “Well what did you say to him?”

Kagome, concerned, thought back and couldn't see anything particularly special about their conversation. Deciding to discover the reason for Inuyasha's departure, Kagome answered, “I don't know, but I'm sure going to find out.” And with that, Kagome took off into the dark night, bringing with her only her bow and arrows, and her need for Inuyasha.

Kagome's legs were starting to tire and her chest was on fire. `I can't stop . . . no, I won't stop, not until I find Inuyasha. Where is his demonic aura?' Kagome kept her head on a swivel, reaching out and trying to feel for Inuyasha's normally prominent aura. After nearly a half-hour of searching, Kagome picked up the hanyou's surprisingly diminished aura. It was almost as if . . . as if . . .

`No it can't be. It's almost as if he's dying. His aura is so weak and small. Inuyasha can't be dying.' The sudden realization brought new life to Kagome's legs and she ran as fast as she could towards Inuyasha's aura. `Hang on Inuyasha, I'm coming!'

Kagome heard the rushing water of the stream before she could see it. She ran for the sound of the stream because that was where Inuyasha's aura was strongest. The sight that met Kagome's eyes was more horrifying to her than any battlefield she had ever seen.

There, strewn on the ground before her, lay Inuyasha covered in scratches. The scratches covered his entire body; his arms, chest, face, and stomach were covered in dry blood, his blood. Kagome immediately ran to Inuyasha's side and pulled his head into her lap. “Inuyasha! Inuyasha, can you here me?” She slapped him a few times to try and wake him.

“Oi, Kagome, what do you want? How did you get here?”

“That doesn't matter, Inuyasha, what happened to you?”

“I thought I told you I would be back in the morning. Why did you follow me?”

Kagome's eyes were starting to tear up. “I followed you because I was worried about you.”

“Liar. You know there's no reason to worry about me, I can take care of myself.”

“You can take care of yourself, can you? Than what the hell happened here?” Kagome asked her tears on the brim, ready to fall. “You're covered in blood.”

“Nothing happened, Kagome. It's just . . . forget about it.” Inuyasha's face suddenly paled as he nearly fainted from the loss of blood.

“Inuyasha, tell me wha happened here or I'm going to s-i-t you. Who attacked you and did you finish them off?”

Inuyasha went silent. `I can't tell her the truth, she'll be pissed.' He looked into Kagome's sapphire eyes only to meet a cold stare and a sharp remark.

“Speak now, boy, or you're going to regret it.” Kagome wasn't bluffing and that was the part that scared Inuyasha the most.

“No-nobody attacked me. I did this myself.”

“You did what?! You realize how dangerous that is, don't you.”

“What's so dangerous about it, I'm fully healed in the morning anyways.”

“That's not the point. When you do this you leave yourself vulnerable,” Kagome sobbed out, her tears finally falling. “Inuyasha, why can't you just talk to me? I'm here for you; I'm your friend aren't I?” Kagome started to gently rub Inuyasha's ears in an attempt to calm him down. As she scanned over his torn body, she saw that his silver mane was the only part left clean of blood.

“Yes, Kagome, you are my friend, but I didn't want you to know this about me.”

“Well now I do, so anytime you feel the need to dothis, come and talk to me, okay. And promise me you'll never do this again.”

“Okay, I promise, Kagome. You don't need to stay here, I'll come back in the morning. Go back to camp and sleep with the others.”

“I am not going to leave your side. It's like you told me when we were fighting Menomaru. I'm not leaving, not without you.”

“Why? Why would you stay with me Kagome?” Inuyasha knew he probably wasn't going to get a straight answer, but decided to ask anyway.

“I have my reasons,” Kagome cooed soothingly, “now go to sleep. I'll still be here in the morning and we'll walk back to camp together.”

“Sounds good to me, Kagome.”

“Oh, and Inuyasha,”

“Yes, Kagome,”

“If I ever catch you doing this to yourself again, I will s-i-t you so many times, we'll have to get a ladder to pull you up out of the ground. Do you understand me, Inuyasha?” Kagome asked, her eyebrow raised for extra emphasis.

“Yes, I do, Kagome,” Inuyasha said, a small smile gracing his face. Inuyasha started to slowly drift off to sleep but before he completely faded, he murmured, “Thank you, Kagome.” Kagome was surprised by the sudden thanks. Remembering back to the night before, Kagome decided to return the favor he had given her. Her heart began to race as she leaned over Inuyasha and kissed his forehead, expecting an outburst from her hanyou protector, but Inuyasha was already fast asleep, chasing Naraku through his dreams.

Sunrise found the two companions walking slowly back to their makeshift camp, Kagome's fingers tightly entwined with Inuyasha's. The pair arrived just as Miroku and Sango were awaking, the monk's head now considerably less swollen.

“I see you two are back from your late night tryst. How was it Kagome?” Miroku asked giving her a raised eyebrow.

“Sango, would you do the honors please?” asked, her hands clenched tightly at her sides.

“Not a problem, Kagome,” Sango replied, rolling up her sleeve and balling her hand up into a well-aimed fist.

“Honors? What honors?” Miroku asked, completely oblivious to the fuming tajiya poised above him, ready to strike the back of his head.

Sango “did the honors” and punched Miroku, knocking him over before he got up, turned to Sango and asked with an injured look on his face, “What was that for?”

“Is that what you truly believe they were doing, you hentai?” Sango yelled incredulously. “Don't you remember what happened last night?” Miroku sat down and started thinking to the night before. Not bringing up an recollection of the two's departure, he just shrugged and shook his head. “Oh that's right. You were unconscious.”

“That's right. You bonked me with you're hiraikotsu!”

“You deserved it, with the way you were treating Inuyasha!”

“My dearest Sango, whatever do you mean? I always treat Inuyasha with the greatest of respect and never mistreat him.”

“How can you stand there and lie to me and call yourself a monk? Both Kagome and I heard you last night trying to get Inuyasha to go peeping on us. He turned you down, claiming his innocence before you attacked all his misdeeds in the past. He was going to kill you if Kagome and I hadn't stepped in.”

“I still see no reason why you had to knock me out.”

“Miroku,” Sango gritted out frustrated, “apologize to Inuyasha before I bonk you again with hiraikotsu.”

“Very well, Sango,” Miroku said defeated, “Inuyasha, I apolo . . . where'd he go?”

Kagome turned to her side only to discover that Inuyasha had indeed left. She quickly scanned the area and found his aura down at the stream where they had spent last night. She turned to find him, her exit accompanied by a yell from Sango and an unhealthy thump on the noggin for Miroku. `I swear sometimes he's denser than Inuyasha.'

Speak of the devil, or half-demon as it were, Inuyasha came up the path carrying his haori and a bundle of fresh caught fish. His toned and tan chest distracted Kagome's gaze from Inuyasha's face until he reached her. “Hey you, are you okay?”

Kagome looked up into Inuyasha's amber eyes and lost her train of thought. “I . . . uh . . . yeah I'm fine.”

“Good, we can't have you daydreaming. There's jewel hunting to be done.” The pair, for the second time that day, walked back to camp, this time in silence. Inuyasha paused for a second causing Kagome to come to a halt and turn around.

“What is it, Inuyasha?” Kagome asked, her voice calm and questioning.

“I was just wondering. Kagome, what's a tryst? I heard Miroku say it before I left.”

“A tryst is . . . well a tryst is . . . just don't worry about it Inuyasha. I'll tell you someday, if the time is ever right.”

“Is it something I'll like, Kagome?” Inuyasha asked, pointing his ears forward attentively to catch the answer.

“I have no doubt in my mind that you'll like it,” Kagome answered. `Especially since your sudden late-night trysts with Kikyou are over. I can't wait until you're finally all mine.' “Now, why don't we hurry on back to camp and cook those fish so we can eat and then get started on our way hunting for the jewel shards.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Last one there's a toad.” Inuyasha took off at full stride for camp. He teased Kagome by just staying out of Kagome's reach. “Ha, nobody can beat me. I'm the fastest, strongest, and smartest half-demon ever,” Inuyasha bragged.

“Oh really, Inuyasha. You can't be beat. We'll see about that. Sit boy.” Inuyasha's necklace dragged him to the ground, giving him a full face of dirt.

“Kagome, get back here. That's cheating.”

“What's that Inuyasha, I don't speak toad,” Kagome jeered at Inuyasha as she ran by.

Inuyasha arrived at camp only seconds after Kagome.

Miroku was amazed. “Inuyasha you must be slowing down. Looks like Kagome beat you,” he said mockingly.

“Nah. She sat me. I wouldn't have lost if . . .” Inuyasha raised his head to the air before diving out of the way and grabbing Kagome as he rolled out of the line of fire. “Sango, grab Miroku and get on Kilala. Get int the air and scan the surrounding tree line for any abnormalities in the canopy.

“Sure, Inuyasha, but why?” Sango asked, confused at Inuyasha's odd behavior.

“There's no time to explain, just do as I say.”

Sango threw Kilala into the air where she transformed before both Miroku and Sango jumped on. The two took into the skies but not without the customary grope and slap.

Kagome ran up behind Inuyasha, trying to hide from whatever invisible foe the forest hid. “What's the matter, Inuyasha?”

“There's a shintai-nipo in the forest. They're creatures that can blend almost perfectly in with the forest and shoot air so fast that it forms a vacuum that can slice through pretty much anything. The only way to sense them is to smell them, but the wind has died down and I can't get whiff of it.”

“So what should we do?”

“Right now just stand behind me and wait until Sango and Miroku come back.” Inuyasha used his sharp hearing and eyesight to scan the immediate vicinity for any clue to his attacker's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, a half-mile away, a lone miko stood on a hill, talking seemingly to noone. “You missed the girl.”

“I couldn't help it. The half-breed moved her before my attack got to her,” the wind seemed to say.

“Forget it. These should help you out enough to finish them off,” the miko said throwing three jewel shards into the wind where they floated and suddenly seemed to disappear. “Now, go back and finish the job.”

“What about the others? The monk and the exterminator?”

“I don't care. Just fatally injure the girl and leave the half-breed alone. I want to see him suffer.”

“Yes, lady Kikyou. As you wish,” and with that, the shintai-nipo departed.

`Inuyasha, you will soon feel more suffering than you have ever known as I take that which is precious to you.' Kikyou stared at the clearing where her past love, and his new one, stood. `Kagome will die,' Kikyou vowed to nobody, as she watched for the upcoming misfortune that was going to befall the Inuyasha gumi.