InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Vicissitude ❯ Retribution ( Chapter 5 )

Retribution

 

Chapter Five

 

Landing in the dirt, InuYasha noticed the bluish barrier that still surrounded the outside of the well. The grip surrounding his neck tightened slightly, to which he gently squeezed his hold on Kagome's legs in response. They both realized that the barrier meant the safety of one of their friends, Miroku. “You'd think if they'd wanted our help they'd take down the barrier once we got here,” he growled, loud enough for people to hear him outside the well.

 

“Well, this is an interesting development. I know the well was empty just a second ago.”

 

`What the...? Is that…?'

 

The crimson eyes that appeared to peer into the well confirmed it, Kagura. `Damn it all, wherever Kagura shows up…that piece of crap brother of mine shows up, too.'

 

“I'd like to know how an empty well—with a barrier—is suddenly full with a puppy and his human bitch,” Kagura chuckled. “You can't just appear out of nowhere.”

 

“She ain't my bitch!” he growled at the wind youkai. “Where's Miroku? Tell him to get the fucking barrier down so we can get outta here.”

 

“What are you doing here, Kagura? Is everyone okay?” Kagome asked, indicating she wanted down by the way she pushed against his back. Ignoring her wishes, he tightened his hold in response.

 

“Yeah, yeah, the monk is taking down the barrier as we speak. Your taijiya friend is pretty beat up, but she'll survive.” Kagura looked up as the barrier fell. “The kitsune did pretty well, for being just a kid.”

 

“Keh, he's youkai,” InuYasha scoffed, leaping out of the well with Kagome. “Course he did fine.”

 

“Heh…I tend to forget he's not human since he smells like them,” Kagura gave the pair the once over as InuYasha landed in front of her. “Speaking of smelling…If she's not your bitch, why do you cover her with your scent?”

 

Horrified, he let go of Kagome—letting her tumble to the ground with an ominous thud. Feeling the flush rush to his cheeks, he only hoped she hadn't heard what Kagura had asked…and knowing the chances of that were slim to none.

 

“What was that for?”

 

Or maybe he was just damned lucky. “You ain't fifteen anymore, wench. All this carrying is making you lazy,” he lied. “You should walk more.”

 

Her eyes narrowed, his ears flattened against his head as her aura that constantly surrounded him suddenly sparked with anger. He braced himself, anticipated it, “Osuwari!” she growled, as he felt the pull of the rosary drag him down. “If you don't want your scent all over me—don't insist on carrying me! I have never had any problems walking on my own.”

 

He groaned, watching her climb to her feet before storming away from him. She flopped down next to Sango and Rin, accepting a flower crown from the younger girl before pulling off her backpack and fishing for her first aid kit. He wasn't surprised to see her immediately checking on her Sango's injuries. She always worried about others first, especially those she cared about most.

 

“What was that about?”

 

Groaning, InuYasha looked up to see Miroku and Shippou wandering toward him with identical smirks on their faces. The kitsune didn't even try to hide that he'd heard the entire conversation

 

“None of your business, monk.” Sitting up, InuYasha watched as Kagura leapt up onto the lip of the well, “Oi, get away from there.”

 

“Aren't you remotely curious, Sesshoumaru?” Kagura asked, slowly walking around the edge of the well on her tiptoes. Sesshoumaru didn't seem to care either way, he just stood near Ah-Un watching the whole scene. “I mean, InuYasha and his mate just landed in the bottom of the well. I know they weren't there before.”

 

“She's not my mate!”

 

“Oh, that's right, you prefer to call her your wench,” Kagura laughed, sitting down on the edge of the well, dangling her feet into it. “Are you going to enlighten us? How did the two of you suddenly appear?”

 

“She ain't mine,” he growled, climbing to his feet and storming over to the wind youkai. Grasping her by the upper arm, he yanked her off the edge of the well and shoved her toward Sesshoumaru. “Don't you have any control over your mate, Sesshoumaru? If you wanna know about the well, you'll have to ask Kagome. It's her secret to tell.”

 

Catching Kagura as she fell into him, Sesshoumaru narrowed his gaze at InuYasha, “Controlling her would make this Sesshoumaru no better then Naraku. She is the wind; she does as she pleases.”

 

“Well she needs to do what she pleases—away from the well,” he growled, making sure he stood between them and the time slip.

 

“You make such a good watchdog, InuYasha,” Kagura quipped, removing herself from Sesshoumaru's grasp and heading toward Kagome.

 

“You should have left her in the afterlife; she's fucking uncontrollable.”

 

“She's free,” Sesshoumaru said, an expression of boredom on his face. Slowly he removed Tenseiga from its sheath as he walked into the middle of the remains of the battlefield.

 

“We should start burying the dead, InuYasha. It's gonna be a long night,” Miroku commented, before following InuYasha's gaze to Sesshoumaru's actions in the middle of the destruction. “I still find it difficult to believe that he does this---even seeing it with my own eyes doesn't convince me.”

 

Slowly Sesshoumaru walked through the battlefield, as if he waited for some sort of sign. Randomly slashing into air, no rhyme or reason to his actions, it only took a moment before he sheathed his sword. Seven villagers that had been dead moments before slowly moved again—as the tai-youkai followed his mate.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

`Well that was strange,' she thought, watching Sesshoumaru slowly walk into InuYasha's Forest with his companions. Never in a million years had she thought that she'd have to explain her sudden appearance into the Sengoku Jidai to him of all people. Typically the tai-youkai ignored her; the only real contact with their group when he spoke with InuYasha—which wasn't often.

 

She'd hoped InuYasha would forbid it; it was their well, after all. He hadn't though. With a nod of approval the hanyou had followed Miroku to go bury the villagers—leaving Kagome and Sango to explain everything. In the end, Sesshoumaru hadn't seemed to care either way. She could have refused to tell him; it probably wouldn't have made a difference.

 

Kagura made up for his indifference ten-fold, insisting on exploring the well once she found out where it led. Before Kagome could stop her, Kagura had landed in the bottom of the well—much to her disappointment. Kagome figured if anyone would be able to get through the well besides InuYasha and her, it would be Kagura.

 

“InuYasha said Kagura still is one of Naraku's incarnations, right?” she asked, watching as Rin pushed Jaken off Ah-Un.

 

“As far as we know,” Sango answered. “No one really knows how Sesshoumaru brought her back. InuYasha says she still smells like Naraku though.”

 

Kagome shook her head slightly, “I just thought…maybe it was stupid…”

 

“Thought what?”

 

Bending down, Kagome helped Sango get to her feet so she wouldn't strain her injury, “Well, if Kagura is still technically one of Naraku's youkai, why couldn't she get through the well?”

 

Sango frowned, turning to watch as the group disappeared into the forest, “You're right. I almost thought Naraku had just opened the well—letting anyone get through.”

 

“It doesn't make any sense. If his youkai can get through, wouldn't that mean Kagura could?” Kagome sighed, picking up her backpack from the ground. “I guess I just don't understand how those youkai got through, but others can't. What did Naraku do to open the well for certain youkai?”

 

“Oi!”

 

Turning toward the voice, a dirt covered InuYasha landed next to them with his typical scowl plastered on his face. Unable to help herself she smiled, the grime on his face made the gold in his eyes look several shades brighter then normal. “You're a mess,” she laughed, brushing some of the loose dust from his cheek.

 

“Keh,” he growled, nudging her hand away from his face as his cheeks reddened. “I think we're almost done.”

 

“Oh?” looking behind him, she watched as Miroku blessed one of the graves. The villagers that Sesshoumaru had been able to revive stood alongside him, paying their respects to the fallen. Kagome hadn't paid much attention to the burial as she'd been tending to Sango and explaining things to Sesshoumaru. “Oh…wow…”

 

“What's wrong, Kagome?” Sango asked.

 

Biting her lip to stave down the tears that wanted to form, Kagome slowly shook her head in disbelief as Miroku finished his blessing and the villagers gathered their belongings and headed home. “There's a burial site near the shrine that I used to visit from time to time. I never knew why I always felt comfort when I went there, but I would go there if I was upset sometimes. I thought it was strange that I felt welcome, wanted, when I would visit. It calmed me,” giving a humorless laugh, she stared at the graves. “It's not right, they shouldn't have welcomed me. I was the reason they were buried there.”

 

“Kagome...” Sango whispered.

 

Finally losing the battle against the tears as her final thread of sanity snapped, she broke down in sobs. “No! Why does he have to ruin everyone's lives?” Feeling someone wrap their arms around her, she couldn't see who it was, but from the comfort it brought her, she knew it was InuYasha. “Why does there have to be so much death? My families are fine, but he destroyed my homes. Sango's too injured to help bury another village she calls home. What would have happened if Kagura and Sesshoumaru hadn't gotten here in time? Who else would we have buried?”

 

The only answer she got was InuYasha trying awkwardly to rub her back. `I am probably freaking him out,' she thought, forcing a ragged breath to calm herself. Not wanting to relinquish the rare comfort from the hanyou, she wrapped her arms around him taking all he would give for as long as he was willing to offer it.

 

“We still have one more grave, InuYasha,” Miroku pressed several minutes later as he replaced the barrier around the well.

 

She felt him nod his head and loosen his grip on her. Prying herself from him was harder than she'd thought it would be, and she was surprised when he didn't completely let her go. Gladly taking his support, it took her a moment to realize the revived villagers had departed the area, leaving only their little group to bury the remaining villager.

 

`That's strange…' she thought, glancing around the burial site where Shippou and Kirara sat with the final villager. `You'd think they'd bury all of them before taking off like that.'

 

She watched as Miroku helped Sango walk toward the graves, the defeated posture of the taijiya she'd seen only once before. `It was just over a year ago when we helped her bury…'

 

Suddenly everything was clear, why the villagers had left them alone, why Sango looked almost as traumatized as when they'd buried Kohaku, why InuYasha was still holding her. `He's not just trying to give me comfort, he needs it too,' she thought, wrapping her arms around him again. She felt him relax almost immediately.

 

“Are you okay to do this, Kagome?”

 

She nodded, pulling her head away from his chest as tears slowly blurred her vision, but not before noting that it wasn't the dirt making his eyes so bright. Burying her head back into his chest, the grief he felt was palpable to her. “I was wrong when I said my families were safe. Who better to lay Kaede to rest than her family?”

 

He nodded, giving her a quick squeeze before releasing her from his embrace. Surprising her, he took her hand as they followed after their friends—their family. Kaede had been grandmother, mentor and friend to each of them.

 

And Kagome knew exactly where she needed to be buried and what needed to be put on the marker they would make for her.

 

She'd been visiting the grave since she was child.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

“Why don't you get some sleep?”

 

Kagome leaned away from his side, trying to make eye contact with him. Instead, InuYasha was staring in the opposite direction, watching the trees as they swayed in the wind. “Why?” she asked, “Aren't we supposed to do this together?”

 

“Yeah, but I'm not a weak human like you,” he replied, his characteristic smirk returning as he turned to look at her. “That's why I have to do this more than the rest of you.”

 

She nudged him playfully with her shoulder, “You volunteered to do it more often than the rest of us, InuYasha.”

 

“Well if the monk wasn't a worthless human like the rest of you--”

 

“Shippou's not human.”

 

“Might as well be.”

 

“Now, he's gotten pretty powerful lately,” Kagome defended. “I wouldn't be surprised if he started beating you--”

 

“Keh, not likely…”

 

“You never know, InuYasha,” she smiled, leaning up against him again. “He's had a good coach; most students like to surpass their teacher.”

 

“So he's gonna be uncontrollable lecher like Miroku?”

 

“I'm not talking about Miroku…” she grinned, nudging him again.

 

“Well, he'd better do better then Miroku,” InuYasha scoffed. “Stupid monk can't even keep a barrier up for very long.”

 

“I don't mind having to protect the well. It's a nice night out and I get to spend time with you.”

 

“Keh,” he grumbled, looking out to the trees again. From his tone she could tell he was blushing. “We're not here for fun, Kagome. Go to sleep.”

 

“Just cause we're here protecting the well, doesn't mean we can't enjoy our time together, besides it's almost morning. Miroku will be here to put up the barrier for the day in a little bit.”

 

“Whatever. You talk too much anyway.”

 

She grinned, “Where do you think Sesshoumaru and Kagura went?”

 

“Why should I care?”

 

“He's your brother; I just wonder where they went.”

 

“I dunno; they're out there,” he sighed, “Somewhere in the forest just wandering around, waiting for a sign from Naraku.”

 

For some reason, that hadn't been the answer she'd been expecting. “They're staying in the forest?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“Kagura tried to go through the well today,” she commented. It must have piqued his interest, his ear nearest her twitched several times before finally resting. “She didn't get through. The well rejected her.”

 

“One less thing to worry about,” he growled, wrapping his arms around Tetsusaiga a little tighter.

 

“Yeah, I thought maybe Naraku had opened the well for anyone to get through,” she sighed in relief. “How did he get it to let only his demons through—but not Kagura?”

 

His brows furrowed and a slight frown graced his face as he reflected about her comments. He didn't say anything for a few moments, and she finally turned away, leaving him to his thoughts. “It's gotta be something he's done recently, but how did he do it?” he sighed, his knuckles turning white as he tightened his hold on Tetsusaiga. “Damn it…what did he do to get them through?”

 

“I don't know…but we can't protect the well forever, InuYasha,” Kagome looked up to see Miroku exiting the forest. “We will have to leave the village sooner or later.”

 

InuYasha helped Kagome to her feet at the monks approach, “I know,” he said, releasing a breath of frustration before turning to Miroku. “I just have a bad feeling about everything…”

 

“You two will be back by sunset, correct?”

 

“Yeah, don't you be late,” InuYasha growled as she tied a handkerchief over his ears. “The last thing I wanna do is sit in the bottom of the well waiting for your ass to come take the barrier down.”

 

“Yes, InuYasha,” Miroku nodded sagely. “I will make sure to be here on time; I promise you.”

 

“Keh,” he replied, seemingly satisfied with Miroku's answer. As soon as she got her backpack on, she found herself dragged onto his back—and down the well. The light of the time slip opened as they traveled back to Kagome's time.

 

Though it had only been hours since they'd left, the differences that welcomed them were staggering. The light shining into the well, the smell of smoldering wood, the uprooted trees, the destruction of the shrine—all reminders of what they'd had to do the day before. Her home---the place she'd grown up… it'd been reduced to rubble. Everything that she owned had been here…her memories and belongings… they didn't exist anymore.

 

“Where's this ho-tel place at?”

 

She looked up from the destruction to find InuYasha watching her with a frown, “Oh…not far…”

 

“You okay?”

 

“Yeah…I just never thought anything like this would ever happen,” she answered quietly. “Never imagined that what I did there would impact the people I know here. Everything I had of my father was in that shrine…”

 

“Your old man?”

 

Kagome almost smiled at the look of confusion that crossed his face, “Yeah, my dad. He died when I was pretty young—Souta was still just a baby. There weren't many reminders, just a few pictures. I am sure they were all lost in the fire, though.”

 

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but finally turned away and headed toward the stairs. Kagome sighed before following behind him. She wanted to check on her family and make sure they had gotten settled before they had to get back to the Sengoku Jidai.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

 

 

“Stop it!”

 

Trying to block out Kagome's intolerable screeching, InuYasha flattened his ears against his head as he growled, “What?”

 

Her eyes narrowed, “Stop glaring at me like somehow this is my fault! It's not, you know.”

 

“I never said it was!” he scowled, jamming his arms in his haori as he folded them across his stomach. “Miroku said he'd be here. Shoulda known he'd—damn it!”

 

“What now?” she sighed.

 

Yanking Tetsusaiga out in the same motion he got to his feet, he growled as the scent slowly filled the well. “Where the fuck is Miroku? Why are you here?”

 

“Well, this is a familiar scene…” Kagura's laughter floated down. “Don't worry; your friends are on their way.”

 

“You didn't answer me: why are you here?”

 

“Rin was hungry,” Sesshoumaru answered. “Your monk is here.”

 

Dragging Kagome onto his back as the barrier fell, InuYasha re-sheathed his sword and leapt out of the well. He found himself assaulted by the varied scent of everyone at the well, almost as if the barrier had been blocking that too. Letting Kagome down, he took a moment to adjust to his abused senses.

 

`Kagome…Miroku…Rin…Kagura…Sango… Jaken…Kouga…Sesshoumaru…Shippou…' He heard the unsheathing of Tenseiga, but it took a moment to realize what it was. `Wait…Kouga…?'

 

“Hey Kago—You!” The wolf always had one goal in mind when he came sniffing around—Kagome. So, when InuYasha jumped in front of Kagome to block her from the wolf's usual advances, he was surprised to see Kouga change his destination. Claws out, teeth bared, the wolf was determined to reach his prey.

 

InuYasha smirked, watching the unfolding scene with amusement, `Too bad he ain't getting near her.'

 

“Do you have a problem with my mate, wolf?” Sesshoumaru said impassively, Tenseiga leveled at Kouga's throat.

 

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

A/N

*Looks at watch…*

Personal deadline is tomorrow…I just made it.

 

 

I do not own InuYasha or the characters affiliated with the Manga and Anime. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi…I am just `borrowing' them for my own nefarious deeds. I own nothing, suing me won't help anyone.

Sari-15