Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Anything For You ❯ Mystery of the Burn ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or Inuyasha!

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Mystery of the Burn

Many sets of confused eyes turned towards the two voices that had called out, "No." For a brief moment, Kagome ceased her fruitless struggling, stretching and craning her neck backwards towards Sango. The young demon exterminator's hands were fisted, her face bright red, while her whole body shook with barely controlled fury. Slowly, Kagome's eyes traveled from Sango towards the hanyou, who had also spoken on her behalf. While Sango's outburst surprised her, she would never have never imagined, even in her wildest dream, that a stranger would help her, a girl nobody wanted or cared for. She was the girl that not even her own family wanted.

"You are all freaking humans as well!" Inuyasha spat, his golden eyes holding unspoken pain and anguish. "Punishing the wench is understandable. Even asking her to cut off her own hands because of her actions is understandable, but killing the defenseless wench in going to far! Where's the honor in that?" he continued, unconsciously drawing unnecessary attention of the villagers to himself. As soon as the hanyou concluded his little rant about honor (not that he ever showed any), everyone turned their weapons towards him, regarding him as a threat to their village and family.

"Housing a demon now?" demanded the village lord while keeping a wary eye on the hanyou, who was beginning to crack his knuckles in a threatening manner. "Demon exterminator Sango, how do you plan to explain this to me?!? Was this commanded by your father? What use is a demon exterminator if you don't exterminate? Or have you betrayed your race and made a pact with youkais?"

"Old man, do you like to hear yourself talk or something?" the hanyou gruffly demanded before extending his claws. "Keh," he snorted loudly as a group of human men rushed towards him, armed with farming utensils and broomsticks. While Inuyasha was preoccupied with warding off the village men, the village women were preparing to burn Kagome alive. Confused with which side she should aid, (on one hand, she agreed with Inuyasha, but on the other hand, it was also her duty to protect the village) Sango failed to notice the loud wailings of her friend.

Bound tightly to a wooden pole, piles of browning hay were placed beneath her feet. Turning pleading eyes towards her parents and siblings, Kagome silently begged them to save her. Maya only shrugged her shoulders and yawned when the village women began to dump oil onto the hay. Kikyou gave her a sad half frown as if she never had her as a sister to begin with. A sad laugh escaped Kagome's lips as she remember, "They never saw me as their sister and family. I was merely a servant…a slave for them." Her younger siblings wisely remained silent under strict orders from their mother, who did not wish to become ruined and dishonored because of a daughter whom she never wanted.

"Hey, get the girl!" Inuyasha yelled between slashing through a wooden broom. "Keh, I promise I won't harm your species…at least, this time." the hanyou muttered, causing a sigh of relief to escape the exterminator's lips. Giving the hanyou a thankful nod of her head, she turned to save Kagome, only to find that nobody was there anymore. A terrified expression crossed her face as she hurriedly ran towards where the burning usually took place.

Unfortunately for Inuyasha, the villager men had also caught this exchange of promise. They charged again with renewed vigor, knowing the hanyou wouldn't kill them. Cursing under his breath, Inuyasha pushed off the balls of his feet and landed on one of the huts in a defense position. "No killing…but I can still rough them up." he thought to himself as he raised his claws and leaped back into the mob of men.

A burning torch was carefully handed to the village lord, who didn't hesitate, even for a moment, to set the brown hay under Kagome's feet on fire. A scream of pure terror erupted from her lips as she slammed her eyes shut. A tear slipped from the edge of her eyes as she allowed the warm heat to lull her into dreamland. "I wish I could see him for one last time…" was her last thought as the flames licked around her body, threatening to consume her whole.

A dark cloud rolled over the horizon, speeding towards the village at an incredible speed, causing the village men and women to drop their arsenals. "Are the gods angry with us?" they whispered among themselves. Upon closer look, they realized it wasn't a cloud at all, but a youkai…and non-too-happy youkai. They weren't sure if they would rather have an angry god or an attacking youkai, because either way, they were ruined! They were all going to die, they realized with horror.

Now it was the villagers turn to scream with terror as the lord and his servants hurriedly slipped back to his fortress, abandoning his people. Inuyasha lifted his head as a soft growl emanated from his chest, but the youkai didn't even spare him a glance. Instead, it bounded right passed him and towards the village square, where the burning stake was located. With one large swipe of its deadly claws, it easily smothered the growing fire. Gently grabbing the unconscious girl by the scruff of her charred kimono with his sharp canines, the youkai turned a sharp glare towards the villagers.

"I demand that you release Kagome this instance, you beast!" Sango growled, slightly out of breath, while groping for her weapon, a life-sized boomerang. Realizing she did not carry her main source of defense, she fluently unsheathed her katana with one, swift motion. The golden eyes of the youkai looked highly annoyed and agitated, appearing to decide if he should destroy the village. A soft cough from the girl in between his canines brought him back to the more important matter at hand.

Giving the exterminator and her village one last, icy glare, he returned to the air with one giant leap. His silver fur gleamed elegantly under the setting sun while his nine, smooth tails flowed behind him like a banner. "Kirara," Sango called as her fire neko transformed into a large, flying youkai. But by the time Kirara reached her, the silver youkai who had Kagome had already disappeared. Dropping to her knees, Sango covered her face, feeling as if she had failed Kagome, whom she had considered as a friend. Maya released a soft gasp before fainting; her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Everyone was positive that Kagome was dead…not that they cared.

The nine-tailed youkai landed gracefully with a loud crash through the forest treetops before carefully depositing his young charge. Closing his eyes, the youkai was immediately surrounded by a silver mist. When the mist finally cleared, the proud kitsune Youko stood where the nine-tailed youkai had previously occupied. Bending down over his charge, he held her wrist in his much-larger hand and checked for a pulse. Youko was both relieved and surprised to find Kagome in perfect condition; her skin had remained unmarred from the fire even though he couldn't say the same for her kimono.

Deciding he could inquire the girl for details on the event that took place when she awoke, he lazily reclined against a tree stump. After a few minutes, Kagome's breathing rate increased, signifying her awakening. Rubbing her blue eyes with the back of her hand, Kagome pushed herself into a sitting position. "Is this really hell?" she choked while wrapping her arms around herself.

"I can assure you, it is not." Youko stated, causing Kagome to freeze in fear. "I promise you that nothing will happen to you when I am with you." he added as he knelt down in front of his charge. Blinking back tears, Kagome suddenly launched herself at Youko, wrapping her arms tightly around his midsection. Unsure of how to react, Youko remained silent, allowing his charge to draw comfort from him (even though he didn't offer any). "What happened? I want the full details." he commanded after a few moments of silence.

Waiting till her hiccups subsided, Kagome began recounting the events that took place in great detail, leaving and exaggerating nothing. "I really didn't mean to cut off Keiji's hand!" she protested softly as she slammed her eyes shut. "Are you mad at me too?" she whispered, dreading Youko's disapproval more than her family's rejection. She wasn't sure why, but she knew she cared more about the kitsune's thoughts than the opinion of her mother and father. Her eyes immediately shot open when she felt a slight rumble in Youko's chest.

"You did well," Youko smoothly complimented, causing a red blush to spread across her cheeks like wildfire. "After your injuries are healed, I will teach you the basic defense." A wide grin broke over Kagome's face as she pulled away from Youko warm body, only to wrap her arms around his neck a few seconds later.

"So you're not mad at me for my actions?" she asked quietly.

"I would have been mad if you did nothing." the kitsune replied as he disentangled Kagome's arms from around his neck. Realizing she had hugged the kitsune without permission, she immediately placed her hands behind her back. "Get some rest." the kitsune stated before leaping onto a wide tree branch. He remained as indifferent as before; seemingly uncaring…but Kagome didn't care. After all, he saved her, didn't he?

Youko easily scanned the area for any roaming youkai before pondering some of the questions that had not received an answer. "How was she not affected by the raging fire? From what she had explained, she fainted as soon as the fire was lit. After that, she wasn't sure what had happened. Maybe she isn't that ordinary after all…"

Early next morning, the odd duo set off through the forest after bathing and eating (Youko didn't eat though). The wiser of the youkais stayed far away from them, but the weaker ones decided that any youkai caring for a human was weak as well, lost their lives to the claws of the annoyed silver kitsune. By the time they reached the end of the forest, both Kagome and Youko were coated with blood, none of which belonged to them. At first, Kagome had been terrified at the sight of so much gore and blood, but as youkai after youkai fell before Youko, blood soon became a common sight to her.

"196," Kagome counted on her fingers as the kitsune easily slashed through another youkai, ripping out the heart and the internal organs. Stepping on the flesh and organs of the youkai, which caused squishing sounds, Kagome quickly ran after Youko, who was heading towards a nearby village that she had never heard of - a youkai village.

As soon as the duo set foot at the entrance of the refined-looking village, a horde of various youkai crowded around to get a glimpse of Youko, a highly feared youkai in the world. "Ah, Youko-sama, what pleasure do we owe for you to grace our humble, insignificant village?" an elderly youkai asked, bowing to the silver kitsune in respect.

"Prepare two warm baths," Youko coldly commanded, causing the elderly youkai to drop to his knees in fear. The youkai repeated yes over and over again, causing a small giggle to emanate from the human behind Youko. Her giggling immediately drew everyone's attention to her, which would still have been unavoidable, even if she had remained silent. Biting her lips to keep from laughing, she hoped she wouldn't offend any of the youkai any more than she already did. "Now," Youko growled dangerously when several youkai began to lick their lips in anticipation at the sight of Kagome.

"Youko-sama, who is this filthy human," inquired a young, female, black kitsune. She bowed slightly before the silver kitsune before pining Kagome with an icy glare. "Will it please you if I…" she trailed off as she flexed her perfectly manicured claws. A frown marred Kagome's face, but she did not emanate any fear, knowing that Youko would not allow anyone to harm her.

"No harm will come to this human," Youko firmly stated, "or the consequences will be harsh." The black kitsune dropped her clawed hand and bowed in reverence. "I do not wish to stand here all night." Almost immediately, the village was in an uproar as the village elder directed the youkai villagers to prepare the hot baths the silver kitsune had 'requested'.

Within moments, Kagome found herself ushered into an empty hut by a two youkai women. "Human, I believe you can clean yourself." one of the youkai snorted while tossing a rag towards her. The rag landed smack against Kagome's face, causing her to retaliate backwards by the force. Harsh, cruel laughter emanated from the two women at Kagome's expense.

"I don't see why Youko-sama would bother with a human," one of the youkai women snorted. "She'd probably be killed once he gets bored of her." she added as an afterthought, earning an agreeing nod from her best friend.

"He won't," Kagome argued, surprising the youkai women. Neither of them had believed the human would have had the nerve to speak to them, much less against them. "Youko-sama would never do that to me." she murmured, trying to allay her own fear more than arguing with the female youkais. "He promised he'd protect me as long as I'm with him." she silently reminded herself.

"Ami, I think the human's delusional! She thinks that Youko-sama would care for her!" the youkai's laughter rang loudly in Kagome's ear. The fire mark above her shoulder blade throbbed. More laughter echoed through the hut…The mark throbbed again, only quicker and faster. "Stupid girl, Youko-sama could and would never care for the likes of you. If anything, either one of us, or the village elder's daughter, Rose, will become Youko-sama's rightful mate. You don't stand a chance! Youko-sama would never degrade himself to caring for a human!"

"I agree, Kesi." Ami laughed, covering her lips with her clawed fingers. "After all, Rose is a powerful and beautiful kitsune woman! Youko-sama has always treated her better than all the other females…if I had heard correctly; I believe she's still a virgin after spending the night with him! It shows how much Youko-sama respect Rose if he hadn't done anything to her. He's probably going to leave her as a virgin until he rightfully claims her as his mate, which most of the village believes will take place in the near future."

It was beginning to throb almost painfully now, but no attention was paid to her burning mark…

"Or Youko-sama might choose one of us as his mate. Who knows? It could easily be me or you! We had both spent countless nights with him! Did you know that Youko-sama is as great in bed, if not better than when he is on the battle field?" taunted Kesi as she folded her arms across her chest. "Even now, I can still remember his touch…"

"Don't start Kesi," Ami sighed blissfully as a smile graced her lips. Involuntarily, Ami placed her clawed hand protectively over her stomach, which bulging slightly. "Maybe Youko-sama will be here for a period of time," she murmured.

"Even better, he might take us with him this time. I'm sure Youko-sama wouldn't mind having more mistresses." giggled Kesi.

"How many mistresses does he have?" Ami asked curiously.

"About ten so far, so if he accepts us, it'll be twelve." Kesi answered giddily. "That would be so nice!"

Quickly wrapping a towel around her wet body, Kagome easily unsheathed her dagger, which had gone unnoticed by the youkai women. Without thinking, she flung the double-edged dagger at one of the youkai women. Kesi was barely able to dodge the dagger at the last moment, but Ami wasn't as fortunate. The dagger had deeply grazed her left cheek, leaving a glistening trail of blood in its wake. The dagger stopped its trail when it was embedded into the side of the hut. Almost immediately, Ami clasped her hand over her cheek.

Bringing her hand down, she noticed the deep red liquid. Time seemed to still as the youkai realized what had taken place. The throbbing above Kagome's shoulder stopped as Kagome stumbled backwards. Staring at the dagger's sheath in her hands, a horrified expression crossed her face. She shook her head from side to side as if in denial. "Youko-sama's going to be really angry with me," she thought to herself as she dropped the sheath with a loud clang.

"How dare you!" Ami screeched in pain as she lengthened her claws. "You will die for this!" she hissed under her breath as she charged with blind fury...

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TBC