1st book of Alpha Pack Mates
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of it's characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them. Only the story belongs to me.
Summary: It matters not if you are youkai or ningen, if you're male or female, young or old, weak or strong, no it matters not in the end. All that matters is who is Alpha and who isn't. Brothers fighting for dominance, mikos fighting for control, who will end on top, who will have to submit? What's an Inu pack to do when there are far too many Alphas?
Pairings: Inuyasha/Kikyou, Sango/Miroku, slight Sesshoumaru/Kagome.
Follows: The Anime and movies.
"spoken" 'thought' (translations)
Edited 2/14/08
"Damn it this is just what we needed!" Inuyasha swore as he stared out the door of the hut into the pouring rain. He had already been in a bad mood after finding no hint of Naraku and having to dispatch of a few lesser demons for the village who couldn't tell the difference between miasma and acid.
The rumor had been completely false, Naraku hadn't been here in a very long time if ever and yet Inuyasha had gotten a nice gash across his chest for his part in helping rid the village of the demons. Once they had been bandaged up, which took longer than it should have since Miroku was knocked out after his misplaced his hand on a certain part of Sango's body, they were now stuck here due to the rain.
And it wouldn't have been as bad if the village head had allowed them to stay in his home, but no he wasn't going to let a hanyou (half demon) in his home, even if said hanyou was the only reason his house was still standing. Nope they were stuck in a small run down hut that leaked and hadn't been cleaned in some time.
Whoever had stayed in the hut last was a complete pig and the stench was giving Inuyasha a headache. What he wouldn't give for his human night to be tonight. And that should tell you something about the place, if Inuyasha was wishing to be human. Although given Sango's consent scrunching of her nose, he didn't think being human was helping her much.
"The moment the rain let's up we are out of here. Hell we would be going now but the last thing I need is to take care of two sick humans." Inuyasha mumbled from his spot next to the door. He had realized not long after entering the hut that it was the least smelliest place in the hut because of the air coming from outside and had quickly decided the spot was his.
"I couldn't agree more." Sango replied shaking her head at the unconscious houshi (monk) at her feet. Truth be told she would leave now if he was awake but she had hit him rather hard and wasn't expecting him to wake up for quite a while. She would much rather be sick and out hiking in the down pour than staying in this filthy hut.
She couldn't believe the headmen and the villagers, they came all this way, saved their town causing injury to themselves and what did they get for their troubles? A disgusting hut that leaked muddy water from the majority of the roof. And why? Just because they had a hanyou in the group. Didn't matter that the hanyou had just saved their sorry butts, didn't matter that he was injured saving them, nope all that matter was he had demon blood. Thankfully Kirara had been resting away from the village at the time or she would have hated for the neko (cat) to hear what the villages would have said about a full blooded demon.
Sango absentmindedly ran her fingers through the nekoyoukai's (cat demon) fur and felt her begin to purr against her legs where she sat. Thanks to the village she could now understand a little bit more of why Inuyasha is the way he is. Normally between Miroku and Kagome they could talk the villagers into not minding, or at least ignoring, Inuyasha during their stays. But not this time. Seems Kagome did more for the group than they had ever realized.
"This wouldn't have happened if Kagome was here." Sango thought, well she had thought she said it silently, but apparently, by Inuyasha responding, she had in fact spoken out loud.
"No kidding, Kagome would have never allowed those jerks to get by with that. And I'd hate to see what happened when they told her no." Inuyasha laughed, being on the receiving end of her anger many times, he knew just how bad she could get and even without a rosary the villagers would have been in for a world of pain if they told her no.
"Perhaps we should return with Lady Kagome once we get out of this less than respectable place." Miroku suggested as he began rising from his impromptu slumber.
"Ha! I might just do that. Love to see those assholes faces when we sick Kagome on them." Inuyasha joked, oblivious to the look exchanged by his two friends at the very dog like comment he had made. Perhaps he was seeing her as much a part of his family as she was him.
I was having a really good dream, you know the one. We defeat Naraku, Miroku and Sango deciding to get married with her brother returning to her, Inuyasha lifting and twirling me around in the air in his victory dance. You know that one. I had just gotten to the point of Inuyasha telling me he couldn't have done it without me and normally before this was the part he would kiss me and tell me he loved me, but this time he called me sister as he did on his human night. Even with the change it was still perfect. I could see Kikyou coming towards him with the first real smile on her face that I had ever seen and was about to tell him to go to her when I was rudely awakened.
And I don't mean just waking me was rude, no the way it was done was rude. Here I was enjoying my dream and good night rest when I feel someone kick my shoulder and I don't mean shake, nope it was a kick. None too softly either. At first I had thought it was Inuyasha but quickly dismissed that as he had never kicked me least of all to wake me.
Slightly parting my sleep crusted eyes I took in the sights around me. Souta, Rin and Shippo were still curled up around me, boys on one side and Rin on the other under the sleeping bag. Jaken was still snoring off in one of the corners and while I couldn't see the dragon, Ah-Un I think Rin had called it, I figured this was a good thing meaning he, or she wasn't really sure, was still guarding the mouth of the cave for intruders.
I noticed the fire had started to die down but would last a little while later before I needed to add more wood least it go out altogether and was about to go back to sleep when I remembered what had awakened me in the first place. Glancing over my shoulder I quickly wished I hadn't.
Standing behind me was a rather annoyed looking taiyoukai (demon lord). Bringing my gaze up to his face I was met with large, golden eyes staring at me as if I was a smudge on his boot. "Can I help you?" I hissed quietly at him, in no mood to wake the children or deal with an annoying demon.
"Leave." he demanded as he moved to sit on the other side of the fire, his eyes never leaving my own. He had to be kidding, although I doubted that since I wasn't even sure he knew how to.
"Sesshoumaru you maybe a lord but you are not mine. This is not your land and I do not see you're name written anywhere. Not to mention the fact that I was here first. All of this combined with the fact that you just so rudely woke me up does not even begin to become a reason as to why I should leave."
Now I realize it was probably not a good idea to get on his bad side, though I wasn't sure if he even had another side, but I was tired and cranky and in no mood to deal with an arrogant prick. So before he could answer, unless you count the growl that was starting to sound from him, I decided to continue.
"Sesshoumaru do you trust me not to harm Rin?" It took him a minute but he finally gave the slightest of nods. "Good." I replied as I erected a barrier around me and the kids and rolled over to go back to sleep.
Sesshoumaru was seething, he couldn't believe this human wench. Not only did she refuse to show him proper respect but refused to leave when he had commanded her to. If only Rin hadn't been so closed to her than he would have shown the miko her place. But he didn't want to risk hurting his young ward and even if he didn't she would probably wake up and not want him to hurt the miko.
No he would have to wait until the girl was not around to show the wench just who was in charge. So for now he was forced to sit here and glare at her, not that it did much since the wench was sleeping, but it calmed him down a little all the same.
He wasn't sure how long he was left glaring at the unconscious miko, but soon enough he found her beginning to stir. So the first thing she saw when she opened her sleepy eyes was a even more annoyed taiyoukai (demon lord) glaring at her with red tinted eyes.
I had been hoping it had all been a nightmare but when I opened my eyes and saw him glaring at me I just wanted to scream. And I probably would have if not for the soft groan that came from next to me. Taking my attention off of Sesshoumaru I glanced down to find Souta was sweating. "Don't tell me." I mumbled to myself as I reached down to feel his forehead.
Sure enough he was burning up. A quick test of Shippo and Rin informed me that she too had a fever. "Just what I needed. If the annoyed demon nearby wasn't bad enough I also have two sick kids." I complained to myself softly, not wanting to wake them up. I knew Sesshoumaru could hear me but at the moment it didn't really matter.
Letting my barrier down I continued to ignore the taiyoukai, who was doing a very good job of trying to burn holes in my back, and slipping out from under the sleeping bag, crawled over to my bag. As I began looking through it, and throwing things over my shoulder that wasn't what I was looking for, I mumbled things like 'nope not it', 'when did that get there?', 'so that's where that went' and 'aha!' when I had finally found what I was looking for.
Setting the small white bottle down next to the sleeping bag, I grabbed my water bottle and poured it into a clean pot and started heating it up over the fire after adding more logs. Grabbing the herb bag, I rummaged through it until I found the herb I knew was used for fevers and added it to the pot.
Turning back to the kids I quickly lifted Shippo and set him down off to the side. Apparently, by his wide eyes looking up at me, I had awoken him. "Souta and Rin are sick and I don't want you to catch it too." I explained softly as I moved back to the fire and poured the tea into two mugs and set them down to cool.
I crawled back over to Souta and gently shook his shoulder until he opened his eyes and started blankly at me. "I need you to take these. You have a fever." I explained as I handed him two chew-able Tylenol and watched as he popped them into his mouth and began chewing. Reaching around behind me I grabbed the first mug of tea and after checking to make sure it had cooled enough, brought it to his lips as I helped him sit up.
Once he had finished off the tea, I laid him back down and covered him up before turning to Rin. After waking her I held out two more Tylenol for her. She looked at me strangely before looking over my shoulder at Sesshoumaru. He must have nodded at her or something since she took the pills from my hand. "Just chew on them, they taste like cherries."
I had figured he would trust me since I had given the pills to Souta first but I realized that the taiyoukai had no idea who the boy was, but none the less he gave me no problems and allowed her to take them making my job much easier. I quickly flashed him a smile before turning to grab the tea and bring it to her lips. Once it was empty I set it back down and laid her back down.
"Get some more sleep Rin you should feel better in a few hours." She nodded softly even as her eyes were closing. Hearing some movement behind me, I turned to see Jaken was finally waking up. Grabbing the pots I made my way out to the cave entrance to wash them out with the rain water that was still falling and after filling one up, made my way back to the camp fire.
Turning to ask Shippo if he was hungry, I found him asleep again and smiled at him. As I was beginning to start breakfast, Sesshoumaru's voice startled me. "When the pup is healed you will leave wench." Sesshoumaru commanded in his no nonsense tone.
Well normally it would have been no nonsense but this is me we are talking about. So of course I did the only thing I could think of and gave him nonsense. "Jaken will you please tell your lord that what I said last night still stands and if he wishes to speak with me he may use my name." I looked over at the toad demon and almost felt bad for dragging him into this but a growl coming from the side didn't give me much chance to really think about it.
"Wench you will address this Sesshoumaru with the proper respect." he demanded as his growl got even louder, waking up all three of the kids.
I did a very good impression of a growl, if I do say so myself, as I covered the kids back up and tried to get them to rest more. "Jaken tell you lord that I give him what little respect he has earned by not calling him youkai (demon) and if he wishes to speak to me his is not to use any of the following: wench, ningen (human), onnanoko (girl), woman, b.i.t.c.h" which I spelled out since there were kids around, " or any other name he can think of to use just to put me down. My name is Kagome and this is what I answer to. If he does not wish to be so familiar he may use my last name, Higurashi, or I will also accept miko-san.
“Now if your lord doesn't mind I have breakfast to attend to." I could hear quite easily that he was still growling, even if he lowered the volume a little bit, but decided I really didn't care at the moment. Yeah I know there was a pissed off, powerful demon behind me I should care right? But I just couldn't find the strength to. I had two sick kids to take care of, a meal to finish, and who knows what was going to happen next. I could hear Jaken moving around behind me grumbling about 'ningen no baka' (stupid humans) and figured he was mad at me for putting him on the spot.
"This Sesshoumaru could kill you where you stand wench." Sesshoumaru growled at me and that was about to point I lost it. I screamed. A long, loud, I want to strangle someone, namely the demon behind me, scream.
"For the love of Kami!" I screamed as I turned around to face said demon. "Number one Sesshoumaru you have far too much honor to attack an unarmed woman in the back, no matter how annoying she may be. Number two I doubt you would do such a thing in front of Rin. Number three this was my cave first and there is no way in the seven hells that I am taking two kids out into that down pour especially when one is already sick.
“Number four if you do not wish to be around me you can do one of two things you can either deal with it, quietly, or you can leave. Rin is more than welcome to stay as I am not about to demand you take her with you out into that storm. Hell even Jaken and Ah-Un can stay.
“And number five, which is very important so play close attention Sesshoumaru, the name is KAGOME!" By now I was pretty much panting and with a huff I turned back around to breakfast and took it off of the fire before it could burn. Glancing up at Shippo I noticed his shocked look and it too me a moment to realize what it was for.
Since he had seen me yell at Inuyasha and even Sesshoumaru other times I knew it couldn't be that and as I went back over what I had said, well yelled, I realized I had swore. "Oh sorry about the swear words guys." I said as I smiled at the children and began handing them their food.
"This isn't over." Sesshoumaru spat from behind me and I could tell he was extremely pissed and I really couldn't blame him, hell I was pissed at the moment. I decided I was really glad Rin was around as she was probably one of the only reasons I was still breathing.
"It never is Sesshoumaru." I whispered knowing probably only he heard it.
"Hey onee-chan?(old sister) How come they look so different if they are all demons?" Souta wondered nodding toward the three youkai. Well thankfully Sesshoumaru wasn't like Naraku or we would have a problem since Souta just told him who he was but he isn't so I hoped it would be okay.
"There are lots of different kinds of youkai. Sesshoumaru is a taiyoukai and can take human form as well as his natural form which is a giant white dog. Jaken and Ah-Un are, well I don't want to say lesser, since they are normally mindless, so I guess at least Jaken is somewhere in the middle.
“Think of it this way, Jaken and Ah-Un are like Kirara where she only has one form, even though she can change her size, and Sesshoumaru is more like Shippo who can turn into a fox." (1) I explained best as I could and decided to have Sango or one of the others explain it a bit better when we got back.
"I think I understand." Souta replied nodding slightly as he handed me his bowl and laid back down. I took Rin's as well, since she had finished, and covered them up. As I was gathering the rest of the dishes, I noticed Shippo was beginning to drift off as well. With a sigh, I headed toward the mouth of the cave to wash them out in the rain.
Sesshoumaru waited until she had bent over into the rain to wash out the dishes before coming up behind her and dragging her out into the rain. The dishes made barely a sound as they hit the ground, muffled by the rain. Sesshoumaru tightened his grip around her neck as he pushed her against the outside of the cave.
"Do not assume that you will get away with disrespecting this Sesshoumaru." he growled, his face close to hers so she could hear every word.
"Do not assume I will just bow down to you Sesshoumaru. I don't do it for Inuyasha who happens to be my best friend. I don't do it for Naraku who happens to be the most evil creature I have ever met. And I am not about to do it for you." she replied as she tried to pull his hand away from her throat.
"You will learn your place wench." The threat was easy to hear in his tone and that along with his hot breath on her face caused Kagome to shiver.
"I know my place Sesshoumaru. My place is the Shikon no miko (miko of the Shikon jewel). My place is mother to that kit in there. My place is now mother to my younger brother after the murder of our own okaa-san. My place is fighting beside Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango. My place is stopping Naraku from completing the jewel and making an evil wish on it. My place is not now, nor will it ever be, bowing down at your feet." Do you have any idea how hard it is to try and glare at someone when you have the rain pelting against your face? I found rather quickly that it was difficult to say the least.
If his growl was any indication, he did not take kindly to me yelling in his face. But I wasn't going to let that stop me from getting my point across. "And enough with the growling, I get it you're a inuyoukai (dog demon) but that doesn't mean you should growl so much at me. It's not like I even know what it means anyways. Look I don't like you and you don't like me, I get this, but in case you haven't noticed nothing is stopping you from leaving. If you really don't want to be around me then leave."
I had given up trying to remove his hand from my throat since it wasn't cutting off air supply, and it was doing no good anyways, and instead raised my hand to wipe some of the ice, cold rain off of my face. Within seconds I was drenched again, thankfully my hair was still back in a French braid or it would have been plastered against my skin. Even though the rain I could feel the rain drops that fell from my eye lashes onto my burning cheeks. I wasn't sure if it was from my anger or his face being so close to mine, but I felt if I was on fire, even with being soaked to the bone from the storm.
"Stop trying to boss me around since it isn't going to work and I can't leave. I am not taking a sick 12 year-old out into this storm especially since I think Shippo is getting sick as well. Even he doesn't normally sleep this much. Now I realize I probably shouldn't have blown up at you like I did in there but I am not having the best week and you seem hell bent on making it worse." I wasn't sure why I was telling him all of this, knowing full well that he couldn't care less, but something in his eyes made me believe it would be better for him to understand that he wasn't really the reason I was so pissed and in fact was only one thing on a very long list.
"First I find out Inuyasha is choosing to make Kikyou his mate and while I'm happy that she isn't still planning on dragging him to hell it still hurts to know he chose the walking dead over me when I have been there for him since the day I freed him from the tree. Then I got to deal with my own father murdering my okaa-san and jii-chan leaving me with a 12 year-old kid that I some how have to find out how to raise.
“Then I get stuck in a cave due to this damn storm and before I know it I have to deal with an annoying toad. And just when things start to look up I have you waking me up at some ungodly hour by kicking me and demanding I leave. Then you refuse to use my name, continue to threaten me and I have two sick kids to take care of. And for the cherry on top of the cake, I have you dragging my butt out in the middle of a freaking storm so we can have a little heart to heart!" My breathing, by this time, was coming out in pants and briefly wondered why I was still breathing in the first place. That look remained in his eyes, best I could tell, it was a mix between confusion and amusement.
"If you want me to stop being so annoying perhaps you should try first!" I finished, around us the rain continued to poured down, seemingly unaware of the two beings who were facing off in the middle of it.
Apparently at least part of what I was saying was getting to him since he let go of my neck and instead placed his hand on the wall next to my head. "Tell this Sesshoumaru why he shouldn't kill you after your out burst." His voice was so cool, but not his normal cold tone. Something in it made me wonder he if was playing with me rather than really threating me. And I was quite sure the storm was making me hallucinate since I was positive I saw a flash of mirth sparkle in his golden eyes.
"You can't Sesshoumaru," I interrupted him before he could say otherwise, "I'm not saying you are unable to I am saying you can't. If I die Naraku wins. You may be able to beat him alone but I have to be alive in order for that to happen. The only reason the part of the jewel I carry isn't tainted is because I have it. The moment someone else touches it, it taints because Naraku has so much of the jewel." I explained, my voice lowering slightly, as I thought back on the day the group was trapped in a demon's belly and Inuyasha had to use the shard found in his dad's tomb to amplify the power of his sword.
"If I die Naraku will be able to take the last pieces of the jewel and make an evil wish more than likely to enslave every human and demon out there. If I die you lose. Even if you some how manage to beat Naraku even with my death, it will be a lot harder and you will lose a lot more. As annoying as I may be to you, I assure you my death would not be worth it in the end." I slipped under his arm, grabbed the dishes and headed back inside before he had the chance to respond.
Sesshoumaru was confused, and that was something he hated to be. She had stood up against him, yelled at him, told him what to do and even ignored him. He should be wanting to rip out her throat, instead he found himself realizing she was pretty much right. At least when it came to whether or not he should kill her. Of course he still believed she was beneath him and should bow down to him.
But as much as he hated to admit it, and never would out loud, she was right, they needed her to purify the jewel in order to stop Naraku. And what was worse was he was finding he didn't even want to kill her. Instead, he was thinking of ways to set her off just to see the fire return to her eyes that was there when she was angry. Deciding it would be better to wait a while before going back in the cave, Sesshoumaru headed off to hunt.
Kami it was cold. My entire body felt like it was made of ice and all I wanted to do when I got back inside the cave was change into some dry clothes, sit down next to the warm fire and maybe make myself some tea. However, a very annoying little toad had other ideas. Instead of walking back into the cave to find a nice warm fire going, I found one that had almost completely died out.
"You could have at least kept the fire going." I complained over my shoulder not even bothering to glance over at the little demon.
"Why should I listen to you wench?" he spat back, boy could that little guy hold a grudge. I began adding more wood to the fire and waited until it was glowing brightly again before turning around to face him.
"I'm sure Sesshoumaru will be happy to learn that you let the fire die instead of keeping it lit to keep a sick Rin warm." Not bothering to wait for his answer, as his sudden shaking told me it would be a while, I headed over to my bag where I found my last complete dry outfit. Taking it out, I walked back toward the far wall in the cave and began removing my wet clothes.
I could heard Jaken's squawk from behind me and the sounds of him shuffling so he could turn around but paid him no mind. I was already used to Miroku and other such hentai peeking while changing or bathing and right now I was in no mood to care. I was soaking wet, chilled to the bone and could not afford to get sick.
Besides it wasn't like I could wake up one of the kids and ask them to hold up a blanket, which they were currently sleeping on, so I could change with some privacy. Peeling off my haori and hakama was like trying to peel those annoying little stickers off of dishes. No matter how hard you try, there's always still some stuck. My garments were like this. It took almost 20 minutes to get out of them and I still needed to removed my undergarments.
Thankfully they came off much easier and I quickly replaced them with a dry pair. As I reached down to pick up my dry hakama, a voice from behind me startled me. "Do you normally dress in front of males?" Well at least he didn't call me wench this time. Hey works for me.
"No Lord Sesshoumaru," if he was going to play nice it was the least I could do right?, "but thanks to our little trip out into the storm my clothes were soaked and I needed to change into something dry before I got sick." I pulled on my hakama, ignoring the holes his gaze was burning into me and reached for my haori. "And it's not like I had anyone around I could have hold up a blanket so I could have some privacy. And besides the kids are currently sleeping on said blanket."
I quickly put on my haori and wanted to moan in pleasure from the warmth it produced, but since I didn't want the two demons behind me to get the wrong idea, I decided against it. As I turned I noticed a large, and really dead-it's head was missing-boar laying next to the fire. I glanced up at Sesshoumaru in question but he just returned to his spot on the floor from earlier and ignored me.
'Oh well.' I decided as I made my way over and began cooking the boar. "Thanks." I beamed at him with a bright smile but got his normal 'I know you're not talking to me' look.
"That's it, let's go." Inuyasha decided as he stood up, startling the others. "The rain's let up a bit." he explained to their slightly confused looks. "Look if you want to stay in this smelly place be my guest but I'm getting out of here."
"I'm right there with you Inuyasha but you know Kirara doesn't do well in the rain, how are we supposed to get back to the village?" Sango wondered as she petted the neko in her lap to let her know it wasn't her fault.
"I'll carry you like I do Kagome and Miroku can carry Kirara. He should be able to run fast enough." Inuyasha explained as he knelled down with his back to her so she could climb on.
Sango glanced over at Miroku, who just shrugged, and handed him Kirara before climbing onto Inuyasha's back. "Let's go monk." Inuyasha called over his shoulder as he dashed out of the hut.
Shaking his head, Miroku grabbed the bag Kagome had packed for them and took off after the others. "We're not going to stop for the night, I want to get back to the village as soon as possible, so if you need a break monk just say so and you and Sango can switch." Inuyasha told him when he had caught up to them.
Sango and Miroku exchanged looks at Inuyasha being willing to carry anyone else on his back besides Kagome but decided not to comment on it. At least they were out of the filthy hut and back into the clean air, even if it was still raining a bit.
"Oh good you guys are awake. Hope you're hungry." I said with a smile when I noticed the kids were beginning to rise. I had checked on their fevers a little while ago and thankfully they were gone. By morning, if the rain let up, they would be ready to leave.
"Here you go. Lord Sesshoumaru caught us a boar." I said with a smile as I handed Rin, Souta and Shippo plates full of cooked meat before turning and handing one to Jaken. He still wasn't talking to me, but I hadn't figured out if that was really a bad thing yet. I turned a questioning look to Sesshoumaru and pointed toward the boar, rewarded with a slight shake of his head.
I shrugged and sat down with my own plate as Rin began telling Souta tells of her travels with Sesshoumaru. Every so often he answered with a 'no way' or 'really?' but mostly it was Rin doing all of the talking. I wondered how someone as quiet as Sesshoumaru could stand her never ending chatter but decided it was just Rin's way with people.
After collecting the empty plates and setting them aside, I handed Rin her kimono, which had finished drying, and held up the blanket while she changed back. Packing it, and my now dry clothes as well, into my bag, I set the kids down with some toys and grabbed the dishes needing to be washed.
As I passed by Sesshoumaru, I stopped and spoke softly to him so the kids wouldn't hear. "We will be leaving in the morning if the rain has stopped Lord Sesshoumaru." I continued on toward the mouth of the cave without waiting for an answer since I doubted I would get one anyways and began cleaning out the dishes.
"Souta wake up, it's time to head back to the village." I called out as I gently shook him awake. The sun had risen about an hour ago bringing with it clear skies. I had already packed away everything, except for the sleeping bag and blanket he was still using, and was anxious to get back to the village. Inuyasha and the others should be returning soon if they were back already and I didn't want them to worry about us.
Rubbing his eyes, Souta looked up at me and yawned. "I'm up onee-chan." he told me stretching before climbing out of the sleeping bag and rolling it up for me. Rin had awoken with the sun and was currently sitting next to Jaken and playing some game I didn't recognize. The toad didn't seem to be too happy about it either.
Once everything was packed away, I shouldered the bag and turned toward Sesshoumaru and his group. "I'll see you later Rin." I said with a smile and she jumped up, forgetting about the toad, and ran to give me a hug. "You're welcome to bring her by for a visit any time Lord Sesshoumaru." I informed him as I turned my gaze toward him. A slight nod was his only response. Whether it was yes he would or yes he could I wasn't sure but it didn't really matter anyways.
"Let's head back to the village, I don't want Inuyasha and the others to worry about us." I told the others as I started out of the cave after Shippo had jumped up on my shoulder. Glancing back I saw Souta waving to Rin as he followed along behind me. Soon as we were out of sight from the cave, Souta started in with questions.
"Rin is nice, why is she with Sesshoumaru?"
I glance down at him to catch a slight blush across his cheeks. "Yes she is and I am not sure why she travels with Lord Sesshoumaru. Never really remembered to ask."
"How old is she? Where are her parents? What was with the imp?"
"I'm not sure but I would say maybe nine or ten. I don't know, a few months after I met Lord Sesshoumaru she started showing up with Jaken. He's a toad not an imp and he, like his lord, isn't really a fan of humans."
"Does she have a boyfriend?" Now this question was so quiet I almost missed it and it threw me off I ended up stumbling and almost fell. Shaking my head I glanced back down at my brother and just stared at him for a moment.
'Great just what I need, Souta wanting to date Sesshoumaru's ward.' Oh yeah that would be fun. 'Hey Sesshoumaru would you mind if Rin went out with Souta?' 'A ningen will never be good enough for something that belongs to this Sesshoumaru. Be gone before I impale you on my sword.' Yeah that conversation wouldn't go too well.
"Um I don't think so since most would be too afraid to ask Lord Sesshoumaru if they could and she is still pretty young."
"Why did you start calling him Lord?" Was I still doing that? Huh hadn't even noticed.
"I made a deal with him, well sort of, anyways as long as he doesn't call me names like wench I'll call him lord." I explained as I shrugged.
"I like Souta. He was really nice. And he had these toys called coloring books and crayons and we colored these pretty pictures. See?" Rin asked as she held up one of the pictures she had been talking about to Jaken, who just ignored her. "Master Jaken!" Rin yelled making sure she has his attention and showed him the picture again.
"Yes very nice Rin." Jaken replied with a wave of his hand as he continued to lead Ah-Un away from Inuyasha's forest. Sesshoumaru had started out a few minutes after the others had left and they were now traveling west.
"And they had this yummy food called ramen and Souta shared some of his candy with me. He called it chocolate and I am not sure what that is but it was good. It was really sweet. I think you would like it Master Jaken."
"I'm sure I would." Jaken replied not really sure what he had agreed to since he was only half listening to her.
"And Kagome was nice, she is always nice to Rin and she took care of me when I was sick and she made Rin all better. And Souta too 'cause he had gotten sick too. And she gave Rin some tea and some medicine that tasted good. Like cherries just like she said it would." Jaken could tell Rin was getting excited as she started referring to herself in third person. He briefly wondered why she was telling him all of this since he was in fact there as well but figured it didn't really matter to her.
"Master Jaken are we going to see Kagome and Souta and Shippo again? Can we go visit them some time? Do you think they will have more of that chocolate? Hopefully Rin won't get sick this time so I can have more fun. But it would be okay if Souta was sick cause Rin could help Kagome take care of him right?"
Such an innocent question and yet it had both demon lord and toad demon stopping to glance back at the young girl, oblivious to all. After a moment they started walking again, both lost in their own thoughts as Rin continued to chatter on.
'I know ningen mate early but she can't be ready for that yet can she?' Jaken wondered as he turned to glance over his shoulder at the young girl. 'No no my Rin is much too young for that. That boy better keep his hands to himself.' Jaken decided, not bothered my the mental omission. Rin was his friend, his family and even if he would never admit it out loud, he had gotten past the point of denying it mentally.
Similar thoughts were going through Sesshoumaru's mind. He knew Rin was still a few years too young by human terms for mating but other than that he wasn't sure about human customs. 'Perhaps we should visit the miko again.' Sesshoumaru thought, allowing himself a slight smirk since no one could see it. 'It would give this Sesshoumaru the chance to see her fire again.'
Oblivious to the thoughts of the two demons Rin asked another question that stopped them both in their tracks once again. "Do you think Souta has a ichuuno-onna?" (girlfriend/sweetheart)
"Rin how old are you?" Jaken inquired as he turned around to face her again.
"11 summers." Rin replied proudly.
"Good then you are far too young to be worried about such matters." Jaken informed her with a nod of his head.
"But Master Jaken, some of the women at my old village were already married by 13." Rin complained a bit confused.
"No matter. No Rin of mine is going to even be thinking of mating for many, many years to come." Jaken insisted in a very no nonsense tone as he turned back around.
'Well said Jaken.' was Sesshoumaru's only thought as he began walking again with the others following.
"Where had you guys been? Kaede said you were missing for days." Inuyasha demanded the moment we arrived back at the village. Thankfully Souta's questions had ended a few minutes ago. The last thing I needed was for Inuyasha to find out we were around his half-brother.
"Sorry Inuyasha we got caught out in a storm and had to take shelter in a cave. Souta ended up getting a fever and we had to wait for the storm to pass to come back." I explained with a smile as I dropped my bag down in the hut and began taking out my dirty clothes so I could go down to the river to wash them.
"Yeah and I got to meet Rin. She's..." Souta started before I was able to cover his mouth and Inuyasha blew up just as I was expecting him to.
"You were around Sesshoumaru?! How come you're still alive? He didn't hurt you did he? If he did I'll kill him!" Inuyasha ranted as his hand went straight for his sword and I wondered if anything I would say would have any effect on his decision.
"Relax Inuyasha." I said softly as I placed my hand on his shoulder. "They got caught in the storm as well. Nothing happened other than a bit of yelling." I decided it was best not to tell him about the whole pinning me to the wall by the neck. Cause that would so go over well. "Rin ended up catching a fever as well and I was too busy taking care of her for Sesshoumaru to do much."
"You sure he didn't hurt you?" I could tell Inuyasha was still tense but at least he removed his hand from his sword.
"Yes I'm sure. Now how was you're trip?" I inquired as I gathered up Souta and Shippo's dirty clothes as well.
"A bunch of bull. I doubt Naraku was ever there. It was acid, not miasma. The village head was an ass and the hut they gave us was dirty and leaking." Inuyasha grumbled as he sat down against the wall.
"Didn't you stay in the headman's home?" I wondered confused, we always stayed with the headman or the richest house depending on if there really was a demon or not.
"No the asshole refused to allow me to enter cause I'm a hanyou." Inuyasha spat.
"Language Inuyasha." I reprimanded before what he had said sunk in. "Wait! You guys saved the village from demons and he refused you any real shelter cause you're a half demon?"
"Yep that about sums it up Lady Kagome." I glanced over at Miroku and then to Sango who merely nodded to me.
"I take that back Inuyasha. That asshole!" Okay now I was seething. "How dare he! You guys risk your butts to save their stupid village and yet they can't give you a decent roof over your head and a meal for your work? What kind of a jerk would turn away the people who had just saved their butts simply because one of them has demon blood? Next time we go up north we are stopping by that village so I can have a word with that jerk!"
Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku shared knowing looks, however, whatever the looks were about I had no idea. But they didn't keep me long waiting to find out. "We pretty much said the same thing before we left. Inuyasha said they were lucky you weren't there." Sango explained with a laugh.
Even I had to laugh at that one. No one gets away with being rude to Inuyasha or the others, when I'm around, just because they have demon blood. Speaking of demons..."Hey Sango would you mind explaining the different types of demons to Souta while I wash the clothes? I tried back in the cave but I think I just confused him even more."
Sango nodded her head and I held up the basket for anyone else who needed clothes washed to add theirs. Miroku and Sango did. I wondered if Inuyasha ever washed his clothes but decided I didn't want to know since I had never seen him with a spare outfit.
A few days had passed since returning to the village but another onslaught of storms kept us from venturing too far in search for Naraku and instead spent the time getting in a bit more relaxation. By the looks of things the storm would let up some time during the night and we had made plans to leave the next morning, me including. Souta seemed to be getting along with Kaede enough to leave him behind and the sooner we dealt with Naraku the better off we would all be.
However, none of us realized just how soon we would have to deal with him. We had just finished breakfast. Miroku was meditating, Sango had just finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes, Kaede was going through her herbs, Inuyasha sitting against a wall keeping to himself, Souta and Shippo were playing with something and I was staring out into the rain. It had been relatively quiet that morning and so the sudden serge of negative energy had knocked me on my butt, quite literally.
"Kagome?" Inuyasha inquired as he hurried over to me and helped me regain my balance.
"Jewel." was all I managed to croak out, the negative energy was taking its toll on my body. Never before had I felt such evil combine with so much of the jewel at once.
"Don't tell me that damn wolf is here." he swore as he looked outside apparently trying to find him.
"Not shard Inuyasha, jewel. About 4 shards short and very, very tainted." I whispered as I tried to get my breathing back in order. He caught my eyes with his own and I could see the unspoken question in his eyes and nodded to him. Naraku was here.
"Let's go." Inuyasha decided as he jumped up and rushed out the door.
"Go I will be right there." I called to the others as I turned back to Shippo. "Shippo I want you and Kaede to stay here with Souta and keep him safe. I know you want to come fight with us but someone has to protect them." I explained nodding toward Souta and Kaede. Shippo nodded and jumped into my arms to embrace me.
"Be careful." Shippo whispered in my ear and I could tell it was taking everything in his power not to break down and cry. I gave him my promise, kissed both boys on the forehead and ran out of the hut after grabbing my bow and quiver. As I was passing the door I noticed Sango had left Kirara behind, most likely due to the rain, and nodded my head to her as I passed. When I took my first steps out into the storm I could feel the presence of three more shards. I knew what everyone was thinking, this was it. Either way things ended here.
By the time I had made it to the battlefield it looked like a party and everyone was invited. Naraku's group was off to one side, including three incarnations I hadn't seen before. He was decked out in full battle armor, clearly ready for a fight. The three incarnations I didn't know stood in a victory formation in front of him. Unlike the rest of his group, they were clearly mindless youkai.
Off to his right were Kagura and Kanna, their fan and mirror out ready to attack, but as I caught Kagura's eyes with my own I could tell she didn't wish to be there. I remembered the last time we had seen her, when she had led us to the stone demon Naraku was hiding in. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her, like everyone else's life that Naraku had ruined, she was merely a puppet in his plan.
To Naraku's left was Hakudoshi and Kohaku, naginata (pole weapon) and kursari-gama (chain scythe) posed and ready. By the way Naraku stood just slightly behind all of them it seemed as though he was using them as a shield and I wasn't really surprised. Naraku never put his real self in danger.
The rest of the battle field seemed to be a compass to his north, east was Kouga, south Sesshoumaru and west Inuyasha. Where Ginta and Hakkaku were I wasn't sure, but more than likely they were off somewhere still trying to catch up to the wolf prince. Sesshoumaru of course came to battle solo as he always did. And behind Inuyasha stood Miroku and Sango. Both fangs were already out as well as Shakujo (monk staff) and Hiraikotsu (boomerang bone). The wind tunnel was made useless as where Naraku was the Saimyosho (Naraku's insects) were not far behind.
Naraku was taunting Inuyasha but I was too far away to hear what was being said. Not that it really mattered, it was always the same thing. A soft gasp came from nearby and I turned to see Rin looking out from behind the bushes, Jaken trying to pull her back. I shot my gaze to Sesshoumaru and he held my eyes for a moment before giving a slight nod. "Inuyasha! Need some cover!" I called out, thankful Naraku and his group were too far away to hear me.
"Coming up!" Inuyasha called back over his shoulder, not bothering to turn to me. Wasn't expecting him to and truthfully was glad he didn't, he would have to take his eyes off the enemy to do so and if he looked back Naraku might notice Rin was here. My cover came a moment later with a scream of 'wind scar' as he released the attack on the whole of Naraku's group.
I wasted no time in rushing over to the brushes and grabbing both Rin and Jaken under my arms and racing back toward the village, making sure to keep as much cover between me and Naraku as I could. As I glanced over my shoulder, I caught Kagura's gaze again. She was the closest to me so I wasn't surprised that she had seen me. She nodded her head ever so slightly to me before saying something about Kouga I couldn't quite catch, but whatever it was did the trick as Naraku turned his attention to the wolf. I smiled my thanks to her before continuing on toward the hut.
As I rushed into the hut, everyone turned their attention to me. Ignoring them, I put down Rin and Jaken before turning to Shippo. "Keep them here, knock her out if you have to but Rin is NOT to leave this hut!" I called out before turning and rushing back out of the hut and toward the battle. Behind me I could hear Shippo asking if Rin wanted to color and I would have to remember to thank him later for distracting her.
When I arrived back at the battlefield a lot had changed. Kagura and Kanna were fighting Kouga, though neither girl seemed to really be putting any effort into it. Sango and Miroku were holding Kohaku back, trying their hardest not to hurt him. Hakudoshi was fighting Sesshoumaru as Inuyasha tried to keep Naraku busy. The three new incarnations were dead on the ground, at least what was left of them. As I readied an arrow to finally join in the battle, a shout from the side caught my attention. "His heart is dead! He can now be killed!" Kikyou yelled as she appeared on the field.
I wasn't really sure what she meant but if he could be killed, that's all the mattered. I shot my first arrow at him but he had moved to attack Kikyou at her declaration and the arrow passed by harmlessly. Grumbling about 'evil hanyou who wouldn't stand still so I could shoot them' I readied another arrow. As I looked up to take aim, I noticed Naraku had turned his attention from the undead miko to myself. Before I had the chance to do anything, a tentacle shot out and wrapped around my neck, pinning me to the tree behind me.
What was with demons pinning me against hard places by my neck anyways? My weapon dropped from my hands as I reached up and tried to pull the tentacle away from my neck so I could breath. My scratching seemed to be in vain as it only tightened. Looking around the field I tried to find someone who could help but Kouga was still busy with the two females and Inuyasha was trying to protect Kikyou from another attack from Naraku.
With it wrapped so tight around my neck I was sure I was beginning to turn blue and couldn't utter a sound, let alone call out for one of the others to help. Just as I thought I would pass out, air rushed back into my throat as the appendage went slack and I looked up to see Sesshoumaru turning back toward Hakudoshi. Filing away a reminder to thank him later, I reached down and picked up my bow, noticing the tentacle still wiggling around on the ground.
'Inuyasha's going to kill me.' I decided as a plan formed in my mind. I knew it would work as it had before but just in case there was one last thing I needed. "Kikyou give me one of your arrows!" I yelled to her and watched as she turned toward me in question. Her expression told me she thought I was crazy but none the less, readied an arrow and shot it into the tree behind me. Deciding not to scream at her for almost hitting me with it, since it was the fastest way to get it to me, I reached up and pulled it out of the tree.
Reaching down, I grabbed the appendage off of the ground and impaled it onto the arrow. As I notched the arrow I noticed Inuyasha looking at me and if the sadness in his eyes was any indication, he knew what I was planning. "You've got to be kidding me wench!" he screamed at me shaking his head. I could tell from the looks the others were sending us, including Naraku, they had no idea what was about to happen. But then again they weren't there the first time so wouldn't know.
"It's the only way Inuyasha! I'm sorry!" I called out before turning my attention back to Naraku.
"You own me one wench!"
"Put it on my tab!" I had to laugh. Narrowing my eyes at Naraku I caught the unmistakable sound of his laughing. Ignoring it, I decided to get my two cents in before I ended all of this. "Your evil ends here Naraku!" I called out as I aimed the arrow at his heart and began pulling back. I could feel Kikyou's power mixing with my own to strengthen the arrow.
"Haven't you figured it out wench? You'll never be strong enough to kill me. You'll never be Kikyou!" Naraku taunted.
"Nah really? Funny I thought that was why I borrowed her arrow." I pointed out, not bothering to allow his taunt to bother me. This was not the time to get insecure because of his words. "Don't you get it Naraku? Or are you too slow to figure it out?" I taunted back as I waited until I had a perfect shot before I let my arrow lose. As it was Inuyasha and Kikyou were still too close to him.
"Let me spell it out for you Naraku! This is how I shattered the jewel the first time!" I mocked as I watched Inuyasha moving in behind him. Being around him all these years I knew what he was doing. He was going to distract him so he would have no chance of stopping my arrow.
"Pathetic girl you aren't strong enough why do you think Inuyasha chose Kikyou over you? You will always be second best!"
'Too late Naraku, a few weeks ago and that would have worked.' I thought to myself with a smile. "Oh big whoopee do! So he choose his first love over me! Get over it I have. You're just sore cause Kikyou didn't want you! And you're wrong by the way Naraku. I will always be in first place as his best friend and that is more than enough for me." It was almost time. I saw Inuyasha give me the slightest of nods before yelling 'Wind Scar'.
Naraku turned to defend himself and I let my arrow loose. Before he had the chance to figure out Inuyasha was just a distraction, the arrow pierced his barrier as if it wasn't even there and struck where his heart should be, which happened to be where he had placed the tainted jewel. All at once many things happened. The jewel was purified and re-shattered, shards flying across the sky to who knows where. Sesshoumaru killed Hakudoshi. Kagura and Kanna stopped fighting with Kouga to see what was happening with Naraku. Inuyasha let loose another 'Wind Scar' tearing Naraku into pieces, but without the jewel he was unable to reconnect.
1. Not completely sure if he can or not but since his father could and Manten was talking about turning him into a scarf or something to match with his father's pelt, which was a fox, something tells me he can if he wants to.
Please R&R, good and bad reviews are welcome, however, I will ignore flames.