InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Lives ❯ A Few Steps Taken Final ( Chapter 28 )

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

Sango stood up, and the two ladies from the village helped steady her. “Let’s go.”

Kagome turned to the mat and brushed it aside, holding it open for Sango to pass through.

~*~ Inuyasha ~*~

Sango stepped out of the hut, Miroku saw her, and they smiled at one another. That simple smile they shared could have very well been the entire ceremony, granting them married status from the love in their gazes – love so thick you could almost feel it.

As though drawn by that feeling, Kagome met Inuyasha’s eyes, and they too shared a smile – a secret smile, just for them.

~*~ Inuyasha ~*~

“So, Inu-chan,” he teased, “where is my kaasan?”

Inuyasha practically burst into flames.

~*~ Kagome ~*~

“You know him?” Kagome turned to her Grandpa.

“He was in the papers,” Grandpa began, nodding as he thought. “He was chasing after the, uh. . . criminals’ killer. Now he moved precincts and probably got a cushy job for it.”

~*~ Higaru ~*~

What bothers him most is that phrase, “Demon Exterminator.” He keeps thinking he’s heard it before, and he doesn’t like it much. The only thing he could come up with as to “why” is perhaps he heard it as a little boy, maybe on a show, and it got to him. For whatever reason, he simply didn’t want to be an Exterminator, and neither did he want anyone he knew to be an exterminator.

~*~ Kagome ~*~

“. . .Then why didn’t he last time?” she said quietly.

“Ask him,” Kyou told her. “Go talk to him and find out.”

Kagome sat back, feeling quiet both on the outside and in, unable to lift her gaze to Inuyasha’s at the moment. She knew he was worried about her, but at the moment, there was little she could do about it. Maybe later she’d come back to herself and find this entire talk of her death was pointless, but until then, she felt like thinking.

Fifty Nine

All dark thoughts of death and insanity were put aside and forgotten over time, Kagome instead thinking of the more positive things she knew were to come. Once the jewel was once again perfectly complete, she found her mind blank on an idea to get rid of it for good, until Inuyasha came up with a suggestion.

Now at seventeen and a half, the journey to get the shards taking much longer now that Naraku wasn’t gathering them as well, spending the time half between both eras and watching Sango become pregnant and have her first son, she felt her life become more tightly bound to the Earth. She no longer had any worries about her possible future death or that of her future daughter, leaving her mind calm and devoid of turmoil.

Shippou and Kyou visited often, she still received visits from Sesshomaru and various trusted underlings of his, and even Hojo and Hisaka had become part of her best friends. Hell, she even met Higaru and Akira – and Shippou immediately burst out with their previous incarnations, explaining their connections.

To which Higaru said, “Well, that explains why I didn’t try harder to kill Inuyasha,” and changed the subject.

Her schoolwork was going excellently now that she had Hisaka as a tutor, quickly catching up on her missing work and in fact excelling. It was a signal that her life’s difficult times were finally almost over right about that time, and was proven when the jewel was whole once more.

And Inuyasha gave her the idea of instead making a wish, to give the Shikon no Tama back to Midoriko. When she asked him how he suggested to do that, he said to put her heart back where it belongs, and it was such a smart idea that she nearly slapped herself for not thinking it.

On the down side, Sesshomaru randomly appeared at the village with Rin, Ah-Un and Jaken. Sesshomaru claimed it was along the way to whatever his destination was, but considering Rin looked overjoyed at seeing Kagome again, it was fairly obvious that Rin had pleaded to come see them and Sesshomaru had given in.

Jaken immediately looked around and sighed. “This is the most pitiful human gathering I’ve ever seen!” he blurted.

Instantly, Inuyasha was towering over the tiny demon and said quietly, “What was that?” with a highly dangerous air about him.

Jaken just about shrieked and backed up, or tried to. Inuyasha snatched him up by the back of his kimono, caught the toad’s hand when he tried to use his staff as a weapon, and said, “Get one thing straight, okay? This is the village I protect, and that means if you have anything bad to say about it, you have a problem with me.”

Judging from the way Sesshomaru didn’t seem bothered by Inuyasha threatening his underling, it seemed he either agreed with Inuyasha having a village to protect, or knew Inuyasha wasn’t really going to put the toad through much harm.

Or it could be he was distracted by watching over Rin, who was currently trading flower wreaths with Kagome and asking questions about Sango’s newborn son. Miroku had Inuyasha drop Jaken and successfully diffused the situation, while Kaede boldly approached Sesshomaru and asked his name.

“Sesshomaru,” he answered her.

She replied, “I am Kaede, the elder of this village. If you should have any reason to bring yourself here again, please speak to me about the matter.”

No acknowledgment was a good thing from Sesshomaru, which Kaede seemed to understand, for she stepped back, turned and walked away to check on Sango and her son. In the meantime a handful of boys noticed Ah-Un up the hill and climbed up to get a closer look. Ah-Un was fairly laid-back towards humans, if only because of Rin, but Inuyasha didn’t trust the dragon quite enough to let the boys touch him.

So when one of the kids reached up to touch one of his necks, Inuyasha barked out, “Oy, I wouldn’t do that!”

The boy snatched his hand back and yelled, “Well, why not?”

“Cause that’s a dragon, baka!” He came a few steps closer to the boys and lowered his voice. “Besides which, the owner of Ah-Un here is a total hard-ass,” he added while gesturing his head towards Sesshomaru.

Though he more than likely heard despite the distance, Sesshomaru gave no inkling that he heard Inuyasha’s comment, which could very well be a testament to his newfound patience and tolerance.

“Then,” one of the boys started, “would you let us ride on your back?”

“Ehh?” Inuyasha blurted, looking dumbfounded.

“Yeah!” the boys cheered.

“N-no way!” Inuyasha snapped. “Uh uh, not gonna happen!”

“Why not?” several of the boys whined.

“The only person allowed to have a back ride on me is Kagome, got that?!”

“Like hell!” another of the boys snapped back and tried to climb up anyway. Though the boys were young and half Inuyasha’s size, there were nearly a dozen of them and Inuyasha didn’t want to hurt any of them in the process of shoving them off.

So instead he threw a pleading look to Kagome while trying to escape their clutches. Kagome smiled at him from far away, then walked up – at a slow pace, at that – and said, “Now now, boys, stop it.”

The boys instantly stopped in place, whatever pose they were in, and locked eyes on Kagome. “But,” they began.

“No,” she stated, firmly, though she was smiling still. Upon reaching them all, she knelt down to their height. “Now see here, if Inuyasha tells you ‘no,’ you best listen and obey, got that?”

“Why should we?” one of the boys blurted.

“Yeah, he should be strong enough to play all day,” another chimed in.

“What’s wrong with getting back rides?” a third added.

“Maybe you should take a thought towards what he does all day long,” she tried. “Whenever something attacks, who’s the first one to jump into battle and keep it from reaching all you boys?”

They looked ashamed now, dropping their heads and backing off Inuyasha to stand in a sad group. “Inuyasha,” they answered.

“You know he protects this entire village, right?” Kagome was still saying. “Whether you’re awake or asleep, so you know you should show him respect, right?”

They all nodded.

“If you want him to play, ask, but don’t force,” she finished.

Inuyasha, at first, had sighed a breath of relief that she got them to relinquish their holds. Now, he stared at her in surprise. “Play?” he echoed. He shook his head to block out the memories of his youth from reaching the surface.

One of the boys ran off and came back with a red ball the size of his head and kicked it towards Inuyasha. Reflexively, he reached up and caught it before it sailed over his head, and the boys cheered and moved into a circle, Inuyasha included. When he looked down to question Kagome, she had backed off and a tiny boy was now standing there.

“Kick!” one of the boys said excitedly.

“Just don’t kick it too hard,” Kagome warned from a few feet away.

Inuyasha stared at the ball in his hands for a long moment before he smiled and dropped it. As it fell, he lifted his foot and tapped it, sending it in a slow arch across to the boy in front of him. Right around this time he heard a little girl’s voice say, “Can I play, too?”

He looked over and saw a happy-looking Rin standing there, eyes on Inuyasha.

“I don’t see why not,” he told her.

“No way!” one of the boys snapped, and others joined in.

“A girl?”

“Why would we let you play?”

“This is a boy’s game!”

“Girls can’t do this stuff!”

“Oy!” Inuyasha snapped, before Rin started to cry. She already looked hurt enough. “Give me one reason why a girl can’t kick a ball.”

The boys looked at one another before one of them said, “Girls aren’t meant to do this stuff.”

“Did you forget about Sango?” Kagome asked, still nearby. “What about me; would you say I can’t play?”

The boys, once more, looked humbled. Grudgingly, they moved aside to make room for Rin to fit in. But before she joined, she looked over her shoulder and said, “Sesshomaru-sama, can I play with them?”

Sesshomaru didn’t much react beyond glancing in her direction. But Rin seemed to understand his unspoken words, for she waved and called out, “Okay, I’ll be careful!” Then she turned around and stepped into the circle.

The boy who was holding the ball kicked it in her direction. At first Rin ducked and covered her head, Inuyasha reached out to snatch the ball, and put it back in play with a worried glance at Kagome.

Kagome knelt down behind Rin and began coaching her, so the next time the ball came Rin’s way, she managed to kick it – wobbily – and the ball continued its rounds. After a few minutes, Rin didn’t need Kagome’s help anymore, and the circle grew when Shippou and Kyou joined. Now with roughly fifteen members, it was a huge circle, to the point where adults from around glanced at the group from time to time with smiles.

Miroku was invited to join, but he turned them down, saying that his job now is to watch over his wife and son. He did, however, promise that when his son is old enough, he’d join the game.

Rin and Sesshomaru ended up staying until nightfall, when Rin was invited to dinner made by Kaede and Sango. Though Sesshomaru had been steadily looking less and less neutral about being in a human village, he didn’t argue or tell her she had to leave.

About halfway through dinner, a handful of villagers – mainly men – angrily showed up and stupidly ordered Sesshomaru to get out of their village.

At first Sesshomaru outright ignored them, until Rin stood up for him. She got up, putting her bowl down, and saying, “You can’t tell Sesshomaru-sama what to do, I don’t care who you are!”

“Peace,” Kaede said then, lifting a hand to gain attention to herself. “I do not wish to see any battles within my village.”

“We’ve tolerated these demons all day now, we want them out!” a man stated firmly.

Kagome stood up. “Does that mean Shippou, Kyou, Kirara and even Inuyasha are no longer welcome?”

“Ah, no,” one of them started.

“What harm are they causing?” Inuyasha asked from his place.

“I haven’t seen any of them lift a finger in anger,” Sango added.

“The way of peace must be achieved by demons and humans alike,” Miroku was saying.

“It doesn’t change the fact that they are corrupting our children!” a man yelled.

Sesshomaru now stood and glared in the man’s direction. The entire group shrunk back as he advanced on them, but instead of attacking or even speaking to them, he merely stopped in front of them and stared down the man directly in front of him.

Everyone nearby was watching now. The man holding Sesshomaru’s gaze was shivering but remaining firm despite the fact that he was breaking out in sweat already. At length Rin trotted over to them and tugged on one of the men’s hakama, making him glance down at her.

And she said, “Respect is two-way.”

Inuyasha laughed at that, standing up. “That’s exactly right.” He stood on Sesshomaru’s opposite side and said to the group, “How much hell did I have to go through before you guys trusted me, huh?”

“You’re different!” one of the men from the back called out. “You’re just a hanyou, after all.”

“Just?” Kagome echoed. “After all this time, you see him as ‘just’ a hanyou?”

Every single man except the one holding Sesshomaru’s gaze glanced in another direction. That particular man said, “It doesn’t matter.”

“Oy!” Inuyasha snapped.

Kagome walked right past Inuyasha, shouldered by Sesshomaru and grabbed the man by his ear. He looked confused for a split second before she tugged. The man was instantly following her movements, and no one was helping him. She dragged him a few steps away from the crowd, but didn’t let go of his ear.

“Na, Kagome-sama, stop, stop!” he pleaded.

Rather than let her anger take over her, she gave the man a hurt look and let go of his ear at last. She had his full attention now, as she said, “Why is it so hard to learn to trust?”

The man obviously thought highly of her, and judging by his blush, he might also have a crush on her. “I, uh, that is. . .” he stammered.

In the background, she heard Inuyasha chuckle and gave him a look that told him to come and demonstrate trust with her. He stepped closer, his eyes alight with ways to try and show how deep their trust goes. When he stopped in front of her, Kagome held out her hand. She said, “Break one of my fingers.”

The men all around gasped, and even Inuyasha looked shocked. As the villagers began stammering – they were, after all, under the impression that whatever Kagome told Inuyasha to do was done – Shippou cried out and jumped on Inuyasha, biting him. He yelled repeatedly, “Don’t you dare hurt Kagome, Inuyasha! Meanie! You don’t care, do you?!”

Inuyasha had been struggling with the kit and finally pried him off, holding the pup at arm’s length. “Oy, I ain’t gonna break her finger, you idiot!”

The villagers sighed with relief, and Kagome withdrew her hand. Looking down at the man at her feet, she said, “Get it, now? Don’t look at me like that. Inuyasha and I both knew he wasn’t going to break my finger – no matter if I told him to, or not. That’s the kind of trust I’ve been trying to show you.”
At a tug on her skirt, Kagome looked down and spotted Rin, whose eyes were watering, but she wasn’t crying just yet. With a sniffle, she said, “You scared me, Kagome! I thought Inuyasha was really going to do it!”

With a twitch of her lips, Kagome finally got the drift of just how much everyone thought Inuyasha was under her control. “That. . . do any of you really believe that Inuyasha does what I say, when I say, how I say?” At the murmurs and nods following her statement, she could just stare, her mouth open. “And why do you think that?” she blurted, glancing at Inuyasha and noting he, too, looked shocked.

“Well, the prayer beads control him, right?” one of the men began.

“No,” Kagome shot down in an instant. “The beads are like reprimands; they’re not a choke collar!”

“Pretty damn close,” Inuyasha muttered, tugging on the beads absently.

Kagome glared at him. “Lucky for you, your manners have evened out nicely, or you’d still be getting faceplants three times a day.”

He fumed in response. “Oh yeah? I betcha they wouldn’t do a damn thing when you’re out of earshot!”

“Oh, you’re threatening to leave now, are you?!”

“It’d be a nice vacation from your kami-damned strangehold!”

In reply, Kagome cried out in anger. Squaring her shoulders, she raised her voice and said, “Like living with you around all the time is a reprieve?!”

“It’s better than getting a face full of dirt – and concrete – whenever you damn please!”

“Oh, if I had a single cruel bone in my body, you’d be getting an upgrade of those prayer beads within three days, you insensitive, disrespectful, childish, stupid bastard!” she all but yelled at the end.

The both of them were panting, glaring at each other strong enough to melt boulders, neither willing to give an inch. Their first real fight in weeks and it was here, in Inuyasha’s time, in front of his brother, during an argument about trust, and with villagers within earshot. In fact, several people had heard the ruckus and come to see what was going on, making a crowd.

Still, even though name-calling and insults had been a part of the fight, neither Kagome nor Inuyasha stepped too far over the line. The two of them gradually controlled their breathing, though they still refused to end the glare between them. It was almost a battle of dominance more than a battle of wills, both absolutely refusing to budge an inch.

Until a woman screamed from the crowd and pointed a finger in the air. Everyone followed her gaze and saw hundreds of winged youkai circling about the village, as though ready to strike. Their hesitation to attack left proof that they were intelligent enough to choose a time to attack, and had obviously not expected Sesshomaru’s troupe to be there. Then one of them shrieked, which seemed to jar the rest into diving.

“Into your huts, now!” Inuyasha yelled, immediately drawing Tessaiga and leaping high to engage in the battle. He had to keep his attacks held back because of the location, as people ran to their homes and locked themselves inside. Even the men who so adamantly before had demanded Sesshomaru leave were now gone, hidden from view.

Kagome snatched up her bow and arrows, watching as Miroku and Sango made a break for Kaede’s hut, Shippou and Kyou helping the elderly woman along. Kagome was sure that the newlyweds wouldn’t stay gone for long before coming back and aiding in protecting the village, but until then, she had to help Inuyasha.

As she turned, aimed, and fired her first arrow, she noted that Sesshomaru wasn’t doing anything except watching the fight and keeping Rin plastered to his left leg. He slashed out every time a demon came near himself or Rin, but otherwise kept out of the fray. Jaken was panicking, it seemed, as he turned the staff round and round, firing flames in almost every direction.

Including towards Kagome. She yelped and backed off from the flames, feeling her skin burn but seeing only some light red tinting. She decided she’d be okay, but also decided that Jaken needed a good swipe. She aimed one of her arrows at the tiny demon and fired, the arrow shooting past his left eye and taking out a demon sneaking up behind him.

He jumped and looked surprised when he saw the creature behind him dissolve, then turned back to Kagome, trembling. She only looked at him disapprovingly for a moment before taking aim and blasting through a large group of the youkai that was nearing Inuyasha. He already had his hands full, seeing as how the birdlike youkai were pecking and snapping at him from all angles in midair.

Inuyasha finally tore apart from them and landed hard on his feet, turning back around and slashing upwards, sending a Kaze no Kizu blast at the offending youkai. The attack shredded the entire group that was after him and took out a treetop beyond before dissipating, and then Inuyasha leapt into the air once more.

Still, the entire village was covered in the swarm, which seemed to have gotten larger instead of smaller during the battle. Kagome turned and looked up at the sky, noting how the sky nearly blacked out from the sheer numbers, and heard Miroku’s voice as he called out a prayer of destruction. Kirara’s roar wasn’t far behind, as well as Shippou’s frantic orders for the children of the village to remain as silent as possible.

Though his voice could only get so loud, the kit’s order seemed to almost silence the world. As the moon was truly blocked out, only the sounds of flapping wings and heavy breathing could be heard. All at once, vision was gone, and soon, the flapping wings stopped – even though everyone knew the youkai were still there.

Kagome couldn’t help feeling fear now, hearing the shake in her voice as she said, “Inuyasha. . ?”

His response was a low, “Stay still; I can see you.”

“What’s going on?”

“Shh!” She felt a hand touch her side and jumped, then recognized the clawed fingers touching her. “I think those birds are trying to join together.”

“You can see them, too?”

“They’re becoming one,” Sesshomaru’s voice cut in. “They’ve blocked out the moonlight.”

“It’s like they became a cave,” Inuyasha confirmed. “Touching ground all around the village.”

“But why would –”

Her words died out when she heard a very shrill scream, which echoed throughout the cave of bodies. Not a second later and another scream joined in, along with a man’s voice yelling out, “Akira!”

Inuyasha’s hand left her as he dashed to the source, and Kagome knelt down, fumbling with the ground. “I can’t see a thing,” she whispered, then was surprised to feel the clawed hand return, this time touching her shoulder. She sighed. “Back so soon?” was all she could think to say.

“Not quite,” Sesshomaru’s voice told her, and she jumped.

That was Sesshomaru’s hand on her shoulder? It must be, seeing as how Inuyasha just yelled from far away, “Everyone, hold on to those around you! The youkai are picking us off, one by one! Don’t let them take you!”

Kagome stood up, wondering why Sesshomaru was bothering to touch her. Then she realized he was more or less steering her, and pushed her forward at the same time she felt tiny hands grab onto her skirt. “Lead Rin to safety,” he told her. “Jaken will help protect her, and lead you to your friends’ hut.”

Kagome nodded easily, craving the comfort of her friend’s presence. It didn’t last long, as a demon seemed to choose now to make off with Rin. The little girl screamed and clung to Kagome tighter as she was lifted, and Kagome immediately reached out and locked her hands on the girl’s kimono, pulling her back reflexively. Then she heard a demon shriek and knew Sesshomaru had gotten rid of it.

Now with Rin in her arms, Kagome called out for Shippou. “Use your foxfire, Shippou!”

He yelled the words in instant response, lighting the area around her vaguely. He bounded up to her, grabbed her offered hand, hopped up on her shoulder and, holding out the small flame, pointed. She followed where he pointed until she ducked under the hanging mat, settling down with Rin in her arms. Kyou and Shippou both hid themselves under her hair, while Kaede held a snoozing baby boy and Jaken – sweating profusely in his fear – stood just instead the doorway at attention.

“Don’t worry, Jaken-sama,” Rin said, though her voice shook. “Sesshomaru-sama and Inuyasha are too strong to lose the battle. We’re safe.”

True as that was, Kagome could only think, I need to be out there, too. I need to be helping Inuyasha – but I can’t see anything. Sango and Miroku are out there, fighting with them. . . I should be, too.

The sounds of battle and cursing as things failed filled the air, and every now and again, and scream rose out from the village. In total darkness, the humans’ natural fear of being hunted and devoured rose tenfold, and Kagome felt pain in her heart as she thought of all those people who didn’t have the luxury of Shippou’s foxfire as light.

:End Chapter:

Woot, a finished chapter!

To get down to business, I have a great deal of information for you. I have been visiting sites lately, internet sites, that host manga freely for the reading. Two of these in particular I visit weekly. One shows Inuyasha, the other Naruto.

I can’t exactly list the site here, but, if anyone wants the links to either one of these two sites (or any of the others I visit), ask in a review or email me. For instance, in the last chapter of Inuyasha, the two brothers got into yet another fight over the swords. So far, neither is really winning, though Sesshomaru was of the opinion he’d won and tossed Tenseiga.

Yes, he tossed the freaking sword. God damn but that man is so full of hatred, I’m surprised he hasn’t turned completely red by now. Until the next chapter comes out, I don’t know if he goes back for the sword or not, or whatever the hell is going to happen next. All I know is, next Thursday, that is the FIRST thing I’m gonna do upon waking up.

In the latest chapter of Naruto, however, there’s mainly been talking going on. Yes, talking. Those who know Naruto well wouldn’t surprised to hear he recently broke his arm. Even so, he’s still the comedy relief, so it’s hard to feel bad for him. :P

Now, I’m going to end this talk here so I can update! Night night all, it’s almost 10 pm here.

See ya!