Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One for the Ages ❯ Chapter Seven: Down Time ( Chapter 7 )

Etc.: I realize I could have used “Black Dragon Wave” instead of “Dragon of the Darkness Flame” in the last chapter. However, as I have said, I am keeping most of the stuff in line with the English versions of the shows. Besides, “Black Dragon Wave” sounds like such a cliché name for an attack, while “Dragon of the Darkness Flame” just sounds more menacing to me. Just my opinion. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000

 

One for the Ages

By Gan Xingba

Chapter Seven: Down Time

 

Pain would be the first thing to greet Sango as she emerged from unconsciousness. Not the dull pain of sore muscles, either, but the sharp, biting pain of a fresh wound.

 

`Of course, how could I forget,' she reminded herself as she rubbed her hand over her now neatly bandaged injuries. `Damn! How could I be so careless?'

 

As she berated herself, she also managed to take enough time to take in her surroundings. She was resting upon a small cot in a simple one-window room. Judging from the size of the room, she determined that she was most likely in the headman's mansion. It hurt to move, but she was able raise herself up into a sitting position. Still being a little groggy, it was only at this point that she realized that she was still in her armor. The parts around her wounds had been removed so they could be treated, but the rest of it remained intact.

 

`I suppose I'd better change than,' she decided, noticing her clothes sitting in a small pile next to her boomerang and her sword across the room. `It would have been nice if they were closer, though.'

 

After methodically working her way over to her belongings, she began to remove the remaining armor on her upper body. As luck would have it, this is the precise moment that Kurama chose to check on her condition. Upon hearing the door slide open, Sango instinctively covered herself up with the nearest piece of clothing with one hand and flung the nearest hard object, one of her sandals, at the sound. Though many would rendered petrified by this embarrassing predicament, Kurama, being over three hundred years old, was mature enough to remain mobile, and quickly turned away from Sango while catching the flying footwear in his right hand

 

“I assume you'll need this,” he stated calmly as he flipped the sandal over his shoulder towards Sango. “I apologize for the intrusion.”

 

“Just consider yourself lucky,” Sango warned, catching the sandal. “My boomerang was out of reach.”

 

“Of course,” acknowledged Kurama with a chuckle. “At any rate, I'm glad to see that you're all right. I'll wait outside until you have changed.”

 

Sango exhaled in relief, thankful that it had been the ever tactful Kurama and not some of the less mature members of the group, namely Miroku. With that situation now resolved, she resumed changing her clothes. When she had finished, she limped out of the room to find Kurama waiting patiently.

 

“I see your injuries are still fairly painful,” observed the fox demon as Sango leaned against a pylon to take the pressure off her right leg.

 

“Yeah, but I'm actually pretty amazed that I feel eve this good,” she admitted. “I wasn't even able to stand after I got these.”

 

“It's good to hear that you've made that kind of progress already,” remarked Kurama with a smile. “You should be ready to travel within a day or two at that rate.”

 

“Don't slow down on account of me. I'm healthy enough to travel right now!” the demon slayer declared.

 

To try and prove her point, she tried to take an angry step forward, displaying her fist. However, to her great embarrassment, her right leg buckled under her and Kurama had to catch her to prevent her from falling.

 

“Don't worry about slowing us down,” assured Kurama, still smiling kindly. “We're all just glad that you made it through that ordeal. Your friends were all quite concerned. The only reason Miroku isn't sitting by that doorway right now is because we had him carried to his bed after he fell asleep.”

 

`That was awfully sweet of him,' though Sango with a smile. `He may be a lecher, but he's still a really nice guy once you get past that. It is a pretty big flaw he has, though…”

 

“Don't move around too much,” advised Kurama before reaching into his pocket and pulling a small pouch out of his pocket. “Put this in some water and drink it, as well. It may not taste good, but it should help reduce some of the pain.”

 

“Thank you, Kurama,” she stated, taking the pouch. “By the way, where are the others?”

 

“Inuyasha, Yusuke and Kuwabara are wandering around the village somewhere. Miroku, Kagome and Shippou were all pretty worn out from last night, so they just woke up a little while ago,” replied Kurama. “Hiei, however, was still out cold last I checked.”

 

“Is he…all right…?” Sango asked with visible worry on her face and her voice shaking a little with apprehension.

 

“Don't worry, the fatigue is just an aftereffect of joining with the Dragon of the Darkness Flame,” Kurama insisted. “But if he's still asleep then he'll have been out for twice as long as the last time. I suppose that would be expected if he had been fighting for a long time before he used it, though.”

The worried expression on Sango's face disappeared with the revealing of this information. Looking out at the morning sun, she recalled the events of the previous night. Seeing that she was lost in thought, Kurama quietly turned to leave.

 

“Say, Kurama,” she began, stopping the fox demon's exit. “Did you happen to see if Hiei had his sword with him?”

 

“All I saw was the sheath, the sword itself was missing,” Kurama answered confused as to the origin of the question. “Why do you ask?”

 

“Just wondering…” she responded, and then began to limp back towards her room. “Thanks again for the medicine.”

 

“It was no trouble at all, I assure you. Now get some rest,” advised Kurama, and then departed.

 

000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

Kurama and Sango were not the only people discussing Hiei at that moment. They were, however, the only ones who spoke of him kindly. One couldn't expect the other discussion to refer to the fire demon in a positive manner, of course, seeing as it consisted of a demon woman who was almost killed by his hand and her master.

 

“If reversing the attack back on him only makes him stronger, then I don't see any way to fight him,” explained Kagura to her master with the hope to avert blame for the failure away from herself.

 

“I'm fully aware of the power of that attack, Kagura,” dismissed Naraku impatiently. “It is one of legend, though I have never heard of anyone able to actually absorb the dragon. However, that is all irrelevant.”

 

“How could that thing possibly be irrelevant?” scoffed Kagura, though she quickly retracted from her master a step, regretting her tone.

 

“I'll let your disrespect go this time, since there are few beings in existence that would be able to tell what I am thinking,” Naraku warned her with a menacing glint in his eye. “Kohaku will be all I need to handle that one.”

 

“The child?” questioned the wind sorceress quizzically.

 

“You saw the third eye on the demon's forehead, correct?” responded Naraku with a question of his own.

 

“Yes…” Kagura replied with a slow nod of affirmation.

 

“I cannot recall the name of such a third eye, but I do know one thing about it. It can be used for telepathic control,” Naraku informed his vassal, a small smirk showing itself on his face.

 

“What does that have to do with Kohaku?” asked Kagura, unable to hide her skepticism.

 

“Surely you noticed that he only used that dragon after you wounded Sango,” clarified the smirking demon. “If I have judged that demon correctly, Kohaku will serve as excellent bait to ensnare him.”

 

000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

Hiei gazed outward onto the village from the roof of the headman's mansion. The light from the sun had an odd effect when it was aligned with the pillar of energy that streamed upwards from the temple. Only someone who could sense spiritual energy would be able to see the sight, and truthfully, only someone who sees it would find much awe in it. Hiei himself was capable of a far more dazzling spectacle, anyway.

 

`This is a waste of time,' he decided. `Kurama had said that he would be able to track Naraku once he attacked, so why are we still here?'

 

It was only a moment later when he saw the reason limping out the front entrance to the mansion, using her sheathed sword like a walking stick. With an irritated grunt, Hiei leapt silently down behind her.

 

“You'll only delay us longer if you overexert yourself,” stated Hiei coldly, causing Sango to jump in surprise at his entrance.

 

“You don't always have to try and scare someone half to death with your entrance, you know,” scolded Sango as she steadied herself using the sword. “Or is that your version of a game.”

 

“Hn. Games are a frivolous waste of time,” Hiei scoffed in response. “I don't play games.”

 

“I figured as much…” muttered Sango. “Anyway, are you all right? Kurama said that you were out cold.”

 

“I'm fine,” answered Hiei coldly, and then started to walk away.

 

“Wait up!” called Sango and hobbled over to Hiei, which proved fairly difficult since he hadn't stopped walking.

 

“What is it that you want?” demanded Hiei without turning his head to look at Sango.

 

“You lost your sword last night,” she illuminated, and then held out her sword towards Hiei. “I wanted to give you mine.”

 

 

When she offered up the sword, Hiei stopped walking. After staring at the gift for a few seconds, he took it from her hand and examined the sheath. Satisfied, he slowly unsheathed the sword and scrutinized the blade. Noticing a large rock nearby, he walked over to it with the sword still unsheathed. Realizing what he was about to do, Sango remained where she was, not wanting to get in the way and lose a limb. The fire demon raised the katana above his head, and then suddenly brought his sword down upon the rock with nearly undetectable speed, causing the rock to fall into two pieces where it stood.

 

“All the weapons made in my village are made out of demon bone,” elaborated Sango as Hiei again inspected the weapon. “I'm not quite sure about the specifics of this sword's construction, but it should get the job done.”

 

“Hn,” grunted Hiei in approval before sheathing the weapon and beginning to fasten the sheath to his belt. “It may suffice.”

 

“Glad to hear it,” stated the demon slayer with a satisfied smile. “It was the least I could do. You did save my life, after all.”

 

“Hn,” grunted Hiei with far more irritation, and started to walk away again.

 

As he did so, Miroku moved from his position at the gate to the mansion where he had been watching most of the conversation. He arrived next to Sango at the same moment Hiei had leapt onto the roof of the mansion.

 

“Not exactly grateful, is he,” commented the monk as Hiei disappeared from view.

 

“He's just not that great at showing it,” rationalized Sango.

 

“And I suppose he's not great at showing compassion, cooperation or civility either,” countered Miroku critically.

 

“A judgment on character coming from a monk who's both a lecher and a con artist doesn't mean much,” teased Sango before beginning to head back to the mansion. “I should head back inside and get some rest. The sooner these wounds are healed the better.”

 

“Agreed. Go get some rest,” concurred Miroku with a nod.

As soon as Sango had reentered the mansion, Miroku glanced up at the spot where Hiei had vanished from view. He didn't know Hiei that well since he rarely even saw the demon, but he did know Sango well enough to realize that what had just happened was…rare.

 

`I understand why she would give him her sword,' he mused as he started to head back into the main section of the village. `She hardly uses it, and Hiei lost his in the battle. That I understand, but I myself have saved her life before. Yet, I have never received such gratitude. No, that's not true. I simply haven't received tangible gratitude. Is it possible that I'm…jealous? Absurd! There's nothing to be jealous of! He's not even a noble like that other fellow…'

 

Miroku halted his inward ranting upon hearing shouting coming from the south side of the village. He couldn't make out the words, but it sounded worth checking out. He sprinted as fast as he could to the northern gate, but when he arrived he found that Kuwabara had beaten him to it.

 

The gates were already swung wide open, and Kuwabara was standing outside them staring down a large demon. It was your standard massive, horned demon, with its ape like arms hanging down below its knees and bearing a mouthful of fangs. Kuwabara couldn't look any happier.

 

“So, you think you're man enough to take on the great Kazuma Kuwabara, huh?” taunted the boy as he cracked his knuckles in preparation. “You just made a big mistake, pal.”

 

The demon didn't even bother to articulate a response beyond a furious roar before charging its assailant with surprising speed for such a large demon. The on looking villagers held their collective breath, fearing for Kuwabara's life. However, just as the demons massive head drew with in a few feet of the boy, Kuwabara snapped his head back and then brought it forward in a mighty head-butt. A loud crack could be heard and blood spouted from the demons ruptured skull as it was sent stumbling backwards from the force of the blow.

 

Not wasting any time, Kuwabara dashed forward, grabbed hold of the demons right arm and tossed it into the air in an impressive show of strength. As the demon's limp body began to fall back towards the earth, Kuwabara called forth his spirit sword and leapt upwards to meet it. In a flurry of cuts, the demons body was no more than kibble, and Kuwabara landed on the ground with a melodramatic flip through the air.

 

After deactivating his Spirit Sword, Kuwabara shoved his hands into his trench-coat pockets and walked back towards the village gates with a confident smirk on his face. He was about to start boasting about his feat when he suddenly found himself swarmed by several young women.

 

“Wow, your awfully strong,” complimented one girl, fluttering her eyelashes up at the overwhelmed Spirit Detective.

 

“Strong guys like you are so hard to find nowadays,” added another, trying to position herself in front of the other. “No one in this village is strong at all.”

 

“We so rarely get any visitors,” continued the third. “Why don't you let me give you a proper welcome?”

 

At this point, Kuwabara's face was bright red, and he was slowly trying to back away from his new admirers.

 

“I…uh…you…see,” he stuttered coyly, unable to organize his thoughts.

 

“Come on, a big strong guy like you needs to have a little fun,” offered the first girl with a wink. “Whad'ya say?”

 

“Su-no! I don-…I mean…I can't…I mean…I'm kind of…you know…” protested Kuwabara, continuing to blush and stutter, before finally clearing his throat and finding a small amount of composure. “I'm already in love.”

 

“Too bad,” sighed the third girl, shaking her head in overemphasized disappointment. “If you ever change your mind though…”

 

“I'll still be here,” chimed in the second with a seductive smile.

 

With that, the three young women finally relented, and walked away, doing their best to show off their hips as they left. By now, the crowd of villagers had dispersed, leaving only a relieved Kuwabara, leaning against the now closed gate for support. Miroku, however was still there. While the scene had certainly been an entertaining one, it was also puzzling to the monk, and he now sought to figure the scenario out.

 

“Why on earth would you pass up an opportunity like that?” he chided as he walked up to Kuwabara, who was still slightly pink in the face. “Those women were in the palm of your hand. They may have bad taste, but they certainly weren't ugly.”

 

“I could never do that!” dismissed Kuwabara harshly. “It's not right!”

 

“Oh, right. You said you already have a woman,” recalled Miroku. “Why should that stop you? I doubt you're married.”

 

“Of course we're not married!” snorted Kuwabara indignantly. “But that doesn't mean that I should be with other women!”

 

“Why not?” inquired Miroku, with an extremely puzzled look on his face.

 

“Because real men don't do that!” reprimanded Kuwabara, before striking a heroic pose. “Real men are always true to the woman they love, because power of love conquers all!”

 

“You can go ahead and think that, but you can't blame a man for chasing beautiful women,” replied Miroku, nodding his head in agreement with his own statement. “It's the natural thing to do.”

 

“Don't be so stupid,” lectured Kuwabara. “If ya' can't have loyalty, then ya' can't have love, and if ya' can't have love then there's no freakin' point to it.”

 

“To each his own, I suppose,” said Miroku with a shrug. “Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find those three women you so foolishly discarded.”

 

While his outward reaction was one of indifference, there was a part of Miroku that had seriously been listening to Kuwabara.

 

`Perhaps the big oaf has a point, albeit a fairly irrational one,' mused the monk as he headed back towards the village. `But then again, women aren't that rational either. Maybe if I just show a little more restraint, just a little, I can put my mind at ease about Sango.'

 

At this point, he passed the three girls who had been all over Kuwabara. He stealthily snuck in a quick glance at their posteriors as he walked on by, and a small smile appeared on his face.

 

`Just a little, though.'

 

000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

Kurama watched Kagome and Shippou playing with the village children as Inuyasha looked on from a nearby rooftop. It fairly comical, with Shippou changing into various funny shapes that made the children giggle with glee. However, Kurama wasn't paying attention to any person present. His eyes were on the four Sacred Jewel Shards Kagome was carrying with her. To him, they glowed like a beacon.

 

`Look at them, Shuichi…' called a voice from deep within his mind. `Aren't they spectacular?'

 

`That is enough, Youko,' he ordered the voice. `Those days are long past. It is time to let them go.'

 

`You act like I'm the one you need to tell that,' responded the voice, full of foreboding, and then disappeared.