Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One for the Ages ❯ Chapter Sixteen: Letting Go ( Chapter 16 )

One for the Ages

By Gan Xingba

Chapter Sixteen: Letting Go

 

For the next several days as the victorious troupe underwent the long journey back to Kaede's village, everyone was in the highest of spirits. The usual suspects, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Inuyasha, had even seemed to declare an unspoken truce, and had managed to avoid any large scale arguments, although a minor back and forth had erupted over the last bag of potato chips. Even with that, though, this was easily the friendliest terms everyone had been on with one another since the Spirit Detectives had first arrived, although Hiei maintained his usual silent scowling. As they came in sight of their destination, though, all banter slowly came to a halt. It had suddenly hit everyone that the Spirit Detectives would soon be leaving, for they now had over ninety percent of the Shikon Jewel in their possession.

 

“Well, we seemed to have arrived at a good time,” commented Kurama, looking towards the sky as they approached the village. “The sun will be setting in a little over an hour, so we can stay here for the night. This way, you'll be able to go restock on your supplies, Kagome.”

 

“Yeah...” replied Kagome without much enthusiasm before suddenly brightening as a new thought entered her mind. “Hey, wait a second! I just got an idea!”

 

“Care to enlighten the rest of us?” Yusuke asked impatiently, having many experiences of the ideas schoolgirls got from Keiko.

 

“Well, I was thinking that when I go back home, I could bring back a big dinner,” she answered, clearly excited with the idea. “You know, a big feast before you guys leave tomorrow.”

 

“Now that's what I'm talkin' about!” exclaimed Kuwabara, who was still starving after failing to oust Yusuke and Inuyasha in their pitched battle for the potato chips earlier. “Don't forget to bring some sodas, too. I'm kinda' sick of water.”

 

“Yeah, and bring me one of those lolipopper things!” chimed in Shippou.

 

“And beer!” suggested Yusuke before Kuwabara smacked him in the back of the head. “Oh come on, I was just joking.”

 

A plethora of suggestions and demands began to rain down on Kagome, and in response she quickly mounted her bicycle and peddled off in the direction of the well, partially regretting her decision. By now, the group had essentially reached the village, and everyone scattered, each on their own agenda. Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha headed over to Kaede's hut to say hello, although Miroku was most likely simply following Sango and Inuyasha was just trying to pass the time. Kurama had decided to take this last chance to inspect the unique plant life in the area, and Shippou decided to follow him since he had attained near worship status in the young fox demon's eyes. As for Hiei, he disappeared to…well, probably just to brood in some tree somewhere as he really never had anything to do if there wasn't something that required killing. This left Kuwabara and Yusuke wandering aimlessly around the village without the slightest idea of what to do with themselves until dinner.

 

“How long d'ya think we've been here Urameshi?” Kuwabara asked after a few minutes of wandering.

 

“Dunno, a couple of weeks or something like that. I haven't really been counting the days,” answered Yusuke, as he looked around at all the villagers gawking at them. “By the way, you might want to get a shirt. People are starting to stare.”

 

Kuwabara just grunted in response. He had made it fairly clear after the battle with Naraku that he deeply lamented the loss of his white trench-coat, despite Yusuke's constant mocking of the rather unmanly coloring of the writing on it. Of course, a shirtless man in a farming village wasn't exactly an uncommon sight, so it was far more likely that it was the general appearance of the duo that attracting the stares. Though Kuwabara had decided on a poor solution to the problem, he had been right at the start of the mission when he said they would look strange with their modern clothes in feudal Japan. After a few more minutes of silent walking, the pair had finally left the more crowded part of the village, and the gawking at last ceased.

 

“Hey, Urameshi,” began Kuwabara, breaking the silence. “You miss home at all?”

 

“Not really, what's there to miss?” replied Yusuke flippantly as he lazily kicked a small rock out of his path.

 

“I dunno, aren't you and Keiko sorta' serious now?” questioned Kuwabara, looking equally lazy as he sauntered along.

 

“Well, yeah…” answered Yusuke truthfully, holding back a wince as he thought about what Keiko would say about him being gone so long. “But other than that…you know I don't miss much else. Maybe the arcade a little, but really, it `aint bad here.”

 

“Yeah, it's all right,” agreed Kuwabara. “But I still miss a lot. You know my gang, my sister and stuff.”

 

“And your precious little Yukina, right?” taunted Yusuke with a smirk, who wasn't nearly lazy enough to miss a chance at making fun of Kuwabara's melodramatic obsession with said ice demon.

 

“Yukina and I have a special bond of love, and don't you dare try and make fun of it, Urameshi!” retorted Kuwabara angrily.

 

Not surprisingly, the two boys were soon locked in a verbal struggle for insult domination. Also not surprisingly, it took under a minute for them to forget what it was they were arguing about in the first place.

 

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Kagome had promised a feast for dinner, and she did not fail to meet expectations. In fact, she had brought back so much food that she was unable to carry it out of the well on her own, and had to yell for several minutes until Inuyasha heard her and came to her aid. By the time they had carried everything down to Kaede's hut, which the old priestess had politely vacated for the night, which made Kagome suspicious that a certain pair of Spirit Detectives had heard her, but had chose to ignore her out of amusement. Surprisingly, Hiei showed up just as they began distributing the food.

 

“Too late shrimp, I already got dibs on all the good stuff,” stated Kuwabara as he began to stuff his face with anything edible in front of him.

 

“It appears that the humans in this region have driven out anything worth hunting at all,” he said, totally ignoring Kuwabara as he sat down

 

“We get it, you don't actually like hanging around us, because if you did, it would ruin your tough loner image,” said Sango dismissively. “Now shut up and eat.”

 

Hiei's eye narrowed and he let out a small growl of irritation at this, but after a moment of glaring death at the demon slayer, he snorted with his usual “hn” sound and helped himself to a small portion of meat.

 

The rest of the meal followed in picture perfect fashion. It had taken about two minutes for Yusuke, Kuwabara and Inuyasha to be engrossed in their usual oh-so-intelligent banter, the subject now being on the level of “coolness” possessed by cats, and subsequently those who liked cats. Hiei, who Sango had now opened the floor on, was soon the subject of several jokes made by her, Kurama, and Kagome with Shippou throwing in another impression of the fire demon for good measure. Death threats were numerous and universal.

 

When it had been deemed unsafe to continue to prod the fire demon further, the subject had changed to Kurama's love life, or rather his surprising lack of one. This had caused two people in the room to suddenly become incredibly uncomfortable, Kurama, whose face had turned a light shade of red due to being the subject of such a personal inquiry, and Inuyasha, who had demanded to know why they were discussing this subject, seeing as Kagome had initiated its discussion. Maybe it was topic of discussion, but for some reason, Miroku had thought that this was the opportune moment to try and grope Sango's butt. He would not only be proven wrong, but also have several rice balls slammed harshly into his face as punishment for his trespasses. All in all, the meal provided a perfect snapshot of each member of the group, which had been exactly what Kagome had hoped for when she suggested the idea.

 

Eventually, though, there was no food left to be eaten, and the feast had come to an end. By the time everything had been cleaned up, some, such as Kuwabara and Shippou, had already fallen asleep, for the meal had lasted far into the night. When the last plate and the last pair of chopsticks had been cleared, Kagome stepped outside, where she found Inuyasha leaning against the wall of the hut, looking as though he was deep in thought as he looked up into the heavens.

 

“Thinking about anything in particular?” asked Kagome as she sat herself down next to the half-demon, smiling at how strange Inuyasha seemed with a pensive look.

 

“The Jewel…I mean…” Inuyasha started, and then paused as though he was unsure whether he should continue before moving on. “Do you think we should let those guys just take it?”

 

“Do you still actually want to become a full demon, Inuyasha?” Kagome inquired with a hint of skepticism. “Even after all we've seen?”

 

“No, it's just…” he began to respond, and then trailed off, as he finally took his gaze off the stars and looked at Kagome, who was smiling at him warmly.

 

In all honesty, becoming a full fledged demon had long ago been erased from Inuyasha's mind as a possible option of what to do with the Shikon Jewel, in no small part due to the bloodlust that had gripped him whenever he had transformed into one thus far. Recently, it had been replaced with another quite opposite possibility, something that he hadn't considered doing in over fifty years. As he looked at Kagome, he felt a twinge of sadness from deep within him as he accepted that after tomorrow, he would no longer have the option to go down that road.

 

“It's just what?” asked Kagome, tilting her head a little as she asked the question.

 

“Nothin',” said Inuyasha at last, turning his vision back upwards.

 

Kagome just continued to smile, and deciding that no more conversation was necessary, leaned her head against Inuyasha's shoulder and gazed up at the stars. Inuyasha blushed slightly, and his eyes flickered downwards to Kagome uncomfortably, but he did not resist, either, and so resolved himself to stargazing with company.

 

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Elsewhere, Hiei was doing what he usually did when night fell, he was sitting in a tree that overlooked the small river which flowed through the village, looking out at the night sky with no particular interest. It was not that his mind was occupied by other things, it was simply that he had never found stars all that interesting in the first place. The only reason he was looking out towards them was that there was really nothing he had any interest of looking at. At least, that's what he would claim.

 

Sango, who found herself not feeling even the slightest bit sleepy, was walking along the riverbank when she spotted the fire demon in his perch, although it was highly probable that she expected him to be precisely in that spot anyway. Smiling slightly at Hiei's predictability, she walked over to the base of the tree and sat down with her back against its trunk.

 

“Its kind of strange, isn't it?” she stated more than asked. “After tomorrow, we'll probably never see each other again.”

 

“Hn,” grunted Hiei from the tree above her, which in this case could mean any number of things.

 

“You know, I think I might actually miss that little sound of yours,” she admitted, suppressing a chuckle. “Even if it is rude, snobbish, and generally unpleasant.”

 

No grunt followed that comment, but no other sound did either, and for a few moments, all that could be heard was the soft rustling of leaves in the light breeze. Finally, Hiei spoke.

 

“Your brother,” he began, catching Sango off guard with the sudden change in topic. “What will you do about him?”

 

“I will free him from Naraku,” answered the demon slayer firmly. “It's just a matter of finding out how.”

 

“Have you ever considered letting him go?” asked Hiei, showing no hint of hesitation in his voice. “Letting him die?”

 

“No! I could never do that! He's my brother!” said Sango, looking up at Hiei with the utmost shock on her face. “How could you even say that?”

 

“Hn, that's what makes you weak…” spat Hiei, as though he were referring to something that was slightly disgusting. “…attachments.”

 

Sango was now furious, she could simply not believe what she was hearing. Not having a sense of tact was one thing, but this was unbelievable.

 

“And what exactly do you mean by that?” she demanded, her anger barely controlled.

 

“Attachments only drag you down. They hold you back and make you weaker. And when you are weak, all that lies ahead of you is dismal failure,” said Hiei, not even showing the slightest bit of recognition to the offense he had caused. “If you want to be strong, to know victory, then you must hold on to nothing and no one. You must let go of everything that you think you have come to hold close to you, or you will suffer. That is why you have to let go.”

 

As soon as he had finished speaking, the demon rose and swiftly leapt from his perch, disappearing into the night. Sango was then left alone, stunned and infuriated beneath the tree.

 

`How could he say something like that? Something so horrible?' she wondered. `After all that we've been through how could he act so heartless?'

 

For minutes on end she continued down this line of thought, eventually thinking up several fairly violent ways of getting retribution on the offending party. Eventually though, the rage subsided and her thoughts cleared as she went over what Hiei had said once more. This time though, she was able to look past the offending comments and look just beneath the surface to find what Hiei had truly meant. It was then that she realized that when Hiei had told her to “let go”, he hadn't been talking about Kohaku at all.

 

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Not far from the village, Naraku watched through the eyes of a demon puppet as he himself was hidden deep with the forest. Though the damage he had sustained earlier was far greater than he could have anticipated, the days since had allowed him more than enough time to recover completely. Even so, he would normally simply go into hiding after being defeated in battle, but this time was different. Naraku did not know much about the histories of these four newcomers, but he did know this: that if they had the Shikon Jewel, it would no be long before it would escape his grasp forever. This was something he simply could not allow.

 

With this in mind, he had followed the travelers all the way back to Kaede's village without even alerting his minions. He would have to attend to this swiftly efficiently and personally.

 

`They mentioned something about a ritual involving the Jewel,' he recalled. `I was unable to find out the specifics since I could not risk my puppet approaching too close, but at least I know that they will be performing it tomorrow. That will be my time to strike.'

 

Its work now done, Naraku ordered the demon puppet to withdraw into the shadows. At this point, there was no time to plan or scheme. All that mattered now was stealth, guile, and above all, timing.

 

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Despite the protests of a sleepy Yusuke, everyone was awoken by sunrise the next morning, the logic being that if they set out early, they would be able to arrive at the temple by midday and have a brief lunch before starting the ceremony to open the time portal. It was, after all, a twenty-five mile journey, and by foot that could take as long as six hours.

 

“I just don't know why you're in such a rush, Kurama,” explained Yusuke grumpily to the fox demon, who, not surprisingly had come up with the sleep-detrimental timetable.

 

“Just a precaution, Yusuke,” replied Kurama with his usual aura of patience as the group began to set out. “Naraku is not the only demon in this era after the Sacred Jewel, so it would be unwise to dawdle when we have so much of it in our possession.”

 

“Damn it, you always have an explanation for everything,” Yusuke grumbled. “I need to be able to do that. It would make things with Keiko one hell of a lot easier.”

 

“Now do you understand how absurd it is that you don't have a woman, Kurama?” chimed in Miroku, nudging the fox demon in the shoulder with his elbow. “You have all the necessary skills. Why, you could do almost as well as me.”

 

At this point, Sango would normally point out how unimpressive that really was, but she had been in a bit of a haze the whole morning, and the entire conversation went on without her noticing. However, only Kagome seemed to notice this, and she chose to say nothing. She was no novice when it came to understanding a girl's personal matters, and she recognized that this was not the moment to ask about it, as she was unlikely to get a straight answer. Making a mental note on this, she decided to enter the conversation and inflict further embarrassment on the already reddening Kurama.

 

“Is it that you just don't know any girls you're interested in?” suggested Kagome with a sly grin. “Because I could introduce you to a few girls I know back in our time.”

 

“No really, I don't…”

 

“Oh! We could make it like a game show, and I would the super-cool host that all the ladies want to get down with.”

 

“Exactly how drunk would those ladies happen to be, Kuwabara?”

 

“Shut up, Urameshi.”