Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One for the Ages ❯ Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Ultimate Toy ( Chapter 29 )

One for the Ages

By Gan Xingba

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Ultimate Toy

The sun shone down brightly upon Japan's countryside from its midmorning position in that glorious place between sunrise and high noon, with not a cloud to deter its warm rays. The weather fit the mood of those traveling beneath it perfectly, having been greatly uplifted from Miroku's revelation on the previous night. Indeed, had the monk himself not been so weary from his injuries and constant traveling, they no doubt would have sprinted all the way to the cave he had described immediately after learning that it housed Masaruten, so great was their enthusiasm. Fortunately, this mood had carried over to the morning, and they were making great time.

 

“So, you're saying that this ghost guy, Nemu…” began Yusuke, checking the monk's story for accuracy for what must have been the sixth time.

 

“Nobu.”

 

“Yeah, whatever. You're saying that this guy is the one who made the sword?”

 

“That's what he said.”

 

Yusuke paused and stroked his chin for a moment, which looked a little odd considering how fast he was running to keep pace with Kirara so he could talk to the monk. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and nodded before turning back to Miroku, which also meant that he was facing Sango, Kirara's other passenger, who had been listening to the pair silently for the whole journey.

 

“I've got it!” declared the boy. “He must be guarding the sword so no ass holes will get their hands on it! Do you think that means we'll need to pass some sort of test to get the sword?”

 

“That's actually a pretty good question,” replied Miroku. “I suppose we'll find out in a moment, that's the cave up ahead.”

 

The group slowed to a halt at the base of a rather bare and rocky looking hill, and as Miroku had said, there was the entrance to some sort of tunnel or cavern imbedded in it, although it was partially concealed by a large rock formation and the natural shadow that the hill provided. Allowing Miroku to take the lead, the group moved slowly into the cave, taking their time to navigate the upward sloping path, for it was slick from water that had managed to escape the small stream that flowed beside it.

 

“Nobu?” called out Miroku as he entered the cave's main chamber. “Are you there, Nobu?”

 

“Oho? Back so soon, sir monk?” greeted the ghost merrily, floating quickly out of the darkness to greet his guests. “And you brought friends, I see! Superb! I haven't had so much company since…well, I can't remember. Memory loss doesn't stop when you're alive I guess, right?”

 

Several eyebrows were raised, but Miroku was allowed to continue acting as the group's diplomat. Getting into a conversation with this chatterbox of a spirit seemed comparable to stepping into quicksand from the look of things, and if anyone stood a chance of talking their way out of it, it was Miroku.

 

“Unfortunately, we didn't just come to socialize, Nobu,” continued Miroku with a smile. “It actually concerns that sword of yours, Masaruten.”

 

“You wouldn't actually want that old thing, right?” Nobu replied with a small laugh. “Why, it's-”

 

“We know what it is capable of, Nobu, don't waste time trying to hide it,” Miroku cut in, suddenly wearing a very serious expression.

 

Nobu's smile suddenly shrunk. His eyes no longer were wide in merriment, but half closed while retaining an amount of cheeriness to them. Everyone in the group tensed at his change in expression, unaware at what would happen next.

 

“Ah well, I figured as much. It is obvious that two of your comrades are from the future. I mean, who wears skirts that short in the Feudal Era, right?” spoke Nobu, his melodic happiness retained fully in his voice if not entirely in his expression.

 

“It's not that short!” protested Kagome, blushing and instinctively tugging down on her skirt, as if she could somehow make it longer through sheer force of will.

 

“No offense meant, none at all. In fact, I prefer more modern clothing,” assured Nobu with a chuckle, and suddenly he had replaced his samurai garb with a black trench coat covering what looked to be a standard business suit, his hair now pulled back into a long ponytail streaked with blond dye. “Looks pretty stylish, right?”

 

“Give him some shades and he looks like he's right out of a sci-fic movie,” mumbled Yusuke, getting a stifled snicker out of Kagome that Nobu failed to notice.

 

“However, I must wonder why you would want Masaruten,” continued Nobu. “You look like you already can travel through time, right?”

 

“It's a complicated situation, but suffice it to say that we have comrades who can only be rescued by using Masaruten's power,” explained Miroku. “Please, you must aid us.”

 

There was a long silence as Nobu looked over the group. Finally his smile disappeared and he slowly closed his eyes. After several moments he opened his eyes once more, and the smile returned.

 

“Sorry, but no.”

 

“Bullshit!” roared Yusuke, unable to control his rage. “You're going to give me that sword or I'm going to take it from you, you worthless little bastard!”

 

“Yusuke, calm down,” urged Sango frantically, not wanting the outburst to ruin their bargaining chances.

 

Despite these protests, Yusuke continued to hurl insults at the ghost, and would have lunged at him had he not been restrained by his comrades. Nobu, meanwhile was staring at the youth with widened eyes and a slackened jaw. Were he not ethereal, his skin may have paled. At last, Yusuke finally relented, though it seemed more from a lack of breath than from free will.

 

“Sorry about that, mister ghost,” said Shippou apologetically. “He's just a little-”

 

“Did you just call that boy `Yusuke'?” asked Nobu, cutting the little fox demon off.

 

“Yes...” answered Sango hesitantly.

 

“As in Yusuke Urameshi? Spirit Detective Yusuke Urameshi?” inquired Nobu, and when he received a hesitant nod in response, his gleeful expression returned in full force. “Amazing, absolutely amazing! I can't believe I'm actually meeting you, this is incredible!”

 

“Don't tell me I'm related to you or something…” Yusuke muttered, though Nobu failed to notice once again.

 

“You don't know it yet, Mr. Urameshi, but you become fairly legendary after your time. Anyone who knows anything about spirit energy, demons and the like knows who you are,” explained Nobu hastily. “Oops! Can't give too much away, right? Well then, forget what I said earlier, if it's to help Yusuke Urameshi, then the power of Masaruten is at your disposal! Well, once we choose a wielder and they learn how to use it, I suppose.”

 

“There's nothin' to choose. They're my friends, so I'm saving them myself,” spoke Yusuke with a shrug as he began to walk over to the corner of the cave Masaruten inhabited, which he had noticed as soon as they entered.

 

“Wait!” urged Nobu with alarm, drawing stares from everyone present. “You can't use it!”

 

“Why the hell not?” spat the Spirit Detective, once again very irritated with the deceased time traveler.

 

Nobu opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly paused, his mouth hanging open for a moment before he closed it. Yusuke merely scoffed, thinking the ghost was being eccentric. Not that he was the only one who thought so. In fact, everyone in the room save Kagome seemed puzzled by this behavior. Instead, her brow furrowed in thought as she recalled Koenma's reaction when asked about why Yusuke was able to travel down the well. He also had hesitated in a similar manner. There was something about Yusuke that they, including Yusuke, were not supposed to know. Unfortunately, she had absolutely no way of finding out what it was.

 

“Oho? Why, you say?” began Nobu, his composure regained. “Well, Mister Urameshi, it is because you are simply too powerful. Sending you to any, and I mean any, period of time could have serious side effects. Besides, whoever goes must be extremely careful to disrupt as little of the timeline as possible, and from what I hear you're not exactly…subtle, right?”

 

“Guess that means I can't use it, either,” stated Inuyasha, crossing his arms smugly. “I'm just way too powerful.”

 

“Oh, you wouldn't be able to do it anyway,” Nobu said with a warm smile. “If a demon tries to use Masaruten's power, they get quite a nasty shock instead, and usually will die a horribly painful death from all the burn wounds.”

 

Shippou gulped loudly, and Inuyasha's smugness quickly disappeared with shock. The contrast between the sing-song voice and the brutal words was a tad creepy.

 

“So, then it's down to us three,” observed Miroku, referring to himself, Sango, and Kagome.

 

“No, it's not,” Sango said, drawing several puzzled looks and one listless stare from Miroku. “If it's a time between now and the present, Kagome would stand out too much, and you're still too injured to go, Miroku. I'm the one who has to go.”

 

Had Kagome not been so focused giving Sango a concerned look, she would probably have noticed Miroku's shoulders fall slightly as though he were being drained of energy. As it stood, however, this small change went unnoticed, for when it came to reading people's emotions, Kagome was perhaps the only member of the group who could do it with consistent accuracy.

 

“Oho? Awfully eager, aren't we?” Nobu commented as he foated up close to Sango's face as though he were inspecting a racehorse. “Hmmm…you certainly seem to have the spirit…and you look level headed enough. Is it okay with your companions, though?”

 

There was a series of affirmatives from the others, though some were more reluctant than others. Nobu beamed and clapped his hands together excitedly, though, since they weren't corporeal, they made no sound.

 

“Splendid! We'll start your lessons whenever you are ready.”

 

000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

Nobu had absolutely insisted that the training would be conducted alone, so the cave's main chamber had been hesitantly cleared out until only he and Sango remained. Even at that point they had not been ready to begin, however. Asking for Sango to wait, the ghost had floated over to Masaruten and placed his hand on the hilt. Once in this position, he had gone into some kind of trance, and a small amount of spirit energy could be detected as he silently continued the ritual. At last, after several minutes of this silent ritual, the spirit energy dissipated and Nobu backed away from the sword.

 

“Ah, there we are. Now we can start,” said Nobu, turning back towards Sango and smiling.

 

“What was all that about?” Sango asked curiously, standing up from where she had been resting against the cavern wall.

 

“Well, you see, the Masaruten was bound to my soul as a safety precaution. Wouldn't want it to fall into the wrong hands, right?” answered Nobu. “So, no one could even touch it until I removed the link between it and my soul. You wouldn't be able to use it very well if you couldn't pick it up, right?”

 

Sango nodded in agreement. For a moment, she just stood there, staring at the sword as it rested near the human bones that she assumed belonged to Nobu. Said ghost gave her a warm smile and an encouraging nod, and she slowly stepped forward. Grasping the hilt in her right hand and the middle of the sheath with her left, she picked Masaruten up off of the ground and unsheathed it. The blade gleamed in the light from, the small hole at the top of the cave, remarkable showing no signs of wear.

 

“I half expected the actual blade to be pretty average,” admitted Sango, turning the sword over in her hands as she inspected it. “But really, it's quite well made. It seems to have remained quite sturdy, and it is pretty light for its length. The fullers must have been very precisely made.”

 

“Oho? I'm glad Masaruten is in the hands of someone so familiar with weaponry,” Nobu responded, once again clapping his hands together in excitement. “But that isn't why you wanted to wield the sword, right? Ah well, I shouldn't pry, but its good that you feel strongly about this. After all, the key to using Masaruten is willpower.”

 

“Are you saying it's as simple as wanting to use it?” Sango queried skeptically, prompting a laugh from her ghostly teacher.

 

“No, no, no, but that is the most basic way to begin to explain it,” Nobu assured her. “When I was alive, I couldn't control my spirit energy, so the only way I could tap into the energy of a sword like Masaruten was to have it work through my emotions and other unconventional means. I guess you may as well put away the sword now, this explanation could take a while, right?”

 

000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

As Sango trained inside the cave, the rest of the group lounged in various places along the rock outcroppings outside. The only one who had fallen asleep was Yusuke, however, who had fallen asleep laid out on top of large rock with the sun beating down on him. It was a fairly amusing sight, especially considering how energetic the boy had been before. Of course, it was just like Yusuke to be full of energy up until the very moment he fell asleep.

 

“I should go make sure that this area is safe,” suggested Inuyasha several minutes after the Spirit Detective had dosed off. “Can't have that punk getting woken up by some demon, we'd never get him to stop complainin' `bout it.”

 

Kagome nodded in agreement and smiled as the half demon leapt across the rocky terrain and out of sight.

 

`They may fight all the time, but I think those two have become pretty good friends throughout this whole thing,' she thought. `Inuyasha's really matured since I first met him. It's actually kind of amazing.'

 

Her thoughts were interrupted by movement from Miroku, who was standing and dusting off his robes. By the time Kagome had turned to look, the monk was already limping his way off in the opposite direction that Inuyasha had left. Throwing a glance back at Shippou to make sure he was still playing with Kirara, Kagome hurried after Miroku.

 

“Where are you going?” she asked worriedly, remembering Miroku's actions when they had found him in the spring.

 

“Don't worry, I'm not going after Naraku. Sango was right, I'm too weak to do much of anything right now,” he assured her, flashing a smile that would have convinced anyone who didn't know him well. “I just need some time alone to think.”

 

Kagome exhaled softly as she thought about the situation that had developed between her friends. She was going to support Sango in whatever decision the demon slayer made regarding the matter, she'd decided that. Although Kagome had never exactly been a huge fan of Hiei, she wouldn't intervene if Sango took that path. After all, the last thing she wanted was to become like one of her friends back in her time that were constantly urging her to dump Inuyasha and go after Hojo, the most sought after boy in her school who had been anything but subtle in his advances, polite as they were.

 

Then again, it killed her to see Miroku like this. He wasn't as outward with his negative emotions as Sango was, instead trying to cover them up with his charm, but it was painfully obvious to Kagome that he was hurting. Sango was her friend, but so was Miroku. She had an obligation to at least try and lift his spirits.

 

“You know, you shouldn't give up that easily, Miroku,” she said at last, prompting the monk to give her a surprised look. “You know, with Sango.”

 

“Kagome…I know where I stand,” he returned, smiling weakly at her. “You're being very kind, but if she's made up her mind, then I have no right to even…”

 

“But you don't know that she has, Miroku!” Kagome cut in. “Didn't you hear what Yusuke was talking about last night? How you should never give up on something if there's even a little bit of hope? It reminded me of a race I'd seen once a while ago. Anyway, they were racing around the track and this one guy was way behind everyone else on the final lap, but all of a sudden, the guy in the lead fell down and took everyone with him, and because this guy had kept on trying, he ended up passing them all and winning.”

 

“So, you're saying that to win…I need everyone else to fall down?” asked Miroku jokingly. “

 

“Gah! You know what I mean!” Kagome said in exasperation. “Just don't give up so easily, that's all I'm saying.”

 

“I believe I understand, yes,” confirmed Miroku with a smile, this time a genuine one. “I appreciate the advice.”

 

Kagome watched Miroku continue off towards the woods, but this time with relief. Being on emotional damage control duty was something that she had gotten used to over the course of her travels with her little band of travelers, but it had still been rare to have be there for two of her friends at once.

 

`Even as Sango's been getting better, Miroku's seemed to be getting worse, it feels almost like a see-saw,' she mused. `I want to help…but at the same time I know neither of them would forgive me if I got too involved. Man oh man, how do I get myself into all of these complicated messes?'

 

Kagome sighed and headed back towards the cave entrance. She knew Inuyasha would be worried if she wasn't there when he showed up. She smiled a little at the thought. Everything that was going on may be a complicated mess, but even while almost everyone around him was having an emotional crisis, Inuyasha would be there as he always was, and whether Kagome realized that or not, that was all the solace she needed.

 

000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

Sango sat, Masaruten at her side, and watched the wall. Well, not exactly the wall, but rather, a point directly in front of the wall. She'd been doing this for the last ten minutes. Of course, she only knew that she'd been doing it for this long because she had borrowed Kagome's watch. Kagome had explained the numbers system to her before, so she could read it, but it was important that she keep exact track of time right now. The watch's minute hand moved up slightly.

 

`Any moment now…' she thought, once again focusing on that space in front of the wall.

 

Just as she completed this though, a bright blue light formed seemingly out of nowhere right at the spot she was staring at, forming a large circle of light that hovered above the ground. Suddenly, a small rock came tumbling out of the circle, and after another couple moments, the circle shrunk and disappeared into nothingness.

 

“Oho? Only off by a second this time, very good!” declared Nobu excitedly from behind her. “You're learning fast, it's only been two days and I'd say you're past the `testing it with rocks' phase!”

 

The thing that was being “tested”, of course, was the time portal that Sango created with Masaruten. Wisely, Nobu had decided that they would throw rocks through the portals she made first, and then wait for them to come out several minutes, or hours, later. At first, it had been very difficult. Some rocks hadn't come back, while some inexplicably were found on the ground not a moment after, as though they had been there for a long time. However, by now, Sango had become very precise with the timing, and her last dozen rocks had all been within seconds of their targeted times.

 

“Well, we've been practicing almost nonstop,” Sango said, though she couldn't help but smile at her handiwork. “And you've explained everything so well that it isn't very hard to actually do.”

 

“It's a testament to your skill that you have learned it this fast, anyway,” complimented Nobu. “You're the first person I've ever taught this to, so you must be good, right? I mean, there's no one else to compare you to.”

 

“Gee thanks,” replied Sango sarcastically, getting a chuckle out of Nobu.

 

“Now then, it's time for the big test,” Nobu declared after the moment of humor had ended. “You're going to transport yourself exactly five days into the future, and then return.”

 

Sango's jaw suddenly dropped. She had just graduated from rocks. Thinking about transporting herself seemed like insanity. She would have told Nobu so, too, if she wasn't so shocked by the mere suggestion of it.

 

“Now, now, don't look so bewildered,” Nobu chided. “It is exactly the same as before. The only difference is what's going through the portal, not the portal itself. It's all mental.”

 

“You're right,” Sango sighed. “It's just a little bit of a scary concept…”

 

“I know, but you can't be afraid,” the ghost said. “Remember: you must focus your determination. Doubt could throw the whole thing for a loop.”

 

Sango nodded and rose off her feet. It made sense to get this done now, while she had the technique fresh in her mind. In her mind, she knew she had it down cold, but she needed to prove it to herself emotionally, and rocks weren't going to do that. Besides, it wasn't as if Masaruten took any energy to use. Its spirit energy was completely independent of the wielder's, which was why Nobu could use it in the first place. Taking a deep breath, Sango unsheathed the sword from its scabbard.

 

Closing her eyes as she held the weapon ready before her, Sango focused her mind on five days in the future. Naturally, she had no idea what five days into the future would look like, but she didn't need to, she simply focused on the concept of five days, and nothing else. Time was all that mattered. She let images of the physical world fade away, until all she was thinking about was five days forward.

 

Then, almost subconsciously, she removed her left hand from the hilt of the sword and moved it to the edge side of the blade, just above the hilt. Gently placing her thumb on one side of the blade and her index and middle fingers on the other side, she slowly ran her hand up the blade, which she was holding perfectly vertical. As she did so, the kanji for “five days” appeared on both sides of the blade in the wake of her fingers in a glowing blue. According to Nobu, how well solidly the kanji formed indicated the accuracy of the teleporting, and though Sango could not see it, the kanji forming now seemed flawlessly created.

 

In one smooth motion, Sango cut down with the blade. With a small thrumming sound, a glowing blue line formed where she had sliced downward, and it quickly expanded until it had formed a large circle, just like the portal the rock had fallen out of. Sango's eyes were now open. Knowing she had no time to lose, since the portal wouldn't stay open from too long, she took a deep breath, and leapt through the portal.

 

There was a blinding light that forced her to close her eyes, and she was vaguely aware of an odd floating sensation, but just as rapidly as it had begun, it ended, and Sango found herself landing on solid ground. Blinking her eyes to adjust to the light, she turned around and watched the portal behind her. For a few moments, it was stable, and then, just as before, it slowly shrunk out of existence.

 

Looking at her surroundings, she saw the cave around her, complete with Nobu's skeleton. The only thing missing was Nobu himself. Looking around rapidly, Sango began to panic. She didn't know how, but she felt almost certain that Nobu's absence had been her fault.

 

“It looks like I made it on time after all,” came Nobu's voice from above, and Sango looked up to see him descending down from the small hole in the cave's ceiling. “Splendid! You made it exactly on time! Naturally, I had suspected as much, but this confirms it. Well done.”

 

“Wow…that was surprisingly easy…I almost can't believe it,” Sango remarked.

 

“As I said: It's all in your mind. I did say that, right?” replied Nobu with merriment. “It's been five days, it's hard to remember exactly what I said.”

 

Suddenly, a distinctly female voice rang through the cave. Sango could tell it was coming from outside the cave, but it was still very loud, not to mention very angry.

 

“Nobu Oshima, get back here or I'll hit you so hard with this oar that you'll never be able to wear that stupid smile again!”

 

“Ah, that would be the ferry girl,” explained Nobu, flashing that same smile that had just been threatened with extermination. “She's been after me ever since it was found out that my soul was no longer bound to Masaruten. Good thing I avoided her until now, right? Ah well, take care Sango. Masaruten is in your hands.”

 

With a bow, Nobu ascended through the hole in the cavern ceiling. Shaking her head, Sango once again prepared open a portal. Her nervousness now gone, she could do it even through the ruckus outside caused by Nobu and the ferry girl. Even as Sango stepped through the portal, it continued.

 

“Oho? You mean I was supposed to go with you?”

 

“Don't give me that `oho?' crap! You knew damned well what you were supposed to do!”

 

“Oho? I did?”

 

CRACK!

 

Sango once again found herself back in the cave, but this time, Nobu was right in front of her, and Kagome's watch was on the ground beside him. After blinking to fully adjust her eyes, she sheathed Masaruten and gave Nobu a small wave of greeting.

 

“You've returned, well done. Like I said, it's all in your head, right?” the ghost greeted her, smiling broadly. “It took you a few minutes to return, it seems, though. Did something happen?”

“Nothing…” Sango replied, barely stopping herself from giggling. “You might, uh, want to lay off saying `oho', though.”

 

“Oho? Why is that?”

 

“Never mind…”