InuYasha Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Journey Across Time ❯ Training ( Chapter 8 )

O.O Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So many reviews, so long to update!!!!!! u.u Gomen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fanfiction reviews;

YOUKO N KAGOME (Always a grave mistake. Semi-idiot. He's definately got a brain, he's just too goofy to use it properly.

Skeren Dreamera (Hehe... ^^;)

kireishi-chan (S'up!!! Technically, I'm too young to HAVE a will. Sorry about signing out on you on AIM!!! I had to get out when the internet started freezing out on me. Chiisai; I'M A FAIRY, NOT A PIXIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DV- v.v;;; What obbessive nature? 'blinks innocently')

starangel4899 (Lol! Thanks!!! And it's great to meet you, Yuna!!! Really, Star, how can you handle so many muses? I have enough problems with Chiisai!!!!)

Gin Nova (sorry! I got sick in kentucky at a fair and had to go to the hospital Nothing serious, just a minor heat stroke, but when momfound out it took us three hours to get ahold of my dad... so yeah, I've been doing a bit of damage control while playing the part of the rope in a tug-o-war between my family. Divorced parents suck. But Writer's blocjk WAS part of the reason this chappie took so long. lol. As I said earlier, I'vehad a habit of swearing at my computer when it rebels, so I have no problems with profainity Thanks!!!)

YOUKO N KAGOME (Mine starts tomorrow. >P. Thanks for the vote!!! Yes, I know, DH is the real Bashing fan while I'm nuetral, so that's why I settled on a vote,)

Mediaminer Reviews;

Storml (Thanks! I try to keep everyone as in character as possible. Yes, that's what I was leaning towards making the pairings, and don't worry, they'll have plenty of competition... I considered bringing Inu back, but when I told that to DH she got a little loud, so I figured it was in my best interest to take a different route, but there will still be LOTS of competition!!! And thanks for eing my first mediaminer reviewer!!!!!)

Amara4634563534 (Thank you!!!! More pranks this chappie hehe...)

Tsukiyo Kitsune tears (Thank you!!! there's still two chapters to vote, so all I can say is watch the poll results!)

Brio~the fuzzy cat thing (Thank you!!! I've only seen one of two Inu./GW crossovers myself, and all of them seem to fade away. >.<. Heh. I'm having lots of fun with Duo. Don't worry, Trowa and Quatre will come forward, it's just Trowa's not much of a talker in the first place, so it's a tad hard forme to figure out where to stick him. That's another thing I'm having fun with. Go Sango!!! I'm a major Duo fan, too, You just gotta love the guy!!!)

GemJewel (Thank you!!! I'm leaning towards Duo/Kagome, Wufei/Sango, but will remain open to suggestions,)

CYOA Athrunxyou luver (Here's the update!!! Don't worry, I use worse language and my computer knows it.Thanks for the review!!!!!)

priscel (Wait till you see this chappie!!! poor Wufei... ...I never thought of that. Wow, I could really do something with that... Thanks!!! Action will definately come. Sooner than you think, too. Don't worry, Duo and the boys will get some bonding time!!!)

priscel (I thought no one would catch that!!!!! See, the thing is, normal foxes live about 3 years, but youkai foxes live 300, meaning 10 years for us is only about 3 for them, and presuming Shippo was about5 in youkai years when the Inu story started, that would make him about 8 in this fic. And before you say anything, I'm well aware of the fact that I'm too much of an annoying brain for my own good.)

white miko (Thank you!!! I'll try to work on that.)

Shellness (Thanks! Like I said before, I've seen a few GW/IY x-overs, they're just really hard to come by. Thanks for the vote, too!!!)

DV- I'm so sorry!!! I got a little stumped for a bit!!! I mean, I knew where I wanted the story to go, but I didn't know how to word it.

Chiisai- That, and all the other stories.

DV- Those too. Some of the reviews I've been getting for one in particular are quite scary. The threats range from tying me in front of a computer until I update to a slow, graphic death too disturbing to repeat. `whimpers and curls into fetal position,'

Everyone- `sweat drop'

DV- Plus, my cuz is a big fan of that same story, and happens to know my full name, school, current scheduled, complete address and all phone numbers I can be reached by. Supreme Hardcore Blackmail.

Kagome- Right…

Sango- On the other hand, all the positive reviews from mediaminer where accepted with mildly surprised but still gracious enthusiasm.

DV- yeah, this story's doing at least twice as good on mediaminer than all my other stories are. Which I am very please about!!!

Shippo- DreamVixen doesn't own anyone from InuYasha or Gundam Wing. As a matter of fact, so far the only main characters she owns are Kome and Kohaku (the son, not the brother.)

DV- life is cruel…

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Trai ning::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

.o0O0o.o0O0o.o0O0o.o0O0o.o0O0o.Wufei's POV.o0O0o.o0O0o.o0O0o.o0O0o.o0O0o.

Damn it!!!!!!!

I growled and pressed a hand over my side wound as I felt it start to open up again. The miko was giving me a hard time as it was, I didn't need her giving me an I-told-you-so speech.

I'd finally managed to convince her to stop hounding me long enough to let me train, and she had told me how to access the spell and, with a warning of what she'd do if she found out I was over exerting myself in my current state, left with the tajiya to see to some youkai that were hassling a village an hour's walk from here.

The other pilots were all silently performing the same tasks they had held the day before.

"HEY, THAT'S NOT A TOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T HIT HIM WITH THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Well, silently for the most part anyways.

Growling again, I made my way back to the hut. I had to redo the bandages and apply that salve before the miko discovered the wound had opened up again…

When I found the miko's medicines, I was taken aback by the large quantity of salves and ointments she had. I couldn't recall anything about the ones she'd used on me except for the coloring, and even that wouldn't be much help considering I didn't know which was for which. Damn…

"This one," I turned, startled, to glare at the young village girl.

"What-!"

"This is the salve Kagome-sama uses to make the wound seal up faster. And this one is for numbing pain, and this ointment is for keeping the skin from scarring." She lined the bottles up in front of me as she pulled them from their places. "We keep the bandages over here. Hang on," I frowned at the girl as she pulled a roll of bandages out of another drawer, and after checking the quality, turned to hand them to me.

"How do you know all of this?"

"I'm Kagome-sama's apprentice of course. She teaches me how to identify and make all of these."

"Then why are you helping me? If she is your sensei, shouldn't you speak to her about this?" the girl put one hand behind her head, sheepishly.

"well yeah, I should, but I understand your sentiments. No one likes making Kagome-sama upset, and you don't want to be stuck in the hut, which is what will happen if Kagome-sama finds out you let your wounds reopen, and I have the training help you, so why not make everyone's life a little easier." I was a little surprised at how responsible the girl seemed. Especially at her age.

"That's noble of you." She beamed at me, proud at my comment.

"Thanks!!! I just figured it was what Kagome-sama herself would do in this situation." I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Wasn't she the one giving me the warning about reopening my wound?"

"Yes, but Kagome-sama wouldn't really keep you from training if you were really serious about it. She's already done so much just keeping you and your friends here, that I think she's actually kind of relieved that at least you want to make yourself strong enough to fight off youkai."

"You admire her."

"And mama. They're both so strong," I frowned. They were a lot stronger than normal onnas… (AN; `anime fall' well, at least we're getting SOMEWHERE…)

"You really think so?"

"I know so." The girl said stubbornly, "They have to be. So many people fear and resent them, they have to stay strong."

"…resent?"

"Mama and Auntie Kagome are two of the most powerful humans right now, and other people resent them for that. Some monks don't think the Shikon no Tama should be protected by a woman, and some people say that mama being the only surviving tajiya is a fluke."

"How did that happen?" the girl bit her lip.

"Before mama and papa met, mama lived in a village of tajiya, helping whenever a demon struck, and even protecting some of the sacred jewel shards after the Shikon no Tama was shattered. One day, all of the best slayers in the village were called out to a lord's manor, and the demons, hearing the tajiya stronghold lacked its best defense, attacked the helpless village." The girl spoke in a way that told me she hear this story often enough to retell it on command.

"What about the slayers at the manor? Your mother was among them?"

"Yes, and she and the others took out the youkai they were supposed to easily, but there was something they didn't count on," The girl swallowed here, and gripped her kimono tightly, "the lord himself had been killed by a demon, and the demon disguised himself as the lord to get a cushy life. The demon thought it would be entertaining to take possession of the youngest slayer there." The girls grip loosened, and a sad smile came over her face. "My mother's little brother, and my uncle. It was his first slaying, so he was an easy target. The demon made him slay all except mama, and when she realized what was happening, she tried to help him, but…" The girl swallowed again, "the guards, and the lord… my uncle died that day, knowing he'd killed his father, and several men he'd grown up knowing without having any control over his body."

"And your mother?"

"She was badly injured, but survived. The demon behind the whole thing posed as the late lord's son, and took her in when it was discovered she was alive. Then he tried to make it look like InuYasha was behind the whole thing,"

"InuYasha?" the girl stiffened.

"Wow, we'd better get to work on those wounds of yours! Otherwise they won't be healed when Kagome-sama comes back." I almost snorted as the girl hastily started gathering the medicines and bandages, but decided not to press the subject anymore. What did I care, after all? We all had things we didn't talk about.

My thoughts centered on the little girl as she started to take my old bandages out. I admit (Though not out loud) I was impressed at her expertise. The miko and tajiya obviously took great care in the training of these children.

Five minutes later, I was out in the part of the village set aside for training again, working on fighting the youkai image the miko had insisted I start on, a centipede woman about fifty feet long with four arms. The only difference was, this time I had an unwelcomed audience.

"Wow! Go Wu-man!!!! I think you nearly got her head that time!!!" I growled and spared the baka and the giggling children a glare before turning back to the centipede youkai.

I'd taken off an arm and put a gash in its side, but it was fast, especially for it's size, and it moved in the same fluid fashion as a snake, making it harder to predict it's movements. The thing hissed at me before moving to attack again. I dodged, taking the opportunity to remove another arm. Though it was big and fast, it obviously didn't have much power behind its movements.

As a matter of fact, its speed and size where the only advantaged it had that I could find. Apparently, the miko thought it would be best for me to fight the youkai without the bizarre powers before I fought those that did have them. The youkai arched in pain, providing me with the opportunity to slice its main body.

With another hiss, the youkai swung down to try and bite me again. I blocked its teeth with my katana, but then it's tail came around to hit me in the back, nearly knocking the air out of me.

Cringing in pain, I knocked the youkai's head to the side, before using my katana to sever its neck. The image let out an earsplitting screech before it melted away. At the fence, the baka and the children clapped and cheered.

"Wow, I've never seen anyone defeat a centipede youkai with a katana before." The young monk said, smiling. Duo looked at him curiously.

"Then how does your mom beat them?"

"Hirakotsu," both twins answered at once.

"Hirawaza?"

"HiraKOTSU!" The girl said, sounding vaguely annoyed, "Bone boomerang,"

"So she actually throws that thing around?" the baka said, sounding impressed. "Wait a sec, BONE boomerang?! That thing is made from BONE?!?!?!?!"

"Of course she throws it. Why else would she carry it? And yes, it's made from bone. It's pretty hard to throw a boomerang that size made from any type of metal," I had to force back a smile as the baka sputtered at the young monk.

"I didn't think it was made from steel! I thought I was made from wood or something,"

"It wouldn't have lasted ten minutes against a youkai if it was." The girl said.

"All tajiya weapons are made from youkai bones," the kit said, apparently sympathizing with the baka, "now a days, Kagome purifies them, and Sango and Kirara fashion them into weapons." The fool blinked in confusion.

"Kirara?" the twins and Kit brightened.

"That's right! You haven't met Kirara yet!!!" the kit grabbed the baka's hand and the twins started pushing me after them.

We were dragged to the edge of the village, then the girl ran a little ways into the forest and came back with the cat looking thing I'd seen when we first arrived in her arms.

"This is Kirara. She is my family's guardian. She usually helps mama and Kagome on youkai hunts, but she's been acting funny and we have you guys here now, so they decided to leave her here to look after the village."

"Guardian?" the baka said, playing with one of the youkai's paws, "this tiny thing?" the children laughed.

"Want to show him what you can do, Kirara?" the girl asked the cat. The cat mewed, and jumped out of her arms.

A few seconds and a burst of flames later, we were staring at what resembled a giant two-tailed beige saber tooth tiger.

"Ah, yeah. Guardian. Gotcha." The kit ignored Duo, instead frowning at the cat youkai.

"You've put on a little weight, Kirara." He muttered, patting her head before turning to the twins, "Have you two been slipping her scraps again?"

"Don't look at me!!!" the girl said defensively.

"I haven't," The boy defended himself as well, "Mama and Kagome-sama are too good at catching that. Maybe she's just been hunting more or something…" suddenly, the cat turned back to her small form, and bounded away into the forest. "Was it something I said?" the boy asked in confusion.

"She must have gotten mad we were talking about her weight," the girl said reasonably. The baka snickered.

"Yeah, I've found that's never a smart thing to bring up to a woman," He said, with a cheeky grin.

"Why?" the kit asked, sounding slightly confused.

"Just trust me, it's not,"

Rolling my eyes, I started back to the village, Leaving the baka and children to their fascinating conversation.

"MAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I watched as all three children ran to greet their mothers, all of them chattering excitedly about what they had done while the two of them where gone. Both women smiled at the children, listening attentively as they put their weapons and, in the miko's case, medicine away.

"Chang-kun," the miko said with a smile, "How was you're training?" I frowned and crossed my arms.

"I defeated the centipede creature seven times," I announced. The tajiya looked surprised.

"With an ordinary katana?" she asked. I scowled.

"What else could I use, onna?" her eyes narrowed, but she was cut off by the miko before she could respond.

"That's impressive. I supposed you want to complain to me about the youkai I started you out with though?" I glared at her. "Relax, Chang-kun, I figured you could beat it, but I needed to access exactly what level you were at before I started setting the spell with more difficult youkai for you,"

"Why that youkai?" I demanded. She looked surprised.

"Because it's one of the more common ones, without any sort of special abilities that is really impressive. It's still difficult for common villagers to defeat the stronger ones, but still, its nothing that complicated. I figured seeing how many times you could defeat it in the time were gone with your weapon would give us a general idea of what youkai we can really start you off training."

"well?" I asked.

"I'll have to talk to Sango, but I think maybe a shape shifter…"

"Shape shifter's probably pushing it," the Tajiya said, pulling her hair down into a loose ponytail. "I'd say hawk youkai,"

"Maybe…"

"Can you guys talk about this later? The kit asked, tugging at the miko's hakamas, "I'm HUNGRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the miko laughed.

"Alright. We got some food from the village as some of the payment for our services," all three children lit up.

"Really? What?"

"Fish, beef, rice, and some vegetables." All three made a face at vegetables. "Like them or not, you're eating them,"

"YES Mama," the kit said with a dejected sigh. Maxwell snickered and Winner shook his head, an amused smile on his face.

I sat in a corner as the miko and the tajiya started to prepare dinner.

"Can I help?" Winner asked. The miko smiled at him.

"We should be fine. But can you tell your friends they can stop working for today? The farmers should be returning soon, so their work is done," Winner nodded, and left to find Yuy and Barton. Maxwell shook his head as he sat against the wall.

"I really don't know how ya do it, Kag, those kids can be absolute terrors when they put their minds to it!"

"Sound like anyone you know?" I asked dryly.

"HEY!!!!!!!" The miko laughed.

"I think it's just the fact that their parents respect me so much, so they're keen to listen to me," Higurashi explained. "Plus, they're trying to figure out how much they can get away with while you're watching them." Maxwell made a face, and the miko laughed again, "Tomorrow I'm planning on gathering herbs out in a nearby clearing, since I'm running low on some after helping that other village today, so you won't have to watch them,"

"Really?!"

"However, if you're not helping watch them, you'll have to help out in the fields, or with Sango,"

"Sango?"

"She's planning on making some of the youkai bones we took today to make weapons."

"…On the other hand, when it comes to kids, they can never have too much supervision!" I snorted as the three children giggled and the miko shook her head.

"Then I'll be more than happy to have you along to supervise the children," Kagome said.

"Tomorrow can we go swimming in that clearing we found with the waterfall and spring?" the girl asked the tajiya with a hopeful pout.

"Did you do all your training today?" I saw the baka get a look of inspiration in his eyes, and pull the kit aside, whispering something in his ear. The kit grinned and nodded. Not a good sign.

"…hehe…"

"You two know you have to stay diligent with your training. You're going to make it up tomorrow, along with the training your supposed to do for then." Both twins protested. "Keep that up, and you won't start exterminating until your fifteen," both fell silent.

"You three have been working on your spells too, haven't you?" The miko asked as she stirred the rice. Now both twins cringed and hung their heads sheepishly. The miko sighed as all three pouted at her. "You know how important it is that you learn how to control your powers."

"YES, Kagome-sama," Both twins chimed.

"I've done all my training, Mama," the kit said, "Can I stay with you until Kome and Kohaku are done?" Higurashi smiled and nodded to him. "YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!" Shaking my head, I closed my eyes and meditated until dinner was done.

After dinner, I went outside to meditate again, this time in a clearing near the village. I listened to the sounds of the forest, and the distant noises that had become normal in the village. Women gossiping as they did the house chores or helped in the fields, men grunting and groaning and arguing over this and that. The elderly talking about days gone by as they sat around making clothes or playing old board games, children laughing and playing.

It had all quickly become familiar to me. As hard as it was at first to adjust to this kind of life, it now seems so natural, so much better than life in the colonies. Much more… peaceful.

"HIYA WU-MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I growled and glared at the baka as he gave me a wide grin. "What's the matter? Why are you sitting around out here doing nothing? Come on, Wu-man! Kag and Sango are playing with all the squirts now, so the rest of us have the house all to ourselves."

"Leave before I decapitate you,"

"Aw, come on, Wu-man!"

"Yeah, don't be like that!!!" what the-?!

I blinked and looked between the two identical Maxwells, both of which grinned at me in the fashion only Maxwell could pull off. Suddenly, I recalled what Yuy had said about the incident with the kit right before they discovered I was attacked.

"That isn't going to work, Maxwell you baka. Tell the kit to go back home."

"What won't work?" I turned to see a third Maxwell.

"Shippo? He's playing with Kags," four.

"Yeah, and I am NOT a baka!" FIVE?!?!

"Wu-man? You okay?"

"Yeah you look a little pale…"

"WHY ARE THERE FIVE OF YOU?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

"We-ell…"

"…See, I decided there wasn't enough of me for the world…"

"…And when Shippo mentioned this one multiplication spell he happens to know…"

"…I asked him if he could do it with humans…"

"…And after I found out he could…"

"…I wanted to know what the max he could multiply to was…"

"…He told me the most he could multiply humans was five…"

"…So I figured, hey, why not?!"

…

"Why is your eye twitching?"

"MMMMMIIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!"

"GNAH!"

"Don't yell so loud!!!!!!"

"Yeah, do you want to give us heart attacks?!?!?!" Growling, I stormed off to the village, five snickering Maxwells following.

I found the miko playing with the village children, as the first Maxwell had said. The kit winced when he saw us coming, and started away from the group. I pinned him to the spot with a glare, turning to the miko who was already staring at the army of Maxwells.

"Fix this." The tajiya and her children all started to laugh uncontrollably as the miko shot her surrogate son a dry look. He gave her a timid grin and took a few steps back.

"What's going on? Is everything o…okay…" Winner paled as he exited the hut, and Yuy and Barton stared wide-eyed.

"Hey guys!"

"What's up?!"

"Hiya!!!"

"Anybody wanna play some four on four?"

"I could ref!"

…

"There's five Duos," If I thought it was possible, I'd say that the tajiyas laughed even harder at that.

"relax," Higurashi said, picking up a stone. "Kitsune multiplications can move and speak like real people, but are very unstable, and will dissapitate at any physical force on the image."

"…Say what?" all five bakas blinked in confusion. The miko rolled her eyes and threw the rock at one of the Maxwells. With a small `pop!' he turned into a little green leaf fluttering to the ground.

…

"Hehe…"

"WOW! Look at the time!!!"

"Hey, you're right!"

"We'd better get going!"

"Don't wait up for us!!!" Smirking, I hit one over the head.

`Pop!'

"This might actually be interesting I said, my smirk growing.

"Hn," Heero said, throwing a rock at another Maxwell, leaving only two.

"Now, now, guys…"

"…You don't really want to hurt us, do you?"

`Bonk!'

`Pop!'

"OW!!!!!!!!!!!"

"He'd the real Duo," Higurashi said, heading back to the hut.

"Well, we should double check. Just to be on the safe side,"

"HEY! Getting one rock thrown at me was bad enough, you guys aren't really evil enough to throw another, are you?!"

`Bonk!'

"Guess he really is Maxwell," I said, ignoring his glare/pout as he rubbed his bump.

I headed back to the training field, to get in one last fight before turning in for the night. The mere thought of five Maxwells made me want to kill something to maintain sanity.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

DV- All done!

Duo- Five mes is actually a really great idea!

Everyone else- `shutter'

Sango- Are you planning on getting to the plot anytime soon?

DV- Hey, I'll get there!!! I just need the Gundam boys settled in before I do.

Kagome- Then skip ahead a few days or something!

DV- But I'm having too much fun!!!

Everyone- -_-;;;

DV- then there's the whole Relena thing…

Chiisai- Speaking of which…

RELENA POLL;

Bring her in (Bashing)-XXXXXX

Bring her in (Non-bashing)-X

Keep her out- XXXXXXXXXXX

Kagome- Don't forget to vote!

Duo- See ya!!!