InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ By the Cycles of the Moon ❯ Such a Demon of a Human ( Chapter 5 )

A/N: Alright, I won't lie to you guys; I've been lazy. Even though school of Hell has started again, I've just been plain damn lazy. Sorry about that! *Dodges flying rotten fruits and vegetables* Uhm, yeah, so I guess it's OK for you guys to hate me now.

Chapter 5: Such a Demon of a Human

Kagome was getting bored waiting for Inuyasha. He was taking forever for whatever he was doing. She glared at the rock wall of the cave and thought darkly, `Well this is stupid. I don't know why I'm so afraid of him. I mean, yeah, he's a full demon and could rip me in half if he wanted to…' Kagome shivered from the thought. `Ok, not exactly the best thing to think about right now…' She shook her head to clear away those unwanted thoughts. Leaning back against the cave wall and crossing her arms over her chest, she resumed thinking. `Well, if he had wanted me dead, he would have killed me by now. Eheh... that's really reassuring.' She nodded her head though, agreeing with herself and giving her thoughts more confidence. `So I know he won't hurt me… at least not too bad anyway. But there's still that dilemma of being his mate! I mean, of course I want to be his mate! But I don't know if I'm ready, and I wish it was regular Inuyasha asking me that instead of demon Inuyasha. I want to know if he loves me for me; from his heart, and not just because I look like Kikyo or for my scent or body or something as that.' Kagome finished with a sigh.

She glanced at the entrance of the cave, but stopped and looked back at the rock wall as if Inuyasha knew what she was doing and would pop out, ready to punish her for disobeying him. She took another glance at the cave entrance. `I wonder…well since he's been gone so long, and I technically wouldn't be leaving the cave if I did…' She thought evilly. After taking one last glance at the mouth of the cave to reassure that Inuyasha wasn't there, she ran off giggling, going deeper into the cave to go exploring.

Kagome stumbled into the soft darkness at the back of the entrance cavern and looked around. There seemed to be a maze of tunnels and caverns since she could see the darker, blacker entrances to the labyrinth within the blindness. She looked around harder, deciding on which path to take. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of a soft glow and heard the soft splashing of water from a cavern to her left. She blindly made her way over to the light, using stalagmites and pillars of stone as guidance so she wouldn't run into anything. She soon got to the entrance of the glowing cavern and peered in She gasped at what she saw.

It was a smaller cavern full of pools and large, bowl-like rock formations full of sparkling, warm hot-spring water. The water was bubbling up from deep inside the mountain or falling and trickling from mini-waterfalls. The light was caused by glowing blue crystals varying in sizes, jutting out from the ceiling and walls and parts of the floor. Kagome crawled closer to the beautiful sight to see how the crystals worked. She looked up at the ceiling to see holes that filtered light into the cavern as well as filtering steam from the hot-springs, the condensation lightly dripping onto the floor of the cave. The girl walked into a corner of the cavern to a patch of smaller crystals, thinking, `the glowing can't just be reflected sunlight; it's just too beautiful… and… and the vibe is just different…' She crouched down and sheltered the patch of crystals from the reflecting sunlight.

They still glowed.

Kagome gasped and reached out to touch the crystalline formation. `No wonder they still glow - they have a magical radiance to them,' Kagome thought, running her hand over the smooth surface of the crystals. She let her hand lightly glide over the crystal until she got to their tip and-

"Ow!" Kagome exclaimed, drawing her hand back as a trickle of blood ran down her finger. "Sharp…" She mused, sucking on her cut finger. Still sucking on it, she stood up and walked over to one of the large, bowl-like rock formations, holding the hot-spring water from a small waterfall. She dipped her hand into the warm liquid, enjoying the light prickling feeling as she did so while watching a small river of water run out of the bath-like pool, onto the floor and out of sight. That's when a bright red cloth caught her eye, hanging over the lip of the rock. She went over and picked the somewhat rough cloth out of the water, wringing it out.

It was Inuyasha's haori. (A/N: Yay! I know what it is!)

`So that's what he did with it…' Kagome thought, folding it over her arm and making her way back to the main cavern and Inuyasha and her "campsite." Whipping out his haori, she smoothed it over flat on a rock so it would dry out. She was about to make her way back into the darkness of the

entrance cavern to explore some more, when a thought struck her.

`Hey! I should probably to use for cooking or something later!' Kagome sighed in relief. `Thank goodness my mom made me bring those cooking supplies.' (A/N: Ok, I know that is SO corny it may make you barf, but bear with me here, we're gonna need that sh…stuff later. ^_^) She walked over to her over-sized, yellow backpack and dug around in it. After finding a good-sized pot, she made her way to the pool-cavern and back, splashing water all over herself as she got back to the fire pit. `Oh great…' She thought angrily, looking at her soaking school uniform that she still hadn't changed out of yet. She rummaged through her backpack once again, pulling out a T-shirt and some jeans and pulling off her sopping uniform. `I don't know what I'm going to do with this…' Kagome thought dryly, holding up the remains of her school shirt. She shrugged and lay the clothes out on the rock next to Inuyasha's haori, and set out into the cave to go exploring once again.

~*~

"Sango?" Shippo asked tenderly, looking up at her as he walked next to her.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Shippo?" She answered him sweetly, looking down at the fox kitsune. That stupid monk wasn't going to ruin her day! So she was going to make it up by being extra nice to Shippo.

"Is something wrong with Miroku? He's been lagging behind for a while now," Shippo asked her softly, looking back at Miroku, who was quite a ways back. Sango looked back at the man in question, holding onto the fire cat resting on her shoulder. They had ridden on her and Sango had pushed her hard to get them a long ways to Keade. From that, they would reach the village incredibly soon. But now Kirara was tired out and needed some much deserved rest.

Sango released her hold on her pet and looked up at the monk again. It was true that it worried her how slow he was walking today. She was wondering if he was either just contemplating something, or was coming down with something. It seemed to be the later one as he came up to the waiting group, leaning heavily on his staff as he staggered toward them.

Both Shippo and Sango gasped and ran up to him when they saw how his midnight black hair was plastered to his forehead from his sweat and that his breath was rapid and came out in shallow pants.

"Houshi! Are you alright?!" Sango cried at the ill monk, crouching down to hold him up as he almost collapsed. She tried to get him to lean some of his weight on her, but he pushed her away.

"I'm fine…" Miroku gasped for air and suddenly grabbed for Sango. `What are you talking about you idiot?! Of course you're not fine! You can barely walk! And don't push Sango away like that! She's trying to help you and letting you touch her! Don't give up a chance like that!' The monk's mind screamed at him. Sango and Shippo looked at him in surprise but then their expression changed into worry as he fell to his knees and reached out to Sango again and in an almost whimpering manor, whispered to her, "No Sango… I am not fine. I… I don't know what has come over me. I am very weak…" `Gods I sound pathetic…' Miroku thought grimly.

"Well we're almost at the village!" Shippo exclaimed from atop of the next hill.

"Hear that Houshi? We're almost there. Do you think you can manage it to get there?" Sango asked sincerely, trying to hide her true feelings, but failing a bit. He nodded slightly and grasped her around the neck and leaned heavily on her, enjoying how much their bodies touched. Sango blushed madly at the contact, thought she was enjoying that his touch wasn't perverted thought he was ill.

They made their way slowly to the village and then to Keade's hut, with Miroku getting extremely close to falling off of Sango's shoulder. They got to the hut hearing voices, but the groups barged in anyway; or rather, Sango barged in with Miroku slipping off of her shoulder, Kirara mewing in confusion and Shippo cowering behind her legs looking frightened and worried.

Keade was binding a man's hand for some type of reason, most likely a burn or skin rash. The both looked up at the intrusion and Keade gasped and hopped up to her feet as best she could in old age. She scanned over Miroku with her one eyes and asked Sango what had happened. Meanwhile, the man was looking Sango up and down with an evil smirk glazing his face, and soon walked over to her and before she could say anything, interrupted her.

"My, my, what a luscious looking young woman you are," He said perversely, getting a small growl from Shippo, sensing his evil aura, who was still hiding behind the demon exterminator's legs. Sango looked up into the man's face and glared darkly at him. Keade was about to tell the man off and tell him to leave, while Sango wanted to strike the man, if not for the ill monk in her arms when Miroku lifted his head. Sango, Keade, and Shippo all gasped at what they saw.

His eyes were a dull, blackish red.

He made a low growl and in a flash he had pinned the man against the wall; his staff pressing at the man's throat. The man's eyes widened in fear, staring at the monk glaring at him.

"If you ever talk of such ways to Sango or even look at her in a disapproving way again, I swear I will rip out your tongue and eyes to atone for such vulgar actions," Miroku hissed lethally, pressing harder at the man's throat. He pressed the staff harder one more time before falling over to the side, clutching his head.

"Miroku!" Sango cried out, rushing over to his fallen form and forgetting to use the disproving name she had for him.

The man stood there in shock, holding his bruised neck and staring into space with wide eyes. He glared down at the couple, kitsune and fire cat and made a grab for Sango when Keade stepped forth.

"Ye will do well as to leave at once," The old miko muttered darkly, glaring up at him. He glared down at the old woman, curses spitting from his dark, faded eyes.

"You have not seen the last of me, old hag! I will wreak my revenge for such horrid treatment!" And with that, he spun on his heel and rushed out the door. Keade turned back to Sango and the distressed as he began to tremble and shake. She calmly made her way to them. You had to be that way in emergencies so you didn't cause something worse to happen. Besides, it would help keep everyone else calm, especially someone young such as Shippo, who happened to be hopping around Miroku with wide eyes.

"Please Sango, tell thee what has happened," Keade asked, stepping around to face her. She looked at the old woman while trying to comfort a still shaking Miroku and was about to answer her when Shippo interrupted.

"He was acting really weird today! He picked a fight with some villagers this morning and then he was complaining about a headache and his Wind Tunnel hurting-"

"His Wind Tunnel? It was ailing him?" Keade spoke, her single eye wide in shock. Sango looked at Keade in puzzlement but Shippo just kept on going.

"Yeah, he said his Wind Tunnel was hurting him like never before and then when were getting here he was walking really slow and lagging behind. Then, when he caught up to us he was all sweaty and panting and he looked really sick and now he smells different!" Shippo explained, stepping closer to Miroku with wide eyes and sniffing slightly.

"Smells different?!" Sango exclaimed, face-faltering.

"How so?" Keade asked him in a rush, as though she knew how wrong the situation was.

"Almost like a…" Shippo sniffed again, stepping closer and looking back at the two women. His voice dropped to a near whisper. "A demon!"

That was when Miroku, who had been waiting for the right time to strike, lifted his head and jumped at Shippo's back.

All was in chaos as Shippo squealed and jumped behind Keade while Sango tried to hold Miroku back as Kirara sank her small teeth into the demonic monk's leg. Miroku yelled in pain and threw his leg out to try and shake the fire cat off as he tried to grab at Sango and throw her off of him. He lost his balance and fell back, taking Sango with him. She saw this as a chance to keep him under control and pinned his arms down under him while sitting on his legs, holding his shoulders down with her hands. His dark red eyes glared at her, but he stopped moving.

"Where are Kagome and Inuyasha?" Keade asked, suddenly realizing that the two were not there.

"Kagura and a poison demon attacked us shortly after we left yesterday," Sango explained, catching Miroku trying to wriggle out of her hold. "Kagura ordered the demon to poison Inuyasha with tainted needles. He got hit and turned into a full demon! Some almost hit Kagome, but I blocked them for her. Afterward, Inuyasha slayed the demon, but then he kidnapped Kagome and took her to the mountain northwest. Houshi stop struggling!" Sango growled the last part at a writhing Miroku.

"Kagura fled shortly after saying that Inuyasha would be a full demon for a whole month!" Shippo squeaked.

"An entire cycle of the moon?! That is terrible! There is much that it could do to his mind! And Kagome… have you heard…?" Keade asked.

"No… nothing from her. We don't even know if…" Shippo said sadly, his eyes tearing up. After a short moment he ran to Keade and began to cry. She pat him on the head to try and comfort him and then looked up at Sango.

"Did you say tainted needles turned Inuyasha into a full demon?" Keade asked hurriedly. Shippo looked up at her with teary eyes completely confused. Kirara had dislodged herself from the ill monk's leg and was standing next to Sango, ready to assist her if need be, but also looked up at Keade.

"Yes, I did!" Sango growled through clenched teeth. It was getting more and more difficult to hold Miroku down, as his struggling became harder.

"Did any of these needles hit Miroku when you blocked them from Kagome?" Keade asked calmly, looking at Sango very seriously. Sango turned her head around and looked at the old woman in revelation.

"I… I don't know… AH!" Sango replied slowly, and when Miroku saw a chance for escape and dominance, he slid his arms out from under his back and shoved Sango to the side and flipped them over so now he had her pinned.

Kirara launched herself at Miroku and sank her claws into his shoulder as she bit his ear. Miroku howled in pain as he rolled off of Sango and grabbed at the fire cat's neck. He began to squeeze the poor creature's neck when suddenly the cat released its hold and was pulled away by an extremely pissed demon exterminator. Miroku looked up at her as though he was about to spring at her, but she quickly grabbed the front of his robes.

"I'm sorry about this Houshi." She said quietly, drawing her right hand back; the one that wasn't holding his robes. Miroku eyes widened, darkened and seemed to change to a shade darker into a more black look as he knew what was about to happen.

Sango unleashed her hand and a loud `smack' was heard as she punched the side of Miroku's head with great power, sending him spinning and flying back onto the floor, a large bruise developing on his temple. The monk's eyes flickered for a moment and then closed in the bliss of unconsciousness.

"Sango!" Shippo cried out in disbelief, but Keade only nodded as Sango looked at her.

"Shippo, please retrieve some scrolls from the other room please. We will need to place these around the room Miroku will be in so he will not harm any of us." Keade explained to Shippo as Sango began to drag the monk's body into another room. Shippo looked at her skeptically, but did as he was told and went outside.

"But Keade, he is a monk. Won't he be able to break free from the scrolls' magic?" Sango asked as she dragged Miroku over to a futon-like bed laying on the floor. (A/N: There ya go K005, not quotations on the bed! ^_~) She looked over at Keade who had brought in some herbs and jars with remedial medicine in them.

"No, not if he had what I think he had happen to him," Keade stated simply, kneeling down next to the unconscious man next to her. She began to strip him of his clothes.

"Keade WHAT are you DOING?!" Sango shrieked, jumping back in shock.

"We need to know if Miroku has been hit with those needles, for I have heard of such a demon. Exceptionally powerful, though you said Inuyasha slayed him as though it were nothing. I am worried by this. Poison demons are not ones to listen to others. And you also told me that this demon did as Kagura ordered. That meant she had something on him. This also troubles me. I would want to know what Kagura and Naraku have to do with getting Inuyasha poisoned so badly. And besides, usually tainted needles pierce right through clothing without making any incisions." Keade finished, looking at the expression on Sango's face. The young woman watched as Keade slipped off the outer robe and then the inner one, (A/N: dunno how many he really has, but for now, he's got two) but only sliding it down to show his torso and tying it so the cloth would stay at his waist. Sango stared down at his athletic body and couldn't stop, even though the blush crept onto her cheeks and looked as though it had no intention of ever leaving. But as her eyes roamed over his captivating body, she caught the site of three small punctures by his left shoulder. The area was turning a gross blue with a swollen red at the edge.

"Keade, is that the…?" Sango's voice trailed off as she reached her hand out to touch the wound, but Keade quickly slapped it away.

"Do not touch it, dear child, for it can be contagious." Keade told her, pouring some water onto a cloth and cleansing the wound out best she could. "And left untreated, it can be very dangerous not only to the victim, but to everyone else around them." She then began to poor certain medicines and place ground-up herbs on the poison wound. Shippo has then returned with some scrolls for Keade and sat down next to Sango, watched the old miko work.

Once Keade was finished, she went into the other room to gather the right scrolls she needed, for Shippo had retrieved the wrong ones. The old woman had told the demon exterminator and the kitsune to keep an eye on the monk to see if he would wake.

"What do you think will happen to him?" Shippo asked in a small voice.

"I don't know. But Keade said she can treat him. I just hope that she can do it quickly." Sango answered softly. She was very worried about Miroku, but she didn't want to seem weak to Shippo.

"I can treat him, yes. But I need you to get me the one ingredient I do not have." Keade stated calmly, walking back into the room after she had put the scrolls outside the door and walls of the room Miroku was in.

"A single ingredient? Does that mean this poison is uncommon?" Sango asked, looking at the old woman as she sat down.

"Yes, this poison is quite rare. It is meant for demons and hanyous, giving them exceptional power, but the poison pushes them to keep being active with no break, so they will not eat nor drink. This dehydrates the body and soon the victim will die from starvation or dehydration." Keade whispered. Sango and Shippo gasped and paled drastically. "But…" They held their breath. "But if the demon or hanyou can override the urge to keep fighting, then they will just be strong for whatever amount of time the poison will take to pass out of their bodies," Sighing in relief, Sango and Shippo let pained smiles graze their lips.

"But what about Miroku? He's only human, so… what would the poison do to him?" Shippo asked. Keade looked out into space for a moment.

"The poison is reacting with his human blood, and trying to turn him into a demon. And the thing is, that as the poison fuses with the blood, Miroku's body is accepting the poison," Keade explained, working at the wound again. Sango and Shippo gasped.

"MIROKU'S TURNING INTO A DEMON!?!?!?!" They both yelled. That was all either heard after she had said it.

"Yes, but there is a way to treat it. But I need that last ingredient," Keade said loudly at the two dumbfounded friends.

"Which is…?" Sango pressed.

"An Azure Crystallus. They are found in the mountain to the northwest," Keade spoke, now binding Miroku's wound and tending to his head wound from Sango.

"But, that's the way Inuyasha took Kagome!" Shippo shouted.

"You're right! C'mon Kirara, we're going to find that crystal and Kagome!" Sango yelled, jumping up and running out the door with her boomerang and Kirara close behind her.

"But what about me?!?!" Shippo cried, running after the demon exterminator.

"No Shippo. You will be staying with me to help me look after Miroku," Keade explained, leading and sniffling Shippo into the hut as he watched Sango riding away on Kirara longingly.

~*~

Kagome was about to go deeper into the cave once more when she heard the soft cracking of footsteps on gravel. And metal scraping across rock. And… moaning?! Kagome hurried from her place from the caves. Lucky for her the caves echoed and she could hear almost anything that came from the entrance of the cave. But she still was pretty from the entrance cavern.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, had barely made it up the mountain. He was hurting increasingly bad from that damned poison. He shoved the bike over to a far wall of the cave and looked around. He saw his haori and Kagome's school uniform drying on a large rock. Her scent was there, but a bit old, telling him she was somewhere deep in the cave. He was about to yell out "BITCH!" to get her to come to him, but as he tried he coughed and fell to his knees, remembering that Kagome didn't like being called that, for some odd reason. So, he tried what came to his mind.

"K-Kagome!" He tried shouting, but it barely came out as a whisper, and he hissed in pain from the searing fire in his chest.

"Inuyasha!!" Kagome yelled, running toward him. She saw how bloody and torn up he was but that was not what she was so shocked about. He had called her by her real name. Maybe… just maybe he had turned back into regular Inuyasha?

"C'mon Inuyasha, it will be ok. Come here to the bed and I'll clean you up," Kagome cooed softly to him, helping him make his way to the bed. He quickly slipped out of his shirt and lay down. His eyes were closed, so Kagome couldn't tell if he was full demon or not. She took out a piece of cloth and grabbed the pot of water she had gotten a while ago. Dipping the cloth into the water, she cleansed Inuyasha's chest lightly, entranced by it, but cleaning cautiously as Inuyasha hissed in pain.

"Oh Inuyasha what happened to you?" Kagome asked sadly, dipping the cloth into the pot again, turning the water into a murky, yet clear red. Inuyasha whimpered in pain, now only half conscious.

"Shhh..." Kagome cooed to him, trying to ease him of his pain. "Don't worry Inuyasha, it'll be ok… I'm going to take good care of you… I…" But after that Inuyasha didn't hear anything. He only heard one thing ringing over and over in his mind as he slipped into a troubled unconscious state.

"Don't worry Inuyasha, it'll be ok… I'm going to take good care of you…"

"…It'll be ok… I'm going to take good care of you…"

"…I'm going to take good care of you…"

"…To take good care of you…"

~*~

A/N: Er… sorry about the rushed ending. And that was… awkward. Ah well, I hope you like it. A bit long, I say, but then again most of my chapters are long. Sorry about the long wait. I still have to get back into the groove of school again. >_< I'll try to get some more crap written by the end of the week. I have the ending, but I don't think it'll do to spoil you guys now, would it?

Also, I may get some art up on mediaminer if it isn't too much of a bitch. I stuck at html, so I don't have anywhere to put up my artwork. But I may create a few pics for this story. There is gonna be an OC in here, but he doesn't affect any of the pairings, so don't you worry. ^_~ Thanks for reading everyone!