InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Falling Over You ❯ Chapter Two: Kuma and the Crow Demon ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: Kuma and the Crow Demon

"Ayame! AYAME!!" Kagome called once she'd climbed out of the well. She couldn't imagine how the girl had ended up on this side of the well, but if she wasn't on that side, well, where else could she be?" Kagome lifted both backpacks onto her shoulders. Even if she hadn't been worried, she hoped to find Ayame soon if for no other reason than to give her back her bag. The extra weight was a pain to carry. "KAGOME!" That was definitely Inuyasha's voice. "Inuyasha!" Kagome called. "Have you seen anyone weird." she called back before she saw him, knowing he'd be able to hear her. "You mean like her?!?" Inuyasha said as he entered the clearing, yanking Ayame's arm a little too much for her liking. She kicked him in the shin, "hey! That hurt, you bastard!" she snapped angrily as she yanked her arm back and started rubbing her elbow. He had to grab that arm, didn't he? Wait a minute. Pain? In a dream. "Ayame!" Kagome said. "I was really worried that." Ayame cocked her head at Kagome with a rather confused expression on her face. She wanted to say, "you're in my dream too" or "can I wake up now" but none of that seemed to be what perplexed her most. For some reason, she had another obsession at the moment. "You have my backpack," she said as she noticed the red canvas bag on Kagome's shoulder. "Oh, um, yeah. Here," Kagome said as she handed it over. "Thanks," Ayame said, hefting the bag over one shoulder. "She says she fell through the well," Inuyasha stated agitably. "Uh, yeah. She did," Kagome blushed. She didn't know how it had happened either. "Do you want to expl." "I DON'T KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED! IT JUST DID!" Kagome snapped. "Ow. Loud," Ayame said, rubbing the ringing out of her ear again as she squinted. "Oh, sorry Ayame," Kagome said. "I.guess you've met Inuyasha." "Not formally, but yeah, pretty much. He's a lunatic you know," Ayame said. "And just to remind myself once again.when I wake up.decaf. For the rest of my natural life." "For HEAVENS SAKE WOMAN! IT'S NOT A..mmffht," Ayame covered Inuyasha's mouth, looking like a major migraine was coming on. "Yelling again. No more yelling. It's making my head ring," Ayame said. "It's not a dream," Kagome said softly. "Wha.?" "It's not a dream. You're wide awake, and in feudal Japan." "Time travel.of course. Why didn't I think of that?" Ayame said sarcastically. All the same, it did feel too real to be a dream. Up to and including the throbbing in her right elbow. But all of a sudden, Ayame's hands dropped to her sides and a serious expression crossed her face. "Ayame?" Kagome asked. "Higurashi, shh," she said. "What?" Ayame had that old sinking feeling, the feeling she got before something really bad was about to happen. But where was it coming from? Suddenly, she looked up toward the western skies. That was too big to be just any bird. "Get down!" she said suddenly, shoving Kagome to the ground as she dove, right before the bird swooped low over them. Inuyasha dodged just in time to keep from being impaled by the golden-beaked demon. "Crow demon!" he said. "And a big one! How'd you know, wench?" "'scuse you?" Ayame said. "What did you just call me?" "How..how did you know?" Kagome asked as she sat up, trying to prevent another fight. "I just.knew. I could hear it on the wind." "Hear it on the." "Not now. It's coming back." Inuyasha got up and pulled the tetsusaiga. "It must be after the jewel shards," Kagome said. "The what?" "I'll explain later. Inuyasha will take care of the demon." "By himself? Like hell! It's too fast!" Ayame said in shock as she stood up. The bird swooped for her and she flipped out of the way, panicked, yet graceful. It came for her again. Shippo realized it before anyone else. "It's after Ayame!" he squealed. The crow demon couldn't kill Ayame, he was just starting to like her. "Fine. Then it's my problem!" Ayame said, jaw set in determination as she dodged left, right, back flipped up and over a tree branch to avoid being.well, eaten, mauled, or whatever else a crow demon might do to her, as she tried to figure out how she was going to kill the thing. She's really fast, Inuyasha noticed. But he also knew, unarmed, she had little to no chance of killing a demon. "Don't be a moron!" he said. "Moron? I'm not the one trying to play hero! Get the hell out of here. I'm ungrateful anyway," Ayame said as she dove yet again, rolling up into a stance and running towards the forest. It's too big to get in there. It'll give me a minute to think. But next thing she knew she was flipping out of the way of what appeared to be an extremely large boomerang which cut the demon bird in half. Problem solved. "Uh..thanks?" Ayame said as she dusted herself off, noting the woman who fastened the weapon over her shoulder, and a man who appeared to be some sort of monk standing beside her. Ayame was ready to admit it, she was extremely confused, and her arm hurt like hell. She could hardly move it and only just noticed that she was now cradling it against her body. "Are you alright?" the monk asked. "Yeah, fine." "But, your arm." "It's nothing," she said as Kagome, Inuyasha and Shippo arrived. "IDIOT!" Inuyasha snapped. "What the hell do you care? It's not YOUR problem," Ayame snapped back. "If you wanna be a hero so badly, save someone who needs it." "Um, you didn't need it?" Sango asked rather skeptically. "I would've thought of something eventually," Ayame said. "He was pretty slow anyhow, and too big to get into the forest; that would've bought me some time." Inuyasha had thought she had turned tail when he saw her head for the trees. She was buying time? No one was really certain what to make of her, but Kagome was the next to speak. "Sango, Miroku, this is my friend Kuma Ayame. Ayame, Sango and Miroku.and Kilala." "Nice to meet you," Ayame said, bowing her head slightly. "Ayame fell through the well," Shippo explained. Ah, the surprised looks again. "Kuma is fine. Now, does somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on?" she huffed. "Higurashi?" "You can call me Kagome, it's alright." "Oh. Uh. Gomen.Kagome." "Why don't we explain on the way back to the village. Maybe Kaede can explain why you fell through the well." "Fine." "Your arm is." "It'll be okay. I shouldn't have pushed it, but I was trying to keep from dying.and it didn't help that the puppy over there yanked on it really hard before." "PUPPY! Watch who you're calling a puppy, bitch!" Inuyasha snapped. "He's very rude, you know," Kuma said rather blatantly. Miroku chuckled. "You.get used to it," Kagome said with a slight blush that earned a raised eyebrow from her new friend.

"Well, why not? My life's never been normal. Why should it start now?" Kuma chuckled and shook her head as Kagome finished filling in the details of the story. "I came through the well because of the Shikon no Tama. But I can't figure out why you have, I can't sense any shards in you," Kagome said. Kuma shrugged. "Well, maybe this Kaede person you told me about will know. She seems to be the expert on weirdness from all your stories," she said. "Expert on weirdness, hm? Kagome, what have you been telling your friend?" Kaede asked as she walked out of the hut. Shippo had run ahead and already told Kaede what had happened. "Let me guess, you would be Kaede?" Kuma asked. It would just be typical for her to hear that. "Yes, I would be Kaede." "An honor to meet you," Kuma said with a slight bow of her head. The first thing that Kaede noticed was the way the girl cradled her arm. "Come inside, let me look at that." "Oh, it's fine. It's an old wound," Kuma tried to explain. "Just let her look at it Kuma. She may be able to do something for it," Kagome said. "Ptah. The doctors in our time can't, what makes you think.oh.gomen.open mouth, insert foot," Kuma said with a slight, uncomfortable laugh, realizing she just insulted the woman unintentionally. "Just let her look at it. It would make me feel better," Kagome said. "Fine."

"Unless you want me to rip your shirt, you might want to take it off," Kaede said. "Hai. Sure," Kuma said as she began with the buttons. Inuyasha blushed and turned around, and Sango slapped Miroku for watching hopefully. "It's alright, Inuyasha, I have a tank underneath," Kuma told him. "A wha..?" "Gomen. Another shirt, sleeveless," she explained. "Ah." Miroku didn't look so happy about that, but Inuyasha turned back around and sat down. The tank covered the bare necessities, just a thin gray cloth over the upper part of her body, but Inuyasha figured, that just seemed to be how clothes were in Kagome's era, Kagome's skirt being a prime example of that. Inuyasha shook his head, I did not just think about the length of Kagome's skirt! I don't think of Kagome in that way. "This is called a tank?" Miroku asked of the garment as Kaede examined the wound. This is a very old wound. She shouldn't be able to use the arm at all like this. I can do something for the swelling around the elbow at least. "Hai. A tank top, or a guinea tee," Kuma answered simply. That's a bad scar, Sango thought, remembering the scar on her own back. "How did that happen?" she asked. "Car accident," and realizing they probably wouldn't have any idea what a car was, she tried to find a better way to explain. "That is.I was.hmm?" she muses, brow furrowed as she tries to find the best way to say it. "A drunken man caused a bit of a problem for us when I was transporting my cousin to a basketball game.a sports game." "He harmed you?" Miroku asked. "Unintentionally. His mode of transportation hit ours. We call that transportation a car. It's a large metal object that can cause a lot of damage if not used properly. I was lucky." "Ah." "There's not much I can do. But that will help the swelling. Be more careful with it in the future," Kaede said as she wrapped a cloth around the wound. "Tell that to Inuyasha. He's the one who yanked on it." "Hmph." "It's alright. I know you didn't know, but don't do it again. Next time I'll have to hurt you back. It's only fair," Kuma said. Inuyasha had decided, since she was a friend of Kagome's, and Kagome could make him sit, it was safer to ignore the girl. "Do you have any idea why Kuma fell through the well, Kaede?" Kagome asked. But before Kaede could answer, Kuma stood up. There's that feeling again. "Kuma?" "We're not alone," Kuma said, moving towards the doorway. "I know you're there. Come out." She squinted at the trees, trying to place it. Who are you? Why are you following us? Kuma wondered.

"Shall we attack now? My lord?" Jaken asked. Sesshomaru's eyes widened. A human, but.she was looking right at him. Did she see him, or was it chance? Either way, that girl knew he was there. He had a feeling about her; he had seen how easily she had evaded the crow demon. A human should not be able to do such things. "No. We're leaving," Sesshomaru said. "L-Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken asked. "Do not question me Jaken. I said we're leaving." Sesshomaru turned and headed back the way he'd come, and after a moment, Jaken darted off after him. Lord Sesshomaru left when he saw that girl earlier too. Why does she bother him so much? Rin took one last look at the girl before hearing Sesshomaru say to her quietly, "Come Rin." She's pretty, Rin thought as she ran off after the white-haired demon.

Kagome sensed a jewel shard as Kuma stood in the doorway. It was faint, but there, and then as the girl turned back into the room, Kagome couldn't sense it anymore. "They're gone. Who's Sesshomaru?" Kuma asked blankly. Everyone in the room seemed to tense. "How do you know that name?" Inuyasha barked. Kuma tapped her ear. "I have a freakish sense of hearing," she said. "I heard someone say it." "A human should not have better hearing than Inuyasha," Kaede observed. "Shouldn't, maybe, but does, apparently," Kuma said testily as she pulled her outer shirt back on. "If you spend your whole life worrying about what should and shouldn't be, you won't get anything accomplished." Again, Kagome sensed the shard. Where's it coming from? Kagome's eyes widened as she saw it, glowing in Kuma's chest, in her heart. She can sense it surrounded by blood, see it move slightly with the pulsing rhythm of her heartbeat. How could they remove it without killing her friend? "I think I just figured out why you fell through the well," Kagome said softly. "Hm?" Kuma asked as she stopped buttoning her top to give Kagome her undivided attention. "There's a shard of the Shikon no Tama in your chest.inside your heart." Kuma looked down, startled, putting her hand over the glowing pink light that only Kagome could see. "But.how is that possible? How could a shard of the jewel have found it's way all the way to our time, and aside from that, how did it end up inside of me? Kagome, are you certain?" Kagome nodded weakly. "So, I'll take it out!" Inuyasha declared as he moved towards Kuma. "Inuyasha, SIT!" Kagome said quickly. THUD! "Bitch, what was that for?" "You CAN'T take it out. If you take it out, Kuma will die. It's inside her heart, that's why I can't really sense it. It's down deep. To get to it, you'd have to.you'd have to." the tears welled up in Kagome's eyes. Kuma put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's alright Kagome. Please don't be sad. I don't want it anyway, but, I don't want to die either, so.we'll just have to think of something." "Kuma." "At least now we know why that crow demon wanted me so much, ne?" Kagome nodded. "I guess I'll just stick around for a while then. No big deal. It's not as if anyone will miss me if I'm gone anyway." What? "That's not true!" Kagome began. "Of course it is. Don't be naïve. I'm not normal. My family is pretty much all dead anyway, and I don't have any friends. Maybe Li will miss me a little, but only because he won't have anyone to give him rides places, and he'll get over that quickly. They'll miss having me play for them, win awards for them, sing for them, do chores for them, but me, no, nobody'll even know I'm gone. Nobody will notice." "Kuma." "Don't be sad. I'm not. It's no big deal. When you've got mixed blood like I do, you just learn to accept certain things about yourself and the world." "Like what?" Inuyasha asked as he sat up. It's not that he cared.it was just.he could relate. She's a half-blood, just like me. "Like as far as the rest of the world is concerned, you don't matter, and never will." Damn straight. "But that doesn't mean that they're right." Doesn't mean that they're right? Inuyasha hadn't thought of that, although, in retrospect, that had always been his approach to Sesshomaru. "Anyway, so what? Why do we have to talk about such depressing things?" Kuma said with a smile. "I just want to do something fun." Talk about a mood swing, Sango thought. But Kuma Ayame had been smiling the whole time, as if she was glad that she didn't make sense in her world. That nobody would miss her. So maybe it wasn't much of a mood swing at all. She did seem like a very happy person, or at least someone to whom not many things could effect. Even just now, when she found out about the shard in herself, that expression didn't crack. Miroku hadn't failed to notice that either. Either she's too stupid to care, or she's really good at hiding her true emotions, he figured. He had yet to figure out which. Perhaps when she became less adept at ignoring his presence he would ask her.that and a few of the usual things.

"Sing another song!" Shippo cheered. It was true that Kuma had a beautiful voice, even Inuyasha found he had a difficult time denying it, but who would have thought the little kitsune would be this infatuated with music from the future. "Ano, Shippo. It's very late," Kuma said. She was tired, who wouldn't be, she'd been running from demons all day.again. Kuma didn't love being "bait" but at least she felt as if she was contributing. Without any weapons, there wasn't much else she could do(other than hunt and cook, which she seemed to be pretty good at). And she was fast, good at dodging, that helped. Although, sometimes she forgot to watch her right arm, it never got as bad as it had been the first day anymore. "I'm sorry. You probably don't want to sing anymore," Shippo frowned. "It's not that so much. I like singing, but there aren't very many songs I know that sound right without an instrument in the background, and I left my guitar at home. Sleep for now. I'll sing again tomorrow if you still want me to." "Okay."

That matter settled, she leaned her head back against the tree she'd been sitting beside and closed her eyes. Unlike Kagome, Kuma didn't seem to have much need for sleeping bags and pillows, and her backpack had almost nothing useful in it. Which basically meant, as far as Inuyasha and Shippo were concerned, she didn't have any ramen or candy. What she did have was a novel, a deck of playing cards, a bottle of water, sunglasses, a change of clothing (sweatpants and a t-shirt), her camera, pocketknife, glasses, a pen and tiny notebook, a small flashlight, a set of keys that obviously didn't unlock anything in this era, and a music book, but nothing to play any music on. All in all, her bag was pretty empty in comparison to Kagome's, reasonably so, since she hadn't counted on falling into the past, or deciding to stick around for that matter.

She was quiet about getting up in the middle of the night when everyone was finally asleep and sneaking off, but Inuyasha didn't miss it. Where's that girl going now? he wondered as his ear tweaked and he popped an eye open. Standing up, he decided to follow her.as quietly as possible. It'd be just like her to hear a demon coming and go right off for it. And Kagome'd kill me if I let her friend get eaten. What a moron, doesn't she realize that as long as she's got a shard of the jewel, she's in danger? Huh?

Kuma shoved her bangs from her eyes. My hair is growing very quickly lately, she thought as she kneeled down by the lake that they'd passed on the way to camp and removed her outer shirt. They hadn't bathed here because the water was too cold, but she knew the cold water would be good for her arm, so she cupped some and started massaging the scar on her elbow. It really hurt very badly. She knew she downplayed it, but it wouldn't help any for worrying, so why bother? Inuyasha noticed the frown she wore, the darker expression on her face. She was sad. He'd never seen this side of her before. She always pretended to be so happy, but he knew it was an act; after all, he had an act of his own. He pretended he didn't care about anyone or anything, and sometimes, he even convinced himself of it, but it wasn't true, not really.

He was worried about the girl, not just because she was Kagome's friend, though that didn't hurt, but also because in the week that he'd known her, he'd gotten to realizing that she would put her life in danger repeatedly and didn't ask for or expect any help from anyone. It was just the type of person she was, and he had a feeling it was going to get her killed. She needed to be protected, but protection was the last thing she wanted. He remembered the first day he met her. If you want to be a hero, save somebody who needs it. I'm ungrateful anyway. That's what she had said. She wasn't anything like Kagome; it didn't take a genius to figure that out.but the two girls complimented each other in a way that seemed hard to imagine. And Inuyasha wasn't complaining. Since Kuma knew lots of information, she could help Kagome study without Kagome having to go home all of the time, and it was nice to have Kagome around for longer. And Kagome always asked Kuma to sing while they traveled, which made Kuma happy and made the trip go by more quickly. It just made the whole situation more comfortable, and he liked the way Kagome would smile and sway slightly as Kuma sung songs while she used her "pocket-knife" to skin rabbits or do other assorted things as she helped with dinner. Once she had even brought back food for them before Inuyasha had headed off to hunt. She had the most triumphant look on her face, it was hard not to smile a little, but he managed it. It was strange to admit, but really, of all those in the group, Kuma was the one who was most like him, the one it was easiest to understand. So now, to see her looking so sad. He felt like he was spying, but really, he just didn't want to see her get hurt. .or to see a demon get a hold of that shard she had in her chest. How were they supposed to get that thing out anyway. Well, he supposed they had time to think about it. There were lots more shards to collect, and the one in her didn't seem to harm her or make her want to harm others or anything, so it could stay where it was for a while. Shit!

Kuma stood up and looked over towards the trees. He was there again. Who are you? Why are you following me? "I know you're there. Why are you following me?" she said, and Inuyasha cringed. Busted. But right when he was about to reveal himself, he caught wind of another.youkai.Sesshomaru??? Sure enough, his brother emerged and approached Kuma. Inuyasha suppressed a growl deep in his throat. If she heard him, he'd never be forgiven, he knew that much. But Kuma was his friend, so if his brother even thought about touching her. For the time being, he just listened. "Why have you been following me?" she said steadily. "I wonder if it's the shikon shard that gives you such good hearing," Sesshomaru said as he looked at her with his usual lack of emotion. Her expression, Inuyasha realized, was very similar to his brother's, but her eyes were much sadder. "Why do you care?" "I don't.per say.but the possibilities..interest me," Sesshomaru said steadily. "My friends dislike you. Makes me think maybe they have a reason," Kuma informed him frankly. "They do," he answered and turned to leave. But Kuma grabbed his wrist, and the startled expression on Sesshomaru's face made Inuyasha's guilt about spying all but disappear. "If you hurt my friends, I'll kill you," Kuma said. "I don't care who you are. Just thought you should know." "Don't get in my way. I'd hate to see you die needlessly," he told her without turning. But why? Why would I hate to see her die needlessly? Sesshomaru wondered. The truth was, he didn't know what it was about her that intrigued him, why he was following her. Why, until she'd called him out, he had been content to watch her massage her injured arm. Kuma let go. "Well. We know where we stand then," she said with the same matter-of-factness. "Yes. It would appear so," he answered and walked away. They would kill each other, if they had to, but they didn't like the idea for reasons that neither of them could understand.

She listened to him leaving. The studied look on her face told Inuyasha that. What it didn't tell him was how she felt about it. When he saw her put on her long shirt again, he turned to leave. If she caught him here now, he was a dead man. Something very personal had just passed, and he wasn't meant to see it, but he had. "Inuyasha," she said quietly. Shit! "Uh. I.just came to see that you didn't get yourself killed," he said abruptly, inserting all due cockiness into his voice. "You're lying," she stated. "That man is related to you in some way, isn't he?" "How'd you..?" Could she smell it the way a demon would? "You look alike. Not the same, but.similar." Oh. Inuyasha nodded. "He's my brother." "Then you should know. He's been following us all week. I heard him first when we met up with the crow demon. Again outside Kaede's. And at other times." "At night. When you leave camp." "So you've noticed. Can't say I'm surprised," Kuma said. "You're right though. I could very easily get myself killed the way I am now. So I've decided.I'm going to find a way to get myself some sort of weapon. I don't have any money from this time, so I can't buy one. I'll just have to think of something." This had surprised him a bit, he had to admit. She was braver than he thought she ought to be, and as a result, he usually passed it off as reckless stupidity. "So please. From now on, don't worry about me. Just.protect Kagome." "K-Kagome?" "She's the one you love, right?" Gulp. Do I.love Kagome? But even as he asked himself the question, he knew that it was true, and had no idea how he'd missed it for so long. "All I really want is to get used to this world, this time. Because, I've made my decision." There was something resolute in her tone. "Your.decision?" "Yes. I've decided: it doesn't matter if I live or die. I won't go through the Bone Eater's Well again." Nobody'll miss me if I'm gone, Inuyasha remembered. So why not stay gone, she thought.

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okay, chapter two down, will probably have the whole story up by tonight, since it's done n'all.