InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Yokai No Kokoro (Heart of A Demon) ❯ We Meet Again ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter 10: We Meet Again

Kyoko grinned as she felt her own power surge through her veins. "You think that I am just going to stand here and allow you bastards to kill me?" Kyoko threw her sword from her belt and loosened her kimono. "You're about to find out why it is that yokai are to be feared!"

Kyoko's face was the first to change. It grew in length, showing her fangs to be all the more menacing. Her hair whipped about wildly as her entire body began to glow. Eventually the light emitted from her body became so blinding that the men were forced to look away. When they next saw her, she was no longer standing before them in her human-like form; rather, she towered over them in the form of a gigantic dog. She bared her fangs at the men, expecting that they would flee; they didn't.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Inu Yasha stopped running for a brief second. He did not need to see the towering figure over the village to know that Kyoko had changed; he could feel her power well enough. "We've gotta get in there quick!" Inu Yasha shouted back to Miroku. [He's nowhere near fast enough…] "I'm going on ahead, catch up with me as soon as you can!"

"Fine, just go!" Miroku panted as he ran as quickly as his human legs could carry him.

Inu Yasha nodded as he sprinted to the village. [She's bigger than Sesshoumaru was in that form…] Inu Yasha glanced around as he jumped over a few samurai and onto the rooftops of the houses in the village.

"Oi, Kyoko, don't go doing anything without us!"

The large silver dog seemed to nod. [I have one complaint about this godforsaken form… I can't talk!!!]

Inu Yasha leapt from a rooftop to directly in front of Kyoko and drew the Tetsusaiga. [We need to scare these people enough that they'll leave without a fight…] He twisted his wrist just so that the fading sunlight reflected over the edge of the razor-sharp blade. "I suggest you men run… You don't want to anger us." Inu Yasha growled menacingly and bared his fangs at the men.

The eldest man hesitated before he thrust his fist into the air. "Kill them both!"

[That wasn't quite the reaction that I was aiming for… bloodthirsty sons-of-bitches…] Inu Yasha positioned himself so that he would be ready for any attack.

oooOOOoooOOO oooOOOoooOOO oooOOOoooOOO oooOOOoooOOO

Miroku rushed into the village, pushing his way past the horde of samurai. "Wait!!! These two won't really attack, so long as you pose no threat!" Miroku patted Inu Yasha's head, treating him as though he were a harmless puppy. "Inu Yasha, you really need to work on your people skills..." Miroku muttered.

The younger of the three samurai pushed the other two back and faced Miroku and Inu Yasha. "You propose a truce then?" The samurai pulled his helmet off, allowing his shoulder-length, coffee-brown hair to fall out.

The eldest of the three placed his hand on the youngest's shoulders. "Surely you wouldn't make an agreement with these yokai, would you, Satoru?"

oooOOOoooOOO oooOOOoooOOO oooOOOoooOOO oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo

Kyoko's heart skipped a beat as she shifted her gaze to the samurai. [Satoru?? Is it really him? Did he say that his name was Satoru? It-it can't be, can it? Did he really just come back into my life? Satoru is alive!] Kyoko stepped behind one of the huts as she shifted back to her regular form. "Inu Yasha, could you bring me my kimono?"

Inu Yasha blushed when he realized what Kyoko had asked of him. [I guess… I have to, the only other option would be for Miroku to get it… no wonder she asked me…] Inu Yasha grabbed the kimono and took it to Kyoko. He didn't allow himself to turn his gaze in her direction. He just thrust the kimono at Kyoko and walked away when she took it.

It was only seconds later that she ran past him. "Satoru-san!" She yelled as she ran to Satoru, unwilling to lose site of him again. She embraced him and tears ran over her cheeks. "Satoru-san, I thought I had lost you for good! Tell me, why is it that you had left me, Satoru-san?"

Satoru quickly pushed the yokai away from himself. "Who are you?? And how the hell do you know my name?"

"Have you truly forgotten me, Satoru-san? Have you forgotten your Kyoko?" Kyoko's voice broke as she continued, "What happened to you? What happened to… us?"

"Are you insinuating that I had loved you? You are a yokai! What trickery is this?"

"You have forgotten me then… Have you no memory of your past?"

"Feh, I lost my memory three and a half years ago, I need no past. Besides, humans and yokai don't love each other!"

Kyoko looked deeply into Satoru's Prussian blue eyes, searching for a sign. Those were eyes that she had once known so well, but now they were so cold and drizzled with hate. She held her hands to her chest, as though trying to prevent her own heart from breaking.

Satoru stepped away from the yokai. "Alright everyone, you can come out now. We need to set up base for the night, anyway."

Miroku placed his hand upon Kyoko's shoulder, causing her to startle somewhat. "May I speak with you privately?"

Satoru nodded in approval, showing that he had no resentment for the houshi to calm the yokai.

Miroku pulled Kyoko away, all the way to the inn before he spoke to her. "Kyoko, there's something about Satoru I never told you… you see, when you met him, he already had a family. You know how he would disappear every month or so? He left to go see his family then."

Kyoko smiled in spite of herself. "I-I always knew that it had all been too good to be true…" Kyoko fell to her knees, tears dripping down her cheeks. "But… all this time… I had been living a lie! A damn lie, Miroku! And you-you, my trusted brother, could you not tell me?? You, of all people, should have known that I would not disbelieve you! You just stood by and allowed that? What in the seven hells is wrong with you?"

"Well, shortly after I found out about him having a family, they were killed… I thought that it didn't matter by that time."

Kyoko turned away from him. "You're my brother, and I your sister, am I not right? Or had you decided that I was not worthy of being a part of your family? Feh, no one ever could trust me… Dammit…"

"Kyoko… I-"

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled; you thought that you were doing that which would be best for me… We-we should go back now."

Miroku nodded. He helped Kyoko to stand. She pulled him into a hug, crying onto his shoulder. "Kyoko… I'm sorry… I should have told you sooner…" Miroku wrapped his arms around Kyoko to comfort her. "Shhh… you should try to look at things in a better light, like the Kyoko I know."

Kyoko wiped the tears from her own eyes and forced a delicate smile across her lips. "It matters not. Let's go now."

Satoru glanced up as he saw Kyoko and Miroku returned from their conversation. He focused on Kyoko's form in the dim light, the solemn expression that had been cast over her face, her hair slightly lifted by the wind. [Just like when he announced that he was leaving…] Satoru's face registered with shock. His memory had returned!

----------------------------------------Flashback Sequence----------------------------------------

Satoru knew that since Miroku was gone that he could have his freedom once again. He had already packed his belongings and secured them in one of the abandoned houses in the village. He was returning to their mansion home with the sword that Kyoko had given to him. He knew that his master would become angered if he delayed any longer. Besides, this was one of ~ those ~ nights for him. A night that he became his yokai form. He ran his finger over the place in the center of his chest where a shard of the Shikon no Tama resided, masking his yokai blood from Kyoko. It had been a long three years since he had been ordered to bring Kyoko to his master. He had lost nearly everything-his home, his wife, his three sons-everything. However, his master had promised him that upon completion of this mission that he could have complete and total freedom. He often found himself hating his master, but that could do him no good to remove the branding mark that had been placed upon his back.

He had planned from the moment that he saw Kyoko heading for the village that he had personally killed to capture her and hand her over to his master. It was some part of his master's elaborate plan, but he didn't care. His master had told him that as long as he got it done, the amount of time mattered not. Satoru had begun to take advantage of this and began to see his wife during his mission. His master had found out and ordered that the entire village be murdered. Of course, he forced Satoru to do it while in his yokai form. His raging blood took pleasure in the pain and screaming of the dying villagers. He even smiled as he tore his own sons to pieces. He was forced by his master to remember all of this. This was a special lesson for a disobedient servant. He knew from the start though, that he would likely lose them, anyhow.

He thought back to Kyoko. She was innocent enough; he even sort of pitied her for being his master's target. It wasn't like they were killing her; they were just going to send her to his master so that he could absorb her abilities, her power. He was tired of the constant charade he had to put on for her sake. The bad thing was that she believed it.

He had just crossed the stream that came from the top of the mountain and ran next to their mansion when he heard motion behind himself. He turned around, expecting to see that the houshi had not actually left and was following him. However, there was no more movement. He sheathed his sword, ready to appear slightly less menacing for when he entered Kyoko's mansion home. He had no chance to redraw the sword when he heard the movement again. He turned around to see that wolves had surrounded him. He ran as quickly as he could. The wolves were at his heels as he continually glanced backward to see if they were still behind him. By the time he turned his head to look forward again, he had already run over the waterfall. When he fell, he sustained a blow to the head, causing him to lose his memory. By some miracle, he survived the fall. An old man picked him up and took care of him for a few days. It was then that he restarted his life, without knowledge of his servitude to his master, without knowledge of his past, without memories of Kyoko; all that was left was his fighting spirit.

---------------------------------------------End Sequence------------------------------------------

Satoru stared into the small campfire that crackled before him. [Now what, then? {Satoru, it's about time you regained your memory…} What was that? {You should complete your mission now, Satoru…} Naraku-sama? {Yes, you should bring that woman to me… I need her now, more than ever} But…{Bring her to me!}] Satoru nodded, as though to answer. He approached Kyoko with a bright smile. "Kyoko, you'd never believe it! Just seeing you like that… it did something… I've regained my memory!"

"I'm glad. That's great, Satoru-san…" Kyoko formed a smile on her lips, but it was easy to tell that it wasn't genuine. She turned around and picked her sword up off of the ground. She put it back on its place on her belt as she picked up Satoru's sword. She held it to him. "You lost this?"

Satoru took the sword and sheathed it. "I hadn't realized until now that it was gone…"

Kyoko shrugged as she entered the tailor's house and went down into the basement. "It's all clear now," She announced as she sat on the bottom step of the basement.

Kagome sensed that something had gone wrong. She had heard that one of the samurai was Satoru, but other than that she had no idea of what was going on. "Kyoko, what's the matter?"

Kyoko bit her lip. "Not now… I'll tell you later."

Kagome nodded understandingly. She motioned for the tailor's family to go on back up the stairs. Kagome sat down next to Kyoko. "What happened?"

"Don't worry about it… Hell, if you really want to know, ask Miroku. Maybe if you make it apparent that you trust him enough, he'll tell you in a few years." Kyoko slowly drew her sword from her belt and looked it over in the flickering light from the candle above her head. Tears trickled down Kyoko's cheeks. [Why… Why is it that this had to happen? I thought… I thought that I was over worrying about Satoru, that my heart would never again ache because of him… but… the past is not so easily forgotten. But… what of Sesshoumaru? Will I be able to find him? Does he hide anything from me as Satoru had? … For that matter, does he even acknowledge me in the same way I thought Satoru had? But… he did give this to me; this beautiful sword was a gift… but… was it a gift to me as a friend or significant other, or was it a gift from teacher to student? What was the nature of this?]

Kagome studied Kyoko carefully. [Poor Kyoko… She seems to be going through a lot more than anyone should have to handle right now…] "Kyoko, why don't we go on out now? We can go to the inn and get something to eat."

Kyoko nodded as she sheathed the sword as she stood. She trudged up the stairs and exited the house. When she got outside, she saw Satoru standing in front of a crowd of other samurai. He held his sword in front of himself, performing a series of moves that showed the types of positions Sesshoumaru had taught Kyoko. [I used to pay no mind to all of that… but now, Sesshoumaru has showed me the importance of those motions…]

Satoru stopped his movement when he saw Kyoko watching him. He smiled at her as he returned his sword to its sheath on his belt. He marched over toward Kyoko. "Where are you going, Kyoko-san?"

Kyoko smiled. Contrary to what she knew, she still wanted to have Satoru back. "I'm gonna go eat… You wanna come?"

Satoru nodded with a grin. He reached his arm over her shoulders. "You know, you don't have to ask. You know how I like to eat…" Satoru chuckled as he began walking with Kyoko.

One of the samurai that had been watching Satoru tapped him on his shoulder, as though to ask what he and the others should do.

"You guys do whatever, I haven't been able to see Kyoko here for some time. Just don't bother us," Satoru replied lightly as he continued walking with Kyoko.

Kagome said nothing as she followed shortly behind Satoru and Kyoko, but that did not mean that she was not thinking things over. [Earlier he acted as though he detested Kyoko, but all of the sudden he has a completely different personality… And Kyoko… she was crying earlier… it had something to do with him… There's something about the way he acts… I don't trust him…]