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3. Inuyasha "Battle for the Future"

Kagome dropped her backpack against the well as she hoisted herself onto the sides of it. “Don’t worry, Inuyasha,” she said, turning her head. She turned around, dropped into the well and caught herself by her elbows. “I’m only going to be gone for two days. I’ll come right back.” She took one hand off and lifted the backpack into the well with it.

“Feh,” Inuyasha grunted, trying to feign apathy. “Like I care. I don’t see what’s so great about your world, anyway. Just go.”

Kagome sighed. Part of her knew Inuyasha only faked his lack of concern, but she still hated it when he acted that way. Still, she had tests to take and needed time to study. “Well, see you in two days, then.” Kagome dropped down into the well and vanished, back to her own time.


Across the woods, Naraku sat on a branch, observing the whole incident. “Hmmm…” he said with his baboon pelt covering his eyes and a grin covering his lips. “This ‘other world’ intrigues me…”

Sango pulled back the cloth barrier that hid the interiors of the hut from the outside world, gazing in the direction of the well before sighing and releasing it. “It’s pathetic, really.”

Shippou lied on the floor, grabbing a green crayon to finish drawing the wrappers of the candy bars he asked Kagome to bring him. “What is, Sango?”

“Inuyasha,” she responded. “He should have been back by now, but I bet he’s still at the well, acting just as he has ever since Kagome told him that she’s going back to her time for a few days.”

Miroku took a sip of his tea nonchalantly and relaxed. “He’s always been this way when Lady Kagome has had to leave. Then, right before she comes back, he’s get all edgy, waiting by the well for hours, like a watchdog waiting for its master to come home. Then, as soon as she DOES arrive, he’ll pretend he didn’t even notice or care that she was gone.”

Shippou put away his crayons and sat up. “You really can’t blame him, though. It’s not HIS fault he’s such an immature little child who—”

WHACK!

In the blink of an eye, Inuyasha had run through the door of the hut, causing Sango’s hair and the curtain over the door to swing wildly. Shippou cried out with a whelp as he rubbed the giant bump on his head.

“Excuse me? WHO is the immature kid around here?” Inuyasha asked with his eyes narrowing and his lips scowling.

Shippou growled and continued to rub his wound. “YOU ARE! I might be younger, but at least I don’t pretend I’m not worried when I really am!”

Inuyasha curled up his fist and pounded the baby fox again. “I’LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT!”

Shippou growled back as Sango and Miroku looked on, though doing their best to avoid involvement as they sipped their tea. “You big dummy! As soon as Kagome gets back, I’m gonna tell her that you kept hitting me and she’s gonna sit you so many times—”

Inuyasha stamped his foot and cracked his knuckles. With a cold stare at Shippou, he said, “That’s assuming you LIVE that long, you little brat!” With that, he chased the little one outside and around the hut with screaming and pounding ensuing.

Shippou cried out again and again. “WAAH! KAGOME! COME BACK COME BAAAAACK!”

Miroku sighed and put down his cup. “Yes, please come back, Kagome.”

A thud shook through the ground as Shippou dropped a statue on Inuyasha’s hand, sealing him to the ground. A flurry of profanities surged from Inuyasha’s mouth, followed by more yelps of pain and struggling.

Sango added, “Please, come back while there’s something to come back to…”


“So perfect…” Kagome mumbled in ecstasy as she combed her wet hair, clad in a towel and dropping down onto the end of her bed. “As much as I love those guys, all that running around really makes you appreciate a nice hot meal, a warm bath, and a soft bed…” She closed her eyes and fell back next to the pile of her clothes.

A scratch came across Kagome’s window. She opened one eye to glance at it, but saw nothing and returned to her state of ecstasy. Again a scratch came to her window. This time, though, followed a feeling of dread ran up and down her spine. She sat right up and walked up to the window. “B-Buyo? Are you outside again?”

“KYAAAAAAAH!” Kagome screamed as Buyo rubbed up against her leg. “Buyo! Don’t do that!” She took a deep breath and looked down at the cat, whose only response was to stare back and meow lethargically.

A knock came to her door. “Kagome, dear, is everything all right in there?” Kagome’s mother called from the other side. “I heard a scream.”

“Yeah, mom, I’m all right. I was just about to get dressed when Buyo snuck up behind me and—”

The glass continually scratched as a large, newt-like creature scurried to the center of the glass, stuck its tongue out, and then continued on its way. “KYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Kagome’s mother burst through the door and saw her daughter had fallen to the floor, trembling and pointing at the window. “There’s something out there! It looks like a giant lizard!”

Kagome’s mother approached the window and slid it open. She stuck her head out and looked around, but the darkness shrouded everything. “I don’t see anything from here. Well, whatever it was, it’s gone and it sounds harmless.”

Souta approached the door. “Sis, what’s wrong? I heard—” WUMP. Souta couldn’t even look into the room and finish his sentence before being pelted by a pillow, knocking him to the floor. Kagome’s mother quickly left the room and the door slammed shut. Kagome quickly emerged in her pajamas, not even taking the time to put on her socks, and ran down the stairs and out the front of the house. She gazed up at her window from below and looked around. “ I know I saw something… and I… I have a really bad feeling…”

Souta opened Kagome’s window and looked down on her. “Sis, what are you looking for?”

“A lizard,” she answered back, cupping her hands around her mouth. “It crawled over my window. Tell me if you see anything from there.”

Kagome looked under the windows and around as her mind raced. “It looked like a lizard. But… I just can’t shake this feeling… like something I know… I just have a really bad feeling.”

“Uh… Sis…?” Souta called as a shape moved towards the house on the pavement. Kagome made no response and continued searching under windows, across the yard, and anywhere a lizard may hide. “Sis?” The shadow grew closer to Kagome. “SIS!”

“WHAT?!” Kagome snapped from below. “Well?”

“SIS!” Souta pointed to the area behind Kagome. “LOOK OUT!”

Kagome turned and found the lizard she saw before sitting on a tree in front of her. A breathing tree. Wait, a tree in the middle of the pavement? And a BREATHING tree? She looked up and found a face attached to the tree. A mammoth, walking, lizard demon.

“KYAAAAAAAAH!” Kagome screamed as she dodged to one side. The demon raised an enormous fist and attempted to smash Kagome into the ground where she stood. Kagome made a break for the front of the house, watching to see how fast the demon was. It appeared rather slow, so she stopped long enough to shout, “SOUTA! TOSS ME MY BOW AND ARROWS! THEN, GET INSIDE AND HIDE! DON’T LET ANYONE NEAR A WINDOW!”

Souta nodded his head and rushed back inside. Kagome ran towards the center of the shrine area and turned to examine who it was that was chasing her. The lizard walked on two massive legs, each the size of the stump of a tree. Its arms were equally massive, only at the fingers they had claws as long as Kagome’s head. Its skin was hardened and covered with scales, likely deflecting almost any attack. However, Kagome could easily see its massive size made it far too slow to keep up with her.

“Sister, catch!” Souta popped out a window in the front of the house and tossed Kagome her bow and arrows before the beast could catch up to her. Quickly, he slammed the window shut and turned off the lights, but continued to watch from the darkness of the room.

The demon moved closer, drooling and growling as it moved closer to Kagome. She readied an arrow as she backed up, getting an aim on the demon while trying to keep out of its long range. “I don’t know where you came from, but stay away from my home!” she demanded as she released the arrow and watched it soar towards the demon. An explosion ripped through the air as the demon’s left arm was blown clean off. With a mighty roar, it fell to the ground and remained motionless.

Kagome took a step backward until her back was against the shelter that held the well. The creature appeared dead, but she readied another arrow, just in case. “Well, the question is… how did a demon get HERE?”

She stepped closer, aiming for the demon’s unmoving head. She examined him over thoroughly, watching for any movement. When she was close enough to touch him, she waved her hands over her head to signal Souta to open the window. “Souta, he’s dead! You can come out now!”

Souta turned on the light and opened the window. “Wow! You took him out in one shot! That’s amazing, sis!”

Kagome blushed and smiled. “Nah, I do it all the time,” she bragged. “Anyway, you can tell mom everything is all right, okay?”

As Kagome looked to her home, the right hand of the demon began to raise its claws slightly. Souta caught this out of the corner of his eye and gasp. “Sis, look out! He’s not dead yet!”

“Eh?” Kagome turned in time to see a claw coming at her.

“AIIIIIE!” Kagome cried out as the claws ripped into the flesh of her right arm. Her bow dropped out of her hands and onto the ground. She backed up into shrine and fell down the stairs, crashing back first against the well. She could see the demon reaching for her, crawling on its stomach to get to her. Even its full arm, though, could not reach through the door and down the stairs, keeping her just out of reach.

Kagome looked at her arm and squeezed it with her left. The wound wasn’t very serious, but it would make using a bow near impossible for now, even if it were in her possession. “I can’t fight this on my own… I need help…” She reached over the well and tried to crawl in, but her strength had left her and she couldn’t hoist herself in. She was stuck there.

A drop of blood ran down her arm to her fingers and dropped into the well, soaking into the dirt.


Shippou growled furiously as Inuyasha continued to stare into the fire, his mind in a total daze. He cared little for the dinner before him.

“Inuyasha, would you just admit it already?!” Shippou demanded. “Ever since Kagome’s gone, you’ve been acting like a zombie! It’s only been a few days!”

Miroku nodded in agreement. “Shippou’s right. You miss her. There’s nothing wrong in admitting that.” He lifted a carrot into his mouth and added, “Denying this to yourself is only hurting YOU.”

“…And annoying US,” Shippou scoffed.

“…Feh,” Inuyasha exclaimed unenthusiastically. “What the hell do YOU all know?” he asked as he stared off into a tree and tried to feed a carrot to his cheek.

A familiar scent filled the air. Inuyasha’s eyes came back to reality. “That smell…” Inuyasha dropped his chopsticks and stood straight up, sniffing into the air.

Sango dropped her food and stared at the suddenly supremely focused half-demon. “…Inuyasha? What’s wrong?”

“Blood. I smell blood,” he stated coldly.

“Blood?” Miroku questioned. “A battle nearby? A demon attack?”

“No…” Inuyasha shook his head. “It’s faint. Really faint. Like it’s a million miles away. But it’s…” Inuyasha’s pupils shrunk as the realization struck him head on. “Kagome…”

“Kagome?” Sango asked. “But she’s not due back for another day at least. Could you be mistaken or—”

Inuyasha paid Sango’s words no heed as he drew the Tessaiga and took off with a blinding speed, throwing dirt onto the cooking fire.

“Inuyasha, wait!” Miroku cried in vain as Inuyasha disappeared over the horizon.

“Kirara!” Sango called out to her pet. The cat demon transformed and provided the group with flight to follow Inuyasha with, but even in the sky, they couldn’t keep up with the half-demon’s speed.

The well came into Inuyasha’s sights. “So, Kagome HASN’T returned yet.” He gnashed his teeth. “But I still smell her blood. She’s in trouble.” He leapt into the air and down the well. His voice echoed throughout the hills as he cried, “I’M COMING, KAGOME!”


The wooden walls to the shelter for the well began to give way under the force of the lizard demon’s arm. Kagome remained motionless against the well, staring at the floor. “I can’t kill it…” she mumbled to herself. “But maybe… maybe I can lure it away…” She formulated a plan. “I’ll push myself against a wall… maybe when the roof collapses, I can manage to sneak out a crack. I can’t defeat it, but I can at least lead it away from my family. I just have to get it away…” She strained to lift herself to her feet. The fall had hurt them, but she was regaining the strength to at least stand.. “All right, I’ll do it.”

Even though her plans and confidence had just been discovered, they were both crushed as the wall gave in more than she had expected and the demon’s arm could now reach her. She cried out as the claws came to sever her body.

Blood splattered against the floor. However, it was not Kagome’s. As she opened her eyes, Kagome found the demon’s severed hand lying dead on the floor to the shrine.

“Attacking a girl at home? That’s just low, you b*****d.”

The demon was thrown back out of the doorway with a single punch, where it landed in the center of the shrine area. “Wind scar!” Inuyasha brought the Tessaiga down before the beast had a time to react and sent a shockwave of energy that tore the demon to shreds, as well as some of the ground and a tree at the edge of the property.

Without even his usual gloat, Inuyasha sheathed the Tessaiga and ran back to the well. Kagome still held her bleeding arm over the side and did not move. “Kagome, are you all right? What the hell happened here? Dammit, your arm’s bleeding badly…”

He didn’t even give her time to respond before picking her up and lifting her out of the well area. “Inuyasha, hold on!” Kagome complained. “I’m fine! Really! It’s bleeding, but it’s only a minor cut!”

Inuyasha did not hold on, though, and carried Kagome to her house. “Maybe, but if we don’t treat it, it won’t STAY a minor cut, so quit fussing and let me have a look at that.”

Inuyasha slid open Kagome’s front door to see Souta, Kagome’s mother, and her grandfather waiting patiently there.

“Inuyasha!” Souta exclaimed. “You saved her!”

Grandpa smiled at the sight of Inuyasha’s assistance, but was taken back when he noticed Kagome’s blood dripping on the floor. “My goodness, child, you’re bleeding! We have to get that arm patched up! Please, take her to the kitchen. Souta, child, go fetch some bandages and anti-septic. Hurry!”

“Right!” Souta said with a nod before rushing off to get the supplies.

Kagome’s mother had not said a word, but frowned the entire time. “Kagome… What happened out there? Souta told me not to look, but…”

“Feh,” Inuyasha growled. “There was some kind of lizard when I got here. I tore it to pieces, but the damned thing already clawed at her.”

“A demon? Here?” Kagome’s mother asked in surprise as she put her hand over her mouth. “Why would a demon be here?”

Inuyasha looked at her with a slightly annoyed expression, taking offense. Kagome’s mother laughed and smiled. “Except for you, of course, Inuyasha. You’re always welcome here. Now, let’s bring Kagome into the kitchen.”

Inuyasha carried the girl in his arms, much to her squirming and protest, until she hurt her arm further by doing so and saw the blood starting to cover his clothes and gave in to it.

Inuyasha sat down in a chair and rolled up Kagome’s pajama sleeve. “Erg,” he grunted looking at the wound. “The bleeding hasn’t slowed down any.”

Kagome began to fuss and squirm again. “Really, I’m fine, I can clean my own wound!”

“Stop being so goddamn stubborn!” Inuyasha declared.

“I am not being—” Kagome looked up at Inuyasha, expecting to see his usual frustrated face, but instead he seemed much… sadder. His eyes seemed to be filled with guilt or sorrow. She forgot what she was supposed to say and instead gave up and let Inuyasha inspect her arm.

Souta returned with the supplies and Kagome’s grandfather put some antiseptic on a cotton ball and reached to rub it on Kagome’s arm. Inuyasha stopped him and took the ball for himself. “Let me.” He rubbed it gently on Kagome’s arm. She cringed in pain as the anti-septic entered her wounds and stung her, letting her latch on firmly to his chest with her left arm.

Inuyasha picked up a cloth and wiped some of the excess blood off before taking a roll of bandages tying it tightly around Kagome’s arm. He bit off the extra bandages and tied it down, making sure he covered the entire wound.

“My goodness, Inuyasha,” Kagome’s mother exclaimed. “For someone who lived before these medicines were invented, you know how to use them well.”

“Indeed,” Kagome’s grandfather exclaimed joyously. “Have you ever considered becoming a monk? You could do some real good, traveling around to heal people.”

Inuyasha stared exasperated back. “I’ve had enough of annoying monks as it is.”

“But Inuyasha, where’d you learn this stuff?” Souta asked curiously.

Inuyasha set Kagome onto her feet. “From your sister.”

“From my sister?”

“Well, I didn’t really TEACH him,” Kagome explained. “It’s just that I’ve always been the one to treat his wounds after battles. I guess after all this time he just sort of picked up on it.”

“So, how are you feeling, dear?” Kagome’s mother asked.

Kagome rotated and twisted her arm, inspecting it closely. “It’s still stinging… But I think after a few days I’ll be able to use it without any pain.”

“That makes me wonder, though…” Souta pondered out loud. “Why would a demon be here? I mean, we’ve had only one demon other than Inuyasha here before.”

“Ah, yes, the ancient Noh mask,” Kagome’s grandfather began. “We had it stored here when it was released from it seal. It was an ancient and powerful mask indeed. It was handed all the way down from my—”

“Well, that was stored HERE,” Kagome interrupted, greatly annoying her grandfather, “we’ve never had a case of a demon following us here.”

“So, what, you were keeping a LIZARD around here?” asked Inuyasha.

“I WASN’T!” Kagome yelled back and shuddered. “Brrr…. I hate lizards. Just thinking about them gives me the chills… I have no idea where it could have come from. I didn’t sense a Shikon no Tama shard on it. It didn’t have Naraku’s spider-shaped burn mark, either. There’s no telling why it was here.”

“What if it wasn’t a demon…” Souta thought aloud, his pupils shrinking with worry and sweat dripping from his forehead. “It could have been an alien! Or a mutant! Some company out in the center of the city could have released a virus that’s killing and slowly mutating the entire city into monsters!”

There was a long, awkward silence as everyone looked at Souta, who seemed to be in a zombie-like state himself. “Souta, didn’t mom tell you to stop playing those Resident Evil games?” Kagome asked. “I think they’re starting to zombify YOUR brain.”

“They are not!” Souta protested. “And it’s POSSIBLE. You said yourself that no demons ever followed you here.”

“That we KNOW of, my child,” grandpa broke in. “Zombies and aliens… bah! That’s a load of science-fiction mumbo jumbo!” He gave a good tug on Inuyasha’s left ear, putting an unfriendly glare on the half-demon’s face. “But as you can see here, demons are very real! Thus, we know it was a demon and it most likely came from the past!”

“But it couldn’t have,” Inuyasha said as he yanked his ear out of the grandfather’s hand. “The only way I know of to this world is through that well. And that damned thing had a hard enough time fitting its hand through the doorway to the well. Hell, the thing wouldn’t have fit in the well to begin with!”

“Maybe there are other holes to the Feudal Era elsewhere?” Kagome wondered.

“Well, either way, I’m staying with you tonight,” Inuyasha declared.

“Eh?” Kagome took a moment to think about it. “Wait, stay with me? Why? I’m fine! My arm—”

“Because we don’t know what the hell is out there! For all we know there’s an entire frickin’ army of those bastards out there! Next time I might not smell your blood and come running.” Inuyasha stomped a foot down. “I’m staying here with you and that’s it!”

“But what about Miroku and Sango and Shippou?” Kagome asked. “Do they even know you’re here?”

“Not really,” Inuyasha said, not showing any concern. “I said I smelt blood and went running. They’re fine. Sango and Miroku can take care of themselves. And Shippou can… well, he can probably last a night. If he’s lucky.”

“Well, that sounds fine to me,” Kagome’s mother said with a smile. “I’ll go roll out a sleeping bag for you in Kagome’s room.”

Kagome spun around to face her mother. “But mom! He—”

“COOL!” Souta exclaimed. “Inuyasha’s sleeping here tonight! Can I sleep in the room with him, too, mom?”

“Oh, I don’t think he’d appreciate that,” the boy’s mother replied. “He probably would prefer to be alone, but you can help me get the sleeping bag set up.”

As Souta and Kagome’s mother walked off to prepare, her grandfather launched into a speech of his latest idea. “I know what I’ll do! I have just the scrolls to ward off any demons that may happen try and invade again! No one can penetrate them! Why, I bet Inuyasha will need me to remove them for him in the morning, oh yes…” He walked off, still explaining the plan aloud, as if anyone were paying attention.

Kagome let out a deep sigh of defeat and decided it would be best to go to bed. She could return to the Feudal era after school the next day and then everything would be normal, anyway. She looked up at Inuyasha, expecting a cocky look of victory, having simply demanded to stay the night and succeeded unchallenged, but instead, he stared at the floor out of the corner of his eyes. He didn’t look angry at all. It was a look of… worry. Guilt. It was a look she rarely saw unless Kikyou was nearby. Her heart hurt just thinking about that. “Could he really be thinking about Kikyou now?” she thought. She didn’t want to think of it anymore and instead rushed off to bed, Inuyasha following her in tow.

Kagome slipped into the covers of her bed and rubbed her arm gently before putting her fingers on the switch to her lamp. She watched as Inuyasha, in his usually dog-like grace, spun around above his sleeping bag, and rather than get in it, lied down upon it, curled up into a ball and shut his eyes. Kagome smiled gently, watching him fall asleep. It was a very calming feeling, having your own private watchdog. With that peace of mind, she flipped the switch on her lamp and lied down in her bed, pulling the covers over her shoulders. “Good night, Inuyasha.”

“Good night, Kagome.”

A few minutes of silence passed, but Kagome could tell Inuyasha was not asleep, either. “Inuyasha?”

Inuyasha didn’t respond for a moment. It was too dark to see, but Kagome could tell he didn’t even move a muscle. “…Yeah?”

“Why would you… I mean, why did you decide to stay for the night?”

“I told you…” he explained. “More demons could come by. I’d be of no help back in my time.”

“No, I mean… are there… any other reasons?” Kagome asked, her nervousness causing her voice to tremble.

“…I wasn’t there…” Inuyasha mumbled.

“Eh? You weren’t what?” Kagome asked.

“…I wasn’t there when you needed me,” he replied.

“What are you talking about?” Kagome asked. “You showed up when I was hurt and killed the demon.”

“Yeah, but you were already hurt.” Kagome heard his sleeping bag rustle as he sat up and she turned on the lamp to see him sitting up, but facing away from her. “What if… you hadn’t been simply cut on the arm? What if I wasn’t there and you were seriously hurt? If I just let you go off to your time without any protection, who knows—”

“Now hold it!” Kagome demanded. “Are you suggesting that I just stop coming back to my time? My family lives here! I have friends here! I can’t just—”

“I ain’t saying that!” Inuyasha yelled as he spun around, his eyebrows furrowing in annoyance briefly before returning to the guilt-ridden expression he’d been wearing all night. “I’m just saying, from now on, I think I should come WITH you to your time.”

“Wait, ALL the time? But… do you really just want to spend days just following me to school?”

“Feh,” he grunted. “Don’t take it so damn seriously. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do. Hardly any demons for me to slay when you’re not there, anyway. And Shippou bugs the living Hell out of me when you’re not there, the whiny brat.”

“But what if someone SEES you? They’d freak at the sight of a demon!” Kagome exclaimed, her mind not wanting to contemplate the possibilities.

“If anyone sees me, I’ll just cut their tongue out so they can’t talk about it,” he said, holding a claw out as if ready to use someone as an example.

“Inuyasha!”

“I’m just kidding! Geez, you’re dense. I’ll just stay out of sight, okay? Look, just go to sleep. I’m staying and there’s not a damn thing you or anyone can do about it, got it?” Kagome felt irritated by his words, but seeing the pinkness in his cheeks, smiled meekly instead of sitting him and lied back down.

“All right, all right, you can stay,” she said. “You can be my faithful little watchdog,” she added with a giggle.

“What was that?!” Inuyasha barked.

“Hehehehe… Goodnight, Inuyasha!” Kagome turned off the lamp and laid her head down to sleep and listened to Inuyasha’s furious grumblings.

After a minute of keeping her eyes closed, Kagome heard more rustling. She could feel Inuyasha’s slow breath on her neck, but she didn’t turn to him, for as soon as he started, he was gone. Eventually, she rolled over and looked just long enough to make out him standing before the window, his body a mere silhouette against the moon. He stood gazing outside, his ears twitching, ready to intercept any sound that might mean a demon approached. Feeling so safe, Kagome fell quickly asleep…