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Higurashi	By : WillowCarlisle Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 21294 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
- 31
Hand clasped against his chest, Shippou struggled to push through the crowd that had suddenly begun a rampage toward the parking lot he'd just come from. He was sure of it this time. Tsuyako had utilized the tether between them to send a desperate call to him for help. He cursed the people currently blocking his forward movement, tightening his grip on the woman at his side. He desperately needed to reach his mate, but he had to protect Misako at the same time. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something were to happen to the woman or her unborn child.
"What's wrong with you people?!" the mother-to-be demanded as a couple came careening toward them. "What's going on up there?"
"There was an explosion," the man exclaimed hurriedly, trying to make way for his companion as they shoved past. "They said some little girl was screaming, and then the whole gate by the mirror maze went down. Everybody's heading for the lot. You better get out of here while you can!"
Shippou felt Misako go stiff at the mention of a little girl and redoubled his effort to get them through the crowd as quickly as possible. Even if it wasn't Kimi, some poor child was hurt and they'd have to at least make sure she was out of danger before they pushed on ahead.
"Where's the maze?" he yelled at everyone and no one in particular. "Where was the explosion?"
One man gestured off to their right before scurrying out of the way. Ducking between two nearby stalls, they re-emerged in a less congested row.
"Don't start panicking yet," Shippou admonished, meandering around a brightly decorated cart. "It could have been any one of the kids here tonight."
"That doesn't make it any better," Misako murmured lowly. "There's a little girl in pain, or suffering, or maybe even-"
"Hush. None of that, now."
The dirt path lead onto a small field of grass which lead up a hill with yet another path lined with lamps. A building lay ahead of them now, in a clearing just beyond the hill. He couldn't make out any smoke against the night sky, nor did he see any flames to indicate that there had been an explosion in the area. As they crested the little peak, though, a small shadowy shape came into view on the grass just off the worn path. One little sandal lay against the base of a lamp, and just beyond the reach of the light was a tiny bare foot accompanied by pale little toes protruding from the lip of the sandal's matching pair.
"Please, no," Misako's anguished gasp echoed the cry inside his own mind.
The woman made to run to the girl's side, but Shippou drew her back. "Don't. There's something here... I can feel it..."
Gesturing for her to stay close, he moved slowly toward the empty clearing. The air was thick with jyaki here; so thick he could taste it: bitter and acrid and steeped with venom. Extending a hand, he fanned the air in front of them, not surprised to feel his fingers brush against something solid.
"It's a barrier," he murmured with a frown. "Not really a strong one, but..."
Pulling his hand away, he held it up to the light. A thin, wet film coated his fingers, and he wiped it away quickly as the poison began to sting at his skin.
"You'll have to wait for me on this side," Shippou instructed the woman, unbuttoning his shirt and pulling his arms from the sleeves. "Whatever's in there isn't planning to come out anytime soon, so you'll be safe at least long enough to call Angie and have some help sent to us."
Misako nodded without protest, following him as he went to where the little girl lay. She watched, breath held, as he knelt and pressed a hand to the girl's throat. The deep sigh of relief, and the smile turned her way, was enough to tell her that the child was still alive. She waited patiently as he checked the girl for injuries.
"The collar bone is broken," Shippou sighed, "but it doesn't look any worse than that. She has a little bump on the head, probably from falling. Normally, I wouldn't move her if we could avoid it, but we can't risk anyone finding the barrier. You'll have to take her further away from here."
He lifted the girl and wrapped the shirt around her before rising and bringing her to where the woman stood waiting. Misako reached for her without question, positioning the little frame so as not to cause more injury to the girl or to her own protruding belly.
"I'll make my way back to the car," she murmured. "There's a better chance I'll either run into her mother or the police going back that way. I'll be able to make the phone call once I'm there. What about you?"
Grinning broadly, he waved away her concern. "You forget who you're talking to. Concentrate on the girl for now. I'll handle the rest."
Nodding without further question, the woman turned and began the trek away from the clearing.
He waited until she'd passed the food cart and turned along the concession stalls before exhaling the breath he'd been holding. There was no fooling the either of them. He knew as well as Misako did that without his mate, or at least some of his tools with him, he wouldn't be able to hold out long against the being who'd conjured this barrier. However, he knew without a doubt that he'd find more behind this veil of poison than a patiently waiting demon.
"I feel you, koibito," Shippou murmured, stepping cautiously toward the pulsating shield of jyaki. "I know that you're here... I know you're waiting for me. Guide my hand, my love. I can't do this alone."
The answer echoed along their tether and he drew in a deep breath.
"Well... here goes..."
Opting for the less subtle approach, he balled his fists and grit his teeth, taking a flying leap of faith as he slammed head first through the acid veil.
*~~~
Half blind from the stream of blood flowing down his face, Sesshoumaru pushed the miko aside and struggled to his feet. He couldn't take much more of this, but he had to reach her.
Kagome...
He could make out her shape in the grass where the bastard had tossed her so carelessly. As he glared into the laughing eyes of the demon now possessing his half-brother's shell, he was well aware that the creature before him had every intention of drawing out this torturous game. It was toying with him; playing on his weakened state while keeping him out of reach of the woman who now lay still and bleeding. He was outmatched... but he still had to try. Better to die at her side than to die so far away that he couldn't even see her face. He balled his fists and straightened his spine. One more try.
"Sesshoumaru!"
The voices that called to him came from his left, and Sesshoumaru dragged his gaze away from the other demon in time to see six incarnations of a very irate kitsune running madly in this direction. The two nearest him grabbed either of his arms, dragging him backward to the ground. The other four hurried forward, standing as a barrier between himself, the miko, and the feral beast snarling in confusion a few yards away.
"Shippou!" Tsuyako's voice was filled with relief as the woman threw her arms around the version of her husband kneeling nearest to her. �You made it. I�m glad��
The fox demon's deep sigh spoke volumes. �You know nothing could keep me away. Come, now. We have some work to do.�
There was a series of loud pops as the five other clones vanished in identical puffs of smoke. The vapors lingered and coalesced, expanding into a rich blue cloud that descended over the three of them and hardened into a prismatic shell just in time to shield them from Inuyasha�s vicious rampaging charge. The demon fell backward, sputtering in rage before leaping to his feet and charging blindly forward with a furious roar once again.
�Bastard...� Sesshoumaru growled, wiping away the blood that stung at his eye before rising and making a move toward the hanyou yet again.
"Sesshoumaru, stop this!" Tsuyako bellowed, flinching as Inuyasha's claws slammed into the barrier with greater force. "You can't face him like that! You have to learn to let someone else do the fighting once in a while. Just stay back and let us protect you."
�Misako�s gone for help,� Shippou insisted with a nod. �We can hold out like this until she comes back with the others.�
�And what of Kagome?!� Sesshoumaru bit out lowly, refusing to succumb to the pain that throbbed inside his skull.
The kitsune�s brow furrowed and he looked about the clearing in confusion, his eyes widening as they lit on the motionless figure that lay in the grass off to their right.
�Kagome�� the other man breathed. �She�s not�? The bond?�
He clenched his teeth. �Gone. I can no longer feel-�
"We want the human!" the hanyou-marionette growled, his assault on the holy barrier growing in intensity. "We will have the human. We will kill the human. Release it to us!!"
"This can�t go on for much longer,� Tsuyako groaned, sweat beading on her forehead as she strained to hold her ground. "Think of me as heartless if you must, Sesshoumaru, but you�re our greatest concern right now. Keep your head about you! For whatever reason, you're still here! If you survive this, the ritual can be completed. If Kagome�s dead-"
�No!�
�Listen to me, damn it!� the miko snapped. �Even if she dies, as long as you�re alive long enough to complete the ritual, you can bring her back! You can use Tenseiga to bring her back, you understand? We just have to wait long enough for the others to get here. You�re still with us somehow, which means as long as you�re still here, there�s a chance for her, too. Please, Sesshoumaru��
Eyes narrowed, Sesshoumaru looked at the scene before him. Shippou knelt to his left, the effect of the holy barrier evident in the lines of his face as he struggled to reinforce the shield with his own fox magic. Tsuyako had begun to waver as well, pushed to her knees by the force which the unrelenting hanyou continued to pound against her. Scowling at his present state, he took a defeated step backward.
"I... will wait..." he murmured stiffly, furious silver eyes locking with those of the demon just outside the prismatic wall, "for now..."
*~~~
Music was playing nearby.
Unfolding slowly from the root hollow she'd found to rest in, Kimi rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned. The woods had gotten dark since she stopped to take a nap at the base of the tree. She'd walked for a few hours and had finally begun to see the flags along the road that she knew marked the way to the fair. She remembered them clearly, and knew she'd be getting close real soon. There were more trees out this way than back in the city. Once she'd left the main road, it was all roots and shrubs and big leafy bushes. She'd wanted to keep going until she saw the lights from the Ferris wheel, but the sword had gotten much heavier as she went, and she was already so very tired. A nap was just what she needed, she told herself, and plopped down at the base of a tree with the sword at her side.
"Are you awake, Mister?" she asked the blade between yawns.
It hadn't spoken to her since she'd taken it from Uncle Amaru's room. It had stopped glowing, too. Now it just sat there as if it was too tired to talk. It dawned on her that a talking sword was an awfully strange thing to find in a little metal box, but she'd seen weirder things when daddy's friends were around. A talking sword wasn't all that strange compared to a man who turned into a big fat raccoon.
"It's time to go now," she told the sword, not really expecting it to answer her, but happy to have something to talk to regardless.
Pulling herself to her feet and pushing her arm back through the makeshift sling, she brushed the leaves from her clothes and continued on her way. She could already hear the music from the carousel, and began to hum along with the tune. It was almost too dark to see. The street lights were too far away to be of any use. Kimi was never afraid of the dark, but the silence was another story. All her life, she'd been surrounded by sounds. Some sounds she and mommy both listened to, and some sounds only she could hear. Some things even Uncle Amaru couldn't hear, and he was really good at listening, too!
As she walked, she could hear the dull crunch of the dirt beneath the grass under her shoes. She could also make out little animals running to get out of her way in the dark. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the whirring of the motors that made the rides work, but she couldn't hear the people. That bothered her a little. Fairs were noisy places where everyone would laugh and yell and shout, but there was hardly any sound coming from this one. Even the smells were all wrong. The closer she came, the stronger the scent of dead flowers.
"It smells like when Uncle Amaru gets really mad," she whispered, clenching the sword to her more tightly and coming to a halt. "Do you smell it?"
The line of trees had come to an abrupt end. Before her stretched a large parking lot: empty, but for three cars on the opposite end from where she stood. There were people gathered there in a tight little group, but despite the distance, she shrank back out of view. One figure in particular was both a welcome and unwanted sight.
"Mommy..." Kimi breathed in fear. "If mommy sees me, she'll make me give back Uncle Amaru's sword!"
Her chest rose and fell in rapid little breaths and she chewed on her bottom lip in concentration. If she made a run for it, chances were her mother wouldn't see her before she reached the wooden stalls. Unfortunately, she still had the weight of the sword to worry about. She couldn't drop it, or leave it here. She needed it to help daddy.
Eyeing a grassy area that stretched from the trees to a big building way off to the left, she hurried in that direction instead. She could run to the building, and then find a way back to the stalls on the other side without being spotted. The horrible smell was stronger over this way, and she very much wanted to avoid it, but it was her only safe bet.
Stumbling over a shrub, she took a quick look back toward the cars before bending into the wind and making a mad dash for the big building.
Halfway there, Kimi became aware of a soft prickly wetness running over her skin. It stung her eyes and left a bitter taste in her mouth when she breathed in. Whatever the gross feeling was, it didn't go away even after she came to the side of the building and slumped down into the shadows, and she had to use the front of her shirt to wipe it from her face when it started to get hot.
"Ew!" she cried, dropping the sword and using the cloth sling to wipe her arms and neck. "It stinks!"
She'd bent down to wipe at the back of her legs when the sword let out a low hum. It rattled noisily in the grass, a dim light pulsing along its sharp edge.
"Are you awake again?" Kimi asked quietly, squatting down to get a better look. "Are you there now, Mister?"
"Kimi...?"
Gasping, the little girl jumped back from the hand that grasped at her ankle. She hadn't seen anyone here when she'd run up. She'd thought the little clearing was empty, but she now saw that she was wrong. Someone lay in the grass just past the edge of the big building, half in and half out of the light. The hand that had reached for her was covered in something dark and wet, and she recoiled at the smell of it. A low gasping sigh came from the huddled form, though, and she had to drag her eyes away to stare down at this person who seemed to know her name. Her little golden eyes widened in horror at what she found.
"Miss Kagome?!" Kimi gasped, running to the woman's side. "Are you ok? Where did you get that big cut?"
The woman winced as her probing fingers came into contact with the wet material of her blouse and she could feel tears begin to sting her eyes. Miss Kagome was such a nice lady! Who would want to hurt someone like her?
"I'll go get help, ok?" she promised as she turned to retrieve the sword. "Daddy is here. I can smell him now. I'll go get him and-"
"No!" Kagome gasped, a spasm of pain shooting through her gut.
The little girl was the last person she'd expected to see in a place like this, but Inuyasha was the very last person she wanted to see now. She didn't want Kimi to see him in the state he was in, either. It would destroy her if something happened to the little girl, more so if it was at the hand of her own father. She had no strength to protect either of them at that moment. She'd begun to drift in and out of focus as time went by, and the gravity of her own situation had lost the power to bring tears to her eyes. Light flickered in the corners of her vision, and the breath she drew into her lungs seemed less than the one she'd drawn a moment earlier. She nearly laughed at the absurdity of it all.
"I need you do something for me, ok?" she pleaded with the girl, hoping that they were far enough away from Inuyasha and the others that their conversation would go unnoticed. "I need to move, but I can't do it by myself. No. I'm too heavy for you to carry. I need you to find something to help me get up. Once you find something, we'll go and get help."
"I don't want to leave you!" the girl pouted. "Daddy can help, I promise! I just have to give him the sword, and then he'll help you call the doctor."
"Sword...?"
The light flickered in the corner of her eye again and she used all the strength she could muster to look at the object the girl had been carrying. What little wind that had been left in her lungs flew out in an audible gust as she recognized the demon blade.
Sou'unga!
Something in the way the girl cradled the sinister sword to her chest sent a tremor through her and she nearly doubled over as another wave of pain followed in its wake.
"Kimi, where did you..." shaking head slowly, Kagome brushed the questions aside. "It doesn't matter how you got it or why. You need to get that sword back to Sesshou- back to Amaru."
Struggling with renewed conviction, she tried to push an elbow beneath her body and rise to her feet.
"Use this," Kimi jumped suddenly, pushing the hilt of the sword into her right hand and grasping her left. "I can help, too!"
Before she could object, the weapon lay in her palm. Cold static electricity rushed up her arm and along the back of her neck, stabbing insistently at her consciousness. Unbelievable power throbbed within the blade. Overwhelming in its strength, but bringing an echoing emptiness as well. Kagome gasped as she felt something expand rapidly inside her skull. The night darkness seemed to recede, the trees and grass and even the girl at her side suddenly illuminated by an inner light. She squinted down at the blades of grass beneath them and realized that the light came not from the world around her, but from behind her own eyes.
Leaning her weight against blade, she allowed the girl to help pull her to her feet, only dimly aware that the pain in her gut had diminished to a mild throb. The same expanding pulse that had taken over her mind now slithered into her arms and legs, guiding her movements. The little girl still stood with her, completely unaware.
"Kimi," she heard herself call to the child. �I want you to go and find your mommy, ok?"
"Mommy?" the girl asked slowly.
"She's waiting for you nearby."
Somehow she knew the woman truly was somewhere close, just as she knew that Shippou had made it safely to his wife's side and was now struggling to keep her own mate safe from Inuyasha's assault. The knowledge was second nature to her, and she didn't question it or its source.
"Go to her," she went on gently. "I promise I'll go and find your daddy for you, ok?"
Somehow the hesitant smile that was cast her way didn't give the desired effect. She felt remorse at seeing the girl smile before nodding and running back across the grassy field.
"We meet again, miko," the amused voice whispered to her from the sword at her side.
"Yes..." Kagome answered easily, brow furrowed.
"It seems your bond to that demon prevents me from taking hold of your feeble mind... but no worry. This is enough for now."
"Why are you here?" she murmured, blinking rapidly as the feeling in her head swelled again. "What are you doing to me?"
No answer came. Instead, she found her limbs moving of their own accord. Her body drew itself up, blood still seeping from her open wounds, and swiveled slowly back in the direction of the lighted clearing.
"It seems this Sou'unga was given one final chance to complete the task meant to be carried out centuries ago," the sword seethed. "With your help, miko, I will gain enough power to burn a rift through the soul of this world and return to those who forged my steel."
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