Chapter Text
Inuyasha and Miroku hurried through, past the village, the destruction. With his heightened sense of smell, he grimaced at the heavy scent of iron and ash. Kagome had said that the shard would be in the center of the village, which he confirmed from the heavy energy.
He’d felt uneasy ever since they arrived at the village. Not that he’d say it out loud, of course.
“I’ve never felt anything like this before,” Miroku muttered from beside him. Inuyasha only huffed.
“Neither have I. Something’s definitely off-”
He stopped abruptly. Miroku gripped his staff tighter, eyes wide and lips moving in silent prayer. The two took in their surroundings.
What was left, anyway.
Before them was what seemed to be a wide courtyard. But the debris, the foundations of huts and structures left half charred, proved that something had been here. Inuyasha could only imagine what kind of village this used to be. Smoke shrouded the remains, making it difficult to see clearly. It seemed empty, yet he could make out the outlines of bodies.
He was not unfamiliar with scenes such as this. Still, he didn’t allow himself to look for too long, instead turning away. Something to deal with later.
The stench of yokai was thick, confirming the guess Inuyasha had as his grip on tessaiga tightened. What we’ve been looking for is here.
“About time you showed up again, Tomoe. I was starting to get bored…” a voice chuckled, the smoke clearing slightly to reveal a shadowed figure lazily sitting atop a wooden crate. “I was gonna show you this shard I found, but you just took so long,” he complained. Miroku and Inuyasha exchanged a look, one of confusion and determination. So he has part of the jewel. And this scent is everywhere…
“Oi!” Inuyasha brandished tessaiga as he scowled at the oni. “I don't know who the hell Tomoe is, but you’re gonna hand over that jewel shard!”
The figure abruptly stood, muttering something about ants. Through the haze, gold irises stared back at them, unblinking. For a moment, Inuyasha thought he was looking through a mirror.
The yokai stepped forward, the smoke suddenly dispelling from around him. Miroku’s hand went to the beads sealing his wind tunnel, ready to pull them away should it be needed.
“What the hell?” Black lips frowned as the gold eyes with smudged kohl flitted from Miroku to Inuyasha, staying there as his eyes widened a bit. The figure in front of them was tall, with long, red hair shifting slightly as a breeze came through, ivory horns emerging from the top, gold earrings dangling from his pointed ears. He wore a long coat, black feathers all over his shoulders. Briefly, Inuyasha thought of the people in Kagome’s world. They tend to wear weird stuff like this…
The sharp scent of blood and ash clung to this figure.
“Were you the one who caused such destruction?” Miroku asked, eyes narrowed as he pointed his staff accusingly.
“Doesnt it look better this way?” Holding out an arm, the oni summoned a weapon, a large, brown club wrapped in what seemed to be a metal snake. He grinned, showing pointed teeth. “And who do you think you are, speaking to Akura-Ou?”
“Killing for sport, you’re no better than scum,” spat Inuyasha. He’d never heard of Akura-Ou, but then again, none of the villagers they’d met in the past mentioned him.
“‘Scum’? Says the guy teaming up with ants,” Akura scoffed.
Inuyasha bared his teeth, ignoring his comment. “Oh yeah? WIND SCAR!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he swung tessaiga, a wave of demonic energy rumbling through the ground towards his opponent.
The yokai made no move to avoid it, instead watching the two. His gaze caused Inuyasha’s skin to crawl, long after he was engulfed by the overwhelming energy.
For a second, everything was silent. While Inuyasha wasn’t one to doubt the sword’s power, it seemed almost too easy. Miroku stayed slightly crouched, as though expecting something to happen.
Silence for one second, two-
“Now that’s a sword.” Through the smoke caused by the destruction, Inuyasha could see his outline. He walked out once more, fully unscathed, wearing a smug expression on his face.
“Amazing,” Miroku breathed out. “He seems wholly unaffected by the attack."
Inuyasha stared, dumbfounded. “What the hell?!” Pointing his sword accusingly he barked, “Did Naraku send you, bastard?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know about any Naraku.” He eyed tessaiga. “What I do know, is that I want that sword.” His eyes glinted, lips stretching into a wide smile.
“The Tessaiga chooses its own master, which is me.” Holding it high above his head, he attacked once more. “Wind scar!”
The earth rumbled yet again. But this time, Akura dodged, heading straight towards them. Inuyasha had little time to do anything other than take the force head on as Akura’s club locked with his sword.
“Miroku! Don’t open your wind tunnel! Not until we have the shard!” Inuyasha barked as he pushed the oni back.
Akura recovered quickly. “You fight like a madman.” Then he frowned, as though contemplating something. “You also look a lot like Tomoe.”
“I don’t know who this Tomoe is,” snapped Inuyasha. “And I don’t care.”
He lunged, holding Tessaiga high up, aiming at the arm holding the club. Let’s see you try to beat me without an arm! He let out a small grin.
Akura twisted out of the way, jabbing his club into Inuyasha’s side. The iron cut into him, causing him to hiss in pain as he jumped back. Clutching his side with one hand while he held tessaiga with the other, he swore. He could feel the warm liquid through his fingers.
Damn it.
“Already injured? And I was just getting warmed up.” The oni chuckled. Without warning, he struck once more. Inuyasha grunted, retreating back once more. Miroku took this chance to throw out binding sutras, landing themselves around Akura.
With a look of annoyance their way, the charms were engulfed in black flames, rendered useless.
“What, did you expect them to actually work?” He replied, amused, to Miroku’s incredulous expression. He gritted his teeth and pulled his robes tighter in response.
“Over here, asshole!” Inuyasha charged, aiming for his head, despite Miroku’s protests in the background. Again and again, one attacked, and the other retreated. Inuyasha kept taking hit after hit, coming from seemingly nowhere. He’d attack, yet nothing made the oni stand down. Miroku tried to help, but had become occupied when more demons showed up, crowing of winning Akura-Ou’s favor.
Inuyasha was sick of this. While he was sure he could win this battle, the results proved otherwise. After all, he was the one covered in injuries.
So what? He grinned. Nothing would stop him from getting that jewel shard. He lunged once more. Suddenly, a heavy pressure engulfed him. It stank of demonic energy, so dark it felt like he was choking as it swirled around him, cutting him off from everything. No time to counter it with his Backlash Wave. What the hell…?
His vision began blurring, and distantly, he felt his grip on Tessaiga slipping. Everything was too much, to the point his senses felt overwhelmed. His instincts were screaming at him to retreat immediately.
“Inuyasha…INUYASHA!”
Miroku’s voice, like a beacon of light.
Growling, he tightened his grip on Tessaiga. He would not lose control, oni be damned.
I’m gonna beat this guy, and then I’m gonna beat Naraku-
That was the last thing he clearly thought about before a heavy force hit him, knocking away his sword and breath.
…
Akura ou stared at the figure in front of him. The resemblance to Tomoe was…weird. And while he could shrug and wave it off, there was something about him that made it hard to walk away.
Probably his audacity. Which was why he was now sprawled on the ground, on his dying breath.
“Damn, you’re weak,” he scoffed. He’d only projected dark energy, and then punched him. The jewel shard he’d collected pulsed with the power he just used. Still, he’d held better than most.
The monk who’d accompanied the demon hurried over to him, muttering under his breath. Akura paid no attention, eyes locking instead on the sword lying not too far away.
The blade seemed rusted and thin, unlike the great weapon he’d seen earlier. Boring…
He looked once more to the monk. But he was no longer there. Heh, he probably escaped. Turning around, he began walking away.
The wind shifted. While the demon’s aura had been…weaker than most, it suddenly swelled. He stopped, whirling around to find the tomoe-lookalike standing upright despite his injuries, chest heaving.
His face was marked with jagged purple stripes, the scleras of his eyes filled with red. His fangs had lengthened significantly, as he growled in Akura’s direction.
While he was sure he’d killed him, he wasn’t going to complain about this turn of events. He failed to stop the grin spreading across his face.
“Haven’t given up? You’re asking for it at this point.” He taunted. The tomoe-copy only snarled in response. He jumped, movements faster than before, claws outstretched in an attempt to pierce him. He let it happen, not even flinching as he felt the wounds close as soon as they appeared. Shoving the demon back, something occurred to him.
The sword lay untouched, forgotten. Had he decided that it wasn’t useful anymore? And now, he attacked as though a rabid animal. Akura was not one to think deeply or strategize, that was Tomoe’s job-
Tomoe. The demon looks like Tomoe. Not only that, it seemed as though he lost control. He thought back to his demonic energy he felt. It had been weak until now.
A demon, but not fully…a half-demon? Akura-Ou did not like where this was leading to.
The furball mentioned Tomoe’s infatuation with a human woman. And while he’d denied it, every time she was mentioned, he’d change the subject. Or dismiss him. Could it be, he’d been hiding it longer? Tomoe was full of secrets, secrets he loved to discover to annoy him. But this…
Was the bastard in front of him part of the infatuation Tomoe kept from Akura? Memories of Tomoe leaving for long periods of time flitted through his mind. I’m getting a headache…
He looked at the creature in a different light, amusement vanished. If he carried Tomoe’s blood…
“Brother,” he spoke, in a low voice. “What the fuck are you going to say after this?” Was this what Tomoe chose? A human and hanyo over his brotherhood? He was weak, and the Demon King was going to bring him back to his strength.
That would be a fight for later. Right now, he was going to kill him.
The hanyo, sensing his anger, crouched, prepared to attack again.
“You’re a half demon. You think you can fucking win against me?” Akura spat. “I’m going to put you in the ground, you son of a-“
He didn’t notice the damn monk behind him. Not until he was doused in a strange liquid, the smell of it so strong he only blinked, once, twice, before swaying.
“What…the fuc-?” The oni stumbled, before collapsing. Unconscious.
Miroku breathed out a sigh of relief and a prayer of gratitude. The liquid Sango had given him a while back proved to be useful, not that he’d ever doubted her. Use it to bring any yokai down, she’d said, pressing the bottle in his hands. I can just hear that lovely voice of hers…
A growl interrupted his thoughts. Inuyasha stood before him, looking quite terrifying in his demon form. “Ah,” Miroku dug into his robes. “I would’ve probably escaped by now if we weren’t friends.”
Inuyasha gave no indication he heard him, aside from one of his ears twitching. “Let’s see if this works,” muttered the monk as he revealed a small item. He pressed a button, and a voice filled the silence.
“SIT!”
Inuyasha slammed face-first into the ground upon hearing Kagome’s voice. The device Miroku held was one of the many things Kagome had brought that never failed to amaze him.
“SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!”
The beads didn’t stop glowing as a crater formed beneath Inuyasha. “HEY!” He groaned, angling his head up slightly to glare at Miroku. “I swear, I’m going to break that thing.”
Miroku only beamed. “At least it worked.”
“Did I hurt anyone? And what about the oni?” Inuyasha made to stand up, wincing from his injuries.
“Everyone’s fine. He’s unconscious.” He nodded to the body on the ground.
Inuyasha eyed Akura ou, huffing out a breath. “He’s definitely not one of Naraku’s incarnations. Still,” he frowned. “He wouldn’t die.”
“Would it be better to use my wind tunnel?”
“Yeah, if you’re looking to get poisoned and die.” Inuyasha scoffed.
Miroku shuddered. “Fair point.” He glanced back at him. “Should we bury him?”
“Are we just going to leave him here? What if he wakes up?”
“If he does, this will delay him.” Miroku waved an ofuda in front of Inuyasha. “These can bind him for some time.”
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. “Again. We’re just going to leave him here?”
“Do you have any better ideas?”
“…fine. At least take his shard.”
Miroku crouched beside Akura ou, reaching out his hand to search, only to snap it back.
“I can’t,” he admitted as he turned towards Inuyasha. “It’s too corrupted for me to take. It’ll be better if Lady Kagome were here.”
Inuyasha sniffed, lips tugging down at the corners. “She should’ve been here by now…stay here, monk. I’ll be back.”
He made his way to Tessaiga, the blade still in its rusted form. With a muttered bastard, Inuyasha sheathed it.
Leaning on tessaiga as a walking cane (for a little bit, he assured himself), he followed Kagome’s scent towards the village. The floral notes tickled his nose, something warm settling in his chest, despite the lingering doubt sitting heavy.
A shot of pain went through his leg, causing Inuyasha to bite out a curse. “That bastard.”
He didn’t bother to stop and rest. “Just find Kagome, dammit.” He muttered to himself.
Finally, he reached the area where Kagome’s scent was strongest. There was no wind, no noise, the silence pressing around him. Something was off.
Then the smell of her blood crashed into him. Ears alert, he scanned the area before moving forward, injuries ignored as he picked up speed.
“Kagome!”
There. She was standing, panting heavily as tears welled in her eyes upon seeing him. His eyes widened as he took her in, the blood seeping through her sleeve as relief shone on her face.
She’s alive, the thought making him almost fall over himself. She’s alive and hurt. He gritted his teeth.
He sensed it before seeing him. The air became more charged, youki tainting the air around him.
A tall shadow formed behind Kagome. “Inu-!”
In a split second, before any of them could react, an arm snaked around Kagome, cutting off the rest of his name. She struggled, and Inuyasha unsheathed Tessaiga once more, only to hesitate.
A katana pressed against the hollow of her throat, silencing any protest upon her lips. The figure was breathing heavily, angling her face up with the weapon.
Inuyasha felt cold. It was an obvious threat. He could attack, at the cost of her life. She was right there, and yet, in a split second, she could disappear.
The demon looked straight at him, surprise shifting his features. And suddenly, Inuyasha understood what the oni had said.
Tomoe.
It was like looking at a distorted mirror.
Tomoe scoffed. “Who are you supposed to be?”
Overcome with anger, he pointed a claw at him. Similarities be damned, he was going to make him pay.
“Let her go!”
Tomoe only stared back at him. “This must be ikusagami’s trick,” he muttered to himself.
Still, he stared coolly at the demon in front of him. “And if I refuse?” He pressed the sword tighter, earning a gasp from the miko he held.
Inuyasha swore, eyes blazing. It took everything in him not to charge at that moment.
Tomoe looked down at her. Then back at Inuyasha. A smirk spread across his face.
“I see now,” he murmured. “You’re in love with a human girl.” Bitterness tinged the end, as though he were conflicted on the very idea.
“He’s not in love with me,” Kagome mumbled, momentarily forgetting the situation.
Tomoe raised an eyebrow. “That’s not what it seems like.”
“Oi!” Inuyasha snapped. “You have bigger things to worry about!”
“Really? It seems to me that I,” blood, a thin line of it, became visible on her neck, “have the upper hand here.”
Tomoe grinned at the look on the hanyou’s face. He missed feeling like this, the way his satisfaction would swell. All he had to do now was kill her.
For a moment, he imagined it not the miko he held but her. Her brown hair, her whispered voice. Her blazing eyes and courage.
For some reason, it only twisted something in his chest.
“Tomoe!”
Kagome felt him stiffen. Tears streamed down her face as she trembled, fearing the worst. Ever so slightly, she tried to angle her head towards the voice that called, a woman.
A trick. His mind raced. It had to be. But no sooner had he thought it did he remember what today was.
The attack on the wedding.
“Tomoe, HELP ME!” Her voice, filled with fear, desperation.
His hold on his katana slipped ever so slightly.
“Yukiji,” the name, nothing more than a whisper, left his lips.
Inuyasha’s ears twitched, eyes never leaving Kagome, though he noticed Tomoe’s demeanor change. Gone was the cocky kitsune, replaced by uneasiness. He’d muttered a name in response to whoever called. For a moment, Inuyasha thought it was a spirit.
Tomoe clenched his jaw, as though debating something. He looked down at Kagome, eyes cold.
Watching her, but at the same time, unseeing.
With a final scoff, Tomoe released Kagome, shoving her to the ground. Inuyasha took that opportunity to pounce, letting out a cry as he raised his sword in the air, aiming for the kitsune. Tomoe raised his katana, parrying the attack, both swords locked.
Kagome gasped for breath, the sudden freedom dizzying. I’m not dead, I’m not dead…
She crawled away from the fight, needing a moment to regain her composure. So close was she to bleeding out, to losing her life…she shivered at the thought, hands automatically going to her throat.
But why? He’d been adamant on killing her. Why not only hesitate, but also release her?
He said ‘Yukiji’, Kagome remembered. A desperate plea. Perhaps he knew who called him.
She felt a light breeze on her skin. Then she noticed something on the ground, about to float away. A small piece of paper.
Snatching it before it could fly, Kagome read the messy ink. Call Tomoe. It was written as though there was no time, stained with blood at the corner.
Kagome’s heart dropped. She could feel the spiritual energy radiating off of it. What was going on?
The clanging of steel reminded her what was happening. Folding the paper, she tucked it into her pocket before standing on unsteady legs. Finding a bow nearby, she knocked an arrow, aiming for the kitsune. But the way the two fought, it was almost impossible to tell them apart.
Not only that, Kagome was hesitating. Someone out there needed Tomoe’s help, whatever it may be for.
Meanwhile, Tomoe was looking for a distraction. Anything to get the damn dog away from him, long enough to get to Yukiji. A small voice chided him that this could be another trick, but he was willing to take the chance.
But time was running out.
Create a distraction. Dodging another of his attacks, Tomoe conjured up his Kitsune-bi. He could see the miko, aiming an arrow at him.
Keeping his eyes trained on the demon, he threw the fire her way.
He reacted exactly as he expected. He cried out, leaping to her in an attempt to protect the miko. The miko’s mouth opened in shock, falling to the ground as it flew over her.
With a grin, Tomoe disappeared.