A/N: I wrote this relatively fast, so I hope it turned out halfway decent. One thing I should mention...though this is probably a spoiler for the chapter, but I find it necessary to say this...I've never written fight scenes before, and this chapter's dialogue is very cheesy. I love Cheez! It reads, to me, like the dialogue they use in (both) series, be it English or Japanese, the cheesy dialogue is abundant. Also I use English terms for attacks. I tend to dislike the use of random Japanese words in an obviously English story, it doesn't matter if you're writing about Japanese people. However, I have been known to slip and use one every now and then, but I try very hard not to. I was actually going to start the traveling bit in this chapter, but Yusuke and Inuyasha were begging to spar with each other. So I let them. Enjoy!
That night was uncomfortable for everyone as eleven people tried to find sleeping space in Kaede’s small hut. Not everyone had blankets, and the night air held a slight chill. Yusuke had only his jacket, but lent it to Botan, who had been trying to hide the fact that she was shivering, and not doing a very good job at it. It wasn’t like he was going to sleep anyway, no matter how much he wished he could. So he endured the cold air and allowed himself to dwell on the current situation.
He was still pissed with Koenma, angrier than he’d ever been with the little brat. Koenma had been extremely vague in his instructions and Yusuke had been wondering if they were doing the right thing by exploring the well…until Kurama had told him that Koenma had planned the whole thing. Yusuke was fuming inside again just thinking about it…if he hadn’t insisted on following Kagome through the well, what would Kurama have done? Forced him to go? Told him the truth? Instead, Yusuke had behaved just as Koenma obviously knew he would, and now it was too late. From what Kurama had said, they were not to return through the well. Somehow Yusuke knew that even if he’d insisted on going back, there would be no way to return. He didn’t know this for sure. Intuition, perhaps.
So now what? Somehow he’d gotten coerced into agreeing to travel with these people, specifically one that didn’t want him or any of his group around at all. He hadn’t even suggested the idea. For some reason, Kurama had suddenly taken control, and that pissed Yusuke off even more. He had to admit maybe Kurama handled things better than he did sometimes, but there was just something in his attitude that bothered Yusuke immensely. Like Kurama didn’t even want him to open his mouth. It wasn’t like him to just take over. What was the fox thinking?
Yusuke also noted that Kurama had avoided mentioning their true mission to these other people. He wondered what they intended to do with the Shikon jewel. Perhaps they were planning on using it. The white-haired one known as Inuyasha seemed intent on having it. Why not destroy it? If it was such a dangerous object, why cause so much grief by keeping it around? Maybe…maybe it wasn’t so easy to destroy. What if they finally got all of the shards and couldn’t destroy it? Then what? They’d have to stay there forever!
He shook his head; no way! There was no way he was staying in this strange world forever! He had Keiko to think about…and his mother. And this place was too primeval for him. Well…at least it could do with some electricity and running water.
Still, he had to admit that the silence was quite nice. It was peaceful that night. There was no traffic, no sirens wailing in the distance, no crowds of people everywhere. There were definitely no complaints about the lack of those things. Then again, it was almost too quiet. He supposed these people that he was going to be traveling with weren’t so bad. They probably had good reasons not to trust them, just as he had good reasons not to trust them.
Apparently, from what Kagome had said, the only demons traveling in her group were Inuyasha and Shippou, the child, as well as the small two-tailed cat known as Kirara. Shippou had said very little. Inuyasha had kept giving them dirty looks and scowling. Yusuke wasn’t intimidated. But he was annoyed. The other two traveling with Kagome’s group were, as she’d introduced them later, Miroku and Sango. Miroku was a monk, and a perverted one. Sango was a demon exterminator. Kagome had only briefly introduced them, and had said nothing else about them. He felt a little strange, being forced to get to know these people. They had all basically been thrown together and now were expected to behave as a team?
Also there was the thought of this Naraku. He seemed to be a forced to be reckoned with, judging from the looks on their faces when his name was mentioned. Yusuke wondered if, since this Naraku had most of the Shikon shards, perhaps joining with these people wasn’t such a bad idea after all. The more people there were to fight against Naraku, the better chance they had of winning.
He could at least agree to that.
He lost track of what he was thinking of by the time his eyelids drooped shut and sleep overtook him at last.
***
The next morning was a headache as Kagome had expected it to be. Inuyasha kept insisting that this idea was stupid, that the other group should just go on about their own business, to which Kagome replied by threatening to say the word. Botan asked what word Kagome was talking about, to which Kagome, without thinking, replied, “Sit.” A nanosecond later, Inuyasha was imprinted on the ground, furious. He became even more furious when Yusuke started laughing and seeing if he could do the same thing. Of course, he couldn’t, and suddenly found himself face-to-face with a bad-tempered dog demon that had a fistful of his shirt and was yelling in his face.
With an amazingly calm voice, Yusuke said, “Let go of my shirt, pal, and there won’t be any trouble.”
“You were asking for trouble the second you opened your mouth,” Inuyasha snarled, and did not let go. A moment later, one of Yusuke’s fists connected with the side of Inuyasha’s face, knocking Inuyasha back about three feet and almost to the ground. Inuyasha caught his balance and managed to stay upright. Kagome let out a strangled cry; she could just see this fight breaking into an all-out war. The rest of them also stood, waiting to see the outcome, and preparing to react should the two start killing each other.
Instead, much to everyone’s surprise, Inuyasha stood with a shocked expression on his face, rubbing his cheek. A large knot had appeared on his face, looking bruised and swollen. Yusuke stood, staring at Inuyasha with a slight smirk. He was ready for Inuyasha to react. He might have, too, if Kagome hadn’t laid a hand on Inuyasha’s shoulder and said quietly, “Inuyasha…sit.”
That was the second time in a matter of minutes. She felt bad for doing it, but she did not need a fight so early in the morning.
Inuyasha, once he found the ability to stand to his feet once again, looked as though he was about to explode. “I did not deserve either one of those, Kagome,” he said, his voice dangerously calm in light of how furious he was. “The first one was an accident, which was bad enough, but I am not going to listen to that…brat…run his mouth to me. If they think they can come in and take over how we do things around here…”
“Inuyasha, honestly, they’re just going to help us. Don’t you agree that more people to fight against Naraku is a good thing?”
“I don’t care! I can kill Naraku by myself!”
Yusuke snorted. “So why haven’t you?”
Inuyasha growled deep in his throat. This Yusuke was really getting on his last nerve. What did he know about it? Nothing! “Look, I don’t know who you think you are…I’ll KILL Naraku and then deal with you!”
Yusuke looked around. He’d had about enough of this punk’s attitude. Never mind that it was astoundingly like his. “Well, I don’t see this Naraku guy anywhere…but I’m right here.”
The Tetsusaiga was aimed at Yusuke before he could blink. “Is that an invitation, then?” Inuyasha snarled.
Yusuke rolled the sleeves of his jacket up on his arms. “Take it however you want.”
Botan and Kagome immediately looked at each other in horror. “Guys! Guys! Stop this,” Botan cried, stepping in between them. Kagome and Kurama both pulled Botan out of the way just as Yusuke aimed his spirit-gun and gave Botan a furious look.
“Get out of the way, Botan! I’m not gonna hurt the smart-ass, I promise.”
“You won’t have the chance!” Inuyasha yelled, and ran towards Yusuke, raising the Tetsusaiga above his head.
Kuwabara and Hiei collectively sighed, just as Sango, Miroku, and Shippou also sighed…and then each glanced at each other.
“Does he do this all the time?” Miroku asked.
Kuwabara nodded. “I take it Inuyasha does this all the time, too.”
Sango nodded. “Indeed. He’s got quite the hot head.”
Hiei smirked. “They seem to be well-matched in many aspects,” he observed.
“It doesn’t really look like they’re fighting, though,” Shippou mused. “I mean, if Inuyasha really wanted to hurt him, he could use one of his sword’s attacks.”
“Just the same,” Kurama added. “If Yusuke wanted to, he could concentrate his spirit energy much more than what he is.”
Kagome was at a loss. She had really hoped that Inuyasha would be more accepting. It wasn’t like she was completely comfortable with these people, either. She wished she could ‘sit’ him again, but that would only make him angrier. What if this Yusuke really could hurt Inuyasha? Or vice versa? She wasn’t looking forward to wrapping up wounds already, so early in the day.
***
Yusuke wasn’t so sure they should be doing this in the midst of the village…after all, several people had gathered to watch the battle. But he was keeping his powers in check, not wanting to do a lot of damage. It couldn’t be helped, though, if the white-haired demon brat let his real power out to play in the process. As it were, Inuyasha was blocking his spirit-gun attacks easily. If only he could get rid of the sword…
Inuyasha was impressed with this spiritual energy. It was very different from Kikyo’s holy power, since this Yusuke was obviously half-demon, as well. He smelled human more than he did demon, but the demon power was there. Inuyasha could sense it in his attacks, the demonic energy underlying the spiritual energy. It was a little difficult to deflect with Tetsusaiga, but he wasn’t having any trouble at the moment.
“Your little attacks aren’t any more damaging than one of Kagome’s flashlights!” Inuyasha taunted.
“And your little sword looks dull,” Yusuke replied calmly as he dodged said weapon. He dodged the sword again; surprised that Inuyasha had come in for a closer attack. He didn’t have time to aim his gun at this close range, either, so he had to rely on his reflexes.
“If it’s so dull, why are you avoiding it?” Inuyasha cut back.
“And if my attacks aren’t damaging, why are you deflecting them?” Yusuke asked with a yawn. He inwardly grinned as he saw Inuyasha frown. Good, he was getting even more pissed.
“Are you going to bark all day, little doggy, or are you going to bite?” Yusuke said, smiling, and then swore that he saw flames in the dog demon’s gold eyes.
“You’ll pay for that!” Inuyasha roared, and came at Yusuke like a madman. Yusuke easily dodged the attack and did a neat back flip, landing several yards away. He stood, grinning at the furious Inuyasha.
If that was how he was going to be, Inuyasha was going to comply. He raised Tetsusaiga once again above his head, and immediately knew that he was risking another ‘sit’ when Kagome gasped sharply.
“NO! NO, Inuyasha! Not here in the village!”
He ignored her, and prepared the attack. He was going to show this punk just exactly what he was all about.
Yusuke tensed, his eyes widening. The demonic energy surrounding Inuyasha had increased dramatically…he was preparing a huge attack with the sword. Yusuke raised his hand, his finger pointing upward, and concentrated his spirit energy on the tip of his finger. As soon as he heard the words “WIND SCAR” cried out by Inuyasha, he didn’t even have time to think. The wave of demonic flames came hurling at him, and all he had time to do was what his instinct told him to do: FIRE!
***
Everyone watched in awe as two powerful attacks came head-to-head. Kagome let out a strangled cry of amazement and disbelief as Yusuke’s spirit-gun attack actually pushed back the Wind Scar.
“That is incredible!” Shippou cried.
“It’s as though it’s nullifying the Wind Scar,” Sango said, feeling a little dizzy by what she was seeing. It was breathtaking.
When the flames and the light dissipated, Inuyasha stood on one end, Yusuke on the other, both breathing heavily. Inuyasha leaned on Tetsusaiga, glaring at Yusuke with tired eyes. Yusuke stared back, a slight grin on his face. He then walked on shaking legs over to Inuyasha, who was drained from the attack. Inuyasha watched as Yusuke stood in front of him, his arms crossed.
“Well?” Yusuke asked.
Inuyasha frowned, not sure what he meant. Did he want to continue fighting? Amazingly enough, the Wind Scar had not only been erased…but Inuyasha’s energy had been zapped along with it. He would continue fighting if he had to. He was used to impossible situations.
“Well what?” he asked.
“I guess we could call that a draw, wouldn’t you agree?”
Inuyasha stared at him in disbelief. But…that would mean that neither one of them won…
Oh what the hell.
He allowed a slight grin. “Next time I won’t go so easy on you.”
Yusuke smirked. “I’ll remember that.”
The rest of the group watched in horror as Yusuke then patted Inuyasha on the head fondly and said, “Good boy!” Several profanities from the latter ensued and Kurama, Kuwabara, and Botan rolled their eyes.
“He just won’t leave well enough alone,” Botan groaned. “Still, that fight was pretty amazing. I wonder if maybe they’ll get along now.”
Kagome smiled. “I doubt it.”
***
They decided not to leave that day, everyone giving Inuyasha and Yusuke a hard time because of it.
“If you two hadn’t decided to fight like a couple of little kids, we might be on our way now,” Kagome and Botan said in unison.
“I’m fine, we can still leave,” Inuyasha retorted.
“You are not. You can barely stand,” Kagome said, pointing to his slumped posture as he leaned against the wall. He sighed and sat down, defeated.
“So what do we do now?”
Sango cleared her throat to gain everyone’s attention. Thus far, she hadn’t said much, but now she had something to say. Everyone looked at her.
“Since we’re not leaving today, and Kaede is still cooking the stew…perhaps one of you could tell us your story?”
Yusuke shrugged. “I have a lot of stories. Which one do you want to hear?”
“Likewise,” Kurama said solemnly. “Though some of mine aren’t worth retelling.”
Shippou, however, was interested. “Is it true that you’re really a fox demon?” he asked, his eyes wide with curiosity. Kurama glanced at him and nodded.
“It’s true, I was…am…in spirit a fox demon. My body is human, but my spirit is demon.”
“How does that work?” Kagome asked.
Kurama smiled ruefully. “That, I’m afraid, is one of the stories not worth retelling.”
“Tell us about your life as a fox demon, then,” Shippou urged.
Kurama’s smile faded. “It is not worth retelling, either.”
Shippou’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Oh.”
****
Next chapter coming soon!