The New Girl

“Get up, we need to move.” InuYasha was crouching above me, my back pack in hand. It was still dark outside when my eyes finally focused beyond the hanyou before me. I moved to sit up and immediately felt as if I have been run over.

“It’s still dark out, I told yo-“ I never finished, at that moment InuYashas hand shot out and covered my mouth, he was staring past my barrier at something so I turned my gaze toward the same direction. There standing just outside my barrier was a large human like demon. He was a cream color with what appeared to be blue scars at random places on his body, he had short purple hair and his eyes were emotionless. I knew he could see us, and knew we were moving and awake because he shifter slightly, stretching what appeared to be wings. I moved slowly out of my sleeping bag and shoved it into my bag; InuYasha helped me onto his shoulders after I put my backpack on.

“Aren’t you going to fight it?” I whispered into his ear, it gave a slight twitch and he stood slowly.

“It’s Myouryoumaru, he regenerates; it would take a great deal of spiritual power to purify him. Without Kikyou the only way to destroy him is to destroy Hakudoshi and Naraku. We need to get out of here, can you get your barrier to protect our getaway?” InuYasha Was standing tall and staring down the demon now known to me as Myouryoumaru.

“Am I chopped liver?!” I whispered harshly and smirked knowing he would have no clue what I was talking about. “I’m a miko! Why couldn’t I purify him?”

“Kagome is Kikyous reincarnation, if she can’t do it I doubt you can. Now can you move your barrier with us or do I just have to run faster?!” InuYasha was yelling at me now, and Myouryoumaru didn’t even blink.

“Why were we whispering? AND HOW DO YOU KNOW I’M NOT MORE POWERFUL THEN KAGOME JERK!!” I yelled the last part into his ear, which quickly flattened onto his head. He winced and dropped me turning quickly to get in my face. I was not about to back down now, not even if the look in his eyes was……..concern? Sorrow? I stopped in my tracks, stunned that he wasn’t mad at me.

“I won’t lose you too, now can you barrier protect our escape?” He was inches from my face, his hands gripping my arms and forcing me to look into his eyes. He was pleading with me without anymore words.

“NO! I won’t run from this thing. I know I can purify it. Let me try I’ll leave the barrier up until I can summon enough power.” I stepped in between Myouryoumaru and InuYasha drawing an arrow against my bow. He was an easy enough target to hit but that wasn’t my problem, it was my spiritual power. I have never purified a demon before and even though I was an anomaly in my era my powers hear may not be much better then most mikos or priests. InuYasha wrapped his arms around my waist and held me firm.

“I’ll be here should we need to get away.” InuYasha was not as gentle as I thought he should be but he was reassuring none the less.

“You’ve fought him, where should I aim?” I asked quietly, not sure if it was a stupid question, but from what I knew about Naraku his heart was in another body so the same may be true of Myouryoumaru.

“Lower chest area, he is powered by Haku so If you release them he should dissolve.” InuYashas voice was low and his breath sent shivers down my spine, but now was not the time to let my mine wander into the gutter. I had to focus on my spiritual power and focus as much of it into this arrow as possible. If I didn’t hit the mark we could be killed before we even react. Luckily my barrier made it difficult to pin point our location, we appeared blurry and ever moving. This made it easier, but once I was ready to fire I had to dissolve the barrier and that could give the demon enough time to attack or dodge. I took on a few deep breaths and then blew the barrier away as I let go of the arrow.

So many people say things slow down in battle but I found that it all seemed to speed up. Suddenly my arrow glowed a blinding orange as it hit the mark. Myouryoumaru was split open and I thought all the Haku escaped, but he still stood. Unmoving and staring he seemed unfazed by my arrow, though there must have been hundreds of Haku racing out of him. I stood frozen and staring, I could feel InuYasha let go and draw Tetsusaiga, the pulse of demonic energy from the sward was enough to blow my hair around my face. I could feel his anger rising which only fueled my desire to obliterate the demon. I could hear InuYasha attack with his adamant barrage and saw as Myouryoumaru knocked him aside into a near by tree. I saw this and yet was helpless to react, my power was building and I couldn’t lose concentration. Not even when the demon scooped me up in his hand and began to fly away, though after only a few moments I placed my hands in front of me and sent my blast of power toward the giant demon. Orange light engulfed us and I saw Myouryoumaru dissolved into thin air his hand also dissolved and I was slightly aware of falling a great distance. My energy tapped I could do little more then squeak out a quiet help as I saw the ground rise up to meet me I felt arms wrap around me and red engulf me as I lost consciousness for the second time in five hours.

InuYasha carried me back to our camp and wrapped me in my sleeping bag and cradled me in his arms for almost a full day before I finally woke up. I was slow to ease back into consciousness, still weary for my exertion of power yesterday. I groaned loudly and tried to roll over to get a look at my surroundings but I found I was wrapped tightly in something. I opened my eyes slowly and found myself in a sea of red.

InuYasha was staring at the sky when I looked up at him. He looked calm at the moment but I knew it was the first time since the fight.

“What you did was reckless. You could have easily died if I weren’t there.” His voice was ruff and full of anger but his eyes were full fear. He stood up and propped me against the tree he had been leaning on. He walked a few yards away, I couldn’t hear it but I could see his shoulders shaking. I stood slowly, still in my PJ’s from yesterday, and made my way to the hanyou.

He turned around before I reached him, and it was a good thing because my knees buckled and I fell over, right into his arms. ‘Why does this keep happening?’ I sighed loudly and sat down next to him.

“Thank you.” It came out less then a whisper but I knew his demon ears picked it up.

“You’re just like them.” His brow furrowed and his voice mean he refused to look at me.

“Who are you talking about?” I kept my tone even and calm though all I wanted was to yell at him.

“Kikyou and Kagome! They’d get in trouble and I’d save them, I love them and they leave. I don’t want that all over again. But I just saved you….and I know where it leads from here and I don’t want to be left again.” He stood and walked toward my bag; he picked it up and tossed it my way.

“sit boy. Sit Boy. SIT BOY! I am NOT Kikyou and I am NOT Kagome. MY NAME IS ERIKO!! Just because they left does NOT mean I will! SIT BOY! ‘God I love doing that!’ Don’t assume things about me! SIT BOY!” InuYasha was now in a small crater but I knew he had herd everything. Tears threatened to fall as I slung my backpack over my shoulder and began to walk away.

“Maybe, but your beginning to act a whole lot like Kagome and your certainly cold like Kikyou.” He was trying to mumble but the crater made it all perfectly clear.

“If they were so bad why did you love them dumbass?! Sounds like a personal problem to m-“ His lips on mine stopped me in my tracks. ‘When did he get so fast?’ I pushed him away.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Even that thought was stopped by his lips, his soft, warm, WONDERFUL lips. I sighed deeply and leaned into his chest, his chiseled, toned- ‘How do you get THAT many abs?!’ I was gonna cream in my panties, if I was wearing any! He didn’t put my undies back on me! That dog! (Literally) But I was getting off topic. I pushed him away again, this time harder with a bit of purification in my fingers just to singe him a little.

“BICH Wh-“ He never got to finish what I knew would be a string of cursing and name calling.

“SIT BOY!!! How dare you?! First you compare me to your PAST loves and then you start kissing me?! What’s your deal? Not to mention you’ve been RUDE ever since I woke up yesterday. AND YOU NEVER EVEN THANKED ME FOR KILLING THAT THING YESTERDAY! SIT BOY!! I EVEN AGREED TO HELP YOU AND GO WITH YOU, ALONE! I’m sure why I even bother; I should just leave you with them. Leave you with Kouga and Kagome flaunting their love, Miroku and Songo with their new baby and even happy little Shippo. Because I know they all remind you of what you don’t have. LOVE! SIT BOY! I’m going home!” I stomped off in a direction I thought was east since InuYasha had supposedly took us west maybe I could get back to the village in a day or two. I heard him move behind me but from what I could tell he was just following silently. I set a steady pace of a slow jog hoping that by moving faster I could lose him, but I’m dumb, he’s part demon. He followed me for what seemed an hour before he said a word.

“Thank you, you know, for killing Myouryoumaru. Your power kinda blew me away you’re way stronger then Kagome.” He was next to me as he finished speaking, but refused to look at me. I smiled softly and stopped dead in my tracks. I could feel something; it was like a jewel shard but somehow bigger, stronger. InuYasha turned to stand in front of me a question on his face.

“I think it’s a jewel shard, but its stronger, almost like its big-“ InuYasha pulled me to him in a tight embrace like he would never hold me again.

“Naraku is here. I thought he might come after finding out Myouryoumaru was destroyed. It’s just the two of us, I’m not sure how it’ll end.” He kissed me deeply and passionately before breaking away into a fighting stance unsheathing Tetsusaiga. The energy coming off Tetsusaiga was stronger then before and our hair was blow around us from the force of the demonic energy. I could only guess that the demon sword took cues from its owner and if this was any indication InuYasha was boiling mad. I drew an arrow and readied myself for the worst.

It didn’t take long for Naraku to arrive, he stood tall before InuYasha, his strange body floating off the ground inside a barrier of deep purple, the sign of a tainted evil soul. He smiled at us but it held nothing but contempt and amusement.

“You think to fight and win with that sword and a simple girl? It will take much more then that to even give me cause to leave. I should just flood the area is my miasma and save myself the wasted energy it would take me to kill you. Not that it would take very long.” His words dripped with malice and venom and soon a deep purple vapor began to engulf the area.

“Eriko, get away. Go to the village.” InuYasha didn’t take his eyes off Naraku as he said this, waiting for something to happen.

“But what about Naraku? You need help.” I took a step toward him, and as I did Naraku made his move. He dove toward me tentacles lunging forward and wrapping around my entire body. InuYasha managed to sever most of them with the wind scar before being cast aside himself. Naraku brought me toward him through his barrier.

“So your it? You’re the reincarnation of Midoriko? I expected more from the soul which created the Shikon No Tama. True part of her soul still remains trapped in the jewel itself, but to see that you are merely a normal human is disappointing. I should just leave you to my offspring.” With this he dropped me on my ass in front of him. InuYasha had recovered by now and launched a violent Adamant Barrage into Narakus body. He was full of diamond shards but still smiled wickedly. This was too much for me; I grabbed an arrow and let it fly into Naraku holding as much power as I could muster. The arrow glowed Orange and engulfed Naraku. His body instantly appeared to dissolve along with his barrier. Everything about the demon seems to vanish into this air and I am left shocked staring at the spot Naraku just was. I am brought back to reality by InuYasha, his arms are wrapped around me and his face is buried into my neck. I could feel hot tears hit my bare shoulder but was still helpless to comfort him.

“I killed him. He’s gone.” I was slow to realize what this truly meant. InuYasha regained composure and looked up into my eyes.

“No, his heart isn’t in his body; he’ll regenerate and come after you again. Right now we need to get back to the village and talk to everyone. I’m not sure what it means but Naraku mentioned that you are a reincarnation of the Shikon’s maker and if that is true you will be the one to destroy it.” InuYasha scooped me up and began our journey back; flying above the trees was so calming. It helped focus my mind so I could try and think on the things I had learned in the past few days. I was glad InuYasha had chosen silence on the journey, it made it simple for me to ignore everything and think. Who is Midoriko? How can I be her if her soul is still in the jewel? Am I connected to the jewel? What happens when it is destroyed? I finally gave up as the genital rhythm of InuYahas jumping put me to sleep.