Friendly Persuasion
Kyo's Little Trick
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Kagome, along with Inu-Yasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Tora,
and Kaede, sat around the fire that had been lit in Kaede’s hut. Neither of the
seven gathered there spoke, feeling that this silence was necessary.
Miroku finally decided that the silence had dragged on
enough, “So, Inu-Yasha, what you mean to tell us is that the friend Lady Kagome
brought back with her heals at an alarming rate?”
Inu-Yasha scoffed, “Why are you trying to make it sound so
fancy? One minute there were scratches
all over his back, the next minute there were none. His body heals itself faster than any demon.
that fast.”
At Inu-Yasha’s statement, the sil ret returned.
Kagome tried breaking it, “But that’s impossible, right?
right?”
“Not in a million years.”
Kagome’s anger flared, “What do you mean ‘not in a million
years’?! You’ve got a better nose than
any of us!”
“But that doesn’t mean I’d be able to tell.”
“Of course it would!” When Inu-Yasha said nothing, Kagome
began to worry, “What are you trying to say, Inu-Yasha?
become human at will and stay that way for a long period of time?”
“Yes.”
Kagome blinked. It
wasn’t Inu-Yasha that had spoken. Nor
had it been any of the others sitting around the fire, but that voice was
unmistakable.
Inu-Yasha was up on his feet, Tetsusaiga already
transformed. Miroku and Sango were also
up, their weapons in hand. Tora too,
stood up, a dagger in his right hand.
Shippo was currently inside Kaede’s hut; his little head peeking out
from time-to-time. Kaede had also
retreated to her hut, but came back out, handing Kagome a spare bow with a
quiver of arrows.
“Naraku…” Inu-Yasha growled, his knuckles nearly white from holding onto the
Tetsusaiga so tightly.
Dre>Dressed in his usual white baboon skin, Naraku was
smiling. It was a cruel, twisted
gesture that reflected thoughts of cruel and unusual torture.
He chuckled, “Well, Inu-Yasha, you are as vigilant as ever I
see.”
“Stop with the flattery, Naraku!” Inu-Yasha snapped, “What do
you want?”
“You poor insignificant fools,” Naraku drawled in a
monotonous voice, “I merely seek to bring disorder and chaos to your pathetic
lives. That and to take those shards of
the Sacred Jewel you possess.”
“Never!” Kagome all
but growled, “We worked hard to get those shards and we won’t let anyone,
especially you get their filthy hands on them!”
“You tell him, Kagome!”
Shippo cheered, ducking back into the hut after Inu-Yasha and Naraku
cast questioning looks his way.
“I wish Kagome would go inside,” Inu-Yasha thought,
keeping his eyes on Naraku, “this way I wouldn’t have to worry about her
getting hurt.”
Kagome could have sworn she saw Naraku’s lips twitch with
amusement, an even larger grin was probably tugging at his lips.
“I think I shall leave Kagura to deal with you.”
as he disappeared.
As soon as Naraku left, Kagura stood in his place.
creator’s and Kagome had the strangest feeling that they were in store for a
lot more than was usual for the wind witch to usually throw at them.
“Well, well, well, it seems we meet again.”
Inu-Yasha had had enough of waiting.
threw a gust of wind at him, knocking him and Tetsusaiga back towards the hut
that Shippo still occupied.
Kagura went to throw another gust of wind, but Kagome decided
to loose her arrow just as Kagura unleashed her second wind burst.
exterminated the wind, causing Kagura to turn on Kagome instead.
“Don’t just stand there, Kagome! Run!” Inu-Yasha yelled as
he picked up the Tetsusaiga and tried to charge Kagura.
Kagura, however, had other plans. Tossing Inu-Yasha aside once more, Kagura loosed another blast of
icy wind towards Kagome. Kagome had
dropped her bow and was defenseless, as she always seemed to be towards the
middle or end of a battle.
The cynical smile still on her face, Kagura decided to take
things slowly and walk towards the fn min miko. Kagome, not wanting to be anywhere near Kagura, tried to
get up and run as Inu-Yasha had told her t.
“Foolish girl,” Kagura said calmly as she pushed Kagome down
again, “you think that by dispelling my wind that you and your companions are
saved? You truly are a fool.”
Kagome’s anger made her blood bubble, so she made use of
Kyo’s advice once m “Qu “Quit calling us that!
We’re
come over here and mess with our lives?”
Kagura wore an expression of minor shock, but it quickly
turned to a look of annoyance, “Insolent girl.
You should have perished long ago.”
Raising her fan to dispose of Kagome forever, Kagura did not
see the sword spinning like a boomerang towards her. It sliced at her left arm, spun away, and just like a boomerang,
came back to slice at her right arm.
With its’ rounds finished, the sword flew back to where it had come
from.
While Kagura had been speaking to Kagome, no one had noticed
Shippo’s frantic cries, bow tow that all was silent, they all heard him
perfectly.
“What are you doing?!
You could have hurt Kagome! And
what are you doing here, anyway? You
shouldn’t be fighting! Kaede said so!”
All of them turned to see Shippo jumping up and down in
frustration, yelling at a shadow that held a sword in its’ right hand.
seen Inu-Yasha, but he was still there.
She turned to Tora, and he still stood where he’d been standing for the
past ten minutes.
The shadow disappeared, leaving Shippo standing by
himself. Once he realized this, Shippo
ran back to the safety of the hut.
So stunned was she at the shadow’sappearanarance, Kagome
didn’t notice that someone was standing in front of her.
that everyone’s eyes were focused in front of her. She turned her head.
And almost choked on her own air.
Right in front of her was someone she did not expect to
see. With his dark hair freed from its
high ponytail it hung down at his thighs, blowing in the light breeze that sent
small goosebumps down Kagome’s spine.
The once-shadow lifted his head slightly, and gazed at Kagura
with his emerald eyes, “Kagome-san, are you all right?”
That voice was as unmistakable as Naraku’s had been, and it
was just as dark and deep. That voice
had cut through the darkness of Kagome’s mind several times within the past
couple of days, and she wasn’t about to forget it.
“Kyo-kun?”
He still did not look at her, “I’ll ask you again,
Kagome-san; are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Then run to Tora. He
shall keep you safe.”
“But Kyo-sama, I...”
“Silence,” Kyo demanded, and silence he got, “I would not
appoint to you a task that I did not firmly believe you could manage.
second only to me?”
“Second?” Kagome thought, “Second at what?”
Tora nodded, “Yes, Ookami-sama.”
“Then you must have some skill to have made it as far
as even the top ten. For you to be
second, you must have acquired skills that allowed you to defeat all the
others.”
“Except you, Ookami-sama.”
“Heh,” Kyo said, a dismissive tone in his voice, “well, you
and I both know that you could defeat me.”
“But to engage you in combat such as that would be cheating.”
Kyo said nothing now, deciding nodding would be better.
Kagura was impatient, “So who are you,
anyway? Naraku said nothing about you.”
“I need say nothing of myself to you,” Kyo growled, a low rumbling
coming from his throat, “and Kagome, I thought I told you to go to Tora.”
Not knowing what to say to him, Kagome nodded and went to
Tora, surprised that Kagura even let her escape.
Inu-Yasha, Miroku, Sango, and even Tora were held immobile by
the sight that was before them. Kaede
merely shook her head, as though she knew what was about to happen.
Still wearing his baggy jeans, the only thing different about
him was that there were no markings of his previous fight.
shirt to wear, and it hung loosely around his small frame.
his chest, and even around the upper part of his left arm.
cream of the shirt.
“A shoulder brace,” Kagome immediately thought, “but
if he handles a sword with his right hand, why would his left shoulder be
bandaged?”
It was apparent to all present that both Kagura and Kyo were
impatient for a fight, but neither made any move towards the other.
Kyo was soon twirling his sword at the hilt with the tips of his fingers,
almost like a baton.
“Are you finished looking me over?” He asked, sounding very bored.
Kagura sneered, “There’s not much there to look at, Little
Boy.”
“Then if that is the case, Wind Witch, I challenge you to
make the first move.” Kyo stopped
twirling his sword, holding the hilt somewhat loosely.<
<
“What’s he up to?” Sango wondered aloud, “He doesn’t know
what an opponent Kagura is.”
“I disagree, Sango,” spoke Kaede, “this Kyo knows exactly
what he’s doing. He knew of Kagura’s
ability to control wind without having seen it himself.”
“Well, Witch? You
would keep me waiting? Truly, I have no
time for this. Time is very limited me.”me.” Kyo said, a slight tone of urgency
tinting his words.
Shippo suddenly came bursting out of Kaede’s hut, his arms
waving frantically, “You guys! Hey, you
guys!”
“What’s the matter, Shippo?”
Kagome asked, bending slightly to receive the kit.
“Kyo’s body is still in Kaede’s hut!”
Everyone was startled, and even Kagura cocked her head at
this news. The Kyo that stood before
her seemed to ripple.
“Is it just me or did he just flicker?”
“I know what he’s doing...”
Tora began.
“What? What is he
doing?” Kagome demanded.
“He’s only done it once before, and even then it almost cost
him his life. He’s having an
out-of-body experience.”
“What are you trying to say?
He’s dying?!”
“Right now, yes.
Kyo-sama’s body should be cold right now, and the Kyo you see before you
is actually his soul. Shippo-chan, is
Kyo-sama’s body cold?”
Shippo nodded, “Very cold, but he’s got sweat on his
forehead.”
Tora shook his head, “This is bad. Unless he gets back into his own body, he’ll kill himself trying
to save you, K-chan.”
Kagome’s eyes widened as Kagura smiled and looked at Kyo’s
soul, “Well, well, Boy, it seems I’ve learned something about you.
managing. It’s a shame that you’re
dying!”
Kyo’s soul glared at Tora as he flickered again, “Why did you
have to open your big mouth and say that for all to hear?”
Tora cringed, “Forgive me, Kyo-sama.”
“I’d be worrying more about yourself, Boy, rather than your
friend giving away a little secret.”
Kagura smirked, a mischievous light dancing in her red eyes.
Kyo’s soul flickered again, a little more violently.
result in the loss of any of his dignity.
That’s when he thought of another spell. One classified even higher than the one he was already
using.
Glancing at Kagura, Kyo’s soul made its’ way towards
Inu-Yasha, only to be stopped by the wind witch as she threw her wind blades at
him. Veering off, Kyo’s soul only saw
one way to accomplish his ‘no loss of dignity’ escape.
He skimmed across the land, not needing to walk, and came
upon his prey. He went behind, and put
his hands upon weakened shoulders.
“Please, don’t be afraid of me. I promise this won’t last for too l
Kyo began reciting the spell that he had memorized at the age
of twelve. It was a very dangerous
spell, one that could result in permanent fusion, but he’d tried it a few other
times, though not alongside the ‘Out of Body’ spell. The results of this combination could prove
disastrous, but hopefully all would go well.
Soon the spell was finished, and he dared open his eyes.
The world wasn’t as sharp as he was used to.
them. He lifted his hands to his face and
looked, no, stared at them. The
hands were creamy in color, and very soft when he touched them.
him.
“I swear, I will never force you to endure this again...”
The voices continued and he turned, only to find that he was
face-to-face with a worried-looking Inu-Yasha.
“Kagome? Are you all
right?”