Inuyasha: Girl Lost In Time

Chapter 22: Royakan

Even now, the following day, I can still smell the rain and pine that was on his clothes, and the warmth of his strong arms and chest as he enveloped me against his body. It was the nicest feeling I've ever felt. My fingers linger over both my arms where his arms wrapped around me, but the tingling is no longer there, just the cloth of my white haori covering my slowly healing body. It's soft against the bruises that are almost faded now—a reminder that I am not in present day Japan.

"How do you recommend we go about searching for Naraku?" Miroku asks.

We all look at him from where we sit around the fire; the monk is at my left side as Inuyasha is on my right. He sitting crossed legged with his staff between his legs and resting on his left shoulder. In his right hand he holds a small cup with a green liquid inside that Kaede gave him to ward off any further effects of the poison. I go back to looking at the clean stew pot that is above the fire pit that isn't lit. This is the first time we've been here when the fire wasn't lit to keep us warm from the cold of night, but luckily, the sun shines through all the windows and the warmth of the spring wind keeps us comfortable.

At my side, Inuyasha thinks over what Miroku asks. His shirt is off and bandages cover his chest and back wounds. It has healed over enough now where there is no longer bleeding, but that can change if he moves too drastically. The wounds on his cheek are still vibrantly red and won't bleed any longer.

Kaede messes with the bandages on Inuyasha's back, earning a growl from the half demon, "I'll be fine in two to three days!" He whines.

"I suppose our best hope lies in composing ourselves and thinking things through." Miroku continues, since no one answered his question.

"We don't have time for composure!" Inuyasha yells.

"I want to crush Naraku as desperately as you do, Inuyasha! Fifty years ago, he formed a wind tunnel in the hand of my grandfather. And now the curse has carried over the generations to me." He takes the tiny cup from his right hand with his left and looks over his right hand. It no longer throbs or shows any injury. "Work with me, let's go back to where it all started. You mentioned that you fell into Naraku's trap 50 years ago, in this village, correct? So, you must have met him in person?"

"Not exactly," Inuyasha pauses, staring down at the wooden platform we sit on, his eyes wander off to some other place far away as he talks, "I may have met him, but if I did, he was disguised as Kikyo. So I have no idea what he looks like."

"That makes no sense. You don't know Naraku, and yet he despised you enough to disguise himself as Kikyo and leave you for dead." Miroku says.

Kaede tightens the bandages around Inuyasha's midsection, earning a grumpy, "What was that for?!" From Inuyasha.

"I need to speak to ye," Kaede starts. "I have given much thought to this, ever since my sister Kikyo was revived by the evil witch Urasue. Kikyo had told me that it was ye, Inuyasha, who had stolen her sacred Shikon Jewel. Do ye not think it strange? The one who disguised himself as ye could have made off with the jewel, yet he did not." She gently pats his shoulder and stands up. "Come with me."

Inuyasha shrugged on his top and blinks as she starts for the door. We all look at one another and shrug, getting up to follow her. She leads us to the left side of the village where a river flows close to the forest edge and the grass is high, up to our waists as we walk through it. The smell of grass and flowers fills my lungs, and insects crawl all over my legs, tickling my bruised flesh, as I brush through the long grass. They leap on for dear life with every step.