Inuyasha: The Prophecies
By: Guardian Angel
Chapter Twenty-one
“What?! Nina’s back?!” Anna and Sharon both cried once Inukai had finished explaining to them why he wasn’t in a good mood.
“No. There’s a wannabe out there that looks, speaks, smells, and acts like Nina!” Inukai cried growling.
Anna raised an eyebrow and shook her head. She then went over to Sharon and whispered, “Why don’t you go check out this ‘wannabe’? I’ll take care of Inukai.”
Sharon nodded and left to do just that.
Destiny sighed as she sat down on her bed and began combing her hair. I have to help him for some reason, she thought as she pictured Inukai’s concerned face again. He really is a softy on the inside, isn’t he? She nodded answering her question. He only tried to kill me because I look like that girl he fell in love with me. He must still be unstable from the whole thing. Destiny put the comb down and stood up. There’s only one answer to this that’ll make my head clear. She let out a sigh. It’s time to go for a run.
Inukai frowned and turned to face the door. “I’m going to go to the forest. I need to clear my head.”
“Wait!” Anna cried. “Umm, don’t go yet.”
“And why shouldn’t I?” Inukai asked raising an eyebrow.
“Because you gotta come out and hang with us, that’s why,” Reiji said smiling as Max showed up behind him.
“Yes. We could use this time to actually do what guys do when not in the presence of the must beautiful thing that was ever created,” Max said also smiling.
Inukai let out a defeated sigh and nodded. “Fine. I’ll go.”
Anna let out a sigh of relief once she saw the guys leave. I just hope Max and Reiji can keep him distracted long enough for Sharon to go find and question the Nina look alike.
Destiny ran through the forest jumping from tree branch to tree branch occasionally running on the ground or stopping to examine her surroundings. Once she reached a lake where a waterfall was falling into, she stopped. She sat down on the bank of the river and scooped up a handful of water and splashed her face. She then let out a sigh and lied down on the soft green grass. She closed her eyes and was about to sleep when she heard a voice.
“My, aren’t you the lazy one,” the voice said.
Destiny groaned knowing full well whom it was before she opened her eyes. “What do you want, Naraku?”
“Just to speak with you,” Naraku said. “Why? A friend can’t even talk to you?”
Destiny rolled her eyes and sat up and she flexed her claws. “The real reason.”
Naraku sighed. “Well, aren’t you the impatient one.”
Destiny let out a warning growl.
Naraku let out another sigh and said, “You know the inu hanyou you bumped into earlier?”
“Yeah. What of it?” Destiny asked as she remembered Inukai’s concerned face again.
“I want you to kill him,” Naraku said.
Destiny looked at Naraku in shock. “Wha-what?!”
“I want you to kill Inukai, the hanyou you bumped into earlier today,” Naraku said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Destiny’s eyes narrowed. “Why should I?”
Naraku gave her a grin. “Because your soul lies in my hands, little priestess. Just as your life does.”
Destiny growled as her fists clenched. “I’ll get right to it.”
Naraku smiled evilly then disappeared.
Inukai quickly left the arcade once he was sure Reiji and Max were preoccupied with the game they were playing. He then ran into the forest when he heard a rushing waterfall. He went over to it to take a drink when he saw Destiny sitting there in deep thought. He sat down next to her crossed legged and crossed his arms.
“Whatcha thinking about?” he asked
Destiny let out a yelp and quickly turned around to claw Inukai, but he caught her wrist before she could hurt him. Inukai then raised an eyebrow while Destiny began blushing from embarrassment.
“S-sorry,” Destiny mumbled and took her hand away from Inukai resting it with her other one in her lap.
“Tell me, what was that all about?” Inukai asked.
“N-nothing,” Destiny said as her face began getting redder.
Inukai smirked. “Nothing?”
“It-it’s just reflex, that’s all,” Destiny said quickly. “I mean, you gotta be prepared to fight or defend yourself when you’re a hanyou, right? Ai believes that the village I came from had driven me out and had fought me because…” She looked down at her hands. “Because of how I was born.”
Inukai’s eyes filed with sympathy and he reached out a hand to cup her cheek as he began caressing it. “I was born the same way. You’re not alone.” He shook his head as he also looked down at the ground while Destiny looked up at him with searching eyes. “Nina, she never cared how I was born. She looked more human than hanyou, but she was one of us.”
Destiny looked to the side as Inukai took his hand away from her. “I’m sorry. If-if I didn’t look like this way-if I had the choice of how I’d look, I would’ve changed my appearance and…scent that way I wouldn’t cause you such pain.”
Inukai looked towards her, put a hand underneath her chin, and guided it so that it her eyes met with his golden ones. “That doesn’t matter. It’s all in the past now. There’s nothing that I could’ve done to stop her death.”
Destiny saw the guilt in his eyes and wished it would go away. She also noticed that his ears had flattened against his skull. She reached up a hand and patted one of the ears. Inukai closed his eyes and took in a breath as he put his hand up to catch her wrist before she could begin tweaking his ears.
“Don’t,” Inukai said in a low warning voice as he opened his eyes and brought her hand in front of their faces. He couldn’t help but notice how alike Nina and Destiny were and how unalike they were. Maybe this was the gods’ way of returning Nina by bringing her back in a different, yet, not so different body.
Destiny smirked. “Why? Because you like it?” She smirked even more and pointed a finger at his chest. “You know as well as I do that you like it.”
Inukai then smirked. “Oh? And tell me, how would that be?” Destiny was about to answer him when Inukai instantly begin tweaking her ears.
Destiny began blushing as well as tried to keep herself from purring. “St-stop that!”
Inukai only smirked even more. “No. And you can’t make me.”
Destiny’s face darkened and she said a word that both hadn’t expected to come out of her. “Sit, boy.”
Inukai fell down face flat to the ground while Destiny quickly moved out of the so he wouldn’t fall on top of her. The two looked at each other shocked. Inukai was the first to recover and quickly crouched into a fighting position while he cracked his knuckles and his ears flattened against his skull again.
“How the hell did you do that bi-”
Destiny gave Inukai a glare and growled before he could finish. “Don’t call me that! And I have no idea how in the world you fell to the ground! It just slipped! I wasn’t even thinking when I said it!”
Inukai’s eyes narrowed. “You weren’t thinking when you said it?! What kind of a demon are ya?!”
“One who acts more human than demon, that’s what kind!” Destiny cried. “I’m a hanyou miko! Do you actually think those kind are common to find?! They’re actually very rare!”
Inukai stood up and crossed his arms stubbornly looking away. “Keh.”
Destiny growled. “I don’t fit in with anyone! Not even you who is a hanyou as well! Everyone hates me, demons, humans, hanyous, everyone!” She felt tears fill her eyes when she remembered the horrible things humans, demons, and hanyous did and said to her whenever she left Ai’s village every once in a while.
Inukai sighed and softly said, “Don’t cry. Please.”
Destiny looked up at him with searching eyes.
Inukai sat down crossed legged and looked down at the ground. “I don’t hate you, okay? And I’m a hanyou.”
Destiny sniffed and nodded.
Inukai then remembered what she had said earlier about Ai telling her what she thought had happened to her. “You don’t remember what happened in your village?”
Destiny regretfully shook her head. “No. I don’t. Ai says she found me on the road to the next nearest village near Kyoto. But all I remember is… nothing… nothing but my name and age. I… I don’t remember anything else other than that.”
Inukai nodded and let out another sigh. “Hey, you want to join my friends and me? We have a band. We’re called the Shikon no Tama.” He then looked towards her as he smirked. “And we could use a new lead singer. That is, if you’re up to it.”
Destiny smirked as well. “Well, gee, I don’t know.” She then smiled. “Of course I’ll join!” Heh, and then I’ll have a lot more opportunities to kill you.
“And this is Anna, Sharon, Reiji, and Sota,” Inukai said boredly. “Guys, Destiny.”
The two girls and boys stared at Destiny in shock as she adjusted her footing nervously.
“Is this her?” Anna asked wide-eyed.
“She does look just like Nina,” Sharon said just as amazed.
Inukai rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Pity she doesn’t remember a thing about her past.”
Reiji nodded. “Well, sorry about buddy, but, hey, I’m sure you’ll remember more of it as time goes by.”
Destiny gave him a dry look. “I’ve been around for three months still without any memory of my past life up to when I awoke and heard about Ai finding me. I also only knew my name and age. That’s it.”
Max’s face filled with understanding. “I see. That’s a shame indeed.”
Inukai’s eyes narrowed. “You mean to tell me you have no memory whatsoever until up to three months ago?!”
Destiny nodded giving him a puzzled look not knowing why he’d suddenly be angry with that.
Inukai growled and left the room.
Destiny looked towards the others. “What’s up with him?”
Anna shook her head and went over to Destiny putting an arm around her shoulders and guiding her away from the others and to her room. “He’s just remembering some thing’s that happened three moths ago.” Anna winced internally and hoped Destiny hadn’t noticed but she had. “Well, here’s your room. Later.” With that, she ran off before Destiny could find out what had happened three months ago that had everyone being all… secretive.
Destiny shook her head and closed her door behind her then sat down on her bed. She let out a sigh and gazed out her window. “What has the world come to?” She let out another sigh as she began pondering about something else. Anna, Max, Reiji, and Sharon had seemed all so familiar and it was starting to creep her out. She felt things she never felt before when she was with Inukai and felt like she knew the other four. Maybe she knew them from the village she came from. Or maybe I was friends with them and Inukai was my boyfriend or something. She began blushing at the last idea. She then shook her head. Her eyes then widened. But if that part’s true then that explains why Naraku has my soul!
~* Flashback *~
Destiny sighed as she left Ai’s village. It had been a week since she had been found by Ai. She hadn’t a clue where she came from, but the elderly priestess thought she had come from a village near Kyoto and that the villagers had ran her out because she was half dog demon and had priestess powers which was not common in them. Demons feared her as well as despised her. The same went for humans.
Ai’s the only one who actually cares about me, Destiny thought as she approached a field of flowers. Just then, the sky turned dark. Destiny looked up at the sky puzzled and saw a white baboon floating in the air. She let out a low growl not having any clue why she did, but she just knew she couldn’t trust it. The white baboon landed down at on the ground. It was then that Destiny realized that it was actually someone wearing a white baboon pelt. She growled louder this time feeling that she had all the more reason not to trust the baboon.
“Nice to meet you, too,” the baboon dressed man said. “I am Naraku.” Destiny continued growling while Naraku rolled his eyes. “That is such a nice way to greet your master.”
Destiny instantly stopped growling and gave Naraku a puzzled look. “Master?”
Naraku nodded. “Yes. I am the one who is the holder of your soul. If you disobey me, I’ll take your life away from you.”
Destiny’s face darkened. “And, tell me, when did this happen?”
Naraku smiled. “Why, only a week ago. Don’t you remember?” Naraku’s smile widened when Destiny realized she didn’t remember anything pass the point to when she had awoken and heard the story of Ai finding her. “That’s why you don’t remember a thing about your past life. You didn’t want to. You had come to me so you wouldn’t have to. You wanted to rid yourself of all that horrible pain you felt. So, I did, but at a cost. You would lose your soul and would have to do everything I told you or else you’d die.”
Destiny smiled instantly regretting that she had come to Naraku to get rid of her memories even though she felt that what Naraku had told her was all a big lie. She shook her head. He’s the only one I’ve met who actually knows me. And maybe I really don’t want to remember my past if I went to him to erase it in the first place. She then looked back towards Naraku. “What do you want?”
Naraku smiled wickedly.
~* End Flashback *~
He wanted me to kill Inukai that’s why he took my soul so if I didn’t he would kill me, Destiny thought. Her face darkened as her hands turned into fists. I won’t let him get away with it. I won’t!
“She looks so much like Nina,” Max said as he sat down. “So much, it’s almost impossible to tell the difference.”
Inukai grunted. “What part’s impossible? She’s got dog ears, fangs, and claws.”
Max frowned. “Yeah, but she’s a hanyou. Imagine how she’ll look when she turns human.”
Inukai grunted again and looked away. “I’d rather not.”
“She’d probably look more like Nina when she turns human,” Sharon said.
“It’s still hard to believe that Nina’s even gone,” Anna said letting out a sigh.
“Yeah, it is,” Reiji said. “Maybe we should tell Kagome and Inuyasha about this.”
“We don’t even know where they are,” Sharon muttered.
“So, how do you suppose we tell them?” Max asked.
Reiji smirked. “Well, we’ve got two half dog demons, a one-third fox demon dog demon and human, a demon slayer, a wolf demon, and a half dragon demon. Gee, I really do wonder how we’re going to contact them.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “Okay. So, I think we should ask Sesshomaru. Inuyasha and him do keep in touch now, you know.”
Sharon nodded. “Then to Sesshomaru’s we go!”
Anna, Sharon, Max, Reiji, Inukai, and Destiny stood in front of Sesshomaru’s home. Destiny had come because she wanted to find out why the others were being so secretive and thought they might let something slip. The others had also wanted her to come anyway. Unfortunately, the others hadn’t told her a thing about what happened three months ago to make them so uncomfortable. She swore that she saw Inukai watching her a few times until she’d turn around to make sure, but by then, he’d be looking somewhere else. She even thought the others had been watching her a few times, though, not as much as Inukai. She sighed as the others began arguing over who should ring the doorbell.
“You do it,” Max said pointing a finger at Anna. “You’re the one who came up with the idea.”
Anna shook her head. “Sharon should do it. She’s the one that’s related to him.”
“I don’t want to,” Sharon said. “Inukai should.”
Inukai grunted and stubbornly crossed his arms. “I’m not doing it and you guys can’t make me.”
Destiny rolled her eyes and took a step forward. “Well, if you guys are too scared to do it, then I’ll just do it.” The others were about to protest that they weren’t scared, but Destiny had already rung the doorbell.
The door opened revealing Rin. She smiled cheerfully at them. “Hi! What are you guys doing here?” They were about to answer her when she said, “Come in. Are any of you hungry or thirsty? I’ll go get you guys some cookies and milk.” She then left to do just that while others sat down on the couch.
“Well, she’s nice,” Destiny said once again feeling like she knew the new person that she swore she never met in her life. “Umm, who is she?”
“She’s Sesshomaru’s mate, Rin,” Max answered.
Destiny nodded once again feeling a wave of familiarity.
“Who was at the door?” Sesshomaru asked once Rin entered the kitchen. He knew Inukai and the others were over because he had smelled their scents, but there was one scent mixed in with the others that was making him nervous.
“Oh. It was just Inukai and his friends,” Rin said.
Sesshomaru looked towards Rin.
“There wasn’t anyone with them that seemed a bit familiar?”
Rin looked towards her husband then realized whom he was
talking about. “Oh. You mean that new girl that’s with them. Well, she does look
a little familiar. But she has dog ears and, well, she looks like an inu
hanyou.”
Sesshomaru nodded. “What do they want?”
Rin frowned as she grabbed the plate of cookies and sat it on the tray with many cups of milk. “I don’t know. I didn’t let them answer when they were going to, but I’m sure they’ve come with good reason.”
Sesshomaru frowned.
Rin then turned around to give the food and drinks to the teenagers and left the kitchen to go to the living room. She smiled as she approached the children. “Here you guys go.” She sat the tray on the table and took a seat on the couch. “So, tell me, why are you here?”
Max picked up a cookie and said, “Well, we’ve come to see Sesshomaru. We have some things to go over with him.”
Rin nodded and left to go back to the kitchen.
“Umm, what are we going to go over with Sesshomaru?” Destiny asked wondering if they’d be talking to him about what happened three months ago.
“Umm…” Max looked towards Inukai for help.
Inukai frowned and looked towards the door to the kitchen to see Sesshomaru walk towards them with Rin. He sighed and stood up. “Come on, Destiny. Let’s go and have a… walk.”
Destiny frowned as she stood up. Guess I won’t be finding out what happened three months ago anytime soon. She then followed Inukai outside as Sesshomaru and Rin sat down on the couch.
Sesshomaru frowned as he watched Destiny and Inukai leave. He then looked towards Reiji and the others. “I suppose you’ll be explaining to me a few things.”
The others nodded and told him and Rin everything.
Destiny sighed as she looked down at the flowers she and Inukai passed. “Umm, so, what were you guys going to talk about with Sesshomaru?”
Inukai sighed as he looked down at the ground. “Just... stuff. Stuff…that doesn’t concern you, that’s all.”
Destiny gave him a glare. “Well, I think I have the right to know.”
Inukai looked towards her and also gave her a glare. “It’s none of your business.”
“Yes, it is,” Destiny said now pointing a threatening finger at his chest. “You all have been too secretive about something and I want to know. Such as, that night we met, why were you drinking? Aren’t you a little young to be doing that? And why all of you have been acting strange towards me? And why you guys kept watching me the whole time while we were coming here, mainly you, I made add? And I want to know what happened three months ago to make you all so secretive!”
“Well, if you want to know so damn badly then I’ll have you know that Nina, the girl that I fell in love with, died! She died and there was nothing I could do to prevent it! I was just standing there when my opponent and I were fighting. My opponent went in for the kill and I hadn’t seen it coming. Nina did, however, and shielded me. She took the blow and was slowly dying. My opponent left and I sat there with her body that was slowly going limp. She kissed me and told me she loved me. Then she died. A friend of mine had told me so, but I was in a state of denial. I took Nina and ran off into the forest. I sat there with her in my arms and was so furious that yelled at the gods for making my life a living hell. They gave me Nina then took her away from me then gave me Kayko and took her away, too, and then they reunited me with Nina and took her away from me again,” Inukai said as he looked down, gritting his teeth and clenching his hands so much that his claws were beginning to draw blood from them. “It’s so unfair. Everyone I love leaves me. I might as well stay alone forever.”
Destiny shook her head as she tried to keep herself from crying. “No, Inukai. Being alone won’t help anything. You’ve got friends and that’s good enough, isn’t it?”
Inukai gave her a glare. “No, it’s not good enough! It’ll be enough when the one I love doesn’t leave me!”
“Well, I won’t leave you okay! You might not love me and I might not love you, but I won’t leave you! I promise,” Destiny said as her tears began going down her cheeks. She then hit herself on the forehead when she realized what she just said. You promise not to leave him and then you remember what you promised to Naraku. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Just how do you expect to keep you promise? If you don’t kill him, you’ll die instead. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Inukai looked towards Destiny as his face filled with concern and puzzlement when he saw that she seemed to be in conflict with herself. “You okay?”
Destiny nodded. “Yeah, it’s nothing.” She gave him a smile to show him that everything really was okay despite what she was really feeling.
Inukai smiled back and crossed his arms. “So, why don’t we go see the rest of our friends now? I’m sure they’re waiting for us.”
Destiny nodded and she and Inukai turned back around to head back to the house.
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