Categories > Anime/Manga > Inuyasha > This Can't Be Good
Has the swelling gone down?
KURAMA: The doctor gave me something for it, yes.
You are back to play some more!
KURAMA: (Holds up color photo) I am back to ask what these were doing in the issue of /FanGirl /that I found in the waiting room.
Wow. When did you pose for those?
KURAMA: You have been selling more pictures of me!
Have not!
KURAMA: Have t- (Composes self) I will not get into another juvenile discussion with you. You will give me the negatives right now and tell me how you were able to take those photographs. I was assured that that beach was completely remote!
I did not take those photos.
KURAMA: Then where did you get these negatives that I found in your glove compartment?
eBay.
.
.
.
Relying on his years of training, Miroku drew a calm around him as he settled his grip on Shippo's tail and held the little kitsune up to eye level.
The stupid tuft of fuzz had just undone half a day of progress - progress which Miroku'd made by having long and deep conversations with Hojo, and that was about as much fun as taking long and deep dives into horse dung. And they had been for the runt's benefit!
After he'd finally gotten Hojo to stop screaming and sit still long enough to bandage his dented hand, Miroku had snatched the raging kitsune by the tail and dragged him away for a talk. ...and knowing Hojo, he'd probably wander off and get himself eaten if he were left without a chaperone for too long.
"Now," Miroku said with his forced calm as he eyed Shippo under the torchlight. "You are going to explain to me, Shippo, why you saw fit to bite Hojo."
The monk was expecting Shippo to protest his innocence, claim he'd only been playing or call Hojo a wuss for even blinking at that baby bite, but instead the youkai's pale little face scrunched up and he began to shake.
"Miroku!" he whimpered, "I don't want her to leave!"
"What?" the monk asked as Shippo began to cry.
"Hojo's going to make her leave!" he shook his little fists upside-down in the air. "He's going to marry her and she'll leave for ever."
Miroku dropped Shippo on the ground, where he flipped over and started bawling in the dust.
Hojo wanted to marry...
"Sango?!" Miroku half-shouted. "That bastard! Ow!" the monk cut off as Shippo kicked him in the shin.
"Not Sango, you idiot!" scolded Shippo. "Kagome! Hojo wants to marry Kagome."
"Oh," Miroku blinked. "Well that's different."
Shippo made a high keening sound and cried harder.
"I mean..." Miroku sank down to one knee, tentatively reaching out to pat the child's head. "I mean, I can see why that would upset you, Shippo," he said calmly. "Why don't you tell me everything?"
The monk settled down to listen as the kitsune cub wiped his eyes. They'd already dealt with Kagura and her minions twice, and there were only a few hours left before dawn. What else could happen in one night?
.
.
.
Kikyo halted on the hillside next to the village.
He was here. She could feel it as plainly as if she held his face in her hands. And he'd brought that girl. The one with the stolen face.
No matter. He was hers and he would see her because she wished it, and because, once upon a time, he had promised her an ordinary life.
There had been a great disturbance on this hill. Kikyo could sense something at once Naraku and not. He would tell her what she needed to know. A tiny smile graced her cold lips as she began her steady stride toward the human settlement. The houses would be still, she knew, while inside the little children slept.
Inuyasha would soon know that she was here. He would know and he would come to-
"...don't know what to do..."
The priestess paused. Had her clay eyes missed the presence of another person?
"Is someone there?" she called out.
The clouds parted, and a shred of moon lit a smudged and open face.
Kikyo opened her mouth to insist that the boy tell her what he was doing when he jumped immediately to his feet. His eyes flicked to her priestess' garments.
"Hello, Miss. Forgive me for saying so, but a lady like yourself shouldn't be out here alone. There are all sorts of dangerous things running around."
Kikyo paused. From what she could detect, the boy had no powers, no weapons, no demon blood, and an injured right hand.
And he presumes to worry for my safety? Kikyo's thoughts darkened. "Who are you?" she demanded.
"My name is Hojo, Miss," he inclined his head slightly, "and if you'll forgive my haste, there is a village just down this rise. It's small but it's quite safe. Please, let me take you there, and then I'll answer all the questions you want."
Kikyo was silent for a moment. She could sense no deceit in the him, but something seemed amiss. ...something that glimmered. Bound to the boy's throat with a leather thong was a talisman that flickered with a light that wasn't really light.
Where had she seen something like that before?
"May I consider that a promise?" she asked.
"If you like, Miss," the boy inclined his head. "I promise. Now please..." he held out his arm, bent at the elbow. Frowning, Kikyo took it, and they began to walk.
"Why you're cold as ice!" exclaimed Hojo, pulling his hand away.
He had discovered that she was not among the living! Kikyo felt her clay spine stiffen. It usually took weeks of staying in one place before people began to notice. Odd. The boy didn't look especially observant...
And why was he tugging at the fastenings of his coat?
"Take my jacket, Miss. I insist," he held the peculiarly-cut garment out with both hands. The offer was so strange that Kikyo found she could do nothing but take it. The boy leaned over to tuck the creases of his coat around her shoulders and held out his arm again.
"Shall we?" he asked.
She took his arm again and they walked.
"It's a funny world, isn't it?" he said after a moment.
"What can you mean?" she found herself asking.
"I'm just babbling," he looked at the grass. "I think the world's funny in that a man can spend his whole childhood getting a plan, an idea of how his life will turn out. He can know what his education will be, what trade he'll take up," a sad smile colored his unremarkable face. "He can even know what person he's going marry when the time comes."
Kikyo's clay brow creased.
"The world doesn't really make any promises, does it?" he looked away again. "I just dreamed the whole thing, didn't I?
"Some promises are meant to be kept."
He nodded. "Maybe," he said. Then he looked at her, frowning. "If you'll forgive my boldness, have we met before? You look terribly familiar."
"I don't believe so," she answered. Indeed, this Hojo's face was nothing special, but she was certain she would have remembered meeting someone with such a striking manner.
Such a striking manner and such a sad smile...
Kikyo looked up as he gave a small laugh. "I just realized that I haven't even asked what you're called."
"I am Kikyo."
"That's a pretty name," he answered. "A priestess I met not long ago said that she had a sister who was named Kikyo, but she died a long time ago." Hojo's eyes were large and sad. "It was very tragic. She was still so young," his smile dimmed. "I guess the world didn't make any promises to her either."
There was a strange warmth in the emptiness behind those eyes. This was a person who took the foundations of the universe for granted. For the first time in half a life, the priestess had to struggle for her words.
"You're so... ordinary!"
"Thank you, Miss Kikyo," he answered.
.
.
.
Inuyasha came to a halt near the edge of the woods beside the village. She was here somewhere. He knew it as surely as he knew the scent of earth.
Was she okay? Had Naraku tried to hurt her again? The dog demon felt his blood begin to churn. Naraku would pay for everything he had done to Kikyo...
"What's going on, Inu-koro?" demanded Kouga.
"I told you not to follow me, wolf turd!" he snarled back as he wheeled to face the wolf prince. "This is something that I have to handle on my own, so just go back to the village and wait for-"
"Who's that girl with Hojo?"
"What?"
Inuyasha turned and swore that his eyes rolled down out of his head. There on the rise, not fifty yards from where he was, stood the solitary priestess and the moron from Kagome's time.
"You drove off the wind sorceress with your grandmother's talisman?" her words drifted toward him.
"Oh, it was Miroku who drove her off," Hojo answered. "I'm not quite sure how he did it, but I'd like to think I helped a little," he laughed. "Mostly I was just scared, though."
"Where are you from?" she insisted. "You must tell me!"
"Tokyo, Miss Kikyo."
"Tokyo," she murmured.
Inuyasha opened his mouth to call out, but couldn't get his voice to work. Kikyo had come to see him. Why hadn't she noticed that he was here? He was right here!
"If you don't mind my asking," said Hojo, "why are you coming to this little village?"
Kikyo stopped walking. "I was coming to see someone," she said, "but you have given me much to think about."
"I have?" Hojo asked. "I'm sorry."
"Thank you for the cloak," she said, slipping the garment from her shoulders and offering it back to him, "and for your kind words."
"Anytime!" he said brightly.
"And please tell the man named Inuyasha that I will be back to speak with him another day," she intoned, "about a promise that he made me, once."
"Okay."
"Farewell, Hojo."
"Bye."
Inuyasha could only stare as Kikyo's soul-gliders collected around her arms and lifted her off the ground. A moment later, she was gone.
"Hm," Hojo buttoned up his coat. "What a strange girl."
There was a snuffling sound behind him. Inuyasha turned to see Kouga put a hand on his injured ribs. "Laughing isn't good for me right now," he admitted.
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. "You're more right than you know..."
"Huh?" Kouga looked up.
"Oh!" Hojo called out as he ran toward them, "Hi, guys! I didn't know you were out here. Inuyasha, a girl named Kikyo stopped by a minute ago, and she told me to tell you that-"
"Shut up!"
.
.
.
Give those back!
KURAMA: Are you joking?
No! Those negatives cost me cash and I want them back!
KURAMA: I have no intentions of returning them.
Then I'm keeping these! (holds up green boxers with little roses on them.)
KURAMA: The doctor gave me something for it, yes.
You are back to play some more!
KURAMA: (Holds up color photo) I am back to ask what these were doing in the issue of /FanGirl /that I found in the waiting room.
Wow. When did you pose for those?
KURAMA: You have been selling more pictures of me!
Have not!
KURAMA: Have t- (Composes self) I will not get into another juvenile discussion with you. You will give me the negatives right now and tell me how you were able to take those photographs. I was assured that that beach was completely remote!
I did not take those photos.
KURAMA: Then where did you get these negatives that I found in your glove compartment?
eBay.
.
.
.
Relying on his years of training, Miroku drew a calm around him as he settled his grip on Shippo's tail and held the little kitsune up to eye level.
The stupid tuft of fuzz had just undone half a day of progress - progress which Miroku'd made by having long and deep conversations with Hojo, and that was about as much fun as taking long and deep dives into horse dung. And they had been for the runt's benefit!
After he'd finally gotten Hojo to stop screaming and sit still long enough to bandage his dented hand, Miroku had snatched the raging kitsune by the tail and dragged him away for a talk. ...and knowing Hojo, he'd probably wander off and get himself eaten if he were left without a chaperone for too long.
"Now," Miroku said with his forced calm as he eyed Shippo under the torchlight. "You are going to explain to me, Shippo, why you saw fit to bite Hojo."
The monk was expecting Shippo to protest his innocence, claim he'd only been playing or call Hojo a wuss for even blinking at that baby bite, but instead the youkai's pale little face scrunched up and he began to shake.
"Miroku!" he whimpered, "I don't want her to leave!"
"What?" the monk asked as Shippo began to cry.
"Hojo's going to make her leave!" he shook his little fists upside-down in the air. "He's going to marry her and she'll leave for ever."
Miroku dropped Shippo on the ground, where he flipped over and started bawling in the dust.
Hojo wanted to marry...
"Sango?!" Miroku half-shouted. "That bastard! Ow!" the monk cut off as Shippo kicked him in the shin.
"Not Sango, you idiot!" scolded Shippo. "Kagome! Hojo wants to marry Kagome."
"Oh," Miroku blinked. "Well that's different."
Shippo made a high keening sound and cried harder.
"I mean..." Miroku sank down to one knee, tentatively reaching out to pat the child's head. "I mean, I can see why that would upset you, Shippo," he said calmly. "Why don't you tell me everything?"
The monk settled down to listen as the kitsune cub wiped his eyes. They'd already dealt with Kagura and her minions twice, and there were only a few hours left before dawn. What else could happen in one night?
.
.
.
Kikyo halted on the hillside next to the village.
He was here. She could feel it as plainly as if she held his face in her hands. And he'd brought that girl. The one with the stolen face.
No matter. He was hers and he would see her because she wished it, and because, once upon a time, he had promised her an ordinary life.
There had been a great disturbance on this hill. Kikyo could sense something at once Naraku and not. He would tell her what she needed to know. A tiny smile graced her cold lips as she began her steady stride toward the human settlement. The houses would be still, she knew, while inside the little children slept.
Inuyasha would soon know that she was here. He would know and he would come to-
"...don't know what to do..."
The priestess paused. Had her clay eyes missed the presence of another person?
"Is someone there?" she called out.
The clouds parted, and a shred of moon lit a smudged and open face.
Kikyo opened her mouth to insist that the boy tell her what he was doing when he jumped immediately to his feet. His eyes flicked to her priestess' garments.
"Hello, Miss. Forgive me for saying so, but a lady like yourself shouldn't be out here alone. There are all sorts of dangerous things running around."
Kikyo paused. From what she could detect, the boy had no powers, no weapons, no demon blood, and an injured right hand.
And he presumes to worry for my safety? Kikyo's thoughts darkened. "Who are you?" she demanded.
"My name is Hojo, Miss," he inclined his head slightly, "and if you'll forgive my haste, there is a village just down this rise. It's small but it's quite safe. Please, let me take you there, and then I'll answer all the questions you want."
Kikyo was silent for a moment. She could sense no deceit in the him, but something seemed amiss. ...something that glimmered. Bound to the boy's throat with a leather thong was a talisman that flickered with a light that wasn't really light.
Where had she seen something like that before?
"May I consider that a promise?" she asked.
"If you like, Miss," the boy inclined his head. "I promise. Now please..." he held out his arm, bent at the elbow. Frowning, Kikyo took it, and they began to walk.
"Why you're cold as ice!" exclaimed Hojo, pulling his hand away.
He had discovered that she was not among the living! Kikyo felt her clay spine stiffen. It usually took weeks of staying in one place before people began to notice. Odd. The boy didn't look especially observant...
And why was he tugging at the fastenings of his coat?
"Take my jacket, Miss. I insist," he held the peculiarly-cut garment out with both hands. The offer was so strange that Kikyo found she could do nothing but take it. The boy leaned over to tuck the creases of his coat around her shoulders and held out his arm again.
"Shall we?" he asked.
She took his arm again and they walked.
"It's a funny world, isn't it?" he said after a moment.
"What can you mean?" she found herself asking.
"I'm just babbling," he looked at the grass. "I think the world's funny in that a man can spend his whole childhood getting a plan, an idea of how his life will turn out. He can know what his education will be, what trade he'll take up," a sad smile colored his unremarkable face. "He can even know what person he's going marry when the time comes."
Kikyo's clay brow creased.
"The world doesn't really make any promises, does it?" he looked away again. "I just dreamed the whole thing, didn't I?
"Some promises are meant to be kept."
He nodded. "Maybe," he said. Then he looked at her, frowning. "If you'll forgive my boldness, have we met before? You look terribly familiar."
"I don't believe so," she answered. Indeed, this Hojo's face was nothing special, but she was certain she would have remembered meeting someone with such a striking manner.
Such a striking manner and such a sad smile...
Kikyo looked up as he gave a small laugh. "I just realized that I haven't even asked what you're called."
"I am Kikyo."
"That's a pretty name," he answered. "A priestess I met not long ago said that she had a sister who was named Kikyo, but she died a long time ago." Hojo's eyes were large and sad. "It was very tragic. She was still so young," his smile dimmed. "I guess the world didn't make any promises to her either."
There was a strange warmth in the emptiness behind those eyes. This was a person who took the foundations of the universe for granted. For the first time in half a life, the priestess had to struggle for her words.
"You're so... ordinary!"
"Thank you, Miss Kikyo," he answered.
.
.
.
Inuyasha came to a halt near the edge of the woods beside the village. She was here somewhere. He knew it as surely as he knew the scent of earth.
Was she okay? Had Naraku tried to hurt her again? The dog demon felt his blood begin to churn. Naraku would pay for everything he had done to Kikyo...
"What's going on, Inu-koro?" demanded Kouga.
"I told you not to follow me, wolf turd!" he snarled back as he wheeled to face the wolf prince. "This is something that I have to handle on my own, so just go back to the village and wait for-"
"Who's that girl with Hojo?"
"What?"
Inuyasha turned and swore that his eyes rolled down out of his head. There on the rise, not fifty yards from where he was, stood the solitary priestess and the moron from Kagome's time.
"You drove off the wind sorceress with your grandmother's talisman?" her words drifted toward him.
"Oh, it was Miroku who drove her off," Hojo answered. "I'm not quite sure how he did it, but I'd like to think I helped a little," he laughed. "Mostly I was just scared, though."
"Where are you from?" she insisted. "You must tell me!"
"Tokyo, Miss Kikyo."
"Tokyo," she murmured.
Inuyasha opened his mouth to call out, but couldn't get his voice to work. Kikyo had come to see him. Why hadn't she noticed that he was here? He was right here!
"If you don't mind my asking," said Hojo, "why are you coming to this little village?"
Kikyo stopped walking. "I was coming to see someone," she said, "but you have given me much to think about."
"I have?" Hojo asked. "I'm sorry."
"Thank you for the cloak," she said, slipping the garment from her shoulders and offering it back to him, "and for your kind words."
"Anytime!" he said brightly.
"And please tell the man named Inuyasha that I will be back to speak with him another day," she intoned, "about a promise that he made me, once."
"Okay."
"Farewell, Hojo."
"Bye."
Inuyasha could only stare as Kikyo's soul-gliders collected around her arms and lifted her off the ground. A moment later, she was gone.
"Hm," Hojo buttoned up his coat. "What a strange girl."
There was a snuffling sound behind him. Inuyasha turned to see Kouga put a hand on his injured ribs. "Laughing isn't good for me right now," he admitted.
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. "You're more right than you know..."
"Huh?" Kouga looked up.
"Oh!" Hojo called out as he ran toward them, "Hi, guys! I didn't know you were out here. Inuyasha, a girl named Kikyo stopped by a minute ago, and she told me to tell you that-"
"Shut up!"
.
.
.
Give those back!
KURAMA: Are you joking?
No! Those negatives cost me cash and I want them back!
KURAMA: I have no intentions of returning them.
Then I'm keeping these! (holds up green boxers with little roses on them.)
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