Chapter Fifteen:

Chapter Fifteen:

I blinked, listing to Inuyasha as he breathed. He was still asleep, along with everyone else. I figured it was about one or two in the morning, way to early to get up, but I couldn’t fall back asleep. I didn’t want to…not after that dream.

I clenched my teeth tighter together when I heard the door slowly creep open, creaking loudly. I watched the door, noticing how the male didn’t have a lamp. He was obviously up to no good. You could practically smell the testosterone pouring out of him. He was absolutely filthy.

He was the villager from earlier.

He walked to Kagome and Koga’s bed first, looking over it’s inhabitants before moving onto the next bed. He was searching for someone in particular. I didn’t move, pretending to be asleep.

He walked over to our bed. Moonlight shined off his teeth as he brought the corner of his lips back into a cruel smile. He reached into his robe and pulled out a small dagger.

“Maybe if you don’t have such a pretty face she wont like you.” He muttered darkly, raising the dagger to Inuyasha’s face.

Giant roots shot out of the ground, wrapping around the man’s neck, ankles, and wrists. He was yanked to the floor, gasping for air. I sat up, my glowing green eyes illuminating the dark room. Inuyasha sat up and yawned.

“Morning already?”

“Somewhat. Looks like we have a visitor.” I folded my arms across my chest, glaring at the man.

He paid no attention, to busy trying to claw at the roots so he could breathe. Miroku, Sango, and Koga all sat up, staring at the floor.

“What are you doing in our room at this time?” Miroku demanded. I allowed the roots to release his neck so he could answer.

The man coughed out blood and sat up, shakily wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. Miroku gave me a hard look. I sent him one back.

“He was trying to hurt Inuyasha.” I pointed to the small dagger, which lay a few feet away. The man glared up at me.

“I was not! I carry that dagger for protection. I was just coming in and checking to make sure you were all asleep and well.”

I glared at him. He shrunk under my gaze.

“You do realize I was awake when you entered the room.”

His eyes widened in fear and he shuffled back trying to get away, forgetting about the roots that gripped his wrists.

“You were trying to hurt me.” Inuyasha glared at the man, starting to get up. I pulled him back down, my glare becoming more deadly.

The man started to gasp now, unable to look away. “Y-you aren’t h-human!”

I smiled, the glare intensifying. “Half.”

I looked to the roots then, allowing them to reattach to his neck. The man started to choke out. Kagome woke up.

“What’s going on?”

“Kimi’s killing the villager who let us stay in this house. He tried to harm Inuyasha.” Koga explained, watching in almost pleasure as bloody tears started to fall from the man’s eyes.

I blinked, the green light starting to fade. I sighed and stood, shooing the roots away and grabbing the man by the neck, holding him to the wall. He looked at me, gasping for hair and trying to loosen my grip.

“Please…” He gasped, the words barely above a whisper. My eyes narrowed and I looked back to Inuyasha. He stood and walked over to me, glaring at the man.

“You are a fool. You harm the innocent out of jealousy. Why should we let you live?” he growled.

“I…I have…kids!”

“And yet you tried to harm my mate to win my favor. You expect my sympathy?” I growled, my eyes turning green again.

He gasped out, tears falling freely. “And…a….wife!”

“That makes it worse! You were willing to cheat on her to get to me.” I snarled, barring my teeth. Inuyasha shook his head.

“Just kill him and get it over with, Kimi. If you let him go now he’ll run and cry to the whole village. We don’t need to kill all of them.” Koga glared at the man, holding Kagome protectively. I looked to Inuyasha.

“Do you want me too?” He murmured, watching me. I thought about it a moment and then shook my head, my grip on the man tightening.

He cried out, a strangled small sound, and I threw him back to the roots. They wrapped around the man’s neck quickly before he could scream and they dragged him down into the earth. I looked at the hole and shook my head. Inuyasha pulled me into a hug.

“You okay?”

I nodded and squeezed him lightly before shuffling out of his grasp and going to the hole. A small green steam was growing quickly in the soil, blooming into a bloody rose. I squeezed my eyes shut and willed the wood floor to repair itself. I climbed back into bed, feeling exhausted, and waited for Inuyasha to crawl in next to me. I snuggled up next to him and fell back asleep.

The next time I woke up was definitely morning. Soft rays of sun filtered in through the window, lighting up the whole room. I groaned and pulled the covers over my eyes, trying to go back to sleep. Inuyasha chuckled.

I heard Miroku yawn loudly and stand and stretch. Sango sighed and sat up in her bed, Kirara mewing and crawling into her lap.

“Where’s Kimi?” Miroku must’ve been looking at our bed. Inuyasha snickered.

“She’s trying to hide from the sun and go back to sleep.”

I reached out from under the covers and searched for Inuyasha’s face, efficiently covering his mouth when I found it. “Shhhh.” I muttered.

Miroku laughed. “Now don’t you two look cozy.” I removed my hand from Inuyasha’s mouth and flipped him the bird. Sango laughed and I pulled the covers off my head, squinting sleepily against the harsh sunlight. Koga was still snoring softly from his side of the room, Kagome fast asleep in his arms.

I growled and chucked a pillow at them. Koga snorted awake.

“Huh? What?”

We all laughed at his face, including Kagome. I sat up in the bed and stretched, to lazy to climb out. Inuyasha laughed, tugging on a strand of hair that had come loose. I growled at him and fixed my hair.

“Kimi?”

I shifted my wary gaze to my cousin, who was staring at me weirdly. “Hnm?”

“Why is your hair so long?”

I knew exactly what she was asking. I was in the accident no more then two maybe three weeks ago and my hair was down to my butt. I shrugged.

“Honestly, I don’t know how it all grew back so fast, but it did.” Kagome nodded.

“What do you mean?” Koga asked looking back and forth between us.

“When you get a major head injury like I did…and live…they have to reconstruct your head pretty much. Usually you loose your hair. And I did. But it all grew back.” I shifted my gaze to Koga as I explained.

“Your head got hurt?”

Kagome looked to the bed. I nodded. “One day I’ll bring the little scrap book Aunt Nodoka made. Then you’ll be able to understand exactly what we mean.” I smiled at him weakly.

Inuyasha squeezed my shoulders sadly. I got the feeling he’d already seen the pictures.

We got ready quickly and joined the rest of the village in the clearing behind the leader’s house. The wife and kids were a lie. No body came out of the leader’s house except us and obviously no one seemed to miss the man we’d killed last night. Miroku was swarmed with ugly women as soon as he stepped out but quickly shooed them away by saying he would need to concentrate on the spell for it to work.

I was still tired; I could barely keep my eyes open. Inuyasha had insisted on carrying me so I was on his back. Koga and Kagome walked next to us.

“Hey Kimi?”

I tried, but failed, to open my eyes and look at Koga. “Hnm?”

“Why was that flower growing in the hole your roots created last night?”

I sighed. “Because when a nature demon is around death, her or his flower grows at the grave.”

“What?” Koga’s expression was hilarious, but I was too tired to laugh.

“Each nature demon has a flower. The type of flower represents how powerful the demon is. When someone dies around a nature demon, that nature demon’s flower will grow at their grave, symbolizing their death.”

“Oh.”

“Now leave me alone, I’m trying to sleep.”

Miroku did the spell and became the village hero. I secretly felt bad for all the broken hearts he left behind but said nothing as we walked past the village boundaries and into the forest. My head began to throb, I think Inuyasha sensed it because he handed me my medicine and a water bottle. I sighed and swallowed the pills and water before handing the bottle and medicine back to him. That’s when I realized he was keeping them in his robes.

“Inuyasha?”

“Hnm?”

“Why do you have my medicine?”

“Incase you need it and you’re not around your backpack.” I looked to the small bag I wore on my back.

“Wow, mutt, you’re pretty prepared.”

“Shut up, you mangy wolf. I just don’t want her not have it if she needs it.” Inuyasha snapped at him, aggravated. I smiled and kissed Inuyasha’s cheek. “I think it’s sweet. Thank you.”

Inuyasha blushed and looked away. “Your welcome.” He mumbled.

“Oh my god.” We all looked up and saw Kagome crouched down next to a small girl. I jumped off Inuyasha’s back and we ran over.

“What’s going on? Is she okay?”

I sat down next to my cousin. The girl’s eyes were squeezed shut tightly and she was panting and clutching her side.

“I smell blood. Turn her over, I think she’d been scratched or cut.” Inuyasha and I gently rolled her over so we could see her side. Blood poured out through her fingers. She was trying to cover it.

“Inuyasha do you have any bandages?”

“No.” He pried the girl’s hands away from her side and held her still as she started to thrash. Kagome tossed me some bandages from her bag and I pulled her armor off and her shirt up to bandage the wound. The girl gasped out as I pressed a wet cloth to her jagged cut and started to clean it. I knew how much that crap stung and I felt so bad when she cried out and tried to get away from me. I carefully wrapped the bandages around her stomach, making sure they weren’t too tight or too loose.

When I was done I pulled her shirt back down and gave everything back to Kagome, noticing that the girl was watching me with wide watery violet eyes. I smiled warmly at her.

“Hi, I’m Kimi.” I held out my hand for her to shake. She stared at it and then stared up at Inuyasha’s grip on her wrists. I glanced up and sighed, irritated.

“Inuyasha you can let go of her now.”

“But what if she hurts you?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Inuyasha let go of the girl’s wrists reluctantly and watched her carefully as she sat up. I kept my hand outstretched to her. She stared at it again and then took it. I smiled and squeezed her hand.

“I’m Lili.”

“Pretty.” I helped her up and we all stood. “Where are you heading to?”

Lili sighed slightly and looked away, playing with a strand of her long black hair. She wore an outfit somewhat similar to Sango’s demon slayer one except without a mask and the pink was a deep purple. She had two dual swords strapped to either side of her hips.

“I don’t really know. I’m not exactly heading anywhere.”

“Really?” Miroku’s eager eyes looked over her body and he stepped forward. Sango and I grabbed his ears and pulled him back.

“Down, monk.”

“You travel with demons?”

I smiled at Lili and nodded. “Yes. This is Inuyasha, Koga, Shippo, Kirara, Sango, Miroku, and Kagome.” She smiled slightly and bowed a little.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Would you like to travel with us?” Shippo asked her, watching Lili from his perch on Kagome’s shoulders. Everyone shared a look. I shrugged and smiled at her.

“You are welcome too if you’d like.”

She smiled sadly. “Thanks, but no thanks. I have a bone to pick with a certain demon and I cant rest until I find him.”

I stared at her for a moment. “Do you know the demon’s name?”

Her features darkened. “Yes. His name is Naraku.”

I broke out into a grin. “Well, all the more reason you should join us. We’ve got a bone to pick with him as well. We’re searching for him.”

She smiled. “Okay then. I’d be glad to join you.”

I walked in between Sango and Lili, Inuyasha talking to Miroku and Shippo, and chatted up a storm with them. Lili was a very interesting person and was fun to talk with. She was a year younger then me and she was a demon slayer from a small village in the Southern Region.

“So, Lili, what made you want to come after Naraku?” I yawned, still a little tired.

Lili looked away for a moment and then back at Sango and I. “He killed my dad.”

I regretted asking. I put a hand on Lili’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’m so sorry.” She shrugged slightly and looked down.

“If it makes you feel any better, Naraku killed my entire village and then manipulated me into thinking Inuyasha did it.” Sango smiled at Lili warmly. Lili looked up at her, almost shocked by her expression. Sango laughed a little. “The only one who’s still alive besides me is my little brother. Naraku has him under his control.”

“That’s horrible…”

Sango sighed softly. “Yeah but I’m actually glad he manipulated me.”

Now even I stared at her shocked.

She laughed. “I never would’ve met Kimi or Inuyasha or anyone if he hadn’t. Now these guys are sort of like family to me.”

I smiled. Lili laughed a little.

“That’s good. We sort of consider you family too, Sango.” Inuyasha ruffled her hair as he passed her.

“INUYASHA!”

Sango growled at him as she fixed her hair. I laughed and jumped on Inuyasha.

“Oh goody, my personal carrier is back.”

“Do I need to help the needy again?”

“Yes sir!”

I tugged lightly on Inuyasha’s ears, using them like reins. “Onward!”

“Let go of my ears.”

“I said onward!!” I tugged harder.

“Ow! Okay, okay I’m going!”