Good Will Hunting

by Kyen

~ Moon Phase 5 ~ More then Meets the Eye

            “Touch me again and you die,” Xiang Yao snarled. Miroku backed away, waving his hands in mock defeat.

            “Miroku, what did you do this time?” Sango asked.

            “Nothing! I am a priest!” Miroku said indignantly.

            “Who asked me to bear his child!” called Xiang Yao from the back where Sesshomaru and she walked.

            “Miroku!” everyone yelled at the monk. Miroku cowered and slipped to the side to avoid being yelled at again.

            “Do you regret your decision?” Sesshomaru asked Xiang Yao, who was glaring dangerously at Miroku, fingering her sword.

            “Which decision? Not to kill the monk or to ally?” she asked.

            Sesshomaru smiled faintly, “Either.”

            “Defiantly the dead monk one,” Xiang Yao chuckled. “But the alliance is going better then I thought. Sango is rather pleasant, Shippou annoying, Kagome…she has her uses, and your brother…,” she paused here, thinking it over. “Your brother has the potential to become the next you.”

            “What?” Sesshomaru balked.

            Xiang Yao smiled and looked up at him, “You heard me. He is softer because he had a human mother. You lived most your life alone, save for the annoying throw rug demon you tow around, but he hardly counts.”

            “What is that supposed to mean?” demanded Jakken, suddenly appearing before the two.

            “Aren’t you supposed to be at the front?” Sesshomaru observed.

            “Yes, he is,” Xiang Yao answered and swung her leg back and came in fast, vaulting the small demon a clear thirty meters to the front of the pack.

            “Nice shot,” Inuyasha said, turning his head. He looked them over, “Aren’t you two walking awfully close?”

            Sesshomaru growled, “Watch it boy.”

            “Kagome!” Xiang Yao called. “Let’s get some meat.”

            “Okay,” Kagome called and Xiang Yao and the girl disappeared.

            “Convenient,” Inuyasha observed. “I’ll watch them.”

            “You really think Xiang Yao would appreciate that?” Sesshomaru asked him, eyebrow raised. Inuyasha had to admit, his brother had a point. He shrugged and let them go. Besides, the Huntress was perfectly capable of handling herself, though that was the least he could say of Kagome.

            “Hey, Xiang Yao,” Kagome called to the Huntress, “do you like Sesshomaru? As a friend, I mean.”

            Xiang Yao thought a moment, “What would you say if I said yes?”

            “That you are remarkable! How can you stand his attitude?” Kagome asked her.

            “Attitude?” Xiang Yao asked returned.

            “You haven’t noticed? He acts so almighty around us!” Kagome cried.

            Xiang Yao shrugged, “No, I guess I haven’t noticed it.”

            “How can you not?” demanded Kagome.

            Xiang Yao looked at her, “How can you stand Inuyasha?” Kagome blushed and Xiang Yao nodded, “My point.”

            Kagome reared her head to looked at Xiang Yao again, “You mean…you like-like Sesshomaru?”

            “In a sense, I suppose so, yes,” Xiang Yao admitted. “He is the first person in seven years to actually give me credit for my skills and treat me as more then just a tool.”

            Kagome had, at first, found it hard to believe that Xiang Yao was not really Ieo’s daughter. She had looked a lot like Ieo, but then again, Ieo could easily change her own appearance to match that of her supposed daughter. With the whole story about her being raised by demons, Kagome had scoffed, as had Sango and Miroku, but then they thought back to her style of fighting and rethought their first reaction. It was indeed plausible, the whole thing about she was raised by demons.

            “So, does that mean Ieo used you like a tool?” Kagome asked.

            Xiang Yao nodded, “Yeah. To the village was no more then their best Hunter, the person who would bring them ultimate fame and fortune. To them all, I was nothing more then the key to the beginning of their reign.”

            “Reign as what?” Kagome pressed.

            “They’re reign as the best demon hunter army in the history of Japan,” she said simply. Kagome shuddered and they continued the hunt in silence.

            Rin skipped next to Sesshomaru after Xiang Yao disappeared with Kagome into the brush. Sesshomaru looked down at her, and his eyes sparkled with a smile, but his lips did not repeat the emotion. Rin bristled, “You smile at Xiang Yao, but you don’t smile at me?”

            “I smiled at her?” Sesshomaru asked. He had not noticed he had.

            “Yes!” Rin cried. “You smiled at her this morning and last night you asked her for advice. You never ask me for advice!”

            “You are young yet,” Sesshomaru said. “I did not think to ask you for I know you do not know much about warfare.”

            Rin bristled, “What do you mean by that? I am twelve and I’ve seen you fight enough times to know how it works!”

            “I am sorry Rin,” Sesshomaru said. “Next time I shall ask you.” Rin wasn’t convinced since his voice was laced with annoyance. She turned from him and went to the head, where Sango meant her.

            “Rin, if you want to be considered an adult you need to act like one,” Sango pointed out.

            “What do you mean?” Rin spat.

            “That little outburst with my brother was even more childish then Kagome when she’s freaked out,” Inuyasha said.

            “Is that a good thing?” Rin asked.

            “Hardly,” Miroku said, coming up. “Did you not hear his annoyance?” Rin said nothing. “If you want to be asked like he asked Xiang Yao, then you have to be less childish and more like Xiang Yao, a grown up.”

            “But I don’t like Xiang Yao!” Rin cried. “Why would I want to be like her?”

            “Why don’t you like her?” Inuyasha asked.

            Rin looked to him, “Why not? Because she just suddenly intruded on us, and we were doing just fine! Then she comes and messes everything up!”

            “That explains nothing,” Sango said.

            “Sure it does,” Rin said weakly. “Well, she…”

            “You don’t like her for another reason, don’t you?” Miroku asked, flicking his gaze from her to Sesshomaru. “You’re afraid she’ll steal Sesshomaru from you.”

            “I am not!” Rin declared.

            “Then why are you going such a red color?” Inuyasha asked her.

            Rin growled, “What would you know?” With that, she stormed over to go and bug Jakken.

            “Ah, a battle of the heart,” Miroku purred.

            “Get away, pervert,” Sango said, slapping Miroku in the face as his hand stroked her bottom.

            “Why me?” he groaned and pedaled backwards well out of Sango’s range.

            That night, Xiang Yao sat with Sango, showing her the chain blade that Xiang Yao so favored. Sango was a little emotional when she saw it, since her brother had used a weapon like it, but not nearly so beautifully crafted. Kagome and Xiang Yao had brought home a rabbit and some deer, and now only the carcass remained, nearly stripped to the bone. Xiang Yao and Sesshomaru had said nothing, but Jakken had been vaulted once more through the air for a comment to Kagome about watching her weight, and Rin was just quiet, withdrawn.

            Sesshomaru rose and summoned Inuyasha to him. Warily, the half hanou rose and joined him and the two disappeared into the forest. Sesshomaru led Inuyasha on till they appeared in a clearing, silver coating the ground. Sesshomaru stopped him at the edge and turned to him.

            “Tell me, did you know your mother well?” Sesshomaru asked.

            “Why do you want to know?” Inuyasha asked him.

            Sesshomaru shrugged, “I just wanted to know if what I’m doing is right.”

            “What do you mean?” Inuyasha spat at him. Sesshomaru pointed to the clearing and gave his brother a push. Inuyasha stumbled forward and the field erupted as silver butterflies took off. In the center of the field, when the last butterfly disappeared, was a grave, and marked on the grave was the name of Inuyasha’s mother.

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