An InuYasha fan-fiction
Setting and all non-original characters are property of Rumiko Takahashi.
Illustrations by (Kawaii) Kitty Kuchiki (ne Nakamura)
Whatever that wind is blowing, it’s bothering my… nose… t-too… hat-SHOO!
The six weary travelers had been tracking the Sacred Jewel Shard for days. Kagome, the young girl with the ability to detect the Sacred Shards, had only the faintest impression of where it was. She could detect its general direction, but despite three days of pursuit her sense of the shard’s precise location grew no stronger. The shard was still on the move.
Luckily, InuYasha was able to supplement Kagome sixth sense for the jewel with his own demonically enhanced sense of smell. He could track their quarry, but its smell was either unfamiliar to him, or had been magically altered in an attempt to throw them off. Between the two of them, however, they would not lose the trail.
Finally, after so many days pursuit, the signal Kagome was picking up started to grow in strength. It was still a few days march away – but it was no longer on the move and they were gaining on it. The six weary travelers tried to pick up their pace, but the wind was against them.
As the reached the top of the grassy hill they spied a village is the distance, beyond which lay an immense forest at the foot of a great chain of mountains. Ironically, as Kagome’s ability to sense jewel increased, it seemed InuYasha’s ability to pick up their quarry’s scent was weakening. The young monk, Miroku, was the first to notice this.
“InuYasha, what’s wrong? Has the trail gone cold?”
“Nah. It’s this damn wind! It’s blowing something down from the mountains that bugging… my… n-n-nose… HAAATCHOO! *sniff* Ugh… I’m also picking up the scent of human blood. *sniff* I think that village was attacked recently. *sniff*”
As the two men leading the party conversed, the demon hunter, Sango, noticed that Kagome seemed bothered by something as well. Without wanting to attract attention, she quietly approached her friend. “Kagome? Are you ok?”
Kagome was rubbing her nose with her index finger. “Yeah,” she whispered, “but *sniff* whatever that wind is blowing, it’s *sniff* bothering my… nose… t-too… hat-SHOO! Hah… HaAAHSHOO! HATChoo *sniff* Ohhhh…”
Although their voices were low, Kagome’s sneezes attracted InuYasha’s attention. “Don’t tell me you’re getting sick now!” He yelled at her.
“I’m not s-sick, I… HAT-SHOO! *sniff* something’s j-just m-making me snee… ah… sneeze! aaaAAHHTCHOO! Besides, *sniff* you sound as bad as I do!”
“That’s 'cause I have a heightened sense of smell!” InuYasha reacted defensively, rubbing his nose, as if warding off another sneeze himself.
Miroku put his hand to his chin, pensively. “I wonder… Shippo, how are you feeling?”
The diminutive fox-demon was riding on the back of Kirara. “Well… *sniff* now that you mention it… *sniff*… my nose is all itchy too! Aaah… HAAAAH… HAHHTCHOOO!” The force of the little demon’s sneeze sent him somersaulting backwards, off of Kirara.
“What about you Kirara?”
While Kirara couldn’t talk, she made several pawing gestures which indicated that her nose was bothered as well. She made a sound like a sneeze, but Miroku couldn’t tell if it was that, of if she was just trying to clear her nose.
“What are you thinking?” Sango asked him.
“I’m wondering if that forest up ahead is inhabited by the Shinrinyasha.”
“*sniff* Shin… rin… wha?” Kagome asked in a stuffy sounding voice.
“The Shinrinyahsa are forest spirits. They take the form of giant moving trees. They look almost like a giant person that was carved from a tree, or turned into one - braches and all. I’ve never seen one, but the legends say that their pollen is a natural irritant to demons and anything… unnatural. It could explain why InuYasha, Shippo and Kirara seemed bother by the wind blowing form that direction.”
“*sniff* Then why… hang on… hat-SHOO! *sniff* Why am I sneezing then?” In the back of her mind, Kagome thought she might be allergic to something. Although she never got allergies at home, she had some friends that did. Was this what they felt like? She now felt horrible about every time she ever told one of them that “all they needed was a little fresh air.” ‘This was awful!’ she thought. ‘A week of this would drive me crazy!’ She almost hoped that she was just getting a little sick, not being sure what she could do about allergies back in this time period.
“I don’t know,” Miroku answered. “I’ve never heard of a human being affected.”
The group trekked on. The three demons were only sniffling, but Kagome seemed to sneeze every few seconds. Not patient by nature and already irritated by his own condition, InuYasha’s temper eventually got the better of him.
“Ashoo! … Hahshoo! … HAT-shoo! … HAAAHshoo!”
“ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP DOING THAT?!” InuYasha bellowed at Kagome.
“Thanks for the sympathy you big… jah…jah… JASHOO! JERK! *sniff* I can’t help it! *sniff*… hat-SHOO! *sniff* I wish I could!”
“Yeah, InuYasha! Stop being so me… aaahh… me… AAAAHHH… meAAHHHTCHOO!... mean.” Shippo finished his statement from the ground, his sneeze having knocked him off of Kirara again.
“Besides *sniff*,” Kagome continued her verbal counterattack, “It’s not like *sniff* you’re doing… much… bet… ter… AAAHHshoo!”
“I’m doing just fine.” InuYasha boasted. Kagome eyed him suspiciously. “Yeah. N-no p-problems here… ah…. *sniff*.” Kagome narrowed her eyes, not believing a word of it. “Y-you w-won’t hear… me… snee… ah… snee… AAAAHHHTCHOO!”
“HAH!” Kagome yelled, pointing at him, before she was racked by another sneeze of her own.
Miroku and Sango just shook there heads as Kagome and InuYahsa went on like this almost the entire way to the village while Shippo and Kirara suffered in relative silence.
TO BE CONTINUED
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