Buffy the Youkai Slayer, a fanfic by Sharibet, chapter 7

Author's Notes: This is an edited and corrected version of the story originally posted to Fanfiction.net January - March, 2004. The content is still essentially the same as the first version, but I fixed some consistency glitches, typos, and Japanese usage errors.

This story takes place after the second Inuyasha film, "Castle Beyond the Looking Glass," (after Episode 74 in the series), and after the Buffy series finale. Contains spoilers for events that happen in all seasons of Buffy, through the beginning of the final season of Angel, Inuyasha episodes 1-74, and the second Inuyasha film.

Shippou, that little brat, cuddled in Kagome's arms all the way back to the village, chattering non-stop.

But little kitsune was the only one talking as the little group made their way through the darkening forest. Trudging along in Kagome's wake, Inuyasha turned his head and spat out the blades of grass still stuck between his teeth. Keh!

Buffy brought up the rear, apparently lost in thought, pausing occasionally to shift the weight of her backpack on her shoulders.

If she hadn't been such an interfering bitch just now, Inuyasha would have offered to carry it for her, the way he carried Kagome's sack.

This foreigner called herself a youkai-slayer, and yet she was ignorant of the most basic facts about youkai! No way a little tap like the one he'd given Shippou could ever hurt a kitsune. Inuyasha had just been teaching him some manners.

But that stupid fox-cub knew enough about humans to play the helpless baby whenever it suited him. And they fell for it every time. He's so small and cute! Feh! Shippou oughta be ashamed of himself!

Kagome's latest "SIT!" had been unfair, thought Inuyasha. And that wasn't the only thing unfair about the last two days.

He had fought for hours, beating off every youkai that came through the well, and who had gotten all the credit? Buffy! That bitch had killed three, maybe four, youkai at the most, but everyone had been treating her like something special since then.

Even Kagome--his Kagome!--seemed to be under the foreign Slayer's spell. Why she'd scarcely even spoken to Inuyasha since Buffy's arrival, and when she did, it was Buffy did this, and Buffy said that.

"Inuyasha?" She stopped and looked at him with those big dark eyes. "Is something wrong?"

He saw the momentary hurt in her eyes at his curtness, and felt relieved. She still cared about him! Still wanted him to like her.

Which he did. More than he should. Somehow, she had managed to worm her way into his heart.

His only other experience with love had been with Kikyo. Sworn virgin priestess that she was, what else could he do but worship her from afar? Which he had been all too willing to do.

Which is why he had failed to recognize the danger signs with Kagome. At first, he had felt nothing but contempt for her bungling. She couldn't shoot straight. Couldn't walk very far. Hell, she couldn't even tell the difference between friend and foe half the time.

He told himself he was putting up with her company because he had to, because she was the only one who could detect the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama.

By the time he realized that his toleration of her had become something more, it was already too late. On the night of the new moon, she had wept for his pathetic, poisoned human form, and guarded him when anyone else--anyone sensible--would have left him there and run like hell from those Spiderhead demons.

He was half-demon, and his youkai nature demanded that he bind himself to one, and one only. Just like a loyal dog. In contrast, humans believed in distributing their love and their friendship among many.

This past year had forced him to acknowledge his human side, and turned topsy-turvy a lot of the things he had always believed about himself.

It wasn't really binding himself to more than one when both women were incarnations of the same soul, was it?

But Kagome, even though she was heiress to Kikyo's soul and Kikyo's mystical powers, was a very different person.

Though he was usually mystified why she was any of those things at any particular moment.

And she liked him. Just as he was...demon, human, or hanyou. She made him feel better than he was. Stronger.

He didn't want to lose her, but he feared that he might. And what would the rest of his friends do when they met Buffy? Would they also fall under her spell? Buffy was a skilled fighter, and fully human, after all. Not a lowly half-breed demon.

Buffy, Buffy, Buffy...I hate her, he thought. Stuck-up human bitch. She acts like she knows everything! And she couldn't even speak like a civilized person until yesterday!

It was almost dark by the time they finally arrived at the village. Buffy saw the flickering lights up ahead, and sighed with relief. The walk through the woods from the well had seemed endless.

They emerged from the trees into a clearing that was divided by narrow irrigation ditches into a patchwork of fields. It looked like the harvest had just ended--the rice paddies were all dry and bushy with knee-high stubble.

She followed Kagome and a sullen Inuyasha across a narrow plank bridging one of the canals, and found herself at the base of a hill that looked very familiar.

A glance up at the torii confirmed her guess...this was an earlier version of the Higurashi Shrine. But why was it so far away from the well? In twenty-first century Tokyo, the well was at the top of the hill, near the actual shrine.

"Grandmother Kaede! Everyone! We've returned!" Kagome called, making a beeline for a ramshackle one-room cottage leaning against the base of the hill.

The split-bamboo screen that served as the cottage's door flew open, and three people emerged.

"Kagome, child, I'm so happy you're safe!" said a stout, elderly woman. She wore the red trousers and white tunic of a Shinto shrine-maiden, and had an eyepatch. The gaze from her remaining eye was a shrewd one, and it examined Buffy carefully. "And you've brought a new friend?"

"Grandmother Kaede, this is Buffy Summers. She's a youkai-slayer from my world, and she has come to help us prevent any more demons from going through the well."

Buffy hastily slipped her arms out of her backpack's straps, and let it thud to the ground. She bowed, which still felt kind of strange, even after practicing for the last couple of days. "Honored to meet you, Kaede-sama."

"And this is Miroku," Kagome continued. "He's the Buddhist monk I warned you about."

What a hottie, thought Buffy as he stepped forward. He was her age, with pierced ears, gorgeous eyes, and the most adorable little ponytail. He inclined his head and raised one hand in a gesture of blessing, murmuring something. Well, he doesn't seem like a perv...

She smiled at him, and he brightened visibly. Then, before she could say anything, he was standing right in front of her. He reached for her hand, all the while gazing soulfully into her eyes.

"Smack him, now," hissed the slender, pretty girl standing behind him. "Don't let him get fresh with you!"

Miroku had grabbed one of her butt-cheeks, and was giving it a healthy squeeze. "You're really pretty, for a foreign woman," he murmured.

Buffy stomped on his sandal-clad foot, and he yelped, tried to hop away, got tangled up in hem of his long monk's robe, and landed flat on his ass.

She took a step toward him, and he scrambled away. "I'm really sorry! I couldn't help myself! Your beauty weakened my self-control!"

"Houshi-sama," said the girl who had warned Buffy. Her shoulders slumped and she sounded disappointed. "Must you do this to every girl we meet?"

He gave her a charming, insincere smile from his place on the floor. "Sango-chan, you know my heart belongs to you."

"It's not your heart that concerns me, it's your wandering eye and your wandering hands!" She put her hands on her hips, and sighed.

Buffy started to extend her hand, then remembered, and bowed instead. "I’m very pleased to meet you--I've heard a lot about you from Kagome. We'll have to compare notes later on."

"I look forward to it," Sango murmured, returning the bow, her expression sweet and a little sad.

Everyone sat or knelt around the cottage hearth as Kagome recounted the events of the past two days. As she spoke, Kaede heated water for tea in a kettle suspended over the small hearth in the middle of the cottage floor.

At first, Kagome tried give Inuyasha the chance to add his version of events, but he seemed more interested in staring at the fire, and contributed little more than grunts.

Finally, Kagome gave up, and just told them what had happened. No one else seemed to be paying attention to Inuyasha's sulking, so Buffy didn't either. What a strange guy--every time she started to think he was okay, he'd turn around and act like a total jerk.

When Kagome had finished, there was a long moment of silence. Then Kaede said, "What will you do now, child? How will you stop the demons from attacking your family again?"

Kagome looked down at her fingers, twisting themselves together in her lap. "I don't know. But we have to do something, and quickly...I'm not sure how long Minamide-sensei's seals can hold."

"We should leave first thing in the morning," said Buffy. "And go get the Portal Key that this Naraku guy is using to send the demons to my time."

"Easier said than done," Miroku pointed out. "We've been trying to find Naraku's castle and retrieve his fragments of the Shikon-no-Tama for almost a year now."

"We've encountered him several times," added Sango. "But he's always used foul tricks and escaped." She bit her lip and looked away. Buffy recognized her expression--it was the look of someone who had lost a lot, perhaps everything. What did Naraku do to her?

"Well, we've got to do something," Buffy said. "Look, Kagome can sense the presence of the shards, right? And Inuyasha can track demons by smell? I'm a Slayer, and you two--" she met the eyes of Miroku and Sango in turn-- "are experienced demon fighters. So, I'm thinking, all we have to do is--"

"Who made you the leader?" He finally looked up from his intense contemplation of the hearth, his golden eyes glittering dangerously in the firelight. "We don't know who you really are."

So, that's it, thought Buffy. "Look, this wasn't my idea! I was on vacation. Your people called me for help--and now I'm stuck in a place that doesn't even have hot showers!"

"Keh! Kagome's grandfather may have called you, but none of us did." Inuyasha looked really angry now.

"It's true!" he protested. "No one here asked her to come!" He turned his attention back to Buffy. "If you're so unhappy about leaving your pampered life in Kagome's time, why don't you just go back home?"

Buffy took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Violence is not the answer. "And what about the other Portal Key? You really want to put Kagome's family in danger just because you're so--so--pig-headed?"

"Keh! I can retrieve your Portal Key, now that I know what it looks like." Inuyasha leaned forward, digging his talons into the floorboards an inch from Buffy's knees. As long shavings curled up under his fingertips, he dropped his voice to a growly whisper. "Go home, youkai-slayer. We have a slayer of our own. We don't need you."

"That's not true," Kagome said, her voice shaking. "We do need you. Inuyasha, why are you being so mean to her?"

But before he could reply, Miroku spoke up. Up until now, he had been sitting quietly, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Kagome-sama has never before been wrong in her judgment of people," he said in his deep, calm voice. "She sees the good in almost everyone. But this time, I must agree with Inuyasha. Buffy-sama is a stranger, and we must not give her suggestions greater weight than those of our friends."

Shippou piped up: "I like Kagome, too, but I think Miroku's right this time. Though I don't think we have to send Buffy home, do we?"

"I'm sorry, but I disagree," said Sango, gravely. "We need all the allies we can get against Naraku. We should give Buffy-san the chance to prove herself. If she can truly lead us to Naraku's castle, then we would be foolish to let pride--" she let her gaze rest on Inuyasha for a moment, and he flushed. "Stand in the way of our vengeance."

"So that's how it is?" sneered Inuyasha. His hot gaze traveled around the cottage. "All you women are taking sides against me--even Sango, who should know better?"

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "You idiot! Did you ever stop to think that it's because we're women that you're not listening?"

"Children, children!" Kaede said, raising one hand. "We must find a way to settle this dispute peacefully. If you are not united when you go to face Naraku, he will destroy you all and take all of the Shikon-no-Tama for his own. Inuyasha, can you not find it in your heart to reconcile with Buffy?"

Inuyasha turned on her. "You, too, old hag? Buffy, Buffy, Buffy! Is that the only person you can think about now?" Inuyasha raised his hand, and abruptly smashed his fist through the floor.

In the shocked silence that followed, he pushed himself to his feet and strode to the door.

"If you want her as your leader, then you'll have to go seeking Naraku's castle without me. After all," he said, bitterly. "Why do you need a lowly hanyou when you have that damned Buffy?"

He pushed aside the split-bamboo curtain with enough violence to rip it off its hooks and sent it flying out into the night.

This fanfic is complete.

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Buffy the Youkai Slayer

Chapter 7: United We Stand?