After All This Time

Ch.19 Good Friends

After coming back from the forest he told them briefly what had happened, but because it was so late they decided to call it a night. They all waited for tomorrow to discuss what they should do about Hijiri's situation.

Inuyasha, Masami and Kouga decided to talk about it in the morning before Moroha had completed her studies and Hijiri came to talk.

Inuyasha let out a heavy sigh. So much work was piling up on him recently. The usual workload, the whole flower shop dilemma, and now this. The half demon wasn't even finished finalizing the trade deal with the Hashigawa Province. He looked up at the two men in front of him. Both of them looked at Inuyasha so intently as if he was supposed to have all the answers to their problems, yet he doesn't.

"What do you guys make of this situation?" Inuyasha asked them.

Masami looked at Kouga and vise versa then they both shrugged their shoulders. 

Not a helpful reaction.

"It's convenient." Kouga said.

"Can't we just kill it?" Masami offered.

Kouga shook his head. "It's a powerful spirit not a demon. We can't just kill it. We would have to purify it or exorcise it."

They all hummed in agreement.

A light bulb went off in Kouga's mind. He looked to Inuyasha. Inuyasha seemed to have the same idea judging by his all-knowing side smile.

"We do know of a monk with years of experience who is more than capable to deal with this, don't we?" Kouga grinned.

The half demon nodded. "We do."

"If that the case we can go get him and our problem is solved." Masami felt glad they wouldn't be stuck on this one problem for so long, so much work was already backing up. It would be nice to take a break after he's finished. Maybe a trip to the islands? He's heard many good things about it.

"But there is just one problem." Kouga said. "We know the monk with years of experience."

And Masami took back everything he just thought.

Again Inuyasha knew exactly what Kouga was talking about. "I would have to go back to Kaede's village to get him." He still wasn't sure how he felt about going back.

He wasn't ready yet. That's for sure. How can he just show up and ask for help when he hasn't contacted them in years? Kagome being there, the way they would look at him, and what if they look at him like that?

Inuyasha's mind involuntarily went back to the time when he lived in a village as a child. The way they looked at him....

Just thinking of it stressed him. So distressed he couldn't hide it, or didn't bother too.

"You don't have to go." The wolf demon interrupted his worrisome thoughts. His puppy-like expression caught Inuyasha's full attention. Inuyasha found him darling. He resisted the urge to pet Kouga after seeing his concern for him. Albeit he failed to hold himself back. Inuyasha leaned closer to ruffle his hair a tad.

"I can go and get him instead." The wolf demon offered while tilting his head toward his touch.

Kouga understood it was difficult for Inuyasha to go back. Though he might not understand the what and why of his reasons but all he knows is that Inuyasha might get hurt. He didn't want that.

Inuyasha removed his hand and lightly shook his head. "No, it's my responsibility. I'm the one who needs help." Inuyasha could see Kouga looked just a bit disheartened. The half demon couldn't help the warm smile that found its way onto his lips.