~Their Salvation~

~Chapter 54~

"Oh, Ai and the others?" Shippō asked.

"Hmm, it's been a while since I've seen them." He muttered.

"You make a good point, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru spoke up.

"Yeah, maybe we should check on them." Shippō said.

"I wanna come!" Kaida chirped. Shippō sighed shaking his head.

"Fine." 

"Yay!~" She cheered.

"Should we come as well?" Aia asked.

"We're a group now, no man left behind." Hana said with a smile. Aia smiled and nodded.

"It's not far, we'll get there by tonight if we leave now." Sesshomaru said making Hana look up at him.

"Uhn. Then, let's head out!" Hana chirped. The group gathered their things before meeting up once again, then, they headed north. The walk was silent, for the most part, there was small talk here and there but that's about it. Hana seemed oddly silent worrying Inuyasha as he kept glancing down. Finally, he had enough.

"Hana?" She glanced up.

"Hm?" She hummed.

"What's wrong?" Hana hesitated then looked at the ground.

"Just thinking." She whispered.

"Of?" Inuyasha pushed. His ears fell, her eyes were dull now, he hated it.

"What would happen if Naraku did take control of-"

"Enough Hana, that won't happen." Inuyasha interrupted.

"Inuyasha, it's fully plausible, we need to consider what to do if it does happen so we're prepared!" Hana said in a serious tone.

"Hana's right." Sesshomaru muttered earning a glare from Inuyasha.

"Naraku said the only way to kill him is to kill Kagome. So, if that's true, the only way to stop him is to kill me." Hana explained.

"We can't kill you!" Kaida said.

"Kaida's right, we refuse." Inuyasha growled softly not liking this topic of discussion.

"So you're just going to let him make me kill you all?!" Hana asked remembering that vision she had seen thanks to Shi.

"THAT WON'T HAPPEN, END OF DISCUSSION!!!" Inuyasha snarled making everyone jump, even Sesshomaru flinched as he looked back at his brother. Hana fell silent, then she clenched her fist as the image flashed in her mind again. She violently shook her head.

"Fine, if you refuse to help me, I'll figure it out myself." She growled before walking ahead, a little ahead Sesshomaru even making Sesshomaru keep an eye on her, though he still glanced back at his brother. Inuyasha stared at Hana as she walked off.

'Wonderful job, dumbass.' Yōki snarled. Inuyasha's ears fell slowly before he sped up walking beside Hana again.

"Kichō-"

"Save it." She snapped making Inuyasha tense a little.

"What's wrong with Hana, papa?" Kaida asked with a worried tone. Shippō stayed silent, however, he knew what was happening. Whatever Shi said to Hana was bugging her, and Inuyasha won't listen. He walked beside Sesshomaru.

"You need to talk to Inuyasha, he's being an emotional fool." He whispered.

"I know." Sesshomaru whispered. But, before they could even try to calm the situation, Inuyasha reached over making Hana hit his hand away.

"What the hell is going on Hana?!" Inuyasha snapped.

"Here we go." Shippō muttered.

"I've noticed Hana's mood changing every few seconds, she's trying to hide it, but she's not ok. Seeing her family helped for a little bit, but it's getting worse." Sesshomaru muttered.

"You won't listen, that's what! You didn't see it all play out as I did, you weren't the one who shot those arrows killing you all!" Hana snapped.

'Inuyasha, we don't know what Shi showed her.' Inuyasha stared at Hana for a moment, then his eyes narrowed as he snatched her wrist. She tried to pull away, but he didn't let her.

"Shot us? Hana, you're smarter than that. What he said or showed you was nothing but a lie-"

"How can you be so sure?" Hana interrupted him with a harsh tone. Inuyasha slowly let her wrist.

"If that's what Naraku planned to do, why would Shi show you and ruin the plan by allowing us to plan against it?" Inuyasha asked.

"What if that was part of their plan." Hana pointed out.

"Hana, have you already forgotten? Naraku knows you have control of the beads, he's seen first hand how skilled you really are thanks to that fight with the swarm! I hate to admit this, but Naraku is smart, let alone cunning, he knows not to underestimate his enemy. And the barrier, it wavered with just the smallest about of pressure, sure it took a lot more to shatter it, but that only shows that he has little to no control over the power Kagome offers him." Inuyasha explained in careful detail.

"He may have a point." Kaito pointed out.

"Plus, if he wanted a new "better" body so bad, he would have by now. Kagome was never properly trained unlike you and many others of your type." Shippō pointed out.

"But Muchiuchi said that priestesses were rare?" Hana asked, her nerves calming a very small bit.

"Around a hundred years ago is when your kind depleted, before then, they were plentiful." Sesshomaru corrected.

"However, Hana also has a point, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru spoke sternly.

"We need to figure out a plan for if he does manage to take control of her, because I know he'll try, and you know this too." Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at Sesshomaru who only did the same in return. Kaida looked between the two before puffing her cheeks.

"I thought they finally got along." She mumbled.

"Not now Kaida." Shippō muttered softly.

"Like what?" Inuyasha asked, though his tone was still harsh.

"I am unsure, but that is why we need to think this through while we travel." Sesshomaru spoke in the same harsh tone. Inuyasha stared for a moment more, then he calmed a little before sighing and looking away.

"Hmm." He hummed. Hana looked down silently, she felt bad for snapping, she wasn't sure why she found herself to be so irritable if she were honest. Inuyasha glanced over seeing her solemn expression. His ears fell a little as he reached over taking her hand, this time, she didn't try pulling away.

"It will be alright, Kichōna." He reassured her, and yet, she still didn't look up.

"Hana." She glanced up.

"I promise." She looked away for a moment before nodding.

'How odd, she's never acted like this before.' Yōki muttered worrying Inuyasha even further. However, there was no time to question it, they had a little ways to go still.