Kaya's Story (An InuYasha Fanfic)

Chapter 75: The Old "Exorcist"

When I caught up to InuYasha's group, they had just stopped for the night and were discussing their food and money situation. "Hey, guys," I greeted. "You sure took your sweet time," InuYasha stated. "It's not my fault I got lost trying to follow your scent," I replied. "Where did you go, anyway?" "If you must know, I went to visit a friend of mine," I sassed. After a moment, the group went back to their previous conversation and I walked to the river, hopefully, to get some food. As I was on my way back, I found Shippo and InuYasha fighting over some of the fish they had caught earlier. Kagome put a swift end to their fight with a 'sit' command sending InuYasha and me into the dirt. I have got to find a way to get these things off.

The next morning, we came to a lively village. The group had hoped that we would be able to find some kind of work there, but they were starting to have their doubts. That is until an old woman walked up to us. Miroku greeted her as Madame Exorcist but what bothered me is that I didn't feel a shred of spiritual power within her. She offered to let us help her with the job she was currently doing. The village we were in was plagued by an invisible demon that could somehow break into homes no matter how much security was in place. I found it fascinating because I had only heard of demons doing this but had never seen it myself. Shippo informed the group that it was most likely a part of demon magic and vowed he'd be the one to get the demon. This prompted an argument between him and InuYasha. When I saw Miroku and the Exorcist leaving, I ran to join them only to be followed by the others soon after. When we got to one of the richest homes in the village, Madame Exorcist suggested we split into teams to cover more ground and somehow I ended up with Sango, Shippo, and The Exorcist. Honestly, I'm happy it was split that way because I don't think I could've taken another argument between Shippo and InuYasha. Soon after our group left Miroku's group, and had reached the house we were guarding; we began talking about the possibility of it being demon magic again. Shippo happily explained about what he knew and even managed to turn himself invisible with the help of Madame Exorcist's sutra charm. Shippo even tested it on Sango, who seemed surprised it had worked. Not too long after that, Shippo, Sango, and Kirara left. They were still invisible so there was no telling what was going to happen. Once they were gone, Madame Exorcist and I sat in awkward silence for some time. I would've taken InuYasha's company over this silence, any day. Finally, the woman spoke, "Are you a half-demon like InuYasha?" The woman at least has eyes, I'll give her that much. "Yes, Madame Exorcist, I am. Might I ask how you know Miroku and the others?" I inquired. "Your friends assisted me with another job, not too long ago," She explained. "I see, and have you been doing this long?" "I did retire for a bit, but my services were in high demand after demons began plaguing the area." At least she's honest. How she's stayed alive as long as she has I don't know. Shortly after our conversation, Shippo returned and said that he thinks it was InuYasha's keen sense of smell that gave him away, but honestly I think it was just the strength of his fox magic. He is quite small and weak for a demon, not that I would ever mention that to him. As Shippo was explaining what happened, Sango returned, as well. She looked defeated and I was too afraid to ask why. After we had settled back in, Madame Exorcist explained that we were guarding the family heirloom, which happened to be a priceless scroll. Apparently, this 'invisible demon' was taking priceless scrolls and rolls of silk, which I found rather odd. After we had our full assignment we began to prepare.

Shippo and I stayed at the house, while Sango and Madame Exorcist went to go investigate the grounds. Shippo and I had been separated to cover more ground, but I wasn't too happy with the idea of leaving the kid alone. He wasn't the strongest of demons, and even if he could turn himself invisible, I didn't know how long that would last. Not too long after Sango and the Exorcist had left, I felt a demonic aura but couldn't tell from exactly where it was coming from, that is until I caught an unfamiliar scent. About that time, I heard a crash in Shippo's section of the home and took off running. I found him just in time to watch the demon turn paper-thin and then disappear. I caught its scent and was about to go for the demon when InuYasha jumped down seemingly out of nowhere causing me to jump back. He had picked up Shippo and placed him on a tree branch. I had caught sight of the demon again but lost it almost as quickly. I followed its scent, just before it could get away and grabbed it at the same time InuYasha did. When we asked what to do with the demon, Madame Exorcist suggested we let him go as long as the demon returned everything he had taken. The demon agreed and led us to his cave. InuYasha, Shippo, Kagome and I stayed outside the cave and waited for the others to come out. If Shippo and InuYasha hadn't started in on each other again, it would've been a nice morning. The demon left shortly after showing us his cave and agreed to stay away from humans from now on. Once we returned the treasures to their rightful owners, we departed the village after giving the Exorcist a wish of safe travels. I think all of us knew she needed it.