Kaya's Story (An InuYasha Fanfic)

Chapter 94: Ryu Meets the Group

The next morning, I woke up with my head leaned sideways. I opened my eyes to find my head resting on InuYasha's shoulder, so I quickly moved. "Good morning," I stated in a startled tone. "Good morning, Kaya," Lady Kaede greeted from her place at the fire. Normally I wouldn't have been as embarrassed but given recent circumstances, I didn't feel like this was a good thing. After a few minutes, InuYasha stood up. "Where are you going, InuYasha?" I questioned. "He's going to Kagome's world," Shippo chimed in. InuYasha didn't reply, he just left without a word. I hope he doesn't do anything stupid. "Kaya, you're not going with him?" Miroku asked. "No, why would I?" I questioned. Everyone, but Lady Kaede was looking at me strangely, causing me to start laughing. "I think of him as a brother, nothing more and nothing less. We understand each other, is all. I spent a lot of time with him when I lived here with Lady Kikyo as a child. That's probably why I do some of the things I do." "You lived here?" Shippo asked. "Yeah, 50 years ago. I was not much bigger than you, Shippo, when I came here," I explained. "So, there's nothing between you and InuYasha?" Miroku questioned. I shook my head, "of course not." "So, why were you two talking so late last night?" Sango asked. "Oh, I apologized to him for the 'sit' command," I stated with a smile. Everyone was a lot more at ease when I explained that, why I don't know. It wasn't long before they were carrying on a conversation about this and that. It was nice to see them like this, even though only a couple of days ago things weren't quite so peaceful. About Noon, I heard yelling towards the center of the village. "I'll be right, stay here," I told the group before grabbing Tenkari and running out.

When I got to the center of the village, I found Ryu surrounded by a bunch of male villagers. They weren't threatening him, but they were being rather harsh about asking his intentions. "Ryu, I thought I told you to go home," I stated rather loudly. Several of the village men turned around, "Kaya, I'm surprised to see you," one stated. Then that caused the others to turn towards me, "you know this fox demon?" "Yes, and he's like me and InuYasha, so if you don't mind I'll take it from here," I told them in the most commanding voice I had. I'm glad they decided letting me have him was their best bet. When he walked up to me, he hugged me, and I returned it. "Come on," I told him, "I have some people you will want to meet."

It didn't take us very long to get to Lady Kaede's hut. When we did, everyone looked between Ryu and me; probably trying to figure out what was going on. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet, Ryu," I told them with a smile. "Ryu, these are my friends," I introduced. Everyone introduced themselves, Ryu and Shippo got along the best; something that I knew would happen. After introductions were out of the way, everyone started asking Ryu questions. He took those questions and explained that he was a half-fox demon from a village of half-demons. Then he explained that he had come here looking for me because I hadn't been to the said village for a couple of months and he was worried. Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Lady Kaede figured out that the Village of Half-Demons was where I would sneak off to when Kagome returned home. Ryu also told them that I had told him everything that had been happening since my return to this world. That was fun to explain, especially since I had to add that I had saved him from Naraku before. I decided not to go into detail about that one, some things are better left private. After that, we began talking normally, and it seemed that Ryu was enjoying himself. That was until he grabbed my hand and I jerked it away, causing him to glance at me with confusion. "I'm going for a walk I'll be back in a bit," I informed the group before leaving. Ryu didn't follow me out much to my relief because I still had things I needed to work through. He was still trying to play things off like they had returned to normal when we both knew they weren't. When I was clear of the village I took off running into the forest to be alone. If I was going to stay by Ryu, I needed to get my mind cleared and calm down. This is easier said than done. I felt better after I had punched a tree so many times the bark was starting to fall off in that place. "Kaya, can I talk to you?" Ryu asked from behind me. I turned towards him, "only if you come out of hiding." I gripped my hand so he wouldn't see anything when he came out. "You're friends are nice. Why did you never tell them about me or the Village?" He questioned. "It wasn't my place to tell them. I don't live in the Village, but you do," I told him. Ryu looked at me with sad eyes, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Chiyoko. I know I should have but I couldn't find the right words." "If you don't mind me asking, when did it happen?" "Shortly after you returned. I didn't want too but Father thought it would be better for me to marry another fox like myself," Ryu explained. "I see, so you came out here to tell me that?" I questioned. "No, I came to tell you that Father changed his mind after Chiyoko decided to try to fight you. He said what you did was noble, and he respected it." "You're serious? The engagement is off?" He nodded, "that's what I wanted to tell you last night. We both got a little carried away." "We did, I'm sorry, Ryu, for what I said last night. I shouldn't have said those things," I stated, apologetically. I hadn't noticed that with each word Ryu had been inching closer until our noses were only inches apart. "I'm sorry too. I caught InuYasha's scent and got jealous and angry because when you're with him you always go head-first into danger." With this last sentence, he bridged the gap and our lips met. The kiss was just as magical as the first, but much longer this time. We pulled away to breathe and Ryu grabbed my hand; both of us smiling brightly. The wind blew and I caught the scents of my friends, "you guys can come out now." All of them came out from behind several trees not too far away causing me to giggle slightly. We all walked back to the hut together, Ryu and I walked hand in hand with the others not too far behind blushing madly. That will teach them to eavesdrop.

A couple of days later, I decided to take Ryu home before InuYasha and Kagome got back. Unfortunately, I didn't realize they would be back as soon as they were, so Ryu was still here. Kagome was happy to finally meet Ryu after our conversation before I left the Modern Era. After that, I said my good-byes, got the direction to head in and left hand in hand with Ryu in the direction of the Village of Half-Demons.