Chapter 4 - worring

Shigure was beginning to get worried about Tohru. Not so much Yuki and Kyou, but he did worry about his little housewife. He knew that Yuki and Kyou could take care of themselves. Tohru, however, was good at taking care of others, but when it came to herself, she was hopeless.
He didn't know why he was worrying like this either. Call it a dog's intuition, maybe. He knew that dogs had a sixth sense when it came to people they liked. Maybe this feeling wasn't just because he was hungry and wanted Tohru's great cooking. Maybe…
No, Tohru had to be all right. He had to keep his mind off of this somehow. He decided to call Ayame. That was always a good pastime. He called the shop first, then he realized it was a Sunday and it would be closed, which would explain the utter lack of the phone being answered. He called Ayame's house phone. The snake picked up on the fourth ring.
“Hello?”
“Aya!”
“Shigure!” Aya immediately started babbling about his own life, and how wonderful everything was. That was Ayame for you, though. It was good to hear Aya, with his happy-go-lucky personality, and it lightened his own mood as well, if only on the surface. Suddenly, Ayame stopped right in the middle of a story about one particular customer. “Gure-chan, is something wrong?”
Count on Ayame to figure it out. Nobody knew Shigure better than Aya, not even Akito. Speaking of which, he should really go visit Akito sometime soon; he hadn't seen the god in quite some time. But the present was more pressing than the future, and Tohru was what was important. “Well, I just have this… feeling.” His eyes fell to the sheet of paper by the phone. It had the phone number and address of Tohru's cousin on it. Why didn't he just call there? “Can I call you back in a minute? There's something I need to do.”
He hesitated, considering trying to convince Shigure to tell him what was going on now, or demanding the dog tell him when he called back. “Well, of course, but you have to tell me what's going on!” Aya whined.
Shigure laughed and agreed readily. He hung up and dialed the number immediately. An old man picked up on the third ring. “This is the Higarashi Shrine--”
Shigure interrupted, “Hello. Is this Tohru-chan's sick cousin's house?”
A brief pause. “Yes.” For some reason, the old man seemed hesitant. Shigure brushed it off.
“Is Tohru there?”
“Actually, it's strange. Tohru-chan left shortly after arriving.”
A chill ran up Shigure's spine. “Yes, thank you. Good-bye.” He hung up without a further word. He had to find Tohru. He looked at the address. The bus ride would have been long, but if they had only been there a moment, they would have either called him to tell him what they were doing, or came straight home. Either way, they would be here by now, or they would have called.
Maybe he was jumping to conclusions. Maybe he should run it by Hatori. He was the most rational person he knew. Surely, the dragon would know what to do. He dialed Hatori's number. Hatori picked up. “What is it?” he demanded in his usual, harsh way.
Hatori's cold-heartedness just rolled off of Shigure like water. He plunged right into his reason for calling. “It's about Tohru…” he said slowly. “She went to visit her cousin, but I just called over there, and she isn't there. Apparently, she left quite some time ago, and she should be back by now.”
Hatori considered, but it did not take him long to do so. “Wait another hour,” Hatori advised. The dog had been expecting that. “If she isn't home by then, call me again, and we'll go pick her up.”
“Right.” Hatori hung up on him. Shigure set the phone down. Should he really wait another hour? He really was worried about Tohru, but maybe they had just gone to the store? Hatori was right, anyway. They should wait at least another hour. He called Ayame.

*****

“That's Rin,” Sango said, pointing toward said child. Did that mean that Sesshomaru and that green thing were around too? If that was the case, though, maybe Sesshomaru could kill this thing and they wouldn't have to. Of course, Inuyasha would throw a fit, but Sango would secretly have no problems with that.
“And the youkai is heading right for her!” Miroku said, stating the obvious like all anime characters tend to do, for whatever reason.
Should they rescue the girl? The answer was obvious, and it didn't look like Inuyasha's brother was around anyway, or he would have acted by now. Rin looked up, frozen in place as the demon dove down for her, ready to swallow her. Inuyasha darted out from the forest, grabbing the girl around the waist with his free arm and jumping backwards into the forest again, using the trees to his advantage. The youkai hissed in anger, and turned toward him, preparing to go on the offensive again.
“Sango!” Inuyasha yelled. Kirara swooped down low. “Take the kid and go back to the village.”
Rin regained her ability to move again. She stuttered for a moment before words formed. “But… But… Sesshomaru-sama…” she said, looking around anxiously.
“That bastard isn't around,” Inuyasha muttered. Figures--the one time when his brother being nearby would be useful (“useful” as in Inuyasha wouldn't feel inclined to play babysitter so the girl didn't get eaten), he wasn't around. He passed Rin to Sango. Miroku tried to protest at being left behind while Inuyasha risked his life, but one look from Sango shut him up. The priority right now was to protect—both Tohru, and their new and temporary charge. If they just left Rin, the thing would eat her, and they couldn't fight it off; their attacks didn't work.
The beast seemed to consider pursuing its snack, then lost interest and continued on, either because it decided it couldn't catch Kirara or because some of Naraku's poisonous insects were buzzing around its head. The youkai snapped at them, but continued on.
Inuyasha leaped after him. It had to have a weak point. Everyone and everything alive had a weak point. He just had to find it, wherever it was. He was sure that that was all there was to it—finding it, then hitting it. He could do it. He always had before.
Once he found it, he could defeat that thing and get the girl back for Kagome. Also, this demon would lead him straight to Naraku!
He attacked it randomly as he pursued it, hunting for some kind of chink, or break or something… He leaped up again, this time aiming for an arm. He didn't notice when it slipped through a glowing barrier. Then he slammed into the barrier, face first. He twitched, then tumbled to the ground, landing with an ominous thud. The only solace he had in this great indignity was that no one had been around to see it.
“Ugh…” he moaned. He lifted his head and glared at the barrier. It seemed to be mocking him. Its obnoxious glow was like a quiet chuckle, laughing at him for running into it. He swung the Red Tessaiga at the barrier. It seemed to shudder, and made a semi-whirlpool effect, but other than that… Nothing at all. He wanted to slam his head into a tree. No way he'd come all this way for nothing! But, he needed Kagome here to help him bring down this barrier. Together, they could break it. But he needed her arrows. He cursed himself for leaving her at the village. He sheathed Tessaiga and ran back through the forest. He was getting tired, though.
He had run a long ways, but at least now he knew where Naraku was. He just had to get the others and go back. He was sure they could break through it together.
He just hoped it wasn't too late for that girl.

*****

The nameless youkai half-dropped Tohru in front of Kagura. She looked at her. “This isn't her,” she growled.
“She fits the description,” the demon growled back.
“Go back and get the real one.”
“What about this one, then?” he said, eyeing poor, cowering Tohru hungrily. Her eyes widened. She thought she might faint. It was going… to eat her?
“I don't care. Eat her.”
The demon was just about to do so when Naraku chose to make his dramatic appearance. “Don't do that,” he said. The demon stopped, hovering over a very pale Tohru, who looked like she was about to burst in to tears and start screaming again—a sound that the demon was beginning to loathe. “We can use her as bait. Inuyasha was still trying to get her back, and they'll bring the miko with them when they return.”
Kagura turned and walked away, suddenly bored, like always. The demon growled at Tohru, but turned and walked away, getting ready to take off again. He half-expected Naraku to tell him to stay and eat Inuyasha, but he didn't, so the demon merely flew away.
Time for lunch…
And, no, it had no intentions of eating Rin anymore

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