Chapter Ten of "Kon'ichi's Story by Melinda-chan

I like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. While I feel that my story could use a few more reviews, I'm still happy with what I've got so far. I'm touched by the fact that you all care for Kon'ichi. That pleases me, as this means people are really interested in my story.

Now that's done with, let this chapter begin!

Sesshoumaru, in the meantime, was walking toward the woods with Jaken, Rin and Ah and Un when he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin questioned.

"Do you sense something, my lord?" Jaken asked.

"Jaken, Rin, stay here," Sesshoumaru said. "I alone shall enter the forest."

"Does something bad lives there, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin questioned.

"No," Sesshoumaru replied. "I'm just going to check on something." He then walked into the forest, leaving them both behind.

"Don't be too long, my lord!" Jaken shouted. Sesshoumaru didn't reply, but moved a little faster once he entered the forest.

'She's here somewhere' the dog demon thought. He then looked up to see if he could spot any leaf sprites, which would be a sure sign of her presence.

'Is she hiding from me?' Sesshoumaru thought. She would've known that he could smell her if that was the case. He then walked further into the forest.

'I'm smelling her, but it's faint,' he thought. 'Is this a false scent or has she simply vanished?' All of a sudden a leaf sprite appeared before him. It then flew upward.

'A leaf sprite,' the dog demon thought. 'Maybe it can lead me to her.' He then ran after it. The leaf sprite took him to an empty patch in the forest.

At the far end was Nari, her back toward Sesshoumaru. A group of leaf sprites surrounded her, as if to protect her against something or was it someone?

"You were here all along, were you?" Sesshoumaru said. She then turned to look at him, and then let out a noise that didn't sound very friendly.

"I don't know about everything that happened to you, but do you really believe that the humans would worship you forever?" the dog demon said. Nari uttered nothing in reply, but her eyes were still focused intensely on him.

"You may be the one that ensured that they have plenty of rice every year, but do you really think that they want you around forever? A demon as their guardian?" Sesshoumaru's voice was starting to sound bitter but Nari still said nothing.

"Do you really think that you can just take a human, have a baby with him and believe that you and your child would be accepted by those humans?" Sesshoumaru said, his eyes glowing a light red. Nari then narrowed her eyes.

"Are you just going to stare at me like that?" Sesshoumaru asked. She then turned her head away from him. "If you're concerned about your child, if he is really your progeny, you wouldn't allow him to be harmed." Nari then went to the ground and put her right hand on her head, as if she was ignoring him. The dog demon took note of this.

'Is she ignoring me on purpose?' Sesshoumaru thought. 'Perhaps I should try a more direct approach.'

"Nari, do you really think that humans and demons can live with one another?" Sesshoumaru asked. That perked up her ears. She then looked back at him and uttered an inquisitive sound.

"If you're wondering that I was thinking about my father, then you should know that I'm not that low as to get worked up over something from the past," Sesshoumaru said. Nari then stood up and walked over to him. "What are you going to-" She then hugged him.

All of a sudden, the dog demon felt a link forming between them. He then realized what had just happened- Nari had created a bond between them and now his every feeling, memory and thought was now opened to her. That made him even more defensive than before.

"I thought so," Nari said. She wasn't speaking, of course, but he could hear her every thought. He knew it was because of the bond, and it made even more guarded.

"What are you talking about?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"I could smell a scent of a human on you," Nari "told" him. At that, the dog demon realized that she was talking about Rin.

"Do you really believe that I can't let her go?" the dog demon said. All of a sudden, a flurry of leaf sprites came and blocked his view. When they disappeared, she was gone.

'So she left,' Sesshoumaru thought. He then thought of Jaken and Rin. 'There's no need to be here any longer, so I shall go now.' He then did just so.

Meanwhile, the Inu-Yasha company was walking on a grassy plain. Kagome was thinking as she followed Inu-Yasha.

'I hope that Kon'ichi-kun is okay,' Kagome thought. 'He was getting very bad and if he became human, it could even kill him!' She then saw that Inu-Yasha had stopped. "What is it?"

"Kagome, do you sense any jewel shards?" he asked.

"I…don't think so," Kagome answered. She knew by past experiences who or what it was from the number of Shikon shards she sensed. If it was one and moving, it was likely from a person or demon. If it was one and not moving, it was likely in a place or embedded in a tree. If it were two and moving very fast, it was certainly Kouga. If there were more than two shards by now, it was certainly Naraku.

"Are you sure?" Inu-Yasha asked. He was getting very impatient. Kagome wondered if he was thinking about the new moon.

"I don't sense any Shikon shards," Kagome said. The dog hanyou looked back at her and sighed.

"It's possible that Naraku isn't here," Sango said. "Kagura might be here though." Inu-Yasha looked up.

"I can't sense Naraku anywhere," Inu-Yasha said. He then perked up his ears. "But I do sense a bad aura."

"I do too," Shippo said. Kirara transformed into her big self. Sango went beside her and petted her.

"It's okay," Sango said to her. Kirara growled.

"Who is it?" Kagome asked. She couldn't see anyone else beside them anywhere.

"Not good…" Inu-Yasha said. He then drew his sword. "Whoever you are, come on out!" Kagome looked at Shippo. He looked very nervous. At least Kon'ichi wasn't here now.

A black form then came out of the sky and headed right for the group.

"Watch out!" Inu-Yasha shouted. Everyone then jumped back or sideways to dodge the attack. The attack hit about four inches from Inu-Yasha's feet.

"That bastard!" the dog hanyou shouted. The black form then changed into an old monk.

'A shape-shifting demon!' Miroku thought. 'I can't sense any of his powers, but he has to be a powerful demon to conceal his powers like that!'

"You're the houshi, aren't you?" the "monk" asked. "You have the scent of my mistress' foe. I must destroy you!" At that, he started running at Miroku.

"Everyone, stand back!" Miroku yelled. "You too, Inu-Yasha! I know that he works for Tamamo-no-mae! We don't know what else he can do!" He then took out a few o-fudas.

"Kukukuku" the other "monk" said. "Do you really think those things would work on me? I've killed many of your kind before you, and the fact that Nari had chosen you to be a partial host makes me even more determined to kill you!"

"Your master has been destroyed," Miroku said. "If you want to kill me or Nari, you only show your hatred to the world!"

"So be it!" the "monk" said. "Revenge shall be mine!"

"I shall expose your weakness right now!" Miroku said. He then put his hand into the inner folds of his kesa (robe) as he continued to run.

"What is he doing?" Kagome asked.

"I think I know," Shippo replied. "What can expose a kitsune's magic?"

"I don't know" Kagome said. "I assume that you do?"

"I do," Shippo said. Miroku then pulled the item out from his robe.

"Mirror!" Miroku yelled. All of a sudden, a flash appeared. The "monk" turned into a small, white kitsune with red eyes and five long, white tails. He then snarled at Miroku.

"The mirror reveals the kitsune's true form," Shippo told them. "If it looks at the mirror, it loses its transformation powers. A mirror can only reflect what it sees."

"I see," Kagome said. The evil kitsune then unfurled its tails and a bunch of black balls came out of it. "It's going to attack us again!"

"Everyone, stand back!" Miroku ordered. "I have a way that will defend us against them!" He then took a charm out of his robe. "I shall exorcise this demon from this world!" He then threw the charm at the kitsune as it unleashed its black balls.

"Everyone, dodge them!" Shippo shouted. Everyone got away from the black balls. The balls sizzled as they hit the ground.

"Here it comes!" Miroku said. He then threw an o-fuda (paper talisman) at the white kitsune. Distracted by the charm that was just thrown at him, it failed to see the o-fuda in time to dodge it.

The fox spirit screamed as the o-fuda hit its head. Yellow fire and then black smoke came out of the kitsune. When it finally cleared, there was nothing left of it anywhere.

"Where did it go?" Kagome asked.

"Did it…disappear?" Sango said. Miroku then went to where the evil kitsune was and picked up the charm.

"What did you do, bouzu?" Inu-Yasha asked. "That was some powerful charm you got."

"It wasn't the charm that did it" Miroku said. "It was the sutra in the o-fuda that did it."

"The o-fuda?" Sango asked.

"Yes" Miroku said. "When I met Nari, she didn't just gave me a bond between me and her. She gave me some knowledge too. I now know how to expel evil fox spirits. No offense, Shippo."

"As long as you don't place them on me," the young kitsune said.

"We got to go now," Inu-Yasha said. "At least we don't have to worry about those kitsunes anymore."

'Not now anyway,' Miroku thought. All of a sudden a buzzing sound was heard.

"Don't tell me what I think it is!" Shippo said.

"Shit!" Inu-Yasha said. "Naraku's been following us! Now he knows where we are!"

"Are they just spying on us?" Shippo asked.

"I don't think that's it" Inu-Yasha said. "But if Naraku's close by, I'm going to find him and kill that bastard!" He then ran toward the wasps. "Well, are you going to go to him?"

"I think Inu-Yasha has lost it," Shippo said. Kagome, Miroku and Sango all nodded.

"What are you waiting for?" Inu-Yasha yelled back. "Let's try to find him and kill him!"

"That wouldn't be necessary, Inu-Yasha," a dark voice spoke. A cold wind then blew from the west. Everyone then looked at the source of the voice. It was a baboon figure.

"YOU!" Inu-Yasha said in his usual rude form. He didn't go any closer- they've been tricked by Naraku so many times before that Inu-Yasha was too hesitant to attack him.

"Kukuku…" the baboon said. "If you're looking for Nari, then I'm afraid that she's busy."

"Busy doing what?" Inu-Yasha asked. Miroku looked at the baboon with an unnatural look in his eyes.

"I have already given her a tainted jewel shard," the baboon said. "Its malice and hatred will find root in her heart and will sow a dark seed, spreading its poison like rivulets through her soul. A corrupted, dark god she'll become and she'll then kill every human in this area."

"I don't think she's that stupid," Inu-Yasha said. "I mean, she already knows who you are."

"Ah, but I didn't come to her in my original form," the baboon said. "This disguise does seem to surpass even her senses. I simply suggested to her that the jewel shard she found would enable her to increase her powers. I don't know where she founded it, but as long as she's going to kill the humans I don't care if she borrows it for a while."

'He's planning to steal it after she killed all of the humans!' Kagome thought. 'We got to find Nari and tell her about this!'

"You really think that she'll kill everyone?" Inu-Yasha said. "Even if she did, we'll deal with her like we'll deal with you!" At that, the baboon laughed.

"Kukuku" the baboon said. "If you can destroy me, then you can deal with her." He then let out a black mist.

"Inu-Yasha, it's-" Miroku started to say.

"I know!" Inu-Yasha said. He then took out his sword, which then transformed into the fang. He then swung it hard on the ground. "BACKLASH WAVE!" The yellow energy dashed right at the baboon. It then struck the baboon; both then disappeared along with the black mist.

The wooden doll then plopped right on the ground.

"Why am I not surprised?" Miroku said as he picked up the wooden doll. "At least we know that he is around here. Do you think we should go on, Inu-Yasha?" He then looked at Inu-Yasha. "Inu-Yasha?" Everyone now looked at the dog hanyou, who was looking up at the sky.

'The sun will be going down in an hour or so,' Kagome thought. 'Maybe we should settle down for the night.' She then spoke up. "Why don't we just stay here instead and wait until morning? I don't sense any jewel shards nearby."

"Fine" Inu-Yasha said, putting his sword back. "But I'm keeping watch."

"You always keep watch when you become human," Shippo said.

"Naraku don't come to us when the new moon's out, so we can just get a rest for this night at least," Miroku said.

"You're right," Inu-Yasha said. "But I know that other demons will cause trouble. They always do."

"It's hard to dispute that," Miroku said, sighing.

"If that's settled, then why don't we get ready while the sun's up? I got everyone's favourite treats!" Kagome said. At that, everyone then went to her, so they all settled down before sunset.

While they did so, a certain kitsune hanyou was looking out from the cave. He was almost at the end, watching the sun as it went down.

"Go down, go down, go down…" Kon'ichi chanted at the sky. The sun couldn't go down fast enough for him.

'I want to go out! Hurry, sun!' Kon'ichi thought. He then saw the pinkish sun (it was late summer) go down at last. He then stood up and closed his eyes.

The first thing that changed was his red hair. It was now black. His nails were now short, and his fangs were replaced with regular teeth. His black eyes now looked at the dark sky, the stars being the only things visible. He then walked outside.

'I'm free!' Kon'ichi thought. 'I'm finally free!' He then saw the leaf sprites, which now looked like streams of glittering green light in the sky.

"I want to go to my home village" Kon'ichi said. "Can you take me there?" The leaf sprites then flew off, with a now fully human Kon'ichi following them.

End of Chapter Ten

Kon'ichi, now a human boy, is on his way to his home village, but what reception will he get once he's there? Will the Inu-Yasha group find Naraku? And what of Nari and Sesshoumaru? There are three more chapters to go, so please read on. Inu-Yasha was created by Rumiko Takahashi. Please don't forget to review!