Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all related characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I own the plot and my original characters alone.
Summary: Hunting a demon in Sesshoumaru's lands, Sango and the gang meet a young man named Kyo. When he starts traveling with them, why is it that the only one who notices something odd about Kyo is Sesshoumaru? And why is he determined to protect Sango from him?

This is the REVISED chapter 1 of Tactics of Deception. I had been meaning to do it for a while, and so I finally decided to do it properly, so here you go! I’ve fixed some of the grammar, and changed the wording in some places, etc.

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Tactics of Deception

Chapter 1: Tohyama

A lone woman stood on a grassy hill. Her black-brown hair cascaded down her back in a silky wave. Her pink and black battle gear fitted tight to her slim frame, and she held her weapon, a giant boomerang titled Hiraikotsu, steady, tensely. Her big doe eyes darted around furtively, looking for a hidden enemy. She knew something was there, but she could not see it. Little did she know it, but a blood red pair of eyes filled with hatred watched her from the upper branches of tall tree.

“Sango!”

The woman turned, hearing her name. A young girl, about 15 years of age, walked toward her, followed by a boy in red, his dogs ears sticking up from his silver hair, a little, orange-haired fox demon and, in her tiny form, a bright-eyed, two-tailed cat demon. It was the girl who had called out to her.

Sango smiled at them, and her smile widened when she saw who came behind them: Miroku. Dressed in black and purple, his staff by his side, the monk provided a deceptively calm and nurturing image.

“What are you doing?” the girl, Kagome, asked her friend earnestly. “We just sat down to have lunch when suddenly you were gone!”

“I sensed something,” Sango replied quietly.

“Oh,” Kagome said softly, and closed her eyes. A moment later, her eyes snapped open and she declared, “I don’t sense a jewel shard.”

“It’s still—” Suddenly, there was a rustling from the big tree Sango stood under. Instantly alert, Sango hurled the Hiraikotsu, but the creature had already disappeared. “—here,” Sango finished dejectedly. After looking around in examination, making sure the creature was truly gone, she sighed, “Never mind.”

Inuyasha, the dog-eared boy in red, shrugged and told his companions, “It's gone now. So let's just go back and eat already!”

“Okay. I brought ramen,” Kagome said cheerily, very much aware and prepared for the reaction her words would earn.

The one-word sentence Kagome had been expecting came without fail.

“Ramen!” Inuyasha yelped, and beside him, the girl let out a chuckle. “Why didn’t you say so?” He grabbed Kagome and Shippo, the little fox demon, and sped back to the camp, leaving Sango and Miroku alone.

After a few moments, Miroku broke the silence that spread comfortably around the two by stepping closer to the taijiya and asking kindly, “Are you coming, Sango?”

Sango smiled warmly and replied, “Yes, houshi-sama.”

“Good,” he said, grinning at her. Furtively, or so he thought, Miroku’s hand stretched toward Sango’s butt.

SMACK!

“Houshi-sama,” Sango muttered angrily. She glared at him and noted with satisfaction how big and red the handprint on his cheek was.

He sighed sadly. It was worth a shot, the houshi thought. Sango glared at him, as if she could read his mind, and stalked back to the camp. Miroku followed dejectedly. They returned to the campsite to find Inuyasha ordering Kagome to give him more ramen.

Annoyed, Kagome told him that there wasn’t any more. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, convinced that she was lying (he told her so, and it took all her self-control not to sit him), and snatched her big yellow backpack. He sifted through it, eventually discovering that she was telling the truth. The hanyou muttered something inaudible that was undoubtedly a curse on Kagome and sat back on his haunches.

“Sorry, Inuyasha,” Kagome said. She glanced up at Sango, and, when she did, there was a twinkle in her eye. “What took you so long, Sango?” Kagome asked, sounding a little too sly and mischievous to be completely innocent.

Though it took her a moment to realize what her friend meant, Sango flushed crimson at the insinuation. “Nothing happened, Kagome,” the taijiya insisted, and knelt next to Kagome. Her friend sighed, but Sango wasn’t done. “Nothing,” she said quietly, too quietly for Miroku to hear, “will ever happen.”

Kagome frowned, and pulling Sango onto her butt into the dirt, she exclaimed determinedly, a little too loud for Sango’s liking, “Of course it will. You don’t know what’s going to happen! He obviously favors you over other women. He likes you, Sango!”

“Yeah, and every other woman on the planet,” Sango retorted, snorting.

Kagome sighed at the obvious dilemma and offered Sango a rice ball. “I would give you some ramen, except Mr. Greedy here”—she scowled pointedly at Inuyasha—“ate it all.”

“You guys know that we’re right next to that old hag’s village, right?” Inuyasha asked to change the subject; he knew very well that Kagome would be angered by Inuyasha’s ‘nickname’ for Kaede and forget around the ramen situation. Indeed, she turned on him angrily, and he dropped her bag in the dirt, oblivious to the fact that this would only annoy her further. “It’s right over that hill,” he said to the fuming girl, jerking his head to the right.

After sitting Inuyasha for his rudeness, Kagome exclaimed brightly to the rest of her friends, “We should stop by and say hello. I’m sure Kaede-san would enjoy the visit!”

“Good idea,” Miroku exclaimed. He smiled and stood up, ecstatic at the prospect of staying somewhere warm and comfortable for the night. Kagome, Inuyasha and Shippo followed suit and all but Inuyasha—who ran on ahead to avoid the cleaning—began to tidy up.

“That lazy jerk,” Kagome muttered. “We haven’t even cleaned up yet. Inuyasha!” she bellowed after his fleeing form. “Get back here!”

It was no use, of course. So, the group, without Inuyasha’s help, set to cleaning away their stuff. Kagome opened up her huge pack and rolled up her sleeping bag. Stuffing the luxury inside it, the 15-year-old turned to pick up the remains of their lunch. Kagome hummed as she picked up the cup that had once held ramen noodles, and tossed it into the black garbage bag she had brought with her. Miroku cleared away his things and the blanket he had used to sleep under. Shippo eagerly handed Kagome her other blanket, and looked to where Inuyasha had almost disappeared around a corner in the road.

“Wait up, Inuyasha!” Shippo squeaked. He and the two-tailed cat demon from earlier, Kirara, ran after the hanyou, Kagome following close behind. Miroku trailed slowly after her, and then they both realized that Sango hadn’t moved to at all; she still sat on the grass where she had been talking to Kagome, staring blankly ahead.

Miroku paused and looked back at the taijiya. “Are you all right, Sango?”

Sango snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the houshi, flushing when she realized they had already cleaned up and was about to leave. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “I’m just thinking of the presence I sensed this morning.”

“Maybe Kaede-san will tell us something of interest that could be related to your mysterious presence,” Miroku suggested as he walked over and offered Sango a helpful hand.

Sango took it reluctantly, closing watching the houshi’s other hand. For once, nothing happened, and she relaxed and allowed him to pull her up. “Thanks, houshi-sama.” Sango smiled at him, and they walked alone down the road; their friends had gone on ahead. But just before Sango and Miroku rounded the nearby bend, they heard Kagome’s surprised yelp up ahead.

Sango charged forward, wondering what was going on and ready to unhitch the Hiraikotsu. “Kagome!” she hollered, scurrying around the corner and stopping short at the sight before her.

Miroku hurried after her, and as he rounded the bend he nearly crashed into Sango, who had stopped upon seeing a humongous demon in their path. It held the hapless Kagome in one hand, and was squeezing. She let out a groan of agony and went limp in the demon’s hold soon after.

“Kagome!” Shippo called out shrilly and jumped from his position off to the side, where he had formerly been shrieking in fear. “Fox fire!” he bellowed, and his attack hit its target, but it was like a harmless bug’s bite to the demon.

“Kagome!” Inuyasha bellowed from his place at the demon’s foot. He jumped up toward her, letting out a roar of, “Sankon Tessou!” The hanyou’s claws struck the demon’s forearm, severing the hand that held Kagome. It crashed to the ground, and Inuyasha continued pummeling the demon. “Sango!” he called back to the taijiya, drawing Tetsusaiga with a toothy smirk. “Take care of Kagome!”

But Sango was already kneeling by her friend, and Shippo sat next to her, almost in tears. “Kagome!” she whispered. Sango gently shook the girl’s shoulders and repeated, “Kagome!”

Miroku came up behind them. “She’s unconscious,” he announced.

“Houshi-sama,” Sango said simply, looking back toward him. She hoisted Kagome up on her shoulders and shouted to Inuyasha, “We’ll go to the village!” Sango started to run forward, but Inuyasha’s cry cut through the air.

“No!”

“Huh?” Sango stopped short and looked back toward Inuyasha. “What?”

“Wait”—he sent the demon to hell with an astounding Wind Scar—“for me!” Inuyasha jumped down beside Sango and all but ripped Kagome off the taijiya. “I’ll carry her.”

“Sure,” Sango said amiably, shrugging. “It doesn’t matter to me.”

But Inuyasha was not listening. He had long since leaped off toward the village.

“Well,” Sango said, looking to Miroku, Kirara and Shippo, who were standing next to her. “Shall we follow, then?” The houshi and the fox kit nodded, Kirara meowed a yes, and the four set off, jogging at an even pace after Inuyasha.

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“Look! She’s awake!” a young man’s voice exclaimed.

“Shh!” a child’s voice cut in.

The man’s voice let out a low growl and snarled, “Don’t shush me, you—”

“Shut up!” a young woman’s voice said sharply, and then there was a pause before the same girl shrieked, “Houshi-sama! Keep your hands to yourself!” A slap followed, and a second young man mumbled something incomprehensible.

“Kagome? Open your eyes, child,” said a familiar, hoarse voice.

Kagome’s eyes opened slowly and groggily, revealing, through very fuzzy and blurred vision, all her friends seated around her. “Where… where am I?” she croaked muzzily.

“My hut,” said the same hoarse voice as before.

Kagome’s head turned slowly to the side and she saw the elderly miko Kaede smiling down at her. “Kaede-san,” she murmured, rubbing her bleary eyes and sitting up. “What happened?”

“I can’t tell ye that exactly,” Kaede said. “All I know is that Inuyasha burst in here, carrying ye. His face was filled with worry, obviously terrified that something horrible happened to ye.”

“Old hag,” Inuyasha growled through gritted teeth. His face was hilariously red, but instead of laughing, Kagome smiled softly at him. He refused to look her in the eye, and stubbornly turned away while Sango and Miroku exchanged a knowing glance.

Kaede shook her head and cleared her throat. The group all turned to her, and she said, “I’m glad you’ve come.”

“What’s wrong, you old hag?” asked Inuyasha. The blush had died down and now he just sounded bored.

Kagome leaned forward in interest. After giving Inuyasha a reproachful glare, she questioned, “What troubles you, Kaede-san?”

“There are tales of a new, shape-shifting demon in the west,” Kaede told them somberly. “It has been killing mercilessly. They call it... Tohyama.”

TBC…

A/N: This is the revised version. I wrote this a while ago, so I’ve progressed greatly since then, and when I looked back at this I was like, ‘EW! This must be fixed!’ And so, I revised it. I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS VERSION!
Well, TTFN! Review please!

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Next time:

Matchmaker

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