Inuyasha: The Story Continues

Chapter 12: The New Curse

Izayoi's POV

Kaede gave me a long lecture about going into danger and almost getting myself killed fighting Naraku. Then she sighed, knowing that she couldn't stop me and then wished me luck on my journey.

We continued our quest westward, heading towards Master Muchine's place to see him. Ayuma didn't like the idea of seeing the drunken monk but we had no choice.

It took several hours but we soon found Master Muchine's home. Hachi was outside sweeping when we arrived. "Oh, hello." Hachi greeted when he saw us.

"Hi Hachi," I said. "Is Master Muchine here?"

"Yes, he's inside." Hachi told us.

"Is he drunk?" Ayuma questioned.

Hachi sighed. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Maybe we should come back another time then." Shippo suggested.

"No, we must speak to Master Muchine immediately." Mochigo said.

We all walked inside to see Muchine sleeping on the ground, snoring with some alcohol on the floor. Mochigo got on one knee and tried to shake Muchine awake. "Master Muchine?" he asked. "Can you hear me?"

Muchine's eyes opened a little bit and then he sat himself up. He looked over Mochigo and said, "Oh Miroku, it's good to see you my boy. But have you gotten smaller?"

Mochigo had a sweatdrop form behind his head. "I'm Mochigo."

"Oh Mochigo, good to see you." Muchine said as he slapped a hand on Mochigo's back.

Ayuma coughed, catching Muchine's attention. "We need to talk to you about something very important Muchine." she said bluntly.

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"Oh, you mean to say that Naraku has come back?" Muchine asked as he listened to the story.

"Yes," I said. "And we have reason to believe that Naraku has kidnapped our parents as well."

"Well that is troubling," Muchine said. "But I have yet to hear of anything involving Naraku."

"Then it might be a good idea to head West tomorrow." Ayuma instructed.

Suddenly, Mochigo collapsed to the floor and started screaming in pain. Ayuma and Kayuma rushed to their brother's side immediately. "Mochigo, what's wrong?!" Kayuma asked with concern and fear in her voice.

"M-m-my hand hurt!" he said with pain present.

Muchine looked down at Mochigo's hand and his face went pale. He quickly got up and left the room and went to grab something. I looked down at Mochigo's hand and was shocked to see that there was a hole forming in his hand. A small wind was sort-of pulling at me but it didn't actually do any damage.

A few moments later, Muchine came back with some cloth and some sacred beads. "Hold him still," he instructed Ayuma and Kayuma. The twins held Mochigo still as Muchine began work on Mochigo's hand. Several minutes later, a glove was over Mochigo's hand and he was panting heavily. "There. Now carry him to bed."

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I paced outside the room where Mochigo was resting. He had been asleep for several hours and was still resting. "Izayoi, pacing around isn't going to help Mochigo." Shippo told me.

"I know," I said. "But what else can I do? I'm worried about him. It's hard to believe a wind tunnel has formed in his hand."

"Well Muchine said that the lines on Mochigo's hand showed that it was a new curse," Shippo said. "Meaning Miroku's not dead. Well, maybe."

I sighed and sat on the floor and tried to think.

3rd Person's POV

Ayuma sat down, biting her nails viciously until they were down to their stubs. "Ayuma, if you keep doing that, you'll mess up your nails." Kayuma told her.

"Well what else am I suppose to do?!" Ayuma said. "Mochigo is out cold!."

"Calm down," Kayuma reassured her. "It won't help anyone of you keep worrying yourself, not yourself, not Mochigo."

Ayuma sighed and looked at her sleeping brother. He was sound asleep but that worried her. What if something was severely wrong? What if this new curse on Mochigo was worse than the one that had been placed on her Father? Ayuma knew of the stories of how her Mother couldn't protect her own younger brother and how he had almost gotten killed because of it.

Mochigo began to stir in his sleep and his sisters went to check on him right away. "Mochigo, are you okay?" Kayuma asked.

The young man's eyes opened slowly and he looked at his sisters with a weak smile. "So you've stayed by my side," Mochigo said with a tired voice. "I'm glad."

"Are you hurt Mochigo?" Ayuma asked.

"No," he told her. "Just tired that's all."

"You should rest then," Kayuma told him. "We'll be leaving in the morning and you need your rest."

Mochigo nodded and then went back to sleep. His sisters did small smiles and then went to sleep themselves along with their friends who were outside.

Naraku has unleashed a new curse onto Mochigo! What will the group do now? Find out next time readers!