Uncontrollable Chapter 5: Quake, an inuyasha fanfic

A/N: Don't hate me

Disclaimer: Never have, never will.

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Falling to her knees from the sudden impact, Sango crawled along the floor, using the wall as support, toward the chaotic throne room.

"Your majesty!"

A few feet in front of her, rubble was pushed away and Sango's attendant, followed by a guard, emerged.

"Kikyo! What's happening?"

"You can't be here," Kikyo insisted, grabbing hold of Sango's forearms.

"But what's happening?" she asked again, desperate for an answer, "Where's Miroku?"

Kikyo shook her head. "We passed him by a few hours ago, but he was on his way to the Pharaoh's chambers."

"The Pharaoh?" Sango asked, alarmed. If not by the anger of the gods, the quaking could be started by someone with magic. There were only a handful of people she knew who possessed that power, and according to Kikyo, two of them had been in the same room when it started. Another rumble began, causing the ground to tremble, and the women held on to each other for support. "Why there?"

"Your Majesty, we need to get away from here."

Sango nodded, and with new determination, pulled Kikyo with her back toward her own chambers.

"Ah! Your Majesty..."

"What is it, Kikyo?"

"Earlier..." she hesitated, tilting her head downward so that her bangs covered her eyes, "When I was talking with Inuyasha..."

"Yes, what of it?"

Kikyo shook her head. "I just want you to know that he saved me, back when the ground began to shake."

Sango cast a quick glance where the guard stood, several feet behind them, with a fierce look settled on the attendant.

"No matter what happens, I do not want you to think badly of him. He is not bad."

Despite Kikyo's conviction, Sango could only feel a creeping sense of foreboding. Rather than voicing these fears, she kept a firm grip on the woman's wrist, and a watchful eye on Inuyasha behind them.

"I would hope so, Kikyo. I would hope so."

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"Kagome, I'm busy."

"I don't know about you," she argued, "but I've read my fair share of books about ancient Egypt. The walking 1000-year-old dead person is never the good guy."

"Look Kagome," Kikyo sighed, impatiently, "I told you this wasn't going to be easy."

"But you never said there would be walking mummies involved!"

It was mid-afternoon and Kikyo had, diligently, been working on her translations under her young cousin arrived with her concerns. It wasn't as though Kikyo didn't want to listen, she just had more important matters to attend to. Hearing the girl voice her fears was only adding to the stress and uneasiness Kikyo already felt.

"Kagome -"

"Kikyo, I'm scared."

Unwilling to admit that very same fact, Kikyo sent her on her way, telling the girl to stay with Shippou and Inuyasha.

"If he gets out of hand, just flash him a few times."

"What am I supposed to do with some guy who can't even speak?" Kagome asked, unaware of the double meaning.

Kikyo shrugged. She was just eager to get back to translating and hear the medical results from Sesshomaru.

"Teach him to play Go Fish."

"Kikyo?" Kikyo turned to find Sango peeking through the flap of her tent. "Do you mind if I sit in here?"

Giving Kagome a final push on her way, Kikyo nodded. "Have a seat. Just try not to make too much noise. There's a lot to be done."

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"So..."

"So."

"He's not dead?"

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes to the sky. Why was he always surrounded by such imbeciles?

"He's moving and breathing."

A blank, partially understanding look was returned to him.

"He's not dead, Miroku."

"But he should be."

"Correct."

"Kagura said the blood was old."

"Correct."

"Ancient old."

"Correct."

"Are you sure she's capable? Forensics isn't really her job."

"I'm extremely capable, thank you."

At that moment, aforementioned lady entered the scene. "In more areas than one. I had some trouble getting him to cooperate, but once Kagome and her camera returned, things went a bit more smoothly."

Miroku nodded as Kagura handed her companion more blood samples from Inuyasha.

"Thank you both."

Sesshomaru shrugged. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm only connected to this because Rin was interested."

Sliding closer to the man, Kagura added, "And I'm here because I'm connected to him."

Sesshomaru, neither for the first nor the last time that evening, rolled his eyes. Imbeciles.

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As night finally fell over the camp, Kikyo and Sango sat alone in Kikyo's tent. Sango held a blunt pencil in her hand, using it to stab around the pendant she had found earlier and into a few random papers in front of her. With each hit, Kikyo flinched, become more and more annoyed at the distraction.

"Sango," she asked, "just what are you doing?"

"Oh... just looking at a few legal things," she replied, somewhat noncommittally. "Crap we don't need to deal with right now."

"Then why are you?"

Sango flushed red, finally snapping the pencil tip, "So I don't have to deal with that imbecile."

Setting down her pen on the desk, Kikyo placed her fingers over her eyes, trying to rid herself of the exhaustion.

"How did you end up with him if you loathe him so much?"

"A cruel, cruel twist of fate," Sango shivered.

"How so?"

"Well, my father was an archaeologist as well. I supposed that how I became interested. Anyway, when it came time for me to begin my fieldwork, I ended up getting sick and missing the flight. My father had been working with Miroku's family for some time by then, so he set it up so that I could work alongside him."

"His life's work?"

Sango laughed bitterly. "So it seems." Absently, Sango traced the outline of the necklace in front of her. "Father died here, at this site. I guess I just never felt right breaking away. This was his life."

"And now it's yours."

Sango shrugged. "It's not as though it's horrible. Miroku inherited the site after his father, and working with him is only a bother some of the time. In actuality, he's the best friend I have."

Kikyo looked at Sango inquisitively.

"And he listens to you?"

Sango scoffed. "He had better. I've been with this project just as long as he has."

"Then maybe you should talk to him."

"About what?"

"About ending this damned scavenger hunt." Kikyo told her, her bluntness startling Sango for a moment. "This isn't a game, Sango. And this isn't normal. Where in the world do you pick up a newspaper and read that, once again, The Queen of England is having tea and scones with his mummy-ness, Pharaoh of 600 BC?"

"Is Inuyasha the Pharaoh?"

"Of course not," Kikyo snapped, rising to pace with her notes in her hands. "Inuyasha was entombed after the murder of the Pharaoh. The... one who buried them... used a spell because Inuyasha had great power, was uncontrollable, unpredictable...adjectives along those lines." Sensing the surprise in Sango, Kikyo paused. "It was an entire page in the scroll."

Sango shook her head at the overload of information. "Why hasn't he said anything yet? Why can only Kagome understand him?"

"Same spell," Kikyo told her, flipping through her notes, "Blocked off certain brain waves, his memory, speech, etc. When he came in physical contact with someone, supposedly that set off a reaction. Since Kagome was the first person he touched, she acted as a catalyst."

Catching on one of the words Kikyo spoke, Sango pointed out, "Supposedly. You say supposedly. Why?"

"There's always the possibility of a mistake in translation."

"Or it could just be a hoax." Sango pressed. The idea of magic spells seemed almost as ridiculous to her as a walking mummy. Reluctantly, Kikyo nodded her head.

"There's always a small chance -"

"So once a medical team gets here, they can check Inuyasha out, declare him a normal, modern-day human being, and we won't have to stop excavating." About to go on, Sango stopped at the sound of bitter laughter. "Why are you laughing?"

"Medical team?" Kikyo asked, unbelieving. "Sesshomaru is doubling as our medical team."

Sango was taken aback. "Why?"

"Those 'legal things' that don't need to be dealt with right now? They needed to be dealt with two years ago. We don't have the funds for a full medical team right now. This site has been all but dead for the past ten years. This find – it's unexpected. We don't have the staff or funding to keep a project like this under control."

"Why weren't we told of this?"

"You were," Kikyo insisted, "or Miroku was, at least. Somehow he's been keeping the project from falling through until this final dig was completed."

"For two years..."

"Two years." Kikyo confirmed.

Clenching her hands into fists, Sango tired to quell the rage inside of herself. Two years he had all but lied to her. 'No need to fret, darling.' 'I'll take care of everything, bella.' What an idiot she had been! Maybe it was her own fault; she knew Miroku's problematic money habits. Why hadn't she guessed something was wrong?

Shooting one last glance at the desks in the tent, Sango turned on her heel, storming out of view.

"Sango!" Kikyo called, with no effect.

Oh well, she thought. Perhaps it was for the best. Sango would knock some sense into Miroku, and with any luck, they'd all be on their way home the next morning.

Before something else happened.

Settling herself down at her desk, Kikyo couldn't help but feel uneasy. She was a logical woman – everything happened for a reason. Evan so, she could not stop her mind from recalling the stories and tales everyone hears in their lifetime. Stories full of magic and betrayal.

Nothing of the current situation could be made sense of with a logical mind. There had to be more to the story, and with every line she translated, Kikyo felt herself falling deeper and deeper into myth.

Who would believe her if she told anyone? Not a soul. Not yet anyway. She could hardly believe she was thinking thoughts so childish herself. She was no better than Kagome.

"I don't know about you, but I've read my fair share of books about ancient Egypt. The walking 1000-year-old dead person is never the good guy."

Taking a shaky breath to calm the growing sense of foreboding in her mind, Kikyo set herself back to her task.

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From deep beneath the sand, something stirred, sending waves of panic above the surface as the earth around the tomb shuddered.

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Falling to her knees from the sudden impact, Sango crawled on all fours toward the half-collapsed research tent.

"Sango!"

A few feet in front of her, the fabric lifted and Kagome, followed by her two companions, crawled out.

"Kagome!"

"Where's happening?" she asked, grabbing hold of Sango's forearms. "We were teaching Inuyasha how to play Go Fish and everything started to shake."

"Yeah," Shippou piped in, "I was winning too!"

"I don't know what's going on," Sango confessed, "Where's Miroku?"

"He came by a few hours ago, but then Kagura came and took him away. She said there was something he needed to see back at the site."

"The site?" As another rumble began, the girls held onto each other for support. "It's too unstable! It's dangerous with these quakes."

"Do you think he's hurt?" Kagome asked, fearfully.

Sango narrowed her eyes, her temporary worry replaced with the anger she felt earlier.

"If he isn't, he soon will be."

"Sango?"

"Come on," she said, pulling Kagome toward the exit, "It's not safe under all of this."

"Ah! Sango..."

"What is it, Kagome?"

"Um... Earlier..." the girl hesitated, tilting her head down so her bangs covered her eyes, "I said some things to Kikyo about Inuyasha..."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I just wanted you to know I don't think that anymore. In there, when all that stuff started falling, he kept it from hurting us."

Sango cast a quick glance at the being behind them, who was looking rather bored with all the commotion.

"So no matter what Kikyo finds out form those scrolls, I just want you to know I don't think he's all that bad of a person... mummy...thing."

Despite Kagome's conviction, Sango kept a firm grip on her wrist, and a watchful eye on Inuyasha behind them.

"Let's hope so, Kagome."

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Okay! So it only took me... what? A year to get out? Not too shabby D Anyway, as you've undoubtedly noticed, the flashbacks are getting a bit further and further from what's happening in 'current' times. I think I have a reason for this That is, if I can update fast enough to keep it in my memory!

Fluff next time? Hmm...

Anyway! Long await review responses. Not that anyone would actually remember what they wrote xx:

Dawn: Yeah... I can't wait to find out what happens in my story either D

Spiffy: Late on reviewing? How about late on updating! Sorry about that. I was having a lack of inspiration to write anything, but hopefully that little spat is done with.

Oozaru: InuKag o I'm not sure if I'm going to have Inu paired with anyone in this... It would be hard. If anything, there may end up being some Inu/Kik in the flashbacks, but how to do it in 'current times' would be difficult.

Ai8: After you gave me the benefit of the doubt for updating (or lack there of) I took even longer for the next chapter Sorry!

Completely Confuzzled: For some reason, my detail keeps getting less and less - I think I'm just getting more lazy. Thank you for your input though 3 I'll try my best at organizing the scenes so the mood doesn't die.

Manda: D He doesn't remember!

Siren: I'm back! But I doubt you're still in Europe I will be though! The end of this month for two weeks. Yay!

DarkHeartKeyblade: I'm going to try and fit in the "You're ignoring the sick guy" Line too. It just sounded so... Miroku-ish! I think I have a way figured out, but we'll have to see if I actually get around to doing it.

Bunny: If you're confused then I'm doing something wrong.

Medlii: Thanks 3

Lily Thorne: I hope I can fool you again. I keep fooling myself too though Which I don't think is actually supposed to happy...

Barbie: No, though he may be later when he started remembering xx whenever that may be...