Walking slowly as he enters the forest once again, now darker and with a thin mist born from the change in temperature, a golden-haired young man with blue eyes glances over his shoulder several times.
He looked like a full-fledged hunted man, although he's probably just making sure he knows how to return to the cabin. Aside from that, his nose finally twitches lightly for a second and detects the scent of a certain imitation shrine maiden.
Which is obviously Kagome, the cheap imitation of Kikyo according to our hero, who if you dare tell her that she ends up beating you up and even makes you feel bad about yourself.
"Agh, I don't know how to feel about my nose being this useful now. Of course it's good, but the method through which it was achieved… God, just remembering it gives me chills"
Shivering against his will, that specific memory has become permanent trauma, Asahiko makes a 90-degree turn and runs toward a specific place.
Before he can even get close to where Kagome's scent is coming from, the sound of flowing water strikes his senses and his steps abruptly stop.
This situation was a classic, he was going to enter, Kagome would be bathing and right then Inuyasha would appear. Yes, he was not going to fall into that trap, but he also can't just stand here doing nothing… Then brute force it is!.
"Kagome!, Kagome Higurashi! Are you perhaps bathing in the river?!"
"Is that you, Asahiko?!"
"Yes, it's me! I'm here behind the trees!"
Replying to Kagome's shouts with his own, Asahiko keeps staring at the bark of a nearby tree as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world.
He was not going to take any risks at all, the cliché would not catch him and his friendship with Inuyasha would not be destroyed by a woman!.
"Come help me! There's a weird bug under the tree!"
"... Yeah, as if I were dumb enough to fall for a trap like that! I'm not taking a single step forward, for all I know you could be some kind of ghost or something like that!"
"I swear if I become a ghost because of your stupidity I'm going to follow you for the rest of your life, every time you wake up you'll see me at your feet and you'll never sleep peacefully again!"
Going from zero to a hundred instantly, the "ghost" proves to be Kagome in the most extreme way possible, making Asahiko accept it's really her due to her extreme bipolarity.
Because of that, having accepted she is the real Kagome, he quickly steps forward and crosses the curtain of trees separating him from the river.
There ahead was exactly what he expected, a long river winding through the forest, a small rocky area serving as a border along the edge and… Kagome hanging from a tree branch?.
"... Are you kidding?"
"Come help me, quick, quick!"
"Yeah, this is way too weird"
Ignoring Kagome, who makes exaggerated signals with her left hand and with the other holds an arrow, apparently using that arrow as a self-defense weapon, Asahiko focuses on the "weird bug" under the tree.
This thing was a bluish humanoid being that seemed fused with a fish; its body was small, hunched and deformed, while the fingers on both its feet and hands were connected by a sticky membrane.
Something interesting about that filthy thing is the sort of hat it wears on its deformed head, which appears to be made of some unknown aquatic grass, but still releases a horrible stench.
"Is that thing supposed to be a Kappa?"
"Who cares, just kill it already!"
"Wow, you're way too aggressive. Look at it, it's… God, that thing really has absolutely nothing positive about it"
Feeling disgusted even just looking at its face, and damn was its face ugly, Asahiko slowly approaches until the Kappa starts growling.
Along with that growl the creature turns toward him and opens its jaws, revealing sharp teeth and a scaly tongue that resembles a still-living snake.
"Agrrr"
"... Shoo, shoo, go bother someone else before I draw my sword"
Waving his hand several times in a completely carefree manner, giving the Kappa an easy way out, more out of disgust at touching it than fear, Asahiko is surprised when the filthy yokai ignores him and keeps growling.
¡Grgrr!"
"Huh, does she belong to you? Are you actually trying to say that?"
"¡Grr, grr!"
"I see, but… I don't understand you at all, so goodbye~"
Separating the Kappa's half-fish head from its scaly bluish body, Asahiko easily avoids the blood shooting from the neck like a geyser and turns to look at Kagome.
She doesn't look at him like a knight in shining armor, which perhaps he expected, instead she slowly stares at him with an empty gaze and after considering something finally speaks.
"I… I know a good psychologist, Asahiko. If you want I can introduce you, because maybe you have bipolar disorder or something like that"
"If I have bipolar disorder, then you have split personality, cheap imitation shrine maiden!"
"Cheap imitation my ass, fake fox! You're more like a dog than Inuyasha, you're always chasing after Kikyo even though she only pays attention to Inuyasha!"
Throwing both cutting words and the arrow she had previously used as a self-defense weapon, Kagome once again demonstrates who has the most explosive personality present, leaving Asahiko speechless.
But he becomes even more speechless when he notices a small detail, a tiny one that puts a smile across his entire face. Kagome had shouted at him, thrown an arrow and even mocked him, but all without getting down from the tree… YES, there is definitely something weird there.
"... Don't tell me you don't know how to get down from the tree?"
"I, I… Of course I do, and I'll do it right now!"
"Wait, are you crazy?!"
"Here I go!"
Jumping from the tree branch as if it were a "leap of faith", Kagome literally throws herself downward with a jump and all, making the branch vibrate violently and causing Asahiko to hurry and try to catch her in the air.
The thing is, that doesn't work, because while in the air she starts flailing her arms around, eventually ending with Kagome sitting on Asahiko's back and the latter serving as a carpet.
"I told you I could do it!"
"Stop. Moving. Around!."
"Hahaha, sorry, I'm really sorry"
Laughing with a face as red as fire, Kagome tries to stand up, although without getting off Asahiko's back. That creates a situation where her school shoes dig into his back, and God damn do they hurt!.
"Get off me already!"
"I'm doing it… It's not like I weigh much, I don't know why you're complaining"
"Maybe because you stabbed your shoes into my ribs? Agh, damn woman"
Rolling to the side as soon as Kagome leaves his back, which she does with a small jump forward, Asahiko's whole body trembles and he stands up before looking around.
And just as he expected, since it was taking too long, Inuyasha appears on the other side of the river with his face red from fury and approaches while half-growling like a wounded beast.
Normally Asahiko would have mocked him for his reaction, calling him a jealous dog or something like that, but this time Inuyasha looked beautiful in his eyes… Like a damn lighthouse of peace and freedom in the middle of darkness.
"Asahiko, you…"
"Save me, take her out of my sight, you and her are made for each other, don't hesitate anymore and just get married already!"
"Wt, what happened to you?"
"Dark things… Unnameable and unimaginable things, Inuyasha!"
Taking Inuyasha's hand while his gaze is lost on the horizon, Asahiko lets out a trembling sigh and starts walking hunched over toward the place from where Inuyasha came.
"What happened here, Kagome?"
"Ask Kikyo, maybe she knows the answer!"
"Huh, but I…"
Watching Kagome leave after previously kicking her shoe against a nearby rock, Inuyasha scratches his white hair and doubts the reality of the world. Maybe he really had died at Naraku's hands and this was some sort of limbo?.
Of course that philosophical question does not last long in his permanently empty head, instead he quickly follows behind Kagome, completely ignoring his injuries and forgetting everything he saw on the other side of the river.
Yes, it seems pretending to be crazy worked out well for Asahiko, he saved himself from having to fight the jealous dog and only had to exaggerate a little, quite a bargain one could say!.