(no subject)
Well, I didn't get Chapter 2 of new fic written which will prove to myself whether I should even attempt to delve into the realm of meaningful smut, but I did get the first Chapter tweaked. I think I spent to much time transfering files and downloading music. It didn't help I had three AIM conversations running at one time ^_^
But, I figured I'd go ahead and post this revised chapter now that I finally figured out how to handle my issues with Sango and Miroku. I hope you don't mind me using those interested as a sounding board! Just to forewarn, I have a few challenges for the group to overcome, but no clear ending in sight. I figure that'll start to come to me a few chapters down the line.
Tentative Title: Broken Trust
Chapter rating: PG/PG13ish
Fic rating if all goes to plan: R/NC-17
Genre: Psychological, drama, minor angst (more dark I think), um...hentai
Basic Summary: [KagoSess] Every once in a great while, a point in time is reached in which everything changes. Sometimes for good and sometimes for bad though it is only clear in retrospect which one it is. For Kagome, it was the day Naraku died. She hadn't meant to turn to him. It just happened. And that, was when it began, the change. After all, Kagome was no longer purely human.
Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs solely to its creator, Rumiko Takahashi. However, this story and the explanation behind which Kagome turns into a youkai belongs entirely to me. Ask, before you use it.
Chapter 1
Her eyes fluttered open as the gentle tendrils of sleep released her from her rest. Her dreams had been filled with memories of a night much like the one she was luxuriating now. It was a breathtaking with the crescent moon shining above her and the soothing sound of wind making the leaves dip and sway. Not that she had realized it was a soothing sound at the time. It was only in retrospect, when the dream came back to haunt her, that she could extract every ounce of serenity from that vision and learn to lay aside the grief that tormented her soul with regret.
But, she had finally returned home to her ancestors’ shrine, and she was ready to face that past, to face them. It had taken four long years of residing in the States for her undergrad to get her to garner the courage necessary to return to the past and revisit the past. It might not have taken as long if she had been able to get into a decent university near the Shrine, but as it was, with her grades, she had barely been able to convince anyone to give her a second chance. If it wasn’t for her improvement at a local cram school, she wouldn’t have had even that.
She shifted slightly, trying to find a more comfortable spot against the aged bark of the Goshinboku. She missed this. She missed the feeling of peace and tranquility that the stars and moon gave to her. It made her feel closer to him, in a way.
The sky just wasn’t the same in America. There, it was just different. There were different constellations, the seasons were offset, and there just wasn’t an aura of deeply rooted traditions and ancient mediations. It was a foreign land, and while she grew to appreciate it, it just wasn’t home.
Home, as people liked to say, is where the heart is, and it has always resided in Japan.
She sighed lightly, her mind turning to the future rather then the past where it had dwelled ever since she started packing up her tiny apartment. In eight months, she’d start another round of classes and sleepless nights and too many cups of coffee in the morning. Med school was going to kill her, but at least her almost 4.0 got her back in Japan where she belonged.
She couldn’t wait to start though. She had dreamed for so long of taking the things she gleaned from tending her friends with ancient remedies and combining it on a larger, more sophisticated scale then her emergency first aid kit. It was a dream, she had barely dared to breath to life during those three long, hard years she spent traveling in Sengoku Jidai, but her mother had pushed her, given her the guts to dare to dream at all.
A wistful expression settled on her face as she closed her eyes against the ache in her chest. He too, had given her the will to carry on. It was so strange, just how much everything can change in one night. She learned so much from that one encounter, and she was still learning. But first, there were things she needed to take care of; demons she had to face.
She shifted once more against the crinkled surface lying beneath her. She had waited long enough. It was time to return to her past, to the past. Sliding off her perch, Kagome turned and rubbed her fingers against the gouged out indentation where an arrow had once held a half-demon resting in eternal slumber.
She needed to see Inuyasha, needed to confide and share confidences with Sango, and she even needed to feel Miroku’s hand drift to far below her comfort zone. She just needed them, her friends, and she needed to see how different they had become over the last four years she hid in America. She owed it to them and the dead.
Taking a deep breath, the twenty-two year old woman, turned and hefted an obscenely cheery yellow backpack onto her shoulders. She was tired of hiding and with every step closer to the well house, her steps got lighter as her resolve strengthened. Just before she vanished inside the well house, she whispered a nearly silent farewell to her family. As the door slid shut behind her, a few black and silver strands of hair were left drifting in the wind and reflecting the light of the moon in homage to its shining face high in the sky.
-\-|-/-
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. It had been a long four years since Kagome disappeared, telling them that she needed to get her life back on track. She had left him alone with a broken taijiya and a nervous wreck named Miroku. He had often wondered in the months that followed if she had left not because of a certain someone he knew and still felt like beating the shit out of, but rather to get away from them and the grief and despair they carried with such tender devotion.
He could still remember the day Naraku finally agreed to just die. He had nightmares that somehow managed to pierce his sleep with the residual aching pain that refused to be exorcised, forcing him to remember, to relive it in its entirety. It was worse now there was only two left in the pack he spent so many years learning to accept completely.
It had been three years of bonding; three years of traveling together, and it all ended that early spring day. He shut his eyes, blocking out the vision of empty sky above him. He didn’t fear the ground some twenty feet below. He wouldn’t sleep this night, human though he was. He never slept this night unless Kagome was near and she had been gone for so very, very long.
Gritting his teeth, the vision once more returned to him, a living image imposed on the inky black night surrounding him. The landscape was torn to pieces, an artifact of his kaze no kizu and his impulsive attacks. The proof laid in the ruined landscape and pieces of tentacles littering everything. He could still remember how they twitched with a malevolent desire to destroy the sword that severed them from Naraku’s body. Demon ashes had graced the air, coating his sweat-soaked body, and yet the battle raged on.
Inuyasha clenched his fists and closed his eyes. Sometimes, it was better to just accept the living dream and force it to move forward. At least it got over quicker without all the hang-ups of attempting to block out the vision and never succeeding.
Mind focusing on the scene playing out before him, like the pictures Kagome had shown him once on her side of the way, he saw Miroku standing over a collapsed Sango with Kirara guarding them as best she could. Kohaku’s death had struck the woman hard, and caused her to be more foolish then normal. One of the many tentacles had found its way beneath her guard as one of Naraku’s minions distracted her. Now, it was up to Miroku to make sure Sango got out of this mess alive. It was bad for him though. He could have used their help to thwart their long standing enemy.
Now all that stood in the way of defeat was himself, his baka half-brother, and Kouga’s two shards now lying against Kagome’s throat. His lips sneered as he watched Kouga get battered nearly senseless with another wave of those disgusting tentacles. The wolf truly was pathetic without the speed of the shards to lend him strength.
But the wolf got lucky, and a brilliant flash of light took care of the deadly appendages pinning him to the ground. At least Naraku screamed with the pain of purified flesh before he severed his own limb from his body. Inuyasha turned his back on the miko as she rushed to the wolf, concern coloring her voice as he weakly whispered his farewells before he too, passed away. He cringed as Kagome’s sorrow filled the air with her sobs.
He had no time for grief, no time to comfort his best friend. There was no room for distractions.
He continued to hack and strike away at the thing known as Naraku, fighting to make his way to the center, to rip out the jewel from the hole where Onigumo’s heart once resided. This battle would end today either with his death or with Naraku’s. He could not face another day if all his friends died for nothing.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of silver and a blue wave rush towards Naraku. Sesshoumaru seemed to be fairing no better then himself against the hanyou. He swung his sword again, taking out a swath of flesh in front of him. The taiyoukai had not deemed them worthy enough to travel with per se, but preferred to walk in front of, behind, and even beside them. It had just been enough to piss him off, but not enough he could do anything about it without making a fool of himself. It would seem Kagome somehow managed to strike a truce with his half-brother and forgot to mention it until three days into the odd game of follow the leader.
She had deduced they were on the same trail for Naraku, and invited him to share information with an agreement to stop fighting each other for at least a week’s time. It was extended on a weekly basis with barely mutual agreements. However, or rather because, the miko had not dared suggest they travel together, knowing that just allowing Sesshoumaru to travel within hearing range was more then Inuyasha could handle.
He grinned madly as he hacked off another limb. She was right of course. His half-brother’s stench alone was driving him nuts, making him want to bury his claws into Sesshoumaru’s backside for the life he was denied. But it felt good, fighting alongside him, despite how much it made his blood boil.
His arm rose and fell, his voice raw with crying out his attacks over and over again as the sun began to sink below the horizon. It was then the wind picked up, scattering the sakura blossoms from the few standing trees that remained mostly unscathed. Following the drift of petals, he watched with horror as Kagome at last rose from her position on the ground next to Kouga, Kikyou now standing beside her.
It had not taken him long to realize madness had taken hold of the girl; all the deaths she had witnessed overrode her sense of preservation. Kouga, maybe Sango, even Shippou had meet his end when he sacrificed himself to save Kagome. The little kit was the first to walk to death’s door. Inuyasha’s fears proved true when Kagome dropped her bow and picked up a discarded sword from the ground, clumsily waving it around as she appeared to hack her way towards Naraku.
It was unnerving, how the bastard played with her, making her believe she had the strength and skill to fend off his attacks. He wanted her to come to him, wanted her to bring the Shikon shards closer. He let her in beneath his defenses and at the last moment, when her sword was about to pierce his absent heart, he grabbed her to him, knocking the blade from her grip.
Inuyasha could still hear that laughter which promised everything and nothing. It chilled him as he was struck dumb with disbelief. He couldn’t believe Kagome was so stupid as to think she could just charge at the enemy and he’d fall before her. How many times had he tried using that tactic to no avail? And he was stronger, faster, more experienced then her!
His distraction proved to nearly be his undoing as one of those annoying limbs crashed through his stomach, pushing backwards until he slammed into a jagged boulder. The sound of ripping flesh consumed his body with pain, but he still managed to hold Tetsusaiga despite the spasms wracking his body. It was Sesshoumaru who freed him, barely glancing his way as he sent another wave of power to disintegrate the thing that pinned him.
With that dealt with, the Taiyoukai turned back to Naraku, Inuyasha’s eyes following his lead. She was standing there, pressed up against Naraku’s slimy flesh, muttering words they could not hear. It wasn’t until Kagome’s hand was engulfed with a bright pink light that they realized she may be saner then they thought. It was with shock that they watched a glow start to surround the pair and dread when Kikyou’s arrow glowed brilliantly with a pure white light.
It pierced Kagome’s body, shredding her skin as she cried out with agony as steel split her flesh in two. Her cry doubled when the arrow head managed to pierce her front, still pushing forward with a fierce momentum. It was when Naraku cried out that they knew the two incarnations had planned something, plotted behind their backs. A brilliant flash of light was all they saw as Naraku’s body exploded from the inside with Kikyou’s power while the blast was contained within Kagome’s ring of energy.
It was a sight he never wished to see again though the nightmare refused to let it fade.
Kagome fell, jewel clasped in her hands. Sesshoumaru reached her first, him second while Miroku checked Sango’s vitals with a hovering Kirara mewing above him. She was alive, but barely, the arrow still lodged firmly in her chest as cherry blossoms drifted along her cheek, washing away the ash from the air.
Inuyasha’s closed eye twitched as he remembered what Sesshoumaru said next. “The miko has amazing skill.”
It was true, Kikyou somehow managed to fire an arrow that could pierce Kagome’s ribs and was powerful enough to fight through to Naraku. He was thankful for that skill, because it also meant Kikyou somehow managed to keep her alive despite the foolishness of their plot.
“Kikyou,” he sighed, relaxing his tense muscles one by one before he moved further down the bitter track of memory. She gave up her life, releasing her soul back to Kagome now that her revenge was complete.
It was unexpected, when it happened. He had still been leaning over Kagome’s body, checking her heartbeat and trying to figure out the best way to remove the arrow without causing further harm. The only warning he had was the striking of bones as they collapsed to the blood-spattered ground before a blue orb of light crashed into Kagome’s body, making her eyes widen as consciousness returned for a brief second. She gasped, murmuring Kikyou’s name with awe before blessed oblivion stole her away again.
It was yet one more death to weigh him down, to weigh them down. But they had someone to care for, each other to tend to, and so they retreated to camp, finding Ah-Un already settled there with Rin sleeping on his back.
If only they had sent Shippou with her, but he refused, knowing he could be of some use as past battles had proven. It would have spared them just a little to see his agonized face before he pounced on Kagome, checking for life within her drained body. But he was already dead, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Not even Sesshoumaru.
Each lingering soul was long since taken in the confusion of battle; the dead were shuffled beyond their reach as the fight waged interminably on. It had taken to long for them to seek Tensaiga’s aid.
He sighed again, as he flexed his foot, stretching his leg muscles before they cramped from staying in one position to long. That was all he needed tonight, really. His foot cramping up and making him fall out of the tree would be a perfect end to the torment he was forced to relive.
Still flexing the muscle, he returned to his musings, the sight of Kagome’s bleeding wounds, Sesshoumaru turning him away so he could help Miroku tend Sango’s wounds and they each treat each other in turn. It was all so innocently contrived, the way he led Ah Un to shield them from view, preserving Kagome’s usually annoying modesty considering the state of her school uniform.
He had left her in Sesshoumaru’s capable care, and then it happened.
He groaned, letting his head fall into his hands. He’d never forgive himself for that night, for not protecting Kagome from herself. It drove her away, he was sure of it, but there was nothing they could do, nothing he could do.
Not even Sesshoumaru was able to prevent her from fleeing. She just vanished one day, leaving a note behind telling them she needed to finish school before she could return.
He heaved a huge sigh, rubbing his aching eyes that were no longer capable of shedding tears. He missed her; he really did. But there was little hope left within him. It had been four long years. She wasn’t coming back, or else incapable of it. He wasn’t even able to follow her through the well when they realized she was gone.
And that was it.
As the night stretched on, he continued to follow the stars as they drifted across the sky, counting the hours before daybreak and an end to his self-inflicted torture. With dawn approaching, he at last drifted into a doze, neither awake nor asleep, and filled with the weary weight of sorrow.
-\-|-/-
Kagome stretched her arms above her head before flexing her muscles. Nostalgia clouding her senses, she slowly climbed out of the well, taking in deep breaths of the fresh summer air. She smiled, basking in the untamed beauty of feudal Japan. It had been to long since she walked its ancient trails.
Strolling down the overtaken path, she followed it to the Goshinboku tree she had left but moments earlier in her time. It was comforting, knowing that something remained constant no matter where she chose to tread. The tree would always be there for her, no matter what.
With the remembered grace of practice, she rubbed the spot where Kikyou’s arrow struck true, the ritual gesture calming her somewhat. The nervous fear of meeting friends turned strangers ebbed slightly. She was not looking forward to the confrontation and accusations, but she was looking forward to catching up on their lives. She just hoped they would let her.
As she turned her back on the tree to tread down a path etched in memory, the soft wheezing of someone snoring high above her halted her progress. As recognition settled itself over her thoughts, her head turned slowly to gaze at the lightening darkness above her. There was only one person she knew who would climb the old tree on a night as dark as this one. It had to be Inuyasha.
-\-|-/-
He muttered softly, feeling the lightest touch brush his lips. It was cruel of the wind to break his slumber. Feeling the tingling sensation run through his body again, he swiped with his blunt fingers at the offending passage of air.
His hand was firmly stopped with a surprisingly soft touch. Blinking, awake in an instant, he felt his jaw drop and his body jerk in recognition. Kagome knelt before him, her countenance unmistakable.
“Kagome,” he gasped. “Is it really you?”
She nodded her head in the affirmative as she sat back on her heels, feet delicately posed on the thick branch. “It’s me, Inuyasha. I have a little time before I have to return home. Six, maybe eight months.” She fidgeted slightly with the edge of her sleeve. “I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I stopped by for a while.”
Inuyasha smiled and leaped forward to hug her, forgetting where he was. As his arms wrapped around her shoulders, he began to panic when his forward momentum refused to yield, sending them both toppling to the ground below.
Swearing, he jerked her body around, leaving his back exposed to hard earth beneath them as the wind shrieked in passage. Kagome screamed as her face was pressed into his chest. Prying her arms free, she grabbed his sleeve and flipped their bodies in mid-air, feet pointing to the ground. As they landed, she bent her knees, tendons easily accommodating the extra weight in her arms as she tumbled, breaking Inuyasha’s fall with her own.
Eyes wide in shock, he laid on top of the panting female, unable to shake his senses back into order. As he stared at the winded miko, he began to notice tell tale differences in her face. Her features were a little more refined then he remembered; her hair was made of a softer texture and streaked with dual shades. It was Kagome, but there was something more lingering on the edge of recognition. She even smelled a little different. Lifting himself gingerly off her supine form, the truth finally clicked. Jaw dropping, ears standing at attention, he knew that Kagome had been cursed with hanyou blood.
-\-To Be Continued-/-
But, I figured I'd go ahead and post this revised chapter now that I finally figured out how to handle my issues with Sango and Miroku. I hope you don't mind me using those interested as a sounding board! Just to forewarn, I have a few challenges for the group to overcome, but no clear ending in sight. I figure that'll start to come to me a few chapters down the line.
Tentative Title: Broken Trust
Chapter rating: PG/PG13ish
Fic rating if all goes to plan: R/NC-17
Genre: Psychological, drama, minor angst (more dark I think), um...hentai
Basic Summary: [KagoSess] Every once in a great while, a point in time is reached in which everything changes. Sometimes for good and sometimes for bad though it is only clear in retrospect which one it is. For Kagome, it was the day Naraku died. She hadn't meant to turn to him. It just happened. And that, was when it began, the change. After all, Kagome was no longer purely human.
Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs solely to its creator, Rumiko Takahashi. However, this story and the explanation behind which Kagome turns into a youkai belongs entirely to me. Ask, before you use it.
Chapter 1
Her eyes fluttered open as the gentle tendrils of sleep released her from her rest. Her dreams had been filled with memories of a night much like the one she was luxuriating now. It was a breathtaking with the crescent moon shining above her and the soothing sound of wind making the leaves dip and sway. Not that she had realized it was a soothing sound at the time. It was only in retrospect, when the dream came back to haunt her, that she could extract every ounce of serenity from that vision and learn to lay aside the grief that tormented her soul with regret.
But, she had finally returned home to her ancestors’ shrine, and she was ready to face that past, to face them. It had taken four long years of residing in the States for her undergrad to get her to garner the courage necessary to return to the past and revisit the past. It might not have taken as long if she had been able to get into a decent university near the Shrine, but as it was, with her grades, she had barely been able to convince anyone to give her a second chance. If it wasn’t for her improvement at a local cram school, she wouldn’t have had even that.
She shifted slightly, trying to find a more comfortable spot against the aged bark of the Goshinboku. She missed this. She missed the feeling of peace and tranquility that the stars and moon gave to her. It made her feel closer to him, in a way.
The sky just wasn’t the same in America. There, it was just different. There were different constellations, the seasons were offset, and there just wasn’t an aura of deeply rooted traditions and ancient mediations. It was a foreign land, and while she grew to appreciate it, it just wasn’t home.
Home, as people liked to say, is where the heart is, and it has always resided in Japan.
She sighed lightly, her mind turning to the future rather then the past where it had dwelled ever since she started packing up her tiny apartment. In eight months, she’d start another round of classes and sleepless nights and too many cups of coffee in the morning. Med school was going to kill her, but at least her almost 4.0 got her back in Japan where she belonged.
She couldn’t wait to start though. She had dreamed for so long of taking the things she gleaned from tending her friends with ancient remedies and combining it on a larger, more sophisticated scale then her emergency first aid kit. It was a dream, she had barely dared to breath to life during those three long, hard years she spent traveling in Sengoku Jidai, but her mother had pushed her, given her the guts to dare to dream at all.
A wistful expression settled on her face as she closed her eyes against the ache in her chest. He too, had given her the will to carry on. It was so strange, just how much everything can change in one night. She learned so much from that one encounter, and she was still learning. But first, there were things she needed to take care of; demons she had to face.
She shifted once more against the crinkled surface lying beneath her. She had waited long enough. It was time to return to her past, to the past. Sliding off her perch, Kagome turned and rubbed her fingers against the gouged out indentation where an arrow had once held a half-demon resting in eternal slumber.
She needed to see Inuyasha, needed to confide and share confidences with Sango, and she even needed to feel Miroku’s hand drift to far below her comfort zone. She just needed them, her friends, and she needed to see how different they had become over the last four years she hid in America. She owed it to them and the dead.
Taking a deep breath, the twenty-two year old woman, turned and hefted an obscenely cheery yellow backpack onto her shoulders. She was tired of hiding and with every step closer to the well house, her steps got lighter as her resolve strengthened. Just before she vanished inside the well house, she whispered a nearly silent farewell to her family. As the door slid shut behind her, a few black and silver strands of hair were left drifting in the wind and reflecting the light of the moon in homage to its shining face high in the sky.
-\-|-/-
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. It had been a long four years since Kagome disappeared, telling them that she needed to get her life back on track. She had left him alone with a broken taijiya and a nervous wreck named Miroku. He had often wondered in the months that followed if she had left not because of a certain someone he knew and still felt like beating the shit out of, but rather to get away from them and the grief and despair they carried with such tender devotion.
He could still remember the day Naraku finally agreed to just die. He had nightmares that somehow managed to pierce his sleep with the residual aching pain that refused to be exorcised, forcing him to remember, to relive it in its entirety. It was worse now there was only two left in the pack he spent so many years learning to accept completely.
It had been three years of bonding; three years of traveling together, and it all ended that early spring day. He shut his eyes, blocking out the vision of empty sky above him. He didn’t fear the ground some twenty feet below. He wouldn’t sleep this night, human though he was. He never slept this night unless Kagome was near and she had been gone for so very, very long.
Gritting his teeth, the vision once more returned to him, a living image imposed on the inky black night surrounding him. The landscape was torn to pieces, an artifact of his kaze no kizu and his impulsive attacks. The proof laid in the ruined landscape and pieces of tentacles littering everything. He could still remember how they twitched with a malevolent desire to destroy the sword that severed them from Naraku’s body. Demon ashes had graced the air, coating his sweat-soaked body, and yet the battle raged on.
Inuyasha clenched his fists and closed his eyes. Sometimes, it was better to just accept the living dream and force it to move forward. At least it got over quicker without all the hang-ups of attempting to block out the vision and never succeeding.
Mind focusing on the scene playing out before him, like the pictures Kagome had shown him once on her side of the way, he saw Miroku standing over a collapsed Sango with Kirara guarding them as best she could. Kohaku’s death had struck the woman hard, and caused her to be more foolish then normal. One of the many tentacles had found its way beneath her guard as one of Naraku’s minions distracted her. Now, it was up to Miroku to make sure Sango got out of this mess alive. It was bad for him though. He could have used their help to thwart their long standing enemy.
Now all that stood in the way of defeat was himself, his baka half-brother, and Kouga’s two shards now lying against Kagome’s throat. His lips sneered as he watched Kouga get battered nearly senseless with another wave of those disgusting tentacles. The wolf truly was pathetic without the speed of the shards to lend him strength.
But the wolf got lucky, and a brilliant flash of light took care of the deadly appendages pinning him to the ground. At least Naraku screamed with the pain of purified flesh before he severed his own limb from his body. Inuyasha turned his back on the miko as she rushed to the wolf, concern coloring her voice as he weakly whispered his farewells before he too, passed away. He cringed as Kagome’s sorrow filled the air with her sobs.
He had no time for grief, no time to comfort his best friend. There was no room for distractions.
He continued to hack and strike away at the thing known as Naraku, fighting to make his way to the center, to rip out the jewel from the hole where Onigumo’s heart once resided. This battle would end today either with his death or with Naraku’s. He could not face another day if all his friends died for nothing.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of silver and a blue wave rush towards Naraku. Sesshoumaru seemed to be fairing no better then himself against the hanyou. He swung his sword again, taking out a swath of flesh in front of him. The taiyoukai had not deemed them worthy enough to travel with per se, but preferred to walk in front of, behind, and even beside them. It had just been enough to piss him off, but not enough he could do anything about it without making a fool of himself. It would seem Kagome somehow managed to strike a truce with his half-brother and forgot to mention it until three days into the odd game of follow the leader.
She had deduced they were on the same trail for Naraku, and invited him to share information with an agreement to stop fighting each other for at least a week’s time. It was extended on a weekly basis with barely mutual agreements. However, or rather because, the miko had not dared suggest they travel together, knowing that just allowing Sesshoumaru to travel within hearing range was more then Inuyasha could handle.
He grinned madly as he hacked off another limb. She was right of course. His half-brother’s stench alone was driving him nuts, making him want to bury his claws into Sesshoumaru’s backside for the life he was denied. But it felt good, fighting alongside him, despite how much it made his blood boil.
His arm rose and fell, his voice raw with crying out his attacks over and over again as the sun began to sink below the horizon. It was then the wind picked up, scattering the sakura blossoms from the few standing trees that remained mostly unscathed. Following the drift of petals, he watched with horror as Kagome at last rose from her position on the ground next to Kouga, Kikyou now standing beside her.
It had not taken him long to realize madness had taken hold of the girl; all the deaths she had witnessed overrode her sense of preservation. Kouga, maybe Sango, even Shippou had meet his end when he sacrificed himself to save Kagome. The little kit was the first to walk to death’s door. Inuyasha’s fears proved true when Kagome dropped her bow and picked up a discarded sword from the ground, clumsily waving it around as she appeared to hack her way towards Naraku.
It was unnerving, how the bastard played with her, making her believe she had the strength and skill to fend off his attacks. He wanted her to come to him, wanted her to bring the Shikon shards closer. He let her in beneath his defenses and at the last moment, when her sword was about to pierce his absent heart, he grabbed her to him, knocking the blade from her grip.
Inuyasha could still hear that laughter which promised everything and nothing. It chilled him as he was struck dumb with disbelief. He couldn’t believe Kagome was so stupid as to think she could just charge at the enemy and he’d fall before her. How many times had he tried using that tactic to no avail? And he was stronger, faster, more experienced then her!
His distraction proved to nearly be his undoing as one of those annoying limbs crashed through his stomach, pushing backwards until he slammed into a jagged boulder. The sound of ripping flesh consumed his body with pain, but he still managed to hold Tetsusaiga despite the spasms wracking his body. It was Sesshoumaru who freed him, barely glancing his way as he sent another wave of power to disintegrate the thing that pinned him.
With that dealt with, the Taiyoukai turned back to Naraku, Inuyasha’s eyes following his lead. She was standing there, pressed up against Naraku’s slimy flesh, muttering words they could not hear. It wasn’t until Kagome’s hand was engulfed with a bright pink light that they realized she may be saner then they thought. It was with shock that they watched a glow start to surround the pair and dread when Kikyou’s arrow glowed brilliantly with a pure white light.
It pierced Kagome’s body, shredding her skin as she cried out with agony as steel split her flesh in two. Her cry doubled when the arrow head managed to pierce her front, still pushing forward with a fierce momentum. It was when Naraku cried out that they knew the two incarnations had planned something, plotted behind their backs. A brilliant flash of light was all they saw as Naraku’s body exploded from the inside with Kikyou’s power while the blast was contained within Kagome’s ring of energy.
It was a sight he never wished to see again though the nightmare refused to let it fade.
Kagome fell, jewel clasped in her hands. Sesshoumaru reached her first, him second while Miroku checked Sango’s vitals with a hovering Kirara mewing above him. She was alive, but barely, the arrow still lodged firmly in her chest as cherry blossoms drifted along her cheek, washing away the ash from the air.
Inuyasha’s closed eye twitched as he remembered what Sesshoumaru said next. “The miko has amazing skill.”
It was true, Kikyou somehow managed to fire an arrow that could pierce Kagome’s ribs and was powerful enough to fight through to Naraku. He was thankful for that skill, because it also meant Kikyou somehow managed to keep her alive despite the foolishness of their plot.
“Kikyou,” he sighed, relaxing his tense muscles one by one before he moved further down the bitter track of memory. She gave up her life, releasing her soul back to Kagome now that her revenge was complete.
It was unexpected, when it happened. He had still been leaning over Kagome’s body, checking her heartbeat and trying to figure out the best way to remove the arrow without causing further harm. The only warning he had was the striking of bones as they collapsed to the blood-spattered ground before a blue orb of light crashed into Kagome’s body, making her eyes widen as consciousness returned for a brief second. She gasped, murmuring Kikyou’s name with awe before blessed oblivion stole her away again.
It was yet one more death to weigh him down, to weigh them down. But they had someone to care for, each other to tend to, and so they retreated to camp, finding Ah-Un already settled there with Rin sleeping on his back.
If only they had sent Shippou with her, but he refused, knowing he could be of some use as past battles had proven. It would have spared them just a little to see his agonized face before he pounced on Kagome, checking for life within her drained body. But he was already dead, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Not even Sesshoumaru.
Each lingering soul was long since taken in the confusion of battle; the dead were shuffled beyond their reach as the fight waged interminably on. It had taken to long for them to seek Tensaiga’s aid.
He sighed again, as he flexed his foot, stretching his leg muscles before they cramped from staying in one position to long. That was all he needed tonight, really. His foot cramping up and making him fall out of the tree would be a perfect end to the torment he was forced to relive.
Still flexing the muscle, he returned to his musings, the sight of Kagome’s bleeding wounds, Sesshoumaru turning him away so he could help Miroku tend Sango’s wounds and they each treat each other in turn. It was all so innocently contrived, the way he led Ah Un to shield them from view, preserving Kagome’s usually annoying modesty considering the state of her school uniform.
He had left her in Sesshoumaru’s capable care, and then it happened.
He groaned, letting his head fall into his hands. He’d never forgive himself for that night, for not protecting Kagome from herself. It drove her away, he was sure of it, but there was nothing they could do, nothing he could do.
Not even Sesshoumaru was able to prevent her from fleeing. She just vanished one day, leaving a note behind telling them she needed to finish school before she could return.
He heaved a huge sigh, rubbing his aching eyes that were no longer capable of shedding tears. He missed her; he really did. But there was little hope left within him. It had been four long years. She wasn’t coming back, or else incapable of it. He wasn’t even able to follow her through the well when they realized she was gone.
And that was it.
As the night stretched on, he continued to follow the stars as they drifted across the sky, counting the hours before daybreak and an end to his self-inflicted torture. With dawn approaching, he at last drifted into a doze, neither awake nor asleep, and filled with the weary weight of sorrow.
-\-|-/-
Kagome stretched her arms above her head before flexing her muscles. Nostalgia clouding her senses, she slowly climbed out of the well, taking in deep breaths of the fresh summer air. She smiled, basking in the untamed beauty of feudal Japan. It had been to long since she walked its ancient trails.
Strolling down the overtaken path, she followed it to the Goshinboku tree she had left but moments earlier in her time. It was comforting, knowing that something remained constant no matter where she chose to tread. The tree would always be there for her, no matter what.
With the remembered grace of practice, she rubbed the spot where Kikyou’s arrow struck true, the ritual gesture calming her somewhat. The nervous fear of meeting friends turned strangers ebbed slightly. She was not looking forward to the confrontation and accusations, but she was looking forward to catching up on their lives. She just hoped they would let her.
As she turned her back on the tree to tread down a path etched in memory, the soft wheezing of someone snoring high above her halted her progress. As recognition settled itself over her thoughts, her head turned slowly to gaze at the lightening darkness above her. There was only one person she knew who would climb the old tree on a night as dark as this one. It had to be Inuyasha.
-\-|-/-
He muttered softly, feeling the lightest touch brush his lips. It was cruel of the wind to break his slumber. Feeling the tingling sensation run through his body again, he swiped with his blunt fingers at the offending passage of air.
His hand was firmly stopped with a surprisingly soft touch. Blinking, awake in an instant, he felt his jaw drop and his body jerk in recognition. Kagome knelt before him, her countenance unmistakable.
“Kagome,” he gasped. “Is it really you?”
She nodded her head in the affirmative as she sat back on her heels, feet delicately posed on the thick branch. “It’s me, Inuyasha. I have a little time before I have to return home. Six, maybe eight months.” She fidgeted slightly with the edge of her sleeve. “I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I stopped by for a while.”
Inuyasha smiled and leaped forward to hug her, forgetting where he was. As his arms wrapped around her shoulders, he began to panic when his forward momentum refused to yield, sending them both toppling to the ground below.
Swearing, he jerked her body around, leaving his back exposed to hard earth beneath them as the wind shrieked in passage. Kagome screamed as her face was pressed into his chest. Prying her arms free, she grabbed his sleeve and flipped their bodies in mid-air, feet pointing to the ground. As they landed, she bent her knees, tendons easily accommodating the extra weight in her arms as she tumbled, breaking Inuyasha’s fall with her own.
Eyes wide in shock, he laid on top of the panting female, unable to shake his senses back into order. As he stared at the winded miko, he began to notice tell tale differences in her face. Her features were a little more refined then he remembered; her hair was made of a softer texture and streaked with dual shades. It was Kagome, but there was something more lingering on the edge of recognition. She even smelled a little different. Lifting himself gingerly off her supine form, the truth finally clicked. Jaw dropping, ears standing at attention, he knew that Kagome had been cursed with hanyou blood.
-\-To Be Continued-/-