No Hesitation
Title: No Hesitation
Fandom: Inuyasha
Character/Pairing: Inuyasha
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~570
Notes: Originally written for iyfic_contest's "Angels and Devils" theme.
No Hesitation
He thought he’d known before what it meant to hate. He’d been wrong. This, what he feels for Naraku right now, this is hate in its purest form.
The bastard is going to make him choose.
And he’s smiling.
There is no time to dwell on it. No time for anything, only a fraction of an instant to make terrible choice. No hesitation. Hesitation will only kill the both of them.
He surges forward and he can feels the bastard’s eyes on him, feel his amusement and detached curiosity. One final act of cruelty before his wicked life is utterly spent. Which will you choose, hanyou? Which will you save?
No hesitation.
He leaps toward her, his heart already ripped in two...
...but he won’t fail her again. He can’t.
She feels strange in his arms, cold and heavy. His momentum barely carries them out of the line of attack, Naraku’s tentacle spearing the air just above his back. He is screaming apologies to Kagome all the while, clutching Kikyou tight to his breast, arcing through the air for eternity and landing an instant later.
He turns, though he doesn’t want to see that last look in her eyes--hurt, perhaps a bit accusatory, but mostly just surprised--before the light in them dulls and fades. A bubble of blood rises from her lips as she opens her mouth, perhaps to speak one last time, perhaps merely to gasp or cry out in pain.
It doesn’t matter.
She is already dead, her body torn and broken and filled with the shouki that is all that is left now of Naraku, far too much to purify under any circumstances. He hears the final strains of cruel laughter fading in the air.
Kagome’s body crumples to the ground, already decomposing, and he is distantly aware that he is still screaming her name. Then, within his embrace, Kikyou stirs and he remembers that he had no choice, no real choice. He buries his face in the hair of the miko in his arms.
For the second time in his life, Inuyasha weeps.
...but he won’t allow her life to be cut so short, not because of him.
She is already screaming his name, even as he catches her in his arms, narrowly avoiding Naraku’s final attack. He is screaming too, but not in words. The jagged cry that issues from his throat is a raw mixture: relief, mourning, but above all, anger. Hatred.
He feels Kagome’s tears spatter against his cheek as she squeezes her eyes shut against the sight behind him. He turns, not wanting to see, but helpless against the need to. His last bit of energy spent, Naraku’s body is dissolving, overcome by his own shouki.
He doesn’t care about that. It doesn’t matter.
Kikyou is split nearly in half, her body shattered by the force of the blow, new cracks forming even now. Her eyes meet his and he wants to recoil at the betrayed looked of hurt he sees for an instant. Then it is gone, replaced with one of almost weary resignation. As her body crumbles all around her, Kikyou gently closes her eyes.
He is dimly aware of setting Kagome to the ground before rushing forward, that primal scream of pure emotion still tearing from his throat. He rushes forward, reaching for Kikyou, dropping to his knees at the place where she fell.
Only dust remains.
Fandom: Inuyasha
Character/Pairing: Inuyasha
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~570
Notes: Originally written for iyfic_contest's "Angels and Devils" theme.
No Hesitation
He thought he’d known before what it meant to hate. He’d been wrong. This, what he feels for Naraku right now, this is hate in its purest form.
The bastard is going to make him choose.
And he’s smiling.
There is no time to dwell on it. No time for anything, only a fraction of an instant to make terrible choice. No hesitation. Hesitation will only kill the both of them.
He surges forward and he can feels the bastard’s eyes on him, feel his amusement and detached curiosity. One final act of cruelty before his wicked life is utterly spent. Which will you choose, hanyou? Which will you save?
No hesitation.
He leaps toward her, his heart already ripped in two...
...but he won’t fail her again. He can’t.
She feels strange in his arms, cold and heavy. His momentum barely carries them out of the line of attack, Naraku’s tentacle spearing the air just above his back. He is screaming apologies to Kagome all the while, clutching Kikyou tight to his breast, arcing through the air for eternity and landing an instant later.
He turns, though he doesn’t want to see that last look in her eyes--hurt, perhaps a bit accusatory, but mostly just surprised--before the light in them dulls and fades. A bubble of blood rises from her lips as she opens her mouth, perhaps to speak one last time, perhaps merely to gasp or cry out in pain.
It doesn’t matter.
She is already dead, her body torn and broken and filled with the shouki that is all that is left now of Naraku, far too much to purify under any circumstances. He hears the final strains of cruel laughter fading in the air.
Kagome’s body crumples to the ground, already decomposing, and he is distantly aware that he is still screaming her name. Then, within his embrace, Kikyou stirs and he remembers that he had no choice, no real choice. He buries his face in the hair of the miko in his arms.
For the second time in his life, Inuyasha weeps.
...but he won’t allow her life to be cut so short, not because of him.
She is already screaming his name, even as he catches her in his arms, narrowly avoiding Naraku’s final attack. He is screaming too, but not in words. The jagged cry that issues from his throat is a raw mixture: relief, mourning, but above all, anger. Hatred.
He feels Kagome’s tears spatter against his cheek as she squeezes her eyes shut against the sight behind him. He turns, not wanting to see, but helpless against the need to. His last bit of energy spent, Naraku’s body is dissolving, overcome by his own shouki.
He doesn’t care about that. It doesn’t matter.
Kikyou is split nearly in half, her body shattered by the force of the blow, new cracks forming even now. Her eyes meet his and he wants to recoil at the betrayed looked of hurt he sees for an instant. Then it is gone, replaced with one of almost weary resignation. As her body crumbles all around her, Kikyou gently closes her eyes.
He is dimly aware of setting Kagome to the ground before rushing forward, that primal scream of pure emotion still tearing from his throat. He rushes forward, reaching for Kikyou, dropping to his knees at the place where she fell.
Only dust remains.