Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Wishing Well ❯ Brave wolf, fight no more ( Chapter 15 )

Wishing Well

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Dragon Ball Z. Even my pants are on loan. Don't sue me.

Disclaimer: This is my first fic. Expect it to suck. Don't hurt me.

Kagome was staring death in the face. Kouga had leapt towards her in another desperate attack, and as she had retreated to gather her magic, she had slipped on a number of small pebbles, causing her to fall awkwardly. She now cowered on the ground, her legs and arms splayed uselessly as Kouga stared at her with silent sorrow.

Suddenly, it was Inuyasha's face above her. Somewhere nearby, Kagome heard the distinct thud of someone landing badly.

"Inu…yasha? You came for me?"

"Baka onna. Why wouldn't I come, hn?"

Inuyasha took off his haori off of his waist, and wrapped the shredded garment around her shoulders. He rested back on his haunches as his hands gently probed her legs and arms for fractures.

"I was afraid," Kagome answered meekly.

"You should be…" Inuyasha stopped as Kagome placed her hand on his cheek.

"I love you, Inuyasha. I was afraid I wouldn't be around long enough to say that."

Inuyasha's heart fell out of his chest. Or it felt that way. She loved him. Him. He was standing over her in full youkai form and she loved him! He hid his eyes with his bangs, trying to stop the joy they reflected. 'Not yet, not yet. I need to get her out of danger first.'

"We'll talk later, Inuyasha no kokoro."

Kouga was up on his feet at last. He turned away to spit out a tooth that came loose from Inuyasha's surprise attack. Finally, everything was going as planned.

"Inukkoro!!! Get you dog breath from over my woman!"

Wolf gaze met dog glare and recoiled. 'Shimatta! Inuyasha is not supposed to be youkai. What to do, what to do?"

Kouga smirked viciously.

"Nani, Inukkoro? Finally realized that the only way you could stand a chance against me was as a full youkai? Finally acknowledged that you're too weak in that pathetic hanyou carcass."

Inuyasha used every once of control he'd ever learned in the past two years to avoid rending Kouga limb from limb.

"Kouga! Kisama, you say you love Kagome, and then you attack her? This is not like you. I want the truth before I eat your heart."

Kouga's eyes had changed again. He shivered convulsively and foam bubbled from between his lips.

Inuyasha's eyes widened. He could smell it, he could smell what was wrong with the wolf but what was it called…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flashback ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chibi Inuyasha was skipping ahead of his mother. They were traveling again, as they had been thrown out of yet another village.

Inuyasha's prancings soon brought him close to a bat that seemed to be basking in the sunlight on the road.

"Eh? Mama, look, it's a bat, a bat!"

His mother slowly met up with Inuyasha. The blows that Inuyasha could not stop had hurt her sides badly.

As his mother drew closer, she saw the bat, out in broad daylight, and forced her body to move swiftly enough to stop Inuyasha's prodding fingers.

"No son! Don't touch it! Think my child, when have you ever seen a bat in the daytime?"

Inuyasha's youthful face scrunched into a thoughtful frown.

"This is the first time!"

"The only time bats come out in the day is if they are sick. And there is only one illness that can drive them mad enough to brave the light."

"But I'm a hanyou, Mama! I can't get sick!"

"Do not believe that Inuyasha. The wild madness goes through all, youkai, human, and animals. Only the cold animals, like snakes and toads are immune."

Inuyasha stepped away fearfully. His mother continued as she led him around the bat.

"The wild madness comes from bites from sick animals. It slowly drives the infected person insane, causing them to attack family, friend, and foe. They cannot sleep. They become afraid of water. They cannot move normally. They are prone to salivating or foaming at the mouth. They see things that are not there. They hear strange noises. They become dangerous. Then they die. There is no cure."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flashback ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inuyasha's eyes widened in surprised, even as they flickered towards gold.

"Oi, wolf! Kouga! You have it don't you? You have the wild madness?"

Kouga shivered again. He would rather have died with Inuyasha's hate than his pity.

"Aa, yes I have it. But that doesn't matter! Inukkoro, I'll slaughter you for touching my woman!"

Kouga bunched his muscles and launched himself at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha dodged it easily, amazed at how uncoordinated the wolf had become. He understood now. Kouga had kidnapped Kagome and left blatant evidence about imminent rape, knowing that it would inflame him into killing the wolf. The wolf wanted to die in a battle, not by his hands or by the madness.

"You want me to kill you, don't you Kouga?" he muttered as he easily dodged another attack. He thanked all the Fates that he had not slashed Kouga in his initial attack.

"Shut up! Shut up! I will not die insane and I will not die with your pity on your face! Attack me, Inukkoro, before I kill you and rape your precious Kagome. You want her mated to a madman? You want her to die from my bite?" Kouga snarled, as his saliva began to flow freely.

Inuyasha's eyes turned thoughtful, and eased back to his usual gold. He let his anger abate, and then ran for the cave entrance.

"Outside bakayarou. If you're a semi-decent wolf, you don't want to die inside a cave."

Kouga howled once, and followed the fleeing hanyou.

The two ran for a long time, one fleeing, one chasing, as Inuyasha finally came to a meadow and ran to the far side. Kouga entered the clearing and halted abruptly when he saw Tetsusaiga drawn.

'Yes! Thank you, Inukkoro!' was his last rational thought as the disease took his mind once more.

Inuyasha's face was grim. He did not pity the wolf. He secretly admired him for choosing the best way out of his impending death, and fending off the madness long enough to plan it out. But he hurt Kagome, and exposed her, all of them, to the illness in the process. It would take Inuyasha weeks of careful attention to see if any of them succumbed to the madness. That was enough to anger him.

"No one is here to stop us this time!" he growled, as the Kaze no Kizu roiled around Tetsusaiga.

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Kagome heard everything. Tears stood in her eyes, as she thought carefully about the things she heard Inuyasha mutter before he fled with Kouga snapping at his heels.

'The wild madness. The disease symptoms sound familiar. But what disease can animals AND humans AND youkai get? What disease could be so horrible that Kouga thinks it's a mercy to be killed? What disease could have no cure?"

The answer hit her like a thunderbolt. She was suddenly very afraid.

Gohan and Miroku came over to her as she struggled onto her feet. Sango was cradled gently against Miroku's chest, and Videl had been scooped under Gohan's neck like a little child.

"Kagome-sama, do you need help? What is Inuyasha do…"

Miroku was interrupted as Kagome swung her fear-stricken eyes to him.

"Call Kirara! Call her now before Inuyasha kills Kouga!"

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"KAZE NO KIZU!"

Kouga barely escaped that blast, his mind still capable of moving his body, no matter how disease-ridden it was. He turned wild eyes on Inuyasha as he bunched his limbs for an attack.

"Inuyasha!"

The cry from overhead distracted both of the combatants. Kagome, still wrapped in Inuyasha's haori, was riding Kirara, who flew towards them as fast as possible.

Inuyasha saw his chance, now that the wolf was distracted.

Kouga vaguely heard the attack as his brain focused on Kagome's voice. His rationality returned briefly.

'Not like this! She can't see me like this!'

He turned towards the Kaze no Kizu and opened his arms, as if he were embracing a lover.

The attack seared him; burning away his useless body, torching away the diseased mind. His reasoning returned to him in his last moments.

"Thank you, Inuyasha! Kagome, I'm sorry!"

The last faces that Kouga saw were Inuyasha's, which was lined with angry admiration, yet very weary, and Kagome's, which was flooded with tears.

Inuyasha responded to the wolf.

"Oi, Kouga. We understand. There's no pity. Die in peace, you've kept your honor."

Kouga closed his eyes and smiled. For once in the long months since he knew the disease was in his body, he smiled.

In a blink of an eye, he had vanished. There wasn't even a corpse to mourn.