InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Unexpected Ally ❯ Prologue

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

disclaimer: YYH belongs to Yoshihiro Tagashi; IY belongs to Rumiko Takahashi; Unfortunately, I am neither one of them!

Unexpected Ally (title courtesy of my beta-reader, metallicjet of ICAF; arigatou gozaimasu, Chiisu-kun!!)

Prologue:

Naraku had been defeated in an all-out epic battle. In the end, everyone agreed to work together, including Sesshoumaru, Kouga and even Kikyou. Sesshoumaru did a fair job of eliminating many of the lower youkai minions Naraku sent forth to announce his impending arrival, then going head-on against Kagura at her arrival. The fight with Kagura had been a ruse, though, as she had also made a deal with the Inu-tachi to gain her freedom. To gain… her heart… and Kanna's. She was to help them kill all the remaining minions under the guise of a messy fight with Sesshoumaru, giving the others the chance to gain ground on Naraku.

It had taken quite a bit of arguing and persuading to even get Sesshoumaru to agree to such a plan, let alone be a main participant. He would have much preferred going after Naraku all on his own, but he had been plagued by a feeling of foreboding for quite some time concerning the inevitable upcoming battle. He had learned long ago to trust that suspicious nagging at the back of his mind, so he felt obliged to at least listen to their plans. In the end, Kagura had appealed to his sense of pride, saying he was the only one she knew that fought ruthless enough for it to be believable that she'd lose her cool in battle. How else would it be explainable that she'd become so reckless as to cause the death of more of her "allies" than the number of wounds inflicted on her "enemy"?

Unfortunately, Naraku had seen the plan earlier through Kanna's mirror as she, once again, betrayed her younger sister. Kagura was dealt a swift impaling blow with a spiky, clay-like tentacle and reabsorbed before she could utter the curse on her tongue to her creator.

Almost simultaneously another impaling blow was dealt Sesshoumaru through his chest from his back. He had been concentrating so much on the choreography of their guise that he had only realized a moment too late. It was not a mortal blow, but he was definitely out of commission. If Tenseiga had not been at his hip to transport him to safety, he was not sure what the outcome would be. When this thought registered in his head, an expression of utter disbelief and brief humiliation almost crossed his face, but never made it past his eyes.

`Imagine, The Great Lord of The Western Lands brought down by a filthy half-breed for the sake of not killing that woman! And in the end it mattered not, she is gone now anyway.' He had shaken himself from these thoughts quickly, turning his attention back to the sounds of the still raging battle.

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Kouga held his own against the throng of the Advanced Guard, but quickly realized just why the other half-breed he normally held in contempt had accepted his help (albeit rather grudgingly) with THIS half-breed, once he finally faced Naraku. He and Inuyasha were giving all they could, but didn't seem to make any headway. Finally, after what seemed hours, but was probably no more than half an hour, it looked like they were wearing him down! They had slashed and clawed their way through quite a few kugutsu and seemingly endless writhing, creeping tentacles and had finally found the real villain. Then, of course, came the miasma.

Kagome, out of everyone there, was the only one who was not affected at all by its poisonous effects. Even Kikyou was slightly affected, though not nearly as much as the rest of the warriors. Kagome immediately went to her human friends to get them cleared from the area. Miroku had been rendered unconscious from the effects of the poison from the saimyoushou he had sucked into his kazaana with many youkai. Luckily, Kagome had planned for just such a likely event and quickly administered medicine to him before going back for Sango. She hadn't had far to go, for Kirara had quickly sensed the danger before the miasma had fully engulfed them and grabbed her loving master and friend along with her now-dead brother from where they lay, bringing them to the safety of the same clearing Kagome had brought Miroku.

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Sango had lost herself to grief when Naraku had removed the shard from Kohaku's back, after the boy, once again, was able to fight the powerful command Naraku had over him.

Her previous back wound had been reopened as he'd approached her from behind, but when she turned around he had seen her face… and froze. She had watched him stand there, shaking, his chained sickle raised above his head, ready to be brought down on her to end it all. She waited for it, knowing she couldn't bring herself to deal such a blow to him to save herself. It never came, though, and she heard the sliding clink and clatter of the chain collapsing to the ground, the blade coming to rest on top of the coiled pile. He had abandoned his weapon!

He could never again forget the face of this woman, and though his memory of all else was erased, he knew that he could never kill her for he knew that she loved him unconditionally. He vaguely had an idea that he had been close to her; that they were family, but the whole truth in his vacant memory did not matter as long as he kept her alive. And he had, at the cost of his own. He was not sad, he knew it would happen. When he felt the shard's power leaving him and the intense, soul-shattering pain overtake him, he merely smiled at his sister and whispered, "I knew… I could… never… forget… your face… miss..."

Sango had just collapsed at that, not even feeling the pain of her physical wounds due to the pain in her twisting heart. Unable to think, unable to move more than grabbing up Kohaku's body instinctively and curling herself upon him. He had forgotten it. Forgotten it all, but not her! Yet, he still did not truly remember her, either. Her brother had died not truly knowing any family, or that he was dearly loved and treasured. She felt her heart wrench in guilt, pain and regret. She had been unable to save him. Her cries of anguish were lost to the sounds of the battle that had ensued around her, and only Miroku had seen from his place in battle a few meters away, before succumbing to his own intensely burning pain.

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Kikyou was sure she would be the one to ultimately bring Naraku down, but he recreated the giant soul-collector that had plagued her once before, so long ago, and she was losing her strength and power fast. Kagome, seeing this, yelled for Inuyasha to kill the incarnation while she quickly notched an arrow and let it fly directly for her target: the dark hanyou himself. The cocky bastard had finally shown up in person once more, and, in a move reminiscent of one of her first few encounters with him, Kagome hit her mark through his miasma, breaking through his barrier and devastating his body, leaving barely more than a head! Naraku was down, but not out. No one there was stupid enough to think he wouldn't come back once more if he escaped now. Luckily, Kikyou was still within reach of him, and as Inuyasha had killed the beast stealing her borrowed souls, she had just a bit of power left. All her own shinidama-chuu had been exterminated by Naraku, leaving her unable to re-gather the lost souls to gain her strength back.

"Just enough…" she spoke, barely above a whisper, "…to fulfill my promise.."

At this, Inuyasha looked back at her from where he had landed after striking the soul-stealer down just a few meters away; able to see throughout the battlefield once again as the miasma had been purified to nothing by Kagome's hamaya.

`What promise? Is she talking about our promise? He's not even dead yet! The jewel isn't complete. What the hell is she talking about?' His thoughts rambled away, trying to grasp what she could possibly be talking about. He didn't have long to wait, though.

Kikyou leapt at the dark hanyou and with the last bit of strength and power she had, bound him to her, putting him in a trancelike state so he could not disturb her final deeds. Suddenly, an enchanting blue light burst forth from the ground, opening it up to them and gently coaxing them down. Down to the bowels of hell.

"Kikyou! No! What are you doing?! That was our promise! I was supposed to protect you from him! I was supposed to follow you to hell!" Inuyasha screamed at her in anguish at seeing his first love wrapped around their most-hated enemy, dragging him to hell with her. He dimly realized he was arguing to go to hell himself, and who in their right mind would do that? But hehad promised her and had intended to keep his word, no matter the conflicting emotions swirling inside him. `But now…' he thought as he watched her sink deeper and deeper.

"I know I vowed to take you with me to hell, Inuyasha, but I made another vow also. I vowed that I would be the one to kill Naraku, and I can't ignore it now that it's so clear how I can. You made another promise as well, Inuyasha. You promised you would always protect Kagome, and I'm sure even you realize that would be impossible where I'm going," Kikyou said all this in a soft, solemn voice, a softer emotion than she had ever worn since her "resurrection" starting to play in her eyes and at her mouth. She had a sad sort of smile, but it was genuine. The hint of thinly-veiled malice gone completely.

"No…. Kikyou…" Inuyasha pleaded, his voice softly breaking.

Kikyou smiled at him then. A warm, nostalgic smile, as if she was thinking on fond memories. "I did love you Inuyasha. I remember that. But all that was left was the cold hatred and regret when my reincarnation took back most of our soul. It will be her soul alone now. I'm glad I've come to realize these things before this piece returns to her. I hope it will fuse inside her without the excess negativity I was holding onto for so long. Goodbye….Inuyasha." And with that, she was gone. As the last of the ethereal blue lights faded, and the earth closed back up, all anyone could do was stand (or lay, as the case may be) in awed silence. Was it really over? Had she actually defeated the evil hanyou?

Inuyasha fell to his knees, a myriad of emotions engulfing him, not sure what to feel, or what to do next. Pain, grief, anger, longing, love, regret… but, most of all… `…relief? At what? Naraku's defeat? Kikyou's acceptance of her fate? Not having to follow her to hell?' At this thought, the grief and regret showed themselves full-force again. He continued to stare, eyes glazed over, at the spot that his once-love had disappeared into. He couldn't even begin to sort through his thoughts and feelings, so he let himself go numb.

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Kagome slowly came to her senses and willed her body to move to the place Naraku had been when she loosed her hamaya. Finding the glowing, tainted, mostly-complete sphere she was looking for, she slowly kneeled down to pick it up, instantly purifying the tainted jewel. She sighed in relief. She had been worried that it may be too far gone, too impure, for her meager abilities. Once again, she was proven wrong by the powers that she couldn't even begin to fathom, lying mostly-dormant inside her, bubbling up like a natural geyser at the times they knew she most needed it.

Suddenly, Kagome started to feel a familiar tugging. The tugging at her soul. She'd felt it often when near Kikyou in the past. She frowned, starting to feel dizzy, unsure of what to do or what it meant.

Inuyasha felt a familiar presence from the spot his eyes were staring at, unseeing. He quickly shook his head and blinked away his haze. The ground was trembling slightly in that spot, and a faint pink light was shining through the cracks on the surrounding earth. `What the hell,' he thought, confused, `is she coming back? Did she leave Naraku there to come back for me?'

Just as he thought this, the full force of the shining pink presence burst forth, exploding from the ground, yet leaving no destruction in its wake. All went back exactly as it was before. Inuyasha followed the light with his gaze, then his head followed when he felt he would topple over from trying to keep only his eyes on the sprightly soul. For that's what it was, he now knew. The fragment they most needed and should've been looking for all along, yet he was too blinded by his past to realize before now.

`How had Kagome stayed so bright and cheerful, missing so much of herself? Her very being, her essence, ripped in two? How extraordinary must she truly be to have been able to share that much of herself and not fall victim to the same bitterness as… Kikyou?'

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The soul flitted around the clearing a few more times, enjoying its brief freedom, as if airing itself out of the bitter sorrow and hatred it had been forced to endure and hold onto for so long. Finally, coming within feet of Kagome, who had turned around to face the same spot Inuyasha was facing, the freshly aired soul dove carefree into Kagome's chest, bathing her in an ethereal pink glow.

Kagome's eyes widened at the approach of her missing soul fragment, and began to feel the familiar tug turn into an inward pull as it got closer. As it dove into her, she felt warmth wash over her like a tidal wave, then quickly even out to a calm ebb; the feeling of a soothing, bubbling hot spring relaxing her entire being. It was wonderful. It was….complete. Yet so much more. She didn't ever remember feeling this alive, yet she had been so sure she was quite alive and happy before. She had no words or thoughts to describe it, she just had the feeling, and she didn't ever want it to go away again.

Slowly, the intensity ebbed away, as did the glow, fading from her body until, lastly, it glowed in her eyes before returning them to their sapphire blue once more. But that wholeness, that feeling of being thoroughly alive and aware, stayed with her. Kagome couldn't help it. She grinned the biggest, most possibly cheesiest, grin ever in her life. Wrapping her arms around herself, her grin remained as she started giggling, unable to control the giddy feeling bubbling up inside.

Inuyasha stared at her a moment, feeling like doing a triple-take, but never moving his eyes from her laughing form. Then, Inuyasha couldn't help it, he started laughing, too! Kagome's breath hitched as she heard him start up, and she looked up at him from across the way a split-second before succumbing to even more mind-numbing giggles.

`This is great. Naraku is gone. The jewel, almost complete. And… I am complete! And Inuyasha is laughing!! I always wanted to see him smile, but laughing?! Wow! I know once we sober up, he still has a lot of healing to do, but maybe… just maybe…' Kagome smiled to herself as her laughter finally trailed off, and she took into account the state of her friends scattered across the former battlefield.

Kouga was sitting cross-legged on the ground still staring at the spot where Kikyou had summoned the embrace of hell, his mind still heavily muddled from the effect the miasma had on his ultra-sensitive youkai senses.

Sango had finally started coming around and was attempting to check on Miroku, all while still clutching Kohaku against herself as she half-crawled, half-dragged herself over to the houshi. Not because of any serious injury, though she did have quite a few, but because she still couldn't trust herself to walk properly out of sheer emotional exhaustion, if nothing else. Kirara was attempting to help, however she was limping due to injuries received from the Advanced Guard. They would heal in a matter of a couple days, but Kagome mentally made a note to bandage her up as soon as she got her supplies back from Kaede's. She knew she probably wouldn't have enough bandages to do it now, after she got done bandaging the others. For now, she'd have to try to mend just the serious injuries they now sported.

`Thank all the Kami I made Shippou stay in the village! I hadn't been sure this would be it for real this time or not, but I just had that weird feeling…' Kagome shuddered slightly at this, thinking what could've happened if the kit had come along. `Glad I'm learning to better trust those gut instincts finally!'

Kagome looked towards Inuyasha with a silent question on her face. He nodded his head towards the forest to his right, indicating that's where his brother was healing. Then, he shook his head `no' slightly to what he knew her next question would be. She frowned a bit when she realized he was already forbidding her to go help his half-brother, but she knew it would not be the best idea to mess with Sesshoumaru right now. He had been the first to fall, and he would not need any reminders of that from a little ningen miko trying to help him. She decided to give him a chance to come to them, but resolved that nothing would stop her if he was still being stubborn in the morning.

Everyone was thoroughly exhausted, and, though they didn't exactly feel like staying in the remains of the previous violence, none had enough strength or energy left to move much farther from it. They set up a makeshift camp a little ways away in the same woods Sesshoumaru rested, though not too close to invoke his wrath, and let Kagome treat their injuries with what little supplies she had left on her person. They didn't even try to bother with dinner. Even if there had been something to eat, none really felt like eating after such carnage.

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In the morning, Sesshoumaru had re-inspected the battlegrounds, finding his "allies" missing among the remains, and went to join them. He couldn't fathom why at the moment, but he felt drawn to their camp. Coming upon the camp, he felt a familiar pulse that had realization for the inexplicable pull dawning on him. The boy, Kohaku, the one who had been ordered to kill Rin when she was kidnapped from him, was dead. Wrapped in a blanket and waiting to be taken back to his village to be buried. He felt the pulse again, and looked down to Tenseiga. Without a thought or a word to the others, who quickly became aware of his commanding presence, he drew the sword, narrowing his eyes to see the messengers of death and quickly slicing through them with a mighty sweeping arc of the healing sword. Everyone held their breath at the action, not sure what the hell he was doing, until Kohaku took in a deep gasping breath and sat bolt upright.

Sango let out a surprised gasp as tears of joy and gratitude cascaded down her cheeks. She couldn't begin to think how to thank Sesshoumaru enough for her brother's return to life, and ran instinctively to embrace the youkai lord, stopping short when she realized he had already wordlessly sheathed his sword and turned to walk away. His dignity just barely salvaged by preventing the taijiya's inevitable embrace, he took to the sky to find Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un before returning to his lands.

The rest of the group simply stared after him as Sango moved to welcome her dear brother back to the land of the living. After much embracing and many tears, the two siblings seemed to come to an unspoken understanding that neither were ready to talk about Kohaku's restored memories quite yet. For now, they would just be happy they were reunited once again in life.

Soon after the calming of the reunion, they broke camp and headed back to Kaede's village…. Back home. Now the healing would begin. More than one person had more than just physical healing to do, and they all knew they would need to come to terms with their emotional turmoil before continuing the quest to complete the jewel.

Upon examination of the jewel, Kagome had realized that even with their shards, and the two Kouga still possessed, they were still missing quite a few. With the semblance of peace that seemed to possess the lands once haunted by Naraku, though, they knew it would not endanger their quest to take the healing rest they so richly deserved. This is how it came to be, a week later, that they all took temporary leave of each other for some much-needed self-reflection. Sango and Kohaku went back to the taijiya village to pay respects to their ancestors, Sango determined to soothe Kohaku's guilt and help him ease back into a normal (as normal as it can be as a youkai exterminator in the Sengoku Jidai, at least) life.

Miroku left to visit Mushin and cleanse his soul with deep meditation. With his newfound lease on life since the kazaana had closed, he had much thinking to do on his intentions with a certain pink-and-black clad bone-boomerang wielding beauty. He knew exactly what his intentions were, but would she accept him? He had never talked of his true feelings to her before. He could never expect her to return his feelings. It would not have been fair to ask such a commitment of her to a dying man. He was no longer dying, though. No, he was very much alive, and hopefully soon to be a very happy husband….

Kouga went back to his tribe, hoping to reunite the previously all-but-disbanded tribes and restore some order to his lands. He, of course, insisted he would be back for Kagome when things were suitable for his `mate's' return. Kagome had tried to correct his presumption, but he was off in a whirlwind before his name could leave her lips.

This left Kagome and Inuyasha. She knew he would still be suffering from all the confusing emotions that welled up at Kikyou's final actions, but was determined to be there for him no matter how painful it may be to her. So it came to be that, almost two weeks after the defeat of Naraku, Kagome convinced Inuyasha to come with her to her time for a vacation, hoping to get his mind off Kikyou for a bit and cheer him up. She knew he wasn't mad at her, but his sorrow contributed even more to his normally gruff attitude, and she had not seen even a shadow of a smile on him since that day he had burst out laughing with her. She missed it and was determined to see it again!

End Prologue

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Japanese Vocab: A/N: I will be using most of these words quite often, though I may occasionally use the English words as well. I will not, however, be translating/defining them for each chapter I use them in. Please feel free to inform me if I have mistranslated something, as I have no formal education in Japanese-only what I've picked up from anime, fansites, fanfic, and online research, all of which are subject to human error. Thank you! ^___^

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Words First Appearing in Prologue:

youkai: demon

Inu-tachi (or Inuyasha-tachi): basically, Inuyasha and the group (Inuyasha-group)

kugutsu: demon puppet

saimyoushou: hell's insects

kazaana: air void (wind tunnel)

hanyou: half-demon

shinidama-chuu: Kikyou's soul collectors

hamaya: purifying arrow

houshi: monk

kami: gods and spirits (this is kind of an over-simplification, but good enough for my usage of the word)

ningen: human/humans

miko: shrine maiden/priestess

taijiya: exterminator/slayer

Sengoku Jidai: Japan's Feudal, or Warring States, Era

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Reviews would be much appreciated! ^____^