InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Against All Odds ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Author’s note:
I noticed on a few of the reviews that some of you think she might be having twins. No, in the last chapter Naraku killed the female baby. Sorry. The boy ‘sperm’ was the one he let live.

Against All Odds

Chapter Seven

What game was Naraku playing? He’d never been one for prolonged torture and that’s what it was. Years ago when Naraku had started the feud between him and Kikyo, that hadn’t been torture. That had just been a plan to get what he wanted. When Naraku meant to kill someone, he meant to kill someone. He didn’t play the games like he was now. Naraku was going to kill Miroku and Sango. Inuyasha hadn’t doubted that. But he hadn’t. What had changed his mind? Caused the sudden indecisiveness?

More than anything, it went against Inuyasha’s nature, his demon blood, to be so helpless. It left him on the edge, just waiting. “I’m going to kill the bastard.” He muttered through clenched teeth.

“Inuyasha…”

He ignored Miroku. There was nothing Miroku could say that would stop him but he highly doubted Miroku wanted to stop him. They all had a beef where Naraku was concerned.

Miroku kept to himself; he wouldn’t go near the others. Not with his hand in the condition it was. Inuyasha wasn’t going to push that point. All it would take was one slip on Miroku’s part and the wind tunnel would take them all. Not to mention the pain Miroku was in. Inuyasha paced the small confines, ignoring whatever it was Sango and Miroku were saying. Miroku was in pain, that much was obvious; Sango just wanted to help him. He cursed and then growled, running a hand through his hair. His nerves were on end, stretched to the last pull. Honestly, Inuyasha wasn’t so sure he gave a damn on whether or not Miroku and Sango lived.

Kagome came first.

It was there, in the back of his mind. Their safety relied on him on one way or another. Fuck, what could they do against Naraku with the Jewel behind him? They didn’t stand a chance. His head snapped up, anger mounting through him. No. They stood a chance. They had to stand a chance if Inuyasha was going to kill the bastard and oh yea, he was. There was no way around that. How the fuck was he going to get out of here? He wasn’t stupid enough to try force his way through the Miasma again. His knuckles were damn near scraped raw from the poison and his body hurt from the constant beating it took as Inuyasha tried to force his body past its limits.

“Inuyasha…listen to me…” Miroku muttered.

Inuyasha waved him away. He didn’t want to hear it. He couldn’t think when the others spoke. He was tempted to use his Tessaiga but thought the better of it. Miroku had already pointed out the danger that could present for them. With nowhere for the attack to go but here it would backlash on them. There was something he was missing. Where Naraku was concerned there was always a way out.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and counted silently, mentally, swearing to himself. He’d been in here too long and the confinement was driving him crazy. It didn’t seem like it but…”Fuck, where are you, Kagome?” Inuyasha whispered, his voice almost hoarse. Six months. He hadn’t seen her in six months. He hadn’t heard her voice. But she was alive. She was alive. He’d rather see Kagome dead than used by Naraku. He couldn’t stand the thought of Kagome as a mindless puppet. Naraku was doing it for a reason. A purpose. Everything he did, he did for a reason.

No matter how low, how despicable it was—Naraku did it.

“Dammit, Inuyasha, listen to me.” Miroku finally bit out. Inuyasha tensed but he didn’t turn around.

“What?” Inuyasha muttered, clenching his fist.

It wasn’t lost on them how long they’d been here. Six months. They should have been dead right now. Six months where Naraku had taunted Inuyasha about Kagome, six months where he’d prolonged Miroku’s agony—the wind tunnel; six months where he’d flaunted the fact that Sango would follow Miroku in death. Miroku kept count. Finally, though, he had Inuyasha’s attention. Miroku wasn’t sure where the thought had come from but it was ideal. The only chance they had. But there was no guarantee. He closed his eyes, the side of his head pressed against his staff as he thought, wondered how to phrase this. He gripped the staff in his weakened hand, keeping the prayer beads and the staff against his palm. How much longer could he last?

“Inuyasha…we can get the Jewel back.” Miroku started, but he didn’t know how they were going to purify it without Kagome. Inuyasha was sure Kagome was still alive but Miroku just couldn’t hold onto that claim. What other reason than death could Naraku have for Kagome’s absence?

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Inuyasha muttered.

“No…that’s not what I meant. You’ve tried forcing yourself through the Miasma but the pain stops you, doesn’t it?”

Inuyasha grunted in answer. That question didn’t deserve an answer. His body still hurt.

“Inuyasha…” Miroku stared at Inuyasha’s tense back. “…your demon side knows no pain.”

“No.”

“Inuyasha, it may be our only way—“

“No.” Inuyasha stated again.

“Naraku wouldn’t stand a chance—“

“I’d kill Naraku and then you two.” Inuyasha wasn’t stupid. He knew if he lost control and let his demon loose, he would go straight for Naraku. His demon side would be drawn to the bastard. But he wouldn’t stop there. Miroku and Sango would be next. “It’s outta’ the question.” He muttered.

“Kagome would have wanted—“

Inuyasha’s head snapped up and he spun around. Anger rose up—and pain. “She’s not dead.” Kagome wasn’t dead. There was no way in hell fate would be that cruel. Then again, Naraku wasn’t fate. A snarl rose up, twisting in his chest, burning his throat. Kagome was not dead. “Kagome is not dead.” He clenched his teeth at Sango’s shocked reaction, the widening of her eyes and the gasp that she gave.

“What?” He didn’t mean to sound so harsh but he couldn’t control the anger. He couldn’t stand the thought of Kagome dead. But she wasn’t. She wasn’t. Even as he said it though, thought it, the doubt was there in the back of his mind. What if?

“Inuyasha…your face…” Sango started, staring at his face in shock.

“What?” He muttered, irritated. What the hell was she going on about now?

“Inuyasha…your face…it’s…” Miroku stopped her and with effort tossed his staff towards Inuyasha. He caught it one handed with no effort and tilted it back in his hand, staring at the distorted familiar image there. What he saw stopped him in his tracks. He almost missed it. The jagged stripes on his cheeks. They were almost translucent but he caught the color and it sent his heart pounding. Had his demon side been so close and he hadn’t even realized it? That was the reason for his animosity. It explained why he felt so ill at ease, the amount of control he was losing. But it didn’t explain why he hadn’t felt it. His demon side was emerging slowly; or it had been. He didn’t know when it had started but it had. They remained in that faded position on his cheeks, as if the tension from his body, his mood, kept his demon side on the edge.

That had never happened before. It was either all demon or his half side. It didn’t make sense that he hadn’t transformed—he was thankful for that; his eyes were still golden and there was nothing else to define the danger, the peril that his demon side was pushing to the surface. He snarled and threw the staff back towards Miroku.

“Fuck!”  He lifted his head and tilted it back, cursing and yelling for the entire world to hear. “It’s been six months you bastard! Where is she?!” Inuyasha was beyond asking to be freed. No, what he wanted was Kagome.


**(**
“It’s been six months you bastard!”

Naraku chuckled at the odious but subtle threat in Inuyasha’s voice that roared through every wall. Six months? Had it really been so short a time? He dropped his hand over his chest, where the Jewel resided and felt the ripple of power there. This was power. More than that, as he slid his hand over Kagome’s swelling stomach, he realized that that was power. He felt feel the subtle flow of energy, of power. It didn’t seem possible but the child had grown in Kagome’s body at a faster pace than any humans would have.

Naraku could feel, he could see the child. It was formed yet not. It amused him, even amazed, because he realized the child—his son—wanted out. He caressed the bulge, palming the center of her stomach. “Not yet. Not yet…” He murmured, almost soothingly. He lifted his head, his eyes moving up until he met Kagome’s smooth, crystal like brown eyes. How palpable. There was nothing but obedience in her eyes. What would Inuyasha do when he looked into Kagome’s vacant eyes?

Naraku held out his hand to Kagome and when she placed her hand in his, he closed his around her much smaller one. He pulled her to her feet, satisfaction in his black gaze. Kagome wasn’t gaunt and she wasn’t frightened. There was nothing to tell, nothing to make anyone think that she had been abused. That, she hadn’t. He refused to do such a thing. Her body was his child’s survival. In pregnancy Kagome was even more beautiful than before. There was just something about her. The glow of her skin, the way her body stretched to accommodate the child in her womb.

He chuckled. “I think it’s time we paid a visit to Inuyasha, Kagome.”

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