InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Beauty and the Beast, Inuyasha Style!! ❯ As Normal as could be... ( Chapter 19 )

Chapter 19

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(The group, minus Inuyasha, are standing in the clearing intently watching as the sounds of battle are heard in the background. Kagome's gaze seems to be the most piercing as it is absolutely saturated with an emotion somewhere between deep worry, pain, hope, and...love.)

Kagome: Inuyasha

(The sounds of battle suddenly multiply exponentially in volume as the focus is directed to where Inuyasha is fighting Naraku. Inuyasha is using Tetsuiga to attack and defend while Naraku has hardened one of his remaining tentacles into a sword like shape and is using that to fight. Unfortunately, Naraku seems to be winning, as Inuyasha's left arm rests unmoving at his side.)

Naraku: Kukuku. What's the matter, Inuyasha? Don't like the taste of your own words?

(Inuyasha grimaces and deflects another blow, staggering backwards another step. Suddenly he summons his strength and the two weapons meet each other in a deadlock. They push against each other, neither making any headway.

Inuyasha (hoarsely): DAMN YOU!!

(Naraku laughs again. Apparently he isn't struggling as hard as Inuyasha.)

Naraku: Poor little prince, although I do commend you on your efforts...

(He flicks his arm and Inuyasha is sent flying, sliding on his backside, howling in pain as earth and slime is jammed into his open wounds.)

Naraku (coldly): ...it's time you stopped playing games and let a true leader take over. Now... DIE.

(He moves to make a final charge at the struggling form of Inuyasha, but is stopped quite unexpectedly as a rock cracks him on the side of the head. Everybody turns surprised to see Kagome standing angrily in the position of having just thrown that same rock.)

All: Kagome...?

Kagome (angrily): Stupid bastard!!

(Naraku turns his attention somewhat from Inuyasha to Kagome. Kagome isn't the least bit phased by this, in fact, it just makes her angrier.)

Kagome: Inuyasha is ten times the leader you'll ever be! He understands things you never will, you heartless jerk!!

(From some distance away, Inuyasha has raised his head to stare absolutely amazed at Kagome.)

Inuyasha (whispers): Kagome?!

Kagome (yelling): There's no way you'll ever beat him! You always knew that! That's why you had to curse him, to try and get everyone against him because no one would listen to you! Because they knew you were useless as a leader.

(Naraku seems to tense, turning further and further away from Inuyasha, towards Kagome.)

Kagome (oblivious to the danger): All you've ever thought about is yourself! You don't care about anybody else, you don't care if they're happy or hungry. That's why Inuyasha will ALWAYS be the one everyone follows, why he's a prince, a KING! You're nothing more than a STUPID, OVER bloated, COMMON THIEF...

Naraku (Roaring): ENOUGH!!

(Kagome suddenly realises she might have gone too far for her safety as Naraku's shoulders hunch over, ready to pounce.)

Naraku: YOU...

(He charges Kagome before the others can reach her. A tentacle comes out from under his pelt and wraps around her neck, lifting her up off the ground.)

Naraku (spitting mad): Take it back, insolent bitch!! TAKE IT BACK!!!

(Kagome chokes and grasps feebly at the constrictor around her neck, squeezing tears out of her eyes, but she remains firm, a small smirk gracing her lips.)

Kagome (gasping): Is that...all...you can...do? ...scaring...people...into...

Naraku (shaking her): SHUT-UP!! JUST SHUT-U...

Inuyasha: KAGOMEEEE!!!!

(Naraku stops shaking her suddenly as a volley of blood red slashes streak their way across him, tearing apart the baboon pelt and severing the tentacle that was binding Kagome. She falls clumsily to the ground and begins to cough violently. Inuyasha runs to her side. He grabs her by the shoulder with his still moveable arm and steadies her.)

Inuyasha (crouching, worried): Kagome!! You okay?

Kagome (still panting): y...yeah...

Shippo: KAGOME!!

Others: Mistress, Lady Kagome-chan-sama! (you get the idea)

(Inuyasha once again gets pushed into the back row as the others surround her. Inuyasha is in no condition to protest and simply falls gently from a crouch to his butt. Suddenly, a strange twisted sound erupts from behind them.)

Naraku: Kukukya...kyekye he hehehhehe...heheheheheheh...eheheheheee!!

(Everyone stares in horror. For the first time, Naraku is revealed without his baboon cloak, and the sight is gruesome and horrendous beyond words. What everyone thought was a body has actually been a combination of several bodies, hands, feet, and heads. Eyeballs and ears spring out from all sort of strange places all over his body, claws, mouths, gaping teeth, and all through it he's laughing. Laughing like a maniac gone beyond hysterics. It's creepy.)

Naraku (still laughing): You...heheheeee...you're all insane!! All of you!! hahahahaHEEHEEHEE!!!

(Naraku grabs his sides and falls to the ground, rolling in his own sick twisted mirth.)

Naraku: Heeheee...To think ... Heheee... that ... that ... boy ... Hahahahaha ...foolish ... you would choose ... over me...Hahahahahahaha..

Shippo (rolling his eyes): Well duh! Everyone knows Inuyasha's a great leader! That's why we stick with him! Even if he is a total idiot someti...Yipes!!

(Everyone dives to the side as Naraku leaps at them. No longer laughing, instead he's snarling and foaming at the mouth like a rabid beast. Inuyasha, however doesn't leap to the side. He stands, taking the tackle and grappling with Naraku by the shoulders as he slides back several feet from the impact.)

(They wrestle each other for a while, pushing and pulling, still holding onto the other's shoulders. Inuyasha gets on top, seemingly winning as he forces Naraku down into the mud. Naraku, however, uses his claws to dig into the flesh of Inuyasha's wounded shoulder. Inuyasha screams, howling in pain as he loses his grip on his opponent. Naraku takes this opportunity to stick his hand through Inuyasha's middle section.)

(Inuyasha convulses, gagging and retching up pain and air, his eyes bulging. Naraku smirks and withdraws his hand, kicking Inuyasha in the gut and flipping him over his head. Inuyasha lands with a splat in the mud, still coughing and gagging, clutching his stomach and shoulder, arching his back in pain.)

Kagome (desperately): INUYASHAAAA!!!

(She's crying of course, kneeling in the mud as Sango and Miroku take up defensive stances, ready to attack Naraku if he makes a move towards them. Behind them, Tanuki is biting all his nails at once, sobbing as well. Shippo has turned away, unable to look he buries his little face in Kagome's shoulder, and Kirara is bristling in loyalty and anger, just off to the side of the group.)

(Naraku smirks as he stands there, gloating over Inuyasha's fallen form. The demon prince twitches, shivering and shuddering, blood and poison dripping from his wounds as he rolls himself up into a kneeling position. His eyes are glazed, unfocused. Naraku is laughing again, his regular cold laugh, no longer hysterical, but it's strangely high pitched, like he could go over the edge at any moment.)

Naraku: Kikukukukikiku! Words, all words! Inuyasha... After all, in the end you will be nothing more than a forgotten corpse, rotting in the mud.

(Naraku tenses, ready to charge.)

Naraku (high pitched): Now...DIE!!

(He charges Inuyasha, who is still kneeling on the ground, swaying slightly, eyes unfocused. Behind him, Kagome screams!)

Kagome (shreiking): NO! INUYASHAA!!!

Inuyasha (hazy): ...kagome?...

Inuyasha (eyes closed): Huh? ...smell... youki... ...winds...of...

(Naraku is almost upon him, ready to take that final dive and tear Inuyasha to shreds.)

Inuyasha (snapping to attention): The wound of the wind!

(Naraku pounces just as Inuyasha forces himself to his feet, drawing his sword and slicing in one motion...)

Inuyasha: KAZE NO KIZU!!!!

(Less than a meter from Inuyasha, Naraku is stopped mid air and sent flying backwards by the phenomenal blast that has just hit him, full force, point blank. The wound of the wind spreads out, forming deep, wide claw like marks in the earth, taking the tiny remaining bits of Naraku with them. In the fierce waves of aftershocks, these too are soon lost, burning up into oblivion, shred beyond dust or threads. Nothing remains of him, everything is gone.)

(Miroku and Sango are shocked, amazed at both the hidden power of the blade, and the fact that Inuyasha still had the strength to swing it. Tanuki, Shippo and Kirara are also amazed, but for different reasons. They stare about, disbelieving looks on their faces, trying to find a proof that Naraku is in fact still alive and is merely feigning death to buy himself time and play with their minds.)

(Kagome, however, wears a completely different expression. Her heart has stopped in her chest, concern and fear engraved all over her desperate face. It takes a moment for her to re-gain her breath. When she does, the first word out of her mouth is...)

Kagome (calling): Inuyasha!?

(Face resolved, she snatches the first-aid kit out of Tanuki's arms and runs for him. He's still standing, frozen like a statue in time. Right arm raised, sword extended, he's stuck in the instant of killing his most hated enemy, waiting to catch up to the world, or maybe for the world to catch up to him. Finally, one of the two occur, and without the slightest hint of a struggle, he topples foreward, Tetsuiga de-transforming with an exhausted sigh of smoke. Kagome reaches him as he hits the mud created by a mixture of water and his own blood.)

Kagome (firmly, yet slightly desperate): Inuyasha!

(She kneels beside him, gently touching him on the back to see if she can get a response. When there is none, she moves to his head, turning it slightly, lifting his face out of the mud. She gasps, his eyes are still open, but blank and unseeing. She calls to him.)

Kagome (gently): Inuyasha...

Inuyasha (barely audible): ...did I....get...him...

(Kagome is on the verge of tears as she nods, trembling slightly. She grasps his hand, which is resting on the handle of Tetsuiga.)

Kagome (whispers): He's gone Inuyasha. You won. It's okay now...

(Her only response is a small sigh as Inuyasha shuts his eyes and finally passes out.)

*~*~*~*~*

(Scene shifts to the castle, a day later. The sun is shining brightly on the outside walls of the battlements and turrets, making them appear as white as they would have in their days of glory. Birds are singing, everything seems cheerful, but in the castle, things are frantic. The silence is repeatedly shattered as several voices are heard, bellowing the same word over and over again.)

Kagome (slightly frantic): INUYASHAAA!!!

(She runs through the halls, checking each unlocked door, a worried look on her face. Suddenly she skids to a halt in a cross space, nearly tripping over Shippo, who also stops running. She doubles over panting...)

Kagome (breathing heavily): Shippo! (pant) Any luck?

Shippo (shakes his head): Nu-uh. He's not in the courtyard, or the kitchen, or the parlour. Sango and Kirara are checking the forest, and Tanuki and Miroku are now looking in the pantries...but I don't know why he would be there.

(Kagome sighs and looks around some more, searching for a clue. Suddenly she fixes her gaze out the window.

Kagome: Inuyasha...

Shippo (continuing): Geeze, that moron! He can't even walk yet, now he's gone and...Kagome?

(Kagome is already running off in another direction, she yells back to Shippo without turning around.)

Kagome: Shippo, why don't you try down that way! I'm going to try over here...

(And with that she's gone. Shippo raises his eyebrows after her suspiciously, but then shrugs and runs off in his designated direction.)

(*~*~*~*~*)

(Meanwhile, in a familiar part of the castle, Inuyasha is sitting at his favourite window, somehow having found the strength to climb the stairs all the way up to the top of the palace. He's staring out over the land, deep in thought as shouts from the others drift up to his ears. He doesn't seem to notice them as he sits, wearing only his pants, Tetsuiga at his side. His left shoulder is still heavily bandaged, and there's a large reddish scab on his stomach as well, mementoes of the battle with Naraku. Some of the burn marks still remain as reddish splotches on his skin.)

Inuyasha: Won't they ever shut up? I'm fine dammit!

Inuyasha: ...maybe not...

(He sighs and looks down at the ground.)

Inuyasha: ...What do I do now?

Inuyasha: Naraku's gone, and soon, everyone will start returning to the castle, they'll expect me to lead them... Heh, I'm prince after all, but... I never thought about what I'd do... after...

Inuyasha: The curse is still here, I still don't know, can it be lifted?

Inuyasha: What if Naraku was right? Maybe this whole thing will be lifted ifI...if I were to...would it be for the best?

Inuyasha: ...and then...Kagome... is it possible? Could she...maybe...

(She sound of feet shuffling lightly against the stone floor break his thoughts. He looks up.)

Inuyasha (slightly surprised): Kagome?

(Kagome smiles at him gently, and comes up to sit on the opposite side of the sill. He shies away from making eye contact with her, and instead, turns to stare out the window. Kagome does the same, looking out over the fresh spring day and breathing in deeply. At last she breaks the silence.)

Kagome (pleasantly): I thought I might find you here.

(No response.)

Kagome: Really Inuyasha you shouldn't just wander off like that, everyone was worried about you.

Inuyasha (grumbling): Humf. I'm not some helpless wimp who needs to be looked after all the time. I just wanted some time to think, alone.

(He does his best to sound like his usual annoyed self, but it's slipping. Either it's because of the beautiful day, or because of Kagome, but the best he can manage is a low, half hearted grumble. Kagome sighs at his attitude and turns back to the scenery for a moment. Inuyasha takes the chance to observe her out of the corner of his eye. He instantly stops however as she looks back at him.)

Kagome (defeated): Did you want me to leave then? I should go tell the others that I found...

Inuyasha (sharply, and quickly): They can keep looking, it'll give them something to do.

Kagome: ...Oh...

(Another awkward silence. Kagome plays with her skirt.)

Kagome (hehitantly): How's your shoulder? I thought you couldn't even walk yet, let alone climb all the way up here.

Inuyasha (bluntly): It's fine...

(He sees a flash of frustration cross Kagome's face as he deadpans all her attempts at starting a conversation. He sighs, letting some small amount of fatigue show through his invincible facade.)

Inuyasha: The poison's slowing it down, but is should still be healed in a few days. It doesn't hurt that much...

(Kagome lifts up her head and lets a small smile of relief creep across her lips.)

Kagome (genuinely): I'm glad. I was really worried about you, you know...

Kagome (Frowning): ..when we got back to the castle, you were barely breathing...

Inuyasha: Hey! Who do you think I am? Did you really think I would lose to some crummy advisor! Keh!

(This time he sounds more like his usual peevish self and Kagome smiles despite herself. She hadn't heard that voice in days now, and it's oddly comforting to see him acting all macho again. Maybe she should tease him...)

Kagome: Really? Well, even so, you couldn't have won without the help of Miroku and Sango...

Inuyasha: Keh! I only wanted to see what they could do that's all! I never needed their help!

Kagome: Ohh, I don't know, Miroku is really strong with that air void of his, and Sango...

Inuyasha: WHAT?! Don't tell me you actually like that kind of pervert! Stupid girl!

Kagome: Well at least he doesn't insult me, and besides, how did you know he was perverted?

Inuyasha: BY THE WAY HE TRIED TO GRAB THAT OTHER GIRLS AS...

(Inuyasha is cut short by the sound of someone clearing their throat. They both stop mid battle to stare at the doorway, where Miroku, Tanuki, Sango, Kirara, Shippo and even Myouga are watching them with tired expressions.)

Miroku (slightly cold): Ahem...Seems like your guess was right Tanuki, however, apparently Kagome-sama has already beat us to him...

Shippo (interrupting): Inuyasha! You jerk! You're more irresponsible than a three year old!

Myouga: Ahh, my Lord Inuyasha is still too young...

Sango (almost disappointed): Oh well, looks like he isn't hurt any worse. Shall we go?

Kirara (being held by Sango): Keow!

Tanuki (turning with others): Yeah, I have dinner to make anyway...

(They start to walk down the hall.)

Miroku: Oh? What are we having Tanuki?

Tanuki: Oh I don't know. I was thinking of rice and pickled vegetables...

Sango: Again Tanuki-san?

Shippo (sigh): I wish Kagome had brought more food back with her...

(Their voices fade into the distance as Inuyasha and Kagome stare after them and then at each other, unable to remember what they were fighting about...)

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