InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Betrayed By Them All ❯ In Which One Is Betrayed ( One-Shot )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Crystal tears fell down her pale face. The shallow light from the moon cast an eerie shadow across the girl's face, increasing the far away look she had. Just one glimpse into her eyes and you would see the hollow depression, the sadness that could bring wrenches to your heart.
She sat there like a painting, so peaceful and unmoving, showing expressions of grief that we will never understand or be able to completely fix. Except that this girl is not a painting, and we do know what happened. For once in her life she felt as if it would never get better, there was nothing to fix what had already happened.
~Flashback~
It was one week after the final battle with Naraku was over, they had finally one. Shippou had been the first to die, a long gash across his stomach had bled too much. Then was Kohaku, who Naraku had purposely taken the shard out of his back in the middle of the battle to gain more power. Over grief of the loss of her brother, Sango had died protecting his lifeless body, peacefully dying next to him with love for her younger brother she had fought so hard to protect.
The saddest part was that Sango and Miroku had never admitted their love for each other, although it was obvious to everyone except them. After the battle he had gone off saying he had an arrangement he had to take care of.
Villagers found his body in the forest near by; he had killed himself with a knife through the heart.
They all lay buried around the God Tree, four spots with not grass, but the most beautiful of flowers growing on them. It was like they were asleep, but a sleep they would never wake up from. They would never grow up any more than they did, never see the world again. Just like closing your eyes and never opening them.
Kagome had been mourning her friend's deaths for weeks, not saying a word to any one. Keade was the only one left, but she was still an old woman, soon to pass onto the next life and be with their now deceased friends.
There was no news of any destruction; the jewel was now complete.
"Kagome, give me the jewel," InuYasha said to her, extending out his hand. They were standing in the middle of a clearing by the well, seeing each other for the first time since the battle.
"InuYasha, I cannot allow you to use the jewel for your own purposes," Kagome answered, hoping he would understand.
"I am going to wish our friends back," he said. She nodded in understanding, that even though it was a selfish wish, she knew how much her friends should be alive now, and not buried like they were. Kagome just hoped nothing would go wrong.
She handed him the jewel and he took off, running back into the forest, not once glancing back at her. InuYasha knew that if he did, he would falter, and not complete his mission. Once the half demon was out of sight, Kagome sighed, wishing that just once he would be nice and actually talk to her. But now was not the time.
Time passed, yet their friends had not miraculously risen from the dead. In fact, nothing special happened at all, only a wedding of one of the villagers. Kagome was beginning to think that he had lied to her, and took the jewel away to become a full-fledged demon without telling her. She wouldn't have given it to him if she had known what he was going to do.
Her suspicions were proved correct when an alive and well Kikyo showed up at the village three weeks later, no aura of death hanging around her, and no soul stealers in sight. And when InuYasha showed up as well, she felt her heart feel like it was torn out.
Kagome had believed him. She had thought that he would bring her friends back to her. Instead, he had wished to bring that…that…clay pot back instead. It hurt her even more than the way he would not look at her. She cried at night, in the hot springs, anywhere she had a private moment.
But she would not dishonor herself by weeping in public. They would then think she was weak, and shoo her from the village.
InuYasha had been her best friend. They had spent so much time together, learning the ways of life, the hardships and the pain. They had both gone through loss, helped each other carry on. It had hurt that he would go off to spend time with Kikyo, but nothing could compare to the pain and betrayal she felt now.
Apparently everything they had been through together had been nothing, just a fraction of time compared to what he and Kikyo had. To him, she was just a shard detector, a replacement for the love he missed so much. Kagome had meant almost nothing, just like a grain of sand on the beach. She just happened to be the one to come along and free him.
It was a one and a million chance, but she had fallen down the well. She had been the one to wake him from his supposed eternal sleep. She had cared for him, protected him when she got the chance. She had followed him like a lovesick puppy, not allowing all the signals that said he didn't care about her to stop her. But she had fallen in love, and she was the one who ended up hurt.
The couple stayed in the village, in a hut close to the forest. Keade was overjoyed to have her older sister back, not the clay pot any more. Oh no, Kikyo was fully alive, so much that she could once again feel love. And also hate.
A hate for Kagome that spread throughout her soul. The young girl had prevented InuYasha from realizing the truth of the betrayal between them, the girl had broken the jewel, stopping InuYasha from bringing her back alive earlier.
The now alive miko demonstrated this hate by spreading lies and rumors about her, sayings things like she sensed a demonic aura around Kagome now. Which meant that either Kagome was really a demon in disguise, or she was pregnant with a demonic child. The first was what they assumed, because there were no signs to her being pregnant.
The worst part was that InuYasha did nothing to stop the rumors. Sure, he knew about them, who wouldn't with super-sonic hearing like his? And he knew that Kikyo had started them, yet he did not talk to her about them. InuYasha did nothing, just pretended like nothing was happening.
Soon enough all of the village believed in those rumors, and they chased Kagome from the village. She had no idea why, but before she left, she gazed into InuYasha's molten amber eyes.
Her eyes held the sadness, the betrayal, everything. He could do nothing but stare back at her, everything inside of him screaming with anger at what he himself had done. Kagome had changed, and it was all because of him. The once happy, cheerful girl was now a plain, quiet one, who didn't talk.
He stared at her until her figure disappeared into the horizon. Reaching up with a clawed hand, he realized that the wet streams running down his face were his own tears.
"Kagome…what have I done?"
~
Too ashamed to go home, Kagome traveled and searched until she found a village that could use her help as a miko. She held back from everyone, but no one minded, the town had a miko to protect them from demons, and she had a place to live. But she would not call it home.
Home was the shrine in the future, the God Tree, and the well. Home was where her family was, her mother, grandpa, and younger brother, home was where InuYasha and Kikyo were, the village she had been shooed out of.
For two years she lived in saddened peace, trying to forget what happened. But one could not stop from noticing the sadness and pain in her eyes. In her expression when she looked at the pictures of her old friends. That was until a letter came.
It simply stated that an urgency had come up at her old village, and they needed her to come back. Kagome debated whether or not to go, deciding if after two years she was ready to go back. Ready to face her fears and confront the ones that had plagued her dreams and sent shiver down her spine.
She decided to go, there was nothing more they could take from her now.
Upon reaching the village, shouts were heard.
"Lady Kagome, you have returned to us!"
"Are you here to help us, Lady Kagome?"
"Please accept this gift of friendship as payment!"
"Will you please bless my daughter's wedding tomorrow?"
The villagers crowded around her, asking questions and sharing their happiness that she had come back to them. They apologized with friendship, hoping that she would forgive their acts and come back to them. They were in dire need of a miko, ever since a few months ago Kikyo had been killed.
Yet she brushed them off with a wave of a hand. Even though Kagome could never stay mad at the innocent people that had also betrayed her, she could not so easily forgive them. Their acts would not go unpunished; she would not say a word to them.
Following her senses to where the most graveness was, Kagome found herself at the entrance of a hut on the far outskirts of the town, near the forest.
Pulling the cloth hanging aside, she entered the hut. It was dark and dank inside, and she had to wait a moment for her eyes to adjust. The small room smelled of sickness and death, no doubt from the figure that lay covered on the bed.
"Kagome," it said, its voice raspy and dry.
She walked closer and uncovered the person. It was the one and only major cause of pain in her life, InuYasha. He was pale and pasty, like he had not seen direct sunlight for weeks. Seeing his condition, he probably hadn't. His normally shiny, silver hair was now more of an ugly, plain grey.
His eyes that were normally so golden were now so old, they looked so dark and unfocused that they were almost a light brown. No more peppy puppy ears that twitched in the direction of every sound, they were now droopily folded down against his head.
"Kagome, help me," he said, his lips cracked and bleeding from the dryness. It was most likely that he had not eaten or drank anything for days; that most of the villagers had either forgotten him, or just didn't care about him. Maybe they actually did feel the pain and betrayal from InuYasha. Nah.
Kagome couldn't say she was sad, couldn't say she held any guilt for the sickness he had. No, she had none at all, no guilt, no heart wrenching pain except the one of betrayal. She did not have the overwhelming urge to rush in and save him, to bring him out of his misery and pain. He had not helped her, why should she help him? Kagome knew of those rumors, and knew who started them. Yet InuYasha had done nothing, and he held that against him, like any normal human would.
Then again, Kagome was not any normal human, but that did not mean she could not feel. She felt the scars that burnt at her back each night, the ones she had received from Naraku during the final battle when she had tried to protect Shippou. She felt the wind blowing across her face when she stood outside, and she felt the tightness in her chest when she felt how much she missed her family.
InuYasha had Kikyo to take care of him. To heal him, to make his bumps and bruises all better. Kagome was no longer responsible for the wounds inflicted upon him, she and no reason to save him. She felt no desire whatsoever to help him out of his misery. So little desire, in fact, that she told him so.
"You should have Kikyo take care of you. I have no reason to," she told him quietly, not even trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. She watched him as he flinched, enjoying the pain that washed across his face.
"Kikyo is dead," InuYasha said. A far away look flashed in his dull eyes, then quickly disappeared as soon as it had come.
"Oh. How heartbreaking. How did it happen," Kagome wanted him to think that she didn't care, that she wanted to know only because it would be Kikyo. Dead. And that truly was the only reason. And InuYasha believed it.
"She lied to the villagers, told them a demon killed Keade, when really I did it. she covered up for me, and when they found out she had lied, they beat her body and through her defenselessly into the forest. She was raped, and broken by many demons, until finally three days later, she died," That took a lot out of him.
Tears were now streaming down his face at the thought of his beloved Kikyo. Kagome did not care a single bit. It was not like her to be cruel, but she had not been full of hatred before. The part of her soul Kikyo had taken was the hatred, and now Kagome had it back, so she could feel the burning sensation of anger at both Kikyo and InuYasha.
The young girl smirked a bit, knowing the sadness the half demon before her felt. The same as what she had felt, except she was facing her pain now, the main source. And that was much harder than just thinking about a corpse who would sooner or later be forgotten.
"You were not there to save her, InuYasha?" she said, cold humor surging through her words to give them an extra meaning.
"Just like you weren't there to save me, InuYasha," She wanted to hurt him, to watch him hurt like she had hurt before.
The half demon just turned his head away, not facing the girl. He had seemed to care so much about Kagome, and when she found out it was just fake, that she was just a replacement, she could not keep the rage that burned through her, wanting to hurt the one that hurt her. She wanted to hurt him. She wanted to watch his face twist in agony of the horror of the truth she inflicted upon him.
"Did you give her up, InuYasha? Did you just ignore her pained cries as the demons tore at her? Hmm? Did you let them hurt her, the way you hurt me, InuYasha? Because you hurt me, did you know that InuYasha? You hurt me REAL BAD!" Kagome exaggerated the last words to make them sink in.
"I…I…I didn't—" he started, but was cut off.
"And what's this I hear about you killing Keade, too? Well, if you kill one sister, you must let the other die too, right?" she shot at him, tearing at his heart. Breaking up his soul, hurting him deep down where he could not heal, that was what Kagome was doing.
"NO!" he shouted. Well, as loud as one can on a deathbed.
"But you did, InuYasha. YOU DID!" holding back tears were not a problem now, no, they both had rivers running down the sides of their faces. So much friendship, so much love, all gone within one conversation. All InuYasha wanted to do was heal, and all Kagome wanted to do was hurt him. A lot.
"please, Kagome, just use the jewel, and heal me. Please," he said. So that was why he had asked her to come. So she could use the jewel to heal him. He wanted her to taint the jewel, like he did, with selfish wishes, just like he did. But knowing Kagome, and the pain she had been through, she would no longer help him. She no longer had any desire to.
"After all that. You want me to heal you? With the jewel." She said so quietly, his demonic ears just barely picked it up.
"the wish I made for Kikyo to be alive cursed me, Kagome. It was a selfish wish, and so I was cursed. And you have the jewel now, so help me." He turned his head back towards her, his grey-gold eyes begging. He wanted her to give in. He knew she would if he begged, and acted nicer than he ever had before.
InuYasha also knew what it would do. The half demon knew that for his health, it would take away her soul, her freedom. And he was willing to give that up. After all of the acting he had done, after all of the fake friendship with Kagome, he only cared the tiniest bit. And it was definitely not enough to get him to stop from getting his health back. Even if it meant sacrificing Kagome.
She had been his first real friend. The first one to actually accept him for who he was. Kikyo had only wanted to change him, and in the end, had cheated on him while he was away. He now knew the rage Kagome should feel about him. And for punishment, InuYasha had killed Keade, and bathed Kikyo in her younger sister's blood.
That had been his demon side that punished her. Yet she would not give in to his hatred he felt for her betrayal. So he made her lie, then told the villagers that she was lying. He let those demons ravage her, and he let her die. But the human in him hadn't wanted that to happen.
The human in him was the one that cried over Kikyo, that side was the one who cried over Kagome. But the demon side took care of that pain by killing more. The villagers thought that demons did it, while it was really just InuYasha who took out his rage on children and animals that strayed too far into the forest.
He mangled their bodies and then hung them where every one in the village could see them. And if there was a witness, he would kill them too. The kind half demon we all used to think we knew is now a full-blooded killer.
"Okay, InuYasha. I shall pull you out of your misery," the sweet sound of Kagome's voice brought him out of his ponderings. She brought out the jewel and held it above his head. He made his eyes as weary as he could, and looked up at her. They both had tears in theirs eyes, InuYasha's of happiness that she believed him, and Kagome's of what was about to happen.
"I wish……sit." Kagome said quietly. And the half demon went down. The hole in which he now resides in was fifteen feet deep. Although the command was not a strong one, it held so much emotion that it smashed him deeper than ever. Tears spilled out of her eyes and into the black pit that she stood above.
All along she had known he had lied. She had known InuYasha too long; Kagome could tell when he was lying to her. It came from experience. She knew when he would not tell her the truth. She was sorry about what she had to do, but she had no choice. It was either him or her, and she couldn't let the murderings go on.
Gazing down into the hole one last time, she said her goodbyes. For once the spell wore off, InuYasha would still never get up. They had said he would die from a sit one of these days. Her friends had said it as a joke, but who could expect that one day it would turn into truth, like it had today?
Sango, Miroku, Shippou… Oh how she missed them so much. How Kagome blamed herself for living and them not being able to. The pain was almost worse than betrayal, because it was like they were betraying her by dying. They were gone, like InuYasha, like Kikyo, Keade, and Naraku.
Everyone but her was gone. Murdered. She was now a murderer, even if it was self-defense. InuYasha was defenseless, and she had sat him so hard he had died. Kagome had heard the cracks and breaks of the joints and bones in his body as he went down. She saw all the surprise and pain in his eyes.
But surprisingly enough, it felt good. Like a whole load was taken off her chest, and finally she could breathe.
It was all over. There was no one, nothing left. She was the only one. The whole world was ending as she knew it, everyone was gone. They had left her alone, to fend for herself, even though they knew she couldn't. Kagome felt betrayed, like they had all lied to her and not cared. Even after the time that they had together. Her Best friend, her enemy, her sister, her brother, her grandma, her son…
All…gone.
~End Flashback~
So now Kagome sat under the God Tree, not thinking. She didn't want to think about all that had happened, all the pain that she had been to. It was pointless, who was there to here her cries, her pleas of pity? Who? Not her friends, no. not her enemies, no. No one. So she just sat, just stared up at the night skies.
It was dark, and the stars shone clearly in the sky. A few comets flashed past, and if she were still the girl she used to be, Kagome would have made a wish on them. But now, to her, they were only falling stars. They were like her. Just falling down, never to rise, just to shoot off into oblivion until no one could see them.
And she closed her eyes, still not thinking, just drawing blank, endless lines in her mind. There was no more memories, she wanted to forget. No more tears, she didn't want to cry. No more air, she didn't want to breathe.
So she sat there. Not remembering, no crying, not breathing. And with her eyes closed, she seemed so peaceful. She sat there, seemingly just asleep. That's what the villagers thought when they passed her, like she was just in meditation. But when the vines if the God Tree started to grow around her, and the sun would glare down at her, yet still she didn't move, they realized she wasn't waking up.
No more pain. No more love. No more being alone. She was just there, sitting, waiting, trying to get on with life. Maybe she would wake up, and be with her friends. And never be alone anymore.