InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bittersweet Rhapsody ❯ Melee ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: *sarcastically* How this canonical masterpiece somehow found itself onto a fanfiction site, I have no idea...

A/N: OK, guys, hang in there: this is the absolute LAST torturous chapter before we meet Inuyasha at last. If you read carefully through this chapter, you'll find many subtle hints about where the story is going and what the theme is.

Looking down from the unique vantage point of Kirala's back, the first thing that Kagome noticed about the village that night was the complete and utter disordered chaos that reigned there. Hordes of demons flew in every direction, cackling mercilessly, most of them diving down to attack the villagers, who were feebly trying to fend them off with rusty katanas and various farming implements. Women and children were running everywhere, screaming and crying hysterically as they were struck down one-by-one. Flames licked hungrily at the huts and houses, with some of them already to the point where they had collapsed into fiery piles of ash and wood.

Sango grunted as her boomerang sliced through a pair of snake youkai that had been terrorizing an old couple. "We've really got our work cut out for us, Kagome," she commented in a disgruntled manner as she caught her weapon. "Even the Tetsusaiga would have a time slicing through this lot!"

Kagome nodded silently as she instinctively covered Kyoko's eyes; she was already starting to cry from all of the confusion and noise. Even now, though, she felt as if she had taken a good hit to the stomach; even now, when she should be concentrating on anything but the Tetsusaiga and its wielder. Damn him, even after three years he still was able to take control of her mind effortlessly, to invade her entire brain and to allow the anger to boil up again... (He ought to be here right now,) she thought bitterly. (HE should be helping us find Miroku! At least we'd have a CHANCE if he was here! No...but I'm sure he's having lots of fun right now. He's probably off in his huge white castle, singing love poems to Kikyo while surrounded by all fifteen of his doggy-eared little kids. ARGH!)

They all shook slightly as Kirala landed on all fours with a loud thump. "Where d'you think we should look for him first?!" Kagome shouted to her friend loudly, staring wide-eyed at mass upon mass of vicious demons.

"Kaede's shrine," Sango answered promptly, grabbing Kyoko and thrusting her into Kagome's arms. "Or so I hope," Kagome thought she heard her add under her breath as she quickly ducked a stray arrow that had come from nowhere...

With an air of frenzied desperation they all ran towards the large shrine situated in the middle of the village, Kirala occasionally rising into the air to fight off a blood-hungry monster and Sango raising her boomerang to slice in half the odd demon floating in the air above them. Kagome, still holding Kyoko, tried to stay down and covered by the others at all times, seeing that she was weaponless for the time being anyway.

In that way they eventually made it there, everyone luckily somehow intact. Quietly they stepped inside, all of them feeling nervous as they acknowledged the deadly silence that reigned within. Their feet rang loudly upon the ceramic tiles as they made their way to the shrine's center, their eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light that emanated from the mouth of a wooden water god at the room's far end. Kagome's heart gave a sudden lurch as she heard Sango gasp harshly next to her as they neared it...

A solid ring of darkly-clad priests and monks lay crumpled near the statue's foot, all of them bloodied and, if not dead, mortally wounded. All of them had been rent and scratched with what looked like a pair of large claws, and a few of them still had staffs sending sparks into the air, the remnants of what looked like a collective spell.

Sango inhaled sharply as she went to the center of the ring and checked the monks over. "Thank the Lord," she breathed after a moment, coming back to the others. "None of them is my husband. But...where did he go?" she added nervously, looking lost.

"He went to do an exorcism, remember?" Kagome replied quietly. "That was what he said, anyway..."

Sango was already heading to the door of the shrine before the end of her sentence. "I know now!" she exclaimed, shouting back to them. "He must be at Karagi-sama's house! Let's hurry; it's not far!"

They all ran back out into the fray, which seemed to be growing more and more heated as the demons struck down an increasing number of villagers. Sango breathed hard as she stared at a spot over to their right, apparently knowing where to go. "It's over there!" She pointed to a small house at the woods' edge about a hundred yards away from the shrine. "And luckily it still stands! Hurry!"

Once again they began to scramble towards their destination, all of them feeling harried as they desperately attempted to dodge roving claws and arrows coming from the villagers. But Kagome, still holding a screaming Kyoko, was forced to turn around as she thought she heard a familiar voice...

"Heeeeeeeelllllllllllp! Somebody, anybody! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllp meeeeeeeeeee!!"

Kagome gasped, straining her ears in the opposite direction as she immediately recognized the owner of the cries. "Sango!" she cried desperately to her friend, who was already several feet ahead. "Turn back! It's Shippo! IT'S SHIPPO!!"

Sango gave out a small cry as an arrow grazed her shoulder, but she turned around almost immediately, her eyes narrowing as she looked towards Kagome's line of sight, towards a large, horned demon, who was roaring angrily as it tried to maul a small, nimble figure who barely managed to keep away from its swiping claws.

"SHIPPO!!" They ran towards the battle, where the little fox demon was vainly trying to hit the demon with his junk spell. Kirala was the first to attack, sinking her claws into the monster's meaty shoulder. The monster gave off an agonized roar, somehow shaking the other demon off and pinning her to the ground under a pair of razor-sharp, merciless claws.

"NOOOO!!" Sango jumped in, hewing the beast with her boomerang desperately. Shippo, having quickly recovered, joined in again as well, hitting the monster's head with his Fox Fire charm. Between them it was quickly defeated, falling to the ground with a crash, allowing Kirala, panting heavily, to jump back out again.

"Thanks, guys!" the little fox demon cried out cheerily, looking as if the battle was nothing more than an afternoon picnic. "I thought I was a goner there!" He looked around at the disheveled little group, his face broadening into a wide smile that reached his eyes as he noticed the girl who was among them. "Kagome!" he exclaimed, grabbing the hem of her skirt with his grubby little paw. "Kagome, you're back! Why - how -"

"No time to explain," Sango interrupted urgently, pointing him towards the Karagi house. "We have to find Miroku, and we need your help. Let us go!"

Again, they took it at a run, trying to avoid the bloodthirsty demons at all costs. It seemed to all of them that there was more them now, as they often had to hew and hack a way towards their destination. It was then that Kagome had a sinking realization; the demons were indeed coming out of apparently nowhere, and that meant she knew who was behind it all...

They reached the house mostly unharmed, with the possible exception of a singed tail on Shippo's part, but they quickly found out that the house had been sealed from the inside with some sort of charm. "DAMMIT!!" Sango screamed at the top of her lungs, ignoring her bloody shoulder as she continued to slam her body against the wooden door again and again. "I didn't come all the way here for THIS!!"

Kagome felt alarmed as she noted with unease that several wolf-demons had caught sight of them. "Sango!" she shouted, desperately trying to hold a wriggling Kyoko with both arms. "We have to go back! We have go back! Look, there's-"

"URGH!!" Suddenly, as if it had been made of some sort transparent glass, the door seemed to give in, and they all fell sideways through it effortlessly. Kagome hit the bamboo floor with a thump, groaning as the tender spot on her head throbbed once again from the impact. Her eyes going in and out of focus as the room slowly wavered into view, she gladly obliged when a willing hand came out of nowhere to help her and Kyoko up. Her heart immediately rose several hundred feet as she noted that the owner of the willing (and ever-wandering) hand happened to be Miroku, though it seemed that his normally calm exterior had been cracked, and he was looking more livid than she had ever seen him...

"Sango!" he barked, rounding in on his wife in an almost feverish manner. "What - what - WHAT - what on EARTH are you all doing here?! I TOLD you to get out of here!"

Sango, however, was going to give him a run for his money. "You fool!" she screeched, her face closing in just inches from his. "Do you honestly think I was going to just run away and allow you to use your Wind Tunnel again?! You know that if you just use it once more you'll-"

"And that's really none of your concern!" His voice was unnaturally high now. "Listen, Sango, this village is finished! The demons are NOT ceasing to arrive, and at this rate we'll all be slaughtered by tomorrow morning! And then you - you -" At this point he lost all control, and he turned away from her, shaking angrily. Kagome could have sworn that she saw the beginnings of what looked like tears welling up in his eyes...

"Miroku!" A voice called out anxiously from the shadows. "Start casting! The ward's beginning to crumble!"

"Shit!" Giving his wife one last angry look, he turned and went back to the room's other end, kneeling down amongst the other shadowy figures, apparently assisting them with the casting of the same sealing charm that they had come across on the other side of the door.

Kagome strained her eyes across the half-lit room, noticing that several other monks were casting along with them; one of them, in fact, was Kaede, the head priestess of the village. She gave the smallest of nods towards Kagome as she noted her presence.

"Why did he do that, Kagome?!" Shippo ground his teeth anxiously, climbing up onto Kagome's shoulder. "Why was he so mad at us?!"

Kagome thought for a moment. "It's - it's because he loves them," she replied quietly. "He'd do anything for them---even die. I guess you'll understand someday---if we ever live that long," she added quickly as the whole building suddenly shook against the force of some great weight. (Would YOU care if you knew I was here, Inuyasha?) she thought bitterly as the door continued to be pounded with several smaller hits. (Would YOU come and save me if you knew? Even if I'm no longer a jewel detector?)

BAM!! The house was hit with the hardest barrage yet. Her heart pounding wildly, Kagome watched as a glassy substance wavered and shimmered before her eyes, revealing the battle that was still raging outside and the gigantic Gigas that was trying to pound its way within. "DAMN!!" one of the monks shouted. "The ward---it's going!"

"SANGO, GET BACK!!" Miroku shouted, leaping up and practically dragging her towards his end of the room. Kagome ran towards them as well, Miroku quickly ripping Kyoko out of her arms and shoving her into Sango's as he gritted his teeth and watched the door anxiously.

"This is it," he said in a deadly calm voice when the house shook yet again and the wavering transparency shielding them all finally shattered. "Get behind me, everyone! Get behind me and there's a good chance that you won't be sucked in!" And with that he slowly began to unfurl the charm beads from around his cursed hand...

It all happened in slow motion within Kagome's mind. Miroku taking off the cloth covering the hole in his hand...the monks all cowering down against the bamboo floor...Sango letting out a frightened whimper as she readied herself to witness the death of her husband...the Gigas laughing evilly as it finally caught sight of its victims...

"NOOOOOOO!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT!!!!!" Barely even knowing what she was doing herself, Kagome gave out an anguished shout, shoving Miroku's hand back as a sudden bright light shot powerfully out of her own. The small ray almost immediately grew, the ray turning into a beam, the beam turning into a ball of energy, the ball of energy turning into a gigantic sheet of whiteness which engulfed the room. She heard a loud explosion, an explosion that seemed the rock the very ground that she stood on.

Exhausted, she fell to the ground, the whiteness turning to black as immediately as it had arrived.

***

"You missed me, didn't you?"

"Of course I-"

"-and the sheer damage the village sustained is phenomenal. We're very lucky we even-"

"-second, you were always right there within my mind."

"-friend of yours over there, she's really amazing. She disintegrated every one of those demons in the blink of an eye, and yet none of the villagers-"

"-were in mine."

"Kikyo...it's all over now."

"Thank the Lord my wife and daughter were as unscathed as they were. I regret my crudeness towards them last night-"

"And I will protect you from harm always..."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Breaking out into a cold sweat, Kagome was jerked from her state of half-consciousness and back into the realm of reality, her hand clutching her chest with a certain desperateness as if trying to cleanse her heart from what she had once again witnessed. It had been Inuyasha again, he had been pushing Kikyo downwards again, his face in a state of dreamy happiness-

She looked around from where she lay, on a small pallet within what she recognized to be the village shrine. Late morning sunlight arched through the small, high windows near the ceiling. It looked much the same as the previous night, except minus the bodies and the water god statue, whose remains were still smoldering in a corner. Miroku and some other monk she did not know were standing in the opposite corner, staring at her with surprise etched on their faces. Well, at least that explained the odd snippets of conversation that had invaded her dream...

"Kagome, you're awake!" Miroku exclaimed, crossing the shrine with quick, long strides. "We weren't exactly sure when-"

"Miroku, what HAPPENED?!" she interrupted, brief flashes of memory trickling back into her mind. "The last I remember, something shot out of my palm..."

He stared at her gravely for a moment. "Kagome...to be honest, I'm not too sure what happened myself," he answered guardedly. "Your description of what took place for the most part fits mine. Afterwards, you fell to the ground, unconscious..."

"But - but everything's still standing. Did I - did I-"

Miroku nodded grimly.

"But HOW?!" Kagome cried out, tears quickly welling up within her eyes. "I don't know how I did it - I don't know - I really don't know..." Miroku looked on helplessly as they began to leak down her face. "I did it yesterday, too---but why isn't there anyone who can TELL me WHY?!"

"Perhaps I can try," a croaky voice suddenly called out from the doorway. Kagome swiveled around only to find Kaede shuffling over towards her, apparently unwounded from the previous night's battle. "Tell me, Miroku," she questioned the monk as she stopped next to him, "who exactly died from Kagome's blast last night?"

"No casualties on our side," he replied quietly, looking down at his feet. "Amazingly, it was just demons that died from it---and somehow what buildings were left still stood. But what you're saying couldn't have possibly happened," he added incredulously, getting the gist of her words. "Kagome can't-"

"Can't she?" Kaede remonstrated. "She is, after all, the reincarnation of my sister Kikyo. The light that erupted from her hands was a holy light---and only evil can be harmed from such a thing." She stared at Kagome with a hard glint in her eye. "And it only proves further that ye continue to surpass Kikyo's power by leaps and bounds."

"But why me?" Kagome asked her resignedly. "I didn't ask for it----I didn't want it.! I didn't even know what I was doing when it happened! So why..."

"It takes many years for a priestess with even a moderate amount of power to master her actions," Miroku cut in promptly. "You are just unable to control it right now. However, it may be of use to you whenever your life is threatened..." Kagome's eyes widened as she considered his words. It had happened when the monster had come out of the well, and then once again when the Gigas had threatened to maul them...so did this really prove that she was every bit as powerful as Kikyo? Kikyo---that name still left a sour taste in her mouth. She honestly would have traded anything at the moment to not to have been tied in any way to Kikyo---yet everything that had happened seemed to bind her to her ever much the more.

"So did you find the culprit behind the attack yet?" Kagome asked everyone quickly, wanting to change the subject for the moment.

"No one but Naraku could have summoned that many demons," Kaede replied firmly. "And at such a continuous rate..."

Miroku shook his head. "This has to be one of Naraku's oddest moves yet. I haven't heard of an attack for at least six months. It makes me wonder if he was...trying to capture something." He trailed off, but Kagome noted that his eyes flicked over to her as he did so...

That was what did it. It was those words that suddenly wrought a sudden inner change in Kagome. A change that somehow drained the sorrow and feelings of worthlessness that Inuyasha and Kikyo had put into her heart and replaced those feelings with fierce determination. She thought of everything that had transpired since she had ever set foot in Feudal Japan---the shattering of the Shikkon Jewel, the revival of Kikyo, her sudden but lengthy absence after Inuyasha's ultimate betrayal, the fact that Naraku was now searching ceaselessly for her---she realized that she could no longer run from her fate. "Miroku!" she shouted. "I'm gonna do it!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Do what, Kagome?"

"I'm gonna fight again!" she exclaimed determinedly, a heat that she hadn't felt since the old days rising within her. "We still have a chance, don't we?! We'll take that Jewel back---and gather the other shards while we're at it!" She rose her body up so that her eyes locked on Miroku's. "Miroku, are you with me?"

At first he looked as though to object, but presently his usual crafty expression came back. "Of course, Kagome!" He laughed humorlessly. "What have I to lose but a cursed life and a hole in my hand?"

"And would Sango come along with us?"

"Definitely," Miroku replied quickly. "She would no doubt castrate me if I left her home---and she never listens to me anyway." He shook his head sadly.

Kaede turned to leave. "Are ye planning on setting out soon?" she asked on an afterthought. "Perhaps it would be better sooner than later---now that Kagome is within his grasp he will not rest until his hand has closed around her."

"We can leave tomorrow, if the proper arrangements are made. Like finding someone to care for Kyoko for a time, for instance." Here Miroku paused meaningfully, still staring at Kaede.

"I suppose that would work, Miroku," she replied grudgingly. "Seeing as you are leaving for a decent cause." She exited the shrine without another word.

"Well, I guess it's settled, then," Kagome said perkily, sitting up in bed. "For some reason I feel like I've got a load off my shoulders now. Although that doesn't really make sense, since we're probably all never gonna return from this anyway..." She paused thoughtfully.

Miroku stared at her piercingly. "No...probably not," he admitted with a sigh. "But there's always hope, even in the direst of situations...Still, though, I thank you, Kagome."

"For what?"

"For giving me another shot at keeping my family together."

Preview of next chapter:

"I would think that would be obvious," Miroku replied steadily. "That's what I was trying to tell you, Inuyasha." He swallowed anxiously. "It's Kagome. Kagome's back with us."

"WHAT?!" came the outraged, sputtering shriek. "Miroku! I can't go down there, I can't be seen by her, I - I -" He turned to go back down the hill, but Miroku grabbed him firmly.

"You ARE going down there. You ARE going to treat her civilly. I didn't get my hopes up this morning for nothing." He gave the half-demon a stony gaze. "This is our last shot at defeating Naraku, and we are going to use it accordingly."

A/N: One more thing before I go: again, Inuyasha in chapter five, as promised. From there the rating will probably go up to R, and I'll give a warning about this ahead of time. I know that there are probably some complaints out there that I should have put him in almost immediately, but as I've found when I read similar stories: when you rush things and put the lemons and crap in right away, the story, well, sucks. I'd rather have no reviews and have the story up to my standards rather than having it bite and getting the opposite.