InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Blazing Hearts ❯ Her Fourth Love ( Chapter 24 )

Blazing Hearts

 

Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own Inuyasha or company; I merely toy with them for my own twisted amusement.

 

AN: I have valid reasons for the lateness. Two actually, I have a job and I go to college. Add that to a boyfriend who doesn't like being ignored and enough said. I hope you like this next installment.

 

Her Fourth Love

 

“You and I both know how things can get when you lose control. Let her go before you damage her spirit even more, or worse. If you care about her like you think you do, do as I say.”

 

Inuyasha remembered well that night. He couldn't remember what it was that triggered the freedom of his… problem. But he remembered the result. He'd almost hurt Kikyo… but he stopped himself. He supposed that was why she left him in the first place; he'd shown her that he was just another demon. Human mother or not.

 

So she had a point and she had made some sense. When he lost control he'd attack anyone… and nothing could calm him, but that had only happened a few times and never once did he lay a hand on Kikyo. She knew that! She tried to trick him into breaking up with her cousin and had this been closer to the beginning of his relationship with Kagome, he would have fallen for it.

 

But now… no, he knew he wouldn't hurt Kagome. And leaving her would only prove that he was just like them. No, he wouldn't leave her. It would hurt her… and it would hurt him. He wasn't going to let there be pain for either of them, they deserved happiness… they deserved each other. Imagining a life without her in it seemed unfeasible.

 

----

 

“I guess you lose. That Kikyo told him to step off over a week ago and they're still together,” she laughed.

 

Naraku growled at her and the laughing died down, her face no longer expressing entertainment but now irritation as she rolled her eyes and scowled. Naraku didn't care though, with each day Abi became more and more unbearable with her sly comments about that hanyou and Kagome.

 

He wouldn't lose again. His mistake with Kikyo would not be repeated, he'd handle this himself, like he should have in the first place. Just like he did with Suikotsu… he grinned.

 

----

 

Kagome smiled as she leaned against Inuyasha's shoulder, sitting under a large tree as they watched Shippo and Souten play tag. She sighed contently, finally her life was perfect. `For now…' a voice whispered inside her head. After years of constant disappointment and heartbreak, she couldn't help but be a little cynical… a little pessimistic.

 

After all, her fairy tale love with Inuyasha could end up taking a drastic dive into a Greek tragedy. Like Kouga. Like Bankotsu. Like Akitoki… or like…

 

“Suikotsu!” Kagome laughed as she was spun around in his arms. Shippo laughed as he held onto the tall man's back.

 

Short hair of black and deep brown eyes with a soft face, his bright smile lit up her day. After her divorce, Kagome fell into despair. And Shippo fell with her. But then, by chance, a pediatrician moved to Tokyo and met the depressed woman and her son. Like a fairy tale, he rescued the damsel in distress.

 

Though, much persistence was required before the stone hearted damsel would give up her heart once more. He'd come every day to Blazing Hearts bearing soft smiles and flowers until he wore down her defenses. And after, it took nearly a year to get her to open up fully to him and trust him completely. Shippo was less difficult to win over, all he needed was his mother's smile back before he'd like the doctor.

 

At times it still proved difficult, his kind face and soft eyes reminded her so much of Houjo at times. Perhaps that was another reason her son felt the quick attachment…

 

Setting her back on her feet, the current man of her affection knelt down for the boy to hop on his back. “Where are we going today, little man?” he asked.

 

“To the park!”

 

It was a beautiful day that day too. Blue sky and no clouds at all… chirping birds and laughing children all around…

 

Inuyasha ran his fingers through her hair. “What's wrong?” he asked.

 

“Nothing,” she smiled. “I'm just thinking about us.”

 

“We're a good topic to think about.”

 

Kagome laughed lightly. No… she knew that what she had with her hanyou was different from any other relationship she had. They had more in common… they both have been broken down by love.

 

And yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible might happen. What would she do if she and Inuyasha were ever to part in ways similar to her previous experiences? Could she handle it? She was afraid that if her multiply mended heart was to be torn apart again, would it be the last time?

 

She remembered the depression she used to feel. Always finding a mate for a client. Always being invited to the wedding. Always being alone…

 

She didn't want to go back to that…

 

And if she was forced to… would Inuyasha break her by going back to her cousin? No. Kikyo hated demons so fiercely; she'd never take the hanyou back. Though, it made her wonder, `Why was she with him in the first place?'

 

A question that would never be answered, she knew. She supposed it didn't matter. Inuyasha wouldn't leave her for someone else, she was sure. And the chances of him… well, she didn't really want to think about that.

 

----

 

It was simple.

 

One spell.

 

And everything fell into place.

 

Her misery was an aphrodisiac…he briefly wondered how a man who was so in love could delight so much in her pain. He knew why… she rejected him… and he wasn't one to be rejected. But that didn't matter.

 

Not then.

 

Not now.

 

It was humorous, he remembered as he lied in his bed barely containing a chuckle. It took very little effort from him. A simple fee paid to the witch—dark priestess or whatever it was she preferred to be referred as—and it was done.

 

He stared at the young woman with snow white hair and eyes turquoise, her face unmasking the cruelty she was capable. Her lips, blood colored, turned up slightly at the corners. His eyes never leaving her as the money transferred from his hand to her own, unsure if he should trust her.

 

“Never worry, Naraku,” she told him. “You will be pleased.”

 

“I better be, Tsubaki,” he replied, a warning evident in his tone.

 

He was too. Or, at the very least, he surely wasn't disappointed. While at the time, he hadn't known exactly what the little witch would do, it went delightfully. And all that was required of him was to sit and watch.

 

Like a movie.

 

Screams like banshees filled the cool night air.

 

Blood painted the cement.

 

Brown eyes wide, glazed and frozen in death as the woman fell to the sidewalk. Her mouth still quivering slightly as the thick crimson liquid leaked from it.

 

Laughter replaced the once loud shrill sound as the man brings one of his hand-claws to his mouth, licking the blood.

 

She was merely the first of his many victims. He'd never felt so alive. Men, women, children… it didn't matter.

 

He had power again and his insatiable thirst would not be quenched.

 

I actually had a lot more written down here for this chapter, but I cut it out just now. I found a new way to go about it, you'll learn more about Suikotsu in later chapters as he's… less transparent than the other three ex-loves, I guess you could say. In any case, I'm not that happy with how this particular chapter came out—especially since the cutting has shortened the chapter quite a bit—but it could have been worse. More is to come and Blazing Hearts is nearing its end.

 

I would apologize again, but experience has shown me that of all my apologies and promises, something always tends to pop up. So I'll no longer say “Sorry” (I feel as though I'm probably sicker of the word than our dear Kagome). Just know that I do my best to get the chapters to you all as quickly as possible. And I trust you understand and forgive me for all and future tardiness.