InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Children of Light ❯ Chaper 24 ( Chapter 24 )

Chapter 24

"I don't care Inu Yasha! You should have told me!" Kagome wouldn't look at him anymore, and Sango and Miroku were scratching their heads, trying to figure out what had happened.

One minute they were all sitting around talking and the next, Inu Yasha had bolted from his chair as he turned into a full demon before their eyes. He was out the door without warning. Miroku and Sango couldn't even follow; they didn't know where he had gone. All they knew was that Kagome must have been in some kind of danger for Inu Yasha to take on such a sudden and powerful transformation like that. Even as he grabbed the Tetsusaiga off the table on his way out the door, most likely out of pure habit then anything else, hadn't been enough to turn back his transformation. The only thing that could be done in such a case, they knew, would be to wait for his demon blood to wane enough for the transformation to reverse itself.

Sango and Miroku had fretted and worried until a mopping Inu Yasha and a livid Kagome came waltzing in the front door. They hadn't been able to get a word in edge wise since, and that had been over 30 minutes ago. To top it off, Miroku was starting to feel real bad for Inu Yasha. He didn't know what had happened, but the guy had been in a horrible panic when he shot out the door. Surely he didn't deserve this, did he?

"Ah, Kagome?" Miroku tried again to get her attention and was finally rewarded with a half-hearted smile as Kagome breathed in deeply to maintain a calm and civil tone with him.

"Yes Miroku?" She smiled sweetly. Too sweetly.

"Ah, Kagome, would you mind telling us what exactly has happened here? Sango and I were really worried when Inu Yasha shot out of here like a bat out of hell."

"Oh, you guys, I'm so sorry!" Kagome felt horrible for worrying them and then not explaining anything to them when they returned. She quickly proceeded to give them the run down of what had happened, even telling them about the odd conversation she had with Kouga afterwards.

"That is strange," Sango commented, as she swirled a lock of hair in between her fingers. "I wonder who this wolf is? And Kikyou, wow, that's a shocker!"

Kagome narrowed her eyes at Inu Yasha, who had been sitting at the kitchen table, listening to everything that was being said on the couch. "Apparently it's less of a shock for some."

Inu Yasha's ears drooped as he rotated his beer can in his hands. What else could he say?

A quiet cough from Miroku caught Kagome's attention as she and Sango turned to him. "Ah Kagome, you see, that's not entirely Inu Yasha's fault."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at a nervously twitching Miroku. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, well, you see…" Boy, was it getting hot in here? Miroku tugged on the collar of his shirt. "I'm actually the one that introduced Kikyou to Inu Yasha."

"WHAT!?!" Kagome jumped from her spot on the couch. "How could you?!"

Miroku waved his hands frantically in front of him, trying to calm Kagome's mounting anger. Not even Sango seemed impressed with him at that moment. He could see Inu Yasha holding his breath from the corner of his eyes, hoping that somehow, Miroku could get him out of the doghouse.

"It's not like that. This was way before any of us had ever met. Before we had regained our memories. And it was a disaster, believe me! Kikyou is the same cold bitch now that she was back then. Inu Yasha didn't want anything to do with her. But she got so infuriated and obsessed with him, that she even spray-painted his car with her name on it. Twice!"

Inu Yasha flinched at the memory, but it was worth it as he saw the anger slowly begin to dissipate from Kagome. "Oh."

"Yeah," Inu Yasha dared to pick up the thread of Miroku's story, making a mental note to do something really, really nice for the guy. "I just never brought her up, `cause it didn't seem important. She's just some crazy bitch now, and I didn't want her, or even the memory of her, upsetting you Kagome. You've been through so much already." He sat next to her, taking her hand in his.

She couldn't really be mad at him then, could she? It was just that the thought of Kikyou trying to get to Inu Yasha infuriated her inside. Realization dawned on Kagome as she thought that perhaps that was how Inu Yasha felt about Kouga. Right at that moment, she could sympathize with him.

"Okay Inu Yasha. But no more secrets, promise?"

He nodded his head vigorously, happy to know that he wouldn't be sleeping on the couch after all. "Promise."

"But how did you meet her in the first place, Miroku?" Sango questioned.

Both men groaned internally. If the girls knew she was a stripper, they'd both be out in the cold! Thankfully, Miroku was quick on his feet.

"Oh just some club. Met her through a friend." It wasn't a total lie. Another stripper friend of Miroku's had actually introduced the two. But the girls didn't need to know that.

Before Sango could come up with anymore dangerous questions, Miroku eyed Kagome with a grin. "So, I guess this means you forgot our chips then?"

Kagome gave him a playful glare. "Yeah, sorry about that Miroku. Guess I was just a little preoccupied trying to stay alive."

"I understand, just don't let it happen again." He gave her a playful wink and Kagome stuck her tongue out at him.

"So, Kouga's been getting past life flashes? I wonder what he remembers." Sango was curious as to whether or not Kouga could somehow regain his memories in time, and whether or not that would be a good or bad thing.

Kagome's eyes widened as she remembered the realization she had come upon in the alley. "Oh my gosh! You guys, I totally forgot! I've figured it out!" Kagome was practically hoping from toe to toe in her excitement.

"What do you mean, figured what out?"

"The riddle!!" She could barely contain her excitement.

"What? What do you mean? Tell us!" Inu Yasha had never been very patient.

"It was something Kouga said, when he was telling me about the weird things he had been feeling. He told me that he felt like I reminded him of someone he thought he knew a long time ago. Someone he thought he loved." Kagome ignored the quiet growl to her side. "He said that, that was part of the reason he gave Inu Yasha such a hard time. He was afraid of giving up that feeling again. He said, `I guess I was too afraid to face the truth. Then again, who isn't'." As she quoted what Kouga had said to her in the alley.

Kagome gave a frustrated sigh as everyone blinked their obvious confusion at her.

"Remember what the entity said? It said, `The greatest weapon thy holds is that which brings light to a dark place'. It also said that `everyone carries it with them, few use it, and many people tend to fear it'." She waited to see if her words would stir anything in them. She was rewarded when Sango's eyes lit up.

"What Kouga said!"

Kagome nodded her glee at her.

"Grrrr! What about what Kouga said!?" Apparently Inu Yasha and Miroku hadn't caught up yet.

Sango proceeded to enlighten them. "Kouga said he was afraid to face the truth. That's the answer to the riddle, the truth."

"But that doesn't make any sense, does it?"

"Think about it Miroku. Everyone carries the ability to speak the truth within them. But how many people do? People lie about stuff all the time because they're afraid of the truth. Few people rarely ever speak the truth and many people tend to fear it. It all fits. Plus, when you learn the truth about something, you are enlightened, you see. You gain knowledge, understanding. Like a light that goes on in the dark."

She smiled as both Inu Yasha and Miroku began nodding their heads in understanding.

"You get it now?" Kagome smiled.

"Yeah, but, how does that help us with the weapons?" Inu Yasha had to admit, he was pretty impressed and proud that Kagome, his Kagome, had figured it out.

"That's what we've got to figure out. But I think we can do it, now that we know what we're looking for. The truth." Kagome beamed as she felt hope flicker inside her for the first time in weeks.

"Okay, let's recap." Miroku stated, getting comfortable on the couch. "Of course, this would be easier if we had some munchies to fuel our brains." He grinned as Kagome shot him a dirty glare.

"Okay, seriously, let's see here. We think that the riddle is talking about the truth, and that this entity of light said that this was what we must face. What we needed to overcome. It said that the answer to our fallen lay here. Let's start with that, before we confuse ourselves with everything else."

"Agreed." Inu Yasha replied. "We know that the weapons broke because of some kind of spiritual break. And we need to face that truth. So who were the fallen?" Inu Yasha looked up and realized that everyone around them had come to the same understanding, except him. He could see it on their faces as they looked down at the rug.

"Hello?" He waved his hand to get their attention.

"It's us, Inu Yasha." Kagome's voice was quiet.

"What do you mean?"

"We are the fallen, Inu Yasha. It's obvious. Our weapons broke, not yours. The entity said, `The answer to he who did not fall, who did not break, will bring to thee a second understanding. This power you must seek'. Whatever the reasons are, you are the one that didn't fall, that didn't break. The Tetsusaiga is still whole. And whatever the difference was between us and you, yours is the power we need to seek."

Inu Yasha was quiet. It was hard to imagine that maybe he had done something right, and the others had, well, fallen. "Well then, what did you all do?"

Sango shook her head. "We don't know Inu Yasha. That's the problem."

"Okay, Sango, let's start from the beginning. What were you doing right before your weapon broke?" Inu Yasha was determined to figure this out once and for all. Besides, a hunch had begun to formulate in the back of his mind.

"I…I was standing over Kohaku." Sango's voice trembled slightly with the memory. "Naraku had just... just killed him. He took his shard...I…I threw Hiraikotsu at him, and then… then it broke." It was getting easier to look back at those past memories, but it was always hard to remember that moment. Those were the few memories that Sango would never be able to relive without feeling the pain as though it were fresh. Miroku slipped an arm around her shoulder as she leaned into him, thankful for the comfort.

"Sango, I know this is hard, but tell me, what were you feeling then? And be truthful to yourself."

Sango gave him a curious glance but struggled to remember exactly what she had felt at that moment. It was easier then she thought, once the memory was brought to the forefront of her mind.

"I… I was angry. I was beyond angry. I hated him so much for everything that he had ever done to us. For all the pain he had caused us. I…I felt like we failed. I threw all my anger, my frustration, all my hate, I threw it at him, I let it fuel the last remaining strength I had when I released Hiraikotsu…it hit him…but it wasn't enough. It broke."

Inu Yasha nodded, giving Sango a look that told her he appreciated her honesty. After all, that's what this was about. He turned to Miroku, his oldest friend.

"What about you, Miroku? What were you feeling just before you slew that snake youkai that was coming after me? What were you thinking?"

Miroku thought back to that awful day as the emotions welled up inside him, fresh, as if they had been in the battle yesterday and not 500 years prior. "I don't know really…you know me, I always try to keep a positive outlook, but I guess… I guess when I heard you fighting Inu Yasha, and I heard Sango yelling, something in me sort of gave up I think. I was so angry. The grief was consuming me. When I threw my staff, all I could think was that I couldn't believe it was going to end this way, and I hated myself for thinking that, for feeling that at the end."

Sango squeezed his shoulder, letting him know he didn't have anything to be ashamed of. He gave her a halfhearted smile as he placed a quick kiss on her forehead.

"What about you Kagome?" He turned to face his quiet mate. She seemed to be deep in thought.

"Inu Yasha, I didn't carry my bow into battle, remember?"

"That's not important right now. At the end, before everything ended, what happened? What were you feeling?" He put an arm around her as he saw her filter through the memories in her mind. Kagome had been the one to see them all fall. She had been the last. He knew the pain had been the greatest for her.

"I was devastated, Inu Yasha. What else?" Kagome's voice shook with the memory. Inu Yasha rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"I couldn't believe Naraku had gotten to us. I was so angry. I was beyond angry! He destroyed my friends, my family! He took away everything that I loved for his own sick purposes!" Kagome's voice began to rise in volume, as the heat of her emotions began to bleed through, unable to contain her rising anger as she rose from the couch, her hands clenched so tightly they were turning white at the knuckles, but Inu Yasha didn't try to stop her or calm her. Nobody did. She needed to get this out.

"And I should have been able to stop him!" She cried out as tears began to run freely down her face. "I had the power to stop him and I failed! I failed all of you! It was my fault! I knew in that moment… when… when I saw Inu Yasha…laying there," her bubbling emotions grew so intense, they chocked her voice as she began hiccupping in the back of her throat.

"I knew I had failed you all! It destroyed me to know that I hadn't been able to protect you! That was my job! THAT WAS MY FUCKING JOB AND YOU ALL DIED!! I WAS WEAK, IT WAS MY FAULT!!" Kagome's angry screams tore threw the apartment as she collapsed to the floor, her legs refusing to work under the onslaught of emotions that coursed through her body. Her gut wrenching sobs racked through her delicate form, as she sat huddled on the floor, her head in her hands.

She cried for the failure that had been hers and hers alone. When it had come down to it, she hadn't been enough. She hadn't been strong enough, hadn't been good enough, and the weight of all her loved ones deaths rested heavily on her soul.

Everyone descended upon her at the same time. Inu Yasha, Miroku and Sango threw their arms around her, in a tight circle, as Kagome tried to kick and scream her way out, refusing to allow anyone to touch her. She didn't deserve their compassion, their understanding, their love. She had failed them, and yet, they refused to let her go.

Tears flew freely from Sango's eyes as she held onto her best friend. She could see the tears slipping silently from Miroku and Inu Yasha as they all crowded around Kagome, held onto her as she screamed, as she cried. They would not let her go. It was not her fault, and they simply could not allow her to shoulder this burden any longer. They wept with her, consoled her, reassured her, as all the anger, all the fear, the doubt and the guilt that had festered within her, finally purged itself from her body, from her soul.

Never had their friendship, their connection to each other, been clearer then in that moment. Huddled on Inu Yasha's floor as they all held each other, they reaffirmed for each other the truth and depth of their love and their friendship. From the ashes of the misery that had been finally released, they felt a new hope and new strength surge within them. They couldn't explain it, as the four of them sat huddled together on the floor, their heads all touching one another in their little circle, as their arms wrapped around the shoulder of the person next to them, but it was there, this tiny thread of new hope, of new strength, that began to weave itself within each of them.

"The greatest weapon thy holds, child of light, is that which brings light to a dark place. For only then will thy be able to see and thy will not fumble in the dark."