InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Condom City ❯ The Demise ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
Chapter 7: The Demise

Kaogme tried to make herself into as small a ball as she possibly could. After her initial encounter with Naraku, he had left her alone, saying he had other matters to attend to. And now that she'd had time to calm down, she was trying to come up with a plan to get herself out of the sitution she had gotten herself into.

It really was her own fault that she was in this situation. It had been incredibly stupid of her to go out into the woods without anyone with her. She had told herself it was so she could get some privacy, but Sango could have gone with her.

She had even said it herself, to Inuyasha, just the other night; the only being after the Shikon no Tama that was brave enough or stupid enough to get that close to where Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were working together was Naraku. And apparently she had been right.

Now, she needed a plan to get away from the evil hanyou, maybe even getting some of the tama that he possessed and decrease his power in the process. And then, after all that, she needed, more than anything, to get back to her friends. She needed that comfort.

Kagome stopped huddling in on herself and sat up straighter, taking deep calming breaths, trying to center herself, so she could think clearly. Sitting there, panicking, was not going to help her any.

~*~

Naraku sauntered into the room he had left the miko in, expecting to find her huddled in a corner of the room, but he was stunned when he saw her standing proudly in the middle of the stone room. He smiled at her.

"Still hoping for Inuyasha to come to your rescue?" he asked, closing the door and walking further into the room.

Kagome shook her head with a smile on her lips. "No. I'm going to get myself out of here. I have to pay Jaken back for dumping cold water on me the other morning to wake me up," she said, a malicious glint appearing in her eyes.

"You think I'll just let you walk right out of here?" Naraku asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Kagome just smiled as she walked towards the evil hanyou, nodding once as she slid her hands up his chest, to his shoulders. Kagome concentrated on the curl of power deep in her being that she pulled from when she shot off her echanted arrows and pushed the power down her arms, towards her hands. "I think you'll let me do anything I want when you're laying on the floor, dying," she whispered into the dark tangle of his hair next to his ear. Without giving Naraku anytime to react, Kagome shoved all the power she could into the evil hanyou through her hands, purifying all the youkai that Naraku had absorbed into his body over the years. She held onto him tightly as he fell to the floor, still pooring her pour into him, her energy searching out the Shikon no Tama that he had and purifying that as well.

Once Naraku was just laying on the floor, the only proof that he was still alive the rise and fall of his chest, Kagome reached into his sleeve, where she could sense the almost complete Shikon no Tama. She wrapped her hand around the jewel, and felt another crystal next to it, and grabbed that, too, and pulled her hand out. As soon as her hand was free of the fabric, Kagome turned away from the crispy critter that used to be Naraku.

Kagome looked down at her hand and uncurled her fingers to find a softly glowing Shikon no Tama and an oddly shaped, blood-red crystal resting in her palm. Not knowing what to think of it, Kagome put the two jewels in her pocket, then tried to stand. Having expended a lot of her energy to do as much damage to Naraku as she did, it took her several tries before she got her feet under her and they actually stayed there.

"You stay here. I'll send Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru to finish you off," she said dryly.

She started for the door, but was stopped when Kagura appeared in the doorway.

But the wind sorceress completely ignored the worn out miko and headed straight for the near dead Naraku. "My heart, where is my heart," she muttered as she patted him down. Not finding what she was looking for, she turned on Kagome.

"What have you done with my heart?" Kagura questioned, stalking towards the miko.

Kagome thought for a moment about what the wind soceress could possibly mean. Then, she remembered the crimson crystal she had pulled from Naraku's sleeve along wth the Shikon no Tama. Pulling said crystal from her pocket, Kagome waved it in front of Kagura. "Do you mean this?" she asked.

"Yes. Yes. That is my heart. Naraku used it to control me," Kagura said, her eyes trained on the small jewel. "Give it back to me, please?"
Kagome thought for a moment. "If I give it back, do you promise to behave and not cause any trouble?" she asked.

Kagura nodded. "Yes. I never wanted to do what Naraku ordered me to do, but I didn't have much of a choice."

"I'll hold you to your word," Kagome said, then tossed the crystal at Kagura who caught it with the greatest of care. "If I hear about you causing any trouble, I'll hunt you down," she warned.

"You don't have to worry about Kanna or I anymore," Kagura said, then bowed. "Since you returned my heart, I will guide you out of the castle. Sesshoumaru-sama and your companions should be here soon."

Kagome nodded her thanks, too tired to do much more. She staggered behind Kagura, her hand braced against the stone wall to help keep her balance. She stumbled out into the open courtyard of the estate Naraku had taken over.

"Kagome," Inuyasha yelled as he and his elder brother raced towards her.

Kagome looked up when her name was yelled and saw her friends passing through the gates. She started to collapse, but was caught by white, voluminous sleeves.

"Kagura, where is Kohaku?" Kagome asked, looking at the wind sorceress, who was still standing by the door they had come out of.

"I'll get him for you, if you would like," Kagura answered.

Kagome nodded. "Yes, please. And show Inuyasha where Naraku is," she added.

Inuyasha shook his head. "I'm not leaving you until I know what happened to you," he said firmly.

Kagome sighed tiredly. "I just used too much energy getting away from Naraku. Now, go finish him off before he calls more demons to himself," she said, glaring at the hanyou. "Sesshoumaru can watch over me for a few minutes," Kagome added, looking up at the youkai lord, who nodded in response.

Inuyasha nodded, then followed Kagura inside the building Kagome had just escaped from. The rest of her travelling companions came up to stand around where Kagome stood, supported by Sesshoumaru's arms.

"Can we really trust her, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked, staring at the door the two had disappeared through.

Kagome only nodded, leaning more of her weight on Sesshoumaru.

A few minutes later, Inuyasha came back out, Kagura right behind him, with a bawling Kohaku in her arms. Kagura handed Kohaku over to Sango, who had run over to them the minute she saw them.

"Is Naraku dead?" Kagome asked Inuyasha.

"Yeah, we don't have to worry about him anymore," Inuyasha responded.

"Good," Kagome breathed before she passed out.

Sesshoumaru scooped her up in his arms and glared at the others when they tried to rush up to check on her.

"Let her rest, and after she wakes, you can pester her," he told them. "We should go somewhere that she can rest comfortably until she wakes up."

The group agreed and headed back to Kaede's village. Jaken, Rin, and Shippo rode on Ah-Un, Sango and Miroku rode Kirara, Sesshoumaru carried Kagome, and Inuyasha led the way. Even though they had been travelling for over two weeks straight, they had, in fact, been circling Inuyasha's Forest the whole time, so it only took them a few hours to reach the village.

Once there, Sesshoumaru took Kagome inside Inuyasha's hut and laid her down on her sleeping bag that Shippo and Rin had rolled out for him.

Sesshoumaru walked back out and came face to face with a glaring Inuyasha.

"I was the one to strike the final blow, so you can just leave now," Inuyasha said.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Sesshoumaru tutted his younger brother. "It is Kagome's choice, now," he told Inuyasha.

"I think she already made her choice when she asked me to go kill Naraku," Inuyasha said with a growl in his voice.

"We will see what Kagome has to say when she awakens," Sesshoumaru said before walking over to where Rin was eating.

~*~

Kagome awoke in the dark with a start. Last she could remember, she was in Sesshoumaru's arms and Inuyasha had told her that Naraku was dead.

"How are you feeling?" Sesshoumaru's cool voice came to her out of the dark.

Kagome looked in the direction his voice had come from and saw his chilling amber eyes floating in the darkness.

"I'm tired," Kagome said, staring up into his eyes.

"Now that you're awake, you can tell this jackass to leave," Inuyasha's voice came from her other side.

Kagome looked in Inuyasha's direction to find his molten gold eyes hovering above her.

"And why should I do that?" Kagome asked, then looked around a bit. "Is it possible to get some light in here? I'm not like you guys." A moment later, a small flame flickered to life, and soon several candles were lit.

"There," Inuyasha said, shaking out the match. "And Sesshoumaru needs to leave because he has no business here anymore. Naraku is dead, so the deal he and I made is over. I was the one that struck the final blow, so it's in my favor."

Kagome sat up and shook her head. "Yes, your deal with him is done, but Sesshoumaru and I made a deal, as well," she said, looking at Inuyasha. "I'd appreciate it if you would give us some time alone, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha 'keh'ed before he stood up and stormed out of the hut, muttering under his breath as he went.

Kagome watched as he left, then turned to Sesshoumaru after the hanyou was gone. "So, have fun picking on your brother while I was out cold?" she asked.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Quite a bit, actually," he replied.

Kagome shook her head and sighed. "I can't leave you two alone, at all, can I?" she said.

"It would probably be wise not to in the future," Sesshoumaru said as he moved closer to Kagome's side, unnoticed by the woman.

Kagome yawned as she looked in Sesshoumaru's direction, her eyes having to refocus because he was closer than he had been the last time she looked at him. She watched as his right hand came towards her, slowly, so that she could see the movement.

Sesshoumaru allowed his fingers to run through her hair for a moment before he looked up at her. She was so close, he could have kissed her just by leaning a fraction of an inch closer to her.

But he didn't have to.

Kagome trailed her hand up Sesshoumaru's arm to his shoulder and used it as leverage so that she could pull herself up to his lips. Planting a chaste kiss on him, Kagome pulled away.

"I'm still tired. Let me sleep, and I'll figure out what to do after I wake up again," she told him, slowly lowering herself to lay on her sleeping bag once more.

Sesshoumaru nodded and moved to stand up so that he could give her some privacy, but her hand was tangled in his sleeve.

"Don't leave me alone," Kagome whispered, drifting off to sleep.

"I won't," Sesshoumaru said, though it was useless, since Kagome was already asleep. He took her hand in his and a small smile spread across his features as she gripped his hand in hers.

~*~

When Kagome awoke again, there was daylight streaming into the hut. She sat up and looked around, only to find that there was no one in there with her. At least she had made her decision in her dreams, and that is what she would stick with. Now, all she had to do was find the boys and tell them what she had decided.

She got up and walked out of the hut to see her dream playing out before her eyes. Kagome screamed as she ran towards the two fighting inus, but it seemed like she wasn't moving at all.

Sesshoumaru was laying, bloody and beaten in the dirt. Inuyasha stood over him, Tetsusaiga poised and ready to strike the final blow. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo stood off to the side, watching in horror.

"Inuyasha, don't," Kagome screamed, running and finally making some progress. She threw herself bodily on top of Sesshoumaru just as Inuyasha began his downward stroke. "Don't you dare," she said, looking over her shoulder to glare at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha stopped his sword, but his reflexes weren't good enough, and the blade nicked Kagome's shoulder. He pulled back so suddenly that he fell on his butt in the dirt.

"Kagome, I'm so sorry," Inuyasha said, tossing the Tetsusaiga away from him. "It's not supposed to be able to harm humans. It's not supposed to be able to harm humans," he kept repeating, staring at the blood blossoming on Kagome's shirt.

Miroku and Sango rushed forward to check on Kagome. Shippo stayed where he was, too stunned to move.

Kagome sat up, her hand instantly going to the bleeding wound. Her attention moved to Sesshoumaru as he moved in front of her, a groan of pain coming from him. "Sesshoumaru, are you okay?" Kagome asked as her friends reached her, just to ask her the very same question. Together, they helped Sesshoumaru sit up, then began taking stock of his injuries.

"What happened?" Kagome asked her friends as she looked over Sesshoumaru's body, wincing at some of the wounds.

"Inuyasha overreacted to something Sesshoumaru said, then attacked him when he wasn't looking," Sango explained from the other side of Sesshoumaru.

Kagome looked over her shoulder at Inuyasha and glared. "Watch him for a moment," she said before going to Inuyasha. "What were you thinking?" she asked him.

"I was jealous. You agreed to be my mate and he was talking about you going with him," Inuyasha said.

Kagome sighed. "That was before I knew that there was anything else out there that would appeal to me," she responded.

"What are you saying?" Inuyasha asked.

"I'm saying, I don't want to be your mate, Inuyasha," Kagome said before she stood up and returned to Sesshoumaru's side.
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