InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Consequences ❯ Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Sadly for me, I do not own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. Sue me and you get 20c.

 

Consequences: Chapter Ten

 

 

 

 

 

Kagome stood in the well, staring up at the wooden ceiling above her. It didn't work? She climbed back out, then jumped back in. Nothing. It took three more tries before she'd ascertained for herself that the well was indeed broken. And with that realisation came panic. Why?! Why was it not working anymore?! A terrible possibility came to mind straight away, one that she felt had a strong likelihood of being true. Inuyasha might have been so upset with her that he'd destroyed it! After all, he'd heard the things she'd said about him, and then when he'd apologised to her, she'd sat him and ran away! Not that she didn't have a right to be angry though! After what he'd done! But, she knew Inuyasha wouldn't have seen things her way, and having thought about it afterwards, she realised she might actually have hurt him almost as much as he'd hurt her. Not that that changed anything! The idiot! Now, she'd never even have the chance to hear his explanation properly, and try to make peace with him. Or see her friends again. Sango. Miroku. Shippo. Kaede…everyone. She'd never know what happened to them. She'd lost everyone forever! And it was all Inuyasha's fault! Or was it…? Kagome didn't even know anymore.

Her initial panic was followed by despair, and she sombrely made her way back outside, and curled herself into a little ball beside the goshinboku, where she spent the day in quiet tears.

 

 

 

 

Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara were catching some early morning sunshine out the front of Kaede's hut when Byakuya suddenly appeared, flying on one of his usual giant paper cranes and landing right in front of them.

The old priestess rushed out while villagers scattered and the group raised their weapons, but Byakuya made no attempt to attack.

“I came to tell you lot that Naraku found out about that well. That's all.” He said, and as quickly as he'd come, he flew off again, completely ignoring their demands that he wait or explain further.

“You think Naraku told him to tell us that?” Asked Sango.

“Probably.” Said Miroku, “But even if this is a trap, we can't very well leave it alone, can we?”

“Of course not. Then, I guess we should hurry over there.” Agreed Sango.

 

A few minutes later, Sango, Miroku and Kirara arrived in the clearing to find that the well was hidden beneath a great mass of demonic vines. There was no Byakuya or Naraku in sight, but there was no doubt that this was their doing. They'd seen Byakuya create similar vines before. The sickly green coloured plants were growing, twisting around themselves, and from Kirara's reaction when she sniffed them, probably omitting a foul odour to boot.

Careful of her aim so as not to damage the well beneath, Sango threw hiraikotsu at the vines. It sliced cleanly through, but that only made matters worse.

Where they were cut off, the vines began to spew an endless amount of deadly miasma into the clearing. Grass and trees were withering beneath the toxic gas.

Miroku immediately opened the kazaana to suck it in, but there was more miasma coming out than he could suck in, and the flow was not stopping. The deadly gas was poisoning him badly, so he was forced to close the kazaana.

There was nothing Sango or Kirara could do, since cutting the vines only caused more miasma to be spewed out.

Sango gave Miroku her gas mask, and he was able to run into the growing cloud and begin attacking the mass of vines with ofuda. They sizzled and dissolved beneath the paper charms, but continued to grow as fast as he could destroy them. They were getting no-where, and the poisonous cloud was getting larger, forcing Sango and Kirara to start backing off. If only Kagome hadn't been on the other side of the well, this would have been easy…

“Sango! Go back to the village and get Kaede-sama! With her purifying arrows, we should be able to destroy them!” Miroku yelled.

 

 

Sango raced back toward the village on Kirara, only to be suddenly knocked from the air by some unseen force. She landed on the ground beside Kirara, quickly leaping to her feet, she found herself looking into chilling red eyes.

“Hiraikotsu!” She hurled her weapon at the vile creature, but he dodged easily, an amused smirk on his pale face.

“How touching, Sango. You are so fond of that memoir of your little brother you will die before giving it up?” He asked. So this was Naraku's plan! Create a reason for her to go off alone, so that he could corner her and steal the last shikon shard in peace, without having to worry about Miroku and his kazaana!

“I will not do either, Naraku! Prepare to die!” She shouted, throwing hiraikotsu again. This time he let it hit him, then laughed as the arm she'd managed to destroy immediately re-formed. He sent out a couple of tentacles to try to stab her, but she managed to leapt back and cut through them with hiraikotsu.

 

She realised, he was toying with her. Of late, Naraku had acquired several dangerous new attacks, including kongosenki stolen from Inuyasha… he could easily have destroyed her by now, and it enraged her to know that he was enjoying prolonging her death. How long would it go on for? She was slowly working her way backwards, trying to get nearer to Miroku so that he might sense Naraku and come to her aid. The two of them together could fight…but as it was, things didn't look good. Kirara had been wounded in her side from Naraku's initial strike, so she couldn't send her to get help.

Before she could really get anywhere, Naraku stopped his dodging and half hearted attacks, opting to fling diamond spears at her. She was able to dodge most of them, but one impaled itself through her right shoulder, disabling her from throwing hiraikotsu again.

Sango was truly beginning to think her life was at an end, when as though in answer to her prayers, there was a flash of red and white, and suddenly Inuyasha stood between herself and Naraku. Evidently, Naraku didn't feel he could yet defeat Inuyasha, as he immediately departed in a cloud of nasty miasma as usual.

 

Sango painfully pulled out the spear of kongosenki. It had gone all the way through her body, and blood was pouring from the wound, but it had been thin and had fortunately hadn't damaged anything vital.

“Sango! Are you alright?” Asked Inuyasha.

“I'll be fine. Inuyasha! We need to hurry back to the village and get Kaede! There's a problem with the well and Miroku can't fight it without another person with spiritual power!” She hastily replied.

“What!?” Demanded Inuyasha. He picked up Sango and the now kitten sized Kirara carefully so as not to upset their wounds, and ran back towards the village. Sango gave him a hasty explanation on the way.

 

 

 

Kaede quickly instructed Shippo to tightly bandage Sango's wound, and Inuyasha took off with her toward the well.

By the time they arrived, the cloud of miasma had spread all through the clearing and some way into the forest, and it was difficult to pick out Miroku through the purplish haze.

The monk had long ago run out of ofuda to throw, and was slashing at the vines with his staff, making no progress as they continued growing back. He was greatly relieved to see the old miko and Inuyasha, but…

“Where's Sango?” He cried.

“She'll be fine.” Called Inuyasha. The miko shot her arrows through the miasma to directly hit and destroy the vines which were spewing miasma, and set to work helping Miroku destroy the rest of them. With two people using spiritual powers on it, the amount of demonic vegetation quickly began to diminish.

 

Inuyasha couldn't help but feel a little useless watching the monk and the ancient miko working so hard to save the well, and figured he could at least drive off some of the remaining miasma with his kaze no kizu. He drew tessaiga, but, just as he had when approaching Naraku earlier, he found it took a lot more effort than usual to get it to transform. Swinging his blade, he discovered kaze no kizu to be near impossible- the best he was able to manage was a pathetic little burst of energy, perhaps one twentieth as powerful as it should have been.

Inuyasha sheathed tessaiga, grateful that Miroku and Kaede were too busy to have seen. What the fuck was wrong with him? Why was he suddenly so weak? Fuck! Just when he'd thought things couldn't get any worse, Naraku had found out about the well, almost killed his friend, almost gotten the last shikon shard, and now there was something fucking wrong with him as well! Weakened?! He could only conclude that every last god in the land must have turned against him for some reason.

 

Soon the vines had been completely destroyed, and everyone was glad to see that the well appeared undamaged.

“Inuyasha? What happened?” Asked Miroku.

“I was coming back, and I found Naraku fighting with Sango back there. He ran away, like usual. Sango and Kirara got a bit hurt, but they'll be fine.” He replied.

“With Naraku?!” Exclaimed the monk.

“She had the shikon shard with her, so I guess that was his real target.” Said Inuyasha.

“Sweet Buddha…I should have known…I sent her back, right into a trap…” Miroku almost whispered the words, sounding ashamed.

“You took what appeared to be the right course of action. In any case, the well and Sango have both been saved.” Kaede told him. Miroku didn't look very comforted.

“So, that's great. Naraku might not have destroyed it this time, but now I have to concern myself over what he might do to the well too.” Complained Inuyasha.

“Indeed…I wonder, why it was left undamaged, when Naraku could easily have caused the vines to grow so as to rend it apart.” Mused Kaede.

“I just wanna make sure it still works.” Said Inuyasha. He jumped in. Fortunately, it did still work. Inside the well house, he could smell that Kagome had recently been there. It wasn't the time to deal with her, however, considering all the mess that had just gone on. He returned through the well.

“So, Kaede-sama and I think we need to start guarding the well.” Miroku told him.

“Yeah. Well, you two should go back and look after Sango. I'll stay here.” Replied Inuyasha. The two nodded and left, saying they'd see him later on.

 

 

 

He sat himself down against the well. At least this meant he got some time to himself, and could rest for a while. Hopefully, no, surely, his sudden lack of strength was just due to having been in heat and then run for so many hours straight, and if he gave his body some time to recover, he'd be back to normal soon. Although this was rather extreme for mere exhaustion, Inuyasha thought perhaps heat made you get tired easier, or something. There were lots of things he didn't know about mating season. He couldn't think of any other explanation. Gods, for once he was happy Naraku had run off before he'd gotten a chance to try attacking him. Imagine if the bastard had realised he was feeling so weak!

 

How had Naraku found out about the well, anyway? What if he knew other things that he could use to make trouble? Why hadn't he destroyed the well yet? What kinds of plans was he making about it? Might he try to get through it and attack Kagome's world?

Most concerning, what if Naraku was spying on him, and waited until he went through the well, then destroyed it! He'd rather spend eternity in hell than in that horrid-smelling, human-filled, completely weird place with that girl who thought he was disgusting! And what easier way could there be for Naraku to get rid of him, without even a fight! There was no way he was going to risk it. Kagome would have to come here of her own accord, if he was going to speak to her. Somehow, Inuyasha felt relieved he could put off seeing her a while longer. To hear such cruel words from her pretty lips again would be more than he could handle at that point.

 

 

 

Miroku returned with Shippo and some food for him a couple of hours later.

Apparently, Sango had lost a lot of blood and would have a nasty scar, but would otherwise be fine. Inuyasha was relieved, as he'd been more worried about her than he'd let on.

Then the monk wanted to know if he was alright…it seemed his friends had been very concerned about him after he'd heard the things Kagome had said.

Inuyasha was happy to be reassured that nobody else thought that way about him, and he couldn't help feeling a little touched by Shippo's indignant criticism of her reaction. Still, he was Inuyasha, and therefore became irritated at them fussing about his feelings like he was some delicate girl, and told them to shut up. Thankfully, they knew when to leave him alone about it, Shippo moved onto an account of all their minor doings over the last few days.

 

 

When they left, Inuyasha's thoughts strayed back to Sesshomaru. Why had he approached him that first night? Had he been so desperate that he just wanted to fuck anyone, or had he purposely been looking for him? Did Sesshomaru think he was attractive? Had he though about him in such a way before that time? Had he enjoyed it as much as Inuyasha had? He'd really seemed like he enjoyed it a lot! Inuyasha had so many questions in his mind.

And the memories!- now that he was once again immersed in the world of his own life, they seemed so surreal, like some kind of crazy dream or fantasy. But they hadn't been!

Sesshomaru had chased him naked through the forest, stolen tessaiga from him only to give it back, comforted him when he'd been upset…not to mention the wild sex! Gods… Inuyasha found himself blushing, then got angry with himself. What was he doing, wallowing in his memories about that bastard who'd just used him for sex! That bastard! And he had much more important things to think about, anyway!

 

Things like… Naraku, and how he was supposed to go find and kill him while also guarding the well. But then, did he really need to guard the well? After he'd had his talk with Kagome and was feeling better, would it really be such a loss if Kagome couldn't come through it anymore? It might be easier if she just stayed in her own world. And besides, if he left it alone, Naraku probably wouldn't destroy it, because it was a possible way he might seek to get rid of him! Killing Naraku was definitely a hiher priority than Kagome and her world.

Of course, if Naraku found a way to go through the well…that was not something he could allow to happen.

Somehow, he was too tired to bother thinking about it anymore. Inuyasha closed his eyes, and let himself drift off to sleep in the warm late afternoon sunshine, dreaming of magenta stripes and golden eyes.

 

 

Inuyasha was awoken with a start a couple of hours later. The sudden noise behind him which had him so startled turned out to be Kagome coming out of the well. She looked a little surprised herself to see him sitting there.

“Inuyasha! You…you didn't ruin it?” She asked. What was that supposed to mean? He glared at her.

“I- I tried to come through the well this morning, but it didn't work!” She continued, sitting herself down on it's edge. Her voice was shaky, and strained as though she'd been yelling to much. Or crying to much. Inuyasha stood up, crossing his arms.

“Naraku tampered with it.” He told her.

“Naraku? With…he knows about the well?” Kagome sounded fearful.

“Yeah. So I was just here guarding it.” Said Inuyasha.

“oh.” There was a long silence. Kagome looked away from him, and he wondered if she couldn't stand to see him. It was becoming unbearable.

“So what happened?” She finally asked.

“With what?” Did she mean with him and Sesshomaru? Or with Naraku? Gods, why did she have to come all of a sudden like that! He hadn't had any warning!

“With the well?”

“He found out about it somehow, and covered it with a bunch of vines so Miroku was busy here while he attacked Sango for the shikon shard. She and Kirara got hurt, but everything's fine.” Explained Inuyasha. “But now he knows about it, we don't know when Naraku might try to destroy the well, so you should watch out.”

“I see…ah, so…” Kagome trailed off. Gods, why couldn't she just say what she wanted, instead of making it difficult like this?!

“So…what about what happened?” She asked. “I mean, I really don't understand why you did that…”

Inuyasha shifted his feet a little. For a second, he wished the well had really been broken, and he would never have had to go through this! He knew she wasn't going to like a longer version of what he'd already told her anymore than she had the shorter version.

Somehow, he would have to make the words come out.

“Well, I realised I was in heat, so I left to be by myself. I hadn't really been able to think straight at all, and then, he showed up, and started kissing me and stuff…I don't know why, but when he did that, it was like the whole world disappeared, and I didn't know anything else, let alone be able to think about what I was doing. And it felt really, really great! But then, I thought about you, and I felt really awful. And after that, he kept coming to me, and I couldn't really resist him any better than the first time. From what I understand, its perfectly normal and alright to do that, apart from that I shouldn't have done that to you. So, I'm sorry. I'm truly really sorry, Kagome. I never wanted to hurt your feelings.” It had been a little messed up, but he felt like he'd said everything he needed to say.

She looked at him, her eyes shiny with unspilt tears.

“Well, you did hurt them. Really bad. I don't understand all this youkai heat stuff, and I believe you when you say you didn't want to hurt my feelings. But to me, having sex with your own brother is a really disgusting, wrong thing to do. I…I don't think you're disgusting, Inuyasha, but I think what you did was disgusting…and I don't think it's something I can get over.” Her voice came out choked, and tears slid down her cheeks.

So, it was better than the `I think you're a disgusting animal and I don't ever want to see you again' kind of response he'd been expecting, but it still hurt like hell to hear it. Inuyasha turned his face away from her so she wouldn't be able to see his pained expression.

“I don't think what I did was disgusting. But that's alright. You should go home now, Kagome.” He told her. With those words, he felt slightly better. It was what he thought, and he was fine with it.

“Yeah.” Kagome got up, about to jump back into the well. At the last moment, she paused and turned around.

“Inuyasha? Do you think we can try to still be friends?” She asked. She really didn't hate him? Even still liked him enough to ask something like that? He gave her a genuine, if slightly sad smile.

“Yeah.”

She gave him a sad little smile of her own, and was gone into the well.

 

 

 

***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***< /div>