InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Daybreak ❯ Aftershock ( Chapter 12 )

A/N: winggoddess916, Silver Dog of the Snow, Angel at Risk and Laur, I'm giving you all a mental hug! (places fingers on temples and sends psychic hug). Did you feel it? Good. Your enjoyment is my inspiration!

 

Poor Inuyasha in the last chapter! I just had to make it seem like a really vicious battle to make sure Inuyasha would stay down, cuz let's face it, he's pretty damn tough and it would have to take a lot to keep the bugger down.

 

winggoddess916- Thank you!! Your comment made me so happy!

 

Silver Dog of the Snow- Thank you for your review! And mentioning you is the least I can do for your great support! :D Leave the canaries alone now! ;)

 

Angel at Risk- No! YOU'RE awesome! :D

 

Laur- Thanks so much for the constructive criticism, it is sorely needed! It will definitely come in handy with future studies, but I think for the sake of the story I'll keep using `…' instead of `--' in case it starts confusing other readers. Thank you so much though and if you have any other advice, love to hear it! And I love homemade chocolate!! :D

 

WOW that's a long Author's Note! GET TO THE STORY ALREADY!!

 

Don't own Inuyasha.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 12- Aftershock

 

“Koinu-chan…”

 

The words echoed in his mind, hollow and empty. His little legs stumbled over the ground trying to catch up with the woman with the blurred face, silhouetted in the light. Again and again he tripped and fell but kept getting back up and racing towards her, arms outstretched. He tripped once more and looked up to find himself still an eternity away from her. She was walking towards the light with her back to him. She was leaving!

 

“Wait-!” he cried trying to get up again. His arms suddenly felt like lead and dropped to the ground in front of him. He watched as his soft chubby arms lengthened into toned muscular ones. A horrifying, maniacal laugh erupted around the darkness.

 

Onigumo…!

 

`That is the last thing you will ever hear coming from her mouth…'

 

He heard her scream his name in panic. “INUYASHA!!!”

 

K…Kagome…

 

He couldn't see her. He couldn't smell her. Where the hell was she?

 

Kagome… KAGOME!!

 

 

*****

 

 

The blackness slowly swam into shades of grey as Inuyasha groggily came round. His eyes hurt, so he kept them closed. As he slowly gained consciousness, he felt the discomfort of an insistent throbbing, pulsing in his skull. He tried to lift his arms, but thought against it; they still felt like lead. Everything was so heavy… He would have liked to have fallen back asleep if it weren't for the muffled voices reaching his ears.

 

“Kouga, please calm down.”

“Calm down?!! How the hell am I supposed to calm down at a time like this?!!”

“Kouga, you said yourself you couldn't find any leads, correct?”

“What the fuck of it?!”

“I'm saying that perhaps you should listen to Sango and try to calm down since there's nothing we can do at the moment. Stressing over something that can't be undone can only lead to the torment of one's soul.”

“Don't give me that spiritual crap, monk! I'm already tormented! Kagome's in danger right now! For all we know, she could be-!”

“Inuyasha!” cried a relieved Shippou.

 

Inuyasha's eyes had whipped open the second he heard Kagome's name. Instantly the memories of his last battle flew into his mind so fast, he was afraid he would pass out again. That's right. Onigumo was now a fucking hanyou, with an indestructible chest, elongating arms and poisonous spikes. That fucking poison… He remembered the hot, searing, tingling sensation that ran down his veins before he began to lose the feeling in his arms. He got stabbed twice didn't he? The scene replayed in his mind. He was looking down at the spear sticking out of his chest when he heard Kagome scream his name.

`That is the last thing you will ever hear coming from her mouth…'

Then-! Then... He couldn't remember. What happened? He suddenly became aware of the weight on his bare chest. Staring down at him was the little fox boy smiling in relief, his eyes shimmering.

“Inuyasha!”

“Inuyasha?”

 

The hanyou was brought out of his daze by his companion's voices. Their muffled words seemed to be clear and sharp now his vision had returned. Shippou moved off his chest as Inuyasha bolted up right. He ignored the feeling of blistering flames pounding under his skin and looked around frenetically. Miroku was propped up against the trunk of a tree, not two metres away from the hanyou, looking like he was almost recovered. Sango, who had changed back into her kimono, knelt next to the monk, healing cuts and scratches all over her face. She was absent-mindedly stroking Kirara who was resting in her lap. On the other side of what seemed to be a small clearing, with his back to them, stood Kouga. The mangy wolf's followers, whatever their names were, sat on a rock nearby, their shoulders slumped.

 

There was no Kagome. Nothing. None of her scent hovered nearby like it was supposed to. Inuyasha's eyes darted over the clearing again to make sure. His ears twitched trying to pick up the sound of her footsteps. It was then he took in the faces of his companions. Only Shippou smiled at him. The others, behind their looks of relief, had a hard edge to their eyes. What had Kouga just said? Kagome's in danger? Inuyasha tried to swallow, despite his dry throat.

 

“Where's Kagome?”

 

The husky words were met with pure silence. Inuyasha held his breath as the entire clearing hung thick with an atmosphere of remorse. Everyone's faces darkened with… sorrow? The hanyou's thumping heart increased its tempo. Miroku raised a hand calmly.

“Inuyasha-”

“Where the fuck is she?!” he barked. Kouga spun himself around, his face distorted in a startling fury.

“SHE'S GONE!!”

Inuyasha felt the words echo in his mind. He willed his lips to move.

“What-?”

“I SAID, SHE'S GONE, YOU GODDAMNED FUCKING HALF BREED!!” yelled Kouga taking one threatening step towards him.

“Kouga-” warned Miroku calmly.

“How-?” croaked Inuyasha.

“NARAKU! NARAKU AND THAT FUCKING ONIGUMO!! YOU FUCKING LET THEM TAKE HER!!”

 

Inuyasha stopped breathing. It felt like his chest had been paralysed. It was strange. Like he couldn't understand the information for a second. Kagome was gone. Naraku… and Onigumo… took her…?

 

He bolted to his feet so fast, he nearly fell back down. Sharp pain shot through his body, reminding him of his previous battle. He vaguely noticed his left arm wrapped in Kagome's white healing fabric, along with the rest of his torso, stained in old blood.

“Where are they?!” he demanded, unbalanced on his feet. Miroku looked at Inuyasha sympathetically and shook his head.

“We don't know.”

“Then let's get off our asses and find out!!” snapped Inuyasha.

“What the fuck do you think we've been doing the last three days?!!” shouted Kouga. “I've been searching the whole fucking country trying to get a whiff of `em! All the while your lazy dog turd's ass has been lying down taking a break!!”

 

Inuyasha grabbed the tessaiga to lean on and slowly began hobbling past his comrades. “Outta my way, asshole!” hissed Inuyasha. “I'll find her myself!”

“You think your half breed nose can pick `em up?” scoffed Kouga as he watched the hanyou pass. “Don't make me laugh!”

“Shut the fuck up, mangy wolf!” Inuyasha barked over his shoulder, continuing his slow pace. “It's my job to-”

Kouga's fist came slamming into Inuyasha's face, sending him smashing into a tree. Unable to react as quickly as he'd like, Inuyasha pulled himself up with his scabbard to glare at the wolf.

“What the fuck do you-”

“YOUR JOB?! THEN WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU PROTECT HER?!!”

 

Inuyasha froze. His eyes widened in a look of pure horror as the world came crashing down. His promise… Oh God, his promise to her. He failed her… He couldn't protect her… The hot wave of guilt flooded his body, burning away his will to move. He stood there, resting on his sword, lost in his own sea of regret.

 

“K-Kagome…” he whispered to himself. Again, Kouga cracked his fist against Inuyasha's jaw, smacking his head back against the tree.

“DON'T YOU FUCKING CALL HER BY HER NAME, LOWLIFE!!” screamed the wolf as he punched the hanyou again in a blind fury. Inuyasha thought he heard the rest of the group cry out for the wolf to stop, but was too busy focusing on the pain to even care. Kouga kicked him into the middle of the clearing and pulled him up by his fire rat to glare in his face.

“You said you wouldn't let anything happen to her again! You're nothing but scum!”

Inuyasha kept his eyes lowered in shame. He couldn't disagree. “Yeah, you're right.”

Kouga's face flickered away from mad rage to one of disappointment. He dropped the hanyou and shook his head, scratching behind his ear.

“Aw, man! This is great! Now the dog turd can't even fight.”

 

“Well, he put in everything he had!” cried Shippou bravely. “It's not like we ever saw you come to help us with the battle!”

“Shuddup!” flushed Kouga. “I came as fast as I could when I found out I got tricked! What I was following was false trail…” he mumbled.

“So Onigumo even considered what to do with Kouga…” said Miroku thoughtfully. Inuyasha pulled himself up to sit dejectedly on the ground and stole a look at the others. Miroku and Sango were standing as if just coming out of their stances. They were probably standing like that if they needed to stop Kouga from knocking him out again. Inuyasha almost wished he had.

 

“What do you mean `considered'?” asked Kouga gruffly.

“It's obvious,” began the monk. “He created that false trail to lead you away from the village in case you tried to interfere with him killing Inuyasha or taking Kagome-sama.”

Inuyasha winced to hear her name.

“Well, the bastard did the job,” growled Kouga. “By the time I got back, Naraku was just disappearing with her and that freak.”

 

“I can't believe what's happened,” said Hakkaku sadly.

“I hope Kagome Nee-san is alright…” sniffed Ginta.

Shippou glumly sat next to the kitten Kirara. “Kagome…”

“Yes, the turn of events are truly terrible,” sighed Miroku miserably. “I'm so depressed I can't even caress my dear Sango's bottom.”

“Houshi-sama,” said Sango, her eye twitching. “You're doing it right now.”

“Yes, but it's a sad caress. See how my hand is almost limp?” he pouted.

 

Kouga got to his feet as Sango gave the monk a healthy slap across the face.

“Well, no good sitting and whining here.”

“Kouga, you're leaving?” asked Shippou.

“Yeah. I just wanted to make sure dog turd knew what he's done. At least he's suffering now,” he sniffed, giving Inuyasha a sideways glance.

“Are you going to continue looking for traces of Naraku?” asked Miroku.

“Feh! Of course, idiot! I can't just sit around and do nothing! There's no way I'm giving up yet!” He turned to his two followers. “We ain't sleeping `till we find Kagome!”

“Yeah!” “Of course not!” readily agreed Ginta and Hakkaku, a fiery determined look on their faces.

Satisfied with their response, Kouga turned and gave Inuyasha's group a casual salute as he began to run off.

“Then I'm off to find her! Dog turd, you better stay outta my way!” His feet blurred into a whirlwind and he shot away into the distance. Ginta and Hakkaku said their goodbyes, chasing after their leader. Inuyasha tried to get to his feet again, but substituted for a more comfortable position instead; His muscles still whined with fatigue.

 

“Inuyasha…” said Sango softly. He looked over his shoulder to see her standing beside him. “You've been out cold for three days. How are you feeling?”

`Apart from feeling like everything's been torn to shreds?' he thought. Inuyasha turned back to inspect his left arm.

“I'm fine. My arm seems to be fixed. Onigumo's poison was just really potent.”

“You must take it easy for the next few days, Inuyasha,” said Miroku sternly. “The poison might still be in your system, probably slowing down your youkai healing powers.”

Inuyasha crossed his arms. “Keh! I don't have time to take it easy! Maybe you should practice what you preach with that Air Rip of yours!”

“Well, we can't do anything yet until we eat something,” smiled Sango. “Are you hungry Inuyasha?”

“Yeah-” he trailed off when he saw Sango extract two ramen cups from Kagome's worn backpack. The small reminder of her triggered a whole new wave of horrible emotions. Guilt, uncertainty, regret, anger, disappointment, anxiety…

 

He hadn't noticed the others were watching him sadly until he looked up at them from his inner torment. Sango placed the cups on her lap and looked down.

“I'm so sorry. We couldn't help Kagome-chan…”

“If only I had foreseen it earlier!” cursed Miroku through gritted teeth. Inuyasha stared at them. Both were looking away in shame and anger. The hanyou felt a small twang in his heart to see them in pain. It wasn't like he could blame them. They tried their best and they were only human.

“Don't worry about it,” he mumbled quietly.

“Inuyasha…”

The hanyou turned to his right to see the little kitsune, his eyes hidden behind his bangs. His straightened arms were trembling.

“I'm sorry… I couldn't protect her…,” said Shippou sadly.

Inuyasha stared at the fox boy for a second before looking away and ruffling his hair. Shippou looked up, surprised by his reaction.

“You did fine, runt. You did your best. We'll get her back.”

Kirara mewled her agreement. The others nodded silently.

 

Inuyasha looked up to the sky. The sun was directly above them. So they still had half a day left. Hiding the shooting pain in his sides and chest, he pulled himself to his feet.

“We'll have something to eat and then move out,” he instructed.

“Inuyasha?” asked Sango.

“Are you sure, Inuyasha?” said Miroku carefully. “You've barely woken up and you want to strain your body more?”

Inuyasha grinned at him, ignoring the throbbing in his cheek and legs. “Keh, I'm already recovered! I ain't just a weak human, you know. Besides, we gotta get searching for her!”

Miroku sighed and slightly smiled. “Alright, I'll get the firewood.”

“No, I'll get it,” said Inuyasha, walking away into the wood before anyone could protest.

 

 

*****

 

 

It took a hell of a lot of effort to walk away without limping or showing any signs of pain, but after months of experience, hiding the true extent of his injuries from his friends, he managed get away without any questions. He couldn't take anymore sitting around and needed some time alone to figure things out. As much as he hated to admit it, he could understand how Kouga felt; he couldn't think of anything else but to get Kagome back either. And waiting for lunch to cook was just pure agony.

 

Inuyasha stumbled along the forest floor picking up decent sized pieces of wood where he found them. Usually he would just cut down a tree and be done with it, but it was hurting just to bend down, let alone to try and get his sword out.

“Fucking poison,” he cursed to himself. He found himself in a clearing with a single tree stump lying in the middle. How ironic. It reminded him of the well lying by itself in the middle of the forest. Inuyasha threw the pieces of wood on the stump and began to pace, trying to stretch his muscles.

 

Dammit! Everything was reminding him of her! As soon as he laid his eyes on the stump, memories of that time they spent together by the well came flooding back. The feeling of her pressed against his chest, hidden away from the world under his arms… He couldn't wait to feel that again. He couldn't believe how much his life seemed to revolve around her. Now she was gone, all he could think about was getting her back again. It had always been like this. He had always hated the days she went back through the well. A day without Kagome was surprisingly… irritating. Irritating like it was right now! He needed to have her by his side again. He couldn't deny it. That was the only place she was truly safe… But of course, she wasn't safe, was she? No matter what he did, his strength still wasn't enough! Inuyasha spun around and punched into the tree stump, shattering the wood into thousands of splinters.

 

It was horrible. This feeling of… helplessness. Nothing compared to this. Losing his mother… being ridiculed by humans and youkai… the feeling of betrayal when he thought Kikyou attacked him… All feelings that had ripped at him in the past seemed like nothing in comparison to this. This was torture. Agonising torture of endless streams of questions that he wasn't sure he wanted answers to or not. Where was she? Was she scared? Was she safe?

`Of course not, idiot! She's with Naraku and the sex crazed homicidal maniac Onigumo. If he lays one finger on her…'

 

Inuyasha stopped. Oh God. He could be hurting her right now. There was nothing stopping him. Kagome… Oh God, please, no… Inuyasha felt his knees buckle and gripped onto the stump's remains to keep him from falling. It was all his fault. He couldn't protect her. The one thing he promised and he failed. What if right now she was…?

 

He stopped his thoughts. No. He couldn't think about it. All he could do right now was get her back. He would get her back, fucking rip Naraku apart and then he would deal with Onigumo.

 

Yes… Onigumo.

 

He would rip the bastard's spleen out of his body, slice open his stomach and yank out his intestines. Then he would do something to make sure he could never touch another woman again. Probably shove it down his throat. He would keep the bastard alive and watching until he was finally done with him. Then he would take Kagome back through the well where she would be safe. Perfect.

 

Inuyasha licked his lips, feeling the primal rage building in his body. Yes, he would savour those screams and the feeling of his skull being crushed beneath his feet. He would have to keep Kagome away from all of this, though, and come up with some lie about the death of that Hojo guy… Naraku decided to finish him off! Yeah, that sounded good. Although it would be unfortunate for that kid to be collateral damage, it was still worth it to keep Kagome out of trouble. He was almost looking forward to slaughtering the prick as much as he was looking forward to having Kagome back! He had never hated anyone this much before. Worse than Naraku. Although Naraku was the one to have done all the cruel things to him and his friends, Onigumo was really at the heart of it all. Nothing like this would have happened if that man didn't exist!

 

Inuyasha felt the hot rage flowing in his blood and forced himself to close his eyes, breathing deeply. Already the adrenaline was pumping, thirsting for revenge. Letting out a deep sigh, he opened his blazing eyes and smirked.

 

Bastard was going down…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: Review and get me prancing again! :D

 

Stay healthy and happy!

 

Love GoldenDust xx