InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Daybreak ❯ Selfishness ( Chapter 26 )

Hello again! I know it's been a long time. I hope you don't hate me too much! I must have restarted this chapter about three times but was never happy with it. I'm not even happy with it now, but oh well, you have to bite the bullet sometime, right? It's a short chapter to slowly get back into it. Like I said before, I WILL finish this story, it just may take a while and I really am very thankful for your patience. Also, I apologise if the writing isn't very good; I haven't proof read it and I've been a bit out of practice…

Thankyous:

kjpanny (Haha! Nothing like a good ol' surprise!)

nowyouseemenowyoudont (thank you for always commenting!)

Lunabell (>:3)

Feulner (Aww, thank you…!)

funnyduckie1 (Haha! Who knew obsessions could be so sexy ;D)

Silver Dog of the Snow (Thank you so much <3)

Eris of Chaos (Wow! I'm so glad you like it!)

Angelica Pierce (Hope the above paragraph answered any questions you might have had. Thanks for taking the time to comment!)

MsFeistyy (Haha! I had just finished editing (very poorly) this chapter when I saw your comment! Perfect timing!)

I do not own Inuyasha, nor do I make any profit from this story.

Chapter 26- Selfishness

If it was one thing Onigumo knew better than anything, it was that people were selfish.

Onigumo had been through a lot in his life. He was abandoned by his good-for-nothing father at a young age and without having a strong male figure to depend on, his mother had to resign to becoming a common whore just to keep the two of them alive. Of course, with the disease and mental torture that came with the job, his mother hadn't lasted long and soon he found himself living on his own, trying to survive on the streets of a city whose inhabitants wouldn't do a thing to help an orphaned child.

`People are selfish'. It was the one rule that kept him alive.

It was due to selfishness that those bandits took him in, hoping they would be able to use him for their own personal gains. It was selfishness that the older men took his spoils after a raid, simply because he was younger and weaker than them. And it was selfishness that lead him to murder his Kashira, the gang's head, and then his fellow bandits. Such an event leading to his name being known throughout the lands as the fearsome bandit Onigumo who took no prisoners. Unless they were women. In which case, their captivity didn't last very long anyway.

Ironically, it was selfishness that lead him to pillage a secluded temple on one of his travels. He had let himself in, striking down a couple of monks who tried o stop him before discovering the poor excuse of a temple had nothing decent to loot. In his frustration, he had set the temple alight. He would have made his escape if he had realised there was a third monk in the storeroom at the time of his arrival. Without warning, he was attacked from behind. The old monk was a fast little bugger, but it was only a matter of time before his head was severed from his body. Unfortunately, he had held out long enough for the burning building to collapse around them.

And so ultimately, it was selfishness that lead to Onigumo's entire body being burnt, leaving him incapacitated and dying alone in the forest.

Surely it would have been his end were it not for a certain unnaturally beautiful miko coming to his aid, wrapping his wounds in bandages, giving him shelter in a cave and feeding him porridge everyday. It had occurred to him during one of these agonisingly long days of powerlessness when he had nothing to do but think, that Kikyou was perhaps the most unselfish person he had ever encountered. That epiphany alone would have been enough for an ordinary person to rethink their life and begin to regret and repent their atrocious actions. But for Onigumo, it just made him want her. Her, and her unselfish nature; it was so unique, so foreign and new. Something he had never tasted before. And as time went on, he began to want her so badly. So badly he wouldn't care even if he destroyed her in the process of having her.

Selfishness…

Yes, `selfishness', giving into one's desires without thought or care, was the way to live. It was how he always lived. It was how he enjoyed living. And all alone in that dark dank cave that stunk of his rotten flesh and faeces, he had wanted to live. He had wanted to live so badly.

And so he called upon all the evil spirits and youkai he could, offering up his body, offering up anything he could of his humanity. To get Kikyou. To let him give into his desires. To let him live once more.

But something went wrong and just like the time when he was a child living with the bandits, he was overpowered. For fifty years, he all but disappeared from existence. He was once released from that prison of darkness for a short while, only to re-engage with his two most hated enemies, Naraku and that half-breed bastard, Inuyasha who had stolen Kikyou's heart from him. But again, the darkness engulfed him and he had ceased to exist.

The next time he woke up he was in a young boy's body dressed in strange, torn clothes, in another God forsaken cave, but this time he was lying at the feet of the monster his selfishness had created.

The first impulse he had was to slam his fist hard into the ugly fucker's face, an impulse that he attempted to act on. But he had quickly found a tentacle of some sort wrapped firmly around his neck that rendered him immobile. Naraku had then drawn him much too close to those blood red eyes and held him transfixed there as he explained the situation in a voice barely above a whisper.

As Naraku recounted his story of finding a boy unconscious from an oni attack, Onigumo experienced the strangest thing; he had memories of the oni encounter. And they weren't from Naraku's point of view like he would have thought; they were from the victims'. He remembered running scared through the forest. And he remembered the feeling of his skin and clothes being torn apart from the oni's claws.

And slowly he understood, these weren't his memories. They were the ones experienced by the boy whose body he was in. By Hojo…

Yes, he suddenly realised knew the boy's name. Already more of Hojo's memories came flooding into his mind. Of his parents, school, friends, and one particular striking mental image of Hojo, sadly staring in the mirror at the huge birthmark of a spider that covered his entire back. The same spider burn mark the bandit had received when caught in the temple fire.

And Onigumo knew, before Naraku even had to tell him. This boy, this Hojo, was Onigumo reincarnated.

He felt like laughing at his luck. Of all the people Naraku could have encountered, it was his reincarnation. He was about to say something when another wave of vivid images came.

It was of a girl… who looked just like Kikyou. But this wasn't the miko he had desired. This girl, in strange clothing called a `uniform', had much more life and expression in her face.

He could taste the name on his lips.

Kagome…

Onigumo watched the memories play out in his mind and felt the warm emotions that weren't his spread through his chest. He watched the way her face lit up when talking to her friends and the way her shoulders sagged when she received a marked test from the teacher. Even the way her eyebrows knotted together when she was yelling at a particular white haired boy with dog-ears…

And suddenly with these thoughts came emotions, his own emotions that flowed throughout his borrowed body. It was pure hatred, for he had recognised Inuyasha in Hojo's flashbacks.

Naraku must have sensed what he was seeing because he explained the connection between Kagome and the half-breed. And so Onigumo sat there listening to a story that spanned over 550 years as his mind slowly digested everything it could.

By the end of the night, he had struck a deal with the red-eyed devil that he created, but now had to call `Master'. He agreed to being Naraku's minion because after all, they had a common goal; to destroy Inuyasha and company. But there was one condition to the agreement; let Onigumo keep the girl and do whatever he fucking well pleased. Naraku had just smiled, amused, but said nothing. Thus the pact was born.

But there were things Onigumo hadn't expected. Like how Inuyasha had foiled his first `attempt' on Kagome, or how Naraku kept him from getting too close to her. Onigumo didn't like waiting. So he began to formulate his own plan when he overheard Naraku mention something about a Time Pearl to Kanna.

Now, Onigumo felt he was a genius. Plain and simple. And while he may not have had a good education, he was wise in the ways of the world and had a such a sharp mind that he had to find a decent rival for it. So while Naraku thought he was behaving himself, Onigumo had done his research on the said pearl of time, all the while seeking out youkai as a way of making himself physically stronger.

Without the devilish bastard knowing, Onigumo had spread rumours about the pearl, knowing full well the lies would eventually reach his ears. And they did. He knew his plan had worked when Naraku arrived at the village in time to offer Inuyasha's life in exchange for Kagome's cooperation. Then it was only a matter of time before Kagome found and took hold of the pearl, subsequently erasing it from existence. Just like he planned.

Get the girl, let Naraku use the girl, then keep the girl all the while putting Inuyasha through hell and back. And then of course, kill him. And eventually Naraku. It was a perfect plan.

Because no one kept him from what he wanted.

What could he say? He was selfish.

*****

Onigumo looked around at each of his enemy's faces with glee. Each of them had their eyes practically bulging out of their heads. He especially enjoyed seeing Inuyasha's expression; anger was there of course, crossed with something that almost looked like his brain wasn't completely computing the situation. Quite hilarious indeed.

He quickly glanced at the Inu-tachi's member at the back of the group and felt a surge of anticipation as his eyes met the raven-haired woman. Kagome… She was clutching a child, her eyes wide with fear, anger and… did he detect a hint of despair? Onigumo chuckled to himself. Damn straight, she felt despair. Seemed she was finally realising how impossible it was to escape from him. He quickly noted she was back in that uniform of hers instead of the kimono she wore when she had exorcised him. Not that he minded the change in clothing... He quickly made a sweep of her bared legs and swallowed hard.

“Well?” he asked, feigning insult. “You're not going to say `Welcome back'? How disappointing!”

“Bastard…! How-?” spat Inuyasha. It seemed all that angry confusion was making it difficult to get the words out.

Onigumo grinned. “Like I said before, desire”. He let the syllables slowly roll off his tongue. Man, he loved saying that word.

“You were exorcised,” spoke the monk calmly. Onigumo watched as the human's hands nervously gripped his staff. “We all saw it. How is it you are still alive?”

“What is exorcism?” said Onigumo throwing up his hands. He began walking down the steps of the shrine. “Isn't exorcism traditionally the removal of spirits? If so, it had the desired effect, didn't it? How is my reincarnation? Doing well?”

“We'll make sure you'll never touch him again!” shouted Sango. Onigumo laughed.

“Don't waste your energy. I wouldn't want to go back into that body. Not when I have this!” he gestured grandly to his form. “You are now looking at a fully-fledged youkai.”

His grin widened as he watched his enemies' faces freeze. “And you can tell can't you?” he directly said to the white-haired half demon. He was sure he could see Inuyasha's hairs standing on end.

“But weren't you just a fucking hanyou before?” spoke the wolf youkai. Onigumo spared him a glance before returning to the angry golden stare of Inuyasha.

“Shall I tell the story of how I became yokai?” he said as he dramatically turned away to face his many dishevelled followers. His men clapped and cheered. He smirked. Oh, how he loved being the centre of attention.

“Well, after that magnificent attack by our very talented and beautiful miko here,” he began nodding at Kagome, “I was forced to be ripped away from my human host.”

His eyes darkened at the girl. “And it fucking hurt like hell,” he growled deeply. He watched her swallow nervously and readjust her grip on the faint-looking boy.

He began to casually pace. “And so I, a bodiless life form, was thrust out. I could do nothing but escape from the pure light that engulfed the boy's body. Understandably I don't remember much, but for a brief while I was nothing but a mindless… thing… hmmm… I suppose technically I was dead. Anyway, I was relying solely on instinct. In other words, searching for another host.”

He paused for dramatic effect. “And I found one. A simple mountain youkai hanging by a pool all alone. He didn't even see me coming, and by the time he did, it was already too late.”

There was silence in the town square. Even the bandits didn't move a muscle. Onigumo basked in the moment.

“And so I instantly set out on finding strong youkai and binding themselves to me much like I did before only instead of pieces, I conquered the whole of the youkai. I was strong enough to over-power other youkai this time, you see. And gained some pretty interesting abilities too.” He flexed his normal-looking bicep, as an example. He knew they were surprised to see him look so… human. The ability to control his appearance was a fantastic skill indeed.

“And then I found these bandits wandering around, thought `what the hell?' and a couple of weeks later, here I am as their, er… Commander in Chief, so to speak.”

His men hooted.

“So you're just like Naraku?” stated the priest.

“Wrong,” said Onigumo holding up a finger. “He's hanyou. I'm full youkai, which makes me much, much stronger. And more dangerous.”

“The exorcism should have been enough to stop you!!” cried Kagome, shielding the child away from him.

Onigumo looked directly at her. “Don't get me wrong, Kagome. Any other spirit would have been destroyed by that attack. But not something as strong as me. I'm just awesome like that.” He grinned.

“So, what do you say we get down to business, men?” Onigumo shouted eagerly and rubbed his hands together. “There's only one youkai and a half-breed. The rest are human. I'm sure you can more than handle that.” The men roared and raised their weapons.

“You think humans are any match for me?!” shouted the wolf prince. “Don't get fucking cocky!”

“Don't touch the woman in the short green yukata,” ordered Onigumo, ignoring the wolf. “And do whatever you want with the rest, but the half breed is mine to take down.”

He watched as his enemies readied themselves. Even Kagome took out her bow and arrow, gently pushing the boy behind her. Onigumo caught the glowing golden eyes of his most hated nemesis and couldn't resist gleefully smiling at him.

“Attack,” he commanded.