InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Delusions ❯ Chapter Ten ( Chapter 10 )

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

Author’s Notes: Just another manic Monday...so, here’s the chapter a day early.

Delusions Chapter Ten Rated - M (for suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, and coarse language) Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Kagome didn’t know the words that she screamed, it was familiar and came to her almost instinctively. All that she knew was that she yelled as loud as she could once she saw the onslaught that was to come. “SIT BOY!” Inuyasha, in mid-swing, immediately was pushed to the ground by an unseen force, effectively stopping him from obliterating Amaya. The aberration rejoined with its body and the yōkai held the girl in its ungainly hand. Despite being tossed and dragged around, Amaya struggled against the hand that held her. “Let me go,” she growled. The child began laughing maniacally. “Is this all it takes to incapacitate you?! And here I thought the great Inuyasha may pose a challenge.” Inuyasha snarled and brandished Tessaiga higher with his right arm, “You want a challenge then face me! I aint afraid of hitting a kid!” “Perhaps another time. I’m here to collect and while I have a nice consolation prize to feed Mōryōmaru later,” the child gestured at Amaya, “I still have to finish the job.” Kagome could not sit and watch this banter. She rushed out from behind Sōrin and stood by Inuyasha’s side. “Give her back and you can have me! I’ll come willingly.” The desperation in her voice made the child glance down at her. The child looked to Kagome and smiled, “Too easy.” Inuyasha looked at her incredulously, “You idiot, what are you doing?” Kagome couldn’t and wouldn’t explain herself, “You would too…” was all she said before she turned away from him and stepped meekly forward. The child, from within his barrier, nodded at the yōkai called Mōryōmaru. It placed Amaya on the ground but still held her within its grasp as Kagome stepped forward. She walked closer as Inuyasha watched in disbelief as she gave herself up in place of her daughter. “Kagome!” Inuyasha called after her. The child chuckled, the play of events amused him greatly. Mōryōmaru stretched out an arm and opened a clawed hand in front of Kagome. She walked close to it and waited for him to release her daughter. He opened his other claw and Amaya ran over to her mother. Kagome held out a hand, “No, go home. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be OK. I promise.” Amaya took steps backwards as Kagome willingly walked into the awaiting grip of Mōryōmaru. His hand closed around her waist and she kept a straight face through it all. The beast made no move to lift her yet and she looked up at the child who floated beside her within his barrier. “A willing victim. Funny, I didn’t even come for you and you are sacrificing yourself. This is fun!” “What?” Inuyasha said, confused. Kagome also blinked, confused at the words. The boy looked down at her with a sneer and that’s when she realized…”Amaya, run!” Amaya turned to follow her mother’s instructions but she had not had the chance to get very far from the yōkai and he grabbed for her. She tried ducking but the hand slipped through the strands of her hair but was able to grab a handful and her necklace as well. Her hands went to her throat as the tension from the chain began to choke her. “No!” Kagome screamed, a mother’s worst fear come alive, but there was nothing she could do. Inuyasha acted fast. He made to attack the child and did so with the full blast of his strength. Unprepared for this the child made no move to evade the strike. The sword met the barrier, and though it held, cracks began to form from the contact. From within, the child’s smile vanished and was replaced with a look of shock. Inuyasha held Tessaiga against the barrier and watched as the barrier began to have spiderweb-like cracks grow. Within seconds the barrier shattered, like glass, and Tessaiga sliced through the child’s body. The child’s look of shock turned into a sneer as his upper half floated and his lower half fell away. The lower part of his body began to reform but the child retreated quickly into the forest, leaving his adversaries and his monster in the clearing. Inuyasha allowed himself a victorious smile and turned his attention to Mōryōmaru. The monster still held the girl up by her hair and necklace and she was struggling against its hold. Unfortunately, the necklace chain was holding strong and she was losing strength in her arms as she tried to use her hands to hold onto her hair in order to relieve the strain on her throat. The monster stood still with its master incapacitated, though it made no move to release Kagome or her daughter. Inuyasha leapt over the distance and sheared through the arm holding Kagome, grabbing her, and landed neatly away from the motionless monster. Simultaneously, Sōrin flicked his sword and jumped to sever the arm holding the girl. His sword ran through the flesh like butter and it was at this moment that the necklace chain snapped. Amaya fell and Sōrin grabbed her before she could hit the ground. As soon as she hit his arms, she felt her entire world change. Shippō, Miroku, and Sango, who had stood by watching the entire scene play out, rushed over to lend what assistance they could. The monster quickly regenerated it’s limbs and dashed off, assumably at the beckon of it’s master, leaving Inuyasha and company to regroup and enjoy a victory. Inuyasha looked at Kagome as he sat her down, but she had no eyes for him. They were fastened onto her daughter, as were everyone else’s. He looked over to Sōrin, who still held the girl in his arms but hurriedly sat her down and took a step back. Amaya felt...invigorated and overwhelmed all at once. Her vision seemed sharper, her hearing clearer, and she could smell...everything. She also felt everyone’s gaze on her. Looking at her mother she asked, “What’s everyone looking at?” “Your hair…” Sōrin said, his eyes wide with surprise. The rest of the group gasped collectively. Amaya looked down to a strand hanging over her shoulder; she saw silver strands and immediately reached to her hair. She grabbed it and let it fall through her fingers when she noticed her nails. Normally they were trimmed neatly, now they were long and pointed like claws. She brought her hands to her face for examination. “What...what’s happening to me?” Inuyasha’s jaw was agape and he stood stock still, as if in shock. Kagome, herself, felt shocked at the events that were unfolding before her eyes. Inuyasha found his ability to move and ran over to Amaya. He quickly inspected her and even smelled her as his nostrils flared. He grabbed Amaya’s hand and turned it over, examining her claws. He pivoted to stare at Kagome, anger in his eyes, “Explain!” he barked. Tears filled Kagome’s eyes and threatened to spill over, “I...I didn’t know…” she stammered. With Amaya’s hand still in his grasp he dragged her over to confront Kagome, “How can you not know?” he demanded brandishing the girl in front of Kagome. Shippō approached the trio with his palms facing them, “We are going to head back to the village for now and give you guys some...We’ll...uh...bye...” Inuyasha grunted and the rest of the group edged around the small faction in retreat. They seemed to want no part in this affair. Kagome couldn’t blame them, even she didn’t know how to handle this. Kagome took a deep breath and rid herself of her negative emotions, ‘What will be, will be…Even if he hates me even more now,’ she thought. She looked him straight in the eyes, but they were hardened with frustration. “Inuyasha, she’s your daughter,” she said simply. It took a moment for that bit of information to sink in. Both Inuyasha and Amaya looked at each other and then back to Kagome, “What?!” they said in unision. A huge weight had lifted off of her shoulders, she hadn’t even realized she’d been carrying so much all of these years, she’d grown so accustomed to the guilt. She never thought that she would have to tell either of them the truth. Not because she was not truthful, but she honestly never thought she’d see Inuyasha again and she didn’t want to confuse or hurt her daughter. “How could you not tell me?!” the father-daughter duo said in unison again. Kagome had to stifle a laugh which came out as a snort. The pair stared at her ominously. She looked at Inuyasha, “I never thought that I’d see you again, to be quite honest, after what happened.” Then she looked at Amaya, “And I couldn’t tell you...would you have even believed me?” “But I’ve never looked like this before!” Amaya said concerned. She grabbed a handful of hair to present to her mother, “How can I go back to school looking like this?! I’ll get expelled for sure.” Kagome walked over a few feet and looked along the ground for a minute. She stooped down and picked something up and brought it over. She held Amaya’s necklace out and dropped it into her daughter’s awaiting hand. “The necklace sealed your yōki. Your grandfather made it for you. I was surprised it even worked...Jii-chan’s Ofuda never seemed to work so I had my doubts…” “What if I had ever taken it off? What then?” she asked in a dubious tone. “You couldn’t have. The stone was blessed so if you had tried, you would have been...redirected and forgotten to do so...in a sense. It’s quite similar to Inuyasha’s except I’m the only one who can take his off.” Amaya stared at the stone and necklace chain in her hand. Inuyasha looked at it as well from over her shoulder. “She doesn’t have my ears,” Inuyasha muttered and crossed his arms. With her enhanced hearing, Amaya caught it and reached to the top of her head and patted around, “Phew.” She felt her ears where they had always been for reassurance. They seemed normal, but maybe a bit pointier at the tips. Inuyasha gave her a look, “What?” she asked, “I don’t think I could pull off ears on the top of my head.” Inuyasha just stared at the strange girl that Kagome had claimed was her daughter, who was now also his daughter. Kagome realized that he had seen her but had never really stopped to look at her, otherwise he may have seen it sooner, but Amaya was just an ugly reminder that she had left him and moved on with her life. Now that this was not the case he actually took her in. The long raven black hair had been replaced with silver locks; just like his. Her eyes gleamed a rich amber hue as she looked back at the stone that had kept her true identity hidden from her. Despite the changes, she was still her mother’s daughter. But now that he actually looked at Amaya for the first time Kagome figured he could see bits of himself in her. The parts that she saw everyday. Inuyasha’s eyes flashed with shame as he surveyed his daughter. His gaze rested upon her eyes and Kagome wondered if he recognized them as a part of himself. Her daughter’s eyes were not like her own but they were different than Inuyasha’s; much more feminine. She briefly wondered if that’s what his mother’s eyes would have looked like. “This is…a lot to take in…” Inuyasha said finally. “Tell me about it…” Amaya added quietly. “I realize that you are both reeling from this revelation but I honestly didn’t expect today to play out the way it has. There’s nothing that I can do to go back and change what happened, as much as I want to - now that I know the truth - but it’s my hope that we can at least...move forward somehow. Maybe not as a family,” her mouth had dried up and her throat scratched so the rest of her words came out hoarse, “but as people who share a mutual bond.” Amaya seemed to be taking this all rather well. She exhibited this by walking over to her mother, squeezing her hand, and giving her a small smile. She turned and walked over to the well and waited, giving her parents a moment. Inuyasha on the other hand….“Kagome...I…” he started. Kagome cut him off before he could finish, “You said it. It’s a lot to take in. I’ll um...give you some time. I have to go back anyway to...uh...close up things on my end. It’s better this way.” She forced a small laugh, “At least this way I’m not disappearing without a trace. Nobody deserves that pain.” She shrugged and began to follow after her daughter. Inuyasha watched her go, making no move to stop her. She did though, and turned her head, “I’ll be back as soon as I can to finish things. Tell the others.” Without adding any more she rejoined her daughter and they climbed into the well.

The End. Just kidding…. Next time on Delusions…… ….Amaya was still in awe of the travel through time. Her senses heightened, she experienced it on a different level. She felt self-conscious of her altered appearance, but was not too concerned with anyone outside of her family from seeing her since people did not frequent the Higurashi Shrine during the workweek. Her mother scaled the side to exit the well but Amaya sprang up a bit and ended up vaulting out of the well and landing, ungracefully, near the steps….