InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ For The Last Time ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Ok, I'm back. Now let's get crackin'. cracks knuckles and neck

Chapter Dedication: VolcanicVixen thank you so much. I appreciate that you actually noticed my author muses. As long as at least one person notices them they will be continued. How is it that you are able to read my mind so well? Freaky, anyway I wouldn't put Sounga in. That sword just freaked me out.

Okay, the main question on both my sites is: "Why is it taking so damn long?" The answer is simple, I have 2 sites to manage, other games to play. I also have to spend time with my family, I do work and there are other things in my life that demand a little more attention than this story does right now. I will finish it and get it up but time isn't really an issue for me. Please continue reading though, this story will be updated and completed eventually.

So listen up, I've got a game for us to play. I can't really think of good names for my chapters, so what I will do is I will write/post a chapter and you guys come back and give me names for the chapter in your reviews. I will pick the best ones and name the chapter. Okay? Okay.

Finally, here we go: the disclaimer!! duh duh duh...

Disclaimer: I own nothing having to do with Inuyasha except this storyline, what I'm going to do to poor Hojo later on and any and all new characters I may introduce. If I did own this show I wouldn't have to worry about money for college. Hell, I wouldn't even have to worry about college!


The trees and bushes shook violently as something behind them moved. A moment later, Inuyasha--with Kikyo on his back--followed closely by Sango, Miroku, and Shippo on Kirara's back appeared. The entire group--except Kikyo--stopped and gaped at the scene before them: Kagome standing in the circle of Sesshomaru's arm, clutching tightly to his haori and whimpering silently.

"Sesshomaru you jerk! What did you do to Kagome?" Inuyasha yelled, gently helping Kikyo off his back.

"He was never that gentle with me," Kagome muttered silently. She knew that only Sesshomaru would hear her voice at that level.

"Perhaps he does not wish to break the clay pot," Sesshomaru sneered, sarcasm dripping off every word. "You are not as fragile as she--a parasite living off another's soul. You have the right to live while she demands protection for her lack of the right."

Kagome blushed slightly at his praise.

Inuyasha was blind to the motives behind the actions of his half-brother and the miko he once professed to care for. All he saw was Kagome say something, Sesshomaru reply and Kagome blushed in--he assumed--anger.

"What did you say to her? What did you do to my Kagome? Give her back!" he demanded, unconsciously grasping the empty air at his hip.

Sesshomaru saw the action and smirked. "Lose something?" he taunted.

It was then that Inuyasha noticed the fully transformed fang in his older brother's right hand. "Wha-what?" he sputtered. "How the hell did you get the Tessaiga?"

"That is none of your concern," the elder Inu-youkai replied coolly, looking at Kagome out of the corner of his eye. When Inuyasha had laid claim to Kagome, Sesshomaru felt her visibly stiffen. Looking at her now, though, awakened his keen nose to her angry scent. Her face scarlet with rage, Kagome's hands tightened and loosened on his haori.

Aaaaw, the hanyou pissed off our Kagome. Get him! Sesshomaru's inner demon commanded.

Shut up, she is not "ours". You see how enraged she is from Inuyasha putting a false claim on her, what makes you think it would be any different if we did? The Taiyoukai rebutted.

Ya, but one-he's a jerk, two-he's a hanyou, three-she no longer loves him and four-you care for her well being.

I what?! What gave you that idea?

There was only silence in Sesshomaru's head. If he had been any less of a youkai, he would have heaved an enormous sigh. As it was, he settled for an inward one. Sometimes it really sucked to have an inner youkai.

Kagome was seething. How dare he put a claim on me?! After all that he did to me! After all that I did for him! After he mated that-that...

Mockery of a miko? Her inner youkai supplied.

Yes, thanks. After he mated that mockery of a miko--in front of me no less! Why does he claim me? She thought distraughtly.

I have a feeling.

I do too, shall I confirm it?

Yes, please do.

"Inuyasha," Kagome called, surprising everyone. "Why do you claim me as yours? Tell me, I'm curious as to why you want me back after what you did to me. Why do you believe you have a claim on me?"

Her tone of voice--too smooth--went unnoticed by the hanyou. He was too busy trying to figure out what Kagome had meant by "what he had done to her." He finally gave up, deciding to blame the young miko. She must be mentally ill or something.

"Why do I want you back? Because your mine! Got it? What did I ever do to you? I have been nothing but kind to you, you stupid wench! I want you back because you're my shard detector! I want the jewel--I need the jewel to bring Kikyo back to life!" Inuyasha almost pleaded. "Right now she can't sense any shards--you're the only one who can. You would think it would be easier since Naraku is out of the picture but we haven't been able to find any. That's why I want you back."

Kagome was beyond pissed--she was enraged. A shard detector? Is that all I was to him?

Sadly, yes. I feel the pain as well.

I was nothing more than a tool to him? Why that low down son of a--!

Kagome's hands dropped to her side as her nails began to lengthen. Her fangs grew quickly as her jaw began to jut forward. The young miko's entire bone structure began to shift and change.

An eerie ice blue colored wind blew through the small clearing--passing through Kagome's former group's bodies as if they were naught but more empty air. A pained howl tore though the air. The sound sent shivers down the spine of all in the grassy field. The wind laughed an evil laugh and danced a dance of pure joy. It ignored all those in the small clearing save one--the young woman who wasn't one thing or another. She was neither demon nor canine--rather, something in between. A grotesque monster from the depths of one's nightmares.

The wind took pity on those in the clearing. Focusing on the young miko, it gathered itself up and swarmed around the girl--completely masking her from sight. The wind expanded with Kagome until it could expand no longer. Once it had reached its limit, the ice blue wind sighed and quickly dissipated.

In Kagome's place now stood an enormous dog. Her eyes were indistinguishable--the entire ball was covered in a blood red haze.

Sesshomaru had tried to stay by his pupil's side through her transformation--but to no avail. When the wind had surrounded her, it had pushed him away. Such was the strength of the element. His thoughts raced when he saw her eyes. He needed to find a way to calm her--and fast.

When Shippo had first seen is adoptive mother in the clearing, he was ready to take a flying leap into her arms. Then he noticed someone else's arm--namely Sesshomaru's--wrapped protectively around his mother's waist. The young kit was surprised to say the least. It seemed that Kagome had finally gotten over Inuyasha, but why did it have to be Sesshomaru? Since when did the seemingly heartless bastard even care? He feared his mother was setting herself up for another heartbreak.

Pictures of a smiling Rin flashed through his mind. The girl--that was it! That was when he began to care! Shippo was slightly startled at the realization that the Lord of The West actually cared. As the young kit heard the hanyou's cruel and insensitive words he flinched in sympathy. Amidst the icy wind, he shivered and covered his ears at Kagome's pained cry. Shippo squeezed his eyes shut at the start of her transformation. Once he opened them again, in Kagome's place stood an enormous black and white dog. He gasped in fear and buried his face in Sango's arms.

Kagome took a step towards the group at Shippo's cry. Sensing the danger he had inadvertently placed them in, he became resolute. He jumped out of Sango's arms and, with a yell of warning from her, ran out to stand in front of his mother. Looking up, he called out to her, "Okaa-san! Please, Okaa-san, listen to me!" The small fox was crying, begging his adoptive mother to listen to him. She didn't.

Kagome began to take another step forward, completely ignoring the kitsune at her paws.

Shippo clenched his yes shut--awaiting the crushing force the massive paw would put upon him. It never came, though. Instead, he felt a powerful set of jaws grab him by his collar and carrying him off a safe distance before setting him down. The kit opened his eyes and looked up to see the retreating face of Sesshomaru in his true form.

"Sess-Sesshomaru-sama! Demo, why did you save me?" Shippo asked, curiosity filling his voice.

"Kagome does not wish you harm. She cannot tell ally from enemy--her mind is unstable. She would be much aggrieved if you were harmed--by her or another." He spoke without ever taking his eyes from the crazed Inu-youkai miko in front of him. Right now, she stood sniffing the air--tale erect, ears twitching wildly--trying to catch the scent of the one who had run in front of her. She seemed to give up with a sneeze and a light shake of her head.

Her blood red eyes turned to focus on Sesshomaru and the kit before him. With a spine tingling howl she set off at a run for the two.

Shippo screamed in fear. He quickly shut up, though, when he felt Sesshomaru come to stand over him. He looked around to find himself between Sesshomaru's forepaws. He gasped again at the great Taiyoukai actions.

"Arigatou, Sesshomaru-sama," he squeaked out. As Kagome ran closer, Shippo stood up and, with quivering knees, stood his ground. That is, until Kagome began to growl viciously. When that happened, the young kit broke rank and hid behind one of Sesshomaru's forelegs.

As the young woman continued her threatening advance, Sesshomaru let out a low warning growl.

Inuyasha had nearly fainted when Kagome began to change. He had stumbled backward when she had emerged in her true form. Why didn't I notice the power shift before? Who or what was masking it for her? Or was she doing it herself... As she took off after Shippo and Sesshomaru, he was greatly relieved that she had overlooked him and Kikyo. The biggest shocker of all, though, was what Sesshomaru had declared. The simple minded half-demon nearly dropped dead over it.

Everyone--Miroku, Sango and Kikyo--looked at Inuyasha for an explanation.

"Inuyasha," Sango called, "what did he say?"

"I don't believe it, I really don't believe it. Who would have thought?" Inuyasha murmured in shock.

"Inuyasha!" Sango yelled.

"What?" he snapped.

"What did Sesshomaru say? What did he say?"

"He-he said that he would protect Shippo!" Inuyasha said, still in shock over the simple statement.

"He what?" chorused Miroku, Sango and Kikyo.

"Just what I said. He said he would protect Shippo!" Inuyasha repeated.

When the warning was issued, Kagome slid to a halt a few feet in front of the Taiyoukai and the kit. The Inu miko wore a slight look of confusion on her face. "You protect the kitsune?" she asked.

"I do," Sesshomaru affirmed. "As do you," he added.

"I do?" she wondered.

"You do. Not long after you came to this time you found the kit. He tried to steal your shards of the Shikon no Tama. You helped him to avenge his father's death. He is your kit, Kagome."

"Ship-Shippo," Kagome said slowly. "My--kit. My kit. My kit!" It had finally clicked in her head, Shippo was her son! "Oh, Shippo!"

"Okaa-san!" the little kit yelled. Coming out from behind Sesshomaru's foreleg, he took his flying leap at this adoptive mother. He landed a little short, though. He had aimed for her muzzle but instead landed a few feet in front of her. "You're back!"

Kagome laughed lightly and nuzzled her adoptive kit. Her eyes--no clear--sparkled with laughter and unshed tears of joy.

Shippo looked up into Kagome's eyes and gasped. "Your, your eyes!"

"What? What about my eyes? What's wrong with them?" she asked worriedly, nearly falling over when she crossed her eyes trying to see what may have been wrong with them.

"They're blue!" he exclaimed.

"Really? That's awesome!" she squealed in delight. Lifting her sensitive nose, she sampled the air in search of any nearby water source. Her delicate ears, finely made, twitched at the sound of water splashing on a gravelly shore.

On padded paws, the miko ran quickly to the large lake she had located. Stopping on the gravelly beach, she waited for the crystal waters to settle. Once the waves had stopped and the seemingly everlasting ripples had left the surface, Kagome looked into the water.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she caught site of her reflection. Slowly looking over her appearance she surmise that the fur along her body was black, extending from a snowy white tipped tale to just past her shoulders. Her two hind legs were completely black save for the snow white socks. Her front legs boasted two snowy stockings reaching to the elbows. Circling her neck was a white collar that reached up her throat, covering the majority of her muzzle and racing between her eyes to end in a blaze at the center of her head. A band of black circled beneath the collar, enclosing a patch of white on her chest. Her head proudly bore two coal black ears that stood straight up, twitching this way and that. What startled her the most, though, were indeed her eyes. In place of her normal chocolate brown ones, two ice blue orbs stared back at her. If Shippo had not told her their color, Kagome would have believed that another youkai stared up at her from beneath the water's surface.

"I look--gorgeous!" Kagome exclaimed, turning this way and that while admiring herself. She could hardly believe the was her! Suddenly, her vision swam and her legs felt weak. Her knees buckled as she slowly slid to the ground, blacking out. She awoke a few minutes later, fully clothed and back in her human form, next to her training katana and bow and arrows.

Unnoticed by the rest of the group, Inuyasha had been slowly making his way over to the Tessaiga. When Sesshomaru had reverted into his more primal form, he had dropped the two swords of the fang as well as the sword he had forged by Kaijinbo. Inuyasha had no desire for Tensaega, it could not redeem Kagome, therefore it was of no use to him. As for the Toukijin, the hanyou had absolutely no desire to touch the despicable creation. He had been possessed by a sword once before and had no wish of repeating his experience.

The sword was nearly within arm's length of him. It had transformed back into its rusted, antiquated looking state. The once, and currently, disputed over sword lay on the ground beside its scabbard and counterpart. He almost had it within his grasp when he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. An arrow loaded with miko energy sprouted from a place just above his elbow. His arm went limp as a strange tingling sensation spread throughout the rest of his body. He turned around to face a tearful Kagome with an empty bow in her hand.

Kagome stared at her hands as if they had grown a mind of their own. She couldn't believe she had just shot Inuyasha! She had loved him; she had stayed with him through the good times and the bad. He had been her first friend in this era, her companion through the last few years of her life. Her first love. The only stable thing she had to cling to.

Her mother had died in a car accident, her grandfather followed not long after from a mixture of grief and shock. Souta--well he had grown up, he was a moody teenager who liked his personal space and didn't like to talk. The two of them lived together at the old shrine, running it as best they could while managing lives of their own. Her eyes teared up at the thought of what she had just done. What must he think of me? I betrayed him worse than he betrayed me...

Did you really? Her inner youkai asked back. Think about it. He made you believe his love was real, then he tore up your hopes and trampled your heart. He chose an undead miko over you. You finally had enough, you took the sword and ran for Sesshomaru. He at least has made no pretensions of caring anymore than a simple sensei-student relationship. He deserved the sword, not Inuyasha. You had every right to defend your sensei's property. Do not berate yourself for your actions.

Kikyo was stunned, I thought she loved Inuyasha? Why would she do this to him? She was unable to reach a decision on the matter. Seeing that fighting Kagome head-on would be useless, she decided on a different course. Walking over to Inuyasha, she plucked the arrow from his arm. Tossing it aside, she placed her hands gently on the wound and began to mutter an incantation for healing. A moment later, Inuyasha had regained partial use of his arm and the tingling had stopped spreading.

Grasping the sword beneath his trembling hand, he stood up in a fury. His eyes tinged red as he roared in anger. "What the hell was that all about? What did you think you were doing?" Without another thought, he brought the sword up and, just as quickly, brought it back down again. "Kaze no kizu!"

Sesshomaru saw the four scars of the wind headed for Kagome. He tried to think of what to do. He couldn't pick her up. Although he was still in his true form, the young miko's aura flared wildly, her miko abilities leaking from every pore in her body. If he touched her, at the very least he would be severely burned. At worst, possibly killed. Her friends were too far away to reach her in time and the fox kit was in the same situation as he. The Taiyoukai did the only thing that he could think of. He swiftly moved to stand in front of the shocked girl, stoically awaiting the rapidly approaching scars.



FL: O.o what am I gonna do to Sessy? crows evilly You'll have to wait and find out!

Sess: growls dangerously You better not kill me!

FL: glares at Sesshomaru Oh, I'm not going to kill you. After all this is a Sess/Kag and i hate tragedies. You just might wish that though by the time I'm through with you!

Kags: rolls eyes Oh please, knock it off you two. Sesshomaru, you should know FL won't kill you. She's obsessed over you for Pete's sake!

FL: gasps Kags! How could you?!

Sess: raises one eyebrow at FL Really?

Kags: flinches Ehhehe, woops. Sorry, FL. Still, we still don't know what happened to Kikyo. Nice one by the way, FL.

FL: confusedly Eh?

Kags: The whole "mockery of a miko" thing. I haven't seen it anywhere else, so congrats on the original name.

FL: Oh, thanks. I just made it up...speaking of her looks to Sesshomaru you were the last one seen with her, do you know where she is? advances on Sesshomaru

Kags: Ya, that's right. You were the last one to be seen with her...do you know what happened to her? advances on Sesshomaru

Sess: backed into corner by Kags and FL No! I don't know where she is! Leave me alone, you hear!

unknown voice: I can tell you where what happened to her.

FL: jumps at voice and looks around Dreamish! What are you doing here? I thought you were working on Thorns?

Dreamish: I am...was...I guess you could say it's on Hiatus right now. With college starting and work and everything else I don't really have the patience to write unless more people review my story. Anyway, Kikyo is in the backyard.

FL and Kags: run over to window I don't see anything!

Dreamish: rolls eyes Oh please, take what I'm saying a little more literally. She is in the backyard. It's your backyard, FL. You would think you would notice if your yard gets torn up.

FL: pouts Geez, Dreamish, my backyard is nothing but dirt. All I'm seeing is more dirt...wait...that dirt looks freshly dug up.

Dreamish: sighs in exasperation Duh, stupid.

FL: sticks tongue out at Dreamish Shut it.

Kags: realizes what Dreamish is implying Sesshomaru, you didn't did you! You did! Your buried Kikyo in the backyard!

FL: has a shocked look on her face What?! commences to die of laughter Ahhahaha!!

Kags: disgusted face Eww....you touched the mockery of a miko...with your mouth no less!! Ewww...

FL: realizes something Wait! You buried her in my backyard?! Gross! Go dig her up!

Sess: No.