InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Fragments of Memory ❯ Regret ( Chapter 2 )

Fragments Of Memory

Story © Akiko (Krystal)

Sesshoumaru x Kagome

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

 

Chapter 2 - Regret

 

She shifted, opening her eyes. A groan escaped from her throat as pain surged throughout her body, causing her to stop moving. Ignoring the pain as it flared throughout her body, she placed a hand upon the ground, forcing her body to shift, sitting up. Her other hand darted to the opposite side, hissing in pain as it stung horribly.

 

Her clothing was covered in blood; her own blood, she had no doubt about it. Sitting up fully, so as to not put weight upon her arm, she placed her other hand to her neck, where even more pain surged. How had these wounds come to be upon her body? Where was she? Her fingers played upon the fabric covering the wound, causing another question to pop up. Who had bandaged her wounds?

 

Her eyes trailed the area in which she was in; there was no sign of anyone being near her. There was no sign of anyone, period. Her head pounded as she tried to remember what happened. I must've hit my head. She placed a hand upon her skull, closing her eyes and sighing softly. “Great… now how could things get any worse?” she mumbled under her breath. She wasn't sure who she could trust or where she should go.

 

A flash of silver hair and golden eyes short through her memory's eyes before her gaze shot open. What… was that? The feeling of strong arms and the safety and protection they brought with them. It was few things she could remember, but not enough. The face couldn't come into focus, only the sunlit orbs penetrated through the darkness of her mind. Who?

 

She shook her head. Silly. This was silly. She had to get to a village, she realized as her stomach growled.

 

[[[]]]

 

“Pretty.”

 

A flower was plucked from the ground, small hands encircling the stem of the plant. Petals were placed close to her nose, her dark hair slipping forward slightly as she smiled.

 

“Master Jakken! Do you think Kagome will like these flowers?”

 

“How would I know you silly girl?!” the toad snapped at her, glaring. “I'm not human! I wouldn't know about such pathetic things!”

 

The child pouted softly, then shifted her eyesight, catching her lord from the corner of her gaze. “Lord Sesshoumaru!” she called out cheerfully, smiling happily. She abandoned the current project she was working on, the gathering of flowers, but kept those she already held, as she dashed to her lord.

 

Holding them up with pride she smiled still. “What do you think, Lord Sesshoumaru? You think they might make Kagome happy when she wakes up?”

 

He watched her, his golden orbs shifting to the petals of the flowers held in her small, delicate hand. He didn't answer. It was a question not worth his time to bother with. It would serve no purpose. Ridiculous. It took time away from his travels.

 

Rin smelled the flowers once more, not seeming bothered by her lord's lack of answer, but gazed upon him once more, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side when his gaze shifted elsewhere. “Lord Sesshoumaru?” She took a step closer; unsure of what caught the demon's attention. If it was something dangerous, she knew she would be safer to be close to him and wait for him to give her an opening to run.

 

He shifted his weight. “Nothing to fear.” Turning upon his heels he started to walk back to the line of trees, the wind ever playing with the shining silver strands of his hair. They were tossed about carelessly, though never seemed ruffled by the wind's daring confidence.

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru!!” Jakken stumbled quickly after where his lord threatened to vanish to if he did not follow quickly enough. He was about to shout at Rin, only to watch as the small girl ran past him. “Hey!”

 

Rin didn't bother to acknowledge Jakken's yelling at her. Her interest was more in what had caught Sesshoumaru's. Where were they heading now? She knew nothing was dangerous about it, he had told her so. Her footsteps stopped before she ran into her lord, closing her eyes, just in case she did end up impacting him.

 

After a moment her eyes fluttered back open, glancing up at her lord, a questioning look placed upon her features, and then followed his gaze, stopping when she saw Kagome moving. A smile graced her features once more, running from Sesshoumaru's side over towards the elder girl.

 

[[[]]]

 

In her movements Kagome paused suddenly, narrowing her gaze for a moment. She then pushed herself up into a standing position, gripping her side tightly. “Who's th—“

 

The teen was cut off when the presence of the small child appeared, making her step back a bit. She watched, with curious brown eyes, as the girl ran towards her, calling out her name. She had lost her memory, but kept main knowledge about herself such as her name, abilities, and anything else.

 

“Kagome!”

 

She snapped back from her thoughts, watching the child halt in front of her, pushing the flowers up towards her. She blinked, a confused look slipping into her gaze as she watched.

 

“They're for you, Kagome. I picked them! I thought you would like something pretty when you woke up!” the child chirped out, still smiling happily. Rin didn't know the elder girl very well, but was fond of her, thinking of her as a sister, in a way.

 

Kagome kneeled down, her fingers gently wrapping around the stem of the flowers, taking them from the child's hands. She placed the petals to her nose, closing her eyes as she took in the fragrant aroma of the plants. “Thank you,” she spoke gently, opening her eyes once more, “but I'm afraid I don't recall who you are, I apologize, you seem to know me rather well.”

 

Rin stared at the girl in disbelief, all happiness being taken over by confusion. “I'm Rin, Kagome, why don't you remember? Am I not important enough for you to remember anymore?” the small child questioned, causing Kagome's heart to ache. The teen kneeled down once more, placing a hand to Rin's shoulder, than cheek. “I'm afraid I don't remember much; I'm sure I could never forget a wonderful child like you. I wouldn't want to.”

 

[[[]]]

 

Sesshoumaru continued to stand where he was. She knew he was there as soon as he stepped close enough to make out her form. How? She'd never been able to do so before hand, not when she was with his pest of a brother. It was always Inuyasha who had discovered him.

 

As he stepped closer to the tree line leading to the woman, he paused before emerging into sight, listening to Rin and the woman talk. Trying to figure out her sudden alertness. He then smiled when he heard the conversation, chuckling inwardly, not making a sound. She had lost her memory and he found it amusing. He was interested to see the expression on his half brother's face when the woman he cherished so much for questioned him upon whom he was.

 

After gathering the information he wished, he allowed his form to be seen, emerging from the thick covering of the trees, amber gaze falling upon her fiercely, daring her to try something in a way of attacking him. He could tell she knew he was a demon, but he wondered just how stupid she was now that she had no memory of what he could be capable of.

 

[[[]]]

 

Kagome's eyes snapped to Sesshoumaru when he entered the small clearing, narrowing in a deadly way. Watching him was all she did at the moment, not willing to try anything else. She could tell he held power, but was unsure of how much.

 

Her breathing got stuck in her lungs as she caught sight of his golden, sunlit orbs for eyes. The image flashed across her memory once more, her hand placing itself over her heart as she took a step back. Suddenly, it ached. She felt as though her heart was trying to be ripped from her chest. Breathing suddenly became difficult as her eyes slammed shut to the pain, trying to fight it back.

 

“Kagome!”

 

Sesshoumaru watched her solemnly for a moment. “Rin, go get some water for her; Jakken, you will accompany her.”

 

“But—“

 

“No buts you stupid girl! The Lord ordered us to go get water for her…”

 

Rin just sighed, nodding and following after Jakken, leaving her lord with Kagome.

 

Sesshoumaru watched them leave, knowing it would be a bit of time before they returned with fresh, cold water for this woman. He turned his golden gaze back to her, closing the distance that was between them. Bringing his hand up he snatched her chin firmly, being careful not to hurt her. Humans were rather delicate creatures, after all.

 

He frowned as he watched her. Had his brother really caused her so much pain? She had been rather good at hiding most of it; all the times he had seen her before she never seemed to be in pain when being near him, not even after his brother had spent time with that dead priestess he still seemed fond of.

 

“You need to relax.” His voice was clam, cool, and firm. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her body close to his own in an attempt to make her stop this foolishness. “If you continue with this reaction, it will only cause your body more pain.”

 

Her body tensed when it was pushed up against Sesshoumaru's, his voice seemed to penetrate through the pain and allowed her to breath with ease once more. Her figure slowly relaxed within his grasp, her fingers grasping at him tightly. The bangs of her raven colored hair slipped forward as her forehead rested gently upon his chest plate.

 

His firm hold, there was something familiar about it, but also something strange to it as well. It was as though arms like his held her before, but she couldn't quite make out the difference between the two holds at the moment, her body suffering from mind numbing pain. She let out a slow breath of air, her eyes fluttering open for a moment. So warm.

 

He watched her with an emotionless gaze, not releasing her well knowing, with her body so worn out, she would just drop to the earth. He glanced up at the sky. Darkness, the only light coming from the stars and a sliver of the silver moon that hung there. He ignored the cool breeze that passed by him, pushing his hair around at its leisure. It was a bother, despite the fact it felt good to have a cool breeze when there was an extra amount of warmth close to his body.

 

His gaze shot down towards the girl when her weight grew in his hold slightly. He shook his head. Ridiculous. He gently laid the unconscious woman upon the ground. Pulling up the bottom of her shirt only enough to see the bandages around her stomach, he took into account that the wounds had bled through. Annoying. They would have to be redone.

 

[[[]]]

 

Rin sighed gently as she walked to the stream, holding a small bucket in her hands. “I wonder if Kagome will be all right.”

 

“Who cares about that wench? She's nothing but trouble. Inuyasha is going to come soon to take her back; Lord Sesshoumaru should just leave her,” the toad grumbled.

 

Rin gazed back at the small demon, blinking her bronze eyes. “But if he had done that she would be dead, Master Jakken.”

 

“Good! One less human to worry about!”

 

“Kagome has been very kind to us, Master Jakken. It wouldn't be right to just allow her to die when something could be done about it. Have you forgotten the times she has saved us?”

 

“So?! I never asked for that pesky mortal's help!”

 

Rin sighed, looking down at the water. She then bent down and scooped some of it up into her bucket, then stepped out from the stream, her feet and half way up her shins being slightly cold, but it never bothered her. “Kagome… has lost her memory. I wonder how she feels. It must be scary to wake up and remember no one and nothing.”

 

Jakken blinked as he watched Rin, then shook his head as he followed the child back to their campsite for the night. “You're a stupid girl, Rin,” he mumbled. But the girl, as normal, ignored him. She knew he didn't mean such things, so it never bothered her; it was just the only way he knew how to express things.

 

[[[]]]

 

Damn it! How could I have been blind? Inuyasha huffed, skidding to a stop as his form pushed through the tree line that lead to the well. He stopped dead, eyes going wide at seeing Kouga knocked out. He would've walked over to him, checked to see if he was alive, if the smell of Kagome's blood wasn't so potent over the whole place.

 

The smells around him were ready to cause an overload with his senses. Blood. Kagome. Kouga. Sesshoumaru. The essences of a battle. He could smell it all; he just couldn't put the big picture together. He shifted on his feet, rushing over to Kouga, only to stop suddenly only a few feet from the wolf. He was covered in Kagome's blood. Rage hit him.

 

“KOUGA!”

 

The wolf shifted, opening his eyes a bit. Sitting up he held his head, eyes closing as pain threatened to split his cranium open.

 

“What the hell happened?! Why the fuck is Kagome's blood on you!?” Inuyasha raged, his hand twitching, wanting to snatch the Tetsusaiga from his side and slice the wolf into tiny pieces.

 

Kouga paused in his pain. He opened his eyes, blinking. Kagome's blood? He shifted his gaze to his hands, then placed a hand to his mouth, there being an after taste of blood pooled in his mouth. He was shaken, visibly shaken, as all the images had rushed back, hitting him. “No… I… I didn't…” He looked around the area quickly, his breathing hitching in his throat.

 

“Where is she, Kouga?!”

 

“I… I don't know.”

 

Inuyasha growled, rushing over to Kouga, slamming his fist to the side of the full breed's cheek. “What the fuck did you do to Kagome!? Her scent is all over you! Along with all her blood!”

 

Kouga placed a hand to the ground, bracing himself as he hit it. He'd failed to protect her; instead of protecting her, all he had done was hurt her. How? How could that have happened? For all he knew right now, she could be dead because of him and his weakness. He didn't even defend himself as Inuyasha hit him once more; he knew he deserved it. He deserved every hit Inuyasha bestowed on him.

 

[[[]]]

 

Kikyou's cold bronze eyes watched as the hanyou took off, her bow down upon her side. She brushed away the tinge of pain that ate at her heart as she watched him vanish into the trees. She knew Inuyasha still felt guilty about her death, that he still harbored such hate that her life had been taken.

 

She loved him still, she knew, thus she pushed the pain aside. In the human world, she knew there was no way for the two of them to truly be together; and that couldn't happen with Kagome around so tentatively.

 

She couldn't fully hate the girl; she had been sucked into this web just as she had over fifty years ago. And she couldn't blame her for falling in love with Inuyasha; she had allowed herself to do just the same. She hated Kagome though, for stealing Inuyasha away, for confusing him that he didn't know what to do.

 

But, there was just something inside of her that, despite her jealousy she had towards Kagome, she didn't want her to end up as she had. She didn't to see the girl dead because she fell in love. Then there was also the fact that she didn't want to see Inuyasha in anymore pain because another woman he loved had died because he had failed to protect her.

 

Eyes shut for a moment as she listened to the wind brush by. The cool and gentleness felt relaxing to her. Despite she only harbored the hatred left in her soul; she still could feel all the other emotions. Her hatred did not control - she refused to allow it to control her.

 

Once the breeze passed and died down, she opened her eyes once more, shifting and turning. She decided it best to leave for now; she had stayed too long as it was. She never bothered with the other two fighters; they were none of her concern.

 

[[[]]]

 

Sango blinked watched as the priestess left, the grip on her boomerang loosening once she was out of sight. Her body tensed when a hand slipped to her shoulder, gaze snapping to see who had dared to touch her.

 

“We must follow after him, Sango. There is no telling what he might do if Kagome-sama is truly injured badly, or even worse, I'm afraid.”

 

Brown eyes widened, taking in a sharp breath of air at the possibility. “Kagome-chan…” she whispered. “Kirara!”

 

The small demon cat emerged, flames engulfing its form as it ran towards its master. Sango reached out, grabbing the fur near the cat's neck, then pulled Miroku up onto Kirara behind her. “You're right, Hoshi-sama. Now is not the time to leave Inuyasha on his own. His recklessness could cause some serious problems.”

 

“Sango! It's Kouga!” Miroku pointed out as they closed in on the area. Her gaze shifted down, spotting the hanyou and wolf. “This is not their typical fight either.”

 

“You're right, Kouga isn't even fighting back. Let's land, Kirara.”

 

The cat soon landed upon the ground, allowing its two passengers to slip from her back. She gave a soft growl as she watched the two of them, this catching Miroku's attention as well as Sango's.

 

Sango was the first to shout out. “Inuyasha! That's enough or you're going to kill him!”

 

Inuyasha just slammed hi fist once more into Kouga, then shifted, glaring back at the three of them, growling dangerously. His eyes were flashing red for a few seconds, his fangs seemed to be elongated.

 

Miroku stepped forward, placing a hand upon Sango's shoulder. The exterminator glanced at him, but kept to her spot, having been about ready to run to the hanyou. “Inuyasha, this is foolish. If Kagome-sama is harmed then this is not the way to go about finding her, let alone to get any information about what has taken place. Let's calmly think this over. Your rage could only end up killing her if you do not calm down.”

 

Kouga blinked, glancing over at the monk and exterminator, looking badly beaten, and then closed his eyes as another fist slammed into his cheek.

 

“Dammit anyways! You better start talking you good for nothing demon!” Inuyasha shouted out, nails digging into his palms. “As much as I hate to admit it, the monk is right! Where's Kagome?”

 

“I told you, I don't know.”

 

“The hell--!”

 

Sango walked over, pushing Inuyasha back before kneeling down beside Kouga. She pulled out a scarf and wiped away the blood. “Please Kouga, tell us what you do know about what has taken place. Kagome-chan means a lot to you as well, does she not?” She watched as the wolf nodded, glancing off to the side. “Then the information you give us may allow us to find her and do something to treat her wounds.”

 

Inuyasha was about to shout again, only to get Miroku's hand slammed over his mouth. “Inuyasha, rage will do nothing. I must ask you to keep yourself calm and your demon at bay. Your outbursts and yelling do not help. This is about finding Kagome-sama, not about your hatred or jealousy of Kouga.”

 

Inuyasha pulled Miroku's hand from his mouth, growling. “That's not it you perverted monk! He's got Kagome's scent all over him!”

 

“It's hard… for me to believe what I actually did,” Kouga spoke softly, catching everyone's attention. “I can't tell you where she is because I barely remember anything of what happened, only small pieces of it. I remember coming here, Kagome coming out of the well, and then walking towards her.” He paused.

 

“Well?” Inuyasha pressed on, an annoyed tone to his voice as he crossed his arms, glaring death at the wolf.

 

“I remember suddenly being in a rage, trying to make her mine with force.” The wolf clenched his fists, hating himself for being so weak against fighting it all. “She suddenly pushed me away, I think it more had to do with her powers. I flew even more into a rage and started attacking her; I was about to kill her but he stopped me.”

 

“Who?” Miroku questioned.

 

“Sesshoumaru.”

 

Inuyasha blinked, shock shifting into his eyes for a moment. His brother had saved Kagome from being run through by Kouga? Why? What was the bastard up to this time?

 

“Sesshoumaru?” Sango questioned.

 

Kouga merely nodded, holding one burned arm from Kagome's powers. “With the pressure of a sword he threw me against a rock and I lost consciousness. Then the next thing I know I'm waking up to mutt-face screaming my name.”

 

“Then where's Kagome? If Sesshoumaru is the one who stopped you then why isn't Kagome here?” Inuyasha pressed.

 

“It is possible that Sesshoumaru took Kagome with him; we cannot rule that out,” Miroku spoke up. “We need to follow any leads we have in order to find Kagome…”

 

“Or we could just our noses,” Kouga butted in, looking at Miroku. Kouga wore the expression that Miroku felt like he was being told how stupid he was.

 

“That is an option as well…”

 

“It's the best thing we have, Hoshi-sama. Inuyasha and Kouga are good with tracking smells.”

 

Inuyasha glared at Miroku. “It's how I found you when you tried to kidnap Kagome and stole her shards of the jewel.”

 

“We can't waste a moment of time, we need to find Kagome,” Sango spoke up, and then looked at Kouga, about to say something. She stopped though.

 

Kouga was already sniffing out the smell of Kagome's blood. It was all over him; he knew the smell about as well as Inuyasha would, if not better.

 

“We don't need his help,” the hanyou huffed, glaring. “He tried to kill Kagome, right now there's no knowing if he could try again once we find her.”

 

“As much as I want to apologize to Kagome about what I did, I can't face her yet.” Kouga looked at Inuyasha. “I'm just getting you guys started in a direction. It'd take mutt-face too long to figure out which way her scent went considering the smell is all over the place. The sooner you find her, the better.” He sniffed once more and pointed. “That way.”

 

Inuyasha blinked and then took off, leaving the others there. Sango sighed and then looked at Kouga. She smiled gently. “Thank you, Kouga.”

 

“We'll tell Kagome-sama that you're sorry and you'll come and apologize yourself once you feel you have yourself under your own control.”

 

Kouga watched them as they climbed onto Kirara's back. “…Thanks…”

 

“She won't blame you, Kouga,” Sango said before Kirara took off after Inuyasha, moving rather quickly to close the distance Inuyasha had once again made between them.

 

Kouga shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He closed his eyes, a heavy breath of air slipping from his lungs. I know she won't. Throughout the whole damn ordeal she didn't blame me. It was my fault for being weak to be controlled by whatever, but yet she was the one apologizing. A hand went up over the wolf's face. “How can I face her again after all that?”