InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Hanyou's Heart ❯ Chasing His Tail ( Chapter 10 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Chevalier Mal Fet 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.20.2015 | Pages: 9 | Words: 5.3K | Visits: 293 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 11.20.2015 | Pages: 9 | Words: 5.3K | Visits: 293 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I don’t own
Inuyasha; this is a work of
fanfiction
Chapter Ten:
Chasing His Tail
Episode One:
Simulacrum
His clothing was still damp where he had left it by the stream. He would just have to wear it wet until it dried. Inuyasha was again tempted to leave the clothes to dry and return to Kagome, but she was asleep, and he didn’t want to wake her. It was hard for him to believe what had transpired over the last day, or even the last weeks. Inuyasha had long known that he would never trust another human (and he certainly wasn’t about to start trusting demons), that he would never ever have feelings even resembling love for one. But here he was, and he could not deny to himself that he was in love.
Kagome was everything that mattered to him. Without her, he was an empty shell or a ravening monster. Only Kagome had ever brought peace to his spirit. Even Kikyou had not. With Kikyou, he had felt the need to change himself, to become what she needed. He had never felt right for Kikyou, never good enough or deserving. Kagome was completely different. Not only did she accept him as he was…she actually WANTED him that way. It made him think for the first time in his life, that HE wanted himself to be as he was, that he might not actually need to be anything else.
Of course, there was always the slight age difference…but what was fifty years, give or take a few, in comparison to love? The true problem was in the rate of age. Kagome would grow old long before Inuyasha, and he was already worried over it. He couldn’t bear the idea of losing her, even to old age. When such a time came, perhaps he wouldn’t want to live any longer, either…
So completely lost in his thoughts was he, that Inuyasha didn’t notice the sounds of someone approaching. A twig snapped as someone appeared from the brush. Inuyasha’s head snapped up and he tensed, prepared to fight whatever intruder it might be. Decades of instinct didn’t disappear with one night of love, after all. His instincts were unnecessary, though, as it was only Kagome. He relaxed his body without a thought. Something was strange though, but he couldn’t quite figure it out.
Kagome raised a bow, and Inuyasha barely managed to dodge the arrow she fired at him. What was going on? He had barely landed after dodging when she fired another arrow at him, then another. They were coming faster and faster, and it was getting harder to dodge them.
“Kagome! What are you doing? What’s wrong!” Inuyasha managed to duck another shot. “I love you, Kagome! Stop!”
“Filthy half-breed! I can’t believe you touched me! I could never want something like YOU.”
Inuyasha felt his world crumbling, but it didn’t make any sense. This wasn’t like Kagome at all…
“No…Kagome…”
&ldq uo;Die, Inuyasha!”
The world seemed to reverberate with those words. Suddenly, Kikyou was before him. He could see her clearly, bow aimed at his heart, hatred in her eyes. She had betrayed him! Why had he ever believed her? Why had he ever thought that she could love him? It had all been a trick!
Searing pain shot thought his left shoulder, and Inuyasha came to himself. A shallow cut scored his flesh, not a hand from his heart. Kagome was reloading her bow for the next shot. Kagome! She had betrayed him too? Why…?
Inuyasha jumped aside from the arrow that followed and leapt towards Kagome. He would knock that bow from her hands and shake the answers out of her. Why had she betrayed him? He thought she loved him…Kagome tried to shoot another arrow at him, but she wasn’t fast enough. Inuyasha knocked the bow aside with the back of his hand and reached out to take her by the arms…Only somehow she wasn’t where she was supposed to be. Instead of disarming her, his backhand caught Kagome full in the chest and sent her flying. His outcry died in his throat as she crashed directly into a tree and fell to the ground, limp and lifeless. He was unable to even breathe for several moments. What had he done? Inuyasha slowly crept towards the form lying in the mud before him. It was broken. What had he DONE? With a cry of despair he leapt to her side and cradled her in his arms. There was no life in her at all. Kagome was dead. WHAT HAD HE DONE?
Unable to face her broken body any longer, Inuyasha turned, trying to see through eyes blinded by tears. Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga from its sheath. It was old and rusted, completely useless. Someone to protect. His hands suddenly numb, he dropped the sword. No! He began to run. But he could never get away. The sword was left where it lay in the mud.
Episode Two: Murderer
Sunlight gently filtering through the trees fell on her face as she awoke. It was a beautiful, peaceful morning. Kagome glanced around, immediately noticing that Inuyasha was not beside her. She blushed softly, remembering that he HAD been beside her, through the entire night. The entire world seemed new, somehow. Kagome loved Inuyasha. And he loved her.
A shadow fell across her, and Kagome found herself staring up at Inuyasha. He smiled strangely at her, and she smiled back, happy to have him near her again.
“Inuyasha, I…”
He moved suddenly, but before she could even startle, his hands were around her neck, tightening. Kagome gasped and choked, not even realizing what was going on. Inuyasha’s claws dug into the back of her neck, stinging and burning, but Kagome couldn’t even draw breath to gasp in pain anymore. Inuyasha was on top of her, his mouth drawn into a terrifying cruel smile. His eyes showed nothing at all except enjoyment. Her vision was starting to fade. Everything was going black. Inuyasha…
And then the pressure was gone. Air rushed into her lungs and she coughed violently. Her sight slowly returned, but she still couldn’t hear anything. Inuyasha was there, blood flowing from the top of his head, and there was Miroku, the monk, waving his staff. The staff was already broken near the top. The head lay near Kagome, blood smearing its metal rings. Miroku wasn’t having much luck fending off the infuriated hanyou and was steadily giving ground.
Kagome struggled to stand, but the world swirled sickeningly around her. Still, she managed to drag herself to her feet. The world was still spinning, but she managed to stumble towards Inuyasha and the monk. She had to stop this, somehow. Just then, the hanyou managed to disarm the monk, sending the staff clattering into the trees, and knocked him to the ground.
“Inuyasha, no!” He focused completely on Kagome again, ignoring the monk scrabbling in the dirt. “Inuyasha, stop! What is wrong? Why are you doing this?”
He ignored her and continued to advance on her, his claws flexing in anticipation. Oh no! He didn’t have Tetsusaiga! But wait…Kagome didn’t see any lines on his face nor red in his eyes. He was himself, but he wasn’t. Inuyasha was within range of her now, and he raised his claw to shred her into ribbons. Kagome couldn’t do anything, couldn’t even raise her hands in a futile attempt to defend herself or cry out for him to stop one last time.
Blood splashed across her face and chest. For an instant, Inuyasha was there, ready to kill her, and then he was smashed aside in a sudden spray of blood. Kagome could see his head crushed by the giant boomerang that crashed into him before sending him bouncing off into the forest. That image refused to leave her head, no matter how hard she shook it. One yellow eye bulging from the socket…his brains exploding from his head. A split second of surprise on his face before it was all over.
Kagome collapsed to her knees. It couldn’t be real.
“Are you okay?” Kagome blinked tears away to see the person standing before her. Sango held out her hand for Kagome to take. “Kagome, are you all right? Were you hurt?”
Sango helped Kagome stand, but she couldn’t speak right away. She just shook her head, still trying to stop the tears from flowing. “No…I’m okay…Inuyasha. I can’t believe…”
“Neither
can I.” Kagome was surprised at the tone of Sango’s
voice. It was more suspicious than surprised. “Inuyasha
couldn’t even manage to kill that monk.” Miroku waved
at the mention of his name then grimaced and rubbed his arm. Kagome
had forgotten all about him. “There is no way that Inuyasha
couldn’t have killed all three of us, if he had wanted
to.”
Kagome didn’t quite understand what Sango was trying to say. Then she remembered.
‘“You…hanyou. You should not have survived. That bitch should have finished you off…I guess she was too weak to kill even a pathetic half-breed. I should have known it would be you who came for the Shikon no Tama. You wanted it so badly after…so badly that they would all believe that you killed her for it.”’
Naraku had done this exact same thing to Inuyasha and Kikyou. He had tried to get them to kill each other, or for Kikyou to kill Inuyasha, at least? But why? Why the elaborate schemes? Why try it again, especially after allowing them to escape with the Shikon no Tama? Kagome pulled the jewel out of the pouch she’d put it in. To her amazement, it was a cloudy grey. Naraku was trying to taint the jewel. He needed someone to do it for him…someone to hate so utterly that it would taint the jewel beyond anything else.
You could only hate someone that much if you loved them, first. Inuyasha had tried to kill Kagome. She had been terrified, betrayed, and devastated, but she hadn’t been able to hate him. It hadn’t been Inuyasha! It had all just been a trick. Inuyasha would never hurt her like that. He loved her. And Kagome loved Inuyasha. The jewel flashed bright pink again, completely purified once more.
Inuyasha…Inuyasha! If Naraku had tried to kill Kagome, then he would have tried to kill Inuyasha, too! She had to find him. It took her all of two minutes to explain what was going on to Miroku and Sango before she could get them to help her find Inuyasha. They were hesitant to look for him, considering that he might be a bit angry, but Sango was still interested in getting his help, and Miroku was interested in getting on Sango’s good side.
It wasn’t very long before they found where he had fought at the stream. There was a small amount of blood to show that he’d been hurt, but nothing too serious. Still, he was nowhere to be found. Kagome was starting to really worry about him when she found Tetsusaiga. It was just lying in the mud. Inuyasha surely wouldn’t leave it…it was the only thing that kept him from transforming into that monster. She carefully gathered it up, wrapping it in a bit of ragged cloth. She had lots of that lately. Her clothes were being destroyed much faster than she could repair them.
“He doesn’t seem to be anywhere around…” Miroku was proven to be a liar when a great crash interrupted him. It was followed by another and another. It sounded as if someone were knocking down trees.
“Inuyasha!”
Before either of the two could stop her, Kagome raced into the forest, towards the crashing. She heard a dual shout of “Kagome!” but ignored them. She had to get to Inuyasha.
Episode Three: Beloved
Crash! Another tree toppled, splinters flying, biting into flesh and cloth. Crash! A tree cracked, nearly in half. Crack! Inuyasha blinked through the colors swirling before his eyes. Blood trickled down his face from his forehead where he had just smashed headfirst into a thick tree. The tree didn’t look much better than he likely did, though. Angry that it hadn’t fallen over or killed him, he punched it and immediately bit back a shout of pain. He looked in confusion at his hand. It was broken already. He could vaguely remember the sound of bones cracking when he’d punched that tree right before he’d thrown himself face-first into the other. He flexed the hand. It hurt, but it wouldn’t take very long to heal. It wasn’t a bad break.
He’d created a small clearing in the forest. Inuyasha wasn’t certain whether he’d been trying to knock the trees down or batter himself to death against them. His memory was a bit fuzzy since…since he’d killed her. Inuyasha shouted in pain and found that he’d punched the tree again. At least he hadn’t smashed his head into it again. Then again…why shouldn’t he? Didn’t he deserve the pain? Didn’t he crave punishment? Didn’t he hate himself enough?
Inuyasha found that he did hate himself enough. With a roar of rage, directed at himself, he began headbutting the tree as hard as he could. One…two…three…he stumbed after that, but tried again. Four…he could feel blood flowing freely down his face, now. Five…finally he fell back and couldn’t stand. If he could have been hitting himself, he would have, but now he couldn’t do anything but watch the world spin around him. There seemed to be two, or three, of everything.
He’d killed her. The only person in the entire world that he’d actually cared for, and he’d killed her with his own hands. If he’d been able to stand or even raise his arms, he might have tried to tear his own hand off, but he couldn’t. Instead he found tears leaking out of his eyes, and he could not stop them. Inuyasha began to sob, shaking pathetic sobs. So desolate he felt, that he didn’t even hold them back anymore, and he lay their crying without any notice of the world around him.
The crashing had stopped some minutes before, and Kagome wasn’t entirely certain she was heading in the right direction, anymore, but she kept walking anyways. It couldn’t be much further. The noises had been quite loud before they had suddenly stopped. A strange sound finally caught Kagome’s attention. She couldn’t figure out what it was, but it was coming from just in front of her.
As she came around a large tree, Kagome was suddenly in a small clearing. She immediately noticed the trees littering the ground. There were at least six, and a couple more that looked half-inclined to join the others. And there lying beneath a particularly big tree, was Inuyasha. At first she wasn’t certain he lived, sprawled out on his back, unmoving, but she then realized that he was shaking slightly and the strange noise she’d heard was coming from him. Inuyasha was crying.
He sounded utterly helpless. She had never seen him with his walls down completely, but they were down now, torn down and scattered across his heart. She immediately wanted to comfort him, and she did. Kagome ran to his side and pulled his head against her breast, holding him against her. He cried for a moment more, clutching at her, before he pulled frantically away.
She looked at him in confusion, but his eyes were wild and she worried that he might be reverting again. “I killed you!” Kagome was startled for a moment, remembering Inuyasha’s hands around her throat. But that hadn’t really been him. “I killed you, you are dead!” He pushed her away, roughly but not hard.
“Stay away from me Kagome. I killed you once…I don’t want to do it again.” Kagome immediately saw the lack of sense in that, but Inuyasha didn’t seem to yet. “Stay away! I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”
Kagome ignored his warnings and pushed past his upraised hands. He didn’t struggle as she put her arms around him and relaxed into her embrace. “Inuyasha, you didn’t hurt me. It wasn’t really me.” He seemed to only half hear her, but he wasn’t trying to push her away anymore. “It was all a trick, Naraku’s trick, just like before. He tricked you and Kikyou, too.”
Inuyasha had tensed a little at the mention of Naraku’s name, but he seemed to be thinking. “Kagome…how do I know THIS isn’t Naraku’s trick? Maybe I really did kill you and he’s just tormenting me with your shape.” Kagome hadn’t thought of this, but Inuyasha didn’t seem to be getting ready to fight her. “I don’t care. Even if this is a trick, I’d deserve it. And I could never hurt you again, Kagome, even if you wanted to kill me. I’d rather die that see you hurt again.”
“Inuyasha! I’d never want to hurt you either, and I certainly don’t want you to die nobly refusing to fight me if it were one of Naraku’s tricks! If I were attacking you, it wouldn’t be ME, Inuyasha. I love you.”
“I love you, Kagome.”
Inuyasha gradually seemed to come back to himself, but he continued to hold onto her long after Kagome thought he had regained his senses. She didn’t mind. It felt right to hold each other.
Episode Four: Drowning the Puppy
Naraku smiled despite his fury. His ploy had failed. The girl hadn’t been willing to kill Inuyasha. But all was not lost. His spies had very fortuitously overseen their emotional reunion and reported back to him. Inuyasha was determined never to hurt this Kagome, even if she attacked him. His simulacrum had failed, but what if the REAL Kagome attacked him? Even if he didn’t fight back at all, it would be a somewhat satisfying victory. Inuyasha would be dead and the jewel would be his again. Perhaps he shouldn’t have allowed it to be taken in the first place.
The hanyou had become an increasing problem to his plans. He almost wasn’t worth leaving alive, even for the jewel. With Sesshoumaru dead and the Alliance shattered, none could stand in his way, save for a single pathetic half-breed. However, that pathetic half-breed had so far defeated all of his lieutenants and even threatened his own life. If he was allowed to continue living, he might undo all that Naraku had spent fifty years making.
He would have to go himself, to make certain that Inuyasha died this time. Naraku had a special trick that he’d use to destroy this last obstacle, a favor owed. He turned towards his shadow and waved.
“Go, now. Use the girl to destroy Inuyasha, and I will grant you your freedom at last. Make him suffer and I will give you all that you desire.”
Naraku’s own shadow nodded in acceptance and separated itself from the wall. It disappeared into the trees and was gone. Naraku could not see it anymore, but he knew where Inuyasha was. He was going to watch the half-breed die with his own eyes. Soon, he too had disappeared into the trees.
Kagome blinked sleepily in the afternoon light. The shadows were getting long and thin in the bright sun. She tried to shift her position, but couldn’t manage to loosen Inuyasha’s arms around her. A shadow drifted across the clearing. After a moment, she sat upright; shadows weren’t supposed to move! She saw it clearly now, a distinct shadow, separate from the others, was moving towards them, creeping from shadow to shadow. Kagome opened her mouth to call for Inuyasha and the shadow seem to know that she had seen it.
It flew at her and she shouted warning. Inuyasha jumped up in a flash, but the shadow struck her squarely in the chest. Kagome fell down, stunned, but was amazed to find that she was unhurt. The shadow had vanished completely.
“Kagome, are you okay? Where did it go?” Inuyasha was looking around, trying to spot the mysterious shadow, but Kagome had no idea where it was.
Something was wrong, suddenly. Kagome could feel it. She felt sick and wanted to vomit, but she couldn’t. She tried to tell Inuyasha, but she couldn’t open her mouth. Kagome stood up and walked towards a small tree on the edge of the clearing. Inuyasha was still looking for the shadow, and he didn’t really notice her. She wanted to scream. She wanted to scream, because she wasn’t trying to walk anywhere. Her body was moving on its own!
Behind the tree, there was a bow and quiver of arrows, mysteriously left for her to find. She picked them up as Inuyasha turned to ask her what was wrong. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of her with bow and arrows again. He froze as she raised the bow, arrow knocked, and pointed it at him. Kagome tried to shriek for him to run. Inuyasha just stood there, his eyes locked on her.
The arrow flew straight at him, and he made no attempt to move. Kagome cried silently as Inuyasha stumbled, arrow sticking out from his chest. He never stopped looking at her face as he fell over into the dust with one last “Kagome.”.
“No! No! Nooo!!!” Kagome screamed. She felt the thing inside her recoil in surprise. She had managed to scream. Now that she’d regained her voice, she couldn’t stop. “Inuyasha! Inuyasha! Get up…I’m sorry, Inuyasha! Please!”
Kagome felt the thing trying to silence her once more, but she was suddenly enraged. How dare something, anything, do this to her and Inuyasha. After all that they had already been through, this was more than enough. She knew that this was Naraku’s doing. It was always the same thing. And now, Inuyasha was lying there with an arrow through him.
She could feel something coursing through her, a power that she’d felt only a few times before. Kagome glowed with the light of this power and she could feel the thing in her crying out in pain. The light grew until all the shadows in the clearing were gone. With a final silent shriek, the shadow inside Kagome was gone, as well.
Kagome ran to Inuyasha. He was alive, the arrow missed his heart. “Inuyasha, I’m sorry. It wasn’t me. I…”
“I know Kagome. I knew it wasn’t you, the whole time. I could see it in your eyes.” He wiped at the tears in her eyes. “I love you, Kagome. If we ever stop trying to kill each other, I’ll try to show you how much.”
“How touching.” Kagome and Inuyasha both turned their heads at the new voice. Naraku stood at the edge of the clearing, no more than 20 feet away. “You, girl, you managed to defeat my shadow. No matter. It appears to have done its job. And I am saved from having to grant it a physical form. Now I shall kill you and your pet half-breed and take the Shikon no Tama back.”
End of Chapter Ten -Chevalier
His clothing was still damp where he had left it by the stream. He would just have to wear it wet until it dried. Inuyasha was again tempted to leave the clothes to dry and return to Kagome, but she was asleep, and he didn’t want to wake her. It was hard for him to believe what had transpired over the last day, or even the last weeks. Inuyasha had long known that he would never trust another human (and he certainly wasn’t about to start trusting demons), that he would never ever have feelings even resembling love for one. But here he was, and he could not deny to himself that he was in love.
Kagome was everything that mattered to him. Without her, he was an empty shell or a ravening monster. Only Kagome had ever brought peace to his spirit. Even Kikyou had not. With Kikyou, he had felt the need to change himself, to become what she needed. He had never felt right for Kikyou, never good enough or deserving. Kagome was completely different. Not only did she accept him as he was…she actually WANTED him that way. It made him think for the first time in his life, that HE wanted himself to be as he was, that he might not actually need to be anything else.
Of course, there was always the slight age difference…but what was fifty years, give or take a few, in comparison to love? The true problem was in the rate of age. Kagome would grow old long before Inuyasha, and he was already worried over it. He couldn’t bear the idea of losing her, even to old age. When such a time came, perhaps he wouldn’t want to live any longer, either…
So completely lost in his thoughts was he, that Inuyasha didn’t notice the sounds of someone approaching. A twig snapped as someone appeared from the brush. Inuyasha’s head snapped up and he tensed, prepared to fight whatever intruder it might be. Decades of instinct didn’t disappear with one night of love, after all. His instincts were unnecessary, though, as it was only Kagome. He relaxed his body without a thought. Something was strange though, but he couldn’t quite figure it out.
Kagome raised a bow, and Inuyasha barely managed to dodge the arrow she fired at him. What was going on? He had barely landed after dodging when she fired another arrow at him, then another. They were coming faster and faster, and it was getting harder to dodge them.
“Kagome! What are you doing? What’s wrong!” Inuyasha managed to duck another shot. “I love you, Kagome! Stop!”
“Filthy half-breed! I can’t believe you touched me! I could never want something like YOU.”
Inuyasha felt his world crumbling, but it didn’t make any sense. This wasn’t like Kagome at all…
“No…Kagome…”
&ldq uo;Die, Inuyasha!”
The world seemed to reverberate with those words. Suddenly, Kikyou was before him. He could see her clearly, bow aimed at his heart, hatred in her eyes. She had betrayed him! Why had he ever believed her? Why had he ever thought that she could love him? It had all been a trick!
Searing pain shot thought his left shoulder, and Inuyasha came to himself. A shallow cut scored his flesh, not a hand from his heart. Kagome was reloading her bow for the next shot. Kagome! She had betrayed him too? Why…?
Inuyasha jumped aside from the arrow that followed and leapt towards Kagome. He would knock that bow from her hands and shake the answers out of her. Why had she betrayed him? He thought she loved him…Kagome tried to shoot another arrow at him, but she wasn’t fast enough. Inuyasha knocked the bow aside with the back of his hand and reached out to take her by the arms…Only somehow she wasn’t where she was supposed to be. Instead of disarming her, his backhand caught Kagome full in the chest and sent her flying. His outcry died in his throat as she crashed directly into a tree and fell to the ground, limp and lifeless. He was unable to even breathe for several moments. What had he done? Inuyasha slowly crept towards the form lying in the mud before him. It was broken. What had he DONE? With a cry of despair he leapt to her side and cradled her in his arms. There was no life in her at all. Kagome was dead. WHAT HAD HE DONE?
Unable to face her broken body any longer, Inuyasha turned, trying to see through eyes blinded by tears. Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga from its sheath. It was old and rusted, completely useless. Someone to protect. His hands suddenly numb, he dropped the sword. No! He began to run. But he could never get away. The sword was left where it lay in the mud.
Episode Two: Murderer
Sunlight gently filtering through the trees fell on her face as she awoke. It was a beautiful, peaceful morning. Kagome glanced around, immediately noticing that Inuyasha was not beside her. She blushed softly, remembering that he HAD been beside her, through the entire night. The entire world seemed new, somehow. Kagome loved Inuyasha. And he loved her.
A shadow fell across her, and Kagome found herself staring up at Inuyasha. He smiled strangely at her, and she smiled back, happy to have him near her again.
“Inuyasha, I…”
He moved suddenly, but before she could even startle, his hands were around her neck, tightening. Kagome gasped and choked, not even realizing what was going on. Inuyasha’s claws dug into the back of her neck, stinging and burning, but Kagome couldn’t even draw breath to gasp in pain anymore. Inuyasha was on top of her, his mouth drawn into a terrifying cruel smile. His eyes showed nothing at all except enjoyment. Her vision was starting to fade. Everything was going black. Inuyasha…
And then the pressure was gone. Air rushed into her lungs and she coughed violently. Her sight slowly returned, but she still couldn’t hear anything. Inuyasha was there, blood flowing from the top of his head, and there was Miroku, the monk, waving his staff. The staff was already broken near the top. The head lay near Kagome, blood smearing its metal rings. Miroku wasn’t having much luck fending off the infuriated hanyou and was steadily giving ground.
Kagome struggled to stand, but the world swirled sickeningly around her. Still, she managed to drag herself to her feet. The world was still spinning, but she managed to stumble towards Inuyasha and the monk. She had to stop this, somehow. Just then, the hanyou managed to disarm the monk, sending the staff clattering into the trees, and knocked him to the ground.
“Inuyasha, no!” He focused completely on Kagome again, ignoring the monk scrabbling in the dirt. “Inuyasha, stop! What is wrong? Why are you doing this?”
He ignored her and continued to advance on her, his claws flexing in anticipation. Oh no! He didn’t have Tetsusaiga! But wait…Kagome didn’t see any lines on his face nor red in his eyes. He was himself, but he wasn’t. Inuyasha was within range of her now, and he raised his claw to shred her into ribbons. Kagome couldn’t do anything, couldn’t even raise her hands in a futile attempt to defend herself or cry out for him to stop one last time.
Blood splashed across her face and chest. For an instant, Inuyasha was there, ready to kill her, and then he was smashed aside in a sudden spray of blood. Kagome could see his head crushed by the giant boomerang that crashed into him before sending him bouncing off into the forest. That image refused to leave her head, no matter how hard she shook it. One yellow eye bulging from the socket…his brains exploding from his head. A split second of surprise on his face before it was all over.
Kagome collapsed to her knees. It couldn’t be real.
“Are you okay?” Kagome blinked tears away to see the person standing before her. Sango held out her hand for Kagome to take. “Kagome, are you all right? Were you hurt?”
Sango helped Kagome stand, but she couldn’t speak right away. She just shook her head, still trying to stop the tears from flowing. “No…I’m okay…Inuyasha. I can’t believe…”
“
Kagome didn’t quite understand what Sango was trying to say. Then she remembered.
‘“You…hanyou. You should not have survived. That bitch should have finished you off…I guess she was too weak to kill even a pathetic half-breed. I should have known it would be you who came for the Shikon no Tama. You wanted it so badly after…so badly that they would all believe that you killed her for it.”’
Naraku had done this exact same thing to Inuyasha and Kikyou. He had tried to get them to kill each other, or for Kikyou to kill Inuyasha, at least? But why? Why the elaborate schemes? Why try it again, especially after allowing them to escape with the Shikon no Tama? Kagome pulled the jewel out of the pouch she’d put it in. To her amazement, it was a cloudy grey. Naraku was trying to taint the jewel. He needed someone to do it for him…someone to hate so utterly that it would taint the jewel beyond anything else.
You could only hate someone that much if you loved them, first. Inuyasha had tried to kill Kagome. She had been terrified, betrayed, and devastated, but she hadn’t been able to hate him. It hadn’t been Inuyasha! It had all just been a trick. Inuyasha would never hurt her like that. He loved her. And Kagome loved Inuyasha. The jewel flashed bright pink again, completely purified once more.
Inuyasha…Inuyasha! If Naraku had tried to kill Kagome, then he would have tried to kill Inuyasha, too! She had to find him. It took her all of two minutes to explain what was going on to Miroku and Sango before she could get them to help her find Inuyasha. They were hesitant to look for him, considering that he might be a bit angry, but Sango was still interested in getting his help, and Miroku was interested in getting on Sango’s good side.
It wasn’t very long before they found where he had fought at the stream. There was a small amount of blood to show that he’d been hurt, but nothing too serious. Still, he was nowhere to be found. Kagome was starting to really worry about him when she found Tetsusaiga. It was just lying in the mud. Inuyasha surely wouldn’t leave it…it was the only thing that kept him from transforming into that monster. She carefully gathered it up, wrapping it in a bit of ragged cloth. She had lots of that lately. Her clothes were being destroyed much faster than she could repair them.
“He doesn’t seem to be anywhere around…” Miroku was proven to be a liar when a great crash interrupted him. It was followed by another and another. It sounded as if someone were knocking down trees.
“Inuyasha!”
Before either of the two could stop her, Kagome raced into the forest, towards the crashing. She heard a dual shout of “Kagome!” but ignored them. She had to get to Inuyasha.
Episode Three: Beloved
Crash! Another tree toppled, splinters flying, biting into flesh and cloth. Crash! A tree cracked, nearly in half. Crack! Inuyasha blinked through the colors swirling before his eyes. Blood trickled down his face from his forehead where he had just smashed headfirst into a thick tree. The tree didn’t look much better than he likely did, though. Angry that it hadn’t fallen over or killed him, he punched it and immediately bit back a shout of pain. He looked in confusion at his hand. It was broken already. He could vaguely remember the sound of bones cracking when he’d punched that tree right before he’d thrown himself face-first into the other. He flexed the hand. It hurt, but it wouldn’t take very long to heal. It wasn’t a bad break.
He’d created a small clearing in the forest. Inuyasha wasn’t certain whether he’d been trying to knock the trees down or batter himself to death against them. His memory was a bit fuzzy since…since he’d killed her. Inuyasha shouted in pain and found that he’d punched the tree again. At least he hadn’t smashed his head into it again. Then again…why shouldn’t he? Didn’t he deserve the pain? Didn’t he crave punishment? Didn’t he hate himself enough?
Inuyasha found that he did hate himself enough. With a roar of rage, directed at himself, he began headbutting the tree as hard as he could. One…two…three…he stumbed after that, but tried again. Four…he could feel blood flowing freely down his face, now. Five…finally he fell back and couldn’t stand. If he could have been hitting himself, he would have, but now he couldn’t do anything but watch the world spin around him. There seemed to be two, or three, of everything.
He’d killed her. The only person in the entire world that he’d actually cared for, and he’d killed her with his own hands. If he’d been able to stand or even raise his arms, he might have tried to tear his own hand off, but he couldn’t. Instead he found tears leaking out of his eyes, and he could not stop them. Inuyasha began to sob, shaking pathetic sobs. So desolate he felt, that he didn’t even hold them back anymore, and he lay their crying without any notice of the world around him.
The crashing had stopped some minutes before, and Kagome wasn’t entirely certain she was heading in the right direction, anymore, but she kept walking anyways. It couldn’t be much further. The noises had been quite loud before they had suddenly stopped. A strange sound finally caught Kagome’s attention. She couldn’t figure out what it was, but it was coming from just in front of her.
As she came around a large tree, Kagome was suddenly in a small clearing. She immediately noticed the trees littering the ground. There were at least six, and a couple more that looked half-inclined to join the others. And there lying beneath a particularly big tree, was Inuyasha. At first she wasn’t certain he lived, sprawled out on his back, unmoving, but she then realized that he was shaking slightly and the strange noise she’d heard was coming from him. Inuyasha was crying.
He sounded utterly helpless. She had never seen him with his walls down completely, but they were down now, torn down and scattered across his heart. She immediately wanted to comfort him, and she did. Kagome ran to his side and pulled his head against her breast, holding him against her. He cried for a moment more, clutching at her, before he pulled frantically away.
She looked at him in confusion, but his eyes were wild and she worried that he might be reverting again. “I killed you!” Kagome was startled for a moment, remembering Inuyasha’s hands around her throat. But that hadn’t really been him. “I killed you, you are dead!” He pushed her away, roughly but not hard.
“Stay away from me Kagome. I killed you once…I don’t want to do it again.” Kagome immediately saw the lack of sense in that, but Inuyasha didn’t seem to yet. “Stay away! I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”
Kagome ignored his warnings and pushed past his upraised hands. He didn’t struggle as she put her arms around him and relaxed into her embrace. “Inuyasha, you didn’t hurt me. It wasn’t really me.” He seemed to only half hear her, but he wasn’t trying to push her away anymore. “It was all a trick, Naraku’s trick, just like before. He tricked you and Kikyou, too.”
Inuyasha had tensed a little at the mention of Naraku’s name, but he seemed to be thinking. “Kagome…how do I know THIS isn’t Naraku’s trick? Maybe I really did kill you and he’s just tormenting me with your shape.” Kagome hadn’t thought of this, but Inuyasha didn’t seem to be getting ready to fight her. “I don’t care. Even if this is a trick, I’d deserve it. And I could never hurt you again, Kagome, even if you wanted to kill me. I’d rather die that see you hurt again.”
“Inuyasha! I’d never want to hurt you either, and I certainly don’t want you to die nobly refusing to fight me if it were one of Naraku’s tricks! If I were attacking you, it wouldn’t be ME, Inuyasha. I love you.”
“I love you, Kagome.”
Inuyasha gradually seemed to come back to himself, but he continued to hold onto her long after Kagome thought he had regained his senses. She didn’t mind. It felt right to hold each other.
Episode Four: Drowning the Puppy
Naraku smiled despite his fury. His ploy had failed. The girl hadn’t been willing to kill Inuyasha. But all was not lost. His spies had very fortuitously overseen their emotional reunion and reported back to him. Inuyasha was determined never to hurt this Kagome, even if she attacked him. His simulacrum had failed, but what if the REAL Kagome attacked him? Even if he didn’t fight back at all, it would be a somewhat satisfying victory. Inuyasha would be dead and the jewel would be his again. Perhaps he shouldn’t have allowed it to be taken in the first place.
The hanyou had become an increasing problem to his plans. He almost wasn’t worth leaving alive, even for the jewel. With Sesshoumaru dead and the Alliance shattered, none could stand in his way, save for a single pathetic half-breed. However, that pathetic half-breed had so far defeated all of his lieutenants and even threatened his own life. If he was allowed to continue living, he might undo all that Naraku had spent fifty years making.
He would have to go himself, to make certain that Inuyasha died this time. Naraku had a special trick that he’d use to destroy this last obstacle, a favor owed. He turned towards his shadow and waved.
“Go, now. Use the girl to destroy Inuyasha, and I will grant you your freedom at last. Make him suffer and I will give you all that you desire.”
Naraku’s own shadow nodded in acceptance and separated itself from the wall. It disappeared into the trees and was gone. Naraku could not see it anymore, but he knew where Inuyasha was. He was going to watch the half-breed die with his own eyes. Soon, he too had disappeared into the trees.
Kagome blinked sleepily in the afternoon light. The shadows were getting long and thin in the bright sun. She tried to shift her position, but couldn’t manage to loosen Inuyasha’s arms around her. A shadow drifted across the clearing. After a moment, she sat upright; shadows weren’t supposed to move! She saw it clearly now, a distinct shadow, separate from the others, was moving towards them, creeping from shadow to shadow. Kagome opened her mouth to call for Inuyasha and the shadow seem to know that she had seen it.
It flew at her and she shouted warning. Inuyasha jumped up in a flash, but the shadow struck her squarely in the chest. Kagome fell down, stunned, but was amazed to find that she was unhurt. The shadow had vanished completely.
“Kagome, are you okay? Where did it go?” Inuyasha was looking around, trying to spot the mysterious shadow, but Kagome had no idea where it was.
Something was wrong, suddenly. Kagome could feel it. She felt sick and wanted to vomit, but she couldn’t. She tried to tell Inuyasha, but she couldn’t open her mouth. Kagome stood up and walked towards a small tree on the edge of the clearing. Inuyasha was still looking for the shadow, and he didn’t really notice her. She wanted to scream. She wanted to scream, because she wasn’t trying to walk anywhere. Her body was moving on its own!
Behind the tree, there was a bow and quiver of arrows, mysteriously left for her to find. She picked them up as Inuyasha turned to ask her what was wrong. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of her with bow and arrows again. He froze as she raised the bow, arrow knocked, and pointed it at him. Kagome tried to shriek for him to run. Inuyasha just stood there, his eyes locked on her.
The arrow flew straight at him, and he made no attempt to move. Kagome cried silently as Inuyasha stumbled, arrow sticking out from his chest. He never stopped looking at her face as he fell over into the dust with one last “Kagome.”.
“No! No! Nooo!!!” Kagome screamed. She felt the thing inside her recoil in surprise. She had managed to scream. Now that she’d regained her voice, she couldn’t stop. “Inuyasha! Inuyasha! Get up…I’m sorry, Inuyasha! Please!”
Kagome felt the thing trying to silence her once more, but she was suddenly enraged. How dare something, anything, do this to her and Inuyasha. After all that they had already been through, this was more than enough. She knew that this was Naraku’s doing. It was always the same thing. And now, Inuyasha was lying there with an arrow through him.
She could feel something coursing through her, a power that she’d felt only a few times before. Kagome glowed with the light of this power and she could feel the thing in her crying out in pain. The light grew until all the shadows in the clearing were gone. With a final silent shriek, the shadow inside Kagome was gone, as well.
Kagome ran to Inuyasha. He was alive, the arrow missed his heart. “Inuyasha, I’m sorry. It wasn’t me. I…”
“I know Kagome. I knew it wasn’t you, the whole time. I could see it in your eyes.” He wiped at the tears in her eyes. “I love you, Kagome. If we ever stop trying to kill each other, I’ll try to show you how much.”
“How touching.” Kagome and Inuyasha both turned their heads at the new voice. Naraku stood at the edge of the clearing, no more than 20 feet away. “You, girl, you managed to defeat my shadow. No matter. It appears to have done its job. And I am saved from having to grant it a physical form. Now I shall kill you and your pet half-breed and take the Shikon no Tama back.”
End of Chapter Ten -Chevalier