InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Choose You ❯ Crazy For You ( Chapter 8 )

Whahaha, the last chapter, finally. Well, that and the prologue.   Chapter Eight: Crazy For You  

Inu-Yasha lunged forward, Tetsusaiga swinging clear of its sheath and in a tight arc around towards the fallen god. Taikashan didn’t blink in surprise. He didn’t flinch. The god didn’t do anything except let himself be sliced in half from shoulder to waist. Before even Inu-Yasha could shout arrogantly in victory, which was in the back of his throat already, the god’s form coalesced back into a single piece, like a fog rolling back together. Inu-Yasha’s stunned look didn’t last long.

The god hit him flat in the chest with his palm, sending the hanyou soaring backwards. Taikashan’s face was suddenly a mask of fury, of insanity. His eyes were filled with madness. For a moment everything was frozen. Just a moment. The world exploded. Inu-Yasha landed heavily against one of those great trees, shattering the trunk. Sango’s Hiraikotsu was flying at the god at the same time, and Miroku was running at him, staff swinging. Kagome shook herself and fumbled for an arrow.

The fallen god swung one now suddenly seeming massive arm about and broke the Hiraikotsu in two, its halves lost in the groves. The god seemed to grow before their eyes. He wasn’t bigger, really, but his presence seemed to dwarf reality. Miroku skidded to a halt just in time to avoid the end swing of that huge fist that punched a whole in the paving stones before him. He slapped a exorcism scroll on the god’s arm and dodged the second swing by the barest of measures. The scroll seemed to melt right off his arm.

“It was worth a try.” At that point, anything would be worth a try. Sango drew her sword and leapt forward to slice at the god. Inu-Yasha blurred past her, a streak of red and white, Testusaiga slicing off one arm, then the other before lopping off the god’s head. They all hung there, suspended in the air, before reforming to his body. The god seemed to turn into air when he was harmed.

Inu-Yasha dashed back from the god and stood panting. His back was all bloody, with bits of wood sticking out of his red clothing. Bits of the tree imbedded in his back. Blood trickled down one arm, where it dripped from his fingers and puddled on the ground. What the hell was this thing? Was a god really this hard to kill? No, Taikashan wasn’t a god anymore. He wasn’t invincible. There had to be some way.

Sango reached the god just as he was coming back to himself, and caught the full swing of his arm against her breast. The air was forced out of her and her eyes bulged with the impact. The arm carried her about in its arc and she flew off when it stopped, choking for breath. Her breath was forced from her again when she landed painfully on the hard stones on the ground. The slayer rose halfway out of reflex before collapsing in a gasping heap.

Miroku cried out in fear as soon as Sango was hit and he aborted his own attack to rush to her side. He knelt beside her, helping her back to her feet. The slayer, however strong, was unable to stand so quickly. Miroku turned as Kagome cried out from behind him, to see the god lumbering towards them, his intent all to obvious. Desperate to protect Sango, Miroku ripped off the prayer beads around his hand, unleashing his Kazaana.

Taikashan dug his feet into the ground as soon as the winds started. Inu-Yasha dashed forward and grabbed Kagome around the waist, thrusting the Tetsusaiga into the stone. The god relaxed completely in the flow of the winds, unmoving. He wasn’t even braced. He was completely solid against the pull, like stone. It was as if he were a part of the ground. Second after second passed, without effect on the god. But it affected the others. The Tetsusaiga slowly pulled free of the stone and Inu-Yasha and Kagome were lifted into the air. Miroku sealed his Kazaana quickly, but the hanyou and girl were already soaring straight at him, and at Taikashan.

Taikashan seemed to sense them coming even with his back turned. The god swung about to strike them down. Inu-Yasha wrapped himself around Kagome and thrust the Tetsusaiga out in desperation. Taikashan didn’t hesitate to swing his fist into the sword. The Tetsusaiga speared his arm, but didn’t slow the fist that crashed into the hanyou’s skull. Inu-Yasha let out a slight grunt and flew head-over-heels, losing his hold on Kagome. Kagome went crashing to the ground, but Inu-Yasha tumbled through the air and fell limply some yards away. She called out to him, voice shaky. He didn’t stir.

Miroku stared, unwilling to believe that Inu-Yasha would be defeated so quickly. But as the hanyou continued to lay where he had fallen, the monk decided that he couldn’t afford to wait on his recovery. He pulled Sango up, she groaning painfully, and pulled her further from the mad god. Miroku had decided that the best plan was to keep the god’s attention on himself and away from the others. So he was completely surprised when Kagome yelled a challenge at the god.

“Taikashan! You’ll regret hurting Inu-Yasha!” Kagome drew back on her bow, arrow straining to be released. She could feel it hum to life with her purifying power. If this wouldn’t hurt the god, nothing would.

“Little girl! You can not hurt me! I! Am! A! God!” He finished in a roar and leapt at Kagome.

The arrow seemed to fly of its own accord, streaking straight for the god’s breast. It glowed brightly with power and exploded into his heart. The god screamed, at seemingly in pain or fear. He exploded outward, black blood fountaining outwards in what promised to be a great mess. But the flow slowed and stopped, as if gravity had suddenly become irrelevant. It congealed in the air, and then the god again seemed to turn to smoke or fog, drifting back together.

It took some time for the god to collect himself, physically and then mentally. Having oneself blown apart seemed to be a bit disorienting. It gave Kagome just enough time to hide behind one of those great trees before the god turned to look for her, quite literally frothing at the mouth.

“You think you can harm me, little girl?! I’ll show you what happens to little girls who go against me! I’ll kill you Shousua! How could you do that to me?! I love you Shousua! I hate you! How could you?! I’ll kill you! I’ll make you wish you were dead!” The god was definitely not rational any longer. He kept shouting his vengeance and everlasting love for this Shousua, all the while swinging those deadly fists about, splintering trees and splattering fruits.

Miroku left Sango safely, as safely as possible, out of range behind a distant tree and made his way over to Kagome, dodging from trunk to trunk. It wouldn’t really help to draw attention to himself. Taikashan seemed ready to smash anything that moved. He was already smashing most that wasn’t.

Miroku found Kagome huddled against a tree, eyes fastened on the limp hanyou not far from the raging Taikashan. Her worry was obvious, and well founded. Inu-Yasha was in a lot of danger where he lay. The monk patted her shoulder comfortingly, and she jumped, shouting out in surprise. The god seemed not to hear it over his own shouts.

“Miroku! Don’t scare me like that!”

The monk rubbed the red hand-print on his face. Girls never seemed too busy to get in a good slap. “I’m sorry, Kagome. Taikashan seems to be invincible. When he’s harmed he turns into smoke and when I tried to pull him into my Kazaana, he seemed to turn to stone. He was so heavy that it didn’t even affect him. But I think his invincibility might be the key to beating him.”

“What do you mean? How can we beat him?”

“When he’s harmed he turns into smoke, right? Well, if he’s as light as air, he can’t be stone can he? He can’t keep me from sucking him into my Kazaana can he?”

Kagome’s eyes lit up in hope and understanding. “That’s right! We can beat him! I can hit him with my arrow and you can finish him with the Kazaana.”

Miroku smiled. “Yes, and your arrows seem to keep him in his smoky state for a long time, so I’ll have more time to get him. You get ready to shoot him. I’ll go over to the side and distract him so that you can get a clear shot. Wait for me to get his attention though.” Kagome nodded her assent and he made his way some distance from her, eyes watching the raving god. He prepared to shout out, but someone else did before he had the chance.

“Taikashan! You bastard-god, where is my Kagome? If you’ve hurt her, I will make you hurt so badly that you’ll wish I’d only killed you!” Miroku shook his head. He shouldn’t be surprised. If anyone could be knocked unconscious and still get up and bra, it was Inu-Yasha. If anyone could completely ruin his plans every time, it was Inu-Yasha. “If you’ve hurt my Kagome, I will make you hurt more than you ever did over this bitch, Shousua. Anyone as weak as you over a woman deserves to die, anyways!”

The god turned, mad fury contorting his face. He looked nothing at all like a god anymore. He didn’t even really look like a demon. He was much to hideous for that. Taikashan let out a wordless roar and ran at the hanyou. Inu-Yasha braced to meet the god’s attack, and Miroku let out a sigh of futility. The god never struck at the hanyou, however, as a shining arrow soared straight into his back, detonating brightly.

Miroku didn’t hesitate as the god blew apart, he immediately unleashed his Kazaana and caught Taikashan just as he was turning to smoke. The smoke still tried to reform as it was pulled towards the hole in Miroku’s hand, and Taikashan began to take shape. As Taikashan came close, he was definitely reformed, and beginning to gather his wits again. Just as he reached the outflung hand, he stopped, suddenly as solid as stone.

The god smiled down at the monk, eyes promising death. Miroku took his last breath. There was a strange sound of tearing and a curve of bright silver exploded from Taikashan’s chest. The Tetsusaiga tore through the hard form and shattered bits of it like fragments of rock. Taikashan’s face was surprised for a moment, then confused as blood began to fountain from his breast. His body wavered between air and stone, parts of it immediately sweeping into the void in Miroku’s hand.

Then all of Taikashan was being swallowed by the Kazaana, and soon he was gone, revealing the blood-soaked hanyou who was straining to keep is grip on the Tetsusaiga. Miroku was so stunned that it took him a moment to realize himself and cover his hand. Inu-Yasha finally relaxed and slumped against the sword that was dug into the stone. Still, the hanyou managed a weak grin.

“So that’s what it’s like to kill a god, eh Miroku?” * * *

The four stared at the collapsing temple. After Taikashan had died the place had begun to decay rapidly. They hadn’t noticed it at first. They were too busy gathering up Sango and then her Hiraikotsu. Then Kagome had realized she had left her bow behind, so they had gone to find it. Once they had finally noticed the strange occurrence, the temple was starting to collapse. They had rushed out and now stood watching the death throes of the huge structure.

As they watched what has once been a temple, fall to rubble, Inu-Yasha turned to them. “Is that what love can do?”

Miroku was mildly surprised by the question, and really surprised by the slight worry he heard in the hanyou’s voice. “No, Inu-Yasha, I don’t think so. I don’t think that Taikashan really knew what love was at all. He may have at one time, but I do not think that he was what he used to be. Perhaps he loved Shousua, but something was wrong with him. It was a corrupt love.”

The hanyou seemed busy mulling over that, so he almost didn’t notice when the others started yelling at the monk. “What has he done this time?”

The two girls pointed to the fruit that had rolled from under his robes. It was a fiery red. Inu-Yasha raised an eyebrow at the monk. “What? I just wanted to see one up close. I forgot that I had it, really.” As if to confirm the sceptical look that he was receiving, two more rolled out of his robes. Inu-Yasha coughed indelicately and Sango made a threatening fist. Sighing, the monk relaxed and fruits poured from his robes. There were at least two dozen.

“Just what did you need with all these fruits, monk?“ Sango’s voice was deceptively calm. It always was at times like these. Miroku put on his best innocent face. It always worked in times like these…later they finally set out, the monk rubbing the several bumps on his head. Well, it worked with everyone except Sango.

They made good time back to the village, until Kagome came up dragging at the rear. Inu-Yasha grumbled over her over-packing, but grabbed her bulging backpack. He staggered for a moment. It was heavier than usual! Kagome blushed for some odd reason. Whatever it was, he knew better than to ask her. She was acting really strange as it was. The girl was all nervous about letting him carry her backpack, even though it was obvious that it was too heavy for her. Feh. Women. He would never understand them.

End of Chapter Eight

Well, now it’s all over…or is it? I have an epilogue still to come. It should be fun. I hope you liked it. Epilogue: Hot.

-Chevalier Mal Fet