InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Infatuation ❯ Falling Down ( Chapter 18 )

 

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Infatuation

By Lizzie Welling

 

Rated M/R for language

 

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Disclaimer: Don't own InuYasha. Never have, never will. All other quoted songs, excerpts, etc. are cited and attributed to their respective owners.

 

A/N: Chapter title inspired by Atreyu's song, “Falling Down.”

 

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Recap:

 

Gardens, Taisho estate

 

Rin stomped toward the gardens, haphazardly checking for the kit. She heard a few twigs snap, and turned to the left.

 

“Shippo?”

 

Then she heard a scream.

 

“Shippo!” she cried, running toward the panicked voice.

 

 

The Mall

 

The four whipped around and rushed out of the store, looking around the mall for the source of the shriek. People were running past them, crying frantically. The Hunters and Slayers pushed their way through, stopping short when they spotted it. Merely ten feet away was a horribly deformed boy. His right arm was long, muscular and green, the claws and its size ill fitting of the boy's size. His eyes were an eerie glowing yellow. He wore no shirt, revealing the long scar, sewn up with various stitches. He took a menacing step forward with his clawed feet. Atop his head was a familiar fringe of hair.

 

“Kohaku?” Kagome whispered in shock.

 

Sango fainted dead away, with Miroku barely managing to catch her.

 

 

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Chapter 18: Falling Down

 

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“Come on, Shippo, answer me!” Rin demanded, running around a large sculpted bush. The kit was nowhere to be seen. She ran past a row of rosebushes and stuck her head around a marble dog statue, eyes scanning down another pathway. Nothing.

 

She heard a twig snap. Rin spun around to find an eerily dark and empty pathway behind her.

 

“Kami, I'm jumpy. I need to stop watching those horror movies with Ayame.”

 

She rounded another corner, spotting an intricate metal gate. Rin reached out and touched the handle, watching wearily as the gate fell open immediately.

 

“Waay too many slasher films. I need to get a grip!” Rin shook herself, took a deep breath and looked around. “Jeez, Shippo...Where on earth can you be?”

 

Another scream ripped through the air, followed by the flare of blue flames to her left.

 

“Bing-o,” the small Slayer breathed, racing off.

 

She found the kit pinned down by a large being, who was half man, half-metal, with bright orange hair. A pond with a rushing waterfall gurgled water behind them.

 

“Hey ugly! Let the little guy go!” Rin ordered, running full speed at the metallic man.

 

She jumped, landing a kick in his face, knocking Shippo out of his grip. Rin landed gracefully then crouched defensively, readying herself in a fighting stance. Shippo crawled over, cowering behind her.

 

“Look at this tiny female protecting the young. How quaint,” the man laughed mechanically, standing up to his full and massive height.

 

“Oh jeez, we're in trouble,” Rin mumbled worriedly. “Shippo, go get Sesshomaru!”

 

“But--” The kit protested.

 

“Now!” Rin screamed as she ducked, the metal man's punch arcing over her head. Shippo dashed out of the courtyard.

 

“Allow me to introduce myself,” he rasped, kicking Rin in the stomach and sending her flying back into the pond. “I am Ginkotsu, and these,” he raised his arms high as six other men appeared behind him, “Are my brothers. We are known as the Band of Seven.”

 

“Huh,” Rin groaned, pushing herself out of the water. “You sound like a bad 80s band.” She glanced at Ginkotsu, nose scrunching in distaste. “You even have the bad hair.”

 

“Watch it, little girl,” a man with a long braid stepped forward. “We know who you are.”

 

“I know who I am, too,” she taunted. “And you, Mr. Bankotsu, are an idiot. So let's just dispense with the pleasantries and get down to me kicking your butts!”

 

The Band of Seven laughed, circling around the small Slayer.

 

“You? Miss tiny tot?” the feminine one laughed. “I don't think so, honey.”

 

Rin whipped her guns out of her jacket and fired a few rounds of her poison bullets.

 

“My hair!” the feminine one screamed, fingering the smoking holes in his coiffure.

 

“Easy, Jakotsu,” Bankotsu sighed. “You can fix it.”

 

“You little bitch!” Jakotsu lunged at Rin, taking a swipe with his sword. The blades seemed to replicate, forming a long chain and cutting Rin all over.

 

Rin fell into a protective crouch, holding her particularly heavily bleeding side.

 

“Did that hurt, little girl?” the bald, monk-like one, Renkotsu, laughed as he and the others stepped in closer.

 

Suddenly, a white figure dropped out of the sky, sinking into a low defensive stance, forming an effective barrier between Rin and the Band of Seven.

 

“Not as much as I will hurt you,” Sesshomaru snarled, pulling out Tokijin.

 

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“Come on, Sango. Wake up,” Miroku urged the unconscious Slayer, patting her cheeks. He glanced back at the thing that was supposed to be `Kohaku,' then worriedly down at the girl in his arms. She wasn't responding at all.

 

Kagome stood frozen, blinking her eyes in disbelief. She finally managed to take a step forward. “What have they done to you?”

 

`I can't believe it's him! Naraku, that asshole! He did this!' Kagome thought angrily.

 

“Kagome, get away from him!” InuYasha snarled, dashing in front of the miko before she could get any closer.

 

“But, it's Kohaku!”

 

“He's different. Not just physically...They've changed him on the inside.”

 

Kagome gasped. “He has a friggin' shard too!”

 

`Poor kid,' InuYasha thought sadly. `That bastard Naraku turned you into one of his experiments.' The inu-hanyou hardly recognized the boy—he looked like he'd been brutally butchered and put back together with the foulest youkai parts imaginable.

 

“We have to try and help him,” Kagome said determinedly, clutching the sleeve of InuYasha's white T-shirt in her grasp.

 

Miroku had carried Sango over to a water fountain. He managed to scoop some water and splash it in her face. Sango shot up into a sitting position, gasping for air.

 

“Wha--” Sango sputtered, looking around. “What happened?” She attempted to get up and Miroku pushed her back.

 

“I think you should rest a moment,” the monk insisted.

 

Sango rolled her eyes. “You can kiss my—Kohaku!” she cried, looking around Miroku's shoulder. She sprung to her feet and ran toward the boy monster.

 

“Kohaku,” she whispered, tearing up as she stared at her little brother. The boy monster began to growl, raising his clawed hand high.

 

“No!” Sango shouted, blocking his swipe with her forearm. He ripped a jagged wound across her arm. The Slayer jumped back, starting at her brother in shock.

 

“Kohaku! It's me! It's Sango! Don't you remember your sister?” she sobbed tearfully.

 

Kohaku tilted his head to the side. “Sister?” he asked robotically. No sign of recognition reached his features.

 

“He's not your little brother anymore,” an annoying voice mocked.

 

Kagome watched as Kagura and Kanna touched down on either side of Kohaku. Miroku had managed to drag a struggling Sango back to their fold. The group shifted, forming a defensive arc around the distraught Slayer.

 

“Come on, miko. Show me what you've got,” Kagura taunted, waving her fingers at Kagome.

 

“With pleasure, you twisted bitch.”

 

The two leapt into each other, Kagura scoring a blow to Kagome's side. The miko spun, delivering a high kick to the wind youkai's head. Kagura snarled, releasing a round of her patented Dance of the Blades. Kagome artfully spun out of the attack's path.

 

Meanwhile, Kanna had engaged Miroku in hand-to-hand combat when she went for Sango. The small void youkai swept the monk's feet out from under him. Miroku managed to control the fall, using his hands to spring back to his feet. He lunged at her and the pair went tumbling into a large potted plant.

 

The task of battling Kohaku had fallen to InuYasha. The inu-hanyou only used defensive maneuvers, weary of exacting lasting harm to the being that appeared to be Sango's brother. But the boy monster was quick and deadly in his strikes, and InuYasha was forced to play carefully. One swipe from Kohaku's lethal claws had ribboned InuYasha's side. He struck back with a swipe of his own, catching the boy monster across his face. Kohaku released a howl.

 

“Don't hurt Kohaku!” Sango wept.

 

“I'm trying!” InuYasha snapped, narrowly dodging another blow. Running, he launched himself off one of the mall's columns, landing on Kohaku's back. He threw his arms around the boy's neck, attempting to wrestle him to the floor.

 

Kagura had knocked Kagome to the tile. Kagome swung her legs around like a fan, landing a blow to Kagura's stomach and chin. Once on her feet, she turned an aerial cartwheel, knocking the wind youkai into a storefront, glass spraying everywhere.

 

With a burst of power, Kanna sent Miroku flying over the railing and into the mall fountain on the ground floor. He didn't move after impact. Kagome and Sango cried out, skipping steps at a time while rushing down the escalator to his side. The two fished the unconscious Hunter out of the water just as InuYasha crashed into them, sending the whole group sprawling back into the water.

 

The four struggled back out of the fountain, sputtering water and thoroughly soaked through. Kagome and Sango were holding Miroku up between them, and Kagome had an arm around InuYasha, supporting the inu-hanyou as well. They watched wearily as Kohaku, Kagura and Kanna floated menacingly down before them.

 

“Oh crap,” Kagome muttered.

 

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Sesshomaru had injured two of the brothers. He also succeeded in pissing off the other five. His back to Rin, the partners were barely keeping the bloodthirsty Band of Seven at bay. Sesshomaru's left arm hung limply at his side, having been dislocated by Bankotsu. Rin had two more deep slices in her side, courtesy of Jakotsu.

 

“How are we going to get out of this?” Rin asked her partner worriedly.

 

“Focus on a weakness,” Sesshomaru snarled as he slashed Tokijin in a downward motion and then to the right, fending off Bankotsu and Suikotsu's attacks.

 

“Riiight,” Rin muttered. “These guys are practically indestructible.”

 

`It's like they've got extra help,' Rin thought desperately. `Oh! I know, they must have shards!'

 

A plan quickly formed in her mind, and she carefully whispered her idea to Sesshomaru. The taiyoukai nodded once, signaling he agreed with the strategy.

 

“On my signal,” Sesshomaru said.

 

Both took a small step backwards, Rin fingering the knife she'd borrowed from Ayame's collection.

 

“Now!”

 

Sesshomaru launched himself at Renkotsu and Suikotsu, claws extended and swiping at their foreheads. Rin lunged at Ginkotsu, using her knife to scrape across his brow.

 

Renkotsu and Suikotsu fell, gasping for air as the poison from Sesshomaru's claws coursed through their systems. Sesshomaru stared icily down at the two Shikon shards in his palm.

 

Ginkotsu released a roar when Rin dug his Shikon shard out of his forehead, and then fell over limp after Sesshomaru slashed the artery in his neck. Rin pocketed the shard.

 

“No!” Jakotsu cried, kneeling beside his fallen brethren.

 

Rin watched in horror as these three, in addition to the already dead Mukotsu and Kyokotsu, began to shrivel and turn to dust.

 

Bankotsu dove for the remaining two shards on the ground, grabbed Jakotsu by the shoulder and hauled ass out of the garden.

 

“Oh my, they were reanimated corpses!” Rin gasped, plopping down on her butt where she stood. “Should we go after them?”

 

Sesshomaru eyed his dislocated shoulder and Rin's red-soaked side. “Not at the present moment. You need to recuperate.”

 

“Me? What about you! Mr. Tough and Mighty. My butt!”

 

“Hn.”

 

The taiyoukai trailed after Rin as gingerly stood back up and began to walk, chattering on about “stupid dead warriors” and “arrogant inu-youkai.” The two trekked through the gardens and back to the pool area, finding an anxious Shippo and a maid waiting for them with a tray of bandages. Rin turned green when she heard the sickening pop of Sesshomaru shoving his shoulder back into place.

 

“Rin! You're bleeding!” Shippo cried, grabbing a roll of gauze and a handful of bandage pads and racing over to her.

 

Rin smiled, taking the supplies from Shippo and patting him on the head. “I'll be ok, little guy, don't worry.”

 

“Hn,” Sesshomaru snorted, taking the supplies from her and setting them on a nearby beach lounge. He took his claws and ripped off the bottom of her shirt, exposing her all the way to the tip of her ribcage, baring the nasty wound on her side.

 

The smallest Slayer heard the maid and Shippo gasp, and felt her cheeks burning.

 

“Don't you both have other places to be or duties to attend?” the taiyoukai growled.

 

Within moments, the partners were alone. Rin shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. She inhaled sharply when Sesshomaru's hand touched her skin as he gently began to clean her wound.

 

“Thank you for coming to my rescue,” Rin spoke quietly. “I would have been toast without you.”

 

“Indeed.”

 

They both stood in silence as Sesshomaru finished wrapping her torso. Rin shivered in response to the delicate touch. Mistaking her tremble for a chill, he reached for a fluffy towel laying over one of the lounges, draping it over her shoulders.

 

“Thank you,” she said quietly, looking up into his eyes. Rising on tiptoes, Rin quickly pecked Sesshomaru's cheek. She watched in mirth as his cheeks pinkened.

 

“Let's get a sling for your arm,” she said, gently leading him over to a chair and forcing him to sit.

 

Rin quickly fashioned a sling out of the larger strips of material and carefully slipped it over his shoulder, brining his left arm to rest against his chest.

 

“That should do it,” Rin affirmed. Clutching the towel around her as she noticed his intense stare, Rin looked away. “I guess I better go inside and change.”

 

As she moved to step away, Sesshomaru stopped her with a hand on her arm.

 

“Wha--”

 

She was cut off as Sesshomaru softly pressed his lips to hers. He pulled back before Rin had wrapped her mind around the fact that her partner was kissing her. She looked up, shocked, into his eyes.

 

“Know that I will always come to your rescue.”

 

Rin nodded dumbly and watched, dazed, as he walked to the estate.

 

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“We have to get out of here,” Kagome whispered to the others, tensely watching their enemies rapidly approaching.

 

“The car's in the parking garage. How are we going to get there carrying the guys?” Sango inquired worriedly.

 

“Do you have any of those poison bombs on you?” Kagome asked, a plan formulating quickly.

 

“Always.”

 

“Good. Hand me, and InuYasha, one each. On three, we're tossing them into their faces.”

 

Sango nodded, slipping her hand into the pouch inside her pants pocket and passing the bombs behind their backs to hide them from view.

 

“One.”

 

They all palmed the bombs.

 

“Two.”

 

Kagome loosened her arm from around InuYasha's waist.

 

“Three!”

 

Kagome, Sango and InuYasha hurled the poison bombs as hard as they could.

 

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SPECIAL THANKS to reviewers: chanda, SplitPersonality, InuGoddess715, Bert8813, beautifulyreal, DesMM, xxfrefallangelxx, Inus_bitch, inutemptress, ab, BoredGirl17, fire-Angel-of-death322, and narutoboy03!

 

I greatly appreciate all your kind words and encouragement!

 

Thank you all for reading! Please, please review! I love hearing your thoughts.

Lizzie