InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Infatuation ❯ Rest in Pieces ( Chapter 23 )

----------------------

Infatuation

By Lizzie Welling

Rated M/R for strong language and violence

----------------------

 

AU InuYasha fan fiction

 

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: Hey guys! I'm baaack, heehee. I apologize for the long absence. My last semester of college was crazy, but now I am officially a college graduate! *woot* I just finished my internship, so I should theoretically have more free time to write, but between moving to a different state and job hunting, we'll see. Thank you all again for staying with me and for being so patient! I truly appreciate all of your encouragement and support!

 

WARNING: there is more angst and violence ahead in this chapter, also warning of suicide ahead. This chapter was very hard for me to personally write, but I think it's a testament to me and how much I've healed that I was able to do so, given the givens about my brother's death. If suicide is a touchy subject for you, and believe me, I understand better than most, skip the first section with Sango and Miroku. Again, it won't be too graphic (I'm still human, and it still hurts), but just so know, you've been given a heads up.

 

----------------------------------

Recap

 

"What should we do with them?" Kouga asked, thumbing in the direction of Tsubaki, Kagura and Kanna.

"Kanna promised me she would take me to Kohaku," Sango said, striding forward.

"We'll take Kagura and Tsubaki into custody," Rin said, training her gun on the two as Sesshomaru and Kouga grabbed each of them by their upper arms.

"We'll go with you," Kagome said.

"Kagome, you need to go to the Infirmary," InuYasha said worriedly.

"Psh, I can handle another hour or so."

Sango prodded Kanna. The void youkai nodded, walking toward an unmarked door in the back of the lab.

----------------------------------

 

Chapter 23: Rest in Pieces

 

----------------------------------

 

Six hours after the defeat of Naraku

Infirmary Ward, HQ

 

Sango lay curled into Miroku's side, a blanket nestled tightly around them, as she shared his bed in the Infirmary. Kaede would have reprimanded her for breaching protocol, but at the moment Sango could care less. Miroku had his arm wrapped around her, and Sango was thankful for the comfort and warmth of his touch. Her mind was in shock, the doctors had said. Whatever that meant. Sango was still unable to wrap her mind around everything that had happened once they had found Kohaku...

 

Sango winced from the mental anguish and the physical pain in her chest. She wished now that she had never decided to follow Kanna, that someone else had gone in her stead. Those horrific images of what Sango had found were branded into her eyes, etched deep into every crevice in her mind. Closed or open, she could see it. See him.

 

Sango grew more and more nervous as she and the others followed Kanna down the dank hallway. The metallic smell of blood overwhelmed her senses, along with other strange and awful smells, probably byproducts of Onigumo Industries' horrific experiments. There were door after door of what looked to be lab rooms, many with barred windows. Because curiosity got the better of her, Sango paused to peer through one of the metal lattices.

 

She covered her mouth in disgust at the pile of severed body parts, spotting the unidentifiable bodies in the corner. Sango swore to herself and vowed not to give into her curiosity any more during this trip. But that horrific scene was burned into her brain, and the Slayer began to wonder what else probably had been done to Kohaku, aside from Naraku playing Dr. Frakenstein with her brother.

 

Kanna came to a stop before a solid metal door. She raised her hand to the keypad, quickly entering the pin number. The door slid open and the void youkai stepped inside. Sango hesitated. Ayame linked arms with her in a show of support, and Kagome gave her a small smile from her place in InuYasha's arms.

 

Sango stopped cold when she found Kohaku. The sight of his lifeless limbs and all the blood caused her to stop breathing. Oh kami, the blood. It pooled out from beneath his head, spidering out across the tile floor. That was the last thing she saw before Sango passed into unconsciousness.

 

Sango had learned, a few hours ago, when she had awoken in an Infirmary bed, that Kohaku had ended his life. From Ayame's report, Kohaku had been suffering unspeakable pain from the moment Naraku had taken the jewel shard from his body. That pain, the earlier loss of his soul, and the removed and replaced body parts were just too much for him to bear. Kohaku decided he was tired of the pain, of dealing with the bad things he had done under Naraku's influence, and was especially horrified of the monster he had literally become. Kohaku's official cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

 

Tears slipped down Sango's cheeks. She just couldn't understand. No matter how many questions she asked, there were no answers. There was no one to beat up, no one to blame. There were no books or databases that held any answers.

 

"Oh my Sango," Miroku whispered, reaching over to gently wipe away her tears with his thumb. The monk pulled her closer, stoking her hair. She pressed her face into his neck, closing her eyes and trying to block out the images with Miroku's presence, as the giant black hole continued to eat away at her heart, shredding it to pieces. She refused to let herself cry.

 

"Kagome tried, you know."

 

Sango looked up in confusion. "She tried to what?"

 

"To revive him. With her powers."

 

"Oh.” Sango looked down at her hands, her eyes welling up with more tears.

 

“I know this is hard for you--" Miroku began softly, pulling her closer.

 

"No, no you don't," Sango said harshly, pushing herself out of his embrace and off the bed.

 

"Sango!" Miroku called after her. He watched helplessly as the door slammed behind her.

 

----------------------------------

 

InuYasha sat at his unconscious partner's bedside, dutifully listening to the doctors as they instructed him on how long Kagome needed rest, restrictions on the use of her powers over the course of the next few months, and the laundry list of damages needing even more surgery than she had just been through. For the millionth time that day, InuYasha wished he had slowly and painfully ripped his claws through Bankotsu, Jakotsu and especially Naraku, over and over again for what they had done to his Kagome.

 

“A nurse or doctor on rotation will be in every hour to check her vitals, Mr. Taisho,” a burly doctor informed InuYasha.

 

“Hai, arigato,” he answered distractedly, staring at Kagome's battered face.

 

“How's she doing?” Rin asked quietly from the doorway as the medical team exited Kagome's room.

 

InuYasha glanced up and shrugged.

 

“Sleeping pretty deeply now, I guess. Wench wasn't kidding when she said she wanted to sleep for a while,” Inuyasha said gruffly, holding the miko's tiny hand in his own. “Where's everyone else?”

 

“Around in their usual haunts. Sesshomaru's giving Kaede and Myogua a full report. I'm supposed to collect you for a quick meeting in the Boardroom.”

 

“I almost feel sorry for the Asshole,” InuYasha muttered as he gently lay down Kagome's hand and followed Rin into the hallway.

 

“Why do you keep calling him that? It hurts his feelings,” Rin said, rounding on him, her hands fisted indignantly on her hips.

 

InuYasha stared blankly at Rin for two minutes. Then, he burst out in a roar of laughter.

 

“Fuck, that's hilarious!” he chuckled, gasping for breath. “The Asshole having feelings! I wish Kagome was awake to hear this shit!”

 

Rin rolled her eyes, then smacked InuYasha on the back of his head. He just doubled over, clutching his stomach and laughing harder. He stumbled into the Boardroom, clutching the sides of the table for support.

 

Rin threw up her hands and left. “Gah! Your alpha-dog sibling rivalry is ridiculous!”

 

“What's ridiculous?” Kouga asked as he and Ayame entered.

 

“The Asshole having feelings!” InuYasha gasped out between guffaws.

 

“No way!” Ayame shrieked, clutching her stomach and joining in the snickering. Kouga fell into her side, trying to contain his own mirth. Both collapsed in a heap of howling on a chair.

 

“What is wrong with you imbeciles?”

 

All three looked up to see Sesshomaru standing in the doorway, one eyebrow arched. They glanced at one another, then erupted in another round of laughter.

 

“Have the doctors checked these three for brain damage?” the taiyoukai asked Rin when she appeared at his side, helping Miroku into the room.

 

Rin just glanced at the three rolling on the floor and shook her head. “I think any brain damage they have is long-standing. There's nothing the doctors could do now.”

 

“Hey now!”

 

“Hold up!

 

“That's not very--”

 

“Silence,” Sesshomaru commanded. “We have issues to discuss.”

 

“Hey, Miroku. Where's Sango?” Ayame asked as she helped Rin lower the monk into a chair.

 

Miroku shook his head. “She needed some time to herself.”

 

“So what did Kaede and Myogua say?” Rin asked Sesshomaru, quickly changing the subject.

 

“They are very relieved Naraku is no longer a threat. They deployed a team in to sweep and clean up Onigumo Industries. Kagura and Kanna have also been placed in custody.”

 

“What about Kikyo? Did anyone find her?” InuYasha asked.

 

“A small covert-ops team was sent to trail the miko, but lost her within the hour. Reports concluded she's fled the country,” Sesshomaru said.

 

“Well, at least we don't have to worry about that bitch for a while,” InuYasha quipped.

 

“Amen to that,” Ayame cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

 

“I don't know,” Rin said quietly. “I have a bad feeling about her.”

 

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, but when the smallest Slayer did not elaborate, the taiyoukai continued with standard debriefing procedures.

 

“So what's next for us to do?” Miroku asked seriously, glancing at the boardroom door. The monk had hoped Sango would have shown up for part of the meeting.

 

“Nothing for now,” Sesshomaru said. “Concentrate on recuperating.”

 

Everyone took that comment as a dismissal.

 

--------

 

Sango continued to wander HQ's corridors, ducking down new ones when she would spot another person. She had no desire to speak to anyone, not even routine pleasantries for the maintenance crew fixing the lighting panel on the third floor, or even the kind elderly cleaning lady making her rounds on the fifth floor.

 

When Sango came to the Infirmary, she paused outside Kagome's room. Spying the miko alone in the big bed, bruised and battered, connected to too many machines and tubes, Sango bit back a sob. Kagome's physical pains were like a manifestation of her own emotional ones. She almost didn't want to face them, or face her. Seeing Kagome like that reminded her too much of what had just happened, of Kohaku. But the Slayer decided to slip quietly inside and carefully crawled onto the bed next to her sister-in-spirit.

 

Gently brushing back her bangs, Sango placed a kiss on Kagome's forehead. “We're both complete messes, aren't we?” she whispered.

 

“I certainly feel like one,” Kagome croaked.

 

“Oh shit, Kags, I didn't mean to wake you,” Sango muttered apologetically.

 

“Shh, no worries about that. How are you holding up?” Kagome took in Sango's. Her whole aura screamed defeated.

 

`Oh Sango, she's been through so much. I don't know how she's still standing.'

 

“That good, huh? Why don't you just crash in here for a while with me. I won't tell.”

 

“Thanks, Kags,” Sango whispered with a watery smile.

 

“S'what sister's are for,” the miko mumbled sleepily. “You know, you're so strong, Sango. But it's OK to not be all the time. You don't have to be strong right now, right here. It's just you and me. I won't tell.”

 

And for the first time since she saw Kohaku's body, Sango let go and cried.

 

 

 

-----------------------------------

 

Special thanks to reviewers: DymondB, inutemptress, Ynohtna2412, samie167, Yankeeluvr, Koigokoro_inu_kag, beautifulyreal, narutoboy03, jin, TiffanyM, bearsammi2011, DesMM, kyonichi-luver, klutzyspaz, you.broke.a.promise, Missy, BlueEyedWulf, AzureFlames, yashkags4eva, inuyasha4ever123, ladyecco, BoredGirl17, Brandy Jay, Esha Napoleon, Mishirure, jblockk, InuAndKag4ever,hreg0880, cupecakemonster95,Angelblaze2006, and bettyboo2008.

 

I've sent replies to everyone who reviewed. For those who I had no link/e-mail to respond to, here are yours below.

 

jin: Thank you for the enthusiastic review! Lol, everyone did kick butt. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, but my writing won't. I'll keep writing til I'm old and can't see anymore.

 

Brandy Jay: Thank you for such a lovely review! I'm glad to liked the name of Ch. 22. I felt 'Powerhouse' was quite fitting. As far as Kohaku goes, it had to end the way it did. Sango has to deal with this pain. It's a topic I hate, yet am personally affected by. And thank you for the multitude of compliments! I appreciate your thoughtful comments that you leave very, very much. YOU are incredible, too. =-D

 

A/N: As much as I'd love happily ever afters, not everything in life is fair, as I know all too well. But as much as I dislike it, this is a natural progression of the plot. I personally know how Sango feels--I lost my brother to suicide a little over two and a half years ago. It's a subject not often discussed, and rarely seriously. I made a vow to myself (and my brother) that I would not let this issue sit in silence. So, I decided it fit in here. Sango has always been a character I most related to in the InuYasha anime, so I felt it was fitting to explore similar experiences through her.

 

I know this was a short chapter, but I felt that was an appropriate ending point. I tried to have a little comic relief in there. (Grieving is a weird process, and sometimes you just have to laugh because you've done everything else.)

 

Please review, and let me know your thoughts and comments. Thanks again for reading!

 

~Lizzie