InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kagome's Blood ❯ Kagome's Fate ( Chapter 4 )

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Chapter Four

 

Kagome's Fate

 

 

 

 

Inside the hut, Kagome wondered why the water had become so warm. Yet, she still felt chilled.

 

`The bottom of the lake doesn't feel quite right.'

 

It took great effort to force her eyes to open, even if it was just a tiny slit. Although most everything was a blur, she could tell that she was no longer at the lake. Slowly her senses began coming back to her.

 

`That medicine smell. I'm at Kaede's! Where is everyone?' She began trying to stir, but was somehow trapped. 'What is this?'

 

She struggled to open her eyes again. In an attempt to turn her head to the right, she met a silky obstacle made of thick strands, and subsequently heard a barely audible growl. She knew that sound.

 

'Inuyasha!' She tried to focus her attention on him and discovered his arm across her. 'This is unusual. I wonder what is going on. Well, since he's blocking me on this side, I'll roll out the other side.'

 

She had forgotten that she had been trapped when she had first gained consciousness. Trying to turn to the left, she ran into another obstacle, a muscular bronze chest. A thick arm of corded strength with furred cuffs was twined around hers.

 

'Kouga! Oh Kami! Is this supposed to be the nightmare from hell or the sweetest dream from heaven? Kouga and Inuyasha seem to have gotten over their feud.'

 

She looked at her two, very brave protectors, becoming dizzy with the effort. For once, they were not fighting with each other. The sight was such a treat.

 

`What's going on?' She had to wake them. Her weakness allowed very little projection in her voice. Quietly, she spoke their names.

 

"Inuyasha? Kouga?"

 

Inuyasha thought he was dreaming. Somewhere out there, Kagome was sounding much too sweet, the kind of sweet that he usually associated with eating dirt.

 

"Inuyasha," whispered Kagome against his fur tufted ear.

 

His ears twitched and then slowly circled around. It had to have been a dream.

 

"Inuyasha, if you do not listen to me, I will use the subduing spell."

 

Inuyasha shot up to a sitting position, consciously keeping his arm across Kagome.

 

"Kagome..." he stammered then went straight into jerk mode. "You're back? YOU STUPID BITCH! You had me terrified!"

 

Kagome's vision began to dim again. Nevertheless, she was smiling while Inuyasha watched her eyes begin to fade. 'He is always going to be my handsome hanyou, more demon than human. Idiot.'

 

Kouga awoke with a start. 'Nobody should be making this racket around my injured mate!'

 

"Don't you dare leave me again, wench! Come back!" Having completely forgotten Kouga's presence, Inuyasha exhibited his usual form of worry and concern.

 

"What are you doing, Inuyasha? Leave her be! Are you trying to kill her? Stop it before I eat you," hissed Kouga, his eyes glaring daggers.

 

"She was awake just a minute ago!"

 

"Kouga, is...it you?" Kagome whispered almost inaudibly, once again quite dazed.

 

She put all her strength into squeezing the hand that held hers. Kouga may have kidnapped her, but he now protected her and was not afraid to express his feelings for her. And, though he loved her and claimed her as his mate, he respected her enough not to try to force her into anything she didn't want. She respected that noble strength.

 

For a moment, Kouga felt Kagome lightly squeeze his hand. He looked into half-opened eyes. His heart pounded and he could barely refrain from kissing her. Having seen that expression on the battlefield more times than he cared to remember, he knew how much it cost her to smile for him. Despite the amount of energy it took, she had done it.

 

"Save your strength, Kagome," Kouga quietly ordered while he stroked her raven hair and kissed her on the forehead.

 

Inuyasha looked on, seeing the tenderness with which Kouga treated Kagome. 'Why can't I be like that?'

 

`You know why, you baka, Kikyou. That dead miko you keep chasing around,' Inuyasha's subconscious argued.

 

'But I swore to Kikyou I would go to hell with her just to be near her. Or, at least, that's what I told Kaede I would do. I'm not sure of anything anymore.'

 

Lost, Inuyasha rose to leave. With his head down, he used his unruly bangs to cover the shame in his eyes. Perhaps, he was not good enough for Kagome.

 

Kagome felt Inuyasha's warmth leave her side. "Don't go, Inuyasha," she pleaded as best she could.

 

"Sit down, you flea-ridden mutt! She needs us," growled Kouga.

 

Deciding that his reputation had suffered enough, Inuyasha plopped down at Kagome's side, legs crossed, nose in the air, and one ear cocked toward her. He noticed her effort to lift her arm into his lap, but it clumsily fell down the side of his leg. Not turning his head, he reached down and gently wrapped his large clawed fingers around her tiny frail human hand. Nose in the air, pretending arrogance as always, he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw her smiling with her eyes closed.

 

"I'll get the others.” whispered Kouga. He found it blatantly obvious that the two needed time along and he had heard the others outside. It was the least he could do, considering Kagome's feelings for the mutt.

 

"Kagome, I'm...sorry. I've been... so afraid of losing you and...it's all my fault," Inuyasha mumbled in Kouga's absence.

 

Kagome, drifting back and forth between worlds, wondered if he knew what had happened.

 

"I didn't protect you, my little porcelain miko," he risked. Never had he been so open. However, this was a circumstance that he had never encountered. He had to follow Kouga's example because he might never get the chance to tell Kagome how he felt. He couldn't let her go to the grave with unrequited love. She wouldn't be allowed to rest in peace—just like Kikyou.

 

That was enough to flatly shock Kagome right back into his world. "Inuyasha? You've never called me that before."

 

"That is what you have always been to me, Kagome...my little porcelain miko doll, and I wouldn't give you up for the world." He may have never said that he saw her as strong, even for a weak human. Her fragile body had always caused him see her as one of those easily breakable dolls.

 

Kagome turned her head toward him and opened her eyes. Tears rolled down her cheeks. All she had ever heard from him before was "wench" this, "bitch" that, and "stupid" the other. What could have changed so drastically that he would wax poetic? Her mind was too hazy to remember questioning of his behavior beyond the point of its inception.

 

"Sorry, Inuyasha...I'm...so…tired."

 

Inuyasha watched as her body seemed to shrink.

 

"Wait! Kagome!" Inuyasha, using his brain for a change, toned down his voice. "Sango and Miroku want to see you. Stay awake just a little longer," he pleaded, hoping that she would continue to stay lucid.

 

Upon hearing their cue, the eavesdroppers hurried in behind Kouga.

 

"Is she still awake?” Miroku asked, feeling the air in his lungs frantically trying to escape while he held his breath.

 

"Kagome, Kagome," Sango softly called.

 

With great effort, Kagome managed to open her eyes. "Where is Shippou?"

 

"He is waiting for you to come back with us, Kagome."

 

Haltingly and with slurred speech, Kagome tried to communicate. "I'm too tired right now…wanna sleep. Thanks...you guys. Sorry I worried you."

 

"As always, thinking of others,” Miroku sadly sighed.

 

Inuyasha felt Kagome's hand in his go limp. His breath caught and he quickly put his ear to her mouth. Quite out of character, he smiled at the others.

 

"She's still breathing."

 

 

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Kouga had responsibilities that only he could fill. He hated leaving Kagome's side, but it couldn't be helped. His pack needed him. Their borders were under unceasing attack. His sturdy frame, barely covered by a slip of fur, complimented his muscular tan legs. Always battle ready, his flowing, straight, black hair was always pulled back into a ponytail and a leather head band prevented salty perspiration from trickling down to burn his eyes.

 

He never knew when the next attack would occur. Readiness was a requirement. Constantly patrolling his territory gave him the physique of a God. Even Inuyasha felt threatened that Kouga's appearance would win over Kagome's affections. Embedded in each leg was a shard of the Shikon jewel. It gave him the incredible speed that kicked up his signature whirlwind. He was confident that he would not be away from Kagome for long. With that knowledge in mind, he turned to leave the small hut.

 

“You'd better keep her alive, mutt face,” he scowled then sped out the entrance. `If anyone can destroy an enemy, it is that bastard. He'd better keep her safe.''

 

Everyone had surrounded Kagome, hoping that at any moment she would awaken. After sitting for quite some time, Miroku, stiff from being stationary for such a long period of time, decided to go outside and take a walk. Sango followed and clasped his hand as she came up to his side. With eyes wide, he looked into Sango's smiling face.

 

"We will still have each other. You can molest me and I can still slap you!"

 

"Ah, the pain is worth it," he chimed in.

 

He appreciated Sango's efforts to cheer him up. Though, his face quickly became somber. "We should take her home. In her future time, her people might be able to save her."

 

"Miroku, she wouldn't survive the journey!"

 

"Sango, admit it. She isn't going to survive here," Miroku sternly informed her. It wouldn't be healthy to ignore the truth of the situation. Nevertheless, it hadn't been necessary for him to have been so blunt.

 

Tears began to flow down Sango's cheeks and Miroku cursed himself for being such an idiot. Sango may have known that Kagome wasn't going to survive, but to hear it was much too harsh.

 

After a lengthy stroll through the field, they walked toward the garden, still hand in hand. Kaede was gathering vegetables for dinner, not that anyone would be able to stomach food, but she needed to busy herself with something.

 

"Is Inuyasha still with Kagome?” Miroku called to Kaede.

 

"He has not left her side even once. He even helped changing her dressings without impure thoughts. I am most impressed."

 

"Is she still bleeding?” Sango asked, not sure that she wanted to hear the answer.

 

"Hai. Not as much, though I expect it is because there is not much left."

 

Kaede turned her face from them so they would not see her distress. She was losing her sister all over again. Although Kagome was Kikyou's reincarnation, her heart was somehow softer, more gentle and warm. The jewel that had been burned with Kikyou's body, the jewel tainted by Kikyou's bitterness toward Inuyasha, had been ripped from inside Kagome's body by a demon. Subsequently, she knew that Kagome had to possess Kikyou's soul. Kagome even loved Inuyasha as Kikyou once had. There was no doubt that, though much different, Kagome was her sister reborn.

 

There was more at work than chance. When Kagome, a high school girl from the future, had fallen into her sacred well and had come out in the Bone Eaters Well in feudal Japan then proceeded to released Inuyasha from a spell that had bound him to the God tree for fifty years, Kaede knew exactly who the girl was. Only Kikyou could have broken that spell. The arrow that had held Inuyasha in slumber for those fifty years turned to dust when Kagome pulled it from his chest. There was no question in Kaede's mind.

 

Kaede wiped her eyes and turned to the others. Hobbling with the stiff bones of an old woman, she made her way back to the hut. Miroku and Sango took her baskets for her. As they approached the hut, they heard groaning and sobbing.

 

"Don't go, Kagome! You can't leave me! No!" A high keening sound erupted from the hut, followed by a howl.

 

Dropping their baskets, they rushed into the hut to find Inuyasha clutching Kagome tightly to his chest. Her body was the chalky, grayish white color of death. She could not return his love for her arms hung limp at her sides, death having claimed her.

 

"Inuyasha, you must take Kagome home," insisted Kaede.

 

"She's mine and I will never let her go!” Inuyasha practically shouted while his eyes glowed as though he were about to transform. He pressed his swollen, tear-soaked cheek into her cold neck. “No matter what it takes, I will not lose her like I did Kikyou,” he muttered.

 

Miroku was angry that Inuyasha had never shown Kagome that kind of passion when she was alive.

 

"You murderous hanyou," he muttered under his breath.

 

Fortunately, Inuyasha was so absorbed in his distress that he didn't hear a word. Sango grabbed Miroku and with all her might dragged him outside.

 

"What do you think you are doing you... you idiot?! Kagome loved him with all her heart. She gave her life to him. You have no right to go against her wishes."

 

Suddenly, Inuyasha appeared in the doorway with Kagome wrapped in his fire rat robe and held tightly held her within his arms.

 

"We will discuss this when Kagome and I return," he growled, having overheard Sango's last words. He was gone so quickly that he nearly disappeared before their very eyes. Not even Kirara had that kind of speed. Miroku noticed that Inuyasha's sword was once again glowing ever so slightly.

 

"Has he gone mad?" Sango exclaimed.

 

"Apparently so," replied Miroku.

 

'Perhaps Inuyasha's sword is the only thing that has kept him from transforming during this ordeal.'

 

 

 

 

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Reviewer Responses

I Lurv You All

 

MM.ORG

 

Ivygirl10

Thank you so much for the review and awesome scores!

 

loretta537

Thanks so much for reviewing. This thing is complete and 84 or 86 chapters long. I've just been sick, but it will all get edited and put back up now that I'm better.

 

AFF

 

LadyCash

Thanks for reviewing and I'm so so sorry that all of this is taking so long to post.

 

Merely Truth

Thanks for reviewing and I'm very sorry for being so slow. Seizures and rl were giving me real problems, but things are getting better.

 

Kookookitty

Thanks for reviewing. The fic is complete. It's just down for editing. However, with being so sick, I might skip a lot of that and just repost it as is. Thinking about it. There are something like 86 chapters. Hope you like this one!

 

Lissa

Thanks for reviewing and I apologize for the delay. RL is a bitch, but I'm trying.

 

Kerbear

Thanks for reviewing. I didn't expect to get sick while putting these back up, but things are looking up and hopefully, I'll do better.

 

Darknessdawns

Thanks for reviewing. Nope, this isn't all. There are around 86 chapters. It's complete, just taking awhile to get it cleaned up and back on the site.

 

 

*Disclaimer*

 

Inuyasha and all associated characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. I make no profit from this story, nor do I intend to. My only goal is to occupy my demented mind with delusions of actually owning a life-sized, anatomically correct Sesshoumaru. The characters Kaiaela and Mr. Sesshou belong to me!

 

 

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