InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kazoku ❯ The Answer ( Chapter 8 )

Kazoku

Chapter 8: The Answer

DISCLAIMER: Lawyer-Dude: Do you, LadyJynjr, own the characters in this story?

Me: What characters?

Lawyer-Dude: The characters in this story!

Me: Erm…which story?

Lawyer-Dude: Your story!

Me: Oh! Yep, I own the story.

Lawyer-Dude: But do you own the CHARACTERS in the story?

Me: …….what characters?

Lawyer-Dude: -_-; I give up.

Author's Note: A reviewer pointed out that chapters four and five were obviously not this story, because they were Harry Potter chapters. Sorry! ^-^ It was a mistake, and can happen to anybody. Sorry you were `disappointed'. I've changed them back to their proper chapters.

~*~*~*~*~

"Kagome's dead…"

The words rang in his ears, but he didn't quite believe them. Kagome couldn't be dead. She was too sweet, too innocent…too full of life…he loved her too much. She couldn't be dead.

Ignoring Kaede's protests, he ducked into the dark hut. His eyes adjusted almost immediately. He headed towards the back of the hut, almost afraid of what he would find. Kagome lay on a mat on the dusty floor. Her skin was pale and cold. Inuyasha crouched next to her, taking her lifeless hand in his.

"Kagome," he whispered. Despite his attempts to keep it back, a tear fell down his cheek. "How could you leave me?"

He didn't receive an answer. He hadn't expected to. The tears fell freely as he laid his head on her unmoving chest. He couldn't hear a heartbeat or a pulse. The reality of death hit him hard.

Kagome was gone. She wasn't ever coming back.

The hanyou raised his head and howled to the ceiling out of grief. He had known grief before. He had even caused it. He knew grief from when his parents died and when Sesshoumaru had abandoned him, but nothing like this.

Wait.

Inuyasha stopped howling and looked back at his mate's body. Sesshoumaru. Didn't Sesshoumaru have a sword that could revive the dead?

He leapt to his feet. He didn't want to be in his half-brother's debt-in fact, he hated it-but he didn't have a choice. If there was a chance for Kagome to live again, he'd take it.

Kissing Kagome's cold forehead, he raced to Sango and Miroku's hut. He could hear Inuroku's broken sobs and assumed that the monk and taiji-ya had told him about his mother's death. He ran into the hut, full of adrenaline and renewed hope.

"Miroku!" he shouted. The occupants of the hut turned to face him. Inuyasha vaguely noticed that Takara was awake and crying on his son's shoulder. He grabbed Miroku by the shoulders a bit harshly.

"Take care of Inuroku," he begged. Miroku's eyes widened and Sango looked alarmed. She struggled to her feet.

"Inuyasha, what are you planning? Don't do anything stupid, like killing yourself!"

Inuyasha shook his head, realizing too late that his remark did sound suicidal. He turned to Sango. "There's a way to save Kagome!"

All eyes brightened.

"You're gonna save Mama?" Inuroku asked. He sounded hopeful.

"Yes-but you need to stay here. Take care of him, Sango."

She nodded, but the hanyou had already raced out of the hut.

Running alongside large boulders and gnarled trees wasn't very easy. Inuyasha had to dodge the twisted branches and sharp outcrops that are common in the woods. He stopped to rest, trying to remember where his childhood home had been.

He remembered a large stone castle in the Western Lands, where his father had ruled. As the eldest son of the lord, as well as the full-youkai of the family, Sesshoumaru had inherited the castle when their father died. Surely that must be where he stays…

"Damn it!" he cursed. He could remember bits and pieces of the castle and its grounds-barely enough to know where he was.

"Such crude language. One would think you were brought up by barbarians, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha nearly fell off the rock he was perched on. He had failed to notice his brother approaching when he was trying to find the castle.

"Fancy seeing you here, Sesshoumaru."

"Why not? These are my lands. If you are here to fight, then draw Tetsusaiga and let's get this over with. I'd rather kill you quickly."

Inuyasha felt his blood boil at this comment, but he took a deep breath to calm down.

"I'm not here to fight you."

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow at this. "Then why are you here? Surely you're not here to seek helpful brotherly advice."

"I need your help."

Sesshoumaru almost laughed. He would have laughed, had he actually shown emotion. God forbid. "You've never needed my help before. Why start now? What is it you need?"

Inuyasha clenched his fist. `This guy's really pissing me off…'

"Kagome's dead," he explained. His heart lurched. That was the first time he had said the words aloud. "I need you to revive her."

"Why would I do that? I have no use for a human miko, or for you. What is my profit?"

"Look, I don't have anything to give you!" Inuyasha burst out. "I don't have anything to offer. You want Tetsusaiga?" He threw the sword on the ground at Sesshoumaru's feet. "Take it. You want to kill me? Go ahead, but only after I get proof that you'll bring her back. She's my mate! We have a child, damn it!"

Sesshoumaru looked shocked. Inuyasha stared straight into his half-brother's eyes.

"I know that love doesn't mean anything to you," he whispered. "But she's everything to me. Please."

Sesshoumaru's eyes, unbelievably, softened.

"You underestimate me yet again, Inuyasha," he said. "I have a mate as well, you know. I am not susceptible to love."

Now it was Inuyasha's turn to look shocked.

"You have a MATE? Who? Since when?"

"Since the battle with Naraku. I took Kagura, the wind sorceress, as my mate, and I love her just as much as you love your mate. I'll help you. Where is the miko?"

Inuyasha let out a breath of relief.

"She's in the village. Follow me."

~*~*~*~*~

There was never a stranger sight in the village then Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, walking side by side through the myriad of newly built wooden huts. The villagers stared and the mothers held their children close.

"The stupid humans seem to think I'm going to cause them harm," Sesshoumaru remarked.

"You would try," Inuyasha scoffed. "These humans are under my protection."

"By the way, I expect a good fight after this. I could use a challenge."

Inuyasha said nothing. He stepped into the darkened hut. Sesshoumaru followed him. A little yelp was heard and Inuyasha was nearly knocked over by a sobbing Shippo. He latched on to the hanyou ad started beating Inuyasha's chest with his tiny fists.

"She's dead! You let her die! Baka! Baka! I hate you!"

Inuyasha felt all the guilt over Kagome's death return in a flood of emotion. It was his fault. He should have protected her….

Sesshoumaru gazed at his half-brother with apathetic eyes.

"Are you going to kill the annoying kitsune or should I?"

Shippo made a sound like a mouse being stepped on and ran to a distant corner of the hut. Sesshoumaru walked back to Kagome's body and stared at it.

She was exactly as Inuyasha had left her: pale, cold, with her head tilted back and her eyes closed peacefully. The crimson stain of blood marred the otherwise pristine blouse. Inuyasha had heard that when people die, they look like they are sleeping. Kagome didn't look like she was sleeping.

She looked like she was dead.

He saw his half-brother place a clawed hand on the handle of Tenseiga and then draw his hand away.

"What are you doing?" He demanded. "Why are you pulling away?"

Sesshoumaru turned away from the corpse. "I can't help here."

"What?" Inuyasha felt his heart shatter. His last hope had been that Tenseiga could revive her.

"I can not help her. She's not dead, so therefore Tenseiga is of no use."

"What are you blabbering about? Of course she's dead! Can't you smell her blood? She's not breathing! She has no heartbeat! Her face is all pale and cold!"

"But her soul remains alive," Sesshoumaru said. "The wound is in her shoulder, Inuyasha, not her heart. She bled heavily, but not enough to kill her."

"So what's causing all the `death' signs?"

Sesshoumaru did something Inuyasha supposed was a very regal shrug.

"Her soul may be dying. Perhaps her body is already dead and her soul is trying to put it to rest by dying itself."

He began to walk towards the exit. Inuyasha leapt up, saying, "Hey! Where're you going?"

"You have your answer. I am no longer needed, so I will go."

"But you can't go!" Inuyasha said desperately. "What about Kagome?"

"She is your concern, not mine."

Inuyasha realized he was right, but hell would freeze over before he admitted it. He gave an annoyed "Feh!" and turned, listening to Sesshoumaru leave the hut.

"I-Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha whirled around to see Shippo standing behind him. Oh, yeah. Forgot he was there.

"What do you want, brat?"

Shippo frowned, obviously put out by Inuyasha's attitude, but said, "Kaede mentioned that before Kagome…um…died-but-didn't-die, she was muttering stuff. Maybe you should see Maybe you should see what it was so we can figure out what happened to Kagome."

Inuyasha stared at the kitsune, surprised. He had forgotten that how smart the fox could be at times.

"That's a good idea," he mumbled. "Where is the old hag?"

"In Miroku's hut. She wanted to check on Sango's baby."

Inuyasha strode out of the hut with Shippo at his heels and promptly ran into Kaede.

"Oof! My, Inuyasha, ye must use ye eyes when ye walk. Ye can't go around running over helpless old women."

"Feh! It's not my fault you're blind!"

Kaede sighed and brushed past him into her hut. Inuyasha noticed she was carrying a beautiful kimono and baskets of herbs.

"What are those for?"

"The kimono is for Kagome to wear during the cremation. The villager women made it; she can't go to her final resting place wearing those clothes. The herbs are for blessing the body."

"You don't need them, hag. She ain't dead."

The old priestess blinked. Inuyasha recounted what Sesshoumaru had said. Shippo decided to jump into the conversation.

"Kaede, you said that Kagome started muttering something before she died."

"She ain't dead!"

Shippo and Kaede both ignored him. Kaede answered, "Yes, she started saying something about tainted souls and fighting. Much of what she said was nonsense."

"Maybe it wasn't nonsense!" Shippo quipped.

Inuyasha sat quietly, thinking hard. The only fighting Kagome had done recently was with Kikyo, and if anyone had a tainted soul, it was the undead miko. Her mind had been twisted by Naraku's evil ways.

Suddenly, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. His head snapped toward his mate's body. Was it possible…..? Could she really be waging battle as they sat next to her?

"She's fighting Kikyo's soul," he announced. "It makes sense…Kikyo had a part of Kagome's soul. When she crossed over to Naraku's side, it became tainted. Then she died and the soul was transferred to Kagome. Kagome's soul was too pure to handle the evil. She's trying to purify the part of Kikyo's soul."

Kaede sighed and shook her head.

"If that is the case, then there is nothing ye can do to help. This is Kagome's battle. She must fight it on her own."

~*~*~*~*~

Dun dun DUUUUN!!!! Sorry, it was a kinda boring, but look at the bright side. Kagome's not dead! Yay! Yes, I know the whole bit with finding Sesshoumaru is weird, but they never actually mention where Fluffy-chan goes when he's not traveling. It makes sense that it would be a castle inherited from his father, since he is a lord and all. And he's also waaaaay OOC, but I haven't seen very many episodes with him in them. And doesn't anybody but me notice he has a habit of randomly pooping up to fight? Kagura/ Sesshoumaru! Yayness!

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