InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Learning my way... ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha. Keitaro is mine though.

Kagome Higurashi crawled on her hands and knees towards the Bone Eater's well, trailing blood from the wound in her side. Her hair was matted and her face bloodied and scratched and she awkwardly dragged her bow with one hand. Her right foot was useless and the pain was excruciating. Nevertheless, she had to keep going she had to save Keitaro she had to protect her son, her little boy.

Inside, she was numb from grief, Her mate's final moments replaying over and over in her head. Hot, salty tears leaked from her eyes and mingled with the blood on her face.

Inuyasha…! Her heart cried out in agony and she could see in her mind's eye, her Inuyasha lying still on the ground, his golden eyes vacant and his neck twisted and the giant ryu-youkai standing over him, before turning to take her.

Inuyasha…

In his sling, little Keitaro whimpered at the smell of blood on his mother, but kept silent, as his basic instincts instructed him to do. Kagome lifted her head slightly. In the distance, she could see the well, twenty metres away.

Twenty metres and Keitaro will be safe…

Kagome felt herself fall and her vision start to darken and the pain started to go away…

No! I must make it to the well…

Forcing herself back to consciousness, she continued to drag herself across the clearing. She had lost so much blood that she could barely crawl straight. After what seemed like forever, she reached the well. Reaching out, she summoned all her remaining strength to pull herself up. Letting go, she pitched forward into the well.

As the Time slip opened up to pull her and Keitaro through, Kagome felt herself start shutting down…

A baby's wail from the direction of the well house caught sixteen-year-old Higurashi Souta's attention immediately. Dropping his book bag, he sprinted across the shrine grounds to the well house. Throwing open the shoji, he jumped the steps and peered into the darkened well.

The sight at the bottom made Souta's heart stop.

Kagome lay curled protectively around Keitaro's baby sling with a gaping wound in her side, blood pooling around her. Souta scrambled down the ladder as quickly as he could, jumping the last ten feet.

Falling to his knees, Souta ripped off his shirt and tried to staunch the wound in Kagome's side. Keitaro continued to wail as Kagome's eyes fluttered open.

"It's too late Souta…" she whispered.

"No! No Kagome! Don't you say that! You will live," cried Souta, trying even harder to stop the bleeding. Tears streamed down his cheeks and his shoulders shook. Kagome shook her head slightly.

"No… I will…join…Inuyasha…in the…afterlife…"

"Inuyasha…is dead?" asked Souta, barely believing it. The inu-hanyou who had seemed all powerful and immortal to him, who was the older brother he had never had…was gone…

"How…How did he die? What happened to both of you?" cried Souta, pushing a lock of Kagome's hair out of her face. The grief was raw in his sister's brown eyes.

"An attack…" she said softly, "the ryu-youkai…"

"Kagome…No…you can't die too…" gasped Souta, gathering his elder sister in his shaking arms. Kagome looked up at him, her eyes reflecting her pain.

"I'll get you out of the well… I can get you to hospital… You can live…" said Souta frantically, yet deep down, he knew…He knew that Kagome would not make it…

No… Kagome…Don't do this to me, don't leave meand Mama…

"Keitaro…" she whispered, slowly turning her head to her screaming son. Souta pulled the baby closer, so that Keitaro was between both of them.

"Kagome…please…" begged Souta through his tears, "please don't die…"

"I'm sorry…" he could barely heard her words as her eyes fluttered closed. Her shallow breathing slowly stilled, her head slumped and her body relaxed.

"Kagome!" cried Souta, "Kagome…Nooooo!!"

Sobs wracked his body as he held the shell that had once been his beloved sister. A knife dug into his chest and ripped away part of his soul. Little Keitaro began to howl and scream as the smell of his mother's death reached him.

"Kagome…" whispered Souta, gently lowering his sister's body to the ground. Reaching over her, he lifted Keitaro from his sling and cradled the screaming infant against his chest. Shaking, he gently undid the necklace that held the nearly completed Shikon jewel around Kagome's neck. Placing it in his pocket, he slowly rose to his feet.

For several minutes, he stood there, unable to move his legs and unable to tear his gaze away from her body. Kagome…is dead…Inuyasha…dead… What about the others? Sango? Miroku? Shippou? What happened to all of them?

Finally, he was able to slowly climb the ladder, his arms and legs threatening to give out on him. As he pulled himself over the edge of the well, Mama came out of the house. She caught sight of him, shirtless, covered in Kagome's blood and holding Keitaro and screamed.

"Souta!" she cried running towards him, "What happened?!"

"Mama…" choked Souta, "Kagome… she… she… there was…an attack… Kagome and Inuyasha are…" Mama didn't need him to finish the sentence,

With a scream of grief, Mama Higurashi fell to her knees, her face paling and she shook violently. Souta knelt beside her and hugged her tightly as he could. Their tears fell on Keitaro's face.

"My baby…" murmured Mama blankly through her tears, "My little girl…"

Souta pulled away slightly and rocked his screaming nephew, in hopes of quieting the little inu-hanyou. The baby screamed himself to sleep, but neither Souta nor Mama could sleep as the ambulance and rescue crews took Kagome's body away.

Questions were asked, but the authorities were told that an animal had attacked Kagome in the well house and she had lost her balance and fallen. When one police officer left the shrine grounds, he saw the Higurashi family huddled in the middle of the grounds, trying in vain to comfort the little son of the deceased, while tears of grief streamed from their own eyes.

It was a sight that he would never forget.