InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mind Reader ❯ The Fruitless Victory ( Chapter 20 )

Mind Reader

 

Chapter 17: The Fruitless Victory

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

“KIRARA!” screamed Sango in grief, pushing away from Miroku and standing back up. Her eyes were tinted red with rage. If she was a hanyou like Inuyasha she would have transferred into her youkai form by this point. “You bastard!” she spat, “I'm going to kill you!” And before anyone could stop her Sango had thrown hiraikotsu towards Akki. And like before Akki simply used his shield to deflect the boomerang back towards Sango. But this time Inuyasha stepped in front of her and blocked her boomerang. Before Sango could lunge at Akki Miroku grabbed her from behind.

 

“Sango! Calm down!” pleaded Miroku, his arms encircling the struggling girl. “You can't fight Akki like this!”

 

“Let me go! I'm gonna kill him! He killer Kirara! Don't you understand? He killed Kirara,” sobbed Sango, still pushing against Miroku's strong arms.

 

“She's not dead.”

 

Sango turned her tearstained face to Sesshoumaru. “What did you say?”

 

“She's not dead. Her heartbeat is faint, but it's still there,” he said softly.

 

Sango looked back to the still form of her cat. “Alive,” she whispered quietly, relief flooding her eyes.

 

Miroku relaxed his grasp on Sango and returned to her side.

 

“She's still not safe,” continued Sesshoumaru, “she won't be able to withstand another attack from Akki.”

 

The relief that was previously in Sango's eyes disappeared in a flash. “Then what are we doing? We have to get her away from him!”

 

“I know, but remember the plan. Me and Inuyasha will move in for her.” Sesshoumaru glanced at Inuyasha and together they began charging.

 

“Stop.”

 

The brothers slid to a halt and stared in awe. Akki had spoken. His voice was gravelly, it sounded like tow rocks scraping against each other.

 

“Move one step closer and she will die.” Akki held one hand above Kirara, almost daring them to make a move.

 

“What do you want?” asked Sesshoumaru coolly.

 

“The shikon shards,” came the reply.

 

“You can't have them!” shouted Inuyasha.

 

“Then she dies.”

 

Sango watched in fear as Akki began lowering his hand towards Kirara. A moment later she was running towards her. “Kirara,” she begged, “don't die. Whatever you do, don't die.”

 

“Sango!” yelled Miroku, giving chase.

 

However, both humans stopped running when a bright light suddenly surrounded Akki. When it had died down they saw an arrow portruding from the hand that was above Kirara.

 

“You will not lay another finger on her you bastard,” said Kagome dangerously, another arrow already fitted to her bow.

 

Inuyasha looked from Akki to Kagome. He saw Akki begin to smile. He turned back to Kagome and found that Kouga was not by her. Realizing he had only a second to act he drew out tetsusaiga and charged. “Kouga! You idiot! Get by Kagome!” he shouted.

 

Kouga, realizing his mistake, started running wildly towards to Kagome, fervently hoping that he wouldn't be too late.

 

Sesshoumaru cursed both Inuyasha and Kouga and then followed his brother. When the brothers got close Akki twitched his ears and unleashed one hell of a breeze.

 

Inuyasha was bowled over by the attack. Sesshoumaru fared a little beterr but he was still knocked to one knee. When Inuyasha cleared his eyes the first thing he looked for was Kagome and Kouga. He cursed when he saw Kagome was still alone. When he located Kouga he realized that Akki had hit him with the attack as well. The wolf was currently picking himself up off the ground.

 

“Kagome! Turn around!” screamed Inuyasha desperately.

 

But something was wrong. Kagome wasn't listening to Inuyasha. She seemed frozen in place. That's when fear gripped Inuyasha's heart. He felt like there was a great clawed hand that was slowly digging its claws into this heart. Akki and Kagome had made eye contact.

 

Kouga saw this as well. And fear gripped his heart much like it did Inuyasha's. But he was in a position to help. He flew to Kagome in a whirlwind of dust and stepped in front of her not a moment too late.

 

Akki's eyes flashed and Kouga began screaming in pain. He brought his hands up to his head and clutched it in pain.

 

Kagome, now free from Akki's eyes, stood in front of the wolf and placed a hand on each of his shoulders. “Kouga! Kouga! Fight it! Fight the pain! Get him out of your mind!”

 

Kouga fell to his knees, still screaming in pain. Inuyasha had never seen anything like it. He had never seen Kouga react so fearfully to pain. He had never heard Kouga scream like that. And in that instant he realized that Kouga was a friend. If Kouga wasn't a friend than him screaming like that wouldn't have torn at Inuyasha's heart. Rage tore through Inuyasha's body and before he knew it he was once again charging Akki.

 

This time he managed to reach Akki. But that didn't mean he was thinking straight. Instead of using his sword he punched Akki in the head. The squirrel went flying but the damage had already been done. Inuyasha's left hand was a bloody mess and when he tried to move it he realized that his wrist was broken. But Kouga was released.

 

Kouga fell face first to the ground. When Kagome rolled him over he gave her a wry smile.

 

“That stupid bastard. He said all Akki could do was give you a headache. That was no headache,” he whispered in pain.

 

Kagome gave him a small smile and brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Just rest. We'll get you help once we've taken care of Akki,” she soothed.

 

At the mention of the squirrel's name Kouga groaned and rolled back to his stomach. He then gingerly stood back up.

 

“Kouga! What are you doing? You're hurt!” exclaimed Kagome, rising to her feet as well.

 

“Nah, I'll be fine. Besides, as long as Akki is still here I've gottta protect you,” said Kouga, still clutching his head in pain. It felt like there was someone inside his head repeatedly bashing the inside of his skull with a club. He swayed slightly in pain but quickly righted himself.

 

“Hey Kouga! Are you finally done being a wimp?” called out Inuyasha, knowing exactly what to say to get Kouga back to fighting condition.

 

“Me? A wimp?” scoffed Kouga, “you wish.”

 

Inuyasha, glad to see that Kagome's shield was back, turned his attention back to the demonic squirrel. Akki had risen back to his feet. “Hey big brother, you ready to send this squirrel back to hell?”

 

“Of course,” replied Sesshoumaru.

 

Inuyasha smirked and readied tetsusaige in his uninjured hand. It would be a bit harder to fight with only one hand but Inuyasha was not about to let Sesshoumaru do all the fighting. When he saw his brother start moving Inuyasha joined him.

 

The brothers flanked Akki and at the same time they attacked. Inuyasha swung tetsusaiga while Sesshoumaru formed his whip and cracked it towards Akki. But Akki, having recovered from the earlier blow, quickly unleashed his shield. Both of the weapons were easily deflected and the brothers flew backwards from the force of Akki's shield.

 

“Shit, that hurt,” cursed Inuyasha while climbing to his feet. He was then hit by an incredible gust of wind. He fell back to his knees and braced himself against the gale. The wind was so strong that it was tearing apart his clothing and forming small cuts all over his body. `Dammit, my body can't take much more of this.'

 

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and saw Akki sending gust after gust of wind at Inuyasha. Inuyasha was bowed to the ground, tetsusaiga stabbed a good foot into the ground, the only thing keeping Inuyasha from flying backwards most likely to his death. He smirked when he realized that all of Akki's attention was focused on killing Inuyasha. He reformed his whip and charged Akki's back. When he lashed out with it he was surprised to see Akki reach out and catch it. `Scratch that, it only seems like most of his attention is on Inuyasha.'The whip didn't harm Akki at all. Then while continuing to crush Inuyasha's body with his wind attack Akki jerked on the whip and caused Sesshoumaru to fly forewards. While the demon lord was off-balance Akki grabbed Sesshoumaru's neck and dragged him to the ground.

 

For the first time in his life Sesshoumaru felt powerless. Akki had him by his neck and was sending torrents of energy throughout his body. Even though Akki's hand only covered about 3 inches of his neck he couldn't get away. He couldn't even control his body anymore as it was now shaking uncontrollably. Blood slowly began to seep down his neck, staining his clothes a bright red.

 

`Shit, how could he be this strong? How could it end like this? Being killed by a squirrel?'

 

But then the oddest thing happened, the energy being pumped into his body slowed down. He opened one eye to see Miroku standing a mere 25 feet away, his wind tunnel unleashed. Akki still ceasefully beat down on Inuyasha but his attack on Sesshoumaru stopped, he was too busy trying to keep from being sucked into the wind tunnel. But Sesshoumaru was still powerless to move, somehow, even with his small hands, Akki had a strong grip on his neck. Sesshoumaru glanced back to his brother and was shocked to see blood pouring down his face. Inuyasha was barely holding onto consciousness. Sesshoumaru painfully willed one arm to obey his commands and with it he reached up and grabbed one of Akki's ears. Immediately more pain was wrought throughout his body, but the attack on Inuyasha had stopped. Sesshoumaru let his arm drop back down to his side.

 

When the wind attack stopped Sango immediately threw her boomerang at Akki. It hit Akki square in the chest. Akki, still with a firm grip on Sesshoumaru, slid a foot closer to Miroku and his wind tunnel. Sesshoumaru, through half-lidded eyes, saw Sango dart in and drag the barely conscious Inuyasha away from the battle.

 

After having one of his ears painfully clawed and being smashed in the chest by a boomerang Akki had weakened a little bit. He had his shield going but he was still sliding towards the black void in Miroku's hand. But he refused to let go of Sesshoumaru and Sesshoumaru was too weak to fight.

 

For the moment it looked like Miroku would pull both Akki and Sesshoumaru into the black void. They were getting closer, 15 feet, 10 feet, only 5 feet to go.

 

When Miroku saw that Akki and Sesshoumaru were 5 feet from being sucked in he looked up and caught Kagome's eye. She was ready, and arrow notched in her bow and aimed at Akki. She nodded at Miroku, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

 

“NOW!” shouted Miroku, closing his hand and quickly wrapping his wind tunnel up with his rosary beads. He dove for Sesshoumaru at the same time Kagome fired her arrow. Miroku grabbed Sesshoumaru around the waist and immediately screamed in pain. The energy that was still surging through Sesshoumaru's body was now going into his. But before he collapsed Miroku was able to lunge away from Akki, pulling Sesshoumaru with him. They hit the ground and rolled at the same moment Kagome's arrow hit Akki's shield.

 

The shield fizzled out and the arrow fell lifelessly to the ground. Akki's eyes slowly roamed the battlefield. Only 3 opponents were left standing. One was a human who could easily be killed. Another was the wolf demon that he already weakened with his eyes. The third was the biggest threat to him. The one with the arrows. She was also the one with shikon shards. And the one that he had the mind connection with. He could kill her just as easily as the other human, but he was held back. If he just outright killed her he would also cease to exist. All because his death move was left incomplete. To do his deathmove a part of his mind had to enter his opponents mind. That was how he could tear their mind apart. But since he didn't complete his deathmove on her a part of his mind was still in her mind. Each time he looked her in the eyes a little piece of his mind returned, also taking a bit of her's with it. But if she died before he got all of his mind back he would die. It was impossible to exist without your whole mind. If he was able to complete his deathmove he would be freed from her grasp. And as long as the girl didn't know that she couldn't take advantage of it. And Akki planned to destroy her before she figured it out.

 

Sango ran to join up with Kagome and Kouga. They were the only ones who were still able to fight. And the strongest, Kouga, was already weakened from Akki's earlier attack. All in all their chances of survival were looking pretty slim.

 

“So guys, you have any brilliant ideas?” asked Sango nervously.

 

In response Kagome fired an arrow which Akki was able to dodge. She fired another arrow which Akki again dodged. “Well, there goes that idea,” she said.

 

“Well then, how about we all pray really really hard for a random lightning bolt to suddenly strike Akki and fry his little brains?” suggested Kouga.

 

Kagome let out a slight laugh, but it more like a desperate laugh than a cheerful laugh. “Very funny. But how about an idea we can actually use?”

 

No one said anything. Akki started walking towards them.

 

“Times a-ticking people. We need an idea,” said Kagome urgently.

 

Still no one said anything. As Akki got closer Kouga stepped in front of the girls, becoming a shield for them.

 

“I'll hold him off for as long as possible. You guys run for it.”

 

“What?!” exclaimed Sango. “Are you insane? Do you really think that we are gonna abandon you just like that? No way, we're in this together, even if it does happen to be the end.”

 

Kouga smiled ruefully. “Damn you reckless humans.”

 

“Reckless maybe, but at least we'll go down fighting together,” replied Sango, unsheathing her katana. She stared wishfully at her boomerang, which was lying a mere 25 feet away, but there was no way she could reach it in time.

 

She and Kouga got into fighting stances. It was almost time for the final show-down.

 

“Well guys, it's been nice knowing you,” said Kouga sorrowfully.

 

When Akki was 20 feet away he stopped moving. He raised one hand and beckoned for them to come closer.

 

“WIND SCAR!”

 

A brilliant flash of light suddenly came from the left of Akki and barrelled straight towards him. Akki had no time to prepare and was enveloped by the attack. When the dust settled two figures were seen standing. Inuyasha had tetsusaiga held in front of him. And Akki had survived. But he had not survived unscathed. Most of his tail was gone and blood was flowing from the stump.

 

Akki squealed in a high pitched voice that made both Inuyasha and Kouga cringe. But while Akki was squealing Inuyasha was creeping closer. And Akki was well aware of that. But he also knew that he was no position to fight. Before Inuyasha could reach him Akki turned to the others. They were completely frozen in surprise. The girl, Kagome, was left unguarded. Akki willed her to look at him and unable to resist she did just that. Their eyes met. His eyes flashed. Kagome fell. And Akki ran.

 

Inuyasha saw Akki fall and immediately forgot about his prey. He ran to Kagome. But halfway there he collapsed. Akki's relentless attack and then using the windscar drained him of all his energy. He faded into unconsciousness.

 

Kouga, kneeling by Kagome and cursing his stupidity saw Inuyasha collapse. He had saved them all. The two full youkai failed, but Inuyasha, the hanyou, had hit Akki. He had succeeded where both Sesshoumaru and himself had failed.

 

Sango surveyed the battlefield. Out of the six that had started only two remained standing. There were no casualties, but there were severe injuries. Sesshoumaru practically had a hole in his neck, she was surprised he was still living, and Inuyasha was a complete bloody wreck. Miroku was unconscious and every now and then his body gave an involuntary shudder from the energy that had plagued his body. And Kagome got hit by Akki's attack again. But they were alive.

 

`But for what point and purpose?' thought Sango woefully. `We all fought our hardest, for what? A draw? A chopped off tail? We gave our best to take a tail? How are we suppose to live against both Naraku and Akki? What chance do we have of survival?'