InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Nigatsu no Hoshi (Stars of February) ❯ Kohaku's Closed Fate ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: Mou gamen dekinai!!

Suteki: hey, alright, HERE'S the drama with Kohaku, alright? Hope you're satisfied with it!

Shizuka: TADAIMA!!!

Suteki: oh woopee…

Shizuka: oh come on, you know you missed me! *runs and hugs Suteki in a bear hug*

Suteki: ahh! Make it stop! SHITA!

loud thud in the background

Suteki & Shizuka: Kouga kun?!

Kouga: WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP DOING THAT TO ME??!!

Shizuka: Kouga? But I thought Suteki killed you in the last chapter…*walks over to Kouga and tugs on his tail* so it really IS real huh?

Kouga glares over at Shizuka, and grabs tail from her hand. And then glares at Suteki, who gives a half smile and weary laugh

Kouga: so YOU'RE the one who made me die like that. And lose kagome to the stupid dog! You little, come here!

Suteki: AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Kouga chases Suteki around in circles while she screams frantically

Shizuka: >>sigh<<

Suteki wakes up whoa, that was weird, alright, here's the next chapter! ^_^

Chapter 6: Kohaku's Closed Fate

"Kirara?!" kagome yelled in surprise as she saw the yellow neko-youkai appear above the trees. She looked closer and saw Miroku guiding her, with Sango propped in his arms. Shippou was seated on Sango's shoulder, and appeared to be whispering words of comfort to her as he pat the back of her head tenderly with his hand.

"Miroku brought Sango with him? But why? Did she regain her strength that quickly?"

"it doesn't look like it inuyasha, she must have fought with him to bring her though." Kirara landed on the ground infront of them, and bent down, letting the monk and her owner slide off. Miroku stood while supporting Sango with his shoulder under one of her arms. "inuyasha! What's going on?" they were standing to inuyasha and Kagome's side, all keeping their eyes on the now glowing Naraku. By this time, Miroku had noted the fallen body of their companion Kouga, and the strange absence of Kagura, whom he thought they would be battling when they arrived.

"Kagura killed Kouga, and then kagome killed Kagura," Miroku shot kagome a surprised glance as inuyasha continued his brief summary of what had transpired before their arrival, " and then before we could stop him, Naraku absorbed Kagura and Kanna into his own body, to gain their power of course."

Naraku watched as the monk, demon exterminator, neko and kitsune youkai that traveled with inuyasha appeared on the scene. He smiled inwardly as he saw the one called Sango, and was even happier to see that she was wounded yet still determined to be there at the fight. `this shall prove to be very interesting indeed. And here I thought that she wouldn't show up, depriving me of my awaited entertainment.' Naraku let out a small smirk that caught everyone's attention, even the up till now silent youkai exterminator. "Naraku you bastard, what have you done with my brother? You better not have absorbed him as well!"

"my dear Sango, I would never dream of taking your brother from you without you being here to witness it yourself." Naraku smiled to himself, this time letting it show to the others. Sango was enraged at Naraku's mentioning killing her younger infront of her. She tried to step forward towards him, but Miroku wouldn't let her. "no Sango, you can't stand up to him. Remember our agreement, I wont let you leave until Kohaku is in sight." Sango's eyes brimmed with tears from frustration, and kagome rested a reassuring hand on her friends shoulder, smiling when Sango looked up at her. "Sango, he's right. You have to keep yourself safe, conserve your energy for when we see Kohaku. Knowing him, he's got something planned for him in this, he'll show up, don't worry."

"and when he does, I'll take him back from Naraku, and finally free him from the faulty life he's been dealt."

Naraku couldn't help it, it was all too perfect. If there was one thing in the world that he loved, it was to mess with people's emotions, kill them from the inside out.

As the group stared at Naraku, all with a level of hatred in their glares, Naraku stood with a small, content little smile on his face, which only furthered the rage of the group. Inuyasha was the first to attack, having the shortest span of toleration for crap like this. "lets get this started! I'm tired of looking at your sorry ass! And stop with that damn smirking!" he swung at him, not expecting to hit him since he knew Naraku would have ample time to get out of the way of the attack. Sure enough, Naraku jumped out of the way, only laughing at his fellow hanyou. Then Miroku got infront of the girls, and held onto his prayer beads, ready to attack.

"I wouldn't be doing that monk"

"and why not?"

Naraku smirks again, jumping back a few yards and grabs something from within the bushes. To their horror, the saw him holding Kohaku up by the collar. "ko-ko-kohaku!!" Sango tried to run towards Naraku again, and this time, Miroku wasn't able to hold her back. Sango dropped to the ground a couple of yards away from Naraku and her brother. "you let him go you bastard!" to her amazement, Naraku dropped the boy to his feet. She stared at him questioningly, and then back at her brother, who wasn't making any attempt at coming to her. Kohaku just stared at her with a blank look in his eyes. "what have you done to him? He wasn't like this before! You had given him back his control over his mind without the memories, but now it looks as if you've stolen his soul!"

Naraku only grinned again, "kill her Kohaku" and without even a second to deny the order, Kohaku raised his weapon above his head, and lunged out at Sango. Sango was barely able to roll out of the way, "KOHAKU! Stop it! Its me, Sango!" she plead, but the boy showed no sign of emotion on his face. He threw his weapon at Sango, but she deflected it with her hiraikotsu.

The rest of the group didn't know what to do, Sango was in trouble, but they couldn't fight Kohaku. Miroku focused his eyes on Naraku and stepped out towards him. Naraku was contently watching the siblings fight, but his attention was gained by the monk, when he saw him step forward again, still holding the prayer beads on his right hand. "foolish monk, you know that you can not use that against me. I cursed you with it, do you honestly think that I would allow you to use it to kill me?"

"you're a despicable and heartless creature to do this to Sango-sama and Kohaku. And I cannot just stand by and watch them as you are, I have the power to help, thanks to you, and I shall use it." As he finished his sentence, he ripped away the rosary, "KAZAANA!" the wind tunnel opened, and slowly but surely, Naraku started to inch towards the hole. But of course, Naraku wouldn't easily be taken down, and without a word from their master, dozens of poisonous insects swarmed from behind Naraku. `dammit, if I suck too many in, I'll die! I have to think of another way' Miroku tried to close his hand and put the prayer beads back on them, but he couldn't move. "what the hell?" he said out loud, a little bit of panic in his voice. Naraku smiled again, as he jumped out of the way of the vacuum, and watched as the helpless monk continued to consume the insects. "why can't I close my hand?!"

"fool, I told you that I gave you that accursed hand, and I wouldn't allow you to use it against me. I can control what I create. I will not allow you to close your hand until you have died from the poison. Even now, you've consumed more poison than ever before.

Inuyasha and kagome didn't know what to do. Sango was being attacked by her brother, while Miroku's hand was under Naraku's influence, and killing him. They couldn't get close enough to destroy the oncoming insects without being sucked into the void as well.

"crap, what do we do kagome?"

"I don't know inuyasha, but if we don't act fast, both of them will die!" kagome looked down at her hands, `if only I still had my bow, I don't know if I have enough strength to use my energy any other way.' She continued to argue within herself whether or not she would be able to help in her state. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a painful howl from the Houshi. Without second guessing herself, again, she threw her hands infront of herself and her hands began to glow in her miko energy.

Inuyasha watched on as the monk withered in pain from the poison he was uncontrollably consuming. And then his attention was on kagome when he felt her power raise again. When he looked at her he saw her focus her power into her hands, and her eyes turn into a light violet again. `she doesn't have enough power to do something like that again does she?' his worry was apparent on his face, and kagome noted it, but nodded to him, reassuring him that even though she looked to be acting out of panic, she was in complete control, and knew what she was doing. He nodded in understanding, and then looked ahead towards Miroku, the insects, and the still smirking Naraku, waiting to see what she would do.

Kagome closed her eyes, she had to get this just right, or she might hurt Miroku as well. She quickly opened her eyes, and as she did, the power that was lingering at her palms, shot out towards Miroku, going through the back of his hand, and then forming a shield at the mouth of the void. The bugs disintegrated as they, one by one hit the barrier kagome was creating. Kagome was straining to keep the barrier up, she not only was fighting the impact of the youkai, but she could feel Naraku's influence in the wind tunnel, trying to suck in the holy barrier.

Naraku's smirk turned into a scowl when he saw what the miko was trying to do. "I don't think so!" he shot out one of his tentacles towards her, which didn't go unnoticed by inuyasha or kagome. Inuyasha swung at it with his tetsusaiga, slicing it in half. But just then, another limb of Naraku's whizzed behind inuyasha, who tried to swing at it, but wasn't able to stop it. Kagome looked at the attack from the corner of her eye, not turning her head, and as she did, her eyes glowed brightly, and she formed a small shield infront of her, that deflected and destroyed the deadly assault.

She turned her attention back to Miroku, the hive of insects exhausted, and Miroku's hand was now closed. Apparently, Naraku had lost his control over it when he failed in stopping kagome, thus her energy succeeded in purifying Miroku's hand. No matter though, the monk was slowly dying anyways, and Naraku's plan against Sango was still in action.

Kagome ran over to Miroku's side, although she could barely stand up because of the level of power she had used. She lifted him into her lap and felt his head, he was burning up. Inuyasha looked on, not knowing what to do. "inuyasha, go make sure Sango is okay. Keep Kohaku at bay, but don't hurt him! I'll be there when I'm done with Miroku."

Inuyasha nodded again and bound off to where Sango was still fighting off her brother. She was too tired to yell to him anymore, crying because she had lost her optimism in bringing him to his own consciousness. Inuyasha then noticed, the smell of another's tears, Kohaku was crying as well, although his face showed no emotion, tears were still streaming down his face. `Kohaku must know what he's doing in the back of his mind, and he's trying to fight Naraku.'

"Sango! Don't give up, Kohaku's trying to fight Naraku, he doesn't want to fight you, you have to help him!" Sango heard him, and she smiled and stopped crying. She had hope now, she would get her brother back, Naraku's hold on him was slipping.

"Kohaku, you know who I am, you have to get a hold of yourself! Please, for me!"

Kohaku visibly flinched when he heard the concern and love in the woman's voice. He stopped a few feet infront of her, his weapon trembling in his hand, teeth clenched. She now could see him trying to fight back Naraku's repeating voice in his head trying to tell him to kill her. The light in his eyes was fading in and out, as he fought for dominance. Naraku felt this, and wasn't very happy with the boys disobedience. `how dare he disobey me! How could he get past my hold?'

"Aneui?"

"what did you say Kohaku? Kohaku, is that you? Stay with me!" she jumped up and embraced him, and he dropped his weapon to the floor. He could still hear Naraku's voice in his head, now becoming enraged. `kill her! Kill her, what are you doing? I helped you, you are mine now Kohaku, or do you want me to return those horrible memories to you?' Kohaku didn't answer, and he heard Naraku smirk in his mind, `very well then, maybe I should remind you of what I rid you of' Kohaku cringed as an image of him slicing his father throat with his own weapon played in his mind. "no, father! No…no" Kohaku fell limp into Sango's arms. `father? Why did he say that? Oh no! Naraku must be giving him back his memories for not listening to him. "its okay Kohaku, don't let Naraku use those memories to make you stay with him. Accept them, its okay, I'm here for you."

"no! they hurt too much, I cant live with that!" he cried into her shoulder

"no Kohaku, it wasn't your fault, you have to realize that. I do not blame you for what happened. It was Naraku's doing! He's the one to blame, don't accept his help."

Just as Sango's words began to seep in and he started to soften, Naraku put the image of him digging his weapon into Sango's back on that condemned day. `she's lying Kohaku, she hates you. How could she forgive you after you did that to her? She's trying to hurt you for what you did to her!'

Sango watched again as Kohaku tensed as if he just received a blow to the gut, and he let out a small whimper. Sango looked over to Naraku, who was glaring at Kohaku, eyes narrowed to slivers; he didn't even seem to notice Sango standing there staring at him. "Naraku!! You bastard, leave him alone, what lies are you feeding him?!" she screamed angrily, but Naraku didn't answer her.

Meanwhile, kagome was trying to keep Miroku from passing out. "come on Miroku, fight it!"

"I cant kagome-chan, I took in too much of the poison…its no use."

Kagome didn't know what to do, how could she help? She didn't have any of her medicine with her. But then she remembered how Miroku had told her that once, the poison had been purified in his body by a shield of positive energy. `I hope this works like it did before.' She placed her hands, one over his cursed hand, and the other on his chest. She closed her eyes, and once again focused her energy into her palms. "Miroku, I need your help for this. Concentrate on your spiritual powers, I'm going to insert a high level of pure energy into your body, if you aren't in a spiritual state, it may kill you. Are you ready?" Miroku listened to Kagome's instructions, and tried to calm himself. He focused on his meditating routine, and when he felt himself at peace, he nodded to her. She once again concentrated on her hands, trying to regulate the amount of energy she released, because even though he was a monk, too much power could still kill him.

Miroku laid still, as he felt his body become enveloped in warmth, his whole body was tingling in response to the power he was being given. He could feel the headache subside, and he regained feeling in parts of his body that had become paralyzed. Soon, kagome opened her eyes, and her hands stopped glowing.

"how do you feel Miroku?"

"better amazingly, arigatou kagome-sama. I'm tired though, my body isn't used to holding so much energy at once."

"such is expected, you will probably pass out, if you feel that your body wants to, its okay, you'll be okay now."

Miroku was silent, and nodded again, relief spread over him as he let his mind be taken over by the blackness of sleep. Once kagome saw that he had fallen asleep, she stood up, looking around for Kirara. She spotted the pale yellow neko, she was watching over her master intently, knowing that she couldn't hurt the boy, she would watch until she was needed. "Kirara! Come over her please!" the neko heard the familiar voice, and flew over to the young miko. "Kirara, I need you to take Miroku away from here, not too far, just out of harms way please. I can't carry him myself." Kirara purred in response, and with a little help from kagome, hoisted the unconscious monk onto her back, and flew just past the outskirts of the clearing where shippou was watching from, and stayed there with him, still watching over Sango.

Kagome then joined inuyasha where he was watching curiously at the turn in events with Sango and her brother. "what's happening inuyasha? Why is Kohaku crying?" "he's trying to fight off Naraku, Sango's trying to convince him to accept his memories instead of running from them into the haven that Naraku claims to provide."

Kagome's features took on a look of horror, then anger. `that bastard, how can he do that to poor Kohaku?' she could tell by the look on Naraku's face that it wasn't as easy to get him under control as he wished it to be. "Kohaku's strong, I'm pretty sure he can win this, especially with his sister with him. But that doesn't mean we can't help." She turned around to fully face Naraku, and gave him a death glare, which he didn't see, but he did feel it nonetheless in the back of his mind. But at the moment, he was concentrating on keeping Kohaku in his grasp.

Inuyasha followed her gaze, and readied his sword. "I'll watch your back inuyasha, I can't attack him on my own, I've used to much energy as it is already, I'm pushing my limits."

"I know, you had me worried back there when you were trying to help Miroku." Inuyasha looked at kagome, and then dove at Naraku.

`this boy is useless to me, I cannot control him any longer, but what keeps me from hurting him in other ways?' before inuyasha could reach him, he grew spikes on one of his arms, and lashed them out towards the siblings. "Sango!! ABUNAI!! Behind you!" Sango looked over her shoulder, seeing the oncoming danger, she struggled with her hiraikotsu, deflecting the attack. But then another wave of them came from his other arm just as quick. Kohaku reached to the ground to grab his weapon, wanting to protect his sister. But, he dove right into Naraku's line of fire, and he took one of the spikes in the torso. `gotcha' and as his goal was accomplished, he received a blow from inuyasha, his angry windscar taking out half of his body.

"Kohaku!!! NOO!" Sango dropped to the ground, and rose the boy into her lap. She looked at the wound, `oh no! this is bad, I don't know if he can make it through this, he's losing too much blood too fast, and the spear must have ripped some of his organs. No, Kohaku…'

Kohaku winced in pain, not only from his injury, but he realized that he now remembered everything that he had done, clear as day.

"its okay, Aneui, this is what I deserve for what I did to you, and to father, and the rest of our comrades and family."

She shook her head frantically "No! Don't say that Kohaku! It wasn't you, you couldn't, and you wouldn't have done anything like that of your own initiative. It was Naraku who planned this whole thing from the beginning; Naraku is the one who killed them, not you. Listen to me Kohaku, I will never blame you for what happened, and I know that the rest of them wouldn't either. In fact, father would be very proud of you for being able to overcome Naraku's control today, he really would Kohaku."

"Father? You really think so? I've only once before heard he was proud of me, I'm glad you think so."

"Kohaku, I love you. Please, do not try to hide from who you are anymore. Tell me that you understand that none of this was your fault, please, I need to hear you say it." Sango was now crying again as she plead with her brother, as she saw him in so much pain, emotionally and also physically.

"Thanks to you Sango, I'm happy now. Yes, I wont blame myself anymore, if you are not angry with me, that is enough for me. I am glad that I was able to see you again, and remember how much you meant to me. I've always looked up to you, and the whole time I was under Naraku's control, something told me that you would be the one that freed me, and I'm glad it was you. There's no one in the world I would have wanted to die with, than you."

"Kohaku, don't say things like that…" her voice trailed and cracked, she knew he was right, "Kohaku, I'm happy that I was able to see your eyes again, to see you smile; and I am happy that I was able to free your distressed mind before it was too late. I can die happy now…" she smiled, knowing that she was able to settle her brothers soul, because, although his mind didn't remember what happened, she knew that his soul would for all eternity.

"Sango, I am sorry though, that I was unable to live with you longer this way. Gomen"

"Kohaku, baka, " she tried to laugh, " don't you know that we will be reborn together as siblings again? That's how it works."

"No sister, this time, I'll be the eldest, and you will be the annoying younger sister." He smiled at her, and she laughed as more tears rolled down her cheeks. She lifted him up, so that his head rested on her shoulder, still careful not to cause him further pain. "I love you, my sister. Thank you for always being there for me, I will never forget…your face…"

"I love you too…Kohaku. Kohaku? No! Not yet!" she slowly pulled him away from her, looking into his face, he was gone. She noticed that there was a single, unshed tear that was still welled up at the corner of his eyes, and as she cried his name one last time, it rolled down his face, landing on Sango's hand that was holding his limp head.

Japanese

Aneui: affectionate term for "elder sister" (this might clear some things up for those who have seen The Castle On The Other Side Of The Looking Glass, the 2nd inuyasha movie)

Suteki: no, Kohaku! I hate killing people, I'm sorry everyone, it had to be done.

Shizuka: yes, sorry she's such a heartless witch everyone.

Suteki: hey! I am not! Argh! Okay, thanks for the reviews once again, I would appreciate some more for some encouragement.

Shizuka: don't forget to tell them about the other thing

Suteki: oh yeah, thanks for reminding me. I have another story that I wrote today, its called "Farewell My Beloved". It's a short one-shot about inuyasha and Kagome's future, warning: more death!, check it out please, and don't forget to R/R pertty pwease begging puppy dog eyes

Shizuka: All right, next chapter, Sango passes out over the death of her brother and strain on her body; kagome and inuyasha are left alone to fight Naraku. Naraku gets annoyed with the still growing powers of kagome and decides to get her out of the picture, but how will inuyasha defeat him on his own? Can kagome still help?

Suteki: thanks for writing the whole story here Shizuka, lol. Nothings sacred. All right, that chapters coming soon, so check back for it! Mette!