InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ No Face, No Name, No Number ❯ Part III ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

No Face, No Name, No Number Part III

 

“Inu-Yasha? Inu-Yasha-kun?”

The snow on the ground was fresh and the white water was falling lightly around her. She smiled a bit and reached out to cup some of the damp ice in her hands. “I’ve never played in the snow before. Mother always said it was too dangerous and Sango didn’t like caring for me when I was sick.”

Inu-Yasha laughed a bit. “You know, I’m not sure I’ve ever enjoyed snow either.”

Kagome frowned. “What does it look like?”

The young man was taken aback for a moment. “It’s just… white and… cold.”

“I know that it’s cold.”

“Oh yeah.”

Kagome laughed and stepped closer to Inu-Yasha. “Would you take me outside of the gates?” She sighed as he took her hand to avoid letting her hit something.

“Out of the gates?”

Kagome nodded enthusiastically. “I know you can get into Goshinboku really fast. That must mean you can… jump or something, right?”

“Kind of.” Inu-Yasha tightened his hold on the younger girl’s hand.

“So then… leap -or whatever it is you do- over the gate!”

Inu-Yasha’s eyes grew. “Are you crazy?!”

“I don’t think I am.”

“This whole miko thing must be driving you mad.” Inu-Yasha stopped walking with the girl and turned her to face him. “Look, it’s better if they don’t know I exist.”

A sour look crossed his friend’s face. “They think I’m crazy because of you.”

“Good, crazy bitch.”

Before he knew what was happening, a large chunk of white, fluffy, cold snow was dumped down the front of his hakama. His eyes grew as large as saucers. “I’ll show you a crazy bitch!”

She giggled as he made noises of discomfort. And jumped around to rid his pants of the cold ball of wet snow.

“Kagome!”

He grabbed her shoulder in an instant and they were high in the Jideiji within a second. Inu-Yasha settled his back against the tree bark and Kagome sighed, contented, in his lap. Her head rested against his shoulder.

“I know you exist. What’s the big deal, anyways?”

Inu-yasha sighed. “Do you want to know what I look like?”

Kagome shook her head. “No, because Sango says all the good-looking ones are asses. So that leads me to believe you have to be ugly or something.”

The backhanded compliment was true Inu-Yasha style. “I’ve taught you well, young one.”

She giggled. “You know, though. The nice ones could be the really, really hot ones with no confidence in themselves.”

He snorted. He opened his mouth to speak, but clamped it closed hard when the treading feet were right under his tree. Kagome was about to say something in his marked silence when he clamped a hand over her mouth.

He leaned to her ear. “Shh. Miroku’s looking for you again.”

A shiver raced down the girl’s spine and the hanyou smiled a bit. She took on a pink colour to her face.

The young monk below the tree shrugged his shoulders and turned around, going back the way he came. Inu-Yasha’s hand dropped from the girl’s mouth.

“You know, you’re becoming a little risky to me, girlie.”

“Pfft. You don’t know risky.” She let her head fall back against his chest. “Can you turn me around, I’m cold.”

The hanyou sighed but complied. She put her arms around his midsection. “Would you come in tonight? Sango-chan said it was going to get really cold again.”

Inu-yasha smiled and put a hand in her hair. “ ‘Course. What’d you think I’d do? Sleep out here in the snow? Keh!”

Kagome laughed and closed her eyes. “You smell good, you know that?”

Inu-Yasha took on a pinkish hue.

“I do, eh?”

“Yeah…” She drifted off in a small nap.

Later on in the evening, Kagome had retired to her room, dismissing Sango and Miroku after they thoroughly lectured her on not disappearing like she always did. She was almost an adult now, and those two wouldn’t even let her think for herself.

What would they say if they found out she was sharing a bed with a man?

She snorted and stripped of all the thick layers of cloth. When she was finally down to her thin dressing gown, she threw herself onto her thickly blanketed futon. Her gown was bunching at the waist and she couldn’t get it to straighten out with any attempt.

She scowled at her lap and pulled the blankets tighter around herself. She shivered a bit, but a smile graced her face when she heard the clicking of her window.

“Hey.” he slipped in the window and shut it tight behind him. She heard him shake off.

Kagome smiled brightly at him and sat up, holding the blankets around her. “Are you cold, Inu-Yasha-kun?”

He made a small sound and muttered a quick “Yep.” before jumping into her futon. She patted his head and laid down next to him.

Without ever trying, Inu-Yasha had always managed to make her feel normal. He knew she was blind, but he didn’t mind.

Yet he wasn’t over-accommodating like Sango and Miroku, either. He was able to treat her like any other girl he would ever meet, but he did it all without trying.

Inu-Yasha tugged lightly on her arm and she was caught in her muse. “What are you thinking about?”

Kagome blushed. “I was just thinking that I don’t know what a kiss is like.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

“No…” Kagome shook her head but allowed the man to pull her closer to his chest. “I’m really serious.”

Inu-Yasha let out a small noise akin to something a dog might make. “You can’t be serious.”

“Well I was just saying.”

He rested his chin on the top of her head. She smiled blissfully. “Would you mind if I stopped training…?”

He shrugged. ‘Why would you wanna do something stupid like that?”

“I hate it. I hate her. She made me do this, you know.” Inu-Yasha sighed.

“I guess it can’t be helped, then.”

A companionable silence fell over the two. “Inu-Yasha?

He grunted and buried is nose into her hair. She sighed, at ease, even with the hanyou so close. His arm tightened around her thin waist until she was flush against his chest. Her gown was still riding up, but she didn’t care.

“Why won’t you let me show them?”

He sighed and shook his head against hers. “Kagome… they would try to kill me. You should be trying to kill me. I’m sorry, but we can’t.”

“Okay…” She paused and let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d held. “But will you at least tell me why?”

Inu-Yasha tensed up and Kagome rubbed up and down his arms. She wanted him to be normal again. I wish I could see his face.

A pained look trailed across his eyes before her held her tighter than he had a moment before. “ I will, if you promise me you won’t tell them If you don’t run away from me.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Even if I was different. Really different?”

She snorted. “You should be the one running, Inu-Yasha. You’ve stayed here, with me, through everything. You’ve stayed for me. Thank you,” she whispered. “I would never run from you. Ever.”

He swallowed hard. “Kagome, I’m only half human.”

“Only half,” she seemed curious. “What’s the other half, Inu-kun?”

He rolled his eyes at her. “Youkai.”

Her mouth opened, “Oh! That’s what that was…” She fisted her hands in his haori. “I’ve kind of known that. Without knowing it, of course.”

Inu-Yasha nodded. He seemed relieved. He kissed her forehead and any other part of his face he could, sans her lips, as always. “You can see it.” He smiled a bit as she giggled. “And so can they. I don’t look normal, not like a human.”

“What do you mean?”

He shifted so that she was laying almost fully on top of him. Her face buried into his chest as she let out a deep sigh. “Gods, woman. Gain some weight.”

She smiled and said, “And what, loose my womanly figure?” She sighed. “On second thought, I don’t want to know what you look like. I really want to be kept guessing. I always loved those games.”

He laughed outright. She raised her face off of his chest and rested her cheek on her palm.

He let his hand fall into her hair. “You know… I don’t even know what I look like.” She slumped. “That’s pitiful.”

He let out a low laugh and shrugged. “You are… different then other girls. You are beautiful, Kagome.”

She could feel heat in her face, but she smiled despite it and put a hand to Inu-Yasha’s face. She brushed his lips and they both immediately sobered up. She trailed her finger across his slightly parted mouth. He closed his eyes, his hand sliding up and down her back.

She did what came to her next. She propped herself up and bent down, planting her lips soundly to his. He seemed surprised, but quickly regained himself. He flipped her onto her back quickly, eliciting a yelp from her. She could feel something soft brush her face and she realized in an instant his lips were trailing along her cheeks, to her eyelids, to her neck, over her collarbone, tracing the line of her nightgown. She couldn’t keep her little noises at bay.

She fisted his hair with one hand and gripped his arm with the other. His hands were on her waist, keeping her still and making it impossible for her to squirm under his soft touch. She whimpered and he was immediately at her lips.

She opened her mouth to him. His tongue searched her mouth passionately, heatedly. She couldn’t bait the moan that came from her. He pressed his body closer to hers and she sucked in air. He pulled away from her lips and stared at her.

“Y-You don’t-”

She put her hand to his lips. “I know. But I want this. I want you.”

“Kagome,” was his last word before he was assaulting her with his mouth once more. Her short gown was now at her waist and Inu-Yasha graceful hands had it over her head before she knew what was happening. All at once, the feel of his hands playing at her chest and his mouth at her breast made her ache for him. She’d never felt this sort of thing from any man. She never thought she would ever have anyone who loved her as much as he did, as much as she loved him.

His hands trailed further along his body, stopping to trail his fingernails (which she had realized were in sharp points) along her flat stomach and her sensitive thighs. Her legs had gone unbidden, around the man’s waist.

Inu-Yasha wasn’t stupid. He knew what he was doing, and he knew it could have very severe consequences. He couldn’t stop, though. Her scent was nearly blinding when he was this close to her and her skin tasted sweeter than honey to his sensitive tongue.

He moved down to her naval, nipping at her skin reveling in her sweet sounds. He smiled and grabbed her wrists. Kagome’s eyes opened when she felt Inu-Yasha pull away.

“Inu…Yasha…”

With his gentle touch, he lifted her arms to the sides of her face. His mouth sought hers once more, and she was more than willing to comply.

An aggravated grunt was the only warning Kagome got before she felt Inu-Yasha’s hot, exposed flesh on her own. Her moan was cut off by his.

He took one of her ear lobes into his mouth and bit lightly. Kagome whined. She could feel him so close to her, and she knew what they both sought, but he was teasing her.

Kagome moaned as he licked the space right behind her ear. Her eyes were shut tight. He licked the area again and she cursed him.

“Inu-Yasha!”

He shushed her, millimeters from her ear. She could feel gooseflesh spreading to her arms and legs. “Not so loud, Kagome.”

The way he said her name drove her mad.

She arched her back, willing to press more of her skin to his. She groaned when he slightly bent away and held at her wrists a little tighter. She laid flush with her sheets again and waited for him to come to her again.

And he did. He pressed his chest to hers and slid himself inside of her. Her eyes opened wide at the myriad of sensation that came from the one action. She moaned and allowed herself to bury her face in her neck. This brought more of her flesh into contact with his.

The noise he made sound eerily like a hiss before he slid out of her. All at once he was inside of her again. He pulled his body back a little to see his lover’s face.

“Kagome.”

He let go of her wrists to grab her lower back and prop her up a little bit, allowing him to slid deeper. He was speeding up, and her breasts bounced back in forth with the momentum.

“Inu-Yasha!” She was close, and he could feel it. He rose her only a few degrees, but that was all she needed. She was whispering something his ears couldn’t pick up, but he didn’t care.

It was only a few thrusts before they both were there, at the peak. Kagome grasped at his arms and held tight as she came. Instead of his name through her lips, she uttered one phrase. One phrase that Inu-Yasha vowed he would never allow himself to forget from her.

“I love you…”

He clutched at her shoulders when he rose from her. He allowed himself to fall beside her and hold her flush against his chest.

Inu-Yasha’s mouth went straight to Kagome’s ear. “I swear to you. I will never leave you. You have me. All of me.”

Kagome was reeling at the admission. She knew it would the closest she would ever get to the three words she wanted to hear. She smiled broadly up at him.

Her face shimmered with sweat, but he had never seen a being as beautiful.

“And you,” she whispered, “Have all of me.”

He pulled her closer and buried his nose in her hair. Jasmine…

~*~

Two years. Two long years since Inu-Yasha had seen her. He parted after Kikyou discovered him on one night and he never came back. The day he disappeared, Kikyou died.

More than that there was something that Sango and Miroku weren’t telling her. Kikyou had told them something before she died, and they refused to divulge it to Kagome, no matter how much she begged and pleaded.

In her love’s absence she trained to become the nisou in Kikyou’s place. She took a vow of celibacy, even though she did not have her virginity anymore.

She wore the robes of a traditional miko, now. Her chosen place of meditation was in front of Goshinboku. It made her long for her lost love, but she put that out of her mind well enough. What else could she do? He had her heart, her soul, her life all in his own hands. Whatever he had chosen (or forced) to do was his choice alone, she had given it to him when she gave him her heart.

When Kagome told of Miroku what had happened that night, he look thoughtful and dismissed it as a dream.

She’d argued, telling him it was definitely not a dream. Something like that, her mind could have never made up. Sango had looked embarrassed and asked if she had any other affairs that her two confidants should know about.

She’d just smiled and said, “Sango, no man would have ever lived up to him.”

Sango blanched and nodded mutely.

She didn’t know why she was so restless in thought today, but she just shrugged it off and tried to clear her mind. She took deep breaths and tried to steady herself just as old-lady Kaede had taught her.

Old lady Kaede… The old woman had convinced her to start this stupid miko business in the first place.

When Kaede found out that she had allowed herself to be bed by a half youkai (Kagome always found irony in the fact that Kaede was the only one to actually believe her) she’d gone postal, stating that Kagome’s spirit was tainted and she would never be able to become a miko now.

Kagome rolled her eyes at the memory. Sango seemed like, if she believed Kagome, that she definitely believed that the younger girl was most far from pure because of her actions. Sango had been raised as an exterminator of the youkai for the infested southern plains. Kagome had never agreed with the line of work and was beyond horrified when she found out about the slaughters Sango was involved with. It seemed like she, herself, was none too proud of some of the things she’d done under the influence of her father, but she couldn’t change that, now. But she could assist in the restoration projects, but the only way she could was to be sponsored by a miko. Kagome had always thought that was the sole reason that she’d wanted Kagome to become this in the first place.

Once Miroku showed Kagome pieces of Sango’s old village that she’d originated from. He told Sango that they were going on some sort of holy study, but he took her to the Taijiya village. It had been a humbling experience for Kagome, and she was immediately sobered. She’d never tried to convince herself that Sango had had it easy, but sensing the absolute destruction of Sango’s home brought back memories of her sad eyes and soft words.

Combined with the feel of all the people who’d lost lives in the large village and Kagome had lost it. She was on the ground sobbing for hours until she was retching, but Miroku made no move to comfort the girl, instead insisted that he should leave a good prayer for the people buried in the unholy, unsanctioned ground. Kagome had managed to bring herself to her feet and into the wrecked home that Sango grew up in.

It was huge, smaller than the castle at the East, but still huge. Kagome’s pallid hands reached out to touch anything, everything, all that she could. She’d tripped numerous times, not knowing the number of steps until the room ended, but she didn’t care.

She could tell which room Sango slept in. Her aura lingered heavily there, and Kagome sat in there until the sky was black. Even when Miroku came into the room and stood at the door, Kagome did not move from the futon.

“She cried here.” Kagome’s hand rested at the small block at the head of the bed. “She was alone… and she cried.”

Miroku stood behind her. Kagome let her harsh sobs rack her small body. His hand didn’t go to her shoulder as it usually did. She cried harder.

“This is what you will prevent, you know.”

Her sobs were harder. “This is fate, Miroku. Even I’m not fool enough to believe people can change something like this.”

“You don’t understand.” He sighed and sat next to her. “She was found nearly a week after her family was killed. A week. Do you know what a week does to one without food, without sun, without hope…?”

She dipped her head. “What would change?!” She shook her head violently. ‘It is destiny, Miroku! She was found by you! What if she had not been? What if she had been found by anyone else?!”

He sighed and her cries became louder.

“You love her! I wouldn’t change it! Not because I’m heartless. No, Miroku. You saw what Kikyou became. You saw her corruption at the hand of Onigumo. I will never become pure to be tainted like that!”

He put a hand to the small of her back. Her eyes widened. He was going to say something, she knew it, but he stopped at the last minute. “We’d better head out. Inns are hard to come by when the moon hangs straight over us.”

Kagome shook her head. ‘I want to know, Miroku. I want to know what her dying words were. I want to know what she said to you to make you like this, telling me I have no choice but this road.”

“She said nothing, Kagome-san. Nothing of relevance.”

Kagome huffed in annoyance. She could not find concentration like this, with her mind in such turmoil. Something light fell to her lap and she was startled. There was a bit of wetness on one of her hakama legs.

A hand shot to her own face and she felt the tears streaming from her eyes. “…Sango…”

She hadn’t felt the two behind her, and she was caught again in a muse. “Ah, Kagome-chan! So this is where you’ve been.”

Miroku grinned to his wife. “Isn’t this where she always is, now?”

Kagome was on her feet in seconds. Her head was turned down and her back was to the husband and wife. Her voice was soft but it reached both of their ears. “What did she say, back then?”

They both knew what she was talking about.

Sango answered first. “We’ve told you, she didn’t say anything that was relevant.”

“Not what you told me,” Kagome shook her head, “What did she say?” the young girl had an epiphany. “Wait… It was about Inu-Yasha, wasn’t it?”

She felt a distinct guilt in the air. She nearly whimpered.

“When you two feel like telling me what happened, you can come see me.” She was hurt by their dishonesty. They knew. They knew and they still… they still said those things.

Kagome grasped at her robes above her heart. It hurt all of the sudden. Inu-Yasha…

The walk back to her small room was a short one, but she couldn’t stop her over-active mind from going over everything they’d said.

They tried to deny he existed. She was almost positive that Kikyou had instructed them to rid Kagome of Inu-Yasha. But what happened to her feelings? What happened to the two declaring that they loved her as if she were their own flesh and blood.

She was also hurt by the motivation behind having her as a miko, and that was why Miroku was so troubled about her sleeping with the hanyou. The vow was to keep her from the half-human, but they hadn’t realized how close the two had gotten until it was far too late.

Kikyou had died, no one knew exactly the cause, but Kagome was now sure she had something to do with the hanyou.

Kagome laid herself on top of her blankets, unwilling to undress or pull back the blankets, despite the slight chill. It would have been him to take the chill off.

Sango walked in without her husband. “Kagome. Kagome they begged me not to tell you… I knew you’d find out, that it was only a matter of time, but he told me that if we just kept denying it, you would trust us. I’m so sorry, Kagome-chan.” Kagome could hear the light sniffle.

“Sango… don’t cry, please.” Kagome sat up and reached for the Taijiya. She laid a hand on the other girl’s arm.

Sango took a deep breath. “I knew, Kagome-chan, that it was wrong. What we did was wrong, but you mustn’t blame any of it on houshi-sama. She told us that you’d been with him. She told us that she’d been with him, that he was going to leave.”

The words were like a blow to her chest, slicing apart her heart. “With… K-Kikyou…”

Sango shook her head. “She said that the only way to keep him from hurting you was sealing him. Sealing him… meant…” Sango swallowed hard, “Kikyou died at a youkai’s hand. She said it was Inu-Yasha… That he killed her.”

“Where, Sango-chan? Where is he sealed?”

“I-I can’t tell you…”

Kagome stood up to face her friend. “Please…”

“If I tell you, you will never forgive me.”

“I will always forgive you, Sango.” Kagome offered her a shaky smile and a hug. “No matter how much I’m upset, I will always forgive you.”

“In Goshinboku, Kagome!” She grabbed her friends hands and broke down, sliding to the floor. Sango’s sobs heavy in the air. Kagome was frozen.

Go…shin…boku…

Kagome couldn’t believe it. He had been here the whole time, covered in Kikyou’s aura masked so that Kagome couldn’t find. Her earlier tears spang back to her face. “H-How long…”

Sango spoke through her shaking sobs. “Since Kikyou died. Kikyou sealed her there with the help of Onigumo.”

Kagome couldn’t feel, couldn’t think. Everything stopped. Could this be close to what Sango felt when she found her village destroyed and her family dead? Was it even a shadow to Miroku watching his father die, murdered by mindless youkai as he tried protecting his son?

All at once, feeling resumed and she could swear that her heart shattered into thousands of unrecoverable pieces.

Between them was a lie. He’d been with Kikyou. Something in her sense demanded she remember every detail of that night, something didn’t add up.

If he had bed Kikyou, as Kikyou had claimed to Sango and Miroku, then there should have been some sense of her on him. The day before he disappeared, the day before Kikyou had died, she had spoken with him and his aura was exactly the same as it had the first day she had encountered him. That was one of the things she’d loved about him.

His aura was strong, honest, yet he managed to feel free of social constraint. He was certainly not human, and the addition of her own aura connected with his was all she needed to know that he had never bed Kikyou.

“S-Sango…”

She hadn’t realized that heavy sobs once again took her frame. She reached beside her bed and threw on another layer of silk. She also grabbed one and put it around her friend’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Kagome-chan.” Kagome shook her head forcefully and offered a hand to Sango.

“Sango-chan, just lead me there. Show me where he is.” her voice belied her shaking foundation, but Sango uttered a quick “Yes” before taking her friend’s proffered hand and rising from the floor.

Sango stiffened when she caught sight of her husband, but Kagome just offered him a pained looked. The older man’s guilt was tangible as he caught up to the pair. He did not speak, but she could feel the words burning in the back of his throat.

Sango grasped his hand tight.

He returned the simple gesture.

They led her to the small building at the base of Goshinboku. It was a deep well that Kikyou had built a small house around. Sango slid open the shoji screen for her, and tears immediately sprang to the younger girl’s eyes.

In that tiny room was Inu-Yasha’s aura so heavy it nearly choked Kagome. She coughed and reached out. “Sango-chan.” her voice came out a strained whisper.

Sango put her small hand on Kagome’s back and led her lightly where Inu-Yasha was pinned to the wall, an arrow straight through his heart. Kagome felt his relaxed face with her fingertips, traced his neck his collarbone, and finally the arrow.

She choked again. Miroku shut the shoji screen. “Kagome-sama, do not do what you are thinking.”

She turned quickly to the older man. She could feel Sango’s pain.

“What? You expect me to leave him here?” Kagome’s disbelief was evident on her face and Miroku backed up so he was against the screen.

He closed his eyes and took in a breath. “If you loved him, you’d leave him here. You never understood why he couldn’t been seen by others, why he couldn’t be known about.”

Kagome shook her head, quickly, violently. “No! I don’t care!”

“You do. Kagome, please.”

“That dream, Kagome-chan,” Sango started nervously, “that dream you told me about. You said you sensed something from the tree. This is what it was. The arrow is Kikyou’s arrow. She died after sealing him.”

“Sango, stop!” Miroku’s deep voice made Kagome cringe. She’d never heard him loose his temper, but right in this instant, he was dangerously close.

Sango’s fiery temper snapped. “And then what, Houshi?! Leave her here?! She knows of him, do you think she’ll just let it go, huh?!” Sango was close to the houshi, now. “What would you do? If it was me, what would you do?!”

Miroku slammed down his hand on the lip of the well. “Onigumo will kill them. He will kill them both if he finds out!”

Kagome was silent. She turned back to her love, and laid her head against his stomach. His haori was the same rough fire-rat haori he’d always worn. Despite herself, she smiled. She pressed her nose to his abdomen. “Is it such a horrible fate, Inu-Yasha…?”

Miroku and Sango turned to Kagome at her words.

“Miroku, had it been you, Sango would have saved you. Would you allow me to save him, Miroku? Would you allow me to choose my death?”

The shock was written clear across the monk’s face. Sango was silent again, afraid to speak.

Sango gripped the sleeve of her husband’s holy robes. He voice came out in a harsh whisper, “Houshi, she is not a child. Allow her to make her own decision.”

Kagome’s eyes were wide.

“If she so chooses, she will bring him back. It is her right,” her voice was still low, Kagome had to strain her ears to just hear the conversation. “She knows the consequences.”

“S-Sango-chan…”

Miroku was resigned. “Sango, my wife, my love…” Miroku pulled her closer. “If she brings him back, if he comes into this world, Onigumo will obtain the Shikon no Tama. He will slay Kagome and become more powerful than any demon on this plane of existence.”

Sango had been effectively silenced. Kagome knew that they were staring at her. Kagome posed her question once more. “Miroku, what would you do.”

“I would awaken her, I know I would. There is no doubt you will bring him back. I just needed you to be aware that you may be responsible for that sort of destruction.”

Kagome flashed immediately back to the feel of Sango’s village, the destruction, the pain, the tears. It all flashed before her mind, yet she was undeterred. “Tell me what you feel, Miroku. Tell me what you sense from Onigumo.”

“Secrets, Kagome. Heavily guarded secrets. He has a weakness, but she has died. I don’t know if Onigumo has any other weaknesses.”

Kagome nodded. “And what if I protected myself? If I wasn’t killed at Onigumo’s hand?”

Miroku nodded slowly. “His plan, Kikyou’s words may ring false.”

“My mother swore you two to protect me.” Kagome winced. “Will you be up for a task with such risks. Before you answer, I want you to know I wouldn’t expect you to.”

Sango spoke up, “I will do as your mother asked. Even of my life is taken, I will not dishonor my family or yours, Kagome.”

Miroku bowed his head a bit. “Likewise, Kagome-sama. My family will not be dishonored by myself. I will protect you.”

“I need you two to stay outside. I must work the magic out of this arrow, and I don’t know what it will do to the air in here.”

The both nodded and Miroku opened the shoji screen.

“Thank you.”

Miroku and Sango both knew what she meant. It was more than protection, it was a thanks for forcing her to become a miko, a thanks for telling her the dangers, a thanks of love.

Sango stepped out into the sun and shut the shoji behind her husband.

Miroku said a small prayer for the girl who had become his little sister.

Kagome ran her hands against Inu-Yasha’s chest. “Would your soul come back to this vessel, or must it be by the hand of my sister?” She squeezed her eyes shut tight and held tight to Inu-Yasha’s haori.

“You feel so far away, so cold…” a sudden searing pain shot through Kagome’s side, at her right hip. “Please, Inu-Yasha…’

She felt around and found the small well house until she found the wide lip of the well. She lowered herself slowly and sat. Her hands twisted themselves in her lap, and she couldn’t help but whisper a prayer.

The well was emitting a strange feeling, but she ignored it. It wasn’t important, nothing was important compared to her Inu-Yasha. She felt tears coming to her eyes, but she fought them back.

“You still have all of me.” She sighed heavily. “I had to take that vow. That’s probably the only reason I’ll be able to save you now…” She stood and went back to tracing his face. “Come on… I’ve found you… I need you… please…”

In that moment, the oddest feeling assaulted her. Something came from the bottom of the dry well. It grabbed Kagome’s arm harshly and Kagome screamed.

The air grew suddenly stifling and Inu-Yasha’s aura flared to life again.

“Kagome!” His voice was like a knife in the torturously thick air. “Kagome!” He struggled against the bond that held him the wall.

Kagome tried to get up, but she was stayed by the rough hold on her arm and the voice hissing in her ear. “Stay, pretty thing. Or do you so wish to die?”

“I-Inu-Yasha, hold on! I swear I will get you, just hold on!”

Kagome centered herself quickly, drawing on the magic deep in her soul. With a shout, the creature’s arm that held her so tight was burned off. In an instant, Kagome was at Inu-Yasha’s side. She put her hand up. “Show me where the arrow is.”

He gripped her arm and led it to the arrow, still pulsing with Kikyou’s energy. He let go and she pulled slightly, letting her energy flow to her hand, to the arrow. Inu-Yasha couldn’t help but watch her desperate, graceful movements.

It took a couple of pulls, but in the last one, the sacred sealing arrow which had captured Inu-Yasha for two years, was destroyed and lay in three separate pieces on the floor.

Kagome was drained. She’d never had to counter magic of such a degree before, but sweat beaded on her brow and she was breathing heavily. “Inu-Yasha…”

“Shut up.” He cracked his knuckles and smirked at the disgusting demon in front of him. “Mukadejoro!”

Kagome was stunned. “Inu-Yasha, let me-”

“I said shut up and let me protect you!”

That was more like the Inu-Yasha she knew. She smiled a bit before sliding down the wall that Inu-Yasha was previously pinned against. “Thank you…”

The youkai slithered it’s way toward the hanyou in the small space. Inu-Yasha smirked again. He leapt above the creature and swiped his claws downward as he descended. “Sankon Tetsusou!” The creatures tail was severed from the rest of its body, and a wall in the shrine house was obliterated.

Sango and Miroku stared in fascination at the sight before them. Inu-Yasha was facing off against something that had, seeming, appeared out of nowhere. Sango gasped and stood straight, quickly peeling off the last, formal layer of her kimono. Underneath was something that she’d had fit year after year, but something she’d not used for quite a while. Miroku took on a very serious stature.

Inu-Yasha cracked his knuckles again. One of the demons arms flailed through the air, and caught the young hanyou off guard. It him in the chest and he grunted a bit before digging his own claws into his wound.

“Hijin Ketsusou!” It was a simple attack that relied on his blood to form something solid that tore through the demons flesh. It proved not enough, however as the demon got up once again.

Miroku threw a heavily laced sutra and Sango pulled her katana out from where it rested upon her hip. With a battle cry, she sliced the back of Mukadejoro’s head. The youkai screamed in agony, and the surprised Inu-Yasha slashed the youkai one last time.

Her blood coated the ground, a sickening purple colour.

Sango sheathed her sword and looked up at Inu-Yasha. She gave him a short, curt nod and he returned it.

Sango turned and walked towards her section of the Eastern Lands house, followed closely by her husband.

Kagome sighed in relief. The well had seemed to calm down, and there was no longer any unfamiliar jyaki in the air. She stood up and smiled in the direction she could feel Inu-Yasha. He wiped his claws on his own hakama and started over towards Kagome.

“You’re hurt.”

Inu-Yasha shrugged. “I’ll live.”

Kagome’s smile brightened. Inu-Yasha returned the smile and pulled at her white haori.

“You didn’t quit.”

She offered him a sour look. “Well you were missing in action for two years.”

“You took the vow?”

“Yes. But who says I meant it, anyways?”

Inu-Yasha chuckled a bit. “I don’t know, maybe the kamigami?”

Kagome just laughed.

“Inu-Yasha… I’ve missed you.”

He shrugged. “I can’t remember if I missed you.”

She hugged him tight around the middle. Same old Inu-Yasha…

“Oi, can’t you be nicer to me?”

Inu-Yasha smiled evilly, “I’ll think about being nice after you think about reacquainting me with your,” He put a hand pointedly to her hip, “to yourself.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes, really.”

Tears welled behind Kagome’s eyes. “Inu-Yasha, you’re really back…”

“Keh, ‘Course I am, wench. Except this time, no stupid bitches are going to know about me, okay?”

“Right.”

They shared a laugh before Inu-Yasha rested his forehead on hers. “How much have I missed?”

“Nothing,” she breathed. “I saved everything for you.”

“Good because I’ve saved everything for you, too.” He caught her lips with his own and the world around them was left behind.

~Fin

Author’s note: Man, do you realize that in Word this is Page 26??? That’s incredible. This was supposed to be a short story like a One-Shot, but it’s *GASP* MUTATED!!! I think there will probably be a sequel, I didn’t get to do a lot of explaining, now did I?

Just in case anyone cares, this took me almost a combined total of 50 hours to finish, and there’s still no editing. I think my beta abandoned me (L ) So if anyone feels like doing this, then have at it, my e-mail is JulianoJustine@gmail.com.

Thank you all for reading. This has been a production of TaijiyaJustine enterprises.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Inu-Yasha. I’ll leave the owning up to my buddies at Viz Animation and Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Oh! Oh! Page 27!!!

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