InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Project Hope ❯ Change the World and My Will ( Chapter 14 )

Sooo tired…I can hardly keep my eyes open. Sleep….sleep. You know what? I have no idea why I'm saying this and it has nothing to do at all with the fanfic…but I went to an elementary school to play the cello with my orchestra. I tripped on the way and snapped the bridge on my cello. Hehe…I'm the definition of grace.

Chapter 14

Change the World and My Will

`thought'

"speech"

Dark and cold.

It was so dark…there wasn't even a glimmer of light.

It was like fog, this sensation. So thick and alluring, yet comforting as it wrapped it's darkness around you. She felt herself being wrapped in the coarseness of the dark's cloak. A traitor's sensation. Murderer's arms wrapping around you…pulling you in.

`What…happened?'

Kagome's thoughts became more urgent as she suddenly remembered what had happened, it was a bit mixed up but she remembered all the same. She tried groggily to pry her eyes open. Where was she?

She felt too dull to be surprised; her body felt like lead and her head was too heavy to lift. Her eyelids were like steel.

She couldn't twitch her fingers, open her eyes or even lick her dry and chapped lips. Even her mind…like trying to walk through a swamp. So thick and slow. Why couldn't she move? Why did she feel so…heavy and empty?

Kagome felt her mind sigh for her body hurt too much to draw breath.

She felt herself give way to the dark and allowed the cold to numb her pain. Both physical…and heart felt. That darkness had felt so good. There was no comfort in it. But the emptiness of it was horribly soothing.

` `I'm tired. Let me…rest…'

~*~

Kagome didn't know how long she had slept, but she was once again guided out of her opacity by rough voices. She couldn't very well distinguish words but she could hear the slurred tones, rises and falls of voices.

Her head rolled to the side and she realized that she was staring at the ground. She blinked slowly and her eyes adjusted to the unusual dark. Her arms felt frozen and the ground wasn't grass but a strange, smooth stone. The air was still, the calm before the storm and the voices, sounds bounced off the ceilings and walls and echoed.

As her senses slowly tuned in to her surroundings, she could smell a strong supply of salt somewhere, all around her. The quiet dripping of water somewhere calmed her nerves.

`A cave…?'

Struggling to move her aching legs Kagome squirmed. The others must be-

The others!

`Where are they!?'

In her panic, she tried to rise only to find her neck pulled at painfully. Gasping for air, she reached up to rub her throat, only to find that her hands were bound. Her arms were tied behind her pulled back to the other side of the hard pole she was leaning against. The rope that had pulled at her neck was tied in a similar way, binding her sensitive neck to the pole. The braided metal was tied around her ankles and thighs as well, digging into her flesh no matter how she sat.

She was awake now although her body still felt heavy and unresponsive.

"Well, looky here. The little bitch is coming to." The voice was rough and scratchy, like the bark of a brittle tree.

She saw boots coming over, echoing loudly. Kagome looked up to see a huge man grinning, the grin on his face oily. His neck was as big as her waist and his hands large and beefy.

Setting his hand under her chin, he jerked her face towards his and he whispered, "Bet you don't feel to good right now. That drug we gave should keep you out of motion for a while."

Drug. That's why her body was so much like stone. Kagome tried to turn her face away but the rope rubbed at her neck.

Kagome spoke, her voice hoarse from the rope and drug. "Where are my friends,?"

The disgusting grin split his toad like face and he drawled, "Oh so close and yet so far..."

Kagome coughed and hissed, "Stop jerking around and tell me where they are."

The man leaned in so close Kagome could feel the hot smelly breath on her face. Suddenly, a low, harsh voice hissed, "Get your filthy hands off of her you fat bastard."

Kagome jerked her head to side, receiving another tug at her neck. She would have fallen with relief if she weren't already on the floor.

Beside her, about a foot away, tied to a pole like her own was Inuyasha tied up just as she was and by the slightly dull look in his eyes, Kagome could tell he'd also been drugged. Out of nowhere, the boot of the fat man hurled at Inuyasha's ribs, connecting with a painful thwack. Inuyasha let out a small grunt of pain, but the cold had numbed him so much he couldn't feel much.

"Filthy animal!" Snickers chorused from his companions as he spat in Inuyasha's hair. "That gay Hope screwed up your head. You're a hanyou! Talking to me like your something other than a worthless animals, if Boss hadn't said to bring you alive, I skin you…kuzo."

With one more shove of his boot and spit, the man stomped away, laughing at his handy work. Inuyasha's face tightened in pain but he swallowed and glanced at Kagome.

Twisting her body so she faced him instead of being shoulder to shoulder she whispered, "Are you okay?"

Inuyasha nodded. "What about you?"

Kagome nodded and replied in Japanese, "Daijoubu."

His eyes looked over his shoulder and Kagome followed his gaze, relief washing over her. There were five poles set in a circle, and to each pole tied like Inuyasha and Kagome were Sango, Rin and Miroku.

Kagome gulped when she saw Sesshomaru and Kirara. Sesshomaru had been thrown in a cage with electrical wires, his ankles shackled to the floor while the rest of his body was strapped to a block of steel, standing upright. (Imagine him strapped to a wall…if that helps you visualize it) His eyes were open but they weren't that ice blue, but bottomless pits of black, still in a trance from the drug.

Kirara was also in a cage. Her four paws were held in steel clasps and her face was covered in a muzzle. Her creamy coat was wet and her paws were covered in small cutes, otherwise she looked unharmed.

Kagome coughed again, her throat sore and cracked. She set her head back and looked at Inuyasha. He looked fine. If you could call this state of being fine. Her head felt light and dizzy, but her body the opposite.

"You're not hurt?" Kagome chest hurt to speak.

Inuyasha nodded and sniffed the thin air. He let his head fall back against the pole. "We're underwater."

Taking a shaky breath Kagome repeated, "Underwater?" She frowned and guessed, "An underwater cave…"

Shifting her weight to her other leg, Kagome whispered, "What the hell do these people want…?"

Inuyasha sucked in his breath and hung his so that his bangs covered his eyes. "They're here for me and Sesshomaru…bastards from the Hep. They call themselves the Ryu."

She didn't say anything. Meekly, she looked at Inuyasha drawing in ragged breaths and letting it out shakily. "I…I won't let them take you back…" Her voice was firm and not trembling like her breathing.

Inuyasha looked up at her, wondering what in the world made her think she could defeat all of these people with a weapon. They sat there in silence for a while, Inuyasha cursing at the world.

`Che! Now everyone is in danger…Kagome is in danger because of me and my cursed hanyou state. If only…if only I were stronger I could have stopped that bitch Yura.'

Inuyasha gritted his teeth and his fang bit his lip, drawing blood. `I should have followed my instinct…if only I'd been a little faster.'

On her other side was Miroku, still unconscious. Kagome sighed. At least they were all together.

Kagome whispered, "Do you think the kidnapping was a set-up?"

Shaking his head wearily, Inuyasha spat, "No. They probably took the kid and knew we'd come looking. Fucking bastards."

Kagome's eyes widen with fear and she scooted over as much as she could.

"What…what are they going to do with the children? They wouldn't hurt them…so young."

A spark of bitterness sparked inside of Inuyasha and suddenly he felt angry at Kagome. Chuckling a humorless laugh Inuyasha rasped in a voice like a crow's laugh, "Idiot. That didn't stop them with me. Or all the other subjects at that HEP!"

Kagome winced when Inuyasha hissed the word subject. She hadn't meant to remind him.

Before she could apologize, Inuyasha continued in a rasp voice, "You don't know anything. You think that…all people are good. That there's some kindness in their hearts.. Open your fucking eyes…these humans have no hearts!"

Kagome flinched at the volume of his voice. He looked so tired.

"None of you do…"

He had whispered it in a voice as soft as a breeze rippling the surface of a lake. It had been so soft, yet it got Kagome's attention as if he had slapped her.

She stared at him, trying to look him in the eye, but he had let his head hang limp, held up only by the choking rope with his bangs concealing his eyes and any emotion they might have given away. `

Kagome swallowed hard, trying to get the lump in her throat to go away. Of course it bothered her that he thought this about…her. But it bothered her even more because…Kagome stopped. Why did hearing those words twist her heart?

No longer sure if she wanted to see his eyes she looked away and whispered in a sigh of a voice, "Do…you really think that? That I'm…heartless just because I'm human?"

Kagome wished her hands were tied so she could press them against her ears and stop his response from reaching her, if there would be a response at all. For a few agonizing moments, there were no words passed between them, the only sounds were that of the Ryu clattering about and laughing.

Finally Inuyasha looked up her and Kagome felt another twist at her heart.

Those eyes…those magnificent eyes like molten amber, the silkiest of gold. They were the color of pure white clouds stained an orange-amber by the sunset, wispy beds of white soon to be rain clouds. . Sorrowful, deep eyes. Inuyasha was always marching about, his feelings hidden, his words harsh, his eyes cloaked. But now, Kagome's breath caught as she felt herself fall into the endless depths of his painful and angry eyes.

At that same moment, Inuyasha felt the same. His chest hurt and he couldn't breath, although the rope constricting around his neck did not cause this. Her eyes, her face, those lips. All so lovely. She didn't have the perfect, heart breaking beauty that his mother had possessed, but she seemed even more exquisite in her imperfect allure. Even now, with her pale, tired posture, wild tangled hair, she was amazing.

Her eyes even more so. Under those dark, long lashes were those pools of fluid gray, gentle and affectionate. In the short time that he had known her…those eyes had flashed with emotions, some of which terrified him.

His silence seemed to scare her away and her gaze fell, the moment broken. As she slowly lowered her stare it was like a glimpse of the sea and it chilled him to the bones. It made him feel content and full, yet utterly terrified all at once.

His own voice hoarse he whispered, "No."

Afraid to look up and lose herself again in his gaze she whispered back unsure she'd heard right, "Nani?"

Shaking his slightly, even though she couldn't see he whispered, "No…I don't think you're heartless."

`I think you're the kindest, most naïve, understanding, magnificent and amazing person I have ever met…how am I supposed to put it in words?'

He wanted to say this to her…but the words choke in his throat and his feelings went unknown. It would only hurt her later if he told her now. It was better to keep his distance. `Gomen…gomen nasai.'

She looked up. For a moment there was no expression, then her face lit up in a relieved and joyful smile. Inuyasha loved that smile…Every time she smiled his heart skipped a beat.

She smiled and said, "Thank you…arigato"

They both looked up as heavy footsteps broke their trance like state. A man small but sly looking, his two front teeth protruding over his lip, looking much like a rat stood there bread and water in his hands.

He looked at them down his nose and spoke, his voice high and shrilly, "Eat up, piggys!"

He tossed a piece of bread on their laps and set a cup of water beside them. His beady little eyes ran over Kagome's figure and grinned. Defiant, Kagome didn't back down a millimeter as she glared back at him. That only made him laugh as he walked away.

Inuyasha glared daggers at his back. He didn't like the way he looked at Kagome. The water glistened, smelling faintly of salt but his throat was so stiff and dry it didn't matter to Kagome. Using her knees as handles, she lifted the cup to her lips and drank, the cold, salty water stinging at her tender throat.

Inuyasha sniffed at the food and water and jerked back. "Stop!"

Kagome stopped drinking and looked at him. He shook his head and hissed, "They drugged it."

Her eyes widened for a moment then she sighed. "Drugged or not drugged, we still need to eat."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and snapped, "No. I'd die before I ate food from their hands."

Shaking her head in defeat, Kagome let the cup clatter to the ground and pushed the bread away. She was nervous to her stomach. Tired and scared, she found herself humming an old song.

Inuyasha glanced at her and bluntly said, "Sing it."

The humming ended abruptly, startled by his blunt request. Kagome smiled and nodded. Taking a breath she sang in her sweet voice, tuned by the many rituals.

"I want to change the world

Piercing through the gales,

Unafraid of anything,

Now I hold my courage and pieces of my smile"

I want to change the world

Kaze wo kakenukete

Nanimo osorezu ni

Ima yuuki to,egao no kakera daite

Inuyasha sighed and closed his eyes, basking in her voice. `Don'tstop…'This song fit her perfectly. Always thinking she could do anything. Always so naïve.

"Change my mind

If we reach out to the soaring future

With our passion, we'll be able to shine…"

"Change my mind

Jounetsu tayasazu ni takanaru mirai e

te wo nobaseba kagayakeru hazu sa…"

Kagome stopped. Inuyasha opened his eyes and gruffly asked, "What? Why'd you stop?"

Kagome looked at him and smiled. "I want you to sing a song. Any song."

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows in surprise and shook his head. "I don't sing."

Kagome pressed on, a desperate edge to her voice. "Onegai. I need something to calm me down…music always settles my nerves."

"

How could he deny her anything? Sighing he scanned his memory for a song. Happy birthday? No…What about…

Inuyasha licked his lips and shifted in his bindings. He heard Kagome do the same, the metal on her ankles clicking quietly on the ground. A sudden surge of anger rushed through him but he quickly smothered it. What to sing, what to sing.

As if someone had turned on a light switch, he remembered a tune that his mother used to sing to him when he couldn't sleep. He knew he wasn't a talented singer like her but that didn't really matter.

He closed his eyes leaned back and started to sing a song. "My Will."

"Quietly awakening...

I always, always wish

That these fleeting thoughts

Would reach you..."

Kagome stared at the top of the cave, wondering where the fear of the situation they were in had dissipated to. They could be killed or worse and yet, the fear had drained away. For now.

"Unable to move forward across "just a little more" distance

The way I see before me is always blocked

The days I want to see you but cant pile up.

My strong heartbeat turns into heartbreak…"

The Ryu started to settle down, getting ready to sleep. They crawled into their tents and turned off the lights. Kagome and Inuyasha sat in total darkness his voice still carrying on.

"If there is such a thing as "eternity,"

I want to believe, even if I have to take the long way.

I know that I've been hurt before because I'm a fool…

I won't stop; I won't give in to anyone."

"I think of you

And that alone is enough

To make the tears start to flow now

I always, always wish

Those these fleeting thoughts

would reach you."

Inuyasha gave a wry smile when he saw Kagome was asleep.

"Because I love you…"

The last line of the song echoed through the cave and bounced back to him. This sleeping girl. If he died, there was nobody to miss him

`But there are people thatlove her. They would cry for her and she'd be missed…'

This girl beside him was a jewel of a person in this world. She was reason enough for him to fight. Reason enough to live.

Japanese Terms

Kuzo - brat.

Daijoubu - I'm all right, I'm okay.

Nani - what?

Gomen Nasai - I'm sorry

Arigato - Thanks, Thank you

Onegai - Please

Ryu - Not sure…I think it means dragon.

Che- I think shit -the curse not poop

Okay~ I thought you guys might want some bonding time so there you have it! I'm not Japanese so my language skills are rusty. If anything it wrong please tell me so I can fix it! Also..the part with Kagome's song. It's in English and the Japanese part is just the same thing but in Japanese -just in case you wanna know.

Also what's the difference between Demo and shikashi? Please, if anyone knows tell me. ^^ Okay `till next time…review please.