InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reliving the Past ❯ Eighteen ( Chapter 18 )

Reliving the Past

by kmf

An Inuyasha fanfic

Rating: R

Warnings: Language

Disclaimer: I only wish I did own Inuyasha *fondles his ears*

Chapter 18

When Kagome opened her eyes she was almost dazzled by the light. Blinking a couple of times until her eyes were able to focus clearly, she realised that candles surrounded her. Hundreds of candles sat upon every available surface; the floor, the chest of drawers, even around her on the bed carefully placed what appeared to be long slabs of marble to give them stability and prevent them from setting fire to the white duvet.

There were so many of them that Kagome felt hot from the heat their combined flames gave off and the air of the room was smoky. She coughed a couple of times, attempting to pull her hand up to her mouth in a polite gesture.

It was then that she made the first of three disturbing discoveries. She couldn't move.

Looking up she saw that her right hand had been tied to the bed frame, as had her feet, with red silk scarves. The knots were not so tight as to hurt her, her blood still ran freely to her feet and hand, but non the less three of her limbs were restrained.

Her left hand had been left free. Whether this was on purpose, or whether it was because Kaminari had been interrupted she was not sure. What she was sure of, however, was that she was going to take advantage of it. Reaching up, her fingers began to pull at the knots that bound her. At that moment she made discovery number two; she wasn't wearing what she originally was when she entered the Kaminari household.

She was clothed in a pure white kimono, plain yet strangely colourful as it reflected the flickering lights of the candles around her. Swallowing a little, she reached down with her free hand, pulling the fabric a little to confirm what she suspected. She was no longer wearing a bra. Nor, she suspected was she wearing anything else under the silken folds of fabric.

Cursing slightly, she redoubled her efforts to try and free her right hand from it silken bonds. Kaminari had done his work well though, the knots were tight and intricate and Kagome had little success as she picked and pulled with her fingernails, biting her lip in concentration. She only stopped when she painfully broke a nail, snagged in the fine fabric. Small drops of blood welled up where the nail had torn away skin, and tears pooled in Kagome's eyes as she put her finger in her mouth and sucked on her injury, wondering what next to do. Glancing around the room she looked to see if there was anything that she could use to free herself.

Discovery three was that she wasn't exactly alone in the bed. Beside her, nestled on the spare pillow was a large skull, its hollow eyes staring at her with apparent malignant intent. Kagome couldn't help herself. She opened her mouth and screamed.

The door of the room was thrown open, and Kaminari strode in his eyes narrowed. With two steps he was at her side, his hand clamping over her mouth as she inhaled ready to scream again. She pulled at his hand with her unbound one, using her remaining nails to try and score the back on his hand. He winced as she drew blood, but his hand remained firm across her mouth.

"I'm pleased to see you are awake, Kagome," he smiled, pushing slightly harder on her mouth as she tried to turn her head from side to side in an effort to shake him off. "For a minute there I was afraid that I had overdosed you. I had make the dose quite strong as I was sure you wouldn't take more than a sip or two of the tea." He bent his head down and kissed her on the forehead, "But you really are a trusting little thing aren't you? Now, I am going to take my hand off your mouth. You will not scream again. There is little point, as my neighbours all work during the day; there is no-one to hear you if you call out."

He lifted his hand slowly to see what she would do.

"Then why are you so concerned that I should stay quiet," Kagome spat at him, preparing to bellow for all she was worth once he replied.

"You screams hurt my ears," Kaminari smiled at her, lifting his injured hand to his mouth and licking the three scratches slowly, "And if you do it again I will ensure that you wont again."

He didn't elaborate on the threat, but Kagome was left in little doubt that he would follow it through. The breath left her lungs in a rush and she glared up at him.

"Where are my clothes?" she demanded, "Why am I dressed like this, why am I tied up and why is there a skull next to me?"

Kaminari looked at the bones lying beside her, his eyes becoming soft.

"I believe we have already had this conversation," he said, "and I am fairly certain that the drug that I gave you does not impede memory." Raising one a finger for each word he said slowly, "Bones. Blood. Rebirth."

Kagome swallowed.

Oh shit. Something about reanimating Manten's bones had been mentioned before. And if she wasn't mistaken it had been in the same sentence as a reference to her blood. She began to pull on the silken lengths of material restraining her once more hoping that her previous efforts might have caused the fabric to weaken. Somehow.

Kaminari shook his head.

"Its pointless to struggle, you will only end up bruising your wrist and ankles," he said, ignoring her glare, "and I don't want you to feel any discomfort."

He turned and walked to the large chest of drawers that stood to one side, and pulled open a drawer. The flames of the candles on top of the chest flickered and danced as he pulled out a white garment and then closed the drawer again. Placing the fabric carefully on the foot of the bed, he slowly pulled off his top revealing his toned abdomen.

The candlelight flickered as he moved, highlighting his sculptured muscles and revealing no imperfections at all. All in all he had a very nice body. Kagome groaned and averted her eyes, annoyed with herself for thinking such thoughts, especially given her current situation. She pulled once more against her bonds, earning herself a tut of disapproval from Kaminari.

"Please stop Kagome," he said quietly, as he slipped on the white robe.

"Like hell I will," Kagome grated back, glaring up at him, "You want me to stay quiet and passive when you are intending to bleed me to death! I don't think so!"

Kaminari raised an eyebrow as he finished tying a white sash around his waist.

"You have a very low opinion of me, don't you," he commented, "which is a shame. Not so long ago you seemed rather fond of me."

"Not so long ago I didn't know you were guilty of matricide and still hungry for revenge," Kagome retorted pulling so hard with her feet that the candles on the bed wobbled alarmingly.

"You wound me," Kaminari smiled faintly, turning once more to the chest of drawers and opening a different drawer. "It seems that you will think no better of me no matter what I say."

The drawer closed and he turned back to her holding up an ornate dagger the blade of which he brought to his lips and kissed. Kagome froze, staring at the weapon mesmerised by the way the blade reflected the candles which surrounded her.

"Lets get this over with, shall we?" Kaminari grinned as he walked towards her.

Kagome lay frozen as he approached, then adrenaline kicked in and she struggled for all she was worth, her free hand clawing at the bonds that restrained her hand until he came close enough for her to attempt to hit him. He caught her hand easily, pulling her arm straight so that it lay directly across the skull beside her.

He chanted words that she did not understand, his eyes narrowed, his face a mask of concentration. She pulled as hard as she could, trying to free her hand from his grip but he held her firmly with apparently little effort. He lifted the knife high, his chanting changing pace, becoming slower and more laboured. His eyes caught hers and for a moment she saw a look of apology there, before once more they went hard and determined.

Then the knife lowered and Kagome screamed.

* * * *

Inuyasha scowled.

He was no closer to his goal than when he started. He hated the way that unnatural scents clogged his nose. He hated the way that the landscape cluttered with manmade objects confused his sense of direction. And he hated his overwhelming feeling of helplessness.

At his current rate he was unlikely to get there just in the nick of time. His visions of Kagome being warm and grateful were fading being replaced with horrific thoughts of her body, twisted, bruised, limp - a victim of Hiten's quest for revenge. Revenge that should be directed towards him and not Kagome who, while a participant of the events leading up to the Thunder Brothers death, had not been the one responsible for the killing blows.

Inuyasha had. And he hoped that Hiten remembered that fact too. He hoped that Hiten was just using her as a means to get to him. And he hoped that Kagome was at this very moment angry at him for getting her into yet another drama, rather than injured, dying or dead.

Growling, he scented the air yet again hoping against hope that this time he would pick up some familiar scent, something that he could follow. Sniffing deeply, he grimaced. Disgusting scents clogged and burned his nose. Metallic scents, rotting smells, decay, rot, soot all flooded his senses. Coughing, he shook his head, rubbing his sensitive nose and wiping eyes that watered in an effort to rid his system of the poisons he had just inhaled.

He tried again.

And again.

Nothing.

And then, when he was about to give up and resort to asking for directions he caught it.

Her scent.

Her blood.

Weak, ever so weak amongst the dirt and grime and chemicals of the city, a tiny hint of her amongst the overwhelming scents of the future. But it was her.

Inuyasha growled, his fingers curling, his claws extending. His eyes slowly bled red as his demon self awakened at the scent of his woman bleeding. Snarling, he threw himself in the direction that her scent had come to him. He had her blood scent now, he would find her.

And he would make the one who had made her bleed pay.

* * * * *

Kagome's eyes screwed shut as soon as the knife cut into her flesh. It hurt. A lot. And she didn't really care to see how deeply Kaminari had cut her. She rather suspected that if it was a large and gaping wound then she would throw up all over Kaminari's immaculate bed and his brother's skeleton.

Then again, if she were to die it would probably be the best revenge she was likely to get.

She felt her hand being turned over so that it was palm down, Kaminari's grip firm but not so much that he hurt her any more than he already had. She winced, expecting the knife to cut into her again, but when it did not she cautiously opened one eye and peeked at her attacker.

Kaminari was still chanting, although his words were merely a mumble now, his eyes half closed as he stared down at the skull that lay beside her. The hand that held hers shook slightly, but whether from nerves, or exhaustion, Kagome could not tell. The knife that he had been holding had dropped to the bed beside her, only its tip covered with blood. Looking towards her hand, she swallowed as she saw steady drips of her blood dropping down on top of Manten's skull. On impact the drops splattered, little beads of red coming to rest on the white silk. The drops that remained on Manten's skull were steadily disappearing, soaking into the old bones.

Around the skull Kagome could discern the faintest of auras, power so faint that she almost missed it. It pulsed weakly in the rhythm of a beating heart, but it was not the strong beat of the healthy, it was a weak and unsteady rhythm of the old, sick or dying. The candles around her were dim and pulsing with the same unsteady beat. Kaminari was perspiring, his voice becoming weaker with each passing pulse. His eyes were shut fast as he directed all his energies toward the ceremony he was performing.

A ceremony that was not working.

His hand began to shake even more as he swayed on his feet and his voice faltered. Feeling his grip on her hand weaken, Kagome pulled her hand away from his, closing it into a fist to prevent the steady drip of blood down onto Manten's petrified skull. As she did so, the pulsing power faltered, then died. The candles as one went out leaving her from a moment in the dark. She closed her eyes, counting to ten to allow her eyes to become adjusted to the darkened room, and prepared herself for Kaminari's wrath.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw that Kaminari had sunk to his knees beside his brother's partial skeleton, his eyes sad and moist, his fingers gently stroking the bones.

"I'm sorry brother," he murmured, "I failed."

His words were filled with such sadness and longing that Kagome for a moment forgot her fear, forgot that she was bound and bleeding, and reached out her cut hand to touch him lightly on his head. Gently she ruffled his hair, feeling his overwhelming grief for a brother loved and lost.

Slowly, he raised his head, his eyes focussing on hers, filled with unshed tears. His expression was one of resignation heavily laced with exhaustion. He blinked furiously to clear his eyes of the tears that threatened to overflow, and his mouth pulled up into a small smile. It was a weak imitation of past carefree and cynical smiles.

"I failed," he repeated slowly, tasting the words.

Kagome said nothing. Part of her was elated and relieved that Manten was not living and breathing, that his skull remained on the pillow beside her irrevocably dead. And part of her grieved with Hiten, empathised imagining how it would feel if it was Souta's skull beside her and she had lost her only chance to bring him back to life.

Kaminari sniffed, his eyes blinking rapidly to clear them of the excess water.

"I promised him, you know," he said quietly, "I promised him as he lay dying that we would be together again. That we would be brothers again. I let him down then by allowing him to be killed, and I have let him down again." He raised a hand and wiped his nose, sniffing deeply. "Ah well, there is always the next life," he said, attempting to grin again.

Kagome lowered her hand from his hair, wincing as the cut pulled renewing the hot stinging sensation. Kaminari frowned and caught it, and stared down at the blood welling from the wound. Deftly undoing his white silk sash with one hand, he wrapped it gently across the cut in an effort to staunch the blood.

"I'm sorry about that," he said, "I didn't want to hurt you, you know that don't you? It was just the only way I knew of getting Hiten back,"

Kagome winced as he pulled the fabric tight enough to stem the flow and looked at him warily. He seemed remarkably cheerful given the fact that he had been unable to reanimate his brother.

"I guess that its a bit much for me to hope that you would forgive me?" he continued, "Perhaps I can make it up to you by taking you out for dinner?"

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "You drug me twice and attempt to sacrifice me and think that I will forgive you for the price of a meal?" she gaped in astonishment.

Kaminari grinned and leaned over her, his mouth alarmingly close to hers. Suddenly Kagome was very aware that she was still bound and lying in a state of near undress on his bed.

"You know, I really do fancy you," he murmured, lowering his head closer still so she could feel the heat of his breath against her skin. "And now there is no real reason to protect your virginity."

One of his hands trailed down the side of her face, tracing his fingers down her throat towards her collarbone, his eyes staring into hers. His touch was hot, his fingers almost scalding her skin causing her breath to hitch and her heat to beat faster. Unbidden visions of him without his top on flooded her mind and Kagome felt her heart begin to race. His lips pulled into a smile as he brought them closer and closer to hers.

The sound of smashing glass broke the spell that had Kagome almost mesmerised. Her head jerked to one side in time to see a red figure hurl through the window of the bedroom, roll across the carpet and come to a snarling crouch at the foot of the bed. Kaminari rolled his eyes at the intruder.

"Is your sense of timing always this bad?" he demanded.

The only response was a deep growling and the sounds of tendons popping as fingers curled and claws extended. Kagome propped herself up as far as she could on one elbow to see Inuyasha glaring and snarling at Kaminari, his face pale throwing the stripes on it into startling relief, his hair wild and his eyes red and angry.

Inuyasha was fully demon.

And his expression promised death.

TBC

AN: Thanks for your patience in waiting for this chapter. Its horribly late, I know. And what is worse I haven't even begun to write the next chapter (which is, by the way, the final one). I am hoping that it will be done by Xmas at the latest. Feel free to prod me with a sharp stick if it isn't up by then ^_^

Let me know what you think, I am always extremely grateful for any feedback you care to give me.

Cheers!

Kmf