InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Rock, Paper, Scissors: Love Beats All ❯ Another Brother ( Chapter 7 )

[ A - All Readers ]
By: RinLove
Sango, Miroku, and...someone's missing from this little group! The final battle can't go down without a visit from...dunh, dunh, dunh...the last main character brother of this anime!

Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.19.2007 | Updated On: 03.23.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 244 | Status: Work In Progress

Chapter Seven:Another Brother
Kagome's Point-Of-View
Kagome had turned and was about to throw Shippo out the window--that way he could transform into the balloon and take them down to the battlefield--when she heard Sesshomaru make an odd noise. Kagome nearly dropped the startled kitsune as she spun around on heel to look behind her. Rin was standing right next to Sesshomaru, both of them as rigid as a plank of wood. The little girl appeared to be in an extreme state of shock and horror as Sesshomaru clutched onto her arm, seemingly frozen in mid-stride. He'd apparently been tugging Rin along after him, but had been rendered motionless somehow. Kagome watched as Sesshomaru slowly and mechanically revolved to face the figure behind him: Kanna. She was holding her soul-reaping mirror directly towards Sesshomaru and Rin, who were obviously feeling the effects.
"Lord Sesshomaru...? What's...happening...to us?" Rin said brokenly as her eyes began to dull, their cheerful sparkle fading into shadows. Her voice was toneless and flat, the singsong pitch that Kagome had always adored was gone. Kagome was enraged and terrified at the same time. Both Rin AND Sesshomaru were losing their souls right before her very eyes! Kagome grabbed an arrow from her quiver and brought her bow into position as Shippo hid behind her leg.
"Rin..." The little girl looked up to Sesshomaru just slightly, her face as blank as Sesshomaru's had ever been, as her guardian shoved her as hard as he could in one great effort. Rin toppled out from in front of Kanna's mirror and stumbled onto the floor, gazing at the Lord of the Western Lands as the life returned to her eyes. Then, those eyes filled with tears.
"SESSHOMARU-SAMA!" Rin wailed, making a wild dive for her guardian. Shippo quickly transformed into the giant balloon and forced her away from the fight between Kanna and Sesshomaru...though it really wasn't all that much of a fight. Kagome shot a sacred arrow at the creepy girl in white, but the arrow was easily evaded by Kanna as the demon lord whose soul she was slowly extracting collapsed lifelessly to the floor. Kagome went cold all over and felt her heart expand nine sizes; it was too big to fit in her chest now, so it had flopped out and landed on the floor at her feet. (Author's Note: That was a metaphor. Kagome's heart is still physically in her chest, but it felt like it had done all that I've said.) She reached out towards Sesshomaru and took a shaky step towards him, eyes wide with fear, before falling to her knees on the floor. She shuddered and two tears fell on the stone floor. She couldn't believe that this had just happened. She couldn't believe that Sesshomaru had just DIED when she'd finally started to get to know him...when she'd finally been considering him someone she could talk to, someone she could call a friend.
"Sesshomaru..." Her voice was faint and far away from her body. She didn't quite believe that it had been her that had spoken. She let her eyelids fall closed before opening them again, her face enraged as tears spilled over her cheeks once more. "You're so stupid! I thought you were sensible and intelligent, but I guess that those are two more of the things I had wrong about you!" Kagome slowly pushed herself back to her feet, wiping her eyes angrily. "You said that you would protect your wards with your life, but I guess that you didn't know the meaning of the term "figure of speech", did you! Answer me, you idiot! I asked you a question, so ANSWER!" Kagome shouted hysterically as her tears began coming down in sheets, making it useless for her to wipe them away anymore. She walked over to him with slow, steady steps and looked down at his quiet face. He looked just as handsome as he always had...but who cared about any of that if he'd never speak to anyone again? If he'd never...if he'd never speak to HER again? "Why didn't you use what strength you had left to save yourself...? Why not get out of there and THEN save Rin? Why...why do you do any of the things you do in the first place? Your so secretive and to yourself that no one has ever known what goes on in your head...and now no one ever will!" Kagome spoke softly, gently, before slowly turning towards Kanna, who was standing next to the window, looking down. She must have been signaling for Kanna to send her a feather. Kagome's face became stony in fury as she took two huge steps towards the girl.
"FOX FIRE!" Kanna was enveloped in great billowing green flames as Shippo landed on Kagome's shoulder. Kanna turned around to face them, appearing to feel no pain, as the smell of burning flesh wafted through the air. Kagome brought her bow up and released a sacred arrow at the wench, but something happened just as she released her hold on the bowstring. Another attack followed it at the same time, just as had happened when InuYasha and her fought together! She didn't turn to see if InuYasha stood there, because Kanna was currently being thrown from the room and out of the ninth-story window by the onslaught of attacks. Shippo jumped over and looked down out of the window. "That's...scary..." Kagome supposed that Kanna must be splattered all over the ground below.
"Sesshomaru-sama! You're alive!" Rin's voice called from somewhere further into the room. Kagome turned around, surprised delight spreading rapidly over her features, as she saw Sesshomaru standing upright again with his sword drawn. He'd been the one whose attack had followed hers? He was looking down at Rin with a faint, but noticable, fatherly smile as she hugged his leg.
"I was surprised that Kanna wouldn't know the power of her own weapon. It appears to have an exception against demons, though it effectively paralyzed me for a--." Kagome suddenly lost control of herself and collided into Sesshomaru's chest with all of her might.
"You idiot! You idiot! You IDIOT!" Kagome said, raising her voice each time. She began to sob uncontrollably, feeling like a fool even as she did. "I'm sorry! I...I... You idiot! Why...?" At this point, Kagome wasn't making sense even to herself, so she just fell silent and continued to cry softly.
Sesshomaru's Point-Of-View
"I was surprised that Kanna wouldn't know the power of her own weapon. It appears to have an exception against demons, though it effectively paralyzed me for a--." He was in mid-sentence when he was caught off-guard as something rammed into him. His eyes widened, startled, as he looked down at the top of Kagome's dark head. 'Kagome...' Sesshomaru relaxed as she began to scream at him.
"You idiot! You idiot! You IDIOT!" Sesshomaru's face took on a pained expresssion as Kagome began to sob, her hands clutching tighter to his fluff and kimono top. "I'm sorry! I...I... You idiot! Why...?" Sesshomaru gritted his teeth as he tried to keep from giving away any more emotion than he already had. He didn't like to see this. In fact, he hated it. Sesshomaru couldn't make out exactly what she'd said after these comments, but soon she quieted.
"Kagome," he said softly as he brought his arm up to wrap around her shoulders, holding her tight. She gasped. "Don't...don't do this anymore. I don't want to see you cry like this ever again, understand?" His voice was gentle, yet commanding. He hoped she'd understand that he was only demanding this of her for his sake. It made him feel something loathesome when she cried, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He thought it might be annoyance. Kagome pulled away from him and looked up into his golden eyes with her chocolate ones. She had a strange, curious expression over her face that soon vanished within a small smile.
"Then don't ever make me think you're dead again. Do YOU understand?" Sesshomaru started, surprised at her response. She'd been crying over him...? Well, of course she was. What else might she have been so upset over? But why over HIM? She barely knew him and the only spoken relationship they had was guardian and ward...though Sesshomaru had begun to consider them as friends. Perhaps Kagome thought that they were friends as well? Sesshomaru brought his hand up and wiped a tear from her cheek. 'What am I doing!' Sesshomaru quickly withdrew his hand and, sharply turning his face away from Kagome, strode to the window with his indifferent expression put back in its rightful place. He felt Kagome's eyes watching him, so he made certain that his expression did not falter...but he felt his face burn, all the same. 'I cannot believe that I've sunken as low as to blush at a woman's mere gaze. And a HUMAN woman, at that. How pathetic I've become...'
"Fox creature. Transform." He commanded, eyeing the kitsune as he silently beckoned for Rin to follow him. As always, the young girl obeyed without fuss; she had no qualms about doing as he wished of her. The fox thing, on the other hand...
Rin's Point-Of-View
"Hey! I'm a kitsune demon! My name's not "fox creature", it's Shippo, and why're you bossing me around for!" Sesshomaru sighed wearily, causing Rin to look up at him with suspicion. She'd never seen Lord Sesshomaru express any emotion at all. What might have happened to him?
"Shippo, please? Sesshomaru's a good guy! He's helping us rescue Kikyo, remember?" Kagome-chan's voice echoed around the room, making Rin look back at her with a chipper smile. Now she knew what was going on! Kagome's kindness made Sesshomaru feel happier! Rin had always liked Kagome because of her sunny personality and she knew that she had once tamed InuYasha's wild and uncontrollable demon side with her compassion, as well. Of COURSE she would make Sesshomaru's skies less gray! Rin giggled with cheer, making every inhabitant of the room look at her with surprise.
"Sorry! I'm just glad that we're all friends!" Rin exclaimed, smiling brightly. She looked up at Sesshomaru and he smiled down at her. She hadn't ever saw that before. "You can smile now, Lord Sesshomaru! You never smiled BEFORE! What happened to make you so happy?" Sesshomaru-sama dropped the smile at once and assumed a truly astonished expression. Then, it too disappeared, only to be replaced with a slightly softer smile than before. He didn't answer her, though, which left Rin curious.
"Okay! I'll transform...but not because he said so!" Shippo got up onto the window ledge and looked back at Sesshomaru with a contemptuous expression over his childish features. Rin thought he looked funny, so she laughed. Shippo gave her an outraged look, but his blush made him look even more comical than before. He looked over to Sesshomaru again and finished, "I'm only doing it because InuYasha and the others need our help with Naraku and Kagura!" Then, he leaped out of the window and a big, pink balloon floated back up in his place. Sesshomaru helped Rin up onto the massive Shippo Blimp and then offered Kagome a stepping ladder: His back. Rin was sure that Sesshomaru's back had never before had a foot of any kind planted in it and it made Rin blink out of pure shock. 'Maybe Lord Sesshomaru and Kagome-chan aren't just friends, after all. Maybe...maybe they're...' Rin blushed, smiling knowingly as Kagome and Sesshomaru took a seat on either side of her. She looked up at them both ecstatically before grabbing a hand apiece. They looked down at her as though she were an alien as she put each of their hands over one another's and squeezed them together within her own as though she could make them stick together forever.
"What's going on, Rin-chan...?" Kagome asked, her eye twitching nervously.
"Rin? What...are you trying to do?" Sesshomaru's voice said roughly as he gently tugged his hand back towards him...but Rin wouldn't let go. She knew that, if he had really wanted to, Lord Sesshomaru could have already had his hand back. He knew it, too. Yet, his and Kagome's hands remained one on top of the other. Kagome didn't fight at all.
"She just wants us all to be friends. Right, Rin? After all, she just said so back in the castle!" Kagome said happily. She brought her other hand around and placed it atop Rin's, coming down level with Rin's face, before smiling a little sadly at her. "And you must be scared about the battle that's coming up, too...aren't you?" Rin nodded, looking way down below at a dark cloud that had formed around Naraku. That man was scary...especially when he grew all those gross tentacles and whatever else those putrid bubble-things were that appeared all over his body. Would Lord Sesshomaru really be able to defeat him? "Well, then, I've got an idea!" Kagome's voice suddenly exclaimed, bringing Rin back out of her thoughts as the oddly-dressed miko straightened her posture. Rin looked at her inquiringly and Kagome smiled down at her fondly, her head tilting to one side. "We'll make a pact! A pact that, no matter what happens, we'll always be best friends, okay? That way, no matter if we're separated or if something really bad happens, we'll always have this little link between the three of us! You know why we'll always have that link...?" Rin shook her head slowly, but then she thought of something and her eyes lit up with sudden realization. She smiled and exclaimed,
"Because friendships are forever!" Kagome nodded, her eyes bright and her smile so broad that she was sure that Naraku would spot them from the ground by that alone.
"That's right! So now we're all best friends! We'll never be apart from each other, ever!" Rin smiled, cheered at Kagome's words, and let go of her two best friends' hands so that she could wrap her arms around Kagome in a hug. "Friends forever?" Rin nodded against Kagome's chest, but she couldn't help but notice that neither of her new best friends had moved their hands as of yet. Maybe they just hadn't noticed...? Rin smiled all the more.
"Forever."
InuYasha's Point-Of-View
"Give it up, Naraku! You're starting to grate on my nerves, here!" InuYasha called from just outside the thick, black cloud of miasma that Naraku had oozed from his many putrid boils. InuYasha couldn't get near enough to attack him, as the poisonous gas served as a perfect shield--a barrier that InuYasha couldn't cut through.
Or could he?
InuYasha gripped the hilt of his blade a little tighter. His Kaze no Kizu was a wind-based attack...so it caused wind, didn't it? InuYasha smirked. It was well worth a decent shot. He brought his sword back and shouted the name of his attack in one great bellow,
"WIND SCAR!" The attack ripped through the cloud, dispersing the lethal gases as it went. At that moment, he heard several different pairs of feet thud on the ground and looked over his shoulder at Kagome, Rin, Shippo, and his older brother. He smirked when he seen Sesshomaru and called over, "What? Are you gonna make me do all the work?" Sesshomaru strode over to him, motioning for Rin to stay with Shippo when she tried to follow him, and replied in his usual flat tone.
"If Kikyo and Rin are to be kept from Naraku, I see no other choice but to intervene, little brother." InuYasha was about to respond, his blood boiling, when Sesshomaru smirked and turned towards Naraku. InuYasha's anger faded and a smirk of his own spread over his face; his brother had been joking. 'Sounds wierd. Sesshomaru joking? That's like saying Naraku likes butterflies!' He turned to face Naraku as well, looking at his brother out of the corner of his eye. He'd changed. No one but his brother could really notice, he knew, but Sesshomaru had changed dramatically since last they'd met. Before this week, it seemed as though InuYasha and Sesshomaru were simply blood-related enemies, bent on killing each other for their own gain. But after all that had happened, even InuYasha was prepared to admit that he felt closer to Sesshomaru. They seemed more like brothers now...and it didn't feel strange to InuYasha at all, for some reason.
"Kagome!" Sango called from InuYasha's right. He looked to her and then to Kagome, who stood with Shippo and Rin nearby. The demon slayer ran over to the miko, still watchful of the silent Naraku; the spider youkai appeared to be too entertained with the strange antics of the Inu-tachi to fight at the moment, anyway. "We saw Kanna fall out the window! What happened? Did Sesshomaru kill her?" InuYasha listened intently as Kagome laughed nervously. He'd seen the incarnation of Naraku fall out of the nine-story window and die once and for all...but it disturbed him, somehow. Maybe it was because Naraku had done nothing to save her from her death, nor had Kagura. After all, Kanna had been the only incarnation he'd created that was actually loyal to him; Kagura, on the other hand, siezed every opportunity to defy him and attribute to his demise. Why hadn't he made a move to rescue the soul-stealing wench? It would have been an easy thing for him to make Kagura send one of her blasted feathers at the last moment...so why?
"Well, Shippo and I helped quite a bit, actually! She was trying to take Rin and Sesshomaru's souls, so we all attacked her! We didn't really plan on her falling out the window like that, though!" Kagome said loudly, smiling broadly. InuYasha looked to his brother, who determinedly avoided his eye and concentrated wholly on Naraku. "But look! We saved Rin!" Kagome suddenly changed the subject, making InuYasha wonder. Why did she seem so uncomfortable about Kanna's attack on Sesshomaru and Rin? A thought came to mind, but he thought that there might be something more involved in the matter than just Kagome's new attachment on his older brother and his ward. She seemed more embarrassed than shaken, for some reason. She wanted to change the subject because something about what happened up there in the castle made her feel awkward...but what was it?
"I can see that! How are you, Rin? You weren't harmed by Kanna, were you?" Sango asked, standing in front of the little girl as she turned to face Naraku again.
"Uh-Uh! I'm fine! Kagome-chan and Sesshomaru-sama protected me!" Rin exclaimed, laughing. InuYasha always thought that Rin was really wierd. All kids were, actually. And speaking of wierd little kids...
"Ahem!" Shippo cleared his throat noisily from behind Rin, who jumped and turned around to face him.
"Oh! Yes, and Shippo protected me, too! Thank you, Shippo-chan!" Rin cried, bowing respectfully as she laughed again. Shippo blushed. InuYasha just barely caught a glimpse of Kagome smiling down on the two of them with that wierd look she always got when something struck her as "cute".
"Keh," InuYasha heard himself huff. Usually, the things Kagome considered "cute" were things that InuYasha considered "nauseating". Shippo and Rin's little talk was no exception. "Are we gonna attack Naraku any time soon or are we just gonna stand around making faces at each other? Sheesh..." Kagome and Sango turned to look at him angrily before the anger clicked into determination.
"You bet."
"Got it."
Sango leaped onto Kilala as she spoke and heaved her hiraikotsu over her shoulder as the two-tail took off into the air. Kagome came to stand between Sesshomaru and InuYasha, readying an arrow.
"Ready when you are," Miroku said from off to InuYasha's right, where Sango had once been standing. As he prepared to pull the rosary beads from his right hand, Sango swooped down and grabbed Miroku up onto Kilala with her. "Whoa! You could at least warn me before you do things like that!" They heard the monk shout from the sky.
"Do you always spend so much time talking before a battle? Perhaps your enemies die of the sheer boredom of it all. Or perhaps they just walk away? Really, I'm quite fascinated," Naraku said composedly from atop his mound of pulsating and slithering tentacles, smirking arrogantly. InuYasha clenched his fist around Tetsusaiga and Sesshomaru's face relaxed with indifference...which now seemed more out of place than when he smiled. The sharp sing of a blade met InuYasha's demonic ears and he zeroed in on the sound. His face became taut with uncertainty. He couldn't attack this person! He'd spent too long trying to save them! But when InuYasha saw what lay just behind him, he began to question his decision. Kikyo lay on the ground, unconscious and partially pinned down by about twenty pounds of Naraku-tentacle. He grimaced.
"Kohaku!" Sango's voice rang out from above as she caught sight of her brother, who stood guard over Kikyo. "No, Kohaku! Don't defend Naraku anymore! Please, get away from Kikyo! Please, Kohaku!" InuYasha thought for sure that Kohaku would remain unresponsive to his older sister's pleas, but just as she said his name that last time, he looked up at her. His eyes were still dull, his face still blank, but he had looked up at her. Kohaku had heard his sister speak to him and had broken out of his one-tracked mind to defeat Naraku's enemies. He'd been distracted by an outsider--someone who was not a minion of Naraku. 'If he's still responding to us, then that means he's still not entirely under Naraku's control. It means that he still holds some part of his mind to himself. So...that means that there must still be hope for the kid.' InuYasha smirked and looked at Kohaku. There had to be some way that he could defeat the brat without ending his life. He'd just have to figure out how.
"Sesshomaru, we don't kill the kid, there. Got it?" InuYasha looked to Sesshomaru out of the corner of his eye. His older brother looked to him, then Kohaku, and then to Sango before returning his attention to Naraku. His emotionless expression never faltered.
"I understand."