InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Rock, Paper, Scissors: Love Beats All ❯ The Chained Ones ( Chapter 12 )

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Chapter Twelve: The Chained Ones

Sango was still sobbing into his chest, two handfuls of his robes clutched desperately in her white-knuckled fingers, and was seemingly unaware that his arms were wrapped bracingly around her quaking form. He didn't understand. Why would Kohaku suddenly abandon all hope now, when for so long they had fought to save him from this fate? What bothered Miroku the most was that he hadn't protected Sango from her agony. He'd sworn to save Kohaku, but had failed miserably. Looking back, he didn't feel as though he'd really done anything to fulfill the oath he'd made to the demon slayer. He'd sworn to save Kohaku for her, but all he'd done was save her from Kohaku. Why hadn't he stopped that weapon?! When Kohaku had raised that sickle, he should have snatched that away rather than Sango! Then maybe Kohaku would still be alive. He coiled his arms tighter around her, feeling her sadness welling into his own heart, and closed his eyes as she curled up in his embrace. It was as though nothing else in the world mattered to her anymore - she was completely absorbed with her pain. He couldn't think of anything he wouldn't give to have another chance to make Sango happy.

But it was hopeless now. She was so broken...

At that moment, Miroku noticed Sesshomaru, Kagome, and Rin making their way over to them. Shippo was being carried in Kagome's arms, so heavily wrapped in bandages that he looked like a miniature mummy with a tail. Miroku's eyes locked and narrowed at Sesshomaru's indifferent features as he glided over to meet them. That bastard! That unbelievable, unfeeling bastard! Earlier, that heartless monster had the nerve to come over and demand his antidote back from Sango - without even the slightest acknowledgment to her brother's death. Sango had been crushed. Needless to say, Miroku was not feeling very friendly towards the taiyoukai at the moment. And considering that the monk was growing especially more Wind Tunnel happy the nearer that Sesshomaru drew, he was beginning to think it would be in the best interest of Sesshomaru's very existence if he didn't get any closer to the demon slayer than he already was. But the Ice Lord continued towards them - as if nothing hurtful had occurred between him and Sango at all!

Miroku slid his arms from around Sango's form, denying her even a glance as she looked up to him in confusion, and distractedly pushed her aside with a forearm, his eyes never leaving the approaching Sesshomaru. Miroku angrily shot to his feet, his long strides towards the monstrous demon sparing no room for doubt towards his intentions, and grasped his rosary beads with his less dangerous hand. The indifference never left the fool's face.

And then he realized that Kagome and the others were in his line of fire and froze. Kagome and Rin, who had stopped a little ways behind Miroku's target, looked at him in bewildered surprise - but Sesshomaru still advanced. Miroku scowled at the audacious full demon, refusing to be the one to back down in this situation.

"Kagome! Take Rin and step away!" he commanded, his eyes still on Sesshomaru as he curled his fingers around his beads. They still didn't move, and Sesshomaru still advanced. "Now!" he shouted, a little more forceful than before. Kagome's answer was to break into a sudden run to catch up to Sesshomaru, followed by the ever-cheerful Rin, before resuming to walk at his side. She wouldn't look at the monk. Miroku gaped in disbelief as his hand fell from his rosary beads. As they passed by, Kagome stopped next to him as she said,

"Sesshomaru is our ally, Miroku..." The monk whirled on her, turning to point a finger at Sango as he tried to meet Kagome's evasive eye.

"An ally wouldn't be so insensitive to his teammates! How can you choose him over-?!"

"He saved Shippo's life!" she interrupted, scowling at him with unusual anger as she rounded on him. When had she grown so serious...?

"You both fought off those demons over there! But Sesshomaru doesn't care about the feelings of others! He was-"

"Not the demons, Miroku! Shippo was poisoned and Sesshomaru gave him his antidote to save his life," Kagome explained, looking at him with a hard expression. It was a look, Miroku concluded, that said "don't push me." He wasn't about to. He watched at her, considering, as he asked,

"Shippo was poisoned? How?" And suddenly Kagome wanted to change the subject.

"And what are you trying to say that Sesshomaru doesn't have any feelings for?!" Miroku was about to interrupt her in the middle of her sentence to force an answer to his question, but as she finished he was reminded of Sango and felt his sudden disgust at the demon rise again.

"Sesshomaru's only fighting to win! Sango - he didn't even offer any support to her when Kohaku died!" Kagome blanched. Miroku abruptly came to the realization: she hadn't known about Kohaku's sudden death.

"Kohaku's...dead...?" she asked, her eyes looking past him sightlessly. Miroku immediately regretted what he'd said and tried to find some way to ease the brunt of the blow, but the words were too quick for him. He looked to Sesshomaru, turning the seething rage he was feeling towards himself upon the taiyoukai, when he noticed the murderous glint in the corner of the demon's eye as he fixed him with a cold gaze. Miroku instinctively reached for his rosary beads, though he knew the Wind Tunnel was useless in such close proximity of his true allies. "Kohaku..." Kagome gasped, eyes growing wide. "Sango!"

"Sango!" Kagome exclaimed, whipping around to face her distraught friend. Sesshomaru watched as she zipped past him, paying him less mind than a common flea, and all but tackled her friend in a comforting embrace. "Sango, I'm so sorry!" she wailed, squeezing the demon slayer so tightly that between her sobs and Kagome's hug, she was definitely suffering some oxygen deprivation. Then they both broke down into tears, holding one another as sobs wracked each of their bodies. Sesshomaru was at a loss, and so turned to face the monk. The monk that had intended to turn his Wind Tunnel on him - and not for the first time today. The monk that had caused Kagome to start crying - again, not for the first time today. The monk went for his rosary beads at Sesshomaru's less-than-amiable expression and the taiyoukai growled, ceasing the human's reflexive action. Sesshomaru stepped over to close the gap between them as he said,

"Would you have me waste time with formalities when lives are in danger?" The monk looked wary for a moment before it finally sunk in.

"I'd hardly think sympathy would be considered a formality, Sesshomaru. Though I see why you couldn't spare the time to say "sorry for your loss." It would have taken much too long, wouldn't it?" The human man looked to him condescendingly and, before Sesshomaru had known it, the monk was airborne. Kagome and Sango squealed in response and it wasn't until then that Sesshomaru remembered that Miroku was supposed to be his "teammate." Miroku had landed in a heap about twenty feet away, but was already slowly sitting himself back up.

"Sesshomaru?!" Kagome's incredulous voice met him from behind. He turned his head to regard her from over his shoulder, his indifferent expression unrelenting as she gave him a disbelieving look. Her face told him, plainly, that her faith in him had fell. If she'd had any faith in him at all to begin with, that is. His eyes narrowed slightly as she asked, "Why? Why would you attack Miroku?!" As if he'd been unprovoked! But Sesshomaru chose to disregard her questions. Why should he acknowledge such a pointless inquiry when she was so obviously biased on the matter? Miroku was her friend - had been for a long time - longer than Sesshomaru had, at the very least. Whatever he said, it would be cancelled out by the monk's complaints. Sesshomaru looked back at the monk has he came forward. He’d righted himself from Sesshomaru's "attack” fairly quickly.

"I told you, Kagome," the human man began as he passed Sesshomaru by. "Sesshomaru cannot be our ally. He doesn't understand the concept of a team - or of being a teammate. He fights alone and for his own reasons. That is all." Sesshomaru's fist clenched and unclenched as he took a step forward, intending to go in aid of his brother. Perhaps he would gain some appreciation from that end.

"Sesshomaru-sama isn't a bad guy! You're wrong! Sesshomaru-sama is-" Rin was cut short as Sesshomaru spoke.

"Rin. We must go." And, just as quickly as Rin's angry rant had begun, it had been dropped. She skipped towards him and slipped her hand into his, smiling up at him comfortingly. But Sesshomaru didn't walk on as he had intended. And for a moment he didn't know why. And then he realized, almost intuitively, that he was waiting for Kagome to arrive at his side. He scowled, earning a curious look from Rin, and immediately began to walk onward. He would not impose his presence on those that held no loyalty to him.

"Miroku..." Kagome's disembodied voice began, causing Sesshomaru's stride to shorten somewhat as he strained to overhear. He was acting ridiculous! "Miroku, Sesshomaru saved Shippo. He didn't have to do that. Shippo's life wasn't in danger until after the battle had already been won, so it had nothing to do with "winning,” okay? And, as for being a teammate, he’s been fighting to save Kikyo and Kohaku, even though he didn’t even know them until today! If he wanted to hurt Sango, he could have just - he could have just killed Kohaku with his Poison Whip before! If he hadn’t been careful...then Kohaku would have died of the poisoning. Sesshomaru might fight for his own reasons, but so does Inuyasha. And so does everyone else, including me. Our reasons are to protect others.” Sesshomaru stopped walking and turned around to examine Kagome’s features. He was searching for sincerity. And he found it.

“Kagome.” She looked to him when he spoke, her expression surprised. She hadn’t remembered he wasn’t out of earshot, then? He felt a small smile overtake his features. That was all the better. “The battle against Naraku would be easier fought with a few sacred arrows in the mix.” She looked confused for a moment, but then her face suddenly lit up as a smile sprung over her features.

“Right!” And she ran to his side. Now that both human girls flanked the mighty Lord of the Western Lands, he found that he was fully equipped for battle.

“Kohaku! Something’s happening to Kohaku’s body!” shouted a frantic Sango as Inuyasha increased his speed. He’d already been making his way to the rest of the group when Sango had called out. He wasn’t making any headway with Naraku on his own, he was sorry to admit, and so had decided to return and employ the help of his friends. Apparently, he’d decided to show up at just the right time. ‘Kohaku’s body...? I sure as Hell missed something here!’ he grumbled, intending to ignore any feelings of concern. He was battling - a no-emotion zone. He overcame the horizon and, as he saw Kohaku’s body lifting into the air with two other figures, he sped to the scene with all his might.

“What the Hell is going on here?!” he demanded as he reached the center of his friends. Sango, Miroku, Kagome, Sesshomaru, Rin, and a severely banged-up Shippo were staring up at the three hovering bodies with great unease and didn’t answer him. Inuyasha growled in annoyance and snapped his gaze to the figures. ‘Might as well be talking to a bunch of logs...’ And then he saw why everyone was freaked out so much. Kohaku was hovering with Kanna and Kagura - and they were beginning to blend together or something. Inuyasha’s nose wrinkled as he watched thin strips of energy coil around the three forms, eventually shaping into links of chain! ‘Chains...? Why would Naraku want to chain up his attack dogs?’ And now Naraku’s undead minions have come back to the ground, returned to normal except for the chains that forced them to stay within four feet of each other at all times. ‘That’ll slow them down during battle,’ noted Inuyasha with a smirk.

“Kohaku...is alive again?” Sango’s voice asked in obvious disbelief. Inuyasha scowled.

“He’s under Naraku’s control again, Sango. Don’t be fooled!” he warned, half-annoyed.

“Kagura and Kanna are back; I don’t like the smell of this one, Inuyasha,” Miroku said. “This is all a part of Naraku’s plan.”

“I got that much, monk! Jeez, what a pain in the ass...” the hanyou snapped, not sure whether the pain-in-the-ass comment was aimed at Naraku for being such a manipulative prick or at the monk for stating the obvious.

“Naraku’s reached a new low! Reanimating Kohaku’s corpse to use for his own purposes!” came Kagome’s furious voice. “He won’t get away with this!” Inuyasha glanced back at her with surprise. Was it just him, or was she a little more serious than usual?

“Focus.” Sesshomaru was before him all of a sudden, raking his claws through Kanna’s chained figure - which had somehow managed to sneak up on him when he wasn’t looking.

“Shit!” He spun, fully intent on playing his part in Kanna’s demise - but all of a sudden Sesshomaru was slung backwards!

“Sesshomaru-sama!” Rin screamed, staring after her guardian as Kagome held her back from the fight. Inuyasha retreated a step, finally drawing Tetsusaiga, and looked back at Sesshomaru who had managed to gracefully land on his feet. He trained his eye on Kanna and the other chained minions as he asked,

“What the Hell was that?”

“...”

“Don’t pull that damned silent act on me! What just happened?!” he demanded, seriously ticked. “Kanna’s not even injured! I know that you landed that hit on her!” He brought up Tetsusaiga and searched for the Wind Scar as he awaited Sesshomaru’s reply. Unfortunately, the Chained Ones weren’t going to be polite. Kagura and Kanna led the way, dragging Kohaku along whether he liked it or not since he was unlucky enough to be chained in the middle, and sent a brand new frickin’ attack his way. Inuyasha blocked an onslaught of white dagger-like energy with Tetsusaiga, barely managing to hold them back with the force that they pressed upon his blade.

“They’ve got some new tricks, it seems,” Miroku said jerkily as he came up to Inuyasha’s side, spinning his staff for a shield against the attack. Inuyasha didn’t reply; he was still searching for the Wind Scar.

“Sesshomaru, how did Kanna get away uninjured?” asked Kagome, coming up by Sesshomaru’s side with a determined expression overtaking her features once the attack had ceased. Sesshomaru glanced down at her indifferently before focusing back on the Chained Ones.

“A barrier was suddenly erected around them. No attack will penetrate it.” Inuyasha smirked. ‘Sure, he’ll answer her...’ But he didn’t give that thought much of a chance to fester - he’d thought of something.

“Except Red Tetsusaiga,” he gloated. He transformed the blade again and admired the red-tinted metal. “Now they’re really screwed.” He rushed forward, bringing the sword down to cut through the barrier.

And then he was flying over the heads of his friends.

“Red Tetsusaiga didn’t work!” Shippo’s voice shouted in its usual irritating way. ‘Well, duh, you stupid pipsqueak!’ he thought as he got to his feet again. He came up behind Sesshomaru as the demons - and Kohaku - advanced on them again. They sent a larger barrage of white daggers than before at the entire group, taking everyone by surprise. ‘I can’t shield everyone with the blade of Tetsusaiga!’ Inuyasha realized, suddenly panicky.

Luckily, Miroku had been at the top of his wits and erected a barrier of his own over the group.

“I can’t hold a barrier this big for long, Inuyasha! What’re we doing?” the monk wanted to know. Sure! Put Inuyasha on the spot, why don’t you...? He looked at the Chained Ones, grumbling,

“How the Hell should I know...?” under his breath. Sesshomaru turned his head over his shoulder to face him.

“Have the monk use his Wind Tunnel on them. Kohaku is dead now - there is no hope of him returning to his former self any longer.” Inuyasha was thoughtful for a moment as he regarded his older brother. Then he nodded.

“Miroku!” he shouted to him, making the monk snap his gaze to his. “Use your Wind Tunnel!” Miroku paused, looking at Sango pointedly. Sango’s brows knit as she said,

“Do it. Kohaku’s gone.” And so Miroku’s barrier came down and his Wind Tunnel came out. Everyone leapt out of range as the rosary beads were torn off the monk’s right wrist - but it was apparent after the first few moments of Miroku’s attempt that the Chained Ones weren’t going anywhere.

“What’s happening?!” Kagome demanded from the sidelines with Rin and Shippo. Inuyasha shot her an annoyed look.

“Nothing! Are you blind?!” And, surprisingly, Sesshomaru’s impenetrable expression appeared to grow more contemptuous at Inuyasha’s comment. ‘What the Hell is going on with those two...?’

“Monk! Erect a barrier around Kagome and the defenseless. This method is useless...” was Sesshomaru’s icy demand. The monk seemed reluctant to obey Sesshomaru’s command, but complied after a few moments.

“Hey! Let me out!” Shippo cried, pouting at Miroku. “Sesshomaru said to put the barrier around Kagome and the defenseless!” Miroku chuckled lightly, but left the barrier around all three of the non-battlers. Shippo didn’t pursue the matter however, and simply plopped himself down on the ground and crossed his arms - a strangely familiar gesture, Inuyasha determined. Where had he saw that before...? He didn’t have time to think about that, because the Chained Ones were unleashing their newest horror at Inuyasha and the others.

A flood of dark gas came in billowing clouds towards the group - and Inuyasha still couldn’t see the Wind Scar! ‘It’s just like with Kagura’s demon winds!’ And, unable to blow the miasma away from the group, Inuyasha decided to retreat - but not before grabbing Sango by the arm to take her with him. As he hitched his arm beneath hers, he realized that Sesshomaru had done the same! He looked to him from the corner of his eye, Sesshomaru glancing at him as well, before landing far away from the previous, poisonous battlefield and releasing Sango from their grips. Inuyasha and his brother took a few choreographed steps forward, blocking Sango from any attack, before realizing what they’d done.

“Are you mimicking me on purpose or something?!” snapped Inuyasha. Sesshomaru’s brows knit as he shot him a suspicious look.

“I could say the same of you.” Inuyasha’s eyes widened in surprise.

“If that was all a coincidence, I think we have bigger problems on our hands...” Sesshomaru smirked at Inuyasha’s sarcasm, earning a smirk in return. “But just what are we gonna do about this demon? It’s canceling out all our attacks!”

“...”

“Are you just physically incapable of saying the words “I don’t know,” or something?!” Inuyasha shot.

“...”

“Screw it! Let’s get this over with!” And Inuyasha flew back into the battlefield, having no idea what he was planning to do. The Red Tetsusaiga wasn’t working, though - so that meant that whatever it was that was keeping their attacks from reaching the Chained Ones wasn’t a barrier. What else was left?! Inuyasha leapt into the air, coming back down on his opponents with Tetsusaiga over his head. ‘Whatever it is, I’m gonna have to figure it out soon!’ He was flung back so hard that he ended up back at Sesshomaru’s feet. ‘...or die trying!’ he finished dejectedly.

“Brute force isn’t enough this time, Inuyasha.”

“Sure! Now you got words! What’s our plan, then?!”

“Kagome.”

“...” Now it was Inuyasha’s turn to pull the silent card.