InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Side Effects ❯ Confrontations ( Chapter 3 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: King Baka 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 04.16.2017 | Pages: 11 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 987 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 04.16.2017 | Pages: 11 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 987 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha. I will make no
money from this fic; I write for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment
of my readers.
Confrontations
Things quieted down for a couple days after the incident with the tree-youkai, a welcome normalization of Inu-tachi group dynamics. Rather than constantly hovering in an unnaturally good mood, Inuyasha seemed to revert back to his old self. Most of the time he was neither amiable nor surly, but something in between. He was, of course, as short-tempered as ever, but Kagome could deal with this just as she’d been dealing with it for months now. The shift in personality was certainly a welcome change. For a couple days she was able to stop walking on eggshells around him, and could almost forget that he was no longer hanyou. Her own reservations about that fact could be ignored in favor of more pleasant thoughts. She had her best friend and love interest back! She didn’t have time to waste on brooding, not when she could finally breathe again.
She should have known the bliss would never last.
One afternoon they were attacked by a swarm of about a hundred youkai, obviously drawn to the jewel shards dangling from her neck. Most were examples of the common centipede-like variety, vividly colored but not very powerful. There were a few larger youkai mixed in, but nothing to worry them. Inuyasha could wipe out the entire swarm with two, maybe three swings of Tetsusaiga. The only trouble was that he didn’t actually unsheathe his sword.
It was fortunate that Sango and Miroku never took anything for granted and maintained a state of readiness. For although Inuyasha was probably in very little danger as he charged into the swarm, claws flashing in every direction, the numerical disparity of a one hundred-to-one fight left some of the enemy youkai unoccupied, free to choose another target. The taijiya and monk dealt with them with relative ease, but the very fact that they had to raise their weapons at all was cause for concern. Especially when Inuyasha cornered the last two primitive youkai and didn’t immediately finish them off. Instead, he appeared to toy with them. Whenever they tried to flee in a new direction, Inuyasha was there, blocking their escape. His nostrils flared and his eyes glowed with delight, as though he was savoring their fear through multiple senses. It was chilling.
“This has gone on long enough,” Sango finally declared, striding purposefully forward. Inuyasha didn’t see her coming until she had granted his prey a merciful end with one swing of hiraikotsu. There was a moment of silence before the explosion.
“What the fuck, Sango?!” Inuyasha bellowed, advancing on her. The taijiya firmed her countenance and glared right back at him from less than a meter away.
“I could ask you the same thing, Inuyasha.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Why didn’t you use Tetsusaiga?”
That question seemed to catch him off guard for a moment, but he quickly recovered. “Keh. Didn’t need it against that small fry.”
“Maybe not,” Sango relented, “but you absolutely should have used it as the quickest and least dangerous way to end the battle.”
“Don’t tell me how to fight, taijiya. I’ve been fending for myself since before you were born.”
Sango rolled her eyes. “Yes, fending for yourself. It isn’t just you anymore. When you fight, you’re fighting for more than just your own hide. You should always think about your companions when you enter battle,” she admonished, speaking as though the lesson had been an important part of her training.
Inuyasha sneered. “If you lot couldn’t handle a few small fry like that, then you have no business being out here at all.”
“That’s not the point. The point is—”
“—that I can’t always rely on Tetsusaiga. You’ve seen that first-hand, haven’t you? So if I occasionally need a hand-to-hand battle to shake off the rust, then you’ll just have to deal with it. I wouldn’t have done it if you lot would’ve been in any danger.”
He stated the last part so assuredly that Kagome almost believed him. A profound and disturbing sense of déjà vu struck her. Just as he had after the incident with the tree-youkai, Inuyasha quickly and aggressively provided a justification for his actions. As before, he definitely had a point, but she couldn’t take him at his word. There was more to this than mere practice. Nevertheless, Inuyasha’s obstinacy had clearly knocked Sango off balance. She took a moment to gather her thoughts, and when she spoke, her voice was subdued but still firm.
“Look, Inuyasha. This is me speaking as your friend and as a taijiya. When you take longer than necessary to finish an opponent, you’re asking for trouble. People get killed that way. If you want to train, we can train. I’ll give you one hell of a workout. But this today…it’s not right. And it makes me wonder if you’re still the friend I knew before we met that damn hamster.”
“Except for being a full-fledged youkai, I’m the same as I was before,” Inuyasha replied, sounding more sincere and decidedly less argumentative. “I’m still Inuyasha.”
“I hope so,” Sango replied softly, turning to walk away. Inuyasha watched her for a moment with an unreadable expression, then spun and stalked off into the trees, obviously wanting some time alone.
Miroku sighed, breaking the awkward silence. “It seems that we were right to be concerned.”
“Unfortunately,” Sango replied, clearly lost in her own thoughts.
“I guess all we can do is be his friend, and call it to his attention when he does something unusual.”
A sense of helplessness settled over the small group of companions. They all knew the truth, that even if Inuyasha was changing, there was no going back. All they could do was call him on it and encourage him to make a conscious effort to alter his behavior. They hoped that these personality swings were a result of him still getting used to his elevated levels of youki, and that they would normalize once he had adjusted. But none of them really knew what to expect. The cold reality was that they might have seen the last of their hanyou friend.
Inuyasha might never truly be ‘Inuyasha’ again.
‘But they’ve also save your ass many times as well.’
That ‘voice of reason’ inside his head was getting really annoying. And so what if his friends occasionally helped him in battle. What difference did that make?
‘So maybe Sango knows what she’s talking about.’
“Keh. Nosy taijiya,” he grumbled. “Telling me I’ve changed. Bullshit! I’m faster and stronger now, but I’m still Inuyasha.”
‘Are you really?’
He considered the question for a moment, then shook his head and set his jaw stubbornly. Hell yes, he was still Inuyasha! They were all idiots for doubting that—doubting him—even for a moment. And so what if he enjoyed fighting a little more than he did before? He wasn’t a mindless killer, constantly seeking out something to slaughter. But if he did have to fight, what was wrong with deriving a little enjoyment from it? Sango was right that he shouldn’t use his claws if it meant putting his friends in serious danger, but he wouldn’t have done that anyway! She was stupid for not having more faith in him.
Conscience clear, part of him wanted to march right back and tell them how foolish they all were, but he thought better of it. Besides, he was getting hungry, and some snacks from Kagome’s bags weren’t going to be enough to satisfy him. No, he wanted meat tonight. Licking his lips at the thought, he began to creep silently through the forest in search of prey.
“A little squeamish, Miroku-sama?”
“Not at all, Kagome-sama,” he replied, utterly failing to affect nonchalance. “I merely thought you might enjoy some company.”
“Oh, I see,” she responded with exaggerated grace. “Well, thank you for your consideration, Miroku-sama. I truly appreciate it.”
“Think nothing of it, Kagome-sama,” he told her, as though he didn’t notice her sarcasm. “Providing comfort to fair maidens is what I do.” He winked, and Kagome hid her amusement behind her hand.
Inuyasha muttered something unintelligible behind them, which caused Sango and Shippou to chuckle. Miroku’s lips quirked into a slight frown as he closed his eyes.
“I get the distinct impression that I am being made fun of.”
“I can’t imagine why,” Kagome replied innocently, which only caused the monk to hang his head and sigh in his typical ‘I’m so misunderstood’ fashion. Rather than being misunderstood, she reflected with a grin, I think Miroku-sama’s problem is that we know him too well. She had never appreciated the monk’s humorous quirks as much as she did now, however. It was nice to forget her troubles and laugh with friends, even for a few moments.
A short while later, the smell of cooking meat quickly drove away the last of Kagome’s lingering nausea. Inuyasha was already eating by the time she settled by the campfire, having pulled his portion out of the flames long before he usually did. Kagome grimaced at the sight of blood running down his chin. She had heard of rare steak, but she doubted this met the standard for even that meagre level of doneness. Come to think of it, one of the boars had sported a fresh-looking wound on its flank. She thought that was a result of Inuyasha grabbing it by the hindquarters during the hunt, but now she wondered if he hadn’t decided to take a few bites before bringing the carcasses back to camp.
But if he wanted to eat his meat barely-cooked or even raw, that was his right. It certainly wasn’t her place to say anything about it. But she couldn’t stop herself from asking about something else which had been bothering her.
“Inuyasha…why did you kill two boars?”
He fixed her with a neutral expression, so she honestly couldn’t tell what he was thinking. It made her more nervous than his irritated glare ever had.
“I mean, there’s just so much meat,” she rambled. “We hadn’t eaten a big meal in a few days, so I appreciate you hunting for us, and we can take some of it with us, but a lot of it will go to waste. So…maybe one boar would’ve been enough?”
He stared at her with that same blank expression for a few anxious moments, then growled out a sigh and shook his head.
“I really can’t win with you people, can I?” he asked bitterly.
Kagome frowned. ‘You people?’ Since when did we become ‘you people?’ She thought her question had been fair, and she hadn’t been mean about it or anything. So why did he have to take offense and turn it around on her, making her look like the bad guy?
“That’s not—”
“Keh. Forget it,” he interrupted, rising to his feet, his eyes guarded. “You’re right, it was a waste to kill both of them. My bad. Now get some sleep. We’re getting up early tomorrow.”
With that he leapt into the trees, decisively terminating the conversation and leaving his friends to stare at each other wearing the same helpless expressions as earlier that day.
Just what the hell was happening to Inuyasha?
Kouga whirled to a stop right in front of her and grabbed her hands as he usually did, not immediately noticing her trepidation.
“Hey, Kagome. How’s my wom—”
It was fortunate that Kouga possessed both naturally exceptional reflexes and the jewel shards which made him that much quicker. Otherwise Inuyasha’s claws might have ended their rivalry in one fell swoop. Now, it was not as though the inu-hanyou had never taken a swing at the ookami before, or vice versa. Quite the opposite in fact. But Kagome had detected an element of posturing in their confrontations as of late, a sense that they weren’t really trying to hurt each other. Inuyasha would ‘pull his punches’ a bit, so to speak, and Kouga would leap away with a little ‘hup’ to let everyone know that he didn’t take the hanyou seriously. Neither of them would admit it, but they hadn’t fought each other with malicious intent in a very long time. That was clearly no longer the case, however, and Kouga knew it. He dodged Inuyasha’s attack silently and settled into a combat stance a few meters away, his eyes cold steel.
“And just what the fuck is your problem, Inu-kurro?” he snarled angrily.
Inuyasha chuckled darkly. “Take a good look, you worthless piece of wolf trash. You really shouldn’t call me ‘Inu-kurro’ anymore.”
There was a momentary pause as Kouga realized what his rival was referring to. To everyone’s surprise, the wolf merely scoffed and put a hand to his forehead in exasperation. But he never took his eyes off of his adversary, nor did he relax his stance.
“You’re an even bigger idiot than I realized, Inu-kurro. I told you when we first met, didn’t I? I can’t stand the smell of dogs. I could give a shit that you’re a hanyou.”
Kagome wasn’t sure she completely believed that statement, since Kouga undoubtedly also looked down on Inuyasha because of his mixed heritage, or at least he had in the beginning. More recently a grudging respect had developed between the two of them, but that was obviously a thing of the past.
“Was a hanyou,” Inuyasha corrected. “As you can see, I’m a full-fledged youkai now, same as you. Correction—better than you. You could barely compete with me when I was a hanyou. Now you’re not even in the same class.”
“Funny you should mention class. If you were really so much better than me, you wouldn’t need to resort to cheap shots.”
“Keep talking, ookami, and see what happens. My generosity only goes so far. I’ll give you one last chance. Leave now, and don’t ever let me see or smell your sorry hide ever again.”
Kouga looked to Kagome and the rest of her companions, his gaze lingering briefly on the miko in particular. If they had all been united behind Inuyasha’s stated demand, the ookami probably would have honored their wishes—her wishes—and beat a humiliating retreat. But whatever he saw in their expressions, or smelled in their scents, gave him reason to stay. He turned to Inuyasha with a grim smile, cracking his knuckles menacingly.
“You’re a fool, Inu-kurro. You think this has made you better, but you’re actually more pathetic than ever. Being a full-youkai isn’t about how much youkai blood you have. It’s a mindset, a strength of heart and will that you lack completely. All I see before me is a dumb mutt who doesn’t know how to treat his friends!”
With a wordless snarl, Inuyasha barreled at Kouga, claws flashing in the waning light. The ookami dodged the attack, lashing out with a kick which the inu also evaded. And just like that, a fight to the death was on.
“Inuyasha! Kouga-kun! Stop this!”
They ignored her completely, continuing their relentless attacks, some of which drew blood. The wounds were superficial at this point, but that wouldn’t last long.
“Stop this, please! Before someone gets hurt!”
“That’s the idea, bitch!” Inuyasha snapped, barely missing Kouga with an uppercut slash designed to split him down the middle.
“Don’t try to reason with him, Kagome!” the ookami retorted, retaliating with an overhead smash which left a small crater in the earth. “He’s nothing more than a rabid dog that needs to be put down!”
“It was a mistake to let you live this long, bastard!”
“Heh. The mistake was mutual. I didn’t kill you back then because Kagome obviously cares about you. She cares about me too, Inu-kurro. Not that you give a damn what she thinks!”
“Shut the fuck up!” Inuyasha bellowed, lashing out wildly and missing badly as Kouga retreated a few paces. The battle came to a brief pause as the adversaries sized each other up.
“Oh, did I strike a nerve?” Kouga sneered. “Take a good look at Kagome, you ingrate. She’s put up with a lot of shit for you, and now you completely disregard her feelings? She doesn’t just fear for our lives. She’s afraid of what you’ve become.”
Kagome felt Inuyasha’s eyes on her, pleading for a response. She opened her mouth to deny Kouga’s assertion, but her words died on her lips. She couldn’t bring herself to lie, not at this crucial moment, when lives hung in the balance. In the end, all she could do was close her eyes and hang her head in shame.
“There. You see, Inu-kurro?” Kouga asked, appearing to take little enjoyment from this despite his psychological victory. “You’ve become something your friends don’t even recognize anymore.”
Inuyasha tilted his head down so his bangs covered his eyes, his body pulsing with rage. His ominous demeanor reminded Kagome very much of the time he had fought with Sesshoumaru after battling Kaijinbou, the swordsmith who forged Toukijin. He would have transformed and attacked his half-brother that day if not for Totosai’s intervention. This time when a gust of wind revealed one of his eyes, it was still golden, though flecked with highlights of hateful crimson.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, you lowlife piece of scum. I’m still Inuyasha. And I’m finally going to do something I should have done a long time ago!”
“Osuwari!”
Inuyasha’s lunge ended with a faceplant, courtesy of the subduing spell. Instead of cursing the rosary as he usually did, he pushed off the ground and strained against the spell, his teeth bared as he glared daggers at his intended victim.
“Please run, Kouga-kun! Get away from here!”
“Can’t do that, Kagome. Not with him like this. I don’t trust him not to hurt you.”
“Please, Kouga-kun! I can’t—osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari!”
She continued to shout the command until Inuyasha stopped fighting the spell, and simply lay bonelessly where he had fallen. By then she was sobbing, her vision blurred by tears which leaked forth and traced pitiful paths down her cheeks. She was about to plead once more with Kouga to flee when her tongue was stilled by a sound more dreadful, more terrifying than any she had ever experienced.
Inuyasha was laughing. Lying face down in the dirt, his voice rose in volume until the sinister cackle reverberated through Kagome’s very soul. His body began to pulse again, in time with his heartbeat and then faster, until his youki seemed to pour forth from his very being, surging around him like a giant flame. He rose slowly to his feet, head down, eyes hidden.
“You think being a full-youkai is a ‘mindset,’ Kouga?” he stated softly, voice dripping with amusement. “Don’t make me laugh. Let me show you the true power of an inu-youkai!”
His youki intensified, whirling like a vortex, whipping his robes and tossing his hair into the air behind him. As the winds picked up, an ominous purple glow began to form around him, a haze of barely repressed power. Kagome gasped, the scene drawing to mind memories of a battle long ago, inside the massive skeleton of Inuyasha’s father. No…it can’t be! He can’t possibly— Then it occurred to her. Inuyasha was a full-youkai now. Why couldn’t he do everything any other powerful full-youkai could do?
When he raised his head, his eyes were the color of blood.
What happened next shook Kagome to her very core. She watched in horror as Inuyasha’s snout elongated, his skin taking on the texture of fur. The rest of his transformation was hidden from view, as a tremendous explosion of youki kicked up a cloud of dust which forced everyone to cover their eyes. But when the dust cleared, what stood before her was no longer the Inuyasha she knew. In its place loomed a monster. He was not as large as Sesshoumaru had been, and his appearance was not as majestic. His lacked his half-brother’s regal mane, and his fur was matted or discolored in places, all likely consequences of this being his first transformation. But despite the imperfections, he possessed the same thirst for blood, the same unyielding, ruthless desire to tear his enemy limb from limb. His eyes, utterly inhuman, locked onto his intended prey, and he let loose a low, threatening snarl.
To his credit, Kouga hid his fear well, so well that Kagome could almost believe that he wasn’t afraid. But how could anyone stare into those piercing eyes and not collapse into an incontinent puddle of goo? Inuyasha wasn’t even looking at her, and she was on the verge of panic, her heart threatening to burst from her chest. Kouga seemed prepared to continue the fight, but Kagome couldn’t let that happen, not when she still had a trump card, albeit one which might earn her Inuyasha’s ire. The rosary was stretched around his neck, digging into the fur, only its formidable magic preventing the string from snapping under the strain. She wasn’t sure if it would survive this, but she had to try.
“Osuwari!”
The spell pulled him down, but not completely. The muscles in his front legs bulged, straining against the magic as he growled in her direction. It sounded to Kagome like an expression of frustration and annoyance, rather than a threat, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Don’t, Kagome!” Kouga yelled. “Let him come. He’s made himself bigger, but also slower and stupider. This will be easy!”
How could that be? She couldn’t let this happen!
“Osuwari!”
This time Inuyasha allowed himself to be dragged down, but stopped himself short of the ground. His growl built in his chest and exploded into a triumphant roar as he lurched upward and finally shattered the rosary into dozens of pieces which flew in all directions. One of the beads landed at Kagome’s feet, as if rebuking her for her foolishness. Inuyasha drew himself to his full height, glanced at her as if to ridicule her efforts, and then leapt at Kouga with intent to kill.
Still in shock, Kagome’s warning shout to the ookami came out as a garbled groan. But it soon became clear that she needn’t have worried. Perhaps Kouga hadn’t been bluffing when he stated that Inuyasha would be easier to deal with now. The inu was certainly more imposing in this form, but slower and stupider as Kouga predicted, and the ookami was literally running circles around him. He didn’t attack; instead he merely dodged all of Inuyasha’s attempts, appearing to enjoy frustrating the hell out of his dimwitted rival.
Perhaps he was enjoying it too much. A single miscalculation nearly cost him his head. He ducked at the last instant, and Inuyasha’s jaws snapped shut directly above him. Then Kouga was running for his life, a ravenous inu-youkai hot on his heels. No amount of weaving or juking would shake his pursuer, now that he had lost the initiative. It was at this point that Kagome decided to intervene. This was probably the dumbest thing she’d ever done, but the alternative was watching Kouga be ripped to shreds before her eyes. What choice did she have?
She ran forward, opening her mouth to plead with Inuyasha in a desperate appeal to the reasonable man hopefully cowering deep within. But before she could release her voice, Kouga unknowingly turned to sprint directly toward her. His eyes widened as he barreled at her at breakneck speed—literally, since a collision might break her neck. He dug his foot into the ground and darted off at a ninety-degree angle, obviously expecting Inuyasha to follow. But the inu had apparently been too focused on his prey to notice the newcomer, and had chosen exactly the wrong moment to lunge. Kagome skidded to a halt, even as her brain came to the sobering conclusion that Inuyasha was not going to be able to stop himself in time. With Kouga’s momentum now carrying him away from her, there was no one in position to come to her rescue either. This was going to hurt. A lot.
A profound feeling of weightlessness came over her, and it took her a moment to realize that it was not because she had been knocked senseless. Something was carrying her into the air, holding her aloft by the back of her blouse.
“Kirara!” she cried out in relief and gratitude, thankful for the fire-cat’s quick thinking. Kirara had already been transformed into her larger form, and to make it in time she must have taken off as soon as she saw her running toward the battle. The feline released a somewhat exasperated purr, as if to say ‘yeah, I’ve got you, dummy.’ Kagome reached back and rubbed her neck before returning her attention to the two males now squaring off below her.
The complexion of the battle had changed dramatically. Inuyasha seemed subdued, facing Kouga in a crouched posture, his tail lowered behind him. His ears were pinned back, his nose wrinkled, exposing his teeth as a low growl reverberated in his throat. Kouga, on the other hand, had his fists clenched tightly at his sides, his entire body shaking with rage.
“You fucking moron,” he snarled venomously. “I knew you were stupid, Inu-kurro, but this takes it. You could have killed her! All of you stay back!” he spat to the spectators. “I’m ending this.”
Kouga charged, and Inuyasha followed suit. The ensuing melee was pure brutality. Kouga went on the offensive, landing powerful blows to Inuyasha’s legs and torso. The inu managed to swat the ookami with his paws a couple times, but they were only glancing blows. Fueled by his fury, Kouga kept coming, slowly battering his enemy into submission. Finally a well-placed strike to Inuyasha’s foreleg joint caused the inu to pitch forward, bringing his vulnerable head right into Kouga’s wheelhouse. The ookami released a vicious cry as he threw his whole body into a tremendously powerful kick, one which sent Inuyasha reeling back several meters. He collapsed onto his side, tried futilely to rise, and then his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed once more, remaining still.
“Inuyasha!”
It seemed to take ages for Kirara to descend. She finally landed near Kouga, several meters away from the prone body of the inu-youkai. The ookami moved to stop her from running over to Inuyasha, but his efforts proved unnecessary. Kagome stared at his limp form, her eyes wide and shining with tears, but she did not move any closer.
“Is he…” she finally whispered, on the verge of a breakdown, despite her obvious reservations.
Kouga sighed. “No, I didn’t kill him. He’ll wake up eventually. I should kill him though. I meant it when I said he’s a rabid dog. You don’t coddle a rabid dog. You put it down,” he finished, sounding deadly serious, but also resigned to the fact that his proposal would probably not be accepted.
“No, we can’t…please,” Kagome begged, grabbing his arm. If Kouga truly desired to end Inuyasha’s life, she wondered if she or any of her friends would be able to stop him. Fortunately the ookami merely smiled sadly, having known all along what her response would be.
“It’s all right, Kagome. I respect your wishes. That’s why you tried to subdue him, isn’t it? Because you knew I wouldn’t take a cheap shot while he was pinned?”
Kagome didn’t agree, but she didn’t deny it either. Kouga sighed again.
“I suppose I can’t fault you for your loyalty. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you, after all,” he told her with a forced grin, one which utterly failed to reach his eyes. Seeking to drive away even a little of the sadness held within those normally bright depths, Kagome wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. For a fleeting moment she wished she could return Kouga’s feelings, if only so he would be happy. But she couldn’t control who she loved any more than Kouga could. Nevertheless, she felt some of the tension drain from his body as he lightly wrapped his arms around her, and when she pulled away, his eyes were brighter, more full of life. The sadness was still present, but it warmed her heart to see some of his old spark back.
“Thank you, Kouga-kun. For everything.”
“Bah,” he brushed her off, glancing away in embarrassment. Kagome grinned at the sight. Inuyasha and Kouga really were more alike than they realized. At least, they used to be… Her mood wilted as quickly as it had bloomed.
“Kagome,” Kouga stated, serious once more. “I really don’t like you staying with him. Let me take you back to my den, at least until he calms down.”
Kagome could tell that Kouga’s heart was in the right place, and that he didn’t expect anything from her in return, but she still couldn’t accept his proposal.
“I can’t, Kouga-kun. If Inuyasha wakes up and finds that I’ve gone with you, the last thing he’ll do is calm down. The two of you will fight again, and…I don’t think I can stand watching another battle between two people I care about.”
Kouga grimaced, seeing her point and obviously not liking it. She tried to reassure him.
“You don’t need to worry about me, Kouga-kun. Inuyasha might not be the same as he used to be. He might be more violent or cruel. But I know in my heart that he will never hurt me or my friends. I’m sorry, I wish it weren’t so, but…you’re the only one in danger here.”
“I was never in any danger,” Kouga replied with a genuine smirk this time. Kagome chuckled and shook her head at his antics, but her mirth abruptly died when Kouga grabbed both of her hands and stared into her eyes with a serious expression.
“Promise me that you’ll come find me if Inu-ku—if he starts to mistreat you. You won’t have to look far. The protection of the wolf-youkai tribe is never far away.”
Kagome felt her eyes tearing up again at Kouga’s heartfelt vow. She assumed he meant that he would always have one of his underlings follow them at a safe distance. She thought about advising him to make sure his pack mates didn’t get too close, but decided against it. Kouga was smart enough to understand the danger posed by a volatile inu-youkai, and instruct his pack mates accordingly. He was also incredibly sweet. Not knowing how to thank him, she stood on her tiptoes and placed a tender kiss upon his cheek. Kouga wore a goofy little smile for a moment as his face darkened, and he pulled away from her, turning around and rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. He tilted his head to the sky and let loose a sound which was half sigh, half groan.
“That idiot Inuyasha is a lucky guy,” he observed wistfully. “If he ever pulls his head out of his own ass, that is.” A jealous glance at said idiot had Kouga barking in laughter. “Speaking of his ass…”
If she had taken a moment to analyze Kouga’s words, Kagome might not have followed the direction of his gaze so quickly. But unfortunately, her eyes were quicker than her brain, which resulted in her staring directly at Inuyasha’s backside. His very naked backside. His very naked backside after his transformation had reversed itself sometime during his unconsciousness. Rational thought slowed to a trickle, the sluggish drip of water through a leaky spout. Um…er…uh…look…away? Um…
Kouga’s renewed laughter shattered her stupor, and she spun around nearly fast enough to throw herself off balance, clapping her hands over her flaming cheeks. That was a sight which was going to be forever burned into her memory, and a rather influential part of her wasn’t disappointed by the revelation. She blushed harder.
“What a moron,” Kouga declared, still chuckling. “There’s a way to make your clothing disappear when you transform and then reappear on your body when you come out of it, but this idiot obviously hasn’t figured it out yet!”
Kagome didn’t dare to respond, wary of revealing more than she intended. The last thing she wanted to do was throw her physical attraction to Inuyasha in Kouga’s face. Fortunately, the ookami seemed too caught up in his own mirth to notice her discomfiture. By the time he finally calmed down, Kagome too had gotten herself mostly under control, though her cheeks still felt fairly warm.
“All right, Kagome, I’m heading out. Remember your promise.”
“I will, Kouga-kun. Thank you again.”
“See ya!”
With that, he vanished over the horizon as quickly as he’d come. Kagome exhaled slowly and slumped in relief. For a while there, she honestly hadn’t been sure that both Kouga and Inuyasha would live to see sundown. Inuyasha probably wouldn’t actually ‘see’ the sun set though. She decided to check on his condition until she remembered his other condition and froze, momentarily caught between a rock and a hard place. The ‘hard place’ being his firm backside. Gah!
“Would you like me to cover him, Kagome-sama?” Miroku teased, ambling up to her with Inuyasha’s robes in hand. Kagome was relieved to see that they hadn’t ripped during his transformation; he had apparently shed the garments as his body transitioned from one form to the next. Once he was properly covered, his robes laid over him like a blanket, she checked on him and confirmed Kouga’s statement. Inuyasha was seriously concussed—that kick had been delivered with bone-shattering force, and probably had in fact cracked his skull—but he would recover quickly due to his youkai blood. He would likely wake up during the night or sometime the next morning.
Overall, considering how dire things looked at one point, the day couldn’t have ended much better. Inuyasha and Kouga hadn’t killed each other, and she had rediscovered the wonderful friend she had in the ookami. It was something she would have to hold close to her heart, in order to make it through the trying days ahead.
A/N – So that was interesting. I can’t say I ever imagined writing an Inuyasha full-youkai transformation quite like that. I kind of combined what you see in the anime and the manga, in terms of Sesshoumaru’s transformation. The manga is pretty sparse on details, and I like some of the anime’s interpretation (basically everything except him transforming into a plume of pink smoke and doing zig-zags in the air). So yeah, no pink smoke-trail for Inuyasha. Thank you, creative license.
Confrontations
Things quieted down for a couple days after the incident with the tree-youkai, a welcome normalization of Inu-tachi group dynamics. Rather than constantly hovering in an unnaturally good mood, Inuyasha seemed to revert back to his old self. Most of the time he was neither amiable nor surly, but something in between. He was, of course, as short-tempered as ever, but Kagome could deal with this just as she’d been dealing with it for months now. The shift in personality was certainly a welcome change. For a couple days she was able to stop walking on eggshells around him, and could almost forget that he was no longer hanyou. Her own reservations about that fact could be ignored in favor of more pleasant thoughts. She had her best friend and love interest back! She didn’t have time to waste on brooding, not when she could finally breathe again.
She should have known the bliss would never last.
One afternoon they were attacked by a swarm of about a hundred youkai, obviously drawn to the jewel shards dangling from her neck. Most were examples of the common centipede-like variety, vividly colored but not very powerful. There were a few larger youkai mixed in, but nothing to worry them. Inuyasha could wipe out the entire swarm with two, maybe three swings of Tetsusaiga. The only trouble was that he didn’t actually unsheathe his sword.
It was fortunate that Sango and Miroku never took anything for granted and maintained a state of readiness. For although Inuyasha was probably in very little danger as he charged into the swarm, claws flashing in every direction, the numerical disparity of a one hundred-to-one fight left some of the enemy youkai unoccupied, free to choose another target. The taijiya and monk dealt with them with relative ease, but the very fact that they had to raise their weapons at all was cause for concern. Especially when Inuyasha cornered the last two primitive youkai and didn’t immediately finish them off. Instead, he appeared to toy with them. Whenever they tried to flee in a new direction, Inuyasha was there, blocking their escape. His nostrils flared and his eyes glowed with delight, as though he was savoring their fear through multiple senses. It was chilling.
“This has gone on long enough,” Sango finally declared, striding purposefully forward. Inuyasha didn’t see her coming until she had granted his prey a merciful end with one swing of hiraikotsu. There was a moment of silence before the explosion.
“What the fuck, Sango?!” Inuyasha bellowed, advancing on her. The taijiya firmed her countenance and glared right back at him from less than a meter away.
“I could ask you the same thing, Inuyasha.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Why didn’t you use Tetsusaiga?”
That question seemed to catch him off guard for a moment, but he quickly recovered. “Keh. Didn’t need it against that small fry.”
“Maybe not,” Sango relented, “but you absolutely should have used it as the quickest and least dangerous way to end the battle.”
“Don’t tell me how to fight, taijiya. I’ve been fending for myself since before you were born.”
Sango rolled her eyes. “Yes, fending for yourself. It isn’t just you anymore. When you fight, you’re fighting for more than just your own hide. You should always think about your companions when you enter battle,” she admonished, speaking as though the lesson had been an important part of her training.
Inuyasha sneered. “If you lot couldn’t handle a few small fry like that, then you have no business being out here at all.”
“That’s not the point. The point is—”
“—that I can’t always rely on Tetsusaiga. You’ve seen that first-hand, haven’t you? So if I occasionally need a hand-to-hand battle to shake off the rust, then you’ll just have to deal with it. I wouldn’t have done it if you lot would’ve been in any danger.”
He stated the last part so assuredly that Kagome almost believed him. A profound and disturbing sense of déjà vu struck her. Just as he had after the incident with the tree-youkai, Inuyasha quickly and aggressively provided a justification for his actions. As before, he definitely had a point, but she couldn’t take him at his word. There was more to this than mere practice. Nevertheless, Inuyasha’s obstinacy had clearly knocked Sango off balance. She took a moment to gather her thoughts, and when she spoke, her voice was subdued but still firm.
“Look, Inuyasha. This is me speaking as your friend and as a taijiya. When you take longer than necessary to finish an opponent, you’re asking for trouble. People get killed that way. If you want to train, we can train. I’ll give you one hell of a workout. But this today…it’s not right. And it makes me wonder if you’re still the friend I knew before we met that damn hamster.”
“Except for being a full-fledged youkai, I’m the same as I was before,” Inuyasha replied, sounding more sincere and decidedly less argumentative. “I’m still Inuyasha.”
“I hope so,” Sango replied softly, turning to walk away. Inuyasha watched her for a moment with an unreadable expression, then spun and stalked off into the trees, obviously wanting some time alone.
Miroku sighed, breaking the awkward silence. “It seems that we were right to be concerned.”
“Unfortunately,” Sango replied, clearly lost in her own thoughts.
“I guess all we can do is be his friend, and call it to his attention when he does something unusual.”
A sense of helplessness settled over the small group of companions. They all knew the truth, that even if Inuyasha was changing, there was no going back. All they could do was call him on it and encourage him to make a conscious effort to alter his behavior. They hoped that these personality swings were a result of him still getting used to his elevated levels of youki, and that they would normalize once he had adjusted. But none of them really knew what to expect. The cold reality was that they might have seen the last of their hanyou friend.
Inuyasha might never truly be ‘Inuyasha’ again.
* * *
“Who the hell does Sango think she is, telling me how to
fight?” Inuyasha muttered to himself as he stomped through
the forest. “I’ve been fighting my whole life.
I’ve saved their asses more times than I can
count!”‘But they’ve also save your ass many times as well.’
That ‘voice of reason’ inside his head was getting really annoying. And so what if his friends occasionally helped him in battle. What difference did that make?
‘So maybe Sango knows what she’s talking about.’
“Keh. Nosy taijiya,” he grumbled. “Telling me I’ve changed. Bullshit! I’m faster and stronger now, but I’m still Inuyasha.”
‘Are you really?’
He considered the question for a moment, then shook his head and set his jaw stubbornly. Hell yes, he was still Inuyasha! They were all idiots for doubting that—doubting him—even for a moment. And so what if he enjoyed fighting a little more than he did before? He wasn’t a mindless killer, constantly seeking out something to slaughter. But if he did have to fight, what was wrong with deriving a little enjoyment from it? Sango was right that he shouldn’t use his claws if it meant putting his friends in serious danger, but he wouldn’t have done that anyway! She was stupid for not having more faith in him.
Conscience clear, part of him wanted to march right back and tell them how foolish they all were, but he thought better of it. Besides, he was getting hungry, and some snacks from Kagome’s bags weren’t going to be enough to satisfy him. No, he wanted meat tonight. Licking his lips at the thought, he began to creep silently through the forest in search of prey.
* * *
They set up camp a fair distance from the site of the battle,
knowing Inuyasha would be able to find them by scent. Kagome
was just about to start dinner preparation when the
hanyou-turned-youkai suddenly waltzed into camp carrying not one,
but two recently deceased wild boars over his shoulders. He
tossed them down to land with twin moist thunks, then
proceeded to kneel next to one of the carcasses and begin the
process of dismembering it. Kagome tried to remain close in a
show of gratitude, but it was impossible. In less than a
minute, she had to stumble away holding her stomach. Behind
her she heard Sango join in butchering the other carcass, and
Shippou and Kirara were youkai so of course the sight didn’t
bother them either. She sank to her knees at the edge of
camp, reasoning that if she had to hurl, it would be better to do
it in the bushes rather than where they intended to sleep. It
was a close call, but she managed to hold it in. Her stomach
was at least partially settled by the time Miroku sat beside her in
a meditative pose. Despite her nausea, Kagome couldn’t
help but find amusement in the monk’s somewhat ashen
complexion. “A little squeamish, Miroku-sama?”
“Not at all, Kagome-sama,” he replied, utterly failing to affect nonchalance. “I merely thought you might enjoy some company.”
“Oh, I see,” she responded with exaggerated grace. “Well, thank you for your consideration, Miroku-sama. I truly appreciate it.”
“Think nothing of it, Kagome-sama,” he told her, as though he didn’t notice her sarcasm. “Providing comfort to fair maidens is what I do.” He winked, and Kagome hid her amusement behind her hand.
Inuyasha muttered something unintelligible behind them, which caused Sango and Shippou to chuckle. Miroku’s lips quirked into a slight frown as he closed his eyes.
“I get the distinct impression that I am being made fun of.”
“I can’t imagine why,” Kagome replied innocently, which only caused the monk to hang his head and sigh in his typical ‘I’m so misunderstood’ fashion. Rather than being misunderstood, she reflected with a grin, I think Miroku-sama’s problem is that we know him too well. She had never appreciated the monk’s humorous quirks as much as she did now, however. It was nice to forget her troubles and laugh with friends, even for a few moments.
A short while later, the smell of cooking meat quickly drove away the last of Kagome’s lingering nausea. Inuyasha was already eating by the time she settled by the campfire, having pulled his portion out of the flames long before he usually did. Kagome grimaced at the sight of blood running down his chin. She had heard of rare steak, but she doubted this met the standard for even that meagre level of doneness. Come to think of it, one of the boars had sported a fresh-looking wound on its flank. She thought that was a result of Inuyasha grabbing it by the hindquarters during the hunt, but now she wondered if he hadn’t decided to take a few bites before bringing the carcasses back to camp.
But if he wanted to eat his meat barely-cooked or even raw, that was his right. It certainly wasn’t her place to say anything about it. But she couldn’t stop herself from asking about something else which had been bothering her.
“Inuyasha…why did you kill two boars?”
He fixed her with a neutral expression, so she honestly couldn’t tell what he was thinking. It made her more nervous than his irritated glare ever had.
“I mean, there’s just so much meat,” she rambled. “We hadn’t eaten a big meal in a few days, so I appreciate you hunting for us, and we can take some of it with us, but a lot of it will go to waste. So…maybe one boar would’ve been enough?”
He stared at her with that same blank expression for a few anxious moments, then growled out a sigh and shook his head.
“I really can’t win with you people, can I?” he asked bitterly.
Kagome frowned. ‘You people?’ Since when did we become ‘you people?’ She thought her question had been fair, and she hadn’t been mean about it or anything. So why did he have to take offense and turn it around on her, making her look like the bad guy?
“That’s not—”
“Keh. Forget it,” he interrupted, rising to his feet, his eyes guarded. “You’re right, it was a waste to kill both of them. My bad. Now get some sleep. We’re getting up early tomorrow.”
With that he leapt into the trees, decisively terminating the conversation and leaving his friends to stare at each other wearing the same helpless expressions as earlier that day.
Just what the hell was happening to Inuyasha?
* * *
Inu-tachi group dynamics for the next forty-eight hours were
strained to say the least. Inuyasha wasn’t mean, per
se, but he was rather standoffish, barely speaking two words to any
of them. Again, Kagome couldn’t help but feel that he
was slowly drifting away from her, and that she was powerless to do
anything about it. A youkai attack or an urgent mission to
break the depressing monotony would have been most welcome.
Anything other than the sensation of a pair of rapidly
approaching jewel shards brushing against her consciousness.
She dared a glance over to Inuyasha, hoping to find his
typical annoyed scowl firmly in place. Instead she discovered
a menacing smile, his fangs bared in anticipation. And that
was far scarier. Kouga whirled to a stop right in front of her and grabbed her hands as he usually did, not immediately noticing her trepidation.
“Hey, Kagome. How’s my wom—”
It was fortunate that Kouga possessed both naturally exceptional reflexes and the jewel shards which made him that much quicker. Otherwise Inuyasha’s claws might have ended their rivalry in one fell swoop. Now, it was not as though the inu-hanyou had never taken a swing at the ookami before, or vice versa. Quite the opposite in fact. But Kagome had detected an element of posturing in their confrontations as of late, a sense that they weren’t really trying to hurt each other. Inuyasha would ‘pull his punches’ a bit, so to speak, and Kouga would leap away with a little ‘hup’ to let everyone know that he didn’t take the hanyou seriously. Neither of them would admit it, but they hadn’t fought each other with malicious intent in a very long time. That was clearly no longer the case, however, and Kouga knew it. He dodged Inuyasha’s attack silently and settled into a combat stance a few meters away, his eyes cold steel.
“And just what the fuck is your problem, Inu-kurro?” he snarled angrily.
Inuyasha chuckled darkly. “Take a good look, you worthless piece of wolf trash. You really shouldn’t call me ‘Inu-kurro’ anymore.”
There was a momentary pause as Kouga realized what his rival was referring to. To everyone’s surprise, the wolf merely scoffed and put a hand to his forehead in exasperation. But he never took his eyes off of his adversary, nor did he relax his stance.
“You’re an even bigger idiot than I realized, Inu-kurro. I told you when we first met, didn’t I? I can’t stand the smell of dogs. I could give a shit that you’re a hanyou.”
Kagome wasn’t sure she completely believed that statement, since Kouga undoubtedly also looked down on Inuyasha because of his mixed heritage, or at least he had in the beginning. More recently a grudging respect had developed between the two of them, but that was obviously a thing of the past.
“Was a hanyou,” Inuyasha corrected. “As you can see, I’m a full-fledged youkai now, same as you. Correction—better than you. You could barely compete with me when I was a hanyou. Now you’re not even in the same class.”
“Funny you should mention class. If you were really so much better than me, you wouldn’t need to resort to cheap shots.”
“Keep talking, ookami, and see what happens. My generosity only goes so far. I’ll give you one last chance. Leave now, and don’t ever let me see or smell your sorry hide ever again.”
Kouga looked to Kagome and the rest of her companions, his gaze lingering briefly on the miko in particular. If they had all been united behind Inuyasha’s stated demand, the ookami probably would have honored their wishes—her wishes—and beat a humiliating retreat. But whatever he saw in their expressions, or smelled in their scents, gave him reason to stay. He turned to Inuyasha with a grim smile, cracking his knuckles menacingly.
“You’re a fool, Inu-kurro. You think this has made you better, but you’re actually more pathetic than ever. Being a full-youkai isn’t about how much youkai blood you have. It’s a mindset, a strength of heart and will that you lack completely. All I see before me is a dumb mutt who doesn’t know how to treat his friends!”
With a wordless snarl, Inuyasha barreled at Kouga, claws flashing in the waning light. The ookami dodged the attack, lashing out with a kick which the inu also evaded. And just like that, a fight to the death was on.
“Inuyasha! Kouga-kun! Stop this!”
They ignored her completely, continuing their relentless attacks, some of which drew blood. The wounds were superficial at this point, but that wouldn’t last long.
“Stop this, please! Before someone gets hurt!”
“That’s the idea, bitch!” Inuyasha snapped, barely missing Kouga with an uppercut slash designed to split him down the middle.
“Don’t try to reason with him, Kagome!” the ookami retorted, retaliating with an overhead smash which left a small crater in the earth. “He’s nothing more than a rabid dog that needs to be put down!”
“It was a mistake to let you live this long, bastard!”
“Heh. The mistake was mutual. I didn’t kill you back then because Kagome obviously cares about you. She cares about me too, Inu-kurro. Not that you give a damn what she thinks!”
“Shut the fuck up!” Inuyasha bellowed, lashing out wildly and missing badly as Kouga retreated a few paces. The battle came to a brief pause as the adversaries sized each other up.
“Oh, did I strike a nerve?” Kouga sneered. “Take a good look at Kagome, you ingrate. She’s put up with a lot of shit for you, and now you completely disregard her feelings? She doesn’t just fear for our lives. She’s afraid of what you’ve become.”
Kagome felt Inuyasha’s eyes on her, pleading for a response. She opened her mouth to deny Kouga’s assertion, but her words died on her lips. She couldn’t bring herself to lie, not at this crucial moment, when lives hung in the balance. In the end, all she could do was close her eyes and hang her head in shame.
“There. You see, Inu-kurro?” Kouga asked, appearing to take little enjoyment from this despite his psychological victory. “You’ve become something your friends don’t even recognize anymore.”
Inuyasha tilted his head down so his bangs covered his eyes, his body pulsing with rage. His ominous demeanor reminded Kagome very much of the time he had fought with Sesshoumaru after battling Kaijinbou, the swordsmith who forged Toukijin. He would have transformed and attacked his half-brother that day if not for Totosai’s intervention. This time when a gust of wind revealed one of his eyes, it was still golden, though flecked with highlights of hateful crimson.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, you lowlife piece of scum. I’m still Inuyasha. And I’m finally going to do something I should have done a long time ago!”
“Osuwari!”
Inuyasha’s lunge ended with a faceplant, courtesy of the subduing spell. Instead of cursing the rosary as he usually did, he pushed off the ground and strained against the spell, his teeth bared as he glared daggers at his intended victim.
“Please run, Kouga-kun! Get away from here!”
“Can’t do that, Kagome. Not with him like this. I don’t trust him not to hurt you.”
“Please, Kouga-kun! I can’t—osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari! Osuwari!”
She continued to shout the command until Inuyasha stopped fighting the spell, and simply lay bonelessly where he had fallen. By then she was sobbing, her vision blurred by tears which leaked forth and traced pitiful paths down her cheeks. She was about to plead once more with Kouga to flee when her tongue was stilled by a sound more dreadful, more terrifying than any she had ever experienced.
Inuyasha was laughing. Lying face down in the dirt, his voice rose in volume until the sinister cackle reverberated through Kagome’s very soul. His body began to pulse again, in time with his heartbeat and then faster, until his youki seemed to pour forth from his very being, surging around him like a giant flame. He rose slowly to his feet, head down, eyes hidden.
“You think being a full-youkai is a ‘mindset,’ Kouga?” he stated softly, voice dripping with amusement. “Don’t make me laugh. Let me show you the true power of an inu-youkai!”
His youki intensified, whirling like a vortex, whipping his robes and tossing his hair into the air behind him. As the winds picked up, an ominous purple glow began to form around him, a haze of barely repressed power. Kagome gasped, the scene drawing to mind memories of a battle long ago, inside the massive skeleton of Inuyasha’s father. No…it can’t be! He can’t possibly— Then it occurred to her. Inuyasha was a full-youkai now. Why couldn’t he do everything any other powerful full-youkai could do?
When he raised his head, his eyes were the color of blood.
What happened next shook Kagome to her very core. She watched in horror as Inuyasha’s snout elongated, his skin taking on the texture of fur. The rest of his transformation was hidden from view, as a tremendous explosion of youki kicked up a cloud of dust which forced everyone to cover their eyes. But when the dust cleared, what stood before her was no longer the Inuyasha she knew. In its place loomed a monster. He was not as large as Sesshoumaru had been, and his appearance was not as majestic. His lacked his half-brother’s regal mane, and his fur was matted or discolored in places, all likely consequences of this being his first transformation. But despite the imperfections, he possessed the same thirst for blood, the same unyielding, ruthless desire to tear his enemy limb from limb. His eyes, utterly inhuman, locked onto his intended prey, and he let loose a low, threatening snarl.
To his credit, Kouga hid his fear well, so well that Kagome could almost believe that he wasn’t afraid. But how could anyone stare into those piercing eyes and not collapse into an incontinent puddle of goo? Inuyasha wasn’t even looking at her, and she was on the verge of panic, her heart threatening to burst from her chest. Kouga seemed prepared to continue the fight, but Kagome couldn’t let that happen, not when she still had a trump card, albeit one which might earn her Inuyasha’s ire. The rosary was stretched around his neck, digging into the fur, only its formidable magic preventing the string from snapping under the strain. She wasn’t sure if it would survive this, but she had to try.
“Osuwari!”
The spell pulled him down, but not completely. The muscles in his front legs bulged, straining against the magic as he growled in her direction. It sounded to Kagome like an expression of frustration and annoyance, rather than a threat, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Don’t, Kagome!” Kouga yelled. “Let him come. He’s made himself bigger, but also slower and stupider. This will be easy!”
How could that be? She couldn’t let this happen!
“Osuwari!”
This time Inuyasha allowed himself to be dragged down, but stopped himself short of the ground. His growl built in his chest and exploded into a triumphant roar as he lurched upward and finally shattered the rosary into dozens of pieces which flew in all directions. One of the beads landed at Kagome’s feet, as if rebuking her for her foolishness. Inuyasha drew himself to his full height, glanced at her as if to ridicule her efforts, and then leapt at Kouga with intent to kill.
Still in shock, Kagome’s warning shout to the ookami came out as a garbled groan. But it soon became clear that she needn’t have worried. Perhaps Kouga hadn’t been bluffing when he stated that Inuyasha would be easier to deal with now. The inu was certainly more imposing in this form, but slower and stupider as Kouga predicted, and the ookami was literally running circles around him. He didn’t attack; instead he merely dodged all of Inuyasha’s attempts, appearing to enjoy frustrating the hell out of his dimwitted rival.
Perhaps he was enjoying it too much. A single miscalculation nearly cost him his head. He ducked at the last instant, and Inuyasha’s jaws snapped shut directly above him. Then Kouga was running for his life, a ravenous inu-youkai hot on his heels. No amount of weaving or juking would shake his pursuer, now that he had lost the initiative. It was at this point that Kagome decided to intervene. This was probably the dumbest thing she’d ever done, but the alternative was watching Kouga be ripped to shreds before her eyes. What choice did she have?
She ran forward, opening her mouth to plead with Inuyasha in a desperate appeal to the reasonable man hopefully cowering deep within. But before she could release her voice, Kouga unknowingly turned to sprint directly toward her. His eyes widened as he barreled at her at breakneck speed—literally, since a collision might break her neck. He dug his foot into the ground and darted off at a ninety-degree angle, obviously expecting Inuyasha to follow. But the inu had apparently been too focused on his prey to notice the newcomer, and had chosen exactly the wrong moment to lunge. Kagome skidded to a halt, even as her brain came to the sobering conclusion that Inuyasha was not going to be able to stop himself in time. With Kouga’s momentum now carrying him away from her, there was no one in position to come to her rescue either. This was going to hurt. A lot.
A profound feeling of weightlessness came over her, and it took her a moment to realize that it was not because she had been knocked senseless. Something was carrying her into the air, holding her aloft by the back of her blouse.
“Kirara!” she cried out in relief and gratitude, thankful for the fire-cat’s quick thinking. Kirara had already been transformed into her larger form, and to make it in time she must have taken off as soon as she saw her running toward the battle. The feline released a somewhat exasperated purr, as if to say ‘yeah, I’ve got you, dummy.’ Kagome reached back and rubbed her neck before returning her attention to the two males now squaring off below her.
The complexion of the battle had changed dramatically. Inuyasha seemed subdued, facing Kouga in a crouched posture, his tail lowered behind him. His ears were pinned back, his nose wrinkled, exposing his teeth as a low growl reverberated in his throat. Kouga, on the other hand, had his fists clenched tightly at his sides, his entire body shaking with rage.
“You fucking moron,” he snarled venomously. “I knew you were stupid, Inu-kurro, but this takes it. You could have killed her! All of you stay back!” he spat to the spectators. “I’m ending this.”
Kouga charged, and Inuyasha followed suit. The ensuing melee was pure brutality. Kouga went on the offensive, landing powerful blows to Inuyasha’s legs and torso. The inu managed to swat the ookami with his paws a couple times, but they were only glancing blows. Fueled by his fury, Kouga kept coming, slowly battering his enemy into submission. Finally a well-placed strike to Inuyasha’s foreleg joint caused the inu to pitch forward, bringing his vulnerable head right into Kouga’s wheelhouse. The ookami released a vicious cry as he threw his whole body into a tremendously powerful kick, one which sent Inuyasha reeling back several meters. He collapsed onto his side, tried futilely to rise, and then his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed once more, remaining still.
“Inuyasha!”
It seemed to take ages for Kirara to descend. She finally landed near Kouga, several meters away from the prone body of the inu-youkai. The ookami moved to stop her from running over to Inuyasha, but his efforts proved unnecessary. Kagome stared at his limp form, her eyes wide and shining with tears, but she did not move any closer.
“Is he…” she finally whispered, on the verge of a breakdown, despite her obvious reservations.
Kouga sighed. “No, I didn’t kill him. He’ll wake up eventually. I should kill him though. I meant it when I said he’s a rabid dog. You don’t coddle a rabid dog. You put it down,” he finished, sounding deadly serious, but also resigned to the fact that his proposal would probably not be accepted.
“No, we can’t…please,” Kagome begged, grabbing his arm. If Kouga truly desired to end Inuyasha’s life, she wondered if she or any of her friends would be able to stop him. Fortunately the ookami merely smiled sadly, having known all along what her response would be.
“It’s all right, Kagome. I respect your wishes. That’s why you tried to subdue him, isn’t it? Because you knew I wouldn’t take a cheap shot while he was pinned?”
Kagome didn’t agree, but she didn’t deny it either. Kouga sighed again.
“I suppose I can’t fault you for your loyalty. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you, after all,” he told her with a forced grin, one which utterly failed to reach his eyes. Seeking to drive away even a little of the sadness held within those normally bright depths, Kagome wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. For a fleeting moment she wished she could return Kouga’s feelings, if only so he would be happy. But she couldn’t control who she loved any more than Kouga could. Nevertheless, she felt some of the tension drain from his body as he lightly wrapped his arms around her, and when she pulled away, his eyes were brighter, more full of life. The sadness was still present, but it warmed her heart to see some of his old spark back.
“Thank you, Kouga-kun. For everything.”
“Bah,” he brushed her off, glancing away in embarrassment. Kagome grinned at the sight. Inuyasha and Kouga really were more alike than they realized. At least, they used to be… Her mood wilted as quickly as it had bloomed.
“Kagome,” Kouga stated, serious once more. “I really don’t like you staying with him. Let me take you back to my den, at least until he calms down.”
Kagome could tell that Kouga’s heart was in the right place, and that he didn’t expect anything from her in return, but she still couldn’t accept his proposal.
“I can’t, Kouga-kun. If Inuyasha wakes up and finds that I’ve gone with you, the last thing he’ll do is calm down. The two of you will fight again, and…I don’t think I can stand watching another battle between two people I care about.”
Kouga grimaced, seeing her point and obviously not liking it. She tried to reassure him.
“You don’t need to worry about me, Kouga-kun. Inuyasha might not be the same as he used to be. He might be more violent or cruel. But I know in my heart that he will never hurt me or my friends. I’m sorry, I wish it weren’t so, but…you’re the only one in danger here.”
“I was never in any danger,” Kouga replied with a genuine smirk this time. Kagome chuckled and shook her head at his antics, but her mirth abruptly died when Kouga grabbed both of her hands and stared into her eyes with a serious expression.
“Promise me that you’ll come find me if Inu-ku—if he starts to mistreat you. You won’t have to look far. The protection of the wolf-youkai tribe is never far away.”
Kagome felt her eyes tearing up again at Kouga’s heartfelt vow. She assumed he meant that he would always have one of his underlings follow them at a safe distance. She thought about advising him to make sure his pack mates didn’t get too close, but decided against it. Kouga was smart enough to understand the danger posed by a volatile inu-youkai, and instruct his pack mates accordingly. He was also incredibly sweet. Not knowing how to thank him, she stood on her tiptoes and placed a tender kiss upon his cheek. Kouga wore a goofy little smile for a moment as his face darkened, and he pulled away from her, turning around and rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. He tilted his head to the sky and let loose a sound which was half sigh, half groan.
“That idiot Inuyasha is a lucky guy,” he observed wistfully. “If he ever pulls his head out of his own ass, that is.” A jealous glance at said idiot had Kouga barking in laughter. “Speaking of his ass…”
If she had taken a moment to analyze Kouga’s words, Kagome might not have followed the direction of his gaze so quickly. But unfortunately, her eyes were quicker than her brain, which resulted in her staring directly at Inuyasha’s backside. His very naked backside. His very naked backside after his transformation had reversed itself sometime during his unconsciousness. Rational thought slowed to a trickle, the sluggish drip of water through a leaky spout. Um…er…uh…look…away? Um…
Kouga’s renewed laughter shattered her stupor, and she spun around nearly fast enough to throw herself off balance, clapping her hands over her flaming cheeks. That was a sight which was going to be forever burned into her memory, and a rather influential part of her wasn’t disappointed by the revelation. She blushed harder.
“What a moron,” Kouga declared, still chuckling. “There’s a way to make your clothing disappear when you transform and then reappear on your body when you come out of it, but this idiot obviously hasn’t figured it out yet!”
Kagome didn’t dare to respond, wary of revealing more than she intended. The last thing she wanted to do was throw her physical attraction to Inuyasha in Kouga’s face. Fortunately, the ookami seemed too caught up in his own mirth to notice her discomfiture. By the time he finally calmed down, Kagome too had gotten herself mostly under control, though her cheeks still felt fairly warm.
“All right, Kagome, I’m heading out. Remember your promise.”
“I will, Kouga-kun. Thank you again.”
“See ya!”
With that, he vanished over the horizon as quickly as he’d come. Kagome exhaled slowly and slumped in relief. For a while there, she honestly hadn’t been sure that both Kouga and Inuyasha would live to see sundown. Inuyasha probably wouldn’t actually ‘see’ the sun set though. She decided to check on his condition until she remembered his other condition and froze, momentarily caught between a rock and a hard place. The ‘hard place’ being his firm backside. Gah!
“Would you like me to cover him, Kagome-sama?” Miroku teased, ambling up to her with Inuyasha’s robes in hand. Kagome was relieved to see that they hadn’t ripped during his transformation; he had apparently shed the garments as his body transitioned from one form to the next. Once he was properly covered, his robes laid over him like a blanket, she checked on him and confirmed Kouga’s statement. Inuyasha was seriously concussed—that kick had been delivered with bone-shattering force, and probably had in fact cracked his skull—but he would recover quickly due to his youkai blood. He would likely wake up during the night or sometime the next morning.
Overall, considering how dire things looked at one point, the day couldn’t have ended much better. Inuyasha and Kouga hadn’t killed each other, and she had rediscovered the wonderful friend she had in the ookami. It was something she would have to hold close to her heart, in order to make it through the trying days ahead.
A/N – So that was interesting. I can’t say I ever imagined writing an Inuyasha full-youkai transformation quite like that. I kind of combined what you see in the anime and the manga, in terms of Sesshoumaru’s transformation. The manga is pretty sparse on details, and I like some of the anime’s interpretation (basically everything except him transforming into a plume of pink smoke and doing zig-zags in the air). So yeah, no pink smoke-trail for Inuyasha. Thank you, creative license.