InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Suffer The Fray ❯ Forgive Me, Inuyasha ( Chapter 9 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I hold no claim to InuYasha...Rumiko Takahashi does. Bummer.

A/N: Reviewer Acknowledgements- Cynbad146, susieray74, blackr0s3, kagome4hiei, & Sassa. I'm really loving the response you guys have giving me, so here's another early update! Read on and enjoy!

Reux

She was exhausted. Her body sagged in the saddle with her shoulders slumped and her head bowed. She knew it was bad riding posture, but she really didn't care at this point. Too much had gone on to today and it felt like her brain had taken a dip in a deep fryer.

And the day still wasn't over.

The late evening sun was hot against her back and managed to chase away her chills. The only reason she was still moving was because it was actually Shunsoke doing the moving. Kagome gave a silent prayer of thanks for the gem of a horse hidden away in Kaede's village.

She'd known he was special the moment her eyes met his. He'd regarded her coolly, measuring her as only the most intelligent of horses do. Kagome had waited patiently to see whether or not she was worthy. It was a bit nerve-wracking. Shunsoke was the only horse in the tiny barn with the skills she needed and if he rejected her, she would be forced to deal with a much more ordinary horse. She'd almost collapsed with relief when he whickered softly and nosed her outstretched palms.

Shunsoke had once been a samurai's warhorse, but had wandered into the small village carrying his dead master in the saddle. The villagers had buried the warrior and put the horse up in the barn, deciding to use him for work. The animal would have nothing to do with it, constantly refusing to cooperate for menial chores. He wasn't much larger than the other native Japanese ponies, but his build was more refined and elegant. He reminded her very much of fine-blooded Arabian, but without the dished face and angular hips. His steel gray, dappled coat was sleek and well muscled underneath, but his hide bore the scars from survived battles. She guessed his bloodlines were very close to the ones that would come to outfit the Imperial Guard, intelligent and brave.

Kagome leaned forward and patted his neck. She'd needed a horse that wouldn't become a danger to her in a battle against youkais and a veteran warhorse was perfect. The horse's elegantly curved ears swiveled around and she sat back up, taking a soft contact on his mouth with the reins. Not to mention handy. "So they're still following us, huh?"

She hadn't thought she'd need to heed Kaede's warning about bandits and rogue samurai, but she was once again mistaken. Apparently it mattered not that she was dressed as a miko; they didn't seem to notice. Shunsoke had alerted her to their presence about ten miles into their trip. The men hadn't tried to hide, boldly following her with their weapons in plain view and malicious smirks on each of their filthy, disgusting faces. Kagome had allowed her annoyance to show on her face before squeezing Shunsoke into a springy gallop. The horse had earned his name well, but it seemed the bandits were very determined.

Now they were out of sight, allowing only their noise to reach them. Shunsoke was becoming agitated, wringing his head from side to side and prancing beneath her nervously. Kagome looked around her surroundings and murmured quietly to her mount while searching for an exit. The bandits weren't going to leave her alone until they got what they wanted, and she would much rather face them in a setting of her choice. Trotting further, she spied a small clearing beside the creek that paralleled the trail. Perhaps if she trapped them she'd be able to escape the last few miles to Miroku and Sango's house and safety.

Whirling Shunsoke around, she directed him through the thick trees and burst into the clearing as shouts sounded behind her. Kagome couldn't stop her nerves from upsetting her stomach as she halted on the creek's bank. The low thudding of hooves vibrated the ground and Shunsoke pawed the ground anxiously. They're coming alright. Her palms started to sweat as she stared into the darkening woods, waiting. She'd taken the steps needed and learned to defend herself- but not against four or five bandits. I really wish Inuyasha was here.

Shunsoke propped forward when the first man slipped out of from the forest, nearly tossing her from the saddle. Two more followed him, while the last two men remained at the tree's edge. The apparent leader of the group slowed his horse to a walk and approached her slowly. Kagome though her heart would stall out from its frantic pace. She managed to keep her anxiety and fear from plastering themselves on her face. Relax, Kagome. Keep your cool and let him make the first move. Keep your options open.

She held Shunsoke as still as she could and watched the ugly little man on the scraggly pony circle around her. His eyes had a slightly mental gleam. "Hello, my lovely little miko."

Kagome felt the stirrings of anger and it helped to settle her nerves. "What do you want?" She congratulated herself on sounding stern and annoyed, instead of shaky.

He chuckled. "That's a fine animal you're sitting on. Much nicer than a miko such as yourself should possess." He edged the animal closer and she could hear the soft knocking sound the horse made with it breathed.

She couldn't help curling her lip with disgust. "So you want to trade up for a nicer model?" She sneered. "Maybe if you didn't beat the hell out of the one you have, you wouldn't have a problem."

He gawked at her a moment. "Bold words from a miko all alone with no one to protect her. I'm not a youkai that sutras and prayer beads will be effective upon."

Kagome tensed and Shunsoke hopped forward, rearing. She managed to stay on, but Crazy Eyes succeeded in latching onto the gray's bridle. The move surprised him and set Shunsoke spinning. Kagome gritted her teeth and let go of the reins, lashing out with a stiff hand and catching him in the throat. Crazy Eyes let go instantly.

Shunsoke only had a few seconds to regain his balance, but one of Crazy Eyes' friends spurred his horse and shoulder charged them. The dappled warhorse's feet slid out from beneath him and Kagome dove out of the saddle as he fell to keep her legs from being crushed. She landed hard, rolling, and lay dazed in the grass. Her ears rung and she watched Goon One stalk over and straddle her waist. His meaty hands wrapped themselves around her delicate column of a throat and proceeded to squeeze. "Stupid wench!"

Kagome finally snapped out of her daze and bucked her body to try and dislodge him. Her efforts were futile. He's too heavy! He was laughing at her obvious panic and she moved her death grip from his wrists to claw at his face. She snarled despite the gagging sounds coming from her mouth and aimed for his eyes. Lunging upward, she drove her thumbs into his vulnerable eye sockets. He jerked away, but in doing so helped her out and his right eye crushed sickeningly. His hands left immediately to clutch at his face, howling inhumanly all the while.

Kagome gasped for air and ignored the nausea that reared its head. Scrambling out from beneath him, she leapt to her feet and shot a powerful heel to into the back of his head, felling him instantly. She watched him fall and stood gasping, trying to find her bearings. Where was Shunsoke? "Shunsoke! Shunsoke!" She started to turn around. "Shunso- Ah!"

The pain was instantly excruciating and she could feel the blade's entire length as it sunk into the back of her right shoulder. The hot breath of its wielder wafted over her neck as he stabbed her. Kami, it hurts. She finished her turn when he let go and came face to face with Goon Two. He was laughing as he watched her, but the expression on her face left him staring. Kagome panted from pain and glared out from under her heavy bangs. "You'll pay for that."

He snorted. "I doubt it."

Kagome swung her foot up into his groin. He bent over gasping and she couldn't help but smirk. "Never doubt a miko's word." Grabbing his bowed head, she threw it into her rising knee and listened dispassionately as his nose cracked. He flopped backward and lay sprawled out, totally unconscious.

She vaguely realized that they were only two of the five bandits and grunted painfully as she looked around. The blade ached white hot in her shoulder and she could feel the heavy run of blood down her arm and back. Crazy Eyes stood watching, while his two other cretins remained by the forest. She gritted her teeth and stepped towards him. "What are you waiting for?!" The only thing keeping her on her feet was sheer determination and shock-induced adrenaline. "Finish me off while you still can!" She laughed. "Or are you just a coward?"

Crazy Eyes blinked with shock, but it was short-lived as he smiled. "Foolish woman. It's time to give you what you deserve for refusing me." He began running towards her, fist pulled back to strike.

Kagome faced him and judged the distance between them. This was exactly why she'd learned to fight. Inuyasha couldn't always be there to protect her and if she couldn't properly defend herself, she was as good as dead. Summing up her strength, she waited for him to come. The fist flew true, but she was ready for it, sliding to the left and grabbing his wrist with her right hand. Jerking it towards her, she used the stiffened heel of her left hand to slam into his elbow, cracking the delicate joint.

Crazy Eyes screamed and gawked at the awkwardly bent limb. Kagome ignored it and drove her foot into his knee, buckling his legs so he was kneeling before her. Ducking low, she darted her left elbow between his eyes and felled him. When she looked up from his broken body, the last two goons were heading towards her at a full gallop, brandishing swords bigger than her body.

Inuyasha dozed at the base of the large oak, ears flicking every few minutes to listen for Shippo. Rin's little surprise had sent the kit into an almost feverish rush and the only outlet he could think of was to have him scout on ahead. There were a lot of things Shippo needed to learn besides fighting and observing the surroundings were a vital skill. He had no idea what he'd come back with, but it was sure to be strange. Shippo hardly ever did any thing normal.

He sighed. Kagome had passed this way already and would probably be at the Houshi's home before Shippo and he arrived. He hated to say that he was almost sick with apprehension. It churned his stomach so sour that he'd refused his supper in fear of just vomiting it right back up. He'd never had problems keeping food down before and Shippo had noticed, but thankfully refrained from comment. He had no clue what to use as an excuse anyway. The kit wasn't a complete idiot and would've seen through his lie.

He opened his eyes and sat up, reaching up to run his claws along the prayer beads hung around his neck. Despite all his anxiety, he wanted to touch her, hold her tightly in his arms where she fit perfectly, head resting on his shoulder. His need to see her in the flesh was probably what was causing all his nerves. He missed her.

"Inuyasha!"

His ears perked and he crawled his way out of his thoughts. "Shippo?"

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!" The kitsune appeared over the crest of the hill and ran towards him. "Inuyasha!" He skidded to a stop and panted, trying to speak while catching his breath. "Inuyasha..."

The urgency unnerved him. "What is it, Shippo?"

The fox pointed to where he'd just come. "A...woman is...in trouble..." He coughed. "Attacked...by bandits."

Inuyasha didn't hesitate. He snatched Shippo by the scruff of his neck, tossed him onto his shoulder, and bolted down the trail. An overwhelming sense of dread sank into his bones that couldn't be swayed. He hardly noticed the kit clinging to his back, exhausted. His reaction had alarmed the hanyou strongly, and now it felt as if he couldn't run fast enough.

And his nose was of no help being that he was upwind from them. It was like running blind and hoping not to slam into a tree. The uncertainty of it all was nearly paralyzing.

It was his keen hearing he used to guide him, following the unmistakable sound of hooves and whinnies. He narrowed his eyes and dove through the foliage, straining to catch every whisper- including a woman's scream. The adrenaline thrumming through his limbs allowed him the speed and he burst into the clearing in time to see the woman ram her knee into one of the bandit's faces.

The sight of her stopped him short, suddenly frozen. The creature standing amid the fallen bodies and horses was no mere woman, but a miko dressed in a deep forest green. Her long wavy bangs shrouded her face from his view, but he could see the long braid lying over her shoulder. Her frame was tall and willowy, but from what he'd just seen, very strong.

And she was soaked with stark, crimson blood.

It covered her entire right shoulder, cascading to drip from her dangling fingertips. It bore such a strong resemblance to Kikyo's wound that he could only stare. It was like re-living a sadistically realistic nightmare. But that's not Kikyo... His heart beat faster. "No...It can't be..."

"What are you waiting for?! Finish me off while you still can! Or are you just a coward?"

Inuyasha blinked. That voice... He knew that voice! It was the same one that plagued his thoughts day-in and day-out. It was Kagome's voice. He couldn't hear the bandit's response and could only watch dumbfounded as he attacked. The bloody miko just stood there, as if she would allow him to throttle her, but moved at the last possible second. Inuyasha watched her seamlessly and wondered how she was still moving, let alone fighting.

His Kagome hadn't known how to fight either.

He stood transfixed as she dispatched with the bandit with ease, splattering blood everywhere as she did so. It was when she turned to watch the incoming riders that he saw the pain and fatigue etched into her face. Kagome's face.

The bloody, fighting miko was Kagome.

And it seemed she wasn't finished. She whistled sharply and the gray horse standing off to the side of the clearing ran towards her. The animal blocked his view of her for a moment and it allowed his enraptured state to diminish. He tugged the comatose kit from his shoulder and raced towards them.

Shunsoke responded instantly, blocking her from her attackers. Kagome quickly reached up and took her bow from the quiver and a handful of arrows. She slapped the horse's rump. "Go!"

The warhorse jumped with surprise and shied away. Kagome swiftly lifted the bow and notched an arrow, taking a bead on the rightmost rider. She cleared her mind of everything but her target, even the throbbing pain of the knife scraping along her shoulder blade. Narrowing her eyes, she loosed the arrow.

It hit its mark, sinking lethally into his heart.

She watched him fall lifelessly from the saddle and ignored the scolding voice that told her she'd just killed a man. It was hers or his, and it most definitely wasn't going to be her life. Swinging to her left, she fitted another arrow and watched it imbed itself into that bandit's chest as well.

A flash of movement in her peripheral had her whirling. She set and shot another arrow before even really seeing her target.

Kagome nearly collapsed when she recognized him. The arrow flew true, but also swirled with a blazing lavender flame. Her heart just about stopped. Inuyasha skidded to a halt when he realized she'd shot at him and watched the arrow with disbelief. Kagome staggered forward, hand outstretched. "No! Come back to me!" The purifying energy balked; it could feel Inuyasha's youkai blood. Kagome clamped her eyes shut. She didn't want to see if she failed. "I said come back!"

Inuyasha grunted when the arrow sank into his shoulder, but didn't really feel any pain. He stared at the wooden shaft, waiting for the energy to blaze to life, but it didn't. It was just a plain arrow. I don't understand. What happened? His confused amber eyes traveled the length of the arrow to look at the woman staggering towards him. He gazed into her watery brown eyes and it was like everything else ceased to exist. It was only the two of them standing in the clearing.

Kagome hobbled forward, the bow slipping from her bloody grip. I did it. I stopped it from killing him. She gazed on his angular face, his fangs peeking out from his open mouth, and felt tears welling. They blurred his eyes, transforming them in golden orbs without any seemingly definite outline. "Inuyasha...please..."

The hanyou bolted forward, uncaring of the arrow protruding from his shoulder. "Kagome, you came back."

Kagome started to laugh, but pain screamed through her body, leaving her gasping painfully. "Of...course."

Inuyasha tried to take in her scent, but his senses were accosted by the thick coppery smell of blood. He finally registered that she was severely wounded. "You're bleeding everywhere, Kagome. Where's the wound?" He touched her tentatively and he knew immediately that this wasn't a dream- that she was actually standing in front of him.

But she was slowly bleeding out and wouldn't be warm and alive much longer.

She shook her head, bangs swinging, and coughed. "No, it doesn't matter." She lunged forward with her good arm and fisted her hand in his haori. "Please...forgive me, Inuyasha."

"What are you talking about? Kagome, there's nothing that you need- Kagome?" Inuyasha clutched her arms as she shuddered. "Kagome, what's wrong?" Her felt her knees buckle and tightened his grasp, but the blood was too thick and she slid right out of his hands. The hanyou's heart leapt into his throat as she crumpled to the ground, deathly pale and unmoving. "Kagome!"

A/N: I know, I know....evil, evil cliffhanger. A note- 'Shunsoke' translates to 'swift horse'(points for super originality..haha). And b/c there was a few questions- 'Midoriio' translates into 'green'. It was just so close to Midoriko that I couldn't resist. I also know that I categorized this as an AU when it's really more of a continuation. I usually write AU's, so I was just a habit thing. This fic is the closest to the actual anime/manga that I've written. Comments from the peanut gallery are warmly welcomed. XD.