InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Chosen ❯ It Couldn't Get Any Worse...Could It? ( Chapter 15 )

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any of its characters. Shadow, Death Strike, Mikel, Faele, Falcon, the Evenstar family, Sindel, etc…are mine. Ask before you borrow them.

 

Italics = thinking

“….” = talking, or singing

*….* = telepathic speech

 

 

Chapter 15: It Couldn't Get Any Worse…Could It?

 

 

Two hours, a lot of food, and several long explanations later Yuka, Eri, Ayumi, and Hojo were still dumbfounded by the information that had just been imparted to them. Kagome had swiftly drug them into her home after she'd answered the door and realized her mistake. They had found themselves sitting in her living room, her mother serving them snacks as if nothing was out of the ordinary as Kagome attempted to explain away her appearance, and they had been buying her fabricated story about a festival until Sesshomaru had walked in; still wearing nothing but pajama pants.

 

Kagome had quickly attempted to explain the Sesshomaru was a friend that had been at the festival too. The taiyoukai gave her a puzzled look, but Kagome glared at him and he decided to not ask about his clothing for now. Kagome nearly sighed with relief when she noticed that her friends weren't arguing or asking questions that she couldn't answer…until Koga walked in with a tampon in his hand.

 

“Kagome, what is this?” the wolf youkai asked, confused slightly by the strange object he had found in the room his pack sister had called a `bath-room.'

 

Kagome slowly turned cherry red in embarrassment, but before she could try to save this new situation Death Strike made an appearance and Kagome groaned loudly.

 

“Oh, hello cousin, I didn't realize you had company,” Death Strike practically chirped with a smile as her tail slide its way around her Koga's waist. Turning to her mate with a sigh she confiscates the tampon and grasps his arm, “Koga, give me that. How many times…” Her voice trailed off as she removed her mate from the room

 

With a heavy sigh, and a muttered `Kami, why me?' Kagome hesitantly related the full, true story of where she had been and what she had been up to, to her friends. In all honesty, they took the information better than Kagome had hoped, but looking at them now, she noted that they looked more than a little stunned. Sometime during the telling, Sesshomaru had slipped out of the room undetected and Kagome was slightly envious of his ability to get away.

 

“So that's why you've missed so many classes! Why didn't you tell us sooner?” Ayumi squealed as she practically leapt off the couch to hug her friend. The other two girls simply stared at Ayumi like she'd grown another head. Hojo, on the other hand, wasn't taking it well.

 

“This is temporary, right? No? Someone's cursed you…don't worry we'll find a way to get you back to normal!” he sputtered as he moved to sit beside Kagome. The poor naïve fool just couldn't accept that the girl he was head over heals in love with was neither human nor single. He scooted closer to Kagome and wrapped his arm around her shoulder just as InuYasha made an entrance.

 

InuYasha saw red as he comprehended the scene before him: Hojo practically snuggled up to his mate's side, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders as Kagome struggled half heartedly to get away.

 

“GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF MY MATE!” he roared, his hand reaching for tetsusaiga's hilt.

 

Kagome was unsure just what happened next, but the next thing she knew she was in InuYasha's arms and Sesshomaru had Hojo pinned by the neck against the living room wall. Both inus were growling furiously as Kagome tried to figure out just where the taiyoukai had come from. Disentangling herself from InuYasha, Kagome slowly approached Sesshomaru and cleared her throat.

 

“You can put him down now,” Kagome stated softly, her gentle tone calming the rather flustered inu-youkai. Slowly Sesshomaru released Hojo, who toppled bonelessly to the floor.

 

“What's all the hollering?” Kagome's mother asked as her head appeared around the edge of the door frame in time to see Sesshomaru step away from Hojo's crumpled form. “Oh my…”

 

“Mom, could you see to Hojo and my friends please?” Kagome asked in a rush as she grasped both inus by the arm and hustled them from the room. “This day cannot get any worse,” she muttered as she pulled both males up the stairs to her bedroom.

 

Shoving the door open with more force than intended, Kagome stormed into her room in time to hear her cousin gasp in pain and then collapse. Forgetting the brothers behind her, Kagome leapt forward just as Koga caught his unconscious mate.

 

“What happened?” Kagome asked her eyes wide as she motioned for Koga to lay the neko on the bed.

 

“I don't know. She was fine a moment ago,” Koga replied as he gently shook his unconscious mate. “Death Strike, wake up.”

 

But the neko demon fae didn't wake; instead the small group received a soft, pain filled moan as a single tear slipped from Death Strike's closed eyes and trailed down her cheek.

 

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Meanwhile in the feudal era, Sango and Miroku had their hands full with a new development. The evening they had returned to Kaeda's home, an unexpected visitor had turned up: Souten and her little dragon, Kouryuu. At first the lightning youkai had been aloof towards Shippo's human companions, Rin included, but that changed swiftly when Shippo explained to the girl that he didn't want her around if she wasn't going to be nice to his friends.

 

Now Sango and Miroku sat outside Kaeda's hut watching the three children playing enthusiastically as Kirara, in battle form, kept a watchful eye on them. Miroku had noticed that the fire cat had taken to guarding the children more often of late and he turned to Sango.

 

“Have you noticed Kirara acting strangely?” he asked.

 

“No. What do you mean by `strangely' houshi-sama?” Sango replied with a shake of her head before turning to lock eyes with the monk.

 

“Her sudden change towards the children,” Miroku attempted to explain, “She's always played with them, now she sits and watches…no, guards them, more than she plays with them.”

 

“I hadn't noticed; I thought that perhaps she was simply tired. Do you think she could sense something we do not?” Sango's attention went from the children to her long time companion, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied the two-tail.

 

“It is possible,” was all Miroku offered in way of reply as his hand slid slowly from the ground to Sango's firm hind end.

 

SMMMMACKKKK!!!

 

“HENTAI!”

 

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Kagome knelt beside her bed, one hand resting gently on her cousin's brow. It was getting late and Death Strike had still not recovered from her collapse earlier in the day. Thankfully, Kagome's mother had been able to deal with Eri, Yuka, Ayumi, and Hojo for her. The four had promised not to breathe a word about Kagome's `condition' to anyone else and then had been ushered from the house. Without having to worry about them, Kagome could worry, instead, about her cousin.

 

Shortly after Death Strike had collapsed Koga went wild. It took both InuYasha and Sesshomaru to restrain the frantic wolf. Had it not been for the inu brothers, Kagome was sure Koga would have literally ripped the house to shreds in his panic; not that she could blame him. He was in a strange era that he new next to nothing about and his new mate had just collapsed for no apparent reason. Sighing heavily, Kagome glanced over her should at the `dog-pile' on the floor and couldn't help but smile at the irony: InuYasha and Sesshomaru where literally lying in a heap on top of Koga to pin him down and it simply struck her as funny. After all, they were all canines.

 

Turning back to her prone cousin, Kagome again placed her hand against the older girl's forehead and her mouth compressed into a thin line.

 

“Still no fever, but I can feel that she's in pain,” Kagome muttered softly to herself as she reviewed the happenings of the day. “What could be wrong?”

 

“Perhaps that is best answered in another place,” a soft male voice intruded on her thoughts and all four of the room's conscious occupants looked up in surprise. “I've come to retrieve my sister,” the red and orange haired boy continued as he stepped slowly into Kagome's bedroom.

 

Kagome studied the youth that had suddenly appeared in her doorway. He had black dog ears adorning the top of his head; similar to the ones she had, as well as the ones her cousins sported. His hair started out as a yellowish orange at the roots and slowly shaded into red near the tips, which swung loosely just below the boy's shoulders; the coloration much more pronounced in his bangs. She could tell his tanned skin was normally pale, but what really caught Kagome's attention, besides the striking red facial markings, were the boy's eyes: a deep red shadowed with sadness and loss as he gazed at Death Strike.

 

“Who are you?” Kagome asked slowly, her gazing flicking to InuYasha who had begun growling softly.

 

“I'm sorry for not making formal introductions, Honored Cousin,” the boy said with a deep bow, “I am your younger cousin, and one of Death Strike's younger siblings: my name is Blaze.”

 

InuYasha's growl cut off as swiftly as it had started as Kagome rose from her place on the bed and went to Blaze's side. She touched his shoulder gently and smiled as he brought his gaze up to meet hers.

 

“No need to bow, Blaze; we're family,” Kagome told him, “Now, you said you were `sent to retrieve' Death Strike; who sent you?”

 

“Our father,” Blaze replied bluntly. Although Kagome judged him to be no more than a year younger than her, she felt that there was something strange about him. There was an air about him, and something in his eyes that suggested great age. Deciding she'd have to ask later, she snapped out of her thoughts and watched as Blaze knelt beside the bed and pushed a lock of hair away from Death Strike's face.

 

“Why won't she wake?” Koga asked in a half growl as he finally managed to get free of the inu brothers.

 

“Because she does not want to,” Blaze answered softly as he cupped his sister's cheek in his palm. Leaning forward he placed a chaste, brotherly kiss on her forehead before getting back to his feet and turning to meet Koga's smoldering gaze. “It is easier for your mate to accept what she is going through if she is asleep. The subconscious mind can sometimes deal with pain and betrayal better than the conscious mind can. She will waken soon, but she must have time to accept the events that have recently taken place. I am sure you will accompany us back to our home tomorrow, all will be explained in greater detail then.”

 

With another bow to Kagome, Blaze made his way from Kagome's room and disappeared through a gateway just the other side of her door. Koga dropped to his knees beside Death Strike as Kagome sighed and glanced towards the alarm clock on her desk. It was late; they should have been in bed by now and possibly asleep, but Death Strike's condition had kept them awake.

 

“I think we should all go to sleep and see what happens tomorrow,” Kagome stated softly, her exhaustion and worry apparent in her voice. “Koga, you can share the bed with Death Strike, this way you'll be right there if she wakes up. InuYasha, Sesshomaru; I guess the three of us get to sleep on the floor.”

 

Fifteen minutes later, all except Sesshomaru were asleep. For a reason he could not quite place he was nervous about visiting his intended mate's home. Just before he fell asleep something else dawned on him: just where the hell had his clothes disappeared to?

 

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~*~*~Dream Sequence~*~*~

 

Again she is surrounded by flames, the wind blowing hot ash into her face as she surveys the landscape. This time the voices don't shout at her, instead they whisper on the breeze, mocking her. Her hair stands on end as another voice joins the taunts:

 

“Run little kitty.” The orange haired demoness appears before her, a wicked smile gracing her lips.

 

She turns and flees, running across the barren, burned wasteland that is her dream realm.

 

“You cannot escape…” the demoness whispers into her ear and she runs faster.

 

She can feel the woman's hot, sticky breath on the back of her neck, but she does not dare to glance behind her. She pushes herself faster, but to no avail.

 

“Neither is here to save you now…”

 

White hot pain lances through her body as the orange haired demoness appears suddenly in her path and slashes her claws across her chest. She screams and staggers back; falling to her knees as her hands clutch her chest, her blood pouring in rivers through her closed fingers. Her attacker advances and grasps her by the throat, dragging her to her feet. The demoness raises her claws to strike the final blow as she sneers in contempt.

 

“And they claim that you are the tiger. Ha! You are naught but a weak and pathetic little girl!”

 

She watches the claws come slashing down and the light surrounds her body again.

 

“NO!” the evil one screams in her rage.

 

She can feel herself fading from this place and realizes that the light that envelopes her isn't white like she'd originally thought; it's silver.

 

~*~*~End Dream Sequence~*~*~

 

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Consciousness and pain explode in Kagome's mind. Her scream bouncing off the walls of her room brining all three males instantly to her side.

 

“She's bleeding!” she hears Koga exclaim as Sesshomaru shoves the wolf away to examine her wounds.

 

“What the hell happened?” InuYasha growls, pushing his way in next to his brother, gathering Kagome's torn and bleeding form into his arms. She gasps again in pain and looks up into InuYasha's eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks.

 

“How…bad…is it?” She manages to gasp as Sesshomaru finishes shredding her sleeping shirt from her body. She sees Koga grimace from the corner of her eyes and she looks pleadingly to Sesshomaru. “How bad?” she asks again and he looks away.

 

InuYasha kisses her brow, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes as he stares at the long, deep gashes across his mate's chest. Her pool runs in thick rivulets down her torso, staining the waistband of her pajama shorts and dripping onto the floor. Tentatively he reaches out to touch the torn flesh around the bone deep wounds. Wounds so deep and wide he can watch his mate's lungs inflate with each labored breath. Her eyes flutter closed and he fights the urge to shake her.

 

“No Kagome, you have to stay awake,” InuYasha tells her softly as he fights down his own tears. Turning to Sesshomaru, he looks pointedly at tenseiga leaning against the wall not far away. The taiyoukai nods and reaches for the healing blade, but it does not respond. It lies silent in his hand and he growls angrily.

 

“Useless sword! Why do you not work when you are needed the most?” He moves to fling the offending blade from him, completely losing his cold composure in his sudden sense of failure, but feels a small hand rest gently on his shoulder. He looks up to find Kagome's mother standing beside him, her other hand pressed over her mouth in shock as she stares at her dying daughter. Sota stands behind his mother's leg, his face buried in the cloth of her sleeping pants as he sobs silently. When they had come into the room, neither inu brother knew.

 

“All is not lost,” Blaze's voice chimes as he steps from a gateway in the hall just past Kagome's door. Turning he calls out behind him, “Sisters, we require great healing power, come quickly.”

 

Almost before the youth had time to step away from the gate, two younger girls came hurriedly through. All three demons around Kagome blinked, afraid they were seeing things. The girls were obviously younger than Blaze, and apparently twins, the only differences being facial markings and hair color. However, it was the girls' hair that made them blink. All three had seen purple eyed females before, but never had they seen pink or purple hair! One girl had waist length shockingly pink hair, while the other sported bright purple tresses of equal length and ears the same colors to boot! Koga's jaw dropped in amazement.

 

“Wow….I guess they do come in all colors,” Sota stated, breaking the silence.

 

Without introduction, both females rush to Kagome's side and shoo Sesshomaru and Koga away. Since Kagome is lying, barely breathing, in InuYasha's arms they are loath to separate him from her.

 

“This is the serpent's work,” hisses the pink haired female as she takes a closer look at the claw marks.

 

“We cannot heal this. It is beyond what our combined powers are capable of at this time,” the other states as she turns her attention to her sister.

 

“Then you are useless…” begins Sesshomaru as he starts towards Kagome's side again. With an almost imperceptible nod from the pink haired girl, the purple haired sister throws her head back and whistles shrilly. All except Blaze and the pink haired girl flinch at the sound, and are grateful when the high pitched sound ceases. A long howl greats their ears next as a young amber colored wolf bursts through the still open gateway and skids to a halt between the two young girls.

 

“Find Shadow…” the pink haired girl begins.

 

“Tell her that she is needed immediately!” finishes the other.

 

“It is a matter of life or death. Tell her the world rests in her claws and that she is to meet us in the grand hall,” adds Blaze and the wolf nods once before returning back through the gateway.

 

“We must move her now,” the girls chorus together as they rise. “We shall prepare the hall,” they add as the dash to gateway.

 

Blaze crosses the distance between himself and Kagome's mother and lays a soothing hand on her arm.

 

“Do not worry, Aunt Higurashi, we shall not let her die. There has been enough death by the serpent's claws. She will not add our cousin to her list of vanquished,” he tells her and then bows respectfully. Turning his attention to InuYasha, he motions for the inu-hanyou to follow before turning back to the gateway as well. He passes through without so much as a backward glance to see if the others follow, but InuYasha, carrying Kagome, Koga and Sesshomaru were only moments behind him.

 

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Being home for the last couple of days had been soothing to her distraught soul. Even now, as she sat in the flower covered field, not more than one hundred paces from the tomb that held the unmarked graves of her children and her ceremony bonded, she felt calmed and at peace. Her bow and quiver rested on the ground before her and she thought back to the previous day's exercises, a smile gracing her lips at the recollection.

 

Two days prior she had stolen the tattered remains of Sesshomaru's clothing as he tussled with her twin. Then yesterday she had tacked those same clothes to the tree that stood a little more than 100 yards from where she now sat and had used them for target practice. Chuckling softly she glanced up at the tree, noting the multitude of arrows protruding from where Sesshomaru's heart and groin would be had he been wearing the offending clothes.

 

“Well, at least I feel a little better,” she mutters as she reaches up to run her fingers over the mark on her neck. “Insolent male! Marking me without consent! Just because he beat me didn't give him the right to just grab and mark me like that!” She growls in frustration and gets back to her feet, gathering her bow and quiver a she rises. Knocking another arrow she sights on the clothes and looses the arrow, satisfied when she hears the sound of a previous arrow shaft splitting in twain followed by the slight echoing thwack of the arrowhead sinking into the meat of the tree.

 

She had another arrow ready to fly when the wolf came bounding at full speed across the clearing to her. It related its message hurriedly, stopping only once in the middle to pant for breath. Telling the wolf to rest and to return when it was ready, Shadow set off in haste for the grand hall; praying that she was not too late as she raced over the ground.

 

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Author's Note: Yay, the next chapter at last! Sorry it took so long everyone. It's been busy here since I got back from New York. I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted. I am soooo sorry! I'll try to be quicker about getting chapters up. No promises though since I'm juggling helping my father out, looking for a job, and taking care of my own family. Also, I have a new original character picture up: Blaze. It's more of just a colored sketch than anything else, so don't judge it too harshly, lol. I just thought everyone might like to see what the characters kind of look like. I'm hoping to have a sketch of Mikel, and the other two sisters, up soon. You'll learn their names in the next chapter. Many thanks to Ally for being my wonderful beta! She's got some stuff on MM.org too! Check it out: http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/src.php?srcht=srcan&sr ch=nazi_ally_cat&show=Show%2FSearch&sort=dateD&gnr=&type=&a mp;rate=&lang=english

One last side note, you may have noticed that MM.org is having some issues with update alerts. I have a mailing list to let people know when I update, if you would like to be on it, please email me at jessylang@sbcglobal.net and let me know. Thanks!

Review Responses:

 

Keisha: Yup, sharing mates….I'm a nut like that. Make's it more interesting, ne? I'm working on trying to get my chapters up faster….but writer's block and life sometimes have a way of putting a cramp in your plans lol.

 

Reke: Wow, you've left a few comments. I'm so sorry about the delay. I'm trying to get back into writing a chapter a day…or at least one a week. As for the Sesshy fluff…..come on you had to admit it was funny to see Kagome squirm like that! Besides, the poor sexually frustrated guy needed to have some fun…after all the ladies have been kicking his butt lately.

 

Black_Rose28: `Sexymaru' OMG I love that! Can I use that pleaseeeeeeee??? I'm glad the ending made you laugh, it's what I was going for. You can just imagine the look on Kagome's face as she realizes her mistake, it's simply priceless. I don't watch fruit baskets, but the memory take away thing was a good idea. Although I think this time it was more fun to fill her friends in, what do you think? Thanks for the comment on my artwork...lol. I'm not all that great…I dabble, character visuals (even bad ones) can sometimes make the story better cause you know what someone is supposed to look like. Psst…get a scanner….or use a friends! Lol.

 

Hikaru-RoseRed: I'm glad you like the story and welcome to the `club' lol. I try to use good grammer, spelling, and a decent format so my readers can follow along easier. I thought I caught most of my errors in chapters 1-12 (the era before my beta lol) but rereading them I realize that maybe I didn't catch everything. So now my beta (Thank you sooo much Ally, much love!) is going back through those early chapters for me and trying to catch the stuff I missed. No worries, this story isn't going to get abandoned, I will finish it…and I have others already in the making. My brain just doesn't like to sleep these days. As for the Rin/Kohaku pairing, yes that's a thought. I've also got a Shippo pairing in the making, but it's not what everybody thinks! Side note: Sesshy will get his butt kicked MANY times. Women have a tendency to do that to a man when angry.

 

Namidajoshi: Would you have rather had me pair him with Ayame? Lol, how was I supposed to know you claimed Koga? You can have him in your own stories, but in this one he belongs to Death Strike. Who knows, maybe in the future I'll write a fic for you where you are Koga's mate, how about that? We'll see; until then, enjoy the fic! Thanks for the review! Inu as a terrier…I just can't stop laughing at that thought! OMG so funny!

 

Ehu: I update as I can. Hopefully they'll start coming faster again soon. Thanks for the review. Enjoy!

 

I_HAVE_NO_NAME: I'm working on it. Thanks for being patient and sticking with me. It's appreciated more than you can ever know.

 

Megan Consoer: Updated! Thanks for the review!