InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Corrupted ❯ Bloody Rose ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 7: Bloody Rose

Kagome could hear someone distantly calling her name, sounding almost frantic. She didn't want to wake from her dream, not yet. It had been close to a nightmare, Naraku, Souta…

Her eyes snapped open. It wasn't a dream.

"Naraku…" She found her gaze invaded by golden eyes and silver hair. Sesshoumaru… Thank god he was okay.

"Naraku is gone, Kagome. Are you okay? Do you…" She interrupted him.

"I'm fine. Souta…?" His bleak eyes, despite his lack of expression, told her all she needed and didn't want to know. Oh no…

She made herself sit up, finding that her limbs were hard to make work and weak. She felt as though she had done a few hundred push-ups, run a marathon, and not slept for days. Her head hurt, her eyes were dull. Sesshoumaru tried to get her to lay back down, afraid she had been seriously hurt, but she waved him back. She crawled onto her knees and made her way to her brother's still body. There was no blood, none at all. Maybe Sesshoumaru was wrong…

The small hole in Souta's temple and his deathly coldness crushed that hope before it could fully form. She didn't acknowledge the tears that were running down her cheeks and dripping off her of chin to splatter on her brother's pale, cold face. She pulled him onto her lap and rocked him back and forth, crying her silent tears. He was dead, that lunatic had killed him. Suddenly, she needed reassurance of what had happened. What exactly had happened to Naraku? If he wasn't dead… her blood boiled with the thought. If he was still alive, she could hunt him down and make sure he paid.

She gently laid her brother's body down on the floor and wiped her tears away, new strength flowing into her body. She was getting up when she felt strong arms around her, helping her up. She turned and buried herself into him, taking comfort him his nearness. His warm strength cocooned her and kept her safe in his arms. She took several deep breaths and soon found her own strength had returned.

"Tell me what happened." She requested. She felt his arms tighten around her.

"In the car." He replied. She was about to protest when he swung her into his arms and held her tightly against him. She struggled against him, she was no invalid, and she could walk herself!

His breath, when he spoke, tickled her neck. "Please stop." He said, his voice rougher then usual. She immediately ceased her struggles, perplexed by the tone of his voice. She allowed herself to relax into him, her head resting against his shoulder. He carried her out of the room and down the stairs, holding her tightly against him. They went out the front door and toward the car. At the passenger door Sesshoumaru set her down and held her against him as he opened the door. She was about to get in when he turned her to face him and brought his lips crashing down on hers.

At first, fear gripped her, making her freeze. But after a second or two, her body was melting into his and her own passion rose to answer his fiercely. She felt like she was jumping into a roaring fire, except this fire could not hurt her. Her body melted into his and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. He answered by impossibly kissing her deeper, his arms wrapping around her waist and holding her tightly against him. Around them, the fires licked and snapped.

Kagome felt breathless when he broke off the kiss, she noticed his chest was rising and falling heavily as well. He leaned his forehead against hers.

Sesshoumaru had his question answered. Their morning had been… well, it was beyond wonderful, it was almost dreamlike, but with images and feelings so sharp they left him aching and breathless. He was afraid, afraid of her deciding that what they had done was fun, but when she realized that Naraku was no more, he would never see her again. Once he told her what he had seen up in that room, he wanted to be sure she wasn't going to go on with her life as if she had never met him. That kiss, if it meant even close to her what it did to him, assuaged his fears.

He regretfully pulled back from her enough to help her into the car. Their eyes met before he shut the door and the hot, plaintive wanting in them almost made him yank her back out to take up where they had left off. With a will made of iron he shut the door and went around to his side to open the door. He got in and started the car, pulling away from that old house. They stayed silent as he drove down an old dirt road and then stopped.

Kagome was surprised to find they were parked on a grassy road, trees on both sides of them, a beautiful crystal-blue lake stretched out in front of them. She inhaled sharply as the sun glinted off of it, rainbows of color reflecting in the water.

"Wow." She couldn't take her eyes off it. She heard Sesshoumaru chuckle beside her and only when the sun was covered in clouds and the lake now reflected only the trees and sky above did she turn to him. She smirked back at him. "Chuckle all you want. It's quite a sight, but somehow I think you already knew that." She paused. "Why did you take me out here?" He lifted her hand in his and was rubbing his thumb over it.

"I wanted to tell you about what I saw… and other things." It was the `and other things' that made her swallow, but she nodded, waiting for him to continue. "I wondered if you noticed that the jewel around your neck is gone." Kagome automatically reached for it, but her hand closed around a chain with nothing on it. She frowned.

"How…?"

"My theory is that when it was used, it disappeared. For good intentions anyway. After you fainted," she blushed and looked away, "I watched as Naraku screamed in obvious agony, slowly being consumed in white light. When it faded, he was gone, and the Shikon was gone as well. I believe he's really annihilated. You destroyed him, Kagome." She opened her mouth to protest, about to say if this was true it was the Shikon that did it, but his free hand held a finger to her lips. Her voice died in her throat.

"It was you. When you cupped the jewel in your hands, it glowed and filled the room with light. It disappeared from your hands as you fainted. You used the Shikon to destroy him, and it did." She processed these words slowly, trying to comprehend what he was saying. If he was right, then she had avenged her brother, and the wrongs done to herself. And that meant that it was done, she didn't need to be afraid anymore. He was truly gone. And she was free of him.

She wanted to cry, she was so happy, but God she'd had enough tears to last her a lifetime. So instead she smiled brightly at Sesshoumaru. He obviously wasn't finished, so she waited for him to continue.

"Kagome, with Naraku gone, what do you plan to do?"

Kagome stared at him. That wasn't what he wanted to say. She concentrated on the question, but truth was she had no idea what she was going to do. What she wanted to do… well, she wanted to spend every night with him, wake up in the morning and see him sleeping next to her. She wanted to travel with him, to go on picnics, to watch beautiful sunsets…

"I suppose I'll finish school and… I don't know. Maybe I'll go into some kind of police work. Maybe the same thing you do. I'll probably stay with Mom, and help her support herself until she gets too old to, but that's a long time from now. She's only thirty-seven, did you know that?" He shook his head no, still running his thumb over the back of her hand. She could tell he wanted to ask her something, and she held her breath.

"Kagome…"

"Yeah? Ya know, I'd really miss you. Maybe… I know our ages are very different, but maybe we can keep this going…" he cut her off.

"Would you stay with me? Your mother can live there was well. I can easily support both of you, and there's enough room in my place…" He was interrupted as she threw herself against him, her arms wrapped around him tightly.

"God I was so afraid you wouldn't ask." She whispered against his chest. He chuckled, more out of relief then anything else. "Of course, I'd love to live with you. I might have to do some real coaxing on Mom's part to get her to move in, but even if she won't, I can get a job and help her out. Maybe even enough to get her a better place, that apartment is terrible. And it could be closer to us…" He kissed the top of her head, effectively shutting her up.

"Forget the job. I can well afford to buy her a new house if she would like one." Kagome lifted her head from his chest.

"A new house? Jesus, how much money do you have?" He chuckled at the consternation on her face and proceeded to explain.

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's family had been very wealthy, extraordinarily so, actually. When their parents had died five years ago, the money had been split between the two remaining siblings, since they were the only family members left. Inuyasha had been far too young at the time and Sesshoumaru had been the guardian of the money. When Inuyasha had turned 18 just a year ago, the expansive funds had been released to him. Even as reckless and stupid as Inuyasha was, he had not been able to spend all of that money. Not even enough to put a dent in it.

Kagome listened wide-eyed. Inuyasha had never told her any of this. Apparently, he didn't want his wealth to be known. And here she had accused him of using the five-finger discount a few times when he had come up with some really nice stuff. She hadn't thought… well, she certainly didn't know he had been wealthy.

And when Inuyasha died, (Kagome cringed at this and buried herself deeper into Sesshoumaru's chest), everything had gone to Sesshoumaru since he had no will written and there was no other surviving family. He included mention of family heirlooms: The swords. He had been left the Tenseiga and Inuyasha the Tetsusaiga. Now he would have both. They alone were worth a pretty penny, and together their worth tripled, not that he would EVER sell them.

When she asked Sesshoumaru why he worked when he obviously didn't have to, he didn't answer right off. Finally he explained sarcastically that if he didn't work, he'd be so bored he'd probably waste away in his big house. She giggled at that; it was hard to imagine Sesshoumaru wasting away. He'd always find something to do. He would probably travel, or maybe he'd invest his money, or something like that, he said on a more serious note. After another short pause, Kagome tipped her head up to look into his eyes. He smiled down on her, making her heart catch.

"I was considering giving Inuyasha's money to you and your mother before, did you know that?" She shook her head no, about to protest that they wouldn't have taken it anyway, but one look in his eyes stopped her.

"Do you think your mother would allow me to help her?" he asked. She had to try several times before her throat unstuck.

"I don't know. She might let me; what if we said it was my money? We could pretend Inuyasha had actually had brains and had wrote up a will and left me millions." He chuckled and she smiled. His expression turned serious.

"I suppose that would be reasonable. If it is what it will take for your mother's pride…" The look in his eyes made her whole body hum, she almost couldn't answer him.

"I'm sure that's what it will take." She whispered. His heated eyes stole her breath; she could feel heat stirring in her in response. When his lips touched hers, she couldn't control the urge to kiss him back. Soon it was just as heated as they felt, and their clothes were discarded or pushed aside in a flurry of passion. The tight quarters of the car nor could the awkward positions deter them. They were desperate, ravenous.

With both of their pants and underwear removed, he plunged into her. She was leaning on the door, mostly in the passenger seat, her legs dangling in front of the driver's seat, the E-brake sticking into her upper thigh. He thrust into her, over and over, and she was going nuts because in her position she couldn't thrust up to meet him. Again and again he slammed into her, the E-brake making a bruise she couldn't feel on her thigh through the haze of pleasure. They both burst into a glorious climax, their throaty cries mingling in the fresh forest air.

When their senses returned, Kagome was the first to say something, the E-brake coming to attention finally. He groaned and shifted them over some, their legs entangled on the driver's seat now. His knees were scrunched up; his much too long legs didn't fit well in the small space. Both of their heads bumped the passenger door, and soon body parts began to fall asleep. They grudgingly got up and slipped into the backseat where they would be slightly more comfortable.

This time when they made love, it was with a slow hungry thoroughness that made them both gasp for breath and shout the to the heavens when they finally hit the earth-shattering orgasm.

Sated, happy, fulfilled, they lay wrapped in each other's arms. Neither slept, as comfortable as they were. They were relaxed, but the events of the day sat heavily on their shoulders.

Finally realizing that her mother would be worried about her, Kagome got up and shimmied into her clothes. Sesshoumaru did as well, recognizing the fact that they needed to come up with something to explain what happened to Souta. They could tell Atsuko the truth, but the police would never believe a jewel destroyed a person. Atsuko had seen it, and she would believe her daughter.

While driving back up the dirt road they decided to tell them that they had met Naraku and that he had killed Souta and then gotten away. They would pretend he was still on the loose and do whatever was necessary to cooperate with the police.

"I'll have to quit my job, so they won't wonder why I'm not investigating the case." Kagome objected to that, saying if they could pretend to help the police, he could pretend to investigate the case. He stopped the rest of it by covering her hand gently with his own. "I don't need a job now to keep me occupied. It was just something to do while I was waiting for you." That made her heart melt into a warm blob and she smiled back at him.

"Well, that's okay then. As long as you keep me occupied as well." He grinned at her and laced his fingers into hers.

"I promise I will." His husky voice was full of innuendo.

~**~

One month later.

"Mom is going to love it!" Kagome squeezed Sesshoumaru's hand in hers. She stood on her tippy toes to plant a wet, sloppy kiss on his cheek. He wiped the grin off his face and replaced it with a disgusted look, groaning and wiping the saliva off his cheek. She giggled beside him and he retaliated by leaning her backwards and planting a few big wet ones on her neck. She held onto his arms and tried to control her laughter in a fruitless attempt to fight him.

He finally tipped her back up and slipped his arm around her waist, looking at the big house. They both admired it from every angle. It was a two-story house, rather small because Kagome insisted her mother wouldn't like a big house. The white paneling glinted in the sunlight and canary yellow shutters and trim gave it a cute look. Kagome said her mother always wanted a white house with yellow trim. There were nicely manicured flower boxes under the windows and pretty flowers grew along the sidewalk. It had a big, rolling lawn out back that was cut neatly and glowed green. A couple of big northern red oak trees towered over the pretty lawn. A beautiful black willow stood near the back by the tree line. It looked perfect to hang a swing from.

They eventually turned to leave, realizing that if they didn't hurry, they would be late to pick Kagome's mother up for `dinner'. In reality they were going to take her here and give her the keys to the house and the deed to it. If she didn't' want it, the stuff would already be in her name, so she would have to sell it. They both knew she wouldn't. She'd be flustered, angry, and grateful.

Neither of them could wait.

Sesshoumaru opened the door for Kagome, bowing and motioning for her to get in. She gave him an exasperated look when he shut the door. When he turned to go around the car she reached her hand out and slapped his ass, surprising him. She giggled when he jumped and yanked her hand back in, whistling innocently when he turned to glare at her. It was an ongoing thing, this little game they had. Kagome was one up on him now. She couldn't wait to see how he would get back at her to even the score. He got in the car, and started it up, purposely ignoring her. A month ago she would have thought he was angry with her, but now she knew he was only pretending to be.

She badgered him about putting his seatbelt on, which made him just astutely declare that he wasn't going to. She got angry and went silent until he forcefully kissed her and said he just didn't like seatbelts. She softened and smiled at him, telling him that if he got hurt in a car accident she would never forgive him. She loved to go fast, but she always wore a seatbelt just in case something happened.

At a stop light his eyes brightened and he motioned her closer, cupping his hand as if to tell her a secret. She leaned over cautiously, trying to be wary of whatever prank he was going to pull on her. When she was close his cupped hand swiftly grabbed her neck and he slid his tongue into her ear. She squealed and tried to pull away but his grip was too strong. When she struggled he held her tighter, but not enough to hurt her. Finally the light turned green and he abruptly let go, his face a mask of neutrality and his eyes focused on the road as if nothing had happened. She tried to glare at him but she couldn't stop laughing long enough to.

"I'm gonna get you for that one." She promised. He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Only evening the score." His eyes stayed on the road. She pouted.

"Still… just you wait."

"Is that a promise?" He flashed her a grin. When she returned it his eyes flashed. "I can't wait." He said, his voice low and seductive. With that she burst into a fit of giggles. He rolled his eyes. "I was serious… did you know?" But that only made her laugh harder.

They were arguing jokingly about who was going to get to be on top next time they… (Et-hem) …and Kagome finally gave in and said Sesshoumaru could as they bumped down a narrow road going sixty. That gave way to a whole new argument about how he was always on top and it was her turn. She argued back that he was better then her so he should be. He flashed her a lethal grin and commented that practice made perfect.

A loud bang made both of them stop and then the car was careening just about out of control, the tire had popped. And suddenly both of them noticed the drop off to the right, and how the road twisted and turned, trees lining both sides. The car was pulling toward the drop off because it was the front right tire that had popped. Sesshoumaru tried to correct it and then the car swerved too far to the left. The nose dived into a ditch going fifty and slammed into the other side of the ditch.

Kagome whacked her head and all went black.

~**~

Kagome awoke slowly, her head pounding. She could feel a trickle of blood coming from the back of her head. It was sticky and gross. Suddenly, she remembered what had happened and turned to see if Sesshoumaru was okay. The driver's seat was empty and the windshield glass was shattered. Fear gripped her, making her frozen to the spot.

"Sesshoumaru…" She finally was able to move and jerked at her seatbelt, having a hard time getting it to come undone. It unbuckled and she tried to open her door only to find it was stuck. She climbed over the top of it since the top was back and circled slowly to the front of the car, afraid of what she would find there.

Her eyes almost didn't comprehend what she saw. Sesshoumaru was lying on his back, 15 feet in front of the car, his bloody hand wrapped around a piece of glass deeply embedded in his stomach. For a second, she expected him to get up and chuckle at her gullibility, pulling off the piece off glass and showing her that it wasn't really embedded in him. When he didn't get up she raced to his side, falling onto her bare knees next to him. She didn't feel the rocks that bruised and dug into her knees, all she felt was a squeezing pain in her heart and intense fear.

"Sesshoumaru?" Her voice cracked. She was relieved when his eyes fluttered open. There was no pain in his features, his expression was calm.

"Kagome, are you alright?" He whispered. He lifted his other hand a little and she took it. She pretended not to notice how his hand went limp in hers. She raised it to her face and kissed it.

"I'm fine… but you…" She glanced at the piece of glass. He smiled weakly.

"That's nothing. As long as your okay…" His voice gave out and his eyes rolled back. Her whole body turned white hot with panic.

"Sesshoumaru!" She cried. Slowly, his eyes fixed on hers. She watched as in his last effort his mouth formed the words I love you, but no sound escaped his lips. But she understood.

"I love you too." Her voice, just above a whisper, was weak and throaty from the tears in the back of her throat. He smiled slowly at those words and then his whole body relaxed. Kagome refused to believe it.

"Sesshoumaru? Sesshoumaru… you can't do this to me!" She frantically felt for a pulse on his neck and found none. He was not breathing either. "No… NO!" Kagome didn't feel the tears that were running down her cheeks. When she still didn't feel a pulse after a few minutes, she realized it was true.

Already his eyes were glazing and losing the look of love he had directed at her just before he died. She pounded his chest in anger.

"You can't leave me Dammit! You promised we would be together! Damn you! You can't die! I told you I'd never forgive you if this happened! You, you swore," Her voice gave out and she collapsed on top of him, wild, angry sobs shaking her, tears coming down her face. Slowly they calmed and she curled up next to his body, trying to keep it warm with hers. Already he was becoming cold and stiff.

She refused to move, lost in a haze of pain and loss. The voice around her didn't register for many moments.

"Miss? Miss, please get up. Miss? I've called 911, people will be here soon. Miss, you're shaking, please get up."

She heard the last but didn't respond. She was never going to get up; she was going to stay with him forever. No one could separate them, ever. She wrapped her arms around his cold body, hugging it to her. He was hers, forever. He had told her so.

So when a pair of strong arms began to pull her away from him, she screamed and fought him tooth and nail, punching and kicking desperately. But she was weak, and soon her hands lost purchase of his body and she was being lead away. She dragged her feet, trying to get to the ground, making herself a dead weight, but still she was drawn farther from him. She went totally still, faking defeat. She calculated her surroundings, and when his guard dropped slightly and he was about to open a car door, she lashed out, catching him between the legs with her knee and in the jaw with her fist. She pulled back and whaled him in the stomach, and he let her go, doubling over in pain.

Kagome's eyes were fuzzy and her legs wobbled as she started back towards the crashed car. She was running, she couldn't feel her feet or her legs, and in trying to jump the ditch she fell. She landed about ten feet from him and ignored the pain to get up on her hands and knees to crawl to him. Once beside him she laid her head on his cold, rock hard chest. All at once reality hit her hard, and she sat back up.

Dead.

She reached her hand forward to brush his hair out of his face and noticed the smile was still on his lips, the smile of love he had directed at her. She clenched her fist and pulled it back to her chest, holding it against her rapidly beating heart. She willed it to slow down; slow, and stop. But it did not do as she bid and kept beating rapidly. She gave up, her hand falling to her lap, head falling forward and her hair swept down to cover her face. She stayed like that for a long time, long enough so that the ache in her neck and the sound of an ambulance close by revived her. As if an EMT could do anything for Sesshoumaru now. She laughed hollowly at the thought. When her eyes had somewhat cleared and she realized she was seeing something red, she thought it was blood. It took her many moments before she realized what she was looking at was a rose.

Curious as to why a lone rose was growing in the middle of a forest, she leaned closer and saw the drops of blood on it, soaking into it. It reminded her of him, why she didn't know, but it did. And it held a part of him in it, drying on it right now. She grasped it and yanked it out of the ground, ignoring the thorns that dug into her skin. It was dead, or it would be now. If he was dead, it didn't deserve to live. She clutched it in her hands, tears running down her face to mingle with the blood in the rose.

That was exactly as the man who had tried to get her away from the body before found her. Miroku felt desolate watching as the pretty girl kneeled there next to the dead body of someone she obviously loved, clutching that rose, blood running down the stem from the thorns in her hands. Diamond tears splashed into the center of the rose. A mix of coniferous and broad leaf trees framed the bloody picture; a ray of sunlight turned everything golden as it pierced the trees.

The sky was brilliant blue, and when the sun peeked from behind the clouds, the lake at the bottom of the mountain reflected a delightful array of colors that sparkled and glittered beautifully.

~**~

Shorter then usual, I know, but I didn't want to drag it out anymore then it already was. There will be an Epilogue, by the way.

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