InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Dark Side ❯ To the Castle ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: To the Castle

It felt so light, finally being free of Naraku. Kohaku found himself almost skipping sometimes because of it. Sango had noticed it too and stifled a laugh every time she caught him. They were finally able to be close again; they could talk, hug and smile at one another without the worry of some demon coming to take it all away from them. He couldn’t remember a time when he was so happy…and yet so sad at the same time.

The person who was responsible for his new found happiness was now in the clutches of the same monster that had taken it away from him. He just prayed that Kagome was safe, and that Naraku had treated her wounds. Wounds that were in direct result of saving him. No matter what anyone said, he would not be told otherwise; it was his fault. It would be easier if someone would just rip into him, but they didn’t. Even Inuyasha, whom he expected it and was even counting on it from, refused to do so.

Kohaku felt guilty every time he looked at him, who was silent most of the time during their journey towards Naraku’s castle. The only time Inuyasha spoke up was to get directions from Kohaku, or to yell at them whenever they had to stop; which, unfortunately, was often. Everyone in the group had some kind of injury, not excluding Inuyasha. Although he was a hanyo, he still hadn’t recovered from his wound. Miroku kept scolding him, telling him to slow down or the wound would never heal; but he just didn’t listen. A wound that would have usually only taken a night to heal was still with him the next day.

Kouga traveled with them as well, even his two comrades showed up on the second day of their quest. With there appearance, the group decided to rest, much to Inuyasha’s annoyance. Ginta and Hakkaku’s mouths hung open after Kouga sparingly explained the situation to them. They both stood up and yelled in unison. “What! Sister Kagome was captured!”

“Yeah, and you’re wastin’ our time. We gotta get going!” Inuyasha scoffed, his arms folded and ears twitching in impatience.

“But…” Ginta started. “How was she hurt so badly?”

Kohaku felt everyone’s gaze fall on him. He narrowed his eyes and pulled his knees to his chest. //Because of me//.

Kouga walked over to him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Savin’ her best friend’s little brother. You should have seen it. She was amazing!” Kohaku looked up at him. Kouga just smiled and shook him a bit. “Wasn’t she?”

Kohaku smiled and nodded. She was. She did something that even Naraku didn’t think was possible. She had freed him from not only his hold, but death’s as well. Naraku was probably kicking himself. Kohaku remembered how Naraku had always underestimated her abilities; he was always so obsessed with the threat of Kikyo, that he completely overlooked Kagome’s growing power. Kanna had even warned him of her growth, but he had always dismissed the notion that she could ever hurt him. The power of the jewel shard had more than gone to his head when he rid himself of his human heart. Now, looking back on it, Kohaku was grateful for his ego; it allowed Kagome to grow without any hindrance, to the point that she defeated Naraku in a game of will. She really was amazing.

“Enough yappin’. Let’s get going.” Inuyasha growled.

# # # #

Kagome’s whole body hurt. It felt like she was on fire, and all she wanted was to be dipped into a cool bath. Her head was too foggy to remember why she would feel this way. She tried to move her hand to her face, feeling like she desperately needed to rub her eyes, but winced at the pain of only moving a finger. What the hell happened to her? The last thing she remembered was she was in the forest, kneeling over Kohaku.

//Kohaku!// Kagome’s eyes snapped open as her memories rushed back, clearing her mind of the once present fog. Did it work? She couldn’t remember. She tried to get up from bed but…wait. Whose bed was she in? Did Inuyasha take her home for her to heal? That would make sense, but this wasn’t her bed; it smelled wrong. She could tell that her wounds had been dressed. Someone had been looking after her as well, she deciphered, since there was a cool cloth on her forehead. In too much pain to move, her eyes darted around the room to gather more information. It was dark, but she could still make out the rice paper walls that surrounded her and the expensive furnishings that decorated the room. Where the hell…?

“I see you are awake.”

Her eyes grew wide in shock…//I know that voice//.

# # # #

“Right over there?” Inuyasha asked suspiciously. Kohaku nodded and pointed at a distant mountain. “It’s right over there, before the mountain.”

Inuyasha sniffed the air from the tree they were standing in. It was clean, no hints of demons or spilt blood, not a single disturbance in the air. It was hard to imagine that Naraku’s castle would be in a place like this, but that’s what the kid said. Hopefully, Naraku hadn’t cleared out yet.

Inuyasha jumped down to the group waiting below, Kohaku not far behind him. “We’re heading north. Let’s get going.”

Kouga looked in the direction that Inuyasha just specified, then turned back and jerked his thumb towards their future destination. “I’ll run ahead and check out the place.”

Without waiting for a reply, he sped off in front of them. “Just don’t get in any trouble; I’m not savin’ your ass again!” Inuyasha yelled after him. In truth he was worried, since Kouga no longer had the jewel shards in his legs; he really wasn’t a match for Naraku anymore. He better not be stupid enough to go in without them. Inuyasha’s train of thought was interrupted by a bright flash of red and an all too familiar scream.

“Kouga!” Ginta and Hakkaku yelled in unison as they ran towards their leader. Inuyasha sped past them //damn wolf, what did you do??//.

When Inuyasha came upon Kouga, all he saw was an angry wolf rubbing his head and growling at an invisible wall. “Don’t tell me,” Inuyasha smirked. “You ran right into Naraku’s barrier.”

If the timing had been better, Inuyasha would have laughed his ass off. But not right now, not with Kagome in danger. Inuyasha glared at Kouga. “This isn’t the time to be fucking around, Kouga.”

“Yeah, sure, because I did that on purpose.” He mumbled as he got up.

“What happened?” Miroku questioned as the other’s arrived on the scene.

“I found the barrier.” Kouga explained, reddening a little. There was no way Inuyasha was going to let him get out of this, no matter how serious the situation was. “Feh. With your head, you mean.”

Kouga’s blush turned from pink to crimson. “Shut up!”

Him and Kouga started their usual bickering, making smug comments back and forth accompanied by testosterone driven threats. But, there seemed to be something missing in it this time. It just seemed wrong to Inuyasha. He could see that Kouga was noticing it too, considering that they were starting to repeat themselves. That had never happened before.

“Anyway,” Miroku caught their attention, breaking up their little squabble that, even Inuyasha had to admit, wasn’t going anywhere…wait. That’s what was missing! He and Kouga were always broken up by…//Kagome//. Inuyasha felt a sudden emptiness in his chest. It just felt unnatural, her not being with them.

Miroku walked up to them, Sango along side. This whole ordeal had pushed them a little closer, Inuyasha had noticed. Kagome would have loved to see it. She was always ragging on about them getting together. “Inuyasha, can you break down the barrier with your tetsusaiga?” Miroku asked.

Inuyasha pushed his thoughts of Kagome out of his head and unsheathed his tetsusaiga. “Don’t know.” He lifted it to strike as the blade turned red with power; but just as he was about to strike, the barrier glowed and disappeared.

Kohaku walked up and waved his arm where the barrier once stood. Nothing blocked the kid. “What happened?”

“Naraku must have taken down the barrier.” Miroku concluded. “This could only mean one thing.”

Sango nodded. “A trap.”

Inuyasha growled impatiently as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. “Trap or not, we’re going.” He announced.

“Then why are you standing there?” Sango asked. Inuyasha opened his eyes to see the others ahead of him, walking towards the castle.

“Hey!” Inuyasha yelled as he ran after them.

# # # #

It was too strong, too evil. Kagome couldn’t stand it. Her blood flowed cold and her heartbeat thumped at an erratic pace, there was no way she could withstand this any longer. Naraku was going to win, she realized as tears flowed freely from her stinging eyes.

“Why are you fighting it Kagome?” Hakudoshi smirked. //Who am I kidding?// Kagome sadly asked herself. She had barely beaten him before when he tried to impose an impure jewel shard on her, and that had only been a piece. Now, he was using a nearly complete jewel, solid black and practically dripping of sin, and she was too weak from saving Kohaku to fight it for much longer. This time, he didn’t even need to try and find evil in her heart, her will was so fragile.

Kagome tried to move her arms again, but Kagura was keeping them fastened behind her back as she kneeled on the floor. Trying desperately to do anything that would deter the inevitable, Kagome searched around the room once again, he eyes falling on Naraku, who was grinning in delight. She felt a surge of anger and power from seeing that smug face; she was not going to give up without a fight. Using the last of her strength, Kagome built up her power and formed a barrier around her, which hit all the surrounding demons like a shockwave, throwing them to the floor.

But that was it. That was all she could muster as a defense. Naraku stalked over and pushed Kagura out of the way. “Finish it before she gets anymore of her strength back.” He ordered as he pulled Kagome’s head up by her hair.

Hakudoshi nodded as he took his place in front of Kagome once more. She could once again feel the cold pull of the black jewel as it came slowly closer to her. A hot breath on her neck caught her attention, as Naraku whispered in her ear. “You can’t win.” Naraku let go of her hair and wrapped his hand lightly around Kagome’s throat. “You’re mine.”

Kagome let a last tear drop and closed her eyes as the tainted shard sank into her forehead. Pictures of her family and friends flashed through her head as the coldness took her. //No…// Naraku had won. //Inuyasha…//.



TBC…

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