InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Demons Within Us ❯ Lies and Liabilities ( Chapter 30 )

He was running fast and hard through a canopy of whirling colour. He barely saw where he was going and he thought for sure his lungs would burst from fierce exhilaration and panicked joy. A reckless laugh erupted from his throat as he dodged and jumped through the passing scenery, feeling that all he needed was one good leap to soar away from the force he could feel chasing him. That was until a blood-scattering pain seared through his heart that shocked his body immobile.

 

Short quick pants heaved from his aching chest as InuYasha flashed his eyes open. It was dark where he lay and he felt disoriented. What the fuck…?

 

He groaned as he tried to lift his hand to wipe the sweat beading down his face but found he couldn't move. Fear set in and he struggled in vain against the invisible force holding him at bay against something large and hard behind him. His throat seized up as he attempted to scream his rage but only a wheeze of hot air passed from his parched lips. Gasping back his parted breath, his frantic eyes quickly darted around the darkness surrounding him, searching for answers. Where the hell was he?

 

The pitch black gave nothing away.

 

He clenched his eyes tight as he willed his body to move once more, but it was no use. It was like he was paralyzed, save for the excruciating pain erupting from his chest. Peering down, he was almost gratified to know that he could at least move his head until what he saw made his heart double its rhythm against his rib cage. A large gaping hole was torn open above his left pectoral and hot blood flowed out like a small river, staining the cotton of his shirt. What the…? Was he shot?!

 

His mouth parted in shock before his senses took in the glowing red light that issued from the wound. The brightness would have been welcoming against the dismal world engulfing him were it not for the extreme agony of the injury.

 

But it was not physical pain he felt. It was much, much worse.

 

Terror, grief, regret - a vast array of torturous emotions flooded through his veins as he stared down at the hole in his chest. Memories he had tried to forget suddenly bombarded his mind, making him relive every last one.

 

His head shot up and he cried out in agony as he strained hard against the assault, wishing the thoughts and emotions would erupt from his body to relieve the suffering he was in. Why was this happening? Why did he have to go through Hell again? Wasn't his life penance enough?!

 

The light in the hole ebbed and waned with each pulse of pain. InuYasha clenched his teeth as he attempted to pour out the bullet from his flesh by will alone, anything to try to eject that burning anguish that was buried deep within his center. With an agonizing cry of painful release, a pearly orb dropped from the wound to spill onto the ground.

 

Heaving in crackling dry mouthfuls of air, InuYasha watched in morbid curiosity as the sphere bounced and finally rolled to a stop a few meters away. What was that thing? Was that what he was shot with? A bullet that size should have killed him. It should have detonated inside him and shredded his insides like pulp. It was eerie seeing it whole and clean on the ground before him, but he didn't dare question how. All that he cared about was that the anguish in his chest was now fading. But it wasn't so much of a relief as he thought it would be, for when the pain receded, terrifying loneliness welled up to reach every part of him that pain had never touched before.

 

And it felt worse than anything else.

 

He barely had a moment to absorb what had happened before panic shot through him like an electric current. His breath seized tight in his throat and his heart stopped for a few beats as he listened. Something was coming. It knew where he was. He could sense it staring at him in the darkness.

 

His eyes darted back to the glittering sphere below him. Its internal light was like a beacon in the dark, lighting a path to where he was bound. He loathed the small thing that lay there so innocently. He dared it to disappear, to cease to exist, but now that it was from his person, his will had no affect on it. Staring at it, he instantly knew that it was more than just a weapon against him, it was exactly what those hidden eyes wanted from him. He could feel their presence rushing toward its light.

 

He pushed hard against his restraints in a desperate bid to retrieve the gem. He needed to take it back! He struggled in vain against his paralyzing hold, thrashing his head against the heat and horror around him.

 

Suddenly he froze as a soft hiss brought his attention to the far edge of light beyond the jewel. He watched in panting terror as a distorted white hand crept from the blackness toward the orb.

 

“No,” he choked, “please… don't….”

 

The hand clasped over the jewel and a sudden shock chilled his insides, making his body tremble as if all life was being sucked from his being. When the pain subsided, he felt oddly heavy and drained. `Oh God….' He whimpered.

 

He didn't realize his eyes had shut and he blearily forced them back open to see who dared to do this to him. His jaw clenched in fury.

 

Kikyo.

 

A faint grin marred her pristine face as she watched him over the light of the gem held haphazardly in her grasp. Giving him a malicious glare, she cupped the orb within her hands and her flesh glowed red from the intense light she tried to crush. Again his body became cold and heavy as emptiness filled him, yet he was able to keep his eyes open this time. What was she doing to him? Was it the jewel that was doing this? He stared numbly ahead, hardly realizing that he was barely feeling anything. No loneliness, no pain….

 

He was just… coldly dying.

 

When the hands had opened, he noticed with slight remorse that the light from the jewel had faded, as if some of the darkness from the world around them had absorbed into it. Indeed, the world around him looked lighter, though he was still unable to make out his surroundings. He gazed slowly back up to the person holding the jewel prisoner. His eyes widened in shock before he growled low.

 

Naraku.

 

Black eyes flicked up and down InuYasha's form and a deep chuckle echoed around them. Naraku kept his gaze upon the prone man before him as he, too, covered the jewel with his hands as if to destroy it.

 

InuYasha felt the hold that was binding his body begin to slip. He could finally move on his own accord but he felt too weighted down want to. He pressed willingly against the force behind him in order to just stay standing. A red dawn seemed to rise around him, but he didn't bother to look. It wasn't important anymore. His mind could only look morbidly at the hidden gem.

 

When the light from the jewel was revealed again, it was barely even a whisper. Darkness seemed to swirl in its depths like black paint swallowing all colour. He knew that once the light was gone he would no longer exist, but he now barely felt anything about it to care.

 

With deadened eyes, he peered back up to the holder of the jewel and just blinked tiredly.

 

“It's you,” he whispered. He steadily pushed himself higher against the object behind him to bring himself level with the betrayer. “Why?”

 

Identical golden eyes glinted hatefully back at him. “Because you lived.”

 

InuYasha watched with heartless weariness as his double clenched the jewel within his fist and gave it a tight squeeze. Releasing his trembling hold, the now obsidian sphere dropped from his own hand and he watched as it fell heavily to his feet and rolled slowly to a stop. He gazed at his hand where he had just held the jewel before letting it fall limply to his side as he slid numbly to the ground. He didn't question what he had done. He didn't care whether he deserved it. All he knew was that he felt chilled…empty…gone.

 

He didn't know how long he sat there. Time didn't seem to matter to the dead. Yet a cruel thought lingered in the hollow of his being, triggering a last lingering care within him. `What happens now?'

 

A faint tickle whispered across his nose, then another against his cheek, and a few more against his hair. He lifted his eyes slowly upwards to the blood red sky to see ash flow down like snow. Heat buffeted against his flesh and he could sense a fire looming all around him. It was then he decided to look at his surroundings.

 

He found he sat upon charred ground. Its blackened surface only hindered by the ash as it hissed on contact. All around him were various shades of red and yellow as he watched the city around and below him burn. He knew this place he was sure. It felt…familiar. Looking up once more he saw through the falling ash singed branches of a mighty tree as it caught the flame and heat descending on him, almost as if it was intentionally protecting him.

 

…Kagome.

 

It was amazing how so simple a name made a slight tremor erupt inside him, giving strength to that care that still existed somewhere inside him. Amazing still was how her face came so easily to his mind at this moment that it was instinct. When he lowered his gaze from the tree he wasn't surprised to see her standing there before him, as if she had always been there. She seemed unaffected by the devastation and ruin as his world cracked and thundered to the ground. Instead, her eyes flowed from his form to rest on the blackened gem between them slowly being coated with cinders.

 

He watched as she reached down and picked it up as if it were a fragile bauble of glass and cradled it within the palms of her gentle hands. Her vivid eyes, the only soothing colour in this God forsaken place, flittered back over to him.

 

“To have so much,” she whispered, “to come to this.”

 

“I didn't… I didn't know this would happen.” He stated numbly as he slumped tiredly against the tree behind him. He wanted desperately to stand, to not show her any weakness, yet he could barely keep his eyes open as he watched her. “I just had to.”

 

Her gaze drifted from his face to his still bleeding chest and a faint flicker of sadness came up from her depths. “Why?”

 

“It was killing me.”

 

She looked upon the gem in her hands. “It carried so much pain. I understand why you would have thought so.”

 

InuYasha barely gave a shrug and looked away. “It doesn't matter now. They destroyed it… and so have I.” He murmured.

 

He felt her eyes upon him and tempted as he was to ignore her, he achingly looked back up to her.

 

Her lips drifted into a small smile as she whispered her knowing gaze from his face to the jewel, “No,” she breathed, “…you haven't.” She tenderly closed her palms as if in prayer, the gem buried between them.

 

Swirling, brilliant white light and cool air buffeted hard around them. InuYasha quickly closed his eyes and braced himself from the intensity of it all. The force of the power surged around them like a tornado and he gripped hard the roots of the tree in hopes that he would not be swept away. A roar soon ripped from his mouth but it was immediately swallowed within the torrent. And then everything went silent.

 

Panting, he slowly opened his eyes and drifted his gaze back to where she had stood, convinced that she was gone. Within that moment his life stood still and his heart beat soundly against his chest as he saw her innocent aura mingle against the pure snow falling around them. Gone was the fire and chaos of his hell. All was white, quiet and clean.

 

Kagome stepped forward lightly, barely making tracks in the snow, and softly kneeled down before him. Drawing her eyes level with his own, she opened her hands for him to see what she carried.

 

He slowly pulled his eyes away from her perfect face to rest on the jewel that glowed like a star in her palms.

 

“How…?” He exhaled, marveled by the brilliancy restored within it.

 

“It is always there, as it always was.”

 

InuYasha glanced up at her, comprehending her illusive words, then let his eyes drift back down to the pure light. He frowned slightly. “Why can't I feel anything?”

 

“It's not where it belongs.” She stretched out her hand in a gesture for him to take it.

 

Unconsciously, he rubbed the now healed flesh from where the jewel had erupted. “Will it hurt?”

 

She smiled softly. “Sometimes.”

 

He searched her face for a long moment and then slowly reached out and grazed his fingers over the orb. He could feel the contained power emanating from it before he lifted it into his grasp. He gazed at it for a long while before looking up at Kagome who had started to walk away.

 

“What do I do with it?”

 

“You live, InuYasha.” Her voice sounded hushed as the snow made her fade from view. “It's your soul.”

 

“Hey, wake up, man, you've been in a daze all morning!”

 

InuYasha snapped his attention to his guitarist who was searching his face intently. Coming back to the present, he was vaguely aware of people rushing around him in an attempt to bring order to chaos as the final moments to Orientation was underway.

 

“You okay?” Miroku frowned.

 

InuYasha blinked and shook his head. He turned back to the mirror he was standing in front of as they prepped for the various bands' introductions within the bowels of the Hong Kong Stadium. “Yeah, it's nothing.”

 

Miroku studied his friend for a few more moments but let the issue slide as he finished ruffling his hair.

 

A slight scowl marred InuYasha's face as he again attempted to brush the tangles out of his unruly mane but gave it up for loss. He was more inclined to tear it out then deal with it, especially since he couldn't get his mind off that goddamned dream he had last night. He had fucked up dreams before, most of which were induced by some high he was on, but they were easily forgotten. This one stuck. It nagged and burrowed deep like a parasite, and he itched to carve it out of his consciousness. But it was no use. It played over and over in his head like a sickening song, taunting and gnawing at his core.

 

Growling, he tossed the brush back onto the table and glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He was slightly taken aback by the feral expression staring back at him, as if looking at a caged beast that wanted nothing more than to escape from the confines of his being. He dropped his gaze quickly from the disturbing sight and tried to shake off the uneasy quake churning inside his chest. He slowly shut his eyes and took in a few deep breaths in order to bring himself back his senses.

 

He didn't need to be a friggin' psychiatrist to know that his dream meant something, and it didn't take a genius to get at least it's overlaying meaning. He got the gist of what his stupid subconscious was saying enough to ignore it. But it wasn't the meaning that bothered him. What bothered him was the scene itself. Why was he at the Shrine in the Seventh Hell? Why did the dream show him vividly the fire and destruction of that day it burned to the ground? He wasn't there. Hell, he never even paid attention to it on the news when it happened, what, a decade ago? Fuck, he was sixteen! All he could remember was the power outages and sneaking out of that hellhole of a half way house. He didn't give a shit that part of the city was on fire. Not like he knew anyone that lived there. They were all middle class families with little white houses and parks and trees by the fucking sidewalk. What was a kid whose father was dead, mother a psycho, and elder brother at Tokyo University have to do with these people? They were a class of society who were so far above him when they were supposed to be so far below him. They were nameless, faceless and ordinary. Not important at all.

 

His eyes drifted up to look between the set up mirrors to see the laughing face of Kagome beyond. Her eyes twinkled with excitement and happiness as she talked with Sango.

 

Had he known then… would he have cared?

 

She was his age, his mind whispered. The lone survivor of a brutal attack caused by a faceless enemy. And it was all brought upon by a society that cared about nothing but money and power and….

 

Everything he was fighting for now.

 

He lowered his face to the floor. The funny thing was as much as he fought for those things, the less content he felt. Money and power were proving to be so very shallow. He had come to realize that there was no freedom in it for him. There was no happiness in it, because no matter how hard he worked for it, it would never be completely his. Was it ever anyone's completely? Did anyone ever have anything completely? Sure, money would give him everything he wanted, but at a cost of taking everything he needed: his freedom, his morality, his heart….

 

The very idea of such power was feeling more like an elaborate dream, and nothing of the world he knew was quite as it seemed. All this time he had believed this life he had built would keep him safe and alive. He worked so hard on this band to create a name for himself, to put him ahead of the ordinary. But he only realized too late he wasn't that special at all. He was beginning to wonder what exactly he was. What was the point of his life?

 

A soft sigh brought his attention back to the woman who barely stood more than four feet away from him, blocked only by an inch of reflective glass. She seemed subdued now that she was alone. Sango had left to join Miroku and Kouga as they waited for their position in the orientation parade. Kagome dallied a bit with her makeup, apparently lost in her own thoughts as she paused in what she was doing. Unconsciously she glanced up and her deep eyes automatically connected with his. For a brief moment InuYasha felt frozen, just like in his dream. But instead of fear and hopelessness, he was held firm by excitement, arousal and yearning. He quickly wrenched his eyes away and turned towards the growing crowd of musicians as he and his band were finally jockeyed into place by the coordinators.

 

He flinched as a warm arm brushed against his own but he didn't need to look over to know who it was. Her scent was ingrained into his awareness. Instinct, his mind echoed. Basic survival etched into the fabric of his subconscious, and she had become as essential as air.

 

His eyes automatically shut as he breathed her deeply in. When had she become such a strong part of him? When did this feeling of absolute connection awaken in him?

 

Was she even aware that she was so far inside him it hurt?

 

His subdued eyes opened to gaze unconsciously to the people in front of him. Her world was so very different than his. He wondered if they could ever stand on common ground. Could he ever be so worthy?

 

Images of fire and death flowed over his sight. Within his dream she had stood unfazed as her home, her family, and everything she knew was destroyed. She never looked back. Though he doubted it was so easy in real life, the fact remained she stood strong now. How was that possible? How did she live through it? Not just the fire but also the knowledge that everything she cared about was gone. How did it get from a devastating past to a life of selfless actions? Even in his dream all she cared about was that stupid marble that had caused him nothing but grief. He wished nothing more than to destroy it, to rid his self of the pain, to rid his self of the thing he knew would destroy him if people knew it existed. He didn't know how precious it was until it was too late.

 

She knew from the beginning.

 

InuYasha sighed slowly. He had sold his soul to too many that he barely knew he had anything left. Which was all well and good. The more indifferent he became, the less weak he was. He had tried so hard to prove to Kagome he was above and beyond her, that he couldn't be hurt or touched or hindered by emotions as trivial as hope and love and friendship. Little did he know of her strength because of those trivial emotions. Even now he could not fathom what she endured, how she had overcome and how she continued on. All he knew was that she was still here, whole and happy.

 

The world he created, he began to see, never really existed. Everything he created to strengthen him, to protect him, wasn't real. All the reasons, the deceptions and lies… she saw through them all. She saw him as he really was - alone.

 

And because of her, he didn't want to be alone anymore.

 

The question was now, what was he to do about it? She had opened herself to him to give him back his soul and he was clueless. What could he possibly do with the little that he had?

 

`You live….'

 

He blinked slowly. Casually his gaze drifted to the woman giggling beside him as Miroku teased Kouga about his nerves.

 

Live? Like she had? He knew he'd never have that power. Compared to her, his life was a drama and he felt ashamed that he chosen the paths that he did. He was weak he realized. He didn't deserve the gift she had given back to him.

 

But he also knew he'd be the biggest fool if he gave up what he knew to be his final chance of happiness. He finally saw her as she really was. She was all the good that he gave up in his attempt to block out all the evil he had consumed. And he wanted it back. He wanted her back.

 

But how?

 

He glanced up when the echoes of loud cheering erupted from the opened doors of the stadium and the competing bands before them walked out to be greeting by forty thousand fans, hundreds of video cameras and a multitude of flashes from digital cameras. The energy and excitement ran though every person in the stadium and beyond, enough to make even Kouga stop his fidgeting and enjoy himself as they waited for their turn.

 

Slowly he followed the line as they progressed onto the massive green field. Nearing the doors, he blinked as the light of the world outside shone down upon them when Perdition was finally introduced. InuYasha walked slowly out to see a multitude of people look down upon them. Smiles, waves and screams erupted from every seat in the house. A chill of adrenaline shot through his system as he swept his eyes around the stadium.

 

The arena was enormous. Scores of people from all over the world stood from their seats to cheer on their favourite bands. Colours, banners and flags rippled among the stands. He even recognized his own name raised above a few heads as Perdition walked out onto the grassy field.

 

Looking to the far end of the stadium, his interest landed on a massive theatre screen that showed his band in enormous relief. Kouga, Sango and Miroku were laughing and waving to the crowd, looking all around them and taking it all in just as he had done. Yet he barely cared for their reaction as his gaze looked to the image of the woman beside him.

 

Kagome's eyes were not on the stands, but above her.

 

Pulling his attention away from the screen, he chanced a glance at her profile. Immediately he felt the world around him disappear. The cheers and noise, flashes and people faded into nothingness as he gazed upon the beauty before him. Her smile was slight but it captured her light perfectly, and though her contentment enhanced her beauty it was her eyes that possessed him. They were so full of wonder and awe, innocence and virtue, wisdom and grace. They were the very essence of her life and the windows of her soul.

 

Pulling his enraptured heart away from her, he looked up to see what had captured her attention. He immediately paused and slowly his lips parted.

 

The sky was stretched over with layers of cumulonimbus clouds, dark gray and ominous, yet they were framed in blinding silver as the sun flared its existence behind them. The rolling waves of each vapour churned various shades of colour, telling that an impending storm was coming. However, through small gaps between the thunderclouds, rays of warm sunshine burst through to cast down onto the earth below. One such ray had opened to shine directly down upon them.

 

InuYasha shut his eyes from the intense heat and radiance. Instinctively he turned his face away to keep from being blinded. When he reopened his eyes, he instantly met the twin heavens of the woman beside him.

 

And she smiled.

 

A sudden ache erupted in his chest at seeing that smile once more, the one that was just for him. The one he had thought he would never be graced with again. He was tempted to believe this was another dream, but he found he couldn't possibly deny himself the opportunity.

 

Staring down into her beautiful eyes, he did the one thing he had never had the courage to do.

 

He smiled.

 

-+-

 

A soft hum erupted from the speaker built into the mahogany desk, making the business clad man glance from the flat screen television on the wall to his office door.

 

“Enter.” His smooth voice flowed like honey from his throat.

 

The door opened silently as a slender woman walked in, giving the vast room a sweep with her dark eyes before she closed the door behind her.

 

“Ah, Kikyo.” Gingerly, the man lifted his feet off the desk as he stood and walked around it casually. “I was beginning to think something happened to you.”

 

Kikyo studied the body before her. His long black hair was immaculately tied at the nape of his neck and his gray Armani suit looked fresh and perfect upon his sculpted physique. Her distain filled eyes met the blackness of his.

 

“I came when I got your message, Mr. Onigumo.”

 

His dark brow raised slightly as he rested against the desk behind him. “Such formalities, Kikyo. Come now, just because I own you doesn't mean that we can't be on friendly terms.” He eyed her with a dark smirk on his face. “We've known each other much to long to let something as little as our past to….”

 

“What is it that you requested I meet with you, Naraku?” Her cold voice barely held the acidic venom behind it.

 

His smirk grew into a malicious smile. His gaze flowed back to the television over his mini bar. “I thought you'd like to join me in watching your little lover boy. Tomorrow will be his big break.”

 

Kikyo pulled her attention to the screen. She scowled. “The fool thinks he has a chance at winning.”

 

“Yes.” Naraku smiled. “Actually, he stands a very good chance of winning. Surprisingly.”

 

Silence fell between the two as they watched the beginning of the parade. Finally Naraku spoke. “He came to see me before he left. Apparently it took him awhile to find the message you left for me.”

 

Kikyo's face grew pale, though it was hard to tell against her porcelain complexion. She flicked her eyes over to him then back to the television.

 

“Nothing to say?”

 

“What do you wish me to say?” She glowered, meeting his dark eyes.

 

“Hn.” The man drawled as he studied her form then glanced to the screen as if nothing had transpired between them. “It seems that InuYasha is under the impression that he can finally be free of us. He stated that this little competition could finally pay for all that he owes and that the music contracts that he had signed would keep him in the industry for as long as his career lasts. What was odd about our conversation was that I got the funny feeling he thought that I would blackmail him to keep silent about his messy past.”

 

“Oh?” Kikyo stated in a bored tone.

 

“Mmm.” Naraku nodded though his attention remained on the event on the television. “I wonder where he got that idea?”

 

Kikyo dared a glance at her employer before returning her gaze, although distantly, back to the parade. “It's amazing he thinks at all. Where he gets his ideas I couldn't be bothered to know.”

 

“In either case, apparently he will be making enough money to keep us quiet.” Naraku waved his hand as he went to prepare himself a drink. “Too bad it was never money I was interested in. The stupid child has no clue how deep I have him.”

 

A sudden sigh erupted from the woman behind him. “Why do you continue on with this, Naraku? Your revenge was against his father. What good is dragging his pathetic ass around when he's no longer involved with us? Why not take the money and….”

 

A used whiskey glass smashed violently at her feet, effectively making Kikyo hold her tongue.

 

“I will not be bought so easily.” The man snarled.

 

The dark haired woman slowly brought her eyes up from the shattered glass to the profile of her employer.

 

“Taisho died too quickly to feel the pain he gave me.” Naraku seethed, his countenance darkening with hatred. “And that damned heir of his knew too much to be blackmailed. No, Taisho is spinning in his grave knowing that I own his little bastard. For all that the father did to save his family, how horrid would it be to bleed his family dry through the actions of his favourite son. No, InuYasha will not be going anywhere anytime soon, not as long as I live.”

 

Kikyo involuntary shuddered against the cold she could feel emanating from the man before her. She turned her face away. “Then what is it you want me to do?”

 

“You?” Naraku's voice turned quickly to honey once more. “What makes you think I want you to do anything?”

 

“Why else would you summon me?” She darted her face bravely over to look at him.

 

A faint laugh erupted from his lips before it rumbled into a deep chuckle. “I had trusted you too much with my affairs with InuYasha, and you have proven to be unreliable. No, I think a direct approach would be better considering.”

 

Kikyo flicked her guarded eyes up and down his form. “What do you mean?”

 

“What I mean is that InuYasha will not have the opportunity to dare refuse me. As for you.” Naraku loosened his tie as he watched his prize walk onto the screen. “You will repay me for those pills you took.” His malicious eyes turned deadly as he looked over at her. “And then I will repay you for interfering.”

 

 

-+-

 

A/N Other than teething issues and security issues, he is sleeping through the nights, giving me an hour or two to write More will come, I'm still here! And the story will be finished, I promise.

 

A special thanks for Rooting4Kagome! Your reviews brought me back to realize I have a life beyond being a mommy and stirred me back to writing, which I love. I do hope you like the chapter, and all the chapters soon to come!

 

Living through diapers, Laughing through milestones and Loving every moment…

 

WDW