InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Demons Within Us ❯ Sacrifice ( Chapter 35 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Kagome drifted her small car to a stop and shut off the engine, casting a deafening silence around the opening towards the Seventh Hell. She shuddered involuntarily as she took in the vacant road lined by charred walls and broken windows. On any given day this place felt haunted, desolate, but this was the first time the Southern Block felt so very evil. A soft huff of air escaped her lungs as she searched her surroundings for any sign of trouble before clicking open her door and stepping out into the chilly night air that seemed to wrap around her like a vice.

Hiking her coat tighter against her neck, she climbed lightly over the concrete barrier that blocked the road coming in, her feet crunching against the frozen ground as she made her way toward the familiar shop district.

“Kohaku!” She whispered loudly, terrified of breaking the silence. Her heart beat frantically against her chest. She shouldn't have come alone, she knew that all too well. The thought pounded against her mind as she covered the distance to where Kohaku said to meet, yet she couldn't bear the idea of leading Sesshomaru or anyone into whatever trap lay ahead. She only hoped that Kohaku was alright and she could get him home safe before all else.

“Ko?” She shivered as a cold blast of wind whipped around her frame and nearly missed the voice caught within the tail end of it. “Kohaku?”

“Here.” The faint voice repeated from the burnt out corner store to her left.

Her throat parched with fear and relief, Kagome jogged over to the crusted door frame and peeked in. The dark recess of the abandoned building left little to see. Everything was scorched black and cast an unforgivable shadow over anything the light from the outside managed to touch. A slight snuffling from the shattered store front pane nearly made her jump as she quickly noticed Kohaku's huddled form shivering underneath.

“Oh, babe.” Kagome rushed to his side and wrapped her arms around him. “Are you alright?”

A sob wrenched from the boy's throat as his hands shot out and gripped her waist like a lifeline. “Oh god, Kagome! I killed him. God, I killed him!”

Kagome's throat seized and she struggled to swallow. “Who, Ko?”

Kohaku heaved in a shuttered breath, his voice muffled as he buried his face within the warms folds of her jacket. “My dad.”

“Oh...oh, Ko....” Instinctively her arms clenched tighter and she tucked her frame around him like a cocoon. A whirlwind of thoughts erupted in her mind with questions she could barely put into words. With answers she was terrified to reveal.

“I remember.”

Kagome pulled back enough to peer down to his face. He seemed to look right through her. She licked her lips and could taste the bitter air between the chapped creases. “It-It'll be all right. We'll talk about it on the way, but I need to get you out of here. This place isn't safe and Sango is waiting for you back at the warehouse.”

“No,” he shook his head and dragged his despondent gaze toward the door, “I'm not going back there.”

“But Ko....”

“Kagome,” he turned to her, “what would I say? After – after all that I've done...what would I say?”

She searched his face for the longest time before she nodded and wiped a wet tendril of hair from his brow. “I understand.” And she did. When one had faced the most terrifying and most debilitating moment of their life, what could one say to make it less painful? It was too raw right now to think it through, to talk it over with people who would ask too much. But right now they didn't have the luxury of time. “But still, we can't stay here.” She eyed the door nervously until a bitter sound came from Kohaku's lips.

“They won't come for me. They have what they want.”

Kagome rounded on him. “What do you mean?”

His attention was at the door, obviously following her thoughts on what danger they might be in. “It was never me they wanted. Even from the beginning, it was never me. But it's because of me that they have him.”

Her mouth parted, her throat trying to voice what she already knew. “InuYasha?”

He nodded once.

She shot her gaze to the door then turned back to the boy in front of her. “What happened, Kohaku?”

The fear and panic in her voice caused him to pale even more as he stared up at her. “It was Kikyo.”

Her brows furrowed in confusion and he continued in haste.

“I...I didn't know who she was. She came to the warehouse looking for InuYasha. She said she had a deal he couldn't refuse. I...I thought she was talking about his music, about the band. We got to talking and I told her about Guardian and the Shikon House. She seemed really interested in all that I had to say, she even thought my amnesia and how I found my family again would make a great pitch. She said she knew a record label manager who would be willing to sign me on. Since she was there to see Inu I thought it was legit, so I went with her to meet him.” He bit his lower lip and his head ducked towards the floor. “But it was Naraku.” He peered up at her, studying her face for something and she was unsure what her expression could possibly be with all that she was feeling. “He's a monster, Kagome. He's the reason behind everything. God, I can't begin to explain! Once I saw him, I remembered. I remembered everything, like a flash.”

Kagome tried to swallow but it was like ingesting dirt. Her hand shook as she wrapped her fingers through his hair and brought his head to her shoulder. “I...I know what you saw, Ko.”

She let him pull away and met his dark eyes as they searched her for the longest time before they filled with tears that poured onto his pale cheeks. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't have all the answers, baby.” She itched to wipe the tears from his face but clutched her fingers into the thin fabric of his coat instead. “And until you found Sango, I knew as much as you had. Then, it was she who intended to tell you. And I'm so sorry she didn't.”

Terrible hurt overwhelmed his face, but Kagome saw it for what it was, betrayal – for being denied the truth. “Why?”

“I...I think because she couldn't face it anymore than you could. Because she wasn't there to protect you. I think this was her way of making up for it.” She held his arms tight when he tensed and his eyes flared in hurt fury. “I'm not saying what she did was right or fair. Sango believed you were killed because she wasn't there for you when you needed her most. Can you blame her for wishing nothing happened? That she found you and that was all that mattered?”

Kohaku took a few deep breaths then collapsed against the crumbling wall with a defeated sob. “I was so angry with her, and I'm so sick of her cowardice. If I knew, if she only let me know...I wouldn't be here now. This wouldn't be happening. It's just like before. Everything is happening like it did before.”

A sickening uneasiness filled her chest. She lowered her head to peer into his eyes. “Ko? What do you mean by that?”

“It's because of me.” He shook his head despondently. “When I remembered who he – who Naraku was, what I did, I ran back to Sango's. When I saw her, I just snapped. Everything that had happened that night with my dad, she - she just let it happen. She never said a word. And tonight, when I asked - begged her to tell me why, she never answered. Only that she was sorry.” He chuckled bitterly. “And so I did what I always did when she wasn't there. I went to InuYasha.”

Kagome's mouth floundered on what to say as her mind went back to no more than an hour ago. Kohaku must have just left after she arrived at InuYasha's apartment. Whatever was said, InuYasha had already made the decision to go to Naraku. But this time it was different. This time there was more than debt at stake. But the question was what. “What,” she swallowed, “what did he tell you?”

A large tear fell onto his cheek as she looked down to his shaking hands. She noticed his fingers looked numb as he wiped the moisture from his cheeks with the back of his grubby sleeve. “He told me to go home - that he'd deal with Naraku. I argued with him, told him to tell you or Sango. He said no. Enough people were hurt because of this, he'd take care of it. I asked him what he was going to do, he didn't answer. But the look on his face scared me. I knew what he did for me before, when I couldn't pay off my debt with Naraku. I couldn't face him after what he did then. I didn't know how to stop him from going now. So I decided to find you, but Naraku was waiting for me outside Yasha's building. He brought me here.”

Kagome fell onto her behind as her gaze drifted along the thin shaft of light from the broken window. She took a few halting breaths before confusion marred her brow. “He just left you here?”

He nodded and sniffed again. “He said I knew what I had to do. Once he drove off, I called you.”

“What you had to do?”

“Yeah, I have no clue what that means. But it was so weird. He kept talking like he never knew I lost my memory.” He shrugged. “I never corrected him. He seemed intent for me to talk about Sesshomaru, but I was too terrified to say anything. He...he said he had plans.”

Kagome could only stare blankly at the wall. So this was the lure to get Sesshomaru here. But instead of the elder Taisho, it was she who came. Her brow twisted in incredulous confusion. Naraku must have believed that Sesshomaru was still his guardian. But why? Why didn't he know of Kohaku's last four years? Surely Kikyo would have told him. His past was the very key to all of this. Kohaku was the bargaining chip, the beginning domino that would bring the Taisho name to ruin. But it wouldn't mean a thing if he no longer had ties to Sesshomaru. Kikyo would know this, so why wouldn't she have told Naraku that Kohaku wouldn't call Sesshomaru? It just didn't make any sense.

Also, InuYasha told Sesshomaru to meet Kohaku at the warehouse. That could only mean that InuYasha had anticipated to trade for Kohaku's life. But if Kohaku was here....

“Ko-Kohaku, where is InuYasha?”

His eyes shifted toward the centre of the destruction, toward the Sunset Shrine that blocked the dark horizon. Kagome scanned the distant hill as if to will herself to see InuYasha before Kohaku spoke.

“He arrived no more than ten minutes ago. He sped by on his bike towards the hill there. I never had a chance to get to him, to warn him. That's where Naraku went after he left me here.” Silence, then. “Kagome...Naraku said he was going to kill him.”

“What!” She spun around to face Kohaku with admonished horror. Icy tears threatened to burn her eyes as she battled with the terror raging within. She shook as she reached into her coat pocket. “Oh, God, Kohaku! Here,” she handed him her car keys. “Wait there, I'll be right back!”

“Kagome? What are you going to do!”

She had no clue what she was going to do, but she was certain she was not going to let InuYasha die. Without a word she started to run with the wind pressing against her back as the snow began to fall around the Seventh Hell.
-+-

InuYasha walked steadily up the final steps of the shrine. His eyes were always upon the twisted and gnarled branches of the God Tree that revealed itself with each upward step. The beginning snow left a trace of incandescent glitter, almost like a pearly sheen, to whisper over the tops of each twig and branch, masking the scars to make the tree look almost...heavenly.

Slowly he made his way to the holy icon, seeing it as if for the first time. Or maybe, for the last. How that alone made all the difference. How much he had learned over such a short amount of time. But it no longer mattered. His life seemed to fade away, further away from who he was. Away from what he was becoming. He lost the will after he had failed them all. The last chance to set them all free. And now here he was, back at the beginning. There was nothing left for him to fight for. And there was nothing left he had to give.

He cast his gaze to the ground and saw three wilted blossoms tucked safely within the roots, barely touched by the frost. Things were not what they used to be. Not even the emptiness he felt was the same. Before it was missing freedom, and now, it was missing...her. And it felt a thousand times worse.

With reverent pause, he stopped and grazed his fingers along the whitening trunk, leaving a wake of blackened char upon the tips. Yesterday could never be forgotten, no matter how much he wished it. But no one could save him from himself, and now that he faced the end, he couldn't think of why he tried.

His fingers dropped to his side as he stepped away from the tree and waited with a bowed head.

Time seemed to stand still when the sound of footsteps whooshed softly in the snow and stopped in front of him. He lifted his gaze only slightly as the man began to speak.

“I've been waiting a long time for this.”

InuYasha kept his eyes trained on Naraku's chest. He refused to acknowledge the smirk no doubt on his face or the bland boredom on Kikyo's beside him. He was more intent on staring at the point where the man's black heart beat and willed it to stop. “Where is Kohaku?”

“Probably fulfilling the last of my plan. If all goes well.”

“If you touch one hair on that kid-”

“Oh, pish posh, had I wanted the boy dead I would have finished what should have been done the first time. But it turned out to be fortuitous that he survived and that your brother managed to hide him from me for so long. It made my coming offer that much more tempting.”

InuYasha frowned in confusion and was glad his long bangs had covered his expression. What the hell was Naraku talking about, Sesshomaru hiding Kohaku? “I have no temptation over anything you can offer. I've paid his debt, he has nothing to do with you.”

“That is actually true. But you see, my boy, it was never him I was after. And the offer isn't for you.”

InuYasha's chest tightened with unease. “Then what do you want with me? I already paid you what I owed. I told you I wanted out.”

He cringed in disgust as a cold chuckle swept by him. “Yes, it was very clever. The band you made actually surprised me and you went pretty damn far. But, I couldn't let my last commodity leave. I put too much effort in keeping you to let some silly competition take you away.”

InuYasha could feel his cheeks pale as the implication hit home. He shot his gaze up with vicious hatred towards the smiling man before him. “You sent them? You were the one responsible for them getting us disqualified?”

Naraku shrugged. “Guilty. I had several people film what I thought to be a very convincing case of your sorry and reckless behaviour. It's amazing what news people believe when you pay them enough.”

Pin pricks of pain shot up his arm as his nails dug deep within his palms. His breath pressed hot and heavy against his teeth. “Why?”

“Because you owe me.”

“I... Owe... You... Nothing!” His voice rattled off the timbers of the God tree and the shattered walls of the house beside them. “I have given you more than you deserve, and you have nothing else to take from me! You've taken it all!”

The dark man shut his eyes as if offended by the volume. With a shake of his hands, Naraku peered down as he adjusted his leather gloves. “Ah, but that's where you're wrong. You have one thing I want, the last thing to make all this hard work worth while. You see, it was never about you either. Had I wanted to pander to some spoiled brat for these last few years I would have settled with that officer's boy. But I have no need for small fish.”

InuYasha could barely contain the need to strangle the man as he stepped forward with twitching hands. A soft click brought his attention to Kikyo who held a small pistol directed at his chest. He contained a low growl as he shifted his sight to the man in front of him. “Then why am I here?”

“Because you are the last card to be dealt before I have my complete revenge.”

“What revenge?”

Naraku perked an eyebrow and snorted on a brief laugh. “Why, on your father, of course.”

InuYasha stepped back in shock. “What have you against him?”

“That man had taken more from me than what you could ever possibly fathom. I had wealth, prestige, and a name that could own this world. And he took it all without a mark.” The malicious look on Naraku's face made his skin crawl. “So as I dug myself out of that hell he put me in, I made it my life to take everything that he so dearly loved. Beginning with his own life.”

InuYasha could feel his legs give out from under him and he felt the jar go straight to his shattered heart as his knees collided with the dirt. “You killed him?”

“Before I promised that I would hunt down his family, destroy his name, and take all that he worked hard for. To see that look on his face before he died was...euphoric.”

His chest hurt so badly from the shock that he couldn't breathe and he collapsed on all fours trying to inhale. It couldn't be. All this time he'd been working for his father's killer? He had spent all that time trying to pay off a ridiculous debt when he should have been seeking ways to kill this mother fucker for ruining his life!

“Your mother was easy. Switching her antidepressants with some psychotic drugs was enough to destroy her mind. You were a bit of a challenge, but once I saw how easily you gave yourself for your friends, especially what you put up with to save that boy at the half way house...well, what better way to kill two birds with one stone than to put that annoying Chihaya in his place. So I corrupted his boy, Kohaku, and racked up some bogus charges against him. With no means to pay, what could he do? With a little nudge in the right direction he could ask an old family friend, a man who was already on a downward spiral, a man who would sacrifice anything to save a friend. And because of Kohaku, I then had you.”

He wanted to be sick. He wanted to throw up the murderous beast he could feel overwhelming his being. “You... bastard....”

“Oh, you have no idea.” A creaking of Naraku's leather gloves made a cold sweat form on his brow. “I thought that as soon as I had you, your brother would come calling. He would see to it to break you of your pact with me. He knew all too well who I was, but, as time went on and you got more and more pathetic, your dear sweet brother never came to your aid. Why is that, do you suppose?”

InuYasha managed to pull in deep breaths, the air feeling like razors against his lungs. He glared hatefully up at the man from his position on the ground. “He knew?”

“Oh yes, for quite some time. He's been investigating me, wracking up evidence ever since he took over your father's company. What should have been my company.” Naraku brushed the snow accumulating on his shoulders. “But with you owing me quite a large sum because of Kohaku, I pretty much had you by the throat. And he knew it. My downfall would also have been your own.”

InuYasha stared at the ground with disbelief. “He never offered to pay.”

“Of course not, and link Taisho with paying off a crime boss? It was embarrassing enough having the rebellious younger son tarnish the illustrious name. But you did have your inheritance.”

“I revoked that claim.” He peered up as he found strength to lift himself to stand.

Naraku's eyes rose slowly. “Did you now... And why did you do that? It could have been so much easier for you had you taken the money to pay me.”

“I wanted nothing from my father. I wanted nothing that linked me to my past.”

“Hmm.” Naraku slowly appraised him and tenderly stroked his jaw. “But it was enough that you unwittingly protected your damn brother from me as well. A testament of how clever your righteous stupidity can be.” He gave a deep sigh. “But no matter. At this very moment your brother should be heading this way if Kohaku did his part.”

InuYasha clenched his fists. “What the fuck do you mean?”

“Though I was severely upset to find the boy I had ordered killed had actually survived, as I do not take betrayals lightly, it turned out he would play a key role in obtaining Sesshomaru for me where you had failed.”

InuYasha shook his head in confusion. “What does Kohaku have to do with Sess?”

Naraku cast a dubious glace at the woman beside him. “Sources have informed me that he has been under the care of your brother these last few years. As guardian of Kohaku, surely the man who protected him from me all this time would come claim the boy. Kohaku waits at the opening of this hell hole, and once he explains it all to your brother, he will come charging to your aid.”

InuYasha gave Kikyo a questioning look. She had lied to Naraku. Kohaku had told her everything. Why would she lie? He swiftly turned back to Naraku. Whatever her motives, the important thing was that Kohaku wasn't here. The boy would have definitely called Sango by now, and if he told her everything that was happening, she would drag his sorry ass all the way home and out of danger. Sesshomaru would be able protect them in the way he knew best. He had made his brother swear on the phone before he came to get the Chihaya's out of dodge. Even if Kohaku told Sess, his brother wouldn't come for him. It was not in his nature to put the Taisho honour on the line.

But it was in his nature to put everything on the line. He was the final factor. Without him, Sesshomaru will have the freedom to take Naraku down. So this really was the end.

His soul sparked with renewed purpose and leered at the smug man. “What do you have planned?”

Naraku cocked his head in the direction of the gun. “Give him an offer he can't refuse. Sell me the stock in Taisho or watch you die.”

“Rather unoriginal.” InuYasha grinned hatefully.

“I put too much time and effort in this to have originality mess it up. In either case, I get a part in my revenge.”

“Then I'm sorry to disappoint you.” InuYasha could feel his eyes burn against the bitter cold wind. “But you won't get your revenge tonight. He won't come.”

Naraku's eyes seemed to darken. “You seem certain of that.”

“For a man who staked his life on manipulating our lives like some fucked up web, you never stopped to really consider who you were dealing with.”

A slow curve of Naraku's lips was enough to show his doubt. “You believe he will not come to save his only brother?”

“I guarantee it.” His eyes never left the man before him. “It wasn't just the fact he denied his help. He knew who I was to not interfere. It wasn't his punishment.”

“Punishment?” Naraku seemed to ponder the word and ushered him to explain.

InuYasha glared at the man through thick bangs as he stood tall. “It could have been avoided – all of it. I could have stopped it all had I listened to Kohaku when he needed me. I could have not run away when it got too hard. I could have just stayed and dealt with it all. But I was a fool and let my anger take me down. This world may have failed me because of you, but it never gave me a reason why I did what I did. I could have chosen a different path in life. But if I had, where would they all be? It was always my choice, my punishment.”

His eyes pierced as he gave Naraku a bitter smile. “But in the end, it was always my sacrifice!” With that he lunged with fists raised before a high powered crack filled the air.

InuYasha stood still in shock as he peered at the smoking barrel of the gun. His open jaw felt frozen as he waited for the pain to erupt before he fell down dead. But all he could hear was Naraku screaming at Kikyo.

“You fucking bitch! I need him alive! I want to fucking destroy him!”

InuYasha continued to stare at the gun then watched paralysed as a slow smile travelled across Kikyo's lips. “I already did.”

A faint thump of something hitting the ground behind him made him turn in horrified confusion. His face twisted in excruciating pain as a terrible cry wrenched from his throat.

He turned and ran, each step going as fast as the beat of his racing heart as he caught her limp body before her bloodied chest hit the ground. “Kagome!”

He pulled her pale face to stare up at him as her body shuddered, her life draining away between them as he clutched her tightly. “God!” He screamed. “No!”

“There is no sacrifice greater,” Naraku said, “than someone else's.”

InuYasha barely saw them leave through his tear stained vision as his whole world faded to black.





A/N I'm so sorry for the hiatus and so so sorry for the way this chapter loaded, wouldn't take my open office document.