InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Difference Between Time and Distance: A Sesshoumaru Tale ❯ And so it Rained ( Chapter 4 )

6,289,920 seconds

 

104832 minutes

 

17472 hours

 

728 days

 

104 weeks

 

24 months

 

2 years

 

And one heartbeat

 

 

4, 228, 421 miles

 

A few cobblestones

 

A rickety doorway

 

A faded carpet

 

Some ice shavings

 

And one warm smile

 

 

It all ended. It was all gone. That time and place is finished. While the memory remains full, forever left behind, to never be wiped away, the place has been demolished. It stands empty. It is a hollow in a friendly neighborhood, a space where the wind cries.

 

It is the space of the forgotten.

 

…

 

 

 

 

 

She was being torn apart. Chaos consumed her in an array of emotion and pain. The darkness ripped her apart, taking pieces of her and flinging it off into shadow. She was alone and in pain. She screamed, but no noise emerged.

 

She had no body, no mind, just an unconscious desire. The lust of life ate her away, and acid that dissolved time, and brought her death.

 

She was an entity of energy, a moving mass that ebbed and flowed in a meaningless tangle of silence.

 

She was in a knot of pain.

 

Her throat—was it even there?—opened to scream, but no sound emerged. No, only the roar of altered movement filtered her brain. Did she have a brain?

 

Everything was being lost. She was being pulled the wrong way; this was never meant to be. All that made her was slipping away, being ripped from her in a savage abundance which madder her lose herself.

 

She knew everything.

 

She knew nothing.

 

In a flash of light and sound and color, in a flare of touch and taste and another sense never known to all; she was thrown back into order.

 

She could feel.

 

Everything came back.

 

She was aware.

 

A damp earthy smell filtered through her nose, though her eyes only saw shadow. An odd sense of coolness soothed her skin, seeping through her clothes. Moisture was mixed into her air, already condensing against her sweat soaked skin.

 

Her finger twitched, flexed, and pain shot through her body like a lance in the heart. And then came the first blessing in a long time, such a long time.

 

Sweet, blissful, oblivion… true darkness, where no thoughts popped up, where no feeling was known.

 

Ayame fell out of reality, and into the world of dreams.

 

It wasn't supposed to be this way…

 

 

 

 

 

“Hey! Wench! Get back here!”

 

Kagome growled to herself, trying not to explode further than she already had. Unfortunately that was about as possible as suppressing the reaction of helium and flame. Whether for good or bad, there was always some kind of spark. This was definitely a flicker a malicious annoyance.

 

“InuYasha, I'm going back to get your stupid ramen! What more to you want?” Kagome rounded on the frustrated hanyou.

 

InuYasha stomped up to the small fuming figure, “What's you problem? I didn't do anything!”

 

Kagome's shoulders hunched over, “J-just… You're being an idiot!”

 

InuYasha drew back, eyes wide with surprise. The sent of tears set his hackles on edge, his ears laying flat on his head. A rumble in the sky made the couple jump, but Kagome's break down just seemed to get worse.

 

In the uncomfortable silence filled by the girl's sobs, InuYasha reached out a tentative hand. And in a swift, jerky gesture, her pulled Kagome into his arms.

 

“You don't have to get any ramen…”

 

Kagome let out a little laugh, “You really are an idiot.”

 

“No I'm not!”

 

“Whatever, InuYasha.”

 

InuYasha sighed defensively, and Kagome sniffled one last time, before pulling away.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“S'okay.” InuYasha muttered, staring intently at the ground.

 

“Don't worry about it. I'll get some ramen, I forgot some stuff anyway.”

 

By that time the odd duo had made there way to the well. The sky was darkened with ominous clouds, and thick drops of rain began to fall in a steady, soon-to-be torrent.

 

The white haired young man watched the girl intently—like one used to protecting those close to him—as she climbed over the well.

 

Thunder clapped, and a bright light of pure energy flashed through he air. Att he same time a shout announced a surprise.

 

“InuYasha!”

 

He rushed over and looked over Kagome's shoulder down the well. As his eyes adjusted he caught sight of a sprawled figure below. Her limbs were askew, turned about at odd angles, and InuYasha recognized her in a bust of surprise and confusion.

 

“Oh My God! InuYasha! It's Ayame!”

 

Without being told InuYasha jumped into the well, careful hoisting the unconscious girl over his shoulder, and pouncing back up again. The slippery grass made InuYasha's balance unreliable, but he managed just fine.

 

“C'mon, let's get her back.”

 

Kagome shook her head in thoughtless shock as she followed behind as fast as she could. More flashes of lightning revealed the horrendous appearance of Ayame, her face sunken and hollow, as though she hadn't eaten, and was living through a life ending disease.

 

For the first time in a long time, Kagome truly felt fear.

 

 

 

 

 

Sesshoumaru gazed at the sky, unblinking as a waterfall of rain fell from the sky. The moisture ran in little rivulets down his face, through his hair, soaking into his clothes. The sky, while it should have only been dusk, was as dark as the night sky. The clouds looked almost as ominous as Naraku's aura.

 

Everything, everything, seemed so gray. Sesshoumaru pondered when his existence took such a strange turn. It seemed as though the only true vibrancy in his life was the little girl under his protection; Rin.

 

Even the blood being washed from his claws were a dull color. The pleasure in taking arrogant bandits life, while not lost, had dimmed to a mere glimmer in a tunnel of darkness.

 

The youkai lord took another step away from the carnage into the woods. Mud and blood whorled together in intricate little swirls around Sesshoumaru's booted feet. Even without looking at the ground Sesshoumaru knew where he was going, always sure of where his feet were placed.

 

Sesshoumaru reveled in the soft patter of cool drops on his face. The world was muted in the wash of weather. He was alone in his own seclusion.

 

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Sesshoumaru started to make his way back. Rin could not be left alone for long. Something disastrous was bound to happen. Unfortunately, Sesshoumaru had learned that the hard way.

 

And so—through the storm, probably the only thing the TaiYoukai shared with mere ninjens—he made his way back to the small cave, holding the sleeping girl, the demons light of his life.