InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Poison of Erised! ❯ Chapter Five - The Gift of Sight! ( Chapter 5 )

The Poison of Erised!

by Vyncent

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::This story contains GRAPHIC violence, sexual content! You are WARNED::

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor any of the associated characters. But it ain't because I don't want or wish to do so.

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Shortly after Sango went after Kagome, Inuyasha groaned and holding his head, made to sit up. He tried to shake his head, to clear it of the fog and pain, but gasped and decided that doing that was a bad idea. Seeing Miroku, Shippou, and Kirara all looking at him, like he had grown three heads, didn't help either.

"What's your problem?" he growled, angry for the way he had behaved more than anything, not that he would ever admit it openly to anyone, "and why did Sango have to go and hit me like that?"

"Maybe because you were being inconsiderate of Kagome-sama's feelings," sighed Miroku. "It is not like she intentionally went out of her way to inconvenience you Inuyasha. How would you feel, if you were still recovering from your wounds from Sesshoumaru's last attack, and Kagome called you worthless?"

"Feh! Like I care," said Inuyasha, but the droop in his ears gave away what he really thought.

"That maybe, Inuyasha," said Miroku, "but the truth is that if you were lost, alone, and dying, even you would welcome the comfort of someone like Kagome. She has done much for all of us, and you seem to be the only one who resents that. Why?"

"Who said I resent what she does?" demanded the heated hanyou, "You don't know what you are talking about."

"I know enough," returned Miroku, "Enough to know that if you keep hurting Kagome-sama, she will not be with us long. If you keep making her feel worthless, you will only force her away, or worse, break her spirit. Your words do much to take away what little confidence she might have in herself. Why you insist upon trying to destroy her self confidence, I will never understand, Inuyasha."

"Feh! I am not doing any such thing, houshi," said Inuyasha. He would have gotten up and stomped off, if his head still didn't hurt from Sango's Hiraikotsu. So unfortunately, he was stuck having to sit here and listen to the houshi berate him for his behavior. What did he know? Nothing! He just didn't understand.

"Then know this Inuyasha," spoke Miroku, a gleam in his eye of such anger and seriousness as to rivet the hanyou in his place. "If you continue to treat Kagome so cruelly, you will lose the best thing to ever happen to you. She waits for you, Inuyasha. Waits for you to choose to live, and find a life among the living. Not to go to hell with Kikyou. She believes in you, even when you do not believe in yourself. She has even risked her life for you many times. She does not deserve the way you treat her. She will not wait for you forever, and unless you do something and soon, you could find her in someone else's arms."

"If she loves Kouga that much," spat out the obviously jealous, hanyou, "then she might as well leave now. It is not like I care or nothing."

Miroku contributed to Inuyasha's headache by bringing his Shakoju down on his head again. With a growl, more in pain than anger, Inuyasha glared at the houshi.

"Will you cut that out?" he yelled.

"This is not about Kouga," spoke the houshi, "It is about you, and where your heart should be. Someday, either in our era, or in her own, someone will come along, who will be happy to appreciate Kagome for what and who she already is, not what they want her to be. She can't be Kikyou for you, Inuyasha. For one thing, she is alive. And I for one, feel that the kami have blessed us by bringing her into our lives. You need to apologize for your behavior tonight, at least. Be careful, Inuyasha. One day, you will say one wrong thing to many, and you will lose the only light you have in your life."

"Yeah," spoke up Shippou, still glaring at the hanyou, "and if she does, it would serve you right."

Inuyasha's head still hurt too much to try to reprimand the young kitsune, but he growled at the kit, nevertheless. He found enough strength to leap up into the tree he had been sitting in before Kagome sat him, and settled down once more, only this time to nurse his aching head, and despite himself, to consider the houshi's words.

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It was not long after that the girls came back to camp. Kagome went about things like nothing unusual had occurred. She was not the kind to hold a grudge and preferred to just let things go, rather than bring them back up again. She sat beside the fire, and accepted the food that was cooked and waiting for her, and the rest of the night went pretty much peacefully.

Inuyasha sat sulking for the rest of the time that they spent there, in his chosen tree. Though he told himself repeatedly that the houshi was right, and that he needed to tell Kagome he was sorry, he could not bring himself to approach her or to say the words. He was angry with himself for his own behavior. Even he knew he had been wrong.

As Miroku had said, Kagome would not be able to take this kind of treatment forever, and one day he would say too much. Why, oh why was it so hard to admit to the one onna that meant the most to him that he loved her and didn't mean to be so cruel? Was it just stubborn pride? Or was it fear of rejection? Or was he just being stupid? He only knew for sure that he was confused.

Besides, even if he did tell her how he truly felt, in the end it might not even matter. He refused to commit himself to Kagome until he was sure that he had given the only thing he could truly give to Kikyou. The rest that she truly deserved and should currently be enjoying, instead of the hell that the undead miko had to endure. Until they defeated Naraku, and he completed his self proclaimed quest, how could he truly give all of himself to his first love's living reincarnation? Besides, it would not be fair to Kagome, especially if something happened and kami forbid, he were not to survive their final encounter with that vile filth, Naraku.

Or worse, what would happen if some how, Kikyou did manage to take him to hell with her? Then where would Kagome be? All of this just made his already aching head hurt that much more, so for now the hanyou pushed the confusion aside, and let himself rest while he had the chance.

Knowing that the next day promised to be another hot and sticky day, the group decided to rest for a short time, and the spend the rest of the night traveling as they had the night before. Of course this time, Kagome was awake and seemed to be fit as a fiddle. Whatever had happened to cause her unusually long sleep, seemed to have past with no apparent side effects. If anything she was more buoyant and energetic that before. Her stamina had seriously increased, or at least it seemed to be the case. Even her endurance seemed much improved.

No one had an explanation for the odd occurrence, and despite the concern that it had caused, it was soon pushed to the back of everyone's minds, as they pushed on in their continued efforts to seek out the shards of the jewel.

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This pattern of travel lasted another couple of days. Finally the heat wave broke, and with the relief of much more bearable weather, the group returned to traveling during the day. They were much relieved both for the break in the heat, and the much easier traveling during the daylight hours.

It took a lot more to keep your guard up in the dark, than it did when one had the ability to at least see both where they were going, and what was coming at them. This proved to be a valid point, when two more days passed, and they hit their first encounter since Kagome's unexpected collapse.

They were making good headway on their journey, but they were still two weeks away from Kaede's and the village. Surprisingly, most of all to Inuyasha, Kagome had not shown any more signs of her unexpected 'illness'. In fact, she seemed to be doing surprisingly better than ever. She not only kept up with the group, she seemed to have more stamina that normal.

Even with Inuyasha's usual habit of pushing them hard and long, she didn't tire as she would normally have done, and seemed to easily walk right beside the hanyou, along whatever path he had chosen. This was the case, just after they had pushed through a mountain pass, for the first time able to see the welcome sight of a village in the distance, as they made their way down to the valley below.

As Kagome walked alongside of Inuyasha, something seemed to catch her eye, and she paused to stare at something that seemed to be making its way directly towards them, floating in the distant sky. With a small frown on her face, she pointed at the distance black object, and spoke to Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha," she said, "What is that heading right for us, very fast?"

"What," he groused, thinking at first that she was hallucinating. He looked briefly in the direction that she pointed, but could not see anything. "Do you sense any jewel shards?"

She closed her eyes, for just a moment, ignoring his demeaning tone of voice, "Iie, No shards. But that youkai out there, is headed this way, and he seems to be in a hurry."

Before Inuyasha could point out that she had something wrong with her, Kirara leaped up on the hanyou's shoulder and mewled, as she too, looked off in the direction that Kagome was pointing. Seconds later, the neko mononoke, leaped down to stand in front of Kagome, and transformed into her full battle mode, growling a challenge loud enough to be heard for miles.

By now, a perturbed Inuyasha, about to open his mouth without thinking, happened to look back in the direction that both Kagome and Kirara were looking. As he did, he finally saw a distant speck that was indeed rapidly headed their way. In seconds, Tetsusaiga was ablaze in all its glory, and the hanyou was in a fighting stance prepared for battle.

"Get back, Kagome," he said, completely serious, all other thoughts pushed aside in favor of protecting his Kagome. "It is a vulture youkai. They are not very strong, but they can be unpredictable."

"Hai, Inuyasha," was her reply, as she stepped back to let him have room to maneuver, without her getting in the way. At the same time, she stayed where she could see what was going on, bow in hand and an arrow nocked. Sango ran to Kirara, and in seconds was mounted on the battle cat, and prepared for anything. Miroku stood in front of Kagome, his Shakoju in hand, and prepared to pull his Kazaana free if need be. Shippou stayed beside Kagome both for his own feeling of security, and to help in any small way that he could.

Seconds later, an enormous vulture youkai was screeching his own challenge in the air, and diving for Kagome, and the shards that she carried. Before the bird youkai could even get near, Sango let loose with the Hiraikotsu, forcing the attacking creature to veer off course.

The angered vulture, soared upward, and came back in for another attack, having just barely dodged the Taijiya's throw. Tucking its wings tightly to his body, the youkai swooped down for another run. Inuyasha charged forward, and heaved Tetsusaiga releasing the Kaze no Kisu, only for the bird to swerve out of the line of the attack, but immediately swing back in line for his original target, which was still Kagome.

The youkai was moving so fast, by this time that Miroku didn't have time to release his Kazaana. He attempted to block the bird's attack, only to be knocked down by the furious speed of the vulture, as he continued to dive for his intended target.

For Kagome, the world around her, was suddenly like watching a movie in slow motion. Everything around her seemed to have slowed down, to the point it looked almost like some of those that she knew was moving around her, had stopped, and was just standing or hanging poised. It was like they were all waiting for something, but she was not sure what it was.

She could see the last vestiges of Inuyasha' recent attack, Sango catching Hiraikotsu on its back swing, Shippou trying to leap up to use his foxfire to try to protect her, and Miroku slowly falling to the ground. The most prominent thing in this vision, however, was the attacking youkai. She could see its face, up close and personal, the evil lust for the power of the jewel shards she carried, clearly showing on its face.

The only real thought she had at that moment, was that Shippou was about to get killed. Almost without thought, she stepped to the side of the attacking bird, grabbing Shippou, who was right in its path as she moved. Once she had the kit in her arms, she continued to move away from the danger, not stopping until she was now behind everyone else, who had turned to face their prey.

As they had been coming down through a mountainous overpass, it happened that there was a cliff face right behind where Kagome had been standing. The vulture youkai had the time it takes for the heart to beat twice, to notice that his prey was no longer where she had been, before he slammed face first into the rock wall that had been behind her. Inuyasha leaped forward and dispatched the creature before it could recover itself enough to renew his attack.

Everyone stopped for a moment to catch their breath.

"Kagome, where did you go?" hollered Sango.

"I didn't go anywhere," she spoke up. Shippou was held tightly and protectively in her arms, to stunned by what had taken place to do more than just stare up at Kagome. The others all jumped at the sound of her voice and turned stunned to find her standing calmly behind them, well out of harms way. "I am right here."

"How the fuck," spoke up an awed Inuyasha, almost shocked speechless, "did you do that?"

"Do what?" was her only reply, as her arms went limp, accidentally dropping Shippou, and she fainted. Inuyasha reached her just in time to keep her from hitting the ground.

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It was about an hour later that Kagome awoke to find that they had all setup camp again. The last thing she remembered was Shippou being in danger, and her grabbing him and moving to safety, and Inuyasha finishing the youkai off before any harm could come to anyone. Then everything went black.

Now she found herself, lying on her sleeping bag, a cool cloth being wiped across her brow, as the worry filled eyes of an anxious hanyou looked down into her face. Seeing that she was awake, Inuyasha removed the cloth, only to rinse it in cool water and return it to its place before he spoke to her.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"I think so," she replied honestly. "What happened? Where are we?"

"We set up camp, not far from where we ran into the youkai. Do you remember the attack?" asked Sango, as she came up to bring Kagome some water to drink.

"Hai," came the reply. "Shippou! Is he...."

"I am here Kagome," spoke up the little kit, sitting on her stomach holding the bowl of water that Inuyasha was using to rinse out the cloth. "I am fine, thanks to you."

"Gomen ne, Inuyasha," said Kagome, closing her eyes, in relief that Shippou was alright, and saddened because once again, she was burdening her friends with her weakness. In truth, she didn't know why she had fainted. While it bothered her that she had, she didn't feel sick, and as far as she could tell, nothing was wrong with her.

"Doshite?" he asked.

"For being so weak," she said, fighting back the tears that threatened even now to fall. "For the burden that I have become to you....all of you."

The hanyou hung his head, the shame on his face evidence of his regret for the words he had spoken to her previously. His ears flattened to his head, he took Kagome's hand, and forced himself to look into her eyes.

"Iie, Kagome," he spoke softly, much to her surprise. "It is not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for. I am the one who should be sorry. What I said was out of place and wrong. If I had paid more attention, we would not have been so taken by the heat, and you would not have suffered. Onegai, forgive me."

"I will always forgive you, Inuyasha," she replied, a smile gracing her face. "I could never stay mad at you, or think less of you."

As the two just sat quietly, holding hands, the others left them be while they finished getting dinner. It had taken a lot for the hanyou to admit he was wrong, even more to apologize for it. No one wanted to break the moment for the two, so they left them be for now.

Later, everyone finished cleaning up from dinner, and prepared to sleep for the night. As was commonly the case, all were soon asleep. Inuyasha sitting, as usual, in a tree near Kagome, fell into a light sleep, keeping his senses geared to their surroundings for any danger or intrusion. Later, as was not unusual, shortly after they settled for the night, a scent reached the hanyou's sensitive nose, and he was soon, nothing more than a flash of red in the night.

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Dictionary

Baka - Idiot

Chikushou - Damn

Doushite - Why

Fujo - Witch

Hanyou - Half Demon

Hiraikotsu - actually translates as 'Come Flying Skills' and is the name of Sango's boomerang

Houshi - Monk

Inu - Dog

Kazaana - Wind Void/Tunnel - Miroku's curse from Naraku

Kitsune - Fox Demon

Miko - Shrine Maiden

Mononoke - Animal Spirit - Kirara would be considered an mononoke as she has no human form

Neko - Cat

Okaa-san - Mother

Onee - Older Sister

Onna - Woman

Sama - Lady or Lord - respectively

Shakoju - Staff - the one that Miroku carries and wields

Shikon no Kakera - Shikon Shards

Shikon no Tama - Jewel of Four Souls

Shishi - Lion

Taijiya - Demon Exterminator

Taiyoukai - Demon Lord

Tenshi - Angel

Tenseiga - Sacred Life Fang

Tetsusaiga - Iron Pulverizing Fang

Youkai - Demon

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