InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Kohaku's Fate ( Chapter 28 )

Recap: Inuyasha used the jewel shard to become a full-blooded demon, Koga and the wolves managed to pass through Naraku's barrier as did Sango, Miroku and Kagome. Koga killed Kagura, Inuyasha became over-powered by the jewel shard, and attacked Koga to take his shards from him. Sesshomaru revived Kagura with the Tenseiga and Inuyasha attacked Kirara to get to Kohaku, who he downed in order to steal his jewel shard… Quite a lot of action for such a short chapter!

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Chapter 28 - Kohaku's Fate

 

Watching weakly on, Kirara saw Inuyasha shove Kohaku to the ground and rip open a gash in his back, pulling out the jewel shard. Tears of despair pooled in her eyes as she saw the life drain from Kohaku, and Inuyasha grin at the bloodied shard he had just acquired.

 

`How can this be happening?' she thought helplessly.

 

Kirara's eyelids became suddenly extremely heavy, and fluttered closed. A second later, her demon spirit stirred, refusing to allow her to give in to her wounds, and warning her of impending danger. Opening her eyes again, Kirara gasped in shock as Sesshomaru leapt into the room, backhanding Inuyasha. Inuyasha, who had been preoccupied staring at the jewel shard he had just acquired, fell back from the blow. In almost the same instance that his left hand collided with Inuyasha's head, Sesshomaru swung his right hand around at where Kohaku lay.

 

Kirara blinked several times in disbelief, a rush of emotions bubbling in her chest as she saw Kohaku stirring as though waking from a deep sleep.

 

`He used the Tenseiga to revive Kohaku!' she thought.

 

As Sesshomaru returned the sword to its sheath, Inuyasha leapt at him, swiping a hand at his face. Sesshomaru stepped back, leaning his head out of harm's way. Inuyasha's claws missed their intended target, but did manage to tear the right sleeve of his brother's haori.

 

“Fool,” Sesshomaru snarled, drawing out the Tokijin.

 

Kirara mouthed out the word “no”, her voice failing to put any volume to her conviction. Surely after saving Kohaku, Sesshomaru was not about to kill Inuyasha? Kirara remembered Sesshomaru once saying that he would not kill Inuyasha in his demon form, as Inuyasha did not know himself when like that, and therefore there was no point in killing him. She sincerely hoped that Sesshomaru's feelings had not changed as he lunged towards his younger brother.

 

Sesshomaru pointed the tip of his sword at Inuyasha, throwing him back under a barrage of energy pulses that shot out of the blade. As Inuyasha fell back, the jewel shard he had taken from Kohaku fell through his fingers, descending towards the ground. Kirara kept her eyes fixed on it, telling herself that she would retrieve it once it landed on the floor; but before it could get that far, a clawed hand closed around the shard, pulling it away.

 

Kirara frowned, squinting through her blurring vision as she watched Sesshomaru tuck the shard into the folds of his haori.

 

Inuyasha snarled, flying at Sesshomaru again. Kirara choked on her own breath as Sesshomaru brought his arm up through the air, tearing his claws into Inuyasha's chest. Although Kirara had witnessed Inuyasha receive and survive such serious wounds many times before, she knew that this time Inuyasha had been mortally wounded. Sesshomaru twisted his hand around inside of Inuyasha's chest, making Kirara think that perhaps he was trying to remove Inuyasha's heart.

 

`How could I have been so wrong about Lord Sesshomaru?' she thought miserably to herself as she watch on helplessly. `Again? Priestess Midoriko was right, I still have so much to learn.'

 

Sesshomaru eventually removed his hand, allowing Inuyasha to fall to the ground. Kirara strained to look over at him, a wave of nausea washing over her as she saw Inuyasha lying deathly still, his hair returned to the rich ebony colour of his mortal form. Shifting her eyes upwards, Kirara watched as Sesshomaru opened out his fist, revealing the three jewel shards Inuyasha had swallowed.

 

`Why does he want the jewel shards?' Kirara wondered silently. `He never wanted them before. Unless - he must be taking them for Kagura!'

 

“You wretched, conniving bastard!” she growled, her voice hoarse but loud.

 

Sesshomaru shifted his eyes to hers, holding her gaze for a moment as he reached his hand inside his haori, pulling out Kohaku's shard. Kirara's confusion grew tenfold as Sesshomaru closed his fist around all four shards, turning his back on her and bending down, opening his fist out again to place the shards by Inuyasha's side. Sickened and confused by what she saw but too enthralled to look away, Kirara watched dumbly on as Sesshomaru drew out the Tenseiga one more time; and, much to her relief, he swung it over Inuyasha's body.

 

Inuyasha groaned softly, his hands quivering and clenching into fists at his sides.

 

“Inuyasha, you have done well.”

 

Kirara froze, unsure if the delirium of her pain had made her mishear what Sesshomaru had just said.

 

“What, huh?” Inuyasha moaned groggily, lifting his head and rolling his deep, dark eyes upwards to look at Sesshomaru. “Damn…” he groaned as he locked eyes with his older brother.

 

“I saw what happened here,” Sesshomaru said, his voice as flat and emotionless as ever, leaving Kirara in perpetual confusion as to just where he was going with his speech. “The strength you have shown today far surpassed anything I ever thought you capable of, little brother.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Inuyasha groaned, pushing himself up onto his elbows.

 

“You used the jewel shards to gain strength,” Sesshomaru explained, his voice still flat. “And although you lost control and attacked the wolf demon, you were able to overcome the power of both your demon blood and the jewel shards. Personally, I am rather pleased that you chose the wolf to attack. He has now been made to suffer for the pain he has caused to one I am close to.”

 

Kirara paused, thinking Sesshomaru's words over carefully. She eventually concluded that Sesshomaru disliked Koga because he had killed Kagura.

 

“I attacked a wolf?” Inuyasha asked, sitting up. “Was it Koga?”

 

“I don't care for his name,” Sesshomaru replied, his tone marginally more abrupt than before.

 

“What happened in here?” Inuyasha asked, frowning as his eyes fell on Kohaku, who was sitting huddled in the back corner of the room. “Kohaku…”

 

“You saved the boy's life,” Sesshomaru said smoothly. “Do you not remember?”

 

Inuyasha frowned, moving his eyes back to Sesshomaru.

 

“I did?” he asked.

 

“Yes, you did,” Sesshomaru calmly replied. “You removed the shard of the jewel from his back in a way that allowed him to live. Then you removed the shards from your own body, and you passed out.”

 

“I did?” Inuyasha echoed, looking down at the bloody mark on the front of his haori.

 

“There is a way out of here,” Sesshomaru continued, ignoring Inuyasha's continual questions. “You should take the boy and go.”

 

“What about Kagome?” Inuyasha asked sharply, looking up at his brother again. “Where's Kagome?”

 

Inuyasha stood abruptly, but Sesshomaru held up one hand to halt his advance.

 

“Take the boy outside of this place,” Sesshomaru said. “By the time you have taken him to a safe place and returned to here, the sun will have risen, and you will able to destroy the barrier once more, and use the Tetsusaiga to destroy Naraku.”

 

“What are you gonna do?” Inuyasha asked, his question coming out as more of a challenge than one of interest.

 

“I am going to tend to your friend, her wounds are severe.”

 

“My friend? Who…”

 

Inuyasha turned his head to Kirara, his eyes widening as he looked upon her for the first time since awakening.

 

“Kirara!” he yelped.

 

“Go,” Sesshomaru said firmly. “Return after sunrise.”

 

“I can't leave my friends.”

 

“You will.”

 

“I can't.”

 

Sesshomaru slowly and methodically drew out the Tokijin, allowing it to hang limply from his hand.

 

“Fine,” Inuyasha grunted. “Kohaku, come with me.”

 

Kohaku reluctantly crept across the room, shirking past Sesshomaru to join Inuyasha.

 

“You better not let anything happen to Kagome!” Inuyasha warned his brother.

 

“Which one is Kagome?” Sesshomaru asked.

 

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, muttering a complaint under his breath before grabbing Kohaku by the arm and dragging him out of the room. Sesshomaru slid the Tokijin back through his belt before turning his head towards Kirara. As the dog demon lord locked his rich amber eyes onto hers, Kirara let out a small gasp, trying to shuffle backwards away from him. After all she had witnessed that night, she no longer knew what to think of him; but she could clearly remember having miscalled him when he had downed Inuyasha to retrieve the jewel shards.

 

“Don't move,” he said firmly, squatting down and grabbing onto her thigh.

 

Kirara gasped again, looking down at his fingers gripping onto her, her muscles tensing against his grasp on instinct. A feeling of embarrassment and awkwardness slowly began to creep through Kirara as she continued to stare at Sesshomaru's hand; but her feelings quickly snapped back to shock as he grabbed his other hand down the front of her armour.

 

“What are you doing?” she cried helplessly, her hands clawing at his arm on instinct.

 

Kirara yelped as her armour snapped open under the force of his grip, falling back slightly as the strain of pulling away from his grip was suddenly removed. Kirara stared in silent horror at her armour as Sesshomaru threw it down to one side, before looking down at herself, yelping in alarm as she found her upper body was covered by nothing more than flimsy, torn and bloodied undergarments.

 

Kirara lifted her head to look at Sesshomaru's face, stiffening in fear as he curled his fingers around her throat. Confused, afraid and in more pain than she dared to show, Kirara allowed Sesshomaru to push her back until she was lying flat on her back. He kept his hand on her throat, his grip by no means tight, but firm enough to stop her from moving her head. Kirara lay perfectly still, too scared to so much as blink. She felt Sesshomaru release her thigh, and for a brief moment, she wondered exactly what he was doing with his other hand.

 

“Argh!” she cried out, grabbing her hands onto Sesshomaru's wrist by her throat.

 

Sesshomaru ignored her cry of pain and continued to poke at the gashes along her abdomen that Inuyasha had created. Hissing in pain, her eyes flickering with crimson light, Kirara tried to clench her hands into fists, her claws biting into the skin of Sesshomaru's arm, creating small rivulets of blood to spill down over his skin.

 

When Sesshomaru eventually stopped, Kirara sighed in relief, her eyes returning to their usual green of her human form, her fingers opening against Sesshomaru's wrist as her muscles slowly relaxed again. She gasped again as Sesshomaru leaned forwards, his face suddenly mere inches from her own, his expression a little darker and sterner than its usual blank void.

 

“Your wounds are not fatal,” he said plainly. “You will live.”

 

Kirara was relieved to hear his words, though a small part of her could not help but note how he had worded his statement: once again, he used the term “you will”.

 

“Thank you,” she said slowly.

 

Sesshomaru stared back at her silently, his face still uncomfortably close to hers, his hand still around her throat. Kirara slowly looked down at his arm, her eyes widening as she saw the series of shallow scratches she had created over the surface of his skin.

 

“I'm sorry I scratched you,” she added, looking up into his eyes again.

 

“Don't apologise,” Sesshomaru quickly replied.

 

Kirara opened her mouth to speak, stopping as he suddenly released her and stood, turning his back on her, all in one smooth, fluid motion. Kirara pushed herself up onto her elbows, moaning slightly at the pain as she did so. Sesshomaru once more pulled the Tokijin from his belt, holding it loosely at his side. He slowly made his way over to the doorway leading back to the courtyard, which had been widened by Inuyasha when he had leapt through it in his frenzied demon form. Once at the doorway, Sesshomaru paused, a light breeze from outside catching his hair and gently easing it back over his shoulders.

 

`Wow,' Kirara thought to herself. `He certainly is beautiful.'

 

“Stay here,” he said quietly, before stepping back out into the courtyard.

 

“But…” Kirara began to protest.

 

Kirara sighed in defeat, deciding that she was in position to argue. She would be more of a hindrance on the battlefield than a help in the condition that she was in, and so the best thing she could do was to rest her body to allow her wounds time to heal. Thanks to her demon powers, the wound Kohaku had created in her shoulder had sealed over completely. The wounds from Inuyasha's claws were far more severe, but, thanks to her armour, they were not as bad as she had expected them to be. Although her armour had been ruined, it had absorbed most of the blow, leaving Kirara with wounds that, whilst serious, would heal reasonably well.

 

Kirara slowly lay back down onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. Sesshomaru had sworn to kill her after the events at his castle, and yet despite having had several chances to do so, he never had. This, she decided, was much like how he never tried to kill Inuyasha when he was in his demon form. Sesshomaru was a man of honour, and there was no honour in killing someone who was not fit to fight back fairly; or in her own case, not fight to fight back at all, because, when compared to him, she was nothing more than a weak and pitiful creature who was (as Miroku had said) “almost as weak as a mortal”. And, Kirara thought miserably, Sesshomaru had saved and adopted Rin, he had saved his brother he hated from himself, and, whilst she lay nursing her wounds, he was probably fighting off Naraku and saving everyone else.

 

Sesshomaru, Kirara decided, was just as much a hero as Kagome, Sango, Miroku or even Inuyasha himself. The only difference was, Sesshomaru did not go around bragging about it. He had killed many times before, but it had never been without reason.

 

`He's perfect,' Kirara thought to herself, closing her eyes as tears threatened to escape them. `He's perfect, and I'm pathetic. And now he's in love with Kagura. Jaken was wrong, Lord Sesshomaru never did intend to ask me to be his mate again. Why would he? He said that he never repeats himself. And I totally humiliated him, how can I expect him to want to ask me again after all that? Kagura's a lot stronger than I am, and although I don't care for her at all, I can't deny that she is more of a lady than I ever could be.'

 

“Damn it,” Kirara groaned, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes. “I would have said yes.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Hey kid, come on. Stop crying. Everything's gonna be fine. You gotta try to smile for Sango. She's been so worried about you.”

 

Inuyasha watched Kohaku carefully, wishing that the sun would rise already, and that the emotionally spent boy by his side would cease his weeping.

 

“I didn't want to remember,” Kohaku sobbed. “I killed them all!”

 

“It wasn't you,” Inuyasha said, trying to remain patient. “It was Naraku. He was controlling you. He made you do it against your will.”

 

“But Sango,” Kohaku said slowly. “She's still alive, you say?”

 

“She's back there fighting Naraku right now,” Inuyasha replied. “And pretty soon I'll be joining her.”

 

Inuyasha stood up, scowling at the horizon, which was beginning to grow paler.

 

“You have to stay here, Kohaku,” Inuyasha said, his confidence increasing as the sky grew lighter and lighter. “Don't move from here. Once I've killed Naraku and completed the Shikon Jewel, I'll come back for you. And then you, Sango, Miroku and Kirara can all live peacefully together.”

 

“Miroku?” Kohaku echoed. “Who is Miroku?”

 

Inuyasha looked down over his shoulder at Kohaku, suppressing a shudder as he imagined Kohaku, at the influential age that he was, under the tutelage of the lecherous monk.

 

“Miroku is Sango's boyfriend,” he explained. “You'll meet him soon enough.”

 

“Sango's… Boyfriend?” Kohaku repeated. “Sango has a boyfriend?”

 

“Yeah,” Inuyasha replied, only vaguely aware of what Kohaku was saying.

 

Ahead of him, the horizon was starting to glow, and the lethargy that had been plaguing his muscles was starting to lift. As soon as the sun was up, he planned to run back to Naraku's castle, break the barrier, and destroy Naraku once and for all. He hoped that Kagome had managed to stay alive and had not been hurt. If anything bad had happened to her, Inuyasha had decided he would punish Sesshomaru - since it would be Sesshomaru's fault if such a thing had indeed occurred, after he had promised to protect Kagome - by cutting off his fingers and poking them through his eyeballs.

 

Inuyasha grinned to himself as he imagined his brother with no fingers and two scarred and redundant eye-sockets.

 

“I can't believe Sango has a boyfriend,” Kohaku continued. “Is it the monk you travelled with? I remember him. He seemed like a kind man. I hope we all move back to our village. It will be so much fun, we'll have our own family again. Sango and her boyfriend, and me and Kirara. I can take care of Kirara now that Sango has a boyfriend. She can train with me. I always wanted my own pet cat demon. It's been so long since the days when Kirara would curl up at my feet and fall asleep. I wonder when that will happen again?”

 

“How about never, kid!” Inuyasha snorted. “Unless of course you want a clumsy adult woman who's too tall, wears men's clothes and likes to tell you her opinion all the time curled up at your feet.”

 

“What?” Kohaku echoed.

 

“Kirara's changed since you last saw her, kid,” Inuyasha replied, closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath as the light of the rising sun graced his features.

 

He heard Kohaku gasp behind him as his ears moved back to the top of his head, his hair turned silver, his fingernails turned into claws and his fangs grew to sharp points. Inuyasha opened his eyes again, unable to contain the smile that tugged at his lips.

 

“What happened?” Kohaku asked. “Your hair changed colour!”

 

“That's not all that changed, kid,” Inuyasha replied, turning around and pulling out the Tetsusaiga, watching with childlike glee as it transformed and turned red. “Start cooking breakfast Kohaku, we'll all be back just as soon as I've sliced through Naraku with my Tetsusaiga!”

 

Kohaku began to point out that he had nothing to cook breakfast with, or indeed any breakfast to cook in the first place, but Inuyasha had already run off.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“He's just toying with us,” Miroku said coldly.

 

“This is all Sesshomaru's fault,” Sango growled, narrowing her dark eyes as she looked across the courtyard at the dog demon. “He could have finished Naraku off long ago, but he's so preoccupied with Kagura, he won't do it.”

 

“Do you think the sun has come up yet?” Kagome asked. “I don't even know where Inuyasha is. I hope he comes round when the sun comes up.”

 

“Inuyasha isn't the only one that's missing,” Miroku solemnly pointed out.

 

“Kirara's gone and so has Kohaku,” Sango sighed. “I can't take this any more!”

 

“Sango, no!” Miroku yelled.

 

But Sango ignored him, running from their temporary hiding place gripping her Hiraikotsu as she prepared to throw it at Naraku's neck.

 

“Naraku!” she yelled. “Die!”

 

Sango swung her weapon around, only to falter, almost falling over as she gripped back onto her Hiraikotsu. Relieved that she had managed to stop her attack, Sango took longer than she normally would have done to acknowledge the identity of the human standing between her and Naraku.

 

“Kikyo!” Kagome gasped.

 

Sango looked back over her shoulder, finding Miroku and Kagome not far behind her, both looking shocked. Turning back, she saw that it was indeed Kikyo that blocked their path to Naraku.

 

“Give me your sacred jewel shards, girl,” Kikyo said coldly, lifting up her bow and loading an arrow onto it.

 

Kagome gasped, shuffling back a few steps.

 

“Why?” she asked. “What are you going to do with them?”

 

“Don't waste time!” Kikyo snapped. “Give me the sacred jewel shards, now!”

 

Kagome glanced back and forth from Kikyo to Miroku, slowly lifting up the small bottle with her jewel shards in it.

 

“What should I do, Miroku?” she whispered, looking up at the monk by her side.

 

Miroku's bottom jaw moved up and down, but no sound came out. His eyes were darting back and forth between Kikyo and Naraku as he tried to make sense of the situation.

 

“How did you manage to pass through Naraku's barrier?” Sango asked Kikyo, sensing Kagome's indecision and using the opportunity to try to gain some enlightenment.

 

“Naraku let me in,” Kikyo replied.

 

Sango glanced back at Kagome, before slowly shaking her head at Kikyo.

 

“Are you here to help Naraku?” she asked, deciding that only a direct question would achieve the answers she sought.

 

Kikyo stretched her bow back, her eyes narrowing. Before Kikyo could answer Sango or anyone else could act however, Naraku's barrier once more dissolved around them.

 

“The sun's up!” Miroku said, looking up at the sky overhead.

 

“That was Inuyasha breaking the barrier!” Kagome added. “I wonder if he's still using the jewel shards?”

 

“Wait a minute…” Sango said thoughtfully. “Why was Inuyasha outside of Naraku's barrier?”

 

“Maybe he broke it from the inside,” Kagome began. “It's possible that - hey!”

 

Kagome yelped in alarm as Kikyo shoved her to the ground, grabbing the jewel shards from her and then running across the courtyard, away from Naraku.

 

“What is she doing?” Sango asked anyone who cared to listen.

 

“I don't know,” Miroku mused. “It's so hard to tell.”

 

“You're telling me!” Kagome said, pouting indignantly as she stood up once more. “I don't know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys any more!”

 

Sango and Miroku followed Kagome's finger as she pointed around the courtyard at Sesshomaru, Kagura, Koga and the wolves and finally Kikyo.

 

“True,” Miroku agreed, his eyes fixed on something above them. “But I think we can safely say that Inuyasha is on our side.”

 

Kagome spun around, breaking into a smile of delight as she saw Inuyasha floating towards them, the Tetsusaiga in his hands, his eyes golden once more as he appeared in his usual, half-demon form.

 

“Inuyasha!” she called to him, opening out her arms expectantly.

 

“K…” he began. “Kikyo!”

 

“Huh?” Kagome gasped, her smile dropping as Inuyasha altered his course, landing in front of Kikyo at the other end of the courtyard.

 

“Then again…” Miroku muttered.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Next Chapter: Kikyo is trying to complete the Shikon Jewel, but what are her plans once she has done so? Will she fight against Naraku or will she fight for him? Inuyasha learns a hard lesson, Kagome is surprised and Sesshomaru says farewell. Chapter 29 - Kikyo's Decision.