InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Youkai and the Exterminator ❯ Chapter TwentyEight ( Chapter 28 )

Chapter TwentyEight

 

 

He paused, listening. Inuyasha sniffed the air, glancing back at his companions. "Get ready," he muttered. "It's coming."

 

It burst out of the trees, snarling and slavering. Ugly bastard, Inuyasha thought, looking up at the hulking swollen creature. It had the grossly distended body of a slug, but sporting three equally ugly heads. Drool spilled from their mouths as they all shrieked insanely, and Inuyasha winced when he was literally sprayed with stinking saliva.

 

"Keh, where do these things come from anyway?"

 

It wasn't particularly powerful even, just big, ugly and mean. No problem, short work for Tessaiga, he thought, grinning to himself as he pulled the rusted blade from its sheath. The katana pulsed, coming to life in his hand and transforming into the massive fang that was its true shape. "This won't even be much of a fight," he smirked, getting ready to take all three heads at once.

 

"Hiraikotsu!"

 

Inuyasha spun around just in time to duck out of the way as Sango's huge boomerang nearly clipped the top of his head. Hiraikotsu spun gracefully through the air, neatly decapitating two of the three heads. He dove to the side as the demon exterminator barreled past him, her sword drawn and screaming a battle cry.

 

"Goddamnit," he muttered. "Not again."

 

He shoved Tessaiga back in its sheath, not even bothering to look back as Sango attacked the monster. The girl moved like lightning, slicing the hell out of the poor thing, ignoring its shrieks and wails of agony. Stinking green blood splattered the ground, offending his sensitive nose and Kagome squealed as she ran for cover. It was grisly; Sango wasn't so much exterminating the hapless demon as much as she was hacking it to bits.

 

Miroku caught Inuyasha's eye and shook his head. "Just let her go," the monk advised, fiddling the prayer beads wrapped around his wrist. As soon as Sango finished her battle he'd clear away the mess. Something that foul would only grow fouler if left to rot and the innocent creatures of the forest shouldn't have to be the ones to suffer the stench.

 

They'd been traveling for three days, heading for the last known location of Naraku's newest monster. Miroku and Kagome wanted to see the village that Kouga had told them about, believing that it might have some clue about the monster's real origins. Inuyasha didn't see the point, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he was about to be drafted into grave digging duty once again.

 

Every time they found human victims of Naraku or some other evil demon, he was put to work in laying whatever remains to rest. He failed to see how burying the bodies or saying a few whispered words over them in any way made a difference. Miroku said it was just his practical youkai nature to think that way, Kagome said he was an insensitive clod. Either way, Inuyasha remained cautiously optimistic.

 

According to Kouga, the slaughter had taken place several days ago and Inuyasha thought that the local scavengers and carrion eaters should have taken care of whatever had been left of the village. It wasn't a pleasant thought, in fact it made even him a little queasy, but there were plenty of creatures out there not too proud to feast on human flesh.

 

At least he'd gotten rid of the goddamn wolf. Kouga and his friends had trailed them all the way across the valley, ostensibly protecting Kagome from attackers. His stomach got all tight and twisted when he thought of the way she'd let that stinking wolf take her hands and once again profess his neverending devotion.

 

"I have to leave you now, my Kagome," Kouga said, squeezing her hands. Inuyasha rumbled darkly in his throat, Kouga had exactly two seconds to drop those hands before he lost his own fingers. The wolf pretended not to notice Inuyasha's threatening glare and smiled sweetly at Kagome.

 

"Whatever happened between you and mutt-face," he began, "I just want you to know it doesn't change my feelings for you."

 

"Uh," Kagome said, trying discreetly to tug her fingers free from his. Dedication was all very nice, she thought wryly as Kouga continued to mash her hands between his own. "That's...that's very mature of you, Kouga-kun."

 

She couldn't exactly blame Inuyasha for being angry, it had always upset him when Kouga touched her. Why didn't it seem to matter a damn to either of them that she didn't return the wolf's feelings? Were they both that blinded by their jealous rivalry of each other?

 

Kagome just sighed and finally managed to free her hands from the ardent wolf demon. "Where are you going now?"

 

He scowled. "I'm going after Naraku, I'm not going to let him use me for his messenger boy. And I want a piece of that son of a bitch that hit me, we've got a score to settle."

 

"Yeah and he settled it all over your ugly face," Inuyasha sneered. He'd had just about enough of the wolf's boasting. He was actually happy as hell to be out of that damn stone pile of a fortress, hell and away from his damn brother. Just like he'd predicted, Sesshomaru had shown his true face to Sango at last. He didn't know why his icicle of a brother had played his game on the girl like that, but it made him sick just thinking of it.

 

And she was pregnant? What the fuck? The world had turned upside down; nothing was ever going to be normal again. Sesshomaru had for some unknown reason deliberately fathered a half human child that was now growing inside of a youkai exterminator. Had the universe gone insane? Inuyasha prided himself on not being a particularly deep thinker; things were much less complicated when you just did what your instincts told you to do and didn't question it.

 

But damn, it was going to bother him until he got it all sorted out. Sesshomaru hated humans. That was a fact. Then he started fucking Sango and shot that whole theory to hell. Maybe it was just a simple attraction, maybe his brother decided to see if he was missing out on something, hell if he knew. He thought he'd understood it at that point, hoping Sango wasn't going to be too heartbroken when Sesshomaru finally got tired of playing with her. But to father a child with her?

 

That staggered the hanyou, if nothing else he'd been sure that Sesshomaru thought there was nothing fouler on the face of the earth than half-breeds like himself. Didn't he hate Inuyasha for his human blood? Didn't he wish aloud that their father had never lowered himself to conceive offspring with a human mother? It made no sense, he couldn't figure it out and it was giving him a headache.

 

"Aren't you fucking done yet?" he snarled over his shoulder at her. Sango had the slug-beast down, it was quite dead in his opinion, but she was still stabbing hell out of it with both her sword and a long dagger. She was covered in gore; greenish black blood smeared her face.

 

"Give it a rest!" he shouted.

 

"I think the demon is sufficiently deceased for now, Sango," Miroku said calmly, having settled on a fallen log to rest his feet. Ever since they'd left Sesshomaru's territory, it had been one attack after another. The more they pressed into the deep forest, the more oni and lower youkai they met. All running away from...something.

 

That fact was not lost on the monk; it sent a foreboding chill up his spine. Not that they'd met anything truly threatening, these were minor demons at best. It didn't matter; he was starting to feel a little sorry for Inuyasha. Every time they ran across something worthy of killing, Sango had beaten him to it.

 

Not that Miroku minded that much; he'd always thought she was at her loveliest when fighting a pitched battle. Exertion brought a flush to her cheeks and a sparkle to her eyes. She was indeed a thing of beauty when she fought, swinging Hiraikotsu gracefully through the air, nimbly leaping over obstacles in her pursuit of prey.

 

Except at moment she was covered head to toe in slimy, sticky demon guts and the sparkle in her eye had turned to a manic gleam. There was something feral and vicious about the way she'd been slaughtering the monsters that had come her way. Even if they'd run, especially if they'd run, she'd still hunted them down with a grim anger that was nothing like the Sango he'd come to know and cherish.

 

It was Sesshomaru's fault, the monk thought darkly, his fists clenching unconsciously as he thought of the chill demon lord. Miroku had been stunned when Sesshomaru had humiliated and rejected Sango in front of his entire fortress. He'd expected something like this to happen when they left, realizing by then that inuyoukai were possessive and passionate creatures. He had the bruises to prove it and he'd wondered to himself if the youkai prince was going to be amenable to his chosen companion's vocation.

 

The monk had come to terms with the fact that he was still more than a little in love with her, more than a little hurt by the fact that his feelings weren't returned. However, he had decided to be mature and supportive of the relationship. Sango had seen so little happiness in her life since they'd known her; he couldn't deny Sesshomaru had made the girl glow with loving adoration.

 

It was not himself. As disappointed as he was about the fact, Miroku would never deny Sango the chance for love, even with someone like Sesshomaru. Now that it was over and the demon had emotionally brutalized her by coldly ordering her out of his life...

 

He shook his head, if he continued that train of thought he was going to find himself marching back to that fortress to suck Sesshomaru into a void as black and cold as the demon's own soulless heart. It wasn't Sango's fault; he knew how deeply the girl felt about her duty as an exterminator. It wasn't something she could just lay aside like an old kimono that had gone out of style.

 

It was her heart, it was her passion, and it was her reason for fucking continuing to live after what Naraku had done to her! Miroku found his teeth had clenched again and if he didn't distract himself he was going to join Sango in her mutilation of the slug's corpse.

 

He was, quite frankly, pissed as hell at having to leave. There was no one to blame for what had happened but Inuyasha and Kouga. You'd think even those two would have sense enough to put their arguments aside for the moment, but no, they had to go and get in yet another pissing contest. Miroku shook his head, wondering about what hanyou and wolf demons used for brains. Kouga seriously needed to give up his obsession with Kagome. It was getting creepy.

 

And the girl had given her heart, and more, to Inuyasha. Couldn't he show some grace and know when to give up on a woman that obviously didn't love him, who had rejected his proposals, who didn't like being touched or grabbed whenever he saw her?

 

The monk's eyes widened suddenly as he followed the thought to its logical conclusion and he slunk down on the log and rested his head in his hands. Kouga wasn't the only idiot it seemed.

 

Kagome felt about as miserable as she could, watching as Sango kept carving up the dead youkai. The back of her throat was tight and her heart felt clenched. Shippou had watched Sango for a few moments before burying his face in Kagome's chest.

 

"I hate seeing her like this," he whispered.

 

"Me too," she answered and wished for the hundredth time there was something she could do. "Sango," she said, putting the kitsune aside so that she could approach the exterminator. "Sango, please," the girl murmured, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "You're starting to scare me."

 

It seemed as if her voice reached the other girl because Sango abruptly stopped herself, standing over the dead beast and shaking as both her katana and her long dagger continued to drip with blood. Her breath came in short, hard pants, her shoulders trembling with exertion. She'd lost herself for a few moments; all she'd felt was fury, something inside her snarling and raging for release. She hadn't meant to keep going like that, she'd thought she'd stop once she'd killed it.

 

Something had felt so satisfying about the way her katana had plunged over and over into the body. The blood stank, clinging to her hair and arms, smearing her with a sickening essence of death. And she'd reveled in it as she'd never done before. Although she'd always had pride for her abilities, enjoyed the hours of hard training her skills required, she'd never liked killing things. It was a grim part of her duty that brought her no pleasure, the only enjoyment she'd ever derived from slaying demons was the relief and gratitude of those she'd helped.

 

Her body was a tool, shaped by her father's teachings, her own long years of practice. It did what was required of it and Sango felt the satisfaction of knowing that some humans would sleep safely that night, untroubled and protected by the honor of the demon exterminators.

 

As a profession, it wasn't exactly glamorous; her father had flatly told her that most villages were too poor to pay much for their help. Sometimes it was thankless, hours of tracking the monsters to their lairs, destroying their nests and young before they could breed into more horrible things. Still, she was proud of her heritage, her family. It was a noble thing, a selfless thing to dedicate yourself to others.

 

Maybe a tiny part of her heart regretted that she hadn't had the carefree life of a young girl when she was growing up. Her perspective was that someone had to be the one to defend the weak; someone had to be the one to fight the things that lurked in darkness. She sighed heavily and looked up at the sky, not finding answers but quieting the tremble in her limbs.

 

Her hands had stopped shaking, she glad of that. The fury of whatever had taken her had receded and her nose wrinkled in disgust at the rank gore clinging to her body. She carefully wiped first the katana, then the dagger on the slightly sodden hide of the beast she'd slain. Her father had been rigorous about teaching her to care for her gear, realizing that many times his daughter would be on her own, out in the field and far from the village. Just because she no longer had a village to go back to was no reason for her to get sloppy.

 

How she wished for it, sometimes she still had dreams that she went home, walked through the gates of her village and everything was fine. She'd wave to her friends and her cousins, smiling at the others who had known her for her entire life. The dream gave her a feeling of safety and security, a sense of belonging. And the dream always ended the same, seeing her little brother come running up to her with his arms thrown wide for an embrace and that's how she knew that it was okay, that she was home.

 

She'd never thought to feel that way outside of dreams again. But he'd made her feel it. Feel loved, feel security and the wonder of another's tight embrace. Made her feel that her body was made just for pleasure, not for toil or killing, not the instrument of duty that she'd honed it into. Just a vessel for love, something beautiful in spite of its scars and capable of more than just the duty she'd been born to. She'd expected to carry on the family tradition, perfect her skills over and over, and train others to do the same.

 

She'd never expected to fall in love, not with a cruel demon prince.

 

She'd never expected to have his child.

 

Whirling around with a snarl of rage on her lips, she attacked the corpse again, this time kicking one of the heads until the skull bones fractured and more blood oozed from its shattered mouth. "You bastard!" she screamed, crushing it with her angry foot. "You son a bitch! I hate you, I fucking hate you! Why did you do this to me?"

 

Tears were pouring down her face and she doesn't even realize it, Kagome thought, watching as Sango renewed her assault. It made her heart ache. Miroku was studiously not looking at Sango either and Inuyasha was perched on the limb of a tree, an angry, helpless look on his face as he watched the young exterminator vent her rage. He watched as Kagome slowly approached her, taking Sango's shoulders and forcing her to turn away from the dead monster.

 

Sango leaned her head against Kagome and her gory fists clenched convulsively as she refused to give to her urge to wail and sob in her pain.

 

oOo

 

Kohaku didn't know what to say, he was frozen in shock and for a minute, he really didn't think at all. His mind still went blank like that now and then; he guessed it was from Naraku's tampering with his memories. Kohaku didn't mention it to anyone because it didn't matter to him. He liked the blank feeling sometimes; it was comforting and easy to just turn your back on painful memories.

 

He didn't want to think about what had just seen. Sesshomaru had hurt his sister. Part of him really didn't understand what was going on, he had tried to accept the fact that his older sister was in love with a youkai. It still seemed wrong, but if he made her happy, Kohaku couldn't complain as he wanted more than anything for his sister to be happy and lift the sadness from her eyes.

 

She wasn't happy now.

 

Rin's small hand slipped into his cold one, warming the numbness that was eating away at his flesh. That touch was real, he thought, letting her warm fingers pull him slowly back into awareness. On an instinctive level, the little girl wanted to comfort him. She didn't understand why Sesshomaru-sama hurt people sometimes, as beautiful as he was, it didn't make sense. Why would he want to do the things he did?

 

Kohaku didn't understand either, but his mind started aching with the knowledge. The demon had rejected her, told her to leave. The idea hurt Kohaku in the same way as a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. And now his sister was pregnant, she was going to have his child and still Sesshomaru told her never to come back to him.

 

The boy found himself scowling, angry and hurt. Sesshomaru had lied; he did not respect Sango, no more than he respected anyone's life. He was a pure youkai and Kohaku knew what that meant and what needed to be done.

 

Their father was dead, Sango had no one else to speak for her or defend her. It would have to be him.

 

Kohaku yanked his hand away from Rin, seeing the little girl's concerned face. Not for the first time he thought she looked older than her years. She was as playful and rambunctious as any girl her age that had been given the run of a youkai's fortress. He could see there was something darker in her eyes sometimes, something like unpleasant memories of her own.

 

Kohaku didn't like to talk about his past and neither did Rin. They understood each other very well about that.

 

He looked at the scene in the middle of the courtyard, Kagome still trying to comfort Sango while Miroku, Inuyasha and Kouga refused to look at each other. The youkai were walking around at the edges, giving the small cluster of strangers wary looks and withdrawing. Makiko had turned on her heel and went back to the fortress' kitchen, a determined set to her shoulders. Sesshomaru himself had disappeared up a tall stairway, gone with a flutter of snow-white fur and anger.

 

Taking a deep breath, the young exterminator started for that stair, knowing that he was going to do a very stupid thing, but his conscience, such as was left of it, wouldn't let him do otherwise.

 

A heavy hand on his shoulder made him stop before he could start up the stairs after the demon lord. Kohaku looked up and over his shoulder, meeting Jano's dark gaze and not being particularly surprised.

 

"Don't," the bodyguard said, his face expressionless but his voice gentle.

 

"I have to," he said, not flinching away from Jano's gaze.

 

Frowning, Jano pulled him away from the stairs and into a dark passage. "If you think getting yourself killed is going to help your sister, you're wrong," Jano said evenly. "She needs you to be there for her."

 

Kohaku felt an anger he'd never known before filling his body. He threw off Jano's hand, his fists clenching at his side. “What do you know about it?” he hissed, fury strangling his voice. “You're one of them, aren't you? Demons don't care about humans like me and Sango, they just use them and throw them away.”

 

“Sometimes, yes,” Jano murmured, feeling that making himself a target for Kohaku was much better than the boy trying to take on Sesshomaru when his lord was in such an unpredictable mood. Whatever had just happened, and he wasn't entirely sure what Sessh was thinking, he knew that there was more to it. If Sango had meant nothing to him, he wouldn't have cared that she left.

 

And damn him, he knew the demon better than that. He knew Sesshomaru better than anyone else except maybe Naota, but it had been nearly a century since his lord's hanyou cousin had come to the fortress.

 

She had just been an amusement that he was now finished with? Please. The baby growing inside of her was proof that Sesshomaru had felt some kind of attachment, something that went far beyond only lust for a mortal's body.

 

“Kohaku,” he said slowly, trying to find the right words. “I'm sorry about what just happened, I understand that you're hurt and angry.”

 

“Do you?” the boy broke in. Now that he'd let the anger inside of him have a voice, he found he couldn't bottle it back up. Sesshomaru was just like Naraku; he'd done to Sango what Naraku had done to him. It was no different, just that Sesshomaru had pretended to be nice about it when he used his sister.

 

That made Kohaku sick, sick in his heart because he knew that Sango had believed that the demon really cared about her. She'd given him her heart and Sesshomaru had just discarded it on a youkai's whim.

 

He fixed Jano with his anger. “I hate you,” he said coldly. “You've been pretending to be my friend, my sister's friend, since we came here. Don't lie to me anymore, Jano.”

 

To his surprise, the youkai knelt down on one knee and looked him right in the eye. “I haven't pretended anything, Kohaku. I don't have any way to make you believe that.”

 

“I'm leaving,” Kohaku muttered, turning away from Jano's regret. “I don't have to stay here, I'm going with my sister.”

 

“Do you really want to die that badly?” Jano asked in a wistful tone. “First you want to challenge Sessh, knowing that he'd destroy you. Now you want to leave even though you know it could mean your death. Will dying help Sango? Will it change anything? I thought you were stronger than this, Kohaku.”

 

“Shut up,” the boy said, his head down and his hair hiding his eyes. “Don't say anything about my sister, demon.”

 

“Maybe we're wrong about you,” Jano whispered. “Maybe it was easier to be Naraku's tool and have no will, no feelings of your own. Are you ashamed of that, Kohaku? Do you want to go back to Naraku so badly that you'd die to do it?”

 

“You shut up!” Kohaku roared, flinging himself at Jano. His smaller fists crashed against the demon's chest and face. Jano kept still, letting the boy hit him over and over to vent his feelings. Kohaku was crying, something hateful seeping in his heart as he hit Jano.

 

In his mind, he wasn't hitting Jano; he was tearing Naraku, the demon who had hurt him and his sister so badly. He was ashamed, ashamed that part of him didn't want to be free when he already knew the bliss of ignorance. He hit and kicked and clawed at Jano until he was exhausted, shaking and nearly fell.

 

Jano caught him, standing up and holding the human boy tight against his chest. Kohaku sobbed into Jano's shoulder, his arms around the youkai's neck as the bodyguard held him and soothed him with soft words. Jano had never thought much of having young of his own, but this boy's pain had touched him somehow, igniting protective instincts. He'd often thought that Kohaku was constantly walking an emotional edge, the depths of despair and shame on one side of the chasm, hope on the other.

 

No wonder he couldn't trust, how could anyone expect him to trust again after the way he'd been violated?

 

With a sigh that counted his many years, Jano set the boy back on his feet and firmly took his shoulders. “I haven't lied to you, Kohaku,” he said, holding the boy's eyes with his own. “I promise that I am your friend and your sister's too. You have to trust me on that. And you are not leaving this fortress, not until I am personally sure that it won't mean your death. I don't want to be the one to tell your sister that you died because of Sesshomaru being a pigheaded fool. He's in love with her, even if he can't admit it to himself.”

 

Kohaku's eyes had widened at his words. “You think so?” he asked in a tiny voice. “He really…wasn't using her just to hurt her and betray her?”

 

Jano grinned. “If he was, he'll have to answer to her brother, won't he? The honor of the youkai exterminators is not something to be cast aside lightly, not even by Sesshomaru.”

 

oOo

 

Kagome sighed, tired as she was, the girl knew that Sango needed her. Inuyasha and Miroku were no help right now, not exactly their fault, but Kagome knew that Sango needed to be treated gently and given some time to deal with her tortured emotions. The last thing she needed was to hear anyone saying I told you so.

 

As soon as Miroku finished disposing of what was left of the youkai Sango had slain, Kagome put her arm around the girl's waist and drew to her to the side. “You need a bath,” she said in a lightly unconcerned voice. “No offense Sango, but no one will get any sleep unless we do something about the way you smell.”

 

“That's for damned sure,” Inuyasha muttered, still grumpy about missing out on his chance with the demon. Kagome shot him a look that made him shut his mouth and turn away before she could toast him with her gaze.

 

“Okay,” Sango said in a dull, lifeless voice. No reason they should suffer because I stink, she thought as Kagome gathered her things and pulled her away. She didn't protest as her friend took her to a hot spring and started to work on the ties that held Sango's armor to her body.

 

Sango smiled slightly and help Kagome as the other girl fumbled with the unfamiliar fastenings. “I can do it,” she smiled softly. Kagome snorted at her, turning around and taking a brush from her bag.

 

“I know that,” the younger girl answered. “Sometimes we all need a little help. Did you know that you've got guts in your hair? That's really gross.”

 

Sango let her long hair down, shaking it back over her shoulders and stepping into the pleasantly warm water. Kagome had already stripped to her skin and was muttering over her choice of bottles.

 

“Well, I don't know,” she said, her eyes twinkling at Sango. “You want your hair to smell like mango and coconut or English tea roses?”

 

“I don't know what an English tea rose is,” Sango offered, sinking up to her shoulders in the warm current. She watched as Kagome grabbed up her clothes and plunked them downstream, securing them with rocks so they wouldn't float away. The girl splashed back to her, grinning.

 

“You know, Sango,” she said with a devilish grin. “I think even Miroku won't have the guts to peep at us after the way you just dismembered that demon.”

 

Sango yawned, the hot water making her feel sleepy. “He doesn't have that much sense, he'll peep if he thinks about it.”

 

Kagome settled herself on a rock behind Sango and started to lather the other girl's hair. “Come on,” Sango said, protesting. “I can do it myself.”

 

“Maybe I want you to do mine after this,” Kagome answered archly.

 

Sango closed her eyes as Kagome fingers worked through the tangles and clumps in her hair. “Deal,” she said at last. One thing she had learned over the past couple years, it was pointless to argue with Kagome Higurashi when she was set on something. Even stubborn half demons lost out against her will, a mere human like Sango knew better than to fight.

 

Kagome hesitated, wondering if Sango was ready to talk about it or not. Her hands continued to massage the other girl's scalp when she leaned closer to her friend. “Sango,” she murmured. “Are you ready to…”

 

“There's nothing to talk about, Kagome.” Sango's voice startled her; it was hard and brittle, cold as ice. “I made a mistake. That's all.”

 

That's all, my ass, Kagome thought, ducking Sango's head to rinse out the suds. She put the shampoo in the exterminator's hand and swam around her, settling down between Sango's knees so that she could wash her hair. As the exterminator started to scrub her head, Kagome closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation.

 

“You were in love with him Sango.”

 

The hands paused, and then resumed their work. “Yes,” Sango said, biting off the word like it was bitter. “I was in love with him. I'm not anymore. It's over.”

 

“You're pregnant,” Kagome said. Sango's nails bit into her skin. “Hey!”

 

“Sorry,” Sango murmured. Pregnant. It seemed too much to think about, Sango hardly dared to breathe when she did think about it. Pregnant. With a youkai's baby. What would her father have said?

 

He'd have said you deserved what you got for letting him touch you, the voice in the back of her mind said darkly. You got what every other stupid human woman had gotten, you got hurt. He didn't ever give a damn about you. Youkai like that can't love, they don't care and when they do take mates, they don't take demon exterminators for them.

 

The entire fortress had probably been laughing about it, watching as their lord made a human fall in love with him. Why had she ever believed it? Why had she ever thought that someone like Sesshomaru, a pure blood youkai prince of all things, lord of his people and darkness itself, could ever want to be with her?

 

It made her ill, how stupid she'd been. In fact, she really felt very sick right now. There was a lingering aroma of blood in the air, it was overwhelming her. She could smell everything, the sickly sweetness of Kagome's shampoo, the rotting of vegetation in the water, animals that had left their marks in the forest. Her breath got stuck in her throat and Sango suddenly shoved Kagome out of the way so she could scramble out of the hot spring and fall to her knees and retch.

 

She vomited until everything in her stomach from breakfast was now in front of her and still she couldn't stop. Her body heaved painfully, trying to expel some foreign invader of her system. Sango thought that if she didn't stop soon, she would almost surely tear herself apart. It couldn't be good for the baby. Hot tears streaked her face and mixed with the bile on her chin.

 

My baby, she thought, feeling a tight knot in her chest start to unfold.

 

I don't care that he doesn't want me, I don't care that he doesn't want this baby now, she lied to herself. It was a joke to him; make a demon exterminator carry a demon's child. She knew what Sesshomaru thought about hanyou and felt her heart start to ice over, realizing that he'd never intended to keep her around long enough for the baby to be born. He didn't want her and he didn't want the child, it would be up to her to raise their son or daughter alone.

 

She felt Kagome standing behind her, the girl's soft hand pulling her hair back and Sango sat back on her knees, wiping her face. She looked up and saw Kagome was crying too.

 

“I don't know what to say,” the girl blubbered, squeezing Sango's hands. “I don't know what to do to help you. But I promise, you don't have to go through this alone. I'll be there for you, so will Inuyasha and Miroku. Sango, please believe me. You aren't alone.”

 

We must look a sight, the exterminator thought. Two naked women sitting next to a hot spring and crying. She was starting to shiver too and stood up, taking Kagome with her. “Let's get back in the water before we get a chill,” she said. Her free hand wrapped protectively over her abdomen.

 

“All this crying and throwing up isn't good for my baby.”

 

oOo

 

Darkness walked in the forest, a terrible light in his eyes. He looked to the sky, snarling the stars that dared shine upon him. He wanted it dark, he wanted blackness to surround his body like a cocoon and take him away. His mind was a burning, seething pit of anger and hunger. The village hadn't been enough. Humans were no better than animals to his need, no matter how many he devoured it barely slaked his rage.

 

He wanted demon blood and the blackness that once was a living dog demon growled his fury. The one who compelled him, but did not entirely control him, had denied him what he needed. He had forced him to turn away from the wolf demon in the end, barely getting a taste of him.

 

“Wait for it,” the one who called himself Naraku said. “This wolf needs to live a little longer, I need him to carry a message for me.”

 

The darkness didn't care, the insanity didn't care. He didn't care what this Naraku planned or plotted. It meant nothing to one who had seen hell and called it home.

 

He was angry that he'd been forced back to this imperfect world, his body resurrected and his mind compelled by some foul spell. He didn't even remember his own name but he knew ancient magic when it snared him, feeling the bonds whispering in his veins. He did not thank Naraku for this un-life, this burning anger and pain that were his existence.

 

He sat down, crouching really, and stared at his hands. His fingers were dead white with black claws, powerful and large enough to crush a human's skull with one hand. He had been made for death, even as a living man he'd known that. Once again, the demon tried to remember. Who was he really? What did it mean that he was here?

 

It hurt to try and think about it, but images moving too fast to recognize blurred in his mind. Much death, much destruction, much cruel amusement to pass the time. Sometimes he thought he recognized something, a place, the face of another person, but the recognition passed too quickly for him to understand it.

 

A vision kept haunting him, when he turned to look over his shoulder, paranoid as he was trapped in confusion and hate; he thought he saw a child trying to follow him. A white haired child.

 

It made him angry that the child didn't stay, angry that it vanished before he could question it. And it brought a feeling of sadness, something he regretted but couldn't remember. He hated it for making him feel like that and still he longed to look for it again. It had the answer to the question he couldn't remember how to ask. Feeling much abused, the infernal creature rested his head against his knees and tried to quiet the burning inside him.

 

A soft rustle of a step caught his attention, his head coming up in a predatory alertness. He crouched and crept through the trees, his nose twitching at the smell of warm human flesh. A sadistic smile crossed his face as he watched her, a young human woman alone in the forest, picking wild herbs and putting them in a basket.

 

He must be near another village, which was good. He was hungry as always.

 

The girl stood and picked up her basket, humming to herself and she turned down the path, not knowing of her danger or the thing that watched her greedily. He licked his lips, humans were good to play with, they made amusing sounds when they died and he remembered suddenly that females were good for more than just eating.

 

A dark chuckle that sounded like terror itself given voice came from him and he dropped onto the path to follow the woman. She would do for now and her village would satisfy him later. He was the thing in the darkness they feared, he was hatred given form and by the gods themselves, every living creature on the face of this land would be his to devour. Even Naraku. Even the white haired child he dreamed of and wanted for his own.

 

The demon that raised him from death didn't understand what he had done or that each soul he shredded made him stronger and more filled with fury. He was hatred itself, darkness come to life and even as he grabbed the girl, spinning her around to face him and drinking in her terrified scream, he knew that he couldn't stop even if he wanted to.

 

His claw traced her lips as he pulled her to his mouth and held the trembling little body against him. His voice was oil mixed with shattered glass as he mockingly whispered into her ear the only name he ever gave his victims.

 

“My love.”