InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Be Cursed ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

It had been two days since Kikyou had joined the group and Kagome had made her decision to let Inuyasha have her. If he could so easily replace the trust and effort Kagome had put into their relationship then he never really cared about her in the first place.

 

At first, that realization had stung like rubbing alcohol on a paper cut. Now -though just two days later - it didn't hurt quite so much. She wasn't numb to the pain as she had been the day Inuyasha made his choice to let Kikyou travel with them; now the pain seemed to be fading away. Of course, that void was rapidly being filled with the pain in her soul.

 

Damn but she hated being so close to the undead priestess.

 

The soul that Kikyou had taken a piece of was not happy about being incomplete and that usually put a certain amount of strain on Kagome; however when the day before, the day of and the day after the new moon came around, the pain would intensify regardless of whether or not Kikyou was even within range.

 

The new moon was three days away and already she had the tearing sensation of her soul being forcefully torn from her body and she cringed inside when thinking about how she would even survive this time with Kikyou actually being in the same campsite. Not to mention that Inuyasha was going to be human; not that it mattered anymore anyway…he would always go to Kikyou's side.

 

Even when Kagome was the one that needed protecting.

 

Such was seemingly going to be the case today, Kagome noted ruefully. Just yesterday they had come upon a village with the rumor of a shard (or more) being used by a badger youkai towards the west. As goes the flow of things, the group set off for the western territories once more.

 

Naturally, being so close to Sesshoumaru's domain had put Inuyasha into a rather foul mood and he had been a slave driver since leaving the village. Unnaturally, was what Kagome had felt at hearing they would be traveling close to the west and close to Sesshoumaru. Although she really did want to see Rin again and give her the gift she had brought for the adorable child, for some reason she was also anxious to see the Taiyoukai.

 

Briefly, she wondered whether it was because she was ready and eager to start on this new destiny of hers…or if it was because she wanted to have time with the Demon Lord. Admittedly, it was due to both. She was tired of being used and with whatever new path lay ahead of her, she was sure it wasn't just the role of another tool.

 

That…and the more she thought about the apparently cold and stoic youkai, the more she wanted to see if he was really so detached. Truthfully? Now that she had been blessed with the time and the circumstances to study what she knew of the demon, she was sure there was far more that lurked beneath that icy façade he so proudly displayed to the world.

 

In fact, the miko knew that there were far more emotions hidden in that demon's soul than anyone - maybe even said demon himself - knew about. And for once for as long as she could remember, Kagome wanted to be selfish.

 

She wanted to be the one to find them.

 

It was irrational she knew and she was fairly certain she could lose her head for daring to try and get so close to him. His arm was her trump card. She knew how proud Sesshoumaru was and she was sure he would feel indebted to her. Momentarily she had felt guilty about doing such a thing but the feeling washed away soon enough. After all, if he wanted to display his pride and honor like a flag, then it wasn't her fault if he was bound to it.

 

The futuristic miko had been hoping to run into the Western Lord before they had to fight the rumored demon; however Fate wasn't on her side today. Or any other day, she thought sardonically.

 

The Inu-tachi had just reached a good three miles from the village when Kagome felt the tell-tale prickle of jewel shards. She had told Inuyasha that there were three fragments heading in their general direction at a moderate pace that was swiftly picking up. The hanyou had pulled Tetsusaiga free from its scabbard, the rusted katana growing in a flash of golden light into the gleaming fang of his father.

 

Sango, Miroku and a battle ready Kirara had formed a protective barrier in front of Kagome and Shippou while Kikyou stood off to the side, watching the group dispassionately. A low growl came from the inu-hanyou and the fire neko as not one but two badger youkai emerged from the trees and into the meadow where they had stopped.

 

“Inuyasha! The larger one has two shards in its right paw and the other has one in its forehead!” Kagome yelled at the half-demon while sliding an arrow from the quiver on her back and notching it to her bow.

 

“I'm on it!” Said hanyou snarled as he leaped in the air, the Tetsusaiga raised high over his head. As soon as gravity started pulling him down, the hanyou braced the sword in his clawed hands and pivoted in the air slightly to aim at the larger demon. It seemed in times like these, that Inuyasha always forgot how much difference there was between normal youkai…and shard possessed youkai.

 

He was reacquainted with that fact as soon as he was in reaching distance of the badger. Just as he was bringing the mighty fang down to slash at the youkai, the hulking animal moved its mighty, Shikon enforced paw to grasp a hold of the Tetsusaiga and throw Inuyasha to the other edge of the clearing. The smaller of the two demons had moved in on the Taijiya and the houshi, making both the Hiraikotsu and the Kazaana virtually useless. Kagome's arrows were rendered worthless as well for the badger kept directing and trapping her friends in front of it as a shield.

 

Kikyou still stood by watching.

 

The smaller badger took one swipe at the monk, the slayer and the neko with a mighty paw and the trio was thrown away to land near the newly recovering Inuyasha. Twin roars ripped free of the demons' throats as they charged at the priestesses. Kikyou hadn't even had her bow drawn and Kagome was already turning to cover Shippou with her body as a loud growl was heard from somewhere on the other side of the demons.

 

“Kikyou!” Inuyasha growled, forcing his body to stand and jamming the Tetsusaiga back into its sheath. As soon as he was stable on his feet, he shot into the air and landed just to the side of the undead priestess before whisking her up in the safety of his arms and darting off to the side away from battle.

 

Kagome wasn't so lucky for while the smaller badger was standing confused as to where its prey had gone, the larger one was already on the miko and Kagome could feel the beasts' razor sharp talons ripping through the flesh on her back. She whimpered in the back of her throat as tears of immense pain surfaced in her eyes. Inuyasha never cared about me.

 

Shippou had felt his mother wrap her body around his and already knew that something bad was going to happen. When Inuyasha's scream for the corpse had reached his ears the fox wanted to jump free of his mother's protective embrace and chew on the hanyou's ears until they were no more. The whimper of pain that came from Kagome along with the overwhelming scent of her blood and tears reached his sensitive nose and he started to panic.

 

“Momma?” he said softly while patting her cheek, “What is it?”

 

A weak and pain filled smile shone back at him though Kagome's eyes were a stormy blue-grey with intense pain. “I'll…be fine…sweetie. Can you…please…be quiet for now?”

 

Leaf green eyes welled with tears upon hearing the raspy sound of her once melodious voice. Her words sounded more like a death gurgle to the young fox and he clutched at the front of her kimono as tightly as he could, his tiny claws tearing small holes in the delicate silk, as he nodded his head `yes' and cried into her chest.

 

Another swipe had more of the flesh from her back tearing and spilling blood down the backs of her legs and yet she couldn't scream…couldn't think…couldn't live beyond anything other than making sure Shippou was unharmed. Kagome knew she was dying…she could feel several ribs crack and give way under the first assault of the demons claws and she couldn't seem to get enough air into her lungs through the pain.

 

She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes against the agony that flared bright and hot in her body, wracking the slender frame with tremors. The tingle of her miko powers crept over her skin in waves as if it was trying in vain to sew up the flesh and staunch the flow of blood. Vaguely, she heard Shippou still crying and the voices of Miroku and Sango screaming her name as they tried to distract the demon from causing her further harm.

 

All at once, Kagome felt the presence of the demon at her back disappear and the sickly sweet smell of poison drifted into her nose. Suddenly she was rolled gently to the side and then down onto her back. She was expecting intense pain from the action of her wounded flesh coming into contact with anything at all and was deeply surprised when instead she felt a strong arm holding her across the backs of her shoulders.

 

Gasping for breath and fighting the urge to simply faint dead away, Kagome struggled to open her eyes and when she did, she was shocked at who she saw.

 

“S-Sesshoumaru?” She whispered hoarsely, her throat burning from being unable to scream out her pain even as she choked and coughed. Pulling her hand away from her mouth her eyes widened at seeing the appendage coated in blood.

 

~*~

 

The morning had come bright and early for the Taiyoukais' entourage and Rin was up with the sun, ready to close the distance between her and her Kagome-chan. Sesshoumaru had told her they would reach the miko today and the child was nearly hopping on her feet in her joy. It hadn't really been all that long since the last time she had seen the older girl but Rin had already started missing her and was so anxious to give the miko her present that she could hardly contain her excitement.

 

The young girl had packed up camp after eating breakfast and now sat atop AhUn while waiting for Sesshoumaru to direct them. The Demon Lord stood silently, his nose raised to the air and taking in delicate sniffs, separating all the elements and looking for the smell that was only Kagome as he stretched his senses, searching for her aura. He was surprised and oddly happy to find it was coming towards him. Just as he was about to take the first step southeast, he felt her aura stop entirely.

 

He knew they were engaged in a battle; most likely for jewel shards.

 

Muscles and tendons slid and snapped as his lithe frame tensed, taking more rapid and shallow breaths of the air to pinpoint his half-brother and the miko's direction. There! He knew exactly where she was and from the scents invading her normally pleasant smell and aura, he knew he had little time to get to her.

 

Fortunately, he was fast.

 

“Jaken, Rin stay here.” He said over his shoulder before taking off in a blur of silver and white, not even bothering to wait for a reply.

 

As he neared her position, his delicate inu nose was assaulted by the smells of battle, his half-brother's companions and the stench of badger youkai. A gentle shift in the wind brought another scent to his nose that caused an unusual - and wholly unpleasant - clenching feeling in his gut. Kagome was bleeding, badly from the amount of her blood on the air, and he could already smell the scent of death twisting nauseatingly around her normally pleasant scent.

 

The great Demon Lord soon found himself just at the edge of a clearing and was clearly able to see the battle and he growled low in his throat at what he saw. The monk and the slayer were trying to get a rather large looking badger demon to back away from a broken and bleeding form curled on the ground. A quick glance around the area granted him with the site of his disgrace of a sibling clutching the clay miko to his chest, seemingly unaware of the still raging battle.

 

Then it struck him: if Inuyasha was holding the undead priestess…where was Kagome? He raised his nose to the air once more and the overwhelming coppery tang of her blood nearly drove him to his knees. Taking another quick glance around the area, he found he didn't see the girl in question anywhere and her kit was gone as well. Bright golden eyes narrowed at the crumpled form in front of the attacking demon and as the beast made its' second slash through what looked to be a body, the aroma of Kagome's blood reached him.

 

He became frozen for a moment under the onslaught of rather curious - and supposedly long forgotten - feelings. He didn't want her to be hurt, he realized, though he didn't know why and just seeing that fool that shared his blood cradling something that wasn't even alive while a very real miko was already dying angered him beyond reason. He was torn in indecision; caught between killing the youkai attacking the miko or killing the whelp that was supposed to be protecting said miko.

 

A whimper of pain, soft and almost inaudible, did away with his uncertainty and he was out of the trees in a flurry of silver hair and white silk. Just as the brute was rearing its mighty arm back for another pass at the bloodied miko Sesshoumaru stepped between the two and effectively cut the worthless beast into chunks with a few flicks of his poisonous whip.

 

With an unnoticed glare to the half-breed, the Western Lord focused on Kagome and soon had her rolled over and was cradling her with his arm, supporting her slight weight with his strong arm wrapped across the backs of her shoulders. He watched with baited breath as her pale eyelids fluttered, the sooty lashes looking like dark crescent moons against her alabaster cheeks, before opening to reveal once bright sapphire eyes dulled to a slate grey with agony.

 

At the utterance of his name and a rather violent cough, he snapped back into reality in time to see the miko pull her hand away from her mouth, covered in blood. Hastily, she swiped the back of the same hand once more across her lips and then wiped the crimson liquid on the folds of her kimono. At first, he was confused by her actions, but when the next words tumbled from her lips, he understood.

 

“Shippou…is he…okay?” She queried wearily, her body already shutting down from the loss of blood. He was amazed that she was so close to dying and all she could think of was the pup she had suffered for and his well-being.

 

He nodded his head in answer, “He is fine. Why aren't your powers healing you?”

 

Her eyes clouded over a moment as a wave of pain washed over her body and she convulsed in his arms. “They're…they're trying. I'm…just too far gone…they can't…heal me fast enough.”

 

She was crying now, tears welled in her eyes and spilled slowly down her cheeks though no sound left her throat. She didn't want to die, not yet. There was so much she had to do still! And Shippou…poor Shippou. How could she leave him all alone again? Her heart twisted in her chest at the thought of the poor little fox being left without a mother again. Kagome could only hope that Sango and Miroku would take care of him.

 

In a torturously slow motion, one dainty, soft hand came up and caressed the magenta stripes that graced the inuyoukai's high cheekbones and instead of flinching away or becoming angered, Sesshoumaru felt a small amount of comfort in her touch. A broken whisper rang in his ears as the warm appendage slowly left his cheek, “Thank you…for trying Sesshoumaru.”

 

Pale eyelids slid closed over pained blue-grey eyes and the Taiyoukai could hear her heartbeat slowing in her chest. She was losing too much blood and although he could feel her miko energy striving to save her, he knew it was a losing battle. The blood flow had to be stopped if she even had a chance to live. Briefly, he entertained the idea of simply letting her pass on and then resurrecting her with the Tenseiga, however that notion was ruthlessly snuffed out when the scent of the undead priestess wafted into his nose.

 

If Kagome died, the abominations' soul stealers would swoop in and steal the soul before he could put his sword to use. He had to be able to see the harbingers of death before he could kill them and restore life but he knew that the Shinidamachuu would simply remove her soul from her body.

 

Her chest still rose and fell, albeit slowly, and her breathing was shallow and labored. It was easy for Sesshoumaru to feel her lungs rattle against his arm at her back before settling her down against his tail and standing. Her friends sat around the female in shock, none of them believing that the gentle miko could die in such a way. They were unprepared for such a thing and the grief they all felt at the impending loss of such a wonderful person was worn plainly on their faces. The kitsune was by far the worst of them; he simply curled into her hair, twisting the long ebony strands in his tiny hands and crying silent tears for the woman who meant the world to him.

 

Miroku caught the Demon Lord's gaze with tear-filled violet eyes, “Can you heal her? With the Tenseiga?”

 

The slayer's hopeful eyes turned towards him as well and for once Sesshoumaru felt guilty that he had to dash the hopes of humans. “No I cannot. The Tenseiga can merely restore a soul to a body after death. To my knowledge, it has never simply healed and the beast that ripped her open had some form of blood thinner in its claws.”

 

Immense pain and heartbreak flooded orbs of mahogany and violet and Sesshoumaru himself even felt a sense of loss, though he wasn't sure why. For some reason, he didn't want to see Kagome die and it wasn't just because he knew she was needed to rid the Japan of the filth known as Naraku. No…he wanted her to live because…because she deserved to live as much as Rin had. However, her wounds were too great and she was bleeding too badly for him to help.

 

Had her injuries been more minor or had she not lost so much blood, he would've sealed her flesh himself. While it was true that his saliva possessed great healing abilities, it was also extremely toxic. Normally, the amount of toxins wouldn't harm someone in his humanoid form but her wounds were so great and she was so close to gone that her body wouldn't be able to handle it.

 

For the first time in centuries, The Great Taiyoukai of the Western Territories felt remorse. He had stayed at the sidelines watching the young miko in his curiosity for too long without action. He knew that he most likely could've simply talked to the miko and she would have answered his questions. Instead, he let his pride get the better of him and now the enigma that was Kagome was fading before his eyes.

 

The amount of salt in the air rose drastically as the tiny miko's friends cried their grief. He almost felt out of place in the situation because he had never known of any one person to be loved so deeply by so many. And yet, the one that Kagome had loved deeply didn't even appear to be aware of her impending death. Lifting his troubled golden gaze from the heartbreaking scene, he focused on the hanyou and the clay miko.

 

While Inuyasha seemed to only be focused on Kikyou and not even truly aware of what was going on, Kikyou was watching Kagome like a hawk with a cruel smirk twisting her cold lips. That bitch was waiting for Kagome to die! The notion made him unbelievably angry and he fought the urge to stalk straight up to that worthless excuse of a being and send her straight to hell himself.

 

Disgusted, he removed his eyes from the pair and returned his gaze to Kagome. Watching the color drain from her perfect, creamy skin as the blood oozed out of the gashes on her back was nearly enough to make the proud youkai wretch and the scent of death that had never before even been detectable was steadily becoming more powerful. He knew she didn't have long.

 

Suddenly, there was a pulse at his side in time with his heartbeat and a voice sounded in his head.

 

Save her.

 

Again, the pulse came and when Sesshoumaru looked to his left side, he saw a pale blue glow coming from the Tenseiga.

 

Save her.

 

He wanted to growl at the voice in his head and scream out his frustrations. Damn that worthless blade! It was already preparing to restore her soul to her body and it wouldn't even matter.

 

Save her.

 

The pulse was stronger this time, sending a tiny shockwave of power through his body from where the sword rested against his hip.

 

Save Kagome.

 

Didn't it understand?! She was lost to them all! He growled outright this time, and snapped the fang from its sheath, fully intending to throw the useless sword as far from him as he could. But once the blade was completely free of the scabbard, the blue glow grew stronger and another pulse of power sang through his body.

 

Save Kagome now!

 

Sesshoumaru looked at the blade somewhat incredulously, not daring to believe that he could indeed heal the miko. The insistence of the Tenseiga was strong and the longer he stood there motionless, the harder the jolts of power became. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to at least try, he stepped closer to the grieving humans.

 

“Move now.”

 

They only gave him a cursory glance before scrambling away from the Demon Lord while the kitsune remained oblivious still buried in long raven locks. He raised the gleaming fang above his head, ready to slice down across the body of the miko when a growl caused him to turn his head.

 

It was as if a light had been turned on inside Inuyasha's head and he looked up to see Kagome unmoving and bleeding on the ground with his bastard brother standing over her, sword drawn and raised. He jumped from his sitting position causing Kikyou to tumble harshly to the ground and glared at the monk and slayer before growling.

 

“What the fuck is going on here? Sango! Miroku! Why the fuck are you letting that bastard so close to Kagome?”

 

Sesshoumaru sent daggers of rage at the hanyou through narrowed golden eyes as the Taijiya and houshi stood from the ground and returned the glare from their friend.

 

“What do you care? You could have saved Kagome from even going through this! You chose to save the dead and let the living die!” Sango snarled at the shocked hanyou, her eyes glinting dangerously in her anger and pain as her hand tightened its grip on the Hiraikotsu strapped to her back.

 

The hanyou recoiled as if he had been slapped and his eyes darted from one friend to another and down to the lifeless form of Kagome. What had he done? He looked back at where he had been sitting and saw Kikyou standing there watching the scene play out with hard, cold eyes. The scent of dead youkai filled his senses along with the spilled blood of the young miko and his eyes went wide.

 

Snapping his attention back to his companions, he snarled at Sesshoumaru while stalking forward, “Leave her the fuck alone you ass!”

 

Just as he came upon them, Miroku slipped his hand into his robes and withdrew a sacred sutra. Chanting softly and quickly under his breath, he watched as the slip of paper glowed before slapping it onto the hanyou's forehead.

 

He snarled and snapped his jaws but was unable to move or speak and Miroku turned back to the Demon Lord, “Please Lord Sesshoumaru…if there is something you can do, do it. That ofuda won't hold him forever.”

 

Not feeling even the least bit affronted about being ordered about by a human - which he only slightly wondered at - he turned his amber eyes back to Kagome and with one swift swing, brought the Tenseiga across her body.

 

Faintly, he could smell her blood slowing its flow and the tingle of her miko energy seemed to grow slightly stronger but she was still fading.

 

Another slice of the sword yielded the same results but the glow of the Tenseiga seemed to become greater.

 

You can save Kagome.

 

Finally, after an additional three downward strokes of the life giving fang, the scent of fresh blood was no more and Sesshoumaru could hear the miko's heartbeat speed back up and the pace and depth of her breathing improved. He watched her closely as the rise and fall of her chest steadied and her eyelids fluttered. Kneeling down next to her still pale form, he lifted her from the ground slightly to check her wounds.

 

He was beyond pleased to note that they were all healed, though they would definitely scar, and suddenly his shoulders felt lighter. The Tenseiga hadn't proved worthless after all and he felt a certain…happiness…tingle through his body when he heard a soft groan come from the fragile body of Kagome. Leaning her back to rest on his tail once more, he watched her come into wakefulness.

 

Brilliant sapphire eyes slowly opened and the first thing Kagome could make out was a beautiful silver and white being leaning over her. She remembered being nearly torn in two by the youkai and was now sure she had died and gone to heaven and was now seeing an angel waiting to greet her at the ivory gates. However, that notion was trampled ruthlessly when she moved slightly and felt pain flare through her body.

 

As her eyes focused more on the form in front of her, Kagome was surprised to see it was Sesshoumaru. “What happened?”

 

The barest hint of a smile curled the Taiyoukai's pale lips, “You nearly died.”

 

She merely nodded her head and gave him a weak smile, “I don't know how you did it, but thank you Sesshoumaru-sama.”

 

For a reason unknown to him, Kagome's use of an honorary title with him sounded wrong but before he could contemplate the feeling further, he scooped her weary body into his arm and steadied her slight weight against his chest with his tail. The kitsune still clung to her desperately, whispering quiet declarations of love for the miko and thanks for the Demon Lord.

 

Walking away from the gruesome scene of an almost tragic death, Sesshoumaru called over his shoulder to the still stunned friends of Kagome, “My entourage has made camp this way.”

 

Numbly, Miroku and Sango gathered up Kagome's pack and weaponry and followed after the Taiyoukai, not even sparing the still immobilized hanyou a second glance.