InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tomaru's Story ❯ Chapter 10

Chapter 10- WARNING! CHARACTER DEATH!

 

Kagome relaxed in the steaming hot water, her thoughts drifting to Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. Would the powerful inu-youkai be able to beat his half-brother and escape unscathed? Or would he end up dead, with no one to take over the role of Lord of the Western Lands?

 

Perhaps Inuyasha would change back and Sesshoumaru wouldn't need to kill him. Should she hold on to that feeble hope?

 

She sighed. Her chest hurt. The pain that gripped her heart hadn't let go since Inuyasha turned on her, furious that she had used the Shikon no Tama to save his life. For Kami's sake- he wanted to kill me!

 

Sniffing miserably, she rubbed some scented soap on a cloth and scrubbed the dirt off her skin.

 

I thought he loved me… he said he did, didn't he? Or did he only say that because he thought he was dying?

 

Realization sunk in as she washed. It hurt- more than any wound she had received at the hands of countless youkai they had slain. It was enough to make her want to curl up and die.

 

He really didn't love me… I was just a jewel shard finder. He only loved Kikyou, and if he couldn't have her, then he wouldn't have anybody.

 

A sudden sense of intense loss overcame Kagome and she sat straight up in the hot water. Looking over her shoulder, her gaze met the plain walls of the hot spring's room, but she seemed to see beyond it.

 

It was if something had been removed from her. She knew. In that instant she knew it was over.

 

Sesshoumaru had succeeded in his mission. Sengoku Jidai was safe from the vicious hanyou on the warpath.

 

Tears filled her eyes and poured down her cheeks to delicately drip in the hot water. Throwing her arms over the edge of the spring, she lay her head down on her forearms and sobbed, her heart breaking.

 

Inuyasha was gone.

 

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The great tai-youkai flew home, weary beyond his own belief. Not that he would show it, of course, but still, he was tired. It had taken everything in him to bring that Kaze no Kizu down on his half-brother and the memory would haunt him for a long, long time.

 

The Kaze no Kizu hit Inuyasha at point-blank range. The crazed hanyou's crimson eyes widened as the attack blew him backwards over a hundred yards from where Sesshoumaru stood.

 

He lay unmoving as the tai-youkai walked over to his brother's mangled remains. The blast had ripped his clothing and body apart and sliced into his skin. Blood began to pool underneath his prone form, staining the grass.

 

As death approached the hanyou once more, Inuyasha's crimson gaze shifted back to gold and his youkai traits disappeared.

 

His vision was fading- that much was obvious. His eyes couldn't seem to focus.

 

Sesshoumaru stared down at his dying brother with his usual expressionless mask. Inuyasha lifted a bloody arm as if in supplication to the tai-youkai.

 

“Gomen… brother. I… just couldn't… live… like that… anymore…” he whispered roughly, coughing up blood.

 

Sesshoumaru gave no sign that he had heard the dying hanyou's apology. “So you would rather kill innocent lives and become a monster instead of living a full life with your miko and friends?”

 

He gave a rasping laugh/cough in reply, dropping his arm. “You don't… know what… it was like… to be… despised…like I was…

 

“Indeed not.”

 

Inuyasha's golden gaze was rapidly going vacant. “I didn't… want Kagome… to go through… what my mother… went through. I wanted… I want… her to find… someone… better.”

 

Sesshoumaru raised a perfect eyebrow. “You realize she cannot return to her home.”

 

The hanyou struggled to focus back on his brother. “Nani? No! That's… impossible! She… was supposed… to go back!”

 

“The well is closed, it seems. She cannot go back.”

 

He coughed up more blood, cursing. “Damn it! Stupid wench!”

 

Sesshoumaru gave him a cold look. “It is your fault, half-breed. If she hadn't used the jewel to save your pathetic life, she would have been able to return. Instead, she wanted to remain with you, in this time, and be with you for the rest of her pitiful existence.”

 

Tears filled his eyes as his chest began to shudder with every labored breath he took. “I was… such… a damned… fool…”

 

“True.”

 

Inuyasha's breathing gradually slowed, signaling the end. “Promise… me… Sess… hou…ma… ru… that you… will help her… be happy… here. Help her… have a… normal… life… with a mate… and pups…”

 

Sesshoumaru scowled. “Why should I care what she does? This Sesshoumaru does not concern himself with the happiness of ningens.” Liar… what about Rin? his youkai pointed out.

 

Inuyasha glared. “Damn you… Should've… known… you'd… be a… bastard… until… the very… end…”

 

“My parents were mated in a formal youkai ceremony. My parentage is legitimate, I assure you, unlike yours.”

 

Inuyasha spat blood at his brother. “Dad… mated… Mother… too… you… baka…”

 

Golden eyes narrowed. “Technicalities.”

 

The hanyou's body began to shake as he went into a seizure. His face softened into a rare smile as the light went out of his eyes. “Goodbye… brother… I… regret… our… hatred…”

 

The neutral expression on Sesshoumaru's face never faltered as Inuyasha's bloodied body finally relaxed, his golden eyes dim and vacant. The tai-youkai went to turn away when Inuyasha's body began to disintegrate, becoming tiny red lights that converged into one semi-large red glowing sphere.

 

When all the tiny lights had joined the larger one, it swirled around Sesshoumaru before sailing away, to either heaven, hell, or purgatory, the tai-youkai couldn't say.

 

Sesshoumaru glanced at the sky where Inuyasha's soul had disappeared. A single, tiny tear escaped and slid down his unreadable face, the only expression of the sorrow he felt inside.

 

Farewell… brother…