InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Transformations ❯ Hoping ( Chapter 19 )

"No. . ." She forced her energy to return to her, turning her head away from his voice, her ears flattening to lessen the sounds. She didn't want to hear. . . It wasn't true. . . Not Inuyasha, not yet, she wasn't ready to lose him. . .

She heard Kouga move, heard his footsteps as he came closer. He sat next to her and pulled her to sit up, pulling her into his arms. "I'm sorry, Kagome," he said, but by now she was crying, and he couldn't be sure she heard him.

In all truth, he really did feel for her. Killing Inuyasha had never been a part of his plan. He could easily use this to help him get Kagome as his woman for real, but that didn't make it any less disturbing. Inuyasha died. He really died.

Due to popular demand, I am writing this chapter early. Everybody, and I mean everybody has been going nuts over this. Forewarning - the next time anybody does anything to Inuyasha is planned a few chapters away. Everybody has to know about him, deal with it somehow, and come up with some way to find his so-called murderer.

Chapter Nineteen

"Ha! I win again!"

Miroku narrowed his eyes. How could she possibly win every time? It's impossible!! "Let's try this again," he said.

Sango laughed. "Alright, if you're that eager to lose." She lifted her fist, as he did. "Rock, paper, scissors!" she said, in time with him. She had paper.

Miroku had rock. "That's impossible! How does 'Paper' beat 'Rock'?!" He glared down at his hand, wishing it would get the right one next time. "Again!" he snapped, holding up his fist.

Sango smiled. He was trying so hard. She almost felt bad for him. Almost. "Rock, paper, scissors!" She had rock, he had scissors.

Miroku screamed the injustice of it all. How did she know he was going to do that?! "One more time!" Okay, now this was getting scary.

"Rock, paper, scissors," they chanted again. Sango won with rock again. Again Miroku told her to play another game. Again he lost, this time to scissors. It was getting sad.

Thoroughly frustrated, he yelled again, this time to the idiot who created the game. And a little at Kagome, for teaching them how to play it. Sango was pitying him now. Being nicer to him, she chose to lose the next game. She knew he was going to use scissors, and put up paper so he'd win. That's Miroku: one, Sango: fifty.

He laughed hysterically when he won; he nearly looked over it. He was so into the rhythm of losing and doing it over that Sango had to point it out.

"I won!" he shouted, dancing around like an idiot. But an idiot that won. Shippou was having the time of his life watching Miroku make a fool of himself.

Even Kirara was looking at him strangely. She couldn't exactly laugh, but her purring sounded like it. Sango was close to rolling on the ground and Shippou's laughing was helping at all.

It was about a day after Kagome suddenly decided on leaving and Inuyasha followed her. Neither was heard from since then, but then, they tended to take simple arguments to the extreme a lot. For all she knew, they might be on their way back now, probably fighting along the way.

Something like a crash came from the forest's edge, and Miroku quit dancing to see what it was, while Sango just thought it was her hypothesis proved. However, she was mistaken.

What crawled out was lone blue dog, probably wolf actually, and it was oversized. Which meant one thing: it was a demon.

Sango grabbed her boomerang and Miroku went to her side, even as Kirara transformed and Shippou got up, taking him a little longer because of his aching sides.

Truthfully, the dog was huge, its shoulder reaching just above Sango's. It didn't have a threatening look, but some demons that attacked didn't look like it was going to. Four of its upper fangs were the size of Kirara's, its eyes were a dark, almost menacing green, and its claws were a dark violet. It was definitely bred to be a fighter.

Something looked a little wrong, though. It didn't move, didn't growl, and didn't even blink. It was almost a stand off, and when something, anything, made a move or sound, it was going to attack.

Minutes passed with nothing, not a wisp of hair moving on anyone. In the forest, distantly, a bird called.

The wolf lunged.

~*~ I know you guys hate me, but hang on. Back to Kagome ~*~

Trying to help her out, Kouga had offered her just about anything she wanted. In some weird stupor, she said, "Inuyasha," and that was it. Nonetheless, he wasn't about to give up and let her sulk for the rest of her life. Which is why she was now in the new cave, still lying, still not eating, and refusing to sleep.

Her dreams were horrible now. She only fell asleep twice, but that was enough. Images of Inuyasha and herself having fun haunted her mind, showing her their best times and then shattering it all with the blind truth. She still didn't believe he was dead.

While Kagome sulked, Kouga spoke to his pack. She heard them, but wasn't listening. Every word that passed between them passed over her without touching home. Kouga was being careful to not bring up Inuyasha or his name, mainly to keep from depressing Kagome further.

He discussed matters such as where the best hunting grounds were, which demons had been spotted in the area, and other such things.

Eventually some of the pack started pointing out Kagome and her current state, but Kouga shushed them. The last thing needed now was to bring her into their conversations and pester her for answers.

After about an hour into the usual matters a single demon, Gourry, returned looking like he'd been in the middle of a massacre.

The words that followed hit Kagome and she listened to them, getting information that she knew would prove to be helpful. As it turns out, he was attacked by another wolf pack on the other side of the forest, characterized with blue fur and more than one tail.

He was one of the wolves told to stand guard of Inuyasha while a few of the others went to find the best spot for his burial. The wolves attacked for no apparent reason, he barely got away, and one of them left with Inuyasha's body.

Kagome was up, standing, by the time the guard finished his tale. While a few others took him away to tend to his wounds she approached Kouga. "I have to leave," she said.

He looked almost surprised. "Where?"

"To find Inuyasha."

He paused. He looked like he was choosing his words carefully. "I understand. I'm going with you."

Kagome nodded. After all, she still wasn't entirely used to all the demon abilities she had yet, and having Kouga around would make things easier. After he told his pack he left with her, most of the pack remaining but a few coming along anyway.

The three that came were Nurino, Maso and Ashira. Ashira was the only female in the pack, and she was fierce, never letting any of the males get too close, no matter how much she cuddled or adored the wolves. She swore never to take a mate, and she was sticking firm by that.

She was also the one who stayed near Kagome if she happened to talk or need anything the entire time she was there; she even stayed up the whole night. Not because Kouga said so, but because she could see and feel the great sorrow that Kagome was feeling. Her instinctive female sympathy made her watch over Kagome ferociously, almost like an older sister would. She also was the only one who wore clothing different from the others' brown fur and leather armor. She wore clothes more like Kagome's current selection, but it was all black.

Her top was the standard kimono type, but tight and without sleeves. The pants were as well tight, and didn't bunch around her ankles. She also had something like a skirt; two flaps of cloth in front and back of her that reached her knees, and the slits reached her waist - i.e., as high as her pants. She was wearing modern fingerless gloves that reached just below her elbows and no shoes but red nails, all twenty of them, meaning fingers and toes. Her hair was a tight braid down her back to her hips. Even her bangs were pulled back into it.

The other two men had the same wolf clothing as the rest of the pack, and as usual with their own slight differences. Nurino had no left strap and a band on his left arm and leg, and to top it off he had a Mohawk; Maso had straps of armor that covered his shoulders to his elbows and full leg armor, plus a feather in his hair.

It seemed almost funny to her, that she would be able to pick up all those details while she was supposed to be focusing on finding Inuyasha. Either him or his body; either way she had to know.

Was he or wasn't he dead?

~*~ Sango, Kirara, Miroku and Shippou~*~

The demon was dead.

It was hard; the thing could regenerate itself, much like the Hydra in Greek Mythology. When it first attacked the group scattered, and Sango took her chance and threw her boomerang, slicing the wolf into two halves. None of them suspected it could live after that, but didn't relax, either. A good thing, too.

In seconds it was two new wolves, just as big as the first. Miroku tried using his void on them, but the one he used it on got ripped in half by the other and it regenerated that fast. They hopped a little way away and started chewing off bits and portions of the other, like a leg or a tail - they each had seven - and soon they were several dozen of them.

It took a long time, but somehow, using the strategy to just knock them out and single them out so Miroku could suck them up, it worked. They won. However, they didn't walk away unscathed.

Kirara had a broken leg and a wound on her forehead where blood had fallen into her eyes and scabbed over, Sango hadn't had time to change into her armor and had hurt her hip badly, Shippou was bleeding where the demon had bit his little body, and Miroku had his right hand nearly chewed off when they or it or whatever found out how he was doing it.

Luckily, after they all were looked over by Kaede, she confirmed that none of the wounds would be life-threatening or unable to heal properly.

It turned out that Sango's hip had been almost shattered, and now she had to be bedridden as will Shippou. Shippou's time would be just a week, until the wounds are at least mostly healed. Sango, however, was going to be there for at least three months, so her hip could gather the bone fragments and fractures and put it back together, like a puzzle. She may not like it, but she had no choice, either.

Miroku couldn't so much as move his wrist for a minimum of a month. Kaede concluded that the nerves would still function, but there was a good chance he wouldn't be able to move it as fast or in as many directions as usual. His hand had been securely braced and on a sling around his shoulder. Kirara wasn't off any better then the others.

She would have to limp everywhere she went, though Kaede said she shouldn't go anywhere for a week, at least, and the wound on her head would leave a scar, though not a big one, in which her fur wouldn't grow.

They'd have to help each other out for weeks to come. Miroku would have to be the legs, Shippou couldn't do anything really, Kirara could offer what comfort her furriness could supply, and Sango had two hands. Along with a few villagers who owed their lives to them countless times they were doin pretty good. Each of the four of them were given three assistants, who took turns at every eight hours, to help the four of them in whatever they might need.

The funny thing was, none of them knew if they were better or worse off without Inuyasha and Kagome. Even though Kagome had arrows which would pierce the demons but not shred, Inuyasha would surely chop them all to pieces and they'd have more demons to worry about.

~*~ Kagome ~*~

They were there. The exact place where Inuyasha had been supposedly killed. All five of them began a search immediately, looking around for clues as to whether or not he really was dead, what they wanted with him, where they might have taken him, which came down to where their pack lived, and what they could do, as in abilities.

"Kagome!" Ashira said, waving her over. "Is this not a piece of his clothing?" she asked, gesturing at a bit of red that was hidden behind some bushes.

"Let me see," Kagome said, breathlessly. She had a high hope that he would himself be there, and alive, but tried to douse it. It was stupid. Carefully, she reached down, brushing aside the thorns to see what it was. It wasn't what she was hoping.

Like Ashira guessed, it was a piece of his clothes, but it scared her. She knew very well that his fire rat fur haori was mostly unbreakable, and here it was, shredded, but also a darker shade of red. His blood was on it. But, it was fresh, not like half-day old blood should be. She sniffed it, and it confirmed what she was hoping. "Yes, this is Inuyasha's," she said distractedly to Ashira. Without saying anything more she undid the tie around her hand and put the piece of cloth on her hand, retying so it would hold still. This was the beginning, she knew. She had a little piece of Inuyasha, a little piece of hope, and a large piece of determination, all of which was overflowed by the love she had for him, now stronger than ever. She spun on Ashira. "Let's go."

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Feel better now, reviewers? I withdraw my vote. You guys were going nuts, telling me to prove that he isn't dead, so here is the next chapter. A full six pages on font size 14. Eight inch ruler. Tell me you love me; this wasn't easy.

Review, review, and review some more. This time, since I'm exhausted, I'll spare the violence. I just need to rest. . .

And congrats me! This is officially the longest story I've ever written! Even more so than Twin Terrors, which is a Vampire story that's at my Friend's house! I'm not allowed to work on it anymore! That bitch. She can hitchhike to hell with Kikyo for all I care. Maybe then I'll get it back. Stupid f***ing bitch. We BOTH wrote that story, switching by chapter, and NOW she decides I'm not a part of it?! Horrible, horrible bitch!!! She was my best friend for three years, Damnit!

But then, that's my extent. The longest amount of time I've ever had a friend is for three years. They all disappear after that. . . Whores. Nya! *Sticks tongue out*

See ya! (You guys will stick by me, right? . .I'm pathetic.)