InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unworthy One ❯ Chapter 9 - Where the Blame Truly Is... ( Chapter 9 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

**Not for Kikyou Lovers! This story contains violence, sexual content and rape! You are WARNED**

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor any of the associated characters. But it ain't because I don't want or wish to do so.




Chapter 9 - Where the Blame Truly Is...


"Sesshomaru," spat Inuyasha, "get away from Kagome." He drew Tetsusaiga and took a offensive stance.

"I think not, little brother," said Sesshomaru in his coldest voice. Shippo, seeing his mother figure, could not contain himself any more. The last thing he remembered was Kagome getting injured as he tried to ward off the Saimyoushou and he was worried that something had happened to her. When he awoke and she was not there, he was devastated. Now she was in sight, and he could not, would not be held back from going to his 'okaa-san'.

With a fiery determination, he leaped from Sango's shoulder before anyone could stop him, and raced hell bent for election to Kagome.

"Shippo, iie!" everyone, except Sesshomaru and Kikyou, yelled.

Before he could reach Kagome, he found himself swiftly lifted from the ground by his tail and staring the Taiyoukai of the Western Lands in the face up close and quite personal, suspended by the Great Lord's own tail. He began to shiver, unable to help the rush of fear that he felt. He only knew the great, cold hearted Sesshomaru from bad past encounters, so his fear was well founded although at the moment he didn't realize it was unnecessary.

As he stared at the Youkai Lord, the others finally took a moment to really look at their friend. Kagome had not once responded to their presence. She sat lifelessly, as though unaware of anything around her. She neither spoke, nor moved, barely blinked, no expression on her face.

Inuyasha took a step forward, sword still in hand. "Sesshomaru, what have you done to Kagome?" he demanded.

Sesshomaru ignored the hanyou, and remained focused on the kitsune hanging by his tail, from his own tail. Quietly, for only the kit's ears to hear he spoke, "You may go to your 'okaa-san'. But you are not to jump on her, or rush at her. She has suffered much, and is not well. Be careful of her injuries, especially, her chest, shoulder, legs, and feet. Do you understand?"

At the Taiyoukai's words, Shippo calmed quickly, and nodded his head eagerly. He would agree to anything if it meant he could be with his okaa-san, even if it meant visiting the Seven Levels of Hell itself just to find her. Sesshomaru set him down, surprisingly gently, and Shippo calmingly walk over to Kagome.

His strong sense of smell told him that she was hurt, and gave him an idea of where her worst injuries were. As everyone looked on in stunned silence, except for the Youkai Lord, Shippo quietly climbed up on Kagome left leg, and sat in her lap. Finally being back with his beloved okaa-san, the kit shamelessly let the tears fall, a soft sob escaping him, though he tried not to let it out.

"Kagome?" he called softly to the unresponsive girl. "M-m-ma-mama?" he cried. "Can you hear me mama? Onegai! I missed you so, mama! I thought you were gone, mama! I woke up and you would not there. Onegai! Can you hear me, mama?"

Slowly, so slowly that at first no one noticed the movement, Kagome's hands came from out of the warmth of the furs to embrace the crying child. As if almost in reflex, she hugged him, and rubbed his back in an effort to comfort him. A small spark of recognition crossed the girl's face for the briefest of moments, as she turned her attention to the kit in her arms.

"Shippo?" she whispered in are almost nonexistent voice.

"Hai, mama!" Shippo cried, tears of joy streaming down his face. Feeling her shiver from the chill breeze, he reached around to bring the warm furs back up so that where they had slipped down, she was once again covered. "You are cold, mama. You need to stay warm. Aishiteru, mama!"

"Ai-shi-teru Shippo!" she sighed, as small hint of happiness colouring the whispered voice. It further warmed the heart of the nearby Taiyoukai, hearing that note of joy in her tortured voice. Once he was sure that the kit would not cause any undo harm, he again turned his full attention back to Inuyasha.

"Answer me," Inuyasha demanded, "Sesshomaru, what have you done to Kagome?"

"I have done," he replied quietly, "that which you would too much of a coward to do."

"What do you mean by that?" Inuyasha growled back in response to the words that hit a mark, although he didn't know why. "Why is Kagome behaving that way?"

"Perhaps you should be asking those questions of yourself, hanyou," stated Sesshomaru. "Or have you lost the ability to use the senses that even a hanyou, such as yourself, was born with?"

At the rather scathing remark, Inuyasha took another step forward, as he did so, he took a breath in preparation for replying back to his despised brother. But the words never came. Instead, his senses kicked into overdrive, and the scent that crossed his nose, brought a wealth of information to his nose that made him almost wretch in the story that it told.

"You fucking, good for nothing, bastard," he yelled at his brother.

Sango growing impatient with not being able to find out what was wrong with Kagome, and wanting like Shippo to go to her sister to reassure herself that she was alright spoke up.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" she demanded. Miroku stepped up to her side, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hai, Inuyasha," he stated. "What is it that you sense? What is wrong with Kagome."

Kikyou just stood where Inuyasha had set her down. She was neither participating, nor ignoring the situation, she was just standing there, and watching what was going on. Sesshomaru was fine with that, as long as the bitch came no closer. He might be willing to accept her being alive, but he didn't have to accept her being near his mate.

"He has claimed her," Inuyasha spoke, barely above a whisper causing the ningens to have to strain to catch his words.

"Explain, Inuyasha," Sango demanded. "What do you mean, Sesshomaru has claimed Kagome?"

An almost arrogant voice spoke up from the background. An unexpected one at that, but one that nonetheless brought a growl from the Taiyoukai's lips. A growl of warning, to which the hanyou immediately tensed further.

"He has taken the wench as his mate," spoke up Kikyou, her hatred of her copy more than evident as it literally seemed to drip from her words. "She is tainted now. No longer is she the pure soul she once was."

"That is where you are wrong, bitch," stated Sesshomaru, earning a growl of warning from his brother. A growl that made the Youkai Lord chuckle in merriment. "Have you tried to use your miko powers since you awoke this morning?"

At this, Kikyou's self assured look seemed to freeze on her face. She frowned in concentration as she raised her hands and tried to call on the powers she remembered she could so easily call forth for her use. Nothing happened. Not a single spark or tingle. Nothing at all. The look on her face soon changed to one of shock, then confusion, anger, then hatred, despair, and finally defeat. In the space of but a few moments, Kikyou learned the hard truth. She was no longer miko. She was nothing. Nothing but an ordinary woman.

"You have no right to point fingers and call others impure or tainted. For your information, this," and here Sesshomaru held up both of his arms for all of them to clearly see, "is what the powers of the one you dare call impure was able to do, even in her current condition. Now who is the tainted and impure soul, bitch?"

Again, Inuyasha growled a warning to his brother. Insults were crossing the line and not welcome.

"Onegai, my Lord," spoke up Miroku. Hoping that a voice of respect and reason might shed some light on the situation. "We just want to know how our friend is. May we at least approach her and speak to her?"

Pointing to the houshi, and the Taijiya, now holding the neko youkai in her arms, Sesshomaru graced them with a response.

"You, and you may approach her," he stated plainly. "But do not cause her any pain. She has suffered much, and has not had time to heal. Taijiya! This, Sesshomaru would be grateful if you will look at her feet. They have suffered the most, and need additional attention."

Miroku and Sango nodded their understanding, and like Shippo they approached slowly. As they sat beside Kagome, and began to look over their lost sister, Sesshomaru once again focused solely on Inuyasha, and his worthless bitch.

"I want to see Kagome," Inuyasha demanded hotly. "Step aside Sesshomaru."

"You will not go near my mate," Sesshomaru declared firmly, the statement making everyone but Kikyou gasp in shock, "until I am satisfied that you will not harm her further. And your bitch will approach no further or I will end her miserable existence before she can lift a foot."

"What do you mean, harm her further?" demanded Inuyasha. He was getting quite pissed off. He wanted to see Kagome. Needed to reassure himself that she was alright. It hurt more than he wanted to admit that Sesshomaru had claimed her, and he could even tell by her scent that she was with child. He had loved her. He had intended to claim her himself. Now that Naraku was gone, he had thought the two of them could be happy together, but now that his brother had taken her, probably by force, he could do nothing but watch her slip away from him.

"How easily the lowlife forget their words and their deeds," Sesshomaru spat at his brother. "Or have you suffered brain damage over the last five years, chasing down that vile thing known as Naraku? Oh, perhaps it would be more appropriate to use your own words, 'Are your brains broken?' little brother?"

For some reason the words rang a bell, but the hanyou could not quite recall why. Where had he heard those words before? Why did they sound familiar?

"What are you talking about, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha replied heatedly. "There ain't nothing wrong with my brain. I would never harm Kagome. Now move aside!"

"Perhaps you suffered some kind of damage during that last battle with Naraku, little brother," said Sesshomaru as bored sounding as ever. Baiting the hanyou was always entertaining and this time was even more so, now that he had more fuel to throw on the proverbial fire. "Tell me, little brother! Why do you want her so badly. You can't possibly want back your shard detector, now that there are no more shards to be detected!"

This time the words hit home and they hit hard. Both Shippo and Miroku had stopped what they were doing to help Sango, and were listening and watching the exchange between the two brothers. There was definitely something going on here, but the outcome was still uncertain.

"She was never just a shard detector," Inuyasha spat almost guiltily. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Funny that," Miroku stated calmly. "Because I distinctly recall that particular declaration no long after I first met you and Kagome."

"Shut up," Inuyasha said, anger giving way to the shame and guilt that was slowly growing. "Who asked you?"

"What's the matter, Inuyasha?" asked Shippo, who had stepped a little away from Kagome, to better watch the goings on. "Afraid of someone finding out how you really treated Kagome? Like the time you called her a worthless little human, when you were fighting the Thunder Brothers? You didn't think I was conscious then, did you? Should I remind you of some of the other things you said to her? Like Kikyou was better, Kikyou was more beautiful, she was never good enough, she could never be a good as Kikyou? I could go on, you know! I was there through much of those times." At this even Sango stopped to watch what was transpiring.

"Why you little..." Inuyasha lost it at that point, his anger, shame, and guilt overriding his common sense. Without thinking he lunged for Shippo, his intent to do harm to the kit quite evident. But suddenly he found himself slamming face first into an unexpected barrier, and then suspended off of the ground by about five feet, and no one there visibly holding him in place. His eyes were bugging out of his head in shock.

He heard Kikyou gasp in her own shock, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see her backing away as though trying to get away from something or someone. He looked in the direction that he had been intending to go, only to be met by a shock that held him speechless and immobile.

"You will not touch my son," a voice thundered throughout the clearing. A voice that came from the one source that no one would have expected. All, even Sesshomaru looked on in complete shock to see, Kagome standing, eyes glowing brighter that the noon day sun, anger etched all over her face as she stared at the hanyou hanging suspended above the ground.

Her actions brought more shock to the group of onlookers, as the wounds that Sesshomaru had worked so hard to get to start healing, once more opened and began to bleed. The puncture wound on her shoulder caused her haori to run crimson as her blood soaked the fabric. Strangely, the cut that Sesshomaru had given her, didn't bleed nearly as much as her other wounds. The gash on her right leg was dripping down and beginning to pool on the ground beneath her swollen, infected, and once again bleeding feet, the last change of bandages already dark with her blood.

Inuyasha stared in shock at both the power radiating off of Kagome, and the blood that was rapidly spreading and pouring from the injuries he had not known she bore.

"Kit, go to your mother. You need to let her know you are alright. You need to help her before she bleeds to death. Taijiya, houshi, help the kit." commanded Sesshomaru. Shimatta, after all his effort to help her, if his baka brother caused her to bleed to death by his stupidity, he would personally see to it that the hanyou died slowly and painfully.

"Look hanyou," Sesshomaru turned back to his brother. "Look and despair. Look at what your words have done. These are just a few of the injuries that I found on her. Found on her two nights ago, when the scent of her blood brought me here to find her sitting in a pool of her own blood, covered in the guts and gore of Naraku, his minions, and your undead whore."

Inuyasha, still hanging above the ground, still had found it within himself to growl in defense of Kikyou. "Kikyou was never a whore."

"Oh, you think not, little brother," chuckled Sesshomaru, worried, though it didn't show outwardly that if they didn't get Kagome to let Inuyasha go soon, it would be too late to save her. "Perhaps you should ask your bitch for yourself. Or are you afraid you might learn the truth about the selfish priestess who made you believe that becoming ningen was your ticket to happiness. Perhaps you should ask her what she knew would eventually have happened to the youngest son of the Great Sugimi-sama after his enemies found out that he had become a mere weak, pathetic, useless, little ningen."

Behind him, Sesshomaru heard the kit, the Taijiya and the houshi talking to Kagome. He briefly spared a glance behind him to see the kit allowing the Taijiya to lift him up to Kagome less injured shoulder. There he wrapped his small arms around Kagome's neck, and was repeating over and over in her ear the same well chosen phrases.

"I'm ok, mama! You can let Inuyasha go now," Shippo said. "See mama, I am fine. I am not hurt. You need to let Inuyasha go, so that we can help you now mama. It is your turn to let someone else help you. Onegai, mama. You are bleeding again, and we need to help you. Onegai."

Turning his attention back on his brother, and the bitch now standing by the edge of the forest, Sesshomaru sighed in silent relief to see the hanyou slowly lowered to the ground. A moment later the barrier that had prevented Inuyasha from reaching the kit, disappeared. He heard the three behind him, as they caught Kagome and carefully lowered her to the ground.

"Taijiya," Sesshomaru spoke firmly. "There are still a few fresh bandages, healing salve, and other materials in the package beside the fire."

"Hai, Sesshomaru-sama," she said without question. "Shippo take that pot and get some water from the lake and set it to boil. Houshi, take Kirara and go get Kaede-baa-chan. She has taken care of Kagome more over the last five years than anyone, and will be best suited to providing for her health than anyone right now."

Knowing that his mate was in capable hands, Sesshomaru once again turned his full attention back on Inuyasha. The hanyou was just standing in stunned silence at the scene before him.

"Know this hanyou. When I found her, she was begging me to torture her," Sesshomaru told Inuyasha. "She kept trying to offer herself for punishment for crimes that she felt she had committed by her very existence. She was, and still is convinced that her only hope of salvation is to have excruciating pain inflicted upon her being, for every failure and flaw you saw fit to tell her she had."

"You are lying, you bastard," Inuyasha shouted. "This is all some kind of sick trick. Some sick, sadistic excuse to torture us all for your entertainment. It ain't going to work, Sesshomaru."

At his words, Sesshomaru let some of his own rage surface, and lunged at the hanyou before him. In less time that it took to blink, Inuyasha found himself pinned by his throat to a tree. As Sesshomaru held him there, his free hand brushed a small object in the sleeve of his haori, and brought to mind his visit to the witch from the other night.

He had found no need to use the charm on Kagome, as he had thought that he might, but now he thought of a better use for it. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out the small stone. It had a number of mystical kanji inscribed upon it, but otherwise just looked like an ordinary river rock. Sesshomaru knew better, and held it carefully in his palm.

"You believe that I am heartless, and unfeeling. You believe that I am the sadistic one in the family, little brother," he growled in Inuyasha's face. He pulled Inuyasha towards the campfire, and slammed him to the ground before sitting beside him, still holding him by the throat. "Well, let me show you the true face of a sadist, little brother. Let me show you the reality that you have yet to see."

He turned to the Taijiya, sitting with his mate. "Taijiya, do what you can for my mate. You should know for the benefit of the old miko, when she comes that she is with child. Do not let that bitch," he nodded his head in Kikyou's direction although it was clear to Sango just who he meant, "come any closer to her. I do not care if she freezes to death from the cold. I will be...educating my little brother here...no one is to interfere. This may take some time."

He barely spared enough time to see the Taijiya acknowledge his orders, before he turned back to Inuyasha. He took the hanyou's hand, and using his tail to steady it, he quickly cut Inuyasha's palm with his claw. He brought his own hand up to his face, his other hand still holding the hanyou by the throat, pinned to the ground, and grazed his palm against his fang. He palmed the stone against the cut in his own hand and then pressed both against the cut in Inuyasha's palm.

As soon as the two hands came together with the stone lodged securely between them, both froze in place and except for a lessening of the grip on Inuyasha's throat, neither youkai moved.

While the two youkai brothers sat in the grip of whatever magic Sesshomaru was using, Sango removed Kagome's now bloodied clothing, and began cleaning her injuries. Shippo had put the water to boil, and finding the herbs that Sesshomaru had been using for tea, set some aside in the small cup nearby. He then turned to help Sango as best he could.

"How did she get all of the cuts and wounds?" Sango wondered out loud. She had not expected Shippo to answer her, and was surprised when he did.

"The one on her shoulder, and through her foot, I recall from before I lost consciousness to the Saimyoushou. Both were made by tentacles from Naraku. It was Kirara who tore them away from her, but then she fell to the poison from having bitten them. That one on her leg, smells faintly like another one of Naraku's tentacles, but the one on her chest smells more recent, and like Sesshomaru," Shippo stated more calmly than Sango thought possible.

"What of her feet?" Sango again thought out loud.

"Well, if you will notice, those flowers that Inuyasha followed. Those flowers smell like Kagome's scent. As near as I can see," Shippo said, pointing to a nearby spot where moments before some of Kagome's blood and spilled upon the ground. Even as the two looked on, the blood soaked ground, sprouted new plant growth. Soft green shoots of fresh grass sprang forth, and soon the very same flowers that they had followed from the battlefield, were spreading their petals and sweet fragrance to the air around. "The trail of flowers would seem to indicate that after the battle with Naraku, Kagome found herself alone, and walked here from the clearing. I know she had lost one shoe from the tentacle that pierce her foot, she probably lost the other shortly afterwards. Wandering that distance, obviously took quite a toll on her feet, and probably took her over a week to get here."

"Sesshomaru is right, they are badly infected," Sango said. "If Kaede-baa-chan can't do something to get them to heal soon, she might never walk again. She has lost so much blood, it is a miracle that she is even alive."

"I hope Miroku brings her soon," Shippo cried. "I am afraid that Kagome will die, and then I will lose another mama."

Even though she was unable to rise, unlike before, Kagome still responded to the sobs of the little kit that she held dear in her heart. Even more slowly than before, she brought a hand up to rest on the young kit's back, and in a voice so soft that even sitting next to her, Shippo had to strain to hear her, she whispered soothing words to him.

"What is she saying, Shippo?" asked Sango, who could not hear her at all.

"She is telling me that everything is going to be alright, and not to cry," he replied in surprise.

"Even in her depleted condition, her first thoughts are for those around her," Sango sighed in astonishment. "She truly is amazing."

"You both make me sick," spoke up Kikyou, still standing back near the forest. She had seen and felt the waves of power pouring off of the girl, when she rose in defense of the kit. Despite her words, she knew that Kagome was still very much a Miko, and one far more powerful that she had ever imagined possible. Even in her undead state, Kikyou had never come close to having this much power. "The bitch is nothing. She is pathetic. She always has been, and she always will be."