InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When a door closes... ❯ The Hanayami ( Chapter 9 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 9- The Hamayami

I don’t own Inuyasha!


Recap: Everyone’s decided to come clean, mostly, and have started to learn what’s going on and make some decisions. What the heck does the Hamayami do?


Inuyasha’s words about an attack were prophetic. The next day, they heard thin screams echoing from the village they were headed for.


“Inuyasha...is that-?” Kagome asked suddenly, tuning her ears.


“It is. Let’s go!” Inuyasha said, drawing Tetsusaiga as the rest readied for battle. Kagome took her Hamayami off her shoulder, and he held out a hand in refusal.


“Stay here! You can’t even use that thing yet! Without your sacred arrows you can’t fight anyway, wench,” he ordered.


“I’m going,” she answered as Sango jumped on Kirara with Miroku and they started off.


“Come on!” Sango yelled over her shoulder, and Inuyasha growled at her.


“I’m not your mate yet, Inuyasha! Back off!” Kagome snapped, and dashed after her and Miroku, leaving the hanyou gaping at her back.


‘YET?’ he gulped and followed her.


When they arrived, they saw a horrible sight. Large, armored lizard youkai, what looked like a group that was feasting on the villagers. Broken bodies and ruined huts were a stark testament to their previous work. Sango threw her Hiraikotsu at one seizing a screaming man as they charged in, and it ripped into it deeply but didn’t kill it. Miroku threw ofuda at it, and they went through, leaving gaping holes as it collapsed. Inuyasha dove at another and struck, the Tetsusaiga slicing it nearly in half.


“Bastards!” he snarled.


Kagome held the Hamayami and looked around. She spotted an attacker with a child, and reached for an arrow. She didn’t have one, she’d lost her quiver when they crushed Naraku. But screams spurred her as she ran forward to save the girl in it’s claws. The lizard spotted her and it’s tongue lashed out at her. Before she could think, she suddenly drew back her hand, felt heat seem to gather in her fingertips, cracked her knuckles, and knew.


“FLAMECLAW!” Kagome’s clawed hand flashed flame, and went right through it! She gaped like a moron at the tatters of flesh left and the horrible feel of her hand slicing through the tongue, leaving a smoking trail as it screamed.


“Ewww!” she shook it, and forced herself forward as the child wailed.


“A flameclaw?” Miroku blocked another lizard’s tongue with his staff and grinned at Kagome’s achievement.

“You’ve got trouble now, Inuyasha!” he called, the hanyou had his hands full with two of the youkai and he stared as Kagome attacked, nearly getting himself spitted when he witnessed it. He lashed out with his own claws, leaving deep gouges. Her claws flamed?? Where the hell did that come from!?


“Kagome!!” Inuyasha roared as he dodged.


“A little help?” she yelled, ducking under a seeking limb to slash again.


Her claws ripped through the hide and burned it as she instinctively attacked again, this time finding the softer flesh under it‘s jaw more by accident than design. The lizard dropped the child and she grabbed the girl out of the air, running out of the way as it tottered. Setting her down near some huddled humans, Kagome turned to see the youkai she’d fought collapse. She turned then and darted towards her friends, eager to help. But then she saw Miroku about to be struck from behind.


Her Hamayami pulsed, as did she. Everything seemed to slow down, she could see the claws of a lizard inching towards the monk as he held off another, and Sango and Inuyasha were too far away to help.


Hamayami pulsed again. It felt like it was...urging her to act...


‘Please, be like Tetsusaiga! Help me!’ she prayed, holding the bow and taking the string as though an arrow rested across it, ready to be pulled back. As though it was answering her plea, it transformed. The battered disaster she held glowed softly, becoming an elegant, deadly weapon of dark gleaming wood with delicate metal lacing along it’s curves. It was now a longbow with a silvery string that fit her hand and arm perfectly. Kagome pulled it back, feeling almost dreamlike as she took aim, something was forming where an arrow should be, she felt it-and fired, the bow turning in her hand as her old one had so many times.


A streak of light flashed from the Hamayami, striking the youkai behind Miroku...and it turned to dust? As it vanished, she acted on instinct, feeling the power rippling through the bow as she drew again and fired. Kagome felt her confidence increasing as she nailed it before Inuyasha could, leaving him to slide through the small cloud that had been a youkai.


The-no, her Hamayami had the power to take out youkai like these in one shot! Yes!!


Sango slew the last one with the Hiraikotsu in the head, and Kagome realized everyone had turned to stare at her. She was covered in blood and holding an almost unrecognizable bow in her hands.


“What‘s wrong? Is everyone ok? I think that was the last one of them,” she asked, still slightly in shock.


“Kagome...you slew three of them alone! One with your bare hands!” Sango managed. Miroku lifted his hand in blessing and set an ofuda over one of the carcasses to seal it, his eyes sliding back to her in astonishment.


“I- I did?” Kagome looked stunned, then caught sight of her right hand covered in blood and drool.


“EWWWWW!”


***


After calming Kagome down and helping gather the bodies, they were given the best rooms in the village inn for the night by the grateful survivors and would be fed royally after they cleaned up. The female hanyou had been shown to the bathhouse and refused to leave until she’d scrubbed herself raw. Dressed in a nice shirt and a denim skirt, her bow over her shoulder, she found herself the object of discrete whispers as she sat and ate her supper. Whispers the likes of which she’d never heard before. Her human ears never picked them up. The inn’s main room packed with villagers watching them, and they were the unexpected source of the comments.


“The monk must be strong, to control such powerful youkai...no, I say it is the honored taijiya who binds them, such creatures would be useful servants to a slayer...is it truly safe to allow them to stay? Best not to anger them, they’ll leave with their masters in the morning...oh, I don’t know, their ears are rather cute...” her ears were twitching and she was getting very angry, scenting an undercurrent of fear directed at her and Inuyasha. That was until he poked her to get her attention.


“Ignore it. They’re just stupid. Blow it off,” he said quietly as he ate.


“You mean...people have said that before? Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked in a hiss. Crap. She was going to lecture them in a minute. Inuyasha stood up and unceremoniously hauled her to her feet.


“We’re tired,” he said flatly, catching the eyes of the rest of their party, and dragged her away to her room before she could protest. Miroku made handsome apologies and glanced at Sango. They knew how things had always stood, but this was the first time Kagome had faced humans who didn’t know her before she changed. Who would only see a youkai, not her. No one had the heart to say anything to her about it before.


“We should-”


“It’s best if Inuyasha talks to her, Sango. Let’s give them some time,” he suggested, and took up a bowl. “More soup?” he offered.


***

“Why did you do that? Those ingrates are so getting a piece of my mind! I‘ll give that woman cute ears!” Kagome asked angrily as he dragged her to her and Sango’s room and shut the sliding door.


“It wouldn’t change anything! Kagome, stop thinking human! They see those ears, they see youkai. They always do that shit! In every village and castle we go to! You just didn’t hear it before! What did you think, nobody noticed I stand out?” he flicked one of her ears and folded his arms. He’d put off warning her out of cowardice, treasuring her innocence. Now she paid the price for his mistake.


“Ow! That stung,” she said, rubbing her ear as she looked up at him. “No wonder you’re always grumpy at feasts...I’m so sorry, Inuyasha. All those times I yelled at you for it-”


“Forget it. Besides, you never treated me different,” his face reddened slightly.


“That’s because I see you, not just the ears. I always did,” she rested her hand on one arm gently. “Besides, I like them!” Kagome announced, reaching up impulsively to fondle one as he made a face.


“You‘ve got your own now, you know. You don’t have to keep pulling on mine anymore.” Inuyasha said gruffly. He stopped her from being upset at the rejection by pulling her into an embrace, brushing her hair back with a sigh. He looked down at her own ears, and gently rubbed one as he breathed in her scent, just holding her for awhile to comfort them both. A soft giggle eventually made him stop and look down.


“You said that hurt. Liar. It feels...kinda nice,” she murmured with a sigh as she snuggled against him.


“Eh...If you’re gentle with them it’s alright, I guess,” he said with a shrug, rubbing them again. ‘Like you always are...’ Inuyasha added silently, so grateful she still trusted him after he tried to make her his mate. Gathering his nerve, he plunged in. It seemed like the right time to ask her.


“Kagome...before we battled those lizards, you said-” he paused when she interrupted him, she had to tell him. He was rarely as open as he was at this moment.


“I know what it meant, in the tree, Inuyasha. I-” Kagome was abruptly held at arm’s length as he pushed her away, eyes wide and a scowl on his face.


“How the fuck did you know that? Who told you? It was that perverted monk, wasn’t it? I’ll kill him!”


“No! It wasn’t Miroku! But it should’ve been you. Why didn’t you tell me? Or at least ask first?”


“Damn it,” he pulled her closer again, and she let him, looking up into the amber eyes she loved. He decided it had to be Sango, it was hard to keep secrets from those two.



“I-I don’t know,” Inuyasha admitted. “It just happened. I...I love you, Kagome.” A small, happy gasp came from the hanyou in his arms as he confessed what had been at the tip of his tongue for years. She heard the apology implicit in his words, and smiled up at him.


“You know, if you’d asked me to be your, um, mate...” she paused nervously.


“Kagome?” he asked intently, as hope and fear warred in him.


“Yes,” she said tremulously, nodding. Inuyasha, the powerful and ill tempered hanyou, did something astonishing. He lifted her by the waist and swung her around with a laugh!


“You mean it! You really mean it!” he’d never been so happy.


“Yes!” Kagome laughed as he spun her, grabbing his shoulders in glee. The chain around her neck caught his eye as he set her down, and he poked it with a claw curiously.


“What’s this? New jewelry? I haven‘t seen it,” he lifted an eyebrow as he gathered her into his other arm. Sango could sleep elsewhere tonight, he decided, smiling at her lovingly.


A smile that would haunt her later...


“Uh...” she paled, and pulled back slightly. Inuyasha squeezed the chain in thumb and forefinger and got suspicious. It felt like-what the hell?


“What is it? Who’s it from? Kouga?? Why does it feel like youkai? Why hide it?” he snapped again, eyes narrowing as she shook her head.


“Wait!”


“Let me see, Kagome!” Inuyasha barked, his jealousy rearing up as he gripped it, refusing to let go as she grabbed his wrist. His mate would wear nothing from that mangy bastard!


“No! Wait! Inuyasha!”


He yanked before she could pull it away, the pendant coming free. Seeing it, he froze, clutching it numbly. The hanyou knew exactly what it was as he turned it in his hand, it caught the light mockingly, the mark of...NO! It couldn’t be...it was impossible! She was sworn to Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru! He’d-she‘d...joined his pack! Willingly!! No, it had to have been some kind of trick, some spell, she’d never do that! His Kagome would never turn on him!


“Please, understand...Inuyasha, I wanted to tell you, but, but I couldn’t! It’s not so bad. I had to do it-it was the only way-” Kagome pleaded, seeing blood trickle through his fingers as the points of the pendant pierced his hand with his grip.


“YOU LET HIM MARK YOU!” he roared, cutting her off as he released her with a shove to land hard on the floor.


She scrambled back as he raged, eyes huge and gripping her bow in fear as red lines faintly colored his cheeks in spite of the sword at his hip, his anger deep enough that he nearly lost control of his youkai side.


“What the fuck were you thinking?! Now you're linked to that bastard for the rest of his life! But I can fix that real easy!” Inuyasha gripped Tetsusaiga’s hilt and turned for the door to get her back in the only way he knew how. Kagome had no choice as instinct kicked in, pack instinct, he was not of her pack, had threatened her pack, intended to harm. She tackled him.


“NO! I won’t let you!” she yelled, as they rolled across the floor, tangling up as he gasped. No osuwari. A physical attack! The last thing he expected from her!


“Kagome! Let me up! I’ll get you free! Let me help you!” he yelled in horrified disbelief as she, his chosen, took sides against him. Sided with Sesshomaru and his bastard Clan! Inuyasha tried to remind himself it was some evil spell that was making her do it.


“I don‘t want to be released, and I agreed to it! You don’t understand, I did this for us!” she shouted. He gasped and went limp as she straddled him, holding his wrists as tightly as she could to the floor.


“Stop lying for him! He’s turned you against me!”


“I’m not against you! He wanted to adopt you! Not me! You’d never accept him as pack leader, so I did it for you so you‘d have a family, baka!” she yelled.


“You lie!” Kagome shook her head, and he realized the truth. There was no spell. She’d betrayed him, opened the door to Sesshomaru toying with their lives...how could she? Didn’t she know how serious this was? Pack oath was for life, damn it!! He could never take her as mate now...Sesshomaru could take her away...had taken her away. She didn’t belong to him anymore. No wound had ever hurt so much.


“I never asked you to! Your precious pack leader told you about the marks, didn‘t he! Did he tell you to accept me so he could get his hooks in? What else did he have you do when you were on your knees in front of him?” he snapped, the betrayal evident as he deliberately hurt her. Kagome released him, her hand striking his face with a crack as she got up, shaking as she adjusted the Hamayami where it had tangled in her hair.


“Get out,” she said.


“Oh, I will! He’s dead!” Inuyasha snarled as he came up off the floor.


“You‘ll have to go through me to do it,” Kagome said woodenly. He froze in agony and spat at her. It struck her face like a blow, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of wiping it away.


“You bitch! Go to hell with him then and see if I give a damn!” Inuyasha left, ripping the door off the slide and running off into the night. Kagome saw they’d attracted a crowd of onlookers and that Sango and Miroku were pushing their way to her, all the while yelling for Inuyasha to come back.


“Let him go,” Kagome whispered as she slid to her knees, seeing Miroku and two others lift the door and put it back up. Sango supported her as she began to cry.


Revised Author’s notes-Ahhh, gore, angst, and loss. Yeah, I know, sad isn’t it? I’m no fan of perfect relationships in fiction. Love doesn’t always conquer all, even if you’d like it to. A small note on the Flameclaw. Kagome’s such a passionate character, it seemed appropriate for her to have that type of claw attack, fires of passion and all. I hope you’ve enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for reading! Namiyo