InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ You Said You'd Never Leave Me ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

Prologue

 

“There has to be something you can do!” Kagome gripped Kaede-baba's arm fiercely, her tears streaming down her cheeks and pitter-pattering against the floor of the old woman's small home as she leaned over a human InuYasha, who cried out unconsciously as the woman put bandages over his grave wounds.

 

“Child, there is nothing that I can do for him now. All I can do is make him comfortable.” The old woman placed a gentle hand on the girls, which brought her back to her senses enough to shirk away from the both of them. She took a moment to give InuYasha a drink of some kind that made him relax and fall into a deep sleep before she looked back to Kagome. “How did this happen in the first place?”

 

Kagome stifled a sob and wiped her cheeks, which did little to stop her from crying. She sniffled, and then spoke quietly. “It's my fault. Miroku, Sango, and I went after a jewel shard I had sensed, but it led us into one of Naraku's traps. InuYasha, as always, refused to be left behind and came after us. I messed up, I let myself get caught. He just wanted to protect me. And in the end, Naraku ran him through with his own sword. I was stupid, I was so damn stupid!”

 

She broke down once again and had to excuse herself from the company of her friends. InuYasha groaned in pain, and Kaede gave him a bit more of the drink, which settled him yet again. No one spoke, but that was because they all knew there was nothing to say. InuYasha would not be alive when the sun came up. He would die and there wasn't a single thing anyone could do. And as horrible as such a thing was, it hurt Kagome the most. She saw something in InuYasha that none of them could, she understood him on a much greater level than anyone else. Now she would carry the terrible burden of believing that it was her own foolishness that had caused him to get hurt, that she was personally responsible for his death. His blood, literally and figuratively, was on her hands.

 

“I'll go see how Kagome is doing.” Sango spoke softly, rising from her spot near the fire and leaving for a few moments before swiftly returning. “She's gone. I looked around, but she's nowhere to be found.”

 

“Perhaps she just needs to be alone. She'll come back soon. She won't leave him for that long.” Miroku gently took Sango's hand and just held it quietly for a while. The night drew on as they all sat vigil at InuYasha side. He didn't make pained noises anymore, and his breathing had begun to grow slow and weak. It wouldn't be much longer now, and come the next day, they would have his funeral and lay him to rest on the grounds of the shrine. Kagome didn't return when he finally left the world. Kaede confirmed it, and they covered his face with a blanket out of respect.

 

They were all half-asleep, when Kagome did return from wherever she had gone. Miroku went to say something, but silenced himself when he saw the serious look on her face. Her cheeks were tear-stained, but she wasn't crying anymore and there was something hidden in her eyes that he couldn't place. She walked over to InuYasha and sat down beside him, pulling back the blanket and leaning over to kiss him on his forehead, and then briefly on his cold and paling lips. She smiled half-heartedly and ran her hands through his hair before she finally acknowledged them. “Leave.”

 

“But Kagome-chan,” Shippo looked at her confused, and asked what they all were thinking. “Why?”

 

“Please.” she said, her eyes pleading. “I just want a few minutes alone with him, to say goodbye.”

 

“Certainly, Kagome.” Kaede said, picking up a sleepy Shippo, and nodding towards the door. “We will go for a walk and clear our heads. Take your time.”

 

The sun had just begun to crest over the horizon, a few rare beams breaking through the forest trees, when they returned back to the hut to find it completely empty, save for InuYasha's body. And when he groaned, they all jumped back with fright, and waited a moment to see if it was him, or just his vengeful spirit that had made the noise. And Sango cried out when the first light of day came through the hut and cast it's glow upon him, changing him back into his hanyou form. And then he sat up, confused at why his friends were looking at him as though a ghost had just said hello to them.

 

“What's going on? Where's Kagome? And why do I feel like I died and came back again?” He squinted in the sunlight as he held his ribs and grunted his questions to them.

 

“Because you did.” Shippo remarked, and all InuYasha could do was stare.