Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Mayakashi ❯ Chapter 41 ( Chapter 41 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, Bleach, or YuYu Hakusho, or any of the anime/manga characters.

Warnings: Language

Definition of Pain

 

“Okay, I've never worked on a Zanpakuto before, but I'd guess that you're going to know the second I get started. I'd say you should leave the room, or the anticipation may make the pain all the worse.”

“I'd tend to agree. But, I want to be here in case you need any more fangs or supplies for Kumori,” Kagome sighed before plopping down on the bed, Tsuki squirming in her arms.

Kurama quickly followed her, sitting at her side, a concerned glow to his eyes.

“Shippo,” Kagome called, her voice barely above a whisper.

Yet, somehow, said kit appeared in the room seconds later, ears and nose flaring. His eyes widened in pleasant surprise when he saw the elderly youkai standing in the room.

“Totosai! What're you doing here?”

“He's fixing my sword. Where've you been, young man?” Kagome asked, eyeing him with a blank expression.

“Just roaming,” he said, eyes wide. “It smells like blood and smoke in here.”

“Oh, yeah, I had a little accident while I was training,” Kagome said, smiling sheepishly and pointing to the devious scorch marks on the wall.

“Wow. Your powers must've gotten even bigger, if you could slip up like that,” Shippo mused.

“Yeah. Well, Totosai's going to be working on my sword, and it's going to be loud. Could you watch over your sister?” the miko asked, tickling said baby.

“Absolutely! Leave it to me,” Shippo yelled, chest puffed out in pride.

Gently, Kagome lowered Tsuki into her son's arms, and his eyes filled with awe and wonder.

“She's so warm,” he murmured.

“If you need any help, Yoruichi and Mr. Urahara are in the room next to ours, okay?”

“Okay!” Shippo said, taking off to parts unknown with a last promise to watch after his sister.

“Let's get to it, then, shall we?” Totosai mumbled, placing Kumori on the stone bench and pulling in a large lungful of air.

When he blew out, a steady stream of flames launched forth, the blade quickly going red hot.

Kagome went rigid, her eyes widening in shock at the sudden rush of sensation.

“Are you alright?” Kurama asked, eyes narrowing.

“Y… Yeah… It doesn't hurt as much as it did last time,” Kagome said, her tone breathy, as though she was confused at the sensation pulling through her.

With a nod, Kurama quickly got to work, growing several plants in his palm.

After several more minutes of heating the blade, until it was a nice shade of white, Totosai went to work at separating the molten blade and hilt.

And Kagome suddenly clutched onto Kurama's arm for dear life, the feeling coursing through her now like she herself was being split in two. Despite the sudden agony, she didn't make a single sound, but the pain was evident in her eyes.

Kurama wrapped his free arm around her, bringing calming scents into her and attempting to keep her as comfortable as possible.

For several hours, the pain continued. Kurama's plants were taking an unbelievably long time to grow, but after a short time, the pain had become like a dull background ache, Kagome's senses bringing comfort from Kurama. Totosai then began to melt the blade down to its core steel so he could re-forge it with her fang.

And the second the fire reached deeper, Kagome's head flew back, a scream ripping from her throat. As quickly as her pain-scorched mind could think of it, she buried her head in Kurama's chest, hopefully muffling the sound.

“Fuck!” she gasped, eyes tearing as agony gripped her heart in a cold vice.

Kurama, in turn, wrapped his arm tighter around her, whispering meaningless comforts to her. Every time he caressed her clammy skin, she seemed to relax slightly, but the pain was too intense to fade away.

“I suggest ya' get those plants faster, now,” Totosai said, hammer coming down once again with a clang. “If this is bad, the worst part's coming now, and it'll also be the longest.”

Eyes wide, Kurama began to pour more power into the saplings, and they instantly bloomed, bearing several large, beautifully exotic plants.

“Kagome, these will help, I promise,” Kurama said, sepals and petals falling into his palm before the plants disintegrated. “They may not taste good, but they'll help,” he murmured, gently placing the powdery plant parts to her lips.

Eyes closed, Kagome's mouth opened and took them all in one slow swipe of her tongue. Several seconds after she swallowed, every one of her muscles relaxed, a relieved sigh coming from her.

“Oh, my god. I never did any drugs, but whatever they are, they're wonderful,” Kagome murmured, lying limply against Kurama, a slight blush creeping onto her face when she realized she didn't mind that there were only a few thin layers between her and Kurama.

“Yes, they're quite the wonder,” Kurama murmured, gently pressing his lips to her forehead.

And then, the calm vanished in a second's space. Right when Totosai began the process of smelting her soul back into solidity, with a new fang within.

At that, the numbness seemed to fade, Kagome bursting into tears.

For seven whole days, the agony and smelting continued, Kurama barely leaving Kagome's side for an instant. Several times throughout the span of the week, Kagome blacked out.

At some point, she vaguely thought Totosai had apologized for her soul being more temperamental than he'd thought, but it could've been a dream. And she had a lot of dreams, sounding like they were muffled by cotton stuffed into her ears, that may or may not have been real…

 

“Is momma going to be okay?” Shippo asked, eyes wide.

Urahara and Yoruichi shared a grim look, the sounds of cries in the room next door coming through loud and clear, right along the clanging metal.

“Don't worry. I'm sure you know how tough your momma is, kiddo,” Yoruichi sighed, ruffling the kit's hair.

“Besides, I'm sure that Tsuki'd be going crazy if she was in real danger,” Urahara added, smiling down at the peacefully sleeping girl.

Shippo seemed to be ready to say something when the crying stopped, and they tuned into the hushed conversation inside.

 

“She's unconscious again,” Kurama murmured, gently brushing her wet hair from the sticky grime on her forehead.

“It's a miracle she's just crying and blacking out. I'm literally rebuilding her soul around something it was designed to kill, after all,” Totosai scoffed.

“Is there anything I can do for her?” he asked, tone weary.

“Not really. I'd imagine just yer presence is helping a great deal, fox boy,” Totosai sighed. “But, look at it this way. The process is workin', and once I'm done, there's probably not going to be a lot that can hurt her ever again. Just you, maybe,” he added as an afterthought.

“Me?”

“Oh, yes. Even if I haven't seen her in 500 years, I've heard about her even in modern times. She'll probably never feel significant physical pain again, but you've got her heart, even if she doesn't think so,” the old youkai mused, never turning around to see Kurama's wide eyes.

“My plants are of no help, then?” Kurama asked, blurting the first thought that appeared once his brain started again.

“Probably not, no, because it's not a physical pain she's suffering. Her soul's been torn apart and put back together again so many times now that I've lost count. But a few more minutes, and I'll be done.”

Kurama lapsed into silence after that…

 

The second Totosai finished working on the Zanpakuto, everybody in the castle knew. Kagome's body pulsed with power so great that light could be seen, probably from outside the solid stone walls of the room.

Slowly, her eyes opened, pure scarlet pupils staring up. Kurama let out a sigh of relief, planting a kiss on her forehead as a smile spread from ear to ear.

“Welcome back to the land of the living… so to speak,” he added, blushing slightly.

Another pulse of energy rippled through Kagome, and she rolled out of his arm, lying flat on her back on the bed. And then, her body stretched as she let out a yawn, her body taut like a cat's.

And, despite himself, Kurama found his mind taking in every single curve of her lithe form.

“My god, I feel awesome,” Kagome mused, rubbing the sand and dried tears from her eyes.

And then, said eyes widened as she realized she'd cut herself. Which lead her to looking at her fingernails, which were now razor blade-sharp and elongated to just slightly over the nub of her fingers, a silvery glow filling them.

“Well, shall we see if it worked?” Totosai asked, bringing the blade up from the stone bench.

With a nod, Kagome slowly extended her hand, apprehension crawling up and breaking her peaceful, drugged-like stupor. But the second her fingers wrapped around the hilt of her suddenly obsidian blade, more power flooded her, a gasp leaving her.

The light filled with room, and suddenly, a tall woman took form in the center. Behind transparent, silver goggles, twin blood-red orbs flitting around the room before coming to a stop on Kagome. Where her hair had been a bright, bubblegum pink last time, Kumori Suishou's hair now had bloody crimson streaks throughout.

Her lips pulled back in a smirk, and a sharp fang peeked out.

“It's really good to be back. This feels incredible!” the Zanpakuto gasped, stretching like Kagome had.

Kagome surprised herself and her Zanpakuto when she pitched forward, wrapping her arms around her Zanpakuto's corporeal body.

“Kumori! I've missed you,” she murmured, pressing to her with a broad smile.

“I can tell. And I've missed you, too, though I've been here the whole time. Fox boy, thanks for caring so much for my mistress; this could've broken her,” Kumori added, making both Kagome and Kurama blush brightly. “Man, it'll take me a while to get used to this… I wonder if I should change my name… Well, whatever. I'll be resting for a bit, now,” she finished, turning to mist before the blade in Kagome's hand flashed.

When the light subsided, Kumori was gone, safely resting within the blade's depths. As Kagome sheathed her Zanpakuto on her wristband, Kagome was awed by how wonderfully warm the blade was.

“Well, my work's done. I'll be seein' ya at the tournament, Kagome,” Totosai murmured, straightening.

As soon as the old youkai was out of her room, Kagome gave a giddy laugh and dove into Kurama. Before he could react, her lips clamped onto his, passion building a scorching and beautiful heat throughout both of them.

When she ran out of breath, she pulled away, resting her head in the crook of his neck, giggling and laughing still.

“I feel so incredible! It's like there was a ton of bricks on top of me, and now it's gone!” she exclaimed happily.

“It's possible that it was holding your youki back. Regardless, I never want to do that again,” Kurama sighed, glaring at the floor.

“Do what?” Kagome asked, realizing with a brush that her enthused lunge had her straddling Kurama.

“Watch you be in a pain I can do nothing about,” Kurama stated, meeting her gaze.

Her eyes widened as he leaned forward. And when their lips met this time, emotions hit her strong enough to bring tears to her eyes, smiling into his soft lips.

“Think we can get back to training, now?” Kagome asked when she pulled back. “I've used up enough time.”

“There are still two weeks until the tournament, Kagome. Much as you hate it, you need to rest.”

“I can't just sit and do nothing, though,” Kagome argued, despite knowing that her body was probably going to take a while to get used to the new power coursing through her veins.

“Well, then, I have an idea.”

“What?”

Slowly, Kurama leaned forward, and when he pulled back, Kagome's eyes were wide.

“That is an awesome idea! But… It could be dangerous, for them,” she added with a sigh. “On the other hand, let's do that,” she said, absolutely giddy over what he'd proposed…

 

A/N:

And… a cliffhanger! Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and as always, hope you'll leave your opinions, be they good or bad. See you next time!