Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sunsets Over Mulberry Fields ❯ Pain ( Chapter 3 )

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

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of Sengoku Otogizoushi - InuYasha or Yuu Yuu Hakusho. InuYasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, Viz Media, ShoPro Entertainment, and Shounen; while Yuu Yuu Hakusho belongs to Togashi Yoshihiro, Shueisha, Viz Media, and Shounen. No profit or money of any kind is made from this fan-created crossover.

Rated M for a reason! This fic will contain sex (only on mediaminer), dark themes, violence, foul language and character death. If any of that is not your cup of tea, then there is a back button for a reason!


Trepidation gripped her heart as she stared at the caller I.D. on the phone. Throughout the day the uneasy feeling had only grown in the pit of her stomach, wrapping its icy fingers around her heart and squeezing painfully throughout the day as if to tell her not to ignore it. But what could she do? It had been years since she had last seen her cousins as Higurashi Shrine was just too far away from their old house and them. Not to mention that with the death of her father, it made things seem different and strained between them almost like his death would be a shadow hanging between them forever. Then again, they were just children and had no way of knowing how to deal with the death of a loved one.

Kagome shook her head in an attempt to clear those thoughts from it. It wasn't right for her to be thinking of death because of a call from Shizuru. Against her better judgment, and feeling those uneasy hands grip her heart tighter, she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Kagome?" The voice on the other end sounded tired and strained causing a sense of dread to well up inside Kagome.

"Yes? Is something wrong Shizuru?" Her words came out in a rush, as if she couldn't say them fast enough.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line which only caused her feelings to grow. "Kagome... Kazuma's dead."

Before the words fully registered in her mind, her mouth had already formed the word: "What!?"

Somehow, Shizuru's voice managed to stay calm, "Kazuma's dead. He was found dead an hour or so ago. Demon."

"But... But, are you sure? I mean, Kazuma can't die. He's... He's Kazuma!"

This time, Kagome could read beneath the tiredness and hear her sorrow. "Yes, I'm sure, Kagome. His friends found him."

Everything was slowly starting to sink into Kagome's mind. It was difficult to even think that Kazuma, her big, strong, goofy cousin, could be dead. "I'll have Mama give you a call back in a little while... I need to let them know, and I'm sure you'd like a few moments to yourself, too."

"Alright. I'll... I'll wait to hear back from Aunt Miyoko. I'm sorry to have to have been the bearer of bad news."

Kagome made a small noise that was probably supposed to be some sort of chuckle, "You have nothing to be sorry over. He was your brother..."

"Yeah. Right. Anyways... I'll see you soon, most likely."

"Yeah, you will." As soon as those words left her mouth, she heard Shizuru hang up the phone. She could tell the reality had finally hit home for Shizuru, now it would only be a matter of time before it did for her. Hopefully it would wait long enough for her to let Mama, Souta and Grandpa know. They were related to Kazuma as well.

However as she hung up the phone and turned around to find her mother, her mind finally registered the conversation she just had. It felt as if every emotion her heart was supposed to be feeling rushed to her head causing the view in front of her to take on a near-surreal quality. Kazuma, the cousin she cared about so much, was gone. Never again would she get to see him smile or hear him laugh. She wouldn't get another chance to talk with him, or just plain see him. The only place he could live now was in her memory.

Her strength left her as she tried to deal with the pain inside, belatedly noticing that she had crumpled to the ground. She could hear someone starting to sob, it was only a second later that she realized it was herself. And no matter how she tried, she just couldn't stop. That was how her mother found her a few minutes later, sitting on the floor crying as if her tears could bring the dead back to life.


The plans had been made, now all that left was the time in-between. It would always amaze Yuusuke as to how quickly wakes could be planned and then executed. While he could understand wanting to get through the hard parts as soon as possible, while the wounds were still fresh and raw before they scabbed over and became harder to go through, it still seemed as if it was an attempt to cover up the fact that there had been a loss. Almost like, "The sooner we get through this, the sooner we can start trying to move on and forget." Only there would be no forgetting with this, he already knew that none of them were the type to just forget. Not him. Not Kurama. Definitely not Hiei or Yukina. The Kuwabara family thrived on honor, so they would never be able to forget. And from what they had been told about the Higurashi family, they were not the type to forget either.

To forget would be to lose an important part of themselves, one they never wanted to give up. While they would have never admitted it to Kuwabara, he implanted some of his ideas about honor into them all. It was impossible to have a bond as they did without some part of themselves rubbing off on each other. Kurama actually taught them all to think through their ideas a little bit more; Yuusuke imparted some of his impulsivity; Hiei passed on a bit of his ruthlessness in battle. It happened to anyone who spent enough time with each other and forged deeper bonds through adventures together. Yuusuke supposed that because of that, Kuwabara would never be truly gone from them. He would always remain in some way with them. So instead, it was almost like they were wanting to begin trying to rebuild their lives without him in it. Which was something they all desperately needed to do.

Yet before they could move on, they had to get through the rest of today. This time in-between didn't seem too bad, but the wake later on would be hell trying to get through. Everyone Kuwabara had known would be there, sobbing and reliving stories of the times they had with each other. The sorrow would be permeable in the air, its scent and weight pushing on everyone. But right now, in the home of the Higurashi family, the pain and heartache seemed bearable.

They all had a good laugh when they first arrived and had been covered in powerless sutras from the old patriarch of the Higurashi. The happiness soon faded as they saw Miyoko, the elder sister of the Kuwabara sire, Taka, dressed in black and looking as if her entire world had ended. At the same time, her eyes held a sadness that existed next to acceptance. She knew exactly what they were, she knew why Kuwabara had died, she knew that Kuwabara was dead, yet she accepted it all. It wasn't until they met Kagome that they understood why they all accepted the events. It was only too bad that acceptance didn't equal less sorrow. Nothing but time could soothe the loss of a loved one.

"So you're the famous Urameshi Yuusuke I always heard Kazuma talking about," Kagome jokingly said to him. Her smile was brighter than it needed to be, he realized that it was for him, to drag him out of his sorrowful thoughts.

"Kuwabara talked about me?"

She chuckled, "All the time, ever since we were younger." Her smile diminished a little bit, becoming something fonder as she recalled memories of her time with Kuwabara. "At first all he would talk about is how badly he wanted to "beat you into the ground." But as time went on, the feeling behind the words changed... He considered you a friend, and a rival, a long time before you guys actually became friends."

Yuusuke looked away from her, emotions causing an all too familiar lump to form in his throat. Some friend he had been, letting his friend die. It wouldn't be so bad if this was the first time it happened, but it wasn't. He was startled when he felt warm arms hug him from behind and even warmer breath upon his neck. "I don't think Kazuma would blame you for anything that happened Yuusuke... None of us do because whether or not you want to admit it, you're pretty easy to figure out. And people like you just don't let friends die if there's something you can do about it. Besides, we all know what will happen to the demon who did it when you find him."

He gave a forced chuckled, "Do you always put that kind of blind faith in people or am I just special?"

Her arms released him, and he breathed a sigh of relief only to be startled by her moving to stand in front of him with an intense look in her unnatural eyes. It was a look he had only seen on Kurama, one that spoke of time and a warrior. "Why shouldn't I have faith in people? You'd be surprised at how they'll surprise you. And besides, with you, I know it's not blind faith." She gave him another one of her brillant smiles before heading towards the door to her house. "Are you ready to come back inside? Everyone will worry if you stay out too long."

He shook his head and leaned back. While she had no problems rejoining the group of family and friends, he still needed a few moments to get his emotions under control and think on her words. Kuwabara was related to some of the strangest, nicest, and caring people. He could see why he turned out the way he did.


He couldn't take it anymore! How could they all sit around and talk about him in the past tense so easily? He had been alive only two days ago, and they could already talk about him in that way so easily. It was something he couldn't bear to be around at the moment. He just wasn't ready to say goodbye and probably would never be able to until it felt right for Kuwabara to be dead. When that moment would ever be, he didn't know, but he knew it wasn't now.

Stepping into the cool night air, he breathed deeply. It seemed to cleanse away some of the sadness that clung to him from inside. A subtle movement caught his attention and had him heading closer to the shrine's tree. As he got closer, he could easily make out the form of Kuwabara's cousin, a girl he didn't know existed until a few hours ago. "What're you doing out here?"

She looked up at him, blue meeting brown as they shared the same sadness. "The same thing as you, I suppose... Just trying to get away." Her voice cracked and she paused before continuing to talk, "Trying to find some place where everyone isn't talking about him in the past tense... Care to join me?"

He shrugged before sitting down next to her. "What's that saying? 'Misery loves company'?"

"Something like that," Kagome laughed half-heartedly at his attempt to lighten the mood. The jovial feeling soon faded, once again over-powered by the deep melancholy that permeated the air. Together they sat in shared sorrow, both somehow knew that their feelings of loss and grief were similar. Yuusuke had lost one of the first people to ever show him friendship; Kagome had lost a cousin and her only trusted childhood friend. It seemed no matter where Kuwabara went, he would always be drawn to the stranger people, and in this instance, his death had brought them together. His two closest friends had finally met, but probably not under the circumstances he wanted.

Kagome leaned closer to Yuusuke, unconsciously seeking some form of warmth and comfort to soothe the hurt in her heart. "You know, when Kazuma and I were younger and we spent more time with each other... We would always sit together like this under this tree. And we would just talk."

"Talk about what?"

"Absolutely nothing," she gave a choked laugh, feeling the tears she had managed to keep at bay starting to gather in her eyes. "And sometimes, everything. We'd make up stories about demons and warriors, adventures about honor and loyalty... Tell me, Yuusuke, was his own adventure like that?"

He tilted his head to look at her. Even though she wasn't looking at him, he could tell that she wanted some kind of reassurance that he had lived his life. "Yeah, it was."

"I'm glad then, that he got to die after living out his adventure... As a real hero gets to." She couldn't hold back her tears anymore as the first one broke free. It hurt more than anything to say that he was dead. Every time she had to utter those words, it felt as if she was taking a nail and hammering it into her heart. Or perhaps it was more like opening the door to a room he had once occupied and seeing how empty it now was because he was no longer there to give it his quality, even though everything that was him still remained. His scent, his aura, she would bet that she could still conjure up the sound of his voice if she tried; they all remained in that empty room, and looking into it just intensified his absence because all those things that were him just reminded her that they would one day fade as he had. "That's how I'll always remember him... Even though I never wanted to remember."

Crying women had never been his strong point, but he couldn't bring himself to feel uncomfortable in the face of her tears. Those were the words that rested in his heart that she had spoken, and it felt like those were the tears he desperately wanted to cry. Yet, crying at his wake just seemed wrong. He knew Kuwabara would never have let him live it down if he knew he cried at his wake. He didn't even get to live it down when he cried over Kuwabara's fake death!

He put his arm around her shoulders, not knowing anything else to do. It seemed right to hold her in that way, letting her know she wasn't alone. What else could he do for a woman who seemed to be crying his tears for him over someone important who was now beyond their grasp. What was unexpected was for her to immediately turn into his side, using his shoulder to cry on. Again, he couldn't bring himself to mind even as he felt her warm tears soak through the fabric of his shirt. What could he say to someone crying over the loss of a loved one? Especially when he knew exactly how they were feeling.

At least Kuwabara was now in the hands of KoEnma, he knew that he would give him a fitting place to spend his afterlife. Toddler he may be, but he wasn't cold.


Reviewer Responses:

yusukekuramasgirl: I know... Kuwabara really didn't deserve what I did to him, but killing him off any other way seemed an injustice. He's a strong character both physically and spiritually, I could see him frustrating someone trying to torture him by not breaking. I hope Kagome's reaction wasn't too bad. And thanks for reviewing..

DYquem nsi: Thank you so much. I'm glad I managed to put a new twist on this over-used concept, and also that the killing off of one of the main characters hasn't managed to turn off too many people. I hope this chapter has been just as good as the earlier two chapters. And about the last part you put in, I won't say anything on it because I don't want to ruin the coming chapters. Thanks for reviewing.

darknessmoon: Thank you! I'm glad to know that you find it amazing and well-written. And I think everyone is a little devastated over losing Kuwabara, but coping in their own way. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.

squeefan: I'm sorry I've made you feel sad along with the characters, but at the same time I'm a little glad as well. I was crying as I wrote out the last chapter and this one too, so I was feeling emotional as well. Thanks for reviewing.