Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Witch Hunter Robin Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Disease ❯ Chapter 17

After making you wait for over a month, the final chapter is here. I am working on finishing up this mini-saga, but I'm not quite done yet. I will finish eventually…I hope. It's been great having y'all stay with me. Let me know your thoughts, what you liked and what you didn't, and I'll try to keep that in mind while I finish this up.

 

~*~

 

Robin was playing with Misao when Yusuke rushed in. “Hi,” she greeted him when she saw who it was. “I thought you'd be looking for Gotenmaru.”

 

“I was,” he wheezed, “but I just found out something I thought you'd like to know.”

 

“It must be important if you ran all the way up the shrine steps,” she noted. “Okay, tell me.”

 

“It's Kurama.”

 

Her head snapped over in his direction. “What about him?” she asked calmly, though her reactions said she was anything but calm.

 

“He's come down with the sickness.”

 

Robin felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her. “When did this happen?”

 

“Just after school. His mother's with him right now, and she said that he's no worse than the others. No better, either, but at least we know he's not going to die anytime soon.”

 

“And the doctors still don't know what's wrong with them. How long has it been since they discovered this disease?”

 

He shrugged. “I have to go out and search again, but I thought you'd want to know.”

 

“Thank you, Yusuke,” she said, and he left.

 

“Hey, what's wrong?” Inuyasha asked when he came into the room. She explained things to him. “You know, we could help him,” the hanyou said.

 

“You'd do that?” Sango asked, joining them.

 

“Keh! There's been no challenge recently; this would be good exercise,” he snorted. “You know, I think I'll do that. See you guys later.” He was out the door before they could say anything.

 

“I hope he remembers to stay away from populated places,” Sango sighed. “He forgot his hat, and his ears tend to make him a little more conspicuous than we would like.”

 

“He should be fine,” Robin assured her. I hope. “Let's start dinner. When he comes home, he'll probably want something to eat.”

 

~*~

 

No! Hiei internally screamed as Gotenmaru dodged his attack once again. How did he get this fast? He wasn't this fast or powerful last time I saw him. And where's Kurama? This is the second day he hasn't come to help.

 

“Give up,” Gotenmaru sneered as he dodged yet another attack. “You can't even touch me.”

 

Hiei took another swipe at him with his sword, but hit nothing but air. Again. “Stop running and fight,” Hiei shouted, frustrated that he was missing every time. All he got was malevolent laughter as an answer.

 

He growled low in his throat. They had been playing this game for some time, and though Hiei would never admit it out loud, he was getting tired. He'd found him before the sun had gone down, and now it was almost pitch-black except for the tiny sliver of moon left and the stars. I don't know how long I can keep this up.

 

“Just give up,” Gotenmaru said again. “What do humans mean to you, anyway?”

 

“What do you mean?” Hiei asked harshly.

 

“Where do you think I've gotten all this power? It has to come from somewhere, and humans have so much of it. I just took some. Of course, they collapsed afterward, but what does it matter? They're still alive and able to donate their energy to me.”

 

Hiei's eyes narrowed. “So there is no disease; it's all been you sapping their strength.”

 

“That is correct. Not that it matters to you since you're a demon.”

 

“I can't let you keep taking their energy,” Hiei snarled.

 

“Then you would be opposing me, and I have to get rid of all that oppose me or else I'd never get anywhere. Good bye, opponent.”

 

“Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!” a familiar voice yelled, and a figure in red slashed the advancing demon.

 

Gotenmaru screamed and leaped back, glaring at the new assailant. “Who are you?” he hissed.

 

“So, you're the one who put Kagome and Kurama under that spell,” he said instead of answering him.

 

“He has Kurama?” Hiei asked.

 

“Yeah, got him this afternoon. That's why he isn't here now.”

 

Gotenmaru was glaring at him. “How could you hit me?” he asked in disbelief. “It shouldn't have been possible for you to have even come close.”

 

Inuyasha snorted. “You weren't paying attention. It wasn't all that hard.” Flexing his claws, he continued, “Anyway, I'm here to get rid of you.”

 

“Hah! A weakling like you? I was unprepared earlier, but now you don't have the element of surprise.”

 

“We'll see,” he smirked. “If you're ready, then let's get on with it.”

 

Gotenmaru vanished. Inuyasha looked around, trying to locate his scent rather than see him. Unfortunately, Gotenmaru showed up behind him and was about to put a sword through his stomach, but Hiei slammed into him, putting him off-balance. Inuyasha turned around and slashed him with his claws. He almost got him, but the sly demon flipped and Inuyasha had to divert his attack or he'd have hit Hiei. In the confusion that followed, Gotenmaru shook off Hiei and disappeared again. This time he ran into Hiei, causing the fire demon to go down. Noticing that Inuyasha's attention was now on the down fire Koorime, he sliced right where Inuyasha stood. Or, had been standing. While the full demon looked around in confusion, Inuyasha came down on top of him and proceeded to cut off his right arm before he got away again. As was expected, Gotenmaru was not expecting this and wasn't happy about it. “You'll pay for that, half-breed,” he snarled.

 

“I think not,” Hiei said, coming up behind him and stabbing him through the back. Gotenmaru stiffened, then slowly toppled over, dead.

 

“That wasn't so hard,” Inuyasha commented, grabbing Hiei's arm and lifting him up. “What took you so long to do that?”

 

“He was a psychic demon,” Hiei said through gritted teeth. “He was attacking my mentally as well as physically. But I would've done it eventually. Why didn't he do that to you?”

 

“Do what?” Inuyasha was more interested in how many wounds Hiei had gotten than what he was talking about.

 

“Attack your mind.”

 

“Oh, that. He did.”

 

“You didn't succumb?”

 

“Nope. He had to stop after the first few seconds. I kept up a strong offense, so if he tried to take my mind, I would've sliced him open.”

 

“We need to get to the hospital,” Hiei said quickly, moving in the general direction of the said building. “If he's dead, then the people will be waking up very shortly now.”

 

“Kagome.” They both ran, Inuyasha following Hiei since the fire demon knew how to get there. Once they arrived, they went in and were astounded at how many people Gotenmaru actually had a hold on. Inuyasha ran through them to Kagome's room with Hiei hot on his heels. She was still asleep, but showed signs of waking. They sat on either side of her bed, waiting anxiously. Their patience was rewarded. She moaned softly and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Inuyasha. Hiei watched her eyes fill with love, and the other's eyes reflected hers. Then she saw him. To his surprise, the love remained, and joy joined its fellow emotion.

 

“You don't know how glad I am to see you two,” she said, her voice hoarse from disuse.

 

“You don't know how glad we are to see you awake,” Inuyasha responded.

 

Hiei felt like he was intruding on them, and it made him distinctively uncomfortable. “I'm going to see how Kurama is,” he told them, heading for the door.

 

“He got Kurama?” Kagome asked.

 

“Just this afternoon. I don't know how I missed the hooks in his mind. Anyway, I'm going to find him.”

 

“Don't forget to come back,” Kagome called right before he closed the door.

 

There were so many people milling around. It was almost impossible to navigate in there, and finally he had to use his Jagan in a secluded corner to find out where exactly the fox was hiding. Finding his quarry, he left the corner and wormed his way through to the redhead and his mother. When he came upon them, Kurama was talking with his mother, who was teary-eyed and hugging him. “Ku-Shuichi,” Hiei called.

 

He turned around and saw who it was. “Hiei,” he exclaimed. “I didn't know you'd be here.”

 

“Well, I am,” he said, a little nonplussed at his friend's tone, which was filled with surprise and gratitude.

 

“I'm going to get some water, Shuichi,” his mother said. “I'll be right back. Would you like me to bring you some?”

 

“Yes, thank you, Mother,” he replied.

 

“I'll get one for you, too, Hiei,” she said right before she left.

 

“I thought you'd be looking for Gotenmaru,” Kurama said once his mother was out of earshot.

 

“I found him,” Hiei responded. “He's gone now.”

 

Kurama raised an eyebrow. “Couldn't you have done that earlier?”

 

“Are you implying that I didn't kill him earlier because I enjoyed chasing him?” he asked acidly.

 

“That wasn't it at all,” Kurama assured him.

 

“Anyway, he was the reason so many people, including you, were in the hospital. He sapped your energy, and that's why everyone was unconscious, not dead. As long as the people were alive, he could use their energy. Now that he's gone, everyone's fine again.”

 

“I'm sorry I wasn't there,” Kurama apologized.

 

He brushed his words aside. “It's not like you could help it,” he said.

 

He was about to say more, but Shiori returned with the promised water, so he drank it, and said he had to go see another friend of his. He went back to Kagome and Inuyasha, and the two men helped Kagome out of the hospital. From there, she got on Inuyasha's back and the two demons bounded home.

 

At the door, Hiei stopped. Inuyasha and Kagome had already gone in, and he could hear how glad everyone was for her to be back. However, he hadn't been there for a long time, and now there was a person there he was deathly afraid of facing. He could hear her voice, smell her scent. He would wait for everyone to finish their greetings, then he would enter. He turned around and started walking to the Goshinboku.

 

“Hiei?”

 

He whirled around. There she was, right behind him. Her cerulean eyes were filled with uncertainty as she watched him. “That is my name,” he answered coolly.

 

“Come in,” she invited. “They say you haven't been home for quite some time now.”

 

“I was busy.”

 

“Please come in,” she pleaded. “They'll be glad to see you.”

 

“And you won't?” he retorted. Then he thought about what he said. Oops.

 

Her expression cleared. “Of course I'm glad to see you,” she responded warmly. Before he could run away, she closed the distance between them and embraced him. “I'm glad you're okay,” she murmured.

 

“Why would you think I wouldn't be?” he asked.

 

“I worry; with your job, can you blame me?”

 

“I guess not,” he admitted. “Anyway, you wanted to go back in?”

 

She nodded. “Yes, let's.”

 

~*~

 

It was hard for Kagome to catch up on all the schoolwork she missed while she was “sick”, but with Michael and Robin's help, she managed to get some of it down, though by no means all of it. Not that it really mattered; so many people missed that there was going to be an extended school year for those students. It wouldn't be all summer, but it would last into early June. She was a bit bummed, but at least she wouldn't have to repeat her sophomore year. Serena was a problem, though.

 

“I'm not being held back a year,” she had protested when Michael approached her about the subject of her schooling since she was staying here. “I had to do just as much as I normally would in school, even more.”

 

“English?” Michael asked.

 

“You can teach me,” she pleaded. “I'm only lacking in certain areas. Please?” He finally gave in.

 

Now Kagome was about to take her history final. It was her last one, and she felt fairly confident with this one. Once Mr. Kenu gave the signal, she dug into it. She had to struggle with some things, but that was to be expected. What she knew of certain events weren't what the history books said, so she had to choose very carefully. A couple hours later, she turned in her test and ran out into freedom with the rest of her class. She felt like she could skip home, but that would've gotten her strange looks, so she just walked with an extra bounce in her step.

 

When I get home, I know Inuyasha will be waiting for me. Then he'll probably try to convince me not to go back to school, and it's too dangerous in my time where he can't protect me. Oh well, I guess I should be used to it by now.

 

“It's about time you got here,” Inuyasha said when she entered.

 

Here we go again.

 

~End~