By Nami
Characters aren't mine, etc.
She was always a cheerful girl. That's what everyone said. Always so happy and friendly towards everyone. She didn't have any enemies that anyone could think of. But he knew who it was. Everyone was surprised when she was found unconscious and beaten bloody outside the covered well at her family's shrine. Everyone, that is, except him.
He knew exactly why someone would beat her almost to death and leave her. And it was his fault. She shouldn't have been out that late, but she was worried about him. She was attacked after going to see him. And when he found out about her injuries, he was beyond angry. He fell into a depression for three days before going to visit her the night of the new moon. He flew into a rage after he saw her. She was in her room, but her room was changed. Machines surrounded her bed and tubes and wires were connected to her arms, face, and chest. She was bruised, bandaged, and still unconscious.
The boy, unable to help her till the night ended, sat by her bed till morning. He held her hand and stroked her face and told her he would find the sick bastard who had hurt her and make him pay. Then when the sun rose, he placed a feather-light kiss on her cheek and left through the window. Her mother never even knew he was there.
He hunted for a month, until the next new moon. Then he found a bridge to sleep under. He had abandoned his usual kimono in favor of more modern black jeans, T-shirt, and jacket. He wore sunglasses and a bandanna at all times of the day and night and never spoke to anyone. He was hot on the attacker's tail, following rumors and half-heard stories of a monster ravaging the streets of the cities across Japan and China.
They had almost completed their mission. Only one enemy remained. One nemesis. After two and a half years of fighting, traveling, and living side-by-side almost constantly, they were almost done. Then this had happened. He had grown to think of her as a dear and trusted friend, still unsure of his own heart, and he protected her with his entire being. Until that night. That night she had been attacked. He could sense that she hadn't been raped, and a glance at the charts confirmed this. That, at least, was a relief. But she still hadn't awakened.
Hours melted together into days, weeks, months. For almost two years he hunted, his prey always one step ahead, just out of reach. Just barely eluding him. Then he met her brother. He had left home a year earlier to attend a prestigious private junior high in northern Japan.
"How is she?" asked the Hunter. He was serious. Always serious now, never smiling, never laughing or showing any emotion whatsoever. The Brother gazed at him in surprise.
"You don't know."
"Know what?" Calm. Emotionless. A husk kept alive purely for the hunt. And for her. All and always for Her.
"She died. Nearly two years ago. Just after your last visit." The Hunter stared blankly. "She woke up before she died."
"Did she say... anything?"
"She said, 'Don't let him go. Don't let him kill.' Then she died." The Brother looked sad. The Hunter looked empty.
"So she died, still worried about me."
"Yes." The Hunter left the Brother and continued in his hunt. It was a sacred Hunt now. To be his last. He would fulfill his promise to Her, then die himself. He still carried his legendary weapon proudly, ready to use it at a moment's notice.
He hunted more viciously now. And three years later, he overcame his prey. He drew his sword, cut the Monster down. Then he looked at the heavens. He picked out the star he had chosen as Her star.
"All for You." He whispered, then he fell on the blade himself. She met him on the other side with open arms and a happy-sad smile. She embraced him and they were together again with the Jewel.
They found his body the next day beside the remains of the Monster. The rusted blade protruded from his back. "Murder-Suicide" they called it. And he was buried in a nameless grave, a nameless corpse. But he was happy.
She was by his side again.
.:end:.
author's notes and other miscellany:
In case you didn't catch on, the story is about Inu Yasha. The girl was Kagome. The brother was Souta. The monster was just an anonymous monster. You get those every once in a while. It's majorly sad, but I like the sad angsty ones.