Disclaimer: All rights to Inuyasha go to Rumiko Takahashi et al - I own nothing.
A/N: This collection of thirty pieces is written for the LJ comm un_love_you, where the idea is that not all relationships have to be defined by the words 'I love you'. I don't know whether they'll be interconnected yet or not, but they will all by Inuyasha/Kagome and (as usual xD) un-beta'd. So if you pick up any mistakes, feel free to give me a hearty kick and let me know.
This was designed to be an exercise in present tense, imagery and emotion. And it's quite dark, for me. Which is unusual. Success? You tell me. ^^
Word count: 717 words. Diverging canon universe. Un-beta'd.
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Keep One Eye on the Scythe - Always
The battle rages far into the evening. Kagome can see the remains of the village blazing against the dark sky. Smouldering ash clumps together into little fireships which sail from one helpless hut to the next, spreading the bright, burning bite of death. Crippling. Destroying.
She wants to sob when Kaede's home catches light. Their memories - of laughter, tears, companionship - crackle away with the wood and curl upwards into the smoke, dead and dying. Crying.
She can do nothing. Except pull the last arrow from her quiver, and hope that they all make it through to see the new dawn, waiting and expectant on the other side.
Her arms stretch in the familiar motion. The bow is a dark line against the chaos sitting below the ridge; where Miroku and Sango and Inuyasha are fighting for their lives, and hers as well. Kagome takes a breath. It holds in her chest, and she closes her eyes, pouring her hopes and dreams into that thin piece of wood; her regrets, what-ifs, could-bes and all the things left unsaid between the endless moments of speech and silence. In this, she thinks, there is no black or white: only grey, and death hiding in the shadows. Waiting. Always, always waiting.
When she finally feels empty, she breathes out. Her eyes snap open and the arrow flies, a bright comet streaking across the night. Watching it go - knowing the exact weight of what it carries inside the rosy haze of purification - feels a little like absolution.
...but why should she be absolved, when they deserve it so much more?
And then, Inuyasha is there. He stands at her side, Tetsusaiga gleaming dully and cast red in blood and fire. She can tell he was counting the arrows - knew she had a dozen, saw that one as her last and came to stop death from sliding out of the shadows to grasp her by the throat. Those golden eyes are burning, far brighter than the flames licking the timbers of the village.
"You hurt?"
"Not much. You?"
He doesn't answer. She sees the dark blotches patterning his hakama. Her hands and heart flutter uselessly.
"Inuyasha..."
"Nothing serious."
"You always say that, but-"
She never finishes her sentence, because suddenly she is moving, bundled into a pair of strong arms with his blood soaking into her clothes and skin. A cloud of miasma blows over them; she chokes into his shoulder. From somewhere to her left, the thing that used to be Naraku laughs - madly, inhumanly, its massive bulk blotting out the pale light of the moon.
Kagome hears something like the whoosh of wind. Inuyasha grunts, stumbles, and runs faster.
"Miroku and Sango are waiting for me to get back. We'll try to get rid of Naraku, but we need you to be out of the way."
This isn't what she wants to hear.
"What?! I'm as much a part of this as you are, and-"
"Kagome."
He sounds so worn, so weary and pleading and desperate, that the emotion in that one word silences her. They arrive at the well, and she knows. The truth sits in every stiff line of his body, every blink and every beat of his heart. She understands him. He can never keep anything from her for long.
"Inuyasha, please."
There is a poetry about it, the end coming at the place where everything began. But she doesn't want poetry. She wants him. He obliges, sets her down and looks at her - looks at her, beyond skin and blood and muscle and bone, right down into the hidden heart of her, the part that wants to wrap itself around him and never let go.
This is where the denial comes from, when Naraku's tentacle blossoms from his chest.
"NO!"
This is what bleeds, when he wastes his last opportunity to escape by pushing her into the well.
This is what screams, as he falls away from her and towards death, who is stepping out from the shadows and smiling widely, his long wait finally over.
Her world ends; not with a bang, or a whimper, but a whisper.
"Goodbye."
She screams, and screams, and screams, until she can't scream any more.
The flames disappear. Inuyasha disappears.
She does, too.
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Written for Prompt 27, Author's Choice, at LJ comm un_love_you. For this prompt, I came up with; 'Is this a beginning, or an end?'
Any and all feedback will be greeted with hugs and much appreciation. In fact, it's probably up there with coffee on level of importance in my life. xD So, if you liked it, let me know. If you didn't - likewise, and tell me why. Concrit is the best form of review, after all. Thanks for reading!