Disclaimer: All songs referenced in this belong to Fall Out Boy. Same goes for the title. :) Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi-sensei.
Key:
'thoughts' and/or 'songs' (you'll know the difference)
"Speaking"/ "singing" (again, you'll know the difference)
*action*
.o.o.o.o. –break
I'll be nice and warn you ahead of time: there will be a little teensy bit of OOCness for another character later on. ^^'
Here we go…
~Take This to Your Grave~
.o.o.o.o.
*step*
*plip*
*step*
*plip plip-plip*
*step*
.o.o.o.o.
Slow, heavy, unsteady footsteps could be heard throughout the blindingly white, snowy clearing. The wind had hushed its voice when the stranger stumbled into the peaceful little area. The trees watched the newcomer's unsteady progress, unable to hold her upright even if they wanted to. 'She would leave soon enough,' said their whispery thoughts, carried through the contact of a few brown leaves and frosty branches, from pine needle to pine needle. And so they watched.
But the peacefulness which once enveloped them in comfortable silence fled at the sight of patches of bright red snow left in the young miko's wake.
She may not be leaving after all.
.o.o.o.o.
Icy, pale lips parted to utter a shuddering groan of pain. Fog escaped her open mouth in a harsh rush, crisp winter air drawn in with a slight wheeze to take its place.
Kagome was dressed in her traditional miko garb: a white haori and red hakama. She was sure her special winter boots were soaked through, which wouldn't help with preventing frost bite one bit.
'Not that it matters,' she thought bitterly. 'I'll die soon from this wound anyways.' And, not for the first time that long day, she cursed InuYasha, then Kikyo, then Naraku, then herself.
InuYasha because she found him with Kikyo. Again. Big surprise.
Kikyo, because she stole InuYasha. 'Well,' she reasoned, 'she really won him fair and square, but still.'
Naraku, because he's the one who fricken gave her this fricken wound, fricken bastard.
And last, herself. Mostly because she ran. A little for coming to the Feudal Era in the first place. A lot for not being strong enough to get rid of that evil bastard, i.e. Naraku.
'Stupid Feudal Era with stupid demons and stupid half-demons and stupid priestesses…'
As she was fuming and stumbling through the snow, a small voice started singing in the back of her mind:
'…forget about you…so bury me in memory, his smile's your rope, so wrap it tight around your throat…'
Kagome smiled and adapted that little excerpt to her own feelings about her situation and sung it in her head, 'hersmile's your rope…'
And you know? Right now, that's exactly what she wanted InuYasha to do. She was going to die anyways, and he was too busy banging that clay pot to save her. It was obvious he didn't want her anymore, so why should she still love him? She wondered if he would even bother to find her. She stumbled and nearly fell at the thought as the voice started singing a couple lines of "Dead on Arrival" to her. It was right. She would be dead when he finally arrived.
She glanced quickly at the growing stain on her haori. Her hands were pressing firmly at the deep gash in her abdomen, blood trickling through her fingers and falling to the ground to stain the once-pure snow.
'Stupid, stupid, stupid.'
She tripped again and landed on her knees in the cold snow.
.o.o.o..o.o.o.o.
She had caught them making-out when Kikyo looked up. InuYasha's back was turned since he was too busy concentrating on his clay pot. She had run from the scene of a smug Kikyo and an unknowing InuYasha into the forest. She ran and ran. She ran until she ran head first into a wall of demonic aura. She only knew one demon (half-demon, really) who could produce such an aura: Naraku. She immediately felt stupid for leaving her bow and arrows behind in her haste to get away from the happy couple.
It was then that she felt the source of the aura directly behind her.
"Shit," she mumbled, terrified out of her mind.
"It's wonderful to see you, too, Kagome," Naraku purred.
His warm breath ghosted past her ear, sending shivers of fear and disgust through her body.
"My, my," he said with faux surprise. "You seem to be all alone. Tell me, where is InuYasha?"
"With Kikyo," she blurted angrily and without thinking. 'Great, Kags. Now you've done it,' she thought.
"Oh, you poor girl," he purred into her ear, wrapping his arms around hers, pinning them against her torso. "You must feel so betrayed. He never stops to think about you, always running off to his dead priestess when he has the living one right in front of him. What is wrong with him?"
She sniffled, trying to fight back the angry tears that surged up at his knowing words. He leaned his head into the space between her neck and her shoulder, breathing deeply. She flinched and bit back a whimper of fear. Where the hell was InuYasha when you needed him?
Oh, yeah. Right. Forgot.
"Wouldn't it be nice to get back at that worthless hanyou?" Naraku asked seductively. "Wouldn't it be nice to show him that you're worth far more than his dead wench?"
She entertained that thought for a millisecond. Then, repulsed, she shoved the thought away. No matter how much she hated him right now, she could never really hurt him.
Naraku continued. "Join me. I can help you. I can help you get back at the fool and his wench. I'll make all of your dreams come true…" he trailed off, expecting an answer.
She froze. As with every offer he ever made anyone in his life, it was either accept or die. 'Shit.' Well, what the hell? She was going to die either way. Nothing good would come of living with Naraku, so:
"No."
He blinked. He really had half-expected the girl to accept. Oh, well. Such a waste.
"Very well," he said with a malicious grin.
A tentacle reached around her arms, purposefully touching her skin, raising goosebumps and causing her to shake with fear.
"Oh, dear God―"
.o.o.o. Flashback.o.o.o.o.
'And that's how this came to be. I wonder why he let me go. He could've just killed me there,' she wondered to herself.
Sadistic bastard probably just wanted her to suffer.
She briefly wondered if it was worth it to get up. She wasn't headed anywhere in particular.
She stayed on her knees, letting the snow soak through her clothes.
.o.o.o.o.
Hours later, she was laying back in the snow, singing quietly to herself.
"…stood on my roof and tried to see you forgetting about me, hide the details, I don't want to know a thing…"
Her quiet voice was getting a little hoarse. Tears froze in their tracks down the sides of her face. It was starting to hurt when she breathed now. In her head, her little muse, as she had decided to call it, started singing, '…"don't say it's over," dead and gone, dead and gone…"
'How cheerful,' she thought sarcastically. 'You're probably right, though. It's almost time, I would guess.'
She went back to singing to herself.
.o.o.o.o.
"…and when it all goes to hell, will you be able to tell me you're sorry with a straight face…"
The metallic scent of blood had drawn him to the clearing. He felt like he should recognize that smell. Did he know the owner of it?
It was possible.
He was a few hundred yards away from the clearing when he heard the singing.
Female. And human. Interesting.
There was something familiar about the lavender scent underneath all of that blood.
"…take this to your grave, and I'll take it to mine…" sang a hoarse voice coming from the clearing.
He spotted the girl's footprints, splotches of bright red blood standing out in stark contrast with the snow.
Following the tracks with his golden eyes, he found a dark head of hair resting on the snow, followed by a body clad in a white, bloodstained haori and red hakama.
He quietly walked forward to get a better look.
Her eyes were closed, but she was singing softly to herself, her hands resting over what seemed to be the source of the blood stains everywhere.
Miko's garb, he noticed.
He only knew one young living miko. His brother's companion. What was her name? Kagome? Was that it?
Her lips were turning blue from the cold. Where the hell was the idiot who was supposed to be protecting her?
"Kagome," he said softly while kneeling down beside her in the snow.
Eyes opened wide, she said with surprise and a hint of trepidation, "Sesshoumaru!" Her voice was hoarse, and he found that he didn't like it.
He frowned. "Where's InuYasha?" he asked, clearly displaying his irritation at her lack of a guardian.
"Uh…" 'Remember what I earned the last time someone asked this?' she asked herself. 'Right. How could I forget?'
But, for some reason, she found that she trusted Sesshoumaru.
"With… Kikyo…" she said quietly.
Sesshoumaru closed his eyes in momentary frustration. "Idiot."
How many people had called InuYasha an idiot today? 'InuYasha…'
Her muse spoke in song again, '…so now you're waiting up for him, you're wasting time, yeah, every time…' 'You're right,' she replied mentally.
"How did you get injured?" He sure was asking a lot of questions lately.
"Naraku."
Sesshoumaru's eyes tinted red, then flashed back to normal. "Are you waiting for InuYasha?"
She thought. 'Honestly, I had been… but now…?'
"No," she replied truthfully.
He surprised her when he carefully picked her up and took to the skies as gingerly as possible.
No more waiting for a love that will never come.
No more hurting because of someone who can't make up his mind.
.o.o.o..o.o.o.o.
Songs that were in this fic, in order of appearance:
"'Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do Today'"
"Dead on Arrival"
"The Pros and Cons of Breathing"
"Calm Before the Storm"
"The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes"
All songs are from the album Take This to Your Grave by Fall Out Boy.
I just decided to write something with some FOB lyrics woven into the plot/theme, and I'm really only into a few anime. The top three choices were Ouran High School Host Club, InuYasha, and Naruto. I couldn't really have OHSHC because 1) it wouldn't work having Haruhi/any girl in the Ouran world walking around in the woods in the winter bleeding and dying, and 2) no one in the Ouran world is bleeding and dying. It just doesn't mix. I couldn't have Naruto because it would be weird having someone from the Naruto world singing Fall Out Boy, you know? Naruto is its own little world. So the wisest choice would be InuYasha because Kagome's from our time and our world. I could've had Ouran because it's modern Japan, but then the whole bleeding and dying thing… you get it. So, InuYasha it was. Sorry for the mild OOCness with Sesshy back there, but I couldn't really get him in character. I don't know. I hope it's okay. :] We'll all just have to pretend that Kags like FOB enough to be singing their songs while dying.
Oh, and btw. I left the ending like that so that I could either have a sequel somewhere down the line or you all could fill in the blanks with whatever you wanted. ^^ See? I love you all enough to let you get creative. lol
Hope you enjoyed.
With love,
child_of_the_moon
XO