Summary: The sound echoed in his mind, the calm familar sound and his eyes watched as the glow of blue light flashed brightly, then just as quickly as it appeared, it faded, but the beating sound remained. His eyes windened. "I don't, but if I am going to kill you, I intend to do so without you in this pathetic, vulnerable state. It would be dishonorable to do otherwise." a cold voice announced. What was revived from his tradgedy? Inu-x-San
K: Ok, first off all, this is an angst one-shot, and if you get easily upset, then please don't read. There's no detailed gore, but a lot of grief and sadness, but I just felt the need to put a warning here.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, who's sole creator is Rumiko Takahashi nor do I own the song, "Untitled" by Simple Plan.
Italics: flashbacks, thoughts.
: divider
Revived Heartbeats
He was numb. His blood ran cold in his veins and his heart beat so slowly, threatening him with death, as he laid on the cold and hard ground. His lifeless, glazed-over hazel gold eyes stared fixedly up at the sky, straight into the sun that beared down on him with scorching heat. Had he been a human, he would have been blinded from staring up at the fiery orb for so long and his skin sunburnt raw, but he didn't care. Nothing mattered to him anymore, not even his own life. But still the pain, both physical as well as mental, was still there, haunting, taunting, tortuting him to the point where he felt like screaming. Desperately, he hung on to his last happy moment; the walk he remembered...
As the half-demon Inuyasha and the taijiya Sango walked from the well after saying good-bye to the schoolgirl from the future, Sango couldn't help but notice Inuyasha glancing at her stomach, his eyes eliciting question and curiousity. "Is something wrong, Inuyasha?" she asked, startling the half-demon from his reverie.
"No." he said annoyingly, crossing his arms over his chest and averting his gaze straight ahead. But to no avail, his eyes slid back over to Sango's abdomen, causing Sango to laugh a little.
"Why are you staring at me? I'm not that big--yet."
Inuyasha scrunced his nose indignantly as his eyes snapped back ahead, and cursed under his breath. Sango smiled at him warmly. "You've never seen a pregnant woman, have you? No wonder you're so curious!" Sango laughed out, causing Inuyasha to growl and blush a faint pink.
"Aw, shut up!"
Sango giggled, covering her mouth slightly with her hand. "Seriously, if you have any inquries, feel free to ask."
"Feh!"
Silence fell between them for a few minutes and during those minutes, Inuyasha kept stealing glances at Sango with that same curiousity in his amber gold eyes. With his acute hearing sense, he could distinguish two heartbeats within Sango. Her own, beating like the rhythm of a drum in Inuyasha's ears while the unborn child's was faint, but beating strongly. It felt calming to him, hearing the two beating hearts, and at night, he couldn't help but sleep on top of the roof of Sango's hut so the sound could lull him to sleep. He even wondered of the infant's gender at times whenever Sango brought on the gender subject with the father of the baby; Miroku. A pang hit him at the name itself and Inuyasha thought stubbornly, that Miroku wouldn't be a good father. He cheated-- and still does much to his chargrin--on Sango. Good thing he was on a trip today or he would have to endure Miroku over-obsessing with Sango and the baby's well-being.
"I thought of a name." Sango announced suddenly, making Inuyasha jump a bit. His eyes snapped up and locked with her eyes. A smile graced her face.
"What?"
Sango sighed. "After a few weeks of contemplating, I finally picked a name for my baby."
Inuyasha looked amused. "Oh? Great; what's the name?"
Sango's smile widen and her eyes seemed to sparkle in that moment when she said: "You."
Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes as wide as the dinner plates Kagome brought from her time and his body was as stiff as a statue. "W-wha? Me?"
Sango stopped beside him and laughed loudly at the expression he had. She clutched her soring sides and felt as if she would fall over in sheer hysteria. "Yes." she giggled. "You; my child's name shall be Inuyasha."
Inuyasha blinked a few times and felt the shock leave his body. "Why me?" was the two words that passed his lips; after that, he could find no words to say. He stood, awaiting her explanation for this honor bestowed upon him. I'm a half-demon; a disgrace to both societies...why name the baby after me?
"Inuyasha," she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a friendly embrace. "if it hadn't been for you, I would have been dead and my child would not be here inside me now. You never gave up on me when I felt like dying along with Kohaku two years ago." Sango felt tears prick her eyes, but she held them back. "You are the most important person in my life and will forever be so. That's why I want my child to bear your name, in honor and in bravery."
Inuyasha was speechless, but inside, he was happy. For the first time in 52 freaking years, he was happy. He raised his arms and enclosed them around her form, his face brushing against Sango's hair. "Thank you, Sango. You didn't have to do that...but I'm glad."
That was the last time, the last person he felt happy with. He wasn't surprised now that his happiness was ripped away from him, but still he felt the hurt inside, only far much worse than it inflicted 52 years ago. 'Sango.' his mind whispered in his mind, sounding like an echo in his ears. Echo, echo, echo. If there's one thing he missed, it was this calming sound: Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump...He felt the need for it right now, to lull him to sleep and hope that all of this would be just a nightmare when he woke up again.
The heartbeats filled Inuyasha's ears as he laid on the roof, his arm folded back behind his head as support and his eyes transfixed on the star-lit sky above. The wind softly ruffled strands of his snow-white hair, but he paid no mind to brush it away from his face. The silky feel of it relaxed him along with the 'lullaby'.
The wind changed directions and just as it did, a foul stench attacked his nostrils. He scrunched up his nose in disgust and sat up, disengaging his arms. "What the hell is in the air?" he grumbled, his eyes narrowing. "Whatever that thing is, its coming torward the village." An image of Sango with her hand over the swollen stomach in which baby Inuyasha grew within appeared. "I can't let any danger come to Sango and bab--Inuyasha." he finished quietly, standing up and unsheathing Tetseaiga.
After doing so, he lept off the roof, landing gracefully on the ground and running torwards the stench with his demon speed. As he followed the trail, the smell intensified which made Inuyasha feel a bit nauseated. There was also the heavy scent of blood--human blood--and death. Massacare, slaughtering, torturing came to his mind about this vile demon.
A groan made his ears twitch and his eyes fell to a bloddied-up human male sprawled on the ground, sobbing. "Megumi..please, no.." he groaned, his fingers clutching the grass. Inuyasha knew this man was nearing his final breath, for he heard his heartbeat lurch and slow.
"Hey, old man, who did this to you?" he questioned calmly, stopping beside him.
The dying man suddenly noticed his prescense and gasped. "Oh, d-demon..," he croaked. "beware...he had destroyed..everyone, in the village Natsuko and my Megumi." he sobbed again and lowered his head to the ground.
Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Natsuko? That's the village Miroku went to! Damn it!" he said gruffily. He opened his mouth to question the man again, but found that he had died. His heartbeat was no more. Inuyasha swore unde his breath and took off torward Natsuko. The stench grew heavier as did the demon's. "Bastard's still there." he muttered angrily. "Miroku, you better not have died on me."
Imagine his horror when he arrived to find multiple bodies sprawled on the ground, many dismembered limbs, fire licking the all broken-down huts, debris and smoke billowing in the dark sky. The heavy scent of blood and death overwhelmed him. "Damn." he swore as he stumbled over a mutilated body. "Miroku!" he called out, walking on and scanning each body to assure himself it was not the monk. "Idiot; he better not be dead. His kid needs him."
"Looking for this?" a voice sounded out suddenly, alarming Inuyasha. He held his sword up defensively and before he could question the newcomer, he saw something being hurled through the air and gasped when in landed with a sickening thud. Inuyasha felt his heart skip a beat as glassy dark blue eyes stared up at him. "M-miroku."
"Ah, yes." the voice chuckled darkly. "You should've been there, Hanyou. He died with the name of his beloved on his lips."
"Sango." Inuyasha muttered, another image of her flashing through his mind, his eyes still transfixed on the multilated monk. Words could not discribe the state he was in, missing all but one limb: his arm, which connected to his cursed hand covered by a purple cloth.
"Hm, that's correct, Hanyou."
Inuyasha felt his stomach churn achingly and his grip on Tetseiga's hilt weakened slightly as if he were about to drop it. The voice laughed at Inuyasha's shocked expression and his paling complexion. "You seem ill, Hanyou. Is the sight of your mutilated comrade to much for you to bear?"
"You shut the hell up!" Inuyasha bellowed, revulsion coursing through his veins. "Show yourself, coward!"
"As you wish, fool."
He looked like the living dead when he walked from the inferno, his ghostly white skin, his eyes, black as his soul were transfixed on Inuyasha and his black and white-lined armor, which looked very much like a demon slayer suit. The white sash that held the chestplate, katana sheath and a scythe sheath, fluttered by the heated wind from the fire. His long blood red hair was in a long braid and his bangs covered part of his grotesque scar that lined down to the tip of his chin. But, when Inuyasha looked closer at the scar, he saw that his right eye...it wasn't there. If wasn't so angry right now, he'd probably gag.
"You're a demon slayer?"
The demon chuckled. "You catch on fast, mongrel, but that is no longer my occupation sadly. You see, a horrible incident occured in my village. I'm sure you remember, demon, for you had destroyed it."
His smirk transformed into a thin, stern line as he brandished his scythe, the sound of metal sliding on metal reverbrated in the air. Inuyasha's eye narrowed as he remembered back when...Sango had accused him for destroying her village, when it had been Naraku's doing.
"Who are you?" Inuyasha growled, glaring at the blood-haired murderer. "Hmph, well, it would be rude of me to keep my identity from you, seeing that you are about to die by my sycthe, so I'll tell--" "INUYASHA!" Inuyasha's ears twitched at the familar voice, turned around and looked up. His eyes widened as tear-rimmed brown eyes connected with his. "Sango." he breathed out. "Sango, turn back!" he didn't want her to see-- "NO! MIROKU...!"
"Inuyasha."
Inuyasha's eyes widened a fraction at the sound of his half-brother's voice addressing him. He disregarded it, but mentally glad that he had disrupted his nightmare. He let out an inaudible sigh, hoping his brother would finish him off so he could escape.
"It would seem that you once again failed to save your friends. This time, there's no way to bring them back."
A pause. A change in footfalls. "Hm, this Tajiya was with child..." Inuyasha heard Sesshoumaru say to himself. Pain reflected in his eyes.
"Sango.." he whispered softly, pleadingly. "L-leave her alone, Sesshoumaru."
"She is none of my concern. I was merely observing her fatal wounds." Sesshoumaru said coldly. "Poison...she and the child did not last long. Pity that she suffered."
"S-shut-up." Inuyasha forced his eyes shut, feeling the moisture soothe his drying eyes and groaned weakly.
"Huh, you're pathetic. Mourning over the loss of a mere human?"
"You'd feel the same way, if it'd been Rin." Inuyasha retorted, feeling a sliver of satisfaction when Sesshoumaru didn't counter back with another remark. For a few minutes, he heard nothing but the wind's whisper. His mind unconsciously went back to where it left off...
Inuyasha watched as Sango lept off of Kirara, running past him and to Miroku. She choked back a sob and her shaking hand lightly touched his face. "Oh, Miroku, please..no..don't leave me.." Sango's shoulders shook with every sob she tried to force back, covering her face with her hands as she remained on her knees beside her dearly departed lover.
Inuyasha glanced from her grief-striken form to the black-eyed monster. "Ah, so you have come after all, Taijiya. Pity about your lover." he shook his head for emphasis. Inuyasha growled again.
"I told you to shut up, bastard!" he took to the air and raised his sword over his head. "Kaze no Kizu!" once the blade hit the blood-soiled ground, swaggers of gold shot out torwards the enemy. It hit him dead on. Inuyasha landed on his feet.
"Rot in Hell." he muttered as the smoke cleared, showing debris. After he sheathed a normal-sized Tetseiaga, he walked over to Sango's form and knelt down beside her. His eyes teared with pain and anguish for both the amicable monk and the head-strong taijiya. He gripped Sango's shoulder for comfort and once he did, Sango buried her face in his chest, sobbing.
"Inuyasha! Tell me this is all a nightmare, please! Tell me I'm dreaming...Miroku can't be dead; he just can't!" she punched his chest, again and again. Inuyasha didn't feel fazed by these frustrated assualts and enclosed his arms around her tightly.
"Sango..I'm sorry. It's my fault; I should've gotten here quicker. Maybe...I should have gone with him. Then he wouldn't be--"
"NO!" she punched his chest again. "I'd have lost you too!"
Kirara mewled sadly as she trotted up to her mistress, resting a paw upon her leg. Inuyasha looked gravely down at the little fire-cat as if saying: "Why the hell did you bring her out here!" Kirara's black ears flattened to her skull as her tails curled lower.
The flickering of flames, the anguishing sobs, the rapid fast heatbeats and the howling wind were the only sounds Inuyasha heard. Sango's heart kept lurching in pain from all the hysteria and the infant's seemed to slow, which aroused his concern. "Sango, I need to get you out of here." he whispered calmly as he can in her ear.
"No!" she yelled, gripping his shouders.
"It's not good for the baby."
"Inuyasha...I haven't even told Miroku the baby's name.." she trailed sadly, sniffling. "I have a headache.."
"All the more reason to leave. I'll come back for Miroku in the morning, ok?"
When he got no response, he scooped Sango in his arms and was about to take off when something winged him in the shoulder. "Argh!' he staggered to the ground as a burning sensation attacked his wounded shoulder. "Damn it!"
"It's wrong to swear, half-breed."
Inuyasha growled as he turned around, meeting malicious black eyes. "Why don't you just die?"
"Heh heh, you took the words right out of my mouth. Now you know how if felt when I lost everyone I knew."
"Souton?" Sango breathed out, her eyes wide in surprise and fear. "You survived? How can that be?"
Inuyasha's eyes widened as well. He looked down at her. "Sango, you know this creep?"
"H-he was my father's charge. He stayed behind in the village to take watch while the rest of us went to exterminate the demon...that turned out to be Naraku." she explained without tearing her widened gaze from one of the ghosts from her past.
"Glad to see you haven't forgotten your fellow comrade, dear Sango. I do apologize for having to resort to such measures." Souton said, referring to Miroku's dead body. "but I had no choice. Inuyasha must die for destroying our lives."
"Souton, Inuyasha never done any of the sort! It was the demon Naraku; he decieved and killed our family!"
Souton's form stiffened. "You're wrong, girl! I saw him!" Souton growled as his eyes turned blood red, which made Sango gasp sharply.
"It was an imposter!" Sango was near to the point of screaming, Inuyasha knew. "Naraku disguised himself as Inuyasha! He made you believe all of his lies; don't listen to him, don't fall into the same fate Kohaku had suffered!"
"Shut up." Souton clenched his fists, his sharp claws started to break the skin. "If you're not with me, you're against me. Prepare to die!"
Inuyasha's hold on Sango tightened and he lept out of the way before Souton's glowing red hand released a blast of energy, simaliar to Sesshoumaru's. "Kirara, get Sango out of here!" he yelled as he landed away from the jagged line the attack left from where they had just been standing moments ago. But, before Kirara could transform, Souton arms morphed into tentacles and grabbed the cat in his vice-like grip. "Mew!" Souton chuckled darkly before extracting a single claw, then stricking the cat. The mewling ceased. "Kirara!" Souton hurled the cat behind him without breaking his gaze on the hanyou and taijiya. "Two down, two to go...or should I say three?"
Inuyasha blocked the rest out of his mind. He couldn't stand it anymore, couldn't stand the mental pain he was forced to suffer. "Why, Sango? Why her...you were after me, you filthy bastard."
"What are you muttering about, little brother?"
"I swear, before I die, I'm gonna kill you. I'll make you wish you never killed my friends; I'll make you pay." he chanted, his teeth gritting together as his claws sink in the ground.
I open my eyes
I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light
I can't remember how
I can't remember why
I'm lying here tonight
"Unh! Inuyasha!" Sango yelled as she struggled in Souton's enclosure, feeling the tentacle slowly clench her body. "STOP, PLEASE!"
"Sango! Let go of her, you bastard!" he took off in the air torward the enemy dangling his beloved friend and comrade in the air, toying him with her life as well as his namesake.
And I can't stand the pain
And I can't make it go away
No I can't stand the pain
Souton chuckled as he raised his free arm, flexing his claws as he watched Sango scream and struggle in wild fear. "Goodbye, dear one."
"Sango!" Inuyasha felt time stop as the tentacle poised to strike, then beared down and down and down...Inuyasha's out-stretched arm reached out for Sango, who had done the same, her eyes connecting with his.
"Inuyasha!"
How could this happen to me?
I made my mistakes
Got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?
A strangled cry of pain and anguish reached his ears as the source of the heart-skipping sound was hurled at him. Her body hit his chest, knocking him off balance as he hurdled to the ground. A warm, sticky substance seeped into his clothing and it was then, at that moment, realization dawned upon him. "Sango! No!" he struggled to sit up and once he did, he picked up a gasping Sango clutching her bloodied up stomach. Inuyasha's eyes widened as the heartbeat inside her ceased.
"The infant is no more."
Everybody's screaming
I try to make a sound but no one hears me
I'm slipping off the edge
I'm hanging by a thread
I wanna start this over again
Her screaming, gasping and frantic calling of his name and her baby caused a disturbed feeling to overcome him. His eyes flashed a deadly red as his arms tightened around Sango's form. He started shaking as Souton morphed back into his normal form, chuckling as he raised his bloddy hand to his lips. "And now, the taijiya is no more."
The last sliver of his self-control slipped as her heartbeat did. Standing from the deceased form of his lost friend, his blood red eyes glared at the object of his angered mind, thinking of nothing but having the bastard's blood coating his claws.
So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered
And I can't explain what happened
And I can't erase the things that I've done
No, I can't
"You cannot kill him."
Inuyasha's flashing eyes ceased into a revived, determined hazel gold. Life in his eyes, only for the purpose of revenge, glared up at his half-brother towering over him. "W-what the hell are you saying? Why can't I kill that bastard!"
"He's already dead...or do you not remember?"
How could this happen to me?
I made my mistakes
Got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?
Flashes of his scattered memory pulsed through his mind. Of him in a wild frenzy, Souton's widened eyes, red blood dripping from his claws, Souton's body dropping in a heap on the ground and finally, Inuyasha collapsing beside him, his reddened gaze fading and closing out from the world.
"Yeah, I do; I remember."
"Then get up on your feet, little brother, before that miko finds you in this paticular situation. She'd probably conclude you have murdered the taijiya, the feline, and the monk in your state of uncontroled emotions."
"Why do you care?"
His eyes watched as a glow of blue light flashed brightly, then just as quickly as it appeared, it faded. A sound, no the soothing, gentle beating sound he longed to hear reverbrated in his ears. His eyes widened.
"I don't, but if I am going to kill you, I intend to do so without you in this pathetic, vulnerable state. It would be dishonorable to do otherwise."
The sound of Sesshoumaru's footsteps dying out in the distance and the revived heartbeat in his ears bewildered him. "Unh..Inuyasha...?"
He gasped sharply, the impulse to sit up and see for himself if Sesshoumaru really did revive what purpose he had left for living. He didn't; he continued to lie there and shut his eyes.
"Inuyasha, thank Kami, y-you're alright." he felt a body rest upon his and arms enclosing around his shoulders. "I thought I lost you."
I made my mistakes
Got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me?
He opened his eyes to light brown eyes staring worriedly down at him, but a smile was set on her lips. "I'm ok now. We're all ok, let's just think of this as--as a nightmare." he heard the heartbeats of Sango's, Miroku's, Kirara's, the baby's and his own and understood what she had said.
His arms enclosed around hers and he buried his head in the crook of her neck. "Yeah, it was just a nightmare, Sango. Go to sleep now...no reason to be afraid. I'm right here..."
The End
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K: Hoo boy, why I conjured this up was beyond my comprehension, but hey, at least they were brought back to life. Well, enough of my babbling, do as you wish: review or don't review. -''