Mistress Phoenix: I really shouldn't be writing another story while I'm still busy with others, and seeing as it takes me forever to get things done, but I love this plot so much I had to write it! Anyways, this a lot darker than my other writings, and there is character death in throughout the story, so.. yeah.

And this chapter is one of the more angsty ones, just to let you know. But that's what I'm going for, so if you like tragedy and/or angst I think you might enjoy this, but that's just my opinion.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own InuYasha or any mentioned characters. Although I would very much like too. Nyeh.

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She couldn't see anything anymore.

Tears clouded her vision, blinding her almost completely. Her eyes were so horribly red and puffy now, and right now she doubted if they would ever return to their normal state, her soul feeling so broken. Kagome then blinked her stinging, terrible tears away, but the oncoming flow of sorrow and regret forced her brown eyes to be once again fogged over with overwhelming salty tears, each one stinging even more than the last.

Kagome hugged her pillow tighter than she had already had it, only her eyes visible from behind the damp, tearstained white pillow.

She knew that this day may someday come.

But when this day did come, she would never in her existance have thought she would be here, in her own room in present Japan. Not here.

Not so far away from him.

Her long fingers delicately ran along the strong hilt of the dominant sword Tetsuiagia, and the red robe of the fire rat sat quietly beneath it, partially tearstained from Kagome's crying, just as her pillow was.

"InuYasha.."

Even though she had only spoken one single word, anyone could tell that this girl was terribly upset, she having have choked horribly over the familiar and loved name.

Suddenly, Kagome broke into a hysterical fit of tears and was unable to make her shoulders stop shaking. Her tears dropped on the sword beneath her, and the fifteen year old did not cease her sobbing, not even for a moment.

- FLASHBACK -

Instead of millions of pieces, the Shikon no Tama was currently in only two.

All the shards had been finally found and pieced together, each side having their own share. The two pieces were not of equal size, but they were both within the close distance.

The majority of the jewel was in the possession of the iniquity hanyou dubbed Naraku, while the rest was carefully hung around Kagome's neck, as it normally was.

InuYasha faced their enemy, ready to battle.

"I will prevail, InuYasha!"

Naraku's voice had remained sounding calm but there was no mistaking the confidence and natural harshness in his voice. InuYasha growled in anger, his grip tightening greatly on the hilt of his sword.

"I'm gonna destroy you once and for all, Naraku!"

InuYasha's arrogant answer came within seconds, and the dog hanyou soon raised his mighty sword again, ready to attack this horrible half demon.

The whole gang was currently present, and all six were positive that this would be the final battle, the battle that would determine the fate of the Shikon Jewel.

The final battle, finally here.

The demon they were battling was Naraku himself, not one of his many puppets.

The mêlée suddenly burst into full force, even Shippo was helping out with his weak kitsune powers. Kirara used her fangs and claws, Sango used her boomerang and demon exterminating skills, Miroku used his powers and Kagome used her arrows. This battle would end in death.

After nearly ten minutes of battle, everyone was hurt in some way, some more so than others. Shippo was the least wounded, only having small cuts and bruises from being roughing thrown aside and Kirara was covered with minor cuts. Sango's left arm had been badly wounded, Miroku's body ached from powerful blows and Kagome shared the same status with Sango, also having a wounded limb. But InuYasha was the one most badly wounded.

There were three deep, painful cuts in his left cheek that had still not ceased to bleed, and his chest had been pierced twice by Naraku's tentacles. The hanyou's left leg also sported a deep, long slash which was bleeding just as much as the two wounds in his chest, which cause him to stand lopsided. The fire rat coat he normally wore had been torn so badly, it was lying in an unmoving heap to the side, its figure as a coat almost completely destroyed.

Naraku was wounded with deep slashes, but he was still much stronger than the InuYasha and his companions. Things looked horribly bleak for InuTaisho's half-demon son and his close-knit friends.

"I wont let you win, Naraku."

InuYasha said lowly, coughing up blood only seconds after. He knew now what he had to do. He knew now what must be done.

"Father..."

The hanyou glanced at his father's sword that he held in his hands, his pleading voice shown through his eyes.

"...I don't want to have to ask you anything, but I need your help right now, father. I need your strength to defeat Naraku for the final time! For Miroku, for Sango, for Kagome! Naraku must be destroyed for the sacred jewel, even if that means certain scarifice. Please, Father... Help me. Just this once."

InuYasha closed his eyes and raised his sword above his head. A breeze swept past him and the hanyou felt a sense of gratitude and power slowly fill him, the feeling similar to having a close friend by your side. He opened his eyes, a stronger look in them now. Eyes that weren't his, but his father's.

No. They were his eyes. His father's eyes, InuYasha's eyes.

Equals.

"Die, Naraku!"

He yelled loudly, jumping from the ground to finally end this terrible war. He could have sworn he had heard a familiar voice yell the same phrase with him, but it wasn't his friends, for they were watching in silence. It was his father, he knew it.

He'd finally proven himself as InuTaishio's son. Not overruling him, not proving to be better than him. But proving to be his equal. Something to be much more proud of than anything for the mighty demon's son.

Kagome watched InuYasha in silent awe and slight astonishment as he cut away Naraku's tentacles with overwhelming strength, quickly coming to Naraku's main body. It was now or never.

"Bakuryuuha!"

The sword's most powerful attack was abruptly shot at Naraku with blinding speed and brute strength. In fact, it was much stronger than the normal Back Slash. It was, indeed, the Bakuryuuha but it had the strength of nearly three of them together. InuYasha's most powerful attack ever. Kagome and the others watched in both trepidation and happiness as InuYasha defeated the evil hanyou for the final time. Naraku's words had become a screaming call that was filled with pain and defeat.

But InuYasha had used all his strength to finally destroy the wretched demon and, already horribly and deeply wounded, he doubted he would even be able to live through this him. Giving in to the dreadful call of death, InuYasha finally let himself fall to the ground limply. There had been a small chance of him surviving this, even if it took him forever to heal, but what happened next instantly deleted any possible chance of survival.

Naraku had not yet died completely, and with his last bit of energy and will not to be defeated, one of his many tentacles shot through InuYasha within seconds, piercing his heart.

Just too much pain.

The canine hanyou couldn't even scream out in his pain, though it was overwhelming and was searing through every inch of his wounded body.

His battered and near lifeless body then heavily hit the ground, his sword landing right next to him, transforming back into its dull state. The dull, tired sword sat calmly aside it's dying master, unharmed. How sickly ironic.

Paralyzed by both shock and fear, his friends could not move in any way. Their eyes had become both fearful and sorrowful, though the emotion of sheer shock was clearly seen within them.

Kagome stared in terror at his unmoving body, and she was able to muster enough courage and strength to move.

She dropped her weapon abruptly to the ground and ran to Inuyasha's side, falling to the ground next to him, her body creating a small dust cloud as they made contact with the cold, hard ground. Tears formed in her eyes.

'No! No, no, no! This couldn't be happening, this shouldn't be happening!'

"InuYasha?"

She choked on his beloved name, seeing his silvery hair scarlet with his blood. His wounds looked that they wound not heal and Kagome could see that that were incredibly deep.

"InuYasha!"

"Kagome..."

The simple word he had spoken caused InuYasha such pain to his chest and lungs, and he coughed up his own blood. He was bleeding internally.

But hopeful that he was still alive, she lightly touched him, wanting him to know she was right there but his side. But even that hurt him. He winced terribly and whimpered significantly at her painful touch, in great pain. But he continued to speak to the teenager, trying his very best to ignore the pain in his body, even if just a little.

"Take the sword... And the robe..."

InuYasha knew he wouldn't make it through this. Not this time. His words only caused Kagome to cry even more.

"Don't say things like that!"

Kagome knew he would die. She just knew it. But she couldn't let him die, she couldn't! InuYasha could not die on her now! InuYasha ignored her words.

"Kagome, I..."

In it's appalling, cruel nature, death cut him off abruptly, not allowing him to continue his statement, stealing his soul away from her. He had never said it before, yet when he was finally going to, death stopped him. His soul silenced, Kagome never got to know what the one she loved was going to tell her.

Sickly twisted irony.

Sobbing, Kagome touched him again, but this time he did not whimper. She shook him gently, quietly repeating his name over and over, wanting so much to hear his voice one more time. InuYasha did not move, nor did he wake.

"InuYasha!"

Broken, Kagome fell in a heap overtop of the one she had loved for so long, crying her heart out and becoming stained with his spilled blood, both his and her blood now staining her white and green clothing.

Completely broken.

Her friends stood to the side in sorrow. They knew how badly wounded the girl was now at InuYasha's death, and they also knew that it may be best simply to leave her be.

- END FLASHBACK -

Kagome sat up, wiping her sodden cheeks and eyes. The pillow was still held tightly in her grasp, and it now seemed to be much thinner than it should have been, due to Kagome's tight clasp.

The recent memory brought so very much pain to the girl. She wished over and over that she had done more to help, anything that might have let InuYasha live, even if that meant she would have to die instead. Anything for him.

Anything.

She soon buried her face into the damp pillow, unable to stop the horrible memories from coming back to her.

- FLASHBACK -

After having had sobbed for how long, Kagome did not know, she then lifted her head slowly from InuYasha's lifeless and torn body, a appallingly sorrowful look in her eyes. She gently touched the Tetsuigia, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

'Take the sword... And the robe...'

That's what he had said to her.

She then grasped the sword's hilt in her left hand and stood, nearly falling over in her weak state. The teenager slowly walked to where InuYasha's tattered robe lay and gently bundled the sword within the rare jacket. Her tears feel lightly onto the robe.

Kagome then stood and began to walk away.

Simply walk away.

"Kagome?"

She ignored Sango's voice completely.

"Kagome! Wait, don't go!"

Kagome turned around to face her friends, noticing that Miroku was now by InuYasha's body, Shippo at his side. Sango was now standing in front of her friend, Kirara in her full cat form standing at her side.

"I'm leaving Sango! I cant stay here, not now, not anymore! Not ever!" She was blinded by tears, and her voice was cracked and she choked unpleasantly on her sorrow. "I cant stay. Take the jewel shard! I cant stay!"

She ripped the shard from her neck and threw it to the ground in devastating abhorrence, knowing that this atrocious jewel was the cause of Inuyasha's death, even if indirectly.

She turned on her heels and ran. She held the sword tightly to her body as she ran and she did not, not even once, look back. Never again would she go through so much pain.

Never.

Never again.

- END FLASHBACK -

In a loud scream of both anger and pain, Kagome threw the pillow to the floor with such force that the feathers in it were soon floating about her room. She knocked her books and many other items off of her desk violently and fell to the ground in appalling regret. She clutched her head, as if trying to rid herself of terrible memories. She kneeled over and was now curled in a tight ball on the floor, crying incoherently.

And there she lie until she slowly fell asleep. Not once did her tears stop until the moment she had finally drifted into sleep.

Not once.