Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or its volume/chapters in any way whatsoever… though I do wish the character InuYasha owned me… *drools*
A/N: *innocently typing* What? o.o
(Halloween Evening, 50 Years Prior to the Well Mishap)
Oh, my fuck, that hurts!
The sunset's dim rays splashed over InuYasha's silver locks, reflecting his golden eyes well enough to cast out a distraught amber. He looked down at the miko on the ground, half of her attire covered in blood while her pure, silk skin absorbed her own circulatory liquids. She'd just shot him with a bow, didn't she? She tried to kill him earlier, so he took what she'd promised to give, and yet, right as he was escaping…
Thunk. She'd pinned him without hesitance.
He could feel the warm sacred power radiating from her wooden arrow, feel the grains of bark digging into his back. He gazed at the priestess before him incredulously as he recognized this magic as a sealing enchantment. This was the skill used by spiritual beings to freeze demons in time, putting them into an eternal sleep where they're forced to never live nor take part in the world around them. She was planning to seal him away and never break free the spell, wasn't she? He couldn't believe this was happening. Yes, obviously she suddenly wanted to kill him now, but why would she use a seal?
He reached out to her, as if begging for comfort, for an explanation to all of this occurring chaos. "Kikyou…? How could—? I thought—" He stopped himself as the sealing bond began taking away his ability to speak, and soon, his ability to physically feel his surroundings. He couldn't feel the tree or slight twinge in his chest, nor could he even sense the spiritual aura scorching off of the small arrowhead.
The last thing he remembered seeing before sacrificing himself further into the seal was Kikyou on the ground, picking up the Shikon no Tama tenderly with her loving hands before she stood weakly. So many emotions had passed before him in those few moments: anger, hurt, betrayal, sadness, and an indescribable, pained sensation.
I'm dying.
His eyesight escaped him, though his heart continued to beat. But then it all faded away just as quickly as it came—
I'm dying, and I don't care.
—and he caught himself feeling tranquil, at peace, and mostly, fulfilled. The smallest smile managed to break across his face, his eyes softening once for the first time in a long time.
At least I got to see you one last time, Kikyou…
Then he felt nothing—no more thoughts raced through his mind as his heart came to an abrupt stop, his nerves numbing under the immense strength of the holy arrow's spell. He'd become a mere fleshy statue, sleeping forever until Kikyou disposed of the arrow—if she would get rid of it. He was just a nobody now, a worthless, charmed hanyou on a stupid tree.
The abyss had swallowed him whole.
ONE MESSED-UP STORY
Vol. 1: "Turning Back Time"
Ch. 2: "InuYasha Resurrected"
(Halloween Evening in Sengoku-Jidai Tokyo)
"Ye came from the well?" Kaede asked in doubt to the two teens sitting around her. Inuyasha and Kagome were facing each other over the fire, but both were so confused that their eyes were trained on the walls of the hut instead of everyone's suspecting, baffled faces. Honestly, no one knew what was going on. "How ye did so eludes this old miko," she told them solemnly. "We villagers use the well to dispose of youkai bones, not—"
"THAT'S WHAT THE LEGEND OF MY WELL IS!" Kagome exclaimed in complete shock. Inuyasha, at the least, realized that wherever they were now, it held the exact same well of Kagome's shrine. There weren't any doubts before, but now, Inuyasha was beginning to wonder not where they were, but when. The buildings, people, clothing, everything—it fit parts of the Feudal Era, not any modern-day world. Inuyasha's eyebrows furrowed in frustration and thought as the lady went on, asking Kagome this and that. But they weren't getting anywhere!
Finally, Kikyou asked a meaningful question. "How is it that you were able to break the bonds?"
Kagome blinked. "I still don't get this bond thing."
Kikyou sighed. "I used my spiritual powers to—"
"SPIRITUAL POWERS?"
"Yes," Kikyou said, slightly bothered with Kagome for cutting her off. "Spiritual powers. Monks and mikos have them. You can use them to put up barriers, purify things, and do many other tasks, such as sealing bonds. I used my spiritual powers to seal InuYasha, a hanyou, to the Goshinboku fifty years ago, where he's remained ever since."
Kagome blinked again. Then she began hyperventilating. "You mean—the guy in the forest is the one from the story?"
"Story?" Inuyasha, Kaede, and Kikyou echoed. Also, why hadn't anyone freaked out when the young-looking Kikyou mentioned that she was alive FIFTY YEARS AGO?
Not to mention, they didn't know each others' names. Great. They were really making progress.
"Oh, yeah!" Kagome chirped. "Jii-chan always told Souta and I this story of a miko and hanyou falling in love before they were lead to betray each other and somehow the hanyou got pinned to Goshinboku and the miko was brought back from the dead! She was after an evil demon or something, but I think Mama told me he ended up breaking her like a clay pot!"
Kikyou and Kaede nearly fell over in shock. Inuyasha, on the other hand, already knowing what was going on, was laughing his ass off. "Where are you from?" Kikyou demanded, still stunned.
"When is more like it," Inuyasha managed to say between cackles. "I've already pieced it together—well, most of it, since I don't know why the fuck Kags says there's two of me—"
"Language," Kagome hissed.
Inuyasha sighed. "I don't know why there's two of me, but obviously, since you said you pinned that fucker—" Cough. "Uh, guy fifty years ago, he's gotta be that hanyou and you've gotta be the undead miko. Which means since all of this happened about five hundred years ago, we—"
"FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"
Kagome stared wide-eyed at the wall; on the other side, a familiar voice screamed loudly, cursing profanities not meant for her tender ears. She looked at Kaede and Kikyou, who looked blasé, to Inuyasha, who looked even more casual about it, if not a little pissed for being interrupted. "Uh…"
"Don't worry," Kikyou assured her with a wave of her hand. "That's just—"
"I WANNA GET DOWN, YOU FUCKING WENCHES!"
"He doesn't sound happy," Kagome murmured, avoiding everyone's eyes as she stared into the fire. "Shouldn't we go help that guy? He doesn't deserve to be on a tree."
"On the contrary, InuYasha's quite violent," Kikyou said as Kaede sipped some herb tea from her bowl. "He can slaughter villages without any— Did she just leave?"
Yes. Kagome did just walk out of the hut, concern and sympathy clearly coating her features after she took the food she'd been given and never said another word to any of them.
Inuyasha sighed at how she always had to care for others and never listened well when being told something important. "Okay, seriously, can you just tell us why there are two of me and what's so special about Kags breaking the supposed miko-spiritual-bond thing?" Inuyasha snapped. "Really, 'cause I doubt it's possible to have two of someone." He was still going over his theory. Was what they did really achievable through a damned well, though?
"Kikyou," Kaede began, her eye focused on her elder sister. "Are you sure that it is not possible for that young girl and this boy to be the possible reincarnations of you and InuYasha?"
Much of what has happened would be explained by that; the similarities between InuYasha and Inuyasha, and the resemblances between Kikyou and Kagome. It would also explain how Kagome could break the spiritual seals and Inuyasha's mock personality of InuYasha. But Kikyou still shook her head. "I am still alive—somewhat—and InuYasha's soul has not passed on. It is impossible for a soul to reincarnate if they're being used."
"HOLY SHIT!" Inuyasha avoided the flabbergasted looks of the sacred beings in the hut at his sudden exclamation and use of language. "Holy—I was right. Dear fucking gods."
"Inuyasha? Kagome?"
(~(^(~(^)~)^)~)
Kagome didn't mind the other three's chatter and interrogation skills, but when she heard the boy also named Inuyasha screaming out to them, her heart nearly shattered with pity. She grabbed all of the things she'd been given so that he could have them. If he'd been stuck to a tree for a while, he must've been thirsty and hungry, no doubt about it.
She wondered some more about him. She'd mistaken him for her best friend Inuyasha—and Inuyasha looked just like the hanyou InuYasha when he was in costume. Kagome wondered… was InuYasha's ears and all of that even a costume? Was he born with those traits since he had demon blood inside of him? By now, Kagome had made it to the forest. She took the route in which they'd exited the area of Goshinboku, which narrowly avoided the Bone Eater's Well. Kagome thought she heard someone calling her name, but ignored it in her mental ramblings. If this guy's the hanyou from the story and she's the miko… how did he feel about seeing her again if they betrayed each other? The undead miko—who she assumed was Kikyou—seemed surprised to see InuYasha awake, which meant he probably hadn't awoken once in that bond thing. Yet…Kikyou kept talking about how I'd woken him. But how? Didn't she say something about only herself being able to…?
It was so confusing that Kagome just dropped it. She could still hear InuYasha's angered shouts, so she hurried up her pace to the Goshinboku. Just as she appeared in the clearing and took in the infuriated appearance of the hanyou, she muttered, "Kami, you sound like a whiny kid who's eager for ice cream."
"What in the fuck is eye scream?" he demanded. "Why are the fuck you here? What in the seven hells just happened?"
Kagome thought he didn't look all that malicious, just yapping his mouth but his body dead-still. She smiled as he carried on with his yelling before she plopped in front of his vine-covered body, grinning as he went on about how stupid she was and why she couldn't "stop fucking smiling". She disapproved of her Inuyasha saying things like that, but strangely, it was humorous coming from this guy she just met. Finally, she murmured, "Are you hungry or thirsty?"
InuYasha's eyebrows furrowed in further irritation. What was she, this Kagome bitch, up to? "It's impossible for me to be hungry or thirsty," he mocked, though Kagome didn't notice.
"How does this whole 'sealing' thing work, anyways?" Kagome asked. "The miko from the village tried explaining it to me, but they were kind of… um…"
"Boring?" he questioned.
"Tedious," Kagome corrected. "But, yeah, kind of boring. How does it all work? Wouldn't you know, since you're under it yourself!"
"WHAT? NO!" After Kagome's confused look, he realized how quick he was to reply. "Well, yeah, I'm under the spell. Guess I could—"
"YAY!" Kagome cheered, jumping up and abandoning the food on the ground. She stood proudly in front of InuYasha just like she'd done earlier, except inside of a fiery exterior, she was curious.
If InuYasha could've moved his muscles well, he would've leaned further away from the crazy girl and her proximity. Keh, bitch is too close. "This thing is to put me into eternal sleep, so I don't know how I'm awake. All I know is, I can smell, see, and feel, but I can't fuckin' move anything except my face and sometimes my head."
"That's terrible!" Kagome announced with a truly pitiful look in her eyes. If InuYasha could move, he'd run away from it. Fucking Kami, he hated, absolutely HATED pity. He would punch pity in the face if he could. "Oh, InuYasha, is it?" He blinked in response. "InuYasha, I'm so sorry this has happened to you!"
Kagome felt hideous, like a nasty slug. She had no right to be able to move, to do what she wished without any inference from a seal. This guy wasn't even sure if he could eat or not. Her heart went out to him and she felt like slapping herself for being more capable than him. This wasn't fair. No one should have to deal with this alone, and yet, this InuYasha slept through fifty years of his life despite his teen appearance, and he had no one to talk to or keep him company.
"Sorry"… "sorry"…? InuYasha's eyes about popped out of their sockets when she said that, and then tears began building up in her eyes. She's sorry for me? At first, he felt nothing but confusion. For one thing, she was crying and apologizing for him—something only his mother had done—and she didn't even know him. For another thing, SHE WAS FUCKING CRYING. InuYasha couldn't stand tears, so…
He went into panic mode.
"Don't cry!" he insisted, though she didn't listen. InuYasha scanned his mind for what to do with crying females, but since the last time he dealt with one was his mother when he was around five years old, well… It wasn't playing out so great. He just said the only thing on his mind: "Feh, all we have to do is get Kikyou to remove the fucking arrow."
"REALLY?" Kagome chirped, tears automatically gone. Honestly, it kind of scared the living daylights out of InuYasha. "We should go get her then—"
"Shut your trap!" InuYasha hissed, observing their surroundings. He felt something evil, a dark presence, and the smell of blood and death. Not good.
"What is it?" Kagome whispered despite his advice to keep silent.
It was then that a large centipede appeared from the forest, snapping numerous trees in its path. The plain-faced, shirtless demon with a centipede for a body crushed the girl to the tree, and seethed at her, "WHERE'S THE JEWEL?" The lengthy body wrapped around them and the Sacred Tree; it might've hurt InuYasha if he could feel anything, but he could very well hear Kagome's whimpers of pain.
InuYasha got pissed in a millisecond. This damned demon thought of hurting the first person to show him concern of any sort ever since the day Kikyou pinned him? That alone was enough to set off his temper so much, that he didn't pay any mind to what jewel this youkai was after. Right now, all he could feel was rage, bloodlust, and—
Protective?
Kagome couldn't breathe and her lungs began to fail her. Her nails dug into the vines for some relief from the crushing, but it only made her further annoyed. She looked up at the half-demon with fire in his eyes towards the demon, and he questioned, "Why the fuck are you here?"
Kagome heard a snapping noise and a jagged pain in her side. My ribs… She looked up at InuYasha worriedly, and he looked down at her, though he kept glancing at the food on the ground. She'd been offering that food to him, hadn't she? She wasn't trying to shove it in his face that he couldn't eat, but she was being nice—but wasn't it out of pity?
"Inu…Yasha…," Kagome managed to cough, though she wasn't really sure whether she meant the boy before her or her best friend back in the miko's hut. "INUYASHA!" she gasped, grip tightening on the vegetation wrapped around the hanyou.
If anything, InuYasha only got more livid when Mistress Centipede refused to answer him. His eyes went back to burning through the demon demanding for a jewel after Kagome had let out shouts of help. For the first time in a long time, he felt his demon blood boil. He growled out through his clenched teeth to the girl below him, "Hey, wench. Think you can remove this arrow?"
(~(^(~(^)~)^)~)
"Holy shit," Inuyasha murmured again as three familiar figures passed by the hut. "Miroku, Sango, Rin?"
The boy in monk garb, the girl in a orange kimono, and the teen in a demon slayer suit all turned to the sound of his voice and saw him sitting in a hut with two women wearing miko attire. Relief instantly filled their systems as they entered and sat down, completely at ease with the strangers as long as Inuyasha was. They told everyone of how they'd packed some bags and jumped down the well after Kagome and Inuyasha only to wind up near a forest. They went down the hill from there, determined to just find their friends and get the heck out of there. Souta and Shippou stayed home in case they didn't come back so they could inform Jii-chan and Saya of what was going on.
Inuyasha shook his head at all this madness and told them how things worked out for him and Kagome. Then they all just ended up at square one, except now, they knew each other's names. Finally, Rin asked, "What the heck is going on? Are we in a parallel universe or something?"
"No," Miroku said solidly, and from his tone, Inuyasha knew he, too, had the exact same theory he'd come to not long ago. "Tell me, fair maidens—" Kaede and Kikyou narrowed their eyes at that, but kept listening. "—what year is it?"
"We are almost to the fifteen-hundredth year," Kaede informed them. "Why do ye ask, monk?"
"Monk?" Sango intervened, snorting. "Miroku's not a monk. That's just his Halloween costume."
"Halloween?" the miko echoed.
Rin nodded. "It's where you dress up in a costume as something or someone and go around and get sweet treats. It's a tradition in where we're from."
"Tonight is Hollow's Night," Kikyou insisted, eyeing their costumes warily. "Demons and ghosts invade villages, and we miko and taijiya protect the people nearby. That's why I was near the Goshinboku tonight—I needed to make sure no demon made its way into this fair—"
"INUYASHA!"
Said human bolted to his feet and out the door. "KAGOME!" he cried, and he could faintly hear everyone behind him, running to investigate. "KAGOME!"
"A demon must've attacked," Kikyou whispered to her sister, who tried her best to run with her old limbs. Rin, Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha were already now aware that demons existed—how else could Kagome's tree's hanyou be a hanyou?
Inuyasha ran into the clearing of Goshinboku, several people stopping behind him. What he saw froze him to the bone.
Kagome was being crushed by a centipede-like thing, her body pressed up against vines that wrapped around what he guessed to be the hanyou. The boy was white-haired, golden-eyed, dog-eared, and wore the same hunting outfit he was. He was also glaring dangerously at the centipede, who everyone had gathered to be one of the demons Kikyou spoke of. The demon demanded, "GIVE ME THE JEWEL!"
Kikyou and Kaede both were stunned, realizing what jewel was being referred to. Kikyou heard her once-lover's inquiry to the girl being squished against him and saw how Kagome was slowly reaching for the arrow. Surprisingly, Kaede yelled. "No, child! You mustn't free InuYasha!"
"Just fucking grab the arrow," InuYasha growled. And now Inuyasha knew what Kagome meant when she talked about there being two Inuyasha's: if he was still in costume, they'd look more alike than twins. But Inuyasha was obviously human, and this one was half-demon. "You don't wanna die here with a worthless hanyou, do you?"
"Worthless?" she choked, and Inuyasha's heart tightened. "You're not…" InuYasha knew what she was trying to say, and everyone watched as she reached for the decaying arrow despite Kikyou and Kaede's yells not to. Everyone was panicking, frozen with fear, and petrified, but InuYasha stood tall, almost as if this attack was nothing. Only Kikyou knew he'd been up against much worse than this.
The second Kagome's hand wrapped around the arrow, they were all blinded by a pink light.
The power was enough for Mistress Centipede to loosen her grip on the two, and InuYasha let out an evil-sounding cackle. "Bitch, you're mine!" He ripped through the vines like a mortal would a spider web, and Kagome could breathe again.
You know, until she flew back into Inuyasha and almost knocked them both out.
Kikyou and Kaede were still stunned. InuYasha—FREE. He no longer was on the Goshinboku, pinned for the rest of eternity, but charging at the centipede, who paid no mind to him as she raced over to Kagome. Her lower body smacked into almost everyone, sending them to trees and grass. The miko sisters stayed clear of her due to one's chemical makeup and the others' old age. The centipede even caught InuYasha off-guard with her tail whip since he was too distracted when the demon lunged its teeth into Kagome's side and tossed her up into the air, much against InuYasha's protest.
And there, through the blood and all, shined proudly a pink-purple jewel.
"THE JEWEL!" the centipede screeched while it dipped for it. Kaede and her elder sister stood frozen, gazing at the object as it hit the ground in disbelief. Kagome hit the ground with a thud, blood leaking out of her side, and all her best guy friend could do was stare in pain as she groaned, eyeing the thing that came from her body. Miroku, Sango, and Rin each stumbled back into the clearing from their falls and spotted the blood and their injured friend. Rin called out to her as did Sango, but Miroku held them back, knowing better that now was not the best time to walk into a battlefield.
InuYasha quickly recovered from his hit and lurched at the demon as it made its way to the jewel. His claws sliced through it as scissors did string, and everyone was there to witness his strength. Kagome coughed as she stood up whereas he hit the ground, picking up the jewel while the demon immediately turned to dust. He's a good guy, Kagome thought with a smile.
She was making her way over to the hanyou when he turned on her, bloodied claws ready for another fight. His golden eyes were now different, filled with spite instead of concern. "Keh, you're next, you stupid bitch," he said as he jumped for her. Even though shocked, Kagome narrowly missed his swipe with a sidestep. Then she stared down at the large crater he created, his strength apparent as everyone began yelling, though only Inuyasha moved from his spot to assist her.
Or, you know, he's a bad guy in disguise.
A/N: Oh, yeah; InuYasha's still the bad-cop, good-cop in this feudal forest. I went there. =.=
DELETED SCENES!
(Scene 1, Goshinboku)
Kagome heard a snapping noise and a jagged pain in her side. My ribs… She looked up at InuYasha worriedly, and he looked down at her, though he kept glancing at the food on the ground. She'd been offering that food to him, hadn't she? She wasn't trying to shove it in his face that he couldn't eat, but she was being nice—but wasn't it out of pity?
"Inu…Yasha…," Kagome managed to cough, though she wasn't really sure whether she meant the boy before her or her best friend back in the miko's hut. "INUYASHA!" she gasped, grip tightening on the vegetation wrapped around the hanyou.
"What?" he snapped.
"Before we die, could you… Would you… Will you bear my child?"
(If you didn't get the humor in that, not only is it Miroku's line, but women bear children, not men, or in this case, half-demons.)
(Scene 2, Kaede's Hut/the Village)
"Tonight is Hollow's Night," Kikyou insisted, eyeing their costumes warily. "Demons and ghosts invade villages, and we miko and taijiya protect the people nearby. That's why I was near the Goshinboku tonight—I needed to make sure no demon made its way into this fair—"
"INUYASHA!"
Said human bolted to his feet and out the door. "KAGOME!" he cried, and he could faintly hear everyone behind him, running to investigate. "IF WE DON'T GO HOME RIGHT NOW, WE'RE GONNA MISS HOCUS POCUS!"
