"Let me go! Let me go, you asshole! Inuyasha!"
Akiro growled some sort of insult that Kagome couldn't hear over the throbbing sound in her ears, his hold on her wavering just a bit. She tried using the gap to push her way free, but he quickly spun her around and slammed her back into the wall, the thick and rough fingers of one hand encircling her neck. Kagome gasped hard from the force of the back of her head smacking against the surface behind her, the air suddenly trapped in her lungs with no way out. He kept talking to her, his sharp teeth just inches from her face, the moisture from his hot breath hitting her cheek, but she still couldn't hear through the drum beating in her ears. She could tell by the sadistic smile on his face that he was, yet again, taunting her with something she found herself glad was too muffled to make out. She kept kicking, trying to push the demon away from her somehow, but he adjusted his position over her, pressing his hard body against her own, making it impossible to continue thrashing her legs about.
As her chest hitched, the muscles spasming from lack of oxygen, she used the last of her energy in her exhausted limbs to grip the thick clay shard in her hand, her fingers flexing over the jagged piece so tightly that she felt the edges puncture her own skin. Kagome's eyes began to lose focus, choking gasps coming from her throat as she struggled to stay conscious for just a moment longer.
With her reserved strength, she pulled her right arm up and thrust the fragment of the vase she held into his offending forearm, forcing and ripping it along the length of his extremity. His pained yelling finally became clear to her ears as he dropped her to the ground and her lungs flooded with air once more as she wheezed, coughed, and panted on the floor. Her entire body quaked, and she tensed her muscles the best she could to regain as much composure as possible, dropping the clay piece and clutching her bruised throat.
"You fucking bitch!" Akiro swore, crimson blood dripping from the wound she'd dealt him, his opposite hand applying pressure as he hastily approached and kicked her in the side. Kagome coughed uncontrollably as she rolled over a few times, crumpling as her body stilled, whimpering soft sounds as she gripped her waist. The voice in her head screamed to get out, fight, run, but she was struggling too hard to take even breaths that anything more than that seemed damn near impossible.
She struggled to block the image of Inuyasha bleeding profusely before her, repressing the picture of his golden eyes wide and dull as the spear went through him. If Kagome gave up, she could be reunited with her husband. She came back to this era five years ago to be with him, and if she allowed Akiro to finish her off right here and now, she would be able to continue her journey by his side. The tears burned at her tired eyes, and she blinked them away, only a few escaping to glide down her cheeks. It seemed so simple; so easy to make the decision. Surrender and Inuyasha wouldn't have to die alone.
No.
She could practically hear Inuyasha's voice demanding her to get to her feet.
He would have her head, even in the afterlife, if she handed her life over to this son of a bitch.
A fiery rage suddenly spread through Kagome's core, creeping and crawling throughout her entire nervous system until it filled her with a passionate and intensely-burning empowerment. It absorbed her entirely, numbing all her physical pain and drying her tears instantaneously while at the same time stilling her trembling limbs and solidly anchoring her to the earth.
Kagome could not, give up. She would not be dying here in this bitter and desolate place, at the hands of this monstrous murderer. If she died, who would warn Miroku of his plans? If she died, who would make sure this torture never happened to another living soul again?
Kagome had to keep fighting. There was no way around it. So, she allowed the anger to fuel her, finally rising from her spot on the ground. Her eyebrows pinched together, and her nose wrinkled as she looked upon the black-eyed monster before her, his clawed hand still covering the bleeding gash in his forearm.
"You don't know when to give up, do you wench?" He snarled, dropping his arms into a defensive position, allowing the blood to follow gravity and paint his paper-white arm scarlet.
"You said I was weak." Kagome stated huskily, her voice damaged from the strangulation. She stood tall, brown eyes fixed on the dark orbs that glared back at her. "I don't think I'm the weak one here."
"Why you…" He stepped forward, bringing his good arm up and backhanding her across the face. Kagome clenched her fists and tightened her core, stumbling a little to the side from the force of the hit. She pushed the hair from her face and regained her composure once more.
"You're bleeding pretty bad there, Akiro. And you've lost your will to tease. What's the matter, things not going according to plan?" She tiptoed her way to the side, her feet slowly dancing one behind the other until she was only a step or two away from the bloody, clay shard she'd dropped only moments ago.
A ferocious, guttural rumble boiled up in his throat, his brows furrowing deeply, creating creases in the center of his forehead. His lips peeled open, baring his sharp teeth as his nostrils flared in rage. A light shade of red spread across his pale cheeks as he cocked his head to the side and followed every single movement she took.
"You gloated earlier about how easy it was for you to lure prey in and finish them off; about how high your kill count was and how unstoppable you are. All I did was cut your arm and it's practically debilitated you. So, what's so different here, Akiro?"
"I didn't know you liked to toy with death, priestess." His torso dipped forward as he stepped a foot back, flexing his claws by his side and preparing to throw himself at her.
"I think you're all talk." She goaded, feeling the heat in her gut begin to bubble over. He snarled and, if possible, his black eyes seemed to become even darker from the shading of his broadened brow. His growl grew louder, and Kagome tensed in preparation.
Akiro launched himself at her, quickly closing the distance as she dropped to the floor to grab her weapon. She'd almost dodged him completely, but his fingers snagged at her long hair, quickly pulling her back as he crept up behind her and adjusted his grip at the crown of her head. She was on her knees now, her hand reflexively holding onto the one he'd had knotted in her raven locks, her jaw setting and grinding down as he pressed himself up along her back. She could feel the rumble emitting from his chest, feel his breath flowing around the curve of her neck as he pushed the remainder of her hair out of his way and exposed the sensitive flesh. He dragged his claws along the length of her skin, digging them in just enough for a burning sensation follow the path of his nails. She bit back the wince, counting down from ten in her head.
"I can show you exactly what I do to my other victims. I'll have you screaming so loud, begging me to stop and end it all for you. It'll be pure ecstasy to hear." Akiro's thick fingers gently curled around her throat once more, gliding their way up and gripping her by the crook of her jaw to jerk her face toward his. Kagome swallowed thickly reaching the final three numbers of her count, inhaling sharply as she took the shard and jabbed it into his upper thigh just behind her butt, the pottery sticking into his thick muscle as well as slicing through her own palm and worsening the lesion she'd already created. He howled as he jerked her head back but then released his grip immediately after as he doubled over, causing her own body to fold forward under his weight.
Kagome tore her bleeding hand from the ceramic now stuck in Akiro's leg, instinctively bracing her fall while trying to scramble away from the wounded demon. He grunted hoarsely as he fell to the side, freeing Kagome completely and removing all weight from his limb, clamping down on the gash she'd dealt him. With a final attempt to stop her, he grasped Kagome's ankle, the hot liquid on his fingers making his hold slippery along her skin, and she blindly kicked her foot back to shake free of his hold. The palm of her foot collided with his fresh laceration and he yelped, letting her go to clutch his bleeding thigh once more.
Hardly hesitating, she knelt before Akiro and tossed her aching fist down at his cheek as hard as she could manage, throwing her upper body into the motion to give it more power. He let out a feeble groan, his eyes disappearing behind dark lids, and Kagome lifted herself to her feet and ran from the room before she could find out if he was conscious or not.
The halls were silent and deserted, the only sound around coming from the slapping of her feet along the old, wooden floors, the cold atmosphere of the night seeping through the paper-thin walls. Kagome ran as fast as she could, throwing herself around corners in case anyone was following, crashing into the walls and pushing herself off to keep up her pace. The bitter air grazed the tender skin beneath her left eye, and she slowed to a stop, staring down the dead-end hall. It was like there was no way out of this godforsaken place. Every door she'd opened was a room or a closet, no windows or exits held within. That hopeless feeling began to creep up inside Kagome again, filling her chest with a heavy anxiety that had her wanting to sink to her knees and weep on the floor.
She slowly turned around in place, taking in the walls surrounding her and frantically trying to remember her way out. Her head felt foggy. With everything that had happened, Kagome couldn't think straight, her thoughts racing a mile a minute and making it difficult to focus on one thing at a time. Her fingers began to tremble while her swollen lip quivered, and she was unable to determine if she was cold or if her nerves were finally getting to her.
The pain that was subdued for a while was catching up, and Kagome was becoming fully aware of just how many nicks, scrapes, and bruises adorned her now. Clutching her right hand to her chest, she held her palm as wide as she could without making her skin taut. She took her swollen lip into her mouth, sucking gently to make sure the copper-tasting fluid no longer leaked from the cut, her teeth raking it slightly, causing her to wince and release her lip immediately.
There was no way she could catch her bearings where she stood as the unbearable and overwhelming weight of everything that had just happened came crashing down on Kagome. Her chest heaved up and down as breathing became a difficult task, feeling as if she were being strangled all over again. She fought against her quivering legs, locking her knees so they wouldn't buckle beneath her weight. Taking as steady of a breath as her aching lungs allowed, she walked back the way she came, looking for a storage room she'd recently passed. There were more than enough objects inside to hide herself among. Her scent was a dead giveaway of her location, the sweat and blood not helping her case, but she would be hidden from the human guards that had killed her husband, and that was all the coverage she could hope for, for the time being. Kagome only needed a couple of minutes to get a grip. Just a couple of minutes.
Sliding the door shut behind her after locating the room, she crawled over the mess of objects, adjusting some boxes here and there to create a barrier of sorts, and wedged her body in behind a folded-up shoji screen. There, she allowed herself to sink down, curling inwards and hugging her legs to her chest. Kagome rocked back and forth as the sobs escaped her sore throat, her resolve crumbling and flaking away completely. Hot tears glided down her cheeks and soaked through her wrinkled hakama as she shoved her face further into her knees to muffle her uncontrollably loud cries. Every emotion Kagome had suppressed in the previous hours threatened to swallow her whole; the mental pain so overpowering it became physical.
She needed to bring herself back down. She needed to ground herself and get it together. Her time was up. Kagome wasn't even sure if Akiro was conscious or not, and if he was, he could find her at any given moment. The will to compose herself was long gone, though. All she could manage to focus on was the sight of Inuyasha lying flat on the floor, a puddle of blood pooling around him and slowly spreading further along the wood. She'd never imagined she'd see the day where his limp body was dragged out of the room, his lifeless eyes still open as his light hair became stained with his blood.
Kagome gave a weak shudder, her bottom lip quivering as she slightly unfurled. She leaned a couple inches over to rest her shoulder against a wooden chest, quickly feeling the fatigue wash over her. It was ready to absorb her completely and pull her into an unsolicited sleep, and it wasn't hard for Kagome to understand that she needed to get out and soon. She wouldn't be able to last much longer this way.
Point blank, there had to be an exit. This place wasn't completely closed off from the world, because she distinctly remembered a pair of large, blue double doors that Akiro had brought her through. Kagome needed to retrace her steps. She needed to stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off and look for something she recognized, like pottery, side tables, or paintings. She was willing to bet she was towards the back of the house. Or castle. It was certainly large enough to be considered as much, and every creepy demon seemed to have one.
If she was towards the back, which Kagome would consider the southside, she would have to make her way north. Direction was never her strong suit, but right now it was all she had. Of course, everything was hypothetical at best, but she was willing to try anything. It was better than racing blindly in circles for hours. The double doors were open when she was carried through, which means the front of the place would have a chillier draft flowing through. It was like the Northern star travelers would use to guide them. Follow the cold and you were free.
Kagome jerked to sit up straight, back elongated along the shoji screen. The sound of running reverberated off the empty walls outside of the room, and hushed curses made their way to her ears. The stomping feet stopped close by, and Kagome covered her mouth with her hand to muffle any small whimpers that continued to escape her burning throat, curling into her body so that she could possibly appear smaller behind the objects.
Inuyasha fought the urge to shield his nose, catching Kagome's blood in the air and wanting to cringe away from it. The moment he'd entered the place, he could smell two separate sources for the pungent scent, but her blood stood out to his senses and it wrung at his stomach like a fucking wet rag. He'd followed the nauseating aroma all throughout the twists and turns of the abandoned palace, heading deeper into the labyrinth, his heart pounding erratically as it got stronger. There wasn't a lot, he could tell that much, but there was enough to catch his undivided attention.
He slowed to a walk as he approached a dark hallway. Kagome's fresh scent hung around him in all directions, and he couldn't tell which way she'd gone. He wanted to call out her name, be loud and get everyone's attention like he normally would. Someone was bound to talk if they were up against Inuyasha and his Tetsusaiga while he was as pissed as he was now, but his gut instinct kept his mouth glued shut. It wasn't like he'd actually be creating a scene, anyway. Aside from his nearby wife, he couldn't detect another soul in the abandoned and eerily quiet place. The demon had done a damn good job at concealing himself.
Except there were two bleeders here, and Kagome wasn't the one bleeding out. He was willing to bet he knew who the other was, but he needed to find his wife and make sure she was okay before going up against that bastard.
Inuyasha stopped as he approached a dead end, turning in place and leading with his nose. His brows pinched together as he noticed a scarlet smudge along the corner of the wall, and as he moved closer, he could see the fine lines and little details left behind by the heel of a hand. A deeper fury bubbled in his stomach, his fingers curling into tight fists and a low rumble growing in his chest as he tore his golden eyes away from the handprint and darted them from door to door. He was so close to Kagome, he could feel it.
He was done with the slow and careful searching. He was done wandering the halls that lead to absolutely nowhere. He initially didn't want to go into rooms in case he encountered Akiro unprepared but fuck it. He was as prepared as he'd ever be. The demon was dumb enough to bring Kagome into this. The sooner he got to rip his body apart, limb-from-limb, the better.
Inuyasha went to every room down the hallway, throwing doors open and peering inside. Kagome's scent stopped at the doorway of each one, so he quickly moved to the next and kept going. If this was the way he'd have to find her, then so be it.
"Kagome!" He shouted, jerking doors open hard enough to hear them slam along the borders of their gliders. "Where are you?"
The stacked crates along the shared wall of a set of doors toppled over at the force of Inuyasha's shove, kicking up dust and tickling the half demon's sensitive nose. Every room had a musty odor to it, but this one was by far the worst. Where almost every single room he'd opened had maybe an item or two, this one was cluttered with piles of old boxes and chests, bedding material, clothes, paintings, and other basic home décor. The room had a peculiar smell to it, but the recent kick up of dust and the lingering mold in the air distracted his senses. He took his first step further into a room, sticking his nose in the air to pick out that smell. The sweet and copper mixture slid down his throat and he quickly turned his head about the room, looking in the obvious corners for Kagome.
"Kagome?" Inuyasha stepped further, holding back his instinct to tear apart the room from top to bottom in search of his wife.
Kagome wedged herself even deeper into her small nook of protection, the fear and confusion paralyzing her. She pressed her hand against her mouth even tighter to make sure absolutely no noises would escape as she heard the shuffling of feet move closer, ignoring the sting from her busted lip that protested her action. There was someone in the room and her mind chose now, of all times, to play tricks on her. She was desperate and tired, and she wanted more than anything to see Inuyasha again, but as soon as she gave in and crawled out of her hiding spot, she'd be attacked by Akiro and it would all be over.
He spoke in a gruff tone, calling her name and causing her to flinch lower into her space, her chest heaving as the mind-numbing fear crushed her walls. Just hearing his voice had Kagome weak, and she wanted to cry and scream from the agonizing pain in her chest. Even his footsteps sounded familiar, and her whole body begged for her to give up and reveal herself, but she was terrified of being wrong. She found herself more scared than she'd ever been in her entire life, and she never thought, especially after the hellish night she'd endured, that it would be the sound of his voice that pushed her over the ledge.
Inuyasha froze, a feeble whimper coming from behind the shoji screen to the left of where he stood catching his attention and twisting at his abdomen. He could hear soft, muffled panting, and the subdued cries that still managed to find their way through a pinched throat. He shifted uncomfortably, wondering why his instincts told him to stay put, and faced the shoji screen.
"Kagome," He murmured, putting Tetsusaiga back into its sheath. "It's me. You can come out."
She bit at her tender lip as she lowered her hand, sucking it in and shaking her head. Kagome didn't know what to do. If she was right and it was her mind playing a trick, she would come out and see no one, and it would be devastating. If it was Akiro and her mind somehow working together, she'd no doubt be tortured and killed. No matter what, though, she had to come out. Kagome was a sitting duck, and she wondered which option was the lesser of two evils. Which would she prefer to kill her.
Kagome stood, her weak legs shaking under her weight, making it difficult to balance as she regained her posture. She took a brief moment, allowing her courage to build as she gently wiped her bruised and tear-stained cheeks with the sleeves of her blood-stained kosode, exhaling shallow breaths through her nose until they became deep and as steady as possible.
"You're safe now." The voice spoke once more, threatening to dissolve her façade on the spot. She tightened every muscle in her tired body, holding her ground and her nerve.
It's not Inuyasha. It's not Inuyasha.
Inuyasha is dead.
Kagome slowly peeked around the barrier she'd created of boxes and board, seeing the rest of the disorderly room, the shadowed walls that were probably dark brown in daylight but appeared a grimy gray in the night, a deep shade of red, long strands of silvery white, glowing amber eyes, lips curved downward and brows arched in worry. She nearly crumbled on the spot at the sight of him, a cracked sob escaping her throat. Her hand found her mouth once more and she tried to keep herself as together as possible, but seeing him standing there in front of her, breathing, blinking, and taking deliberate steps in her direction was almost too much to handle.
She instinctively took a couple of steps forward, but then forced her feet to step back, almost stumbling over. Shaking her head, she blinked through the sting of tears. Kagome didn't know what to think. She'd watched him die, yet here he was. His suikan wasn't torn or stained, and there wasn't a single shred of evidence that he'd had any sort of struggle, minus the bead of sweat gliding down his temple.
"Kago-"
"No!" Kagome couldn't handle it. It was too much. Just how cruel was her own mind to fool her like this? He looked so real, she almost believed she could touch him. It wasn't fair. She fell to her knees, holding her sleeves to her face as her body quaked with her powerful cries. Her sobs were loud, her lungs wheezing while coughs burned at her throat, and Kagome was just so sad and unbelievably heartbroken that it was impossible to control anything her body did in reaction to the pain. "You aren't real! You died! You're not here!"
Inuyasha ran to her side the second Kagome's frail form collapsed to the ground, kneeling before her and feeling so incredibly confused, yet concerned and anxious to make sure Kagome was in one piece. What the fuck had happened to her? He'd hardly gotten a good look at her before she'd sunken down to this broken state, but he knew absolutely nothing was alright. Why would it be? She'd been kidnapped by a mass murderer and held captive for who knows how long. Who was dead? Why was she so upset at seeing him? What kind of torture was she put through?
He hovered his arms around her protectively and she flinched away before he could touch her, small gasps plaguing his ears and causing them to pin back along his head. It didn't take a genius to know that Kagome was terrified of something, and he wasn't sure if it was unbridled rage he felt or his own fear nipping at him as he imagined what could have happened to cause this woman to tremble on the floor before him. She was his pillar of strength, and he was confident enough to know that he was Kagome's as well. Yet she made no move to be closer to him; she only shied away.
"Who's dead?" Inuyasha asked, putting his arms down to rest on his knees and keeping his tone as cool as he possibly could.
"You aren't here."
"Kagome."
"You're dead."
"Who's dead?"
"You're dead!" Kagome wailed, finally uncovering her pink face and slapping her hands against her thighs. Inuyasha winced; his confusion clearing immediately as he quickly realized Akiro had manipulated her into believing this. Her brown eyes gazed at him through the tears pooling at her bottom lids. They traveled from his ears to his eyes, his hair, his neck, down to his chest, and then his stomach where they stayed.
"I'm here, Kagome. How could I be talking to you if I were dead?"
She only shook her head in response, never removing her eyes from his abdomen.
"Kagome, I'm alive." Inuyasha stated more adamantly. Still, she only stared at his stomach. Growing frustrated from feeling so helpless, he did the only thing he knew stood a chance at convincing her. He snatched her hand from her lap and pressed it to his chest beneath his robes. There she'd be able to feel his skin, his lungs expanding and retracting as he breathed air into his body, the warmth his demon blood provided that she loved so much at this time of year, and the beat of the heart behind his rib cage. "Feel that?"
Kagome's brown eyes were wide, her hand pressed firmly along his chest, and after a moment, she pressed the soul of her palm harder into him as if she were physically absorbing the reality before her. Her lips parted, and she took in a deep breath, and Inuyasha could tell that she was beginning to understand. He kept holding her hand over his heart, finding the feeling of her skin to his just as comforting for him.
"You… but I… I saw… you were…" Kagome sputtered, her blood-shot eyes darting back and forth from where her hand sat to his eyes.
"Akiro can play mind games. He's a master manipulator. Whatever you saw… it wasn't real." He promised, shuffling closer until their knees rested against each other. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and her bloodshot eyes glanced up at him. "He can get into your head, Kagome. When Miroku and I went up against him, he immobilized us. Miroku was the one that figured it out. The guy never once moved to attack us physically, and I think that's because his only strength is this one skill. He can make you think anything he wants."
Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat, her body's tremors slowly fading off as she took in the information. It wasn't her mind playing tricks on her. It was Akiro playing tricks on her mind. While it all felt so real, the entire situation began to unfurl and make sense. The Inuyasha she had seen earlier never touched her. He never closed the distance like the one she touched now had. He was abnormally calm and patient, while the Inuyasha she knew full and well was hardly either of those. Now that she thought about it, there wasn't an ounce of worry etched on that Inuyasha's features, while this one's lips curved downward and his breathing came out rigid as he pushed rogue strands of messy hair behind her ear and held her hand in place along his heart to feel the erratic pounding beneath his flesh, muscle, and bones.
She pulled her hand free from his grip, reaching to get her final bit of proof as she attempted to untie his robe one-handed. She fumbled and slipped, using her nails to grip at the tight knot and Inuyasha had asked what she was doing, but she ignored it as she used her non-dominant hand to pull the ties free. He asked again, the confusion causing him to stammer his words and lean back a little, but Kagome shushed him, frantically pushing his robes aside to reveal his scarred and toned belly. She ran her fingers over each curve of muscle and scar tissue from wounds that were only severe enough to leave their mark. The large one in the center of his core she had seen many times over the years, the feel of the thick and uneven skin familiar enough to cease her unsteadiness completely.
"You were stabbed," Kagome began, flicking her gaze back towards his own. "There was a guard that stabbed you from behind with a spear and then about four more came up and joined in…"
"What?"
"He didn't just make me think you were dead, Inuyasha. I saw you die."
Inuyasha straightened his posture, a wave of heat washing over his body as he imagined what, exactly, Akiro had put Kagome through. He cradled her jaw in his hands, pulling her deep brown eyes to look into his. He held her face gently, noticing the dark discoloration surrounding her left cheekbone and at the corner of her lip, feeling that same heat begin to boil as it grew hotter and hotter within him. He wanted to take all of her pain and fear away. If he had to make it his own, he would endure it. If he could go back in time, he'd swap places with Kagome in a heartbeat. He didn't care what sort of state he was left in so long as it ensured her safety. If he could take it all from her, take it all in so that she could sit comfortably without fidgeting anymore and wouldn't have to deal with the lasting trauma of this event, Inuyasha wouldn't hesitate. Take him. Take all of him, but for the love of god, don't touch Kagome.
"The scar you're touching is from Sesshomaru." He mentioned softly. His warm breath blew over her face and Kagome relished in the sensation.
"I know." She acknowledged weakly.
"I'm so sorry this happened, Kagome. This is my fault. If I had just-"
"No, stop. It's not your fault. It's okay, Inuyasha."
"It's not okay, Kagome! Look at you! Look what he fucking did!" Inuyasha released his hold on her, grabbing the right hand that she clutched to her chest, small patches of crimson decorating the hem at the top of her kosode, which hung lower and looser than normal, and the skin just below her collar bones. He decided to ignore the blood for now, paying attention to the palm that he opened wider to get a better view of. Kagome flinched as he held the skin as taut as it allowed him without reopening the wound, seeing that the cut was mostly crusted over and hardly bled anymore. He rested her hand along his knee and removed his robe of the fire rat from his shoulders, leaving it lying on the floor behind him while he ripped a decent portion of the outer sleeve of his kosode off. Grabbing her hand again, he wrapped it around her palm, disregarding her small sounds of protests and tying the makeshift bandage tight.
"I… uh… I did that one." Kagome admitted, setting her hand down as he finished and letting her fingers relax in an opened position. "I cut him."
"You cut him?" He repeated, leaning in to get a closer look at the dried blood on her chest, following the path of the smudged scarlet and catching the scent of foreign blood among the stains.
"Well, I stabbed him too."
Inuyasha leaned back, blinking in surprise at how casually she'd just said all of that. He didn't know if he was more pissed that she was put in a predicament where she had to defend herself in such a manner in the first place, or proud that she did whatever she needed to in order to get away.
"What else happened?" The half demon asked. Kagome shook her head in response, sucking in her bottom lip as her eyes flickered away from him. "Kagome?"
"I didn't kill him. If we don't, things will only get worse. We need to finish this, Inuyasha." She squared off her shoulders, her voice wavering only slightly as she gave him a look that he easily read as not now.
The fact that she wouldn't talk about it now told him everything he needed to know. He bit back the anger that bubbled up inside of him and swallowed all of the questions that now overwhelmed the forefront of his mind, grabbing his suikan from the floor. He wrapped it around her shoulders, but her arms never moved to be inside the sleeves, and before he could pull her long hair out from underneath the large robe, his golden eyes collided with her fearful gaze. Kagome was looking at him as if she was begging for something, and Inuyasha stopped moving to make sure he, in no way, hurt her. Her brown eyes were wide with panic and she tore the red robe from her back and pushed it into Inuyasha's chest.
"No, you need this! You need to wear this!" She insisted, pushing it further into his hold.
"Kagome, it'll protect you. You need it more than I do right now."
"You need this! It's your armor! I don't want it!"
"Put it on, Kagome!"
"Please!" Kagome dropped the crumpled-up robe altogether, closing the slight distance between them and wrapping her arms around Inuyasha's neck. She held her hanyou tight, threading her fingers into the silver hair at the nape as she tried to push down the sudden terror that overtook her. She'd seen him die once already. She couldn't do it again. She couldn't take any chances right now. Even if he was stronger than the image Akiro had created, it didn't matter. Kagome wouldn't take any lines of defense away from Inuyasha while they were still up against this monster. "I can't… I just… it'll protect you and… I can't let…Akiro, he's…"
Inuyasha wrapped his arms around Kagome, pulling her as close as he could, her cold body pressing against his bare torso. He shushed her to stop her stammering, understanding exactly what she was trying to say. It killed him that she was this frightened. His stomach twisted and roiled with every shutter her frail body gave against his. If it was this important to Kagome, he'd wear the fire rat. He'd do whatever he could to help ease her anxious mind.
Kagome felt Inuyasha go stiff, his upper arms flexing against her rib cage and his comforting whispers ceasing completely. He released a tensed breath of air, his hands finding her waist and gently pushing her back from him. She wasn't ready to let go. Kagome wanted to live in his embrace until this nightmare ended, but she understood the impracticality of that. She also understood the meaning behind the way his jaw tensed, and his eyebrows furrowed together. It was time to go.
He didn't move far from her; he only leaned back just enough to throw his suikan over his shoulders without it whipping her in the face. Inuyasha adjusted his clothing to conceal his stomach, tying the red knot at his front. His golden eyes turned to the opened door behind him then back to Kagome, placing his hand gently along her cheek to press a scant kiss to her forehead.
"I need you to stay as close to me as possible, got it?"
"He's coming?" She asked, her voice low enough for only him to hear.
"I'm not sure. Akiro hides his aura and scent, but someone is. From the moment I entered, I could smell two sources of blood; yours and someone else's." The half demon stood, one hand on the sheath of his sword, his thumb ready to flick out the hilt at any given moment, and the other held out to help Kagome up. She took his hand, allowing him to pull all of her body weight to her feet. "Stay directly behind me, Kagome. I mean it."
"But what about the guards?" Her feet didn't move along with his, and she jerked his arm back to get his attention. "There were at least five. He could be hiding their scents too."
"Nah, he's not that smart. He didn't even hide yours when he kidnapped you, and if my hunch is right, he's not hiding the smell of his blood." Inuyasha gripped her hand tighter, eyes shifting from her, the door, then back to her. "He's got a one-track mind, Kagome. I promise he's the only one we have to worry about in this place."
The growl in his voice became more evident with each word, and Kagome gripped his hand in return, readying herself. She knew she had plenty of justification for feeling scared and apprehensive as they left the room and made their way down the hall, but she found a sweltering fury overriding every other emotion within her. So much so, her posture corrected itself, straightening her back from its hunched position behind the half demon, her shoulders squaring once more as she began to walk at his side instead of using him as a shield as he'd wanted. Inuyasha noticed immediately and gave her hand a squeeze, pulling it behind him, but she held firm to her spot.
A brutal growl ripped through the air, and Inuyasha dropped Kagome's hand, pulling his Tetsusaiga from its sheath and wielding the powerful and transformed blade in front of him. Kagome looked all around them, the halls as dark as before, trying to locate the source of the rumbling as it got louder and closer. A putrid and evil aura jolted her core and unnerved her senses as Kagome stiffened forward, noticing Inuyasha's fierce snarl and white-knuckled grip on his sword.
"Guess there's no need for the shield since you've already found me, right half demon?" The vicious growl spoke, the pale creature appearing from the shadows with his green yukata slightly disheveled, limping forward on his wounded leg. The gash on his forehead and forearm no longer bled, his white skin tinged with rusty-colored streaks.
"Not that it did you much good." Inuyasha remarked. "You didn't cover Kagome's scent, or the rancid smell of your blood." Akiro chuckled, his pitch-black eyes seeming to light up.
"Oops." He shrugged, adjusting his clothing and grinning their way. "I guess I'll just have to try harder next time."
"You wanted me to find you, didn't you?" Inuyasha glared at the condescending asshole, deepening his stance and tucking Kagome behind him. The stench of the demon was awful, smelling strongly of freshly-rotting corpses, and it took more than enough effort not to cover his nose and to keep his hands along the handle of his sword.
"You bet." Akiro answered, crossing his arms over his chest and cocking an eyebrow. "See, my plan was for you to find your maiden gutted and maimed, but as you can see she's a feisty b-"
"Watch it." The half demon warned, feeling his blood boil beneath his skin. He shouldn't be letting this piece of shit talk right now. He should be striking Akiro with the windscar and ending this once and for all, but something twitched inside of him and he felt a looming darkness begin to slowly creep into his mind.
"I want you to pay, Inuyasha, for thinking a thing like you could stop me. You asked for this to happen. You and that monk provoked my hand."
"Shut up!" Inuyasha rolled his golden eyes, ignoring the unsettling feeling. "Is this literally just because we tried to stop your fucking murder streak?"
"Well, you tried to kill me too, but yes. It is."
"So, you kidnapped my wife instead of facing me? Sounds like you're nothing but a coward."
Akiro growled in response, his lip twitching upward as he bared his fangs.
"Tell me, Akiro… What's with the mind games? I can feel you trying something right now. Is physical strength something you've always lacked?" Kagome derided.
"From the looks of your face, I'd say I harbor plenty!" He snarled roughly, clenching his fists and cocking his head in the creepy manor he'd done several times before.
"And yet, even now, you're about to pull a cheap stunt, aren't you?" A sharp headache pinched at the front of Kagome's skull, and she furrowed her brows together in a meager attempt to alleviate it.
"My kind isn't like the others you see inhabiting this world. My kind relies on their mental abilities to manipulate and devour."
"What, exactly, is your kind?" Inuyasha inquired.
"We don't normally walk the land, I'll tell you that. We're more of an… in the shadows bunch." Akiro smiled. The click of the saliva along his lips was the last sound Kagome heard before both hers and Inuyasha's screams echoed through the halls. She clutched the sides of her head and crumpled forward, a bleak blackness filling her mind and breaking her down. It wasn't a debilitating pain she was in. It was a crushing weight that swallowed her whole, a sickening sensation flooding every crevice of her brain and filling her with a mind-numbing despair. She knew she was right next to Inuyasha, but his agonized shouts sounded so far away, and she tried to open her eyes to find her hanyou, but all she could focus on was the overwhelming darkness that absorbed her.
Evil crept through her thoughts, resembling the tickling you'd feel if a bug crawled over your flesh, and she wanted to swipe the things off her. It caused her body to flinch and convulse as she tried to push back the malevolence with all her strength. She was a priestess. Evil would not taint her mind.
Kagome opened her eyes, seeing the dirty, off-colored wood she curled up against, and pushed her way up to her knees. She couldn't hear anything Akiro shouted as he slowly approached, limping forward and smiling wickedly. Her ears rang with that same throbbing from earlier, and Kagome shook her head to try and dispel the sound, but it only made it worse. She was dizzy, her equilibrium was off, and she almost lost her already-shaky balance, flexing her fingertips along the floor to steady herself. She peeled her gaze from him and found Inuyasha beside her, eyes shut tight and lips peeled back in resistance. His hand rested along the hilt of Tetsusaiga, his fingers trying to grip it but the tremors making it impossible.
There were times before when evil tainted good, when evil flooded purity with darkness and clouded the minds of whoever encountered it. Years ago, she'd learned how to purify evil. She'd learned how to hold it back from infecting everything around. Kagome closed the distance between she and her half demon, folding her body over his protectively, feeling the muscles in his sides tremble fiercely against her. She could feel the darkness fighting back, threatening to cloud her mind again. Her stomach knotted painfully, almost like she was going to throw up, and she swallowed thickly to keep her composure as best as possible. If her plan worked and she could purify Inuyasha's mind just enough so that he could pull out of this, he could fight. He was already resisting, trying to raise himself from the ground as Akiro moved closer and closer.
Kagome thought of the light and the good, and she imagined their bodies enveloped in it as she felt a warm sensation flutter in her chest and expand. Her headache grew worse, but she only clutched onto Inuyasha harder. She was taking his pain, the evil cloud, and whatever impurity he felt and transferring it to her, freeing his head and his body from Akiro's grip.
Inuyasha growled, the sound reverberating throughout his chest and into Kagome's, as he slowly rose to his feet, using the tip of his blade to help ground him. Kagome followed his movements as best as she could, unable to see a thing through her bleak surroundings. She attached herself to his back, afraid to let go in case it all rebounded back to him, wrapping her arms around his waist as tight as she could as her body quickly grew exhausted.
Just a little while longer. She told herself as the uncomfortable, tickling sensations spread all over her skin, through her mind, and down her bloodstream. She bit her lip to keep from screaming as the weight of the darkness grew heavier on her, clinging to the sting from her reopened cut at the corner of her mouth. Kagome bit down harder, the copper taste barely touching her tongue from her teeth clenching down, the pain helping her separate what discomfort was real and what was Akiro's making. She could feel Inuyasha's arms raise up, the familiar surge of demonic aura surrounding them just before he swung his sword down and the windscar launched toward his target. Kagome's fingers curled into the front of his robes, her arms aching from how hard she fought to stay connected to him.
The blackness faded out, her mind clearing as if a storm had passed. Her muscles stilled and the tension in her jaw slacked, and it felt like all the fear had left her body at once. The wicked aura was gone. The night was still and quiet once more. It was over.
Inuyasha felt Kagome's arms slide down from his waist as she fell to her knees. He dropped the Tetsusaiga and whipped around, prepared to catch her before her head hit the ground, but she merely sat on the floor, her back hunched over slightly while her hands braced her weight. He kneeled in front of her, hooking his index finger under her chin to tilt her face upwards. His free hand met her cheek, the padding of his thumb wiping the small drop of blood from her bottom lip away before she could do it herself.
"Is he gone?" She asked weakly, her brown eyes dull with fatigue.
"Yeah. He's gone. It's over." Inuyasha pushed the raven strands from her face, his fingers traveling into her hair and gripping it gently at the side of her head. She sighed into his touch, and his heart gave a fevered beat behind his ribcage. "How'd you do that? How'd you clear my head?"
"I tried to purify the evil from you. It didn't seem possible, but I somehow managed to take it from you."
"You took it?!" The hanyou tensed.
"It's okay. I don't mind. You beat him, Inuyasha." Kagome's feeble smile shook Inuyasha's core and he felt his resolve crumbling as quickly as it had built. After all she had been through, she still willingly took on more, just so he'd have an opportunity to kill Akiro. He didn't know what he would have done if the worst had taken place tonight. He leaned forward, brushing his lips against hers as gently as possible, minding the swelling. As badly as he wanted to crush his mouth to Kagome's and kiss her breathless to show her just how relieved he was, he knew there were other ways to show that. And he would take his sweet ass time showing her in every fucking way possible for as long as it took.
He moved his lips to the bottom corner of hers, softly grazing his mouth along the bruise. Then he moved his lips to the larger welt of discoloration beneath her eye, keeping his kisses as light as possible. He kissed her temples, her forehead, her nose, and ended where he had started, his lips lingering against hers until her hands traveled up his chest and clutched at his fire rat. He exhaled, a feeling of contentment overtaking him as he took off his suikan and wrapped it over her shoulders, knowing she wouldn't protest anymore, helping her push her arms through before kissing her one last time.
"Let's go home, Kagome."