A/N: This is a 2017-revised chapter. Thanks for your support.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
Fukai Mori
10. Nigi-mitama
When one dies, the feelings before death would linger in their soul. Even the greatest evil could be saved if they repent before their last breath, but even the purest good would become tainted if they decease with hatred.
But nothing was absolute. Hakushin-shounin clung onto Kikyou, resting his withered head on her hakui, breathing in her scent of clay and burial ashes. Despite the scenes of his past that replayed itself in his mind, the memory of how desperate his last breaths had been when he had clung to the last of his life, all of it became blurry, washed away by Kikyou's words.
"There is no shame in wanting to live. The things you still want to accomplish, let me carry them out for you. Pass me your will."
He nodded. He believed Kikyou, and in this reliance, in letting himself be weak, he was saved at last.
His body disintegrated into million lights that floated and started to vanish into the air. Kikyou watched, still holding his empty garbs in her hands. One orb of Hakushin-shounin's soul remained behind, fluttering above Kikyou. She reached out, and it landed on her, seeping inside.
Kikyou's soul pulsed. She could feel Hakushin-shounin's last moment. A warm companionship – it was what Kikyou had shown him. The will that she asked to inherit, the saint's sin and virtue…
Nigi-mitama.
In a bright glow, Hakushin-shounin's nigi-mitama joined with Kikyou's soul. It felt different from when she absorbed other souls of the dead, for Hakushin-shounin's fragment was not a mere energy source. It would not expire, becoming a part of her, giving her a warmth that only the living could feel.
"Could this be…my new nigi-mitama?"
Kikyou wondered, but when another flash of lightning streaked the skies, she knew now was not the time to ponder further. With the barrier gone, the shinidamachuu could once again reach her. Replenished with energy, she ran towards where Sesshoumaru fought. With this newfound strength, perhaps she could stand by his side.
Inuyasha sensed the incoming tip of the Jakotsutou and dodged, but not far enough to completely evade it. The sword looped around him.
"Come on now, Doggy-boy, I want to hear you beg for your life. If you do it, I might just make it quicker and less painful," Jakotsu said with a smirk on his face. Inuyasha growled as he struggled against the grip of the blades, but his human arms could not move them an inch.
"As if I would ever do that!" Inuyasha still yelled defiantly. Jakotsu only tugged on the blades so they gripped him tighter.
"Don't be silly. You'll never break free like that. Just do as I say and I'll play nice. I'll cut off your pretty face and kiss it every morning. How about that?"
Jakotsu manipulated his sword to pull Inuyasha closer. He gripped Inuyasha's chin and tilted his face towards him. Inuyasha spat on Jakotsu, making Jakotsu shake in anger.
"How dare you sully my face!"
It was the end. Jakotsu tightened his blades and drew blood. Inuyasha thought he would die, but at the last moment, he felt power.
Mount Hakurei's barrier had vanished.
Inuyasha's hair turned silver, his eyes gold. The Tessaiga shook in his claw, and when he fed it his will, it transformed to its true form as a giant fang. The Jakotsutou cracked from the Tessaiga being pressed against its joint, and with the scar of winds that Inuyasha unleashed, it shattered. Jakotsu was flung back by the power and hit the cave wall hard, the wind knocked out of him. He fell limply to the floor.
The light of the Tessaiga faded, leaving only moonlight to shine through the cracks Inuyasha had just made in the cavern ceiling. He sealed his sword back to its katana form and sheathed it, walking away without another glance at the fallen Jakotsu.
"Wait…" Jakotsu muttered. He tried to force himself to standing, but all he could move were his fingers. Inuyasha stopped, but did not turn to meet him.
"What?"
"Why won't you kill me?"
"Why should I bother? Be glad I don't want to dirty my hands today."
"But aren't you afraid that I would come back to take my revenge?"
This time, Inuyasha moved and stared Jakotsu in the eyes. In Jakotsu he saw a loneliness that he too had held once. Their lust for power was nothing more than to hide this weakness.
But it really wasn't a weakness – the desire to love and be loved in return.
If only they had met sooner, perhaps Inuyasha could teach him this. Perhaps they could be friends. But it was too late. There were always things that could be, but wouldn't. Inuyasha smiled in regret.
"I know you wouldn't fight me again, Jakotsu." Inuyasha moved into the darkness of the tunnel leading up to the ground. "Farewell."
Left in the empty cave, Jakotsu chuckled. "You know what, Inuyasha? I wouldn't have minded dying by your hands..."
Bankotsu had flown into the skies and now stood in the dark clouds. He made a smirk, and with a twirl of his sword a rock tower snapped, its top crashed down to the ground to be splintered by the Toukijin's jaki. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"I was just wondering…what would it be like if you fell like that rock, right into your own sword's jaki? Or perhaps you prefer being struck by my Banryuu?"
Bankotsu shot another thunderbolt down at Sesshoumaru, forcing him back towards where the Toukijin's jaki was still whirling. He raised the Toukijin to block the attack, but it tore at the sword, chipping the blade. The Toukijin could not take another attack. Another streak of lightning started descending, and right at that moment, the Tenseiga shook.
Sesshoumaru trusted the sword his father had given him. Drawing it from his sash, he slashed it upwards to meet Bankotsu's attack. The Tenseiga released a pure blue light that encircled the shaft of electric energy and erased it. Bankotsu couldn't believe what he saw. He struck again with the Banryuu and Sesshoumaru once again intercepted with the Tenseiga. With a graceful arc, the Tenseiga nullified both the Banryuu and the Toukijin's jaki.
"Banryuusen!" Bankotsu yelled. Jaki of the slain youkai gathered at the Banryuu's core, tainting the embedded Shikon shards. A blood red orb of energy formed and spilled in a wave towards the Tenseiga. Sesshoumaru gripped the Tenseiga as tightly as his single claw could manage, but was still pushed backwards. He cleaved the Banryuu's jaki to two, but as the power rushed by Sesshoumaru's side, it tore into him. Though not a fatal strike, the wounds Sesshoumaru had accumulated up to this point left him barely able to stand. Another orb of energy was already starting to gather at the Banryuu. He might not be able to dodge in time.
It was then that Mount Hakurei's barrier vanished.
Sesshoumaru leapt away at the last second, the red orb nicked his hair. He landed with heavy breaths. Even he could not deny that he was tired, a feeling he hadn't felt for a long, long time.
Bankotsu smashed his blade down for the kill, but his movement halted when a violet light pierced his body. With a scream he fell, an arrow jabbed from his chest.
"Miko." Sesshoumaru said when he turned his eyes towards Kikyou in the distance. She stumbled down towards him.
"Sesshoumaru." Kikyou called his name. A flock of flying youkai picked up Bankotsu's body and fled, but neither of them had the strength to give chase. Sesshoumaru's pride could no longer sustain his body. He fell to the ring Kikyou's soothing voice.
End of Chapter - reviews appreciated