Title: I'm (Somehow) Still Alive

Author: Sun

Prompt: Crunchy 3 – Moonlight Madness

Pairing: Naraku/Sesshomaru

Rating: Mature

Genre: AU, Romance, Angst, Drama

Summary: With his life over, where will he turn?

A/N: Picks up after Chapter Six: A Dying Man's View on Love

It was around midnight more than week later when Naraku finally opened his eyes. As his eyes struggled to focus on the dark room, lit only by a trace amount of moonlight spilling in through the skylight directly above the door, he tried to sit up.

"Don't," a voice said from right beside him as he tried to sit up.

Startled Naraku jumped into a sitting position – which just caused a myriad of painful sensations to run through his body. Pulling away the blanket covering him, Naraku saw that his left side was bandaged up.

"What the hell happened – Kagura?" he demanded, looking up at her.

His twin only shrugged, lighting a cigarette. "Hell if I know," she mumbled, taking a deep drag. Holding it out to him, she smiled encouragingly; Naraku took it after only a moment of consideration.

"All I know," she went on, "is that that delectable partner of yours brought you here – all beaten and bloody and full of holes. Someone put a bullet through your left lung, and it collapsed."

As Naraku puffed his sister's cigarette, he leaned back in the bed, chuckling. "Good thing my doctor sister loves me more than the syndicate, ne?"

Kagura snatched the cigarette back from him, glaring. Turning his head, he just smiled at her; identical sets of crimson eyes met.

"I hate you, baka," she told him, standing. "You should know that by now."

As she started for the door, Naraku's eyes narrowed at her. "Wait!" he called to her; she looked at him. "If you hate me, why'd you save me?"

She scoffed. "Save you? I condemned you. You think you can continue on with your life like this never happened, Naraku? Sesshomaru was the one who saved your life – by telling the oyabun that you're dead."

Naraku just stared at her as she went on, "I know you, Naraku. You were only the family man for Kikyou and Kanna – and Kikyou died so long ago that you could probably never really love another human being ever again." He barely heard her haughty snort. "Sesshomaru's the closest you've come to loving someone since she died and your boss – excuse me, former boss – took your daughter away." Smiling, the doctor took another long pull from her cigarette, relishing the acrid-tasting smoke as it filled her lungs and calmed her. "That was probably the best move the oyabun's made in a long, long time, taking that little girl away from you."

Naraku growled softly, his fists clenching the blanket. "Be quiet, Kagura," he whispered harshly.

His twin laughed practically in his face. "You would have ruined her, Naraku, and what's worse is you know it. You know it, but you wanted to ruin her anyway."

He glared down at her feet as angry tears filled his eyes. "Shut up."

Kagura glared at her brother with a cruel glint in her eyes. "You're a monster, Naraku, and all you're ever good for is ruining people – you'll wreck whatever life you touch, and you won't care… No, you won't care even when they're dead! Just like Kikyou!"

Naraku threw his head up, snarling at Kagura. "I said, shut up!" He leapt from the bed, fingers poised and ready to take hold of her throat and throttle her until she spoke no more craziness.

A light breeze rushed through the room, and an arm caught Naraku delicately in a warm, close embrace before he could reach Kagura. Slowly and silently, Sesshomaru carried his lover and former partner back to the bed, setting him down gently.

"Kagura."

The syndicate doctor started a little at the frigid tone of Sesshomaru's voice. She stared at his back; without taking his eyes off of her brother, he told her, "Leave this place, and speak to no one of what has taken place here." When the woman didn't move, he finally glared coldly at her over his shoulder. "I said leave!"

Naraku pouted a little as he watched his twin scurry quickly from the room. "I wish she would die," he mumbled, slumping back against the mound of pillows and trying his best to ignore the throbbing, stabbing pain in his left side.

Sesshomaru flashed his lover a wholly uncharacteristic smile. "But, Naraku-kun… She is your one and only wombmate… Killing her would be chillingly akin to killing yourself. This Sesshomaru would hate for that to happen."

Naraku stared down at the blanket as his lover lit another cigarette for him. Taking it from the younger man by the filter, he sighed before taking a drag. "Maybe that's exactly what I'm hoping for…" he murmured.

Sesshomaru just watched him.

They were silent for a few minutes. Finally, Naraku said, "So I'm dead."

Sesshomaru smiled. "Yes."

The gunman snorted. "I must'a taught you damn good, then, ne? I mean, you took down Onigumo Naraku – The Swooping Spider. You must be fucking brilliant."

The younger yakuza chuckled. "I must be."

Naraku glanced up at him. "So… They probably made you the new wakagashira, ne?"

There was only a moment's hesitation before Sesshomaru's answer: "Hai."

The gunman chuckled, sucking on his cigarette once more. It burned quickly, all the way down to the filter. "So what name did they give you finally?" he wanted to know. Sesshomaru finally met his eyes with a small smirk. "Well?" Naraku asked. "They have to give you a nickname now – you're the oyabun's right-hand man!" He blinked as a slight depression settled over him. Like I used to be

"The Killing Perfection."

Naraku's brows shot up into his hairline, and he whistled, flicking the demolished cigarette across the room. There was a barely audible thunk! as it landed in the trash can just inside the door. "Well that's a cool one."

Sesshomaru grinned proudly. "Yes," he agreed, especially proud that his former competitor and superior thought so. "Yes, it is."