Inuyasha
Kagome was sneaking towards the house like I couldn't fucking see her. I just brought her from that place and now she was running back into the nest. At least I was occupying the only threat left, unless those girls in the house attacked Kagome.
She couldn't be going in there to save them?
Hiten rammed his spear into my side, bringing my thoughts back to dodging and slashing.
"What's the matter Inuyasha? Not enough power to kill me?" He growled, pulling his spear before I could grab it. If I could only get it out of his grasp then I could end this now and not have to worry about Kagome getting hit by lightning. Although right now I was more worried about her dying from the fire. I growled back, dodging another stab.
"Just tiring you out," I snapped back, swinging Tetsusaiga at him. I hit his side, but the wound was shallow, healing almost instantly, almost. He was a slower healer than I was. I wonder if it took the same amount of stamina, if he had to concentrate on it. Maybe if I hit him enough I can cause him to freeze for a second too long.
I jumped, dodging another lightning bolt.
This was getting aggravating really fast. I wasn't sure if Kagome was safe in that house. If the lightning could reach her there too. What about those girls, are they were helping her or hurting her. I could barely hear their screams anymore. Maybe they were dead. That would be one less thing to worry about.
Though it was terrible to think of their death as a good thing, but there's no way of knowing where their allegiances lie, or if they were just a way to get to Kagome's soft heart. Kikyo would help people because her power called for her to help. The more good she did the stronger it would become. Kagome forces her power so that she can help. So that she can do the good things Kikyo was known for.
"Focus on me!" Hiten yelled, bringing lightning down on me. I had a split second to dodge and I wasn't fast enough. I grit my teeth together to keep myself from yelling. Kagome didn't need to know how the fight was going. She just needed to do whatever the hell she was doing and get the fuck out of there.
Once the lightning was gone I rushed Hiten, hitting him unexpectedly, causing four deep cuts. They began healing as I jumped away, blocking his spear. Lightning fell close to the house, causing me to panic, but I ignored it. I was doing Kagome no help if I died trying to figure out if she was alive. Movement out of the corner of my eye caused me to look for a second. Luckily Hiten was distracted as well. Two girls were running, one limping, they were both covered in small burns and soot. Their hair gone in patches. More rage was filling Hiten's expression as he raised his spear. I took the opening, shoving Tetsusaiga into his chest, just barely missing his heart. He turned at the last second, seeing my movement.
"Focus on me," I growled at him, giving the girls their chance to escape. If Kagome risked her life to get them out I wasn't going to waste it.
"Meddling half demon," He roared, lightning began striking at random. Luckily nothing hit close to the house or the girls. I was now the soul holder of his attention and rage. At least I could forget about Kagome for a couple of seconds.
"At least I'm making it out of here alive!" I grinned at him,
"Over my dead body!"
"That's the plan!" I yelled, turning his momentary fit of rage against him. He was too focused on yelling and making lightning strike that he left himself wide open. I brought Tetsusaiga over my head, forcing it through his shoulder and running it through his body, effectively slicing through his heart and out the other side. His red eyes focused on something behind me and he grinned, something that made me sick.
"You may have ended us, but I'll be taking her with me!" I whipped around, watching in horror as a thick bolt of lightning struck down, enveloping Kagome and Shippo. A loud sound escaped her lips for a moment. I turned back to Hiten, the life already leaving his eyes. I wanted to bring him back to kill him again. She can't die like this.
I pulled Tetsusaiga from the small piece of flesh it was stuck in and wiped it off, trying to keep my rage contained. I walked towards Kagome slowly as she was surrounded by a weird blue light, the lightning now gone.
Kagome
It was like every nerve in my body was being attacked at once. I couldn't stop the sound that escaped my throat. I was being filled by the blue light, causing my body to go into overdrive. Something snapped inside of me, taking the power the lightning and this blue light had produced and eating it, devouring it, letting it take over what small power reservoir I had before. It was forced to stretch to make way for the energy invading me. It was like a thousand needles puncturing my skin at once, and everything inside of me was tearing apart trying to make room for something that was entirely too big. Shippo was shaking against me, his small body unaffected by the blue energy invading me. All that mattered was he was alright.
I focused on that point as I could see Inuyasha walking closer, his steps controlled and slow. He was staring at me, telling me that this wasn't just hell. I was still alive. Though from the look on his face you wouldn't know that. I wonder how I must look to him; surrounded by blue energy, my face was probably a mask of pain.
Slowly everything began ebbing away, the blue light dissipating, the pain causing me to become numb. Shippo was looking at me with awe. I whimpered as I fell to my knees. Inuyasha seemed to come to the conclusion that I wasn't dead, but in fact very much still breathing as he ran forward, confusion painted his face. I wish I could slap it off of him. Actually I wish I would have had the forethought to tie this kimono tighter against me. Even with the fabric wrapped around my body I felt too exposed under his worried gaze.
Nobody said anything for a very long time. I just sat there on my knees, my hands digging into the dirt, waiting for the pain to come back. I could barely feel my extremities, let alone the earth. But it was nice knowing it was there, right in my grasp, keeping me grounded. Finally Shippo broke the silence by sobbing.
"Kagome I thought we were dead!" He yelled, burying his face in my hair. I began shaking feeling the tears welling up.
"Me too Shippo."
"My dad saved us," Shippo said, pulling the pelt closer to him. "The last of his magic blocked the lightning," And caused me significant pain. The feeling in my fingers was coming back to me as I tried to force myself to stand.
"You're not hurt are you," Inuyasha asked, his gaze steady on my face, looking for signs of pain.
"No, I'm fine. I was just scared," I lied. I wasn't sure what really happened, but this was not really the time to talk about it. I felt different, something inside of me more stable, steady, and ready to be called forward. It was almost itching to be used. I quieted it, forcing it down. I looked down at Shippo, feeling the warmth his small body was pushing into my arm. Why was I so cold? "Let's give him a proper burial," I smiled. Shippo nodded, tears streaming down his face.
Inuyasha
Kagome was alive. She was breathing. For the first time since I've met her she was smiling with a light like the sun emitting from her soul. I almost couldn't breathe. For a few agonizing seconds I thought she was dead. I had felt my heart stop when she fell forward, still breathing.
Now she's sitting next to Shippo, going through their horde of bags that caused me to fall earlier due to them suddenly expanding. She looked happy… but a little distant. That first smile she gave Shippo was like the sun, but now the light didn't quite reach her eyes. She didn't bother with her fire show tonight, instead curling up to Shippo in a nest of furs they pulled from the bags. I was wondering how we were supposed to carry all of this stuff around, but decided not to delve too far into it tonight.
A little over a week passed with little incident. Kagome didn't try stretch her abilities anymore, instead focusing on making sure Shippo was eating enough and fussing over him like he was her own kit. The little asshole was worming his way straight into her heart and I couldn't even find a door or a crack. I stared at him as Kagome inspected the hot spring nearby. She vaguely remembered there one being in the vacinity and wanted to check it out.
"What," Shippo asked 'innocently'. He had a mischievously gleam in his eyes that was grating on my last nerve.
"How do you do it?" I growled, careful to keep my voice down in case Kagome could suddenly hear like a wolf. She's been acting weird recently and I was worried the lightning had done something to her.
"Do what?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Get Kagome to like you so much." I grumbled. He stared at me for a moment.
"I don't know. Why don't you try being nice to her instead of being a total dick all the time."
"I should-"
"I think there's only a little bit of radiation left in the water," Kagome said, emerging from the woods. "Maybe I can try to clear it up," Her face was sunny, her smiling causing my stomach to do weird things.
"Then why did you come back here?" I asked, trying to replace my look of admiration with a scowl. "And you haven't been practicing, are you sure you can even still do it?"
"Do you not believe in me?" She tilted her head to the side, causing her hair to fall in her face. She was going to need a haircut soon. "Besides, just in case somethings lurking around I need someone keeping watch." I grunted but stood, walking off in the direction her scent had been. It was easy following her trail, just follow the scent of sunshine and lavender. She had been dismayed when she found out that 'perfume' wasn't a thing anymore, but she figured out a way to make this spray out of lavender petals and purified water with a few other ingredients laying around Kaede's village. It made her smell different, almost masking her natural smell, almost. I stopped at the edge of the water.
A little bit of radiation? This water reeked of the stuff. Could she still sense it? She walked behind me, mumbling something about rude dogs. She was wearing one of the silk dresses that they found in one of the bags. It cut off mid-thigh, exposing her legs. She could get really sick if the radiation seeped into her body from the exposure.
"Kagome, this place reeks of radiation. Are you sure your heads in the right place for this?" I asked, unable to keep the worry out of my voice.
"If I feel like it's too much I'll get out,"
"Get out? You're not going in there," I growled as she stepped passed me, her hand briefly stopping on mine, as if to still me. She stepped her foot in the water and my stomach rolled. This was a terrible idea.
If I would have been paying attention I would have realized the hairs on my neck were standing up because of shadow behind us, and not because I was worried Kagome was going to get a bought of radiation sickness.
Kagome
I could feel the water directly around my body purifying as I stepped tentatively into the spring. It was so warm I was almost tempted to dive right in.
But I restrained myself. That would be a stupid decision and I wasn't ready to die yet. Over the past week I could feel the hungry need of the power inside of me to be used. It coiled in my body, ready to strike out at any moment. I didn't want to risk over doing anything while this new monster was forming inside of me. Shippo's dad's magic had expanded my own, making it something other than what it had been previously. I still wasn't sure if I could purify this entire spring, but I was going to start with this pool and see what I could do from there.
I chose the one with the least radiation, the water's shallow and calm, only reaching my hips. I walked slowly to the center, concentrating on the radiation around me, trying to attach to me, to change what was in my bones and blood. I took a calming breath as I stopped, trying to calculate how big this pool was, how much water was in it. It was a lot for my first attempt, but I needed to do this.
I placed my hands on the surface and thought about clean water, about the way the sparkling water in Kaede's village had no pollution in it. I could feel the radiation start slipping away from my palms, slowly. The green tint I was sure only I could see right now was beginning to recede, giving way to the swirling blues and light purples that signified, at least to me, that it was alright to be around. It was slow, sometimes I lost my concentration as I could feel Inuyasha's hard gaze on me. I powered through it though, fighting back for the ground I lost when I slipped.
It took maybe thirty minutes to clear the pool. I didn't remove my hands until I was 100% sure I had gotten every ounce of radiation. Shippo looked at me with awe from Inuyasha's shoulder. I wasn't even sure Inuyasha himself knew the kit was there. The look of pride on Inuyasha's face caused my heart to clench.
"Well you proved me wrong," he said, relief flooding his voice.
"Wow Kagome!" Shippo said, his face lighting up. I smiled, letting myself relax in the water for a moment. I looked around me, feeling like something was just a little off, like there was something I was missing, but it was lost in the relief that I could control this power in me, even if I had to wrangle it down to keep it contained at times.
"Now it's time for a bath!" I grinned, motioning for Inuyasha to leave. He gave me a weird look for a moment before Shippo jumped off his shoulder and started stripping off the clothes we had bought for him in a neighboring town.
"Why does he get to bathe with you?" Inuyasha growled, his voice lower than normal. Something inside of me reacted, begging me to invite him too. I pushed that down as well. He belonged with Kikyo, I had no right to him.
"Because you're a gross old man!" Shippo teased, jumping into the water. Inuyasha growled at him. I simply frowned and pointed, waiting for him to take the hint.