†{ A Rose by Any Other Name… }†
x{ 26: White Dried Rose}x
-•°•°•-
Darkness swarmed the sky in modern day Tokyo, as if a terrible storm was about to strike down the city in one fierce force. It gave everyone that turned their gaze skyward a chill but as soon as it appeared it disappeared. That was something weathermen would be talking about for days. No one had any way of knowing where the sickening smoke came from, nor could they know that it found its way to the well to pool down into it… crossing from one time to another.
A time that that darkness knew well, the time period in which he died. Naraku, unfortunately for him, no longer had a solid physical form. Now he had to take one, but he was alright with that. When he was first alive, when he was merely a hanyou grabbing a shikon shards for strength, he didn't know how weak he was.
Hell hardened him more than he thought possible. Hell gave him strength he never knew possible. Hell… is not somewhere he ever wants to return to. He won't go back. Azazel, that bastard, would send him straight down again if he failed to destroy the disarrayed damsel that was distant for doom. That was going to happen, he was going to doom her like he had promised so long ago.
And Inuyasha… oh, how he boiled with utter hatred for that hanyou. He wanted nothing more than to make him suffer. Really, he had thought that his last attack would have torn the two apart but… apparently not. He was so certain that after taking possession of Inuyasha's body and doing what he had done to Kagome would have caused too big of a scar on their relationship.
That only made him more furious but that fury gave him fire to fume his determination but none of that mattered as his formless foggy form flew across the scenery. For the time being, all that mattered was finding a body to take control of then finding that fucking female and her bitch of a hanyou.
This time he wouldn't fail. This time he would kill them. This time he would finally rid the world of those two.
x-•°•°•-x
"We saw them," Kagome declared while they walked along the walls around the demon slayer's village. For the night they spent it in one of the rebuilt huts but since morning was about it was time to finally start to head back. They had plenty they still needed to do in her time.
"Yeah," Inuyasha replied with a lifted brow as his golden gaze shifted over to her, "so?"
"So," she drew out as her hazels moved to meet his stare. "Inuyasha, we need to go back to my time. Damian… is still possessed and Azazel is still alive and trying to find a way to open the portal to bring that big boss guy over. That'd be really bad for humans everywhere."
"I know," he asserted, he hadn't forgotten about all of that while they were there. Though, he would have liked to. He would have much rather have had things just be about collecting the shikon shards and killing Naraku again. The latter he understood, he had a grasp on that situation, and he did a great job at handling it-at least he thought so. But the other one… the weird shit in her time period was beyond him.
He loved Kagome, obviously, but… he couldn't stay in her time period for forever. It'd be too difficult. When she was safe, when it was all done, he would have to come back to his side of the well. He just hoped she'd come with him.
"Then we should say our goodbyes and get going," Kagome asserted while she grabbed his hand to turn them around and lead him back to the entrance to the slayer's village. He followed, obediently, but it was obvious to her that he wasn't too pleased about it. He didn't like her time period, she knew that yet she could hardly just turn her back to all that was happening on the other side of the well.
She had to save Damian… somehow.
"I'm sorry to see you leave," Sango announced after they gathered there things. "I hope you return sometime soon."
"We will," Kagome assured her before hugging her comrade and waving goodbye to the others. As soon as they were out the gates again Inuyasha knelt down so she could get on his back. It was far quicker to travel with him zooming through the air. A pang pulsed through her to give her an alert… an aura was around that shouldn't be. A demon… a demon from her time.
"Inuyasha," she just started to get out when a blast shot knocked them down, she fell from his back to tumble around on the ground. He was able to find his way to his feet before he fell all the way to the ground. Instantly, he grabbed his sword and yanked it out of its sheath so that it could transform.
"Kagome, are you alright?" he inquired as he glanced his eyes over to her as she pushed herself off the ground.
"Yeah, what I was about to say before that happened was I feel a demon's presence… the type from my world," she explained as she got her bag back onto her shoulder and walked up to him.
"Inuyasha, Kagome," someone greeted as he walked into sight, a wicked smirk on his face as he glanced over the two. "It is so good to see you again."
Inuyasha's brows bent as he glanced over to Kagome to confirm that she didn't recognize the man in front of them, either. He was bald, a tad taller than Inuyasha, but otherwise bland.
"I would understand you two not recognizing me," he assured them as he raised his arms up and looked over his own body, "I wouldn't either. This is just a puppet, a means to an end."
"Why don't you enlighten us," Inuyasha requested.
"I'll give you a hint," the man offered, "I once took possession of your body and took advantage of your girlfriend while doing so."
"Naraku," Inuyasha growled with clenched teeth and narrowed eyes. His grasp on his sword tightened ever so gravely, he could feel his blood boiling with furry. "I am going to kill you."
"I would like to see you try," Naraku countered, "this time I won't fail, I'm going to kill the both of you."
That was all it took to spark a battle between the two, he slashed his sword to try and destroy him while Naraku used his powers to attempt to bash him about without even touching him. Kagome felt utterly useless just standing there but she didn't know what to do. She hadn't a bow or any arrows to help him and running over trying to do something wouldn't do them any good.
In a bigger burst, Naraku blasted Inuyasha away, certainly causing a gash while he dropped to the ground… what worried her the most was that his sword stumbled out of his hand. Naraku was quick to get close enough to grab it and throw it far away into the forest so that he couldn't use it again. That meant… Inuyasha's blood would be unstable.
He could turn full-blood youkai at any time.
As quickly as she could, she popped open her bag and rummaged through it to try and find something of use. Meanwhile, she saw out of the corner of her eyes that Inuyasha was getting up to try to defend himself once more when Naraku attempted to kill him again.
"Ow," she complained as she pricked her finger upon something. Instantly, she knew what that was and a smile lifted her lips as she moved her hand again to grab the handle of the knife her father had given her. That knife could do great things, like permanently kill any demon. Her hazels then turned up to see where Inuyasha was, and worry ate away at her more.
His cheeks had flashes of those violet strips just like his eyes turned from gold to red some, too. That was bad. When he was a full blood demon he was… uncontrollable. He barely even recognized her.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out as she threw the knife towards him. His ear twitched at the sound of his name and his golden gaze shifted just in time to see the knife flying through the air towards him. Swiftly, he raised his hand to grab the knife and stab Naraku in the chest.
A horrible gasp left his lips, darkness took his eyes as he groaned. Inuyasha slowly let him drop to the ground as the knife slid out.
"Is he dead?" Kagome inquired while she ran up to him, grabbing his arm and examining her face swiftly to make sure that he wasn't changing anymore. His features seemed to soften back to normality, thankfully.
"Seems so, what's this?" Inuyasha asked as he glanced over the blood covered knife, "where'd you get it from?"
"My father," she answered with a weak smile, "he gave it to me for an occasion like this…"
But, at the same time, that knife… had been his end. Lilith had been the one brave enough to free their father from possession but that meant he had to be stabbed. That he had to die. Just like the innocent man in front of them.
Life simply wasn't fair sometimes.
A/N: This is a very quick update, obviously, since it is so short. Hope you don't mind but at least it was a bit more eventful than the last couple of chapters, right?
I will be updating again soon. Hopefully within a week. Since this isn't a sought after story anymore I hope to finish it soon.
Thank you for the review, Kovia. I appreciate it.
White Dried Rose: Death is Preferable to Lose of Virtue