A/N: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG ASS FUCKING DELAY! I LOST TRACK OF TIME AND WILL START POSTING REGULARLY IN THIS STORY AGAIN. I DIDN'T REALIZE HOW LONG IT HAD BEEN!
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Safety Not Guaranteed
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As the sun rose over the horizon, Inuyasha groaned at the resolute sound of vans and hundreds of soldiers' weary feet. It was a strange sound. One that he never expected to hear in this era. Especially considering one of the newest things he'd learned about this war was that Japan, as a country, was not supposed to have an army.
"It's the Americans," Raiden breathed anxiously as they stood atop the tall skyscraper that had been their impromptu hideout that night, "They must've mobilized sometime during the night. Like a bunch of humans are really any match for freaking Godzilla, know what I mean?"
"Not really but humans versus demons historically has never really worked out in their favor," Inuyasha chuckled darkly until he noticed Raiden's sympathetic gaze and soft sigh, "What's that face about?"
"Well there is a reason demons went underground you know," Raiden chided gently before he glanced over his shoulder at where the others were preparing for battle – including the pregnant Kagome who seemed fully intent on going despite the earlier shouting match that had ensued, "Humans in great numbers and with more advanced technology can do terrible things."
"As can demons on their own," Inuyasha countered as he followed Raiden's gaze and groaned, "Why can't she just stay behind? It'd be one thing if she wasn't pregnant but…but…"
"Inuyasha, I swear on Liluye's grave that I will do everything in my power to protect her and make sure she survives, okay?" Raiden comforted his slightly surprised friend as he clapped him on the back, "I get it. Believe me I do but she's her own woman and a very capable fighter. She'll be fine."
"Did your…your wife ever do anything so stupid?" Inuyasha asked softly as he furrowed his brow and cast a nervous glance at his friend who was now sporting a sad little smile.
"Liluye was also her own woman and she came with me on all of my travels right up to the very end," Raiden sighed as his eyes glazed over and he turned to face his friend with a reassuring smile, "She killed many a man and beast with that bow. Kagome…. Kagome will be fine. I promise. But you won't be if all your attention is on her."
"Well getting kidnapped is kinda Kagome's superpower," Inuyasha sighed bemusedly as he sent a side-eyed glare at the love of his life, "Besides, it's not like we've ever fought with a plan before. Whenever we've had a plan. Well…. We plan, we get there and all hell breaks loose."
"Sounds 'bout right," Raiden snorted with a happy sigh before he glanced down at his friend's sword, "Not gunna lie. Pretty stoked to see you use that bad boy and to see you in action. Godzilla doesn't stand a chance."
"We still don't know his motivation," Inuyasha groaned before a strange chuckle escaped his lips when he faintly heard Kagome's joke to Sango, who apparently was thinking the same thing.
"Not now but seriously every villain we've ever faced seems to just lay out their motivation and plans when we get there so I imagine he will too," Kagome giggled slightly before she glanced over at the hanyou in all his glory – the sun rising directly behind him somehow illuminating his short locks and giving him an almost divine appearance. She could tell he was worried about this battle from the way he was carrying himself and the slight hesitation in his features as those amber orbs glanced at the arrows on her back. Still, if he thought she was going to let him charge into battle without her, he had another thing coming.
"Don't be upset with him, Kagome-chan," Sango murmured gently as she say the determination spark behind her long lost friend's gaze, "You're everything to him. I don't know if he could survive losing you twice."
Eyes softening slightly at that not so subtle reminder of their time apart, Kagome nodded before staring off at the giant lizard who seemed to be merely waiting for them to appear. At least the thing couldn't smell them if his behavior was any indication. Otherwise they would've been goners already. Thank god for small miracles.
"So you know the plan," Koga suddenly barked out as he moved to stand atop a very bulky commercial air-conditioning unit, "Inuyasha, Raiden, Kagome and myself will take the lead to lure him to the West while Shiori, Soten, Shippo and Haichi try to get into the Institute grounds to scout for survivors. Ayame, Jineji, Sango and Miroku will follow the subway tunnels to get closer instead of taking to the streets. Once they hit the nearest stop, they'll launch a surprise offensive from the East. Everyone clear."
"Can I just say this is the most exciting thing I've ever done? I mean we are pretty much fighting Godzilla," Raiden called out playfully as he beamed at his father who merely gave his son a withering glare and very bluntly said, "No."
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"So Kawachi Katsuyuki, if you truly feel remorseful, tell me how to defeat this demon you call father," General Ginta replied coldly as she gave the boy a suspicious glare – his sob story obviously not tugging on her heartstrings like she hoped. It made sense after all. How many of her men had just been slaughtered? Her entire livelihood shattered in the course of the past twenty four hours.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Katsuyuki snorted as he stared idly at the dangling fluorescent light, "Our kind… our kind…. well, I'm sure you already have a lot of knowledge about the Divine Soldiers and probably Father. Hell, probably me too. I figure this is a test, isn't it? To see whether I'd tell you what you already know. Well I'll tell you but in exchange I want full immunity."
"Immunity is not on the table," Ginta hissed angrily – her muscles rippling under her smooth dark skin, "You can either tell me and I don't kill you or you don't tell me and I end your miserable life here and now."
"His scales only take in what makes them stronger and they use whatever power they've absorbed in the form of an attack," Katsuyuki sighed heavily before flinching when the ground above them shook in the wake of his father's footsteps, "Poison. Youkai. Bullets. Bombs. In case you're wondering, yes, that bomb. Father made a special trip just to be there for that moment in history. However, there are two soft spots where an attack can deal a lethal blow. Where the jaw attaches to the skull."
"What about spiritual attacks?" Ginta asked as she narrowed her eyes and took a deep steadying breath, "Would a miko's attack do the job?"
"In the old days, yeah but… but there hasn't been a miko with that kind of power in centuries. After all he's absorbed, I'm not sure a modern day miko's attack would do anything," Katsuyuki replied cautiously before he furrowed his brow, "Surely, Inuyasha wouldn't be stupid enough to bring Kagome with him, right?!"
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Sesshomaru lay on the sidewalk convulsing slightly as his usually all powerful body slowly failed him. The pain from his wounds that once burned like fire had faded away into an icy numbness. Black filled the edges of his vision and the only thing he could hear was the irregular beating of his own heart in his ears. The blow had come out of seemingly nowhere. Not from an arm, tail or claw but powerful and potent. Whatever hit him sliced through his body like thousands of small needles bringing about every type of torment known to mankind. Somehow simultaneously in that moment his insides bubbled angrily, his skin seemed to burn away, he blood boiled and the very breath had been stolen from his lungs. After thousands of years, it seemed like today was would his last day on earth and to be honest, it was the fact that he failed that bothered him more than the fact that he was dying.
"My Lord, you're hurt," came a soft, scared voice from somewhere nearby – somehow registering in his mind despite the rest of the world slowly leaking away. Choking back a sob, a strange foreign sound that he had never made before and hoped never to make again, wretched itself from his abused lungs as he lolled his head to the side only to see a young woman who looked so very much like the beloved daughter he lost so many centuries ago. Such a cruel twist of fate to have such a vision delivered unto him in this moment. The blurry figure slowly made her way towards him from her hiding place – every once in a while casting a nervous glance at the monster who stood tall a short distance away. Eventually, she made her way to his side and gently maneuvered his head into her lap before moving his sweaty and bloodied bangs out of his face.
"Rin knows what you will say but will not leave you," she chided gently when his unclear amber orbs met hers and he opened his mouth to tell her to leave, "Rin will stay with her father as is her place."
That much was true. After so many years of blissful marriage, Rin outlived her spouse. Her children were busy with children and grandchildren of their own. They hadn't realized their mother was dying alone in her home. They didn't but a certain daiyoukai knew. Tenseiga rattled all that day until he could ignore it no longer. Something instinctual spoke to him as he held the sword out and listened. In a flash, he arrived at Rin's bedside just as her heartbeat began to falter and said the little things she had always known but never dared believe she'd hear him say aloud.
'My daughter,' he'd whispered gently to her as he brushed a few grey strands out of her face and gave her a sad little smile, 'Time passes so quickly, does it not? It seems only yesterday you were a small child bringing This Sesshomaru mushrooms from the forest and now you are passing from this life. This Sesshomaru loves his Rin. So very much. How will I bear the sorrow of your passing, little one?'
He'd stayed with her until the very end, which was only a few short minutes later. Her final rattling breath passing through her lips as her weak grip on his hand slacking and her wrinkled face in the serene peace eternal sleep brought with it. before moving to inform her descendants and pledge his lifetime protection. Her children seemed relieved someone had been there as their mother left this world. They bemoaned the fact they hadn't relocated to be nearer to her and that didn't visit nearly as often as they should have. Still, Sesshomaru wouldn't hold that against them – not for their sake but for Rin's and so he did his duty as a father. He looked out for them. Protected them. All the way up to the latest generation. All the way to Kagome Higurashi. It wasn't so much for Inuyasha's sake as Rin's that he had taken the hanyou under his wing. After all, for the latest descendant of Rin to live a happy, prosperous life, her husband needed to be gainfully employed with the added benefit of making amends for his past behavior where his brother was concerned. Perhaps it was for both Kagome and Inuyasha that he had done what he had done. It was no matter. Rin was here now. Returning the favor. Staying by his side until the bitter end.
"Rin has lived so many lives," Rin commented tearfully as she gave the daiyoukai a watery smile and gently ran the back of her hand down his bloodied cheek, "In each of them, she had no father. No mother. Always an orphan. Sometimes she found a family. Other times she did not. Perhaps that is because the only true father Rin was ever supposed to have was still living, waiting for Rin to find him again. And so she has. Knowing exactly who he is and how much she loves him."