Settle the Score
by Chri
January 14th, 2010: Chapter finished
Disclaimer:
Inuyasha and the other characters of Rumiko Takahashi aren't mine.
The chapter epigraph is from a song by Metallica.
Special thanks to:
JMaxwell and dangersque for beta-reading.
Chapter 35
Birth of terror, death of much more
I'm the slave of fear, my captor
Never warnings, spreading its wings
As I wait for the horror she brings
Loss of interest, question, wonder
Waves of fear, they pull me under
The Frayed Ends Of Sanity
When Ryota started fondling her breasts, panic took hold of Sango's mind. She continued trying to free her feet, but his hold was like a vise. With her limbs bound, there was nothing she could do to oppose his youkai strength. Breathing fast and erratic, she felt something in herself tighten in fear.
Miroku's widened eyes were still fresh in her memory. She hadn't been able to stand him looking at her and turned away from him. If she had looked into his eyes for just a moment longer, she would have just let everything happen, unable to stand the shame.
Now Ryota was saying something to her, the meaning of his words not reaching through the haze that clouded her mind. She looked around frantically, her eyes coming to rest on the entrance of the tent. She wished for someone to enter, for someone to help her, but only the dancing light of the bonfires outside fell through the opening.
Then she suddenly noticed that her pants were being pulled down.
Sango cried, tears finally forming in her eyes. The thought of biting her tongue flashed through her mind. But even that was impossible to her, due to the gag that was making her retch.
Time suddenly seemed to slow. She thought of her family, imagining their accusing looks. 'I'm sorry for disgracing you,' she thought. 'Forgive me.' Yet their faces wouldn't soften, no matter how much she apologized and begged. Hard and unrelenting, they seemed to stare at her.
And she realized that they wouldn't let her abandon herself. She had given up what was no longer hers, but belonged to all the people of her village. They would only accept a sacrifice for a greater purpose, for a single purpose. All the lives that had ended for a single shard of the accursed jewel – it was upon her to avenge them and put their souls to rest.
Realizing the weight of her responsibility, her debt, she suddenly felt liberated from fear and modesty. She looked up as Ryota leaned down toward her slowly, seeing the slightly bloated structure of his face, the cat-like slits of his eyes, the little dots that speckled his irises with a clarity that was almost overwhelming. He was grabbing toward her chest again, infinitely slow.
Putting all her power behind it, Sango sat up with a jerk. When her forehead hit his nose, she could hear the bone break.
The shattering noise broke the spell that lay over her. She felt him release her legs and took the chance to roll away from him, towards the entrance of the tent.
"You damn bitch," she heard Ryota curse while every roll brought her closer.
Her escape ended when Nobu stepped into her path, blocking her. 'No!' Sango cursed. Only a few steps separated her from the exit.
She looked up to Nobu. He wasn't even looking at her but at Ryota, saying, "You all right?"
"She broke my nose, the little minx," Ryota answered. Sango turned her head around, finding him with a hand held over his mouth and nose. "She's a youkai slayer, all right," he said, blood running down between his fingers.
"Are you sure it's worth the risk?" Nobu asked.
"You think she'll twist my thing off with some freakin' ninja sex techniques, or what?" Ryota asked sarcastically. "Get real."
"Well, you know the rumors about those youkai hunters," Nobu stated, pointing down at Sango, "I wouldn't put my most precious part anywhere near her."
A bestial cry suddenly interrupted. Shocked, Sango looked at the entrance of the tent, but she was too far to the left. From her position, she could only see one of the bonfires sending little sparks into the evening sky.
"What the hell was that?" Ryota asked, his voice sounding unsettled.
"How should I know?" Nobu answered.
Ryota pointed at the entrance with his other hand. "So go take a look already!"
A second scream. Sango had to suppress a flinch. Whatever was happening outside, it didn't sound good. At least the two youkai had forgotten about her for the moment; both stared at the entrance.
"Why don't you take a look yourself?" Nobu asked after a moment.
The two youkai stared at each other silently. "I'm hurt," Ryota said finally, pointing at his nose.
"Idiot," Nobu cursed, but carefully moved to the entrance, and peeked outside. "No! Umeko!" he suddenly shouted, anger in his voice.
"What!?" Ryota shouted impatiently.
"That hanyou has just killed Umeko! I don't believe it!"
"The bastard is still able to move?" Ryota cursed. He ran towards the entrance, carelessly passing Sango, and came to a stop next to Nobu.
'Inuyasha?' Sango thought, gulping. It wasn't that she was unhappy about the interruption, but that hadn't sounded anything like Inuyasha. She stretched herself and wriggled forward, trying to get a look through the feet of the youkai. Maybe he could help her if he saw her.
She managed to snatch a glance at Inuyasha and found him engaged in a battle with Masato. Both were going at each other with everything they had. With a sinking feeling she noticed the blood-red glow of Inuyasha's eyes and the thick stripes in his face, ascertaining what she had feared. His youkai blood had taken over.
And it looked like he was hellbent on destroying himself alongside his foe, fighting with a recklessness she hadn't seen before. Without a care for even the basics of battle, he traded deep gashes for little scratches, gave up superior positions just to stick to his opponent.
It was sickening to watch Inuyasha's fighting reduced to this vulgar carnage.
"He's raving mad," she heard Nobu whisper. "How can Lord Isobe want that lunatic?"
Ryota gulped. "Don't ask me..."
"No one's gonna be safe if he joins us," Nobu said. "What should we do?"
After a second, Ryota shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I have a pretty girl waiting for me," he said and turned around. The comment made Sango abandon the battle, looking up to the problem at hand. 'Leave me alone!' she thought, glaring up to them.
"Can't you for once think of something else?" Nobu cursed. "That hanyou is slaughtering our friends!"
"He's slaughtering your friends," Ryota corrected. "Why don't you go help them?"
A short silence. "Well, it looks like Masato's got the situation under control..." Nobu said after a second.
"Wuss!" Ryota laughed.
"Look who's talking," Nobu replied sharply. "All you can think about is a human girl, you hero."
"Better than having to go against that headcase," Ryota said. "Great old Masato will handle it, I'm sure." With that, he turned around to Sango and took the ropes binding her feet.
'No!' Sango cried mentally when the youkai started to drag her back inside. She looked at the entrance longingly, seeing it move away from her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the panic began to claw its way into the open again.
Sango closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. She could feel the grass and the earth on her bare buttocks as Ryota dragged her further and further. If she only had her hands free! Just her left would be enough! With every pull, she felt fear and hysteria taking over.
In a last desperate attempt, she opened her eyes and looked at Miroku. 'Help me!'
"MMFFFF!"
He had also moved towards the entrance and lay only a few feet away from her.
Then she noticed the tears glistening in his eyes. The sight tore at her, cutting the last thread that held her mind together. She was hurting him. She was hurting the person most precious to her. 'No!' she cried mentally. She started to buckle, throwing herself around.
'No!' She kicked and trashed. Ryota tried to restrain her, but she turned and wriggled. 'No! No!' She bit down on her gag, tugged at her ties, coiled up and stretched again.
'NO!'
Having Isobe so close to her, pictures of black leeches flashed before Kagome's mind. "I won't... help you another time," she said, shaking with fear and repulsion. 'Get away from me!'
"You seem to be mistaken," he said and pointed forward, jerking her head in the same direction. "Masato is fighting for your sake as much as mine!"
Masato and Inuyasha were engaged a fierce battle. The hanyou attacked with brute force, showing no fatigue. Masato didn't pull his blows, either, moving almost too quick to follow, but his finesse was shadowed by the pure brutality of Inuyasha's onslaught. Whether Masato hit him with blows or slashed him with his claws, the hanyou didn't care and kept attacking like a raging tempest.
"Kiba... Inuyasha will keep fighting, no matter what," Isobe continued. "He can't beat Masato, not even with his youkai blood taking over. Masato will beat him to a cripple to stop him."
"I believe in Inuyasha," Kagome gritted out, wincing when she saw Masato dodge below Inuyasha and slash him, leaving a deep wound.
One of Isobe's youkai stormed at Inuyasha from behind, but the hanyou noticed the approaching attacker. With a snarl, he turned around and ran to meet him. Masato tried to follow Inuyasha, but was too slow. The hanyou attacked in whirl of claws, taking less than a second to hack the other youkai to pieces. With a victorious growl, he attacked Masato again.
"Stay the hell away from him!" Isobe yelled at the other youkai angrily, then turned back to Kagome. "He cannot win," he said insistently. "But lets assume he does – he would just come after you next. And you're in no state to escape from him."
"Inuyasha wouldn't -"
"You just don't get it, do you?" Isobe interrupted loudly. "That is not Inuyasha. There's not even a trace of his mind left. For heaven's sake, just look at him!"
Inuyasha growled and hissed. He was bleeding from multiple wounds by now, his movement having slowed down. Still, he didn't show any care when Masato hit him.
"Every second the youkai blood is searing through him is one second too long," Isobe continued urgently. "If you stop him now, he might still come back. But I've seen it before - if a hanyou stays like this for too long, he'll lose his mind forever."
Kagome looked up aghast. She'd been too afraid to look at Isobe before, but now she needed to verify his words. He looked at her coldly, but his worry seemed honest. Was he really telling the truth?
She looked back to Inuyasha. It didn't look good for him. Masato was also bleeding from many wounds, but Inuyasha was a mess. He still kept on attacking without a care.
And he would stay like this - forever? Kagome gulped. 'Sit.' A single word could stop him. She could stop him, and betray him again. Just a little word.
'What should I do?' she thought desperately. She tried to form the word in her mouth, but it was as if her tongue wouldn't follow her.
"This is your responsibility!" Isobe growled. "There's no one but you who can safely prevent this."
"S- Si-" Kagome stuttered.
"Do it!"
The seconds that passed felt like forever. Kagome tried, but the word just didn't want to leave her mouth. Finally, she whispered, "I- I can't."
"You stupid girl!" Isobe shouted angrily, hurling her to the ground. "You are signing his death sentence!"
That moment, Masato got a hold of Inuyasha's hand and twisted it to the side. With a loud crunch, the hanyou's wrist broke. Seemingly not caring, Inuyasha stepped in and clawed at Masato with his other hand. Masato couldn't dodge it and took a deep wound on his upper arm, a low cry escaping him.
Inuyasha immediately launched the next attack, but his broken hand no longer followed him correctly. Masato took the strike and subsequently managed to place a kick right in the center of Inuyasha's chest. The hanyou flew back like a doll and crashed through the wooden wall of a hut, coming to lie inside.
There was a sudden silence. Masato didn't relax, warily watching the hole Inuyasha had disappeared through. Kagome held her hand to her mouth in shock. 'Please, stay down,' she wished despite herself.
But after a few seconds, Inuyasha stepped outside again. A broken wooden plank, almost as long as an arm, was sticking through his chest. Blood ran down the corner of his mouth as he growled at Masato.
Kagome closed her eyes, unable to watch. The sound of fighting once again assaulted her ears.
"Isobe," she said after a moment. "Give him his sword."
"Are you kidding me?" Isobe asked incredulously.
"It puts a seal on his youkai blood," Kagome continued.
"It puts a deadly weapon into his hands!" Isobe retorted. "I'm not stupid!"
"You want him alive, don't you?" Kagome shot back and stared up to him, begging the heavens that her hunch was right. "The sword's the only thing that's able to bring him back! It's got an enchantment that will calm him down." She made a pause, considering her next words. "I don't think he'll stay conscious once his youkai blood is forced back."
Isobe eyed her skeptically, then looked towards Tetsusaiga. "If you're lying... you're going to regret it with every fiber of your body."
"If Tetsusaiga can't bring him back, I have a lot more to regret."
Isobe took a deep breath. "All right. I'll get the sword. But if you want me to give it to him, you better make up your mind about using the rosary."
Kagome gulped. There was a chance that Inuyasha would stay conscious after getting Tetsusaiga. If she sat him, he'd be unable to fight on.
Isobe noticed her hesitation. "If you don't, I'll have to wait until Masato has beaten him unconscious. It's your decision."
With that, he ran for Tetsusaiga. Kagome stared after him, trying to come up with an idea. There had to be something she could do!
Isobe reached the sword and pulled it out of the wall. He looked at it quickly and then ran towards Inuyasha, but stopped well outside his reach.
After waiting for a second, he turned to Kagome. She stared back, feeling their wills battling. 'Give him the sword already!' she mentally screamed. 'You want him alive as much as I do!'
But Isobe didn't give in, just glaring at her without saying a word.
'Give him the damn sword!'
It felt like forever. Kagome had to suppress a wince every time she heard Inuyasha's gurgling growls.
Finally, she broke eye contact, looking away from the whole scene. She couldn't bear to look at Inuyasha.
Her head sagged as she prepared to do what she had wanted to never repeat. She saw no way, no answer. She had come to help him, but no matter what she did, she could only hurt him.
'Forgive me...' Kagome thought, starting to cry. 'I failed you.' She felt like stabbing herself as she whispered, "Sit."
It took a while for Sango to exhaust herself. Later, she couldn't have said whether it had been thirty seconds or thirty minutes. The time passed in a blur, shouts and growls and screams whirling around her.
When she finally came to her senses enough to take notice of her surroundings again, black dots were dancing before her eyes. Her breathing came in quick gasps; she didn't get enough air through her nose. Her gag tasted damp, soaked in her own saliva.
She looked around, feeling disoriented, and noticed that the two youkai were quarreling loudly. Nobu shouted something about having enough of Ryota's escapades, to which Ryota replied with putting Nobu's virility to question. It seemed like the dispute was on the verge of getting violent.
And really, only seconds later, Nobu answered an insult with a right hook.
"Fuck!" Ryota shouted, holding a hand to his face. "My nose! You freakin' bastard!" He ducked and stormed forward. With a growl, he tackled Nobu, and they stumbled to the ground. Unwilling to give up, the two youkai rolled around, neither getting into a superior position.
Abandoning their fight, Sango looked to the other side, finding Miroku only a meter next to her. He was looking at her, not caring about the two youkai at all. He looked like he'd been through a beating. He had a blue eye and was bleeding from a cut on his eyebrow.
His attention was entirely focused on her. She couldn't remember ever having seen him so unsettled. He wasn't crying like before, but he was staring at her, his usually calm eyes wide with panic.
Having forgotten about her gag, she tried to ask him if he was all right and reassure him, but only an incomprehensible groan left her mouth.
Miroku looked at her questioningly, but all she could do was shrug in reply.
After a second, Miroku nodded, then indicated towards the exit with his eyes.
Sango followed his gaze, greedily looking at the entrance. The two youkai were in the way, but not looking at them, still pummeling each other.
'We can roll around them,' she thought. Miroku nodded as if reading her thoughts.
Together, they rolled towards the exit. They had already covered more than half the way, when she saw that Ryota had gotten the upper hand over Nobu, having managed to pin one arm under his body, and was throwing one punch after the other at the trapped youkai. The sound of his sickening laughter rang in her ears.
'You damn asshole!' Sango thought, her hatred for the youkai boiling over. She turned around and rolled towards Ryota. He had his back towards her and didn't notice her approach, his attention focused on Nobu.
When she was in range, she hoisted her feet up and then hammered down with full force against his head.
The resulting thud was music to her ears. Ryota tilted to the side with a cry, letting go of Nobu, and tried to crawl away unsteadily. 'You're not getting away!' Sango thought angrily, her attention focused on the fleeing youkai, and wriggled after him.
He tried to stand up shakily, but Sango kicked in the hollow of his knee, causing him to fall down again. Immediately, she struck out with her feet and let them pound down on his face once more. With a painful cry, Ryota jerked his arms up, trying to shield himself.
Unrelenting, Sango struck out again, when suddenly somebody gripped her shoulders and dragged her away. Angrily, she turned her head around. It was Nobu. He gulped when she stared at him.
"That's... enough," he said, lowering her to the ground very carefully after dragging her a short distance.
Suddenly, somebody appeared in the entrance of the tent. At first, Sango noticed only a silhouette, the flames of the bonfire dancing behind the newcomer like an angry aura.
"What is going on here?" Masato's voice cut through the air.
Nobu jumped up, letting go of her as if burned. Ryota seemed to have frozen on the spot.
The harsh question of the youkai made Sango hope for help, welcoming his sudden appearance. After a moment of euphoria, she gulped it down, feeling disgusted with herself.
Masato went inside. His upper body was naked, in his right hand a bloody rag that had once been his elaborate shirt. In his other hand he had a simple, but clean shirt to replace it. His hair and body were soaking wet, as if he had emptied a bucket of water over his head.
Getting a clear look at his body, Sango could see well-defined muscles, even for a youkai. The clothes had hid it somewhat, but he was athletic and in training. Together with the performance he had shown, it was clear that he was a fighter through and through.
He also had wounds practically everywhere on his body. A human, and many youkai as well, would have given out long ago. An especially nasty gash on his arm caught her eye; it looked like Inuyasha had cut down to the bone. It was still bleeding, as well as a gash on his arm.
Around his neck was a rosary. 'He's got one, too...' Sango wondered, remembering that the female youkai she'd fought with had also had one. She turned her head, looking at Nobu and Ryota. She couldn't find a rosary on them, but maybe they had them hidden under their clothes.
Masato was still getting closer, the only audible thing his rattling breaths. The youkai stopped a few feet away from Ryota and Nobu and violently threw the bloody remains of his shirt to the ground. "I asked: What the hell is going on here?"
Ryota finally stood up. "Nothing to worry about," he said. His face looked swollen from Sango's attacks, and his voice sounded slightly distorted. "This little gal here looked so sad, I thought I'd cheer her up a bit...." He laughed uneasily and added, "We were just playing around."
Masato stared at the youkai in a mixture of disbelief and rage, flexing his claws. Both Ryota and Nobu took a step back.
"Right now, I feel like giving her back her sword," Masato said, his voice trembling dangerously, "and letting her play around with you."
Sango stared up to Ryota, for a second imagining a hundred ways she could use a sword. The youkai must have noticed her glare, because he took another step away from her.
"It was all his idea!" Nobu shouted suddenly and pointed at Ryota. "I tried to stop him! You can ask the girl!"
Ryota turned to Nobu. "You damn turncoat! You got cold feet because of that crackpot outside, that's all!"
"Shut up!" Masato bellowed. He stepped to the side and pointed at the exit. "You're lucky that Isobe lost so many today, or I'd have killed you already. Get out, before I change my mind."
Not needing to be told twice, they both hurried and left the tent. "You bastard!" Sango could hear Ryota say outside.
"You're the ass!" Nobu replied. "It's all your..." Their bickering voices faded quickly, and Sango could hardly understand what they were saying.
When she couldn't hear them anymore, she closed her eyes and let her head fall back to the ground.
She felt so tired. 'It's not over yet, it has barely begun,' she told herself, trying to summon the energy to rise again.
But what for? She hadn't even been able to help herself against those two youkai. What would be different against Masato?
Just a moment longer, not seeing anyone, not hearing anything. It had been a strenuous chase after Inuyasha, and a draining battle. She finally deserved a moment of peace. Kirara. The only companion that had been left to her was dead. Now she was, at last, all alone.
'Enough...' Sango thought. 'I'm tired.'
Author rantings:
Happy New Year! I hope you made it well into the next decade (or is it the last year of the old one? Nobody seems to know for sure...).
The last few chapters have been a bit short, I guess because they're more action-oriented. At least, there's also more frequent updates like this, so maybe that's a small advantage for everybody. Still, I'm beginning to miss my character insights. Must... resist... ;)
Actually, I fear it's still one or two chapters until I can finally pinch off a few minutes for introspective thinking. (*collective cheering*)
I'm still a bit divided about how the whole Sango thing is turning out. On one hand, I feel a bit like I'm, hmmm, taking the cheap way out of the situation, on the other hand, this much is enough for the plot and and any more would probably gather too much gravity.
To be honest, I have thought about going all the way. See if I could pull it off. A lot of fanfic writers have tried their hand at sexual abuse and (at least in my eyes) failed at the delicate topic. Maybe that was why I decided against it in the end and stuck with the initial plan - it felt like I would have the poor girl raped just for my ambitions. (Which seems kinda twisted to me, even if we're 'just' talking about a fictional character.) Maybe I was also a bit afraid that I couldn't pull it off, either. ^^