I awoke to someone dabbing at my forehead. The pain in my chest was unbearable. My eyes slowly opened, even that was painful.
"Good," the someone said extremely relieved. "You're awake."
I knew the voice and I struggled to get the words out. "Kagoma?"
"Yes; InuYasha, Sango, Miroku and Shippo are here too."
Why was this human- the one I'd tried to kill- trying to save me? She was slowly wrapping my wounds, that wouldn't stop bleeding. She looked deeply worried.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Saving you," she said. InuYasha scoffed a few feet away.
"I don't know why she should," he said.
"Neither do I," I replied. "Please, let me die."
"I couldn't do that!" Kagoma exclaimed. Even InuYasha looked surprised. "You obviously hate Naraku; we need all the help we can get."
"No…please. I want to join Bankotsu," I whispered. I could feel a cold numbness climbing slowly up my legs. I could no longer feel my toes. I was dying but the jewel shard my throat was stopping it.
"Why?" InuYasha asked. "You're a demon. Why settle for a dead human?"
"You of all people should know, InuYasha," I said harshly. I saw him wince. The numbness had spread to my legs now. My voice took a softer tone. "It's not about what you are, it's about who you are. I loved Bankotsu because he was who he was. Demon or not. He even had a sensitive side, if you believe it."
InuYasha gave me a look of understanding. I wondered if he was thinking about his parents or even his cold brother, maybe Kikyo. I noticed Kagoma was crying silent tears, Sango and Miroku had turned away.
InuYasha finally cleared his throat and sat down, he took my hand. "Die in peace. We'll avenge you and Bankotsu."
I gave him a small smile and shook my head. "No. Bankotsu and I don't need avenging. I'll conceder it karma. Just give Naraku what he has coming."
Kagoma smiled sadly. "The shard in your neck, would you like me to take it out?" I nodded and she gently pulled it out.
The cold quickly spread along my arms and my fingers no longer twitched. Darkness had started to crawl along the edge of my vision. InuYasha was a blur of red, Kagoma green and white. The sharp unending pain from my wound was gone and the cold was replaced with nothingness.
They say when you die, your life flashes before your eyes. Maybe that is why my last images were of only Bankotsu. For he was my life. I feel no hate for Naraku. Even he, as powerful as he is, is only a grain of sand in the big picture. The questions that had had me on the edge of paranoia during life, we only meaningless questions. If everyone would be as open-minded in life as they would be in the end, imagine what the world would be like.
I inhaled what I knew to be my last breath. I felt a word form on my lips and as I exhaled, it escaped with it. "Bankotsu."