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Safety Not Guaranteed
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"There we go," Inuyasha cooed in an affectionate tone as he wrung out a damp, cold cloth and placed it on Kagome's forehead. Kneeling down beside her, he tried to give her a reassuring smile that was marred by the immense anxiety in his amber gaze, "How does that feel?"
"Better," the miko sighed in relief as she adjusted herself on the highly uncomfortable futon in the small observation room they'd be placed in. The two-way mirror was a good a sign as any to both of them that Inuyasha's involvement was still being questioned. Honestly, though, Kagome couldn't blame them for being worried although Inuyasha clearly could. While he could handle insults all day long, the one thing he could never truly forgive was having his honor questioned. And they were questioning his honor if they thought he could possibly even think of teaming up with some giant radioactive lizard hellbent on murdering everyone. Speaking of which...
"So when do you plan on leaving?" Kagome sighed in a tired yet casual fashion as she stared up at the man she loved, "I know you're going to fight that thing."
"Know me so well, huh?" Inuyasha chuckled darkly before sighing and idly rubbing his hand along her thigh, "You're not even going to argue with me that it's stupid?"
"Oh it is stupid but you know it is," Kagome hummed as she placed her hand atop his, "And you're going to go anyway. It never mattered what I said before, why would it now?"
"It always mattered but I've never had a choice just like I don't have a choice here," Inuyasha chided in a affectionate yet melancholy tone - dropping his hand and averting his eyes, "He specifically called me out. S'not like I can just say fuck it and walk away."
"Do you remember doing that?" Kagome asked after a tense moment before cringing at the haunted look in his eyes, "Do you?"
"Do I remember slaying a female lizard demon?" Inuyasha snorted as he rolled his eyes, "Kagome, how many demons did we kill in the quest? How many did I kill before and after that? Before...before I met you? I killed a lot of humans and demons. Too many to count. Is it possible that I killed this asshole's mate? Yes. Yes it is. Do I remember a specific one? No."
"Miroku thought that it might be a misunderstanding," Kagome muttered softly as she moved to push herself up, "That there was a time where you tried to save a half-demon child and..."
"I didn't kill that woman," Inuyasha spat back viciously before freezing and gaping at his wife, "I...I'm sorry. I don't know why I yelled. I...I didn't..."
"S'okay," Kagome coughed awkwardly as she gave him a playfully reassuring smile, "I know you wouldn't've. Still, you never could find the kid or the demons who killed her from what I heard."
"Someone this powerful wouldn't be stupid enough to blame me for that," Inuyasha snorted before sighing heavily, "But yeah Sesshomaru said something like that too. That it was them. My scent woulda been there. I tried to find the kid."
"Do you remember where that was?" Kagome asked quietly as she tried to search his face, "Or..."
"I remember how to get there from the village but from here? No clue," Inuyasha admitted with a groan before lolling his head towards his wife and gently lifting her so he could crawl in beside her. With a soft sigh, he lay his head just under her chest and idly rubbed his hand across her stomach, "I...I don't want to go. This guy Kagome? I don't think I can beat him. What'll that mean for you? For the baby? And you've been sick. What if something is wrong and..."
"Morning sickness is a normal part of pregnancy," Kagome soothed as she ran her fingers gently through his hair, "And I know you'll beat him. If we can beat Naraku then..."
"Yeah, you, me and a bunch of other people worked together to beat Naraku. I'm just...me," Inuyasha admitted bitterly and almost too softly for Kagome to hear before he nuzzled into her chest and sighed, "Can we just lay here for a bit and not talk about this anymore? I can hear a heartbeat from here."
"Really?" Kagome squeaked as her gaze moved to her still flat stomach, "A heartbeat?"
"Uh huh," Inuyasha sighed as some of the tension left his muscles and he smiled, "Really fast. It's a strong baby."
"Like his daddy," Kagome cooed happily as she watched Inuyasha's ear twitch slightly. Lifting his head, Inuyasha looked up at her with the most adoring gaze she'd ever seen on his features.
"No. Like his mama."
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The eve of the second day had come and gone faster than Inuyasha would've liked. During that time, the supposed meeting place had been discovered by the rat demons. Who, as it turned out much to Inuyasha's discomfort, borderline idolized his extremely limited involvement nearly five hundred years ago. And who also had been torturing that half-demon child he'd failed to protect all those years ago. Inuyasha had only seen him for a moment but it had been enough to confirm what he already knew. It was the same boy. A part of him was viciously angry at seeing the poor thing streched out and broken on that metal table. His eyes vacant as drool freely flowed from his mouth. Whatever had been done addled the man's mind past the point of no return. And no one except Inuyasha seemed the least bit upset about it. No one. Sure, the bastard had stalked Kagome posing as a co-worker and was largely the reason she was initially kidnapped. Sure, his father was a homicidal maniac but really, who didn't have a fucked up family? No matter what he had done, he deserved a more honorable fate than this. Despite everything, all Inuyasha could see was that small half-demon boy preening under his praise, standing beside his mother, and trying his very best. It wasn't his fault who he had become. It was his father's doing.
Shaking himself mentally, Inuyasha walked through the seemingly deserted village at the base of the familiar mountain. Older mud huts - probably for aesthetic - dotted the grassy hills in the distance as trees stood up like spikes, zigzagging the border of cobblestone roads and much more modern buildings. It seemed - as Kagome would put it - very touristy with its multiple shops selling trinkets and useless sutras in its windows. A giant shrine sat atop a gleaming marble staircase much like the one Kagome had called home only...nicer. She had explained it once to him. Why her shrine was marked a national landmark and why random people showed up to "tour" it. This seemed like an entire town dedicated to that particular idea of glorifying the past. The modern buildings at least tried to keep up with the obvious antiquity unless they couldn't and even then those had something to offer. Special care had been taken to highlight the numerous murals painted on the sides of older buildings that hadn't quite got the memo that the style didn't match the shrine. Square cement monstrosities covered in faded chipped paintings amidst little pagoda-like buildings overlooking what had obviously been a great exodus of those that lived there. In these streets he was the only beating heart, the only being of warm blood and flesh. It had been occupied recently by hundreds of humans who had seemingly vanished within the past few hours. The cobblestone street was a river of abandoned cars in the brilliant sunshine. The are empty, abandoned when fleeing on foot became faster. Altogether, it was rather...
"So you came," a deep baritone voice echoed through the deserted streets - making Inuyasha flinch in surprise, "I was about to give up hope."
"Well I ain't hiding," Inuyasha called back as he brandished the mighty Tessaiga, "Show yourself."
"In time," the voice chuckled darkly from seemingly everywhere and yet nowhere all at once, "I'm surprised that Institute allowed you to come at all, much less by yourself. Incompetent as always."
"You're the one who challenged me to a duel, bastard, or did you forget?" Inuyasha sneered angrily, "Besides, you don't know the first thing about me if you think I'd run from a fight."
"Ah but I know of you, son of InuNoTaisho. Born from the youngest daughter of the Himeji Shogun on the night of a lunar eclipse. Hidden from all but the most trusted nobles. Orphaned at the age of five," a large scaled man sighed in an almost indifferent manner as he shimmered into existence at the far end of the long cobblestone road. His hands clasped behind his back, cruel eyes never leaving his already defeated looking opponent who seemed too weary of life to put up a real fight, "Not much is known of you for the next one hundred years until you arrived back at the Himeji castle. Apparently word had reached you that your distant relatives had murdered a young servant for breaking dishes and for some unknown reason, you felt this girl you never met deserved... justice. Or that's what the stories say. Your mother's demise was lost to annuls of time and it took quite a bit of effort on my part to discover what really happened to the human woman. You broke something - a priceless heirloom. Something many children do by mistake. Indeed, my son broke so many vases in our castle we were forced to remove them all until he was old enough to appreciate them. Except... your family has a propensity for murder, didn't they?"
"That's enough," Inuyasha finally barked hoarsely as he drew Tessaiga and stared down his opponent - his desire for answers cancelling out his desire for blood if for but a moment, "None of this explains why the fuck you did this or why the hell you give a shit about me. Get to the point before I lose my patience."
"Oh I will but you must let me finish my tale," the scaled man laughed softly as the corners of his mouth quirked upwards - obviously enjoying this strange torture, "After that you gained quite the reputation. Why most villages in the area had a legend about a dog eared demon massacring hundreds, if not thousands, in cold blood. I imagine that must have been you carrying on your family's legacy. Finally the villages banded together to force you out and then, oh and then, you encountered a village of little consequence with a miko who..."
"I said that's enough," Inuyasha spat angrily - his grip on his sword tightening incrementally as he took a step outwards to better brace himself to attack "So you know a lot about me. Who gives a fuck?"
"Time passes. The miko dies and her reincarnation arrives to take her place in your heart," the man continued ignoring the irate hanyou, "You make friends. Your first and only friends who seem to have no problem with your thirst for blood so long as its demon blood you crave. Tell me, did these friends of yours know how many humans you've killed in your life? Or were you worried they'd turn against you and were too much of a coward to ever say? It is no matter to be sure."
Wind began rippling around the tessaiga, "Shut. Up."
"The years go by. Your killing spree continues right up until you disappear from the historical annals. Your final victim was a young woman defending her child. My mate. My child. Tell me, did you feel like a man slaying her or was she of so little importance you don't even remember draining the life from her body?"
"So all of this," Inuyasha began slowly as his mind raced to try to remember the last demon he killed - the wind rippling around tessaiga paused suddenly for just a moment as he tried to put the pieces together, "Is because you thought I killed your mate? You murdering thousands is somehow my fault? I saw your son! The son that must've told you it wasn't..."
"That would be much too simple wouldn't it," the old demon cut in darkly, "At first, I sought revenge but upon discovering your sudden disappearance, I thought better of it. At first. I could have attacked your precious friends but why should they be faulted for your actions alone? Over the centuries, yes I mourned for my mate in the only way I knew how. It should be clear to you by now I am not a kind man. It wasn't until all the youkai came together that I realized how far reaching your influence had been. It seemed everyone had met or at least heard of you before. Hailed you as a hero. As though you could do no wrong but I knew better. And I knew then that the world was inherently flawed. History was written by the victors and those who suffered could go straight to hell. So yes, I rebelled against the very idea. If the world was cruel, I needed to match its cruelness and one day be the one to expose you for who you really were."
"How the fuck did you expose me? All I saw was a giant fucking lizard killing people for no god damn reason," Inuyasha spat - torn between getting answers and wanting to rip this asshole to shreds. Still, they needed answers. He needed answers. He had lost too much because of this man. It was the only closure he'd be getting.
"When I learned that you had reappeared," the old man sighed as his lips quirked upwards, "Well, I had created quite the network hadn't I? Demons who had been wronged and yearned for vengeance. Who saw the world for what it was. Who were enlightened. Still, I did nothing. You were harmless here and without power. Believing yourself to be all alone in this world you clearly didn't understand. Then you joined the Institute. You were being trained and would eventually be given permission to murder as you please once more. You needed to be stopped. My actions were drastic, yes, but after all the myth surrounding you, I must admit I over-prepared. To be fair, some of what I did was rather petty and happened years before you reappeared. I found your 'friends' reincarnations and used every resource at my disposal to make their lives miserable. Cutting off their income and resources. The monk, for example. His company was more than willing to accept cold hard cash to push him out and quash his influence. His parents dying from 'mysterious' illnesses. The police department for the slayer? Her father was a smart man. Too smart. He discovered the bribes and came very close to exposing me. He merely died in an 'accident.' His son followed his pathetic father's example except he did find the truth. Killing him would've been too easy. Would've led the slayer to his work. She is resourceful. So I imprisoned the brother and made sure that report never saw the light of day."
"You keep talking and all I'm hearing is bullshit," Inuyasha spat angrily - officially done, "You're just an evil bastard. It's that simple. So fuck you. The last demon I killed murdered a bunch of villagers and there wasn't any brat with them. The last brat I encountered was mother with a half-demon like fucking me and I didn't do jack shit to either of them. I'm tired to listening to your crap!"
"If it is a fight you want, you can clearly see I am unarmed," the withered man chuckled as a wicked smile bloomed on his lips and he held out his empty hands, "Should be easy enough to defeat a poor elderly man? Much more so than a capable warrior defending her son."
"I didn't kill her idiot!" Inuyasha bellowed although he didn't take the bait and stayed where he was. He'd seen what this monster was capable of doing in his true form and would never be so cocky as to hope to transform before the wind scar hit him. There had to be a barrier involved here. One that he couldn't see or sense. Besides this was a game. This guy didn't care about his wife or what happened to her. It was something to bide the time. A game. And Inuyasha's head was the ultimate prize. Someone that powerful...someone like Naraku...they messed with people's lives just for the hell of it. They always wanted someone else to suffer for their shortcomings because they enjoyed watching other's pain.
"Now here you are," the elderly demon cooed with a low mirthless laugh - his eyes gleaming in the sunlight as he watched the hanyou try to plot his next move, "About to become a father yourself. Your mate left to the mercy of strangers while you're sent on a suicide mission. Tell me, do you expect them to care for her needs if you fall in battle? They can barely care for themselves."
His words echoed in the suffocating silence of the village. Even the birds were wise enough to stop chirping as the two opponents stared each other down. The only sound was the leaves being dragged across the ground before taking small flights into the air. The trees swaying in the slight breeze. In that frozen second between stand off and fighting, their faces were unreadable, no fear, no invitational smirk. Neither dared take their eyes off the other - already plotting their counter moves to the attacks yet to come.
The elderly man was the first to sprint forward with such speed it would've put Koga to shame at his height. With a short gasp of panic, Inuyasha did the only logical thing his body would do. The Tessaiga unleashed the wind scar in all its glory before Inuyasha could truly process what he was doing. Grass, brick and mortar fell victim to the angry winds as they ripped through the innocent village and collided solidly with the charging opponent.
"It'll take..." the elderly man bellowed above the breeze before Inuyasha unleashed yet another before the threat finished and this time the bastard was flung back. It wasn't Inuyasha's prouder moments as he unleashed the wind scar once more followed up by adamant barrage for good measure. There was little to no thought being placed towards any actions beyond pure unbridled desperation. His actions were fueled primarily by full blown panic and the desperate attempt to keep distance between them. In the past, he'd often bragged about not fearing death. Been proud to charge into battles head first. After all, everyone dies so why fear it? He'd relied on that logic in almost every battle he'd ever found himself in until now. Now, though, all he could think was how he didn't want to die. He wanted to be there when his child was born. To care for Kagome when she was ill. To hear that fast little heartbeat. Feel the little thing kick when it got big enough. He didn't want to be his father. To know a child was brought into the world never knowing him and having to rely on highly exaggerated stories. His child would have a father dammit!
It seemed to be working - for the moment at least - as the elderly demon barely had time to stand much less counter or transform. Still, this method of attack couldn't keep going forever and while it was keeping the demon down, it wasn't killing him or even injuring him as far as Inuyasha could tell from this distance.
"You're strong," the voice echoed around him - slightly more tired and cocky than earlier but angry, "I'll give you that but those sword tricks won't kill me."
Another wind scar. Another desperate attempt.
"There is only one thing that can kill me and you'll never accomplish that without hand to hand combat," the voice crooned, "But you're too much of a coward to do that, hn?"
As it so happened, Inuyasha had been told exactly what was rumored to be the only way to kill the bastard. Straight from General Ginta's mouth since the source was now a useless vegetable. A useless vegetable who apparently believed all of this evil man's actions had been for the sole purpose of defeating him. As if it really were that simple and someone so powerful was really that small minded. No, that might be the story he told his son - perhaps part of him was ashamed of what he was doing - but it wasn't the truth. Not entirely. Perhaps that is what sparked his desire to create a criminal empire but that wasn't the only reason he'd done it. Humans and demons longed for one thing above all others. Power. And what he'd done had made him very powerful. Naraku would've been jealous. Still, one thing the asshole had said was true. Inuyasha was afraid.
In that moment, Inuyasha paused to consider what he should do. Not long. Maybe the blink of an eye, perhaps two. Still, it was all the space his opponent needed to cover the distance and gain the upper hand. Teleportation was such a useful skill.
