Ch. 99- Naraku's Bargain
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Sango gaped in utter horror and disbelief at the sight before her. She hoped...she begged that the sight before her was just some horrible nightmare that she would soon awaken from. She saw him, lying on the cold dirt, crying as he lied in a pool of blood, arrows piercing his heart...and yet, here he was.
Sango's younger brother, Kohaku, had somehow come back from the dead.
"Kohaku...!" Sango whispered in horror. "What are you...?! How is this possible?!"
Kohaku didn't answer her. He just stared, a blank, cold, lifeless look in his eyes...a look that Sango couldn't recognize. She knew her brother. She knew that he would never look at her the way he was looking, now. He always had this brightness in his eyes and a sweet, happy smile that always greeted her.
This Kohaku that was standing before her...she didn't recognize him at all.
"Sango!"
Behind Sango, Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, and Shippo finally appeared, only to gasp as they all laid eyes on Kohaku, who glared at them while he brandished his kusarigama.
"It is a boy!" Kagome exclaimed. "And he's wearing the same demon-slayer armor as Sango...! So...that means..."
"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed as he drew his sword. "It doesn't matter. The kid's still a murderer and I'm gonna teach him a lesson!"
"NO!" Sango yelled as she suddenly tackled Inuyasha to the ground, to everyone's shock.
"What the hell?!" Inuyasha questioned. "Sango, get off me!"
"Sango, what are you doing?!" Shippo asked in shock. "Have you lost your mind?!"
"I won't let you kill him!" Sango shouted with a furious look in her eyes.
"Why?!" Inuyasha questioned. "The kid's a killer!"
"You don't understand!" Sango cried.
"He's getting away!" Miroku yelled as he pointed at Kohaku, who turned and ran off. As he did, though, Kagome gasped silently as she spotted a familiar gleam at the base of his neck, just a little to the right side.
'That boy...he has a shard of the Sacred Jewel!' she thought. 'But where did he get it from?!'
"No, wait!" Sango cried as she and Kirara soon ran after him, the latter transforming into her larger form, prompting her mistress to jump onto her back.
"Quick! After them!" Inuyasha shouted as he and the others soon followed.
"I've never seen Sango act this way!" Miroku exclaimed. "And that boy...he was wearing the same armor as she was! Could it be that there was another survivor from the Demon Slayer Village?!"
"Who cares?!" Inuyasha questioned as he kept running after Sango. "When I catch up to Sango, I'm giving her a piece of my mind!"
Just then...both Sango and Kirara seemed to vanish into thin air.
"What the-?!" Kagome questioned. "They're gone!"
"Where'd they- AGH!" Inuyasha started, only to yell out in pain when he suddenly crashed into something, giving him a powerful shock before he was forced to step back and saw a huge, purple film. "It's...it's a barrier!"
"This is just like what happened with Kikyo and her Soul Collectors!" Miroku added. "Someone only wanted Sango to get through and not us!"
"...Guys...there's something else you should know," said Kagome, causing the others to look at her. "Just as that boy was running away...I sensed a shard of the jewel in the base of his neck."
"What?!" Inuyasha and Miroku questioned.
"But...where'd he get the jewel from?!" asked Shippo.
"...I think I have an idea," Miroku said, grimly, "but I don't like it."
"Oh, dear..." Myoga muttered as he suddenly appeared from behind Inuyasha's shoulder. "I was hoping that boy wasn't who I think it was!"
"What the?!" Inuyasha questioned. "Myoga, what the hell are you doing here?!"
"Ah! Master Inuyasha!" Myoga cried. "Well, I just thought that-"
"Wait, Inuyasha! Before you squish him!" Kagome interjected. "Myoga...do you know how who that boy was?"
"I'm afraid so, Kagome," Myoga nodded. "That boy...was Sango's younger brother, Kohaku!"
XXX
Beyond the barrier, Sango and Kirara continued to rush through the forest, trying to track Kohaku's trail. Both their hearts and minds were at one at this moment. Just like Sango, Kirara never imagined that something would like this would happen, which was why Sango could see that she was flying with a little more desperation than before.
The thought that there was another demon slayer out there...let alone Sango's younger brother...it left both hopeful...but also scared.
Was that truly Kohaku? Had he really come back from the dead? And if that was the case...why did he kill innocent people? What reason would he have to turn his weapon against other humans?
At that moment, Kirara suddenly came to a stop, causing Sango to gasp as she saw Kohaku, standing in front of her...his eyes blank and listless.
"Kohaku...?" Sango asked as she slowly climbed down from Kirara's back and approached the boy. "Is...is it really you?"
Kohaku stared at Sango...before he slowly took off his mask, fully revealing his face. He had the same hair...those same freckles...those same brown eyes...and yet, the expression on his face. Sango still couldn't recognize it.
"Kohaku...!" Sango whispered with tears in her eyes. "You're...you're really alive!"
Kohaku just stood there, to Sango's surprise and growing sadness.
"Kohaku?" Sango asked. "Why don't you say something? It's me! Sango, your sister! Don't you recognize me?!"
"I'm afraid he doesn't, my dear."
Sango gasped as she heard that sinister voice...and soon, out of the mist, he appeared: Naraku, wearing his baboon skin.
"I've been waiting for you...Sango," Naraku said with a malicious grin.
"Naraku!" Sango hissed in utter disdain.
"My, my, such hostility," Naraku said, mockingly. "Is that any way to thank the one who brought your brother back to life?"
Sango only glared at the madman while Kirara snarled behind her, glaring at Naraku with glowing red eyes.
XXX
"What?!" Inuyasha questioned as he looked down at Myoga. "That kid with the chain sickle is actually Sango's kid brother?!"
"Are you certain, Myoga?" Miroku asked.
"I wasn't sure, at first," Myoga answered, "but now that I got another look at him, there was no mistake. That was definitely Sango's younger brother!"
"But Sango said that he died at Naraku's castle!" Kagome exclaimed. "How is that he's alive?!"
XXX
"Have you nothing to say, Sango?" asked Naraku. "No 'thank you' at all?"
"Why in the Seven Hells would I thank you?!" Sango questioned. "You're what had Kohaku killed in the first place! And not just him...my Father...and all my friends and neighbors at the village! Everyone died because of you! How did you even bring Kohaku back from the dead?!"
"Simple, my dear," Naraku answered...before he revealed another shard of the Sacred Jewel. "By giving him the same thing I gave you...when you were supposed to kill Inuyasha."
"A shard of the jewel...!" Sango whispered in disbelief. "Well, then...I'll just take it out-"
"Ah-ah-ah~!" Naraku chided. "Not so fast...if you were to do that, your brother would soon be back to being a lifeless corpse."
Sango gasped in horror at that.
"Do you understand what I'm telling you, Sango?" asked Naraku. "Your brother's life is in my...actually...your hands." He then chuckled sinisterly while Sango glared in disdain.
"You bastard...!" she hissed.
"However...seeing as how I'm such a generous man," Naraku began, "I will allow you and Kohaku to be reunited, permanently...however...there's something you have to do for me, first."
"What do you mean?" asked Sango with a bitter glare.
"Sango...I want you to take Inuyasha's sword, the Tetsusaiga," Naraku began, "and give it to me...only then can you have your brother back."
"What?!" Sango questioned before she brandished her Hiraikotsu. "I will NEVER resort to thievery, you demon scum!"
Before she could swing...Kohaku suddenly threw his kusarigama at Sango's weapon, deflecting it back at her. The force was so strong, it caused her to stumble back and she would have lost her footing had Kirara not been there to catch her. Still...Sango was shocked as she saw her younger brother glare at her while swinging his kusarigama in his hand, standing before Naraku...almost as if he was trying to shield him.
"K...Kohaku...?!" Sango whispered in horror. "Why?!"
"I told you, Kohaku doesn't remember you," said Naraku. "As far as he's concerned...your younger brother is now my devoted lapdog." As if to emphasize that, he reached out and patted Kohaku's head, causing Sango to grit her teeth.
"You monster!" Sango shouted. "I ought to-"
"If you're that desperate to get him back," said Naraku, "you know what you have to do."
Sango seethed as she glared bitterly at Naraku, who grinned in a malevolent manner before he opened up his cloak, causing a cloud of noxious purple fumes to come bursting out. Sango gasped before she quickly put on her mask, shielding her face from the miasma...but as quickly as it came, it disappeared.
"You will bring me the Tetsusaiga, Sango. I'll be waiting for you, tonight."
On that, a sinister cackle rent through the air...while Sango seethed in fury and frustration. She soon dropped to her knees, pounding the dirt as tears threatened to escape from her eyes...then she glared up at the sky.
"Damn you, Naraku...!" she cursed. "Damn you to hell!"
Oh, man...
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