Well, the conclusion to the long-awaited fight between Inuyasha and Kouga…as most of you can probably tell by now, I don't really like Kouga: well, that's not accurate either…he's not my favorite character, I just really want to see him stay and get the crap kicked out of him by the puppy (aka Inuyasha)…stupid Kouga…::growls::
And I just have to say this about the last chapter: whoa…14 reviews for one chapter? I'm impressed, heh…I'm guessing you guys really liked this last chapter.
Now for some hard-earned review responses!
Diablo: Yes, Hanyou no Kon does mean Half-demon's Soul; I was going more for "Soul of a Half Demon" though: either way's correct ^,^
Codename: Anrui Yuy: Just read this chapter; I'll try to put something in, but I kinda wrote myself into a corner: Inuyasha's about to fight Kouga, Kagome doesn't want to sit Inuyasha for fear he'll get hurt by Kouga, so nothing much I can do…gomen…
Blue-Saiyan-Angel: I don't mean to have so many cliffhangers, but the last one wasn't a cliffhanger: you can all surmise what's gonna happen; another thing is that I typically type these from 10 PM on; whenever I see a good place to stop, I stop because I'm normally doing homework at the same time, and in a lot of cases I go over it again, correct things I missed, and try to lengthen it so you'll all have more to read, and cliffhangers give me more to write on the next chapter, reducing the chance of writer's block.
BurningBritelyOne: No, that's not where I got the idea from…I actually forgot about that episode. I had an idea for a false Shikon Jewel before I watched the episode where you see all the false Shikon no Tama that have been made by demons (episode 90 something, I forget which one).
::Pants for breath:: Okay, that's everything! Wait a second…feels like I'm forgetting the disclaimer (not to mention the story!)
Kono hanashi wa Kaminari no tenkyo de okureshimashita! (This story is brought to you by Kaminari!)
Chapter Nineteen
Had lain, because he was not dead—far from it, in fact. Red eyes glowed out from the darkness, stained the same color as the blood that they had seen spilt, spilt from the countless slaughters of the bandits and villagers; angry red marks snaked themselves up the side of his face, claw-slashes that matched the pain that his soul was going through now, trying to fight this monstrosity welling up inside of him.
"Oh Gods, no…," Kagome whispered, tears falling from her cheeks as she looked at Inuyasha lost; trapped again in the clutches of his demon half as pain and rage shone in equal measure from his angry red eyes. "No…nakude kudasai, Inuyasha…mou nakude kudasai…"
Claws burst forth with cracking snaps as they lengthened; youki flowed in a smothering tide from his body; rage swelled and burst through the dam inside of him as he saw Kouga hugging Kagome; passion usurped instinct and thought, swallowing them whole as it blazed like a sudden fire inside his heart—yet his mind was still his own. Filled with bloodlust, hate, malice, and loathing, true; but his thoughts and actions were his own, tuned towards a specific action, one that now rang with a cold tone as it hammered inside his brain.
'Get Kouga…kill Kouga…get Kouga…'
"Baaaka," Kouga laughed as he smelt the demon blood overtaking Inuyasha's body. "You still think you can fight me, as slow as you are? Even with that demon blood, there's no way that you'll beat me; and there's no way I'll ever let you take Kagome from me!"
Inuyasha's already-tentative grasp on his demon blood slipped at that threat; with a cry of terror for Kagome, he rushed forward—far faster than he had been before—and slashed down, claws catching nothing but air as Kouga leapt nimbly out of the way of Inuyasha's attack, taking Kagome with him.
He laughed and said, "Told you so, Inukoro. Now…," he grinned, setting Kagome down on a low tree branch as he turned to face his adversary.
"Kagome…o…FUREAWANAI YO!!!!!!" he screamed, demon blood almost completely taken over; Kouga merely smiled, light shining from his chest as the Shikon no Tama glowed all the more brightly…then launched himself at his opponent, taunting him with a cry of, "Inukoro!" as he flew forward.
But Kouga was no longer dealing with a somewhat-merciful hanyou: he was dealing with the power; the strength; the speed of a nigh-completely berserk youkai; scent being overridden by surging adrenaline, so in his mind this was nothing more than an Inuyasha pushed over the edge. He was underestimating his adversary's new powers, assuming—both through experience and arrogance—that he was still faster.
Assumptions can be fatal.
A snarl like a wild animal tore loose from Inuyasha's throat as Kouga's movements seemed to slow down as he leapt through the air; in a flash of speed, claws splayed, Inuyasha rushed forward. Blood sprayed the air, coating Inuyasha's fingers and claws in it as they rent four deep tracks through Kouga's side, piercing his armor and lavishing blood upon his pale skin.
Kouga gasped at the shock and sudden pain as he clutched his side, thinking, 'What…there's no way! He couldn't even keep up with me before, and now this!? Wait a second…that smell…it can't be…,' Kouga's eyes bloomed wide in surprise as Inuyasha's reek finally hit his nose, mixed with the blood spilling from his wounds. 'A YOUKAI'S scent?!?!'
"So you finally figured it out, eh?" Inuyasha laughed, a humorless laugh as he licked the tips of his claws slowly, savoring the coppery, salty taste of blood as he stalked closer to Kouga; a disfiguring smile lit up his face as the final claw-tip was cleansed of Kouga's blood, only to leave behind a warm, coppery aftertaste in his mouth.
"Kouga, run away!" Kagome screamed from up in the tree, fear suffusing her eyes as she fully understood the mortal peril Kouga had embroiled himself in. "Run while there's still time!"
"NANI!?!?!" Kouga screeched, temper and pride coming back online as he whirled around to look at Kagome in disbelief. "You think that this worthless piece of dog crap can beat me!?"
A series of snaps broke the dialogue between Kagome and Kouga as Inuyasha's knuckles went off like a series of gunshots just before he splayed his claws once more, readying them for use on the wolf who had dared taunt him so long. Unfortunately for him, Kouga was a little more prepared this time: catching Inuyasha slightly off guard, Kouga grabbed his wrist and slammed the wrathful demon into the ground as effectively as if he'd been sat.
A quick kick connected with Inuyasha's stomach, and blood mixed with spittle spurted out as he forcefully exhaled; the move was not duplicated, however: Inuyasha's clawed hand swung in two quick slashes, and blood flowed freely from Kouga's calves as his legs were swept out from under him.
A gasp escaped from his lips as Inuyasha (still embedded in the crater that had been created by Kouga body-slamming him) grabbed his blood-slicked ankles, grinned maliciously for a second, and hurled Kouga to the ground with all the might of his upper body.
Vaulting upright out of the hole, Inuyasha treated Kouga and his chest to his knees as he plummeted from ten feet up in the air, satisfied with the grinding crunches that spurted from his chest as Kouga coughed, bringing up blood that splattered both his chest and Inuyasha's face with flecks of dark blood as the air rushed out of his lungs in a whoooooosh.
Kagome watched, eyes blooming wide in fear as Inuyasha's rage, fueled by his demon side, took over: punch after punch landed, blood flew in spurts as Kouga's face swelled up like a balloon, covered in bruises. Kagome tried to look away, but was bound by horrid fascination as she watched Inuyasha—her Inuyasha—transformed into something evil; something inhuman.
'The Tetsuaiga…' her mind said, barely audible to her bound mind. 'Get Inuyasha the Tetsuaiga…'
With a tremendous effort of will, she ripped her eyes from the fight and saw the Tetsuaiga, pulsing in the afternoon sun as if it was trying to be called back by Inuyasha; wolf demons knocked unconscious from Kouga's sudden rush to get to Kagome, she had a clear path to the sword. Leaping down from the tree, a fifteen foot drop, Kagome hit and rolled, bouncing up as soon as she was able; rushing towards the Tetsuaiga, she kept her tear-filled eyes clamped shut as she tried to shut out the horrendous noise of blows landing on Kouga's face.
'If I sit him, I'll crush Kouga; the Tetsuaiga's his only hope!' Kagome cried to herself as she grabbed the old katana, veering to change direction as she rushed to the fight; halfway there, she stopped and yelled, "Inuyasha!" as she threw the Tetsuaiga to him, fully expecting whatever shred of him remained in the red mist that stagnated his mind to catch the sword: instead, a sound of metal against metal rang as Inuyasha knocked the sword away from him.
"Inuyasha, what are you doing!? Grab the sword! Take up Tetsuaiga again!" Kagome screamed, watching as Inuyasha's inhuman countenance whirled towards her, red eyes flaring in anger as he shouted,
"BAKA! I'm going to kill him with my bare claws; I don't need that weak sword to finish off this undeserving demon!"
Kagome flinched and stepped back as if she'd been physically hit: he'd never, ever called her 'baka' before; at least not to wound her…he'd called her it a hundred times before, but never like this. New tears fell from Kagome's eyes, barely seeing anything as a powerful backhand slammed Kouga's near-unconscious form into a nearby tree, followed by a stab with Inuyasha's right hand as his claws sunk into the tree, hand grasping Kouga's neck as he gasped for breath.
"So, it all comes down to this, ne? I would have been content to let you go, under the provision you never bother I or Kagome again, but you SPAT IN MY FACE!" He roared, grip growing tighter around Kouga's neck while he splayed his claws out, tips resting against his stomach as rage suffused his every being. "Enjoy whatever stay in hell you've earned, baka…"
Inuyasha prepared to tear his claws up, following the path of an uppercut that would have eviscerated Kouga, leaving him to trouble he and Kagome no more…but something held him back. Something wet…warm…dripped onto the exposed flesh of the forearm that had been ready to kill Kouga.
"No, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered, clutching his arm as teardrops stained his yukata a darker red. "It's not his place here; it's not his time yet; please…don't…"
His submerged mind gained a firmer foothold as he recognized the human…her name danced playfully around his mind, staying just out of reach, right on the tip of his tongue…his rage welled up in a tide again as her name evaded him and he roared,
"Who do you think you are!? This is my battle, my fight, my kill, and I won't have a human tell me how or when to make my kill!"
Kanashinomizu fell in a torrent down Kagome's cheeks as she clasped his arm closer, eyes hardening as she whispered to him,
"Did you forget the promise you made to me, Inuyasha? Did you forget the promise you made to Kagome?"
The fog began to dissipate in Inuyasha's mind, demon blood fighting with all its pent-up passion to stay in control…
"Ne, Inuyasha!? Do you remember the promise you made to me!!?!? Can you remember the promise you made to…"
"Ka…gome…," Inuyasha breathed, red eyes fading as his own mind took over again; adrenaline fled from his body as he allowed Kouga, still barely conscious, to fall to the ground. Inuyasha wrapped Kagome in a hug, holding her as tightly to his body as he could; a single teardrop shined as it fell from his eye, holding the girl that meant more to him than even Kikyo close, bathing in her warmth, forgetting what he had just done…
'Forgotten…' the words rang a somber tune in Inuyasha's mind as he felt that single teardrop, the only one to ever escape from his eyes since he had been small, fall to the ground and shatter like glass. 'I…I didn't recognize her…I could have killed her…I forgot who she was!!' Inuyasha realized in horror, clasping Kagome all the more tightly as he felt tears running down his neck from the crying girl he now held in his arms.
"Kagome?" He said softly, so softly that she wasn't sure she'd heard him. "I've had enough battles for today; I've had enough of Kouga; I've had enough of this damn monstrosity lurking inside me," he said in that same soft voice, freeing one hand from Kagome to grab the Tetsuaiga, holding it as if it were a lifeline; holding it to prevent himself from transforming, from possibly killing Kagome.
"Inuyasha…he knows now; he's learned his lesson," Kagome whispered back, face still buried in Inuyasha's neck. "Now please…can we go?"
Inuyasha responded by lifting Kagome, still clinging to him as if he were the only solid object in a world of dreams, and sheathing the Tetsuaiga; clutching her thus, he sped through the forest, seeking refuge for he and Kagome, seeking refuge from his demon half, seeking refuge for what he could never be free of: his memories.
Phew, that's a long chapter! Well, I hope you all enjoy it, and no—this isn't a cliffhanger, once more it's possible to surmise what's going to happen next (if you get it wrong, however, it's your own fault ^_^. ::ducks as brick gets thrown at him by Blue-Saiyan-Angel::).
Well, there's the final chapter in this 3-part mini-saga; hope you enjoyed it! Please read and REVIEW, and if you've got any ideas for stories, thoughts on where I should go with this fanfics, fight scene requests, romance scene requests, you want me to read your story, etc, just post it in your REVIEW and I'll read and REVIEW your story ^_^.
Jaa!