Chapter Twenty
Transformed Fury
It seemed to almost happen in slow motion. Inuyasha watched as Kimiko fell, her eyes open and staring directly at him. Her protector, who had failed. Her body hit the ground, and blood began to pool at Sesshoumaru's feet.
Having been awakened by the screaming, the villagers were beginning to come out of their homes. They shrank back in fear at the sight of the powerful youkai, but he simply turned and said,
"You are to burn her body. If you do not, this Sesshoumaru will return, and my next visit will be much less pleasant."
He then elegantly walked away, and behind him the villagers rushed to the body of their miko.
Still bound by the youkai tree, Inuyasha stared in complete disbelief at the broken body lying on the ground. His legs gave out; if he had not been tied, he would have fallen, but instead ended up hanging heavily from the branches that held him. He could not believe what he had just seen.
Sesshoumaru approached him, and without a word drew Toukijin and blasted the tree to pieces, destroying it and freeing Inuyasha. The hanyou fell to his knees, unable to look away though her body could no longer be seen through the villagers surrounding her. Sesshoumaru stood behind him, and closed his eyes, knowing very well that he had done what was necessary, and feeling not at all happy about it.
"Let us return home, Inuyasha."
Somehow, the hanyou's brain registered what had been spoken to him. His ears twitched, and he fought back tears that threatened to spill.
"R…return…home?"
Slowly, Inuyasha turned his head, and his face twisted in fury.
"Onore…"
Almost unconsciously, Inuyasha slid Tetsusaiga and its sheath out of his belt, and dropped it on the ground. He pushed himself to his feet, his hands balled into fists.
"You think I can simply walk away from this?" he hissed. Red began to seep into his eyes as he watched the villagers carry her body away. "You want me to pretend nothing happened?"
"It is unfortunate that things had to turn out this way, Inuyasha. But you cannot change what occurred tonight."
Jagged purple stripes began to form on the hanyou's cheeks.
"No," he said, his voice coming out harsh and cold. "But I can rip you to shreds with my transformed claws."
His claws lengthened and dug into his palms until blood flowed, and his fangs began to overflow his mouth.
"I am tired of fighting like a good boy. Oyaji [pop] gave me some powerful blood. I was too afraid to use it before, but now…now I have no reason to hold back."
Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and looked towards his brother's back. "You can fight me, but it will be a short fight, and I'd rather not."
Inuyasha spun, and flung blades of blood towards his brother. "That's too freakin' bad!"
Sesshoumaru blocked the attack with Toukijin. "Your transformed self is strong, but irrational. You cannot defeat me."
"Put down your sword and fight me with your claws, Sesshoumaru. Unless you are afraid too fight without it."
The youkai's eyes narrowed. "This Sesshoumaru fears nothing."
Toukijin slid back into his belt, and he cracked his knuckles. Inuyasha did the same, before lunging towards him at a speed he usually was unable to achieve.
Sesshoumaru smoothly leapt out of the way, and Inuyasha's lunge sent him tumbling clumsily to the ground.
"You are powerful, but unfocused. Retrieve your Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha. At least fight me with some form of sanity."
"I will fight you however I want!" Inuyasha screamed, leaping towards him again. Sesshoumaru once again dodged, but to his shock Inuyasha's claws grazed his chest. His armor having previously been broken, the claws tore his kimono and left thin lines of blood.
He was always faster when that woman was involved, Sesshoumaru thought, watching as his brother came at him again. With unmatchable speed, the youkai caught Inuyasha's wrist, and his hand began to radiate poison.
"Give up, Inuyasha," he said coldly. "If you do not, your hand will be melted off."
The hanyou growled fiercely, before swinging his free arm. Sesshoumaru dodged to the side, but could not go far while holding him. Seemingly unaffected by the poison melting his wrist, Inuyasha swung again, and his hand closed around Sesshoumaru's neck.
The youkai's eyes widened in surprise as his brother's hand tightened around his neck, and his breathing became labored. He does not feel the pain of my poison, he realized. It is as it always was when he was transformed. He cannot feel any pain.
Sesshoumaru's youki swirled around them, lifting them into the air. They barely cleared the trees; Inuyasha's hand was beginning to crush his throat, and he could no longer breathe.
"Just die," Inuyasha growled, feeling the sadistic satisfaction he always felt when he was killing someone in his youkai form. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru released his wrist, and with a cry Inuyasha found himself falling to the earth below.
He landed directly on top of the discarded Tetsusaiga, and, crumpling to the ground, did not move. Slowly, Sesshoumaru lowered himself to the ground, breathing heavily. He could hear his brother's pulse and breath, and knew he was still alive. A full minute passed, and Inuyasha did not move.
"Stop playing games, Inuyasha," he said finally. "Stand up and continue to fight, if you still wish my death."
The hanyou didn't move. A soft wind blew across his body, and brought a faint new scent to Sesshoumaru's nose. The scent of salt water. Inuyasha had begun to cry.
A moment later, he shakily pushed himself to his knees, and for the first time noticed his half melted wrist. Cradling it to his chest, he looked with eyes that were once again gold towards the place where Kimiko had died. He had not cried since Kagome's death; he didn't want to show such a weakness in front of his brother, but once the tears had begun he couldn't stop them.
"Why?" he asked himself. "Am I destined to ruin the life of everyone I meet? Why do things always turn out this way?"
Suddenly, he heard the rustle of cloth, and white hakama came into view beside him.
"This Sesshoumaru holds a sword of healing power," the youkai said. "But when Rin's life was taken from me, I was unable to revive her. The creatures of the underworld did not appear when I held the sword, and I lost her. Human lives are far too frail and short for creatures such as ourselves to become involved in. Continuing to love them will only result in more heartache."
Inuyasha looked up at his brother. His eyes were closed as he remembered the only human he had ever loved, and the hanyou knew that even Sesshoumaru had suffered at the loss of his human woman. At that moment, seeing what he knew was his brother's only weakness, Inuyasha realized he couldn't hate him for what he had just done. If Kimiko had lived, she would have undoubtedly fallen in love, corrupting herself and the jewel inside her. If Kagome had been tainted, and the jewel in her impure, there was no way to know how things would have turned out. Inuyasha would never have found love with her, that was certain. And what of Sesshoumaru's own meeting of Rin? Had he not been injured, she would not have found him, and had Inuyasha not had Tetsusaiga, Sesshoumaru would not have been injured. Without Kagome, Tetsusaiga would not have been freed from the pedestal. Every event tied together into an impossibly elaborate web, and not a single strand could be broken without effecting the rest.
Kimiko had to die a miko. Sesshoumaru had seen to it that it had come to pass. She had died pure, and the Shikon no Tama was untainted. For that, no matter how much his heart ached, Inuyasha could not blame his brother.
"Aniki…" he began.
"Let us go home, Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru interrupted. Inuyasha rose to his feet, and looked one last time at the village that no longer had to worry about youkai attacking for the Shikon no Tama. He placed Tetsusaiga back into his belt, and silently followed his brother away.
Will my life continue this way? Inuyasha thought, holding his damaged wrist to his chest as he walked. Will I be forced to encounter every incarnation of Kagome's soul? I don't think I can go through this again.
The sun was rising when they arrived at the western castle, and he watched as Toshiomaru ran to greet his father. Sesshoumaru spoke without looking at him.
"What will you do now, Inuyasha?"
The hanyou looked across the castle grounds. "Maybe…maybe I'll just stay here. At least then I won't run into any more mikos. Besides," he managed to grin slightly. "You're gonna need someone to raise that kid right."
Sesshoumaru turned. "You do not think this Sesshoumaru is capable of raising his own son?"
"Heh, you've raised a little human girl, which I'm sure was enough of a challenge, but I have two children with youkai blood. Much harder to handle."
The youkai did not reply, though he cocked an eyebrow at his brother. He then turned and began to walk away.
"Stay as long as you'd like, Inuyasha. I care not what you do at this point."
Inuyasha watched his brother disappear in the distance, and looked off towards the sunrise. I will stay here, he thought. And hopefully not damage any more lives. It's all I can do.
Meanwhile, somewhere out in the vast country, a child was born, and the light of the Shikon no Tama shined brightly from inside of her.
The End* * *
A/N – There was no possible way I could give this a happy ending. I tried to at least lighten the mood a little at the end, but it was the best I could do. A couple notes about this last chapter –
One – I know already I will get reviewers asking why Inuyasha transformed. Here is my answer – in the past (in the show and manga) Inuyasha has tried his hardest not to transform, because he feared that he would kill Kagome, or other humans. At this point, the villagers are gone, and the girl he was afraid of killing is dead. Because he was unable to stop her death, he doesn't care about himself at this point – if he kills himself, it doesn't matter, because in his mind, he doesn't deserve to live after letting her be killed. He wants revenge, and he knows that, sword-to-sword, he cannot defeat Sesshoumaru. But transformed, he has a chance, as long as Sesshoumaru isn't using Toukijin.
Also, I just really wanted to write a claw-to-claw fight between Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha when they were more evenly matched ;)
Two – The word "onore" was left untranslated because a translation would have disrupted the flow of the story. "Onore" literally means "you"; it's a very rude, very ticked off way of saying it. It's one of the words that, in the subtitles, is translated as a cuss word, but all it is is a very ticked off way of saying "you". I recall Sesshoumaru saying it at one point in the episodes; it's also what Kikyou screams at Inuyasha/Naraku in the flashback when he stole the jewel from her. I also left "chichi-ue" untranslated; it's a proper way of saying "father".
This note has gotten longer than planned, so I'll end it now. Sorry about the sad ending, but like I said, there was no way I could make it different.
Until next time – sayonara.
