This is an Inuyasha fic, so there's obviously going to be Angst, Drama, Action/Adventure, Romance, and Humor.
I do not own Inuyasha.
Just A Hanyou – Part 1
The moon was no more than a thin crescent in the sky, illuminating the flat meadow just outside the forest's border. In the middle of that meadow was a solitary, unmoving figure. Though his face was downcast towards the ground, his golden eyes were turned towards the sky.
"When did everything start to go so horribly wrong?
Just when my life, our lives, seemed to take a turn for the better, THIS had to happen. S'funny, this actually feels right. It was before, when we were all so happy, that felt wrong. Just goes to show how fucked up my life really is."
He was, after all, just a hanyou.
As the figure relaxed his bare upper body against the wooden boards that he had been secured too, his shoulders slumped enough to set off his bonds' defense enchantment. Suddenly, a large and rather painful jolt of powerful purifying energy coursed through the figure's body.
His golden eyes faded to a dark violet as his silver hair darkened. Once he was fully "purified", the holy assault ceased. The figure quickly tensed his body in hopes of avoiding the next part of the spell. His muscles screamed at him for the sudden movement after days of inactivity, but it was too late, the second part of this particular restraining spell kicked in as demonic energy sparked from the collar around his neck. The electrical surge that jolted through his body would have killed a normal human, should have killed him too. Instead, his hair and eyes returned to their natural colors, though not without causing a bit of pain first, but he refused to scream.
"Damn! That one hurt more than before."
Old wounds reopened as the charred flesh around his chest cracked under the straining movement of his labored breathing.
"Damn monks! If I ever get out of this…"
The figure paused as thunder was heard in the distance.
"Fuck, I'm not getting out of this. I'm gonna die in this meadow…alone, like the dirty hanyou everyone thinks I am…"
The single tear that left his eye was soon hidden as rain drops began to fall from the sky.
"Damn rain…damn demons… damn humans…damn…Kagome."
His anger rose at the future girl's abrupt abandonment, but his rage was quickly soothed by the cool rain that now fell at a steady rhythm, thoroughly soaking his bruised and bloody body.
As much as he wanted to hate her, his heart wouldn't let him. She had left their group, had left him. And now, as he was mercifully close to death, she was 500 years in the future, hopefully safe…and definitely happier than he could have ever made her.
He was, after all, just a hanyou.
His senses, though considerably dulled, suddenly picked up what sounded like voices from the edge of the forest. He inwardly cringed as he imagined the demon children returning to pelt him with stones again or the human monks visiting once more to slap some of those damn wards on him. If he craned his head slightly forward and strained his ears, though not enough to set off his enchanted bindings, he could just make out a conversation.
"Are you sure you still have the scent, Shippo? Kirara lost it once the rain started," a familiar, and at that time, unwelcome, female voice asked.
"Crap."
"I can still smell him, Sango. Come on guys, I think he's really close!" the excitement and hope in the child's voice was almost overpowering.
"Please, no."
It's not that he didn't want to see his friends ever again. He just didn't think they would let him die, and right now, that's all he wanted to do. Miroku and Sango, they might understand and let him pass on. After all, they had dealt with more than their unfair share of death and loss. The tiny kitsune, though, wouldn't let him die, nor would he understand why the hanyou would want to just pass on. Shippo would be hurt if he left him, and the hanyou knew he couldn't do that to the kid.
"I think I see him through the trees!" the scent confirmed it to be the lecherous monk, Miroku. "Hurry, Lady Kagome!"
Those last words made the breath catch in the hanyou's throat. She had come back…to him. Kagome had left her world full of safety and happiness to come back to his side. She was putting her life…at risk …for him…
"NO!"
The danger surrounding his companions' arrival suddenly crashed into him like a raging river. They were going to be in danger because of him! He had to warn them. He had to tell them to get out while they still could. He had too…
The kitsune cub bounded out of the forest and into the meadow when he suddenly stopped short. His clothes and fur had become soaked from the rain, and the hair on his head partially hid his face, but the hanyou could still make out the large blue eyes that were suddenly filling with tears. Shippo stood there, taking in the horrific scene ahead of him before silently whispering.
"Inu…Inuyasha?"
The large cat-demon, Kirara, burst through the clearing and landed swiftly, allowing her two female passengers to dismount. The monk who just now emerged from the forest completed the group. It was he who next recognized the figure before them as their missing friend.
"Oh Buddha, no!" Miroku whispered in a shaky voice, drawing the attention of his female companions from the unresponsive kitsune.
Sango gasped as she quickly brought a hand to her mouth, "Oh lord." The demon exterminator's eyes shifted to the face of her friend, trying to gauge the reaction from the futurific girl.
Kagome took two steps forward, subconsciously grasping the trembling Shippo that she had picked up as soon as she had seen the kitsune's shaking form. She continued silently walking towards the bound hanyou until she was no more than two feet away from him. His body was covered in cuts that ranged from festering slices to deep gashes; his upper body was covered by scorched and cracked skin; his once proud mane looked to have been burnt to a much shorter length, the once-shining, silver color now dulled with dried blood; his ears, which Kagome had always thought were precious, appeared to have been maimed and bitten. (a/n: somewhere, a female Inuyasha fan is cursing my name)
Her eyes took in the hanyou's outspread arms and his bound feet when a horrific realization dawned on her.
Inuyasha had been crucified.
She had to fight back the bile that threatened to jump up her throat when she noticed, for the first time, the blatant and chilling fear that was evident in his eyes. Inuyasha was afraid, more afraid than Kagome had ever seen him. As she reached out a hand to touch his battered face, he suddenly sprang to life, jerking away from her outstretched hand.
"Inuyasha, I-" she started before she was suddenly cut off.
"You have to get away, now!" Inuyasha snarled; his voice hoarse and cracked from over a week of disuse. "Run away, quickly!"
Kagome recoiled at the fear in his voice as Shippo clutched to her all the tighter.
"Inuyasha, we merely wish to help you. There's no need to snarl at Lady Kagome," Miroku stated as he and Sango came to stand alongside Kagome.
Inuyasha thrashed against his bonds, trying in vain to instill his urgency and fear into his companions. Instead, he just set off the restraining enchantment.
"FUCKING FORGET ABOUT ME! SAVE YOURSELVES, GODDAMNIT!" the hanyou yelled over the sound of the crackling electricity that raced over his body. He could sense a large force of demons, waiting just outside the immediate area. All of them worked for the bastard who had done this to him. All those demons were just waiting for an opportunity to strike.
"Kagome! Make it stop! Make it stop hurting him!" Shippo began to wail.
Miroku quickly stepped toward his 'sizzling' friend as a second wave of energy coursed over the now human Inuyasha. Kagome turned and hid her face in Sango's shoulder, as the older girl patted the back of her friend's head for comfort. Once the restraining enchantment finally ended, Miroku stepped closer to Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha, hold still, I'm going to get those bonds off of you," the monk said as he prepared to free his friend.
"No, there's no time," Inuyasha feebly murmured, his head downcast. "Get Kagome and Shippo out of here, please." The look in the hanyou's eyes startled the monk. It was a look of helplessness, a look of sad acceptance. Inuyasha seemingly knew his ill fate and was resigned to it. Miroku, for once, was at a loss for words.
"Miroku, please, they're coming. I…I can't protect you guys anymore," Inuyasha whispered as Miroku felt his throat tighten when Inuyasha turned his face towards the monk. Even with the rain, tears were still evident on the hanyou's face. "Tell Shippo that…that I'm sorry for leaving him. He…he won't understand," whimpered the crucified half-demon.
Miroku nodded and turned back to his other companions, his own tears now mixing with the rain. Sango had caught what Inuyasha had told the monk, and she nodded as she motioned for Kirara.
"Kagome," Sango whispered to her friend, "we need to leave. I can feel a very large presence of youkai nearby…we can't stay here…"
Kagome whipped her head up to meet Sango's teary eyes, "But…but Inuyasha…he…" Kagome trailed off as the realization of what they must do dawned on her.
Shippo suddenly shot away from her and bolted to the base of the cross which held the half-dog demon. He frantically tugged at the cross, trying in vain to uproot it while desperately yelling over his shoulder, "Come on guys! We have to get him out of here before those demons come!" Shippo halted his actions as he stared at the faces of the three adults behind him:
Miroku stood with his face angled down to the ground, murmuring a small prayer. With Shippo's enhanced hearing, he could tell the prayer was for a wounded soul to finally find peace in the afterlife.
Sango was standing next to Kirara, her eyes refusing to look upon the hanyou. Shippo could see her knuckles had gone white from holding the hilt of her katana to hard, and he heard the faint sound of the sobs she was trying to hold back.
Finally, Kagome, who loved Inuyasha as far as Shippo could tell, stood staring. She wasn't crying, she wasn't sobbing, and she wasn't praying. She was just staring at Inuyasha with a sad look that nearly broke Shippo's small heart.
Shippo slowly craned his head upwards to see Inuyasha's face. He was staring back at Kagome with a similar sorrowful look. He finally turned to meet Shippo's gaze.
"Shippo, I-" Inuyasha was cut off by a small ball of wet fox fur that now frantically clung to his neck, wailing.
"I don't want to you die. I don't want to be alone again," Shippo cried into the hanyou's neck, refusing to release his grip.
Inuyasha took a deep breath and summoned upon the courage that he was surprised was still there. He hoped that he could give as much of this courage to the tiny kitsune. His voice, which up until that point had sounded grainy and injured, regained the same smooth tone it normally had, although this time it had a strikingly paternal quality to it as well.
"Shippo, I need you to be strong for me right now. You won't be alone again. You've got Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Kaede, Kirara…Hell, you've even got Myouga if you need him," Inuyasha smiled at his attempt at humor. It at least got the kid to stop crying. "Listen, remember what I told you about my dad and about your dad?"
"Uh-huh," the kitsune responded, finally breaking away enough to look into Inuyasha's eyes.
"Then you know you'll never be alone. Pretty soon, I'll be right up there to join them…" Inuyasha felt hot tears start to fall from his eyes.
"I'll miss you."
"I know, Shippo. I'll miss you, too."
With that, Shippo hopped down from his perch on the hanyou's shoulder. Kagome came up to both of them and proceeded to bend down and pick Shippo up.
"Kagome, I need to te-" Inuyasha was once again cut off as Kagome suddenly jump up and wrapped one arm around his neck, the other tightly hugging Shippo between the two of them. Before Inuyasha could react, the girl from the future sealed his lips with hers, effectively sending him into a state of bliss.
The moment ended as soon as it began as Kagome broke the kiss and whispered, "I love you."
"Kagome, I-" for the third time, Inuyasha was interrupted as the horde of demons chose that moment to strike. A throng of demons burst out of the surrounding forest like a wave along the beach.
"RUN!" Inuyasha screamed.
Kagome stole one last glance at the hanyou before taking Shippo and sprinting to Miroku and Sango who were aboard Kirara. The cat-demon barely made it off the ground with the three adults and one child before the area they had previously been occupying was flooded with demons. Inuyasha gazed at their retreating forms before he whispered, "I love you, too."
The inu-hanyou then turned his attention to the demons surrounding him. Some were eyeing his withdrawing companions, probably hoping to catch and attack them.
"Can't let that happen."
He had lied to Miroku. There was still a way he could protect his friends, and as long as he had a physical body, he would gladly sacrifice it to save them.
"Hey Shit-For-Brains! Why don't you try taking a bite out of me, ya bastards! Come on, you afraid of some lowly, beat-up hanyou? DO. YOUR. WORST!"
The demons turned the attention to the crucified half-demon, who was now flailing violently against his bonds, sending out larger and larger surges of purifying energy that would zap a demon that strayed too close.
Inuyasha passed out right before the demons descended on him. Mercifully, he did not heel their first slash, or claw, or bite. Instead, he entered a dark, quiet place knowing that he had saved his friends. Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Shippo, and Kagome would all be safe now. He only had to sacrifice himself for their wellbeing, but he'd do it again in a heartbeat.
He was, after all, just a hanyou.
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Hey, quick question, anyone think I should have the next few chapters be a flashback leading up to this, or should I continue on with the next few action sequences while explaining little by little in future chapters?
Please Review.