CHAPTER TWO
*
Kaede handed Kagome a cup of steaming tea. "Drink this, Kagome. Ye have had a terrible shock."
Kagome took the tea but didn't drink it. She stared into the cup, seeing her own eyes reflected in it. She felt weak and dazed, as if she had been hit over the head. It couldn't be true. Inuyasha couldn't be dead. He couldn't have died. Naraku couldn't have won. Her hands began to shake, slopping tea over her fingers.
Sango put a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Shippo's been crying for the past two days," she said quietly. Her face was wan, as if she hadn't been sleeping. Behind her, Miroku was staring at his cursed hand. Both of them had been near her since she returned. Kaede as well. Kirara crept into Kagome's lap, mewing softly.
"Tell me... how it happened," Kagome said. Tears were blurring her eyes, but she didn't care who saw them. If Inuyasha were here, she thought, he'd be screaming at me not to cry. He always hated it when she cried.
Sango sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Kagome, maybe we shouldn't talk about this now. You're still in shock."
"No. I need to know how it happened," Kagome said.
"All right," Sango said in a low voice. "This is how it happened. I was... I was polishing my boomerang and planning what I was going to do for the next few days, since you told us that you needed to spend some time in your era. Shippo was learning how to play that card game you taught him, and I'm not sure what Miroku was doing."
"I was just walking," Miroku said flatly. "Don't look at me like that. It was really all I was doing."
"Anyway, about a few hours after you left, I heard thunder rumbling. I didn't think anything of it until I heard Inuyasha calling for us. It was some kind of storm -- a storm made out of Naraku's poisonous vapors. His puppet was heading toward the village -- presumably just targeting Inuyasha. Or you. I'm not sure which.
"We fought Naraku's puppet for hours. Miroku and I were starting to tire, but Inuyasha kept fighting against the demon storm until... until Naraku somehow sealed him in a bubble of poison vapor. We could..." She swallowed hard. "We could hear him calling from the inside of it. He was suffocating, and we couldn't... Kagome, do you really want to hear this now?"
Kagome nodded slowly. She felt as if her stomach had evaporated. And she was fairly sure she didn't feel a pain in her heart. Just a sick hollow, as dark and empty as Miroku's wind tunnel.
Sango looked down at her knees. "Miroku... managed to suck away most of the vapors before Naraku's poison wasps showed up. Enough to break the bubble and free Inuyasha. He managed to destroy the puppet with Tetsusaiga and disperse the cloud... but for him, it was too late."
"I sought to treat Inuyasha's injuries," Kaede added quietly. "But he had breathed in the vapors for many minutes, and his lungs had been poisoned. He could not take full breaths, and it grew more difficult as time went on. As ye know from Kirara's past ailment, even a demon may be killed by even brief contact with the vapors. And the cuts and scrapes he had taken were diseased and poisoned by exposure to the storm. There was too much, too deeply rooted, for me to treat. All I could do was seek to ease his pain and confusion. But even that could not be done."
"What... how much... was he..."
"He couldn't breathe," Sango said in a strange, singsong way, as if she were speaking without realizing. "Even when the storm was dissipated and the air was clear, he couldn't draw breath well. He was blind at the end -- the poison did something to his eyes, and he couldn't see anything at all. Kagome... I'm glad you didn't have to see him like that."
"He called for you many times," Miroku said in a low voice. "He hoped until the end that you would return, even though he knew that it was virtually impossible. Eventually, I think the sound of your name and the thought of you gave him comfort, when nothing else would ease him."
Now Kagome could feel her stomach. She felt sick now. I could have saved him, she thought. I could have pierced that bubble with one of my arrows, before he breathed in the vapors. If I hadn't gone back... he would still be alive. He'd probably be right in front of me, telling me that in a few days he'd be going after Naraku. And he'd be able to do it, too.
Dazed, she rested her face on her knees.
"His last request," Miroku said, "was that I give you this. He wanted you to keep it, to remember him by."
Kagome looked up. Miroku was holding out Inuyasha's fire-rat kimono. It was wrapped around the Tetsusaiga.
Kagome numbly took both the kimono and the battered sword. He's gone, she thought, hugging the Tetsusaiga to her chest. "Thank you," she said quietly.
TO BE CONTINUED
*
Kaede handed Kagome a cup of steaming tea. "Drink this, Kagome. Ye have had a terrible shock."
Kagome took the tea but didn't drink it. She stared into the cup, seeing her own eyes reflected in it. She felt weak and dazed, as if she had been hit over the head. It couldn't be true. Inuyasha couldn't be dead. He couldn't have died. Naraku couldn't have won. Her hands began to shake, slopping tea over her fingers.
Sango put a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Shippo's been crying for the past two days," she said quietly. Her face was wan, as if she hadn't been sleeping. Behind her, Miroku was staring at his cursed hand. Both of them had been near her since she returned. Kaede as well. Kirara crept into Kagome's lap, mewing softly.
"Tell me... how it happened," Kagome said. Tears were blurring her eyes, but she didn't care who saw them. If Inuyasha were here, she thought, he'd be screaming at me not to cry. He always hated it when she cried.
Sango sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Kagome, maybe we shouldn't talk about this now. You're still in shock."
"No. I need to know how it happened," Kagome said.
"All right," Sango said in a low voice. "This is how it happened. I was... I was polishing my boomerang and planning what I was going to do for the next few days, since you told us that you needed to spend some time in your era. Shippo was learning how to play that card game you taught him, and I'm not sure what Miroku was doing."
"I was just walking," Miroku said flatly. "Don't look at me like that. It was really all I was doing."
"Anyway, about a few hours after you left, I heard thunder rumbling. I didn't think anything of it until I heard Inuyasha calling for us. It was some kind of storm -- a storm made out of Naraku's poisonous vapors. His puppet was heading toward the village -- presumably just targeting Inuyasha. Or you. I'm not sure which.
"We fought Naraku's puppet for hours. Miroku and I were starting to tire, but Inuyasha kept fighting against the demon storm until... until Naraku somehow sealed him in a bubble of poison vapor. We could..." She swallowed hard. "We could hear him calling from the inside of it. He was suffocating, and we couldn't... Kagome, do you really want to hear this now?"
Kagome nodded slowly. She felt as if her stomach had evaporated. And she was fairly sure she didn't feel a pain in her heart. Just a sick hollow, as dark and empty as Miroku's wind tunnel.
Sango looked down at her knees. "Miroku... managed to suck away most of the vapors before Naraku's poison wasps showed up. Enough to break the bubble and free Inuyasha. He managed to destroy the puppet with Tetsusaiga and disperse the cloud... but for him, it was too late."
"I sought to treat Inuyasha's injuries," Kaede added quietly. "But he had breathed in the vapors for many minutes, and his lungs had been poisoned. He could not take full breaths, and it grew more difficult as time went on. As ye know from Kirara's past ailment, even a demon may be killed by even brief contact with the vapors. And the cuts and scrapes he had taken were diseased and poisoned by exposure to the storm. There was too much, too deeply rooted, for me to treat. All I could do was seek to ease his pain and confusion. But even that could not be done."
"What... how much... was he..."
"He couldn't breathe," Sango said in a strange, singsong way, as if she were speaking without realizing. "Even when the storm was dissipated and the air was clear, he couldn't draw breath well. He was blind at the end -- the poison did something to his eyes, and he couldn't see anything at all. Kagome... I'm glad you didn't have to see him like that."
"He called for you many times," Miroku said in a low voice. "He hoped until the end that you would return, even though he knew that it was virtually impossible. Eventually, I think the sound of your name and the thought of you gave him comfort, when nothing else would ease him."
Now Kagome could feel her stomach. She felt sick now. I could have saved him, she thought. I could have pierced that bubble with one of my arrows, before he breathed in the vapors. If I hadn't gone back... he would still be alive. He'd probably be right in front of me, telling me that in a few days he'd be going after Naraku. And he'd be able to do it, too.
Dazed, she rested her face on her knees.
"His last request," Miroku said, "was that I give you this. He wanted you to keep it, to remember him by."
Kagome looked up. Miroku was holding out Inuyasha's fire-rat kimono. It was wrapped around the Tetsusaiga.
Kagome numbly took both the kimono and the battered sword. He's gone, she thought, hugging the Tetsusaiga to her chest. "Thank you," she said quietly.
TO BE CONTINUED