Kagome floated in and out of consciousness, her very being on the fence between life and death. "Tet…Tetsusuaiga," she whispered, "Where is it?"
"Huh? That stupid piece of junk? It's useless now; it shattered. Don't waste your breath, Kagome."
"Nothing…is ever useless. Besides… you'll need… that stupid… piece of junk, or pieces rather, later. Bring it to me."
"But…" I could find no strength to retaliate against her. Laying her slowly upon the battle-worn ground, I gathered the broken pieces of my katana, a once great sword that I had inherited from my father. Now my heirloom was no more than a blade sparred into two.
I hurried back to Kagome. "Here," I indicated toward the remains. After quickly setting them down, I returned to Kagome's side, leaning her body against mine again. "You're a stubborn one, you wench," I chuckled. "So… whatcha gonna do?"
She paid no attention to me. Instead she chanted, concentrating immensely on the near impossible task she had set before herself. For besides concentration, it also required a lot of strength, rejoining a magical sword, something she did not at the moment have. But she did it, returning Tetsusaiga to its original state.
"I didn't even know she could do that. Chanting and all that shit," I murmured. "I really hate to say it, Kagome, but Tetsusaiga's not helping anyone. No one. Not now." Maybe never… that was a stupid waste of energy, Kagome… so foolish…
"Kagome!" I raged, "What the hell did you do that for?! That took too much energy that you don't have right now! It could kill you, idiot! Why can't you wait?! You could die! Do you want that, asshole?! Do you?!" My wounds began to throb severely as if trying to silence my anger.
Her eyes swelled up with tears. "I was not meant to live after this anyway. It's… the least… I can do." She took of her necklace. "Here… take the shards… finish what we started… Leave me now, InuYasha; I am useless to this Sengoku Jidai."
"No," I put my finger to her mouth as to silence her, "nothing is ever useless, or no one. I'll stay."
"But… but you have the Shikon shards. Isn't that what you want? Make up your mind, you silly hanyou," she chuckled. Her laughter subsided as she began to cough up blood.
Hanyou… I repeated within the realms of my mind. I did not flinch at the title or the word itself.
"Kagome, stop it," I spoke suddenly, "you sound like you're letting it all out."
"Heh, InuYasha, one more thing."
"No…"
"I…I…"
"…K-Kagome?"
"…"
"Kagome? KAGOME!"
i'll miss the winter
a world of fragile things
look for me in the white forest
hiding in a hollow tree (come find me)
i know you hear me
i can taste it in your tears
