AN: Um… what to say… what to say… I guess I bring in another twist in this chapter that I think you'll like (or hate, depends on how you see things) but remember, its all in the sake of a complicated story!
Life Exchange
Chapter 13
The Kotsu Truth
A dull crack and a thud… and Inuyasha had to bite down on his lip to keep from crying aloud as his arm finally gave into the pressure and snapped.
The runt, Shippo, had already scampered away on Inuyasha's order. Not that he'd wanted to stick around anyway.
"Perhaps it's just a coincidence that you happened to be passing through the same part of the mainland as me. The same country. The same province. The same road… past the same bridge." Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at his younger brother, casually letting him go to drop back into the water of the fast flowing river. "Sorry for being such a pessimist, but I don't believe in coincidences. You followed me."
It was strange. After fighting his brother three years ago, Inuyasha seemed to have forgotten how amazingly powerful the older Youkai was… it worried him slightly… he knew that if Sesshomaru had chosen to attack at any time between then and now, the south would have had its ass kicked again by the north. Sesshomaru had only gotten stronger in that time whilst Inuyasha's cockiness and arrogance had only gotten worse.
He let his injured arm fall limply to his side and managed to struggle to his feet in the knee deep waters. He switched his sword from his left hand to his right hand, but he really needed both hands on the hilt to fight his brother.
"Stubborn. Stupid. Small. Scrawny." Sesshomaru listed with a bored look. "You haven't changed much have you. Now why did you follow me?"
"So I could kill you? Why else?!" Inuyasha yelled. He'd only been contending with his brother for five minutes, but already his arm was shattered, his head had been bruised badly having been cracked against the rocks at least three times and he had a sprained wrist on his unbroken arm. Sesshomaru meanwhile, looked like he was having a royal time. Not a scratch or tear in her perfect clothing or immaculate skin.
"Shall I hazard a guess?" Sesshomaru said evenly. "You were thrown off your throne. Your state of dress tells so much. I thought you'd at least bother to mug some lord by now and steal his clothes. You're still in your underwear."
"Shut up!"
"Tell me. Was it Suikotsu who brought you down? Or some other Kotsu?"
"What?" Inuyasha stopped and stared in confusion at his brother. "What the hell are you talking about? I wasn't brought down – I left!"
"To find me and bring me back to gallantly reclaim my throne?" Sesshomaru gave a brief roll of his eyes. "I'm flattered. I truly am. But I lost on purpose, and I have no intention of returning."
You learned new and amazing things every day. "I didn't come to bring you back!" Inuyasha spat. "I came to take your sword – and I will take it!"
"Oh?" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that my line?"
"I want Tenseiga!" Inuyasha ignored the fact that he sounded like a demanding child, he didn't really care right then. "I need it!"
Sesshomaru shifted his stance slightly and raised his head a tad to look down on the Hanyou standing in the river, looking worse for wear. "You want Tenseiga? To revive someone I presume." A small smile graced his lips as his hand went to rest on the hilt of his other sword, Toukijin. Inuyasha followed the movement, trying to figure out which of the two blades he carried was the mercy sword. "Wouldn't happen to be that human chit now would it?"
Inuyasha bristled and tightened his hand around the hilt of Tessaiga. "You can't stop me from taking that sword!"
"Oh I won't. But I should warn you. I no longer possess it." Sesshomaru told him breezily. "It was shattered into five or six pieces by the thing that took my throne. It's irreparable… unless of course you happen to be the creator of the sword. Toutousai I think was his name… good luck finding him and the sword in time though."
A rather cold feeling passed through Inuyasha… all his hope was suddenly crushed. All in vain…
"And what did you plan to do with it anyway?" Sesshomaru continued. "The blade has chosen me as its master – it will respond to no one else, especially not the master of a weapon such as that one of mass destruction. You're a little killer with that thing… a blade of mercy would never obey you. It would never revive a dead girl for you."
Inuyasha felt devoid of all feeling at that moment. He couldn't bring himself to feel anger… or grief…
"And better yet, what a wasted journey?" Sesshomaru tipped his head slightly. "You came all this way for a sword that is actually all the way back where you started. Incredible… that you would desert an entire kingdom for the sake of one human girl. Especially at a time of war."
Inuyasha scowled up at him at last. "I didn't desert them! Bankotsu can take care of everything – he would be a capable leader in my absence!"
"A capable usurper of the throne more like. Bankotsu… Bankotsu…" Sesshomaru gazed upon Inuyasha with a smug sort of look. "Bankotsu… sounds familiar."
"What are you babbling about?" Inuyasha snarled.
"Why… the creature who took my throne… what was his name…?" Sesshomaru's smile suddenly disappeared. "Oh yes. Suikotsu. A human if I remember. What a coincidence? They share a similar name. Your Bankotsu wouldn't happen to be human now would he?"
Inuyasha stiffened and felt an even colder feeling pass over him.
"He wouldn't happen to carry around an enormous sword on his back – similar size to Tessaiga transformed?" Sesshomaru quirked an eyebrow. "Tricky coincidence if he is."
"How do you know all this?!" Inuyasha barked.
"Because before I left, the Suikotsu trash told me that he was claiming the island in the name of the Shichinin-tai. In the name of his oo-aniki… Bankotsu."
"Impossible."
"And you just left your half of the island in the care of one of these… Shichinin-tai humans – all for the life of a girl you can't save anyway." Sesshomaru regarded him a moment, the little halfling looked awfully crestfallen. "If only I could have your portrait right now. You look incredibly pathetic. And it would probably last longer too."
A low growl erupted from Inuyasha and he suddenly rocketed forward towards his brother, swinging a fist out with claws extended. Sesshomaru barely breathed an irritated sigh as he lightly moved sideways to avoid the blow. It glanced off the armour above his waist… no damage at all. He turned to see Inuyasha topple forward onto the ground, his wasted momentum overbalancing him to land him flat on his face. He didn't move, but his breathing was ragged.
"You can barely stand, I can see. It wouldn't be fair to finish you off now. Next time we meet I hope you have at least some capability of fighting me in a fair match."
He turned and started to walk away. "Rin." He called over his shoulder.
The small girl who had been crouching in the middle of the bridge, watching the exchange through the wooden railing, suddenly hopped to her feet and trotted after Sesshomaru without a word, but a backward wave at the deflated looking Hanyou. She mouthed something like 'sorry' before turning back to concentrate on following in the Inu Youkai's wake.
Inuyasha didn't raise his head till they were both out of sight, and he checked around with his senses just to make sure they were really gone. He pushed himself up and lifted the sword he'd been covering with his body… the one he'd swiped from Sesshomaru's scabbard during that last 'miss'. He held it up and examined it critically before sighing and letting it drop back to the ground. Nope. It was full of all kinds of condensed evil and black power… Toukijin, not Tenseiga. Sesshomaru hadn't been lying to him…
Well, a sword was a sword, and he wasn't going to leave such a powerful one lying around. He might as well take it with him… but he needed to hurry.
^_^
It seemed like the weather had changed to suit Kagome's mood perfectly. The last few days had been hot and humid, the sun had been shining constantly in a blinding light from dawn till dusk. Now today of all days, Kagome had stepped outside, and suddenly lightning had streaked across the sky from the ominous black clouds that had suddenly drifted across the sky, blocking the sun.
She watched from the edge of the lake with mild interest as she saw forks of white hot light flashed through the air in the distance… accompanied a few seconds later by a loud rumble over head. The rain was pouring down in torrents as the wind whipped the skirts of her yukata around her numb legs.
She should probably go back in… but…
She closed her eyes with a sigh and blocked out the heavy rain that plastered her hair to her face and neck. Strangely enough, she couldn't feel the cold anymore. She just felt… empty…
Her marriage to Bankotsu had freed her in a way… she no longer had to deal with the duties of being a ruler… she could get back to grieving and moping and crying like before…
Another flash, quickly accompanied by a crash of thunder made her snap open her eyes. The storm was getting closer, and it was beginning to get dangerous to stay out in the open. She made up her mind and decided to head back to the palace. She'd probably go for a walk tomorrow when the storm had gone. That was what was nice about the summer storms… they didn't last long but they were impressive while they were there.
A dull flash of blue caught her gaze as she padded back towards the palace gates. It was just a lone flower sprouting from the grass… probably a weed… but as she knelt down on closer inspection she realised that the flower was actually rather beautiful. It was a tiny blue flower with a long stem and a yellow centre… it was get crushed in this storm…
Mindlessly Kagome plucked the flower from the ground and started to take it back inside with her. Only feet from the gates she was stopped again. This time by a flash and a fractured ripping sound that echoed around the grassy plateau before the palace. She whipped around in time to see a fork or lightning lance down towards the lake… more specifically towards the old weeping willow tree that sat on the lake's edge.
It was destroyed in one touch. It burst in an explosion of branches and wooden shrapnel… any flames that had been produced died quickly in the onslaught of rain. For a long time Kagome just stared in dumb shock at what she'd witnessed. 'Their' tree, as she'd liked to call it… the one she'd sat under with Inuyasha many times. Where she'd first really gotten a chance to talk to him… and get to know him…
It had just shattered like glass.
"Oh you are kidding me!" she yelled suddenly, turning her eyes to the heavens. "A huge palace a few hundred metres away and an entire forest of enormous trees and you hit a weedy weeping willow?! You're mocking me!!"
She glared angrily at the desecrated tree for a few more moments before turning angrily and storming back through the gates, back into the palace. She felt like crying again… it almost felt like she'd just lost Inuyasha all over again. Now there was a stupid notion…
"Kagome?"
She looked up to see Miroku moving towards her through the entrance hall, Fushi held against his hip with one arm. "Change in weather I see?" he noted her dishevelled hair and skewed kimono.
"I didn't do it." She said defensively, fighting back the lump of tears in her throat. She saw that look – the one he gave her when strange things happened and he thought that she was behind it with her latent miko powers.
"Never said a word." He shrugged and was about to speak again when Fushi broke in.
"There's a bald red monk in the dungeons with scars on his cheeks and a voodoo doll on his table." The boy said as he fiddled with his father's collar.
"Sorry?" Kagome and Miroku both gave him a strange look.
"A red monk. In the basement." He rolled his eyes as if all grown-ups were slow and dumb. "He told me he would kill me if I told anyone about him."
"He wouldn't happen to be a friend of the blue wolf who haunts the chimney would he?" Miroku asked.
Fushi shrugged with a little shake of the head. "Dunno… probably."
Miroku shook his head at Kagome. "That age."
"Ah." She nodded, glancing over her shoulder as she saw the guards at the entrance force the doors closed against the rain that was literally pouring through in sheets of water. Meanwhile, Fushi started kicking up a fuss about being treated like a third person again whilst his father dragged him off talking about treats for good little third people.
Kagome shivered slightly with an odd sense of foreboding and looked up in time to see her dear husband descending the stairs towards her. He smiled when he noticed her standing in the entrance hall, like he usually did when he saw her. "You look like you've just been dragged through a thicket backwards by a pack of wolves."
"It was slightly windy…" she said dully, her gaze falling to the lone delicate flower held between her dripping fingers.
"Picking weeds again?" he raised an eyebrow as he followed her gaze. Something in his tone irritated her. Just because it was called a weed didn't mean it was any less beautiful than a lily…
"It's Angelfeather." She told him quietly, sniffing slightly as rain water dripped down her nose. "It's very rare, even if it is a weed."
"All flowers look the same to me." He dismissed with a shrug. Kagome looked around for a quick change of subject.
"Um – have you spoken to the Shinto priest about the separation."
His smile slipped slightly. "Yes."
"And?"
"He says… we'll have to wait a while." He shrugged with a sympathy smile to accompany it. "He thinks its just a lovers tiff. I tried to explain thing but he asked me to give it at least two weeks before I came to him again."
"Oh." Kagome looked down as she tried to contemplate two weeks more marriage to Bankotsu. It wasn't too bad… she could probably do it standing on her head in all truth. "And then he'd separate us?"
"Of course." Bankotsu smiled again.
"And…" Kagome started of hesitantly. "What about the sleeping arrangements?"
Here was the catch of the marriage. Through this union, they'd been forced to share a room between them, with only one bed to share as well. It was their wedding night tonight… The new moon – the night Inuyasha was supposed to have turned human.
"I promise. I'll only sleep when you are awake. We need not share a bed if it makes you uncomfortable." He bowed his head slightly to her.
"But won't you get tired?" She asked with a worried frown.
"No. I'll be fine, Kagome. But your concern is touching." He smiled. "Dinner will be served soon – you better go or you'll miss starters."
Kagome's stomach suddenly remembered its hunger at the mere thought of food and she gave a weak smile. "Ok. I'll see you later then."
"Ok." he waved as they parted ways and Kagome headed towards the dining room.
But even as she moved through the corridors she heard the shutters rattling against the wind and the incessant patter of rain against the palace itself… looked like they were in for quite a storm tonight…
^_^
"So where are you going now?!" Shippo yelled as he ripped through the ferns, chasing the horse the Hanyou King was riding. "Maybe you shouldn't go so fast – your arm can't heal with all the movement!"
"Who gives?!" Inuyasha yelled back, ducking another stray branch as he urged the horse to run faster through the forest. He was taking a short cut to the coast… he couldn't waste any time in his return. Not when the sun kept sinking lower and lower to the horizon.
"Why…?!" Shippo broke off as he lunged forward and grabbed the horse's tail – scrambling his way up to grip the back of Inuyasha's undyed cotton undershirt. "Why are we going so fast?! What's the rush?!"
"I made a mistake!" Inuyasha wiped his face with his free hand, it was beginning to spit with rain. "I have to go back!"
"To your home?" Shippo squeaked as the animal made a sharp turn to the left. "What's there that's so important – besides the girl that is?!"
"She's beyond my help now." Inuyasha couldn't keep the slightly broken tone out of his voice. "I can't save her – but I have to save the others, I left them in the care of the enemy."
"Yeah, I hear that isn't a very clever thing to do." Shippo called to him sarcastically. "So who's the new enemy?!"
"Shichinin-tai."
"Seven samurai?"
"Or something like that." Inuyasha veered the horse out of the woods and onto a stable road, allowing to move with more ease. But Inuyasha's arm was killing him… the harder he urged the horse, the more he wrenched his broken arm… it wouldn't heal as fast as normal if he'd just rest it a while. But there was no time to waste now.
And the sun was beginning to set…
"I thought I could trust that creep!" Inuyasha bit out savagely, a mixture of fear, anger and apprehension making him very on edge all of a sudden. "But he's the source of all this mess! I reckon he was the one who killed Kagome… bastard…!"
"Inuyasha…" Shippo called in mild alarm as he thought, for a moment, that Inuyasha's eyes had flashed an angry shade of violet.
"I won't forgive him!" Inuyasha ranted on angrily. "I'll wring his neck! I'll cut off his ears – his nose – his tongue and his eyes! I'll make him suffer for what he did!"
Shippo didn't think he was imagining the way Inuyasha's ears were sliding down his head as the sun slid down over the horizon. "Inuyasha – are you feeling ok?!"
"No – I'm not feeling fucking ok!" he snapped. "I have to go avenge Kagome – I have to go swim the fucking channel – and I'm turning into a useless wreck with a broken arm and sprained wrist!"
Life couldn't possibly get much worse…
A figure appeared in the road dead ahead, blocking their path effectively. Inuyasha jerked on the reins and skid the horse to such a sudden stop that it almost reared. When it had settled the last changes of the new moon were taking effect…
Life couldn't possibly get much worse…
Or could it?
Somewhere in the distance a flash of light bloomed over the tops of the trees. A rumble of thunder followed a few seconds later, disturbing the silent scene that had descended on the road. And just to make things all round and unfair, drizzle starts fall, the annoyingly light rain that clung to everything, especially Inuyasha's hair. He did his best to ignore it and carried on glaring at the figure in the road before him "You're blocking my path. Move."
"Not just yet." The stranger answered.
With dim human vision, it was hard to make out details since it was already so dark without the moon overhead for help. But even so, he could still make out the suspicious looking sword thing that rested on his shoulder.
"Who are you?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes.
"Jakotsu."
"Of the Shichinin-tai?" Inuyasha's face wiped of all expression. He felt a tugging on the back of his shirt.
"Inuyasha… what's going on? Who is that creep?" Shippo hissed quietly.
"So you've heard of us?" Jakotsu seemed mildly delighted. "That's nice. I'm assuming you're Inuyasha, right? You're a rather human looking Inu Hanyou… cute, but I liked the ears better when they sit on top of your head…"
"…what…?" Inuyasha stared at him.
"Well I suppose I have to make do with what I have. At least this way you won't struggle so much." Jakotsu scratched his neck thoughtfully. "I would have attacked earlier but you seemed… preoccupied with the stiff in the tail."
"My brother…?"
"Really?!" Jakotsu flashed him a grin. "Not much resemblance is there? But two hotties in one family? Boy, your father must have been some stallion in his time. But I prefer the more callow and provincial type… stiff upper lip types like that Youkai back there don't do it for me."
"Don't do what…?" Shippo ventured. Inuyasha quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. No need to encourage the wacko with the big sword.
"Anyway, I have my orders to kill you and take that sword there." Jakotsu nodded to Tessaiga at Inuyasha's hip. "But, since I don't have a time limit, I suppose we could have some fun."
"Your funeral." Inuyasha grunted as he unsheathed Tessaiga with his sprained wrist. He didn't look too fearsome anymore. Not with a broken limp arm and soggy black tresses that were beginning to curl in the drizzle. The rusty, thin blade of Tessaiga completed the dreary image… but he wasn't going to get it any better than that. Without his Youkai blood, the youki in the sword was inactive… meaning he'd have to depend on his strategy instead of overall strength. Needless to say, he didn't use much strategy when he fought… it was just bash, bash, bash until something broke.
"My funeral?" Jakotsu smiled slowly. "Somehow I doubt that."
And needless to say… Jakotsu's image with his multiple bladed, flexible, pivoting Jakotsutou … was slightly more awe inspiring.
^_^
Kagome gently towelled her hair dry as she slowly made her way back to her room. All she wanted to do was tuck herself into the bed and fall fast asleep. When she slept she could forget about her troubles and her grief… unless she had another nightmare, in which case she dreaded sleep.
"Fushi?"
She turned as she heard Sango's voice calling up the corridor behind her. She frowned when she saw the expecting mother looking into different rooms and calling the name of her eldest. "Fushi, this is no time for games, it's time for bed!"
"He'll never come out if you shout like that." Kagome pointed out as Sango approached.
"I can't find him anywhere. I sat him down for supper, turned my back, and when I turn around again – he's gone!" she huffed angrily. "I'll give that sir a small hell for making his mother run around all night for him."
"Where's Miroku?" Kagome asked.
"Looking along the third floor."
"I'll go look along the ground floor." Kagome offered.
"Are you sure, you look tired?" Sango frowned. Kagome brushed off her concern and headed off without further argument. So much for her sleeping idea…
The first place she checked was the kitchens. But he was hiding in any of the pantries or the cupboards there, so she checked the dining room next. He wasn't hiding behind the drapes in that room either…
"Fushi?" She called softly as she made her way through the halls lit with softly glowing candles. The last place she came to on the ground floor was the throne room… since it was so late at night it was bound to be empty… so there was a good chance Fushi was hiding from his mother in there.
She pushed the door back and stepped into the dark room. "Fushi?" she called again as she moved past the low table at the centre of the hall and headed for the throne and the large bay windows at the opposite end. Nothing moved or twitched… a positive sign that Fushi probably wasn't in there.
"You're mother baked you some cherry mocha…" she called idly, thinking that would stir his stomach enough to bring him out. Nothing stirred but the wind in the trees outside, and she heard nothing beside the patter of rain against the windows.
With a sigh she gave up and padded back towards the doors she'd left ajar.
Suddenly a spark of white blanked out her vision and she stopped dead, blinking rapidly as the light faded and left everything a familiar black and white. A vision?
"Kagome…"
She turned in surprise at the sound of her own name. She half wished she hadn't… because she was stunned into complete silence at the sight that greeted her. Her body paralysed and her mouth hung open slightly.
She didn't understand what she was seeing. Inuyasha crouched over her massacred body, retracting a blade out of her chest before dropping it on the ground beside him. His hands were covered in blood… his clothes were covered in blood… he'd somehow smeared it on his face, into the sodden tips of his hair…
And what about her? That body…
"Look what you made me do…"
He'd closed his eyes in what looked like pain, as his bloodied fingers moved to close hers as well. They'd been staring, lifeless eyes… Kagome was dead…
"But I'm here. I'm alive…" she whispered to no one but herself. She didn't understand what she was seeing… this had never happened… she wasn't dead, how could it have happened…?
Then she noticed that Inuyasha had opened his eyes again and was looking at her calmly, in a way that chilled her slightly. She could almost see the cogs turning in his head…
Then without warning he grabbed the knife beside him and slashed it towards his own hair. Her horror brought her out of her paralysis and she lurched forward with a strangled cry. "No!"
It was almost like he heard her… because he stopped… the blade hovering inches from the tresses he held taut for cutting. She inched forward a foot at a time, as if she might alarm him like some wild animal, even though he couldn't see her. As she got closer she caught more detail of the scene before her. She wanted to wretch…
Where was her hand?!
Oh there it was… under the table over there…
Suddenly his fingers loosened on the hilt of the blade and he passed his blood matted hands over his face as he bowed down further. "God… what have I become?"
She looked at him… at the blood swept around the room… the knife fallen from his grip and the hole in her chest… through her best yukata the one she wore that very moment…
This wasn't a past vision… this was a premonition…
"Monster… preying monster… what I am… what I was… will be… ever…" he had pushed himself to his feet, hands clenched tightly in his hair as he began pacing. Kagome struggled to come to terms with what she was witnessing.
"No… this can't be happening… he wouldn't…"
"Under the bed… in the wardrobe…"
"You said you'd never hurt me!"
"Where pa used to keep his sword…"
"This can't be real… this can't happen…!"
"Tessaiga… destroyer… Tenseiga… saviour… save… saviour…"
Kagome pressed a hand to her mouth as she felt tears rise to her eyes. "Inuyasha…"
Almost as soon as his name had tumbled from her lips, her started to laugh… laugh so hard he nearly doubled over with it. "This is perfect!"
"How can it be?!" she screamed back. "You've killed me!"
He raced back over to her prone body and pressed a swift kiss to her bloodied forehead. "Kagome, wait for me."
He grabbed the knife that lay beside her body and started to run.
Colour leeched back into her vision and the black blood stains on the walls and floors faded to nothing… the body that had been lying there… would be lying there was gone.
She couldn't move, she could barely breathe. She just stood there staring at the spot on the floor where her body would lie…
But strangely enough, she felt an overwhelming sense of joy. Inuyasha was alive…
But there was that spiking sense of deep fear within her. Yes, he was alive… and he would come soon to finish her off.
"Kagome?" she jumped at the sound of Bankotsu's voice behind her as he entered the throne room through the door she'd left ajar. Suddenly she didn't feel so joyful. Maybe this was what he killed her for… because she married Bankotsu in his absence…
"Bankotsu…" she whispered… feeling the tears run hot down her cheeks again. "He's alive…" she breathed.
"What?" he frowned, moving forward to hear her better.
"Inuyasha – he's alive!" her voice grew as her terror grew. "He's alive – and he's returning to kill me!"
"But – the body-" Bankotsu started, but stopped as he noticed Kagome beginning to shake.
She couldn't speak anymore. The tears came, tearing at her frame as she struggled to keep the sobs within her. She felt Bankotsu's arms enclose around her comfortingly, and her first instinct was to resist and break free. She wanted Inuyasha's comfort! Not some stranger's!
But Inuyasha wasn't about to comfort her anytime soon… and she needed someone to cry on. A strong shoulder, a strong body… she gave up resisting in a heartbeat and clung to his shirt as the sobs broke free and threatened to consume her…
And throughout all that pain and fear, she still couldn't squash the little segment of her soul that was singing and smiling with joy… dancing around in the little shaft of sunlight that had finally pierced the darkness that had consumed her lately…
Inuyasha was alive!
AN: Next chapter – 'Return Home' I wonder what happens in the next chapter then… hmmm…