A/N: I know, I know. It's been forever since I updated, but you don't want to hurry my genius do you? I thought not. Well, here's the thing. Because I've been having so much trouble as of late--I cut the final chapter in two parts. Yes yes, I know you all hate me for it, but I didn't want to squish it. And I wanted to put something out so you guys won't kill me for my lack of updating! Next chapter is the last 'official' chapter because the one after that is epilogue. I was thinking about a possible sequel for this story--if I get enough reviews in favor of the idea--but it won't be until after I finish Curse of the Gypsy, and possibly start the Drama Club series that I've been working on in my spare time. Check out my bio page if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!
Sierra: Thank you, I'm glad you liked the chapter. I'm glad to know some people appreciate my vision--if lack of talent for such things.
KireiHanyou Ko: Thanks so much. I'm glad that you liked it. I had to make them fight before, during, and after. It's only because it's who they are. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoy this as much as you do.
Josie: *hands you a Kleenex* I'm glad you liked it, Heh. Yes, I have prolonged it for you, so you can get a little more out of it. Yes, I am sad it is ending since I love this story so much, but I will make the final chapters the best!
Rumi ai no Pocky: I'm so glad you approve. Don't worry, we all have a little Miroku in us somewhere--he's more obvious in some. I had to make a little note, for the masses, you understand. Thanks for the review!
Sweet little country girl: I didn't say I was a virgin because I wanted pity, just that I have a lack of experience! In certain areas anyway *cough* I think you'd make one hell of a nun, lol. I'm sorry for the long breaks--busy! Thanks for the review!
Sakura onto Hitomi: I'm happy that you liked it. I put a lot of work into making it tasteful. Thanks for the support!
Miko Sakura-sama: Thanks for the support. I'm glad that so many people liked it. I was afraid everyone would hate it because I wasn't vulgar. *eats the cookie* Don't worry--I killed Kouga and he's the only one who dies in this story! Or is he? Bum BUM!
Angel of light and darkness: I'm happy that you like it. I tried very hard writing it. Thanks for the review too!
Angel81: Thank you!
ErikaN: Hi Wolf Rain! Wow, that's such a compliment I'm blushing! Sorry for the rather weak update--I needed filler before the climax! Thanks for the review!
silent slayer: Well, thanks for the review. Glad you liked it. Hope you are psyched for next chapter!
Ashaome: I'm so glad that you like this story so much, lol. Here is the update. Filler--sorry! Next chapter is the fight! Get ready!
Solin: Thanks a lot! Sure, I may be a virgin, but that doesn't affect my talent as a writer! Like I said, I'm more emotional then physical, but I tried. Thanks for the review!
Leomae: I'm so happy that you liked it! I was worried you'd not approve, lol. Yes, she was on top, sorry about that. Hey, if there's a sequel, I'll write another one with him on top--just for you, ok? Thanks for the review!
TsukinoInu: You'll have to read on to find out the fate of Miss Higurashi. Thanks for the review!
Lover: I'm glad you liked it. Because I made you blush--I dedicate this chapter to you! Even if it is filler… Thanks for the review! Fight is the next chapter, so stay tuned!
Drake220: I love long reviews, so don't feel bad one iota. I enjoyed your review so much though. I'm happy that people like my story. You gave me so many compliments I felt all a-flutter, lol. In reply to some of your comments--I hate being tacky so I try to be as original as I can with everything I do. I try to make my characters believable, relatable, and they always have some sort of emotional problem because who wants to read a story about a guy with a happy life? This story I wrote for myself. I share it with all of my readers, but in the end, it's really just for me. (And I love all cake, regardless of flavor!)
Inuyashafinaticlmv: I'm so happy that you liked the chapter. I didn't think anyone would like it enough to laugh like a 6-year-old girl, I mean, I thought people would laugh at it, but not in a good way. Everyone thinks I'm going to kill Kagome…has no one any faith in me? Well, I did kill Kouga…
FireBringer: Thanks.
Peanut Gallery--Alaska's Own: Shoot all you like. *Hands you a loaded paintball gun* Just not with really bullets, because I still need him for another chapter.
LilNezumi LilInu: Fight is next chapter--sorry! I wanted to make a filler chapter, a cliffy! Don't hurt me! Thanks for the review though…hehe.
Lilo: Thanks, I'm glad you liked the chapter. You'll just have to read to find out. I will give away non of my secrets, muhahahaha! I did ok on my tests, but I'll live. Thanks for the review!
A/N--Again: One more note before the chapter everyone, sorry! I put it to all of you--this chapter is just filler so I can leave you all in horrible suspense for my finale chapter--should there be a sequel? I would be more then happy to write it, if you guys want it. Tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. He is tied up in my closet, but I let him out every once in a while to fight a demon and save the day.
A Fighter's Story
Chapter 16
Kagome became aware that she was not alone quite slowly. She was never a morning person and the added fog in her mind from stress and sex made her even slower to come back to her senses. It was only the slow rise and fall of her warm pillow that made her really aware that she was sleeping on someone else. And not anyone else, but Inuyasha.
This was one of those moments in life where all the little pieces fall into place and you get that blissfully happy feeling. It's that snuggly, warm-to-the-core feeling that comes only when all was right in your world. Until the rest of reality falls back into place and you realize you might die in a few hours.
Kagome tried very hard to keep her mind in that happy place for as long as she could.
Soon, the morning overtook her and she had to get up. The small clock hanging on the wall of the bedroom was ticking by slowly, telling her that she had three a little less than four hours before her fight. A small sigh escaped her as she blinked in the dim room.
Inuyasha was still asleep--of that she was sure. The steady rhythm of his breathing had not changed since she woke. She used this ample opportunity to slip out of bed and hurry into the bathroom after grabbing a few clothes from her suitcase--open on the floor. First would be a hot shower--the rest would come later.
As Kagome showered, Inuyasha lazily woke from his slumber. For a while, he contentedly lay still with his eyes closed, savoring the fading feeling. Soon, reality began to fall in around him, and he waited patiently for Kagome to emerge from the opposite door. One more time, he'd try to reason with her.
When Kagome did return, towel-dry and wearing her usual training attire, Inuyasha resolved to stay firm despite the sudden leap in his pulse. Perhaps this wouldn't be as easy as he had first anticipated after all.
Kagome eyed him a little suspiciously when he stayed quiet, just watching her. She smiled causally over at him as she reached into her suitcase for a brush. "Good morning sunshine," she teased. "Aren't you all a-twitter?"
"Don't start with me until I've had some coffee," he grumbled without heat.
"Sure, I'll get you some." Kagome went to the kitchen, still trying to brush the tangles out of her hair. In the meantime, Inuyasha thought up his battle strategy. He'd be blunt, direct and to the point so she'd have no time for clever retorts. Yes, that plan would work. He nodded to himself in thought, cracking his knuckles subconsciously.
Kagome, in the kitchen, was also thinking up a similar plan. As she waited for the coffee pot to finish it's job, she leaned against the counter and hit the back of her brush into her free hand while thinking aloud. "If I just avoid talking about it, maybe I can stall whatever half-ass argument he has until after I get out of here…" She got up to pour the coffee into a mug, adding the cream and sugar subconsciously as she went along. "If I leave before he can start begging again, then I could stay at the temple until the match…"
Kagome took the mug in her hands, not noticing the heat that radiated into her cold palms, as she went to face the onslaught she knew was coming. Inuyasha was still in mid-conversation with himself when she reappeared and shoved the mug into his hands. Then she went back to the kitchen to get the brush she left behind. When she did return, he was ready and she knew it by the look on his face. Two fucking sips of coffee and he looks like he's ready to take on the world, she thought to herself wryly.
"We have to talk," Inuyasha began deftly.
"Here it comes," Kagome sighed, tossing her brush into the bag and falling back onto the bed without flourish.
"Don't start with that," Inuyasha complained. "All I want to do it talk."
"We already talked about this," she whined, getting angry. "And whether or not you like it, the answer is the same now as it was then." She braced herself, ready for a fight, ready for anything. Inuyasha just looked back at her, his face unreadable.
"Pull me out," was all he said. The force of those words on Kagome made her balk and almost fall over.
"W-w-what?!" she stuttered when she regained breath, blinking rapidly and with a cracked voice.
"I said, pull me out of the contest. I'll concede to Naraku."
Kagome blinked wide blue eyes at him, unsure of what to say. When she did speak, her voice was barely above a whisper. "What's the matter with you?" Then her voice rose in volume. "Are you out of your mind!?"
"No," Inuyasha said simply. "But I would rather lose then see anything happen to you!" They stared at each other, willing the other to back down. A match in most things--stubbornness among them--neither would give in. So an impasse was reached again.
"I won't let you give up," Kagome hissed through her teeth.
"I won't let you get killed," he snapped back. Kagome let out a frustrated sigh as she pushed off to her feet and stomped around the room.
"This isn't getting us anywhere," she shouted, throwing her head back.
"Then give up and let's go home," Inuyasha retorted, watching her for any indications for acceptance. He found none. Instead, she turned on him with blue fire alight in her eyes.
"That bastard killed my friend!" she exclaimed in a low, menacing voice. "I'll be damned if I let him walk off a winner for it."
"So you'd rather join Kouga?" Inuyasha met her tone. "You think he'd want that?"
"Don't you dare use that on me," she threatened. "I was his friend. I want revenge for the sake of his father. I want to make sure he can't do that to any other family, to any other person. And I sure as hell didn't want the next person to be you!"
"So you'd rather it be you," Inuyasha said with a scowl. "You'd rather be the valiant defender.
"Fuck you," she cursed him. "I'm not going to let him win, at any cost." With that, Kagome crossed the room and grabbed up her sweatshirt.
"Where are you going?" Inuyasha asked as she made her purpose clear.
"I'm going to the temple to warm up," she responded.
"We're not finished here Kagome," Inuyasha called after her as she marched from the room.
"Yes we are," she confirmed, slamming the door on her way out. Then he was alone in the cabin and ee knew Kagome was not going to come back before it was time for her match. It annoyed him, but also it reminded him why it was that he loved her. She was stubborn as hell. Inuyasha was faced with yet another challenge. How to get to the arena without any help with a broken leg.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kagome pulled the sweatshirt around her as she stomped down the path toward the temple. Her mind remembered a time before this that she had been doing the same thing, to escape the same person, but for different reasons. She would not meet the same person she had before. He was gone. That slowed her steps.
Kagome let out a deep sigh, one that began from that hole in her chest, and she ran her hands over her face. Her nerves were wrung tight, and that was never good before a fight, so she set her mind away from Kouga, from Inuyasha, and even away from Naraku. She focused on the sound of her footsteps and the rhythm of her breathing. It took only a few minutes to get to the Temple.
When she entered, the entire room was decorated in gold, orange, and red. It looked as though a fire was raging, made of cloth and candles and tapestries. The open room was warm, sending a feeling of welcoming through Kagome. She closed her eyes to absorb the calming feel of the place. When she opened them again, she looked around herself more carefully.
Candles and incense were burning around the room, giving off a soft scent of sandalwood. She looked to the dais, and as expected, both the Dovon and Yusan were already there. The Dovon was dressed in his traditional orange robes, but these were embroidered with intricate gold designs of dragons and blades. Yusan stood tall beside his grandfather, wearing a kimono of ruddy gold. He smiled and nodded at her when she entered. Kagome bowed low to both men, then went to the small shrine in the rear of the temple.
The candle she had lit for Kouga had burnt out. Kagome kneeled and bowed to the alter. She bowed her head over steepled hands and prayed under her breath before reached out and lighting a match. She watched the small flame lick at the wood in her hand, and as she did so, she made a silent vow.
"To you," she breathed. "I will avenge what was taken. I swear this to you Kouga." Kagome lowered her hand steadily and lit the wick of an awaiting candle. "I will make Naraku pay for what he did." She deftly blew out the match suddenly and placed the still fiercely-hot point against the soft flesh of her arm. She winced slightly as it broke skin. "I swear on my own blood." It was an old swear of honor to make a blood vow before the shrine of the fallen. She would not fail her friend, not that she had come this far. Kagome Higurashi was not a woman who backed down. She would protect her lover, and avenge her friend. She would do this without losing her life.
"I'm not so sure he'd want that," a soft voice intruded on her solitude. Kagome closed her eyes against the unwanted invasion.
"That's not the point," she replied, turning to meet Yusan's eyes.
"The point," Yusan said slowly as he bowed before the shrine and then crouched beside her, "is that you want to lessen the hurt caused by his passing. Killing Naraku will not bring Kouga back."
"Don't you think I know that?" Kagome snapped. Then she felt ashamed and bowed to him before getting up. "He's gone, like a lot of other people. The point is that I want to make sure the person who took him feels, even in it's smallest measure, what we feel with Kouga's absence."
"A noble cause."
"A selfish end," Kagome laughed quietly. She sighed and looked to the shrine with fondness. "He was my friend," she said suddenly. "I know that I will remember him for the rest of my life. It is the least I can do, for one who gave me more than I can say."
Yusan nodded and followed her to his feet. He was about to speak when Kagome overrode him. "Yusan, perhaps you could do me a favor?"
"You need only to name it, Kagome," he said with a smile.
Kagome returned it with a slight one of her own. "I have to prepare, do you think you could help Inuyasha to the arena before the match?"
Yusan raised an eyebrow. "You will not do so yourself?" Kagome smiled and shook her head. "Very well. I'll assist him." Kagome bowed.
"Thank you."
Yusan returned the bow, then took his place on the dais once more. Kagome bowed again to the Dovon, who smiled to her affectionately before she left.
Where did she go? Everywhere.
What did she do? Everything.
What did she think about? Nothing.
Kagome walked every inch of the grounds, practicing every warm-up movement she was ever taught. Then she practiced some moves she had only seen. Then she did a few made up on the spot. Movement kept her from thinking too much, from becoming afraid.
Somehow, for whatever cosmic reason, Kagome found herself in her favorite spot, on the hill overlooking the grounds. It was still an hour before the match began, and the sun was casting shadowy light across the awakening land below her. It made a place in her chest ache. Despite her confidence and her determination, regardless of the fire of her anger and the spite of her vengeance, Kagome couldn't silence that little voice in the back of her head that was saying this might be her last sunrise. Her last morning.
She only allowed the power of this statement to consume her for a few moments, then she shook if off as best she could to continue her warm-ups. Kick, punch, jab, dodge… All the athletics in the world couldn't banish the doubt from the back of her mind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The match was starting in fifteen minutes but Kagome had not yet arrived at the arena. Inuyasha stood outside the doors, impatiently leaning on a crutch that Yusan loaned to him when the Dovon-in-training appeared at the door half and hour before. He had the sneaking suspicion that Kagome had tipped him off. Well, he was here, but she wasn't.
All the rest of the spectators were inside, seated, and listening to the opening ceremony given by the Dovon. Inuyasha could hear the old man's voice from outside. Her fidgeted, wondering where the girl had gotten to, when suddenly she came running from around the corner. Kagome skid to a stop, falling and catching herself with her hands. When she looked up, she saw Inuyasha watching her closely.
"What?" she asked, panting.
"Not a thing," he said, shaking his head. "You're late."
"I'm on time. The match hasn't started yet."
"It can't start without you, idiot."
"You waited out here to start with me?" she asked, giving him a withering stare. He shrugged it off and unrolled the shirt that he was holding under his arm.
"I wanted to give you this." He held out the large red shirt from his competitor's uniform. Kagome looked at him before taking the offered shirt.
"You aren't going to fight me on this?" she asked fearfully. Inuyasha shook his head and smiled lopsidedly.
"You win," he conceded. "You're going to fight this, no matter what I have to say."
"True," Kagome said with a scathing grin.
"I figured 'why fight it?' Right?"
"Right."
"But I do have one condition," he said, holding up a hand and beckoning her to come closer. Kagome smiled when he wrapped an arm around her waist. "If you get yourself killed," he warned, pressing his forehead against hers. "I won't be so forgiving."
Kagome smiled and kissed him lightly. "Gotcha."
"Kick his ass, okay?"
Kagome pulled away, shrugging off her sweatshirt and tossing it to him before pulling the red shirt over her head. She winked at him with her trademark smile. "As if there is any doubt."
"Ha ha," he laughed sarcastically before hobbling toward the door. "I'll wait for you inside."
"I'll be there," she teased. Inuyasha sighed, looked to the heavens as he shook his head, then disappeared inside.
When he was gone, Kagome pressed a hand to her heart, feeling her pulse rocket. She was nervous, more nervous then she had ever been in her life. She didn't want Inuyasha to know her doubts, but she knew he probably suspected as much. She tugged at the hem of the shirt that fell to her mid-thigh and smiled in spite of herself. The shirt smelled like Inuyasha, so it calmed her nerves somewhat. This was probably his way of reassuring her of his presence. Of his support and love.
Kagome hugged herself, pacing a little before going inside. She pulled her hair back with a tie so it wouldn't be in her way. She then rolled up the hem of the shirt, knotting it at her waist so it wouldn't be a hassle to her in battle. She did a final stretch of her muscles, then shook them out, cracking her neck on either side. With a deep breath, she stepped into the arena.
All eyes were on her.
The Dovon had announced the change in the roster, the one naming Kagome as Naraku's opponent. The said fighter was already at center ring. He sneered when Kagome appeared. Whispers went up through the spectators as they watched her slowly make her way to the ring. Kagome walked with her head held high, her eyes on the Dovon, her spine straight. She walked like a queen, a true fighter.
Inuyasha smirked at all the people around him as they made crackpot theories about her fight. He had to repress laughing when they speculated and underestimated her fighting skills. It could never be said that Kagome didn't turn heads. She would be showing a lot of people today just how good she was. Inuyasha couldn't suppress that feeling of pride he had in her.
When Kagome reached center ring, she bowed to the Dovon and Yusan. Then she turned to face Naraku, her eyes never leaving his as she lowered her torso in a reflection of respect. He did the same. When they came up, Naraku took half a step forward and whispered something in her ear before stepping back to his place as if he had never moved.
"You'll regret this."
Kagome smiled grimly as she eased into a fighting stance--one that came second nature to her, almost like another skin. He would be the one regretting. And she would make him eat those words.
A/N: I know, uneventful chapter. Next one is the fight and the after. I wanted to break it up because it would have been too hectic a chapter otherwise. Sorry if you guys are disappointed in it, blah. I promise to get the next chapter up sometime in the next week. Cross my heart. Please remember to be kind and review, even if it's telling me that I suck.