Title: …only human.

By: EVL5011

E-mail: Omnipotentevil5011yahoo.com

Chapter 5: Even after death

Mekura cleared his mind of the thought of tearing apart his former friends, but if he didn't act quickly he would lose his new ones. He turned his attention to the moans and incoherent sounds coming from the dead slayers and rushed into the fray. Mekura could also he the fast beating hearts of his four friends and finally unsheathed his katana and fiercely cut through the dead slayers. The foul smelling blood spattered on his face and the thick gore stuck on his blade.

Mekura kicked away the staggering slayers and finally reached Kagome and Sango, "You two aren't hurt are you?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.

"No, we're fine, but InuYasha and Miroku. Where are they?" asked Kagome.

The three looked past the horde of mindless slayers and saw Miroku and InuYasha completely surrounded. The monk and the hanyou were outnumbered and tiring. The relentless puppets just kept blocking all of their predictable moves. InuYasha couldn't use tetsusaiga's full potential because he still had trouble lifting the heavy sword and Miroku could only hit the slayers with his staff.

"Lets get you two to safety first." Mekura then cleared a path for them to escape. "Remain here, I'll go and help InuYasha and Miroku."

Sango and Kagome were both left a good distance away, but Sango refused to stay put and ran behind Mekura with her boomerang in hand. Kagome wanted to follow behind but knew that she was no use to anyone without her bow and arrows.

"These guys just don't stay down. They're far more aggressive than the previous puppets Kagura has used." InuYasha looked around him and laughed at the thought of a rotting corpse beating him. "So, how you holding up?"

Miroku glanced at InuYasha and batted away another dead slayer, "I can't keep this up much longer!" Miroku spun around in a half circle and knocked down the seemingly endless slayers. But just as things were beginning to look bleak for them the dead stopped and turned their attention elsewhere. It was Mekura and he was challenging the mass of slayers, and if by instinct they began to advance on him.

"Please forgive me." He silently whispered to himself and unleashed a fury of swings and thrusts. The dead slayers fell one by one. The blind swordsman moved quickly through the mindless slayers and stepped on the blood-soiled earth. Before InuYasha accept defeat he ran back to assist Mekura.

"InuYasha? I cleared a path for you to retreat. Why did you return?" asked Mekura.

"Get over yourself, I don't retreat and you didn't think that I was going to let you get all the glory." Smirked InuYasha as he lifted his heavy sword and cut a slayer in two.

They both smiled and continued in their efforts to dwindle the overwhelming numbers. Unfortunately, they were back where they started and the aggressive puppets circled them, again.

"How many are left?" asked Mekura.

"Huh? You can't tell?" replied InuYasha. "I thought that your keen senses could hear their feet touching the ground."

"Normally I could, but some of them are dragging their feet and the ones I thought I cut down are standing again." For the first time in a long time Mekura was uncertain of what he had got himself into.

InuYasha quickly scanned the slayers and took a rough estimate, "At least twenty more of them, but there might as well be one-hundred. Did they fight this well when they were alive?" asked InuYasha.

"They fought better, its kind of funny though. Even after death, they fight like live demon slayers. So be thankful that some of them have already been dismembered when they were killed." Mekura gave a discomforted smile and continued fighting.

Just as the dead were completely around them, the slayers at the back were thrown high into the air. Sango's boomerang whirled through the dead, cutting them in half. The rotted intestines and heavily coagulated blood showered the remaining puppets. InuYasha and Mekura acted quickly and they both jumped over the dead slayers. They both landed behind Sango and thanked her.

Mekura continued trimming down the numerous dead and ran into a slayer wielding a large spear. Mekura dodged the first attack and cleanly cut off his opponents' head. In a wild spasm the headless slayer blindly punctured Mekura on the side. He grabbed the spear and pulled it out of his side and gritted his teeth, but continued fighting with his blood soaking through his clothing. With the dead slayers quickly losing ground, Sango, InuYasha, and Mekura finished off the remaining dead. After a matter of mere seconds they stood over the blood-laden field and were victorious.

At that very moment, Kagura hovered high above the heavens and watched as Mekura killed her puppets. With a wicked look on her face she smiled and continually followed Mekura's every move. "Such fluid movement, if only I had run into him earlier." She thought to herself before disappearing.

"I'm glad to have fought alongside with such skilled warriors." Mekura sheathed his katana and reached in between his thin armor and shirt, "Sango I have something for you. Something I've wanted to give you earlier." He smiled. Mekura felt light headed suddenly and fell to his knees placing both his hands on the ground to break his fall. InuYasha and Sango picked him up off the ground and when they grabbed him by his arms, their hands became wet with blood.

"That's not your blood is it?" asked Sango while looking at her hand.

Mekura faced her and smiled, "…" the words failed to leave his mouth and his head slumped down.

"M-Mekura?" Sango looked at his emotionless face and shook him gently. She felt her world crashing down on her, and urged InuYasha that they take him back to the village.

InuYasha and the gang took Mekura back to the village, in hopes that his injuries weren't too severe. They laid him down on a small pile of hay and watched as Lady Kaede removed his heavily blood soaked clothing and thin armor. The elderly Miko cleaned the blood off of Mekura's torso and examined a deep puncture on his side. Lady Kaede placed her hand on Mekura's chest and frowned with what she had to tell InuYasha and the others.

"I'm sorry, he's gone." Lady Kaede covered Mekura's body with a white sheet, "The wound on his side was fatal, and I can't begin to understand how he continued fighting." Lady Kaede knew that she should leave them for a while and she placed her hand on Sango's shoulder as she passed by.

The hardest hit by the news was InuYasha and Sango, they both found Mekura's courage to be inspiring. Miroku kneeled down on the ground and said a silent prayer. Kagome comforted a heart-broken Sango and InuYasha refused to accept the facts and walked away.

"Why did he have to die?" asked Sango.

Kagome had no real answer to Sango's question and just held her tightly. "I don't know, but I do know that he helped us more than anyone else has."

Miroku finished his prayer and stood back up, when something caught his attention. It was a partially bloodstained paper in between Mekura's armor. He pulled out the piece of paper and carefully unfolded it, his eyes widened when he looked inside. The monk then walked over to Sango and held out the mysterious paper.

"Sango this is for you." Miroku handed Sango the carefully folded piece of paper and walked away. Sango wondered what could be inside and opened it. Inside was a beautiful lotus flower, which had small traces of blood. The paper had some smeared writing, but just enough that she could read.

Kagome looked at the letter and listened as Sango read it out loud, "If I could give you anything, what would I give you? I wish that I could give you unimaginable riches, but I have none. I possess nothing, for I have lost everything that I once had. I have no sight, for if I did I would gaze into your eyes and tell you how I feel. I have neither true destiny nor real power. I can only give you my immortal soul, a single lotus flower and my sword which I plan to retire." A lone tear ran down her cheek and dropped down on the letter. "He was going to give this to me before he collapsed."

Just as she was about to put the paper away InuYasha appeared behind her, he had heard everything. He asked Kagome if she would mind leaving for a second. She agreed and left the two alone, InuYasha had something on his mind.

"It was bound to happen." InuYasha said in his usual voice, completely disregarding Sango's feelings.

"What how can you be so heart-less?" shouted Sango.

"That's not what I meant. Mekura pushed his body past its limit." Replied InuYasha.

"B-but…" stuttered Sango.

"No human being can fight in the state his body was at. He opened my eyes to the sheer determination that drives someone. I sensed his feelings Sango, he began to develop feelings for you." InuYasha took Sango's hand and showed her the piece of paper. "He did it for you."

"Where do we go from here?" Sango asked.

"We give him a proper burial, along with his friends and family." InuYasha released Sango's hand and looked deep into her eyes, "Mekura wasn't a demon, and he wasn't invincible. He was…" InuYasha stopped himself and looked away. "…only human. And I admire him for that."

Sango finally came to the sad realization and accepted it. She knew that there was no use in tearing herself emotionally. Mekura and her were two different people, both bound by fate and torn apart by fate. She knelt down besides Mekuras' lifeless body and stared at his black onyx katana. Sango was disinclined to hold a weapon that once belonged to a blind swordsman, the man she was falling for.

Kagome walked up behind Sango and said, "Where do you want us to bury him?" she whispered, almost frightened to even ask so soon.

Lowering her head she replied, "Back at his village, the same with his friends and family." With that said she stood back up with the beautifully crafted sword and smiled. "Maybe it wasn't meant to be" Sango pondered as she watched some nearby villagers picked up Mekuras' body and exit the village with InuYasha and Miroku. She refused to go with them, she knew that watching them throw dirt on his body would be unbearable.

"You're not going?" asked Kagome, who was watching over Sango.

"No, I rather not." Sango then sat down on a small tree stump and stared at the descending sun and Kagome sat down beside her. Sango pulled out the small lotus flower and wiped the blood from it. The fragrant flower appeared to dance in her hand as the gentle wind blew across the land.

"Are you sure that you're fine?" asked Kagome who was greatly concerned.

"…" but Sango remained silent.

End

AN: Well, thats it for "...only human", now I have something important to ask. I have a continuation already layed out and lined up to write, it takes place a few days after Mekura dies, but I won't write it if no one wants me to. So, if you guys want to see it say so in the review or send me a letter. If you read this chapter carefully you may see something that foreshadows the continuation.