Hello, there, minna-san. Let's keep it moving, ne? Thank you for your reviews. As always, they are greatly appreciated!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my birthday, though!
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Sango turned and watched as Kohaku pulled back his weapon and smiled. His eyes were still empty, as they had been when she had stolen the Tetsusaiga to save him.
"Kohaku?" Her knees felt weak, and her boomerang fell with a loud thud next to her.
"Be careful, Sango," Miroku said through clenched teeth. His expression had gone from mischievous to agonized, and it was then that she noticed the beads of sweat beginning to form on his face.
"Miroku!" She knelt beside him, putting her hand on his back for support. She gasped when her hand came away covered in blood. "You're hurt!"
"It's just a scratch," Miroku protested, but his words fell on deaf ears.
Sango looked up at her younger brother, who was standing there as if awaiting some sort of orders.
"Kohaku, why?" she cried. "Why don't you fight Naraku, brother? Don't you know he is our enemy?"
"Naraku," Kohaku echoed hollowly, taking a step forward. A hand reached out from behind him and grasped his shoulder lightly.
"Would you like me to stop controlling him?" Naraku asked with a hint of amusement. "I wonder how Kohaku would do on his own." His eyes glowed for an instant, and he let go of Kohaku's shoulder.
"No!" The young demon hunter screamed, falling to his knees with his head grasped tightly in his hands. "Stop! I don't want to remember!"
"Kohaku!" Sango threw her Hiraikotsu at Naraku, and it cut through him cleanly. She cursed under her breath as the baboon pelt fell to the floor, followed by the clatter of wood. "A puppet!" she muttered. "Of course."
"Sango, wait!" Miroku got to his feet as the taijiya leapt up to her brother's side. As soon as she reached him, he fell into her lap.
"No! Kohaku!"
His back was glowing, and she panicked. "The jewel shard!"
"Yes, that's the very shard which keeps Kohaku alive," Naraku said smugly from the doorway. This time, he had come without his pelt. His dark hair fell about him and blended with the silk of his fine robes, and crimson eyes glowed at her from under fine brows. "Would you like me to remove that aid, as well?"
Sango choked. The fact that he continued to wear that guise sickened her. The real Lord Kagewaki had been kind to her. He had promised her a home after her village had been destroyed. And Naraku had deceived him in the end, as well.
Now, he was toying with her brother's life. "You monster!" she snapped, reaching for her weapon.
Naraku's eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't attack, if I were you," he taunted. "Unless you want your dear brother's life to end, right now." He flicked his wrist, and the tip of the shard surfaced. Kohaku screamed.
"Stop!" Sango lowered her head. "I won't attack," she whispered. Naraku laughed, and the shard disappeared once more.
"That doesn't mean I won't," Miroku declared, hoisting himself up onto the foundation. He started to unwrap the prayer beads from his wrist, but Sango put her hand on his arm. She looked at him, eyes filled with tears of shame.
"Don't," she pleaded. "He will kill Kohaku."
Miroku stared at her, and she had to look away. With a frustrated sigh, he refastened the beads about his wrist.
"What's the matter, monk?" Naraku taunted. "Don't tell me you are hesitant to attack me out of love for the demon slayer."
The houshi's knuckles blanched as he tightened his grip on the staff.
"You are fools, with all your self-sacrificing nonsense," the hanyou continued coldly. "Such idiocy is a waste of time. And I don't think you can afford to do such a thing." He looked pointedly at the monk's cursed hand.
Miroku's eyes widened in pain as a strong wind picked up, swirling around his Wind Tunnel. "No! What are you doing?" he cried, as he felt the tendons in his hand vibrate.
"Miroku!" Sango moved to help him, but he held up his good hand and pushed her away. She looked hurt, but she bit her lip and moved between him and the evil hanyou.
The wind stopped as soon as it had appeared, and Naraku laughed again. "You live your life in fear, wondering how much longer it shall be before you succumb to the same fate as your pathetic grandfather. How exquisite."
His eyes glowed, and a dark cloud of miasma began to form around him. "It will be a fitting end, monk," he stated haughtily. "Kohaku, come."
Kohaku rose abruptly from the floor, and his body began to glow. The taijiya tried to grab him, but was only thrown back as he was lifted onto the dark cloud by Naraku's side.
"Kohaku!" she cried helplessly as they flew off, disappearing into the sky. The only answer was Naraku's sinister chuckle, as the mansion disintegrated around them.
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It felt like someone had welded her eyelids shut. Never in all her school years had she struggled so hard to wake up.
At last, she managed to open her eyes. She blinked when the late afternoon light flooded in, and tried to bring a hand up to shield her eyes. It seemed to move a grand total of one inch, and refused to budge again.
*Kami,* she tried to say. All that came out was a croak.
Inuyasha stiffened, his ears twitching anxiously. He put Kikyo's body down gently, and turned. His heart was thudding painfully against his chest. *Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive…*
His heart skipped a beat when he saw her move. It was slight—she was trying to move her arm—but it was enough to set his head reeling.
"Kagome!"
Before Inuyasha had a chance to piece together a coherent thought, Shippo catapulted himself into Kagome's arms, just as she managed to bring herself up on one elbow.
She fell back down with the force of the impact, looking dazed as the little kitsune youkai buried his chubby face against her.
"Kagome, you're back!" he sputtered, although it was hard to understand him since he was crying into her shirt. "Sango said you would…and I knew you wouldn't…let…anyone…."
Finally, he gave up trying to speak. His little body shook as he sobbed. Kagome finally sat up, and held him close.
"Shh, Shippo," she murmured. "It's all right now. I'm back." She planted a kiss on his head.
Kirara purred from her side, nudging her gently with her nose. Kagome smiled weakly and reached up to pet her. "Thank you, Kirara," she said quietly. The neko youkai crouched down and helped her up.
"Shh, it's okay now, Shippo," she whispered as she stood, although somewhat shakily. Her brown eyes flashed as she remembered something important.
"Where is Kouga?"
Inuyasha felt his stomach flop. "That's all you wanna know? Where wolf boy is?"
Kagome seemed to see him for the first time, and she had to steady herself against Kirara. She looked him over quickly. *Well, he seems okay,* she thought with relief.
"Yeah, it's nice to see you too," he said uneasily, ignoring his thundering heart. "You just came back from being dead, and all you care about is where that damn wolf is?"
Kagome gave him a hurt look, and the hanyou almost bit his tongue off. *She just came back from the dead, and all I can do is yell at her!* he scolded himself. "Kagome, I'm sorry, I—"
"Inuyasha, please," the miko interrupted, "I know Kikyo hurt Kouga. Where is he!?"
Inuyasha stepped aside, then growled as she hurried past him. *Well, I guess she can run again,* he thought bitterly as he turned. His amber eyes were glinting angrily.
Kagome was sitting on the ground next to Kouga, who was lying in a pool of dark blood. His eyes fluttered open when she lifted his head onto her lap, revealing a flash of intense blue irises.
She watched through tears as he focused on her face.
"Ka…Kagome?"
She nodded briskly, looking over his wounds.
"You came back," he said, grinning. "I knew…you wouldn't…let her win."
"Kouga-kun, you're hurt very badly," she answered nervously. "Lie still so I can help you."
"Leave it," he said, turning away. "I'll be fine. Youkai blood, remember?"
"But—" Kagome's protest was halted in mid-sentence as Kouga's eyes closed, and his head rolled gently to the side.
"Kouga! No!"
Kagome was about to burst out sobbing when a sound escaped his lips. She froze, and leaned closer.
The wolf youkai was snoring.
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End of Chapter Twelve! I hope you enjoyed it, my esteemed readers. Tell me what you think, please!