Love & Hate: The Collection
When Death is Closer than You Know
"They're in his forehead, Inuyasha! The jewel piece is there!" Kagome yelled sending another arrow into the horde of demons threating to overtake them. But she caught Inuyasha's nod, and thought no more on the subject.
'The reincarnation can see the shards.' Naraku thought. He could sense the worry in his hanyou foe over the human girl. It could be a weakness or strength, but he took the risk and sent one of his dispatches at her. She took out the first with a single arrow, and also did so with the second and third. But the fourth one reached her, and knocked the bow from her hand. She panicked, dodging out the way of a fist, and then a swing from Naraku's henchmen.
"Give up little wench," the monster cackled. Kagome grabbed a handful of dirt and stone.
"Oh, shut-up!" she yelled throwing a rock at it. It cackled.
"I like your spunk." It laughed grabbing her arm and lifting her off the ground. She cried out at the pain, but kept it low enough to not distract Inuyasha or the others. But as it hefted her closer to his face, a growing sense of dread filled her completely. She couldn't stop her body from freezing, or the little whimpering noises she was making. But when they were eye to eye she threw the remaining dirt and rocks directly into a blood red eye. It shrieked, dropping her and grabbing at its wound.
"Ow, that really hurt." Kagome moaned grabbing her arm. With a roar, the Naraku incarnation pulled out its gigantic, jagged sword. Kagome shrieked as she rolled out the way of it once, and the second time it caught the hem of her skirt.
"I'll teach you respect, missy." It growled pulling out a smaller sword. Kagome frantically struggled to move but she failed every time. She pulled at the sword, but it too, wouldn't budge. She burst into tears as the incarnation laughed at her. She tried to move again, this time working to get out of her skirt. "Want me that bad?" It asked with another howl of mirth. At that comment, she stopped, blushed, and discontinued that measure of escape.
"I'd die before I let you touch me," she spat. The hate in her eyes caught him off guard.
"What a temper." He said in an attempt to regain lost confidence. And then his face hardened, and was engulfed in violence. "But it can be arranged." He yelled lifting the sword over his head. He smiled at her wide-eyed doe look, almost wanting to set her free. But with another war cry it started its long journey toward her petite frame. All thoughts of independently defeating the monster deserted her as she used he last defense.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled as the sword bore down on her. The golden eyed demon turned from his own battle with the hanyou Naraku only to see the sword slice through her chest. He couldn't tear his eyes from her bloodied body as it fell heavily to the ground. And then Naraku was upon him.
"What's wrong, I thought you didn't love her." He snarled at he punched him. His claws barely scratched the surface of the skin, but they too, were felt. Inuyasha landed with a thud, close enough to Kagome to grab her hand.
"Please don't be dead." He whispered. When he received no response, he pulled himself ever so closer, until he was directly above her. With a bloody claw he touched her cheek, it was still warm, but pale. He gasped, shaking her roughly, all his arrogance and pride quickly failing him. But she wouldn't respond, and he couldn't sense any life left in her.
Before he could confirm a death, he was ripped violently from her, and thrown across the way. He dropped tetsusiaga, and it landed about a foot beside him. Before Inuyasha knew it, he had changed, and was lunging at Naraku with all the hurt that was plaguing him. With nothing but pure power and brute strength, he lurched his claws at Naraku's forehead. The demon didn't see it coming until he felt the sting of defeat. Inuyasha ripped the shards from Naraku's forehead with no thought but that of killing the man that had taken Kagome from him. And even when his enemy fell, dead, Inuyasha didn't stop his onslaught. He used his claws to inflict wounds that probably could be felt in death. And not until the body could no longer be identified as hanyou Naraku, did Inuyasha stop.
"Kagome..." he whispered. Slowly, his appearance turned back into her beloved demon. The red eyes faded to the deep gold, and the hellish stripes on his face disappeared. He swayed dangerously as the seriousness of his wounds became clear. He did, however, manage to limp towards her. He stumbled and landed heavily on the ground, still squeezing at his chest, where the majority of attacks fell. He grabbed her hand, and held it gently, in his own. The pain was overwhelming, and only when the stench of his own rotten flesh reached his nose, did he remember the poison in Naraku's claws. He sighed as lethargy filled his aching limbs. He turned his head to face Kagome's.
"I'll love you in death-" he whispered, using his other claw to clutch his chest. "-as I loved you in life."
"INUYASHA!" he heard Sango and Miroku call. He remembered that while he and Kagome took on the Naraku incarnations, they worked on the lower youkais. He glanced at them, as they ran closer. They looked tired, but they were alive. Even Shippou has survived, also looking badly beaten. He grunted in approval, he had to give the pup recognition. He'd grown significantly stronger, and more devoted as the years passed. Even a knot of pity grew for him, knowing that he had no one now. No more Kagome. No more Inuyasha.
"How I wish I could have told you, my Kagome-" Inuyasha whispered lovingly stroking her hand. He was too weak to notice the warmth coming back into her once life less body. "I wish I knew you loved me. I wish that I had more time to spend with you. I never thought I'd be defeated. I always thought I'd have time to let you know. To tell you that I've decided that it is you that I desire, not Kikyou. You're not just a jewel detector-"he laughed softly, "-even if you were as useless as I told you you were, nothing would stop me for falling in love with you." He coughed violently, almost choking on the spew of blood coming forth.
"INUYASHA!" he heard his comrades call. He panicked at bit, his pride was still there, though lessened. And half dead, with confession falling from numb lips, was not something they'd ever seen of him. He pulled himself to his knees, and crawled the rest of the way towards Kagome's body. He heard Sango and Miroku stop, and Shippou's childish cry of anguish. He silently wished them to be spared of the sight. It was not everyday you lost two people you cared about. He was going to miss his pack. His friends.
Upon arriving as close as he could. He collapsed by her, and pulled her body into his arms. He smelled the blood on her, but also the light 'shampoo' she used to clean her hair. She smelled of a thousand sakura blossoms. His mother's favorite flower. The flowers that ran rampant on the headstones of his sisters.
"God I love you." He whispered directly into her ear. He smiled, he could not say it enough. He'd never be able to say it enough now. The words were out.
"And I love you." She whispered. Startled, he tried to let her go, but she stilled his fingers.
"Y-yo-you were dead!" he stuttered. He felt her smile, and that familiar tingle in his belly started anew.
"I am dead. But you wished me to hear, and I do, I did." She said, her voice losing strength.
"I'm glad." He chocked, tears spilling down his face, and onto hers. She reached for him, but suddenly his grasp on her loosened, and a sigh escaped his lips. She turned to face him, only for it to be confirmed.
He was gone.
"I'll see you again-" She promised kissing his cheek gently. She turned towards Sango, Miroku, and Shippou. Sango and Shippou were crying, and even Miroku looked close to tears. "-and you." She said with her Kagome smile. Sango managed a sad smile of her own, holding the struggling kitsune tighter.
"We'll see you Kagome." Miroku replied. She nodded, turning her attention back at Inuyasha. She positioned herself back into his arms, back into his protective embrace. For minutes Sango did nothing but watch the rise and fall of Kagome's chest, until it did that no more.
"Sayoonara, Kagome-chan."
End