Author The Chibi Hime
Author's notes: Another addition to my growing story. It'll keep you busy until that voice in your head screams "this is boring"..don't worry..I know..happens all the time. Your not crazy..just practical.;) lol
Disclaimer : I don't own any of the characters from InuYasha..It's too much work and Procrastination proves that satisfaction can be found, even when you don't have your own hanyou...
Chapter nine
It was hard to believe that naraku had finally been defeated! The jewel that lay innocently in Kagome's hand seemed to make a small humming sound.
Why me? I don't want this burden, It's too much' Kagome thought to herself.
Kagome turned slowly To look at InuYasha. He'd been acting a little strangely ever since he had awoken. Could he really have heard Kikyou's words? She didn't want to bother him, but she felt so bad seeing him so seemingly depressed.
Kagome could remember the vacant empty look upon Kikyou's face as she released the imprisoned souls that resided within her cold, lifeless body. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the priestess, but at the same time happy that she had finally let her enraged soul heal enough to forgive InuYasha for the incident fifty years before, and that she would be able to rest in peace once more without any more disturbances.
Naraku, However, Kagome did not feel sorry for. After all his heartless actions and tricks, Kagome could only loathe the horrid man.
"Are you alright, InuYasha?" Kagome whispered, finally finding the ounce of coureage she needed. After she had said this, however, she was sorry she did so.
"Does it Look like I'm fine?" he snapped, the sad longing look in his eyes remained and to Kagome's surprise, a scowl did not come.
"I'm sorry" Kagome replied timidly, sorry she had mentioned any of it.
Kagome scooped up her bow and arrows and headed for the bone eater's well.
"Wait Kagome " InuYasha sighed "Don't be sorry, it isn't your fault."
Kagome whipped around to face him once more.
"Who said I thought it was?" Kagome didn't know why she felt angry. She had nothing to be upset about.
"Perhaps I am Jealous" She guessed out loud, she already felt bad about it in the first place, but when she realized she had said this out loud, she clamped her hand over her mouth tightly, as her brown eyes grew in shame.
InuYasha was as surprised when Kagome said this as she herself. Although he knew it was true.
"I didn't mean that" Kagome forced a nervous laugh , trying to make it seem as if it were a joke.
"Kagome, Are you really jealous of Kikyou?" He asked, his facial expression still remained and his eyes sparkled in the light of the setting sun, making it seem that perhaps he was about to cry, which to Kagome, this seemed very unlikely.
Kagome reached up and began to fiddle with her long black hair, remembering how long it had been she she last washed it, making her feel quite more uncomfortable.
She took her time thinking about what to say, after all, what would you say?
She felt so foolish to be jealous, although it was a feeling she could not just throw aside.
As calmly as Kagome could manage, she sat stiffly next to InuYasha on the grass before releasing a heavy , heavy sigh.
"Isn't it Obvious?" She said at last, looking him right in the face :It's just that you've spent so much time with me and we've been through so much, it sort of angers me .. That you can still love her more than me, when she is Dead! Kagome clamped her hands over her mouth once more, wishing she didn't Have one!! Why did she have to say That !?
Kagome looked down to her knee's, letting her neat black bangs fall over her eyes.
"Is that why you are acting so strangely lately, Kagome? Because you think that I love Kikyou more than you?" He asked with a steady yet somewhat timid voice.
'Wait' Kagome's mind raced ' Did he just say 'think'..does that mean..'
"Stupid question " He decided out loud and looked away again, gazing upon the setting sun in the distance.
Kagome looked too, out of curiosity. She felt more guilt now than she could remember ever feeling before. Sure, she couldn't hide the fact that she loved InuYasha, but she felt extremely bad for feeling jealous over Kikyou. She had no reason to..or at least that was what Kagome had told herself and wanted to believe badly.
She turned her head abrubtly upon hearing a loud muffled cry and watched as the bush closest to InuYasha and herself jiggled.
"Whose there?" Kagome called loudly to the bush. Although the bush did not reply. Kagome stood up lazily and trudged over to the bush.
Sure enough, sitting behind it was Shippou, Sango, and Miroku. Shippou was struggling to get free from Miroku's grasp, making several attempts to bite the monk's hand in order to get him to remove it from his mouth. When Miroku saw that Kagome was staring straight at him he released the poor kitsune and smiled.
"Nice weather today, isn't it?" He chuckled nervously, Kagome could tell that he knew she knew that they were spying on her and InuYasha.
Kagome didn't even have the energy to yell at them, she felt strangely exhausted and hopeless. Miroku seemed to notice this too, since the expected lecture about one's privacy did not come from either of them. To all of the unwanted party's surprise, Kagome rolled her eyes and with a sharp cold turn, trudged away from the scene.
She still had so much to think about at the time being and no patience to deal with them now. Fighting the strong urge to glance back to see if they had followed, Kagome continued to march until she had reached a shadowed spot in the edge of the wood.
A small convenient seat of leaves looked rather inviting near a rather bulky looking tree. Making her way through the mess of sticks and stones lining the forest floor she seated herself upon the leaves and leaned back against the tree.
Her mind began to race. What of Naraku, now? It seemed almost impossible to believe he'd been gone, after all they'd been through before...Of course, Kikyou had been a powerful priestess and had more power within than any other she'd known besides herself, but even she was clue less on how to use it all.
Her eyes began to wander the forest floor, searching for another topic to discuss with herself while she still had her time alone, when it hit her. Was she really being all that naive? WAS Naraku really telling the truth when he had said he wanted to take her life himself? Or had it been just another lie?
Her legs seemed to spring to life once more, bringing herself upwards in an instant. She fled to the edge of the forest and quickly retreated back to the others who seemed to be deep in an excited looking discussion, although InuYasha still seemed a little forlorn.
She continued right past them and halted right at the spot Naraku had fallen. Her eyes at once began to carefully scan the grounds around her. They lit up with satisfaction upon finding something in the grass a few feet from herself. She quickly scooped it up into her hands and dangled it into the air obnoxiously for all eyes to see, waiting for them to take notice of her. When this failed she cleared her throat loudly. After they completely ignored yet another attempt to get their attention she'd begun to get a little annoyed.
"Look here!" She grumbled loudly at last.
Finally, all eyes fell upon her, quickly dimming down the joyous glows within them.
"Ah..I should have expected this..we've all been blinded by the glory that we missed what was right in front of our eyes!" Miroku gasped.
Shippou took the object in his own little hands to examine it closely. when he was finished he too gasped.
"So that proves it!!THAT Naraku was just another puppet!!" Shippou whined "Which means he's still out there!"
"Why that good for nothing, low lying..." InuYasha began to rant to himself, the heat in his voice rising. The hanyou shot to his feat, a fire burning in his usually exceptionally gentle eyes like Kagome had never seen.
"I'll take care of him!!!" Within moments of him saying this, Tetsusaiga had been unsheathed, and thrust into the air wildly in his rage as he leapt into the air gracefully.
Kagome watched in horror as he flew through the air some feet and took off again as quickly as he had begun. She feared for him...She feared for her InuYasha!
"Kirara!" She found herself calling before she had realized it. In seconds, The small demon had transformed herself and had swept Shippou and herself onto her back as Miroku and Sango hopped on right before She'd taken flight. "Find InuYasha!! Please hurry!"
"Master, do you believe figured you out yet?" A small voice of a servant piped up from the shadows.
"No, they'll be far too caught up in all their excitement they won't suspect a thing. After all, it's such a great thing to be rid of me, is it not?" A spine tingling smile formed on the face of Naraku.
The servant nodded respectfully to the man before leaving the room in a hurry, finding it rather uncomfortable.
"Yes, such fools." Naraku grinned, turning and facing the opposite wall, now talking to himself."I can't help but wonder how well the fake jewel shards fit with the rest of the jewel..I really had worked hard on them...I would hate for them to go to waste."
Mere moments later the scared servant, more terrified than ever, came crashing through the wall to the right Of naraku.
"m-master! He's here!" The servant managed to squeek before a figure in red stepped in through the fresh hole in the wall. The surprised expression on Naraku's face must have showed, for the figure in red stepped forwards again, his silvery hair flowing madly behind him and his eyes, full of a burning hatred, bored into Naraku's. The thing that was the most peculiar was the cocky grin that found its way onto his face, seeming so out of place amongst the rest of his facial expressions.
"So this is you? Not just another puppet? Are you done being cowardly you snake!" The hanyou growled dangerously.
"Maybe..I could be real..that's just a chance you'd have to take. Besides,Your the all powerful demon, you should know these things." Naraku's cruel grin grew yet still.
"It's a chance I'm willing to take!" InuYasha swung Tetsusaiga around so that the tip of the blade barely met with the tip of Naraku's nose. "I'll slit you in half!"
"What's the matter, InuYasha? Don't announce it, Do it." Naraku sneered, leaping backwards and pulling himself into neat back flip.
"You ass!" InuYasha screamed lunging forward with all of the might in his legs, the huge sword at his hands as light as a feather as it swept cleanly through the air, thick with tension. As the mighty blade hit the ground, so did something else. A dull thud sounded out into the night.
"oohh!!! We'll never find him!!" Shippou moaned "And he'll get in trouble and we'll never see him again!"
"Don't talk like that, Shippou! Of course we'll find him!!" Kagome's confidence was as fake as her phony encouraging smile.
Kirara stood in the middle of a strange village, sniffing the air, the most confused of them all.
"Kirara's confused..there must be some kind of enchantment..hiding the true hideout.. I'm almost positive this is where he came" Sango stated
"It must be true. After all, it wouldn't be exactly wise to just leave a hideout out in the open." Miroku added softly. " I wonder..." Miroku hopped off, and after regaining his balance, headed off about 10 feet, leaving the frustrated group to watch impatiently. "Just as I figured!" He called back
"Hmm? Whats that?" Kagome asked, the boldness in her voice had faded from before.
"This village doesn't lead anywhere..It's just an Illusion!" Miroku pulled something small out of his robes and placed it gently and carefully on the ground. He placed his staff next to him as he knelt to the ground and placed his hands in a praying position. With his head bent low, he muttered a few inaudable words.
"oh my!" Kagome gasped. The area around them seemed to..melt. The pretty colors of the happy village seemed to run and mix with others, creating ugly browns and blacks, the sky around them seemed to rip like cheap wall paper and fall uselessly to the ground.As the strips hit the dirt, they changed into scenery. Ugly, dark tree's began to emerge from the fallen bits and pieces as a black stream began to trickle dangerously close to Kirara. The true sky was finally enchantment free, and nearly black except for the reds and oranges mixed like tye dye in some places. Finally, the foolishly happy villagers dropped to the ground soon their bones were all that was left of them.
"What you saw was just a memory of what once was" Miroku stated gravely. He climbed to his feet and regained posession of his staff as he made eye contact with Kagome. "Naraku killed this entire village in order to hide here. He truely is a monster. Now, we must find InuYasha before he gets himself killed..and afterwords.." Miroku slowly turned around with an apologetic expression, to face the bones of the dead villagers "We must bury the remains of the villagers. It's the least we can do."
"Assuming we survive" Shippou whispered.
"We will survive" Kagome replied, a bit more aggressively than she meant to, startling the poor Kitsune.
"Let's go, now!" Miroku leapt upon Kirara's back. It took a few seconds before Kagome realized what had inspired the sudden urgency In Miroku's voice.
The entire sky before them was not what she had previously thought it to be. It was Youkai! Thousands of them, All heading towards them with evil toothy grins and scowls. The oranges and reds became larger in the sky, as the blackness of the actual sky became less and less apparent.
Kirara shot into the air, slicing through the sky, towards the dark castle in the distance,that didn't seem to be there before. Quickly glancing at the scene around her, Kagome noticed hundreds of dead bodies of youkai, close to the castle.
'He must be here! He must!'
A huge hole in the side of the castle near the side suggested that it was the most likely place of entry. Two Youkai swooped down upon them, unsuspectingly.In surprise Kirara haulted, and Kagome's hold on her furr slipped. Before she knew it, she was dangling dangerously from Kirara's kneck, the only hope of her living was to hold on.
"Help me!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs, fear filling her from head to toe. He hands were sweaty and her arms were tired. She could just feel herself slipping. "help!!!!"
In hope of any help at all her glanced upwards, Miroku and Sango were both busy fighting Youkai and were unable to do anything, they're tries proved useless.
"Kagome! Hold on!" Shippou called,his short little arms reaching down towards her. Realizing this wouldn't work, he readied himself to transform. Something large interupted his attempt and hit him in the head ,throwing him violently backwards into a tumble that almost knocked him off Kirara's back as well.
"No! Shippou!" Kagome gasped, short of breath. This was the least of her worries. before she had realized it was happening, her hands betrayed her and had let go of their lifeline sending her tumbling to the ground below, to her death.
Kagome's heart felt as if it were bursting in her chest and her eyes grew in fear as she screamed hopelessly, falling faster and faster, head first. She couldn't watch anymore, her screaming stopped, she held her breath and closed her eyes, waiting for the painful blow as she hit the ground.
"Ow!!" Kagome's eyes slid open, wondering if that had been it..had she died? Focusing, the area around her swarmed, her stomach turned. She looked down. The ground looked awfully pink..and round..? In a few minutes of recollecting herself , she finally realized she was floating.
"Shippou! You saved my life!" Kagome's elation was taken over by unsuspected sobs, and even more unsuspected vomiting.
Shippou touched the ground and returned to his usual form. Kagome dropped as he did this and hit the ground with little pain,landing hard on her back.
"Thank you!!!" Kagome sobbed, wiping her mouth. She leapt off of her spot on the ground,towards the Kitsune and tackled him with hugs.
She still couldn't throw that feeling of dizziness, but it didn't matter..not now. She looked upwards at the battle-filled sky, but found that her fellow travelers were too high up to see.
"come on!" She grabbed hold of the startled Kitsune by the hand and swept him into her arms. We've got to find InuYasha!
Cautiously, Kagome climbed through the massive hole in the wall and peered inside, her mouth fell open.
A dark pool of blood quickly formed underneath the dark figure lying face first on the ground. The pool became wider as the skin of the man became paler.
"You rat" InuYasha breathed almost soundlessly.
The figure on the ground was not the one who he was aiming for, but instead the servant. Naraku had managed to block the blow with his servant!
"What's the matter InuYasha? Not what you were aiming for? My, You really do need to learn how to handle that sword of yours, don't you now?" Naraku cackled.
The rage within the hanyou boiled and burst. He raised his blood drenched blade , readying to charge Naraku again. This time, he stopped abruptly.
"Kagome!" InuYasha yelled, turning his head sharply towards the place he had barged in.
"Well isn't this sweet." Naraku sneered. "No time for reunions, you both must die."
A blinding purple light shot through the air, pouring out of Naraku as he stood there like a statue, that same ugly grin plastered on his face, not a movement was made.
Instinctively, InuYasha shot towards Kagome, Tetsusaiga lifted slightly to the side in hopes of it acting as a sheild for them both. As the purple light hit Tetsusaiga the blade began to vibrate.
By the time InuYasha had reached the helpless girl, she was already swaying dangerously back and forth.
"Kagome, no!" InuYasha mouthed. He placed his free hand on one of her shoulders, trying to stop her from falling over. He looked at her face, it was pale and her eyes slowly rolled into the back of her head and snapped shut. Her knees gave way and she dropped with a thud to the ground, Kitsune and all.
InuYasha dropped to the ground next to her and placed a hand on her delicate cheek. It was ice cold, and her facial expression was peaceful and empty. As a last attempt to wake her, he shook her violently, failing to get even the slightest movement from her.
"No..No...NOOO!!" InuYasha was screaming louder with each no, and the last seemed to shake the room. "YOU-" He couldn't find any words for the way he felt.
He shot around and glared at Naraku, his eyebrows narrowed as far as they would go, as a single tear rolled down his cheek slowly and dropped to the ground, echoing throughout the now soundless room.
With one swift motion He had raised Tetsusaiga and shot into the air, plunging towards his enemy..his prey. Before He felt the blade pierce through naraku's skin, he vanished, reappearing Ten feet from his previous spot. This Enraged the Hanyou even more.
"What's the matter, InuYasha? That sword weighing you down?" Naraku scoffed.
"Your right" InuYasha growled, Letting Tetsusaiga drop uselessly to the ground next to him. He cracked his knuckles, his claws seemed longer and sharper than usual.
InuYasha Bound towards his enemy again to find him vanish once more. Again and again he did this, getting the same result each time.
"You worthless half breed! You care so much about a human wench!" Naraku cackled louder, taunting him, purposely making him angrier.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!! I DON'T THINK I HEARD YOU!" InuYasha screamed, Lunging the fastest he had yet at Naraku. "YOU'LL PAY FOR SAYING THAT!!!YOU'LL PAY!!!"
A warmth seemed to surround him joined by a strange tingling feeling. His fangs dug deep into his lip as they grew larger and his eyes became even more fierce than they had been before.Lastly ,His claws lengthened just as they plunged Into Naraku's neck.
Mercilessly, InuYasha yanked his claws out of his enemy's neck,watching as blood poured from the wound. Almost instantly, InuYasha grabbed hold of his enemies neck again, pinning him to the wall.
A grin formed on InuYasha's face as he observed the look of sheer terror on the man's face as he pressed harder in an attempt to crush his neck. Pain flooded InuYasha's body as he was sent flying backwards.
shooting to his feet almost as soon as he hit the floor, he glared at his foe. A grin appeared on his face yet again. His youkai self was enjoying every drop of blood shed.
InuYasha crackled his knuckles loudly, plunging towards Naraku, hand held high above his head. A red shield was now surrounding Naraku and as InuYasha passed through, an immense amount of pain flooded his body again, even more painful than the last jolt. This did not hinder him like Naraku had hoped and InuYasha's claws had soon enough reached their destination. A shrill scream echoed throughout the room.
Another thud sounded throughout the room and the shield dimmed and died. As InuYasha's eyes travled to the floor, he found nothing but a large clump of Jewel shards! InuYasha scooped them into cupped hands as His eyes traveled back over to Kagome's lifeless body ten feet from him. The warmth he had felt moments before quickly vanished and he could feel himself returning to normal.
He had no time to think of how unusual the last few minutes had been, but instead based all his thoughts on Kagome, and nothing else. Even though he was barely harmed at all, he felt as if he'd been pierced viciously through the heart.
Head hanging low, InuYasha trudged over to kagome. He lowered himself down to the ground.
Shippou and Kagome were...gone...
He bent forwards and let his head rest in his bloodstained hands. Before he had known it, they were covered with tears as well.
'They're gone...'
Wow, that was a surprise, no? It's not the end, I can give you that much, but it may be for others... Reveiw! Without reveiws, I would never have the heart to finish..! And that is a threat. ;-)