CHAPTER NINE – ENDING ONE

The demon grinned as he lowered the blade, and turned his head to Kagome. "Another reason I wanted a human." He sneered. "So weak and pathetic…I could always overpower their spirits in the end and take control of their bodies. They have no strength of will or power to them. They're just trash. Actually, Sanhou wasn't making up lies about demons. He was merely stating my opinions regarding humans that I fed him."

Kagome stiffened, and tried to pull away a bit.

The monster clenched its hands into fists and glared in rage. It turned to Kagome and hissed angrily. It was livid with fury now, more angry than it had been yet. It began to change.

Abruptly, its already tall body became taller. Its face began to extend. Its clothes shredded and fell off of it, and brown hair began to spring up all over its body. Its claws and talons became longer and crueler, and its eyes grew blood red. Horn crests sprang up from around its face, growing bony and sharp, as it grew taller and taller and bigger around. It rippled with more muscle than ever as thick hair covered it, and soon it was as tall as a house. In a few moments, to Kagome's shock, the humanoid was gone. Now, a huge bear demon loomed over her, dripping drool out of its sharp-tooth-filled mouth and growling in rage.

"Damn you, stupid girl! Damn you to hell!" It bellowed. "I had ultimate power! I had the world…the cosmos at my fingers! But then you had to ruin it! You ruined everything! But I'll rebuild! I swear to you I'll rebuild! And I'll start with your pathetic soul!"

Kagome began to quiver in fear. But she was helpless now. Her pain still crippled her, and she was still strained from all that had happened. She managed to start dragging herself away, but the towering demon walked forward much faster than her. Its eyes blazed rage. Its mouth drooled hungrily.

But then, both stopped as a small voice spoke up from behind the thing.

"If you're using your sword…I'm going to use mine."

Then, in a flash, a massive glowing blade shot up from behind the creature and sliced into it, freely slashing into the flesh and hide of the beast. It cut straight through, slicing up from its hip to its opposite shoulder, leaving blazing light in its wake as it went through. Kagome blinked in astonishment, but then looked closer. As the monster gurgled and stiffened, bleeding out of its mouth and stunned in horror, Kagome saw a familiar, though blood soaked and ragged, hanyou behind him, brandishing Tetsusaiga.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called in joy.

"Consider this, asshole." He seethed. "Tetsusaiga only shows itself when I'm defending a human, and right now Kagome doesn't have any shards on her."

The thing didn't answer. Instead, it slowly slid apart into its two halves, before completely falling to the ground. A look of horror was still frozen on its face. As it fell, blood and fluids gushed out and everywhere for a moment. But that only lasted a second. Then, suddenly, the creature shrank and withered. It wasn't like the others. This time, it seemed as if the body was burning up like a piece of paper. It withered and thinned and broke away into fragments, which themselves disintegrated into nothing. It continued to do so until the entire thing was a black cinder, and then it itself vanished. Only when this had happened did Saphsaiga fall to the ground and lay there, not vanishing like the others…but laying there. Only the sword was left at last.

Kagome herself paused a moment, and looked up to the hanyou. She smiled, even though he was frowning and looking down at the blade. It was over. It was finally over. The souls had been released, and everything was back to the way it was. Already, she began to hear sounds around her as the townspeople started to rise in confusion of what had happened. She turned and looked, and saw them standing and looking around in puzzlement. This meant that everyone else was alright too. Miroku, Sango, Kaede, and Kirara would all be back. For the first time in a long while, she smiled in relief.

As for Inuyasha, he ignored all of this. Instead, he walked over to the fallen Saphsaiga. He looked down on it for a moment and glared, seeing it shimmer against the ground. It looked unchanged for all that had happened to it. After a pause, he bent over and grasped its handle. He almost feared a draining touch…but none happened. It was cool and normal. He raised it up, and looked over it for a moment. So, this was the sword that gave you the power to make more of yourself. That made you invincible. He stared at it a moment longer, and briefly considered the power that it could give him…the strength and wisdom it meant…

Then, giving one snort, he tossed it into the air.

A Wind Scar later, and it was nothing but metal shavings.

Kagome's arm still hurt. Feudal medicine wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. It had barely numbed her pain. She needed to get back to her own time, and after explaining to her mom why she had been gone for so long she could prepare herself for verbal abusing concerning how her arm had gotten broken in five places. She probably wouldn't be able to go back to the past for a week, but that might be a good thing. She needed time to heal.

After the conclusion of the battle, Inuyasha had paused only long enough to look around and make sure that the rest of the Sanhous were dead. As he did so, both he and Kagome had noticed that a body was missing. Somehow, Sesshomaru had managed to drag himself away at the conclusion of the battle. Kagome didn't know what had happened to him, and at the moment she had been in too much pain to care. A part of her was disappointed that Inuyasha couldn't have finished him off. However…another part of her was grateful for his help. Inuyasha merely uttered a curse and swore that he'd kill him next time, but then picked up Kagome and took her back to the village. They ran into the revived Sango and Miroku on the way, and when they returned they saw that everyone was restored.

In the distance, she saw Sango cuddling with Kirara, no doubt overjoyed to see her back. As for Miroku, he was trying, as always, to cuddle with Sango, and not having much luck. It was a much more tasteful and satisfying scene than what Sanhou had shown the day before…

Sanhou…

Kagome thought back to him…poor, pathetic creature he had been. He had done so many bad things and caused so much misery and chaos. But in the end, he had come to his senses and tried to help her. He had given his life to try and make Saphomitso (for that was who Kagome was sure had been the monster killed) vulnerable. He was a miko, after all, and his death meant the end of one more tribe and fellow members that could have helped her understand herself. Now, he could be the only soul left locked inside that void of Saphsaiga. She hoped that Inuyasha's last strike had freed him.

Inuyasha…

"You're not thinking about that jerk, are you?"

Kagome looked to the side, seeing the hanyou up and about. She frowned a bit at the sight. Inuyasha was so battered and bruised he needed to rest. But good luck making him do so. Bandaged and limping as he was, he had dragged himself from bed and over to Kagome, and now stood with his arms crossed and standing upright.

Kagome merely shrugged. "He did save my life, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha snorted. "I do that all the time, but you don't seem to care. I'm glad to be rid of him. The only thing I cared about was if he could tell me where Naraku was. Now I'll never know."

Kagome paused a moment, but then turned to the ground. "I'm a little surprised that you didn't like him that much…"

Inuyasha perked up a bit to this, and turned to him in confusion.

"He was a lot like you, in many ways. He was trying to find out who he was. He hated being alone. On the inside, he was afraid after all that had happened to him. It made him the way he was."

Inuyasha snorted. "I'm just fine being alone, thank you. I don't need anything or anyone. And I'm the way I am because of how I made myself. I'm not some weak little human who gets manipulated by anything that happens to him or her."

Kagome didn't react in anger for once. She merely kept her face down, and a blank look on it. "…That's what I thought." She simply said, as if she was disappointed in him.

Inuyasha noticed this, and turned his head to it. Normally, he would have scowled immediately and told her to stop being so mopey. However…he too was still thinking of Sanhou. He was thinking of what he had accused him of. He was thinking of the terrible things he called him…and was wondering if it was true. That last phrase Kagome said had sounded far too much like him… In the end, he swallowed a bit, and turned away from her. Then, mumbling almost incoherently…he murmured a small phrase.

"…sorry…"

Kagome turned and looked to him at this, her face puzzled. "Excuse me?"

Inuyasha frowned, but then choked it out. "…I'm sorry I scratched you the other day, alright!" He sounded a bit exasperated by saying that, but he spat it out none the less. Then, after a pause, he groaned and gave out more. "And…you know about those nearby shards you sensed?"

Kagome paused for a moment at this, but then nodded. "Yes?"

"…Well…you…I…" He stumbled around a bit, and finally scowled and frowned. "You'll just drag me down with that broken arm and slow the whole thing…so…" He paused, and then softened a little. "You…you can take a few days to rest up… There's…no hurry."

Kagome blinked in astonishment. Was she dreaming? Inuyasha actually apologized for something, and now he was actually being considerate? It was overwhelming to her…but it was also the best surprise she had in a long time. She smiled in response, and leaned in a bit closer to the hanyou. He continued to frown…nearly blushing…as he looked to the ground. "You know…" She called out a little playfully. "You did tell Saphomitso that I didn't have any shards on me. You must have wanted him to know that you really cared about me…"

Inuyasha immediately flushed a shade redder. He perked up and gulped, and turned and saw Kagome almost leaning on him. Immediately, he shook his head and sprang back. Quickly, his tough attitude returned. "I mean…uh…well, I still needed you to find shards later. And I did want to protect you so that he didn't get another soul. So there's no reason to get all mushy on me about it. Don't read so much into it." He paused a moment, but then scowled and spat back more defensively. "And don't get lazy on me! I'm only giving you five days rest! On second thought, three days! And you better be ready to go after that!"

Normally, Kagome probably would have yelled at him in response to his rudeness until everything culminated in her bellowing, "Sit". However, whether it was due to being tired…or due to her still appreciating Inuyasha's gestures…or the fact that she knew the real reason behind Inuyasha's strike even if he denied it…she decided to let it slide for now.

Still smiling, the girl from the future turned and looked ahead, and enjoyed the feeling of the restored life of the forest around her as the sun rose.

THE END