Before all, the first thing he noticed upon waking was the smell of blood. Lots of it, fresh…recently spilled.
Next, he felt the constriction on his wrists that undoubtedly meant he was suspended from them, from a cold concrete wall that was next on his noticing list.
His first attempt at opening his eyes ended in pain, as the light roared into them and caused him to wince. Slowly, he tried again, and after a momentary haze, the room slowly came into focus.
His brain was not fuzzy enough to misinterpret the horror which it encountered.
He was, as he assumed, suspended from a wall by his wrists. What shocked him, however, was that he was not alone in this situation.
Hanging from each of the other three walls in the dingy, windowless concrete room lit only by a bare hanging light bulb were his friends.
To his left hung Miroku, unconscious, blood trickling from a head wound hidden by his raven hair. His shirt was in tatters, and so was much of the skin underneath. His right hand appeared to have been pierced straight through the palm.
A quick glance to his left (anything oh anything to avoid the sight ahead) brought to his eyes the suspended form of Sango, who bore a huge gash from right shoulder to left hip. Her clothes were nearly all a shade of scarlet.
He could avoid it no longer, and forced himself to look ahead. He winced again, though the only pain he felt was in his chest.
There were no great wounds on her; in fact, there were less on her then the others. However, in the center of Kagome's forehead, there was a pool of blood that could only conceal a deep wound. The blood was trickling down her forehead in eyes that stared into nothing. Had Inuyasha not picked up a ragged heart beat and noticed her chest moving slowly up and down he would have feared the worst.
Even so, he was less then happy. You might even say he was…angry.
As he was fruitlessly straining against the bonds, teeth bared and muscles bulging, the single door to the room opened, and in walked a man wielding a whip.
Inuyasha stopped his thrashings, and glared at the newcomer. "Who the fuck are you?" he growled.
The man's wicked face was surrounded by long black hair that seemed to go in every direction. His eyes seemed to glint red as he smiled. The Tetsaiga hung from his belt.
"I am called Naraku," came the sinister voice.
Inuyasha quickly began to struggle again, harder. His efforts were to no avail. He heard a crack! and felt a blinding pain across his chest as a slash tore through his shirt and opened his skin.
Naraku stood there, still smiling, whip held at his side.
Inuyasha gazed into his dark eyes, panting slightly. "Why did you do it?" he asked in a low voice. "Why do that to her?"
Naraku cocked his head slightly to the side, looking up in thought. "Why did I kill Kikyo? Hmm…" He smiled again, as he feigned thought. "Oh yes, I remember now. That bitch refused to be mine. So, I made sure that she was nobody's."
Inuyasha blinked. "I forgot about Kikyo…I meant Kagome, and the others." And this was true. He now wanted to kill the man before him, not for Kikyo, but for his new love.
Naraku blinked and gazed around the room. "You know these fools? They were talking about finding me in broad daylight…my guards roughed them up a bit and brought them here, for they were most strange…." His eyes flit back to Inuyasha, who could have sworn there was red in them. "But it is you I am more interested in…you, who inspired in a man more fear than I. How? What makes you so frightening? Why-stop trying to break free! It's pointless."
Inuyasha, who had been testing the strength of his bonds again, muttered distractedly "Guess I'm just a scary guy…" He glanced again at the killer's whip. It was laced with steal at the tip, that's why it was as strong and painful as it was. A quick plan shaped up in his head.
"Fool. Everyone learns to give me the answers that I want" sneered Naraku. He began pummeling Inuyasha with blows from the whip. This lovely practice lasted for about two minutes, leaving a battered Inuyasha dripping with blood.
"And what is your answer now?" smirked Naraku.
Inuyasha didn't even bother raising his head. He simply grinned, as blood trickled out the corner of his mouth, and flipped Naraku off.
The man recoiled as if hit, and indeed pain seemed to mingle with surprise on his face. "You…how dare…how…" he stammered. Finally, he recovered, hiding his surprise beneath a shield of hate. "Never will you do such a thing again!" he screamed, and the whip shot toward Inuyasha's wrist, hard enough to slice right through it.
Still grinning, Inuyasha pulled his arm in to him, and the whip crashed into the chains holding him the wall, splitting it. Using his speed as he swung from one arm, he flipped upside-down, feet against the wall as another strike came, breaking the other bond. He pulled his chest upright, sliding down the wall with his feet.
He landed, allowing his down traveling weight to pull him into a crouch, which he quickly sprung from with a leap towards Naraku. He landed on him, and they fell to the floor. Naraku's whip abandoned and forgotten, they rolled on the ground, punches thrown everywhere.
Inuyasha grasped the Tetsaiga, and pulled it off of the murderer, standing. He unsheathed it with a flash of light. He stood there, looking down at Naraku, the Tetsaiga in hand.
"I should kill you," he mumbled, more to himself, as Naraku glared at him with hate in his eyes. But Inuyasha was thinking of Kagome, and what she would think if he killed. Would he lose her?
He sighed. "But I don't think I will." Instead, he cracked the steel sheath into his temple, and Naraku crumpled into unconsciousness.
Using his sword, he took everyone down from the walls. He tore off a sleeve of his tee shirt, the only attire not soaked in blood, and wiped off everyone's wounds best he could. Kagome's wasn't as bad as he thought, it was fairly shallow.
In a matter of minutes, all of them were awoke, albeit tired and sore. After both sides had explained their stories, Miroku and Sango left the room to give Inuyasha and Kagome some privacy.
Both were currently looking down at their feet, unable to face the other. Finally, Kagome started.
"So…I guess this means Kikyo's avenged, huh?" She forced a small chuckle.
Inuyasha quickly raised his eyes to her face. After a quick flick of her own eyes, she stared steadily at the floor, her face scarlet. Oh god, he's going to yell at me for talking about her that! Stupid, stupid!
"Yeah, I guess," he murmured, his mind on other things. There was a silence just long enough to become awkward.
"Look, Kagome…" he began. Now it was her turn to look at him as his eyes aimed downward.
"I started this for Kikyo, because I felt that if I had stayed with her, she'd be fine. I didn't think it was fair of me to live happily while she was dead. And, I thought I still loved her." Kagome winced. Inuyasha hurried on as they played the sight switching game again. "But I'm not. Not a bit…after all, she abandoned me. I will always feel admiration for her, and gratitude for steering me in the right direction. But love? No. I reserve that for someone else."
Kagome brought her eyes up to his unbelieving, scared that what her heart might be telling her was wrong.
He looked deep into her eyes. "You. I love you. No one else." He said.
Her eyes widened. "No!" she screamed.
Inuyasha turned scarlet. He looked away. "I'm sorr-" He stopped talking as she unsheathed the Tetsaiga from his belt and stabbed it past his side.
He turned his head to see Naraku standing there, knife raised, eyes in shock as the looked down to the sword in his stomach. He fell backward off the sword, silent, and died with a look of surprise and confusion.
Tetsaiga clattered to the ground as Kagome dropped it, eyes staring at memory. Inuyasha took her in his arms, and she clung tightly to him.
"I love you too," she spoke into his shoulder. The loosened up slightly, and she raised her head to his, wanting to feel his lips against hers, to make sure he was back with her.
He was.
As they broke the kiss, they heard a small cough. They turned to see Sango and Miroku leaning against the sides of the doorframe. Miroku smiled.
"Can we leave before you two have wildly unsanitary sex in a sewer plant?"
Laughing, the four left the room to wander the halls for the exit. Any thugs they encountered took one look at them, blanched, and scampered away.
They were back together, the hunt was over. Time to return to school.
Actually, it's well past time to return to school isn't it? Yes, this is late. Very, very late. I am so sorry. Who am I kidding, thinking I could stop a story like this? The moment I posted that, I felt two waves of strong guilt; one to the readers, and one to the story. Damn! can wait, I'mcontinuing this. Thanks for sticking with me, and please continue to support me.
P.S. Being called a fool in German was quite a jumpstart