A/N: Ah yes, Halloween was fun! I am on a sugar high and PROUD! Okay, again, I have to apologize for killing the baby. But the baby IS the last good guy to die, I can promise you that. …Don't kill me…
Chapter 22: Hope is Fading
Kuro sniffed the air. No doubt about it, he was on the right path. The scent of those youkai grew stronger as he kept going. He jumped down into a dip, and looked around. Rock walls encircled him. He sniffed, and his eyes shot to the right.
There. Gripping Tessaiga firmly, he ripped through the curtain of ivy covering the subtle entrance. Once inside, he looked around. Instead of being like a cave, it was more like a stone corridor. Even torches lined the passage.
Kuro sniffed again, he was heading in the right direction. He carefully walked down the passage, keeping an eye out for any sign of movement.
Suddenly, a female shape formed out of what had appeared to be a rock. Tai smiled. "Well, I'm surprised you got this far."
Kuro growled, gripping Tessaiga tighter. "Where is she?" He said, in a voice that meant business.
Tai seemed slightly amused. "Who do you ask?"
Kuro snarled, barely able to control his anger. "DON'T JOKE WITH ME!" He leveled the Tessaiga at her throat. "WHERE IS SHE?"
The shape changing youkai sighed. "Of course, I'm supposed to be under orders to fight you…" she rolled her eyes. She suddenly changed into a giant snake.
Kuro readied himself for battle. He didn't care how many obstacles there were. He would get to Suki. The snake lunged, its mouth open with large fangs dripping saliva. Kuro jumped out of the way, the green serpent narrowly missing him, and with a loud crash, hit the floor.
She suddenly changed herself back into human form. "Well, that's good enough, don't you think?"
Kuro was about to continue fighting, but he stared. "What?"
She sighed. "There's no point in fighting you when I don't particularly care." Tai started leading him down the passage. "Come, I will take you to her."
He didn't let go of Tessaiga. "I don't trust you." He muttered.
Just as she reached a door that seemed carved out of stone, she muttered, "I'm not one to be trusted."
She opened the door to a dark room. Kuro took one last look at this strange woman, and then walked in, hearing the door shutting behind him. I don't trust her…he thought.
He squinted, until he saw someone in the corner. He dropped Tessaiga and ran over to her. Kuro grabbed her in his arms and held her. "Suki! I finally found you!"
She hadn't even noticed he was there until he was hugging her. "Kuro…" She leaned into his touch, biting back tears. How can I tell him?
But his nose had picked up that she was crying. He let her go, only to look in her eyes. Even in the darkness, he could see tears shining in her indigo pools. "Suki…it's okay. I'm here, everything's going to be okay…"
More tears leaked from her eyes. "No, its not…" She cried, not able to control herself.
Suddenly, Kuro's nose picked up a scent. "Blood! Suki, are you hurt? Where, let me help—"
She cut him off with a soggy, "I'm not hurt."
The worried hanyou didn't listen. "But, Suki—"
"I'm not hurt…" She repeated, a tear falling off her cheek. "I'm not hurt…Kuro…it's…"
And then he understood. No…it can't be… But there was no mistaking that scent. Their baby—his child—was gone. The realization that a life that he had only known for two days was dead, was almost more than anything he could bear.
"Kuro!" Suki cried, grabbing on to the front of his haori, drowning in tears. "I'm so sorry…so sorry…"
He pulled her to his chest, holding her like she may disappear at any moment. He buried his face in her hair. "Suki…its all right…" He said, trying to calm her down, but it only made a single tear escape his eyes.
She continued sobbing. "It's all my fault…I killed it…" she cried into his chest. Her whole body was shaking.
"No, no you didn't…" he murmured softly. "Suki, please, its okay…"
"But Kuro," she said, looking back up at him, sadness etched on her face. "I wasn't able to protect it…the child you wanted, the family you wanted… I let it die!"
He pulled her back into a hug, noticing that he was shaking as well. He couldn't help but feel sadness. Kuro had wanted his own child so badly, he would imagine what it would be like in months when it was born. He had already started to see himself as a father.
But the child had died. Died because he had failed to get there on time.
He blamed himself entirely.
But there was no time to think on the matter. "Suki…" he gulped. "I know. I know it hurts…but we can't think about it now. Come on, we have to get out of here, quickly."
Suki looked at him for a moment, through watery eyes, and then nodded. He helped her up, his heart wrenching at the sight of all the blood on the lower half of her yukata. "Come on," he repeated, as he grabbed Tessaiga and put it back in its sheath. It's the sword that protects man…but I failed to protect something this time…he thought, closing his eyes in reflection.
They left the small chamber, only to find themselves in the passage. "Kuro," Suki asked. "Which way?"
He stopped. There was nothing to distinguish which way he came. He wasn't even sure now. It was like the passage had moved. He had to pick one way. "Come on," he said, leading her off into one direction.
The passage emptied out into a large basin in the middle of the mountains. Above them was the dark sky, and around them were very high walls of stone.
"I think we went the wrong way." Kuro said, about to turn around—
When Henka jumped down from above, blocking the exit. "I was wondering when you'd get here, hanyou."
Kuro spotted something on his left. He turned, only to see Tai running back into the caves. Henka smiled. "You shouldn't trust so easily, hanyou."
Kuro unsheathed the Tessaiga, and said, "Suki, get back."
"Kuro…" she said in a whisper, from behind him. "Henka…he was…he was the reason why…" she couldn't finish the sentence.
Kuro suddenly felt all his rage coming forth. "You did this, you bastard! YOU DID THIS! Not only do you kill her parents—(Suki let out a loud gasp)—BUT NOW YOU KILLED AN INNOCENT CHILD AS WELL!"
The shape shifting youkai scoffed. "I wouldn't let any child of yours be born to her. I was doing the girl a favor. Why anyone would want to mate with filth…"
"THIS ISN'T ABOUT ME!" he roared. "YOU KILLED AN UNBORN CHILD THAT DIDN'T EVEN GET A CHANCE TO LIVE! AND YOU DON'T EVEN CARE!"
Insanity and sadism gleamed from his eyes. "Oh, I see. Were you disappointed, hanyou, when you realized that your child wasn't going to be born? When you realized the only family you might ever have had was never going to be? I know what you are thinking hanyou…"
"You do, huh?" Kuro snarled.
Henka's smile widened. "You're all alone in the world, aren't you? After all, hanyous get nothing. Because they are nothing. But you can't stand being alone. You were lucky enough to find someone to accept you, but what if she hadn't? You'd be wallowing in despair. It's the same with this child. You're only angry because I took it from you. And the girl. You don't love her. You only like her because she accepts you—"
"SHUT UP!" Kuro sent a Kaze no Kizu at him, which he easily avoided. Kuro jumped forward and slashed at him, cutting the youkai into many pieces, unhindered by it. "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT CRAP COMES OUT OF YOUR DAMN MOUTH! I LOVE HER, AND NOTHING IS EVER GOING TO CHANGE THAT! NOT EVEN YOU, BASTARD!"
When he finished cutting him, and stopped, Henka just regenerated back to his original form. "This is getting no where…" he said, bored.
In an instant, he managed to jump across the space, over Kuro's head, and landed in front of Suki. She cowered in fear, as he smiled over her, before Kuro could do anything, he saw, almost in slow motion, Suki fly against the wall, hitting it hard, and then landing back on the stone, motionless.
Kuro yelled, "SUKI!" but it was too late. "YOU BASTARD!" Kuro yelled back at Henka.
The youkai smiled back at him. "Now, this'll be more interesting." And he ran at Kuro, intent on giving him a fight he would never forget.
"How much farther?" Akuto asked, jumping up on a rocky ledge.
"I don't know." Kiri replied, following suit. "I'm positive it's somewhere in these mountains…" She couldn't even look back at him. As they ran after the trail, Kiri had told him the whole story, how Kuro had mated with Suki behind her back, how now she was carrying his child, and now how she had been kidnapped and Kuro had run after her. Although Kiri had blamed Kuro for his actions, Akuto had actually stuck up for him.
"You can't blame him for wanting to mate with her." Akuto had said. "Actually, I identify with him. Sometimes, you think about wanting to have a family with a certain someone, and mating is really the only way I know of going about it." He had grinned at her, as if it was a joke, but Kiri wasn't so sure.
She had changed the subject abruptly.
But Kiri couldn't help but notice…now that he was back; it was as if seeing him in a whole new light. Somehow, Akuto wasn't as annoying as she used to think he was. She actually enjoyed talking to him, for the most part. And whenever he called her Sweetheart, her heart would skip a beat in excitement rather than anger. Why does it have to be this way now? She wondered.
As they got closer to the scent, Akuto stopped. He grabbed her hand, making her face blush so much, that it even appeared that her silver hair had turned a tinge of pink. "Hey, Sweetheart…I just want to say…you, uh, know we could die right?"
Her heart was pounding in her ears. "Y-yeah…but, its not going to happen, right? We're…uh…not going to die." She didn't say that with much confidence.
Akuto let go of her hand, something reflecting in his green eyes. "If you're sure, then."
Kiri still felt sad.
They jumped down into a medium sized dip in the rock, and found themselves surrounded by an 8 foot rock wall all the way around. "There." Kiri pointed, to the place where Kuro had ripped away the ivy.
Akuto took a deep breath, and with a sidelong glace at her, he started forward. "Okay, here we go."
Now or never…Kiri grabbed his shoulder. "Wait…" she looked back up at him, with tears forming in her amber eyes. "Wait…"
He turned around, across from her. "What?"
She blinked, the tears growing larger. "There's something I have to say…"
Akuto didn't respond, he looked a bit surprised.
Kiri took a small breath, with longing in her eyes. "I love you."
And then the tear fell from her eye, falling down on to the stone. It was the first tear to have ever fallen from her eyes. And it fell not because she was sad or depressed; it fell because she was so deeply in love. In love, with him.
There was a moment's pause, and then Akuto's expression softened. He smiled. "I know."
As if in a dream state, they came closer to each other, only to soon find themselves in each others arms. When nothing could hold her back any longer, Kiri closed her eyes and kissed his lips. Only to find him kissing her back.
It was the loveliest thing she had ever felt. The feeling of complete bliss, happiness because she was loved in return, the warmth of his touch, it made her wish this moment would never end. She couldn't imagine how before him, she had thought to live life without love. Akuto…you've done the greatest thing for me…you taught me to love…
All too soon, they broke away, each sighing with contentment. When Akuto looked back at her, Kiri smiled and blushed. "You know how long I've been waiting for you to do that?" he said.
"How long?" she asked, laughing in his arms.
"Too long." They let go, only to look back at the entrance of the cave. The one thing that kept them from continuing this lovely scene. Akuto grabbed her hand, and she laced her fingertips with his. "Come on, Sweetheart, lets go get killed."
A/N: WAHOO! That made me feel all good inside when I was writing it…anyway, it was the moment you have all been waiting for, I know it…Only too bad the end sucked, because they had to go help Kuro kick some youkai butt…Anyway, the last chapter will be (FINALLY!) the end battle, YAY!