Losers
...OOO...
"Hey, Inuyasha!" Shippo called up into the tree. "Come on! We're going to be late if you don't hurry. Kagome's waiting for us."
"Alright, alright," Inuyasha grumbled with false irritation, stretching out his limbs in a long, drawn out yawn before hopping down to follow the little kitsune back to Kaede's hut.
Although there was no longer a need for her to- Kikyo having absorbed the Shikon Jewel into her own body just before her final battle with Naraku- Kagome still made frequent trips back to the feudal era and had been made into something of an honorary priestess in the village. Today she was overseeing a traditional spring harvest festival, and Inuyasha had agreed to go along to help.
They stopped in front of Kaede's small dwelling as the old woman came out to greet them.
"She is almost ready," she informed them and not a second later the young woman stepped outside, dressed in the traditional white haori and red hakama, her black hair tied loosely back.
For a second, Inuyasha saw Kikyo...
"Well, how do I look?" Kagome's cheerful voice broke the illusion.
"You look great," Shippo chirped enthusiastically.
And turning to him, she prodded, "Inuyasha?"
"Uh, yeah, great," he agreed, but his mind was somewhere else.
It had been over half a year now and more and more he found short, little moments in which he did not think of Kikyo, but for the most part she still lingered in his brain, like a ghost he could not see but knew was there just by her presence. She haunted him, and he could not deny her.
"Come on," Kagome prompted. "It's almost noon- the ceremony will start any minute."
"Idiot," he retorted, brushing aside his thoughts of another. "You're presiding over it- it can't start without you."
"Oh, true," she laughed.
They picked up the old beaten path through the village which led to the far fields where the ceremony was being held. Kagome was recounting a funny story about her little brother, making Kaede and Shippo laugh, when they came to a sharp bend in the road. Paying no attention, Kagome rounded the corner and ran straight into Inuyasha who had been walking in front of her and had suddenly halted.
"Uh, something wrong, Inuyasha?" she asked, rubbing her forehead. Kaede and Shippo fell silent behind her.
Peeking over his shoulder, Kagome was also surprised at the cause of their delay.
"Inuyasha," Sesshomaru greeted stonily, standing tall and regal in their path.
"Sesshomaru," Inuyasha responded edgily. He was always wary around his older brother. "What do you want?"
"Be nice, Inuyasha," Kagome admonished in a whisper. "I don't think he's here for trouble."
"The girl is right," Sesshomaru confirmed. "I only come seeking the priestess."
Instantly Inuyasha shot out an arm to shield Kagome as the other landed on the hilt of his Tetsusaiga.
"What do you want with Kagome?" he demanded defensively.
"Don't be a fool," Sesshomaru replied contemptuously. "I have no need for that girl. I come for Kikyo."
Inuyasha's mouth dropped open.
"W-what did you say?" He was not sure he had heard correctly.
"Do not toy with me, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru's voice turned ice cold as he lost his patience, and his hand found Tokijen. "I will only ask one more time- where is Kikyo." It was a demand, not a request.
"Y-you bastard!" Inuyasha stuttered, unable to control his voice due to his rising anger. "KIKYO IS DEAD!"
The news struck Sesshomaru like a lightening bolt and his surprise was apparent to everyone. Kikyo...dead?
"Don't pretend you didn't know!"Inuyasha snarled furiously. "You were there!"
...ooo...
'Inuyasha...' Kagome could only whisper his name as she helplessly watched not only the castle, but the whole mountain upon which it stood crumble with the demise of its master.
Inside the heart of that mountain, Inuyasha was trapped, desperate for escape.
'Come on!' he urged tugging at Kikyo's arm to hasten her. "This way!"
They ran out of the room carved into the solid body of the mountain and into the narrow ledge which wound around the cylindrical hollow to meet the spiraling stone stairway that led up to the castle- and their only way out.
Instinctively he wrapped his arm around her, jumping back and shielding her with his own body as a huge boulder smashed into the ledge where they had been standing, causing it to collapse into the bottomless pit below them. A large gap now lay in between them and the path of their salvation, and for a minute they could do nothing but gape in disbelief at their extreme bad luck. The division was too wide and any attempt they made at crossing it would be greatly hindered by falling debris...
Finally he said quietly, not daring to look into her eyes, "Come on..." and motioned for her to hop on to his back.
Her hand flew unbidden to her face as the depth of his proposal dawned on her.
"Inuyasha..." she whispered. "You'll never make it- not with me weighing you down..."
"At least I'll die with you!" he yelled angrily whirling around to face her- though his anger was for merciless fate. Then he lowered his voice and his eyes. "At least this time, we won't die alone..."
His arms flew around her as he pulled her to him, smothering her in his embrace.
"I'm sorry, Kikyo," he cried, burying his face into her soft hair, the tears stinging at his eyes. "I'm sorry I've let you down again- failed to protect you... I love you."
The rumbling of the collapsing mountain around them increased, almost drowning out the only thing she said, the only thing she could say, "Inuyasha..."
She allowed her hands to grip at his robe for a second, allowed her head to sink into his shoulder, allowed her eyes to close... All for a brief second that she wished might last for eternity...
Then summoning up the last of her spiritual strength, she shoved him away from her.
His eyes widened in horrified shock, his hands still reaching desperately for her as he was launched backwards into the air, every moment passing by in slow motion.
He landed on a protruding boulder and instinctively leaped back as it rolled away from him, and he found himself on the opposite side of the gap, the stairwell only a few feet away.
"KIKYO!" he screamed, ready to return for her.
But she commanded harshly, "Stay, Inuyasha! Do not waste the opportunity I have given you." A small bittersweet smile appeared on her lips, her voice softening to match the quiet anguish in her eyes.
"Live, Inuyasha," she whispered to herself, but he heard it- despite the hungry groaning of the mountain, he heard it. "Live and be happy."
And with that she retreated back into the stone room, a curtain of falling earth separating them...
There was nothing else he could do. With a heart torn to pieces, he turned his back and left her...
...ooo...
Once again unshed tears pricked at his eyes as he recounted the memory, staring at the ground and wishing that it would swallow him up the way it had swallowed her.
"Inuyasha..." Kagome found herself speechless. After the incident, Inuyasha had refused to talk and she had not impelled him, and though she had had her suspicions, this was the first time she had learned of what had truly conspired in the heart of that cursed mountain. And the truth was something she could never have imagined.
Kikyo had given up her life for Inuyasha. Kikyo, who had wanted nothing more than to be with him... had once again died alone.
Suddenly Kagome found herself crying.
It was never fair, she thought bitterly. Not for any of them- not for her, not for Kikyo, not for Inuyasha.
Why? Why did someone always have to lose?
...OOO...