Author's Note: All of you faithful readers, I owe you a sincere apology for making you wait so long for Chapter 13. I had a bout of writer's block which I have recently gotten over (if I hadn't, you wouldn't be reading this right now). Also, I was mistaken about the order of which Jakotsu and Rinkotsu died, and for that you also have my sincerest apologies. Finally, part of the chapter shall be written in Kouga's Point of View for the sake of the reader not missing one bit of the action. You shall be able to tell when the chapter's Point of View changes from Inuyasha's to Kouga's, and then back again. That is all, now please enjoy the long-awaited Chapter 13, and Happy New Year to everyone!
Blearily did Inuyasha blink at the morning sun before him, a sleepy arm raised to shield his eyes from the burning light that shone through the hut's feeble door. He felt like shit, what had happened last night...Inuyasha froze at the thought. Now he remembered, he remembered why he was feeling so poorly, it was all because of Jakotsu of the Band of Seven...although he was dead (this time for good), the half demon couldn't help but feel irrepressible hatred towards the corpse.
But, this also meant that there was only one member of the Band of Seven left. Bankotsu, their leader, and the wielder of an already powerful Zanmato that had been super-charged with the shards of the Shikon no Tama. He would be the most difficult warrior to defeat, but...a small smile came to Inuyasha's lips at the thought this, Kouga's there for me. We'll be able to beat him together this time.
"Finally awake, Mutt-Face?" Inuyasha turned to where the familiar voice had come from, sitting up with great difficulty as he did so. It was so hard to move right now, mostly because of all the bandages Kaede had used on him. After all, it felt like all his wounds from the previous night had healed already, he didn't even feel any pain, only a little queasy, "I thought you'd be sleeping for another hour at least. I brought some breakfast for you, I already ate."
"Thank you," Inuyasha tilted his head to nod as he got a bowl filled with fruit stuffed into his hands. Silently did the hanyou eat, although occasionally he looked back to Kouga, who also said nothing. Finally, he finished the last berry in the basket before he reached out to poke Kouga, and that in turn got his attention, "Only one member of the Band of Seven left to defeat now, and then there's Naraku..."
What he wanted to say was that he was unsure of the outcome of them fighting against the latter of the two he had mentioned, but immediately hushed up at Kouga shaking his head, "Calm down, we can take them. All you have to worry about right now is getting some rest, you've been through a lot," After saying that, the wolf demon stood up and turned to exit the hut, although he paused, looking back at Inuyasha with a smirk.
"But-"
"Butts are for sitting on, fucking, and smacking, Mutt-Face," Feeling his eyes widen to the fullest extent, Inuyasha's cheeks burned furiously as he felt Kouga's lips press against his own before the other left the hut with the lightning speed used to kiss him, "I'm getting food, I'll be back later. Take care of yourself."
Why that...sighing, he shook his head and smiled while his gaze remained on the floor. He should have seen that one coming...
It was still strange, to think of him as a lover rather than a rival or an enemy. After all, Inuyasha now was looking at the wolf demon with a whole different perspective, and though (more than likely) they would still fight, they could go about it playfully rather than scrapping and trying to kill each other over Kagome. Kagome...Kikyou...
Exiting the hut, Inuyasha shaded his eyes, a sigh leaving his lips as he felt the warm sunlight engulf his body. The first two loves of his, Kagome and Kikyou, they were both long gone, dead and released from this world. True, though he hadn't actually confessed his love for them and had admitted his feelings for Kouga, who was to say that Kouga wouldn't be torn away from him, too? No...he had to quit thinking like that or it would happen. Perhaps not as brutally as with Kagome and Kikyou, but it would if he took the negative side of the situation.
Rather suddenly, however, Inuyasha's nose picked up the familiar scent of blood and graveyard soil, which could only mean one thing; the final confrontation with any member of the band of seven was going to happen soon. How close Bankotsu was, Inuyasha couldn't tell, but what he did know was that he'd be here within minutes, and that left the hanyou with a limited amount of time to make sure the villagers would be safe.
"Hey! Ginta, Hakkaku!"
"Inuyasha, you're supposed to be resting!" Hakkaku pleaded with Inuyasha, but rather than protesting, Inuyasha got right down to business in ordering both him and Ginta to get all of the villagers out of there now, "But, what about you? Don't you still have to rest?"
"I'm fine, I'm already healed, just get the villagers away from here! We don't have much time!" Growled Inuyasha, and with grim satisfaction did he see the two wolves follow the orders he gave them. It wouldn't be long until Bankotsu was there, and that meant the two wolf demons had to hurry. Otherwise, absolute carnage would be the result.
However, just as Ginta and Hakkaku had come back for the last few villagers, Inuyasha noticed something mewing. It sounded injured, not to mention like a familiar two-tailed demon cat...could it be? After all, Inuyasha hadn't seen her die, perhaps she was still alive! It was almost a comfort to think that Kirara might still be alive, at least then he'd know that he hadn't been the cause of everyone's slaughter...
"Kirara!" Inuyasha called out for the demonic feline, taking cautious steps around the (now deserted) village as he heard the meowing get louder. Finally, after moving a couple of bushes at the forest's entrance, a relieved sigh left him as he found her, picking her up in his arms, "Your paw's been injured all this time, huh? Well, I'm just glad to see you're still alive."
Wincing slightly at the meek lick Kirara gave him, Inuyasha tore a bit of his white sleeve (he wouldn't have been able to break the sleeve made of fire rat fabric so easily) to wrap around Kirara's wound, smiling as he finished, "Done. You should be okay now, at least when that heals you'll be okay. What took you so long to find me though? Unless...you've been searching for Naraku this whole time, haven't you?"
He sighed when the cat nodded in response, knowing his gaze was going to glaze over with thought as he pondered the situation. So, she had been searching for Naraku this whole time, and had gotten injured recently on her way back? It was a miracle she wasn't killed by the Band of Seven or one of Naraku's incarnations before this, "I know you've been through a lot, go with Ginta and Hakkaku. You can rest with the rest of the villagers, Bankotsu is gonna be here any-"
Inuyasha froze in mid-sentence, the scent of graveyard soil and blood was so strong that Bankotsu couldn't possibly be more than a few metres away, "Go, now. I'll be able to handle him on my own," He sighed in relief once Kirara, Ginta, Hakkaku and the remaining villagers were out of sight, right before he turned to the forest entrance once more. And then, he saw the shadow, the shadow of the strongest member of the Band of Seven, "You sure took your time, Bankotsu. I've had your scent for at least a half-hour."
"What's the matter with you? You're so cocky now that you don't even draw your sword?" With an eyebrow raised, Bankotsu pointed his zanmato at Inuyasha, causing him to feel nervous (although he did all that was in his power to keep that nervousness hidden), "Or, are you accepting the fact that you don't have a chance? Are you going to accept your punishment for killing my six other comrades?"
"Six outta seven ain't good enough for me," Growled Inuyasha as he cracked his knuckles, right before launching himself at his opponent, "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"
"Is that all you've got, you worthless half-demon?" Bankotsu laughed as he blocked the attack flawlessly with his heavy blade, causing Inuyasha to be sent back to the ground, "You must really be trying to insult me by using your claws alone! You're not even worth the time to toy with!"
Not having time to make a come-back, Inuyasha dodged the blade Bankotsu swung at him, although he was not completely unharmed. The hanyou could feel a wince tugging at his face while his foot was cut, thankfully it wasn't cut off, but it was still pretty deep. This new injury caused Inuyasha to wobble on his feet again, though not enough for him to lose his balance, "If I'm not worth the time to toy with, how come you haven't succeeded in killing me yet, Bankotsu?"
"Hmm...maybe you're not as weak as I thought you were," Bankotsu muttered under his breath, causing Inuyasha to growl as his delicate, dog-like appendages picked up the words of his opponent, "But...you're still no match for me! Prepare to die, Inuyasha!"
Without warning, Inuyasha was slammed by the hilt end of Bankotsu's blade, he had already been battered by Jakotsu the previous night and was being further weakened by Bankotsu's onslaught. When he hit some tree behind him, a pathetic groan left Inuyasha as his head tilted downward, he could feel his world spinning around him as his eyelids slid to a close...
"What the hell is goin' on here? Why aren't you all back in the village?"
Kouga blinked a couple of times as he entered the area where all the village people and their animals were gathered, dropping the boar he had killed for food onto the ground as he did so, "Why aren't you all back at the village? Did something happen?" If Inuyasha had gotten hurt while he was gone...
"Master Kouga! Over here!" Ginta waved, and catching the hand in his sights, Kouga rushed over to the source of the voice. However, when he saw the demon cat with his own companions, he started to puzzle a bit. Didn't Inuyasha say that all of his comrades had died against Naraku that day? How'd this little fur ball survive? "Master Kouga, we had to evacuate the village! Some guy named Bankotsu's gonna show up to try and kill Inuyasha, he insisted on staying there to fight-"
"He what?" Anger began to build up in him as he glared at the (now cowering) wolf demons before him, looming over them while trying to keep his fury under control, "And you didn't drag him right out of there why? He's still injured, you idiots!"
"He insisted, honest! Besides, we still had to get the villagers out of there!" Hakkaku tried to appeal to Kouga's better side, a pleading look in his eye before he shut those pitless ebony jewels of his, "Please spare us Kouga, we would have gone back if there was enough time! We have to stay here with the humans to make sure no other demons get them!"
Kouga sighed, shaking his head while he straightened up. There was no point in being mad at Ginta and Hakkaku, they had done the right thing for the time, and the wolf prince acknowledged that with a nod of his head. After hearing twin sighs of relief, he opened one eye to look at the pair, "You two stay here and keep guard, then. I'll go back to the village alone. If I'm lucky, Bankotsu won't have gotten there yet," Though Inuyasha might have gone to pick a fight anyway, even in his condition...
Without giving the other two wolf demons a chance to respond, Kouga raced off towards the village, heart pounding into his throat. Inuyasha needed him, now more than ever, and Kouga would keep his promise damn it! He promised he wouldn't let Inuyasha get hurt like that again, how would he look if it ended up being broken the next day? The hanyou might never forgive him for it, and that would eat at Kouga alive until the end of his days.
However, the leader of the wolf demon tribe stopped as he arrived upon the battle scene, horror building up inside of him as he saw the final of seven corpses raising his zanmato to slay the defenceless hanyou below him. No, even with the shards of the Shikon no Tama in his legs, he wouldn't be able to reach the other in time!
"Inuyasha!"
There was a vital moment where the wolf demon thought the blade was going to connect, that it was going to cut right through Inuyasha, and that moment was when he closed his eyes, he couldn't bear to watch Inuyasha being slaughtered by Jakotsu...however, he couldn't smell Inuyasha's blood. No, it smelt like the blood of a full demon, almost like that pretty boy Sesshoumaru's...
He opened one eye to peer upon the scene, and to his great relief, Inuyasha had caught the giant blade in his hand, and although his hand was bleeding, he was still alive. However, something was different. Inuyasha had stripes along his cheeks, jagged ones, and he seemed so different...not the hanyou he knew that pretended to be tough, but a whole other entity who seemed to be overflowing with bloodlust.
"Quit playing games and let go of Bonryu, Inuyasha!" Bankotsu growled dangerously as he tried to jerk the sword out of Inuyasha's hand, and finally with success did he do so, although he looked slightly more nervous than when Kouga had arrived onto the scene. Perhaps he had sensed the change in Inuyasha as well? "Good dog, now you're-"
"Going to die? I think not," Inuyasha's voice rasped in the most threatening way imaginable, Kouga could feel a shudder emanating from the centre of his spine to the rest of his body as Inuyasha got to his feet. What was going on? The other seemed so different, his eyes had even turned red! "You're the one who will die here, Bankotsu. This village will be your new resting place, and your final one."
"In your dreams!" Cried Bankotsu, swinging his blade dangerously towards Inuyasha. Kouga ran forward upon protective instinct, though stopped a few paces away from the two when Inuyasha, once again, caught the sword with his right hand effortlessly, "How...how did you get so powerful? You were so weak before! It's impossible!"
"What's impossible," The low, rumbling growl came from Inuyasha's mouth as he glared at Bankotsu, the blade trembling in his hand, "Is how you even stood up to me this long. I will now show you what I can really do!" And with a swift, clean snap, the hanyou was now holding the sharpened end of the zanmato Bankotsu wielded, having broken it in half. Then, Kouga couldn't even tell how, but one second, Bankotsu had raised his broken weapon to try and strike at Inuyasha, the next...
All was still, not even the chirping of nearby birds could be heard as Kouga witnessed the scene. Bankotsu still had his blade raised in the form of attack, but with his eyes widened as he began to shudder violently, blood beginning to pour out of both sides of his freshly made wound. With a dark chuckle did Inuyasha pull the blade out of Bankotsu's gut, holding it up to his mouth before the pink muscle that resided inside came out of it's moist cavern to take in the taste of the corpse's blood, "...your blood tastes disgusting, no wonder you're so weak. Pathetic human."
At long last, Bankotsu fell back onto the ground, panting. A twinge of pity strummed up in Kouga's throat at the sight, that was just plain brutal. But, that thought was immediately shoved aside, this bastard had tried to kill his mate, damn it! "You, Inuyasha...you deserve hell more than I ever could," With a smirk did Bankotsu say these words, fury building in Kouga's chest while he listened as he approached Inuyasha, "Bloodlust beyond any human's capacity, and the power to do it, not to mention you've killed like this before. I can tell from the look in your eye. We'll meet again soon, maybe even fight in hell."
"You be quiet, I'm in a whole different class than you," Snarling, Inuyasha thrust his hand down into Bankotsu's throat, tearing out the jewel shards and allowing the corpse to fade into the dust. This was insane, Inuyasha couldn't possibly be this heartless...what had happened to him? "As for you, wolf demon..."
"Inuyasha, stop this!" Kouga finally came out to say it, it was tearing him apart that he might have to fight against the one he loved. After all, they had been through so much, it couldn't end now! Not like this, "You're not yourself, snap out of it! What the hell's happened to you?"
Instead of receiving an answer however, Kouga ended up jumping back from the attack Inuyasha launched, bloody claws missing his armour by mere inches, "Spare me your goddamn dramatics and die already, you filthy wolf demon! You never were worthy of mine or Kagome's time! Now you'll die for annoying us for so long!"
It was breaking his heart to hear these words, but soon enough the wolf shook it off, biting his lower lip as he stood tall to face Inuyasha. He had to remember that the hanyou wasn't himself, that something had happened to him to make him this way. What happened wasn't the issue, how to stop it was. Something to help him remember...
Without a second thought, Kouga grabbed the dog-demon in front of him and crushed his lips against the other's, eyes clamping shut with the hope that his kiss would jolt Inuyasha back to reality. However, he could feel hot pain in his side, Inuyasha had probably dug the claws of his left hand in when Kouga had grabbed him for the kiss. It couldn't be helped, as long as Inuyasha returned to normal. Come on, please remember and be you again...
The first thing that came to mind was that his head hurt when he woke back up. The second thing was the fact that he was on his feet. The third was, once he opened his eyes, that he was being kissed viciously by Kouga. What had happened? And why wasn't he dead? As Inuyasha regained more of his senses, he jolted and tore his finger out of the other's side. How? How and why had he attacked Kouga like that? His other hand was covered in blood too, but that blood was almost dry...
After Kouga pulled away from the kiss, Inuyasha saw pitless, crystal blue eyes open to look at him, those very eyes filling with relief, "So you've returned to normal. I'm...I'm glad," Kouga almost choked out the words, and with a hand behind his head forcing it onto the wolf demon's shoulder, Inuyasha was being held tightly by the other, something hot and wet falling onto his shoulder. Was Kouga crying for him? "You changed so much, but now you're back to normal...what happened to you?"
"What happened to me...?" Inuyasha repeated the words, the feeling of realization hitting him almost as hard as Bankotsu had during the battle (before he passed out), "I changed...no..." With horror did he look onto Bankotsu's corpse, then to the dried blood on his right hand. The smells, they matched...he had killed Bankotsu, his demon blood had taken over him again. And he had attacked Kouga while in that form, he had hurt Kouga again.
"Kouga...I'm so sorry," Bowing his head, Inuyasha pushed away from the other and turned his back, "I've hurt you so much, my full demon blood took me over. I couldn't control it, it happens when I'm about to die...damn it!" He pounded his fist into the ground, not even bothering to get up off of his knees as he did so. This was so wrong, he was supposed to be able to control it, but without Tetsusaiga, it would have happened even if he had full control over his own blood.
"Don't worry about it...I'll help you get back to your old self if it does happen again, mutt-face," Feeling shock go through him as Kouga said the words, Inuyasha blinked as he was being forced to sit up, arms wrapping around him from behind to hold him tightly, "I'm just glad I didn't lose you permanently. I'd be lost without you, you know that."
"Kouga..."