I'm sorry for taking so long. If anyone out there is an author with a current story or looked at the first page you know that ff.net had some problems. That is the first reason I didn't update. The entire time that it wasn't working, I didn't write the next chapter. This is another big reason and the reason behind that was me being a lazy SOB. Yeah I know. Once ff.net started working again, they were spamming my mail box with review by that time there had actually once been about 75 reviews (which is really great) but I only received about the first 5-10 of them but those were constantly repeated. In affect, I was sent over 300 reviews. That was really getting on my nerves. Well I finally wrote this chapter and I know you can't wait to read it. I'm just going to make some quick responses. The announcement as to who was right about Tai will be made at the end of the chapter. Do you think I'm going to give it away before?
Ai - You really want this chapter, don't you? Thank you for review multiple times just to let me know.
Kagura_girl - Sorry to hear that your friends like it just cause Kag is dead. Well I hope everyone likes this chapter.
Kai-Yasha626 - I know cliffhangers are bad but the worse they are the better outcry of fans you get. I got 86 from this chapter alone. Thats more than I've ever received. It goes to show you how much people hate these but they can be a great story telling tool. :)
NOTE TO EVERYONE - Well I think its obvious to say that you all hated me after the last chapter. If everyone can recall all the way back to my first cliffhanger (the one with Inutaisho) when you made an outcry then I mentioned that if you hated that one then surely you'd be calling for my death later on. Well last chapter was that chapter and I did get a few death threats (not real ones, at least that's what I hope) and one person said they'd commit suicide. I hope you're still here for this chapter. This chapter ends in a bit of a cliffhanger but none from now on will be as bad as the last one. As I see it there is at least 2 cliffhangers left. This chapter and the one following the next one. As for those of you who say I can't kill Kagome *quickly takes out to home-made author's license* this proves that I can. Thanks for everything. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the IY gang but I do own Tai so start your bids now (or at least when you find out who he is).
Chapter 36: Identity Exposed
Midoriko took a breath before answering Sango. "Kagome's dead."
Sango felt tears come to her eyes. "Please tell me you kidding," Sango stammered out. "Say that Kagome is still alive."
"I'm sorry Sango. I really wish I could," Midoriko said. She wanted to cry for Kagome as well but she had to be strong. She not only had to be strong for Sango but for Inuyasha. To hope that he would return to his normal self. She kept her hopes in the one person that could help them now, Tai Azuma.
Tai was running as fast as his he could. He looked quickly at his belt. There stood a sword which he happened to borrow. It was the sword which he had claimed to better than Tetsusaiga. It wasn't his and luckily its owner wasn't home so he was able to sneak in and 'borrow' the sword. He kept it safely hidden from view by a longer coat. Unfortunately this had taken an extra twenty minutes and he had to go in the opposite direction that Inuyasha had gone. He had considered transforming into his demon form to go faster but decided against it because many would have seen him. That was the good thing about being three quarters demon. He had a demon form but couldn't stay in it forever. He had a limited amount of time he could stay in his demon form.
Tai wasn't caring much about his demon form. He was worried much more with Inuyasha's. This time was different than his others – he could tell. Inuyasha hadn't killed all the demons right away. From the battle scene it was apparent that Inuyasha had managed to defeat one of the demons before being driven mad. Two more demon bodies had been at the scene but they had been badly torn apart. That meant that they had been killed when Inuyasha was full demon. The other two were a different matter. They had run and apparently Inuyasha hadn't killed them right away. He was keeping up with them but was slowly ripping each apart. Tai knew why this was. Inuyasha's demon side very rarely came out and just usually hungered for blood. This time was different. Inuyasha's whole being had loved Kagome. His human side loved her and wanted to be with her while his demon side felt the same way and had practically accepted her as his mate. So when he saw Kagome dead, Inuyasha's demon blood took over and the demon side of him was angry as well. His demon side wanted the yakuza to die slow and painful deaths which is what Inuyasha was doing. Tai only hoped that he could set things right before Inuyasha killed the two remaining yakuza. He didn't know what the demon side would do once finished with them.
Kagome slowly opened her eyes. She wasn't totally sure where she was. She took a while to think back as to what had happened. Her and Inuyasha had been ambushed by 5 members of the yakuza. Before she had even realized that they were there, they had disarmed Inuyasha of Tetsusaiga. That didn't stop Inuyasha though he was determined to fight them. The demons were about as strong as Inuyasha and since they outnumbered him she had been worried about him from the beginning. He was actually able to catch one of them off guard at the start and killed that one right off. The others seemed mad but they hadn't allowed themselves to be distracted by their anger. The four coordinated their attacks on Inuyasha and usually one if not two would attack from behind while the others attacked in front. Kagome couldn't do much to help but tried to warn him when they tried to attack from behind. At first the demons didn't seem to overly care but as the battle had worn on and because of Kagome's help they hadn't made too much headway. So finally they had grown tired of her. They tried their usual attack with two charging in front while one attacked from behind. She had been to busy in warning Inuyasha that she hadn't noticed the fourth demon missing. That demon had been the tree demon from before and at that time she was using her powers to once again control the trees in the park. Kagome hadn't realized it until she felt herself get stabbed in the back. A tree branch sharpened to a point had speared her from behind. The second that blood started to seep from the wound Inuyasha had smelt it and turned to find her lying on the ground. He ran over to her quickly hold her head in his one hand while holding his hand over the wound trying to stop the bleed. It was no use though, she knew she was dying. The branch and not only pierced her in the back but had managed to come out the other side.
"You'll be fine, Kagome. I'll make sure of it," Inuyasha had told her.
"No, I won't," Kagome said, "and you know it. I just want to let you know. I'll always love you."
"I love you too. That's why I don't want you to die," Inuyasha said but his pleas were unsuccessful. Kagome soon fell lifeless in his arms.
That was the last thing Kagome remembered. "Am I dead?" Kagome asked out loud. She finally looked around surveying her surroundings. She was in the park. She was lying against the very tree that had killed her. She looked around for Inuyasha but he was no where to be found. She did see two of the demons that Inuyasha had been fighting. They were torn apart into horrible pieces. Blood was everywhere. She felt like she wanted to puke. She knew what this meant. Inuyasha had gone crazy with madness and his demon side had taken over. Kagome slowly stood up and noticed that her clothes were covered in blood. She wasn't totally sure at this point if she was dead or alive but that didn't matter to her. If she was dead then she must be a ghost. Either way she was determined to help Inuyasha in whatever way she could.
Inuyasha gave the final blow to one of the demons he had been chasing. The park was big enough that they were still in it though he didn't care at all. All he cared about was the final remaining demon. The tree demon was the only one left and had decided to make a final stand for his life. Inuyasha planned on taking extra care with this one. He had been the one to actually give Kagome her final blow, so he would die extra slowly and definitely extra painfully.
"I'm gonna have fun killing you," Inuyasha said evilly.
"You're not going to be able to defeat me. There's no way," the demon replied.
"Bold words coming from a man that was running just a little while ago," Inuyasha said. The demon didn't know what to reply. Inuyasha noticed his hesitation and used this to his advantage. He quickly charged and ripped a few more wounds open on the demon's chest. The guy already had too many wounds to count. Inuyasha didn't stop there though. He quickly got behind the demon and added some claw marks to his back. Then he continued to attack him everyone on his body. The legs, the arms, his face were all bloody as Inuyasha continue his torture. He was just about to continue before a voice yelled out.
"INUYASHA!!" Tai yelled.
Inuyasha looked to the intruder on his fun. He wasn't pleased to see Tai. "You're not going to stop me from killing this scum," Inuyasha said. While Inuyasha was talking to Tai, the demon quickly ran over to Tai thinking that he had been saved.
When the demon reached Tai he looked up from the ground and offered his thanks. Tai just looked down at the demon and frowned. "You shouldn't be thanking me," with that said Tai deliver a swift and hard kick to the demon's stomach sending him towards Inuyasha once again. "I don't care what the hell you do with this piece of shit but if you're going to kill him just do it. I don't want anyone wandering here to see this. After that, I won't let you go any further from here until you revert to your normal self."
"Who says I'm going to revert back," the red eyed Inuyasha said back as he kicked the demon below him.
"Well if you don't regress back to your self, I'll have to use force," Tai said as he reached for the handle of his sword.
"This is definitely going to be fun," Inuyasha said as he quickly brought his claws down on the tree demon finishing him off at last. Inuyasha then stood and looked at Tai. "I never did like you so this is going to be quite fun." With that Inuyasha ran full speed at Tai.
Tai was taken by surprise and was thrown back almost twenty feet into a tree. The attack hurt him a bit but was no where near enough to stop this fight. Tai decided to not use the sword right away and see how well he could fare against a crazed Inuyasha. If anyone would have been there for the fight it would seem but a blur. Tai and Inuyasha clashed each getting in a punch here or a kick there but neither gaining any significant ground. Inuyasha was sent barreling to the ground only to bounce back up and punch Tai higher in the air. Tai easily landed on his feet and the battle continued unchanged. Both opponents seemed to be enjoying the fight. They were well matched. Inuyasha didn't seem to be holding back and other than the sword Tai wasn't either.
Tai had gotten so wound up in the excitement of the fight that he had forgotten about others possibly wandering into this fight. Though it was now past 10 o'clock and it was unlikely someone would show, he didn't want to take the risk. After sending Inuyasha flying into the air, Tai stopped his attacks and looked at Inuyasha as he landed. When he landed, Inuyasha just stared back at his opponent. "Lose the will to fight?" Inuyasha goaded.
"Not totally. This fight was a lot of fun but I will ask you one last time – revert to your normal self or I will do it for you!" Tai demanded.
"I don't think you can," the crazed demon said making it clear that he wasn't going away.
"I didn't want it to come to this," Tai said as he drew the sword. Inuyasha used the drawing of the sword to attack Tai sending him slightly out of sight.
"That swords pretty weak if you can't draw it in time to face an enemy," Inuyasha said as he stood tall and proud. Inuyasha was so wrapped up in himself that he didn't see that attack until it was too late. He couldn't see Tai but that wasn't his concern. His concern was the huge wave of light blue energy as it struck him. Inuyasha could feel himself really start to hurt from that attack. What was left of his shirt from his previous fights were now gone. His pants were in shreds. Inuyasha got up and ran at his adversary and attacked with his already blood soaked claws. Tai couldn't dodge it in time but did parry the attack with the sword. Inuyasha claws just struck against the cold steel of the blade. Tai quickly brought the sword down send hundreds of pin like needles at Inuyasha. Once again Inuyasha felt the pain of the attack. This attack sent Inuyasha crashing through two nearby trees and indenting the third.
It took Inuyasha a bit to get himself out of the tree. He had had enough with this fight. Even if it killed him he was going to defeat Tai. Tai could see the fiery look in Inuyasha's eyes. He knew that he would have to ground Inuyasha once and for all. This attack would decide the fight once and for all. As if on queue the fighters charged at one another at the same time. The next few moments seemed to go by in slow motion. Inuyasha and Tai got closer and closer. Inuyasha had his sharp claws ready to rip apart Tai while Tai was ready to bring the sword down on Inuyasha once and for all. "Get ready to die!" Inuyasha said.
"Crawl on the ground!" Tai yelled as his sword got closer and closer to Inuyasha's body. The two deadly attacks were already in motion. Nothing would stop them now. Well just about nothing.
"STOP!!" a voice screamed as loud as possible.
If the fight between Inuyasha and Tai had been on video, it seemed as if the viewer had paused it. Both fighters stood still with their attacks less than a foot from contacting one another. Slowly they turned their heads to see the source of the yelling. There stood Kagome at the very edge of their battle field.
It seemed impossible to Inuyasha. She seemed like a ghostly apparition in front of him. He didn't know whether she was real or not. She should be dead. What was going on? Inuyasha thought on it very shortly before deciding to just yell out, "Who are you? Are you one of the yakuza here to distract me?" Inuyasha all but yelled. His demon blood was still in control.
Kagome slowly walked towards Inuyasha with her hands behind her back. "Inuyasha, I know you're in there. It's me, Kagome," she told him.
"Kagome died. What are you then?" Inuyasha demanded getting angry at her but he stood his ground and didn't back up as she approached him.
"I don't know Inuyasha. Maybe I'm dead; maybe I'm here just to help you. I don't really know," she said as she got close to him. "All I do know is that I have to give this to you." As fast as she could she pulled her hands from behind her. Inuyasha thinking this was an attack quickly brought out his hands to block whatever weapon she was attacking him with. As soon as his hands touch the object he knew it was no attack. His hands were holding onto Tetsusaiga. He could feel his demon blood slowly receding and balancing restoring in his entire body. "Are you okay, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked him.
"Yeah I'm fine but what about you?" Inuyasha said as he quickly reached out to grab her arm to make sure she was really there in front of him. To his surprise, he grabbed onto a real flesh and blood arm. He could feel a pulse through her wrist. That could only mean, "Kagome, you alive." No more had those words come out his mouth than he scooped her up and hugged her as if afraid that he would lose her at any second.
"But what about my wound?" Kagome wondered out loud. Inuyasha set her down and checked her back. The wound in the back was totally gone. Likewise Kagome checked the front to find the same thing. "How?" was all that came to her lips.
"I don't know or care. I'm just happy that you're alive and here with me," Inuyasha said.
"This has definitely been a weird day," Kagome said.
"You don't know the half of it," Inuyasha said. Kagome looked at him in confusion. "While I was a full demon, I knew exactly what was going on unlike before. I don't know why. I'm just worried."
Tai, who had been ignored until now, spoke up. "That's because you as a whole wanted the same thing," Tai said and they still look a little confused. "In the past, Inuyasha, your demon side has only emerged when you didn't want to die and were in die straits but that didn't mean your entire self agreed upon everything. When Kagome was killed, all of you wanted to kill those responsible. Your demon side being the strongest in you, especially in your anger, took over but since your whole being wanted that in a way you were still present. I guess that even you whole being wanted to fight me. That's nice to know." Tai's last sentence was sarcastic but Inuyasha didn't care. He really didn't like this guy. "Well if you will excuse me I must get this sword back to its owner before it is discovered missing."
Inuyasha growled at Tai. "You're not going anywhere just yet," Inuyasha said. Kagome was about to question him about his behavior but he continued. "Where did you get that sword?"
Kagome was surprised at this question and answered for Tai. "He said he stole it. You already know that," Kagome said totally confused at Inuyasha's conduct.
"He knows what I mean," Inuyasha growled even louder. "Now tell me where did you get that sword!?" Inuyasha just about yelled.
Tai gave a small chuckle at this. "I was really hoping you wouldn't notice but I guess you would notice it," Tai said and then took a deep breath. He didn't say anything for a few seconds which just added to Inuyasha's irritation. "It currently belongs to my father."
Inuyasha's growling seemed to intensify exponentially. Kagome looked at the sword. Though she could only see a bit of it, she didn't see what Inuyasha was so upset about. "What's so special about the sword, Inuyasha?"
"Don't you recognize it, Kagome?" he asked her. Before she could really take another look Inuyasha answered his own question. "That's Toukijin!"
Kagome gasped as the realization hit her. She understood why Inuyasha was now mad at Tai. She understood who Tai was. Then another thing hit her. She looked towards Tai, "Thank you," she said simply.
Both Inuyasha and Tai were surprised to hear this. "Huh? What the hell are you thanking him for?" Inuyasha asked getting angry at even Kagome.
Tai on the other hand nodded to her. It seemed he understood what she meant. "You don't get it do you, Inuyasha? He isn't here to hurt us," Kagome said. She then turned back to Mr. Azuma. "You have it with you, don't you? You have Tenseiga?"
Inuyasha finally understood what Kagome meant. That fact that Kagome was standing before him alive and well meant that Tai had it. He turned to Tai as well. "You mean this thing?" Tai asked as he brought out the other fang from within his coat and just seemed to twirl it between his fingers as if it were nothing. "Yeah I have this sword."
"Thank you for bringing me back to life," Kagome said.
"Don't mention it," Tai said in a bit of a hurry. "Listen I don't meant to be rude but I have to get these back before my father notices they are missing."
Tai was just about to turn and leave before a fourth voice spoke up, "Too late."
Tai stopped dead in his tracks. He then groaned. "This isn't good," he said.
"Who's there?" Kagome called out but no responses.
"If it had been my father I could have dealt with it. He'd yell at me and maybe give me a hard punch, but no it has to be worse," Tai said. "I'm gonna be pestered about this forever. The only person worse than my father – my mother."
"Who are you!?" Inuyasha yelled out. He couldn't seem to find the scent. All he could smell was the blood around him.
"I'm hurt that you don't remember me, Inuyasha," the feminine voice said.
This time Inuyasha knew where the voice was coming from. The woman made her appearance the way she always did. Inuyasha just looked up and growled, "Kagura."
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Well now everyone knows. Tai is the son of Sesshy and Kagura (my favorite coupling, at least when it comes to Sess). Now for who got it right. This is only for those who voiced their idea last chapter. If you mentioned it before then I'm sorry for not mentioning you. I only went back so far.
Guessed both parents right: Ai, Chellek, Ryguy5387, and hikariko (though she said it was Sess or Kagura's kid, I still gave her credit)
Guessed Sess: Ash, JadedKatrina, and Ladkaa28. Others guessed this a while back sorry for not mentioning.
Guess Kagura: ShadowRavinCroft (you were the only one to guess Kagura by herself last chapter). Some did guess a little while ago. I believe giggles and Silver Warrior did.
Well like I said. It was a cliffhanger. Not a huge one but it was one. I don't totally know what to say. I'm really tired. Its 5AM and I'm not going to get any sleep, at least not right now. Well I can say I'm only 11 reviews away from 1000 now. Well I'm going to head out for now. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Join me next time for:
Chapter 37: Secrets Revealed