. : Inazuma : .
: . By Akikazu . :
. : Last Time : .
"Noya?"
"I don't want you approaching my sister with any sort of relationship in mind."
And he walked away, leaving Sota alone to sort out his mixed feelings.
I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .
'Kagome's' hand swept outward and a scythe dropped into it out of nowhere.
"You're choice."
And she attacked.
: . Chapter Seventeen . :
He was avoiding her.
It was very cowardly of him but he really couldn't bring himself to do otherwise. He need to sort out his feelings and, seeing as his emotions rejumbled every time he was near her, this meant staying away from Sakura.
And thus Higurashi Sota, a new member of the Sightless faction, was reduced to the act of hiding from a girl that had shown him every kindness because of his unresolved issues.
How truly and utterly sad.
Worst yet Sakura had been looking for him. Surely she could tell that he was doing her best to not be seen by her. Chances were that it would hurt her feelings and it would be all his fault.
Damn… Now he felt bad.
Taking a sharp turn Sota crossed a wide empty space which he presumed to be a training room. He could sense Sakura's aura getting closer and sped his pace. Just as he made it to the opposite side of the room he was stopped.
"Sota! Wait up."
Busted!
He turned in the direction of the approaching girl, his heart fluttering wildly. He couldn't see anything, but he could 'see' her. Not that that made any sense what so ever. Sakura's face was perfect in his mind, her soft features and gentle eyes.
His heart beat ever faster.
"Hello Sakura."
An unexpected and surprisingly biting slap to his check sent him tumbling to the ground. Sakura loomed over him and he slowly got over his shock.
"Sota, you're such a JERK!" She shouted.
Sota heard a muffled sob and felt Sakura flee. He immediately forgot Noya's warning and raced after her after jumping to his feet.
She was fast but he was slightly faster and he caught her just outside the compound. Sota caught her wrist causing her to stumble and send them tumbling down. Sakura struggled violently against him and he was forced to straddle her and pin her to the ground.
"Let me go!"
He didn't say anything, he just bent over her and slowly calmed down his racing heart. With each growing second her struggles got weaker and eventually stopped trying altogether.
"Why won't you just leave me alone? You didn't want me earlier," she cried.
"I'm sorry," he replied quietly.
She just continued to cry softly under her.
"I really like you Sakura-chan, I'm just so confused," he confessed.
Her sobs stopped and one of her hands hesitantly found its way into his.
"I really like you too."
I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .
The scythe had an ornate cross carved into it, Itsuki noticed as it bore down on the Fallen Angel. It was a rather odd observation to take at the time but it was this detail that conformed Itsuki's growing suspicion.
This 'personality' was part of the Wiz-Dom faction.
Wiz-dom was a very low key faction, especially in this part of the world since Wiz-dom was based on the western religion, Christianity. They tended on to get too involved in battles and such but they did have a long standing feud with the Darklore.
Then again none of the factions seemed to get along in the first place.
"Nope, you will simple have to move better than that if you wish to defeat me, Death Scythe," the Fallen Angel taunted.
Blood dripped down his check as Death Scythe caught him lightly across the face.
"Obviously not."
The Fallen Angel quickly moved away to asses the damage to his face. Rage burned in his eyes when he noted that it was going to scar.
Itsuki could sympathize.
"This cut is going to scar," the Fallen Angel ground out.
"Aw, it's okay. Girls love to swoon over a battle scar," Death Scythe taunted.
"You cut my perfect face."
Each of his word was clearly enunciated through his clenched teeth. Itsuki winced, half in empathy and half from the arrogance Fallen Angel held over his looks.
"A narcissist I see."
There was no opportunity to dodge the next attack, the dark ball of energy hit her straight on. Death Scythe was sent backwards into a tree. The dust swiftly settled revealing the fact that Death Scythe had change back to Kagome, who was currently slumped beneath the tree.
"I win," Fallen Angel announced.
Itsuki maneuvered himself in front of Kagome using his natural flexibility and psychic power.
"Oh my, you're going to make it difficult, aren't you?"
The question really didn't warrant a response.
"Very well," Fallen Angel sighed.
The next ball of dark light was hurling towards him before Itsuki realized that if he moved Kagome would be hit again. He had no time to lift Kagome and move her out of the way so instead he braced himself for impact, readying himself for the pain.
Second ticked away and he was surprised that the pain never came.
I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .
Death Scythe had been plunge deep into the world within Kagome's inner depth when she was defeated.
"My, my Death Scythe, are you so weak that you must return to us with only defeat?" A voice purred softly.
"Shut it, Belial," Death Scythe snapped.
"I will speak if I wish, 'wizard'," Belial mocked.
"Stop you two, we are not at war," another voice commanded.
"Arisu, I do wish that you stop ruining my entertainment," a soft voice called.
Belial scowled over her shoulder where the second voice was coming from.
"I do not exist for your entertainment, Mythrel," she growled.
"Calm down all of you," Arisu commanded.
The other three obeyed immediately. Arisu had become their leader. She had been the first to awaken after Kagome had turned fifteen and fallen down the well. Arisu, who had been known during her life as the Purifier.
"We were all friends when we were alive, why are you like this now that we have awakened?" Arisu asked.
"I was betrayed!" The other three females shouted at the same time, then hearing the others looked around in confusion.
"I thought so," Arisu's words were quiet.
They had all been the greatest of friends and the factions had merely been places where you could be taught by people with similar powers to yours. Then all four schools, E.G.O. hadn't been around back then, had suffered mass losses. Then the war had begun, one huge battle that had destroyed a large chunk of countryside had taken place.
None of the factions had recovered from the losses that had occurred in that battle.
All four of them had died there, at each other's hands.
It was shortly after that that E.G.O. rose, they soon took over becoming the dominant in the ongoing, yet subtle war.
"If it was any of us then…" Death Scythe trailed off.
"E.G.O." Mythrel continued.
"We've all been fooled," confirmed Arisu. "Everyone, every single psychic since the dawn of the Aquarian Age has been fooled."
"Don't that beat all," muttered Belial.
"We made a mistake," Arisu said firmly, "and now, thousands of years later, psychics are massacring and being slaughtered because of it… It's only right that we fix things."
The other beings nodded and looked into the inky blackness surrounding them. It was time to focus on Kagome.
I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .
A barrier had sprung up around them.
Itsuki looked around in amazement then back to Kagome, whom he was sure was the creator of the force field.
She was sitting up her back straight, she hadn't changed physically as she had done the other times. Only her eyes changed flickering, swirling and shifting with different colors. The Mythrel's glow, Death Scythe's darkness, Belial's black, and a pure blue and pink that strangely enough didn't become purple.
She made no other move than that and Itsuki knew that he was going to have to defeat Fallen Angel without her assistance.
"All right then," he muttered to himself.
He considered his options carefully, seeing as he really had only one opportunity to make an effective attack.
He was sure he could pull off a large volley of wind blades, but was unsure if they would cause a sufficient amount of damage. He could attempt to form a vortex around the Fallen Angel to suffocate him but he had never attempted such before. Or he could try his illusion power, he was unsure of the affect that it would have for he had yet to try them out on an Eraser.
Itsuki finally settled for the first option. The wind blades had long since been his forte and he was uncertain of the other two methods.
And to this end, Itsuki closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He imagined the wind in his mind swirling wildly and out of control. All the power was there he only had to mold it. He 'reached' out and grabbed a fistful, honing it to deadly perfection, entwining the sharp edges with images that would inspire violence, spite. He did this repeatedly and then positioned each blade strategically, coming in at the target in a way that would be impossible to avoid.
A split second after closing his eyes Itsuki breathed life into his creations. The wind blades ripped into reality. Fallen Angel made no sound as the winds tore through his flesh. However after the first few waves he fell to his knees. By the time Itsuki's attacks finished he would be mutilated beyond recognition.
That was when Itsuki noticed the eerie glowing of Fallen Angel's eyes.
It had all been a trap!
"Kagome, his eyes," Itsuki said, alarmed.
"I will take care of it," Death Scythe's voice rose from her lips.
With that said the barrier fell and Itsuki felt Kagome's arms wrap around them before the world disappeared in a flash of both bright and dark lights.
I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .
They watched as Fallen Angel fell to his knees. They were silent at first, no one commenting as the golden eyed boy took down an Eraser of substantial power.
"He's powerful," Belial commented, breaking the silence.
"Indeed, there is not the slightest likelihood that the Fallen Angel could survive this maneuver," Mythrel added.
"It feels very strange to be protected by a male, doesn't it? At least, it does now that we've awakened," Arisu mused.
"Kagome, his eyes," Itsuki's voice sent them on guard.
Then they noticed the Fallen Angel's eyes. They were glowing with barely suppressed powers.
"He's going to use the last the last of his energy to create an explosion," Arisu said out loud. "We've got to get out of here."
"I will take care of it," Death Scythe volunteered, moving forward.
The three other beings relinquished control to the Wiz-Dom member. After all, the faction of Wiz-Dom was a master of escape, compensating their lack of devastating power.
Death Scythe began to whisper an incantation, focusing her power on transporting their host and the male that had protected them, somewhere safe. Death Scythe had long ago perfected her form of teleportation. The teleported person would slip through an alternate dimension and then blink right back into their original one.
The process took half a minute total, most of it spent in translation, where you hung weightless for a moment, your surroundings devoid of any air.
Then they had arrived, touching down to the ground lightly. A cold wind blew snow around in lazy yet dizzying circles.
"We've returned," Arisu whispered.
"I thought it fitting," Death Scythe replied.
"Rest now… And Death Scythe, thank you."
Death Scythe faded back into the inky darkness of Kagome's mind, going to regroup after expending most of her power.
I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .
Itsuki became instantly aware of their new surroundings. The wind whispered in his ear as he surveyed the small, destroyed clearing they had appeared in.
It appeared as if a battle had recently taken place here. Trees were knocked clean off their stump, some looking like something had shattered them on impact. Snow covered the ground but he could make out two large and two small mounds on one side of the clearing and another large mound at the opposite end.
Graves.
"We've returned."
He looked down at his companion in surprise, this was not the voice of any of her other 'personalities', it seemed that Kagome had regained control of her body.
"Kagome, where are we?"
She was quiet and for a moment he thought she wasn't going to answer. Then her head tilted to look at him before redirecting her eyes to the graves. Her eyes had been slightly glazed over with tears.
"Both one, and five-hundred and one years ago I battled here."
"One, and five-hundred and one?"
"Yes, truly it happened half a millennium ago, but for me it was only a year."
Her words only served to confuse Itsuki further. But he didn't ask for another explanation as Kagome walked over to the four graves, leaving a trail of footprints that remain for only a second before the wind obscured them.
Itsuki followed her, leaving a respectful distance between them, as he sensed she needed some privacy. Kagome touch a hand on each grave, lingering over each to say a few words. The winds blew her voice away from him and so there was no chance for him to overhear.
Kagome finished with the last of the four graves and walked unsteadily over to the grave on the other side of the clearing. This time she was upwind from him and the wind blew her words into his ears. She hadn't put a hand close to this grave.
"A year has passed for me Inu Yasha, though it's been much longer for you. I keep expecting to wake up and see your eyes staring at me from the shadows… I guess you'll always haunt me like that."
The wind blew harder as if answering for the deceased, but Itsuki, being attuned to the wind knew it was no such thing.
"I really never expected you to… you know… I guess like calls to like. Not even you could ignore the calls, could you?"
He was missing a vital piece of information in this conversation. Even though he could hear what she was saying the meaning of her words was lost to him. It might be better this way. He had no right to pry.
"But I guess I'm a real softy, because I forgive you Inu-chan. Not because you deserve it in the end, but because you were once my best friend. I'll never forget what you meant to me back then, Inu Yasha."
Her words were becoming slightly more understandable as she revealed her meaning with each sentence as she continued on.
"So, in honor of what you once were to me, I pardon you from all wrongs you've committed against me… I hope your next life is happier than this last one has been."
Obviously finished, Kagome turned away from the grave and back to Itsuki. Her eyes were tired and Itsuki moved forward as if to catch her if she should collapse.
"I'm done Itsuki. Let go home."
He nodded, "come on then, I'll give you a piggy back for a while."
Itsuki crouched down and she climbed on without a word of protest. He shifted her to be sure she was secure and then started off at a jog, allowing his sense of direction to guide him. After a moment, Kagome's head came down to rest on his shoulder, her breath softly puffing against his neck.
About a mile out and Itsuki knew that she had fallen asleep, but he wasn't terribly bothered by her dead weight, though his power supply was somewhat exhausted from their earlier exercise.
They were on their way home.
Just a couple more days, which would be uneventful if his luck hadn't run out, and he could return to his not so normal life.
The prospect wasn't as tantalizing as it should have been.
Sighing heavily he hitched the sleeping her higher onto his back and picked up his pace. Kagome snuggled closer to his neck, her lips finally coming to a rest on his pulse. Itsuki was so distracted that he nearly missed her words.
"Home," she sighed.
I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .
Sono was making her routine check on her assigned rooms in the extensive care ward. She was presently giving herself a pat on the back for having made it out of nursing school and finding such an easy job when she reached the final room she had to check.
The patient in room four had been in a coma and showed no signs of waking from her extended sleep. The reasons behind her illness was unclear to the doctors, but they did all they could with the promise of a fat pay check hanging over their heads.
Room four gave Sono the creeps as traditional hospitals didn't have a room numbered for, as four also meant 'death', but the hospital had been designed by an American and the poor fool shouldn't be held accountable for their ignorance.
Dutifully she opened the door and stepped into the room, and then shut it behind her reluctantly as the smell of sickness closed in around her. Nothing was out of the ordinary, but she stepped closer to the woman on the bed so she could take the customary checks.
Sono was completely surprised when she looked down at the woman to see large eyes staring up at her from the pale face resting on the hospital's bleached white pillow. The large brown eyes of the patient blinked in surprise and a soft smile curved the woman's face at the look of surprise she was receiving.
"Hello," she said simply.
The nurse's eyes bugged out and she toppled backward, landing roughly on her bottom. After a second she recovered, springing back to her feet and posing like nothing had happened.
"Hello, Higurashi-san," Sono said pleasantly.
She moved over to the clipboard hanging on the foot of the bed and wrote down the time and date of the awakening of Higurashi-san, along with a couple of notes on her condition.
"Have you been awake long, Higurashi-san?" Sono inquired.
"No, only for an hour or so. Could you please tell me where my children are?" The woman's voice was pleasant, not at all rough from lack of use.
"Ah, you've been in a coma for a couple of months now Higurashi-san, and your children saw it fit to move you to this hospital. I believe the house your children have been renting burned down a few days ago but your son gave us the number of where their staying," Sono only was slightly winded after giving her monologue.
"Burnt down? Were they hurt," a note of panic crept into her voice, but that was only to be expected.
"They're fine Higurashi-san. As soon as the doctor clears you can give them a call," Sono soothed, reaching for her pager.
It took only seconds for the nurse to page the doctor that had been assigned to the newly awakened patient. The doctor was on her way.
"If you'll wait a while, Doctor Itsuki will soon arrive."
And without waiting for a reply Sono left the room, humming as she traipsed down the halls to go on a cigarette break. Her work was done for the moment and she need to take a breather.
Life was so nice and easy.
. : End Chapter : .
: . Author's Note . :
Dang it's late, and I have school tomorrow, but this chapter is finally out. Rejoice all you people it's got a decent length too, over three thousand words not including the end stuff.
It's final week for this semester and then I'm on winter break (yayness) so I'll probably get to updating sooner than normal. It definitely won't be as long as last time, I'm sorry for making you wait for over a month peoples.
Anyway this story is progressing right along. Sota admitted he likes Sakura, against her brother's wished, Itsuki and Kagome finally get to their destination (was all that traveling really worth the few minutes they were there?), you got a peak into Kagome's head, and Kagome's mom finally woke up.
FYI- Itsuki is his last name, his first name is Naoya, but no one calls him that.
Now I'm going to sleep.
. : Next Time : .
Dr. Itsuki
The experiment
A peak into the past
A man to man conversation
Home
Catching up
On a mental note