Pairings: Inu/Kag (Kou) Mir/San Sess/Rin
A/N: Don't worry, fans, this'll be Inu/Kag ALL THE WAY! Kouga's just being a jackass. And Kikyo's a bitch…yeah. Also, Ronishi, of course! I try hard, and block class helps, but not really…(Sweatdrop)
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Chapter 18
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'Inuyasha…' Kagome thought, the one word ringing in her mind over and over again. Just the thought of him sent chills down her spine. Him kissing her passionately, trailing down her body. 'If only…-' she suddenly halted on that thought. 'Wait…what am I doing?' she asked herself frantically.
As her mind slowly cleared itself of the fog manifesting inside her, she noticed that this was definitely NOT Inuyasha kissing her (A/N: No shit, Sherlock…). She waited, trying to recognize the person who held her delicate form in their strong arms. As her eyes opened, focusing, they landed in on the muscular form of Kouga.
'Oh…crap…' Kagome thought wildly. She was kissing Kouga; KOUGA, OF ALL PEOPLE!
Filled with slight fury, and total embarrassment, Kagome shoved herself away from Kouga's warmth, and sent her best glare at him. The wolf demon, not expecting such a turn-around, held a mildly surprised expression, his blue eyes showing muddled confusion and slight hurtfulness.
"Kagome…" he whispered.
"Don't…" was all Kagome could muster. "Please…just don't…"
Kouga stepped forward, and Kagome stepped back, the mud squelching underneath her. He tried to reach his hand to brush away new tears that fell down her cheeks, but she backed up some more, as if afraid of what he wanted to do, what they already did.
"Kouga, listen," she started, her voice cracking a bit. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any huge feelings for you. I only like you as a friend, nothing more. That kiss we shared…it was a mistake!"
Kouga's gaze hardened at that sudden comment; not what Kagome was hoping for. "So, what's your point? I kissed you, you kissed me back, and now you're saying that was a mistake? Are you saying that you're in love with that mutt? That weak, slimy mongrel who is so pathetic, he will fall for Naraku's tricks time and time again? That lowly, dirty half-breed who constantly puts you in danger or runs off with someone else? Who-"
"STOP IT, KOUGA!" Kagome all but shouted in Kouga's face, causing the wolf to tighten his mouth immediately. "Don't talk about Inuyasha like that; what I say is the truth, I don't love you in that kind of way. I've been trying to tell you that for a long time now, even if I don't say it right now. Your feelings towards me aren't mutual. It's not love; you're more than a friend to me, but it's not love. Our relationship cannot go any farther than that of…I don't know: an overprotective brother, perhaps?" she suggested meekly.
"Hmph," Kouga growled, walking up to Kagome; this time, she did not back up. "Even if that is what you think of me now, I won't give up. I'm in love with you, Kagome, and I'm not a wuss, nor am I gonna just hand you over to a slimy mutt that barely remembers your name. We'll just see in the future ahead whether he's really devoted to you or not."
Kagome gave a small smile. So, Kouga did understand, even if he didn't act fully on it. Oh well, as long as he wouldn't attack Inuyasha, then that would be…
'Inuyasha!' she suddenly remembered. She glanced around. 'If he saw that…oh, God…'
Kagome searched frantically around. She looked at where he was last, but all that was there was a severely dented tree. The mud around that area was slowly reforming into the evened-out sludge that it was, and she could just barely make out foot prints, set out in large intervals, leading quickly, and quietly, away from where the two stood. Kagome felt her heart twist. 'I must have really hurt him this time…who wouldn't be?' she thought sadly.
"Kouga, we have to find Inuyasha!" the girl pleaded. The wolf looked down at her with a 'have-you-been-listening-to-what-I've-been-saying-all-this-time?' look. Hey, even if he was his rival, a girl could try, right? "Well, if you aren't going to help me, I'll go look by myself!" she huffed, and stomped off, following the almost unrecognizable footprints that were slowly fading in the mud.
Kouga watched her go for a few seconds before running after her. He suddenly stopped, remembering about Jaken, and glanced back. The toad was happily munching on what looked like a fruit on the other side of the clearing. Kouga didn't trust anything that grew here, so he barely batted the food any notice. With one leap he was in front of the imp. He picked him up none too gently, and leapt over to Kagome.
"Fine, but if you wanna find the puppy, use him," Kouga instructed, tossing Jaken into the mud in front of the girl. "He seems to know how to find things in the swamp."
Kagome leaned down and watched the imp struggle to get the mud out of his eyes. "Jaken, could you please help us find Inuyasha?"
Jaken glared. "Why should I? You're just a pathetic human! Besides, I only obey Lord Sesshomaru, and I'd never willingly find that half-breed, even if my-" Jaken was cut off as Kouga began punching him into next year. "…Yes, sir…" he said groggily. "Give an order, and I shall lead the way!" He began wobbling in the direction Inuyasha's already-faded footprints were in, with Kagome and Kouga in tow.
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Inuyasha leapt none too sparingly through the swamp. He had no idea where he was going, but he didn't care. 'Anywhere…' he thought. 'Anywhere is fine, as long as I can get away from it…'
The image filled his mind. Kagome…Kouga…each other in tight embrace, kissing passionately. Inuyasha suddenly stopped, feet sinking deep in the mud. He took deep, ragged breaths, trying to regain his composure.
Inuyasha felt waves of emotion wash through him. There was a tight pain in his chest, and he felt as if his heart had been crushed. But why did it hurt so bad? He was confused, he didn't know what was going on.
'Why do I feel this way?' he thought. 'Is it because I…I like Kagome?' He felt another wave of anxiety pass through as the images refused to leave him. Kagome, Kouga, kissing…it was all too much. He shook his head, and continued to run.
After who knows how long, he finally came to a stop. He could hear thunder and lightning up ahead. He lifted his head up and stared as rain droplets pounced on his face. The sprinkle quickly turned into a downpour, and Inuyasha became thoroughly drenched; but he didn't care, oh no. He no longer cared about anything. Except his feelings, and the images which continued to haunt the realms of his dark mind.
He hastily walked towards a seemingly large tree, with huge roots that lifted off the ground a couple feet. He walked on them, and up to the trunk. He glared at what seemed as nothing before suddenly gripping the trunk with all his might, and slamming his forehead against this.
'Why won't it go away?' he asked himself, enraged, throwing his head against the trunk again. 'Why won't it go the hell away?' The images, they refused to leave. They would remind him every conscious second of the torment that ate at his heart and soul. Shouting out a cry of anguish, he slammed his head as hard as he could against the hard bark before leaning his back against it, and sliding down onto the roots.
His head throbbed. It felt like exploding, but at least the images were gone. He glanced upwards, dazed, at the blood-stained trunk. He confusedly lifted a hand, and felt his forehead. His fingers came upon a large splotch of sticky, clotting blood. He held it before his face for a while, staring at the red liquid that coated his rough hands. He wasn't surprised that it didn't hurt; he was freezing, and he just banged his head against a trunk, so his head probably wasn't responding to his nerves.
He felt numb, inside and out; heavy, as if a thousand weights had been added onto him; weak, feeling no will to move or go onwards. He set his hands on the roots, trying to feel the roughness of the dark wood. Instead, he felt coldness, and the sharp stinging of rain as they hit his numbed skin through the tree.
"I wish I could just disappear…" he thought aloud.
"That could be arranged…" slurred a number of hissing voices from around him.
Inuyasha's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't been expecting a response, and the voices that said it didn't sound familiar at all. "Who's out there, show yourself!" he shouted with bravado. Even if they did show themselves, it probably wasn't friendly, and Inuyasha really wasn't in a good fighting mood.
"We already have…" the voices hissed. Their hisses weren't hostile or rough, as Inuyasha had first thought; their tones were soft and elegant; peaceful; calming. "…We are the spirits of the swamp, in essence, the swamp itself."
"O…kay…" Inuyasha mumbled, half-heartedly. He wasn't sure whether to believe the voices or not, but they didn't seem dangerous, so he decided to 'play along'. "What do you want?"
"We wish to help you…" they hissed. "You wish to disappear, yes? We could make that happen; it will be painless, too."
The demon was left speechless. They actually had the power to do this? However, even if they could, that still left one question… "And what would happen to me? Or my body?"
"Your body would disintegrate into nothing, and your spirit would most likely become part of the swamp," the voices replied.
'Hmph…so much for that…' he thought. "Sorry, but I have not inclination of becoming a part of a swamp…"
"Very well," the voices said, "A wise choice. There are too many a person who venture in, only to have their spirit become a tree or some other swamp manifestation. Still…is there anything else you wish?"
Inuyasha blinked. This was where his 'brilliant mind' shut off…not to mention the fact that he still had a killer headache, and he had a blood clot the size of Japan on him. Finally, he asked, "Why are you doing this for me? I mean, why me?"
"Well, why not?" the voices asked. "You intrigue us; it's not every day you spot a half demon wander around your domain, is there?"
Inuyasha winced at the word: half demon. It's what he's been shunned as his whole life. Yet these…these…things…said it as if they were interested, and actually happy that they had found a half demon such as him. The last one who acted like that around him was Kikyo and Kagome, and look where that got him…
"You seemed troubled about something," the voices inquired. "Perhaps we could be of assistance?"
Inuyasha sighed. "No, you probably couldn't."
"Very well, we shall not pry," the voices sounded disappointed, but continued with, "We have powerful magics, and can still help you in some way. Is there anything you want at the moment?"
Inuyasha perked up. 'Anything, huh?' he thought. "Hmm…well, there IS something…I lost my memory a while back, so could you try to help me remember?"
The voices did not speak for some time, as if pondering. Inuyasha didn't know if they would respond or not, and cocked his head in confusion. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"No, there isn't," the voices replied solemnly. "But since your memory-loss is due to the fact that you were cursed multiple times by Taimu, Nagori, and a priestess, it will be hard to regain your memories; their powers have been stacked, layered, upon your mind. Each layer will take great effort to remove. Taimu's power has already been removed, though you are still missing your memories. This brings in Nagori's power, and hers is far greater than Taimu's remaining essence in your spirit. For those two, Nagori and Taimu, we cannot help you with. However, the one made by the priestess, we can; she isn't as skilled with memory-loss as the Dragons, so we can help you regain the memories you lost from her."
"I…guess that'll work…" Inuyasha replied hesitantly. "What should I do?"
"Just lean back and relax," the voices replied. "Don't think about anything, and let your mind drift away."
The young demon did as he was told, leaning back against the old tree and letting his mind unfocus, letting his vulnerability be known to whoever happened to come across him. As he did so, he felt a sudden tiredness sweep over him, layered with a pleasing layer of coldness that sent his body into a numb state. His eyes began to close, and welcomed the darkness that flooded his senses…and with it, the images came…
(A/N: Wow, you are so lucky I'm not ending the thing here…but you'll hate me in a few seconds, I can tell…)
They came in swarms. Everywhere he could tell, there were clips of scenes he didn't recognize, yet he knew exactly what was happening. Whenever one started, they were overlapped by the next; multiple overlappings, surrounding the form of a spirit that was Inuyasha. He could feel everything being absorbed in his mind; memories of Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Kouga; all the good memories he had that weren't being affected by Nagori's curse. However, with the good comes the bad as he could vaguely remember Naraku, Koto, and Kagura. Somehow, he could see the memories he wasn't supposed to, for they resided in the layer that was Nagori's curse; but they were blurred, and he couldn't make out what was happening. All he knew was that he was in it, something was happening, and it wasn't at all good.
Suddenly, as soon as it started, it stopped. Inuyasha was at once jolted awake to meet up with a throbbing headache. He pressed a hand up to his head, only to feel the roughness of caked blood. Doing so reopened his head injury, and new, fresh liquid began to pour out of the wound. He winced at the pain, and brought his hand down. Along with fresh blood, dried blood and a bit of dirt, there was sticky, yellow puss collected around the blood. 'Damn…' he thought. '…this wound will become infected if I don't clean it out soon…'
Still, he regained a lot of his memories, so that lightened the mood some. "Well, at least SOMETHING good happening to me!" he yelled to no one in particular. He waited for a few moments, waiting for the swamp spirits to say something…anything…but they never came. This surprised Inuyasha; they said they were intrigued by him, yet they grant him a wish, and just leave him alone…feh, so much for being intrigued.
He finally stood up, his body aching all over for some reason. By the darkness of the swamp around him, he judged that it was nighttime, and that he'd been asleep for at least five hours, even though it only felt like five seconds.
He began walking forward, not knowing where his feet would take him. However, he walked onward more peacefully than before, for his mind was occupied from the stinging image of the girl he loved kissing his rival. Now, he had to sort out his newly-acquired memories and piece together the puzzle of who he was exactly, why this Naraku person put a curse on him in the first place, and figure out what the hell was really going on.
Suddenly, there was a deep, loud rustling from the bushes to the side. The demon quickly pivoted on his foot, faced the bushes, and drew the sword he now knew was called 'Tetsusaiga'. When he drew the rusty sword, it immediately transformed into the larger, more powerful blade.
Hiding his emotions with anger, he glared at the bushes and called menacingly, "Who's there? Show yourself!" He tried to look scary to his onlookers, and with heaps of blood dripping down his face and a huge-ass sword in his hands, it looked very convincing.
His eyes widened at what came out.
"Inu…yasha…" came the weak, strained voice of Sango. She was battered and bruised all over, blood dripping from various wounds, and out of her mouth. Her boomerang was hastily attached around her arm looking about ready to fall off. Miroku was supported by her, one arm slung over her shoulder as his unconscious form was dragged along in the mud. From what Inuyasha could tell, Miroku was in far worse condition. Deathly pale skin clashed with his dark robes, and red blood glistened and seemed brighter as it raced down his skin.
Inuyasha ran towards them, but stopped when he came within a few yards of them. He sniffed a few times, and stared ahead. What came behind Miroku and Sango was a long, slender-bodied creature. It floated in the air, giving Inuyasha a peaceful feeling, even in this dire situation. Its deep, blue body, as long as the perimeter of a basketball court, coiled around the trees like a snake…a really big snake.
It stared at Inuyasha innocently with great big, light blue eyes. They held curiosity, and held a pure innocence; this was definitely a young one, probably a year old or so.
'So…THIS is the serpent we've been searching for…' Inuyasha thought, amazed.
TO BE CONTINUED……