I don't know why, but for some reason or other, ff . net isn't letting me use certain combinations of characters. It won't let me put an exclamation mark and a question mark next to each other, so I'm just going to stick with the exclamation mark they put there instead.
Disclaimer: Let's see . . . how long has it been? Three weeks? How the heck do you think I'd get the rights in a measly three weeks!
Note: In repentance of not being able to update cause of my trip to DC, I have made this chapter an official 4225 words (not counting the shout outs or Sanci's changes). That is twice what I like to put up, so ya'll are lucky.
Jiko sat, completely paralyzed in fear as he watched the women stare dumbfoundedly at him.
It took a few minutes for him to get the feeling back in his body, and when it did, he immediately started shaking. "I-I'm sorry . . . f-for not . . . for not t-telling you . . ."
They simply continued to stare at him, and not being able to stand the confused and shocked faces anymore, he stood up and ran out of the hut, out of the village, and as far as he could go to get out of sight until he came to the Goshinboku and slid down the trunk, breathing heavily. 'T-They saw me . . .'
"He was a hanyou the whole time?" Kaede looked after him with the shock still evident on her face. "And I could not sense it?"
"I'm going after him, Lady Kaede!" Tasuke stood, her hand clenched in determination. "I don't care what he is!"
After merely looking at her for a moment, the old hag nodded, and the girl ran out to find him.
The old woman sighed and looked over her shoulder at the other hanyou that was currently sleeping somewhat noisily. 'This explains why he did not recognize him . . .'
Inuyasha rolled over in his sleep, ears twitching every now and then as the miko watched him with a strange look on her face.
Jiko caught her scent as she made her way up the hill towards where he was. In a desperate attempt to escape her and the undoubtable string of insults she would throw at him, he leapt up into the tree onto one of the higher branches.
"Hey! Where'd you go!" Tasuke reached the edge of the woods and looked around. "Please don't go off into the woods alone!"
Hearing none of the nasty comments he had expected, the hanyou crept out of the dying foliage to gaze down on her, his messy hair falling down into his face. He glared up at it, then with his good arm, tried to wipe it away. This caused him to lose his balance, and he toppled out of the tree, right onto his butt next to her. "Owwww!"
"There you are!" Tasuke squatted down beside him. "What'd you take off for?"
"You mean . . ." Jiko gave her a very timid look. "You aren't going to hurt me?"
"Why would I do something like that!" The girl seemed quite taken aback by his statement. "One of my mommy and daddy's best friend's is a hanyou!"
"T-They are?" The hanyou boy stood up, slowly, still worried that she might suddenly lash out at him.
Tasuke put on a big grin and nodded. "Inuyasha is one of the nicest people I know!" She put a hand beside her mouth and leaned in closer to whisper as if she was afraid that the inu hanyou's keen senses would pick up her voice. "Though he is a little strange . . ."
'Inuyasha!' Jiko's whole countenence lit up."He's here?"
"So you do know him!" The girl smiled even more. "I thought as much!"
'I'm safe here . . . I'm actually safe . . .' He couldn't help but smile in return.
Darkness.
Everywhere he looked was complete and utter darkness.
He growled at it, as if in a challenge, and the darkness accepted, reaching out its icy fingers and wrapping around him in an embrace close to that of death.
A pain unlike anything he had ever experienced suddenly blazed through his forehead.
He couldn't help but scream, his mouth opening and the air escaping, but no sound leaving him as he gaped at the blood that suddenly poured down his face.
Just as he thought the pain had subsided, he suffered another blow. This one felt like something was being ripped right out of his skull.
He screamed again, his voice having less effect than before. All of his breath was already gone, and his mouth was already wide.
He stumbled forward, the new wave of blood coating him in its warmth, cutting out the icy darkness.
Closing his eyes, he blindly continued to fumble his way forward, groping around for some landmark he recognized while blocking out the ceaseless pain.
"Wake up . . ."
A juvenille voice called through all the blackness and agony to reach his delicate ears, seemingly entering his body and touching his soul.
It was a girl's voice. One he recognized but had never heard. It was so full of purity and innocence that it seemed like an angel's breath to him.
"Inuyasha . . . open your eyes . . ."
He trusted this voice, and he obeyed, opening his eyes to an incredibly blinding light. If anything, this was the exact opposite of what it had been before.
He looked around, searching for the cheribin that had brought him out of the endless darkness, but all he found was endless white . . . and a speck of red in the distance . . .
"Inuyasha . . ."
'Who are you!' Said hanyou started looked around harder, annoyed that he couldn't see this person that one couldn't help but wish to see.
"Go to her . . ."
'To her?'
"See her . . ."
He growled, annoyed, then looked around yet again, this time searching for this 'her.' He caught sight of the red speck again, and the slight scent of death reached his delicate nose. His eyes widened slightly before he took off towards it.
What he came across was completely opposite of what he had thought would be something that he'd want to see. He completely forgot about his pain as he merely stood with wide eyes, staring at the mass of black, white, and red.
He wanted to speak, but his voice was still gone, and his body trembled so much that he doubted that he could anyway.
Instead, he walked towards it, reaching out with a shaking hand. With each inch he crossed, the crimson around the thing increased, staining the white its color, reaching out in all directions.
Finally, he touched it, and everything went blood red.
He swallowed hard, feeling his lips loosen and his voice return, as he gently rolled Kagome over.
He looked down at her tainted face, seeing how vividly the pale skin stood out from its bloody surroundings. Her throat had a gaping hole in it, exposing the crushed windpipe and the torn vocal cords.
For the first time in his life, Inuyasha had to actually fight and fight hard not to express his sadness as he stared at her. "She wasn't .. . she wasn't allowed . . . to scream . . . Kagome . . ."
Further down, the same type of hole went through her stomach, claw marks extending from there up through her shoulder.
His face suddenly sporting no emotion at all, he ever so gently picked her up in his arms, burying his face into her dampened hair. "Kagome . . . I'm sorry . . . that I wasn't there to protect you . . . I'm so sorry . . ."
The weight of all the emotions he was feeling conflicted one another, not allowing a single one to control his actions.
"Sad, isn't it?"
The voice this time sounded from behind him, and he turned to face it, but yet again, no one was there. He felt angered that this voice was teasing him so when his love lay dead in his arms. He had to take his rage out somewhere, and an invisible person was better than himself. "Are you the one that did this to her!"
"Yes. Yes I did."
"Then come out you coward!"
"She could've escaped him, that she could, but I made her stay. Isn't it such a heartbreaker?"
Inuyasha's anger grew more and more every second, his claws digging unknowingly into the miko's flesh.
"You shouldn't get so mad. It's what she wanted, after all. She'd've died anyday for me."
"What're you!" He stopped abruptly in the middle of his sentence and growled loudly, angered even more for no apparent reason. He needed to kill something, and he needed to kill something now.
"Tsk tsk, little hanyou. Look what you're doing now."
Inuyasha looked down at his claws, making little trickles of blood run down his love's arms. He quickly pulled then away, and was stricken by fear of what he had been doing. He had let his anger get such a hold on him that he had been hurting the one that he had sworn to protect.
Silently, he layed her back down on the blood red floor and stood, wide eyed, as this time, fear engulfed him.
"You shouldn't get so angry next time. Such things often happen when one lets go of their rage."
He shook his head furiously, then turned and ran. He couldn't stand to see her like that anymore, dead because of him.
Because of his stupidity. Because he had always been such a fool as to drive her away.
"Now this looks familiar." The girl's voice now seemed to be whispering into his ear. "Isn't this how you always acted when you were frightened as a child?"
He growled at the thing again, picking up his pace to try and escape it.
"Maybe your rage and sadness and fear can all be taken out in a well deserved cry into your mother's arms."
"What?"
Before the voice answered, however, he felt the blood from his wounds start to retreat back inside of him. His clothes soon felt incredibly loose as he felt his hair shorten and the deep rasping of his breathing heighten.
"What are you doing to me!" he said in a small squeak of a voice, now running out of the endless red into a serene orchard, one that he recognized.
He stopped running to look around at his new surroundings, his nose tickled by the sweet aromas.
"Inuyasha . . ." A woman's sweet voice reached his ears, sending them to perk straight up. It couldn't be . . .
He slowly turned to find himself face to face with his mother.
"Inuyasha . . . come here." She gave him a genuine smile and offered her arms in a hug.
The child-like emotions surging through his mind suddenly overpowered him as he ran into her waiting embrace, warm tears threatening to fall from his blood shot eyes.
"Mother . . . she's dead . . . she's dead, and there's nothing I can do . . ."
"Whose dead?"
Inuyasha gasped slightly in surprise. It wasn't his mother's voice anymore . . . it was . . .
"Who?"
He looked up into Kagome's eyes, shining with motherly empathy.
"You're alive?" He choked back the tears, staring up at her in disbelief.
She gave him a sad smile. "Of course I'm alive. You just had a bad dream is all."
"B-But I . . ."
"Shhhhhh . . ." She brought him close to her again, and he breathed in her comforting scent as he relaxed in her embrace. "It's okay . . . Mommy's here for you . . ."
'Mommy?' Inuyasha looked back up at her, but this time, a bit of messy red hair fell in front of his eyes. He blinked at it, then tried to twitch his ears, but found them to be pointy little appendages on the sides of his head. 'What the hell did that girl do to me!'
"Something wrong?"
"Oh . . . no. Nothing."
Kagome smiled at him and gently kissed him on the forehead. "Go back to sleep, Jiko. I'll even sing for you if you want."
'Jiko? That girl stuck me in his body!'
Kagome literally collapsed from exhaustion as she reached the edge of the woods outside the village. She merely lay there for a bit, breathing heavily so that she was prepared for a battle should one be necessary.
'Jiko . . . I must . . . save him . . .' She picked the upper half of her body up and began to slowly crawl her way up the hill, watching the lazy smoke of a cooking fire meander its way slowly into the sky. 'At least . . . he's still safe . . . from him . . .'
Her stomach growled noisily as the scent of roasting meat, most likely from the very fire she had been watching. She smiled a bit, then quickened her four-legged pace. Halfway up, she stood and began to run towards the gate, practically shedding tears of joy that her son was still safe and that she'd finally get a decent meal.
She stopped dead in her tracks, wide eyed, staring out at where the village once stood.
Everything had been burned to the ground, still smoldering and incredibly blackened, the once human bodies half out of what was once a window. Every single ounce of earth was painted with blood and every ashen creature was the same crimson, making them stand out vividly in the blackness. To make matters worse, every cow, chicken, pig, and human's head had been cut off, frozen in a look of terror, and layed around the entrance, every one of their faces maimed.
Kagome gasped and ran through them, keeping her eyes closed as she ran for the hut she had stayed in, praying that Jiko had somehow remained safe.
When she finally opened her eyes to it, all she found was what looked like a singe on the earth. The flames would have been extremely hot, eating every bit of it . . . with her hanyou son undoubtedly still inside . . .
But there was still hope. If Jiko was the son of the very fire youkai that had done this, he would undoubtedly be able to survive an attack like this. Or maybe . . . that's what he had wanted . . .
Thoughts of what could've happened flashed through her mind. Pictures of Jiko trapped inside the burning hut, coughing and calling her name. Pictures of his father renching him out of the still burning reckage by his hair. Pictures of him slaying all the villagers in front of his eyes. Pictures of his torture. Pictures of his death. Pictures of his blood.
She fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands, crying like there was no tomorrow. In her petty attempts to regain her own happiness, she had fed her son to the wolves. He was gone forever, and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Hello there, mate." A snide voice from behind her brought her out of her self-hate, turning around and coming face to face with none other than Jiko's father himself. There was an air of anger around him, one that she did not understand.
"You . . ." She glared at him, tears pouring out of her eyes. "You monster . . ."
He smirked. "Such a pity, wench. You could've stayed and protected him." He took a few steps forward, raising bloody claws.(1)
Kagome suddenly stopped glaring, and her face instead formed into one of great sadness, the tears still falling. "Go ahead. Kill me. You've taken everything away from me now."
She spread her arms out, letting him have full access to her. "I don't care how you do it. Rape me. Torture me. It doesn't matter."
The youkai raised a smug eyebrow. "You're willing to give up everything, eh?"
"I have nothing left to have taken away. First you stole Inuyasha and now Jiko. You can't touch me anymore."
"Oh really?" His smirk grew as he laughed slightly. "So who is this Inuyasha person? Was he your lover before I took you?"
Her eyes widened greatly.
"I see. So it wasn't me you were running from after all." He gently fingered the sword at his belt. "Then maybe I should rid the world of another you love."
"No!" She jumped forward, trying to somehow stop him, but before she got near, he drew his sword, slashing her across her stomach and sending her into a cringing ball of pain.
"Foolish girl."
"Please . . . t-take me instead . . ." she sputtered as she gasped for air.
The demon sheathed his sword, giving Kagome a strange look.
"I-I don't care w-what it means for me . . . you c-can even . . . can even take me as y-your m-mate . . . forever . . . just please . . ."
"Heh." He full out grinned. "All this for a man you haven't seen in six years. It's unfortunate for you that I already took out all my needs on the foolish wenches of this here village. I didn't spare a one of them. Not even the little girls that screamed their hearts out. In fact, I did them first while the others watched. It was indeed fun."
Kagome gasped. "You . . . you . . ."
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a certain. . ." He took a few sniffs of her, searching for any trace of a man that could be this 'Inuyasha.' " . . . hanyou, in fact, to kill."
He turned and walked off, kicking a few heads out of the way as he went.
'Inuyasha...!' Kagome remained in the tight ball, crying into herself. She trully had lost everything now. He was going to murder Inuyasha and everyone near him the same way.
(1): Yes, I know. Jiko's not dead, but his daddy's playing on that to mess with Kagome more. Just adding this so I don't confuse anyone.
After he was sure that Kagome was asleep, Inuyasha got up and ran outside, trying to find the damned girl that had stuck him in Jiko's body. "Where are you! Show yourself you coward!"
All that reached his ears was a slight giggling, and a white ball bounced by. Soon after came a little girl with auburn hair and emerald green eyes in a short light red kimono.
"Are you the one?" he seethed.
She grabbed the ball and looked up at him with wide eyes, then her face cracked into a smile.
"Answer me!" he said even louder, his eyes narrowing menacingly
"You're so silly." Her voice was the exact same as the one that had been tormenting him, and Inuyasha began to growl.
"I'm gonna kill you . . ."
"You can't kill me. As long as you're around, I'll be too. Even Kagome tried to kill me, but she also failed. Such sadness it is . . . why would anyone want to kill me?" she asked innocently with a grin.
The hanyou kept growling. "Change me back to normal, wench."
"Normal? You want to be you again?"
"What do you think!"
"Anger will only make you hurt her again. That's all it'll do."
Inuyasha stopped growling abruptly and turned to look back at the run down hut that she was in. "Just turn me back to normal so I can talk to her . . ."
"Doing so will help me, that it will. I'll happily do it!" She smiled widely again, and the hanyou felt himself start to grow again, back to his original size and into his own body.
As soon as the transformation was complete, he turned towards the hut again and pulled back the flap as he ran in. "Kagome . . ." She was still asleep on her futon.
He crouched beside her, a small smile on his face. So what if she hated him now? That would never change the fact that he loved her. Even if she was someone else's . . . He brushed a couple of stray bangs away.
She stirred slightly, and her eyes cracked open. "Ji . . . ko?" She looked up at him, and her eyes widened. "Inuyasha?"
He smiled at her as she sat up, just staring at him. "Hey . . ."
Before another word was spoken, she had flung herself at him, hugging him tightly and crying her eyes out. "Inuyasha, I'm so sorry . . . I don't . . . I'd never hate you . . . I'm sorry that I . . . that I never told you . . ."
Inuyasha's heart lightened considerable as he gently hugged her back, resisting the urge to pour out all his emotions on her at once. "Kagome . . . I'm . . . glad . . ."
She looked up at him, a smile shining through the pearly tears. "Inuyasha . . . I . . . I love you too . . ." With that hanging raw in the air, she started to lean in towards him, closing her eyes. He did the same, and just as he felt the much wanted brush of her lips against his, it was gone.
His eyes shot open, only to find himself back in the field of red.
"That's enough fantasy for you." The girl appeared behind him, and he turned, growling his head off at her.
"You're dead, girl!"
She waggled a finger at him. "Don't you get it, little hanyou? You can't kill me. Besides, you won't remember that meeting anyway."
Inuyasha's eyes widened a fraction of an inch. "I won't?"
"It's just a dream, silly."
"Just a . . . dream?" He didn't want to believe it, even if he knew it deep in his heart.
"Isn't it obvious? You sure are strange, little hanyou."
"Will you stop calling me that! You're the little one around here!"
"No, I'm not. I've been around since the beginning of time. This is just one of my forms."
"Who the heck are you!"
"Hmmmmm . . ." She put a finger on her chin thoughtfully. After a few seconds, she smiled at him again. "I don't know."
Inuyasha practically fell over. "You don't know your own name!"
"I have no name. I don't know who I am. I know what I am, but that's not what you asked, now is it?" she sighed.
"Then what are you?" he said through his teeth.
"Ganmou, vouloir, begehren." She started to slowly walk towards him, growing taller with every step, maturing with every breath. "Appetitio, deseo, bramare."
"In a language I can understand, please!"
She stopped, and the hanyou blinked, staring at her new appearance. It seemed now that she was a drop dead beauty. In fact, that was an understatement. Her deep, reddish-brown hair fell in little curls just below her shoulders. Her absolutely dazzling green eyes blazed with a determined fire.Every single curve of her body moved just the right way as she started to approach him again.
"Desire . . ." She brushed a hand over his cheek and pressed her lips to his in an incredibly soft kiss.
Inuyasha's eyes opened wide, and he pushed away. "What the hell are you . . . why did you . . ." He continued to mouth speechlessly at her as she gave him a small smile.
"Of course . . . what Kagome desires . . . is you . . . consider that from her."
"Ka . . ." His eyes flashed. "You know where she is!"
"She is currently in the village you found her in . . . in a great deal of pain, I might add."
"What! What happened to her!"
"It doesn't matter . . . you won't remember anyway . . ."
"I don't care! Tell me anyway!"
"Such a silly hanyou you are . . . perhaps you should forget right now . . ." She held up her hand so that the palm was facing him, and a strong aura started rescinating between them.
"I want to remember!" he yelled with desperation.
"You can't. If you remember this dream, all that she has worked for will be destroyed."
"What?"
"Should you remember this dream, what you experienced will come to pass."
"Then at least let me remember that she loves me!"
The aura dissapated for a second as the woman thought it over. "I suppose that I can at least grant you that, but I must give you another truth."
"Another truth?"
The aura came back again, this time even stronger than it had been before. The blood red of the floor seemed to lift off the ground, staining the very air red. It took everything in Inuyasha's power to keep from being blown away.
"Know this." The woman's voice had split, and her eyes glowed red. "All that Kagome desires now is the safety of her son. For this reason, you must not learn the truth. Should you learn of it, it will cause her suffering. Should the boy learn of it, it shall cause even more suffering. Should both of you learn of it . . ." She clenched her fist, and the aura was silent and still for a moment. "It will destroy her. Should either learn, the other will as well, and her death would be inevitable."
In a blinding flash of white and red light, she was gone, and Inuyasha sat straight up on the floor, sweat trickling down his face.
"Inuyasha?" An old woman's voice reached his ears, and he turned to come face to face with Kaede.
"Kaede . . ." His eyes were very wide, scared almost.
"What has happened? Ye look like ye just saw a ghost."
"It's . . . it's nothing . . ." He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his haori. 'At least I know that she still loves me. Even if . . .' That was when a very familiar scent reached his nose. He slowly brought his arm down and looked over the old hag's shoulder.
On the other end of the small hut, Tasuke was talking and giggling with a red haired boy with pointy ears and flaming red eyes.
"J-Jiko?" Inuyasha almost whispered, staring wide eyed at him.
Ooooooo . . . suspence! Now raise your hand if you want to kill me! ...looks nervously around at all the raised hands... Woah! Woah! Woah! My death only results in eternal torture for you guys! And it was longer so BE HAPPY!
Now for me to share my happiness with you:
TheLightintheDarkness (first reviewer): Is that enough of a 'good part' for ya? Now you're probably gonna tell me the exact same thing. lol.
animefreak321654: ...huggles Jiko... I don't wanna hurt the poor guy! It's just . . . It's just . . . I have to! For the plot of the story! If I could, I'd take him as my own and spoil him rotten! But at least he's happy now, right?
Mage of Swords: Sure you can. I'll even hold him for ya. And I hope this chappy answered your little question about that dream. In case you didn't notice, Inu's dream was his version of Jiko-baby's dream. Hope you like where this is going!
Maboroshi Kaji: Well . . . I can't really give you a hint seeing as you can never really tell whose gonna read what, but I hope this chapter answered a little bit. The only good thing is that she can't really suffer anymore, can she? Well . . . I guess I shouldn't say that . . . I have a knack for making things all the more worse.
sweet-girl8270: If he didn't then, he does now!
child-of-darkness-and-night: Me too! ...huggles the poor boy to death...
Inugirl540: Soon, my friend. Soon. And if it makes you feel better, after I finish these shout outs, I'll finish up HtG.
unheard screams: I WANT A HAPPY ENDING TOO! Which means you'll get it, but I have to stop being evil first, now don't I? You'll get it, just keep reading.
Leona: Whadaya know? They did!
Neko-Chick: Isn't it wonderful? Another cliffy!
KiKi: Yay! If you like this whole angsty biz, you should check out Not Too Late by SilverTailz. That is one of the BEST stories I have EVER read!
OniyuriGaaru: Calm down. It will. I promise. And . . . well . . . I doubt any half decent author would be so cruel as to kill poor Jiko, but if I was extremely evil, I might kill off a character. But generally, I don't do something like that. So just forget I said anything, and yes, it's a happy ending.
anime girl: ...nervous laugh... And I did it again, didn't I? My friend, Sanci told me it left her twitching at the end! Hope I don't get killed over it!
luvinukagome: Well . . . I guess this chappy is a little happier. I . . . guess . . . just no cwying! Me awways get sad when me make peopwe cwy . . . ...takes tissue and dabs eyes...
Kira/Sarah: NOOOOOO! ME NO KILL INU-BABY! ...huggles him... Sry I forgot to e-mail ya. I've been a little busy what with school and S.O. and Japanese. It's hard enough keeping up with the demand for more stories!
Sanci: You're right. That IS what everyone wants. Of course, you'll be the first to know. ...wink wink...
Inu: So what's gonna happen next chapter?
Me: Well, I can't tell you. That would ruin it for everybody!
Inu: Screw everybody! I wanna know!
Me: Actually . . . I haven't decided what's gonna happen next chappy . . . though I do believe that you'll have a run in with a certain bastard . . .
Inu: Can I kill him!
Me: DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I'D LET YOU KILL HIM IN CHAPTER SEVEN!
Inu: Yes.
Me: You're hopeless.
j baker: Let me guess. You wanna kill him even more now, right? Bastard . . . raping those poor girls . . . and yes, they'll get back together eventually, but that's for a later date.
Ryuu no Taiyo: You're crying too? Man, I'm sure making a lot of people cry . . .
Radde: Well, I would've gotten it out on my usual Saturday if it wasn't for the fact that I had a week long trip to DC and then the start of my crammed week. My scheldule's gonna be rather tight for the next few . . . months . . ., but I'll try to keep the updates a comin'.
Amanda Trinh: At least he knows she loves him, right? Even if he doesn't know the truth (and probably doesn't want to really know it anymore), he still knows that at least. I just hope that Kagome will learn that Jiko's still alive.
I think that's all for shout-outs. So until next time!
Ja ne!
Over-chan
