Chapter Eight - Home Sweet Home
Tomoyo... Tomoyo.
Wake up.
Her eyes flew open and her breathing increased rapidly. Tomoyo scanned the small space of the wardrobe and a sudden realisation befell her.
The once empty wardrobe was suddenly filled with random junk.
Just like the old woman's she had wandered into.
She sat up and dusted herself off, then pushed the door open slightly and peeked through the hole. There she was. The old woman that had tried to push her into her oven was slowly rocking back and forth in a chunky rocking chair. Gritting her teeth, Tomoyo slowly pushed the doors open, praying it wouldn't creak.
Thankfully, the odds were in her favour.
Sweat dripped down her face as she carefully stepped out of the wardrobe and out onto the cold, stone ground. Now for the difficult part: getting past the witch. She tiptoed over to the door and held her breath... Almost there... Just a little bit...
"You!"
Oh no.
Tomoyo almost leapt out of her skin at the sound of her voice.
She wasted no time and ran for the door handle to swing it open.
"Get back here, little girl! Have some cookies!" the woman shouted as she grabbed a broom and ran after Tomoyo.
Luckily, Tomoyo was faster so it wasn't difficult to lose the old hag. She paused for a couple of seconds to catch her breath, resting her hands on her legs and panting.
She was almost home.
Please be safe. Please don't be hurt, she prayed as she reached the final stretch. Her home was still standing, which was a good sign, but it was what was inside that really counted. She finally reached the door and pushed it. It was open, which was not a good sign. She walked inside and was welcomed by broken glass bottles scattered across the floor like the snow on the ground from the world beyond the wardrobe.
"YUKI?!" she screamed.
There was silence for a while before finally...
"Tomoyo!" a timid voice cried out weakly.
Pulling open every cupboard, Tomoyo finally located her sister and scooped her up into her arms, hugging her tightly. "Are you okay?" she asked, checking her for cuts and scratches.
"I-I'm okay... But, onee-san... Where were you? I was scared."
"I," Tomoyo stuttered, "It's hard to explain."
A loud crash! echoed from somewhere in the house, startling them both and prompting Yuki to shoot farther into her chest. Tomoyo lifted her gaze to the top of the stairs and felt her heart sink.
"... Ren," she whispered, holding Yuki tighter.
"Well, look who we've got here," Ren drawled as he stumbled down the stairs, a bottle of half drunk whiskey in his hand.
She wasn't going to back down to him now.
"Drinking already and it's not even noon yet," she sighed, standing up and urging Yuki behind her.
"I'll drink whenever I want."
"No, you don't. You have a family to take care of. It's time to pull yourself together!"
He thrust the bottle at the wall behind her, smashing it into tiny little pieces and sprays of dark brown.
It only just dodged her face.
"You do not talk to me like that!" he yelled, and he lifted his hand to strike but was stopped by another, strong fist.
"Really now," a familiar face hummed, "Is that any way to talk to a lady?"
"What the hell are you doing!?"
"Koga!" Hakkaku yelped, "How long have you been standing there?"
He prayed to the gods that Koga didn't see Tomoyo go through the wardrobe.
"Long enough to see you betray me."
"... Betray you?"
"Damn right. You let little red get away."
"Oh... So you saw that."
"Yeah. And I also heard that talk the two of ya had. What, are you falling for a stupid mortal now?"
"What is wrong with you!? Stop pretending you were never in love Kagome, who, guess what, is also a stupid mortal."
"Was. She was a stupid mortal."
"See?" Hakkaku growled, "You go crazy at anyone even saying her name! What happened to you—to us?! Kagome made us better people and now... Look at us. We've gone back to killing and eating humans, and now you're terrorising a young girl just because she reminds you too much of her!"
"Kagome is dead!"
The cry demanded silence.
"I couldn't... I couldn't save her. You couldn't and neither could that stupid mutt!"
Koga slammed his fist into the doors of the wardrobe, cracking the wood.
"I know she's dead!" Hakkaku fell to his knees as the memories resurfaced, "I was there, all of us were there!"
*Flashback*
"Kagome!" Inuyasha howled, reaching for his wife's hand.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed back and reached out towards him.
Those were the last words the two ever exchanged, for the next dark moments marked themselves into everyone's memories forever. The flames. Dancing embers everywhere. Before anyone could get to her, they swallowed her body and purged the life out of her.
Inuyasha darted into the fire, uncaring of his own fate, and pulled her out of their scorching embrace
He laid her down on the ground and lightly caressed her ruined face.
"Kagome? Kagome? Please… don't leave me. I need you."
When she failed to stir, tears started blossoming behind his eyes. He shook her, then again, and again, and again.
She remained still with every shake.
The rest of the fellowship came running from the battlefield. Sango, Shippo, Koga, Hakkaku, Ginta, Sesshomaru, Rin, and Jaken, slowed to a stop at the terrible sight laid before them. So many lost already. So many of them fallen.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha tried one more helpless whimper bevidence sinking down into her ribs and sobbing. His shakes were seared into the memories of everyone who saw, but even as he drowned her body with his tears, there was still an essence about him that suggested he hadn't fully accepted it.
Because how could he accept the death of his most, and only precious thing?
Everything was swarmed by a burning sensation, consumed by a sense of hopelessness. Kagome. Kagome couldn't be gone. She was supposed to be invincible. She had the power of the Shikon no tama. She was supposed to survive
Koga's first real love... was dead.
And he couldn't be there for her final painful moments. Every ounce of existence drained from inside him and made him feel hollow, and the only remaining feeling was rage. And one ferocious, soul-demanding certainty.
That was no ordinary fire.
*End of flashback*
"I'm going." Koga spat, opening the now almost broken wardrobe doors.
"What?" Hakkaku spluttered, blinking away his growing tears.
"You're right. This isn't who I am. I'm... gonna go apologise. That's what Kagome would want."
He stepped inside and closed the doors behind him.
"I'm sorry, Hakkaku."
Hakkaku smiled faintly.
"I forgive you."
After a moment of soul blindness, Koga's eyes flickered open and he took in his surroundings. The once empty wardrobe was now filled with strange objects. Weird. He climbed out and smelled the air. A disgusting stench invaded his nostrils.
He kicked the doors down and jumped out.
"What the…?" he stuttered.
He was in some kind of strange little house.
A house he had never seen before.
Meaning... The wardrobe was some kind of magical doorway.
His eyes widened in amazement as he enjoyed the interesting sight before him. It was like nothing he had ever seen before.
"Who are you?!" a hoarse voice abruptly screamed into his ear.
He leapt back in initial shock, then steeled himself and squeezed his fists. "You're a demon!" he yelled, baring his claws.
She studied him. "You are also a demon."
"Well, you haven't happened to see a young woman with unusually bright red hair?"
"Oh, that girl. I've tried to catch her many times but she has escaped me twice. I just want to taste her delicious looking flesh—ARHGH."
He punched a hole through her stomach, leaving her dead on the ground.
He growled under his breath as he stepped over her and left the little house. His nostrils flared as he tried to locate a trace of her scent. It was proving quite difficult because of all the strange new smells that surrounded him.
However, he would always be able to find her unique scent.
"There it is."
He ran in the direction of her scent, all the while admiring the beautiful scenery before him. He was definitely coming here again to explore the new surroundings.
Finally, he reached a tall wooden building which he presumed to be her home. He heard loud shouts coming from inside, and thought he should probably hurry up and find her.
A loud crash echoed throughout the halls and he went running in at the speed of lightning. He looked around and saw Tomoyo and two other people who looked uncannily like her. It looked as though they were shouting at each other, and with his senses he could hear exactly what they were saying.
The man, Ren, if he remembered correctly, lifted his hand as if to strike to her.
Not on his watch!
He shot between them and stopped him with his fist.
"Really now, is that any way to talk to a lady?"
Not hesitating, he punched the man square in the face, knocking him unconscious.
"Koga?" Tomoyo gasped, baffled as to how he had gotten here.
"Hey, red. You okay?"
He grinned and held his hand out to her.
She smiled at him and took his hand.
"Wait. Are you still trying to eat me?"
"Uh, no. I had a little talk with an angry wolf and it made me realise the mistakes I've been makin'. I shouldn't'a treated you the way I did... I'm sorry."
She looked at him carefully and poked his cheek. "Hello? Have you seen Koga? I seem to have misplaced him."
"Hey! I'm serious, don't mock me."
"I know, I know." She hit one of his shoulders playfully, "I forgive you."
"You do?"
"Yes. You're not really a bad guy, are you?"
"Um... Who are you?" Yuki interrupted shyly.
Tomoyo smiled wrapped her arms around her little sister. "This is Koga," she introduced him, "He's a friend of mine."
"Nice to meet ya," he bent down on his knees and held his hand out to her.
"N-Nice to meet you," she stammered, shaking his hand, but her attention was instantly drawn to his pointy ears. "Your ears!" she exclaimed, reaching to grab them.
"OW!" he shrieked.
"They're so sharp! And real. Are you an elf? You look like an elf."
"An elf in a skirt," Tomoyo added with a grin.
Koga escaped Yuki's grasp and frowned at Tomoyo. "I can't believe you—" he started, but stopped as his eyes were drawn to her injured wrists.
He lifted them closer and held them in his hands.
Tiny droplets of blood painted them like canvases.
"Oh," She looked at them and laughed nervously. "Oops. They must have re-opened. Don't worry about it, I'm fine."
"... I did this." he sighed and rested his forehead against her wrist, "I'm so sorry."
She blushed as red as her hair and pulled her hands away. "I said don't worry about it, it's fine!"
"No, it's not."
She looked down and studied the wounds. Ren's unconscious body caught her eye behind him and she swallowed.
"You apologised," she whispered, "That proves to me that you deserve to be forgiven."
His eyes widened, as if he was remembering something.
Once he'd recovered from whatever mental drawback he'd had, he held her wrist up to his lips and quickly licked the blood away. Tomoyo and Yuki both blushed and looked away awkwardly.
"W-What are you doing, you freak?!"
He gently the now healed wound, his youkai saliva possessing healing properties beyond any human medicine. "I healed it."
She looked at her wrists and her eyes widened in shock.
"What?" she blinked and Yuki scurried over to inspect her hand. "Wow... Thank you—"
A sudden burst of energy tore through her chest. A bright red light blinded the three of them, and Tomoyo slowly opened her eyes to see the fire stone floating in the middle of the room.
"What the?" she whispered, when a voice called her name.
Tomoyo.
It's time.