Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, and I don't materially profit from writing fanfiction.
Author's Note: Sorry, it's been a LONG time, but I'm in college (finally!). If I tell you how busy I've been, I'm not sure you'd believe me, but I had rehearsal from 7-10 every weeknight for the past two months, rehearsal from 4-7 on Fridays, 2-6 on Saturdays, and 1-5 on Sundays. I've been busy.
Translations:
Onegai: please
Chapter 11, Duet
Inuyasha took my arms in his hands, and I stared up at him, my mouth open. His golden eyes were narrow, one black brow raised. His lip was folded back in a growl, revealing pointed eyeteeth. His long-fingered hands dug into my fleshy arms. He pushed me out of the way. "What's going on here?" he asked testily.
It was just the voice that I remembered. Three months vanished in a heartbeat.
Kagura stood. Juuroumaru stepped back. "Oh dear," Kagura oozed, looking Inuyasha over quickly. "The mutt's come to spoil our fun, Juuroumaru."
"Shut up, Kagura," Inuyasha spat. He took a step towards them, his knuckles cracking. "I'm not in a very forgiving mood today."
"Neither am I," Kagura said, narrowing her red eyes and scowling. She pointed to the hole in her chest. "That little bitch shot right through me." Suddenly she lit up, her face tightening as her eyebrows lifted. A visible quiver passed through her frame and she leaned forward. "What's she to you, anyway?"
"I said get out of here!" Inuyasha cried, rushing forward.
Kagura flicked her fan, and Inuyasha was thrown back. "Don't get too excited, mutt. I wouldn't want your filthy hands ruining my suit any more." She reached into her bun and pulled out a feather. "For the time being, Juuroumaru should be more than enough for the likes of you." She threw her feather up in the air. It grew until it was long and wide enough to be a magic carpet. Kagura turned to Juuroumaru and her fan twitched. Juuroumaru's mask fell away to reveal lavender lips, from which issued a strange white light.
"Bring the bitch, Jurroumaru. Alive," Kagura said. "The mutt and his companions are expendable. Do whatever you want with them." She laughed and jumped onto her overgrown feather. They lifted off into the night and were gone.
As soon as they disappeared, Juuroumaru headed for Inuyasha. I gasped and scrambled away, remembering the feeling of that monster's hands around my neck. Inuyasha punched the creature soundly across the jaw. Then, he barked and crumbled.
"Inuyasha!"
I looked up. Sango and Miroku were sprinting across the shrine grounds. Hiraikotsu, Sango's huge bone-colored boomerang glimmered darkly in the moonlight. Miroku's gun was pointed at that inhuman creature kneeling on the tile before Inuyasha.
There was a rattle in Inuyasha's voice as he breathed. I went to him, swallowing the panic that was building in my stomach as Juuroumaru's eyes followed me. I took Inuyasha's shoulder in my hand, and recoiled quickly. My hand was covered in blood. "Inuyasha!" I managed. "Inuyasha, he didn't touch you!"
Sango grabbed me and pulled me back. I struggled for a moment, and then allowed myself to be removed to a safe place in the shadow of the Goshinboku, away from the battle. Her mahogany hair was mounted high on her head, and a strand was arched across one dark eye. "Kagome-chan," she whispered. "Are you alright?"
"Fine," I lied. My head was pounding and I had bruises all over my wrists and tailbone. "But Inuyasha-"
"Don't worry," said Sango, smiling. "Inuyasha's a lot tougher than he looks. You just stay here, ok? We don't need anything happening to you."
"Right, ok," I said, settling against the Goshinboku's smooth bark. I really did feel more peaceful here. Sango touched my face and then ran to join the battle.
I sat there, listening to the battle sounds, to the grunts and suppressed screams and gunshots and the clash of metal until I thought I was going to explode. Gathering my courage, I peeked around the trunk.
Inuyasha was flung into the Goshinboku. I jerked back, gasping his name. He looked around, but he didn't look at me. He looked past me…through me. A cold shiver went up and down my spine as that golden gaze burned a hole through my heart. "Inuyasha…" I muttered. There was a gaping hole in his stomach, his shoulder was bleeding, but as I said his name, he leapt to his feet. Without a second glance in my direction, he ran back into the fray.
Juuroumaru dove for Miroku, and Miroku fired. Even before the beast was near him, Miroku's footing was thrown out from under him and he fell back onto the tile floor. The impact momentarily stunned him, his bullet went awry, and he would've been devoured by Juuroumaru's gaping maw if Sango hadn't appeared at the moment and blown the creature away with her boomerang.
My mind was spinning. I had seen something. In the instant between Miroku's gunshot and his fall, there had been a clean flash of light skirting across his ankles. Now Juuroumaru turned his attention to Sango. I leaned in, my eyes straining for some hint of…!
"Sango-chan! Beneath you!"
Sango wheeled out of the way just in time, and her side was preserved from injury. Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Juuroumaru all whirled around to look at me.
"You're a smart one, aren't you, girlie? Figuring out our little game?" oozed an icy voice near my ear.
I whirled around, and found myself face to face with a terrible, strange, clawed creature. Its body was short and tapering, and it bore a face identical to Juuroumaru's, only that it was sharpened with intelligence and cunning. It was no longer than my forearm, but it sent shivered up my spine.
"Kagome-chan!" Sango gasped.
"My name is Kageroumaru," the creature reported. "I live inside my brother's stomach most of the time, but Kagura released me when she took Juuroumaru's muzzle away. I'm the sentient one, the one who pulls my brother's strings. You're the first one to ever realize that there's two of us. How interesting. I wonder, girl, how long you'll be able to keep up with my moves if I take out your pretty eyes?"
The air rushed from my lungs. My mind told me to run, but I was frozen. Kageroumaru charged forward and I raised my arm in a feeble attempt to block the attack. It never came. I opened my eyes and Kageroumaru was clutched tightly in one of Inuyasha's hands.
"So all I have to do is defeat you and then Juuroumaru will be nothing more than an empty husk, huh?" Inuyasha asked. "Thanks for letting me know."
Kageroumaru snicked.
"Inuyasha!" But my warning came too late. Juuroumaru's punch landed soundly on the back of Inuyasha's head and he toppled over. By the time he had shaken off the attack and pushed Juuroumaru away, Kageroumaru was gone again.
"Where is he, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked.
"Underground. He- he's underground!" I stuttered, amazed by what I was seeing. I could make out the figure burying under the ground clearly. But I didn't see his features. He appeared before me glimmering with a dim violet light like the one from the tree.
"Sango!" Miroku called. Sango tossed Miroku a small vial. Miroku broken it over his hands and then thrust his palms against the ground. He grunted, then a bluish light spread out across the ground. The purple light that represented Kageroumaru writhed, coiled, and twisted, then streaked to the surface. He emerged coughing and sputtering, and within Inuyasha's reach.
A moment later, the creature was beheaded, and Sango had torn through Juuroumaru's torso. The formidable pair had been defeated.
"Kagome-chan, are you alright?" Sango asked, running over to me.
"Fine," I said. "I'm just fine."
"What's that in your hand, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked, approaching slowly. His brow was darkened and a frown formed lines on either side of his mouth.
"What? This?" I opened my palm, displaying the small purple stone. "I haven't the faintest clue."
Sango gasped. Miroku looked at Inuyasha. I closed my palm and pulled it towards me instinctively. "What?" I asked, my gaze flickering from one face to the next. "What's wrong?"
I looked at Inuyasha. He was pale, and his golden eyes watched me…stared through me. They seared the inside of my chest, and I felt like I was suffocating. Then he turned and walked away.
"Inuyasha!" I called, scrambling to my feet. "Inuyasha, wait!"
He didn't stop. He kept walking away from me, towards the torii. My arm whipped out and caught his wrist. Still, he did not look at me. We stood still. I watched his back, and he watched the ground. I could feel his pulse under my fingers.
"Why won't you look at me?" I asked.
He flinched, but made no answer.
"What have I done? Inuyasha, please, answer me! What have I done but wait for you for the past three months? What have I done but worry about you? What have I done but… Inuyasha!" I was cut off as he tore his wrist away. I fumbled for and attained a fistful of his red shirt. He quieted.
"Inuyasha…onegai…" I pressed my face into his back so that he could feel the moisture on my cheeks.
But then he kept walking, leaving me feeling more alone and empty than before.
(…)(…)(…)
"Wake up."
I respond to the command, opening my eyes and raising my deadened limbs. Fukouka is standing over me, grinning.
"How do you feel?"
I don't answer. My eyes are still sore and my head is pounding. My throat is dry. My cheeks are moist. I cried all night.
"Lost your fight, girl?" He grabs my arm and steers me to the door, not bothering to cuff my hands. The door slides open under his touch.
I'm free, stumbling away from him as quickly as I can. I have no idea where I'm going, but I'm getting away from here. I'm getting out. There's no more reason, there's no more point. If I stay here any longer I'll go mad.
I'm hit. I topple into blackness.
"Are you ok?"
"Fine. Why?" I slammed the door shut in his face.
"You seem angry," he said, opening it again and peering around it at me.
"Why would I be angry?"
"I don't know. Did Miroku t-?"
"Shut up, shut up!" I retreated into my room.
Chilling wind hit my face. I buried my face deeper in my scarf. He came up behind me.
"What're you looking at?"
"The water," I said.
"Why?"
"Because…" My voice trailed away. I smiled up at him, unconcerned for the moisture building in my eyes. "I don't know."
I expected him to frown at my tears and walk away, but then he closed his eyes and nodded. He looked back out across the water. "It's pretty, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it really is."
(…)(…)(…)
The door opened. I looked up, expecting Sango come back to check on me. I was surprised to see Inuyasha strolling inside. He stopped in the doorway, his hand still vaguely cradling the handle. His golden eyes surveyed the room. I couldn't read his expression. I stood perfectly still, as though he were a mirage that would shatter if I moved or thought to hard about whether he was really standing in front of me.
In the two hours between this moment and the conclusion of the fight with Juuroumaru, I had convinced myself that I would never see him again.
"Nothing's changed much," he said at last. He looked past me into the bedroom. "The mirror's gone."
"I broke it," I said without inflection.
"Oh."
We were in a headlock, a checkmate, and a tête-à-tête. We stared beyond the other one, avoiding the direct confrontation of our gazes. It was a maniacal, conceived little dance, and we knew every step.
"Are you hungry?" I offered finally, lost for words.
"Yes," he said.
I started towards the kitchen. He caught my arm. I turned around. He was looking at me. I jumped a little, meeting those fantastic eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"For what?"
"For making you cry."
He released me and I went to the kitchen. I made him pasta. After dinner, I went to bed, and he fell asleep on the coach.
(…)(…)(…)
I'm alone. Alone and it's dark. I'm cold. I'm hungry.
Inuyasha is dead.
"NO!"
(…)(…)(…)
I loved him.
We were walking down the street, and a little boy tripped on the uneven sidewalk. He began to cry. I knelt beside him, cooing softly until his tears had subsided. The boy's mother came over, thanked me, and led her son away.
Inuyasha stood nearby, and had watched my ministrations carefully. When I rejoined him, he took my hand and turned my palm up for inspection. He frowned and dropped it.
I looked at my hand. "What?" I called at his back.
"What do you mean?"
"Why did you look at my hand?" I asked.
He took a long time before answering. "My mom had hands like yours."
We continued to walk. A few minutes later, I tucked my hand against his. He didn't pull away.
- Ichimu