Chapter 10
Ryu sat patiently outside Inuyasha's apartment, the clock ticking away slowly as day turned to night. His head began to nod as he slipped in and out of sleep, his body slumping over as the lights in the hall dimmed down. The music in his ears blaring as he fought the urge to nap.
The next moment Ryu opened his eyes was due to the soft kicks at his thigh.
"What are you doing here" Inuyasha asked, irritation written all over his body.
"It looked like a good place to sleep" he grinned. Inuyasha shook his head and opening his door, leaving it open for the sloth like snake demon.
"Really, why are you here Ryu? I haven't gotten the image of your first bite out of my head yet and you're a little difficult to look at" Inuyasha grabbed a soda from the fridge and filled a cup three fourths of the way, pouring a bit of Vodka to fill up the rest. "Do you want any" he asked, holding the bottle out to Ryu.
"No thanks" Ryu responded, shaking his head as he sat down.
"Are you going to tell me what you want" Inuyasha asked, smelling the snake demons apprehension at bringing up what he wanted to discuss and Inuyasha was ready to be alone.
"Welllll…you see… I've recently heard this story and… well… I was wondering… if you would tell me about it" Ryu shifted nervously on the couch.
"Why would I know? I've never listened to any old fart" Inuyasha swished his cup around, the ice clinking against the glass.
"The story I was told is about you, in the feudal era. I became really curious after meeting a girl in the park" Inuyasha froze, his grip on his glass growing tight.
"A girl? What does that have to do with me?" Was Ryu at the park, he wondered, he had been so focused on Kagome, did Sesshomaru know? Inuyasha's mind began to race, trying to remember if it had been Ryu that Kagome had been talking to; it must have been, why else would Ryu be here now.
"Well that's what causes me to find it so hard to believe. I mean, she does some rather incredible things. I just wanted to know what her death has to do with you" he rushed out, his words jumbling together as he noted Inuyasha's whitening knuckles.
"Kagome…" Inuyasha whispered; Ryu watched as Inuyasha's eyes glazed over slightly, "it was my fault… I should have been there to protect her."
Inuyasha's pace quickened as he neared Kaede's village, the orange haze he assumed was the falling sun staying bright as darkness descended. The scent of fear and burning wood hit him in waves, growing as he got closer to home.
Breaking through the forest that surrounded his home, fear gripped his heart; it appeared to be deserted. His mate, his pups…where they gone? He burst into the house; their scent was everywhere, it was impossible for him to hunt them out.
"Yuki, Kumiko, Shippo where are you?" he shouted, searching through all of the knooks and crannies, finding nothing inside he left the house, panic consuming him.
"Yuki! Kumiko!" he shouted.
"PAPA!" looking up, he raised his arms up as his youngest feel down from a large ballooned form Shippo. Inuyasha smiled in relief as Shippo and Kumiko descended, hugging his brave Yuki in his arms.
"Are you all okay" he asked, examining the pups for any cuts or bruises, "where's your Momma" he asked.
"Mama went to help the village" Kumiko whispered nervously, clinging to her father's Robe.
"Shippo take care of the girls I have to find Kagome" Shippo nodded, his eyes large as he clasped hands with his sisters.
"Papa don't go" his daughters cried in unison; Inuyasha wrapped his arms around his children, hugging all three to him.
"Shh shh shh" he whispered, kissing their heads gently, "be strong I have to get Momma, I'll be back" Shippo switched back, rising up with his sisters sitting on top. Knowing they were safely in the air, Inuyasha headed into the town. Killing any pillagers he came into contact with.
"Kagome" he shouted, searching though the burning houses, hoping that the light from a sacred arrow would direct him to her whereabouts.
Inuyasha leapt backwards as a large toxic wave of poison slashed through the houses in front of him. The houses crumbled away as the acid like poison consumed them. Inuyasha sprinted towards the source of the attack, knowing that Kagome would be close by.
Inuyasha came to the backside of a wound up snake demon, the bright green coloring of the beast displaying his toxicity. Green goo dripped slowly from the snakes fangs. Inuyasha watched as the snake demon whipped its head, another wave of poison slicing through the village in another direction.
Inuyasha withdrew Tetssaiga, the blade expanding to its full size as he planted his feet.
"Heyyy Slime Breath! Prepare to die" he shouted, leaping up he ran up the back of the snake demon, wanting to cause the least amount of damage to the village as he could he leapt into the air above the giant snake, "Wind Scar" he shouted the wave of light that accompanied the move traveled down the snake demons back, shredding its body.
Inuyasha landed on top of a house that was nearby. He dropped down to the ground, continuing his search for Kagome.
"Kaede" he shouted, spotting the elderly woman as she stood up from examining a corpse.
The old woman turned around at hearing her name, her tear filled eyes and the blood covering her clothes sparking dread in Inuyasha's heart. She had never seen such unnecessary butchery before in her life and she knew that the most recent body would cause more problems.
"Kaede are you alright? Where's Kagome?" he asked, glancing around for his mate.
"Inuyasha go back to your pups, get them out of here, they don't need to see" she said, looking down, not wanting to meet the hanyou's eyes.
"Is she helping someone? I have to find her first; I know the pups are safe" Kaede bit down on her lower lip, afraid of telling Inuyasha what she found.
"Inuyasha…"she started, placing her hand lightly on his arm, "Kagome… she… she didn't make it through the battle. She blinded the snake demon in the fight, that's why he was fighting to wildly… but he was able to bite her. His venom rotted away part of her shoulder. She didn't survive the pain" Inuyasha took a step back; the body behind her began to register.
He ran to her, collecting her body in his arms. "Kagome he whispered, brushing his cheek against her cold one, her eyelashes brushing against his cheek, "please don't leave me" he sobbed, holding her limp form to him as he cried.
"KAGOME" he shouted in pain, red filling his eyes as his heart shattered. Kaede watched as his youkai became prominent, losing himself to his grief. She watched him run away, carrying his deceased mate away with him.
"I was too late" Inuyasha sighed, downing the remainder of Vodka in the bottle, the glass of soda finished long ago. "I could have saved her, I could have done so many things different, but I was stupid… overconfident" he coughed as he started to feel the familiar burn in his throat. "I'm going to change all of that. I won't lose her, I won't let her return to the Feudal Era after Naraku is dead to die" He paused, looking up at Ryu, the bottle shattering in his hand.
"No one will stop me from saving her".