The Storm
By: AniuLonewolf
Chapter 11 – Battlefield
Kohaku – it was Sango's brother was who emerged from the shadows.
Miroku also saw who came from the shadows and he turned his eyes to Sango with worry. She was still breathing heavily from Kanna's attack and now her little brother had entered into the battle. They all knew this was going to be part of the final battle, even Sango herself knew it was going to happen but it didn't stop the pain. The monk was about to reach out to her with his hand when the demon slayer took a step forward, walking toward her little brother in their final battle.
Sango looked back at her friends, her maroon colour eyes glowing with pain. "No one interfere. This is my battle and my battle alone." She turned back to her younger brother who continued to walk across the courtyard. The demon slayer bowed her head for a moment, a tear running down her cheek as she remembered her younger brother's warm smile from the past. 'Kohaku... I'm sorry... I couldn't save you before and now...' But she didn't finish her thought and took off into a run towards her little brother.
The group watched as Sango ran after her little brother. They turned to watch Kohaku reach the middle of the courtyard, the young boy's eyes were empty with Naraku's control. The young boy, not even fifteen years old was dressed in the traditional demon exterminator outfit like his older sisters, only his was green and his weapon was the chain sai.
Sango chocked back a lump in her throat as she gripped her giant boomerang. This was it; this was the battle where she would stop Naraku's control on her younger brother. He had been under Naraku's control for almost four years and now she would end his suffering once and for all.
"Ko-Kohaku," She stammered as she ran faster towards her brother. Her body braced itself as she watched Kohaku throw his weapon towards her. The demon huntress blocked the chain sai with her boomerang and jumped into the air. She could see an opening to attack her brother and drew her sword but a pain in her heart stopped her; she couldn't bring herself to end her brother's life. She was fighting with her brother but also fighting with herself not to hurt him. But she knew that this was the only way to stop the control – it was just too painful to think about.
She put her sword away just in time to block another attacks from Kohaku's chain sai. Her body froze, unable to do anything but block and dodge Kohaku's relentless attacks. The female demon exterminator was suddenly shocked when Kohaku threw his weapon in such a way that it pushed past her defenses and gouged her shoulder.
"Sango!" Miroku called out as he watched the demon exterminator fall to her knees from the sudden wound.
"Do not interfere Miroku," Sango called back while gripping her wounded shoulder. Her brother's chain sai suddenly came at her again, this time using her Hiraikotsu to block it but the sickle weapon wrapped around the giant boomerang and both were cast aside, leave the demon slayer siblings to use their swords.
'I don't want to kill you little brother...' Sango thought as she ducked another swing that came at her. '... but I will end your suffering. It's the only thing I can do to save you.' She bit her lip as she fought back the tears from spilling over. Her heart was breaking as she thought about ending her brother's life. After Kohaku was gone, she would be alone – her village and her family would all be dead and she would be alone in the world.
But while she froze to think about how alone she would be, the demon slayer lost her balance while dodging her brother and tripped on a rock in her path. She hit the hard ground, her sword falling away from her reach as she tumbled down a hill in the courtyard.
Kagome and Miroku gasped in fear for Sango's life and were about to run after the slayer but Inuyasha called out, reminding them that it was Sango's wish for them to leave her to this battle alone.
She tumbled down the hill until she landed beside something hard. Coughing a little from the wind being knocked out of her, she opened her eyes and saw that she had landed beside her fallen Hiraikotsu. She got to her feet and picked up her fallen weapon just in time to block another of Kohaku's attacks. While she fought to block her brother's attack, she looked into his lifeless eyes and saw that he wasn't there anymore – he had already passed away those years ago and Naraku was just using his body.
With tears in her eyes, Sango overpowered the boy demon slayer with her boomerang and kicked him in the stomach. The boy gave a gasp for air as he fell to the ground on his knees. Sango wasted no time and kicked away his sword, gripping his shoulders so he wouldn't go after his weapon.
They kneeled there for a moment, Sango holding on to her younger brother's shoulders, her own shaking from sobs. The tears couldn't be held back any longer as they spilled over her cheeks. Sango held her little brother's shoulder with one hand, the other holding her sword against his throat. "I'm sorry little brother. I couldn't protect you, but now you'll be able to rest in peace," Sango chocked as she looked into his eyes again and reminded herself once more that he wasn't there. She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down but it wasn't working – she knew what she had to do but it hurt so much.
With a final goodbye, she flipped her sword in her hand and with the blunt end of the handle she punched Kohaku in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and making him fall to the ground. With a shaky hand and tears streaming down her cheeks, she removed the tainted jewel shard from his back.
With the power of the Shikon Jewel removed from his body, Kohaku let out a gasp in pain. His eyes went back to their normal chocolate brown colour as he glanced around for a moment, his lungs craving air. He was dying all over again. The power of the jewel had been what was keeping him alive for the past four years and without it, he wouldn't be able to survive.
The young demon exterminator tried to take deep breaths to fill his lungs with air but was choked back by a cough that brought up blood. The fatal wounds that had killed him those four years ago had reappeared. He looked around wide eyed until he landed on the girl who was sitting down beside him. "S-Sis-ter?" He croaked out as blood trickled down his chin where he laid on the ground. "Sa—San—go."
Hearing his voice again and realizing that he regained his memory of her, Sango broke down into a sob. She leaned over his broken body and whispered her final words to her little brother. "I'm so sorry Kohaku. I wasn't able to protect you," She whispered, her tears falling from her cheeks and landing on his chest.
"I-It's o-ok," Kohaku mouthed with his dying breath. He tried to lift his hand to touch his sister but was attacked by another violent series of coughs which brought up more blood from his lungs. "Sa-ango," Was all that he could get out before his last breath left his body. His body went still while in Sango's arms. Kohaku was gone.
The group watched from the distance as Kohaku died in Sango's arms. Inuyasha looked down at the ground, holding in his growl for Naraku as he paid his respects for the fallen demon slayer boy. Kagome and Shippo who were farther back of the courtyard watched silently as Sango said goodbye to her brother. Shippo curled up in Kagome's arms, both sniffling from their own tears for the demon slayer siblings.
Miroku slowly walked over to where Sango was. He hesitated for a moment, looking down at the broken girl sitting on the ground. She was crying loudly, her heart broken from losing her brother. She was now the sole survivor from her village. She was all alone. Whispering her name quietly, the monk kneeled down beside Sango and placed a hand on Kohaku's forehead, offering a silent prayer that the boy had finally found peace in the afterlife.
The thunder rolled through the sky once more, the storm far from over above the battle but the rain continued to hold off in the dark purple clouds. No more demons seemed to be appearing from the darkness, and with Kagura, Kanna and Kohaku all gone, they only had Naraku to face now.
"Such a waste, I should have known those weaklings couldn't have finished you off." Naraku's voice was heard again. Everyone turned to where the voice came from and this time, they saw where it was coming from. Naraku had finally shown himself.
"Naraku!" Inuyasha snarled, getting his sword ready to attack. "You're going to finally pay for all the pain and suffering you've caused!"
Kagome gasped as she felt the presence of the Shikon Jewel, like it was pulling her soul towards where Naraku was standing on the top of the main building's roof. Her eyes weren't as good as Inuyasha's but she could see the bright pink light that was emitting from Naraku's hand. He had almost the entire jewel!
"You retched fools think that you can defeat me?" Naraku sneered as he played with the jewel in his hand. Over the last four years the evil demon managed to collect more than half of the jewel shards and fused them together to make the jewel almost complete except for a few pieces missing; pieces that Kagome and group held.
"Naraku you bastard!" Inuyasha roared as he kicked off the ground with sword in hand. As he jumped at the evil demon, he raised his sword above his head to prepare for an attack.
"Foolish half demon. Charging in blindly as always, leaving loved ones unprotected." Naraku smirked, something bubbling under his baboon cloak. With an evil laugh, his fur pelt ripped away revealing Naraku's body of miscellaneous demon parts. One of the demon arms attached to Naraku's back grew larger and suddenly shot off past Inuyasha.
Shocked from the sudden arm coming out of nowhere, Inuyasha landed short of his attack and turned to where the appendage was going. His eyes widened when he saw that it was heading straight for Kagome. He was about to turn on his heels and jump to his mate's rescue when a large tentacle that used to be Naraku's arm wrapped around his ankle and wounds it way around his body.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as the tentacle wrapped around his throat, intending on absorbing his demonic powers to make Naraku more powerful. "Kagome!"
The young priestess heard her name being called and turned to see a giant arm coming after her. Her legs couldn't move; she was frozen stiff as she watched the arm race toward her. She knew that it meant to puncture right through her and end her life but she couldn't move. Shippo gave a cry out in her arms and all she could do was close her eyes shut.
But the hit never came.
Instead she felt strong arms wrap around her and she could feel wind in her hair. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was being carried away from where she was standing. Looking around, she looked at the face of her rescuer. "K-Koga!" She gasped as the wolf demon reached the ground, landing on his feet and placing the shocked girl on hers.
"Looks like I came at the right time, huh Kagome?" The young wolf demon smiled down at the priestess. He was about to say something else to the shocked girl but sensed movement behind. Quickly turning his back to Kagome, he kicked away Naraku's arm that had followed after them.
Kagome could feel the familiar twinge in her soul – the power of the sacred jewel. Koga of the wolf demon tribe had two jewel shards in his legs, granting him the ability to run very fast. Kagome watched as Koga jumped around doing flips in the air and using his fast speed to dodge Naraku's arms.
But there was a sudden bright yellow light had flashed before Koga and Kagome's eyes widened when she saw that Koga had a weapon. She wasn't familiar with the wolf demon using any weapon, even the sword that was strapped to his side was never used. The weapon that the wolf demon had were attachments to his right hand, five long silver claws.
"Goraishi!" The wolf demon yelled as he brought his right hand down on Naraku's tentacles. A bright yellow light emitted from the claws and Naraku's tentacles were blown apart.
With Koga keeping Naraku's arms at bay, Miroku and Sango managed to make their way over to Kagome to make sure she and the fox kit were safe. Making sure each other were alright, they all turned to Naraku who still had Inuyasha captive. His tentacles were slowing winding their way around the half demon, holding him immobile and losing strength from Naraku's absorptive powers.
Sango called onto Kilala and the team flew into the air to get a better view of the battle field. When they got high enough, Sango let out a yell as she threw her Hiraikotsu towards the tentacle bundle that was holding Inuyasha. But as her giant weapon flew towards Naraku, the arms that were fighting with Koga suddenly grabbed the wolf demon and threw him towards the boomerang.
Everyone watched in horror as the young wolf demon got struck by Sango's weapon mid air and fell to the ground with a lifeless thud. Kagome tried to rub over to the fallen wolf but just as Koga's body was about to hit the group, Naraku's tentacles wrapped around his body and took him closer to the evil demon.
With Sango's weapon lying at the feet of Naraku, she and Kilala rejoined Miroku and Kagome on the ground to try and figure out a way to get Inuyasha and Koga back. Miroku couldn't use his wind tunnel for fear of sucking up their comrades and Kagome was worried of shooting her arrows and the explosion being too close to the dog and wolf demons.
All they could do was watch helplessly as Naraku's claws dug into Koga's legs. The wolf demon came back from unconsciousness from the pain of his legs being ripped apart and gave out a cry in agony. When Naraku was finished stealing his jewel shards he threw the wolf demon away, not needing him anymore. Koga dropped to the ground with another lifeless thud, a pool of blood forming from the wounds in his legs.
The group couldn't figure out what to do, Kagome ran over to the fallen wolf demon to see what she could do to make the wounds stop bleeding. But when she ran over to him, she could see that Koga was trying to get up. "Koga, you have to stay still," Kagome tried to make the wolf demon stop but then she realized what he was doing – he had landed right beside Sango's Hiraikotsu. With a painful grunt, Koga picked up Sango's weapon and threw it back at the demon slayer.
There was a sudden explosion near the main building of the courtyard. Smoke and dust filled the battlefield as everyone shielded their eyes from the blast. Through the smoke and dust, they heard a cry of pain come from Naraku and bits of his tentacles flew everywhere.
Someone landed near Kagome where she was leaned over Koga. Looking up, she saw white hair blowing in the gust of wind. At first she thought it was Inuyasha but when the dust settled, she gasped when she realized who the white haired figure was.
It was Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's older half brother.
"I've finally found you, Naraku." The Lord of the West said in a monotone voice as he held out his sword, the Bakusaiga, which had delivered the blast to Naraku.
Kagome sat there for a moment, staring up at Sesshomaru in awe but her gaze turned to the left as she heard someone fall to the ground with a grunt. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw it was Inuyasha, free from Naraku's tentacles. She then heard footsteps coming closer to her and saw Miroku and Sango running up to them to make sure she was ok.
Inuyasha got up to his feet, coughing a couple times from being choked by the tentacles. His golden eyes scanned around him; finding Kagome and seeing she was ok. But his eyes widened when he saw his mate hovering over the unconscious wolf demon. Inuyasha was about to say something when his eyes caught the flash of silver hair and turned to see his older brother standing a little ways ahead of him. "What the hell is going on here?" Inuyasha growled.
"Be silent Inuyasha. You should be greatful that the wolf pup was here to save your mate," Sesshomaru turned to glare at his younger brother; golden eyes clashing with golden eyes.
"What did you say?" Inuyasha growled but was silenced when Kagome placed a hand on his shoulder.
Kagome smiled up at her mate. "Inuyasha, Koga and Sesshomaru aren't you enemies right now – Naraku is. Koga saved me from Naraku's attack. And we could really use Sesshomaru's help in this battle."
Inuyasha couldn't help but growl at the thought of fighting alongside his brother. The two dog demon siblings never got along; Sesshomaru always spoke down to Inuyasha for being a half breed and blamed their father's death on his younger brother and his human mother.
"You think you can defeat me – the great Naraku?" The evil demon laughed while standing on top of the roof, looking down at his opponents below. He gave out a laugh as he took out the almost completed Shikon Jewel – he had taken Koga's jewel shards and molded it back together with the jewel. Now the only ones that were missing were the ones that Kagome and Sango had.
An evil smirk appeared on Naraku's face as he pressed the Shikon Jewel into his chest, molding it with his own body. He gave a grunt in pain at first but then when he started to glow, he gave a maniacal evil laugh, feeling the power of the Shikon Jewel course through his body.
The group watched in horror as the evil demon began to glow with the power of the jewel and began to grow. Larger and larger he grew, towering over them like a giant.
"This can't be good," Inuyasha growled, pulling Kagome closer to him to protect her from the danger. "What are we going to do now?"
"We have no choice but to combine attacks!" Miroku called out over the gust of wind that had picked up around the courtyard. "Inuyasha, you must work together with Sesshomaru. Together, your two swords might be able to defeat Naraku."
The half demon huffed, looking away from his friends with a glare. "Why do you make it sound like I'm the one who doesn't get along? Sesshomaru is just as much to blame for all the past fights as I do."
"Inuyasha this isn't the time to fight with Sesshomaru." Kagome whispered, placing a hand back on Inuyasha's shoulder. "We have to work together!" She said, both dog demons silently growling.
The giant evil Naraku laughed again but because of his size, his laugher sounded more like the thunder in the air. His arm suddenly started glowing, transforming into a giant tentacle that he whipped down at the ground in an attack. Inuyasha quickly gather up Kagome in his arms, Sango and Miroku pulling the unconscious Koga onto Kilala's back and jumped away from the attack.
Landing a ways away from where they had jumped from, Inuyasha set Kagome down on her feet and turned to face Naraku with a snarl. The half demon drew out Tetsusaiga in its full fang form while Sesshomaru gripped Bakusaiga's handle tighter, getting ready to again.
The two dog demon brothers jumped into the air, swords in hand and threw their strongest attacks at Naraku. Inuyasha's Backlash Wave and Sesshomaru's attack hit Naraku square in the chest, causing a giant explosion that threw the two brothers back down to the ground while Naraku roared in pain from the hole in his chest.
As the two brothers landed back down on the ground by Kagome, they looked up at Naraku's hole in his chest began to close up from the power of the Shikon Jewel.
"This isn't going to work." Inuyasha snarled, gripping Tetsusaiga's handle harder. The idea came back in his head, the idea he had thought of for the past two days on how to defeat Naraku. He turned to Kagome with a serious look in his eyes. "Kagome, I have a plan."
Meanwhile Naraku was looking around at all the dead demon's body parts lying around the courtyard. Kagura was gone, her body's ashes had been taken away by the wind and all that was left of Kanna was her mirror. A small smirk appeared on his lips as he ran his giant hand over the dead demons, absorbing them into his own body.
Kagome's face was nothing less of shock and horror as she heard Inuyasha's plan. It wouldn't work, the shards were too powerful but she had to agree with the half demon, there wasn't much they could do. With a hesitant sigh, she emptied the little jar into her hand, the jewel shards falling into her palm. Together with the shard Sango had given her from Kohaku's body; they had three shards.
She looked up and locked eyes with Sesshomaru. The regal dog demon stood there looking down at the young priestess and held out his hand, accepting one of the shards. With no words spoken as Kagome gave him one of the shards which he threw against his sword, melding it into the blade.
Kagome then turned to Inuyasha with a worried look on her face but again didn't say anything and gave her mate the second shard. She watched as Inuyasha did the same as his brother and threw the shard into Tetsusaiga's blade.
Sesshomaru's sword started pulsating, emitting a faint glow from the power the shard had given it. The dog demon let out a slight growl, not anticipating the shard's power but he soon regained composure and jumped after Naraku.
Inuyasha's sword started to do the same as Sesshomaru's; pulsating quickly and glowing from the new acquired power. Kagome's heart sped up as she heard Inuyasha struggling growl, his head bowed as he tried to control the new power. Black sparks flew from Tetsusaiga's blade, surrounding Inuyasha as it crackled in the air. The half demon gave another struggling grunt as he continued to pulsate along with his sword.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered, reaching a hand out to her mate. She would feel that something was wrong; the shard was turning black and emitting a tainted aura from where it melded with Inuyasha's demon sword.
"Inuyasha, did you really think that with your human blood that you would be able to control a jewel shard?" Naraku's booming voice came from the sky as he watched the half demon struggle.
Kagome turned back to her mate after hearing Naraku's words and gasped in shock when she caught a glimpse of Inuyasha's face. His fangs and claws grew long as he let out another struggling snarl. His eyes turned a deep blood red as purple jagged purple marks appeared on his cheeks.
Inuyasha's demon blood was taking over.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
The Storm by AniuLonewolf