Chapter 3: Sango's Betrayal
The cool air of the night shakes the reed frame hanging from the door way. In front of it sits Inuyasha, crossed legged with Tetsusaiga leaning against the front of his left shoulder. I lie in a bed of hay with Shippo sleeping next to me. My eyes are closed but I can't sleep. Today's ordeals are still on my mind, so instead, I listen to the soft sound of the fire crackling in the center of the room, and the subtle even breath coming from Miroku who sits across from me, sleeping with his legs and arms crossed against a barrel of hay. His staff, much like Inuyasha's sword, leaning against his front left shoulder.
Sango isn't asleep either, I can hear her sitting up on the reed matt she was previously lying on.
"Sango, what's the matter," Inuyasha asks.
I peek open one eye into a small slit and glance over to her. She sits at an angle to me, her eyes mixed with emotions I don't quite understand. She looks confused or frustrated, or something between the two. Emotions I have yet to experience.
"Nothing's wrong. I just couldn't get to sleep." She mutters.
"I know I have to kill him but I feel badly for you." Inuyasha admits.
"I already explained it to you, Inuyasha, the little brother I knew could never slaughter an entire village. It would go against his entire soul. I will put an end to Naraku and the imposter!" she raises her voice, sparking me to open both eyes and look at her fully. She doesn't notice me staring.
"How can it be that simple. If Kohako looks exactly the same, can you really forget everything and turn your heart against him that easily?" Inuyasha questions.
"Don't underestimate me! I am a demon slayer! I won't fall for Naraku's tricks!"
"If I were in your position I probably couldn't do it." Inuyasha says.
Inuyasha was in a similar situation with Kikyo. The only difference was that neither of them were mind controlled by Naraku but deceived into believing eachother betrayed one another. Now she seeks vengeance on Inuyasha for something he didn't do, and doesn't believe otherwise that he didn't do it. I want to look at Inuyasha; to watch his expression, but my heart tugs at all corners. I am unsure how to feel, but I know for sure, that thinking about Kikyo boils my blood, and I don't know why.
"Best be on your guard we're surrounded." Miroku chimes in. He must have woken up from the sound of Sango's raised voice also.
The sound of a loud roar rumbles the ground coming from the outside. In a rush, I sit up and look at the still reed sheet covering the door. The wind has stopped and there is no other sound other than the roar and the fire crackling. No bugs buzzing, no night birds chirping or wind blowing. Just silence. Inuyasha and Miroku are the first ones up and out of the hut, following them is Sango, and then I and Shippo.
Outside, we are surrounded by hordes of all sorts of demons. Reminding me of the other day at Mushin's temple when we were attacked by Naraku's summoned demons. Beyond the demons, through a crack in their body spaces, I see Kohaku and the sacred jewel shining from the mid-section of his back.
Miroku begins to unwrap the prayer beads from around his hand, his right fist clenched shut to prevent the cloth from opening and releasing the wind tunnel.
"Miroku! Don't even think about it! Your wind tunnel hasn't completely healed!" Shippo orders from beside me.
"But…." The monk pauses, looking over his clenched right fist. His face softens just a tad, "all right." He twists the beads back over his hand diligently.
"Forget it, Miroku! Don't risk your life here. All I gotta do is take out their ringleader and the rest of them are toast." Inuyasha positions himself for battle, leaning forward with his right hand hovering over the handle of the Tetsusaiga.
The demons let out an earthshaking roar. Kohaku, who stands a good few feet behind the horde of demons, lifts up his right hand, pointing his pointer finger at us. Doing this orders the demons to attack, and they do, rushing at us so quickly that I don't have time to react. But Inuyasha, with his half demon blood, does. He unsheathes his sword and swings one powerful slash at the horde, splitting some of the frontal wave apart like butter.
Kohaku takes the chain from his hip and swings it at his side until it picks up speed. He lets it loose, flying at Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga and wraps around the blade. This stops further movement from Inuyasha and his sword. With Kohaku at the other end of the chain, he pulls the chain taut and then he leaps at Inuyasha with his scythe end of the chain, raising the weapon up and slamming it forward against the blocking sword.
Inuyasha shoves him back and cuts at the air, pushing Kohaku further away. The chain remains wrapped around Tetsusaiga, preventing him from using his stronger abilities.
"You're gonna need dto fight better than that to take me out!" Inuyasha barks. He unwraps his blade from the chain, twisting the metal in his grip and using his powerful strength to slam the chain and Kohaku, at the other end, into the ground. Inuyasha leaps up, blade pointed down to Kohaku. He charges downwards towards the boy.
My heart races in my chest, frantically looking between the two before finally glancing at Sango. Her eyes are wide, full of terror and panic. This isn't the right course.
"Inuyasha, don't kill him!" I demand. Blood pounds in my ears, my right hand reaches for the two but I am so far away.
A growl comes out of Inuyasha, being forced to plunge Tetsusaiga into the ground right in front of Kohaku's apathetic face. Inuyasha punches Kohaku square in the face, throwing his tiny body across the ground and onto his back; his scythe still tightly gripped in his right hand.
"Damn it! Why'd you cave in? It's okay to kill him! He's just another trap set by Naraku! I should kill him. I have to!" Inuyasha yells partially to himself.
"You're right," Kohaku says. He stumbles getting up off the ground and stands tall, lowering his head to block his apathetic eyes with his dark brown bangs. "I killed them all. Father, our friends. I slaughtered them one by one. That's why I shouldn't be allowed to live." While saying this, he turns his scythe to himself, lifting it up in the air and lowering it to the middle of his spine where I see a faint glow of purple from the sacred shard. When the weapon collides with the shard, an explosion of reds and purples blast from his mid back where the shard fights to be pulled out.
"What are you doin?" Inuyasha takes a step towards Kohaku, raising his right hand to the boy, but he doesn't go any further than this.
"He's trying to take the shard out," I announce; being the only one that can see the explosion of color and the battle between weapon and shard.
"Don't do it!" Sango demands. Out from behind me, comes flying Sango's boomerang, it passes me and heads for the Tetsusaiga. The weapon collides with the sword, flinging the blade out of the ground and up into the air. The sword transforms back into its weakened state and falls just a foot away from Sango.
From beside me, Miroku shouts, "What are you doing Sango?"
Kohaku retreats his scythe from his back and runs off with the demons following close to his side. He leaps and lands on one of the flying serpentine demon's backs and flies off with the others.
With panic still in her eyes, Sango watches as Kohaku ascends up into the sky. Miroku, Inuyasha and I watch her, hesitant on what to do next. A determination twists on her face, something I haven't seen from her since we've become a group. She snatches Tetsusaiga by the hilt and calls out for Kirara.
The fire cat demon leaps to her; transforming midair into her gigantic form with a powerful roar following. With Tetsusaiga still in her hold, she climbs onto Kirara's back and flies off in the direction Kohaku took. Disappearing along with him just a little before the horizon.
My heart drops to my stomach. Why'd I tell Inuyasha to stop if Sango was just going to betray us? Sango – the woman I had been caring and tending too – taken off with Inuyasha's sword, and for what? The villain who's already tricked her once before? My fists clench at my sides, shaking with anger.
"We need to follow them," I seethe through my teeth.
"But the boys' do nothing but stand still, watching the horizon for some sort of event to happen. But nothing does. She doesn't return.
"I can still smell his blood. Kohaku's scent is still close by," Inuyasha says.
"Naraku's calling him, I bet." Shippo adds.
We race through the forest with the wind beaten our faces. My grip on Inuyasha's sides tighten when he picks up speed, but slow enough for Miroku to keep up. I should be used to riding on his back by now, but the feel of his tight muscles flexing as he runs against my body sends shivers through my back. My heart beats fast in my chest, but I no longer blush from this feeling.
"I can't use my wind tunnel, and the Tetsusaiga was stolen!" Miroku announces loud enough to hear above the wind.
"Who cares? I'll punch him out! I still have my fists!" Inuyasha exclaims.
After a couple more minutes of running, the forest breaks to reveal a massive castle. Up above, the clouds are an angry dark blue and purple. The feeling of evil takes over me and I shudder under its strength. A wall is fortified around the castle parameters, preventing us from just walking in.
"This must be where they are!" Inuyasha says.
We hear a scream coming from beyond the walls, and it's familiar.
"Sango…." I mutter.
Part of me remains angry at her impulsive decision to steal the Tetsusaiga, but another part of me is trying to understand why. I don't have siblings, or someone to love. I don't even really have a family. So I don'' know how it feels to want to protect someone.
Inuyasha grabs Miroku from the back of his robe, just above Shippo's head and leaps us all over the wall. We land in a large dirt courtyard where Sango is lying bloodied on the ground before her brother who is kneeling in front of her.
His eyes look different than before – less apathetic and more saddened. Maybe he truly was controlled by Naraku and has finally broken free of his grasp?
I climb off Inuyasha's back when he lowers to let me down, and rush over to Sango and Kohaku.
"He made her brother do this to her?" Miroku questions.
"Naraku, show yourself!" Inuyasha demands.
Kohaku killed his father and his fellow villagers, yet his sister says she cannot kill him. How can this be? I do not understand. She loves him more dearly than she loves her own life." Naraku's voice sounds like its echoes off from all the walls around us, not truly giving us the vantage point of where he is.
I scout between the two siblings and kneel in front of Sango, cradling her head onto my lap. Her face shows she's in great pain, but there is relief behind the agony. She opens her eyes and stares over to her brother with the faintest of smiles.
"This is what happened to you fifty years ago! Naraku set you up against the one you love!" Miroku reminds Inuyasha.
"Naraku tried to make Sango fight her brother, hoping that she would kill him. If she would have done so, the jewel shard in his back would become more evil." I look up at Inuyaha. My heart aches just thinking about his past with Kikyo. But it's true. This is the very same thing. "This is the vbery same reason for you and Kikyo. But what Naraku doesn't know, is that Sango would never do any harm to Kohaku. She will always love her little brother."
A purple clouds begins to round us in a perfect circle, lifting high up into the air and sucking up rocks and dirt along with it. My hair slowly raises up, floating above my head as the wind picks up.
"Miasma!" Shippo cries. He leaps off of Miroku's back and makes his way over to Kirara who lies unconscious on the ground nearby. He lifts her up and holds her close while back awqaqy from the wall of pursuing purple poison.
"Now you can all die in this sea of poison vapor!" Naraku's voice echoes.
Sango struggles to sit up, leaving the safety of my arms and legs.
"You shouldn't move, your badly hurt." I say.
"Yeah! Stay right where you are. I've got a thing or two to chew you out for…. So don't die on me!" Inuyasha orders.
Sango doesn't listen. She unties the cloth around her waist and pulls out her face mask. She scoots her way to Kohaku and gently places the mask onto his face to guard him from the miasma. The jewel shard in his back glows brilliantly from the touch of her hand as she runs left hand down his spine. Then it clocks for me.
If I focus, I can find Naraku because of the shards he holds. I can stop this all now. Getting up I squint my eyes in search for a faint glow purple through the purple miasma. When I make it to the main building I can just barely make out the glowing orb surrounding the shards. It's all I need. A target.
I clench my left fist at my side before raising it up and looking over it. Focus, focus. Closing my eyes, I fuel myself with the anger I felt before. The betrayal, the hurt, and now Naraku, the deceived. And as this fuels inside me I can feel the energy focus solely into my left arm and up to my palm. Opening my eyes, I aim my hand to the glowing orb and open my palm, releasing a beam of pinkish purple light.
The blast penetrates through the miasma, opening a gigantic hole and tears through the castle, passing a man residing inside, ripping off his right arm and passing through the rest of the castle. I don't take a chance of him escaping. I focus again as quickly as possible, and release another beam of light, this one directed to his center. The beam again blasts through the miasma, and destroys Naraku's chest and bottom half, leaving only his shoulders and his head floating in mid-air. How is he still alive?"
"Keara purged the miasma and hit Naraku!" I hear Miroku say behind me.
Two large purple tornados spiral at both sides of Naraku, pulling in everything around us, including us. I feel my feet sliding across the dirt ground but I am stopped when Inuyasha's hand reaches and grabs my shoulder. He holds me still, his eyes on me as he calls out my name.
Behind me I see Miroku holding Shippo, who's holding Kirara, swaying in the wind. And Sango, who still sits on the ground, watches as her brother's body – now lying down – floats mid-air and flies towards Naraku.
"Kohaku!" She screams, getting up and trying to follow his disappearing body. But it's too late. His body disappears right before our eyes along with the miasma, tornados and Naraku.
And like that – the purple, blue clouds fade away, leaving us standing amongst the courtyard with the sun rising over the horizon. As the light of the sun touches the walls and the castle, it begins to diminish until there is nothing left but forest surrounding us.
Sang falls to her knees, a small sob escaping her lips. I quickly make my way to her and sit beside her, just in time for her to fall back down into my lap.
"It was a phantom castle." Shippo says.
"Look!" Miroku calls out. We all turn our heads following his direction of sight, except Sango, and stuck in the ground is Tetsusaiga, no more than a few feet away.
"Did Naraku escape?" Inuyasha asks, turning his attention to me.
I glance around the area the encircles us and find no signs of the sacred jewels anywhere in sight. I nod my head, "I don't see any shards."
Inuyasha walks over to Sango and I, and lands on his knees next to us. "Keara, your fighting is getting better."
"Thanks,"I say, letting out a small sigh. But he still got away. "We have to destroy him."
Sango slowly gets up from my lap, struggling as she grabs ahold of her boomerang for support, using it as leverage to get on her knees.
"I'm sorry. I can't stay with you any longer." Sango mumbles.
"Sango, we all understand Naraku was threatening you with the life of your brother if you didn't give him the sword." Miroku replies.
"Exactly! I'll just betray you again, as long as Naraku still controls Kohaku!" She snaps, glaring back at Miroku.
This doesn't faze the monk. "But Sango, what do you intend to do? Go after Naraku on your own?" He asks.
"I don't have any other choice."
"You'll never succeed that way." Miroku says.
I frown and scoot back to Sango's side. "We need to tend to you."
"Why are you still helping me?" Sango asks.
"Will ya stop whining, Sango? We want you to stick with us 'cause you're not a half bad fighter, and that's all there is to it!" Inuyasha chimes in. Probably not for the best.
"You see? Even Inuyasha wants you to stay, and coming from a guy whose sword you stole so easily that's really something!" Miroku nods.
"Don't say that! It makes me sound like a stupid half-wit!" Inuyasha argues.
"I'm just saying you're a very generous person!" Miroku smiles.
"Sango, don't you like us anymore?" Shippo asks, beside us.
"Of course I do, but it's all my fault that this happened and I might end up doing something like this to you again. But…" She pauses, a heavy sob rolling through her body. She lunges at me, wrapping her arms around my waist and cries into my chest. Her boomerang drops beside us with a heavy thump.
I gently run my fingers through her long brown hair. I can't imagine how she feels. I can't put any emotions in where it should be for this moment. All I know for sure, is that she's suffering. Suffering more than I have ever in my lifetime.
"Don't worry. You have us now."