InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bits & Pieces ❯ Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil ( Chapter 17 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Title: Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil
Author: Spaceghst407
Theme: Rinse
Genre: Angst
Rating: T
Warnings: Character death
Word Count: 400
Summary: CU. He is unaccustomed to failure.

She was so light in his arms...

Never before had she seemed so small, being so full of life and laughter. He laid her body gently by the river bank, his fingers brushing the raven locks from her face. He tore a strip of silk from his sleeve, the noise eerily similar to the sound of her ripping flesh. Dipping the cloth into the water, he rinsed the blood from her face.

When he was finished, one could almost mistake her for napping, but there was no fooling him. The scent of death hung heavy on the air. Her chest was still and the silence of her heart deafened the night. An ominous splash of crimson covered her abdomen, a blanket concealing the damage beneath.

His Rin would never smile at him again.

Father's fang refused to return her to his side a second time. He had never been denied anything he desired, and to be defeated so easily stung with a bitter sense of failure. He gripped her hand, already cold and tiny and so unbearably still. He had failed her and in doing so he at failed at everything.

Delicate arms encircled him from behind, the miko laying her face against his back. Her own mortality struck out at him, taunting him with the futility of protecting his charges. His eyes trailed back to Rin's slack features. Even if not now, she would have still left him one day. So fleeting was the life of humans. He almost envied the days when he could wear his arrogance like a shroud. Having nothing to protect meant having nothing to lose.

Kagome's cheeks were still damp with the evidence of her sorrow, but she put on a brave face for his sake. He never said anything, but she knew he hated her tears. "She loved you very much."

Sesshoumaru did not speak, but inclined his head slightly.

"And she knew you loved her."

Again he said nothing, but silently agreed with her, for nothing short of love would account for this overwhelming sense of loss. Gently he disentangled himself from her embrace, stepping away and turning his back. Kagome's hair whipped in the wind as he transformed in a violent swirl of youki. She choked back a sob as he pointed his muzzle towards the darkened sky, howling the grief he couldn't express with words to the stars...

A/N: Originally written for Dokuga's Weekly Perfection contest. This one won 2nd place! Thank you!
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