InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Don't know what you've got 'til it's gone ❯ Betrayal ( Chapter 26 )

A/N:

 

FFnet:

AnimeFanatic1011, Moon Beam Weaver, agent-doo, Shipposfriend, Soon to be world renown Gracie, Dark Inu Fan, Owari Nai Yumes, forgotten angel, undecidedlycertain, InuyashaCrazed, Amanda Trinh, kitty_Inuyasha,

 

Toya'sGurl - I like cliffhangers :D

 

Gohan757 - yes, he could but they were following it first.

 

Pwalefriend - Miroku called her Kagome because it was Kagome's body. He doesn't know the name of the kitsune anyway.

 

MMorg

Obsequy, Black Rose28, jay2005, flrsblue, aNiMe HeLLcat

 

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Chapter 26 -

 

Kikyo stared back at him, her demeanor softening as she lowered the bow. “Inuyasha, she's an abomination, just like Naraku.” Imploring him with her eyes, she gave him a sad smile. “I have to do this for your own good and to prevent the Shikon No Tama from becoming tainted.”

 

“Why you,” he growled but didn't move, his knuckles whitening as he gripped Tetsusaiga's hilt. He head knew that she was lying but his heart cried out against hurting her.

 

“Do you really believe that I could harm you or her unless it was absolutely necessary?” The tip of Tetsusaiga lowered slightly as his resolve diminished. Kikyo grinned inwardly; her studies in the black arts were paying off. The hanyou was becoming ensorcelled and none of them realized it yet.

 

“Don't listen to her, Inuyasha!” Miroku yelled, seeing the hanyou falter. “She still has Kagome's soul trapped in the curse!” A silver ear flicked reflexively toward him, but he showed no other sign of hearing him. Quicker than a human eye could follow, Kikyo pulled an ofuda out of her haori and flung it at the monk, silencing him.

 

Kikyo pinched the arrow against the bow with her sighting finger, freeing a hand to caress his cheek and reinforce the spell she was winding around him. He flinched but didn't back away, his golden eyes following her every move. `He is mine to play with now. Tsubaki was never the dark priestess that I am.'

 

“She is just like Naraku,” she repeated, whispering into his ear. “She's trying to trick you into betraying me. But you won't let that happen, will you.” His slight shake of the head was all she needed. “Get the pendant from her, and then kill her before she destroys us.”

 

Sango watched the exchange between the priestess and hanyou with growing horror. The undead woman was spouting nonsense and Inuyasha seemed to be buying to it. She heard Miroku's shout; Inuyasha was blocking her view and she did not see him fall. Time seemed to slow as the hanyou turned to her and the huddled kitsune, raising Tetsusaiga. Kikyo was whispering in his ear, a maniacal gleam in her brown eyes.

 

“Inuyasha, snap out of it!” Sango tried to hide the kitsunes behind her body but he roughly shoved her to the side. Kikyo produced another ofuda and threw it at her. The paper struck her forehead and she collapsed, her body numb and paralyzed. The woman that had been Kagome did not resist as he ripped the pendant from her neck, snapping the leather thong that he had tied so gently days before.

 

“Give it to me,” Kikyo extended her hand, palm up.

 

The ground shook again as an enormous spiked mace tore trees from the ground, scattering them like pencils. Akane wailed and crushed Shippo to her. She didn't fear the hanyou near as much as the nightmare that had finally found them.

 

Yellow tusks curving from its lower jaw, its face resembled a huge lump of bread dough that had grown warts. Several beady black eyes squinted at them through folds of its flesh. Its body was just as misshapen as its face, an overgrown potato that had sprouted limbs. Standing almost forty feet tall, it towered over the trees. It roared; warm, fetid breath washing over them as swung its mace again.

 

Inuyasha snapped out of the spell with a jerk, the pendant still clutched in his hand and pulsing with Kagome's life force. `I almost…' His heart constricted at the thought of piercing his mate's body with his sword. He could almost smell her blood staining his hands. Clenching his hand around the pendant, he ducked just in time to avoid being impaled on the spikes of the ogre's mace. Scooping Kagome into his arms, he leapt out of the way and deposited her on the ground. Miroku and Sango still lay prone on the ground, struggling against the curses. Kikyo glared at him but shot at the ogre, the arrow surrounded by a comet of pink light.

 

The ogre knocked the arrow out of the air as if it were swatting a fly and swung the mace, leaving a crater in the ground where the priestess had jumped out of the way. Seeing that Kikyo had distracted the ogre, Inuyasha opened his hand and slammed the pendant into the trunk of the nearest tree. His hand was surrounded by blue light as the soul within was released. It hung in the air for a moment, and then flew into the chest of the woman at his feet. A shard of the sacred jewel tumbled down with pieces of broken jade.

 

Kagome's body went rigid, back arching against the ground. He pulled her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. “Kagome, please come back. It's all my fault,” he moaned against her hair. Her eyes fluttered open, “Inuyasha…look out!”

 

One handed, he raised Tetsusaiga to deflect the ogre's mace, the force of the impact jarring his arm. He let go of Kagome and stepped between her and the ogre, wrapping his other hand around the hilt of the sword. Concentrating, he felt the clash where the two demonic auras collided: the windscar. Bringing the sword over his head, he slammed it to the ground, cutting through the windscar and releasing Tetsusaiga's attack.

 

The ogre launched off of the ground, clearing the lines of power that left deep ruts in the earth. Swinging its mace, the ogre released sharp spikes that hurtled toward them. Another blast of the windscar destroyed most of them, but several still managed to bury themselves in the ground around them, narrowly missing Miroku's still form.

 

“Hey, get back here!” Inuyasha leapt into the air to meet it, slicing through the windscar and sending bolts of power arching toward the ogre. Unable to dodge in mid-air, the ogre took it blast in the chest, just as one of Kikyo's arrows hit its thigh. Bellowing, the ogre swelled with yellow and pink light, then exploded into dust.

 

Inuyasha landed gracefully, a satisfied grin on his face. “Not so tough, are you,” he quipped at the motes of dust floating gently to the ground.

 

Kikyo pulled her last arrow from her quiver, notching the bow and aiming at Kagome. “You are next, impure creature. I would not have been able to purify you as a human, but with a demon soul inside you, you will die like a monster.”

 

Inuyasha spun around, suddenly remembering that the danger was not over. “Kikyo, don't do this!”

 

Kikyo's grin widened as Akane's soul surged around the girl, straining against invisible bonds. Kagome shrieked, hands grasping at her chest as if to keep the fox soul inside.

 

“Can't leave your host, can you, kitsune. Inuyasha made sure of that."

 

Inuyasha growled and brandished Tetsusaiga. “I did not! “

 

Kikyo cocked her head and let the bow dip, the evil smile fading from her lips to be replaced by a sneer. “Oh, but you did. You marked Kagome, binding the demon blood to her, and then allowed yourself to be marked by her, strengthening the bond.“ Inuyasha's sword slowly lowered as the information hit him, guilt twisting his gut. “All of that could have been undone with the right rituals, but you had to take it one irrevocable step further.” Her face twisted, hatred burning in the depths of her eyes.

 

“What…did I do?”

 

“You impregnated her!” She spat, drawing back the bow.

 

Shocked into immobility, Inuyasha stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Kagome gasped, putting a protective hand over her abdomen. “How do you…?”

 

“Stupid girl,” Kikyo cut her off. “I'm a trained priestess and I had your soul captured in my curse for several days. You soul knew, even if your mind didn't. Now, Inuyasha, you will watch your mate and heir die.”

 

Hiraikotsu slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. Sango had managed to throw off the curse enough to pull herself to her elbows, but her legs were still limp and useless. “Inuyasha, she's not the Kikyo you knew!”

 

“Destroy her pendant,” Miroku gasped, still unable to move.

 

Inuyasha nodded, thrusting Tetsusaiga point first into the ground and hurdling toward the prone priestess. She tried to roll out of the way, but he landed on her chest, pinning her body beneath him. Gritting his teeth against the purification she was driving into him, he fished the charm from her haori and lobbed it over his shoulder. She shrieked, pressing her hands against his chest and blasting him again.

 

He flew backward, temporarily stunned, and hit the dirt with a thud. Shaking his head to clear it of the debilitation effects of being partially purified, he used Tetsusaiga to crawl to his feet. Sniffing out the windscar, his eyes fixed on the priestess lying on her side in the dirt. She stretched a hand toward him, “You can't kill me! You promised to…”

 

He steeled himself, the windscar shining bright before him. “I made that promise to a woman who died fifty-two years ago. You ain't her.” Kikyo's eyes widened and she screamed in fury, sending a bolt of purifying energy toward him.

 

“Backlash Wave!” Tetsusaiga flung the priestess' power back at her in tornadoes of youkai power. Destroying everything in their path, the tornadoes engulfed her as she shrieked. When the dust finally settled, only a bow remained.

 

“Is she gone?” Miroku pushed himself to his feet and staggered over to the hanyou, who hadn't moved since the energy had dissipated.

 

“I don't know,” he finally answered. “I didn't feel it hit her directly and I wasn't at my full strength, but she isn't here anymore.”

 

“Could her soul collectors have saved her?” Inuyasha shrugged and shook his head. “You had to do it, you know that.” Miroku bowed his head and closed his eyes, bringing two fingers in front of his face. “We can only hope that she may rest in peace.”

 

“Inuyasha…” he turned toward Kagome's soft voice. She still sat where he placed her, Shippo clinging to her. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she gazed at him. “I'm so sorry,” she choked out, tears sliding down her cheeks. He dropped Tetsusaiga and dropped to his knees in front of her.

 

“Kagome, don't cry. You have nothing to be sorry for.” He brushed her tears away with the pad of his thumb before enfolding her in his arms. She seemed so fragile as she sobbed into his chest, twisting her fingers in his haori. He fought his own tears as the realization of how close he had been to losing her gripped his heart. Tightening his arms, he buried his nose in her hair and breathed in her scent.

 

Sango stumbled over to the jade pendant lying in the dirt. With a grunt, she crushed it with the heel of her boot, grinding into the dirt. Lifting her foot, she saw nothing but green chips and a small sliver of the Shikon No Tama. Miroku joined her and slipped an arm around her waist. “Do you think they'll be alright?” he asked, gesturing to the embracing hanyous.

 

Sango smiled, a little of the exhaustion easing out of her eyes. “Yeah, I think they will.”

 

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 

“I don't know how this happened,” Kagome mumbled as she rolled the jewel fragments around in her hand before putting them back in the little bottle she wore around her neck. She kept her eyes downcast, looking anywhere but at the hanyou who sat next to her on the log by the campfire. “I thought you said that you could smell when I was… in heat.” She blushed and touched her flat stomach.

 

“I can!” Inuyasha said defensively. “You didn't even start another heat.” He wanted to touch her, comfort her, but Kagome had withdrawn into herself.

 

“I should have started several days ago,” Kagome sighed. “Maybe she was wrong… Akane didn't get sick when she was in control of my body.”

 

Inuyasha snorted. “Youkai don't usually get sick like humans or hanyous.”

 

“But she was in a hanyou body…”

 

“I don't know, Kagome.”

 

Kagome rubbed her abdomen again. She supposed it was possible if they had made love right before her heat cycle was to start. She recalled from Sex Ed that sperm could fertilize an egg many hours after it had been ejaculated. Blushing furiously, she hunched her shoulders. `Don't they call people who practice the rhythm method parents? Or was that withdrawal…' Her mother was going to be disappointed; especially after making sure she had all those condoms.

 

“Don't you want this pup?” Inuyasha's quiet question brought her out of her ruminations and she finally met his eyes.

 

“Do you? It will delay our hunt for Naraku, not to mention completely changing our lives.”

 

He shrugged and kissed her forehead. “Some things are more important than finding Naraku.” Like raising our pup with the love and acceptance I never had, he added silently.

 

A brilliant smile slowly spread across her face and she laughed with joy, throwing her arms around his neck. “I love you.”

 

Inuyasha blushed but returned the hug, “Yeah, wench… me too.” He broke the embrace a few minutes later to lift the edge of her blouse. “Our pup,” he murmured, running his claws across her belly, delighted by the way her skin shuddered.

 

“Kit,” Kagome giggled, her core tingling deliciously.

 

“Pup,” his teeth followed his claws, grazing the smooth, salty skin.

 

“Kit!” she gasped, arching into his touch and instinctively spreading her knees.

 

He ran a clawed hand under her skirt and up the inside of her thigh. “Pup.”

 

“Inuyasha! Sango and Miroku…” she closed her legs, trapping his hand, and pulled the hem of her skirt down.

 

“…took Shippo to the spring,” he finished for her, pulling her knees apart and kneeling between them. Catching her bottom in his hands, he pulled her toward him until their bodies were flush. “We have a little time.”

 

A/N: Epilogue to follow.