InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity ❯ Avalanche ( Chapter 31 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

`Of all the stupid, ridiculous reasons to beat the crap out of someone,' Kagome fumed as she stepped onto the bus. The entire incident bothered her much more than she wanted to admit.

She flopped down in an empty seat and sighed as her temple fell against the cold glass. Her head hurt, and for some reason, she couldn't get the last image out of her mind, the one she'd seen in the baby store.

The small, fuzzy kitsune pup darted toward her from the path behind. He leaped into her arms, chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath, "Kagome! I found a shard of the Sacred Jewel!"

Kagome stared over his shoulder at the little girl, standing nervously on the dirt path. "She has it?"

With a quick shake of the head, Kagome rubbed her temples. `I really am going crazy,' she decided with an incredulous laugh.

Why did Houjou have to show up? InuYasha would tear him apart, and it was all her fault. As the streets of Tokyo crept past the window, Kagome frowned. InuYasha had frightened her. The look on his face when he'd pinned Houjou against the building had been one that she wasn't sure she ever wanted to see again. Why had his eyes flashed red, just for that second?

As she stared out the window, the city she knew so well faded and dimmed. The sounds on the bus that surrounded her diminished, and suddenly she felt as though she was in another place in time, in a world that was strangely familiar, with people she was as close to as her own family. The bus was gone, and she stared incredulously at the scene she had somehow become a part of.

InuYasha, gripping the sword that now hung over the fireplace in his house, said, "It's over . . . Despite someone getting in my way."

A man with long black hair caught up in a ponytail—Kouga—thumped InuYasha on the head, drawing a glower from the hanyou. Kouga said, "You fiend! Were you actually going to kill me, too?" InuYasha straightened up, sheathed the Tetsusaiga.

`How do I know that sword has a name?' Kagome thought with a scowl.

Kouga raised his fist, threatening InuYasha. "That's good enough answer for me!"

InuYasha, still glaring sideways, said in a deceptively calm voice, "There you go."

"I'm gonna waste you!"

Kagome ran over, planting herself between the two rivals. `What am I doing? How do I know that InuYasha really does want to flatten this wolf youkai?' She stood her ground, pushing InuYasha back a step and shooting him a reproachful glance. "Knock it off, you guys!"

"Nothing's sacred to you when you're swinging that thing around, is it, dog-boy?"

Kagome tried to forestall the escalating argument in the only way she could think of. Words popped into her mind and it seemed more like she couldn't stop herself from saying them, even though she knew—just knew—that she would upset InuYasha with them. Mostly to placate the wolf youkai, she said, "He knows how fast you are, so he was sure you would get out of the way in time, right InuYasha?"

InuYasha, eyes closed, hands still on Tetsusaiga's hilt, snorted loudly and remarked, "Why should I explain myself to that mangy wolf?" He glared back over his shoulder at Kouga for the last part of his warning. "Listen, if you ever get in my way again, next time I really will kill you."

Kouga bristled and leaned forward, trying to get past Kagome. She refused to move. "I'd like to see you try it, you lame excuse for a half-dog!"

Kagome could feel the anger radiating off InuYasha. To her surprise, his tone was quiet, deliberate, and yet no less provoking. "Pardon?"

Kagome closed her eyes. Neither one of them could leave it go, could they? "InuYasha . . . Osuwari!"

InuYasha gasped and growled as he crashed to the ground at her command.

With an unpleasant jolt, Kagome snapped out of her vision. She shot to her feet and pushed her way to the front of the bus. The air in the vehicle was smothering her, and she felt as though she was about to be physically ill. When the bus groaned to a stop, she darted out the door and stopped only to lean against the nearest building, dragging in lungfuls of air as she tried to brush off the nausea that came at her in waves.

What had she done to him; to InuYasha?  Had she really held such power over him, to make him submit to her with just a word?  The memory of the same thing happening when she'd tried to call off Dammit hit her hard, and when Kagome swallowed, she could taste the bile on her tongue.

"Are you okay?"

Kagome opened her eyes and turned her head to stare at the man who had addressed her. `He isn't remarkable at all,' she thought, `so why does he give me the creeps?' Then she gasped and scooted away. His jet black hair suddenly grew until it reached his waist. As it did, strange streaks appeared on his face, much like the markings on Sesshoumaru and Toga. But where their markings tended to lend an air of nobility, this man's marks were somehow more sinister, bloody red, jagged and violent. Fangs descended from his upper jaw, and Kagome involuntarily flinched when he smiled at her.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice surprisingly calm.

Ignoring her question, he grabbed her arms and squeezed. "A pretty little thing like you shouldn't be wandering around the city alone. Just think of what could happen if someone . . . unsavory . . . got a hold on you? Let me see you home. Where do you live?"

She tried to pull her arm away from the stranger. His grip tightened, claws digging into the soft flesh of her wrist but not quite enough to draw blood . . . yet. He pulled her down the street, completely ignoring her struggling otherwise. "Let go," she demanded, her voice rising in pitch.

He stopped suddenly and sniffed her, making a face and glowering down at her. "You stink," the youkai said as his grip tightened on her wrist. "You reek of them."

Kagome opened her mouth to scream for help. People in passing were already eyeing her oddly. If she could get someone to help her, she'd be safe. The youkai's fingers tightened even more, obviously knowing what she was planning. "Scream and you die, right here, right now," he hissed loudly enough for her to hear him. His razor sharp claws dug into her wrist. She choked back a pained groan and glanced quickly over her shoulder as he dragged her forward again.

`InuYasha, where are you?'

She'd been stupid, to have gotten on that bus. He swore he would protect her, and she had voluntarily left him behind.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, struggling for a calm that she was far from feeling.

The youkai turned abruptly and headed down an alley. His chuckle was harsh, like autumn leaves skittering across the barren ground. "I'm going to lure out your dog protector."

"Who are you?"

"You don't need to know that."

"What kind of youkai are you, then?" she challenged.

He seemed momentarily surprised. Then he smiled coldly. "You know? How? Humans can't see us. You're a weak, pathetic lot. Or perhaps it is because of the one who has covered you in his stench? He's youkai, isn't he?"

Kagome didn't correct the youkai on InuYasha's actual status. But her chin rose stubbornly, and her eyes glowed bright. Was it the thought of InuYasha that gave her the bravado to cast her fear aside? Or was it something deeper, some innate knowledge that she had a power that she just needed to remember? "I see you for what you are. Now let go of me, or I'll—"

Condescending laughter cut her off. "And what am I, aside from being a far superior form than you, human girl." He wrenched her wrist back and twisted. Kagome yelped in pain before she could stave back the sound. She felt her own blood, hot and sticky, trail down her arm and fall in agonizing drips. The youkai lowered her arm and stared down in satisfaction at the few droplets of blood on the pavement. "That will bring him," he remarked out loud but to himself. "Let him come to retrieve his bitch."

Kagome shook her head, willed away the burning sting of the paltry wounds. "Why do you hate him? How do you know him?"

He shrugged, almost as though it was a second thought. "Oh, it's not him I despise. It's his kind. Those damn dogs . . . They stole the power from us, from my people." He sank back on a trash can and finally let go of Kagome's arm. Her first instinct was to run, but she had very little doubt in her mind that this youkai would catch her and kill her without much effort if she tried to flee. She forced herself to remain calm and slumped against the opposite wall. Holding her injured wrist, she wished once more that InuYasha would come.

A cage, of sorts, and a giant mummified panther demon . . . Sesshoumaru and InuYasha battling youkai as the panthers performed the rituals to bring the dead one back to life . . . Sesshoumaru's Tenseiga . . .

Kagome gasped softly, her eyes lighting with recognition. Without wondering how she knew, she narrowed her gaze at the youkai. "You're from the panther tribe," she remarked, "and InuYasha and Sesshoumaru defeated your ancestors."

The youkai's eyes glowed bright red, an intense hatred burning into her brain. "Shut the hell up," he cautioned. "Or you'll not live to see me kill your dog. He will die." He stared at her a moment then smiled nastily. "Then again, so will you."

Kagome blinked in surprise. Something in those words was all too familiar to her. The threat . . . the tone . . . or was it just the open animosity in his very being?

"Watch, miko. Watch as I kill your beloved InuYasha!"

Naraku . . .

But this youkai was too pathetic, too weak, too pitiful to be Naraku.

Kagome lifted a hand to her forehead. Naraku was their enemy, hers and InuYasha's . . . and she, along with another woman, had destroyed him. Who was the other woman? Kagome could see the two arrows bathed in pinkish light, as they hurtled toward Naraku, as they ripped him into pulsing bits. Who was she? And why did the memory of that particular woman cause such a stabbing pain in Kagome's heart?

She balled her hands into fists, digging her nails into the palms of her hands, fighting against the consuming pain that the image of that woman brought on. In her mind, InuYasha's voice whispered, "Ki . . . Kikyou . . ."

"Kagome!"

"InuYasha . . . InuYasha!" she screamed, her head snapping to the side. The light of the setting sun cast him in a mysterious light, and his crimson sweatshirt brought to mind another place, another time when he came to save her. Every part of her wanted to run to him as he flew down the narrow alley toward her. The panther youkai was way too close. She didn't move. Just seeing InuYasha, though, was enough to convince her that everything would be fine.

InuYasha lunged before her, his stance ready, daring the panther to come after him. "Stay behind me, Kagome."

She held onto the back of his sweatshirt. The blood on her hands disappeared in the crimson material. She let go of him and sank back against the wall again, feeling weak, drained, ready to pass out.

The panther youkai laughed. "Touching, certainly. Prepare to die, oh great Prince of the Dogs."

"Keh! You think a weak youkai like you can defeat me?" InuYasha scoffed. "Wait here, Kagome. I'll finish him off."

Kagome's gasp was lost in the melee as InuYasha launched himself at the panther demon. "Wait here, Kagome. I'll finish him off."

"No, InuYasha . . . I'm coming with you."

"No . . . If you're in danger, I can't concentrate. I have to know you're safe."

"No!"

"No!" Kagome wailed, sinking to her knees. Her cry went unheeded.

InuYasha drew his claws back to cut the demon in half. The youkai jumped out of the way just as InuYasha yelled, "Sankon-tetsusou!"

InuYasha dove at Naraku. "Sankon-tetsusou!" The tendrils that he'd shot out to capture InuYasha and Sesshoumaru fell to the ground in a writhing heap before they melded back together and kept on coming.

The panther youkai laughed as InuYasha missed. He lashed out with his razor sharp claws, catching the material of the sweatshirt. Kagome heard the sickening rip as well as InuYasha's gasp of pain. "Did I scratch the pup?"

Kagome watched in fascinated horror as InuYasha rubbed his hand in his own blood. He flung out his hand as red blades seemed to shoot off his fingertips. "Hijin-ketsusou!"

"Hijin-ketsusou!" The cocoon that held her wouldn't give, not even for that. InuYasha tore at the threads that held her and the others, babbling, incoherent, intent only on breaking the sleeping spell that held her so tightly. The Forest of Grief . . .

"InuYasha," she whispered. He didn't hear her. The blades that were meant to tear the youkai to shreds sailed past him as he dodged. InuYasha growled.

"You're just a hanyou! The Great Prince Dog is nothing more than a worthless half-breed!" the panther demon scoffed.

"I'll show you," InuYasha said, standing slowly from the crouch he'd landed in. "I'm in a class of my own!"

"I'm in a class of my own!" InuYasha growled as he launched himself at Goshinki, tearing the demon apart with his claws.

InuYasha, yelling at Sango as Kagura flew away on her feather, as Kohaku stared down at his sister from above, "That's why you can't kill him!"

The miasma, and the vision that had ripped Kagome wide open. The thought of InuYasha kissing Kikyou . . .

Memory upon memory tumbled over Kagome. She heard InuYasha attack the youkai. She heard the youkai fall. Closing her eyes against what she didn't want to see, Kagome whined softly to herself as more memories came.

InuYasha, standing on his father's skeleton, staring at her as though she'd gone crazy, "I want you to shut up and let me protect you!"

The Tetsusaiga . . . the un-mother . . . Yura of the demon-hair . . . the well-house . . . and finally . . .

With a startling snap like icy cold water, Kagome jerked back as the flashlight's beam shined right in her face. InuYasha stood nearby talking in low tones to a couple of police officers. As though he felt her gaze on him, he turned slowly, stretching out the fingers of his right hand. Had he injured them?

He flexed his fingers, his knuckles popping loudly as a couple of police officers dragged a barely conscious youkai toward the street. The popping sound, however, sparked one final memory . . .

InuYasha flexed his fingers, his knuckles cracking in an appallingly loud manner. "If you hand the jewel over right now, I won't have to start sharpening my claws on you." Then he lunged at her.

"Kagome?" he asked as he started to drop to his knees before her.

Kagome saw the sudden movement, and she screamed. The scream ripped through the night air, tearing the quiet like a knife. Her hands flew up to shield her face, her head, from his perceived attack.

She sank into blackness as the remnants of her shriek faded away.

InuYasha stared at her in horror. The piercing shrillness in her cry was nothing in comparison to the feeling of his heart being shattered from within. The way she stared at him before she had screamed . . .

What had she seen, in those moments when he'd fought for her? The youkai—Hyou, he was called—was being carted off, and yet something inside Kagome had snapped. It shouldn't have frightened her so badly. InuYasha had saved her so many times before.

`But she doesn't remember,' his mind countered. `How could she know? The very nature of the hanyou was to fight because you aren't accepted by anyone, ever . . . Except . . . Kagome had . . .' InuYasha frowned as he gently lifted her lilting form into his arms, cradling her against his chest as he rose with her, his expression defiant as he stalked forward, ignoring the protests of the police and the paramedics that reached for her.

The look on her face haunted him. Her scream of panic echoed through his head. Tearing him to the quick, deeper than any wound he'd ever sustained, the memory of her fear a palpable thing, hanging in the air over him, enshrouding him in complete desolation. His years of isolation as a child were nothing compared to this, the knowledge, the apprehension that he had somehow let her down in the worst possible way.

She was terrified.

Of him.