InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Kagsha ❯ Human Weakness ( Chapter 9 )

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Kagsha was breathing hard. Six hours straight running was not easy for a hanyou that had been raised in the city. In fact, it was only her determination to prove her strength to her father that kept her going.

A quarter mile ahead of her, Inuyasha stopped on a branch, his ears cocked back to catch the sounds of the other hanyou. She's tired...why won't she stop? Its not like if she has to prove anything... She's already valuable because she can sense the shards like Kagome could... His hand flew up to clutch at his robes above his heart as it thumped painfully. Agh! No...Kagome wasn't valuable because she could sense the shards...she was valuable because of who she was... God! He collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony as he turned human, his body feeling the pain his hanyou blood had kept hidden.

Kasha felt Inuyasha stop. As she wondered what had happened, she suddenly smelled a pained spike in his rapidly changing scent. She abandoned all rational thought for a second and went charging through the underbrush, her mouth open, and her scream of "DAD!!!!" echoing through the forest.

Inuyasha pulled himself up slowly, gasping as his lungs and legs began to burn. What the fuck?! He looked at his hands and saw the blunt, human fingernails in place of his claws. Tonight is the new moon? A sound reached his ears, the faint cry of "DAD!!!!" piercing the silence around him. A soft thump alerted him to the presence of someone, but his body was exhausted- he was human and had no way of knowing who the intruder was, or of defending himself.

"Dad! Dad? Oh my God! Dad! Are you ok?" Kagsha was frightened, the man before her was her father, she was sure, yet he was so different than his usual self, not so much in appearance, but in attitude. Her tears began to flow as she took in Inuyasha's kneeling form, his hands on the ground, his muscles quivering in pain, and his head slumped. "Oh, Dad..."

Inuyasha could barely breathe. In some corner of his mind, he was ashamed of his weakness, but he knew that it wasn't because of the running or his sudden humanity. What pained him was the hole in his heart-the loss of Kagome. Even the faint words of a girl by him did not make sense. He tried to look up, but the effort was too great and his world went black.

Kagsha looked at her father, when he had suddenly slumped down, she was sure he was dead. When he began to breathe, her relief lasted for a few seconds. When he began to talk in his sleep, she grinned, then began to cry at what he said. When he stopped quivering, she sighed and gently moved him onto the bed she'd prepared. When he fell into a restful sleep, she smiled softly and began to talk. "Dad...I've wanted to talk to you for so long and, now that you're here, I'm not sure what I should say. I wish...I wish Mom hadn't left...I wish she'd had come back...I wish she had raised me with you... but most of all... I wish she was still alive. Dad... Mom said that you didn't know about me... is that true? Did she leave without letting you know that she was pregnant? Did you know that you slept with her? I want to know!" Kagsha leaned over Inuyasha's body, her tears streaming down her face and dampening the blankets over him. "I need to know, Dad... did you love her?"

In his dream, Inuyasha saw Kagome sitting under the Goshinboku, as she had always loved to do. She was in the modern era, and in her lap, was a little black-haired girl with dog ears on top of her head and little claws and fangs. Kagome was talking and tears were streaming down her cheeks. Inuyasha whimpered. For some reason, her pain was tangible and he felt it cutting into his soul, as if he had caused it. Then the little girl stood in Kagome's lap and hugged her. Kagome smiled and spoke to the girl, "Your father doesn't know about you, he never did. I left before he could find out... Kagsha, understand that you were wanted. That you are loved. Your father isn't here because I didn't want him to know about you so that I wouldn't ruin him." The little girl-Kagsha- looked at Kagome, a question in her eyes. "Your father has many enemies and I didn't want to put either of you in danger of being attacked... I didn't know what I'd do without either of you when I found out I was pregnant, so I decided to never give anyone the chance to make me find out. I left to protect you, and in doing so, protect him..." Inuyasha reached out to the two girls, then the dream faded. "No! Don't leave me!"

"Dad?" Kagsha's soft voice jerked Inuyasha back into reality. The sun was rising and his hanyou powers were returning. He turned to Kagsha.

"Where you ever going to tell me? That I am your father?"

Kagsha looked at the ground and blushed, "How do you know?"

"Aside from you calling me by the name of Dad?" He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head away from his daughter. "I had a... dream. I saw Kagome explain to you why I wasn't there... Kagsha..."

"Its ok Dad. I got over it after that night. All that time, I was afraid that you hadn't wanted me and Mom set me straight. You weren't there because you couldn't be, not because you didn't want to...."

Inuyasha nodded. He took a deep breath, sat up, and faced his daughter. "Did she...ever tell you what happened? When... before she left?"

Kagsha nodded. She put her hand inside her haori and pulled out a letter. "She wrote this for you...I don't know what it says, Dad, but it was her last request that you get this. She begged me..." Kagsha began to cry.

Inuyasha took the proffered letter and shyly hugged Kagsha to him. She wrapped her arms around him and cried as he opened the letter. With a deep breath to steel himself, he looked down at the paper and began to read.