InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ An Arrow Not Burning ❯ Burning Arrow ( Chapter 5 )

The burning spike of agony through his belly consumed the rest of his pain. Grinding his teeth against the scream clawing against his throat, Inuyasha did not attempt to resist as the tentacles pulled him down. Pain and despair hammered at his thoughts as he struggled to think of some way--any way--to destroy the monster who was killing Kikyo. He couldn't let this Naraku win! He'd gladly join Kikyo in death, but only if he took Naraku with him! But how? He could not feel his legs, his left arm was useless, he didn't have the strength to pull his right arm free.

"So tell me, Kikyo. Would you rather I tear Inuyasha apart before you, and then wait for you to die? Or shall I let him watch you die, before I string him up in a web and see how much poison it takes to kill him?"

The growl came unbidden to his throat as his blood-filled ears heard Naraku's taunt. "Filthy ... murderer..." he snarled through clenched teeth. "I'll ... kill ...you.."

Naraku's laugh dinned into his ears again. Through barely cracked eyelids, Inuyasha met the Naraku's blood-red gaze. "Big talk, dog-boy," sneered the merge-demon, his face only inches from Inuyasha's. "I thought you'd be begging me for death. After all, don't you want to be with Kikyo? I'll even do it, if you ask. After all, there is another alternative to dying. I see how long I can make you suffer. Like this."

Inuyasha screamed and convulsed as the spike twisted in his belly. His mind was filled with white agony. There was no thought. Only pain, and the awareness that the cruel, mocking laughter was filling his fading ears.

"Inuyasha!"

So faint, the voice. Mind on the cusp between light and dark, Inuyasha knew that voice. Kikyo.

Kikyo. Who loved him. Who was dying, because he had failed to protect her.

Your father died to protect us. Always remember that, my son. No matter how much others call you 'hanyou' or 'dirty half-breed', remember your father's gift to you and me. He loved us enough to die for us.

He couldn't match his father. He couldn't protect Kikyo from dying.

But he could drag Naraku to the underworld with them.

Inuyasha whipped his head and upper torso forward, knowing precisely where his target was. Naraku was still laughing, feeling his triumph, gloating with the malice and hate that came from both sides of his merged nature, forgetting that his captive did have a single weapon that he had not protected against.

Inuyasha buried his fangs in Naraku's neck.

Naraku convulsed as his laughter was abruptly cut off. Inuyasha's fangs were not long, but his jaws had the inhuman strength to match the rest of his body. He crushed the demon's human-shaped windpipe with a single bite.

Choking, the merge-demon convulsed again. Inuyasha flung himself back, ripping the demon's throat open, at the same time wrenching his good arm free from the shock-slackened grip. Spitting out the foul-tasting flesh, Inuyasha concentrated on his goal, oblivious to the surprise on Naruku's face. Claws glinting gold, fingers and wrist stiff, the hanyou drove his arm forward, aiming for the spot on Naraku's torso where Onigumo's face had appeared.

Hanyo flesh is not quite the same as youkai flesh, which is not the same as human flesh. Inuyasha's hand drove deep into Naraku's torso. He knew instantly when his fingertips encountered the less yielding remnant of the brigand. His claws tightened. The bandit's spirit screamed. With a violent heave, Inuyasha pulled his hand and the captive, throbbing heart free of Naraku's body. Continuing the motion, Inuyasha flung the heart straight into the air.

"Now, Kikyo!"

He did not wait to hear the snap of the bowstring he knew would come. With a scream that focused all of his pain and the last remnants of strength, Inuyasha made a final, sweeping slash. "Sankon tessou!"

Naraku's head and shoulders exploded as the golden claws slashed through them. The tentacles shuddered and collapsed, dropping with Inuyasha to the porch. Another spike of agony slammed through Inuyasha's darkening thoughts, but even through the pain, he heard the release of the third and final arrow. An arrow that burned. Very faintly, he felt it pass above him. He almost heard the explosion of youkai flesh disintegrating. He sensed the single, merged aura of the demon rip apart, some of it to reform into panicked, fleeing lesser youkai, but the most of it to dissipate into nothing.

He smiled as darkness washed over him. That was his Kikyo. The archer who didn't miss, the miko who could stop a hanyo in his tracks without harming him, the woman who saw him as someone worth loving, where no one else--save one--: ever had.

Together, they'd killed Naraku.

Wait for me.