InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ As Fate Would Have It ❯ Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

Kagome shook her head in a futile effort to remove the horrible memories of Kikyou and Inuyasha from her mind. He made his choice, she thought sadly. She looked down at the river again as Sango walked tentatively toward her.

 

“Kagome?” the taijiya asked quietly, as though hesitant to intrude on the girl from the future's thoughts. “Are you okay?”

 

Kagome turned her head and looked up at Sango. Such a lovely girl: brave, loyal, and caring. Kagome often wondered if Inuyasha would like her more if she were more like Sango. She almost chuckled out loud at the thought. That's all we'd need- two battle-ready females looking to do some damage to the male populous…and with that, she did laugh out loud- a healthy, happy sound.

 

Sango relaxed and crouched down next to Kagome. “I'm glad you can find humor still in your heart. He doesn't deserve your love, you know.”

 

Kagome chuckled again, just for the pleasure of hearing the happy sound. “Don't I know it!” She looked at the river again as something caught her eye. “But I can't change my…” she trailed off as she saw that something become a figure and stagger out of the river onto the grassy bank.

 

“Sango!” the younger girl whispered fiercely.

 

Sango's gaze followed Kagome's and she too saw the figure on the bank. “What… is that?” she whispered back. “It doesn't feel like a demon…”

 

Kagome jumped up and ran down the hill toward the figure. As she neared, she could see that the figure was in fact a rather handsome man, about the same age as Miroku.

 

His long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, rather like Kouga's, but without the Wolf Demon's unique features. His face had blotches of blood on it, and his clothing was ripped and torn, soaked with blood and water from the river. Kagome could see several slashes where something had tried to rip him apart.

 

“Sango! Go get Kaede!” Kagome called up the hill. There was so much blood loss… the man's clothes were almost completely soaked in it. She kneeled by his side.

 

“Hold on,” she said to the young man. “We can help you.” She reached around his shoulder to roll him over.

 

Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippou, Sango, and Kaede arrived just as Kagome flipped the young man over. Everyone except Inuyasha gasped aloud when they saw how badly his legs and arms were ripped open.

 

In the young man's arms, however, he clutched a bunch of leathers that seemed miraculously untouched. Kagome looked up at Kaede, and the old woman shook her head sadly.

 

Suddenly he coughed a rough, rasping sound. Kagome glanced down to see the young man open his eyes, which were a soft chocolate brown.

 

“What happened to you?” Kagome asked softly, worried that the man would pass out or worse before they could determine the cause of such horrible wounds.

 

“Youkai… came after… my wife… and I,” he managed to gasp out. He coughed harshly, blood dripping from his mouth. “Don't… know… what happened… to her. She told… me to… run. For… her…sake…”

 

“Her sake? Your wife's? Where is she? Where are you from? Maybe we can find her for you.”

 

The man managed to shake his head. “The… north. We… lived by… a… waterfall. On the edge… of the forest.”

 

Kagome reached down and tried to wipe some of the blood off his face. He really was quite a handsome man. “And your wife?” she urged gently. “Where is your wife?”

 

His eyes went hazy for a moment. A grim look came over his face. “They… swarmed… our house. I don't… know why…”

 

Inuyasha snorted. “Youkai don't need a reason to kill. Some do it for food, others do it for the thrill of simply killing.”

 

The young man looked up and spied Inuyasha with Shippou sitting on his shoulder. His eyes widened.

 

“You… you're… a hanyou!”

 

“Keh! No shit.”

 

His brown gaze moved up to Shippou. “And… a… youkai! A… kitsune… right?”

 

“He's pretty good for a ningen,” Shippou commented in surprise.

 

The man's attention turned back to Kagome. “Are… these… with you?”

 

Kagome nodded. “Inuyasha's my best friend, and Shippou's like a son to me. You can trust them.”

 

He sighed in obvious relief. He coughed again, this time with more blood. His body shook as it went into shock from the vast amount of blood loss. His eyes glazed again and lost focus as he looked at Kagome.

 

“P-please…” he rasped weakly as he pushed the pile of leathers into Kagome's arms. “Y-you must…p-protect with…your…l-life…”

 

As Kagome involuntarily clutched the pile of leather, the young man's eyes went vacant and his body went limp. Kagome looked up at Miroku and Kaede and was saddened to see them both begin blessing the young man's body. The poor man had died of his wounds.

 

“I don't see why we should bother blessing a guy who ran away from his mate,” Inuyasha grumped. “After all- it's his job to protect her, isn't it?”

 

“I'm sure he had a good reason, Inuyasha,” Kagome replied practically. “A woman would want her love to run away if there was a chance that he would live on.”

 

Inuyasha snorted.

 

“You're just upset because it's obvious this man had a wife who loved him unconditionally enough to sacrifice herself so that he might escape,” Miroku said pointedly.

 

Inuyasha growled and curled his hand into a fist, ready to hit the smart-mouth monk. “Love don't have nothing to do with it!”

 

“I beg to differ, Inuyasha,” Kaede agreed. “Love has everything to do with it. Love is what each of us is here for. It is what makes life worth living.”

 

“Keh! It wasn't enough to save his sorry life, was it? He still died!”

 

“Enough! A man just died here! Can't you show some respect?”

 

Inuyasha looked down at Kagome, who still sat next to the dead man, holding the pile of leathers. “I can't respect a coward.”

 

“Baka!”

 

“Wench!”

 

“He is obviously not a coward because he risked his life to bring whatever this is to us! It must be something very precious to him!”

 

Shippou hopped over to Sango's shoulder, cocked his head to the side and looked in confusion at the poor man. “What could mean so much to that guy that he'd die to protect it though?”

 

Inuyasha walked over to Kagome. He kneeled down next to Kagome and sniffed the leathers in her arms. It stank of river water and blood, but there was something else… a vaguely familiar scent…

 

Kagome shook her head and lifted a hand to the top of the pile. Something told her that whatever was inside those leathers was going to change her life forever.

 

“I have no idea… it must be something important though, if he asked me to protect it with my life.” She lifted the top layers of the pile to reveal that which lay within.

 

Two furry, pointed black ears poked out from the top of a crown of black hair and two very blue eyes blinked at the sudden appearance of the dim moonlight. A pale, cherubic face looked out of the leathers, the cheeks a rosy pink. A tiny rosebud mouth puckered and opened, as if surprised at the two people looking at it. One tiny fist emerged from the bundle, opening up to reveal the tiny, tiny claws tipping each finger. Kagome gasped and Inuyasha froze.

 

It was a hanyou baby.