InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Blackout ❯ The Hard Way Home ( Chapter 28 )

Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha or any of the publicly known characters, plot, etc. I’m just renting them from Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, etc. I do own the plot of this story and any original characters I’ve created. I will make no money from this fic; I write for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of my readers.


The Hard Way Home


Inuyasha’s stomach growled audibly, and he grimaced at the fresh hunger pangs which coiled in his gut. The sensation was disturbing but not surprising, since he hadn’t eaten in at least three or four days. Again, it was impossible to accurately keep track of time in this world of perpetual daylight. As a hanyou, he could go without food or water for much longer than a human, which was fortunate because this world seemed to be entirely devoid of both. He did wonder, however, just how long his body could continue to function without any sort of nourishment or hydration. Hopefully they would find a means of escape soon, and he wouldn’t have to face a slow, torturous death.

“Ugh,” Kagura groaned from her place in front of him. “Knock that shit off. It just reminds me how hungry I am.”

“Keh, I can’t exactly help it, bitch,” he snapped, not caring if he was being rude. They had been grating on each other’s nerves as of late, but had yet to lapse into physical violence. It was anyone’s guess how long that would last, especially with even the wind sorceress feeling the effects of malnutrition. Evidently, not even full-youkai could survive for any great length of time without food and water.

Kagura muttered under her breath about using his ‘damn Inu nose’ to find sustenance, but he ignored her. Of course he’d been keeping his nose active every waking moment; there was simply nothing to smell. Sighing, he looked back toward his father’s skeleton, which was just barely visible silhouetted against the distant sky. They had not yet traveled beyond seeing distance of the grave in their search for food, water, and a way out. It was their only landmark to speak of, and it was oddly comforting to at least have a place they could return to and call ‘home.’ But if their quest continued to prove fruitless, they would have no choice but to depart from this area, never to return.

He gritted his teeth and scrambled to hang on as Kagura took a hard turn. Inuyasha glared at the back of her head, that hint of a smirk he could see on her lips indicating that her sudden maneuver had been no accident. But then, that’s what he got for running his mouth while riding on her feather. If there was any alternative means of transportation available, he would gladly take it. But no matter how much you kicked and swore at them, the damn skeletal birds would only go so far away from their roost, which was near his father’s grave. That left the exhausting prospect of running and jumping all over this Kami-forsaken land as the only alternative to hitching a ride with Kagura. He’d actually tried that for about half a day, before giving in and asking her. That hadn’t been fun, since she’d already been subtly teasing him about it and wasn’t about to forego a little enjoyment at his expense. But he’d put up with the humiliation, for the sole reason that expending energy and sweat when he had no means to replace what his body lost was a very bad idea. He had to avoid anything that would hasten his death, for his sake and Kagome’s.

Kagura took another sharp turn around a large rock pillar, but this time Inuyasha was ready and had no trouble maintaining his balance. The topography was another problem with this place. When viewed from above, a thick white mist covered most of the features, meaning one had to travel under the fog to actually see anything. Otherwise, they might fly right over something important and never even realize it. This of course meant a much slower search, as they made their way through a maze of varied rock formations. Some were spectacular to behold, with bizarre shapes which defied explanation, but crucially all were devoid of life or anything life-giving. Wherever he looked, he saw bare rock. And whenever he slept, he dreamt of bare rock. It was enough to threaten to drive a man insane. And it was for this reason that he was glad Kagura was here, despite her snarky attitude and annoying commentary. Her company was likely the only thing preventing his sanity from deteriorating. Not that he would ever tell her this, infuriating little wench that she was. He had a feeling that she was grateful for his presence as well, not that she would ever admit it aloud either.

She gasped suddenly, causing Inuyasha to perk up in sudden interest.

“Holy shit…is that green?”

It was, the hanyou was ecstatic to discover. Peeking over a wall of rock just up ahead was a hint of forest green, which swayed gently in the breeze. Inuyasha cautiously dared to hope that he wasn’t seeing things, that it really was the top of a tree beckoning to him from behind the rock. Kagura accelerated, but the seconds seemed to stretch for hours as they grew closer to discovering whether this really was a potentially life-saving find, or merely a mutual hallucination inspired by hunger and thirst. When they finally crested the rock wall and got an unhindered view of what lay beyond, their jaws dropped.

It was beyond anything they could have hoped for. The tall tree they had spotted loomed above a small forest, nestled in this tiny, inexplicable utopia. Next to the forest sat a pristine lake, fed by a gorgeous waterfall. Fruit grew on the trees, and fish leapt from the lake, catching insects. It was as if an unspoiled piece of feudal Japan had been magically removed from the living world and deposited into this one. It was breathtaking. Inuyasha and Kagura beamed at each other, previous irritation forgotten, as they landed in the tranquil meadow by the lake. Both of them thoroughly enjoyed the feel of the grass tickling their feet as they ran down to the water. It was the only thing they wanted more than food at the moment.

Inuyasha was a little quicker and arrived at the water’s edge first. He moved to dip his hands into the crystal clear liquid, inhaling deeply through his nose to sample the delectable scent. In his excitement he almost missed it, the iota of a scent which should not be there. Though he couldn’t identify them, the miniscule airborne particles inspired an insistent sense of wrongness, which was just barely strong enough to reach the logical part of his brain. His hands froze, mere millimeters above the water’s surface. He had no time to contemplate this new development before Kagura sank to her knees beside him and happily reached for the water, heedless of his sudden pause.

“Wait, Kagura!” he ordered, throwing his arm out to stop her. It accidentally whacked her on the chin, which she obviously didn’t appreciate, but his desperate attempt to restrain her had been successful. She sat back on her heels, glaring at him as she rubbed her chin.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“Don’t drink the water. Don’t even touch it.”

“What?! Why the hell not?”

Now that was an interesting question, one Inuyasha was unable to answer immediately. He bent down and sniffed the water from up close, growling when he smelled only its natural aroma. But he was sure he’d detected something else. It had been just for an instant, but that mysterious, sinister scent had chilled his blood. Had he imagined it? No matter how hard he strained, he could perceive nothing out of the ordinary now. His five senses were completely satisfied that this place was legitimate and free of danger, from the sight of the glistening waterfall to the feel of the damp earth underneath his toes. Closing his eyes, he stretched out his youki and likewise felt no other youki signatures brushing against his consciousness, aside from Kagura’s increasingly annoyed aura. But there was something wrong. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it was there; he was not imagining it. The fact that he was picking it up with some kind of seventh or eighth sense didn’t make it any less real. Right?

“This is wrong,” he stated quietly, officially weirded out by the situation and still not entirely sure of himself.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kagura groaned, equally frustrated and bewildered.

“This,” Inuyasha declared, more firmly this time, motioning to the false utopia surrounding them. “This whole place…it doesn’t feel right.”

“Doesn’t feel right?” the wind sorceress repeated incredulously, reaching a hand up to massage her temple. Her aura flared even further, and it seemed as though she was struggling to keep her temper in check.

“Inuyasha, I’ll give you a pass on this one. You’re exhausted and famished. Or maybe the jewel shard is screwing with your head. I don’t know, and I don’t really care. But don’t fucking tell me not to drink this water!”

“That’s what I’m fuckin’ telling you, Kagura!” he retorted, foregoing his usual insulting term of endearment due to the gravity of the situation. He got right in her face, hoping she would see how serious he was. No such luck.

“You can do whatever you want, Inuyasha. Go ahead and starve yourself to death for all I care. Me? I’m having a fucking drink.”

“No, don’t–”

But it was too late; by the time he managed to grab her wrists, she had already dipped her hands into the lake. Instantly, the world as they knew it ceased to be. The sky darkened, casting the land in ominous shadow. The trees shifted in color from healthy green to pallid shades of yellow and orange, and the sea of grass surrounding them withered and died. A fiercely cold wind blew in, stripping the leaves from the trees and scattering them across the land, sad testaments to life which had been so suddenly and brutally snuffed out. A patch of ice formed on the spot where Kagura had touched the water, quickly spreading to cover the entire lake as the flow over the falls slowed to a trickle and finally stopped completely. Still the wind howled, biting at their flesh and growing colder by the second.

It was not the sudden drop in temperature which caused the hairs on the back of Inuyasha’s neck to stand on end, however. It wasn’t the smell of death in the air or the way in which their oasis had suddenly decayed before their eyes. No, what filled him with dread more powerful than any he’d ever experienced, was the man-sized circular opening at the back of the waterfall, now no longer concealed by the falls. It could not be defined as a cave, for even the darkest caves will be illuminated at their entrances by ambient light from the outside. This void, for lack of a better term, was different. On one side of that cursed gateway was light, and on the other lay total darkness. And from that darkness emanated the single most frightening aura Inuyasha had ever felt. It was ancient, older than any youkai, and contained more hate and malice than even the most tainted piece of the Shikon no Tama. No creature of the living world could compare to it.

Something emerged from the void, as black as the emptiness from whence it came, something long and snake-like. It slithered along the frozen surface of the lake, before finally pulling itself upright a few meters from Inuyasha and Kagura. It was a woman, they were shocked to discover. Her form was shrouded, almost ghostly, but her eyes glowed a venomous shade of blue, and her mouth hung ravenously open, revealing blackened and rotten teeth. She was, to her terrified quarry, the very epitome of death.

“We are the Yomotsu-shikome,” she rasped in a voice as frightening as her appearance. “Come with us, you who do not belong in this world. We will devour your bodies, and take your souls to hell.” Then, as the apparition closed in on her prey, a second figure emerged from the void behind her. And a third.

It was the rapidly intensifying scent of Kagura’s fear which broke Inuyasha from his stupor. As he grabbed her arm, she too seemed to snap out of the almost hypnotic trance she had fallen under. She gazed at him with wide, petrified eyes, clearly wanting nothing more than to flee from this place without looking back. Inuyasha couldn’t agree more. Normally, running away from a fight would be repugnant to him, but his instincts were telling him that flight was the correct response in this situation. The fact that he was scared shitless also helped.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Kagura did not need to be told twice. She immediately deployed her feather, only waiting long enough for Inuyasha to leap aboard before taking off at top speed. An inhuman screech rang out behind them, soon joined by several others, until the hanyou could no longer tell how many individual voices there were. The number eight came to mind for some reason, but he didn’t know why. And there was no time to figure it out; if there was one thing those chilling vocalizations had confirmed for him, it was that he and Kagura were not out of the woods yet.

He could feel the aura of corruption and death trailing them, as they wound their way through the maze of rock formations as quickly as the wind sorceress could manage. Even so, he still had to psych himself up for a moment to gather the courage necessary to turn and face that evil again. His heart nearly stopped at the sight which greeted him–no less than sixteen blue eyes, shining in the gloom like beacons. There truly were eight specters pursuing them, and closing fast.

“Shit, they’re gaining on us!”

“What the hell are those things?” Kagura demanded, keeping her eyes on the terrain ahead of her.

“No fucking idea! Can’t we go any faster?”

“Not unless I lighten the load!”

She punctuated this remark with a sharp turn which had her partner holding on for dear life. Inuyasha could tell that nearly dislodging him was unintentional on her part, however. She was pushing herself as hard as she could, testing the limits of her power and skill. One slip, one miscalculated turn, and they would careen into a wall. At this point, it sounded like death by blunt force trauma might be the more merciful way to go. But even if they didn’t crash, the Yomotsu-shikome would catch them in a matter of moments at this rate. And with Kagura’s wild maneuvering, he didn’t trust himself to maintain enough balance to do anything more than sit and wait for death. They needed a new strategy.

“Take us higher!” he shouted, and Kagura complied without hesitation, as if she’d been thinking along similar lines. Both noticed that the white mist which had previously shrouded this entire world had completely disappeared. Instead, dark clouds loomed high above, flashing with lightning as thunder boomed in their ears. The heavens seemed ready to open up above them, and hell was hot on their heels. The Yomotsu-shikome were still gaining on them, but not as quickly. Kagura could fly faster in the open air, but not fast enough to outpace them. Being out of the maze had other advantages, however.

“Hold us steady!” Inuyasha told her, standing shakily on the feather and drawing his sword. He bared his fangs, tightening his grip on the hilt as Tetsusaiga’s power and his own exploded around him. His will to live overrode his fear; there was no way he was going to die today.

“All right, you undead bitches!” he snarled, transforming Tetsusaiga into its diamond spear form. “Go back to whatever hell you came from!”

His bravado was short-lived. Neither the Kongousouha nor a subsequent Kaze no Kizu did much to slow their pursuers, who seemed to be able to reform shortly after taking any amount of damage. The diamond spears passed right through them and Tetsusaiga’s youki merely sliced them up for a moment or two. Inuyasha’s efforts bought him and Kagura some extra breathing room, but did little else.

“Shit!”

“You got any other bright ideas?” the wind sorceress asked dryly. None were forthcoming. “Good,” she announced, “hang on!”

Inuyasha spun around and gripped both sides of the feather, as Kagura sent it plummeting toward the rocks below. The hanyou wanted to ask her what the hell she was doing, but his words lodged in his throat. Not that she would have heard him anyway, over the wind whipping past their ears and the screeching of predators closing in for the kill. Then Inuyasha’s stomach lodged somewhere in his bowels as she pulled out of the dive, scraping the bottom of the feather against the ground as she fought against inertia’s mighty pull. But she managed to right them without crashing, which could not be said of several of the Yomotsu-shikome, which smashed themselves against the ground only to reform and rejoin the pursuit. Now Inuyasha did demand to know what Kagura was doing, but her only response was to pull out her fan.

“Fuujin no Mai!” she cried, sending her signature wind blades carving through the air. But her unexpected target mystified Inuyasha for a moment; instead of being directed at their pursuers, her attack struck the base of a large rock pillar just up ahead. It was dozens of meters tall, and at least a dozen meters thick, weighted toward the top and relatively thin at the bottom by some strange happenstance of nature. It wasn’t until the base of the pillar crumbled and the entire thing began toppling over that Inuyasha comprehended Kagura’s plan. Even then, it was unclear whether she’d gotten the timing right. But it was far too late to turn back. Both of them cried out in fear and determination as the rock came down, the evil aura creeping ever closer at their backs. At the last moment they ducked and closed their eyes. Inuyasha felt something brush against the back of his robes…

Then they were through, in the open air again. The shock of the tremendous impact directly behind them nearly caused the feather to fatally destabilize, but Kagura managed to maintain control. She turned them sideways so both of them could view the carnage, grinning victoriously. No trace of the Yomotsu-shikome remained; they had been completely buried under the mass of the fallen pillar, which had shattered into chunks of all sizes upon impact. May this mound of rubble be their grave for all eternity.

“Nice one, Kagura,” Inuyasha stated honestly, holding up his hand in a gesture of genuine comradery. The wind sorceress grinned and moved to clasp it when suddenly the air around them became stale, the dreadful aura returning with a vengeance as thunder boomed with renewed vigor above them. Both combatants slowly turned their heads, praying that their eyes would not confirm what their other senses were already telling them. Again, no such luck. Black smoke rose ethereally from tiny cracks in the rock, swirling and condensing into eight distinct masses.

“Shit,” both of them swore at once. And just as those sixteen glowing blue eyes began to reappear one by one, Kagura turned her feather and set off at top speed. She soared above the jagged landscape, attempting to put as much distance as possible between them and their pursuers. But it wouldn’t be enough. It would never be enough. The great unearthly screeching was punctuated this time by a tremendous flash of lighting which lit up the entire sky. The clap of thunder hitting them barely a second later caused both fighters to flinch in fear. Next came the rain, which caused Inuyasha to hiss in discomfort. He swore aloud at the stinging pain in his ears, but knew there was nothing he could do about it. Compared to the specters chasing them, acidic precipitation was a mere nuisance.

“This world is rejecting us,” Kagura observed grimly, using her fan to establish a cushion of wind in front of them, deflecting the worst of the rain. It was true, Inuyasha realized. The Yomotsu-shikome had said they didn’t belong here, and it seemed as though this entire plane of existence now bent to their will.

“You just had to touch that fucking water!” Inuyasha growled, lashing out not so much at Kagura, but at his rapidly growing sense of helplessness.

“Save it!” she snapped. “Bitch at me all you want later. Think of a way out of this first.”

“Yeah, you too, since your last idea was so great.”

“Well, your first idea was pretty shitty too!”

Inuyasha couldn’t argue with that. Instead, he turned his focus toward getting them out of this mess. But as the Yomotsu-shikome closed in, those piercing eyes showing through the gloom, he completely drew a blank. What could they do? These evil wenches were impervious to their attacks, and could apparently survive anything. It seemed completely hopeless. Still, Inuyasha refused to give up; he had too much to live for. He brandished Tetsusaiga, vowing to fight until the last breath of air left his lungs, and his heart throbbed for the final time. Unfortunately, Tetsusaiga’s attacks were no more effective than before, despite his resolve.

“That’s your idea?!” Kagura shrieked in panicked outrage. “Try the same shit that didn’t work before?!”

“I’m not hearing any–better–ideas from you, bitch!” Inuyasha retorted, his statement punctuated by a grunt of exertion.

“I should drop your useless ass and escape alone,” she muttered, which actually caused her companion to smile grimly. This was the second time she had mentioned that particular option, but he sensed that she was no closer to following through with it now than she’d been before. He figured that if she was going to attempt to dislodge him, she would have already done so. And she certainly wouldn’t warn him first. Maybe it was the mutually lethal situation they found themselves in, but a bond of sorts had been forged between them. He trusted her to do her best to save both of them, not just herself. Hopefully she could come up with a better strategy than he could, and soon. For even Tetsusaiga’s limited effectiveness was about to be reduced. It was at this point that the Yomotsu-shikome proved that they were not mindless ghouls. After all eight were once again cut apart by a single Kaze no Kizu, they spread out, both horizontally and vertically. Inuyasha was suddenly confronted by a collection of targets which he couldn’t engage simultaneously if he tried. And they were still gaining.

They kept coming, despite the sheer magnitude of the youki rolling off Tetsusaiga, great bursts of unadulterated violence which would have slain thousands of mortal enemies by now. But it wasn’t enough; with each specter momentarily dispatched, the others closed the gap. Soon some were flying almost directly alongside their prey, even more spread out and difficult to target. Kagura joined her ally in attempting to repulse them, but her wind blades did little damage. With a bone-chilling screech, one of the dark specters swooped in from the side. Inuyasha, fearful of the consequences but seeing no alternative, sliced it in half with Tetsusaiga. Instead of dissipating immediately, however, the enemy’s disembodied form swirled around the blade, like a swarm of biting insects. Inuyasha wrenched his weapon away, cringing at the sickening pulse the sword emitted, which set his arm ablaze with pain and caused his stomach to roil with nausea. Tetsusaiga held its transformed state, and quickly regained its previous vigor, but Inuyasha was not so lucky. One indirect touch from the specter had been enough to make him physically ill. His father’s fang might be resilient enough to challenge these creatures, but he was not. How were they ever going to survive this?

Kagura saved him from an attack he didn’t see coming with a great sweep of her fan, but the reprieve was short-lived. The next thing Inuyasha knew, a Yomotsu-shikome was flying directly at him, her maw at least a half meter agape and her eyes gleaming with hunger.

“Up!” he yelled, and Kagura complied almost instantaneously. Inuyasha’s reflexes couldn’t have done any better, but the ‘almost’ would prove most costly.

The great ghostly jaws clamped down on the back of the feather instead of Inuyasha’s torso, missing the hanyou’s toes by mere centimeters. He sliced the specter apart with Tetsusaiga, grinding his teeth together and growling as the distressing feelings in his body intensified. He gasped as a new, more familiar sensation blossomed near his waist, on the right side where he was keeping the– Oh, shit. If the Shikon no Tama became corrupted, he was totally screwed. It hadn’t grown worse until the Yomotsu-shikome got really close to him, and it was holding steady now, but this new revelation made their outlook even less optimistic, if that was possible.

It was. An insistent hissing sound caused him to look down, only to see the feather literally dissolving beneath his feet. Acrid smoke spewed forth as the affected area spread from the bite mark like a miasma. Suddenly desperate to prevent the acidic substance from touching himself or Kagura, and seeing no other alternative, Inuyasha grabbed her around the waist and toppled them over the side. What remained of the feather vaporized completely above them as they fell, and Inuyasha braced for the impact, turning so Kagura was on top of him. The wind sorceress reacted quickly and softened the landing with a gust from her fan. But she dared not slow their descent too much, for their enemy was now diving down upon them like zombified falcons.

“Ruuuja no Mai!” she cried, rising into a kneeling position by Inuyasha’s side. In an impressive display of expertise, she summoned eight powerful tornadoes, each one enveloping an individual Yomotsu-shikome. She remained crouched as Inuyasha climbed to his feet, focusing all of her concentration on maintaining the miniature prisons, which began to shift and combine into one massive twister. For a fleeting moment, there was hope. Then the air cycling through the tornadoes gradually darkened to black. Sparks burst from Kagura’s fan just before the entire thing erupted in blue flame. The wind sorceress screamed and dropped her weapon, which didn’t even reach the ground before the conflagration consumed it. She stumbled back clutching her charred appendage, as the smell of scorched flesh joined the panoply of unpleasant aromas already polluting the air. The same ear-piercing screech echoed across the landscape, this one seemingly louder and crueler than ever before. Fortunately for our heroes, Inuyasha was ready. A fresh Kaze no Kizu decimated the clustered enemy, buying a few precious seconds to take action.

“Go, Kagura!” he ordered, sprinting away from her. He’d noticed that she always wore two feathers in her hair, and hoped the second one could transform as well. At any rate, there was nothing he could do to protect her right now. The only remaining option was to seek an end to this confrontation. He had a plan–a bad one, but better than nothing. It had come to him while watching Kagura’s fan spontaneously combust; he’d reflected that at least they still had his sword, when it hit him. Tetsusaiga was his father’s fang. Totosai had added his tooth to the blade to repair it, and he’d come a long way in terms of mastering it and making it his own, but the sword’s core was still a memento of the Inu no Taisho, one of the most powerful youkai who ever lived. It was time to test his father’s strength against the ferocity of hell’s agents. He would use Tetsusaiga’s most basic innate ability, the only one which had been readily apparent since even before Kagome pulled it from the stone. This strategy involved great personal risk–the odds were quite good that he would perish–but this was the only way that he and Kagura stood a chance of surviving the next several minutes.

“Follow me, you ugly bitches!”

The Yomotsu-shikome did not need to be told; Inuyasha could sense them closing in behind him as he sprinted toward the cave he had spotted a few moments ago. Over time, he had developed a habit of scanning his surroundings when he entered an unfamiliar environment. So as Kagura attempted to restrain the specters with her wind, he’d noticed this crevice in the rock off to the side. It was small, only a little taller than he was and half as wide, but it looked like it went deep enough for his purposes. He prayed that he hadn’t miscalculated, or this rift in the rock would become his tomb. He sheathed Tetsusaiga just before crossing the threshold, knowing there wasn’t enough room to wield the sword inside.

After a dozen meters, the walls narrowed so that he could proceed no further, and he turned to face his pursuers. The Yomotsu-shikome paused, sadistically savoring the moment before a kill, as most evil creatures are wont to do. Inuyasha had counted on it. Pulling aside the collar of his robes, he dug his claws into the flesh between his neck and shoulder, making sure his fingers were saturated with blood. This was no time for subtlety. He unleased the Hijin Ketsusou on the unsuspecting enemy, the crimson blades of youki shredding them into disembodied mist once more. It was into this malevolent haze that Inuyasha charged, holding the sleeve of his haori over his face and staying as low to the ground as possible.

Indescribable agony assailed him, but he somehow restrained himself to a throaty grunt. He dared not open his eyes or his mouth, nor release the breath he was holding. The air was no longer air, but poison. It attacked his exposed feet and hands, so fiercely that Inuyasha was sure it was peeling the skin off layer by layer. He nearly fell when the enemy slipped inside his robes, a thousand lashes scourging his back in an instant. But he stumbled through, the enraged screeching muffled by the blood pooling in his ears. The going was slightly easier now, but the curse had infiltrated his body, become a part of him. The only question was how far he could go before he succumbed to it.

With his other senses overwhelmed, Inuyasha didn’t open his eyes until he was sure he was nearly out of the cave. His instincts had served him well; his estimate was only a step or two off. He dove toward the open air and rolled into the light, scrambling to grab Tetsusaiga’s scabbard with shaky, blood-soaked hands. Finally the wood came free of his obi, and he wedged it into the cave entrance, just as the Yomotsu-shikome lunged for him. He felt a surge of Tetsusaiga’s youki, but was unable to tell whether his desperate attempt had been successful. His eyes burned as though assailed by the rays of a thousand suns, and when he opened his mouth to scream, the fire spread to his lungs.

He collapsed onto his back, writhing in agony of near infinite intensity. His vision blurred to blood-red, then flickered to black as his eyes ceased to function. The corrupted fragment of the Shikon no Tama assaulted his mind, reinforced by the pain of his melting flesh. Inuyasha’s mental defenses crumbled under the dual onslaught. He could feel his youkai side clamoring for release, his very life in mortal danger. It was too much; he had reached his breaking point. But even as he surrendered his consciousness, his thoughts drifted back to his reason for living, two souls within one body.

If he somehow came back from this…he would remember them.

* * *

Kagura swore under her breath, feeling thoroughly disgusted with herself. He told me to ‘go,’ then ran off. What else was I supposed to do? It was a sound argument, but the guilt remained. Maybe it had been her fear, or the pain from her burned hand, but she’d fled alone without hesitation as soon as Inuyasha told her to. She’d hopped on her spare feather and soared off into the dim sky, without looking back. And she felt terrible about it. Dammit…when did I learn to give a shit?

She turned the feather around, flying quickly yet cautiously back to where she’d left her hanyou companion. He must’ve had some sort of plan to run off like that, and he’d certainly gotten all of the Yomotsu-shikome to follow him. She just hoped they weren’t busy devouring his flesh right about now. But she needed to find out for sure, and help him if she could. She owed him that much at least.

The sight which greeted her when she landed on that Kami-forsaken patch of rock was horrifying beyond all description. She doubled over at the waist, dry heaving due to her empty stomach, spitting on the ground in a futile attempt to rid her mouth of the taste of bile. But though she desperately didn’t want to, she forced herself to look once more, to gaze upon the man who had sacrificed everything in order to save her.

Inuyasha…was no longer Inuyasha. His crimson eyes stared up at the sky, unblinking, endless seas of red devoid of any semblance of humanity. He writhed on the ground, his arms seizing almost rhythmically, fingers curled inwardly as if to claw at whatever invisible force assailed him. A constant, agonized snarl rumbled in his throat, occasionally choked off by fluid which made him gurgle and gasp for air. Kagura thought to roll him over, so he wouldn’t suffocate on his own blood, but was afraid to touch him, or even approach. She could actually see his youki at work, healing his flesh even as whatever the Yomotsu-shikome had done to him melted it away. But it looked like a losing battle. It might take hours or even days at this rate, but eventually, Inuyasha would be consumed completely.

Kagura could only imagine the amount of pain he must be experiencing, and hoped that his conscious mind had long since shut down. But while that would ease his suffering, it wouldn’t make it any easier to save him, which was something Kagura desperately wanted to do. Was there even anything she could do, at this point? The Yomotsu-shikome were imprisoned by Tetsusaiga’s barrier, which she realized had been Inuyasha’s goal in his borderline suicidal stunt. Logically, their hold over the hanyou might be released if they were killed, but then if she or Inuyasha had known of a way to accomplish that objective, he wouldn’t be in this sorry state in the first place. He wouldn’t be thrashing on the ground in agony, reduced to a mindless animal locked in what were starting to look disturbingly like death throes.

Kagura closed her eyes, somehow finding within her the resolve to do what needed to be done. She would give it a little more time, try with all of her intelligence to imagine a way to save him. But if that final effort failed…she would put him out of his misery. Again, she owed him that much at least.

“What has happened to him?”

That familiar, disinterested male voice sounding from directly behind her caused Kagura to jump almost half a meter in the air, as she turned to find none other than Sesshoumaru standing there regally. He gazed down at his half-brother with a neutral expression, but the wind sorceress swore she caught a glimpse of some strong emotion in those normally cold eyes. Was it pity for Inuyasha, or anger toward whatever creature had done this to him? Kagura would never know; it was gone literally in the blink of an eye. She also didn’t know all of the history the two half-brothers shared, having only recently learned that Inuyasha was responsible for the loss of Sesshoumaru’s left arm. It was no wonder there was no love lost between them. But it was comforting to learn that even Sesshoumaru cared for his half-brother in some small way. Whether the elder inu-youkai could or would actually help the hanyou was another matter. Kagura hoped his only solution wouldn’t be the ‘merciful’ one she had thought of already.

“Those things attacked us,” she spat, pointing a shaking hand in the direction of the cave where the imprisoned specters were still making quite a racket as they fought against Tetsusaiga’s barrier. “They called themselves the Yomotsu-shikome. Inuyasha trapped them in there, but…I guess they caught him in the process.”

Sesshoumaru snorted haughtily. “The eight hags of hell, huh?” he pondered, as if the creatures were of no consequence. As if they were a collection of weaklings that no competent warrior should have any trouble with. Kagura bristled at the thinly-veiled insult, but bit her tongue. Based on Sesshoumaru’s line of inquiry, she was cautiously optimistic that he did indeed intend to help Inuyasha. The last thing she wanted to do was antagonize him; in her experience, males could be extremely fickle, especially those who believed themselves superior to everyone else. Oh, yes, she’d had plenty of experience with those types.

Sesshoumaru placed his hand on the sword at his hip, not the broadsword he periodically tried to slice Naraku up with, but the thin, curved weapon Kagura had never seen him wield before. He looked down at the hilt as he grasped it, almost as if he was communicating with the sword.

“Hmph, so he is beyond even Tenseiga’s ability to heal,” he muttered, turning away from Inuyasha and striding confidently over to the cave. The Yomotsu-shikome increased their screeching and struggling at his approach, perhaps growing more determined to escape with additional prey nearby. Sesshoumaru’s firm countenance never wavered, as he finally drew his chosen weapon.

“Come here,” he ordered, to which Kagura reluctantly obeyed. “Remove Tetsusaiga, then get out of my way,” he told her next.

Kagura nearly balked at that, but her conscience held her in place. That, and the absolute conviction in Sesshoumaru’s tone. Figuring he wasn’t about to do something likely to get himself killed, she decided to believe in him, as she believed him capable of slaying Naraku. Still, she made sure her lone remaining feather was clutched tightly in her left hand, just in case this went badly. In that situation, she promised to end Inuyasha’s suffering as she fled for her life. Those undead bitches might get him, but they wouldn’t get him alive.

“Tetsusaiga,” Sesshoumaru said aloud, shifting into a fighting stance. “You must allow her to touch you.”

Kagura reached for the sword, hesitating at his words, but the barrier did not repulse her, though it still held the Yomotsu-shikome at bay. Grasping the scabbard firmly in her hand, she glanced up to Sesshoumaru. He nodded once without taking his eyes off the enemy, and after a deep breath to steady her nerves, Kagura yanked the sword from the cave entrance. She scrambled away, watching the battle as she prepared to fly at a moment’s notice.

The first Yomotsu-shikome came screaming from the cave, impossibly wide jaws aiming to clamp down on Sesshoumaru’s head. The daiyoukai calmly swung his sword, cleanly cleaving the specter in half down the middle. Whatever Kagura was expecting, what happened next caught her completely by surprise. Whereas all previous attacks had resulted in the Yomotsu-shikome becoming disembodied for a moment and then reforming, Sesshoumaru’s strike caused an entirely different reaction. Fervent, vivid blue light emanated from either side of the cut, nearly blinding in its intensity. The doomed creature released a new kind of screech as Tenseiga’s light rapidly consumed its form.

The ensuing silence was deafening. The remaining Yomotsu-shikome were reduced to a state of shock, having probably never met someone capable of defeating them before. And now, instead of merely being prevented from pursuing prey, they found themselves cornered, confronted by a man who clearly intended to show no mercy. Kagura smirked in the background, knowing that she was going to enjoy this very much.

The battle was short and sweet. The Yomotsu-shikome burst from the cave as one and spiraled in all directions. Sesshoumaru exhibited his lightning reflexes and supernatural speed, slaying six of the creatures before they made it more than a few meters from the entrance. The seventh managed to sneak past him and flee, but he had no difficulty in catching up and dispatching it. And the instant the last Yomotsu-shikome perished, Inuyasha’s agonized snarling ceased.

Kagura cautiously crept closer to his side, wondering whether his true hanyou self would return. Only Inuyasha’s ragged breathing could be heard, as his body healed unhindered by the evil curse. His pupils returned, startlingly white, and framed by ardent blue irises. A low growl rumbled in his throat, as he rolled himself onto his side, turning his savage glare her way. Kagura stumbled back in fear, and was glad when Sesshoumaru landed by her side, his hand grasping the hilt of his other sword, the one which he used to engage enemies in the living world. The daiyoukai stood his ground as his half-brother lurched to his feet, his furious reverberations intensifying as he audibly cracked his knuckles. Like a wounded animal, the hanyou-turned-youkai prepared to lash out indiscriminately, unable or unwilling to distinguish between friend and foe. Suddenly the growling lowered in timbre, as Inuyasha seemed to come back to himself somewhat. He still appeared ready to attack at any moment, but there was a certain awareness in his gaze which hadn’t been there before.

“Give him Tetsusaiga,” Sesshoumaru told her, and Kagura complied, tossing the sword to its owner. Inuyasha’s hand shot out and caught the weapon in mid-air, and immediately a drastic change swept over him. He gasped sharply and clutched at his chest, staggering as his head shook rapidly from side to side. He squeezed his eyes shut, and when they opened again, his usual amber orbs were back. Inuyasha was back. Kagura slumped in relief, even as the hanyou collapsed to his hands and knees, coughing uncontrollably and spitting up blood. He clearly wasn’t even close to fully healed yet, but his body, and more importantly his mind, were apparently going to survive this horrifying ordeal. A quiet sense of accomplishment settled over Kagura, but more than anything else, she felt gratitude toward the man who had become her partner as they fought for their lives. She would not be alive without him. The opposite was also true, but her own role paled in comparison to the sacrifice he’d almost made. And while she would never wish to reciprocate that particular action, she did hope she would have the opportunity to repay him someday.

“Inuyasha.”

At Sesshoumaru’s announcement of his name, the hanyou raised his head to meet his half-brother’s stern, disapproving glare. Then he slowly and painfully straightened his back, so he was leaning upright before the daiyoukai on his knees. He seemed ready to try putting his feet underneath him next, but Sesshoumaru never gave him the chance, sending him sprawling with a vicious closed-fist strike to the side of his face.

“Sesshoumaru! What the hell are you doing?!” Kagura yelled, but he ignored her. Part of her wanted to go to Inuyasha’s defense, but her instincts told her that interfering would be a mistake. Besides, she had about as much chance of stopping Sesshoumaru as she did of killing Naraku. Fortunately, it did not appear that the daiyoukai had any further intention of worsening his half-brother’s condition. He strode up to the fallen hanyou and stood there, waiting.

Once his head stopped spinning, Inuyasha gritted his teeth and swore under his breath. He was already in rough shape physically, and mentally he’d just recovered from yet another full-youkai transformation. So why the hell had Sesshoumaru–who’d apparently just saved him from the Yomotsu-shikome–found it necessary to knock him on his ass with a cheap shot? Granted, there was absolutely nothing he could do to defend himself against such a powerful opponent right now. If Sesshoumaru wanted him dead, then he was dead, plain and simple. But if that was the case, he wouldn’t be still breathing. So then what the hell was his half-brother’s problem?

“Sess…bastard…the fuck?” was all he could manage, but it got the message across.

“That is for defiling Chichi-ue’s grave,” Sesshoumaru replied evenly.

Inuyasha almost laughed, but he knew that would hurt like a bitch, so he restrained himself to an amused grimace. For such a stupid reason…what a bastard. No doubt the conceited prick had seen the hole in their father’s torso and blamed him, though in reality it had been Housenki’s doing. Raising his head to glare at his half-brother once more, Inuyasha noticed the massive skeleton looming in the background. Even though he and Kagura had been fleeing in blind panic, they’d instinctively moved toward ‘home.’ Good thing, too. That’s probably how Sesshoumaru found us before it was too late. That thought raised other questions, however, and it was high time they were answered. After he made a pride-saving rise to his feet, of course. That was easier said than done, but he managed without letting out more than a few pained grunts. And fortunately, his bastard half-brother didn’t deem it necessary to knock him on his ass again. Apparently, he’d only offended Sesshoumaru’s delicate sensibilities once today.

“What happened?” he asked, secretly hoping that the person he liked more at the moment would fill him in. She did, Kagura seeming more than happy to provide the details he was looking for. And as she spoke, he recalled the thread of memory which had informed him right away that there would be eight Yomotsu-shikome. His mother had told him the myth long ago, about how Izanagi had journeyed to the underworld to rescue his wife, Izanami, then fled at her horrid appearance and was pursued by the ‘hags of hell.’ Thus began the phenomenon known as death. Inuyasha wasn’t sure he believed the legend, but the Yomotsu-shikome had certainly proven real enough. This world is a boundary between the living world and the underworld. That oasis must be a trap for living creatures who become stuck in this world. As soon as they try to eat or drink, the Yomotsu-shikome come and devour them, then take their souls to hell. Those bitches are creatures from the underworld…no wonder Tetsusaiga couldn’t cut them.

Now Tenseiga’s effectiveness against the seemingly invulnerable specters made perfect sense. The sword, while less visually impressive than Tetsusaiga, was a truly amazing weapon in its own right. It was probably one of the few capable of defeating spirits from hell, and Sesshoumaru had wielded it with no small amount of skill. Great, something else for him to be arrogant about. Without the sword, the daiyoukai would have been just as helpless against the Yomotsu-shikome as anyone else. But try telling him that; obviously, Inuyasha decided not to waste his breath. Tenseiga had likely allowed Sesshoumaru to pass through the gateway guarded by those two living statues as well. As for why he’d bothered coming here in the first place, well, that mystery was solved as soon as Kagura finished her story.

“So, Inuyasha,” Sesshoumaru stated condescendingly, “your vassal tells me that you possess something which Naraku desires greatly. Give it to me.”

Inuyasha’s eyes widened, his hand automatically drifting to where the Shikon fragment was nestled against his side. Shit! This was not good. He couldn’t fight Sesshoumaru now, but he absolutely could not simply give him the jewel shard. He needed it in order to get Kagome back; he couldn’t trust Sesshoumaru to look out for her well-being if it came to a battle against Naraku. Obviously that’s what his half-brother was seeking, for his own selfish ends. Inuyasha had far more important concerns, but convincing the cold daiyoukai of that was going to be next to impossible. Still, he had to try.

“I can’t do that, Sesshoumaru.”

The inu-youkai narrowed his eyes. “You will surrender the fragment, or this Sesshoumaru shall take it by force.”

Inuyasha narrowly resisted the urge to curse aloud. “You know I can’t stop you from taking it,” he admitted. “Not with how I’m wounded. I’m asking you to let me keep it. I need it to–”

“Your needs and desires are of no concern to me.”

Inuyasha grimaced. I was afraid of that. “Look, Sesshoumaru, I’m not handing the shard over. You can take it if you want to. But know that I’ll fucking hunt you down as soon as I’m healed. I need that shard. I need to be there when Naraku comes to take it.” Sudden inspiration struck him, a possible way to satisfy Sesshoumaru and keep the shard at the same time. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try.

“I don’t give a shit about Naraku,” he declared. “Stick around until he shows, and you can have him all to yourself. All I care about is Kagome.” Sesshoumaru seemed to be pondering his proposal, but Inuyasha knew that his silence was far from acceptance.

“Do you want me to get down on my knees and fucking beg?” he demanded, growing desperate. His pride was now even more battered than the rest of him, but he didn’t care. He needed to show Sesshoumaru how determined he was to keep the jewel shard in his possession. He would literally do anything. And perhaps his half-brother was beginning to understand that.

“You would pledge to refrain from interfering when this Sesshoumaru engages Naraku?”

“Yes!” Inuyasha answered excitedly. “I swear on my life not to interfere. Naraku is yours.”

Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes bored into his own, as if to say ‘should you break that vow, your life is forfeit.’ Inuyasha nodded, understanding well the implications of what had just transpired. If he went against his word, Sesshoumaru would take it as an insult against his honor. And Inuyasha had no doubt he would follow through with his unspoken threat.

“Very well,” the daiyoukai declared. Then, without another word, he took off into the sky, soaring aloft with his long mokomoko-sama trailing behind him.

“O-oi! Wait, you bastard!” Inuyasha called after him, but was promptly ignored. Logically, Sesshoumaru would have to wait for him since he still possessed the jewel shard, but Inuyasha didn’t want to do anything which might cause the bastard to change his mind about that. Man…he couldn’t even give me a few minutes to rest? Obviously not. So Inuyasha was doubly grateful when Kagura appeared before him, hovering on her feather a little less than a meter off the ground–perfect height for flopping down onto his backside. And because he was so appreciative, he could let her amused smirk go without comment. He sighed in bliss as the burden of bearing his body weight was lifted from his legs. As they followed his half-brother into the sky, Inuyasha took an inventory of his condition. His body wasn’t in terrible shape anymore; much of the skin he’d lost had grown back, and there weren’t any gaping wounds. His eyes were functional, though not yet fully recovered by any means. By far the biggest issue was all the blood he’d lost. His body would need time to replenish, especially since he hadn’t eaten in several days. But his youki was strong, and fortunately the Yomotsu-shikome’s curse had been lifted before it did too much damage.

That was perhaps the most perplexing thing in a very perplexing day–why had Sesshoumaru helped him? He could easily have taken the Shikon fragment and left him to die. Instead, he’d slain the Yomotsu-shikome and saved his life. It made little sense; this was the arrogant prick who tried to kill him almost every time they met, after all. The key word being almost, Inuyasha reflected. At their last encounter, Sesshoumaru had merely informed him of Kikyou’s demise and left. Two meetings ago, they’d briefly fought against Naraku together at the latter’s castle. And the time before that…well, this actually wasn’t the first time Sesshoumaru had saved his life, come to think of it. After his transformation during the battle against Gatenmaru, his half-brother had beaten him down so that Kagome could give him Tetsusaiga. When asked why he hadn’t taken the opportunity to slaughter him, Sesshoumaru had responded that taking his life held ‘no value’ because of his transformed state. Perhaps the same rationale applied to the situation this afternoon. Yet, it wasn’t exactly the same. The more he thought about it, the more Inuyasha came to the conclusion that his half-brother didn’t truly desire to kill him anymore. Or at least, doing so wasn’t high on his list of priorities.

Still, Inuyasha wouldn’t let his guard down, not after some of the shit Sesshoumaru had put him through in the past. When he recovered fully from his injuries, he would once again regard his half-brother as a potential enemy, despite their temporary truce. He would never seek a confrontation against Sesshoumaru without provocation, but he would obviously defend himself if one was forced upon him. If the daiyoukai was willing to keep the peace, however, then there would be peace between them. The character of their relationship was, as it had always been, Sesshoumaru’s decision.

“How are you feeling, Inuyasha?” Kagura asked, breaking his train of thought. Her tone was casual, but the hanyou sensed that she was trying to conceal the true extent to which she cared.

“Keh, I’m fine,” he replied, also casually. “How’s your arm?”

“Oh, this?” she inquired, raising said appendage to the side for his inspection. The flesh had mostly healed, and the smell of burned skin had completely left her. “It’s nothing. I heal fast. You though…you suffered a lot worse. Even your clothes got fucked up.”

Inuyasha grimaced, not liking the hint of remorse he could detect in her voice. She had nothing to feel guilty over; he’d made his own decision and hadn’t given her a say in the matter. She was right that his clothes were in rough shape, however. His kosode was in tatters and would need to be replaced. His fire-rat robes had some holes in them but were self-mending. While the Yomotsu-shikome’s curse had attacked his clothing indiscriminately, they’d clearly been more interested in devouring his flesh. And fortunately, they’d eaten away at his exposed skin first–the more sensitive areas of his body covered by his hakama had escaped relatively unharmed. Yet another reason to be grateful that Sesshoumaru had rescued him when he did, since the carnage would only have spread with the passage of time. There were some places on a man’s body where pain was experienced more intensely than the rest of him. He shivered, glad he could regard that special type of pain as a product of his imagination, rather than a memory.

“Seriously, Inuyasha…thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” he told her. “I was trying to save both of us.”

“I know, but you took on so much more risk than me. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d thought to save yourself first. You have a lot more to live for than I do…”

“Shut up,” he snapped, her declaration proving inexplicably irritating. “You don’t need something to live for. Just live for the sake of living. ‘Cause no matter how much life sucks, there’s always a chance that someday, when you least expect it…you’ll find what you’ve been looking for the whole time.”

Kagura glanced at him over her shoulder, seemingly surprised by his encouraging message. He was somewhat stunned himself, but his words had come suddenly and from the heart. Hearing her deprecate the value of her own life rubbed him the wrong way, because he had once fallen into the same trap. After all, what reason did a lonely hanyou have for waking up every day? But he had taken his own advice, living for the sake of living, not really knowing what he was searching for until he stumbled upon it one day. And even then, he’d spent months with Kikyou before realizing what he truly desired from her. His first love had taught him that what he’d really been seeking since his mother’s death were the same things any human might yearn for–companionship, and a place to call home. Since his reawakening, his desires had deepened, fully maturing as he encountered true love for the first time. He’d finally found what he’d been looking for his whole life, and had lost her due to his own foolishness. Now he was closer than ever to getting her back.

Inuyasha couldn’t promise the same thing would happen to Kagura, that she would one day find her own love. Truthfully, he didn’t really care. But he wouldn’t let her devalue her existence, not when there was still hope. She could fight for her freedom, and one day perhaps find happiness. But in the meantime, she had a very important vow to keep.

“Don’t forget your promise,” he reminded her, more gently. “You said you’d keep an eye on Kagome for me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, waving him off. Then she changed the subject, acting as though their serious discussion had never taken place. But Inuyasha liked to think that his words would stay with her. Despite long odds and a harrowing experience, both of them were returning to the living world.

Hope was still alive and well.


A/N – Here are some links about the Yomotsu-shikome:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_mythology - skip to “Izanagi in the underworld”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikome

And thanks to SplendentGoddess and knittingknots for their input on this choice of villain. I always try to make sure my depictions matched the mythology. The myth doesn’t have the Yomotsu-shikome actually leaving the underworld…but that’s what creative license is for, no?