InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Pain of Loss ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

"That wench sure is taking a long time." Inuyasha grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall stubbornly.

"Inuyasha, she just went home to restock on supplies. She said she'd be back on the hour." Miroku said calmly, taking a sip of the tea Kaede had just offered him.

"Yeah, learn some patience, would ya?" Shippo piped up, promptly receiving a strong blow to the head.

"I'm plenty patient!" Inuyasha huffed, sticking his nose high into the air as he tended to do when offended. He ignored the others' responses indignantly and stood up, about to leave, when a familiar figure blocked his exit.

"Took ya long enough, We-." He began, but stopped when he saw her expression. The inhabitants of the hut all shot to their feet and huddled around the young miko, asking what was wrong. Kagome's usually sparkling eyes were glassy and wide. Her mouth was hanging open slightly, and once in a while she would take a quick intake of breath and gasp it out. Her body shook, and her complexion was unnaturally pale.

She looked slowly at each member of her group and began muttering incoherent words. They couldn't understand what she was saying. Words like …World War III…atomic bomb…nuclear annihilation. They were starting to become worked up when her eyes rolled up into her head and her fragile body crumpled, being caught by Inuyasha's steady hands before it could hit the ground. He carefully laid her body on the futon in the corner and Sango went over to her companion. She placed a slim hand on the girl's forehead.

"She's not feverish." She reported back to them. Inuyasha looked grim.

"I'm going to go to her time and investigate. You guys watch over her." They nodded in their agreement and he lifted the flap over the exit and left the hut.

With hanyou speed, he shot over to the well, wondering what could have gotten Kagome so shook up. While she wasn't exactly calm during a big battle, it wasn't easy to faze the girl, especially to a point where she nearly had a nervous breakdown. Inuyasha pulled himself down the well to the time portal to the future and ignored the feeling of weightlessness that completely took over his body.

When he felt the firm ground beneath his feet once more, he knew he wasn't in the Sengoku Jidai…but he wasn't so sure if he was in Kagome's time. The air here was stale and the decay of death clung to every breath he inhaled. The familiar well-house roof over his head was absent, replaced by an orange and chocolate-hued sky. He shook off the intense nervousness that threatened to take over his body and pushed his natural instincts at bay. He leapt from the well and suddenly understood the cause of Kagome's condition.

Replacing the annoying noise of the never-ending traffic in the city was a booming silence that unnerved him to no end. There were no vendors calling out their sales in the markets. Gone were the children squealing and giggling in the park while their mothers watched on carefully and conversed with one another. No business men or school girls rushed through the crowds in an attempt to arrive at their destinations on time.

The buildings that had once stood so fiercely against the skyline were crumbled and falling apart, and their debris littered the streets and sidewalks. Everything seemed to be a dark yellow color. No bright green grass or vivid blue birds testified to the obvious life that once populated the city. The ground was barren and a warm, stale wind blew bitter dust into Inuyasha's face, causing him to lift the sleeve of his haori to protect his eyes.

Finally, Inuyasha snapped to attention and allowed his feet to carry him to Kagome's now-dilapidated home. In the kitchen were a few piles of ashes surrounded by layers of cloth. Kneeling down next to the nearest pile of ash, Inuyasha prodded the cloth and hesitantly lifted it to his nose. His eyes widened in shock as he recognized the scent of Kagome's younger brother, Souta. Grimly, Inuyasha stood up and didn't even try to guess what the other two piles were.

As far as he could tell, Kagome's entire world had been destroyed in some sort of battle. His natural instincts finally snapped him from his reverie and he found himself shuddering in fear. Is this what was to come of man?

In an instant, he was soaring over the barren yard and back down the well. Once safely back in his home time, he gratefully took large gasps of the refreshing cool air, untainted by pollutants. He gulped it in for a few minutes and allowed himself to become intoxicated for a moment before regaining his senses and speeding back to Kagome.

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Kagome groaned and reached an arm to her head. The voices she had heard were swirling together into coherent words and sentences. She blinked her heavy eyelids and allowed her eyes a moment to adjust to the new light and to focus all the colors. Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha sat before her, all watching her with concerned eyes.

"Are you feeling better, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked gently.

"Why…what…" Kagome's eyes widened in shock as the memories hit her like a load of bricks. Everyone from home was dead. The houses were destroyed, the people were annihilated, and everything that was the foundation of her life had crumbled into nonexistence. Her old hometown looked similar to pictures of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the Americans dropped the bombs.

She honestly had no idea that international relationships had come to such an extreme low that war was the only option. Then again, the governments in her time were never hesitant about going into war. And then it hit her…nuclear radiation! She had gone back, breathed in the air, stepped on the land, touched the decaying walls of her former home. Who knew what sort of radiation she had brought back with her?

Kagome vaguely recalled the types of radiation from Chemistry…alpha and beta and others. Which was the one that killed quicker? Which acted in the body and which acted in the reproductive systems, causing mutations in any offspring? Which type of radiation resulted from the A-bomb? Kagome began hyperventilating once more and her friends crept closer to her.

"NO!" She screamed, and jumped away from them. "You have to stay away from me! You could get it!" She screeched, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her friends shot each other confused looks and their eyes roamed to her once more with worry. "You…you don't understand…" she sobbed. Her knees gave out underneath her and she slid down the wall to the ground. She was….alone. Her mom, Sota, Grandpa, Houjo, Eri, Ayumi, Yuka…they were all dead. Piles of ashes. Nothing left.

They crept around her once more, reaching for her, but she screeched again for them to stay away from her. "I've been exposed to radiation! It could kill you all! I can't believe I even came back here! I just…I was shocked…I…couldn't believe it…" Kagome once more became side-tracked, marveling in shock at what she had discovered. How long ago had it happened? How long was her family dead before she walked among their death sites so disrespectfully?

Inuyasha's arm found itself resting on her shoulder and she jerked away, causing him to grimace. "Kagome, what's this…raydeeshun? Why is it so dangerous to go back to your time?" Kagome stared into his amber orbs for a moment, before letting out a shuddering breath.

"I think…I think what happened was the world went to war again."

"The entire world went to war?" Sango asked with disbelief. Kagome had made sure to give them all lessons on the geography of their current Sengoku Jidai world. They knew that their little Japan was merely a tiny fraction of all the landmasses. To imagine so many people warring with one another was mind-boggling.

"Yes." Kagome said grimly. "Even in the future, when humans are supposedly more civilized, we cannot accept each other's differences and insist on destroying our own kind."

"Moving on…" Inuyasha grumbled impatiently, motioning for her to continue.

Kagome took a deep breath. "Radiation is a powerful poison in my time…It results from these weapons we use. They're called bombs, and they result in huge explosions that can kill many people at a time. We've…we've used science. Chemicals and knowledge of the world on a whole new level…atoms and molecules and such. These bombs…they release nuclear energy and radiation…you wouldn't know what that is. I can't explain it," She said, struggling to find the right words.

"These bombs have been dropped on Japan before, almost 50 years ago. It was absolute chaos. Destruction was instantaneous. The range of the bomb burned and destroyed everything for miles, and even around that area, destruction was common. The survivors suffered from so many symptoms. Women treated after the explosion were found to have the patterns of their kimonos warped into their skin. By the end of that year, nearly 140,000 people had died. Survivors continued to suffer from both physical and psychological tribulations for many years after. And now….now…" She had said all of this with an eerily calm and soft tone before, but now it all seemed to weigh upon her once more and she choked on her words, sobbing into herself, arms tightly knit around the knees she clutched to her chest.

The group remained silent around her, uncomfortable and ignorant of how to help this girl overcome the overwhelming grief that obviously troubled her so.

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