Chapter Text
Inuyasha’s scream echoed through the forest and went on and on. Kagome scrambled to her feet as Miroku and Sango did the same. Miroku put Shippo on his shoulder as he stomped out the few remaining flames of the fire.
“Kirara, we need to find Inuyasha,” Sango said as she climbed up onto her companion. Kagome, Miroku, and Shippo joined her before Kirara shot into the sky.
With the advantage of being up high, they were able to look in many directions at once to see if they could find Inuyasha. Kirara kept them in the air at a steady pace so they could all make sure they didn’t miss anything.
A flash of red caught Sango’s attention and she yelled to Kirara to bank left and to set them on the ground in a small clearing of trees just a little bit smaller than the one they had slept in. When they landed, Sango ran to the area where she had seen the glimpse of red and found Inuyasha’s top part of his robe of the fire-rat.
“It’s Inuyasha’s robe! He must be nearby,” Miroku said. He walked around the nearby area with Shippo to see if they could find anything else.
Just a few minutes into their search, Shippo had found Tessaiga roughly thrown into a bush near where they had found the robe. After collecting the robe and Tessaiga, they walked in the direction of the fading footsteps that had pressed the tall grass down.
Kagome’s first view of Inuyasha since before she fell asleep was him lying in a pool of his own blood. The yokai stood over him with a bloody knife clutched in his left hand that was still pointed towards Inuyasha's unmoving body.
“Inuyasha!” Kagome yelled and fell to the ground beside him.
The yokai’s head snapped up when Kagome yelled but Kirara lunged at him and pinned him to the ground before he could go for Kagome or her friends. The knife he had been holding now lay several feet away from where Kirara held him to the ground.
Sango grabbed the knife, wiped off Inuyasha’s blood on the grass, and put it in one of her hidden pockets to make sure the yokai wouldn’t be able to use it against them if he got ahold of it.
“Inuyasha?” Kagome’s voice was a higher pitch but was softer as she tried to shake Inuyasha awake. He wasn’t moving and no matter how hard Kagome shook him, his eyes never fluttered open.
“Let me take a look at him,” Miroku said as he put Shippo on the ground and kneeled down next to Inuyasha. Miroku turned him completely onto his back to take a look at his wounds. Moving what was left of his shirt, Miroku looked at the wounds Inuyasha had suffered as he checked his pulse.
"His heart beat is there but it is faint. All of his wounds were probably caused by the knife that the yokai had been holding and are not the result of a curse or a sickness. I won’t be able to help him in the healing process.”
Miroku bowed his head in shame. If he had been able to sense or hear that Inuyasha was being taken, he would have been able to help fight the yokai off instead of leaving him to deal with the threat alone.
This was just like last month…
He had been no help at all.
“Will he be okay?” Shippo’s voice sounded so small because of how nervous he was for Inuyasha but everybody heard him.
“He will be fine. He has to be fine,” Sango’s voice was shaky but firm as she patted Shippo on the head.
“He is losing too much blood. He will be dead within minutes,” the yokai said right before Kirara put her paw over his face to muffle his voice. His scream could be heard from beneath her paw as Kirara pushed him further into the ground to muffle his voice.
Shippo started crying from where Sango had put him on her shoulder. His sobs started to mix with Sango’s as they both watched Miroku continue to look over Inuyasha.
Miroku stopped moving his hands and sat back on his heels to look at Kagome. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears as she returned his stare.
“Will he be okay?” She asked softly. Her voice couldn’t be heard by anyone other than Miroku so she didn’t scare Shippo by being so uncertain.
Kagome tried her best to act confident but her mask faltered as Miroku slightly shook his head. Her sobs were louder than Shippo and Sango’s crying as well as the yokai’s muffled screams. Kagome grabbed onto Inuyasha’s face and put her forehead to his as she whispered to him softly.
“Please don’t leave me.”
“Please…”
“We need more time,” Kagome’s right hand was on Inuyasha’s neck to feel his pulse.
It had only been a few hours since night had fallen and there was no chance that Inuyasha would be able to make it until sunrise to regain his healing abilities. He wouldn’t make it that long.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t with you. I’m sorry… I’m sorry that you had to go through this alone,” Kagome sobbed as she had trouble making fluent sentences through her hiccups and tears.
“I’m sorry I never… never had the confidence to tell you that I love you,” Kagome’s tears fell onto Inuyasha’s face.
As if he could hear what Kagome was saying, tears fell from Inuyasha’s closed eyes.
“Even if you didn’t love me, you will always be my love,” Kagome wrapped her arms around Inuyasha’s unmoving body. His blood soaked through her white shirt and wrapped around her sides as if she were sharing his injuries.
If only she could…
His last heartbeat echoed underneath her soft touch on his neck. Kagome’s entire body stilled as his heart beat stopped. As if Sango could sense his absent pulse, she put her hand on Kagome’s shoulder in the only form of comfort she could offer.
“I’m sorry Kagome,” Sango whispered. Miroku said it to her as well as his head hung low. He felt completely and utterly powerless after not having been able to fight alongside him or save him in the end.
Shippo jumped down from Sango’s shoulder and gently hugged Kagome’s side. Kagome ruffled Shippo’s head to show him that she would be alright. Eventually.
“It’s alright…” Kagome said to Shippo as she wiped her eyes and her nose on her sleeve. Her crying had finally turned from sobs to silent tears falling down her flushed cheeks.
“I’m alright,” Kagome’s voice shook but she was able to keep her crying at bay. They still had to deal with the yokai who had killed Inuyasha. Kagome carefully laid Inuyasha’s body back onto the grass before she shakily got to her feet.
Kirara was still making sure the yokai couldn’t move or talk underneath the weight of her body and paws. When she saw that Kagome was walking towards them, she slowly got off of the yokai but stayed close by to make sure he wouldn’t try to hurt any of them. He slowly got to his feet but Kirara’s growls made him keep his feet planted.
“You did this.” Kagome’s voice had gotten stronger as her anguish turned to anger. She walked towards the yokai until she was at his feet before she lunged at him and tackled him back onto the ground.
"YOU DID THIS!” Kagome’s rage blinded her to what she was doing to the yokai. Her eyes were wide with despair as her hands were clenched in anger. Right as she was about to bring her fist down on the yokai, Miroku quickly pulled her off of him.
“Kagome! We will deal with him but not when we are all in this state. Take a deep breath!” Miroku held Kagome’s arms to her sides and shook her to get her to look at his face but all she was focused on was the yokai scrambling to his feet behind him. Kagome fought against Miroku’s hold to get back to the yokai but he held her with all of his strength.
“Snap out of it! Hurting or killing him will do us no good. We need to…” Miroku swallowed and then continued.
“We need to do something with Inuyasha. We have to bury him or… or do something,” Miroku’s voice got smaller and smaller as he finished his sentence. Kagome’s body stilled as she finally focused back onto Miroku.
“Okay…” She nodded to show Miroku that she was listening and understood what he was telling her. Kagome’s rage dulled back into despair as her body slumped in Miroku’s arms. He put one of his arms around his waist and guided her to where Sango and Shippo were standing near Inuyasha’s body. Kirara stayed next to the yokai to make sure he didn’t try to move or make a noise.
Kagome’s body fell next to Inuyasha and she gathered him back into her arms. Her tears had slowed to only the last few falling down her cheeks and onto her chin.
“Inuyasha… I love you,” Kagome whispered to Inuyasha low enough that nobody else could hear. She pressed a feather-light kiss to his temple and hugged his body to her chest.
Laying both Inuyasha and herself onto the grass, Kagome curled into his side and the echoes of his screams followed her into oblivion.
—------
“Kagome? Kagomeeee!”
Kagome’s eyes opened to the harsh sunlight peeking through the trees above her. Clutching the side of her head, Kagome sat up and silver invaded her vision.
“Finally! Thought you would never get up. Hurry up! We need to get going,” Inuyasha got to his feet from where he had been crouched in front of her.
“Inuyasha?’ Kagome’s eyes went wide as she lunged for him and wrapped both of her arms tightly around his shoulders. Inuyasha jerked back quickly to look at her face.
“What’s going on? You’re not sick, are you?” The glint of worry and concern brightened Inuyasha’s eyes. His lips were shaped into a frown but the right corner was lifted up slightly at the expression on her face.
Kagome’s shock at his erratic pulse that was no longer gone and blinking eyes turned into confusion and then into relief.
It was all a dream…
“No! I’m alright!!” Kagome shook her head and loosened her arms around him but didn’t take them away. She couldn’t bring herself to let go of him just yet. Not when he was alive and talking right in front of her.
Kagome was so wrapped up in her relief at seeing Inuyasha alive that she had missed Miroku getting slapped by Sango for his wandering hands and Shippo laughing at the red handprint on his face. Kagome looked around at her friends and sighed with happiness and relief. She didn’t realize how much she would miss all of their antics until they had all almost lost their happiness.
“Did nothing happen last night?” Kagome’s confusion overshadowed her happiness for a moment. They have never had a peaceful night when Inuyasha was in his human form and it seemed very unlikely that now would be the first time.
“Nope! No bandits looking to steal from us and none of Naraku’s servants coming for the Shikon no Tama,” Inuyasha smiled with confidence as if he was the reason for all of that not happening.
“Now, let's get going! We have a long day of travel ahead of us to get to the next village,” Inuyasha ushered Kagome to catch up to them as she had not yet moved from where she had hugged Inuyasha.
Kagome nodded with a bright smile and followed her friends on their next adventure.