A/N : This story will be set in the modern era with a Sess/Kag pairing. I know it doesn't start off looking like that but I really hope to take it slowly and write well. I also have this story posted under the same username at FF.net, incase it matters. Anyway, I hope you have fun!
Summary : He dragged Kagome to death with him. Nothing can possibly go back on track now. Or perhaps, this was the way things were destined to be, and it was we who failed to see it. Sesshoumaru/Kagome, AU.
Disclaimer : If I owned Inuyasha, I wouldn't be sitting here writing /fan/fiction now, would I?
Prologue
The sky groaned in its discomfort as it turned darker, seemingly shedding tears in its misery. Flashes of bright white light struck the ground at a much faster pace than considered normal. Residual power from the previous battles taken place on the land could still be felt seeping from above the clouds, suffocating both the weakest and the strongest beings around. Today should have been a happy day. Today, the Shikon Jewel had been completed and the half-demon Naraku had faced his demise.
But today was not a happy day. Something had gone terribly wrong.
Today was a day of mourning because today, two of the most respected people to have walked on the earth met their end. The two most powerful mikos seen since the death of Midoriko were gone. Kagome and Kikyo- reincarnation and incarnate, had both fallen, at the same time, same place, and regrettably, for the same thing.
x
“I wish the Shikon Jewel would cease to exist”, were the last words that choked out of Kagome’s mouth before a dying Naraku focused the last of his energy in her direction in order to destroy the woman who had caused him to lose everything he had spent his life working for.
And this blast of demonic aura was all that was required to squeeze out the already small amount of life left in the young girl whose vital organs were severely damaged from the battle at hand.
She hadn’t even felt it, she didn't even have a chance to realize that she had been hit, before she was gone. And along with the soul that left her now-shattered body, escaping into nothingness, was the part of her soul that had given life to the clay-body of the undead miko Kikyo. It only made sense. After all, how could Kagome's soul ascend into the heavens above without being complete?
Both mikos, alike in appearance and opposite in character, had met each other hoping never to cross paths again. Whereas Kikyo, the more respected and experienced miko was the hateful yet graceful undead reincarnate; Kagome was the clutzy, charming and bubbly reincarnation who adorned short skirts rather than the traditional, more humble miko garbs. They had both clashed upon meeting. After all, unwillingly sharing the same soul, duty, and protector would make any two people hate each other. However, upon countless encounters with each other due to the same three reasons, the two had become fast friends. Kikyo was welcomed into their group as they travelled and hunted for shards together. Together, Kikyo and Kagome improved their skills and let their spiritual powers grow. This growing strength had caused Naraku to harbour fear for the group and so he used an underhanded tactic by attacking them while the mikos had been asleep. Although the group had been gravely injured physically, they were at the epitome of strength spiritually, and managed to work together in order to destroy Naraku for real this time. To them, this was victory. The selfless wish made upon the Shikon would ensure its destruction, and Naraku would never return. Even in death, they had won.
And it was all thanks to the union of Kikyo and Kagome.
It hadn't been long before this union though, and they were already fit for a funeral. Inuyasha watched with wide eyes as he stumbled back onto the battlefield coughing up blood while clutching his wide open chest, as the two mikos disintegrated. It wasn't fair. It happened too fast. He couldn't do anything.
Within seconds, the only two people Inuyasha ever had managed to truly love, were gone. He had lost.
x
With tragically furious red eyes that seemed dead-set on the sword on his opponent’s waist, Inuyasha continued to clash his sword against Sesshoumaru’s in futile attempts to win the battle at hand.
It was obvious that the older demon did had neither the intention nor the willpower to fight against his half-brother now that the war had been won, but was merely playing along due to his pity for the hanyou’s state of being. As he half-heartedly defended himself against his injured, mindless brother’s misplaced attacks, his eyes betrayed his emotions for the first time in decades. Had the hanyou not been so hellbent on getting the Tensaiga, he would have seen pity, regret, and maybe even a little bit of respect shining through his elder brother’s usual mask of ice. However, the memories that motivated Inuyasha to continue fighting this losing battle also made his mental state border that of insanity, making him weak, making him unfocused, and making him oblivious to everything but his unreachable goal at hand.
Ironic as it was, Tetsusaiga was now useless to Inuyasha. Now that his greatest threat had been eliminated, and the sword had failed to keep his demon blood bound after he witnessed the death of two of his most cherished friends, the sword held no meaning. It was fitting, though. After all, what use was the sword with no one to protect?
What he needed was the Tensaiga, the sword that adorned his brother's waist. It would bring back the dead, wouldn't it? It would bring back Kagome and Kikyo, and all would be well in his life.
That way, he wouldn't have to jump through the well and be the one to relay Kagome's death to her family. Her mother, who cared so much for Inuyasha, her grandfather, who had come to regard him as a grandson rather than just a demon, or her brother Souta, who looked up to him as an elder brother, as a father figure, as a hero. These were people he himself had grown fond of over the years he had been on the quest for hunting shards with Kagome. How could he possibly tell them that he had failed to protect the girl they had entrusted to him, that she was now dead? How could he possibly carry her scattered remains through the well for them to bury?
An even worse thought had entered his mind- would he even be able to go through the well now that the Shikon had been wished upon? Or would Kagome's family forever live with apprehension and worry for their missing family member?
Moreover, how was he expected to relay this news to Sango and Miroku, who were waiting for the return of their friends at Kaede's village? They were expecting another child within the month. Could he cloud the days of a birth in their happy family by unraveling a death? They had been confident of Inuyasha's abilities, which was the only reason they parted on such good terms. They had held great expectations for him. How could he disappoint them so?
And Shippo? The kit had been like Kagome's shadow while growing up, and soon Kikyo's as well. In fact, he would have been involved with the fight against Naraku had his clan not forced them to part in order to train him as a true kitsune should be trained. Would he ever forgive Inuyasha for letting his most cherished friends die?
Heck, even the stupid wolf Kouga deserved to know that 'his woman' was now gone.
Did Inuyasha have the strength to face these people without bringing Kikyo and Kagome back with him? The truth was, he didn't. And so Tensaiga was his only hope. And if he had to destroy Sesshoumaru to get it or die trying, so be it.
x
Sesshoumaru knew how Inuyasha felt, but wished that his brother had more self-control. Had he not been in the vicinity to let his brother release his emotions through a spar, Inuyasha would have most certainly destroyed the entire forest in his carelessly uncontrolled rampage. The truth was, unlike what Inuyasha thought, he was not a heartless, emotionless bastard.
He did not hate humans- if he did, why would he bother raising one? He protected the girl with his life, and made sure she was always satisfied with her life.
He did not hate hanyou- having such superficial ideas set in his mind would only bring havoc to his lands. He did not hate his brother for being a hanyou, he hated his brother for indirectly leading to his father's death so soon after his mother's, even the hanyou was a mere newborn at the time. Hating his brother for being hanyou was just a good excuse for him.
No. As a leader, he needed to live solely on reason, and these ideas that his brother harbored, they were illogical. The only reason that he called humans, hanyou, and demons alike 'weak', was in order to encourage the inhabitants of his lands to gain strength and improve theirselves so that they would not suffer. He realized that his approach seemed cold and indifferent, but events in his life had made him such a person. He wasn't exactly the most sociable person, but he was trying to change, and slowly, over the years, he had learned to hold entire conversations with his ward.
Unlike what Inuyasha thought, he had nothing against either miko, as they had both played a vital role in helping him regain control over his lands, and later on, expanding his territory. He felt greatly indebted to them. More importantly so, over the years, his ward Rin often spoke of them in high regards, which made him grow to respect them as well. In fact, the only reason he had rushed into the area was because he had felt a source of great power escaping, and knew that something had happened to the mikos.
However, there was no way Tensaiga would work in this case. Kikyo had already died over half a century ago, and the younger miko, Kagome, did not have enough flesh or bone left on her formerly ethereal body nor was any of her soul left near. Tensaiga was not pulsing. Tensaiga was useless.
He wished his brother would control himself, but he also knew that his brother was desperate. On any other occasion, it would have been an insult to him if the hanyou did not heed his words, but this time, he was letting it slide. In his own way, Sesshoumaru was offering Inuyasha comfort by allowing him to try his hardest in his weak, drunken state, and not harming him when he could have killed the boy with a swipe of his claws. He would wait until the hanyou's eyes turned back to their regular hazel- his sane form, though Sesshoumaru could argue against his sanity in any physical form. And when the hanyou did revert to normal, he would tell him what his father had said centuries ago, upon the death of Sesshoumaru's mother.
'Just because she's dead, doesn't mean she's gone... As long as you remember, as long as you keep her memories alive, that's all that matters'.
Just this once, he would be civil with his brother. The hanyou was merely a child compared to him, and this was the first time he had suffered from such a blow. Perhaps he deserved some words of wisdom, or maybe even comfort from his elder brother. Just this once, he would treat the hanyou like his brother, because he knew how it felt, how much it hurt, and how drastically one could change, simply by losing a loved one.
After all, Sesshoumaru had been through this before.
x
"Hey, Sesshoumaru. You're a full demon", Inuyasha choked out somewhat respectfully, though eagerly, as his painful chest wounds threatened to reopen.
Sesshoumaru knew his sibling wanted something from him. In the month or so that he had spent time with the boy, he had learned that it was the only situation in which his brother ever acted civilized. He raised his perfectly shaped brow, staring at the still-injured, pathetic looking figure lying by the fire.
"I have a request, as your last living relative. I know I'm selfish to be asking for this, but it's worth a shot," Inuyasha coughed out as he struggled to sit up. "Around five hundred years later, the village will be replaced by bigger and better things and won't be around anymore. But the Goshinboku and the well will still be there, part of a shrine. In that shrine, there will live a girl called Kagome Higurashi. After- After her fifteenth birthday, she will fall into the well and be introduced to this era".
Sesshoumaru began to understand where this was going. He did not need background information about the girl's past, he knew enough. "You want this Sesshoumaru to relay the miko's death to her family".
He pitied the hanyou. The well had closed. There was no way for Inuyasha to tell Kagome's family now, but he still felt obligated to let them know somehow. After all, they had entrusted her to him and he had failed them. Inuyasha had already faced Sango, Miroku and Shippo, all of whom had been shocked, angered, and devastated by the news. They had, however, been concerned for Inuyasha as well, as the hanyou's wounds refused to close permanently. Tonight, however, was fatal- it was the night of the full moon and Inuyasha was a human. He would not survive the night.
"Please."
"Hn." After all, his brother was on his death bed and could not possibly finish this duty. As an honorable lord, he would grant his brother's dying wish. For the sake of duty, he mentally added.
"Thank you."
And they spent their last few moments together in comfortable silence, reminiscing memories from their pasts and wishing they had spent their lives differently.
x
A/N : Thanks for reading! I know it's short and moves really fast but hey, it's a prologue, if that's an excuse. I promise the next chapter will have it toned down a notch. And sorry for any grammar/spelling errors; I don't have a beta yet since I'm still unsure about this fanfic business. Anyhow, please review (constructive criticism is welcome).