Title: The Kismet Blade

Author: File 13

Cover Artist: File 13

True Word Count: 39488

Story Page Count: 91 pages (Arial, 11, single space)

Chapters: 14

Average Word Length: 5.664

Total Unique Glossary: 47

(I had wanted to create an Inuyasha fic for the longest time before writing this. The problem was, the only thing that had come to mind was Wishing, and as that was OC centric, with only mentions of Inuyasha, Kagome, and everyone else (so far…), it was not… Popular. At all. I mean, neither is The Kismet Blade, but it's more popular than that was. I hope that changes. Anyway, I had no idea what I wanted Kismet Blade to end up being like in the beginning of drafting, so I started writing down all the little ideas that popped into my head and formed that into the story. These were all the notes made before I even started planning the chapters. Obviously, not every idea made it to the final cut. The bolded note is the point where The Kismet Blade finally started to form.)

-Enemies of destiny - Cut the Red String of Fate

-Enemy that's terrified to die - Gives his enemies (Kagome and Inuyasha) immortality upon his death

-Kagome is not married… Yet. However, she and Inuyasha are in a courting relationship at this point.

-Sango has to return to being a Slayer

-Village is burned (or not)

-Miroku has a new weapon?

-The Well is open, and Kagome goes to visit her family every few weeks

-Sesshomaru is out to finally kill Inuyasha, and searches for a new and powerful artifact from a dog god (Inukami-sama) to aid him.

-Rin continues to follow him, no matter what, but tries to convince him not to kill his brother in such cold blood.

-Sesshomaru is unable to finally kill his brother despite him being incapacitated, ending up breaking down and sobbing not only at his weakness, but how terrible he feels about trying to kill his little brother in an inexplicable show of emotion.

-This weapon has something, SOMETHING to do with fate. WHAT, THOUGH? Does it sever fates who are tied to the unlucky person who is cut? Does it sever the fate of the weilder? Was it a gift FROM this being of fate to bring an end to those precious moments of time? WHAT?

-The sword (named the Kismet Blade) (coz screw the fact that "kismet" is arabic or something) was originally created to take the souls of those primitive beings who died early on (ie death of a child, death of those killed by bandits, etc…), and transpose them into new lives. However, when the Dog God disappeared, leaving behind only the Kismet Blade, it was used for evil purposes, as a prison would, for the souls of the enemies of those who wielded it. Those vengeful spirits and the evil acts performed by the Blade corrupted it so that it becomes more powerful with each new soul, and takes over the mind of the wielder.

-Sesshomaru found the blade inside a demon (like Gakusanjin) who held a Fuyoheki (a Nulling Stone). After learning of these Nulling Stones and how they masked youki, Sesshomaru began to actively seek out demons with them, searching for new power. When he incapacitates an ancient youkai in possession of one, he found the Kismet Blade.

-(Need a better name for this "Fate". Or just leave it at that, as a force rather than a being.) Fate's motto is "All good things must come to an end".

-(EDIT: "Fate" is not the enemy. Fate was simply the thing which the Inukami held dominion over. However, the Kismet Blade IS. The Kismet Blade (somewhat similar to Sounga in movie 3) is a sentient being. Unlike Sounga, the Kismet Blade is a collective of souls and vengeful spirits (similar to the Shikon Jewel), and is actively searching for new power. Something like the soul of a hanyo - where demon youki and human spiritual power are perfectly balanced - or of a priestess and her reiki are something highly sought after, as are the souls of daiyoukai.)

-Sesshomaru was indeed possessed by the Blade after he took it from the old youkai who harbored it in the hope of sealing the Blade. He didn't know it, of course, and believed himself stronger than such, but he's young, and he's still pretty naive, and he's nowhere near the power of a god.

-The words to live by according to the Blade is due to its thirst for power: "good things" are more powerful than bad things, and the Blade wants more power. That and it's an existentialist. Of course, lol.

-Kagome counters this saying that those good things may come to an end, but their effects would last lifetimes to come: the perfect snow may melt, but the water it becomes gives life to the plants and animals. The reflection in the water may be marred, but it could always return/that makes the joy it gave all the more precious. The ember may die out, but to the desperate man drowned in darkness, that small light may be his breath of hope.

-Galway Girl - An Inuyasha AU influenced by the Ed Sheeran song of the same name (but only the chorus, really) and my personal love of Irish music, Kagome is in an Irish band and falls in love with an Englishman/American by the name of Inuyasha (who is part of a rock and roll band himself)

-Because I'm a sucker and a Mormon, Sesshomaru's relationship to the Kismet Blade could be related to us and Satan and sin. Sesshomaru doesn't think that he is being possessed, he believes he's strong enough to resist it. Like us, we think we're strong enough to resist temptation, even when we're not. We don't even notice that we're so far gone until it's almost too late. Sesshomaru doesn't realize that his little demons inside of him were being amplified to the point of not even being his until he's actually confronted with the chance to kill Inuyasha, which he doesn't.

-Sango and Miroku's son is named "Hirohito" (meaning "Unknown", which is a fitting name considering NOTHING is known about him), or "Gesshoku" (literally meaning "Month color" or "Moonlight").

-Due to a mistranslated fan translation of chapter 559, his name is not "Komori"

-Inuyasha Anastasia AU (esp the boat dancing scene)

-Shizukesa (daughter (means serenity/tranquility))

-RULE FOR USING JAPANESE: use it sparingly, for emphasis, for titles, or proper names (aka nouns). Nouns are easier to pick up on than grammar nuances. No "ne's". EVER.

-KAH-goh-may, not kuh-GOH-may. I HATE the english dub mainly for this very reason.

-Whenever Sesshomaru is possessed by the Blade and he speaks of fate, the word "fate" is capitalized to "Fate", to signify that it's not really fate he speaks of, but the Kismet Blade.

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

1. Intro (everything's perfect)

2. Intro 2 (meeting the blade) (Inukimi and Sesshy)

3. Sesshomaru returns after seeing Kagome has returned to their world, approaching Rin despite the pleadings for Kaede to stay away from her. He asks Rin if she would like to accompany him, to which she readily agrees. Some fanservice with Inukag.

4. The Inutachi heads off on what they think is a rescue mission to save Rin, at Kaede's request. They meet and ancient old demon with another Fuyoheki, who informs them of the Kismet Blade, and how it's in Sesshomaru's possession - or rather, how it is in possession of him. The Demon also mentions that the daiyoukai had mentioned trying to kill his brother with the Kismet Blade. None of them know it was Sesshomaru who stole the blade.

5. The group goes back to Kaede in search of answers, but when she has none (having never heard of the Blade), the only thing the group can think of to do is to try and go through the Well back to Kagome's time and see if her grandfather has any knowledge on the subject. Inuyasha, unwilling to let Kagome go alone lest he lose her forever, goes with.

6. Sesshomaru and Rin chapter. Rin swears to herself that she will always be with Lord Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru kills a demon who accosted them without mercy as he begs for it, and Rin once again swears that she will always stay with her lord, though more hesitantly and with less resolve than she did before.. She senses something has changed about him, and it scares her. But she won't go back on her word.

7. Kagome and Inuyasha make it successfully back to Kagome's world, where her family is ecstatic to see her. Her grandfather is not there, however - he's at a doctor's appointment and would be back later that day - so Kagome decides to take (a very reluctant) Inuyasha out on a little adventure, calling up her friends to go on one big date. (coz fan service)

8. When Jii-chan (Gramps) returns, Kagome and Inuyasha question him about the Kismet Blade. He tells them what he knows; about the Blade holding vengeful souls and having belonged to a god, and its original purpose before becoming corrupt. With their new knowledge, and after being teased and tormented with marriage plans, they return to the Feudal Era.

9. Continuing on, the Inutachi meets with Sesshomaru, who brutally murders the ancient old youkai. They approach him warily, and ask Rin to return with them, but she says she would always stay by her Lord's side. Kagome notices her hesitancy and is worried, begging her to return. They leave, though not without Sesshomaru stabbing Inuyasha through the gut and injuring Kagome immediately afterwards in front of his eyes, telling him the time was not yet come to kill him.

10. Around the fireside, while trying to heal up Inuyasha, the group discusses Rin's reaction, their faith in her in trying to help Sesshomaru come to his senses, their worries that he might end up hurting her, and Sesshomaru's reactions. They discuss and understand that Sesshomaru had gotten the Blade to kill Inuyasha with it. Inuyasha and Kagome share a sweet moment by the fireside while they think that their friends are asleep (lol, psych! They're watching. They ship them harder than anyone XD). He says he was so worried about her, and he was scared for her and that he can't protect her, and she explains that she really doesn't care if he's not strong enough. That's not why she loved him. Their conversation leads him to asking her to finally marry him.

11. Another Sesshomaru chapter? Short, mostly an inner monologue or Sesshomaru's conflicting emotions about if he really wanted to kill his brother, his sadness that Rin was not there, and how he felt about the Kismet Blade. He starts questioning to himself whether he really is possessed or not.

12. Mostly refreshed, the Inutachi goes to find Sesshomaru and Rin, feeling that their greatest worry should be her as the Blade had possessed Sesshomaru, and he might hurt her. He finds them, however, ready to kill Inuyasha, luring them to a village where he had slaughtered all the inhabitants. Fighting ensues. Tetsusaiga is lost, Inuyasha becomes a demon and is injured. Kagome runs forward to protect him, and he is purified (purified form). Sesshomaru bats her away and prepares to kill his brother.

13. Sesshomaru attempts to kill a half-conscious Inuyasha as his friends watch on. Kagome watches (the poison that had been injected into her body in chapter 10 was dormant until given the order) as he struggles with himself until he finally realizes that he truly doesn't want his brother to die, and he doesn't really want to kill him. Instead, he throws the Kismet Blade away. The group destroys the Kismet Blade (with Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga?). It puts up a fight, the evil souls inside it trying to protect their prison - which would have given them immense power should they absorb as much - and the good souls assisting the inutachi.

14. Epilogue. Kagome and Inuyasha get married, happily ever after, Mrs Higurashi likes to tease poor Kagome too much.

STORY SUMMARIES

- He always swore he would be the one to kill his brother. Now, that time has come. The problem is, this prey likes to run, and this prey and his lover and friends can fight back. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and those measures are a weapon no one was meant to have.

- He always swore he would be the one to kill his brother. Now, that time has come. The problem is, this prey likes to run, and this prey and his lover and friends can fight back. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and those measures are a weapon no one was meant to have. And when life seems perfect, Fate will intervene...

- A lot can happen in three years: people change, plans evolve, weapons are uncovered. But this weapon is unlike anything any of them have ever seen before. Can the inutachi stop Fate? Or will their souls end up being the key to a prison locked for millennia? And, all joking aside, will Kagome and Inuyasha ever grow up?

(One of the original beginnings to the story, this was written both with the idea that Kagome and Inuyasha had discovered the Well was completely open again long before the story, and while I was watching a cooking show on Netflix. So that happened. Obviously, things have changed.)

"Sis, when are you getting married?"

"I'm not getting married, Souta."

"But I heard you talking to ma about it."

"I'm not getting married."

A boy and a girl sat in a living room, lounging against the couches and watching some American cooking show. The window was open, a breeze flowing past the curtains, and the air was cool; fall was fast approaching. The girl was laying on her side across the couch, her eyes half-lidded as she stared slack mouthed at the screen. She looked about 18. The boy, her brother, was several years younger, sitting cross legged on the floor and gazing avidly at the brightly colored foods.

"I bet you are," retorted the brother. "You keep going over to the Feudal Era ever since it opened. Inu-no-nii-chan is in love with you."

The elder sister glared at the boy. A fat, greying cat leapt gingerly up onto the couch beside her knees. "What on earth brought this up?"

"I dunno. But you do want to marry Inuyasha, right?"

"Explain to me what makes you think that's gonna happen anytime soon?"

"Oi, I dunno what you're talking about, but you better not be badmouthing me."

Both brother and sister jumped violently and whipped around to face this new voice. "Inuyasha!"

(This was originally going to be a part of chapter seven (They Knew He Loved Her), added as a fun little description of Inuyasha through the eyes of Kagome's modern day friends - Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi. Unfortunately, the pacing and the style of the chapter didn't allow the part to fit, but I still love this description just too much to just delete it. Maybe I'll use it for another story.)

"Kagome, just look at him," Yuki giggled. "The only to describe him is as a pretty boy, and we mean that in the nicest way possible."

She stared open mouthed at her friends, then at Inuyasha, realization dawning rather comically across her face. He might be strong, but he was very, very thin. He may have been a half-demon, but his mother was indeed a princess, and her beauty had been passed into her son's face. He may have tried to hide it, but Inuyasha was really just as innocent and confused in love as he had been as a child.

They were right. Inuyasha really was a pretty boy.

(I'm not exactly sure why this is here, but it is, and I'm not deleting anything, so… Yeah, these were puns for never-made posters for that play I was in for the main villians (in order), the Witch, the Queen, the Wolf, Rumplestiltskin, and the Fairy. I played the Witch, in case you were wondering.)

Puns for Theatre posters

Move, Witch, get out the way

Royal tea (queen with tea)

Resistance is feudal

Beg her royal pardon

Howl's it going?

This pup's mutty hungry

Not your average Toto

Gotta hand it to short people

Au! Guess my name!

Guess my name!

This ain't Tinkerbell/the Tooth Fairy

Hey! Listen! Watch out!

Better than Tinkerbell

(This part was originally going to be the bridge from what became the end of chapter 9 and the beginning of chapter 10, as originally it was going to belong to the same chapter. Chapter 9 ended up being too long, and a time skip was put into place. I do reference several descriptions in this in the beginning of chapter 10 to make up for the skip.)

Kagome's expression cleared up at once as she flung her arms over the unconscious half demon. "Inuyasha!" she screamed, her vision blurring with tears once again. "Inuyasha!"

"Kagome!" There was Miroku. And Sango, clutching Hiraikotsu in one hand and Rin's in the other. She could barely make out their faces through the tears as she clung to the Fire Rat robe on Inuyasha's shoulders, slick with blood. She was on the verge of hyperventilating, and she knew it, her breaths coming in short sobs and trying to pull the hanyo's head to her chest.

Kneeling, Miroku pressed two fingers to Inuyasha's neck, searching, searching… "He's alive," he said after a moment. "But only just. We need to get him patched up."

That was easier said than done, they discovered, with the heavy and unconscious half demon, and Kagome clinging desperately to his body. Had Sango not been there to hug the poor girl, Miroku knew he would never have been able to lug Inuyasha onto his back and carry him to their camp. Shippo, who had been protecting Hirohito until Sesshomaru's departure, gathered as many blankets as he possibly could and made a makeshift bed by some of the bushes. His little face was pale with fear as he watched the monk carefully drop the wounded half demon onto them, and immediately reach into one of the traveling packs for bandages. "Shippo, Rin," Sango said in a surprisingly calm voice over Kagome's slowly evening sobs. "Please go to the river and get us some water."

(This was the original beginning for the epilogue/chapter 14. I actually rewrote the gosh dang thing like four times before I ended up with something I'm mildly happy with. I didn't/don't know what Shinto wedding traditions are like well enough to write something like that. Heck, I don't know how Christian weddings work well enough to even write about one of those. I've only ever really been to receptions, so far as I remember. My family's gotten to that point between generations that there's a good 3-10 years before there's marriages again. I'm actually going to a funeral on the second. So… Either way, I need to write more dialogue, but this just didn't turn out.)

"Well, are you ready, my dear?"

"As I'll ever be."

"You know, dear, we can postpone for a few more minutes if you need to get under control."

"I'm fine, mama, I promise."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Gramps, you make it sound like I'm doing this against my will!"

"But are you sure?"

"Yes, grandpa, I'm positive. There's nothing I want more in the world."

"Are you-"

"Father."

"Alright, alright. If it truly is what she wants."

"It is."

"Okay."

"Sweetheart?"

"Yes, mama?"

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, mama."

"Okay. I'll go tell everyone then."

Mrs. Higurashi patted her daughter on her cheek and left the room, tugging her father along beside her. Kagome watched the door close with a soft click through the mirror and sighed, laying her hand on her chest. Her heart was beating far too fast.

(This was the original rendition of the wedding speech - most of it is exactly the same, word for word, but it was originally given by Kagome's grandfather rather than her mother. I wouldn't normally put it in here, but a couple of the descriptions were too good to get rid of forever, specifically the description of his tone. I thought it was so funny while I was writing it. Then again, it was late at night, I was sleep deprived as always, and I'm already super easy to make laugh, so that doesn't go to tell you much.)

"May I have your attention, please?" The low rumble of voices ceased, and he cleared his throat before speaking, gesturing to the smiling Kagome and Inuyasha. "I'd like to thank you all for coming out tonight. This really is a special occasion for me and I'm glad you could all make it. It's not every day you give away your only granddaughter, after all." He smiled indulgently, gap-toothed and wrinkled as ever. He was wearing a full on formal kimono as well. There were a few courteous chuckles from the gathered guests, which prompted him into continuing. His voice took on that matter-of-fact tone it usually did whenever he talked about 'rare treasures' and 'ancient family heirlooms'. "As you're all well aware, a wedding is the mark of union between two loving souls, their commitment to each other, and the fulfillment of every little girl's dream, and let me tell you the number of times I sat through stuffed animal weddings with my daughter Aki, and then my granddaughter. How fast she's grown up."

Kagome quietly smacked Inuyasha's hand under the table. He must have spent too much time with Miroku, because his hand had suddenly grabbed her leg just above the knee, and now he was grinning like a fool when she entwined her fingers with his. Gramps continued with another little bough. "As a matter of fact, my dear Kagome has grown up into quite the amazing woman; a woman that her father - my son Tamotsu, who passed away over thirteen years ago - would be proud of. A woman that he is proud up. I'd like to raise a toast in his memory. To Tamotsu." There was an answering rumble, and everyone drank. Kagome wiped a lone tear from her cheek as her grandfather continued.

"Kagome and Inuyasha's first meeting was undoubtedly fate. There is absolutely no way that the hands of the gods were not involved. Ar first, I remember quite distinctly that they did not like one another, always arguing, always fighting. I myself will be the first to admit I didn't like him much either. However, a lot happens in almost five years, and even though they still argue and row with each other, here's the result." There was a louder, more genuine round of appreciative chuckling, and gramps turned to Kagome and Inuyasha with a little smile. "Inuyasha, you've changed my precious granddaughter more than you could ever know, and she's changed you just as much. When we met, you were rude, brash, and violent. And while you still have your moments, you never once failed to protect Kagome when it came down to it, and you proved that you have a kind, gentle heart."

Oh boy! This marks the first time EVER that I have written a full-length fanfiction… And ACTUALLY finished it. Wow. Only took me, like, five years to get that done, huh? Jeeze, wow. Now what do I do, huh? Maybe I should write something that either a) makes more sense (good luck with that, stupid), or b) seems like a better idea. Yeah, I think I'ma go with option two, thank you. So be on the lookout for my new story - a modern gang AU set in the same universe as the chapter "J is for Jumped" in my series of Inuyasha prompt based one-shots, Alphabet Soup.

But holy crow, I can't believe that Kismet Blade is over… I'm not disappointed in the least, don't get me wrong, hahah! It was long, and I struggled through the writing process. But hopefully I became a better writer through writing it; I actually got a comment from _ that mentioned that in earlier chapters, I tended to write very long-winded/run on sentences. Looking back, I can sort of see where I went for sort of elegant, flowy type of writing style and failed miserably. Maybe I'll go back and edit the previous chapters? I know that some of them need to be with spelling mistakes or missing details that - now that I've finished the story - are pretty crucial (I'm looking at you, magically migrating claw marks on Kagome's back!).

Either way, thank you to those of you who took pity on a poor, deprived, unmotivated idiot and left reviews and kind comments. Your genuine interest is really what helped me write through classes, finals, family loss, and downright depression.

Thank you so much.

~ File 13

P.S. Have fun, don't die, don't do drugs, love yourselves, byeeeee!

~ For Pop ~

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