Between Heaven and Hell Chapter 13: If You Love Him, an inuyasha fanfic

BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL

Chapter 13: If You Love Someone, Don't Let Them Go Without a Fight!

INUYASHA YELLED IN surprise as a horde of scentless and eerily soundless monsters and demons sprung out from the bony underbrush, snarling silently and drooling and leering. Inuyasha growled and used his claws to slice through the first wave as Kagome warned him not to touch his legendary sword, for fear of what it might do to the plane. Amaya and Taro joined the fight after settling Miharu close to Kagome, who was reserving her strength for emergencies.

She did not stay by Miharu's side for long--while the others were occupied by the onslaught of monsters and devils, Susumu roughly pinned her to a tree with his hand.

"Oww!" Kagome whimpered, feeling her life drain at a pace rapid enough to burn.

"How does it feel, bitch?" he snarled, loud enough for only her to hear over the cracking and crunching of the battle going on around them. "How does it feel to come so close to your goal, and only fail..?"

"Kagome!" Inuyasha called as he caught sight of her, leaping over demons only to be knocked backwards and swallowed into another fight.

"How does it feel," Susumu went on, "to know you won't be saved?"

Kagome murmured wordlessly in reply, feeling hot tears start in the corners of her eyes. She heard Inuyasha shout her name again as the first tear tricked down her cheek and paused by her lip. Inuyasha's voice was frightened.

"How does it feel," Susumu repeated, "to know that you trusted me... and that I betrayed you... that I will drain every last shred of your pure life and pure energy, and become the force that destroys your world? How does it feel to know that I will use your power to kill your half-demon? To kill your friends and family... in every generation?"

Kikyou, close the portal! Kagome pleaded desperately across her connection.

How am I to do that? Kikyou asked calmly. I am too far in, I cannot retract this now.

Do something! Kagome begged mournfully, hoping that the whimper she had just loosed in response to Susumu's tightening grasp was not audible to the priestess whose respect she still yearned for. If you can't, we'll all die--and I mean all, you and the others included!

"All of that!" Susumu shouted. Kagome had missed part of his monologue while talking to Kikyou, but Susumu hardly seemed to care if she was paying attention or not. "All of that!" he repeated. "That is nothing compared to what I have felt," he snarled, "to kill my own family with my own hands and with a clear mind, all so that I could live! Can you imagine that, priestess?" he said, his grip loosening around her neck just slightly. "Can you see yourself pinning your mother down as you hold her head underneath the water? To feel her lungs fill with water? To watch her neck bruise and welt at your fingertips? To watch her eyes go lifeless, to feel her body go limp beneath you?"

Kagome gasped for air, trying to breathe in any life that could be there. Tears were rolling down her face as she thrashed against him, trying to free herself. Any spiritual energy she blasted at him only killed her quicker; he did not flinch away from her. She did not have enough power left.

"Can you imagine breaking your little sister's neck the way you snap a pencil? That easily? It's painless, but that instant when she realizes what you're doing to her--that look in her eye would kill any man with a heart. And can you imagine doing all of this for your own free will, just to keep yourself from dying? And then, merely months later, being damned to Hell for the crime? Well, priestess," he whispered, tightening his grip again, "I know. And then that damn fucking Naraku picks me, of all the stupid bastards in here, to do his fucking dirty work and retrieve some damn fucking useless Jewel, as if I want to leave this place, where I don't have to face anyone cleaner than I, dirtier than I. Everyone here has sinned. No one in Hell is an accidental!"

Kagome gurgled in response, barely hearing what he spoke.

"Well, I'll tell you what, priestess." He snorted. "If I'm too dirty to live, if I'm capable of doing all that I have done, if I am able to kill the people I love and do it with a clear mind, so is everyone else in this world. Even you. And now that I have the chance, now that you've made the mistake of relying on me, the world will all be dirtier than it ever was, because I will make it mine. Every last dirty fucking sinner out there. Right. Down. To. Naraku."

Please, I don't want to die like this...

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INUYASHA PANTED, SWEATING, as his claws raked through another set of devils as they launched themselves at him. His eyes darted again anxiously to where Kagome was struggling, attempting to escape Susumu's strong grasp. He's too strong for her, he thought bitterly. Damn it! His heart beat frantically in his chest, harder than it ever had before. She would not just die here if Susumu consumed the last of her energy; her soul would break.

Inuyasha tore through another wave of devils as they came, struggling harder and harder to reach the girl who was meanwhile struggling more and more weakly.

"Kagome!" he called out again, his voice hoarse with fear and exertion. "Kagome!"

"Pay attention to us, half-breed," a skeletal devil hissed arrogantly, driving Inuyasha backwards. It was the first of the devils to have spoke, and it only made Inuyasha angrier.

"Ge'off me!" he roared, drawing his claws through another mass of bodies.

His heart seemed to pound against his skull. I will not let Kagome die!

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MIHARU WATCHED THE battle from the safety of a branch in a tree, which she had immediately climbed into when Kagome was pinned backwards. She swallowed and examined everything with a certainty, quietude, and concentration unlike anything she had before exhibited.

She knew everything that was happening. Taro and Amaya were fighting back to back, bloody and panting with fear, determination, anguish, and desperation wrought into their expressions. They were tiring. Somewhat closer to she and Kagome was Inuyasha, who was struggling as much with an inner battle as he was with the devils that poured into the clearing continuously. And Kagome, adjacent to her, was dying.

Kagome had saved her. Kagome had been her friend. Kagome was going to bring her back to Earth and give her a chance to live again, a chance she had never had. Kagome trusted her. Kagome needed her.

Miharu let her solemnity pass and sucked in a gigantic gulp of air that seemed to shiver into her lungs. She could not tell if she was excited or terrified as she dropped down to the ground and sneaked her way through the forest--no one seemed to pay any mind to her at all--until she was behind Susumu.

She bravely looked up at the back of his head, at the soft black hair moving with the breeze slinking through the trees. He was whispering to the dying woman he had pinned, but his words all sounded like rambling nonsense to Miharu. So she licked her lips and steeled herself. She crouched down low onto the ground, and, just as she had seen mountain cats do, she pounced upward at Susumu. She dug her unkempt, sharp-edged fingernails deeply into the man's neck and shrilly cried into his ear. Susumu immediately released Kagome as he called out in sudden surprise. He whipped around and flung Miharu against a tree.

Miharu closed her eyes tightly and waited to hit the tree, but her landing was cushioned by a certain, holy softness in the air. She glanced at Kagome, whose eyes were barely alive and whose arm was thrust forward as she placed a protective shield around the small girl. With an uncertain grin, Kagome sprung from the ground, mouthing her a brief but undoubtedly earnest thank you, and ran between the trees as fast as she could while Susumu followed in fast pursuit.

Miharu swallowed and scrambled back into a tree.

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KAGOME PANTED WILDLY as she burst through the trees, searching desperately for some way to defend herself. She found nothing but bone and rock littered along the forest floor, and she could hear Susumu's footsteps coming nearer and nearer. Kagome settled for the same tactic she had used when confronted by the Council member--she flung her arms upwards to cover her face, and pink light spilled into the trees just as a streak of claws appeared, slicing through the illuminated figure of a recoiling man.

When the light dimmed down, an empty clearing in the forest appeared flickering in the shadowy afterimages. Inuyasha and Kagome stood at opposite ends of the clearing of each other, panting heavily and sweating. The sounds of battle could still be heard from a short distance away.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha finally said, standing upright.

"I'm fine," she whispered, licking her lips and also claiming an upright stance. "But we've got to help the others..."

"We've got to get out of here," Inuyasha insisted, shaking his head. "There's no way we'll be able to defeat everything back there without Tessaiga--they keep coming."

"Alright, but we have to get the others first! And I need to give them all some of my energy before we go, or they'll only be ghosts."

"OK, let's go," Inuyasha agreed. Kagome weakly ran after her half-demon companion, the words that Susumu had spoken to her already receding permanently and forgotten.

Hurry, Kikyou barked from Earth. The slayer and the monk are doing well with the demons coming through, but the faster you get out--the better. The monk's hell hole can swallow only so much before his hand poisons.

We're coming! Kagome assured.

"We need to go fast!" Kagome shouted loudly as she followed Inuyasha back to the battle. In a flurry of desperate movement, the others were gathered and took some of Kagome's energy, and then they all ran to the gaping black portal that was opened nearby. In a burst of energy, they pushed through and joined their companions on the opposite side as Kikyou closed the portal behind them.

After everyone had caught their breaths and had assured themselves that they were, at last, safe on Earth, the gathering of people looked around in sudden observation of the others. Taro, Amaya, and Miharu were clumped around each other and, after sparing brief glances towards their company in the clearing, they went to checking each other for injuries.

Sango chided Miroku for over-using his wind tunnel while keeping one eye on the new-comers. Shippou was dubiously coming out of his hiding place while searching for Kirara's whereabouts. Inuyasha, mouth agape, flicked his gaze back and forth between Kikyou and Kagome.

Kagome suddenly smiled proudly and wearily at Kikyou, who kept a stoic face. But Kagome saw the depth in her eyes now, what she had only read as sadness before she now felt she knew was so much more.

I did it, Kikyou... Kagome said over their connection, wondering if it was still in place. She had grown accustomed to Kikyou being there, a silent figure in her mind waiting only for her questions. They were two different woman who shared a soul but not a spirit; they were two different women who had worked together for a common goal.

You did. And my respect for you has increased greatly. Two weeks ago, I will admit I was apathetic of your own existence. It made no difference to me whether you were here or there, or somewhere else beyond. But now, I am glad it is you and not some other woman who has been my successor. I am glad that we share a soul, priestess Kagome.

Kagome beamed slowly and brightly at the praise. Kikyou had never spoken praise to her, not in the times they had worked together before, not in the times she had saved the older girl's life. But there were the words, told only to her and dear.

Only with your help, Kikyou. We worked together to bring him home again.

Of course.

I'm glad, Kikyou... not just that we're all alive and OK, but... I'm glad that we worked together.

Kikyou offered a very small, thin smile and her face softened. Inuyasha looked on with a look of shock plastered on his face. Kagome burst forward and embraced the priestess, who blinked her eyes open wide and surprised and then tentatively patted the younger girl's back.

"What the hell is going on with you two?" Inuyasha finally demanded. He felt as if a lot must have happened since the time he left for the two women to be glad of each other's company.

"Oh yeah," Kagome started, pulling away from Kikyou. "We worked together to get to you. She opened and closed the portal and guided me through Hell when I needed help."

Inuyasha looked slightly taken aback. Kikyou turned gracefully and left the clearing at a smooth gait, leaving the jabbering group behind.

When she arrived at the edge, just inside the shadows that the trees were making in the moon, she spoke out loud. "Keep your guard up from now on. My help during this time was unique, and will not be offered so easily a second time."

Good bye, Kikyou, Kagome whispered mentally. There came no answer.

"Ka-Kagome--listen to me!" Inuyasha demanded, finally gaining control of himself, although while still looking bothered and confused. "Don't ever do that again! Next time, don't ever do something so fucking dangerous again, understand?"

"Of course," Kagome agreed as she collapsed onto the ground. She grinned up at the clear band of stars moving through the branches, bright as pure white pearls scattered across the sky. "Next time," she said, "I'm definitely not letting you go without a fight."

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Author's Notes: That was the last chapter of my very first completed fanfic. So thanks so much for your support, reviews, and e-mails! I will probably come back and clean up some of the chapters later. However, if you're interested, I do have a sequel going called Godspeed. Basically, it's the storyline reversed--Kagome accidentally goes to Heaven, so Inuyasha and Kouga work together to bring her home. Of course, Godspeed is much goofier than BH&H, and much more light-hearted. I do hope you enjoy it!

Update- I will not be touching this story again any time soon. If I do, I'll let you know by an announcement on the profile page or, if you would like me to send you one, an e-mail. One day in the far, distant future, when I'm a much better writer, I might try to re-write this and develop Kagome and Kikyou's relationship more. Until then! Thanks AGAIN SO MUCH for all your continued support on my first finished fanfic!

XOXO,
Kyubi Kyebu