Something Entirely Different
Just A Starving Writer
Disclaimer: nope, not mine.
Author's Note: I'll blame my muse on this. That bitch is still drunk on schnapps. If you are expecting something light and fluffy, you'll be disappointed. This is, while not dark, a bit strange, though it still retains a happy ending. I wrote this during a storm of literary madness, typing it within a day. When I started, I had no earthly idea what was going to happen because my muse, the bitch that she is, happens to enjoy keeping me in the dark.
Anyways, you can try it out if you want, but please, no flames. Despite previous praise, my ego is still too weak to stand up to overly brutal attacks. There's nothing you can say to change the story anyways, so what's the point of regaling me with how much you utterly hated it?
Enjoy if you can.
Updated 10.13.04: Edited and broken into 4 parts for easier reading.
Part 1: A curious inability
He supposed that he should not be surprised to see her standing there aiming her bow so defiantly at him from behind his half-brother. He should have seen it coming, really, considering how difficult the girl had been to kill before. Always something kept her from dying, whether it be Tessaiga in his father's body or Inuyasha every other time. Still he was shocked to find her still breathing, perhaps because he distinctly remembered killing her exactly a week before.
In planning this excursion to retrieve his father's sword, he had expected to find the hanyou distraught over the loss of his precious miko. Upon striking her down that day he found her wandering alone in the forest, he knew that the death could be used for his advantage seeing as she clearly meant something to the half-breed. But now there before him was his brother, as irate as ever, and the girl trembling despite her courageous attempts to shoot him.
It was bothersome really. His memory had not failed him, the girl had been dead. He'd watched as her blood pooled into the leaves beneath her body and smirked in pleasure. It had been entirely too easy, but it had never occurred to him that she may have lived through the ordeal. That was plausible, he supposed, but still, a week after such a major injury, she shouldn't be able to stand there, glaring at him. Something was nagging him at the back of his mind, whispering that something was seriously amiss, but he ignored it and decided he had simply underestimated her strength. This time he would take glee in watching her die and she would not come back. She had defied him by living and she would pay with her life.
A quick battle ensued and the hanyou was struck down, bleeding profusely through several large wounds. He would probably survive, if his demon blood was strong enough, but it would have killed a human several times over. Speaking of which, he proceeded to bat away the miko's irritating arrows and approach the girl, intent on thoroughly killing her this time. When she was finally out of arrows, he sped up and instantly held her tiny neck in his remaining hand.
"You are alive." The phrase was both a statement and a demand for explanation.
"Yeah, what of it?" the girl squeaked. Apparently it hadn't occurred to her that he was itching to finish off the job he had started last week.
"Die."
With a flick of his wrist and a tightening of his wrist, the girl's precious neck snapped and crushed, her life instantly draining out, her defiant eyes instantly becoming dull. Smirking, he dropped her lifeless body to the ground and turned his attention back to the hanyou who was recovering quickly and gaining righteous anger over his human's death.
"Sesshoumaru!" he shouted inanely while charging the demon lord, sword raised dramatically.
The battle began anew, the hanyou relying on his distress to fuel his muscles and the youkai thoroughly pleased that he was able to incite such emotion in his brother. Hatred and anger practically flowed off the half-breed.
Striking down the hanyou, he pulled his sword back for the final blow. In just a few short seconds Tessaiga would be his. A sudden intense pain in his arm halted the assault. Stopping in his tracks, he stared at the glowing arrow protruding from his forearm. Surely it couldn't be...
Turning his gaze to the downed miko, his eyes widened further. There, where there should rightly be a body growing colder, was the girl, perfectly fine and preparing another arrow she had gathered.
He wasted no time in killing her again. However, this time he watched her, intent on being positive that the girl was completely, entirely dead. Once more, the blood pooled beneath her as she faded from existence. She was most certainly dead, just as she should be. There was absolutely no way the girl could ever be brought back, with the exception of his Tenseiga, which, of course, he would never waste on such a human.
Turning his attention back to his struggling half brother, he prepared the killing blow once more. The blade swept down and flesh was easily sliced in half. However, upon closer inspection, the sword never reached the hanyou. Instead, spread over the still breathing body was the girl, most definitely dead this time, having stopped his blade from its target by inserting herself in its way.
As much as the hanyou yelled at him for retribution, there was no way the demon lord could leave now. This would be the third time he had killed the girl in as many minutes. If she came to life once more, he would know something was terribly wrong. Sure enough, right when he was certain she would never rise again, an odd green glow surrounded her body and time seemed to rewind for her. Watching with unveiled awe, he witnessed the blood he had spilt pouring back into her tiny body, the wounds he had created closing, and the breath he had stolen returning to her. In the space of a few seconds, she was alive and perfectly fine.
"Hey! You tried to kill me!"
"I did not try, wench."
Deciding that further information was necessary before he continued this sport, the demon lord turned and walked away, leaving a miko screaming her indignities and a brutally injured hanyou in his wake.
Kagome couldn't believe what had happened. The arrogant demon lord had just walked away, leaving them when they were completely vulnerable. In fact, Inuyasha had just left the realm of the conscious.
'Why didn't he kill us? He tried to, he wanted to, but he didn't. It just doesn't make any sense,' she wondered briefly before she pushed the thought aside to tend Inuyasha's wounds.
Luckily, before she had to resort on strength she didn't possess, the monk and demon slayer entered the battlefield, returning from their errand.
"Kagome! What happened?" Sango yelled while running to her fallen comrades.
"Sesshoumaru." That one word explained everything. Immediately, the hanyou was being lifted onto the fire cat's back to be taken to Kaede's village for healing. Along the way, the young miko filled in her companions on the details of the battle. However, they immediately noticed some strange gaps in her story.
"Kagome, you say Sesshoumaru rushed at you and the next thing you remember, you were waking up on the ground?" the monk asked seriously.
"Yeah, it was the weirdest feeling. Like being dragged out of an icy cold river or something. But I was perfectly fine and kept attacking to think of it, he did seem a bit surprised," the miko responded thoughtfully with a finger on her chin.
They returned to the village without incident and soon the hanyou had been tended, though he had yet to regain consciousness. In the meantime, everyone could only wait, hoping some of the seeming mysteries of the fight would be simply solved by the half-breed's perspective. A few long hours later, their patience was rewarded.
"KAGOME!" Inuyasha yelled as he bolted up into a sitting position, hands frantically searching for his sword.
"Inuyasha, I'm right here," the young miko said calmly while laying a comforting hand on his forearm. Instantly, she found herself in his arms as he hugged the hell out of her. She began blushing profusely.
"But...but you were dead...again..." he mumbled into her hair.
"I'm not dead, I'm right here," she whispered. Really it was all she could do as the hanyou was squeezing the breath right out of her. Seeming to realize the truth of her words, and seeing her growing breathlessness, he released her and settled for putting his hands firmly on her shoulders, looking her over with a worried eye.
"No, Kagome, you died. A lot."
"What do you mean, Inuyasha?" the monk questioned, obviously curious at this latest declaration of Kagome's health.
"The battle...I couldn't stop him. First, he snapped her neck, but she got right back up and saved me by shooting the bastard." He turned his eyes onto girl in question. "Then he killed you again, with Tokijin, but you got up again and threw yourself in front of me when he was going to finish me off...He killed you three times, Kagome."
"I'm sure you saw wrong. I'm perfectly fine. I think I would remember if I had died, let alone died three times." Her brow was creased with her confusion. The hanyou shook her shoulders none too gently, trying to shake out the answer to this deadly riddle.
"NO! You were dead! I saw it! I felt it! Dammit, Kagome! You were on top of me the last time! I felt your blood! You were dead!"
"Calm down, Inuyasha. There is no point in hurting Kagome now that she is alive and well. Calm down and we will figure this out," Kaede said admonishingly while she prepared the evening meal. The hanyou released the girl's shoulders reluctantly and watched as she took her seat against the wall.
"I just don't understand," the young miko stated as the fox child took up his position in her lap.
"What words did you share with Sesshoumaru before he left, Kagome?" enquired the monk from against the other wall.
"I yelled something like 'you tried to kill me' and he said, 'I didn't try.'"
"Interesting."
"What are you saying, monk?" Inuyasha questioned harshly.
"Just that it seems your brother and yourself are in agreement about something. From his words, I gather he was under the impression Kagome was dead as well."
With a huff of annoyance, the irate hanyou laid back on the pallet, his facial features scrunched in obvious confusion.
"You know what?" Kagome said thoughtfully after a long awkward silence.
"What?" Sango asked quietly.
"I didn't tell you this before because I thought it didn't matter...but I think it does now."
"Please tell us," the monk pushed.
"About a week ago...that day I came back from my visit home? Well, I decided to go for a walk in the woods before returning to the village. I...I kinda ran into Sesshoumaru there." She was clearly embarrassed that she had been so utterly careless.
"WHAT??" the entire room, with the exception of Kaede who seemed to have expected as much, yelled.
"I don't really remember what happened. I was walking, suddenly he was there, I was about to scream for help and then I woke up on the ground and he was gone."
The entire room was silent.
"This is weird," Shippou stated rightly breaking the tension in the air.
"You know," began the hanyou hesitantly. "That would explain why the bastard looked so surprised when he first showed up. I bet he thought you were dead."
"So, maybe what happened today happened a week ago?" the demon slayer asked.
"It appears so," Kaede answered. "I do not understand why, but it seems the demon lord is incapable of killing ye, Kagome."
If anything, Kagome grew paler. How exactly do you take the knowledge that you had been killed several times already?
"If my mind recalls, he has never been capable of killing ye. Is that true?"
"Well, yeah, kinda. I mean, Tessaiga protected me that first time. He hasn't really come close since..."
"It is as I expected. Perhaps it was not the sword that protected ye. Perhaps it was something entirely different."
That sent the room into thoughtful silence once more. Everyone pondered this latest turn of events, trying to discover the truth of the matter, but failing terribly. They could only hope they solved the mystery before the demon lord did. Otherwise, their friend would be killed, and stay dead, for sure.