Parting Ways

Chapter 7: Bakura's Secret

The large black waves of energy rushed towards Inuyasha and surrounded him. As the dark energy closed in on him, Inuyasha tried slashing at it with his Tessaiga. However, he failed to accomplish anything by doing so, and eventually he was swallowed by the darkness. The energy settled and became a sphere prison in which Inuyasha was trapped.

"Inuyasha!" Inutaisho yelled as he attacked the dark prison. He was immediately thrown back as soon as he came in contact with the evil energy. "What is this dark magic?"

He repeated his attacking, but the great Inutaisho was unable to break his son free.

~.~.~

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out in concern. Whatever hate she had been feeling for the half-demon seemed to melt away as this unknown enemy put him in danger. "Bakura, we have to go help him!"

When she heard no reply, Kagome turned around. Bakura was nowhere to be seen. 'Where did he go at a time like this?'

Kagome sighed in frustration. 'What can I do? I have no idea who this enemy is and if Inuyasha is unable to break free how can I help? I'm too weak. Even his father can't break that prison thing.'

Her eyes widened. 'Am I caring about him again? After what he did?'

She wanted to smack herself, but not because she was caring about him again. 'If I care, I shouldn't be sitting here confused! I have to try my best to help!'

She began running in the direction of the village. 'It seems I can never stay mad at you, Inuyasha… As soon as you're in danger, I'm worried.'

~.~.~

'It's funny how clueless people can be,' thought Bakura as he walked through the woods. 'They have no idea that I am the cause of this dark energy. And they have no idea how to stop it—because they can't. Unless they become one with the darkness, that is.'

He glanced at the incomplete jewel in his hand. "Almost there…"

'Kagome will be mine. No one will be in my way.'

"Hey you!" said an unfamiliar voice.

Bakura looked up at the person who spoke to him. "A wolf demon? What do you want?"

"The name is Koga," the wolf demon replied. "I was on my way here to see my lovely Kagome when I saw you walking by with an almost complete Shikon jewel in your hand. I know Kagome had a lot of those shards… What did you do to her?"

"Your lovely Kagome? As far as I know, she isn't in a relationship," replied Bakura.

Koga growled, not liking Bakura's familiarity with Kagome. "Oh yeah, and how much do you know exactly? And how did you get all those shards if Naraku had most of them?"

"Getting these shards from Naraku was a piece of cake," said Bakura. "He can try and take them back but I'll just kill him. I may be human, but I'm not someone you want to underestimate." He grinned. "My name is Bakura, and I am a close friend of Kagome's."

"Don't make me laugh! I don't know what your business with Naraku was but at this moment I don't really care. There is no way that someone like you could make friends with someone as sincere as Kagome, and there is no way that'd she give you all the jewel shards!" yelled Koga.

Bakura smirked. "I stole them from her."

Koga lunged at Bakura. "Why you—"

Bakura grabbed Koga by the neck before the wolf demon could hurt him. "I wouldn't attempt to attack someone with an almost complete Shikon jewel if I were you. Now listen, wolf. I don't care what you have to say, but the lovely Kagome isn't yours. She's mine. And I will kill you if you get in my way."

Koga's eyes narrowed. "It's on."

He kicked Bakura in the face, breaking free from his grasp. He then threw a punch at him. Bakura dodged the attack smoothly and punched Koga in the stomach. Koga fell to the ground in pain.

Bakura laughed. "Is that all you've got?"

Koga growled. "You're just a human! How are you able to manipulate the power of the Shikon jewel like that?"

"Let's just say that I'm no ordinary human," said Bakura. "Are you going to back down?"

"As if I would let Kagome fall into your hands!" yelled Koga. He stood up and jumped back. "If you're a human that can fight with the strength of the demon… then I guess I'll just have to kill you as if you were a demon. With no mercy!"

~.~.~

Miroku was sensing something very ominous, and he was worried about Inuyasha. Knowing the half-demon, he probably got into some kind of trouble. 'Maybe it's Naraku? But it feels different.'

He glanced at Sango. "Hey Sango, could you look after the children? I'll be right back." Sango nodded and Miroku ran off in the direction of the evil he was detecting.

'Things finally seemed like they were going to start getting peaceful again. But things never go our way, apparently,' thought Miroku while he was running.

In the distance he could see black waves of energy moving around in the air.

Inuyasha was trying to call out to his father. But the words that came out of his mouth seemed to get lost somewhere in the darkness, never reaching Inutaisho. 'Damn! What am I supposed to do? Tessaiga won't break through!'

He tried just about everything, but none of his attacks would break the dark prison he was trapped in. It annoyed him greatly. He had just met his father too, and couldn't finish a conversation with him before they were separated again.

The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became. On top of that, he started thinking about Kagome again. 'Nothing can go my way, can it? Am I not allowed to have people that I can be close to? That's probably what I get for being a half-breed…'

It seemed that he was stuck here with these depressing thoughts. And there was nothing he could do about it.

So he just stood with his head hanging. 'How pathetic must I look right now? Although nobody can see me, it's embarrassing. I need to think more clearly…'

~.~.~

Kagome finally reached the village. Breathing heavily, she looked around swiftly. It wasn't long before she caught sight of Sango playing with village children and Shippo. "Sango!"

Sango heard her and immediately looked her way. "Kagome! What's wrong?"

"Inuyasha… he's in trouble! I don't know what's happening exactly but I need to know where he is!" replied Kagome.

Sango nodded. "I had a feeling something was up… let's go. Shippo, look after the children."

The young fox demon nodded his head as Sango and Kagome began running in the same direction Miroku had headed a few moments ago.

~.~.~

"Inuyasha!" yelled Miroku as he reached his destination, avoiding the waves of dark energy that were flying everywhere. Instead of Inuyasha, he saw before him a big man standing beside a large black sphere. The man was obviously demon and he looked like a larger version of Sesshomaru. "You're…"

The man looked at him. "I am Inuyasha's father. But now is not the time, boy. He needs help, and I do not know how to free him."

Miroku glanced at the dark sphere beside Inutaisho. "He's… he's in there?"

Inutaisho nodded. Miroku continued to stare at the sphere, trying to think of a way to free his companion. 'Unfortunately, I am not familiar at all with this black energy and if Inuyasha's father cannot break it then it must be incredibly strong…'

Inutaisho sighed. "Be strong, Inuyasha."

~.~.~

Koga yelled out in pain as he collided with a tree. He cursed, finding himself barely able to move. 'This guy… what is he?'

"You look like you don't have much fight left in you," said Bakura. "Now that we've finished here, I guess I'll be on my way."

"Damn you, bastard!" yelled Koga as he struggled to get up.

Bakura smirked. "Don't waste your energy. You're lucky I chose not to kill you."

"I'd rather be killed by a half-breed than lose to some human…" Koga said as he finally stood up. "As pathetic as they are, at least they have demonic blood in them. Humans? To be brought down by a human is worse than death!"

Bakura was slightly amused. "I take it then that you still want to fight? I almost want you to stay alive. You're too amusing."

"I will not allow a human to look down on me!" yelled Koga. "Stop acting all high and mighty because you managed to knock me down. I'm far from done."

Bakura laughed. "You really hate the idea of losing to a human. Perhaps I should tell you, then, why I am different from other humans."

Koga said nothing, but leaned against the tree behind him, waiting for Bakura to continue.

"That would take up too much time, however," said Bakura. "But I don't want you to feel bad about losing to a human, so… how about I show you instead?"

"What are you talking about?" Koga asked irritably.

Bakura smirked as dark energy erupted from the ground and surrounded him. His black hair became a deep purple color and he began to levitate. "This is what makes me different from other humans!"

"How is that human?" yelled Koga as he was pushed into the tree behind him due to the overwhelming amount of energy.

"I'll admit that these powers aren't my own," said Bakura, as the surge of energy died down. He was floating a few feet above the ground, playing with his new purple hair. "I am a human. But I've been cursed; within me sleeps pure darkness."

Before Koga could say another word, Bakura teleported to his side and knocked him unconscious.

"I feel like killing you now, but Inuyasha will be my first victim."

Leaving Koga on the ground, he vanished.

'Here I come, Inuyasha. Get ready to die.'