A/N: Since this would probably be the only non A/U fiction I write, I am going to try my best to finish this story, but I can't promise how long would it take… I'm kinda stuck with the plot. I feel like I'm running in a circle and I understand how much you guys hate a story that keeps dragging on and on.
Chapter 7. Death Itself
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Kagura's eyes widened at the sight she was seeing. "Naraku, that woman is trying to kill herself! Why are you…?"
Naraku grinned. "She won't die that easily. Not as long as she holds that jewel shard."
"You mean..?"
"Yes, Kagura," Naraku smirked in satisfaction, "at last, she has become one with the jewel. The Kagome that the stupid half-breed care for so much, she is no longer existing in this world."
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"KAEDE!" Inuyasha shouted as he burst through the door of Kaede's hut, panting heavily.
"My, Inuyasha, what are ye-" she gasped, "my goodness. Whatever happened to young Kagome?"
"Quick, save her, Kaede!" Inuyasha cried frantically, totally ignoring the old woman's question.
Kaede nodded abruptly. "Take her to the mat."
Inuyasha did as she told. He laid Kagome down to the mat inside the hut gently, and carefully.
As he watched Kaede began to examine Kagome's wound, he felt nauseated. He had never seen that much blood coming from Kagome's flesh. And it was because of his fault- both directly and indirectly. A tight knot of guilt began to form from the bottom of his stomach, and he almost wanted to vomit.
At first, Kaede had told him to wait outside, but he refused to do so and stayed in the hut all the time. His eyes didn't left Kagome, not even for a second.
'Kami, she looks so pale,' Inuyasha thought to himself as he watched Kaede bandaged the broken girl. She didn't say a word at all to him as she did her work. Fear began to grip his heart. The air around him was reek of the smell of death. No... Kagome's wound couldn't be that fatal... could it?
"Kaede," he began carefully, praying to the Kamis that he was wrong, "her wound…. It's not really dangerous or anything, right? She will recover soon, right?"
Kaede stopped her action and looked at him sadly. "To be honest, I can't really say anything, Inuyasha. The cut in her abdomen … it's very deep," She looked hesitant to continue, but as she saw Inuyasha's serious look, she sighed heavily, "I didn't have the heart to tell this to ye, but it was a miracle that she…. hadn't die from blood loss when you brought her here. Her life is in a great danger."
Inuyasha's eyes widened. "No…" he whispered, "NO! You are lying, old hag." No, she couldn't be. He simply refused to believe it.
"Believe me, child. I wish I could tell you otherwise," Kaede said with teary eyes, "but I don't think…. that she would make it tonight."
With those words, Inuyasha's whole world stopped.
"Ha…ha," He laughed dryly, "t-this is a joke, right, Kaede?" He asked with a shaky voice. He was in denial and he knew it. But he refused to accept it. There was no way the wench would leave him so cruelly.
A single tear dropped from Kaede's old, tired eyes to her wrinkled face. "I'm so sorry, Inuyasha," she said solemnly, "I've done all I can."
Kaede stood up and walked to the door of her hut. "I'm leaving you two for now," she said, "call me if you need anything."
Inuyasha didn't say anything back to her. He just numbly stared at the woman laying still in front of him, watching how her chest rise and fall slowly, and almost painfully, as if each breathe she took was drying her own life.
"Why, Kagome?" He whispered brokenly. With shaking hand, he touched her cheek, feeling the warmth had begun to leave her skin. Tears threatened to fall from the corner of his eyelids.
"You stupid wench," He gritted his teeth, "Why did you do that? Do you really want to make me suffer this much?!"
He caressed her face gently, brushing a few strands of hair from it. "I told you I would protect you…" he murmured, "why couldn't you believe me and did things by your own?"
He let out a bitter chuckle. "I guess you're right for not trusting me. After all, all I ever done to you is only hurting you. You have every right to hate me."
"But Kagome," his tone softened, "I care about you, more than you can ever imagine. You can hate me, despise me, or anything. Just please don't leave me like this, please…." He pleaded.
But Kagome remained still, and her breathing was becoming slower and slower. If it wasn't for Inuyasha's demonic hearing, he was sure he wouldn't be able to tell that she was still breathing.
Then, almost suddenly, with a loud voice, Kagome took a long, deep breath as her body jerked upward.
"Kagome?!" Inuyasha was instantly alarmed.
Her chest fell again, and Inuyasha waited patiently for it to rise again. But it didn't.
"Kago…me?" He shook her lightly and brought her closer to him, but he couldn't hear her heart beat anymore.
"KAGOMEE!" He roared, pulling the girl's body abruptly to his arms, "Wake up, you wench. Damn you. This is not funny. You did this to me once and I'm not gonna fall for it again. Damn you, WAKE UP, KAGOME!"
He shook her furiously, as if it was gonna bring her heartbeat back to her.
"You're stronger than this, wench…." He growled, "You can't do this. No, wake the hell up!"
"Inuyasha!" Kaede and the others burst inside.
Sango gasped and put a hand to her mouth. "Kami, Inuyasha. Is she…?" She couldn't even bring herself to finish her sentence as tears began to cloud her vision.
"Kagome!" Shippo cried and ran towards the now lifeless woman, only to be stopped by Inuyasha's low growl.
"Don't you dare touch her," he growled at him threateningly. His eyes began to flicker red.
"Inuyasha, calm down!" Miroku tried to calm him. The sight of the girl who had become his best friend for a while, slumped lifelessly in Inuyasha's arms pained him dearly. But the last thing they needed was for Inuyasha to go full demon and went on a berserk.
"Stay the hell away from me," Inuyasha hissed dangerously, "Kaede! Do something!"
Kaede shook her head weakly. "I can't Inuyasha. She's gone."
"What the fuck do you mean?" He growled loudly, "No she isn't!"
"Stop it, Inuyasha!" Sango cried, "Can you see it? Kagome IS dead! You told it to us by yourself! No one can survive that kind of injury from your sword! And Kagome," she choked by her own tears, "Kagome is only a frail human, Inuyasha."
"I understand your pain and loss, Inuyasha…" Miroku said, his own voice shaking. "We all feel the same… but the least we can do to honor Lady Kagome is to offer her our best prayer and wishes, and let her go in peace."
Inuyasha stared at his friends. He then glanced at the woman in his arms. His eyes softened and slowly regained it's golden color.
He buried his head in her neck. "Kagome, I'm so, so sorry…" he whispered in a broken tone, "this is all my fucking fault. You should've killed me instead."
Kaede walked carefully to the heart-broken half demon. "Inuyasha…?"
Inuyasha gently laid Kagome back to the mat, and stood up. He knew Kagome needed a proper burial, but he just couldn't bear to see them planting her on the depth of the dirt.
Without taking any more glance at his friends, he dashed outside the hut, ignoring the cries and calls from his friends. He didn't know what to think or do. All he knew right now was that he wouldn't be able to see Kagome's warm, loving smile again, forever.
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A few hours later
"Damn it!" Inuyasha cursed loudly as he punched the tree with his fists, making a hole on it, "damn it, damn it, I'm such a fucking fool!"
"Why?" He asked to no one in particular, "why?! What kind of punishment is this?!"
He looked around, trying to find some more things to destroy, hoping that it might somehow ease the unbearable ache in his heart. But it was clearly no use, he had destroyed almost half of the forest and he still felt as miserable as ever. He felt as if his own heart had been ripped out from him.
Inuyasha saw the sun began to set and he chuckled darkly. Now that Kagome's gone, it would always be sunset to him. No more sunrise.
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"I can't believe this," Sango sobbed uncontrollably, "Kagome, she is.."
Miroku stopped digging the soil and dropped his shovel. He went to pull the demon slayer to his arms, "Sango…" He breathed, "this is hard for all of us… But think of Inuyasha, he must be the one who feel the worse from all of us. We must stay strong, for him, and for the sake of Lady Kagome."
Shippo was sobbing as well. "I- still- don't- understand, Miroku," he said in between sobs, "why must Kagome leave? This isn't fair."
"I know Shippo," Miroku said solemnly, "But nothing in life is ever fair," he inhaled deeply as he stared to the afar, "Lady Kagome was a wonderful person. She would always embed deeply to our hearts."
"Miro-" Sango didn't even get the chance to finish her sentence when she saw Kaede running towards them, breathing harshly.
"What happen, Kaede?" Miroku asked, immediately alerted.
"It's Kagome," Kaede paused to catch a breath, "I left her for a few minutes to take some cloth to replace hers with… and her body was gone."
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.
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With empty eyes, Inuyasha walked slowly and almost unsteadily. He was almost back to Kaede's village, and each step he took felt heavier and heavier.
He didn't want to go back to the place where Kagome had...left him forever. But he needed to return and at least bid a proper farewell to her.
A farewell.
How he despised that word. A cruel word that separated two people so easily. And this time, the other person was not coming back ever again.
As he was nearing the hut, Inuyasha could hear his friends talking.
"what do you mean, gone?"
"Yes, Lady Kaede, please explain to us."
"I was only gone for a moment to take the cloth from the room on the back. But when I got back there, she just wasn't there anymore. As if she suddenly vanished…"
"But no one can simply disappear like that, Kaede, and certainly not someone… who is dead already!"
Inuyasha froze. Were they talking about Kagome?
"What the hell are you guys talking about?" He asked loudly as he walked towards them.
"Inuyasha!" Sango gasped, not expecting him to return that quickly.
Inuyasha growled. "Who disappeared? Don't tell me Kagome's body has gone missing!"
"She is, Inuyasha," Kaede answered, "and no one had entered the hut. She simply vanished just like that."
"Damn it all to hell," Inuyasha cursed. What was it now? Haven't the Kami had enough of toying with him already?
Inuyasha
Inuyasha froze. No. He must be hearing things. The Kami clearly had a sick, twisted sense of humor.
Inuyasha. Please save me…
It was her voice again, and Inuyasha felt like he was going crazy.
You promised me you would protect me, didn't you?
'I couldn't be hearing things,' He thought to himself.
He turned around and was about to take off when Miroku suddenly called him. "Inuyasha, where are you going now?"
"I'm going to find Kagome," He answered him.
'I knew it,' He thought to himself as he ran around the forest, 'She isn't gone yet. She just can't be. I swear Kagome, if you're really there…. I'm not letting you leave my side again. Never.'
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Sadness. Confusion. Anguish. And sorrow.
That was what she felt the moment she opened her eyes in a strangely unfamiliar place.
She didn't know where she was, or how could she ended up there.
Heck, she didn't even know who she was.
The raven-haired woman looked at her reflection in the water. Slowly, she raised her hand to touch her thin, pink lips. Her long waved by the blowing wind, and she was clothed with a dark blue and black armor that felt unpleasantly familiar. Her eyes... they looked so dead and dull. Have they always been like that?
"Who the hell am I." she whispered. Sudden pain lurched from the bottom of her heart. Why did her heart ache so much? What kind of strange feeling… was this?
You are a dead woman. You couldn't have feelings. A voice inside her mind told her. Let me help you. Let us forget all of this useless emotions, let me free you from your suffering.
"I am suffering?"
Yes… But you won't be any longer. For you are death itself. You have no feelings.
She closed her eyes. And the moment she opened them again, they were red as blood, with no hint of emotion.
She had finally become one with death.
...
A/N: Warning. This story is beginning to head towards Angst. So don't expect pretty rainbows and butterflies….Now I don't want to leave a cruel cliffhanger for any of you guys who's reading this, 'cause I don't know when would I update this story T_T Well it wouldn't be exactly like the preview, but it's basically the idea...
Next:
"Remember this, woman. You are mine. You may have no heart, but anything else- every inch of you, are mine to possess."
"Yes, Naraku." She replied in a monotone voice.
"Excellent," Naraku smiled wickedly, "now, come."
The raven-haired woman walked to him obediently.
"You will always do as I say," He spoke, "for only I… that can give you freedom and satisfaction."
"Yes…" She nodded again.
Naraku smirked. Even though her eyes were as empty as a satan's heart, but the woman in front of him right now had never looked so…. breathtakingly gorgeous.
'Oops, what a line of thought.' Naraku thought, quite amused with himself for harboring such thoughts for the woman whom had been his enemy for so long.
But now that she was no more than a lifeless, soulless rag doll, might as well do everything he pleased, right?
…