Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips.

A/N: I do not own Inuyasha or the song “The Girl” by City and Colour.



Warnings for this chapter: Graphic violence, language, gore, extreme angst/drama.



Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips.



Chapter Twenty-Three: Let’s Jam.



Inuyasha strolled lazily down the walkway of the large home, noting just how beautiful a day it was outside. Flowers were blooming, birds were chirping, and the scent of freshly cooked ramen floated on the wind; stooping down at the edge of the yard, he picked up the paper that had been left and turned back, walking just as slowly back toward the house as he had away from it.



I wish I could do better by you



Cuz that’s what you deserve.



You sacrifice so much of your life



In order for this to work.



As he walked, he couldn’t help the spring in his step, and, soon, he started whistling. It was a bright, cheerful tune that left his puckered lips, and he knew that it was a tune he remembered very well. It was quite an upbeat song, and he smiled brightly as it continued to play in his head. He entered through the front door, walking passively through the brightly lit foyer, inhaling deeply. Ever since Kagome and the twins had come home from the hospital, the place had smelled of cherries and babies and water and ramen – beautiful, wondrous ramen.



While I’m off chasing my own dreams,



Sailing around the world,



Please know that I’m yours to keep,



My beautiful girl.



“Inuyasha?” Kagome called from the kitchen. “Is that you?”



When you cry a piece of my heart dies,



Knowing that I may have been the cause.



If you were to leave,



Fulfill someone else’s dreams…



“Yeah, baby, it’s me,” he said as he rounded the corner. Suddenly, something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was… It just… wasn’t right. Kagome turned from the stove to face him, and her eyes suddenly widened, the brown in them fading a little.



…I think I might totally be lost.



Inuyasha stumbled backward, suddenly lightheaded and woozy. The scent of blood – rich and metallic – filled the air in the kitchen, and the hanyou couldn’t figure out what was going on. He was horrified when Kagome shrieked his name – she sounded so terrified and agonized…



Something was definitely wrong.



And it hit him all of a sudden – a sharp pain in his gut. He moved his hand as he slid down the counter, sprawling onto his back on the pretty tile Kagome had chosen for her kitchen… he knew his blood had probably ruined it by now…



His wife knelt at his side – or was she really there? – and Inuyasha felt the spot in his stomach that hurt. His hand came back into view, slick and red, and his golden eyes widened before unfocusing completely, his head drooping. He dropped into sudden unconsciousness.



“Inuyasha!”



Kagome couldn’t believe her eyes the entire time. She wasn’t sure how her estranged husband had been able to track her down – probably by her scent, but she’d thought he’d be too drunk to be able to accurately use his nose at this time of day, especially considering what Minoru had seen of him earlier that morning.



The boy with Naraku’s face had steered her about a block or so down the busy, bustling street from the shrine, into an old, abandoned building. The floor was rotting, the walls were decrepit, and Kagome had the distinct feeling that it was going to be removed fairly soon.



Inside the building, the boy had shoved her further into the house, all the way to a small, cramped room in the back. There was no furniture, the only lighting emanating from the outside sunlight through the rather large window; the place was damp and musty, and the air tickled Kagome’s nose until she sneezed every time she tried to breathe. There were several pieces of perfectly cut lumber leaning against one of the walls in the room, and she wondered briefly if it was a construction site.



She sighed, knowing full well that the only reason she was wondering about stupid things like this was to keep her mind off the painful reality that she needed to face – that she might not be leaving this rotting building alive.



“Sit,” the boy ordered her in Naraku’s voice, and Kagome did as he said, turning her thoughts to a potential solution to her situation.



First, she tried sympathy. He looked reasonable enough; he was just a few years younger than she was, for Kami’s sake! “Look,” she started, “I just had a pair of twins a couple months ago, and they’re with my mother, waiting for me. Their father… well, he isn’t in the picture right now, so I’m all they’ve got. Please…” Kagome let loose a single tear, and the gravity of her situation hit her fully. It was a real tear streaming its way down her cheek – proof of her desolation.



The young man sneered at her; apparently, Kagome had chosen the wrong tactic. “I’m probably doing those kids a favor by turning you over to him,” he said, glaring down at her with angry eyes. “You’d probably be a horrible mother.”



Kagome was taken aback by his hostility; it sunk in that he’d probably been done wrong by his own okaasan. “Not all mothers are bad,” she said simply, gritting her teeth and staring hard at the floor. She squeaked with surprise when he suddenly gripped her harshly by the chin, forcing her head back up.



“Wrong, stupid bitch!” Rearing back, he smacked her fully across the face; the sound of the slap echoed throughout the empty building, and Kagome let out a startled shriek. The entire right side of her face felt as though it had exploded, and she reached up to touch the tender skin. It was probably bright red, she knew, and it was hot to the touch. Frightened, she stared up at the boy – who glared down at her with unbelievable hatred. “All mothers are worthless, horrible windbags who can’t take care of themselves, let alone their children!”



Righteous anger filled the former Miko suddenly, and her expression twisted to mirror her feelings. “You’re wrong! I am not a bad mother!”



Smack!



This time, Kagome went crashing to the side; this boy had inhuman strength, and, as Kagome lay on her side, staring up at him in terror, she tapped into her long unused Miko powers. She saw his demonic aura, and it flared a brilliant and vibrant red. “Y-you’re a hanyou!” she cried out in sudden realization, and Heru stopped. He blinked at her, surprised by her exclamation – though he couldn’t pause for very long.



Right then, there was a loud crash, and the window shattered, a red-clad figure swooping into the room right through the glass. The silver-haired inuhanyou landed heavily on his feet, throwing his arms back and roaring loudly in Heru’s face. The boy backtracked, instantly intimidated by the monstrous being, and Kagome just stared up at the scene, shock overwhelming her.



Inuyasha.



Yes, it was him – she was sure of it! As usual when her well-being was threatened, he had become a vicious, dangerous creature – but what caught Kagome’s attention this time was the lack of jagged, amethyst markings on his cheeks, the normal-sized claws and fangs. When she looked up, finding the furious eyes trained fastidiously on the kumohanyou, she couldn’t believe that they weren’t wide and blood-red, that there were no dilated blue pupils. They were their usual brilliant gold, though something about them seemed dulled. Inuyasha reeked of alcohol, and it hit Kagome what was dulled in his eyes – him.



Inuyasha no baka!



Before she could rise to her feet and stop them, the two hanyou had begun their fight – if you could call it that. It was more of a brawl in her opinion – all flying fists, muttered swear words and snarls… Then when Heru brandished his long, black fingers, Inuyasha did the same with his own, and claws were added to the mix. Kagome knew that something bad was going to happen.



“Inuyasha!” she cried out, heaving herself to her feet despite her still burning cheek and her quivering legs. “Inuyasha, don’t hurt him! He’s not bad – I know he isn’t! He just needs our help!”



“Keh!” her hanyou husband growled, dodging another blow from Heru. “I ain’t sparin’ nobody that hits you, K’gome!” He swiped at the younger half-demon, while accidentally leaving his entire torso open for attack.



Kagome shrieked loudly as she watched Heru’s entire hand, claws and all, smash into Inuyasha left side, sinking up to his wrist into the delicate flesh and muscle. Her husband threw his head back, eyes clearing momentarily as pain ripped its way through his brain, bringing him through his sake and scotch-induced haze. To Kagome’s horror, he didn’t continue fighting – no, she watched as his eyelids fluttered, and he coughed raggedly. Blood suddenly splattered across the floor, and Kagome screamed his name – “Inuyasha!”



Heru grunted as Kagome watched his right arm tense, then he dragged it quickly out of Inuyasha’s torso. Swallowing loudly, Inuyasha fell to his knees first, then over onto his side. Kagome dove to her knees at his side, ignoring the sharp pain that erupted in her kneecaps at the sudden contact with the floor. She felt Heru wrap his blood-covered fingers around her wrist, and she gritted her teeth, releasing a wave of power in his direction. There was a spark, and the kumohanyou hissed before pulling away and dashing through the house, leaving Kagome to scream at her fallen husband as he bled out onto the dirty floor.



The next several minutes whirred past Kagome, and she felt as though it was impossible for her to keep up; there were suddenly flashing lights outside the broken window, and Minoru came rushing in with a pair of youkai paramedics. As they set Inuyasha up on the stretcher, Kagome held his hand while Minoru put pressure on the fastly worsening wound in the hanyou’s gut.



Tears stained her cheeks, and more of them began to gather in her eyes as she stared down at the bloody, ragged mess that was Inuyasha; as the paramedics rolled him out of the house and toward the parked ambulance that was waiting, he smiled weakly up at her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “My beautiful girl…” he murmured just before losing consciousness completely.



As the ambulance doors slammed shut, Minoru on Inuyasha’s other side, Kagome squeezed her eyes shut, unable to continue looking at him. “You’re going to be fine…” she whimpered in a quiet, subdued voice, not even sure if she should allow herself to believe those words. But this was Inuyasha – somehow, he always got through, at every turn! He would be okay, Kagome knew.



Later that night, Kagome found herself sitting at his bedside, rousing from a nightmare made mostly of memories of the afternoon. Inuyasha was lying in the hospital bed in front of her, in the ICU, bandaged practically from head to toe and hooked up to several annoying, beeping machines; the doctors had managed to stop the blood loss, but there was another problem no one had foreseen; Kagome vaguely remembered what Rin had said to her right after she and Inuyasha had first gotten married: So far, I’ve only fallen ill to one type of toxin in the past five hundred years, and you really don’t see that many kumo around here anymore…



Kumo. Kagome shivered, suddenly cold all over at the realization of exactly how much trouble Inuyasha had gotten himself into… or, rather, that she had gotten him into. The doctors gave Inuyasha very low chances of survival; apparently, when she had seen Heru’s arm tense, that had been the boy pumping Inuyasha full of venom.



“Apparently, it’s got quite a kick to it.” Kagome jumped, startled, at the sound of Minoru’s voice over her shoulder; turning, she shot him a perturbed look, and he chuckled sheepishly. Watching her with tired eyes, the doctor pulled up another chair and sat down beside her. “Sorry. Somehow, I forgot that there was more to today’s ordeal than this.” He gestured to Inuyasha, who had begun to quietly hum in his medically-induced sleep.



Kagome blinked, recognizing a bit of the tune. Pushing herself to her feet, she came forward, leaning her ear close to her husband’s mouth as he began to form words.



“I might… be lost…”



Minoru watched, his concern growing, as Kagome’s hands gripped the bedsheets, and she threw her head back. As she sank to her knees, chest heaving with unshed sobs, he realized that, so far, she had been shutting everything inside, only giving the appearance of dealing with the stress of the day. He got to his feet, reaching for her… but something inside made him pause.



Maybe this is just what she needs…



Kagome collapsed against Inuyasha, her knees meeting the hard floor. Sobs racked her entire body, reducing her to a crying, quivering mass against his still form. “Inuyasha!” she cried out, and the rawness of her voice made Minoru’s chest tighten. “Inuyasha, you baka! I didn’t want you to do this – I never wanted you to do this! I wanted you to be healthy and happy and faithful – was it too much to ask? It must have been – you… you…” She hesitated, and Minoru thought that, maybe, she was done.



“Baka!”



Kagome broke off suddenly into a heartbreaking mixture of sobbing and screaming, and Minoru just stood there, eyes shining, and watched as she finally let herself break down for once.



“Baka! Baka! Bakaaaaa...” She cried harder, whimpering. Leaning her head down against Inuyasha’s right hip, Kagome sniffled. “I’m angry with you,” she murmured, the heat of her breath soaking into the blankets, “but I don’t want you to die. I never…” She broke off into more tears, unable to say anymore.



Next time:



Chapter Twenty-Four: With My Last Breath