Redemption

Redemption
By Stardreamer
Song lyrics from ‘What I’ve Done’ by Linkin’ Park
Inuyasha and characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi
All are used here without permission. No profit may be made from this work.
Author’s Notes: I never really liked the concept of the song fic but every now and then I run across a song that just fits a character so perfectly. That was my reaction to hearing ‘What I’ve Done’. After a few moments of reflection I thought, this just screams out Kohaku. This alternative story would take place sometime after the period when Naraku let Onigumo free for a while but before Kohaku started regaining his independence. If I’ve messed up that timeline, hey its an alternate storyline.

Redemption

Standing behind Naraku and Onigumo on the ledge, Kohaku surveyed the drama unfolding below.

In the end, the trap had been ridiculously simple to set. Kagura had tried to keep the secret of Inuyasha’s weakness from Naraku but the Demon had discovered her deception and punished her appropriately. Armed with that knowledge, Naraku had waited and planned for the next new moon; carefully laying his webs. Inuyasha’s pitiful little band had fallen so predictably to the rumors he had planted concerning Kohaku. Inuyasha had also predictably refused to stay behind despite his on-coming mortal state.

They had come rushing into the cavern so willing, flies into his carefully prepared web. Instead of mortally wounded Kohaku, they had found another beyond mortality. The undead priestess Kikyo had tried to warn them. The warning came too late due to her immobile state brought about by the Miko suppressing magic that filled the cavern. By time the trap became clear the barrier Naraku has set had sealed the cavern.

Naraku and his minions watched from a ledge above, safe from any counterattack, behind Naraku’s barrier. Below the Demon miasma filled the cavern. Kohaku watched as Sango, the strange girl who claimed to be his sister, removed her mask, the only defense against the evil vapors, and put in on Kagome. Kohaku stared intently at Sango’s face as she struggled against the poisons.

~~~

In this farewell
There’s no blood
There’s no Alibi

“NOOOOO!” Onigumo cried out.
The once Human thief whose desire and jealousy for the Priestess Kikyo had given birth to Naraku struggled against the tentacles that held him.
“Kukukukuku, Yes Onigumo,” Naraku laughed. “Say your farewell to the woman that plagued us both. Once she is gone my hold over you will be complete.”

Cause I’ve drawn regret
For the Truth
Of a thousand lies

Kohaku stared at Sango’s dying face and he felt them banging at the barrier in his mind, the memories he had so willing surrendered himself to Naraku’s service to escape.
“You have to remember Kohaku,” Inuyasha had told him when they had first met. “It’s the only way you can be free of Naraku.”
He watched as Sango dropped to her knees, hand at her throat. Softly barely heard even by himself came one word, “Sister” and his mind added another line to Inuyasha’s; ‘it’s the only way to save your sister.’
In his mind, he turned to the door of his memories sealed at his request by Naraku and threw it open.

So let mercy come
And wash away
What I’ve done!

As another of Onigumo’s cries echoed through the cavern, only Kagura noticed the other cry it eclipsed. She watched with interest as Naraku’s pet boy dropped to his knees staring at his hands and the weapon they held.
‘He is remembering,’ she thought and held up her fan, ready to call the winds that were hers to command if needed.
She was uncertain what he would do in response to his reawakened memories. Mortals were so unpredictable, but it was her duty to stop him if he tried to kill Naraku; unless of course it looked like he would succeed.

Blood…everywhere there was blood. His father and the others lying sprawled in their own blood; the same blood that stained the weapon in his hand.
‘I killed them.’ He thought to himself as he slowly raised his scythe, staring at the edge.

I’ve faced myself
To cross out what I’ve become
Erase myself
And let go of what I’ve done!

Kagura watched as Kohaku raised his weapon over his head, posed not to throw.
‘He is going to kill himself, how dull.’
She lowered her fan, apparently unneeded after all.

Put to rest
What you thought of me
Well I cleaned this slate
With the hands of uncertainty

Kohaku looked at blade over his head. One thrust, a brief moment of pain and all the other pain would be gone.

So let mercy come
And wash away
What I’ve done!

“Kohaku!”
The sound of his name made him pause. He looked beyond Naraku and Onigumo at his sister, gasping her last breath, reaching out to him. Before him Naraku laughed but Kohaku’s sight was drawn to Onigumo. The Human thief had a scar on his back. It reminded him of the scar that now resided on his sister’s back, the scar he had given her in his bloody attack. But Onigumo’s scar was larger and spider shaped, just like the scar on Naraku’s back…and suddenly he understood.

I’ve faced myself
To cross out what I’ve become
Erase myself
And let go of WHAT I’VE DONE!

“Nooo!” Onigumo cried again.
He looked on at Kikyo, reduced to a undead shell and even that was failing before his eyes. He turned to look at the laughing Naraku above him. Since willingly being consumed by the Demon horde, he had lain in a semi-conscious state. Aside from a single brief moment of freedom, he was oblivious to what had transpired since Naraku’s birth.

But now as part of his plan to finally crush the Human at heart of his being, Naraku has shared his memories of what had happened. Onigumo looked on and realized that all his greed, his lusts and desires were what had given birth to this evil.
“What have I done?” He cried aloud.
Naraku grinned. Yes, Onigumo, that annoying Human aspect of him, was finally beginning to break. He turned to gloat over the Human when Onigumo’s face suddenly turned from grief to shock.

For what I’ve done
I’ll start again

It had been a major risk. Naraku had always woven his deceits remotely, subtly, always limiting his risk. The risk, however of coming here, had warranted it. He stood now on the brink of total victory, a victory that would make him one of the most powerful Demons in the world and leave all his rivals dead at his feet or subjugated. It had involved coming here in person to this place where his demon puppet magic would not work. Worse while he had grown powerful enough to overcome the resistance Onigumo had presented to his actions against Kikyo, he needed to remove Onigumo from himself to do so. His previous experience with doing so had taught him well and this body Onigumo now possessed was almost mortal with hardly any demonic power at all. But that too was a risk. But he had surrounded the ledge on which he stood with an impenetrable barrier. Only Inuyasha’s sword could threaten it and the Hanyou could not weald it during the moonless night.

So his plans came to pass and he felt complete satisfaction as his enemies died below and Onigumo’s resistance at last cracked. A satisfaction that was now shattered as the Human thief looked down in shock at the Demon bone weapon protruding from his chest.
“Kohaku,” Naraku turned screaming. “What have you done?”

And whatever pain may come
Today this ends
I’m forgiving What I’ve Done!!!

Tentacles whipped out, ripping into the body of the young Demon Slayer. As Onigumo fell to the floor, he reached out his hands towards the still form of Kikyo below.
“Kikyo,” he rasped and lay still.
The beating heart of Onigumo, Human thief and heart of the Demon Naraku beat its last and stilled.

I’ve faced myself
To cross out what I’ve become
Erase myself
And let go of WHAT I’VE DONE!

All around the cavern the barriers that made up the death trap failed. The toxic miasma dispersed as a breeze swept in from the cave entrance. Kohaku jerked and spasmed as his body was torn asunder. But even as pain and death took him, he smiled. Smiled because he saw what Naraku had not noticed yet, the light of the morning sun in the cave entrance.

What I’ve Done
Forgiving WHAT I’VE DONE!!!

Naraku writhed, his body spasming and twisting. Without the Human heart that was the anchor of his amalgam of Demons, the minor Demons that made up his body were suddenly awake and struggling for freedom. It took all his power to try and stop the inevitable collapse. So intense was his concentration on keeping them together, he missed Kagura summoning the winds that were hers to command and fleeing the cavern with her sister Kana. Nor did the he register the final sound he would hear until it was too late.
“WIND SCAR!”