Plea of a Fading Soul X

Tessaiga sliced satisfactorily through Kanuono’s flesh, arcing downwards from his left shoulder to his right hip. He stared down in amazement, shocked and confused. Blood spilled out from the gash… but it wasn’t a gash as such, was it? It had completely sliced him in half… and he was falling – his severed body splitting in two as it connected with the ground.

Kanuono paled, white as a sheet, blood erupting from his mouth. He turned his head to gape at Inuyasha, helpless and disbelieving. He had not even seen the hanyou swing the blade. H-How could he have attacked so fast and so swiftly? The hanyou’s blows were always wild and predictable. He should know, he was borne of him – he was him.

But the silver-haired boy just stared back mercilessly, golden eyes burning.

Kanuono tried to raise his left hand, pleadingly, yet found it was disconnected – the nerves didn’t travel to the other severed half of his carcass.

He gasped for breath, sucking in what air he could, but it was no use. His body was destroyed and he was weak beyond belief. He was dying…

Inuyasha jammed Tessaiga into the ground and he bent down on one knee beside the dying Kanuono, eyes shut and his face full of rage still. “If you are really me,” he practically whispered. “Then why? Why would you try to kill Kagome when you…?”

Kanuono rasped a breath, blood spilling out of his mouth even now. “… Feel the same?”

Inuyasha’s eyes widened momentarily before he nodded. “Yes.”

“Because…” he coughed, turning to face him. “I would never, ever put her in danger.”

Inuyasha raised his head, confused. “What the–? That doesn’t make sense! Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of evil twin?”

“Just because I’m evil… doesn’t make me a complete opposite… I wanted what you had. Your life… I would’ve done anything to– t-to be you. Weakening you was the only way. Making you so afraid… I hoped to turn Kagome into my arms. That- That was before I met… her.”

“Her?”

“Meiko. She was the other side of me… And yet, because of how I am, I treated her… bad. I could not forget… Kagome.” Kanuono said hoarsely. He chuckled then, turning away. “She hated me for it. Yet she stayed by my side. And I realised… she was just like Kagome. In a way. Because just as I am you, she is Kagome.”

Inuyasha’s eyes widened. He did not know who this ‘Meiko’ was, but already he had begun to dislike her. He feared her, feared her reaction to him. If she was Kagome…

“But how? How did this happen?”

“All children inherit traits from their parents.” Kanuono grunted. And Inuyasha remembered. The person before him and been borne from his and Kagome’s fear… extracted from their souls.

“And you became my dark side, just as this Meiko became Kagome’s dark side.”

“… Exactly.” Kanuono nodded. He reached up and Inuyasha hated it, but found himself holding onto the guy’s hand. He didn’t even know why. It was just as if he had to.

The hanyou looked away. “You hate Kikyo?” he asked absently.

Kanuono laughed. “With every fibre of my being.”

Inuyasha looked down, gripping hard onto his enemy’s wrist. “Why?” he breathed.

He didn’t expect an answer at first, but then he felt the squeeze of fingers on his own and he dared to look back. Kanuono had shut his eyes. He looked so peaceful, smiling to himself as if the answer was so simple. “Because I love her.”

Inuyasha’s eyes widened. “Because you…?”

“Kagome, I hate. Kikyo, I hate. And most especially… I hate Meiko. Because love is the one thing I am afraid of. That is exactly what Meiko was born from. You’re love. And I detest her, loathe her, more than anything else in this universe. Because I am afraid of love; afraid of loving her. And Fear cannot be afraid.”

“So who do you love really?” Inuyasha asked, getting tired of this conversation, tired of all the different revelations that contradicted one another. “Come on. You can’t expect to love three people and get away with it. Who do you love the most?”

Kanuono still had his eyes shut at this point, but he opened one lazily. “The same could be said of you, Inuyasha.” He grinned. And it wasn’t a nice grin. It was a smile to frighten small children. “Who do you love the mo–?”

Inuyasha attempted to open his mouth to speak, but found the fingers on his were as cold as ice. And when he looked closely, Kanuono’s lips were blue. He’d stopped breathing. He was dead.

Inuyasha didn’t know whether to feel triumphant or feel weary. He let go of the figure’s hand like it were a poisonous spider and jerked away.

Blood stained the bottom of his kimono, and as he stood, he felt light-headed. Too much information was pressing itself into his brain. He felt so tired all of a sudden.

Sniffing the air, he could catch traces of Kagome’s scent – something he hadn’t been able to sense earlier. He looked down at the corpse on the floor and silently cursed Kanuono for tricking him, before taking off in the direction of the girl.

Hold on, Kagome… he thought desperately. For me…

***

Meiko came to a slow halt. She’d run blindly away from the cave, ran for dear life towards the forest in the distance and the clearing where she knew Kanuono would be. Kanuono! Kanuono, please be safe! She’d thought. Her heart had been pounding furiously and she’d thought she was going to throw up.

That all changed when she stepped out of the boundary of trees and into the clearing. There, lying limply on the floor, were two halves of Kanuono’s body, the furthest away being the half bearing his head. The closest to her was nothing but his left arm and legs.

She stumbled forward, tears blurring her vision before she ran the rest of the way towards her love, sobs erupting from her before she could even think to cry. She clutched onto half of his body, fussing over him and kissing his forehead. Tears ran down her cheeks as she clung onto him, noticing the traces of a mischievous smile still on his too-beautiful face.

He was dead. He’d been murdered – murdered by that Inuyasha.

Meiko clutched tighter onto Kanuono, sobbing into his chest now. She hated feeling the slick of blood against her body as she pulled him close, the smooth line that had dissected him rubbing against her body as she shuddered against his deformed corpse. But she didn’t care – couldn’t care.

She brushed his hair out of his face, her tears marring the perfection she saw there. Long, dark eyelashes rested against parchment-white skin. His lips were soft blue, the top lip slightly indenting the lower, with the signs of one of his lower fangs gracing his top lip. And then, he didn’t look so mischievous. He looked weak… vulnerable.

And he opened his eyes.

“Meiko,” he whispered, throatily. “You’re squeezing me to death.”

The girl gasped and dropped him abruptly, staring disbelieving at the talking corpse in front of her. And then the blood that had stained her clothes melted away and flowed back into Kanuono’s body.

The vital liquid that had pooled around him was slowly sucked back up. The pale pallor of his face vanished. He was tanned and healthy again, his lips no longer blue. Meiko couldn’t make out if he were more or less beautiful than before.

He attempted to sit up, but then looked down and cursed, noticing he was still half. “Fetch the rest of me, would you?” he asked.

Meiko blinked furiously a second before she giggled excitedly. “Hai, hai!” She ran and picked up the other side of his body, dragging it over. Kanuono winced but as she lined up the rest of his body against him, it merged as one. He was whole again. Alive and whole again.

Kanuono sat up, putting a hand to his head. “Remind me never to let him win again,” he growled, his eyes shining black.

The blonde youkai narrowed her eyes. “You let him do this to you? You let me worry about you? I thought you were dead! I read his thoughts – I knew he was gonna kill you, but I didn’t think he had that much fight left in him!”

Kanuono waved a hand to calm her, running a hand through her hair. She was shocked at his touch, completely confused that he was reacting the way he did, but she let his fingers run through her hair, let his hand lay on her shoulder when he’d finished. She drank in his warm smile… even if it only lasted for one split-second.

“I told him a lot more information than I planned to, but I can take it in my stride.” he stood up, his insane expression back on his face. Meiko groaned inwardly. “Kanuono…”

“Now, now. There’s fun to be had here. He seriously thinks I’m in love with Kagome and Kikyo. Yes, I made it slightly overdramatic but- Meiko?”

The miko standing before him had turned away, clenched her fists and bowed her head. “Yes, master?” she let the word curl off her tongue as if it were a swear word.

Kanuono gulped taking a step backwards. “Meiko, you don’t seriously believe–?”

The girl turned and her face was so completely lost that Kanuono found himself hating her even more.

“You’re using me! You nearly killed me a mere half-hour ago and you’re acting like this? Running your hand through my hair, acting like it never happened – I am not your puppet! You can’t toy with someone’s affections just like-!”

He clamped a hand over her mouth, leaning in close and whispering ‘shh’ to calm her. The girl just narrowed her eyes further. “Get bent,” she said, the sound muffled by his palm.

But Kanuono wasn’t finished with her. He locked her to his side, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her so close that she could hardly breathe. He licked her cheek once, affectionately, but his face was still that of a madman. She was afraid of him. Kami, she loved him, yes, but she was terrified of him.

“I need you, my sweet.” He told her, almost teasingly. “I sprung the good guy act on Inuyasha but now it’s the final match. He will be dashing off towards Kikyo and Kagome. Meanwhile, they’re both confused as to what is really going on. They think I hate you, and they think we’re gonna kill Kikyo – but it’s not gonna happen like that.”

Meiko stared for a moment, trying to let this information sink in before she jerked out of his arms. “You tricked me? You lied to me?”

“On the contrary, I’m telling you the truth now. I just did that to you earlier to get an honest reaction out of you – one they would believe. Inuyasha thinks I’m dead. He doesn’t know Kikyo is in that cave with Kagome. But pretty soon they will inform him, or Kagome will, that Kikyo is about to be corrupted.”

“… And then he protects Kikyo,” Meiko nodded slowly, understanding. “When we’re going after Kagome.”

Kanuono’s smile was huge, maniacal. “Exactly,” he grinned, kissing her suddenly on the cheek. “We kill Kagome and Inuyasha’s guilt – his fear –”

“His love,” Meiko cut in, grinning back up at him.

“… Is ours for the rest of our days. He didn’t protect her. Was he not worthy of her? Was he never meant to have her?”

“Did he not love her? Did she not love him?” Meiko finished. “He’ll always be reminded of it, always the fear and love and hurt will come back to him. And we’re really set up for life.”

Kanuono laughed. “You didn’t think I’d let there be a happy ending, did you?” he jeered, taking hold of her hand and beginning to lead her away through the forest.

Meiko followed him, a silly smile on her face. But then she turned cold. Inuyasha wouldn’t kill himself if we did such a thing…would he? She continued to walk but suddenly the world seemed to be suspended. She was questioning herself. And she hated it.

If we do this… What if he misses her so much, he follows her? Kanuono and I would die then. She looked up at the dark-haired youkai dragging her through the trees, his expression determined. She didn’t want him to die. She squeezed his fingers tightly, her eyes full of worry. He couldn’t die… she loved him too much. Without him, her life was over. She couldn’t live without him.

And if I feel like that, how would Inuyasha feel if Kagome were taken from him?

Meiko felt as if she were falling through a void, with nothing above nor beneath her. She was simply falling.

Questioning this plan of Kanuono’s was questioning her love for him. If she let Inuyasha and Kagome live – their love could keep her going for all eternity. And Kanuono could play with them all he wanted, keeping himself alive.

If he killed Kagome, he would, in affect, kill Inuyasha. And then they’d die in turn.

So if she let the two go…

Meiko glanced up at Kanuono, who had a vicious smile on his face.

No, she couldn’t let them go. Kanuono would never let her. He’d kill her first. Or I’d have to kill him. Her mind whispered. She clenched her free hand, slamming her eyes shut as the forest dissolved around her. No! The reason she was even thinking of this was to save the both of them so they could live for all eternity forever. She loved him, she couldn’t kill him! She wouldn’t!

She opened her eyes slowly, and found he was glancing at her. Kanuono’s expression was malicious and bloodthirsty, as if he even craved her to die. “Meiko…” he said. “When this is over, I promise you that you and I are gonna have a happy ending of our own.”

But remembering what he had said earlier about no happy endings, Meiko couldn’t be sure.