This is the first Inu-Yasha fic I have written that does not take place in the Golden Age of Pirates; rather, this is a story that takes place in the ‘90’s, in a large city similar to New York or Chicago, if that helps. Inu-Yasha and several other characters belong to a secret society called the Order, dedicated to keeping the city safe from evil demons.
In this story, the battle with Naraku happened in the past, and it was during that battle when the Shikon jewel was shattered. The Order is now trying to gather all the shards while keeping them from the hands of demons.
All right, I think that’s enough background information. Let’s begin.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Inu-Yasha, seeing as he is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.
Guilty Hero
Chapter 1: Time Isn’t Healing This…
Anyone looking out at the park that brisk autumn night would have seen quite the dreadful sight. A spider the size of a three story building is rarely considering pleasing, but when that spider is made of pure muscle and has made a web of its body across the surrounding buildings, it is enough to make any normal person faint. Good thing the one combating this hideous monster was no normal human.
“Inu-Yasha…” the spider rasped, the rusty, malicious voice coming from its humanoid head near the center of the web of flesh. “I never thought that I would get the chance to fight such a mighty half-demon.”
“Feh. Then at least one wish has come true before you die,” snapped a rough, slightly slurred voice in reply. It came from the wiry human figure crouched in a fighting position directly underneath the spider, his dull gold eyes staring up at his target. With little warning, he sprang straight up, his claws bared to strike at the soft underbelly of the monster.
“Hah! Fool!” For one so enormous, the spider moved even faster than Inu-Yasha, drawing all its legs inward and turning its entire body into a ball of flesh and hair that imprisoned Inu-Yasha, pinning his limbs with an agonizing force.
“The chance to fight that mighty half-demon is long gone, boy…” the spider continued, a new head emerging in front of Inu-Yasha inside the trap. “I shall have to make do with the pathetic drunkard I have before me!”
Inu-Yasha groaned in pain and the pressure on his limbs increased, and soon his right arm gave way with a loud crack!.
The spider chuckled with joy upon hearing the sound and opened his mouth wide, giving Inu-Yasha a clear view of his fangs, dripping with venom. “But I wonder… Does the slayer of the mighty Naraku even have the strength to withstand my poison?”
Roaring with pain as the fangs embedded themselves in his neck, Inu-Yasha struggled to free his left arm—his only weapon left.
“Hah ha!” the spider laughed, responding to Inu-Yasha’s efforts by nearly crushing the half-demon completely. “Can you not even squish a bug? What has happened to that undefeatable power that broke the mightiest demon of all?” Listening eagerly to Inu-Yasha’s pained growls as he struggled against the legs enveloping him, the spider continued to taunt, clearly enjoying the game. “I heard that you were in quite the rage during that fateful battle… Over a woman, if I’m not mistaken. A human, turned to join the demon forces. How brave of her…”
The poison seeping quickly through his veins and his lungs about to burst, Inu-Yasha groaned weakly.
Pleased to see that his prey was not going to last much longer, the spider continued its tale, goading the half-demon in his last moments. “The woman’s name was… Kikyo, correct? Yes, your lover, as was common knowledge amongst us demons. Needless to say, we all were quite surprised to discover her lifeless body, mangled by YOUR claws—“
“Shut UP!!!” Inu-Yasha bellowed, and tore his left arm free with a sudden surge of strength fueled by fury. Swiftly, before the spider could react to his burst of power, his claws went right between the spider’s eyes, going straight through the head and killing it instantly.
Silence flooded his senses as the pressure on his chest was relieved when the enormous web dissolved, fading away to nothing. Inu-Yasha dropped to the ground, something clenched in his fist. For several minutes he lay still on the cool grass, panting heavily as his own blood dripped steadily from the two punctures on his neck, staining his white hair red. He was unable to move from the paralyzing venom, but he knew his demon blood would eventually neutralize it.
His ears twitched as he heard two cars pull into the park, and his struggled to open his eyes. Praying that it was who he was expecting and not some unsuspecting passerby, he tried to focus his blurry vision on the approaching figures.
“Inu-Yasha,” one of them said, and the demon recognized the voice of his friend Miroku. “Are you conscious?”
He growled slightly, since his tongue was refusing to work. Slowly, he shook his left fist, trying to get their attention on it.
“Ah,” said the other figure in understanding. “The bug had a jewel shard, did it? No wonder it was so powerful. Our suspicions were correct.” Flipping her brown ponytail over her shoulder, she began to pry Inu-Yasha’s fist open, her fingers slipping on the blood that coated it. “But still, Inu-Yasha, even if it had a jewel shard, this should have been much easier than what it was.”
“Now Sango…” Miroku chastised gently as Inu-Yasha growled again. “There’s no need to bring that up. It’s over now, that’s what’s important.”
“Hmph. Well, we did obtain another shard. I suppose the only thing that turned out poorly was Inu-Yasha getting hurt worse than usual.”
“Well, he’s not as good of a fighter as he used to be. Some injuries are bound to happen.”
This time, Inu-Yasha was able to manage a snarl. He dearly wished he could move so he could deal out the pummeling that Sango and Miroku so greatly deserved for talking about him like that. Why did it seem as though everyone wanted to note of how poor his fighting skills were tonight?
The two looked down at him, completely unfazed by his furious expression. “Do you need to see Kaede for your wounds? It looks like you’ve been poisoned.” Miroku touched the holes in his neck.
Inu-Yasha uttered a low growl and shook his head as much as he could. The last thing he wanted was to be pinched, poked, prodded, and berated by Old Lady Kaede, who, though a miracle-worker when it came to nursing wounded demons, never failed to expose all of your faults and shame you on them as she treated you. No, what he would rather have was a smoke, a stiff drink, and a week-long nap—none of which he would get in Kaede’s hospital.
Sighing, Miroku put his arm underneath Inu-Yasha’s head and began to lift the demon over his shoulders. “I’ll take you home, then. Sango, if you would—“
“I’ll take the shard back to HQ and meet you at the lab when you’re finished.” It was a routine they had gone through many times.
With that clear, Sango left the park while Miroku dragged Inu-Yasha to his car and carefully laid him in the backseat. “Try and keep as still as possible; you’ll help the venom spread faster if you move about too much.”
Inu-Yasha gave him a withering glare as he closed the door. What else could he do but keep still if he could hardly move at all?
The drive to his apartment was quiet and uneventful, although he could still feel blood oozing from his neck, which was burning painfully. However, he was slowly gaining control of his limbs, and even his eyesight wasn’t near as blurry as before. When they reached his apartment building and Miroku helped him out of the car, he could tell Miroku was relieved to see him moving more on his own—carrying the dog demon up six flights of stairs was not a task the man looked forward to, due to many bad experiences.
It took a few minutes, but they reached Inu-Yasha’s apartment without incident. As he helped the demon sit down on the stained couch, Miroku glanced around in disgust at the state of the apartment. Crushed cigarette cartons and overflowing ashtrays crowded the tables, while the counter in the kitchen was cluttered with dirty tumblers and three empty bottles. On the kitchen sat a partial-full glass and a near-empty bottle of whiskey, a sign of what activity the demon had partaken in earlier.
“Do you ever clean up around here?”
Inu-Yasha snorted, awkwardly opening a new carton and pulling a fresh cigarette out with only his left hand. He’d been dying for a smoke since the end of the fight, but had refrained until now since he knew Miroku didn’t appreciate the smell of the smoke, particularly in his car. However, with his patience stretched thin and exhaustion and pain settling in his bones, he refused to wait any longer. He decided to see it as a small payback for the insults Miroku had dealt him back in the park.
“Feh…” he growled. “What are you, my mother?”
“I should certainly hope not, seeing as how she’s dead,” Miroku called over his shoulder as he walked down the hall to the bathroom to snag the first aid kit.
Frowning at the comment, Inu-Yasha stuck the cigarette in his mouth and felt around in his pockets for a lighter, cursing when he pulled out a handful of plastic shards and bits of metal. “Damn spider must’ve broken it…” he muttered, scattering the broken pieces on the side table. “Miroku, you got a light?”
“Honestly…” the man said as he exited the bathroom. “You know I don’t smoke.” Despite the rebuke, he stepped into the kitchen and retrieved a new lighter from the junk drawer before re-entering the living room and tossing the lighter to Inu-Yasha. “You shouldn’t either, you know,” he continued, jerking Inu-Yasha’s bloody shirt off and ignoring the startled yelp of pain. “It repels the ladies, and you, my friend, are in desperate need of a woman’s touch.”
“Do we have to go through this every time…?” Inu-Yasha muttered, lighting his cigarette. “It’s gettin’ old.”
“I’m just trying to pass on some good advice, is all,” Miroku replied innocently, wiping blood off the demon’s battered torso. “A woman can do wonders to a man. Why, if we find you the right girl, she could have you cleaned up, sober, and presentable to the public eye! Wouldn’t that be something?”
“You’re lucky I don’t have the strength to punch you in the face right now, you bastard…” Inu-Yasha growled, sending a puff of smoke in Miroku’s direction.
“That’s precisely why I choose these moments to bring up such subjects. But if you wish, we can talk about other things…” He tossed the red-stained cloth aside and regarded the demon’s broken arm. “Such as—“ In one quick motion, before the demon even noticed, he snapped the bones into the correct place with a loud crack that was punctured by Inu-Yasha’s groan of pain. “—your performance this evening.”
“What about it?” Inu-Yasha muttered through clenched teeth, trying not to cry out again as Miroku quickly got his arm into a splint.
“It was sloppy. Very sloppy. You shouldn’t be getting wounded at all, but to allow yourself to be poisoned? How did that happen?”
A sneer tugged at the demon’s lips while Miroku tied off the bandage. “D’you think you could’ve done better?” he snapped.
Pausing in his work, Miroku glanced up into Inu-Yasha’s dull gold eyes. “I do,” he replied honestly. “And I think it is a sad day when a mere human with a gun can do a better job killing a monster than a half-demon.” He picked up an alcohol swab and started cleaning the two puncture wounds on Inu-Yasha’s neck. “Of course, when I’m sent to kill a demon, I don’t usually do it with a bottle of Jack Daniels in my bloodstream.”
That was the final straw. Tired of being berated at every turn concerning this fight with the spider, Inu-Yasha grabbed Miroku’s collar and pulled him so close that he was afraid the demon’s cigarette was going to burn his cheek. “I’d like to see YOU go through all the hell that I have and try to make it through the day without a little help.”
Scoffing, Miroku easily pried Inu-Yasha’s claws off his shirt, the demon being so weak, and went back to dressing the neck wounds. “A little help? That ‘little help’ has grown quite a bit over the years. And concerning your job, it’s not so much of a ‘little help’, but rather a ‘big liability’.”
Wishing he could have a ‘little help’ to keep himself from tearing one of his only two friends to shreds, Inu-Yasha remained silent, fuming while Miroku worked. Finally, just as Miroku taped the last bandage in place, Inu-Yasha mumbled, “You didn’t give me enough time to sober up before sending me to kill that bug…”
“The Order doesn’t work on your time, Inu-Yasha!” Miroku snapped in reply, his tone harsh. “Our enemies do not wait to attack when it is most convenient for you to combat them! The Order does not show sympathy towards its members’ personal mistakes—not even yours. When your drinking impairs your fighting ability, we cannot let that behavior go unchecked.”
“I still killed that damn spider!” Inu-Yasha snarled back, his face red from barely controlled anger. “And I got your precious little jewel shard as well! What are you complaining about?! I did the job I was told to do!”
“But because you were half-drunk, you got injured. And because you’re injured, the Order has to wait until we can call upon your services again. There are many jobs out there that can only be done by you, and it is as I said—our enemies do not wait.” Standing, he carefully placed all the supplies in the first aid kit and went into the kitchen to throw the bloody swabs away.
When he returned to the living room, he stopped in front of Inu-Yasha, who was glaring down at his broken arm, strangely quiet. “Your efforts don’t go unappreciated, you know,” he said, his tone much gentler. “The Order is grateful that you’re furthering our search for the Shikon shards. Your pay will be deposited into your account.”
Inu-Yasha didn’t even acknowledge his presence, so, sighing lightly, Miroku made for the door. Pausing before he left, he said as a good-bye, “Take it easy for a couple of days; your wounds will heal much faster if you do.”
“Just leave…” Inu-Yasha said quietly, so Miroku slipped out without another word.
As he made his way down the stairs to his car, he shook his head in pity for the demon. Seven years… he thought sadly. It’s been that long since the fight with Naraku, and he’s still... He thought back to what Inu-Yasha had said to him: “I’d like to see YOU go through all the hell that I have and try to make it through the day without a little help.”
The demon had been through hell. Shunned from the day he was born by both humans and demons, Inu-Yasha had grown up knowing only a cruel world that he had to make his own place in. He hated and was hated by all he came in contact with. Even when the Order, an organization created by humans and good-aligned demons to fight the growing demonic threat to the city, offered Inu-Yasha a place in its ranks, he still had sixteen years of hatred fueling his anger towards society.
It was a young woman by the name of Kikyo who convinced him to join the Order in the first place. She was the first person who did not just see past his mixed blood, but rather ignored it entirely, focusing solely on him and his emotions. It took many months, but eventually he was able, due to her unceasing efforts to show him all that he had missed in his childhood, to let go of all the hatred he had in his heart and try and do things for good. Through that counseling, love had blossomed between the two companions, and, after three years of working together for the Order, Inu-Yasha proposed to Kikyo, and she accepted.
But as the months progressed, their relationship grew more and more strained. Inu-Yasha was doing his best to show her his love, which had always had difficulty doing, but it was Kikyo who was growing more distant. Confused by her rejection, Inu-Yasha was even more mortified to learn that, due to the Order’s secret intelligence, she was Naraku’s number two in the entire plan, playing the role of a double-agent. But, strangely enough, due to Kikyo’s teachings, he continued to love her with all his heart, though frustrated with her allegiance.
During this time, the evil demons had been taking a stance in the city, with Naraku as their all-powerful leader. Merely one month before Inu-Yasha and Kikyo were to be wed, the final epic battle broke out, the battle that was to determine the fate of the city for centuries to come. As the enormous number of demons flooded the battlefield in the middle of the city, met by the much smaller force of Order members, it was none other than Inu-Yasha who had the prime opportunity to destroy the mighty Naraku, but Kikyo stood as the final obstacle.
She did her best to convince him to join the demon side and take control of the city, but he couldn’t comply. When he refused, she shot him, then turned to join Naraku for the final attack. With her powerful priestess powers combined with Naraku’s demonic power, they would be unstoppable, and the city would plunge into darkness under their rule. Inu-Yasha knew this and, though it completely broke his heart, he was forced to kill his bride-to-be with his own claws. Then, broken, he flew into a vicious rage at Narkau for poisoning Kikyo with thoughts of power and greatness, his grief giving him the strength to defeat the villain and save the city.
Miroku sighed, climbing into his car and bringing it to life. After that day, Inu-Yasha had never been the same. He was desensitized, uncaring. He turned to drink to ease the ache of her betrayal and the guilt over her death, and he had yet to recover.
By now… Miroku though bitterly, buckling his seat belt and driving off, …it’s going to take a miracle to bring him back.
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I hope you enjoyed this first installment of ‘Guilty Hero’. Please review with compliments and constructive criticism.