Chapter Text
Chapter 1
"She isn't real,
I can't make her real."
Vermilion - Slipknot
It was the end.
There was no way around it, no way to put it delicately.
The entire year, no, her entire life had led up to this moment.
From the time of her birth, she unknowingly harbored the Shikon no Tama in her body and now, finally, she was so close to ending the nightmare that Naraku had created in the time that she called home.
When had home ceased to be Tokyo? In her own time? With Mom, Souta, and Grandpa?
She had a feeling it had something to do with the hanyou whose mark she bore on her left shoulder. Whether familial or not, she was connected to him and he to her in a twist of events that neither regretted, but neither fully embraced nor understood.
And it looked as if they were running out of time.
"Inuyasha!"
Bakusaiga soared through the air, causing Kagome to jump back and raise her hands to protect the hanyou that was being so ridiculously reckless. The energy of her reiki flowed through her fingertips and flashes of lilac and rose burst from her, creating a dome around Sesshomaru as he swung true. His blade sliced through Naraku's hip as Tessaiga matched the other side.
Seeing the demon that had caused her life to literally turn upside down, bleeding from both sides of his body made a part of her happy.
Relieved.
But, it wasn't over.
Sesshomaru landed and glanced over his shoulder, his blade imposing as it nearly touched the ground. His eyes held some of the red tint that she had become so accustomed to, but the gold was still predominate enough that she deemed him safe.
"Priestess – "
"I know, I know!" She yelled. Her bow lay beside her and she easily picked it up. The arrow was nocked, her reiki crowding her inside of a secure bubble as Sesshomaru hovered nearby.
A sharp pain dug itself into her shoulder and she unwilling let the arrow go, widely missing its mark and nearly hitting the daiyokai.
The regal demon glared, sidestepping the purified arrow with a huff. "Priestess, focus on the task at hand."
"Inuyasha!" She screamed, completely unbothered by the way his brother curled his lip over his fangs.
That was it. The mark she wore, the mark they shared, was screaming out to her, begging her to listen. Where had Inuyasha gone? He was there a moment ago.
Pain radiated through her body as she crashed against the ground. The bow lay forgotten.
Time seemed to stand still.
There was no sound, no urgency, nothing.
Big blue eyes scanned the clearing where they were making their final stand. It hadn't been planned and it hadn't been easy, yet they were there.
Miroku and Sango lay further from the clearing, Shippou hovering and trying to make sure they survived. Kirara had taken to the skies, but Kagome could no longer see her.
The pain in her chest told her something awful had happened to her bondmate. Something irreversible.
The reiki around her seemed to sputter and fizzle out as a sense of dread overwhelmed her. Blood coated the front of her shirt from a wound she didn't have. Tears fell from her eyes.
This was the end.
"Priestess!" Sesshomaru barked. It was so unlike him to express any sort of emotion other than disdain or aloofness. It was almost enough to pull her from the weight of the battle, but not quite.
"I can't do it," she whispered more to herself.
"You're Kagome."
The girl in question smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear as she looked at the mark on her shoulder. It was a sunrise without a sun, rust in color and stark against her pale skin. It was as if it was a watercolor; not quite defined enough, but still beautiful.
"I know that," she responded, her eyes saw her own mark on him, matching but in a deep blue color. "But…sometimes I wonder if you do."
Inuyasha paused. His ears twitched for just a moment before he grunted. "Keh. I know who you are, wench. I marked you because…you're mine. My friend, my companion, and we'll figure out the rest when Naraku is behind us."
"I'm not Kikyo," she whispered.
"No," he readily agreed. He grinned, flashing his fangs at her. "I wouldn't mark just anyone, y'know. I need you in my life, okay? Get that stupid look off your face!"
Kagome giggled. Her fingertips brushed against her mark and she smiled so wide her face hurt. "You love me."
"What? No!"
"You do! Admit it!"
"No!" He growled. "Well, maybe a little bit. But don't tell anyone!"
Kagome didn't know where she got the strength. Whether it be from the Kamis, the mark on her shoulder, or the general will to live. But, against all odds, she managed to stand despite the gaping hole in her chest that didn't have an injury. Her bow found a home in her hand and an arrow was nocked and ready.
Sesshomaru stared at the priestess in wonder. She trembled, but her reiki stretched and stretched, encompassing the demon lord and everything around them in a blush color that, thankfully, didn't purify him. His eyes widened in alarm at the scent of blood that seemed to coat the air, coming from the young woman next to him.
He recognized her stance of a determined soldier, one he had seen many times in the Western lands.
The smaller demons flocked to the orb around her, none of them making it past and being purified to ash at the barrier.
"Priestess, you must."
Kagome didn't hear him. She didn't hear anything other than the blood pounding in her ears, the reiki crackling over her skin, the way Inuyasha said her name…
"Kagome!"
A battle cry was torn from her throat as the arrow slipped through her fingers and sailed through the air with deadly accuracy. The tip of the arrow glowed a rust color and met Naraku's flesh with a wet thud. Pieces of the jewel fell around him in a circle, lighting up as soon as her second arrow was nocked.
"Inuyasha!" She whispered harshly, letting the second arrow go.
Her heart ached despite the satisfaction at seeing Naraku on the ground, the demons that he commanded dead.
The daiyoukai wouldn't take any chances. As soon as the other demon's body hit the ground, he raised his sword and easily hacked apart what remained, leaving the priestess's arrows intact.
Kagome watched with some sort of sick fascination before she waved her hand and purified what remained. The ashes were carried away on the wind, leaving behind a dark scorch on the earth that would remain for much longer than she would be alive.
Especially since her time was rapidly expiring.
Her knees met the harsh ground once again, but this time she didn't fight it. The bow slipped from her grasp and it was with a startling realization that she didn't know how any of this was really supposed to end.
In theory, once Naraku was defeated, she would be free to live the life she wanted with her friends. The Bone-Eater's Well would remain open and she could visit her family while maintaining a life in the era she had chosen instead of the one she was born into.
Miroku and Sango would have a house-full of kids with Kirara and Shippou by their side. They would settle in Kaede's village and not want for a thing because they were there when Naraku was defeated. They had broken the wheel that had kept them all hostage.
She and Inuyasha were supposed to figure out their lives, what they wanted from each other and want their marks meant outside of the love they shared.
Her mark.
It burnt in the worst way, reminding her that, somewhere, Inuyasha was lying. But she couldn't do anything. He had already left this world and left her behind.
Her reiki receded back into her body, the color now a rust that reflected her mark.
"Kagome!"
It was not the voice she so desperately wanted to hear. Not the voice of the annoyed hanyou that had cared about her enough to tie their lives together.
Shippou looked up at her in worry. "Kagome? Are you okay? You're bleeding!"
She swallowed harshly, forcing a smile onto her exhausted face. "Are Sango and Miroku okay?"
The kitsune wrinkled his brow, but nodded anyway. "They're okay! Naraku must've hit 'em pretty hard, but they're okay."
She nodded. It was more taxing than she thought. "Good. I'm so proud of you, Shippou."
"Kagome?" His voice trembled in worry. "Kagome, stay awake!"
When had she closed her eyes? Probably around the same time she pitched forward into the dirt of the ground.
The same time as the sound around her stopped altogether.
Including her heart.