The Heart’s Potential

Chapter 2—“Erasing Anonymity”

Author Note:  Another chapter of this one, before it gets buried under all of the other updates I have to make too deeply.  sweat-drop  And just for your information…. This will NOT (God forbid!!) be anything similar to—‘Kagome wakes up, takes one look at Sess, falls madly in love with him, and then lusts after him while Inuyasha angsts’…. If anyone out there raises an eyebrow actually thinks that sounds like a really good story, I fear you, and hope you never produce offspring in any way remotely taking after you. (hahahaha XD) Do I sound repetitive?  Probably, oh well.  I mourn for the sudden growth of sess/kag fics and lack of good iy/kag ones.  Woe is me. XD

Vocabulary:  

Wow…I don’t think there is any o.O

‘It isn’t fair……’

Inuyasha watched with an empty sense of detachment as Sesshoumaru nodded slowly at his consent, raising the Tenseiga and holding it out before him.  Wordlessly, Inuyasha straightened Kagome’s body out levelly on the ground and warily backed away some distance, and he… stared.  A moment ago he had felt an overwhelming sense of desperation… need…. and loss.  

But now there was nothing but an empty wave of emotion that smoothed over his despaired facial expression and wiped it clean, leaving nothing to remain but an impassive stare not unlike his brother’s own.  He couldn’t stop staring…

‘It isn’t fair……’

The sight of Kagome’s dead body burned into his mind.  Her blood, her hair, her clothes, her scent… her….closed eyes.  In a few moments… would those eyes really open again?  She would be alive; breathing, blinking, moving, …living.  That’s what he wanted more than anything…right?  ‘Of course that’s what I want…’

‘I want Kagome to live…’

But….

‘She…will love him…’

‘It isn’t fair……’

His eyes stung, and he wasn’t quite sure why so he closed them.  When the feeling passed and he opened them again his brother was eyeing something sharply along Kagome’s body that he couldn’t see.  Something sour twisted deep within his stomach, as Sesshoumaru seemed to come to a conclusion and pulled back the sword to strike.  Inuyasha had never witnessed his brother using Tenseiga to perform such a task before, but somehow he knew it would be over when that sword completed its swing.

A tight whirring noise reached his ears as the sword sliced through the air above Kagome’s body.  The small grotesque soul hunting demons diminished into dust, and a light blue glow seemed to settle into the girl’s body signally success of the process.  Inuyasha didn’t see it though.  He had closed his eyes at the first sound of the Tenseiga cutting through the air.  Sesshoumaru frowned.

“It is done…”

Inuyasha flinched, but didn’t look up.  The elder youkai grunted in distaste and moved to stand behind his dejected brother.

“How can you ask me to bring back this girl’s life, with so much at stake… and be dissatisfied with the result?”

There was no answer, and Sesshoumaru’s frown deepened. 

‘Kagome will be okay now…’ Inuyasha thought instead.  ‘Her eyes might even be open now…’ He wondered if it were true, but kept himself from looking.  The sour feeling was still there within him, he could feel it.

“She has not awakened, but she lives.” Sesshoumaru answered his silent question. Inuyasha knew Sesshoumaru was most likely angry.  He didn’t want Kagome’s love, he’d said so himself.  He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that he felt relieved at that.  But… he still couldn’t tell exactly what he was feeling.  Was he angry…?  No… he didn’t feel anger, that wasn’t the right word.

“I chose her…”

Sesshoumaru raised and eyebrow at the statement.  “Indeed.  But you understood the consequences of returning her life, did you not?”

Inuyasha turned to face his brother, taking unconscious care to keep his eyes away from Kagome’s body, and stood as best he could.  “I did.  I wanted her to live.  Above all else, that’s what it came down to. I’m satisfied as long as Kagome lives”

“And she does…”

“Yes…But I don’t know if it’s what she wanted.  What decision was more selfish I wonder…?”

Sesshoumaru raised his eyebrow yet again.  “Selfish?  I’m sure to any human living would be preferred over dying…”

Inuyasha frowned and shook his head.  “No, not that…” Sighing darkly, he quickly grew tired of standing and sought refuge in a sitting position once again.  A haunted expression settled across his face. 

“Selfish…I wondered if it was selfish for me to want her to live, with the consequences…”

‘Was it selfish of me to chose this…?’  To make Kagome live, and uncontrollably be drawn to his brother instead of him?  To make her love someone else when she might not have wanted to live if she couldn’t love him?  Or was that overestimating her love…?  This was stupid… He knew Kagome loved him, she told him so.  He chose her.  But… of course she’d want to be alive.  …Right? 

Sesshoumaru’s frown turned to a slight scowl as he took in the implications of his brothers words.   He understood, and the words sank deep, yet… It was nonsense to him. Inuyasha wanted her to live above all else.  That was that.  This was becoming so much more complicated than it had ever needed to be, in his opinion.  And the girl….

“The girl is starting to awaken, Inuyasha. Stop mumbling your incompetence.”

‘Kagome….’

‘Curse it all, that I have to deal with this!’  Inuyasha snarled at the news.  ‘Father I…’  No… He never knew his father, but his mother had loved him dearly that he knew.  He would not curse him, though he inwardly blamed it all on the blasted sword.  Kagome was alive.  ‘That’s all I’ll deal with now.  It’s Kagome.  We always got through everything before, somehow.’

With that reassurance, Inuyasha steeled himself enough to turn around.  But he was unprepared for the bright blinking eyes that stared back at him in light confusion. 

“Inuyasha…?”

To be continued……

Oooooh o.O  Interesting?  Hope so, hehe. At least I finally got it updated huh?  Ah, my life’s a bitch.  Any way, pleasure my writing mind and leave a review or email, or just be content to have read it   I’d like to know what ya think of this one though.  Happy reading, dears!