Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Solace	By : Brightdreamer Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > Kouga/InuYasha Views: 5372 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Awakening
- 2-Shock
- 3-Numb
- 4-Catharsis
- 5-Quest
- 6-Routine
- 7-Mortal
- 8-Beginning
- 6
- 7
- 8
Author: Eloy Brightdreamer

Rating: R

Genre: Angst/Romance

Summary: After a terrible tragedy strikes, how will Inuyasha and Kouga cope?

Warnings:

1. YAOI! This means romance and/or sex involving two male characters. Don't like it? Don't read it!

2. Character death.
A/N: Wow, I actually got this one done fairly quickly! Hopefully the inspiration will keep flowing. ^_^ As always, thanks to Aria, my wonderful betareader, and to Rich for giving me inspirational fanart!
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Chapter 6: Mortal
Several hours later, Kouga was feeling optimistic. There had been no sign of youkai of any kind, and he was beginning to think that Inuyasha's paranoia had been for nothing. In fact, it was becoming difficult to remain alert, sitting motionless on the ground. After a yawn nearly split his face in two, he jumped up and began pacing in slow circles.
A sound from behind him made him whirl around. Nothing seemed to be there, but Kouga's attuned senses were screaming at him that danger was approaching. He sniffed the air and focused his attention on a patch of tall reeds at the bank of the river. After a few moments, the noise was repeated: a low hiss, followed by the sound of something large moving through the vegetation.

Kouga quickly hopped down and nudged Inuyasha with his foot. "Wake up," he whispered loudly. "Something's coming."

The human awoke instantly and leapt to his feet, fully alert. "Where?"
Before Kouga could answer, the youkai exploded out of the grass. It was a snake-type, and when it reared up, it was easily twice the height of the two men. Silver and blue scales covered it, and its belly was yellow. But what held Kouga's attention were the wicked-looking fangs that were revd whd when the creature opened its mouth.
"Give me the Shikon Jewel," the snake youkai demanded in a loud, sibilant voice.
Kouga grinned. "Can't you guys ever think of anything new to say?" he joked. Turning to Inuyasha, he lowered his voice and said, "You stay back. I should be able to handle this guy, no problem."
Inuyasha nodded and backed away, but still drew his untransformed sword. Kouga lunged at the snake, landing a good kick to its head. "I was kinda hoping for more of a challenge," he taunted. "No wonder you need the jewel!"
The youkai hissed angrily and struck at the wolf, but Kouga dodged easily, using speed born from years of practice. As the snake's fangs snapped at empty air, the wolf prince laughed. "Where are you aiming? I'm over here!"
"You'll find I'm not as weak as you think," the creature hissed, its eyes glowing a sinister yellow. It opened its mouth, but instead of striking, it forcefully released a dark cloud of gas directly at Kouga, right as the wolf was leaping toward him. Kouga had no way to dodge, and his entire body was quickly enveloped by the miasma. He crashed to the ground, choking on the foul fumes.
Poison... he thought, as he immediately felt dizzy and sick. He tried to get to his feet, but fell back as the world spun around him. Looking up, he saw the glint of yellow eyes through the fog, rushing toward him with unavoidable speed. Just as Kouga was bracing himself for the blow, he heard a yell from behind him. He glanced upward just as a blur of red streaked overhead. Suddenly, one of the yellow lights in front of him went dark, as a cry of pain echoed through the night. As the mist�and his vision�cleared, he saw Inuyasha standing over the body of the snake, Tetsusaiga thrust through the eye of the creature.

Kouga struggled to his feet and moved toward his companion. But before he reached him, Inuyasha abruptly pitched forward, falling face-down on the ground. "Inuyasha!" Kouga cried, staggering toward him. He fell to his knees next to his friend and rolled him over. "You idiot," he yelled, shaking the hanyou's unresponsive body. "I told you to stay back."
Inuyasha moaned, his eyelids fluttering open slightly. "You were... about to die... moron..." he gasped.
Kouga shook his head fiercely. "No way, I would'a got him, you didn't have to... dammit!" He wrapped his arms around the boy's shoulders as Inuyasha's eyes rolled back and his body went limp again. Cursing, Kouga gathered the unconscious human into his arms, then stood awkwardly and staggered back to their "camp." As gently as possible, he laid his injured comrade down and sat beside him.
Feeling helpless, Kouga drew his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He still felt weak and shaky from the poisonous mist, but felt relatively confident that his youkai blood would handle it with few problems. Inuyasha, however, faced real danger in his current human form. Kouga had no idea how the venom worked, or if there was any treatment for it. A little consolation came from the fact that he had taken the full force of the blast, while Inuyasha had leapt in while the fog was dissipating. But still, it was probably enough to kill a normal human. His only hope was that Inuyasha would last until sunrise.
A groan from the unconscious hanyou brought Kouga out of his thoughts. He leaned forward and squinted at his friend, trying to ascertain his condition in the darkness. Inuyasha's face was covered in beads of sweat and twisted in a grimace of pain. His breath came in uneven pants and gasps, tuattuated by occasional soft moans. Concerned, Kouga reached out and touched Inuyasha's shoulder, but pulled back quickly upon feeling the heat radiating through the hanyou's clothing. Though he didn't have much medical knowledge, a kna knew he had to get the fever down if his friend were to have any chance of surviving the night.
Working as quickly and gently as possible, Kouga stripped Inuyasha down to his fundoshi, then dragged him close to the river's edge. After a moment's thought, he pulled off his own furs and armor, leaving only his hip wrap. The poison could still be on my clothes, he reasoned, gathering the unconscious human into his arms and stepping into the water.
The river was cool, but not freezing, thanks to the midsummer heat. It was fairly shallow, and the current was swift, though not overpowering. The wolf prince lowered himself to his knees, shivering a bit as the water hit his bare chest. Inuyasha thrashed about and moaned as his body came into contact with the cool liquid, but Kouga kept a tight grip and soon the hanyou relaxed, his arms moving gently with the river's flow. His hair floated around the two like a dark cloud.

Kouga shifted the sick boy's weight in his arms, freeing one hand while still keeping his other arm wrapped around his back. Bringing his free hand up to Inuyasha's face, he brushed a few drops of water across the hanyou's brow, pushing his damp bangs out of the way. "You'd better not die on me, muttface," Kouga grumbled, then turned his face to the east, willing the sun to rise quickly.
As the seemingly interminable night wore on, Kouga found it increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open. He had been feeling progressively nauseated as the hours passed, and he swallowed hard, knowing he'd never be forgiven if he threw up on Inuyasha. If he ever wakes up... no, stop thinking like that!! he told himself firmly. He'll be fine.
Kouga's body desperately needed rest to fight the poison, but he stubbornly refused it. He had to make sure that his friend would be all right before he could allow himself to sleep. However, the sound of the rushing water became a hypnotic lullaby to the exhausted and ill youkai. More than once, he found himself jerking awake, then frantically checking to make sure he hadn't let Inuyasha's face slip underwater.

He looked down at the hanyou in his arms, gently touching the back of his hand against Inuyasha's deathly pale cheek. The fever seemed to have gone down slightly, but Kouga didn't want to risk leavine wae water just yet. He shifted his weight uncomfortably, as rocks of the riverbed had begun to dig painfully into his knees. Maneuvering the two of them backward, he found a shallower spot near the bank and sat down, pulling Inuyasha close to his chest and resting the hanyou's head on his shoulder.
To stay alert, and to keep his mind off how sick he was feeling, Kouga began to speak quietly. "Well, dog-breath," he began. "Looks like I finally get to pay you back for all those times you saved my life." He paused, bringing his hand up to swipe a few drops of cool water across the boy's hot forehead. "I always wondered why you did that. Was it for Kagome? I know she would never ask you to... but you did, knowing she'd be sad if I died. Even though I was your rival, you would never willingly do anything that would cause her pain."

He chuckled softly. "You never had any real competition, you know. I knew she would never love me in return, but I just had to keep trying, right? She loved you, though. I could see it in her eyes. Even when she was holding me in her arms, or bandaging me up after a fight, it was only ever as a friend. I kept trying to convince myself that she'd give up on you, and turn to me after you'd do something stupid like go after that dead bitch again... but then I'd see the way she'd look at you. The way she'd never look at me. And I'd know, but I'd push that away, because I still loved her too much to admit that I never had a chance."
He swallowed, remembering the past heartache, and paused for several minutes before continuing. "After awhile, I finally realized that you were the one who brought the sparkle to her eyes, that you were the one who would make her happy. And that's what I wanted more than anything... to see her happy. And if that meant that she'd be with you, well, then so be it. But if you'd ever done anything to hurt her, dog-turd, then I really would have killed you." He smiled slightly. "Didn't you notice? Near the end, I was making passes at her more to annoy you than anything else."
Leaning his head back against the soft bank, Kouga stared up at the stars. The pinpoints of light blurred and spun above him, seeming to zoom close, then dart away into the blackness. Some part of his mind pointed out that he was going to fall asleep again, but the exhausted youkai's body overruled his mind, and his eyelids began to slowly close...
Kouga was violently awakened by Inuyasha's body convulsing in his arms. The hanyou's arms and legs were rigid, and his back arched over and over, slamming his head into Kouga's shoulder painfully.
Clinging tightly to his friend's thrashing form, Kouga glanced desperately toward the east, praying that the night was nearly over. To his relief, he saw a pinkish-orange glow on the horizon, promising the sun's imminent arrival. "Hang on, hang on, we're almost there," he pleaded under his breath, flicking his gaze from Inuyasha's tormented face to the rapidly lightening sky. Just a few more minutes... The hanyou was breathing in choked gasps, his violet eyes open, but unseeing. Kouga held on, trying his best to keep from further hurting his companion.
As the first glimmer of sunlight leapt over the horizon, Inuyasha's body stiffened for a long moment, then went completely limp. His head lolled to the side, a small trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth. Kouga gasped in disbelief. No! The sun's rays flashed over the two, causing the drops of water on the hanyou's face to glitter like tears or diamonds. But his hair stayed jet black... and... he wasn't breathing, Kouga realized with a start.
"No..." he whispered, turning Inuyasha's body to face him and giving him a small shake. "No!" he repeated, louder. "You can't do this!" He slapped the hanyou's face none-too-lightly with the back of his hand. " Don't you fucking die on me, you dumb dog!" After all this, tonight, you can't... "Come on!" he yelled, a note of desperation creeping into his voice as he shook his friend again, harder. "Dammit! Stupid mutt-face!" To his surprise, he felt moisture prickling in the corners of his eyes. "Inuyasha!" he cried out, the boy's name wrenched from his throat without conscious thought. "Don't... please..."

Suddenly, Inuyasha gasped, his back arching again as his lungs drew in the cool morning air. A tinge of silver appeared at his hairline, spreading rapidly through the wet strands like bleach through ink. Dog-ears appeared on top of his head, and his newly-reformed claws dug almost painfully into Kouga's arm. Kouga stared down at him in near-incredulity, his despair transforming into relief. "You're... alive..." he breathed, unconsciously tightening his grip on the hanyou, and feeling the persistent tears threaten again.
Inuyasha blinked several times, his golden eyes meeting Kouga's for a moment before taking in the sky, the water, his state of undress, the wolf's arms around him... "Wh... what's going on?"
Kouga unceremoniously released him, dropping him into the river as if he were a sack of grain. "You nearly died, you stupid mutt." Turning away, he splashed some water on his face to wipe away any evidence of his tears. He climbed out of the water and sat on the dew-covered grass, watching Inuyasha closely as he followed him onto the bank. After a few moments, he asked, "So, are you feeling all right?"
Inuyasha shrugged, then shook himself to get rid of the excess water. "Yeah, I feel fine."

"Good..." With that, Kouga cast himself down in the cool grass and fell immediately into a much-needed sleep.
***
Inuyasha stared down at the sleeping wolf, his chin resting on his hands. The hanyou had recovered quickly upon his transformation back to his normal form, but he wondered how much longer it would take for Kouga to heal. He thought back to the look he'd seen on Kouga's face, the moment that he regained consciousness. He recognized that expression... he'd felt it on his own countenance, once. It was the face of one who thought they had just lost everything, only to have their world turned upside down in an instant. He also hadn't missed the glimmer of tears in Kouga's eyes, much as the wolf tried to hide them. He wondered why Kouga had looked like that... for him. Surely the other boy wouldn't have been that worried?
As Inuyasha watched, the wolf prince shivered and curled up a bit more on the ground, one arm moving to wrap around his stomach. His pale lips parted slightly, a soft moan escaping with his breath. Inuyasha felt a small, annoying pang of guilt as he realized how sick Kouga must have been throughout the night. He'd received the same poison�more of it�yet denied himself the rest he needed to recover, instead making sure that Inuyasha survived. Would Inuyasha have done the same, had their positions been reversed? After thinking a moment, he supposed that he would... after all, it would be annoying to continue the journey alone, right?
Seeing Kouga shiver again, Inuyasha sighed, picking up his red haori from the ground beside him. With a grunt, he tossed the garment over Kouga's shoulders, making sure the wolf's bare skin was covered. Kouga stirred slightly, but didn't wake. Settling down on the grass beside him, Inuyasha folded his arms and turned his gaze outward, scanning the area for any danger. Kouga had protected him, now he would do the same.
To Be Continued...
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Solace