The Perfect Mate by BelovedStranger

Battlefield

Prompts used from Stella Mira's Latin Challenge:

Ebrius—intoxicated, drunk

Facunde—eloquently, fluently

Rursas—backward; in return, on the other hand; afresh 

If I cannot find and remove the shards, then I shall eradicate Naraku’s influence.

With determination reflected in the golden hues of his eyes, Sesshomaru rushed Kagome, meeting her charge when she came at him again, or so it seemed at first. Instead, he summersaulted over her head at the last second, landing several yards behind her, and before she could turn and come at him again, he flicked his wrist, his poison whip flying from his claws with controlled accuracy.

Just as Kagome turned to confront him, his whip encircled her, immobilizing her arms to her sides, and yanked his arm back even as he lunged for her. Catching her close to his chest, Sesshomaru easily locked her against him, controlling her attempts to get free. With his whip still around her, an arm around her waist, he used his free hand and burrowed his fingers into the blood matted mass at the back of her skull, forcing her head back at a painful angle, making it impossible for her to flail her head around or bit him as he crashed his lips down on her open mouth.

Flaring his youki, he channeled it inside her with such force, Kagome’s body jerked like she had been struck. Desperate, Sesshomaru was not at all certain if these measures would work. He had no hope of purifying the shards, but perhaps he could taint it with his demonic energy and wipe out Naraku’s influence over the shards. Maybe then she would awaken from her bloodlust.

If not… he’d be forced to knock her unconscious and find a solution later.

As always, even in these trying times, having Kagome so close, the scent of her, her taste, intoxicated him. The only thing he was not too fond of was Sai’s blood. He ignored it. He ignored everything, Kagome’s muffled growls, and how she fought him, focusing on the mission at hand, tainting the shards within her with a different youki— his. He had already corrupted her body and soul. What more could he do to her that he hadn’t already? When he didn’t feel her reiki emerge to try and fight his influence, sadness filled him. As if he needed the reminder with how royally he had erred.

How much did she need? When would he know if and when the shards were ‘cleansed’ of Naraku’s taint?

Before an answer to his silent questions could be reached, his senses flared, signaling to him that danger struck. Without much grace, he flung both him and Kagome to the side, narrowly missing Naraku’s tentacle from impaling him through the back and probably skewering Kagome as well.

“You bastard,” seethed Naraku, maliciousness and hate raiding off of him in waves. His crimson gaze seemed more ruby in color as his ire built, and Sesshomaru watched him warily, ready for any new attack, while holding Kagome to him.

She was trembling, one hand pressed to her forehead as if she were in pain, or like she was finally waking up from a long slumber filled with horrors only she could see. Perhaps both.

Had she regained consciousness? Or was she merely dazed from his youki and seconds away from attacking him again? Regardless, he retracted his whip, freeing her arms, but not letting her go.

“Kagome,” he murmured her name, hoping now she would hear his voice and respond without attacking him blindly. Had it worked? He truthfully couldn’t believe his desperate actions may have actually bore fruit, not when his heart was filled with such despair that Kagome would be forever lost to bloodlust.

For Kagome, she wasn’t feeling too well. Her head hurt abhorrently, it pounded with every beat of her heart. And she felt weak yet strong at the same time, but that didn’t make any sense. Right now, she hardly cared. Where was she? And what the hell was going on? Her name… Someone was calling to her… It was then that her senses finally registered in her jumbled mind. In seconds, everything around her came into focus, quicksilver, and instead of being overwhelmed, somehow it felt natural in a not too natural way.  

She was plastered against Sesshomaru. She knew it was he because his scent permeated the air around her, filling her lungs, and swirling around her mind like a warm blanket, making her feel secure and safe. There were other scents too, strong ones. The grass and flowers, the very earth itself, the wind gently caressing her cheek, bringing with it even more strange smells she couldn’t identify—but one. One she knew too well and with her heightened nose, the scent of aging blood made her nauseous.

And it seemed like she could hear everything and yet nothing at all. She could tell without looking that she was in the forest, could hear the loud rustling of leaves in the trees, water tricking inside a cave, and yet there was no signs of life other than the other two presences she could sense near her. No animals big or small moved in the underbrush or in the trees, no birds sang or flapped near here, and the insects were gone, too.

And Kagome knew why. Evil filled the space around her in pulsing waves, scarring off any signs of life. Naraku… he was here, but before she could bring herself to go on the defensive when her enemy was so near, she was struck numb, her heart going cold as ice within her breast, though it continued to beat—painfully now. The evil she felt was coming from her as well. Something was wrong—with her.

“Kagome,” Sesshomaru called to her more insistently, obviously trying to gain her attention.

“Sesshomaru..?” she whispered, hearing the fear that underlined her voice.

Only one thought continued to filter through her mind, throwing her off, making her blind and deaf to everything else around her. Something was wrong. She was wrong.

Sesshomaru shifted her so fast, she gasped. One of his arms stayed locked around her back, keeping her plastered against his front, but she could feel him drawing his sword, heard the steel hiss out of its sheath, and then he was swinging his arm in a downwards motion behind her back.

Steel sliced through flesh, skin tearing in a gruesome ripping sound, and body parts fell to the forest floor with heavy thunks, and yet they weren’t dead. She heard them slithering upon the ground, like a snake would in its death throes after its head had been severed.

Finally, she turned her head to gaze around. First upon the ground before them. Familiar writhing masses twitched near their feet, purple blood darkening the ground, tainting it like a noxious poison.

Her head snapped up when she felt youki come towards her in a threatening manner. Reflexively, her body moved before her mind could comprehend what was happening and what she was doing. She called upon her powers and a dark light flashed from her outstretched palm, obliterating the blast of youki aimed for them.

Shocked, Kagome slowly lowered her arm, only to bring her palm close to her face for inspection. What was that? That wasn’t her reiki! The air in her lungs shriveled up as she saw bloodied claws. And it was Sesshomaru’s blood that painted them that garish, ruby hue.

What was happening?!

“Sesshomaru,” spat Naraku, interrupting her trepidation, gaining her attention.

Her gaze lifted to clash with her most hated enemy, saw Naraku’s face contort with bitter hatred and anger. It all came back to her when she looked into his crimson gaze. Haru was dead. Sai had killed her. Sai had died trying to protect her from the man standing yards away from her. Naraku… he’d done this. He was the one to blame. He’d converted her…

Oh God! What was she?

“You dare interfere where you are not welcome?” Naraku continued, ignoring her for the man who held her so securely.

No.

No, no, no, no!

Sesshomaru had started this, her mind screamed at her. Her reiki was gone. She couldn’t feel its spark inside her. What took its place was not just her new youki.

A dark miko, her mind whispered insidiously to her.

No!

“What have you done..?” she whispered as the full impact of what she had become hit her like a freight train. Her miko powers… They were gone. Gone…

The two males’ attention fell on her. Naraku’s eyes level on her face, and she could feel Sesshomaru looking down at her. And it was obvious they thought she referred to Naraku and not Sesshomaru, the true target of her words.

The spider hanyou’s eyes, though still angry, turned almost wistful as he stared at her.

“My beautiful Kagome. Look what he’s done to you. He’s stolen your magnificence. Allow me to dispose of him, and we can return to how things were between us.”

Though Naraku was referring to her previous feral state, Kagome felt like he spoke of other things, painful things. Yes, she thought, look what Sesshomaru did to me…

“You cannot have her,” Sesshomaru informed him with steel in his tone.

Of course. He was right. Her eyes narrowed on Naraku. Though Sesshomaru had stolen more than she had ever imagined he would, Naraku was still her enemy, and though she didn’t remember anything that occurred after her conversation until ‘waking’ up in Sesshomaru’s arms, she wasn’t stupid. Though her reiki was gone, perhaps forever lost, somehow she could still sense the Jewel shards. A huge chunk was in Naraku’s possession, cocooned in his chest where his heart should have been, but there were two separate shards within her.

Kagome could feel their dark presence deep inside her chest, dark and swirling with corruption. Naraku had played this game many times before, controlling not only her in the past but so many others with a tainted shard. She didn’t know what she had done while under Naraku’s influence, but it was becoming apparent by the scent of Sesshomaru’s blood, and his blood on her claws that she had attacked him without realizing it.

What had she done? How badly had she hurt Sesshomaru? Just the thought of making him bleed constricted her heart. Yes, he’d stolen everything from her, but she still cared for him, and the thought of causing him injury sat heavy on her shoulders. Perhaps, after they took care of Naraku, her feelings would morph into total resentment towards the Western Lord, but for now, he was her ally against a vile creature who should be put down.

Her mind was sharper than ever before. In seconds, she was making connections and filtering knowledge through her brain like a sponge without difficulty. It was the mind of a predator. Think. Learn. Advance. But above all else, kill.

Ignore it, she told herself firmly.

Later, she and Sesshomaru were gonna have a long talk. For now, all her pent up resentment and fear was channeled towards Naraku.

“I know your game, Naraku,” she spat, reaching up to place a hand over her chest, where the shards were imbedded deep within her. Her claws bit deeply into her flesh.

It hurt more than a little, but she couldn’t let the tainted shards remain within her, possibly giving Naraku a window into her mind and control her again. Though she tried, she couldn’t purify them, so she had to take them out, painfully, slowly, dragging them out of her flesh. Blood welled, spilling over as she carved small holes inside her chest.

“Miko, what are you doing?” Sesshomaru demanded, tensing around her as her blood reached his nose, and he looked down to see what she was doing.

“Do not call me that, Sesshomaru,” she told him, her ire towards him making her snappy.

He stiffened against her. She didn’t care. He should be wary of her, because she doubted that it had escaped his notice that she was no longer a priestess as she once was.

A dark miko. She gritted her teeth at the thought and at the pain her questing fingers wrought against her nerves. Then she felt them—finally. Her fingers had already sunk the first knuckle deep inside her flesh when her nails scraped against the two shards bedded inside her. Taking a hold of them, she jerked her hand back in an angry motion. Pain flared higher. Blood spurted from the two small holes she’d made in her chest, to land on the ground.

She held up her prize for Naraku to see, her blood coating the black shards and dripping down her fingers.

“Do you not know any other trick, Naraku?” she taunted him, before placing her shards in the vial around her neck without looking at it, never taking her eyes off her enemy. “Perhaps you’re losing your edge? You’re becoming predictable.”

Naraku growled at her fiercely, anger scrunching up his face in a vicious snarl, his fangs bared at her. But then he surprised her. His face lost most of his ire when next he chuckled.

“Predictable, am I? Why change tactics when they continue to bear fruit? You, the Shikon no Miko, was controlled by the power of the shards. How ironic. But then, are you really the Jewel’s guardian now? How can you possibly hope to defeat me without your precious powers, miko?”

He threw his head back and laughed, and Kagome stiffened.

“I don’t need my reiki to destroy you, Naraku!” she cried, shoving Sesshomaru away and raised her arms.

Somehow, her powers came easily to her. Her tainted miko powers were hers to command as easily as her reiki had been, but it was more than that. Her youki mixed with it, welding together with her dark energy, created a stronger attack with its combined might. However, her attack still threw her off slightly. Instead of the blast of energy she attempted, darts flew out of her claws like daggers, black and pulsing with purple streaks of lightning. Too fast for Naraku to dodge, her darts struck him in the chest, sizzling through his flesh like acid, eating away at him.

He howled before swinging his arm towards her to return her strike. Tentacles, dozens of them, flew at her, intending to impale her. Before she could move, Sesshomaru wrapped an arm around her from behind and jumped them to safety. Undeterred, the fleshy masses turned course and raced after them, forcing Sesshomaru to cut them down. The twitching chunks of flesh fell to the ground, bleeding but still dangerous, for Naraku could force his severed flesh to continue moving.

One in particular slithered closer to Sesshomaru’s foot, and she blasted it with her strange new powers. In a burst of acrid smoke that singed her nose, the meaty flesh burst into flame, burning hotter than the fires of hell, and in seconds, not even charred remains were left, only a blackened spot in the grass.

Kagome and Sesshomaru separated from each other, but they remained close, side by side. Sesshomaru wielded Bakusaiga, reminding her that she held no weapon. She missed her bow and arrows, felt naked without them, especially now while under attack when she most needed them. She would just have to improvise. This new body of hers was foreign to her, her powers strange, but she would adapt. She didn’t have time to mourn for her loss of reiki or that she had no bow.

Sesshomaru charged, blade at the ready. Miasma spilled out of Naraku in impossible waves, blackening the surroundings with his poisonous gas. The purple cloud engulfed Sesshomaru, obscuring him from her view. A sliver of worry for his safety penetrated her mind.

Just then, a mass burst out of the cloud of miasma. At first, she thought it was Sesshomaru, but a second later, she saw crimson eyes staring at her with deadly intent. Naraku’s hand was outstretched towards her, a tentacle thrusting out of his wrist, aimed straight for her.

Gasping at the unexpected attack, Kagome pushed back, lunging backwards as strongly as she could in her stationary pose. With her new strength and speed, she darted back like an arrow, but she was too late, too slow, and Naraku’s tentacle gained on her. Just before it would have penetrated her chest, somehow, Sesshomaru was there, intercepting Naraku’s attack by getting between her and the writhing tentacle. A large palm collided with her chest, sending her flying backwards faster.

The blow—while not meant to harm her purposefully, she knew—cracked a few of her bones, and she went hurdling through the air, only to land painfully on her back, sliding several more feet before coming to a halt. She would have cried out from the pain as her newly broken bones scrapped together sickeningly and scratched at her flesh within, but the air was stolen from her lungs on impact.  

When air finally filled her lungs, the only sound she could make was a pain-filled groan as Kagome forced her elbows behind her and propped herself up. What she saw only a step or two away from her outstretched legs was Sesshomaru and she made a horrified sound of dismay.

He was standing slightly bent over, his beautiful hair hanging around his angelic face, almost hiding his expression from her. Blood dripped down his chin from his mouth—a mouth she couldn’t help but recall kissing and losing herself in—but what really had her eyes filling with tears were the three tentacles that impaled him from behind, protruding from his body for her to see. 

Sesshomaru’s sword was sheathed partially in the ground, a line of where the blade had sliced through the dirt lay beyond it, as if he had tried to use his sword to stop his forward motion.

One tentacle stuck out of his right leg, wriggling around, most likely adding to the agony he must surely be feeling. Another thrust out of his left shoulder, and the other through his left side. Huge amounts of blood stained his white and red clothes in growing circles. Looking into the face of the man she was coming to love, despite her hard feelings for him, a tear spilled from the corner of one eye as she witnessed his fierce expression curling his upper lip in a snarl, narrowing his eyes in anger. But it was the pain she saw etched in his features that made her heart bleed for him, because the fierce mask belied his agony.

And yet, he made not a sound of pain other than his heavy, tortured breathing. Somehow it seemed so much worse that he suffered in silence.

Her own pain meant nothing when faced with his. She’d live with her broken bones and bruised flesh, while Sesshomaru… He wouldn’t die would he..?

“No!” she screamed even as she heard Naraku chuckling malevolently behind the Western Lord. 

With horrible realization, she knew that Naraku was about to attempt to absorb Sesshomaru into his body. Ignoring how her movements jostled her broken bones even though she could feel one of the jagged ends pierce a lung, deflating it, making it difficult to breathe, she lunged forward, her heart in her eyes as she charged towards the man she loved with hands outstretched.

Sesshomaru! her heart cried out, her very being.

Kagome grabbed onto the tentacle protruding from his side and channeled her combined powers into the appendage. Because she loved Sesshomaru so dearly, her attack did not hurt him further as waves of her energy flowed through the twitching mass and towards its source. She couldn’t see Naraku with Sesshomaru in the way, but she could hear his surprised cry of pain and fury as her attack struck.

Sesshomaru’s body jerked and he took a stumbling step towards her, and she knew that Naraku had severed his flesh to get away from her brutal attack. As if he weren’t in pain even though she knew he must be, Sesshomaru turned, bringing up his blade and charged it with a mighty blast of Bakusaiga’s powers. Kagome had seen this brutal attack before. Naraku didn’t have time to flee, he was too close, and even when he tried to erect a barrier, Sesshomaru’s blast shattered it with ease, and continued towards Naraku.

The spider hanyou screamed in fury as it hit him square in the chest, his shout turning into one of agony as a bomb went off inside him. Instead of bits of flesh, blood, and gore raining around them from the blast, the pieces disintegrated, leaving nothing left of Naraku’s body, not even ash. The blackened Jewel fell to the ground, undamaged by the blast, but Sesshomaru wasn’t done yet.

Before she realized what he was doing, he yanked out the three remaining appendages protruding from his body and blasted them with the same power from Bakusaiga. Kagome cried out, about to reprimand him for his stupidity, because he bled more heavily now that Naraku’s flesh was removed, and gaping holes remained. He could bleed to death! But her reprimand never left her parted lips as she realized what Sesshomaru was doing when he blasted the remaining pieces that had fallen around the clearing that had once been a part of Naraku.

That was what made Sesshomaru’s blade so powerful, and why Naraku feared the sword, because once Sesshomaru used its power to kill an enemy, Bakusaiga’s blast affected every living part that was connected to the host, making it impossible for Naraku to reabsorb his severed flesh.

It was the one—possibly only—weapon capable of killing him in truth.

And like that, it was over. All that remained of Naraku was destroyed. Not even his blood remained.

Naraku was dead… The thought filtered through her mind over and over again. It was over. Finally… he was gone—forever. Somehow, Kagome couldn’t comprehend that her hated enemy had finally been destroyed. Naraku had been such a huge thorn in her and her friends’ side for two years now… And he was dead. She should feel relief… Something. And yet, Kagome was numb.

Until she saw Sesshomaru stumble towards her, almost falling to the ground. When he dropped his sword and fell to one knee, she snapped out of her frozen state and ran to him with a cry of dismay. She dropped to her knees before him, her hands hovering over him, fearful to touch him and hurt him more, but God how she needed to touch him. There was blood everywhere—his blood. Was he going to…die?

Please, kami, no!

“Sesshomaru,” she said in a tortured whisper, tears cascading down her cheeks in a steady flow. “Are you alright?”

Stupid question. Of course, he wasn’t alright!

“Kagome.” He gazed into her eyes with such fierce emotion, she’d never seen the like before. Pain. Suffering. Anguish. Remorse. And somehow, she knew he was not thinking about his injuries, but her. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but Sesshomaru was silently pleading for her forgiveness.

He knew what he had done to her, what all he had taken. And he was truly sorry for that.

Emotion choking her, her resentment—for the moment—evaporated, and she didn’t fight him when he pulled her into his arms, embracing her desperately, despite his wounds. His cheek was pressed into the side of her neck, and like her, he cried silently.

For her.

“Forgive me,” he whispered in a tortured whisper. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Only three chapters remaining! 

Yes, Naraku is dead. He will not be coming back to life, and yes Sesshomaru’s Bakusaiga has the power to kill Naraku. Just in case my readers think Kagome’s spiritual powers is the only thing to kill Naraku, here is Bakusaiga’s abilities:

Decomposition: Bakusaiga's primary ability is to decompose any organic material its blade cuts. Once cut, the target becomes "infected" with spontaneous destruction that disintegrates the main body and nullifies any regenerative properties the target may have. In addition, the remaining destruction will continue to spread to any organic matter that comes into physical contact with the original target, similar to a virus. It is because of this particular ability that Bakusaiga proved to be a bane to Naraku, as it prevented him from absorbing or reabsorbing youkai or parts of himself that were cut by the sword without risking being destroyed himself.

Youki Wave: In addition to its decomposition ability, the Bakusaiga can also fire off explosive blasts of green-colored youki capable of destroying multitudinous weaker demons with ease. Given that this blast was shown destroying the 1000 demons summoned by Byakuya in a single swing implies that it is at least ten times stronger than the Kaze no Kizu.  Additionally, Rumiko Takahashi herself stated that Bakusaiga's energy attack, while similar to the Kaze no Kizu, possesses much greater strength and power than Inuyasha's full-powered Bakuryuha.