And here it is! The moment you have all been waiting for! The final chapter of Mind Reader! After 2 years, 100,000 words, and lots of procrastination, it is finally complete! Bet you thought this never would have happened, eh? Well, I hope you enjoy. Some important author notes are at the end, so I hope you'll read them. Now, on to the final chapter!
Mind Reader
Chapter 35: The Loss of a Mind
The last week would be one Kaede wished to never repeat. It was hard, grueling, constant work to keep everyone alive.
She should have lost Kouga, she should have lost Sesshoumaru, she should have lost Miroku, and she did lose Sango.
It was the fourth day after the beaten warriors had returned. Kaede had immediately gone to find a villager who would donate their hut for her use. Many were willing to give their hut up; Kaede had simply chosen the largest one available.
Never had she been more grateful for that one day so very long ago when Kagome had given her a few medical books from her age. Almost all of the procedures were too complicated for Kaede to even attempt to follow, but what proved most useful were the diagrams.
She had quickly found a series of diagrams of the stomach region when she went to work on Sango. She had to sew Sango up from the inside to give the demon exterminator even a chance at survival.
Infection rapidly grabbed hold of the young woman. Sango spent the next few days mumbling incoherently as she writhed in pain. Her face became pale, gaunt, and heavy bags formed under her eyes. Everything Kaede managed to force down Sango was promptly thrown back up.
But like previously mentioned, it was the fourth day.
Kaede had been forcing medicine down Miroku's throat when Sango began gasping for air.
Inuyasha was at Sango's side a second later, desperately begging her to hold on. It was such an uncharacteristic move for Inuyasha that Kaede had momentarily been frozen.
When Sango took one last shuddering breath and then no more Kaede unfroze and rushed to the girl's side. No matter what she did Sango would not breathe.
Kaede had been shocked when a harsh 'move' was uttered. Looking up, she had seen a haggard Sesshoumaru standing there, Tenseiga drawn at his side.
Sesshoumaru had been slowly yet steadily making progress towards a full recovery. Except for the first day when Kaede had been positive she would lose him he had been healing. But he still should not have been strong enough to move.
But he still managed to bring Sango back.
Kaede did not fully understand how Tenseiga worked. It brought back the dead, that she could easily see. But for Sango it had also purged the infection from her body.
The day after Sango died she had opened her eyes and was coherent. Ever since she had not declined in health at all and was expected to make a complete recovery.
Kaede thanked every god imaginable for the miracle that was Sesshoumaru and Tenseiga. Half of the group would have been dead if it weren't for the demon lord.
Miroku survived only by having herbs and medicine forced down his throat at all hours of the day. When medicine wasn't being fed to him then water was. The poison had to be flushed out of his system.
Kaede knew she won that battle when on the fifth day he was not soaking wet with sweat. His breathing had finally evened out and some of his previous color had returned to his face.
Kohaku was cured the moment Kaede was able to extract some of Sesshoumaru's poison and make an antidote. Once it was administered the boy quickly recovered. But one never would have believed he was alive at all. For once he was awake and alert he immediately withdrew in on himself. Even once his sister awoke Kohaku barely uttered a word. It was obvious he felt like he didn't deserve to be alive. He simply sat in a corner at all hours of the day, never saying a word, never moving, barely even blinking. Yes, he was alive. Yet it was clear to all he wished for death.
Kouga was a hard earned victory. In fact, Inuyasha had a lot to do with the wolf's survival. Once he realized he could no nothing for Kagome, Inuyasha went to help Kaede with healing the others. Of course with his luck Kaede had put him to work on Kouga.
Kaede was impressed with Inuyasha. The first time she told Inuyasha to set Kouga's broken arm he had replied with, "But he'll bleed on me. I don't want the wimpy wolf's blood on me, it's probably tainted with his stupidity."
One infuriated glare was all it took for the hanyou to quickly back down and do as he was told. Except for the first time Inuyasha complained he had been willing to give the wolf demon his help.
It might have been because of Kouga himself. Something within the wolf might have cried out to Inuyasha, something in him might have caused the hanyou to put such time and effort into insuring his survival. For on the morning of the second day Kouga's eyes opened.
Inuyasha had been in the middle of attempting to set Kouga's broken jaw in place. This was the last broken bone of Kouga's to set, and the hardest one to do in Inuyasha's opinion. Which was part of the reason he saved it for last. Without the wires of modern medicine how do you go about setting a broken jaw?
While trying to line Kouga's broken jaw back up, the wolf had awakened. With a violent cough, which caused tears to come to Kouga's eyes, the wolf demon locked his gaze with Inuyasha's.
Inuyasha had frozen. He had one hand on Kouga's forehead, the other grasping the broken jaw, and a series of bandages laid out on the wolf's chest. Kouga had recognized what Inuyasha was trying to accomplish. He raised his unbroken arm and grimacing in pain used it to hold his jaw in place. Closing his eyes, he swallowed heavily, and then reopened them. His gaze told Inuyasha one thing, "Do it."
Inuyasha did. He tied Kouga's jaw as best he could with his newly freed hands. He secretly hoped he tied the jaw well enough so when it healed it would heal in the correct position. As soon as he tied off the last bandage Kouga's eyes relaxed and he fell back into unconsciousness. From that point on, Inuyasha put in almost as much effort caring for Kouga as he put into Kagome. Perhaps the wolf prince had finally earned Inuyasha's respect.
After the first week all were awake and alert. All except for Kagome. Never once did she move or even make a sound while the others were fighting for their lives. Her health neither improved nor waned. Kaede was perplexed. Inuyasha was a nervous wreck.
"Why won't she do anything?" he complained for the umpteenth time since that first week had passed. "She won't even make a sound!"
"And I'm sure your yelling and complaining is really going to improve matters," said Sesshoumaru. He was just about fully healed. Once he was able to rest and get sufficient nutrition his demon blood quickly took over and healed him. Currently he was leaning against a wall of the borrowed hut, his arms crossed over his chest and Rin sitting quietly at his feet.
"Shut the hell up Sesshoumaru," growled Inuyasha. "You don't know a damn thing."
Slap! Smack!
Smirking at his younger brother, Sesshoumaru stated smugly, "And I do believe I told you before to watch your mouth around Rin. She does not need to be picking up on your coarse language."
"Fu…" Inuyasha promptly took notice of Sesshoumaru's dangerously dark expression. "Fuzzy bunnies tickle my nose," he quickly corrected with a charming smile.
"Hm, I never would have taken Inuyasha to be a fast thinker on his feet," commented Miroku to Sango. He sat against a wall, Sango leaning comfortably against him. He had one arm wrapped snugly around her shoulders and for once was content to hold her rather than groping her.
Sango silently wished for Kohaku to finally join them. But no matter what she did or said he would not utter a word. She was worried for her younger brother, she feared for his very survival. And they still had not been able to extract the shikon shard without fear of causing him death. She knew that if allowed Kohaku would not hesitate in removing the shard. But he would not do it unless if she allowed him too. True, he wished for death. But he did not want to cause further pain to his sister. He had already nearly murdered her, he would not kill himself if it meant Sango would grieve.
"Fuzzy bunnies taste all right as long as you remove all their fuzz first," supplied Kouga, yawning as he slowly sat up. He was the least healed of all of them, which might have had something to do with his off the wall comment.
"Uh…right…" responded Inuyasha. "Now we know who the expert is on fuzzy bunnies."
"I much preferred it when you all were injured and quiet," grumbled Sesshoumaru. "Honestly, why can't you act like that all the time?"
Before anyone could respond to the annoyed demon lord, Shippo spoke. "Hey guys? Um…something seems to be going on with Kagome." Shippo was sitting by her head and staring at the miko curiously. Her breathing had quickened, surely that was a good sign she was preparing to wake.
"About time," griped Inuyasha, coming up to kneel on the other side of Kagome's head.
Shippo couldn't suppress the surprised yelp when Kagome's eyes, without warning, snapped open. Her eyes were wide open, pupils dilated, and there was a wild gleam about them. Shippo grew nervous.
"Kagome," said Inuyasha with a smile. "How are you feeling?"
Sango had climbed to her feet to stand by her waking friend. She was smiling too; after all, everyone had been waiting for this moment.
A slightly insane cackle burst from Kagome. She blinked once and when her eyes reopened her pupils had contracted considerably. Licking her lips, she laughed again.
Sango backed cautiously away from her friend without even realizing it. When she bumped into Miroku she shuddered involuntarily.
"K…Kagome?" stammered Inuyasha.
With a fluidness none had ever witnessed from the girl, Kagome braced her hands behind her head, arched her back, and flung herself to her feet. Upon reaching her feet she used the momentum from her jump to carry her to the door of the hut. Stopping at the door she turned to face the other occupants, a feral gleam taking over her eyes.
"Kagome?" asked Shippo. "What's wrong?"
"You're all doomed!" laughed Kagome. "He's going to come for you. He's going to catch you. And before it's over you shall beg for MERCY!"
"Miko, get yourself under control," commanded Sesshoumaru harshly, moving until he was a mere three feet from the quivering girl. He did not like this one bit. The look in her eyes reminded him of one thing and one thing only. Wild dog.
Kagome grinned broadly. Baring her teeth, she snapped at Sesshoumaru. Laughing again, she turned towards Shippo. "Darkness is approaching little one. Who will save you when the lights go out? Who will save you from them?"
"Who's them Kag?" asked Sango, finally able to shake off her shock at seeing her friend behave in such an odd manner. Perhaps if she could get Kagome to talk to her they could figure out what was going on. It was worth a shot at least.
"The green mice from Jupiter!" screamed Kagome. "They will come. They will hunt you down. They will roast you over their fires while drinking RUM!" Spinning on one foot, Kagome waved her arms about her heads and shared with everyone a toothy grin. "Scared?"
"I think…we should grab her," commented Miroku. "Something's definitely not right with her."
"You think?" said Inuyasha dryly. He then jumped forward and grabbed Kagome by her wrists. Before he could utter so much as a "Kag" she was screaming.
"Let me go!" yelled Kagome while bucking like a wild horse. "You're hurting me! Let me GO!"
Too surprised to do any different, Inuyasha released her wrists. As soon as she was freed Kagome turned tail and ran.
"You idiot!" growled Sesshoumaru. "You don't let a wild person go! You restrain them!"
"She said…she said I was hurting her," replied Inuyasha, his face gone white.
Curling his lip in disgust, Sesshoumaru said, "Fine, since you deem yourself incapable of restraining your woman I will. Make yourself useful and find the old healer. We will need her."
Nodding dumbly, Inuyasha stammered, "Kaede. Right, I'll find Kaede. That's what I'll do. Get Kaede."
Sneering one last time at his shell-shocked brother, Sesshoumaru sped out of the hut. One quick look around had him locating Kagome. She was chasing villagers down and shouting 'BOO!' whenever she happened to catch up to one. Cursing under his breath, Sesshoumaru caught up to the miko.
Coming up behind her, Sesshoumaru was able to wrap one arm around the miko's waist and the other around her shoulders. He made sure to keep her arms pinned to her sides, and then he simply lifted her off the ground.
"Get off!" screamed Kagome while throwing her head back to smack Sesshoumaru in the face. "Leave me go you monster! Get off get off get off!"
Restraining her more firmly against his chest, Sesshoumaru ignored her constantly bucking head and chose instead to rush back to the hut. Once back inside he threw Kagome into Inuyasha's arms. "Damn human is out of control," he said in disgust.
"Ah ah ah Sesshoumaru," said Inuyasha cockily while wrapping his arms around Kagome to keep her still. "Don't need to be cursing around young ears, now do you?"
"So says he who can't even hold onto his own woman," retorted Sesshoumaru.
"Look," whispered Sango before the argument could escalate.
Once in Inuyasha's arms Kagome had quieted almost immediately.
"Hah, she recognized her future mate," boasted Inuyasha.
Coming up to investigate, Miroku peered at Kagome's face. He then proceeded to burst out in laughter. "Sorry Inuyasha. I think she simply passed out."
Sure enough, when Inuyasha laid Kagome on the ground she was dead to the world.
"What a way to recognize her future mate," snickered Kouga. "She gets in your arms and passes out. Oh that will be a fun relationship."
"Shove it wolf," grumbled Inuyasha. "At least she didn't try to claw my head off like last time." Turning to the elderly healer who he had earlier retrieved, Inuyasha asked, "Kaede! What's wrong?"
"I will use my powers of all-knowing to tell you Inuyasha," replied Kaede while rolling her eye. "As I'm sure you can guess I run across cases like this on a regular basis."
"No need to get all defensive," huffed Inuyasha.
"She's gone insane," stated Kaede. "This latest attack on her mind must have torn it apart too much. She's lost all coherent thought."
"She'll get better though, right Kaede? Right?" asked Shippo hopefully.
Shaking her head, Kaede said, "From what I've seen this won't recover on its own. In fact, with how far gone she already is I'd say Akki successfully completed his death move."
"NO!" shouted Inuyasha, effectively causing everyone in the hut to jump. Everyone except Sesshoumaru and Kohaku that is. "I mean, no. She's not dead. How could he have completed it?" he continued in a much more reasonable volume.
"She's right," interjected Sesshoumaru. "The death move has been completed."
"Say that again you bastard," growled Inuyasha darkly, walking up to stand in Sesshoumaru's face. "Go on, I dare you to say that again."
Sesshoumaru sighed softly. "Akki said it himself. You heard him, did you not? He said his revenge was complete. He was only ever after Kagome. And after witnessing her attacking him I can see why. But once he won he didn't look at her again. Why would this be brother?"
Drooping his ears, Inuyasha answered, "Because he completed the death move."
"Precisely."
"But she's not dead," Inuyasha said, plunging on. "So that means we can save her, right? Right?"
"Her mind is collapsing in on itself," said Miroku. "She's only going to get worse until she dies." Miroku clenched his now rosary free hand tightly. He thought they all made it. Naraku was dead. Naraku was finally dead and now he was going to lose one of his dearest friends.
"No," whispered Inuyasha painfully while dropping to his knees beside the still girl. Gathering her in his arms, he looked up. "Isn't there anything you can do? Please Kaede, isn't there anything?"
"You could kill Akki," answered Kaede after a slight hesitation. "But I don't see Kagome lasting more than a couple of days."
"And we have no clue where Akki went," stated Kouga for all of them.
Appearing deep in thought, Miroku was shaken from his silence by a soft nudge from Sango.
"What are you thinking?"
"It's just a thought," said Miroku. "But…what if we could somehow anchor Kagome's mind to another? It could stabilize her mind long enough to give us time to find Akki and kill him."
With a smile forming at her lips, Kaede said, "Yes, yes, that should work. The mind will have to be strong for it to work. A weak one will simply be destroyed along with Kagome's. But if we bind her mind to one of yours she should become coherent again."
"I'll do it," volunteered Inuyasha immediately. "What do I have to do?"
Giving a deep sigh, Miroku said, "Inuyasha…I don't think you should anchor Kagome's mind."
"What?" snarled Inuyasha. "Why not? She's going to be my mate. If someone has to do it, it better damn well be me!"
"And what happens when you turn full demon?" retorted Miroku. "If you lose control of your own mind what good will you be for Kagome? Most likely you'll wind up causing the very death of the one you're trying to save!"
"I won't turn full demon!" shouted Inuyasha.
"Are you willing to bet Kagome's life on it?" asked Miroku softly.
Deflating before everyone's eyes, Inuyasha's shoulders slumped. "No," he said in a clearly defeated voice.
"I'll volunteer," said Kouga. "You know I'd do anything to save Kagome."
"I'll be dead before I allow you to anchor Kagome's mind," growled Inuyasha.
Sighing in exasperation, Kaede spoke up. "Kouga, you probably aren't the best candidate either. You are too…hot tempered…to be a good anchor for Kagome. She'll need someone who is calm to stabilize her own fractured mind."
As one, every pair of eyes, except for Kohaku's as he chose instead to withdraw in on himself, turned to one demon lord.
Sesshoumaru backed up until he ran into in a wall. They were looking at him like he was fresh meat!
"You know Sesshoumaru," commented Sango, "You do seem to have a very stable mind."
"Yes, Sesshoumaru would be the strongest anchor Kagome could hope for," mused Miroku while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Will you save her?" asked Shippo, his eyes wide with hope.
Even Inuyasha nodded. "I never thought you being an emotionless bastard would come in handy one day."
Kouga just grinned.
Sesshoumaru stared at everyone like they had completely and utterly lost their minds. They wanted him, him, the cold and ruthless demon lord, to anchor their blessed miko's mind? They wanted him to form a mental connection with their sweet and caring miko? Did they also wish for him to turn all cuddly and loving and roll over for them? He never would have thought they would trust him enough to keep their miko sane, and more importantly, alive. Upon looking at them, all practically staring at him with their tongues hanging out like hopeful dogs, he decided that yes, that is precisely what they expected of him. Once he realized this only two words were uttered from him.
"Bloody hell."
Fin.
Whee! It's finished! Or shall I say more appropriately, Part One is finished! Yes, you heard right. There shall be a sequel. For those who are happy about this, you may thank Kat, aka Misunderstood-roker for giving me the idea. For those who are not happy about this, you may blame the same person.
Now I'll admit, this is a rather odd place to end a story at. But in my mind, this part is complete. Naraku is dead, the main villain of the whole series is finished. The main antagonist is destroyed so I feel a very obvious break is needed between part I and II. Something more than just a chapter break. So you get a sequel.
Hm, oh yes. For those who don't know, I put up a one-shot optional ending to Mind Reader. It's most definitely humor straight through. It's called "The Unexpected Ending" and if you haven't read it I hope you will as it gives an extremely humourous take on how this story could have ended. And let's face it, the main reason you guys probably started reading this story was because of the humor. So yes, that's all I have to say on that one.
So in closing, it's been quite a ride getting this story completed, rather rough at the ends with my severe lack of updating. I thank everybody who has ever read this story, with an especially fond thanks going to those who took the time to review. I hope I see every last one of you in the continuation of this story because hey, our favorite squirrel will be back! Ah, what began as a whim over 2 years ago definitely became quite the villain, eh?
But enough of this, I've been on a writing binge for the past couple of weeks so with luck I'll get the first few chapters of part II started and be able to start posting soon. Keep your eye out for part II of Mind Reader, where a series of surprises await those who dare continue on with this story. So, are you game?
Coming soon by Soul of Insanity:
The Hunt for the Demonic Squirrel