FicWad

Lazily drifting from the gunmetal skies, snowflakes dusted the ground below, catching on the bared branches of the Goshinboku and the small polished marker in front of it. No one was at home, the windows to the comfortable and warm home were shut tightly, locked, dark and utterly cold in appearance, as it had been the past years.

The old shappy well house, unchanged since it had been built, creaked open, a lone figure entered the bitingly cold of twilight air, eyes searching despondantly for any signs of life and found none. As all other days when he had come, desperately seeking the warm acceptance of the family that had lived here.

But, as had the others, they had abandoned him, no longer able to bear the weight of their grief and sorrow and fled the area filled with all their memories.

'Failed... I failed them all.'

The anguished thoughts brought the burning sting of tears to the grief stricken eyes. Shaking his head even as he shivered from the cold, the man limped over to the grave marker that had been placed in front of the tree, the scar in the bark from where he had first learned the meaning of betrayal glared at him, almost accusing him of being the cause of it's slow yet steady demise.

Eyes lowering as they filled with guilt, the figure bent down, wincing as the ugly wound in his side ripped wider, sending a thicker stream of blood to course down his side, leaving behind a trail of crimson droplets to his current position, kneeled down on both knees in front of the grave marker.

A shaky hand reached into the folds of his torn haori and inner kimono, both of which bloodstained and the latter yellowed with age and stained with sweat as well, and pulled out half of what looked to be a silver heart shaped charm on a leather throng. The other half had been somehow sealed, no, embedded into the marble marker. Again he fought against the overwhelming urge to release his suffering in one long howl of agony.

His pride would not allow that, the few times he had allowed himself to cry were few and far between, the last time had been when he had lost her forever.

A shaky hand moved out, brushing the dusting of snow away from the grave with a mask of slight irritation glimmering in his eyes.

"Dammit, can't even come back to pay respects, can they. Selfish bastards."

His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't used it in a very long time, actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn't spoken for quite some time.

Dark brows drew in as he tried numbly to count the years since he had spoken to anyone, even to himself. Another huge lurch of his heart pained him as he realized it had been a full seven years since he had failed everyone, especially the one he had loved like he had no other.

His vision blurred with tears of sorrow, regret, self-hatred, pain and weariness. At first he had sworn to live life like she would have wanted him to but, over time, it became harder and harder to keep a firm grasp on trying to be happy, when all the light had been sucked from him in one stupid moment.

He had let go of her hand for only a moment, jogging ahead to go check out something in a store window that she had pointed out to him with a large smile.

One moment she was laughing at him for acting so curious about what was inside the window, the next, he heard her choked cry of agony and the sound of her body hitting the unyielding and harsh pavement.

Blood had splattered everywhere, his face suddenly covered in the droplets that ran down his face like tears as he stared numbly, shocked as her wide surprised blue-grey eyes looked into his, slowly dulling and reflecting his face. A half whisper filled with pain and something else had escaped her even as her head dropped to the ground for the final time.

"Inuyasha...I l-"


And just like that, she had gone, leaving him behind in a mess of confusion and denial. Later on, after that strange cart thing came by, scarlet and white lights flashing as they had loaded her and allowed him to travel with them to the healing center, they had told him it was a needless kill, a drive by shooting.

He knew then he should have kept her in his time, where there were no such things as "guns" and senseless violence. Sure there were raiders and bandits but, they were easily defeated. This new weapon, one that could kill with only one hit, was frighteningly senseless to him.

Why not kill someone with a blade? At least then they'd have had a fair fight and might have survived such a sudden back attack.

'Kagome...'

The very thought of her name conjured up memories of her, good times and the bad. The worst part of it was, that he'd never gotten to tell her how he had felt for her. That day, he had planned on telling her that very day, after that trip she had wanted to take him on, to familiarize him with the world she had been born and raised in.

But, it was far too late.

He coughed, droplets of blood staining the pure white snow beneath him, a pool of it in his palm as he stared at it through his rapidly fading vision.

Amber eyes turned to the grave stone, engraving the lovingly carved symbols into his mind forever as he shakily reached out, the pendant clutched in his fist as a smear of blood, his blood, grazed the slick surface of her grave.

Again he spoke, even as he wrapped his arms around the cold unyielding grave stone that housed the spot where her ashes had been scattered, his eyes closing for the final time as he allowed himself to say what had been heavy on his mind and heart for all this time.

"Kagome.. I'm sorry I failed...you.."

The people who visited the shrine the next day found only a large bloodstain in the snow, some of it smeared on to the grave itself, and a string of violet-black prayer beads with larger cream colored beads that looked like fangs.

What no one noticed, was on the grave, where only half of the heart had been, was a completed silver heart.


Owari.