Lyra's head was hurting so much, she didn't notice the car speeding towards her. Hokori smirked evilly as she fast approached her target.
"Good riddance."
She heard a loud screech and then it happened. Lyra let out a scream as she went flying across the street. Everything went black as she hit the ground with a thud. It was as if everything had slowed down but it all happened within a second. That one second felt like minutes.
Being delirious, she could hear people shouting and yelling to call an ambulance. A sense of panic and tension filled the atmosphere and the public were in shock to have witnessed it all. Soon, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Ma'am?! Ma'am, are you okay?!" a woman asked.
Lyra slowly opened her eyes. Everything was a blur and she couldn't comprehend what was happening. She could hear the sirens in the distance echoing in her ears. Pushing against the ground, she slowly sat up. The woman who was there helped her up and it was as her vision cleared, she noticed a small group of people surrounding her. And as her vision cleared, so did her mind. She looked at the woman who had an expression of extreme worry on her face.
"Are you okay?" the woman repeated.
Lyra blinked a couple of times as she breathed heavily. "I... What..."
A man crouched down in front of her and held up a few fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three..." she answered correctly but it still didn't diffuse her confusion.
He nodded and then he and the woman helped her get to her feet. Once she was standing, they slowly let go of her and made sure she wasn't going to fall over. She looked at the people gathered around her.
"What... What happened..?"
The woman answered. "You were almost hit by a car."
"Oh..." She held her head and squeezed her eyes shut for a couple of seconds. "I see." She breathed out deeply and opened her eyes again to see a larger crowd gathered around the front of the car. "Is that the car?"
"Yes," the woman replied again.
Lyra nodded. "Thank goodness no one got hurt."
"Actually..." the man spoke causing Lyra to look at him. "Someone pushed you out of the way and got hit instead."
Her eyes shot open wide and before anyone could stop her, she ran towards the other crowd. Pushing her way through, she soon made it to the middle where everyone's attention was.
Her legs suddenly buckled under her and she almost fell back but a few members of the crowd held onto her arms. She shook her head as tears streamed from her eyes.
"No..." she breathed out shakily. "No!" She pulled her arms out of their grip and went to the bloodied body, falling to her knees. "Kanda..." Her hands shook as she reached out to his face and held onto it. "Wake up... Wake up..." She sobbed but tried to hold it back. "Open your eyes..."
His white shirt had been stained with his blood and it was still spreading. There was a pool of blood on the road around his head as well. She cried harder as she realised he was dead. Lowering her head, she began administering CPR in the hope of bringing him back. After blowing into his mouth, she began pushing his chest. Again, she breathed into his mouth and tried again and again and again. But to no avail. He was gone. Still, she tried. A member of the public had to physically stop her because there was nothing that could be done.
Once the realisation hit, she dropped her head onto his chest and wailed. She clutched onto his shirt and mumbled through her sobbing, begging for him to wake up.
"Please... Please... Kanda, wake up... Why..." She breathed in shakily. "You fool... Why did you do that?" She squeezed her eyes and lifted her head before opening her eyes again to look at his face. "Why did you save me..?" She continued to sob loudly, not caring about the crowd around them as she gripped his shirt tighter. "I wasn't worth it..."
Laying her head on his chest, her crying continued. Soon, the ambulance had arrived and the paramedics came rushing out. The crowd backed off to allow them some room and they found Lyra crying on top of him.
One of the paramedics pried her off him as the others worked on trying to save him. Lyra clasped her hands together as she sobbed, pleading with them to save his life. The paramedic moved her away, guiding her to the ambulance so they could do a check up on her as well.
It was just then that Lyra caught sight of Hokori stepping out of the car. The car that hit Kanda. Something snapped in her mind at that point.
Forcing herself away from the paramedics, she stormed over to Hokori. The woman's eyes widened, actually frightened for the first time upon witnessing the pure anger in Lyra's eyes. She didn't even have time to step away before Lyra reached her and grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt.
"WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU DO IT?!" Lyra screamed at her as she shook the woman in her grip. "You killed him!"
Hokori just scoffed, pushing away Lyra's grip. "I was aiming for you. He simply got in the way."
That was it. Lyra clenched her hand into a fist and punched Hokori in the jaw. The woman grunted from the pain and stumbled back straight into police. They hadn't realised the police had arrived at that moment and had heard Hokori's confession. Even though Lyra had inflicted physical assault, they let it slide due to the severity of Hokori's crime and took her away.
The police wanted to take a statement from Lyra but they knew she wasn't in the right frame of mind. Especially when she heard the paramedics confirm that Kanda was dead. She ran back to his body on the ground and fell to her knees beside him again. The paramedics attempted to hold her back but she fought them off, screaming at them to let her go.
"No! He's not dead! He can't die!"
They eventually had to let her go and allow her to mourn over his body. She held his head on her lap and cradled his body as she resumed her heart wrenching cries. Her tears fell on his face as she sobbed over him.
"You can't leave me, Kanda... Please..."
***
After having dropped Lyra off to her apartment, Sesshomaru had gone to the Imperial Palace. Upon seeing the painting, it was then he remembered everything. The tourists there were all shocked when he was engulfed by light and electricity before being transformed to his original self. His swords had reappeared along with all his memories. People were surprised to see how alike he looked to the painting and it wasn't long before they made the connection. It was then his Tenseiga began rattling and he knew Lyra was in danger. He used his flight and speed to get there. However, it seemed he was too late.
There was a huge crowd gathered, an ambulance and police cars. Narrowing his eyes, he found Lyra's scent and dived down. The crowd all gasped in shock at his sudden presence but he didn't care. Lyra hadn't even noticed him as she continued to cry loudly. He instantly knew who's body she was crying over.
"Lyra," he called.
She lifted her head to look up at him, revealing her bloodshot eyes and Kanda's face. It would have seemed as though he was sleeping if it wasn't for all the blood.
"Sesshomaru..." Lyra whimpered. "Kanda... He..." She tried her best to hold herself together as she looked down at his face again. "Please save him..."
Sesshomaru's hand instantly went to the Tensaiga. But something was wrong. He frowned, his brows creasing together. He unsheathed his sword hoping it would work then. But there was no change. He couldn't see the demons of the underworld.
"I...can't save him," he told her.
Her head shot up to look at him, her eyes widening. "You're lying..." she said, shaking her head in denial. "You're lying!"
More of a crowd had gathered due to all the commotion. Paramedics attempted to reason with Lyra to get her to release the body but she wasn't having any of it. She remembered everything. She was meant to marry Kanda but even after the truth was revealed about herself and Sesshomaru, he supported her. He ended up becoming her best friend.
"Stay away from him!" she yelled at them through her tears before holding onto him again. "He's not dead... He's not..."
Sesshomaru frowned at the way Lyra mourned for him. Not because he was upset or angered by her reaction. Witnessing how broken she was, it was difficult for him. Not only had someone close to her died, they had remembered their baby was taken. That moment in their lives was a true test for them.
"Excuse me, uh, sir?"
Sesshomaru looked over to the police officer who had called him. The officer seemed quite taken aback by his appearance. Since Sesshomaru was so well known, everyone was used to seeing him in just a suit. But now he was wearing a kimono with a huge, fluffy boa over his shoulder whilst wielding a sword.
"What is it?" Sesshomaru asked, growing impatient.
The officer jumped slightly. "The woman responsible has mentioned a name. Apparently he was the one who made her do it."
Sesshomaru's brows furrowed slightly. "Who?"
"Someone named Naraku, sir."
His eyes widened upon hearing his name. Even Lyra had heard it. Her heart panged painfully at the sound of his name. First he took away their child and now Kanda. She held his face as silent tears fell down her cheeks.
"Apparently," the officer added, "Hokori's target was this lady here but the gentleman pushed her away and was hit instead."
Sesshomaru didn't respond. He became silent as he contemplated the information he was just given.
The officer continued. "Is this Naraku an enemy of yours? Is there a motive behind his attack? Perhaps trying to get at you by targeting your loved one." He then looked down at Lyra. "What about you, ma'am? Do you know about this Naraku?"
The officer waited for answers but instead received only silence. Lyra simply continued to hold onto Kanda's body, her mind overwhelmed with everything that was happening. Sesshomaru glanced down at her and witnessed the blank expression on her face as she held the body. It wasn't the reunion he was hoping for. He expected to find Lyra and return back to their world so they could search for their son. However, despite not physically being there, Naraku was still controlling their lives. And worst of all, he attempted to kill Lyra. That was the last straw for him.
Walking past the officer, Sesshomaru made his way to the police van where Hokori was locked up. She saw him and gasped, half in fright and half due to how he had changed. She was only used to seeing him in a suit, but now he looked so majestic.
His eyes remained locked onto hers as he spoke to another officer. "Open it," he said.
The officer was shocked, as was Hokori. She thought that maybe Sesshomaru was going to let her go.
"B-b-but... I can't do that."
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, still focused on Hokori. "She won't run. Open it," he repeated.
Reluctantly, the officer obliged and opened the caged doors. Hokori stood and walked through the van to get to him. She was so happy he was letting her go.
"Oh, Sesshomaru! I knew you'd save m-AHH!"
Sesshomaru grabbed her by the throat and lifted her feet off the ground. She screamed and clutched onto his wrist as she kicked her legs about. All the police officers reacted to his move and aimed their guns at him. There was at least ten of them.
"Sir, put her down!" an officer shouted.
He ignored them and glared at Hokori. "Where is Naraku?"
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at him in fear, her legs still dangling. "I... I-I don't know..."
"Don't lie to me!"
Another officer called out, "You have three seconds to put her down or we will open fire!"
Sesshomaru had had enough of them and so decided to put an end to it. With his free hand, he created his poison whip from his talons. The officers and even the onlooking crowd were shocked by his power, some even thinking it was some sort of sorcery. With one move of his arm, Sesshomaru's whip had swung round and cut all the guns in half, destroying them all.
The officers gasped and backed away in fear, all eyeing up their destroyed weapons in shock. The crowded public even let out cries of terror whilst some quickly pulled out their phones to take videos. One of the officers pulled out his radio and frantically requested backup.
"We need backup! I repeat, backup! Send everyone you can! Send the army if you have to! He's a demon!"
Now that the officers witnessed his true power, Sesshomaru resumed his interrogation.
He applied a bit more pressure around her neck. "Where is he?"
Hokori could feel herself slowly losing consciousness as dark spots obscured her vision. "Se-... Sesshomaru..."
"Tell me," he said in a frighteningly calm tone.
"I...don't..."
Sesshomaru had enough. "What a waste of time. It's time for you to die."
"No, wait!" she stopped him desperately. "I'll tell you..."
Sesshomaru received his information and dropped her back inside the van. She began choking as air returned to her lungs before she fell unconscious. Some of the officers quickly approached with caution as Sesshomaru stepped back.
"No! Don't touch him!"
Upon hearing Lyra's scream, Sesshomaru turned to her. He saw a couple of the paramedics carrying Kanda's body onto a gurney whilst a couple of police officers held Lyra back. She struggled to fight out of their hold on her as her eyes remained focused on the body.
"Let go of me!" she screamed as she cried loudly.
Sesshomaru darted over to her and knocked both the officers off of her, sending them flying back. Lyra was surprised but grateful as she looked up at him.
"Sesshomaru-"
"Let's go," he said, cutting her off.
Taking hold of her wrist, he pulled her along with her to the gurney that was on its way into the ambulance. The paramedics, having witnessed his incredible power earlier, hurriedly backed away.
Onlookers watched and continued to take videos as Sesshomaru lifted Kanda's body from the gurney. Lyra climbed onto his back and once she was secure, Sesshomaru took flight and left the commotion behind. The public and emergency services were left in complete shock.
Lyra gripped onto Sesshomaru and buried her face into his mokomoko. It had been a whirlwind couple of hours for both of them but they weren't ready to rest yet. Sesshomaru was going to rescue their son and bring Kanda back.
"Sesshomaru..." Lyra called quietly. "Mikazuki..."
"I know, Lyra... I know where he is."