Chapter 1 The Dark Unknown

On the full moon in the Feudal Era, the villagers were all asleep except for one person. A young woman with pale skin, long black hair tied up with a white ribbon into a loose ponytail down to her waist, and she has soulless dark brown eyes. She wore a white jacket with cords through the sleeves and open shoulders, wearing socks and rice straw sandals, and she wears a red obi belt over her garments. Through Kikyo's eyes, the sky looked black and blue with white stars shining above her, the trees seem to hide in the darkness, and that was not enough to lift up her dead soul.

'I can't go to sleep because I am still dead. However, if I could sleep again I would dream nothing but Inuyasha all the time. Now I feel like I'm stuck to be damned on this Earth forever.' Kikyo thought to herself bitterly as she looked up at the sky.

Kikyo stopped staring up at the sky and began walking through the thick bushes. Her bow and arrow set was propped up on a tree branch in the middle of the woods. It took her a little longer for her to wander around freely. As she continued, walking a rustling sound that was not far away for Kikyo to hear had begun. Kikyo gracefully pulled out her bow and arrow ready to aim at her approaching intruder. Soon she hears a voice softly mumbling profanity in the bushes.

"Whoever you are I command you to get out of those bushes! I am a priestess and if you don't come out I will kill you on the spot." Kikyo said in her powerful voice that did not linger in the quietness.

"Damn it, I hate it when you threaten to kill me all the time!" A voice grumbled to Kikyo as the rustling sound was coming closer to her.

She could hear the mysterious person's feet walking on the twigs and leaves as they crunched softly. Kikyo's eyes squinted with anger and her mouth pulled down into a frown, with her bow and arrow still in hand ready to kill ever since she came back to life. Kikyo knew then what her new fate would lead her, but all she thought about was killing these days. Nothing seemed to make any sense to her anymore, but her love for Inuyasha that held strong in her heart.

She looked at the pale young man with his long, white hair hanging loosely down his back. His orange eyes flitted with anger; his mouth was set in a sour frown, and his small dog ears rose up with alertness. He wore a red fire rat fur outfit, a silk obi belt, with his Tessagia in a sword sheath by his side, and his feet were barefoot. He stared at Kikyo with her bow and arrow ready in her hands ready to pierce his heart with it.

"What the hell are you doing? It is just me, Inuyasha!" Inuyasha said to Kikyo infuriated.

"I thought you were an intruder. I can't believe that I almost thought about killing you." Kikyo said to Inuyasha as she put her bow and arrow back in her little sack.

"I didn't think you wanted me dead," Inuyasha said to Kikyo dryly as he rolled his eyes.

"How could I want you dead? I love you, Inuyasha and I would never think of killing you." Kikyo said to Inuyasha as she leaned back on a tree.

Inuyasha and Kikyo's eyes looked up at each other. He walked up towards her slowly and looked down at her. Kikyo raised her hand up towards Inuyasha's face and she gently stroked his cheek. He stepped away from her and she automatically flinched from their moment together in the darkness. When Kikyo tried to talk to Inuyasha, he turned his back on her.

"I think about you every day and I want to be with you," Kikyo confessed to Inuyasha as her voice quivered.

"But you know I can't be with you. I love Kagome and we should not be seeing each other in the woods anymore." Inuyasha said to Kikyo in a stern tone.

"Are you saying that our love for each other meant nothing to you? However, you are saying that you are over me!" Kikyo said to Inuyasha as her anger built up inside her.

"Our love for each other died when you died, Kikyo. You have to understand I can't love a dead corpse, so there is no reason for you to be waiting around for me." Inuyasha said to Kikyo in his calmest voice.

Kikyo's eyes had started to water and the tears came streaming down her face. Inuyasha looked at Kikyo and turned his head away from her. She was in shock that he did not bother to comfort her. Kikyo felt broken and rejected by Inuyasha at the same time. He then turns his back on her and begins to walk away through the dark woods.

'I think it is the only way she can get over me altogether. I'm not meeting up with her again after midnight anymore. She does not need me anymore; she's strong enough to survive without me.' Inuyasha thought to himself as he looked at the silent Kikyo.

In her eerie silence, she slumped down to the dry ground and did not say a word. Kikyo stared blankly at Inuyasha as he disappeared into the darkest part of the woods. Her eyes frantically darted over to where she saw him last and she instantly wanted him to come back. Kikyo put her hand over her dead heart and she felt like everything had ended. Kikyo felt as if her heart was beating internally for him, but now it felt like her heart had stopped beating. Afterward, she wiped her eyes and thought about the darkness that was eating up her dead soul.

'I do not know what has become of me. This dark feeling inside of me keeps gnawing on me every day, yet I ignore the strong desire that beckons me.' Kikyo thought to herself befuddled when she closed her eyes.

Inuyasha felt closure as he told his true feelings to Kikyo. He was happier now that he told her the truth. Now he knew that the memories of him and Kikyo wanting to be together could finally be left in the past, and he did not have to look at Kagome's hurtful expression on her face without feeling guilty over hurting her by accident not even knowing what he had done.

'Finally, Kikyo understands what I have been trying to say to her about moving on.' Inuyasha thought to himself as he looked over at his friends sleeping peacefully.

Inuyasha had noticed that the little pallet where Kagome slept was empty. His eyes began to search for her around the woods. Inuyasha began to feel relieved when he saw a girl looking straight into his eyes. The young girl has a vibrant skin tone of the color peach, her eyes are dark brown, and her black hair is hanging loosely down to her shoulders. She is wearing a blue tank top and a black knee length skirt, with blue ballet flats as her completed look.

"Kagome what are you doing up?" Inuyasha asked Kagome surprised.

"I couldn't sleep and I noticed that you were gone, so I was waiting for you to come back." Inuyasha said to Kagome as he walked up closer to her.

"You didn't have to wait for me. You know how I am, I always come back." Inuyasha said to Kagome as he walked up closer to her.

"I keep having this nagging feeling that you met up with Kikyo again. You don't have to tell me what happened until you are ready." Kagome said to Inuyasha as she took a glance at him.

Inuyasha's eyes down cast to the ground and started fidgeting in a nervous way. Kagome observed Inuyasha's behavior and knew that he met up with Kikyo. Kagome and Inuyasha locked their eyes on each other. Inuyasha was the first one to turn away and Kagome waited for him to say something.

"Kikyo felt torn to shreds when I told her that I love you and we should not meet each other anymore," Inuyasha said to Kagome as she walked up towards him.

"She must have felt devastated by how you told her the truth." Kagome said to Inuyasha feeling a little sympathy for Kikyo.

"Kikyo was angry with me, but she will get over it. She is just more confused now that she is only a dead corpse walking on this Earth. I was all that she had left to hope for in her dead existence." Inuyasha said to Kagome sadly.

Kagome did not know how to respond back to Inuyasha. She found it hard to believe that Kikyo did not want to live in this world without a purpose. Kagome wondered what it was like for Kikyo, to roam around every day with a broken heart. She also thought about if it was painful for Kikyo to see her with Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha it is getting late. I think we should go to bed now." Kagome said to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha just nodded his head once in agreement. Kagome and Inuyasha walked to their little campsite and went to sleep.

(Kikyo's Flashback):

Inuyasha walked through the woods on a beautiful sky blue day, the clouds were puffy and white, the trees and the grass looked healthy and green. On this day, Inuyasha and his friends had defeated Naraku for now. They were feeling happy getting closer to collecting the Sacred Jewel shards. He was walking through the woods to meet up with Kikyo as usual, but then he hears a loud sobbing sound in the middle of the woods. Inuyasha saw Kikyo crouched down on the ground and still weeping her eyes out. He wondered what she was crying about as he walked up closer to her.

"Kikyo what's the matter with you?" Inuyasha asked Kikyo curiously, as he reached over to touch her shoulder.

"Leave me alone, Inuyasha! Go back to your, Kagome!" Kikyo shouted at Inuyasha as she flinched away from his touch.

"Kikyo you are not making any sense. What are you trying to say to me?" Inuyasha said to Kikyo furiously.

"Now you see what I mean? That makes the both of us!" Kikyo said to Inuyasha in an icy tone.

Inuyasha couldn't understand why Kikyo seemed to be upset at him. He thought about if Kikyo wanted him around her anymore. Inuyasha grew tired of the way Kikyo was behaving around him and let his anger get the best of him.

"What is your point that you are trying to get across to me?" Inuyasha asked Kikyo irately.

"You loved me once. I know that you can still love me now. Why don't you just stay with me?" Kikyo said to Inuyasha tranquilly as she hugged him.

"This will never happen between us Kikyo. I'm just here to tell you goodbye." Inuyasha said to Kikyo in a stern voice.

"What do you mean goodbye? What will happen between us now?" Kikyo said to Inuyasha at a fast pace.

Inuyasha walked backward a few paces and then pulls away from Kikyo's tight embrace. Inuyasha turns away from Kikyo and all she could do was just watch him walking away from her, and she felt powerless that he broke her heart and made her feel like she meant nothing to him. In the shadowy part of the woods Kikyo watched Inuyasha disappear without even looking back at her. She felt all alone and nothing but a dead corpse living in a lively world.

(Kikyo's Flashback Ends)

Kikyo's haunting flashback faded away and she was relieved. She still felt like she was losing her mind lately. Kikyo kept feeling as if she was living in her own prison in the world that she once knew.

'Damn that Inuyasha and Kagome!' Kikyo thought to herself enraged.

She still couldn't get over that Inuyasha moved on since her death and started falling in love with Kagome. To her the flashback that happened between her and Inuyasha seemed like a distant memory. Kikyo felt like that she did not deserve to live on this Earth anymore since she felt soulless every day. She began walking through the woods on her way to the small village. Kikyo started cussing under her breath over Inuyasha and Kagome being together, and calling Kagome "a little schoolgirl" and Inuyasha being "a stupid bastard."

Kikyo started walking at a faster pace down the path. She couldn't resist her own temptation of getting revenge on Inuyasha and Kagome. Kikyo did not care how things would work out as long a she could throw Kagome down in Hell somehow. Later on, Kikyo was now standing in the middle of the quiet village. She looked around at the villagers homes and listened to the wind blowing around her. Kikyo felt like her mind was clouding around, with darkness and her body was just consuming the darkness within herself.