Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
I'm hiding. From you.
I'm seeking. You out.
'S' is for Seeking
"I'm going to kill you."
"Ahh, she states her intentions. Should I be frightened?"
"Shaking in your boots."
"And to what do I owe this… pleasantry?" He had a slow, smirking tilt about his mouth, a glint in his eyes and just –
He was superior. He knew it, and she knew it. But Kagome was angrier and self-righteous and hurt.
Damn it all because you –
"You killed Inuyasha."
You owe me a life. Yours.
- I'm hunting. Where's my prey? -
"He didn't deserve to live, pathetic fool."
"Shut up."
"Hnnn…. Did you know that he begged for death?"
"Shut up!"
Naraku blinked slowly. "I simply gave the half-breed what he wanted. And surprise, little miko," he was smiling again, "it wasn't you."
Was never you.
Kagome smiled too.
- The hills will cover me. You won't find me anymore. -
Kagome cried, too.
"I may die here today, Naraku," she murmured, brushing the tears from her eyes.
"May, silly child?"
Kagome continued as if she hadn't heard him, because in truth, she hadn't. "You've taken everything," she said in the same low voice, her gaze unfocused. "Sango, Miroku, S-Shippo, even Kaede. When Kikyou disappeared, Inuyasha did too. And it's been four years."
Naraku chuckled. Kagome snapped.
"Four years, and I can't even go back. All for this fucking jewel?" She grasped at the thin chain holding the jewel around her neck and yanked it off harshly.
Her brown eyes hardened. "You want this so badly, you treacherous shit? Come get it."
- And when you think I'm gone, I'll find you. -
He laughed again, and it was deeper, darker.
"Gladly."
- And when you think I'm gone, I'll find you. -
Everything became a purple haze, but Kagome had trained through black nights and her own, gray existence.
Colors were easy.
Breathing was hard.
- And when you think I'm gone, I'll kill you. -
Kagome dodged a weaving mass of graceful tentacles for hours.
Naraku was playing, loved to play, and loved to laugh. Kagome's eyes were tearing from the gas, her hands were burning pink and hot, and her clothes were slimy and torn from too many close calls; but her ears were wonderfully detached and heard every sound he made.
He was glad.
She was glad too.
She saw an end.
- Because I'm hiding from you, you won't find me. –
In the end, he put a tentacle through her chest and God she felt like dying.
But she couldn't.
And finally, he understood. "My, you are the trickster," Naraku crowed, withdrawing the tentacle and positioning it towards her heart. The remaining appendages remained tensed at his side. "Sustaining your life with a portion of the jewel? How clever and how… fitting. In one strike I have my victory and you die."
- And I'm looking for you, searching, seeking -
He struck her through the heart and in that instant –
Kagome grasped the tentacle and drew him in closer. She grimaced and smiled for the very last time.
"But don't you know the legend of the Jewel of Four Souls, Naraku?"
And finally, he understood.
In a final burst of pink, she sealed him into her heart.
'I miss you, Inuyasha.'
A new jewel was born.
- I've found you at last –