Hope and Choice

by XxSayuyaxX

The universe is all about balance. Good and Evil. The Eternal Struggle. It is said that the Shikon no Tama needs a pure wish to be destroyed and that requires a good, pure person. So when Naraku is defeated and the Jewel gone, that leaves a lot of extra purity in the world... and there must be balance. (Rated for language)

1. Chapter 1 - Just My Luck

"Inuyasha, sit!" Kagome screamed as she let the arrow fly.

"Huh? Fuck!" yelled the hanyou when he saw the projectile of demonic doom speeding his way. Hitting the ground fast and cursing the wench the whole time, he leapt back up as soon as it was clear and continued on his bloody way, still cussing.

It barely grazed the youkai she was aiming for; but despite that, the pure amount of power in the arrow got the job done anyway. Kagome had gotten better in her priestess skills, but she was still nowhere near the level she needed to be for this fight. She thought to herself as she nocked another arrow, "Well, at least I'm better than the 15 year old high schooler who had never held a bow in her life, that I used to be..."

Honestly, the only reason she ever hit anything most of the time, is that the large majority of her opponents just happen to be huge targets. It's hard to miss a screaming demon the size of a building. Smaller screaming demons are a different story. Slightly shaking her head and mentally slapping herself, Kagome told herself to get with it and focus. Her entire thought process had only taken a moment of time so now she saw that her arrow was actually still in flight. She couldn't believe her eyes! It was actually heading straight for Naraku and his back was turned!

He had no idea what was coming because his attention was focused on trying to knock Sango and Kirara out of the sky with his tentacles. She could only stand there and hope her luck, just this once, would last. She was so focused on the path of her arrow that she didn't notice another youkai running up behind her until it was too late. The last things Kagome knew was Naraku turning toward her as her arrow broke through his shield, a sudden, terrible pain in her shoulder, and she was just conscious enough on her way to meet the dirt, to notice the arrow she had been ready to fire, leaving her fingertips.

"Ughhhhh..." Kagome groaned as she rubbed her head, her eyes still closed.

"I feel like I single-handedly drank 4 bottles of Vodka and then finished the night with whiskey shots and this the morning after. What the hell happened that my head feels like it's on the butt end of the worst hangover in the history of ever?"

"Well, the simple answer is, you died" said an unknown, female voice from her left.

Popping her eyes open and instantly thankful for the very dim light, her intelligent answer to that was, "Huh?"

As she attempted to sit up, she thought to herself, 'You know... This is just my luck...'