by Za Metallium
This is set some time after chapter #174, "Barrier of Earth."
Warning: DARK. I mean it. Implied adult themes, torture,
and other Unpleasant Stuff.
"Remember this, Naraku: you can't kill me. Until you get rid of your human heart...you'll just be a half-youkai." Kikyou's pronouncement echoed in Naraku's mind.
"Perhaps I cannot harm you yet, Kikyou," Naraku whispered. "But for now I will be content using this one in your stead."
Before Naraku lay an unconscious Kagome. Her unusual clothing had been reduced to shreds by the over-eager and now-deceased servant he'd sent after the girl. Capturing her had been easier than expected; it seemed that useless bother, Inuyasha, had been "busy" elsewhere, and only the humans and the kit had been there to protect the girl.
For all the good their presence had done; all had been injured to the point of non-mobility. But Naraku did not want them dead; oh, no, they had to tell Inuyasha what had happened to his little pet. Yes, Naraku would have a surprise for that annoyance when it invariably decided to seek what had been stolen.
But that was in the future, and Naraku was more interested in enjoying the present. The accursed Onigumo's desires still dwelled within Naraku, and the half-youkai planned to exorcise them—by playing out Onigumo's fantasies of Kikyou using her reincarnation.
Naraku ripped off the remains of the girl's garb and checked the shackles which held her hands bound behind her. Seeing all was ready for what was to come, he slapped the girl's face.
Her eyes shot open at the sharp pain and she let out a cry of pain. Seeing Naraku above her, her scream turned to one of terror.
"Finally awake, I see...Kikyou," he greeted with a dark smile.
"Kikyou?" the girl repeated dumbly. "I'm not Kikyou!"
Naraku shook his head and slapped the girl again, bringing tears to her eyes. "I believe you are mistaken. You are Kikyou."
"I'm not," she insisted, voice and body trembling in fear. Finally noticing her state of undress, she blushed hotly and tried to curl up in a ball to conceal herself from him.
Naraku would have none of that. Again he slapped her, harder than before. "Do not do that, Kikyou."
"I'm not Kikyou," she whispered.
"I had hoped you would have this attitude," Naraku said conversationally. He reached over to the nearby fire and withdrew a sharp dagger that had been heating in the flames. It shone white-hot. The girl watched him with frightened, tearful eyes.
"Now, Kikyou," he said pleasantly as he straddled the girl. His weight restrained her below the waist, and he used his free hand to push her to the floor, his hand around her neck. "I'm going to make certain you remember who you are."
Naraku carefully traced a short vertical line on the left side of her lower belly. The girl screamed as the burning knife bit into her flesh, and Naraku relished the sound.
Onigumo had been unable to read or write, and Naraku himself had little use for it. However, he had learned the proper way to write Kikyou's name, and he carefully cut the symbols into the writhing girl's belly.
After completing the two kanji making up Kikyou's name, Naraku admired his handiwork. Rather lovely, if he did say so himself. "Now, are you ready to cooperate?" he asked pleasantly once the girl's screams faded.
"Or do you need another reminder?" he inquired reasonably, starting the pattern of Kikyou's name over again, this time on the girl's right breast. The knife had cooled by this point, so the wound bled freely without the benefit of cauterization.
"Stop!" the girl begged, more tears falling down her already-damp face.
"And who are you?" he asked.
"Ki–kiyou," she whispered. "I'm Kikyou."
"Very good," he encouraged, rising. The girl sighed in relief before she realised he'd done so only to remove his clothing. Her screams and tears and been highly arousing, and he was ready to use her as Onigumo had wished to use Kikyou.
Onigumo had wanted to do many debauched things to Kikyou. Naraku picked several choice actions and used the girl in Kikyou's stead. It went on for hours, for even a half-youkai's stamina was much greater than a mere human's.
At length Naraku was spent, and he simply sat back to admire the pretty picture the girl made, lying there. The angry red branding of Kikyou's name stood out sharply against the pale skin of her belly. Blood and fluid seeped from torn and abused orifices. Bruises artfully decorated much of her exposed skin. The girl's eyes stared at nothing.
"Kikyou," he called in an almost gentle voice, "Would you like to get dressed now?"
The girl's eyes flickered and she nodded once, jerkily.
"Kagura," Naraku called, and his offspring entered the room. "Dress her, but don't wash her," he ordered.
Kagura frowned at him, but of course obeyed. Naraku wondered a bit at the gentleness with which she attended the abused girl, but, then, Kagura always did try for her little rebellions. Foolish, expendable creature.
Soon, the girl was dressed in a simple kimono, her hair tied back as Kikyou was wont to wear hers. Naraku smiled.
"Go set her up for Inuyasha to find," he ordered before leaving to clean up himself.
* * *
Inuyasha cursed himself for the thousandth time in the last hour. He had returned to the village to find Shippou, Miroku, and Sango all gravely injured. Something deep within him had frozen when the priest, in a moment of consciousness, told Inuyasha that Kagome had been abducted by a servant of Naraku's.
Chikusho, he cursed mentally. He'd been so intent on not seeing Kagome for her sake, and so worried about Naraku coming after Kikyou...it had never occurred to him that Naraku would go after Kagome.
Inuyasha nearly stumbled when he caught the scent—the scent of burnt flesh and blood and sex, the former two belonging to Kagome. He forced himself to go faster, and did stumble when he saw her.
She was propped against a tree like some life-sized doll, blood and fluid seeping through the yukata she wore. Her hair had been fixed like Kikyou's, and if he hadn't caught the smell of her blood first, he might have though it was Kikyou herself.
"Kagome?" he asked cautiously, something in his throat inexplicably making breathing difficult. "Kagome?"
Kagome opened her eyes, and Inuyasha found himself falling back. Those weren't Kagome's eyes! The blank grey orbs staring at him were empty, devoid of life. They belonged to a broken thing, not his Kagome.
Then she spoke, her voice rough as if she'd overused it, her expression bland, and her words destroying him: "Kagome? I am Kikyou."
And, somewhere, Naraku laughed.
