Chapter 1 – The So-Called Crime
"Have ye seen any traces of Kikyou yet, Inuyasha?" Kaede asked as Inuyasha and his companions sat in her hut, eating stew. "It's been awhile, I'm starting to--"
"Don't say it." Inuyasha said. "She's probably just laying low to hide from Naraku. I'm sure she's just waiting for the right time to show herself." It was the same conversation they'd been having for months; Kikyou had simply vanished. There were no sightings of her, and Inuyasha hadn't picked up even a whiff of her scent in six moon cycles. Even he was starting to fear the worst in his heart. "Now that his heart is out of his body, Naraku will kill her the first chance he gets. She has to hide.
Kaede sighed. "Kagome, wouldn't ye know if Kikyou died? Part of your soul would be returned. Have you sensed anything like that?"
Kagome looked her straight in the eyes. "No." She said.
After dinner was over, Inuyasha asked Kagome to go for a walk with him. "Kagome, you've been acting real weird lately. Is there something I should know about?"
"No." Kagome said. "I'm just not feeling well today."
Inuyasha looked at her, his eyes filled with concern. "I'm really worried about Kikyou." Inuyasha said. "I'm afraid for her. Wherever she is, whatever has happened to her, are we ever going to see her again?" Inuyasha saw the tears forming in her eyes. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Kagome said, pulling away as he tried to embrace her. "Don't do that!"
Six Months Earlier
Kagome undressed and sank down into the freezing cold water. The only warmth she could feel came from the tears that slowly ran down her face. She refused to cry in front of the others, after she came back, knowing Inuyasha's heart belonged to Kikyou. No matter how hard she tried not to think badly of Kikyou, there would always be that one spot of darkness on her heart. When Naraku's incarnation found it, she felt embarrassed, weak, and petty for thinking Inuyasha would chase Kikyou to the ends of the earth while she was in danger.
"I just want to be with Inuyasha. Is that so wrong?" Kagome asked, her voice laced with anger.
Kilala gave her a mew of sympathy and then went back to splashing around for fish.
The wind carried her voice a little farther than she realized, and it hit the sensitive ears of Inuyasha as he walked farther away from her. He felt a stab of pain, but knew Kikyou's life might be in danger. That was the least of the reasons he couldn't turn around for her though. Mostly, Inuyasha just couldn't bring himself to face Kagome on the subject of Kikyou again. It hurt both of them too much. Kagome was going to go home for a few days to catch up on school; that was probably best for everyone. Sango was going home to visit the graves of her family, Miroku was probably off to commit lechery, and Inuyasha and Shippou were just going to hang out for a week. They would meet back at the well in one week.
Kagome dried off and accidentally tripped on her backpack, spilling it in the grass near the pond where she bathed while in Kaede's village. She threw everything back in and made a dash for the well, running away from the stress of her life to the refuge of home. It was the next morning that she realized her math book was missing, and had likely been left in the feudal era.
Later that night, after several hours of homework and dinner, she went down the well to retrieve the missing book. As soon as she crawled out of the well, she felt anxious and upset, but she blamed that on the drama that lead to her leaving and quietly made her way to the pond.
Kagome saw a shadow form overhead, blocking out the brilliant light from the full moon. Before she could scream, a terrible pain shot through her body and she felt herself being violently yanked into the air. The hawk youkai flew quickly, holding Kagome up by the talons that pierced her left shoulder, which was going numb from the intense pain and blood loss. At some point, she passed out, because when she awoke, she was falling, fast. Tree branches scratched and bruised her as she fell through the forest and then landed on the ground.
When Kagome finally opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Kikyou. "Kikyou?" She asked, shocked that the priestess would actually save her life.
"Don't worry, you don't seem to have any broken bones." Kikyou replied.
Kagome sat up, wincing in pain. "Thank you for saving me." She said. "I guess we're even now."
"I did not save you for the sake of doing so." Kikyou said. "You saved my life because you chose to do so. I owe you nothing."
Kagome stood up and defensively grasped the tiny vial hanging from her neck. "If you're here for the jewel shards, you can't have them!"
Not far from where the two women stood in the Great Youkai Forest, Sesshomaru sat, leaning against a tree as he watched Rin annoy Jaken. The scents in the air disturbed him, and the wind told him that there was a clay body and a wounded human nearby, both of which he identified easily. Sesshomaru knew that Kikyou had taken all the Shikon shards collected by Inuyasha and given them to Naraku, which opened the door for his numerous incarnations. Had she attacked the younger miko in hopes of gaining the other shards Inuyasha had taken since then? Naraku had almost completed the jewel already, Inuyasha's wench could have been carrying the last fragments he needed.
"Jaken, take Rin and Ah-Un out of the forest and into safe territory. Understood?" Sesshomaru said as another scent hit his nose. "Naraku..."
"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken said. "Come, Rin!"
As he drew closer to the women, he realized the smell he had attributed to Naraku was simply his miasma, which was eating away at Kikyou's body. Still, he was mildly interested in what was happening and still suspected Kikyou might be planning to give Naraku more power by stealing the jewel shards.
"I said 'no!' Now leave me alone!" Kagome said, holding her wounded arm. "You didn't collect these shards. We did." Kagome said. "All you want to do is give them to Naraku so you can have your petty vengeance. You don't even care how many people he kills because of what you did!" Inside, Kagome was infuriated by the damage done by Naraku's incarnations, which existed because of the pieces of the jewel Kikyou had given him.
Kikyou yanked the jewel shards off her neck. "My little copy..." She spun and drew her bow, then fired a shot into the darkness. The glowing arrow stopped before it reached it's destination and dissolved. "Who's there?"
Kagome had seen that happen once before. "Sesshomaru?"
"Sesshomaru!" Kikyou said. "This is none of your concern."
Sesshomaru flashed his claws. "Where is Naraku?"
"Why would I know?" Kikyou asked.
"This Sesshomaru assumes you were not planning on keeping those shards for yourself." Sesshomaru said. Kikyou started to walk away, passing Sesshomaru as if he wasn't even there. As she got closer, she threw out a fisted hand and pierced his chest with a purification arrow. Sesshomaru fell to his knees, growling as his instincts fought purification. His claws grew out and started to drip with poison, his eyes turned red, and the markings on his face brightened. The intense burning pain in his chest kept him from thinking or responding to anything.
Kagome stared at Kikyou as she kept walking and felt the anger surface yet again. As bad as Sesshomaru was, she couldn't see a reason to do what she'd done. "Hey, Kikyou!" She said, chasing after her. Kagome tripped and fell forward, but grabbed Kikyou. Kagome gasped as Kikyou fell backward and onto Sesshomaru's claws. "KIKYOU!" The poison, which was far stronger than Naraku's miasma, killed her instantly. Kikyou's clay body shattered into tiny pieces. "K-K-Kikyou..." Kagome sat down sobbing. "Kikyou! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" A large, yellow orb rose from the clay and went into Kagome's body and her soul became whole again.
Sesshomaru stared at his claws and then at Kagome, and she saw something she had never seen in his eyes. Fear. He debated killing Kagome, but if his suspicions were correct, killing the only priestess capable of purifying the jewel would make it impossible for Naraku to be killed. "Stop crying." He snapped.
"How am I going to tell Inuyasha about this?" Kagome cried "Poor Kikyou!" Her words seemed incoherent to Sesshomaru, who harshly yanked her up.
His eyes threatened her as he spoke, something she had rarely seen. When she had heard him speak, he rarely said more than a few words. "Do you realize your own circumstances? The person who had the most to gain from her death is not Naraku. It is you."
"Inuyasha trusts me." Kagome said as she processed what he had just said. She and Inuyasha had come to odds over Kikyou less than a day before, and he knew she'd left angry.
"Does he trust you enough to believe you accidentally met Kikyou, and I happened upon you by chance, and by some strange coincidence she fell on my poisonous claws?" Sesshomaru asked. "When it comes to that woman, my brother is weak. He will look for some way to avenge her and he will force me to fight him to the death."
Kagome trembled and jerked herself out of his grasp. "This can't be happening."
"It is." Sesshomaru said. "You would make me kill Inuyasha over the death of someone who was never alive in the first place?"
One single Saimyosho flew away, having seen the entire event unfold.
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Next Chapter: Inuyasha has a dream that Kikyou is dead!