Title: To Love the Dead
Genre: Romance/General
Characters: Kikyou, various others
Summary: A series of non-connected one-shots in which Kikyou gets some much-deserved love.
One: Kouga
From a cliff far away from the battlefield, I watch them kissing, and I just don't understand. I mean, why the hell did she choose him? My Kagome, with that… that… well, there are no words, but I can think of several that could come close. Most of them have four letters. I can understand why he would want her. I mean, she's Kagome, living proof that perfection exists. But why the hell did she choose him! He's just some scrawny little mutt with no status, looks, wealth, or mastery of basic social interaction! I saw them eat together, yesterday night when we all united before the final battle. She'd prepared a special meal for us, and his idea of a compliment was to burp and demand more! (I made sure to thank her profusely after she sat him. And then step on Inu-yasha's head.)
And now there they are, kissing beneath the sunset. How romantic. I want to rip his head off. He is nowhere close to being good enough for her. It's strange, but I actually feel my eyes watering. I must have gotten something in them during the battle. Or maybe it's allergies. I mean, humans have allergies, right? So maybe I caught them from Kagome's human companions. Either way, I sort of turn my head to the side, so that priestess over there can't see. Because she might think I'm crying, which I'm certainly not. I'm not quite sure where she came from, because my attention was focused on those two, but a while ago I just looked up and there she was. I think I sort of recognize her. Isn't she involved with Kagome and Inu-yasha somehow? She's pretty for a human, although no one really compares to my Kagome. She looks a lot like Kagome, actually.
She's been staring at Kagome and the flea-bitten mutt very intently, with some unreadable expression. But now she gets up and starts walking toward me.
"It's allergies," I tell her before she can say anything. She smiles a bit, but it doesn't reach her eyes. She really looks a lot like Kagome. She sits down next to me, and for a while neither of us says anything. Kagome and Inu-yasha are still kissing down there. Doesn't either of them need to breathe?
"You and I are similar, you know," she says suddenly, breaking me out of my sad thoughts. Is she nuts or something?
"Yeah, right. We're nothing alike," I tell her, not bothering to be polite. Right now I think I just want someone else to hurt as much as I do. She smiles again. I wish she'd stop that. Those narrow, unfeeling eyes and weird half-smile look out of place on Kagome's face.
"We are. You see, we both suffer from unrequited love." What? She's in love with someone? Sure doesn't look it.
"You're in love with Kagome, too?" I ask incredulously. The minute I say it I realize it's wrong, but right now my mind's kinda focused on Kagome.
She just barely frowns. "No. I once loved Inu-yasha." Oh, great. Why can't he have picked her?
"So you're another stupid woman," I tell her. Rude, but who cares? She certainly doesn't seem to, just stares at the two of them with that same blank expression.
"I suppose it was stupid to love him," she finally says. "Stupid… But love does not observe the rules of logic." And then she frowns again, and I see the saddest look in her eyes I've ever seen on anyone. Her last sentence is barely a whisper, and I'm not sure if she's talking to me or not. "And now I've lost him forever."
I consider leaving; she's really kinda creepy and depressing. But I promised my pack I'd return with Kagome in one hand and Naraku's head in the other, and I don't feel like explaining why I have neither. Besides, I'm tired and I don't really feel like doing anything. So we just sit there in silence.
She speaks again, and she seems to have recovered some of her composure. "You know, you are much like Inu-yasha." What the hell! Now I'm mad.
"Don't insult me, woman!" I yell, though she doesn't much seem to care. "I'm nothing like you and even less like Inu-yasha!"
She gives me that smile again. "I've watched your eyes. Every time you look at me, you think of Kagome." How the hell does she know that?
"You can't read minds, can you?" I ask suspiciously. I know humans can't, but I'm not even sure if she's human anymore. She doesn't smell human.
"No, I cannot read minds, wolf. Only people." Whatever the hell that means.
I look back out over the cliff. Kagome and the mutt are gone. It's funny; I didn't even notice them leave. I lay back and look at the stars. The priestess is still next to me.
After a while, much longer than any of her other pauses, she speaks. "But you are not like Inu-yasha, and I am not like Kagome."
"Well, I coulda told you that." And I could have. I mean, it's kinda obvious.
"They do not run from their problems as we do." I feel kinda angry, but mostly tired.
"Speak for yourself, lady." She doesn't say anything else, and I don't really feel like talking. But she doesn't leave, and neither do I. Eventually I'll have to go back to my pack. The thought doesn't seem too appealing right now. She's not doing anything, just sitting there and probably thinking. I scoot closer. Maybe she's right. Maybe we are alike. The point is, she thinks we are, and right now I just really need someone who knows how I'm feeling.
It might not be so bad to have someone else to run with.
