Disclaimer: I can claim neither Inu-yasha nor Eve Six as my own. *neurotic eye-twitch* But I really, really wanna.


Previously in our fic: Confused by his turbulent emotions, an angry Inu-yasha literally throws Kagome down the well and back to her own era. And this time, Kagome doesn't want to come back...


"Just An Animal" - Chapter 8 Chapter Song: Girlfriend - Eve Six

You're really gone, girlfriend

...where's the pair... broken

are you aware that I'm missing you

~*~

"How could you!?" Shippo screamed, launching himself angrily at the dog-demon. "You just threw her in?!" Tears streamed down his chubby face, leaving his usually sparkling green eyes dull and lifeless.

Inu-yasha easily fended off the enraged kitsune's attacks. "Listen, brat... she wanted to go, alright?! You all heard her last night! She was leaving anyways!" He held the little demon at arm's length and looked to Miroku, Sango, and Kaede for backup.

He was met with cold, angry stares from all three of them.

"That's no excuse, Inu-yasha, and you know it," Sango said icily, crossing her arms.

Inu-yasha's mouth worked soundlessly for a second. "But she was going to leave m... us anyways! She said so! So all I did was..."

Miroku stood up suddenly, face contorted with rage. "All you did was scream at her, because you couldn't face the fact that she might leave! Maybe instead of yelling at her, you could have dropped your guard for just one second and told Lady Kagome how you really felt!"

"How I feel about Kagome is none of your business, monk!" Inu-yasha growled dangerously, his temper flaring. He shook the struggling kitsune roughly as Shippo windmilled his little arms at him. "It was my decision, damn it, and I made it, so just butt out!"

"It wasn't your decision, baka, it was Kagome's!" Shippo shrieked, finally wrestling free from Inu-yasha's grip. "You just made it for her!"

Shippo's tears were coming harder now. "Did you even think about us? We care about her too! If you hadn't screamed at her then she might have stayed! She'll never come back now, stupid!"

The thin hold Inu-yasha had been keeping on his temper finally snapped. How dare the brat blame him! Kagome had wanted to leave!

"What do you care, baka? Grow up! Kagome isn't your mother, kitsune! Your mother is dead!!!"

The effect his words had was immediate. Miroku flinched and looked away. Sango gasped in horror and clapped a hand to her mouth. Even Inu-yasha knew he had gone too far and he stared at the little fox-demon, who stood shaking and horrified, mouth open, tears of grief coursing down his tiny face.

Inu-yasha's anger deflated as quickly as it had come. How could I have said that... I didn't mean to... "Sh... Shippo..." he stammered, his eyes wide, reaching for the kid.

Shippo screamed in rage and struck Inu-yasha with all the force his little body could muster. This time, Inu-yasha didn't even attempt to block it, wincing as blood began to flow from the scratch marks on his cheek.

The dog-demon stumbled away as Shippo collapsed in tears on the hut floor. Inu-yasha glanced at the shocked faces that stared at him.

"I... I'm sorry..." Inu-yasha grabbed what he'd come for - Kagome's pack - and bolted.

...

He ran to the forest, pack and bike slung over his shoulder, disgusted with himself. He'd lost his own mother around Shippo's age. It had been the worst thing in his young life. Shippo didn't need reminding of his dead parents... not now...

Inu-yasha skidded to a stop at the well and lifted off the rock he'd placed on top of it the night before. He dropped the bike down. It never hit bottom, already having made the journey to Kagome's wellhouse.

He made to toss the pack in, too, but Kagome's lingering scent stopped him. Glancing around to make sure no one saw, he slowly opened the pack and withdrew Kagome's bandana - the one she had tied around his ears in the last battle. He held it to his nose and breathed in, then tied it around his belt as he tossed the pack over his shoulder into the well.

With a grunt, he replaced the rock over the well. Just in case... he thought.

He sighed and hung his head. "Gods... why do I screw everything up? First Kagome, now Shippo..."

"You forgot me," said a voice behind him. He whirled.

"Kikyo..."

"It seems you're always forgetting me, Inu-yasha," she continued, her voice listless and calm. A few soul stealers fluttered by her. It seems she'd come from downwind, otherwise he would have noticed her approach.

"I thought once Naraku was gone, you would come to me... so I waited, and waited, and now I find you here, pacing and talking to yourself." Her sharp miko eyes fell on the wisp of cloth tied at his side. She smirked as she read the power aura that still lingered around it.

"It's her, isn't it? That child is the one causing you this pain?"

Inu-yasha winced. "No, no... it was... my fault..."

"A lot of things are your fault, Inu-yasha. Like my death," Kikyo said bitterly. Inu-yasha paled at her words and looked into the dead priestess' face. It was funny how he could no longer see the woman he'd fallen in love with in those eyes. They were cold and lifeless and dead, not brimming with compassion and understanding like he remembered.

She stepped closer and lifted his chin, cooly noting the scratch marks on his face that were only now beginning to heal.

"So, even those you consider friends have turned against you now. Haven't I told you? No one trusts a demon."

He jerked away from her cold, clammy touch. "Kikyo..."

"You're an animal, Inu-yasha, and not even friendship, not even love will change that. I thought it could, once... Naraku proved to me fifty years ago that I was wrong."

"I'm not an animal!" Inu-yasha said, desperation creeping into his voice.

"You are, Inu-yasha. Or have you forgotten? Maybe Naraku was the one who ripped me apart that day fifty years ago, but you were the one who decimated my village in your rage. You crippled villagers and ripped apart homes. You blinded my sister, Kaede."

The statement hit him like a ton of bricks. He staggered. Kaede... the little girl who had tried to stop him from leaving the shrine with the stolen jewel... he vaguely remembered knocking her aside, hard, and a beam swinging down as she crumpled to the ground... had she screamed in pain as he'd leapt away laughing, not caring to look back?

That old, one-eyed hag... I never asked how she was blinded in that eye... and never once did she blame me...

"But... but I didn't kill anyone..." he said meekly. Had he? How many other villagers were injured that day because of him?

Kikyo smirked. "You see, Inu-yasha? You can't fight what you are. You can't change. Now... I grow tired of waiting. It is time. Come to hell with me, Inu-yasha..."

Another memory seeped into his mind as the priestess reached out her hand.

"You and I are the same, Inu-yasha. You too fight your humanity."

"I'm not like you."

"No... I suppose... you're not."

"Do you think I'm human?!"

"You are! Half human, at least."

Kikyo's hand touched his, icy as death. "Stop it!" he screamed, knocking her hand away. "I'm not an animal! You were the only one who believed that, once... What... what happened to you, Kikyo? You didn't use to be like this..."

"You happened to me, Inu-yasha," she stated simply, her shoulders sagging in defeat, cradling her stinging hand.

"You're not the woman I fell in love with," Inu-yasha said warily, backing away.

"You won't come with me, will you? Just one more broken promise between us..." The ground around her began to sink.

"Kikyo!" he yelled. " What are you doing?!"

The miko looked sadly up at him, hardly visible through the soul snatchers that now swirled about her. "I'm going to hell, with or without you, Inu-yasha."

"Please... Kikyo... can't you be at peace?" Inu-yasha pleaded as she sank further and further into the yawning pit.

She smiled wanly. "I executed you for a crime you were innocent of, Inu-yasha. There was never any hope of salvation for me."

Inu-yasha watched in horror as Kikyo descended into blackness, her silvery daimyosho whirling around her until she disappeared from sight.

He leapt back as the ground clapped back together, leaving only a small scar in the hill.

"Kikyo!!!"

...

Kagome paused in her makeup application. Something felt off... suddenly her body tensed in excrutiating agony.

She opened her mouth to scream, but the pain passed as quickly as it had come. She put her hand to her swiftly beating heart and leaned against her desk. What was that? It was like someone was ripping her very soul...

A demon? She glanced out the window at the wellhouse. Surely not... Inu-yasha?

She threw on a coat and flew down the steps, out the door, across the lawn and had thrown open the wellhouse door before she remembered she was supposed to hate him now.

"He's not even here anyways. Bastard..." She glanced into the well and choked back a sob as she saw her bike lying haphazardly on the bottom of the well, her pack thrown carelessly on top of it, the contents strewn across the dirt floor.

So he had just tossed them in. Didn't even want to hop through and deliver them himself... "I hate you, Inu-yasha," she whispered to noone in particular, then left to finish getting ready for the Spring Formal. Hojo would be picking her up in an hour and she didn't want to be late...

...

But I can't run to you no more

to catch me when I'm falling

I know I have to let you go

but I will not be broken, no, I will not be broken

but keep the slowly fading memories...

~*~

Author's Note: In case no one caught that, Kagome felt pain because Kikyo's soul (which is partly hers) had just entered hell. I wasn't sure I made that clear enough. ...... Yaaaaay! I killed off Kikyo! Stupid zombie miko had it coming. I believe this clears up all those InuKik questions my reviewers had... (like I'd ever write InuKik. InuKag forever!!!) This will be an InuKag.

No, I'm not sure my thing with Kaede's eye is accurate, but she did lose that eye sometime during Inu-yasha's raid on the village, I know that. It's a fanfic, I'm taking creative liberties, so there.

For those who don't know - I wrote this entire fic before I even posted the first chapter. I upload one chapter every day, so there will be an update every 24 hours!


Coming up next: He's lost Kikyo forever. Upon returning to the village, Inu-yasha receives something unexpected... forgiveness, from an unlikely source. Can he gain the courage to take back the woman he loves? Find out in Chapter 9!