Here is the next installment. For anyone who has read this fic, I apologize for such a long wait. Hopefully this chapter fits the story that began so long ago. I expect there to be one more chapter along with an Epilogue still to come. If you notice any mistakes, feel free to let me know and I will correct them as soon as possible. I don't have an editor, so any help is appreciated! Thank you for reading!

Standard disclaimer applies.

CHAPTER 9

Love That I Hate

"Inu Yasha! Inu Yasha! Wake up! What the hell did you do!" Sango was about to smack him across the face but her hand was stopped by Kaede's. She would have none of this violence here, it served no purpose.

"It won't do ye well to hurt him, he's stirring." She stated.

Sango didn't doubt that it wouldn't do him well, but it would certainly aid her. She wanted to pound him into the floor he laid upon. When they left last night Kagome may not have been fine, but she was in better shape than she was right now!

How dare he lie there asleep! Not only had he caused this whole damnable situation, he had let Kikyou do this to her! How dare he pretend to care! Couldn't he see that with every move he made he caused Kagome more pain! She raised her hand again, her thoughts and emotions written across her face. She wanted nothing more than for him to know Kagome's pain, but she would be unable to deal such a blow. She would just have to settle for this instead.

"It would do ye well to control yourself!" Kaede scolded. Those ruled by their emotions did nothing but make foolish decisions. Sango shrunk away from both Kaede and Inu Yasha opting instead to move around to the other side of them, where Kagome was situated.

She did not take her eyes off of the demon slayer as she tapped the side of Inu Yasha's face.

"Rise now Inu Yasha," she demanded.

Inu Yasha's brows knit together tightly and his jaw clenched. He let out a growl as he opened his eyes, hands immediately going to his head. 'Ow Ow Ow! What the hell! It feels like someone dropped a boulder on my head!'

"What happened to Kagome while we were gone? What did you do!" Sango demanded. He may have just awoken but she did not care. She lowered her eyes to Kagome, her finger brushing her wrist in search of pulse. The small vibrations she could feel barely past as such. The poor girl was nearly dead! How could he have let this happen?

"Would ya shut your trap! If you haven't noticed I'm in pain here!" Inu Yasha shot back, his ears were now flat against his head. 'What's her problem! Did Miroku go on a lecherous...' He didn't have time to complete his thoughts before Sango was hovering over him, a murderous gleam in her eyes.

"What did you do to Kagome?"

'Kagome? Why would I do anything to Kagome?' Inu Yasha removed his hands from his head and sniffed the air while glancing over to the cot on which Kagome had been resting. She was still there. 'What the hell is Sango going on about? She's...' His nose took in her scent, something was wrong. Something wasn't smelling quite right. Something wasn't there.

"Well?" Sango pressed. She had allowed him the ability to come to grips with his surroundings, she was done being courteous.

Inu Yasha continued to ignore her, he had greater concerns. He bolted upright and pulled himself to Kagome's cot, forcing Sango to back away so that he could examine the girl. He brought one clawed hand up and trailed it lightly against Kagome's forehead. A gasp left his lips. Her skin was clammy and cold. He could feel a knotted ball of panic forming in his stomach. Before he had fallen unconscious she had been burning up. Now her skin was icy to the touch. She was practically hypothermic!

Despite being able to hear her slow heartbeat he reached for her wrist. 'It has to be there...it has to...' He was practically frantic when he did not feel the strong and persistent thump rising to his fingers. He could hear if for god's sake! Why couldn't he feel it! Running his fingers down further and pressing a bit harder he finally found what he was looking for. The breath that had been caught in his throat found its way free.

Sango was just about to open her mouth again when Inu Yasha stood and turned toward them.

"What happened?" He asked angrily.

"We left you alone and when we came back to check on her she was like this!" The accusing tone she was using was not lost on Inu Yasha. "Miroku is chasing what he believes to be her soul into the forest! Now answer me, what did you do to her?"

Inu Yasha was stunned. Her soul? What was her soul doing outside of her body? He was just with her! She seemed fine. Upset, certainly, but she was hardly soulless. A soul didn't leave a body unless it was for good. But Kagome wasn't dead, why would her it leave? How had things gone so wrong so quickly?

"How long ago did you arrive here?" He asked, his tone left no room for question. Death was not a subject he would toy with.

"Maybe five minutes, not even." Sango replied. He finally looked up at her and she met his eyes with what she knew was a glare. She was unable to hold it. The look in his eyes startled her. There was clearly anger written upon them along with hurt and an indescribable pain. She backed away from him, practically jumping. What had happened here? He was wearing a look as if Kagome was going to die, as if she had died already. Suddenly she found herself with no voice as her eyes widened in despair. 'No please...'

"Which way did Miroku go?"

Sango slipped to her knees beside Kagome. She did not respond. She couldn't.

Kaede stepped up, making her presence known to the half demon. He moved his eyes to her, demanding the information. She simply pointed out the door and into the forest. There was little more she could do.

"I'm going, take care of Kagome," Inu Yasha said to Sango. Some how the demon slayer managed to nod. He merely glanced at Kaede as he rushed out the door. But she understood him. This matter, it had everything to do with her sister.

Miroku continued running after the glowing orb. He didn't understand how such a thing was possible, but he had no time to stand and dwell upon the matter. If his instincts were correct, the thing he was following was a soul. Kagome's soul. The implications of such a thing held serious consequences. Souls did not willingly leave bodies, they were taken from them. Kagome would die if he couldn't figure out some way to stop the ball of light he was chasing. Nothing made sense.

Hadn't they all suffered enough? Why was their friend now being pulled away too? And most of all, where the hell was she going?

The specter wasn't moving at a break neck speed, but it didn't have the obstacles that a forest floor presented to hop over, run through, and otherwise avoid. His chest was heaving as he ran haphazardly dodging and jumping over what he could. It was impossible to find a completely clear path. The bottoms of his robes were torn thanks to the lovely and oh so painful bushes with dangerously sharp branches that seemed to spring up out of nowhere. He could feel numerous trails of blood making their way down his legs. He did his best to ignore the little aches, but found that his pace was slowing. Despite his best efforts Miroku was falling behind.

He heard a rustling noise behind him and cursed his luck. The last thing he needed was to have disturbed some demon. Glancing back he wasn't sure whether he was relieved or even more concerned. Inu Yasha was springing through the undergrowth after him. The look on his face confirmed what he had feared. Kagome was going to die if she wasn't already dead.

"It went that way!" Miroku yelled out as the half demon passed him. He didn't even so much as acknowledge that he'd heard a thing. He just kept going, eyes set firmly on Kagome's soul.

Inu Yasha knew where it was going. His nose caught Kikyou's scent and it was mixed with water meaning she was at that place. He could see it in his mind's eye. The stream gently flowing down the rocks, tumbling to continue its journey onward. The clearing he remembered standing in, staring at a young priestess as she conversed with him, the first time a human had done so without the intent to harm him. She had chosen a place that would play to her advantage. He both hated and loved that place. It was where his life had begun to take shape, where he had first met a young priestess, where he had fallen in love. He hated himself for loving it. If he had never come here then things would have been different. Perhaps Kikyou would still be alive. Perhaps Naraku would never have risen. Perhaps his friends wouldn't be suffering.

Moments later he emerged upon the stream bed and sure enough he spotted Kikyou collapsed on the trunk of a tree, her soul snatchers surrounding her. Forgetting himself, he began to rush toward her. It was his nose that stopped him, that reminded him. The smell of clay overwhelmed his senses and he was again made aware of just how fake the body before him was.

This Kikyou had shot Kagome. This Kikyou was not the woman he loved. Nostalgia nearly made him forget himself. His jaw clenched, teeth grinding. He forced himself to look away.

In his peripheral vision he caught a movement and was quick to follow it. Kikyou's soul snatchers snaked through the air toward the ball of light approaching that had continued to move through the clearing. It seemed obvious what they would want, this was the soul of a young girl after all. Inu Yasha was about to draw his sword until he noticed that upon touching the light that the orb emitted the creatures disintegrated. The ball continued on its path unaffected, unimpeded. It was headed straight for Kikyou.

Inu Yasha found himself frozen. Those demons sustained the fallen priestess. Without them, she would surely die again. He did not want that. He could not accept that. She was not the woman she formerly was, but to die again? She did not deserve such a thing. The half demons was torn. What action could he take against a soul? Especially Kagome's soul.

Miroku finally arrived and burst through the bushes in time to witness the ball of light destroy the last of the soul snatchers. His eyes widened at this. 'Is its goal to do away with Kikyou?' He discarded that theory upon watching the orb continue moving toward Kikyou. If the intent had been to kill Kikyou then doing away with her form of sustenance would have been enough. There would be no reason to continue on such a path unless...

"Inu Yasha! You must stop her!" Miroku called out.

'If she absorbs that soul then Kagome will perish! Why is Kagome doing this! She can't!'

"You don't think I know that?" He yelled back. But how exactly did one stop a soul? It was not tangible, and he couldn't fight it! He did the only thing he could and with two quick movements he found himself on the tree trunk mere inches from Kikyou, the only thing between her and Kagome's soul.