Fatal Resurrection

"Kagome?"

Inuyasha slowly came to and sharply breathed in. His irritated nose burned with an undeniable itch; like a stubborn sneeze that won't blow and as a result, his eyes welled with unwanted tears. Trying to shake the chaffing, he sniffed and sniffed and groggily fluttered his eyes open.

"Ko..Koga?"

He slurred and bobbed his head. His structure was awkwardly heavy and inactive as he seemed to have lost all sensation in his arms and legs. The only sensory module he affirmed was in his face where a light breeze prickled his cheeks and his eyes squinted upward to see that he was now, somehow, outside sitting upright against a large rock.

"Ah, you're awake." Sitting across on a rock herself, Urasue smiled and got up.

"Where's Kagome?" Inuyasha coiffed his head backward, bumping it into the boulder he leaned on and swallowed a heap of saliva to aid his scorching throat.

Urasue walked and towered over him with her hands on her waist. She half heartedly smirked and skeptically arched a thick gray eyebrow. "You seem to care more about 'Kagome' than Kikyo."

Inuyasha scrounged his eyes and bolted them open. "Kikyo? Where's Kikyo?"

He quickly straightened his back and attempted to get up; Urasue's cryptic powder, however, fastened its lock on his body- keeping his system asleep yet allowing his frail mind to remain conscious; how devious.

"Decisions, decisions." Urasue remarked. "Who are you going to choose?"

Inuyasha stubbornly jerked his torso and watched Urasue make her way toward two stone vessels on the right. They stood side by side, each filled with elucidated water that hosted a body of its own. The one on the left sustained Kagome while the one on the right acquitted the legendary priestess Kikyo. The old demon anxiously gleamed over the stone vessels and stared at them in wonderment as they began to illuminate.

"I had no idea Kikyo had a reincarnation. I could've avoided all this trouble." Urasue looked at Inuyasha and grinned. "Bringing a powerful priestess back to life is such strenuous work."

"What are you going to do?"

"Not much." Urasue sighed. "Just another case of soul switching." She gently dipped her hand into Kagome's tub and playfully splattered water outward.

Inuyasha grunted and looked to his left where Koga soundly slept on his side. He rolled his eyes and secretly continued to awaken his sense by continuously budging in position. Luckily, the potion seemed to be wearing off as he was able to flex his leg. He anxiously looked back at Koga once more where his assumption was confirmed as he watched the wolf begin to mobilize.

"You better not hurt Kagome." Inuyasha warned while quietly twisting his body back to actuality. "Or Kikyo."

With her back turned, Urasue shook her head and clicked her tongue. "You get so attached to these women; must be the dog side of you. How unfortunate; you have to say good bye to one of them."

They watched as a glowing midst-like substance that was Kagome's soul curiously begin to seep through her body, transmuting into a vapor cloud that glided beyond her vessel and instinctively transmute itself into Kikyo's new body; thankfully now clothed. Repeatedly, it would keep pouring until the priestess' spirit was back in place.

"Hm?" Koga murmured and lazily opened his eyes. He gasped and lifted himself upward. Inuyasha sternly looked at him and silently pleaded his obedience. Koga nodded and sat back, steadily lowering his eye lids.

"You're awake too." Urasue turned around and expectantly clapped her hands. Koga opened his eyes and scowled. He'd been caught.

"Should've made your portion stronger; you do have two sacred jewel shards after all."

Koga sniffed and stood up. "So you can sense jewel fragments." He narrowed his eyes.

Urasue sheepishly smiled. "Just the usual magnetic force of every demon." She looked down at Kikyo. "I don't know who started that rumor."

"Does that mean that you don't have any fragments of your own either?" Koga frowned reminding himself in the back of his mind to check his resources before jumping to conclusions; Urasue wasn't the character he had anticipated.

"No, I did; a big fragment too! But some stupid crow with three eyes pecked it away."

Koga shrugged his shoulders; at least he had gotten one fact right.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha shook his body and dragged himself up the boulder for support. "Your resurrecting Kikyo just so you get more jewel shards? What makes you think she's going to listen to you?" He stumbled to his feet and readily placed his hand on the handle of his sword.

Urasue folded her arms over her chest and leaned on one leg. "I'm her savior." She boasted. "I've saved her from such a tasteless death and given her new life; she will obey my every order."

"Yeah, right."

"Why are you fighting me? Aren't you excited? Your partner will arrive soon; you should thank me."

Koga curiously looked at Inuyasha and at then at Kikyo. From their previous interactions, he could have sworn that Inuyasha had been promised to Kagome.

"Kikyo died a long time ago; it was her choice. Her resurrection is an abomination against nature."

"Then why aren't you stopping it?" Urasue challenge. "You can obviously move now, so can your friend. Why are you wasting your time arguing with me when you could have easily overpowered me and stopped the process a long time ago?"

Inuyasha growled and drew his Tetsuaiga. "Coniving wench."

"Face it, your willing to sacrifice an affection for the woman you love." Urasue mischiveously smiled. "Even if you did want to fight you're too late anyway."

The two vessels tarnished themselves from illumination and the vapor like substance had completely decapitated into Kikyo's body.

"It's done."

All three recipients held their breaths and intently watched the miko's cell. It was dull and quieten for a good amount of seconds when suddenly, water began to overflow beyond the edges of the rub. Kikyo bolted upright and desperately gasped for air. Her large ebony eyes fluttered and looked around. Like a mechanical marionette, she fumbled her way out of the tub and gripped her wobbling legs.

"Kikyo?" Inuyasha whispered and Urasue lifted her arms in the air.

"Priestess Kikyo." She walked toward the miko and took her hand. "Welcome back to the world of the living."

Kikyo blankly looked at Urasue. Her head cocked to the side and her eyes narrowed. She placed her hands on Urasue's shoulders and deviously smirked. "Thanks." She mumbled and tightly gripped the old demon's shoulders.

Urasue screeched as sparks generated from Kikyo's hands. An seismec electric wave weaved through Urasue's body; crushing her organs within and incinerating her entire flesh out. In mere seconds, the structure that was once a body now flopped on the ground into a mound of ashes.

"She just killed Urasue." Koga announced, flabbergasted by the miko's power. "Just like that!"

"Inuyasha!" A dark shadow hovered from above that was none other than Kilala; Miroku peered below and gave the enormous cat the signal to descend.

"What took you so long?" Koga pestered. Miroku narrowed his eyes and walked toward Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha?" Miroku placed a hand on his shoulder and nudged him a bit.

"I...Inuyasha?" Kikyo slowly turned around, droplets of water dripping from her clothes and hair.

Inuyasha lowered his sword and carelessly let it fall to the side. "Kikyo?" He delicately walked toward her as she did the same.

"Inuyasha." She sweetly called and out stretched her hand.

Inuyasha took it into his own as she placed the other one on his cheek. Looking into his honey eyes, her own charcoal ones squinted and narrowed. Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed into an awkward thin slit.

"Die." She hissed and struck Inuyasha with the same jolt of energy she had compelled on Urasue. Inuyasha immidiately stumbled back and held his electrocuted cheekbone.

"Inuyasha, be careful!" Miroku shouted.

Kikyo daintily took a step forward, flopping on the puddle of water her damp posture created. "Why, Inuyasha?" She began to sob.

"Why, what?"

She took yet another step when suddenly a gash of light gored through her shoulder blade. Cringing in pain, she yelleped and held her shoulder where blood oozed from the newly formed opening.

"Why did you betray me?"

"Betray you?"

Koga looked at Miroku. "What's happening?"

"She must be reliving the moment of her death." The monk shook his head. "Inuyasha, how did she die?"

Inuyasha gulped and worriedly watched the uncontrollable flow of blood pool around the miko. "I don't know."

"You killed me!" Kikyo screamed and lifted her blood stained hand, accusingly pointing at Inuyasha. "You betrayed me and you killed me."

"No...it was you who killed me!"

Kikyo angrily swung her hand and flung the excess liquid of lineage to the ground. Driblets of blood splattered in a vertical formation, staining Kagome's cell.

"Traitor."

She huffed and knelt down, not in pain but in disruption. She held her stomach as she fell to her knees and oracles of light escaped her body; launching themselves back into Kagome's forgotten compartment.

"Kagome!" Koga announced and Miroku ran toward the tub.

He briskly dipped his hands in and grasped Kagome by the shoulders, pulling her out of the water. Though still unconscious, her body responded to the spirit and pulled harder.

"She's trying to retrieve her soul!"

Kikyo grunted and delicately stood up. She nervously looked around and stumbled her way into the cave. 'That girl, I have to get away from her.'

"Kikyo!" Inuyasha ran after her and pulled her by the arm. "Don't fight it." He pleaded and reluctantly spoke. "You have to give Kagome her soul back."

Kikyo's eyes narrowed and she pulled away. "Kagome?"

She lifted her hand where a ball of violet energy formed on the center of her palm, a quality Inuyasha had never witnessed or even knew about. "You want me to die, Inuyasha...again?"

Inuyasha frowned and bit his tongue and when he failed to wither any words, Kikyo angrily pitched the surge of energy at him. Ducking the jolt, Inuyasha scurried and covered his head with his hands as the bolt she had delivered collided with a large boulder. It instantly shattered and showered the cave with tiny meteors of cracked stone.

"Listen to me Kikyo!"

The priestess fumed and pitched yet another ball of energy. Inuyasha dove to the right and the ball struck the mouth of the cave. The earth began to shake and the walls began to crumble as portions of the mountain began to cascade inward.

"Inuyasha!" Outside, Miroku had taken the responsibility of strattling himself and Kagome atop the mythical fire cat, ready to flee. "The mountain is crumbling; you've got to get out!"

Inuyasha, however, dismissed the warning. "Kikyo, I don't want you to die and I never killed you in the first place! But you have to trust me when I tell you that you can't go on like this."

Kikyo's edgy glare softened. "Inuyasha." She whispered and the walls kept falling down.

She took a step forward and placed her hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. She woefully lifted her head and looked into his eyes and brutally pushed him back with an invisible yet undeniable force.

Inuyasha rolled backward and out of the cave as it crumbled within itself. Koga quickly ran toward him and dragged him by the collar as large boulders crushed downward and blocked the entrance to the cave.

"Kikyo!" Inuyasha cried. "Kikyo!"

-----

"Kikyo's alive?"

Arms folded behind her back, Lady Kaede stood beside Miroku as the two curiously watched Inuyasha's dejected posture. Since their return, he had explicitly refused to discuss the unholy occurrence and purposely secluded himself from the others. Contemplative, he sat under a large oak tree, arms and legs folded and vacant eyes.

"She might or might not be; the implosion was pretty severe." Miroku sighed and peered at the mid-sized priestess.

"But how?"

"Grave soil, cadaver ashes and clay; simple ingredients for such a diabollic task."

Lady Kaede silently drank in Miroku's words and stared at the ground. Miroku watched her from the corner of his eye and uncomfortably looked at the hut. "It looks like Kagome will make a good recovery."

"Hey you guys!" Shippo squeaked. "Koga's looking for you."

Both Miroku and Lady Kaede turned around where Koga awkwardly walked toward them with a sheepish grin.

"I'm not so good with apologies, or thanks you's, or even good byes for that matter." He nervously laughed.

"You're leaving?" Lady Kaede inquired and Koga half nodded. Miroku too nodded, registering the fact that the arrogant wolf had indeed invited himself into their group and stuck with them for some time now...not that there was anything wrong with that.

"My tribe is waiting for me." He gestured his hands and smirked. Looking beyond their shoulders he half nipped his lower lip. "Thank you for you help and...tell Inuyasha to take it easy."

Lady Kaede nodded. "Will do."

Koga grinned and turned around. A heaping vortex of dust instantly spun around his woundour legs that seemed to reach the sky and in a second, he was gone. As the one man tornado dug into the forest, the newly rejuvenated Sango walked toward Miroku and Lady Kaede with a smile.

"Looks like I'll be aiding Kagome now." She joked, despite the vague soma of pain in her arm and leg. "I feel much better now." She spoke atop Inuyasha's nearing steps. Everyone expectantly turned around.

Inuyasha dragged his feet and slowly looked up. "Where's Kagome?"

-----

Something kept gnawing at his stomach; it was telling him not to go in. But as determined as always, Inuyasha swallowed his fears, because he would never dare swallow his pride, and gently entered the cabin.

"Kagome?"

Kagome peacefully slumbered, or so he thought on the same mat Sango previously occupied. The sheets were slightly damped; Kagome had precisely refused to discard her attire. Instead, lanterns were placed around her frame to serve as heaters which actually startled Inuyasha a bit. It looked to be some kind of ceremonial practice for the dead.

"Kagome, are you awake?"

Kagome furrowed her eyebrows and mumbled. "What is it Inuyasha?" There was a twinge attitude and Inuyasha looked down.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine, no thanks to you." She budged on her side and turned her back on Inuyasha.

Inuyasha chewed his lip and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm...I'm sorry."

Kagome quickly turned around and hoisted herself on her elbows. "You're sorry? For what Inuyasha?" She irately shot back. "For almost letting me die just so you can see Kikyo again?!"

Inuyasha flinched and Kagome laid back down.

"If it wasn't for Miroku I'd be dead; your apologies are meaningless."

"I said I was sorry, what do you want me to do?!" Inuyasha exploded and Kagome turned her back on him once more.

"Leave me alone." She mumbled.

Inuyasha frowned and roughly burst his way through the beaded door, shattering large amounts of them in the process.

"What happened?" Shippo inquired as Inuyasha brushed past him and the others.

Miroku dropped his staff and ran after him. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?"

Inuyasha rudely looked at Miroku and arched an eyebrow. Miroku frowned and shook his head. "Don't be foolish Inuyasha."

"Stay out of my way." Inuyasha growled and began to run.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku hollered and desperately looked back at Lady Kaede. "He's going back."

TBC