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Unfortunate Life Decisions
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Three weeks later, Inuyasha was as good as new – his body managing to repair the damage done by his own hand. Like clockwork, Kikyo crossed over each and every day to check on the patient and, in all honesty, to feed the growing friendship with Kagome. It was a strange friendship in many ways but one the two women soon came to cherish. Over the course of the next year, many new friends - a monk, a demon slayer, a fox kit – would be added to the group and soon, just as Kikyo had predicted, Inuyasha gained many more friends.
Over their journey together, many perils and heartaches were experienced. The worst day for the entirety of the group - who had come to love the undead priestess as one of their own – was the day that Naraku finally succeeded in taking her life. It was a bittersweet moment – Kikyo was as sweet and understanding as ever as she lay in Inuyasha's arms and would hear none of his mumbled apologies. She died with her head in her most precious friend's lap – Kagome stroking her bloodsoaked hair gently out of her face and holding her hand tightly. Kikyo had once confided in her reincarnation that if she were to die again, she would've wanted it to be surrounded by friends and family. Ultimately she got her wish – just sooner than she anticipated.
The death of their comrade was unexpected and cruel but it was yet another heartbreak that made deafeating Naraku that much sweeter. The events of that day would forever blur together in one mass of pain and suffering yet in the end, the jewel was complete and a wish needed to be made. In one word, the damn thing evaporated into the thin air…
…..and Kagome vanished along with it.
As Inuyasha collapsed onto his knees, staring blankly in shock at the space his miko had occupied only moments before, his shoulders sagged in defeat as tears streamed down his face. Some people never got happy endings to their stories, it would seem. Even one about a pair of beads that brought two people together.