In My Memory

-Fourteen-

Kagome knelt in the shadow realm, feeling emotionally drained and not possessing the energy to move. She managed to lift her head up however, when she felt a presence about her, and she looked up, gazing into dark eyes. Kikyo stood before her, looking down at her contemptuously, her usual manner having returned.

"Listen Kagome," she muttered, "I do not have a lot of time to explain – I can feel Shimura coming right now." Kagome looked up at her confusedly, wondering why she was still helping. "For some reason, you being here has weakened the gap between us," when the School-girl still looked bewildered, she continued hastily. "I…I felt an extreme force of…sympathy coming from you not long ago. It was… for Shimura…?" Kagome did not answer her. "We do not possess enough power – even collectively to kill Shimura, you must seal him to Kanna's mirror, and then he will not be able to return until all his demonic powers have been drained, and he is all-but helpless." As a thousand questions were about to shoot from Kagome's mouth, Kikyo turned, scanning the dark nothingness with great apprehension in her eyes. "Shimura…" she muttered, then disappeared.

Shimura appeared before Kagome, nearly exactly where Kikyo had been. Kagome wondered momentarily why he could not sense Kikyo had been here. But then the renewed anger overtook her, smothering all rational thought, and she lunged at him. The priestess raised her hand, bringing it round to slap his face hard, the demon not even flinching. But when she moved to hit him again, he grabbed her wrists and forced her arms down at her sides.

"Now none of that," he uttered calmly; Kagome struggled to hit him again, angry tears pricking at the backs of her eyes, but he held her still, and she stood with her face down, not looking at him. "I want you to come out of the mirror for a moment," he said, "I want to show you something." Kagome ignored the seemingly kind tone in his voice, knowing he was just trying to make her forget. There's no way, she thought stubbornly, Inuyasha's face appearing in her mind, even after what seemed like forever in the solitary dark. There's no way I'll ever forget…

"But if you try anything; if you try to escape," continued Shimura, "I will seal you back in the mirror, understood?" Kagome did not even nod in reply; she just stood miserably before him, not saying a word.

Suddenly the darkness of the shadow realm evaporated, and the blackness faded away into a warm light. Shimura released her and Kagome looked around her. They stood in a large hall that she supposed was some form of throne room. Hundreds of Shimura's army stood still, lined up in rows, leaving a walkway between them. Sango, Miroku and the others, all chained up along the walls, each with two guards at their side, the scythes in the minions' hands glimmering menacingly with the unnatural light of the hall.

Kagome and Shimura stood in front of a great stone throne, but before them were half a dozen of Shimura's warriors; and at their feet, bound in chains that's ends were held by the demonic captors, was an obsidian-haired bloodied mess. With a slight inclination of Shimura's head, the chains were tugged, spitefully cutting in to vulnerable flesh, and forcing the creature's head to rise. A human Inuyasha laid there, a revolting rasping sounding in the back of his throat when he breathed. His eyes were closed, and blood seemed to leak from every pore in his body where the demons had hit him; he was still human, his hair as black as ever, which meant there was no hope of him overpowering them. Inuyasha coughed, and blood dripped onto the floor from his mouth. Kagome's eyes widened at the sight of the blood.

"Inuyasha…?" she said quietly. Inuyasha looked up from his state on the floor, and his previously dull eyes lightened up at the sight of her.

"Kagome?" he asked, not daring to believe his eyes, he was so overwhelmed at seeing her alive that he staggered to his feet. His captors behind him sniggered.

"Still want more do you Half-blood?!" yelled Saito wickedly, raising his thick whip and slashing Inuyasha across the back with it. The piercing lash cut sliced into flesh, the half-demon's back bowing as he cried out in agony, crumbling to the floor once more.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome dashed forward, throwing her arms around him, embracing him as tightly as she dared for fear he wouldn't be there at all – but some form of cruel mirage. But he was there, and broken, and the bloodd was all-too vividly real. Inuyasha looked up at her through dark violet eyes, and stared deeply at her. Kagome raised her hand slowly to his face, and stroked his hair softly; Those pain-struck closed his eyes contently. He felt as if for one moment, everything else had fallen away, and that Kagome and he were the only ones in the world; breathing her scent, feeling her, hearing her, it was like some dream, from which he didn't want to return to the cold dark world – where there was pain. Kagome stroked his face lovingly, and tears fell from her eyes in relief, just to be able to see him again.

Anger raged in Shimura's mind, and he launched forward, seizing Kagome's arm and dragging her back away from Inuyasha.

"Forget him now!" he ordered to her, holding her away from him. Kagome shook her head and fought to break free of him, but the grip that kept her from Inuyasha was inescapable. The warriors backed away from Inuyasha, and on command aimed their bows at Inuyasha. "Forget him…or you can watch him die." There was a harsh, sadistic growl to Shimura's words as he watched her dilemma. Kagome looked helplessly at Inuyasha who knelt in the wide circle of demons, completely powerless.

"No!" he yelled to her, his voice broken, tearing at his throat, "You can't, you can't forget me!" Tears once again brewed behind her eyes at his words. Inuyasha tried to come towards her but other demon shoved him back into the circle of bowmen. "You swore, you said you'd never forget! If you forget me now then everything will be for NOTHING!" Kagome turned away from him, tears rolling down her face.

"I…I swore I'd never forget…" she muttered to Shimura, "But I can't watch him die…" Shimura smirked evilly at her.

"That's right Kagome…" he held his hand over her head, readying to erase her mind. Kagome closed her eyes, not being able to look at Inuyasha as she was about to forget him forever.

"STOP! NO!" Inuyasha screamed, chains biting into his flesh as he tried to move towards her. "KAGOME PLEASE STOP!" Those tears fell uncontrollably from her eyes as she felt it all being torn away from her, Inuyasha, their first kiss, where they met; Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kilala, even her own world. Everything she had even known, ever felt, ever dreamt, ever imagined, were passing before her eyes and being ripped way from her, all painfully slowly. Her insides turning cold as more and more of herself slipped away forever through her grasp.

The brilliant light that had surrounded her as her memories were stripped away, suddenly shimmered, dimming down until it was completely gone. Kagome opened her eyes slowly, her gaze passing over everyone in the room as she looked about carefully, and frowned slightly.

"I don't…what happened…?" She looked over Inuyasha once more, though this time she fixed her gaze on him, and he looked hopefully back at her. "Who are you?" she asked.

"No…" muttered Inuyasha, sinking back onto his heels and staring with empty and defeated eyes at the ground. It had finally happened. Over three years of happiness and he knew at some point, the world was going to pay him back in tenfold for experiencing it. Part of the reason it had taken his feelings so long to be brought out, was because he was afraid of this, of Kagome being targeted because of him, and now she stood there, looking at him, her eyes empty, and she was gone, Shimura had won.

"You…you…FUCKING BASTARD!" screamed Inuyasha, leaping to his feet and charging at Shimura. "I'm going to fucking kill you!" To his surprise he actually reached Shimura, smacking him across the jaw, making Kagome jump back in surprise. Shimura grinned evilly as he wiped the blood from the side of his mouth, and the guards seized Inuyasha, dragging him backwards slightly.

"That's quite enough, Inuyasha, you've done enough damage for today," he said, Kagome looked at Shimura, and Inuyasha realised what he was doing.

"Don't you dare," growled Inuyasha, "don't you DARE-"

"I can't…remember…who am I?" asked Kagome quietly, and Inuyasha looked at her with concern. Was she hurt? She looked so broken, so…lost…

"Yes," muttered Shimura, his voice suddenly polite and calm, "but don't worry, Kagome, he will be punished accordingly for what he has done to you."

"What I've done? You lying son of a-" Inuyasha elbowed his captor in the stomach, leaping forward again, though as Shimura waited to be set upon once more, he watched Inuyasha collapse at Kagome's feet. "Kagome, please, you have to know, you have to remember me." Kagome looked down at him, her eyes watering, looking confused and distressed.

"Please stop it," she whimpered, "please, I don't – I don't even – I can't remember anything…"

Once again the guards dragged Inuyasha off her. "Take him down to the dungeons, we'll deal with him later," ordered Shimura, then casting his gaze around at the half-demon children, Sango, Miroku, Kilala and Shippo, who were chained to the walls, not believing what had just happened. "And get rid of this trash, keep them as far from the half-demon as possible," Saito nodded in understanding, and Shimura turned to a bewildered and distressed looking Kagome. She looked up as Inuyasha screamed once more, being dragged backwards out of the chamber.

"Kagome, please, you have to remember!" The doors slammed closed behind him, drowning out the rest of his words, and Kagome gazed after him, tears falling silently from her eyes.

"Kagome?" asked Shimura softly, and she turned slowly to look at him, "are you okay?"

Kagome shook her head, then looking down at the tresses of ebony silk that hung over her shoulders, obviously taking in the fact that her hair was black.

"No…I can't…why can't I remember anything?" Shimura smiled at her, and held out his hand.

"Don't worry, I will help you remember." Kagome looked at him for a moment, hesitating slightly. He smiled once more at her, and slowly, she took his hand.

TBC

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A/N: Dun Dun Dun Dun! ANGST! It might interest you to know, that in my first draft of this (back in the days when the only anime I liked was Inuyasha, Gravitation, Fruits Basket and Escaflowne - God how I've changed, I can't even name all the one's I like now! I just know there's over 100 XD) in this chapter, the memory thing didn't work, and it actually ended in 15 chapters, but then I thought there would be no point in putting the memory thing in at all, and it was a waste of an idea, so I 'tweaked'.

Luv Shigure

x chuu x