Ch. 44- Kikyo's Stolen Ashes


Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi


He was running. The forest floor and trees blurred past his vision with each sprint he made. The wind whipped around his ears and his silvery locks.

Then, all of a sudden, something whistled through the air, followed by the strong thrum of a bowstring, and as he jumped in front of this lone tree, he gasped in pain as he felt the sharp point of an arrowhead in his chest, pinning him against the tree. Inuyasha grunted as he tried to pull the arrow out, but he felt his body grow weak with each attempt. That's when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, causing him to look up and see a woman with raven hair, clothed in white and red robes while holding a longbow in her hand. Immediately, Inuyasha growled as he narrowed his eyes, glaring hatefully at the priestess.

"Kikyo...!" he hissed, venomously. "Why?!"

A pause...but then the priestess raised her head, causing Inuyasha to gasp...for it was not Kikyo's face he was staring at.

"...K...Kagome...?!" he whispered in horror, while Kagome reached into her quiver, pulled out another arrow, and aimed her bow at Inuyasha. "N-no! Kagome, stop! What are you doing?!"

"...Die, Inuyasha," Kagome said, scornfully as she loosed the arrow...which sailed right toward Inuyasha's heart.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

XXX

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried as she shook the half-demon, who was leaning against a tree, moaning in distress, while Shippo stood nearby, watching in concern. "Wake up, Inuyasha! Wake up!"

"No...no...!" Inuyasha cried out in his sleep as he tossed and turned. "No!" He then shot straight up and slashed his claws blindly, causing Kagome and Shippo to shriek as they narrowly avoided his talons.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?!" Kagome asked.

"I'll get you for this!" Inuyasha yelled as he slashed his claws again, this time hitting a nearby tree. "I'll find you, wherever you are! SHOW YOURSELF!"

"Inuyasha, calm down!" Kagome cried as she and Shippo dodged another swipe from his claws. "Wake up! You're having a nightmare!"

Inuyasha growled as he turned to Kagome, who gasped upon seeing his dulled eyes. Shippo whimpered as he hid behind the junior high school girl, his tail puffed out about twice as big as it usually is. That's when Inuyasha let out a roar as he charged at Kagome, who ran straight toward him and wrapped her arms around him, causing him to gasp as he stopped in his tracks.

"Stop it, Inuyasha!" Kagome urged. "Please, snap out of it!"

Inuyasha's eyes went wide...and then he shook his head as he began to regain his senses.

"K...Kagome?" he asked. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You're right here," Kagome answered.

"You were having a bad dream," Shippo began, "and you were trying to attack us in your sleep!"

"...I was?" Inuyasha asked.

"It must have been really bad to make you act like that," Kagome said. "What happened?"

Inuyasha looked to Kagome, who stared at him in concern...before he sighed and looked away.

"...You don't wanna tell me, right now?" asked Kagome, causing Inuyasha to shake his head. "That's fine. Just tell me when you feel like you're ready, okay?"

"...Thanks, Kagome," Inuyasha replied as he looked at her, causing her to smile and nod her head.

'...Why?' thought Inuyasha. 'Why must Kagome have Kikyo's face? Why did they have to look so much alike? And...why am I even thinking about Kikyo, now? ...No...the truth is...she's always been on my mind...'

Just then, as the wind blew gently through the trees, Inuyasha's nose caught an unfamiliar scent, causing him to look up to the sky and sniff the air.

"Inuyasha?" asked Kagome. "What's wrong? Do you smell something?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha replied. "Trouble...a whole stinkin' heap of it."

"Hey, what's that up there?" asked Shippo as he pointed up at a shadow, flying across the night sky...and Kagome could make the shape of a sickle, being held by the mysterious figure.

"Who's that?" Kagome asked.

"I dunno," Inuyasha said. "All I know is that whoever it is, they reek of human blood...and..." He then sniffed the air, again.

'Wait a minute...that smells like...!'

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. "Is something wrong?"

"...We need to get back to Kaede's village," Inuyasha said as he turned to leave. "Pronto!"

"Wait, now?" Kagome asked. "Why? What's the matter?"

"...I just have a really bad feeling," Inuyasha answered before he bounded off into the trees.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome whispered before she went to get her bike, then pedaled after him with Shippo riding in the basket.

XXX

The following day, Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo had arrived back at the village...and needless to say, they were quite surprised to see that some of the village men were in bandages. However, nothing prepared Kagome for what she saw next: Kaede with her right arm in a sling and her forehead wrapped in bandages!

"Oh, no! Kaede!" Kagome cried as she ran to her side. "Kaede, are you okay?!"

"Kagome!" Kaede exclaimed as she noticed her. "Ye have returned!"

"What happened to you?!" Kagome asked.

"Keh," Inuyasha scoffed. "I'm surprised you're still alive, old lady."

"Inuyasha...ye are here, too?" asked Kaede. "But why?"

After a while, Kagome explained to Kaede that Inuyasha had insisted on returning to the village and how he had noticed something was wrong, immediately.

"I see," Kaede said as the group walked up the shrine steps. "So ye smelled my blood in the air, did ye not?"

"Well, I wasn't too surprised," Inuyasha began, "considering the fact that you're almost always getting sliced up in some way."

'...Was Inuyasha worried about her?' thought Kagome as she helped Kaede up the steps, and soon, they reached a large creature that was in front of a broken shrine.

"...Alas," Kaede said, woefully. "I'm afraid my powers were not strong enough to stop her."

"Stop who?" Kagome asked as she looked to the crater, which also had slash marks. "And...what is this?" She then looked over at the broken shrine. "And...who did this, for that matter?! Why would anyone desecrate a shrine like that?!"

"...This is my sister Kikyo's final resting place," said Kaede, causing Kagome to gasp while Inuyasha tensed up.

"...Kikyo's...grave...?!" Kagome asked. "W-what happened here?!"

"...Last night, she appeared," Kaede said. "The evil ogress known as Urasue...she came and defiled Kikyo's grave, taking her ashes and bones."

"What?!" Kagome asked. "Her ashes and bones?!"

"Even to the eyes of witches," said Kaede, "me older sister possessed extraordinary spiritual power. If those bones should fall into the wrong hands...there is no telling of the disaster to come." She then glanced to Inuyasha, who glared at her. "...Inuyasha...might ye be willing to-"

"Get Kikyo's ashes back?" Inuyasha asked. "Nothin' doin'!"

"What?!" Kagome questioned. "But...but Inuyasha-"

"Don't even start!" Inuyasha barked. "I ain't helpin', Kagome! Besides, you're forgetting that Kikyo and I are sworn enemies!" He then placed his hand over his chest. "I can still feel the pain of when she pierced my chest with that arrow of hers!"

"...Of course," Kaede replied, sadly. "Forgive me, Inuyasha."

"...Hmph!" Inuyasha snorted as he walked away.

"...Inuyasha..." Kagome whispered, worriedly.

XXX

Inuyasha sat underneath a tree, staring out at the village...and if one didn't know better...he almost seemed melancholy.

"...Myoga," he spoke up. "How long are you gonna hide?"

"I hate when you do that," said Myoga as he popped out of Inuyasha's hair. "I really don't want to get involved, you know."

"Shut up," Inuyasha said. "Now, this 'Urasue' person...who is she, anyway?"

"To be truthful, sire," Myoga began, "I haven't the foggiest idea. All I know is that she is an ogress and a sorceress."

"...Something stinks around here," said Inuyasha. "When I caught her scent, last night, I didn't just smell blood...there was also the smell of graveyard soil."

"Graveyard soil, you say?!" Myoga asked.

"Why?" asked Inuyasha. "You know something about it?"

"...No," Myoga replied.

"...You better not be lying to me, you damn flea," said Inuyasha. "Otherwise, you're gonna find your puny body between my toes!"

"Eep!" Myoga cried.

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha looked up and saw Kagome walking up to her.

"Kagome?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to get you," Kagome said. "Come on...let's go."

Inuyasha blinked at Kagome...but then he flattened his ears and looked away.

"And go where, exactly?" he asked. "You better not say to go get Kikyo's remains."

"Oh, come on, Inuyasha," said Kagome as she sat next to him. "Even sworn enemies should be able to rest in peace, right?"

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed.

"And besides," Kagome began, "it's been 50 years...Kikyo's been dead since then, right?"

Inuyasha's eyes went wide at that.

"Can't you just move on from what happened between you two?" asked Kagome...but the half-demon didn't answer, causing her to blink at him, worriedly. "Inuyasha?"

"What?" Inuyasha asked as he turned to look at her.

"What's going on?" asked Kagome. "You've been doing that since last night!"

"Doing what since last night?" asked Inuyasha.

"Avoiding eye contact with me," Kagome answered before she glared at him. "Don't tell me it's because you still that I look like Kikyo! That's it, isn't it?! That's why you can't look at me!"

A pause...but then Inuyasha turned to face Kagome completely and grabbed her hand, causing her to gasp.

"I-Inuyasha?!" she stammered.

"You're wrong, okay?!" Inuyasha shouted...before his eyes softened. "It's...it's not what you think."

Kagome gasped...while Inuyasha slowly leaned closer toward her.

'W...what's he doing?' she thought as he got closer, causing her to gasp.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" she cried as she pushed him away. "HOLD THE PHONE!"

"AAAH!" Inuyasha screamed as he fell backwards, while Kagome whimpered as she held her hands over chest, where she could feel her heart drumming overtime.

'Okay, now I'm officially weirded out...what's going on with him? He almost...kissed me!'

"What the hell did you push me for?!" Inuyasha questioned.

"I-I'm sorry!" Kagome stuttered. "It's just...well...you were getting so close and I didn't know what you were going to do and I...I...!" She then sighed. "...I'm sorry, Inuyasha."

"...I'm sorry, too," Inuyasha said as he looked away with his ears drooping, causing Kagome to walk up to him and put her hand on his shoulder, which prompted him to look at her.

"Hey, it's okay," she said. "What's an awkward moment between friends, right?"

"...Heheh," Inuyasha chuckled...albeit halfheartedly. "Yeah...friends."

Suddenly, they heard the snort of a horse, causing them to look back and see Kaede, holding the reins of a horse as she walked up to them.

"Kaede?" Kagome asked. "What are you doing? You should be resting!"

"I have reconsidered," said Kaede. "I, too, am a priestess. I shall recover my sister's ashes on my own strength. Inuyasha...please do me the kindness of pointing me in the direction of Urasue."

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed. "And just why would I do that? What are you tryin' to do, get yourself killed?"

"Don't be so harsh, Inuyasha," Kagome said, "although...I do agree with him, Kaede. You're still hurt!"

"It matters not," Kaede replied. "I'm going. I shall deal with the consequences when I arrive."

"But Kaede," Kagome started.

"Oh, save your breath, Kagome," Inuyasha interjected. "There's no point in trying to talk her out of it. The old woman's as stubborn as a freakin' ox." He then grabbed the horse's reins. "Well, let's get a move on, Granny. We'll lay Kikyo's remains to rest again."

"...Inuyasha," Kaede smiled. "Thank you."

"...I better go get Shippo," Kagome said. "Something tells me that we should go with you guys."

"Kagome?" asked Kaede as the girl turned and walked away.

'...Inuyasha wasn't looking at me, just now...was he?' thought Kagome.


...I...am NOT looking forward to this arc.

Review, please!