Update (July 2020): Chapter edited and lengthened!
Chapter 25: Voice of a Rose and Kiss of a Blossom
"Hah, hah, hah, hah..."
Catching up with our budding hero of a half-dog demon, who took off in a mad dash from his friends after hearing information that his former love interest may still be among the living, Inuyasha comes to a stop in the area where Kikyō was last seen a few days ago...
"This is it. This is the place the monk told us about...Hm?"
His nose picks up on a faint but distantly-familiar scent, narrowing the source to be near the water, and hurries across the rocky riverbed to pick it up.
"What is this?...A hair band?"
He then remembers who previously owned this accessory.
"...Kikyō...are you really still alive?"
At the same time, deep within the thick green and bark about a mile away, Coraline will have discovered the locale of the priestess before anyone else, situated in the strong arms of a trident maple...The redhead quietly pads her feet a little closer to the other woman.
...She must be asleep...
There's a fairly noticeable paleness to Kikyō's skin, an observation which prompts Coraline to frown sympathetically.
She looks so exhausted...and I c'n sense sorrow deep within her being.
...
...
Suddenly, Kikyō's eyelids flutter open, and she wastes no time in glancing down at the irises of dark cerulean-lined sky blue with her own chestnut brown.
"I see that my barrier was not strong enough to prevent you from finding me."
"U-hh! Mm...Well given tha' our souls share a connection, it shouldn't be too surprising. Plus I used m' Aura Sight to find the source of d'is barrier...Hm?"
That's when the teenage girl sees one of the soul-snatching demons coming towards them...She snaps her gaze back to Kikyō, shifting to a glare as the gears in her mind click into place.
"So it was you...You've been manipulating these demons t' steal away souls of the dead. Why?"
Ignoring her question, the priestess asks Coraline one of her own.
"...Is he not with you?"
"Huh?...If y' mean Inuyasha, no. He set off on his own a while ago to find you."
Which means eventually he'll come here...
"Tell me, what is your relationship?"
Coraline quirks an eyebrow, finding the other woman's inquiry odd to say the least.
"Relationship?...We're friends. Why do you ask?"
Kikyō says nothing, instead smoothly slipping downward onto the grass to approach closer to the redhead...before tilting the younger girl's forehead back with two of her fingers in accordance to setting a spell on her body!
(Pow)
Wh-What did she-I can't move!...She paralyzed me!
"This, will end your interfering."
Inuyasha's POV
As I continue my search for Kikyō in the forest, I suddenly come across those demons from before...
"Hn? Them again? The demons that were making off with the souls!"
I decide to chase after them, having this feeling they may be the final clue to where the woman I seek is...But then I stop atop of a tree root to watch the demons pass through some kind of barrier.
"...It's a Spirit Shield."
Kikyō must be on the other side...Kikyō, is it really you?
I don't hesitate, and leap inside.
No POV
By the time the one-track minded half-demon made his next move, the priestess had moved Coraline against the maple and commanded a few of the serpent-like demons to act as a further bind...No matter how much the redhead willed her body to move, Kikyō's spell held fast.
Dammit. My muscles are cement!
Another one of the demons passes another soul to the undead woman, and she absorbs it while remarking with a smile,
"Inuyasha is coming," before cancelling the Spirit Shield and turning a neutral expression to her captive.
"I fear he has not come to save you...His purpose lies in seeing me. (Narrows eyes) You will not interfere."
"With what? Are y' still hell-bent on destroying Inuyasha?!...Kikyō, he is not your enemy! Someone else was pullin' the strings behind your tragic end fifty years ago, for the purpose of manipulating the power of the Shikon-no-Tama."
Coraline smiles sadly and adds,
"Surely in yo' heart, you know Inuyasha would never take your life."
...A grim upturn of mouth would be the blackette's responding expression.
"Humph, from your countenance, I assume you expect me to be rejoicing."
"(Frown) Well no, but even you must wan' the truth behind your death and not be burdened by unwanted hate."
"Someone caused my premature demise...Will my murderer's death bring me back to life?"
The redhead counters,
"O' course not, but would it not bring your soul closure?"
"Closure? Hmph...The dead have but one wish: to walk among the living once again...a wish that will never be realized. However, this dead woman can wish for one thing...I wish for a heart, the heart of the man whom I shall not allow to forget me. That is my desire."
"(Narrows eyes) I assume by he, you mean Inuyasha?"
"It is clear that Inuyasha wishes for my death. That is a good thing, because it means that he feels remorse for our dispute. Heh, let him feel remorseful...I shall never allow him to forget about me. Time will not advance, thus allowing me to exist in a dimension in which time is frozen. (Cold smile) I can live on inside his heart, here in my own frozen recreation."
Coraline is appalled by the undead priestess's beliefs.
"...Are you kidding me? That has ta be the dumbest thing I ever heard! Inuyasha's heart an' mind are still swallowed by your memory, Kikyō! How can you not be satisfied with tha'?! And the fact you don' feel any form of remorse for your dispute with him. (...Hard glare) You are a fool."
"When Inuyasha and I parted, we despised one another. The love in which you speak of is but a shallow emotion, an emotion that which served to deepen the hatred. Nothing can can resolve one's determination in exacting one's vengeance in the way that bitterness can...and I can sense that you harbor similar notions despite your attempts to counter."
That would silence the girl from the future.
...Damn...She isn' wrong.
I do hold a bitterness towards Bishop and Trinity that fuels a desire for veng'nce...
But, I was able to bare witness to everyth'n' that day. I know the truth...
I actually took the time to learn everything. She's choosing no' to.
As two of the serpent demons curl openly around Kikyō, she adds,
"If he must love, then let him love my consuming resentment...and in return, I shall love his heart, as it falls into deepest despair."
Coraline tries again to argue otherwise.
"No, Kikyō! Don't give into your darkness!...I know that some of this is due to th' dark half of your soul that resides within you, but you shouldn't have to embrace it so recklessly. That kind'o hatred will be your undoing!"
(...Rustle)
"Huh?" "Hm?"
Both women turn to their attention left towards some shrubs...just as the man of the hour emerges from the shadows of the trees...Realizing the priestess may remain stubborn to her advice, the redhead tries to compel her companion to advocate for the truth.
"Inuyasha! You've got t' talk to Kikyō! Explain the real events from fifty years ago, that it was Naraku who was behind it all!"
...But Inuyasha didn't hear her. Instead, he walks over to the priestess, much to Coraline's confusion.
Huh?...Has 'e gone deaf...or perhaps...?
"Kikyō..."
Said woman clenches her fist to her torso and flinches a tad from his gaze, just as the younger soul realizes what's going on.
Awoh, curse it'all! Kikyō's spell must be makin' me as silent as a sheet...
"So you were the one. You were gathering up the Souls of the dead women."
As the demons floats from her side, Kikyō explains to Inuyasha what's happening to her.
"My body is molded from the bones and soil from my grave site. It must be sustained by Human Souls if I am to remain here."
Hazel-gold eyes widen, and the priestess adds with a bitter smile,
"Inuyasha, you must despise me. I have drawn in the souls of the dead to retain my presence, and it is my hatred of you that fuels my actions."
"...That's just ludicrous! You may very well despise me, but the feeling's not mutual. Kikyō...I've never stopped thinking about you, not even for an instant!"
...
...
...
The entire area went quiet, and Kikyō's eyes began to dilate with her hidden sorrow as Coraline concludes,
I was right: Inuyasha's heart still yearns for Kikyō so strongly...
S'ppose I can't blame 'im. eitha'. Still, it kind-a hurts hearing it aloud...It, feels like Inuyasha's being taken from me.
A wisp of a gasp escapes the redhead's lips as she scrambles to correct where her thoughts were proceeding towards.
A-As a friend, I mean! I-It's not like, I have a crush on him or anything...right?
As Kikyō turns away from Inuyasha, he adds fiercely,
"I could never hate you or think less of you. It's your spirit I care for, not your appearance!"
"Truly, Inuyasha? You wouldn't?"
The undead woman moves in close to the half-demon, reaching a hand up to softly caress the side of his face.
"You wouldn't despise me if I were to use these hands to steal the life from you?"
...
And the next thing we all know, Kikyō snakes forward to press her lips against Inuyasha's!...Coraline's mind seemed to freeze in time with her bulging eyes.
Sh-She-! He-!...What th' feckin' hell?!
It was short and bittersweet, but there's no mistaking the suppressed emotions between the two souls as their lips part.
"Inuyasha, after meeting you, I renounced my position as a Shrine Priestess. I became an ordinary woman. (...Shiver) I longed to embrace you like this when I was alive."
...Very slowly, the silverette moves his arms around Kikyō, hugging her back, the gesture causing Coraline's heart to crack all the more.
"Gh-h!...Hauh, Inuyasha...I had'a feelin' you would take 'er back, and why not? You'll be getting what you wanted f'r a long time, even if it is foolish. (Looks down) Why am I even still here?...Mph..."
She feels that telltale moisture building in her two-tone blue irises, and swallows them back hard in a pathetic attempt to stifle her own feelings.
"D-Damn it, no!...I'm not gonna cry. I refuse to cry over somethin' I have no say in!"
Unaware of the second woman's presence and inner turmoil, Inuyasha felt his hazel-gold irises well with sadness and regret over what was lost and halfheartedly gained.
Kikyō's scent is so familiar. Her fragrance is just how it used to be...
The only difference is that she has no warmth. Her body is cold from death, and she's sad and lonely.
"We are unable to turn back the hands of time, so please...allow me to embrace you a little longer."
"I can't save you. I can't, do anything to help you...except stay like this...If only time could stand still..."
"Would you agree to that? If I stopped time?"
"...Yes. I don't care. As long as...As long as I'm with you."
By this point, the young Croft had succeeded in preventing any tears from falling, and was now feeling like an unwanted third wheel.
"Ugh, look, if you'd prefer ta be alone, I can grant you that! Jus' release me!...Honestly, did she even think this thro-"
(...CRACK, CRUMBLE, Whooooooossssshhhhhhhh)
Suddenly, the earth underneath Inuyasha and Kikyō began to uproot, creating a new crater glowing with an ominous amaranth pink power, and the maiden souls were pulled into a harsh, spectral vacuum of wind...!
"Inuyasha, I will never let you go!...Come with me, to the depths of Hell."
The 'silent' listener to this scene nearly unhinges her jaw upon hearing the priestess's words.
"She's dragging h'm to Hell?!...No...I can't let that happen! Inuyasha, snap to i'! You're bein' dragged into oblivion!"
...Shit, no good. He's unconscious.
Gritting her teeth, the redhead chooses to bark at the woman responsible for this new peril.
"Alright. Listen up, Kikyō, 'cause I know you can hear me! This isn' fair t' him, or yo'self!...Inuyasha wants to be with you, but 'e never once said die! He's made a vendetta against the demon truly responsible fo' deceivin' you both fifty years ago! He's is hellbent on destroyin' Naraku for your sake, an' he won't stop until he avenges your death! How can you deny 'im that?!"
...Kikyō turns her eyes to Coraline's direction...
"Please, tell me you understand what I'm saying!"
(...Pow)
"Agh!"
The binding spell is unceremoniously cancelled, but the one under fire from the power is hit by some recoil while the tree behind her splits at the top...Sliding down the bark, Coraline growls and utters,
"Dammit, Kikyō...!"
"And what if he does exact his revenge? Will that serve to revive me?"
Turning attention back to the half-demon, the undead woman softens her tone as she coaxes the unconscious soul to join her in abyss.
"Come, Inuyasha. Come rather than stay and living with my memory..."
As they both begin sinking further into the vortex, Kikyō adds,
"You and I share the same desires."
...Coraline's pupils seethe with anger at the display.
"You...You manipulative bitch! The poor guy's unconscious! Yo'r seeking somethin' you lost your chance a' years ago! Do the world a favour-no...do your own fate a favour, and let Inuyasha go! Y' hear me?! HANDS OFF!"
(SHEEN)
The redhead's eyes then cloud over with her icy blue aura, the power fueled not only by concern for Inuyasha's life...but also a newfound form of jealousy!
(...Ba-bump)
"Uh!"
Kikyō feels her heartbeat skip, and before she could do anything to stop it, her own soul energy mixed with the spirits of deceased maidens begins soaring out of her body!
"Aaaauuh!"
She turns fearful eyes on Coraline, the latter's own source of vision aglow and holding her palm out in a commanding gesture.
This girl...that power...She is seeking to take back the rest of my soul!
I must hurry before this body is completely emptied!
With that in mind, the priestess turns attention back towards the unconscious half-demon, desperate to fulfill her wish.
"Inuyasha, come!"
The pair sink further into the crater of Hell, but Coraline refused to give up on her friend.
"Wake up! Don't let her take you, Inuyasha!...Inuyasha!...INUYASHAAA!"
...
Suddenly, the teenage boy's eyes snap open on that last call.
"...That's Coraline's voice. Coraline...is she here? (Turn) Coraline!"
His vision refocuses to see the redhead kneeling in front of the marred maple as her eyes dim back to normal...Exclaiming her name again, the half-demon jumps out of the crater towards the girl from another time, much to Kikyō's dismay...
(SLASH)
Inuyasha quickly slices the soul-snatching demons dead with his claws, and lands in a crouch in front of the redhead.
"Coraline, what in the world are you doing here?!"
Though part of her was glad that he's conscious and out of danger, the woman with two-tone blue irises was still bristled by his lackluster control when it comes to his old desires.
"...Funny, I should be askin' you th' same!"
"Well, uh...it's kind-of hard to explain..."
The two then flinch back as the rest of the eel/serpent demons fly over to Kikyō, who cancels the vortex to Hell...
"What's happening to her?"
She rises to a stand, and holds a fist to her torso as she asks her object of former affection with a sorrowful expression,
"...Does that girl mean more to you than I do?"
Inuyasha and Coraline glance at one another, before looking away with matching blushes...Seeing all she had to, Kikyō begins floating into the air with the help of the soul-snatching demons, despite the silverette's attempt to call her back.
"No, wait, Kikyō, listen to me!"
"...Inuyasha, never forget. Remember the feel of my lips against yours...for it was real."
At the same time Coraline looks down with depressed eyes shadowed by her red locks, the priestess's body glows white in accordance to fading away from this area.
"Never forget..."
"...Goodbye, Kikyō..."
And with that, the tragic miko disappears...but not necessarily for good...
Releasing a breath riddled with mixed emotions, the young Croft rises to her feet and begins to walk away. Obviously, Inuyasha would become confused by this sudden shift in moods.
"Huh? Hey, wait! Hm..."
He begins following her, prompting Coraline to stop and harshly tell her fellow teen,
"Stay away from me."
"What're you mad at me for?"
She turns away with a serious glare and retorts,
"Why do y' think? I had to pay witness to all tha' nonsense...You likely don't know, but I saw and heard everything that happ'n'd between you and, her."
"Huh?"
"...I had t' listen to you pour yo'r heart ou' to her. I had to witness as she kissed you, then watch you both embrace eachoth'a, before she nearly dragged ya into Hell! If I hadn't spoken up and used my power, then...you and Kikyō would currently be in the worst place possible."
Inuyasha is nearly shocked silent by the redhead's words.
"...You really saw and heard it all?"
She turns to face him with a scornful glare.
"Yes, and you can thank tha' sorry excuse of a woman fo' bindin' me with her priestess powers! Honestly, pinnin' me down to watch all that...Just how much of her decorum was lost in 'er resurrection?! Once more, you and she seem to share a terrible habit: neither of y' are honest about y'r feelings until the last damn second!"
"Gh!"
Expelling a few heavy breaths from her latest outburst, Coraline then says with a more sober look,
"Yet, despite what I had t' witness...this doesn' change my feelings regardin' our mission in recovering the rest of the Shikon-no-Tama and defeating Naraku. Plus...I still care about you, Inuyasha. (Sad smile) You've become too dear a friend to allow somethin' like this to fracture our friendship."
"...Coraline..."
She shifts to a more neutral expression and adds,
"But, righ' now, I need to head back home and quell whatev'r amount of frustration remains. And if you're smart, you won't follow me."
With that, the girl pivots on her left heel and walks away for the Bone Eater's Well, leaving the motionless half-demon behind...Just as she vanishes from sight, Miroku and Shippō finally catch up, no longer blocked off by the Spirit Shield. The young fox demon calls out,
"What happened? Did you find her?"
As soon as he stopped beside Inuyasha's form, he'd become even more perplexed, noticing the dumbfounded expression on the latter's face.
"...W-What's goin' on, Inuyasha? What are you doin' just staring off into space?...Have you seen Coraline?"
The monk examines said face more closely, before wondering aloud,
"I recognize this expression, meaning that Coraline must be somewhere nearby...I wonder what was said?"
"Well, since he's not responding, I'd say she's feisty as ever."
...
...
Meanwhile, down below in the Goshinboku Village, we watch as a familiar figure approaches the doorway to Kaede's home, the elder priestess having fallen asleep about an hour or two prior.
"...Hm? (Wakes, turns) Uh! Kikyō...Is it really you...?"
You see, after vanishing from the area where our main protagonists are currently at, the undead woman decided to pay a visit to her sister. Contrary to what she may have boasted...Kikyō was actually a little curious of some facts which had eluded her since that day years ago.
"What ails you, Kaede? (Bitter smile) Do you fear your older sister?"
"You misunderstand. I had heard that you fell from the cliff. I did not realize that you had survived."
"You are correct. I am dead...yet something in this world keeps me from moving on."
The woman with grey hair looks at her sister with serious eyes.
"...Do ye still intend to take Inuyasha's life?"
"Inuyasha...I saw him just moments ago, and almost succeeded in ridding the life from him...Speak to me, Kaede."
Kikyō moves to sit in front of her technically-still-younger sister.
"Tell me all you have to offer about this Naraku person."
The latter does just that, regaling all she and her allies now know, beginning with the dastardly deal that a certain thief made fifty years ago.
"Everything was started by the evil designs of Onigumo. He called forth the demons, and was devoured by them. Thus was born the monster, Naraku."
"So, it all began with that bandit, Onigumo?"
"Yes. He used to say that the Shikon-no-Tama would grow in beauty when it is tainted with malice."
The 'young' miko thinks to herself,
He fueled the hatred between Inuyasha and myself, then attempted to steal the jewel that had been tainted in the process...
"Listen, Kikyō: Inuyasha was seriously wounded by Naraku once again, so please..."
"I heard enough."
Kikyō stands and readies to head out the doorway, already knowing what her sister was about to try and persuade.
"I only came because I thought I should learn the circumstances of my death."
...And contrary to what the girl said, it does not seem to bring me any closure.
She then says to Kaede with a sad smile,
"I noticed that Inuyasha has changed: his face has a certain softness...Long ago, his eyes held a coldness, and he thought he could place his trust in no one."
The aging miko harbors a guess to why.
"Coraline is a strange child. Little by little, she has been able to heal the wounds on his heart...yet seems to avoid healing the ones on her own."
She has more in common with he and my sister than either realize...
"So she was the one responsible. It was she who changed Inuyasha...If I had lived, it would have been I to tend to the wounds in his soul..."
"Please, Kikyō. Can ye not let go of the past and move on?"
Kikyō only takes her leave, her last words being,
"We shall meet again," and she was gone, leaving Kaede to worry for her sister and her goals.
"...How long will ye wander the earth, Kikyō...?"
The undead priestess is seen for the last time this evening when she secures a riverboat as a new form of transport, the soul-snatching demons hovering by her side, and her expression unreadable.
Kaede...my dear sister...How lucky you are not to be burdened like I.
Time Skip
Come the next morning, Coraline will have returned from her era briefly to grab the bags she left behind when she stormed off for home in the middle of the night, then head back to the Bone Eater's Well once again. Her mind was still slightly muddled by the dialogue between her half-demon companion and the undead miko, but overall the redhead manages to maintain a cooler demeanor to the situation...
Inuyasha, Shippō and Miroku watch her leave from behind some bushes and a fallen trunk.
"And so she has left us once again..."
The monk then asks a tad hesitantly,
"Inuyasha, Coraline was not acting her usual self...Exactly what happened to you and Kikyō last night?"
The silverette replies bluntly if a bit carelessly,
"Same thing that goes on with you and women."
Miroku flinches back from the other young man with a mortified look.
"Drh, ghastly! You did that right in front of Coraline?!"
Inuyasha whirls around and barks suspiciously,
"Maybe you should explain what you do with women!"
"N-Nothing...!"
Relaxing his incredulous look, the half-demon turns to face frontward again as Shippō asks him with a worry brow,
"Do you think Coraline will come back? She may have looked calm, but I saw the upset in her eyes..."
"Hm..."
Thinking back to his choice of words with Kikyō, and what she said in return, he mutters,
"I spoke the truth...and it was real..."
Miroku then asks seriously if a tad bitterly,
"Now what course will you take, Inuyasha? Kikyō couldn't have gotten too far yet. Will you follow her?"
The young fox adds in his own protest,
"Coraline is more important than Kikyō is, so hurry up and make up with Coraline, Inuyasha!"
The silverette remembers what the redheaded woman said before walking away from last night...and mentally wonders,
Do you really value our friendship that much that you'd risk seeing and hearin' stuff like that, Coraline?
...God. I dunno if I should call you incredibly loyal, or incredibly foolish.
...Oh who am I kidding? It's the former, obviously.
Speaking of said redhead, Coraline suddenly returns to Sengoku Edo, remembering something she forgot.
"Geez, what a scatterbrain. My mind was running 'cross the wheel so fast, I forgot my combat knife. (Echo) Ay! Anyone near? I could use a hand out!"
She then picks up on where the conversation left off, as Miroku and Shippō demand respectively,
"What will you do, Inuyasha?"
"Which girl will you choose?"
Which, girl?...Oh god, they can't be serious...!?
"Answer!
"Which one?!"
Inuyasha goes into semi-deep thought (the key prefix being semi-)...before asking aloud,
"I don't suppose I could have both of them...?"
"Agh! You two-timing...!"
Miroku answers back more calmly than Shippō, placing a hand on the half-demon's shoulder while saying sympathetically,
"Well, it's a common problem for men such as ourselves...It's one thing to have both, but another to keep it a secret. For if either girl were to find out..."
"SIT!"
(Gleam, wham)
"That's right, big Sit...hm?"
And to no real surprise, the monk would open his eyes to see Inuyasha face-down within the earth after the subjugation beads activated by Coraline's distant call...Shippō comments nonchalantly,
"They say that karma includes bad thoughts," followed by Miroku replying,
"Just as well. It would spare him a great deal of grief..."
As for Coraline, she had just settled her elbows on the lip of the well, and glances over at the three souls with an indignant expression, before sweeping up her short blade from the grass just below her and turning to jump back down to her own era.
Boys...