Four Souls
Part 3: Second Soul - Kikyou
An Inuyasha Fanfiction
By Azurite
sailor_andromida@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon
PG

Legend
Remembered
"Spoken"
* Thought *
Emphasis
Sound effect

RECAP OF PAST EVENTS:

"Why aren't you with your dog-eared friend?"
Kagome looked up to face her mother and stared as if she'd grown a second head.

"Who?"

&&&

* Say what? That she wants to kill me? Kikyou, what's wrong with you? *

Kikyou smiled faintly, a devilish, playful smile as her voice sounded in a near-whisper.

"SIT!"


***************************************************************************

Inuyasha was at a loss as to what to do. It wasn't as if situations like this happened every day… but still…

* She's alive… really alive… *

Ever since that fateful day so long ago, when Inuyasha had found out from Kaede that the miko he had once loved was dead, he hadn't been the same. He treated Kagome horribly, just because she was the reincarnation of Kikyou. And then, when Kikyou had been brought back to life by the demon-witch Urasue, he had tried to save her again… despite growing feelings for Kagome. He'd slowly been learning that Kagome was very different from Kikyou… and then he had destroyed all hope of any relationship between the two of them.

Kikyou hadn't wanted to be brought back to life… had wanted to rest in peace, regardless of the truth of her death. Now, she stayed on Earth with only her vengeance and lost souls keeping her alive. To be near Kagome for too long was to ask for doom, as whatever shred of the original miko's soul was left inside her doll-body would be transferred to Kagome… its current holder.

* Kaede… after all this time, her older sister… is back. But now, Kaede's older, and she's the village priestess. What will everyone think? *

* What am I thinking… letting her come back… and… *

Inuyasha's thoughts stopped. For only a moment had he wondered where Kagome had disappeared to. She was, indeed gone, and it seemed that Kikyou, alive as she was… knew the "magic word" for getting him to behave.

Snapping out of the stupor that overcame him each time he was slammed into the ground, he struggled to get up and look at Kikyou.

She kneeled down to look him in the eyes, a smile on her face.

"Come on, Inuyasha," She said, sounding all too cheery for someone who had been previously trying to kill him and/or drag him to hell, "We should get back to the camp before Miroku and Shippou get worried."

She started walking in the general direction of the camp, and that's when Inuyasha started—she knew them!?

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"…Your dog-eared friend, Kagome," Ms. Higurashi tried to explain, baffled by her daughter's odd behavior. Perhaps something had happened in the Sengoku Jidai, causing her to forget all about… what was his name… Inuyasha!

"…Inuyasha."

"Eeh…? 'Dog-demon?' What are you talking about mama? And here I thought I was crazy for waking up too early on a Sunday. Maybe I should go back to sleep, and all this weirdness will be just a dream…" Stumbling lazily, the youngest female Higurashi went back to her bedroom and shut the door.

"Na… oh my…" Ms. Higurashi ran downstairs to where Souta was eating, and where her father was cleaning up. Maybe they could have some insight on this situation.

************************************************************************************************************

Kaede couldn't believe her eye. Walking beside Inuyasha, as plain as day… was Kikyou. Her older sister… the once-dead, reborn-yet-soulless husk of a girl… just there. Villagers gasped; children stared. The priest and kitsune that accompanied Inuyasha on his travels were walking at a slower pace behind Inuyasha and Kikyou, looking more than a mite unhappy.

When Kaede finally looked to the hanyou she had grown accustomed to talking to, as one would a grandchild, she noticed his melancholy expression -next to Kikyou's brightly shining smile. It was that smile that finally caused Kaede to realize what was so horribly wrong with this picture -Kikyou… was alive.

"Ma-Masaka…" The word seemed to be chorused by the villagers, old men, women, and children alike. Kikyou was somewhat of a legend, even if she had… died fifty years ago. The people would not so readily have accepted Inuyasha as their "protector" if their former guardian hadn't been in love with him so long ago.

Now the two were reunited again, neither looking as though they'd aged a day… and Kikyou… was alive.

Kaede walked forward and dared to meet her once-older sister.

"Kaede-chan!" Kikyou walked up to her once-younger sister and embraced her, startling the older woman. Keeping her miko powers at the ready, she didn't return the hug.

"Ne… Kaede-chan, what's wrong? Did something happen while we were gone?"

The question posed was so innocent, so completely sincere, that Kaede didn't know what to make of it. Could it truly be, that after all this time… after all these trials, her older sister was returned to her?

Te last time the village priestess had seen her sister was when she had come to the hut and demanded to know all about Naraku. She needed confirmation that it hadn't been Inuyasha who had destroyed the village so long ago… and betrayed her. Kaede knew that, even without a complete soul, Kikyou just wanted a shred of proof in the opposite direction—saying that Inuyasha was a vile betrayer. But when she found out that Inuyasha was innocent… and that his love for her had caused Naraku to want to destroy them so mercilessly…

"What do you remember, Kikyou?" Kaede asked blatantly. No honorific, no "onee-chan." No, if this was truly her older sister, restored to life… then what had happened to the bearer of her soul… Kagome?

************************************************************************************************************

            Night fell soon enough in the village. People spent the day hanging around Kaede's hut, trying to discern what the two mikos within were discussing. Inuyasha mostly stayed by himself, in the woods nearby, but dared to go back into village grounds once everything was dark and silent. Perhaps it was just in his nature to be alone… after all, any time that he had dared to be with someone, it had ended in…

            Inuyasha!

            Startled, the hanyou looked about. Kagome…? B-But… she couldn't be here. Kikyou was alive now, so that meant…

            The implications of that thought nearly drove Inuyasha to his knees. So unsure was he of Kikyou being… alive again, that he hadn't time to think about what happened to Kagome—the girl, with her own mind, her own body, her own personality. Could she be…?

            His eyes alighted on the well not too far from the village's border. The Bone-Eater's well and the passage from this warring age to Kagome's… if there was even a chance…


            Using all the speed his half-youkai power offered him, Inuyasha ran to the well, and jumped in. He was unaware of a pair of dark eyes trained on his backside the entire time. The figure turned once Inuyasha was out of sight, the slight jingling of beads sounding in the still night.

************************************************************************************************************

End of Part 3 – Second Soul: Kikyou

Anou… maybe that part wasn't so much focused on Kikyou as Kaede and Inuyasha… and I know I could make it longer. But where's the fun in that, when I could just do tons of short parts? ^^ So, look forward to the next part soon—

Part 4: Well…

Kagome trembled slightly as she crept through the darkness. It was the new moon tonight, so there was no light to go by, save what dimness came from the flood lights down the block.

Damn cat! Stupid, stupid Buyo!

But she had seen the oversized cat slip out the open porch door, and she had to get the cat back tonight… the last time Buyo had gotten out, he had killed an assortment of birds belonging to a neighbor, and left messes on every stair leading up to the Sunset Shrine. Grandfather had not been pleased.

Kagome and Souta had begged not to have Buyo put to sleep or given away, so both Ms. Higurashi and Grandfather made them promise to make sure Buyo never got outside the house again. They'd made well on their promise for so long; Kagome didn't want to see Buyo given away. She didn't know why, but sometimes that darn cat felt like her only friend…

            "B-Buyo… here kitty kitty…" Kagome snuck around the bushes near the legendary Bone-Eater's well. She thought she heard a rustle of something, and whipped in that direction.

            I should have brought a flashlight…

            Kagome chattered as well—she was cold. All she wanted to do right now was find Buyo, and climb back into her soft, warm bed. Sure, she had school tomorrow morning, but sleep was the most wonderful thing in the world, and Kagome wouldn't miss it, if she had the choice. But at the moment, she didn't have a choice…

            She crept close to the bushes where she'd seen the rustle, and dared to call out, just a bit louder…

            "Buyo? Here kitty, kitty, kitty…"

            Kagome kept her eyes focused on the bush, and then jumped back with a silent gasp when two very non-feline eyes stared back at her.

Stay tuned for more!

Azurite