@ I am afraid I just could leave the story long without giving it a proper cliffhanger… @
Kagome had already known she wouldn't win when she began the fight. But that wasn't why she was fighting, to win. She was fighting to escape, to reverse what she'd done… Even if there was a newfound sense of power in being the equivalent of quarter Youkai, she didn't know what might truly happen, and she didn't want to find out at the cost of Inuyasha…
So as she mostly blocked his attacks and dodged miasma, she circled to the door, being reminded somewhat of something, but unable to pinpoint what…
She reached the door, and began to back out into the courtyard, when Naraku began laughing.
"Did you honestly think I'd let you escape? Oh, joy! I've defeated your hanyou boyfriend every time we've fought, and you thought, that unskilled and untried, the Tetsusaiga would allow you to escape?" And Naraku started to whip her with miasma, leaving dark welts on her arms and legs where it burnt through her clothes. Then she remembered Inuyasha's fight with Kouga, impossible odds and hidden advantages… Inuyasha had been destined to fail, and now so was she, caught in a pattern.
She half gave up, and lunged, hoping against hope that something would aide her…
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Inuyasha was fleeing Kikyou as much as he was chasing Naraku. He couldn't, WOULDN'T do the same thing with Kagome and Kikyou as soon as given the opportunity… For he knew, that when they were locked into an embrace and heading to hell, the only name in his mind would be Kagome's. And yet, somehow, as Kikyou descended embracing him from behind, he was caught, and could only say those dreadful words.
"I love you Kagome…" He whispered hoping that she who had this corpses soul could hear his words…
Kikyou, meanwhile, reacted in such a different way than Kagome that he recoiled at how disgusting she'd become. Kikyou the woman and priestess had cared only for others, Kikyou the corpse cared only for herself. She screamed names at him, and threw things, appearing a banshee in a kimono. Her face was contorted beyond all beauty, a mask of human evil's epitome.
He looked her in the eye and asked,
"When did you stop loving me?" She immediately quieted, and then, softly,
"The day you chose her. The day you left what was to be an eternal sleep. The fifty year anniversary of our death-day… All of these, and more, are your answer. Because you left me waiting at the alter of hell for a groom who walked the land of the living." He couldn't just leave her, after she said that, and as he moved to comfort her, she wrapped her arms around him.
And he was paralyzed.
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Miroku and Sango battled Youkai after Youkai, being overwhelmed faster than they could have thought possible. Now they were trapped. Kirara was knocked out. Were they too doomed?
@ I'm about to get really busy, so I may not be able to update until this weekend… @