Hidoi Chikara
Kagome walked along beside Inuyasha, drifting along, looking at the world around her. They traveled through the forest, along the same path that they had walked along last night. She looked at the sky, it was a bright blue, but she saw it turn a gray with a tint of... red? They approached the field where they had fought Uragirimono, but Kagome didn't know of this. When Kagome entered, following behind Sango and Miroku, a jolt of pain rushing through her brain like it was slicing in half.
Sango turned around rushed to Kagome who was holding her head, "Kagome-chan, what's wrong?"
"I don't..." Another jolt of pain attacked her brain, "Itai!"
"Kagome-chan!"
Kagome shook her head slowly and gulped. "It hurts so much... It's like something I want to remember is being blocked out... Itai!" Once more, pain jolted in her head, giving Kagome the feeling of being torn apart.
"Kagome, don't let this stop you, come on," Inuyasha picked Kagome up and carried her. He had barely taken two steps when Kagome shrieked in pain. "What's wrong?"
"My head..." Kagome groaned, moving her head against Inuyasha. She heard one thing and she said it aloud: "Ur-Uragirimono..."
"What's she doing now," Inuyasha growled. He carried Kagome across the area, listening to her cries of pain and torture. "What's Uragirimono doing!"
"I don't know!" Kagome cried out, hiding her face in his shirt. Kagome closed herself in the red haori she was now wearing. "I just hear her name... and I can see her face. It's scarred." There was a pause until Kagome said, "Someone scarred her face. It's strange because she's a youkai and a miko... Inuyasha, what's wrong with me?"
"I don't know, Kagome, but I'll protect you." Inuyasha held her close and he exited the field.
Even after they had all left the field, Kagome was still crying out in pain every other minute. Koishii-Yume bit her lip and approached Inuyasha. She used him as support as she walked, "Inuyasha, I think it has something to do with entering the field again."
"Nani," Inuyasha was confused as hell.
"Kagome's heart shattered in that field, which probably caused her to remember a few things. When she tries to remember things, emotions she doesn't have, her brain is split into pieces. Since Kagome can't feel those emotions, she can only feel pain instead of remembering."
"What if Uragirimono is still alive and she's causing Kagome's pain from a distance," Miroku suggested.
"Impossible," Inuyasha growled, "I sliced her into pieces!"
"Very true, Inuyasha, but that doesn't mean she still isn't alive. She could've been able to go somewhere and regenerate herself to her original form."
"Zettai!"
"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru growled from behind him, making everyone stop. Sesshoumaru took Koishii-Yume beside him and gave Inuyasha a stern, serious look. "For once, actually think of other possibilities."
"He's right," Koishii-Yume sighed, "there is more than one type of herb."
Inuyasha growled, clutching his hand on the haori Kagome was wearing. He spun around on them and shouted, "Uragirimono is dead! That's that! I sliced her into a million pieces myself; she can't regenerate herself after being sliced! Don't like my reasoning, then too fucking bad!"
"Itai," Kagome muttered her head presser harder into Inuyasha. For some reason, to Kagome, if she was in pain, she had to depend on this hanyou to make her feel better. Something came to her head and she muttered it. "What do you want with me, Uragirimono?"
"Why, if you give me the Shikon no Tama," a smirking voice said her head, "I let you live."
Kagome clutched her chest in pain, feeling the same pain of being broken into a million pieces. She quietly cried out, "Zettai!"
"Then die, hanyou miko..."
Kagome screamed in agony and pain. Tears ran down her cheeks, but it was relieved by the slow release of the pain.
Everyone stared at Kagome, Inuyasha holding her close. Sango looked at her best friend with pity and said, "She's remembering it... slowly and painfully..." She leaned down to her friend's side, "Kagome-chan."
Koishii-Yume put a fist over her heart, biting her lip, and clutching her eyes shut, not wanting to face the reality in front of her. She opened her eyes and looking around, she cried out: "Uragirimono, come out! Face us face-to-face instead of hiding like a coward!"
"Ku, ku, ku, ku, ku," a voice echoed around them, "this is fun actually. I can make Kagome remember with such pain and torture that her mind is practically being split in half. Having no emotions comes in handy for me... Koishii-Yume, such a smart, little, youkai brat, aren't you? You already told him, didn't you?"
"Told him what!"
"That without any emotions, Kagome can't remember without her brain being split it two..."
Koishii-Yume growled, "I may be injured, but I can still fight you! Are you too afraid to fight because you know you're going to lose or is it because you can't!"
"Hmph, Koishii-Yume, Koishii-Yume, they still don't know, do they? They don't know about your past... when you were a soul exterminator."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your parents, your village, all those people, what you did."
"I didn't do it!"
"You did, you're still in denial after fifty years!"
"Iie!"
"Sesshoumaru doesn't know either, does he?"
"Iie! Leave me alone!" Koishii-Yume lunged at random places, swinging her claws. After taking fifteen lunges, she landed on the ground, gasping for breath.
Sesshoumaru growled and helped Koishii-Yume up. He snarled, "Leave Yume alone, abazureon'na! She has nothing to do with any of this!"
"She doesn't, does she?" Uragirimono's voice chuckled. Her voice now smirked: "Then how come she's the one who helped Naraku destroy so many people?"
"Iie!" Koishii-Yume cried out, covering her ears and shaking her head.
"You can't deny the truth or block me out, child! No matter how hard you want to, you can't. You destroyed those people with Naraku!"
"Iie! Naraku was controlling me! It wasn't me! I'd never hurt my father!"
"Who's the one who killed your father? The one who sliced him down the middle and threw his body to a pack of tiger youkai to eat, eh?"
"It wasn't me!"
"Who's the one who did that, Koishii-Yume! Who!"
"I was being controlled!"
"Who was being controlled! Who. Killed. Your. Father!"
Koishii-Yume clenched her teeth and began to cry, "I did..."
"That's right, Koishii-Yume, you killed your father! You lied to your mate when you said your father was still alive! He died because of you, Koishii-Yume..."
"Iie!"
"Hai! Who's the one who tortured your best friend to her dead? Who's the one who burned her, cut her, strangled her to near dead! Who did that Koishii-Yume? Who tortured sweet Amai to death?"
"I didn't--"
"You did! You tortured Amai until she was dead. Poor, sweet, little Amai-chan, right? Suffered a horrible death and she said when she died, she didn't want to feel pain... You gave her a painful death, Koishii-Yume! Her wish wasn't granted and now she's dead!"
"Iie!" Koishii-Yume cried. "Come out and fight me rather than bring me down, Uragirimono!" Koishii-Yume growled fiercely, her eyes burning red. She snarled like a dog and looked around, very alert.
"Oh, but this is much more fun. See you go into your true, bitch form out of anger that I've caused! How amusing!"
Koishii-Yume growled, "Face me, you fucking cat! I'll rip your heart out and crush it!"
"Don't you know Koishii-Yume? You can't hurt me... Since your life is in a certain someone's hands... Another who has your heart, isn't that right, Koishii-Yume? You put your life into another's hand for the return of your dead love. Did he love you back, Koishii-Yume?"
Koishii-Yume snarled more, growling fiercely. "Shizuka ni!"
"You're being rude, Koishii-Yume. You haven't answered my question. Did he love you back?"
"He left me..."
"That's right! He left off with the first little, slutty, skimpy human girl he saw! Remember it clearly? Who's has your heart, Koishii-Yume? Who do you depend your life on?"
Koishii-Yume clenched her fist, her claws digging into her hand. She snarled more and more, becoming frustrated, depressed, enraged, and just plain pissed off to the core. Abazureon'na baka... I'll kill her! Slice her throat out, rip out her heart, and make sure she doesn't say another word for the rest of her life!
"Who does it depend on, Koishii-Yume?"
"Na. Naraku..."
"Oh, yes, Naraku! Such an interesting person, isn't he? He helped me get Kagome's heart. I got to blacken it a little before the stupid bitch broke it. Oh well, I'll gather the shards and her heart will be mine forever!"
"Shizukesa! You're becoming boring!" Koishii-Yume growled jumping into the air, looking for Uragirimono.
"Oh, you won't find me there..." Uragirimono's voice echoed.
Koishii-Yume sensed something coming at her and she spun around, just dodging it. Koishii-Yume went to slash at Uragirimono, but she collapsed to the ground, clutching her chest.
Uragirimono laughed at Koishii-Yume's pain. "Hurts, doesn't it, Koishii-Yume? You can't hurt me. I work for Naraku and he'll protect me as long as I'm 'loyal' to him!" Uragirimono laughed evilly, but stopped, her eyes widening. What... What's happened to me?
"You've betrayed me, Uragirimono," Naraku's voice echoed.
"Iie, master!" Uragirimono cried out.
"I told you to leave them be for a while, you didn't listen."
"Lord Naraku!"
"I don't have to listen to your babble any longer!"
Uragirimono collapsed, her chest pounding in agony. Her heart exploded in her chest, making her fall to the ground. Uragirimono's body disappeared, leaving her bones behind. Koishii-Yume stood up and studied her bones.
"She was a..." Koishii-Yume looked like she was about to laugh.
"What's so funny about her bones," Shippou asked, having witnessed all of this.
"Uragirimono was a..." Koishii-Yume began to laugh.
"A what!"
"She was a bunny youkai!" Koishii-Yume rolled on the ground laughing, "That's too funny! The all and mighty, black youkai miko was a bunny youkai!"
"I knew she smelled a little funny," Inuyasha said, scratching his chin.
Koishii-Yume stopped laughing and gaped. She was speechless and afraid. She backed up a few steps from the person in front of her.
There stood a man in a white bamboo suit. Something red glowed in his hands. Koishii-Yume backed up a few more steps and stuttered, "M-my he-heart..."
"Correct, Koishii-Yume," Naraku replied. "It's come in handy... Like getting rid of your pitiful father... Or should I say you getting rid of your pitiful father?"
Koishii-Yume growled, but held back her anger. She snarled a little and said, "You were controlling me..."
"And your little friend, always putting her nose in places where they shouldn't have been. Ku, ku, ku... She died a painful death. Especially since it was her best friend."
"You were controlling me, chikuso!"
"I wasn't controlling you when you gave me your heart in exchange for your love's life... That was only 20 years before your father and your best friend died..."
"You swore!"
"I said I would bring him back, I didn't say he would stay forever. Some guy he was, right? Went after the first slut he saw, eh? Just like when he met you."
"I am not a slut!"
"Ku, ku, ku..." Naraku smirked and closed his hand over Koishii-Yume's heart, making her remember what had happened.
"Yamete!"
"Remember, Koishii-Yume? I didn't steal your heart like I stole Kagome's..."
Koishii-Yume cried over the dead body of the love of her life, Juuki. His soul was taken away by an actual soul stealer. She cried, tears falling from her eyes as Koishii-Yume stroked his cheek. A creature came from behind Koishii-Yume. She took out an arrow and spun around, aiming it at him.
"What do you want," Koishii-Yume cried out.
"You lost your love," the creature said.
"Why do you care!"
"I can bring him back..."
Koishii-Yume stopped sobbing and lowered her arrow, "Nani?"
"I can bring him back."
"Who are you?"
"I am Naraku. It's quite fortunate I came here in time. I worried about your poor heart. What strength and power is has..."
"What do you want in return for bringing Juuki back to life? My soul?"
"Oh, no, Koishii-Yume. Souls are no use to a man like me. I want your life."
"I'd be dead!"
"Your life will be in my hands, which means I will get your heart. I will chose whether you live or die."
"I can't give you my heart! I can't have my life in your hands!"
"Then, I can not bring your Juuki-kun back to life... Ja ne--"
"Matte!" Koishii-Yume bit her lip and looked from her chest to Juuki. "I'll do it..."
"Give me your heart," Naraku smirked. He reached into Koishii-Yume's chest, pulling out a red ball. Koishii-Yume still felt her heart beat, but it was in Naraku's hand. "Juuki will gain conscious in a few minutes." Naraku disappeared with Koishii-Yume's heart.
After a few minutes, Juuki groaned and sat up slowly. Koishii-Yume hugged him tightly and cried on his shoulder, "Juuki-kun, you're alive! Arigatou Inochi-Kami!"
"What happened," he groaned.
"There was a soul stealer... I'm just glad you're alive!"
"Aishiteru, Koishii..."
"Wo ai ni, Juuki-kun!" Koishii-Yume kissed him.
Naraku smirked, "Ku, ku, ku, a week later he found that human..."
Koishii-Yume cried and collapsed to the ground, "Ursai!"
"Forty years you mourned over his death. And then seven years later, whom do you find? Sesshoumaru..."
"Ursai!"
"Oh, dear, dear Koishii-Yume. What am I to do with you?" Naraku looked down at her heart and he approached her.
Koishii-Yume was stuck to the spot out of fear. Sesshoumaru tried to attack him, but Naraku somehow held him back. Naraku was a 16 centimeters (six-inches/1/2 ft.) away from Koishii-Yume. She tried to say something, but her voice wasn't working.
Naraku smirked and pushed her heart back into her chest. Koishii-Yume gaped, watching him lunging into the air and disappear, saying: "I have no more use for a weak heart. Until we meet again..."
Koishii-Yume grumbled, "Weak heart my ass..." She looked at everyone who stood there, looking at Koishii-Yume.
They were surprised at what she did, what she felt; the anger and pain trapped inside seemed like torment beyond all reason. Koishii-Yume looked down and muttered, "If you guys don't want to be around me anymore, that's okay. You know, it's not like I have monophobia or anything..."
Sesshoumaru approached her and hugged her, "You were being controlled, it's OK. Besides, we don't have to worry, you have your heart back and you made a mistake..."
Koishii-Yume blinked in confusion, "Yo-you're not mad?"
"Iie, I'm just seeing what a jackass I've been."
"Keh, he finally admits it," Inuyasha muttered.
"That's cold, Inuyasha," Sango scowled.
"Big deal..."
Kagome blinked at everyone. She was so confused. Koishii-Yume hugged him back and backed away a little to kiss him. Sesshoumaru kissed Koishii-Yume back with true, honest, undeniable passion. "I love you," Koishii-Yume whispered.
"I love you, too," Sesshoumaru replied, kissing her again.
Kagome sighed and looked up at Inuyasha who was still holding her. What does that phrase mean? What's love? I still don't know... I'm so confused. I don't know so many things... but I want to. I want to know what love is. It looks so wonderful, but painful. How do you love someone-- Kagome's thoughts were interrupted by something jolting into her chest. Kagome winced and opened her eyes. They were the shards that Uragirimono carried, but they were just... called?
"Nani," Inuyasha said, seeing Kagome wince.
"Shards of my heart," Kagome sighed. She began to cry, what was she feeling? She remembered what Inuyasha said once... "Tears. You cry when you're sad... When you cry, tears come from your eyes. I cry for you, Kagome." Kagome nodded her head and understood. She felt sad because... of Koishii-Yume's pain and suffering.
Inuyasha looked down at Kagome, seeing her cry. He wiped her tears away, "What's wrong?"
"I know what sadness is," Kagome cried. "I remember what you said yesterday... 'Tears. You cry when you're sad... When you cry, tears come from your eyes. I cry for you, Kagome.' That's what you said, isn't it?"
"Hai..."
"I see why... Yo-you were sad because I love my heart and I couldn't remember anything. You also cried because I didn't know what love was."
"Why are you crying now?"
"Because of how much Koishii has suffered. Didn't you hear the things she was forced to do? If I was forced to kill Sango, I don't know what'd I do."
"Just don't do it anytime soon," Sango said, "got it, Kagome?"
"I wouldn't dare," Kagome half-smiled at Sango.
"We're best friends and we are all going to get those shards back for you. No matter what it takes, we will. I want my best friend back. I want her to remember all the times we had together."
"I'll remember eventually, Sango. I promise."
Sango hugged Kagome while Kagome was still in Inuyasha's arms. Inuyasha set her down and the two hugged each other. Inuyasha blinked and tilted over to Miroku, "I do not get this. Kagome can cry for one minute and be a little happier the next. It's creepy."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's called mood swings. You tend to get them a lot when you're pissed off and then Kagome comes. It's freaky. You're all angry and then you get happy or horny."
Inuyasha hit Miroku on top of the head, leaving three bumps on top of his head, "Hentai."
"You're starting to sound like Sango..."
Inuyasha hit him again, making a total of six bumps on top of his head. "I am not!"
"Gomen..." Miroku muttered. He rubbed his head and groaned. "You're too violent."
"Keh, who cares?"
Kagome and Sango released their hug and looked over at Sesshoumaru and Koishii-Yume. They held each other close and Sango sighed; "It's so romantic..."
"I'm so confused," Kagome said.
"It's love, Kagome."
"I don't know what love is, no matter how much people tell me that this certain thing is love, I don't know what it is. I just don't see it or get it..."
"You will eventually, Kagome. Eventually."
Koishii-Yume and Sesshoumaru walked over to the others. Shippou leaped on Koishii-Yume's shoulder. "You're all better now," Shippou asked.
"Hai," Koishii-Yume smiled, "much better."
"That's good." Shippou sighed and exclaimed, "Let's go everyone! We've got shards to find!"
"Ah, yes, our new leader, Shippou-chan!"
"I don't want to be the leader!"
"I was joking."
"Oh," Shippou sat down on Koishii-Yume's shoulder, trying to look smart; "I knew that."
"Sure, you did," Koishii-Yume giggled.
Everyone traveled down the path and Kagome paused, they were about to leave, but Kagome stood there, staring at the area they were just in. She had found out so much just now. In so little time, she found out the pain and torture Koishii-Yume had been suffering for eighty years. An almost eternal life doesn't seem as great as it use to now... Koishii-Yume would have to live with the mistakes she made and the pain forever until she finally died.
How could anyone stand that? Maybe it was this love thing Kagome didn't know of. If it's love, then that means it must be something special, right? If Koishii-Yume can be happy and still live with all of the pain she's been through, then that means love does a lot for a person... whether it be pain or happiness. Is that what Inuyasha feels? Is he happy now because of me? Di-did I do that for him?
A/N: Monophobia is the fear of being alone. Yes, it is an actual phobia.
