Under the Pale Autumn Moon

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Kikyo watched Inuyasha fidget, if she were Kagome she would have giggled, but this woman's icy interior prevented from her doing such a thing.

Kikyo watched the man with her poker face and made no move. But deep within her, Kagome's heart was melting and flipping and flopping and turning and crunching and doing the polka with her stomach. If she'd been Kagome, she would be blushing a bright cherry red.

Since when did a man make her feel this way? And Inuyasha for that matter? Sure, Kouga had been nice, sure she'd wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, but he'd never done this to her heart.

Inuyasha tensed up. He could feel Kikyo drawing closer to him but he couldn't figure out why. Kikyo was a nice woman, a little cold, but it was nice to talk to someone from outside the manor.

He turned his head slightly to see in fact Kikyo was drawing closer. 'Oh shit, she's going to kiss me isn't she, isn't she? Damn it! I like her, but not that way, think fast inu!'

Inuyasha's mind was screaming at him to do something. Warning bells were ringing in his head, telling him to bolt. But he wasn't that kind of man, he didn't let his fears get in the way of his dignity! He gulped slightly as Kikyo began to move in slow motion.

He contemplated whether he should bolt or maybe he should just punch her and say it was an accident. No, that wouldn't work. He was raised to never hit girls, damn it! How he wished he were raised differently at that time. Maybe if he pretended to yawn and then just so happened to break her nose? Nah, that wouldn't work. Slapping himself mentally he cursed himself for not having any brain cells at this time.

'DAMN IT!' Inuyasha screamed over and over again. He whipped some hair out of his face, and he was suddenly dawned with an idea.

Kikyo was just about to touch her soft and rosy lips to Inuyasha's when it instead settled on his hand. Blinking open her eyes she stared at the hand and then into Inuyasha's violet eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said so softly Kikyo had to lean in to hear him properly.

Kikyo pulled back slightly hurt, "...I...?"

Inuyasha averted his eyes and instead looked at the blood red roses on his left, "There's someone else."

Kikyo's eyes grew wide and before she could stop herself she slapped Inuyasha. Hard. Turning from him she high-tailed it and fled, into the forest and into a small clearing where she cried until Kagome began to seep through the cold skin of Kikyo and gradually became the floating ball of delight.

But she didn't seem as bubbly as before.

Inuyasha wandered the halls of the huge house noiselessly and yet he felt that every little squeak sounded like a huge blow horn screeching at max volume over a large speakerphone. Ever little sound hurt his ears. Every thing hurt inside, not because of not kissing Kikyo. But making her cry. He felt horrible, to put it lightly.

He hadn't meant to make Kikyo run off crying like that! Damn it, he barely knew the woman and she was throwing herself onto him like a slut! He knew she wasn't a slut. She didn't seem like that kind of girl, damn it, so why did he feel so lousy all of a sudden?

Frowning in irritation he walked into his room, hoping to see Kagome in floating that always cheered him up, but instead, he saw the poor floating girl slumped against the coffee table sadly as if she'd lived through the great depression. He wondered briefly if she'd ever been to America.

The girl looked up when he came in and her eyes were pained and filled with angst and torment. Like she'd seen hell and lived to tell about it. Forgetting about Kikyo he flung himself over to her and looked at the side of her head. Having turned away much like Kikyo had. Was he cursed to have all these woman turn away from him?

"Kagome?" he asked softly, sweeping some of her loose ebony bangs out of her delicate face, "Kagome what's the matter?"

Kagome shook her head and looked away; smiling a heart wrenching, sickeningly sad smile she only looked at him longingly, "Inuyasha."

"Kagome?" he asked again reaching out to touch her but she floated down beneath the floor and out of his sight, "...Kagome?"

He looked at the spot she'd been sitting only moments before and he wondered sadly what had happened to have her look so awful.

Kagome floated through floor to ceiling to floor and ceiling again until she was in the basement, the only place she knew she could be alone. It wasn't fair.

Here she was...

Groveling over a man she couldn't even have. Here she was! After Kouga she had promised herself she wouldn't fall in love with anyone ever again! Yet, Inuyasha...came, and he was so lonely. Plus stole he stole her room. And they'd made a harmless and innocent friendship, yet here she was yearning more from the silver/black haired hanyou.

She sniffed and looked at the ceiling, "How can reality be this cruel?"

She couldn't have Inuyasha. She couldn't have him unless she was human. And she didn't want Inuyasha to love Kikyo. She wanted him to love her. Kagome. Ka. Go. Me.

She sniffed and wiped the remainder of the tears away and stood up bravely, "I will not cry for him!"

Floating through the ceiling to floor to ceiling to floor to ceiling to roof, she sat on the roof, making sure to dodge Inuyasha's room.

"Nice view."

Kagome jumped and whirled around to see Naraku sitting in his classic baboon pelt and sitting atop one of the chimneys.

"What are you doing here?"

"Didn't I tell you? I live on this roof."

Kagome raised an eyebrow from her red, tear-stained eyes, "Really now?"

"Well, ok, I come here when I want," he replied icily, "How's the human body been treating you?"

"Like hell."

"You don't know what hell's like, sweetie."

"I don't understand why I have to be Kikyo."

"And what's so bad about that?"

"I don't want to be her." Naraku stiffened slightly but soon regained his composer. Going unnoticed to Kagome.

"Now that isn't nice, love."

"Don't call me that."

"I can call you whatever I want."

"You don't own me."

And to Kagome's horror, Naraku laughed. An evil, icy, blood-run-cold kind of laugh.

Kagome paled as Naraku stood and grabbed Kagome by the hair, "Don't mock me Kago-Chan, I control your Kikyo form."

Kagome's eyes widened.

"And when your human body tires, you will be completely mine!" Naraku chuckled to himself, "enjoy your freedom while it lasts."

And then he was gone.

Kagome stared in horror at where Naraku had been an hour ago. One hour. One hour of sitting and staring. One hour of her freedom going down the drain, one hour of her precious life being wasted.

And yet, she still couldn't believe it.

Tears had long ago dried up and there was noting more for her swollen eyes to let loose. Her life...sucked, to put it in a nice way. She'd sold her soul to Naraku without realizing it, she embarrassed the shit out of herself in Kikyo's form, and she couldn't face Inuyasha as Kagome because it was painful to know she couldn't love him back.

Kagome stared sourly around the landscape. If only she could die, then she could put herself out of her misery. Then she could be happy. Or would she? She felt a pang run through her heart.

Sniffing she snuck through the ceiling and into the kitchen, searching around for Miroku. The dumb ass was so dense he never noticed when Kagome would steal the food, if he had, he would have noticed floating food.

That's why she liked him as the cook.

Floating around the room she finally located some food. The corner of her eyes caught Sango and Miroku making out. Kagome did a double take. 'Sango and Miroku making out?' In all her years in this manor, the two hadn't seemed like the type to go together. Go figure.

Kagome felt another pang in her heart as she turned away and tried to erase her mind of them kissing. The one thing she longed to do with Inuyasha. Slapping herself mentally about thinking such things she stole an apple and floated through the ceiling before the salvia-swapping duo noticed a hovering fruit.

As soon as she realized where she was it was too late to run away, because Inuyasha pounced on her and looked at her with pleading eyes, "Don't run away from me, please."