A/N – I probably should have mentioned this a long time ago, but this story has a tragic ending.  I find that when I write the way I want to, I don't write what people want.  Part 1 of this was written to make you, the readers, happy.  Part 2 was so that I could write something I really enjoyed writing, because though I really enjoy reviews, I don't write to get them, I write because I like to.  So please, if you find yourself upset at the ending of my story, remember – I warned you it would be tragic.  Besides, I was just informed by someone IRL that I'm supposed to be angsty because I'm a teenager.  Go figure.

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Chapter Nineteen

Becoming The Villain

The village was quiet when the hanyou arrived late in the night, the humans having long since gone to bed.  Inuyasha found himself approaching from the direction of the youkai tree he had encountered earlier; not wanting another confrontation, he steered clear of it.

Her scent tickled his nose, and he breathed heavily.  All three of them have had similar scents, he thought.  But each was slightly different and unique.

His feet took him to the house she slept in, and he drew back the curtain over the doorway.  The moonlight touched her face, and a moment later, her dark eyes opened.

"Inuyasha?" she gasped in surprise, sitting up.  She could see only his silhouette bathed in moonlight, as well as the glow of his golden eyes staring down at her.  Standing, she walked towards him.

"You…you left," she whispered, unable to look away from his eyes.  They were so foreign, so not human, but she was drawn to them as if they held a mystical power within them.

"Yeah," he replied quietly.  "I left."

"But why?"

For a moment, he said nothing.   Then, "Because I have to protect Kagome."

She was confused.  "Kagome?  Your wife?  But you told me she was dead."

"She is, in this lifetime.  But she'll be born in the future, and I have to make sure everything goes the way it's supposed to before then."

"I don't understand."

"No, you won't.  I can't explain any more than that."

"Inuyasha," she stepped closer to him, and one hand reached out to touch his face.  The hanyou froze, his flesh tingling at the touch.  He could hear her heart beating faster, and he suddenly knew what she was going to say.  "Inuyasha, I…"

"No!" he said suddenly, pulling away.  "You can't do that.  Don't say what you are going to say.  Kimiko, I can't explain anything, because it won't make sense, but please, you have to promise that you will not fall in love with me.  I won't come back after tonight, but I need to hear you promise me that."

Kimiko trembled slightly, confused and worried by his words.  "This doesn't make any sense, Inuyasha.  Why can't you stay here?  You said you would protect our village.  You said you would protect the Shikon no Tama, because it's inside of me."

"I…I can't do that." He looked away.  "I'm sorry, but I can't stay here."

"But why?"

"If I stay here, then you will love me, just like Kikyou did, just like Kagome did.  I can't let you.  I have to leave, I have to get out of here and never come back so you will forget about me."

"Inuyasha…"

"Just promise me!" he practically pleaded.  "Promise you won't love me!  I don't want to corrupt another miko!"

"I…Inuyasha, I can't promise that.  I can't just not love someone because I say I won't.  It doesn't work that way."

He growled in frustration, before turning and bolting away.  "Wait, Inuyasha!" she cried, running from the house to see his silver hair shining in the moonlight as he ran.

Inuyasha made it as far as the youkai tree before stopping, his nose telling him that someone he knew was very nearby.  Growling, he turned, looking through the trees.

"Where are you, Sesshoumaru?!" he yelled.  A moment later, his brother seemed to materialize in front of him.  "What are you doing here?" Inuyasha growled.

"I followed you," the youkai said simply.

"Well you can turn around and go right back home!  This has nothing to do with you!"

"Will you ever stop playing the fool, Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru practically shouted.  Inuyasha stepped back slightly when he realized just how angry his brother was this time.  It took a lot to get Sesshoumaru angry enough to yell, but this time, he had reached that point.

"Ok, Sesshoumaru, why don't we just go back home, and…"

"You still don't understand, Inuyasha.  The games you played in the past may not have been harmless, but they affected only you.  This is a much more dangerous game.  Everyone who was involved in the conflict with Naraku will be affected if you mess this up.  The woman who was your wife will be a completely different person with a black Shikon no Tama.  Ordinarily, this Sesshoumaru does not worry over such matters, but I was also directly involved in this conflict, and I will not have you altering my past and my life because you wish to play with another miko."

It was a long speech for a youkai who ordinarily was of little words, but Sesshoumaru meant every word.  He fought to keep his anger under control, and had never once lost his calm appearance, but there had been a waver in his voice that Inuyasha fully understood the meaning of.  Sesshoumaru was being deadly serious, and he would do whatever he felt necessary to keep the past the way it should be.

"I'm not coming back here again, aniki," Inuyasha told him.  "I only came to tell her that."

"You left her a note last time.  Was that not sufficient?"

Inuyasha closed his eyes tightly.  "I had to make sure she would forget about me."

The youkai looked towards the village.  Standing outside of her house, Kimiko stared at them.  She had stayed there, having stopped running when she realized Sesshoumaru was there as well.  She had been watching them, but had not heard a word of their conversation.  Instead she had just watched, knowing something important was conspiring but unable to find out what.

Glaring in her direction, Sesshoumaru said, "Your miko has not forgotten you, nor will she.  Your encounter with her, however brief, has already impacted her life.  Even now, she begins to love you."

"That's why I have to leave!" Inuyasha told him.  "If I go eventually she'll forget and move on!"

"How long is eventually, Inuyasha?  How long will this half-love she feels burn within her?  You have already made your way into her heart.  How long before she seeks love from another man to regain the feeling she feels for you?  Your miko's fate was sealed the moment you met her."

Inuyasha turned and glanced towards the girl who stared at them.  "Then what can I do to fix things?"

The hanyou suddenly found himself being picked up by his neck.  Gasping, he looked towards his brother, who held him firmly.

"Watch."

Sesshoumaru threw Inuyasha into the youkai tree.  He slammed into the trunk, and in a split second the branches had come to life and seized him, wrapping around his arms, legs, and waist and holding him firmly.  His eyes widened.

"No!" Inuyasha cried as his brother began to walk towards the village.  "Sesshoumaru, no!"

Kimiko gasped when she saw the youkai coming towards her, and bolted back into her house.  A moment later she emerged with her bow and an arrow cocked, which she aimed at Sesshoumaru.

"Did you not learn previously that your arrows cannot harm this Sesshoumaru?" the youkai said calmly, continuing to walk towards her.  He did not like having to do this, but he was prepared to do whatever it took.  Even if it required him becoming the villain.

Kimiko released one arrow at him, which he caught and melted with his poison.  She released a second arrow, and Sesshoumaru allowed it to strike his armor, which shattered.  Still, he walked towards her, cracking his knuckles as his hand glowed an acidic green.  All the while, Inuyasha screamed at him.

"Stop it, Sesshoumaru!  Stop!"

The hanyou struggled against the branches that held him with all of his strength, desperate to break free.  He tore, he clawed, he even bit at his wooden bonds, but he could not escape.

"Kimiko run!"

Sesshoumaru halted a few feet away from the woman, and glared down at her with his hard golden eyes.  He has Inuyasha's eyes, Kimiko found herself thinking.  But they are not the same.  In Inuyasha, I can see love, and longing, and humanity.  These eyes…

Despite herself, she cried, "Inuyasha!" and her cry tore his heart apart.  Every time Kagome had ever screamed his name was wrapped up in that cry, every time she had ever been in danger and needed him.  Her protector.

"Oh God, Sesshoumaru, stop!" Inuyasha screamed.

The youkai held up his hand.

"For the sake of our history," Sesshoumaru said, his hard gaze locked on the woman's face.  "Die."

Claws radiating in poison swung towards her, and Kimiko closed her eyes.