Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any characters in this fic.

Chapter 11 –Choice

It must have been a trick of the Shikon, Inuyasha told himself. Yet she was there, solid, unchanged..

Alive..

How many times had he dreamed of her, in her own blood, like the morning she was found? Fingernails dug into the palm his hand and instantly, he felt the result of stinging pain. "Kikyou?" Inuyasha murmured her name with uncertainty, as if needing the confirmation that he was not in a dream.

"You came for me, Inuyasha", Kikyou replied, her voice filled with a cool certainty and a new seductiveness that he did not recognize. "I knew you would, eventually.." she smiled and gave a dramatic sigh. "You sure kept me waiting.. But I knew that you would come and release me.. all along"

All along? Inuyasha wondered, "what do you mean?" Golden eyes searched Kikyou's black ones for an answer. He wanted to know.. about everything..

*~*~*~*

Kikyou narrowed her eyes slightly, not enough for him to notice, then broadened her smile. "Don't be silly," she purred. "I didn't really die that day, I just.. had to leave for a while.. but I have been beside you all along, watching you, waiting for the day that you will come for me."

There was no changed to Inuyasha's expression of pure confusion. Kikyou felt her anger began to rise, she had no time to explain her action to this simple fool! Couldn't he see that she didn't want to stay in the jewel for another second? With another sigh, Kikyou wove her way through columns of candles toward Inuyasha. She draped her arms around him as she ceased her steps and, seeing no reaction from him, she pulled him to her and brushed her lips against his.

Yet the effect was not as she had expected, instead of returning the kiss with affection, Inuyasha had pulled back with a startled gasp. She gazed at him, furious and disgusted, yet managing to display a hurt look on her face. "What's wrong?" Kikyou whispered, eyes wide with innocence, "We used to do that all the time.. " tears began to form in her eyes, even though she had been shut off from the outside world, her skills of acting had not dulled. "Don't you.. love me anymore..?"

"I.."

*~*~*~*

"I.." Inuyasha pushed her away and stepped back, even as he did this, he was slightly puzzled by his own action. Doesn't he love her anymore? The trained obedience in him immediately responded with a yes, yet his mind could not help but to ponder.. Gazing into the face of the girl he once gave everything for, he saw the tears glittering in her eyes, tears that beckoned him to reach out and comfort her as he had once done.. yet

Yet.. he found himself reluctant to do so.. Doesn't he love her anymore?

Kikyou was the only girl who had dominated his heart, she would always be and he could never stop loving her.

Unless..

Unless..

.. but that was impossible..

She was simply a substitute for Kikyou..

But why had he reacted with so much anger when Sesshoumaru pointed this out..?

He looked past Kikyou towards the figure which his attention had been driven away from.. the girl he had came for..

*~*~*~*

Kagome watched in silence, fought the gasp that had almost escaped her lungs as she watched Kikyou enclose on him and shut her eyes to avoid seeing the kiss. It had been foolish of her to believe that she had been the one that he had came for.. It was foolish to believe that he even cared about her in the first place.. She was simply a mistake..

A mistake that could not be reversed..

She saw his golden turn toward her. The same golden eyes that had gazed at her that night with so much pain, the same golden eyes that had wept with regret..

Had it been mere pity that had first directed her toward him? Was the simple curiosity that made her accept him? Or was it..

Something else..?

Perhaps something that she had neither expected nor experience before.. A strange warmth tingling through her body every time their eyes met.. a feeling that couldn't seem to go away.. even as she believed that he would not return it.

*~*~*~*

That girl! She followed his eyes, towards her. Inuyasha couldn't.. he couldn't have had any feelings towards her! Kikyou argued, he loved me and only me!

She reached out and grasped his hand with her slender hand, he shuddered and turned back to her. "Come," she beckoned with a faint tug. "Lets go.. Inuyasha.., take me out now."

He resisted.

"Inuyasha!" She cried, loosing the last of her patience. "Take me out! You are the only one who could." she gave him a cold look, daring him to refuse. Whilst she could live for eternity inside the jewel, she was unable to exit it without the guidance from one who the jewel had been passed down to. It was the only flaw in her perfect plan.. a plan made to fill Inuyasha with pain, it would have stayed perfect too.. until she wanted to exit..

"What would happen to her if I took you out?" She heard him say suddenly and saw that his eyes had been fixed once more, on that girl. The truth had inevitably stood before Kikyou then, the look Inuyasha gave, the gaze the girl had returned.

She hated the both of them

"She would take my place," Kikyou murmured acidly. "And stay trapped in the Shikon no Tama for.."

".. .. ..eternity."

*~*~*~*

Eternity.. a mere word, yet it had symbolized a endless flow of time. During one point on time's ceaseless flow, he would make one choice..

To mend regrets..

To open wounds..

In a single choice..

A girl who he had cherished.. unconsciously. A girl who he had loved.. unconsciously. Not a replacement, he loved her for what she is.. her innocence, her liveliness.. every essence of her..

But what of Kikyou? The old mark, a scar that never fully healed..

What would that choice be?..

*~*~*~*

End of chapter 11 – choice

AN: Some rather.. unpleasant images in this chapter, I know most people don't enjoy it when Kikyou glue herself onto Inuyasha, but you have been warned of Kikyou manipulation.

Please review, thank you.

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