Hey, everybody!! Sorry it has been so long since my last update, I really
don't mean to take so long with them. I'm just ridiculously stupid when it
comes to this stuff. Also I have this nasty habit of getting really into
things and then forgetting about them. Like I have this new idea for a fic
that again, involves Kumiko, but this time, instead of being Kagome's
reincarnation and all that, she's actually a 'god' from Egypt looking for
jewel shards for herself. Get it? Egypt? Egyptian gods have animalistic
body parts? Fangs, claws & ears? Never mind. Anyways, here ya go, next
chapter, FINALLY!!!!
Enjoy!!
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Chapter 7: The Bitch Is Back

"Shini-dama-chuu..." Kumiko whispered, watching the serpentine demon fly
gracefully to the east. Her mother had told her stories when she was
small, legends about how the Shini-dama-chuu would steal the souls of
recently deceased women and take them to an evil witch, who consumed them
to lengthen her own life. However, they should have posed no threat to
her, since she was in no way recently deceased. Still, fear crept deep
into her heart, stinging like a wasp. She took off running for Kaede's
village, silently hoping that she did not run into the witch controlling
the soul-stealing demons.
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"Kumiko-chan!" exclaimed the old woman Kaede, as the young hanyou girl
crashed into the small hut, sliding to a stop on the rough wood floor.
"Why are ye running, young one? Have ye seen a demon?" she asked, as the
young girl started sniffing the air and whimpering.
"Shini-dama-chuu," said Kumiko, pointing at the door. "In the forest. I
don't know why they frighten me so, but they do. Okaa-san used to tell me
stories..." she trailed off as she realized that Inu Yasha was not laughing
at her and teasing her. 'Odd, he's almost always here. And after I
laughed at him and all,' she thought. 'Oh, Kami, the Shini-dama-chuu!'
"Kaede, where is Inu Yasha?" she asked, desperately. For some reason, she
was terrified by the thought that he may be anywhere near the creatures.
"I do not know, child. He did not return from your venture into the forest
this morning. Why?" asked the old woman, tilting her head a bit.
"But, the Shini-dama-chuu! He shouldn't be out there with them running
around!" Kumiko yelled, and ran out of the hut, full speed.
"Odd girl," stated Kaede, as she went back about her business, worrying
more now for the girl's mental health than anything else.
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"Strange," said Inu Yasha to himself. "I haven't seen the Shini-dama-chuu
around here since Kikyou died." He followed the serpentine creature
slowly, wondering, if Kikyou was not around to control them anymore, who
was controlling them. Then he saw. 'No, it can't possibly be,' he
thought.
But there she was, as sure as the sunset in the evening. The slender girl
of 17, dressed in a red hakama and white haori, with black hair pulled back
behind her neck. But though he saw her plain as day, he could look right
through her, as if she were made of fine glass.
"Kikyou," he said, blankly. She looked at him, as thought surprised to see
him, and then smiled. She floated softly towards him, never taking a step.
"Inu Yasha, are you ready now to come to hell with me?" she asked. Inu
Yasha blanked at the question. 'Hell?' he thought. 'All these years and
her spirit still wanders and waits for me to agree.'
"No, Kikyou, I'm sorry. I cannot go to hell with you. But how are you
still here? Your spirit, your soul is in Kumiko now. How are you here?"
he asked, confused by the dead miko's presence. But before she could
answer, a loud rustling came from the forest, behind him.
"Inu Yasha, I..." started Kumiko, before noticing the ghost of a woman
standing in the clearing. "Ka... Kagome? How?" Kumiko stuttered. "I
thought I was... Inu Yasha, what's going on?"
"Kumiko, stay back. I'm not really sure what's going on. But I intend to
find out. Kikyou, how are you here?"
"Inu Yasha, do you not remember that I still held a small portion of my
replacement's soul when I was destroyed by Naraku? In this form, I am that
small bit of her soul. This is how I have hung on, waiting for you to
fulfill your promise to me. And now, we shall sink into hell, and I will
rest in peace, Inu Yasha."
"Like hell," came a growl from behind him. Kumiko was growling and
snarling furiously, her eyes flashing red, blue stripes threatening to come
down her cheeks. "I won't let you take him."
"Kumiko, please," said Inu Yasha, making his way over to the now enraged
female. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, I promise," he whispered to
her, putting his arm around her and hugging her. The red slowly seeped
from her eyes, her claws and fang returning to a normal length, the stripes
removing themselves from her high cheekbones.
"Who the fuck is she?" yelled Kumiko, pointing at the crystal clear version
of the miko Kikyou. "And why the fuck does she want you to go to hell with
her?"
"Kumiko, I will explain later, now let me handle this." He whispered to
her.
"Inu Yasha, what is this? Another reincarnation? I suppose the girl,
Kagome, could not handle being my replacement? And why does my new
incarnation have demon blood? What a vile way for me to come back to this
plane," said Kikyou, holding her head high and looking down, as well as she
could, at the hanyou girl.
"Kikyou, please!" yelled Inu Yasha. "You were not the first body or life
that your soul inhabited and you most certainly aren't the last! Kumiko is
the newest of your SOUL'S incarnations, not yours! Just as you are not a
replacement for all those who had possession of that said soul before you,
she is not a replacement for you, and neither was Kagome. And as for me
going to hell with you, Kikyou, I cannot keep that promise. I have other,
more important things to tend to. Come on, Kumiko; let's go back to
Kaede's village."
"Very well, Inu Yasha, if that is what you wish. However, I will not rest
so easily with that answer. Rest assured that you will see me again,"
stated Kikyou, stoically. "I will have you in hell."
Kumiko looked back at the smiling ghost, feeling the cold radiate off of
her. 'So the legends are true,' she thought. 'And somehow I'm connected
to them. Great.'
"Kumiko, are you all right?" asked Inu Yasha, softly. Kumiko turned back
to look at him and was shocked at what she saw. His face was filled with
real, true concern and sorrow. She swallowed but seemed unable to answer.
The sadness in his eyes was enough to make her want to cry. "Kumiko?" he
asked again, putting his hand on her shoulders.
"Who... who was that? Kikyou?" she asked, softy, trembling a bit.
"Hai, it was Kikyou, but not the Kikyou I knew. That was her ghost, I
guess you could say. The only part of your soul that she still controls.
It's the part of the soul that hates me for causing her death," he
explained, as Kumiko listened intently.
"But you didn't cause her death, Naraku did. How can she hate you for
something someone else did?" she asked.
"Because, when Kikyou died, and when I was pinned to the God Tree, neither
of us knew that the other was innocent. It was only after Kagome awakened
me, after I tied to kill her several times until I realized her scent was
different from Kikyou's, that I found out about the bandit Onigumo's
obsession with the jewel and Naraku's plotting."
"Oh," Kumiko replied, as Inu Yasha walked a little faster in front of her.
"Inu Yasha, wait for me!" she cried out, trying to catch up to him. He
slowed a little, but did not stop. Finally, when she did catch up to him,
she reached a hand out and took his. "Are you all right, Inu Yasha?" she
asked, softly.
"Hai, I will be fine. Are you?" he replied, stopping, but keeping his eyes
straight ahead.
"Hai," she answered. "Inu Yasha?"
"What is it, Kumiko?" he asked.
"I'm sorry I laughed at you today, when Shippou hit you."
"I forgive you, Kumiko, I realize it must have looked rather comical," he
answered, squeezing her hand lightly. "Let's get back to the village,
okay?"
"Okay," she answered, as they walked quickly back to Kaede's hut.
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Ok, well, that sucked, but there ya go. Remember, review, review,
review!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and Inu Yasha isn't talking today because I stuffed him in one of those
little pokeball thingies that they use in that other show, just so he would
stop being mean to me.
Ja ne!!!!!!!!!