~*~
CHAPTER ONE:
Imposter
"Good night, Inuyasha!"
"Feh."
Yes, it was a normal night. Kagome sighed, shook her head, and continued to unroll her sleeping bag. They had retrieved another shard today, so Inuyasha should have been in a better mood. For some reason, he wasn't.
Kagome glared at her neatly unrolled sleeping bag darkly. He probably smelled Kikyo around, and was waiting for everyone to go to sleep so he could visit her. Well, she wasn't going to fall asleep! She would stay up to make sure he didn't leave. Then again... maybe it would be best if she went straight to sleep. She wouldn't want to catch them kissing again...
Oh no! Kagome wasn't going to let that happen again! She would confront him before she let that happen! Or something like that...
Kagome determinedly crawled into her warm nest, Shippo snuggling at her side.
"Good night, Kagome-chan," Sango called.
"Good night, Kagome-sama," Miroku said from the same direction.
SLAP.
"PERVERT!" Oh dearie me. Who saw that coming?
"Good night, all of you," Kagome replied, staring resolutely up at the stars. She wasn't even going to blink! Not if... it meant... yaaaaaawn ...Inuyasha leaving... to go... see... Kikyo...
She was asleep before she even realized it.
~*~
Inuyasha was in a bad mood.
They had gotten another shard today, so he should have been feeling better, but NO. He just HAD to have stepped on that really, really sharp rock while he was walking in front of the group, earlier. If he'd been in the back, he could have pulled the rock out, but NO, he was walking in the front. People walking in the front of their groups don't go pulling rocks out of their feet in plain sight!
So he had to walk. For miles. With a rock in his foot. Without limping. Or making any noises or faces. With Shippo POKING HIM IN THE HEAD WITH A STICK!
Inuyasha glared down at the irritating kitsune. He was drooling. Idiot.
The hanyou's glare softened as it shifted to Kagome. She was drooling too. Idiot.
Then Inuyasha noticed the monk watching him. He quickly put on his "feh" face. "Keh! What do you want, bouzo?"
Miroku only smiled and shook his head. "You'll have to admit it one of these days, Inuyasha. Both to her and to yourself."
"Feh!" Inuyasha turned away, frowning. He knew exactly what the monk meant, but would strangle himself before accepting it. There was Kikyo, after all...
Oh, who was he kidding? Kikyo didn't mean anything. Miroku was right. He had to admit it.
"...Sit, you baka... Leave him alone..." Kagome mumbled.
WHAM!
"BITCH!"
Kagome was still asleep. And still drooling. Idiot.
Inuyasha jumped back up into his tree, growling.
He would admit it someday. But not now.
So he settled down for a quick nap.
~*~
Kagome's dream was a happy one about happy bunnies and kittens and canaries and pink pillows and Inuyasha bopping Shippo on the head. That part wasn't so happy, so she sat him, and then he went away and she was happy again. The sun shone down into the meadow, green grass rippling and sakura blossoms dancing in the breeze. It was a picture of happiness...
Suddenly, one of the frolicking happy kittens warped and changed... What was going on? Kagome watched, horrified, as its skin peeled off to reveal the hideous beast within. Its mouth opened wide and began sucking everything inside, in a manner far too much like Miroku's kazaana for comfort.
Strangely enough, Kagome wasn't being sucked inside. Her hair blew forward, toward the black hole, tangling and whipping into her mouth. The wind rushed by, cold as ice, making her shiver beneath her thin pajamas. She could only watch as everything streamed past her.
There went the bunnies... canaries... pillows... Inuyasha---
Inuyasha!
Kagome made a frantic grab for his bare foot as he went by, but missed, her fingers just brushing against his heel. She could only watch, helpless, as he was sucked away to his certain doom. She could hear his whisper...
"Kagome..."
She sat, eyes wide in shock, fingers digging into what had once been grass, but what was now fresh gravesoil. A tear dribbled from her eye, flying into the void of the monster's gaping mouth. "He's gone..."
And of course, no one ever knows what they have until it's gone.
It was at that moment that Kagome knew what Inuyasha was to her. Maybe... just maybe... a little more than a friend.
She shook her head in the gusting wind, eyes squeezed shut, trails of liquid light streaming down her face and twinkling into the blackness, to be snuffed out for eternity. She couldn't let this happen, but what was she supposed to do? Get sucked into the hole and die with him?
That wouldn't solve anything!
But... it was worth a try, right?
Kagome stood, scrubbing tears from her face to see better, spitting her hair out of her mouth, and then jumped.
It was like falling through the well… such a familiar sensation. Then, as the hazy purple-blue light filtered around her, her memories of all that had occurred in the meadow were washed away as if they had never been.
~*~
Kagome sat on the rim of the well, waiting for Inuyasha to turn up and yell at her for being late. It was sad, really, that this was how it was. She had come early just to please him, and now she was waiting for him to yell at her.
She kicked her feet gently, knocking them against the wood next to where her yellow backpack and bow rested. It was so peaceful... the birds twittering in the forest, the clouds skidding across the blue sky...
The last thing she expected was to feel sharp claws ripping into her shoulder from behind.
Kagome's mind froze as she fell forward, landing softly on her knees only to crumple to the ground. Her eyes were wide, looking for an answer other than the one in front of her face.
There stood Inuyasha, smirking, a clawed hand raised towards her. From his fingers dripped a cold, murky red liquid. Fresh blood.
Her blood.
She drew in a long breath, eyes fixed upon the liquid death dripping from his claws. Red droplets fell slowly, as if suspended in time, splattering down to contrast sharply with the healthy green grass.
"You... you hurt me," she breathed slowly, not believing. "You really... hurt me..."
"That's right," the hanyou said. "No imposter of Kikyo is going to leave this forest alive."
The words stabbed into Kagome's heart, slicing her to pieces more efficiently than any weapon would ever be able to. Cold sweat dripped from her face, as she mouthed the words he had spoken. Imposter...?
The smirk on his face morphed into a snarl. "I know Kikyo, imposter. And you are not her."
"Kikyo? You... think that I'm... Kikyo?" Kagome choked. She dug into the dirt, twisting the grass and moss entwined in her fingers as she tried to push herself up. Her arms nearly gave up on her, the gashes in her back stretching with the effort. She thought one of them might have punctured one of her lungs--- each breath came harder than the last. She finally managed to sit up, propping herself against the smooth wood of the well as she searched for her bow and arrows with numb fingers.
Inuyasha growled. "You are not Kikyo! You will never be Kikyo!"
Kagome's fingers moved more frantically, finally finding the smooth surface of her bow. She kept her eyes locked on his, noticing one thing.
He had no pupils.
Inuyasha's golden eyes had no pupils, pointing to some sort of spell. If she searched with her aura, she could see the cloud of youki surrounding him. If she only had the strength---
Inuyasha dove, claws aimed for her throat---
She fitted the arrow to her bow and pulled it back, aiming faster than she ever had in her entire life---
Please, don't miss!
It flew, straight and true, just grazing the side of Inuyasha's head, drawing the tiniest amount of blood. In its wake was the familiar blaze of purifying power. It dissipated the cloud of youki surrounding him, also sucking away his youkai power.
In less than a second, the arrow had lodged itself in a tree, and a now human Inuyasha grunted as he tilted his path slightly to the left, pulling his hand back, slamming himself into the side of the well. If he hadn't, his hand would have ended up in her throat.
Kagome's vision blurred, blood loss finally taking its toll. She dropped her bow, not registering the frantic face before her. The last thing she heard was the cry of "KAGOME!" before everything went black.
~*~
Kagome sat straight up in her sleeping bag, heart thumping wildly in her chest. That had been the scariest dream she'd had in years. Inuyasha had nearly... nearly killed her...
Kagome shivered, but then looked up at Inuyasha. A small smile formed upon her lips.
He was drooling. Idiot.
She looked away again, wondering more about her dream. What had the spell been about? Had it shown him things he wasn't really seeing? That would explain why he called her an imposter...
The words echoed in her head.
"No imposter of Kikyo is going to leave this forest alive..."
"I know Kikyo, imposter..."
"You are not Kikyo! You will never be Kikyo!"
But wasn't that the way he really felt about her? He doesn't think there's a difference, she thought coldly. To him I'm just a replacement... an imposter...
A small tear dribbled down her face. She sniffed, wiped the tear away, then lay back down. Hopefully she wouldn't dream again...
~*~
Inuyasha bit back a yell as he abruptly woke. What a horrible dream--- he had nearly slaughtered Kagome! He quickly looked down at her.
She was sleeping fairly peacefully, a frown on her face. She was curled into a ball around Shippo, twitching every once in a while. Though it was clear she was not having a terrifying dream, he knew it was far from a peaceful slumber.
A breeze carried the trace of--- tears? Had Kagome been crying? He leaned farther over to try to see her face...
Yes. A single trail. One tear had fallen.
What had it been for? What was she crying about?
Feeling slightly uneasy, Inuyasha settled back. Something wasn't right...
~*~
Obieru smiled as he watched events unfold. Two down, three to go...
~*~
Review Responses!
elyndewen startree: Of course Obieru is evil! I made him that way. XP
Kagome44: I updated! W00T for me! ^_^
SilverTailz: *plays violin along with the piano*
Wakadori Ramen: Oh! Fluffy! I almost forgot about him! I could put him in right... here! Yes... *scribbles in notebook* Thanks, that clears up a little plot screw up I was having. He won't be main, but he's gonna do something important-ish. ^_^
FireDemond: O.O;; *scoots away*
Nicole: *sniffle* You think my OC is good? *burst into tears* I haven't been complimented in forever! WAAAAAH!! Thanks so much! *goes off to cry where people won't stare so much*
Mad-Cabbage: It IS beautimus, isn't it? *is proud*
Ayrith: *blush* You're complimenting me too? Awww... arigatou. About Kagura's fear, I didn't really think about it much. I guess it's just that she fears losing her power over the one thing she can control, ya know? Cuz she can't even control her own life, really... And by the way, I love you. You're so nice to me.
Azmidiske: Yes, you must. You should also review. ^______^
~*~
Okay then, hope you all enjoyed. Don't forget to review, I'll give you a piece of... uh... the last strawberry pocky! Yeah... Something like that. And if you don't like strawberry pocky, you get milk! And if you're lactose-intolerant then... uh... apple juice? Or something?