Okay don't kill me, seeing how I am in the midst of Inu/Kik territory, and it felt good to write it. (as much as I preached about hating the idea of ME writing about Kikyou, it was a refreshing change from sweet, happy Kagome~ lol But dun worry I'm still a die-hard Inu/Kag fan. They're too cute~!)
Anyway~ here is chapter 26~
Disclaimer: Do I look like Rumiko Takahashi-sensei to you?
____________________________
To Be With You Tomorrow
Part Seven :: Kagome, Inuyasha and Kikyou (part 2)
Chapter Twenty-Six :: Human Feelings
Inuyasha backed up again, sniffing the ground deeply. Yes, here, the scents were still together, still heading east. He crawled forward a little bit, where the scent cut off. His nose didn't lie. And his nose was telling him that Kikyou and Kagome had disappeared, vanished into thin air.
*What the fuck is going ON!?* he demanded mentally, *How do two women disappear in the space of two feet!?* He punched one fist into the ground and crawled off to another space, hoping to catch the elusive scent again, but he knew it was no good.
After an hour of following after them, he had almost caught up with them to this place, an empty clearing, but abruptly the two mikos' scents cut off, as if they had just ceased to exist. He had already tried several times to tell himself that maybe it was just some weird phenomenon, or perhaps the Shinidamachuu had flown away with them.
In either case... he was sure he could have found them.
He was worried of course, more than he had ever known. He wasn't sure what Kikyou would do to Kagome. He didn't think she would kill her, but she had tried before, so God only knew what she would attempt. He wondered what they were doing.
"Dammit," he said aloud, his internal struggle surfacing for only a moment before he sank back into his near-despairing abyss, hands digging into the dirt angrily. *Kagome...*
He paused suddenly, his ultra-sensitive ears catching the sound of faint crackling. He looked up. There, inches from his nose, was a barrier. He couldn't see it, per say, but he could sense it. Carefully he reached out and poked at it, coming back with a slight yelp and a singed forefinger.
Kikyou had constructed a barrier~! No wonder he couldn't find them, she was protecting their scent from him. *Dammit! I can't just stand here and do NOTHING!*
His hand instantly was at his side and the hanyou drew Tessaiga. The blade glowed red with his intent and he lifted the barrier-cutting sword, glaring down at the invisible wall that cut him off from his love. "Kaze no Kizu~!"
He slashed down into the barrier and it split, and Inuyasha ran in without a second thought. He ran for maybe ten feet when he came across the clearing. There was a small cave nearby, a thick canopy of leaves overhead, and the night seemed ethereal and unsettling with the worm-like Shinidamachuu that flew around.
And there in the middle of the clearing, Kagome was leaned against Kikyou and Kikyou against her, their arms around one another, their eyes both closed as if asleep. Inuyasha drew back in slightly in confusion. "What..."
*Inuyasha...*
His heart skipped a beat and he caught his breath. Surely, just now, he had heard... both of them? In complete unison, Kagome and Kikyou had spoken his name.
His hand clenched at his side. *I'll wait...*
~*~
Kagome, in the vision as Kikyou, slipped her arms around Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, please.. listen to me.."
The hanyou wouldn't look at her, and she thought she could see tears in his eyes. No... it was impossible. Inuyasha didn't cry. He had never wept in front of her. She didn't think he could. She tightened her embrace, trying to knock him from his stupor to hug her back. But he didn't yield to her, which hurt her deeply. He *always* hugged her. It was just the way he was, he loved to be touched. He loved being held.
It was she who usually pulled away from him.
"What do you want, bitch?" His voice was laced with pain and venom. He was trying to hurt her. Kikyou pressed her lips together, clutching the soft red fabric in her hands to keep him from pulling away.
"Inuyasha, please, listen to me," she repeated, and Inuyasha snarled at her. "What for, so you can try to explain what you meant by that?! I've had enough of fucking deceiving humans and I've had enough of you! I don't..." He frowned, voice softening, "...I don't want to be hurt anymore."
Kikyou looked up at him, almost horrified at what she saw, and when he realized what he was doing, he shoved her off and turned away from her, rubbing his eyes angrily. "Goddamn it!"
Kikyou was shocked. *He's... crying! Have I.. Have I hurt him that deeply?* She slipped her arms around him, burying her face in his silver hair. "I'm so so sorry Inuyasha... I didn't mean to hurt you. I, the one person who should know how deep your wounds run, also wounded you. I'm sorry... Please forgive me."
After a moment, Inuyasha turned, holding her back, and he lowered his face to her hair. Kikyou hugged him tighter, her hands gripping the back of his haori. God, how she longed for this. She simply wanted to be with him. Why was that so difficult?! After they were silent for a long time, he asked softly, "Why don't you want to marry me...?"
"I want to! I never said that I didn't want to.... But I can't... It's a pathetic excuse, but... I can't marry you because... you're a demon. The jewel is already becoming darker, because I'm allowing demons to run free in this world." She looked up at him, cupping his cheek. "The world now must tolerate youkai... because I tolerate one of them."
Inuyasha was silent, and then nodded. "I guess... that makes sense." He sat down hard, bringing Kikyou with him, and she nestled herself against his chest, forcing herself not to weep uncontrollably. Their situation was so goddamned unfair. If only he were human...
Kikyou perked suddenly. If he... but it was crazy. He would never, ever agree to it. Inuyasha, more than anything, wanted power. He wanted to be respected, maybe even feared. He wanted that strength because that the name that went with it was stronger than hanyou.
But she couldn't help it. She had to ask. She had to know. Like some stupid little girl, in a voice that didn't even sound like herself, she asked, "Inuyasha, if you can become a full youkai with the jewel, wouldn't you consider.... becoming human?"
The hanyou leaned back from her sharply. "What??" Kikyou nodded. "You could become a human. If you were human, we could be together..."
Inuyasha looked incredulous. "Become human...? ......Me??"
"Yes," Kikyou replied, "You're a hanyou after all, and so you are half-human. The jewel has the power to work for either good or evil, but it has only ever been used for evil. If it were used to do something incredibly good, like turn a hanyou boy into a human, then it would be purified and probably disappear."
Inuyasha looked away, and after a minute asked softly, "Kikyou... if it disappeared, what would happen to you?"
Kikyou smiled softly and looked away. "My job is to protect the jewel. If... it didn't exist, I would become a normal woman, and be allowed to live a normal life. I would probably be able to get married and have children. I would be an everyday woman, like the girls in the village."
She looked at Inuyasha. He was silent, his face drawn and his cold yellow eyes narrowed. Suddenly he stood, making as if to dash into the forest again, and Kikyou grabbed his hand in hers. He paused as she spoke. "Think about it for a few days. I don't want you to be unhappy, Inuyasha, and if... becoming human is too much for me to ask of you, then... I won't ask again."
Inuyasha didn't respond, but gently tugged his hand from hers. "I'll come to see you in a few days." And with that he was gone.
~*~
"Oneesama, I have a message for you."
Kikyou looked up, rubbing her eyes. "Yes, Kaede??" She forced the wobble out of her voice, hating the sound of it. The little girl noticed it nonetheless and went to her. "Oneesama, are you crying??"
"No, Kaede, I'm fine..." Kikyou replied, and Kaede sighed. "It's because you haven't seen that Inu no niichan in a week! Are you sure he doesn't have another lover by now~" Kikyou lowered her eyes. "Kaede, you are a devious youngster." Kaede smiled at her. "I'll go prepare supper."
As she was leaving, Kaede turned and said with a wicked smile, "Oh, and by the way, the message is that Inuyasha is waiting for you under the oak tree by the river."
Kikyou gasped at her younger sister's words, and leapt up, running as fast as she could out towards to the clearing by the river. She reached it, out of breath, and looked up into the branches of the tree he usually waited in for her. "Inuyasha???"
"I'm down here," he replied quietly, and she peered around the tree. He was leaned against it, his eyes sad. Kikyou's bottom lip quivered but she held fast. "In..."
"Do you want to go for a ride?"
Kikyou looked confused. "What?"
Inuyasha looked directly at her. "I got a boat, and I wanted to take you for a ride, like I see some other couples do. Or do you not want to go.. with me?" Kikyou sagged a bit and nodded. "No, I'll go."
Kikyou watched him the entire time. He was a very beautiful man, in a very rugged way, and since the day they had met she had watched him. Every move he had ever made she had commit to memory. The way he glared at his enemies, the way he could be right in front of you one moment and the next in a tree pouting; the way he smiled those rare true smiles.
But today she didn't want that, she just wanted to hear his voice. She had missed him more than she had thought possible, and yet, they had finally been able to meet again, and he refused to speak.
"Inuyasha?"
"Yes?" he replied monotonously and she frowned. "Why won't you speak?"
"I was thinking," he answered simply, and Kikyou bit her lip. "Well say something to me, I missed you...! I.. needed to see you, to hear your voice, and now..."
"Alright..." Inuyasha shifted, but all she saw was a shuffle of his feet and shake of the silver mane. "I... I was thinking all this time," he began, "I spent the last week, thinking about you, thinking about what you asked me.... and thinking about me. And I realized that...you are the first person other than my mother who loved me. And, to a degree, you accepted me as I am. I know that you can't have me this way because... of who you are.. but..."
He turned his face to look at her, his eyes hidden. "I..." Inuyasha turned back, as he pulled the boat up to the dock and he got out. Kikyou followed shortly, slightly aggravated that he wasn't able to get out what he was trying to say.
As she followed him to the dock and stepped out, she tripped, and pitched forward, catching herself against Inuyasha's chest. The hanyou sucked in breath through his teeth, as if her touching him were painful. She looked up, and Inuyasha looked back down at her, his love for her more than standing out on his face, as clear as the water around them.
Then he said, "Yes."
He threw aside the oar and grabbed her, crushing her to him. "I want to be with you... I'll become human, and live with you!"
Kikyou gasped, standing against him in shock, and dropped her bow and quiver, which clattered to the wooden dock without a second thought. She pulled away and kissed him full on the mouth. He kissed her back, hard, passionate, and after a moment Kikyou pulled away, burying her face into his shoulder. "We can live together. We can~"
"We will. I don't care what happens, just as long as you and I..." he said, cutting himself off, choking on his feelings. Kikyou leaned back and brushed her hand over his cheek. "Tomorrow, at dawn, I will bring the Shikon no Tama to you, at the clearing where we met."
He nodded, and she hugged him again. "I love you, Inuyasha~!"
"I love you... Kikyou."
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: Okay, we're almost there, we're almost there~ Don't get your shorts in a wad~
The next chapter! "The Fatal End" - The encounter between Kagome and Kikyou is over! Yay! No more Inu/Kik goop!
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
~Tessen
Anyway~ here is chapter 26~
Disclaimer: Do I look like Rumiko Takahashi-sensei to you?
____________________________
To Be With You Tomorrow
Part Seven :: Kagome, Inuyasha and Kikyou (part 2)
Chapter Twenty-Six :: Human Feelings
Inuyasha backed up again, sniffing the ground deeply. Yes, here, the scents were still together, still heading east. He crawled forward a little bit, where the scent cut off. His nose didn't lie. And his nose was telling him that Kikyou and Kagome had disappeared, vanished into thin air.
*What the fuck is going ON!?* he demanded mentally, *How do two women disappear in the space of two feet!?* He punched one fist into the ground and crawled off to another space, hoping to catch the elusive scent again, but he knew it was no good.
After an hour of following after them, he had almost caught up with them to this place, an empty clearing, but abruptly the two mikos' scents cut off, as if they had just ceased to exist. He had already tried several times to tell himself that maybe it was just some weird phenomenon, or perhaps the Shinidamachuu had flown away with them.
In either case... he was sure he could have found them.
He was worried of course, more than he had ever known. He wasn't sure what Kikyou would do to Kagome. He didn't think she would kill her, but she had tried before, so God only knew what she would attempt. He wondered what they were doing.
"Dammit," he said aloud, his internal struggle surfacing for only a moment before he sank back into his near-despairing abyss, hands digging into the dirt angrily. *Kagome...*
He paused suddenly, his ultra-sensitive ears catching the sound of faint crackling. He looked up. There, inches from his nose, was a barrier. He couldn't see it, per say, but he could sense it. Carefully he reached out and poked at it, coming back with a slight yelp and a singed forefinger.
Kikyou had constructed a barrier~! No wonder he couldn't find them, she was protecting their scent from him. *Dammit! I can't just stand here and do NOTHING!*
His hand instantly was at his side and the hanyou drew Tessaiga. The blade glowed red with his intent and he lifted the barrier-cutting sword, glaring down at the invisible wall that cut him off from his love. "Kaze no Kizu~!"
He slashed down into the barrier and it split, and Inuyasha ran in without a second thought. He ran for maybe ten feet when he came across the clearing. There was a small cave nearby, a thick canopy of leaves overhead, and the night seemed ethereal and unsettling with the worm-like Shinidamachuu that flew around.
And there in the middle of the clearing, Kagome was leaned against Kikyou and Kikyou against her, their arms around one another, their eyes both closed as if asleep. Inuyasha drew back in slightly in confusion. "What..."
*Inuyasha...*
His heart skipped a beat and he caught his breath. Surely, just now, he had heard... both of them? In complete unison, Kagome and Kikyou had spoken his name.
His hand clenched at his side. *I'll wait...*
~*~
Kagome, in the vision as Kikyou, slipped her arms around Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, please.. listen to me.."
The hanyou wouldn't look at her, and she thought she could see tears in his eyes. No... it was impossible. Inuyasha didn't cry. He had never wept in front of her. She didn't think he could. She tightened her embrace, trying to knock him from his stupor to hug her back. But he didn't yield to her, which hurt her deeply. He *always* hugged her. It was just the way he was, he loved to be touched. He loved being held.
It was she who usually pulled away from him.
"What do you want, bitch?" His voice was laced with pain and venom. He was trying to hurt her. Kikyou pressed her lips together, clutching the soft red fabric in her hands to keep him from pulling away.
"Inuyasha, please, listen to me," she repeated, and Inuyasha snarled at her. "What for, so you can try to explain what you meant by that?! I've had enough of fucking deceiving humans and I've had enough of you! I don't..." He frowned, voice softening, "...I don't want to be hurt anymore."
Kikyou looked up at him, almost horrified at what she saw, and when he realized what he was doing, he shoved her off and turned away from her, rubbing his eyes angrily. "Goddamn it!"
Kikyou was shocked. *He's... crying! Have I.. Have I hurt him that deeply?* She slipped her arms around him, burying her face in his silver hair. "I'm so so sorry Inuyasha... I didn't mean to hurt you. I, the one person who should know how deep your wounds run, also wounded you. I'm sorry... Please forgive me."
After a moment, Inuyasha turned, holding her back, and he lowered his face to her hair. Kikyou hugged him tighter, her hands gripping the back of his haori. God, how she longed for this. She simply wanted to be with him. Why was that so difficult?! After they were silent for a long time, he asked softly, "Why don't you want to marry me...?"
"I want to! I never said that I didn't want to.... But I can't... It's a pathetic excuse, but... I can't marry you because... you're a demon. The jewel is already becoming darker, because I'm allowing demons to run free in this world." She looked up at him, cupping his cheek. "The world now must tolerate youkai... because I tolerate one of them."
Inuyasha was silent, and then nodded. "I guess... that makes sense." He sat down hard, bringing Kikyou with him, and she nestled herself against his chest, forcing herself not to weep uncontrollably. Their situation was so goddamned unfair. If only he were human...
Kikyou perked suddenly. If he... but it was crazy. He would never, ever agree to it. Inuyasha, more than anything, wanted power. He wanted to be respected, maybe even feared. He wanted that strength because that the name that went with it was stronger than hanyou.
But she couldn't help it. She had to ask. She had to know. Like some stupid little girl, in a voice that didn't even sound like herself, she asked, "Inuyasha, if you can become a full youkai with the jewel, wouldn't you consider.... becoming human?"
The hanyou leaned back from her sharply. "What??" Kikyou nodded. "You could become a human. If you were human, we could be together..."
Inuyasha looked incredulous. "Become human...? ......Me??"
"Yes," Kikyou replied, "You're a hanyou after all, and so you are half-human. The jewel has the power to work for either good or evil, but it has only ever been used for evil. If it were used to do something incredibly good, like turn a hanyou boy into a human, then it would be purified and probably disappear."
Inuyasha looked away, and after a minute asked softly, "Kikyou... if it disappeared, what would happen to you?"
Kikyou smiled softly and looked away. "My job is to protect the jewel. If... it didn't exist, I would become a normal woman, and be allowed to live a normal life. I would probably be able to get married and have children. I would be an everyday woman, like the girls in the village."
She looked at Inuyasha. He was silent, his face drawn and his cold yellow eyes narrowed. Suddenly he stood, making as if to dash into the forest again, and Kikyou grabbed his hand in hers. He paused as she spoke. "Think about it for a few days. I don't want you to be unhappy, Inuyasha, and if... becoming human is too much for me to ask of you, then... I won't ask again."
Inuyasha didn't respond, but gently tugged his hand from hers. "I'll come to see you in a few days." And with that he was gone.
~*~
"Oneesama, I have a message for you."
Kikyou looked up, rubbing her eyes. "Yes, Kaede??" She forced the wobble out of her voice, hating the sound of it. The little girl noticed it nonetheless and went to her. "Oneesama, are you crying??"
"No, Kaede, I'm fine..." Kikyou replied, and Kaede sighed. "It's because you haven't seen that Inu no niichan in a week! Are you sure he doesn't have another lover by now~" Kikyou lowered her eyes. "Kaede, you are a devious youngster." Kaede smiled at her. "I'll go prepare supper."
As she was leaving, Kaede turned and said with a wicked smile, "Oh, and by the way, the message is that Inuyasha is waiting for you under the oak tree by the river."
Kikyou gasped at her younger sister's words, and leapt up, running as fast as she could out towards to the clearing by the river. She reached it, out of breath, and looked up into the branches of the tree he usually waited in for her. "Inuyasha???"
"I'm down here," he replied quietly, and she peered around the tree. He was leaned against it, his eyes sad. Kikyou's bottom lip quivered but she held fast. "In..."
"Do you want to go for a ride?"
Kikyou looked confused. "What?"
Inuyasha looked directly at her. "I got a boat, and I wanted to take you for a ride, like I see some other couples do. Or do you not want to go.. with me?" Kikyou sagged a bit and nodded. "No, I'll go."
Kikyou watched him the entire time. He was a very beautiful man, in a very rugged way, and since the day they had met she had watched him. Every move he had ever made she had commit to memory. The way he glared at his enemies, the way he could be right in front of you one moment and the next in a tree pouting; the way he smiled those rare true smiles.
But today she didn't want that, she just wanted to hear his voice. She had missed him more than she had thought possible, and yet, they had finally been able to meet again, and he refused to speak.
"Inuyasha?"
"Yes?" he replied monotonously and she frowned. "Why won't you speak?"
"I was thinking," he answered simply, and Kikyou bit her lip. "Well say something to me, I missed you...! I.. needed to see you, to hear your voice, and now..."
"Alright..." Inuyasha shifted, but all she saw was a shuffle of his feet and shake of the silver mane. "I... I was thinking all this time," he began, "I spent the last week, thinking about you, thinking about what you asked me.... and thinking about me. And I realized that...you are the first person other than my mother who loved me. And, to a degree, you accepted me as I am. I know that you can't have me this way because... of who you are.. but..."
He turned his face to look at her, his eyes hidden. "I..." Inuyasha turned back, as he pulled the boat up to the dock and he got out. Kikyou followed shortly, slightly aggravated that he wasn't able to get out what he was trying to say.
As she followed him to the dock and stepped out, she tripped, and pitched forward, catching herself against Inuyasha's chest. The hanyou sucked in breath through his teeth, as if her touching him were painful. She looked up, and Inuyasha looked back down at her, his love for her more than standing out on his face, as clear as the water around them.
Then he said, "Yes."
He threw aside the oar and grabbed her, crushing her to him. "I want to be with you... I'll become human, and live with you!"
Kikyou gasped, standing against him in shock, and dropped her bow and quiver, which clattered to the wooden dock without a second thought. She pulled away and kissed him full on the mouth. He kissed her back, hard, passionate, and after a moment Kikyou pulled away, burying her face into his shoulder. "We can live together. We can~"
"We will. I don't care what happens, just as long as you and I..." he said, cutting himself off, choking on his feelings. Kikyou leaned back and brushed her hand over his cheek. "Tomorrow, at dawn, I will bring the Shikon no Tama to you, at the clearing where we met."
He nodded, and she hugged him again. "I love you, Inuyasha~!"
"I love you... Kikyou."
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: Okay, we're almost there, we're almost there~ Don't get your shorts in a wad~
The next chapter! "The Fatal End" - The encounter between Kagome and Kikyou is over! Yay! No more Inu/Kik goop!
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
~Tessen