Alright...-cracks knuckles- Time to finish this thing! So I can move onto the other 3 little plot bunnies that came bounding into my head around 3 am last night. -sigh- Doing a math final on 3 hours of sleep...Fun, ne? XD

Disclaimer: No, I -STILL- don't own Inuyasha. I'm working on it, I swear!

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Chapter 6: Summer Breezes

Kagome struggled against Kikyo's hold, her eyes wide in shock and fear. She had seen what this girl was capable of, and she was obviously out of her mind with jealousy.
She nearly screamed a moment later, would have, if Kikyo hadn't had such a tight hand clamped over her mouth, when a small clump of hair was pulled from her head, then thrown onto the bed. A message to Inuyasha, She guessed, but Kikyo gave her no time to deliberate, tightening her hold on her replacement, and slipping into the night.

- - -

A roar could be heard emanating from Inuyasha's room several hours later as he woke to find Kagome missing, her hair the only part left of her. He picked it up, holding the silky strands next to his nose and sniffing them, inhaling Kagome's familiar scent. This reeks of Kikyo too, he thought, his eyes flashing with anger. As if Kagome hadn't been through enough in her life already, she now had to deal with his psychotic ex girlfriend? He sighed, lowering his nose to the floor and following the trail of scent left by Kikyo.

- - -

Several hours later, he finally came to a small, almost obscurely hidden cave in the nearby mountains. He poked his head in gingerly, knowing even better than Kagome exactly what this girl was capable of when she was pissed. And she was definitely pissed.
"Ah, Inuyasha," Kikyo's deceptively smooth and calm voice said. "I was beginning to wonder if you would come for her at all."
The minimal amount of caution he had to begin with was swept away by anger, blinding him to the danger. He stormed inside, to see Kagome tied helplessly to a chair, her hair falling in her wide begging eyes. Begging him for help he was not sure he could provide, with Kikyo standing over her, holding a long, wickedly sharp blade.
"Kikyo," he said slowly, circling the pair. Though he had never been known for his tact, he was intelligent enough to realize that if he didn't handle this situation delicately, Kagome's life could be the cost.
"Yes, my koibito?" She purred.
He winced inwardly at her referring to him as her lover, but did his best not to let it show. For now he would do best to play along with the charade she seemed to have built for herself.
"Put down the knife," he said soothingly.
She laughed, a cruel sound empty of mirth, a sound that held only death. It was as if she had become a completely different person. He had known that she was an extremely jealous and possessive person, of course, but to take it to this level? It was as if part of her had died, the part he had once thought he loved. The sparkle was gone from her eyes, now containing only the dark, dull sheen of despair.
"Do you really think me that stupid?" She said, the scorn evident in her voice. "Come now, Inuyasha, you know me better than that. Better than this." She spat on Kagome, who shot a glare her way but could do no more with her hands tied behind her back and her legs anchored firmly to the legs of the chair.
Inuyasha's ears began to twitch in irritation at this, but he could not let Kikyo see his displeasure. He had to trick her into thinking that he was on her side. He only hoped Kagome would understand that the opposite was true.
"You're right, Kikyo," he said softly. Kagome's head snapped up at his words, staring into his eyes, chocolate brown betrayal searing through him. Kagome, he thought, I want more than anything to tell you that it's a trick...But for now, I must keep going with this, for your sake.
 "I do know you better. And you are the only one I want to know. Please, forgive me," he said through gritted teeth. Apologizing to anyone was definitely out of character for him. "I see now how wrong I was." He felt as if he would explode with the effort of keeping this up, when the only thing he wanted to do was get the insane bitch out of there and tell Kagome that he had been deceiving Kikyo to save her life.
Kagome just looked away, the hurt and resignation clear in her eyes. I should have known that this would happen, she thought. Things are just not meant to work out for me. She had thought Inuyasha was different, though, the one person who would never do this to her. Shows what a great judge of character I am.
 Kikyo seemed to hover on the edge of dropping the knife, but her eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you," she said, her voice practically dripping acid. "I've seen the way you look at her. You've never looked at me that way, not ever. Not even before she came. You never loved me, did you, Inuyasha?" The look in her eyes was almost plaintive, begging him to tell her she was wrong. She had herself so deluded that she was almost certain he would.
He paused. What could he say? He could not tell Kikyo he loved her, never. It's for Kagome, he reminded himself. But it would nearly kill her to hear those words pour from his mouth, it would nearly kill him just to say them.
Kikyo, tiring of his indecision, raised the knife. "It's now or never, Inuyasha!" She cried. "Me or the look-a-like bitch, make your choice now or I will make it for you!"
He hesitated for a split second, then leaped towards Kikyo to stop her. Time seemed to slow as he moved through the air, his eyes going wide as he realized he would be seconds too late. Time zoomed back to normal speed, he was close, so close...Just a few more inches and he would have her...
Kikyo crashed to the floor, Inuyasha on top of her, their movements causing the chair Kagome was tied to to fall over, breaking into a hundred shards of broken wood. He looked down at Kikyo, his heart stopping dead in his chest as he lifted both her hands, empty.
His heart resumed it's beating, pounding so hard in his chest he thought it would burst through his flesh, he slowly turned, his eyes falling on Kagome, slumped forward on the ground. He gathered her into his arms, tears spilling from his eyes as her blood stained his silver hair crimson. The knife handle stuck straight up from her chest, plunged in so far by Kikyo's desperate stab that it nearly came out the other side.
The world seemed to be coming to an end as he held her, rocking slowly back and forth, crying, as she bled to death in his arms. He paid no mind as Kikyo slipped out of the cave, her jealousy sated. Nothing existed to him anymore but Kagome. Himself, and Kagome, and the blood, so much blood. Everywhere. A person can't possibly hold that much blood, he thought dully, his mind unable to focus on anything. Everything was fading...Fading....So slowly, fading to nothingness...As his world was now...Nothingness.

- - -

Inuyasha stood a short distance away from Kagome's family as they huddled around the grave, the coffin being slowly lowered as they watched, every one in attendance crying but Inuyasha. He had cried all the tears he had to cry already, now everything was simply numb. Pleasantly numb, really. It had been such a relief when the pain, cutting into him like a thousand shards of his formerly happy life, had faded to a dull ache. He thought of nothing anymore. Everything was dark...
Slowly lowering himself down against a tree, he absently picked a dandelion, blowing softly on it, scattering the seeds to the wind. Summer's coming, he thought. I wish you were here to see it.

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Hm...Wonder what kind of reviews I'm going to get about THAT? O.o This should be interesting XD Sorry, I know it's kind of tragic...-sniffle- But it's kind of what makes it good, ne? Heh...I promise my next fic will have a happier ending! Hm...Bright Lights maybe...-spaces out- We'll see! :P

-Kris appears out of nowhere-

Kita:O.o Uhh, hi? How'd you like the fic? :P

Kris: Hn. Not yaoi.

Kita: -grumble- I'm WORKING on it...Besides, one of the girls died! Helps, ne?

Kris: Hm...-uses tornado and funnel to suck Kikyo into a bottle, slaps a label reading "Bottled ex-girlfriend" on it- There. Now I like the fic.

Kita: O.o Eep. -runs off to work on yaoi before he bottles her too-