Hey, everyone! Finals are finally over! Thanks for reviewing, and motivating me to get on with the story. It helps. Here's chapter four, especially for you.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Inu Yasha, and I'm starting to believe I never will.

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"Kikyo!" Inuyasha tore through the branches that were in his way as her scent hit his nose in full force. He braced himself against it subconsciously. It wasn't the scent that mattered, anyway. It was her, right?

"I've been waiting for you, Inuyasha." Her voice was cold on the warm morning air. He jumped out of the tree and skidded to a stop a few feet in front of her, watching as a Soul Gatherer floated by and dropped a shimmering orb into her hands.

"Ah, much better," she sighed as she took the soul into herself. "Now I am fully replenished for the time being." She turned a cool gaze at the hanyou, who was watching her with a slight frown.

"Does it bother you, Inuyasha?" she asked. "Does it bother you that I take these souls in order to remain in this world?"

Inuyasha blinked, not expecting the question. "No, as long as you're alive," he murmured. She smiled then, and his voice caught in his throat. *Her smile…she hasn't smiled like that since she pinned me to the tree,* he thought as she drew nearer.

She was only inches away from him now, and the smile was still softening her face. "Then, you want me to live, don't you Inuyasha?"

He felt his brain turning to mush, like it usually did when he was around Kikyo. "Yes," he replied. She rested her hands on his chest, and he folded his arms around her. When she didn't respond, he pulled her closer to him until he felt her arms reach around his waist.

"Would you do anything to let me stay here?" Inuyasha felt goosebumps rise as her lips moved against his throat. "Uh…yes, Kikyo. I'd do anything."

"I want you to kill Kagome."

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"Slow down, Kouga." Kagome pulled on the wolf youkai's arm gently, and he complied. "I don't want to…interfere," she said quietly. "I just want to make sure he's okay."

"They're just up ahead." Kouga put her down and pointed in the direction they had been headed, and the miko nodded. "Yeah, I can feel Kikyo's presence from here," she said as another shudder ran through her body. "I'm going to go up ahead and see if everything's all right."

"No." Kagome looked surprised when Kouga stopped her with his outstretched hand. "I won't let you go up there alone, Kagome," he declared.

She sighed, exasperated. *This is not a good time for him to pull one of his moves,* she thought bitterly. "Kouga, I'll be okay. I know Kikyo probably senses us both. Anyway, I'm probably more immune to her power than you are, seeing as you're a demon."

Kouga wanted to argue, but his instincts had been screaming in alarm since he had started after the scent of the undead priestess. So he just crossed his arms. "Fine," he said grudgingly. "I'll be waiting right here, Kagome."

"Thanks, Kouga-kun!" Kagome began to creep forward, when Kouga grabbed her arm. His blue eyes were serious.

"If you're gone for more than five minutes, I'm coming after you."

Kagome sweatdropped and nodded. She started off again, trying hard to be quiet. Kouga watched her and smiled. She was as quiet as a cricket in the night to his youkai ears, but he admired her effort.

Kagome made her way through what seemed like endless brambles until she caught sight of a Soul-Gatherer. Her stomach flopped. *So it is Kikyo.*

She hesitated. *Can I do this again?* Past images of Kikyo and Inuyasha embracing flooded back to her, both from her nightmares and from reality. She trembled, and had to fight the urge to turn back. *I can't let her drag Inuyasha to hell,* she thought fiercely. Clenching her fists, she gathered her resolve and forced herself to look beyond the bush she was hiding in, bracing herself.

Somehow, though she had told herself to expect what she saw, Kagome couldn't help feeling like the wind had been knocked out of her.

Inuyasha was holding Kikyo. And she was hugging him back. Of course. A perfectly normal thing between two people who loved each other. As if to accentuate the intimate scene, the Soul Gatherers floated around them, casting an ethereal glow on the embracing couple.

Kagome quickly spun around on the ground, shutting her eyes as if she could erase what she had seen. *Baka, baka, baka! Why did I come? I knew what I would see, and I still had to come! Kami, what is the matter with me?*

Tears welled up in her brown eyes. Blinking to clear her vision, Kagome slowly moved away from the glade. She decided that if Kikyo tried anything, she would know no matter where she was. And she didn't want to be here anymore. If Inuyasha wanted to scream endearments to the corpse, she didn't want to be around to hear them again.

With considerably greater care than before, she slowly made her way back to where Kouga was waiting.

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Inuyasha pulled away from her. Her voice had become clipped, devoid of feeling once again.

"Kikyo…." He searched her face for the smile that had warmed it, but there was no trace of it. Of her. She saw the bewildered look on his face and laughed.

"Why do you recoil from me so, Inuyasha?" She traced his jawline with her finger and smiled again. This time, the smile made him shudder.

"You said you'd do anything to keep me alive," she continued, turning away. "You told me once that you loved me, that you cared for me. If it is true, then prove it." She whirled to face him, her eyes glinting with something akin to anger. "Kill the girl that possesses the rest of my soul! Do it and I will live again."

"No."

Kikyo's eyes narrowed. "You refuse to sacrifice that girl for my sake?"

Inuyasha looked at her pleadingly. "Kikyo, I'll do anything else you ask of me. I will go to the very depths of hell with you after I destroy Naraku, if that is what you want. But please, don't ask me to hurt Kagome."

The miko looked at him coldly. "So I see that Naraku was right," she said finally. "The love that we once believed we shared for each other was nothing more than a worthless attraction. You have replaced me so easily."

"No, Kikyo…"

"What, are you going to tell me that you have no feelings for a girl that you do not wish to harm, even if it were the only way to bring you and I together again?"

"Kagome's different…she doesn't deserve to die."

"She has my soul."

"It's her soul, Kikyo! You died fifty years ago!"

There was absolute silence as Inuyasha's words hung in the air. His golden eyes were widening with shock. "Kik…Kikyo…I…." His mind was numb as he sputtered her name.

"I see." Kikyo walked away from him. "Goodbye, Inuyasha. We shall meet again. You have made an offer that I believe I shall hold you to." Her Soul Gatherers wrapped around her, and she was lifted into the sky.

Inuyasha watched her leave, utterly confused and miserable. Just as he was about to turn away, his sensitive ears picked up a faint voice.

"I died because of you, Inuyasha. I will never forget."

The hanyou dropped to his knees, crushed under the weight of his despair.

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Yes, I know, this is a very short chapter. I just thought it would be a good place to stop. Next one shall be longer, so forgive me! Gomen!