Disclaimer: consult to the first ten chapters and consult my lawyers if you
don't believe me when I say I do not own InuYasha!!!
Author: well ::gulp:: this chapter is going to be hard to write but I hope all of you will and shall be pleased!!! And remember the contest is still up for grabs and check out my profile now for story news as well as some great links to some Harry Potter and InuYasha sites!!!
YOUR REPLIES!!!!!!
-
::puts out a grocery cart filled with various InuYasha goodies::
-
"GET THE HAG!" InuYasha yelled ahead as he ran through the waking village.
Miroku snapped his head out of his and Sango's gaze and noticed InuYasha rushing towards them, holding Kagome to him as if she were on her last life- line. He heard his best-friends yell and immediately complied; Miroku went into the hut to wake the elder and Sango ran down the path to check on Kagome and see how serious the wound was.
Miroku found the elder and saw her currently putting a pot over the fire for a meal; she casted her one good eye onto him and read the urgency on his face and could tell something was wrong
"InuYasha is coming, Kagome seems ill" he told her quickly before rushing back out to help InuYasha reach his destination.
"What happened to her?!" Kaede asked a few moments later as InuYasha laid Kagome down on a mat, giving Kaede a nice look at her neck and stomache wounds. Miroku and Sango immediately left the hut to let Kaede have some room to breathe as she tended to her patient.
"Genko's what happened" InuYasha snapped at her.
Kaede quirked an eyebrow before shuffling around for some bandages and witch hazel to clean the wounds. She asked InuYasha to turn around as she cleaned her stomache wound with the witch hazel and wrapped it quite tightly with clean strips of gauze that Kagome provided for her.
"She shall live, but I want her to rest until the wounds start healing" InuYasha nodded and turned around once Kaede was done with the stomache and went to the neck.
"Also I shall want to take a look at that gash in your arm"
"It'll heal, just take care of her" InuYasha told her, his voice deep and serious as he slowly cast his gaze downwards to Kagome's calm facial features.
Miroku and Sango entered the hut, Sango in her exterminator outfit and hiraikotsu strapped at her back; Miroku sporting the first red hand-print of the day.
"InuYasha, we noticed that Genko didn't come back with you" Sango immediately told him while shifting her hiraikotsu so Miroku wouldn't make another grab for her bottom.
"Yea" InuYasha replied never moving his gaze.
"Yes dog, didn't you say that Genko caused young Kagome's wounds?" Kaede asked as she finished applying the gauze to said Kagome's neck.
"Yea, he went berserk on us as we were coming out of the path from the well"
"What do ye mean?" Kaede turned her one good eye to look at him.
"The brat went.....like how went when I was a full demon"
"What?" Sango and Miroku asked simultaneously.
"His...his eyes changed and his fangs and claws grew longer and he seemed determined to kill Kagome"
"What could have caused such a gentle child such as young Genko to want to destroy his own seemed mother?" Kaede asked to no one in particular.
"He wasn't in danger was he?" Sango asked the Hanyou (half-demon).
"He was on my shoulders knawing my ear what do you think?!" InuYasha snapped.
The hut fell silent as everyone thought the same thing 'what happened?'
PB
Genko couldn't help but stare at the lady Kikyo. She was tall, and otherworldly it seemed, but he couldn't help but trust her, something about the way she acted towards him, it reminded him of his mother; not to mention she led him along like a lost puppy back to its owner. He had to admit though that those 'soul-catchers' at she called them gave him the chills, not to mention those orbs that they continuously seemed to feed her through her chest.
Genko shivered as one of them brushed past him, he felt the cold scales of its body brush his arm and it seemed to not chill only his arm, but his soul.
"You fear them?" Kikyo suddenly asked him.
"N-No..."
"You're like your father....trying to hide your true feelings and fail miserably" she told him, a small smile gracing her face. "But sometimes you can't help it..... Genko, tell me why and how you came upon me?"
Genko bit his bottom lip and stared at the forest floor in shame.
"I....I hurt my mama...."
"You hurt your mother?...how?"
Genko's solemn voice rang throughout the forest with his next statement "I don't know...."
"Then you must have not really hurt her?" her questioning voice rang out.
"BUT I DID! Last thing I remember was me sitting on my mama, my claws dripping with her blood and blood was on her shirt and neck and I did it!" Genko cried out. In his own frustration and shame with himself, he didn't notice that Kikyo led them right to the place where his parents met.
Kikyo led him to the roots of the Goshinboku (Sacred Tree) and sat both of them down. She gently, in a mother like fashion, pulled the young Hanyou (half-demon) into her lap.
"Hush now, it isn't your fault" she said calmly to him like she did to the many other distressed children that came to cross her path.
"But it is!!!!!"
"How can you be certain?"
"My claws were soaked in her blood!"
"Did you remember hurting her?"
Genko didn't reply and found the claws on his feet very interesting.
"You can tell me little one"
"N-No"
Kikyo smiled at him.
"I happen to know you mother.... and she will forgive you..... your father to maybe...."
"But why and when? I don't even know where they would be or where we are!"
Kikyo smiled to herself and her eyes narrowed with a touch of mystery "oh...don't worry about that...."
PB
"Miroku and I will go look for Genko, if he ran into the forest as a half- demon, then he could be in a lot of danger"
InuYasha grunted as Miroku, Sango and Kirara ran outdoors. Shippo and Kirara were curled up in a corner, Kirara woke up at the sound of Kagome being placed on the mat but Shippo slept like a rock and Kirara didn't want to move and wake him.
Shippo now was crying in Kaede's lap as she tried to calm him by patting his back.
"Shouldn't ye be going as well?" Kaede suggested to him.
InuYasha gave her a furative look but didn't reply. How could he look for Genko? How when he would smell of Kagome's blood and know that there was a monster in him that would...and could kill Kagome; but he couldn't let that happen....he wouldn't abandon his son in the forest, left to be preyed upon by monsters, but Miroku and Sango were enough of a search party and they could handle the situation well, and plus...he needed and wanted to be by Kagome's side when she woke up.
PB
"Any sign of him Kirara?" Sango asked her faithful fire cat-demon.
Kirara gave a growl and a whine before running faster thorough the air; the flames on her paws and tail getting brighter as she flew faster.
"Its seems so" Miroku commented behind Sango. He surprisingly wasn't be the usual pervert and cop a feel, but kept his hands firmly on the ends of his staff that came in front of Sango's stomache so he wouldn't fall off if Kirara gave a sharp turn.
"Cant believe that Genko went and attacked Kagome...it just doesn't seem right" Sango thought out loud.
"I wonder....if there is any kind of demonic object that could pacify his demonic side...kind of like Tetsusaiga does to InuYasha?" Miroku questioned out loud.
"We probably could ask Totosai when we find Genko but we better concentrate on finding him and the culprit that caused him to go de-MON!!!" Sango yelled as Kirara was thrown messily back and did a complete flip before righting herself.
Sango wiped her brow for a moment and pet Kirara before directing her to go forward. Kirara obeyed but was thrown back again.
"There seems to be some sort of shield..." Miroku paused as he put his clothed hand in a one-hand praying position and closed his eyes "it's a spirit shield..."
Sango looked back at Miroku and narrowed her eyes in thought "You don't possibly think that-"
"-Genko found his way to Kikyo? Most likely" Miroku sighed heavily.
"Kirara never gets wrong with scents....we should scout the edge of the barrier and see if we can find the right location then tell InuYasha....if anyone is going to get through that barrier its him, Kikyo will just let him pass or he could use Red Tetsusaiga"
Miroku nodded as the demon exterminator directed her faithful companion around the large barrier and found that they where in the area of the bone- eaters well.
PB
InuYasha pounded the earth with his quick steps; his eyes were filled with confusion, anger, and mistrust. Miroku and Sango returned about an hour or so after they went on their search for their youngest companion and found that Kikyo had him. They were hesitant to tell InuYasha the location, but they did. Kagome hadn't woken up yet and InuYasha felt like he abandoned her to go find Kikyo and his son.
'The gods aren't going to give me a break are they?!'
InuYasha slowed as he approached the area where Miroku and Sango said the barrier surrounded. His nose was ringing of the scent of Genko and the Dead; he knew the barrier must be a few feet in front of him. He reached out a hand and felt some resistance under his palm, but it quickly faded away and InuYasha took up his running again, towards his destination.
PB
'He's here'
Kikyo stood up and left Genko in the tangled roots, she waved a hand carelessly and one of her soul-collectors swiftly embraced Genko in a tight and chilling encirclement and pinned him to the Sacred Tree. The other soul- collectors crossed in front of him diagonally incase Genko miraculously destroyed the one that pinned him.
"K-Kikyo?!" Genko's frightened voice echoed as he whimpered under the soul- collectors.
"Hush, and do not fear" Kikyo commanded him harshly.
Genko immediately shut his mouth and the only thing you could hear in that clearing was his small and quiet whimpers.
Kikyo stood before Genko; her back to him, she could clearly make out the small pitters of quick feet and rustling of dead leaves.
PB
"Genko!" InuYasha yelled out as he approached his scent. He stopped suddenly and started to sniff cautiously; salt, ashes and Genko was the only scent that lingered there, there in the clearing that held memories for him.
InuYasha came to notice when he stepped out behind a tree that Kikyo seemed to have lead himself and his 'son' to a sensitive area....with unknown purpose.
He looked in and saw Genko's pinned body covering the raw area which he had once been and Kikyo standing almost right in front of him, a knowing smirk in her features and her eyes oddly sad.
"Kikyo?" his voice was a whispered echo as he stepped in the clearing.
Kikyo didn't respond but the smirk quickly faded from her features and formed into a business-like frown.
"Let him down" InuYasha asked seriously.
"Not until I talk to you" Kikyo responded coldly.
"Why are you doing this Kikyo?"
"Why am I doing what? Im not doing anything....in fact I should be asking you that".
"Just put the kid down"
"Not until you understand!"
"Until I understand WHAT?!" InuYasha was starting to become pissed; Genko was still pinned to the tree by Kikyo's shikigami and InuYasha could smell that he was afraid of them, his whimpers were ringing in his ears and driving InuYasha's instinct to protect him.....even if he did hurt Kagome.
Kikyo walked forward, her eyes in a dreamy state and her arms slightly out stretched toward her past love, she looked up at him with misty eyes and hugged him to her before a wicked smile graced her features.
InuYasha felt confused as he felt Kikyo wrap her arms around him; he awkwardly returned the embrace.
Kikyo smiled and pushed her purification powers to her hands, sending vibrant blue power from her hands into InuYasha who cried out in pain as his skin burned.
"DADDY!!!!!!" Genko yelled from her spot on the tree, he tried to get out the shikigami but they wouldn't let him escape; Genko felt his tears increase.
Kikyo stopped and pushed off him, her hands still glowing the vibrant blue aura.
InuYasha sunk to one knee and clasped a hand over his burnt upper arm. Kikyo felt an odd calm, she had to do some pain to him to keep herself from dragging him to hell at that exact moment.
"Why K-Kikyo?"
"You still love me don't you?" she asked icily.
"...."
"ANSWER ME INUYASHA!!!!"
"......I'm not sure....."
Kikyo smiled at him and approached him; she got down to his level and dug her chestnut eyes into his amber pools.
"I am dead InuYasha, I'm a piece of soul embodied in clay and seek revenge for my death, I want to drag you to hell, and I wanted to hate you! But I never did........"
"What?" InuYasha looked up at her and got to his feet; he winced when his burns where stretched.
"I never hated you InuYasha, betrayal isn't hate, and I never really loved you...."
InuYasha looked at her confused.
"You never really loved me?"
"And you never really loved me" Kikyo stated to him, her eyes going steely.
"But I-"
"InuYasha....why do you think we where easily tricked?" Kikyo interrupted the Hanyou (half-demon).
"......"
"We didn't trust each other"
"But I did!"
"Then I didn't!!"
Silence filled the clearing, even Genko, who was still struggling against the silvery dragons stopped to hear her yell.
Kikyo steeped forward and placed a hand gently on his cheek. InuYasha winced remembering the purification attempt from earlier. Kikyo quickly retreated her hand but still kept her serious gaze on him.
"We were two lonely souls that yearned for an equal, two who were shunned by society because we were burdened.....InuYasha....I loved you but I was never meant to love you in this form....."
"Kikyo...?"
"InuYasha.....I hated you when I died and my soul will never move from that spot....that is still true, and no matter how I wished it were different it cannot be changed...now that I am reincarnated it will never happen...but even so, I will remain your ally...." Kikyo smiled and backed away slowly. She waved her hand and Genko dropped to the tangled roots of the Goshinboku (sacred tree) with a 'thump' and a small moan of pain.
"Besides, I came to talk business"
InuYasha, who was still in a daze, nodded dumbly and kept a keen dog-ear to her.
"You very much know that I am the only one to kill Naraku, I will be the one to exorcise him"
InuYasha gave his head a little shake and brought his gaze to Kikyo "you very much can't do it alone" InuYasha stepped forward and Kikyo stepped back, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"yes, InuYasha, I only have one chance to bring myself to hell....after I go I can never come back, you know this now"
"What does dragging me to eternal darkness have to do with exorcising Naraku?!" InuYasha asked ferociously.
"you fool, haven't I made it clear yet that you and I will never be together like this?! My intentions are to drag Naraku AND the jewel to hell with me!"
"What?!"
Kikyo sighed heavily and let her gaze glass over in thought.
"The Jewel will only leave this earth if it is used in pure intentions, Naraku has but the one shard that you posses, when the time comes for the final battle.....Kagome will have to shoot a purification arrow at Naraku with the jewel shard embedded in the head, the shard will form with the Jewel when Naraku is weakened, it shall be purified and I shall drag the pure Jewel and Naraku to hell with me"
"How will it stay purified in hell?"
"It will be used with good intentions, destroying the life-threatening evil that is Naraku that wants to live eternally and seemingly conquer this world.... the jewel will remain purified with the fact that it is saving the lives that Naraku has yet to claim"
InuYasha nodded his head; Kikyo's tone was ultimately planned, InuYasha couldn't find another way to try and stop Kikyo when she knew that she was going to depart this world sooner or later. He needn't been told, her tone and face said it clearly.
InuYasha sighed heavily once more and stared at Kikyo with dead glazed eyes.
'InuYasha.......you are a fool to not have realized.....'
"InuYasha......you chose Kagome without you knowing" Kikyo declared to him, reading his mind.
Kikyo's shikigami encircled her waist and lifted her away, a bright white light shown and Kikyo was gone in a blink of an eye.
InuYasha stood there for a while staring at the spot where Kikyo disappeared. During that time, Genko quietly approached his father, the dried trails of tears still marred his face and he was scared of approaching his father.
InuYasha finally snapped his gaze down to his guilty feeling son and felt his own pain surface; he knew how guilty Genko was feeling at the moment for he knew after he slaughtered that ban of bandits, human bandits.
"D-Daddy?" Genko's quiet, inquisitive voice called out.
InuYasha sighed and gave Genko a serious look before crouching down on one leg and looking at the depressed boy next to him.
"You are forgiven, not just by me.......you couldn't help it.....it happened to me once..." InuYasha's tone was so fatherly it almost scared Genko. Maybe it was because he went through enlightment or for the fact he felt the same guilt with the boy but whatever it was.....it was a good sign.
'C'mon, we gotta get back to the hag's hut and make sure Kagome doesn't wake up until we get there" InuYasha smirked as she scooped up the dazed boy and settled him on his back and took off.
InuYasha couldn't help but smile.
'Thank-you.....Kikyo......'
PB
Author: ok Kikyo might seem a little OOC ( a lil' worried about that) but I tried to keep her in character and I just finished watching 'return of the tragic priestess Kikyo' and just read the NEW!!!! Vol. 18 that has the Manga version of 'Onigumo's heart still beats within Naraku' and 'back to where we first me' (fave episodes ) and Kikyo does say that she is the only one who can kill Naraku so I hope you all remember that!!! ((Hint hint wink wink)). Also please forgive me for not making my original update!!! I had one week of day camp with little girls dog piling and testing my nerves ((hits head against foam board at the thought of the memory)) and I was wiped!!! Plus on Saturday I had to go to my cuz's graduation party (lives in update NY, had no access to computer --) so please forgive my slowness but if it earns me brownie points this is the longest chapter in my fanfic!!!! . Also the last week of july I cant update, ill be in Baltimore at OTAKON 2004!!! (sooooooo looking forward to that!!!) so yea . I hope you all liked this one! It gave me some writer's block (Kikyo is one damn hard character to write not to mention an emotional InuYasha ugh!!!)
Till next week!!!
Author: well ::gulp:: this chapter is going to be hard to write but I hope all of you will and shall be pleased!!! And remember the contest is still up for grabs and check out my profile now for story news as well as some great links to some Harry Potter and InuYasha sites!!!
YOUR REPLIES!!!!!!
-
::puts out a grocery cart filled with various InuYasha goodies::
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"GET THE HAG!" InuYasha yelled ahead as he ran through the waking village.
Miroku snapped his head out of his and Sango's gaze and noticed InuYasha rushing towards them, holding Kagome to him as if she were on her last life- line. He heard his best-friends yell and immediately complied; Miroku went into the hut to wake the elder and Sango ran down the path to check on Kagome and see how serious the wound was.
Miroku found the elder and saw her currently putting a pot over the fire for a meal; she casted her one good eye onto him and read the urgency on his face and could tell something was wrong
"InuYasha is coming, Kagome seems ill" he told her quickly before rushing back out to help InuYasha reach his destination.
"What happened to her?!" Kaede asked a few moments later as InuYasha laid Kagome down on a mat, giving Kaede a nice look at her neck and stomache wounds. Miroku and Sango immediately left the hut to let Kaede have some room to breathe as she tended to her patient.
"Genko's what happened" InuYasha snapped at her.
Kaede quirked an eyebrow before shuffling around for some bandages and witch hazel to clean the wounds. She asked InuYasha to turn around as she cleaned her stomache wound with the witch hazel and wrapped it quite tightly with clean strips of gauze that Kagome provided for her.
"She shall live, but I want her to rest until the wounds start healing" InuYasha nodded and turned around once Kaede was done with the stomache and went to the neck.
"Also I shall want to take a look at that gash in your arm"
"It'll heal, just take care of her" InuYasha told her, his voice deep and serious as he slowly cast his gaze downwards to Kagome's calm facial features.
Miroku and Sango entered the hut, Sango in her exterminator outfit and hiraikotsu strapped at her back; Miroku sporting the first red hand-print of the day.
"InuYasha, we noticed that Genko didn't come back with you" Sango immediately told him while shifting her hiraikotsu so Miroku wouldn't make another grab for her bottom.
"Yea" InuYasha replied never moving his gaze.
"Yes dog, didn't you say that Genko caused young Kagome's wounds?" Kaede asked as she finished applying the gauze to said Kagome's neck.
"Yea, he went berserk on us as we were coming out of the path from the well"
"What do ye mean?" Kaede turned her one good eye to look at him.
"The brat went.....like how went when I was a full demon"
"What?" Sango and Miroku asked simultaneously.
"His...his eyes changed and his fangs and claws grew longer and he seemed determined to kill Kagome"
"What could have caused such a gentle child such as young Genko to want to destroy his own seemed mother?" Kaede asked to no one in particular.
"He wasn't in danger was he?" Sango asked the Hanyou (half-demon).
"He was on my shoulders knawing my ear what do you think?!" InuYasha snapped.
The hut fell silent as everyone thought the same thing 'what happened?'
PB
Genko couldn't help but stare at the lady Kikyo. She was tall, and otherworldly it seemed, but he couldn't help but trust her, something about the way she acted towards him, it reminded him of his mother; not to mention she led him along like a lost puppy back to its owner. He had to admit though that those 'soul-catchers' at she called them gave him the chills, not to mention those orbs that they continuously seemed to feed her through her chest.
Genko shivered as one of them brushed past him, he felt the cold scales of its body brush his arm and it seemed to not chill only his arm, but his soul.
"You fear them?" Kikyo suddenly asked him.
"N-No..."
"You're like your father....trying to hide your true feelings and fail miserably" she told him, a small smile gracing her face. "But sometimes you can't help it..... Genko, tell me why and how you came upon me?"
Genko bit his bottom lip and stared at the forest floor in shame.
"I....I hurt my mama...."
"You hurt your mother?...how?"
Genko's solemn voice rang throughout the forest with his next statement "I don't know...."
"Then you must have not really hurt her?" her questioning voice rang out.
"BUT I DID! Last thing I remember was me sitting on my mama, my claws dripping with her blood and blood was on her shirt and neck and I did it!" Genko cried out. In his own frustration and shame with himself, he didn't notice that Kikyo led them right to the place where his parents met.
Kikyo led him to the roots of the Goshinboku (Sacred Tree) and sat both of them down. She gently, in a mother like fashion, pulled the young Hanyou (half-demon) into her lap.
"Hush now, it isn't your fault" she said calmly to him like she did to the many other distressed children that came to cross her path.
"But it is!!!!!"
"How can you be certain?"
"My claws were soaked in her blood!"
"Did you remember hurting her?"
Genko didn't reply and found the claws on his feet very interesting.
"You can tell me little one"
"N-No"
Kikyo smiled at him.
"I happen to know you mother.... and she will forgive you..... your father to maybe...."
"But why and when? I don't even know where they would be or where we are!"
Kikyo smiled to herself and her eyes narrowed with a touch of mystery "oh...don't worry about that...."
PB
"Miroku and I will go look for Genko, if he ran into the forest as a half- demon, then he could be in a lot of danger"
InuYasha grunted as Miroku, Sango and Kirara ran outdoors. Shippo and Kirara were curled up in a corner, Kirara woke up at the sound of Kagome being placed on the mat but Shippo slept like a rock and Kirara didn't want to move and wake him.
Shippo now was crying in Kaede's lap as she tried to calm him by patting his back.
"Shouldn't ye be going as well?" Kaede suggested to him.
InuYasha gave her a furative look but didn't reply. How could he look for Genko? How when he would smell of Kagome's blood and know that there was a monster in him that would...and could kill Kagome; but he couldn't let that happen....he wouldn't abandon his son in the forest, left to be preyed upon by monsters, but Miroku and Sango were enough of a search party and they could handle the situation well, and plus...he needed and wanted to be by Kagome's side when she woke up.
PB
"Any sign of him Kirara?" Sango asked her faithful fire cat-demon.
Kirara gave a growl and a whine before running faster thorough the air; the flames on her paws and tail getting brighter as she flew faster.
"Its seems so" Miroku commented behind Sango. He surprisingly wasn't be the usual pervert and cop a feel, but kept his hands firmly on the ends of his staff that came in front of Sango's stomache so he wouldn't fall off if Kirara gave a sharp turn.
"Cant believe that Genko went and attacked Kagome...it just doesn't seem right" Sango thought out loud.
"I wonder....if there is any kind of demonic object that could pacify his demonic side...kind of like Tetsusaiga does to InuYasha?" Miroku questioned out loud.
"We probably could ask Totosai when we find Genko but we better concentrate on finding him and the culprit that caused him to go de-MON!!!" Sango yelled as Kirara was thrown messily back and did a complete flip before righting herself.
Sango wiped her brow for a moment and pet Kirara before directing her to go forward. Kirara obeyed but was thrown back again.
"There seems to be some sort of shield..." Miroku paused as he put his clothed hand in a one-hand praying position and closed his eyes "it's a spirit shield..."
Sango looked back at Miroku and narrowed her eyes in thought "You don't possibly think that-"
"-Genko found his way to Kikyo? Most likely" Miroku sighed heavily.
"Kirara never gets wrong with scents....we should scout the edge of the barrier and see if we can find the right location then tell InuYasha....if anyone is going to get through that barrier its him, Kikyo will just let him pass or he could use Red Tetsusaiga"
Miroku nodded as the demon exterminator directed her faithful companion around the large barrier and found that they where in the area of the bone- eaters well.
PB
InuYasha pounded the earth with his quick steps; his eyes were filled with confusion, anger, and mistrust. Miroku and Sango returned about an hour or so after they went on their search for their youngest companion and found that Kikyo had him. They were hesitant to tell InuYasha the location, but they did. Kagome hadn't woken up yet and InuYasha felt like he abandoned her to go find Kikyo and his son.
'The gods aren't going to give me a break are they?!'
InuYasha slowed as he approached the area where Miroku and Sango said the barrier surrounded. His nose was ringing of the scent of Genko and the Dead; he knew the barrier must be a few feet in front of him. He reached out a hand and felt some resistance under his palm, but it quickly faded away and InuYasha took up his running again, towards his destination.
PB
'He's here'
Kikyo stood up and left Genko in the tangled roots, she waved a hand carelessly and one of her soul-collectors swiftly embraced Genko in a tight and chilling encirclement and pinned him to the Sacred Tree. The other soul- collectors crossed in front of him diagonally incase Genko miraculously destroyed the one that pinned him.
"K-Kikyo?!" Genko's frightened voice echoed as he whimpered under the soul- collectors.
"Hush, and do not fear" Kikyo commanded him harshly.
Genko immediately shut his mouth and the only thing you could hear in that clearing was his small and quiet whimpers.
Kikyo stood before Genko; her back to him, she could clearly make out the small pitters of quick feet and rustling of dead leaves.
PB
"Genko!" InuYasha yelled out as he approached his scent. He stopped suddenly and started to sniff cautiously; salt, ashes and Genko was the only scent that lingered there, there in the clearing that held memories for him.
InuYasha came to notice when he stepped out behind a tree that Kikyo seemed to have lead himself and his 'son' to a sensitive area....with unknown purpose.
He looked in and saw Genko's pinned body covering the raw area which he had once been and Kikyo standing almost right in front of him, a knowing smirk in her features and her eyes oddly sad.
"Kikyo?" his voice was a whispered echo as he stepped in the clearing.
Kikyo didn't respond but the smirk quickly faded from her features and formed into a business-like frown.
"Let him down" InuYasha asked seriously.
"Not until I talk to you" Kikyo responded coldly.
"Why are you doing this Kikyo?"
"Why am I doing what? Im not doing anything....in fact I should be asking you that".
"Just put the kid down"
"Not until you understand!"
"Until I understand WHAT?!" InuYasha was starting to become pissed; Genko was still pinned to the tree by Kikyo's shikigami and InuYasha could smell that he was afraid of them, his whimpers were ringing in his ears and driving InuYasha's instinct to protect him.....even if he did hurt Kagome.
Kikyo walked forward, her eyes in a dreamy state and her arms slightly out stretched toward her past love, she looked up at him with misty eyes and hugged him to her before a wicked smile graced her features.
InuYasha felt confused as he felt Kikyo wrap her arms around him; he awkwardly returned the embrace.
Kikyo smiled and pushed her purification powers to her hands, sending vibrant blue power from her hands into InuYasha who cried out in pain as his skin burned.
"DADDY!!!!!!" Genko yelled from her spot on the tree, he tried to get out the shikigami but they wouldn't let him escape; Genko felt his tears increase.
Kikyo stopped and pushed off him, her hands still glowing the vibrant blue aura.
InuYasha sunk to one knee and clasped a hand over his burnt upper arm. Kikyo felt an odd calm, she had to do some pain to him to keep herself from dragging him to hell at that exact moment.
"Why K-Kikyo?"
"You still love me don't you?" she asked icily.
"...."
"ANSWER ME INUYASHA!!!!"
"......I'm not sure....."
Kikyo smiled at him and approached him; she got down to his level and dug her chestnut eyes into his amber pools.
"I am dead InuYasha, I'm a piece of soul embodied in clay and seek revenge for my death, I want to drag you to hell, and I wanted to hate you! But I never did........"
"What?" InuYasha looked up at her and got to his feet; he winced when his burns where stretched.
"I never hated you InuYasha, betrayal isn't hate, and I never really loved you...."
InuYasha looked at her confused.
"You never really loved me?"
"And you never really loved me" Kikyo stated to him, her eyes going steely.
"But I-"
"InuYasha....why do you think we where easily tricked?" Kikyo interrupted the Hanyou (half-demon).
"......"
"We didn't trust each other"
"But I did!"
"Then I didn't!!"
Silence filled the clearing, even Genko, who was still struggling against the silvery dragons stopped to hear her yell.
Kikyo steeped forward and placed a hand gently on his cheek. InuYasha winced remembering the purification attempt from earlier. Kikyo quickly retreated her hand but still kept her serious gaze on him.
"We were two lonely souls that yearned for an equal, two who were shunned by society because we were burdened.....InuYasha....I loved you but I was never meant to love you in this form....."
"Kikyo...?"
"InuYasha.....I hated you when I died and my soul will never move from that spot....that is still true, and no matter how I wished it were different it cannot be changed...now that I am reincarnated it will never happen...but even so, I will remain your ally...." Kikyo smiled and backed away slowly. She waved her hand and Genko dropped to the tangled roots of the Goshinboku (sacred tree) with a 'thump' and a small moan of pain.
"Besides, I came to talk business"
InuYasha, who was still in a daze, nodded dumbly and kept a keen dog-ear to her.
"You very much know that I am the only one to kill Naraku, I will be the one to exorcise him"
InuYasha gave his head a little shake and brought his gaze to Kikyo "you very much can't do it alone" InuYasha stepped forward and Kikyo stepped back, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"yes, InuYasha, I only have one chance to bring myself to hell....after I go I can never come back, you know this now"
"What does dragging me to eternal darkness have to do with exorcising Naraku?!" InuYasha asked ferociously.
"you fool, haven't I made it clear yet that you and I will never be together like this?! My intentions are to drag Naraku AND the jewel to hell with me!"
"What?!"
Kikyo sighed heavily and let her gaze glass over in thought.
"The Jewel will only leave this earth if it is used in pure intentions, Naraku has but the one shard that you posses, when the time comes for the final battle.....Kagome will have to shoot a purification arrow at Naraku with the jewel shard embedded in the head, the shard will form with the Jewel when Naraku is weakened, it shall be purified and I shall drag the pure Jewel and Naraku to hell with me"
"How will it stay purified in hell?"
"It will be used with good intentions, destroying the life-threatening evil that is Naraku that wants to live eternally and seemingly conquer this world.... the jewel will remain purified with the fact that it is saving the lives that Naraku has yet to claim"
InuYasha nodded his head; Kikyo's tone was ultimately planned, InuYasha couldn't find another way to try and stop Kikyo when she knew that she was going to depart this world sooner or later. He needn't been told, her tone and face said it clearly.
InuYasha sighed heavily once more and stared at Kikyo with dead glazed eyes.
'InuYasha.......you are a fool to not have realized.....'
"InuYasha......you chose Kagome without you knowing" Kikyo declared to him, reading his mind.
Kikyo's shikigami encircled her waist and lifted her away, a bright white light shown and Kikyo was gone in a blink of an eye.
InuYasha stood there for a while staring at the spot where Kikyo disappeared. During that time, Genko quietly approached his father, the dried trails of tears still marred his face and he was scared of approaching his father.
InuYasha finally snapped his gaze down to his guilty feeling son and felt his own pain surface; he knew how guilty Genko was feeling at the moment for he knew after he slaughtered that ban of bandits, human bandits.
"D-Daddy?" Genko's quiet, inquisitive voice called out.
InuYasha sighed and gave Genko a serious look before crouching down on one leg and looking at the depressed boy next to him.
"You are forgiven, not just by me.......you couldn't help it.....it happened to me once..." InuYasha's tone was so fatherly it almost scared Genko. Maybe it was because he went through enlightment or for the fact he felt the same guilt with the boy but whatever it was.....it was a good sign.
'C'mon, we gotta get back to the hag's hut and make sure Kagome doesn't wake up until we get there" InuYasha smirked as she scooped up the dazed boy and settled him on his back and took off.
InuYasha couldn't help but smile.
'Thank-you.....Kikyo......'
PB
Author: ok Kikyo might seem a little OOC ( a lil' worried about that) but I tried to keep her in character and I just finished watching 'return of the tragic priestess Kikyo' and just read the NEW!!!! Vol. 18 that has the Manga version of 'Onigumo's heart still beats within Naraku' and 'back to where we first me' (fave episodes ) and Kikyo does say that she is the only one who can kill Naraku so I hope you all remember that!!! ((Hint hint wink wink)). Also please forgive me for not making my original update!!! I had one week of day camp with little girls dog piling and testing my nerves ((hits head against foam board at the thought of the memory)) and I was wiped!!! Plus on Saturday I had to go to my cuz's graduation party (lives in update NY, had no access to computer --) so please forgive my slowness but if it earns me brownie points this is the longest chapter in my fanfic!!!! . Also the last week of july I cant update, ill be in Baltimore at OTAKON 2004!!! (sooooooo looking forward to that!!!) so yea . I hope you all liked this one! It gave me some writer's block (Kikyo is one damn hard character to write not to mention an emotional InuYasha ugh!!!)
Till next week!!!