A/N: Hello to everyone! I know I've got a lot of explaining to do… I'm really sorry I haven't updated for ages! Please do forgive me. I've got few reasons. First, I had vacation in the province so I was separated from my computer and guess what? No computers in that place! Still got to rent one for me to be able to type my story. The computer shop is far from our house there so… Second reason, I was (again) busy with my other fanfic. I better do something or I'll always end up updating late! Third reason, I was editing my previous chapters and hey! I found few errors and they're correct now so you can check 'em out. Last reason, I ran out of money and I can't buy an internet card—so I can't post or do anything! I hate it when I don't have any money!!!!
Again, sorry for being so damn late. Want to thank my reviewers individually:
SenshiofSilence - Yes, I already saw that mistake and I fixed it. Change the word 'into' already. I think it was funny too! Silly me…
Kagome1990 - Yeah, Naraku is always a bastard. Anyway, hope everything turns out well…
Mikopriestess143 - Thanks for the review. I'll surely keep on writing… Thanks to my reviewers…
Hanyou-Girl25 - I'm sorry I didn't update soon… Please forgive me…
Inuyashachic & Iloveanime456 - I will keep on writing… tears of joy Thanks for reviewing…
Inuyashachic515 - Interesting? I'm glad you think so.
Mikoyru Kaniu - It's okay if you didn't review early as long as you review! Thanks for the compliment and yup, I love you (and that goes to all my reviewers as well)
Geminia - Thanks and at last! School is finished! Thanks for wishing me luck!
NobodysAngel - I updated already! Sorry it took so long…
Miru88 - Sorry 'bout the cliffhangers… I just can't stop myself… Hehehe… I'll email you every time I update.
ShadowSpinner - It's okay if you didn't review early. Thanks for reviewing!
Me - I'm terribly sorry but this is not nar/kag. It's Inu/Kag and… I'm really sorry.
Yuko - You noticed the clue?! Wow! You're very observant! Thanks.
Hersheykiss1012 - Thank you for your review! It really flattered me blushes
Ranko And Mr. Panda - At last! I saw you again! Long time no hear from you! Glad I saw your review again! Thank you!
Paui - You liked it? Me so glad you did!
Lynns - You're one of my new reviewers!!!! I'm so glad to have you around! Thanks for reading! Please read some more!!
robinsama - They ARE annoying but anyway, I like them that way so... I hope you'll be patient. Sweet and romantic parts are coming later, for now... they have to FIGHT.
Lil Ole Me 97 - Thanks for reading. I can't help but get flattered by your compliments. Hehehe... Thanks and hope to see more of your reviews! Ciao!
To all of those listed above, I'm so happy to see your names there in the reviews! Wow! You keep me going on. Because actually, I felt like giving up on this fanfic but then when I saw your reviews I said: "Hey! They actually liked it!" I was so surprised and really glad. Thanks and please keep on reviewing. This fanfic will surely go on till the end!
To all my other reviewers who didn't review my previous chapter, Where Are You?! I just want to know if you're still there somewhere… Please review! Another thing, I want to see new reviewers… Hope to see a couple of them this chapter! And I also want to extend my deepest gratitude to those people who placed me and my story in their lists of Favorite Authors and Stories. Especially those who did both. I'm so honored and so I became more inspired to continue this story and make it more interesting and more fun! Thanks to all of you!
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Disclaimer: I'm not trying to own Inuyasha or whatsoever. I just want to make a story out of Ms. Takahashi's wonderful characters so don't sue me. Inuyasha is definitely not mine although I really like it to be mine.
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Chapter 7
The Mysterious Ice Lady
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"You haven't seen any girl around here?" Miroku repeated to the old woman he was talking to.
"You said she has black hair and she's wearing odd set of clothes?" The old woman said then she closed her eyes to think again.
Miroku looked at the old woman hopefully, praying that she had seen Kagome.
The woman opened her eyes and sighed. "No," She said sadly. "I really don't remember seeing that girl around here." She continued.
"Is that so…" Miroku looked down, looking quite disappointed. "Anyway, thank you for your help." He finally said, flashing a grateful smile at the old woman.
"I'm sorry I wasn't much of a help," replied the old woman then smiled softly.
Inuyasha walked forward to the old woman, his arms folded in front of him. "Babaa, haven't you seen a girl wearing red kimono with white flowers on it?" Inuyasha asked, staring impatiently at the old woman for her answer.
The old woman looked at Inuyasha then looked above, thinking. "Red kimono, you say…" She said, still looking above. "Sorry but I haven't seen that girl either." The old woman answered, looking at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha silently clenched his fists, trying to control his rising temper. "Another failure!" Inuyasha thought angrily. "This has been the third village we've searched and still no sign of Kagome. Where the hell did Naraku hide her?!"
The old woman looked sympathetically at Inuyasha then said to him, "Why not try looking for her in the next village? The next village is just nearby; if you'll leave now, you'll be able to reach it early in the morning."
Inuyasha gave a small nod and turned his back to leave. "Let's go then." He said.
Miroku nodded then turned to the old woman. "We're very sorry we bothered you." Miroku said, bowing to show respect.
The old woman smiled to Miroku. "It's nothing." She said. "I hope you find her soon…" She added, looking worriedly at Inuyasha. "He seems so worried about her." She said to Miroku, still looking at Inuyasha.
Miroku smiled at the old woman and said, "He is."
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Like the old woman had said, they arrived in the next town early in the morning. The sky was peaceful and blue while the sun made its way higher into the skies.
But Inuyasha and the others were again unsuccessful. The village people didn't have any idea of Kagome's whereabouts. So after having another painful failure, they decided to continue their journey and look for another town.
At noon, they found a lake nearby and so they decided to take a break and eat their lunch.
After catching some fish in the lake, they built a fire to cook their food.
"The fish is cooked! We can eat now!" Shippou exclaimed happily, looking longingly at the broiling fish on the fire.
They were about to start eating when a running person suddenly appeared and approached them.
"Help us!" The young woman said, almost begging them. She was a young girl not older than seventeen with straight black hair that ran past her shoulders. She suddenly knelt in front of Miroku, looking exhausted from her journey.
Miroku was about to ask the girl her name when all of a sudden, tears began to fall from her warm black eyes.
As expected, Miroku immediately comforted the weeping girl. He pulled the girl closer to him, giving her a hug, and patted her back gently.
"Hey, stop crying. Everything's going to be fine, you'll see." Miroku said, soothing the girl to make her stop crying.
The girl didn't mind Miroku's actions at all. She didn't seem to notice what Miroku was actually doing; she just continued to shed tears.
On the other hand, Sango was ready to spit fire at Miroku any second. His actions were now very annoying for her; she couldn't take it any longer.
"Why are you crying? What happened?" Sango asked the girl, trying to be helpful and forgetting Miroku's unusual and annoying behavior toward girls.
Miroku caught Sango's eye and he immediately received a deadly 'Stop-Being-Perverted' glare from her. At that very instant, Miroku felt his whole body become cold. He slowly withdrew his arm around the girl and gave a small nervous smile at Sango.
Sango just gave him another sharp look then looked back at the sobbing girl. But then, deep inside, Sango was somehow glad—Miroku finally got the message of her deadly glares.
The girl gently inched herself away from Miroku and began wiping her tear-streaked eyes.
"I'm sorry," She whispered, her voice was faint and quivering. "My name is Hikari and I came from the next village over there." She said, pointing the direction where she had come from. She turned her head to Sango and said, "Do you know where I can find a nearby town? I really need to get there as soon as possible."
"We just came there," said Sango. "Why do you need to get there?"
"I have to get help," replied Hikari. "My village has been attacked lately and many people were killed. If we don't do something, she'll be killing the whole village!" She said, clenching her fists tightly. "Our village men can't stop her because she's too powerful so we thought of getting help from another village so we can defeat her. That's why they sent me to get help and I can't let them down. My whole village's life depends on me."
"She?" Miroku repeated uncertainly. "Who is that she you're talking about?" He asked.
"We don't know her name. But the village people call her Ice Lady because she has the power to control ice. She's the one making ice dolls to destroy our village." Hikari explained. "My mother and father said that maybe she's got Shikon shards that's why she's so powerful." Hikari added, looking worried about her family.
"Shikon shards?!" Sango said in surprise.
"Yes," said Hikari. She stood up and looked down at Sango. "I'm sorry again for bothering you." She said.
Sango shook her head side to side and said, "It was nothing."
"I must be going now," said Hikari. "Umm… so where is the village again?" She asked Sango.
Sango looked sideways at Inuyasha. He wasn't paying any attention about the whole thing. He had just finished eating his lunch and he didn't even look interested about the Shikon shards they would acquire when they finished helping Hikari. "What's with Inuyasha? He's acting really weird. Usually, once he hears the word 'Shikon shard', he'll never hesitate to go and check out things. But now, he doesn't even care about the shards?!" Sango thought unbelievingly. She looked back at Hikari and said, "The village is just—"
"Hey girl, how far is your village from here?" Inuyasha interrupted, looking at Hikari.
Sango looked at Inuyasha, looking quite shocked. "Inuyasha," whispered Sango, now looking pleased and grateful at the same time. "Okay," Sango thought, taking back her thoughts a while ago. "So he does care... just like before."
Inuyasha didn't take his look away from Hikari. "So are you going to tell me?" Inuyasha asked, getting impatient easily like always.
Hikari also looked at Inuyasha like the way Sango first looked at Inuyasha—she was shocked. Of course, she'd be shocked. How many times did you encounter a youkai—or half-youkai—trying to help a human? It just happened once in a blue moon.
"Or would you rather stare at me forever?!" Inuyasha asked sarcastically, glaring a little at Hikari.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Hikari said, looking apologetically at Inuyasha. "I'd just like to ask, if you don't mind answering," She looked at Inuyasha's dog ears then back at his face. "You're a youkai, right?"
"No, he's not." Shippou immediately answered for Inuyasha. "He's a hanyou. Ouch!" Shippou flung his hands instantly to his head to rub a small swelling bump Inuyasha had just given him.
"You little jerk!" Inuyasha spat, glowering at Shippou.
"Hanyou?" Hikari said. "You mean you're only a half-youkai?" She asked in disbelief.
"Got a problem with that?" Inuyasha asked, looking at Hikari straight in the eye.
Hikari shook her head and smiled. "No, it's just that I thought you were a youkai…" She answered.
"Don't worry; I'll be one pretty soon." Inuyasha said confidently.
Hikari sat back down close to Sango and whispered to her, while still looking at Inuyasha sideways, "Is he really—I mean—is he—er—good?"
Sango looked at Hikari and smiled. "I know he doesn't look anything near to good but he is, trust me." Sango whispered back and winked at her.
"So can we go now so we can finish the task?!" said Inuyasha, getting annoyed with the whispering they'd been doing in front of him. "We still have to look for Kagome after going to that village." Inuyasha reminded them as he stood up and tucked Tetsusaiga on his side.
"Who's Kagome?" Hikari asked curiously, also standing up.
"Will you stop asking stupid questions?!" Inuyasha snapped at Hikari, suddenly glaring at her.
"If you didn't want to answer, you could have said it nicely!" Hikari retorted, looking very irritated with Inuyasha's temper.
"Keh! Shut up!" Inuyasha shouted, turning his back on Hikari and folding his arms stubbornly.
"I haven't seen anyone become as annoying as this guy!" Hikari said to Sango as she glared at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha just looked away from Hikari, giving Hikari more reasons to get annoyed with him every minute that went by.
"Try being around him for the whole day," suggested Sango. "You'll get used to it." She said, standing up. "Kirara!" Sango called.
Kirara obediently came in front of Sango and transformed into a huge yellow cat youkai.
"Good idea, Sango!" Miroku commented, congratulating Sango. "We'll be able to reach Hikari's village faster."
All of them except Inuyasha clambered on Kirara to get on with their journey. Hikari told Sango the directions and then Kirara began flying on midair while Inuyasha hopped from tree to tree, just beside them.
Hikari glanced at Inuyasha's direction and said to Sango, "Why doesn't he join us here?"
"You mean on Kirara?" Sango asked. "He loves to do things on his own. As much as possible he doesn't ask for help." Sango answered, looking at Inuyasha leaping from one tree to another like a cat. "He looks like a dog but he pounces more like a cat…" Sango thought, smiling to herself.
"He's really weird. I can't understand him," said Hikari, also looking at Inuyasha.
"Yeah." Sango agreed. "Nobody understands him that much." Sango continued. "Well, —except for Kagome-chan. The two are really close to each other." She added, smiling at Hikari. "Although Inuyasha and Kagome-chan always fight over silly matters." Sango wanted to add but she decided it would be better if she wouldn't.
"Kagome?" Hikari said. "Where is she then?" She asked curiously.
Sango looked down and tightened her fist. "She's missing." Sango said flatly.
Hikari's face suddenly softened. "I'm sorry," said Hikari. "Inuyasha must be very depressed." She added, staring at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha caught Hikari's eyes fixed on him. He looked at Hikari with an annoyed expression on his face. "Will you quit staring at me?! I really don't like it!" Inuyasha said, glaring at her.
Hikari looked away from Inuyasha and instead looked at Sango. "We're getting close already." Hikari told Sango then she looked at the sun. It was hanging low in the sky, almost disappearing behind the high mountains. "By the time the sun sets, we'll be able to reach my village." She continued and looked down. "I just hope she hasn't attacked yet," whispered Hikari, worrying about her family and fellow villagers.
Inuyasha continued to leap from tree to tree smoothly, looking in front of him. "Annoying girl." Inuyasha muttered to himself, throwing another glare on Hikari's direction. Inuyasha suddenly felt his heart stop beating when he sniffed the air.
"Blood is scattered in the air!" Inuyasha thought, looking alarmed. He turned to Hikari and shouted, "Hey! Are we near already?!"
Hikari looked at Inuyasha with confusion on her face. She turned to look at the sun but it had completely set. The whole place was dim and the sky was very dark even though the moon shone. "Very near already," replied Hikari. "Why are you asking?" She added, her curiosity suddenly urged her to ask Inuyasha.
"I smell blood around us." Inuyasha answered, clenching his fist firmly. "All of you stay on the ground while I check out things up in there." Inuyasha said, looking up in the sky.
Miroku and the others nodded obediently, not wanting to disagree with Inuyasha while he was having his bad temper around.
Inuyasha also nodded in return and then leaped very high in the air to get a view of the village.
Inuyasha immediately set his eyes to look for any sign of the village. He easily found it due to his keen eyesight even though his surroundings were extremely dark. The village was sparkling as the moon's feeble light reached it. He picked up a familiar scent in the night breeze and felt his hopes rising up.
"It's Kagome's scent! She's in the village?!" thought Inuyasha, feeling himself sigh in relief. "At least, she's still alive." But relief instantly left Inuyasha when he remembered the reason why they were going to the village—the Ice Lady. "If Kagome is really staying in that village—she's going to be in danger!" Inuyasha thought worriedly. He landed gracefully on the ground where the others were waiting.
"How's my village?" Hikari asked, her eyes shone an expression of anxiety.
Inuyasha looked at her and said, "It's shimmering." He quickly turned his look to Miroku and said, "I picked up Kagome's scent when I was up there. My guess is she's in the village."
"Are you sure it's Kagome?" Shippou asked.
"Well, it really smells like her but… it's really faint. I'm not so sure anymore." Inuyasha answered.
"We must hurry then," said Miroku, understanding that Inuyasha's priority was to see Kagome—safe.
"The village is really near." Inuyasha told them. "We'll be there in a few minutes." He said and turned his back to them. "Let's go." Inuyasha bounded towards a high branch of a nearby tree and started jumping continuously from tree to tree.
Inuyasha looked on ahead and sped up, leaving the others totally behind. Finally, the forest ended and Inuyasha could see the village clearly ahead. It was bizarrely silent and Inuyasha couldn't sense any evil youki around the village. Inuyasha knew exactly why the village was sparkling now—there was ice all over the village. Inuyasha suddenly felt panic in his heart when he saw the village's condition. He immediately rushed towards the village, not bothering to wait for the others anymore.
"The village has been attacked and Kagome might be in trouble!" Inuyasha thought as he hurried up to the village.
Inuyasha looked around him for any sign of movement. There was none. But he could still sense live people within the village—but they were weak.
"Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha turned to see who had called him and saw Miroku and the others running towards him.
"What took you so long?!" Inuyasha grumbled, looking at them.
"Never mind that now," said Miroku. "We're already here."
Hikari ran to a nearby rundown cottage straight away.
"Mother! Father!" Hikari called out. There was no reply.
"Why in the world is she shouting like that?!" Inuyasha muttered as he and the others strode after her.
Hikari came out of the hut, looking disheartened.
"Found anything?" Inuyasha asked, looking at her uncaringly with his arms folded in front of him.
Hikari shook her head glumly. "My parents… I can't find them." She whispered, holding back her tears.
A sudden creaking sound caught the group's attention. They all looked on the door of the next house and then a figure of a woman came out of the door. She had cuts on her face and her arms and blood was oozing from her wounds.
"Hikari, is that you?" The woman asked, holding onto the door for support.
Upon hearing the woman's voice, Hikari rushed towards the woman and hugged her.
"Thank goodness, you're alive!" Hikari said, tears welling on her eyes. "We should treat your wounds." She said thoughtfully, helping her mother walk towards their house.
Hikari carefully seated her mother on the floor then she and Sango worked together to treat her wounds.
"What happened here?" Hikari asked her mother.
"She attacked again." Her mother said. "The Ice Lady started slaying our fellow villagers again. The remaining men of our village couldn't do anything to stop her so we just hid ourselves and waited for her to go away." She held Hikari's hand on hers and tears began to trickle down her eyes. "Hikari, she also killed your father…"
Hikari looked down and clenched her fist. "I'll make her pay for what she did to us, I promise." Hikari said, allowing her tears to fall down silently.
Hikari's mother went to stare at Inuyasha and then at the others. "Hikari, why are they here?" She asked her daughter.
"They're here to help us get rid of that monster." Hikari replied. She looked at Inuyasha and said, "You will help us, right?"
"Keh!" Inuyasha looked away from Hikari and folded his arms. "If she's got Shikon shards like you say," said Inuyasha.
"He will help you, don't worry." Sango assured Hikari. "He just doesn't want to make a big deal out of it." Sango said. "And we'll help too." Sango added, jabbing Miroku at the side.
Miroku coughed a little and said, "Yeah, don't worry."
"Thank you," said Hikari, smiling gratefully at them. "I really appreciate your help."
"Don't mention it," replied Sango, smiling back kindly.
Inuyasha turned his back and went towards the door. "I'll just go out and check out the village for something." He said, before stepping out of the hut. "And," He turned around to give them a warning look. "No one should follow me, all of you stay here." He added, finally leaving the cottage to take a look around.
"Strange," Inuyasha whispered to himself. "Kagome's scent has just vanished. She 's no longer in this village, I can't sense her anymore." Inuyasha looked around and found lots of ice chunks pierced on the ground. It's like a rain of ice had just happened in this village. "Does this mean Kagome—was also killed?" Inuyasha thought but instantly shove the thought out of his mind. "It can't be, I couldn't smell her blood in the air. And now that I think of it, I can't smell any blood in the air. But just a while ago, blood filled the air." Inuyasha said to himself. "How come it all disappeared so suddenly—including Kagome's scent? It's really weird." He thought and thought about the possible answer to his questions but he didn't seem to get even a single answer. "Is it possible that I just imagined sensing her in this village? Maybe she isn't really here," thought Inuyasha, walking back towards the cottage.
"Another weird thing, I couldn't feel anything evil from this village," thought Inuyasha, looking at the ice slabs. "How come I can't even sense any youki from these ice blocks? How did she hide her youki?" Confusion about the Ice Lady's abilities bothered Inuyasha as he continued to walk back to the hut. "This is definitely giving me a bad feeling." Inuyasha muttered to himself.
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"How are things going outside?" Miroku asked when Inuyasha finally came back.
"Weird." Inuyasha answered. "I just found lots of ice outside." He continued, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"Did you sense anything that can help us when she attacks again?" Miroku asked.
"No, not a thing." Inuyasha replied.
"She's returning tomorrow morning to finish the rest of us." Hikari's mother spoke out. "She said it herself."
"Good!" Inuyasha said, smirking. "At least she has scheduled her visit. All we have to do is wait for her." Inuyasha continued. He rested on his side, his head resting on his hand. "Just wake me up when something interesting happens." Inuyasha told them then closed his eyes.
"Inuyasha," said Miroku.
Inuyasha didn't open his eyes but he was listening to Miroku.
Miroku knew that Inuyasha was still wide-awake so he continued, "Did you find any trace of Kagome-sama?"
Inuyasha opened his eyes and looked at Miroku seriously. "No," replied Inuyasha. "I can't sense her at all."
"Maybe she really wasn't here." Miroku suggested to Inuyasha.
Inuyasha shrugged and turned his back to the others. "Maybe…" Inuyasha thought to himself, closing his eyes completely as his hopes of seeing Kagome again sunk low once more.
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Inuyasha jerked his eyes open and sat up. Something had woken him up but he didn't know what it was. He looked around the room; no one was awake except for him. He peeked through the window to see what was going on outside. Everything seemed to be all right. But Inuyasha could sense something bad—very bad—was about to happen, he didn't like the feeling it gave him.
Kirara slowly stirred then her eyes suddenly opened. She gave a short purr at Inuyasha then walked closer to him.
"Can you feel it too, Kirara?" Inuyasha asked, patting her head lightly.
Kirara tilted her head and continued to stare at Inuyasha with her huge red eyes.
"I wonder why I'm feeling like this…" Inuyasha said, looking through the window again. The sun had started to rise and it didn't take long before the sun's light reached the village. Finally, it was morning.
Kirara faced the door and began growling loudly as she stared at it.
"What's the matter, Kirara?" Inuyasha looked questioningly at Kirara.
A sudden crashing sound from outside woke up the whole village.
"What's that?!" Sango said as she sat up.
Another crashing sound—like something large was thrown to the village.
"Shit!" Inuyasha cursed, standing up and facing the door. "She's here!" He hurriedly went outside and saw new large pieces of ice planted on the ground. Inuyasha looked around to see the one responsible for the trouble in the village but she couldn't be found. "Reveal yourself, bitch!" Inuyasha shouted, drawing Tetsusaiga from its sheath and transforming it.
"I said get the hell out of that damn hiding place of yours!" Inuyasha yelled, his temper going out of control. "Heh!" Inuyasha sneered. "Are you scared to die?"
No answer.
"Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha turned around and saw Miroku, Sango, Shippou and Kirara running towards him.
"Why did you leave the cottage?!" Inuyasha barked angrily at them.
"We came to help you!" Shippou answered, looking pissed off with Inuyasha's ungrateful behavior.
"You'll just get in my way!" Inuyasha retorted.
Shippou clenched his small fists and glared at Inuyasha. "Why you—"
"Cut the crap and let's finish our business," Sango interrupted, stopping the ensuing fight between Inuyasha and Shippou. "So where is she?" Sango asked Inuyasha while she looked around for her herself.
"Annoying bitch!" Inuyasha growled. "She's hiding." Inuyasha told them, placing Tetsusaiga back inside its sheath coolly. "She's really annoying." Inuyasha complained as he sounded his knuckles impatiently.
Another sharp-edged ice block began to fall from the sky—directing to…
"Hikari!" Sango shouted in alarm as the pointed slab of ice continued to fall right towards Hikari's head.
Inuyasha quickly went to Hikari and before the ice could pierce her head, he slashed the ice into little fragments with his claws. He turned his head to Hikari and looked angrily at her. "What are you doing in here?! You must be inside with your mother!" He scolded.
Hikari took her hands off above her head and looked at Inuyasha with determined eyes. "I want to—" Hikari paused when she saw more large pieces of pointed ice directed to them. "Inuyasha! Look out!"
Before another half-second could pass, Inuyasha scooped Hikari from the ground she was standing on and jumped away. He landed beside Miroku and carefully placed Hikari beside him. He turned to Miroku and said, "You protect her." After that, Inuyasha walked forward and looked straight ahead confidently. "Will you keep on attacking us like that? It's very futile, you know." He said mockingly.
Still no answer from her.
"Shish! Why don't you speak up?! Damn it!" Inuyasha grumbled, gritting his teeth.
Inuyasha expected that she still wouldn't talk to him but Inuyasha's ears suddenly picked up a light giggle from a girl.
"Why in the world is she laughing?!" Inuyasha's mind asked, getting annoyed with the tone of her giggle.
"Are you annoyed with me already?" She said, her voice was weak but Inuyasha could still hear it clearly. She sounded happy that she was causing him nothing else but pain. Her voice was familiar. It reminded him of—what? Inuyasha didn't know exactly.
"Perhaps Kikyou…" Inuyasha thought gravely. "They have the same kind of voice—cold and spiteful—a voice that was filled with hatred. But... there's something else... I don't know exactly."
Inuyasha was really surprised that she had finally spoke up. "Very annoyed." Inuyasha said, emphasizing the word 'very' when he spoke.
"Okay then." Inuyasha heard her say. "Let's just finish this."
Another set of ice spears suddenly appeared, aiming for Inuyasha.
Inuyasha dodged them without any difficulty by jumping up in the air. He landed back on the ground and scoffed at the ice spears, which were now pierced on the ground he was standing on a tenth of a second ago. "Can't you do something better?" Inuyasha said, looking bored with their fight.
"Bored?" She asked, sounding more like a purring cat. "I'm bored too." She continued. "Why don't we play a different kind of game?"
Tall ice boulders began to fall from the ground continuously, almost covering the whole place. As the ice boulders fell, they created a thick fog that made the whole place chilly and misty.
"Perfect! Now the village is ready for our game." She said, sounding really pleased with her work.
"I'm not in the mood to play games with you!" Inuyasha shouted angrily.
"Not in the mood?" She said, trying to sound disappointed although she sounded more like she was glad that Inuyasha was mad at her. "Never mind, you'll still play with me, whether you like it or not!" She said happily.
"Let's see if you can convince me," Inuyasha said, extending his sharp claws while he grinned wickedly.
"Okay," She said then laughed softly like a little girl. "I'm going to enjoy this." She said.
A short, thin and pointed piece of icicle—more like the size of a dagger—began to move towards Inuyasha.
Like the previous attacks, Inuyasha avoided it without any trouble.
"What are you up to now?!" Inuyasha demanded, clenching his fist.
"You said I must convince you so that's what I'm doing now." She answered sweetly. "But maybe you'll be more convinced to play with me if I come out and face you. What do you think, Inuyasha?"
"Cut the talk and come out!" Inuyasha said, drawing Tetsusaiga from its scabbard again. "So I can kill you!"
"Kill me?" She repeated, sounding rather amazed by Inuyasha's words. "Do you really want to kill me, Inuyasha?" She said, trying to sound offended.
A sudden gust of cold air started to blow around them.
Inuyasha felt his heart beating faster and faster as the wind grew stronger. The fog began to vanish but still the chilliness in the air stayed. Somehow, Inuyasha could feel the cold entering his body and he wasn't comfortable with it.
"Nice to see you—again, Inuyasha." She said.
Inuyasha looked immediately above and finally, he saw the appearance of the annoying culprit.
Upon seeing her face, Inuyasha's questions about her were finally answered. The answer why Inuyasha couldn't feel her youki was very obvious—she wasn't a youkai but instead she was a human.
Inuyasha felt his heart stop beating as he continued to stare at her. A nightmare was about to commence… She was the very girl Inuyasha had longed to see. Now Inuyasha remembered what other thing he had remembered when he heard her voice. He didn't remember only Kikyou when he heard her voice—she had also remembered Kagome. It was Kagome's voice—mixed with the coldness Kikyou's voice had. And after all, it was really her. It was Kagome.
"Ka-Kagome!" Inuyasha said, not able to believe what his eyes were seeing.
"Yes, Inuyasha." Kagome said, smirking as she looked down at him. "It's me."
"Kagome, you're the one killing the people in this village?!" Inuyasha said, looking at Kagome with wounded eyes. "Why did you do that?"
Kagome smiled evilly. "Because…" She paused and looked straight into Inuyasha's eyes. "I want to." She continued. "I enjoy playing with them and when I'm through," Kagome's smirk became wider. "I kill them."
Inuyasha clenched his fist as he looked at the girl in front of him. "She just said that like their lives were nothing to her." Inuyasha thought. New questions arose from Inuyasha's mind. "Is she really Kagome? What did Naraku do to her this time?!" Inuyasha's mind wanted to scream. "Why is this happening?" Inuyasha wanted to ask Kagome—but he couldn't. The way her eyes looked at him without hesitation—like she wanted him dead.
Kagome didn't take her eyes off Inuyasha's golden eyes. "Tell you what, Inuyasha." Kagome said, looking at Inuyasha with keen interest. "You'll be my next toy."
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A/N: OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!! I was able to finish this chapter! Whew! ' Now, it's your turn to do your part. Again (and again), I'm really sorry for taking so looooooong. So many things going on here. Plenty of outings and picnics… Anyway, please leave me some comments. Please review! Yeah, I haven't mentioned yet how Kagome looks like and the other stuffs about her… It's on the next chapter so I guess, you'll have to be very patient with me… This chapter's long, don't you think? Please folks, the reviews! Keep 'em coming or I won't post again for centuries…. Hehehe… Lol! Just kidding! I'll try my best to post faster… Thanks for reading!