Disclaimer: I don't know how many times I have to write, type, or say it
but I don't own Inuyasha. * Goes over to corner to sulk. * Now you've made
me cry.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed I appreciate it. Your kind words and some reading inspired me to continue this story. Sorry this chapter is so short, but I didn't have much time to work on it. That and my computer hates me. Please review. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon. Enjoy!
Chapter 1- Words of Comfort?
The moonlight streamed through the canopy of trees. The wind blew gently through the young priestesses hair. It was a perfect night. The scent of lilies mixing with her slightly perfumed scent drifted to Inuyasha. Kikyou stood under the cover of weeping willows silently staring at Inuyasha. (AN. sorry the trees just seemed to fit)
Kikyou knew he would be here. He always was. Whenever she wanted or needed to talk to him, she was always able to find him. They had shared their happiness and sadness before so why not now? 'Because,' Kikyou thought bitterly, 'my reincarnation had to come and interfere with my plans. He was mine when I was alive and always will be.'
Inuyasha slowly turned around. His golden eyes flashed in the moonlight. He always got a strange feeling when he saw her. An emotion he was never able to place. Was he in love with her? He had promised he would join her on her journey to hell when the quest for the shikon no tama was finally over, but would he really? Was he ready to make that kind of sacrifice? A picture of Kagome flashed through his mind. 'Oh yeah.' He thought guiltily, 'What about Kagome? Can I really just leave her behind?' He pushed these thoughts from his mind. He had no right to be thinking about Kagome when it was Kikyou who stood before him.
"Hello Inuyasha." Kikyou was the first to break the silence. She looked at him now. He was handsome, but she felt nothing of love towards him.
As much as she hated to admit it she didn't love the hanyou standing before her now. She had loved him when she was alive. Something in her had responded to him. Maybe it was the fact that they were so similar. Alright maybe she didn't have fangs, ears, and one hell of a bad attitude, but she shared his pain. He wanted to escape the fact that he was a hanyou. A half- breed. She wanted to escape her responsibilities as a guardian of the ancient jewel of four souls. They had found an escape in each other.
"Hello Kikyou." Inuyasha had been thinking along the same lines. 'If I could have gotten the jewel from her I could have become either full demon or full human.' He thought to himself, 'She wanted me to become human. Probably so she could escape her duties. If I used the jewel then she would no longer have to protect it. Oh well, that obviously didn't work out.' He thought this with a grim smirk on his face. Kikyou didn't seem to notice. She was looking at the moon, a sad smile forming on her lips. "What do you want?" Inuyasha asked.
"It's been a long time since we last talked hasn't it?" She asked.
'Well no shit!' was the first thought that came into his head. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. She didn't seem like the kind of person you should curse in front of. (AN *cough cough * I know, but remember he loved her at one point.) "Yeah it has been." He looked at her with something akin to regret in his eyes.
"Well, I suppose we should start off with the matter of the jewel. How many shards have you found thus far?"
"Only fifteen since I last saw you." Inuyasha was again looking at the sky. This time he was watching the clouds as they rolled in from the east.
Kikyou finally turned to look at him. "Only fifteen?" she looked slightly disappointed. "Last time I saw you was a month ago. In all this time you only found fifteen? Naraku has found twice that!" She was exaggerating, of course but he didn't know that. She needed him to find them faster. Kikyou had begun to notice the changes in Inuyasha. She was afraid if he spent too much more time with that bitch, Kagome, he would not go to hell with her. She could not let this happen!
You wouldn't hear her admit it, but she was scared. Kikyou, the mighty priestess who had fought off many strong demons, was afraid. She just couldn't face hell alone. If she had to club Inuyasha over the head and drag his sorry ass down to hell, she would. As long as she didn't have to go all by herself she would be fine.
"We're working on it." Inuyasha grumbled. He didn't like the way she said it. The fact was, as much as he didn't want to say it, he didn't want to go. For once in his long life he had friends. True his friends included a winy kitsune, a fiery cat demon, a lecherous monk, a demon slayer, and a young girl in desperate need of anger management, but they were still his friends. None of them minded that he was a half demon. Not once had any of them said anything about the fact that he was neither full human nor full demon. "Besides, if you're in such a hurry why don't you help us out?"
"I can't. You know I can't."
"Why not? Are you afraid?" This was a ridiculous question, or so Inuyasha thought. Kikyou was never afraid.
"How can you even ask that?" It was time to change the subject. If he ever figured out that she just didn't want to help he would be furious and probably refuse to come to hell with her. "I'm never afraid." She knew she was lying through her teeth, but he didn't. "Has Naraku given you anymore trouble?" 'Smooth transition.' Kikyou congratulated herself on her evasive tactics.
"What do you think?" Inuyasha glared at her. She knew full well exactly how much trouble the former Onigumo had been causing them. He could smell her close by after each encounter with their cowardly enemy. She always showed up to watch. It was as if she were afraid he would be killed and be sent to hell first, leaving her behind to wallow in misery. "He has shown up at every turn and still managed to make time to find more henchmen to do his bidding. If I see anymore of that jackass I may have to curb the desire to laugh insanely at nothing in particular. 'Ku ku ku ku ku' is not the most pleasant laugh to hear every other day."
"Inuyasha." She gave him her innocent seductive look. (AN. kind of an oxymoron I know) It was time to get his mind back to her. "Are you still planning to go to hell with me? You won't leave me will you?"
"I made you a promise didn't I?" Inuyasha's eyes grew soft again. "As soon as the shikon no tama is complete I will go to hell with you. Nothing will change that." 'I hope.' He added silently.
She turned to face him completely. "Sometimes I think you'll change your mind. Do you still care about me? Do you want to go to hell with me?"
This conversation was getting too intense for Inuyasha's liking. He needed to turn the tables. He didn't like being on the receiving end of this discussion. "Do you care for me?" He asked in return.
Kikyou didn't know what to say. She didn't want him to know that she didn't love him anymore. She had to think fast. She couldn't give him up. Not to her. The little whore who had the nerve to even be near her Inuyasha. 'He's mine.' She thought. Kikyou leaned forward and caught his lips with her own.
Inuyasha felt a rush of cold. It was like being dunked into an icy river at a moments notice. He felt no emotion from her. There was no warmth or passion behind the kiss. All he could feel was her desperation. 'So that's it.' He thought, 'She doesn't want me to know that she doesn't love me. Not to say that she didn't at one point.'
Inuyasha pulled away from the kiss and looked into her cold brown eyes. Dead. This was the perfect word to describe her. She was dead. No amount of magic or praying could restore her to the vibrant priestess she had once been. Kagome's image again floated into his mind. She was alive. She was warm and caring and she asked nothing of Inuyasha.
"You don't love me do you?" Inuyasha asked. Kikyou was starting to look frantic. She was losing him. "That's okay because I don't love you anymore. I still care about you. I probably always will, but I don't love you."
"Why?" She asked. "It's that bitch isn't it? I knew it! I knew she would come between us. How could you fall in love with a whore like that!?"
"She is not a whore." Inuyasha was surprisingly calm. "She's warm and caring. She has never asked me to change. You wanted me to become human so we could be together. She doesn't care if I am full demon, human, or a hanyou. I'm not saying I'm in love with her. I honestly don't know what I feel towards her, but I don't love you." There he'd said it. Now he would accept the consequences.
"So you aren't going to go to hell with me?"
"Of course I am. A promise is a promise. Just don't mistake my decision for an emotion that isn't there." Kikyou slapped him. She pulled back her hand and let it fly. Birds flew from their perches, angry and disturbed by the sound.
"I'll make sure you know exactly what you're losing Inuyasha! I will get back at you for this. Mark my words." Kikyou turned on her heel and stormed off.
'How dare he?' Kikyou growled. 'I know maybe I am using a double standard, but that's not the point. It's the principle of the thing. Shit that was lame.' Kikyou admonished herself. 'At least he's still going to hell with me. Or so he says.' The wheels in her head began to turn. (Oh, and we all thought the hamster was dead! See there, miracles do happen.) If Inuyasha fell in love with her reincarnation he might decide to stay on earth with her. 'I'll get that little piece of...' Kikyou muttered. Suddenly the proverbial light bulb appeared above her head. Kikyou pulled the light cord and the bulb slowly flickered on. 'Faulty electrical work.' She muttered. 'I've got it! I'll just go talk to Naraku. I'm sure he'll know how to get rid of Kagome.' Her faith and high spirits restored Kikyou started off into the woods. She'd reach his castle in a week if she were lucky. The light bulb flickered off, leaving the psycho priestess in blackness. 'Damn!'
Meanwhile, in the clearing Kikyou had just abandoned, Inuyasha stood looking at the spot she had vacated. He heard a faint rustling in the bushes to his right. His ears instantly perked up. Inuyasha turned ever so slowly and began to whistle. (Yeah, sure that won't make him seem suspicious at all ;~) ) At the last possible second he pounced.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" a surprised shriek was heard as Inuyasha attacked the eavesdropper. "Put me down!"
"Your butts mine now you nosy brat!" Inuyasha lifted the squirming kitsune to eye level. "What the hell do you think you're doing? How much did you hear? How long were you listening in?"
"Not long." Came the curt reply. "Just long enough to hear what you really think about Kagome." The kit stuck hit tongue out at the enraged dog demon.
"Why you little..." He didn't get to finish the sentence because at that moment Kagome burst through the trees.
"SIT!" Who knew a three-letter word could hold so much power? Kagome grabbed the childlike demon out of Inuyasha's claws as he kissed dirt. "Are you okay Shippou?" The being in question smirked down at the growling hanyou and stuck his tongue out.
"Yeah. Inuyasha was just being mean." Kagome patted the pint-sized demon on the head. "I heard him talking and he said..." Inuyasha, who had fully recovered from the command, grabbed Shippou and covered his mouth.
"Why you little... Ouch!" Shippou bit down as hard as his little jaws could manage and ran for dear life. "Get back here!" Inuyasha yelled, "I'm going to pound you into oblivion!"
"Well, it seems they are at it again." Miroku walked into the clearing right as Inuyasha made a grab for Shippou. "He never changes does he Sango?" Miroku turned his attention to the high-spirited demon slayer on his right. Unknown to her his hand was creeping ever so discreetly toward her rump.
"Well actually..." Sango's eye twitched as she felt the familiar hand on her behind. A resounding smack, the small phrase "sit", and a bone cracking thump were all heard in rapid succession. Miroku sat swirly-eyed on the ground. "Stop touching my ass!" Sango wandered over to Kagome's side while muttering about stupid lecherous monks.
"Leave Shippou alone!" Kagome yelled at the incapacitated half demon.
"What the hell!" He yelled after he got up. Miroku had left to find more firewood, Sango and Kirara had gone off to spar and practice fighting, and Kagome was sitting calmly by the fire cooking dinner. Shippou was perched on the log beside her. "Why do you always stand up for that little jerk?" Kagome didn't answer; she just kept working.
Feeling dejected Inuyasha sat with his legs crossed. He leaned back against a tree and closed his eyes. His ever-aware senses of smell and hearing would wake him if there was any trouble or when dinner was ready. Which ever came first.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed I appreciate it. Your kind words and some reading inspired me to continue this story. Sorry this chapter is so short, but I didn't have much time to work on it. That and my computer hates me. Please review. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon. Enjoy!
Chapter 1- Words of Comfort?
The moonlight streamed through the canopy of trees. The wind blew gently through the young priestesses hair. It was a perfect night. The scent of lilies mixing with her slightly perfumed scent drifted to Inuyasha. Kikyou stood under the cover of weeping willows silently staring at Inuyasha. (AN. sorry the trees just seemed to fit)
Kikyou knew he would be here. He always was. Whenever she wanted or needed to talk to him, she was always able to find him. They had shared their happiness and sadness before so why not now? 'Because,' Kikyou thought bitterly, 'my reincarnation had to come and interfere with my plans. He was mine when I was alive and always will be.'
Inuyasha slowly turned around. His golden eyes flashed in the moonlight. He always got a strange feeling when he saw her. An emotion he was never able to place. Was he in love with her? He had promised he would join her on her journey to hell when the quest for the shikon no tama was finally over, but would he really? Was he ready to make that kind of sacrifice? A picture of Kagome flashed through his mind. 'Oh yeah.' He thought guiltily, 'What about Kagome? Can I really just leave her behind?' He pushed these thoughts from his mind. He had no right to be thinking about Kagome when it was Kikyou who stood before him.
"Hello Inuyasha." Kikyou was the first to break the silence. She looked at him now. He was handsome, but she felt nothing of love towards him.
As much as she hated to admit it she didn't love the hanyou standing before her now. She had loved him when she was alive. Something in her had responded to him. Maybe it was the fact that they were so similar. Alright maybe she didn't have fangs, ears, and one hell of a bad attitude, but she shared his pain. He wanted to escape the fact that he was a hanyou. A half- breed. She wanted to escape her responsibilities as a guardian of the ancient jewel of four souls. They had found an escape in each other.
"Hello Kikyou." Inuyasha had been thinking along the same lines. 'If I could have gotten the jewel from her I could have become either full demon or full human.' He thought to himself, 'She wanted me to become human. Probably so she could escape her duties. If I used the jewel then she would no longer have to protect it. Oh well, that obviously didn't work out.' He thought this with a grim smirk on his face. Kikyou didn't seem to notice. She was looking at the moon, a sad smile forming on her lips. "What do you want?" Inuyasha asked.
"It's been a long time since we last talked hasn't it?" She asked.
'Well no shit!' was the first thought that came into his head. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. She didn't seem like the kind of person you should curse in front of. (AN *cough cough * I know, but remember he loved her at one point.) "Yeah it has been." He looked at her with something akin to regret in his eyes.
"Well, I suppose we should start off with the matter of the jewel. How many shards have you found thus far?"
"Only fifteen since I last saw you." Inuyasha was again looking at the sky. This time he was watching the clouds as they rolled in from the east.
Kikyou finally turned to look at him. "Only fifteen?" she looked slightly disappointed. "Last time I saw you was a month ago. In all this time you only found fifteen? Naraku has found twice that!" She was exaggerating, of course but he didn't know that. She needed him to find them faster. Kikyou had begun to notice the changes in Inuyasha. She was afraid if he spent too much more time with that bitch, Kagome, he would not go to hell with her. She could not let this happen!
You wouldn't hear her admit it, but she was scared. Kikyou, the mighty priestess who had fought off many strong demons, was afraid. She just couldn't face hell alone. If she had to club Inuyasha over the head and drag his sorry ass down to hell, she would. As long as she didn't have to go all by herself she would be fine.
"We're working on it." Inuyasha grumbled. He didn't like the way she said it. The fact was, as much as he didn't want to say it, he didn't want to go. For once in his long life he had friends. True his friends included a winy kitsune, a fiery cat demon, a lecherous monk, a demon slayer, and a young girl in desperate need of anger management, but they were still his friends. None of them minded that he was a half demon. Not once had any of them said anything about the fact that he was neither full human nor full demon. "Besides, if you're in such a hurry why don't you help us out?"
"I can't. You know I can't."
"Why not? Are you afraid?" This was a ridiculous question, or so Inuyasha thought. Kikyou was never afraid.
"How can you even ask that?" It was time to change the subject. If he ever figured out that she just didn't want to help he would be furious and probably refuse to come to hell with her. "I'm never afraid." She knew she was lying through her teeth, but he didn't. "Has Naraku given you anymore trouble?" 'Smooth transition.' Kikyou congratulated herself on her evasive tactics.
"What do you think?" Inuyasha glared at her. She knew full well exactly how much trouble the former Onigumo had been causing them. He could smell her close by after each encounter with their cowardly enemy. She always showed up to watch. It was as if she were afraid he would be killed and be sent to hell first, leaving her behind to wallow in misery. "He has shown up at every turn and still managed to make time to find more henchmen to do his bidding. If I see anymore of that jackass I may have to curb the desire to laugh insanely at nothing in particular. 'Ku ku ku ku ku' is not the most pleasant laugh to hear every other day."
"Inuyasha." She gave him her innocent seductive look. (AN. kind of an oxymoron I know) It was time to get his mind back to her. "Are you still planning to go to hell with me? You won't leave me will you?"
"I made you a promise didn't I?" Inuyasha's eyes grew soft again. "As soon as the shikon no tama is complete I will go to hell with you. Nothing will change that." 'I hope.' He added silently.
She turned to face him completely. "Sometimes I think you'll change your mind. Do you still care about me? Do you want to go to hell with me?"
This conversation was getting too intense for Inuyasha's liking. He needed to turn the tables. He didn't like being on the receiving end of this discussion. "Do you care for me?" He asked in return.
Kikyou didn't know what to say. She didn't want him to know that she didn't love him anymore. She had to think fast. She couldn't give him up. Not to her. The little whore who had the nerve to even be near her Inuyasha. 'He's mine.' She thought. Kikyou leaned forward and caught his lips with her own.
Inuyasha felt a rush of cold. It was like being dunked into an icy river at a moments notice. He felt no emotion from her. There was no warmth or passion behind the kiss. All he could feel was her desperation. 'So that's it.' He thought, 'She doesn't want me to know that she doesn't love me. Not to say that she didn't at one point.'
Inuyasha pulled away from the kiss and looked into her cold brown eyes. Dead. This was the perfect word to describe her. She was dead. No amount of magic or praying could restore her to the vibrant priestess she had once been. Kagome's image again floated into his mind. She was alive. She was warm and caring and she asked nothing of Inuyasha.
"You don't love me do you?" Inuyasha asked. Kikyou was starting to look frantic. She was losing him. "That's okay because I don't love you anymore. I still care about you. I probably always will, but I don't love you."
"Why?" She asked. "It's that bitch isn't it? I knew it! I knew she would come between us. How could you fall in love with a whore like that!?"
"She is not a whore." Inuyasha was surprisingly calm. "She's warm and caring. She has never asked me to change. You wanted me to become human so we could be together. She doesn't care if I am full demon, human, or a hanyou. I'm not saying I'm in love with her. I honestly don't know what I feel towards her, but I don't love you." There he'd said it. Now he would accept the consequences.
"So you aren't going to go to hell with me?"
"Of course I am. A promise is a promise. Just don't mistake my decision for an emotion that isn't there." Kikyou slapped him. She pulled back her hand and let it fly. Birds flew from their perches, angry and disturbed by the sound.
"I'll make sure you know exactly what you're losing Inuyasha! I will get back at you for this. Mark my words." Kikyou turned on her heel and stormed off.
'How dare he?' Kikyou growled. 'I know maybe I am using a double standard, but that's not the point. It's the principle of the thing. Shit that was lame.' Kikyou admonished herself. 'At least he's still going to hell with me. Or so he says.' The wheels in her head began to turn. (Oh, and we all thought the hamster was dead! See there, miracles do happen.) If Inuyasha fell in love with her reincarnation he might decide to stay on earth with her. 'I'll get that little piece of...' Kikyou muttered. Suddenly the proverbial light bulb appeared above her head. Kikyou pulled the light cord and the bulb slowly flickered on. 'Faulty electrical work.' She muttered. 'I've got it! I'll just go talk to Naraku. I'm sure he'll know how to get rid of Kagome.' Her faith and high spirits restored Kikyou started off into the woods. She'd reach his castle in a week if she were lucky. The light bulb flickered off, leaving the psycho priestess in blackness. 'Damn!'
Meanwhile, in the clearing Kikyou had just abandoned, Inuyasha stood looking at the spot she had vacated. He heard a faint rustling in the bushes to his right. His ears instantly perked up. Inuyasha turned ever so slowly and began to whistle. (Yeah, sure that won't make him seem suspicious at all ;~) ) At the last possible second he pounced.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" a surprised shriek was heard as Inuyasha attacked the eavesdropper. "Put me down!"
"Your butts mine now you nosy brat!" Inuyasha lifted the squirming kitsune to eye level. "What the hell do you think you're doing? How much did you hear? How long were you listening in?"
"Not long." Came the curt reply. "Just long enough to hear what you really think about Kagome." The kit stuck hit tongue out at the enraged dog demon.
"Why you little..." He didn't get to finish the sentence because at that moment Kagome burst through the trees.
"SIT!" Who knew a three-letter word could hold so much power? Kagome grabbed the childlike demon out of Inuyasha's claws as he kissed dirt. "Are you okay Shippou?" The being in question smirked down at the growling hanyou and stuck his tongue out.
"Yeah. Inuyasha was just being mean." Kagome patted the pint-sized demon on the head. "I heard him talking and he said..." Inuyasha, who had fully recovered from the command, grabbed Shippou and covered his mouth.
"Why you little... Ouch!" Shippou bit down as hard as his little jaws could manage and ran for dear life. "Get back here!" Inuyasha yelled, "I'm going to pound you into oblivion!"
"Well, it seems they are at it again." Miroku walked into the clearing right as Inuyasha made a grab for Shippou. "He never changes does he Sango?" Miroku turned his attention to the high-spirited demon slayer on his right. Unknown to her his hand was creeping ever so discreetly toward her rump.
"Well actually..." Sango's eye twitched as she felt the familiar hand on her behind. A resounding smack, the small phrase "sit", and a bone cracking thump were all heard in rapid succession. Miroku sat swirly-eyed on the ground. "Stop touching my ass!" Sango wandered over to Kagome's side while muttering about stupid lecherous monks.
"Leave Shippou alone!" Kagome yelled at the incapacitated half demon.
"What the hell!" He yelled after he got up. Miroku had left to find more firewood, Sango and Kirara had gone off to spar and practice fighting, and Kagome was sitting calmly by the fire cooking dinner. Shippou was perched on the log beside her. "Why do you always stand up for that little jerk?" Kagome didn't answer; she just kept working.
Feeling dejected Inuyasha sat with his legs crossed. He leaned back against a tree and closed his eyes. His ever-aware senses of smell and hearing would wake him if there was any trouble or when dinner was ready. Which ever came first.
