Title: Only Fools Believe in Freedom
Genre: Introspective/Drama
Rating: PG
Character: Hakudoushi
Summary: Hakudoushi wasn't foolish enough to believe.
WARNING- spoiler for manga chapter #326/anime episode #157
Sweet solitude, oh how he reveled in the freedom it brought him. He'd never thought much of it before, but now, he longed for the times when Naraku and his menial tasks were not something he had to attend to.
He scoffed at his own thoughts. Freedom? He'd been around Kagura too much.
But at the burning pain that still lingered in his chest, he reconsidered.
The memory was all too fresh, etched painfully into his mind.
Hakudoushi couldn't think of a single thing he'd done to deserve that arrow in Naraku's stead. How could he? Naraku, using him of all people to act as his decoy!
If it had been a normal arrow, that would be one thing. But this was the power of that strange girl Kagome. Raw purity that ripped through his body and still left him with inner wounds that would never heal.
Sometimes it felt if as if that hole had never closed, as if that arrow was still embedded into his chest.
Freedom? Hakudoushi knew better than to think of something so foolish. He knew so much better than that.
Naraku should be wary- for in his true heart, there resided a vengeful killer.
Author's Note: For those that don't get the last line, it plays off the fact that Hakudoushi is part of the essence of Naraku's heart that he discarded to create the baby.