Death Full Circle
Chapter 4
Love To Hate

A sudden shiver went down Kagome's spine, and she jumped up. Everyone stared at her, but she paid no attention as she looked around frantically.

"What is it, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, standing and extending a hand to her.

"H-he's here! I can sense him!" she replied, turning this way and that, searching for him.

"But you said you killed him!" Sango cried, and all of them went pale.

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, fear in her eyes. "I said I shot him! I have no clue if he died or not! But he still shouldn't be here!" She turned away again, and made as if to run around the corner of the school, when a voice fell down to them. It was filled with anger and hate and even sadness, everything evil, and it inflicted fear on everyone in the courtyard. It wasn't saying anything distinct, just making a strange, choppy noise.

Kagome realized it was a laugh, just as she heard words.

"I'm up here, little priestess."

She looked up quickly, and saw a figure twice the size of a man floating high above them. He had a sharply-lined face and long hair. He was wearing strange clothes - a cross between ancient Samurai armor and some white, sheer material that reminded her of the Greek gods she'd studied once, and everything on his person was colored in black or yellow. He had a pack of spears at his back that reminded Kagome of a quiver of arrows, and his hair was partially tied back by bits of gold ivy and black cloth. A larger-than-life version of their greatest enemy in strange clothes. An evil smile was on his face, and he stopped laughing when he'd caught her attention.

"Naraku!" she cried, stepping back. "You evil, filthy demon! Why do you follow me!"

Though he only smiled, his eyes narrowed. "I'm a god now, little priestess, and I don't take kindly to insults. I never have. But I have had a week to decide how exactly to kill you, and I've decided just to smite you all at once!" His face was suddenly twisted in a semblance of angry, hating revenge. "You killed me that time by the well, but I came back, and now I'm a god! You have angered me, and now I shall destroy you!"

"K-Kagome?" Yumi whispered from behind her. "What is he talking about?"

"Back away, you guys. You need to stay back," she whispered in return, and the complied, stepping away.

"I shall kill you first, little priestess," Naraku continued, "as it was you who killed me." He pointed his hands at her, and a strip of lightning suddenly encased Kagome, wrapping around her waist and pinning her arms at the elbows.

Her eyes went wide. She was trapped! He would surely destroy them all!

But instead of attacking the others, or even coming near her himself, he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, behind him, a horde of demons sat, waiting impatiently for their turn at the humans. He pointed at Kagome, and the charged forward. She could see in their eyes that they had every intent of ripping her to shreds.

Then, quite suddenly, there was a holler behind her, and Inuyasha leapt through the first line of the demons, tearing them apart quite easily. When he landed back on the ground, he shook himself, and his hair changed from black to silver, and when he opened his eyes they were gold instead of violet. He was back to his demon self.

The demons that had been heading towards Kagome stopped, confused. Inuyasha snarled at Naraku, brandishing a claw in his direction.

"What now, Naraku?" he spat. "You can't kill us with those measly forces!"

"No, I had intended to kill you myself." Naraku said back. "Those were merely to frighten the little priestess."

At his words, Inuyasha leapt in front of Kagome, who was still bound by the electricity. "You won't come near her!" he cried.

But Naraku only grinned, turning his attention to Sango and Miroku. He raised his hand, and a miasma flew up from his palm. He blew, and it moved swiftly to the two, wrapping Sango's arms against her chest and continuing to circle her down to her feet, wreathing and becoming alive, a snake of miasma. Another stream turned into a thick rope, pinning Miroku's hands at his side and becoming a thick binding around his torso. The two fell to the ground beside one another.

"Miroku! Sango!" Inuyasha cried, running to their side. "Are you alright!"

While Inuyasha was distracted with his friends, Naraku reached into his 'pocket' and pulled out a length of chain. He extended his hand over Inuyasha, dropping the handful of metal with a 'clink.' It immediately wrapped tightly around Inuyasha, and he was bound as well, falling to the ground.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, drawing Naraku's attention back to her. But Naraku held a hand in front of the girl.

"Ah ah ah. You're going nowhere, little priestess. You killed me once, and now it's time I returned the favor." He grinned at her, his face twisted, and threw another hand towards her. Another volley of demons came spinning her way.

As the leering faces of the youkai came barreling towards her, she closed her eyes tight. "No...no no no no...NO!" She pulled her arms away from her body, breaking the rift of lightning that bound her. Her miko aura exploded out, incinerating the lesser demons Naraku had sent at her. The large hanyou was staring at her, eyes wide, and didn't seem to realize that she'd grabbed the pencil next to her until she had pressed it into the flesh of his upper left arm. He hissed as she pushed her miko energy through the pencil and into him, twisting the little lead-tipped miniature spear and sending a jolt of pain through the surrounding muscles.

But even she couldn't seriously wound the now larger-than-life demon with just a pencil at her disposal, and he began to twist and turn, grabbing her free arm and flinging her headlong into her friend's bodies. For a moment she lay still, and Inuyasha let out a cry of outrage, trying to free himself and shred the cursed man who would dare harm the girl. But then she shuddered, standing slowly. With a gulp, she turned back to Naraku, glaring him down through fear-filled eyes.

"Ku ku ku, but this is so sweet!" Naraku cried. He leaned down to grab the priestess by the chin, forcing her not to break eye contact. "Everything I have given was worth it...worth it for this moment! Worth it to see this sweet expression on your face!" He grinned slowly, and his eyes, deep and red and suddenly lustful, were ingrained in Kagome's mind. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I know why that priestess chased your hanyou, now. She fell in love with hating him!" He kissed her temple, laughing as she flung herself back, away from him. Behind them, Inuyasha began snarling. "And now I with hating you!"

Naraku was still laughing as he pulled the blade from under his robe. He pointed the deadly little knife at Kagome, grabbing her arm suddenly and pulling her to him. He held her back to his chest, finding enjoyment in the expression on her face. Fear of him, fear for her friends, and a pleading to Inuyasha, to save her. "Delicious," he whispered to himself. He slit her throat.

Her eyes fell closed in that last instant, an expression of fear etched onto her face. Blood spurted out, coating Inuyasha as he fell to his knees. The hanyou gulped, trying unsuccessfully to force down his tears. Sobbing and howling at the same time, he began attempting to lunge at the man before him.

"Damn you, Naraku!" he cried as the demon dropped the dead body of the priestess on the ground. "Damn you through eternity, this life and into the next! I'll kill you! I'll track you down and tear you to shreds!" The boy was then overcome with grief, shouting out nonsense profanities and curses between sobs.

"No, Inuyasha. You die here." Naraku grinned, throwing the blade in his hands at the boy, piercing him in the heart.

Inuyasha took one last, gasping breath, letting it out in a sob before falling. And Naraku felt his work more or less complete, except for the loose ends of one exterminator and one priest.

He turned to them, grinning, and motioned to his side. A large dog was suddenly beside him, looking as if it were dying, covered in blood and obviously starved, as you could see its ribs. Its ugly lips were pulled back over sickening teeth in a snarl that might have passed for an insande smile, and its eyes flashed with an unnatural light. Its fur was mangy and missing patches, and its legs were too long and skinny to be natural. Its tail was twitching nervously, and the very end was shredded, bits of muscle hanging from the end of the visible bones.

"Do you like my pet, children?" Naraku asked. When they said nothing, he frowned, and then turned to the dog. "Go on, Lycan. Eat your fill."

And the school yard was filled with the dying screams of pain of a boy and girl, as they were ripped to shreds by a starving, half-dead creature, once the dog of the devil, and now of a more evil being than that.

The students were screaming around him, the boys staring in morbid fascination, the girls hiding their eyes He turned to them, grinning at their fear, before disappearing in a cloud of dust.