Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Inuyasha.
Author's Note: This is the story about the next episode Kikyou's in, and what she and Inuyasha go through together. Even though this is a sequel to Side by Side, it can stand on its own as a story. So, please R&R!
Kagome stood with Sango outside of the cave. They were passing the demon-slayer's facemask back and forth to stifle the heavy miasma.
"Are you all right, Kagome-chan?" Sango questioned, being used to the heavy scent.
Kagome nodded, lost in another world.
This could be it. Naraku could be here. And if Naraku was here, she just knew they could defeat him. And that would mean going home, and no Inuyasha. I should want Naraku defeated, after all the horrible things he's done, and I do, but… Not only had Naraku hurt Inuyasha and Kikyou, and Miroku, but also Sango and Kohaku.
We met Sango right after, right after… Kagome couldn't complete her thought. That night that Kikyou had kissed Inuyasha and tried to take him to the underworld with her. Only Kagome's voice had stopped her. Without any gratitude whatsoever, Inuyasha had snuck back to Kikyou and… And slept with her! Kagome's mind screamed.
She still couldn't believe it. And then, when Miroku and Shippo had told Inuyasha to choose between her and Kikyou when they thought Kagome wasn't listening, he had wanted both of them!
"What a two-timer," she mumbled.
"Did you say something, Kagome?" Sango asked with a small smile on her face.
"No," Kagome lied, and then said something that was bothering her. "I just really hope that Inuyasha and Miroku are all right. I can't believe they left us out here."
"Well, the miasma would be too much for us inside. They can handle it."
"I guess so," Kagome said quietly.
Kikyou sighed. "I cannot fathom that I am trapped here." Although she thought she knew what was going on, she didn't dare say it out loud. Instead, she looked outside her room. Using her spiritual powers to summon a Soul Collector, she directed it to the guard. The Collector stole the soul from the guard.
Kikyou hated that part, but saving Inuyasha had to come first.
And she knew that he was in trouble.
She just always had a sense about him. And combining that with the strange aura she was reading from the young lord who had imprisoned her, there was something going on that she absolutely had to stop. Freeing herself, she grabbed her bow and arrows outside the door and glided as fast as she could to the mountain where she could feel the miasma radiating.
As she made her way up the hillside, Kikyou was surprised to find that her heart was beating fast against her clay breast. She was shocked at the feeling. The last time she had been conscious of her heart was when she and Inuyasha… When she and Inuyasha had become one under Goshinboku. Only for him to leave her and continue to travel with her reincarnation.
Kikyou was torn between a frown and a scowl. She knew that Kagome being her reincarnation was something that was supposed to happen, but why did it have to happen now? Or at least, why was Kikyou resurrected only to suffer watching Kagome share something with Inuyasha that should have been hers, something that was hers, but only during hushed visits and precious few seconds together?
If Kikyou had felt painful before that night, she could only wish for that sweet detachment again. Now that she had been Inuyasha, now that she was his, she pined for him day and night. Only her miko duties at sparse villages had kept her mind off of the hanyou.
Funny, she thought to herself. I'm still doing in death what I did all my life.
Kikyou knew she was getting close to the miasma. The impure air clouded her senses, but passed through her falsely breathing body unnoticed. It was such a horror to be in a clay body, to be a puppet of human life. Kikyou had been so strong, so noble… Could this really be her? Only her spirit allowed her to realize that it was still she. Only a little bit of her soul had been needed from Kagome's body to reform her mind and powers. And only her hard work and goals could give her hope and strength. And the power to dream… Of being with Inuyasha. Then the miko scoffed at herself for her untimely girlish thoughts.
She saw Kagome and another woman, a demon-slayer, waiting outside the cave. Without saying a word, Kikyou breezed past. What was the point of making conversation? She was only here for one reason.
Kagome bristled as Kikyou walked past her. She turned to Sango. "I'd better go inside and help Inuyasha," she told her companion. "If Kikyou is here, there's going to be trouble." She pretended to really believe that she was going in to help the hanyou, but the truth was, she couldn't stand for him to say anything or feel anything about her incarnate. She had to be there. She had to see.
Ignoring Sango's concern, the girl rushed in after Kikyou.
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short and boring. I just had to kind of lay the groundwork. The next chapter will be up soon, please R&R with ideas, comments, etc.