Author: Nefertili
Fandom: Inuyasha
Rating: PG13
Pairing(s): Sesshoumaru/Kikyou, Sesshoumaru/OC
Genre(s): Romance, Angst, Adventure, AU
Warning(s): Battle scenes, betrayal, over-anger (if there is such a word), fluff... What more can I say?
Disclaimer: None of the characters, except perhaps some, are mine. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Summary: Kikyou, being saved from peril by Sesshoumaru, joins him in a quest against Naraku and one of his allies, who happened to share a past one-sided relationship with the Demon Lord. SesshKik!
A/N: If my estimates are correct, this chapter will be the third to the last, so sit back and enjoy as long as the suspense lasts! ;) Also, thank you very much for all those people: Sweet Ruby Moon, Eruanne, Isys and all my constructive reviewers...who helped me get over a flame-induced writer's block!
...o0o...
Kagome and Kikyou paced over the portion of the sands that had once been their camp. Before they began their march towards Naraku and Kikumo's new domain, the Priestess had inquired her reincarnation if she had any arrows to spare. There was only a single arrow left in Kikyou's quiver after fighting the tangled vines earlier. Kagome had replied that her quiver was still full, but it now lay buried under the sand beside the embers of their main camp.
Not to give up easily, Kikyou led Kagome to retrace their steps. Miroku and Sango were very amazed at the miko's will, as the desert sands had altered the landscape extremely, and no marker that stated a forest was once there was visible.
"I guess this is the place, then?" Kikyou said, her hair once more pulled back into a loose ponytail. A soft wind had begun to blow, and the humans blinked in irritation at the sand that threatened to come into their eyes.
"Are you sure about this, Kikyou?" Inuyasha's impatient wont said. The hanyou was kicking at random portions of sand, as though by doing so he would lessen his agitation. "The arrows could be buried under several feet of sand now!"
"Let her do as she wishes," Sesshoumaru had replied. The Demon Lord stood upon the tall crest of a dune, amber eyes looking out intently at the rock formation ahead. He frowned at the powerful evil aura that he felt. "Kikyou has more wisdom than you can ever have, Inuyasha."
"Well, brother, if you do have sense, you would help Kikyou dig out her arrows!" his brother retorted, sharply turning around to look at the solitary figure of his older sibling who did not even turn to look at him. Sesshoumaru let the wind run through his platinum hair and his soft furry pelt, making it look as though a cloud streamed from behind him. The Demon Prince was avoiding his younger sibling as much as he can. At Kikyou's request, he had agreed to fight alongside Inuyasha, and the sooner they get rid of Kikumo, the better. As though Inuyasha stands a chance against that Demoness, however...
"For heaven's sake, Inuyasha," Kagome muttered. The girl had begun to dig at a spot on the sands, hoping against hope that she will come across her weapons. "Just keep quiet and save your strength. You are a lot more wearied than any of us."
"Weary, huh?" Inuyasha snapped back. Who was Kagome calling weary? "I am not worn out!" He gave a little pile of sand a strong kick, sending the grey particles raining down on him.
Miroku, Sango and Shippou, who were scattered around the place digging holes in search of Kagome's arrows and bow, released bouts of laughter to see Inuyasha with grey splotches of sand on the hair. Making an effort to hide his embarrassment, the half-demon turned away from them and crossed his arms over his chest, sticking out his mouth in a pout.
'Will you ever grow up, Inuyasha?' Kikyou thought silently as she stooped down on the sandy ground and gently ran her hand over the sands, still cold from the night's chill. A tall shadow that moved over her form made Kikyou look up, and her mahogany eyes widened slightly to see her lover looking down on her, making her feel defenseless. He was so stealthy in descending the dune and approaching his beloved that none of the company had noticed he had moved until now.
But that feeling of vulnerability soon vanished when Sesshoumaru knelt down on one of his knees and his amber orbs met Kikyou's beautiful eyes briefly before his hand touched the sands as well.
"Am I to abandon you to do this alone, Kikyou?" he whispered for only her to hear.
Kikyou felt herself blushing as she stammered, "You really don't have to, Sesshoumaru..." He, however, shook his head to tell her that his mind had been set in doing so, and he wordlessly began to hollow out the sand with his only hand.
Kikyou chose to overlook the dreamy sighs being directed at them from their other companions as she also dug into the grey sand. Sesshoumaru carrying her on his back a few hours earlier was an act of humility in itself, and what more for a Demon Lord? Kikyou felt fortunate indeed, fortunate to have earned his love. A quiet smile remained on her face as she worked on.
"Hey, Inuyasha, why don't you go and help Kagome?" Shippou, who was excavating near Inuyasha's feet, muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
Inuyasha seemed startled, and spared a hard look at the small demon before he noticed that his normally aloof brother was alongside Kikyou, helping her dig out a hole in the sand. The hanyou then caught sight of Kagome, working in silence and alone. After a few awkward shrugs, Inuyasha finally made his way beside his love and began to help her, mumbling curses under his breath to hear Miroku, Sango and Shippou giggle at his action.
Rin, who stood in the shadow of a large sand dune with Jaken beside her, noticed that they were the only ones not doing anything. She implored of her little companion, "Come on, Jaken-sama! Let us also help! Even Sesshoumaru-sama is digging!"
Jaken's eyes widened to see their Lord and master putting aside his pride for the sake of a human Priestess, but he was still considerably reluctant even as Rin pulled him along.
Out of a sudden, the little girl let out a single cry of pain as she tripped on some protruding thing on the sand. Kikyou, whose ears were ever as sharp as a mother's, was beside Rin in an instant.
"Are you all right, Rin?" she said as she helped Rin raise herself and brush away the sand that clung on to her kimono.
"Rin is all right, Kikyou-sama!" Rin replied cheerfully, and turned to look at the thing she tripped upon. Her chocolate brown eyes widened in recognition. That wooden piece was no other than the tip of a bow. "Kagome-sama's bow!"
"Rin found the bow?" Kagome stood up and also went beside Rin. True enough, she made out the form of her bow sticking out of the sand. At once, she, Rin and Kikyou busied themselves into digging it out. Their comrades left their individual digs and clustered around the trio of females.
Soon, Kagome's bow was lifted out of the sands, and Kikyou felt the feathers of several arrows on the soft sand just below them. Once a complete quiver with all its arrows intact emerged from its hiding place, the two Priestesses divided it as such that both of them have an equal amount of arrows.
"We are fortunate that the sand didn't bury those too deeply," Miroku remarked.
"We are to keep going, then?" Sango asked as Kikyou and Kagome stood up, armed in nearly identical weapons. She and Miroku moved aside as the older miko stepped forward, her mahogany eyes directed on the jagged rocks up ahead. A large bolt of lightning jumped down from the dark clouds hovering above the rocks and hit the desert sand with a deafening crash of thunder. In the blink of an eye, Sesshoumaru was beside her, his clawed hand already on the hilt of the Toukijin
A soft breeze ruffled through their hair, and they all moved onwards with Kikyou and Sesshoumaru in their lead; even the normally gruff Inuyasha seemed to be in deep thought as they marched towards the rocks in silence. In her place beside her beloved Sesshoumaru, Kikyou looked no less majestic, knowing that she was one of the remaining hopes of the human race against the evil of Naraku, and an embodiment of the lands' struggle against a long-standing evil.
...o0o...
Kikumo's deer ears twitched. She sat on a narrow outcrop of grey rock, almost looking like a stone herself, overlooking the dune sea below. Much as the Deer youkai in her despaired the loss of the forest, she could not let Naraku know her emotions. He will use them against her.
Her sharp sense of hearing caught the sound of their voices in the wind, and every time Sesshoumaru's wont reached her ears, she clutched on tighter to the Tenseiga. He will fight her to get his sword back, she knew, and she doubted if she will be able to fight him back. The blow he gave her from the Toukijin assured her that.
Just as she caught the clear shapes of their challengers approaching their stone haven, Naraku came out from between two narrow rocks. Kikumo's deep green eyes narrowed to see him. Naraku's face was still the same, with the long wavy raven tresses and dark eyes that carry a malicious glint it them, but he was garbed in all his finery. Clad in fighting robes of dark blue and purple overset with a dark metallic armor that shone even in the dull sky, he looked intimidating indeed. But not to the Demoness.
"I assume you've become a full demon, then?" she asked almost in a bored tone, masking her face with an expression of impassivity and distaste. She returned the Tenseiga, which she was actually hugging close to her earlier, back to her waist and her hands once more returned to the naginata, no other than her legendary Hiroko Kama, which lay propped between two stones.
"I have always been living as a full demon," Naraku smirked smugly at the emotionless face of the female youkai. In his hand glowed the shimmering glassy surface of the Shikon no Tama, still radiating in the evil influence of its holder. "The Tama is but a means to rid myself of the heart of Onigumo as well as to make myself more powerful. Now I can destroy the Priestess without hindrance! You also shall attain that revenge you wish upon Sesshoumaru!" His hand formed a fist over the Jewel as he laughed out his evil satisfaction.
'Not Sesshoumaru-sama this time, eh, Naraku?' Kikumo thought to herself. What a bighead. She had observed that Naraku actually respects Sesshoumaru in some way because of his nearly perfect youkai powers, but now that the Jewel lay complete in his hands, he had the nerve to think that he could surpass the Demon Lord in prowess and (though he did not voice it out to Kikumo) easily defeat her, the Flower of the Deer Clan.
Amidst all this, Kikumo did not lose her inexpressive features, and her voice sounded ever so uninterested as she said, "Kikyou, Sesshoumaru and as well as Inuyasha with the rest of his group are coming this way, Naraku. What are you to do with them?"
"Well, I suppose we ought to welcome them with open arms, shall we?" Naraku replied, the impish grin on his face further widening as he made a mock greeting gesture with his arms. "They wish to see us, my dear? We shall grant them all the audience they wish!" With that, he turned with a swish of his dark purple mantle and descended the rocks in a single fluid bound.
Kikumo, however, was still unimpressed by this show of confidence by Naraku. In silence, she drew the Hiroko Kama from the rocks and leaped down the outcrop with even more grace than the evil hanyou. Touching down with the ease of a shadow on the rough crag below, she snaked in between tall pedestals of rocks and followed Naraku to meet their enemy.
'You may call yourself a youkai, Naraku,' Kikumo thought, her grip on her naginata tightening. 'But you were once Onigumo, that wretched thief...and no amount of power or the lowly magic of that Shikon Jewel, for that example, can change that...'
...o0o...
Rin let out a high-pitched scream as a demon that had on a distorted shape of a black eagle came swooping down on them. Sango, however, showed the others the demon exterminator that she was, and shot out her hiraikotsu at the demon. The eagle youkai let out a fearful shriek as its head was severed from its body upon contact with the Flying Bone, and it fell down lifelessly, the body dropping down a few seconds before the head, many feet away from them.
"That was one," she said with satisfaction, catching the hiraikotsu as it flew back to her.
Miroku shook his head at this show of ability, but he was secretly proud of the demon exterminator, whom he loved above the others. It was not hard to see that Sango also loved him in return, but the awkwardness provoked by their youth and as well as the evil of their times prevented them from openly admitting this.
"Just give me my chance, and I can defeat more demons!" the monk said half-jokingly, eliciting laughter from many others as he said so.
At the very front, Kikyou and Sesshoumaru did not share the lightheartedness that went over the other members of their alliance because of this action of Sango. What Kikyou had said about the Jewel attracting hordes of youkai to the place was only beginning.
"There will be more of that later," Kikyou whispered.
"And more powerful ones, if they wish to know," Sesshoumaru agreed. His amber eyes scanned the tall rock wall rising before them. The evil youki grew stronger by the instant, and soon the lesser demons and the humans, with the exception perhaps of Kikyou and her reincarnation, will start to feel its effects and will weaken under its malevolent influence.
Kikyou, herself, realized this. She spoke to the others who are supposed to stay behind and said, "This is where our paths divide. Soon the evil energy will be too strong for you. It is time for us to go."
Miroku and Sango, posing as the leaders of the lesser portion of their alliance, nodded to acknowledge the situation.
"May victory be on our side," they said, and with a nod, Kikyou gestured towards Inuyasha and Kagome that they should not waste any more time. When they came directly at the foot of the stern-looking grey expanse of rock, smoothed almost to the point of glassiness, the Priestess turned to Sesshoumaru with a half embarrassed, half loving look in her brown eyes.
"Are you willing to take me again?" she asked her lover, who smiled knowingly upon getting her message.
"What do you mean?" Kagome mouthed out, not understanding the language between the Demon Lord and the greater Priestess. She gave a soft gasp as the air about them gave a little whooshing sound. Sesshoumaru had wrapped his arm around Kikyou's waist and leaped up the smooth rock. In a flash, Kagome and Inuyasha were looking up at the figures of Sesshoumaru and Kikyou situated many meters above them.
"He's making a show of himself, huh?" Inuyasha grunted, and without a warning, he lifted up Kagome bridal style and bounded up the rock formation as his brother had done, whilst whispering to the modern girl, "That Nefertili: referring to the way he carried her is one thing my brother cannot do."
They barely had time to catch up with the figures of their two other allies as they went inside a narrow opening in the crag. Soon, this contracted alley gave way to a large, flat expanse of rectangular rock that was surrounded on three sides by towering rock pinnacles with sharp edges. Only one side was unobscured by rock formations, but it ended in a deep cliff whose very bottom was lost in the darkness.
Once Sesshoumaru's feet made contact with this new ground, he said, "Naraku has set up a barrier."
Inuyasha heard this statement of his older sibling, and he drew his Tessaiga from its sheath as he said, "Barriers shall crumble before the Tessaiga. Stand back, for I will take care of Naraku's little handiwork."
"There's no need for that," a familiar hissing voice echoed before them. For that moment, all eyes were fixed on the heavily armored male figure. They all felt the invisible energy shield Naraku cast upon himself disappear as the dark mist around them thickened. There was no mistaking the small round, glowing object residing in Naraku's hand. It was no other than the completed Shikon Jewel. "I see you wish for a little chat. Well, come here and let us begin."
"It has been long, Naraku," Kikyou said softly, moving ahead of Sesshoumaru's noble figure to face Naraku for a final battle. Kagome walked close behind, and followed Kikyou's suit when she drew an arrow from her quiver and assumed an archer's combat position.
"Well, Kikyou, do you think you stand a chance against me?" Naraku sneered, closing his hand over the Jewel of the Four Souls and letting its radiance illuminate his face of malice. "Sweet it feels, to not be held back by a heart. Nothing can stop me from killing you now, or that reincarnation of yours."
In a flash, a sharp tentacle from the evil one's hand shot out at the two women. Kikyou and Kagome ducked just in time, and the younger of the two shot her first arrow at the tentacle, obliterating it in an instant. The jewel in Naraku's hand gave a bright spurt of light, and the flesh regenerated, reforming the whip like structure that wrapped itself around Kagome's neck.
"Let her go, Naraku!" Inuyasha bellowed, and the Tessaiga's took on its fang form in an instant. He was blocked, however, by another blade that was wielded by a female willowy figure.
"You have other business here, hanyou," Kikumo whispered as she put herself between the siblings and the conflict between the Priestesses and Naraku. Sesshoumaru felt his insides seething to see the Tenseiga, his father's relic, on her waist, and at once the Toukijin was drawn, starting a new clashing of powers in the craggy heights.
...o0o...
"Hide behind those rocks, Rin!" Miroku hastily ordered the little girl as mass upon mass of youkai began to close in on them. Demons great and small, their features twisted into contorted knots, many of them mutations of insects and other animals, gathered upon the rocky formation, drawn by the power of the Shikon jewel.
Rin obediently jumped behind the large boulders sticking out of the sand. Jaken, faithful to the commands of Sesshoumaru that he should protect the little girl, stood on top of the boulders with the Staff of Heads held up valiantly. Shippou, his courage diminishing every second, had taken on his pink bubble form, and though it had no defensive purposes, he succeeded in luring away several youkai from where Rin was hiding.
"In for a challenge, Miroku?" Sango asked of her counterpart, who stood ready beside her.
"Anytime with you, my woman," Miroku said, smiling. At once, numerous demons were split apart as the Flying Bone cut through their bodies, and even more were driven to the Other Side by the holy spell of the monk's staff. And the heated battle between evil and good burst into a fiery inferno as numerous forces collided, shaping what would be the future of the land. For that moment, only one principle ruled.
Either conquer the enemy or die.
...o0o...
"Do you wish for the Tenseiga, Sesshoumaru?" Kikumo said softly. Fiery sparks escaped as the metal of the Hiroko Kama collided with the Toukijin. In a swift motion, she held up the handle of her weapon to shield her back as Inuyasha's Tessaiga came into contact with the ebony handle of the naginata. The duel of the inu brothers against the daughter of the Deer youkai had led them to higher ground, Kikumo lithely dodging and blocking their combined attacks.
"It is not in my nature to beg for anything," Sesshoumaru replied coldly, his amber eyes flashing. They were presently on a narrow ledge hugging the majestic pinnacles of rock, and directly below them were Kikyou and Kagome, who themselves were engaged in a constant battle against Naraku.
"You are a great youkai, Sesshoumaru," Kikumo continued, this time, sadness lacing her tone. "It's a pity your heart had to be given to a human Priestess whose powers could never measure up to our kin's competence."
Sesshoumaru did not fail to notice the miserable edge on her voice. "Leave Kikyou out of this," he said in an unfriendly tone.
The Demon Prince then slashed at the air with his sword, and though he did not cut her directly, the force of the Toukijin made the rock under Kikumo collapse. She screamed as the rock gave way under her, and she fell down in a heap at the foot of the pinnacle. Inuyasha, who was about to fire a Kaze no Kizu at the Demoness, came down with her as Sesshoumaru's attack also weakened the portion of the ledge he was standing on.
"Hey, you didn't have to include me there!" he admonished his older brother, who, in an aristocratic manner, leaped down the rock in a renewed combat stance with their challenger.
"This is my fight, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru replied calmly, walking in slow grace towards Kikumo, who struggled to extract herself from the rocky debris. "Go and keep on sleeping."
Inuyasha gave a low growl and dashed towards their enemy with his Tessaiga raised. He reached her first before Sesshoumaru, but Kikumo, though heavily bruised from the fall, was alert enough to grab a few chrysanthemum petals from the box on her sash and throw it towards the half-demon.
In a few seconds, Inuyasha was pinned to the rock face by his wrists. His sword, which was knocked off his hand by another of the chrysanthemum blades, fell with a clang a few feet from him.
Kikumo barely had time to recover herself when Sesshoumaru's blade came crashing down on her. Though she blocked him just in time with her Hiroko Kama, the force he exerted upon his renewed attack was so great that she found herself being pushed down. Kikumo also noted the extreme anger she now saw on his normally expressionless amber eyes, and she could not help but recall the time back in the Western Lands when he gave her an equally forbidding glare.
"So, you care for your brother after all?" she said with a twisted smile, holding up her weapon with both hands.
"I, Sesshoumaru, care for my lowly half-brother?" he replied with a sarcastic laugh. His eyes then took on the shade of red as a sudden burst of energy left his hand, sending Kikumo forcefully backwards. A pained hiss left her lips as her hair was pulled from its loose plait by the blast. "You just made me remember one instance when you executed that very same attack upon Kikyou, and strange it is, to feel my very powers awakening by that mere memory."
Kikumo's eyes widened with fear as Sesshoumaru sent another wave of Toukijin's energy at her. The Demon Lord was looking down on her with such a cold glare, and she knew exactly what lay seething beneath that seemingly composed facade. He was enraged at her for nearly killing his beloved, and it was his anger that enabled him to fight her without letting guilt overcome him.
A pained cry left her lips as the wave cut her clean on the shoulder, for she failed to block the attack in her own misery of having to fight the one she loved, in her misery that he was using her own hate against her. Kikumo crumpled in pain on the ground, and one can easily see the tears now rushing freely from her deep green eyes as she entangled her fingers in her long fawn tresses, a wretched soul caught in a whirlwind of emotions that left her voiceless and vulnerable.
Sesshoumaru stood there motionless, the sharp tip of the Toukijin just touching the tear-streaked cheek of the Demoness. He felt as though his anger was beginning to melt away at the sight of her tears. Kikyou had taught him compassion along with love, and amidst all the hate he felt for Kikumo after she betrayed him and her attempt on Kikyou's life, something inside him held him back. In those frightened green eyes, he saw echoes of the gentle Kikumo, the benevolent Kikumo-hime of the Deer Clan who loved him more than anything else.
And he soon realized...it was this love that she still carried inside her heart. It was this single emotion that prevented her from putting forth her powers in fighting him. She could do so much more, they both knew, but for love of Lord Sesshoumaru, Kikumo bound herself and her powers in a chain of restraint.
...o0o...
"Kagome!" Kikyou cried. Naraku had mercilessly thrown her reincarnation among some rocks with his tentacles. Kagome, already weakened by their enemy's repeated blows, blacked out in a single instant.
"And what shall I do with you, my lovely Kikyou?" Naraku mocked, slowly turning to face the more powerful Priestess, her bow drawn taut with her arrow aimed at him. He, however, gave Kikyou no chance to reply as the Shikon jewel began to glow a dangerous purple. She gasped as numerous souls were summoned out of her clay body with the mere gesture. She fell to the ground, struggling to keep on her feet.
Naraku grinned in malicious satisfaction. "Amazing, isn't it, how I can channel this Jewel's powers? Sweet it is, to see you crawling on the ground like the helpless worm that you are."
"Na...ra...ku..." Kikyou's hands clenched with the little energy she had left, her mahogany eyes burning with hurt and anger as she frowned at the evil he was doing.
Naraku's evil grin widened. "Don't worry, my dear. The time has come to end your suffering." He shot out one of his finger-whips at the weakened miko, and a single cry of pain left her lips as the whip sent her flying up in the air, and she knew just what Naraku was trying to do. He intends to cast her over the cliff, and her exhausted mind struggled to think of a way to escape this new ordeal, but her body was powerless to the point of immobility. She must not fail...not now... Sesshoumaru...
Sesshoumaru. Images of her beloved went across her mind. Fleeting images of the night when he rescued her from the Red Shinidamachuu, of their meeting on the field of wildflowers, of the night of Kikumo's betrayal, of the many pains she went through to earn his love, of the many nights they were together... Her visions were concluded by the dear memory of the sunrise, how their lips first met and they sealed their love...
'I am sorry, my Sesshoumaru,' she thought, closing her eyes to hold back tears that threatened to spill. 'I wish I was powerful enough to not fail you, darling...'
Her thoughts were interrupted as a strong hand reached out to her and pulled her against a strong chest. Kikyou looked up with weary eyes, and amber eyes met her mahogany orbs in a tenderness that only he could give.
...o0o...
"Kikyou!" Sesshoumaru abandoned his fight with Kikumo at once to hear his beloved's cry. He turned just in time to see Naraku casting Kikyou's fragile body out into the dark chasm below. Returning the Toukijin to his belt, Sesshoumaru ran in his fastest to catch her before she could disappear down the cliff.
He managed to grab her hand first, and it was all that it took to pull her into his one-armed embrace, but Naraku was not to be defeated too soon. His dark eyes narrowing in irritation, their enemy once more lashed out with his flesh whip in their direction. The whip hit Sesshoumaru on his waist, and sent him off-balance. Before anyone knew it, they were falling over the cliff.
"Hold on to me!" Sesshoumaru hastily whispered to his beloved, who immediately flung her arms around his neck and clung on to him with the little strength she had left. Sesshoumaru's only hand then let go of his grasp on her and reached out to grab the sharp edge of the cliff. The stone was sharp even for a youkai, and he flinched as the jagged rock edges cut its way into his palm.
Kikyou felt her lover breathing heavily as he struggled to keep themselves from falling into the black darkness below. Her clay body was giving him ponderous weight, and she knew that Sesshoumaru will not be able to hold on for very long, especially with only one arm to spare.
"Sesshoumaru!" she gasped her fingers becoming entangled in his platinum hair as she sought to keep her hold on him.
"Only a little more!" he said through gritted teeth. His demon strength was beginning to fail him, and trickles of his own blood began to run down his wrist as his claws clung on with all their strength to the rock. In the little time given them, he gathered what little physical power he had in his body to hoist themselves up.
A pained snarl suddenly escaped his lips, and Kikyou looked up in concern to see what caused him so much pain. Concern gave way to alarm to see Naraku's foot forcefully stepping on Sesshoumaru's fingers. A few drops of blood from his wounded fingers had fallen on Kikyou's white blouse, and in her heart, she received twice the physical pain he was feeling.
"I should have known that you would give your life for Kikyou, Sesshoumaru," Naraku muttered with a smirk, further pressing down his foot on his clawed fingers that desperately held on to the rock for dear life. "And I would grant you two a favor by sending you to Hell together."
'Hell...' Kikyou thought, and harsh recollections about the times she spent in that dimension after her death returned to her. She glanced at Sesshoumaru's face before looking away almost instantly. She could not stand to see that face, her beloved, in so much pain...and no amount of physical suffering could equal the hurt a tormented soul feels in Hell. 'Sesshoumaru...I love you, I will not let you die...even if it means my own death...'
"I have always...loved you, Sesshoumaru," she whispered, kissing his neck with all the tenderness she could give. The Demon Lord's amber eyes widened to feel her grip around his neck loosening. No, what could she be thinking...?
"Kikyou!" was all he could say in his pain. Above them, Naraku laughed out his malice, the Shikon jewel glinting in his hand. Sesshoumaru flinched once more to feel the pressure on his fingers increase, and a few more drops of his crimson blood fell on his beloved. Her grip was becoming more detached with each second, and he finally realized what she was doing: Kikyou was going to sacrifice herself for him to be able to save himself.
"Don't do this to me, Kikyou!"
...o0o...
Kagome managed to regain her consciousness, and when her ragged vision saw Naraku standing on the edge of the cliff, she made a wild dash to recover her bow where it lay discarded on the ground. She, however, was flung to where Inuyasha was pinned to the rock face, in a hopeless struggle to free himself from the curved blades on his wrist. Kagome raised her head weakly from the blow, and she saw that a red barrier was wound around her, Inuyasha and the untransformed Tessaiga, keeping them from moving any further beyond the crimson cage of Kikumo's shield.
"You shall not interfere," Kikumo whispered as she once more got hold of her Hiroko Kama and stood up shakily, blood flowing from her shoulders and her eyes dry once more. She reached into her box of petals, and emptied its contents on her palm. Her green eyes roamed to where Naraku was, looming over the forms of Sesshoumaru and Kikyou dangling from the edge of the cliff.
'Nothing personal, Naraku...'
...o0o...
Weehee! Whadya think will happen? Huh? Huh? Stay tuned for the final lap of this battle!