DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha and co. do not belong to me. I wish they did. But they don't.
SUMMARY: AU. Sesshoumaru/Kagome. Inspired by Inuyasha, the fanfic Yakuza, and various other stories.
WARNINGS: I'm going to make it simple: Don't read the story if you don't like it.
Author's Notes: I made a change back in one of the earlier chapters (I think it was two or three), basically, it was when Naraku said that he intended to get Kikyou. Well, I changed it to that he wanted to get Kikyou and the Shikon no Tama, because the Shikon no Tama is a great part of the story. (And if you don't know what the Shikon no Tama is, you are seriously out of the loop--I think it's called the jewel of four souls in the English version.)
Of course, thanks for the great reviews and being patient with my inconsistent writing. I'm too impatient to wait for a beta to review everything so basically nothing is edited. (And it's a pain to edit something on A Single Spark because it reads both the html and the actual line breaks, which makes it very difficult ot edit.) Last chappie, for example, I wrote "cukooed" instead of "cuckolded"... It's fixed now, but I find it interesting that none of you complained.
Like I said, thanks for the patience.
by Ethidda
Written 1/30/05
Chapter Eight
Inuyasha remained speechless and stared at Kikyou for several moments before he could bring himself to whisper, "Kikyou."
"Of course it's me," Kikyou said impatiently.
"Kikyou," Inuyasha said much louder before he leapt forward to give her a big hug.
Kikyou shook him off. "Get your hands off of me, hanyou."
Again, Inuyasha became speechless, but instead of unexpected joy, it was from unexpected hurt. "Kikyou..." Inuyasha didn't know how to finish the sentence.
"Is that the only word you know how to say?" Kikyou's voice was disdainful. "It's a wonder that my cousin stays with you. Although, she has always been a tramp, hadn't she?"
Kagome had come down the stairs after Inuyasha and had chosen to remain silent and let Inuyasha talk it out with Kikyou. Although Inuyasha had never mentioned very much about his past before he moved into Kagome's neighborhood, he had alluded to this Kikyou figure, who had been the center of his life.
But Kagome couldn't just let that last insult slide.
"Ki--"
"Cousin Kikyou," Kagome cut Inuyasha off, not quite caring that she was being rude. Kikyou had started it, anyway. "I have never had the pleasure to meet you. How do you do? It's nice to meet a long lost relative. Now, what do you say?"
Kikyou only looked at Kagome coldly before answering succinctly, "I am glad that one of us enjoys the other's company."
"How- How- How rude!" Kagome sputtered. "I can't believe you! This... this... grr!" Kagome threw her hands up in utter frustration.
Inuyasha concurred quietly, "I can't believe you, either, Kikyou." But Kagome could tell that this wasn't his usual caustic remark. His gold eyes seemed dulled and his whole face tired. He took a deep breath before saying, "I had thought..." Then, he shook his head as if to shake himself out of a dream. "Never mind, it's okay. I believe you. I'm just always the hanyou."
Kagome looked at Inuyasha and Kikyou alternatively, her anger forgotten.
The doorbell rung out clearly in the tense silence.
Kohaku hurried to open the door, revealing a tall Sesshoumaru, his face again impassive. He stepped inside the door quite at his own leisure before Kohaku closed the door behind Sesshoumaru.
"Hiraikotsu," Sango shouted as she ran down the stairs.
"Onee-san," Kohaku intervened quickly. "He's okay." At her disbelieving look, he added, "Really. He's Rin's guardian."
Sango gave Sesshoumaru another thorough look, and put her boomerang on her back.
Sesshoumaru, too, stared at Sango. Although his expression didn't change at all, everybody in the room felt his condescension.
Sesshoumaru turned to Inuyasha, "I knew she would betray your oh-so-noble love, Inuyasha. I told you that she was not the match for you."
"No," Inuyasha agreed despondently. "I was never good enough for her."
Kagome stepped forward to comfort Inuyasha, but at Kikyou's death glare, Kagome stopped just short of touching him. Instead, she said, "No, Inuyasha, there must've been some misunderstanding. Maybe--"
"There has been no misunderstanding," Sesshoumaru refuted quite coldly. "Kikyou works with Naraku and had been using you to help Naraku get to me. Now you under stand why it's good that I nipped your relationship in its bud."
"No, no." Inuyasha shook his head. "Something must have happened while I was away." He stepped toward Kikyou, his golden gaze staring at her, but didn't touch her. "Tell me, Kikyou, tell me what went wrong and I'll help you fix it. I'll..."
Sesshoumaru walked over to Inuyasha and shook Inuyasha violently, his nails drawing blood, a mere shadow on Inuyasha's fire-rat haori. "Get a hold of yourself. What went wrong was that I saw through Kikyou's act. She has always been the conniving bitch."
Kikyou slapped Sesshoumaru, and sharp echoing was replaced by another tense silence.
"You're right," Kikyou gritted out through her teeth. "Nothing happened since Inuyasha left me. But it was never Inuyasha that left me, was it? It had always been you, hadn't it?"
Instead of responding to her anger, he smirked. "You think the whelp would leave you? He was so smitten with you that he thought about leaving his family--his heritage--behind, to elope with you, a human."
Something flickered in Kikyou's eyes, but then it was gone again.
But Sesshoumaru caught it. "But that's right. He had already forgotten you, hadn't he? He did, after all, claim your cousin. Of course, maybe he just prefers women with your body type."
"No," Inuyasha refuted. "Kagome... she's just a friend. We were neighbors."
Instead of responding to Inuyasha, Kikyou asked Kagome, "So you are content to let him use you when he wants and to discard you when he sees something better?"
"You are so not better than me," Kagome huffed. "Besides, we are just friends."
Kikyou sneered, "Friends with benefits. But you don't fool me, little girl, he had claimed you as his, with his half-brother as witness."
"He never-" Kagome stopped herself as she remembered the scene after Kouga's attack. "-claimed me. He never finished his sentence. He meant that I was his bestfriend."
"Of course." Kikyou's agreement dripped with sarcasm.
"I swear, Kikyou, my heart never wavered. Even if... even if," Inuyasha gulped. "Even if you give up on me, I will never stop loving you."
Kikyou scanned the crowd gathered around the living room imperiously before lifting her chin towards Inuyasha. "Let's discuss this privately. Outside."
Kikyou turned around and let herself out of the door without a single glance backward and Inuyasha followed her out meekly.
Kagome wouldn't have thought that the weather outside was so cold, since it was still summer, but she could have sworn that the temperature inside dropped by at least ten degrees.
When everybody remained silent and unmoving, Kagome said, "Wow, Sango, that looks like a really big boomerang." Then, she blushed from the obviousness of her comment.
Sango only nodded. "I--my entire family consists of demon hunters." She shrugged, "I hunt demons. So when I see one, my first impulse is to hit it."
"Oh." Kagome didn't know quite how to respond. "So, I was the only one who didn't know about the whole demon thing?"
This time, Sango peered at her, "But you lived at a shrine. Your grandfather knew all about demons..."
"I guess," Kagome said. "But I just thought... well, listening to those stories were fun, but I never thought they were real." Her expression turned thoughtful, "Does that mean that with the Shikon no Tama I can do whatever I want?"
"You have the Shikon no Tama?" Sango and Sesshoumaru asked at the same time. Sesshoumaru even took a step toward her.
"I don't," Kagome answered, and both Sango and Sesshoumaru seemed relieved and disappointed at this. "But grandpa always told me that the jewel has remained in the family, and each generation, there is a priestess born to guard it. I'm not the priestess, especially since I don't have any priestess powers."
Sango wondered aloud, "Then where could it be?"
Outside, Kikyou turned to Inuyasha, "You say you never wavered."
Inuyasha held both of Kikyou's hands. "I never did."
"So why did you leave?"
"I left... because Sesshoumaru disowned me when I told him that I vowed to stay with you for the rest of my life. And then I went to search all of Japan for you, anywhere that I could feel your aura, I went."
Kikyou jerked her hands away from Inuyasha and turned away from him. Her voice was a quiet snarl, "I am not Kagome."
"Kikyou, don't you think I know that?" Inuyasha started to step toward her but dropped back. "I like her as a friend, but she would never--nobody would ever replace you in my heart."
Kikyou turned toward him. "I don't care about you anymore," she lied through her teeth. "But I do not appreciate being lied to. You wouldn't need to search for me--you should be able to feel me, because if you really tried, you would know that we have a blood bond."
"We do?" Inuyasha asked a little hesitantly. "How come I have never felt it then?"
Now Kikyou knew he was lying. A blood bond is one of the most powerful spells in the world. The only way that Inuyasha would have missed it was if something masked him from the bond purposefully, but very few beings have that much power.
Besides, Inuyasha claimed that he had traveled for three years, alone.
"I don't care anymore," Kikyou said simply. "You can go on your way, and I will go on mine. But before that, I need it back."
"What?" Inuyasha asked.
"Playing stupid is not going to get you anywhere. I can see that you have not used it, which is smart on your part, since you'd be especially vulnerable to its corrupting powers as a hanyou. But I need it back," Kikyou reiterated.
"But you promised me that--"
"And you promised me things you haven't delivered, too. The circumstances then were different from the circumstances now. Now, it's mine to protect." Kikyou took a deep breath. "Give me the Shikon no Tama."
Hey, it's another short chappie... but there's more plot development.
So, tell me how I did... R/R