Author's Notes: well, hopefully ya' wanted it. and by the way, don't get mad about how I'm updating stories! I update by the number of reviews the story gets. this time 'shadowfox' won with 6 reviews, 'AWBH' came second with 4 and 'The Demon's Reign' lost with a pathetic 1 review.. ONE ONE ONE! WTF, PEOPLE! well, just to let you know, if you want ur fave fic updated fastest, REVIEW! it's just one quick button away!
And I hope no one will get mad at me if there's erm.. cursing in this chappie.. and lots of it, probly. Not only do we have Inu's ever-present gentlemanly-ness, but this time we've got Kagome and Kikyo going head to head, and we all know that Kagome may seem well raised, but she can be pretty scary under the proper circumstances.
don'tdeletemydividersyoudamncomputerihateyouihateyouihateyouihateyouihateyouyoustupidmoronicpieceofshitihateyou!
Kagome hummed to herself lightly. It was a beautiful day outside, the gentle breeze blowing daintily through her window, stirring everything from her curtains to her long black hair. She smiled; her mood was as peaceful as the weather. She gave Buyo a playful noogie and received a glare from the cat that read 'Why the hell did you just interupt a perfectly good cat nap?' She laughed at him and watched as he lay his head down on his paws and closed his eyes again. She decided since today was so beautiful, it was a perfectly good time to back to the Sengoku Jidai. She smiled happily and stared out the window, at a robin that rested momentarily on the sill, chirped once, hopped about for a second, then took off again in a flurry of maple-colored feathers. She swung her legs over one side of the bed, dragged over her massive book bag and set to work packing clothes. She continued to hum and laughed at Buyo when he cast annoyed cat-stares in her direction.
Around ten minutes later, she came bounding down the stairs. She hoisted the large yellow pack onto the counter and began shoveling random food items into it. When it was nearly full to bursting, she left it there and decided that she deserved another half an hour before she left. For preparation, since she knew she would have to apologize to that jackass, Inu-Yasha.
Around five hundred years in the past, a dog hanyou sneezed unexpectedly. He cast the motion away with a 'feh!' and continued on his way. He was bound and determined to find something in this forest. He was bound and determined to find someone in this forest.
He caught sight of several soul collectors and shot towards the spot where they swirled through the air. When he reached the clearing, he first realized with a start it was the well's sacred spot in the wood and secondly, he realized Kikyo was standing there, tears streaming down her face, with one hand resting on the jagged scar that ran down the Goshin-Boku.
"Inu-Yasha..." She breathed.
He watched her, with slight awe at hearing his voice. He noted her complexion was so much paler than it had been when she was alive. She looked like one of the porcelain dolls the venders sold at festivals. Her white skin contrasted vividly against her hair, midnight-black against the bright colors of the beautiful, shining-blue sky and brilliant green forest around her. To his surprise, she turned and looked at him. A slight smile tugged at her lips and he found himself trapped in her gaze.
"Why are you hiding from me?" She asked him. He could feel her smile in her voice. He liked it. He missed that smile.
"Nothing better to do around here.." He said, stepping out of the bushes he had been behind and staring at the ground.
"Is there something interesting on the ground, Inu-Yasha?" He looked up at this, she was still smiling at him. He walked over to her.
"No, but there's something interesting here.." He stated in a faraway voice. He wrapped his arms around her, "Because I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to see that smile."
She sighed, and locked her arms behind his back, "I've been waiting to see you again, Inu-Yasha."
"I know.." His voice still sounded dazed. He was lost in her essence. Her aura, her smell, the sheer sight of her made him happy. He didn't know why, but she just did.
Kagome grabbed an apple from the counter, and wandered around the house until she found her mom, Sota and her grandfather.
"Jii-chan! Mom! Sota! I'm leaving! I don't really know how long I'll be gone!" She called to them.
"Be careful, Kagome." Her mother gave her a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead, "Don't let the demons get you down!"
"Bye, Sis!" Sota called, without even looking in her general direction. He had his eyes glued to another video game. Kagome rolled her eyes.
"I'll be careful if you promise not to let him rot his brains out with that stuff!" She said, smiling.
"Sota, go outside and play for a while, why don't you? It's beautiful outside!" Her mother called to him.
"Just a sec. Lemme beat this boss and make it to the final corridor and---"
"Goodbye, Kagome. And remember, do be careful!" Her grandfather waved goodbye.
She gave her mother one last hug and bolted out of the house, into the mini-shrine and leapt down the well.
Kagome, with her impeccable timing, climbed out of the well just in time to see Kikyo and Inu-Yasha locked in embrace, for the second time in a few days. She muttered a few choice words. She continued out of the well, she wouldn't let that bitch Kikyo put her out again.
"Ahem!" She stated angrily.
Kikyo and Inu-Yasha both whirled around. The look on his face was fogged at first, but the next expression read 'Oh, SHIT!' Kikyo, however, remained looking stoic, cold and merciless.
"Ahem, yourself. Why don't you leave, little girl?" Kikyo suggested icily.
"Fuck off, you stupid clay pot!" Kagome retorted angrily. Kikyo looked slightly taken aback.
"What did you say to me?" She asked, her tone quiet and deathly cold.
"Did I stutter!" Kagome spat viciously.
"That's IT, girl! Shall we finish this now!" Kikyo rounded on her, ripping away from Inu-Yasha's grasp. She snatched her bow from the ground and knocked an arrow in a single fluid movement, "Any last words?" She growled.
"What about you!" Kagome snapped. She, too, had her bow drawn, an arrow resting on her finger, waiting to be released, "I'm so fucking tired of you! I'm always trapped in the shadow of the great freakin' Kikyo! Everywhere I go, Kikyo-this, Kikyo-that! I'm so TIRED of it!" She released the arrow.
/Perfect. By Nature./
"You don't care about anyone else, Kikyo! Stop faking! You bitch, you just care about saving your own life, and screw anyone who gets in your way!" Kikyo was temporarily distracted, considering she had to take several steps to avoid Kagome's arrow. Kagome ceased to discontinue her torrent of insults, "I'm tired of being consider a mediocre priestess just because of YOU!" Kagome shot again. "Everyone thinks you're so damn PERFECT! Maybe someone should prove them WRONG!" Inu-Yasha watched as Kagome's arrows, doused in seething hatred, showered Kikyo. Even a superior priestess like her couldn't keep her strength against a barricade of force like that.
/Icons of Self-Indulgence/
"That.. is... ENOUGH!" Kikyo shouted suddenly. A barrier of light exploded around her, and the arrows ceased to exist, "You stupid CHILD! Don't you think you should take the hint! No one WANTS YOU HERE!"
"No one wants YOU HERE EITHER!" Kagome screamed back at her.
/Just what we all need!
More lies about a world that.../
"You little WRETCH!" Kikyo's fury was greater than Kagome had anticipated. The dead priestess's strength was overwhelming. But Kagome didn't care anymore. She continued to shoot her arrows against a barrier of solid, crystalized power.
"YOU'RE SO DAMN FAKE!" Kagome shouted, "THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL ANYONE AS PERFECT AS YOU COULD'VE EVER LIVED! BUT YOU DON'T CARE! AS LONG AS PEOPLE THINK YOU'RE FLAWLESS, THEN YOU'RE FINE! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"
/Never was and never will be!
Have
you no shame, don't you see me!
You know you've got everybody
fooled/
"Little girl," Kikyo growled, putting an emphasis on 'girl' to make it clear to Kagome that she was acting childish, "Your playtime is over. I grow tired of your games! You'll regret the day you crossed me!"
"Yeah, excuse me, while I keel over and bow to Your Almighty Perfection, Lady Kikyo!" Kagome snarled back.
/Look, here she comes now!
BOW down and stare in wonder!
OH! How we love you!
No flaws when you're pretending/
Kagome shot five more arrows and watched, with an out-of-character, malicious grin on her face as Kikyo's soul-barrier shattered like glass and several of the spirits she held flew off into the night. The elder priestess hit her knees and gave Kagome a look of pure, undeniable hatred. Kagome would've frozen, if she hadn't known her own eyes reflected that same emotion.
"You... little... bitch." Kikyo's voice was choked with utter loathing as she glared at Kagome from the ground.
"You're nothing but talk! I knew you were a fake..." The younger priestess snarled wickedly.
/But now I know she
Never
was and never will be!
You don't know how you betrayed me!
And somehow you've got everybody FOOLED/
But suddenly, as several more souls exploded from Kikyo's sham body, the dead miko's expression changed to one total, and complete fear. Kagome's eyes went wide as the realization of what she'd done came into focus, like one of her arrows piercing through a haze of reddened hatred; a jet of streaming hope and light through unpenetrable darkness.
"Oh my god... What did I... How could I... " Kagome stammered. Kikyo turned to look at her living counterpart, her eyes filled with disgust and a burning desire for murder and vengeance. Kagome winced, "Kikyo, I'm.. Oh, god... But... That body of yours.. it betrays you.. I'm sorry, but.. I have to... If I kill you, maybe you'll rest in peace.. please, forgive me!" Kagome raised her bow, knocking an arrow into place. Kikyo's expression didn't change. Her eyes burned into Kagome's mind, stoic, dead, merciless and spiteful. Kagome couldn't help but wonder what would happen if that anger and hatred were ripped away. What would happen if the real Kikyo were exposed?
/Without the mask... Where will you hide?
Can't find yourself!
Lost in your lie!/
Kikyo, taking advantage of Kagome's hesitation, leapt up and shot a cannon-like blast of purifying energy in Kagome's direction. The younger miko screamed and fell to the ground.
"You faking bitch!" Kagome choked out through the dirt in her mouth.
"Takes one to know one." Kikyo's voice was icy. She walked towards Kagome, bent down, and pulled her halfway up by her hair, "You were really going to kill me, weren't you? So that you could have this soul for yourself, hmm!" She released Kagome and let her head hit the dirt hard, "You worthless child! You are undeserving of the life you have! So give it to me!" Kagome could feel Kikyo's arrow pointed down, directly at her head. She winced, and waited for the moment of pain, then the feeling of nothing. It didn't come. Kagome rolled over blankly and stared at Kikyo.
"Well...?" She asked, her voice sounding harsh and distant, even to her own ears, "Are you going to kill me, or not!"
"I refuse to murder an un-armed, un-prepared opponent," Kikyo stated blankly, "Here." She shoved a masterless bow towards Kagome, "Now we will end this."
Kagome was shocked. She had never seen this Kikyo, no, this abomination that called itself Kikyo, show compassion or mercy of any sort. She thought she had, but, hell, she often mistook attempting to drag someone to hell as compassion. She was dumbfounded.
/I know the truth now!
I know who you are!
And I don't love you ANYMORE/
Kagome rose to her feet and knocked an arrow. Kikyo raised her bow in a shielding position. Kagome was outmatched in skill by far, but Kikyo was outmatched in will and spirit. She just hoped that if she lost, that her friends could gather the shards without her.
/It never was and never will be!
You don't know how you've betrayed me
and somehow you've got.../
Kagome shot one last arrow, one last attempt at victory, putting all of her suffering of seeing Inu-Yasha and Kikyo together, all of her anger for the dead priestess that so challenged her will, her hatred for the woman who had tried to break her spirit, break her body, break her mind.. break her heart. She shot one last arrow that left the other priestess on the ground, dying, her soul collectors buzzing and hovering, anxious and distraught. Their rushed sighs told of their worry. Kagome gasped, and hit her knees. She had to finish this. She took one last look at Kikyo, muttered a silent prayer and stood again.
/It never was and never will be!
You're not REAL and YOU CAN'T SAVE ME!
And/
As Kagome aimed for the final time, her bow quivering in her exhausted, dirty hands, the last lines of a song came to her.. she didn't know why, and the song wasn't one she knew off the top of her head, but she muttered that last line, all the same, "Somehow now you're everybody's fool..." She would have shot, if she hadn't felt those hands on her shoulders, strong, and commanding. The hands of the one she loved.
"That's enough, Kagome." His voice was odd, and distant. He had watched in horror for long enough as this massacre unfolded before him, "Don't hurt her anymore."
Kagome did not believe her ears. Her not hurt Kikyo! What the Hell! "Inu-Yasha.. I.. I don't understand... What?"
"Don't. Hurt. Her. Anymore." His tone was cold and unforgiving.
"Fine. I'll leave and let you two get re-acquainted," She spat, and dashed to Kaede's hut.
Inu-Yasha watched her leave, making no attempt to stop her.
"Kagome-sama? Are you leaving so soon?" The monk's violet eyes were inquisitive and curious.
"Yeah.. Sorry, Miroku-sama.. Bye, Shippo-kun, bye, Sango-chan.. and Kaede-san. I've um.. got lots of studying to do..." She slipped out of the cozy little home on the outskirts of Edo and had leapt down the well before she realized she was in the forest.
Author's Notes: Yeah.. cliffy.. and there's tons of chappie before the song actually starts... sorry... and I'm going on vacation soon so I'm trying to update all my stories... Shadowfox has been updated and now AWBH is updated and I'm working on The Demon's Reign chapter 3. sooo peace..
Next Chapter: "Missing" Kagome contemplates her role in the Sengoku Era after Inu-Yasha's cold semi-goodbye. Inu-Yasha contemplates his role in Kagome's and Kikyo's lives. "Missing" is the AWBH Bonus song and is probably one of my fave Evanescence songs.. It's so sadddd. and prettty and oooooooooooooo-ness... so, anyhoo, later.
