Heart Broken Arrows: Ch. 6

REVISED

Disclaimer: Not mine; it belongs to Takahashi Rumiko…I don't make a profit from it.

Rating: M for language, gore, adult themes, and the mistakes I make when I type this hurriedly instead of finishing my already late final paper…I have issues, seriously…

Special thanks to: iliketosleep, yashaloves69, and Silverbloodrain…ya'll are awesome! May the heavens smile upon you!

Let me know if I overdid it on the Shippo cuteness factor, and any mistakes I made, as I posted this a bit quick. I felt I needed to add a bit more character exploration, and the story is just burning at my brain, but if it is too boring…tell me so. I won't break down in tears...well I might, but only because I have spent two hours doing this instead of my final paper. Please review me...I see people read it, but then they go away...and I am sad.

Last time:

"I'm not dead yet," Kagome stated.

Bloody spittle erupted onto the rat's thin lips. Its effort to talk was obviously hastening it towards its death. "Will be soon."

Kagome stared down at it, feeling curiously devoid of pity for the suffering creature. She raised her arrow again, forcing Miroku to move to the side. She felt overcome with a cold emptiness.

"Na-ra-ku will eat your flesh." Kagome wanted to kill it, but with a single swipe of Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha took the rat's life.

"We need to get to Kaede's," he said looking into Kagome's cold eyes. "Now."

Present:

Kagome held on stiffly to the red-clad back of Inuyasha. She kept reliving the moments at the clearing, wondering again and again what would cause her arrows to behave in that manner. It made no sense. Her powers were there, but they were different somehow; they had changed, or maybe they were changing into something else. Kagome shivered as she recalled the burnt flesh of the rat youkai. She hadn't meant for that to happen at all. It just had.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked, adding a grunt to the end of his question as he shot up particularly high into the air. He was traveling at a much faster pace than usual. Kagome kept her eyes on a point between the hanyou's shoulders.

"I don't know," she whispered. My powers are fading…

"What was that!"

"I don't know," she whispered again only slightly louder. You slept with Kikyou…

The hanyou turned his head, focusing his amber eyes on the young girl. Kagome knew he must have had disbelief written all over his face, but she kept hers down fixed on that spot. She was afraid of what her eyes might reveal to the suddenly inquisitive Inuyasha. He began his descent back to the ground and kept his eyes locked onto Kagome's face. Suddenly, Kagome realized that Inuyasha was approaching the ground entirely too fast to not be paying attention to where he was going. Her brows rose in alarm but she was absolutely not going to look up. She stared at his haori fiercely.

My, his haori really does need some mending…It looks a bit worn in this spot…The ground is getting awfully close…I hope I have enough red thread to fix this...The ground's gettin closer...I will not look up, I will not look up!

Her thoughts went faster and faster, but still she kept her head down. Finally, at the very last moment when she could stand it no longer, he uttered a "feh," turned his head towards the oncoming ground, braced for the impact, and then shot back up into the air again.

Kagome let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She didn't like the new inquisitive Inuyasha at all. Why couldn't he just be dense like he normally was and leave her alone?

She needed time to think without him breathing down he neck, or rather, without her breathing down his neck

…maybe I need to go back home for a while…

"Kagome!"

The miko turned her head to see who had called out to her. On nearby Kirara, Shippo was waving happily at her. His hair was stuck in all different directions, and his tail was hitting a stoic looking Miroku in the face. Kagome smiled at the young kit as a deep wave of loneliness overcame her. The world turned slightly amethyst. Kagome shivered.

"Inuyasha…" she ventured.

"Yeah?"

"Can we set down for a minute? If it's all right with you, I'd like Shippo to hitch a ride with us for a little while…Do you mind?"

The hanyou shrugged. "Whatcha wanna do that for?"

"I miss him."

Inuyasha mumbled something under his breath that sounded like "crazy girl, broken brain," but by then he was already slowing his pace down. Kagome allowed a brief smile to cross her face; she would let the comment slide. He called out to Sango and soon Kirara was also circling in for her descent. Kagome slid off Inuyasha's back awkwardly and waited for Inuyasha to explain to Sango and Miroku what the halt was about. Sango couldn't help casting a furtive glance at Kagome as the three huddled together. Kagome wanted to call out to Sango that she was fine and that there was nothing to worry about, but she was becoming increasingly unsure herself as to just what was causing the emotional upheavals within herself.

Shippo bounced over to where Kagome stood. She looked real sad to him. She stooped down and picked him up, pressing her face into his hair. Two small arms crept around the side of her neck. The world returned to its normal colors.

Shippo felt Kagome's body relax and some warmth returned to it. He didn't care what Kagome said to the contrary; he knew his 'okaasan' was ill. He hugged her tight around her neck. Kaede would fix it though, and then Kagome would be happy again. Shippo felt secure in this knowledge, for like all young children, life was only good and evil, yes and no. Hard, hard questions had the simplest of answers; so no matter what was wrong, he wasn't going to lose another mother.
The group traveled through the night. On the back of Kirara, Sango and Miroku had fallen asleep against each other; the monk's hands even in sleep lay resting on the rear of the taijiya. Shippo had snuggled deep down in the comfort of her arms, and Kagome let her body form around his, and her head rested next to Shippo's on the warm back of Inuyasha. The hanyou, aware of his sleeping companion, had altered his gait, letting the rise and fall of his jumps mimic that of the rise and fall of a ship on the sea. It was times like this when Kagome, for a brief, fleeting moment, let herself fall prey to the illusion that they were a family, her, Inuyasha, and Shippo that is. She kept her eyes closed and imagined what it would be like with no Naraku, no Sesshomaru, and no Kikyou to bother them.

She knew it could never be, but Kagome couldn't resist the warmth that flooded her body when she imagined a real life with Inuyasha. Suddenly, her mind was blazoned with the image of the pale flesh of Kikyou. Why can't I stop thinking about her? Kagome pressed her eyes closed tighter, forgetting the kit that lay in her arms, and imagined herself in place of Kikyou. Would her skin look as beautiful in the moonlight? She imagined that it was her face Inuyasha caressed; her breasts he kissed. Kagome felt a deep heat flooding her stomach. She could love him more than Kikyou!

Yet, just as sudden as the warmth had filled her, it left, replaced now by an image of Kikyou pointing an arrow at her. Where did that come from? Kagome racked her brain for the time she thought that memory pertained to, but she couldn't come up with it. It wasn't like Kikyou hadn't pointed arrows at her before though; perhaps it had happened so many times that she had just forgotten about this one time. She pushed thoughts of Kikyou carefully aside. She had more important things to worry about right now, and she should get some rest before they came to Kaede's. Yet sleep was a long time coming…

The next day dawned fierce and bright.

When Kagome awoke, she could see the thin trickles of smoke coming from the village rooftops.

"Good, you're awake." Inuyasha sped up a bit, eager to reach the aged miko's hut.

"Yeah, I'm awake," Kagome muttered back, rubbing at her eyes. She looked over and saw that Miroku and Sango were already awake and deep in conversation, talking about her no doubt. The past days' unpleasantries came rushing back to her awareness. It would be good to get to Kaede and find out if once and for all just what was going on with her. Miroku and Sango had probably been conjecturing all morning while she blithely slept the sunrise hours away.

"Morning Kagome," yawned Shippo. Kagome smiled down at the kit and smoothed down his messy hair.

"We're almost to Kaede's. What do you want for breakfast?"

Shippo's eyes opened big and wide, "CANDY!"

Kagome was still laughing as they set down at Kaede's. She felt just fine, really.

Naraku slammed his fist down in anger, shattering the polished wooden table. For a moment, he was frozen in place entranced by the broken pieces of wood. A single splinter had embedded itself into his flesh. His emotions were getting out of control; he needed to contain his anger or else he would obliterate the whole palace. With his uninjured hand, he pulled out the piece of wood and watched as a single drop of his miasma oozed out from beneath the surface of his skin. Emotions were for the miserable hanyou and that bitch of a miko who still fought Kikyou's spell! Naraku swung around in fury and snarled at a nearby nameless attendant.

"Bring Kagura and Kikyou to me."

If the young miko would not succumb naturally, he would just have to hurry the process along. After a few moments, the two females appeared at the entrance to his chambers. Both knelt down in perfect unison; both he saw plotted their betrayals in their minds. Naraku felt another snarl on his lips, but turned his back to the females to cover it. It would not do to show them weakness.

"Kagura," he spoke, pleased to find his voice low and controlled. "Go to the human village where the girl is, and destroy it. Let us see what this does to the miko." Naraku watched in satisfaction as Kikyou's head shot up; her weakness plain to see by the alarm in her face. Quickly, the miko tried to cover it, but Naraku had seen the fear in her eyes. The undead whore cared for something in that village, certainly not Inuyasha, so who then? Why had he not known this piece of information before? Something in the back of mind buzzed in warning. A memory of something...

"You promised to leave that village be Naraku!" Kikyou stood slowly, the anger in her voice evident.

"I made no such promises," Naraku growled back, his eyes glowing red.

Kikyou let a small sneer form on her lips, "You may not have, but he did." In a flash, Naraku backhanded Kikyou across the room. The undead priestess hit the wall and slid to the floor, but she did not stay there. Instead, she carefully stood up, swaying like a branch in the wind before finding her balance. She took a step towards Naraku, and as she did, lifted up the curtain of her hair, revealing a glowing red mark on her neck. She dropped her hair back down.

"He swore that the village would remain safe." She was slammed to the ground again. Kikyou felt her lip split open, but of course, no blood would come out. She stood once more even slower, and took another step towards Naraku.

Laying her right hand upon his chest, she spoke in a vicious whisper, "Onigumo swore it." Naraku felt the cool breath of Kikyou as it raced across his face, and watched as her eyes flashed in triumph. He felt the presence of Onigumo rise up from within his body, gaining ascendence over the other voices of the demons. She is mine, it cried. Naraku became motionless; if Onigumo took control now, Kagura would take the opportunity and destroy him. Kikyou let the words become a carress, "Onigumo swore it."

His weakness, his failure, his impurity…that was what this slut represented. He wanted to destroy her, eradicate her, and erase her from the memory of all who knew her. The urge to kill overwhelmed him and Naraku lashed out with a tentacle, impaling the nearest attendant he could find. The servant made not a sound as his body crumpled to the ground. Naraku breathed in the rich scent of fresh blood and felt calm return to his being. The whore would not get what she wanted.

"Kagura."

"Yes my lord."

"Destroy the village,"Naraku paused as Onigumo struggled viciously to be free,"But…for Kikyou's sake, spare the children." Onigumo subsided, content.

The Wind Witch bowed and exited the room. She had her orders and more information to tell the demon Lord she had been spying for.

Kikyou stood motionless. Naraku had refused her, and she had not been able to call up Onigumo. Without thinking, Kikyou pressed her lips against Naraku's, but he pushed her away, chuckling.

"You think that I desire you, Kik-you?" Naraku ran his finger down the side of her face, slicing open her bloodless skin. "I do not desire a lifeless corpse. I use you like I use Kagura or any other female. You are nothing to me. And soon, when I remove that mark, you will be nothing to Onigumo either…and then you will be damned. I will discover what you hide from priestess, always."

Kikyou called up all her training to keep her face perfectly expressionless, but from the glint in Naraku's eyes, she knew that she had failed.

Till next time,

Aidyn

Preview of Chapter Seven: LIME

"Promise me that you will be my mate!" he hissed back. Kikyou felt the weight give out in her legs. This was never supposed to have happened. The man held her up, and then whispered seductively into her ear, "WE are each other's darkness." He kissed her passionately, grinding himself into her. He began making a rocking motion with his hips, causing sparks of desire to race through her blood.

Oh my gosh do I have to write my real paper now...

Who is Kagura spying for? Someone old, someone new, someone borrowed or someone blue? READ AND REVIEW to find out more...