Alright, this chapter was way hard to write, because well…you'll see why.
I just want to thank you so much for all those wonderful reviews, keeps my inspiration running. Also, some people actually gave me ideas, and they helped a whole bunch in this chapter. Thanks again!
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Crawling in the Dark
Chapter Twenty-Four
"A hundred days had made me older,
since the last time that I've saw your pretty face.
A thousand lights had made me colder and I don't think I can look at this the same."
- Here Without You by 3 Doors Down
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As he said his last words, Inuyasha closed his eyes to embrace all of their memories and the good times they shared. Everything, from the moment they met, to college, to his proposal, and finally, to their wedding. And it just had to end like this. Inuyasha took in a deep breath.
Naraku stood there, pondering about Kikyo. She was filling up his mind, inside and out. He loved her so much.
&
"Kikyo!" Naraku quickly ran out to her and embraced her fully in his arms, "Congrats!"
Kikyo giggled, "Thanks Naraku."
Before they could continue any further, a voice cut them off, "There you are." It was Inuyasha. He was smiling, and casually walked towards his wife. At this, Kikyo quickly let go of Naraku.
"Oh," she gave Inuyasha a quick kiss, "He's one of my best friends, and I've never mentioned him to you?"
"Not that I know of," Inuyasha looked at Naraku, "I'm Inuyasha, nice to meet you." He held out a hand.
"Hi," he slowly shook it, not even mentioning his name. Although they had never properly met, Naraku never liked Inuyasha. He would always be the topic of Kikyo's conversations. Everything was about Inuyasha, not Naraku. He was getting jealous. But then, Kikyo did tell him one thing, which was that she married him for his money and when she had the chance, she would come back to his side. That relieved Naraku.
"Inuyasha? Mind if I borrow her for a minute?" Naraku asked as politely as he could. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to know when he was going to be with her again.
Inuyasha smiled, "Sure, no problem at all." He then walked away.
Naraku waited a few moments before he spoke up. "So what are we gonna do?"
Confusion immediately filled Kikyo's eyes, "what do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean, what are we going to do?" This time, he spoke faster, and more fluently.
"I don't think I'm catching your drift," Kikyo bit her lips, "let's go somewhere quieter." She held his hand and led him into the parking lot. No one was there. "Now, please make more sense."
"Kikyo," He said harshly, facing her, "you should know perfectly well what I'm saying."
"I'm sorry, I don't." she said quietly.
"Well, then, let me say this a little more clear," he scoffed, "when are you going to get Inuyasha's money, leave him, and come to me!"
Kikyo was shocked, she opened her mouth for a response, but no words came out. After a few minutes of silence, she finally got the nerve to answer. "Naraku," she said softly, "You know I love you."
"And I love you too," he responded.
"But," Kikyo continued, looking passed his eyes, "I just…don't see where this relationship could go."
This time, Naraku was shocked. How could she say that? After everything they had done together. All those promises, were they just a lie? He didn't know what to say.
"Naraku," she looked down at the ground, "I'm so sorry."
He took in a deep breath.
"I love him," Kikyo finally said.
That was it, the final line. Naraku blew, "Kikyo, what the hell are you saying? Are you out of your mind! You're going to go off and marry some rich bastard and leave me here? What about all those things you said to me? All those things we've done together? All the nights we shared? Have you forgotten! You know what? I could care less, just don't come crying to me when he cheats on you, or leaves you because you're not good enough for him. I hate…"
He was cut off. Kikyo slapped him. Her eyes looked up into his, filled with anger. "How dare you talk shit to me like this? This is not you, I don't know you anymore." She turned around to walk away.
Naraku grabbed on to her arm. He then lowered his lips to her ears and whispered, "Come with me." Every word filled with venom and hatred.
"I can do whatever I want, now let go." She whispered back, her back facing him.
However, Naraku didn't let go. "Babe," he tried, his voice much softer, "Let's go to our place, its just a few blocks down. Why don't we talk about this?"
Kikyo looked at him, he could tell that she wanted to go, she still loved him. "But it's my wedding."
"Just for a few minutes," he pleaded. The few minutes could remind Kikyo of how much she loved him over Inuyasha.
"And what about Inuyasha?"
"He won't notice, don't worry." Naraku got out his keys and unlocked his car door.
Naraku didn't actually hate Kikyo like he acted just then, he still loved her and he wanted her back. He just didn't want to see her go. He didn't want to end their relationship.
The ice broke between the two with the sound of Inuyasha, "Kikyo!" He ran up to her and Naraku, who immediately let go of each other, as if nothing happened. "I finally found you, what are you doing out here? I was so worried. Let's go back." He said in one breath, then looked at Naraku, who still had his keys in the slot, "you?"
"Yeah," he lied, "I just got a call from one of my friends, he's not doing very well, I need to go see him." He looked up into the sky, it was dark, and the clouds were moving in. "Looks like it's going to rain." Just then, he felt a small drop on his arm. "Congrats on the wedding," he brought up a smile, "Sorry I can't stay."
"Yeah," Kikyo immediately caught on, "that's why we were here, talking about him. He was such a great friend."
Inuyasha frowned, "I'm so sorry, hope he's okay." He turned around, "C'mon Kikyo, lets go back before the rain hits. We'll take the rest of the party inside, it's dark already."
"Wait," Kikyo turned around to Naraku, who just got into his car. "I want to see him too."
Inuyasha took in a breath, as if thinking if he should let her go. "What about our wedding?" he asked, "And everyone else that's here?"
"I can't even visit a good friend?" Kikyo gave him a look, "Plus, it will be really quick, they won't even notice, I swear." She looked at Naraku. He immediately understood it; they would go to their place.
"Oh ok, I'll drive you then." Inuyasha offered.
"No, it really won't be necessary," she said quickly, "I don't want you caught up in this situation."
"Are you sure?" he asked one last time, as if not wanting to let her go.
"Positive," she smiled, "don't worry, I'll be quick."
"Why doesn't your friend drive you?" Inuyasha was referring to Naraku, he didn't want to see her alone.
"But I need to come back after, he's not coming back."
"Alright," Inuyasha, reluctantly, took out the keys to his car. "You're lucky I drove my car here to look around and just left it to walk home. I must've thought this would happen." He joked, "Be quick okay?" Inuyasha kissed her one last time.
"I love you." Kikyo smiled, as she got into the car.
"I love you too." Inuyasha stood there to watch her drive away. The rain started.
&
The funeral was over. Naraku sat in his room. His eyes were blank. He tried tucking away the painful memories of the last time he saw Kikyo. What a night that was. Now, he had no one to love, he had no more feelings left, because all of his feelings were for Kikyo.
Naraku sucked in a deep breath; he had to do something about this. He couldn't keep his anger, hatred, all his emotions bottled up. Kagome Higurashi…
He knew exactly where she stayed from just asking a few hotel receptionists. Hope he wasn't too late. Searching the kitchen for something useful, all Naraku could find was a knife, which would do. He put on a jacket and headed out the door.
&
Kagome hung up the phone. She had just called her mom; she was going home, at least until the opening night up in New York. She had been through so much and just needed time to herself, time to think, time without anyone she knew that brought back painful memories.
Grabbing her suitcases, she stuffed everything she possibly could into it. Everything else she would leave until she got back. Kagome was really looking forward to going home.
Just then, she heard a quiet tapping at her door. Who would be visiting her at this time? Sango and Ayame were both busy. "Come in, the door's not locked." She said without even looking and then headed to the bedroom to take some clothes.
Naraku smirked, just his luck. He slowly turned the knob of the door and peeked inside. No one was there, the room was way bigger than he had imagined, it was almost like a regular house. Silently stepping, he turned to the kitchen, still no one. Now, he headed to the bedroom.
The door was wide open. Her back was facing his; she was on the ground, packing. It was the perfect timing. Naraku slowly walked up behind her, she didn't notice. From his pocket, he took out a knife, placed it right behind her neck. He was going to make her suffer.
Naraku smirked. "Hey," he whispered teasingly.
At this, Kagome jumped. She quickly stood up and turned around, but it was too late. A knife was pointed right at her throat. She stared into the eyes of the man.
"Now, you better not scream, or I'll kill you right now…" Naraku slowly said, playing around with the knife at her neck. Kagome's back was against the wall, her hands were searching behind her, trying to find something she could use, or a somewhere she could escape. It was useless, she was trapped.
&
Inuyasha sat on his bed, things were over with now. He looked around his messy room. Something caught his eye. There was a broken picture frame on the floor, just lying there. He remembered that someone gave it to him right after he got the phone call about Kikyo; they said they found it on the floor and thought it might have been his. He didn't even look at it and stuffed it into his pocket.
He slowly walked to it, the broken frame, and picked it up. Inuyasha stared. It was a picture of him and Kagome, when the movie ended. They looked so happy, smiling, and hugging each other. It brought back so many emotions. Not wanting to remember such things, Inuyasha bit his lips and flipped it around. There was a note. He carefully took the tiny slip of paper out, and unfolded it.
Inuyasha,
Congratulations, I am so happy for you right now! I think you and Kikyo are the best couple ever; you two are perfect for one another. I just want to thank you for everything you've done for me, in the movie, and as a friend. You were supportive, funny, caring, and everything I could have ever hoped for, you made my stay in New York so much better. I wish that you and Kikyo have the best life until death do you two apart.
Love, Kagome
The short paragraph nearly brought tears into Inuyasha's eyes. Emotions were lifting, he couldn't contain them. He remembered when he yelled at her, and watched her walk away, it didn't feel right. What was wrong with him?
Just then, there was a crash. He quickly got up and headed to the direction of the noise. There was nothing there but the wall. However, as he listened carefully, he heard muttering from the other side. Inuyasha gently put his ears against the wall.
"Who are you?" It was Kagome's voice. She sounded frightened, and hurt. Inuyasha's eyes widened.
"Let's just say, you don't wanna know who I am." The voice sounded familiar.
"What do you want with me?" Kagome tried to sound as bold as possible.
"How dare you speak up to me like this?" The voice continued, and then said softly, "I will tear you up little by little."
That was it, with the picture frame still in his hands, Inuyasha quickly ran to the door. Kagome was in trouble.
As he got there, the door was wide open. All he could see was the living room, with some suitcases lying aimlessly on the floor, not yet packed. He took in a breath and ran to the bedroom. There he could see it. The man's back was facing him; he had a knife pointed at Kagome.
Kagome saw him, Inuyasha. She looked at him, her eyes filled with fear and fright. However, Inuyasha did not know what to do.
"Stop staring, bitch." The guy sneered and took the knife to her arm. Slowly, he pushed the point into her flesh, blood started dripping. Kagome didn't make a sound. He gradually started to cut a deep, sharp, line in her arm. "How does that feel?" he snickered, "we're just getting started."
Panicking, Inuyasha ran up to the guy. His mind was racing.
"Who's there!"
Before the man could turn around, Inuyasha smashed the only thing he had, the picture frame, into his head. He fell to the ground, hard.
Kagome looked at the passed out man on the floor and then gasped for a few breaths. She slid down against the wall, and sat on the floor, her eyes not moving off the man. She was terrified. After a few minutes, someone entered the room.
"Kagome," Inuyasha said softly.
At this, Kagome jolted. She looked up at Inuyasha. She wanted to say something, but her body was weak, she couldn't sum up any words. Her arm was bleeding; she couldn't find the strength to stand back up.
"I just called the cops; they should be here any minute now." He then took a good look at her, "How's your arm?"
When she heard his voice, Kagome found strength. She slowly got back up and nodded, "Just a scratch."
"It's more than just a scratch; you should go to the hospital and get it checked," he looked concerned.
"Don't worry about it."
Inuyasha nodded to himself, as he turned around, he remembered something that he clenched onto in his hand, "I believe this is yours." He handed the picture to her.
Kagome didn't accept it, "it's yours."
Inuyasha let out a breath and turned around, "okay, well, I'll be going now. Don't worry about Naraku, he shouldn't be waking up."
"Naraku?" Kagome scrunched her eyebrows, Inuyasha knew him?
Inuyasha stopped in his tracks. "He's…he…he and Kikyo loved each other." The words came out of his mouth so softly, as if he didn't mean it. Inuyasha then reached for the door.
Kagome tried to follow him. Just as he was about to walk out the door, she called, "Inuyasha?"
He turned around; facing her, but neither was looking straight at each other. They just couldn't. It was too hard.
She just smiled, while staring elsewhere, "thanks for everything."
Inuyasha nodded and turned around to walk out once more.
However, Kagome stopped him, "Inuyasha?" She called again, softly.
This time, he didn't even turn around, as if not wanting to talk any further.
"Does…anyone know?" Kagome was referring to the car accident, her, and Kikyo.
"No." with that, he walked out the door.
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Aww, Inu didn't tell anyone, how nice of him.
And there we go; this is my longest chapter yet. I'm surprised I wrote this much. But yeah, this chapter was hard to write because of one: why Kikyo got into a car and two: the Naraku scene I just couldn't write. So hopefully that was good enough and you guys all enjoyed it! One or two more chapters left.