Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.
Chapter Thirty: A Reunion and a Fight
Steam swirled around the room. It smelled like strawberries.
Inuyasha peered into the mirror, inspecting his jawline for any nicks. He was a bit worried that in his nervousness that he might have butchered his face. Visions of a face covered in little torn up squares of tissue paper caused a rock to lodge in the pit of his stomach. Upon close inspection, however, he found that he seemed to have come out of it relatively unscathed.
Glancing at the tub he wondered if he added enough bubbles. That stupid little bottle that room service brought up surely wasn't enough for a bubble bath… so he added two bottles. He watched the foam build up as he tested the water. Just how hot is a bubble bath supposed to be?
He was glad that the others had left already in search of food. It was going to be nice having some time alone with Kagome. They had decided to watch a movie together and have some pizza after the bath. It would be another thirty minutes before the pizza arrived, that should be plenty of time for a bath. Surely no one could take a bath for more than thirty minutes. His own shower had taken less than five.
Satisfied that the bath was hot enough, but not so hot that it would scald Kagome, Inuyasha reached for his aftershave lotion. He puts some in his left hand and set the bottle aside. He dropped the bottle and gasped.
Looking at him from behind his shoulder was Kagome.
With his mouth dropped open, he could only watch as she sauntered closer to him. Not walk. Oh no, nothing that normal or innocent. She sauntered. Complete with hip swaying action and everything! Helplessly he watched her in the mirror as she slipped behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest.
"Ka… Kagome?" He was confused. In all of his dreaming and planning, this was the point where he was supposed to turn around and embrace her. But his body was frozen. Something wasn't right.
"Should… Shouldn't you be in bed?" She nuzzled his neck. He should have felt warmth, but instead it felt as if his blood was turning to ice.
She looked up at him, with love in her eyes. Inuyasha's heart stopped.
"…Kikyo…"
"I've missed you, my love," she purred.
Inuyasha was frozen in horror as she slithered in front of him and stood on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck. He couldn't move. He couldn't even make a sound. It was almost as if he were under a spell. When she put his hands on her hips he could do nothing to stop her. Slowly she lifted her head, until her lips found his. Unable to move, Inuyasha watched in the mirror as she continued to kiss him. All he could think about was how cold he was.
"Inuyasha?"
Kagome!
Just like that her voice broke the spell. Inuyasha roughly pushed Kikyo away from him, wiping his mouth in disgust. Her features began to sharpen, losing the softness of Kagome's. She blocked Inuyasha's exit.
"I love you," she told him.
"Get out of my way."
She gave him a hard look, no longer attempting a smile. "You were mine first, Inuyasha. And you will always be mine."
Suddenly she was gone. Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief. Was she a hallucination? A bad dream? He took a step. The splash brought his attention back to his environment. The tub was overflowing. With a colorful curse he reached in and pulled the plug to let some of the water out, and turned the faucet off. Once he deemed there was enough room in the tub for a body without it overflowing again, he decided it was time to fetch Kagome. He just hoped she could breathe in this fog of steam and spilled aftershave lotion. Drying off his arm with a clean towel he glanced at his reflection and shuddered at the memory.
Trying to put the priestess out of his mind and focus on getting Kagome into the tub, he turned the knob. Well, he tried to.
"Kagome?"
He tried the knob again. When it didn't work, he began to shake the door. "KAGOME!"
There was a muffled sound of distress coming from the other room. Inuyasha's stomach dropped. Kikyo. Kikyo was with Kagome.
Calling himself a thousand names, all uncomplimentary, he continued to scream for his friend's name and batter the door. Kikyo hadn't left. Her words haunted him. He would always be hers? Would that include… getting rid of Kagome? But surely she wouldn't hurt her reincarnation!
A cry came from the other room that ripped his soul to shreds. His claws raked through the door. He didn't need the mirror to tell that he had turned demon again.
The door splintered, and the now silver haired dog demon stood snarling over the scene in front of him. Kikyo was standing beside the bed. Kagome's hands were trapped within Kikyo's. The pink light of Kagome's aura, was slowly crawling up Kikyo's arm, being absorbed by her blue light.
"NO!" he screamed.
Kikyo paused to glance his direction. She frowned at his demon form. Inuyasha flexed his claws to rip through the other miko. It wouldn't be murder. After all, the other woman was already dead.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if Inuyasha was once more frozen in his spot. The woman must be a witch, not a priestess!
"You helped Naraku into the jewel, didn't you?" accused Inuyasha. He knew that he needed to stall for time. He had to figure out a way to free himself. If that failed, then at least he could stall her long enough for the others to come back. She couldn't freeze them all!
"Of course I did."
"He's evil, Kikyo. Why would you do that?"
"He agreed to give me what I most desired."
"Me?"
Kikyo laughed, nearly dropping Kagome's hand. "I do care for you, Inuyasha. However, I would not risk my eternal soul for you."
"What could be worth your soul?"
"Her soul." She glared at Kagome. "My soul. With it, I will live again." Her hands shook in anger. "This time I will live my life the way that I should have been allowed to live it. I will have a home and a family of my own. And," she smiled, "I will have you."
The less than eloquent curse word expressed Inuyasha's denial.
"Ah, but you will be mine, Inuyasha. You love me. But you also love this pitiful little girl. But don't worry, soon I will have her soul, and we will be one. We are the same, after all. Loving me will be the same as loving her. You will have us both."
"You are NOTHING alike!"
"You try my patience, demon. Be a good dog and sit."
With that word, Inuyasha fell to the ground.
"And not even a 'thank you' for giving Kagome back half of the Shikon jewel. Such bad manners, Inuyasha."
"You need it to capture Kagome… don't you?"
"I knew you were smart. Yes, the jewel is needed for me to absorb her soul. Once she is weakened enough, I will transfer it back."
"Huh?" Why go to all that work just to put the soul back?
"And I will have a body once more."
Oh. That's why. Well, that just isn't going to happen. Inuyasha felt the sit spell weaken. He just needed a few more minutes…
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Inuyasha's ears flattened at the scream. The spell gave way, and he jumped to his feet. In one bound he was by Kagome's side. Her eyes were glowing pink, and she looked like she was in terrible pain. But it wasn't her that was screaming. Golden eyes looked at the priestess in front of him, who was desperately trying to drop Kagome's hand. He could almost see the souls of the priestesses that Kikyo had absorbed as they flowed down her arm. Some of the souls were absorbed into Kagome's skin, others simply floated away once they were freed.
"Let go!" Inuyasha yelled, though he wasn't sure which miko he was yelling at.
Kagome dropped Kikyo's hand. Kikyo dropped to the floor and Kagome began screaming and crying.
"Ssshhh… Kagome… its okay. Everything is okay. Shhhh…." He snarled at the woman on the floor. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?"
"She is dying every death of the others. She is feeling their pain as if it were her own. Had I been allowed to consume her, she would not have to go through such agony. She would have been spared."
"She would have been dead!"
Kikyo shrugged. "We would have been combined. Though I would have been in control."
"Inuyasha…" begged Kagome. "Inuyasha… help me…"
He held her close, as close as he dared. "How do I help her?"
"Her spirit will break, Inuyasha. She is not strong enough. Let me have her, and I will take away her pain."
"I will kill you before you touch her again."
Kikyo smiled sadly. "I am already dead."
"Deader, then."
There was one knock on the door before it swung open.
"Hey, Inuyasha, we brought back some burgers. They are a little cold but we fi…. Is that Kikyo on the floor?" Miroku stood at the door holding three bags of fast food, slightly transparent with grease at the bottom. Shippo and Sango were trying to peek around him.
Kikyo stood up regally. "Another time, perhaps." Then she disappeared.
"Oookay… I think we missed something."
"Oh, you think so, Shippo?"
"No need to be sarcastic, Sango." Shippo crossed his arms over his chest, the same pose that Inuyasha often struck.
Kagome's cries turned to whimpers, and Inuyasha rocked her gently. After a little prompting, he told his friends what had gone on since they left. He told them about everything Kikyo had done, and had tried to do. Eventually Kagome quieted, though Inuyasha couldn't make himself let her go.
"So…" said Kouga as he ate one of the burgers. "You kissed a dead girl?"
