Disclaimer - Inu Yasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, not me. :sighs wistfully:

March 18th, 2006

# 15 – Reincarnation

When he felt her life slip away, he cried tears of grief and despair. He cried because she was dead, her blood staining his wicked hands, mingling with thousands of others. He cried because despite all of his so-called strength and skill he was still a weak man. He cried and raged and grieved because when he look into the still face of the woman he had loved, he knew deep down it was not for her that his heart mourned.

After all, this was not the first time he had found himself in this situation. Oh no… how long had it been? How many years had it been since that very first time? How many lives had he lived? It was hard to remember sometimes. He had lived and died, and lived and died again, beginning each life anew as if waking from a dream. With each new existence he carried with him all the pains and burdens of his previous lives, weighed down by them like a man damned.

Was he cursed? Perhaps. It was possible he had been cursed to have his soul continuously wander from one life to another, forced to know nothing but anger, regret, and despair. Why not? It was not as if he had been by any means a good man. No few good actions he may have performed could makeup for even a single lifetime of wickedness. After all, didn't men across the countryside still utter his name in a mixture of awe and fear? Didn't mothers still frighten their children with tales of his deeds in order to get them to behave?

Of course – nothing had changed.

He was a demon.

He was a killer.

He was a monster.

He had single-handedly extinguished the lives of many men. He had slaughtered and destroyed hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. Despite whatever noble intentions he may have started with, he had still become that which he despised most – what he knew she had despised most.

Then again… he supposed it didn't really matter. If he ever did die, it was not as if she would ever know of the wrongs he had committed. It was not as if he would ever see her again, right? His soul was damned… until he could atone for his sins he was certain their paths would not cross again…

…and it hurt.

He tried not to think about such things, but as he traveled alone along the dusty roads leading into town, his mind automatically seemed to wander to such things. He supposed he'd just have to live with that.

His body tensed, suddenly sensing the presence of another coming from behind. Almost out of habit his hand went for his sword, but he had to remind himself that that was not the path he walked anymore. Willing his hand back to his side, he forced himself to continue walking away, pretending as if nothing were amiss. What would be the point anyway? It was not as if he had anything to protect—

All of a sudden, something in his chest gave a harsh tug, as if a string wrapped around his heart had just been yanked with all its might. The action startled him so badly that it took all his soul's effort to keep itself in its current persona.

His eyes widened, as he felt the presence closing in on him quickly. Who was this person? Who was it that had an aura so powerful that would cause him to nearly backslide into—

But that wasn't possible… this person… this person couldn't possibly know…

His heart gave another harsh tug, and with a startling pain came awareness. His eyes widened in disbelief. Surprise, sadness, shock, shame, anger, despair, hope… he couldn't be sure what he felt.

Blue. Eyes so deep and expressive framed by raven black hair. Eyes that burned brightly with anger, staring so cuttingly through him as if they didn't care who he was.

It couldn't be… it just couldn't be possible…

And yet there she stood, this slip of a girl, staring him down without fear. She was different, he knew, but he could see it all the same… the bright fire, her spirit… it was all the same as before.

After all these centuries…

…K…Kagome…

"Hold it right there…Battousai!"

So, she knew his past identity... but did she know him? Really know who he was? He wanted to run to her, he wanted to run away. He wanted to scream, he wanted to laugh, he wanted to cry. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but only one thing would come to mind…

"Oro…?"

End

Author's Notes – Hahaha!