Here is chapter 9 guys! Sorry it took so long, but I just moved house and stuff is everywhere. Anyway, I really hope you like it and won't get too confused over it! Reviews are always appreciated.
Chapter 9: Kikyo
Inuyasha's world began to spin around him. He was racking his brain, desperately trying to figure out a way to get Kagome out of the barrier that Naraku had created safely. He couldn't break through it and trying again would be a waste of strength. And needless to say, if he did try to take a swipe at Naraku, Naraku would hurt Kagome.
She's so helpless…he thought. Immediately, his eyes glazed over in sadness but he fought it. He couldn't let Naraku know what was inside his heart, even though he knew that there was little that Naraku didn't know.
But Naraku did see the slight flicker of emotion. His lips curled into a smirk and waved out his hand. A stream of golden light whirled around Inuyasha—enclosing him, drawing him in. The hanyou was mesmerized, sucked in by the whirlwind of light.
Inuyasha awoke in the golden sunlight. The rays of light blinded his sleep-heavy eyes and he blinked several times. He pulled his arms over his head, but midstretch, he felt something strange. Looking down, he realized that he was bare-chested. His hand shot down to check below the waist and he was relieved to find that his hakama were still on. But he knew that something was not right. He turned over and tried to go back to sleep.
As his eyelids grew heavy once again, he was interrupted. Through the blur of his eyelashes, he caught the glimpse of delicate hands stretching out and long black hair hanging over him.
"K…Ka…" he rasped, heavily.
"Shh…Inuyasha. You must save your strength."
Inuyasha's hand twitched. He recognized that voice. A stiff and hollow voice, it was, yet it carried a drab sophistication. Kikyo.
His eyes flashed open and they fell upon the undead miko's loose hanging hair and disheveled chihaya that wrapped loosely over her shoulders. It alarmed him. He had never seen Kikyo in such a mess. Something happened, he thought. He couldn't put a finger on it, but he knew that something terribly wrong had happened. Lifting his head a smidge, he caught a whiff of Kikyo. With a flare of his nostrils, he picked up a distinct scent.
It was impure, though, he knew that it had been fifty years since Kikyo was the spitting image of purity. If he ignored the smell of Kikyo's death he could catch something else. Lightly sniffing so he wouldn't catch her attention, he realized that it was the scent of violation. Against his will, his eyes widened. Did I…? I couldn't have…I couldn't…
He couldn't show that he picked up something wrong in her scent. He would pry to get an answer. He tried to shift and as he did, he caught the roughness of a bandage. Had he been wounded?
"Wh…What…happened?" he struggled.
Kikyo gave him a pitying smile. "You've just been wounded, is all. Now it is time for you to take your potion." She held up a pear-shaped vial and opened it. Slipping a cold hand under Inuyasha's bare back, she made the hanyou shiver; he shivered not only from the icy shock from her fingers, but also because he began to suspect something. Using all the strength he could muster, he pushed his back against his hand and slammed himself back onto the bedding, as Kikyo yelped, losing her grip on him.
"Just open your mouth, Inuyasha. This will help you recover." Her hand was poised a foot away from his face. The vial was held tilted in her hand. The hanyou stared suspiciously at the vial. Suddenly, he could feel something prompt him, nudge him. Knowing that it was only himself and Kikyo in the hut, he knew that no one actually did so. But that nudge caused his memory to bring him back to a time when the woman in front of him was genuinely alive.
(Flashback) It was dark in the hut and the only light that illuminated the small living space came from the dancing tongues of flames in the hearth. The hanyou crouched down from his perch on the windowsill. He watched the miko in the precisely pressed chihaya mix ingredients over a small pot of boiling water. Though she was bent over, her hair was so long it only looped lazily downwards from her face to her shoulders. Inuyasha stared intently at it. Kikyo's hair was so thick and long…he even crossed the thought of touching it with the back of his finger. But his thoughts snapped when he saw one the jars that Kikyo pulled out. It held several dried snakes and Kikyo laid the dead serpents upon the dirt floor, carefully selecting a particularly darkly-tainted reptile. With a plop, the dried serpent was added to the vat of boiling water. The smell that permeated the room made Inuyasha sick.
But as he was about to be carried away by the nauseating smell, he noticed the miko's hand reach for another jar. Dead serpents? And now what, he thought anxiously. The ingredients prior to the snake had already grossed him out so much that he had creep closer due to his unwavering fascination. Kikyo brought down the dusty jar and blew on it, turning her head away as a cloud of dust rose over her face. As her head was turned, she gave an uncomfortable fleeting glance toward Inuyasha. Inuyasha pretended not to notice.
As quickly as she could, Kikyo lifted the jar's lid and pulled out several small triangular pieces. Thin, grizzly white hairs covered the backsides. It was then that Inuyasha leapt out of the window of the hut. Outside, the fresh air prompted him to look for a nearby bush, and he hurled what little food was in his stomach. Dog ears…they were dog ears…
He turned just in time as he clamped his mouth shut. The foul liquid that contained the boiled remnants of dog ears missed and splattered all over his face. Instantly, his nostrils were punished with the putrid smell.
He turned to look at Kikyo turn away and get up to get a cloth. Kikyo took a clean one from a pile on the table in the corner and walked over to the basin. Inuyasha's eyes widened. The basin. Kagome…
There was a small flash of white light and then a blue glow that splashed on the wall. Within and instant Inuyasha understood. The miasma that stemmed from Naraku's fallen limb had poisoned his thoughts. But with great conviction, he knew that Kikyo was with Naraku on this. Kikyo would reach into the basin and…
"Kikyo!" he snarled.
The miko stopped in her tracks. Inuyasha knows. He's waking up…
"Don't you dare the touch the basin!"
Kikyo did not care. Even though she knew that Naraku had tricked the both of them she did not care. She wanted only to harm Inuyasha. And what better way than to hurt Kagome? Kagome, the worthless, lowly reincarnation of herself? A flood of bitterness entered her undead heart. She did not care. Inuyasha chose Kagome over her. She remembered that cold encounter. Inuyasha simply walked up to her turned back and said that it was "over, Kikyo. It's all over. No more." And without a good-bye, the hanyou walked away.
Kikyo extended her hand and proceeded to plunge the cloth into the basin, but just as the tips of her fingers submerged, Inuyasha threw himself at her, pinning her down with Tetsusaiga buried in her chest.
