Plea of a Fading Soul

Okay, I know I didn't take too long to update (hopefully) and that I am updating fast enough for you people. The rules are this. I'm not allowed to upload new stories until one other fanfiction is completed, or the story that I'm uploaded is completed. So this one has lagged behind a while because it's close to finishing – if you couldn't tell.

And I haven't been able to update because I've had exams, gomen. But now hopefully that should be over and done with and I should be getting back to fanfictioning. Love you all! We've got to the 60 reviews stage! Kya!

PS: This, uh, fic is going to be ending slightly differently than how I planned thanks to a certain something in the recent manga. I hope you understand.

PPS: Ruler isn't working. Damn. So &&& will take its place for this chapter. And possibly, if it continues to be annoying, for the rest of the fic. Arigato gozaimasu.

&&&

Chapter Nine
Reflection

Kikyo lowered her eyes and in fear, Kagome lurched forward – no longer staring at the ceiling through to an apparition of a hanyou she could not see nor hear. There seemed to be tears in Kikyo's eyes. Real tears. Kagome couldn't help but think she was the reason for them, and her heart pounded wildly.

"Meiko, please!"
"No," Kikyo cut in. She raised her eyes, enraged. "Meiko… to destroy the source of your power… How do I do it?" the miko asked softly, cunningly. At the sound of that voice, Kagome turned numb inside out.
Meiko laughed, almost cackling. "You sneaky bitch!" she swore, "I knew it! You are just a heartless shell after all! I'd never tell you how to put an end to me, never!"

"Do I have to kill her?" Kikyo asked, turning her eyes on Kagome. Kagome's insides packed together, rising inside of her to the point where she thought she would throw up. Kikyo's eyes were deadly cold. "I'll do it. She means nothing to me. If it means I'll be ridding the world of two youkai such as you, then I'll do it."

Meiko fell back a step, literally shocked at the idea of it. But then she recovered and narrowed her eyes. "I hate you," she whispered, her voice as cold as winter. "But no, that wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I hope you realise that Kagome has a lasting effect on Inuyasha. Even when she's gone he'll still need her – still keep her inside of him. Unlike you, who only made his life go from bad to worse."
Kagome felt a tear roll down her cheek. No… Kikyo doesn't deserve this… Her heart pounded and she tried to reach forward, hoping to catch either ones attention.

Kikyo still loves Inuyasha… All that time, even while sealing him, she still loved him. And for a little while, she made his world better. Maybe not comfortable, maybe not perfect, but worth living. She… She can't believe that her love was pointless…

Kikyo clenched her fists, her eyes shining in outrage, disbelief, and complete and utter sorrow. Kagome watched as a tear rolled out of one of her eyes. It vanished as quickly as it had come; leaving nothing to suggest it had ever been there in the first place. Kikyo's expression was masked carefully and she narrowed her eyes at Meiko.

If I can get her where I want her, then I won't have to sacrifice Kagome… she glanced at her reincarnation now, her face guarding the plot beginning in her mind. If I turn them both against me, if I'm weakened, I think I can do it. And that way no one will have to suffer.
Kikyo tried to ignore Meiko's spiteful words, tried to focus on Kagome's disgusted expression at hearing such a thing fired at her incarnation. Yes, Kagome was there. She was telling her – through her eyes – that it wasn't true. That Meiko was wrong. That she'd been worth something to Inuyasha, and still did.
She would be worthy.

Meiko turned, her blonde hair whipping around her as she went. "It's no use. Whatever you plot, whatever you decide, it can't work. Kanuono will succeed,"
"Meiko, he plans to kill me, I'm sure of it." Kagome hissed. "If you just listen to me!"
The miko turned back, infuriated. "If he kills you, then I don't care – so be it. You mean nothing to me, either of you."

Kagome regarded her expression for a moment before bowing her head. She couldn't see a way out, not in a long shot. Kanuono planned on corrupting Kikyo, and at that time, who knew what would happen? Would the Shikon no Tama become even more defiled than it was already? And how would Inuyasha react? And, when Kanuono was finished with Kikyo – what then?

Meiko smiled to herself. "As it stands, I'm getting stronger. And so is Kanuono. I can feel Inuyasha's fear, just as Kanuono can. Thick and rich. Desperate. I can almost surface his thoughts. He's…" she froze, suddenly, and for a moment Kagome was sure that the girl had turned to stone. It was almost as if, in one swoop of a hand, one bat of an eyelid, that Meiko had stopped breathing, as if her blood had stilled and time had stopped.

Then she clenched her fists and she was running.
Kikyo's eyes widened momentarily before she decided either she didn't care or Meiko didn't. The girl was leaving. Leaving them chained to the walls, prisoners. But they could escape right? Now that Meiko was gone…

"Be still," Kikyo hissed under her breath to Kagome just as the girl had begun to wriggle out of her invisible bonds. She immediately stopped moving and lay limp against the wall, staring in the direction of the older girl.
Kikyo's gaze was calculating, staring down at the ground but looking as if right through it. "Why would she abandon us like that? Lower her guard…"

"Inuyasha said he'd learnt something about who Kanuono is. Maybe Meiko herself has learnt this too," Kagome put in.
Kikyo met her gaze and almost nodded, her cheeks colouring slightly as if she was swelling with pride. But then Kagome blinked and she was almost sure it had never happened. The miko before her turned her face away. "And do we know what Inuyasha has learnt?"

Kagome sighed. "I have no clue. He… He was born from our fear. Kanuono. Meiko was born from our–" she stopped, wondering whether she was almost about to catch Kikyo wincing. The miko seemed unaffected.
Kagome didn't finish her sentence; she just took a deep breath and tried again. "When I first saw Kanuono he was dressed in a haori and outfit much like Inuyasha's. Exactly like Inuyasha's. Except it was black. I remember thinking that, and remember wondering how coincidental it was.

"But now that I think about it–" she stopped. Kanuono had hair that ran down just below his ears, as black as his impossibly dark eyes. But if his hair was slightly longer… say, down to his back, and his eyes had been violet… That face could almost belong to–
Kagome's blood turned to ice water. She made to start a sentence but it choked in her throat, leaving a tense silence in the air. Kikyo was staring at her.

I chose not to notice. I chose not to see… her heart seemed to still in her chest and she found that the world was spinning. Spinning totally out of control. His face… His face was Inuyasha's… And I didn't even notice, I didn't care – I was so worried about Inuyasha, so concerned and so afraid. It was almost as if– There was no doubt in her mind. Kanuono had blinded her to this – used her fear against her to make her oblivious.

"Kagome…?" Kikyo prompted.
And Kikyo hadn't even noticed, Kagome concluded. Unless… "Kikyo," she started uneasily. "Did you actually see Kanuono when he caught you?"
The miko raised one elegant eyebrow before shaking her head. "No. All I know is that he has dark hair – it spilled onto my shoulder while he leant over."

Kagome sucked in a quick breath. "Then maybe Inuyasha really does know something," she said softly. "Because Kanuono… could pass as his double. Albeit a dark, evil, human-looking double."
Kikyo's expression didn't change except her eyes narrowed. "Kanuono is Inuyasha?" she asked quietly, dangerously – almost as if she were daring Kagome to admit this.

Her reincarnation said nothing. Kagome balled her hands up into fists, her nails digging into the palm of her hand. That's impossible…! Her mind screamed. But if she believed that so furiously why did she not answer Kikyo?
She gritted her teeth. "Meiko couldn't have discovered this."
"Why not? She just admitted she could surface his thoughts. And Inuyasha is with Kanuono now, is he not?"

Fear rose up inside the pit of Kagome's stomach. Her own brown eyes narrowed just as Kikyo's did, until she was unsure whether or not they were really so different after all. "If Inuyasha thinks the same – that Kanuono is him – what is it going to do to him?"

Kikyo made a gesture that was almost a shrug. "I've yet to be told what it is this 'Shadow Man' has done to you. To both of you. I don't really think it is possible for them to be one and the same."

"But we are," Kagome said, raising her eyes. Kikyo stared back with equal intensity before inclining her head in solemn agreement. Neither had to say anything else. No, they were not alike in mind. But they shared the same soul. Whether or not they liked it – they were the same.

Kagome felt a tickling sensation inside of her, a rumbling uncomfortable feeling that told her to say something. Told her to tell Kikyo – reassure her – that she had meant something to Inuyasha, despite what Meiko had said. She could tell what Kanuono's 'girlfriend' had said had hurt her. But she found the words wouldn't come. And she doubted Kikyo wanted any kind of support from her rival.

"What now?" Kagome practically whispered, bowing her head.
Kikyo looked away also, staring in the direction Meiko had run off. "We wait,"
"Wait for the trouble to find us?" her reincarnation asked sceptically.
Kikyo sniffed, shaking her head. "We wait for the answers."

&&&

Inuyasha attempted to glare at Kanuono, but found he was failing pitifully. Where had all is courage gone? At the sight of him, at the sudden realisation of who it was standing in front of him, he felt like he would faint. His legs were wobbling and he felt so utterly annoyed at himself that he thought he would slice open his legs for being so rebellious.

But he was afraid. He didn't know what it meant to look at himself in the mirror and point the finger at the reflection, labelling them a bad guy. The ultimate fear. He didn't want to register the face as his.

Kanuono's hair was no longer chopped short, but was flowing down to his waist. His dark eyes were not in reality black, but the darkest purple Inuyasha had ever seen, bordering blue. His smile was wicked, fangs indenting the upper lip like a troll. And his ears were youkai – pointed, oblong and elf-like.
Two light purple marks ripped across the flesh of each cheek. Youkai birth markings.
This was his true form. Apart from a few questionable inheritances and mismatched human/youkai appearance, Kanuono was Inuyasha.

And he was him, there was no doubt about it. The fire in those eyes, the stubborn yet battle-hungry expression, and the slant of his smile were traits Inuyasha had possessed before meeting both Kikyo and Kagome. The untamed beast that was lying dormant inside of him.

"You know who I am…?" Kanuono teased, stepping forward. The voice that came out from between those lips was Inuyasha's. "If you truly know, then why are you so afraid?"
Inuyasha took a stumbling step backwards, clenching his fists. Stay away from me! His mind screamed as he tried to get as far away as possible from Shadow Man without leaving the clearing completely.

"You're me…" Inuyasha stammered out. He gripped onto the bark of a tree trunk behind him, hoping it would offer some comfort. It didn't. He just stood there, staring at his mismatched image while fear rose up inside of him.

Kanuono smiled. "Am I?" he replied. "What lunacy led you to that idea?"
"Don't toy with me." Inuyasha spat, eyes narrowing. "It's why you could hold Tessaiga! It's why you weren't repelled by its barrier! And it's why you know every little itty bitty detail about me and Kagome!"

He jerked forward, silver hair billowing around him as he did so. "And you scare the shit out of me! I'm not afraid to say that, when all I'm afraid of is turning into you!" he roared.
Laughter rung out through the air, and Kanuono tossed his hair, running a hand through it elegantly in a way that Inuyasha had only seen Sesshoumaru do. Anger rose up inside him.

The jackass was looking down on him, treating him like a smaller, insignificant being. Just like his dear older brother did.
Kanuono took a few more steps forward and Inuyasha, despite his strong words, reacted by backing away again. But his face was full of fire as he did so.

"You're cleverer than I originally suspected. And there's something else you're afraid of too, isn't it? You're afraid that all I do, all I say, is correct. That Kagome's death would jolt you so much you wouldn't be able to move on. Or is it true that you do not love her? I've said both of these, and what is really interesting is to know which is the truth…"

"I already told her I loved her."
"Love-d? Past tense? Just like it is past tense for a certain other individual?" The dark-haired figure stepped forward yet again, but this time Inuyasha stayed put.
Kanuono had crossed the line. Fury was rising up inside of him so it clouded out all other thoughts, blinded him to all except that Kanuono was there, standing, mockingly, in front of him.

Not only had Kanuono insulted him, he'd insulted the two people in the world he cared for the most. He treated the three of them like they were nothing, like they were meaningless and their love didn't exist. But it was solid between them. A triangle spinning helplessly out of control – yes – but still real: still there, and still strong.
Maybe Inuyasha couldn't sever his ties to Kikyo completely, but it didn't stop him from loving Kagome. Loving her for she was and not for being anything but herself.

Inuyasha withdrew Tessaiga from its sheath and took a challenging step forward. Kanuono reacted by raising an eyebrow, but he didn't move, pale, nor widen his eyes. If he felt any reaction other than amusement, he hid it expertly.
"You don't know a damn thing!" Inuyasha cried as he placed one foot in front of the other, infuriated beyond belief. "Kikyo was my first love." He hissed, clutching tightly onto the hilt of the fang, his own teeth bared. "And I love both of them now. In the present," he continued, eyes aflame. "But I'm not an idiot. Kikyo isn't supposed to be here, and I'm supposed to be moving on. I can't forget about her, but I can't stay in the past. And so I've got to move on!"

He gritted his teeth as if each step hurt him, his eyes narrowed to slits. And for one instant Kanuono was afraid. Afraid of Inuyasha's determination, afraid that he didn't know what the hell was going on here. Fear itself was terrified.

"So you see," Inuyasha said in a voice as cold as winter, velvety and full of emotion. "There's a time and a place. Kagome is my future. Kikyo's my past. And right now I'm getting tired of your crap."

Kanuono's expression darkened and he clawed up his hands, shifting his stance only slightly, but now he was ready to fight. "You really think you can defeat me?" he challenged, purring.
Inuyasha smiled fleetingly. When he spoke, he hoped the words would strike to some chord within Kanuono. He grinned. "I don't think. I know,"

And then he pounced.