A/N: I'm so excited! I'm so close to the end! AHHH. Lol. I'm excited for it too. Hope you guys are enjoying this story. So read!

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Lies

"Kikyo…" Kagome's eyes were wide. She lay on the hard grass with Kikyo right on top of her. Her breathing was staggered and irregular. Things were happening too fast for Kagome to even comprehend. One moment she was waiting for Inuyasha and the next thing she knew, Kikyo was trying to kill her.

"It ends here," Kikyo said and took a stab at Kagome.

For a split second, Kagome's mind went blank. Everything was so surreal. But snapping right back into reality just in time, she moved before the dagger went straight through her heart.

Taken by surprise, Kikyo landed on the ground on her back. Kagome had pushed herself up and thrown Kikyo off her. The dagger that was once in her hand was also thrown back and lay on the ground.

Kagome quickly sprung for the dagger. Yet, it was not only her hand that grasped it. "Let go," Kikyo said in her face.

"No. I don't want to hurt you, Kikyo. Just-" Kagome didn't care if Kikyo was trying to kill her, she didn't want either of them to get hurt.

"That's a funny thing for you to say. 'I don't want to hurt you, Kikyo,'" she imitated Kagome in a high pitched voice. "If you didn't want to hurt me, you wouldn't have come here." She pulled the dagger away from Kagome. Its blade cut into Kagome's hand since she was holding onto the blade and not the handle.

Instantly, Kagome knew that she had to get the dagger back. Kikyo was going to go after her, and there was no one here to stop her.

She fought with Kikyo for the dagger. They rolled on the grass, each yelling and crying from the pain. The dagger was in between them, stabbing each of them here and there.

Their cloths were torn with blood splotches all over. "Kikyo! Just stop!" Kagome yelled, Kikyo had just sent the dagger into her shoulder, and it was bleeding profusely.

"I. Want. You. Dead." Kikyo's eyes were blazing. There was no thinking involved now. All she wanted was to see Kagome dead.

Kagome grabbed Kikyo's hands that gripped the dagger. There had been several close calls where Kikyo almost could have stabbed her in the stomach.

They wrestled, not knowing where the dagger went, just as long as it wasn't through them.

Kikyo tried again to stab Kagome in the abdomen. Kagome pushed the dagger away from her again, yet this time, Kikyo's hands didn't pushed Kagome's hands back with as much force.

There was a scream. It was loud enough to wake the dead. Guards came rushing to the scene at once and surrounded the two girls.

Unable to breath, Kagome slid out from underneath Kikyo. Blood was covering her shirt. Kikyo wasn't moving. Kagome rolled her onto her back and saw that the dagger had been sent through her stomach.

It shocked her. What had happened? She couldn't have killed Kikyo. No. It couldn't be. All the guards were looking at her, pointed their weapons at her.

"I… I… didn't do it… I…" Kagome stuttered.

One of the guards held his fingers to Kikyo's nose to see if she was breathing or not.

Kikyo was dead.

Her eyes were open and the fire in them was still there. The dagger stuck in her stomach and blood was still rushing out. In all of the confusion, Kikyo had accidentally turned the dagger to face her and with Kagome's force, it dug deep into her.

&

One of the guards recognized Kikyo and headed straight for the queen's quarters.

"Mother, I'm through with this!" screamed the emperor as the guard approached. Inuyasha knew that he was late to meet Kagome and was trying to live.

"Where do you think you are going, Inuyasha?" the queen was frustrated at her son's behavior. He had never disobeyed her in such a way before.

"To see Kagome," his voice was low.

The guard bowed down. He wondered when he would be able to speak.

"What is it?" the queen finally took notice in the man in uniform.

"Your highness, you have to come quick. Lady Kikyo… she has been stabbed. I don't think she'll be able to make it," he added the last sentence… knowing that Kikyo was already dead.

There was silence. It took a moment for his words to sink in. Kikyo was dead.

The queen's knees felt weak and she held on to the table's edge to keep from falling. Her daughter… she thought. Kikyo… her daughter… dead. "Where is she?" she finally said.

"By the bridge, your highness."

Inuyasha stood there stunned. Kikyo was stabbed. The girl that had loved him… Even though he didn't like her, he hadn't dreamed that this would happen to her. He wanted to see her. He needed to know who had done it.

"Let's go," he took his mother by the arm and guided her to the bridge.

&

Kagome had scrunched up into a ball away from Kikyo. Her face was on her knees and her body shook in shock and fear. She couldn't comprehend what she had done. She was responsible for this. But it was entirely her fault. It wasn't her fault. She couldn't have possibly ended a person's life. It was Kikyo. She had pointed the dagger towards herself. Kagome had not intended on sending the dagger into Kikyo, just away from herself. It wasn't her fault. Yet, just ahead, Kikyo lay there unmoving.

Lifting her head up a bit, Kagome looked down at her hands. They were stained with blood- Kikyo's blood. She wanted to wash her hands; her shirt was covered in blood as well. It sickened her. This seemed like a bad nightmare, but it wasn't.

Footsteps were coming towards her. She turned her head. It was Inuyasha and the queen.

Instantly, the queen rushed towards Kikyo. Tears were streaming from her eyes. "Kikyo! Who could have done this to you!" she wailed out. Her face dug into Kikyo's chest.

Inuyasha saw Kagome and walked towards her instead. He squatted down to be leveled with her. "Kagome…" he lifted her chin so he could look at her.

Kagome's face was pale; it had absolutely no color, as if she had turned into a ghost. He touched her hands and saw that they were cold and covered with blood. "Kagome, what happened?" He looked at her, worry was written all over his face. He thought that whoever had attacked Kikyo had attacked Kagome too.

She couldn't possibly reply. She wanted to tell him, but her voice was gone. Everything had gone so wrong…

&

The queen got up, regaining some energy. She had convinced herself that Kikyo was not dead. "Get the doctor!" she screamed at the many guards. "She can't be dead! I have to save her!" she looked at them, none of them were moving, "Hurry! Go! I will not let her die!"

The guards stirred, none of them wanted to tell the queen the truth. Finally, a guard stepped forward. "Your highness," he began, his voice shaking, "we had checked if Lady Kikyo was breathing… and she wasn't."

The queen simply dropped to the ground. "Who did this to her… Who could have killed her… Kikyo… Kikyo…" the queen said. Grief swept over her. She had not been a good mother. She had given her daughter away the day that she had been born, and now she had not taken care of her, and she lay dead.

The queen brushed the hair out of Kikyo's face and ran her hand over her eyes to close them. "You're very beautiful. I love you, Kikyo. I want you to know that," and her hugged her deceased daughter.

"Your highness," the same guard that had spoken earlier said, "we suspect that Kagome killed Kikyo."

Inuyasha heard this and dropped Kagome's hand. His gaze changed. "You didn't right?" he asked her, a hint a suspicion in his voice.

"I didn't…" Kagome shook her head, hurt filled her voice. She couldn't believe that Inuyasha had believed that she had.

He didn't know what to believe. Everything pieced together. Why Kagome was covered in blood and sitting away from Kikyo. "Who's blood is this?" he lifted up her hands.

"I didn't do it, Inuyasha…" Kagome didn't know how she could explain herself. She wasn't the one to do it. Yet, everything pointed to her. No one would believe her. Inuyasha didn't even believe her.

The queen had made her way over to Kagome now. "Did you kill Kikyo?" she demanded from her.

"Your highness, you have to believe me…" tears ran down her face and her words were hard to make out, "I- I… didn't do it."

She didn't even want to hear this. Kagome had killed her daughter. The pure sight of the girl sickened her. She was covered in Kikyo's blood, and now she was trying to deny it.

"This is the girl you are in love with Inuyasha?" Her voice was like poison. Kagome couldn't believe it was the same queen that had smiled and cared for her. "She killed Kikyo. She was jealous. She didn't want Kikyo in her way. She killed her to get you all to herself and thought that she could get away with it. What a foolish thought." There words pained Kagome. She couldn't believe it. Inuyasha wasn't even looking at her anymore; even he thought that she had done this.

Anger had taken over the queen's grief. Now the thing that she wanted most was to kill Kagome with her bare hands. "Guards, take her away and lock her up tightly."

The guards obeyed and pulled Kagome up by her arms. "Inuyasha… you have to believe me. I didn't do it… I didn't do it," and that was all she could say to him.

&

Kikyo's funeral was held the following day in the morning. The ceremony was grand and many of the officials that had worked with Suga over the years showed up to share the grief.

Michiko had gone hysterical when she got the news from the queen. She now was on her knees in front of Kikyo's casket weeping uncontrollably.

Inuyasha was standing near the front, looking now onto Kikyo's face. He had never looked at her in such a way before. It was a look of longing. Inuyasha was sad that she was gone. It was like he had lost a relative, a young sister.

Pain surged in his chest, knowing that Kagome had done this. He couldn't believe it, and yet he did. Kagome was as such a sweet and kind person… what could have come over to do that. He did not know, but Kagome's hands were stained with Kikyo's blood. There was no way in denying it. All of the evidence pointed to her. The guards had even said that she had done it.

The queen walked over to Michiko, hoping to give her some words of kindness for the loss- but it was also her loss as well. "Michiko, I'm so sorry for what has happened."

Michiko sat, unmoving by the queen's soft words. "You- you're sorry? That was my daughter. She died because of Kagome." She knew that Kagome was the queen's daughter and the queen's daughter had killed her Kikyo. It just wasn't right.

The queen didn't know what Michiko could be talking about. Of course she was sorry, and Michiko should have told her that she was sorry for the loss. After all, Kikyo was her daughter, not Michiko's. "I am sorry, Michiko. It wasn't my fault that this happened," the queen tried again.

Tears still fell down her face. Michiko heart had turned into stone the day that her son was taken away from her nineteen years ago. She had blamed the queen for taking away her son and had never forgiven her. Her heart was torn in two when the guard had told her that the queen wanted to switch their children. She could have said no, and the queen knew that. The only thing she could do was give her new born a kiss on the forehead before letting him go.

Suga, kind-hearted as he was, had tried to stop her from dropping Kagome on the doorstep of a run-down restaurant building, but she had not listened. She was never in her life going to raise a child of a woman that she truly despised. And now she was going to get the queen back for having Kikyo, a child that she had kept her own and given her comfort for all these year, die because of Kagome. Kagome, the queen's daughter, had killed Kikyo. Michiko didn't understand how life could have treated her so unfairly.

She was going to make the queen pay. It wasn't enough to have Kagome poor; she was going to do something even more worse. "I'm sorry that I said that earlier, your highness. You must forgive," she sounded so sincere, "I am just not myself. Kikyo dieing so abruptly has shaken me up. You must feel as terrible as I do… after all she was your daughter." Michiko added as emphasize on the 'your,' as well as lowering her voice so no one was able to hear her.

The queen nodded, a tear slipping from her eye. She regretted having given Kikyo away that night to trade her for Inuyasha. All these years she was unable to spend time with her own daughter, but Michiko hardly was able to even see Inuyasha.

"Kagome killed Kikyo in such a terrible way," Michiko continued, "I hope that you personally see to it that she gets the harshest punishment possible. Kikyo died in her hands… it was all because of jealously… money and power. She was nothing; you must make her pay for what she had done to Kikyo."

Thinking about what Michiko had said, the queen slowly shook her head in agreement. She had been thinking about the punishment for Kagome ever since she had found out that Kagome had killed Kikyo. A little bit of her didn't believe that. The girl that she had once cherished and valued could not have committed such a crime, but it was the truth that she had. "What would you like me to do? Execute her?" the queen asked, her voice was tired.

"Just an execute?" Michiko was not satisfied. "I can not let her get off that easily. You can't let her get away that easily. She killed your only daughter."

"This is not the time to discuss this, Michiko. I want to give Kikyo peace. She wouldn't want to hear us talk about this. I can assure that I will take good care of matters with Kagome." The queen walked away, a little more shaken up by the conversation that she just had. Her only daughter was dead, and she had the killer right in her hands… She shook the thought from her; she was going to pray for Kikyo and that was going to be the only thought on her mind for the duration of the funeral.

&

Kagome spent the night in the dirtiest and most enclosed cell. She only had enough room to fully lie down and stand up. The door that faced her now was made out of metal and her hands and feet were chained together.

Straw covered the ground and no sunlight was let in. She was utter darkness for a whole day now. No food had been given to her, had Kagome sat upright limply with her back to the wall.

All her energy was drained from her and the only thoughts that had been playing in her mind the entire time was the night near the bridge. Kikyo had died, and Inuyasha had not believed her.

She had not killed her. It was not her fault. Kikyo's hands were wrapped around the dagger and she had only pushed the dagger away because it had been close to killing her. Yes, Kagome had replayed the situation back in her mind more than a thousand times. That's what happened. She had nothing to do with the killing.

Suddenly, the door was open. Light poured into the tiny cell and Kagome had to shield her eyes. "Get up," a man told her sternly and pulled her up from the ground. "The emperor is here to see you."

He led her to a small room with a table in the center and two chairs. Inuyasha was already seated in one and the guard pushed down in the other facing it; then he stood to her left. Another guard came to stand to her right. It was as if they expected her to jump up and attack the emperor.

Kagome didn't look at Inuyasha. She had no reason to talk to him. After all this time that they had known each other, he had believed that she had killed someone.

Inuyasha looked straight at Kagome. He studied her. He wanted to know what she was thinking. He wanted to know the truth. He wanted to trust her… but a bit of him didn't. "Kagome…" he started. "I came her to learn why you had…"

He did not get the chance to finish. "You want to know why I killed Kikyo, is that right?" Kagome finally looked at him. She had not expected him to say that to her. He wanted to know why she had done it? And how could had even thought that he had come to know the truth to hear her out. How wrong could she have been? "Well, I'm going to tell you. I killed Kikyo. Are you happy? I killed her with my own two hands." She held them up; they were still stained with Kikyo's blood because they hadn't given her any water to wash them.

"I did it because I want your money. You're wealth. I was using you. Your mother was right. I did it all to be the queen. I wasn't in love with you. And after I saw that Kikyo was a threat to all of that, I had to get rid of her. I would have succeeded, but she had screamed after I had stabbed her." Kagome said all this in expressionless face. She couldn't believe the words that were coming out from her mouth. Inuyasha had just angered her. He didn't believe her when she had tried so hard to tell him the truth, and now she was giving him the story that he wanted to hear.

Stunned, he finally replied, "Kagome… I never loved you either. You were foolish of thinking that I ever did." He said it as emotionless as she had.

Kagome bit back the tears and the pain. So he hadn't loved her. "Well, I'm glad that we got that clear."

"Yeah, I am too. Now I know what kind of person you truly are." He stood up to leave, not looking back at her. Never asking her how she was in the jail, never caring enough to tell her that he did love her, never even telling her that he wanted to get her out of there. No, he had not been able to say this. Instead he had told her a lie. He loved her; she was the first person that he had cared that much for and for some reason after Kagome had told him that she had never loved him, he had to do the same back to her.

He steps dragged along the ground. His heart pained to know that she had never loved him. Every single word that Kagome said were resounding in his ears, and he believed every last word of it.

&

Kagome was thrown back into her cell and the door was once again close on her. Darkness surrounded her. She wanted to get out of there. She wanted to be anywhere but this. She would rather die than be here.

Yet, not long afterward, the door was again thrown up and the same guard came in to take her to a different room. The room contained chains and whips and a fire raged in the middle of it all. There was a woman standing with her back to Kagome.

"Tie her up to the cross," the woman said. Kagome recognized the voice instantly- it was the queen.

The guard took Kagome's wrists and tied a rope around it so that they hung to a wooden cross. Kagome's arms were spread apart and her legs remained chained together.

The queen turned to face her. The fire reflected in her eyes. She grabbed a whip that hung on the wall and stepped towards Kagome. "Now, I want to hear the truth, Kagome." Her voice was sharp and fierce. All the anger was rushing back to her at the sight of Kagome. Michiko's words were pounding in her ears. She would have to teach this girl a hard lesson for killing her daughter.

"Did you kill Kikyo?" she repeated.

"No," Kagome said solidly. She had told Inuyasha that she had, but she was not about to tell anyone else that. The truth was that she didn't, and she was not going to get punished for something that she had not done.

The whipped cracked, hitting her on the face. It stung and Kagome screamed. "I want the truth," the queen demanded.

"I didn't kill her!"

Again the whipped cracked. Anger and rage had taken over the queen. She wanted to kill Kagome.

Kagome again screamed from the pain. This time the queen had hit her one of her arms and her clothes ripped easily revealing her cut skin. Kagome couldn't believe that this was the queen. It seemed almost like she was possessed by the demon.

"Kikyo killed herself. She was trying to kill me!" Kagome told the queen desperately, hoping to not get whipped again.

She wasn't going to hear this. The whipped hit Kagome again.

"You are a liar. Kikyo would never try to kill anyone. You are such a deceiving girl. You had played with all of our hearts. You pretended to be kind and nice while are you nothing like that." The whip hit her again. "Your parents that raised you don't even deserve to be called parents. They have raised a monster!"

"You live my parents out of this. You don't even know them. You have no right-" Kagome was unable to finish. The queen whipped her harder.

Each beating hurt and Kagome was losing so much blood that her vision had become blurred. The queen was never going to stop. She was yelling and whipping her, each time it seemed harder than the last. Finally, it ended.

The queen still held the whip; her hand was shaking. Kagome's eyes were closed. She had fainted.

She looked at the girl. Slash marks covered her limp body. Her clothes were tattered and showed the marks. Just as the queen was about to tell the guards to take her back to her cell, she noticed something.

Kagome's sleeve was only half on her arm from all the whippings it had received. There clearly on her arm was a set of teeth marks.

The whip dropped from the queen's hand.

A/N: So… what do you think? Is it realistic enough that in all of the confusion that Kikyo accidentally kills herself because Kagome has nothing to do with it. I hope everyone liked it and how the story it going. This was an awfully sad chapter. It will get better. Review please (with a cherry on top!).