Fiery embers jumped into her eyes as they fell upon the dead miko. She could feel her jealousy rising that should have disappeared forever at the sound of those last three words. He loved her, not Kikyou. So why did he kiss her? She pushed aside the question, wallowing miserably in her tears and the hanyou's blood. Her eyes dropped from Kikyou's, refusing to answer her question until the priestess' sharp words gnawed away the last bit of sanity she had left in her.
"It's over. You've killed him. He's dead. So why are you still here?" Something inside Kagome snapped at those words. Her eyes raged, her fists clenching along with her jaw. She shot up straight on her knees, tears clinging tightly to her lashes as her lips trembled when she pressed them together.
"No he's not! He's not dead! I didn't kill him!" She shouted, refusing to believe her words no matter how truthful. She just couldn't see herself dropping down, admitting he was officially gone. She just couldn't bear to face a life without him. Then again, she never thought there would be one minute without him in it.
"Who's arrow protrudes from his chest? Where did it strike? How much blood did he lose? What did that monk say when he felt for that pulse?" Kikyou whispered each explanation to her as she stepped closer, hovering over Kagome as the champion of this battle. "You killed him."
It hurt so bad. She was trembling from her horror and sadness. How could she have let herself let go of that arrow? How could she have watched him die right in front of her? How could he ever forget what she had done, or ever forgive her? Would it matter, if he was really dead? Already, the feeling of his fingers trailing through her raven tresses was starting to fade. Oh how she wished she could remember.
"STOP SAYING THAT! I...I would never..." The hysterical miko screamed, jumping to her feet. Every inch of her ached. Her head pounded from crying, her eyes stung, everything else stung from the hanyou's claw marks. Now, she didn't mind his needing scratches at all. She wanted more of them, if it only meant that he was back for good.
"…Well…what did you expect? Beauty always kills the beast in the end." Kikyou murmured, her brows raising tauntingly as she took another, daring, step closer. The miko was enraged. How dare she speak of him like that? Those animalistic marking along her arms, neck, legs, meant nothing more than his love to her. Right?
"Inuyasha is /not/ a beast!" She retorted, her fists clenching harshly until her own nails dug into her alabaster palms. It hurt, but not nearly as much as the wound the deceased priestess was creating in her already holey heart.
She smirked, and Kagome plowed over the edge. Her fiery hatred and angry fueled her, ripping her hands to open palms, raising one threateningly. Kikyou glared at the innocent girl. She wouldn't dare. But the priestess didn't have a moment more to think as the girl's open palm struck against her cheek, throwing her face to the side from the harsh slap.
Kagome gasped, stumbling back with a hand gripping the other, palm stinging with the feeling of her skin hitting the other miko's so evilly. She wanted to say she was sorry, but something inside her forced it down. This was the woman she had saved countless times, given up her happiness for her and the hanyou. This was the woman who had absolutely no reason to hate her so cruelly.
"Wench!" She hissed, touching the spot on her face where Kagome's hand had hit. Her hazel brown eyes flashed with rage at the girl as the priestess shot out a hand to grasp her arm, shaking her violently. "Leave!" She shouted to her. "Leave us! You can't have him anymore, you hard headed wench!"
The young miko trembled slightly, pulling away, though Kikyou held strong with her frozen hands. Kikyou shook her again before throwing her to the ground, eyes following her as she scrambled away. Kagome stood, gasping out lost breaths as she struggled to avoid the miko's grabbing hands. What had she gotten herself into?
The dark trees shadowed her, sending her eyes into a shock of black. She couldn't see, could hardly breathe in the heavy black, her hands fumbling for something solid as horrible thoughts sunk back in. Inuyasha was dead, she couldn't get over it, couldn't forget it, couldn't stop the tears from falling from the corners of her eyes once more.
A short scream ripping from the miko's lips as hands clenched around her throat, squeezing unmercifully until the breath filtered from her lungs, unable to pry it's way back in. Kikyou squeezed, jamming Kagome against the rough bark of the tree, nails tearing through the girl's pale skin. Her teeth clenched, her eyes gleaming as she watched the girl fight against her grip. She watched her choke, gag, and cry, until her legs finally buckled from pressure.
Kagome sank low, a hoarse "Please!" gurgling out with the last of her breath. She struggled against the suffocation, kicking her legs free from under her to thrash wildly with no response from the unfeeling priestess. Kagome writhed, grabbing at the miko's long, course, hair that hung over her shoulders. She kicked, gasped, wiggled, but it was no use as her head became light, her eyes clouding over.
She was right. Kikyou had known what she was talking about at their last confrontation. 'You can't save him'. No. She hadn't been able to save him. In fact, she was the one that had killed him, the one that someone needed to save him from. How could she possibly save him? She couldn't get her mind off him, even as her last breaths weaved from her bluing lips. Finally, with a last glance towards the boy she loved, the crimson blood that trailed down his chin, her arms fell to her sides, her eyes closing. Soon, she fell limp underneath the dead priestess' grasp, slinking down to lay, motionless, on the forest floor.
Kikyou stepped back, her hands shaking as she lowered her eyes to the motionless miko. She lay so still, and her lips looked almost blue. Her skin looked hazy, like it was covered in a layer of ice. The color had long since flushed from her face, leaving her an unnatural and deadly alabaster color. Ice and marble. Cold. Dead.
It was safe to say the priestess was just a bit frightened she had gone too far. Had she killed Kagome? She would like to say that it didn't matter, when or how the foolish 'wench' died. But it mattered. It mattered alot. If she was dead now, it would ruin everything else.
'Damn!' She cursed, mentally, crouching down to pluck the small necklace from around the girl's throat. At these times, she cursed being dead. She couldn't feel a thing. Not whether the girl's skin was warm or frozen, or if she still had a lingering pulse. The priestess would never be able to feel the soft beating against her fingertips. Kagome could very well be just as dead as alive.
Kikyou rolled the little glass bottle, sparkling sacred shards tinkling inside, around in her cold palm. She flicked off the little cork lodged in the top with a dead effort, striding over to the limp body that hung to the tree without a single glance toward the other. She dumped the slivers of the jewel into her hand, glaring longingly at them. She didn't need them. They meant nothing to her. These were the items that Naraku wished to require. That was his deal to her. Kikyou got Inuyasha to go to hell with her, Kagome long gone to Heaven, while Naraku remained in the middle with the completed Shikon Jewel. Did he really believe the deceiving priestess would ever intentionally help the hanyou, even as useless the shards were to her? Never. Things were about to change in her direction, swerve out of Naraku's hand.
She stepped out of choking darkness. So suffocating. She would have wished to say the darkness had been the thing that had sent that girl's brown eyes rolling back into her head. It was a lie. The miko could almost feel Kagome's throat in her grasp as she wrung it tightly until the breath caressed out through her lips for what could be the last time.
"Inuyasha..." She slowly breathed out his name, stepping up to the hanging corpse. She cringed at the pained expression across his handsome features. Why did it hurt her to see that? Why was she mad that Kagome had left him in such pain while the miko herself had left him with a smile, hanging to the tree? She had to struggle to push aside her confusing thoughts to gently untie his yukata.
Kikyou wiped away the blood that had splattered over the bare skin, cleaning it almost lovingly. She caressed away the dirt, the blood, even the tears that had dried there. Even that girl's blood was crusted across his naked skin. She hated it, she hated her and him. Inuyasha and Kagome. Now was a chance to put them both down for good. Then she could rest happy.
Cautiously, she rolled the shards onto her fingertips, and, with a deep breath, pushed them into his frozen skin. She stepped back, raised her eyes to his, and took another shaky breath. She hesitated on her words as she raised her hands to caress against his blood-smudged cheeks. She left the blood, that salty trail where his tear had tread not long ago. Those things looked so perfect on him, so right just sitting there on his face. His blood and tears defined him. That was the way she wanted him to stay. She wanted him that way. She liked him like that.
"Now...you can keep your promise to me...but now is not your time. You have one more breath to take."
..:---.-.--..-.--..-:..
...-squint-... -.-
You did NOT seriously think I'd keep him dead, did you?
I'm frickin' in LOVE with him.
I would never completely kill him off without a last face to face battle between...oh, nevermind. You don't know about that yet. Duh. But who's to say I won't let him kick the bucket later!
HAHA!
Just a little suspense saved for later.
Okay, Now that I'm finally back and we have some hope for this pup's survival, how about some hugs and kisses. Maybe some chocolates. No giant katanas lodged in the side of my head, though. That's for later. This thang ain't over yet!
But, anyways, I went on vacation...it was...horrific. NEVERMIND!
And, yes, I do have a lot of time on my hands...I'm a loser...not really...I'm just a lonely little kid.