I'm so sorry that I broke my promise to update this chapter in May... I hope whoever that reads this fanfic would be magnanimous enough to accept my sincere apologies... Someone even commented this story seems dead... Once again, I would like to apologize, and thanks for the reviews.

Glossary:

Miko: priestess

Hanyou: half demon

Youkai: demon

Osuwari: sit

Ramen: Japanese noodles

Haori: the red coat Inuyasha's wearing

Katana: sword

Kaze no Kizu: Wind scar

Senkonketsu: Iron Reaver Soul Stealer

Baka: Idiot

Inu: Dog

Chichiue: Father

Do not forget, that the words I said when my lips was on yours, were true... - Kikyo

Chapter 14

The miko gave a sigh of relief after she received the news from her soul collectors that her ex-lover was all right. Few days ago, she felt a pang of uneasiness, unexplainable, as if something untoward had happened to the hanyou. Not giving another thought, she had set off to the small village she had once lived in. Although her body of earth and bones would be thoroughly worn out by the tedious, long journey, she knew she must get there, to ascertain the fate of him – Inuyasha.

"His life is mine." She thought. "No one could snatch it away from me." Feelings were set ablaze, but as the peaceful village came into sight, the blazing emotions flickered.

"But is it truly mine?" Her heart asked, tides of dejection swept over. The image of her incarnation appeared in her mind, smiling as radiantly as the morning sun. Both of them are so closely linked together, they had the same looks, the same power, the same soul, but how could they be so different in terms of personality?

Events involving the complicated triangle relationship flashed across her mind. Inuyasha love her, she absolutely knows that, but… that incarnation of hers seems to hold a much more important position in his heart. Every single time Inuyasha manage to get a wind of her whereabouts, he would immediately seek her, but eventually, he would turn, and leave, back to the side of Kagome. A longing gaze was cast as a token of his love, but still…

She had acquired a new body, a body which carries freedom as well as the tragic smell of grave dust, a constant reminder that she is not a living being. No longer a pure miko, she is allowed to hate and love to the fullest, but does she still possess the ability to forgive and forget?

He stood by the door of the small wooden hut, staring into space, yearning to flex his claws in battles once again. Inuyasha was restless, he wanted to save Miroku and Sango, but Kagome was aware of his unhealed injuries. She made him stay and recuperate (against his will), and when he tried to escape, she would sit him. Painful.

Suddenly, Inuyasha saw some silvery white creatures flying about in a distance. He immediately perks up in surprise: "Soul Collectors!" Ignoring his unrecovered wounds, he dragged himself painfully to the spot where creatures linger. Kagome's harsh warning about not leaving the hut was long thrown aside.

Kagome was supposed to get water from a nearby stream, but as she walk pass the Goshinboku, a woman attracted her attention. A woman with ebony long hair and a pair of eyes which speaks of bitter sorrow. Her beautiful long fingers touched the ancient bark of the Goshinboku, and she heaved a sigh. Whatever that beautiful lady was thinking, Kagome could not guess. What the Goshinboku meant to her, Kagome could not tell either. However, weirdly enough, when the woman turned at her direction, Kagome dropped her pail and hid behind a tree. Leaning against her support, her heart was thumping painfully, Kagome could not think, her mind was as blank as a sheet of unwritten paper.

Sounds of footsteps were getting nearer. Kagome felt her breathing was becoming dangerously irregular. Who is that woman? What she possesses that strike such anxiety within her?

The footsteps stopped. The lady was standing within an arm length near her. She raised her hand and rested on Kagome's shoulders. From the tip of those elegant fingers, an unspeakable coldness spread throughout Kagome's body, like a deadly virus attacking, and Kagome felt helpless, unable to move, unable to speak.

Kagome knew this was a strong miko, and she knew the miko laid no spell on her. The only logical reason that results in Kagome's failure to response was she's scared. She is dead scared. The miko gave out a strong aura of power as well as a strong aura of sorrow. Gracefully, and her hand still resting on Kagome's shoulder, she walked to the front of Kagome, facing her with those sad eyes.

"You've lost your memory." She stated coolly.

These words made Kagome's heart to beat faster before her mind registered herself to speak: "What are you talking about?"

The miko did not say another word. Instead, she turned calmly to another direction, her hand still on Kagome's shoulders, and say: "Inuyasha's coming."

Snapping of twigs could be heard under his feet. Gasping and walking wildly, he headed towards the clearing where two figures stood. Stabs of pain shot throughout his body from the wound inflicted by the fight earlier, but he didn't care. Logic reminded him that the wound would reopen if he pushed himself harder, but that thought was shut away by Inuyasha's inward cursing: "To hell with logic." The utmost problem was before his very eyes: Kikyo and Kagome.

What had Kikyo done to Kagome, why Kagome looked so pale? Did Kikyo know what had happened to her incarnation? If she does, did she tell her anything? Hundreds of question flitted across Inuyasha's mind, one after another without pausing, without giving him time to fully comprehend an answer. They continued raging even when Inuyasha stopped in his tracks, staring at the only two female he had fall for in his entire lifetime. The tragic past and the unknown present.

"Kikyo." This was the only word he could say. Gazing into her eyes, he felt as if it was a never-ending tunnel, one that would never see the light. She returned his. The same pair of sad eyes. Inuyasha's heart contracted abruptly, emitting pain that could not be released. The flow of questions that never seem to end stopped.

"We need to talk." Kikyo told him. Her hands finally leave Kagome's shoulders as she and Inuyasha vanished amongst the trees. Kagome, who regained full use of her body, seems to have left out her heart. Aching uncontrollably, she watched the couple leave her sight, unable to do anything.

Inuyasha stared at Kikyo's back, his nose stinging with the smell of grave dust. Kikyo had not changed since he last saw her, she was still bitter as before. Her soul collectors floated obediently around her, each and every one of them emitting an eerie glow, with or without a human spirit.

How did things come to this stage? The miko that he loved 50 years ago had changed drastically, her identity lost forever. Still, she roamed the mortal realm, and to do that, she even resorts to stealing souls from others. That isn't the honorable Kikyo Inuyasha known so long ago, but cruel reality had vertified that she is the one and same person.

"Does your heart still belong to me?" A question Inuyasha had asked himself umpteenth times, but somehow, it sounded different when it came from Kikyo's lips. She turned around and looked at him straight into his eyes, brimming with sadness. Sad of what? Did she know the answer for this question that Inuyasha had struggled for such a long time? If she does, what's the point of asking it? Is she hoping that Inuyasha would prove her otherwise? Or is she trying to ascertain this tricky relationship?

"I..." Inuyasha failed miserably to answer it, he always had. Both were dear to him, both held a special place in his heart, yet, the position they held were different. Different in what sense? He himself doesn't know. His face betrayed his dilemma. Kikyo merely watched on, and silently, she walked nearer to him, near enough to collapse into his arms, lean against him for the support. Alas, she didn't. This time, she didn't do anything.

"Kikyo...I..." Inuyasha stuttered as Kikyo continued to watch on, patiently waiting as if she had all the time in the world. "...I don't know." He confessed, ashamed. Tilting his head to the other side, he kept silent. He didn't want to meet her eyes, the sorrow reflected in them was too great for him to bear.

"Don't know holds a lot of meaning, Inuyasha." Kikyo reasoned. Inuyasha was still silent. The howl of the wind replied instead, whipping up the dried leaves shed by the ancient trees above. Kikyo just watched on.

The leaves fluttered, riding on the gently current of the wind. Than, just as sudden as it came, the wind left, and the leaves settle back onto the ground. Each and every of them gave off a mild sigh of sorrow. Once together with the trees, than abandoned and laid forgotten on the ground - they shared the similar fate with the dead miko. The wind blew again, the leaves rustled.

"Inuyasha, our unstable relationship had been dragged long enough..." "But Kikyo..." "No, Inuyasha, listen to me..." Kikyo sighed, "...I hoped to bring you to hell with me, hoped that we could be together finally, but your heart..." Kikyo could not continue. It was rare of her to get so emotional, but this topic was so painful that every word she utters draws so much of her life force. Her heart may beat no more, but for once, she felt that it was back in her chest just in time to let her feel pain. "Make a decision, Inuyasha." Kikyo concluded. "Make a decision and all of us could be free."

"But Kikyo, it was I who caused you to be in such a state." Inuyasha finally faced Kikyo, her sorrow biting ferociously at his heart, "I should be responsible. I will go to hell with you."

"Are you sure that's what you think, Inuyasha?" Kikyo demanded sarcastically, her voice steady and loud. The fury blazing in her eyes than toned down to a soft shade of blue, "are you sure?" she whispered.

The wind blew again. Kikyo was gone. In the woods where the ancient trees lay, the hanyou stood alone, confused, heartbroken, relieved. No where for him to crash down or hide, no one to give him answers, nothing. Nothing at all.

The man sat in his room, pondering over the percentage of victory in his latest scheme. With skin as pale as that of a lifeless corpse, and demonic red eyes that spoke of cunningness, he loved to taunt his prey before devouring them. But there's a certain group of victim that just wouldn't die. "How very strange..." he mused to himself. But no matter, his latest plan would definitely take care of them once and for all. A spooky smile played on his lips.

"Naraku!"

The smile immediately fades away, but he remained his cool posture as he looked at his beloved guest.

"Kikyo." He addressed her in his oily voice. The woman glared and continued: "What are you hiding under you sleeve this time?"