Pieces that fall out of place
There was a chill in the air, a chill down his bone, everything seemed to slow down around him, around them .. gapping mouths, gapping wounds that seemed to reopen ...
Surprise, what kind of surprise had Sesshomaru up his sleeves ... the only one who seemed to be happy was Kagura, whose eyes had watered
'He wants me, he really really wants me'
But others couldn't fathom and Naraku .. his mind was whirling and whirling and twisting and part of him was nauseated
Suddenly, all the words in his vocabulary seemed to be gone and against better judgement all he could say was
"This can never happen"
Kagura's jovial face fell, Sesshomaru's seemed to darken and Tension seemed to stretch the entire room , to stretch the entire time.
"You would want to give yourself some time to reconsider perhaps"
"I ... we will have to leave now"
Naraku motioned his trope to rise, yet he could hear Inuyasha's voice, floating over the din and murmur
"Kikyou, you aren't giving us Kikyou back, are you?"
He didn't respond
"I swear to god, Naraku I will get her back from you, I will set this entire region on fire, slit your throat if I have to and you won't have anything to do, coward"
Naraku looked him over his shoulder one last time before he left.
His mind was being seared, he knew he was heading down a very dangerous place.
It didn't take much time for the to reach their campsite, a stifled Kagura and a wasted Naraku.
And once inside his tent .. all hell broke loose.
All the control Kagura mustered before dissipated once inside, a glance at the Shackled Kikyou further infuriated the former captive as Kanna stood helpless against both her siblings' wrath
"Why the hell did you refuse Sesshomaru's offer? Huh, and what the hell are you doing to Kikyou here?"
"I simply said no because you are betrothed and as for Kikyou I do as I please, she is my captive"
"Me, Betrothed, since when Pray tell? To whom, dear brother?" Poisonous sarcasm dripped like hot metal from her mouth, a stark contrast to Naraku's blue anger.
"Bankotsu, dear sister"
"You know I will never accept that arrangement not for the life of me, I'd rather elope or die than marry one of your stooges"
"So you'd marry the enemy then"
"Who said Sesshomaru was an enemy?"
"Me .. He sure is an enemy"
"He never crossed any bounds, you started this war ..."
" And I intend to finish it, dear sister. But let me ask, what happened exactly between you and the utter fool while you were captive?"
"What are you trying to insinuate?"
"I need to know what kind of damage was done."
"Sesshomaru was nothing but the kind regal man he has always been. Nothing happened so you could use against him"
"Really, your bout of defense trully affected me, has the heartless Kagura fallen in love?"
"Yes, against all odds and all your expectations, yes I fell in love with him"
"Too bad, it isn't going to end well then" he frigidly replied
"No, it will, against your will, Naraku. I amnot Kikyou and Sesshomaru is nothing like you"
He was taken aback by her bite, shaken even .. Kikyou on the other hand was still listening to the war taking place between siblings
"What do you mean?"
Kagura Thespianally laughed
"Do you think nobody knows? Everybody, every single body knows why you are keeping Kikyou captive .. The Joke is on you"
Kagura proceeded to taunt him
"you are miserable, so miserale you want nobody to be happy. Are you jealous of Sesshomaru now, that he managed to win my favour while you only managed to affirm Kikyou's loathe for you even more? Are you jealous we love each other? Are you still jealous of Inuyasha that he managed to capture Kikyou's heart? Do you still feel inferi..?"
She didn't finish that word, he leapt at her, planning to get a good grip of her hems, hands raised, ready to strike ..
"Naraku, brother please don't. I beg of you. don't be like him please, don't be like father" Kanna tearfully interjected .. pulling onto her brother while Kagura's defiant eyes bored into his.
But he still couldn't manage to fully gain control .. he striked her on the face before proceeding to roar like a wounded animal ...
A thousand broken thoughts, a thousand broken pieces of his heart were brought down by Kagura's words, by the day's events.
Kanna knew this Naraku was a dangerous one ...
He pushed Kagura aside, shifting his stance towards Kikyou.
His hands were unsteady as he unshackled her, tied her hands using a rope and pulling her all over middleway between Sesshomaru's campsite and his.
"After him" Kanna instructed his guards "Don't leave his side" she said as she marched head on in front of them
"Inuyasha ..." He roared "Inuyasha"
He was causing a scene .. Inuyasha, Miroku, Sesshomaru and Koga recognised his voice.
They marched outside their tents, armed and sheathed .. they were expecting ..this.
A grand scheme on Naraku's part.
But the situation infront of them took them by storm.
He was standing, holding Kikyou at knife point in front of him. the blade grazing her neck at a dangerous point.
"Your precious Kikyou, Here she is"
Inuyasha was inflamed, eveyone was.
"Come and get her, Champion. Come"
His features were that of a madman, that even Inuyasha as hot headed as he was, felt hesitant to advance.
Sesshomaru put his hand on his brother's chest. A rare gesture on his behalf, he was halting him. Sesshomaru could read Naraku .. this Naraku wasn't in his right mind and thus he potentially could do anything. Sesshomaru was thinking of a way to neutralise him.
"Come on Inuyasha, I dare you. I shall never give her to you, never ... and if you will have her ... She will be a corpse. Kikyou will never be yours. Hear me, never"
An arrow flew past the distance and lodged into his Arm, the knife it fell of his hand .. and for the first time, Kikyou and Kagome's eyes' met.
The dopplegagners looked at each other from across the distance.
The similarity was uncanny.
"Kagome" Inuyasha instinctively rushed to her side ... looking across towards Kikyou.
It was over.
They realised.
Both cohorts stood face to face now, not knowing what to do, shal they advance and engage in combat, shall they fallback? it was a mess, a bloody mess they knew
"Naraku" Inuyasha shouted across the distance
"I will kill you" Every word said was in the earnest.
Bankotsu advanced first accompanied by Kanna, they pulled Kikyou and Naraku back, closer to their side.
Sesshomaru stood steadily, weighing his options well .. 'Not today' he thought
He motioned his troops to fall back slow, but stead mirroring how Kanna and Bankotsu withdrew their troops.
Mangled, an understatement of how the situation played out to be ... Beyond sane, beyond political ...
"You put us all in this" Inuyasha spit at Sesshomaru "You and your stupid whim ..."
"I shan't take you by account of your current words .. but know this extends far beyond whimsical. At least, I am decisive and I know what I want, not like you or the insane Man on the other side"
He knew he took it to far. He dragged her along, endangering her and humiliating her far in front of everybody. Once in his tent, aided and bandaged he untied her, leaving her unshackled for the rest of the night, as he fell asleep but that .. it didn't help pacify Kikyou, not a bit.
Her pride was bruised and her heart .. it was torn, broken .. she was .. Inuyasha was no longer hers, she felt it, she knew it and worse she hated Naraku for it, for pulling the final straw but .. she was trying to understand how could he insist that much on her .. Naraku, the conundrum she doesn't understand.
But right now, she couldn't but hate him .. He separated her from Inuyasha, he condescended her. She stared at him, detestfully as he slept away from her. He drove her mad ... he ..
Her eyes, they rummaged through the room, until they settled on what they sought. The blade, it weakly flickered across the room, the same one he used on her and it further drew her ire.
She moved swiftly, clutching the blade. gliding across towards him.
She held onto the handle, ready to plunge it through his chest. However, something held her back, she stumbled through ...
"Do it" he quietly muttered
She dropped the blade
"Do it, Kikyou. You have every right to. But do you have heart?"
He held onto her wrist , tightly as he sat up from his reclination.
"Little do you know, you do it, Kikyou, everynight, in my dreams, you kill me, you kill me a thousand times."
What she did though, was unexpected. She fell to her knees, eyes watering. She held onto him then, embracing him so tight, it took him by surprise, muttering into his ears
"Why do you do this? all this?"
"Kikyou, I ..."
She broke away from him, grabbing him closer, looking him in the eyes ..She cupped his face in her hands as she closed her eyes and started to kiss him, nibbling onto his lips slowly ... he didn't know what she was doing, what he was doing as he started to respond to her.
Despite his injury, the raw wound that still hurt from beneath the bandage, he could still support her weight, twist her and pin her beneath him .. she wasn't resisting .. no she wasn't doing anything at all ..
Yet, suddenly he started to realise, this doesn't feel right, doesn't taste right. This Kikyou has lost control .. this Kikyou was hurting, this Kikyou was desperate.
He succeeded in breaking her, he thought it would taste much sweeter to see her this way .. but why does he feel so empty?
He broke away from her, springing up from his position, intending on leaving the tent, leaving her behind.
"I am sorry, Kikyou. I am really sorry for all the things you have been through"
After all the madness, Kagewaki needed a moment of clarity to himself.