Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

A White Rose_A Kiss of Desire

Chapter 5

'How dare he! How dare that arrogant, snobby, judgemental dog accuse me of being fickle! Curse that stuck-up icicle to dark fae's kingdom and back! Not only did he speak of something he knew nothingabout but he left behind such mess for me to pick up!'

Kagome was fuming. It was later that day, the sun had set and Kagome had demanded that InuYasha rest so he didn't go and hurt himself too badly. Miroku, Sango and even Shippou looked at her suspiciously, as if she were about to do something forbidden and immoral. InuYasha was starting to look at her like that too. She knew it was half-paranoia, she had just been proposed to by a water god, and a decent bit of her anger was do to Sesshoumaru and his rude exit. She could not forget about how much she was changing as well. Her new view on the world made her think too much and left her wanting for more energy.

It was night time and the Inutaichi had decided to make camp not too long ago. There was a tense atmosphere around them as tensions were high due to the morning's confrontation and Kagome's unwillingness to provide information. As much as Kagome wanted to appease the situation, she felt that she was entitled to her privacy and that the way her companions interrogated her for answers made her feel like a criminal. She did not believe that she should ever have to experience such discomfort from people she deemed as her friends. So she remained silent and evaded their questions; however non-subtly she thought appropriate.

It was around midnight and everyone had fallen asleep, even InuYasha. For once the hanyou allowed himself to fall into a deep and peaceful slumber, but his senses were still on alert. Sleep, however, was not in company with Kagome this evening. Try as she might, her mind would not rest. She forced herself to remain motionless as she gazed up at the celestial night sky. The miko watched the brilliant blue-white and the occasional red stars glow and twinkle, causing a alluring effect in the dark sky. She was unconsciously seeking out the many constellations all the while her mind wondered off to a similar night sky, except where the area around her was different. Where the shape of a sleeping monk was a fallen log and where the demon slayer slept to where the hanyou dreamed was a spring.

As if her brain had a mind of its own (which she thought to be quite a funny thing to wonder), a song came to mind, Harry Potter's theme song: Hedwig's theme. She had to stiffle back an outburst of giggles. Her hands moved to cover her trembling lips but she could not stop the huge smile on her face that replaced it just seconds later. She was tempted to voice out the incantation: Wingardium Laviosa, just to see if she was a witch herself. 'Hey, it's not like I don't have supernatural powers. It might just work!'

The imaginary bubble of her happiness was cruelly destroyed by a sharp pain striking down her spine. Kikyou have made her entrance. Kagome clenched her teeth tightly and held her breath. She held back the ripples of frustration as the sounds of rustled fabric and light footsteps reached her ears, a tell-tale sign of InuYasha's sneak-away.

Her lightened moment had been thoroughly eradicated. Kagome sighed a shaky breath. Her mind was a void; she did not allow another thought to run. She extracted herself from the warmth of her sleeping bag and freely gave control to her feet. Without a care she allowed her form to disappear beyond the lines of trees.

As she walked to an unknown destination she caught a glimpse of Kikyou's soul catchers hovering lazily in the distance. A cold wind blew and she shivered, partly because of the temperature but a greater part was because what was carried by the wind. Her exhalation was shaky as she felt a sequence of pulsation of familiar reiki and youki. Her body felt numb. In the back of her mind, she acknowledged another part of her heart had collapsed; a million pieces decorated the obsidian ground of her voided mind.

Her feet unconsciously picked up 'its' pace, her eyes gazed ahead unseeing and her reiki worked overtime to look out for danger, both youkai and non-youkai. Lands rushed past her unnoticed as her heart yearned and screamed for one being, The River God, Haku.

She did not know how or when she entered his clearing but the next thing she knew she was encased in his warmth. She allowed the tears she had held back with great exertion on her journey to break and flow freely down her cheeks.

She can hear soothing sound of Haku's voice but was unable to comprehend the actual meaning. Her brain had switched to hibernation mode. She was so tired. She let her eyes rest for a moment, it was so much easier to just let go and fall into the sweet seduction of sleep.

A White Rose_A Kiss of Desire

When consciousness crept onto her next, she felt warm and safe. She felt well rested, her whole body was soothed in blissfullness. Her hazy eyes opened to find herself on a large bed in an unknown room. She did not have the time to look around the room as her attention was immediately stolen by the gentle hand that caressed her cheek. Blue eyes locked with green, like their first meeting. A smile played across her face, triggered by Haku's own, followed by a rosy hue flushing her cheeks as she shyly turned her eyes and watched as she covered his larger hand with her own smaller one.

"I'm glad," his voice barely over a whisper.

She turned her gaze back to him, eyeing him with a question. "Glad?"

"You came back to me." Kagome suddenly felt uncomfortable. His answer caused her to feel guilty' she didn't intend to come back just yet, only to get away from her own problems, if that made sense.

Seeing her confusion he elaborated. "I'm glad that you're not sad, at least not now. You may not have intented to return so soon but your instinct have brought you back and that is enough for now."

"...I'm here," She told him, if only to confirm it for herself. "I'm happy." Just being around him made her feel light-hearted, he was the barrier that kept the negative feelings away. At the same time though, she felt guilty and shameful that she left her duty and her friends behind. "I hate the Shikon no tama. Why did it have to be me?"

The question left her lips uncensored. She had never voiced out this specific thought before. It felt good to get it off her chest. Her eyes meet his, showing him just how vulnerable and delicate she was. She looked so young, a child burden by a harsh destiny. "Am I really a reincarnation?"

Haku had no idea where that last question had come from. Struggling to understand, he fumbled with his words; "A reincarnation... why would you ask such a question?"

"Kikyou, the previous shikon miko. Someone told me that she and I shared a soul." her hand tightened on his as her eyes nearly glazed over in defeat and shame.

Although the name was unfamiliar to him, the way that his intended said it broke his heart. "It is a lie. It is not possible to share a soul, at least not in the sense that you implied."

She looked at him slightly skeptically, waiting for him to elaborate his answer. A light chuckle escaped her as she recognised that she was enthusiastic for the knowledge he could provide. "A soul is like a flower, even when it's petals fall from it's home the flower will always be a flower and its petals will always remain as petals no matter if it was used by another flower or created into something else. Does a rose not smell of a rose when it is called by another name?"

"Then how did the witch bring back Kikyou using my soul?" The pieces were beginning to fit together in Haku's mind, though he decided not to pry too deeply, lest he offend his fiancee.

"An abomination," Kagome was shocked that he would say such thing but had to silently agree with him. "tell me more about this."

Kagome nodded eagerly, though inside she was still shivering from the lingering memory of having her soul purposefully taken. "She was brought back from a ritual that this witch did using Kikyou's bones and graveyard soil. I think she used my soul to power her spell, or something."

Haku paused, looking over Kagome's shoulder in thought. "How is she maintaining her time on earth then?"

"She uses soul catchers," the thought of those parasites caused her to shiver. "to steal souls of young women, I think. I'd rather not; it's creepy."

"Hm...What does she do with the soul?"

Kagome made a face of disgust. "She eatsthem."

He frowned. This Kikyou had been a miko on her time on this land, to be still alive and to devour souls of women would surely go against her previous nature. "Why is she still walking the land?"

Hurt entered Kagome's eyes along with anger. "InuYasha, ...he loves her."

Haku was quiet.

She forced herself to continue. "They were togetherwhen she still lived. I don't know the extent of their relationship. I don't think I want to know. Anyway, they were deceived by a bandit, who later turned into Naraku - the evil unnatural hanyou that roams the land now and Kikyou died thinking that InuYasha betrayed her just after she sealed him to the God Tree in the village of Edo."

"Has he been unsealed; how did it happen?" Kagome's story seemed to be a whole lot more complicated that that of a travelling miko who accidentally bathed in a water god's spring.

"Ah...I kinda had to do it because I needed his help because a centipede youkai was about to eat me." She acted... embarrased.

"Ah, then I must thank him for saving you. He now acts as you protector does he not?" She said his name like a friend, he just guessed what he could from her tone and open gestures.

"Hai..." her voice trailed off. "Lately, I don't feel like I'm under his protection. Does it makes sense for him to care more about the clay-body Kikyou's safety than me, who has a living body?"

"It is illogical of him to think so."

"That what I thought... and.. .he would not believe me when I told him she tried to kill me." She sighed. "After the first two times I stopped telling him."

"I'm taking a guess and say that InuYasha is a dog youkai?"

She nodded, then decided to correct him. "A hanyou actually."

He nodded and gave a dismissal flick of the risk. Haku had guessed as much. Dog youkai, or hanyou, were infernally loyal; it was easy to tell that she had picked up on a few of the hanyou's mannerisms. "Then I must question where his loyalty belongs. From what you have told me I believe that his loyalty is to this Kikyou first and far most."

His words made her feel a sharp pain in her heart like a brutal puncture from a sharp arrow. Kagome took a deep breath and exhaled shakily. She felt like crying again, her eyes began to sting but she stubbornly forced it back.

"I feel like a fool."

A White Rose_A Kiss of Desire