Heaven's Blood Drips Thick

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all associated characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Inuyasha ran. For a time, Kagome had murmured against his back, said things he would have rather forgotten altogether. Now she lay silent. He did not dare dwell on what that meant.

Several hours had elapsed since leaving Naraku's stronghold. The decaying plant matter and sick earth had finally given way to green grass.

There must be a village soon. There must.

Another fifteen minutes of running, and Inuyasha could smell cooking fires trailing downwind. He redoubled his efforts, hands clasped tightly under Kagome's limp thighs.

An arrow whizzed past his head, missing by the barest fraction.

Kikyo stepped out from behind a tree, silent as only the dead could be.

He paused. He did not have the energy for Kikyo. Not right now. But maybe…

Her eyes were on Kagome. "Get rid of the girl."

"Kikyo..?"

"She's infected. Get rid of her."

An idea bloomed in Inuyasha's mind. "Can you save her?"

"She's already half gone."

"She did the same for you not too long ago. Can you save her? For me, Kikyo, will you save her?"

The dead miko took a moment to consider. "Very well. Take off your haori and lay her down on it."

Juggling the unconscious, wounded girl while taking off his haori was a difficult matter, but he finally succeeded and placed Kagome gently on to the ground.

Kikyo knelt at her side. Her demeanor changed entirely from scornful rival to caring doctor. With tender hands she unknotted the torn scrap binding Kagome's shoulder and pulled aside the matted shirt to examine the wound. "This is serious. What did this? A sword?"

"Tetsusaiga."

She reached a finger out to touch the blood and hissed. The skin that had connected with Kagome's blood turned black. "Inuyasha, what has this foolish girl allowed to happen to her?"

"It's not her fault! Now, are you going to help her or are you wasting my time? Because I don't have fucking forever to wait on your prissy little questions!"

Kikyo pursed her lips. From the pouch around her waist she pulled some herbs, a grinding stone and a bowl. "These will prevent infection and help to seal the wound. She'll need to stay resting, though, for at least two weeks before she can move again. If you travel cross country with her, the wound will reopen, and there is no guarantee you'll find another with my skill in medicine."

"Fine. I'll make camp."

"There's another thing, Inuyasha."

"What?" he asked warily.

"The infection I spoke of. I can see it, seeping from her pours. Is this…?"

"Naraku's work. The bastard kidnapped her and has had her for weeks."

The look Kikyo gave Kagome spoke volumes. She too had been in Naraku's possession. She too had been coveted by the beast. She had never succumbed to this total annihilation of mind and spirit.

Of course, Inuyasha mused, she had, in life, been willing enough to betray the man she loved and end her own life because of the same monster's tricks.

Finished applying the poultice and wrapping fresh bindings over Kagome's breast, Kikyo leaned back. She tilted her head to the side. Again she ventured a hand forward, pulling it back just in time to avoid another shock. "How did he do this?" she wondered aloud. "He cannot use the shikon shards to bewitch a guardian of the jewel, and the girl should have had the mental fortitude to withstand all of this. So how—"

"How doesn't matter. Are you finished?"

Kikyo pinned those flat grey eyes on him. "Inuyasha, if she is to survive this day, I must treat the infection now. Any longer and her body will collapse from the strain. Her vitals are already lagging. I wouldn't be surprised if she is somehow linked to Naraku himself now, her lifeforce joined to his physical presence."

Inuyasha growled, deep in his throat. "What?" The word sounded inhuman from his throat.

"It is as I said. She appears to be linked. Naraku has crawled into the deepest part of her and made that place his home. If I do not address this now, she will very likely die."

He could not look at her anymore. The world swam red before him, his surroundings flickering manically. If he did not gain control soon, he feared his control over his youkai blood might snap, tetsusaiga or no tetsusaiga.

He could hear Kikyo in the background. The sudden intake of breath as she laid her hands palm down to Kagome's stomach. The sizzle and burn as the blood contacted with the miko's bare hands. And then Kagome screamed.

Inuyasha clenched his fists until blood ran out from the puncture wounds his claws had caused.

Kagome's screams grew louder.

He worried they would attract unwanted youkai attention.

Her back arched and she howled.

His ears hurt. He wanted to cover them but would not let himself be so weak. It had been his weakness which had put Kagome in such terrible danger in the first place.

He turned to watch the two women he loved. The same woman? The same soul, at least. For that reason, despite Kikyo's apparent reticence or her excuses, the two women always aided each other, even when the spiritual drain might mean death.

The radiance of the purification was almost too much to bear. How Kikyo could see beyond it was a mystery to him.

When Kagome's screams became so loud all the birds had left and he feared his eardrums might burst, when her back arched and her bones slithered and crunched to the point where Inuyasha feared they would break, at that instant Kikyo finally pulled back. Kagome's body went limp, and her eyes, which he only now realized had been open, staring directly at him, closed. The proceeding silence hang heavy and dense in the air.

Inuyasha looked to Kikyo, trying to read from her expression whether or not the operation had been a success.

Reading him as she had always read him, she answered, "It is done. I have done the best I could. Naraku has been rooted from her. However, there is a residue… There is a residue I could not lift. I suspect it was there before Naraku ever touched her. I suspect it's how he found his way in."

"What are you saying?"

"That Kagome's soul was sick long before Naraku got to her."

"How can that be true? Her powers of purification were as strong as ever—stronger every battle! Not five hours ago she nearly managed to purify me! With her bare hands! How the hell do you expect me to believe her soul was sick already?"

"I don't have an explanation for it. The only one who could decipher this is probably Kagome herself." Kikyo stood and brushed off her hakama. "Now, Inuyasha, will you kiss me?"

He did not want to. Kagome was not two feet away and her condition was still uncertain. Yet he owed Kikyo, as he would always owe her. Numbly, he assented as she pressed her cold, dry lips to his.

"Hmm, Inuyasha. I do not think you enjoy this as you used to. I would be jealous, except…" She placed a hand to his cheek. "She will not love you, not after what you've done." She kissed him again. "Do not worry. When you are dead, you'll enjoy this as much as I do." She placed one last kiss on his cheek before stepping back into the treeline and disappearing from sight and sense.

Inuyasha waited a few minutes before stepping toward Kagome and scooping her up. He needed to find a good place to camp, and soon.

Kikyo had been right. Kagome would not be strong enough to travel. Her heartbeat was just the faintest caress of muscle walls within her ribcage.

He found a cave nearby near a running stream. It would do. For now, there was nothing but to wait, and to hope Kagome woke up soon. He hoped she would not hate him for what he had sacrificed to save her.

A/N: Yay Kikyo. I've finished plotting this out. It's going to be 10 chapters total and probably finished very soon. Thanks for reading.