Chapter Thirty-four: Loving the Undead

"Kagome?" Sota's voice asked hesitantly as he watched his sister sit down opposite him at the kitchen table. Kagome hadn't gotten up until late noon that day, her thoughts all on the vampire and his warm touch…

When she finally dragged herself out of bed, and changed into some clothes, she tiredly went downstairs, to find out that her mother was out getting some more juice for Sota—and to see that her little brother was already there, apparently waiting for her.

"Yes?" she asked as she opened the fridge to get a soda.

"Was Inuyasha in your room last night?" he asked, and while she was glad to hear that he didn't sound so stuffed up as he had the night before, she choked on her drink.

"What makes you think that?" she asked nervously.

"You got up so late," he answered simply. "Did Inuyasha take you somewhere last night?"

"No," she said, careful to avoid his eyes, as she shut the fridge door and sat down opposite him. "He did come last night, but we didn't go anywhere. He left awhile ago."

"Oh," he said. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Sota spoke again. "Kagome?" he asked, "I want to help."

"Help what?" she asked, looking over at him in confusion.

"I want to take down Naraku!" he called out bravely. "Look, I'm ready! Look…" he reached for his backpack on the floor and started pulling out things. "See, I've got garlic, here's a silver mirror, a wooden stake…"

Kagome laughed as she watched her little brother take out all these things. He stopped and looked up at her, not understanding why she was laughing. "I'm sorry, Sota," she smiled. "But I don't think that those work on real vampires."

"But I've got a huge horror movie collection!" he said loudly, putting the ring of garlic around his neck. "I know all their weak spots! I'm ready for them!"

Kagome merely smiled at him as she leaned over the table to kiss his forehead, deciding not to tell him that those wouldn't work against these vampires. "I know… but if I have it my way, I'll make sure that you never see him again."

"But what about you?" he asked shakily. "You said that time is running out for Inuyasha and the others?"

Kagome blushed slightly at Inuyasha's name but nodded. She knew that it was true. Time for them to find the jewel and defeat Naraku was indeed running out. It had just been announced in the paper a few days ago that there was going to be a lunar eclipse in just a month and a half's time. A month and a half was all they had left… they only had until then to find the jewel and defeat Naraku…

But time came and passed quickly. January was already over, and they were quickly going into February, but still, Inuyasha, nor any of the others were to be seen.

Kagome felt that she was slowly going crazy with this mindless waiting. Where were they? Was Inuyasha safe? What about Sango, Rin, Miroku, Shippo and the others? Were they alive and well? Or were they…?

She shook her head hard at those dreadful thoughts. Her mind was plagued with all these terrible questions, and it felt that her heart was being shattered into a million pieces with every passing day. Every morning she woke up, missing his smug grin and warm arms… missed the way she would melt into his lips.

How much longer was he going to make her wait?

Soon school had restarted, but she was so lost in thought most of the time, she hardly heard anything that her teachers said and her grades were starting to drop. Her friends obviously noticed.

"Kagome?" Eri demanded, as they cornered her in the hallway one day. "Just what is the matter with you?"

"Why do you ask?" Kagome asked dully. "I'm just not myself."

"You've been acting like a freaking zombie since we got back," Ayumi stated worriedly. "Is something wrong? You know you can tell us?"

But Kagome didn't answer them… how could she explain? She would just change the subject until they got the hint and let the matter drop.

Every night she would lay awake, wondering, hoping if this would be the night he would come back… so that she could see his face once again. But still, days went by, and still there was no signs of him or the others. Could something have happened to him?

But then, finally, after weeks of waiting, he returned to her. It was late one night, and she was just starting to fall asleep when she heard the window sliding open. She sat up at once to see that familiar head of silver, and eyes of gold enter her dark room.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, leaping out of bed and almost flying into his arms. He was waiting her arms, and they pressed their lips together desperately, both having longed for this feeling once again.

Kagome couldn't have cared less that he had made her wait for so long, the kiss made her forget everything for a moment, but it all came flying back to her once he pulled away.

"Kagome," he said quietly. "They're here. It has begun," Inuyasha spoke, a hint of anger in his voice. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha, not understanding. "The fight between the two covens of vampires," he answered.

"No, don't say that." Kagome said at once. "What has happened? I've been waiting for you to come back! I was beginning to think that you just forgot about me! I thought that you said that I could help you…"

"No, no," Inuyasha said, kissing her again. "Listen to me," he said urgently. "Miroku discovered where Naraku was hiding, but when he went to go and scout the area, he was taken hostage."

"What?" Kagome gasped, staring. "Is he alright? He's not…?"

"Oh, he's beat up, but nothing serious," Inuyasha reassured her. "We were all freaking out, trying to find him. That's why I took so long to come back. Sango was making threats that if we didn't find him soon, she would kill us all herself."

"But you did find him?" Kagome pressed him.

"Yes," he answered. "He managed to escape. He knows where Naraku is now."

"But why didn't Naraku just kill him?" Kagome asked. It didn't make sense to her. He seemed pretty determined to kill them all just awhile ago.

"Because he wanted to make a deal," Inuyasha explained. "He still thinks that we have the jewel. Trade the jewel for Miroku's life."

"But why would he think that you have it?" Kagome asked desperately. "Why would he think that?"

"Because you look like her," Inuyasha said, turning his face away from hers. Kagome stared at him. She looked like her? Who's her? What was he talking about?

"Kikyo," he whispered to her, though he still wasn't looking at her face, "It's because you look just like her that he thinks that you have the jewel."

"Kikyo?" Kagome repeated until it came back to her. "Oh! You mean the priestess?"

"Yes," Inuyasha said, still not looking at her. Kagome frowned, why did he always act like this whenever Kikyo was mention? That was when an idea came to her mind and gently turned his head to look at her.

"Inuyasha?" she asked softly. "You knew Kikyo didn't you? Was she a friend of yours?"

He looked startled at her question, but the sadness returned to his eyes, and looked down at the floor, as if ashamed, and stammered, "She was my—the first woman I ever loved."

Kagome stared at him. "What? You mean you and me were in love in a past life?"

He nodded. "Apparently. When I first saw you… that Halloween night—when that jerk had hold of you…" he said through gritted teeth, and Kagome flung her arms around his neck so that she could bury her face in his shoulder as he took steadying breaths. He then went on bravely, "When I saw you in that priestess outfit, I thought that you were her for a second… but then I realized that your scent wasn't like hers. You weren't her…"

"I've been trying to tell you that," Kagome whispered. "No matter what I look like, no matter how you felt about her, I'm not her." She looked up into his shadowy face and asked, "Is that the only reason you love me? Because I look like your first girlfriend?"

She was ashamed that tears were in her eyes.

"No," Inuyasha said, pulling her into a tight embrace. "No… I can't deny that was how it started off… but the more time I spent with you, the more I see that you're different from her…"

He leaned in and kissed her once again, this time, full of passion and a need like before. Kagome melted into the kiss at once and they remained that way for some time, neither one pulling away, except for air. Finally, Inuyasha pulled back to say, "I can't deny that I still love Kikyo, but I love you too… so… just so much…"

She looked into those glowing eyes and smiled. He wasn't lying… she could see that. But…

"But what about the jewel?" she asked, "And Naraku? What are we going to do? The eclipse is coming, Inuyasha! Only a few more days if even that much!"

"I know," he sighed. "And I'm not getting my hopes up. I doubt that we will find the stupid jewel by then. But I intend to finish off Naraku while I can. Miroku can lead us to them… tonight! We will go."

"What?" Kagome gasped. "No! NO! You could get killed if you just go charging in like that!"

"It's too late Kagome." Inuyasha interrupted looking down at her. "He'll take us all out, whether or not we go, I know it. We are going to go and hunt him down, end it on our terms not his."

"You can't mean that!" Kagome said, grabbing his arms and holding him tightly. "No, Inuyasha, you could get killed! I don't know what I'd do if something like that happened to you!"

"Kagome…" he spoke, placing his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. "It's too late. Even if we wanted to, we can't walk away from this. But I promise you that you'll be safe here. Just stay here and…"

"Inuyasha… no," she said, now getting angry. She wasn't going to let him go like this.

"It's the only way," Inuyasha growled, and she could see he was getting angry too. She didn't care. Anything to stop him.

"NO!" she shouted, "I won't let you do it, you're staying here with me!"

"You can't choose me over your family, Kagome," he growled, his eyes flashing red for a slightest moment.

"I don't want to lose either," she said stubbornly. "But I love you too much for you to just—just go and get killed!"

"Kagome… it's the only way," he said loudly, and she knew that if they got any louder, then they would wake up her family.

"But you could die!" Kagome said, crying. "I don't want that…"

"This is just how it is Kagome," he said forcefully, turning to the window. "There is nothing else either one of us can do."

But Kagome wasn't going to give in without a fight. She grabbed hold of his arm and was ready to argue him back to his senses, but then he did a dirty trick. He kissed her so suddenly, that she was caught off-guard. Instinctively, she relaxed and became lost in his warm embrace… that was what cost her. His lips left hers and his fangs found her neck. She gasped in pain and surprise—and felt herself becoming weak as he started to drain her blood again. She fought to keep her eyes open, her hands found his chest, and she tried to push him off her, but he didn't stop until she fell to her knees, too weak to stand.

She felt his tongue again, and she glared up at him when his face appeared in front of her—a drop of blood dripping down from the corner of his mouth.

"I'm sorry," he said, as he held her in his arms.

He licked the blood away and picked her up, bridal style and carried her to her bed. "I didn't want to, but you wouldn't let me go otherwise."

She forced her mouth to move, and her speech came out in a slur, "I… will… kill… you… for… this…"

He grinned wickedly down at her as he kissed her once again just before he laid her head on her pillow. "I hope so," he said softly as she gasped for breath. "But you need to understand that I might not come back. If so, you need to forget me."

"I… can't…" she whispered, trying to move her arms, but was so weak, that she could only make her fingers twitch uncomfortably. "Inu… yasha… I love… you…"

His clawed fingers were entangled with her hair as he gazed down at her. He lowered his head, his long hair fell about him, as if creating a curtain from the rest of the world, leaving a place where only the two of them existed.

Kagome could taste the salt from her tears from this one last kiss. She knew that she couldn't stop him here, she tried to let him know just what was in her heart from this one, possibly final, kiss. He pulled away at last and stood up. She could feel darkness covering her eyes as she saw him head to the window.

"Promise…" she gasped out at last.

"What?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"Promise… promise me… that you… will… come back… to me…" she croaked out.

He stared at her for a moment before he whispers, "I can't promise that… no matter how much I want to…"

He turned and before she could say another word, he jumped, disappearing into the night.

Kagome turned her head to the side, crying as she stared at the wall in front of her. 'This is not how I wanted things to turn out… why… why is this the only choice?' she thought bitterly. 'It wasn't fair, why does a man make me feel like I want to die? If I do see him again, I'm going to kill him.'

Why? Why did she feel this way?

"Whose feelings are these?" she said out loud, desperate for answers. "Are they Kikyo's? Mine? Why do I love him?"

Her mind was flooded with thoughts about everything that had happened—and what was to come. She was determined to save them somehow. But she didn't know where she could find the answers that would solve her problems. They felt out of reach, with no solution, no resolve.

'I'll find a way to save you, I promise. I won't let you die…'

Closing her eyes, tears began to escape. As much as she wanted to go and stop Inuyasha, she couldn't… she couldn't even move. Her heart ached for a simple solution—any solution. She didn't want to go through all this pain anymore.

(Sorry for the long wait, but this story is finally starting to reach an ending. I think… maybe three or four more chapters might do it. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.)