Title: Redemption
Chapter 3: The Walls Come Tumbling Down

A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed! I really REALLY appreciate the feedback. Sorry it's taken me a bit to get back into it. My job has been a bit stressful and it's hard to find the right balance to sit down and write. That being said I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Jujutsu Kaisen to Gege Akutami. Only the fanfic idea belongs to me.

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Kagome let out an aggravated breath and her eyes fluttered open to narrow at the clawed hand that was incessantly tapping a stray skull. She had been attempting to meditate, maintaining the Shikon's barrier had become more arduous for some reason. Whereas before she had been able to subconsciously maintain it, now she had to focus her efforts.

But, Sukuna had been tapping his nails against a skull since she had started. And she knew his eyes had undoubtably been boring holes into her.

Blue clashed with red and her eyes narrowed into slits when the tapping continued and a knowing smirk curled its way onto his lips.

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An eye started twitching ever so faintly and the smirk turned into a shit-eating grin.

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"If you don't stop, I will find a way into your domain to purify you," Kagome growled out, her anger finally breaking through as she gracefully rose to her feet in a huff and stomped up to the barrier. "And I will purify you slowly."

Sukuna scoffed at the threat, smirk dropping from his face as he turned his head to the right in dismissal, but his left lower eye stayed locked on the exasperated miko.

The tapping didn't resume and Kagome felt her anger ebbing away. She had become accustomed to the moody jurei, once she had fully regained her senses and was more assured she wasn't going to be abandoned to the void she had become embarrassed by her reaction and surprisingly the jurei hadn't mentioned it further. He had reassured her and something in their dynamic felt like it had shifted, she felt less like an insect being examined and more like a friend? That word didn't quite seem to fit, but he felt a bit closer than an acquaintance...

Although, in recent...days, months, years, decades(?) he had become more withdrawn and irritable. And of course, he wasn't willing to share what was bothering him.

Not bothering to turn away she sunk back to the ground, ready to continue her meditation. Closing her eyes she breathed out slowly as she forced her thoughts to still and focused on feeling her power, directing the flow of it and-

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Unrestrained reiryoku filled the air and the blue eyes that snapped open seemed electric, with power simmering beneath the iris'. Sukuna's own eyes widened in delight at the display of power and the pure rage that reflected in those deep eyes. The sheer amount of power that rolled off of her in waves and saturated the air coated his lungs and stung at his own darker, cursed energy. It was utterly tantalizing.

"If we weren't trapped, you would be a pile of ash," Kagome hissed out.

Licking his lips, Sukuna leaned forward, a manic look on his face.

"If we weren't trapped, I'd thoroughly savor your efforts to purify me and then I would thoroughly savor you," Sukuna replied as he licked his lips, his expression was frenzied, like a rabid dog, nearly foaming at the mouth.

Reigning in her reiryoku Kagome let out a ragged breath and rolled her eyes at the crazed expression on Sukuna's face, turning her head in a poor attempt to hide how her cheeks flushed. She had gotten used to the cannibalism innuendos, she was partially sure that the jurei wouldn't actually eat her, given the chance. And, at times, his comments seemed to hold a more carnal meaning.

But he was a jurei, who seemed to take a sadistic pleasure in making her uncomfortable above all else, so she didn't linger for too long on his taunting words.

"Is there something you need?" Kagome finally settled on asking tersely. She was relieved to see that the maliciously euphoric look on his face had receded until it was more of an afterglow.

Sukuna felt almost drunk off the reiryoku and took his time to weigh her words. His expression smoothed out into a bored one as he looked down his nose at her before dismissively turning to examine his black-tipped fingers.

"No."

Feeling her reiryoku spike again, Sukuna maintained air of indifference despite the way his juryoku clawed at him to be released and subjugate her delightful attempt at intimidation. He basked momentarily in the feeling of the sharp, stinging energy.

"Who is the inu you loved," Sukuna asked his tone bored and eyes hooded as he finally dropped his hand away and rose his eyes up to gauge her reaction.

Kagome blinked slowly not sure if she had heard him correctly. Her reiryoku had recoiled back into in an instance, she wasn't sure if the sudden nausea and dizziness that overtook her stemmed from her power or the question.

"Nani? Can you repeat that?"

Sukuna's eyes narrowed in annoyance, he hated to repeat himself even for his favorite toy. He hadn't been sure what to expect, after all while the miko hadn't been overly forthcoming with personal information she had never once mentioned her lover. However, he hadn't expected her to become stupid from the question.

"You heard me miko, who is the inu you loved."

It had been on his mind after hearing the hanyou speaking nonsense. Sukuna had patiently waited for Kagome to share that information and yet she never once mentioned an inu. She would ramble endlessly about missing sensations, missing the village she had loved and yet never once mentioned the person she supposedly loved.

He had been patient but his patience could only last so long, even with a somewhat possible idea of being eternally stuck with the girl.

Kagome was at a loss for words. She had been purposely trying to not focus on Inuyasha and she had been surprisingly successful. She knew that confronting her feelings for him would only dredge up emotions she hadn't fully processed and she wasn't sure she was prepared to deal with the aftermath.

"Inuyasha is...Inuyasha was my friend, " Kagome said hesitantly, biting her lower lip as she carefully thought over her words.

"Whom you loved," Sukuna added, his eyebrows raising as he examined the shame that seemed to settle on her and the despair that crept back into her eyes.

"...yes. I loved him."

Pulling her gaze away from the red eyes that seemed to stare through her, Kagome waited for Sukuna to continue his line of questioning. But, the jurei simply leaned back in his throne as though satisfied with her answer. And something gut-wrenching twisted in her stomach, whether it was from acknowledging the love she had for Inuyasha or speaking his name after so long she didn't know. But it was as if a dam had burst and she couldn't contain her words or emotions as red eyes melted into her own.

"I loved Inuyasha and he betrayed me."

Sukuna had listened intently as Kagome revealed her story. Words spilled from her lips as though she were in a trance and her own voice was filled with quiet incredulity as though she couldn't believe it herself. She spoke of being born in the future, traveling through time, hunting for jewel shards with once enemies turned friends, and of Inuyasha.

The stories she wove together were of epic adventures and battles, unrequited love, and death. While she didn't describe the battlefields and her fallen enemies in the graphic details he would like he could picture each battle in vividly.

It amused him to hear what his miko was like when she was younger and untrained. He could easily imagine her foolishly stumbling into trouble, like a newborn fawn falling into the jaws of a predator.

In truth, he had always known she was different, unique. Sukuna had thought she was odd even for a future he hadn't yet lived. But, he had assumed she was from the Sengoku Jidai after she had spoken about the Shikon and her battles with Naraku. Now it all made sense. She had already been lost in time and now she was trapped through time.

Admittedly, her descriptions of the numerous battles, of her slow growth into her power, and her humble attitude towards her own accomplishments fascinated him. Sukuna, always enjoyed a good battle and while he would acknowledge the strength of those that challenged him, he didn't shy away from proving why he was called King of Curses. The miko, had been weak but still attempted to protect those who were stronger than her, still attempted to correct her mistake. She could have returned to her correct time and sealed the well but had remained in the past.

She was frustrating.

Hearing her speak of how she had fallen in love with the inu hanyou who foolishly pursued a dead lover caused his hand to clench and his eyes to narrow minutely. The fondness of her tone spoke volumes of how deeply she had loved him, how unconditionally she had loved him.

Sukuna was frustrated.

But, he kept his face blank as he listened and the miko was unaware to anything but the elaborate tale she was spinning.

Kagome's words slowed down as she spoke of the final battle with Naraku and how they had 'defeated' the hanyou before her voice faded off and her clouded eyes closed. Sukuna waited for a moment before realizing she was unlikely to continue without prompting.

Before Sukuna could voice any demand for her to explain what let to her imprisonment in the Shikon a bitter, coarse laugh poured past Kagome's lips. It was a mirthless laugh that didn't suit the fiery miko and it dragged on painfully until she was left to catch her breath.

"When I had committed to completing the Shikon I knew the risks and I considered the outcomes, both good and bad, but I was blinded by my faith in Inuyasha," Kagome finally murmured softly. "Of all the ways to be betrayed, I can't even fully fault him because how would he know the consequences to the wish he chose."

Sukuna raised a brow as Kagome's lips pulled upwards into a sad, heartbroken smile.

"Inuyasha wished for his first love to live, it was an inherently selfish wish. As the reincarnation of his first love, the Shikon decided we couldn't both fully exist at the same time. Because it had gained a new tenant in the form of Naraku to fill Magatsuhi's vacancy it decided to allow Midoriko to rest and for me to replace her since there must always be balance for the Shikon to remain stable."

Kagome's bittersweet smile faded and her eyes became haunted as memories she had cast aside of being sucked into the Shikon came back to her. It had felt like her soul was being ripped apart, worse pain than even when Urasue had stolen part of her soul, and it happened too fast for any goodbyes only the panicked faces of her friends, reflecting her own shock before her world was empty.

Regretful, golden eyes had been burned into her mind, haunting her in the darkness of the void.

Time crawled by and the void was quieter than it had ever been.

Sukuna wasn't typically one for idle chatter, although he was often amused by the miko's wayward and often times odd thoughts. He didn't hate silence despite reveling in chaos and enjoying the hysteric screams of his victims. But the silence that had washed over them was heavy and sorrowful.

His miko was grieving.

She had clammed up after having revealed the truth of her imprisonment in the jewel, moving around as though in a trance, for what he suspected were days. Her sorrow laid thick like a blanket but it had been slowly receding.

It was if she had somehow reconciled her situation by telling him her story, he found it ironic that she seemed to find comfort in expressing her despair to him, a being who caused despair.

But her eyes were clearing up of the fog that had invaded them.

For his part, he simply observed. He was annoyed by the silence she had imposed upon them but he was pleased that his miko was a durable toy. He had mercifully decided to allow her to grieve her loss, her lost hopes and future, without his mocking commentary. But, in truth, he was wholly displeased that Naraku's words had been true, that his miko had loved a worthless inu.

Something unsettling curled in his stomach at the idea of the miko looking at anyone but himself with the shortsighted, desperate faith she had shown him. Only he deserved such devotion. He was the answer to her loneliness. In this desolate space, he was her only solace and he refused to share any piece of her, even with the memory of a past love.

Deep, dark ocean eyes gazed into his own burning orbs and a small, lazy smirk settled on his lips.

Melancholy didn't suit her at all.

"Tell me about your life."

The demand didn't phase Sukuna and he met determined eyes with a narrowed, almost tired expression.

Kagome had asked him in numerous ways to share more about his life and beyond describing gruesome eating habits or epic battles he had shut down her questioning with ease and other than offering a pout, she hadn't pushed him for more.

He was half amused at her continuous attempts and half impressed by her persistence. However, this most recent attempt was a different take from her normal tries.

Kagome steeled her resolve as Sukuna continued to stare blankly at her and placed her hands on her hips as much to appear more imposing as well as to steady herself under the gaze that was oddly absent of his typical wicked mirth.

"Against my better judgement, I shared my story," Kagome began. And it was true, she had shared more than she really should have. A small nagging part in the more sane portion of her mind was alarmed at the depth of detail in which she had shared the personal life. Sukuna was dangerous, intelligent, and cunning. While he might not be able to do any harm to those she knew in the past, she knew she had made the mistake of saying she was from the future and her family still existed in that future.

"I would appreciate it if you would be willing to share more about your life before...this," she finished gesturing around the emptiness she occupied.

Sukuna had half a mind to ignore her but her hopeful gaze filled with blind devotion pleased him, and he wouldn't deny her a reward. Placatingly his toy was necessary at times.

"The Heian Era was more wild than the Sengoku Jidai, at least from your description of it," Sukuna began as he leisurely strolled down from his throne, stepping on skulls as though they were a grand staircase he was ambling down. "It sounds like Jujutsu Sorcerers have taken to hiding since then but back then there were clans that liked to believe they were powerful, in truth they were just a pain. They fought curse users and cursed spirits. It was a time when strength determined your position in life."

Kagome's stance softened, hands falling away from her hips to fall listlessly to her thighs, her head tilted in thought at the image he painted and her eyes sparked with curiosity, trying to imagine a more untamed world overrun with power.

Reaching the base of the mountain of skulls, Sukuna stepped closer to the barrier until he was towering over the miko. His eyes raked over her form and a characteristic smirk broke across his face at her subtle shiver.

"My strength drew in devoted followers who worshipped me. I killed, ate, and fucked as I desired," Sukuna murmured lowly, his lower eyes up in amusement as Kagome's lips pursed and she shuffled uncomfortably at his 'phrasing.'

Waiting for Sukuna to continue regaling her with his life to at least dispel the awkward silence that had consumed them after his last words, she rocked back and forth on her heels. When the jurei's grin only grew Kagome let out a huff of exasperation.

"Did you have a family or friends?" Kagome asked and she almost winced when the grin immediately dropped from Sukuna's face and his expression became neutral, neither amused nor angry. But she didn't miss the way his hands unconsciously clenched.

Kagome nibbled her lower lip nervously. She didn't think that would be a sore subject but it was clear he had no interest in sharing that aspect of his previous life with her. "Did you ever fight a youkai?"

She was relieved when the tension that had filled the air melted away as a haughty expression settled on his face. His whole body seemed to relax as he began to recall the multitude of battles he had been involved in or fully instigated. Admittedly, the tales were epic if not grisly but Kagome keenly noted that Sukuna paid compliments to his opponents and seemed to speak of his fallen enemies with fondness.

Listening with rapt attention, Kagome was enraptured as Sukuna spun a world divided by clans and curses, wild and feral. A life of hedonism, where he did what he wanted, when he wanted, without care or concern and gained the most satisfaction from a worthy fight. It sounded freeing...if not a bit lonely and if Sukuna were a touch more expressionless and icy Kagome would have found him similar to Sesshomaru. He was deeply flawed and yet when her reiryoku would come into contact with his juryoku and his smoldering gaze locked onto her she felt he was absolute and it shook her to core.

Pushing her concerns to the back of her mind she focused on Sukuna's words and added in appropriate commentary and questions that helped to stroke the jurei's ego. His smile seemed more genuine as he recalled his past fights and even the graphic, brutal details of how he maimed his opponents seemed less obscene.

Time dragged on and Kagome could feel herself weakening. Her reiryoku was being depleted rapidly and even with more frequent and longer meditations her reiryoku wasn't replenishing enough. Her neighbor either didn't notice or didn't care to comment on her languishing state and she was grateful.

Sukuna wasn't as reticent as when she had first met him. He asked questions of his own more frequently and would respond more willing to her own. They were in a comfortable dynamic and Kagome's wariness of the jurei was gone. He still would make small remarks and he was constantly watching her but somehow it didn't make her uneasy. Instead, she felt secure and while she knew it was wrong she couldn't feel the shame she might once have felt. In the desolate void, the calamity, she had been caged beside, had become her friend.

Running a hand through his hair Sukuna's eyes lazily trailed over his miko and he wasn't disappointed as a myriad of emotions crossed her face. From one moment to the next she seemed to constantly change. But his probing stare while typically more focused on drinking in her lithe form and expressive eyes, focused on the somehow paler sheen of her skin. His miko looked unwell and when he had probed her reiryoku with his juryoku it had felt thin like it was being stretched apart. The fact she hadn't even noticed his intrusion showed just how much strain her weakening reiryoku was placing upon her senses.

He was somewhat surprised she hadn't mentioned anything since he was typically privy to the pep talks she'd give herself or concerns she'd voice.

Eyebrows drawing together as a deep scowl adorned his face as he deliberated on the cause for her reiryoku exhaustion. And a truly malevolent look took root as he considered what a certain hanyou could be doing on his side of the accursed Shikon.

Blue eyes peered up at him and his expression fell flat as he rose a brow at the miko, who responded by raising both her brows. He watched with veiled amusement as her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed, parting only to close, again. Regaling him with one last searching look, she closed her eyes and settled into a meditative pose.

Had she opened them again she would have caught a barely noticeable, questionably affectionate smile.

A grotesque tentacle dripping in miasma lashed continuously against the barrier that divided the Shikon. Mutated skin that had bubbled over into monstrous tumors grew along the barrier, burning away once they touched only to be replaced almost instantly with new growths. Naraku's pale, sickly form lay at the center of the fleshy, miasma filled void. His ruby eyes never shifting from his task.

Every spare space was filled with lesser youkai that had made up 'Naraku.' Their forms were monstrous, drool dripped from gaping, toothy mouths and while their bodies thrashed around all eyes were focused on the barrier as well.

The barrier that divided the parts of the Shikon was weakening.

The once opaque division had become translucent and the reiryoku that had thrummed throughout it pulsed in short bursts. The youki being produced was slowly exhausting the seemingly never ending stream of reiryoku that Naraku knew was being produced by Kagome.

A sinister smile crept onto his face. After failing to capture his miko and then meeting the jurei that was intent on claiming his miko he had been consumed by rage. But, he quickly had set into his grim task of weakening the barrier that stopped his advances. Every time an appendage was burned away he could feel it. The sensation of being purified was unbearably painful, it felt like a searing iron was slowly flaying him, stripping him of his very being.

However, he was determined, lust, anger, and hatred gnawed at his already broken psyche until he was driven solely by his baser nature and desires. He would claim the miko and if he couldn't he would destroy her and the jurei.

He would curse them both.

Another appendage burned away but bubbling skin quickly grew and replaced the burned away mound only to meet the same fate in a never ending cycle. Soulless eyes glinted maliciously as the next appendage wasn't fully purified upon contact. His efforts had taken him an eternity but it would all be worth it in the end.

Soon. Very soon he would see his miko.

Laying on her side in the void of the Shikon, Kagome felt exhausted, exhausted enough to sleep if only the damn jewel would let her. Rolling over so she was facing the barrier her eyes slanted towards her neighbor wearily. She hadn't wanted to tell him she was getting weaker although she had a feeling he could probably tell. Her reiryoku was stretched to it's limit and without being able to sleep or eat, regaining her energy through meditation wasn't counteracting whatever was causing the drain on her reiryoku.

She had toyed with the thought of visiting Naraku, as unappealing as it sounded, she was sure he was doing something to cause her current deficit. But not being at full power wasn't an optimal situation to face the crazed hanyou...especially after her last visit.

A shiver ran down her spine and Kagome sighed heavily as weighed her options. With her reiryoku decreasing so rapidly she didn't really have a choice and since they had nothing but time in the Shikon it would change her day to day routine...

"I must be insane," Kagome muttered wryly.

"You aren't the most sane ningen I've ever met."

Rolling her eyes, Kagome glared at the smirking jurei who was observing her from his standard spot on his pile of skulls. Dragging herself into an upright position she crossed her arms petulantly.

"If I've lost my sanity I'm sure it has nothing to do with being trapped in a jewel with a chaos loving jurei as my neighbor," Kagome replied dryly with a heated look before sighing again and dropping her gaze. "It would be nice to know what year it is on the outside."

Sukuna tilted his head at her comment, his chin placed in his hand.

"Are you hoping that you'll be freed in your original era?"

His question lacked the typical sarcasm or malicious intent it usually held and Kagome gazed at him questioningly.

She was still unsure about sharing too much information of the future with Sukuna. While she had come to like the jurei, as twisted and malevolent as he was, his intentions seemed to be singularly focused on causing havoc, destruction, and death. She suspected if she told him anything more personal about her family he wouldn't forget any details, for what cause she didn't want to linger upon. Her remaining family wouldn't suffer from her mistaken over sharing.

"It would be nice," Kagome answered hesitantly her eyes taking a lighter hue as she offered him an innocent smile. "The Sengoku Jidai is more peaceful than modern day Tokyo. It's crowded and noisy, lights are always on in some part of the city but it's home. And I do miss all the modern conveniences like running water and electricity."

Sukuna listened carefully wondering if Tokyo was anything like the capital he had once visited when he existed in the Heian Era but quickly moved on at the odd word she had spoken.

"Elec-triss-ity," He tested the word frowning, despite what the Jujutsu sorcerers would like to think he wasn't uncultured, yet the word was unfamiliar to him. "What is this elec-triss-ity?"

Kagome had to stop the laugh that threatened to bubble up, there was no way Sukuna would like being laughed at but the way he had said it with the confused expression, his brows pinching together was almost sweet. Taking a breath she calmed down and tried to think of the best way to explain it. The first time Inuyasha had seen an example of electricity he had immediately tried to attack the light bulb. And only Miroku had ever really seemed to understand the concept.

"Well, it's called elec-tri-city," Kagome began patiently. "And a natural example is a bolt of lightning. In my era, we are able to generate and use that energy to power our houses. Instead of lanterns or torches or fires at night we can use electricity to power the light in our homes, we can also use it to heat water and our living spaces."

Watching Sukuna's face attentively, Kagome was pleased when his face smoothed out and he seemed to grasp the idea.

"It seems time has allowed ningens to advance and become more efficient," Sukuna commented uncaringly although he was still considering the implications of 'electricity.' "I wonder how curses have advanced in your time as well."

Blinking in surprise Kagome could only shrug. While she had always been able to see supernatural beings like ghosts and demons, she hadn't been able to read the difference of their auras until she had begun meditating. As far as she was aware the jurei infront of her was the first she had ever come across.

"I'm not too sure..."

They fell into a comfortable silence both immersed in their own thoughts.

But, all too soon Kagome felt the tug on her reiryoku and settled into a seiza. She needed to regain some more reiryoku before going and confronting Naraku.

Sukuna was standing before Kagome could even open her eyes. A wave of shattered reiryoku washed over them like an explosion, dissipating outwards. A quick glance confirmed the barrier between the Shikon and his domain was still in place.

Red eyes locked with blue and he seemingly materialized by the barrier, almost pressed up against it before Kagome could even scramble up to her feet.

"The internal barrier of the Shikon has fallen," Kagome said in a hushed almost reverent voice. "Naraku is going to come. I'll have to battle him like my predecessor, Midoriko had battled Magatsuhi before."

Kagome's thoughts were frantic as her eyes moved rapidly around, in search of her longtime enemy. Faintly she wondered if it was possible to die within the Shikon, if Naraku managed to mortally wound her. Would death release her from her endless fate? Stormy eyes glanced back at her neighbor and her eyes hardened. She wasn't afraid of death but she wasn't alone anymore. She wasn't hopeless and lost. Sukuna as bizarre as it seemed had given her hope.

His upper eyes remained focused on the dark depths of the void in search of the accursed hanyou but his lower eyes stayed on Kagome. Noticing her short puffs for air and the tightly coiled reiryoku, the miko was clearly in no shape to battle. Had she been in a better condition and perhaps not facing off against an opponent who clearly had some deranged lust for her Sukuna would have been thrilled to watch her unleash her power in an epic battle.

But, currently, she was weak.

Weakness bothered him and on her it looked so utterly wrong.

Kukukukuku...

The laugh rang out all around them and Kagome's fear was washed away by disgust. She would be happy to never again hear that loathsome laugh. Narrowing her shoulders, she fell into a defensive stance Sango had taught her. She had been lucky her friend turned sister had pretty much demanded she at least learned basic self defense. Sango hadn't been an easy teacher but her lessons had paid off.

"Miko," Naraku said admonishingly. And as if lifting a veil that had blocked him from sight he became visible from the surrounding void.

Kagome physically recoiled at the sight of him, his stolen face hovered within a mass of flesh and tentacles. His form writhed from countless lesser youkai that made up his true form and as it moved, eight spider-like appendages became visible, seeming to drag the entirety of it forward.

"I've missed you my naughty little miko," Naraku cooed as he approached. "Fraternizing with curses and ignoring me."

Kagome let out an exasperated sigh but didn't let her guard down as she glared him down with clear revulsion. Naraku had always been a ghastly creature before and his current form truly suited him.

"You've gone insane, trying to use me as a replacement for Kikyo just like Inuyasha," she said with a hint of bitterness.

A twisted, malice filled smile naked its way onto Naraku's stolen face.

"But, your love, Inuyasha got the genuine original, not the imitation," he murmured sweetly drinking in the stricken expression that Kagome quickly masked with her anger. "Don't worry my miko, I don't mind a copy. I find you to be far more lively than Kikyo ever was in life or death."

Sukuna had watched with exchange with simmering irritation, he wanted to finish what he had started and rip the vile hanyou to pieces. Although, he was one to give into his desires he knew his juryoku was limited outside of the Shikon.

"I thought I told you, I don't share," Sukuna's gravely, cruel voice immediately captured the hanyou's attention.

Naraku's smooth face twisted and stretched into something more sinister and inhumane as he released an animalistic snarl, "After, I finish educating my miko on her place beside me, I'll shred you to pieces."

A thin eyebrow rose at the incendiary taunt and Sukuna's expression darkened drastically before he tilting his head back with a sigh, "Know your place."

BAM

Both Naraku and Kagome were taken aback.

Sukuna had slammed his head into the barrier that separated him. All four of his eyes were wide with bloodlust and his pupils were fully blown out. His visage startled even Naraku as his eyes locked with the deranged jurei's four.

"Lower your eyes, vermin."

Kagome watched the interaction with growing apprehension. She knew Sukuna was a frightening being but she had never seen him make an expression like that before. Sure he laughed manically and wore cruelty like a badge but she had never seen him look like he was reveling in causing fear. Yet, the most alarmingly of all...it didn't frighten her, his words didn't upset her and it was wrong but she couldn't find it in her to care.

"Enough," Kagome said firmly her eyes glowing from the remaining reiryoku she was releasing. "Naraku, your fight is with me, it's long overdue for you to be fully purified."

Naraku's and Sukuna's attention refocused on Kagome with the former quick to ignore the latter in favor of his more delectable prey. Red eyes slowly returning to normal, Sukuna narrowed his eyes at his miko but refrained from commenting instead his eyes focused on the barrier before him with a spark of interest.

"You're right, my miko, enough foreplay," Naraku hissed out.

Miasma filled tentacles immediately lashed out and Kagome skillfully dodged his attacks before drawing her arm back as if holding an arrow and releasing a materialized reiryoku filled arrow at the hanyou. An appendage lashed out to take the blow and the arrow struck its mark but was unable to purify the deformed creature fully.

Sukuna's lower eyes widened in interest at her attack. He had never seen a miko materialize an arrow before.

Cackling, Naraku's form seemed to bubble up and a massive horde of youkai tore through the deformed flesh of his body in a frenzied, mindless rage. Arrow after arrow shot off to keep them at bay and Kagome was forced to move away from the exterior barrier of the Shikon to avoid the onslaught.

For how clumsy Sukuna had come to notice Kagome could be, while fighting, her movements almost looked as though she were dancing. Graceful, fluid movements saved her from piercing tentacles and fleshy projectiles, her purity melting away miasma as it encroached upon her. But, Sukuna for the first time in his life (death?) felt growing unease as he watched Kagome battle.

He didn't fear broken bones, blood and death, he had experienced them all already, but the thought of her being injured gave him a disconcerting feeling.

Eyeing the slightly shimmering translucent barrier Sukuna placed a hand against the barrier and pushed his juryoku into it. Nothing seemed to happen and the combatants on the inside of the Shikon seemed unaware as they remained locked in battle.

Only the quick flash of narrowed blue eyes gave away that his ever observant miko had noticed.

A/N: I don't know how I feel about this chapter, especially the ending. It felt like Naraku had to come back into play but I honestly don't know yet what's going to happen with the fight. Keep in mind that Kagome's and Sukuna's interactions are over long stretches of time...I think? The next chapter will be more exciting and is already in the works. PLEASE REVIEW, I read them all and a few reviews in particular really motivated me to get back to writing this.