Back in the Feudal Era
Inuyasha landed roughly where Kagura had just been, claws scraping the dirt. His ears twitched, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air, but the scent of Kagura was already fading—swallowed up by whatever that thing had been.
"What the hell just happened?" he muttered, his fist tightening around Tessaiga's hilt.
"Kagura's gone," Sango said grimly, her boomerang resting against her shoulder as she scanned the space. "That… rift, or whatever it was, took her."
Miroku stepped forward, his staff jingling as he frowned at the spot where Kagura had vanished. "It wasn't one of Naraku's tricks?"
"If it was, he'd still be watching," Inuyasha said. His ears flicked again, irritated. He still felt the remnants of that strange energy, but it didn't feel like Naraku's miasma. It felt… different.
Shippo, perched on Kirara's back, clung to the fire cat's fur. "So, does that mean she's just… gone? What if she's dead?"
Inuyasha didn't answer. His grip on his sword tightened.
Kagura had been many things—an enemy, a nuisance, an occasional reluctant ally—but she had always been trying to claw her way out from under Naraku's control. If she was dead, it wasn't by his hand.
And that left too many questions.
Deep in Naraku's Lair
Naraku sat in the shadows, his red eyes glinting as he turned something over in his hand. A heart.
Kagura's heart.
He rolled it between his fingers absently, the faint thrum of its life force still pulsing. A moment ago, he had been watching her—seeing through Kanna's mirror as she battled Inuyasha. And then, in an instant, she had vanished.
His lips curled slightly.
"So, you think you can escape?" he murmured.
Kanna stood silently beside him, her expression as unreadable as ever. The surface of her mirror was empty now—Kagura had disappeared from its sight.
Naraku's fingers tightened, pressing into the fragile flesh of the heart in his palm.
Somewhere, no matter how far, she would feel it. And she would learn that she was still his.
In the Strange New World
Kagura's fan sliced through the air, sending blades of wind at the monstrous thing before her. It let out a guttural screech as her attack connected, cutting deep into its flesh.
But then, to her disbelief, the wounds began closing.
"Tch," she hissed. "You've got to be kidding me."
The thing lunged again, and she moved to dodge—only for pain to explode in her chest.
Her breath hitched. A searing, crushing agony wrapped around her heart, her knees buckling as she gasped. No—no, not now.
Naraku.
Even here, he could still reach her.
She barely had time to recover before the creature was on her.