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Once, long ago, Inuyasha had loved someone. He had loved
her deeply, or so he thought. But now, it was strange, what he'd felt, it seemed superficial, fake. This new feeling,
it was like what he'd felt for Kikyo, but it was different, more powerful. He preferred the repeat to the original.
"No!" He argued with himself, she wasn't a repeat, she was the new and improved. He shook his head. What
am I thinking here? He questioned bitterly. He knew Kagome shared nothing more than her soul with Kikyo. Her personality,
her heart, her mind, they were all completely different, and he realized that perhaps, he wasn't meant to love Kikyo in the
first place. Perhaps he was meant to love Kagome, and had simply recognized her soul.
Inuyasha picked up a stone from the ground and skipped it across the water. It skittered to the other side and landed
with a SPLOOSH and sank beneath the surface. He crossed his legs, flopping to the ground and watching the fading rings
on the surface of the pond. "Feh. . ." he muttered irritably at nothing in particular.
Kagome had been acting oddly recently. She'd banished Miroku, now nearly useless without his wind tunnel, and Sango,
a powerful fighter, to Kaede's village to raise Shippo. She'd been very quiet recently, and he couldn't remember the
last time she'd sat him, not that he was complaining of course. She hadn't asked to go home, and she hadn't given any
indication of what she was up to.
Inuyasha flicked his ear as a fly landed
on it. Today everything irritated him, and Kagome's odd behavior was further frustrating him. He glared at a water
skipper as it made its way across the placid water. "Stupid bug. . ." he muttered, and stood up, making his way
back to Kagome's scent. What was she doing? He smelled something burning, and wondered if she'd been trying to
cook. Kagome couldn't cook anything but instant ramen, and trying generally produced some very black food.
He raced along, hoping she hadn't caught the ground on fire again. It had been terribly hard to put out and his foot
had been badly burned. It was healed, now, but he winced remembering the pain. Sure enough, Kagome crouched beside
a fire spewing black smoke into the air. Inuyasha coughed, the heavy smoke nearly overwhelming his sensitive nose.
He quickly threw dirt onto the fire, digging like a dog and putting the dangerous flames out.
"Kagome! What are you doing?" He snarled furiously.
"Eep!"
She yelped, "Sorry Inuyasha." She said, pulling a rather crumpled, dirty and blackened pan out of the former fire pit.
"What were you thinking?!" Inuyasha demanded, "You could have burnt
the entire forest down!"
"I was trying to bake a cake!" She argued
angrily. "I thought it would be a nice change from all the poor wildlife we've been devouring!"
Inuyasha stared at her for a moment, "Is it supposed to look like that?" He questioned, poking the hard black rectangle
stuck in the aluminum pan.
Kagome glared at him, "What do you think?
Why not eat some of it and see?" She snapped and hurled the pan into the bushes.
"Err. . ." he muttered, and turned away.
"What?"
Inuyasha shook himself, "We should move on today. You haven't sensed any jewel shards, and we're wasting time."
He informed her and began burying the fire-pit.
"Right. Hey, before
we go any farther, I'd like to go see Sango and Miroku. It's been nearly a month since we've seen them." She told
him, "And besides, I told Shippo we'd visit, and so far, we haven't." Inuyasha didn't respond, and she took his silence
as an agreement to her plan. "Right, then. I have to go to the bathroom, so you wait here." She said simply
and made her way into the shady wood.
She walked for several minutes,
not really needing to go to the bathroom, but wanting a reason to get away from Inuyasha for a few minutes. No matter
what she did, she always seemed to screw up. No doubt Kikyo was perfect. No doubt Kikyo never caught the forest
on fire. No doubt Kikyo never burned a cake into a block of charcoal. Kagome laughed at herself. What did
it matter anyway? Inuyasha, he still loved her, and he viewed Kagome as a replacement, sort of a repeat or a copy.
He only kept her around because she reminded him of the love of his life. "Stupid, stupid!" She scolded herself
furiously. "He doesn't want me!" She told herself.
"I couldn't
agree more." Came a soft, clear voice. Kagome whirled, seeing a slightly older reflection of her own face.
"Kikyo!" She hissed.
"You know, for so long, I wanted only to kill
him. I only wanted him to die by my hand as I died by his. But then, I learned the truth, who had actually killed
me. And Inuyasha, he risked his own life to avenge me. But you are in the way." Kikyo said, holding her
arm out in front of her, a powerful blast emanating from her palm, slamming Kagome against a tree, bands of bluish light pinning
her against the bark. "I no longer want him to die with me. Instead, I'd rather live with him."
Kagome glared at her defiantly, "You're dead, and no amount of evil can fix that!"
Kikyo laughed mirthlessly, "No. You're right, but the jewel can."
Kagome swallowed painfully, "The jewel isn't complete. You can't use it!" she informed her.
The older girl smiled, "I believe these are the final shards, though. These are all that's left in the world."
She told Kagome, dangling a small bag in front of her face.
"Inuyasha
loves you! What do you want with me? Why not just go to him?" Kagome said bitterly. "I don't have
anything you want!"
Kikyo raised her eyebrow in surprise. "You forget
something, Kagome. You do have something of mine. You have my soul." Kagome raised her eyes to Kikyo's,
but no words came to her mind. A thousand insults, numberless attacks, all swam around in her head, but not a single
word to retaliate against Kikyo's claim. Kikyo picked Kagome's bow up from the ground where she'd dropped it.
"It's ironic, you know. You're going to die by your own weapon." She told Kagome with a twist of glee in her voice.
She notched the arrow deliberately, delighting in the fear that filled Kagome's eyes.
"I hate you!" Kagome screamed, "I am not your reincarnation! I could not be so heartless, so evil!"
Kikyo laughed, "Try being dead and see what it does to your disposition." And let the arrow fly.
A blur of red cloth and white hair ripped through the trees, and a slash of deadly claws shattered the arrow inches before
it would have struck Kagome's face. "Kikyo. . ." breathed Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha. . ." Kikyo returned, piercing him with a steady gaze.
"Why are you trying to kill Kagome!" Inuyasha demanded, planting himself in Kikyo's path to Kagome.
Kikyo watched him for a moment, not responding to his question. "Why do you not want me to have my soul?" She
asked him, a twinge of hurt and resentment filling her voice.
Inuyasha
let out a whoosh of air, "Kikyo. . . you're dead, you just haven't accepted it." He said helplessly. "You can't
go on like this."
She watched him for a second, as if contemplating his
words, "So. . ." she began slowly, "You wish for me to die?"
Inuyasha
closed his eyes briefly, "No, Kikyo. I don't want you to die, but you can't live again. You have to let go."
Kikyo shook her head slowly, "You're wrong. I can live again, and to do that, I'm going to kill her." She said
indicating Kagome.
"I can't let you." Inuyasha told her. "You
cannot harm Kagome. I won't let you."
Kikyo laughed at him, her
voice sounding brittle and harsh, "You won't let me? Inuyasha! You've never been able to harm me once in your
life!"
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles in preparation. "Kikyo."
He wouldn't dare harm me. Kikyo told herself confidently and walked up to Kagome.
"Kikyo, I'm warning you." Inuyasha growled. Kikyo didn't look at him, and shoved him out of her path, pulling
Tetsusaiga from its sheath.
Kagome watched her in anger. "You filthy
corpse!" she yelled, "You can't treat him like that! Let go of me and you'll regret the day you were born!"
Kikyo laughed. "Good-bye Kagome. You've been more trouble than you'll ever know." She said, and raised Tetsusaiga
above her head. Even in its untransformed form, it was a sword, and could cut. Suddenly she froze, her eyes glazing
and resting on Kagome as Tetsusaiga fell harmlessly from her hands. "No. . ." She protested weakly, "He. . . chose
you. . ." she choked, a trickle of blackish blood running from her mouth.
Kikyo collapsed to the ground, dissolving into dust. Kagome was released from Kikyo's spell, but couldn't move just
the same. Inuyasha stood before her, staring at his hands. He'd chosen, he realized. He'd made the decision,
and it hadn't been hard. In fact, he realized, it had been one of the easiest in his life. Inuyasha raised his
amber eyes to Kagome, capturing her in his gaze. "I. . ." he stuttered, "I. . . killed her."
Kagome couldn't breath. She felt like darkness was consuming her. Her legs seemed to turn to jelly under her and
she found herself falling. She was caught in strong arms before she struck the ground, and faded into blackness.
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