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Anatomy of a Betrayal InuYasha raced through the midnight forest, the vial of jewel shards clasped so tightly in his hand that it was a wonder the fragile glass didn’t shatter. The trees were black shadows in the deeper darkness, and the pungent scent of fallen rain and mildewed leaves mingled with the tears of anger and sorrow that stung in his eyes and nose. He bit them back with a snarl and leapt into the air.By InuSaga In the distance, he heard her scream. “InuYasha!” Kagome’s voice echoed around him, harsh and ugly with fury. Not good. InuYasha pushed himself harder, trying to put as much distance between himself and the outraged girl as he could. Not that he feared her wrath or her strength. The simple fact of the matter was that if he could hear her, then she could use the– “Osuwari!” InuYasha spat a vicious curse as he plummeted from high in the tree canopy and slammed with devastating impact into damp earth. Decaying debris clung to his hate fevered skin as he fought to shrug off the subjugation quickly. InuYasha knew he needed to be as quiet as possible but that proved beyond his means, as all he wanted to do was scream his anger to the heavens. At last, he felt strength return to his limbs, just as he heard someone crashing through the forest nearby. She was getting closer, he realized with a surge of resentment. The instant the last of the magic faded, he leapt to his feet and prepared to leap away again. “InuYasha, osuwari!” Kagome shouted, too close, and he was eating mud once more. After several moments of struggling, InuYasha managed to pry his face out of the muck. “Fucking bitch,” he said with a ferocious growl. Her scent, tainted with intense bitterness and grief, wrapped around him on the humid night air. It was ironic. At one time, Kagome’s scent was the only thing that could bring him back from the darkest, vilest mood his demonic blood was capable of producing. Now it only fueled the fires of his animosity. InuYasha finally managed to push himself up into a crouching position, but he froze when he saw the arrow pointed straight at his chest. He focused on the gleaming point for a moment, then his gaze trailed up the wooden shaft to the hand holding the weapon. His eyes followed her arm to the shoulder, and finally settled on her face; her once lovely face turned ugly with hate and eyes filled with bleak darkness. “Don’t. Move,” Kagome said in a low voice, her deadly aim never wavering. InuYasha couldn’t remember ever hating anyone as much as he hated her at that moment, and he could tell by the look on her face that the feeling was mutual. Still, he held in his scathing retort and continued to glower at her, silently daring her to fire. She was breathing hard, be it from the exertion of trying to keep up with him or pure rage, he couldn’t tell. The end result was the same. Her cheeks were flushed red and her chest heaved beneath her sailor uniform blouse, giving him just the briefest flash of bare abdomen with every rise and fall of her chest. “How could you do this to me, InuYasha?” she asked, her words clipped. He sneered. “How could I do this to you?” he countered. *** Kagome rubbed the instant compress between her hands, feeling the chemicals within it blend and turn ice cold. She sniffed back tears and crossed the room to Miroku’s side.The monk was understandably dazed. The flesh around his left eye was tender and puffy, with a small but ragged red gash at the corner of his eye and weeping watery blood. His temple and cheek were already showing the beginnings of what would prove to be a horrible bruise. Kagome took a deep breath and pressed the pouch to Miroku’s face, then winced in sympathy pain when he jerked awake. She cleared her throat and somehow managed to ask, “How are you feeling, Miroku-sama?” Miroku sat up with a groan, one hand on his forehead with his eyes closed tight. “Where’s Sango?” he asked groggily. Kagome closed her eyes, a wave of nausea sweeping through her at the mere mention of the other girl’s name. “She went back out to look for Shippo-chan. She said . . .” Kagome had to take another steadying breath before she could continue. “She said that if she sees InuYasha right now, she’s going to beat him bloody with her Hiraikotsu.” “I see,” Miroku said with a soft chuckle as he took over holding the ice pack in place. Kagome handed him three ibuprofen tablets and a bottle of water, which he dutifully swallowed. Kagome shook her head. “You’re going to have a black eye,” she told him forlornly. Miroku grunted. “I suppose it could have been worse,” he said. “InuYasha could have taken my head off.” Kagome turned away from the monk in shame. “Thank you for coming to my defense,” she said, her eyes on the unmoving bamboo curtain covering the door. Her voice cracked. “For all the good it did.” She could feel his deep blue eyes upon her. “Did he say why he did it?” “No,” she said, clutching the material of her skirt to keep her hands from trembling. If she knew InuYasha–which she was beginning to seriously doubt–he was nearby, listening to every word. Good, she decided. Let him hear this. “I think he did it just because he knew it would hurt me.” Miroku sighed. “I don’t believe that, Kagome-sama.” “How can you doubt it?” Kagome asked. She turned back to the monk, and he frowned when he saw the tears shimmering in her eyes. “Why?” she asked, sounding very small and childlike. “Why did he do this to me? Why did he destroy the well?” Miroku edged closer to the girl to pat her soothingly on her shoulder. “I don’t know,” he answered. “I wish I could tell you why, but nothing he’s done today has made any sense. When he and I got into our . . . argument, he said things that made no sense. He wasn’t like himself, but he hit me before I could question him further.” The monk managed a rueful smile. “I don’t remember much after that.” Kagome shook her head in misery, then noticed Miroku absently flexing his right hand. “You’re not thinking about sucking him up, are you?” she asked, but felt bad immediately. She wasn’t joking. Miroku seemed to realize this and his troubled expression intensified. “Something is wrong, Kagome-sama,” he said. “I can feel it.” Kagome barely noticed his dire tone. She was too preoccupied with her own heartbreak. “Something is very wrong,” she agreed. “This whole situation is wrong. Right now, I’m more inclined to help Naraku than I am to help InuYasha. I can’t pretend I don’t hate him.” Miroku could barely believe the words coming out of Kagome’s mouth, regardless of the circumstances or what InuYasha had done. “Kagome-sama,” he began, only to discover that words had utterly failed him. She turned her attention back to Miroku, her expression resolved. “But, I will. For your sake, if nothing else.” Miroku foreboding turned to surprise, which did little to help him think of something to say that could set things right. “You were right. We have to work together, even if that means . . .” Her jaw clenched as she glared at the door again. “I won’t forget my promise to you.” At that, Miroku became outright confused. Kagome drew her shoulders back, growing more confident by the moment. “We’ll save you from your fate. By any means necessary.” Before Miroku could respond, there was a heavy thump from beyond the curtain and they both went rigid in apprehension. An instant later the blind was thrown aside with such force that it was torn from its anchor, and the pair found themselves staring into the glittering eyes of a very angry inu-hanyou. InuYasha wasted only a second glaring at the two humans before he stormed across the room toward them. Kagome leaned closer to Miroku as her heart leapt into her throat, though whether it was to protect her injured friend or in the hopes that Miroku would protect her, she didn’t know. InuYasha ignored the monk and went straight for the girl, dragging Kagome to her feet. “InuYasha!” Miroku shouted. InuYasha ignored him. He grabbed the cord around Kagome’s neck that held the vial of jewel shards and snapped it with a ruthless tug. Kagome barely had time to cry out in protest before InuYasha dropped her unceremoniously and turned to leave. “InuYasha!” Kagome yelled, but his ears didn’t even flicker in response. Miroku watched as the normally sweet girl’s visage twisted in anger and she leapt to her feet to go after the hanyou. “Kagome-sama!” he called after her, which sent a wave of sickening pain through his skull. He heard her grab her bow and arrows before she raced out of the hut. *** Kagome held the arrow on InuYasha with a steadiness of hand neither would have thought her capable of given the situation. “Why, InuYasha?” she asked, and the evenness of her tone reminded InuYasha of Kikyou. His heart ached with every beat. “Why did you take the jewel shards? Why did you hurt Miroku-sama? Why?”InuYasha snarled. “That son of a bitch had it coming,” he muttered. *** Miroku stared down at the smoking remains of what was once the Bone-Eater’s well in disbelief. The wood was charred and splintered beyond recognition, scattered throughout the clearing. The destroyed portal was little more than a sinkhole in the ground after being hit by the Wind Scar.InuYasha stood a few feet away, Tetsusaiga still in his hand, an eerily calm expression on his face. The taut silence was broken only by Kagome’s heart-wrenching sobs. She was on her knees, her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking piteously. Sango stood next to her, absolutely dumbfounded. “What have you done?” Miroku asked, catapulted into uncharacteristic fury. “How could you do this to her?” InuYasha said nothing, gazing down at his handiwork with a detached look. Miroku took a step closer to InuYasha. “She can never go home now! What possessed you to–?” “Shut up, you bastard,” InuYasha cut him off, his tone soft with deadly calm. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” Miroku’s grip on his staff tightened as he resisted the urge to knock his friend in his thick skull. “Well, you will hear it,” he replied. InuYasha shrugged in callous indifference. He didn’t even glance at Kagome. Sango laid a comforting hand on the younger girl’s back, only to have Kagome shrug her off violently. The taijiya took a shocked step back. “She’s stuck here now,” InuYasha said. “Her little plan won’t work.” “What plan is that, InuYasha?” Miroku retorted coldly. “To finish her schooling and see her family again? How could you do that to her after everything she’s done for you? Don’t you care about her at all?” InuYasha’s fist seemed to appear out of nowhere, and Miroku felt a blinding pain explode in the side of his face. The girls gasped as he fell backward, Kagome shocked out of her despair as Sango ran to Miroku’s side. “InuYasha!” Sango cried, her own anger setting in as she glared up at InuYasha incredulously. InuYasha glared down at his prone companion. “No,” he answered, even though Miroku was beyond hearing him. “Not as much as you do, anyway.” InuYasha sheathed Tetsusaiga, unhurried, and then leapt into the darkness of the forest. *** “That doesn’t explain anything!” Kagome yelled. “How could you hit Miroku-sama when you were the one in the wrong?”InuYasha shook his head, unable to look at her. “Don’t defend that fucking asshole to me.” “He is your friend, InuYasha!” At that, InuYasha’s head shot up, teeth bared, and he punched the ground with such violence that Kagome almost released her arrow out of startled fear alone. “No!” he shouted. “He’s not! He crossed the line!” InuYasha started to lunge toward Kagome, and on reflex she screamed, “Osuwari!” The hanyou was jerked down to the moist earth again, and at once he began to spew utterly vulgar insults. Prying his face out of the soil, he glared at the girl. “For fuck sakes, Kagome, if you’re going to shoot me, just shoot me!” Kagome shook her head, eerily composed. “Miroku-sama is your friend, InuYasha. He wanted me to go after you. He told me to apologize . . .” *** Miroku and Sango stepped out of Kaede’s hut, identical expressions of bewildered concern on their faces. Kagome stood just outside the door, gazing into the distance coldly as she massaged her stinging hand.“Kagome-sama, what happened?” Miroku asked. “What on earth were you two arguing about?” Kagome said nothing. Sango took a step closer to her, and Kagome automatically moved away to maintain the distance between them. Sango glanced at Miroku in hurt confusion, but Miroku could only shake his head. The monk took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Kagome-sama,” he said gravely. “I don’t pretend to know what you and InuYasha have been at each other about, but for the sake of our quest can you please work this out with him?” “I meant what I said,” Kagome replied, pitiless. Miroku and Sango looked at one another again, mutual sorrow rippling through them. “Yes,” Miroku said with a sigh. “I know you did. But, I also know that the two of you can work though anything.” Fury rolled off of Kagome as she cast such a malicious, hateful look at Sango that the older girl flinched. “Not this time,” Kagome stated. Miroku glanced back and forth between the girls, not liking the animosity in the air one bit. “Please, Kagome-sama. Go after him.” “Why don’t you send Sango-chan if you’re so worried?” Kagome snapped. Sango gaped at Kagome’s curt statement. “Kagome-chan?” she said, her voice barely a whisper. Before anyone could say another word, a brilliant light erupted in the distance and the companions looked up, stunned. It was the Wind Scar, there was no mistake. Had InuYasha encountered a helpless demon his on which to vent anger? Or . . . Kagome gasped in horror. “No!” she cried as she broke into a sprint toward the clearing. She could hear Miroku and Sango on her heels, but fear lent her wings as she raced toward what she already knew she would find. *** Tears blurred Kagome’s vision and she blinked rapidly. “What did I do?” she asked, her aim beginning to waver. The point of the arrow jerked uncontrollably as she struggled to subdue her emotions. “What did I do to you that was so terrible?”InuYasha bristled, then let his head fall forward. “You know.” “No!” Kagome cried, her shrill voice causing his ears to lay back. “No, I don’t know! I slapped you, so you destroyed my only way home? How is that fair?” InuYasha ground his teeth together with enough force to break a molar. “I didn’t destroy the well because you hit me.” “Then, why?” Did it make him truly pathetic that the sight her crying and the sound of her so broken still had the power to affect him? InuYasha could find no other explanation. His clawed fingers dug into the ground as he said, “Did you forget the rest of that conversation, Kagome?” *** Kagome jerked her arm out of InuYasha’s grasp and stepped away from him. He didn’t need a superior sense of smell to know that she was livid, and that her hot-tempered ire was directed at him for whatever reason. She visibly shook, resisting the urge for violence.InuYasha stared at the girl rendered almost unrecognizable by her hostility. “Look, Kagome,” he said, his tone thick with his own resentment but surprisingly steady. “I know. I know everything. I know what you plan to do and I’m telling you right now, I won’t let you do it.” For the first time all day, Kagome looked at him with something besides naked contempt. She shook her head in confusion. “What?” she asked shortly. He took a step closer to her so that she would be certain to see the resolve in his eyes. “I know about you and Miroku, okay?” he said and she blinked. “And, I know all about this little scheme of yours.” Kagome’s eyes narrowed. “Miroku-sama? What scheme? What are you talking about?” Her feigned ignorance caused his fragile hold on rationality to snap. “Don’t play dumb with me, Kagome!” he shouted, and he heard the mumbled conversation within the hut cease. Kagome glared at him. “I’m not playing anything!” she yelled back without a trace of fear. InuYasha smirked. “Oh, I know that.” Hearing his snide tone, Kagome turned away from him. She took a step toward the hut and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m not going to stand out here and let you insult me. Leave me alone, InuYasha.” As she started to go past him, he grabbed a handful of her shirt and turned her to face him. This conversation needed to be had, and he wasn’t about to let her walk away until it was over. Kagome stumbled a bit at his rough treatment, but recovered quickly. She grabbed his wrist and tried to remove her shirt from his grip, but when it proved impossible to glower at him and free herself at the same time, she looked down and began to pry his fingers back in a more deliberate manner. His point made, InuYasha let her go. All of a sudden, Kagome stiffened with a soft gasp. She held his hand in both of hers, staring down at his long fingers, and InuYasha watched as the blood drained from her face. Kagome released him to take a step back in horror as the scent of acute sorrow hit him out of nowhere. Before he could ask her what was wrong, Kagome’s features twisted in rage and her hand flew up, connecting with his cheek in a resounding slap. She put everything she had behind the blow, and for a moment InuYasha was so stunned that all he could think was that she was deceivingly strong for a girl. “You bastard!” Her screech of anger brought him back to his senses. “How could you? I hate you!” As her heartless words settled over him, InuYasha felt every fiber of his being harden. But he was dead inside, filled with a strange apathy. His hand fisted in her shirt again and he dragged her closer so forcefully that he ripping a seam. Their noses were almost touching as he stared directly into her dark eyes, and her faint whiff of terror was intensely satisfying. “I hate you, too,” he informed her before shoving her away. Kagome stumbled back, and watched as he walked briskly into the night. *** Cool moisture seeped through the knees of his hakama as InuYasha continued to kneel. Kagome still had the arrow trained on him, but he could tell the muscles of her arms and shoulders were beginning to fatigue.An idea came to him, so deliciously simple that it was bound to work. Keep her talking. Let her wear herself out. If her arms are useless, she can’t exactly seal me, now can she? Sure, she could still use the blasted rosary, but if he moved fast enough, he could remove her ability to do that, as well. “Do you think I give a shit that Miroku told you to come after me to apologize?” he asked, keeping his head down so she wouldn’t see the light of eager anticipation in his eyes. “Do you think I even believe what you’re saying? Every word that comes out of your mouth is a lie. I know the truth, yet you still insist that nothing is going on.” Kagome drew the arrow back further, and InuYasha knew that if she released it at that moment the momentum would make it too fast to avoid. “What are you talking about?” she demanded. *** It could have been an evening like any other. InuYasha sat in the corner as Kagome prepared supper and Miroku and Sango tended their weapons. What differed was that Shippo was nowhere around and Kaede was in a neighboring village. That, and the air was so thick with tension that even the humans could sense it.InuYasha watched Kagome carefully. Her movements were preoccupied, jerky, and she was dead silent instead of prattling on and on in her chirpy, optimistic manner. She wouldn’t return InuYasha’s gaze, though he knew she could feel his eyes upon her. The line of her body was tense, and she squeezed the cup of ramen so tightly that the sides began to buckle. “Perhaps I should go back out,” Sango said, drawing InuYasha out of his dark thoughts. “I can’t sit around here like this. The idea that Shippo-chan’s all alone out there, at night . . .” “There’s barely any moon to see by, Sango,” Miroku said with a composure that InuYasha found utterly galling. “We’ll wait until morning. Shippo is smart enough to find his own shelter for the night.” “I just feel so helpless,” Sango complained. “He’s never been gone this long before. Where on earth can he be?” The scent of tears turned the air into acid, and he glanced automatically at Kagome. Her head was bowed and her shoulders trembled. At the sight of her poignant distress, some of his burning resentment bled out of him. Some, but not all. Sango stood, Hiraikotsu slung over her shoulder. “Kirara and I are going back out,” she announced. “Maybe it’s useless, but I have to do something.” Miroku stood. “Then, I’ll go as well. Capable as you are, it’s dangerous to travel alone at night.” The monk smiled, placing his cursed hand on the slayer’s shoulder. “Who knows, perhaps you and I could find more productive ways of occupying ourselves until sunrise.” The monk’s lecherous comment was not wholly unexpected. Miroku flirted with Sango–with every woman, really–shamelessly. Even knowing about the monk and Kagome didn’t make InuYasha think Miroku’s lewd innuendo was uncharacteristic. What got InuYasha’s attention was Kagome’s reaction. The girl’s head shot up, unadulterated enmity simmering in her eyes, and the powerful scent of her anger washed away any trace of despondency and concern for the lost kitsune. She glared at Sango with so much hatred that InuYasha blinked in surprise. Then, a smell he’d grown quite familiar with where Kagome was concerned inundated him. Jealousy. Heavy, sour, all-consuming envy. Kagome glared at the woman who was supposedly her dearest friend, and her antipathy was so thick that it was a miracle it didn’t curdle the air. InuYasha could take no more. He got to his feet and reached the girl in two strides. He bent over and grabbed Kagome by the elbow, dragging her to her feet. “We need to talk,” was all he said by way of explanation as he pulled her from the hut. *** “What?” Kagome cried, her arms relaxing slightly, but not enough for him to knock the bow out of her hands before she could either fire or subjugate him again. “Jealous? Are you out of your mind? Why would I suddenly become jealous of Miroku-sama and Sango-chan, InuYasha?”InuYasha chuckled without humor. “And you still fucking deny it?” He shook his head. “I never figured you for a conniver, Kagome.” There was a creak as Kagome drew the arrow back again. “What are you talking about?” InuYasha could take no more. She could lie to him, there was nothing he could do to stop her, but she would not talk to him as though he were some sort of imbecile. “I know about you and Miroku, Kagome,” he said slowly, a meaningful look in his eye. He wanted there to be no doubt in her mind as to what he was referring. “I know everything.” “What about me and Miroku-sama?” Kagome cried. InuYasha’s hackles rose. Fine. If that’s the way she wanted to be. *** The sun had completely dipped behind the western horizon, but the sky simmered in shades of deep red and violet. There was plenty of light to see by, though InuYasha wished that he’d been suddenly and inexplicably stricken blind. He stood in the tree, holding a branch in a splintering grip to steady himself. He could do nothing but stare at Miroku and Kagome as they embraced almost desperately below.“How could you do something so dangerous, Kagome?” the monk murmured into her hair, his arms tight about her shoulders. She almost disappeared into the flowing material of his robes. “You could have been killed.” Kagome’s voice was pleading as she turned her face up to his. “I know, but . . . I was desperate. I’m so afraid. I can’t lose you.” Her declaration–as well as the emotion she put behind it–cut InuYasha to the bone. Still, he maintained his silence as he watched two of the few people he trusted betray him. Miroku shook his head. “Kagome, what were you thinking?” The monk was addressing her with such familiarity that, if it was possible, InuYasha’s rage intensified. He hunched against the pain as a low rumble slunk up from the depths of his chest. Kagome pulled Miroku tighter against her. “I know,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. “You could have been killed talking to Naraku,” Miroku continued to admonish her. Nothing in the world could have shocked InuYasha out of his growing rage except for that. His eyes widened as he continued to stare at Kagome, his world crumbling around him. No. It couldn’t be. She wouldn’t dare . . . Oblivious to the fact that she was provoking a dangerous individual, Kagome rose onto the balls of her feet and placed her hands on the sides of the worthless monk’s face. “It wasn’t Naraku himself,” she said, as though that made everything okay. “I think he’s too afraid of us to come personally. He sent one of his incarnations. Still, I managed to . . . make a deal.” Miroku frowned, but gazed down at her with open warmth. “What sort of deal, Kagome?” She glanced away, as though embarrassed, but her hold on Miroku never wavered. “Well, I told them I had to talk to you first. But it sounded reasonable enough. I just had to make sure that you would agree.” “What did he say, Kagome?” Miroku prompted, ever patient as Kagome wound her arms around his neck. She took a deep breath. “If I hand over the last of the jewel shards,” she explained, “then go through the well and seal it behind me–swearing never to return–Naraku says he’ll remove your curse.” Above them, InuYasha’s heart seized to a shuddering halt and his breath caught in his throat. Miroku scowled, but the small spark of hope in his eyes betrayed him. “You know we can’t trust him,” the monk argued, jostling her a bit in an extremely half-hearted attempt to shake some sense into her. “Naraku isn’t exactly known for his veracity.” “The incarnation said that Naraku hates InuYasha much more than he hates the both of us put together. His amusement with your curse faded ages ago, but his hatred of InuYasha burns hotter than ever. Naraku thinks that losing two of his allies will break InuYasha’s spirit and weaken him.” “Won’t it?” Miroku asked uneasily. “Would you hand InuYasha to Naraku so casually?” “InuYasha can take care of himself,” she insisted. Kagome’s arms tightened around her beloved monk, and InuYasha wasn’t sure if he should be flattered by her apparent faith in his strength or angered by her callous indifference to his well-being. He quickly settled on the latter. “Naraku is no match for him,” Kagome went on, tracing the line of Miroku’s jaw with her fingertips. “Besides, it’s you I can’t live without.” InuYasha’s claws dug into the bark of the tree. He turned away from the scene below, unable to watch anymore, but nothing stopped his accursedly sharp hearing from picking up every despicable word. “What on earth makes you think I’d agree to never see you again?” Miroku asked. “That’s just it,” Kagome said eagerly. “I think that maybe I can bring you with me. InuYasha can make it through the well, right? If I can figure out how he does it, I might finally be able to bring you instead.” InuYasha wasn’t expecting that betrayal to sting quite as much as it did, but her words were razor claws across the surface of his mind. He pressed his back against the tree trunk in a mighty effort to remain rational. Miroku said nothing, and InuYasha knew the bastard’s will to argue with Kagome’s logic was crumbling. I might finally be able to bring you instead . . . Finally? How long had this been going on under his nose? “Do you think you could do that?” Kagome asked, the hope in her voice painfully beautiful. “Live with me, in my time?” “I know I could,” Miroku said without a moment’s hesitation. “But, what if it doesn’t work?” InuYasha looked back just in time to see Kagome lift herself up to brush her lips against Miroku’s, and he almost lost it. “Then, at least I’ll know that you weren’t swallowed by your curse,” she said. “And that you grew to a ripe old age. That you lived, even if it wasn’t with me.” Miroku’s hold on her tightened. “Life without you would not be life, Kagome,” he said. “I’d merely be existing.” Kagome nodded as she buried her fingers into the monk’s hair. “I’ll find a way to bring you through. I won’t leave until I’m sure I can take you with me.” Miroku nodded and leaned his face toward hers. InuYasha watched as their lips pressed together, then as the kiss deepened. InuYasha could control himself no longer. He leapt away, moving as fast as he could to distance himself before the compulsion to seriously harm the both of them grew overwhelming. *** “What?” Kagome stared at the hanyou, aghast.InuYasha said nothing, the mental image of Miroku kissing Kagome burning against the screen of his closed eyes. “You really have lost your mind,” she said, as though she hadn’t believed it before. InuYasha laughed dryly and shook his head. “So, you’re going to deny that now?” he said sardonically. “I don’t deny that I spoke to Miroku-sama earlier, but that wasn’t what we said,” she retorted. *** Kagome clung to Miroku, breathing hard as the reality of what she had just witnessed hit her. “How?” she managed to whisper, her voice dispirited and almost deranged. “How can I live with that? How am I supposed to go on, knowing what I know?”Miroku smoothed a hand over her back but it strayed no further, empathy seeming to make him forget for the moment that he was an indecent pervert. “I understand, Kagome-sama,” he said soothingly. “I know all too well how you’re feeling right now. But, I must ask that you pretend as though you don’t know anything is going on.” She shook her head and turned her face into his robes, wanting to shut out the world. His clothes were soft and smelled of the outdoors and incense. His body heat as well as the solidity of his presence was very comforting. But there was nothing that could possibly shake that image from her mind. “As much as it pains me to admit this, we need them,” Miroku went on reasonably. “We need their strength to help us defeat Naraku.” “I can’t, Miroku-sama!” Kagome cried, her voice muffled. “I can’t act like I don’t know. He’ll take one look at me, and he’ll know.” Miroku was silent for a moment. “I don’t pretend that it’s easy, Kagome-sama,” he said. “It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever do, but . . . if we don’t defeat Naraku, soon, I’m going to die.” Kagome gasped and went rigid, her eyes shooting open. Miroku went on, his voice as rational as it was desperate. “I can’t kill Naraku on my own, and if we don’t kill him then his curse will claim me. I haven’t sired an heir, Kagome-sama. Even if I did so tomorrow, I wouldn’t live to see my child grow or even be born. There is no one left to avenge my family. It’s me or no one.” Kagome closed her eyes, pained. “I know,” she said miserably. “And, I’ll do everything I can to help, but–” Miroku took her face in his hands and stared deep into her eyes. “Stay close to me,” he said. “Follow my lead. Hopefully, the final confrontation with Naraku is not far away. After that, you can pin InuYasha to another tree for all I care.” *** InuYasha raised his head, glowering at the girl. “Is that the best you can do?” he asked. “You’re going to claim that I misheard? That’s beyond fucking feeble, Kagome. I don’t mishear! I know what I heard! I know what I saw! That fucking conversation doesn’t even make sense!”If she didn’t move soon, Kagome knew her strength was going to fail her, not to mention her nerve. Her arms burned in exertion, and her legs felt tingly and warm from crouching in the same position for too long. But, she couldn’t lower her weapon. There was no turning back on the path they were traveling, even though the destination was disaster. “It does if you take into account the fact that I know about you and Sango,” Kagome informed him with a composure she didn’t feel. InuYasha stared at her, puzzlement seeping through the cracks of his anger. “What?” he asked, the word coming out as a short, bitter bark. “What about me and Sango?” *** This can’t be happening.Kagome stood behind the tree and held the trunk with both hands as though the rushing tide of her despair would sweep her away if she let go. She barely noticed the rough bark digging into the flesh of her palms, and Kagome wondered how a heart could keep beating after it had been crushed to powder. This can’t be happening. Kagome was concealed from the couple nearby, but nothing could shield her from witnessing what was happening. But even if she couldn’t see it, there was no missing–or mistaking–the sounds they were making. This can’t be happening. Why doesn’t he realize I’m here? Kagome wondered, that single coherent thought breaking through her fog of disbelief and heartache. It was quickly followed by another. Why hasn’t he picked up my scent yet? Idiot, a voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Kikyou berated. Do you think he’s in any frame of mind to think about you at the moment? Kagome covered her mouth, positive that she was about to be sick. This can’t be happening. But it was. Try as she might, there was no denying what she saw, that two people she loved were causing her the most exquisite pain she’d ever experienced. When she’d emerged from the well to find InuYasha and Kikyou embracing beneath the Sacred Tree, when she heard him declare to Kikyou that he’d never stopped thinking about her, all of the times he left her to run to Kikyou . . . all of that was nothing. Kagome would gladly go through it again. Hell, she’d bring the popcorn. All of that sorrow combined was trivial in comparison to the atrocity she was privy to at the moment. Kagome watched, unable to tear her eyes away. InuYasha had Sango pressed against the trunk of Goshinboku, directly beneath the spot where he had been pinned, the same place where Kagome and InuYasha had met for the first time. For some reason, that made what they were doing all the more offensive. Very little of Sango was visible from Kagome’s vantage; the slayer’s ecstatic expression over his shoulder and her bare legs wrapped around his waist. Her arms, clinging to his neck, were buried by the thick blanket of his silver hair. Regardless, it was quite apparent that Sango was naked. InuYasha was not. He still wore his red hakama, though his haori and white kimono were pushed off of his shoulders and hung loose around his waist. Still, he must have freed his . . . relevant body part, because Kagome could see, even at a distance, that his hips were moving. Sango alternately gasped and moaned with every upward thrust, and each heated sound was like sharp needles jabbing repeatedly into Kagome’s stomach. InuYasha turned his face to Sango’s and kissed her, swallowing her cries of pleasure. Finally, the terrible spell that held her frozen abated. Kagome turned away from the scene and pressed her back against the tree. She put her hands over her aching chest, fully expecting to find a ragged hole where her heart had been as she tried to banish that final image from her mind. Kagome couldn’t explain it, but there was something strangely beautiful about seeing him kiss Sango. Perhaps it was seeing his face–which always seemed haunted–so relaxed, so vulnerable and passionate. Or maybe it was seeing him express his desire in such a frank, unadulterated fashion. Or seeing undeniable proof that he was not above such things, that he did have those kinds of thoughts and could express them with such fervor. Just . . . not with her. Kagome placed a cool hand against her forehead as powerful, very unpleasant sensations spread out from the pit of her stomach, sickening her. She’d never known jealousy before, not true jealousy that corrupted the soul and blackened the heart. Whatever she had felt toward InuYasha and Kikyou was nothing compared to this, meager annoyance if anything. This was jealousy. This was hatred. The logical part of her mind reminded her that this shouldn’t come as that much of a shock. InuYasha had never expressed that kind of interest in her. He’d made it fairly clear from the beginning that his heart belonged to Kikyou, so if anyone was getting betrayed it was the undead priestess. Yes, InuYasha was protective of her as his friend and his shard detector, but other than that the only emotions InuYasha ever showed her was annoyance at having been burdened with the duty of being her protector in the first place. And, it wasn’t like she could blame InuYasha for his choice of lovers. Sango had an inner strength that awed Kagome. If Kagome had lived through the horrors Sango had, she knew she would be sucking her thumb in the corner of a padded room, not risking her life on a daily basis to avenge her family. Kagome got the impression that her own innocence and naivety annoyed InuYasha to some extent, while Sango was far from ingenuous. Not only that, but Sango was so much more mature and beautiful that Kagome. Sango was bright, resourceful, powerful. How could Kagome hope to compete? InuYasha was her friend, that was all. No matter what she felt for him, he would never be more than that. He’d never led her to believe otherwise. No, that’s wrong, too, Kagome’s sorow argued. They were more than just friends. Weren’t they? She wracked her brain for some incidence that would prove her last, desperate hope, but her thoughts crumbled and evaporated like aged silk between her grasping fingers. Suddenly, the only memory of her relationship with InuYasha that remained was of that last devastating image of him locked in the throes of passion with her best friend. Sango . . . How could you? That betrayal hurt more than anything InuYasha could do to her. Kagome could give InuYasha the benefit of the doubt that he wasn’t aware of her feelings toward him, but Sango knew. Sango knew all too well how much Kagome loved him. The two of them had talked about it, discussed it at length. And knowing how Kagome felt, Sango had still acted upon her desires. Kagome could understand Sango’s attraction–she shared it, after all–but that didn’t stop the tide of pure resentment that rose like bile into Kagome’s throat. It was all Kagome could do not to scream, but somehow she maintained her silence, even when a gentle hand landed on her shoulder. Kagome’s eyes shot open, and she gasped when she saw Miroku standing before her. He gazed down at her stricken expression with concern, then looked over her shoulder at the couple in the distance. He frowned ever so slightly. “They are getting brazen, aren’t they?” he murmured. Kagome stared at Miroku, the ramifications of his question freezing her anger and pain into a hard lump that threatened to suffocate her. “Come, Kagome-sama,” he said, already pulling her by her elbow. He continued to watch Sango and InuYasha, his features hardening. “It seems that you and I must talk.” *** InuYasha stared at Kagome as she finished talking, amazed beyond words as all but the faintest traces of his anger were swept away. Finally, he found his voice.“What?” he shouted incredulously. Kagome drew the arrow back further. The scent of hostility was thick around her, drowning her sorrow. InuYasha went on, regardless of the fact that it would take very little to provoke Kagome at the moment. “Me and Sango? Are you fucking insane?” The girl’s eyes narrowed. “I know what I saw, InuYasha,” she said. “You’re fucking crazy! I don’t know what you think you saw but . . .” His voice trailed off as she took careful aim. He grasped at the only logical explanation that came to him at the moment. “I told you to stay in the hut to wait for Shippo. Are you sure you didn’t fall asleep and . . . dream this?” Kagome’s lips twisted in a humorless smile. “And you claim my excuse was feeble. I didn’t fall asleep, InuYasha, because I didn’t wait in the hut.” *** Kagome paced back and forth, her shoulders hunched. “I can’t take this,” she announced for the tenth time. “They’ve been looking for hours. I can’t sit here and wait for word like this. I have to do something.”Miroku leaned back against the wall, exhausted from his own search. “InuYasha told you to wait here. He’ll be angry if he comes back to find that you’re wandering the forest alone this close to nightfall.” Kagome’s cheeks flushed red. “I don’t care what he said, and I couldn’t care less what would make him angry!” she said in a harsh tone that startled Miroku. “Kagome-sama?” She slung her bow over her shoulder and moved the door covering aside. Her fingers tightened around the shaft of wood in a white-knuckled grip, and she stared at the setting sun. “I’m going. I’m going to go look for Shippo-chan,” she said, her voice growing frenzied. “He’s got to be out there somewhere! He’s got to . . .” She suddenly seemed on the verge of hysterics. Miroku got to his feet and took a step in her direction. “Please, Kagome-sama, stay,” he said, trying to soothe. “I’ll go back out.” Kagome shook her head. “No. You’re too tired. I’ll go.” She turned to look at him at last, and he saw that there were unshed tears in her eyes. “Let me come with you,” he offered. “No,” Kagome said, too quickly. She blushed a bit in embarrassment. “I-I need time to think anyway. You stay here and wait for Shippo-chan.” She hesitated a moment. “Where’s Kirara?” “With Sango, naturally,” Miroku said. Kagome closed her eyes and spit a bitter curse that would have made InuYasha admonish her for her language. Miroku gaped at the deceptively innocent looking girl. Perhaps more of the hanyou had rubbed off on her than anyone was aware. “Kagome-sama–?” Without another word, Kagome stormed out of the hut. Miroku followed her as far as the doorway, but ceased his pursuit when he realized that she was running toward the forest. *** InuYasha stared at the ground, his brow furrowed. So she wouldn’t wait at the hut, and she had left to look for Shippo herself? If that was true, then she was, by her own admission, unbelievably pissed at him before she supposedly saw him and Sango fucking in the forest. But, that didn’t make any sense! What the hell did she have to be upset about? InuYasha almost wished he was screwing Sango! That would show the bitch . . .It occurred to him then that Kagome was talking. “He’s here,” she whispered. Her tone was soft, urgent, as she desperately tried to convince herself to release the arrow. “He’s right here. He destroyed the well. He hurt Miroku. He took the jewel shards. He ki–” Her voice caught, and water gathered behind her eyelashes, glistening in the darkness. “Shippo-chan,” she said, the boy’s name little more than a sob that chilled InuYasha’s blood. Her face hardened again in rage. “Do it! Just do it! He’s right here!” InuYasha blurted the first thing that came to mind. “I saw you and Miroku, too.” Kagome’s expression registered her momentary confusion before her eyes narrowed once more. “I don’t know what you think you saw,” she told him, “but if you think, for one instant, that you have the right to get jealous where I’m concerned anymore, you’re out of your mind. I am not your property, InuYasha. You and I . . . are nothing!” InuYasha’s reply was a deep growl. “I heard what you said to Miroku earlier,” Kagome said. “Before you and the others left, when you were supposed to be looking for Shippo. I heard what you said to him.” *** Kagome worried her bottom lip between her teeth, pacing back and forth. Miroku stared at her, one dark eyebrow arched at her obvious anxiety.“Kagome-sama,” he said, and the sound of his voice made her jump. He chuckled gently. “Are you alright?” Her cheeks turned a furious shade of red, and she bowed her head. “Um . . . Miroku-sama?” she said, her discomfort obvious. “I have something I need to tell you.” Miroku tilted his head a bit, curious at her behavior as well as her nervous tone. “Alright,” he said. Kagome grabbed a lock of her hair and began to run it through her hands in distress. She shifted from foot to foot and took a deep breath, not quite able to look at him, it appeared. “Okay,” she began, then sighed and closed her eyes as though that single word had taken a momentous effort. “Oh, my god, this is so hard.” “Kagome-sama?” he said, crossing his arms. Little did he know when he woke from a rather lurid dream of Sango that morning that saying Kagome’s name in confusion would be his most common action of the day. “Are you feeling alright? You’ve been acting strangely ever since you returned from gathering herbs.” Kagome’s head snapped up and she stared directly into Miroku’s eyes. She drew her shoulders back and opened her mouth, but before she could say a word InuYasha stormed into the hut with an ominous look on his face. At once, Kagome stiffened and clamped her mouth shut. Miroku frowned. Interesting. It seemed that whatever Kagome had to tell him, she didn’t want InuYasha to hear. His bewilderment deepened as Sango followed a step behind InuYasha, and Kagome’s features set in a furious scowl. So, not only was it something about InuYasha, but it seemed that Sango was involved as well? Better to confirm such a supposition. “You were saying, Kagome-sama?” Miroku said. Kagome flinched and turned her gaze to meet InuYasha’s. Miroku shifted his attention to the hanyou as well and blinked at the look of pure hostility on InuYasha’s face, one he usually reserved for his brother or even Naraku. Kagome met his glare and returned it. “I can’t find Shippo,” she stated. Her eyes never wavered from InuYasha’s, and it was a wonder that the space between them didn’t begin to spark and crackle. Regardless, her blunt declaration got everyone’s attention. “What do you mean, you can’t find him?” InuYasha asked sharply. “I mean what I said,” Kagome retorted, and Miroku watched as InuYasha prickled at her tone. “I mean he was with me this morning, he ran off, and now I can’t find him. I’m not being unclear, am I?” InuYasha’s shoulders hunched and he took a step toward the girl. “Where did you see him last, Kagome-chan?” Sango asked, hoping to defuse the argument they all felt building before it exploded in all of their faces. But, for some inexplicable reason, Kagome stiffened at the sound of the other girl’s voice. When Kagome replied, her tone was even more hostile than it had been when she addressed InuYasha. “In the forest. About two miles away. Near the river.” Her words were clipped, as though short sentences where all she could manage at the moment. “Fine,” InuYasha said. “We’ll split up to look for the brat. Little shit probably just fell asleep in a tree somewhere from all the damn snacks you give him, but since you can’t keep track of a little kid–” His words were cut off abruptly when he saw the look on Kagome’s face. She was staring at him with a direct, vaguely accusing air that he couldn’t understand. “You stay here,” InuYasha commanded. Kagome glared. “What?” “Someone needs to stay here in case the brat comes back. You stay. He likes you, and you won’t get attacked by a youkai wandering around by yourself.” “InuYasha’s right,” Miroku interjected, earning him a fierce look from everyone except Sango. “Kagome-sama, it’s for the best. Wait here. I’m sure he’ll turn up.” “Fine,” she said, her body language making it perfectly clear that she was only agreeing because Miroku had asked her. InuYasha caught it and sneered, then turned to stomp back out of the hut. Sango followed, a bit bewildered by what had just happened, with Miroku on her heels. The three of them were only a few steps away from the hut when Miroku called, “InuYasha.” InuYasha stiffened at the sound of his friend’s voice and turned his head slowly to glower at Miroku over his shoulder. “What do you want?” he growled. Miroku frowned at the deadly edge in InuYasha’s tone but recovered his footing quickly. “Perhaps it isn’t wise to split up right now,” the monk said. “We should search in groups. We’ll cover about as much area–” InuYasha smiled in derision. “Oh, really?” he said. “And who should go with who, Miroku?” “Well,” Miroku said, wondering if he should have just kept his mouth shut. “Sango and I could go, or Kagome-sama and I could cover the ground while you and Sango cover the air?” InuYasha’s smirk grew. “Oh, you’d love that, wouldn’t you, you son of a bitch?” Miroku was so shocked that he could only stare. “Forget it,” InuYasha said, preparing to spring. “Just look for fucking Shippo and keep your dick in your robes, asshole.” Before Miroku could voice a comeback, InuYasha was gone. *** “Why treat him like that, when you are the one betraying him, InuYasha?” Kagome demanded.InuYasha was too preoccupied with renewed anger at the memory of that conversation with Miroku to think of much besides a sarcastic retort. “Yeah, I randomly spout off nasty curses at my friends for no reason at all. I turn on them on a whim. I guess I’m more human than I thought.” Kagome–thank the gods–was a bit quicker on the uptake. “Wait,” she said as she relaxed a little, to which her screaming shoulder would be eternally grateful. “That happened early this afternoon, before you supposedly saw me and Miroku in the forest.” “There’s no supposedly about it, Kagome,” InuYasha informed her. Kagome ignored his brusque tone. “Why would you treat him that way, unless . . .” InuYasha scowled and opened his mouth to speak as the same doubts crept into his mind. Kagome had been hostile to him when he and Sango walked into the hut, apparently for no reason. If her story was to be believed, she saw him and Sango together long after all that happened. Why had she been so pissed at him? Kagome drew the bowstring taut again. “You’re lying,” she said, her thoughts echoing his. “You’re being nasty to Miroku not because you claim to have seen him with me, but because he’s competition for Sango.” “You wanna know why I’d gut that bastard as soon as look at him right now?” InuYasha challenged. *** InuYasha raced through the trees, hardly lingering long enough to tremble the branches as he passed. His thoughts were all over the place, racing and blurring together as endless possibilities–each more horrific than the last–bounced back and forth in his mind. His one driving need was to find and talk to Kagome.He had to know. He wasn’t far from the outskirts of Edo when he finally caught a whiff of the very person he was searching for on the heavy summer air. He would have been relieved, if only his stomach wasn’t churning a corrosive acid that threatened to eat through the walls of his abdomen. He drew closer and the smell grew stronger, and it helped ease his nerves a bit that there was no trace of any negative emotion in her scent. There was no fear, no anger, no dread. On the contrary, she seemed perfectly content. That was a good sign, right? Then, InuYasha caught the monk’s damn scent and groaned. He needed to talk to Kagome in private. More specifically, he needed her to go with him the moment he caught up with her. He didn’t want to have to explain to the monk why he dropped down and snatched Kagome up like a depraved demon. InuYasha slowed a bit, and it was fortunate he did. If he hadn’t hesitated a moment to decide how to extract Kagome from the monk’s company as quickly as possible, he would have dropped down beside them while they were doing that. InuYasha took in the sight of his friends together and froze. The monk’s arms were around Kagome’s slender waist, pulling her flush against him. Her arms were around his shoulders, and InuYasha had a perfect view of both of their faces from his vantage. Their affectionate expressions were like dual arrows right in his chest. Their hushed conversation drifted up to him, and InuYasha felt his heart drop. “I love you, Kagome,” the pitiful excuse for a bastard monk said, and with such sincerity that InuYasha couldn’t help but be furious. “I love you so much.” Kagome’s features softened into an angelic visage of pure joy and contentment. “I love you, too,” she said, the treacherous words as loud as thunderclaps to InuYasha’s enhanced sense of hearing. Miroku’s arms tightened around her, and InuYasha noticed that his claws were digging deep gouges in the tree bark. He pried the deadly points out of the hapless wood, but the moment he did, his fingers curled into a fist. “What about InuYasha?” Miroku asked, and the hanyou’s ears perked up. “What will you tell him?” Kagome sighed and laid her head against the monk’s shoulder. “I don’t know yet,” she said. “In the end, it’s none of his business.” InuYasha felt faint pops in his flesh as his claws extended of their own volition and punctured his calloused palm. He barely registered the pain. Heartless, Kagome went on. “He had his chance and he kept pushing me aside for that . . . corpse.” Kagome giggled, which was hideously inappropriate in the hanyou’s opinion, not to mention quite damning. InuYasha felt his blood boil. “Well, he can have her now.” Miroku took her chin in his hands and turned her face up to his. “InuYasha loved Kikyou-sama,” he admonished her with that same infuriating tenderness. “Enough to become human for her. Have pity on him, Kagome.” Kagome’s eyes emptied of all warmth. “Then perhaps he can find another of her reincarnations to become her substitute. Not me. Not anymore.” Kagome grasped the sides of Miroku’s face and pulled his lips to hers with a determination that could not be denied. Their eyes fluttered closed as each became lost in the embrace. InuYasha braced his legs then leapt away before he said, or did, something rash. He doubted either of his “friends” noticed his departure. *** Kagome hadn’t realized it, but her grip on the bow had loosened as InuYasha spoke. The point dropped a bit, and there was no way she could draw it back and take aim before he knocked the weapon aside, should he chose that moment to make a dive at her. InuYasha considered it, but the look of honest confusion on her face stayed him.Kagome’s many varied resentments against the half-demon were wilting and dropping away. She knew him, knew that weird deceptions like this were completely out of his character. While it was perfectly feasible that he was lying, that he was saying this to confuse her and catch her off guard, it wasn’t his way. If she said she caught him having intimate relations with Sango–or anyone for that matter–InuYasha’s natural reaction would be to splutter and turn as red as his clothes in embarrassment. Not act like he had no idea what she was talking about. And not do it so well that she began to question her own sanity. Still, she couldn’t deny what she saw. “You’re lying,” she said, gauging his reaction. “You’re trying to confuse me.” InuYasha scoffed. “If you think I’m fucking Sango, you’re already confused,” he said. “I’m not some damn human, screwing everything that comes along. I don’t fuck for the hell of it. I’m not Miroku. I’d never do that with Sango.” His smoldering eyes met hers. “I never wanted Sango!” Kagome’s winced, his meaning not lost on her. Her body began to shake uncontrollably. InuYasha saw her waver and pressed the advantage. “But you know that! You were always the one who insisted the monk and Sango had a thing for each other. Damn it, you’re the one who told me! Don’t you know me yet? Haven’t you learned by now I have complete control over myself, no matter how much I want something?” “I know what I saw,” she argued softly. “And didn’t seeing me and Sango together strike you as odd?” Kagome swallowed hard, then nodded. “It did the first time.” *** Kagome ran back to the village, casting brief, furtive glances into any baby kitsune-concealing sized bushes and plants that she passed. She looked desperately for the telltale flash of auburn that was her sweet little Shippo’s hair, but didn’t have the room in her fearful heart to be disappointed when she saw only treacherous green. Regardless, she clung to the last desperate hope that she was mistaken even though that hope was rapidly slipping away.Kirara. If she could get to Kirara and Sango, then they could come with her and either lay all of her fears to rest, or confirm them and crush her. Kagome began to say Shippo’s name in her head like a mantra. She didn’t notice the sounds of heavy breathing, growling and low moans until it was almost too late. Kagome froze in her tracks, her heart pounding. The menacing noises were dangerously close, just ahead. Her first impulse was to hide. Frantic and feeling a bit unbalanced, Kagome dove into a few thick bushes nearby, heedless of the tangles of branches that scratched her skin and pulled her hair. She made herself as small and still as possible, willing her heart rate and breathing to slow. She didn’t know if all demons had InuYasha’s uncanny senses or if it was just her hanyou, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself. The breathing was becoming faster, heavier and more ragged, and the small cries were growing louder and more frequent. Kagome frowned in apprehension. The growling was definitely demonic and the moans sounded human, but now that she thought about it, that didn’t really sound like someone being attacked. It sounded more like . . . well, something else. Something that was none of her business. Then, it struck Kagome that she wasn’t some shrinking little schoolgirl. She was a miko–sort of–and guardian of the sacred Shikon no Tama. If someone was in trouble, then it was her duty to help them, not hide and leave them to their fate. If a mortal was being attacked by a demon, then it was her responsibility to help. And, if they weren’t being attacked, then she would creep away quietly and leave them to their business. Pushing the branches out of the way, she peeked toward where the ungodly sounds seemed to be coming from, and her eyes widened. She couldn’t suppress a gasp and small cry of surprise. Luckily–depending on how one looked at it–Sango let out a moan as InuYasha ravished her neck. Kagome caught only the briefest flash of bare skin and entangled limbs, of pale hair hiding his face as he pinned her arms over her head by her wrists, before Kagome turned away and her cheeks began to burn. They were so close, but InuYasha seemed too preoccupied to have one ear tuned to his surroundings, as he usually did. Which was how Kagome was able to squirm backwards out of the bushes and dart away without them noticing. *** “I never did that!” InuYasha yelled, his voice echoing in the surrounding forest.Kagome stared at him, completely oblivious to the fact that the bowstring was completely relaxed, that the arrow dangled uselessly from her fingertips, and that InuYasha had crept forward until she was kneeling well within arm’s reach. “Why do I believe you?” she asked, her voice disturbingly empty of emotion. “Even though I know what you claim to have seen me doing isn’t true, because I never did those things, as well as I know what I saw, I still believe you.” She shook her head in derision. “I’m a fool.” InuYasha edged a bit closer to her, then froze as her hands tightened reflexively around her weapon. “I’m not lying, Kagome,” he said, trying to keep his tone calm, an almost impossible task. “But, you have to be,” she cried, her anger returning. “Why should I trust you? You’ve been nothing but a jerk to me since the beginning. You call me stupid, weak, ugly, worthless. . .” InuYasha ground his teeth together before he slipped and accidentally called her an idiot. “But you’ve never called Sango-chan any of the things you always call me. You never said them to Kikyou, either,” she said, and a hurt frown tugged at the corners of her mouth. “You only say them to me.” “Kagome,” InuYasha began, but he didn’t know how to go about making that wounded expression leave her face. She was right, after all. He didn’t know how to apologize, to say that he didn’t really mean those terrible things he’d said to her. He didn’t even know why he’d said them. If Kagome couldn’t believe that he cared about her, he only had himself to blame. Kagome went on as though he hadn’t spoken. “If I were to shoot you right now, no one would wonder why. I have every reason in the world to seal you and bury your body so that it’s never found again. But . . . right now all I can think about is the two of you together. No matter what I tell myself, the truth is I’m jealous. I hate you both so much. It makes me petty, vindictive, and malicious to want to do this because you chose Sango . . . but even knowing that, I can’t put the arrow down.” Her posture was rigid, defiant, but he detected the truth. She was afraid, and she was hurt. But she was also beginning to doubt, and that was good. InuYasha took a deep breath, and braced himself. “Kagome,” he said, watching her carefully, looking for any hint of deception. “Did you kill Kikyou?” Kagome’s head snapped back toward him and her eyes widened. *** The morning fog was heavy, casting a thick shroud over everything. The tall tree by which InuYasha stood was only a dark silhouette in the gray-white vapor, but the almost frantic shinidamachuu circling through its branches were quite visible through the mist.InuYasha hadn’t meant to follow his former lover. He really hadn’t. She’d asked him to leave her to her duty and he’d intended to honor her request. But the odd, almost confused movements of the soul collectors compelled him to approach. Something about the directionless youkai–some still holding the unused souls of young maidens in their insect legs–made InuYasha uneasy. So he’d come to investigate, even if it was just to glance at the resurrected priestess to make sure she was alright. InuYasha had not expected what he found. Three arrows were buried in the trunk of the tree, and a pile of clay and ashes was crumbled beneath. InuYasha crouched down next to the gray mound, beginning to feel oddly disconnected from himself. He bent closer and took a deep breath, then cringed. Pungent medicinal herbs, grave soil, cold ashes and hatred; the scent that was Kikyou, in InuYasha’s mind. Absently, he reached up and his long fingers wrapped around the shaft of one of the arrows, which he wrenched free without taking his eyes off of the mound of ashes. Still moving almost mechanically, InuYasha brought the feathered end to his nose and closed his eyes in pain when he caught the faint but unmistakable scent of Kagome’s fingers, of the soaps that she was so obsessed with. Some of the crumbled clay was arranged almost like Kikyou’s face, as though she had been sculpted from the gray dust. InuYasha squinted down at the mound, and there he saw a hand, there an arm, and where her legs had buckled underneath her when the arrows pierced her chest. InuYasha stretched out a hand and touched the part that almost looked like a nose, but it fell apart under his delicate touch. InuYasha rose and turned away from what was undeniably Kikyou’s body. With one mighty spring, he was on his way back to the village in search of Kagome. *** Kagome stared at InuYasha in disbelief. She opened her mouth, but words failed her. Then, she remembered what he had asked her. “No!” she exclaimed. “No, that wasn’t me! I didn’t . . . I would never!” Grief flooded her scent as she took a tremulous breath and stared at him with wide, pleading eyes. “K-Kikyou’s dead?”InuYasha bowed his head. “You’re telling the truth,” he said. “Of course I’m telling the truth!” The bow was still in her hand, but the weapon now lay across her lap. “You actually thought–” “No,” he said, cutting her off. “I convinced myself that I had to be wrong. You wouldn’t kill Kikyou, not unless she tried to kill you first, and even then . . .” He looked up at her again. “Did she attack you? Did you kill her in self-defense, and you were too afraid to tell me?” “I didn’t kill her at all!” Kagome shouted. InuYasha passed a hand over his face. “Kagome, the arrows had your scent! Are you telling me that Kikyou’s body being there was a coincidence?” Kagome’s face flushed scarlet as rage crept back into her tone. “Do you want to know how those arrows got there?” *** “Shippo-chan,” Kagome called, her voice echoing through the forest. “Shippo-chan, where are you?”Kagome scanned her surroundings, not frantic, simply concerned. She wished that Shippo hadn’t taken off after InuYasha. She’d told him not to. Kagome still had to prepare the herbs she had volunteered to gather, but she couldn’t leave Shippo out there all alone, regardless of the fact that the child was a demon and more capable of taking care of himself in the wilds than she was. He was still just a child. Kagome grumbled under her breath then shouted, “Shippo, come here!” in the tone of voice her mother used when she was a child, the one that made it clear that this was the last warning before her patience ran out. That tone always worked on her when she was little. Apparently, demons weren’t impressed by it. Kagome put her hands on her hips and looked around. A thick fog was rolling in–out of nowhere it seemed–and she frowned at the odd turn in the weather. It was coming in quickly, too quickly. There was something almost unnatural about it . . . It was then that she noticed the small body of what appeared to be a baby fox curled in the exposed roots of a tree. “Aw,” Kagome said, sympathetic tears stinging her eyes. It was so little and cute, and something had killed it. The world could be so cruel. Kagome walked over and crouched down next to the body. The tiny creature was almost unmarked except for a few puncture marks, and its neck was bent at a strange angle. On closer inspection, the wounds looked like claw marks, a few drops of blood from each puncture staining the body’s auburn fur. Then, a disturbing thought occurred to her. What kind of animal killed something and didn’t eat it? Did a demon do this? Kagome looked up and glanced around nervously. In the trees above her, through the haze of fog, she caught just the briefest flash of something large and red darting away. It was brief, but she definitely saw it. Kagome’s heart jumped into her throat, and she turned her attention back to the body of the little fox as her mind began to race with terrifying possibilities. When they had fought the Thunder Brothers, Manten had the pelt of Shippo’s father wrapped around his waist. And when they had visited InuYasha’s father’s tomb, the bones were those of a giant dog. Not to mention the countless animal youkai she’d seen revert back to their natural form upon death. Kagome felt something in the pit of her stomach begin to quiver and she covered her mouth to keep from getting sick. She took several deep breaths and swallowed her revulsion, forcing herself to do what had to be done. Slowly, she stretched out her hand and opened one of the little fox’s eyes. Green. Brilliant emerald green. Kagome let out a yelp of despair, then sat down hard as her legs gave out beneath her. She closed her eyes and a strange sound suddenly surrounded her, high pitched and manic. It took her a moment for her to realize that it was her voice, crying, pleading, “No, no, no,” over and over and over again. It was impossible. This nightmare wasn’t happening. That wasn’t Shippo. It couldn’t be. Before she realized what she was doing, Kagome was digging in the soft earth, making a shallow hole with her bare hands. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t stop herself. It wasn’t until a voice in her mind told her that she had reached the appropriate depth and she had dragged the small body into the hole that she understood that she was burying him. No. Not him. It. If she said him, then she accepted the fact that the pathetic creature was Shippo. And that was not Shippo. Kagome swept the earth over the body, concealing it from predators. Then, she stood on trembling legs. “Okay,” she said, uncaring that she was talking to herself. “I’ve got to get back to the village. I have to find Inu–” She cut herself off. Wait. Those marks on the body, they were claw marks. The perfect impression of a large hand gripping its back and shaking it with such force that its fragile neck snapped. Large clawed hands. And there had been a flash of red above. Kagome staggered backward. Kirara. She’d find Kirara. Kirara had a sense of smell almost as acute as InuYasha’s. She could confirm whether or not that little fox was Shippo. Kagome grabbed her bow and fired three arrows into a nearby tree as a makeshift grave marker. She had to be able to find her way back. She couldn’t take the chance of losing the spot. Then, she turned around and ran. *** InuYasha stared at her. “What are you saying?” he asked, fresh resentment setting in. “You think I killed Shippo? I killed Shippo? You actually believe I’m capable of that?”“No,” Kagome said, shaking her head. “Just like you, I denied it. It wasn’t until we had that argument back at the hut, when I slapped you. I didn’t do it because of Sango. I slapped you because . . .” Her voice cracked as tears overflowed in her eyes. “I saw blood . . . and the little red hairs stuck under your claws!” InuYasha looked at hands. There was blood all right. His blood, from where he’d clenched his fists in an attempt to keep from strangling Miroku. The hairs had an alibi as well. He’d grabbed Shippo that morning to keep the little kitsune from eating all the potato chips. Kagome should know that, she’d sat him for it! But, InuYasha supposed, all things considered, the evidence against him was pretty damning. “Why, InuYasha?” she said through her sobs. “Why? Why did you do it? He was just a baby . . .” InuYasha raised his head, coming to a conclusion. “Kagome. I need to do something, okay?” She pressed the heel of her hand to her brow, trying to settle down, but said nothing. “I have to smell you,” he said, to which she stiffened. “I can smell Miroku on you, but I can’t tell where his scent is coming from. If what I saw was real, then his smell will be all over your clothes, on your face, in your hair . . .” He had to stop. Kagome’s lips trembled. “What will that prove?” “One of us is lying,” he said. “Or, both of us are. Or . . . neither of us is lying. We both saw what we claim we saw, and neither of us actually did the things we think the other did. Think about that for a second. That’s why I need to smell you.” “How do I know this isn’t a trick?” she asked, uncaring. “For that matter, what’s stopping you now? You can kill me and take off with the jewel shards any time you want to. No one can stop you.” InuYasha frowned as her hands tightened around the bow again. She was right, he would be on her before she managed to raise the weapon, never mind take aim and fire. “That’s true,” he said. “But if you really think this is a trap, then pick up that arrow and shoot me.” Kagome swallowed hard, but she didn’t move. “Or, you can trust me,” he said. “If you ever trusted me, Kagome, trust me now. Prove that what I saw was a lie.” Kagome continued to stare at him for a long moment. Finally, she stood. Following her lead, InuYasha got to his feet. They were as two adversaries, both sizing up their opponent. Kagome lifted her bow and arrow, her gaze never wavering from his. InuYasha drew his shoulders back but otherwise didn’t move. He watched her, waiting to see what she would do. This could very well be a trap. They both knew it. But something shifted within them, almost as though part of their souls had become disjointed at had just shifted back into place. It’s alright, their thoughts were exactly the same. It’s alright if this is a trap, if you kill me. I don’t want to live in a world where I can’t trust you. Kagome tossed her weapon aside. InuYasha practically lunged at her, taking her by the elbow to pull her to him. Kagome cringed as a small ripple of fear shot through her, but it was gone at once at he buried his face in her neck and began to sniff at her frantically. InuYasha smelled her hair, her neck, moving down her body to take a few whiffs at her chest. His face didn’t linger by her breasts, as he almost immediately lunged for her right arm. Kagome couldn’t help but think InuYasha looked a bit like Gomez Adams as his nose trailed from her wrist to her shoulder. Her insane amusement was short lived as he placed his hands on the sides of her head and brought his face very close to hers. Kagome felt her heart skip a beat. She held perfectly still, her eyes wide as his warm breath puffed across her lips. Her hands rose unconsciously to fist in the material of his haori, holding him close. At last, InuYasha drew back and stared at her as though seeing her for the first time. “Well?” she asked. Without warning, his mouth closed over hers. Kagome couldn’t help a small grunt of surprise, but she made no move to push him away as one of his hands moved to the back of her head to hold her in place. In spite of her shock at the sheer unbelievably of the situation, Kagome found herself melting against him as her eyes fell closed. Kagome liked how warm his lips were, how they moved against hers. She liked the way she fit against him, the strength in his arms, the possessive way he held her. All of the bitterness that had been fostered between them that day melted away as though it never existed. His tongue brushed her lips in almost shy entreaty and Kagome met it with hers, drawing it into her mouth as her hands drifted to the sides of his face. They wrestled in this manner for a few blissful seconds in which everything else was forgotten. Finally, he drew away, but hugged her tighter as he breathed hard to regain control of himself. It was fortunate that he held her, as she didn’t trust her legs to support her. “What sort of test was that?” she asked when she managed to catch her breath. InuYasha smiled. “No test,” he said, his forehead pressed to her temple. “Miroku’s scent is on your shoulder and your arm. I assume from when you and Sango carried him back to Kaede’s. But nowhere else.” “I told you,” she said, her relief a palpable force. InuYasha’s fingers wound through her hair, and his tone turned grave. “Don’t get excited just yet, Kagome,” he said. “It’s faint, but I can smell Naraku on you.” Kagome’s eyes widened in horror and her warm fuzzy feeling evaporating. “What?” she whispered. A low, enraged snarl escaped his lips, effectively killing the romantic atmosphere. “It was all a lie,” he said. Kagome held him closer, for comfort and protection more than anything else. “InuYasha, what is going on?” InuYasha shook his head, angrier than he could ever remember being. Somehow, Naraku had manipulated the two of them into turning against each other, just as the bastard had done with him and Kikyou so long before. And, he had very nearly succeeded for the second time. “I don’t know,” he said, gripping her by the shoulders. “But I’m sure as hell going to find out. When was the last time you saw Shippo?” *** Kagome balanced the basket on her hip, searching amongst the various plants that grew along the river’s edge for the particular herb Kaede had asked her to collect. Kagome had been happy to volunteer her services, both because Kaede was getting on in years and because the old miko had business in a neighboring village. With any luck, the herb would be sorted and laid out to be dried before Kaede returned. With everything the elderly priestess had done for her, Kagome felt it was the least she could do to repay Kaede’s kindness.“Is this it, Kagome?” Shippo called, pointing a finger at some fuzzy green moss with tiny white buds. “Yes, Shippo-chan,” Kagome told the boy, smiling proudly. Shippo was getting almost as knowledgeable about herbs as she was. Well, in all fairness, he was probably better then she. Shippo paid attention, whereas Kagome had the shameful tendency to tune people out if the subject didn’t interest her very much. The little demon beamed, then hopped up onto her shoulder as Kagome bent to begin gathering the aromatic plant. “I wonder where InuYasha is,” Shippo said, rubbing the lump on his head as he scowled. Kagome smiled, a bit guiltily. “I’m sure he’ll turn up.” Kagome felt bad for sitting InuYasha that morning, especially since she didn’t even bother to find out what was going on before she did it. All she saw was Shippo crying and dangling from the hanyou’s hand, and her protective maternal instincts had kicked in. But–if Shippo’s side of the story was to be believed–InuYasha had that subjugation coming. Still, she felt bad. She’d make it up to him later, she decided, maybe with some ramen. And, she’d avoid using “the word” as much as possible for awhile. Kagome felt the kitsune tug on a lock of her hair to get her attention. “Kagome, look,” Shippo said, his voice soft and urgent as he gestured madly. “Over there.” Kagome frowned and looked where the little fox was indicating. It took her a moment to find what had him so agitated, but when she did Kagome felt her face fall and her heart drop into her stomach. Soul collectors. Kikyou’s shinidamachuu were circling lazily in the distance, transparent against the overcast morning sky. Kagome got to her feet and watched them for a few heavy heartbeats before bending to collect her basket. “What are you doing?” Shippo cried from his perch on Kagome’s shoulder. “You’re leaving? You don’t want to see what she wants?” “If Kikyou’s here, then she has a reason to be here,” Kagome said, though her melancholy was evident. Shippo managed to hold his tongue for all of three seconds. “You think InuYasha knows she’s here?” No sooner had he uttered the words than he felt Kagome jerk beneath him. “I’m sure he probably does,” she said, as though they were discussing the weather, nothing more. Shippo jumped off of her shoulder, already racing toward the soul collectors in the distance. “I’ll go see what they’re up to, Kagome.” “Shippo-chan, no!” Kagome shouted after him. “Shippo-chan!” He didn’t even slow, as though too far away to hear her. Kagome rolled her eyes and groaned, then looked around for a place to set her herbs. If he interrupted InuYasha and Kikyou during . . . whatever it was they did when they had a moment alone together, then her little kitsune would no doubt need her to subjugate the hanyou a few times in order to rescue him. *** “And that was the last time I saw him,” Kagome finished, staring up at InuYasha in dread.InuYasha frowned. “So,” he said. “You knew Kikyou was around.” Kagome shrank a bit. “Yeah,” she admitted, awkward. “Well, I saw her soul-collectors, but not her.” She raised her eyes. “Did you see her this morning?” InuYasha frowned. There was that look on Kagome’s face again, the flawless look of dejection that she had perfected and always adopted at the very mention of her predecessor’s name. InuYasha wondered if she knew she did it, or of the effect it had on him. It made him feel like shit, as well as want to scream at her that his past relationship with Kikyou and his present obligations had nothing to do with him and her, so stop persecuting herself because she wasn’t Kikyou. InuYasha didn’t want Kagome to be Kikyou. He’d never wanted that! Still, there was no point in lying. “Yeah, I saw her.” *** InuYasha stomped through the forest, cursing teenage mikos and subjugation spells and his own spinelessness where Kagome was concerned when a lone soul collector flew out of the trees nearby, startling him so completely that he froze in mid-tirade. The single shinidamachuu was joined a moment later by three more, all circling him in a way that was almost a welcoming embrace. He took a step back, a bit put off by their proximity, and a moment later the priestess herself stepped out of the woods.“InuYasha,” Kikyou greeted him in her usual cool monotone. “I trust you have been well.” InuYasha could do little but stare at her for a moment. “Kikyou, what are you doing here?” he asked, his voice laden with apprehension. “What happened? Are you alright?” Kikyou managed a faint smile. “I came to warn you, InuYasha,” she said, and her solemn tone immediately put him on edge. “I sense a strange but powerful demonic presence in the area, and it has echoes of Naraku in its aura.” “Naraku?” InuYasha echoed, his voice dropping an octave and adopting a low growl. “I believe he has made another incarnation of himself. Be on guard, InuYasha. Its proximity to you and your group leads me to believe that he is after your jewel shards once again.” “Are you going to look for it?” InuYasha asked. Kikyou nodded once in acknowledgement. “Let me help you,” he said, taking a step in her direction. Kikyou bowed her head. “No, InuYasha.” Before he could argue further, she amended, “Stay by the others to protect the jewel shards. I can handle a simple incarnation on my own strength.” “Kikyou, you don’t even know what it’s capable of,” he argued. “I have an idea,” she said. “I have sensed it watching me for some time. I will send word when I have uncovered the root of the problem.” InuYasha crossed his arms in the sleeves of his haori and grumbled. “Fine. But, if I don’t hear anything from you in a couple of days, I’m coming after you.” Kikyou’s ghost of a smile returned. “I would expect no less.” With that, she turned, and walked back into the forest. InuYasha watched until she was no longer in sight, and finally relaxed. He needed to head back to the village, even though Kagome would no doubt still be in a snit over their argument earlier. Knowing Shippo, the little shit was keeping the fires of her anger burning bright. Oh well, his friends had to be warned if there was possibly an incarnation of Naraku in the area. His choice clear, InuYasha started back for the village. *** Kagome listened without saying a word as InuYasha paced a few feet away.“When I got there, Miroku and Sango told me that you were off collecting herbs for Kaede-babaa,” InuYasha said, flexing his fists compulsively. “So, of course I had to go find you, especially if there might be an incarnation of Naraku around.” He stopped and turned to look at her. “The rest, you know.” “Another incarnation,” Kagome said, letting the news settle over her like a cold, wet shroud. She shook her head. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” “Forgive me if I was a little fucking preoccupied, Kagome,” he snapped, then immediately regretted his tone. The last thing he wanted was to start another quarrel with her. “You’re right. I’m sorry,” she said, her arms wrapped tight around herself. She closed her eyes in despair. “So . . . It’s all been a trick. Whoever this incarnation is, do you think that it could have–?” “Deliberately used illusions and shit to turn us against one another?” InuYasha cut her off. Damn, he really needed to learn how to get a handle on his tone. “Yeah, Kagome. If Naraku didn’t have something to do with this, I’ll never eat ramen again.” Kagome exhaled sharply in surprise. For InuYasha to make such a vow, his conviction must be very serious. “Okay,” she said. “If that’s the case, then how are we suppose to know if we see it?” InuYasha glared at the ground. “First thing’s first,” he declared. “We go find Miroku and Sango and tell them what’s going on.” Kagome groaned and let her head fall back. InuYasha saw the humiliated blush that rose in her face. “How am I supposed to face Sango now?” she asked. “I was so mean to her.” “She’ll understand when you explain what happened,” InuYasha said, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice. The sooner they were all reunited, the sooner they could go back to the place Kagome buried the fox, and they could find out once and for all if that was Shippo. The blood rushed to InuYasha’s head. The very idea that the little kitsune had been struck down while none of them were there to protect him, and was lying in the cold earth while the so-called adults allowed their petty jealousy to almost destroy them was more than he could bear. InuYasha smelled fresh tears, and looked at Kagome. Judging by the wounded expression on her face, her thoughts were mirroring his. “What if this incarnation impersonated one of us and that was how it got close to Shippo-chan?” she asked, wringing her hands. “Enough, Kagome,” InuYasha said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her onto his back. “We’ll find him. Right now, we have to get to Miroku and Sango.” Before she could protest, he bent to gather her bow and arrow. “InuYasha,” she cried, hugging him around the neck so tight she almost choked him. “I’m so sorry.” He patted her arm, not trusting himself to speak, before readjusting her to get a better grip on her legs. “Make it up to me later,” he said at last. “Make what up to you?” a female voice asked behind them, and InuYasha whirled around. To their eternal surprise and disbelief, Kikyou stood nearby with a sleeping kitsune in her arms. *** Usotsuki’s lips turned down in a slight frown of annoyance. The image of the hanyou and the young miko kissing in Kanna’s mirror swam, then faded to dark, smooth glass.“I have failed,” the newest incarnation of Naraku said. “They’ve figured out my deception.” Kanna sat in the exposed roots of the craggy oak, her bottomless black eyes staring straight ahead. “Naraku will be angry,” she whispered in her soft, ethereal voice. Usotsuki got to her feet and turned away, the material of her white kimonos flowing around her body. Her form was a mystery beneath the long robes, which hid her hands and feet as she seemed to float along the ground. The only visible part of her body was her head, and half of her face was hidden behind long, blue-gray hair. Usotsuki’s scowl was short lived, and her bloodless lips curled up. “I do not think he will be too upset by my failure. After all, it was only my first try.” Kanna was silent, and Usotsuki thought nothing of her sister’s blank expression. Usotsuki was only a month old and she was already used to it. As it was, Kanna was the only one of Naraku’s surviving incarnations that seemed to bear her no ill will. “Perhaps I was too eager,” Usotsuki mused, speaking more to herself than to her sibling. “I moved too quickly and did not allow their resentments time to fester. I will know better next time.” “Will you return to the castle now, Usotsuki?” Kanna asked. Usotsuki gazed in the general direction of the hanyou and his love. So close, Usotsuki thought. I almost had them. I almost succeeded where other of my fellow incarnations have failed. “Not yet,” Usotsuki said. “I will observe them for a while longer. I played upon their obvious insecurities. I must learn of the fears and doubts they keep hidden, and plan my next move accordingly.” At that, Kanna’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “Naraku wishes for you to return.” Of that, Usotsuki was aware. Her first memory was that of her “father’s” voice, and the cruel smile on his face as he gazed down at her newborn body, still nude and caked with bits of his flesh. “All others before her were mere practice,” he said to Kagura and Kanna. He went on with no small measure of arrogance, “This is the most perfect creation of my flesh yet.” Usotsuki was the manifestation of her master’s love of trickery. She was the pure embodiment of deception, and everything about her was created and fine tuned to help her achieve that end. She possessed some of the more useful talents of her older siblings; she could read minds like Goshinki, and she possessed no discernable aura like Kanna. Usotsuki could not only change her shape, but Naraku had given her the ability to alter her scent as well. She could conjure illusions so believable, even beings of great spiritual power couldn’t see through the ruse. It was no mystery whom Usotsuki had been created to oppose. “Don’t you worry she will turn against you?” Kagura had asked, her tone snide. She had only recently been released from her own punishment after she had dared defy their master, and she was still bitter over the matter. Naraku traced the curve of Usotsuki’s cheek with his fingertips, then grasped her chin to turn his face up to his. “This one will never betray me,” he said with the utmost confidence. “I own her body, her mind, and her soul. She can no more challenge my will than cut out her own heart.” His smile widened as her washed out violet eyes gazed into his. “Isn’t that right?” “Yes,” Usotsuki replied without hesitation. Kagura scoffed, not believing her. Usotsuki suspected that Naraku’s confidence in her was a lie as well, but he seemed pleased with how she’d turned out. He would enjoy playing with her. Usotsuki didn’t know who had named her. She sensed that Naraku had something more creative in mind, but her siblings had started calling her “Usotsuki” and so the name had stuck. Usotsuki turned back to her sister with a malicious smile. “If it is Naraku-sama’s will, then I shall return,” she said. “Perhaps he has some insight into what I can do differently next time. Or, perhaps he has another target for me to practice on. I look forward to hearing whatever he has in mind.” Kanna turned her head to regard the kitsune sleeping in a pile of wet leaves nearby. Usotsuki shrugged. “I have no need of him anymore. Besides,” a note of darkness crept into her tone, “he was so easy to manipulate, it wasn’t any fun.” It had been almost criminally easy to get the little one to follow her. She’d merely impersonated a fellow kitsune, claimed to want to teach him a couple more feats of fox magic, then handed him a poisoned pomegranate. Shippo had fallen into the deep sleep almost immediately. “So, you will leave him?” Kanna asked. Usotsuki smirked. “Hardly.” Kanna watched Usotsuki took a menacing step toward Shippo, when a sacred arrow streaked out of the dark forest and shot past Usotsuki’s face before thudding into a nearby tree. Usotsuki froze in momentary surprise, then spun in the direction from which the arrow had come. Her eyes widened when she saw a priestess in red and white robes pointing yet another arrow at her chest. Usotsuki recovered herself quickly. “You have seen through the illusions I used to conceal myself. I must congratulate you, Kikyou.” “So, you know me?” Kikyou said smoothly. “I suppose that proves that you are the incarnation for which I have been searching.” Usotsuki watched with apparent equanimity as Kikyou drew the arrow back and took careful aim. “You may wish to save your energy, Kikyou,” she warned. “Even as we speak, Kagome has an arrow pointed at your beloved hanyou’s chest.” This seemed to give Kikyou pause, but then she smiled without humor. “I see,” she said. “Naraku wishes to play that old game, does he?” “Naraku wishes InuYasha dead and Kagome returned to her homeland,” Usotsuki replied. She allowed her shoulders to slump dejectedly and flooded her aura with sorrow, knowing the priestess would sense it. “He owns my soul. I had no choice but to obey him.” Kikyou said nothing for a moment. “In that case, allow me to grant you your freedom.” She fired her arrow. *** Kagome came to her senses first. “Shippo-chan,” she said as she began to wriggle out of InuYasha’s grasp.InuYasha’s hands tightened on her knees and he jerked her back against him. “Don’t be fucking stupid, Kagome,” he said, glaring at Kikyou. He took a tentative sniff in the priestess’s direction, and the smell of grave soil and medicinal herbs was unmistakable. Regardless, he wasn’t in a very trusting mood. “If you are who you claim to be, you’d better fucking prove it fast,” he said, one hand going to the hilt of Tetsusaiga. “Naraku’s incarnation has been destroyed,” Kikyou said as though InuYasha hadn’t spoken. She gazed down at Shippo with what could almost be construed as affection. “I just gave him an antidote to the poison so he should wake soon.” Kagome finally managed to work her way out of InuYasha’s grasp and she fairly ran to Kikyou’s side. She hesitated a moment, glancing at Kikyou anxiously before she took Shippo away from her and clutched him to her chest. “Shippo-chan?” Kagome said, her voice shaking. Cradling him in the crook of one arm like an infant, she placed her hand on his chest and shook him gently. “Shippo-chan, speak to me.” For an endless, agonizing heartbeat nothing happened. Then, slowly, two green eyes cracked open and the kitsune’s unfocused gaze fell on her. “K-Kagome?” he said, his voice so soft it was barely audible. InuYasha let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding as Kagome moaned in relief and hugged Shippo to her. “Hey, what gives?” Shippo muttered sleepily. “You act like you haven’t seen me in days.” He lifted his head and looked around. “When did the sun go down?” Kagome began to laugh and cry at the same time. She clung to Shippo as the little fox wrapped his small arms around her neck. The boy turned his attention to InuYasha and frowned at the odd expression on the hanyou’s face. InuYasha’s eyes were closed, his lips set in a slight frown, his shoulders hunched. Yet, he seemed . . . grateful? It was then Shippo noticed that Kikyou was there, and he shrank against Kagome. “What’s going on?” he asked, wondering if he was in some sort of trouble. Kagome patted Shippo’s head to reassure him as she turned to face Kikyou and took a deep breath. “Thank you, Kikyou,” she said. “Thank you for saving Shippo-chan.” Kikyou said nothing, her expression inscrutable. At once, Kagome was uneasy. Did Kikyou know? Did she know what so very nearly happened? “And,” Kagome added. “I’m glad you’re okay.” At that, Kikyou’s eyes grew gentler, and she nodded once. Her soul collectors hovered and circled around her, casting their faint light on the darkened forest. Kagome hugged Shippo tighter, and he whimpered as the air was almost crushed from him. He could feel Kagome begin to shake, and would have demanded to know what was going on if only he had the breath to speak. Kagome forced a bright smile and turned on her heels, already walking away. “Well, I’m sure you two want to be alone, so I’ll just head back to the village to make sure that Miroku-sama is okay. I need to talk to Sango-chan, anyway . . .” her voice trailed off as she got further away, and only when it disappeared completely did InuYasha and Kikyou turn to one another. “So,” InuYasha said, uneasy in her presence in spite of his profound gratitude that she hadn’t been destroyed. “Was there another incarnation?” “Yes,” Kikyou stated, taking a step closer to him. He kept glancing toward where Kagome had disappeared, and Kikyou could tell he was torn between the desire to follow and the need to get as far away from the girl as possible for the time being. “She was some sort of illusionist. Her magic seemed quite powerful.” “You have no idea,” InuYasha said. “And, this incarnation, she had Shippo this whole time? Why?” “Perhaps she believed she would be able to use him as leverage in case her schemes were uncovered. When she realized she had failed whatever it was she was trying to achieve, she was going to kill him. I happened upon them just in time.” InuYasha nodded stiffly. “Thank you.” Kikyou stared at the ground. “So. It’s true. Kagome was going to seal you, just as I did.” InuYasha’s found he was too furious to reply. “I see,” Kikyou said, raising her arms as her soul collectors wrapped themselves around her. “When you see her, tell her that I must congratulate her.” InuYasha’s head snapped up. “What?” he asked, sure he’d misheard. Kikyou’s entourage lifted her into the air. “I saw that you destroyed her only way home, and that you hold the jewel shards in your hand. I hesitate to guess where those bruises on your knuckles or the blood under your claws came from.” InuYasha gazed down at his offensive hands, and did his best to pull them into his sleeves. “I don’t know what illusions Naraku’s newest monstrosity showed you, but it was obviously sufficient to turn you against one another.” Kikyou hovered a few feet above him, seemingly apathetic that her words were like drops of acid on InuYasha’s already bruised and battered heart. “From what I can tell, she had very reason to shoot you, and history has proven than, had it been me, I would have.” “There a point to this, Kikyou?” InuYasha demanded. “Yes,” she said with a wan smile. “In the end, even with all of the things you’ve done, as well as whatever she was deceived into believing you had done, she trusted and believed in your true nature enough to want to know why.” InuYasha watched, speechless, as Kikyou vanished. *** Kagome woke late the next morning to a clawed hand tapping her impatiently on the shoulder. She opened her eyes and squinted against the glaring light that streamed through the open doorway. InuYasha crouched beside her, silhouetted against the brilliance, and she squinted up at him.“InuYasha?” she mumbled. “Come with me,” he said quietly so as not to wake the others. Shippo slept soundly, curled against her chest. Kagome hadn’t been able to put him down since his recovery, and had spent hours the night before feeding him candy and giving him free reign on everything else in her backpack until Shippo was well and truly spoiled. Kagome stifled a yawn. “Where to?” she asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes. “I need to show you something,” he said, picking Shippo up with amazing care to allow her to ease her legs out of the rumpled sleeping bag. Kagome watched as he set the kitsune down in the warm spot she had just vacated, and covered him up again so gently that Shippo didn’t even stir. She felt her heart surge with affection to see him treat the little demon with such consideration. “What do you need to show me?” she asked, running her fingers absently though her disheveled hair. InuYasha surprised her by taking her hand in his before he sighed and got to his feet. “Come on,” he said. Though his manner was making her a bit uneasy, Kagome followed without a word of protest as he led her out of the hut. Once outside, he released her hand and folded his arms in his sleeves as he turned down the path that led into the forest. Kagome followed, but couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. The sun was shining, the air was clear, and only a few wispy clouds drifted overhead. The day promised to be beautiful; but if there was one thing the day before had taught Kagome, it was that what a day promised and what it delivered were often mutually exclusive. “What do you want to show me?” she asked. She hadn’t seen him since the previous night, when he finally returned from his meeting with Kikyou. Kagome had been sitting on the porch in deep conversation with Sango at the time, and was therefore too preoccupied to do much except glance at him in acknowledgment of his presence. Kagome wept as she told her friend what she had seen, and worse, that she had believed the illusion. Sango was horrified, of course, and vehemently swore that she would never, ever do something like that to Kagome or Miroku. This only served to amplify Kagome’s miserable guilt, because she should have known that from the beginning. They’d hugged and had sworn to put the ordeal behind them. Kagome didn’t know if that was possible, burdened as she was with lingering shame. Depending on how one looked at it, InuYasha got off a bit lighter than she did when he mumbled his apology to Miroku. It hardly seemed fair. Kagome had been hostile toward Sango, but InuYasha had hit the monk with enough power behind the blow that everyone counted their blessings that Miroku hadn’t been seriously hurt. InuYasha could barely look at his friend as he explained what had happened, the bruise around Miroku’s eye appalling. “Let me get this straight,” Miroku said, crossing his arms. “You saw me declare my love for and kiss Kagome-sama . . . And you let me live?” InuYasha’s face turned three shades redder and he nodded tersely. “I don’t know what to say, InuYasha,” Miroku said. “I knew we were friends, but you must love me as a brother to see me in a passionate moment with Kagome-sama and leave me breathing afterward.” InuYasha shook his head and stormed out of the hut, tuning out Miroku’s amused chuckle. And that was the last time any of them had seen him. Kagome deduced that he must have wanted some time alone, and while she would have liked to talk to him about what had happened, she knew to allow him his space until he’d had a chance to cool off. But, gods . . . they’d kissed the night before. She’d never get that out of her head. It was there, taunting her with the memory of his lips against hers, the graze of his fangs, the texture of his tongue, the taste of his mouth. She wondered what possessed him to kiss her. Had he simply been caught up in the moment? Would he ever do it again? They were halfway to the clearing, walking in uncomfortable silence, when InuYasha said, “You’re a terrible liar, Kagome.” Kagome blinked in surprise, her apprehension returning. “Wh-What?” “Whenever you lie you smile really big and stumble over your words, and you act too cheerful, and you can’t look at the person you’re lying to,” he stated, as though this flaw in her character annoyed him. “Okay,” she said, keeping her eyes on the ground as they walked. “Last night, when I told you what I saw, I should have known you were telling the truth when you said you had no idea what I was talking about,” he said. Was he . . . apologizing to her? Or trying to, anyway? “It’s alright, InuYasha,” she said. “We were tricked. I should have known better, too.” InuYasha stopped walking. Kagome turned back to look at him and saw that he was glaring into the forest, as though the trees that lined the path had just said something offensive. Kagome felt a wave of sympathetic unhappiness wash through her. “Now that you mention it,” she said lightly. “I don’t know how you look or act when you lie, because in all the time I’ve known you I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do it.” He turned his head to look at her. “No matter what, you’ve always given it to me straight,” she explained. “Even when you know it’ll make me angry or upset, you tell the truth. Your basic honesty is one of the things that makes you . . . You.” InuYasha stared at her, then took a step in her direction, slowly closing the distance between them. “But, I do lie,” he said. “I lie all the time.” Kagome felt as though he’d just kicked the chair out from under her. “What do you mean?” “You said it last night,” he snapped, making her stiffen at his tone. “That I’ve been nothing but been a jerk to you since the beginning. I call you stupid, I tell you’re your ugly, worthless, and weak.” Kagome frowned uncomfortably, and opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off as he pushed his way passed her. “See? I lie all the time.” Kagome stood there in shock, the gravity of his words hitting her like a thirty pound bowling ball to the stomach. Coming to her senses, she turned around and raced to catch up with him. They reached the clearing and InuYasha stopped again. Seeing that his attention was on something in the distance, Kagome turned her head to see what he was so fascinated with, and she gasped. “InuYasha,” she said, taking a step forward. “What did you do?” InuYasha said nothing, watching as she almost ran across the clearing to the newly repaired well like an excited child. She reached the portal and stared down into the dark hole. “Did you do all of this?” she asked, astounded as she tested the wooden rim, tentative at first then growing bolder as the sturdiness of the construction became apparent. “Sure,” InuYasha said, coming to stand beside her. “It wasn’t that hard. The whole thing wasn’t collapsed, just the top part. All I had to do was clear out the hole, see which blocks were salvageable then go over to the ravine to collect more. Then, I just had to make the mortar, set the blocks, chop down a couple trees, and cut the wood so that I could make the rim.” InuYasha realized that he was rambling and shut up. Kagome stared at him in pure wonder. “You did all of that in one night?” she asked. “Keh,” he said with a nonchalant shrug, though his burning cheeks betrayed his discomfort. “I’m not some weak human. It doesn’t take me nearly as long to do things as it does you mortals.” Kagome paid the derogatory comment about her species no heed. “Wow,” she said, shaking her head. “I still can’t believe you did all this.” She looked up, and her brow creased at the mildly distressed look on his face. “Thank you, InuYasha.” He couldn’t look at her. “Well, don’t thank me just yet,” he said. “I have no idea if it works.” Kagome tilted her head. “You haven’t tested it?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I was worried that it would take me there, but not bring me back. And, gods forbid it closed behind me or something. I didn’t want to have to explain that to your mother.” He fidgeted, unable to look at her. “So, are you going to test it, or what?” “You want me to go back?” Kagome asked, and she couldn’t keep the note of hurt out of her tone. It was odd. Less than twelve hours earlier, her heart had been broken at the prospect of never being able to return to her own time. Yet now that she had the opportunity, she didn’t want to leave InuYasha. “I didn’t say that!” he snapped. “I just want to see if it works. I’ll feel like shit if I made it so you were stuck here.” In spite of her trepidation, Kagome sat on the edge of the well and swung her legs over. “InuYasha,” she said, and waited for him to turn his anxious eyes toward her. “I really don’t think I’ll get stuck on the other side, but just in case I do . . . I didn’t mean what I said last night.” InuYasha stared at her. “You haven’t been a jerk to me. You haven’t said any of those things to me in a long time, and I didn’t take it that seriously when you did. You’ve done a lot of really nice things, and I don’t just mean all the times you’ve protected me.” InuYasha’s expression relaxed a bit. “What do you mean?” Kagome exhaled heavily. “InuYasha, you’ve done so much I can’t even think of a specific incident.” She bowed her head. “But, last night it was like all that just flew out of my head. All I could think of was the two of you together, and how upset I was. It wasn’t fair to you and I’m sorry.” InuYasha’s tension grew. What could he say to her? She might not have noticed it, but he’d all but confessed how he felt for her the night before. How he would never do that with Sango, because it wasn’t Sango he wanted. Not to mention the fact he’d fucking kissed her. Did she forget that? Still, maybe she needed the words. Maybe she was the type of person who needed to hear how much a person cared, instead of being shown in a hundred little ways every single day. So, should he tell her now, before she left and he possibly never saw her again? “Well,” Kagome said, drawing him from his musings. She wore a happy expression, but he could tell it was forced. She braced herself to jump. “Let’s test this sucker.” “Kagome,” he said, with such force that she froze and looked at him. He took a deep breath, and tried to sound indifferent in spite of the heat in his face. “You’re not weak or stupid. And especially . . . not ugly. I’m full of shit, so don’t take anything I say too seriously.” Kagome smiled. “I never do.” She dropped into the darkness, and a moment later the clearing filled with radiant violet light and the heavy pall of powerful magic. InuYasha stared at the place she had been sitting, and growled in self-loathing. “Why didn’t you say it, you fucking moron? Is it so hard? Just tell her, before you lose her forever! She probably won’t come back now! Why in the hell should she come back to you, you–?” Just then, there was another flash from the well, shocking him out of his diatribe. InuYasha held his breath, hardly daring to believe it. “InuYasha?” Kagome called, her voice sounding far away. “It works.” A slow smile spread across the hanyou’s face. He stepped to the edge of the well and peered down, giving the girl looking up at him a cocky grin. “You weren’t gone long,” he remarked. “Not nearly long enough to get me more ramen.” Kagome smirked. “You really have a one track mind.” He leaned on the wooden rim, watching as she climbed up. You have no idea, Kagome, he thought. “Anatomy” Inner Workings: Hey. I hope that wasn’t too confusing. Have you ever seen a show or movie in which the story was told backwards? As in, you see the climax of certain events, and the story plays out in reverse to show everything that happened that led up to that moment. Well, I wanted to see if I could pull something like that off. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. That plot bunny was a bitch. I had to tazer the sucker several times. If you’re scratching your head after reading this going, “Huh?” I suggest you reread it. Maybe then it will become clear. If you’re still totally lost, I apologize. Remember, this InuSaga loves you. Let's see. "Usotsuki" means–according to my Japanese/English dictionary–literally "Liar." Also, this was my first attempt at a one shot, and it turned out pretty long. Sexual situations were depicted in this story, but since it was nothing too graphic and not a lemon, I thought the rating would suffice. Parents, nothing InuSaga writes is intended for children. The first time it was posted, pre-edit, Knock on Wood nominated this story for the 3rd Quarter IYFG contest 2005, and Ari seconded the nomination. It won 2nd place, which felt great. I thank them both, as well as everyone who voted for it. And a special thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read (or re-read) it. You are beyond awesome.
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