InuYasha Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Mors Mortis Miko ❯ Burning ( Chapter 14 )

With a shuddering breath, she stretched her aching body against the wall as the saline water washed over her again. With the arrival of the cold, briny water, she awakened from her miserable, yet comforting stupor. Her eyes, which were permanently red and puffy from constant abuse, sought out the darkness for her only refuge in her prison. It was hard to see through her straggly hair, yet she could move nothing but her hands.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been there, in that dank and lonely confinement, hanging on the wall by nothing but her hands, her weight causing the shackles to chafe and gouge vicious wounds on her wrists. The shackles weren’t so bad when the tide was in, at least then the water helped alleviate her, but when the water was low…

“Kagome.” a soft voice called out, making her heart jump.

She knew where he was. He always started out in the same spot. The middle of her cell, on a large boulder surrounded by the water, and he would always be looking just as she remembered. His eyes would be smoldering when he looked at her and she ached to touch him.

He smiled as he acknowledged her and she began to fidget and strain against the shackles. “I love you, Kagome. We’ll never be apart again.”

She could barely see, she was imprisoned, her body ached, she couldn’t feel anything but the pain in her wrists, and now she was staring at the evil, animated body of her dead mate and she could do nothing but laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

~____~

He had followed them. She felt him out there and she could do nothing about it.

The boys had driven to the other side of the mountain and had kept a steady pace before setting up for the night by the stream. While they were settling down for the evening, she entertained herself by stalking in front of the line of trees that housed her former monk friend.

“I know you’re out there!” she suddenly yelled into the night.

“Kagome! Come sit down, we left him far behind.” Goku yelled from where he was saving her a spot by the fire.

“No, we didn’t! He’s out there! I feel him! MIROKU!”

“Why are you calling him?” Gojyo asked her in annoyance. “Didn’t you tell him to go away?”

“I told you to go away, yet here we are!” she retorted sharply before turning back to face the woods, but as she did so, she found Miroku staring into her face.

She jumped at the sight of him but she didn’t run away. Behind her, she felt, more than heard, the Sanzo-party stop what they were doing to pay attention. As she stared at her dead friend, she tried to force her fear away in shallow breaths. Miroku just waited patiently for her to make the next move.

Trying to calm her beating heart, she could do nothing but look at him. His eyes were no longer the haunting black but the warm brown they had always been. His skin was no longer pale and thin but was now exuding a healthy glow. His hair was clean and in its usual ponytail, and his expression wasn’t that of a sadistic, evil pervert. His expression was the calm, cool, and collective man she had come to know. It looked like the old Miroku was back. She hoped the old Miroku was back. She feared the thought of killing him again.

“Why are you here?” she whispered as she tentatively raised a hand to his face.

“I’m here for you,” he answered softly as her fingers grazed his cheek.

Her breathing got faster as she felt his warm, solid cheek. She took a step closer to him and let her hand rest fully upon him.

“You’re alive?” she asked in wonderment.

She let out a nervous laugh and didn’t give him time to answer before she slapped him.

He stood in shock as he put a hand to his now red face. When he looked back at her, he was grinning. “Pardon my hands…they slipped.”

“You pervert!” she screamed with laughter as she launched herself onto him. “If I could cry, I would!”

“I know.” he told her as he rubbed soothing circles on her back. “And that’s all that matters.”

“I bet if I groped her I wouldn’t get a slap and hug.” Gojyo whispered to his fellows by the fire.

The hug went on for an uncomfortable amount of time, of which Goku made a move to put a stop to it but Sanzo prevented him from making a scene by a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Let him go woman,” Gojyo berated her. “He needs to breathe!”

“Trust me.” Miroku said lowly. “If death was an option, there would be no other place I’d rather be.”

Kagome stiffened in his embrace, suddenly remembering the secrets he had revealed to her in his rage. Miroku had been in love with her.

She pulled away from him. “Come on,” she urged as she pulled him closer to the fire. She led him towards the boys and stopped far enough from them to have privacy, but close enough for them to feel the fire. She didn’t care if the Sanzo-Party heard her or not, at this time in her life, she didn’t care about them anymore.

“First off.” Kagome started with a nervous laugh. “Do I have to kill you again? Because if I do, I won’t be able to handle it.”

What started as a joking question turned serious as Kagome’s face became strained while she choked on her words. Miroku grabbed her hand and held it soothingly.

“No. You don’t need anymore stress.”

“Then why are you here? Why aren’t you chillaxing in the afterlife? Playing a harp on a cloud? Chasing angel babes in heaven?”

Here Miroku released her hand and rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

“Well. You know I wasn’t the best example of a monk, right?”

“They didn’t let you in heaven because you were a pervert?” she asked loudly in both shock and amusement.

“To tell you the truth, I only just made it there because of you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Before meeting you, I was on a downward spiral towards damnation. Do you know why I became a monk, Kagome?”

“It isn’t because you were raised by one?”

“No. I became a monk because people trust monks. When I met you, I was a thieving hypocrite who lied and cheated his way through life. I’ve never killed human beings before, but I have left at least

two for dead. I’ve defiled women and girls for my own desires and left them with promises of marriage and love. I’ve also robbed more than my share of travelers and villagers. I was not a nice guy, Kagome.”

“You were pretty well behaved when you were with us.”

“I kidnapped and robbed you when we first met. And if it wasn’t for Inuyasha’s sparkling personality and your smile, you would have seen what kind of man I was.”

“So what happened?” she asked, purposely ignoring the comment about her smile.

“You.” he answered plainly. “I wasn’t in love at first, but I was definitely intrigued. After joining your little group, I played the good monk in an attempt to gain your trust, then I did it to lure you away from the hanyou, finally I just changed in hopes of winning you over someday, because I knew you wouldn’t like the real me. That’s why I meditated so much; I was trying to squelch old habitual thoughts. My desire to have you saved me. So when you released me from the jewel’s influence, I was given this chance to prove myself.”

“By doing what?” she asked in wonderment at the thought of Miroku receiving a mission from heavenly beings.

“I don’t know,” he told her, and in the background, she heard the Sanzo-party’s reaction and smiled. “But I know it’s for you, and I know that no matter what it is, I will not let you fall. I am for you.”

She laughed as she hugged him again. “My own personal guardian angel!”

“Well, why wouldn’t I be, you’ve been mine for years.”

~_____~

“I think I’m jealous.” Gojyo commented aloud as he and the others were walking.

The start of the next day had the group walking as to give Hakuryuu a break. And ever since the night before, Kagome had given all her attention to the newcomer. She trailed behind him like a puppy and he looked at her as if she was a piece of meat.

Happy beyond compare, Kagome found a hitch in her step as she hummed aloud. Ever since gaining Miroku as a companion, she hadn’t left his side. The Sanzo-party, traveling ahead of them, hadn’t made a fuss over the new arrival and she figured that was a good sign.

“What are you humming, Kagome?” Goku asked as the sound of her voice reached his ears. Looking back, he couldn’t help but return her contagious smile.

“A song.” she answered happily as she skipped ahead to join them. “We can dance if we want to; we can leave your friends behind.”

As she reached the group, she made a beeline for Hakkai for he was the one who danced with her last time, but before she could reach him Goku intercepted her. Interlocking their arms at the elbow, he starting skipping in a circle with her. So delighted at the dance she continued to sing.

“Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance well they are no friends of mine. We can dance!”

As they danced, ignoring their companions, Kagome found that though Goku was small, he was strong. With his strength, he led the dance, practically slinging Kagome in the direction and way that he wanted her to go. The loss of control in the dance only excited Kagome more as the little man threw and tossed her around as if she weighed nothing.

“I say, we can go where we want to, a place where they will never find. And we can act like we come from out of this world. Leave the real one far behind, and we can dance!” the lyric ended with a high-pitched squeal as Goku lifted her high in the air.

“What is she singing?” Gojyo asked the silent Miroku.

“I have no idea.” Miroku answered him with a smile. “Lady Kagome isn’t from around here.”

A silence passed with the sound of Goku and Kagome’s shenanigans in the background. “So…I hear you’re dead.”

Miroku looked up at him in surprise before shrugging. “Pretty much. I’m just visiting for the moment.”

“To help Kagome?”

“I think to keep her sane.”

“Too late for that.” Sanzo muttered as Kagome collapsed onto the ground from her tremendous spin she had been forced into by the over enthusiastic Goku.

“Lady Kagome’s going to be alright. I’m going to make sure of that.”

“You’re in love with her.” Sanzo stated rather than accused.

“I’m not the first,” Miroku answered without hesitation as he stared ahead at the doting Goku as he spun Kagome around and in the air. “Nor will I be the last.”

“She leads a sad a cruel life. She’s not the most beautiful woman in the world, yet those around her become enamored and she wouldn’t know it if it looked her in the face for years. She never catches the subtle hints even if everyone else knows about it. If you want her, you have to be blunt about it or…” and here he shrugged. “Who knows when the time is right? She’s more on the move now then ever.”

Miroku’s eyes turned hard with a bitter emotion. “I’ve only just recently told her and I…” he took a breath.

“I think that’s what so attractive about her. She has a fiery temper and spirit and yet she’s so innocent. Even now, when she’s like this, there’s an undercurrent of innocence that will never leave her. I think I’m here to protect that.”

The boys were silent after Miroku’s presentation, and when Kagome sat up, she looked at them with a dulled smile, as if she knew that they were speaking of her.

“Come on Kagome,” Goku said happily as he blocked her view and grabbed her hands. “I bet I can toss you high in the air this time.”

“It seems she’s already affected your group here.” Miroku commented with a smile.

“You think so?” Gojyo asked with a mischievous grin. “Just watch him freak out!”

Grinning to his self, Gojyo crept up to the spinning couple as Goku attempted to build up momentum. Running up to them unexpectedly, he snatched Kagome from Goku’s surprised grasp and threw her over his shoulder as he taunted the little man.

“I got your woman, what you gone do about it?”

“What the hell are you doing?” Goku yelled angrily as he glared at Gojyo. “Put her down!”

“Or what?” Gojyo goaded as he brazenly smacked Kagome on the butt.

Goku’s mouth dropped open at this display and his face started to turn red.

“I don’t know, Goku.” Gojyo said as he tossed Kagome into his arms bridal style. “She’s pretty cute; I just might make a move on her.”

Goku narrowed his eyes as his hand twitched.

Seeing the urge to hit him in his eyes, Gojyo took it a step farther and kissed the giggling Kagome on the cheek.

“I will disembowel you!” Goku screamed as he suddenly had his staff clenched in his hand and made after the retreating Gojyo.

What followed was a vicious game of tag that Kagome was just too happy to be a part of. She was tossed and flipped in the air so that Gojyo could make fast escapes. He used her to distract Goku and to aggravate him further. She had near mishaps as Goku would come close to striking her by mistake or when Gojyo’s grip slipped and she nearly suffered fractured and broken bones. Beside these incidents and the fact that she was being used as a source of entertainment, Kagome was having the time of her life and was happily enjoying herself.

That is, until Gojyo tossed her a little too high.

“Hold up!” Gojyo barked as Goku came a charging.

Seeing his empty hands, Goku stopped in his tracks.

“Um, yeah…I think she should have come down by now.” Looking up to see what had happened, they found a wide-eyed Kagome standing upright on a tree branch, staring off into the distance.

“What’cha looking at?” Gojyo yelled up at her just before Goku delivered a blow to the stomach in victory.

Kagome paid no heed to the boys below her as her eyes feasted themselves on what could be nothing but a burning estate in a clearing up ahead. She could see no one trying to put out the fire, nor could she see anyone standing out of harms way. She heard no cries of pain or terror, only silence as the fire devoured the home.

“Oh.” She murmured as dread filled her heart at the hinting that it was Sango who had done such a thing.

She took a step towards the wreckage and plummeted from the tree and straight into Gojyo’s arms.

“You could have broken your neck!” Gojyo scolded her in surprise. “What did you think you were doing?”

However, Kagome barely registered what he was saying as she fought her way out of his arms.

“What’s the matter?” Miroku asked after seeing the urgency on her face.

“I think Sango’s here.” She said, as she broke free from Gojyo’s grasp. Not sparing them a second glance, Kagome took out running, leaving the boys no other choice but to follow.

She ran through the forest at breakneck speeds and only dislocated a bone once after running into a tree. As she ran, a glow through the trees became her focal point. Though she could hear nothing but the sound of the boys running through the trees, it seemed as if she could hear the screams of terror that the fire had provoked. Yet it wasn’t until she saw the first body that she became frantic.

It was like that day all over again. The bodies started in singles, but the closer she got to home, the more bodies there were. The bodies of the dead and dying. Mutilated by the weapons of those she trusted the most. Her dead wolves, women and children, young warriors and seasoned elders. There were no broken arrows heads or miko residue this time, but the sword marks and fires was just the same.

She was hysterical and worried, and as the burning home came into sight, there was also an underlining of rage to her heart. They were trying to take her family away from her. Not again.

“Kouga!” she yelled as she burst onto the site.

She frantically looked around but all she saw were the slain bodies of her pack and the fire.

“Kouga!” she screamed running amongst the bodies, looking for any sign of her mate or baby.

Frantic and screaming his name, she ran for the wreckage of burning timber.

“Kagome, no!” a voice yelled as someone pulled her to a stop.

“No!” she screamed as she fought against them. “Where’s my baby? I have to find them!”

“Kagome!” more voices; none worth listening to.

“My son! Atreyu! I have to find him!”

“Calm down! Listen!” Worthless! None were speaking of anything important! She wanted her son, she wanted Kouga, and she wanted them safe.

“Oh, God! KOUGA!” screaming at the top of her lungs she was suddenly silenced as someone slapped her. The slap shut her up, but the slapper wasn’t effective enough to escape the punch she

delivered quickly after, and just for good measure, she swung around and clocked someone else while she was at it.

It was either the pain to her hand, or the quiet caution that resounded after striking her attackers that brought Kagome back to her right mind. With a wolfish snarl quivering her lip and her hair hanging in her face, Kagome looked around her with rage-filled eyes. No one even attempted to make eye contact.

“That’s right…I don’t have a family.” Her eyes, ignoring the carnage and mayhem around her, caught sight of both Sanzo and Miroku on the ground.

“Which one of you hit me?” she growled with ferocity.

“What happened here?” Goku asked horror evident in his voice.

“Sango did this.” Kagome growled before her eyes widened in realization. “SANGO!”

“What? What is it?” Miroku asked in alarm.

“Quick!” she yelled frantically as she began looking around. “Look for upturned dirt, or a fresh mound!”

“Why?” Goku asked her confusedly.

“Sango buries a victim alive! Quick, find them!”

They hesitated and she grew fierce.

“What are you doing? Someone’s going to die!”

~____~

Like a woman possessed, Kagome buzzed around the estate frantically searching the ground for freshly turned dirt. Within minutes, her hands were filthy from constantly checking dirt. She paid no mind to the deceased, as she would forcefully toss them out of her way. The others also looked thoroughly but none as diligently as Kagome.

“I don’t think there’s anything here.” She heard Gojyo yell and she sneered at his tone of voice.

“There has to be.” She muttered as she looked around, but everywhere her eyes went all she saw were her companions giving up and the thoroughly searched grounds of the estate. Then her eyes went to the burning building. There was still one more place they hadn’t looked.

“There’s nothing there.” Hakkai said, as he was suddenly there to stop her.

“There has to be,” she repeatedly desperately, though her body language agreed with him. “Sango always buries a victim alive.”

“Perhaps this wasn’t Sango.” He reasoned, keeping a firm hand on her shoulder to keep her from running into the fire. “This could possibly be some unfortunate mishap that was dealt to this family.”

As she stared in his eyes, Kagome felt her resolve soften. Seeing her relax, he smiled kindly down at her as his eyes searched her face for something she couldn’t fathom. As he opened his mouth to speak, she became distracted as an oddly colored butterfly darted between them. As her eyes followed the rapid fluttering of color, she caught sight of something white off into the nearby woods. She stared at the unknown object until it became clear to her of what it was. It was a tombstone.

“A graveyard.” She whispered as she shook off Hakkai’s hand.

“What was that?” he asked in confusion.

She didn’t answer him. She could only think of rescuing someone from an unjust death. The boys didn’t follow as she went off into the woods. Arriving onto the gravesite, she looked from headstone to headstone, trying to judge from which someone might be buried. She began to move about, her nose on the alert for the scent of living soul.

She saw it before she smelled them. An unmarked grave; that, unlike most, had no trace of new growth upon it. Freshly upturned dirt with the scent of a weak soul buried beneath. She fell upon it with vigor and began to dig furiously. She didn’t realize she was making noise until another sound reached her ears and she had to hush to hear it. It was a soft whimpering. She began to dig faster and harder than before and only halted a second when a set of tiny fingers sprung from the earth.

Finally, she had enough dirt gone to freely pull the child from the earth. Though her fingers had moved when they had been exposed, she didn’t move now that she was fully free. The child looked no older than twelve and was covered in dirt and blood. She had severe burn on one side of her body and her left eye was marred by a claw mark. Other than these obvious wounds, Kagome couldn’t tell if she was injured anywhere else because of the amount of filth covering her body. If it wasn’t for the subtly rise and fall of her chest, Kagome wouldn’t have even known she was alive.

“Hey.” Kagome whispered, trying to get the child to respond. “Wake up! Hey, wake up!”

After giving the child a shake, her right eye opened and fixed on Kagome’s face as her hand clutched at her shirtsleeve.

“Momma?” she asked quietly.

Feeling a tugging at her soul, an ache in her heart, and an assumption that the child’s mother was dead, Kagome couldn’t help the lie that fell from her lips as she clutched the child to her lovingly.

“Yes…I’m here.” She confirmed as the child began to cry in her mother’s embrace.

“It’s going to be alright.” She moaned as she began to rock. “Momma’s here and everything’s going to be fine.”

“You know momma loves you, right?”

The little girl’s cries softened as she shook her head.

“Good. That’s my baby. Now believe momma when she says, everything is going to be fine. Okay.”

Feeling the child’s shaking lessen, Kagome looked down at the child in her arms, to see her smiling lovingly up at her momma, and then her eyes closed.

“Hey! No, no, NO!” Kagome cried as she hugged the child closer to her, feeling as if she was losing her son all over again. “Mommy loves you!” she repeated, consoling the child in her final moments even as she fought to heal her, yet to no avail. She couldn’t conjure up an ounce of miko; she moaned louder.

“It’s okay! Momma will always be with you! I love you, so much! It’s going to be okay! I’ll be waiting on you, forever!”

She felt him; Death.

“No! Go away!” she yelled in a rush, but just as the words left her mouth; the grip on her sleeve fell away.

That was how the boys found her later. Moaning and mourning as she reburied a small body beneath the earth. As she finished, she finally acknowledged them and saw both Sanzo and Miroku kneeling next to her saying prayers for a child they hadn’t seen. Feeling touched, she moaned louder as Goku placed a large, flat rock at the head of the grave.

“Damnit, Miroku!” she cried as she buried her face in his chest. “I hate this!”

“Come on,” Miroku said consolingly as he pulled her to her feet. “There’s nothing else you can do here.”

“But I’m so angry!” she moaned loudly as he began to lead her out of the clearing.

“I know. It sickens me to know Sango could do something like this.”

“What?” Kagome demanded as she pushed him away, her angry eyes now targeted towards him. “Don’t say that! This isn’t her fault! I did this to her! Me and this damn jewel!”

“Kagome…” Miroku said gently, trying not to upset her. “The reason we were corrupted by your wish so much is because we have darkness inside of us.”

“Darkness inside of you?” she snapped, not believing his words. “Then what about Shippo? He was just a child!”

“He was a demon child, Kagome. He’d lived a long time before coming to be with us.”

She could only look at him with shocked and angry eyes. Not knowing what to say to him, she turned on her heel and stormed away. As she neared the remains of the burning estate, she halted in her tracks as she caught sight of a large and familiar cat demon eating away at a corpse.

“Wonderful.” she muttered darkly under her breath, her eyes locked on the demon kitty.

“Don’t do anything rash.” Sanzo stated, his way of hinting that they should devise a plan. Yet, as the words were leaving his mouth, Kagome had honed in on her target and was swiftly making her way towards it.

“I feel we should let her be.” Miroku stated as he watched her go. “She’s on a war path at the moment.”

“Please don’t get eaten again!” Goku called out, looking green at the memory.

Kagome paid them no mind as she advanced on her prey, her eyes filled with nonexistent tears of grief and rage.

~_____~

“Chick’s hardcore.” Gojyo muttered after they watched Kagome fight a cat demon on her own and turn it into dust.

“Indeed,” Miroku agreed as he looked out at Kagome standing alone as her body healed. “But as you know, that ferocity came at such a high price.”

“No…we don’t know.” Sanzo retorted, effectively getting Miroku’s attention off Kagome.

“What do you mean? She hasn’t told you? You mean she’s entwined her tendons into your souls and caused you to obsess over her well being without a clue to the reason of the horror behind her eyes?”

“Yeah.” Gojyo agreed. “Something like that.”

“She told us some fabrication, but apparently it was a lie.” Sanzo continued.

“Did she?” Miroku voiced with a strained face. “What did she tell you?”

Exchanging glances with each other the Sanzo-party retold the tale Kagome had given them while Miroku’s face slackened with the untruth Kagome had constructed.

“Hm.” Miroku murmured as he nodded his head to himself.

“So…” Goku droned, trying to get Miroku to say more. “Are you going to tell us what really happened?”

“Nope. She must have lied for a reason.”

“Because she’s fucknuts.” Gojyo muttered aloud.

“Well, lying makes her feel better.” Miroku snapped.

“Come on. Aren’t you her guardian angel? You’re supposed to…you know…keep her from doing those kinds of things…right?”

“Technically, ah...” Miroku said as his voice rose in pitch and his face screwed up in distress. “I’m an angel…in practice. Barely an angel. I’m more like a spirit trying NOT to burn in hell. So…um, yeah, it’s not really appropriate for me to tell someone not to lie. I’m just a dead guy, I can’t really do anything. I will, in time, apply the laws, rules, or whatever…you know guidelines of an angel-like-being, but…I…I don’t want to be a hypocrite. You know what I‘m saying?”

“No.” Goku was the first to admit as he shook his head.

“Okay, you see…” whatever explanation Miroku was going to give the boys was put on halt as they were struck down by a swiftly moving white object. Following the large projectile with his eyes, Miroku turned on his heel and found himself being stared down by a woman whose heart he was a pro at playing. As his eyes landed on her, Miroku saw the tail end of Sanzo’s advances, as she pulled a burning hand back to her side.

“So you finally left me.” Sango said, her voice unnaturally deep and emotionless and her eyes listless. Sango didn’t look as Miroku had looked under the jewel’s influence. Yes, her skin was thin and her veins flowed with the black blood of evil, but where Miroku was hauntingly frightening, Sango just looked tired. Her face was slackened and her eyes were sunken. Her hair looked just as dead; it barely moved in the breeze and gave out no shine. “Now it seems I can’t even get vengeance on how you’ve treated me all those years.”

“Sango,” Miroku began, his voice thick with regret. “I’m sorry, I…”

“No you’re not.” she interrupted, her eyes flaring open briefly, flashing him a look of the hatred within her. She turned towards Kagome and he saw her jaw tightened. “You’re with her, and that’s all you ever wanted. You’re not sorry, so don’t waste your lies on me…not anymore.”

Miroku glanced out at Kagome too, and found her standing still and looking at Sango, but when he turned back to Sango, she was looking at him and her eyes were black as her veins bulged beneath her skin.

“Never again. You might as well look as hard as you can because she’s going to end tonight. The bitch must die.”

Miroku realized that he couldn’t say anything and when Sango moved to approach Kagome, he could do nothing but step aside.

“Miroku!” Kagome yelled as Sango came nearer. “I don’t want any repeats!”

“At least I can do that,” he muttered to himself as he reached behind his back and produced his staff.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Gojyo asked as they decided just watching was making them insignificance.

“I’m dead and the only thing you can ask me is where did I get this staff from?” Miroku muttered without looking at them as he twirled his staff. “Youth in this world; such stupid demons.”

“Did you just call us stupid?” Goku asked with narrowed eyes.

“Called you three stupid.” Sanzo answered.

“You said youth, so how old does that make you?” Hakkai asked him.

“I don’t know anymore.” Miroku answered truthfully. “When all you do is maim the female population to death with sexcercise, time blends together.”

“Are you a rapist?” Goku asked blandly as he took a step towards Miroku, but as he did so he was bounced down to the ground. “Hey what is this?”

The others poked around experimentally and found themselves trapped in a dome of spiritual energy.

“This,” he told them without looking their way. “…is a precautionary. Just trying to keep her from the pain of accidentally having you killed from her fight. It might not set well with her.”

Upon the field, Sango had finally reached Kagome, and with movements meant to intimidate, Sanzo unbuckled Hiraikotsu from her back and planted it into the ground. Kagome didn’t react and only kept her eyes trained onto her best friend as they sized each other up.

“We don’t have to do this?” Kagome called out as Sango slowly began to fiddle with a tie on her clothing. As she spoke, Sango merely raised her eyes briefly with a small smile on her face before she went back to her hand work.

“I can end your suffering now.” Kagome continued. “If only you’ll let me. I can make it all bet….”

Sango began to laugh. “All my problems can be solved? Just by what…letting you kill me?” the laughter abruptly stopped and Sango tossed her kimono to the ground, revealing her slayer’s suit underneath. “I’ve waited too long for this moment. You’re going to die.”

“I have no weapon. You were honorable when you were alive, what about now? Will you strike down an unarmed opponent?”

“Honor?” Sango spat. “Honor is the one thing you couldn’t take from me.” Her eyes flickered angrily as they began to blacken. “The only thing I can keep for myself.”

Kagome thought she saw Sango glance in Miroku’s direction, but the thickening blackness of the evil within her made it hard to tell.

“And honor,” Sango continued. “is the only thing keeping me from using Hiraikotsu and ending your pitiful life quickly. Well that and my desire to feel your death through the blade of my katana.”

“You won’t use Hiraikotsu because of honor, but you’ll use your katana?” Kagome questioned incredulously as Sango produced her seldom used sword from its scabbard.

“Honor will not save you from the punishment you deserve!” Sango yelled in sudden fury. With an eerie screech Sango took a step in Kagome’s direction, but in a blink of an eye she was gone.

From their positions the boys couldn’t begin to guess in which direction she headed, but after witnessing the black swarm assaulting Kagome, they had a 50/50 guess as to where her destination had been.

From what they could see, the swarm carried a steel blade that cut and bit into Kagome with little remorse. The quick, ruthless attacks forced Kagome into a sporadic ballet of death. Though they didn’t see the attacks, they did see it when blood was spilled, and after hearing Kagome’s gasp of pain and surprise, they finally saw her smile.

Seeing it, Sango stopped her assault and reappeared a little ways off. “Stop it!” Sango yelled, her voice deep and angry. “You’re going to die! Why are you smiling?”

Kagome’s smile deepened and she sniggered as her wounds began to heal and strips of clothing began to fall away, revealing tantalizing flesh that caught Gojyo’s attention though he decided not to comment on since no one else seemed to notice.

“SHUT UP!” Sango screamed, tossing her katana like a javelin.

Kagome’s sniggering stopped with a gurgle as the deadly projectile embedded itself through her right temple and out the back of her head. Silence reigned after the hit with Sango’s face contorted in rage and anticipation and the boy’s wondering if this was the end of the fanatical woman with the perky attitude. Who were they kidding, the woman was insane and it looked damn good on her.

The force of the impact caused Kagome to stumble back and her body slumped downward without falling. They saw her fingers twitched, and when she raised her head she moved with the fluidity of a marionette. Her right eye rolled around drunkenly in her head and was steadily turning red as blood began to fill it.

“Sango.” she moaned loudly as she tentatively put a hand to the hilt of the katana. She winced as she touched it and smiled grimly when she gripped. The first pull, accompanied by the grating sound of the metal raking against bone left her breathing in heavy, painful breaths as a wild smile blossomed on her face. The second pull got the sword free from her skull as she both laughed and screamed at the pain.

“Sango!” she called out through her pain. “Let me save you.” she ended quietly, her smile still in place.

With a shriek of rage, Sango attacked with her arms outstretched, intent on ripping Kagome’s throat out. Kagome only laughed aloud as she raised her arm and pointed Sanzo’s gun at her charging friend.

Back on the sidelines, the boys were scared to look at each other in fear of seeing Sanzo’s face and the eyes of whoever was going to die by giving Kagome his gun. Smoke started billowing from Sanzo’s mouth and they were pretty sure the cigarette on his lips hadn’t been lit yet.

“You should let me save you!” she screamed as she fired the first shot.

Being caught off guard, Sango was hit, but by Kagome having no experience with a gun, she caught the bullet in the arm. Sango screamed. “Who the hell blesses their bullets?”

“Old, angry, blonde monks with killer hairdos!” she answered back as she fired again.

She missed, and missed again as the seasoned exterminator used evasive tactics and barreled past Kagome, effectively knocking her down and the gun from her grasp. Landing on her back, Kagome hurriedly flipped over, trying to keep her eyes on her opponent. But upon turning onto her belly, she found Sango already standing over her with her foot on the gun.

No words were spoken and they merely smiled at each other. Sango riled her foot back to kick the gun away, but when she bypassed the gun, Kagome had no time to brace herself for the impact. Sango landed the kick into Kagome’s stomach and the force of it lifted the girl off the ground a landed her a few feet away. She didn’t lay on the ground long enough to feel pain before Sango hovered above her with a raised foot.

“Why won’t you just die?” Sango yelled in outrage as she attempted to stomp Kagome into oblivion.

“What is it?”

Kagome had no time to answer even if Sango had meant for her to speak.

“What is it about you that makes you so damn special?”

“Why do you get to keep living while I live this nightmare?”

Kagome didn’t have an answer anyway.

“Why? Huh? Why are you still here? I know what happened, you should be dead!”

She agreed fully. She should be dead.

“You spoiled bitch! You’re stealing life just like you stole all the attention! All of my attention! All of my love!”

With every word, Sango’s blows would hit harder and harder, yet Kagome never made a move to protect herself nor strike back. Sango needed to vent and she needed to be punished.

“You don’t deserve it, you never deserved it! You’re just selfish!”

Kagome grew rigid on the ground.

“Selfish!”

She trained an abused eye on Sango as she felt annoyance stir within her.

“SELFISH!”

Death had called her selfish. The bitch.

“Shut up!” Kagome yelled in outrage as she managed to strike Sango in the knee. Caught off guard, Sango crumpled, and as she fell to her knees, Kagome rose up and met her chin with her head, effectively knocking Sango completely over. Standing over her friend, her sister, and now her enemy, Kagome growled low in her throat. “I am not selfish and you know it, you cold hearted bitch!”

Sango, looking to all the world like a worn down woman whom had just watched her dog get run over, looked up at Kagome in shock and hurt, but it didn’t last long for the next second the evil and rage within her came forward. With a mighty shriek of hatred, the blackness descended upon her and she tackled Kagome to the ground, all training gone as she focused on only causing as much harm as possible to her former best friend.

They rolled around on the ground, kicking, screaming, biting, and pulling hair. An outright girl fight between an evil, possessed demon hunter and an insane miko with issues with the Grim Reaper.

Back on the sidelines, Gojyo was making an observation as they all watched the fight with fascination. “This, uh, this is kind of hot.”

Somehow, during the scuffle, Kagome had ended up on Sango’s back, and with her legs wrapped around the older girl’s middle and her arms around her neck, Kagome had managed to get her into a submission hold.

“Why are you legs so strong?” Sanzo gasped out as she attempted to break the hold. “What the hell is this?”

“I learned it with Kouga.” Kagome answered her with an effort as Sanzo thrashed around. The move was actually called ‘No means no Kouga, I’m tired’ but she felt that information was on a need to know basis.

Knowing she couldn’t hold onto her forever, Kagome began looking around for something to assist her, what she found was even better. Sango’s katana.

Tightening her hold on Sango’s neck, Kagome used an arm to reach out for the discarded weapon, but as she felt the arm leave her, Sango began to fight against her even harder. Kagome’s hand fell just short of the katana and if Sango got free she’d be able to grab it easily but knew she’d have a hell of a time using it on the trained killer. With that thought, Kagome froze. Trained killer

+ evil + bitterness = monster, and she had created it. She was doctor Frankenstein and Sango was the monster, the perfect monster. A blow to the face from a flailing hand snapped her out of her relapse, she had to get that weapon before Sango got loose.

Sango’s struggles pulled them away from the sword, despite her obliviousness to what Kagome was planning. Realizing this, Kagome began to rock and scoot them closer, disguising her movement within Sango’s fight for egress. With one final scoot, Kagome’s hand fell upon the sword and without a pause, she hefted it high and plunged the blade within Sango’s belly, through her own, and into the ground.

Sango laughed aloud as she held still. “It’ll take a lot more than that to end me. Stupid bitch, now what do you plan to do, wait here until one of us goes first?”

“No,” Kagome grunted as she struggled to pull the shikon from around her neck. “Just need you to hold still for a moment.”

Not seeing what she was doing, but sensing oncoming doom, Sango made an effort to unpin herself, but Kagome’s free hand held onto the hilt and kept it from coming completely free from them.

“See, you got to do it like THIS!” and she ended with a yelp as she pulled the sword upward causing the wound to open longer. Coughing up blood and smiling a gruesome smile, Kagome quickly forced the jewel into Sango’s open belly and yanked the sword free.

With the deed done, Kagome relaxed her grip and lay prone on the ground while Sango quickly scrambled up, but as she stood she immediately collapsed to her knees as the first wave of pain hit her. Running her hands over her middle, she attempted to remove the jewel but found the wound had already healed around it and was steadily getting better as the smoke began to emit from her mouth and eyes.

“It’s all going to be better now, Sango.” Kagome groaned as finally began to rise, her maddened eyes trying to show sadness.

“Yeah, better.” Sango barked out through her pain, as she clutched her stomach and shook uncontrollably. “I’m dying…again.”

Kagome had no response as she fell down before her friend. They met eyes briefly and Sango smiled at her through her pain. She didn’t yell, she was a warrior and warrior’s didn’t give in to pain.

The smile hit Kagome like a blow to the head and it seemed as if she was undergoing the pain that Sango was denying. Feeling the phantom pains, Kagome moaned and held her stomach.

“I’m sorry.” she whispered sadly as she fell her head onto Sango’s, touching foreheads. “I really am, I never meant for any of this to happen. I was stupid and made you pay the price. You’re my best friend, my sister, I never wanted to hurt you, Sango. Will you forgive me?”

Sango, who had been moaning and shaking, stopped and held in her misery. Placing a hand on Kagome’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze, Sango’s smiled again, sadly. “You were my best friend, you were my sister, I know you’re sorry, and under the circumstances I would have done the same. I understand.”

Kagome felt like her old self again. She knew she could do this. She would set them all free. Because she loved them and they loved her.

“But,” Sango continued. “I don’t think I can ever forgive you. Not after what you did.”

Kagome’s world dropped from beneath her and she froze.

Crying silently, Sango kissed Kagome upon her forehead and stood, leaving the girl behind. As best as she could, Sango gathered her katana and sheathed it, then ambled over to Hiraikotsu, but she could barely bring herself to stand upright, let alone heft it onto her back. By now her skin had turned brittle and gray as the jewel stole the life it had given her back.

“Sango?” she heard spoken softly behind her.

Bracing herself against the giant boomerang, Sango turned to find Kagome had come closer, looking at her with despair and hurt.

“Why?” she asked softly. “Why can’t you forgive me? You said you understood! You said you would have done the same! So why? Why can’t you forgive me?”

Sango only looked sadly upon her.

“Is it because I kept Inuyasha from helping you? Is it because I didn’t help you? Is it because I used the jewel before purifying it? What? What is it? Why don’t I deserve forgiveness?”

Sango looked even sadder now and the tears began to roll faster down her face. “He hasn’t told you?” her eyes flickered to Miroku briefly. “He really does love you then.”

“What?” Kagome voiced in confusion.

“Don’t do it, Sango!” Miroku could be heard yelling from the sidelines, but he was ignored.

“What’s going on Sango? What don’t I know?”

Standing to her full height, Sango hoisted Hiraikotsu onto her back and began to take strong, confident steps away from Kagome, and as the girl made a move to come after, Sango stopped her with a look. Continuing her death walk with confidence, Sango’s eyes began to glow white as the powers of death and the shikon began to show through the cracks in her skin. First she faltered in mid step and then she began to slow. Her moans became louder, and she shook harder, finally she screamed for all the world to hear as she imploded into dust.

Kagome cried out in pain as she did so and had no time to stop her friend’s ashes from being scattered to the wind. She moaned for her loss as the wind circled back on her, and in her ear, she heard Sango whisper.

“Do you see my blood on your hands, Kagome? That is not the first time.”

Looking down at her shaking limbs, Kagome saw Sango’s blood. Confused, she stared at them for a long time, and then just as quick as a flash of lightening, she saw them again, in a different time, in a different light. It was just a glimpse, but she saw it. Another glimpse, another flash. And again, and again. Closer and closer the lightening came, until finally, it hit her.

She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t move. And as she stared in horror at her hands, the tears began to fall. The tears she had never been able to shed. The tears she had longed for. The tears that refused to fall because she refused to remember.

She had killed her friends. She hadn’t gotten them killed by keeping Inuyasha at bay. She had killed them because they had gotten in her way. She had killed them because she wouldn’t listen. Wouldn’t see them. She only had eyes for the murderer’s of her family and heaven help whatever lay in between. Heaven didn’t.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at Miroku. At what she had done to him. At the love he still held for her despite what she had done. She fell to her knees as her tears rained down. She cried, she sobbed, she bellowed, she screamed, and she hated herself. Hated everything about herself. Hated what she did, what she had become, and what she couldn’t do. Couldn’t do? She could do something. She knew what she had to do, and knew the moment her tears returned. She felt them, her powers were back and she would put them to good use.

~____~

“What the hell is that?” Sanzo spoke up as the first wave of power hit them. It was strong, it was holy, it was destructive, and it was coming from the deranged miko in the middle of the field.

“Oh no.” Miroku breathed out in despair. Watching as Kagome rocked back and forth in the field, crying loudly and sorrowfully.

“What is that?” Goku asked. “What is she doing?”

“What’s going on?” Hakkai finally asked.

“She’s trying to kill herself.” Miroku answered them as he came to realize.

“Kill herself. I thought she couldn’t die.” Gojyo voiced.

“No. But I think she’s going to use her powers to…destroy her very soul.”

“Well don’t just stand there, stop her!” Goku yelled in fright.

“I…I don’t know if she’ll succeed and if I move to stop her and it didn’t work, then she’ll be worse off because then you’d be dead.”

“But if you don’t stop her and she succeeds, then you’ll have us to contend with.” Sanzo told him darkly.

“No, if she succeeds then I have failed and will be returned to have my fate dealt with.”

“So you’re just going to stand there and wait to return to heaven, like some coward angel!” Gojyo yelled angrily.

“I’d rather be in hell.” Miroku whispered softly, his head swimming with indecision.

“You’re useless!” Goku yelled in outrage and he and the others began to fight against the barrier with a zeal.

~____~

She felt herself weaken, but she’d just push it harder. She wanted nothing, she wanted to be nothing. It had already started, she couldn’t see, she couldn’t smell, and the sound of her own crying and power were beginning to dim in her ears.

It was only just a matter of time and will now.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

She heard the voice in her head but she ignored it. If she concentrated enough, she imagined it was the wind.

“Why are you doing this?”

The voice returned and she cried harder as she forced more power out.

“Do you think I’m going to let you go that easily?”

The voice was loud in her head now, and she could swear she heard laughter in the background of her head. Yet the voice and the laughter were not the same.

“Not now. Not when you’re so close.”

“You have a responsibility to uphold.”

“Do you think this will make you feel better? You won’t feel anything. You won’t be anything.”

“Stop this.”

“Kagome. Are you listening to me?”

“Don‘t do this.” the voice grew firm.

“Stop it.”

“Stop this, now!” The voice began to yell as more and more heat entered it’s voice.

“Kagome! Cease this at once!”

“I won’t let you go!” The last yell came out louder than the others and she felt it reverberate through out her body, and as she blast out the last of her strength and resolve, Kagome fell to the ground as something hard and heavy hit her.

As she lay on the ground, and felt the darkness creep onto her, Kagome felt the arms around her as someone weakly whispered to her. “I got you now. I won’t let you go.” She didn’t feel the same effect as when she first heard it, but then again, it could’ve been due to the fact that she had succeeded in destroying her soul. She welcomed the dark.

~______~

“Is she dead?” Gojyo asked again as he stared at Kagome’s lifeless body.

“She’s breathing.” Hakkai pointed out.

“And I am still here.” Miroku added.

“Big deal. How do we even know you’re even telling the truth about being angel anyway?”

“Don’t answer that!” Sanzo snapped. “You better tell me what you’re going to do about him.”

The room grew quieter as all eyes turned to the badly burned and unconscious Goku lying in the bed.

“When Kagome comes to, she will heal him.” Miroku answered solemnly.

At the mention of her name, the boys looked to the body they had propped up in a chair at the table. She looked out at them without seeing and only barely breathed. The had tried everything to snap her out of it. CPR, water, they had slapped her, Sanzo shot her without warning, and they called her name relentlessly. Yet she only healed and took the abuse as her eyes stared vacantly out at them. The body lived on, yet no one was inside. Kagome was dead, they knew, but didn’t accept it. Her eyes gave it away though. No longer maddened, no longer crazed, no longer the eyes of a monster, and no longer a void filled with loneliness, despair, and anguish. Eyes that were no longer overly bright and that seared the soul with just a look. Those eyes were gone. The eyes the corpse held were dark, dull, and glassy. Dead.

“If Hakkai couldn’t heal him, then what makes you think she can?”

“You felt that power back there. She has the strength to do it. She’ll want to do it once she come through. Kagome’s strength laid in her love of people. She can heal him.”

“Are you sure she’s coming out of that?” Gojyo asked skeptically.

“I have faith.”

“This is depressing, I need cigarettes.” Feeling useless, Sanzo grabbed his robes and headed for the door.

“Could you bring…” Hakkai started to ask but was cut off by Sanzo’s growl.

“Get it your damn self.” and then he was gone.

“Well we need food, and more bandages.” the last was adding after a solemn look at theninjured Goku.

“I’ll come with you.” Gojyo added, not wanting to stay in the room. “Grandpa’s probably only going to buy smokes for only himself anyway.”

Miroku stood to join them. “And I’ll like to accompany…”

“No angel. Stay.” Gojyo commanded with a wag of his finger.

Miroku scowled at him but didn’t move.

“Good, angel. Now sit.” and then they were gone.

“You don’t tell me what to do.” Miroku mumbled to himself at he sat at the table with Kagome.

“This is depressing.” He finally commented after a second of listening to a burn victim’s labored breathing and Kagome’s semi non-existent breathing.

~____~

“Hey there guardian.” a voice spoke up. “I thought they’d never leave.”

With a start, Miroku looked up to see a white haired old man leaning against the wall.

“You!” Miroku said with alarm as he sprang to his feet.

“Sleep.” Uncle Cyrus told him lightly as he poked him in the forehead, and as Miroku fell to the floor in a deep slumber, Uncle Cyrus slid into his seat.

“Hey there, Leti.”

Kagome’s body didn’t respond and he smiled at her.

“Oh dear, someone had an accident.” he began to laugh at some unknown joke and as his laugh drifted through the room, Kagome’s dead, unseeing eyes rolled over to meet him.

“There you go.” he laughed, smiling at the body before him. “Didn’t quite kill everything off did you? Just enough left to keep this body of yours breathing right? I suppose that’s your boyfriend’s doing. I hear you two have the greatest relationship. I can‘t wait for the showdown. Somebody really hates somebody.” Again he laughed and Goku began to slightly convulse.

The laughter died and only the smile remained. He folded his hands and stared at her with overly bright eyes. “You know I want let you go either, right. I like you. You’re my favorite little star and you’re too valuable to lose. Of all the paths and destinies, and all the fates that you can, have, and will go through, this path is a masterpiece and I am thoroughly entertained.”

“Souls grow back, Leti. And yours will eventually and you will resume touching people’s lives like you’ve been doing, for better or for worse. But things have already been set into motion and I would hate for you to miss your queue. So I’m going to do you a little favor.” he opened his hands and a butterfly flew out.

The insect move with the fluidity and wrath of a nuee ardente, yet glowed the colors of a field on fire in a rain storm. It fluttered in the air slowly and Uncle Cyrus watched it fondly.

“Don’t say I never gave you anything.” he told her before the butterfly landed on her head, in the exact same spot Death had kissed her. It fluttered it’s wings once and then seemed to soak up into her skin. After a moment’s hesitation she gasped and then she choked. She couldn’t get enough air, her body was burning, and her heart ached. She fell from the chair and her body convulsed on the ground to the sound of laughter.

The dark was gone. She was back, someone had pulled her back, and she hated it. She didn’t want this, she wanted to be nothing, she enjoyed nothing. She couldn’t remember what it was like, but she knew it was numb and comforting. Not this. This life. Life was pain, suffering, and miserable. Her life. Her damned life. She didn’t want it. A keening noise escaped her mouth as she attempted to curl up into herself on the floor.

Footsteps sounded within the room and she barely acknowledged them, but as a face appeared in her peripheral and a hand found its way to her head she had to react. She had to know who had returned her to hell.

“Welcome back, Leti, my little star.” Uncle Cyrus greeted with a smile as he ran a comforting hand over through her hair.

“Why am I back?” she sobbed, her face wet with tears.

“You’re not through yet.”

Her lip trembled and she looked away from him.

“Don’t worry. The cheese at the end of this maze is going to be great. You may not love it, but it’s great. You’re going to do great things.”

“I don’t want to.” she cried. “I don’t want to do anything.”

“Too late. You will, because you’re strong and you will because you must. You can’t escape it. It’s a terrible path, but you’ll make it your own. Now when you get over this little breakdown of yours, heal the Monkey King there, you beat him up pretty bad, and he’s not through yet either.” and like that, he was gone, leaving only a chuckle in the air.

With a shuddering breath, Kagome looked around to see if he was really gone, and once sure of that, and that Miroku was really asleep, she rose up to find the results of her self destruction.

“Monkey King?” she wondered through her tears as she laid a hand on his chest, the familiar powers she had missed now flowing freely beneath her skin.

Later when the Sanzo-party returned, they would find a fully healed Goku sleeping in bed with a livelier breathing Kagome snuggled up next to him and a soon to be confused angel sleeping on the floor.

~_____~

The night of the new moon came and Kagome and Miroku were ready to leave. The Sanzo-party had followed them out to the desert to say their good-byes, or good riddance, depending on whom you asked.

“Do you really have to go now? Can’t you stay another month?” Goku asked hopefully as he looked longingly at her.

“No, we have to go.” Kagome answered from Miroku’s side as she looked at them soulfully. “I have to find out what other horrible things I’ve done.”

Miroku rested a hand on her shoulder and gave her reassuring squeeze with a hint of warning.

“And I have to set everyone else free. They don’t deserve this.”

“We understand, Kagome.” Hakkai told her.

“Yeah, good luck okay.” Gojyo added.

“Be safe. And take care of yourself.” Goku said seriously. “You can come back right, you know to visit? Get to know us better?” the last was said in the deeper, darker voice that creeped everyone out, yet it brought a smile to her face for the first time since she awoke from the darkness.

“Your ride’s here, I think.” Was Sanzo’s way of saying goodbye. But she knew what he meant. ‘And I’ll miss you the most, Scarecrow.’ or something along those lines.

“Time to go Kagome.” Miroku told her after seeing her hesitation to approach the gate.

“Alright. But first.” and without giving him warning, Kagome had forced Sanzo into a hug, a bear hug where she lifted him off the ground briefly. “I’ll miss you grandpa.”

Sanzo grunted and lit a cigarette.

“Bye, Waist.” she told Gojyo as she hugged him too, making sure her arms circled his waist.

“Good-bye my crazy molester.” he told her sincerely.

“I’m going to miss you, my running partner.” she aimed at Goku but as she moved to hug him, he met her halfway and hugged her tightly. “Don’t forget about me.”

“I don’t think I can, if I tried. ”

“Come back, okay?”

“When the time comes, I’ll be back.”

“Hear that gramps?” she taunted Sanzo as she turned towards Hakkai. “I’ll be back.” to which her answer was a gun cocking and a puff of smoke.

Smiling to herself, Kagome turned to give Hakkai a hug and was first hit by bedroom eyes before a warm mouth covered hers. Shocked into rigidness, Kagome couldn’t decide what to do, but as the emotions of the kiss hit her, she melted into him. A kindred spirit; lonesome, full of passion, hole in heart, and they were just on that same level. He did dance with her after all. The kiss was full of heat and it awoke something in her. A need.

He broke the kiss first, yet he still held her close, tightly, hungrily. She gave him a heated smile in return. “What took you so long?”

“You‘ll be missed.” he said lowly, stealing one more kiss, before releasing her.

“That’ll boost a girl’s self esteem too.” smiling drunkenly, Kagome turned away only to find that Miroku had turned his back on them and was looking into the night sky, while Goku looked to be promising to rain hell on someone’s life after she left.

Seeing trouble she walked back over to him and gave him a quick kiss before he knew what was happening. “You’ll always be my hero.” she told him as she whispered his name to him, causing his eyes to darken and a manly smirk to conquer his lips.

“I’m more your type anyway, Kagome. I‘ll last longer.”

“That’s creepy.” she whispered before turning to face Miroku.

“Bye boys!” she yelled over her shoulder, but as soon as the words left her mouth a dust storm swept in and obscured everyone’s vision.

She heard her name being called from all different directions and the wind twirled her round and round, and as it finally settled and things cleared up, she cared for nothing but what stood before her.

He was paler, his eyes were dull, and he looked sad, but he was still the most beautiful sight she had laid her eyes on in a long time.

“K-k-kouga?” she stuttered.

He smiled sadly down at her, and then she was up in his arms. “I love you, Kagome. And I’m going to make sure we’re never apart again.” and then he snapped her neck and she knew nothing. She was nothing.