InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kagome's Return (sequel to Kagome! Where are you!? ❯ kaogme vs kikyo ( Chapter 12 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Kagome's return chapter 12

Kagome vs. kikyo



Kagome's mother hugs Sango. "All I want, all I've ever wanted for Kagome, Sota and my
family, is for them to be happy."

"Are you sure?" Sango asks in a quiet voice.

"Yes." Mrs. H says in a very definite tone. "I want you to be my daughter." She smiles, "I've
always wanted a second daughter."

Sango smiles, "What about Shippo?"

Mrs. H smiles back, "My family is increasing. I love that. And, Once Kikyo is disposed of, my
family will grow some more."

"Are you sure about that?" Sango asks.

Kagome's mother nods, vigorously. "Of course. Everything will work out." She smiles, a little
crookedly, "Of course, it may not work as planned, and there will be surprises, but. Kagome is
my princess and she will live happily ever after."

"I wish." Sango whispers, "I had your faith . . . "

Mrs. H hugs her. "Borrow mine."

A pause as they hug each other.

"Sango?" Mrs. h whispers. "Do you accept?"

"Yes, mother." Sango whispers.

A timeless pause as they hug and cry on each other's shoulders.


"What about Kohaku?" Sango asks, as she finally stops crying.

"What about him, my daughter?"

Sango tingles as she hears that term come out, so naturally.

"He is your brother, and because of that, he is part of my family. I will, to the best of my ability,
get him the best medical help I can. If he stays hours, or if he stays in my house the rest of his
life, that doesn't matter."

"How can you?" Sango begins, then stops, confused about how to continue.

"How can I, what?"

"Be so. . . . giving."

Mrs. H smiles, "I trust my daughter. She has lived, fought, and grown up beside you. She's
always had a problem with the well. She loves you. All of you, but she's was always afraid of
the well. But, now, with the adoption of Shippo, and her relationship with Sesshomaru, she's
making her choices."

‘Her relationship with Sesshomaru?' Sango asks. ‘Does that mean what I think it does?'

"And, having you join my family was a decision that I made a long time ago. But, I've held off
acing on it, because of Kagome's feelings. Now, that's not a problem."

"You had this planned?" Sango asks in wonderment.

Mrs. h nods. "Of course. Now, it's time to announce it." She stands up, lifting Sango as she does
so. "Let's introduce you and your brother."

Sango's face twists, "I don't know about using that term."

"With Miroku?" Mrs. h asks

Sango nods. She whispers, "We haven't had time to be alone."

Kagome's mother stops, "And, he promised?"

Sango's mouth twists, "Not in that many words, but." Her fist closes, her knuckles click as she
pops them. "IF not, he will regret it."

Mrs. h looks at her fist. She covers it with her hand, "what you chose to call each other, or what
Kagome chooses to call you, is something for you to decide. No matter what the name, though,
you are part of my family."

Sango takes a deep breath.

Mrs. h smiles, "And if he is so stupid, as to say something like, ‘Since we're now brother and
sister, so I can't marry you.'. Tell me." Her teeth show between her lips. "These last few years
I've only rarely lost my temper. I am not a pleasant person when that happens."

Sango looks into her mother's eyes, and looks away. ‘I would not want her to look at me in that
way . . . '

Mrs. H leads Sango into the living room. As she goes upstairs to fetch Kagome, Miroku raises
his eyebrow, in a silent question to Sango. Sango nods her head. He purses his lips, and nods
back.

Ayumi bows, and introduces herself to Sango. "Um. Sango. I've always wanted to ask this
question, ever since Kagome told us about you."

Sango politely asks, "And, what is the question?"

Eri pops up beside her, "How strong are you?"

"Eri!" Ayumi says as she spins around to yell at her friend.

Sango smiles, ‘How many times, especially after an adventure, have I had the girls of the
villages that we've saved, ask me the same question?' She thinks with amusement.

"Does anyone have a knife, or something like it?" She asks.

"I'll get one!"Sota calls as he runs to the kitchen.

Mrs. H and Kagome walk down the stairs as Sota returns with a butcher knife.

"Lady." Sango starts to say, as she looks at Mrs. h, then, she pauses, confused about exactly how
she should address her new mother.

Kagome looks at Sango and the knife, and her friends. She smirks, "showing off your strength?"
she asks. ‘Sango has done this trick many times, especially for the amusement of kids of the
villages we've traveled through.' She thinks.

Sango, looking at Kagome, like a lifesaver, and finding it easier to talk to Kagome, anyway,
says, "Yes, Kagome. Your friends wanted to know how strong I am." She holds up the butcher
knife. "I was, with your mother's permission, of course," she nods to MRS. H. "Going to use
this."

Mrs. H nods back, "Feel free, Sango."

Sango nods. She places the knife, the blunt side toward her and weaves her fingers on either side
of the blade. "How strong am I?" She asks as she smiles.

She makes a fist with her hand holding the knife, crumpling it in the process.

Her eyebrows raise, "your knife was stronger than many blades that I've done this too." She
bows to Mrs. H. "I am sorry, if this was expensive."

"Not really, Sango. Stainless steel, nothing special. I can get a new blade very quickly and
without any problems."

Sango hands the crumpled knife to Ayumi. Ayumi, her mouth hanging open, accepts it.

Mrs. H clears her throat. "Could Miroku and Sango please stand beside me?" she has moved to
the front of the room, and she motions for Kagome to stand back.

Sango and Miroku, both of them holding their faces as still as possible, walk to their new
mother.

As they stand on either side of her, Mrs. h places her arms around their shoulders. "I have an
announcement to make." She begins to speak in a loud, formal voice.

Kagome, after a quick glance at Sango's and Miroku's faces, stares her mother in the eyes. She
thinks, ‘She wouldn't, would she? She's mentioned it a few times, but, I always thought it was a
joke.'

"Today, the Higurashi family lost my father in battle." Mrs. H begins. "He died, as he wished, as
a man. But, today is not a day of sadness."

Everyone in the room sits or stands straighter as she speaks.

"Today is a day of happiness." Mrs. h continues. She nods to Kagome. "My daughter, Kagome,
has adopted the kitsune Shippo as her son and my grandson." She nods to Shippo. Shippo stands,
blushes and looks at his feet.

"I wanted to do that." Yuka hisses to her friends. They nod and hiss back. "We all did."

"And I, as the head of the Higurashi family, have also added to the family."

Everyone looks at Sango and Miroku. Even Chika, who is watching from the top of the stairs,
can guess about what's next, but, everyone lets Mrs. h finish.

"As of today, the Monk Miroku and the demon exterminator Sango are part of my family." She
announces.

Miroku and Sango bow, deeply.

"Cool!" Sota croons out.

Kagome rushes her mother, and her two new family members, her arms spread wide. She
captures all three of them in a hug. "Mother." She begins to say. "I don't know what to say."

Rin happily claps, loudly.

After an almost unnoticeable pause, Kagome's three friends begin to clap and comment, loudly,
about how lucky Kagome is.

From the top of the stairs, Chika also claps.

Shippo claps as well, but he is looking back and forth between Sango and Miroku, obviously
trying to decide exactly what this will mean.

"Do you like your new brother and sister?" Higurashi Kimiko asks Kagome as they hug.

"Yes!" Kagome cries, tears forming in her eyes. "Both Sango and Miroku, even with those
wandering hands of yours," She says in an aside to Miroku. Who, of course, slides his hands
further down Kagome's back, so it rests on her ass. "I've felt closer to them than just friends, but
I could never figure out how to say it."

She glares at Miroku, "And not give you the wrong idea."

Miroku smiles. "Ah, my new sister Kagome, what is the wrong idea?"

"That you can grab her ass." Sango growls as she reaches out, in the group hug and pinches his
shoulder. The shoulder to the arm that is grabbing Kagome's ass. Her fingers press down, and
Miroku quickly removes his hand. Sango removes the pressure on his shoulder.

"Please, children." Mrs. H says as she continues to hug them.

"It's nothing." Sango replies. She opens her mouth.

MRS. h smiles and whispers, "come on, daughter you can say it."

Sango glances at Kagome and Miroku, both of whom are watching her. Sango smiles and in firm
voice, says, "mother." A pause. Her new mother nods. "I was just informing my new brother
about what I dislike."

Mrs. H turns her head to Miroku and raises an eyebrow.

He sighs, "I will watch my hands." He says in a long-suffering tone. Mrs. H coughs. "Mother."
He adds. She smiles.

Mrs. h raises an eyebrow. "Which means, that in addition to pinching my daughter's ass, you're
also going to ogle it as you watch your hands, as well?"

Miroku opens his mouth in surprise.

Sango and Kagome look at each. Kagome begins to giggle. Sango catches it and passes to her
new mother.

Miroku, a slightly hurt look on his face, tries to break the hug, only to have his new mother grip
him tighter. "I not laughing at you, my son. But with you."

"But, but" Miroku sputters.

"Respect their wishes, my son." Mrs. H declares. She glances at Kagome and Sango. "And you
two should, also, respect his."


Shippo pips up, "then, since he wishes to grab their ass's, they should let him?"

Mrs. h gazes at her new grandson and says, "If they wish to. Nobody will force anyone to do
something that they don't want."

"Well?" Miroku asks, as he spreads his arms, breaking the group hug.

Everyone stands back. Kagome and Sango look at each other. "Inu-yasha and Sesshomaru will
dislike it, immensely, Miroku should you hand touch me, inappropriately. So, I will say no, to
protect you." Kagome says.

Miroku, Shippo and Sango raise eyebrows at the Sesshomaru part of that statement.

Miroku sighs. "An overprotective sister . . . and here I thought that as her brother, I'd have to
protect her."

Everyone in the room, giggles at that.

Miroku and Sango stare at each other. She drops her gaze to his hand, the one that is still covered
by his gauntlet. He follows her gaze. "I would like to speak to you alone." He whispers.

Sango, her face reddening, nods. "As you wish, Miroku, I will withhold my judgment until
then." She whispers.

A silent pause covers the room.

"Why aren't you going some place right now?" Yuka asks

Miroku looks at Kagome's friend. He sighs, "because, we are still in the middle of several
problems." He nods to Sango. "Her little brother is still hurt, and I would like to wait until we
know more about him."

Sango nods. "That, also, is my wish." She adds, backing him up.

"My other sister, Kagome." Miroku nods to her. "Is in the middle of another confrontation with
Kikyo. Which, it pains me to say, can't be avoided too much longer. And I would also prefer to
wait until that confrontation is solved."

Kagome, her face full of stress as she thinks about Kikyo, nods.


"And," Sango adds, interrupting, "depending on how that turns out, I'd also like to know what
happened while you were gone, Kagome." Kagome looks at Sango, desperation in her eyes. "I
want to know what happened between you and Sesshomaru."

Kagome swallows and looks at the ground.

As she is trying to come up with an answer, Shippo pipes up, "I know what happened."

Kagome glares at Shippo. "No, you don't Shippo!" She barks at him, then continues, "You only
know something, but not everything." She sighs, heavily. "I'd really like to tell you, Sango," she
looks around the room, "And all of you. But, Inu-yasha deserves to hear it first."

Mrs. h grips her natural daughter's shoulders, "We understand, don't we." She says as she glares
at the room.

The room, after recovering from that glare, all choruses, "yes."

Another pause, then Mrs. H says, "what is next?"

"My brother?" Sango asks

"He's doing fine," Chika says from the top of the stairs. She starts to walk down stairs, Sango
tries to follow her, but her eyes catch Miroku mouthing words to Shippo.

Shippo is nodding, and with one hand his fingers make a circle, and with the other hand, he
moves his index finger into and out of the circle.

Sango, as she walks to Chika, steps hard on Miroku's foot, distracting him.

Chika, now the center of attention, continues, "until he wakes up, I'm not going to know more,
but, right now, he's fine."

"How long before he wakes up?" Sango asks.

Chika shakes her head, no. "I don't know. It could be instantly. It could be longer." She pauses,
then continues, "If I had to make a guess, I'd say longer, rather than shorter, just based on the
stories I was told."

"Why?" one of Kagome's friends asks.

"He was mind controlled, and who knows what that did to his mind, and then a magic sword is
supposed to have cured him?" Chika replies, shaking her head at the unusual circumstances.
"Either it didn't, in which cases he should already be screaming from a nightmare, or it did
work, and in that case, I'd expect him to rest a long time, as his mind adjusts to what happened."

"Oh." Sango replies.

Miroku, after a glance Kagome, asks, "So, we could leave him alone for a few hours, without
danger?"

Kagome, after hearing the question, grimaces. She knows what he is hinting at. ‘I'd rather not
have to deal with Kikyo right now. The death of my grandfather, mother's adopting Sango and
Miroku. Even waiting for Miroku to propose to Sango are things that I'd rather be doing
something about, rather than dealing with Kikyo and Inu-yasha.' She thinks.

Sango, also glaces at Kagome.

Chika, after a short pause, says, "A few hours? Yes, I'd say that he is likely to remain asleep for
that amount of time."

"Kagome?" Sango asks, in a low voice.

Kagome bites her lips. "I do not know, Sango. I thought that you would want to be here when he
wakes up."

Sango grimaces, "I do. But, once that happens it'll be awhile before I can do anything else. So,
while he is asleep, we need to take of anything and everything else."

"How long before Inu-yasha and Sesshomaru begin fighting?" Miroku asks.

Kagome blanches and grimaces, "Not long."

"Sesshomaru and Inu-yasha?" Rin asks.

Kagome looks at her. "We left them on the other side of the well, with Kikyo." She sighs,
heavily. ‘No way around it. Sooner or later, you've got to go through the well and deal with it.'
She thinks.

"From the bits and pieces that I've heard," Mrs. H begins to say, "Inu-yasha, Sesshomaru and
Kikyo are waiting."

Kagome nods. "There was a price to bringing you back to life. Kikyo made some demands."

Mrs. h nods, grimly. She looks around the room. "Chika, do you think that you," she nods to
Kagome's three friends, also, "And you girls could stay and watch the house, Sango's brother,
Sota, Rin, and Shippo, while we." She pauses, "take care of some unpleasant business."

Chika nods, "for a few hours."

Kagome's three friends nod and chorus, "sure, Mrs. h."

Sota cries, "And I wanted to go through the well!"

"Not this time, Sota." Kagome replies. "Soon, I promise, but not this time."

"Promise?" Sota replies.

Kagome nods. "I don't think that you'll like it. No tv, no air conditioning, no modern
conveniences, but, I'll bring you through the well, sooner or later."

"Rin wants to see Sesshomaru!" Rin begins to cry.

Kagome goes over and wraps her up in a hug. "You'll be safe here. Once we've finished."

"No! Rin wants Sesshomaru!" Rin cries out, interrupting Kagome.

Kagome looks around the room, as she continues to hold Rin.

"Rin" Sota slowly begins to say, "I've got to stay, how about we play together?"

Rin looks Sota.

"Girls." Mrs. H, in a low voice, says to Kagome's friends, "Rin doesn't know a thing about
make-up. Would you like to raid my supplies?"

Rin looks at Mrs. H. "Make-up?"

Kagome s' three friend look at each other, they smile. Ayumi pipes up, "Sure, Mrs. H. We'd
love to teach her about make-up."

Eri, after looking at Sota, "And we've even got someone for her to practice on."

Sota looks at Eri. He looks at Ayumi, then at Yuka, then finally at Rin. All of whom are grinning
at him.

He stands up, quickly. "Nope. No way. I'm gone!" He starts to run.

Miroku glances at Mrs. h, who nods. He reaches out, and grabs Sota, as he tries to run past.

"Hey!" Sota yells, "Let me go! You're supposed to be my big brother! Help me!"

"I am, little brother." Miroku softly shoves Sota to Kagome s' girlfriends. "I would greatly love
for three beautiful young ladies to pamper me." He smiles, as he nods to the three girls. They
giggle back . . . "I'm sure that you'll find it enjoyable. I know that I would."

Kagome's three girlfriends, and Rin, gang tackle Sota, and begin to frog march him to Mrs. h's
room. "Help!" Sota cries!

"I'm going." Shippo declares. He is standing up, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at
Kagome.

"Shippo?" Kagome begins, "please."

Shippo shakes his head, no. "I stayed last time, against my better judgment. This time, I'm
going. Kikyo isn't going to hurt me, like Naraku would."

"But." Kagome begins to say.

"Besides," Shippo continues, "you'll need me."

"Why?" Kagome asks.

"Who else can tell you if kikyo is trying something with magic?" Shippo says. He nods to
Miroku, "Miroku knows some things, and maybe Sesshomaru knows some things too, but I
know about magic. And she's not likely to think that I'm a threat, so she'll ignore me."

Kagome looks around, but, nobody is giving her any help.

"Besides, if Inu-yasha is going to hell, I want to give him the proper send off." Shippo growls.

‘Hmm.' Kagome thinks, ‘I wonder . . . Inu-yasha and Shippo, I wonder, he could get so mad at
Shippo that he forgets to go with Kikyo. I've seen him get so involved with chasing Shippo . . .
It's worth the attempt.'

Kagome opens her arms, "come here, Shippo. I'll let you come."

Shippo runs to Kagome and hugs her, she hugs her son. "Do you want me to give him some
crabs or lice? So, he can itch and scratch himself raw?" Shippo whispers. "Or would you like
kikyo to have them?"

"Shippo!" Kagome cries.

"Hey! It's an idea!" he replies. "And it's a good one!"

Kagome sighs, but she stands up, picking Shippo up in the process. She looks around. Questions
are in the eyes of everyone around her. She shakes her head, "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing." Shippo mumbles under his breath.

Kagome looks around, again, "Do we go, now or?"

Kagome's mother, Miroku, Sango and Miroku look at each other and Kagome. Sango sighs, "I'd
like to have a sword. Just in case Kikyo decides to get physical."

Miroku nods. "A staff would be useful."

"Mother?" Kagome asks.

"Waiting isn't going to help anything, Kagome." Mrs. H replies. Her eyes harden. "And, for a
long time, I've wanted to give Kikyo a piece of my mind."

Kagome shivers at the tone in her mother's voice.

"I think I can find a staff for you, Miroku." Mrs. h says. "A sword, though . . . "

Kagome takes Jaa Kalpa off and hands it to Sango. "Sango, this is my sword, Jaa Kalpa, use it.
You're a pure warrior, and I'm not."

"Magic?" Sango replies. She frowns, and then stares at the sword. "Magic, indeed." She
whispers.

A pause, Sango shakes herself. She looks at Kagome. "Are you sure?" she asks.

Kagome shrugs, "not really. But, he and I have had arguments. You're closer to what he wants,
than I am." Her face twists, "I've never enjoyed the feel of the sword cutting flesh, and it does."

Sango nods. "A sword should enjoy that."

Kagome nods.

"Chika." Mrs. h begins to talk to her friend. "If you could, please, watch, Sango's brother."

"And make sure the kids don't destroy the house?" Chika replies, humor in her voice.

Mrs. h smiles and nods. "I won't mind buying new make-up, and restocking the pantry, but
redecorating the house is more than I'd like to do."

Chika smiles as she nods.

Kagome adds in, "Rin should enjoy some chocolate, Chika. I don't think she's ever had any."

Chika looks sharply at Kagome. "You want me to watch her have her first sugar high? She
already seems quite active."

Kagome shrugs and moves Shippo, attracting Chika attention to him. "You should have seen his
reaction to chocolate."

"Hey! I was good!" Shippo says in a bright voice. Kagome shakes her head, as she remembers
that day . . . Letting Shippo raid her chocolate and get a sugar rush, ranks high on the list of days
that she'd like to forget . . .

He continues, "That reminds me, If I ever got on this side of the well, I wanted to see one of
those stores full of chocolate that Kagome has mentioned."

Chika looks at Kagome. Kagome begs her with her eyes.

Chika sighs, "IF you stay, Shippo, I think I can leave with you for a few minutes, at least."

Shippo opens his mouth. He closes it and shakes his head, no. "I'm going."

Kagome sighs. ‘Well that didn't work.' She thinks.

"Shall we go?" Miroku asks.

Kagome sighs, and says, "yes."


On the other side of the well . . .


Kikyo has summoned a couple of her insect demons. She stands next to the well, watching Inu-
yasha and Sesshomaru.

They are standing off to one side, slowly pacing in circles around each other. While neither has
actually said a word, or drawn a sword, the tension between their glares has increased, and they
are trying to work off the tension. But that is not succeeding . . .

‘Hmm . . . ' Kikyo thinks, ‘When they finally start to fight, I will help Sesshomaru kill Inu-
yasha. Then, I will grab Inu-yasha's soul and take it with me.'

Kirara, is still up in one of the nearby trees. Kirara thinks, ‘I've got to stop them, when they start
to fight. Still, I wonder, what the circumstances were that caused Sesshomaru to reek of
Kagome's sexual scents.'

The well glows blue, attracting everyone's attention.

Sango jumps out of the well, landing just outside it, Jaa Kalpa, already drawn and in an attack
position. ‘If there's a fight, I want to be prepared.' She thinks. After a quick, all-encompassing
glance, she makes sure that moves between kikyo and well. ‘Those two boys might fight, but if
they do, they're evenly matched, and Kagome can control them, I hope. Adding her into the
picture, though. That's not a good idea.'

Miroku, Shippo, Kagome and Kagome's mother quickly climb out of the well.

Sesshomaru and Inu-yasha, as they climb out, break off their testosterone measuring contest, and
go to the well.

"Your grandfather?" Sesshomaru asks, once everyone is out of the well. He is standing off to
one of the well.

Kikyo, with her demons, is standing off to one side.

Inu-yasha, who is standing near Kikyo, but, not next to her, adds, "Yeah, where is he?"

Sango, with Kirara, who jumped onto her shoulder, Miroku, Mrs. H, Shippo and Kagome from a
group right at the well.

Mrs. h, takes a step in front of her group, and says, "He, by his own choice, has chosen to remain
at peace."

Kikyo, before anyone can react to that, states, "That doesn't matter. The agreement was I would
show you where his soul was and then. Inu-yasha and I will go to hell."

Mrs H glares at Kikyo, "Miko Kikyo, do you enjoy your hatred?"

"Who are you to ask?" Kikyo glares.

"The mother of Kagome." Mrs. h replies.

"Your opinion doesn't matter." Kikyo replies. She walks to Inu-yasha and grabs his arm.

Inu-yasha looks at her hand, a very pained expression on his face. ‘She did show us where the
souls were. And, he could have been brought back to life. He chose to stay dead. So, I need to
live up to my agreement.' His expression twists even more, as he considers the phrase, ‘live up
to my agreement.'

"Oh, but my opinion does matter." Mrs. H purrs.

Everyone looks at her. Kikyo raises an eyebrow in a silent question.

"You are going to hell, Kikyo." Mrs. H continues. "If you bring Inu-yasha with you and by
doing that, hurt my daughter. I will hurt you." She pauses. Her glare hardens. "There are ways
to summon you from hell, even to summon Inu-yasha from hell. I will find them and I will use
them."

She smiles, an ugly smile, "I wonder, Kikyo, since you're in hell, and you're supposed to be
tormented in such a place." She glances at Inu-yasha, "removing Inu-yasha from hell, so you can
be tormented by his absence should be easy to do."

"Those spells cost." Kikyo states in a hard, tight voice.

"My children's happiness is worth any cost." Mrs. H voice is hard and flat.

"Mom!" Kagome, finally, yells. The surprise of her mother's statements caused the delay. She
steps in front of her mother, between her and Kikyo.

"Kagome?" Mrs. H says. "I'm just."

Kagome spins, looking at her mother, "I know, mother. You're doing what you think is best."
She glances over her shoulder at Kikyo. "But, Kikyo and I," Kagome sighs, "this should be
handled between us."

Mrs. h grips her daughter's shoulders and hugs her. "Are you sure?"

Kagome nods, yes, silently.

Mrs. h, sighs, then let's her daughter go.

Kagome slowly turns around to face Kikyo.

They stare at each other, for a timeless moment.

"I would like to speak with Inu-yasha, before anything happens." Kagome asks in a soft voice.
"Please."

"In front of all of us, no privacy." Kikyo replies. She thinks, ‘without any privacy, she'll never
be able to say that she loves him. And he'll never be able to say that he loves her. And, knowing
these two, they'll start fighting, and he'll gladly come with me to hell.'

Kagome takes a deep breath and lets it out. "Very well."

Kagome walks over to Inu-yasha.

Inu-yasha looks around, and pales, ‘how can I say anything? Her mother is here. Sango and
Miroku are here? Shippo? Hell, even Sesshomaru is here. What the fuck can I say?' he thinks.

Sesshomaru thinks, as he looks over the scene, ‘Hmm. Before she and I left, Kagome would
never be able to say anything to Inu-yasha. Now? I wonder how much all the practice she's had
with me will help her?' he thinks.

He looks hard at kikyo. ‘I've been trying to spot any magical connection between them. IF, as I
suspect, Kikyo has used the loyalty bond spell between her and Inu-yasha I should be able to
spot it. And, if I can, I can point it out to Kagome. Then, hopefully she can break it. My brother,
no matter what I might feel about him or his relationship with Kagome, should not be controlled
by that spell.'

Sesshomaru's eyes change, as he looks at her, via his mystical senses, ‘I couldn't do this earlier,
to many people where watching, but now, I can.'

"Inu-yasha?" Kagome says in a soft voice. She reaches out and grabs his hands.

‘So, scarred, so calloused.' She thinks. ‘But, I want, oh, so desperately, for him to hold me.'

Inu-yasha licks his lips, but as he glances around, he doesn't say a thing.

"Inu-yasha," Kagome says again.

"I love you."

Silence . . .

‘How can she say that?' Kikyo thinks in shock.

‘She's made her choice, then.' Sango thinks. She glances at Sesshomaru, ‘but what happened
between them?'

‘Yes. Finally!' Mrs. h thinks, as she smiles, and begins to clap.

Miroku raises an eyebrow as he thinks, ‘She's finally said it. I wonder, though, what will be
next?'

‘Great.' Shippo thinks angrily, ‘if he stays, I'll have to follow his orders, because they'll marry.'
he glances at Kikyo, and sighs, ‘but, I don't hate him enough to wish him to go to hell. I suppose
I'll adjust. I just won't like it.'

Sesshomaru thinks, ‘now, it begins.'

"Kagome!" Inu-yasha croaks out.

Kagome falls to her knees in front of Inu-yasha, still holding his hands. "I don't want you to
leave me. I want you to hold me." She closes her eyes. Tears begin to fall from them.

"But." Kagome spits out, in a choked voice.

"Inu-yasha." Kagome says in a very tight and controlled voice, suppressing her emotions. "If
you wish to go with Kikyo, I will not stop you. I love you enough that I trust you make your own
decisions."

more silence . . .

"Inu-yasha." Kikyo declares in a firm voice. "It is time."

She waves her hand, and behind her, a portal to hell opens up.

Kagome squeezes inu-yasha's hands, ‘one last time.' She thinks. She lets go of his hands.
Kagome slumps, down onto the ground, her face buried in her hands.

Inu-yasha looks down at Kagome, hearing and smelling her crying. He looks at Kikyo, standing
firm, waiting for him.

"I," Inu-yasha chokes out. He glances at everyone else.

He shudders, ‘they all want me to stay. I can see that. Even Sesshomaru and Shippo, both of
whom, I would have thought that they would be glad to see me leave. Sesshomaru and Kagome
have had sex, I can smell it, but, still he wants me to stay. Does that mean that it didn't work
between them? She just said that she loves me. So, it must mean that.' He thinks.

He looks at Kikyo. ‘But, I've promised her. I owe her so much. When she first met me, I was
just a scumbag, like so many of the demons I've killed. She taught me, so much. If I'm an
honorable person, like I want to be, I must do everything that I've promised, no matter what the
cost.'

He takes a deep breath, and takes a step toward Kikyo.

More silence . . .

Inu-yasha looks at ground. ‘I don't need to look at them, to know that they hate me.'

He takes another step toward Kikyo.

"Kikyo." Kagome says, stopping him, stopping everything.

He turns to look at her.

Everyone looks at her. She is looking at Kikyo, tears dripping down her cheeks.

"I love Inu-yasha enough to give him to you, knowing that if he loves me as much as I love him,
he'll return to me." Kagome says, her voice strengthening as she speaks.

"I'll never let him go." Kikyo declares.

Kagome's mouth twitches, "As I thought, you don't love him. If you did, you'd let him choose.
Instead, you hate him more than you love him."

"Let him choose?" Kikyo asks, "He made that choice long ago."

Kagome stares into Kikyo's eyes. Kikyo glares into Kagome's eyes.

Kagome's hand shifts, moving to her side. A gleam appears in her palm.

"Catch, Inu-yasha." Kagome says, her eyes never leaving Kikyo's.

The complete, purified jewel of the four souls is caught by Inu-yasha, by reflex.

"It's yours." Kagome whispers, "Do with it, what you will."

Everyone looks at Inu-yasha, as he stares at the jewel.

Kagome, slowly stands up and wipes her tears. "I will be waiting for you, Inu-yasha. I love you
now and I will love you in the future."

"An honorable person completes his promises. A lying scumbag demon doesn't." Kikyo says, as
she glares at Inu-yasha.

Inu-yasha licks his lips. He looks around, but refuses to meet anybody's eyes.

He takes a deep breath.

"I wish . . . " He begins.

Authors' note:

I will be killed for this, but.

I really need to take a break. There are some real-life issues that I've got to deal with, and I still
need to break my writer's block on A Shard in Kyoto. (Already, I've gotten so far ahead of it,
that I'm going to have to alter its finish, to make it conform to this story.)

I try to start posting new chapters of Kagome's return before Aug 1, but, we'll see.


Authors' note: I've had a couple of reviewers question/comment about my plot to have Mrs. H
adopt Miroku and Sango. (And by extension Kohaku) hmm. How to explain.

As I've read other stories, one of the things I notice is that the group, (Inu-yasha, Kagome,
Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara) is often termed a pack. And in many stories, writers use a lot
wolf/dog pack terms (alpha male, alpha female, etc).

While I can see using those terms, we are talking about basically humans, and semi-humans, so,
I wanted and will use, human-related terms, not dog-related terms. (While I was writing
Kagome! Where are you!? I had several reviewers comment about how many dog-related traits I
was giving Sesshomaru, a full blood dog demon, not a human-being. I was, somewhat secretly
amused, at those comments, since I knew that I was planning on adopting, and using human
terms to describe the group, in this story.)

And, while the term friendships (and it's variants) are useful, still, I feel the connections between
the group are stronger than friendship. So, I'm using family related terms to show those greater
connections. However, the terms (brother, sisters, even stepbrother, stepsister) aren't exactly
correct, either. But, I feel that they are better than friendship.

One thing that readers must remember is that this will not end in traditional American nuclear
family. So, I'm going to be using family-related terms in ways that are not traditional, especially
from a western cultural stand point.

Authors' note: I also had a couple of reviewers ask about the magazine that Mrs. h gave Miroku.
IF you read my story, "What's in the backpack." That magazine is mentioned. And that is my
first published Inu-yasha story.

Authors' note: For readers that thought that Kagome's mother was generous in adopting Sango
and Miroku . . . please read my story, "Kagome's new baby Brother" for another, different, and
even greater example of her generosity. (Sigh, I just never could find a way to meld that story
into my other stories, otherwise . . . )


thank you for reading
jeff shelton