InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kikyo's lonely journey ❯ Kuro's birth ( Chapter 18 )

Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story are the actual work of Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own them in any way.

 

----------------------------------------------

 

Chapter 17: Kuro's birth

 

Kikyo was not an easy person to surprise. Even under the most unpredictable of situations, she normally managed to keep her cool facade, sometimes granting her opponents with a raised eyebrow. Still, what she was faced with now was so incredibly incongruous, so highly unexpected, so utterly impossible that the only thing she could do was gape stupidly, her mind a total blank, as Kuro... no, Nesumi laughed her heart out.

 

"Impossible!" she whispered eventually. "You... you died over fifty years ago!"

 

"Oh yes, that fateful day. How clearly I remember it now," laughed the creature gleefully.

 

--Flashback--

 

Kikyo walked briskly through the corridors of the temple, heading for the headmistress' office. She had received the summons during one of her training sessions and had been ordered to report as soon as her period was over. She secretly hoped that it was in regard to the request she had made three days prior.

 

Rounding a last corner, she finally arrived at the door and knocked to announce her arrival. Her gesture was immediately rewarded with a 'Come in' from inside and she promptly let herself in. Sliding the door closed, she marked a barely perceptible pause when she saw another person present in the room: Nesumi. Her eyebrows lowered by a fraction, but she refrained from any other reaction. While it was true that the two girls could not bear the sight of each other, they still possessed enough sense not to quarrel in front of the headmistress.

 

"Welcome Kikyo, please sit down," greeted the old woman warmly.

 

Bowing respectfully, the girl seated herself beside Nesumi.

 

"Now then, I summoned you two here for a very particular reason," began the miko, not wasting any time in useless preamble. "The two of you have been training here for six years now. During this time, I heard numerous reports of your teachers mentioning that you are both outstanding students that have outgrown any possible teachings we can offer you."

 

What the headmistress had just said was the truth. While Nesumi was not as strong spiritually as Kikyo, she was easily twice as skilled when it came to manipulating the energy flow. The girl had found a way to create tendrils of purification energy that she could send in all directions and manipulate as she wanted. She was so skillful in fact that her powers seemed like an extension of her body.

 

For Kikyo however, it wasn't technical skill that was her forte, it was sheer strength. She could summon up amounts of power so great that no one could even get close to her. Of course, it wasn't to say that she wasn't skillful, she had even found a way to gather her energy in an arrow and shoot it, a very neat trick indeed. However, the reason she couldn't manipulate her flows as easily as Nesumi was because of the sheer size of them. They were just too big so it was useless to try and do what the other girl was doing so easily even though Kikyo had a feeling she knew how it was done.

 

"Now then, seeing as you have essentially finished your training, I shall give you an opportunity to prove yourself. I have received reports of strange occurrences happening in a nearby village. People are getting sick for no reason and are even disappearing. I want you two to go there and investigate this matter. If you successfully complete this assignment, you shall be granted the official title of miko. You shall leave at first light tomorrow, not a second earlier. You may take the rest of the day off to prepare yourself. I will send the details to your respective rooms later. Nesumi, you may go now, I have further business with Kikyo," said the woman in a tone that brooked no arguments.

 

A gleam passed in the girl's eyes as she stood up and excused herself from the room. It was plain to see that she wasn't the least bit happy about being forced to work with Kikyo. When they were both alone, the headmistress shifted her attention to the sitting girl and took out a parchment.

 

"I have gone over your request, Kikyo. Seeing as your parents are now dead and you are now your sister's only living relative, your desire to be assigned to your hometown to take care of her is quite understandable. However, I cannot very well assign you to a village without any prior field experience. That is why this assignment will serve as a test for you. Succeed and I will grant your request. Fail and you will remain here. That is all there is to it," explained the woman seriously.

 

"With all due respect, what will become of my sister during the time it will take me to complete this assignment?" questioned Kikyo worriedly.

 

"I have sent an emissary. He will make arrangements with the villagers to take care of your sister while you are away. Do not worry, I assure you she is in good hands. Focus solely on the task at hand and you will succeed. I have much faith in you, Kikyo... do not disappoint me. You may leave now," answered the old woman in dismissal.

 

Kikyo bowed respectfully before exiting the room, her mind full of thoughts. Her very first assignment! If she did well enough, she would be raised to the title of miko... butterflies danced in her stomach at the prospect. She simply couldn't wait to be allowed to wear the red and white uniform she had come to covet so much. Of course, reality sometimes makes itself known in the most unpleasant ways. This time, it chose the form of Nesumi waiting for her at the corner of a corridor.

 

"Don't expect me to cooperate with you, Kikyo! This is going to be a test to see which one of us really is the best. I haven't forgotten the promise I made you six years ago. I will make you grovel! Even if it's the last thing I ever do!" snarled the girl, her purple eyes burning with hatred.

 

Alone once again, Kikyo sighed in discouragement. In all the years she had been training here, not a day had gone by without Nesumi doing everything in her power to make her life miserable. Truth be told, Kikyo had absolutely no idea of the reason for such hatred, most of her colleagues had long given up on making a dent in her armor... Nesumi, however, persisted; she was determined to bring Kikyo to her knees and it frustrated Nesumi that she had not yet succeeded. Sighing once more, her shoulders slumped slightly as she imagined just how utterly enjoyable traveling with the girl would be.

 

******

 

It really was a strange sight that greeted the few people wandering the road at such an early hour. Two girls dressed as apprentice mikos were slowly walking, one in front of the other, completely ignoring each other. The tension emanating from the pair was so incredibly vivid that everyone who wandered too close simply backed away in fear. Kikyo shook her head in disbelief as yet another passerby stumbled away from her and Nesumi.

 

"You do realize that such an attitude will not exactly help us in our investigation," commented Kikyo, addressing the girl walking in front of her.

 

"I told you before, I am NOT cooperating with you!" replied the purple-eyed girl coldly.

 

"And how do you expect the villagers to cooperate with us if we don't even cooperate with each other? We're still wearing apprentice garb, remember?" asked Kikyo disapprovingly.

 

She noted with some measure of satisfaction that her argument finally seemed to penetrate her rival's thick skull as Nesumi did not answer right away. When she finally did turn her head around, it was to shoot her a murderous glare.

 

"I suppose you must feel happy now that you made a point," she snarled viciously. "Fine, we'll cooperate if it can shorten this assignment. But let's make one thing clear: It will definitely not alter my opinion of you nor will it sway me from my word!"

 

"I don't think anything really would," replied the brown-eyed girl darkly and after that, no more words were exchanged.

 

As it turned out, the silence stretched out until the end of the next day when they started to see the first signs that they were reaching their destination. Surprisingly, it was Nesumi who opened the dialogue.

 

"What do you think we're up against?" she asked, her voice calm and betraying absolutely nothing of the deep-rooted hatred she felt for her partner.

 

"Hard to tell, the reports were rather fragmentary, a strange disease and disappearances... maybe a parasite of some sort, but it's a bit early to tell," answered Kikyo somewhat doubtfully.

 

"In any case, I think convincing the villagers of our skills will be the hard part," replied the girl when she spotted a man shooting them a disbelieving look.

 

"The headman might be a good place to start," suggested Kikyo which caused the other girl's eyebrow to twitch in annoyance.

 

"Right," answered the said girl, her voice imperceptibly colder than before.

 

The village being rather small, it didn't take them very long to reach the heart of it and from there, be directed to the hut belonging to the headman. However, when they reached their destination, it was to be told that the person they were looking for was out and would be back in two hours.

 

"Great," muttered Nesumi contritely when the woman who had answered them retreated inside. "Now what do we do?"

 

"We have two hours ahead of us. Might as well ask around and see what we can come up with," said Kikyo before walking away, not waiting for her partner's approval.

 

Huffing in annoyance, she glared at the other girl's retreating form before heading away in her own direction. As it turned out, this action proved to be a remarkable waste of time. Being dressed in apprentice's kimonos dirty from a two days trip proved to be quite a good argument to destroy any credibility the two might have. The only thing they did learn was that those who disappeared were always the sick ones, never the healthy ones. It was a good lead, but it was still far from being enough to really go on. Eventually, their wait was up and they both found themselves back at the headman's door, extremely frustrated, if not downright angry, with the people's rebuttal.

 

"These people are even more annoying than you are," grumbled Nesumi when her partner rejoined her.

 

"Let's just hope we can convince the headman to help us or we're going to be here for quite some time," answered Kikyo, choosing to ignore the jab.

 

Not bothering to answer this, the purple-eyed girl composed herself as best as she could before knocking on the door. A few seconds of waiting later, the same woman who had answered two hours prior appeared in the doorway.

 

"Excuse me madam, we were wondering if the headman would be ready to receive us?" asked Nesumi politely.

 

"Yes, he is waiting. Please come on in," answered the servant before leading them inside.

 

Even if the hut was the biggest of the village, it still remained relatively small and as such the outside door led them immediately to one big room which was undoubtedly used for official matters like this .

 

"Welcome to my humble abode. I am Sojiro, leader of this village," greeted the man formally.

 

"Greetings Sojiro-sama. I am named Kikyo and this is my partner Nesumi. We have both been sent here to investigate the strange events happening in your village," answered Kikyo with a respectful bow.

 

"So the Fujirawa temple has finally decided to answer our pleas... and with apprentices no less. This is most insulting," growled the headman angrily.

 

"We assure you Sojiro-sama, we are both more than capable enough to solve your problems," shot back Nesumi.

 

"Well, excuse me for being skeptical, but I find this somewhat hard to believe that mere apprentices can solve this," replied the man.

 

"If it can help to disperse your doubts Sojiro-sama, I believe that someone in this household has caught the disease plaguing your village, has he not?" said Nesumi.

 

"How do you know that?" instantly snapped the man defensively.

 

"We have been specifically trained to be able to sense such things," she answered with a cryptic smile.

 

It didn't take very long for Kikyo to understand where Nesumi had got this information. From the minute they had walked in, she too had been able to sense the slight youki emanating from the back room. From there, the deduction was rather simple.

 

"If you would be so kind as to show us to the sick person, we might be able to help him," cut in Kikyo calmly.

 

The headman seemed to hesitate at this. He looked both of them over, as if gauging the risk of such an action. Finally, it seemed as if the two girls passed the test because he abruptly stood up and motioned for them to follow him. They walked down a small corridor until they reached a room where a young boy was lying, obviously feverish. The two apprentices looked at each other, not needing to speak to understand what the other was thinking. They had just found the source of the youki emanating from this house.

 

"This is my son," explained Sojiro. "He caught the disease three days ago. Nothing our local healer tried has worked. If you can help him, then you shall have my full support."

 

"We shall do our best," assured Kikyo as she took a position on one side of the sick boy.

 

"This is very peculiar," Nesumi said as she too sat down.

 

"Yes... something inside this boy's body is generating youki... I never saw anything like this before," murmured the brown-eyed girl.

 

And then, they both jerked at once as their investigation finally led them to the cause of the illness. "Something's in his stomach!" they both exclaimed at once.

 

"Kikyo, hold his mouth open, I'm going to see if I can bring it out," muttered Nesumi, already focusing her own powers.

 

Nodding in assent, Kikyo pushed the sick boy's head back, effectively causing his chin to fall down and his windpipe to open, thus clearing the way for her partner's probing finger. Placing her finger in the boy's mouth, Nesumi carefully sent a strand of spiritual power down his throat all the way to his stomach. It didn't take her very long to feel the source of the youki touch her strand. She immediately wrapped it around the thing and began pulling. It was a laborious job as whatever it was resisted the pull every step of the way. However, the purple-eyed girl's string was not so easily broken and after a few minutes of pulling, a sickening gurgling sound emanated from the boy's throat as the thing popped out of his mouth and onto the floor.

 

"What in the gods name is this!" exclaimed the headman in disgust.

 

"It appears that this is what made your son sick, Sojiro-sama," answered Kikyo, holding back a grimace of disgust.

 

The thing in question was about as big as a nut and was circular in shape. It didn't seem to like being exposed to air because the two apprentices could easily see the glow of youki rapidly fade away. As it did so, the thing began shriveling away until finally, with a small hissing sound, it dissolved into nothingness.

 

"Whoever created these things was both extremely skilled and terribly devious. Since it was in your son's stomach Sojiro-sama, I think it is logical to believe that the origin of the infection was in something he ate," summarized Nesumi.

 

"I understand your reasoning... but the problem is that we have not eaten anything even remotely special in months. The only thing we ate was brown rice," replied the headman while scratching his head.

 

"Would you mind if we actually checked your food supply?" questioned Kikyo, getting to her feet.

 

"Not at all, but my son? Is he going to be okay?" inquired the headman, concern piercing his voice.

 

"He is fine now Sojiro-sama. The fever is almost completely gone and he is breathing normally again. Just be careful not to feed him anything too hard on the stomach for the next few days and he will recover completely," reassured Nesumi as she too stood up.

 

"Thank the gods..." sighed the man in relief. "I apologize for my earlier skepticism. I shall see to it that you get as much help as you need in order to get to the bottom of this."

 

"We greatly appreciate your kindness Sojiro-sama," thanked Kikyo respectfully. "So for starters, we would like to examine your rice supply."

 

"Of course, please come right this way," beckoned the man.

 

They were lead to a small shed located right behind the hut they were previously in. It contained several pouches, all filled with rice. The pair wasted no time and promptly began digging in the already opened one. It quickly became evident however that this search was futile. Nothing looked more like a grain of rice than another grain of rice. What's more, they had no actual proof that what they were searching for really was in the rice pouch.

 

"This is not working," announced Kikyo after a good fifteen minutes of fruitless examination. "Searching through all of this will take us a lifetime. I think it would be better to draw the one responsible for this in the open."

 

"What is your plan exactly, Kikyo-san?" asked the headman.

 

"If we cure all of those who are sick, I believe that should get it's attention," answered the girl.

 

"Brilliant idea!" exclaimed Sojiro enthusiastically. "I shall see to the arrangements right away. When do you want to start?"

 

"The sooner the better. The longer we wait the less chance we'll have of saving everybody," replied Nesumi.

 

"Of course!" shot back the headman before disappearing into his hut.

 

"Well, I sure hope you've got a lot of energy on your hands, Kikyo... I have a feeling we won't get much sleep tonight," launched Nesumi while stretching her muscles in anticipation.

 

******

 

Focusing her powers, Kikyo sent a small concentrated burst of purification energy straight in her patient's stomach. The source of the youki dissolved instantly and the sick woman immediately started breathing better.

 

"It is done," she announced tiredly.

 

Turning around, she noticed that Nesumi was also finishing her last patient and breathed a sigh of relief. The two of them had been at it for hours, destroying whatever it was that was causing these people to be sick and it was plain to see that they were both completely wiped out. Still, as exhausting as the whole experience had been, it was comforting to know that they had successfully saved everyone.

 

"Miko-sama?" said the voice of Sojiro, breaking through Kikyo's musing.

 

Turning her head toward the headman, she could see that he was not alone, there was an elderly couple hovering close behind. "While you were treating everyone, I made arrangements for your lodging. I hope you do not mind."

 

"No... it is actually a very welcome gesture, Sojiro-sama," reassured Nesumi, her head drooping slightly, indicating her exhaustion.

 

"In any case, this is Keisuke and his wife Kaoru. They are both good friends of mine and I'm sure they will take good care of you," introduced the headman.

 

"We are honored to make your acquaintance, miko-sama," they both bowed respectfully.

 

"The pleasure is all ours," answered Kikyo while bowing respectfully.

 

"We are sure you must be exhausted after all this work. If you would please follow us, we shall lead you to our home," the couple invited.

 

After that, things became a blur for Kikyo as well as Nesumi. They were both beyond exhausted and it was a miracle that they were both still standing. How they managed to follow the kind couple to their home and then to their assigned room was beyond understanding. But one thing was for sure, when they finally did spot their beds, whatever was keeping them up vanished and they collapsed, asleep before their head even reached the pillows.

 

******

 

The bright rays of the sun filtering through the shades as well as the chirping of the birds gradually rose Kikyo from her peaceful slumber. Opening her groggy eyes, she took in her unfamiliar surroundings and wondered for a second how she got there before the memories of the previous day got back to her. Glancing at the neighboring bed, she noticed that it was empty, thus indicating that Nesumi was already awake.

 

Donning her uniform, the girl made her way to the common room, where Kaoru was awaiting her arrival it seemed. "Good morning! I trust you slept well," she greeted cheerfully.

 

"Good morning, Kaoru-san," replied the girl tiredly.

 

"Still tired from all the work you did yesterday I see," giggled the woman, amused by such a display.

 

"Something like that," mumbled Kikyo as she sat down at the table.

 

Almost immediately, she was presented with a bowl of brown rice and a warm cup of tea. Muttering an 'Itadakimasu' she promptly started eating. The taste of the food along with the warmth of the tea finally did chase away the remainder of sleep from her mind and she eventually realized that she had no idea where her partner was.

 

"Have you seen Nesumi?" she asked when she was about halfway through her bowl.

 

"She awoke about a half hour before you. She went to the hot spring to bathe, you missed her by mere minutes," answered Kaoru.

 

"I've already put together some cleaning supplies for you, as I figured you may want to join her when you are through with breakfast," continued the old woman.

 

"That is very kind of you, Kaoru-sama," thanked Kikyo before taking yet another bite of her food. "I believe I just might take you up on this offer," she agreed and the woman only smiled kindly in response.

 

******

 

Sighing in utter bliss, Nesumi happily sank into the warm waters of the hot spring, silently blessing whoever had had the brilliant idea of inventing such a wonderful thing. After such an eventful day, it felt positively divine to be able to relax for a few minutes and think clearly. Yesterday had been quite a busy day, what with traveling, saving the headman's child along with all the other villagers. However, what really captivated her thoughts was... Kikyo.

 

Ever since she had seen the girl six years ago, she had disliked her. The humbleness of her manners, the way she carried herself... that girl was a peasant, a farmer, she had no right to train with them! And then, when she had outranked her... she was at the top of her class and suddenly, in one single day, Kikyo had usurped her place! That was when she had made her promise to make her kneel before her. Of course, the girl was remarkably stubborn and she had not succeeded yet.

 

Still, now that she was forced to work with the girl, she couldn't help but notice how similar the girl actually was to her. The way she thought, the things she did, it was all so remarkably close to what she would have done... hell she even found herself agreeing with the girl and cooperating with her without even noticing it! How on earth could this possibly be?

 

"This is ridiculous! I can't believe I did this," she berated herself mentally.

 

Still, she could not deny that something had begun moving within her, something that remained stagnant for six years now. It was still far too early to tell exactly what it was, but it was there nonetheless... and it was bugging the hell out of her.

 

She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she did not notice the presence behind her until it was almost too late. Whipping her head around at the sound of a twig cracking, Nesumi was in time to see a youkai emerge from the trees wearing a rather smug expression. He looked like nothing she had ever seen before. His face was lined with three pink stripes on each side and his yellow eyes were shining with malice. His fangs were bared and he was looking at her as if he was sure he would win.

 

"Well well, what do we have here, a miko taking a bath all by herself... how unfortunate," he taunted.

 

"Who are you?" she demanded angrily while sinking lower into the water so as not to show her body.

 

"This is a stupid question," replied the youkai his tone instantly losing its friendly nature. "You and your friend interfered with my plan and I don't take too kindly to this sort of thing."

 

"So you're the one who poisoned the villagers!" exclaimed Nesumi.

 

"Exactly. And thanks to you and your friend, my plan is ruined!" snarled the youkai angrily.

 

"I'm really sad to hear it," replied the girl sarcastically.

 

"Don't try to be too smart with me, girl. You're naked and completely alone, meaning that you are totally helpless," he hissed arrogantly.

 

"Well you're partly right, I am naked and alone," admitted Nesumi with a dark smile. "But I'm hardly helpless."

 

Before the youkai could react, she sent a quick burst of purification powers his way. It wasn't nearly enough to kill him, but it was enough to send him flying backward and straight into a tree. Using this opportunity, the girl jumped out of the water, grabbed her kimono and hastily put it on before dashing through the woods. She had confidence that she could take out this puny youkai by herself, but she needed a bit of time to prepare for this.

 

Not paying attention to where she was going, her run was abruptly interrupted when she emerged through from the forest... straight into a cliff. Cursing her bad luck she turned around in order to get away from this danger zone, but too late. The youkai was already there, looking distinctly satisfied with himself.

 

"A neat trick... but completely useless!" he mocked cruelly.

 

Eying her opponent's slowly advancing form wearily, Nesumi began to gather as much power as she could into her right hand. Judging that there was enough, she raised her arm and prepared to shoot.

 

"Not this time girl!" exclaimed the youkai.

 

What happened next, Nesumi did not understand it at all. Faster than the eye could see, her opponent made a swiping gesture and the next thing she knew, she was watching her right arm fall to the ground with complete disbelief. There was a second of absolute stillness as the reality of the thing sank in, but then her body seemed to finally catch up with what had just happened and pain, searing white hot pain that blanked every possible thought from her mind shot through her. She let out a blood-curdling scream and fell to her knees, clutching her bleeding shoulder, trying desperately not to pass out from the agony that now coursed through her.

 

"Well, girl, it looks like I win," laughed the youkai as he towered over Nesumi's trembling and whimpering form.

 

Raising his left hand, he was about to bring it down for the finishing blow when his shoulder was suddenly blown away under the power of a purification arrow. Howling in pain, he whirled around just in time to see Kikyo's next arrow take off, straight toward his chest. Completely taken by surprise, he was unable to dodge and thus the projectile connected and went straight through him, creating a gaping hole in his stomach.

 

"Y... you... bitch," hissed the youkai as blood started seeping out of his mouth.

 

"You lost," said Kikyo simply, lowering her bow.

 

"You're... right. But... I'm not... dead yet," he chuckled painfully.

 

And then, things seemed to happen in slow motion as the youkai turned around and threw himself at Nesumi. Kikyo's eyes widened as she watched helplessly the two forms disappear over the edge and into the abyss below.

 

"No," whispered the girl as she bolted for the precipice.

 

When she finally did reach the edge, it was already too late, the two had already disappeared from view. "This can't be... Nesumi... NESUMIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Kikyo, tears coming to her eyes.

 

--End flashback--

 

"Oh yes, how I remember falling down that cliff... I even remember your cry, Kikyo," snarled Kuro viciously.

 

"I immediately went back to the village and we organized a search party. We looked everywhere for you... but all we did really find was your torn up kimono," replied the paralyzed miko.

 

"How very touching of you," mocked the creature. "Then allow me to fill in the blanks."

 

--Flashback--

 

Pain, mind-numbing pain emanating from the whole of her body, clouding her mind and senses. Opening her eyes was a struggle, but she eventually managed to do it. Her surroundings were blurred though, she couldn't see right... and her entire body refused to answer her commands. Nesumi could feel life slowly drain away from her body as her eyes slowly closed once more.

 

"Tell me... human, do you... want to die?" said a voice that stopped her drifting.

 

"I... don't want to... but..." she answered weakly.

 

"I... do not wish... to die.. either," replied the youkai beside her. "Not before... I take revenge... on the girl that... did this to us."

 

"Kikyo didn't..." began Nesumi, but she didn't go further before she was cut off.

 

"She could have... finished me off easily... but she didn't... she's responsible... for this," shot back the youkai as angrily as he could.

 

Nesumi's blurred mind was suddenly jarred out of its stupor. The youkai was right, Kikyo never missed, she was the best archer of the entire temple. Her arrows were always deadly accurate, so why on earth had she given a chance to the youkai? Could it be that... she wanted to get rid of her? Could Kikyo really hate her that much? The answer was quite obvious. She had made the girl's life a living hell for the past six years so of course Kikyo wanted to be rid of her. And what better opportunity to do this than to fake an accident. She would go home and reap the reward and be considered a hero while Nesumi would die here at the bottom of a nameless cliff! This was unacceptable!

 

"I... want to... live!" she hacked. "I want... to make... Kikyo pay!"

 

"Then let us become one! If we become one, then nobody can stop us... not even Kikyo," snarled the youkai.

 

"... Yes!" hissed Nesumi.

 

As soon as she said the word, the girl felt mind-blowing agony course through her as a new power filled her being. She could feel her wounds closing up, her body rearranging itself... and also, a new presence insinuated itself in her mind, new memories popped up and mixed with her own, creating a confusing mix. When it was all over, something was left panting and lying helplessly on the ground. Something with a human arm and a youkai one. Something with half a human face and half a demonic one. Something that could neither be called youkai or human and that could not even deserve to be called a hanyou. The creature that was partly Nesumi and partly the youkai slowly stood up from its lying position and smiled evilly.

 

"You just wait, Kikyo. Whether it takes a month or a year, I will make you pay for what you did. Before I'm through with you, you will bow before me and beg me to kill you. Pretty soon, you will grovel before the great Kuro!" it said to the empty air and burst out laughing.

 

--End flashback--

 

"So you fused with that youkai?" exclaimed Kikyo disbelievingly.

 

"That's right and in doing so, I've become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!" replied Kuro arrogantly.

 

"You sold your soul to the devil just to get back at me? I thought you had more pride than this," scoffed the miko disdainfully.

 

"I don't care what you think!" snapped the creature angrily. "Fifty years ago, I was unable to keep my promise because I found you too late. When I reached you, it was only to see your body being burned along with the shikon jewel. Now however I have an unexpected chance to make good on my promise and I guarantee you that I will enjoy every minute of it!"

 

"And how on earth do you plan on doing such a thing?" questioned Kikyo, her eyebrows lowering imperceptibly.

 

"I'll lure your friends here. I'll capture them and I'll force you to watch as I torture the living hell out of them. And I'll keep that sensor you seem so fond of for last. I'll soil her body, make her scream in pain, beg for me to kill her... And you will watch all of this, Kikyo and when I'm through, you will beg me to finish you off!" explained Kuro his face a mere inch from the miko's

 

He watched with the greatest of satisfaction the anger and hatred boil in the woman's eyes. "You... BASTARD!" screamed Kikyo as she suddenly raised her arms and sent the blast of purification energy she had kept in store for this occasion straight into the creature's chest.

 

The force of the blast sent Kuro flying through half of the room and he crashed down with a sickening thud. Panting and once more completely unable to move, Kikyo examined her handiwork with some form of relief. It was short lived however because Kuro suddenly moaned in pain and laboriously got back to his feet.

 

"Well, it seems like you had some trick up your sleeve," he commented while looking at the still smoldering spot on his belly. "But such a weak blast is hardly enough to faze me."

 

Kikyo watched in horror as he made his way to her and towered menacingly over her. "It's really too bad that this was all you had... because now you really are helpless," he added and once more, the sound of his sadistic laughter filled the walls of the cave they were in.