InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Learning to Live Again ❯ True Colors ( Chapter 17 )

A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated this story. Writer's block and disinterest are very bad things for a writer. Also, the fact that I haven't had a computer in quite sometime doesn't help much either. I hope to finish this story before the four year anniversary of its posting or soon after. Thanks for sticking with me though this. There are only three or four chapters, plus the epilogue left. I have them sketched out, now I just need to write them. Sorry if this isn't what everyone was hoping for, but I'm getting to it. Disclaimer: Are you kidding? I'm so broke I can't pay attention, so we should know that I don't own Inuyasha.Chapter 17: True Colors"Damn, it's cold out here." Kikyo clenched her teeth together and hunched down against the icy wind and biting snow. She hated the cold. She had always hated the cold. Even when she had been a child, she detested the winter coldness that would descend upon the land. There were no flowers, no green. The land appeared stark and barren. It was odd that now Kikyo felt as if she were the winter in a sense. That made her hate the dead season even more. She needed to get out of this storm, preferably before dark or not too soon after. Twilight was rapidly embracing the land and she knew she had under an hour left before it got even colder. It was very true that the cold could not kill her, but that didn't mean she had to stay out in it. Kaede's village wasn't too far ahead. While she didn't exactly adore the idea of confrontation with Inuyasha and his companions, it was better than walking several more hours of the horrid weather. She couldn't smell it, but knew that Naraku's scent lingered on her clothing and body. She would have to walk into Kaede's hut smelling like their greatest enemy. It was that or bathe nearby, if the water wasn't frozen solid and go to the village in simply her skin. She didn't really have a choice. Maybe she would get lucky and Inuyasha and his entourage wouldn't even be in the village.Kikyo snorted. With the luck she had been having lately, Naraku and Sesshomaru would be waiting for her when she got there. Of course, knowing Naraku's plans, he would be gone until the morning, but he was going to be beyond pissed when he discovered he had been figuratively fucked. Maybe Hakkudoushi would get him mad enough that he would kill the crazy little brat. If Sesshomaru caught her there and thought she had run to Inuyasha again, there was no telling what might happen.She had left Kagura and Kohaku in the village they would now call home, hours ago. She hoped they would be alright. They had been through so much already. A sigh parted her lips as she entered Inuyasha's forest, approaching the village. "Sonofabitch." Yep. Luck was not on her side that was for damn sure. In the failing light, she could see five blurry figures. It figured, not only were they in the village, Inuyasha had more people in his group. Inuyasha had unsheathed his sword and was ready to attack. Kikyo's lips quirked as she thought of him blasting her back to hell, before he knew who was coming toward him. That would teach him to think before he acted so rash. It would also kill him. If the guilt didn't, Sesshomaru would, and Inuyasha would probably let him."Put that away, Inuyasha, before you do something foolish.""Inuyasha, that's Kikyo!" Kagome's excited whisper was heard by Kikyo and she arched both brows in shock. Why would she be excited to see her? Had she fallen into another dimension?"Keh, I know who it is. I'm not stupid." Inuyasha took a few steps toward the woman. "Could have fooled me." A voice called out.Kikyo couldn't control her grin when Inuyasha whirled around to face the person that had spoken. "Nobody asked you, did they, you creep? Just wait 'til we get back to the village.""Oh yeah, what's a mutt face like you gonna do about it?" The voice taunted."Inuyasha. Koga. Please stop. Didn't you drag us out here, because you could smell Naraku?" Kagome's voice pleaded with the two men."It's coming from that woman, Koga." A second unknown voice said."I know that." The one that must have been Koga snapped."You guys, stay back," Inuyasha told them. "Come on, Kagome." He and Kagome approached her slowly."Are you okay, Kikyo?" Kagome asked her softly, genuine concern shimmering in her blue eyes.Kikyo swallowed before she spoke. "What you call okay is relative, is it not?"Kagome nodded and looked at Inuyasha. "You smell like Naraku, Kikyo. Why do you smell like him?" His eyes were hard and full of suspicion as he regarded her."When I ran from the palace, Naraku found me and offered me comfort. I know how that sounds. But it is true. Then, I went with him back to his home." Her voice faded off, knowing everyone was listening, and knowing exactly what they were thinking."Did you fuck him?!" Koga shouted and it echoed through the silent forest.Kikyo felt sick by the very thought. "No! No! I would never fuck Naraku!" She shouted back. Her eyes blazed with fury. Angry with all of them for thinking so little of her.Of course, some of her fury died when she realized it would be very hard for them to think otherwise."Well, mutt, you're close enough to her. Is she lying?""Back off, Koga. I think she's telling the truth." Kagome trusted very few things about Kikyo, but one of the few she did was that Kikyo would never willingly give herself to Naraku."I'm sorry, Kikyo." Inuyasha walked closer to her and began to sniff her closely."I swear, Inuyasha. If your nose goes anywhere near my crotch I will kick you in the face." Kikyo threatened, indignant. "I know." He smirked at her as he pulled back. "No, she didn't do anything with him like what you're thinking. She was around him, not with him.""What are you doing here, Kikyo?" Kagome asked her.Kikyo swallowed the sudden lump in her throat as she faced these people. "I don't have anywhere else to go. I ran from Sesshomaru and don't want to make the journey back there tonight. I also want to see Kaede as she is the only one that can provide me with the comfort I seek." Her words were soft, but heard by all in the lull of the wind.Since the time Kagome had come across Kikyo and Sesshomaru together, she had been doing some thinking. Some of the woman's actions were incredibly stupid that Kagome didn't doubt for a second. She had really fucked up when she gave Naraku the jewel shards, but she had to know that by herself. Kagome found herself wondering if she would have reacted toward Kikyo the same way if she weren't Inuyasha's first love. No. Of course she wouldn't. Inuyasha and Kikyo were a lot more alike than anyone could possibly think. Guarded, single minded, quick to act, and they had both made some choices that had had the potential to be very costly. Now, she felt bad for Kikyo. She was so sad. Plus, with her being mated to Sesshomaru, she was totally off the market and Kagome didn't need to be jealous anymore. She could look at the other woman with a clear head."Sango and I were going to go to the hot springs, then to Kaede's. Please join us." Kagome invited Kikyo.Kikyo didn't know who was more shocked. Herself or Inuyasha. "I would be honored." Nearly desperate for some female companionship that wasn't Sesshomaru's servant or Kagura, Kikyo accepted the invitation."Alright, now that that's over. Lets go take our baths." Kagome smiled and Kikyo couldn't help but smile back.!@#$%^^&*())(*&^%$#@!!@#$%^&*The water felt amazing! Kikyo was finally starting to get warm again. Inuyasha was nearby as were the other three men. Kikyo knew the wolf demon, Koga didn't trust her. So what else was new? It was just another day in paradise. It hadn't escaped Kikyo's attention that one person was missing from the group. The monk, Miroku was nowhere to be found."I have some questions for you, Kikyo."Kikyo sighed as she opened her eyes to look at the demon slayer eyeing her across the small hot spring. "I'm sure you do." She replied dryly. "What would you like to know?""Why were you with Naraku?""Oh. I see my answer wasn't enough. Well, let me start at the beginning, the last time I was at Kaede's village. The time when Sesshomaru brought me there to help me and you ran off with the wolf. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha got into an...altercation...""That's what you call it?" Kagome snorted."As I was saying, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha got into a fight and Kagome wnet to Inuyasha's defense.""He was going to kill him. He would have killed both of us, if Kikyo wouldn't have intervened," Kagome told Sango as she sat in stunned silence."To punish me for my interference." Kikyo swallowed. "Sesshomaru left for two weeks after that day. When he came back, he brought a demon whore with him. He told me there would be no other as long as I was with him. For a perceived wrong, he broke his word and what I had managed to piece back together of my heart. I had never felt despair so profound in all my years, not even right before I died when I thought Inuyasha had betrayed me. So after a week of listening to him couple with another. I ran like a coward. I ran and ran until I collapsed. Then I cried for I'm not sure how long." She shrugged as she looked from one woman to the other. "Naraku came to me as I cried. He held me and comforted me when I had no one. Had I been thinking clearly, I would have never allowed him to touch me. He loves me in a very sick and twisted way. It felt so good to be held by someone that loved me, even if that someone was Naraku." Her voice cracked when she spoke the wicked creature's name. "I spent the night in the mountain house he and all his minions share, then Kagura dropped me in the middle of nowhere earlier today and this is where I am now."Sango and Kagome knew deep down that she was telling the truth. Sadness like the sadness they saw in Kikyo's green eyes was simply far too hard to fake. Sango and Kagome both felt bad for the woman and the way they had treated her. Sango had done some foolish things too and they always forgave her. Why couldn't she forgive Kikyo?She looked at Kagome and knew she was thinking the same thing. Her friend nodded as their eyes met in silent agreement."What happened to Miroku?" Kikyo startled both women by the question."What?""The monk, Miroku, what happened to him?""Inuyasha thought it would be best if we told him that Koga and I are mates," Sango said. "Miroku said some horrible things to each of us about how we should never have kept a secret like that from him. Of course, he was right, but that didn't make his words sting any less. Then, he just left. He said he had been doing just fine before he met Inuyasha and Kagome, and that he would do just fine again. He said he couldn't bare to look at any of us, knowing that we betrayed him." Tears rolled down her cheeks.Kikyo looked to Kagome and saw the tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry for your loss. I know that you both cared for him deeply simply by the way you are crying now.""Hey! Are you three gonna sit in there all night and cry. It's fucking cold out here! Not everyone is in the damned spring, you know!" Inuyasha shouted from the darkness causing the three women to break into a fit of genuine laughter.Later that night, wearing some of Kagome's pink pajamas, Kikyo looked around the hut she had shared with Kaede during her life. It was nearly cramped with all the people in it. Sango's head rested on Koga's chest, the other two wolf demons flanked their leader, one on each side. Kaede slept in the same place she always had. Inuyasha slept propped against the wall, cradling his sword. Kagome was in her sleeping bag with the fox demon, resting against Inuyasha's knee. And the cat demon, in her smaller form, was curled up in the doorway. All of them were sleeping. Even though she wasn't really a part of this group, she was warmed by the depth of caring they had for each other. That's what this tiny place had always meant to her: Warmth and love. With a smile on her face, she settled down on the futon in the same spot she had slept in when she was truly alive, and drifted off to her first peaceful sleep in quite sometime.