InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Manipulated ❯ One and the Same ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8: One and the Same

Kikyou stood in the shelter of the trees, her eyes fixed on her reincarnation and Inuyasha. They were doing battle with a particularly imbecilic youkai; it was obviously no match for the hanyou.

Her eyes widened slightly when Inuyasha threw himself at the lumbering shape. 'He wouldn't...'

As the girl began to fall, Kikyou made a forward motion as if to reveal herself, but before she could, a black shape blew by her, ruffling her hair forward as it moved. 'What was that?'

She then heard a larger form crashing through the trees and moved out of sight, trusting that the youkai that she sensed was more focussed on the battle than on her. She was correct; the neko and its rider overtook her and bounded toward the large demon.

Kikyou watched the newcomers move. 'There is no need for me to intervene. Tonight, Inuyasha.' She then turned and strode deeper into the forest, disappearing into its dense foliage.

~*~

Koharu's breath caught in her throat as she felt the air rushing over her body. A morbid thought surfaced; what if she suffocated before she even reached the ground?

Her eyes were wide, staring up at the sky above her. She heard the cry of another female somewhere near, but she couldn't discern any of the words. She felt only the air, and the inevitability of her death.

The ground had to be close - she had been falling for too long. Any second now, any second-

She abruptly came in contact with something soft and warm. As she realized that the danger was past, she blinked and gazed up at her savior.

"Miroku-sama!"

It landed effortlessly, then looked disdainfully at the girl in its arms. 'Why was I so opposed to letting her perish?' It quickly scanned Miroku's memories, then muttered, "Are you hurt, Koharu?" It set the girl on her feet and waited for a response.

Her watery eyes were wide as she shook her head slowly. "I'm... fine."

"Good," it replied, before turning back to the battle. All the while, it felt the will of the monk weakening.

Sango just stared, unable to do anything else for the moment. 'Since when does Houshi-sama move so swiftly?' This thought alone seemed to awaken other suspicions in her mind. There were plenty of times when he acted completely out of character... then he'd grope her to make up for it.

Sango frowned. 'Perhaps he's hiding something?' Worry knawed slightly at her heart and mind, and she glanced over at the object of her speculation.

His eyes were directly on her, and there was something disturbing in his glance. Her mind failed to produce a word to describe the feeling thrumming through the bridge between their eyes, but if she had to guess...

It looked like hunger.

A prickle ran up her spine, and Miroku averted his gaze. Immediately, she began to chide herself. 'I'm imagining things! It's nerves, that's all!' She shifted her shoulders and drew Hiraikotsu from her back. "Kirara!" she cried, and the two raced toward the wounded youkai to lend aid to Inuyasha.

The hanyou was staring at Miroku as Sango had been doing, but for a completely different reason. His brain kept replaying the scenario of the previous two minutes (Minutes? It felt like hours...).

He saw Koharu plummeting toward the ground.

He saw Kagome's panicked expression as her mouth formed into a small 'o' of shock.

Then he saw, quite abruptly, the lumbering youkai's remaining hand swinging across his line of vision, connecting with his chest. Inuyasha grunted in half-pain, half-anger as he flew backward. When he slammed into the ground, he cracked his eyes open to watch the severed arm twitch, then reattatch itself to the stump at the youkai's shoulder.

The jewel shard. "Kuso!"

Sango appeared on the scene then, but the large boomerang had no effect on the tough hide of her opponent. It served, however, to draw his attention from Inuyasha, who drew himself to his feet, dirtied but otherwise okay.

"Kagome! Where's the shard?" he called to the wide-eyed miko.

She visibly shook herself, recovering from her shock from the quick turn of the situation. "The middle of the chest!" she called back, her hands clasped in front of her.

Meanwhile, Sango had found the thing's weak point - its eyes. Even though the flesh healed every time she attacked, it was distracted enough to allow Inuyasha to leap forward and sink Tetsusaiga deep into the flesh of its chest.

A anguished cry burst from the youkai's throat, but it went unnoticed by the hanyou, who leaned his weight into the fang and side-swiped it out of the beast's body, freeing the jewel shard. Immediately, the youkai's flesh disintegrated into ash and floated away on the gentle wind.

As Kagome retrieved the shard and added it to their growing collection, Koharu came out of her shock. She threw her arms around Miroku's waist. "You saved me! Thank you!"

It panicked at the contact, shuddering at the touch of the girl. Shoving the true monk back to the forefront, it retreated, promising that the next time it gained control, it would never relinquish it again.

Miroku blinked in confusion before the memories from the Phoenix were released. "You are welcome, Koharu."

~*~

Night fell on the small village. Inuyasha had gone into an extended rant about Miroku and Sango leaving the village, then was silenced when Kagome reminded him that if they hadn't shown up, Koharu would be dead.

Koharu had explained her new home in that village, far from the one where they had first found her. The family that the others had left her with were visiting family members, taking her along. "I've been getting along fine," she concluded thoughtfully, "though I'm not betrothed as of yet." At this, she cast a meaningful glance at Miroku, who averted his gaze.

Sango fumed.

After his outburst, Inuyasha had disappeared. Kagome had a pretty good idea of where he'd gone; she'd seen another shinidamachuu as they entered the home of Koharu's 'relatives'. The kindly couple had been more than willing to offer lodging to the girl's saviors.

A sigh worked its way from Kagome's lungs as she joined Sango, who was speaking with the owners of the house. Once engaged in pleasant conversation, no one noticed Koharu and Miroku slipping silently out of a back door.

Koharu was pleasantly excited, wondering what in the world Miroku could want to talk about. 'Perhaps he saw my meaning when I said that I wasn't engaged?' At this thought, she hugged herself tightly, grinning and turning her eyes to the monk, who was a few paces in front.

Her grin faltered a small bit when he turned and led her into the forest, but she didn't protest his movements, closing the distance between them and glancing around cautiously, as if expecting something to leap out at them. She consoled herself quickly, thinking, 'If he wants privacy, it must be something very important, ne?'

It was quite a while before Miroku halted and turned back to her. "Koharu..." he whispered softly, then pulled her into a gentle hug, holding her close.

"Mi- Miroku-sama?" A blush rushed into her cheeks.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered into her hair, then drove his concealed knife deep into her abdomen.

It berated itself bitterly as the girl let out a loud scream. It quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, but the damage was done. The humans might not have heard, but the damned hanyou...

The girl in his arms was squirming as if her life depended on it - and indeed, it did. Her hands were clawing and scratching, trying to pull away. Even though it had experienced this sort of reaction before, it found its motions sluggish, as if it were slightly reluctant to move. The realization came like a flash of lightning. 'The monk!' It had been so sure that he was nearly gone that it had let its guard down. 'I will banish him... with this feed...'

It shoved Koharu to the ground; she connected with a groan and lay still. It wasn't fooled. Phoenix knelt over her, pressing his knee to her stomach wound and bringing the knife to her throat. "Do not scream."

Koharu's eyes widened as she realized his intentions, and large tears dropped from the corners of her eyes and rolled into her hair. "Lord Miroku... why?"

Phoenix scoffed. "I am not the monk that you cry for." It would have said more, but in a surprising show of strength, the girl bowed her back and brought her neck away from the knife, then shoved her hands upward as if to push its form off of her body. One of her small hands flitted inside his robes and came in contact with something papery. In her panic, she clutched it tightly.

She was still clutching it as Phoenix slit her throat and lowered its head to feed once more.

~*~

Inuyasha had smelled the earthen aroma of Kikyou from the time he'd taken care of the shard-wielding youkai. The desire to see her had affected his mood, causing him to snap out at the monk and the taijiya when he saw them there, without contemplating the good points of their arrival. When night fell, he finally set out to find her.

It didn't take long. She had been waiting for him at the edge of the trees. "Inuyasha." She gave him a long gaze, but said no more.

"Kikyou... Why are you here?"

The undead miko stepped within arm's length of the hanyou and lifted her hand. Her cold fingertips brushed his face and his eyes shone. "You are forgetting me, Inuyasha. It is as if you do not remember your promise to me."

Inuyasha immediately began to protest. "I didn't forget, Kikyou! I promised to protect you, and I will. You never should have died..." This last was nearly whispered.

Kikyou's eyes softened slightly. "Inuyasha, you don't deserve the pain that you feel. Please, come with me..." She curled her arms around his neck and met his eyes, a molten gold. His head dipped as if to kiss her, but he halted at the sound on the wind.

A scream rang out from the village, shrill in the cold night air. No... it was beyond the village... in the woods!

Inuyasha's mind cleared suddenly and he backed out of Kikyou's embrace. "I can't..." he whispered. "I'm needed here." With that, he took off in the direction of the cry.

Kikyou just stared after him, then scoffed bitterly. 'Despite what he says, he is slowly distancing himself from me. His love is dwindling... and the feelings for the reincarnation are growing.' Seconds later, the edge of the forest was deserted. Kikyou was gone once more.

Sango's head shot up. "Did you hear something, Kagome-chan?"

Kagome looked puzzled, then shook her head. The motion cast her gaze around the room, and she realized that it was suddenly very empty. "Where's Koharu and Miroku?"

The taijiya's stomach gave an agitated twist. The two had left together? She failed to think up a scenario that she liked. Then -

*"What are you ogling, fool wench?"*

*"Why did you cover your ears, Sango?"

"Ne? It's silly, but the thing's soul is said to enter one's body through the ears."

"Ridiculous," Miroku muttered.

"What?" Kagome frowned at him.

The monk blinked. "Nothing..."*

*"Ah. Sango-san. Perhaps you could remove Kirara from me? Then, I can leave you all in peace while I discover how I came to be here."

Sango raised an eyebrow. "Who are you trying to fool? You came here to spy on us."

"Well... that was my original intention... but I was sure that I hadn't come this close."*

*The group had awoken that morning to find Miroku missing...

..."I am Sakai Hiro. You must forgive the rudeness of our welcome, but there was a murder here last night."*

Sango leapt to her feet and cursed. 'Please be wrong...' she pleaded, before saying, "I think Koharu is in trouble!" She bolted from the hut without giving an explanation.

~*~

Corisu Li: Waiiiiiii! Long chapter!!! I just couldn't stop. I actually wanted to do more, but I decided to stop here. I'm very tired... Also, I'm foregoing the disclaimer... @_@ Too much editing.... On the morrow! ^_^