InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mika- the Inu Ookami Hanyou ❯ Misdirected Intentions ( Chapter 21 )

Misdirected Intentions

 

Mika followed the hanyou's essence as she left the security of the tree lined tunnel. As the essence became stronger, a second presence made itself felt. At the presence of the second essence, Mika screeched to a halt. “What the Hell?” she thought as the forest changed before her eyes. In the matter of a few seconds the eerie night of the forest was replaced with the bright warm sunlight of early summer. Mika took in the scene before her eyes in wonder as she felt a slight breeze blow by. Quickly she realized that the breeze was caused by someone running past. Mika turned her head slightly and saw a red and white blur moving quickly out of sight. “Inu…Yasha?” she thought as she turned to follow.

 

“Inuyasha!” rang the voice of a young woman in confusion and pain, both physically and emotionally from behind Mika. Taking her eyes off the fleeing hanyou, Mika turned toward the voice.

 

“What is going on here?!” she continued to ponder as she took in the young miko who was aiming an arrow, not at Mika but through her, as if she didn't even see the young woman. As the arrow flew, its spiritual powers could be felt as it sailed threw Mika. She screamed as the arrow pierced her chest, but she realized too late that it passed through her body. As if in slow motion, Mika turned her head, following the path of the arrow as it struck Inuyasha in the chest, pinning him to the `tree of ages.'

 

“Ki…Kikyo…How could…I thought…” Inuyasha said as the effects of the sealing arrow took hold. Mika saw the look of betrayal cross his face to be replaced by one of peace. She turned back to the miko as she slowly approached the jewel Inuyasha had dropped. It was then that Mika realized the fatal wound in Kikyo's chest and shoulder as the blood trailed on the ground like a morbid wake. Mika sniffed the air a few times, before she realized her blood lust wasn't kicking in as in previous encounters with the substance, considering the amount of blood on the ground.

 

“This must be a memory from a series of events from the past. But who's memories?” Mika thought as the scene before her changed again to reveal a high mountain pass, covered in rocks. She turned to the commotion behind her as she became aware of the essences of Inuyasha and the interloper.

 

“Not again! Who is doing this to me?” Mika screamed in her thoughts as she turned and saw Inuyasha, a newly reborn Kikyo and Lady Kaede, on the pass behind her. As she moved closer to hear what was being said, she noticed the young miko kneeling in front of an old demon crone, using her spiritual powers to kill the old witch.

 

“Inuyasha…Why are you still alive? I bound you to a tree with a sacred arrow,” the young priestess said as the same confusion, hurt and betrayal flowed through her words.

 

“Yeah, you sure did,” Inuyasha replied defiantly. “And I stayed there for fifty years. As you can see I'm alive and ready to take you on again.”

 

The young woman looked him in the eye as she replied, “You vile beast. I despise you. You loathsome half man…” She cried out in pain, clutching her right shoulder as blood appeared stained her white haori, trailing down her arm to land in a puddle on the dirt ground at her feet.

 

“Got a problem, Kikyo?” Inuyasha asked, credulously.

 

As she pulled her blood covered hand from her shoulder, Kikyo yelled, “Why did you betray me, Inuyasha?”

 

Taken aback by her words he asked, “What's going on? Where's all that blood coming from?”

 

Kaede calmly replied, “Look closer, Inuyasha. Is that not the fatal wound ye inflicted on Kikyo?”

 

“I inflicted?!” he exclaimed, “What are you saying? That I was the one who killed Kikyo?”

 

Kaede replied, “Yes, it was your wounds that sealed her fate and ensured her demise.”

 

He wracked his brain as he replied, “There must be a mistake of some kind! I didn't kill her. I don't even remember wounding her!”

 

“Can ye be certain? These wounds did not come from your hand? Think hard, try to remember. If…if not you than who slew my sister?”

 

Listening to the conversation between Lady Kaede and Inuyasha, Kikyo smiled slyly as she commented, “You are even more vile than I thought, inventing such feeble excuses. Please, it is most unflattering, Inuyasha. Stop it!” As she regained her composure, fighting the pain in her shoulder she spoke again, “Inuyasha, do you not remember when you told me you wished to become human?”

 

“Impossible! He wishes to become a demon,” Kaede retorted.

 

Unfazed by the outburst, Kikyo continued, “You said you would become human. I believed your words that day. I carried the Shikon jewel and went to you.”

 

“But Kikyo, I can't believe that Inuyasha would have committed such a heinous crime,” Kaede replied in his defense.

 

“Are you suggesting that I was the one who betrayed you?” Inuyasha replied quietly, almost as if in a whisper as he returned his attention to Kikyo.

 

“You know it's true. That is why I summoned up the last vestiges of my strength and bound you to the tree with my sacred arrow,” she replied as se moved closer to him. “Inuyasha…”

 

“Kikyo…”

 

“You and I were fated never to meet again,” she said as she placed her hands on his arms, as if in a loving embrace. As her hands clamped on his haori, she sent her spiritual powers into the hanyou, causing Inuyasha to scream in pain, throwing him several feet from Kikyo. He landed heavily onto his chest groaning in pain.

 

Kaede implored to Kikyo, “Stop this assault, Kikyo.”

 

Looking at the old woman before her, she snarled, “Who are you?”

 

“I'm your younger sister Kaede. My looks have altered because fifty years have passed since your demise.”

 

“Then explain why you would speak on Inuyasha's behalf?” When no answer was give, Kikyo took Kaede's bow. “Give me this,” she said as she notched an arrow. Inuyasha, having regained some of his strength, leapt from his knees as Kikyo let fly a sacred arrow. It blasted a whole in the rocks where moments before he had lain.

 

Kikyo turned back to her sister, “Kaede…” as she went to retrieve another arrow.

 

“You must stop this madness. Inuyasha is not your enemy!” Kaede replied as she eluded her sister.

 

“Open your eyes. You too have been taken in by this deceitful monster.”

 

“You are mistaken,” Kaede retorted.

 

“Hand me your arrows,” Kikyo demanded.

 

“I will do no such thing!” Kaede replied defiantly.

 

“Kaede…show loyalty to your flesh and blood! Not to some deviant lying half breed. Hear the demand of your elder sister and give me those arrows.”

 

“Sister…” Kaede pleaded as Kikyo grabbed the quiver, pushing her sister aside.

 

Turning back to Inuyasha she continued her verbal assault. “You told me you wished to become human,” Kikyo said as she drew the bow again, aiming at Inuyasha. “You told me you wished to be with me.”

 

“Wait… Kikyo… I meant every word,” Inuyasha replied, trying to reason with the crazed miko.

 

“Liar, I was a fool beyond compare for believing your far fetched tales and wishing to live together with you. I despise you with my last breath. My spirit cannot forget that all consuming hatred so long as you live. My spirit cannot be freed.”

 

As she held the motionless form of Kagome, Kaede said, “Inuyasha, you must destroy my sister's body at once. This rebirth is nothing but deceit. Destroy her body and release the soul from within.”

 

“It's futile. I shall not return to that body until I've carried out my revenge on this murderous beast. Inuyasha, you are the one shall die!” Kikyo let fly her sacred arrow, aimed straight for his chest. Inuyasha pulled Tetsusaiga, holding the arrow at bay, but only temporarily. Once the arrow's spiritual powers overwhelmed the demon blade, it passed beneath the blade, seeking the hanyou's heart.

 

Mika watched in horror as she witnessed the arrow seek her uncle's unprotected heart. “Run…Inuyasha!” She screamed in unison with Kaede, knowing that he'd never hear her.

 

Inuyasha screamed as the arrow tore threw his haori, piercing the skin of his chest with spiritual energy. His screams vanished as the scene before Mika changed yet again to the comfort of black before her eyes. The wind picked up slightly as the scene revealed trees in the moonlight, swaying too and fro.

 

“This is getting irritating. I hope there's a point to these intrusions,” Mika thought. She easily picked up on the essence of Inuyasha and the ever present interloper. “I'm really getting irritated at this other presence. I hope that this is the last time it interferes with my mission. And make itself known so that I can dispatch it if that is what it really wants,” Mika thought as she followed the combined essences to a huge clearing.

 

There in the clearing surrounded by trees, Mika witnessed Inuyasha hold onto his first beloved, Kikyo, as her soul collectors twisted and turned around the open area. He wrapped his arms around the undead Miko holding on to her for dear life. As the scene unfolded, Mika realized that this was another memory of events from the past, an event that caused her cousin great heartache. She looked to the tree behind the lovers and noticed a faint outline of a girl struggling to call out to her love, but failed to be heard due to the soul collectors wrapped around her.

 

“So this is what caused Kagome so much heart ache, Inuyasha promising to go to Hell with the clay pot witch. What does he see in her?” Mika thought as the scene continued to unfold before her. Suddenly, Mika realized what the point to all the memory quests were about. Unable to stop this memory, she continued to watch, waiting for her moment to approach the interloper and confront the wench who was responsible for the heartache Mika had to witness. She noticed from her vantage point how Kikyo had begun to drag Inuyasha into the great void of death beneath their feet as once again Kagome found her voice.

 

“Inu…Yasha!” she screamed, pulling the semi conscious hanyou back to conscious thoughts.

 

“That's Kagome's voice. Kagome…Is she…here?” he asked slowly, not really sure of what was going on around him. As he looked around the clearing, his eyesight became clearer as he focused on a nearby tree that Kagome was sitting next to, entwined by a soul collector. “Kagome…Kagome!” he called out as he leapt from the newly formed hole, away from the undead miko.

 

Mika saw the look of lose and longing on Kikyo's face as Inuyasha moved closer to Kagome, unable to hear what was being said, Mika focused on Kikyo. “She looks so sad. I almost feel sorry for her,” Mika thought as the lost souls and soul collectors converged on the miko.

 

Once she regained her strength through the stolen souls, Kikyo stood up, looking longingly toward her lover. “Does that girl mean more to you than I do?”

 

Inuyasha looked toward Kagome, at lose for words as they both slightly blushed, then looked back to Kikyo. Taking the lack of an explanation as her answer, Kikyo, entwined in her soul collectors drifted into the sky, away from Inuyasha and Kagome.

 

Inuyasha raced toward her retreating body, as he called out, “No…wait, Kikyo… Listen to me!”

 

With a sad look on her face and a heavy heart Kikyo replied, “Inuyasha…Never forget. Remember the feel of my lips against yours…for it was real.” As she floated away from the clearing her words of “Never forget” reverberated through the trees.

 

Once Kikyo's form faded into the distant dark tree line, “Goodbye, Kikyo,” passed from Inuyasha's lips as a mere whisper, Mika turned toward the object of her original quest, lost in thought as to how to approach her uncle.

 

“Great, this one is more complicated than I thought it would be. I'll be back for him once I've dealt with this interloper. This will be her last time of interfering with my family,” Mika thought as she quickly picked up the scent of graveyard soil and death. On fleet feet, Mika quietly and quickly moved through the dark forest in search of the person who put her through all horrid memories of hate, deceit and lose.

 

Once she found the undead clay pot, Mika screeched to a halt a few feet from the base of the tree the miko lay in, surrounded by her soul collectors. Mika slowly moved closer, leaving her hand on the hilt of her buck knife, sheathed at her back, unsure of the undead miko.

 

“Why have you followed me?” Kikyo asked without looking at the young inu-ookami hanyou.

 

Mika moved closer to the tree, looking up into the limbs at the miko. “I followed to find out why you pulled me into your twisted memories? What purpose does it have?”

 

Kikyo moved slightly, moving her bangs from her face as she glared at the young woman. A sly smile crossed her face as she replied, “What makes you think that you were the intended target? Could it have been possible that they were meant for Inuyasha? What were you doing in his dreams any way?”

 

Mika thought back to what her grandfather had said about defenses as she replied, “I'm just making sure that he was okay with my leaving. Apparently you're his defense against intruders.”

 

With a laugh, Kikyo slid from the tree moving toward Mika as she said, “I'm just as much an intruder here as you are.” Once she moved close enough to nearly touch the armor covered chest of Mika, her demeanor changed from serious to deadly. “Who are you and why have you infiltrated his dreams?” she demanded.

 

Pulling her knife from its sheath, bringing it to a defensive position, Mika replied, “I'm his niece. As to my purpose for being here… that is none of your damn business, witch. I'd kindly appreciate it if you would leave this place and stay away from him in the real world.”

 

“Why is that?” Kikyo asked slyly as she moved closer to the hanyou, intent on doing the young woman harm.

 

Mika, noticing the slow, barely discernible forward movement of the miko, replied, “From your own memories of previous encounters with Inuyasha, all you've ever caused him is pain. His heart and soul is a mess because of your interference. If you don't leave him be, witch, I'll personally guarantee your permanent death.” She dodged the upraised arm of the miko split seconds before Kikyo was able to place a hand to the young woman's chest to purify the demon.

 

As she moved with lightning speed, Mika brought her knife to bear on the unprotected white, delicate neck of the undead priestess, she whispered in Kikyo's ear, “Mess with my family and I'll make you regret every minute of it.” She applied slight pressure of the well honed blade to the miko's neck, leaving a faint line of blood trickle in its wake. “That is just a taste of what I can do. Now be gone from this dream or face the consequences.” Mika pushed the undead priestess from her body, distancing herself from Kikyo.

 

Slowly, Kikyo placed a delicate hand to her neck, withdrawing it to see the blood smeared on her finger tips. She laughed as she replied, “Is that the best you can do, you miserable excuse of a demon. Do you not know who I am?”

 

“As if I care, witch!” Mika scoffed, reaching for her sword as the miko's face changed from serene to almost horrifying in a few heart beats.

 

Pulling herself to her full height, Kikyo stated, “I'm the powerful priestess, Lady Kikyo, guardian of the Shikon no Tama. I've killed so many demons after the jewel that I've lost count. If it was not for the supposed betrayal of Inuyasha through Naraku, we would have been together and happy. How dare you tell me what to do, wench, for I am his one and only true love! I will not be denied my right by his side! No one, not even you can prevent me from having him!” As she spoke those words, her anger and spiritual powers increased exponentially. In her hands, as if by magic, a bow and arrow appeared. In one fluid motion, Kikyo aimed, shot and fired the arrow at Mika, sending with it as much spiritual power as she could force into such an object. “Die… wench!”

 

Mika, seeing the impending danger as the arrow flew, quickly pulled her sword, to fend off the projectile. Suddenly she remembered the same tactic used by Inuyasha and the result of the arrow purifying the demonic blade, retuning it into its rusted form. “Scheiße, this is not going to be good. Now what do I do?” Mika quickly took in her surroundings until it was too late. The sacred arrow pierced her left shoulder at the junction of the armor and leather, sinking deeply into her flesh. Mika screamed in pain as the spiritual powers purified her demonic spirit, returning her to her human form.

 

As she moved her right human hand to her shoulder to pull the arrow out, Mika looked at Kikyo with murder in her eyes. “That was a mistake. If he didn't have feelings for you, witch, I'd kill you right here… right now. But unfortunately, I can't do that, now that you shot me.”

 

The look on Kikyo's face changed from one of superiority to that of confusion as her sacred arrow purified the demonic aura of the woman before her. “You're…you're a…”

 

“Hanyou… Yeah, I thought that it was pretty obvious, but you were too engrossed in your own self importance to take that into consideration. Now just leave before I regain my powers,” Mika replied, as she broke the shaft of the arrow in her attempt to remove it from her shoulder. Cursing her rotten luck under her breath, Mika regained her footing, still a little leery of the miko who had yet to make a move.

 

Kikyo stared at the hanyou as she regained her footing, fighting the urge to blackout from shock at being struck with the arrow. “How can this be? Who are you? Why are you so adamant about keeping me from Inuyasha?” she asked quietly, almost to herself than to her intended recipient.

 

Clutching at her shoulder, Mika replied, “Because you don't deserve him. In the memories that I was dragged through, you were trying to kill him, not once or twice, but three times! What woman in her right mind, who claims that they love a man with all their heart, kills the man of their dreams? Some say that love makes the heart grow fonder, and yet another says if you love them, let them go. His heart has been mended from not only your betrayal, but from his years of living alone. He finally has a life worth living, that doesn't include you.” Mika closed her eyes as a wave of pain and nausea threatened to make her pass out.

 

“Your words have a lot of meaning. I'll take them into consideration, now be off before anything else happens to you,” Kikyo replied, deep in thought at Mika's words, as she moved away from the clearing, leaving the injured hanyou to fend for herself.