InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Little Box ❯ My Little Box ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: Okay, I know most of you rabid Inu/Kag fans out there despise Kikyo, but I don't think you guys really take the time to analyze her persona. There is a rhyme and a reason for everything that she does. I'm gonna stop here before this turns into a rant, but I hope all you guys will give this fic (intended one-shot) a chance. Mind you, there are NO couplings in this fic.

Disclaimer: Do you guys really think I'd be sitting at home writing fanfiction if I owned Inuyasha….?

As always, Kikyo wandered on. It seemed to be the only thing that calmed her spirit. Simply to walk on and explore the world that she had been unable to see in her life. In her own way, she saw it as a kind of justification that she was now treading the Earth after being long dead. Kikyo had protected the planet in guarding the Shikon jewel and had given her life in that act. She felt that the Earth owed her this much.

Her eyes took in the surrounding woods with relish. She knew that she must memorize this Earth before she allowed herself to die again. Though the undead miko knew well that she did not belong here, she did not wish to relinquish her Earthly existence just yet. Naraku still had to be dealt with. Afterward, maybe she could finally rest.

Of course there was always the subject of Inuyasha to be resolved. She knew well that he would no longer follow her into death's embrace. Kikyo's half demon had fallen in love with her reincarnation. It seemed almost fitting in an ironic sort of way. Inuyasha, separated from her in death, had fallen in love with her reincarnation. It appeared that their souls were destined to be together.

Kikyo accepted the idea that he loved the girl, even as she knew he did not quite yet. It was a sorrowful kind of irony, really. She bore them no ill will, but Kikyo would be damned before she directly aided them. She had her own agenda to tend to. Though, it did still hurt to see them together. She supposed that she would never get over the sting of it.

Of course, the miko expected that. She still loved him, and she always would. She had been willing to give up all she knew for him. However, they were not meant to be, and fate seemed all too willing to show her that. Kikyo sighed heavily and switched her train of thought. Mourning for her lost life would do her no good now.

She strode on until she reached a river deep within the woods. Kikyo settled to her knees in front of the sluggish stream, dipping her hands into the water and drinking from her cupped palm. She had no thirst, but sometimes it was nice to indulge in things she had once needed in her life. The cool liquid felt good as it flowed down her throat. It reminded her of her humanity, and as of late, she had been afraid of forgetting that.

The miko stared at her rippling reflection in the crystalline waters. She gazed into a face, into eyes, that were molded by a witch. Sometimes Kikyo wondered if holding on to her humanity was futile. She was a creature of clay and dirt, not flesh and blood. What right did she have to that humanity?

Her slender hands came up to touch her cheeks as she watched her reflection. Her clay hands. Kikyo's eyes narrowed, and she wondered if she would soon become no better than the monsters she had fought in her life. But then again, why should she care? She was no longer the miko from long ago. She was now no better than the monsters.

If that was so, then why did she care? Why did it matter? Kikyo glared at her reflection, finding it almost loathsome. Her old self would find no trouble in slaughtering her present self. It was all too ironic, really. The miko grew suddenly angry with herself. What was the purpose of all this?! Did fate see it fit that she had to watch her love in the arms of another?! A hell beyond Hell?! A deep ache resonated through Kikyo's chest. She wondered if her body was even capable of crying.

The miko looked fiercely at her reflection in the water, "You are loathsome… You abominable creature!"

Kikyo's fist sent violent splashes in her mirror image until the reflection almost blurred out, and quite suddenly, the malevolence left her. The miko's head hung low as her hands gripped the grass of the riverbank. It didn't matter. None of it mattered. Her emotions hindered her. That was the simple point.

She rose from her kneeling position, a goal in her mind. Naraku would die. By her hand, by Inuyasha's hand… It didn't matter so long as he died. Then she would die again, and maybe, just maybe, she would find peace.

Kikyo stepped into the river and began to make her way across, wandering once again. She was dead. She was alive. She was a paradox. A conundrum. She was an insult to all things truly alive. She was all these things and more, but she would see Naraku dead.