InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Psyche ❯ V. Too high to climb, to hard to break through. ( Chapter 5 )

Title: Psyche

Author: Sutoresu

Summary: Alternate Universe // When the beauty of the young maiden, Kagome, becomes greater than that of the fabled Kikyo, the spirit sends a half-demon to exterminate her. But, what happens when her pure beauty is strong enough to warm the hanyou?

Disclaimer: I own neither the characters of Inuyasha, nor the Roman myth of Psyche & Cupid. If you can see the parallels between the two stories, I applaud you. If not, please enjoy my interpretations presented here within as cheap entertainment.

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V. Too high to climb, too hard to break through

Almost immediately after her return to the Spirit Plane it was her desire to turn her mortal mirror onto Inuyasha. Through its transparent glass she could observe whether or not he had completed his required duty. She resisted the temptation, instead gazing into the hand mirror as it focused on the Shikon no Tama's hideaway.

 

Time seemed to slow for the spirit. Kikyou was unaware how much mortal time had passed before she finally gave in. “Show me Inuyasha,” she commanded, holding the mirror tight in her right hand, higher and further away. In such a position it was easy for her to view the entire image.

 

The mirror's reflection shimmered slightly before blinking away its change. When the image was in focus she found herself staring at Inuyasha as he stalked back and forth in front of her shrine. He seemed angry.

 

Kikyou raised an eyebrow at the scene. He had returned back to her shrine, she noted with a wry smile. Such an action could mean only one of three options: he had finished the task and was trying to return to her; he came face to face with her intended victim and had found himself unable to pierce her with the arrow; or, he had never left the shrine at all.

 

Watching as he flew at a tree and slashed at it with his claws, Kikyou knew that it could not have been the last option. Inuyasha's anger radiated off of him in waves. The only answer then could be that he had caught onto her reasons behind sending him on this particular excursion. If he had never left the shrine, he would have no reason to be so angry. If he had approached Higurashi Kagome, he would have understood her plot immediately. She continued to watch his actions and his mutinous facial expression. She sighed and, not for the first time, wished that she could hear through her mirror.

 

Since it couldn't possibly be the first option - anyone who completed a task successfully surely would not celebrate by cutting down the surrounding landscape - nor the third, Kikyou reason that it must be the second: he must have encountered the maiden and was now furious at Kikyou's ministrations. The spirit contemplated her next step. She could appear at her shrine and question the hanyou whether or not he completed his assignment.

 

Kikyou snorted quietly at the thought. Given her companion's present temperament, it would do better to leave him be.

 

If contacting Inuyasha was temporarily not an option, she must instead rely on his target. With a snap of her fingers Kikyou called forth another image to her mirror. One glance at the girl would inform her if she had been cursed or not.

 

When the image flickered once more and changed, a second snort erupted from the dainty spirit, followed by a low chuckle. It was in the forest just outside of her shrine, near an old well, that she spied her current rival. The young woman looked a mess, her white kimono stained, her dark hair disheveled. Though the disarray causes her to look all the more lovely, Kikyou observed with a bit of disdain.

 

But the jealousy did not last long, for it was not Kagome that the spirit was interested in - it was the man who was stalking forward, eyeing the girl as if she were his prey. It was an expression that Kikyou had loathed. It was an expression that she had never forgotten.

 

She waved her free hand in front of the glass. The picture reverted back to that of the Shikon jewel. She had already wasted too much time using the Gods' mirror to her own devices; besides, the mirror had already served its purpose and she had seen all that she needed to. She now was aware that Inuyasha had faithfully fulfilled his pledge to her. He had shot the girl with the accursed arrows and, because of his action, she would no longer be a threat to Kikyou.

 

After all, only such a weapon as that bow and its arrows would have brought about such a conclusion. In re-writing that poor girl's destiny, Inuyasha had fated to bring Kagome and Naraku together.

& . & . &

When she found that she had no farther to go Kagome hurriedly ran around the well. The ancient structure was now all that separated her from her pursuer. “Who are you?” she demanded, sounding a lot more confident than she felt. In truth, behind the well, her knees were shaking.

He paused, an amused twinkle in his red eyes. “Who am I, Kagome? I am whoever you want me to be.” He snapped his finger and his shape began to shimmer. Slowly the man before her resumed a familiar guise. “Does this form please you?”

Kagome watched as the long dark hair cropped, the wild eyes tamed to a deep brown and she shuddered. “What did you do to Hojou?”

“Hojou?” he asked, tapping his chin with his pointer finger before a wicked smile crossed his youthful face. The cruel expression formed on Houjo's face scared her more than the monster had in his other form. “Who's Hojou?”

“You - I mean, him,” Kagome said, flustered, as she pointed directly at his chest.

He looked down at his body and shook his head. “Do you mean you haven't figured it out yet, Kagome?”

Sudden chills ran up and down her spine. Something was very wrong here.

He saw the apprehension as it crossed her face and continued to grin. “There never was a `Hojou', my pet. Only me, your Naraku.”

Naraku. The name echoed in her head like a long forgotten memory. Fear - an unholy, irrational terror - began to take hold of her heart. Who was this man? The name seemed familiar to her, almost as if she had heard it before, but she brushed the notion aside. There were more important matters at hand; according to this Naraku, there was no Hojou.

Kagome stomped her foot. She refused to believe him. “You're lying,” she said, leaning forward and gripping the rim of the well. “I've known Hojou almost my entire life and -”

“No,” Naraku interrupted coldly though his anger was almost palpable. In his ire he dropped his illusion again resuming his earlier form. “You have known me, Kagome. It has always been about me. I was the one who caught sight of you when you were an infant and followed you through childhood. I have watched you grow from a seed, nurtured you, cared for you and guarded you as your friend, until you blossomed into the young woman I see before me. You've bloomed solely for me and, now that you have ripened, I have come to collect my fruit. You heard that old priestess - even the Gods know that you were born solely for my sake.”

He began to advance on her but paused. Kagome was glowing slightly, her arms outstretched, her grey eyes narrowed. “How do you know what Lady Kaede said? I sent Houjo - you - home.”

He scoffed though he remained back. His arm still tingled from where her spiritual aura had disintegrated his illusion earlier; he did not want to meet her head-on, especially in her own upset. Instead he assumed another appearance. After the haze surrounding him cleared, Kagome gasped, but slowly began to understand. She was looking upon her own brother.

“Souta?” she asked, lowering her hands and bringing one to cover her mouth.

He nodded, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I think you are gorgeous, Kagome.” It was a mockery of the words that had confused her earlier. But not now.

If possible, her mouth widened and her skin lost its remaining color. “That…that was you?” she whispered around her hand. “You were in my house - you overheard the prophecy? You pretended to be my brother?”

He didn't answer. He didn't have to.

Kagome fought down the urge to be sick. It was tougher when Naraku dropped the guise of her brother, returning to his own appearance. The sight of him increased her nausea tremendously. “How many times were you there? How many people did you pretend to be?”

Again he remained silent.

“How many, Naraku?” she yelled, horrified, beating her hands against the well. “How many?!”

Naraku didn't answer her but, instead, began to approach her again. In her disgust Kagome had forgotten to draw a barrier around her. Though, if she was as inexperienced as he suspected, she was not capable of doing that consciously.

Kagome stopped her shouts. He was not answering her and his wicked smile indicated that she really didn't want to know the truth. He was coming for her, and that was all he wanted her to know. But she wouldn't give in without a fight; she wasn't giving up that easily. She scanned the area until her eyes rested on her only hope. It made not be a smart plan, but it was the only plan she had.

He was only a few feet away from the well when he saw a determined look come to Kagome's eyes. She glanced around the forest to verify that her mother had not yet arrived; the sun had almost set, and she was still alone with him. She had no choice. She would not allow herself to be taken by him.

With his next step she readied herself. She leaned forward and placed her hands firmly on the well. Another step and she had moved up against the structure. Then, when he was only an arm-length away, she threw herself forward. Before Naraku could stop her, Kagome had pushed herself into the well.

& . & . &

The scent burned at his nose but he kept running. He leaned forward as he ran, his long silver hair streaming behind him due to his speed. He bared his fangs and licked his lips in anticipation of the strike. He had been waiting fifty years for this. He thought he had killed him once before; it would be his pleasure to do so again.

The intermingling scents of demon and human were growing stronger with every stride and, even at his speed, Inuyasha was aware of his destination. He was heading toward the old well on the other side of the forest.

Though fifty years had past, a long-lingering scent trail alerted him to his position. While alive it was part of Kikyou's duty to seal off the well. Every neighboring child knew of the legend surrounding the well; anyone who entered the small, dark hole was never seen again. As he ran, he caught whiff of Kikyou's spiritual aura, though very faint. Except for a fresh burst of energy that permeated the area no other priestess left a presence around the well since Kikyou's death; it had been left unguarded in the time since then. He noticed this in the back of his mind but paid no attention. Ancient fairy tales meant nothing to him at the moment; the defeat of a despised enemy was his sole aim.

He emerged from the forest using a final burst of speed to launch himself in the air. He broke from the trees in time to spy Naraku, whole and alarming, stalking towards a young girl, a familiar girl. Claws outstretched, Inuyasha threw himself towards the demon. However, before he made contact, he watched as the girl slipped into the dark abyss of the well.

Lost in the moment, Inuyasha caught sight of the girl and drew in his breath. Kikyou. Almost as if he was reliving the past, Inuyasha slashed out at Naraku in response to his threatening Kikyou. He was behind the demon during his quick drop; Naraku, occupied with watching the girl fall, never knew what hit him. For the second time Inuyasha's claw succeeded in splitting Naraku in half.

His satisfaction at Naraku's death was overshadowed by his concern for the girl. Without thinking about neither Naraku's continued existence nor the impossibility of Kikyou being the girl that had fallen through the cursed well, Inuyasha launched himself gracefully after her. It was not until he was dropping into the darkness after Kagome that he remembered everything.