InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Something Entirely Different ❯ Part 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Something Entirely Different

Just A Starving Writer/JustAnotherGirl

Disclaimer: nope, not mine.

Part 2: Conversations with the dead

Upon arriving in the Feudal Era, Kagome immediately knew something was amiss. Still, she pushed the feeling aside and hauled herself out of the well to find no Inuyasha waiting for her. Huffing with annoyance and deciding he was merely late, she plopped down on the edge of the well, content to wait.

However, waiting quickly became an issue when that nagging unease in the back of her mind pushed itself to the forefront. Shivering from a nonexistent breeze, she started to look around nervously while preparing her bow.

"Who is there?!" she yelled into the silent forest, hoping her voice sounded stronger and more forceful than she felt.

A sudden wind picked up and before she was even aware what had happened, she found herself on the ground, the wood planks of the well biting into her back. Regaining her bearings, she tried to focus on the ground in front of her.

"What happened?" she asked groggily with slight irritation to no one in particular.

"You died," answered a familiar cold voice. Turning her eyes, she followed the booted feet at her head up to the still, pale face of her attacker. The position was all too uncomfortable to keep eye contact and so she turned onto her back and stared unerringly into his frosted eyes.

"You killed me again?" He merely nodded. Strange how the knowledge of his inability to do away with her changed her entire perspective of the demon. She was relaxed in his presence, almost amused with the annoyance she sensed beyond his veiled eyes.

"Yet you live," he stated coldly. If he was shocked, he hid it well.

"Yeah, I noticed." Her lack of fear of him, added to her insolence, was an irresistible call to kill her and he did just that. However, once again, she refused to stay dead. Her torn throat reassembled itself and her eyes blinked at him.

"Again?" she asked incredulously. A hard, slightly aggravated gaze was her answer.

"Are you done now?" she continued. His eyes became harder. When she woke a few moments later he was still there, still staring relentlessly down at her.

"That's really annoying, you know," she said admonishingly.

"Then stay dead."

"That seems to be beyond my power. Sorry."

"Hn." With that he turned and walked away. Standing up, she stared after him.

"Wait!" she yelled haphazardly. He stopped but did not turn to her. "Do you know why?"

He stood there silently before resuming his steady pace.

"No, but I will. Then you will stay dead."

Leaning against the well, she said nothing and merely stared as the stoic lord walked into the dark forest. A few minutes later, a red blur signaled the arrival of the hanyou.

"Where is he?" he asked while drawing his sword.

"He left."

"The coward."

"He did it again."

"Again? He killed you?"

"Yup," she stated with a soft sigh.

"How the hell are you so calm?" he asked incredulously.

She met his eyes and grinned brightly.

"Because I'm still alive."

***************************

The visits were always random, always without warning, and always involved some sort of death for the poor girl. It grew increasingly annoying. One moment she would be gathering firewood, the next watching him walk away from her position on the ground. One moment she was walking back from the well, the next he was standing over her, meeting her eyes emotionlessly. She experienced death in so many ways, quickly, slowly, through poison, sword, claw, and brute strength. And always, without fail, she came back.

After a few weeks of the odd torture, she started one sided conversations with the demon lord. He never spoke back, merely walked away or stared intensely, but she found speaking a wonderful way to break the tension she felt upon waking.

"That's 62 times, you know," Kagome stated one day upon waking by the spring after her bath. She had just finished dressing when a cold wind swept by her and she woke, back to the ground, feet lying in the cool water, demon lord standing over her with cold eyes.

"You'd think you'd grow tired of this." Seriously, she was growing tired of it.

"I mean, nothing ever changes, does it? I still live no matter what you do." She sighed to signal her irritation. He said nothing and walked away.

"Why?" she asked one day when she woke to find the herbs she was gathering strewn around her wildly and the familiar demon lord regarding her coolly.

"Is this just some weird hobby of yours or what?" Nothing.

"What did I do to you to deserve this?" He blinked. At least that was something. She smiled brightly.

"If you wanted revenge over the `arrow incidents', you've gotten it." Nothing. Her smile faded slightly to a determined grin.

"Please stop this." She didn't mean for it to sound like a plea but it did. He said nothing.

"Please," she repeated softly.

The tears were streaming down her face before she even knew she was crying. She closed her eyes in a sad attempt to stop, but upon reopening them, the demon was gone and she was alone. That thought made the tears return full force and she sobbed until Sango found her and soothed her quietly.

"I wonder," she said curiously one day as she watched the demon lord walk away from her position strewn over a boulder.

"I wonder if it works both ways. I wonder if I can kill you." The lord stopped but began again after a short pause. Apparently he hadn't given the matter any thought.

Of course, then she was intensely curious. Curiosity became determination. She wanted, no, she needed to do something, to have more of a part in this. Though she was more than certain his death would have the same result as hers, there was still doubt and it bothered her. Eventually, she was able to dislodge that unease and worked out ways to kill the demon lord.

Finally, the day came when she got her chance. She woke propped against the well as he walked across the clearing away from her. Silently but quickly preparing an arrow, she shot the bastard. The arrow pierced his back perfectly and he went to his knees. With a mix of hesitation, worry, and glee, she ran to him, next arrow ready. He regarded her coolly, even as she looked down at him from behind the bow.

"Feel this."

Shooting the arrow above his armor and straight into his heart, she watched in stunned, guilty awe as the proud lord tilted and fell to one side, dead.

Kneeling beside his still form, she finally had the opportunity to observe him carefully. Taking in all his features, her eyes then went to the arrows. Suddenly, he was surrounded in a green glow and the arrows dissolved into fine dust. The little blood that had spilt was sucked back into the wounds which then proceeded to close.

His eyes snapped open and he stared at her, surprise clearly written on his usually stoic face.

"How'd it feel?" she asked curiously, sitting beside him, laying her bow down within easy reach.

"Strange." She wasn't expecting a response, but Kagome supposed that was an adequate description.

"Yup," she responded, happiness springing lightly back into her eyes.

He surprised her by rolling onto his back, knees up, a relaxed position and completely unsuited to the lord.

"Do it again," he commanded quietly.

"What?" she questioned as the smile faded slightly.

"Kill me."

"Whatever for?" she asked incredulously.

"It was…interesting."

"I don't want to," she stated while shaking her head defiantly.

"Do it."

"No." Hands found their ways to her hips as she adopted the universal gesture of a woman determined to have her way.

She woke a few minutes later on her back, him in the same position as before she died. She copied his posture and the two lay there, staring at the blue sky in silence.

"Why." It was less of a question and more a demand.

"Why don't I kill you?" she asked quietly, a grin finding its way once again to her lips.

"Yes."

"I don't like to kill," she stated plainly as if that should be entirely obvious to all.

"But you do."

"When I have to."

"Kill me."

"No."

He was silent and she shifted on the ground. They lie there quietly for a while longer but soon he rose and departed, walking regally back into the forest as she watched. She stayed on the ground after he had disappeared and didn't get up until the sun began to sink into the horizon.

When she gained her feet, she noticed something where the demon had lain. Kneeling and picking it up, she found it to be a dagger, silver and unadorned. The black sheath shined dully in the failing light. She could only guess its purpose. Sliding it into the waistband of her skirt and tugging her top over the hilt, she proceeded onward to the village with a silly, slightly comforted smile plastered to her face.

She told no one about the dagger or the most recent encounter with the demon lord.

~*~

"Have ye thought anymore of Sesshoumaru?" Kaede questioned her one day as they took a break from another successful shard hunt.

"A bit," Kagome answered truthfully, suppressing the grin that usually accompanied her thoughts of the demon lord's fruitless attempts to kill her.

"Have ye discovered anything?"

"Just that I can't kill him either." She couldn't help it. She smiled brightly.

Everyone immediately stopped their various tasks and looked at her.

"You've killed him?" Inuyasha asked incredulously.

"Once. But he came back. It was amazing, really." She remembered the green glow illuminating the pale features of the lord and the arrows dissolving into nothingness. She remembered the startled look on his face when he woke. Her eyes softened. It really was amazing.

"What the hell! Are you enjoying this?" Inuyasha fumed as he stood and stomped the few steps to stand over her.

"No, I'm not. But it's still amazing. Completely amazing." Her grin turned almost wistful as she remembered the lord's commands to kill him again. The hanyou eyed her critically before he turned and left the room in an angry huff.

The others said nothing.

********

After the incident with the arrows, he visited more often, choosing instead of killing her immediately more physical means, seeking as it were to force her to kill him.

She adamantly refused, though she was not reluctant to fight back. The dagger remained at her side, always sheathed, never drawing blood.

Kagome knew he was growing impatient, but there was nothing she could do about it. Even knowing that he would not stay dead, she was reluctant to kill him. She could only smile defiantly and deny him.

One day she found herself stuck to the ground, his knees pinning her arms while his only hand insistently pushed her neck into the soft grass. Still, she was not scared.

"Why?" she asked instead, reading his face and finding his hesitation. The thought brought a grin to her face.

"Because you won't," he answered cryptically. He then did the last thing she expected. Releasing her neck, he rolled off her and lay beside her, shoulders touching.

They rested there silently for a good space of time before his arm reached across her body and grasped the hidden hilt of the dagger.

"Hey!" she said indignantly as he drew the blade and lifted it to his eyes for inspection. He regarded it coolly for a few moments before suddenly jamming in into her body. When she woke, he was gone, leaving only a soft imprint in the grass beside her. The dagger was back in the sheath at her waist. She dimly felt the phantom tickles where his hand had strayed on her cheek. A fit of giggles made her roll around on the ground before she finally regained her bearings and returned to camp.

The scene replayed itself constantly, with various changes. He would sneak up on her, she would struggle but quickly be overcome, he would stop, they would rest, then he would leave. Some days no killing happened at all. Other days, it seemed he couldn't get enough. Still, they only grew more comfortable in each others' presence. It was entirely strange, these meetings they had.

Eventually she became aware that the time it required to heal was becoming shorter with each attempt. Some of his efforts were entirely wasted as she would heal before death could even claim her. The other benefit was her growing strength in hand to hand combat. Her pointless struggles against the demon lord were gaining her insight into the world of fighting and she could feel her muscles hardening into something new. As well, her repeated trips to the afterworld were steadily changing her personality as well. Little things ceased to matter and she found it impossible not to smile at Life.

"It used to bother me whenever Inuyasha would talk about Kikyou," she told the quiet demon lord one day after their most recent bout of death. "But it doesn't now. It's strange." She turned onto her side and laid her head on her outstretched arm, quietly taking in the details of the lord at her side. He seemed to ignore her and her grinning observation.

Time stretched on in that moment and eventually he left, leaving the girl there to watch him depart without having said a word. She stayed, rolling over into his vacated spot and reveling in the warmth that it had retained from his body.

"Kagome," a voice startled her out of her reverie. From the shadows of the wood came the monk, his features a perfect image of friendly concern.

"Miroku?" He said nothing as he approached and sat beside her outstretched body.

"You saw, didn't you," she stated calmly without meeting his eyes.

"Yes."

"How strange is life?" she pondered quietly, a happy expression on her expressive face.

"Very, it seems."

They sat in relative silence.

"You have changed," he said thoughtfully, finally turning his gaze away from the heavens and onto her.

"Yes. I have." Her smile broadened.

"Because of him."

"Yes, I believe so." They didn't speak the rest of the night, merely examined the stars in friendly contentment.