Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

The Gathering

Part the Third

Here today, gone tomorrow

He felt an immense relief flood through him as Kikyou left him. He knew all too well that he had just looked death in the face and scoffed once again. Was he a fool to do such things? He would not have been the first, if he were. For surely all were guilty of such that very crime at least once. And yet, he still let out a sigh of gratitude when she did not shoot him. Surely, he was a fool. A fool for getting caught up in this mess to begin with. Half of him wondered what might have happened if Kagome had never been brought back here. The other half wondered what might happen, had he never sent her back. But mostly he was simply grateful that they were all alive. (To what extent be as it may.) And as close to death as they all had trodden, all had escaped-though some more bitter than others. And thought he wished for her return-even as he gripped her jewel shards in his own hands-he would not danger Kagome any more than he already had. He cared for her, and due to that, he would do everything he could to make sure she lived. Even if it meant a permanent good-bye. Perhaps that was better? He did not want Kagome to watch him die. And one way or the other, and he knew this was true, he was going to die in this battle. If the demons he sought to destroy did not do him in first, then that tragic priestess he loved so deeply certainly would.

"Inuyasha?" Curse that monk for all it was worth. He had the worse timing.

And so he did not reply. Silently he jumped up into the tree under which he had stood. He wished for Miroku to leave him be. Leave him be until the time to fight came to him. But the monk would not leave. And as much as he willed him to, the lecherous priest stood staring up at him. His expression was curious, but it told him nothing of what his human companion was thinking. When next he spoke, Miroku shocked his pants off of him.

"Just go after her." The human advised. "This entire ordeal is killing you. Go get her. Trust me," Miroku winked at him. Winked at him! "It will make you feel better to have Kagome-sama back."

And at last he spoke in return. The reply was hushed, for he dared neither to rush it nor to speak too loudly.

"I'm sure it would." He murmured in return. "But I will not sacrifice her safety for my happiness."

"Is it truly her safety you worry so much for, Inuyasha?" Miroku questioned him sardonically. "Or Kikyou-sama's pacification?"

He hesitated before making his reply. It was short, though slow and carefully worded. "Don't the two go hand in hand?"

"To a certain extent, yes." The priest relented. "But past that you shall find only heartache in both yourself and Kagome-sama. That is neither healthy nor safe for anyone. You will do well to remember that."

And he left. Just like that. With no hesitation, no spare words, he left Inuyasha to his own. To his brooding, his pondering, his deepest thoughts. Somehow, just as the flow of time had passed, he had become close to those around him. Shippou and Sango and Miroku, and especially Kagome. They had become more than just friends to him. Shippou, a pup who needed protection-protection he had found in Kagome. Sango was like his sister and Miroku made up for the slightly lacking fraternal influence that being related to Sesshoumaru had insured for him. Then there was Kagome. He wasn't even sure what he felt for the reincarnation of his first love. Surely he loved her but…why? Did he love her because she was Kikyou? Or was it…perhaps because she was not? It did not matter. None of it mattered. Not anymore. He would not see Kagome Higurashi again. It was better that way. She could once again settle back into her life and he into his. It was…better that way.

+++

Kagome felt shell-shocked as she stepped past her grandfather, once again drenched in saké. Her heart felt shattered and she didn't know why. Inuyasha was not the type to get to close and she had known that from the beginning. He had sent her home for her own good. But still her knees trembled and gave way as she collapsed, terrified tears running down her face. Inuyasha had her jewel shards. And he had promised to die with Kikyou when all this was over. What if he died during the battle? Would she…never see him again? She didn't know when it had happened but at some point she had fallen in love with that obnoxious half-breed. She felt Souta trying to pull her up through her hazy mind-her sweet, thoughtful little brother-but made no effort to help him. What had that damned half demon done to her?

"Sis?" His voice sounded like it was travelling a great distance. She could not concentrate on it. Her mind solely focused on Inuyasha and his words. "Sis, are you okay?" No…she wasn't okay. She would never be 'okay' again. Inuyasha did not want her. He did not need her! He had Kikyou now. What use had he of her when that priestess could do all she could and more? Was it possible that he did not love her for all that she could not do?

With each passing second it became more and more clear to her. She hated Kikyou-she despised her! Just as she had begun to forge a relationship with Inuyasha, that bitchy priestess had just flounced back from death all angered and angsty, stealing Inuyasha's heart right back up where it came from! What good came from that? She asked herself this and came to one conclusion. None. No good would come from Kikyou and Inuyasha getting close again. And so she would go back to that feudal era. She had done it once, she could do it again-jewel shards or no jewel shards she would stop them. Inuyasha. Would. Not. Die. She would take it upon herself to make sure that the Grim Reaper didn't come knocking on that hanyou's door.

+++

It was a strange sensation, being alone. She knew it all too well, and yet it still shocked her how unbearable she found complete solitude. Even when it was her own fault, she who had sent her company away, she still found nothing but darkness and sorrow in the caverns of her mind. And despair when left to her own exploration of these horrid halls. Even when in company she often found that she was alone. No one knew what she had been through to the extent of true knowledge. No one except him. He who she had bound to that tree. He who should never have woken again. He who that witch from the future had brought back from death. She would never see the point in it all, yet she did not want to either. Was there really such a need for a reason to everything in life? Why was that so? She looked back at where she had left him. He was no longer standing in that spot. He had gone somewhere. Did she care to where he had travelled? No. No she didn't. She had no need to know. It did not benefit her in anyway. She did not need to know. She did not want to know. Slowly she looked away, allowing her self to once again fall back into the caverns that her mind existed of. Yes, it was a strange thing, solitude. Yet existing without it bewildered her even more.

+++

Kouga frowned and looked at the cloud hovering over a near-by village. That was no ordinary cloud. The scent coming from it was rank and it practically choked him. More scents assaulted his poor, abused nose as he tired to sniff out the source. It smelled of dog and human. Kagome? Why was she there? What danger was she in? Quick as lightening the wolf demon took off in the direction he had smelt Kagome's scent from. But when he reached it a girl, frowning deeply and pointing an arrow at him, met him. He returned her frown and quickly stopped in his dash for her. Something wasn't right. The girl smelt…dead. She was not of that world-that much was certain.

"What business have you here?" The girl demanded. She was not Kagome. Kagome would have recognized him right away. Kagome would have… "Answer me!" She shouted now, obviously losing her patients. Kagome would never have made such demands toward him.

"Where's Kagome?" He countered with, only to have an arrow zoom by, narrowly missing his ear, which twitched slightly at the thunk noise of the arrowhead being embedded into the wood of the tree behind him.

"Do not speak to me about her!" The girl yelled, quickly cocking a new arrow. "Don't you dare speak of her in this place!" She held the arrow taut and aimed carefully for his chest. "Who are you?" She shrieked. "What business have you here?" She repeated her earlier asked question. "Answer me!"

"Why should I?" Kouga asked, angered. What right had this witch to ask him such things? Why did she even care? What did it matter to her? "Witch!" He spat as an after thought.

Her eyes widened and the girl looked at him, with either hurt or anger over flowing from those dark brown portals that looked so much like Kagome's. Windows that showed nothing, blinds pulled shut. That name…her eyes burned with rage. That name…Inuyasha had used it on her.

"That word bother you?" He smirked at her. "Witch!" He put more emphasis on it this time. "What's the matter, girl?" A slightly mad look gleamed in his eyes. And he put yet more mocking into his tone. "Did your boyfriend use to with you-?"

"Shut up!" She yelled, her eyes wide, letting loose another arrow, which fell just short of contact. Another one was cocked and she shouted, with more force than any words yet. "Next time I won't miss!"

Kouga paused. There was something about this girl. Dead or alive, she looked exactly like Kagome. And he loved Kagome. So…he would help this girl. "Who are you anyway?"

"Don't you know?" She looked close to tears now. "Haven't you heard?" Hadn't he heard of the dead priestess?

"No." He answered honestly. "What's wrong with you?" He cocked his head slightly, the girl looked like she would just assume die. "Did I stir you up that much?"

"You know him." She glared angrily at him. "You know him! You know him because you know her!"

"The monk called you a witch?" He responded disbelievingly.

"No." She shook her head slowly and then dropped down to her knees sobbing silently. "Not the monk."

"Then…" His eyes widened and he knelt down next to her. "Inuyasha?" She didn't reply, only cried harder. "That mutt-face did this to you?"

"No." She cried. "He didn't do anything." She paused, shaking her head and then yelled-as thought just realizing it herself. "It wasn't him!"

"Who are you?" He asked her again, more gently this time. Maybe this girl was more like Kagome than he thought.

"K…Kikyou." She replied this time, tears still streaming down her face. Perhaps it was a mistake to agree to help Inuyasha?

"Kikyou." He nodded. "Kikyou, why do you hate Kagome so much?"

"I can't tell you." She sobbed, pressing her face against the grass. "I can't tell you. Can't admit it's true."

Suddenly Kouga was gone in a rush of wind. And Kikyou soon calmed again. She didn't know what had gotten into her. Too much of everything, she supposed. But soon enough she was back to her duties and her face was dry. Soon enough, it would all be over. Then she could truly rest. Then and only then would she truly be at peace.

To be continued…

Next chapter teaser-

"What did you do to her, asshole?" Kouga demanded, landing a forceful punch on Inuyasha's face. Shocking the un-expecting half-breed.

"I didn't do anything." He retorted, returning the blow with just as much force. And Kikyou's words returned to him.

"He didn't do anything. It wasn't him."

Next time-The most powerful of weapons