InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Kikyo's Decision ( Chapter 29 )

Recap: Sesshomaru saved Inuyasha from himself, but told Inuyasha that he had overcome his demon spirit on his own. Kohaku was saved and as the sun rose Inuyasha returned to his half-demon form. The fight against Naraku continued, with Kikyo appearing and stealing the jewel shards from Kagome.

 

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Chapter 29 - Kikyo's Decision

 

Kagome spun around, breaking into a smile of delight as she saw Inuyasha floating towards them, the Tetsusaiga in his hands, his eyes golden once more as he appeared in his usual, half-demon form.

 

“Inuyasha!” she called to him, opening out her arms expectantly.

 

“K…” he began. “Kikyo!”

 

“Huh?” Kagome gasped, her smile dropping as Inuyasha altered his course, landing in front of Kikyo at the other end of the courtyard.

 

“Then again…” Miroku muttered.

 

“Inuyasha…” Kikyo said softly.

 

“Kikyo, what are you doing here?” Inuyasha asked her, his eyes wide with bewilderment.

 

“I need those sacred jewel shards you have Inuyasha,” she firmly replied. “Give them to me.”

 

“What?” Inuyasha echoed. “But… What will you do with them?”

 

“Stop wasting time, Inuyasha!” Kikyo snapped back. “Give them to me now!”

 

Inuyasha slowly reached a hand into his haori, his eyes wide and fixed onto Kikyo as he did so.

 

“Inuyasha don't do it!” Kagome yelled. “We don't even know if we can trust her! She's not real, remember? This might just be another one of Naraku's traps!”

 

But Inuyasha ignored Kagome, handing the shards to Kikyo slowly but without hesitation. Kikyo smirked, a small laugh escaping her lips. Kagome cried out in frustration as Kikyo walked to the back of the courtyard, soon disappearing into the castle itself.

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome growled. “What were you thinking? If she gives those shards to Naraku, he'll have the whole jewel!”

 

“We don't know that for certain,” Miroku pointed out.

 

“Although Naraku's piece of the jewel is so large, those shards Kikyo has are probably the only other remaining pieces,” Sango said.

 

“I trust Kikyo,” Inuyasha said quietly.

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome wailed, tears burning at her eyes.

 

“I trust Kikyo,” Inuyasha said again. “And the body she has now may not be the body of a living mortal, but her soul is still the same. She was the first person to ever believe in me, and she gave her life for me. I can't ever forget that.”

 

Kagome whimpered, a tear slipping out of one eye.

 

“And besides, we've got bigger things to worry about right now,” Inuyasha continued.

 

“Inuyasha, I have a question,” Miroku began. “Where were you all night? And what happened to you?”

 

“I removed the jewel shards from my body, but then I realised I wasn't strong enough to fight back any more,” Inuyasha explained. “Sesshomaru made me leave with Kohaku.”

 

“Kohaku?” Sango echoed, her eyes widening.

 

“Yeah,” Inuyasha replied, nodding his head. “It turns out that I took his jewel shard while I was still using the power of the three jewel shards I already had. But I managed to save his life. He got all his memories back, and he's not doing too well, but he's looking forward to starting again with you, Sango.”

 

“You saved Kohaku?” Sango repeated. “In your demon form? Inuyasha…”

 

“What about Kirara?” Miroku asked. “What happened to her?”

 

“Oh, I left her with Sesshomaru,” Inuyasha casually replied. “She was a mess.”

 

“She had a wound on her shoulder,” Miroku pointed out.

 

“I didn't see any wounds on her shoulder,” Inuyasha slowly replied. “But that's probably cause she was lying flat on her back. She had some really bad wounds over her stomach though.”

 

“What?” Sango yelped.

 

“You left her with your brother?” Miroku asked. “I'm not sure that was the best idea…”

 

Miroku stepped aside, moving his staff towards the scene behind him. Inuyasha's eyes followed the direction Miroku was pointing, his head tilting to one side as he studied what he saw.

 

“Damn him, he's not interfering this time!” Inuyasha yelled, lifting his Tetsusaiga to one shoulder and charging off across the courtyard.

 

The others turned to watch him go, each shocked to find that Sesshomaru had apparently killed Naraku.

 

“Hey jackass!” Inuyasha yelled, running at his brother, ready to chop his head off with the sword their father had gifted him with.

 

“Stay back!” Sesshomaru shouted at him.

 

“No chance!” Inuyasha replied. “You think that you can…”

 

Inuyasha slowly stopped talking, and slowed to a halt a few feet short of his older brother. Inuyasha blinked several times in confusion at what he saw. He was certain he had never seen his brother look that way before, and the very sight of it made him suddenly afraid.

 

“Move, unless you wish to die,” Sesshomaru growled at him.

 

Inuyasha took a step back, eying his brother over in amazement. Sesshomaru's clothing was torn in several places and spattered with a series of small blood stains and his hair was ragged and limp, sticking to the sweat around his forehead and down the sides of his face and neck. He had somehow lost the fur scarf from over his right shoulder, and the armour plate over his left shoulder had a chunk missing from it.

 

But, more unsettling than anything else in Inuyasha's mind, his brother was panting heavily, looking thoroughly exhausted, something Inuyasha had never seen happen to his all-powerful, graceful and aloof older brother before.

 

“What the hell happened to you?” Inuyasha asked, waving a hand at Sesshomaru's uncharacteristically dishevelled form.

 

Before Sesshomaru could answer, one of Naraku's spiked, insect-like legs shot towards him. He leapt out of harm's way, jumping up and back onto the roof of the veranda behind them. Inuyasha continued to stand perfectly still, dumbly watching on as his brother growled, his eyes flashing red before he leapt back down to the ground, landing more heavily on his feet than he normally would.

 

“Naraku won't die,” Sesshomaru explained, catching Inuyasha's staring eyes as he straightened himself up. “Take those jewel shards you have and leave. If he gains any more power, it may be impossible to kill him.”

 

“Um…” Inuyasha began awkwardly, his face turning slightly pink.

 

Sessshomaru narrowed his eyes, his lips thinning.

 

“You do still have the jewel shards, don't you Inuyasha?” he asked gruffly.

 

“No, but it's okay, they're safe,” Inuyasha confidently replied.

 

“Define safe,” Sesshomaru said.

 

“I gave them to Kikyo.”

 

Another one of Naraku's spiked legs shot towards the two brothers, and they leapt apart to avoid the blow.

 

“Kikyo?” Sesshomaru called over to Inuyasha. “Which one is Kikyo?”

 

“The priestess who owned the sacred jewel in the first place,” Inuyasha called back.

 

“The one who pinned you to a tree for fifty years?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Inuyasha leapt back from one Naraku's tendrils, turning to find that Naraku's once limp and broken form was almost fully regenerated.

 

“Damn,” he muttered. “Ow!”

 

Inuyasha's head was knocked forwards as Sesshomaru punched a fist into the back of his head.

 

“What the hell was that for?” Inuyasha yelled at him.

 

“You fool!” Sesshomaru snarled. “Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me! What were you thinking?”

 

“Calm down!” Inuyasha snapped. “Kikyo won't let Naraku have the shards! She hates him! Naraku still has the heart of Onigumo, a human who once fell in love with Kikyo. She knows what she's doing. I trust her.”

 

“You gave the shards to Naraku's human lover,” Sesshomaru said flatly.

 

“No!” Inuyasha shouted. “Kikyo's not Naraku's lover! She loves me!”

 

“It's certainly not difficult to see which of us was gifted with intelligence,” Sesshomaru muttered.

 

“Hey, I heard that, you stupid jackass!”

 

“If only your mind were as sharp as your ears, we might not be in this mess.”

 

“Ah, shut-up! It doesn't matter anyway, because I'm going to finish Naraku, right here and right now!”

 

Inuyasha grasped onto the Tetsusaiga with both hands, fixing his eyes onto Naraku's now fully regenerated form.

 

“Wind Scar!” he yelled, slicing his sword down through the air and sending a series of energy blasts at Naraku.

 

“Fool,” Sesshomaru muttered behind him.

 

“What are you talking about?” Inuyasha snapped, rounding on his brother. “He's finished! And I didn't even need to break a sweat!”

 

Inuyasha laughed at Sesshomaru, but Sesshomaru remained unfazed.

 

“Open your eyes, you idiot,” he said flatly.

 

“Huh?” Inuyasha grunted, turning back to Naraku.

 

As the blazing light of Inuyasha's attack died away, Naraku's body lay strewn across the courtyard, the air around them becoming suddenly deathly still and silent. A second later, Sesshomaru began charging forwards, clutching the Tokijin in both hands, his face set with determination.

 

“Hey, back off, Sesshomaru!” Inuyasha yelled after him. “I've already finished Naraku for you!”

 

Inuyasha smirked at his brother's seemingly wasted effort, only to cry out in alarm a moment later as something grabbed onto his right leg, squeezing onto him tightly. Looking down, Inuyasha saw a grey, pulsing, slimy, chunk of one of Naraku's tendrils.

 

“What the hell?” he muttered, clawing through the fleshy lump with one hand. “Why is it still moving?”

 

The lump fell to the ground in two halves, shivered for a moment, and then both parts shot up, one grabbing Inuyasha's throat, the other locking around his left wrist, squeezing until he almost dropped the Tetsusaiga. As Inuyasha fought to claw off the tendril piece around his throat, his breathing becoming increasingly restricted by its hold, he moved his eyes to Sesshomaru, only to find his brother up in the air, a tendril around each of his legs and one of his arms. Sesshomaru's teeth were bared and he looked infuriated; but, to Inuyasha's confusion, Sesshomaru was not using his one free hand to fight off the tendrils around him.

 

Sesshomaru was holding up the Tokijin in his free hand and pointing the tip at a flesh-coloured lump by the edge of the veranda at the opposite side of the courtyard.

 

Inuyasha began to puzzle over just what his brother was doing, but the two lumps attacking him suddenly tightened their hold, and he was forced to drop the Tetsusaiga. Understanding the implications of not having his sword, and not particularly wishing to lose control of himself again at such a crucial moment in the battle, Inuyasha hurriedly tore through the lump at his throat, bent down and grabbed up the Tetsusaiga in his right hand, and then bit through the lump around his left wrist.

 

Taking hold of his sword in both hands, Inuyasha turned back to Naraku, yelping at what he saw: Naraku was almost fully regenerated, as though he had never even been hit with the Wind Scar.

 

“Hey Sesshomaru!” Inuyasha began, turning his head to look up at his brother, who was now being held in place by five tendrils: one on each arm, one on each leg and one around his waist. “What's happening? Why is Narkau able to survive the Wind Scar?”

 

“Fool…” Sesshomaru replied, his voice strained as he struggled against Naraku's grip. “His heart… Aim for his heart, it's the only way…”

 

“His heart?” Inuyasha echoed, turning to Naraku, who had completely reformed, including his humanlike head, arms and torso. “But my last shot hit him in the chest!”

 

“Not… His chest…” Sesshomaru growled.

 

“Huh?” Inuyasha muttered, turning to look up at Sesshomaru.

 

Inuyasha waited for his brother to continue, but soon realised that, under the vice-like grip Naraku had around his upper body, Sesshomaru was struggling to breathe. Inuyasha heard a series of sickening, cracking sounds, and wondered which bones his brother had just broken.

 

“You know how to defeat Naraku, Sesshomaru?” Kagome yelled. “I hope you're telling the truth…”

 

“Kagome, no!” Sango protested.

 

But Kagome ignored the others, firing an arrow at the trunk of the tendril that was gripping onto Sesshomaru's body. The tendril glowed at the point of impact, before dissolving into thin air. Sesshomaru quickly pulled his arms together, cutting through the tendrils holding them with his Tokijin and then cutting free his legs.

 

“The spider,” Sesshomaru explained as he landed by Inuyasha's side once more, his armour splitting around his ribs where it had been cracked by Naraku's hold. “Every time he regenerates, the pieces of his body all move towards the spider. If we destroy the spider, we destroy Naraku.”

 

“Wow,” Inuyasha said sarcastically. “You just said “we”.”

 

“Naraku's body is made up of innumerable other demons,” Sesshomaru replied. “Their immense numbers are making this fight more difficult than it needs to be.”

 

“In other words, you need my help, jackass,” Inuyasha sang, grinning to himself. “Face it Sesshomaru, you're not strong enough to defeat Naraku on your own. You need me. You saw me controlling my demon blood and the jewel shards, and now you finally realise that I'm better than you.”

 

Sesshomaru ignored Inuyasha's comments, causing his younger brother to laugh confidently.

 

“I have an idea,” Miroku called over to them. “Inuyasha, use your Wind Scar again.”

 

“Yeah, I know!” Inuyasha called back. “But this time, aim it at the spider, right?”

 

“No,” Miroku called back. “Just do exactly what you did before. Trust me.”

 

Sesshomaru studied Miroku for a moment, before turning to Sango and Kagome, who were hurrying over to the back corner of the courtyard.

 

“I see,” he muttered.

 

“What?” Inuyasha echoed, frowning up at him.

 

“Your mortal friend wishes to use the void in his hand to remove all of the extra pieces of Naraku's body,” Sesshomaru quietly explained. “Making it easier for us to get a clear shot at his heart.”

 

“That'll never work!” Inuyasha drawled. “Naraku will just let out his poison insects, and they'll kill Miroku!”

 

“I think your friend already knows that,” Sesshomaru calmly replied.

 

“Huh?” Inuyasha echoed.

 

But Sesshomaru had already launched into the air, the Tokijin held in both hands in front of him.

 

“Oh no you don't!” Inuyasha yelled, leaping after him.

 

Sesshomaru swung his sword through the air, an arc of green light shooting outwards towards Naraku. As he moved back, Inuyasha appeared beside him, holding the Tetsusaiga above his head with both hands.

 

“Get down, you fool!” Sesshomaru shouted at him, kicking Inuyasha in the gut and sending him flying back towards the ground.

 

“You basta-” Inuyasha began, his voice being cut off as his body smashed through the wooden roof of a nearby building.

 

Sesshomaru quickly dropped low to the ground, backing under the veranda as Miroku opened the cover to his wind tunnel.

 

“This is stupid,” Inuyasha grumbled, holding onto a pillar inside the building as the broken roof above him began to shatter further, sections breaking off and shooting towards Miroku's hand. “Naraku will just use his poison insects to kill Miroku!”

 

“You're finished this time, Naraku!” Miroku yelled, holding his hand steady.

 

Feeling more confident than ever when no poison insects appeared, Miroku barely noticed the faint sound of laughter at first. Not until his hand began to cramp slightly, the sensation of his fingers being forced apart straining on his nerves did Miroku finally begin to realise that something was seriously wrong.

 

“You fool, monk!” Naraku's voice yelled at him. “Did you honestly think that I would be so careless as to curse you with a weapon that you could just turn on me?”

 

“What?” Miroku said softly, his brow furrowing as the discomfort in his hand turned into pain.

 

Miroku gasped in alarm as he felt the skin around his wind tunnel ripping.

 

“Stop it Miroku!” Sango yelled to him. “It's a trap!”

 

Miroku hurriedly closed over his wind tunnel, wrapping the prayer beads around his hand. He immediately dropped to his knees, a cold sweat breaking out over his body.

 

`It's too late,' he thought miserably. `I've widened the wind tunnel. Even though it's covered, I can still feel it trying to pull. I don't have long left before I am sucked in myself.'

 

Miroku lifted his head, his eyes moving to Sango.

 

`I have to get out of here, before I hurt anyone else,' he thought, struggling to his feet.

 

Sango's eyes widened as she watched Miroku stumble across the courtyard.

 

“Miroku?” she called to him. “What's the matter, Miroku? Where are you going?”

 

“Don't follow me!” he called back, before stumbling into a building with a broken-down doorway.

 

“Miroku!”

 

Miroku paused, turning to find Kirara sitting in a corner of the room he was in.

 

“Ki-Kirara?”

 

“Miroku, what's wrong?”

 

Kirara closed the fastening of her armour at her side, standing up and approaching Miroku.

 

“What happened to you?” Miroku asked, frowning down at the tears in her solid metal armour.

 

“Oh, nothing much,” she lied. “Where are you going?”

 

“It's my wind tunnel…” Miroku began, closing his fist and holding his fingers in place with his other hand.

 

“It's not… Has the hole gotten wider?” Kirara asked, her face turning pale as she began to fear the worst.

 

“I don't have long,” Miroku said, trying to keep his voice steady. “I'm going to go somewhere where I know I won't hurt anyone else. Do me favour please, Kirara?”

 

“Certainly, what do you need?”

 

“Look after Sango for me.”

 

Kirara opened her mouth to protest, but Miroku ran on, disappearing through the door Kirara had watched Inuyasha leave through with Kohaku the night before.

 

“Miroku!” Sango yelled, streaking past Kirara.

 

“Sango, no!” Kirara cried, hurrying after her.

 

“Miroku!” Sango yelled, tearing after him as he staggered down the side of the mountain, stumbling over rocks and branches as he went.

 

In his waning state of health, Miroku could not out-run Sango, and she quickly caught up with him, running into his path to stop him.

 

“What are you doing, Miroku?” she demanded, tears welling in her eyes.

 

“Stay away from me Sango,” he warned. “The wind tunnel… I took in too much I can't control it any more. Any minute now it will break loose and suck in everything, including me. If you don't move away, I might suck you in too. I can't stop it once it starts. I saw what happened to my father, he had no control over it whatsoever.”

 

“I won't leave you Miroku,” Sango said firmly.

 

She stepped closer to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

 

“I love you Miroku,” she whispered into his ear.

 

“Sango…” he said weakly. “I love you too.”

 

“Miroku!” Sango wailed as something grabbed her from behind and tore her from him.

 

Looking up, Sango saw Kirara in her fire-cat form, her teeth hooked into Sango's clothing, flying them around the side of the mountain.

 

“Put me down, Kirara!” Sango sobbed, kicking and thrashing around as she tried to free herself.

 

Kirara ignored Sango's pleas, only landing when she saw Kohaku sitting against a large rock. Kirara released Sango, who immediately turned to leave again.

 

“Sango!” Kohaku said, standing abruptly.

 

“K-Kohaku?” Sango said, turning to look at him. “Kohaku, Inuyasha did save your life! Kohaku, stay here with Kirara, I have to help Miroku.”

 

Sango turned to leave again, almost walking right into Kirara in her human form.

 

“You're not going anywhere,” Kirara said hurriedly. “Miroku asked me to keep you safe.”

 

“I can't leave him!” Sango sobbed. “I won't leave him! Miroku!”

 

Sango tried to shove past Kirara, but Kirara hurriedly grabbed her arms around Sango's waist, holding her back as she reached her arms out desperately to the distant figure of Miroku, kneeling over on the ground.

 

“Miroku!” she screamed, before breaking down and crying openly.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“What the hell are you all doing?” Inuyasha snapped.

 

“Killing Naraku!” Kagome moodily replied, firing another arrow at one of Naraku's crooked, insect legs.

 

“We're helping you Inuyasha,” Ayame added, spinning around and kicking back one of Naraku's tendrils. “Because you've always helped us.”

 

“Just shut-up and hit him with your sword already, dogboy!” Koga yelled.

 

“Koga?” Inuyasha spat.

 

“I'm gonna forgive you for stealing my jewel shards,” Koga replied, punching through a thin tendril that had wrapped itself around Ginta's ankle. “But don't think I've forgotten what you did to me, you mangy mutt.”

 

“Keh!” Inuyasha grunted.

 

Inuyasha began to run forwards to deliver another blow to Naraku, only to be knocked back by yet another one of Naraku's tendrils.

 

“This is hopeless! I can't even see the spider-mark any more!” he complained. “Hey Sesshomaru… Sesshomaru?”

 

Inuyasha's eyes grow large and round as he turned to find his brother standing holding Koga in the air by his throat.

 

“What the hell are you doing? We need to work together!” Inuyasha yelled at them.

 

“Talk about hypocritical!” Kagome snapped, angrily releasing another arrow with a loud twang of her bow.

 

“You got a problem with Koga, jackass?” Inuyasha yelled at Sesshomaru, ignoring Kagome.

 

Sesshomaru merely narrowed his eyes and tightened his hold on Koga, causing the wolf demon to choke helplessly as he began to suffocate.

 

“He deflected your sacred arrow, Kagome!” Ayame yelped.

 

“What?” Inuyasha roared, spinning around to face Naraku again.

 

As he watched, Kagome's arrow fell to the ground, its pink glow fading as it dropped.

 

“What the hell?” he muttered.

 

“Kikyo!” Kagome growled, her face hardening as she spotted Kikyo standing on the roof of the building behind Naraku. “She deflected my arrow! She protected Naraku!”

 

“She's giving the jewel shards to Naraku!” Ayame cried.

 

Sesshomaru dropped Koga, turning towards Naraku.

 

“Kikyo!” Inuyasha shouted to her. “Don't do it, Kikyo!”

 

“Stay out of this, Inuyasha!” Kikyo shouted back.

 

Inuyasha watched on in horrified shock as Kikyo handed the jewel shards she had taken from him to Naraku.

 

“But it's okay,” he said slowly. “Because Kagome still has three shards, so Naraku still doesn't have the whole jewel.”

 

“Inuyasha, Kikyo stole my shards!” Kagome yelled at him.

 

“What?”

 

“Hey, at least I didn't just give them to her like you did!”

 

“It's your job to protect the jewel, Kagome!”

 

“It is not!”

 

“It is too!”

 

“So much for working together…” Ayame muttered, rolling her eyes.

 

“You shut-up!” Inuyasha barked at her. “You should be scared right now, we're probably all about to die!”

 

Ahead of them, Naraku closed his hands around the jewel shards he had gathered, a white light seeping through the gaps between his fingers. As the gang watched, the light slowly changed from white to pale blue, to blue, to dark blue, and finally to black. Naraku began to laugh, opening his hands to reveal the completed Shikon Jewel, tainted with his evil and completely black, its usual glimmering lustre replaced by a dull, dark haze.

 

“Kikyo…” Inuyasha said, his face falling. “Why, Kikyo?”

 

“Because you must live, Inuyasha!” she called back.

 

“What?” he echoed, his face twisting in confusion.

 

“I won't allow Naraku to ruin any more lives,” Kikyo continued. “And I won't allow the sacred jewel to spread any more sadness.”

 

“What are you talking about, wench?” Naraku laughed.

 

“You're going to hell, Naraku,” Kikyo firmly replied. “I'm going to use the power of the sacred jewel to send you there!”

 

“You can't do that!” Naraku replied. “Not unless you intend to come to hell with me.”

 

“Kikyo, don't do it!” Inuyasha yelled frantically.

 

Everyone froze as Kikyo aimed an arrow at the jewel in Naraku's hands. Kagome began to wonder exactly what Kikyo was planning; surely all she would do would be to shatter the jewel into many hundred of pieces, just like Kagome herself had done. The thought of hunting for the jewel shards all over again suddenly filled her with dread.

 

“What is she doing?” Kagome wailed.

 

“It's over,” Kikyo said darkly, firing her arrow.

 

Naraku started to move out of her path, but her arrow arced slightly, piercing through one of his hands and striking the jewel. Naraku cried out, and the ground beneath them began to rumble, cracks forming as beams of bright white light shot up from the earth.

 

“What's happening?” Ayame squealed as she was thrown off her feet by the unstable ground.

 

“Kikyo!” Inuyasha wailed, throwing his head back in despair.

 

The ground shattered beneath their feet, the buildings around the courtyard began to crumble and were razed to the ground. Rocks, splintered wood and earth were thrown around, burying everyone and everything inside the courtyard.

 

As the rumbling finally ceased, the remaining dust-clouds slowly dispersing overhead, where once there had been Naraku's castle there was now nothing but a mound of dirt.

 

“Kikyo!” Inuyasha cried, bursting out from under the rubble and dust, coughing as he unintentionally breathed in a mouthful of dry dirt. “Kikyo!”

 

“She sacrificed her life to save us all!” Kagome gasped, shaking the dirt from her hair as she slowly clambered out from under the rubble.

 

“Damn it!” Inuyasha yelled.

 

“Is Naraku really gone?” Koga asked, struggling out from the wreckage.

 

“Wow,” Ayame said as she climbed out, looking around at the swirls of dust clouds around them.

 

“That was…” Ginta began.

 

“Too easy?” Hakkaku finished.

 

“Inuyasha!”

 

Inuyasha and the others turned abruptly, all gasping in alarm as the prayer beads covering Miroku's wind tunnel burst apart, and the flap of cloth fell away to reveal his palm. Everyone dropped to the ground in preparation for the worst, Inuyasha being the first to leap to his feet again when Miroku began to laugh.

 

“You sick, twisted bastard, Miroku!” he yelled, marching towards him. “You think that's funny, huh?”

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome yelled. “Calm down! If Miroku's wind tunnel has gone, that means Naraku really is dead this time!”

 

Inuyasha stopped short, thinking this over slowly.

 

“Miroku, that was cruel!” Sango laughed, running to his side and grabbing an arm around his neck.

 

Miroku turned to smile sheepishly at her, starting in shock as she pulled him to her, kissing him forcefully.

 

“S-Sango…” he said slowly as she pulled back.

 

To his surprise, she did not blush like she usually did when they were close, instead simply smiling up at him.

 

“I never forgot what you said, Miroku,” she said sweetly. “You told me to keep smiling. And now I really do have something to smile about!”

 

Miroku started to answer her, but she moved towards him, pressing her lips against his to silence his voice.

 

“What the hell's gotten into them?” Inuyasha grumbled, his face twisting as Sango stopped kissing Miroku only to take his newly healed hand in both of hers and kiss his palm repeatedly.

 

“I'm free!”

 

Sango broke away from Miroku at last, and, along with all the others, they turned to see Kagura spinning around on the spot, grinning with childlike glee.

 

“Hey, I thought Naraku's incarnations died if we killed Naraku?” Inuyasha yelled, attracting her attention.

 

“They did,” Kagura sighed, slinking towards him, her grin still brightening her face. “But I'm no longer a part of Naraku. I was set free by Lord Sesshomaru.”

 

“You…” Sango growled, reaching for her.

 

Miroku quickly held her back, holding up his hand to silence her.

 

“There's just one thing I have to know,” he said. “How long have you and Sesshomaru been plotting against Naraku together?”

 

Kagura smirked, opening out her fan and lifting it to cover her mouth and nose.

 

“A girl doesn't tell all her secrets…” she said quietly.

 

“You're the one who killed my men!” Koga barked at her. “I still have a score to settle with you!”

 

Ayame screamed as something burst from the ground by her side. The others turned to see what it was, but saw nothing more than a blur of silver and white. A second later, Koga was lying on the ground doubled over and groaning in pain, and Sesshomaru was standing in front of Kagura.

 

“Speak of the devil…” she said, lowering her fan to reveal her smirk.

 

“What's your problem?” Koga yelled at Sesshomaru. “And why did you help her? She's a part of Naraku, and you let her live!”

 

“Consider yourself fortunate that I have also allowed you to live, wolf,” Sesshomaru replied, his eyes still fixed on Kagura as he spoke. “I have not forgotten what you let your wolves do to Rin.”

 

“To who?” Koga echoed.

 

“I believe this is yours,” Sesshomaru continued, ignoring Koga and holding out Kagura's heart towards her.

 

“I already told you, Lord Sesshomaru,” she replied. “My heart is yours now. You saved my life, and now it belongs to you. If you hadn't revived me with that sword of yours after that wolf-”

 

“Exactly,” Sesshomaru interrupted her. “I saved your life. My debt to you has been repaid. Take your heart back, I have no need for it.”

 

Kagura's smirk dropped, her eyes widening as she reluctantly accepted her heart from Sesshomaru.

 

“Know that if I ever see you again, I will kill you,” he added.

 

“But I…”

 

Kagura stopped talking, tilting her head to one side as Sesshomaru's demon energy gathered around his feet and he took to the air, flying smoothly away from the castle.

 

“I'll show him!” she growled, grabbing the feather from her hair and shooting up into the air in a gust of wind that caused everyone around her to stumble back.

 

“We should go too,” Ayame said thoughtfully as she watched Kagura fly away. “You're badly hurt, Koga.”

 

“I'm fine!” Koga lied. “But let's get out of here anyway. Smell you later, dogboy! Bye, Kagome!”

 

“Goodbye!” Ayame said to them.

 

“Bye!” Ginta and Hakkaku called.

 

“Goodbye!” Kagome called after them. “Stay in touch!”

 

“Don't bother!” Inuyasha yelled after them.

 

Kagome turned to Inuyasha upon his remark, and for a brief, awkward moment, the two glared at each other before Inuyasha turned his head to one side.

 

“Oh look, here comes Kohaku and Kirara!” Miroku said, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

 

Sango, Kagome and Inuyasha turned to watch as Kirara and Kohaku clambered up onto the pile of rubble, heading towards them. Once they were level with the others, Kohaku ran to Sango, who gladly caught him in a one-armed embrace, her other arm still locked around Miroku.

 

“Oh Inuyasha,” Sango sighed as Kirara slowly joined them. “You've given me a family again. How can I ever thank you? Thanks to you, I met Miroku, you saved my life, you saved Kohaku so many times, and even now, you saved him from Naraku by removing the jewel shard.”

 

Kirara slowly frowned, remembering then that Sesshomaru had told Inuyasha that he had been the one to save Kohaku. Inuyasha had obviously passed on this wisdom, and apparently no-one but Kirara herself knew any differently.

 

`I wonder where Sesshomaru is?' she thought to herself, looking up at the sky overhead. `And I wonder why he saved Kohaku and Inuyasha, and then let Inuyasha take all the credit? I don't even know what happened out here. Who killed Naraku? And how? Did everyone survive?'

 

“Well, I don't know about anyone else, but all I want right now is a bath and a long, restful sleep,” Miroku said cheerily.

 

“You're right,” Sango agreed. “Let's head back to Kaede's village. I wonder if Hachi is still nearby?”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Next Chapter: The gang return to Kaede's village, and Kagome goes to the old well; but what will she do now? Will she go home, or will she stay in the feudal era? Both Kagome and Inuyasha consider their futures and their feelings for each other as Kagome tries to decide what to do. Chapter 30 - Kagome's Choice.