InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Yesterday's Pain ❯ Two Life's, One Soul ( Chapter 1 )

 

~~Chapter 1~~

~~~~Two Lives, One Soul~~~~

 

 

 

 

"Finding myself to exist in the world, I believe I shall, in some shape or other, always exist."
-Benjamin Franklin

 

 

 

 

THE DAYS WERE GROWING DARKER... Clouds of a lethal miasma tainted the skies. The light of the sun no longer penetrated the seas of poison that permeated the air around the castle.

 

Naraku smirked. `Just one more left,' he thought. Ever since he had taken Koga's jewel shards, his powers had increased. However, until the sacred jewel was complete, he would not be able to take advantage of its full power. Once he killed Kohaku and took his sacred jewel shard, the power he currently wielded would be nothing in comparison. Still, even before any of that happened there was more pressing matters at hand.

 

 

His gaze went down to his hand to reveal the nearly complete Shikon no Tama. The jewel was tainted black except for one point in the center of the jewel, where Kikyou's purity remained. It irked him to no end, the fact that even though Kikyou was finally dead, her influence remained. If he were to complete the jewel now, Kikyou's light would engulf him. No matter how much shouki he drenched it with, the light still remained. This puzzled him. Kikyou was dead; her powers should not hold sway over anything if she no longer walked among the living. Something was keeping her powers on this world and he had no idea what it was. That didn't matter though, he would find a way to fully taint the jewel, and when he did Kikyou would finally, at long last, be out of the picture.

 

“Naraku,”

 

Naraku didn't even have to turn to know who had spoken. “What is it Byakuya?” he drawled.

 

“It seems that Sesshoumaru was recently in a fight, and something the demon that he fought said something that clearly upset him” Byakuya answered “His anger seemed to be directed towards Inuyasha”

 

Naraku turned to look at him. “I see,” he remarked. Byakuya's right eye was missing, the eye was probably on its way back to its owner, having just given Byakuya the information he had just revealed.

 

He turned back around but not before Byakuya saw the jewel's condition. “Ahh,” he said, “Kikyou, left you a little problem, I see”

 

“She certainly has an irritating knack for thwarting me”

 

“Do you have any idea what she was trying to accomplish?”

 

Naraku frowned. “Isn't it obvious? She intended to stall my efforts of completing the jewel, since she can no longer protect Kohaku.” He said “I cannot complete the jewel until this speck of purity is removed. Whether she is indirectly protecting Kohaku, or simply trying to stall my efforts, I cannot say for sure.” While Byakuya paused and considered that, Naraku turned back to thought.

 

`So what is my next move' he thought `Kikyou has left me this spot of purification on the Shikon no Tama and I have no idea of how to undo it. If only—' Suddenly Byakuya spoke.

 

“That doesn't sound like something Kikyou would have done” he said “If it were me I would have told Inuyasha and the others how to wield the purity in the Jewel before I died, Kikyou isn't the kind of person that would have died just to have prolonged your efforts.

 

Naraku glared at him, “What other explanation could there be?” he snapped.

 

“I am simply pointing out that I think there is more to this spot of purity then you think there is” Byakuya replied, his hands up in a peaceful gesture. Turning to leave Byakuya left Naraku to his own devices. Naraku wasn't in a particularly pleasant mood, and he had seen what he had done to Kanna. There was no way he was going to suffer the same fate as his sister.

 

Byakuya's words echoed in Naraku's head.

 

Now that he thought about it Kikyou had said something before she died, some thing he hadn't really thought about until now.

 

“We will see who has truly lost... once you are dead”

 

She had threatened him.

 

On her deathbed, Kikyou had threatened him. Was it as Byakuya had said? Was this really another plot to purify him using the sacred jewel? Kikyou's eyes had held nothing but truth. That could mean that she was merely overconfident, but still....

 

But if it was true, how did this threaten his life? Did she really think that he would be foolish enough to bond the jewel with his soul if it held even an ounce of purity? Surely not, but what other explanation could there be? Hadn't she wanted him to complete the jewel? Hadn't she wanted to use Kohaku's shard to purify him? And now since Kohaku could no longer be protected by Kikyou's purity she had…

 

His eyes widened in realization. That was it! Kohaku couldn't be protected by Kikyou any more, meaning his shard would be at least somewhat tainted, which made his shard useless. So she left a backup plan instead. She didn't want to complete the jewel anymore because that would mean wasting Kohaku's life.

 

No.

 

That still didn't explain why Kikyou's power remained in the jewel. Maybe he was just jumping to unnecessary conclusions and their plan was the same as ever; protect Kohaku as best as they can, and in the end, use his shard to purify him. It made sense, Inuyasha and the others had no idea that he knew what Kikyou's plan was. The only thing that would change was that Kagome would have to purify him, not Kikyou.

 

NO!

 

That still didn't explain why Kikyou's power still held sway in this world. There had to be something else. Something he had overlooked. Something that Kikyou had thought he wouldn't see. Naraku stood up and slowly started to pace. Kikyou's original plan was to use Kohaku's shard to complete the Shikon no Tama, which would purify him and the jewel. Since being with a demon wasn't the purest of actions his shard was corrupted. It may not be very much (Sesshoumaru was not an evil demon, despite what he wanted everyone to believe.) but even the slightest hint of evil in his shard would foil there plan. For now the closest thing to purification was Kagome's arrow--

 

`Wait a minute'….

 

`Kagome!'

 

All of a sudden it all made sense. He was a fool not to think of it before!

 

Kagome was Kikyou's reincarnation, in order for them both to exist in the same world they had to share the same soul. So where was the part that Kikyou had? He realized (though it produced the same results) that this wasn't Kikyou's power. It was her soul! And because Kagome was still alive, the light inside the Shikon no Tama would not disappear because the rest of the soul was still among the living!

 

Not only that, but Kagome was well equipped to destroy him. She had the powers to see and purify the jewel, along with the ability to shoot sacred arrows. Since her soul would be drawn to its owner, it would be a simple matter to shoot one arrow… and purify him forever. It was obvious now that Kikyou had left the job up to Kagome. With the spot of purification in the jewel, Kohaku's shard was no longer needed; Kagome could purify him right now! Staring at the jewel's spot of purity, he realized what had to be done.

 

`Kagome must be killed.'

 

 

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

 

 

“Are we there yet?”

 

Shippo had grown restless on the journey back to Kaede's village. No one could really blame him. He was, after all just a kid, and for him, walking hours on end didn't appeal to him very much. It wasn't that he got tired. Shippo was a fox demon; he had canine blood rushing through his veins. Demonic canines had the most endurance of all youkai. No Shippo was just utterly, immensely, and entirely bored. No one could blame him… He was after all just a kid.

 

Which is why Miroku calmly answered him for probably the eighth time, “No Shippo, we are some way off yet”

 

Grumbling Shippo hopped onto Kirara's transformed back.

 

Miroku sighed; Shippo was the only one who wasn't bothered much by recent events. It's not like he expected him to, but it was frustrating to see someone was most worried about how bored they were. Boredom seemed like a soothing massage compared to what he and the others were feeling.

 

He himself had the Kazaana. He had no idea when he would need to use it next, and the scars were getting dangerously close to his heart. If he wasn't careful, he wasn't going to last much longer. The pain he was no longer able to feel was both an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage being his ability to use the Wind Tunnel continuously without feeling pain, the less obvious disadvantage was that he no longer could tell if he was overusing his Kazaana or not. Perhaps it had been a mistake to drink the poison that Yakurou Dokusen had given him. Still, what was done was done, and he couldn't say that he regretted the decision. He would do anything to protect Sango even if it meant sacrificing himself. But nevertheless he feared death. Anyone who didn't was, indeed, a fool.

 

Sango had her brother to worry about. Kohaku was not exactly in the safest of situations. Traveling with a ruthless inu-youkai, who was most likely not taking his safety into high consideration, was never safe. It wasn't that he doubted Sesshoumaru's ability to protect someone; he had proven himself more than capable of protecting Rin. The question was if he wanted to protect Kohaku. If he did then they hardly had anything to worry about, but if he didn't… Even Kirara seemed uneasy about what Kohaku's fate would be if that was the case.

 

Inuyasha had the most obvious distraction. Kikyou's death had been hard on them all, but Inuyasha was taking it hardest of all. Not that he didn't expect that. It was a horrible thought, watching a woman you cared for die twice. He couldn't even fathom what it must have been like for him. Things had gotten better since the incident with Kaou, but he knew that Inuyasha still mourned for her. He could see certain sadness within his eyes that had not faded since her passing.

 

Kagome…. Kagome was a mystery. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but something was definitely wrong with her. Ever since the incident with Kaou, something about her had changed. He didn't understand it, from what he could see, the only thing Kagome had to worry about was her exams. Yet, she was the one that spoke the least. She was the only one who had lost her appetite. And he was damn sure that she was having nightmares, if her tiny whimpers at night were any indication. She seemed to be suffering the most! What really bothered him was the fact that he had no idea whatsoever about what was bothering her. But the main thing was that something was bothering her, and she—like the rest of them—were in need of some well deserved relaxation.

 

Shippo was the only one who seemed unbothered by all that had happened. Inuyasha was right; Shippo had no worries. It wasn't like he expected him to.

 

He was, after all, just a kid.

 

 

 

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

 

 

 

“Naraku are you sure about this?”

 

Naraku frowned, “Byakuya, could it be that you are frightened?” he asked

 

Byakuya scowled “Be not a fool I have no fear of humans. But I personally think that this is a waste of time. Wouldn't it be easier if you simply killed the girl?”

 

Naraku shifted his eyes to look at his offspring. “Easier? Maybe, but certainly not as entertaining.”

 

Byakuya shook his head, “Your theatrical tastes may one day prove to be your undoing.”

 

With that he produced a paper crane and took off.

 

Naraku smirked, perhaps Byakuya was correct. However he had other reasons as to why he was doing what he was doing.

 

Though the spot of purity within the jewel was a soul, it still held power. Why put such power to waste? The soul that resided within the jewel was the part of Kagome's soul that inhabited Kikyou. The two were connected. If one was pure so was the other. This was why he could not taint the center of the jewel. Kagome had a pure soul.

 

However, if the larger part of the soul (The part that Kagome possessed.) were to become tainted then so would the light that was in the center of the jewel. But what really intrigued him about the plan was that if he succeeded, he would not only possess a once again fully tainted jewel. He would also possess a certain miko, a miko who went by the name of Kagome.

 

Naraku smirked, sometimes he amazed even himself.

 

`Byakuya, return Kagome to me unharmed, and when you do Kagome's soul and powers will be mine.'

 

 

 

 

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A/N: Well that does it for chapter 1. I readily except that Rumiko is nothing short of a genius. However, sometimes she leaves loose ends, which make me feel like there was more that could have been said. Who knows though, maybe she's planning to address all of that at the end. But this story slides in nicely with the rest of the original plot. This is my first fanfic so please review to let me know what you think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WARNING! Spoiler ahead!

If you don't want to read the spoiler just go straight down to `next chapter'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~~**~~**~~**Spoiler**~~**~~**~~

 

 

Closer, the night whispered a treacherous sin, an endless torture… A guilty conscience.

 

“You've been having nightmares haven't you?”

 

Kagome opened her eyes to see Byakuya looking at her with a malicious gleam in his eyes.

 

“Very well” he said “Naraku is sure to have fun with you”

 

With a feeling of dread she looked down and watched as they plunged into the darkness that was Naraku's barrier

 

 

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-Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I claim no owner ship of the original characters in this story nor do I profit from their use.