Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Feelings for a Fox ❯ Chapter 16

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Kagome's POV.

~~Chapter 16~~

Oh I can NOT believe this!

I catch a flash of red from the corner of my eye. I jerk my head around and glare. I start to open my mouth to say what I've only just realized is, yes even after all these years, still my favorite word.

"SI- HEY!" I find myself staring at the back of my current love interest type… whatever. He pushed me out of the way! As if I have anything to fear from Inuyasha! Before I can say so he reaches behind his ear and produces… a rose?

If he gives a cheesy inspirational speech and flings it at Inuyasha I will seriously have to reconsider the potential relationship we've started. Hey didn't he, in that dream… A whip? Oh my… that is kinky.

Blink.

Ack! I can't be dwelling on all the potential perks of having a plant manipulator for a lover! He's about to cream my friend. Not that Inuyasha can't be stupid at times, like when he chose Kikyo, or even now for instance; but he's still a friend.

"Get away from him Kagome!" Oh why does Inuyasha always have to charge in blindly?

"Rose whip!" Hello? Yeah I'm still here. This really isn't necessary, y'know. You're not listening are you? No of course not. That would make sense. I can't believe these two are fighting. They barely met. It usually takes Inuyasha longer than that to induce the people around him into a murderous rage, and by that time he's also shown them he can be nice if he puts his mind to it so we usually refrain.

I open my mouth to try again, but then I feel the presence that always makes me stiffen.

Kikyo.

I stare around sharply. Perhaps I seem a bit paranoid, but given our history I really don't like being in the same area as Kikyo without knowing if she's behind my back. We're females you see, and neither one of us has that male honor thing that requires us to be stupid. I don't see her when I look around. But a sudden surge of power in the rocks above me gives me a clue as to where she's at. I look up in time to see an arrow wrapped in blackened purple energy racing through the air toward me.

Oh fuck!

Have you ever had one of those moments where time does this really annoying slowing down, and everything around you comes into sudden sharp focus? Then you watch helplessly as some deadly projectile hurtles toward your heart, and you're frozen, unable to move? That's what happened now.

Except for the frozen unable to move part. I mean honestly, do I look I'm just going to stand there and let myself get impaled by an arrow? What do you take me for? An anime character? Yeah right. Dramatic as my dying now would undoubtedly be I'm not planning on it any time soon. I mean how embarrassing, saying I can look after myself and then getting knocked off like thirty minutes later. I'd die from shame before the arrow ever did any damage.

I flung myself out of the way, but part of the energy caught me in my shoulder. Can you say "Ow"? I come to my knees, swinging my bow around and knocking my arrow in one almost smoothly continuous motion. I say almost because it's very difficult to make a smooth continuous motion when you're bleeding all over the place.

There's a shout behind me. I think it was Kurama but I can't be certain. A surge in you-ki rolling off him confirms that he's at least displeased, even if he wasn't the one who shouted. Oh sure, now they stop fighting. I would roll my eyes if I thought it was safe to take them off of Kikyo.

"Kikyo! What are you doing?! Why did you attack Kagome?!"

That's our genius. Although it's not his fault I suppose. Kikyo has always made it a point to try and kill me only when Inuyasha was not around. And I never mentioned it because assuming he believed me, I didn't want to hurt him. So he hasn't figured out just how homicidal she really is.

We've shielded him too much, poor boy.

"Far too long I have been incomplete. I cannot tolerate it any longer even for your sake Inuyasha," she declared in her cold voice as she descended from the rocks, her next arrow steadily trained on me.

"How odd," I noted sardonically, "That's almost the exact same thing I was about to say."

I observed from the corner of my eye that Kurama was tensed, poised to attack her the moment an opening came up. I wanted to scream when I saw Inuyasha take a hesitant step toward us, dropping his guard against my fox in favor of trying to placate his chosen.

Inuyashadon't lower your sword! She can't be trusted!

"Kikyo? Kagome? What are you saying?"

"Stay out of this Inuyasha! She has my soul!" Kikyo snarled advancing on me.

"Correction," I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the pain of my wound, "you have my soul. And it's time that you returned it."

Damn! I really wish she hadn't hit my shoulder.

"Returned it? This soul is mine! You are nothing but a cheap replica of what I am! You are too pathetic for words Reincarnation!"

"Let's get one thing straight here and now. I. Am. Not. Your. Fucking. Reincarnation. Got that grandmother? Oh wait! That's right! I never told you that I was Rin's grandchild, and that she is yours did I? Of course we haven't been on speaking terms exactly since you keep trying to kill me and steal my soul." I watched Kikyo's face twist in rage.

"You tried to kill Kagome before?! What is she talking about Kikyo?" Inuyasha's voice was upset when he spoke. Yet another betrayal by the corpse. She's getting almost as good as Naraku at this. I wonder when he's going to figure it all out.

"You lie!" she shifted her arrow to aim it at my head.

I narrowed my eyes at her words. She can call me a lot of things but liar isn't among them.

"No actually I don't. With my connections I have access to certain accounts that would be off limits to nearly anyone else. One of those is my complete family line. I would also have had a list of past lives except I was a new soul when I entered into existence. I am your descendent, Kikyo. Not your reincarnation. And just for the record, I am better than you ever were. After all, I didn't fail to protect the Shikon jewel. I neither betrayed my lover, nor did I fall for Naraku's deceptions. I never allowed myself to be swayed from my duties by a man. I was chosen to be the Miko Protector of the Shikon no Tama; servant of the Devil King of All Evil, Sesshomaru. I am a Representative of the Worlds in the High Council of the Gods, I am Guardian Barrier of the Realms." I cocked a considering brow. Then I added what had to be the most important and time consuming title I hold.

"And I've done it all while being a single mother."

"I WON'T LISTEN TO YOUR FILTHY FALSEHOODS ANYMORE!" she shrieked and released the wooden shaft. I also released the arrow that I had been holding in my bow.

The two glowing projectiles collided in a flash of brilliant power. The glowing purple energy of Kikyo's arrow, clashed horribly with my pale blue energy. The air crackled dangerously around us as we both willed our own energy to triumph. I clenched my teeth as Kikyo struck at me through my soul, trying to distract me long enough to push her arrow past my own. I growled dangerously as I thought of everything Kikyo would acquire if the tainted bitch stole my soul. Cheating slut! How dare she?! I seethed.

I refuse to let Shippou lose another parent! And what about Kurama? I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do about him, but I don't want anything to happen to him because he initiated a bond with me. I'd feel just awful about that. And what would she do to Inuyasha if she had my soul? She wouldn't need him anymore with as powerful as I've become. My jewel, my barrier, my family, my life! She's trying to steal it from me. There was no fucking way I was going to let her get away with all this!

My arrow began to glow even brighter as my rage grew. The blackened arrow was pushed back by mine, and my power broke through. It crashed into Kikyo's, shattering it before slamming into Kikyo herself. I saw the animated corpse's face contort into a look of pained surprise. Her body began to glow, streams of bluish white light pouring from her body. She appeared to be ripping apart, beams escaping through the tears that appeared in her flesh. Tiny glowing orbs streamed out of her body and flowed into me. I could feel my strength increasing as my soul was returned. There was a blinding flash of light and then nothing. All that was left were some scraps of red and white pooled around a pile of dusty ashes.

For the first time in centuries I felt complete.

I turned toward the sound when there was a soft clink. Inuyasha had dropped his sword and was staring at the remains of what had once been his love. He raised empty eyes towards me.

"Inuyasha," I raised the hand that wasn't holding the bow toward him, although I'm not exactly sure what I was trying to offer him.

"Stupid wench!" his voice was harsh. He lowered his pale head and stared at the ground. "You're bleeding."

"You're right," I agreed quietly. I sat down, placing my bow and quiver of arrows to the side, and then began the healing on my shoulder. When I opened my eyes Inuyasha was standing, the Tetusagia sheathed and on his hip once more. I studied him. His face was more mature, his rounded features had sharpened somewhat. His hair still fell down his back in an untamed mane and he still wore his red fire rat clothing. Aside from that he hadn't changed a bit since that day he had followed Kikyo to Hell.

"Do you hate me?" I asked him carefully when the silence grew painfully thick.

"All of that… what you said before… Was it true?" he asked without looking at me.

"Yes," I replied simply. He inhaled sharply and looked up at the sky.

"It's over then."

"Inuyasha?"

"It's over," he repeated in a hollow whisper.

Kurama remained tense, waiting to see what was going to happen. He stood there looking torn between wanting to check me over himself and killing something. Fortunately he refrained on both accounts. In the back corner of my mind was a little part that sat there admiring his restraint, but I ignored it in favor of the more logical portion of my mind. The part that said I had to deal with the strangely silent dog demon.

I walked over to Inuyasha wondering what to expect. I mean yes he had promised to protect me and yes we were friends. Always I would consider him such. However, I had just killed the love of his life and his sole reason for existing in Hell for the past few centuries. I realized what was happening as soon as I got a good look at his unseeing amber eyes.

He was going into shock.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha, look at me!" I tugged his head down so he was facing me. "We're going home now. Back to Japan, and we're bringing you with us. I want you to just come along quietly okay?"

When he didn't say no I took it as a yes and I opened a portal to the Makai. I pushed Inuyasha through. I then waited by the portal for Kurama to go through. When he passed me I refused to look at him. I was feeling very confused at the moment. Whatever I was expecting it wasn't this and I wasn't quite sure how to respond to the way things were turning out.

Don't give me that look. I don't want to hear that there's nothing to be confused about because I'm bloody well feeling confused. I have a hanyou-esque kitsune who wants to jump my bones nightly hopefully for years to come- which I could honestly say I have no problem with… If it weren't for the fact that he just happens to be trying to tie our souls together for all eternity after I've only known him officially for a few days. I mean technically we knew each other for three months before that but since we weren't on speaking terms should something like that count?. Marriage is one thing but youkai are just a tad more extreme than humans are about these things.

Except he's really hot and Shippou and he have decided they like each other so that's okay. And I know he could provide for us easily. And he has the EARS! And a cute fwuffy tail! And his plants and…grrr baby! But eternity? Do I know I like him that much? What if he decides he doesn't like me?

What about Inuyasha?

That's another thing. I also have an inu hanyou here who's currently in shock and who may decide to kill me as soon as reality sinks in. And if he doesn't hate me when this is all over what if he wants me when he realizes that Kikyo is gone permanently? I hate being a replacement. And how is Kurama going to feel about Inuyasha once he realizes that Inuyasha was sort of my first love?

But another thing I need to figure out is what exactly do I feel for Inuyasha now that I've seen him again anyway? Not the butterflies in my stomach and rainbowy bubbles dancing around my head as my eyes shine, that's for certain. I haven't felt that way in years. But I do feel something warm when I think about him. Sentimentality over my first crush perhaps?

…Could I actually have fallen as madly in love with the idiot as I had once thought I had been and it's now returning with proximity? Or is what I'm feeling actually gas from scarfing a burger too fast and then getting stressed over nearly being killed by a deranged corpse of a rather distant relative? I always get those two feelings confused.

Stupid burgers. Stupid brain. Stupid males. My life was almost simple before these two came along. Rage!

On the plus side of all this, I have my soul back. Yay! Happy! Puff!

Except I still have to deal with a traumatized friend and a currently not happy fox demon who is starting to consider me his territory. Weep! Cry! Angst!