InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Fragment of Eternity ❯ Because He Loves Her - Part I ( Chapter 15 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Me no own.

Author's Note: ::shuffles feet, eyes downcast:: Sowwy. . . I know last chapter sucked, and I haven't updated for ages. . . Gomen ne. . .

-_- I'm still sick.

But you know what? I'm in a really fluffy mood all the same! ^_^ I just sorted out the final plans on the last chapter of this fic (still a while away, don't worry) and cannot wait to do it! XD It's gonna be so KAWAII! XD XD XD

. . .

Anyway. . . ^_^;;;

One: White Day. It's basically the holiday where you give people the who gave you Valentine's gifts to say thanks. I think the guys mainly are supposed to give White Day gifts, but I can't remember. . . Oh, who cares? ^_^;;

Two: ~i think your A/N was longer than your acual chappie lol well coolie chappie and can ghosts take naps like really do they need to since their u know dead wat do they need the rest for?~

No, it wasn't longer. I checked. ^_~ The story was a page or two longer than the AN. As for the ghost taking a nap- why wouldn't they? Inu does just about everything else a human would- besides eat. Okay, and touch things. . . But whatever- just work with me, okay? ^_^;

All righty. . . I think that's it. I'm trying to cut back on answering questions, because most of them are repetitive and/or answered in the chapters. So. . . yeah.

^_^ Please enjoy!

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~Fragment of Eternity~

Chapter Fifteen: Because He Loves Her ~ Part I

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Kagome could sense it.

Something was. . . different.

The hair on the back of her neck prickled with anticipation, her palms suddenly becoming quite moist. Turning slowly around and away from the large bay window, the teen girl's eyes trailed cautiously over the kitchen. She could see nothing out of the ordinary. . . But the goose-pimples rising on her skin insisted something was wrong.

A cold, lead ball of fear dropped into the pit of her stomach. Instinctively reaching up and rubbing her forearms rapidly through her thick green sweater, Kag frantically tried to calm her frazzled nerves. She failed.

Oh- where was a good attack dog when you needed one?!

. . .

Speaking of dogs. . .

Where was Inu-Yasha?

She was about to call out for him- to cling to his company in fear-

But someone else cried first.

*

"Inu-Yasha. . . ?" Kikyo summoned softly, hands cupped around her mouth as she glided slowly through her old house. "Inu-Yasha, are you here?"

`This place certainly has changed. . .' the ghostly maiden thought dimly, eyes dancing over the many decorations and photographs that hung on the walls. Her lip curled slightly at a picture of her reincarnation and her family, fighting the itching urge to knock it from its nail and let it shatter on the floor.

But something else caught her eye before the inner war over the subject could even begin.

A soft "What. . . ?" escaped her translucent lips as she floated towards a watercolor painting, hand half-outstretched. "Isn't this. . . ?"

And it was. Yet at the same time it wasn't. Her stormy gray eyes darted over the rough paper of the masterpiece, taking in every detail. It WAS her painting. . . at least, it looked very much like it. Yet why did the medium look slightly different? And why did the hanyou in the center seem more spirit like?

"Kikyo?!"

The miko whirled instantly around, clenching her fists behind her back as she found herself face to face with a puzzled Kagome. `Damn it. . .' She could feel the soul inside her give a gentle tug- wanting to rejoin the body of living flesh. Kikyo fought the feeling, gaining control as she suppressed her intense feelings of dislike. `Copier. . . Witch. . . Mask-Wearer. . .' she mentally hissed. `Steal my looks, my house, my talents, my pictures. . . my love.'

"Kikyo, what are you doing here?" the confused ebony haired girl blinked, crossing the living room to stand next to her incarnation. She seemed not to notice the deathly glare the elder woman was sending her, and instead focused her gaze on her picture, its watered down pencil still glowing softly- as if forever fresh. She'd gotten an A on that project and was very proud- even now. She knew Inu-Yasha was, too- at least slightly. Though he hadn't given a damn when she'd shown him the day she got it back from her professor, she'd caught him gazing at it later that week with a slight smile on his face, his eyes housing an unfamiliarly soft emotion. That had been enough praise for her.

Kikyo watched a light pink blush crawl up the living teen's flesh, staining her cheeks a gentle shade of magenta. She recognized the emotion behind Kagome's eyes- even if Kagome didn't.

And she also recognized who that emotion was growing for.

Anger flared to life inside her, no matter how hard she tried to stop it. For some reason Kikyo just couldn't stand this girl- this living replica. No matter how often she tried to tell herself that nothing was Kagome's fault- she hated her for everything.

EVERYTHING.

"I'm here to see Inu-Yasha," the miko replied coldly, tearing her eyes away from the all too familiar picture. "Could you possibly direct me to his location?"

"Hm? Oh," the college student snapped back to reality with a small shake of her head. "Sorry, Kikyo. I haven't seen him for a while." Then a small smile crossed Kag's face. "But while you wait for him, why don't we talk some?"

The ghost felt her stomach churn in irritated disgust but tried to bury the feeling. "Er- perhaps another time."

"Like when?" Kagome raised in eyebrow in question. Kikyo felt her own eyebrows tick in annoyance at her tone. "You're all ready here right now- I just have a few questions. Besides- I think it would be nice to learn about my. . . incarnation." As her tongue rolled around the word in an experimental fashion- like she never before believed it was the truth- a bright beam lit Kagome's face. "Anyway, I bet we could be great friends."

The miko regarded the girl next to her with an air of dignity, taking in her sweet smile and hopeful eyes. Her cold heart did not soften, despite her warm expression. "No," she whispered, turning away completely- her back facing the teen. "I don't think we could."

. . . ?

Kagome blinked in confusion, never having been so bluntly denied friendship before. "Huh. . . ? Kikyo- - -?"

"We are one in the same, Kagome," Kikyo spat out bitterly, fingers tightening on air in a rather dangerous fashion, crackles of blue lightening bolting through her fists. "And a single era does not need two identical entities. . ."

"Wha- what are you talking about?" the girl gaped, utterly lost as she moved to touch Kikyo- to place a hand on her shoulder- only to find her palm pass through her body as if nothing was there. The miko glanced at the hand with complete hatred.

"I mean there need be only one of us in this dimension," she murmured, eyeing Kagome from over her shoulder. "There need be only one of us in this house. There need be only one of us in Inu-Yasha's heart."

. . .

?!

At this, Kag did a small double take, a look of indignation spreading across her once bewildered features. "Now- now wait just a minute! If this is about Inu-Yasha- you can have him! Why would *I* want a- a- a-" She fished fruitlessly for an insult to describe him, but found herself unable to use the many had come up with. She just hadn't the heart. . . "A-a-a- a ghost?!"

"Keh.

Do not ask ME why. I am not the one falling in love with him," Kikyo hissed venomously, forcing herself to bite back a tremble as her limited supply of spiritual energy began sinking to dangerously low levels.

Kagome stared blankly at the second girl for a moment, processing her words. "`I am not the one falling in love with him'. . ." she repeated slowly. "So. . . Do you mean you're already in love with him- - -

Or never were?"

She'd hit a nerve.


RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

!

The teen girl looked up at her beloved picture in horror, watching as the thick paper tore itself in half- both portions of it suddenly catching violently on fire; curling dramatically as the white parchment became gray and ashen.

"Do not suggest such foolish things," Kikyo snarled, ignoring the sob that wedged itself in Kag's throat. "You do not know me, nor do you understand what happened in the past."

. . .

Kagome said nothing in reply, only stared down at her completely destroyed sketch- willing herself not to cry. She- she could always make a new one. . . There was no reason to loose the little dignity she had in Kikyo's eyes over a silly drawing. . . Regardless of the fact that it was her best.

Deep breaths. . .

Tearing her trembling gaze off of the cinders of her once-upon-a-time masterpiece, the reincarnated priestess faced her ghost of a companion with a new, steely, confident expression.

"Kikyo. . ." she said calmly, her voice giving only the slightest of weak wavers, "I see that you do not wish to be around me. . ."

"Very observant," the spirit muttered dryly, though her face became quite expressionless.

"However," Kagome pressed on, biting back a rude comment she'd have liked to give, "I would greatly appreciate being told at least one thing."

"Oh. . . ?" The miko met the teen's eyes, never blinking. "And that is. . . ?"

"How. . ." the girl swallowed softly, feeling slight unnerved- but hiding it behind her mask of bravery. "How. . . did you die?"

". . ." Kikyo's piercing gray orbs stabbed the maiden's skin, regarding her as if she were a bug- a creature well below her. Which, in the priestess's eyes, she was. And on that note- she didn't want to tell such an unworthy girl her secrets. However, she knew that if she didn't, Kagome would only continue to whine.

Stale mate.

"I died. . .

In a car crash."

. . .


Kag examined the ghost's face, hunting for some trace of a lie.

She found none.

"Were. . . were you with someone?" she inquired quietly.

Kikyo's eyes narrowed as the small blue jolts of electricity within her hands became showers of iridescent sparks of rage.

How- - -

How did she- - -

How dare she suggest- - - ?!

"Shut up!" she lashed angrily, slapping a palm through the air and sending a wave of fire-like crackles towards Kagome- glowing balls of hatred that landed on the breathing girl's flesh and burning her like irons. "You have no right to ask me such questions, you- - - !"

"What's going on in here- - - ?!"

!

Kagome, her hand pressed upon her blistering, bleeding cheek, looking up from the floor- where she had fallen in shock. Her chin trembled as her eyes widened with tears, her stormy blue gaze barely registering her incarnation- who, too, had frozen in mid rant- as her eyes locked on the confused hanyou who now stood at the entrance of the living room.

And this was the scene Inu-Yasha walked in upon.

*

"So. . ." Kagome whispered twenty minutes later, clouded orbs locked on the ground as Inu-Yasha rummaged through a medical box with his unusual powers. "What did Kikyo want. . . ?"

"To visit," the hanyou replied simply as he pulled a disinfectant band-aid out of the chest, dropping it onto a small, accumulating pile of supplies beside Kag on the guest room bed. "She's gone, you know. She left to go back home quarter of an hour ago."

"I know."


The conversation remained clipped, to the point.

Kagome hated it.

They hadn't been this cold towards one another since last week- the day after she had found him and Kikyo in the orchard. And even then they were talking the next morning!

. . .


Okay- so they were arguing- but it was the usual, stupid kind of argument- that time over who would get the toy out of the cereal box. Yes- that was normal!

This. . .

This wasn't.

"Inu-Yasha. . ." Kag tried carefully, wincing as icy cold antibacterial cream was applied to her face by an invisible, yet gentle force. "What. . . did she say, after you sent me up here?"

Inu's face remained deprived of all emotion as he spoke, his voice barely above a dull monotone. "By the time we spoke, she was too tired to really talk. She just said good bye."

"Oh."

The girl swallowed, wringing her hands in her lap as she gave a small fidget. The ghost raised an eyebrow as she squirmed. "Yes. . . ?"

. . .

"Um. . .

Well. . .

I was. . .

Uh. . .

Sort of wondering. . ."

"Spit it out, Kagome."

"Give me a minute!" the female snapped, eyes narrowed as they stared intently at the fabric of her skirt. Then she swallowed, her ears heating in embarrassment as her voice grew smaller and smaller. "Did you. . . eh. . . say anything to her about. . . you know. . .

Um. . .

Hurting me. . . ?"

. . .


The ghost blinked at the girl in mild confusion. "Why? What should I have said?"

"Ah . . . well. . . er. . ." Kag struggled, trying to find a plausible reason behind her question- and an accusation or snide remark that Inu-Yasha should have pinned upon his past love. But she was having trouble. "Something like. . . `why did you hurt Ka- - -'?"


"She didn't mean to hurt you," Inu-Yasha interrupted automatically, jumping to Kikyo's defense before the words had even left Kagome's lips.

The girl frowned as Inu placed a band-aid over her sore cheek, pressing it to her skin a little more forcefully than he had rubbed in the cream. "How can you say that?" she questioned, irritation rising inside her. "You saw her attack me! How could it have been an accident?"

"It was," the hanyou insisted, refusing point blank to believe his miko would ever go out of her way to harm someone. "The Kikyo I knew would never cause anyone physical pain."

"Well, then- maybe this ISN'T the Kikyo you knew!" Kagome retorted, hands clenching into fists.

. . .


~"Though this may work and we may be able to resurrect Kikyo's spirit, you have to acknowledge the fact that a soul changes when born anew."

Sango's* eyes bored into Inu-Yasha's.

"No person truly lives twice." ~

`No. . . it's not true. Kikyo's returned to me. . . And. . . even changed. . . She's never purposely. . .' Inu-Yasha's thoughts trailed off as he dumped the supplies back in the first aid kit, locking it shut with a flick of his fingers. "She didn't mean to hurt you, Kagome."

"Stop saying that!"

"No- I won't. Because it's *true*," the hanyou replied, his voice rising slightly as his anger and annoyance grew. But not necessarily anger and annoyance at Kagome-

Anger and annoyance that- no matter how he tried to sugar coat it- he knew what he had seen.

And he *had* seen what Kikyo was doing. . .

"She's an idiot!" the teen accused.

"She is NOT!" the ghost barked in indignation.

"She's a fool!"

"DON'T SAY THAT!"

"WHY?! Why do you deny it?!" Kagome bellowed, her once-swallowed tears welling up again as she pointed a trembling finger at Inu. "You know she did it! WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING HER?!"

"BECAUSE I LOVE HER!" Inu-Yasha yelled, almost breaking the handle of the medicine chest in irritation. "I love her, OKAY?!"

. . .

A complete and total silence fell upon the room. It blanketed like the thickest of wool, blocking out so much noise that it felt as if time had stopped. Nothing broke the spell- not even the one living entity in the room. In fact, she was perhaps the quietest of them all: Kagome said nothing. She did not move. She barely breathed.

She just stared blankly at the ghost before her.

Only as a new emotion swirled into existence behind her entrancing gray eyes did Inu-Yasha realize the mistake he'd made.

By then it was too late.

"Kagome- - - !" he cried as the girl bolted from the bed and ran out of the room, ignoring his existence completely. "Kagome, wait- - -!"

But she was gone, slamming her bedroom door loudly behind her as Inu sank slowly onto the bed, clutching his head frustratedly in his hands- haunted by the pain glittering inside her azure orbs.

He'd hurt her. . .

Not physically- but something in his words had killed her emotionally.

He was no better than Kikyo.

"Damn it. . ." he hissed, banging a fist against his forehead. "I'm such a fool!"

~*~

Never fear- fluff is here! Next chapter, anyway. ^_^

I hope you enjoyed- at least a little. Please R&R, and I'll try to update soon!

Ja ne!


*Originally, it said `Her eyes bored into Inu-Yasha's', but I changed it to `Sango's' so everyone could remember who was glaring. ^_~