InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Hearts? ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Changing Hearts?

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inu Yasha and company. I do however own this idea...I think.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews, you know I love them. I still don't know exactly where this is going, but I can see the end...and as I said, I can see several different endings. Hmm... Oh well, enough from me. I am still being held captive by my imagination, but I am starting to like it. As always, read and enjoy! Back to the Feudal Era...

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Chapter 6

Inu Yasha was outside on the porch of Kaede's hut, thinking over what the monk had said to him. Would he really step back if Inu Yasha were to stake his claim? But he was forgetting something...someone. He wasn't the only one who had to do the choosing. Kagome had a choice as well. And he still wasn't free. No matter what the monk said about being bound just as he was, it wasn't the same. His heart wasn't divided, he had a hole in is hand. He could love fully, he just didn't know how long it would last. Inu Yasha only had half a heart to give to either woman.

Miroku's threat against Kikyo hadn't fallen on deaf ears either. He understood what the monk was saying, after all hadn't he made the same vow, not only to the monk but to himself? Would he be able to make good on that promise, if the situation presented itself? He would have to see when the time came. He could only hope that it wouldn't. Maybe this had just been some horrible mistake... He snorted. Yeah, just like the other time, right? He growled at himself. Why did his life have to be so complicated?

He hadn't asked to be awakened from his cursed sleep. Of course, he also hadn't asked to be pinned to a tree for fifty years. Why couldn't fate just leave him alone? If things had gone on their proper course, he would either still be sleeping or be fully human and quite possibly dead by now. Humans didn't live very long after all. Then his heart wouldn't be divided. But he also wouldn't be the person that he was right now. He had changed, become more open and trusting. He had friends. Because fate had decided to bring one stubborn, brave, compassionate girl into his life. Could he really be so upset with fate, when it had changed his life for the better? Damn, his mind was running in circles again.

As he sat there, he became aware that he could hear the sound of her calling to him again. It wasn't a sound heard by his ears but by his soul. He could detect her scent nearby. She wanted him to come to her. She knew that he couldn't resist her call. But this time, he had some questions that he needed answered. He got up and bounded into the woods, just as Kagome and Sango came out of them, headed in the direction of Kaede's hut.

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Miroku was inside the hut, staring at his cursed hand. What was he doing? He couldn't be falling in love right now. His mind knew that, but it seemed that his heart had other ideas. What if she decided that she did want him? What kind of pain would he cause her if the curse wasn't broken and the void sucked him in? Worse, what if something went wrong and she was sucked into it? He wouldn't be able to live with the guilt.

He had heard it said that it was better to have loved and lost, rather than to have never loved at all. He snorted just as Inu Yasha would. Somehow, he didn't believe that particular proverb. There was also the possibility that she would remain with the hanyou. She had told him that she loved him. Maybe he should back down now, before his heart wouldn't let him. But her smile and laughter, the soft look in her eyes every now and then when she looked at him... no, he wouldn't give up on his angel. Not until he heard it from her. Apparently he was just as dumb as the hanyou.

Speaking of which, where was he off to all of the sudden? Then it came to him as if he had been slapped in the back of the head. He had gone off to her of course... to the soul stealing miko. Well, maybe he would follow and exact a little revenge on a certain priestess that had tried to kill them this morning. He hoped that the girls wouldn't come back too soon. He wouldn't be able to stand the hurt in Kagome's eyes if she knew that he had returned to Kikyo again, especially so soon after the attack.

Just as he opened the door, the girls came barreling through it. He groaned. Obviously luck was not on his side. Kagome took one look around the hut and sighed. Then her eyes hardened and she grabbed her bow. Sango soon emerged in her exterminator outfit. She and Miroku exchanged a quick look that showed that they had been thinking the same thing. They nodded slightly. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust... and one less undead miko walking the earth.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Sango and I could take care of it ourselves." Miroku said softly as he stepped in front of her. She looked up into his concerned, dark eyes and smiled at him warmly. One small hand reached out and cupped his cheek.

"Thank you, but I have to do this. I have to know what is going on. I owe it to myself... to all of us." She blushed and dropped her eyes. Miroku's heart sped up to triple time. She had just acknowledged the change in their relationship. He removed her hand from his cheek and gently kissed the palm, before giving it a light squeeze. He knew that this was going to be hard on her.

"If you are sure, but we are right behind you. You aren't alone." Kagome looked at her two companions and felt her heart warm. Sango was smiling at her encouragingly. When Kagome returned the girl's smile, Sango picked up her boomerang and headed for the door.

"Then let's go." They dashed out into the night. They were chasing one stupid hanyou and the priestess that he had once loved.

Kagome didn't know what was going to happen next. She didn't want to think about the pain. She would protect Inu Yasha, even from himself. There was no way that she was going to let her incarnate suck her friend into hell. Her friend... her heart twisted. His decision to follow Kikyo even after the events of the day showed her that he had apparently made his decision. Strangely, that thought didn't tear her heart as much as it usually would. She knew the reason for that was at her side. She couldn't lie and say that it didn't hurt at all, it did, but she could bear it now. She wasn't alone. Maybe it would be best if Inu Yasha stayed with Kikyo. Not in hell, but with her just the same. Then they would all be free of the confusion and indecision.

She steeled herself for what they might find when they reached the pair. Pain in her thoughts was one thing, but actually seeing it was always worse. It was going to be painful, but she had the support of her friends... and she had Miroku. She found herself blushing again. Kagome knew that the confrontation was coming soon. They were close. And she knew exactly where they were headed, after all, it was rather fitting.

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Inu Yasha reached the clearing where the Bone Eater's Well stood. There Kikyo waited in the center. She was looking at him with an unreadable emotion in her eyes. His eyes drifted closed and he took a deep breath.

"Why did you do it Kikyo?"

"To what are you referring Inu Yasha?"

"You know damned well what I am talking about. Why did you tell Kagome that I was a part of your scheme to steal her soul?"

"Because I knew it would hurt her, the same reason that I told her how often you come to see me. Now she knows that we belong together, that she is just a shell of the woman you long to be with. I thought it would break your bond, but she is more trusting than I gave her credit for, the fool. But mostly I did it because I enjoyed it."

"She is no one's shell Kikyo. Kagome is Kagome, no one else. She is as different from you as night and day. And you won't hurt her again."

"Are you going to stop me Inu Yasha? Could you kill me, after all your pretty words about wanting to protect and save me?" He hung his head.

"I don't know. Please don't make me find out. But it isn't only me, she has others that watch over her as well. They have also sent their warnings." Her eyes narrowed slightly at his words. Then she cocked her head as if listening to something that only she could hear. A cold smile touched her lips. The little fool is coming again. I didn't succeed in driving them apart this morning, the girl's trust was too strong. But her heart is weak. Now she would use that to her advantage. Yes, this would do very well. She thought.

"Inu Yasha, don't you remember how it once was?" Kikyo walked over to him, her eyes now soft and full of emotion. Her voice was gentle. He wondered what had brought about the abrupt change in her demeanor. "When we were together? When you loved me? Would you go back to that time if you could?" Memories flooded his mind and he sighed softly.

"Of course I remember. How could I forget... I never stopped loving you. I would go back in an instant." As soon as he said the words, he wondered about the truth of them. Would he really?

He heard a gasp from behind him and knew instinctively who it was. She had set him up. The cold smile on Kikyo's face as she looked over his shoulder made him shudder. He knew that he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.