InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Eenie Meenie Miney Miko ❯ Here a Miko, There a Miko, Everywhere a… ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: SplendentGoddess 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.03.2005 | Updated On: 11.29.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 4.2K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.03.2005 | Updated On: 11.29.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 4.2K | Status: Completed
Blanket Disclaimer:
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
========================
Chapter 2 – Here a Miko, There a Miko, Everywhere a…
The three walked on for what seemed like hours. Kagome was starting to wonder if they would find their way out before sunrise, or if they should even bother continuing on, simply waiting for Inuyasha’s youkai powers to return, so that he could simply smash their way out. They pressed onward, mainly because time was quickly running out for our undead miko, who was continually losing one of her souls every so often, and didn’t appear to have the luxury of merely camping out until daybreak. How many of those things did she keep in there anyway? Kagome found herself wondering this as yet another borrowed soul vacated her body. Inuyasha, meanwhile, cursed the new moon now more than ever. If he only had his powers, they’d all have been out of this mess a long time ago, and Kikyo would be safe.
Kikyo stumbled on shaky legs as another soul vacated her body, causing Kagome to stumble a little as well as she’d held Kikyo up by the arm slightly. Inuyasha caught them both and together, he and Kagome sat Kikyo down against the side wall of the cave again.
“Come on Kikyo…” Kagome jokingly threatened… “Don’t think I won’t carry you again, ‘cause I will.”
“Kagome…” was all she could muster, with a small smile upon her lips that for some reason, seemed genuine.
“Kagome, what are you talking about?”
“You mean, you never told him?” Kikyo asked of her reincarnation.
“Told me what?”
“No, I didn’t…” Kagome answered softly, a light blush on her cheeks.
“What?”
“Why not?” she asked next.
“Hello???”
“I don’t know.” she shrugged, “At the time, I just didn’t think that-”
“HELLO?????” Inuyasha shouted, cutting Kagome off as he jumped in between the two miko women, waving his hands around in a very ‘pay attention to me’ kind of way.
“Oh, Inuyasha...” Kagome started, somewhat embarrassed, “Remember that one time we had a fight and I ran off, and you couldn’t find me for a while, then suddenly there I was?”
(Sure, we all remember that time don’t we? How much more specific could she get?)
“Well………” and with that, Kagome proceeded to go into a brief, albeit detailed, description of her ordeal with Kikyo in the cave that turned out to be a youkai, that had wanted to feast upon their miko energy. She explained how she’d been lured by the same trick that had previously trapped Kikyo, and how the two of them combined their shards together for more power…
“Wait!” she exclaimed, interrupting herself, “That’s it!”
Reaching into her blouse, Kagome pulled out the little bottle she had that contained jewel shards. She then pulled open Kikyo’s hand, and placed all the shards upon her palm.
“What are you doing?” the clay miko wondered aloud, earning silence as her answer while Kagome continued, reaching into Kikyo’s chihaya where she ‘hid’ the shard she was carrying, and then added it to the collection.
Kagome’s eyes met hers, and the young miko from the future smiled a genuine smile, when she saw the way Kikyo’s eyes lit up in surprised understanding.
She then folded Kikyo’s fingers closed, and proceeded to place the miko’s cold hand between her own. She had to clear her thoughts of all hatred, jealousy or suspicion, if this was going to work. If, when this was over, she ended up stealing the shards and giving them to Naraku, then they’d deal with that later. Kikyo felt all of Kagome’s lingering hostilities toward herself beginning to melt away, and compliantly, she did the same, removing the bitterness she usually felt for her ‘copy.’ The two miko began to glow, Kikyo blue and Kagome pink, until their auras merged, and the two were contained within a purple light. All Inuyasha could do was sit back and watch, stupefied, while the woman he loved was giving of herself to aid the woman he loved…wait.
Sighing, he realized, yes, he did love them both, and to make matters worse, they both loved him. Why couldn’t something like this happen to Miroku? That lecher would be in Heaven!
Kagome’s plan worked, she realized with a smile, as the glowing subsided, and Kikyo suddenly held in her hand one rather decent sized chunk of the Shikon no Tama. The amount of jewel she had was strong enough, now, that she could use its power to prevent any additional souls from fleeing her grasp. Kikyo was still fairly weak, but at least she wouldn’t be getting any weaker. Now that this was no longer an unlife-or-death situation, the trio agreeably decided to remain in their current location, until Inuyasha’s powers returned in the morning. Kagome, completely and utterly exhausted from the amount of miko energy she’d just burned up, made use of the time to get some sleep. While Kikyo did not officially sleep, herself, she did decide to conserve as much energy as possible by remaining perfectly motionless, giving off the semblance of sleep as she permitted her eyes to drift shut. Assuring Inuyasha that they were quite safe, and that she was not so weak that she would fail to detect a youki signature if any trouble were to approach, she managed to convince the hanyou-turned-human to get some much needed rest, himself. It wasn’t until she was assured by the sound of their breathing that both humans were soundly asleep, that Kikyo began mumbling a quiet chant.
~~~Inuyasha’s Dream~~~
What’s this? Where am I?
Looking around, Inuyasha found himself standing in a foggy mist of nothingness, until suddenly, a vision of himself appeared before him.
That’s…that’s me! he realized, around the same time he realized he must be dreaming.
“Inuyasha…”
Wait, I know that voice…Kikyo!
The next series of images to flash before his eyes was a telling of his brief affair with the young miko. He saw himself rush from the cover of the trees on his human night, just to make sure she was okay after she’d collapsed. He saw himself as he later heard word regarding the jewel from Mistress Centipede, and then all the times after that when he’d proceeded to follow Kikyo for chances at the jewel, only to end up pinned to a random tree by his kimono. He saw them as they started to talk, as they grew close, and fought against youkai side-by-side. He witnessed giving her his mother’s shell of lip paint, and he blushed when the image of him catching her as she’d stumbled was replayed. He heard himself say the words he’d told her moments before they’d kissed.
I’ll do it, I’ll use the jewel to make myself human… he thought to himself, lost in the memory, until suddenly...Wait, what am I saying? He knew, at the time, he wanted to be accepted more than anything, and Kikyo would accept him were he human, but...
That’s not really what I want, is it? he questioned himself in all honestly, realizing... She wanted a ‘normal’ life. She meant she wanted a ‘human’ life… I hate being human, Kagome was right...he thought with a shudder, thinking One night a month is one night too many.
“I love you…” he heard suddenly.
Who said that?
Inuyasha looked around, confused. The visions had disappeared, the white fogginess surrounding him once more. Disembodied words of endearment continued to whisper against his ear, until suddenly, he realized it wasn’t Kikyo’s voice...
“I love you as a hanyou…” she said clearly.
Kagome…
Like a ton of bricks, a new barrage of images crashed upon him.
Kagome!
He was holding her in his arms now, instead of Kikyo. He was struggling against the youkai blood within himself, desperately trying to fight Kaguya’s spell. He did not want to become a mindless beast, and become a mindless beast he did not. It was Kagome who brought him back.
She’s kissing me! his mind screamed at first in surprise, then his thoughts softened in confusion, after a moment, as he remembered the night his mind was showing him... I’m, I’m a monster. he thought, as he stared in morbid fascination at the image of himself that stood not ten feet away, wincing as he saw himself drive his claws into Kagome’s upper arms. I could kill her. he realized, I could kill her, and yet, instead of running away, she... she kisses me?
His duplicate softened his grip upon her then, and returned the kiss. Ah yes, he remembered this evening well. His once spoken words echoing back to him in his own mind, at the moment.
Are you crazy? I could have really hurt you...
Holding her tightly in his embrace…he knew…he knew she was pure…her love for him was pure. Suddenly, the images disappeared again.
Kagome, where’d you go? “Kagome!” he called allowed within his dream, searching for her frantically.
“Inuyasha…” This was not Kagome.
“Kikyo!” he exclaimed in shock, genuinely surprised, as he saw the undead miko standing directly before him. She was addressing him, not some shadowed image of himself that he saw standing a few feet away. “I’m sorry…I’ll protect you…” he cooed in her ear as he embraced her, as he embraced her, not some duplicate image, “I won’t let anything happen to you…only I can protect you…” he continued, mirroring his own words from the past.
He almost didn’t see the knife in time.
“Kikyo!!???” he questioned in shock, as he shoved her away from him, her image disappearing into the mists when he did so. He then found himself alone once again, and began speaking allowed to the nothingness.
“I don’t like this dream any more.” he mumbled, “I want to wake up… Do you here me?” he addressed what he hoped was himself, in the real world, “Wake up!”
The mist began to clear once more, revealing a crestfallen Kagome sitting upon the edge of the Bone Eater’s Well.
Kagome… he thought silently, once more noticing how there didn’t appear to be a duplicate image of himself, so slowly, he approached where the image of Kagome sat. She looked so crestfallen.
“Kagome?” he questioned allowed when he reached her.
“I can’t compare with Kikyo…” she said softly, confusing him, “After all, I’m still alive.” Realization of which time this moment was suddenly dawned.
Damn it Kagome! he thought, not having the heart to curse her allowed, Don’t think like that! I just…I just have to protect Kikyo, I owe it to her.
“I guess Kikyo and I do have one thing in common…” she continued, “Our desire to be with you.”
“Kagome...” he sighed aloud, but anything else he was going to say died on his tongue when she abruptly stood, grabbing his hand, saying “Let’s go...”
He smiled, and closed his fingers around her own, as together, the pair walk off hand-in-hand, the dream mists closing in around them.
No! he thought, “Kagome!” Don’t leave me…Damn it! As he found himself alone in the blank nothingness once more, his thoughts began to run away with him.
I should have just shoved her down the well when I had the chance, at least then, she’d be safe. All that matters is that Kagome’s safe…
As this last thought came to him, he found himself suddenly in his human form, and falling backwards headfirst down a cliff. He will die, but he rests in the knowledge that Kagome will be safe. Then suddenly, his decent is stilled.
What’s this? Oh yeah, that youkai tree catches me, I forgot.
He feels his youkai strength return to him, his thoughts continuing...
Kagome and the others think I’ve fallen to my death. She’s crying up there, she’s crying for me. It’s not the first time she’s cried for me either. Would Kikyo cry for me? Kikyo killed me…she’s even tried to kill Kagome... Kagome…she’d never hurt me…and I know it. Whenever she’s been possessed…when she’d aimed an arrow at my heart, I knew it wasn’t her. When Kikyo aimed an arrow at my heart, it was her! Her hurtful words though, they weren’t her, but I was quick to believe them. I’ve never trusted anyone, not even Kikyo. But I trust Kagome…If it was Kagome saying all those hurtful things, I'd know something wasn't right. She would never......
“Inuyasha!”
Hearing her voice calling his name pulled him from this thoughts. “Kagome?” he questioned aloud, as he saw her rush towards him, embracing him dearly.
“You’re alive!” she exclaimed.
“Feh…” he brushed off, raising her chin with his finger so that their eyes met, “Takes more than that to stop me...” he assured her gently.
Kagome almost looked as though she were closing in for another kiss, before he realized she was actually whispering something to him...
“You can wake up now.” she said.
And instantly, he did just that.
~~~End Dream~~~
When he awoke, he looked over at the girls who sat across from him, who were talking and did not appear to notice that he had awaken. Suddenly, as everything crashed down upon him, he realized he was once again in his hanyou form. His eyesight and hearing were exceptionally better now, not to mention his sense of smell, and he knew he’d be able to find their way out of the cave in no time. Who needed night vision goggles when hanyou-vision worked so much better? Slowly glancing back in the two miko’s direction, he remained silent a moment longer, twisting an ear in their direction to listen to their whispered conversation.
“He loves you, you know.”
“No, his heart still belongs to you, and it always will.”
“Perhaps, but nonetheless, I see it in his eyes. He looks upon you with more love than I have ever caught in his gaze for myself.”
“I…I’m sorry…”
“For what?”
“For everything that happened to you two. It…it wasn’t fair.”
“It simply wasn’t meant to be. Do not forget that you are me, in a way…Perhaps, this is what the fates had in mind, all along.”
“But he will be joining you in hell when the mission is over.”
“Will he?”
“I…I thought…”
“I desired Inuyasha’s death before I learned the truth about Naraku’s trickery. Before my quest for revenge shifted from Inuyasha to Naraku.”
“So what do you plan to do now, after Naraku is defeated?”
“What do you?”
“To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure…”
“Do you wish to remain in this time?”
“I thought you were the one who said I didn’t belong in this time.”
“That assumption may have been in error, and does not answer my question regarding what it is you truly desire in your heart.”
“I don’t know if I could really leave my family, but…but I also can’t imagine a life without my friends here.”
“You mean, without Inuyasha…”
She sighed. “I wish…” Kagome’s romantic hypothesizing got cut short when Inuyasha made an untimely movement of his ears which caught her attention.
“…Oh! I think Inuyasha’s waking up, we can get out of here!”
Damn it all, what was it she was going to say? She wishes what? And did Kikyo really say all that I THINK she said?
Inuyasha thought it wise to pretend to still be half asleep, allowing Kagome to ‘wake him up’ with a groggy yawn, and fake enthusiasm at the belated realization that he was once again hanyou.
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
========================
Chapter 2 – Here a Miko, There a Miko, Everywhere a…
The three walked on for what seemed like hours. Kagome was starting to wonder if they would find their way out before sunrise, or if they should even bother continuing on, simply waiting for Inuyasha’s youkai powers to return, so that he could simply smash their way out. They pressed onward, mainly because time was quickly running out for our undead miko, who was continually losing one of her souls every so often, and didn’t appear to have the luxury of merely camping out until daybreak. How many of those things did she keep in there anyway? Kagome found herself wondering this as yet another borrowed soul vacated her body. Inuyasha, meanwhile, cursed the new moon now more than ever. If he only had his powers, they’d all have been out of this mess a long time ago, and Kikyo would be safe.
Kikyo stumbled on shaky legs as another soul vacated her body, causing Kagome to stumble a little as well as she’d held Kikyo up by the arm slightly. Inuyasha caught them both and together, he and Kagome sat Kikyo down against the side wall of the cave again.
“Come on Kikyo…” Kagome jokingly threatened… “Don’t think I won’t carry you again, ‘cause I will.”
“Kagome…” was all she could muster, with a small smile upon her lips that for some reason, seemed genuine.
“Kagome, what are you talking about?”
“You mean, you never told him?” Kikyo asked of her reincarnation.
“Told me what?”
“No, I didn’t…” Kagome answered softly, a light blush on her cheeks.
“What?”
“Why not?” she asked next.
“Hello???”
“I don’t know.” she shrugged, “At the time, I just didn’t think that-”
“HELLO?????” Inuyasha shouted, cutting Kagome off as he jumped in between the two miko women, waving his hands around in a very ‘pay attention to me’ kind of way.
“Oh, Inuyasha...” Kagome started, somewhat embarrassed, “Remember that one time we had a fight and I ran off, and you couldn’t find me for a while, then suddenly there I was?”
(Sure, we all remember that time don’t we? How much more specific could she get?)
“Well………” and with that, Kagome proceeded to go into a brief, albeit detailed, description of her ordeal with Kikyo in the cave that turned out to be a youkai, that had wanted to feast upon their miko energy. She explained how she’d been lured by the same trick that had previously trapped Kikyo, and how the two of them combined their shards together for more power…
“Wait!” she exclaimed, interrupting herself, “That’s it!”
Reaching into her blouse, Kagome pulled out the little bottle she had that contained jewel shards. She then pulled open Kikyo’s hand, and placed all the shards upon her palm.
“What are you doing?” the clay miko wondered aloud, earning silence as her answer while Kagome continued, reaching into Kikyo’s chihaya where she ‘hid’ the shard she was carrying, and then added it to the collection.
Kagome’s eyes met hers, and the young miko from the future smiled a genuine smile, when she saw the way Kikyo’s eyes lit up in surprised understanding.
She then folded Kikyo’s fingers closed, and proceeded to place the miko’s cold hand between her own. She had to clear her thoughts of all hatred, jealousy or suspicion, if this was going to work. If, when this was over, she ended up stealing the shards and giving them to Naraku, then they’d deal with that later. Kikyo felt all of Kagome’s lingering hostilities toward herself beginning to melt away, and compliantly, she did the same, removing the bitterness she usually felt for her ‘copy.’ The two miko began to glow, Kikyo blue and Kagome pink, until their auras merged, and the two were contained within a purple light. All Inuyasha could do was sit back and watch, stupefied, while the woman he loved was giving of herself to aid the woman he loved…wait.
Sighing, he realized, yes, he did love them both, and to make matters worse, they both loved him. Why couldn’t something like this happen to Miroku? That lecher would be in Heaven!
Kagome’s plan worked, she realized with a smile, as the glowing subsided, and Kikyo suddenly held in her hand one rather decent sized chunk of the Shikon no Tama. The amount of jewel she had was strong enough, now, that she could use its power to prevent any additional souls from fleeing her grasp. Kikyo was still fairly weak, but at least she wouldn’t be getting any weaker. Now that this was no longer an unlife-or-death situation, the trio agreeably decided to remain in their current location, until Inuyasha’s powers returned in the morning. Kagome, completely and utterly exhausted from the amount of miko energy she’d just burned up, made use of the time to get some sleep. While Kikyo did not officially sleep, herself, she did decide to conserve as much energy as possible by remaining perfectly motionless, giving off the semblance of sleep as she permitted her eyes to drift shut. Assuring Inuyasha that they were quite safe, and that she was not so weak that she would fail to detect a youki signature if any trouble were to approach, she managed to convince the hanyou-turned-human to get some much needed rest, himself. It wasn’t until she was assured by the sound of their breathing that both humans were soundly asleep, that Kikyo began mumbling a quiet chant.
~~~Inuyasha’s Dream~~~
What’s this? Where am I?
Looking around, Inuyasha found himself standing in a foggy mist of nothingness, until suddenly, a vision of himself appeared before him.
That’s…that’s me! he realized, around the same time he realized he must be dreaming.
“Inuyasha…”
Wait, I know that voice…Kikyo!
The next series of images to flash before his eyes was a telling of his brief affair with the young miko. He saw himself rush from the cover of the trees on his human night, just to make sure she was okay after she’d collapsed. He saw himself as he later heard word regarding the jewel from Mistress Centipede, and then all the times after that when he’d proceeded to follow Kikyo for chances at the jewel, only to end up pinned to a random tree by his kimono. He saw them as they started to talk, as they grew close, and fought against youkai side-by-side. He witnessed giving her his mother’s shell of lip paint, and he blushed when the image of him catching her as she’d stumbled was replayed. He heard himself say the words he’d told her moments before they’d kissed.
I’ll do it, I’ll use the jewel to make myself human… he thought to himself, lost in the memory, until suddenly...Wait, what am I saying? He knew, at the time, he wanted to be accepted more than anything, and Kikyo would accept him were he human, but...
That’s not really what I want, is it? he questioned himself in all honestly, realizing... She wanted a ‘normal’ life. She meant she wanted a ‘human’ life… I hate being human, Kagome was right...he thought with a shudder, thinking One night a month is one night too many.
“I love you…” he heard suddenly.
Who said that?
Inuyasha looked around, confused. The visions had disappeared, the white fogginess surrounding him once more. Disembodied words of endearment continued to whisper against his ear, until suddenly, he realized it wasn’t Kikyo’s voice...
“I love you as a hanyou…” she said clearly.
Kagome…
Like a ton of bricks, a new barrage of images crashed upon him.
Kagome!
He was holding her in his arms now, instead of Kikyo. He was struggling against the youkai blood within himself, desperately trying to fight Kaguya’s spell. He did not want to become a mindless beast, and become a mindless beast he did not. It was Kagome who brought him back.
She’s kissing me! his mind screamed at first in surprise, then his thoughts softened in confusion, after a moment, as he remembered the night his mind was showing him... I’m, I’m a monster. he thought, as he stared in morbid fascination at the image of himself that stood not ten feet away, wincing as he saw himself drive his claws into Kagome’s upper arms. I could kill her. he realized, I could kill her, and yet, instead of running away, she... she kisses me?
His duplicate softened his grip upon her then, and returned the kiss. Ah yes, he remembered this evening well. His once spoken words echoing back to him in his own mind, at the moment.
Are you crazy? I could have really hurt you...
Holding her tightly in his embrace…he knew…he knew she was pure…her love for him was pure. Suddenly, the images disappeared again.
Kagome, where’d you go? “Kagome!” he called allowed within his dream, searching for her frantically.
“Inuyasha…” This was not Kagome.
“Kikyo!” he exclaimed in shock, genuinely surprised, as he saw the undead miko standing directly before him. She was addressing him, not some shadowed image of himself that he saw standing a few feet away. “I’m sorry…I’ll protect you…” he cooed in her ear as he embraced her, as he embraced her, not some duplicate image, “I won’t let anything happen to you…only I can protect you…” he continued, mirroring his own words from the past.
He almost didn’t see the knife in time.
“Kikyo!!???” he questioned in shock, as he shoved her away from him, her image disappearing into the mists when he did so. He then found himself alone once again, and began speaking allowed to the nothingness.
“I don’t like this dream any more.” he mumbled, “I want to wake up… Do you here me?” he addressed what he hoped was himself, in the real world, “Wake up!”
The mist began to clear once more, revealing a crestfallen Kagome sitting upon the edge of the Bone Eater’s Well.
Kagome… he thought silently, once more noticing how there didn’t appear to be a duplicate image of himself, so slowly, he approached where the image of Kagome sat. She looked so crestfallen.
“Kagome?” he questioned allowed when he reached her.
“I can’t compare with Kikyo…” she said softly, confusing him, “After all, I’m still alive.” Realization of which time this moment was suddenly dawned.
Damn it Kagome! he thought, not having the heart to curse her allowed, Don’t think like that! I just…I just have to protect Kikyo, I owe it to her.
“I guess Kikyo and I do have one thing in common…” she continued, “Our desire to be with you.”
“Kagome...” he sighed aloud, but anything else he was going to say died on his tongue when she abruptly stood, grabbing his hand, saying “Let’s go...”
He smiled, and closed his fingers around her own, as together, the pair walk off hand-in-hand, the dream mists closing in around them.
No! he thought, “Kagome!” Don’t leave me…Damn it! As he found himself alone in the blank nothingness once more, his thoughts began to run away with him.
I should have just shoved her down the well when I had the chance, at least then, she’d be safe. All that matters is that Kagome’s safe…
As this last thought came to him, he found himself suddenly in his human form, and falling backwards headfirst down a cliff. He will die, but he rests in the knowledge that Kagome will be safe. Then suddenly, his decent is stilled.
What’s this? Oh yeah, that youkai tree catches me, I forgot.
He feels his youkai strength return to him, his thoughts continuing...
Kagome and the others think I’ve fallen to my death. She’s crying up there, she’s crying for me. It’s not the first time she’s cried for me either. Would Kikyo cry for me? Kikyo killed me…she’s even tried to kill Kagome... Kagome…she’d never hurt me…and I know it. Whenever she’s been possessed…when she’d aimed an arrow at my heart, I knew it wasn’t her. When Kikyo aimed an arrow at my heart, it was her! Her hurtful words though, they weren’t her, but I was quick to believe them. I’ve never trusted anyone, not even Kikyo. But I trust Kagome…If it was Kagome saying all those hurtful things, I'd know something wasn't right. She would never......
“Inuyasha!”
Hearing her voice calling his name pulled him from this thoughts. “Kagome?” he questioned aloud, as he saw her rush towards him, embracing him dearly.
“You’re alive!” she exclaimed.
“Feh…” he brushed off, raising her chin with his finger so that their eyes met, “Takes more than that to stop me...” he assured her gently.
Kagome almost looked as though she were closing in for another kiss, before he realized she was actually whispering something to him...
“You can wake up now.” she said.
And instantly, he did just that.
~~~End Dream~~~
When he awoke, he looked over at the girls who sat across from him, who were talking and did not appear to notice that he had awaken. Suddenly, as everything crashed down upon him, he realized he was once again in his hanyou form. His eyesight and hearing were exceptionally better now, not to mention his sense of smell, and he knew he’d be able to find their way out of the cave in no time. Who needed night vision goggles when hanyou-vision worked so much better? Slowly glancing back in the two miko’s direction, he remained silent a moment longer, twisting an ear in their direction to listen to their whispered conversation.
“He loves you, you know.”
“No, his heart still belongs to you, and it always will.”
“Perhaps, but nonetheless, I see it in his eyes. He looks upon you with more love than I have ever caught in his gaze for myself.”
“I…I’m sorry…”
“For what?”
“For everything that happened to you two. It…it wasn’t fair.”
“It simply wasn’t meant to be. Do not forget that you are me, in a way…Perhaps, this is what the fates had in mind, all along.”
“But he will be joining you in hell when the mission is over.”
“Will he?”
“I…I thought…”
“I desired Inuyasha’s death before I learned the truth about Naraku’s trickery. Before my quest for revenge shifted from Inuyasha to Naraku.”
“So what do you plan to do now, after Naraku is defeated?”
“What do you?”
“To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure…”
“Do you wish to remain in this time?”
“I thought you were the one who said I didn’t belong in this time.”
“That assumption may have been in error, and does not answer my question regarding what it is you truly desire in your heart.”
“I don’t know if I could really leave my family, but…but I also can’t imagine a life without my friends here.”
“You mean, without Inuyasha…”
She sighed. “I wish…” Kagome’s romantic hypothesizing got cut short when Inuyasha made an untimely movement of his ears which caught her attention.
“…Oh! I think Inuyasha’s waking up, we can get out of here!”
Damn it all, what was it she was going to say? She wishes what? And did Kikyo really say all that I THINK she said?
Inuyasha thought it wise to pretend to still be half asleep, allowing Kagome to ‘wake him up’ with a groggy yawn, and fake enthusiasm at the belated realization that he was once again hanyou.