InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Stolen Soul ❯ More Precious ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Author's Note: This chapter is mostly an exploration of Kikyo and Inu-Yasha. I'm sorry if it's dry. There'll be more Kagome next time. Please do let me know if you're enjoying the story, because it's been getting few reviews.

However, I do want to thank those who have reviewed. Every single review encourages me to continue writing, so I'm grateful to every single one of you! In particular, Sway, BlueTigerCat, and Moi! really kept my writing urge going. Thanks!

Oh, and Moi!, I hope this chapter makes it clear that Kikyo wasn't making any attempt to pretend to be Kagome in the previous chapter. That's why she would say things that might seem "suspicious." :)


Special Thanks: I was incredibly rude earlier in neglecting to thank Rashaka for all the help she gave me with the first chapter of this story. When I first started writing, this story was looking so horrible that I almost just threw it away, but Rashaka helped me rescue it and turn it into something that seemed worth continuing. Thank you, Rashaka!


New Terms Used in this Chapter <BR>
mudra -- actually not originally a Japanese word, but used in multiple languages (including English) to describe a sacred hand position, such as the one Miroku uses regularly (particularly in the anime) when he's being calm, wise, or otherwise monk-like -- it's a way of bringing the hands together, with the fingers joining to form a triangular or other shape


Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. This fic, however, is mine. Please don't take it without my permission.

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Previously in "Stolen Soul" : Inu-Yasha watched Kagome's face with narrowed eyes. "Kagome would never ask me to kill Kikyo," he ground out. "So who the fuck are you? And what have you done with Kagome?"


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* * * <br>
Chapter 3 <BR>
More Precious
* * *


"No, I am not the girl Kagome, Inu-Yasha. This body is merely a convenience." And with those words, Kagome's body rose to a standing position, wobbling slightly with weakness, so that Inu-Yasha instinctively dove forward to hold her by the upper arms to support her.

Kagome's lips smiled slightly. "So you do know me, Inu-Yasha."

But Inu-Yasha merely stared down at the beautiful girl in his arms, his golden eyes wide with confusion. This wasn't Kagome. That much was obvious. But ... the gray eyes that gazed up at him ... there was something so familiar about their expression ... and the aloof tone to her voice ... as if she were more than human ...

Inu-Yasha stared into those mysterious eyes for long moments, gripping Kagome's arms more and more firmly, unaware that his claws began to bite into her flesh until a slight flinch showed on her face and he abruptly released her, his jaw dropping with shock as she weakly sank to her knees upon the ground.

"K-K-Kikyo?" he whispered hesitantly, disbelieving.

"WHAT?" cried Sango, Miroku, and Shippo, who had hitherto been watching the interaction with silent concern. Suddenly, their faces crowded around Kagome's, peering at her as they talked so quickly that their words flowed over each other.

"That's impossible!"

"What did you to do Kagome?"

"Are you truly Lady Kikyo with Lady Kagome's appearance?"

"I want Kagome!"

"Where is Kagome? Have you harmed her?"

"This might explain the oddities I perceived in your aura."

"SHUT UP!" roared Inu-Yasha when he could take no more of the chaotic noise. His chest heaved with panting breaths, and he stared down at Kagome's face, which sported a very un-Kagome sly smile as she gazed up at him.

"Kikyo?" he repeated dazedly. "How is this possible? And where is Kagome?" Still convinced that the miko would not have harmed an innocent girl, Inu-Yasha waited to hear of the evil which had befallen them both, resulting in this strange circumstance.

"As I told you, Inu-Yasha," Kikyo said, showing no emotion as she spoke with Kagome's usually so expressive voice, "to kill her would have been a mercy. That body is filled with nothing but pain."

"What are you saying?" Inu-Yasha's mind was racing. Kikyo's here, human, and she looks like Kagome. How is that possible? And where is Kagome? Is she hurt? What in all the hells is going on?

With narrowed eyes, Sango stepped forward, watching Kikyo's deceptive form as if it were a particularly hideous demon. "Speak plainly, miko, and tell us what you have done with Kagome, for you are trying my patience." But Kikyo only smiled slightly and did not reply, keeping her eyes trained only upon Inu-Yasha.

Losing patience himself, Inu-Yasha growled, "Can anybody tell me what the FUCK is going on here?"

Miroku stepped forward, standing tall and watching Kikyo with cold eyes. "I believe that I may understand what the Lady Kikyo is trying to say. And it would also explain the disturbance I have sensed in her aura."

"Well? Spit it out, fucking bouzu!" Inu-Yasha's claws were flexing again with his impatience as his temper approached a dangerous point. He wasn't angry with Miroku himself, but the entire situation was pissing him off big time and such fine distinctions were beginning to blur.

Miroku brought his hands together before him to form a calming mudra before he spoke. "I believe that -- unlikely as it may seem -- Lady Kikyo may be implying that Kagome is ... in the form Kikyo previously held. That Kagome now looks as Kikyo did before."

Everyone watched him in silence, confusion and disbelief on every face but one, the one which looked like Kagome but was not.

Miroku closed his eyes and said simply, "It would appear that Lady Kikyo and Lady Kagome have somehow ... exchanged bodies."

Shaking his head, his white mane flying about him, Inu-Yasha shouted, "FUCK THIS SHIT!", scooped Kagome's body up under one arm, and leapt out into the darkness of the forest.

Sango, Miroku, and Shippo stood huddled together near the fire in the center of their campsite, watching the blackness into which Inu-Yasha had just vanished, their mouths agape.

A moment later, the silence was broken by the crash of Sango's boomerang upon Miroku's head and the monk's cry of pain.

"Miroku, only YOU would think about groping at a time like this!"

* * *

When Inu-Yasha had gotten far enough from the campsite that he felt certain that he no longer had an audience, he landed lightly in a small clearing and set Kikyo gently upon her -- or, rather, Kagome's -- feet. It was all so confusing!

"Do not take such liberties with this body again, Inu-Yasha. The girl may have allowed you to grab her body and carry her about, but I have dignity."

"Hey!" exclaimed Inu-Yasha, blushing brightly. "Kagome has plenty of dignity! And I wasn't grabbing your body ... I just wanted to get away where it was quiet, so you can explain what's going on!"

"Regardless, Inu-Yasha, do not handle this body so familiarly again." Kikyo's voice was haughty, her face smoothly expressionless, save for the narrowing of her eyes. Seeing and hearing such scorn from Kagome's body was driving Inu-Yasha crazy with confusion. He could no longer trust even his nose, for she still smelled like Kagome, too.

"What happened to you, Kikyo? How did you end up in Kagome's body?" Inu-Yasha stood facing her, his golden eyes filled with concern.

Sinking to sit upon the ground, for her limbs still trembled with the weakness resulting from the magics, Kikyo explained, "It was a powerful spell. I am now in possession of this human body, as well as the larger portion of my soul. It is as it should be, Inu-Yasha. We can now work together to defeat Naraku, and then marry as we had planned."

Inu-Yasha choked, his eyes growing wide. "Marry?"

Kikyo's eyes narrowed. "Did you not promise to use the jewel to become human, Inu-Yasha, and spend your life with me as your bride?"

"Well, yeah..." Inu-Yasha raised one hand to scratch the back of his head nervously. "But I didn't think you wanted that anymore. You said you only wanted to see me dead." What kind of strange world was this, where he was reminding Kikyo that she wanted to kill him instead of marry him? But this all just didn't make sense!

"The dead want only one thing, Inu-Yasha: to walk among the living once more." Kikyo rose to her feet again, Kagome's body housing her awkwardly, as if she would need to lay claim to it more fully before it would feel natural. "When I believed this to be impossible, I found another goal to wish for. But this living human body gives me the chance that Naraku stole from me: to live again."

Stepping forward carefully, her feet unused to the girl's odd shoes and socks, not to mention the indecently short skirt, Kikyo drew near to Inu-Yasha, pressing her palms to the red cloth covering his chest. "You once said, Inu-Yasha, that it was my spirit you loved, and not my appearance. Do you find me so disgusting in this body?"

Inu-Yasha's heart pounded in his chest. Having Kagome so close to him was unfamiliar and intoxicating -- he had only hugged her a couple of times, and she had never been so forward as Kikyo was being -- but his mind was still awhirl. This wasn't Kagome. It was Kikyo. Kikyo, human again, wanting to be with him. Some part of him felt that he should be happy, but another part felt that this was all very wrong.

As Inu-Yasha opened his mouth to speak, however, Kikyo pressed even closer, and touched her parted lips to his, her arms sliding up to slip under his hair and wind around his neck. Inu-Yasha's eyes flew open, large and round, but he did not struggle against her embrace.

The feel of Kagome's body against him, the taste of her lips, her gentle scent surrounding him, her arms holding him close ... he had dreamed of this for so long, had wanted it, but had thought the day would never come. He knew he had no right to ask anything from her, when her place was in the future and his soul was damned to follow Kikyo to hell.

But now ... now it was finally happening ... Kagome was kissing him ... her lips were so soft and warm ... and it was wonderful ... except that she wasn't . It was Kikyo instead of Kagome who was kissing him ... and Inu-Yasha felt suddenly dirty, as if he were using Kagome's innocent body while she slept. He jerked abruptly away, pulling Kikyo's arms down from around his neck and stepping away from her.

"My powers are greater than hers, Inu-Yasha," Kikyo purred, her wrists still held in his strong hands. "She did not have my training. Now that I have more than that pathetic sliver of a soul, my power is even stronger than before. We can find the shards of the jewel and defeat Naraku together, finally take revenge for all he has done to us."

Inu-Yasha shook his head slightly, as if trying to clear his mind. Kikyo kept confusing him, keeping him from asking the questions he wanted to ask. Her words made sense, but they also seemed to lead him away from his own thoughts. Just as when she had nearly pulled him to hell with her while Kagome watched, Kikyo lulled him with her power, putting him into a sort of trance in which he was helpless against her. The strength of her magic, combined with the depths of his guilt, formed a force difficult to overcome.

But Inu-Yasha fought the daze her words created within his mind, raising both hands to clutch his temples, his head lowering and his hair falling forward. "No," he muttered, then looked up to meet Kikyo's eyes. Kagome's gray eyes, with Kikyo's coldness looking out at him.

"Where is Kagome?" he repeated insistently.

"Is that girl more precious to you than I am, Inu-Yasha?" asked Kikyo sadly, the sound and taste of her sorrowful disappointment filling the air like a cloud.

Inu-Yasha blinked repeatedly, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. What was going on here?

"Has your love for me waned, Inu-Yasha? Do you betray your promises?" Kikyo had stepped close to him once more, her face looking up at him from so near that she could almost kiss him again.

"Kikyo..." Inu-Yasha murmured in confusion and dismay, "I would never betray you." She huddled closer to him, pressing herself to his body, and his arms surrounded her instinctively, holding her tightly so that her body was almost hidden by his wide sleeves. "Kikyo," he sighed, lowering his head to inhale the scent of her hair.

His head jerking up again, Inu-Yasha gasped. "Kagome!" He had recognized her familiar scent immediately, drawing him back to himself and his worry for the girl from the future. "Kikyo, where is Kagome? Do you know? What happened to her?"

Pulling away in defeated acceptance, Kikyo replied in a rare moment of honesty, "The monk was correct. She now inhabits the body of grave dirt and bone. But you should not worry about her, Inu-Yasha, for the pain of that tiny portion of soul will absorb her until she lives nothing but hatred and a lust for vengeance. The girl is lost. But I can help your quest in her place."

"Fuck that!" growled Inu-Yasha, the last traces of trance fading. "If Kagome is in trouble, then we're going to find her!"

Kikyo's eyes narrowed, but she held her tongue. There would be other opportunities to change Inu-Yasha's mind. The fool did not, after all, even realize that she had performed the spell herself.

* * *

After Kikyo's soul skimmers had rescued Kagome for the second time, they carried her far through the air, far enough that Kagome lost all sense of direction. At last, they lowered her gently into the smooth wide branches of a giant oak tree, where she lay weeping as the serpentine demons departed to leave her alone.

Inu-Yasha abandoned me, discarded me just like Kikyo said he would, Kagome thought to herself. I was so sure he would help me, but he was going to kill me! Just because Kikyo told him to!

The tears that rolled down her cheeks felt real, but the body was dead. She knew that. She was stuck inside a dead body. Maybe forever. In fact, maybe she was actually dead now. It was all so complicated!

The soul skimmers returned, bearing bright souls in their clutches, hovering around Kikyo's weakening body. But I'm not Kikyo! I don't care what I look like. I don't care if I'm dead. I'm not Kikyo! I'm Kagome! Ka-go-me! I'm still me, no matter what!

One of the soul skimmers released the soul it had brought, which then floated near to Kagome in her body made of clay and bone. The soul slowly sank into her cupped hands, where she held it gently.

"Hello, little soul," murmured Kagome sadly. "You're dead, too. Just like me. But you can go to heaven. It's where you belong. I don't belong anywhere anymore, but you do. So go, little soul ... go up to heaven where you belong." And with those words, Kagome lifted her hands to nudge the soul upward, sending it soaring into the sky and out of sight. She watched the sky until the soul's light was no longer visible, and then she looked around at the soul skimmers weaving in and out of the tree branches around her.

"I won't be taking any souls, you guys, so you can just stop bringing them. I don't care if it means I'll die, but I'm NOT gonna trap other people's souls in order to stay alive. Kikyo might do that, but I'm not her. I'm Kagome!"

Yeah, I'm Kagome, she thought to herself as she lay back again upon the branches of the tree, watching the soul skimmers slowly writhe out of sight, leaving her as she had insisted. I'm the one Inu-Yasha doesn't love. The one who's stupid enough to help him even when all he ever does is insult me and run off to meet with Kikyo.

Her eyes filling with tears again, Kagome climbed out of the tree and looked around her. "I'm all alone," she whispered into the silent darkness of the forest. "All alone."

And so the false body's tiny sliver of soul devoted only to pain began its work. The pain which had twisted into hatred in the heart of Kikyo ... began to transform into a deep grief in the heart of Kagome. Where Kikyo's desire for vengeance had defied all logic and reason, so Kagome's belief that she had been cast out began to grow and blossom and take over her mind.

And though the emotion gendered by their pain was different, the sharp bitterness of its flavor was not.

Her body noticeably weaker, most likely due to her refusal to absorb the innocent souls brought to her by Kikyo's demon servants, Kagome began walking, the long miko trousers a bit awkward, but manageable. A light breeze stirred her long black hair, its straightness and silky texture joltingly unfamiliar when it brushed her cheek. I'm not Kikyo! I'm Kagome!

Kagome didn't know where she was going, but she couldn't stay alone like this forever, or she would go crazy.

She needed to find people.


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To Be Continued