InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of A Life ❯ Inevitable ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7:

Inevitable

Kikyou stood before the shrine that had once been her grave. Her features, now so far from her reincarnates, were troubled. She hadn't been able to run far enough nor fast enough to keep from the howls of passion made by two lovers… both youkai…

Kikyou frowned. The girl… should have been her… and the demon… should not have been. She bit her lip. It would have been so easy for her to recapture Inu Yasha's heart if Kagome… hadn't been.

But Kagome was and now Inu Yasha would never be hers. He would never be dragged back to hell. Not only was his heart taken, but he had demonstrated that even he held little compassion for her. He had tackled her and almost strangled her. If it was not for Kagome, she knew that she would be dead. Tenderly, Kikyou rubbed her throat.

Her frown deepened as she sensed a presence behind her.

"Kikyou, my sister, you owe her." Kaede announced.

Kikyou didn't bother to turn. "She stole him away from me… I owe her nothing."

Kaede sighed. "Kikyou… You're hold on Inu Yasha was fragile from the beginning. Even you must know that. It did not take much for the girl to sway him from your hold." She paused. "It was never much of a competition with you."

Kikyou's lips pressed into two thin lines, still denying the truth her sister was forcing her to see. Inu Yasha had been hers before Kagome's and she could not let that fact go lightly. However, she stood no chance against the hanyou who had allowed him to become full youkai.

Sighing finally, she walked away. "Kaede… maybe what you say is true… but it does not matter anyway… I do not matter anyway… Not to him. Not anymore." She reassured her sister as she walked away.

Kaede hung her head in sorrow as she watched her sister walk away. Both knew she was powerful against the youkai as well as knew that the dead priestess now had no direction. Kaede wondered just what would become of her sister now, a wandering part of soul driven by an unpaid vengeance that refused to return to it's proper body… The old woman sighed and walked back to her hut, knowing as well there was nothing she could do.

Inu Yasha awoke to the feel of dirt beneath him, his mate still slumbering beside him and a thin blanket over them both. If had been a week since his defeat of Naraku and he had become full youkai. Stretching, he reached for his clothes and headed towards the nearby stream, leaving his powerful hanyou alone where she lay. He could trust her to take care of herself, yet he didn't stray to far away.

Diving head first into the cool, clear waters, he ignored the inevitable presence he sensed just out of sight on the riverbank. It was not a threat, but still not someone who he wanted to deal with so soon.

Shaking himself dry like a dog, Inu Yasha reached for his pants and put then on before turning towards the forest. He stood silently and waited for the form his full youkai eyes could completely make out in the trees to speak first.

"So Brother, was it worth it?" Sesshoumaru asked, moving out of the tree line.

Inu Yasha paused before answering, concentrating more on how the great demon lord had addressed him as opposed to the question itself. "Brother?" He repeated, astonished. Sesshoumaru had used the title many times in the past, but his tone had always been mocking. His tone now was not.

"You no longer have human blood." Sesshoumaru's voice was now condescending.

"You looked down on father for taking a human mate. My mate is hanyou."

Sesshoumaru looked a little uncomfortable when he answered, knowing that Inu Yasha implied he thought Sesshoumaru would look down on them both for that fact, although it was his fault. "Circumstances have changed."

"So, was it worth it." Sesshoumaru repeated.

Inu Yasha took his time before answering. After his brother had killed her, he had thought that hardest part would be bringing her back to life. He never expected the emotional toll or the year of searching for the Jewel shards… then the final battle with Naraku, only to have to almost strangle Kikyou for the final shard. He was full youkai because of her, the decision of how to use the Jewel taken from him… but, in spite of all that, he wouldn't change a thing from the outcome of events.

"Yes. It was worth it. Every battle was worth having her now."

Sesshoumaru smiled understandingly at his younger brother and nodded, disappearing as soft footsteps carried Kagome out of the forest. Her long white hair was tousled, leaves and twigs intermixed with the snowy stands. Inu Yasha smiled at her and she smiled back. Easily closing the distance between them, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You know what I think?" He asked.

"No, what?"

"That you need a bath in the river!" He said as he pushed her in. Screaming as she fell backwards into the water, Kagome caught his wrist and dragged him with her. Kagome began laughing while Inu Yasha just frowned at her, then splashed her. She froze for a moment before splashing him back. Continuing on like that, both laughing until their sides ached, Inu Yasha realized just how right his words to his brother were. For once in his life, he had no worries and was happy.

~*~Fin~*~