InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love is a Fickle Thing ❯ Girl to Girl ( Chapter 17 )

Love is a Fickle Thing

Chapter 17

Girl to Girl

Anxious. That was the only word to describe Kagome's current situation. Here she was, being dragged- well, not actually dragged, more like floated- through the forest, behind her past incarnation and some would say rival in love, Kikyo. And it didn't help that it had been ten minutes since Kikyo had found her, and not spoken a word. When her shinidamachu had saved her and taken her to Kikyo, the undead miko hadn't said a word. She had looked Kagome over, turned, and walked into the forest. The shinidamachu had wrapped themselves around Kagome and followed her. The third soul stealer came and went, frequently returning with a shining white soul.

Kagome was confused to say the least. Kikyo had saved her. Kikyo, of all people. Kagome had never truly trusted her. For one thing, she tried to drag Inuyasha to hell, and right in front of Kagome's eyes. For another, she had been known to help out Naraku. And now, Kikyo had obviously hindered Naraku by saving her. And now, she had no idea where Kikyo was taking her.

Kikyo stopped, and the shinidamachu around Kagome loosened, and Kagome dropped lightly onto her feet. Kikyo held out her arms, and the two snakes weaved themselves around her arms, vanishing into her skin. The third snake floated down and followed suit. Kikyo looked over her shoulder at Kagome.

“You may wish to cover yourself.” She said, taking a step forward. Kagome put a hand over her breasts and gulped. She could run away. But she had no doubt that she wouldn't get far. Kikyo may not be as physically active as some, but she did have her bow. If Kagome ran, Kikyo could no doubt kill her before she got ten feet. So Kagome sighed and followed. And she saw why Kikyo hid her soul stealers; just ten more feet, and the forest spread out to a village. Kikyo walked up to one of the larger houses, and slid open a shoji. Inside, two maidens jumped to their feet and bowed.

“Lady Kikyo, you have returned.” One exclaimed. Kikyo nodded.

“I wish to be alone.” She said. The two nodded and ran off, closing the shoji behind them. Kikyo slid her sack and quiver off her shoulders, and gestured to a pile of clothing in a corner of the room. “Dress.” She said, opening her sack. Kagome nodded and walked over to the pile, searching for anything she could use. She finally settled on a violet kimono that hugged her hips, and quickly threw it on. she turned and saw Kikyo stirring a pot over a fire in the hearth. She looked at Kagome and beckoned her forward. Kagome nodded and sat down a few feet away. Kikyo reached into the pot and withdrew a damp rag. She rung it out and ran it over the cut running down Kagome's nose, cleaning off the blood that had dried.

“Now, perhaps you would wish to tell me how I found you like this.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Kagome was really starting to hate the back of Kikyo's head. She had finished her tale several minutes ago, and Kikyo hadn't even looked at her. Kagome had told her most of what had happened, with a few things edited out. She didn't tell her about Kouga's rosary, or his trip down the well. She wasn't sure Kikyo knew about that, and wasn't about to tell her. While she had been talking, Kikyo had cleaned up her nose and sprinkled some sort of herb over the wound. It had stung and made Kagome sneeze, but with her nose numb, the bleeding hadn't started again. It must have been some feudal substitute for anesthetic.

“So you ran away.” Kikyo said, making Kagome jump.

“Um…yes.” Kagome said, wincing at how pathetic she sounded.

“And you accepted the wolf's mark?”

“Yeah.” Kagome said. She wasn't sure how she felt about that now. Sure, Kouga was a great guy, he loved her, and was a good man. On the other hand, if she ever wanted Inuyasha, maybe the best thing to do would have been to not accept the mark.

“And yet you wonder why Inuyasha is so moody?” Kikyo continued. Kagome chuckled nervously.

“Well he's always been kinda moody.” She said. Then the humor vanished, and she sighed. “I have to tell him what really happened, but how do I face him and expect forgiveness after pushing him away so harshly?”

“You do not.” Kikyo replied. “You merely explain to him what has happened, and accept his reaction, no matter if it is forgiveness or not.” Kagome nodded.

“If you were Inuyasha, would you forgive me?” she asked.

“No.” Kikyo said sharply. “But then, if I were Inuyasha, I would be rather stresses considering not only how you rejected him, but why.” Kagome cocked her head.

“What do you mean?” Kikyo turned and finally faced Kagome.

“You not only pushed him away, but did so because of Naraku. This isn't the first time Naraku tried to turn Inuyasha and his love against each other.” She explained. Kagome gasped. How could she have missed that? It was true, Naraku had tried this before. She remembered all too well how that had turned out, and she was pretty sure that Inuyasha would figure it out too.

“But, that was different.” She protested. “Inuyasha and you loved each other.” Kikyo raised an eyebrow.

“And you don't love him?” she asked. Kagome gulped. Well, after what happened...

“Yes, I do.” She said after a moment. “But he doesn't love me.” She said.

“And why do you say that?”

“Well he's never said anything or told anyone…” she stopped as Kikyo started laughing. She was stunned. She'd never heard Kikyo laugh before. The undead miko stopped herself and shook her head in amusement.

“He never told me either.” She told Kagome. Kagome's jaw dropped.

“He didn't?” she asked in disbelief. Inuyasha had pined for her countless times, how could he not have told her? “But how do you know then?” Kikyo shrugged.

“When we were together fifty years ago, Inuyasha guarded his emotions very carefully. Not much has changed. He was very cautious about showing any kind of positive feelings. He sometimes held my hand when in private, but would quickly pull back if someone came near. After a while of him shadowing me and watching me, it became clear to the villagers that he loved me. And since I did not do anything to dissuade his pursuits, they assumed that I loved him back. We both heard the rumors of course, but we never did anything to deny them. It didn't seem necessary to voice our feelings aloud.” She explained.

Kagome was stunned. They hadn't even said the words. It was just an unspoken affection between them. Inuyasha had never said he loved Kikyo. And she had never said she loved him. But whenever Kikyo was mentioned, Inuyasha got so vulnerable, and he got this lovelorn look in his eyes. No wonder he was so depressed; he must have thought he and Kagome were the same way.

Just the thought brought a smile to Kagome's face. Inuyasha loved Kikyo, it was obvious to anyone who saw it, either fifty years ago or today. But he had never even told her how he felt. Suddenly, all of Sango's insistences that Inuyasha cared for her made sense. To Sango and Miroku, Inuyasha's feelings must have been painfully clear.

Kagome thought of when they had fought the dark miko Tsubaki. She fought off death, trapped in a world of Tsubaki's curse, while Inuyasha tried to kill Tsubaki and free her. Earlier, Tsubaki's barrier had come down, and it was fairly obvious that Kikyo had been the one to do it. When Kagome had repelled her curse and sent Tsubaki fleeing, Inuyasha had been concerned with killing her. Why? He had said that she had to pay for trying to kill Kagome. He hadn't run off to look for Kikyo, although everyone was pretty sure she was nearby. No, he had wanted to slay the woman that had hurt Kagome. Inuyasha hadn't cared about finding Kikyo, he wanted to protect Kagome.

“I am moving on.” Kikyo said, picking up her bow and sack. “I will find your mate and Inuyasha, and tell them where to find you. The women who were here earlier shall bring you food soon.” Kagome nodded.

“Thank you Kikyo.” She said quietly. Kikyo nodded back, and slipped out the shoji.