Friday, October 15, 2004

inuyasha 18
Inuyasha staggered at the massive waves of both energy and rage rolling off Kagome as she stood with her back to him, Kikyou held aloft in her bloody hand as though she weighed nothing. His throat closed as his eyes moved over her ripped clothing to the wounds steadily seeping more of her blood into her already soaked clothing. Her blood was all over the clearing, thickest at the ground in front of the well where the moonlight gleamed sickly off broken pieces of arrows that had been dropped carelessly about.

For a moment he couldn't believe it, shaking his head as a low sound of denial escaped his throat, but it was all there for him to see.

Kikyou had attacked Kagome.

And now it looked very much like Kagome was about to kill her.

But then, Kagome had been possessed before with the youkai... Was it possible it had happened again and SHE had attacked Kikyou first? Or perhaps Kikyou was simply trying to force out the spirit controlling the younger miko?

Grimly he shook his head. No, Kagome hadn't lost control that time until she was attacked. There hadn't been any signs of the weird magic at any other time before or after. Something had to have set her off, and judging from the amount of blood soaking Kagome and the ground, her wounds had been inflicted a fair amount of time earlier. Kagome was unarmed and Kikyou had shot her at least twice. His expression filled with sadness and regret at the scene playing out before his stunned eyes.

Kagome sneered up at Kikyou, rage blinding her to the hanyou standing frozen within his thoughts at the edge of the grove, "Why can't you just stay dead for once, bitch, instead of chasing after me? Do you get some twisted pleasure at seeing me bleed?" She snorted in disgust, eyes narrowing to slits as she tightened her hand on the girl's neck, "How silly of me, I answered my own fucking question, didn't I?"

Kikyou gasped, trying to get her hands under Kagome's fingers, but the blood coating the girl's flesh made it too slick to get a good hold, "You should be dead. You can't bleed this much and live."

Inuyasha felt his heart clench when he heard Kikyou's words and he fell back a step.

So it really was true, Kikyou had meant to kill her.

Kagome smiled, but there was no warmth in it, just cold, mocking amusement as the gray beneath her eyes darkened slightly, "Obviously I can."

Inuyasha's fists clenched as his lips pulled back in a snarl against the pain and fear rising in him. He couldn't let this continue; had to stop it somehow. He didn't think he could bear to see them kill each other right in front of him.

"Where did this power come from?" Kikyou gave up trying to pry open her hand, moving her hands down to press against Kagome's chest. If she could distract her long enough, she could at least use a blast of magic to free herself. "It is not your own, Kagome. Who's is it?"

"Who knows," Kagome shrugged, uncaring and bored with the questions. "It's coming from inside me and that's all I care about. Time to die, Kikyou..."

"Wait, Kagome, stop!" Inuyasha managed to find his voice to call out when he felt the power stir around her, stepping into the grove just enough to be out of the forest's shadows, his arm outstretched in a helpless gesture. His entire body trembled with the desire to rush into the grove and knock them apart, but he was afraid if he moved too fast he would set off Kagome in her current state. He couldn't risk that.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome turned in surprise, her hold on the miko slackening.

Taking full advantage of the distraction, Kikyou released the strongest blast she could summon in so short a time the moment Kagome's attention turned. The force hit Kagome full in the chest, flinging her backwards violently. Losing her hold on the other woman completely, she crashed hard on her back several feet away. Her head slammed against the ground, momentarily dazing her with the impact.

"Kikyou, don't!" Inuyasha shot forward, grabbing the undead miko's hands desperately. "Stop it, you're going to kill her!"

"Inuyasha..." Kikyou frowned as she looked up into the worry and pain in amber eyes staring down at her. Stepping closer to the hanyou and reaching up to lay her hand on his cheek. "She's gone insane, Inuyasha, she must be destroyed," she gestured with her other hand to the crumpled form.

"No. Kikyou, I can't let you do that," he shook his head and whispered painfully, taking her hand lightly and removing it from his face. "I may have promised to protect you, but I cannot let you kill Kagome."

Kikyou frowned sharply in annoyance, "You cannot stop me."

At the other end of the grove, Kagome pushed herself to her feet, shaking her head to clear it as she turned to look at Inuyasha and Kikyou. Her heart leapt painfully in her chest and she lifted a hand to her mouth, her eyes narrowing as she noted how close they stood to one another and the hand Inuyasha held gently in his own. Their mouths were moving but she could hear nothing but her own heartbeat pounding rapidly with the sudden rise of emotions the sight of them sent through her.

What had she expected? That just because of the way he'd been acting lately, Inuyasha would see what the miko had done and rush to her aid? She averted her face and bit her lip, choking back the sudden sting of tears in her eyes, "I'm such an idiot."

*You see, Kagome? He will never choose you. You are standing here covered in blood and still he runs first to his precious Kikyou. You are nothing to him. He prefers the walking dead over you.*

"No..." she whispered, pressing her hands to her ears in an attempt to shut out the low voice as sorrow swamped her. It never crossed her mind to question how the voice had grown so strong, changing from indistinct whispers to a tangible presence in her head. With the sudden distraction of consuming sadness overriding her rage, she finally felt the dizzying pain radiating from her wounds and stumbled to her knees at the force of the sensation. "No..."

*It's true. You can see it yourself. Look, he is concerned only with her welfare. The only reason he called your name was to distract you so his love could attack. He will not care when she kills you. He wishes only to be free of you.*

"Why? Why are you saying these things to me?" bitter tears welled in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and mixing with the blood as they dripped to the grass. "Damn you, why?" she choked out brokenly, her fists clenching.

*Because I can help you. I can see you for what you truly are, not as an imitation. I do not want you to die at their hands, Kagome. Make no mistakes, they will kill you.*

Kagome wrapped her arms around her torso as though sometime in the past few moments it had turned to glass. Her eyes found Inuyasha and Kikyou staring silently at each other through matted curtain of her hair. She didn't want to believe the words, didn't want to listen as he whispered in her mind, but she could see it with her own eyes. He was right, Inuyasha cared only for the woman who had betrayed him so long ago.

She looked away in defeat, unable to bear the sight of them when she was bleeding on the ground only a few feet away, "What do you want from me?"

*You are still angry, Kagome. Even more so now than you were before. Let it fill you. That anger will make you stronger, strong enough to defeat them both.*

"Angry...yes, I am... angry," her brows slowly lowered as she felt the seething rage pushing at the mind-numbing sorrow just like the voice had said. It felt good, pushing aside the hurt and the pain as she let it begin to spark to life again inside her.

*The hanyou does not deserve the love of someone like you. You deserve to love one who does not compare you to the dead. That's all you ever wanted, was it not? Someone who would love Kagome and not Kikyou's reincarnation?*

The calm she had lost when she gave into her pain slowly seeped back into her with every new pulse of anger, and Kagome let her hands fall slowly to her lap, "Love. Yes, I wanted to..."

*I can give that to you, you know. If you give me a chance. All you have to do now is fight and live through this. Do not listen to him if he speaks to you, Kagome. He seeks to cause you more pain, more suffering. Do not let him close to you. Do not let him touch you.*

"No," Kagome closed her eyes, the orange and violet energy flaring around her again, darker than it had been before. "You are right. I will not let him..."

*Kill them, little one. It is the only way to rid yourself of the pain. I will help you and then I will come for you. I will love you.*

"Yes...I won't listen to anymore. I will kill them before they kill me," her voice gained strength, distorting as she wrapped herself in that voice, in the energy it poured into her. She could feel him, the man who'd been whispering to her now seemed to be embracing her very soul as he continued to whisper to her. The voice was no longer insulting her, the mocking tone gone as though it had never been to be replaced with soothing warmth to dull the constant throbbing in her head.

Inuyasha's ears flicked back as her voice gained enough volume to reach him, snapping his gaze to her in time to see her lift her arms skyward and the energy whirl around her feet like a vortex as it flared high. "Oh shit, no! KAGOME!!" he whirled to face her, his eyes wide as her scent wavered and faded into something hollow and empty.

"I will not listen any longer," Kagome repeated solemnly as she rose to her feet, the injuries no longer hampering her motions. "I've seen all I need to see, and I will not be made a fool of again."

"Fuck, this is even worse than before!" Inuyasha grabbed Kikyou and leapt out of the way as Kagome flung out a hand and sent a spiral of magic forward, tearing up the ground where they had been standing.

Kagome's eyes followed them, her face expressionless as he landed and set Kikyou on her feet. The voice had been right after all, no matter what happened Inuyasha would always choose Kikyou. She sighed in regret, briefly allowing it to show in her eyes as she turned to Inuyasha, "I will not die tonight, hanyou."

Inuyasha flinched at the coldness in her voice, shaking his head as he held out his hands to her, "Kagome, listen to me, whatever it is, you have to fight it. Please!"

She tilted her head to one side much in the same way she had when studying Kikyou. She could feel the energy curling around him, reaching for her insistantly to push in on her. But it only made her head throb worse than it already was, making her vision swim and the blood pound in her ears so loudly it blocked every other sound.

She forcefully pushed his aura away from her own, fighting to ignore the way it dulled her senses to hold it back, "You don't understand. There is nothing to fight. I am not possessed."

"Can't you see it, Inuyasha?" Kikyou had regained her stoic expression, moving to Inuyasha's side. "The magic is feeding off HER rage, HER emotions. Kagome doesn't think she is being manipulated, so she will not fight. It would be better to kill her now."

"NO!" he denied fiercely, his fists clenching as he watched Kagome casually rotate her shoulders and gather the energy around her.

*They are plotting together.*

"I can see that," Kagome answered him calmly, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as she readied herself. "They will not win."

Inuyasha's brows lowered dangerously, his own anger rising when he heard her speak, "What the fuck? She can hear someone. Someone's 'telling' her to fight us."

"She tried to kill me, Inuyasha," Kikyou reminded him, kneeling to collect her bow and arrows. "We must stop her."

"I won't allow you to hurt her, Kikyou," Inuyasha spared her only the barest glance before returning his gaze warily to Kagome. "Don't make me to fight you too."

Before Kikyou had a chance to respond, Kagome had launched herself forward, avoiding Inuyasha completely to slam her shoulder into the miko's stomach and send them both crashing backwards. Inuyasha tried to catch hold of her as she shot past, but Kagome twisted to avoid him hand, snarling at him as she slid into a crouch.

"Stay!" he leapt forward as she dropped to the ground, wincing when she let out a shout of pain.

"Sit!" Kagome hissed, her head spinning at the abrupt jolt that went through her. "Fuck, hanyou, that hurt!"

"Kagome, you have to let me help," Inuyasha's claws dug deep into the soil beneath him, tensing when he felt the blood in the grass. She'd subdued him, and that meant her mind was still active underneath the rage. If she was awake enough to remember the rosary, he could reach her, "You've lost too much blood."

"Liar. You just want me dead so you can be with her," her eyes narrowed as she twisted, attempting to force the spell off herself.

The man was hissing at her in her own mind, demanding to know why she hadn't told him the hanyou could restrain her with a word like that? "What difference does it make if he can do this to me?" she growled out angrily, her attention so focused on trying to move she completely missed the look of rage that crossed Inuyasha's face.

*If I had known, I could have gotten you out of this before he had a chance to use it! I told you, dammit, don't let that hanyou touch you!*

"He won't," Kagome shook her head, muscles tensing as she felt the spell losing its effect.

"Get the fuck out of Kagome's head!" Inuyasha snarled up her, his eyes glowing fiercely with the depth of his own anger. Someone was daring to try and manipulate her and the very thought of it has his blood heating dangerously. As soon as he found out who it was he was going to take great pleasure in pulling them apart piece by piece.

Kagome's eyes widened when she saw Inuyasha lift himself up and reach for her. Reacting with the voice, she screamed, leaning as far away from him as she could, "Don't touch me! Get away from me!"

"Stay!" he snarled out again when he felt his mobility return, taking advantage of her renewed bellow of outraged pain to close the distance that remained between them. Inuyasha clapped a hand over her mouth to keep her from subduing him in return while his other arm wrapped around her tightly and forced her up against his chest.

Kagome arched away from him at what should have been an impossible angle, attempting to scream, but the sound was muffled behind his hand. Inuyasha tightened his hold, swearing as he pressed her face to his chest, growling in her ear, "Dammit, Kagome, I don't know who's in your head but shut it out! You know I'd never hurt you!"

Kagome bit her lip, a shudder wracking her frame from head to toe. The energy vibrating off him was breaking through her barriers, making the man in her head scream in outrage and her head pound as though it was trying to split apart.

She whimpered in Inuyasha's hold, but it only encouraged him to hold her tighter, his hand stroking her back as he murmured in her ear. She could barely make out the words over the sound of her own blood and the fading voice. She desperately tried to hold onto it, but the pulsing throb at her hip lurched and then started to pound, slow and steady, drowning him out.

She hadn't even realized she was cold until she felt the heat radiating off Inuyasha, seeping into her and scattering her thoughts until she was losing her hold on that glorious anger that had been rushing through her. The more the anger faded, the stronger the feel of pain and the weaker her limbs became until she was slumped against him, shivering as though she'd been submerged in ice for weeks.

Inuyasha closed his eyes in relief, taking his hand away from her mouth to wrap both arms around her and cradle her to him, "That's it, Kagome. Push it out and listen to me. Calm down."

"No," she whispered, her fingers clenching in his haori as a spasm of pain went through her, stealing her breath.

"Yes," he insisted, pressing his lips to her temple. "Breathe, Kagome. Focus on me. Just on me, koibito."

Kagome inhaled deeply, his voice filtering through the noise in her head and soothing her on a purely subconscious level. Inuyasha's scent filled her head with the breath, and the moment it did, the pounding eased.

Blinking in surprise at the unexpected, but not unwelcome effect, she took another breath almost suspiciously. Again the chaos in her head seemed to shift and clear, Inuyasha's energy pushing aside the foreign magic until bit by bit, the other presence faded and vanished completely.

The absence left only Kagome with her head spinning crazily as she felt Inuyasha's hands moving up and down on her spine in a gentle caress. The pain swamping her was incredible, more than she'd ever thought she could withstand, and she felt tears fall from her eyes as she fought to tamp it down.

Inuyasha was presently praying to every god he'd ever known existed that he could get Kagome back to normal, whispering encouragement in her ear as he gently rocked her. He was trying to be careful of her horrible wounds, keeping his touch light even as the thickness of the blood scent made him dizzy. In the same breath he was thanking whatever had hit her with a subduing spell and given him the quick way out of fight he was certain would have been long and violent without it.

Kikyou was all but forgotten in that moment as he focused completely on forcing whoever had dared to invade his Kagome's thoughts out of her head. He was almost afraid to move her with the way she was still bleeding, but he knew he had no hope of helping her until she was back under control.

Kagome shuddered again, her thoughts muddled as though she was waking from a dream. The only things crystal clear to her at the moment was that she was in horrible pain and Inuyasha was holding her. She could remember how she got there, but just barely, everything tripping over itself in her mind. Confused and more than a little afraid, she focused on the one solid, comfortable thing for her at that moment and leaned into Inuyasha's embrace. Her injured shoulder screamed in protest when she moved, but she stubbornly ignored it to slide her arms around his waist.

"Inuyasha?" she breathed out softly, an unspoken plea for some form of reassurance thick in her voice.

"It's all right, Kagome, I'm right here," he soothed, fighting the urge to crush her against him with the strength of his relief. The empty scent was gone, leaving only her distinctive scent and the choking smell of her blood, "I'll take care of everything, I promise. You're safe with me."

She nodded against his chest, "Safe. Inuyasha... you make me feel safe..."

When Kagome went limp, Inuyasha knew she was unconscious and he wasted no time in gathering her in his arms with extreme care and rising to his feet. When he turned, his eyes fell on Kikyou, staring at him expressionlessly from the treeline.

He felt a fresh wave of betrayal wash through him and couldn't prevent the growl that rose from his chest as he demanded, "What the fuck did you do to her, Kikyou?"

Kikyou shrugged, uncaring at his display of temper, "We fought. She was losing until she was possessed by that youkai energy. She went insane and tried to kill me. You saw it yourself."

"Youkai energy?" Inuyasha repeated in disbelief, but shook that aside. He could explore that later, but there were more important things that had to be dealt with now, "You were trying to kill her."

"She only complicates things between us, Inuyasha," she responded softly, frowning slightly at the protests of her body. She needed to heal the damage Kagome had done in her rage quickly or this body might fall apart, "If she were dead it would be simple again."

Inuyasha bit his lip and forced himself to remain calm, but his arms tightened around Kagome possessively, "I'm only going to say this once, Kikyou, so I want you to listen carefully. I may owe you for what was between us before, but Kagome is mine. I will protect her as I vowed to protect you, but if you attack her again, you'll be forcing me to choose..."

"Would that be so bad a thing, Inuyasha?" Kikyou taunted lightly, refusing to look at the hanyou's face. When an uneasy silence stretched between them, she became impatient and finally shot him a narrow glance to gauge his reaction.

Inuyasha was watching her with an unreadable expression, waiting for her to meet his eyes before he answered quietly, "I don't know if any of us would be satisfied if you force me to do that."

Kikyou looked away again, lifting a hand to summon her own youkai, "I hope she is worth your life, Inuyasha. I will kill her and then I will have you. If you get between us, I will only kill you that much sooner."

Inuyasha's eyes followed her only for a moment before he looked down at Kagome's pale face, "I don't intend to die anytime soon, Kikyou. Don't test me like that. Not anymore, and not with her."

He was gone before Kikyou had turned back to respond.

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