Thursday, January 20, 2005

   Chapter 41: You Have Only To Ask...
Kagome whirled around, her hand catching Naraku's throat as she brought her full weight against him with her other shoulder. Kagura leapt back, her eyes wide and mouth slack in surprise as they crashed to the ground, Kagome pressing her knee hard over his heart, one hand still circling his neck while her purifying energy crackled wildly all around them.

Her eyes burned vivid scarlet as she snarled down at him, her power fluctuating in vivid arches in response to the tainted energy trying to seep through her natural barriers, "Don't you DARE fuck with me like that, Naraku!"

Naraku recovered from his own surprise so quickly, Kagura wondered if he'd felt the emotion at all or if it was simply an illusion for the enraged miko's benefit. His lips curved in a condescending smile as he lay completely unresisting beneath her, as calm as if they were simply making polite conversation, "You can't kill me, miko."

"And what makes you so damn sure of that?" her hands flexed against his throat and her voice lowered with significant threat. "At the moment, I'm not feeling particularly forgiving."

"Kill me and you'll lose your chance to be free of the hanyou," Naraku arched one brow in mocking confidence. "Would you do that when you've already come this far?"

Kagome paused uncertainly and Naraku shifted, taking advantage of her indecision to reach up one hand and brush his fingers over the blood seeping sluggishly from the healing wounds in her cheeks. Kagome jerked her head back when a twinge of pain raced down her spine, her expression filling with disgusted anger as the flesh on his hand hissed and burned down to the bone.

"Truly amazing," he murmured, looking at his hand dispassionately. "You are still so pure... Even after you have sullied yourself with the half-breed."

Kagome moved so fast, Naraku had no idea what she had done until the back of her hand connected with his cheekbone, hard enough to snap his face aside. "Say that again and I don't give a damn if I ever figure out this spell, I'll kill you, Naraku," her lips pulled back in a feral hiss of warning.

He held up his hands in a soothing gesture, his eyes warming slightly when he tasted blood in his mouth. Naraku kept his voice soft as he responded, "I meant you no insult. On the contrary, Kagome, I am... exceedingly impressed by the strength of your soul."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she slowly released her grip on his throat and slid off his chest, balancing lightly on the balls of her feet a few steps away from him, "What game are you trying to play with me? You're the one who was running around in my head before, weren't you? The night Kikyou tried to kill me."

"If you hadn't been assisted, Kikyou would have succeeded in her attempts," Naraku lifted himself gracefully to his feet, his gaze never leaving hers even as he let his eyes slide half-closed to study her appearance. "However, I'm afraid I cannot lay claim to that incident. Had I been the one you heard, I would have saved you this unnecessary aggravation."

Kagome frowned, her anger calming slightly with her curiosity. Was Kagura right? Naraku had the answers she was looking for? A twinge of pain flared to life behind her eyes, prompting her to grunt and lift her hand to her temple as she heard whispers chase through her head again. They were quiet, mumbling and falling over themselves as they made her head pound, but they were not so indistinct that she couldn't tell the voice this time was female.

Ignoring the tension that entered her expression, Naraku waved a hand to indicate himself dismissively, "Unfortunately, I was unaware of that contact. For once, that fool Onigumo actually opened my eyes to what I was missing..."

Kagome's head snapped up, the whispers seeming not so important compared to the shock that rolled through her, "O...Oni...gumo?!"

"Being in limbo as he is, he was aware of your situation long before I," Naraku's brows drew together in mild annoyance. "But he cannot do anything that will not come to my attention sooner or later. Kagura told you I have been watching you, Kagome, and I have. I'm aware that you have been placed under a spell that is unclear to anyone who is attempting to unravel it, perhaps even the caster?"

The answer chased across her eyes before she had a chance to smother it, and Kagome could tell from his quiet laughter that he had seen and interpreted it accurately. She tried to focus, but the ache was increasing and the whispers were growing louder in her mind. Her hands began to shake at the severe sensations and she fisted them in her lap to hide the telling indication of her distress.

Naraku held out a hand to her, "In this matter, miko, you can have faith in me. I have the knowledge and the magic to help you, and I will use it if you would only ask."

Kagome winced, looking up at him as the pain spread through her skull before moving through her blood and concentrating hotly at her hip. She was unable to prevent the hiss of discomfort, clutching both hands to the sides of her had when the volume swelled with a force that stole her breath. She gritted her teeth, trying hard to focus and push the woman's voice out of her mind in an effort to put an end to that horrid sensation, but the aching pulse was making it impossible for her.

Naraku's eyes narrowed fractionally, and he took a step forward to rest a hand on her head despite the way her energy crackled with menace all around him, "He is using Kikyou, you know."

"What are...you talking about?" Kagome's eyes darkened even as a thin line of blood seeped from her nose. Her anger flared again as she lifted a badly shaking hand and brushed the back of her hand over her face, glaring at the blood smeared over her skin.

"The hanyou has connected himself to you with the help of this spell," he bent down, forcing her to meet his eyes as he stoically ignored the purifying energy lashing out at him and reached out to touch her chin. "You are in pain, are you not? Onigumo tried to get your attention in this way at first; the voices and whispers in your head? You were uncomfortable with his aura fighting your hanyou's spirit inside you. How much worse is it with the hanyou helping Kikyou bring you this pain? You know she wants you dead and has the powers to invade your soul."

Kagome pulled her head away from his touch, her brow twitching with her efforts to keep silent, "Ki...Kikyou..."

"You can not fight them by yourself," Naraku shook his head, lifting a hand to hide the way his lips curved in a slight smile.

"Go to hell," she gritted out, the skin beneath her eyes darkening to gray.

"Ask me, Kagome," he leaned in close, catching her gaze again easily.

"Why?" Kagome's hand snaked out, fisting in the front of his elaborate kimono and dragging him close enough the he couldn't prevent the slight tensing of discomfort in response to her powers. "Why do you suddenly want to fucking help me, Naraku?"

Naraku reached up, circling her wrist lightly with his fingers, "It's no secret that I have a great... appreciation for things of power, Kagome. You have also become quite pleasing to look at," he laughed softly when her eyes narrowed in sharp irritation. "This spell that has been cast on you; I must admit it has caught my attention just as much as you have yourself. I want to understand it just as much as you do."

Kagome released him abruptly, pressing the heels of her hands hard against her eyes when the whispers pitched higher, a quiet whimper escaping her before she managed to squelch it. It was still impossible to distinguish everything the voice was saying, but she caught the meaning with ease. This woman in her head was urging her to die, to give up much as the whispers had the first time, but this voice had an edge of malice that had been absent in the previous voice, Onigumo's voice.

Naraku took a lock of her hair between her fingers, marveling at the soft texture in a... well, a human turned youkai, he thought with another smile, "If you believe nothing else, Kagome, you know I would do anything in my power to hinder Inuyasha. If I want you alive, doesn't that stand to reason that he would want you dead? He has always chosen the undead over you if given the chance, hasn't he? Let them have each other as they deserve, miko, I find that I prefer the living over some macabre puppet. I was a fool to let you almost slip away."

An animal growl rose in Kagome's throat as distinct images flashed in her mind, images of Inuyasha and Kikyou together, of him running to her and leaving Kagome behind. Tears seeped from the corners of her eyes to mingle with the blood, "I...I don't...trust you...."

"How much more of this can you take before it overcomes you?" he asked her gently, his voice a low soothing murmur to her tortured senses. "The pain inside you is so great that even I can feel it coming from you. Let me prove to you that I want you to live. You don't even have to trust me, Kagome, only accept my help."

Her hands fisted over her stomach when a spasm went through her, nearly doubling her in half, but she growled violently when he reached for her again, "How do I know... you're not the one... doing this, yourself?"

Naraku's brows lifted and he rose elegantly to his feet, holding out his hand to her, "Do you not trust your own powers? I have no blood in you as Inuyasha does, and your magic has been resisting mine ever since you entered my home. You can see that with your own eyes."

Kagome's brows twitched with uncertainty again, and Naraku smiled at her comfortingly, pushing at that doubt.

"The spell is allowing you to absorb the strengths and energy of the youkai around you," he whispered to her. "That is a great skill, Kagome. It makes you very difficult for them to kill."

"Skill?" she repeated quietly in disbelief.

"If you stop pushing my magic away, you could draw off it and make yourself stronger," Naraku splayed his fingers over his heart. "You can purify the Shikon-no-Tama, what makes you think you can't purify the magic you pull into yourself? You want the pain to go away, don't you, Kagome?"

*Do you want Kikyou to win?*

Kagome's brows snapped together at the mild retreat of the pain when the male voice entered her mind, Onigumo's voice. Naraku was...telling the truth? If she absorbed his power, would Kikyou be blocked from her mind?

Kagome's eyes lifted to focus on the coldly handsome face above her, confused at the thought that Naraku honestly wanted to help her.

"Ask."

*Ask, Kagome. We can make it go away and show you how you were meant to be treated and protected. You are stronger than this. Don't let Kikyou win...*

The memory of Inuyasha and Kikyou kissing danced behind her eyes yet again and Kagome's brows slowly lowered in a deadly scowl.

Kagome rocked herself forward, glaring up at him as her hand locked onto his like a lifeline.

**

Inuyasha dropped to his knees, clamping his hands to the sides of his head as his body arched back from the force of the searing agony that swamped through him.

It was hard to say what was worse... The sound of the scream that tore violently from Inuyasha the moment he hit the ground, or the way the ground in a perfect circle around him shattered under a massive blast of energy that knocked the rest of them flat on their backs.

Inuyasha clamped his mouth shut, shaking almost uncontrollably as he fought to contain the urge to scream again and vocalize the strength of the sensations. Something swirled to life in his mind beneath the throbbing and silent screams that made his heart freeze in his chest and the anger he'd been fighting flood his thoughts.

Laughing.

Something was fucking laughing in his head beneath the pain and the screaming.

"Inuyasha!!?" Sango and Miroku shot to their feet, started towards the visibly struggling hanyou only to have him shoot them a fierce glare and throw up one hand in an obvious sign for them to keep their distance.

As they watched, he dropped his chin to his chest, his eyes clenching shut as his lip curled back off his fangs in a snarl, "K...Kagome... She's... getting hurt... badly..."

Shippo's eyes widened, filling with tears as his hands fisted in Miroku's robes where he sat on the monk's shoulder, "That's happening to Kagome?"

Sango's hands clenched into fists at her sides, her own brows lowering in an angry scowl as she watched Inuyasha fight against something they couldn't see, "That bastard!" Miroku reached out, lightly setting a comforting hand on her shoulder even as his expression turned grim and he murmured, "Kagome-sama will be all right, Sango. Inuyasha will not let anything happen to her."

Oblivious to the conversation beside him, Inuyasha rose carefully to his feet, forcing himself to ignore the pain and focus instead on the rage pouring through him. He didn't have a choice. If he wanted to have any effectiveness he had to risk it spilling over to Kagome, he just hoped he wasn't causing irreparable damage in giving into it.

He was going to make Naraku suffer for a long time for this.

Sango and Miroku didn't have a chance to even flinch as Inuyasha shot forward, ducking down to put a shoulder in each of their stomachs and lift them effortlessly off their feet, weapons and all.

The only warning they got was a growled, "Hang on," and the hanyou was leaping forward at a speed they hadn't thought he would be capable of being so loaded down.

Shippo had barely had enough time to tighten his hands in the monk's robes and even then, he'd still nearly been flung to the ground. He peeked at the shocked faces of Miroku and Sango as they tried to both hold their weapons and Inuyasha, and then buried his face against Miroku's shoulder with a sob, 'Kagome...okaa-san....'

**

Kagura watched in confusion as Naraku pulled Kagome against his chest, catching the girl as she slumped forward. When he lifted her in his arms and carried her to his personal chambers, she trailed behind, "Have you decided to kill her after all?"

Naraku didn't even glance at her as he responded, "Kill her? Of course not."

Her expression turned grim when she felt Naraku's aura drain, Kagome's aura swelling in the same motion as he laid her on top of the futon, "She could kill us."

Naraku frowned at her in annoyance as he rose to his feet, Kagome's back arching up at another pulse in their auras behind him, and her mouth opening in a pained gasp, "Only a fool would kill the guardian of the Shikon jewel when she has been so delightfully enchanted. A human who has the ability to transform completely to a youkai and back all depending on her emotional state... All I must do is discover the root of this spell and turn it to my advantage."

Kagura blinked in surprise, her gaze jumping from Naraku to Kagome, "You want her bound to you instead?"

Naraku's eyes gleamed even as his lips twisted in a coldly arrogant smile, "Can you think of anything that would make such a perfect victory over that damn hanyou? He would be enraged beyond anything else and he'll have known that I have won. There will be nothing he can do to stop me."

"She could purify you," Kagura reminded again when a faint shudder went through his form and Kagome shifted restlessly. "She's almost doing it now," she took a cautious step backwards when the air around the miko took on an ominous chill.

Naraku turned back to the pale figure on the futon, kneeling down at her side, "Only enough to make her believe she is purifying it all. The hanyou is angry...more than angry, and it's making it much easier for me to hide everything she is letting herself absorb. The youkai blood in her is safe from her purification, but not from me."

Kagura's brows rose as miasma curled along his fingertips, watching him reach out and draw his fingers lightly over the deep lines cut into her cheeks. Kagome flinched in her comatose state, her skin sizzling as the heat sealed the injuries and brought an admiring smile to Naraku's face. Under her magic, the miasma burned away, but the mix of the two left the almost perfectly symmetrical lines scarred lightly into her flesh.

They couldn't have looked better if he'd cut them on himself, he decided with an approving nod. Kagome would be so entrenched in the hanyou's youkai blood by the time he found them that it would be almost impossible to revert her. But then, he had to do something about her hearing that bastard's voice...

"How is it possible that she feels just like a youkai?" Kagura cleared her throat, wondering if Naraku would actually answer. The look on his face as he trailed his fingers down the miko's throat and turned her face from side to side was more than a little disturbing. 'He really is obsessed with her...' her lips turned down in disgust.

Naraku slid his hand down to circle her throat, leaning down to stare at her as though she were a very complex puzzle, "I have never seen a human like this one. One spell and her magic transforms her completely without the aid of the Shikon-no-Tama. She's not a human, hanyou, or a youkai..."

Kagome tensed when his hand slid down over her heart and then further to press flat against her stomach, her body unconsciously attempting to escape the touch causing her pain.

"Not even I am capable of such a thing," Naraku lifted his free hand to caress the large chunk of the corrupted Shikon-no-Tama at his own throat. "If I command not only the jewel, but the jewel's guardian who's powers rival that of anything I have seen before, nothing will be able to stop me."

"Then why this?" Kagura indicated Kagome's still form.

Naraku's smiled turned cruel, "They seem to feel the emotions of the other if it is strong enough. Inuyasha will go insane when he feels what her body is experiencing and he knows that her mind is unaware of it. She'll be causing herself and him the pain, but only he will feel it."

When Naraku's hand slid along her stomach to the tattoo, he let out a shout of pain, leaping back away from her when a sharp blast of energy shot through his arm, numbing it to the shoulder. His brows rose high in annoyed surprise as he regarded his steaming flesh, "Damn."

**

Inuyasha hissed, skidding to a halt and dumping his passengers unceremoniously to the ground as he clamped his hand over his heart. Miroku and Sango let out startled exclamations, the sounds cut off as they looked up at the hanyou's surprised expression.

"Something... strange just happened," he looked up at them in alarm. "For just a second it all... it all went away... I could feel her!"

"What did you feel?" Miroku prodded, his face tense.

Inuyasha shook his head, "She's confused. Everything in her mind is... is chaotic. But the pain wasn't in her mind... I can feel it, but it was almost like-"

"She didn't?" Sango finished, lifting her hand to her heart. "Like the first time I fought you, but...if Naraku had used a shard on her, wouldn't she purify it?"

"It wasn't a shard," Inuyasha growled out. "I don't know what it is, but she's not feeling whatever he's doing to her."

Miroku frowned, "Perhaps that is not such a bad thing." At their questioning expressions, he clarified hesitantly, "With all Naraku is capable of doing, would you rather Kagome-sama was aware of the pain you feel from her, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha scowled, turning in the direction he'd felt her from, "No..."

"Could you tell how far away she is?" Sango urged, glaring at the setting sun.

"Too far to carry you all tonight," he gritted his teeth, eyes squeezing shut as he focused on the lingering feel of Kagome. She'd jolted back into his head so abruptly it had nearly staggered him, but more importantly, the feel of the magic wrapped around her had yanked away as well. She had to be fighting him, that was the only thing he could think of that would make the laughter retreat so quickly like that.

Unfortunately, the moment he felt her clearly, a wave of weakness went through him so quickly he'd nearly fainted. Kagome was weak if she'd absorbed so much in that brief moment, but wouldn't it help that she'd just infused herself with his energy?

His hand lifted to his face, 'Her cheeks hurt... why would her cheeks hurt?'

Miroku let out a shout of alarm when the color abruptly drained from Inuyasha's face, "Inuyasha!?"

Between one breath and the next, Inuyasha crumpled to the ground.

**

Inuyasha opened his eyes warily, aware only that he was flat on his back and looking up into a dark sky. Alarmed, he shot to his feet, his gaze darting around for some sign of his companions, but there was nothing but the overwhelming darkness. Inuyasha began to search the gloom frantically for the others, yelling out as loud as he could manage, 'Oi! Where is everyone?!'

There was an odd distortion to his voice, thick and muggy as though his mouth was moving too slow for the actual sound of him speaking. Confused, he lifted his hand to his throat, searching the heavy silence around him for something, anything to give him a clue of where he was and how he'd gotten there.

Something slammed into him from behind, sending him face first to the ground. Dazed, he shot up, reaching for the Tetsusaiga, 'N-nani?!'

The sword was missing, and there was no sign of his attacker in the dark silence surrounding him, 'Who's there?! Show yourself you fucking coward!!'

'Stop yelling, you fucking idiot, there's nothing wrong with my ears.'

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