Monday, January 24, 2005

   Chapter 43: Hear No Evil...
*Kagome?*

‘Go away....’

*Ahh, then you are awake, you’re just ignoring us.*

‘No,’ her brow furrowed in confusion as her mind fought its way upwards through layers of fog and confusion. Something had happened... Something important, but for the life of her, she just couldn’t remember what it was. ‘No, I... I didn’t hear you before,’ her entire body felt heavy, like something was pressing down on her chest and keeping her from taking a proper breath.

*You accepted our help just in time. We barely managed to block out the hanyou and Kikyou before they killed you.*

It was so quiet...

Kagome tried to force her protesting eyelids to open and figure out how Naraku’s castle could be so still, so silent. It just didn’t seem natural, not when the more lucid she became, the more she could feel things she was certain she should be hearing. A breeze passed along her body, making her shiver faintly as she sensed a variety of auras passing by, far enough away that she could only guess they were passing outside whatever room she had been placed in.

*Your aura is restoring your strength now that we have removed their ability to influence you. Give it a moment, Kagome, you are powerful enough to restore yourself as fast as any youkai.*

Kagome's eyes squeezed tightly shut, gritting her teeth as she forced her resisting body to obey the commands she was giving it. Her eyes opened a bare slit, solid crimson and glowing with the banked rage pulsing just beneath the surface of her conscious emotions. The light dancing across the dark ceiling was streaked with the faint pink and orange of sunlight, bringing a confused frown to her face. Was it evening? Or had she been unconscious all night? Worse, had she been unconscious for longer...?

A foreboding shudder rippled along Kagome's body as she braced her arms on the ground and awkwardly lifted her upper body off the futon. Taking several deep, bracing breaths, she turned her narrowed gaze left and right in a search for Naraku. She had questions she wanted answered, the least of which as to why she heard Onigumo's voice in her head instead of them speaking to her aloud. Her brows lowered sharply when her eyes found him seated calmly beside the closed shoji, looking as coldly elegant as ever as he watched her with a strangely heated gaze.

"Why are-?" she broke off abruptly, her eyes widening as she let out a startled gasp, lifting her hand to her throat. She could feel her voice vibrate in her throat, the words clearly formed in her mind...

But she couldn't hear a sound.

Naraku watched the shock and dawning horror on the miko's face, a tiny smile tugging at his lips as he spoke, his lips moving in time to the voice in her mind, *I must offer my deepest apologies, Kagome, but the only way I could close you off from their powers was to block your body's ability to accept sound. Onigumo's link to you will permit us to speak in this way while we protect you from the hanyou and his undead whore.*

That had the desired reaction.

At the mention of Kikyou and Inuyasha, he sent the slightest push against her jumbled emotions, nudging a tiny flicker of the youkai rage and pain sweeping through her past the barriers he'd constructed inside her. The shock washed from Kagome's scarred face, replaced instantly with a solemn chill that sent a spark of appreciation through his own dark eyes.

*They are coming after you, you know,* he slowly rose to his feet, drawing her startled gaze up to him as he came closer and held out a hand. *Come...your hip is bleeding. Let me tend to it and I will give you clothing more befitting someone of your power. Those...things may be pleasing, but I find I would rather you leave that beautiful body to the imagination when they arrive.*

"Why is my hip bleeding?" Kagome grimaced at the silence pounding heavily in her mind, forcing herself to speak in what she hoped was a whisper as she accepted his assistance and rose to her feet.

Naraku steadied her gently, guiding her through a door that branched off from the bedroom, *The hanyou's blood is inside you and it is fighting with the human blood. He believes if he can force the blood out of you, he will be able to take his own back and force your death since Kikyou failed in her efforts. It is pushing it out of you around the mark.*

Kagome's gaze dropped down to her hip, jolting when she saw the volume of blood soaking the side of her clothes. Her entire right side was soaked through, a trail of smeared footprints following her progress across the room, and drew her eyes to the once-white futon. "There's....there's so much! How could there be so much when I can't feel it!?" she took an unconscious step back as her face paled dramatically, clamping her hand over her hip in a futile effort to staunch the steady flow.

Naraku steadied her with a palm pressed to the small of her back, *The hanyou is blocking your ability to feel the pain. He wants you to do yourself more damage without realizing it even as he weakens your blood. It is very fortunate that you are able to fortify yourself with the energy here and fight against him. However, that brings up a slight problem I fear I must discuss with you.*

Kagome followed the direction of pressure against her back absently, peeling up the hem of her shirt to stare down at the tattoo. Her fists clenched in the bloodied fabric as she fought the sound of disgust and fright rising in her throat. The skin around the tattoo in a radius greater than both her hands was so darkly bruised it looked nearly black, but around that in a thin line it almost looked burned... That couldn't be right though, what would have burned her?

The tattoo itself still looked the most disturbing. Instead of the vivid crimson it had seemed content to stay at previously, it had turned and anrgy mix of violet and black. Visibly throbbing with each pulse in time to her own heart, and each one making new blood raise along the lines of the tattoo and join the rest coating her skin.

*Kagome.*

"Inuyasha is doing...this?" she whispered in disbelief, her hand hovering hesitantly over the mark. How could he? Even if he really wanted her dead, how was he causing this to happen to her?

*Kikyou has the magic, Kagome. Inuyasha has the connection.*

Kikyou.

Naraku shivered under a sudden wave of menace and looked down at the girl in surprise in time to see Kagome's eyes darken and change. The whites had still bled to that glowing crimson, but as Naraku watched, her irises returned solid black instead of her natural blue.

Turning his face aside to hide his pleased smile, he continued to guide her to a low table set with a steaming bowl and several folded white cloths. At the rate she was going, he thought smugly, by the time Inuyasha made it to the castle, he wouldn't recognize Kagome for the changes the youkai blood was making to her appearance.

Gently placing both hands on her shoulders, he pressed her into a seated position beside the table, *Undress so I can see to the blood. I have clothing for you to change into.*

Kagome mechanically obeyed the direction, pulling her shirt up over her head and dropping it carelessly aside. As she eased out of her soaked jeans, her thoughts turned deeply inward and she lifted a hand to her heart, closing her eyes as she sought out link to Inuyasha. Could this all be a mistake? A trick dreamed up by Kikyou to make her think the worst of him? If it was, hadn't involving Naraku ruined that already?

'Wait,' she shook her head a single time and scowled. Where had that thought come from? She didn't trust Naraku even a fraction of how she trusted Inu-

"Ite!" Kagome hissed, falling forward at the sudden squeeze around her heart, tears springing to her eyes as her teeth sank into her lower lip. "Fuck, what was that?!" she reared up and demanded, her attention on Naraku as he sat across from her, a folded bundle in his hands.

*You opened yourself to him, didn't you? Don't you believe us, Kagome? Naraku may not be trust-worthy, but I, Onigumo, have never betrayed you. Let me prove to you that I can love you more than that bastard hanyou ever could, miko. I would give my soul to protect you from Naraku and the hanyou.*

Kagome blinked in surprise, looking up at Naraku's expressionless face as he set aside the clothes and dipped one of the clothes in the greenish water, 'Onigumo? But Naraku-'

*Naraku is a pompous fool, Kagome. The only reason he knew I spoke to you was because I let him. I was afraid for your safety... with good reason, obviously.*

'I'm...confused....' she lifted a hand to her head, slightly dizzy as Naraku began to brush the cloth over her skin, washing away the blood.

*I know it seems confusing, but part of that is because of the fight the hanyou is forcing in your soul. There is an easy way to make things clear again, but it will require a great deal of help from you. You want an end to this pain, don't you? You want to find someone who will treat you as you deserve.*

Kagome flinched when Naraku's hand passed over the tattoo, a strangled sound escaping as she fought a wave of nausea. After a moment, it passed as he moved his hand away and shifted closer, dipping the cloth back in the bowl, 'What exactly do you want my help with, Onigumo?'

She felt him smile in her mind, *We'll just have to kill them both.*

**

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open, disoriented and confused for the two seconds it took for his consciousness to catch up with everything that had happened.

His blinked several times, alarmed at his blurred vision, when they cleared rather abruptly and left him staring up at three concerned faces. He shot out from underneath them, his eyes wide as he gaped at them, finally shaking his head and swearing blackly, clutching his hand over his eyes, "Fucking goddamn sonsofbitches!"

Sango and Miroku glanced at each other before Miroku cleared his throat and inquired in concern, "Inuyasha, are you all right?"

"I know what Kagome meant when she said she was hearing voices," he growled out, his lip curling angrily.

"You heard them?" Sango's brows rose in excited inquiry. "What did they say? Is Kagome-chan all right?"

Inuyasha shook his head, turning north with his ears flicking forward and back as he answered, "They fucking cast the spell on her to 'help' me, except they didn't figure Kagome's miko powers into the spell, or that they somehow got hold of MY blood to make the damn tattoo!"

"They?" Miroku frowned. "There is more than one?"

"Your...blood?" Sango tilted her head to one side, frowning slightly in confusion as she asked before Inuyasha could answer the monk. "But how would someone from Kagome-chan's time get that?"

"Look, I don't fucking know, okay?" he rounded on them, baring his fangs with a grunt of impatience. "Thanks to them, Kagome's in danger and I didn't have the time to get all the answers that I needed. Kagome's feeling things the way a youkai would and not a human and she's absorbing the energy around her. Naraku's going to kill her by being that close unless we get to her and I can make her balance with me instead."

"What do we do?" Shippo had clambered close to the hanyou, tugging on the leg of his hakama and looking up with uncertain fear. "You can save her, right?"

Inuyasha frowned grimly as he looked down at the baby youkai, "I have to get her away from him."

"You can use the spell!" Shippo looked hopeful. "She's like you when she's subdued and she wouldn't be able to run!"

Inuyasha leaned down a patted Shippo on the head, "Whatever it takes."

"Which way, Inuyasha?" Sango was already pulling Miroku astride Kirara, not wanting a repeat of the hanyou's mode of travel.

"North," he caught the kit by the tail and tossed him on his back. "If I'm right, he'll be waiting for us."

"Right about what?" Miroku looked at the hanyou's solemn expression, his brows drawing together.

"The voices said someone was watching, waiting for her to get out of range to put thoughts in her head," Inuyasha answered, glancing at them as he tensed to run. "This is just how he fucking planned it."

**

"Inuyasha must be the one to kill her, Naraku," Kikyou spoke in a flat voice, her eyes rivetted to the image of the hanyou on the surface of Kanna's mirror. "I saw how you behaved with her when she arrived."

Naraku smiled at the image before he dismissed the nearly colorless youkai absently and turned a disapproving scowl on the resurrected miko, "You are free to do whatever you'd like with the hanyou, Kikyou. I will do whatever I wish with this miko who can turn youkai."

"That wasn't the plan," she frowned, her eyes narrowing. "She has to die."

One finely sculpted brow arched in mocking understanding, "You're afraid of her."

"I am not afraid of myself," Kikyou responded with stiff disdain. "She tried to steal Inuyasha, mated with him..."

"You would never have known without me," he reminded, turning his face away from her to look in the direction of his rooms. "I did you a favor, miko, but my payment for assisting you is my choice. I will keep the girl."

Kikyou's stoic mask was back in place as she shrugged and looked away, "She will purify you and then I will still kill her. Either way you will lose, Naraku."

"Maybe you weren't paying attention," Naraku frowned in annoyance at her persistance. "Her human blood is being forced out of her. It will take time, but with the way she is adapting, I'm positive I can mute those powers and prevent myself from being purified. This miko will be corrupted once that blood is gone and I will have a powerful youkai to command."

"You will not-"

"You'd be wise to leave now, Kikyou," Naraku cut her off with a sideways look, rising to his feet and turning his back to her. "Kagome is volatile at best at the moment and if she catches sight of you, YOU will be the one purified today, not me. She will only trust me more for bringing you to her. Are you prepared to fight that fight, miko?"

Kikyou's eyes narrowed, but after a moment, she turned on her heel and stalked out, "You will regret this, Naraku."

Naraku ignored her, closing his eyes as he focused on the chaotic, but intense powers he was coming to associate with the younger miko. He waited patiently, moving to the shoji and sliding it to one side to look out over the desolate landscape surrounding his castle. Even when he heard her enter the room, he kept his gaze trained outside and waited for her to come to him.

*Inuyasha and Kikyou are coming,* his eyes slid appreciately over how her form filled out miko robes he'd given her even as he brought up a hand to slide along the ties of the black hakama contrasting with the stark white of the kimono.

"I know," Kagome's eyes narrowed sharply as she reached up to toy with a loose strand of hair, the rest had been tied back in a high ponytail. "I can feel him moving closer."

Naraku nodded, gesturing to his left where a bow and quiver of arrows had been left against the wall, *He will not be able to get close to you this time, Kagome. Are you ready?*

Kagome's hand brushed her bandaged, throbbing hip and she nodded, "I do not intend to die."

**

Inuyasha came to a stop so quickly, Shippo went flying over her shoulder, barely saved from a painful trip to the ground by the hanyou's reflexes. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed sharply as Sango landed Kirara slightly behind him, sliding of the youkai and gripping Hiraikotsu's handle.

"What is it?" she frowned, searching the forest ahead of them for what had made Inuyasha stop.

Miroku gripped the sealing rosary, "Naraku is close... It's a trap."

"He's not even fucking trying to hide himself," Inuyasha snarled, dropping Shippo to the ground to draw the Tetsusaiga.

"There is no need," the low voice filtered through the trees moments before the familiar figure disguised in the baboon pelt came into view, perched casually on a high branch. "Not when this encounter promises to be so much fun on it's own," his lips curved in a cruel smile beneath the mask.

"What the fuck have you done with Kagome?!" Inuyasha roared out, just barely restraining himself from rushing in and destroying anything that got in his way.

Naraku smirked, laughing out loud as he shook his head at him, "So impatient. Even that beautiful miko you tried to spoil has better control than you."

Inuyasha's eyes turned red so fast even Sango and Miroku backed away a step in reflex, but Naraku simply continued to smirk down him as Inuyasha hissed out, "You bastard. If you've touched her..."

"I never thought once that she would develop so well over the past years," Naraku interrupted, lifting a hand to stroke it over his chin. "Not even your corpse can compare with her now, can she? The youkai blood left inside her is maturing, you know."

Inuyasha let out a scream of sheer rage and shot forward, drawing his arm back to swing when the ground between him and Naraku suddenly exploded with such force it slammed not only the hanyou to the ground, but Sango and Miroku as well.

He shot up quickly, shaking his head to clear the tingling vibration coursing through him from the amount of magic he'd run into even as he watched tensely for the others to right themselves as well.

Miroku peered warily through the heavy dust cloud choking the air and removing any visibilty to the woods around them. It would have been a perfect time to attack, except... except there was nothing, "I do not like this, Inuyasha. That magic... that wasn't evil like Naraku's magic."

Naraku's chilling laughter filled the air around them again as the dust began to settle, giving them only outlines of the surroundings, "Today, Inuyasha... Today is the day that you finally die."

Inuyasha squinted slightly in the direction of the attack, a deep growl rising in his throat when he saw the miko robes billowing in the faint breeze and the poised bow, "Kikyou."

As she readied another arrow, the sound froze in his throat and his eyes slowly went wide. Kikyou's hakama was red... this archer's was black...

The dust cleared away, leaving them the unobstructed view to the youkai aiming at them and wearing a miko's robes. Glowing scarlet eyes with black irises were narrowed on them with cold rage, and a pale stripe curving down at an angle from the center of each cheek down to the jawline Dark, thick hair whipped about in the breeze from it's up-swept style as she notched another arrow at them.

"Once, hanyou, you stole a woman from me," Naraku taunted softly from his place in the trees.

An archer that looked like a miko and felt like a youkai.

"Now I have returned the favor," his lips curved in a deadly smile as he followed their stunned gazes to the figure radiating with deadly anger.

Inuyasha's eyes filled with disbelieving pain as he whispered, "Kagome..."


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