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Chapter 9: The Choice

Inuyasha found Kagome standing in the far corner of Kaede's hut, facing the wall and trying not to cry. "Kagome?" he asked, his voice soft yet gruff, as it had been in the cave. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing!"

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not!"

"You sound like it," Inuyasha growled.

Kagome turned to face him, her eyes red yet her face dry, testament to her monumental effort to contain her tears. "You were kissing her!"

Inuyasha jerked back. "I was not! The witch tried to kiss me! I didn't let her do it, you know!" Another thought occurred to him. "And just why are you so upset about it, anyway?"

Kagome's cheeks quickly matched her eyes as she balled her fists, sputtered, and fought for an answer. "I...because I...because...she...she's evil! That's why! She's bad and horrible! Can't you see that? She has evil eyes and she snarls whenever she looks at me! She has some kind of terrible plan for you--I just know it!"

Inuyasha folded his arms and gazed at her, a faint smirk on his face. "And you're jealous because she's evil?"

Amazingly, Kagome's face achieved an even brighter shade of red. "I am not jealous!" she screeched--loud enough to make Ginnezu, who was sitting on the roof listening, wince and cover her sensitive ears. Poor Inuyasha, at ground zero, was nearly deafened.

By the time Inuyasha was able to raise his ears again, Kagome actually had two tears welling up, leaving glistening tracks down either cheek. "I am not jealous! What you do is your business." She was trembling, but her voice was suddenly icy calm. "I was just worried about you. Ginnezu is a demon, so she's crafty and she's evil. She wants you to go with her very much--I can see that. I thought she put a spell on you or something!" She was beginning to lose her composure again. "But if you don't want my help, that's fine!"

"Kagome..." What is the matter with her?

Two more tears managed to get past her barriers. She wanted to get away before the leaks made her dam break completely. "Go with her! Go stay with the dog-demons and be somebody! Get out of this silly village! You don't need me!"

Inuyasha swallowed, tried to speak, but couldn't. Kagome's eyes were letting tears flow freely now, and she couldn't say anything either. So she pushed past him and headed for the door, dashing her tears away with one hand. She desperately wanted to get far away before she broke down totally in front of him.

"Kagome--wait--!" Why the hell is she so upset? What does Ginnezu trying to kiss me have to do with anything?

"Leave me alone!" she hissed, not stopping. "Sit!"

"Whoof!" Inuyasha let out a loud snarl at the crushing, invisible weight, uncharacteristically vicious for the situation. "Dammit, Kagome--!"

But she was gone, out the door, her footsteps rapidly pattering around the hut. There was the metallic sound of her bicycle scraping as she hit the kickstand and mounted it, then the noise of the tires crunching over grass and pebbles as she rode away.

Ginnezu, who hadn't budged from her perch on the roof, giggled furiously at the fleeing girl's back, desperately muffling the sounds in her hands--it would do her no good if Inuyasha heard and thought she was making light of the situation. In fact, she thought, it would do her no good if Inuyasha considered her involved at all; he was already a bit upset at her. Still snickering, the silver dog-demon bounded off the roof and in the opposite direction, disappearing into the sunset and shadows.

Inuyasha, finally able to drag himself back to at least four feet, shot out the door and made a hard ninety-degree turn toward the forest, scrabbling frantically for purchase on the dusty earth. He poured on the speed, galloping after Kagome and her bicycle. Part of him was angry--furious, really, for being sat for no reason he could see--and part of him was desperate to catch up to her before she went through the well. Another part of him was...something he couldn't put name to, couldn't figure out--so he put it aside and simply went with the angry and desperate parts.

There! He heard her bike ahead, clattering down the half-beaten path. "Kagome!"

"Go away!" she cried over her shoulder. "Stay there!"

"Kagome, stop!" He left the winding trail, ducking into the underbrush and taking a shortcut through the scrub to try and cut her off before she reached the well.

"Go back now!" There was a tone to her voice...

Oh, damn...she's gonna do it...!

"Sit!"

"Aaagh--huff!" The sit came as he was leaping a length of fallen tree. He slammed down on it hard, the wood catching him in the solar plexus and knocking the wind out of him, sending a shooting burst of agony through his belly. "Ughhhhh..."

While the magic pressed down on him, all he could do was weakly claw at the wood and moan as pain shot through his midsection seemingly in time with each pulse of his heart. He hurt so much he couldn't draw breath, and his involuntary groans cost him the last of his air. He was beginning to gag for oxygen when the force finally relented. He rolled off the log, receiving a new spasm of agony, and lay flat on the ground, panting in pain and coughing feebly for air.

"...Stupid...wench..." He couldn't move; his whole body ached now, just as if he'd been smashed by some massive ogre. He wondered if the fall had broken any ribs; he certainly felt like it had. He twitched, tried to get up, but his entire midsection was practically paralyzed from the harsh bruising and his diaphragm could barely support the mechanics of breathing right now. Maybe getting up wasn't such a good idea. "Ugh...damn...that girl..."

Kagome! The thought of her focused his will; he gritted his teeth and forced his muscles to move. Halfway up he gasped and flinched--fire shot through his insides and he realized he'd somehow been injured more seriously than he'd first realized. Blood seeped from a deep wound in his side, soaking his kimono. "Aw...dammit...where'd this come from...?"

His eyes caught a dark stain on the log above him. The stub of a broken-off branch had stabbed him when he'd been crushed to the log, eliciting the throbs of agony he'd felt and the slice of pain when he'd torn himself off of it. "Damn that girl...I could've been killed...!" His eyes were wide at the thought that Kagome might potentially have the power to end his life with but a word.

"Wouldn't that be a shame...Inuyasha?"

The half-demon flinched. It was a familiar voice. Deathly familiar; it was one that haunted his fairest dreams and his darkest nightmares. Haunting, pleading, accusing, but calm, always calm--dangerous and quiet. It was a voice that given a million years he'd never, ever forget. Not in a thousand lifetimes.

"Kikyo..." He looked up with cautious golden eyes, drawing back from the resurrected priestess' approach.

The dark-haired woman favored him with a calm, wan smile. It was a smile he would have loved to see on her face--years ago, when it would have meant she was happy. Now...he didn't know what it meant. "What do you want?" he asked gruffly, guardedly.

"Inuyasha, I've seen the troubles you've been having," Kikyo said softly, sitting down beside him. Her strange little insectoid, fishlike spirit-pets wove glowing patterns in the air around them. "The lady dog-demon, the little would-be priestess, your mocking friend..."

"What of it?" Inuyasha felt supremely uncomfortable at her presence--a fact he found odd--but refused to shrink away from her.

"I would free you of these troubles," Kikyo offered, her tone never wavering. Come to think of it, her voice never changed. Not in all the years--and emotions--he'd known her. It would grow louder and more intense when she was angered, but never, ever, did it lose that same calm, unswerving tone that underlay her every word. Not like Kagome, whose voice would change to suit her moods, becoming bright when happy and thunderous when angry and even snapping like a whip when she sat him.

"And how would you do that?" he asked, trying to muster the force to growl or be derisive, but he didn't have the breath for it. "Drag me to Hell like you've promised?"

"Inuyasha, my love, is that all you think of me?" Kikyo leaned close, her breath tickling his cheek--and smelling of sod and death. He shuddered.

"You keep trying to kill me, so I guess so." Inuyasha tried to keep her talking, to buy time for his body to gather the strength he needed for fight or flight. In his condition, he seriously believed it would be the latter.

"Silly boy." Kikyo laughed softly. "My love, after all our promises to be together, do you believe that that is all I had planned for you and I? What of our 'happily ever after?'"

"Well, Naraku kinda screwed that up, so..." Inuyasha shrugged. "There's not a lot I can do."

"Come with me." Kikyo's eyes peered into his, holding his gaze.

"Come...where?" Inuyasha stared back at her. Kikyo's eyes were gray like a lake on a cloudy day, echoing her depth and the unknown stirrings beneath the surface. But Kagome's eyes were crystal blue, bright like the sky when the sun shines clear, windows to a soul where every emotion was as visible as the clouds that passed overhead. Funny--he'd never noticed the difference before.

"To the beyond, my love," Kikyo answered him. "To the place we both belong. We were two lives cut short in our prime, in the middle of our love. We both died that day fifty years ago--now we are simply two ghosts who walk the earth in torment, unable to be together because of Naraku's curse. But...my love, if we were to go beyond to a place where he cannot reach us..."

"We would be free," Inuyasha finished. He was tempted--like always, Kikyo's soft words tempted him, lulled his defenses, made him think that maybe...maybe her words rang with truth.

"And our souls would become one," Kikyo concluded. "Oh, my love, I knew you'd understand..." She was embracing him now. Her scent was like the dirt from a grave, moist and cold. Even her touch was icy. The cold seeped into his bones, stealing away what little strength he'd gathered, rendering him helpless.

He heard Kagome gasp for the second time that evening.

Kikyo's head cranked around, and her normally calm mask twisted into an annoyed frown. "Go away, child. You are not wanted here."

"I-Inuyasha...!" Kagome, standing in the dim, silvery light of the just-risen sliver of moon, clutched her hands to her chest at the sight of the blood on the dog-demon's kimono. "Kikyo! What have you done to him?"

"I did nothing to him," Kikyo replied. "You did it with your subduing spell. Can't you see how you've hurt him?"

Kagome flinched, seeing the smear of blood on the log Inuyasha leaned on. Her eyes sprang anew with tears. "Inuyasha, I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

Seeing her sorrow, Inuyasha tried to tell her he didn't care, it was just an accident and he'd had worse--but he lacked the breath to do it. Kikyo's icy grip kept his muscles from mustering a single ounce of strength to do any more than lie there and breathe. And soon, perhaps, not even that.

Kagome, seeing his helpless state, began to advance on them. "Let him go, Kikyo!"

"He is coming with me," the undead priestess warned. "Do not interfere."

"No he's not!" Kagome began to run at them.

Kikyo's face shifted from annoyed to angry. She released Inuyasha, but when he began to struggle, she grabbed him with both hands--one on the shoulder and one just above his wound--and poured out her power on him. Her priestess' power seared his demon flesh, and he let out an agonized cry and fell back. When he was incapacitated, she stood to face Kagome.

"You can't take him away!" Kagome shouted, and attempted to throw herself at Kikyo.

A flaring burst of power deflected the schoolgirl's rush, knocking her to the ground and singeing her clothing. "I've told you--do not interfere!" Kikyo said in that same even voice--though hardened in warning. "If you persist, I'll strip you of the little piece of my soul I allowed you to live on, and take what is mine with us to the afterlife! I had intended to let you live your own life with the half of my soul you hold now, the half that lived your life--but if you will not stay out of my way, I will reclaim it!"

Kagome shuddered and drew back, frightened. Neither Inuyasha nor Kaede would tell her exactly what had happened the day Kikyo was ressurrected, so for all she knew, the priestess was telling the truth. She knew Kikyo's powers were greater than her own; she didn't even really know how to use her borrowed abilities. "Please...don't take him!"

Kikyo's face softened just a tiny bit. So, the little kitten was in love with her half-demon as well, eh? It stood to reason; two halves of the same whole would seek out their soul-mate. "I was here first," she answered simply.

All Inuyasha could manage was a pained gasp. Dammit, Kikyo, leave her alone! If you want me, take me, but don't hurt her! She has nothing to do with this!

Kagome pushed to her feet. "No..." She wiped her eyes and braced herself. "No! I won't let you! I don't know how to use any of these powers, but I'll stop you! I'll find a way!"

Kikyo's face returned to the impassive mask it had been. "Very well."

With a gesture, the long, flying insect-things that were her servants swooped in, surrounding them. A group of them wrapped themselves around Inuyasha, who was just beginning to recover, and pinned him to the log, tying their own bodies to it to restrain him. Another group whipped at Kagome, with startling speed compared to their usual leisurely drift. They forced her to another tree, tying her there like a victim about to be burned at the stake.

Kikyo, her face still impassive, came close to Kagome, looking down into the shorter girl's frightened, angry face. "Such a pity," she said softly. "You were such a good girl, Kagome. I thought certainly you could make do with the wolf-demon Kouga, or perhaps even that priest with the...roving hands."

Inuyasha snarled at that, but though he struggled feebly he could not free himself.

"I suppose you could not live without him," Kikyo continued in a whisper. She actually smiled a little. "In that case, reclaiming your soul-piece into mine would be a mercy. We would be one again and we would never be separated from him. You would waste away into nothing without him. I couldn't live nor die without him, either--and you are me, after all."

"That's not true," Kagome managed, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I'm not you! I'm nobody's reincarnation! I'm me, Kagome Higurashi!"

"Believe what you like." Kikyo stepped back. "It makes no difference to me."

"You can't take him--urk!"

One of the glowing creatures that bound her tightened about her throat, cutting off her words and her air. Inuyasha let out a growl and struggled more. "Kikyo! Let her go! Come take me! Leave her alone!"

Kikyo took another few steps back from Kagome, a strange light in her eyes. "My love, this will take but a moment. I can reclaim the lost part of my soul, and with it the rest of my power. Then you and I need never be parted!"

"You'll kill her!" Inuyasha cried, his voice so shocked it lost every trace of a growl.

Kikyo glanced at him. "I know."

Kagome made a small gurgling noise, her pleading blue eyes turned to Inuyasha as her last hope of survival. Her face was stricken, ashen gray.

"Kikyo!" Inuyasha yelled. "Release her! Release her and I'll go with you! I won't fight--just let her go! Let her live!"

The resurrected priestess simply ignored him. A rumble built deep in the dog-demon's chest, a low, dangerous growl that grew in volume and intensity as his muscles tensed and his body gathered its strength. Angry now, and well on his way to enraged, Inuyasha strained against the glowing creatures that held him, stretching their gossamer essences with a power born of desperation.

Kagome's face was pale, her lips blue. Her body went limp, and her eyes began to roll back in her head. She was dying!

When Kagome's head lolled against the tree, Inuyasha's deep growl turned into a full-fledged, snarling roar as he pulled free of the glowing insectoid things and sprang, blind with rage. Kikyo sensed him coming a half-moment too late to fully protect herself.

His claws ripped into her back, tearing her artificial flesh, spilling her blackish blood and throwing her to the ground. In her shock, her control slipped, and the creatures loosened their holds--but not before Inuyasha tore them asunder and caught Kagome as she slid bonelessly from the tree. With a gentleness that belied his vicious behavior, he held her close to him as her limp body feebly choked for air.

Gasping in surprise, agony, and anger, Kikyo crawled to her feet and stumbled back. "Inuyasha...?" she croaked, her voice thick with pain and betrayal. This time, his talons truly had scored her--not just some shapechanged shadow imitation.

He looked as if he were in pain as well, cradling Kagome where he knealt on the ground. He looked to be torn between self-loathing and quiet fury. His eyes were fierce and golden but tempered with a glimmer of...tears? "Kikyo, what have you become?" he said, his rough voice soft and hard at the same time. "Could you have become so drunk on revenge that you would kill an innocent girl to reach me?"

"Inuyasha..." Kikyo saw something different in his eyes now, something that flickered to even greater life when he looked at the unconscious girl in his arms. Something that had been there since she'd first arrived, yet she had not deigned to notice. Somehow...she was losing him. This girl...this child...was stealing him away from her. Her gray eyes hardened with anger. "We will meet again."

Inuyasha said nothing--but his eyes said plenty. She gestured in command, and her remaining undamaged insectoid spirit-thieves clustered around her and lifted her into the air, bearing her away to parts unknown.

When she was gone, Inuyasha allowed a single tear to trace a path on his cheek--a single tear, and no more.

"Kikyo..."

She was crying when she awoke. Her throat was dry and ached when she swallowed between sobs, but her body felt heavy and sluggish. Tears poured from her eyes as she cried, not trying to hide them at all, her heart's pain flowing freely down her face. Her horrid experience and the nightmares that followed haunted her mind, making her unsure what was real and what was a dream. Vaguely, she realized she was in her own bed, in her own room, in her own time. The room was dark, the window open and the curtains fluttering slightly in the breeze. But was this a dream as well?

A dark shape sat on the bed near her, staying with her even through her sobs. Something gentle--a hand--stroked her bangs slowly, soothingly, now and then trailing down her cheek to brush away tears. The presence she felt tingled warmly in her perceptions, unfamiliar yet familiar all the same.

"Shhh, easy," spoke a soft, whispered voice. She could not identify it; it was male...and so gentle. She could not place it. "She's gone...you're alive...everything's okay...shhh..."

Her crying abated a little as she began to relax, her sobs becoming hiccups. Gradually, her tears turned from rivers to raindrops, and she began to settle into drowsiness. The gentle voice continued to whisper reassurances, until her eyes closed and her mind rested easy at last.

To be continued...