"What Could Be"

An Inu Yasha Fanfic by Nozomi

[A/N: This is taking a toll on my imagination.  ^_^  I'm not getting enough reviews!  @_@

badgerwolf: Well, the Shikon no Tama *will* be used in the end.  The end of the Shikon no Tama's existence will be shown in the last few chapters of this fic, whenever that may be.  I haven't quite gotten to the middle of my story plot yet, hehe.  As for the long chapters, I didn't want to make them too long as they get tiring to read.  Well, I know I feel that way when I read a long chapter in a fic.  And too-short chapters are disappointing, so I'm going for a length that's just right.

Hanyou-Girl25: You are my most welcome reviewer!  Thank you so much!  *hugz* ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha and company.  *shniff*

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Chapter 8: Hatred's Price

They were walking side by side towards the campsite, their hands nor fingers never touching.  Something had happened between them, they knew.  It didn't seem like the right time to raise questions they had no answer to.  It was far more comfortable to remain like this, for now.

"There you are!  We've been worried!"

Sango hurried towards her friend.  "Kirara came back without you, but Shippou translated to us that she had left you with Inu Yasha," she started.  "But it took you guys some time to get back so…"

"Have you settled your differences?" Miroku asked.

The innocent question caused Kagome and Inu Yasha to blush.

"A-ano…"

"Keh!  There was nothing to settle!  Why the hell would I want to talk any sense into this stupid girl anyway!"

"OSUWARI!"

-- WHAM --

"Inu Yasha baka!" Kagome muttered as she stomped over to the warmth of the campfire, taking her seat between Shippou and Kirara.

Sango and Miroku gave each other glances and sighed.

It was pretty much a quiet dinner.  When they had all finished and gotten ready to sleep, Inu Yasha once again took his usual position on a branch in the tallest tree in their clearing.  All throughout the evening, he could not remove the memory of how Kagome felt in his arms.

Was this how he wanted to feel about her?

Love?

Kagome?

I want to go home.

But I want to stay with you as well.

He wanted her to stay.  He wanted it badly, but he could not explain to himself why it mattered so much to him.  When Kikyou…

Kikyou… his eyes clouded over with sadness as he thought of the woman he had wanted to become human for.  He looked down at Kagome's sleeping form in the clearing below him.  They were so similar to each other, and yet they were not.

He lifted his eyes to study the countless stars in the sky above him and let his thoughts drift, wondering if Kikyou still hated him as much as the last time they saw each other.

~*~

Somewhere not too far away, a group of shinigamachi circled the woman they served as their master as they poured more dead souls into her.

Kikyou still could not move freely.  She cursed herself for her stupidity.  That Naraku… she knew he would betray her as soon as he had completed the Shikon no Tama.  She had known right from the very start that a demon as black and as powerful as he was could not be trusted.  She had prepared for his betrayal and had even expected it.

After all, she was going to betray him too.  The only reason she had ever helped him to gain the shards was so that she could be the one to destroy him.  The bastard had wreaked havoc on her life. 

As Onigumo, he had been nothing but a vegetable, surviving on her kindness.  Her stupidity, rather.  He had lusted after her and the jewel that could grant him whatever he wanted.  It was what changed him.

As Naraku, he had fooled her and Inu Yasha.  He had turned their love for one another into a game.  He played with them as his pawns.  It was unforgivable.  His act had caused her death, and the hatred that grew inside of her as a result had condemned her soul to hell.

If she was going to spend eternity in hell, she might as well make the best of it.

When she had returned to this realm in a body of earth and clay, her hatred of Inu Yasha consumed her mind, her heart, her soul.  When she opened her eyes to find him standing in front of her, she had been outraged.  He had killed her!  She had put him to sleep with an arrow so powerful, he shouldn't have wakened.  But he was awake, and walking, and while she was living her afterlife in a place she never expected to be, he was traipsing around with the girl believed to be her reincarnate!

She hated him.  But it was because she had loved him enough to feel hatred for him.  She wanted to take Inu Yasha with her to hell.  They would be together, and it would have been his punishment for putting her there.  It would have been the embodiment of their love and hatred for each other.

But when she tried to take him with her, that girl stopped her.  She had awakened his senses, and he had gone to her to stay by her side.

Kikyou had been forgotten.

She hated it!  Had she been replaced so easily?

It was her hatred of him that banished her name from the peaceful realms of the gods that would have been her final reward as a miko and protector of innocents.

But she had loved too much, and the price she paid was dear.

Hatred.

And then she had learned of another actor in the play of death in the forest.

Naraku.

A visit to Kaede revealed that the bastard had taken on Inu Yasha's form and had given her that fatal blow.  It was revealed that he had also taken on Kikyou's form and had attacked him, causing him to retaliate by barging into the village and stealing the Shikon no Tama.

That day, she had sealed him onto a tree, and he had killed her.

Well, Naraku was the one that killed her.  She should have been overjoyed to know that her beloved had not been responsible for her death.

It was not so.  If anything, this news gave her more anger.

Anger.

Hatred.

Because of a man she had so foolishly shown kindness to, she had learned hatred.

She vowed to take care of Naraku that very same night of revelation.  Regretfully, the news had not removed her coldness to Inu Yasha.

Inu Yasha.

They had loved each other once.  What she had felt for him was real.  The feelings he had once proclaimed for her was real.  Didn't he say it was so?  That eve when he had kissed her?

Hah.  She had almost fallen for that kiss.  Almost.

She had hated it.

Hatred.

Such a powerful emotion.

Hatred.

That bastard Naraku… it was all because of him.  And in the end, I wasn't the one who killed him.

When Naraku had retrieved the last shards from that wolf-demon's legs, she was by his side, watching as he fit the shards together, completing the jewel.  It then emitted a powerful ki that attracted demons from all over, and Naraku used the jewel to fuel their hunger for the Shikon no Tama's power.  The jewel had gone completely black even before the first onslaught of demons appeared.

Naraku started absorbing those demons into himself, adding to his power.  She wanted to destroy him just when he thought he was the most powerful demon, so that she could have her revenge.  So she waited.

But she had waited a moment too late.

By the time she had let loose a powerful arrow, he had noticed her intent, and let out a maniacal screech of laughter.  Then he started absorbing her souls.

She had weakened too quickly, too easily.  She could feel her life draining away again when he appeared.

Naraku's focus had then turned to his greatest threat, and she had fled.

Coward.

Inu Yasha had destroyed Naraku, she knew.  Her miko powers could no longer sense him.

In effect, he had saved her life today.

It was funny, ironic.  He had killed her and saved her.

No, she corrected herself.  He had saved her.  Naraku had killed her.

He saved her because he still loved her.

But I hate him.

Hmph.

She soon started to feel her hands.  Closing her eyes, she waited for her soul stealers to provide her with enough souls to allow her to move again.  It was time to settle some things with Inu Yasha.

[A/N: Some vocabulary:

shinigamachi – Kikyou's soul stealers ]