A/N: I know this is hypocritical because in 'Pain of Publicity' I made Kikyo a bad person, but I like her. I mean, later on in the series she gets more respectable. It's an empathetic thing, I suppose. Oh well. Call me crazy, if you want.

I like Kikyo. Hopefully, some of you will too after reading this. Then again, maybe not. Oh well. Here it goes!

Chapter 2 - Kikyo

Most people are frightened of death. They fear the loss of chances to accomplish tasks on Earth. They fear being left only as a memory at the most. They fear leaving behind all of their hard work.

But the only thing to really fear is what becomes of you after death.

What exactly happens after our lungs have no need for oxygen? What will become after our hearts discontinue to beat? Our brains stop their function?

What has become of me?

Long ago, I was but a simple priestess in a small village. I had an endearing younger sister named Kaede that I kept close to me. Curing and solving countless sicknesses and diseases were simple tasks that could've been done in my sleep. The villagers all trusted me with their lives and I was even given the gift as to protecting the Shikon no Tama. I was happy with who I was.

Then I had met him.

A half-demon named InuYasha had crossed my path. He was rude, arrogant, and anything but a common villager. There was such hatred in his eyes, but even more in his heart. I pitied the cold stranger that stood before me.

His soul was broken by the time I had found him.

"Why have we left that half-demon by himself, Kikyo?" I remember Kaede asking me sheepishly. I was collecting herbs for future needs as she picked flowers along the fields.

"His soul is but a broken one. We cannot help him." I replied knowingly as I placed delicate herbs into a basket.

"A broken soul?" Kaede repeated. I nodded in agreement. "But you've cured many broken bones, Kikyo. How could a soul be any different?"

"A soul takes days, months, or perhaps years to heal. It cannot be mended by mere herbs."

"You can do it, Kikyo. I know you can." Kaede continued to insist. She lightly tugged at my white sleeve.

I could only smile at the young girl below me. Her naivete and innocence compelled me to listen to her words. I looked over to where we had left the half-demon. He continued to watch us as he sat on the strong branch of a tree.

Such eyes, I remember thinking. Such golden amber eyes he had. Even from a far distance, I could see their shining color pleading for sanity.

They were pleading for help.

It wasn't until the next day I had made my move to talk to the half-demon. Kaede kept herself in the village as she sorted out our collection of herbs. When I had reached the valley of grass, I wasn't surprised to find the half-demon still sitting on the same branch.

"You, there. Half-demon." I called out to him. He merely glared at me with his penetrating eyes. "Why do you continue to seclude yourself?"

"How did you know I was a half-demon?" he replied, his voice was bitter and disdainful. "You are only a human."

"My name is Kikyo and I am a priestess at the nearby village. Will you come down?" I continued to ask. He smirked and looked away. "Why do you scorn me so?"

"Listen, Kikyo," he spat my name with disgust. "I don't care if you're a priestess or whatever. You could even be a demon and I still wouldn't care. I ain't coming down there."

"Am I to believe that you are somehow stuck on that branch?" I slightly laughed. "Perhaps you are only staying up there because you cannot get down."

"Are you making fun of me, wench?" he said rudely. "A lousy branch isn't keeping me up here."

"Then what is?"

He glared at me once again, obviously irritated. I continued to stare back at him. Then I had realized that this was somewhat of a game we played. He would stare and I, in turn, would stare back. Whoever was to look away first gave the other their moment of victory. This was a war I was not willing to lose.

I continued to glare up into his golden amber eyes. Never before had I seen so much emotion compressed. Pain. Anger. Loneliness. Depression. They were all flowing deep within his eyes.

The half-demon then looked away from me.

I heard the swift sound of his clothes against the wind as he hopped off of his branch. The dirt collided with his feet in a gentle manner. I faced him with much more interest.

His hair was a snow white that reached down to his legs. He had claws on his feet and toes that were edged with blood. The ears on top of his head were the only sign of sensitivity.

"Glad you have chosen to come down." I said simply. "Now, what is your name, half-demon?"

"Look, just because I came down here doesn't mean we're going to get friendly." he replied roughly. "And don't call me a half-demon." he warned.

"But that is what you are, is it not?" I became curious with his temper.

"What do you think, wench?" he muttered.

At this point, it seemed that he continued to repel me. With one final glance, I turned my back to him and walked away.

I felt his eyes on me with each footstep I took, but I did not turn around. That would only encourage him. So, I continued my path.

However, my plans were canceled as the presence of an attacking demon came into view. I felt the tension of a snake demon nearby.

"Hey!" I heard the half-demon call out to me. Turning around, I watched as the snake demon came pouncing towards me with murderous eyes. Its confidence amused me.

Raising my bow as a shield, the demon was demolished by a thin pink light. I looked down at it's remains and silently said a simple prayer.

The half-demon looked at me with his mouth agape. I merely glared, proving that I was more than a mere human. Turning my back, I continued my journey to the village.

Many days had passed. My encounters with the half-demon became more frequent. As each day passed, we spent more and more hours conversing. I remember having him participate in a herbal gathering one day.

His name was Inuyasha and I had been correct by determining his broken soul. However, as he explained to me his past, I had no idea what sort of troubles he had gotten into.

Such terrible memories for a child so young.

"Were you with Inuyasha again?" I remember Kaede asking one night after I had returned from the valley.

"Yes, I was." I replied while placing down a basket full of herbs we already had a plentiful amount of.

"You've been seeing him awfully a lot." Kaede said sheepishly. I felt the curves of my lips turn into a small smile. "And you've smiled a lot more since then."

"Are you intending to say that he is the cause?"

Kaede looked away from me and her eyes shifted. I merely gave her a small smile before getting up.

"Perhaps you are correct, Kaede. I am beginning to feel things I have never felt when I am with InuYasha." I said silently. "I hope you do not look down on me for that."

"Of course not, Kikyo!" Kaede's face instantly looked up towards me. Her eyes were wide with apologies. "I would never."

"Then I apologize for leaving tonight." I said while grabbing my bow and arrows. "I will be back at dawn."

"Is it InuYasha?" I heard her say, just barely audible. I closed my eyes and a grin appeared on my lips once again. With a nod of my head, I exited the hut.

It was true at the point. I felt much more for the half-demon than I had expected. I developed a trust towards him that was as precious to me as the bond I shared with Kaede.

I had healed his soul by replacing it with my own.

A few years later we were both deprived of our souls. The moment still plays back in my mind. The meeting. The blood. The fire. The screaming. All of it.

I awaited InuYasha at our usual meeting place, where we would together go to transform ourselves fully human by the power of the Shikon no Tama. However, I was taken as a fool as he sneaked up from behind me and attacked. I fell down automatically and looked up at Inuyasha.

He looked down at me and gave me such a vile smirk. We exchanged curses and within a few minutes he dashed off – leaving me down and restless.

I felt my heart ache with such betrayal that it determined me to move. I felt my warm blood from underneath my clothes, but I continued to move. I stretched my arm out just far enough to reach my bow.

InuYasha was going to pay.

Getting up slowly, I swore to myself that I would find him. Never had I felt such rage before. My hands clutched the tip of my bow tightly as I tried walking. My legs began to limp from my conditions.

How could he? How could he betray me so? We agreed to live a life happily together as humans, and yet he destroys it all? How could he?

I felt my heart weakening with each step I took. My breathing pattern began to slow down. I was going through a slow death.

And I was going to bring InuYasha with me.

When I returned to the village, I gasped to find it completely in flames. I heard the screams of the villagers and instantly tried quickening my pace.

Several of the villagers I had once known so well were lying on the floor dead. Others were running with fears for their lives.

"Kikyo!" I heard Kaede exclaim as she and a few villagers came running towards me. My knees weakened as I fell down. Kaede stood next to me as she tried lifting me up. "Kikyo, you're bleeding!"

My blood had escaped from my veins quickly compared to back at the valley. I felt my head becoming dizzy at the loss.

"Kaede..." I tried to speak. Suddenly, the rooftop of one of the buildings crashed down. My eyes widened as I looked up.

There he was. InuYasha flew in the air with the Shikon no Tama in his grasp.

My eyes narrowed and I held up my bow once again. Kaede tried helping me up, but I shrugged off her aid. Taking slow and steady steps, I began to walk in InuYasha's direction.

I grabbed an arrow and placed it in position with my bow. Aiming it in the exact area where I estimated InuYasha would be, I waited.

Within a few minutes, my target was set and I watched as he ran forward.

"InuYasha!" I exclaimed with all of the power that I had left and sent the arrow flying.

He looked at me with surprised eyes. I watched as the jewel escaped his clutches and as he was pinned upon the tree.

"K-Kikyo..." I heard him say in shock. I lowered my bow as I glared at him with such ferocity.

Then my body broke down.

I heard Kaede rush over towards me. She rested my head onto her lap and I could hear her heavy sobs.

"Kikyo!" she cried, but I could do nothing. My duty was done and I had died with such hate in my heart.

I did not regret what I had done. I had been betrayed by someone that I had truly loved. Someone that I allowed myself to sacrifice my priestess powers for. Someone like him.

I did not regret pinning him with my arrow. He had taken away everything that had belonged to me. He stole my soul. He stole my life. He stole my pride.

But the most painful of all was the fact that he had stolen my heart.

And what a fool I was! I was left vulnerable by such an emotion. It only lead to betrayal and betrayal always leads to revenge.

I had left the world knowing that my revenge for InuYasha had been placed. Although it was not enough, I had no second chances. And so I left the world with no regrets.

Until one fateful night when my soul was somehow resurrected. I found out that I had been reincarnated by a strange girl that had served as a companion for InuYasha.

InuYasha. I met him once again – even after death.

He seemed surprised to see me, but all I felt was bitter hate. I wanted him to die. I wanted him to suffer. I wanted him to feel the pain that I had felt long ago.

But his eyes continued to look at me with such sympathy and compassion that it was unbearable. I hated it.

And that reincarnation he was with. I can recall that her name is Kagome. What a strange and peculiar girl she is. She resembles me without a doubt, but she is too naive and young to understand the true powers I hold – we hold.

"Can't you see that InuYasha is still in love with you!" she exclaimed to me one night. Her voice penetrated my mind as my soul collectors pinned her against a tree.

That was the night I had made my move on revenge against InuYasha. I was damned for cheating the after life and so I wanted to bring him with me as well.

InuYasha deserved hell.

Slowly, I entranced InuYasha into a forest where it seemed only he and I stood. Unknowing, the girl Kagome had been standing there, invisible and unseen.

We stood in a familiar embrace and for a moment, I thought back to old memories. But memories were for the weak. I was given a second chance to prove all that I could do. To take back from InuYasha what he had stolen from me.

"I'll protect you, Kikyo. I swear it." Inuyasha whispered in my ear as his arms wrapped tighter around me.

Such sincerity in his words. It was amusing to think that this was the man that had caused me this death, and yet he was promising me his protection?

I was only minutes away from having InuYasha step into hell with me, but the girl somehow broke the barrier and InuYasha had found out my plan. He stepped away from me and turned to look at Kagome.

It was then that I knew her place.

This Kagome girl that spent so much time with InuYasha had changed him. As months passed, and more encounters occurred, I couldn't help but notice InuYasha's severe changes.

There was a softness in his eyes that had not been there before. His golden amber eyes, once hard and broken, were now soft and determined. Could this have been the work of the strange girl?

I found my hatred for InuYasha growing every minute.

However, my journey through life would be a short one. Though I had a goal to end his life, I also had to worry about my own.

I was only a mixture of clay and dirt with a soul to match. Even yet, the souls carried within me were not my own. They were merely stranded souls of young maidens, collected for my living.

I had been awoken from a slumber that was destined to be my last and I was not happy. Happiness was not an emotion I had died with. All that I felt was pain, depression, loneliness and anger.

The symptoms of a broken soul.

However, I continued to walk on this journey alone. It took time for me to realize that my attempts for the murder of InuYasha were mindless. I became obsessed with the thought and had let it take over me.

He had fallen in love with the strange girl. In the beginning, I grew a loathe for her in thoughts of her being me in another life.

However, I came to the conclusion that I despised her for living a life that I could have. It was not hate that made me harm her.

It was envy. I envied Kagome with all of my clay-crafted heart.