Chapter 8

Meimu

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Kagome sat on the floor of Kaede’s hut, lost in her thoughts. Inuyasha had not wanted to walk any more that day, and Kagome was quite relieved about it. It was dark again now, and he was asleep on the other side of the hut, with his back to the wall. He had fallen asleep almost immediately.

She, on the other hand, was not tired. She almost regretted choosing to stay with Inuyasha…he hadn’t spoken a word to her since the well. A part of her desperately wanted to go home. What was the point of staying, she thought, if he didn’t want her there? But then, if he didn’t want her there, why had he let her stay? It was all so confusing.

In any case, Kagome had realized that she couldn’t expect him to be the same man from three years ago. This revelation had hurt, and it had been quite hard to accept…but there was no denying that it was true. She had to get to know him all over again, on his terms, and without resentment. But, even as she realized that this is what she must do, she also knew how hard it would be.

Every time she looked at him, she couldn’t help but expect him to say something sarcastic…or laugh…or smile… And lets face it, Kagome thought, smiling at the thought of killing me doesn’t count. She couldn’t help but want to comfort him, to touch him. For a moment, she even contemplated walking over and touching his hand while he slept, but she didn’t have the nerve. If he woke up, he would be furious, and she didn’t want to upset him. In her logical mind, she knew that she’d be better of with Hojo back in her own time…but her heart as good as wrenched this thought from her head.

After a while, it became difficult for Kagome to remain in the hut with Inuyasha. She needed some fresh air…a chance to think. She knew it was reckless to wonder about an abandoned village at night, but she was not intending to go far. Still, she took her old bow and arrows with her for protection, and headed for the Sacred Tree.

* * * *

She encountered no problems on the short walk. However, it did not do as Kagome had expected it to do. She had thought that coming to the tree might give help her think, that somehow (as irrational as it was) it would give her the answers she so desperately desired.

Instead, all it did was bring back an onslaught of memories that were of little use to her. Remembering how she first met Inuyasha, and how their relationship had slowly grown over the course of their adventures did not help her in her current situation. It did, however, succeed in making her cry. She tried to fight back the tears, feeling as if crying was all she had done recently, but the effort proved to be futile. There was just too much to cry about.

She felt a hand on her shoulder…

Turning, she saw Inuyasha standing there, smiling warmly at her just like he used to do. “Inu…yasha…?” she asked, unable to fully believe that he could change so fast.

“Kagome,” he said. “What are you doing out here?” His voice was as she remembered it.

“I’m…I just needed to…to think,” she said, wiping her eyes.

“You don’t need to cry”, said Inuyasha. He pulled her into an embrace, and Kagome couldn’t help but cling to him. She wanted this so much. “I’m here,” he said, and gently kissed the top of her head, running is fingers through her hair.

As he pulled back, he brushed the back of his hand across her cheeks, wiping away the last of her tears. Kagome smiled weekly up at him, and he kissed her. He kissed her with the such passion that Kagome couldn’t help but enthusiastically respond. Nothing else mattered, all current troubles sat dormant and forgotten, as she pressed her lips to his.

Kagome broke the kiss with great hesitation. “What happened to you?” She asked him. “Why have you been you acting so…different?”

Inuyasha sighed. “It’s the jewel, Kagome,” he said.

“They jewel…?”

“It makes me…” he seemed to struggle to find the right word. “different.” After Kagome continued to look confused, he went on: “If the jewel were gone, it would be alright again”.

“But…” said Kagome, “I can’t get rid of it…”

“I can.” he said. “Just give me the jewel, and I’ll get rid of it for us. Things will be exactly like they used to be, you’ll see!”

Kagome believed him. With all her heart she believed him. She reached her hand and unfastened the necklace. Holding the Shikon Jewel in her hand, she extended her arm out to Inuyasha, fully prepared to let him have it. And then-

“Don’t give him the jewel, Kagome,” said a familiar voice.

She spun around and saw Inuyasha standing about fifteen feet away. She shook her head. That was impossible…Inuyasha is right beside me, she thought. She turned to look, and sure enough, he was there. There were two Inuyashas.

“Kagome, that’s not me” said the new Inuyasha, in the cold and emotionless voice she had come to nearly hate.

“Don’t listen to him, Kagome,” said the one beside her, with the slightly gruff voice of the man she loved.

“Use you’re head, woman,” said the other one. “That’s not me, and you know it. You only want it to be.”

And in that instant, Kagome realized the truth. She turned to the Inuyasha beside her. “You’re…” she whispered, “You’re Meimu…aren’t you?”

He smiled.

There was a moment that seem suspended in time, and then Meimu grabbed Kagome by the wrist and pulled her behind the sacred tree.

* * * * *

It had happened so quickly that Inuyasha did not have enough time to react. Delayed by mere seconds, Inuyasha rounded the tree to find Kagome on the ground wrestling with Meimu…except that there were two Kagome’s, and Inuyasha couldn’t tell which one was real.

“Stop!” he yelled, and they both did. Both Kagome’s rose to their feet…identical in every way, the Shikon Jewel on the ground in front of them. They stared at each other with identical expressions of fright.

The only sure way to tell them apart would be to wait until sunrise, but with the Shikon Jewel so close, Inuyasha doubted that Meimu would let this go on for long. No…he was going to have to get clever.

The Kagome’s looked at him, both fearful of what decision he would make…both wanting the other to die.

“Inuyasha…please…” said one Kagome. “It’s me…”

“No,” said the other, shaking her head. “It’s me! You know me!”

“Be silent, both of you,” he said. “Kagome’s,” he continued, “You wanted to know what happened to me, that day in the forest? I’ll tell you.” He took a deep breath. He had no choice…it was the only way to be sure. “I followed the sound of footsteps deeper into the forest…I found men. Twelve men. I hid in a tree, trying to learn what they were after. I blacked out.”

Inuyasha was surprised at how easy this was to say. For three years, he had lived in fear of this memory…he had locked it away in the back of his mind. He had refused to speak of it. But, as he did so now, he realized that he didn’t care. The memory didn’t trouble him at all. Perhaps he truly had killed his old self… Unfeeling, both in his voice and his heart, he continued: “When I came to, I was soaked in blood. All the men were dead. I had slaughtered each and every one of them…and I enjoyed it.”

The Kagome on the left gasped, and took a step away from him. The Kagome on his right stepped toward him, her arm outstretched as if comfort him. This was all he needed: in an instant, he had drawn the Tetsusiaga and plunged it into the heart of the left-most Kagome.

She fell to the floor, writhing and screaming. Meimu’s body convulsed violently before taking on the appearance of a shadow…a blank template of a person, before exploding into dust.

As Inuyasha sheathed his sword, he felt Kagome’s hand on his. He stepped back.

“Inuyasha…” she said, her hand falling limply at her side. “How did you know?”

“Only you would touch a murderer” he said, coldly. “Get the jewel”.

Convinced that he had gotten the last word, Inuyasha started to head back to the hut.

“If you didn‘t care about me, you wouldn‘t have bothered to save me!” Kagome called after him.

For a moment, Inuyasha froze. But only for a moment. He had saved her because…because… Because, you care, said the voice in his head. He brushed the voice away. He had saved her because of the jewel.

For some reason, he had to tell himself that twice before he believed it.