Damn You, Naraku, You Actually Made Me Doubt Love!

So just where did Kagome stand in Inuyasha's heart at this point?

Had either of them ever felt a spark for the other?

Before Li Xia could untangle all of that, Kikyo had already reached Demoness Urasue. Her steps were unsteady, as though she still hadn't quite adjusted to her current clay body, and she laid both hands on the prattling old demoness's shoulders.

"What's wrong, Kikyo...?"

Having someone approach her so closely did raise a faint alarm in Urasue's heart, seasoned as she was by years of scheming and struggling in the Demon World! But she paid it no mind!

As far as she was concerned, Kikyo was the loyal enforcer she had worked so hard to resurrect!

She had everything firmly under control.

And so, even with Kikyo's hands resting on her shoulders, she failed to realize how serious the situation was.

The next instant, she paid for her arrogance.

What answered the old demoness was a terrifying eruption of Kikyo's spiritual power-a thunderous strike.

Sizzle...

With just one strike, eerie flames sprang up over Urasue, enveloping both her shoulders and the ugly head perched above them.

"Aah...!"

The flames had burned for only a moment before the old demoness performed a round of "loving spins." Then, amid screams of shock, fury, and regret, she collapsed with a thud and lay still. Soon, she stopped moving altogether.

The azure flames of spiritual power clung to her like a disease burrowing into her bones, rapidly spreading across Urasue's entire body and burning from the outside in.

Everyone was startled by the sight.

They were left dumbstruck, too.

What was going on?

"My sister's power must be too strong. Urasue couldn't enslave someone as powerful as Kikyo, so it backfired on her!"

Kaede spoke gravely.

Her expression was solemn and grim.

Sure enough, Kikyo slowly raised her head. The light in her eyes revealed that a personality of her own now inhabited that clay shell. Yet those beautiful eyes were filled with hatred and resentment:

"Inuyasha, why are you still alive and well?

You should have been sealed away by me!"

"I... I was sealed away for fifty years, but my companion finally broke the seal..."

Inuyasha sounded deeply distressed.

Thanks to Li Xia's earlier warning, he had guessed that someone had probably plotted against them back then. As a result, his words and actions were nowhere near as animated or mouthy as they had been in the original timeline.

Unfortunately, the Kikyo before them was no longer the pure, naturally kindhearted Kikyo she had once been.

Nor was she the generous-hearted Kikyo who would later find her own redemption.

At this moment, Kikyo's hatred for Inuyasha was at its peak across the entire timeline.

She was a dangerous being held together entirely by resentment.

"How hateful!

How hateful..."

Mist clouded Kikyo's eyes, and tears welled within them:

"Why did someone break your seal? Why do you still get to live so well...?"

The miko took two steps toward Inuyasha.

Just then, however, a bloody flash appeared on her right shoulder, and a gruesome wound split open.

Blood kept spilling from it.

In an instant, the girl was bleeding profusely.

Perhaps her fury had damaged her body, or perhaps this clay shell couldn't contain the portion of the soul released by Kagome, resulting in a soul overload.

After all, a clay figurine molded from bones and Tomb Soil could never accommodate as much as a flesh-and-blood body! As long as the soul inside didn't exceed its capacity, nothing would appear wrong. But once it did, wasn't it only natural for that wound to split open?

But why had it overloaded?

Either Kikyo's soul had undergone some qualitative change compared to fifty years ago and grown stronger, leaving a clay body fashioned from her old bones unable to bear her now-powerful soul.

Or the decaying [old body] had nurtured a [new life], and Kikyo's soul actually contained a portion of Kagome's soul that didn't belong to her! After all, how could a mere clay body with a fixed capacity contain Kikyo's entire soul plus a portion of Kagome's?

Which of those was actually the case remained unknown for now.

"What's wrong, Kikyo? That wound..."

Inuyasha asked with concern.

"Inuyasha, that's the very wound that killed my sister back then!"

After checking on Kagome, Kaede rose and offered an explanation.

This lent even more weight to the possibility that Li Xia's earlier analysis was correct.

Was a demon really plotting against Kikyo and me?

Damn it!

An indescribable anger rose in Inuyasha's heart.

Seeing his first love in such a miserable state still pained him terribly, even though he had prepared himself for it.

Kikyo had no interest in entertaining Inuyasha's "phony concern," much less giving him time to think. Clutching the wound that continued to spill blood, she demanded harshly:

"Why did you betray me, Inuyasha? Why did you betray me?"

Her voice was bleak and hoarse, like a cuckoo crying blood.

"Kikyo, it wasn't me! I wasn't the one who attacked you back then!

A demon set both of us up!

On my way to our meeting place, that demon disguised itself as you and attacked me, too. Then it used that to provoke me while I was blinded by rage and goaded me into going to the village to steal the Shikon Jewel!

I've never hurt you..."

Inuyasha desperately tried to explain.

Kikyo remained unmoved.

In her current state, she couldn't take in a word:

"Heh. I never imagined you'd resort to such excuses... Inuyasha!"

I really did misjudge this faithless man!

I never should have trusted a demon!

Even if he was a half-demon, I shouldn't have trusted him in the slightest!

Letting my heart soften and failing to put the Subjugation Beads on him before all that happened was truly a mistake!

"I'm not making excuses..."

Inuyasha was so heartbroken he wanted to cry, but no tears came.

There was so much he wanted to say, yet when the words reached his lips, he found himself speechless.

Off to the side, Li Xia had already settled into silently enjoying the drama.

He knew perfectly well that Two-Dog's attempts to explain things to Kikyo right now were pointless. Girls generally didn't want to hear any of that when they were at their angriest.

The simplest, most direct way for Inuyasha to break the deadlock was to rush forward, embrace Kikyo, and give her a long kiss! Rekindle their beautiful memories! Then open up his memories and let Kikyo examine them herself, experiencing everything that had happened back then from another perspective.

That would resolve every conflict.

Unfortunately, Inuyasha had remained extremely wary of Kikyo from beginning to end!

Yes, this guy had been keeping his guard up around Kikyo all along!

It was probably because of his unsettled childhood and the century or so of hardship he had endured since.

Ever since he was little, Inuyasha had never trusted anyone completely except his mother, Izayoi. Even after falling for Kikyo, he had still kept some of his guard up. That was why, after Naraku disguised as Kikyo ambushed him with an arrow and mocked him, he immediately flew into a rage, fell for the trap, and ran to the village to steal the Shikon Jewel.

It was clearly impossible that Inuyasha had noticed nothing unusual about Naraku's impersonation of Kikyo.

With that dog nose of his, how could he have failed to smell Naraku's demonic aura?

Kikyo, on the other hand, had suffered a sharp decline in spiritual power due to Black Miko Tsubaki's curse. And since Inuyasha was a half-demon who genuinely emitted a demonic aura himself, it was understandable that she hadn't detected anything unusual in that brief moment with a building between them.

Of course, Kikyo had also considered putting that dog leash, the Subjugation Beads, on Inuyasha, which showed that the miko hadn't fully trusted him either.

Looked at that way...

The trust they had only just established was as fragile as a sheet of paper.

Given time to settle, that trust might have become quite strong.

Unfortunately, they had encountered Naraku when it was at its most fragile, and a single poke had torn right through it.

Li Xia, who understood the various links in the chain reasonably well, watched it all unfold from the sidelines. At that moment, he even found himself thinking of a famous scene from a film in his previous life about "building bigger and stronger, reaching new heights of glory." It fit the occasion perfectly.

...This pot is love!

...Love, my fucking ass!

Ahem... Damn you, Naraku, you actually made me doubt love!

"Inuyasha, didn't you say you wanted to become human and be with me? I believed your lies, so early that morning, on the day we'd agreed upon, I took the Shikon Jewel to our meeting place to see you. But you attacked me from behind..."

Kikyo spoke bitterly.

This time, the person she hated was herself, for having been so "blinded by love" back then.

"Inuyasha..."

The cold girl drew closer step by step. Inuyasha stood rooted to the spot, while Li Xia quietly edged farther away.

When gods fought, mortals suffered.

Still, he didn't forget to speak up for Kagome:

"Miss Kikyo, in life, you were a kind miko who cared deeply for the villagers and your sister. Surely you wouldn't harm an innocent person?

If so, could you return that portion of Higurashi's soul to her and let her wake up?

She's innocent!"

"Mr. Xia..."