A light seemed to shine in the darkness of Kagome's heart.
The figure illuminated by that light seemed to be Li Xia.
"That's right, Kikyo. Let your soul return to Kagome's body!"
Inuyasha, standing nearby, only listened to half of what was said.
Before Li Xia could finish, he hurriedly jumped in and twisted the knife, blurting out exactly what was on his mind.
He had no idea how devastating those words were to Kikyo!
Li Xia, at least, was scared out of his wits.
He shuddered, then hurriedly moved several steps farther away from his brave companion before promptly adding an explanation for the resurrected Miko, making his position clear:
"Miss Kikyo, I think Inuyasha spoke without thinking. He just expressed himself badly...
"He doesn't mean for you to surrender your entire soul!
"What I meant was that you could return the portion of the soul more drawn to Higurashi, while keeping the portion more drawn to your Clay Body within you to preserve your sense of self and ability to move! That portion should be enough for you to go about your daily life!
"That way, if you still have unfulfilled wishes or grand ambitions you never had the chance to realize, you can use this Clay Body to accomplish them! It would be a compromise that gives both sides what they need..."
Li Xia was genuinely thinking of both Kagome and Kikyo.
Returning his classmate's soul voluntarily now should prevent a resonance that would cost Kikyo even more.
Both Kagome, in her deathlike state, and Kikyo could hear the sincerity in his words.
And because of that, the latter's gaze toward Inuyasha grew increasingly troubled:
"Inuyasha, you actually want me to return to that girl's body?
"Don't you know that if my entire soul returns to her, I will no longer be myself?"
Kikyo looked in disbelief at the man who had once stirred her heart. The lingering tenderness vanished from the Miko's face, leaving her gloomy and pained;
The tears in her eyes grew fuller and brighter;
Then all her gentleness withdrew, and her lovely face abruptly turned cold and sharp:
"Inuyasha, do you want me to disappear completely that badly?
"How could I possibly accept dying so easily...!"
Was Kikyo hurting at that moment?
There was no question about it!
Inuyasha's words were like a sharp knife stabbing her heart, over and over!
It hurt!
It hurt so much!
Her former lover fell far short of even a complete stranger!
The boy whose cluelessness had once seemed innocent and guileless to her was really just a self-righteous child who would never grow up! Demons and half-demons remained children even after living for a hundred or two hundred years!
At that thought, Kikyo smiled bitterly.
Inuyasha, meanwhile, was stunned by his former lover's questions.
For a moment, he had no answer.
He could not deny it. Just as Kikyo suspected, he really did want her to surrender her entire soul so Kagome could come back to life.
Li Xia, on the other hand, had the advantage of foreknowledge. He knew Kagome only needed part of her soul to wake up and be back on her feet. (The original timeline had proven this repeatedly. For instance, when Kagome faced Kanna, the little girl had already used her mirror to extract the vast majority of Kagome's soul. Yet the weak but stubborn girl still managed to force herself to fire a Sacred Arrow at the enemy.)
Therefore, peacefully dividing the soul they shared with Kikyo would be a win-win.
A weakened Kikyo could retain more of her past life's soul, making this Clay Body, which "might have a time limit," stronger than it had been at the same point in the original story! That would give her a better chance when facing the final boss, Naraku!
As for Kagome.
First, as long as she developed the hidden potential within her that even the Shikon Jewel feared, her ceiling would already surpass imagination! This little bit of lost soul power was a mere drop in the ocean, hardly worth mentioning!
Second, Kagome had not undergone any of a Miko's many training courses yet. She simply could not use much soul power!
In the original story, the girl clearly possessed the lion's share of their soul, yet she could not shoot through Naraku's Purple Barrier at Mount Hakurei.
Kikyo, who possessed only a small portion of the soul, shattered Hakudoshi's Purple Barrier with one arrow. With another, she pursued Naraku as he fled the "demon graveyard," crossing an immeasurable distance through space to strike into the "Mortal World."
Third, if Kagome yielded a larger portion of the soul, it would be a gesture of goodwill! Both emotionally and reasonably, Kikyo would have no grounds to keep making things difficult for her afterward.
After all, if your reincarnation treated you, her past self, so well, could you really bear to cause trouble for her at every turn?
Kikyo was no madwoman incapable of appreciating kindness.
Naturally, all the intricacies behind this were not something he could explain to outsiders.
But Li Xia's goodwill made even the Shikon Shards in his pocket emit a faint purple glow.
No one noticed that these shards, which were not being carried by Kagome, were nurturing naohi, and that the naohi was quietly flourishing.
Back at the scene of Inuyasha's romantic disaster.
Staggering, Kikyo finally reached her first love and likewise placed both hands on the shoulders of Inuyasha's Fire-Rat Robe.
The sight of Demoness Urasue being killed in an instant was still fresh in everyone's minds.
Yet Inuyasha, with some inexplicable confidence, did not guard against her at all.
Well.
Perhaps after learning what Kikyo had done for him back then, Inuyasha felt guilty and no longer wanted to harbor any wariness toward the woman who had nearly become his lover.
Hadn't that very wariness, that defensiveness, that suspicion allowed someone to manipulate them back then and cost him the woman he loved?!
He could doubt anyone, but he could never doubt Kikyo again!
"Inuyasha, we should never have been able to meet again..."
Kikyo spoke with misty eyes.
Looking at that delicate, pitiful face so close to his own, the face that haunted his dreams more than any other, Inuyasha felt his nose sting, his heart filled with tangled emotions.
He was about to gather her into his arms.
To soothe her enraged soul against the warmth of his chest.
But in an instant, everything changed.
Violent spiritual power and lightning flared.
They struck Inuyasha's shoulders with ferocious force.
"Aaaah...!"
His scream rang across the mountaintop.
At the same time, the sudden impact hurled Inuyasha several meters away.
If the near-divine "Fire-Rat Robe," impervious to weapons and boasting maximum fire resistance, had not canceled out most of the spiritual damage, and if Tessaiga's scabbard at his waist had not absorbed some of the lightning formed from the Miko's spiritual power, that blow would most likely have sent the half-demon Inuyasha straight after Demoness Urasue, turning him into charcoal!
But even with Tessaiga's scabbard absorbing some of the lightning in time, and even with the Fire-Rat Robe canceling out most of the spiritual damage, Inuyasha was still badly wounded!
Two large holes had been blasted through the shoulders of the Fire-Rat Robe, one on either side, exposing the charred flesh beneath.
That showed just how hard Kikyo had struck.
Watching silently from behind, Li Xia felt his eyelids twitch wildly and could not help marveling.
That was Kikyo for you.
And the Fire-Rat Robe certainly deserved its reputation as a "near-divine coat."
"Ah... Kikyo... you..."
Aching all over, with unbearable pain in his shoulders, Inuyasha could not get up for a long time. The bitterness and frustration choking his heart nearly suffocated him.
He could feel the killing intent and disgust Kikyo had just directed at him.
It reminded him of the countless days and nights in his early years when demons had hunted him and humans had driven him away.
Why?
Why?!
I told her it wasn't me! It wasn't me!
"Kikyo, please stop!"
Despite her injuries, Kaede hurried forward to intervene.
Li Xia, inwardly bewildered, also stepped between Inuyasha and Kikyo.
Why was this woman so ruthless?
She was a little too different from the Kikyo of the original timeline.
"Who are you?"
Kikyo frowned.
Seeing that her sister had calmed down slightly, Kaede immediately spoke:
"Sister, it's me! I'm your little sister, Kaede! It's been fifty years. I never imagined I would see you again!"
Upon learning the true identity of the elderly woman before her, who had lost an eye, Kikyo froze. Then some of the resentment surrounding her quickly dissipated.
Her gaze softened considerably as well.
And perhaps it was Li Xia's imagination, but he thought he detected a trace of guilt in Kikyo's eyes.
Especially when she looked at the other half of Kaede's face, the side covered by an eyepatch.
Before you continue