As Kagome climbed the shrine steps toward the graveyard, she felt her soul ascend. Kneeling before Inuyasha’s tomb, she closed her eyes and savored the transcendent love that lifted her heart. Perhaps the saving grace in uncovering Sesshoumaru’s betrayal was that it had redoubled her devotion to her husband. She could see now that she had been in danger of straying from her marriage vows. Had she let her concealment spell slip during her stay at Tatsumi castle, had Sesshoumaru come to her in lust that night instead of Mayuri…

Kagome shuddered. In her waywardness and ignorance, she would have let the Beast himself have free rein over her. She would have ended up dead at worst and desecrated at best. Hands steepled before her, she shook her head in despair at the thought.

To her credit, she had trusted her instincts. She had held on to a thread of caution—the sort of caution Inuyasha had tried so hard to instill in her—and had discovered the truth of things. She had resisted temptation and proven herself worthy of him. Inuyasha…though he had only been half human, he was the finest man she’d ever known. The finest man there was, in her convictions. A tender ache filled her heart as she remembered the warmth in his eyes, the gentle way he’d spoken to her as he’d held her in his arms.

A subtle shift in the air disturbed her.

Kagome’s spine stiffened as she raised her bowed head, knowing she was not alone. A tendril of anger wound through her at the disruption of her solitude. Sharply her eyes slanted toward the shrine where Kohaku stood, studying her beneath the dappled shade of a maple tree.

“Forgive me for intruding,” he said as he stepped toward her, the pattern of shadows breaking over his angled features. “I came to tell you that I’ve spoken with Sesshoumaru-sama. He was unable to offer any further guidance with regards to the Beast.”

A bit of the tension in Kagome’s shoulders eased. Confident as she was in her abilities, it was still reassuring to know that the purified detection charm had failed to trigger. Rising to her feet, she brushed the dirt and grass blades off her knees before turning fully to face him.

“I was thinking,” Kohaku resumed in a softer tone, seeming to have mistaken her silence and slack posture for disappointment, “of returning to the North soon, while the weather holds. Perhaps you could come with me, and we could retrace the routes together, in case there’s something I might have missed.”

Kagome’s lips thinned. She stood suddenly at a crossroads. Kohaku’s poorly-veiled attempt to get her alone with him aside, she sensed that it wasn’t wise to encourage his efforts. Who knows what he might uncover, if he continued to search for the Beast. At the risk of casting suspicion on herself, she decided that she had to put a stop to this—now.

“I should have told you earlier, Kohaku-kun,” she said, walking over to meet him. “But there’s no more need to hunt for the Beast. I’ve dealt with him. It’s over.”

Kohaku’s brow creased, his dark eyes narrowing. “Dealt with him.” As Kagome stopped, the taijiya advanced, glaring. “Alone?”

Warily, Kagome held her ground. “Yes, alone,” she snapped. “He got sloppy, and I happened to find him out.”

A startled gasp escaped her as Kohaku seized her by the upper arms, his expression dark and fierce with anger.

“How could you do something so stupid?” he snarled into her face, the miko wincing as he dug his fingers deeper into her flesh. “Confronting a demon like that by yourself—have you gone mad? You saw what he did to those other women. You are lucky to be alive, you fool…”

Furiously, Kagome wrenched herself out of his grasp, her eyes flashing up at him. “I’m nothing like those ‘other women’!” she spat back at him in disgust. “And I’m certainly not a fool! Stop acting so tough, Kohaku. You’re still just a dumb kid as far as I’m concerned, so don’t you dare think you can talk down to me.” As Kohaku’s jaw clenched, she barreled on, “I don’t need your help—I never needed it. I never needed anything from you. And in case I didn’t make it clear the last time you put your hands on me, I don’t want anything from you, either.”

Panting, she held his searing black gaze. Rage twisted his normally handsome features, his gloved fist half-raised as if putting his hands on her again was exactly what he wanted to do. The tense seconds stretched on as they stared one another down in wordless challenge, before Kohaku turned abruptly on his heel and stormed away.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi