Disclaimer: Inuyasha is not owned by me. I have just temporarily requisitioned them. I'll give them back soon, really.

Betray Me Once

Prologue

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.

Betray me once, shame on both.
Betray me twice, won't happen again.

Kagome hummed as she walked through the woods. Her bow and arrows were slung over her back, and she was searching for a particular herb that Keade told her to look for if she was ever in this area. Keade didn't have much hope that Kagome would find it, but she said just in case to go out when the moon was at its highest point in the night sky and if she saw it, she would recognize it. Keade hadn't even told her what its properties were, just to pick it if she saw it.

Inuyasha had not been very happy about her going by herself, but according to Keade it must be picked by a woman of power, alone. Kagome had tried to explain this to Inuyasha, but he didn't understand the difference. Of course, neither did Kagome, but she trusted Keade. If she said that this herb was important, then she believed her. If it wasn't for Keade, then she wouldn't know an eighth of what she now knew about herbs. Before she had fallen into the well, actually, she didn't' know anything. All she knew to do when in pain was to tell her mother, go to the drug store, or if she was badly injured, the hospital. Now, she actually discovered that she liked preparing herbs and healing with them. It gave her a sense of satisfaction that she couldn't explain, especially when she prepared everything herself. It was different than just using over the counter drugs.

She entered a clearing and stopped, barely keeping herself from screaming. Naraku was there, grinning, and beside him lay Kikyo, an arrow pierced through where her heart would be if she were still alive.

"Naraku, how could you!" Kagome screamed, and grabbed her bow and an arrow, aiming it as his heart.

"Now, now, the question is, how could you?" and he disappeared, but not before Kagome had sent an arrow after him. She stood there, panting, trying to catch her breath. She had to get back to Inuyasha and tell him what happened! But it was too late, he was already there.

"Kikyo," he whispered, and as if in a trance walked over to the dead animated figure. He knelt before her, and touched her cheek with the back of his hand. Then he froze. He sniffed deeply, and then turned around, his eyes wide with shock and anger.

"Kagome, how could you! Kikyo never did a single thing to you and you killed her! I never thought you would stoop so low!" he yelled. He had caught a scent as he neared her, and he had realized that it had been the scent of Kagome that was on the arrow piercing Kikyo's breast. When Inuyasha turned around and looked, that had been the final piece of evidence. Kagome's bow was still in her hands, as if she had just fired off an arrow. He was betrayed.

Kagome stepped back, stunned, the bow falling from her hands. She hadn't done that! Then she remembered Naraku's words, and she shuddered convulsively. He had done it to frame her.

"No, Inuyasha, it wasn't me! Believe me!" she cried. How could he think she could do such a thing? And Kikyo hadn't done a single thing to her! She had died twice, and Inuyasha still believed in Kikyo. Inuyasha shot her a fierce glare.

"It wasn't me!" he said in a high pitched voice that shook, "Honestly, you expect me to believe that! I can smell you all over the arrow, Kagome! I thought I could trust you, I really did. And, you betrayed that trust," he did his best to keep his voice steady and he said those final words, after which he strode past her, head held up high. Kagome caught his sleeve, trying to keep him there, trying to convince him that it wasn't true, but before she could say anything, Inuyasha just turned around and looked at her coldly.

"I guess you truly are Kikyo's reincarnation. At least when she betrayed me, it was because she had been tricked. You don't have that excuse," and Inuyasha pulled his sleeve out from her hand, pushed her onto the ground, and walked away.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!" she yelled, a pathetic whimper lacing her through her screams, "Inuyasha," she whispered. She got onto her knees and stared down at her hands.

"How could you believe I would do such a thing, Inuyasha? I, I, lov," and here she was interrupted. Naraku was back.

"Loved that pathetic hanyou? How sad. He apparently doesn't love you. If he wanted to, with only a moment's searching he could have found proof that it was not your fault. I didn't even have to cover my tracks; I knew all he needed was the scent of you on that arrow, and with my skills, that wasn't so difficult. Kikyo believed it was you too. She begged for her life from you, did you know that? How amusing it was to string that arrow, and kill her, accusing her of everything that she had indeed done to you. Poetic justice, I would say. You should thank me. But don't worry; Inuyasha might not hate you as much once you have died. He might even forgive you. But whether he forgives you or not, I will have tainted jewel shards. Now, to end a chapter of my life which has existed for far too long! Die, reincarnation of Kikyo!" he yelled.

Kagome, who had been frozen during his speech as it sunk in that she had been betrayed, scrambled away as a tentacle came flying for her. But she was only one young girl, and she didn't have a chance. The tentacle wrapped around her neck; Naraku dragged Kagome up into the air. He smirked as she hung in midair, choking, her hands scrambling to remove the pressure. Naraku, laughing, sent two smaller tentacles out and brought her hands away her neck. He watched for a moment, until her struggles had weakened. She simply hung there, staring at him, a dull hatred forming for him, and for the man she thought had trusted her. Naraku laughed, and let her fall to the ground.

"You know, why end it so quickly? What's left of my human heart is excited by your hatred, my dear. Keep hating me, girl. Let your heart be consumed with darkness!" Naraku laughed. Kagome just lay there, unable to say a word with the world blurring slightly. She was only half-way dead, though her vocal cords were damaged beyond repair. Naraku knelt before her, and ran a claw across her cheek, leaving a line of red in it wake. She shuddered weakly, but her powers were drained from trying to keep her alive and her physical strength was even lower.

She couldn't do a thing as Naraku undressed her. She couldn't do a thing as he ran his claws repeatedly over what seemed to be every inch of her body, tracing a delicate pattern of blood into her skin. She couldn't do a thing as he ate her lips, smirking gently down at her. She couldn't do a thing as he took small chunks from her body; from her neck, her shoulders, her breasts, her stomach, and many other places. She couldn't do a thing as he took her virginity, whispering words of hatred towards the world, himself, and her friends. He left her, bleeding to death, broken, and hopeless. He dispelled the barrier around the area that had been concealing sound and scent, chuckling. He loved torture, and he loved the beautifully black shards in his hand that he had just obtained. Most importantly, he loved the fact that he had just had ultimate revenge on Inuyasha, and now their group would be destroyed. They wouldn't be able to hold together, not after the girl was gone.

Kagome's sluggishly working brain was close to dead. Her life's blood and virgin's blood soaked the ground around her, some of it still in puddles because the ground could not soak anymore up. A ball of white light which had been watching the proceeding, vibrating in anger, dived down and was absorbed into Kagome's body. Her body weakly convulsed. Kagome's fog mind barely registered a voice.

"Kagome, you need to sit up," the voice said gently.

"Can't," came the extremely weak and broken reply.

"Just, just lean over and reach for that plant besides you," the voice sounded desperate now.

"Just want to sleep," the words came out sluggishly.

"You can. Right after you grab that plant and do what I tell you to," the voice said, panicking.

"All right," was the reply, Kagome's mind accepting that she couldn't get the sleep she wanted until she did what the voice told her too.

Kagome's eyes registered a plant glowing brightly in the light of the full moon. "I found the plant, Keade," Kagome whispered. Her mind was breaking, and this inconsequential fact seemed to be rather important to her mind at this moment.

"Yes, now, put at least one of the petals in your mouth," the voice demanded.

Kagome's arm moved, still bleeding, but now sluggishly. Kagome was in so much pain that the extra pain didn't really register with her. Luckily, the plant was practically at her face, so all she had to do was lightly touch the stem and the flower accommodatingly moved into her mouth. As soon as it touched her tongue, Kagome froze, and her body melted away into nothingness.

A few minutes later, Inuyasha ran back into the clearing, his reflexes of protecting Kagome now a habit. He fell to his knees at the overpowering scent of Kagome's blood, which was too strong for his defenses. He stood up, and weakly staggered over to where an odd patch of blood was. Inuyasha had to keep himself from throwing up, and his mind which had begun to process what had happened, gave a twinge. He lightly touched the wet spot, and restrained himself again from being sick when he realized that there was more blood than dirt in the mix. As quickly as he could manage, Inuyasha got out of the clearing. He stood there for a moment, trying to catch his breathe, but while slightly improved by distance, still wanted to gag. Suddenly, a glint caught his eyes. He walked over, and there were all of Kagome's arrows, except for one.

His eyes narrowed. So she did kill Kikyo. Of course, he still had a hard time feeling terribly angry, since he could tell that Kagome was dead. He felt pain at the thought, but brushed it away. It was her fault. He circled around the clearing and knelt by the tree Kikyo had been against. Now there was only a pile of clay with an arrow lying on top. He picked the arrow up, cradling it gently and trying to avoid looking back at the rather large mud puddle. In his efforts, he caught another glint. He walked over. It was another arrow, also with Kagome's scent. He fell to his knees. He knew how many arrows Kagome kept with her. It helped to know during a battle, so he could make sure Kagome wouldn't be left defenseless when she ran out of arrows. She always kept the same amount, twenty-six. He stood up, and compared the two arrows. There was a difference, now that he actually looked at it. Kagome's arrow heads came from her era. The one that had pierced Kikyo had come from his. It had been another trap.

Inuyasha stared at the arrow, unbelieving. He had sentenced Kagome to death just because he couldn't believe in her and take a second, just a second, to inspect the arrow. He should have known to check the arrow. Who did this? He tried to catch a scent, but the smell of Kagome's blood was overpowering it. Inuyasha walked away a little, trying to get far enough away so that he could catch Kagome's murderer and maybe recover her body. Her family deserved at least that much.

Inuyasha was pushing away his feelings at the moment. It was his defense mechanism; ignore the feelings, that way he couldn't be affected. After moving about fourteen feet away, he smelt it. "It" was Naraku's scent. Inuyasha froze, his emotions broke free from the cage he had built around them, and he sank to his knees, howling at the unjustly bright moon above.

At that moment…

Sesshoumaru paused. From a long distance away came the sound of a dog demon mourning. He recognized that voice. Inuyasha. What had happened to his brother? He turned slightly, changing his course. Jaken knew better than to say anything, and Rin just assumed that it was some dog howling at the moon.

At that moment…

Sango rolled over in her sleep, her face sweating. She bolted upright, a horrible feeling overwhelming her. She gasped for air, trying to recover from the nightmare that she could not know remember. The feeling of terror and suffering did not go away though. She looked for the others, but there was only Miroku. He too suddenly sat upright, trembling.

"Something is wrong, something is very wrong," he said, his voice shaking as much or more than his body. He stared at Sango.

"They're not back yet," Sango muttered, horrified.

Just then, a howl of immense pain shook the particles of air around them. Kirara suddenly transformed into her larger shape, making mewling sounds of worry. Miroku and Sango leapt up as well as a newly awakened Shippou, and Kirara took them toward the source of the sound.

At that moment…

Keade looked up from the arrow she was working on. She wasn't often able to get as much sleep as she used to, finding her self tossing and turning instead of resting. She sensed something.

"There is an evil air about tonight," Keade muttered, her eyes narrowed in concentration and worry.

End of Prologue

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