I Fell for Myself by Stella Mira

Wouldn't You Like to Know?

"I see you require proof. Very well. I had planned this all along, anyway." Coquettish taunt, artfully coy, Kagura flicked her wrist with a smooth motion – and everyone stilled.

Kagome was the one to vociferate what both she and the men feared. "No – it can't be." It was barely a whisper, swallowed by the wind.

Inuyasha stifled a heavy curse. Sesshōmaru stared at the grotesque sight.

"Isn't she lovely? I much prefer her dead than alive." Kagura's laughter was unpalatable, more horrid than even the animated corpse of the dark miko.

"You evil bitch! Now you've done it! Prepare to join her!" Unsheathing Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha lunged towards her, but a gust of wind engulfed them, separated them from their target.

Kagura took to the skies, avoiding the hanyō's strike with ease. "Fool! She will serve nicely as your opponent. Allow me to watch the fight from up here. Now that Sesshōmaru is trapped in a ningen body, I have nothing to fear."

"Inuyasha." Kagome had to raise her voice to solicit the hanyō's focus. "Take care of that…thing. I'll deal with her."

Inuyasha made to protest but rethought it. He glared at Kagura one last time then shifted positions to battle the advancing corpse.

"Do not lose your composure, miko. It is what the wind witch expects." Having given his advice, Sesshōmaru chose to participate in the fight against the dark miko.

"Oh I know. Trust me – I know…" Kagome laughed. It was a clenching of jaws, a vibration within her chest, more action than sound. Did Kagura truly think she retained no power in this form, no control, like an imbecile? The mere notion was ludicrous, unshackled the howl Kagome had chained in her throat to spare her company's ears. A peal of aggression, it reaped motion, instilled dread, spoke of primal dominance, savagery, and Kagura paled, but did not recoil, held her composure.

"Che, don't try to act tough. I know you can't use his powers. You're just a little girl trapped inside a yōkai's body. A weak fool will be a weak fool – no matter the body."

The time for words had come to an end – a flick of Kagome's wrist, not quite an imitation of Sesshōmaru's grace but close. A string of viridian wound around Kagura's neck, twisted and constricted, deprived her of breath. It cauterized her senses, ripped them from her nerves, gorged on them.

"How di-"

Within seconds, Kagura lay on the ground, convulsed with manic spasms. Her struggles only tightened the threads of yōki – and she hissed. Agony. Paroxysm. Yōki enveloped her, writhed, coiled around her in rows of searing flesh and scales – a living, slithering serpent. Skin flayed, burned, blood seeped away, flowed outwards – a slow hemorrhage.

"You won't…get…away…with this…" Fury clogged Kagura's throat. She sputtered, chocked on her own saliva and blood.

Kagome cast down a hard stare, regarded the sprawled female before her feet. "I don't think you have to worry about us. You should be more concerned with your well being at the moment." Poison dripped from the tips of Kagome's claws, acidic threat, emphasized her point.

"Way to go, wench! Those damn lessons weren't for nothing after all!" Inuyasha's grimace was telling, didn't need elaboration.

Kagome would have to thank him for enduring lash after lash while she trained with the yōki whip later, but she had more pressing matters to address at the moment. For one, the decaying shell of the dark miko was nowhere to be found. "What happened to the dark miko?"

"She ceased all movement when you incapacitated the wind yōkai. She is no more than a corpse now." Sesshōmaru could wait no longer. He slashed the kazeyōkai with a glare of frost, demanded answers. "Are there other dark miko capable of lifting this curse, woman?"

Kagura more frothed than spoke in her condition, not that she offered information either way. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

A snarl of impatience split the noxious wind – Inuyasha snapped. "I told ya before, bitch! You are goin' to talk whether you like it or not! Now start talkin'!"