In the center of an extensive green meadow crossed by a flat river, while in the background a large dark mountain range can be observed, there is a tree quite out of place.
Not only out of place, but it seems to go against nature itself, since its branches have the perfect length, the leaves share an unnaturally vibrant green, and the trunk is more like a work of art than a natural creation.
"How much longer are we going to keep waiting? We have to go after Naraku and his castle right now!"
Breaking the omnipresent silence beneath the strange tree, a young man with long white hair, a pair of dog ears, and red clothing raises his voice angrily toward the other young man in front of him.
"So you can use Kikyo again as a human shield? Don't be stupid, we have to wait."
Responding calmly, but tightening the hilt of his sword until his hand turns pale, Asahiko closes his blue eyes and looks toward the clear sky in silence.
If Inuyasha, the dog boy, was a bomb about to explode, Asahiko was no better. But he has to control himself, just like when he controlled his curiosity about where he is, about why there is a schoolgirl here, Kikyo's past… He must control his instincts, not let what happened the previous night happen again.
"What do you mean we have to wait! I followed you because you had a plan, that's what that spirit, Saya, told me, but you don't—"
"I do…"
"Then tell me wha—"
"That's enough, Inuyasha! Can't you see that he's not well either?"
Stopping Inuyasha's verbal barrage by placing his gloved hand on his shoulder, the monk Miroku points toward Asahiko's hand, a hand in which the veins bulge and seem to want to bend the hilt with pure strength.
This made Inuyasha calm down a bit, since clearly Asahiko is also worried about Kikyo's situation, although all the secrecy of the latter in his so-called plan still bothers him.
"Um, Asahiko… Can you tell us what your plan is? Just so we can help you better. Kikyo helped us before, and we will help her now."
"It's not that I don't want to, Kagome… It's just that… Damn it, he's taking too long."
"What is taking?"
Becoming the spearhead of the team while Miroku moves Inuyasha aside, Kagome approaches Asahiko as if she were a gentle morning sun and urges him to speak with her.
Perhaps it was the face extremely similar to Kikyo's, or the gentle atmosphere that surrounds her, but in the end Asahiko lets go of the hilt of Clouded Fang and lets out a sigh, then finally begins to speak.
"From what you have said, Naraku wants to obtain the fragments of the Pearl of Shikon no matter what, and he was also the one who destroyed the relationship between Kikyo and Inuyasha fifty years ago… That last part out of jealousy, obviously."
"You mean… Wait, I think I get it now."
"What, what do you get, Sango!"
"We are the bait, the lure to attract Naraku. Or rather Inuyasha and the fragments are, isn't that right, Asahiko?"
Uttering some doubtful words that gain more confidence the more she thinks about them, Sango, the demon slayer, seems to figure out Asahiko's plan instantly with only a few clues.
"Yes, this is a tug-of-war of wills. We have two things he wants, Inuyasha's head and the fragments, while he has Kikyo in his hands."
"I see… Also, controlling the priestess Kikyo is much more difficult than it is for us to keep the fragments, so he will come first to maintain the advantage."
"Yes, but he's taking too long, much longer than I expected him to take."
Scratching his blond hair with both hands, Asahiko stops when he sees some fallen strands between his fingers and lets out another sigh, thus regaining a minimum of control over his actions.
The worry in him could no longer be hidden at all, at this point he was no different from a cornered beast, eager to throw everything out the window and charge toward Naraku's castle… if it is still there.
…Elsewhere…
"I have everything ready, Kikyo. You only need to agree to help me, to help yourself really, and we can end this farce."
Leaning against the wall of a room that is shrouded in shadows, Naraku observes with his red pupils a strange dark violet rose, one that seems to glow in the darkness.
That rose was clearly the one given by Asahiko, the same one Kikyo had used at all times, although now its power seems to have diminished greatly or been sealed.
"Me? I've already told you, your stupid plan interests me little or not at all, Naraku."
"So it seems that Kagome and Inuyasha are no longer your main focus? No, you are too determined to let it go, and even if you did, I'm sure you would want to finish the story completely…"
"Oh, since you know me so well, why don't you enlighten me?"
Mocking Naraku despite being immobilized on a futon in the center of the room, Kikyo does not even give her captor a second glance, as if telling him he is not worth even a second of her time.
Such behavior does not displease Naraku because right now he holds all the cards, since all of Kikyo's souls have been extracted by him, while Inuyasha and Asahiko cannot attack him because he has her in his power.
So yes, he has the initiative, and there is another point… Kikyo did not completely refuse, but rather seems to be waiting for something.
"I think I understand, and I can help you, Kikyo. Not with Inuyasha and Kagome as was planned, but with Asahiko."
"He is a kind of fox, while that illusion formation of yours works mainly on the mind."
"Hahaha, I don't need to force the lock when I have the key, Kikyo. Look at it here, in my hands and given by him himself."
Smiling while the skin of his face twists slightly, Naraku spins the dark violet rose with his fingers, showing the so-called "key" to Kikyo, who remains silent.
"… Use his own power to avoid raising suspicion from his natural defense?"
"That's right, although you will only be able to see random memories, but I think that is more than enough if we also add Inuyasha and Kagome to the matter."
"Fine… You can consider me interested in your little plan, Naraku. But first return the souls you have stolen from me, it is disgusting to be so close to you."
Accepting Naraku's deal, who clearly desires the fragments of the Pearl of Shikon, which mean little or nothing to her and one could even say only disgust her, Kikyo's thoughts begin to waver.
Making that decision was necessary, there were too many oddities in Asahiko's behavior; in his decisions, in those strange words he occasionally utters… Kikyo wants to know. ¡Needs to know the reason for their current relationship!.
It is not that she is paranoid, but if factions existed in this world, Asahiko would be someone clearly lawful-neutral. Very different or perhaps even contrary to Kikyo, a dead soul trapped in a body of clay and bones.
"Hahaha, of course, but first I'm going to have to put a safeguard on you. Don't think badly of me, it's just so there are no problems or surprises during our cooperation."
"Is that… a fragment of the pearl?"
"Correct, only now I have improved beyond all possibility."
Moving between his pale fingers a fragment of the pearl, one that has a dark purple hue and causes Kikyo to frown, Naraku smiles before throwing it toward her chest.
It embeds itself in her skin with extreme ease, releasing a dark glow upon coming into contact with Kikyo's spiritual energy, while staining her brown eyes with dark shadows.
"I'm going to go call them, I'm sure that right now they are desperately searching for some trace of you."
"Na… Ra… Ku"
"Hahaha, I hope you are standing when I return, Kikyo."
Closing the sliding door that leads to a corridor covered in shadows, Naraku lets out a victorious laugh as he has obtained two great pleasures at once.
Yes, simple pleasures. That is because the "corruption" of Kikyo, and the pain generated by her going against Inuyasha are only indulgences he grants himself, one more significant than the other, but in the end his only true goal is the fragments.