The title of this story is my favorite song by Pink Floyd and is also my personal theme to my own relationship. Obviously I don't own the song, same as Inuyasha, but it always evokes deep feelings which I hope to convey somewhat in the story. I highly recommend listening to the song at least once, both for the story and for the song itself.

Disclaimer: This is fanfiction; I don't own Inuyasha

Wish You Were Here

Chapter One: Heroes

Inuyasha blinked at the sun high overhead. Already midday and they'd not yet reached the village. That stupid girl was slowing them down. If only she'd leave that metal contraption behind and let him carry her. There wasn't any real path through this part of the woods, with stray roots and fallen branches making it impossible to ride her 'bicycle'. Yet she still insisted that she drag it along with her instead of dumping it. She'd practically sat him for suggesting it…Or maybe that had been for one of the insults he'd directed at her and her device. She was so touchy.

Kagome was still fuming at Inuyasha. Only he could rile her up like this, and he was so very good at it. She couldn't really remember what he'd said at that point…it had been a running argument ever since they'd lost the path…but it wasn't even WHAT he said. It was HOW he said it, and Inuyasha never seemed to say anything right. Even his compliments were half-insulting. At this rate, she'd have to sit him again soon.

Inuyasha grimaced back at the girl who was forcing her bike over a protruding root. He warily watched the anger in her face. Great, she was probably going to sit him soon, and he hadn't even said anything for half an hour. Kagome grunted as the bike finally rolled over the particularly stubborn root and glared at Inuyasha, daring him to say something. Inuyasha may not have spent much time sitting under a sacred tree and pondering existence, but he'd been pinned to one for fifty years [hah, like to see some holy figure beat that!] and somehow had enough wisdom not to rise to her challenge.

Miroku and Sango, as usual, seemed to find amusement and despair both in the fighting couple, not that they'd ever admit to being a couple. Shippou was torn between consoling Kagome and insulting Inuyasha. So why not go for both? He slipped to Kagome's shoulder and tried to cheer her up with comments such as 'Don't worry about HIM, Kagome, he's an idiot.' and 'You'll feel better if you just sit him.'

Of course, Inuyasha had excellent hearing, and after several minutes of this, he rounded on the fox and bopped him on the head. The young fox whined loudly and Inuyasha made a loud 'feh, serves you right' somehow missing the look on Kagome's face.

"Sit!" Inuyasha slammed into the ground. Shippou smiled, having achieved his goal. They were so easy to manipulate. Inuyasha was instantly incensed and let her know it with a string of curses.

"Bitch, what was that for? Wasn't it enough this morning when I saw you naked? You sat me four times!" The hanyou bit his tongue, but too late. Kagome was too calm, like a volcano, an evil spell-wielding volcano, ready to erupt.

"Sit!" Ack! "I thought you said you DIDN'T see me, Inuyasha…So you did see me? You're as bad as Miroku." Inuyasha somehow found the statement extremely unfair. NO ONE was THAT bad. It was like saying someone smelled worse than Kouga, or was dumber.

"Well, I didn't MEAN to see you naked. It's not like I take pleasure from seeing such a horrible sight, you know. I'm surprised my eyes still work at all…" Somehow this didn't comfort Kagome as much as he had hoped and she seemed only angrier. Oh great…

"Sit!" Damn, that was seven times today, and he hadn't done ANYTHING. So what if he'd seen her naked? It was her fault for BEING naked in the first place. He was about to tell her so when Miroku coughed.

"Inuyasha, you should probably just keep your mouth shut, unless you want to spend the rest of the day in this forest. I thought you were in a hurry to get back to the village?" Inuyasha grumbled something unintelligible. "Ah, good, now we should continue. After you of course, Lady Kagome."

After a second, Inuyasha stood and followed, still grumbling to himself. He sulked the entire way back to the village, and they arrived near dusk. Miroku, Sango, and Shippou all headed for Kaede's hut, but Kagome said her quick goodbyes and ran off towards the well. Inuyasha had been planning on sulking in the go-shinboku, but decided to chase after Kagome, instead.

She was nearly to the well when he finally found the courage to speak. "Kagome I…I'm sorry about today and all…" Her back was still to the hanyou, so he couldn't see, but her face softened at his apology. "I'm sorry you had to drag that stupid contraption with you and I'm sorry for getting angry at you for holding us back. It was the 'bicycle' not you, I guess." So much for his apology. She supposed that was the closest Inuyasha could get to saying sorry.

Kagome turned to accept the hanyou's somewhat less-than-wonderful apology, when her eyes opened wide in surprise. Inuyasha took one look and cursed, spinning to face whatever had made her scared. Just coming from the edge of the forest, was some kind of demon, not one Inuyasha recognized. It smelled strongly of a strange magic, much like Kagome's own miko powers, but somehow twisted, just like the thing was.

Inuyasha growled as the distorted figure came closer. It was getting harder to see in the increasing darkness, and the thing was blurring into the night, but he could definitely tell that it wasn't put together right. It looked as if someone had taken it and bent it at funny angles or twisted it around. The stench that came from it was all wrong, that's all Inuyasha could put to it. It smelled WRONG.

Tetsusaiga was out in a flash, and Inuyasha leapt at the thing, sword already swinging. He felt the energy from the youkai, and the fang slashed though the kaze no kizu without trouble, only the demon's energy seemed to flare just then and suddenly the blinding white light was flying back at Inuyasha.

The force of the blast was stunning. Inuyasha was thrown back, and nearly blacked out instantly. The kaze no kizu that struck him was different, corrupted perhaps by the youkai's energy. It swirled black and white around Inuyasha before it dissipated. Inuyasha half-collapsed, unable to keep the world from spinning about him. His very blood seemed filled with the taint.

Kagome was calling his name, he could hear, in desperation, but it took him several moments to come to himself. He clothes were half ruined, incinerated by the kaze no kizu, and barely more than rags around his body. His eyes tried to focus on the youkai, but there were at least three of them advancing. Inuyasha shook his head and focused as hard as he could, finally resolving the image to one youkai, that was suddenly right in front of him.

Inuyasha raised a hand to defend himself, but he had no real chance. The thing swung one twisted arm at him and he was sent flying back towards Kagome. He landed just short of her, bouncing and rolling to her feet. She was instantly at his side, trying to shake him to some semblance of himself. The youkai was still advancing.

Inuyasha managed to stand, still dizzy, but slowly regaining himself. Whatever that thing had done to him…he wouldn't let it hurt Kagome. He reached for Tetsusaiga, but for the first time realized he no longer held it. He'd dropped it when he was hit with his own kaze no kizu. The demon flashed him a lopsided smile…it had no choice in that, since its face wasn't exactly in proportion…and brandished the Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha couldn't even wonder how the thing was wielding it. It raised the sword high and brought it down. Inuyasha knew as it cut through the kaze no kizu.

Inuyasha didn't even wait for the sword to finish its descent. He shoved Kagome as hard as he could, down into the well. He saw the world exploding in a flash of white. That familiar blue light disappeared and Inuyasha had time to breathe a sigh of relief before being consumed by whiteness.

Kagome landed softly on the floor of the well, still surrounded by darkness, but this time it was of the well-house. She stood and climbed out. The well was empty now. Inuyasha hadn't followed her. Stupid hanyou! He'd probably gotten her out of the way so he could fight, even though he was obviously in no shape to fight alone. That thing had been wielding the Tetsusaiga…

Oh sure, he'd saved her, but he'd never once thought of saving himself. He could have come down the well, too. Now Kagome had no idea what was happening. Was Inuyasha all right? He'd manage to kill the demon, right? Kagome tried not to worry herself, but she always worried about the hanyou. He was so…so…stupid!

Making up her mind without even realizing she'd been debating, Kagome grabbed the rim of the well and through herself back in. Even if the demon was still there, some help was better than none…

Inuyasha staggered back against the well, sagging against it and nearly falling in. His blood was cold in his veins, his heart pounding in his ears. He could feel some sort of taint in his blood. It was really there. He looked at his wrists and saw them pulsing with his heart. He was sure he didn't imagine the slight flash of black with each pulse.

His eyes found the clearing where the demon had been. It was no longer there. The Tetsusaiga lay in the churned earth, only feet away, but much too far for Inuyasha. He tried to straighten, but nearly passed out with the effort. His vision flashed black. What was going on? His vision flashed again. Just like his veins.

No longer able to stand, even half-supported as he was, Inuyasha's hands slipped from the well and he felt himself falling. His vision flashed black. He saw the stars distant overhead, as if through a tunnel. His vision flashed black, so Inuyasha didn't see the blue light that surrounded him. Or the way the light darkened to an inky purple.

Kagome looked up hesitantly. She didn't sense anything nearby. There was no sound of battle or even of life above. That thought sent her into a panic and she scrambled up out of the well. The field was empty in the night, destroyed, but empty. Where had Inuyasha gone? Kagome started towards the village, looking around nervously, when her eyes caught a glint in the moonlight.

She walked closer, and still closer, unable to believe what her eyes were telling her. Finally, Kagome bent down and picked up the object. It was the Tetsusaiga. If the Tetsusaiga was here…where was Inuyasha? Kagome looked around again, but the night was so empty. Suddenly very frightened, Kagome ran for the village, sword clutched tightly to her.

She burst into Kaede's hut, startling the sleeping figures on the floor. Shippou groaned and tried to roll over, too tired to be excited even for Kagome, but Miroku noticed the look on Kagome's face. "What's wrong, Lady Kagome?" Kagome just shook her head. Then the monk noticed what she was holding in her arms. "Lady Kagome…where is Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha came to himself slowly. It was an unpleasant experience. He lay in the bottom of the well, blinking in the bright morning light. What the hell? He sat up, instantly regretting it, as the urge to vomit overwhelmed him. He couldn't stop himself. When he had control of his body again, Inuyasha cautiously stood, feeling the wave of dizziness that swept through him. It was fading a little, but he was too impatient to wait for it, so he leapt out of the well…and fell over in the grass, panting.

He couldn't believe his own weakness. His body wouldn't respond properly, and his energy just wouldn't come to him. What was wrong with him? He vaguely remembered fighting that strange youkai. He knew he'd been poisoned somehow, by the demon's energy, but he had no idea how, or what the effects would be.

The hanyou looked around for the Tetsusaiga…he remembered seeing it on the ground…but it was nowhere to be found. Strangely, the ground showed no sign of his battle the previous night. He must have imagined the damage. Probably a hallucination from the poison. No Tetsusaiga. Either the demon still had it, or someone from the village had taken it, possibly one of his friends. Still, no one had noticed him lying in the well.

Head pounding, Inuyasha dragged himself through the still wobbling world, towards the go-shinboku. He'd rest there before trying to get to the village. Much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he didn't think he could walk all the way there yet. He hardly made it to the sacred tree. Stumbling more than Kagome ever had, Inuyasha was relieved to finally find his favourite resting spot. Unfortunately someone was already using it.

….

"WHAT THE HELL?" Inuyasha nearly fell over, and not just from the poison. He couldn't take his eyes off the tree. Or more importantly, the hanyou pinned to it. There he was, fire-rat clothes and doggie ears, stuck with that damned arrow to the tree. This was impossible! Inuyasha looked at himself and then at himself, trying to decide which was which. The poison was really screwing him up, to make him see…He fell against the tree, suddenly unable to stand.

Dizziness crashed through him and he fell against something soft, unable to see through the black haze in his head. Inuyasha passed out.

He came to some while later, as the sun was reaching its zenith. He was breathing heavily, panting more like it, and he still felt like he wasn't getting any air. Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably. There was a root in his back and he tried to position himself so that the soft thing was there instead. His eyes flew open and he craned his neck around to see what he was leaning against.

It was him. He fell over backwards in his hurry to get off of himself. There he was, still hanging from the tree. There was no way he was still having the same hallucination. What was going on? How could this…where was he?

There were voices coming from nearby. Inuyasha tensed, and his muscles seemed to rebel, seizing up on him. The voices came closer. His vision was fading again. Whoever it was was almost on top of him now. He couldn't see anything. He started to slip away from consciousness.

"Oh my gods, look!" "What is it-oh shit! What the hell is that!" "It's the hanyou…but he's stuck to the tree still…!" "There's another one?"

Inuyasha was having trouble following the conversation, but he understood some of it. At least he wasn't hallucinating…and at least he wasn't the only one that thought it was screwed up for there to be two Inuyashas.

End of Chapter One

-Chevalier