Mantinas-This is a rewrite. I've written this a few years ago and then deleted it because it was getting away from me. Yet, and yet, part of it stayed. I think/hope it is ready to be written now.

Disclaimer-I do not own anything but the idea.

XXX

Souta was floating in a dark void. He was confused. The last thing he remembered was…But that was a dream now fleeting, forgotten. But the fog he seemed to have slowly, as if he were a leaf, descended into might not have been. But if he knew that was a dream and he was not having it right now, then was he in another? A dream within a dream type deal. No, that did not feel right. It was as if he were awake, yet sleeping. He concentrated on his thoughts until a jolt shot through him.

He was not alone.

Turning around he was met with InuYasha. His half demon hero and friend stood before him now. He looked confused.

"Souta," InuYasha spoke, breaking the silence first. "What are you doing here? And why are you wearing a yukata? Is there a festival tonight?"

Souta looked down at himself for the first time and saw that he was, indeed, wearing a navy blue yukata with a silver moon on his right breast and stars around it. It was wonderful and it beat being naked as one might expect in an embarrassing dream. He also noticed that he looked shorter than his sixteen year old body. As if he were as young as when InuYasha and Kagome visited them last. How many years has it been?

"No, no festival. I didn't even know I was wearing it. And I was going to ask you the same question. But then, I'm not even sure if this is a dream or not, let alone if you're a figment in it or real."

"Well, I was following Kagome, she wanted to show me something, and then it got dark and I floated down into a grey cloud and I see you." InuYasha said, sounding insulted, his arms crossed. "And if that was a dream, then you are the figment."

"I know I'm not a figment, InuYasha." Souta said, flustered. "So then we must be sharing a dream."

InuYasha scratched his right ear and looked as if he were thinking. Souta also took on a contemplative stance once again. His thoughts, like most people's seem to do, wondered off track slightly. It came from a line in a poem from an old author he liked, which then brought him to another, though this one did not pertain to the current situation.

'Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore'.'

The fog that surrounded them changed into a maroon color that soon solidified around them into walls. Maroon and dark like the chamber the man resided in, in his head. But there were differences, there were two comfy wing back chairs the color of emerald with light green and brown embroidered plants, a maroon carpet laid underneath them. In front of the chairs was a fire place that had a crackling fire. All of this was next to Souta on the right side of the room. An ornate four poster bed with the drapes pulled back was behind InuYasha on the left, a few feet from the wall. But the strangest thing was a window to the right of the bed that looked out at nothing. And on the opposite wall was an expanse of shelves with books filling up every one.

InuYasha gave Souta a look of complete surprise as he screamed what happened to an embarrassed Souta who had only realized what was going on a few minutes after things came into place.

"My mind wondered and I came to 'The Raven' and then this must have happened." Souta was not too sure if that was right, but how else could one explain how it happened?

InuYasha nodded and smiled in approval at their new surroundings. Though it was not his normal environment, he found himself thinking as if he were home and Souta found himself, though unknowingly, thinking the same thing.

"So wait, we can manipulate this place?" InuYasha asked after a minute, looking as if he were thinking of something.

Kagome stood before him, her eyes closed and an angelic smile upon her lips. That is, until she opened her eyes. Then she looked really, really angry.

"InuYasha!" she shrieked. "SIT!"

With a hard thud, the half demon fell to the floor and began to create a crater in the floor as she repeated the word. And then she turned to face Souta.

"Souta…" her words dripping with venom. "Don't you know this is dangerous? You are being a very bad boy!"

She advanced towards the boy when the floor seemed to open up around her and swallow her whole—the hole closing as if it never existed in the first place.

Stunned for a second that it actually worked, Souta then ran towards InuYasha. The boy helped InuYasha's face off the floor, the pain making InuYasha stick with sitting on the floor than standing up.

"You okay, kid?" Concern from InuYasha.

Souta nodded. "How about you?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Sorry about that. I was not expecting that to happen, I just wanted to think of something small. She was supposed to not be angry…"

"Let me try." Souta said and thought for a second.

His mother appeared. And just like Kagome, she snapped. Which was unusual for the woman.

"I guess it's just us." Souta said, panting from trying to dodge his mother who chased both males around the room, which proved hard in getting her out.

"Yeah," InuYasha panted back as they slumped on the bench that was attached to the window.

InuYasha looked out the window and a beautiful night sky greeted his eyes. With a wow, he alerted Souta, whom turned to face the scenery and echo the reaction.

A shooting star crossed their window.

A calm settled over them. A door appeared at the right of the window. Neither one asked which created it, for both were sure it was mutual. Without much thought they both stood up, went towards the door, and opened it. The same expanse of stars greeted them on the other side.

InuYasha stepped out first followed by Souta. They moved among the stars in an eloquent manner without walking. A romantic might call it dancing. They laughed and were held in awe of their surroundings until they felt it was time to return to their room.

'Their', a word that came to both of their minds without a second thought. Though reason might indicate that it would be an obvious choice since it seemed to only allow them inside.

They reached the door and stepped inside. Neither could say they ever had such fun in a dream before. If this even was a dream. But neither seemed concerned with that anymore.

"Souta," InuYasha said as he walked towards one of the chairs and plopped down, a thought popping back into his head. "You said a raven helped inspire this place right? How did a raven help inspire this?"

"It's a poem by Edgar Allen Poe." Souta said, looking at the shelves. "If you want, I can read it to you."

Curiosity getting the better of him, the half demon nodded and Souta walked towards the shelves. He found it almost instantly. He sat in his own chair and read aloud. The only incident was that a raven sat above Souta's chair and said 'Nevermore' every time the raven in the poem did.

Before InuYasha could comment whether or not he liked the story he felt a tugging sensation. He looked at Souta and asked if he felt it, to which the boy said he did.

The next thing they knew, they were awake.