DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS CREATED BY RUMIKO TAKAHASHI

Chapter 3: Thoughts

She was in a dream. No not a dream, a nightmare! She looked about her; there was just darkness, endless, limitless darkness. She tried running, as fast as possible, in search of light. But there was none. Even though she ran till she was breathless, there was no light to be found. Had she become blind? Why didn't she bump into anything then?

"Inuyasha!" she screamed but she got nothing. "Where are you Inuyasha?" It was then that the tears came and she cried her heart out, screaming intermittently for him. "Where are you?" she sobbed. And most importantly, where am I? She searched her memory but she could recall nothing. She lay silent, crouching, sobbing but resolute. 'Is this what it's like to be dead? Am I dead?'

Then she remembered her companions, 'Miroku, Sango and Shippo. They were right with me when… when… Oh why can't I remember anything?'

She got up again and ran some more, just to shake off the frustration. It was then that she heard, "Sango… Kagome…"

It was Miroku's voice! "MIROKU SAMA!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Is that you Kagome? Can you see me? I certainly can't see you."

"No I can't see you. But it's so wonderful to hear your voice. You've never sounded so fantastic. Where are we? Where's Inuyasha?..."

"I'm very flattered, Kagome. As for the questions, I can answer only one. We are in a very adroit, illusionary trap. It's a mind trap. While are bodies are safe and sound somewhere, our minds are being manipulated by some powerful demon."

"Mind control?"

"Yes. It's rather elaborate. We can hear each other's voices but we won't be able to see or touch. That's because our bodies aren't here. We are trapped in our own minds."

"Our own mind! But then, how do we get out? Out of our own mind…"

"I have heard of such powers. They were said to be possessed by tiger yokai. But from what I can recall, the entire clan had been wiped out many, many years ago."

"Then who could be doing this?"

"I don't know. From what I know about mind control, the one who lays such a trap usually preys on our trust. They go to great pains in order to create an elaborate illusion that makes us comfortable and we let down our guard. It's then that we are most vulnerable to their influence. Humans are particularly prone to this."

"But what do they want?"

"I don't know. Usually all demons wish to eat and possess the souls of humans. But I don't think that it's the case here."

"They go to great pains to create elaborate illusions…" said Kagome, "Wait! Miroku sama. What illusion did they create for us?"

"Well… this darkness itself is an illusion. We are surrounded by it. This is certainly a very powerful and skilled demon who possesses no dearth of faculties to keep us here for an exceptional length of time."

"No, I meant before that. You said that they create elaborate illusions to let our guard down. So before trapping us here, we were definitely tricked into trusting someone."

"Why yes! You're right Kagome sama. We definitely have been tricked. But I seem to have no previous memory."

"Neither do I," said Kagome dejectedly.

They were silent for a few moments, each of them lost in their own apprehensions.

"Hey, Miroku?"

"Yes, Kagome?"

"What about the others? Sango, Shippo, Kirara and… Inuyasha? Are they in this trap too?"

"Yes, they must be. I tried searching for everyone. You're the only I found."

"Then we should search for them."

"We could try. But it won't be easy. I only managed to find you by thinking a lot."

"Thinking?"

"Yes. It was part of my monk training. We were taught about such illusionist demons even though they were rumored to be long dead. The ability of the demon to trap you lies in his or her powers of concentration and overwhelming your mind. Apart from their natural talent at telepathy and mind-control, these demons have several years of training in concentration and overcoming a person's mental barriers."

"Goodness! But how will thinking too much help. Won't it just give us a headache?"

"Yes. But in this realm, we have no other weapons. Our bodies aren't here to assist us so we cannot use our physical prowess. You do not have your bow and arrow. Even if you did, what will you shoot at? There's nothing here. I do not have my wind tunnel. Sango, wherever she is, is devoid of her Hiraikotsu."

'And Inuyasha won't have his Tessaiga,' added Kagome silently.

"So you see how cunning a trap this is Kagome? In the feudal era here, everyone is trained to overcome their enemies physically. We are completely reliant of our bodies and our five senses. Very rarely is the warrior taught the virtue of his mind. The same applies to demons. They are usually powerful physically but fall short in their mental faculties."

"Yes, I see that Miroku sama. But not being able to see anything is driving me crazy."

"That is what the demons seeks to do. It wants to overwhelm our minds so that it can gain complete control of us. Under no circumstances should you let that happen."

"But what am I to do?"

"Think! Think complicated thoughts. I was thinking about my sacred training and all the information that I have gleaned. That's how I managed to overcome the demon's mental barrier and find you. I weakened it's concentration by overwhelming it with my intricate thoughts."

"So that's all we need to do?"

"Yes. This demon has managed to prevent us from recalling our short term memory of the past few hours or days. That means it doesn't want us to remember how we got here. So that's what we have to remember! And the only way to do that is by breaking the yokai's concentration and overwhelming it with our thoughts. In between, try to search your memory for recent events. When you start recalling it bit by bit, you'll know you've achieved success."

'All right!' thought Kagome, 'If that's what it takes to get back with Inuyasha. Be prepared demon, for all my 9th grade knowledge of trigonometry, calculus, history, geography, chemistry… And I thought I'd never have to use any of these subjects! Hurray for the Japanese education system!'

The headaches began again and she cursed loudly. "Oh stop. Stop all that!" she shouted.

Then the bombardment began 'Sine squared theta plus cos squared theta is equal to one. Sine of A plus B is equal to Sine A Cos B plus Cos A Sine B. Sine of A minus B is equal to…'

Stop!

'Energy can neither be created, nor destroyed. It can only be converted from one form to another. Thus the total amount of energy in the universe remains constant. Energy can neither be created nor…

She did her best but the chanting wouldn't stop. 'What is this human girl thinking about? I have never heard of such things.'

Then it began again. 'Avogadro's law states that equal volumes of all gases at the same temperature and pressure have the same number of molecules. Avogadro's law states that…'

'What is all this? It sounds so… so alien' thought Mizuki. That monk was enough; she could just about handle him. But this girl and her alien words were worse than cannon balls. They were cracking her elaborate mental barrier. Her concentration was weakening. Already she was exhausted by creating illusions for the demon slayer, kitsune and two others. But this monk and priestess were proving tiresome."

Then it began again, 'The Estates-General was organized into three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of France. The Estates-General was organized into three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of France. On 26 August 1789, the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. 26 August 1789, the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen…'

"STOP ITTTTTTTT" screamed Mizuki.

Kagome was feeling giddy with excitement. 'I'm having a great time' she thought as she narrated another trig formula. It was difficult at first but all she had to do was recall any nugget of information and repeat it until she got bored of it and thought of a new one. 'It isn't so hard once you get the hang of it.'

She searched her memory for any recent events and to her surprise she remembered a village. It had big houses in the centre, small colorful cottages at the edges and a big… big…

'Damn! I lost it again' thought Kagome. 'But I have to keep trying.'

She asked Miroku if he had managed to recall anything. He answered in the negative and she shared her memory with him. "It seems familiar," he said, "You are good at this Kagome sama. Your mind is adapting naturally and is growing powerful by the minute. The… school in your era seems to have strengthened your mental faculties. I wish we had something like that here."

Kagome giggled at that. 'And here I thought school was useless'!' With that, she once again began to chant the conservation of energy principle…

A/N: This chapter was quite amusing to write. I have no idea about what is taught in the 9th grade in Japan but it can't be too different from what's taught the world over, right? Anyway, in the next chapter Sesshomaru appears and just as in the series there will be quite a lot of conflict between him and Inuyasha. Thank you for reading so far. Do drop in a review if you have time.