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Inuyasha was awake, but very carefully was not opening his eyes to the early morning sunlight. He slowly reached one hand up to his head, trying to move as little as possible. Everything seemed intact, cranium-wise. What the hell? I feel like I got kicked in the teeth or something. Then he remembered- the monk and his damned sake. Inuyasha gave a weak growl. "Oh, it's gooood for you. Oh, it'll heeeeeelp," he muttered, mimicking Miroku furiously. 'Idiot!" He braced him self an inch at a time, preparing to sit up, and opened his eyes- only to be confronted with the apocalyptic sight of Sango's raging face. He let out an involuntary whimper, shutting his eyes immediately, feeling the world sway.

She grabbed his shoulder, hauled him upright, and proceeded to shake him, making that awful swaying even worse. He grabbed his stomach and clapped one hand over his mouth. "You absolute, unbelievable, disgusting fool! You go and listen to Miroku- that's something you should almost never do- get blind drunk, and then you kiss Kagome!"

Inuyusha tensed, pushing her hand off his shoulder roughly. He squinted at her in horror. "I did what?"

She folded her arms and sat back, scowling at him. "Yes, you kissed her! But then you know what you did, Inuyasha, after you kissed her?"

He gulped. "Uh- what? Are you sure I kissed her, Sango, cuz I really don't-"

"You called her Kikyo."

The words dropped on Inuyasha like bombs. He slumped forward, groaning. "I called her Kikyo? I called her Kikyo. Oh, gods, I'm such a bastard!" The hanyou pounded a fist on the floor. "She's never going to look at me again! Sango, where is she? Did she go back home?" Sango hesitated, then shook her head. "Well, where is she then, dammit?"

"She- well, she ran away after you did that, off into the woods. I had to take care of you two, so I sent Kirara after her."

Inuyasha let out a huge sigh of relief. "So- where is she?"

"Kirara just got back- she couldn't find her anywhere. Her scent just… stopped." Inuyasha's jaw slowly dropped and his ears were laid tight against his head.

"She's gone? Alone? In the forest? At night?" he yelped, voice rising progressively on each word until he was thundering in Sango's face. 'Kagome's lost?" Over in the corner, Miroku gave a loud, heartfelt moan of pain. Inuyasha's wide eyes stared at Sango for a moment, filled with terror, then he snatched Tetsusaiga and was away so fast he blurred.

Sango clutched her head. "I should have gone after her myself and left these two fools here! Kagome had better be all right, it's my fault if she's not… But I'm sure she's just hiding from Inuyasha somewhere. Poor Kagome, she must be heartbroken." She turned viciously at Miroku's whines. "Don't think I've forgotten about your part in all of this, monk!"

Inuyasha circled, nose to the dirt, until he picked up Kagome's scent under a cherry tree, heading south-west into the forest. He followed it as quickly as he could, putting to use all the methods of tracking he'd learned over the years. Kagome, I'm so, so sorry. But did you have to run off in the and get lost?! He sneezed after inadvertently whiffing a pungent tiny skunk cabbage. You had better be all right, stupid girl…

Damn, she'd run quite a ways. He took another deep sniff and gasped, eyes watering. There was a gigantic patch of lemon mint in front of him, surrounding the trunk of a huge old tree. Kagome's scent had simply stopped, just as Kirara had reported. Inuyasha knew his nose was a fair bit better than hers, though, and gods knew he could pick Kagome's scent out of a crowd, he'd breathed it in enough when she wasn't paying attention. He kept going, forcing himself to go through the mint, until something caught his eye. There was a cave under that tree.

And Kagome would have known that would be the perfect place to not be found, with this godsawful mint in the air. He bit his lip. She's definitely in there- and she's hiding from me.

The hanyou started to crawl into the tiny cave, then stopped. He was definitely picking up her scent- that luscious, clean human scent- but there was something else in the air. He sat on his heels and opened his mouth a bit to get a better reading. Kagome… tears… he winced…and a- a demon? Or a man? He looked down, seeing the signs now, a broken twig, a crushed patch of grass- someone had sat right where he was now! Watching Kagome!

Inuyasha burst into the cave, and stopped, golden eyes glowing with fear. Kagome was gone, but there was a tiny green shred from her skirt lying on the ground, tangled among the roots. He bent down and picked up the piece of fabric between his claws, oh so gently, eyeing the single clawed footprint left in the dirt with murder in his eyes.

He crawled back out, tucking the scrap of skirt into his belt as he leapt to the treetops. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted Kagome's name, over and over. Birds flew up from the forest around him, cawing.

A few miles away, and a mountain higher, Tsubasa's keen eyes noticed the birds come bursting out of the forest canopy. He smiled devilishly, tusks protruding. "So, that half-demon of yours must have discovered you're gone, hmm, my dear?" Kagome, kneeling in front of him on the plateau's rocky surface, gave an empty smile. She bowed her head and proffered a tray.

"Tea, my lord?"

"Yes, thank you." He took a cup with a six-fingered hand, stroking her face with the other. She leaned into his touch. "But you don't want him to come take you away from me, do you?"

Kagome shook her head vehemently. "No, my lord."

Tsubasa fluttered his wings in satisfaction. "That's what I thought." The demon gave a raspy laugh, gazing at the latest piece to his collection. She had certainly cleaned up well, much better than he'd dared hope at first, with that awful tear-stained face and tangled hair.

Far below, Inuyasha stood, chest heaving, despair and the pure possessive fury of a hanyou whose property has been taken sparking in his eyes. Kagome! Kagome, who took you? Where are you? He took a deep breath, realizing he was shaking. He'd always been able to protect Kagome before, but now- it was like she'd disappeared into thin air, vanished. And it was all because of him she was out here, alone! Kagome was gone and he hadn't a clue where. I'll find you, Kagome, I promise. He started back to the hut.