Before Kagome sat the lifeless vessel which was Lady Izayoi. The dead woman was dressed in a pink and purple kimono, her long black hair hanging down over her shoulders. Her pale, porcelain face was painted with blush and red lipstick, her eyes were shut.

Kagome grimaced, she shuddered, she cried out in disgust.

"What is wrong with him?" She exclaimed.

It was beyond her, how after years have passed, her body was still completely intact. The curiosity in her tempted her to touch Izayoi's body so she could understand what he had done to it to preserve it so gracefully. Even the way she wore the smile on her face was creepy. Kagome could almost feel life resonating from Izayoi's corpse, just from looking at that smile.

Kagome sat across from Izayoi's body, leaving a slight distance between them. She reached her hand out ever so slowly to touch her face, when Izayoi's eyes sprang open.

Kagome let out a terrified shriek, and so did Izayoi. She crawled into a corner, and so did Izayoi.

'What is this? Why is she copying me?' A frightened Kagome wondered to herself.

Kagome leaned to her left, and so did Izayoi. She leaned to her right, and Izayoi did too.

'This is creepy.'

"What are you?" Kagome and Izayoi said in unison.

"How do you keep doing that?" They spoke in unison once more.

"What's going on?" They both shouted at once.

Kagome's brows furrowed and she breathed heavily in that corner. Of course, Izayoi did the same.

Kagome turned away, so she didn't have to see the zombie woman again. She slowly peeked over her shoulder, eyes wide. Izayoi wore the same expression over her shoulder.

Kagome turned around sharply. 'I don't know what to do. What kind of creepy magic spell did he put on me?!'

Kagome paused. 'Wait a minute. If her body is moving at my will, could it be that I really am...?"

That evening...

Inuyasha awoke to the sound of a shovel digging nearby. He groaned, grasped his aching head, then he pulled the shards of glass out of his side.

"Damn that old man." He grumbled as he looked over to the side, where he saw Sesshomaru digging a large hole.

Sesshomaru glared at his younger brother and tossed the shovel to the side.

Inuyasha gulped when he saw his brother stomping towards him.

He advanced him quickly, too swift for Inuyasha to react, and pushed Inuyasha back to the ground by his neck. "Father ordered me to bury you alive."

"W-What?!"

"He's discovered a new approach, a method to awaken the Izayoi inside of Kagome's soul."

"That's crazy! Kagome isn't my mother's reincarnation!" He shouted angrily.

"We know that. However, all the women who have wound up in our woods, held a part of Izayoi within them. Her spiritual abilities live within all those women."

"That—"

"It does not matter if it does not make her the true Izayoi. The point is to bring out the small piece of Izayoi that resides within her. Father believes it is the largest piece of all within her spirit." He squeezed Inuyasha's neck tighter. "You happen to be in the way of father's plans."

In the attic...

A woman with red eyes was standing in front of InuNo, an open fan in her hand, slowly swaying it back and forth. She was in deep concentration.

"Impressive, Kagura." He praised.

"This is a cruel trick, InuNo."

"Perhaps it is, but I have grown weary waiting for my wife to return. Sometimes more persuasive methods are necessary to awaken the Izayoi that rests inside of Kagome."

Kagura chuckled darkly and closed her fan.

"What about the dance of the dead?" He asked in confusion.

"You are an uptight man." She said as she pulled a second fan from the sleeve of her kimono. "This spell will enable Izayoi to speak on her own. "

A sinister smirk crept upon his lips. He was eager to meet with his wife once again.

Kagome stared at Izayoi in confusion as her eyes drooped closed, her head hung down and her arms fell at her sides.

'Is she asleep?' Kagome wondered. 'No, that wouldn't make sense.'

Her head slowly began to rise like a puppet attached to strings.

Her eyelids peeled open and she stared at Kagome intently.

Kagome stared back, even more puzzled. She had realized that Izayoi was moving on her own and her back tightened as fear caused her spine to tingle.

"Kagome. Why did you return to this place?"

"Return? I've never been here!" She explained.

"My dear, I can feel my powers returning. How else would my empty vessel awaken without a soul inside my body?"

"Does that mean I really am—"

"My reincarnation? No, you are more like a shard of me. The biggest, brightest shard of all. My spiritual energy resides within you, therefore your soul is made of my spiritual power."

"Is that...possible?"

"For my lingering spiritual energy to find a body and manifest inside it as a soul? I did not think it was possible either. But you are me, reborn. You must live my life the way I wanted to before falling ill and passing on." Izayoi reached her index finger up to Kagome's forehead.

Her body stiffened and she fainted.

Inuyasha had managed to escape from his brother and ran off into the woods. Evening was upon him and he could feel the evil creeping far beyond the trees.

He sat on the branch of a tree. Lurking, plotting, wondering what had become of Kagome. This was the worst case he had ever seen. Usually, the women had killed themselves by now, just from conforming to his father's ways.

Kagome was different. She was resistant, then she was brainwashed, then resisted once more. Imagine the emotional rollercoaster she was enduring at the moment.

Then again, what should he care? All Kagome was doing was getting him into more trouble, 'and for what? Nothing at all, that's what!'

At least, that's what he wanted to believe. Inuyasha knew deep down Kagome needed his help and that he was her only hope. Him—a powerless half demon stuck in a situation he could not get out of alive.

"That woman you seek…has been bewitched." A raspy female voice said from within the woods.

Inuyasha looked around frantically, trying to find the mysterious being that spoke to him. "W-who said that? Answer me!"

"Who I am is not important. What is important is that Izayoi is back—as she was in spirit. And we have a second chance to devour her."

"What are you talking about?!" He screamed. "Kagome is not my—"

"Do you not sense her presence, half demon? Izayoi is here amongst us. Her soul and spiritual energy are seeping through the floorboards of your home. Whoever that Kagome girl was, she is gone. Izayoi has been reborn."

Inuyasha bolted back to the house as quickly as he could to investigate what was going on.

Kagome opened her eyes slowly, blinking away the blur in her vision. She noticed she was sitting where Izayoi's body was and was wearing her clothes. She looked around and saw InuNo sitting in front of her, his head hung down, a pitiable aura of sadness coming from within.

Kagome looked on at InuNo, as private, intimate visions of Izayoi and InuNo together flashed before her eyes in a static-like fashion. She knew she had to do something. She was obligated.

"What's the matter?" Kagome asked him.

"I've begun to lose hope. Perhaps bringing her back is impossible after all."

"I'm here." She said impulsively. "I've been here all along, dearest."

He looked up at Kagome, eyes wide, but he no longer saw Kagome, but the woman he had been seeking for decades.

'What am I doing?' She wondered to herself as she touched his cheek. 'What am I doing?' She continued to ask herself as she leaned toward him. 'What am I doing?' She questioned her own actions again as their lips met for an emotional kiss. She felt butterflies in her stomach, her heart beating wildly and tears falling down her cheeks. Where were these emotions coming from?

Their mouths parted slowly, their lips pulling apart like magnets, their eyes meeting in a passionate daze. Kagome felt the lingering emotions of Izayoi. She felt the undying love that existed for InuNo.

"I'm so glad you're here with me." He said in a soft tone as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Always, my dear." She spoke just as softly as she placed a hand on his chest.

InuNo was stunned that this method worked so easily. He knew it was merely a sign that Izayoi truly did exist within Kagome.

Kagome still felt confused. Why were Izayoi's memories playing within her mind? Why did she feel her emotions and her longing to be close to InuNo?

After all Kagome's time there, she finally felt like she belonged.

"Where is my son?"

"He is near. Forgive me, he may be a bit…resistant at first."

Inuyasha bolted into the house, not sure how he was supposed to react. Was Kagome really his mother in spirit, now? Either way, would it be safer if he just went along with it? He could tell things were going to get very, very strange.