Hikaru M.: Hmmmm now to continue with Chapter 7 of CAFAD. Due to my prolonged hiatus I confess that I have forgotten some of the ideas I had queued up for this chapter and indeed all the other chapters but never fear! I'm slowly reconstructing the events of the story, which is working wonders for my Harry Potter addiction which I've been so wont to get rid off for the past few weeks. Enough about me though and onto chapter 7!

Fun fact # 4: I, at one point, thought that all dog demons looked alike which is why Kitai and Inuyasha look similar. God honest truth. It never once occurred to me that dog demons, like dogs themselves, came in different shapes and colours and what have you. Never once did it register when I saw Kouga and his pack but it did register when I was watching an episode that had cat demons in it (or at least I think so; it was such a long time ago) but by then CAFAD had already been posted and I was way too lazy to change it…so…Kitai secretly dies her hair ;

Disclaimer: In the event of writing this fiction I did not make any profit off the characters used. If I did it really wouldn't be a fan fiction now would it? Thought

not…

Chasing A Far Away Dream

Chapter 7: Eye of Kaede

Kikyou fell to the ground screaming as the blood spurted from wound that he had just inflicted. Her flesh had felt so soft, almost immaterial, underneath the sharp caress of his claws, sinking into the muscles and drawing streams of her bright red blood into the open air. The relief that swept through him as she fell to the ground pitifully was indescribable, as if he had been waiting to be rid of Kikyou, born for the sole purpose of ridding the world of her presence.

Her eyes burned with hatred and confusion as they glazed over but he couldn't be bothered. Always a thorn in his side; he had perhaps loved her once but now he had to be rid of her, destroy her at all costs because she had no place in his world. Maybe she never had. Words spilled from his mouth, taunts, hanging them over her head so that she could clearly see her shame. There was nothing but taunts, jibes about her weakness, her uselessness…

He was walking away now, off to revel in his new found freedom, clenching the pink orb in his hand. Though he wasn't sure as to when he had picked it up he figured it would be handy at some point. It surged with quickly fading power and he inspected it while leaving Kikyou's body behind, the smell of her blood filling the air. He hadn't seen when Kikyou stumbled to her feet, the deadly fire of revenge burning in her mercury coloured eyes. He did, however, hear the grass rustling unnaturally, and turned to see her, bow at the ready, her gaze unwavering.

It didn't matter when she let the tense string go, falling to the ground as she did so, because Kikyou was a nonentity. Everything she did as of the moment he struck her down became inconsequential, even as her arrow pierced his heart, the purification racing through his veins biting with a cold he could never imagine. He was free of her now, and no matter how hard she tried she could never affect him.

Even as the arrow pinned him to a tree, freezing the very blood in his veins all he could do was laugh at Kikyou. That bitch, she thought she could get revenge on him that simply? It wasn't just a case of hurt me and I hurt you back, because she was dead, he was only hibernating…some day he would be free of her intrusive nonsense and she would be nothing but ashes trapped in a vase.

With a smirk he relaxed for the last time till God knows when, feeling his body shut down organ by organ. It was just like sleep, letting his eyelids flutter shut as his unconscious body waited the dawn of a new morn. And this time when he finally awakes, she wouldn't be there, lending her fake sympathetic ear, trying to stem his self hatred yet only fanning it with those pitying eyes, burning him with her prejudice against his kind that she would never admit to in front of him.

Yes, when he awakes her and her loathsome hypocrisy and lies and secrets would all be gone. It would be just like waking from a long, torturous bad dream…

A quick jolt woke the sleeping Inuyasha. His breathing was laboured as the scenes from his dream flashed through his mind. The one that caught his attention was the image of Kikyou, dead at his feet, the blood seeping from her miko robes, staining them with the dark accusatory red colour of blood. Every thought, every feeling he had in the dream still raced through his body, constricting his heart in a most painful way. He had feelings for her…so how could he hate her so much?

As he began to calm down, he noticed with particular ire that outside was still dark. Everything about him seemed stifling hot, from the thick white mane on his head to the sopping wet vest that clung desperately to his body. He peeled it off, flinging it as far from him as possible and pulling his hair into some form of knot at the nape of his neck. The heat was everywhere, radiating from every conceivable object in the room.

He tried to turn on the AC but it had been busted for the last couple of weeks. That must've been the cause of the heat that was surely driving him insane as he ripped the sheets from him and ran out into the blessedly cool hallway. Pressing his back against the cold tile of the living room floor, he let out a contented sigh as the cool raced across the breadth and width of his body, making Goosebumps break out on his skin. Tiredness washed over him soon after, drawing him into a light sleep before plunging him back into his dream world.

It had been years since Kikyou had pinned him to the tree. He wasn't fully conscious yet he was acutely aware of that fact, and though the Kikyou he knew was dead, the mangled shadow of her memory made him stay, as though awaiting her return. Sure as hell didn't matter to him either way, he would kill her again and again if it ever came down to it. Every day that passed, the ki that coursed through his veins became weaker, bringing him closer to the consciousness he sought until he was just beneath the surface of it, like a layer of ice he was unable to pierce.

The scents and sounds of the forest around him reached him all the same in his frozen state and as the days passed by, he found himself more able to form coherent thoughts. As odd as it was, he found the limbo to be pleasant though the constant forced state of leisure irritated him. It was one day when the sweltering summer heat was grating on his nerves that he smelt the reassuring calm of another's ki. His nerve endings were still dormant but he would bet anything that the ki caressed his body with cool tendrils of holy energy. A thousand thoughts plagued his mind when suddenly there was a sharp pain in his chest.

That pain, though unexpected was a blessing and a curse. It was excruciating when he felt the blade being wrenched from its bed in his heart but after it came the long awaited paradox of pleasure. After that initial pain, every imaginable sensation rushed him, overwhelming him as though every thing he had been missing was waiting for him. He opened his eyes slowly; the dying sunlight was bright to him and every colour more vivid than he remembered. He was a little unstable on his feet as he looked about, soaking up the changes of the forest while teetering from side to side. It was then that a pleasant tingling on his skin alerted him to the presence of another. The dream world was fading slowly into darkness now, turning black on the outskirts of his vision and quickly consuming everything. But before the world completely turned black he turned to see a pair of crystalline sapphire eyes glinting at him in the waning sunlight.

Inuyasha writhed on the floor, still asleep, unaware of the sunshine slowly seeping in through an open window. He occasionally winced as though in pain but soon all movement subsided as he relaxed back into a calm sleep. Inutaisho had been sitting across from him in a loveseat, watching him with interest, when he barely sighed out a name before rolling over to back his father with a snort.

"Kagome…"

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A loud sneeze reverberated through the sleepy house and Kagome woke with a start, wiping her nose with the back of her hand with a drawn out sniff.

"What a way to start the morning. I hope I'm not coming down with something."

Sango looked up from her position, hunched predatorily over her cereal bowl, to eye Kagome. After spending most of the night trying to get her homework done, she looked a little worse for wear, with her hair tousled and her eyes narrowed to slits to block out excess light. Or she just looked like that because she just woke up. You could never really be sure with her.

"You know they say that means someone is talking about you."

"Sango you don't honestly believe in that do you?"

She shrugged offhandedly in response while poking at the errant cereal flakes with her spoon.

"I'm just saying. It's kinda odd to just sneeze once. If you were catching something or having a sinus problem it would be more than one sneeze."

There was an expectant silence in the kitchen as they waited to see if she would sneeze again. Kagome scowled at Sango who only continued to pick at her cereal.

"I read online that if you want to know who's talking about you, you ask for a 3 digit number, add them up then see which letter of the alphabet corresponds to it. Ummm, 414."

Kagome rolled her eyes yet humoured Sango nonetheless. '4 1 49. The ninth letter in the alphabet is…I…' She tried to stifle her shocked reaction as Sango finally finished her cereal and was rinsing her bowl in the sink. If Sango was actually right (which she probably wasn't but still for fairness' sake she was giving her the benefit of the doubt) then that meant that Inuyasha was talking about her. But why on earth would he be talking about her?

"Dibs on the bathroom!" Sango called from upstairs.

Kagome sighed dejectedly as she washed up her own breakfast stuff. She had really wanted to shower first…but then when she thought about it, she could use the time alone to think about why Inuyasha could have been talking about her. Not, of course, that he was, she was merely entertaining the thought, and quite the entertainer it was as she found herself wrapped in all kinds of theories. Whatever fascination it was that she had with him was only physical. Purely physical and nothing else. Yet.

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Rin sat alone at the breakfast table, basking in the mid-morning sunshine as she tipped a mug full of coffee to her lips. The sweet aroma was enough to send her dull senses into a frenzied overdrive. A small, comfortable smile eased its way onto her lips as she felt the warm liquid coursing through her stomach, bringing the sleeping nerve endings to life. Her next class wasn't until a few hours later but she had decided that she could always use the extra hours to read ahead so she didn't have to struggle with her homework when it came around…

She snorted into her steamy cup. 'Right. That would be the day…Rin, nerdstradorindare…me thinks not.' Instead, her plans involved perusing the net, updating her website, checking her email and otherwise wasting an unholy amount of time. I mean, it's not like she was struggling with her workload, even though it was only her first week of classes, so she had all the time in the world.

It was at this moment that Sesshoumaru approached the table, his eyes taking in the sight of Rin serenely drinking her coffee as she glowed ethereally in the streaming morning sunlight. She appeared to be at peace with the calm of the morning but he couldn't find it within himself to care. Nope, his interest was solely on that steaming cup of devil juice that Rin had in her hand.

It took some time for her to register that he was towering menacingly over her as she sat with her eyes closed, and she seemed to have completely missed the malevolent twinkle in his golden eyes because she was definitely not afraid of him at that moment.

"Why, hullo there Sesshoumaru." she said in a more than chipper voice, no doubt the work of the accursed drink nestled in her small hands. His thin lips dipped downwards into a slight frown and there was the faintest creasing in his forehead.

Silence passed between them before he smoothly slid the mug from her hands and in one fluid and unwavering movement, poured the contents down the drain. On the verge of protest, Rin watched as he then opened all the windows and stalked back to his room. As he was about to return through the open door, he turned to look at her.

"I don't know what you're getting at but I'd rather you not drink that horrid smelling drink in this dorm."

She blinked twice before the pieces fit together in her mind.

"But it's an extra special blend…"

"I couldn't care less if it was crystallised cat urine, it irritates my nose so don't drink it."

"Hey! I live here too, and besides, I asked you if you were ok with it before I bought it! You gave me the go-ahead Sesshoumaru!"

"You never asked me if I wanted that devil's juice in my dorm. You were pointing at it, but you never asked me anything."

"But I…"

"You seem to forget that I have acute hearing. If you'd merely spoken I would've heard you instead of letting you buy this crap, which I can smell in my room as I have an acute sense of smell also. So if you don't mind, I'd like to go back to my studying without having to smell your coffee."

With that he walked into his dorm, bringing the door back into its frame with a loud bang. Rin sat pouting; she had never pegged Sesshoumaru as the drama queen type. 'I guess you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover,' she thought with a frown, hands still holding an imaginary mug, 'so much for the white knight in shining armour.'

Sticking her tongue out at the shut door, she got out of her chair, going to each open window and slowly easing them shut. Due to their different schedules they barely saw each other so Rin didn't actually know much about her silver haired roommate except for what she heard around the campus. 'We even study in different campuses' she mused silently as she slid the last window shut.

The expression she bore was thoughtful as she wandered somewhat aimlessly to her room. If rumours were anything to go by, he was the eldest son of some rich businessman, an elaborate spender, a reckless driver, a secret tech-nerd, an undercover porn-star ("He just has to be! Look at him!" she remembered a girl squealing to her friend), a collector of poisonous mushrooms and on top of that, and other rumours that she'd heard, he was actually the first man on the moon. The last one always made her giggle whenever she thought about it, but it always made her wonder why there were so many conversations with him at its core. It would be enough to make one anti-social. Or was it all because he was anti-social?

Whenever they came to her for clarification, she would never know what to say. No, he isn't a porn star…I've never seen any giant fungi in his room….I don't recall seeing a cupboard full of propaganda…I've never caught him in my underwear…Good Gods! Where on earth did you hear something like that? And the list went on. She wasn't sure if he knew about all the circulating rumours, but she did what she could to stop it from spreading.

"He seems like a nice enough guy, just a little….."

Her feet brought her up to his door, which had apparently opened a bit during her wandering. Through the slight crack in the door she saw him sitting serenely backing an open window. In his hands sat an open book, his golden eyes darted from word to word before his long clawed fingers turned the page. The wind, it seems, had made a fair mess of his hair, with strands slipping off his broad shoulders, causing him ever so often to tuck it behind a delicately pointed ear.

Very few were the times that she got to look at him, to really examine his features. He looked like a picture straight from a shoujo manga, hair long and usually tidy, eyes beautifully slanted despite being Asian, cheekbones high under beautiful milky white skin and her eyes couldn't help but follow the markings of his face, the delicate but regal nose, the deep violet crescent moon lying the crown of such perfection.

"…Cold." She whispered to herself, finally finishing her sentence. Her eyes lingered on him a while longer, not realising how long it had been since he had turned a page. When she finally came to her senses, she made a quick start for her room, embarrassed at the amount of time she spent gawking at him (much like a stalker would, she thought through her flustered haze).

As soon as she left the doorway he looked up, eyes penetrating the spot where she was just standing. She probably hadn't remembered that he would be able to sense her, smell her, standing there, and in the lull, he could hear her every movement. She was an odd one that Rin. Instead of buying into all the silly rumours that had been whizzing about, she deflected them all, one by one, with an embarrassed blush and a stutter. He never quite understood why, they never spoke much and he hardly ever gave her reason to defend him when they did. But she did anyway and it secretly enthralled him, making him pay attention to the most innocuous of her details in an effort to figure her out. She was not like her kind; she was innocent in a way, void of the prejudice that perpetuated ignorance in her kind.

"I'm an alright guy," he repeated to himself, "but am I really cold?"

It was an answer he didn't want to hear. To clear his mind, he turned the page of the novel he had been reading. He hadn't gotten very far when he noticed her watching him and in an attempt to head off any further thoughts his eyes darted to the top of the new page.

"Yes, you are. And you always will be as long as you deny it." it read.

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It was unusually early day for Miroku as he strolled down the slowly filling corridors. He wasn't really one for punctuality, preferring to make an appearance after he knew that everyone was already there; waiting around for school to start was definitely one of the things he'd rather be the last to show up for. He sighed: if his mother hadn't hijacked the car and wrecked it with her amazingly reckless driving, he wouldn't have had to ride to school. It immediately made him think of Hojo from his younger school days; the boy was well-rounded and nice, even Miroku had to admit, but for personality he didn't rank very high. For all his well-intentioned antics, he just wasn't very interesting; a woman appreciator like Miroku on the other hand….

"Ah! Miroku-san, a bit strange seeing you at school so early."

Looking for the person addressing him, his eyes were met with the face of none other than Kitai. As usual, her long shimmering white hair lay unbound, prone to fly all about whenever the wind picked up. Her face shone with a genuine cheerfulness and innocence that he had only seen mirrored in Kagome. By demon standards he was sure that she would still be considered a pup as she had not yet gone into heat, despite his appearing to be of age. As a testimony to that, he took careful notice of the thin layer of baby fat that lined her otherwise graceful face. She was one of many beautiful faces that demon kind had produced he thought to himelf.

"I had to ride to school since my car got written off." he said a little sheepishly.

Immediately, her eyes lit up with concern. He thought back to their much younger days, before Kouga had intervened on their friendship.

"Written off? I hope that you're not too badly affected. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just my mother doing a bit of reckless driving. You know how she gets sometimes."

She nodded a bit at his dismissive tone, casting a sly look back to scan the corridors.

"Akane-dono was always one for fast driving."

He smiled at her, noticing Kouga's approaching figure he assumed a rather stand-offish and relaxed posture, leaning casually against his locker.

"Well…I guess I'll see you around then."

She cast her eyes downwards and her voice came out a soft whisper.

"I guess so. It was…nice to talk to you."

And then she hurried off. Miroku exhaled loudly and ruffled his bangs a little. It had been a while since he had an earnest conversation with her and all interactions that they'd had were either strained or consisted of him helping himself to a playful molestation of her rear end. He'd never had much time to dwell on it at any rate, he spent most of his time womanising and hanging out with Inuyasha. In the beginning it had wounded him a little (perhaps he was developing a tiny crush on the soft-spoken half-breed pup) but after 6 years, she was still the same, and he himself had grown immeasurably. For one, he had outgrown his boyish charm and had since progressed to a more smooth tongued and debonair approach.

"Oi hentai! I hear that Horibuchi's out for the week so we pretty much don't have English."

"Oh is that so? Thanks for the heads up then."

A moment of silence passed between the two as they looked at one another, each sizing up the other not paying attention to the slowly filtering stream of students walking past. Miroku's face slipped into a smug smile that was vaguely reminiscent of a smirk. Kouga became a little sceptical when the self-satisfied, know-it-all-and-then-some smile crossed the houshi's face.

"So you done being jealous of me now?"

"I never was hentai, so what on earth are you talking about?"

"What is with you demons and not acknowledging your shortcomings? I know I'm quite amazing but there's no need to be so defensive."

"What the…that was never about jealousy and you know it. I didn't think she should be associating with a pervert like you and that's all there is to it."

"There's so much more to it than you're letting on," he muttered before starting up in a playful tone, "but whatever makes you feel good at night. I hope that for all this turf protection you're doing that you two end up having lots of pups together."

Kouga spluttered horribly, the shock clear on his face. Miroku stifled a chuckle at how similar he was to Inuyasha, all one had to do was mention mating and all coherent conversation would die.

"Are you out of your mind? Me and her…mates! I honestly don't know where you get this crap from houshi, perhaps you spend too much time with inu-turd…ah! Kagome, my love! Well, I'll see you around then hentai."

And with a quick wave of his hand, Kouga was gone with the crowd, pony tail bouncing with every quick step he took to catch up to Kagome. She had only been there for a few weeks but Kagome was definitely quite the addition to the school, stirring trouble everywhere she went. And when her friend, Sango came along…

"Double the trouble…" he said dreamily as he imagined himself being tended to by the two lovely girls from Onoda.

"I don't even want to know what you're thinking about." a voice next to him said.

"Ah Sango my dear, you know that my thoughts are always fixed on you."

"I'd really rather them be fixed on something else thanks."

"No need to be bashful my dear. Confessions of love run rampant in these parts."

Sango rolled her eyes and slammed her locker shut.

"Of all the freaks in the school and I had to have my locker next to you."

"It's fate. Quite simply the most beautiful act ever executed by the gods."

His hand stole a light squeeze as she began to walk away. In response, she simply drove the slap of a lifetime into his face, hitting his head into her locker and denting it slightly.

"Quit groping me you pervert!" and off she stomped, face red with embarrassment as she mumbled about stupid Tokyo perverts. Oh well, at least he enjoyed it for all two seconds that it lasted…

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Kaede watched as the day went by with relative ease. Despite a few ill-behaved students, the day passed with no incident, a welcome thing after she had passed out a few days back. Word had not spread of what occurred and for that she was thankful, for she knew that if they thought that she was about to kick the bucket chaos would erupt in the school. Even though Naraku was the principal, anyone who was anyone knew that true disciplinary power resided with her; Naraku just handled that administrative mumbo-jumbo.

Now that her mind was on Naraku, she could not help but think of his odd obsession with Kikyou. Something about his home life kept him distracted in a most strange, and decidedly creepy, way: as much as he might feel fatherly pride, it wasn't normal for a man to be so…concerned about his three "daughters". All adopted of course as he had never had a woman in his life for all the years she knew him, yet there in his home he had three young women, and it was enough to make any sane person worry.

Naraku himself was a being shrouded in mystery and rumour. Kagura, Kikyou and Kanna were each as mysterious as the man whose home they shared, all having, at some point, passed through the school. Neither hide nor hair of their biological families was seen, save Kikyou's uncanny resemblance to Kagome, and they all seemed strangely withdrawn from interactions with their peers.

This was true of Kanna especially as she hardly ever spoke to anyone unless Naraku was there. Kagura on the other hand proved to be quite the opposite, an outgoing and rebellious youth, while Kikyou lay somewhere in between the two, sociable but prone to moments of brooding. Of the three, Kagura was the only one with any vague resemblance to Naraku but she didn't carry the same family name. A very odd family indeed.

Kaede wasn't one to nosey in the business of other people, but with Naraku she couldn't help but find herself wondering. All documents pertaining to those three were handled by him, and only him. Sometimes she wondered about more than the lives of his surrogate daughters; sometimes she wondered about him.

He claimed to be of the demon race but never said anything after that. His family name did not trace back to any recognisable clans that had existed in Asia as far as she knew and though she could feel the power pouring off him in torrents, she had never seen him use his abilities. She had no idea who he was, where he came from or what he was even capable of and that bothered her.

Whenever she had time she observed him; his office seemed normal enough but she knew that within there was an inner office. No one was ever allowed inside it, wherever it was, and it piqued her dimmed curiosity. Working so closely with him, she couldn't help but notice how excited he seemed to be whenever another test came around. She always wondered where this steady supply of lesser demons came from, but she knew that if that thought fermented into a question it would never get an answer.

There had been an incident a few years back when the bodies of students, demons, that had died during a test had disappeared completely. It had been not too long after Naraku had been made principal and she could never shake that feeling that he had something to do with it. Not too long after that, there had been rumours circulating amongst the demon kind in the school that Naraku was some kind of leech; a being with a psychological desire to acquire the abilities of demons to strengthen himself. Rumours had it that the demon network, a dwindling group where everyone was familiar, had never had a clan with his name; he was not known within the various cliques and so could not possibly be a demon from Japan, though he professed to be born and raised in Tokyo.

She had seen a lot of things in her lifetime, but this perplexed her the most: a demon unknown by his brethren, living with two other demons, both unknown, and a miko. The mere absurdity of it all made her mind focus on Kikyou, or more specifically Kikyou's miko energies. Now Kaede, being the well learnt miko that she was had heard of detached miko energies but had never studied that far into the realm of possibilities. Now, she was living it.

All logic would have dictated that the energies would have died out a long time ago, having either been conquered by her own energies or just by the sheer length of time. Yet with the memory of overwhelming pain in her eye socket fresh in her mind, she realised that this was definitely not the case. And since the revival of the dormant energies she had noticed that Kikyou's energies fluctuated violently from barely perceptible to overpowering. She hadn't quite connected the dots but she knew that whatever it was was only the beginning in a chain of events. Kikyou may have taken her eye, but she hadn't taken the old woman's perception.

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It was the middle of the school day and so far, Kikyou had been having an average day. Her morning consisted of sheer agony and fatigue, a visit by the soul collectors and then a morning full of classes which she spent watching Kagome and that loathsome hanyou, Kitai. For any class that needed pairing, it was assured that they'd pick each other.

It was annoying to say the least, and after watching them every period (except English, when Kagome was off to her advanced class- Kikyou enjoyed watching Kitai struggle helplessly without her); she sat through a silent lunch with Inuyasha. Something was coming between them; she wasn't sure if it was her growing disdain for life but he seemed a bit distant; whatever it was she would figure it out and fix it. He was her only constant thing in life, and she wouldn't let him go.

At this point she was seated beneath a tree, skipping whatever class it was that she had. It wasn't like her to miss a class but she just couldn't be bothered to watch those two again. They were frustratingly annoying, especially Kagome; for a person mourning her father she spent a lot of time smiling and laughing.

'And clinging to Inuyasha.'

The thought didn't surprise her when it came hissing upwards from the depths of her mind: she had also noticed since Kagome's arrival that Inuyasha's attention had been straying. Nothing hinting towards romance was evident yet, the pair could barely stand one another but she knew that beneath the appearances, there was some vague interest in the other and she was wholly intent on stomping it out.

She looked up at the cloudless skies, enjoying the feel of the wind on her skin and waiting for the appearance of a soul collector slithering through the sky, cutting the calm with its eerie appearance. It was a tad strange at first but she eventually came to find their constant presence reassuring, their dedication to their task admirable.

As if reading her thoughts, a familiar blue-green serpentine figure with a glowing blue orb clasped safely in its claws descended from the sky. She drew her knees up to her chest and watched, waiting for it to bring its chill with it. Sure enough, it descended, slowing down as it neared her, keeping what she figured must be respectable distance, before releasing its burden to let it fall onto Kikyou. The chill that they brought with them always gave her Goosebumps but she never let it bother her.

Power surged though her body as she watched it begin to float away. The feeling was almost as good as when she had re-adsorbed her miko from Kaede's eye socket. She wondered briefly if that was what a high felt like and just then a thought crossed her mind.

"Soul collector, wait awhile."

In the short space of time it had made a considerable distance and for a moment she thought that her bland whisper wouldn't reach it but as she looked up she noticed a tiny speck slowly getting larger as it returned to her. Soon others came swarming in, all with the same glowing load to deliver. Congregating around her, they caused a mist to form as they one by one released their captured souls and waited for them to settle into Kikyou.

She looked amongst them, trying to distinguish their scaly bodies from the thin mist, hoping that the request that she was about to make would be taken seriously.

"Your job is to ensure my comfort and continued life. There is something that you can bring for me…so much better than these souls."

Her words were slow and soft, carefully chosen to guarantee maximum impact. She wasn't sure if they were even listening to her, but none of them had left yet, so she took that as a good sign. Being on the receiving end, she wasn't really sure who drew up the contract, though she was almost sure it was Naraku, and since she wasn't the one who thought it up she wasn't sure if she was allowed to make requests but it was worth a try.

"There is an old woman, Kaede, who has an eye patch. Months ago, I accidentally put some of my miko energies in her eye. She almost died from it but she survived, and so did my miko. If it's still in her eye, I don't know. What I do know, is that her eye socket still houses most of it, and that its power makes these souls pale in comparison."

All around her the chill intensified as more souls were deposited on her, sending vitality coursing through her veins and forcing her to shiver. They were increasing in number, she could tell, as the mist began to slowly thicken and the temperature dropped some more. The silence was eerie as they all watched her expectantly with the large black, glassy eyes. She clenched her jaw in an attempt to keep her teeth from chattering, a brief touch of her leg telling her that her Goosebumps were becoming more pronounced as the time passed.

"Bring it for me."

More silence. Then one by one, they all slivered off in different directions carrying the chill and mist with them until there was no trace of them left in sight. Looking up, she realised the sky was still cloudless and blue save for the one soul collector. She presumed it to be their leader, the one she had spoken with what seemed ages ago. Her tempestuous grey eyes followed it through the sky and through a window.

Just as she had expected, it was Naraku's window. The revelation didn't shock her, it merely confirmed something that she knew in her heart to be reality. Naraku wanted her alive; she didn't really know anything about the man yet she knew that he was the reason she was alive.

And, for some inexplicable reason, she knew that he would be the reason she would die.

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"She's made a request."

Naraku paused from writing on a slip of paper, waiting a moment before looking up at his visitor. He reclined into his chair, fingers laced and hands resting gently against the table. His crimson eyes rested on the soul collector before him that was patiently waiting for his statement to be acknowledged.

"Oh. What would that be?"

"To retrieve an eye belonging to a woman named Kaede. She has said that…"

"Kaede? That is no mere woman my friend, she is a miko, a powerful and old one at that. Getting her eye is much easier said than done."

"So we are not to retrieve the eye for Kikyou-dono?"

He took a moment for thought. By his estimation, the entire situation was hardly worth the hassle yet he found himself indulging in countless troublesome predicaments. His curiosity (he detested the term experiment) as to whether or not his body could sustain both holy and demonic powers was beginning to cost him greatly and becoming more dangerous but instead of being less inclined to continue, he found himself charging onward whilst enjoying the adrenaline rush. Kikyou's life meant next to little to him; only his…curiosity kept her alive.

She was spawned from earthen elements and holy energy unknowingly donated by a houshi who had apparently died recently. That in itself was a bit problematic as she had not quite…ripened yet for lack of a better term. He needed her at her full potential, nothing less; he was determined to see his curiosity satisfied. After all, he was born human so no harm would come to him if he accidentally purified himself. It was all part of life and in his mind it would definitely be a mistake worth making.

"It depends. Why does she want this eye?"

"Months ago she displaced miko energy in it and she believes that by regaining it, she will become stronger."

"Ah yes. The accident."

His face held the same blank look with a slight smirk but his mind was reeling. How could he have forgotten about that accident? If he looked back on the months that had passed since then, he would realise that it marked a period of fluctuation and general decline in Kikyou's health. She appeared fine, but was unstable even then for he knew that miko energy wasn't that easy to displace; she seemed to be a mere vessel of the energy, unable to actually recreate and perpetuate it.

That in itself didn't bode well for the outcome but at least he now had a solution.

"Get her the eye then. However, this does not mark the end of your contract. I still expect you to bring her a daily quota of souls in case this…escapade falls through."

"Of course Onigumo Naraku-dono."

And with that the eel left, slithering out through the window and off to fulfil its mission. Naraku resumed his writing, the dark waves of his hair cascading around his face. In the silence, he slowly began to smirk, malevolence clear on his face.

"Let Kikyou think that her life is important…but then again I suppose it is. Every sheep off to the slaughter has a stomach to fill."

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For some reason, Naraku's contemptuous and dark chuckle was on Inuyasha's mind. He was walking down the corridor on his way to Math (oh how he loathed that subject) when he felt a distant chill in the air. Looking about him, he noticed that the sky outside was a brilliant shade of blue, cloudless and just perfect; inside the corridor however, a thick mist was beginning to form causing him to break out into Goosebumps. As a half demon, he was very rarely affected by the cold so he figured that the goosebumps had to be the work of some…presence.

"Oh wow, that sounds smart." he said, clearly unimpressed by his articulation of thought. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere there was an otherworldly presence, outside the realm of a mere demon like himself. Or half-demon if you really want to be specific about it…

Just as he was about to dismiss the thought he saw, or rather felt, something brush past him. Cold and scaly, it appeared to be an eel but he knew for a fact that eels can't fly, so he figured it must be a lesser demon of some sort. Questions were beginning to form in his mind when he spotted someone coming down the corridor.

"Inuyasha? Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Oh can it you old hag, I'm on my way. It's not like it's important anyways, just some stupid test about equations." he called out as he casually brushed past the old woman. There really wasn't any need to be in a hurry as far as he was concerned.

"Those marks go onto your term report!"

"Keh. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Koyamada'll see me when I get there." Kaede heard his voice shout back from around the corner. She knew he'd get there in time; he might have an awful attitude at times and a real indifference to work but she knew that deep down he was a good person.

Inuyasha now off her mind, she went back to her real reason for being in the corridor: investigating the cause of the mysterious fog. It hadn't settled for long but her miko senses told her there was definitely something odd at work. No sooner had she thought that, a lesser demon, a misshaped dragon of sorts, came charging at her. Putting her old reflexes to work, she quickly drew a paper charm to throw at it disintegrating it in seconds.

She was alert now, tense and waiting for any other signs of life. The floor she was on didn't have many classes at this time of day so she knew that the students would be safe from any lingering demons. Hopefully, they'd be able to take care of themselves.

It was a full charge now, several of them emerging from the mist at the same time. At her age she had been in more troubling predicaments so she had no trouble disposing of them all yet she knew that something else was lurking in the mist. A few more here and there, but as she wandered further down the corridor her sense of not being alone was at full blast. She had come to the top of a stairwell when she felt it; a cold scale sliding across her hand.

In an instant she was ready to react yet her body would not cooperate. She felt light-headed and dizzy, welcoming a darkness that was slowly falling upon her. A breeze blew across her almost empty eye socket yet she could not find it within herself to care. The blackness had eaten most of her vision now, and there were no sounds in her ears save for an odd ringing noise.

Then, with no warning, there was a flash of pain, hot and electric across her skin. Her entire body jolted as the cold concentrated under her eye patch. Around her she could now see hundreds of eel like creatures, soul collectors, in her face and all over her, restraining her.

For the second time in under a week she felt a charge in her eye socket; Kikyou's miko was reawakening. It was at that moment that she felt another pain. It wasn't the sharp pain of the miko energy, but a physical pain. They were trying to remove the remnants of scarred eye tissue left.

From the base of her stomach came a rumble that, as it travelled upwards, became a scream, a horrifyingly loud shriek of pain as what remained of her eye was ripped outwards, the energies shocking the reopening wounds as their vessel was forcibly removed from its owner. Blood gushed outwards; she hadn't been aware that so much of her eye had remained.

The patch fell from her face, exposing the yawning chasm to the open air. For the second time that day, blackness swarmed her vision, but this time, the emptiness she felt was caused by shock and as she collapsed, tumbling down the stairwell, she dimly wondered if this time around she would make it out alive.

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Kaede's scream sprinted through the school, shaking it from the sleep that had caught most of its students. Soon, the people within the building were gripped with a frenzy as teachers and students alike rushed from their classrooms in an effort to find where the noise came from. Even Inuyasha left his maths tests (in which we are all sure he was doing abysmally).

An Kikyou watched all of this from under a tree.

She was sure that by the time they all found her, the mist would have cleared and all trace of the soul collectors would be gone. It mattered little to her if there were traces anyway, for they all led to nowhere. The soul collectors, she assumed, were immaterial, living in a different realm and untraceable from the realm in which they lived. She studied them; she had concluded that what she saw was not the real thing, but a mere image of sorts: she had no idea how to word it, but she knew from interactions that they could not be touched, almost as if they weren't real.

Looking down in her hand, she held the bloodied remnants of the old woman's eye. By normal standards it wasn't much but mangled tissue, but when she felt the charge of miko surging from it, she knew it would suffice. Focussing her mind on it, she closed her eyes and wrapped her fingers around it, squeezing it until she felt the miko drain back into her body.

When she looked into her hand, all that remained was dust red with crystallised blood. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do with it when the wind blew it away. She tried to follow it with her eyes for a moment and then satisfied, got up and left. It wasn't quite the end of school but she couldn't be bothered: she had no more business there for the day. And as she left her seat by the tree, she was blissfully unaware of Naraku's eyes watching her from his office window.

"Yes, that's it Kikyou. Enjoy the fattening while it lasts but don't worry…the slaughter is soon to come."

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Hikaru M.: I'm not particularly pleased with this chapter (I almost forgot about Inuyasha completely!) but hopefully next chapter will be better. Hopefully, I'll be able to start with the romance parts soon from now, cuz it's getting just a little too heavy and Kikyou-centric for my liking. It seems that all that time on hiatus has made me a little rusty but never fear! I'll try to rectify the problem as soon as possible and start focussing on specific pairings (I'm looking forward to writing a complicated KikxInuxKag part in the Chronicle of Rin's plan arch in the fic). So…when will Kagome and Inuyasha begin to notice each other? When will Kikyou die? How's Kagome coping with the death of her dad? Is there something going on between Kitai and Miroku that Kouga needs to be jealous of? Well, obviously the answer to that last one is no but…the answers to these questions and many more (like "is she ever going to finish this fic?") will come in future chapters so stay tuned!