Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter Nine: September 5th

If I ever saw Mizushima again, I had to make sure I informed her of the potency and effectiveness of her toxin. Even after a full day of recovering, I was still reaping the consequences and was begrudgingly resigned to my bedroom while Inuyasha and Kagome-chan tried to figure out an antidote. And while I still was angry at her for poisoning me, I once again proved to be bizarrely forgiving when it came to Mizushima. Case and point: I still hadn't revealed her true identity to either Inuyasha or Kagome-chan.

Having had an actual conversation with Mizushima and having caught her in the middle of her lie had sent my already furiously working curiosity into hyper-drive. There was no denying that she was lying about not hating Kumo, of that I was pretty damn sure, though there still remained the question of why. I was beginning to wish that I had asked more about Kumo's head, Ueno Naraku to help me figure out an answer. Maybe she hated her boss. Maybe he conned her into working for him, or maybe she just hated her job altogether. I wondered if she'd ever give me another chance to have such a full conversation with her again. She probably blamed her almost being caught on my talkativeness.

Mostly, however, I focused on her face after I'd told her she was pretty. The fact that she'd injected me with this toxin from hell right after kind of made the moment a bit bittersweet, but there was something charming in the way she'd reacted. There was a definite blush, surprise and annoyance; though I could have sworn I also detected a subtle hint of flattery. This subtle hint wasted no time in going to my head, and I entertained myself while confined to my sickbed with fantasies of her succumbing to my irresistible magnetism. I looked forward to the next time we met.

Yeah, I was aware that I was letting things get out of control. I was also aware of how little a fuck I gave.

There was a knock at my door and I jumped, startled from my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I called tiredly. I was becoming a little fed up with Inuyasha and Kagome-chan's attempts at a miracle cure. Dread filled me at the thought of what they'd cooked up next.

Inuyasha opened the door widely, and I was surprised to see Kikyo-san next to him. But she was just here two days ago. Would Sesshomaru-san really send her back that quickly?

"Emergency visit," Inuyasha clarified gruffly, answering my silent question. "Seems your little visit the other night's got Sesshomaru's panties in a twist."

Kikyo-san smiled to herself and nodded over in my direction, greeting me modestly. "We did hear about your little run-in. I wanted to come as soon as I could to see how you're dealing." For some reason, as mild and concerned as her words were, it still sounded a little condescending to me.

"Yeah, well," I huffed, sinking lower into the mattress and pulling the sheets up to my chin childishly, "As you can see, I'm dealing with it just fine."

Kikyo-san nodded again and turned to Inuyasha. "I'll take it from here, now. Thank you."

Inuyasha scoffed roughly and grabbed the door knob, yanking the door shut behind him as he left. I was still frowning at Kikyo-san, though I was reminded of her pain at the realization of Inuyasha and Kagome-chan's relationship and tried to be as genial as I could. She stayed in her spot by the door, smiling at me understandingly and not making a move to make herself more comfortable until invited to do so.

"You can sit on the bed, if you want," I finally muttered, pulling myself up so I was sitting and giving her a spot to sit on the foot of the mattress. Her smile widened some and she took the invitation gratefully.

She relaxed her back against the metal frame as she turned around in her spot to face me better. She studied me for a while, making me squirm a bit under her gaze. "So," she said finally. "I understand you had quite the encounter the other night."

"You've said that twice now," I informed her dully, squinting one of my eyes shut in a vain attempt to ward off yet another wave of migraine headaches. Those and the lethargy seemed to be the longest lasting symptoms of the toxin. "And yeah, it was quite the doozy. Have you come to tell them how to fix me?"

Kikyo-san shook her head apologetically. "No, no nothing like that. I'm sorry." She balanced her notepad on her knees, bracing it upright with outstretched arms. "I was hoping you'd want to talk about what happened though."

It was my turn to study her. I wasn't particularly inclined to share much, if only because I wasn't sure just how much I could share without spilling the beans entirely and ridding myself of Mizushima. She was still watching me patiently and I struggled to think fast, trying to come up with something to humor her with.

"I'm supposed to get married next week." Oh shit, that wasn't humor, that was a legitimate concern. Ah well, I guessed I could use some advice. I stared at her uneasily; almost afraid of what she was going to say.

Kikyo-san seemed perplexed at first, though her enduring smile prevailed. "Yes, I've heard. Nanako Koharu-san, am I right?"

I nodded, feeling lower than dirt as the name of my over-eager fiancé regurgitated its way back into my conscience. I'd conveniently forgotten about her during my daydreams with Mizushima.

Thankfully, Kikyo-san continued, as if feeding off my evident clue that I didn't want to elaborate more on the subject myself. "She seems a little young, if I may say," she hedged, glancing down at her notepad. I briefly wondered if she had a complete file of my entire life clipped to it. "How old is she?"

"Twenty-three?" I guessed sluggishly, then shook my head. "Twenty-four. I remember now, she's a year older than Kagome-chan."

Kikyo-san nodded. "That's not too bad," she murmured, and I supposed she was referring to the age difference between Koharu-chan and I. I suspected the faintest hint of criticism to her voice and my frown deepened momentarily. Again, I waited for her to speak first.

"I suppose she's taking it hard, then? You being away, I mean." She looked at me with pure inquisitiveness and I reluctantly forgave her judgmental statement from before.

"Yeah," I sighed heavily, tipping my head back and staring at my ceiling. I winced as I continued, "Though that's not the worst of it."

I couldn't see if any befuddlement had crossed Kikyo-san's features with my head leaning back, though I could definitely hear it in her voice. "The worst of it? What do you mean, Miroku-san?"

I winced again, slowly tipping my head forward and meeting her questioning gaze hesitantly. "I don't want to get married."

"Oh!" Immediately, her features brightened with clarity and I was momentarily confused and offended. "This is good!" she declared decisively. "This is very good. Let's work from this." She produced a pen from behind her ear and flipped through her notepad until she reached a blank page. Her excitement at finally getting me to talk was almost comical.

With her pen at the ready, Kikyo-san gave me a look anew with determination. "Why don't you want to get married, Miroku-san?"

I shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Still, it did seem to be doing the trick of keeping her distracted from my encounter with Mizushima. "I dunno. I think it's more that… I don't want to marry Koharu-chan."

She scribbled something on her notepad, nodding earnestly. "Why not?" she pressed further in high interest.

Again, I shrugged. "I don't love her. Sometimes, I don't even think I like her."

Kikyo-san stopped scribbling and looked at me sharply. She appeared to be thoroughly taken aback. "What?"

Her reaction caused me to instinctively backpedal. "Well, I'm sure I like her some, you know. I was dating her. I just… There was a meeting at work, and politics and appearances got involved, and they told me I had to get married, and fast." I waved my hands in desperate emphasis. "And I was dating Koharu-chan at the time, so it was easiest just to ask her…"

I gave up trying to explain myself as Kikyo-san's expression continued to darken as my excuses ranked up in number. I didn't know what it was about women; it didn't take that much for them to hate each other, but the camaraderie within the sex was both astounding and nonsensical. There went my attempt at bonding with my police-assigned psychiatrist. It seemed the harder I tried to get along with her, the more I completely unimpressed her.

"I was planning on breaking it off," I finally insisted defensively. "Just so you know. As soon as I got back, I was going to set her straight."

Kikyo-san's eyes narrowed with scrutiny. "Were you? And just how were you going to go about this?" Her questions didn't sound so professional anymore, rather, they stemmed from her gender-driven protectiveness.

There was a moment of tense, awkward silence as I mulled this over. I hadn't thought about it, actually. I knew that I wanted to call the wedding and relationship off; I just hadn't gone about how I was going to do it. Now that I thought about it, I realized that it was probably important that I do so.

I looked at Kikyo-san sheepishly. "I dunno. Will you help me?"

She actually looked offended. "Really? You want my help?" Cutting a quick glance back down to her notes, she looked back at me, her eyes narrowed again. "What makes you think I'll do it?"

This new reluctant behavior of hers made me less enthusiastic about my current goal of befriending her. Before I could stop myself, I fired my own jab at her. "How long have you been in love with Inuyasha?"

Kikyo-san did a double-take, her cheeks inflaming in an indignant blush. "Excuse me?"

Well there was no backing down now. "Oh, come on," I trudged forward in exasperation, before I paused momentarily. "Well, it may not be obvious, but there's no getting passed these eyes." I pointed a finger at my face while wriggling my eyebrows convincingly. Kikyo-san huffed.

There was another moment of slightly uncomfortable silence before I acquiesced, leaning back into my pillow and folding my hands behind my head. "You don't have to tell me," I told her flatly, "I just wanted you off my back about Koharu-chan."

Kikyo-san halted some more before she shook her head, waving her hand dismissively and ducking her head in some measure of embarrassment. "No, no. I was out of line. It wasn't my business to get so involved."

"I wouldn't call that involved," I said, shrugging a shoulder carelessly. "But I could use your help."

She nodded, still a little ashamed. Opening and closing her mouth, she seemed to struggle to put her thoughts into words, a rarity for her. "I definitely don't think it should wait until you get back to Tokyo," she finally said thoughtfully, sending me a shy, yet joking smile. "I mean, who knows how long that'll take."

I frowned, despite her efforts to joke and lowered my hands from behind my head, folding them in front of my chest instead. "Well, there's not much I can do, is there?" I asked testily. "With no communication allowed, it's just going to have to wait."

Kikyo-san looked at odds with herself, as if she were debating over something internally. "Well," she hedged after a moment, "I suppose you could write a letter."

I remembered the letters Kagome-chan and I had received that Sesshomaru-san had reluctantly allowed to be sent. Hachi's letter was currently kept safe pressed between the pages of one of the books I'd brought. Any replies that Kagome-chan and I would've hoped to have made had been strictly denied, though, and I had trouble grasping what Kikyo-san meant for a moment.

She continued, "It would have to be vague; you couldn't make any mention of where you are or what you're doing, and I would have to deliver it for you. That way we have a slimmer chance of Sesshomaru-san finding out about it."

My eyebrows creased. "A letter? You want me to break up with my fiancée over a letter? What is that, like a step above a text?"

Kikyo-san huffed in offense. "Well I never said it was ideal, but it seems to be our only option at this point." She sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead with her index finger and thumb. "Did you want my help or not?"

I stewed over this for a moment. Honestly, writing a letter was better than I had made it sound. I didn't exactly fancy the idea of breaking up with Koharu-chan face-to-face, though the aspect of eventually having to talk with her if I did send her a letter didn't strike me as appealing either. Kikyo-san was looking at me expectantly.

"Do you have a piece of paper I could use?" I muttered at last, holding my hand out as she promptly flipped to a new page on her notepad and passed it over along with her pen. I paused indefinitely, the pen poised to write, though nothing came to mind. Kikyo-san apparently wanted me to try and sort out the actual letter on my own, yet I couldn't keep my mind focused.

"Think about it, Miroku-san," she urged quietly. "What do you want to say to her? Maybe if you could just think about her and your relationship for a while, the words will come."

It sounded solid enough. I tried picturing Koharu-chan, but her face kept morphing into Mizushima's. Well that was new. I may have had an infatuation with Mizushima, but I had always been able to keep her separate from Koharu-chan, up until now. I glanced back up at Kikyo-san, who still fed me that same expectant, yet patient look.

"I can't," I finally admitted lamely.

Her brow furrowed. "You can't what?"

"I can't picture her face. It keeps… changing."

"What do you mean, changing? Like, turning into another person?"

I nodded.

"Do you know this person?" Although confused, Kikyo-san still did her upmost to keep her questions direct and tolerant.

I started to nod again, though midway through I changed it to shaking my head. Kikyo-san started at me in bemusement, trying to decide which gesture she believed. Nervousness percolated in my stomach; I was getting as close as I had ever come to revealing anything about Mizushima. If I really did want to protect her identity, I would have to tread very carefully from here on out. I shook my head again more emphatically.

Kikyo-san's eyebrows pulled together in the middle and she tipped her head back to scrutinize me. "So, you don't know them?"

I shrugged my shoulders quickly, making the movement look almost like a spasm. "Nope."

"Why did you start to nod, then?"

I winced. I had hoped that she wouldn't pursue that, though I should've figured that hope was futile. Time to think fast, Miroku.

"It—it's kind of hard to explain," I began, struggling to make it up as I went along.

Kikyo-san checked her watch and shrugged lightly. "I have time." She rested her notepad on the bed next to her and folded her hands around one knee, settling in for the explanation. "Go on."

I sighed heavily, hoping the dramatization added to my predicament. Faltering for a second more I pinched my eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of my nose in frustration, before something occurred to me. Looking back at Kikyo-san, my mouth fell open dumbly in enlightenment. It was a longshot, but it just might work.

"It's like this," I began again, spreading my hands for extra emphasis. "I was poisoned, you know?" My hands waved down my body still sitting sick in bed, stressing my obvious weakened condition. "And, I guess, it's like I feel like I know her, but I'm not sure if it's a hallucination or not. From the toxin or whatever." I frowned indiscreetly. That came out stupider than I had originally planned.

Kikyo-san nodded slowly, one side of her nose scrunched as she fed me a strange look. She unfolded her hands and reached for her notepad again, flipping back to the first couple pages and skimming through her notes. I hesitated, worried that Inuyasha and Kagome-chan informed her that I hadn't been complaining of hallucinations.

Finally she looked back up at me, her face once again resembling that of a composed and highly trained professional. "You said 'her,'" she finally said, "This… figment, she's a woman?"

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, silently reveling in gratitude. "Yeah," I verified. Looking back at her, I tried to make my forced confusion sound convincing. "Do you think that's why I'm having trouble picturing Koharu-chan?"

Kikyo-san shook her head. "It could be," she surmised tentatively. "I'd like to know more, though, if that's possible. I want to be sure."

"Like…" I faltered apprehensively. Just how much did she want to know? How much could I get away with? "Like, what she looks like, or…?"

Nodding, Kikyo-san gave another light shrug. "Sure," she agreed genially. "Whatever you can tell me."

I nodded. That seemed easy enough. At least I wouldn't have to lie. "She's a little short, maybe just under average height. Brown hair, brown eyes…" I closed my own eyes again, trying to perfect my mental image of Mizushima. "Her eyes," I repeated, creasing my brow in concentration, "Her eyes are beautiful, almost hypnotizing. But it's not just that—she's very beautiful. She's confident and strong, smart and witty. It's almost like… I've never seen anyone quite like her before…" I trailed off, opening my eyes after a short moment of silence.

Kikyo-san was looking at me strangely still, though this time there seemed to be a hint of wonderment to it. I immediately felt stupid for letting myself get carried away with describing Mizushima. After all, she was only supposed to be a figment of my imagination. A figment that undoubtedly Kikyo-san thought I was attracted to now. I huffed silently. Well there was no denying it now.

"Well," she breathed after a moment. "She certainly sounds… very pretty, indeed." She gave me a slight wink and a knowing grin. "Just like you said."

I frowned. I didn't appreciate her mocking tone that I was sure I heard. "Yeah, yeah," I shook her off dismissively. "Listen, can you help me here or not?"

Kikyo-san shook her head, still looking a little amazed. "Is that all there is? Do you only have the picture of her?"

I groaned, throwing my head back into my pillow and clutching my bangs in frustration. "No that's not all there is!" I glared at Kikyo-san, not completely aware of what I was saying. "Don't you get it? She's everywhere! When I close my eyes, she's there! When I go to sleep at night, I dream about her. When I wake up in the morning, I miss her. I just want her to go away or just—just…"

Kikyo-san looked thoroughly startled. "Just what, Miroku-san?" she asked quietly, intently.

I stopped, my mouth still open from my rant and still staring hard at the psychiatrist sitting in bafflement at the foot of my bed.

"I… I don't know," I finally finished lamely. "I just want her to go away." Now that was a lie.

Clearing her throat, Kikyo-san once again reached for her discarded notepad and writing some more notes on a fresh sheet of paper. I looked down at my own sheet that she'd given me to write Koharu-chan, sitting crumpled and blank in my lap, the pen having rolled off my legs and onto the floor some time ago. Our efforts at writing my fiancée to try and break it off gently seemed to be for naught.

"You seem very stressed," Kikyo-san began, drawing my attention back to her.

I scoffed quietly. "No shit."

"I don't know if you're coping well with this," she went on hesitantly. "It's perfectly normal to be tense in situations like yours, but building a fantasy just to deal with it isn't…" she struggled to find the right word. "Ideal."

I stared at her in disbelief. This is what I got for finally trying to open up and talk with her? "You've got to be fucking with me."

She flinched at the curse, shook her head and refused to meet my gaze. "I'm sorry, Miroku-san, I don't know what else to say."

I threw my hands up into the air. "You know what? Fine. That's just fine. In fact you're completely right. It is just a fantasy. Just some demented, Stockholm Syndrome fantasy to deal with being stuck in this shitty little cabin for who knows how long, random break-ins that leave me poisoned and bedridden for two straight days and roommates who don't know how to keep it in the bedroom—" I stopped when Kikyo-san flinched more noticeably and folded her arms to her chest protectively.

"Sorry," I mumbled after an awkward moment of silence. "I was outta line…"

She didn't respond, making me feel even more like a scumbag. The painful and unbearable silence drew out and I glanced around the room helplessly, trying to find something else to distract me.

"You were right," Kikyo-san muttered at last, her voice barely above a whisper. I looked back at her, guarded and uneasy. "About Inuyasha and I. You're right."

I glanced around again, floundering for something to say. "I know," I finally said dumbly. "B-but you know, you don't have to tell me…"

She shook her head. "It's alright." She met my gaze slowly, and gave me a sad smile. "I've already decided not to do anything about it."

"Why not?" I was stymied and curious despite the overall volatile nature of our session today. Feeling as though I owed her some bit of comfort for inexplicable reasons, I continued, "It's not like you don't have a chance."

Kikyo-san looked at me with a morose skepticism.

"No really," I insisted. "I mean, it's like I said: Stockholm Syndrome. Who's to say that Kagome-chan doesn't have it?"

"Because Stockholm Syndrome only applies to kidnappers, not detectives assigned to protect somebody."

I shrugged this off. "So she's got a hero fetish. No big deal; that's something that's easy to get over."

Laughing quietly, Kikyo-san shook her head again. "It's really alright, Miroku-san, you don't have to try and make me feel better. Besides, I don't think Inuyasha and I would really work out."

"I think you would," I lied earnestly. Honestly, Kagome-chan and Inuyasha were already pretty tight; it was difficult to imagine them with anyone else. "You're a very pretty woman, too, Kikyo-san, and something tells me Inuyasha's the type to go for looks first."

She blushed and bowed her head modestly. "Well, I appreciate it, but I still don't think so. I'm three years older than him, after all."

"So?" I countered, "I've dated lots of women older than me. Experience is sexy."

Kikyo-san didn't look impressed. She sighed and got to her feet, checking her watch. "He seems happy with Kagome-san," she said decisively, "And I'm… I'm happy for him." She walked over to the door. "Thanks for talking with me today, Miroku-san. I'll see you later."

"Thanks!" I called hurriedly as she shut the door behind her. I mulled over our session again in my head, trying to make heads or tails of it. So much happened, and there were so many distractions that I wasn't completely certain that I'd gotten the help I needed. I glanced back down at the blank and crumpled paper still sitting in my lap. Crunching it into a smaller ball, I tossed it at the wall opposite of me, if only for lack of a trash can in my room. I wasn't about to write a letter to Koharu-chan without Kikyo-san standing over me and telling me what to say. Dealing with my fiancée was just going to have to wait.

I flung my leg off the side of my bed restlessly, trying to work up the strength to hobble to the bathroom. My foot rested on something thin, hard and cold, and it rolled away as I raised my foot to look at it. It was Kikyo-san's pen that she'd lent me. Bending to retrieve it, I nearly somersaulted out of bed as the action caused my head to spin painfully. It seemed slightly unbelievable that I'd forgotten my head was pounding.

I collapsed back onto my bed, squeezing my eyes shut and fighting off the newest wave of migraines. My need to go to the bathroom completely disappeared as I struggled through the last remaining symptoms of the toxin.

Finally working up the strength to call out for somebody, I raised my voice as loud as I dared with my head currently throbbing and said, "Hey!" I waited, still sprawled pathetically across my bed.

It took a little while, but Inuyasha finally swung the door open, looking a little peeved to be playing sick nurse.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

I pointed my finger, not knowing if I was even close to the right area. "Kikyo-san forgot her pen."

Inuyasha glanced down at the floor, frowning. "Well it's too late now. She's already gone." He stepped all the way into the room, closing the door behind him. "Is that all?"

I nodded slowly, keeping my eyes closed. "Yep. If you could just leave now, shut off the light and close the door, that'd be great."

There was a quiet moment between us, and I listened for any sign of Inuyasha doing as I asked. When I didn't hear anything, I finally tilted my head up and opened my eyes to an irritated squint. He remained standing in front of the door, his hands shoved in his pockets as he mulled over some internal debate.

"What do you want?" I asked, bitingly reiterating his demand from before.

Inuyasha shot me a dirty look. "Nothing," he said immediately, though he didn't move. "I have a question," he added, his tone still blunt and insisting.

I groaned, blindly fumbling for the sheets as I tossed them over me halfheartedly. Did everyone want to talk to me today? Was it too much to ask for a little peace and quiet while my head seriously considered exploding? Apparently.

"What?" I finally snipped impatiently.

"How long have you known Kagome?"

I cracked an eye open again, glaring at him with a tired interest. "What?" I repeated.

Inuyasha huffed irritably. "How long have you known her?"

"Three years," I said. "Now, is that all? Because I'd very much like to sleep now."

"No," Inuyasha snapped hastily, "Just give me a minute, alright?"

I groaned again. "You said you had a question. A question; a, meaning one. You asked it, now please, I'm begging you, leave."

"Hold on a second," he insisted again, his voice getting louder as his anger grew. "It's not going to kill you to just talk to me for a sec."

I seriously doubted that.

There was another drawn-out pause, and I figured Inuyasha was debating things in his head again, though I didn't bother looking to verify.

"Has she, like…" he seemed at a loss for words, but then I realized that he was trying to figure out the least embarrassing way to say what he wanted. "Well, you know, has she dated anyone, or had any boyfriends?"

Against my will, my eyes opened and I stared at him incredulously. Was he really coming to me for relationship advice? I was suddenly a little nervous that I was not the best source for such advice, especially when it concerned Kagome-chan.

"No," I finally answered. "Not that I know of anyway. Kagome-chan's pretty good at keeping her personal and professional lives separate." I paused. "There was this one guy, Hojo-kun, but he didn't last long."

"What about him?" Inuyasha sounded much too overprotective and just a tad jealous.

I smirked. "I wouldn't worry about it. It was completely one-sided. Kagome-chan wasn't interested."

"Do you think she's interested now?" I was surprised at the direct nature of his question, though I didn't miss the silent "with me" that he'd neglected to tag on at the end.

I shrugged. "She's a hell of a lot more interested than I've ever seen her be in anything, let alone anyone." I gave him a lewd grin. "Like I said, I wouldn't worry about it."

He frowned. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

I put my hands up in defense. "Hey, I'm just saying that I know Kagome-chan better than you, and I don't think she's the type to put out for just anyone."

Inuyasha bristled, his face turning a brilliant shade of red as he glared at me indignantly. He feigned ignorance, though there was a much bigger bite to his words as he snapped, "What?"

"What do you mean, what?" I scathingly played along with his ignorance. "Wait—you and Kagome-chan are having sex, right?"

He balked. "How'd you know?"

"I live here too, you know. I wasn't going to be kept in the dark for long." Never mind the fact that Mizushima had to verify it herself before I caught on.

He huffed, kicking at the floor uselessly. "I'm twenty-seven years old," he said gruffly, as if trying to convince himself of something before he admitted, "I've never been in anything this serious before."

"Neither has Kagome-chan," I assured him evenly. I waved him on, collapsing back into my pillow and closing my eyes. "You'll be fine," I added blandly.

Inuyasha didn't say anything, but I guessed he accepted my assurance by the sound of the knob turning. The gratitude was left unsaid as well, and I pointedly welcomed him in my head.

"Hey, he said as he stepped into the hall, "By the way, you're going to want to start feeling better pretty quick, Sesshomaru's ordered another safe house to be prepared."

I sat up quickly, too alert to notice my ferociously complaining migraine. "What?"

"Another safe house. You don't think we're going to stay in this one after a break-in, do you? So, get your ass outta bed quick, because we're hauling out ASAP."

He swung the door shut, leaving me to stew with this new bit of information alone. A new safe house? Where? Did that mean that they were prolonging the protective custody as well? There were too many questions and my head became too painfully dizzy to ignore anymore. I flung myself backwards onto the bed again, trying to shut out the world and just be satisfied with the black of the inside of my eyelids.

Finally, I felt myself slowly falling asleep, cognitively aware as each one of my facilities slowed down to a near stop. I couldn't dwell on it now. Inuyasha had been right; I had to get feeling better before I let myself get too worried over the new safe house.

Just as I was almost completely out, I was rudely jolted out of my revere by a sudden, urgent question.

What about Mizushima?

AN: Hey, me again! I just wanted to apologize with the slow-ish updates. I'll get us there don't worry. At this point the story is more or less halfway done, so we are just getting to the top of the marvelous storytelling hill known as the climax! Yay! Anyway, read, please don't forget to review (I read them all and they make my day) and no flames, please.