Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or The Decemberists.

A/N: Here's another one! Man I'm turning these out like there's no tomorrow. It's because I feel so guilty. I don't think I'll be able to update this weekend however, which I'm sorry about!

The Barrow Boy

Chapter 11-Real

Bi Polar

"That bastard probably moved her!" Inuyasha yelled out in frustration. Even with the help of Sango and Miroku they were getting nowhere. He was practically ripping his hair out by their roots. He slid down and sat at the base of a nearby tree. "There's absolutely nothing here. Three months and not one sign." He frowned and watched the wax from Kagome's candle make a puddle in the dirt.

"My goodness, I never thought you'd be the type to give up so easily!" Kagome answered while digging in a nearby hole.

"Oh don't give me that!" Inuyasha shouted angrily. "I'm not in the mood." He wrapped his spectral arms around his knees and gave a mighty sigh.

"What did he say, Kagome?" Sango's voice rang out from deeper inside the forest. That was one thing that made it harder to work with Sango and Miroku. In his ghost form they couldn't hear or see him, Kagome had to translate constantly.

"He's upset because we can't find her. He thinks that maybe Naraku moved her." Kagome shouted back.

"I doubt it." Miroku responded distantly from somewhere behind Kagome.

Inuyasha fumed. "That moron thinks he knows Naraku better than me. He wasn't even alive when it happened. He could have moved her after he killed me…" He said this last part too quiet for his female companion to hear.

"Now Inuyasha, take a deep breath." Kagome whispered. "What makes you think that Miroku?" She spoke calmly and with sincere curiosity. After all, why wouldn't he move her body? Maybe to a place farther away, less populated. She'd be less likely to be found. It made perfect sense.

"Because think about it. Taking in Naraku's arrogant personality and the situation, it just doesn't seem likely. I mean, he had this planned. He probably had the place picked out in advance so no one would find her. And after the deed was done he had just inherited a huge fortune. He wasn't about to stick around and move her, he was gonna leave as soon as possible playing the woeful fiancé the entire time. And as far as I've heard, he played it pretty damn well. The only thing that delayed him was Inuyasha…and after that was taken care of I'm sure he got out of Irvington as quickly as possible." Miroku answered, still out of sight.

Kagome thought about it. Miroku had really put it into perspective. Naraku was ruthless and she doubted that he's stay in Irvington. She looked over at Inuyasha who seemed extremely annoyed. "What did happen to Naraku after…you know…?" She asked awkwardly.

Inuyasha turned around so his back faced her. "He left…went back to London."

"Oh." She could tell that he was angry that Miroku guessed what had happened. She frowned and crawled over to where he sat. She looked over at his face and he turned so she couldn't see him. "Hmmm…such a pity…" Kagome whispered, laying her head on her knees.

"What's a pity?" He murmured back, his face still turned away from her.

"Such a beautiful face and you won't even allow the only person who can see you look at it." She shook her head in fake disappointment.

Inuyasha turned to look at her in surprise. No one, not even Kikyou, had ever commented him in such a way. She smiled up at him and somewhere deep within him he felt a warmth that he hadn't felt in a long time. Overcome with this feeling he slowly and calmly placed his pale white hand over her small one, all caked in dirt. She jumped in shock and shivered as his hand went right through hers. He immediately brought it back to his chest.

"No." Kagome's demure voice spoke up. "No…keep it there, it was nice." She smiled comfortingly at him and he cautiously brought his hand to hers and once again it went straight through. She shivered but scooted closer.

'It's unfair.' Kagome thought sadly. 'Inuyasha is a good person, he shouldn't suffer like this.' She frowned.

She felt slightly guilty sitting there while Sango and Miroku searched for Kikyou's body, though she took the rare show of affection from Inuyasha greedily.

With a sudden jolt Kagome felt the cold feeling that was Inuyasha's hand disappear. She turned to see him clutching his head, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome leaned forward staring at the young ghost's painful expression.

Inuyasha opened one eye and immediately closed it again. He moved his lips like he wanted to say something but nothing would come out. He slumped down against the tree, his eyes shut tightly.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's tone became more serious and urgent.

In one quick motion, the amber eyed man's hand was grasping Kagome's dress. She looked down, confused. "What?" 'This can't be right, he's…real.'

His eyes watered and he gripped Kagome's knee tighter, almost painfully. She hissed and quickly pushed his hand away. "Inuyasha, you're scaring me. What's the matter?" She whispered, holding his hand tenderly. This wasn't right at all. Inuyasha had already turned human for this month and according to him it wasn't supposed to be painful.

And as she looked closer Inuyasha didn't look anything like he normally did when he was "real." Normally, he was a sickly pale color, his eyes were dull and tired, he was cold and stiff but the boy before her was quite different. His cheeks were rosy and his forehead glistened with sweat. His hands were warm and his limp form was completely opposite of how he usually presented himself.

Kagome brought her other hand up to wipe Inuyasha's bangs away from his eyes, and to her great surprise his forehead was warm as well. This wasn't right at all. She watched him carefully, unsure of what to do.

Inuyasha's breathing grew harsher, more rapid and with a sudden intensity his eyes snapped open and his back arched as he let out an earth shattering scream. Kagome jumped back, frightened, and watched as Inuyasha squirmed on the ground in front of her.

"Kagome?!" Sango's worried voice sounded through the forest.

"Sango, Miroku, hurry here!" Kagome spoke urgently but didn't take her eyes off the sickly boy. She heard their rushed footsteps and felt somewhat more relieved.

She scooted closer to her male companion and placed her hand over his forehead rubbing his temples lightly. He sighed and relaxed but only slightly. Sweat dripped from his face and he felt so hot that she was afraid he might explode.

Kagome heard the footsteps stop and a gasp from Sango. She still did not look up. "What?" The maroon-eyed woman spoke quietly, in awe. "But…he already went through—"

"I know." The younger girl interrupted nervously. "I don't know what's happening. But he's burning up." She took her hand away from Inuyasha's head and tore a piece of her dress off to wipe the sweat from his face.

Sango knelt down and helped Kagome move the boy, who was easily twice her size, so that his head was in her lap. Miroku paced thoughtfully.

"Thanks." Kagome whispered quietly. "Can you get some water?"

"Sure." Sango's eyes were mournful as she walked off towards the river, her leather canteen in hand.

"This isn't good." Miroku spoke gravely. "We need to take him to Kaede's now."

Inuyasha gasped and held his head again in his shaking hands, he curled his trembling form up and pressed his head against Kagome's abdomen. Kagome nodded solemnly. "Just wait till Sango gets back." She sat quietly, running her long slender fingers through Inuyasha's hair, trying to comfort him in any way possible.

"I'm here!" Sango called out as she handed Kagome the canteen which she took graspingly.

Turning the barrow boy over on his back, Kagome took his head in her hands. "Here, drink this Inuyasha." She said quietly. The boy had his eyes tightly shut; she could see tears leaking out as he moaned. She felt a piece of her heart break. Kagome slowly poured the fresh liquid down his throat and he took it willingly.

Soon, his body relaxed and he fell into a quiet fever. At this point, Miroku picked the young man up and threw him over his shoulder quickly leaving the tree grove. "Hurry we've got to get him to Kaede." Kagome and Sango soon followed.


Kaede looked down at the boy before her with a bewildered expression. Inuyasha gasped and moaned as he writhed on the bed they had laid him in. "Sango, Miroku, go get towels and a bowl of cool water." The old woman said quietly and the two lovers left the room in a rush, leaving Kagome and Kaede in the dark to stare and the suffering young man squirming on the bed.

"I do believe that this means his time is almost up." Kaede whispered. "This isn't good my dear." She turned to Kagome with regretful eyes.

"How long does he have?" Kagome asked, her voice quivering. She felt her heart drop as Inuyasha let out a wheeze, gasping for breath.

"I'm not sure…not long." The older woman murmured. "We must quicken the pace of this quest…"

Kagome nodded as Sango and Miroku walked back in the room with the supplies they were asked to get. Kaede took the bowl from Miroku's hands and the towel from Sango's. She soaked the rag in the cool water and wrung it out, placing it over Inuyasha's burning forehead. "The canteen please." She motioned to the bottle Sango wore around her neck, which she was given. She pressed it up to the young ghost's lips and he took a small gulp.


It was two hours before Inuyasha opened his golden eyes. His cheeks were flushed and his hair clung to his brow. Looking to his right, he saw Kagome fast asleep in a chair beside him; Sango and Miroku were huddled closely together on the floor near the door. "Kagome?" He whispered weakly, but Kagome heard it. She had become accustomed to his voice, in all forms.

"Inuyasha! You're awake!" Kagome smiled widely, taking the now dry towel off his forehead to soak it again in the cool water beside the bed. She placed it on his brow again, moving his hair away from his eyes. She worked diligently and he admired her for that.

"I haven't felt this bad in over fifty years." He joked as she ran her fingers through his hair.

She smiled sadly down at him. "What's happening to you?" Kagome's voice trembled.

He frowned. "My time is almost up. If I don't complete what I set out to do…I will be forever in purgatory." His weakened voice broke and he did everything in his power to avert his gaze from her eyes which were filled with tears, ready to spill over at any second. "I have two weeks at the most."

The tears that were once lining her eyes were now flowing freely down her face. She wiped them away and nodded determinedly. "Well…then we'll just have to work harder and longer."

"Now that I have a form…I can help." He whispered.

"No…you're not well enough."

"I hate to tell you this Kagome…but this is about as good as it's going to get. I will never be healthy as long as I'm dead." He smiled miserably.

Kagome's tears came faster. "I hate this. It's so unfair."

He nodded. "Don't I know it. But we must move forward. We must find Kikyou."

"I'll come back at ten tomorrow morning. I have to see my family. I'll tell them I'm staying with Sango and Miroku for a couple days. While I'm gone get some rest."

"I'll try." He nodded in appreciation.

Kagome was about to get up and leave when she was stopped by a hand tugging on her dress sleeve. "Thank you for staying with me." Inuyasha's deep voice sounded childlike as he said this. His eyes were full of sorrowful gratitude.

"Anytime. You have become one of my closest friends Inuyasha." She placed one of her hands over his and leaned down to place a small peck on the side of his cheek. Inuyasha turned redder but grinned cockily.

"You get some rest Kags. You're going to need it." With this he let her go and closed his eyes, trying desperately to get some more sleep.

Kagome returned home with a busy mind. If they did not find Inuyasha's lost love's body in time…he would be a ghost for eternity. And no one, not even Naraku, deserved that pain.

A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed. I love reviews; they're what help me continue to write! :D I don't know if I'll be able to update this weekend though. I'm sorry but I don't think I'll have the time. But I'll try.