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I'm not sure about this chapter. I didn't like typing it, I got bored really easily and gave up on it several times. I'm hoping that it doesn't show when you read it. If it does, let me know because I'm pretty much brain dead on what to do after this—well, I have ideas I just got to figure out how I'm going to place them in the story— and I'll have nothing else to do but try to fix it. I just woke up from a way too long nap so that I could finish up the ending so if something is messed up there I am sorry. I'm going to try and fix all the errors I've made in past chapters, so yeah, just thought I'd let you know(: Please, continue to read and review, sorry if I sound like a sourpuss, I'm not trying to. I'm just… cranky, I guess. x(

I love you guys, proceed to read.

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I can't think straight. I can't sleep right. I cannot eat human food without throwing up. Whether it's walking, jogging, or running, I can do none of those activities without tripping. It's true to say that I am a complete and total wreck. The cause of this wreckage can be pointed at Pepper, because he is one nasty bully when you've pushed him too far. I regret fully on everything I have told him.

Anything I say is usually backfired by him. Even when I'm not talking, he'll sometimes make spiteful jokes just for kicks. Times like these can be hard, you know? Having your self-esteem go further down by the minute is not enjoyable. It pokes at my barely conscious mind as I'm praying silently to my papa.

He was someone great in his days, said my mama when she still existed in my life. She said he somehow sensed when I was in actual danger, my papa, and when he came to my rescue his physical form was always different. Once he came as a monkey, then it was a dragon, then a bear, a fish, and so on— he came in whatever fitted the scene. When the battle was quickly over between him and my attacker he'd take me in his arms, said he loved me, before evaporating into the sky and joining the clouds. So much for father-daughter bonding.

It is official. Pepper has ruined the teeny sprout of trust I was growing for humans. He was the first to show any kind of sanity towards me (Meehann doesn't count because of the fact that she was only nice to feed answers to her curiosity). How quickly his kind can have a drastic change in heart and suddenly turn against you, is terrifying. I've always known they were very unpredictable but one has never grown on me to flip-flop around to stab me in the back.

I pick up my pace, seeing that I am far behind the devils trail, but fail as the ground reaches for my face. Another wave of nausea arrives and waterfalls to the earth in a thick, sick mess. Number six. I've hardly ate a thing this morning; so what is this disgusting muck that's sliding through the dirt?

At this rate, what will be left of me by the end of the day? A lifeless shell on the outer surface?

Pepper shakes his head, "Pathetic," I hear him say as he draws near. "What happened to all your strength, Tanaka? Was it all for show? Or were you using the power of the imaginary Jewel Shards to keep going?"

I shake my head, staggering to even put one foot in front of the other, when I'm scooped right off my feet. The surroundings mix in the swift movement and I feel as if I might be sick again.

Is he going to throw me off a cliff? "What are you doing?" I manage to wheeze between my congested lungs. Or is he actually being nice?

"Though I still can't stand the sight of you, I'm not about to leave you behind." What happen to his big mean attitude?

"I-I'm sorry."

Where Pepper grips under my thighs and arms to keep me in his grasp, it tightens. "Unless you can take back my pops ever stopping to help you then I don't want to hear those cruel words again."

Cruel? How are they cruel? Pepper you're the one chucking every piece of food you have in your mouth without saving a bite for me. You're the one stealing the little morsels of food I manage to find and shove them in your own unsatisfied belly. You are the one who trips me on purpose when I have finally and successfully handled a steady and balanced tempo when walking. Who doesn't bother to offer me any kind of clothing in these frigid nights. Who reminds me everyday that I'm hated because of what my kind does to the world— maybe not in those exact words but he tiptoes around the point he clearly tries to make. That is cruel. And that is something I very much want to state out loud.

But no, I can only wish to say that. And the only thing holding me back is the fact that all of my energy is drained and I am just thankful that he has taken it upon himself to carry me like the unfit gentlemen he is. For the time being, I have to let my guard down. I can't be afraid. I just can't.

I know that this abuse goes entirely against how I feel about humans in general. I know that I should be fleeing like normal because I don't have to take this. I know the forest and what it sprouts from its roots— food wise. But does Pepper? I've grown emotionally attached to the old him, whether I'll admit it aloud or not, but if I have to be honest with someone it has to be with me. And if I left him to die, not only will that come back to haunt me but what will his pops do? Yeah, he left him like some pet gone wild but that does not mean he doesn't love him. Right? I guess. I don't know.

"We are going to die," Is what I think of to say.

"Who's fault is that?" Here it comes, in a merciless tone with hatful feelings attached. "If your demon ass would have stayed away from us humans, like most of you with the little sense you come with, we wouldn't be here. Would we?"

I'm taking that as a rhetorical question. What do I say in response? Is he right? Is this really my fault and not Kagome's? The look on Peppers face when I glance up at him is full of regret. It is all me. When Kagome ran away from our argument scene I'm sure I was the last person on her mind. She was probably too busy dealing with all the conflicting emotions going on in her mind to think twice about anything directed my way.

Nightfall approaches quickly. With me dipping in and out of sleep, the sun was always positioned in a different spot each time I woke. These hours of darkness are the same as the previous ones, icy. These are the times when I desperately want to beg Pepper for clothing that I know won't be given to me. Already, as I look now, he is bundling them together to make himself a pillow.

"You're a demon. You won't be needing these, right?" Pepper wiggles around one last time to get comfy before settling down to sleep.

I quietly sigh and curl up into the tightest ball I can manage and try to sleep that way. The little heat I am able to conserve is fading instantly.

It is maybe the middle of the night when I slowly creep my eyes open again. One of Peppers borrowed shirts lay on top of me. I close my eyes, sending a silent thanks to him, before completely wrapping it around me and sitting up to look at the dark velvet sky.

Unexpectedly, there is a star shooting its way across the heavens. Wow! My hands fly to my mouth as I gasp, so giddy all of a sudden because of the fact that this is my first time seeing one. I would shake Pepper awake, but I don't. For one, when I glimpse at him with excited eyes I see he is already conscious. Two, because there's no telling what he'd do if I even so much as poke him. And three, most of me is scared of him.

He gazes back and sees all the happiness flowing through my emotions. In the smallest way, he softens around the edges but his forehead crinkles in confusion. "I didn't think a shooting star moved like that." His attention on the sky once again.

I follow his pointing finger and see what he means. The ball of light flies up and down and side to side. It repeats this several times— almost seeming as if it's not at all a star but some glowing figure dodging something completely imaginary to our eyes. Though, if it's not a star then what is it?

Whoosh! The air flies by in one rapid whip. It sends my long hair in a frenzy while also blocking my view.

"Tanaka, watch out!"

Bang!

Suddenly, I am airborne. Here, I am weightless. For a moment, all my worries are carried by the breeze. The chill of the wind freezes my body of feeling. It makes me wonder if this is what it's like when you die. Are you just a tiny, relaxed molecule going wherever you're taken by Mather Nature? If I'm destined to never to see Inuyasha again is this what I want? Death?

The yank of my arm being caught in someone's grasp spins me back to how things really are. I am not dead. Yet.

"Gotcha!" The all too familiar voice says as the haul me onto something warm and soft.

I open my eyes, realizing they were sealed shut, to find myself engulfed in a fury of swirling flames. The blaze pulls me to the past of that horrible burning building. Replaying the scene of the bloody chest fountain. Turning up the volume on the innocent child who cries for his mama. And almost shattering my mind by forcing me to listen to the evil laugh of the revolting demon who caused the mayhem.

I close my eyes against it all.

"Ma'am," the kind voice says with urgency. "God, you're bleeding out too much." Pause. "But you're going to be okay, I promise." Another gap. "Where is Kagome?"

"Kagome?" I cringe at the name, my hands immediately balling in to fists and the cold air loops through my fingers.

Now, my eyes open wide, seeing the stars retreat farther, my body feeling the arctic rush— I'm falling.

Something slimy, snakelike, wraps around me. Thorns inject themselves into my supple skin. The adrenaline begins to flow through my bloodstream. I feel woozy as they turn me sideways and they pull me away from the fleeing Pepper, who is dashing along the swaying grass.

He's running to four figures I can barely make out from my droopy eyes.

I gasp, "Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha. Inuyasha. Yasha. Yasha...

The syllables of his name echo around the forest. He glances up at me when Pepper points my way. Even though I can hardly see, I do make out that his face twists in confusion. Does he not know who I am?

"Inu—" I'm trying to tell him that it's me, Tanaka, when I'm squeezed by the tentacle holding me hostage and my blood rains down like a gruesome storm.

Pepper's lips read my name. Inuyasha's eyes go insanely wide and he instantly orders for Kagome to take charge. She shakes her head slowly while keeping her disbelieving eyes on me. Wait, is that disbelief or craziness that is flickering in and out of her eyes? Readying her arrow, she arranges it in her bow.

Hit the mark. She mouths and lets the arrow fly.

I'm gone, the lose of blood taking its toll on me. The last thing I remember seeing is something like a shooting star is supposed to look like, soaring right for my face.