He needed to open his hand, to let go

Alone

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Inu-Yasha and the gang, not me.

He needed to open his hand, to let go. Why won't my body listen to me? He watched all of his friends huddle around him, their voices a long ways away as they called to him. What…? A low laugh echoed in his head. The sound was familiar, but from where?

Did you think you were rid of me, hanyou? The voiced grated down Inu-Yasha's spine as he realized what had happened. Somehow the youkai he had fought off before was back. But how?

"Who are you?" Inu-Yasha snarled.

My name is Gekidoku.

"How did you—?"

Take over your body? Gekidoku interrupted. Why, hanyou, I thought even you would be able to figure that out.

And then he understood, as his fist clenched tighter around the two shikon shards in his palm. "You bastard," Inu-Yasha growled harshly. "You're that youkai I killed before."

Well, as you can see, you did a very bad job of it. But now we have things to do, or rather, you have things to do. We'd better get started.

"What are you—?" Before Inu-Yasha could finish, a hot pain shot through his mind, and he knew no more.

((Without You))

"Inu-Yasha!" Kagome screamed again. Her fist clenched even tighter in his haori sleeve as she tried to get the hanyou's attention. His golden eyes stayed hidden behind his bangs despite her attempts to draw them to her. "Inu-Yasha!" As soon as his name left her lips again, the hanyou pulled from her grasp with a snarl.

Miroku and Sango pulled the miko back as Inu-Yasha bared his claws and fangs at them. No one moved for what felt like ages, until the hanyou grinned darkly. "Coming?" he asked just before dashing out of the hut.

"Inu-Yasha!" Kagome shouted, breaking free from her friends' grasps to run after the hanyou.

"Kagome, wait!" Miroku called as he, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara followed.

All she had to show her were she was going were flashes of red among the trees before her. She completely ignored the scratches the tree limbs left as they tried to grab onto her and slow her down. She saw another flash of red, giving her the right direction to follow.

Inu-Yasha, what's going on? She wondered, trying to fight off her tears. It had to have something to do with the shikon shard they had found, but why did it only effect Inu-Yasha? She had handled the shard, and nothing had happened.

"Kagome! Inu-Yasha!" The miko heard the shouts coming from behind her, but she couldn't stop to wait for the others. She couldn't loose Inu-Yasha. And then, the red stopped moving directly in front of her.

Kagome stumbled through the low weeds into a clearing with a small pond. She stood panting as she stared at the hanyou standing unmoving before the still water. "Inu…Yasha," Kagome panted, but kept her voice low. She didn't know what was wrong with him, and didn't want to push anything too far. When there was still no response, the miko realized that he still held the two shikon shards in his clenched fist. Maybe if she could get him to release the darkness she could still see glowing inside his hand.

She straightened and took a few careful steps closer to the hanyou. "Inu-Yasha, can you hear me?" she asked softly, reaching a hand out to him. Just before her fingertips touched his haori, he turned, his golden gaze landing on her.

"Kagome?" he asked, confusion in his stare.

"It's me, Inu-Yasha," she agreed, nodding as she took another step closer. "What's going on?" the miko added, finally placing her hand on his arm. He completely ignored her question as he reached his own hand out to touch his palm to her cheek.

"Kagome," he repeated, as if he was just now remembering who she was.

"Yes," she wrapped her hand around his wrist, trying to regain his attention. "What happened, why did you run away?" she pressed. The hanyou continued to watch her face, as if he couldn't believe she was before him.

"Kagome," he breathed again. As the miko opened her mouth to reply, the calls of her friends caught her attention.

"Kagome, Inu-Yasha!"

"Where are you?"

"Kagome!"

When she turned back to Inu-Yasha, his eyes had grown dark, angry. "Kagome, mine," he growled, moving his hand to wrap his arm around her waist.

"Inu-Yasha, wait, it's just Miroku, Sango, and—" Kagome tried, but he jerked her against his chest, cutting her words off.

"Mine," he snarled again before jumping into the trees with her. The speed he was moving took the miko's breath away, and she could only stare wide eyed as the sounds of her friends' voices faded.

((Without You))

A dark chuckle echoed through the forest after the miko and hanyou. "Perfect," the baboon clad figure said, watching as the taijiya, houshi, kit, and neko grew closer. Everything is falling into place.

"Kagome, Inu-Yasha!" the small group called again. With another grin, the puppet dropped down to appear directly in front of the two humans.

"Greetings," he said as they stopped.

"Naraku," Miroku muttered, lifting his staff into a defensive position. "I knew you were behind this."

"Very good, houshi," the puppet answered. Another low chuckle echoed through the clearing, but this one came from the air around them. They will waist their time destroying the puppet while Inu-Yasha and Kagome get even farther away. The hanyou grinned as he watched the two groups set off on their own paths. Kohaku would bring the humans to his castle too late to save their friends. Naraku grinned again at the thought of how easily he would destroy the group. Too easily…

((Without You))

Why did I have to be right? Miroku wondered as Sango came to stand at his side. "It's only a puppet, Naraku must want to delay us," the houshi pointed out. The taijiya nodded, tightening her grip on Hiraikotsu, her eyes locked on the challenge.

"So let's get this over with quickly."

"I'll take care of it," Miroku said before she could move forward.

"What?" Sango asked in surprise.

"You take Kirara and Shippo and go after Kagome and Inu-Yasha," he explained his plan.

"But what about you?" the taijiya pressed.

"I'll take care of this problem and follow you, but you can't loose sight of Kagome and Inu-Yasha. Who knows what else Naraku has panned for them," he added.

"But—"

"Please hurry, Sango," he cut her off. They shared a long look before she finally nodded slowly.

"Be careful, Miroku," she added before jumping onto Kirara with Shippo and disappearing after the miko and hanyou.

"How honorable of you," the puppet chuckled.

"You know nothing of honor, now, I have things to do, so just die," Miroku said before throwing a sutra at the puppet. It attached to the baboon's shoulder and the houshi was quick to strike it with his staff. Naraku chuckled as he shot his vines at Miroku.

"You missed," the puppet said with a laugh.

Damn, Miroku cursed as he pulled back. I've got to take care of this quickly and find the others. He glanced toward where Sango had disappeared, and then back to the puppet. Be safe, all of you. And then he jumped at the hanyou again.